cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Familial hypercholesterolemia related admission for acute coronary syndrome in the United States: Incidence, predictors, and outcomes.

Abstract Background Individuals with Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) are at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events. Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence, predictors, and outcomes of admissions for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in this high-risk group. Methods Utilizing the National Readmission Databases, we identified individuals with or without FH admitted to participating hospitals for ACS. The primary outcome was admission for recurrent ACS at 11 month follow-up. Results There were a total of 1,697,513 ACS admissions from 10/2016 to 12/2017 (non-FH=1,696,979 and FH=534). Individuals with FH admitted for ACS were younger (median age 57 vs 69 y), had fewer comorbidities (hypertension 74.7% vs 79.6%; diabetes mellitus 30.5% vs 39.0%;p Conclusions Individuals with FH admitted for ACS are younger, have fewer comorbidities, and more frequently present with STEMIs compared to those without FH. FH patients were more likely to suffer in-hospital cardiac complications and have a higher incidence of recurrent ACS.
Functional decline among older cancer survivors in the Baltimore longitudinal study of aging.

BACKGROUND Evidence has begun to emerge indicating that cancer survivors experience accelerated aging. This study examines this phenomenon by evaluating trajectories of functional decline in older adults with a history of a cancer diagnosis relative to those without a history of cancer. METHODS Community dwelling healthy volunteers in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging were evaluated in the Clinical Research Unit of the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program. Between 2006 and 2019, 1728 men and women (aged 22-100) underwent clinical evaluation of functional status; 359 reported having a history of cancer. Longitudinal associations between self-reported cancer history and measures of functional decline were examined using generalized estimating equations. Additionally, time-to-event and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine trajectories of decline. Where appropriate, age-stratified associations were examined, and models were adjusted for sex, body mass index, race, smoking status, education, and number of comorbid conditions. RESULTS Among all participants, a history of cancer was associated with 1.42 (95% CI 1.11-1.81) greater odds of weak grip strength. Among older participants (>65 years of age), those with a history of cancer had 1.61 (95% CI 1.28, 2.02) greater odds of slow gait speed and a 0.11 unit (95% CI 0.19-0.03) lower physical performance score than those with no cancer history. Time-to-event analysis showed that older individuals with a history of cancer experienced steeper decline in grip strength and gait speed than older adults with no history of cancer (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Cancer survivors, especially older individuals, demonstrate greater odds of and accelerated functional decline, suggesting that cancer and/or its treatment may alter aging trajectories. Observational and intervention studies are needed for prevention, mitigation, and/or reversal of aging-related effects of cancer and its treatment.
Words that Can Be Avoided

We start with an old problem from number theory whose solution leads to the first example of an infinite cube-free word, thus showing that the word x 3 is avoidable. Then we shall describe all avoidable words.
Distributed power control in sensor networks: a game theoretic approach

In wireless sensor networks, where energy of the sensor nodes are finite, power control is an important issue to consider. In this paper, we present a game-theoretic approach to solve the power control problem in CDMA based distributed sensor networks. A non-cooperative game is formulated and the existence of Nash equilibrium is studied for the sensor nodes operating under incomplete information. With the help of this equilibrium, we devise a distributed algorithm for optimal power control and prove that the system is power stable if the nodes comply with certain transmission thresholds. We show that even in the distributed non-cooperative scenario, it is in the best interest of the nodes to remain within these thresholds. The power level at which a node should transmit, to maximize its utility, is also evaluated. Numerical results prove that with the proposed algorithm, the sensor nodes are able to achieve best possible payoff by consuming less power, resulting in extended network lifetime.
Cancer Narratives and an Ethics of Commemoration: Susan Sontag, Annie Leibovitz, and David Rieff

This essay considers how photographic and biographical forms of memorialization can pay ethical tribute to women who die of cancer, thereby inviting readers and viewers to respond as witnesses rather than as voyeurs. Its focal subjects are controversial photographs by Annie Leibovitz in A Photographer's Life (2006) of Susan Sontag during her struggles with three different cancers—from mastectomy to chemotherapy to bone marrow transplant to decline and death—and an acclaimed memoir of his mother's final year, Swimming in a Sea of Death (2008) by Sontag's son, David Rieff. The author of this essay argues that both Leibovitz's visual narrative and Rieff's written account offer grim, unsettling, yet eloquent and just commemoration of Sontag's life and death—commemoration that provides reader-viewers with elegiac spaces of intersubjective connectivity. Sontag's theories of illness and photography and feminist critical perspectives on art, trauma, witness, and embodiment provide scholarly support for this argument.
Arms, Intelligence, and War

Arena, Philip and Scott Wolford. (2012) Arms, Intelligence, and War. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2478.2012.00724.x © 2012 International Studies Association How do states respond to uncertainty over their opponents’ military strength? We analyze a model of crisis bargaining in which, prior to negotiation, an uninformed state chooses how to allocate scarce resources across armaments and intelligence gathering. Arming improves military capabilities, while intelligence gathering improves estimates of the other state's military capabilities. Our model thus allows both the distribution of power and the level of uncertainty in the crisis to be determined endogenously. We derive some notable results. First, the relationship between information revelation and war is conditional on beliefs held before the information is received, as more accurate information can reduce the probability of war for optimistic states but increase it for pessimistic ones. Second, the allocations that minimize the probability of war are often not those made in equilibrium. Finally, considering the interdependence between the two allocations yields unique insights into the relationship between the distribution of capabilities, uncertainty, and the risk of war.
Popularizing the ancestry of man: Robert Ardrey and the killer instinct.

