cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interaction of Mutation with Selection

In any real population, mutation will be taking place. There will also be natural selection, and, in the case of domestic plants or animals, there may be artificial selection as well. Selection, either artificial or natural, tends to increase the frequency of one allele at a given locus until that allele is in the preponderance. Mutation tends to decrease the frequency of the preponderant allele. Thus, it is almost inevitable that selection and mutation will have opposite effects on allele frequencies.
Osteopontin infusion into normal adult rat brain fails to increase cell proliferation in dentate gyrus and subventricular zone.

In the first week after focal ischemia in adult brain, the basal level of neurogenesis increases dramatically in two distinct areas: The dentate gyrus(DG) of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SYZ) of the lateral ventricles. It is possible that this remotely induced neurogenesis is the result of a proliferation inducing factor, or factors, diffusing from the infarction to the neurogenic regions. The secreted protein osteopontin(OPN) isa possible factor. In this study, OPN mRNA levels were measured in the cerebral infarction of adult rats that underwent 1 hour of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). OPN mRNA levels increased 36.0, 55.0 and 46.7 fold at 6, 24 and 72 hours reperfusion respectively. We also determined whether OPN alone could be responsible for this ischemia-induced neurogenesis. OPN (2.4 μg/day) was infused into the lateral ventricles of the brain in non-ischemic adult male rats, continuously over three days. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry was performed and the total BrdU positive (BrdU+) cells were counted. OPN, compared to aCSF infusion, decreased BrdU+ cells in DG and had no significant effect on cell proliferation in the SYZ. This study indicates that osteopontin alone does not increase cell proliferation in the normal adult brain.
A PRELIMINARY HEAT-BALANCE COMPUTER PROGRAM CONFORMING TO SNAME T&R BULLETIN 3-11

This paper presents a Fortran IV batch-type computer program for the heat-balance calculation of a non-reheat marine steam plant. The program is in conformance with the commercial practice standards presented in SNAME Technical and Research Bulletin 3-11 "Marine Steam Power Plant Heat Balance Practices." The program treats the preliminary design heat-balance problem where feed heater outlet temperatures can be specified prior to the selection of specific heat exchanger characteristics. The system design includes a realistic auxiliary exhaust system utilizing auxiliary exhaust, bleed, augment, and unloading as available or necessary or both. The system must include a deaerating feed tank and may include up to two low-presure feed heaters and up to three high-pressure feed heaters. The program is designed so that further extension and adaptation to special needs can be easily accomplished. Program design results in a minimization of input data and very efficient running times. A verification example is presented. User's Instructions, Programmer's Documentation, and a listing are included as Appendices.
Laser Facial Hair Removal

As governed by cultural norms, excess hair, especially on the face, is a very common and often embarrassing issue for many patients. In the past century, unwanted hair was traditionally treated with many different modalities that were slow, tedious, painful, impractical, and resulted in poor long-term efficacy. Consequently, there has been a public demand for novel, rapid, reliable, safe, and affordable hair-removal techniques. In the last couple of decades, a number of laser and lightbased technologies have been developed for hair removal that specifically target hair follicles and allow for the potential treatment of large areas with long-lasting results. The quest for truly permanent photoepilation and the ability to treat white hairs and darker-skinned patients are the current goals for improvement in this evolving field.
Boron neutron capture therapy: Clinical brain tumor studies

Since 1968, we have treated 149 patients and performed boron-neutron capture therapy (BNCT) on 164 occasions using 5 reactors in Japan. There were 64 patients with glioblastoma, 39 patients with anaplastic astrocytoma and 17 patients with low grade astrocytoma (grade 1 or 2). There were 30 patients with other types of tumor. The overall response rate in the glioma patients was 64%. Seven patients (12%) of glioblastoma, 22 patients (56%) of anaplastic astrocytoma and 8 patients (62%) of low grade astrocytoma lived more than 2 years. Median survival time of glioblastoma was 640 days. Median survival times of patients with anaplastic astrocytoma was 1811 days, and 1669 days in low grade astrocytoma. Six patients (5 glioblastoma and one anaplastic astrocytoma) died within 90 days after BNCT. Six patients (two glioblastoma and four anaplastic astrocytomas) lived more than 10 years. Histological grading, age of the patients, neutron fluence at the target point and target depth or size of the tumor were proved to be important factors. BNCT is an effective treatment for malignant brain tumors. We are now able to radiate the tumor more correctly with a high enough dose of neutron beam, even if we use thermal neutron beam.
Positive antenatal Edinburgh Depression Scale: examining behavioral and pharmacological therapy on maternal and neonatal outcomes.

