cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Child-sensitive social protection. A new approach to programming for children affected by HIV and AIDS

The global agenda for children affected by HIV and AIDS is rapidly moving forward in new and important directions. Over the past 5 years, the evidence base on children and HIV/AIDS has expanded considerably and a new global consensus on how to effectively respond to the challenges faced by children affected by HIV and AIDS has emerged. Recent work commissioned and completed by the Interagency Task Team (IATT) on Children and HIV/AIDS and the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA) synthesizing the evidence base on children affected by HIV/AIDS has been instrumental in this regard. Drawing upon the evidence base, this paper focuses upon two critical shifts in global consensus on how to improve the response to children affected by HIV and AIDS that are particularly relevant for policy and programming. Firstly, there is increasing agreement that the global response to children should be AIDS sensitive, rather than AIDS exclusive. Although there are some AIDS-specific vulnerabilities childr...
Hydrolysis of conjugated 17-ketosteroids.

Synthetic dehydroepiandrosterone sodium sulfate underwent hydrolysis when subjected to ethyl acetate or tetrahydrofurane containing perchloric acid. In agreement with Burstein and co-workers, this type of hydrolysis will also cleave 17-ketosteroid glucuronosides. The perchloric acid-ethyl acetate hydrolysis has been applied to human urine, and with 3-hr incubation at room temperature the degree of hydrolysis of conjugated urinary 17-ketosteroids was at least that which could be achieved by hot acid hydrolysis. Gas-liquid chromatography of the 17-ketosteroids after hot acid hydrolysis indicated some destruction; in particular, dehydroepiandrosterone was unstable. Ethyl acetate-perchloric acid hydrolysis did not produce such destruction. The data obtained indicate that the following hydrolytic procedures are adequate when working with conjugated urinary 17-ketosteroids: a) β-glucuronidase for 17-ketosteroid glucuronosides; b) ethyl acetate-sulfuric acid solvolysis for 17-ketosteroid sulfates; c) ethyl aceta...
The synthesis and structural analysis of Pt2Ru4(CO)18 and the products obtained from its reactions with 1, 2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane

From the reaction of Ru(CO)5 and Pt(COD)2, COD = 1, 5-cyclooctadiene, the new platinum-ruthenium heteronuclear cluster complex Pt2Ru4(CO)18,1, was obtained in 60% yield.1 has a folded ladder-like structure with alternating pairs of ruthenium atoms and platinum atoms. The cluster of1 can be split to yield the known compound PtRu2(CO)8(η2-dppe),2, (54% yield) by reaction with 1, 2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, dppe, at 25°C. When1 was treated with excess dppe at 40°C, thebis-diphos compound3, PtRu2(CO)6(μ-η2-dppe)2 was obtained (39% yield). Under the similar reaction conditions,2 was converted to3 in 44% yield. All these complexes were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Compounds2 and3 both contain a triangular cluster of one platinum and two ruthenium atoms, but in2 the bidentate ligand, dppe, chelates the platinum atom and in3 the two dppe ligands bridge the two Pt-Ru metal-metal bonds. Crystal data for1: space group C2/c,a=12.542(2)A,b=15.350(4)A,c=15.252(3)A, β=105.32(2)°,Z=4, 2192 reflections,R=0.025. For2: space group P21/c,a=14.351(2)A,b=13.486(3)A,c=19.218(3)A, β=108.48(1)°,Z=4, 3029 reflections,R=0.027. For3: space group P21/c,a=18.836(6)A,b=15.559(5)A,c=23.259(7)A, β=111.26(2)°,Z=4, 4204 reflections,R=0.038.
Chemotaxis of Ralstonia eutropha JMP134(pJP4) to the Herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetate

Ralstonia eutropha JMP134(pJP4) and several other species of motile bacteria can degrade the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D), but it was not known if bacteria could sense and swim towards 2,4-D by the process of chemotaxis. Wild-type R. eutropha cells were chemotactically attracted to 2,4-D in swarm plate assays and qualitative capillary assays. The chemotactic response was induced by growth with 2,4-D and depended on the presence of the catabolic plasmid pJP4, which harbors the tfd genes for 2,4-D degradation. The tfd cluster also encodes a permease for 2,4-D named TfdK. A tfdK mutant was not chemotactic to 2,4-D, even though it grew at wild-type rates on 2,4-D.
Effect of Heart Rate on Electrically Induced Repetitive Ventricular Responses in the Digitalized Dog

After recovery from acetylstrophanthidin-induced ventricular tachycardia, a repetitive ventricular response (RVR) following a single diastolic stimulus could be elicited for 22 minutes. With atrial pacing at the maximum ventricular follow rate, RVR was obtainable for 70 minutes. A pause in pacing also evoked a ventricular ectopic beat; however, this persisted for only 27 minutes. The minimum heart rate required for RVR was always less than the minimum rate required for pause-induced ectopic beats. Extrasystoles following a pause during pacing, RVR in sinus rhythm, and RVR during rapid heart rates represent decreasing levels of ventricular automaticity corresponding to progressive dissipation of digitalis intoxication. The underlying mechanism for RVR probably is due to net loss of intracellular potassium, which can be induced both by digitalization and by rate acceleration.
REC/SM: a semi structured programming language