ABSTRACT This essay examines Robert Ardrey (1908–1980)—American playwright, screenwriter, and prolific author—as a case study in the popularization of science. Bringing together evidence from both paleoanthropology and ethology, Ardrey became in the 1960s a vocal proponent of the theory that human beings are innately violent. The essay shows that Ardrey used his popular scientific books not only to consolidate a new science of human nature but also to question the popularizer's standard role, to reverse conventional hierarchies of scientific expertise, and to test the boundaries of professional scientific authority. Understanding how he did this can help us reassess the meanings and uses of popular science as critique in Cold War America. The essay also shows that E. O. Wilson's sociobiology was in part a reaction to the subversive political message of Ardrey's science.
Identification of CXCR2 as an important regulator of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cell mobilization during tumor progression (TUM4P.912)

Expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) is associated with cancer progression and suppression of T cell function. However, further defining MDSCs and their role is hindered by the fact that no specific cell marker is available to distinguish MDSCs from non-suppressive leukocytes. Here we report a separation method that clearly separate granulocytic MDSC (G-MDSC) from non-suppressive granulocytes. In this study, mouse bone marrow cells from healthy and tumor bearing mice were collected, followed by Percoll density gradients centrifugation. Naive CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6Clow granulocytes from the fraction between 50-60% Percoll effectively inhibited the proliferation of T cells via production of ROS and arginase. These suppressive cells were expanded during tumor formation and the inhibitory function was enhanced in tumor bearing mice, indicating that G-MDSC was enriched at the 50-60% Percoll interface. Unlike G-MDSC, high density granulocyte (~60-70% Percoll fraction) failed to suppress T cells proliferation but had a high phagocytic activity and chemotatic capacity toward CXCL1, suggesting that they were mature neutrophils. Further study found that CXCR2 in G-MDSC from tumor bearing mice was significantly upregulated, leading to a massive migration of G-MDSC into spleen and tumor site. Collectively, our findings provide a new way to discriminate G-MDSC from mature granulocytes and reveal a critical role of CXCR2 in G-MDSC mobilization during tumor formation.
The Cutting Edge Between Trash Cinema and High Art

Joan Hawkins _Cutting Edge: Art-Horror and the Horrific Avant-garde_ Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000 ISBN 0-8166-3414-9 326 pp
An approach to the study of minerals using infrared photothermal beam deflection spectroscopy

Infrared (IR) spectra of minerals can be recorded by photothermal beam deflection spectroscopy with minimal sample preparation and even with no sample preparation at all. A modulated IR beam is focussed onto the sample, radiation selectively absorbed by the solid warms the solid and the air over it and brings about a refractive index gradient in the air, so that a laser beam grazing the solid's surface is deflected. Measurements of the deflections result in the IR photothermal absorption spectrum. Sample preparation steps can be avoided entirely, i.e., selected areas on the surface of a large specimed can be examined directly, provided that the laser probe beam can pass over the sample area. A minimal sample preparation, consisting of lightly grinding the sample by hand, increases sensitivity and avoids spectral reflection effects. Examples of application of the technique to carbonate and lead minerals are shown.
Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis pyrimidine biosynthetic (pyr) gene cluster by an autogenous transcriptional attenuation mechanism.

Abstract A complete transcript of the Bacillus subtilis pyr operon contains the following elements in 5' to 3' order: a 151-nucleotide (nt) untranslated leader; pyrR, encoding a 20-kDa protein; a 173-nt intercistronic region; pyrP, encoding a 46-kDa protein; a 145-nt intercistronic region; and eight overlapping cistrons encoding all of the six enzymes for de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. Transcription is controlled by the availability of pyrimidines via an attenuation mechanism. There are three transcription terminators within the operon, each of which is preceded by another stem-loop structure, the antiterminator, whose formation would prevent formation of the terminator stem-loop. These are located in the leader, the pyrR-pyrP intercistronic region, and the pyrP-pyrB intercistronic region. Northern (RNA) blot analysis has identified transcripts of lengths which coincide with termination at these proposed attenuation sites and whose relative abundances vary in the expected pyrimidine-dependent manner. Each antiterminator contains a 50-base conserved sequence in its promoter-proximal half. Various transcriptional fusions of the pyr promoter and surrounding sequences to promoterless reporter genes support an attenuation mechanism whereby when pyrimidines are abundant, the PyrR protein binds to the conserved sequence in the pyr mRNA and disrupts the antiterminator, permitting terminator hairpin formation and promoting transcription termination. Deletion of pyrR from the chromosome resulted in the constitutive, elevated expression of aspartate transcarbamylase, which is encoded by pyrB, the third gene in the operon. Complementation of an E. coli upp mutant, as well as direct enzymatic assay, has demonstrated that pyrR also confers uracil phosphoribosyltransferase activity. Analysis of pyrR and upp deletion mutants demonstrated that upp, not pyrR, encodes the quantitatively important uracil phosphoribosyltransferase activity. The pyrP gene probably encodes an integral membrane uracil permease.
Estimating the bivariate mean vector of censored environmental data with Box–Cox transformations and E-M algorithm

