cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Properties of leukokininogen isolated from human neoplastic ascites.

Abstract Leukokininogen, the protein precursor of the vasoactive polypeptide leukokinin-H, has been isolated from human ovarian carcinoma ascites. A homogeneous preparation was achieved after a procedure consisting of ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration with Sephadex G-200, DEAE-Sepharose ion exchange chromatography and preparative isoelectric focusing. Leukokininogen has an isoelectric pH of 4.56 and a molecular weight of about 41,000 daltons, determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate. Kinin-like activity was generated from leukokininogen by incubation of the protein with the leukokininogenase from murine ascites tumor cells and with trypsin. Human plasma kallikrein does not release kinin activity from leukokininogen. The amino acid composition and immunological properties of leukokininogen demonstrate that leukokininogen is distinct from plasma bradykininogens.
Pharmacokinetic modulation of oral etoposide by ketoconazole in patients with advanced cancer.

Etoposide is a widely used cytotoxic drug that is commercially available in both intravenous and oral formulations. High interpatient pharmacokinetic variability has been associated with oral etoposide administration. Various strategies used in the past to reduce such variability have not been successful. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate if pharmacokinetic modulation of oral etoposide with ketoconazole could lead to a favorable alteration of etoposide pharmacokinetics, and to assess the feasibility and safety of this approach. Thirty-two patients were treated with ketoconazole 200 mg daily with an escalating dose of oral etoposide starting at a dose of 50 mg every other day. Pharmacokinetic samples were obtained during the first treatment cycle after the administration of an oral etoposide and ketoconazole dose. Additional baseline pharmacokinetic studies of etoposide alone were performed 4 days prior to the first treatment cycle. Dose limiting toxicities were neutropenia and fatigue. Ketoconazole increased the area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) of oral etoposide by a median of 20% (p < 0.005). Ketoconazole did not reduce the interpatient variability in etoposide pharmacokinetics. Pretreatment bilirubin levels correlated with etoposide clearance (Spearman’s r = −0.48, p = 0.008). The maximum tolerated dose was etoposide administered at 50 mg daily and ketoconazole 200 mg qd for 3 of 5 weeks. Ketoconazole reduces the apparent clearance of oral etoposide, does not alter its toxicity profile and does not reduce interpatient pharmacokinetic variability. Other methods to reduce the pharmacokinetic variability of oral etoposide are needed.
Efficient parallel pipelinable VLSI architecture for finding the maximum binary number

The paper presents an architecture for finding the maximum among a group of k-bit binary numbers suitable for implementation in VLSI. This is done by first presenting a simple algorithm that is easily mapped into VLSI circuits with minimum complexity. A major objective of the design was to determine an efficient parallel pipelinable circuit for finding the maximum when all the bits are available in parallel. Such a unit could be used as an integral part of the Add-Compare-Select (ACS) unit of the Viterbi decoder or any other device that may require the use of a maximum finding circuit in its implementation. Another objective of the paper is to demonstrate that many of the asymptotically optimal algorithms for this problem may be inefficient for a practical VLSI implementation. This is because often these algorithms are written for an entirely different system model. The cost analysis and operational speed of the algorithm are addressed from the implemental point of view as opposed to the more traditional approach of analysing the cost and operational speed based on the number of computations and the number of processors irrespective of the degree of complexity of the units and other relevant routing issues.
New R Values from 2-5 GeV from the BESII at BEPC

We report preliminary R values for all 85 energy points scanned in the energy region of 2-5 GeV with the upgraded Beijing Spectrometer (BESII) at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC). The typical uncertainties on the R values we measured are ~ 7%. The new R values have a significant impact on the predicted mass of the Higgs (mH) coming from the global fit to the electroweak data, and will also contribute to the interpretation of the E821 g - 2 experiment.
Large-Eddy Simulation of a Wing Tip Vortex on Overset Grids

A multiblock large-eddy simulation (LES) code with overset grid capability is reported on that has been developed primarily to study the tip vortex noise problem arising on rotating wind-turbine blades. The LES code can also be used to simulate the tip vortices around nonrotating wing geometries typically found in aeronautical applications. It employs state-of-the-art compact finite differencing, implicit spatial filtering, and nonreflecting boundary conditions on free boundaries, as well as characteristic-type boundary conditions on solid walls. High-order-accurate interpolation is used for the transfer of information among the individual component grids that make up the overset grid topology. The multiblock nature and the overset grid capability of the code allow high-order accurate numerical solutions in complex domains. Results for the tip vortex around a nonrotating wing with a rounded tip are presented to demonstrate the capability of the code. Comparisons of the numerical results with experimental data are also carried out.
Synthesis of Copper Pigments, Malachite and Verdigris: Making Tempera Paint.