Regular Expression Compiler (REC) is a programming language of extremely simple structure. It is a goto-less language which has very appealing transfer of control operations. It is a generalized language which can be implemented for special purpose applications by a proper choice of operators and predicates. This paper describes REC language and one of its "symbol manipulation" implementations, REC/SM. The language has been enormously successful from the users satisfaction point of view. And like BLISS, it has once again proved that the well-publicized inconvenience of programming without a goto is a myth.
The impact of trade openness on technical efficiency in the agricultural sector of the European Union

The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of trade openness on technical efficiency of the European Union’s (EU) agricultural sector. There are no systematic theories linking trade policy to technical efficiency; hence, the relation between trade liberalization and technical efficiency is fundamentally ambiguous. Stochastic frontier analysis is used to model the relationship between EU’s production resources and agricultural output, as well as the importance of trade openness on technical efficiency of a country. The data for 16 of the 28 EU members were available for the period 1980–2007 including land, capital, fertilizer, labour, agricultural GDP, foreign direct investments (FDI), exports and import data. Results indicate that trade openness has an immediate, negative impact on efficiency in the EU agricultural sector. Over time, however, trade openness does increase efficiency. The FDI outflows increase efficiency. This suggests that an initial reduction in capital supply forces EU nations to uti...
A spectroscopic investigation of the metal binding site of bleomycin A2. The Cu(II) and Zn(II) derivatives.

Abstract Using a combination of ultraviolet-visible absorption, 1 H NMR and ESR techniques we have established that N(1) of the imidazole and N(1) of the pyrimidine residues of bleomycin A 2 bind to Cu(II) and Zn(II). These observations coupled with the earlier results that the α-amino group of the α-amino carboxamide function and the carbamoyl moiety are also Cu(II)-ligating groups makes it possible to reconstruct the detailed geometry and stereochemistry of the metal binding site of bleomycin A 2 .
A pilot study of dose-intensified procarbazine, CCNU, vincristine for poor prognosis brain tumors utilizing fibronectin-assisted, retroviral-mediated modification of CD34+ peripheral blood cells with O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase

Administration of chemotherapy is often limited by myelosuppression. Expression of drug-resistance genes in hematopoietic cells has been proposed as a means to decrease the toxicity of cytotoxic agents. In this pilot study, we utilized a retroviral vector expressing methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) to transduce hematopoietic progenitors, which were subsequently used in the setting of alkylator therapy (procarbazine, CCNU, vincristine (PCV)) for poor prognosis brain tumors. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells were collected by apheresis and enriched for CD34+ expression. Nine subjects were infused with CD34+-enriched cells treated in a transduction procedure involving a 4-day exposure to cytokines with vector exposure on days 3 and 4. No major adverse event was related to the gene therapy procedure. Importantly, the engraftment kinetics of the treated product was similar to unmanipulated peripheral blood stem cells, suggesting that the ex vivo manipulation did not significantly reduce engrafting progenitor cell function. Gene-transduced cells were detected in all subjects. Although the level and duration was limited, patients receiving cells transduced using fibronectin 'preloaded' with virus supernatant appeared to show improved in vivo marking frequency. These findings demonstrate the feasibility and safety of utilizing MGMT-transduced CD34+ peripheral blood progenitor cells in the setting of chemotherapy.
Exercise-Induced Ischemia and Carotid Atherosclerosis

To the Editor: We read with interest the recent article by Nagai et al1 detailing the significant association between exercise-induced myocardial ischemia and carotid artery intimal-medial thickness in asymptomatic participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. These findings highlight and support previously reported observations from our laboratory on the relation between exercise ECG manifestations of ischemia and carotid artery structure and plaque.2 The relationship of exercise ECG myocardial ischemia to the presence of carotid atherosclerosis …
Evolution of a 3D Gallop in a Quadrupedal Model with Biological Characteristics