We present a method for estimating the mean vector from a bivariate skew distribution that includes some unobserved data below the detection limits. The method uses a Box-Cox transformation, of which the parameters are found by maximizing the likelihood function over a fixed power transformation set. To estimate the mean vector and the covariance matrix, we develop an E-M algorithm solution. Given a transformation, we obtain expressions for the mean vector, covariance matrix, and the asymptotic covariance of the vector of means in the original scale. Expressions are obtained for a confidence region for the vector of means. The performance of the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method in selecting the correct power transformation and the coverage rate of the confidence region under several conditions are investigated in a simulation study. This method gives reliable results for finding effective transformations and the coverage rate for highly skew data sets. The method is applied to water quality monitoring data. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Notes and New Records of Exotic Ants Introduced Into New Zealand

Since the recent publication of W. L. Brown's " Keview of the Ants of New Zealand" (1958), three additional exotic formicids have been recorded from this country. These are: Ponera leap Fore1 (Taylor, 1960), Pheidole yarrensis Fore1 (Cumber, 1959) and Ir idomyrmex darwinianus (Forel) (Taylor, 1959) : all of Australian origin. The two former species are of special interest as their distributions appear to be restricted to the Bay of Islands area. Ponera leae is known only from the immediate vicinity of Paihia. where it has been collected in Berlese funnel samples of leaf mould. Pheidole yarrensis is present also at Paihia (Cumber, 1959) and has been taken at Haruru Falls (February 4, 1'959: R. 14'. Taylor) and Kerikeri (January 17. 1956; K. A. J. Wise) : Cumber recalled having seen this species at Kaikohe some years ago. These distribution patterns may indicate that the ants concerned have been derived from propagules introduced directly into the Bay of Islands district by man. Neither of these species is a regular associate of human settlements or commodities, and the highly cryptobiotic P. leae in particular would seem unlikely to be carried on normal cargoes. I t is probable that both forms were introduced in soil ballast during the early days of European settlement, when Bay of Islands ports were important trade termini. Further search in Northland could well expose other similar elements in the ant fauna. Ir idomyrmex darwinianus, on the other hand, represents one of the many ant species which have reached New Zealand on more recent cargoes, notably on Australian timber, or other stocks in trade (especially fruit and vegetables) from elsewhere. In the following paper a number of species are discussed, most of which are probably also recent introductions. Six of these ants are recorded from New Zealand for the first time. An attempt is made to assess the pest potential of these species, and in some cases their possible modes of entry into the country are discussed. The interception records cited in this respect have been gathered as part of an associated study based on the known records of apprehension of exotic ants at New Zealand ports; a summary of this work is in the final stages of preparation. A large part of the material discussed below was collected by the author. Many records have been derived from the collections of the Plant Diseases Division, Auckland : the N.Z. Plant Quarantine
The mode matching technique for electromagnetic scattering by cylindrical waveguides with canonical terminations

The Mode Matching Technique is employed for the evaluation of the Radar Cross-Section (RCS) of cylindrical inlets terminated by a perfectly conducting cylindrical hub or a cylindrical array of grooves that may be straight or curved. In the case of curved grooves, the geometry is analyzed via the generalized transmission line theory and a closed form solution is given for the first time. The method is formally exact, and yields accurate RCS patterns for geometries that have not been previously investigated. Analytical expressions are derived for the coupling factors between the various modes and RCS results are presented which may be used as a reference in validating other, more general numerical techniques.
Near ultraviolet circular dichroism spectroscopy of plasma fibronectin and fibronectin fragments.

