cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Religion, International Aid, and Used Clothing: Globalization and Mayan Literacy Revival in Guatemala

The indigenous languages and cultures of Guatemala are currently experiencing revitalization efforts as is the case with many of the indigenous languages of the Americas and other parts of the world. This study examines Mayan literacy revival in Guatemala, broadly defined to include a range of cultural literacy practices, and the involvement of globalization in that phenomenon. Globalization is most commonly thought of as the imposition of so-called “Northern” or “First World” culture and economics at the expense of the “South” or “Third World”. But in the case of Mayan literacy revival, the direction of the movement of global forces is more complex. This chapter suggests that there are three ways in which globalization is involved in Mayan literacy revival. Two effects are related to forces coming in to affect literacy. Some of these, such as religion, mass media, and used consumer goods, take on culture-suppressing forms, while others, such as the women’s movement and the work of international aid organizations, take on culture-sustaining forms. Yet Mayan literacy in the form of alphabetic print, glyphs, and traditional clothing and folklore is also moving from inside Guatemala to the outside world by way of migration, the Internet, and tourism. Globalization is commonly thought of as the export of Western culture to the rest of the world. A definition given in a 1995 lecture by Martin Khor states this concept nicely: “Globalisation is what we in the Third World have for several centuries called colonization or imperialism” (as cited in Baylis & Smith, 1995, p. 15). Although there is certainly truth to this definition, globalization is more complex. A definition by Giddens (1990) which defines globalization as “the intensification of world wide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (p. 64, emphasis added) captures the true complexity of this phenomenon. It is the “vice versa” part of this definition which challenges the traditional point of view.
Spillover effects in home mortgage defaults: Identifying the power neighbor

Abstract This paper investigates spillover effects of mortgage defaults in the neighborhood on a homeowner's default decision. Following the interactions-based model of discrete choices in Lee et al. (2014), we explicitly model a homeowner's default decision as a function of predetermined risk factors as well as rational expectations on her neighbors' default decisions and find strong empirical evidence of spillover effects — in forms of time-lagged “contagion effects” and contemporaneous “multiplier effects”. Furthermore, the estimated model can be used to identify the “power neighbor” through whom a foreclosure prevention policy can generate the largest impact on a neighborhood. Compared to other homeowners, the “power neighbor” on average has less neighbors that defaulted in the past, a less risky loan, a smaller payment size, a higher credit score, and a more central location in the neighborhood.
Chronic Oxycodone Self-administration Altered Reward-related Genes in the Ventral and Dorsal Striatum of C57BL/6J Mice: An RNA-seq Analysis.

Abstract Prescription opioid abuse, for example of oxycodone, is a pressing public health issue. This study focuses on how chronic oxycodone self-administration (SA) affects the reward pathways in the mouse brain. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the expression of reward-related genes in the ventral and dorsal striatum, areas involved in different aspects of opioid addiction models, was altered within 1 h after chronic oxycodone SA, using transcriptome-wide sequencing (RNA-seq). Based on results from earlier human genetic and rodent preclinical studies, we focused on a set of genes that may be associated with the development of addictive diseases and the rewarding effect of drugs of abuse, primarily in the opioid, stress response and classical neurotransmitter systems. We found that 32 transcripts in the ventral striatum, and 7 in the dorsal striatum, were altered significantly in adult mice that had self-administered oxycodone (n = 5) for 14 consecutive days (4 h/day) compared with yoked saline controls (n = 5). The following 5 genes in the ventral striatum showed experiment-wise significant changes: proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) and serotonin 5-HT-2A receptor (Htr2a) were upregulated; serotonin receptor 7 (Htr7), galanin receptor1 (Galr1) and glycine receptor 1 (Glra1) were downregulated. Some genes detected by RNA-seq were confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Conclusion: A RNA-seq study shows that chronic oxycodone SA alters the expression of several reward-related genes in the dorsal and ventral striatum. These results suggest potential mechanisms underlying neuronal adaptation to chronic oxycodone self-exposure, of relevance to our mechanistic understanding of prescription opioid abuse.
Endoscopic Transnasal Transclival Approach to a Pontine Cavernoma with Associated Developmental Venous Anomaly.

Background Brainstem cavernous malformations represent around 8%–22% of all intracranial cavernous malformations but exhibit a higher annual incidence of hemorrhage (2%–3%) compared with other cavernous angiomas and tend to be more symptomatic given their proximity to critical nuclei and fiber tracts. Recently, endoscopic endonasal techniques have been used for the removal of ventral skull base lesions, with significant improvement in operative morbidity and mortality compared with open approaches. Here we demonstrate the utility and feasibility of the endoscopic transclival approach for ventrally located pontine cavernomas in carefully selected patients. Case Description Consent was provided by the patient before the writing of this report. Institutional review board approval was not necessary because there was no other patient data accessed. A 21-year-old man presented to the emergency department with right-sided hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated evidence of hemorrhage from a ventrally located pontine cavernoma. Given the ventral location of the lesion and the desire for early control of an associated developmental venous anomaly (DVA), an endoscopic endonasal transclival approach was chosen. Gross total resection was achieved, and the patient did well postoperatively with no new neurologic deficits or cerebrospinal fluid leak. He is currently routinely followed and is neurologically well. Conclusions This approach provided direct visualization of the lesion and the associated DVA allowing for a gross total resection without injury to the DVA. The transclival approach may be considered as an alternative to open lateral and dorsolateral neurosurgical approaches for ventral brainstem cavernomas in carefully selected patients.
Safety and Efficacy of Hypofractionated Radiotherapy With Capecitabine in Elderly Patients With Urothelial Carcinoma.