The gallop is the preferred high-speed gait for dynamic locomotion in most cursorial mammals. Due to the lack of good analytical models and proven control strategies, however, the gallop remains an elusive goal in the field of legged robotics. While there have been several attempts at creating a gallop, none have captured all of the important dynamic characteristics of the gait. In this work, we present a practical approach for producing a stable 3D gallop in a quadrupedal model which includes these characteristics. The dynamic model utilizes biologically-based assumptions including articulated legs with nonzero mass, compliance at the knee joints, and a body with an asymmetric mass distribution. Furthermore, the resulting 3D gallop contains the prominent features found in the biological gait: early leg retraction, phase-locked leg motion creating an asymmetric footfall pattern, a significant gathered flight phase, unconstrained spatial dynamics, and a smooth gait. To obtain these results, we employ a multiobjective genetic algorithm with a carefully designed vector fitness function to search for various control parameters. Furthermore, we partition the search space in roughly orthogonal subspaces to find parameters for each sub-controller. A critical component of the controller is an energy control law that ensures a fixed amount of energy in the knee springs during each stride. A characterization of the resulting gait is presented, which highlights biological properties and the visual realism of the solution.
Analysis of surveillance data: A rationale for statistical tests with comments on confidence intervals and statistical models

In the examination of differences between subgroups in surveillance data, whether through simple counting or through sophisticated statistical modelling, the comparison is not between simple random samples from two or more populations. The rationale for statistical tests rests on an appeal to a model of random permutation of demographic and disease factors for the observed population during the surveillance period. The testing evaluates chance as a possible explanation for the observed results. In the analysis of internal structure in a surveillance data set, statistical tests produce a conceptually simple result that lends itself to concise presentation and flexible interpretation. Tests limit emphasis on probabilistic manipulation and on parameter estimates. They cannot stand alone, and thus encourage descriptive presentation of observations. In contrast, statistical models and confidence intervals emphasize parameters rather than distributions and compete with the data for limited space.
Isavuconazole: A comprehensive review of spectrum of activity of a new triazole

Isavuconazole is a new triazole currently undergoing phase III clinical trials. This compound has shown in vitro activity against a large number of clinically important yeasts and moulds including Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Scedosporium spp., Candida spp., the Zygomycetes and Cryptococcus spp. Similar to voriconazole, reduced in vitro activity is seen against Histoplasma capsulatum. In vivo efficacy has been demonstrated in murine models of invasive aspergillosis and candidiasis. Additionally, there are several potential pharmacokinetic and drug-drug interaction advantages of this compound over existing antifungal agents. This review summarizes existing data that has been either published or presented at international symposia.
Comparison of mid‐oceanic earthquake epicentral differences of travel time, centroid locations, and those determined by autonomous underwater hydrophone arrays

[1] Mid-oceanic interplate earthquakes are difficult to locate accurately because they normally occur far away from land-based seismic stations. Use of water-borne T waves recorded by autonomous underwater hydrophone (AUH) arrays records an order of magnitude more highly accurate regional low seismicity along the north Mid-Atlantic Ridge than the International Seismic Centre (ISC). Even though the physical meaning of an AUH locations is still not well known, AUH's small location errors are important for better constraining mid-oceanic earthquakes. Comparison of such AUH locations with those in ISC and Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) location catalog, and relocated ones based on the high-resolution bathymetry and teleseismic P phases, is made in this study. AUH locations are used as a reference to compare the teleseismically determined locations. For large earthquakes with known focal mechanisms, we find that relocated locations agree with AUH ones better than with ISC. We also note that the centroid vectors from relocated epicenters are usually larger than AUH centroid vectors. The relocated epicenters and AUH locations lie in similar azimuthal directions to the associated CMT epicenters. The larger relocated and AUH centroid vectors (than the error ellipses of AUH, CMT, and relocated ones combined) might be explained by the fault rupture process. For smaller events, relocated location confidence ellipses are usually large enough to cover AUH locations and their error ellipses. Overall, the highly accurate AUH locations can be used to confirm the mid-oceanic earthquake hypocenters and seismicity characteristics and for detail studies of the low-level seismicity associated with the plate motions.
Optimizing stability in distal humeral fracture fixation

Restoration of painless and satisfactory elbow function after a fracture of the distal humerus requires anatomic reconstruction of the articular surface, restitution of the overall geometry of the distal humerus, and stable fixation of the fracture fragments to allow early and full rehabilitation. Although these goals are now widely accepted by the orthopaedic community, they may be technically difficult to achieve, especially in the presence of substantial osteoporosis or comminution. Failure, when it occurs, typically occurs at the supracondylar level through loss of fixation in the distal fragments. To prevent such failure and thereby maximize the potential for union and full elbow mobility after a severely fractured distal humerus, 2 principles must be satisfied: (1) fixation in the distal fragment must be maximized and (2) all fixation in distal fragments should contribute to stability between the distal fragments and the shaft. There are 8 technical objectives by which these principles are met: (1) every screw in the distal fragments should pass through a plate; (2) engage a fragment on the opposite side that is also fixed to a plate; (3) as many screws as possible should be placed in the distal fragments; (4) each screw should be as long as possible; (5) each screw should engage as many articular fragments as possible; (6) the screws in the distal fragments should lock together by interdigitation, creating a fixed-angle structure; (7) plates should be applied such that compression is achieved at the supracondylar level for both columns; and (8) the plates must be strong enough and stiff enough to resist breaking or bending before union occurs at the supracondylar level. These can be achieved with parallel plating. Severe metaphyseal comminution and bone loss are managed by supracondylar shortening. From the biomechanical data in the literature, 3 conclusions can be reached concerning fixation of distal humeral fractures. First, the concept that plates need to be placed perpendicular (90°/90° orientation) is unsubstantiated and incorrect. Second, parallel placement of 2 plates in the sagittal plane is as strong or stronger than the 90°/90° orientation. Finally, linking the plates together through the bone, thereby creating the architectural equivalent of an arch, offers the greatest biomechanical stability for comminuted distal humeral fractures. This can be done by interdigitating and locking the screws together as they pass through the distal fragments from the medial and lateral plates placed in the sagittal plane.
The death Motif in v. s. Naipaul's the enigma of arrival: The fusion of autobiography and novel as the enigma of life‐and‐death