Abstract Comparison of the near uv CD spectrum of human plasma fibronectin with the spectra of the three major leukocyte elastase fragments 25 Kd, 60 Kd and 140 160 shows that the aromatic residues of these fragments are in different environments. In particular, the ellipticity bands associated with tryptophan in the 290–300 nm region differ for each fragment. The results also show that intrachain disulfide bridges are important in stabilizing regions of the fibronectin molecule against the structure-disrupting effects of 8M urea.
Intelligent sensor integrated system

In multiple-sensor fusion several sensors acquire the same information, and thereby increase the reliability and accuracy of the information through a systematic process of combination of the sensory data obtained from different sources. The accuracy of the sensory data depends upon the precision of sensor and the environmental states in which the sensor operates. Most of the existing sensor integration systems (SIS) use some form of statistical techniques and hence lack the flexibility to change or replace inaccurate sensor(s). This paper presents an Intelligent Sensor Integrated System (ISIS) approach that uses the knowledge database of the sensors and allows for the changing or replacing of sensor(s). This proposed system uses fuzzy logic to achieve this objective.
The Implementation of Cognitive Therapy in STAR*D

The Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) project will provide symptomatic and functional outcome data to evaluate the theoretical principles and clinical beliefs that currently guide the treatment of nonpsychotic major depression. Cognitive Therapy (CT) for depression has been chosen as a switch or augmentation treatment for patients who have failed an adequate trial of the antidepressant citalopram. We describe the rationale, organization, and role of CT in STAR*D. We discuss the issues involved in developing and implementing CT in a large, multisite, effectiveness study: therapist selection, training, certification, quality assurance, and post-training supervision. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our implementation procedures on interpreting the results of the STAR*D study.
Consumptive effects of fish reduce wetland crayfish recruitment and drive species turnover

Predators and dry-disturbances have pronounced effects on invertebrate communities and can deterministically affect compositional turnover between discrete aquatic habitats. We examined the effect of sunfish (Lepomis spp.) predators on two native crayfish, Procambarus alleni and P. fallax, that regionally coexist in an expansive connected wetland in order to test the hypotheses that sunfish predation limits crayfish recruitment (both species) and that it disproportionately affects P. alleni, the species inhabiting temporary wetlands. In replicate vegetated wetlands (18.6 m2), we quantified summertime crayfish recruitment and species composition across an experimental gradient of sunfish density. Separately, we quantified effects of sunfish on crayfish growth, conducted a complimentary predation assay in mesocosms, and compared behavior of the two crayfish. Sunfish reduced P. alleni summertime recruitment by >99% over the full sunfish gradient, and most of the effect was caused by low densities of sunfish (0.22–0.43 m−2). P. alleni dominated wetlands with few or no sunfish, but the composition shifted towards P. fallax dominance in wetlands with abundant sunfish. P. fallax survived better than P. alleni over 40 h in smaller mesocosms stocked with warmouth. Sunfish reduced P. fallax recruitment 62% in a second wetland experiment, but growth rates of caged crayfish (both species) were unaffected by sunfish presence, suggesting predatory effects were primarily consumptive. Consistent with life histories of relatively fish-sensitive invertebrates, P. alleni engaged in more risky behaviors in the laboratory. Our results indicate that sunfish predators limit recruitment of both species, but disproportionately remove the more active and competitively dominant P. alleni. Spatially and temporally variable dry-disturbances negatively co-varying with sunfish populations allow for regional coexistence of these two crayfish and may release populations of either species from control by predatory fishes.
Cytosine anions: ab initio study

Abstract Theoretical ab initio calculations have been performed to determine the stability of covalent and dipole-bound anions of cytosine. The work is related to the recent anion spectroscopy experiments performed on some nucleic acid bases including cytosine by Schiedt et al. [Chem. Phys. 239 (1998) 511], where two anion states attributed to dipole-bound anions of the amino–hydroxy (A–H) and amino–oxo (A–O) tautomers were detected. The present calculations reveal that (i) the A–O isomer and two rotamers of the A–H isomer have sufficient dipole moments to bind σ excess electrons in stationary dipole-bound states. The calculated adiabatic electron affinities are 58, 22, and 6 meV for the A–O cytosine and the two rotamers of the A–H cytosine, respectively. These values are considerably smaller than the two experimentally determined values of 85±8 and 230±8 meV; (ii) our calculations also describe covalent anions of the A–O and A–H tautomers. In both systems, the six-member ring is noticeably distorted from planarity. According to the calculations only, the A–O covalent anion is vertically stable with respect to the electron attachment, and the corresponding vertical electron detachment energy is 102 meV. However, both A–O and A–H cytosine anions are predicted to be unstable with respect to the adiabatic electron detachment. This finding is consistent with the lack of a covalent anion feature in the experimental spectrum.
Temporal communication graphs: Lamport's process-time graphs augmented for the purpose of mapping and scheduling