Abstract Background Bladder cancer is commonly diagnosed in patients ineligible for radical cystectomy or chemoradiotherapy (chemo-RT) with cisplatin or fluorouracil with mitomycin. We assessed tolerability, efficacy, and toxicity of hypofractionated radiotherapy with capecitabine in this challenging population. Patients and Methods Patients with high-grade urothelial bladder cancer ineligible for radical cystectomy or high-intensity chemo-RT underwent maximal transurethral resection of bladder tumor followed by capecitabine (median, 825 mg/m2 per day 2 times a day) and radiation (median, 55 Gy in 2.2 Gy per fraction). Patients underwent surveillance cystoscopy and imaging, and were evaluated for toxicity, freedom from local failure and freedom from distant metastasis, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Results Eleven patients (median age, 80 years) with localized disease (n = 7), locally advanced disease (n = 3), or local-only recurrence after cystectomy (n = 1) were treated. Four patients (35%) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 2; median Charlson comorbidity index was 5. There was 1 acute grade 3 genitourinary event (9%), 6 acute grade 3 hematologic events (55%) of lymphopenia, and no acute grade 4 or higher events or hospitalizations. Ten patients (91%) completed radiotherapy, while 4 patients (36%) temporarily discontinued capecitabine. The complete response rate in the bladder was 64%. Two patients (18%) experienced late grade 1/2 genitourinary toxicities, and 1 (9%) experienced a transient late grade 4 genitourinary toxicity. With a median follow-up of 16.6 months, overall survival, progression-free survival, freedom from local failure, and freedom from distant metastasis at 1 year were 82%, 55%, 100%, and 55%, respectively, and at 2 years were 61%, 41%, 80%, and 55%, respectively. Conclusion Hypofractionated chemo-RT was well tolerated and was associated with a high rate of local control in this comorbid population, thus providing a treatment option for select bladder cancer patients.
Optimization of Experimental Designs for System- Level Accelerated Life Test in a Memory System Degraded by Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown

Continuous memory technology scaling causes memory cells to be vulnerable to wearout. To ensure reliable operations of circuits and systems in the presence of wearout, we require accurate estimation of the lifetime of circuits and systems degraded by wearout. Since the conventional method of estimating circuit and system reliability degradation based on device-level accelerated life test (ALT) does not account for the tolerance of a circuit and a system to a wearout failure of a device, accelerated lifetime testing at the circuit and system level is necessary. For accurate estimation of system reliability using system-level ALT, we propose a method that optimizes the design of experiments for ALT. From significant observations from failure data statistics of system-level ALT with various stress conditions applied to the memory system of the Leon3 as a case study, we define acceptability regions for memory testing of each wearout mechanism. In addition, by analyzing errors in estimating Weibull parameters from system-level ALT, we develop a methodology that optimizes experimental designs in acceptability regions of each wearout mechanism to minimize such estimation errors in system-level ALT.
Sensorimotor adaptation and cue reweighting compensate for distorted 3D shape information, accounting for paradoxical perception-action dissociations

When interacting with three-dimensional (3D) objects, sensory feedback is available that could improve future performance via supervised learning. Here we confirm that natural visuomotor interactio...
Delivering Aid: Implementing Progressive Era Welfare in the American West

Review of: "Delivering Aid: Implementing Progressive Era Welfare in the American West," by Thomas A. Krainz.
Active boundary and interior absorbers for one-dimensional wave propagation: Application to transmission-line metamaterials

Abstract We address the problem of generating active absorbers for wave propagation in a class of one-dimensional continuous media. In particular, we consider the emerging application of metamaterials, which are engineered structures supporting unconventional wave propagation phenomena. We design two kinds of absorbers. The first absorber achieves a complete elimination of wave reflections from the metamaterial boundaries independently of the working frequency regime. The associated controller is implemented in a feedback loop and is given in general terms of the metamaterial effective constitutive parameters. The second absorber blocks wave propagation beyond a prescribed location at the metamaterial interior with minimized back-scattering, thus generating a sink without any physical boundary present. It is implemented in a feed-forward loop via a unique near unidirectional control wave method, using two concentrated actuators. Both the interior and boundary absorbers are based on an exact fractional order transfer function model that we derive for the metamaterial. The model explicitly exhibits essential wave characteristics, including delays, dispersion, impedance, boundary reflections etc. The resulting controllers are of fractional order as well and are realized via a dedicated approximation technique. We verify the results by numerical simulations of a representative mechanical metamaterial.
The Theory of Electron-Ion Recombination

This lecture will focus upon the recombination of electrons with molecular ions, since the interaction between electronic and nuclear motion is an important feature of molecular processes and condensed matter physics, but is not present in the recombination of electons with atomic ions. Two processes will be considered, dissodative recombination, $$\text{e + AB}^\text{ + } \to \text{AB}^{\text{**}} \to \text{A} + \text{B}$$ (1) which has recently been reviewed by Mitchell (1990), and three body-recombination $$\text{e + AB}^\text{ + } \to \text{C} \to \text{AB + C}$$ (2) where the third body C could be an electron or another molecule.
Breast Reconstruction in the Setting of Stage 4 Breast Cancer: Is It Worthwhile?