AbstractObjective: We hypothesized that women with a positive antenatal Edinburgh Depression Screen (EPDS) (≥10), undergoing behavioral or pharmacologic therapy have improved maternal and neonatal ...
El oro: animating humanities research

Traditional historical research media, such as text, can allow for a great deal of exposition and elaboration. This works well to fully articulate complex ideas and arguments to fellowscholars. However, it is not conducive to engaging unfamiliar non-scholars. This limits both the potential reach of the research and growth of audience. In contrast, animation often requires ideas, emotions, and performance be broken down into their simplest term(s) in order to be presented efficiently to an audience. Animating El Oro is a collaborative research project between historians and animators. It explores animation as a means of communicating narrative and historical argument. The result offers lessons on how historians can broaden audiences and communicate nuances without prose. These lessons are of importance to historical researchers and educators. During WWII the United States came to the aid of El Oro, Ecuador in an attempt to stem the spread of fascism. This project is an animated depiction of a research argument surrounding this effort, presented from the Latin American perspective.
Building a Hepatitis C Clinical Program: Strategies to Optimize Outcomes

An increasing number of specialists and non-specialists are developing clinical programs to treat and cure hepatitis C virus (HCV). The goal of this paper is to evaluate and describe optimal strategies to improve outcomes related to HCV care delivery. Screening and diagnosis of HCV should be guided by established recommendations. Given the recognized disparity in HCV diagnosis and linkage to care, a multi-modal approach involving care coordination and technology resources should be used to improve patient engagement. Access to HCV treatment may be optimized through systematic documentation, prior authorization, and appeal processes. Treatment monitoring should emphasize medication adherence, side effect and drug interaction management, as well as elimination of practical barriers. Finally, post-treatment engagement to promote liver health and reduce the risk of complications or reinfection maximizes the benefit of HCV treatment. The landscape of HCV treatment has evolved from a specialist-driven model with few patients qualifying for treatment to an opportunity for non-specialists and other providers to provide curative therapies in most patients. Innovative practice models that employ a multidisciplinary approach will likely improve screening, diagnosis, engagement, and treatment outcomes.
2029 Surface display of chimeric proteins for exosome imaging and capturing in mammalians

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Exosomes are living nanoscale vesicles that can shuttle large amounts of bioactive cargo for intercellular communication. The potential of these nanovesicles to serve as both biomarkers for disease diagnosis and vehicles for delivery of therapeutics has only begun to be explored. To realize these potentials, molecular tools for effective exosome tracking and capturing must be invented in order to advance basic research and clinical translation. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We utilize a surface display strategy that enables exosome modification in living mammalian systems. By reconfiguring the surface protein CD63 or viral envelope glycoprotein VSV-G, we generate 3 topologically distinctive protein chimeras for exosome imaging and capture in mammalian systems. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We have shown that these genetically encoded protein chimeras have the ability to correctly target and integrate into exosomes in cultured human cells. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the secreted exosomes could be successfully captured by an affinity peptide intentionally displayed on the outer surface of exosomes. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our study highlights the potential of these fusion proteins for exosome tracking and provides novel genetic tools for exosome research and translation, one of which is loading protein therapeutics for targeted delivery.
Niobium Is Highly Mobile As a Polyoxometalate Ion During Natural Weathering

Author(s): Friis, H; Casey, WH | Abstract: Niobium is usually considered to be one of the least mobile elements during alteration of rocks in geological processes and is thought to only be mobile at elevated temperatures and/or pressures. Since niobium is assumed to be unaffected by weathering it can be used in geochemical-evolution calculations to estimate the loss of material from the weathering of rocks. There are roughly a hundred niobium-bearing minerals, including those in the pyrochlore group, which comprises the main ores for Nb and Ta. Furthermore, pyrochlores are identified as potential hosts for nuclear waste because of their resistance to weathering. Here we show that niobium can be highly mobile even at near-surface geochemical conditions as a soluble and unreactive polyoxometalate ion. Discovery of the first natural hexaniobate minerals, all formed at near-surface conditions, provides evidence that niobium is being actively leached out of nearby primary minerals and easily transported as polyoxometalate ions. In addition, we show how Nb and Ta can be fractionated during low-temperature processes.
reactingFoam-SCI: An open source CFD platform for reacting flow simulation

Abstract Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a major tool in understanding and predicting the behavior of reacting flows, which intrinsically involve the complex interaction of chemical kinetics and fluid mechanics. Among various open source CFD packages, the widely used C++ finite volume simulation toolbox OpenFOAM has many advantages such as its object-orientated framework, convenience to add multiphysics module and free availability, however, many weaknesses have been identified regarding its application in chemically reacting flows, especially incomplete splitting schemes, poor ordinary differential equation (ODE) solvers for stiff chemistry and the oversimplified mixture transport models, etc. In this work, an OpenFOAM 5.0 based reacting flow CFD platform reactingFoam-SCI is constructed by further implementing a few state-of-the-art advances in computational combustion, including a robust midpoint operator splitting scheme, and an accurate stable stiff ODE solver with error control. An interface between OpenFOAM 5.0 and the open source package Cantera 2.3.0 is also developed, to allow the evaluation of multicomponent and mixture-averaged transport properties and the call of other Cantera subroutines. The effectiveness and robustness of this new platform have been systematically validated against the analytical solutions and literature reported direct numerical calculation results, including those from a diffusion-convection problem, homogeneous ignition delay, shock tube, one-dimensional spherical flame initiation and propagation, two-dimensional unsteady premixed flame subject to hydrodynamic and diffusional-thermal instabilities, one-dimensional non-premixed counterflow flame and two-dimensional non-premixed co-flow flame. The satisfactory agreement demonstrates the accuracy and robustness of the current platform.
Association Between Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee Recommendations and Agency Actions, 2008-2015.