(1989). The death Motif in v. s. Naipaul's the enigma of arrival: The fusion of autobiography and novel as the enigma of life‐and‐death. World Literature Written in English: Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 69-82.
Performance of the NBS-LANL RTM Injection Line Vacuum System

A 1000 l/sec cryopump is used to provide the hydrocarbon-free vacuum required for the 100 keV electron beam transport line of the NBS-LANL Racetrack Microtron. The beam line is 3.5 cm in diameter and 4 m long. To overcome the low vacuum conductance of the beam line, it is pumped every 1/2 meter by a 15 cm diameter vacuum manifold which is connected to the cryopump. A single cryopump is used rather than several ion pumps to reduce costs and to provide easier starting. An oil-free roughing pump and sorption pump are used in the initial pumpdown. The vacuum system is all metal sealed. Vacuums of 3 × 10-6 Pa are reached in 8 hours from atomospheric pressure without baking out the system, and ultimate vacuums of 5 × 10-7 Pa are achieved.
B Mode Imaging And Doppler Ultrasonic Catheters For Use With Fiber Optic Endoscopes

The musocal surface of the intestine may be inspected by physicians using flexible fiberoptic endoscopes. Ultrasound energy can be used with these endoscopes to interrogate beyond the surface of the intestine and acquire information about the wall and adjacent tissue. Combined ultrasonic and fiberoptic probes have been built for this purpose, but the combination of both modalities results in a complex endsocope. Alternatively, we have developed miniature ultrasonic probes that can be used as an accessory devices for standard endoscopes. Probes have been built to obtain either a cross sectional image of the wall or acquire blood flow information. Technical details of the probes, their fabrication, and representative results are given.© (1988) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Space-based but not object-based inhibition of return is impaired in Parkinson's disease

Impairments in certain aspects of attention have frequently been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD), including reduced inhibition of return (IOR). Recent evidence suggests that IOR can occur when attention is directed at objects or locations, but previous investigations of IOR in PD have not systematically compared these two frames of reference. The present study compared the performance of 18 nondemented patients with PD and 18 normal controls on an IOR task with two conditions. In the “object-present” condition, objects surrounded the cues and targets so that attention was cued to both a spatial location and to a specific object. In the “object-absent” condition, surrounding objects were not presented so that attention was cued only to a spatial location. When participants had to rely on space-based cues, PD patients demonstrated reduced IOR compared to controls. In contrast, when objects were present in the display and participants could use object-based cues, PD patients exhibited normal IOR. These results suggest that PD patients are impaired in inhibitory aspects of space-based attention, but are able to overcome this impairment when their attention can be directed at object-based frames of reference. This dissociation supports the view that space-based and object-based components of attention involve distinct neurocognitive processes.
Determination of protein complex stoichiometry through multisignal sedimentation velocity experiments

Determination of the stoichiometry of macromolecular assemblies is fundamental to an understanding of how they function. Many different biophysical methodologies may be used to determine stoichiometry. In the past, both sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation have been employed to determine component stoichiometries. Recently, a method of globally analyzing multisignal sedimentation velocity data was introduced by Schuck and coworkers. This global analysis removes some of the experimental inconveniences and inaccuracies that could occur in the previously used strategies. This method uses spectral differences between the macromolecular components to decompose the well-known c(s) distribution into component distributions ck(s); that is, each component k has its own ck(s) distribution. Integration of these distributions allows the calculation of the populations of each component in cosedimenting complexes, yielding their stoichiometry. In our laboratories, we have used this method extensively to determine the component stoichiometries of several protein–protein complexes involved in cytoskeletal remodeling, sugar metabolism, and host–pathogen interactions. The overall method is described in detail in this work, as are experimental examples and caveats.
Atomic-Scale Analysis of Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition from SiH 4 / 2 Plasmas on Si Substrates