Abstract The temporal communication graph (TCG) is a graph theoretic model of parallel computation that we have developed for the mapping of parallel computations to message-passing parallel architectures. The TCG can be viewed as an augmented version of Lamport's process-time graphs. It integrates the two dominant models currently in use in the areas of mapping and scheduling: the static task graph and the DAG. In addition, the TCG provides the capability to identify logically synchronous phases of communication and computation, and to describe the temporal behavior of a parallel algorithm in terms of these phases. This paper defines the TCG, introduces a language for describing TCGs, illustrates its use for mapping and scheduling, and discusses a wide range of potential uses for the TCG in the area of parallel programming environments.
Power, Politics, and Pecking Order: Technological Innovation as a Site of Collaboration, Resistance, and Accommodation

The author summarizes and interprets data collected while he was a visiting scholar in a foreign language (FL) department at a large U.S. public research university. This qualitative case study focuses on: (a) the process of developing widely acclaimed Web-based beginning FL teaching software, and (b) the political implications of the development team's success within their host department. As the team forged strategic alliances across the campus and received substantial funding through their university's technology initiatives, certain traditional intradepartmental power relationships (especially between language- and literature-teaching faculty) were destabilized. The most striking outcomes of the events described here were the subversion of longstanding rules and procedures for granting tenure and promotion and the empowerment of the beginning program coordinator and his associates. The findings of the present research are framed in terms of theoretical constructs proposed by Jordan (1999) and Bourdieu (1988). The conclusion includes suggestions for consumers and creators of large-scale technology projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
The synthesis and crystal structures of triphenyl(1,2,3-trimethylallyl)tin and triphenyl( 1,1,2-trimethylallyl)tin

Abstract In an attempt to isolate new allylating reagents, two new tin compounds, triphenyl(1,2,3-trimethylallyl)tin ( 3 ) and triphenyl(1,1,2-trimethylallyl)tin ( 4 ) have been prepared and their crystal structures determined. Both compounds are examples of σ-bound allyl complexes. However, the infrared spectra of both compounds do not show the absorptions characteristic of other σ-bound allyl complexes. The chemistry of these new compounds also differs significantly from that of similar triphenyltin(allyl) reagents.
The equivalence of DNA from developing frog embryos.

Abstract DNA was isolated from gastrulae, neurulae, tailbuds and larvae of developing frog embryos by a method which reduced the level of protein to less than 1 per cent. In the presence of Micrococcus lysodeikticus RNA polymerase and the four ribonucleoside triphosphates, equal amounts of these DNA preparations primed for similar levels of RNA synthesis. The priming activity for RNA synthesis of adult frog liver DNA was greatest when the protein level was reduced to less than 1 per cent. This liver DNA primed for significantly more RNA synthesis than did liver chromatin or nucleoprotein preparations which contained the same amount of DNA. RNase treatment of low-protein DNA did not affect priming for RNA synthesis. DNA preparations from four developmental stages of the frog embryo and adult frog liver showed similar sedimentation constants in the analytical ultracentrifuge and similar melting profiles, indicating similarity of these preparations.
Incorporating the Number of Existing Home Sales into a Structural Model of the Market for Owner-Occupied Housing

Abstract The principal purpose of this paper is to develop and estimate a structural model of the housing market. The structural model presented is like many previously presented models of the housing market. It contains a demand equation, a supply equation, and an equation to explain the number of homeowner households. Its principal distinguishing feature is the incorporation of the rate of housing sales. This is done by adding a fourth equation to the model that explains the rate of housing sales (or turnover rate) and by including the turnover rate in the supply equation. Housing sales are measured using the National Association of Realtors Existing Homes Sales Survey; the rate of sales is found to be negatively related to the level of housing prices. This particular result is in disagreement with several recent papers that find a positive relationship between housing sales and housing prices. As we argue in the paper, the result is consistent with a lessening in the importance of downpayment and liquidity constraints in the housing decisions of households in the late 1980s and 1990s. Other important results include: (1) the number of home owners is determined in large part by the size of the population of the metropolitan area; (2) the price elasticity of supply is quite large; (3) the demand for housing per household performs reasonably well; and (4) the reduced form equations seem reasonable.
Extensions of spacetimes with Killing horizons

The authors consider spacetimes possessing a one-parameter group of isometries with a Killing horizon, N, i.e. an isometry-invariant null hypersurface to which the Killing field is normal. They assume further that the Killing orbits on N are diffeomorphic to R, and that N admits a smooth cross section Sigma , such that each orbit intersects Sigma precisely once. If the surface gravity, kappa , on a generator gamma of N is non-vanishing, then gamma will be null geodesically incomplete. It is proved that any such incomplete generator gamma must terminate in a parallelly propagated curvature singularity whenever the surface gravity has a non-vanishing gradient on gamma . If, however, kappa is constant throughout the horizon, the authors prove that one can extend a neighbourhood of N so that N is a proper subset of a regular bifurcate Killing horizon in the extended spacetime. Since constancy of kappa on N is implied by Einstein's equations and the dominant energy condition, these results indicate that the only physically relevant Killing horizons are bifurcate Killing horizons and horizons with kappa =0. They also prove that for a static or stationary axisymmetric spacetime with a bifurcate Killing horizon, the natural static or stationary axisymmetric hypersurfaces smoothly intersect the bifurcation surface.
Fractal model for digital image texture analysis