Policy Points Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee recommendations and the agency's final actions exhibit high rates of agreement, with cases of disagreement tending to reflect the proposed action type and degree of advisory committee consensus. In the case of disagreements, the FDA tended to be less likely than its advisory committees to approve new products, approve new supplemental indications, or enact new safety changes. These findings raise important issues regarding the factors that differentially shape decision making by advisory committees and the FDA as an agency, including institutional or reputational concerns. Context The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convenes advisory committees to provide external scientific counsel on potential agency actions and to inform regulatory decision making. The degree to which advisory committees and their respective agency divisions disagree on recommendations has not been well characterized across product and action types. Methods We examined public documents from FDA advisory committee meetings and medical product databases for all FDA advisory committee meetings from 2008 through 2015. We classified the 376 voting meetings in that period by medical product, regulatory, and advisory committee meeting characteristics. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine the associations between these characteristics and discordance between the advisory committee's recommendations and the FDA's final actions. Findings Twenty-two percent of the FDA's final actions were discordant with the advisory committee's recommendations. Of these, 75% resulted in the FDA making more restrictive decisions after favorable committee recommendations, and 25% resulted in the agency making less restrictive decisions after unfavorable committee recommendations. Discordance was associated with lower degrees of advisory committee consensus and was more likely for agency actions focused on medical product safety than for novel approvals or supplemental indications. Statements by public speakers, advisory committee conflicts of interest, and media coverage were not associated with discordance between the committee and the agency. Conclusions The FDA disagrees with the recommendation of its advisory committees a minority of the time, and in these cases it tends to be less likely to approve new products or supplemental indications and take safety actions. Deviations from recommendations thus offer an opportunity to understand the factors influencing decisions made by both the agency and its expert advisory groups.
Subtle activism: Using the library exhibit as a social justice tool:

The library as the cultural and scholarly heart of both the academic and broader community invites and necessitates a deeper look into presenting hidden and oftentimes uncomfortable histories. John...
Ventures into Viral Cartography: Waffle House, Educational Attainment, and the Social Life of Maps

Viral maps—ones that are shared widely on social media and media outlets—have become an increasingly common part of online conversations about a range of issues. Despite the increasing prevalence o...
Return to Sport and Work After High Tibial Osteotomy With Concomitant Medial Meniscal Allograft Transplant.

Purpose (1) To examine the timeline of return to sport (RTS) and return to work (RTW) after high tibial osteotomy (HTO) with concomitant medial meniscal allograft transplant (MAT), (2) to evaluate the degree of function on RTS and RTW, and (3) to identify reasons patients do not return to sport- or work-related activity. Methods Patients undergoing HTO plus MAT were reviewed retrospectively at a minimum of 2 years postoperatively. The exclusion criterion was any concomitant procedure except cartilage restoration for focal full-thickness medial femoral condylar defects. Patients completed a subjective sport and work questionnaire, a visual analog scale for pain, the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, and a satisfaction questionnaire. Results Twenty-two patients (aged 35.1 ± 8.1 years) were included at 9.3 ± 3.7 years postoperatively. Sixteen patients participated in sports within 3 years before surgery, and 14 patients (87.5%) returned to sport by 9.7 ± 3.8 months postoperatively. Only 7 patients (43.8%) returned to their preinjury status. Eighteen patients were employed within 3 years before surgery, and all patients returned to work; however, only 16 patients (88.9%) returned at the same occupational intensity by 3.1 ± 2.4 months. The rates of RTW for light-, medium-, and heavy-intensity occupations were 100%, 75.0%, and 85.7%, respectively, whereas the duration of RTW was 2.1 months, 2.3 months, and 4.8 months, respectively. Of the patients, 20 (90.9%) reported at least 1 complaint postoperatively, with 13 patients (59.1%) returning to the operating room for recurrent symptoms, including 1 patient who received a knee replacement at 7.75 years postoperatively. Conclusions In patients with medial meniscal deficiency and varus deformity, HTO plus MAT provided high rates of RTS (87.5%) and RTW (100%) by 9.7 months and 3.1 months, respectively. It is imperative that clinicians manage expectations because patients may RTS and RTW after HTO plus MAT; however, return to high-intensity activities or occupations may be unlikely or delayed. Level of Evidence Level IV, retrospective case series.
VACUUM-ASSISTED RIGHT ATRIAL THROMBECTOMY, A PROMISING APPROACH FOR PERCUTANEOUS LEAD EXTRACTION COMPLICATED BY LARGE VEGETATION