Malachite and verdigris, two copper-based pigments, are synthesized in this experiment intended for use in a general chemistry laboratory. The preparation of egg tempera paint from malachite is also described. All procedures can be done with a magnetic stir plate, standard glassware present in any first-year laboratory, and household chemicals. Yields for the synthesis of malachite are about 95% making this an ideal activity for courses emphasizing green chemistry. Typical results from students enrolled in a general chemistry course are reported. While introducing the students to the composition of artists’ paints, performing this experiment provides students an opportunity to apply concepts in topics such as stoichiometry (excess reactants and yields), solubility, precipitation, and properties of emulsions. The importance of reading the experiment before coming to the laboratory is emphasized as students must come up with timesaving strategies to finish both pigment syntheses in the time allotted.
Controlling bending and twisting of conjugated polymers via solitons.

A strong generic coupling between self-localized solitons and conformations of a $\ensuremath{\pi}$-conjugated polymer chain is demonstrated through ab initio calculations and the underlying mechanisms revealed by using an extended Hubbard model. We show that significant chain bending and twisting of trans- and cis-polyacetylene result from torque imbalances among atom-centered orbitals and the steric instability at single-bond cis-centers, respectively. The soliton-induced conformational effects create sufficient strains to provide an intrinsic high-strain-rate actuation mechanism in optical excitation processes.
Neuronal organization underlying visually elicited prey orienting in the frog—III. Evidence for the existence of an uncrossed descending tectofugal pathway

Abstract A complete transverse hemisection of the neuraxis just caudal to the optic tectum in the frog, Rana pipiens , results in a failure to orient toward stimuli in one visual hemifield [Kostyk and Grobstein (1986) Neuroscience 21, 41–55]. This finding indicates that each tectal lobe gives rise to a crossed descending pathway adequate to cause turns in a direction contralateral to that tectal lobe, and suggests that each may also give rise to an uncrossed descending pathway adequate to cause turns in the ipsilateral direction. To determine whether there is in fact such an uncrossed pathway, we have studied the orienting behavior of frogs after lesions which interrupt crossed pathways. Two groups of animals were studied. In one group we made midline lesions of the ansulate commissure, through which run the major crossed descending projections from both tectal lobes. In the other group, we combined a complete transverse hemisection with removal of the tectal lobe on the same side of the brain, leaving intact only an uncrossed pathway from one tectal lobe. A persistence of orienting turns was observed in both groups of animals. In both, the direction of the turns was that expected on the assumption that an uncrossed pathway would cause ipsilateral turns. We conclude that such a pathway exists. While both groups of animals turned in the expected directions, they did so for stimuli at unexpected locations. Increasingly eccentric stimulus locations to one side of the mid-sagittal plane were associated with increasing amplitude turns to the other. The observation suggests that tectal regions mapping areas of visual space to one side of the mid-sagittal plane are capable of triggering turns not only in that direction but in the opposite direction as well. In the case of ansulate commissure section, mirrored orienting responses were observed for tactile stimuli as well. These and other behavioral anomalies described in the preceding papers [Kostyk and Grobstein (1986) Neuroscience 21, 41–55 and 57–82] suggest that between the topographic retinotectal projection and the premotor circuitry for orienting there may exist an intermediate processing step, one in which stimulus location is represented in a generalized spatial coordinate frame.
Dangers in Safety Systems

Reactor safety systems have failed in such a way as to destroy the reactor which they were intended to protect. Safety rods, when released, can, through malfunction, increase rather than decrease reactivity. The electronic and sensing portions of the safety system are usually arranged so that random failures may on rare occasions result in a slight impairment of protection. The total loss of protection should not in itself lead to damage to the reactor. Systematic failures have occurred however, such that the safety and control systems have become coupled either deliberately or through oversight in such a way that the loss of protection and reactor runaway have been caused by a single event.
Tiling space with the aid of the holomorph