The present paper uses a fractal model for differentiating and quantifying image texture. The employment of the fractal model to texture classification involves evaluation of the fractal dimension of the images concerned. A parametric representation of the image texture in terms of fractal dimension is achieved by extending fractional Brownian motion to the discrete case and using a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for estimation of the fractal parameter H. The algorithm developed for this model is applied successfully to texture classification of synthetic polymeric membranes. Such texture classification provides us with a quantitative descriptor of polymeric membrane morphology for establishing a correlation between the morphology and the chemical transport phenomena in generating membranes for various industrial applications.
THE COMPORTMENTAL LEARNING DISABILITIES OF EARLY FRONTAL LOBE DAMAGE

Two adult patients are described who suffered bilateral prefrontal damage early in life and who subsequently came to psychiatric attention because of severely aberrant behaviour. A battery of developmental psychology paradigms (not previously used to assess neurologically impaired individuals) showed that social and moral development of these 2 patients was arrested at an immature stage. In comparison with other types of brain damage which disrupt cognitive development, frontal damage acquired early in life appears to provide the neurological substrate for a special type of learning disability in the realms of insight, foresight, social judgement, empathy, and complex reasoning.
Time-resolved dynamic contrast-enhanced MR urography for the evaluation of ureteral peristalsis: initial experience.

Purpose To determine the feasibility of time-resolved dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance urography (MRU) for the evaluation of ureteral peristalsis using a data-sharing 3D gradient echo sequence with spiral k-space filling. Materials and Methods Eight patients (M = 3, F = 5, mean 48.1 years) were referred for MRU for the evaluation for renal mass (n = 3), hematuria (n = 2), urinary tract tuberculosis (n = 1), postoperative bladder cancer (n = 1), and postoperative ureteric reimplantation (n = 1). Dynamic MRU was performed for 120 seconds at 1.5T after intravenous furosemide and gadolinium administration using an oblique sagittal, time-resolved T1 3D gradient echo sequence with 1 second effective temporal resolution. Study quality was assessed based on artifacts and extent of ureteric visualization. Frequency of peristalsis from the renal pelvis to urinary bladder was evaluated for each subject. Results A total of 16 ureters were examined. Image quality was good in four ureters, satisfactory in 11 ureters, and poor in one ureter. Mean peristaltic frequency was 3.5 waves per minute (range, 2.5–6.5 waves/minute) in normal ureters (n =11). Five ureters were considered abnormal (one urinary tract tuberculosis and four postsurgical ureters), and all had decreased or no peristalsis (0–1.5 waves per minute). Conclusion MRU using a time-resolved, data-sharing 3D contrast-enhanced technique is able to demonstrate ureteral peristalsis and permits quantification of ureteral peristaltic frequency. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:1293–1298. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effects of depression on sensory/motor vs. central processing in visual mental imagery

Visual mental imagery is often affected by those experiencing a major depressive disorder (MDD), and is commonly used in cognitive behavioural therapy to treat these patients. However, the nature of imagery in this population has not been studied in depth. Moreover, it remains unclear what aspects of cognitive processing are responsible for psychomotor retardation observed in some patients with MDD. Control participants and participants who were experiencing MDD performed a mental image generation task, a mental image rotation task, and a task that required them to identify objects seen from canonical vs. noncanonical viewpoints. In all three tasks, participants with MDD performed “central processing” (which leads to the decisions required by the task) as well as control participants, but were slower in sensory/motor processing. These results suggest that the psychomotor retardation observed in patients with depression may result from an encoding or motor output deficit rather than a cognitive deficit.
A Tower Unto Heaven: Toward an Expanded Framework for Psychopathology

I respond to commentaries on my target article “An Evolutionary Life History Framework for Psychopathology.” I start by addressing criticism of my basic assumptions about life history strategies and their implications for individual differences in human behavior. Next, I examine the theoretical structure of the proposed framework and respond to the commentators’ challenges to its generality and flexibility. I show how the framework can be expanded to include multiple levels of analysis and to integrate behavioral control with neurological functionality; I also reinterpret the recent finding of a general factor of psychopathology in the context of the expanded framework. In the last section I discuss specific psychopathological conditions, namely attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and depression. For each condition, I reply to the commentator...
Luteinizing hormone releasing activity in the chicken hypothalamus.