Management decisions for extracting leads of cardiac implantable devices with vegetations over 2.5 cm are complicated by the high risk of causing a significant pulmonary embolism (PE). We present a case in which a patient with a large lead vegetation is successfully treated by right atrial
Effects of red clover ( Trifolium pratense ) green manure and compost soil amendments on wild mustard ( Brassica kaber ) growth and incidence of disease

Using a soil bioassay technique, seedling growth and incidence of disease of wild mustard (Brassica kaber) and sweet corn (Zea mays) were assessed in soil from field plots that received either of two treatments: incorporated red clover (Trifolium pratense) residue plus application of compost (`amended soil'), or application of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (`unamended soil'). Soils were analyzed for percent moisture, dissolved organic carbon, conductivity, phenolics, and nutrient content. A trend toward greater incidence of Pythium spp. infection of wild mustard seedlings grown in amended soil was observed during the first 40 days after incorporation (DAI) of red clover and compost, with significant differences (α = 0.05) at two out of four sampling dates in 1997, and four out of four sampling dates in 1998. Incidence of Pythium infection was 10–70% greater in the amended soil treatment during that period. Asymptomatic wild mustard seedlings grown in amended soil were also on average 2.5 cm shorter (α = 0.05) at 5 DAI than those grown in unamended soil in one year out of two. Concentration of phenolic compounds in soil solution was weakly correlated with decreased shoot and root growth (r = 0.50, 0.28, respectively) and increased incidence of disease (r = 0.48) in wild mustard seedlings in one year out of two. Dissolved organic carbon concentration was weakly correlated with increased disease in wild mustard seedlings in both years (r = 0.51, 0.33, respectively). Growth of corn seedlings did not differ between the two soil treatments, suggesting that red clover green manure and compost may selectively reduce density and competitive ability of wild mustard in the field. Bioassay results corresponded well with emergence and shoot weight results from a related field study, indicating that this technique may be useful for screening potential soil treatments prior to field studies.
Hematopoietic recovery and immune reconstitution after axicabtagene ciloleucel in patients with large B-cell lymphoma

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD19 may be associated with long-term adverse effects such as cytopenia and immune deficiency. In order to characterize these late events, we analyzed 31 patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel at our institution on two clinical trials, ZUMA-1 (clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: NCT02348216) and ZUMA-9 (clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: NCT03153462). Complete blood counts, lymphocyte subsets, and immunoglobulin levels were measured serially until month 24 or progression. Fifteen (48%) patients had grade 3-4 cytopenia, including anemia (five, 16%), neutropenia (nine, 29%), or thrombocytopenia (13, 42%) at day 30. Cytopenia at day 30 was not significantly associated with later diagnosis of myelodysplasia. Among patients with ongoing remission, grade 3-4 cytopenia was observed in one of nine (11%) at 2 years. While peripheral CD8+ T cells recovered early, CD4+ T-cell recovery was delayed with a count of <200/mL in three of nine (33%) patients at 1 year and two of seven (29%) at 2 years. Immunoglobulin G levels normalized in five of nine (56%) patients at 2 years. Thirteen (42%) patients developed grade 3-4 infectious complications, including herpes zoster and Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. These results suggest the need for prolonged monitoring and prophylaxis against opportunistic infections in these patients, to improve the longterm safety of axicabtagene ciloleucel therapy.
Achenbach Syndrome as a Rare Cause of Painful, Blue Finger

Paroxysmal finger hematoma, also known as Achenbach syndrome, is an underdiagnosed condition that causes apprehension in patients owing to the alarming appearance. It usually presents as a blue-purple discoloration of the volar aspect of one or more digits and can be associated with pain and paresthesia. This condition is benign and is usually self-limiting.
Brain injury, endothelial injury and inflammatory markers are elevated and express sex-specific alterations after COVID-19

OBJECTIVE: Although COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, all organs can be affected including the brain. To date, specific investigations of brain injury markers (BIM) and endothelial injury markers (EIM) have been limited. Additionally, a male bias in disease severity and mortality after COVID-19 is evident globally. Sex differences in the immune response to COVID-19 may mediate this disparity. We investigated BIM, EIM and inflammatory cytokine/chemokine (CC) levels after COVID-19 and in across sexes. METHODS: Plasma samples from 57 subjects at < 48 h of COVID-19 hospitalization, and 20 matched controls were interrogated for the levels of six BIMs-including GFAP, S100B, Syndecan-1, UCHLI, MAP2 and NSE, two EIMs-including sICAM1 and sVCAM1. Additionally, several cytokines/chemokines were analyzed by multiplex. Statistical and bioinformatics methods were used to measure differences in the marker profiles across (a) COVID-19 vs. controls and (b) men vs. women. RESULTS: Three BIMs: MAP2, NSE and S100B, two EIMs: sICAM1 and sVCAM1 and seven CCs: GRO IL10, sCD40L, IP10, IL1Ra, MCP1 and TNFα were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated in the COVID-19 cohort compared to controls. Bioinformatics analysis reveal a stronger positive association between BIM/CC/EIMs in the COVID-19 cohort. Analysis across sex revealed that several BIMs and CCs including NSE, IL10, IL15 and IL8 were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in men compared to women. Men also expressed a more robust BIM/ EIM/CC association profile compared to women. CONCLUSION: The acute elevation of BIMs, CCs, and EIMs and the robust associations among them at COVID-19 hospitalization are suggestive of brain and endothelial injury. Higher BIM and inflammatory markers in men additionally suggest that men are more susceptible to the risk compared to women.
Economic Sanctions and International Terrorism