We present a systematic atomic-scale analysis of the interactions of SiH3radicals originating in silane containing discharges with Si(001)-(2x1) and H-terminated Si(001)-(2x1) surfaces. Through simulations, we show that the hydrogen coverage of the surface is the key factor that controls both the surface reaction mechanism and the reaction probability. The SiH3radical reacts readily with the pristine Si(001)-(2x1) surface during the initial stages of growth while its reactivity with the corresponding H-terminated surface is considerably lower. Deposition of a-Si:H from SiH3 radicals has also been simulated by repeatedly impinging SiH3 radicals onto Si(001)-(2x1) surfaces maintained at 500 °C. During deposition under these conditions, the dominant mechanism of hydrogen removal from the surface is through abstraction by SiH3 radicals, which subsequently return to the gas phase as silane. The important reaction processes that take place during film growth have been identified and their energetics has been analyzed.
Human Cytomegalovirus Latency-Associated Protein pORF94 Is Dispensable for Productive and Latent Infection

Human cytomegalovirus latency in bone marrow-derived myeloid progenitors is characterized by the presence of latency-associated transcripts encoded in the ie1/ie2 region of the viral genome. To assess the role of ORF94 (UL126a), a conserved open reading frame on these transcripts, a recombinant virus (RC2710) unable to express this gene was constructed. This virus replicated at wild-type levels and expressed productive as well as latency-associated ie1/ie2 region transcripts. During latency in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors, RC2710 DNA was detected at levels indistinguishable from wild-type virus, latent-phase transcription was present, and RC2710 reactivated when latently infected cells were cocultured with permissive fibroblasts. These data suggest pORF94 is not required for either productive or latent infection as assayed in cultured cells despite being the only known nuclear latency-associated protein.
Expanding the Scope of Biocatalysis: Oxidative Biotransformations on Solid-Supported Substrates.

Oxidative biocatalytic reactions were performed on solid-supported substrates, thus expanding the repertoire of biotransformations that can be carried out on the solid phase. Various phenylacetic and benzoic acid analogues were attached to controlled pore glass beads via an enzyme-cleavable linker. Reactions catalyzed by peroxidases (soybean and chloro), tyrosinase, and alcohol oxidase/dehydrogenase gave a range of products, including oligophenols, halogenated aromatics, catechols, and aryl aldehydes. The resulting products were recovered following cleavage from the beads using α-chymotrypsin to selectively hydrolyze a chemically non-labile amide linkage. Controlled pore glass (CPG) modified with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) linker afforded substantially higher product yields than non-PEGylated CPG or non-swellable polymeric resins. This work represents the first attempt to combine solid-phase oxidative biotransformations with subsequent protease-catalyzed cleavage, and serves to further expand the use of biocatalysis in synthetic and medicinal chemistry.
THE SCHOLAR‐OFFICIAL AS A MODEL FOR ETHICS

Ignorance has its advantages. When philosophy has a comparative dimension, for instance, and a philosopher from one culture considers a philosophy from another, the philosophy attains a life of its own somewhat freed from its cultural context. In this circumstance the philosopher's ignorance of the cultural ground and consequences of the ideas allows an unusual freedom for appropriating the ideas to new contexts.
Intraventricular Flow During Isovolumic Relaxation: Comparison of Normal and Paced Ectopic Excitation Under Varied Loading Conditions.

In this study, isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT) flow velocities recorded by pulsed Doppler were induced or augmented in nine patients (aged 60 +/- 20 years) with permanent pacemakers. Six subjects had evidence of IVRT flow (>/=0.2 m/sec) during native rhythm, only three of whom exhibited cavity obliteration. Mean +/- SD left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were 60% +/- 5%, 104 +/- 50 mL, and 39 +/- 27 mL, respectively. IVRT flows were induced or augmented (P 50% by pacing (P < 0.05). These data suggest that IVRT flows may be present in patients without cavity obliteration and may be accentuated by asynchronous LV relaxation. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 13, January 1996)
Automated extraction of temporal motor activity signals from video recordings of neonatal seizures based on adaptive block matching

This paper presents an automated procedure developed to extract quantitative information from video recordings of neonatal seizures in the form of motor activity signals. This procedure relies on optical flow computation to select anatomical sites located on the infants' body parts. Motor activity signals are extracted by tracking selected anatomical sites during the seizure using adaptive block matching. A block of pixels is tracked throughout a sequence of frames by searching for the most similar block of pixels in subsequent frames; this search is facilitated by employing various update strategies to account for the changing appearance of the block. The proposed procedure is used to extract temporal motor activity signals from video recordings of neonatal seizures and other events not associated with seizures.
Percutaneous aspiration of retroperitoneal lymph nodes in ovarian cancer