Acid extracts of chicken hypothalamus contain a substance which stimulated the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from rat adenohypophyses in an in vitro incubation system. Arginine vasotocin in concentration equal to that in the extracts had no effect on LH release under the same conditions. These results suggest the presence of an LH-releasing factor in the chicken hypothalamus which can act on the rat pituitary and which is not arginine vasotocin. (Endocrinology 84: 1262, 1969)
RNaseE and RNA Helicase B Play Central Roles in the Cytoskeletal Organization of the RNA Degradosome

The RNA degradosome of Escherichia coli is a multiprotein complex that plays an essential role in normal RNA processing and decay. It was recently shown that the major degradosome constituents are organized in a coiled cytoskeletal-like structure that extends along the length of the cell. Here we show that the endoribonuclease E (RNaseE) and RNA helicase B (RhlB) components of the degradosome can each independently form coiled structures in the absence of the other degradosome proteins. In contrast, the cytoskeletal organization of the other degradosome proteins required the presence of the RNaseE or RhlB coiled elements. Although the RNaseE and RhlB structures were equally competent to support the helical organization of polynucleotide phosphorylase, the cytoskeletal-like organization of enolase occurred only in the presence of the RNaseE coiled structure. The results indicate that the RNA degradosome proteins are components of the bacterial cytoskeleton rather than existing as randomly distributed multiprotein complexes within the cell and suggest a model for the cellular organization of the components within the helical degradosomal structure.
Combining Microfluidics and Fluorescence to Quantify the Timing of Viral Release

Release of viral particles from a host cell is an important step in the viral life cycle. This has been well studied in a variety of viral systems, but quantitative data on the exact timing of viral release and potential cell-to-cell variations is still needed. This data could shed light on the underlying mechanisms that affect the timing and rate of viral production. In this poster, we explain the experimental setup that will allow us to gather this data using viral like particles produced in the HIV-1 test system.HIV-1 is an important and extensively studied retrovirus. Transfecting cells with only the structural protein Gag produces viral like particles (VLPs). The budding and release of these VLPs is similar to viruses produced from cells transfected with the full viral genome. There is a temporal distribution in the release of viral like particles from transfected cells, but the exact distribution and its cause are not fully known. We are developing an experimental setup that combines microfluidics and fluorescence to determine these.Here, we summarize previous microfluidic designs and elaborate on the design fabrication and testing process specific to the adherent mammalian cells needed to produce VLPs. These adherent cells are grown inside a PDMS/glass based microfluidic device. They are transiently transfected with HIV-1 Gag-YFP. A very slow flow of medium is established and a narrow channel section is observed downstream from the cell colony. A CCD camera is used to detect each VLP and a histogram of observed VLP vs. post transfection time is made. We explain the testing of our detection system limits using fluorescent beads as a model. Finally, we discuss the design and initial testing of microfluidic devices for single cell VLP production studies.
The chemistry of flower pigmentation in Antirrhinum majus; color genotypes. I. The flavonoid components of the homozygous P, M, Y color types.

Abstract The chemical effects of the three color factors P, M, and Y in Antirrhinum majus have been studied with respect to the aglycones of the flavone, flavonol, aurone, and anthocyanin glycosides present in the known homozygous color types. The P factor appears to control a specific kind of oxidation of the C3-fragment that joins the two 6-carbon rings. Anthocyanidins and flavonols are present only when P is present in the dominant condition. The M factor controls the oxidation state of the C6(B)-ring in the flavones, flavonols, and anthocyanidins: quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, and cyanidin are formed in the presence of M; kampferol, apigenin, and pelargonidin in its absence. The oxidation state of the B ring of the aurone pigment is not controlled by M: aureusidin glycosides are present in both M- and mm flowers. The Y factor seems to operate at an early stage in the synthesis, in its dominant form permitting the formation of small amounts of aurone pigment, in its recessive form permitting large quantities of aurone to be produced. Aurone pigment is produced in the flower petals only; the other pigments are found in flowers, stems, and leaves. The genetic dependence of the structures of the flavanones has not yet been determined. A naringenin glycoside is known to occur in the plant, but the other flavanones recognizable on paper chromatograms are still of unknown structure. Quantitative studies on the pigments of homozygous and heterozygous plants are in progress, and show promise of offering further evidence regarding the chemical-genetical relationships of the flavonoid pigmentation.
Identity and multicultural politics

(1998). Identity and multicultural politics. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy: Vol. 1, Pluralsim and Liberal Neutrality, pp. 137-146.
Gross slip criteria in fretting

Abstract One of the most important characteristics in fretting is the transition from mixed stick-slip conditions to gross slip, as given by the corresponding regime boundary in fretting maps. The regime boundary is determined by the critical values of frequency, normal force, tangential force amplitude and displacement amplitude. Three sets of criteria for incipient gross slip have been studied in the present investigation: fretting scar morphology, tangential force and displacement amplitude interrelations, and fretting energy dissipation. A fully computerized fretting tester has been used, in which the relative displacement between the specimens can be very accurately controlled and measured. Tangential force and relative displacement measurements can be made with resolutions of 2 nm and 5 mN respectively. Pure copper (UNS C11) specimens were studied. Post-test studies of fretting scars were performed by SEM. With some practice, it is possible to identify scar morphologies characteristic of the different regimes. The last two criteria were compared by plotting tangential force amplitude and energy dissipation together as functions of displacement amplitude in so-called FED (force energy displacement) diagrams. Some FED diagrams display force curves without a well-defined critical force amplitude, rendering the force criterion difficult to apply. The energy curves, however, always have a sharp bend, corresponding to a change in energy dissipation characteristics at the gross slip transition. The energy criterion occurs for a lower critical displacement amplitude than the force criterion (when applicable). A possible explanation of this observation is discussed.
Impact of uncertainty on high frequency response of the U.S. stock markets to the Fed's policy surprises