Abstract The notion of a factorization of a group is generalized and a method is presented for obtaining new factorizations from old ones. The results are applied to obtain new fillings of the lattice spaces Z , Z ⊕ Z and the cube.
Activation volume for interstitial motion in strontium fluoride

The complex dielectric constant for erbium-doped strontium fluoride has been measured at pressures up to 0.4 GPa over the temperature range 300-360 K. Consequently, the reorientation of a type-II dipole (substitutional rare-earth and next-nearest-neighbor interstitial-flourine charge compensator) has been studied. The activation volume for the motion is found to be 4.73 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.1 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$/mol. It is argued that this value should be similar to the migration volume for "free" interstitials. Excellent agreement is found between a value for the migration volume calculated from Flynn's dynamical-diffusion model and the experimental value for bound interstitials. Finally, the compressibility of the activation volume is found to be more than an order of magnitude greater than the compressibility of the host lattice, and the thermal-expansion coefficient for the activation volume is found to be negative.
Review and advances of direct methanol fuel cells: Part II: Modeling and numerical simulation

Abstract The study of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is a multi-disciplinary science and technology encompassing a variety of sciences, including transport phenomena, material science and electrochemistry. Experimentation is a priceless tool in developing new methods, finding new materials and explaining corresponding phenomena. Along with the experiments, modeling and simulation play a crucial role in providing detailed insights concerning the complex mass, heat and charged particle transport in a DMFC. Modeling is especially important when an experiment is either too expensive to conduct or unable to capture the detailed underlying physics. A comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art modeling studies regarding mass, heat and charge transport in a DMFC is provided. First discussed are the basics of kinetics for electrochemical. It is followed by a description of the differences between various modeling approaches and the most common terminologies in DMFC modeling. A general set of governing equations, along with the corresponding source terms and the constitutive relations, is presented thereafter. A critical review of the most prominent DMFC modeling studies is divided into four topics: (i) water and methanol crossover, (ii) coupled heat and mass transport, (iii) enhanced system energy density, and (iv) start-up and transient operation. The challenges and unresolved issues for DMFC modeling are then reported to conclude the review.
Interpreting Recasts as Linguistic Evidence: The Roles of Linguistic Target, Length, and Degree of Change

Researchers have claimed that recasts might be ambiguous as feedback. Because recasts serve a dual function, as both feedback and conversational response, learners might not always interpret them as feedback (e.g., Lyster & Ranta, 1997). This study explores how learners interpret recasts they notice (as responses to content, negative evidence, positive evidence, or a combination of negative and positive evidence) and how recast features (linguistic targets, length, number of changes) might affect their interpretations. Forty-nine learners of Japanese engaged in task-based activities during which they received recasts of morphosyntactic and lexical errors. When learners noticed recasts, they occasionally interpreted them as responses to content, particularly when recasts were long and substantially different from their problematic utterances. In contrast, learners were significantly more likely to attend to the linguistic evidence in recasts when these were short and closely resembled the original utterances. These patterns were generally observed for both morphosyntactic and lexical recasts. Results suggest that length and number of changes might, in part, determine the explicitness of recasts as feedback and thus affect learners' abilities to interpret them as such.I am grateful to Alison Mackey, Helen Carpenter, and Ana-Maria Nuevo for their insightful suggestions on an earlier version of this article. I also would like to thank Alison Mackey, Ronald Leow, and Noriko Iwashita for their valuable feedback on the dissertation research on which this study is based, the anonymous SSLA reviewers for their thoughtful suggestions, and Brian Marx for his statistical advice. Any errors, of course, are my own. This research was supported in part by a dissertation improvement grant from the National Science Foundation (grant No. 0214188).
Ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of glycogen in the developing lung of the chick embryo: Possible contribution to surfactant