Economic sanctions have become a prominent part of the American response to foreign state involvement in international terrorism. Since the early 1970s, a series of Congressional statutes has authorized or required the Executive to curtail a broad range of economic relationships with countries the Secretary of State has determined to be supporters of terrorism, a group that now includes Libya, Syria, South Yemen, Iran and Cuba and earlier included Iraq. Under these statutes, the United States has restricted all forms of foreign assistance, Eximbank and OPIC financing, arms sales, commercial exports and imports, trade preferences, air transportation and other transactions with one or more of the designated states. Understanding and evaluating antiterrorism sanctions is no easy task. Terrorism and state support for terrorism are complex, sometimes ambiguous phenomena. Economic sanctions can also be complex and subtle instruments. Sanctions against terrorism, then, involve complexity compounded by complexity. This article takes a step toward clarifying these matters by presenting a framework for the analysis of antiterrorism sanctions and using that framework to discuss several of the sanctions that the United States currently employs. The preliminary analysis in this article suggests that when one considers all of their functions, economic sanctions can play a valuable role, at least at the margin, in a national strategy against international terrorism. At the same time, their effects will frequently be small, especially in the short run, while their costs and risks are likely to be substantial.
Desperately seeking similarity

In cooperative animals, kin selection theory predicts that cooperative breeding should arise among relatives. In their Perspective, Dickinson and Koenig explain that such a prediction has a number of complications, as exemplifed by studies in two species of cooperative breeders: carrion crows and side-blotched lizards ( Baglione et al ., Sinervo and Clobert).
Structural inference for uncertain networks

In the study of networked systems such as biological, technological, and social networks the available data are often uncertain. Rather than knowing the structure of a network exactly, we know the connections between nodes only with a certain probability. In this paper we develop methods for the analysis of such uncertain data, focusing particularly on the problem of community detection. We give a principled maximum-likelihood method for inferring community structure and demonstrate how the results can be used to make improved estimates of the true structure of the network. Using computer-generated benchmark networks we demonstrate that our methods are able to reconstruct known communities more accurately than previous approaches based on data thresholding. We also give an example application to the detection of communities in a protein-protein interaction network.
The View From Saturday By E. L. Konigsburg

In this issue, the children's book reviews include a beloved favorite for many, The View from Saturday, by E. L. Konigsburg, known for her dynamic characters. Through this title and others, includi...
ROSAT Pointed Observations of Cool Magnetic White Dwarfs

Observational evidence for the existence of a chromosphere on the cool magnetic white dwarf GD 356 has been reported. In addition, there has been theoretical speculations that cool magnetic white dwarfs may be sources of coronal X-ray emission. This emission, if it exists, would be distinct from the two types of X-ray emission (deep photospheric and shocked wind) that have already been observed from hot white dwarfs. We have used the PSPC instrument on ROSAT to observe three of the most prominent DA white dwarf candidates for coronal X-ray emission: GD 356, KUV 2316+123, and GD 90. The data show no significant emission for these stars. The derived upper limits for the X-ray luminosities provide constraints for a revision of current theories of the generation of nonradiative energy in white dwarfs.
Measurement of in situ dynamic properties in relation to geologic conditions

Evaluation of nuclear power plant sites from a material stability standpoint requires measurement of in situ dynamic properties. These are derived from measurement of shear-wave propagation velocity in subsurface materials by utilizing either the seismic downhole or seismic cross-hole techniques, or both. The downhole technique is rapid and less expensive than the cross-hole survey but is limited in maximum survey depth and resolution of thin, higher velocity beds. The cross-hole test, although less subject to depth and resolution limitations, requires more boreholes and is therefore more expensive. This test is also more exacting because of borehole drift considerations and timing corrections that may or may not be required for the particular energy source used. Actual field cross-hole examples for several sites of varied subsurface geology illlustrate the variation of shear velocity versus material make-up and condition.
Logic synthesis for reducing leakage power consumption under workload uncertainty