Abstract This paper examines the impact of uncertainty on estimated response of stock returns to U.S. monetary policy surprise. This is motivated by the Lucas island model which suggests an inverse relationship between the effectiveness of a policy and the level of uncertainty in the economy. Using high frequency daily data from the Federal funds futures market, we first estimate the response of S&P 500 stock returns to monetary policy surprises within the time varying parameter (TVP) model. We then analyze the relationship of these time varying estimates with the benchmark VIX index and alternative measures of uncertainty. Evidence suggests a significant negative relationship between the level of uncertainty and the time varying response of S&P 500 stock returns to unanticipated changes in the interest rate. Thus, at higher levels of uncertainty the impact of monetary policy shocks on stock markets is lower. The results are robust to different measures of uncertainty.
Manipulating hydrate formation during high shear wet granulation using polymeric excipients

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) can undergo an anhydrate to hydrate transformation during wet granulation and this transformation may either result in mixed crystalline forms or an unwanted form in the final drug product. Previous studies have shown that it may be possible to inhibit this transformation with polymeric excipients. In this study, three model compounds, caffeine (CAF), carbamazepine (CBZ), and sulfaguanidine (SGN), were subjected to high shear wet granulation and phase transformations were monitored using in-line Raman spectroscopy. Wet granulation was performed in the presence and absence of various polymeric excipients to determine the extent of the inhibitory effects. Although several polymers had some retardation effect, cross-linked poly(acrylic) acid was found to completely inhibit the CAF transformation and both hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and cross-linked poly(acrylic) acid completely inhibited the CBZ transformation. For SGN, transformation to the hydrate was rapid, even in the presence of the polymers. The observed inhibitory effects were attributed to either specific interactions between the polymer and the API crystal or substantial water absorption by the polymer. There was also evidence from physical property testing that the inclusion of a small amount of inhibitory polymer did not significantly change the compaction or flow behavior of the final granulation.
Myrcene Hydroxylases do not Determine Enantiomeric Composition of Pheromonal Ipsdienol in Ips spp.

Myrcene (7-methyl-3-methylene-1,6-octadiene) hydroxylation is likely one of the final reactions involved in the production of the Ips spp. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) aggregation pheromone components, ipsdienol (2-methyl-6-methylene-2,7-octadien-4-ol) and ipsenol (2-methyl-6-methylene-7-octen-4-ol). To gain insight into the evolution of pheromone production, we isolated a full-length cDNA from the pinyon ips, Ips confusus (LeConte), that encodes a pheromone-biosynthetic cytochrome P450, I. confusus CYP9T1 (IcCYP9T1). The recovered cDNA is 1.70 kb, and the open reading frame encodes a 532 amino acid protein. IcCYP9T1 is 94% identical to the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say), CYP9T2 ortholog that hydroxylates myrcene. Quantitative real-time PCR experiments showed that IcCYP9T1, as does CYP9T2, has an expression pattern similar to other pheromone-biosynthetic genes in I. pini. Basal expression levels were higher in males than females, and expression was significantly induced in male, but not in female, anterior midguts by feeding on host phloem. Microsomes, prepared from Sf9 cells co-expressing baculoviral-mediated recombinant IcCYP9T1 and house fly (Musca domestica) NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, converted myrcene to ~85%-(R)-(−)-ipsdienol. These results are consistent with IcCYP9T1 encoding a myrcene hydroxylase that functions near the end of the pheromone-biosynthetic pathway. Since the I. confusus pheromone blend contains >90%-(S)-(+)-ipsdienol, these results confirm further that Ips spp. myrcene hydroxylases do not control the final ipsdienol enantiomeric blend. Other enzymes are required following myrcene hydroxylation to achieve the critical quantity and enantiomeric composition of pheromonal ipsenol and ipsdienol used by different Ips spp.
The Warrior Tradition and the Masculinity of War

The author discusses the widespread link between manliness and capacity for violence and between warriorhood and adulthood. Notes.
Architectural benefits and design challenges for three-dimensional integrated circuits

The emerging three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) is one of the promising solutions for future IC design. This tutorial gives an overview of various approaches for future 3D IC design, with the benefits of fast latency, higher bandwidth, and heterogeneous integration capability that are offered by the 3D technology. The design challenges for future 3D ICs are also discussed.1