The role of reconstruction after primary tumor surgery for metastatic breast cancer remains controversial. This report describes the outcomes for patients undergoing mastectomy with and without reconstruction in the setting of de novo stage 4 breast cancer. Using a prospectively maintained institutional breast surgery database, this study identified all patients who presented with de novo stage 4 breast cancer from January 2008 to December 2018. Patients were included if they had undergone mastectomy with or without reconstruction. Patient, surgical characteristics, and survival outcomes were abstracted and analyzed. The study identified 29 patients: 8 patients (28%) who underwent reconstruction (R) and 21 patients (72%) who did not (NR). Complete clinical response to induction systemic therapy was more frequent among patients in the R group than among those in the NR group for the primary disease (50% in R, 5% in NR), and to a lesser degree for distant disease (63% in R, 39% in NR). No difference in complication rates between the two groups was identified [n = 1 (13%) in R; n = 2 (10%) in NR; p = 1.0]. Overall survival from surgery was longer in the R group (100% at 2 and 5 years) than in the NR group [85%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 68–100% at 2 years vs 50%; 95% CI 27–91% at 5 years] (p = 0.046). Breast reconstruction after mastectomy may be reasonable to consider for appropriately selected patients with de novo stage 4 breast cancer who have excellent responses to systemic therapy and anticipated durable survival.
Trends in antimicrobial susceptibility of salmonella recovered from cattle diagnostic samples in Ohio

Salmonella enterica is an important cause of illness and death in humans. There has been a great deal of efforts to reduce its impact; yet Salmonella infections continue to burden the health of U.S. consumers more than any other foodborne pathogen. Salmonellosis is also an important cause of disease in cattle, causing diarrhea, dehydration, depression, fever, decreased milk production, and anorexia. Surveillance for antimicrobial resistance within healthy food animal populations captures predominantly susceptible Salmonella serovars that are infrequent causes of human illness; however, data from cattle diagnostic submissions can be used to capture trends in antimicrobial susceptibility of strains with a higher public health relevance. Our objective was to evaluate trends in antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella recovered from diagnostic samples from clinically ill cattle submitted to the Ohio Department of Agriculture between 2006 and 2017.
The Differential Diagnosis of Medullary-Based Renal Masses.

Context.— Renal malignancies can be divided into cortical- and medullary-based tumors, the latter of which classically infiltrate the renal parenchyma by extending between nonneoplastic structures. Although high-grade cortical tumors can rarely exhibit the same growth pattern, the infiltrative morphology should elicit a differential diagnosis to be considered in each case. However, these diagnoses can be challenging to distinguish, especially on small renal biopsy samples. Objective.— To provide an overview of the clinical, gross, and microscopic findings; genetic and molecular alterations; and immunohistochemical evaluation of medullary-based renal tumors and other tumor types with overlapping morphologies and growth patterns. Data sources.— Literature review and personal observations were used to compile the information in this review. Conclusions.— Collecting duct carcinoma is a prototypical medullary-based tumor, and although diagnostic criteria exist, it remains a diagnosis of exclusion, especially with ancillary techniques aiding the recognition of established as well as more recently described neoplasms. Other medullary-based malignancies included in the differential diagnosis include renal medullary carcinoma/renal cell carcinoma unclassified with medullary phenotype, fumarate hydratase-deficient renal cell carcinoma, and upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Moreover, other rare entities should be excluded, including metastatic carcinoma, lymphoma, and melanoma. In addition to potential prognostic differences, accurate diagnoses can have important surgical and clinical management implications.
Distinct developmental mechanisms influence sexual dimorphisms in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus

Sexual dimorphism is a common feature of animals. Sex determination mechanisms vary widely among species and evolve rapidly. Until recently studies have found consistent mechanisms across the body of each individual determine female or male dimorphic body structures. In sexually dimorphic cells throughout the body of Drosophila, the relative dosage of autosomes and X chromosomes leads indirectly to alternatively spliced transcripts from the gene doublesex. The female Dsx isoform interacts with the mediator complex protein encoded by intersex to activate female development in flies. In males the transcription factor encoded by fruitless promotes male-specific behavior. In the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, we find a requirement for different combinations of these genes during development of distinct dimorphic structures, within the same sex, suggesting a previously unappreciated level of diversity in sex determination. While intersex and fruitless are structurally conserved, doublesex has a history of duplication and divergence among Paraneoptera. Three doublesex paralogs in O. fasciatus produce multiple transcripts with sex- and tissue-specific expression. intersex and fruitless are expressed across the body, in females and males. RNA interference reveals only one doublesex paralog functions in somatic sex determination. Knockdown of doublesex and fruitless produces intersex phenotypic conditions in two sexually dimorphic structures: genitalia and abdominal sternites. In contrast, intersex is required for dimorphic development of female and male genitalia, but not for sternite dimorphism. These results reveal sex determination roles for intersex and fruitless distinct from their orthologs in other insects. Our results illuminate a novel form of developmental diversity in insect sex determination. Significance StatementPhenotypic differences between females and males, sexual dimorphisms, are common in animals. Sexual characters are controlled by a rapidly evolving developmental pathway. To explore this diversity we have examined somatic sex determination in the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus. We show that (1) the key regulatory gene doublesex has undergone multiple duplications during insect evolution, (2) doublesex isoforms are expressed in sex- and tissue-specific patterns, and (3) doublesex and two other conserved genes, intersex and fruitless, are required for sex determination in females and males. However, different combinations of these genes are required for development of different dimorphic structures within the same sex. Our results illuminate a previously unappreciated form of developmental diversity in insect sex determination.
The mathematical structure of the human sleep-wake cycle

1. Introduction.- 1.1 Beyond Time.- 1.2 The Rosetta Stone.- 1.3 Overview.- 2. Experimental Background.- 2.1 Phenomena and Terminology.- 2.2 History of Free-Run Studies.- 3. Data Bank.- 3.1 Subject 1.- 3.2 Subject 2.- 3.3 Subject 3.- 3.4 Subject 4.- 3.5 Subject 5.- 3.6 Subject 6.- 3.7 Subject 7.- 3.8 Subject 8.- 3.9 Subject 9.- 3.10 Subject 10.- 3.11 Subject 11.- 3.12 Subject 12.- 3.13 Subject 13.- 3.14 Subject 14.- 3.15 Subject 15.- 3.16 Subject 16.- 3.17 Subject 17.- 3.18 Subject 18.- 3.19 Subject 19.- 3.20 Subject 20.- 3.21 Subject 21.- 3.22 Subject 22.- 4. Patterns.- 4.1 Durations Vary with Circadian Phase of Sleep Onset.- 4.2 Sleep Length and Prior Wake Length.- 4.3 Timing of Wake-Up.- 4.4 Timing of Sleep Onset.- 4.5 Wake-Maintenance Zones.- 4.6 Estimating Circadian Parameters from Sleep Data Alone.- 4.7 Phase-Trapping.- 4.8 Slow Changes in Sleep-Wake Cycle Length.- 4.9 Miscellany and Missing Patterns.- 4.10 Napping and Split Sleep.- 4.11 Summary: The Basic Patterns of Internal Desynchrony.- 5. Theoretical Background.- 5.1 Conceptual Model of Aschoff and Wever.- 5.2 Wever's Noninteractive Model.- 5.3 Kronauer's XY Model: Coupled Van der Pol Oscillators.- 5.4 Conceptual Model of Borbely.- 5.5 Winfree's Half-Model.- 5.6 Gated Pacemaker of Daan, Beersma, and Borbely.- 5.7 Other Approaches.- 6. Analysis of Models.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 BEATS Model.- 6.3 PHASE Model.- 6.4 XY Model of Kronauer et al..- 6.5 Model of Daan et al..- 7. Simulations.- 7.1 Transition from Synchrony to Desynchrony.- 7.2 Napping and Split Sleep Simulations.- 7.3 A Representative Simulation of Internal Desynchrony.- 7.4 Overall Performance During Desynchrony.- 7.5 Summary and Discussion.- 8. Epilogue.- 8.1 Contributions.- 8.2 Directions for Future Research.- References.- Index of Authors.
Dynamics and Modeling of Aerosols in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer

This paper is a review of some of the properties of marine aerosols and the relation of these properties to sources, sinks and turbulent transport characteristics. The ocean is a source of sea salt solution particles produced as sea water droplets by bursting air bubbles. Whitecaps are the primary mechanism for the creation of these air bubbles near the ocean surface. The ocean is a sink for aerosol particles brought into the marine boundary layer by a combination of advection and entrainment. All types of aerosol particles are removed from the atmosphere and dumped into the ocean by dry and wet deposition. Dry deposition can be estimated from simple (but essentially unverified) models based on diffusion sublayer and surface layer turbulence scaling theory (e.g. Slinn and Slinn, 1980). Wet deposition rates as a function of particle size and chemistry can only be crudely estimated atpresent. The dynamics of the marine aerosol size spectrum can be modeled by a conventional mixed-layer formalism where the boundary layer aerosol is considered to be a mixture of whitecap produced sea-salt particles and entrained continental background partie les. Such a model requires specification of the ocean surface droplet source strength, Si, as a function of wind speed. The height dependence of aerosol concentration in the surface layer and the mixed lay er is discussed.
What Makes a Human Brand Authentic? Identifying the Antecedents of Celebrity Authenticity