Nine percutaneous lymph node aspirations were performed on six patients with ovarian carcinoma. Two aspirations were performed for initial staging, while seven were done as part of the restaging evaluation. Seven of the aspirations were positive for tumor. Two aspirations were negative, one of which was surgically confirmed. In five instances the percutaneous aspiration saved the patient an operative procedure. Percutaneous lymph node aspiration is valuable when tissue is required to confirm metastatic disease during staging evaluation, especially with equivocal or atypical lymphograms. The procedure is also useful in assessing abnormal lymphograms that persist after therapy.
Selection of Day-Roosts By Keen's Myotis (Myotis keenii) at Multiple Spatial Scales

Keen's myotis (Myotis keenii) has one of the most limited geographic distributions of any species of bat in North America. Because there is little knowledge of its roosting ecology, we examined selection of day-roosts in trees by male and female Keen's myotis at 3 spatial scales (tree, tree plot, and landscape) on Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska, from May to September 2006. We selected variables known to influence roost selection by other tree-roosting bats for logistic regression models. We used Akaike's information criterion to rank all models within and between scales according to their ability to differentiate between characteristics of used and available roosts and we determined the effect of each variable with model-averaged coefficient estimates and associated odds ratios. We tracked 13 females and 6 males to 62 and 24 roosts in trees, respectively. Selection of day-roosts by males and females was most strongly influenced by characteristics of trees. The odds a tree was used for roosting by female Keen's myotis increased with the presence of defects, increasing diameter, and decreasing bark; increasing quadratic mean diameter in the tree plot; and decreasing distance to the nearest stream and increasing proportion of old growth in the landscape. Male Keen's myotis exhibited flexibility in types of roosts chosen, but the odds of a tree being used increased with decreasing bark, the presence of defects, and increasing slope-height. The odds a tree was used as a roost by males also increased with the increasing proportion of trees in early to late decay stages in the tree plot. Some habitat features differed between males and females at each spatial scale and differences are likely a reflection of the energetic demands associated with reproduction. We suggest that maintaining structural components characteristic of old-growth rain forest will promote conservation of Keen's myotis in southeastern Alaska.
Directional solidification of (Ti, Zr) carbide-(Ti, Zr) diboride eutectics

The ZrC-ZrB2, ZrC-TiB2, and TiC-TiB2 metal diboride-metal carbide pseudo-binary eutectic systems have been successfully solidified directionally by means of the floating zone method. The first and third of these eutectics possess a morphology consisting of columnar grains of parallel lamellae with interlamellar spacings that adhere to the lambda-squared (R) C relationship, while the second is noted to solidify in a Chinese calligraphy-like morphology of broken and deformed lamellae. This phenomenon may be related to solid solution effects, but it did not prevent the interlamellar spacings from following the aforementioned law. The calligraphic effect's values are larger than those of the other two systems, and the constant, C, is accordingly about an order of magnitude larger. All three of these cubic-hexagonal systems exhibited identical epitaxial relationships. 24 references.
Decoding of MSTd population activity accounts for variations in the precision of heading perception.

Summary Humans and monkeys use both vestibular and visual motion (optic flow) cues to discriminate their direction of self-motion during navigation. A striking property of heading perception from optic flow is that discrimination is most precise when subjects judge small variations in heading around straight ahead, whereas thresholds rise precipitously when subjects judge heading around an eccentric reference. We show that vestibular heading discrimination thresholds in both humans and macaques also show a consistent, but modest, dependence on reference direction. We used computational methods (Fisher information, maximum likelihood estimation, and population vector decoding) to show that population activity in area MSTd predicts the dependence of heading thresholds on reference eccentricity. This dependence arises because the tuning functions for most neurons have a steep slope for directions near straight forward. Our findings support the notion that population activity in extrastriate cortex limits the precision of both visual and vestibular heading perception.
Guidelines for Quality in Autobiographical Forms of Self-Study Research:

The authors situate the origins of self-study in four developments within education: the growing prominence of naturalistic inquiry methods, the rise of the Reconceptualist movement in curriculum studies, the increased involvement of international scholars in teacher education research, and the re-emergence of action research and its variations. They focus on autobiography and correspondence (e-mail, letters, recorded conversations) not only because these are the dominant forms of self-study but because of the demands they present for producers and consumers. The work of C. Wright Mills (1959)is used to provide a framework for determining what makes a piece of self-study writing research. Mills argues that personal troubles cannot be solved as merely troubles, but must be understood in terms of public issues and history (p. 226). Insights are drawn from literary conventions. A set of guidelines are provided for consideration by self-study researchers in their quest for greater quality.
White Evangelical Protestant Responses to the Civil Rights Movement