1. Glycogen was identified ultrastructurally in undifferentiated type-II cells of the lung of the day 16 chick embryo. 2. By 4 days after hatching, glycogen in type-II cells could not be observed, although lungs were actively secreting surfactant. 3. Biochemical measurements of pulmonary glycogen revealed a depletion during days 14-20 of incubation, corroborating ultrastructural data. 4. Using lung slices, 14C-glucose was incorporated in vitro into pulmonary surfactant phospholipids at a high rate in day 14 embryos, and a significantly lower rate on day 19. 5. Hypophysectomy resulted in sub-normal initial accumulation of pulmonary glycogen on day 14 of development, but did not alter the depletion pattern after day 16. 6. Thus, glycogen stores may contribute to avian embryonic pulmonary surfactant, and accumulation of early stores may be under hormonal control.
Farnesyltransferase inhibitors and myeloid malignancies: phase I evidence of Zarnestra activity in high-risk leukemias.

Abstract Acute leukemia carries a poor prognosis, especially in older patients, emphasizing the need for novel therapies. Reasons for treatment failure include high rates of relapse and treatment-related toxicities. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), a new class of agents that can interfere with intracellular signaling, are good therapeutic candidates for study in these diseases, given the relatively high levels of the target enzyme, farnesyltransferase, expressed in bone marrow and by peripheral circulating lymphocytes. ZARNESTRA™ (formerly R115777, Ortho Biotech Oncology, Raritan, NJ) is an FTI that has clinical activity in solid tumors and antileukemic activity in vitro. In a phase I trial of Zarnestra in patients with high-risk leukemia (resistant or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia [AML] or acute lymphocytic leukemia [ALL], chronic myeloid leukemia [CML] in blast crisis, or AML in poor prognosis subgroups), patients experienced an overall response rate of 29%. Zarnestra was well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities through doses up to 900 mg twice daily. Assays measuring inhibition of farnesyltransferase activity showed a reliable inhibition at doses greater than 300 mg twice daily, and pharmacokinetic studies indicated that Zarnestra accumulated preferentially in the bone marrow in a dose-dependent fashion. These results suggest that Zarnestra should be studied further in patients with myeloid leukemia. Semin Hematol 39(suppl 2):31-35. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Cefoxitin, a Semisynthetic Cephamycin Antibiotic: Antibacterial Spectrum and Resistance to Hydrolysis by Gram-Negative Beta-Lactamases

The in vitro activity of cefoxitin, 3-carbamolyloxymethyl-7-alpha-methoxy-7[2-(2-thienyl)acetamido]-3-cephem-4-carboyxlic acid, was investigated. Activity against gram-positive organisms was less than that of cephalothin and cephloridine. It was highly active against gram-negative bacilli, with activity against Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae equal to that of currently available cephalosporins. In addition, it was active against certain Enterobacter strains, Serratia marcescens, indole-positive Proteae and Herellea. The strains of these latter bacteria were strains susceptible to carbenicillin and ticarcillin. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other Pseudomonas species were resistant. Changes in pH, inoculum size, and type of growth medium had no significant effect on the activity of the antibiotic. Cefoxitin was highly resistant to hydrolysis by various types of gram-negative beta-lactamases. The precise role of resistance to beta-lactamase hydrolysis varied from strain to strain. Bacterial resistance to cefoxitin was not necessarily related to hydrolysis of the antibiotic. However, the resistance of cefoxitin to hydrolysis did contribute to its activity. Cefoxitin could function as an inducer of beta-lactamase activity and effectively bound to purified beta-lactamases.
Complementary and alternative medicine use among women at increased genetic risk of breast and ovarian cancer

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is well documented among breast cancer patients and survivors, but little evidence is available to describe rates and patterns of use among women at increased genetic risk of breast cancer. A pre-visit telephone interview was conducted to ascertain CAM use among the BRCA mutation carriers enrolled in a high-risk breast cancer screening study. Participants were asked to report on their use of thirteen therapies within the year prior to enrollment into the study. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between various factors and CAM use in this population. Among the 164 BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation-positive (BRCA+) women in this analysis, 78% reported CAM use, with prayer and lifestyle diet being the two most commonly reported modalities. Many subjects used multiple CAM therapies, with 34% reporting use of three or more modalities. The most commonly used modalities were mind-body therapies and biologically-based practices, 61.6% and 51.8%, respectively. High-risk women were more likely to use CAM if they were older, more educated, more worried about ovarian cancer risk, or had a previous cancer diagnosis. This study suggests that the prevalence of CAM use is high among BRCA mutation carriers, with frequency of use comparable to that of breast cancer patients and survivors. Given the high prevalence of CAM use in our subjects, especially biologically-based therapies including herbal supplements, whose safety and efficacy in relation to cancer risk are unknown, our study suggests that future research is necessary to clarify these risks, and that it is important for providers to inquire about and to discuss the pros and cons of CAM use with their BRCA+ patients.
Effect of Bin Time on the Photon Counting Histogram for One‐Photon Excitation