While authenticity has received considerable attention in the marketing literature, the factors that influence the perceived authenticity of a celebrity's “human brand” have remained unexplored. This research fills this void by identifying the antecedents of celebrity authenticity, defined as the perception that a celebrity behaves according to his or her true self. Based on a qualitative analysis of an open-ended survey completed by 218 adults and on previous authenticity literature and attribution theory, the authors propose two antecedents of celebrity authenticity—rarity and stability—that are each composed of three sub-dimensions. Analyses of cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 428 adults provide support for the hypotheses that stability and rarity positively influence celebrity authenticity. Additionally, based on aging stability theory, the authors predict and demonstrate that the effects of rarity and stability on celebrity authenticity are moderated by age.
Continuous System Modeling

A comprehensive and systematic introduction is presented for the concepts associated with 'modeling', involving the transition from a physical system down to an abstract description of that system in the form of a set of differential and/or difference equations, and basing its treatment of modeling on the mathematics of dynamical systems. Attention is given to the principles of passive electrical circuit modeling, planar mechanical systems modeling, hierarchical modular modeling of continuous systems, and bond-graph modeling. Also discussed are modeling in equilibrium thermodynamics, population dynamics, and system dynamics, inductive reasoning, artificial neural networks, and automated model synthesis.
Food for Thought: A Serving of Food-Inspired Eponyms in Neurologic Practice (P1.296)

OBJECTIVES: To discuss the various food-inspired eponyms in neurology and their clinical implications. BACKGROUND: Despite the controversy, "eponymophilia" continues to flourish in neurologic practice, particularly with the advent of imaging. In particular, food-related metaphoric descriptions abound in the realms of clinical neurology and neuroradiology. These eponyms are the likely result of an apophenic illusory phenomenon called pareidolia, and can serve as a useful method of recognizing clinical and radiologic patterns that aid in the diagnostic process. DESIGN/METHODS: We performed a literature review and discuss food-inspired eponyms of clinical and neuroradiologic findings. RESULTS: We discuss the zoologically-based eponyms relating to clinical phenomenology, pathological findings, and neuroradiologic findings, as well as the etiologic implications of each sign. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to identify clinical or radiologic patterns of abnormalities, as well as the effective communication of such findings, is a cardinal component of the diagnostic process in neurologic practice. Food-inspired metaphorical descriptions should not be trivialized, but should instead be considered colorful, interesting, and useful aides-memoire that enliven and improve communication and the practice of neurology. Disclosure: Dr. Beh has received research support from Biogen Idec. Dr. Frohman has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec, Novartis, Acorda Therapeutics, and Questcor. Dr. Conger has nothing to disclose. Dr. Conger has nothing to disclose. Dr. Calabresi has received personal compensation for activities with Abbott and Vertex. Dr. Calabresi has received research support from Bayer, Abbott, Novartis, Biogen Idec, and Vertex. Dr. Balcer has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec, Questcor, Novartis, and Vaccinex. Dr. Zee has received personal compensation for activities with Sun Pharma and Abbott. Dr. Zee has received royalty payments from Oxford University Press. Dr. Frohman has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec, Teva Neuroscience, Acorda, Novartis, Astellas, and Abbott.
Navigating the Problem of Inclusion as Enclosure in Native Culture-Based Education: Theorizing Shadow Curriculum

This conceptual essay explores how Gerald Vizenor’s (Anishinaabe) literary discussions of “shadow survivance” provide opportunities to work against the containment of Indigenous knowledge in mainstream and culture-based curricular practices. More specifically, the essay considers how constructivism is deployed as an opening to the inclusion of Indigenous epistemologies, yet also contains Indigenous epistemologies within a materialist and more specifically, Marxist and Hegelian philosophy. The author suggests that an implicit “shadow curriculum” has been articulated within the literature of Native culture-based curriculum which works against these forms of containment, but has rarely turned to Native American literary figures to elaborate the philosophical and theoretical differences they represent.
Applicability of NEPA to Federal Energy Market Restructuring

In furtherance of its goal of creating a more competitive electricity market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has proposed the creation of a Standard Market Design. While the proposal has been hotly debated, the focus has largely been on the economics rather than on environmental issues. FERC should fully study potential environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of such a proposal. Speciacally, FERC should conduct a full environmental impact statement rather than rely on an environmental assessment and previous environmental impact statements prepared for earlier orders. This Note discusses when an environmental impact statement is required and argues that the Standard Market Design proposal is the type of agency action requiring such a study.
No-React Detoxification Process: A Superior Anticalcification Method for Bioprostheses

Abstract Background . Glutaraldehyde pretreatment of bioprosthetic heart valves is the major pathogenic factor in their calcific degeneration. This comparative study investigates the merit of the No-React aldehyde detoxification process as an alternative modifier of xenograft tissues. Methods . Glutaraldehyde- and No-React-pretreated porcine aortic valve cusps were implanted subcutaneously in 6-week-old rats (n = 20). At 3, 6, and 14 weeks, randomly selected animals were sacrificed and the explants underwent mineral and morphologic analyses. Glutaraldehyde- and No-React-treated bovine pericardium and porcine aortic valve cusp were incubated in fibroblast cell culture plates. Cell viability was observed under reversed microscope at 6, 24, 48, and 96 hours. Erythrosin B dye exclusion test was used to validate percent cell death. Results . Pretreatment with No-React significantly inhibited calcification of aortic cusp subcutaneous implants throughout the 14-week period (mean tissue Ca 2+ content=1.3 ± 0.7 μg/mg at 14 weeks.) Glutaraldehyde-treated cusps underwent protracted calcification (Ca 2+ content=190.6 ± 89.5 μg/mg; p Conclusions . The No-React detoxification process completely abolishes the cytotoxicity of the xenograft tissue and inhibits calcific degeneration.
Piezoelectric nonlinearity in GaN Lamb mode resonators