In his first book, Stride Toward Freedom (1958), Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected on the future struggle of African Americans after their successful Montgomery bus boycott. Among the “forces of good,” King saw the indispensable assistance of the federal government, cautioning critics and sympathizers that though government action was “not the whole answer,” it was an “important partial answer.”1 King was addressing one of the most common criticisms of black activism for civil rights. White conservative Protestants, in the South and North, insisted that race relations would worsen because agitation would only stoke the fears and hatreds of whites and that government action on behalf of blacks was only a form of coercion. King rejected this reasoning by noting that “morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.” He argued that it was true, for example, that laws could never make employers love their black employees, but they could prevent them from refusing to hire blacks because of their skin color. King conceded that society ultimately must depend on “religion and education to alter the errors of the heart and mind,” but he emphatically argued that “it is an immoral act to compel a man to accept injustice until another man's heart is straight.”2 He added that the law was a form of education in that it instructed citizens about what society regarded as right and appropriate. King asserted that in any case the “habits if not the hearts of people have been and are being altered every day by federal action” and that it would be wrong to undervalue the efficacy and force of law in altering human behavior and social patterns.
Ultrafast Dynamics of the VO2 Insulator-to-Metal Transition Observed by Nondegenerate Pump-Probe Spectroscopy

Non-degenerate pump (1.5 eV)-probe (0.4 eV) transmission spectroscopy on vanadium dioxide films grown on glass and three different sapphire substrates shows systematic variations with substrate that correlate with VO2 grain size and laser fluence. Temperature dependent measurements showed changes in the electronic response that is proportional to the metallic fraction.
Improving cultural competence education: the utility of an intersectional framework.

CONTEXT Most US medical schools have instituted cultural competence education in the undergraduate curriculum. This training is intended to improve the quality of care that doctors, the majority of whom are White, deliver to ethnic and racial minority patients. Research into the outcomes of cultural competence training programmes reveals that they have been largely ineffective in improving doctors' skills. In varied curricular formats, programmes tend to teach group-specific cultural knowledge, despite the vast heterogeneity of racial and ethnic groups. This cultural essentialism diminishes training effectiveness. METHODS This paper proposes key curriculum content changes and suggests the inclusion of an intersectional framework in the cultural competence curriculum. This framework maintains that racial and ethnic minority groups hold multiple social statuses, called social locations, which interact with one another to uniquely shape the health views, needs and experiences of the individuals within the groups. Social locations include those defined by race, ethnicity, gender, social class and sexuality, which are experienced multiplicatively, not additively, within a particular social context. Cultural competence education must go beyond simplified cultural understandings to explore these more complex meanings. Doctors' ability to understand, communicate with and treat diverse groups can be vastly improved by applying an intersectional framework in academic research, self-awareness exercises and clinical training. RESULTS Integrating an intersectional framework into cultural competency education can better prepare doctors for caring for racial and ethnic minority patients. This paper recommends curriculum elements for the classroom and clinical training that can improve doctor knowledge and skills for caring for diverse groups. Medical schools can use the proposed model to facilitate the development of new educational strategies and learning experiences. These improvements can lead to more equitable care and ultimately diminish disparities in health care. Although these recommendations are designed with US schools in mind, they may improve doctor understanding and care of marginal populations across the world.
Organization of ascending hypothalamic projections to the rostral forebrain with special reference to the innervation of cholinergic projection neurons.

Axonal projections from hypothalamic nuclei to the basal forebrain, and their relation to cholinergic projection neurons in particular, were studied in the rat by using the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) in combination with choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunocytochemistry. Discrete iontophoretic PHA-L injections were delivered to different portions of the caudal lateral hypothalamus, as well as to various medial hypothalamic areas, including the ventromedial, dorsomedial, and paraventricular nuclei, and anterior hypothalamic and medial preoptic areas. The simultaneous detection of PHA-L-labeled fibers/terminals and ChAT-positive neurons was performed by using nickel-enhanced diaminobenzidine (DAB) and nonenhanced DAB as chromogens. Selected cases were investigated at the electron microscopic level. Ascending hypothalamic projections maintained an orderly lateromedial arrangement within the different components of the medial forebrain bundle, as well as with respect to their terminal projection fields (e.g., within the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and lateral septal nucleus). The distribution pattern of hypothalamic inputs to cholinergic projection neurons corresponded to the topography of ascending hypothalamic axons. Axons originating from neurons in the far-lateral hypothalamus reached cholinergic neurons in a zone that extended from the dorsal part of the sublenticular substantia innominata (SI) caudolaterally, to the lateral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis rostromedially, encompassing a narrow band along the ventral part of the globus pallidus and medial portion of the internal capsule. Axons originating from cells in the medial portion of the lateral hypothalamus reached cholinergic cells primarily in more medial and ventral parts of the SI, and in the magnocellular preoptic nucleus and horizontal limb of the diagonal band nucleus (HDB). Axons from medial hypothalamic cells appeared to contact cholinergic neurons primarily in the medial part of the HDB, and in the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band complex. Electron microscopic double-labeling experiments confirmed contacts between labeled terminals and cholinergic cells in the HDB and SI. Individual hypothalamic axons established synapses with both cholinergic and noncholinergic neuronal elements in the same regions. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the organization of afferents to the basal forebrain cholinergic projection system.
Active Information Selection: Visual Attention Through the Hands