Runtime leakage control is gaining in importance, and recent work has demonstrated the possibility of reducing leakage via synthesis and post-synthesis optimizations. These techniques utilize the leakage dependence on state vectors and synthesis the circuit that minimizes power of the most-likely circuit configuration using state probabilities. In this paper we provide empirical evidence using a microprocessor simulator running a variety of applications that the state probabilities are best described as belonging to an interval. Under such interval description of state probability, one can utilize a proxy leakage metric which we define to be the sum of the worst-case mean leakages of all the gates under the feasible probability scenario. We propose a logic synthesis (technology mapping) algorithm under the delay constraint such that proxy metric is minimized across all the feasible realization of the primary input state probabilities. This metric helps to reduce the sensitivity of the leakage optimized mapping to a specific point probability for the primary input signals. We formulate and develop a new technology mapping algorithm to minimize robust mean leakage in the framework of recently introduced robust dynamic programming. An efficient solution is given. The complexity of this approach is linear in the circuit size. The results show that improvements up to 16% can be obtained in leakage.
A U.S. View of Silicon Production Processes

The United States Department of Energy’s program to develop low-cost processes for producing silicon suitable for solar cells, which has a goal of < $14/kg (1980$), has progressed to the stage that the demonstration of technology readiness, i.e., establishing the practicality and obtaining the information base for the design of a commerical plant, by the end of 1982 is highly likely. The process developments are being conducted by Union Carbide, Hemlock Semiconductor, and Battelle Columbus Laboratory. Economic analyses indicate that the silicon prices ($/kg in 1980$) for these processes would be about $14., $20., and $17., respectively, (based on 1000-MT/yr plants and calculated as 20% Return on Investment). The Union Carbide effort has progressed the furthest in the program. There are indications of the capability for producing silicon equivalent to semiconductor grade silicon by both the Hemlock and the Union Carbide processes. The effort for the determination of the effects of impurities on solar cell performance consists of investigations of high efficiency cells, polycrystalline cells, permanence, and non-uniform distributions. The results have applicability for relating silicon purity requirements to the economics of silicon processes as well as to the strategies and economics of solar cell fabrication.
Paris Blues, Visited

FOUR FACTS DETERMINE the kind of escapism I often seek: (1) I love cities; (2) I love films; (3) I often fantasize?and probably that is the right word?about living in an America less characterized by violent crime, a thing so common that it has come to seem less an outrage than a fine exacted for being too naive or careless; and (4) being black and, more important, possessing a grain or two of social awareness, I am sensitive to the ways in which different groups of people are portrayed in the media. The combination of these four apparently disconnected and possibly even contradictory phenomena sometimes leads me to watch certain films made circa 1960, particularly those set in large cities. For diversion-hunters of my persuasion, such films, among them Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita, and Sweet Smell of Success, have it all. They serve almost as strainers for the city in which I live, getting rid of the stray bullets and carjackings but leaving intact the cosmopolitan flavor; I feel that if I could but step past the screen and into one of these films, I would inhabit a world where it's possible to find a cup of coffee or listen to a jazz quartet at any hour of the night and then walk home, in the pleasantly cool night air of these films' eternal late spring, in safety. Forget a home where the buffalo roam: give me an apartment like the one in The Apartment, where Jack Lemmon paid $87 a month to live alone (on Manhattan's Upper West Side!) in a space big enough for a family of three. Better still, give me a city where the Jimmy Stewart character in Rope (okay, so it came out in '48) could attract the attention of the police by stepping onto the balcony and firing two or three shots into the air from a re volver. The civil rights movement had gained momentum by 1960 and was leaving its mark on everything, so that the black actors who (with admitted infrequency) appeared in these films were not called upon to shuffle, wear headrags, or grin until their cheeks hurt. And the begin nings of a modern sensibility were evident in another way: male/female relationships on the screen had come to resemble, at least somewhat, those in my own life. By 1960?three years, incidentally, before I was born,
The role of afferent activity in the maintenance of primate neocorticalfunction

The major neuronal populations of the primate cerebral cortex can be classified immunocytochemically according to their transmitters and in terms of the differential expression of certain other molecules such as neuropeptides, calcium-binding proteins and protein kinases. We have been able to chart the time course of developmental expression of these molecules and to show that gene expression for many of them is regulated in adult and infant animals by afferent activity entering the cortex. In the visual cortex of adult monkeys, levels of immunocytochemically detectable gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), of its synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and of the tachykinins are greatly reduced in deprived ocular dominance columns within 24 h of blocking impulse activity in the optic nerve by intraocular injection of tetrodotoxin (TTX). Conversely, levels of immunocytochemically detectable calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CAMII kinase) are increased in deprived eye dominance columns. These effects are quickly reversible on restoration of binocular vision, and experiments involving in situ hybridization and S1 nuclease protection assays show that the changes are associated with parallel changes in mRNA levels for preprotachykinin and CAM II kinase, but not for GAD, which appears to be regulated by post-transcriptional mechanisms. Experiments in the primate somatic sensory cortex suggest comparable activity-dependent effects on gene expression there also. It is proposed that effects of this type underlie the establishment of cortical maps during development and their activity-dependent mutability in adulthood.
2‐Methoxyestradiol modulates β‐catenin in prostate cancer cells: A possible mediator of 2‐methoxyestradiol‐induced inhibition of cell growth