We have demonstrated that our photon counting histogram (PCH) model with the correction for one-photon excitation is valid at multiple bin times. The fitted apparent brightness and concentration follow the three-dimensional diffusion model. More importantly, the semi-empirical parameter, F, introduced in the PCH model for one-photon excitation to correct for the non-Gaussian shape of the observation volume, shows small variations with different bin times. These variations are consistent with the physical interpretation of F, and they do not affect the resolving power of the PCH model for one-photon excitation. Based on these findings, we extend the time-independent PCH analysis to time-dependent photon counting multiple histograms (PCMH). This model considers the effect of bin time on the PCH parameters in a way that is similar to fluorescence intensity multiple distribution analysis (FIMDA). From the same set of data, PCMH extracts time-dependent parameters (diffusion time and triplet-state relaxation time) as well as time-independent parameters (true specific brightness and true average number of molecules). Given a three- to fourfold experimental difference in molecular brightness, we find that PCMH can resolve each species in a two-species sample and extract their respective diffusion times even when fluorescence correlation spectroscopy cannot.
Influence of the indistinguishability of nucleons on nuclear structure

Abstract It is shown that the indistinguishability of the nucleons is the reason why the different nuclear models which exist at present do not contradict each other and why the nuclear reactions and nuclear spectra present such different aspects. These considerations furthermore indicate a way for a unified description of nuclear phenomena.
A spectroscopic study of dyes: mechanism of detection of nonabsorbing analytes in reverse-phase chromatography with the aid of chromophores

Abstract In order to understand the mechanism by which dyes assist chromatographic detection in reverse-phase systems, absorption spectra of brilliant green and methylene blue were investigated. It is shown that dye-assisted chromatographic detection depends on the ability of the analyte to shift the monomer-dimer equilibrium of the dyes toward greater monomer concentrations. Monomers have higher molar absorptivities than dimers. Equilibrium constants and molar absorptivities for monomeric and dimeric forms of the dyes are reported.
Pharmacogenetics and Human Molecular Genetics of Opiate and Cocaine Addictions and Their Treatments

Opiate and cocaine addictions are major social and medical problems that impose a significant burden on society. Despite the size and scope of these problems, there are few effective treatments for these addictions. Methadone maintenance is an effective and most widely used treatment for opiate addiction, allowing normalization of many physiological abnormalities caused by chronic use of short-acting opiates. There are no pharmacological treatments for cocaine addiction. Epidemiological, linkage, and association studies have demonstrated a significant contribution of genetic factors to the addictive diseases. This article reviews the molecular genetics and pharmacogenetics of opiate and cocaine addictions, focusing primarily on genes of the opioid and monoaminergic systems that have been associated with or have evidence for linkage to opiate or cocaine addiction. This evidence has been marshalled either through identification of variant alleles that lead to functional alterations of gene products, altered gene expression, or findings of linkage or association studies. Studies of polymorphisms in the mu opioid receptor gene, which encodes the receptor target of some endogenous opioids, heroin, morphine, and synthetic opioids, have contributed substantially to knowledge of genetic influences on opiate and cocaine addiction. Other genes of the endogenous opioid and monoaminergic systems, particularly genes encoding dopamine beta-hydroxylase, and the dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine transporters have also been implicated. Variants in genes encoding proteins involved in metabolism or biotransformation of drugs of abuse and also of treatment agents are reviewed.
‘To be a part of the dialogue’: American adults reading comic books