This paper reports on the measurement of nonlinearity in GaN Lamb mode resonators subjected to power levels between ᄒ10 and +10 dBm. In these devices, nonlinearity manifests itself as both frequency shift (Δ/f of 60–128 ppm) and change in motional impedance (ΔR m /R m of 13–33%). In this work, we decouple the contributions from self-heating and strain-induced piezoelectric nonlinearity to ΔR m /R m , and conclude that strain-induced change in piezoelectric coefficients Δe 31 and Δe 33 is the dominant cause of ΔR m /R m , accounting for 31% of the total 33% observed shift. The result is consistent with 2nd order nonlinear coefficients previously derived analytically [1].
Studies on 5-fluorouracil-containing RNA: II. Gross reduction of 4-thiouracil in fluorouracil-containing tRNA from Escherichia coli

Abstract 1. 1. Fluorouracil-containing tRNA from Escherichia coli has been shown by ultraviolet absorption measurements and p- hydroxymercuribenzoate titration to be grossly deficient in 4-thiouridine. The extent of deficiency correlates well with the amount of uracil replaced by fluorouracil in the tRNA sample. This supports the idea that uracil, rather than cytosine, acts as the sulfur acceptor in 4-thiouracil formation. 2. 2. The small amount of 4-thiouridine remaining in the fluorouracil-containing tRNA is still capable of undergoing reversible oxidation-reduction. 3. 3. It is proposed that fluorouracil cannot be thiolated as a direct result of the presence of the fluorine atom and not as a result of secondary or tertiary changes in the fluorouracil-containing tRNA.
Validity of the 6-Minute Jog-Walk and the 600-Yard Run-Walk in Estimating Endurance Capacity in Boys, 9–12 Years of Age

Abstract The predictability of VO2 max from the performance in the 6-min jog-walk and the 600-yd run-walk was evaluated in 69 young males, 9–12 yr of age. VO2 max correlated r = .50 with the 6-min jog-walk and r = —.50 with the 600-yd run-walk. Reliabilities for both tests were established on a separate sample of boys of similar age, and varied from r = 0.88 for the 6-min jog-walk to r = .89 for the 600-yd run-walk. While the reliabilities of the two field tests were high, the validity coefficients indicate both tests were poor predictors of VO2 max.
In a Supporting Role: Soil and the Cinema

A screenwriter with a compelling story to tell. A director with the vision to capture that story with the moving image. An actor who can steal a scene with a glance. These are what most of us think about when we consider the making and viewing of a film—indeed, they are some of its key human elements. And yet there are other elements embedded in the fabric of a film that give its characters and their stories uniqueness, reality, and a sense of place—soil is one such element. We will explore the depiction of soil in a variety of films and film formats—live action, documentary, and animated. We will look at film classics and films with limited distribution. And we will look at film and video as both an art form and as a tool being used by scientists to explore the dynamic properties of soil.
Sex Hormones and SLE: Influencing the Fate of Autoreactive B Cells

The prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is far higher in females than in males and numerous investigations to understand this gender bias have been conducted. While it is plausible that some sex-linked genes may contribute to the genetic predisposition for the disease, other likely culprits are the sex hormones estrogen and prolactin. In this chapter we review studies that have addressed the influence of sex hormones in SLE activity and discuss the recent data established in a BALB/c mouse transgenic for the heavy chain of an anti-DNA antibody. These mice are prone to develop lupus following exposure to exogenous sex hormones. We describe how estrogen and prolactin influence B cell maturation and selection, permitting B cells to mature to immunocompetence. Finally, we discuss the relevance and implications of these data for human disease.
Hydrogen Recombination Line Masers at the Epochs of Recombination and Reionization

We model the physical properties of masing hydrogen recombination lines at zrc ~ 1000. We find that if small-scale, strongly overdense regions exist, then maser action is possible in this phase of cosmological evolution owing to the expansion of the universe and the low ambient temperature at decoupling. Partial-line absorption of nα ~ 60 maser radiation can occur at the epoch of reionization (zri ~ 10-50). The paths along which maser amplification is sustained during the epoch of recombination are assumed to be associated with the strong density perturbations required for the development of ionizing sources at zri. The combined spectrum can be observed at around 10-100 MHz (z = 0) and provides information on the power spectrum, H0, q0, and the evolution of H II regions during the epoch of reionization. The flux level is ~40 μJy, depending on the magnitude of the perturbation, with brightness temperatures of greater than 107 K. The Square Kilometer Array (SKAI) would have the sensitivity to observe these features. During reionization nα ~ 120, maser lines can also be produced along the edges of the early H II regions. Observations of these lines require telescopes that are able to operate below 80 MHz with a sensitivity of 1 μJy at an angular size of ~1''. Although these requirements offer many challenges for the development of suitable ground-based and space-based telescopes, we indicate in this paper that such observations can be very important to understanding the physics and cosmology of these early epochs. Line observations of this sort have the potential to probe the complicated physical processes occurring in the nonlinear regime that is not directly accessible to continuum instruments such as COBE and its successors MAP and the Planck Surveyor.
Using a boosted tree classifier for text segmentation in hand-annotated documents