2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME2) is a novel anticancer agent because of its ability to potentiate apoptotic cell death and inhibit cancer cell growth and angiogenesis. The modes of action of this agent, however, have not yet been fully elucidated. In our study, we have investigated whether 2-ME2 is able to modulate β-catenin signaling in prostate cancer cells, which is one of the major players in cell–cell adhesion, proliferation, apoptosis and carcinogenesis. We found that β-catenin levels were significantly upregulated by 2-ME2 in a dose-dependent manner in androgen dependent and independent prostate cancer total cellular extracts. We further show that β-catenin levels were significantly increased in the membrane fraction, while nuclear fractions of β-catenin were downregulated in the 2-ME2-treated cells. Accumulation of dephospho-β-catenin (nondegraded form) parallel with Bcl-2 and Cyclin D1 downregulation was also achieved after 2-ME2 treatment. Moreover, we demonstrate that the β-catenin production by 2-ME2 is mediated through the MEK/ERK-2 signaling pathway. Collectively, these results suggest that the cytostatic effect of 2-ME2 may be mediated through the prevention of the translocation of β-catenin to the nucleus parallel with an increase in cell–cell adhesion by increasing membrane β-catenin production, eventually preventing cell migration. Moreover, dephospho-β-catenin accumulation by 2ME2 in the cytoplasm may contribute to the induction of apoptosis of these cells. Finally, studies testing the efficacy of 2-ME2 in human prostate cancer are warranted to determine whether the inhibition of the expected loss of membranous β-catenin and the upregulation of nuclear β-catenin can prevent prostate cancer development and progression. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An updated Holocene sea-level curve for the Delaware coast

Abstract We present an updated Holocene sea-level curve for the Delaware coast based on new calibrations of 16 previously published radiocarbon dates ( Kraft, 1976; Belknap and Kraft, 1977 ) and 22 new radiocarbon dates of basal peat deposits. A review of published and unpublished 137 Cs and 210 Pb analyses, and tide gauge data provide the basis for evaluating shorter-term (10 2 yr) sea-level trends. Paleosea-level elevations for the new basal peat samples were determined from the present vertical zonation of marsh plants relative to mean high water along the Delaware coast and the composition of plant fossils and foraminifera. Current trends in tidal range along the Delaware coast were used to reduce elevations from different locations to a common vertical datum of mean high water at Breakwater Harbor, Delaware. The updated curve is similar to Belknap and Kraft's [J. Sediment. Petrol., 47 (1977) 610–629] original sea-level curve from 12,000 to about 2000 yr BP. The updated curve documents a rate of sea-level rise of 0.9 mm/yr from 1250 yr BP to present (based on 11 dates), in good agreement with other recent sea-level curves from the northern and central U.S. Atlantic coast, while the previous curve documents rates of about 1.3 mm/yr (based on 4 dates). The precision of both estimates, however, is very low, so the significance of these differences is uncertain. A review of 210 Pb and 137 Cs analyses from salt marshes of Delaware indicates average marsh accretion rates of 3 mm/yr for the last 100 yr, in good agreement with shorter-term estimates of sea-level rise from tide gauge records.
Wind Observations from the U.S.N.S. Vanguard during GATE Phase I

Abstract The U.S.N.S. Vanguard provided a set of high quality upper-air wind data during GATE which should he uniquely valuable to researchers. The figures in this note are intended to illustrate the excellent vertical resolution and apparent accuracy of these observations, which were obtained by a high precision tracking radar. The examples have been chosen from Phase I when the ship was positioned at the center of the B army (8.5°N, 23.5°W). The natural evolution of some jet and “wave” features is portrayed in detail as a function of height over periods of a few hours and a few days, respectively. In addition to possible stratosphere “waves” identified in previous studies, the data show that features with 1 km vertical wavelengths are present which may be associated with planetary inertia-gravity waves.
Bilirubin is an antioxidant of possible physiological importance

Bilirubin, the end product of heme catabolism in mammals, is generally regarded as a potentially cytotoxic, lipid-soluble waste product that needs to be excreted. However, it is here that bilirubin, at micromolar concentrations in vitro, efficiently scavenges peroxyl radicals generated chemically in either homogeneous solution or multilamellar liposomes. The antioxidant activity of bilirubin increases as the experimental concentration of oxygen is decreased from 20% (that of normal air) to 2% (physiologically relevant concentration). Furthermore, under 2% oxygen, in liposomes, bilirubin suppresses the oxidation more than alpha-tocopherol, which is regarded as the best antioxidant of lipid peroxidation. The data support the idea of a "beneficial" role for bilirubin as a physiological, chain-breaking antioxidant.
Arc Spectrum of Germanium