Many education researchers espouse the use of different media and popular culture texts to enhance student engagement, but educators also need to see that such texts can be used in academic manners. This interview study draws research material from 12 participants in the US but focuses on one representational example to demonstrate the array of meaning making activities that are bound in reading popular culture texts, in this case, comic books. Roger, the participant, described his reading practices having critical, moral, literary and dialogic dimensions. This array of meaningful practices provides evidence of potential for using popular culture texts in substantive literacy activities.
Numerical and analytical investigation of vapor flow in a disk-shaped heat pipe incorporating secondary flow

Abstract This paper presents a three-dimensional numerical analysis and a pseudo-three-dimensional analytical modeling of the steady incompressible vapor flow in an asymmetrical disk-shaped heat pipe heated from the top center area. The nonlinear differential elliptical equations of motion and the continuity equation were solved numerically over the entire vapor flow domain. Discretization of the governing equations was achieved using a finite element scheme based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. The analytical model involves the use of the boundary layer approximation and the bifurcation of the flow field on the plane to describe the velocity profile under conditions including strong flow reversal. For both numerical and analytical studies, backflow was observed at the top entrance of the condensation zone for injection Reynolds number of 50 and higher. The three-dimensional effects and the effects of the secondary flow formation are discussed in this work. The numerical and analytical results establish that the pressure variations in the angular and transverse directions for a typical disk-shaped heat pipe are small and can be neglected. A very good agreement was found between the numerical results and the analytical results. The analytical model saves tremendous computer time compared with the numerical simulation, which requires CPU times five orders of magnitude larger than those for the analytical model.
Pick Your Poison: The Exchange Rate Regime and Capital Account Volatility in Emerging Markets

We characterize a country’s exchange rate regime by how its central bank channels a capital account shock across three variables: exchange depreciation, interest rates, and international reserve flows. Structural vector autoregression estimates for Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey reveal such responses, both contemporaneously and over time. Capital account shocks are further shown to affect output growth and inflation. The nature and magnitude of these effects may depend on the exchange rate regime.
Computational intelligence techniques for risk assessment and decision support

Abstract This study explores the use of artificial neural networks as a tool to assist child welfare and child protective service organizations in making more precise and more accurate risk assessment decisions on behalf of children and their families. An artificial neural network, a popular computational intelligence technique, was trained and tested with a backpropagation algorithm utilizing 1767 cases from the United States' Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect. The network was challenged to predict those children meeting the Harm Standard for abuse—the most severe classification of demonstrable harm from the case file data. Overall, the trained network was approximately 90% accurate in predicting children meeting, and not meeting the Harm Standard with relatively few false positives and false negatives. Neural networks along with other complimentary computing methodologies (e.g., fuzzy logic and evolutionary algorithms) are tools that could help to increase accuracy, reduce errors, and facilitate more effective decisions in child welfare and child protective service organizations.
Bees: a secure, resource-controlled, Java-based execution environment

Mobile code makes it possible for users to define the processing and protocols used to communicate with a remote node, while still allowing the remote administrator to set the terms of interaction with that node. However, mobile code cannot do anything useful without a rich execution environment, and no administrator would install a rich environment that did not also provide strict controls over the resources consumed and accessed by the mobile code. Based on our experience with ANTS, we have developed Bees, an execution environment that provides better security, fine-grained control over capsule propagation, simple composition of active protocols, and a more flexible mechanism for interacting with end-user programs. Bees' security comes from a flexible authentication and authorization mechanism, capability-based access to privileged resources, and integration with our custom virtual machine that provides isolation, termination, and resource control. The enhancements to the mobile code environment make it possible to compose a protocol with a number of "helper" protocols. In addition, mobile code can now interact naturally with end-user programs, making it possible to communicate with legacy applications. We believe that these features offer significant improvements over the ANTS execution environment and create a more viable platform for active applications.
The Evolving Genomic Landscape of Recurrent Gliomas

722 www.SCIENCEDIRECT.com Rainov N, Weinberg U, Schiff D, Kunschner L, Raizer J, Honnorat J, Sloan A, Malkin M, Landolfi JC, Payer F, Mehdorn M, Weil RJ, Pannullo SC, Westphal M, Smrcka M, Chin L, Kostron H, Hofer S, Bruce J, Cosgrove R, Paleologous N, Palti Y, Gutin PH: NovoTTF-100A versus physician’s choice chemotherapy in recurrent glioblastoma: a randomised phase III trial of a novel treatment modality. Eur J Cancer 48: 2192-2202, 2012.
Recognizing user interest and document value from reading and organizing activities in document triage