Highlights? We propose a tree-structured classifier for text identification. ? Increasing classification accuracy for imbalanced data problem. ? Avoid over-fitting for imbalanced set. A boosted tree classifier is proposed to segment machine printed, handwritten and overlapping text from documents with handwritten annotations. Each node of the tree-structured classifier is a binary weak learner. Unlike a standard decision tree (DT) which only considers a subset of training data at each node and is susceptible to over-fitting, we boost the tree using all available training data at each node with different weights. The proposed method is evaluated on a set of machine-printed documents which have been annotated by multiple writers in an office/collaborative environment. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other methods on an imbalanced data set.
Performance characteristics of a cstr containing immobilised enzyme particles

The effects of internal and external substrate diffusion resistances on the performance of a continuous stirred tank reactor are analysed in this work. Both immobilised enzymatic reactions with and without substrate inhibitions are considered. The substrate conversion for the reaction without substrate inhibition is dependent on four dimensionless parameters: the Thiele modulus, the dimensionless Michaelis constant, the mass transfer Nusselt number and β, which represents a combination of particle hold-up, maximum reaction rate, input substrate concentration and substrate residence time in the continuous stirred tank reactor. For the corresponding reaction with substrate inhibition, the effect of the additional dimensionless inhibition constant on the substrate conversion is also very significant. The substrate conversion generally decreases with decrease in dimensionless parameter β, increase in Thiele modulus and decrease in mass transfer Nusselt number. For the reaction with small Thiele modulus, β and strong substrate diffusion resistances, a multireactor system may be needed if a certain desired substrate conversion is required. The single CSTR model can be extended to describe the multireactor system and the effect of the number of reactors on the substrate conversion for a two- or more reactor system is also examined.
Differential MMP‐2 activity of ligament cells under mechanical stretch injury: An in vitro study on human ACL and MCL fibroblasts

Recent studies have revealed that following injuries, ligament tissues such as anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL), release large amounts of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). These enzymes have a devastating effect on the healing process of the injured ligaments. Although these enzymes are produced following ligament injuries, because of different healing capacities seen between the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and ACL, we were curious to find if the MMP activity was expressed and modulated differently in these tissues. For this purpose ACL and MCL fibroblasts were seeded on equi-biaxial stretch chambers and were stretched in different levels. The stretched cells were assayed using Zymography, Western Blot and global MMP activity assays. The results showed that within 72 h after injurious stretch, production of 72 kD pro-MMP-2 increased in both ACL and MCL. However, the ACL fibroblasts generated significantly more pro-MMP-2 than the MCL fibroblasts. Furthermore we found in ACL pro-MMP-2 was converted more into active form. With 4-aminophenyl mercuric acetate (APMA) treatment, large amounts of pro-MMP-2 were converted into active form in both. This indicates that there is no significant difference between ACL and MCL fibroblasts in post-translational modification of MMP-2. The fluorescent MMP activity assays revealed that the MMP family activities were higher in the injured ACL fibroblasts than the MCL. Since the MMPs are critically involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, these findings may explain one of the reasons why the injured ACL hardly repairs. The higher levels of active MMP-2 seen in the ACL injuries may disrupt the delicate balance of ECM remodeling process. These results suggest that the generation and modulation of MMP-2 may be directly involved in the different responses seen in ACL and MCL injuries.
Mineralogy and environmental geochemistry of historical iron slag, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract The Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Pennsylvania, which features an Fe smelter that was operational in the 18th and 19th centuries, is dominated by three slag piles. Pile 1 slag, from the Hopewell Furnace, and pile 2 slag, likely from the nearby Cornwall Furnace, were both produced in cold-blast charcoal-fired smelters. In contrast, pile 3 slag was produced in an anthracite furnace. Ore samples from the nearby Jones and Hopewell mines that fed the smelter are mainly magnetite-rich with some sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite) and accessory silicates (quartz, garnet, feldspar, and clay minerals). Slag piles 1 and 2 are similar mineralogically containing predominantly skeletal and dendritic aluminian diopside and augite, skeletal forsteritic olivine, glass, rounded blebs of metallic Fe, and exotic quartz. Olivine is a major phase in all samples from pile 2, whereas it occurs in only a few samples from pile 1. Samples of the The three distinct slag piles at Hopewell are enriched in numerous trace elements, such as As (up to 12 mg/kg), Cd (up to 0.4 mg/kg), Co (up to 31.8 mg/kg), Cu (up to 647 mg/kg), Mn (up to 0.69 wt.%), Pb (up to 172 mg/kg) and Zn (up to 393 mg/kg), together with Fe (13.9 wt.%), when compared to the average for the continental crust, with the
Two new species of oribatid mites of the family Phthiracaridae (Acari, Oribatida) from Venezuela