The arc spectrum of germanium has been investigated in the region 1546 A to 11 252 A with concave grating spectrographs and interferometers by the use of various arc and hollow cathode sources. Wavelength measurements supplied by other laboratories are included. The wavelength material has been greatly improved and extended from 184 lines to 475 lines. Of these about 200 visible and infrared lines were found by the development of a special low pressure Ge arc source.An extended analysis of this spectrum has led to 94 new levels and nearly 300 newly classified lines. At present there are 68 even levels belonging to the 4s2 4pnp and 4s2 4pnf configurations and 87 odd levels belonging to the 4s2 4pns, 4s2 4pnd, and 4s4p3 configurations. Improved series limit calculations give the value 63 715±10 cm−1 for the 4s2 4pP212° level of Ge II with respect to the 4s2 4p2 3P0 level of Ge I, corresponding to an ionization potential of 7.899±0.001 volt.
Phonon modes and Raman intensity profiles in zinc-blende BN/GaN superlattices

By exploiting both an elastic continuum and a linear-chain model (LCM) we have systematically investigated the phonon characteristics in a series of unconventional short-period zb (BN)m/(GaN)n (0 0 1) superlattices (SLs)—selecting m or n values between 2 and 10. The calculated longitudinal folded-acoustic modes and the doublets near the phonon wavevector |�qs| are shown to have stronger dependence on the SL periods dSL. In the framework of a bond-polarizability scheme and using a second-nearest neighbour LCM, our simulated results for the phonon dispersions and Raman intensity profiles have revealed not only the major expected trends of the vibrational characteristics observed experimentally in many conventional SLs but also elicited some interesting contrasts. We expect that the outcome of the present study will encourage experimentalists to utilize Raman scattering spectroscopy, perform material characterizations and authenticate our theoretical conjectures.
Variation of DNA polymerase activities of rat giant trophoblast cells in mid-gestation.

Abstract The activities of the DNA polymerases α, β, and γ were determined in rat giant trophoblast cells during mid-gestation. Trophoblasts at this period of time have ceased to divide but continue to carry out DNA endoreduplication resulting in polyploidy. DNA polymerase-α activity in extracts was found to drop sharply from a high level at Day 11 to 1 10 of that level at Day 12 and to continue at a constant level thereafter. A similar pattern of activity was observed for polymerase-γ, however, in thise case the drop represented 50% of the activity at 11 days. Polymerase-β showed no significant change in activity during this period of development. Endoreduplication (polyploidy) continued during this period as measured by a linear increase in chromosomal DNA content. The sharp drop in α-polymerase activity from Day 11 to Day 12 appears to result from the loss of a protein(s) which specifically stimulate(s) α-polymerase.
Recent Improvements in Luminosity at PEP

We will describe improvements which have led to new records for peak and average luminosity at PEP. Comparison of recent results with several earlier lattice and optical modifications shows rather good correlation with the predictions of a beam-beam simulation program.
THE "SHOESTRING" DAY HOSPITAL.

The history and structure of a different kind of day hospital are examined, and the complete absence of cost to the community and hospital is explained. The functions of the unit, the ways in which it was used by the patients and the results are discussed.
Yield Stress of 21-6-9 Stainless Steel Over Very Wide Ranges of Strain Rates and Temperatures

The yield strength of solution-annealed 21-6-9 austenitic stainless steel was determined over a wider temperature range (−195 to 1100 °C) and strain rate (10−4 to 104 s−1) than has been previously reported. The most noteworthy characteristic of the variation of yield stress with temperature was the dramatic decrease in yield strength from −195 to 300 °C. The strain-rate sensitivity exponent, m, was determined using strain-rate change tests. m dramatically increases at about 850 °C with increasing temperature and m is approximately independent of strain (structure). Hopkinson split-bar tests from ambient temperature to 750 °C indicate that the strain-rate sensitivity of 21-6-9 is not strongly influenced by the over eight orders of magnitude change in strain rate. This suggests that the mechanism(s) of plastic flow at the higher rates is similar to that at lower rates. This contention was corroborated by transmission electron microscopy. The yield stress shows grain-size dependency.
Targetry for the Production of Medical Isotopes

A high-pressure, low volume, cryogenically-cooled gas target has been developed for tandem Van de Graaff production of medical radiotracers. High yields and radionuclidically pure products are made possible by the use of enriched target materials. The inert Kr-81m (t 1/ 2 - 13 sec) from the 80Kr(d,n)81Rb reaction permits continuous administration from a generator for regional pulmonary ventilation studies. Cryo-pumping and reclamation procedures enhance the economic feasibility of using enriched isotopes by minimizing target losses. Direct extrapolation of those techniques to cyclotron targetry is possible. A low-volume, enriched solid target employing the 50Cr(d,n)51Mn reaction has been developed. The mitochondrial concentration of Mn in the heart muscle enables Mn-51 to be used as a myocardial imaging agent.