An important goal in studying both human intelligence and artificial intelligence is to understand how a natural or an artificial learning system deals with the uncertainty and ambiguity of the real world. For a natural intelligence system such as a human toddler, the relevant aspects in a learning environment are only those that make contact with the learner's sensory system. In real-world interactions, what the child perceives critically depends on his own actions as these actions bring information into and out of the learner's sensory field. The present analyses indicate how, in the case of a toddler playing with toys, these perception-action loops may simplify the learning environment by selecting relevant information and filtering irrelevant information. This paper reports new findings using a novel method that seeks to describe the visual learning environment from a young child's point of view and measures the visual information that a child perceives in real-time toy play with a parent. The main results are 1) what the child perceives primarily depends on his own actions but also his social partner's actions; 2) manual actions, in particular, play a critical role in creating visual experiences in which one object dominates; 3) this selecting and filtering of visual objects through the actions of the child provides more constrained and clean input that seems likely to facilitate cognitive learning processes. These findings have broad implications for how one studies and thinks about human and artificial learning systems.
Product Involvement, Cognitive Dissonance and Product Satisfaction: An Experimental Study

The understanding of consumers’ satisfaction with a product/service has become an important topic in consumer behavior research. Past experimental research in this area is based on explanations offered by cognitive dissonance theory. This experimental study points out methodological problems in the past experimental research. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Lactoferrin Immunoreactivity and Binding Sites in Neurons, Neuritic Plaques, and Neurofibrillary Tangles in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the major cause of dementia in the elderly and afflicts between two and four million persons in the United States alone (Cook-Deegan and Whitehouse, 1987). Although considerable advances in understanding the molecular biology of the principal molecular constituents of the characteristic brain lesions of this disorder have recently been made, little is formally known about the etiology and pathogenesis of AD. Previous evidence suggesting that aluminum or its compounds are causally involved (Crapper et al., 1973) or that a loss of cholinergic neurons is the primary neuropathologic feature (Davies and Maloney, 1976) has not been confirmed. It is generally accepted, however, that an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the initiation and formation of the pathognomic features of AD, the neuritic (amyloid) plaques (NP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), will provide the essential basis for a rational approach to the treatment and prevention of this disease. The observations described here arise from a study of potential etiologic factors involved in the generation of NP and NFT.
Insights from the Atomistic Simulations of a Ternary Nucleating System

The development of a few advanced simulation techniques in our group has enabled us to venture on the very first atomistic simulations of a threecomponent nucleating system, water/n-nonane/1-butanol, that provided results which are in good agreement with experimental data. This study has practical implications in aerosol formation, separation process, nano-materials engineering, and micro-emulsion research. In this investigation, we found that the three nonideal nucleation behaviors we observed in the three binary mixtures (mutual nucleation enhancement for water/1-butanol, reluctant co-nucleation for n-nonane/1butanol, and independent nucleation for water/n-nonane) were carried forward and combined in this ternary mixture at all compositions. Such diverse spectrum of nonideal behavior implies that changing the gas-phase compositions could lead to various nucleation pathways. In addition, the “micro-phase diagrams” (or nucleation free energy landscape) constructed at intermediate vapor-phase compositions show coexistence of multiple “micro-phases” (clusters with distinct compositions). Visual inspection of the clusters that contain equal molar amounts of each component further reveals the existence of an internal phase separation into a multilayered structure. In particular, water and 1-butanol adopt a core/shell pattern with the nonpolar butyl chains pointing outwards that favors the deposition of n-nonane compared to the bare water surface. This explains the enhanced miscibility between water and n-nonane with the presence of 1-butanol. However, the tendency for n-nonane to deposit on one end of (rather than wrapping around) the core/shell structure suggests that 1-butanol is just too short to act effectively as a surfactant. Simulations for ternary mixtures involving either shorter or longer alcohols are currently under investigation to examine this speculation and to search for possible ways of improving the amphiphile. We will also present results for those mixtures at the meeting. 1 Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803–1804, USA 2 Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803–1804, USA 3 Department of Chemistry and of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant Street S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455–0431, USA 306 C.D. O’Dowd and P.E. Wagner (eds.), Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols, 306–309. © Springer 2007 O'Dowd_Ch062.indd 306 9/5/2007 5:25:12 PM
Остеоартроз или остеоартрит? Название болезни глазами практикующего врача

The paper presents data on the clinical presentation and pathogenesis of osteoarthrosis (OA), the basis for which is both articular tissue inflammation and degeneration. It provides the ultrasonographic characteristics of synovitis in OA. The author describes anti-inflammatory therapy for knee OA in an exacerbation phase, by using amelotex, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with selective inhibition of COX-2, and positive therapeutic results as reduced joint pain and swelling, increased volume of movements, and its good tolerability.