Two new species of oribatid mites of the family Phthiracaridae, Arphthicarus filiformis sp. nov. and Austrophthiracarus flagellatus sp. nov., are described from riparian forest litter in Venezuela. Keys to the species of Arphthicarus and Austrophthiracarus known from Venezuela are provided.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:35EF7E4E-A99C-430F-9C06-410FCED0119A
Managing clotting: a North American perspective.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Bleeding in a perioperative setting occurs due to multiple causes, but newer anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapies are increasingly used preoperatively. As a result, patients often can present for surgery with underlying hemostatic disorders due to these acquired disorders or following major surgery or trauma. Because bleeding occurs due to multiple causes, the addition of pharmacologic agents creates an acquired defect that complicates the surgical injury and may result in increased blood loss. An understanding of hemostasis and therapeutic approaches, especially those in our current clinical settings, is crucial in managing these patients. RECENT FINDINGS Pharmacologic agents including antifibrinolytics and prohemostatic proteins are commonly administered, but a multimodal approach to management is important. Of note is that aprotinin has been reintroduced into the Canadian market in September 2011. Recombinant and purified coagulation therapies are under investigation, and provide clinicians specific agents to treat targeted deficiencies. SUMMARY Nonsurgical bleeding in the operating room is the result of a multitude of factors including preoperative anticoagulants, dilution, fibrinolysis, and factor consumption. Therapeutic prohemostatic pharmacologic approaches, in addition to standard transfusion therapy, need to be considered in the prevention and treatment of coagulopathy in surgical patients.
The case of state funded higher education scholarship plans and interstate brain drain

Abstract This paper studies the impact of state funded higher education scholarship plans on interstate migration patterns of college educated individuals between 1980 and 2009. We find that these plans increase the in-state enrollment rate, but have no positive impact on the subsequent number of graduates. While aggregate migration trends remain unaffected as a result of these plans, we find the out-migration rate of young college educated individuals decreases 3 to 5 years after the adoption of a plan, but this effect is countered by an increase in the out-migration of older college educated adults in later years.
Extended dipolar modulation and magic-angle spinning

The direct detection of weak 13C15N heteronuclear dipolar couplings in magicangle spinning (MAS) NMR experiments is often difficult. A conventional MAS 13C NMR spectrum has spinning sidebands arising from both dipolar and chemical-shift interactions. Two-dimensional NMR experiments which separate dipolar couplings from the chemical-shift anisotropy simplify considerably their determination. Munowitz and Griffin introduced single-sided ( I ) and double-sided (2) two dimensional magic-angle spinning NMR experiments that have proved invaluable in the study of strong r3C‘H dipolar interactions. Unfortunately, when these techniques are applied to the substantially weaker 13C“N coupling, there are usually not enough dipolar sidebands to characterize effectively the dipolar sideband spectrum, even at low spinning speeds. A variation of the Munowitz and Griffin double-sided experiment, called odd p this yields more dipolar sidebands. The extra sidebands often contain enough information to allow a good determination of weak 13C“N dipolar coupling. Typically, however, the experiment must be done at low spinning speeds of the order of 500 Hz with the consequence that an overwhelming number of rotational sidebands can appear in the chemical-shift dimension. This is undesirable since the dipolar-modulated magnetization is actually measured by summing over sidebands in the chemical-shift dimension. The characterization of weak 13C15N couplings at slow spinning speeds in a complicated carbon spectrum can be simplified by the use of double-cross polarization (4) (DCP) as a selective filter; however, DCP is technically difficult to execute and generally does not give equal selection to spins with different spatial orientations (3). This Communication presents preliminary results on new experiments designed to measure weak heteronuclear dipolar couplings without the problems associated with ODRSE. Weak couplings can be measured at higher spinning speeds; very weak couplings can be measured at lower spinning speeds. Our experiments are extensions of rotational echo double resonance (5) (REDOR) which, in turn, was derived from spin-echo double resonance (6, 7) (SEDOR) . Extension of the dipolar evolution time in rotating solids is the principal feature of the experiments; accordingly, this class of experiments is called extended dipolar modulation (XDM) . XDM is a REDOR experiment and is specified by the number
Geometric Representation of Translational Swept Volumes and its Applications

This paper presents a method for representing the geometries of translational swept volumes of three-dimensional objects which can be constructed by the union of three types of primitive objects: blocks, cylinders, and spheres. The representation method involves three major steps. First, the swept volume of each primitive object is modeled by a boundary representation. Second, based on ray-casting and scan-rendering methods, the boundary representation is converted into a ray in–out classification, which represents the rays entering and exiting from the primitive swept volume. Third, the ray in–out classifications for various primitive swept volumes are combined to represent the swept volume of an object constructed from the primitive objects. Examples are given to illustrate how swept-volume representations can be useful in the context of off-line NC and robot program verifications.