People frequently must sort through large sets of documents to identify useful materials, for example, when they look through web search results. This document triage process may involve both reading and organizing, possibly using different applications for each activity. Users' interests may be inferred from what they read and how they interact with individual documents; these interests may in turn be used as a basis for identifying other documents or document elements of potential interest within the set. To most effectively identify related documents of interest, activity data must be collected from all applications used in document triage. In this paper we present a common framework (the Interest Profile Manager) for collecting and analyzing user interest. We also present models for detecting user interest based on reading activity alone, on organizing activity alone, and on combined reading and organizing activity. A study comparing document value calculated using the different models shows that incorporating interest information from both reading and organizing activity better predicted users' valuation of documents. This difference was statistically significant when compared to using reading activity alone.
Gesture modeling and recognition using finite state machines

We propose a state-based approach to gesture learning and recognition. Using spatial clustering and temporal alignment, each gesture is defined to be an ordered sequence of states in spatial-temporal space. The 2D image positions of the centers of the head and both hands of the user are used as features; these are located by a color-based tracking method. From training data of a given gesture, we first learn the spatial information and then group the data into segments that are automatically aligned temporally. The temporal information is further integrated to build a finite state machine (FSM) recognizer. Each gesture has a FSM corresponding to it. The computational efficiency of the FSM recognizers allows us to achieve real-time on-line performance. We apply this technique to build an experimental system that plays a game of "Simon Says" with the user.
A Drosophila CREB/CREM homolog encodes multiple isoforms, including a cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase-responsive transcriptional activator and antagonist.

We have characterized aDrosophilagene that is a highly conserved homolog of the mammalian cyclic AMP (cAMP)-responsive transcription factors CREB and CREM. Uniquely amongDrosophilagenes characterized to date, it codes for a cAMP-responsive transcriptional activator. An alternatively spliced product of the same gene is a specific antagonist of cAMP-inducible transcription. Analysis of the splicing pattern of the gene suggests that the gene may be the predecessor of the mammalianCREBandCREMgenes.
Expectation, explanation and masting

Masting is the synchronous, episodic production of large seed crops by perennial plant populations. Generally, hypotheses concerning the evolutionary origin and maintenance of masting entail economies of scale, where the benefit of large, synchronous reproductive events accrues by overcoming some environmental constraint, such as pollen limitation or seed predation. Because all perennial plants face some degree of inter-annual environmental variability, assessing the importance of selection via economies of scale requires a clear expectation for the reproductive dynamics of plants adapted to variable environments. Using a dynamic life-history model, I demonstrate that the observed range of reproductive variability and several other aspects of masting should be expected for size-structured populations of plants utilizing optimal allocation strategies in variable environments, even in the absence of economies of scale benefits. Thus, life-history evolution in even modestly variable environments may predispose species to realize reproductive benefits via economies of scale. However, distinguishing the effects of evolved responses to environmental variability from the effects of economies of scale using current criteria is difficult, if not impossible. My results reinforce the dictum that ecologists and evolutionary biologists must carefully consider their expectations before generating and testing explanations for observed phenomena. As variations on an established evolutionary theme, economies of scale undoubtedly provide selective advantages. However, caution should be exercised when inferring that they are the major ecological and evolutionary determinant of reproductive variability of plant populations.
A novel epidermal nevus syndrome with congenital cylindromatous turban tumor.

Background: Epidermal nevi (in the broad sense of epithelial nevi) may give rise to benign or malignant skin tumors. They may also be associated with anomalies of other organ systems in an epidermal nevus syndrome. Results: This article describes a preterm infant with nevus sebaceus of the scalp and face, a large turban tumor with features of malignant cylindroma and multiple non-cutaneous defects. These included skeletal, hematopoietic, hepatobiliary, and urinary anomalies. Severe secondary lesions were present (pulmonary hypoplasia due to oligohydramnios; cerebral infarcts probably related to the turban tumor). Karyotype was normal, and family history was negative. Conclusions: This unique case is unlike any reported epidermal nevus syndrome. Similarly, there is no prior report of a congenital cylindroma, certainly not as a turban tumor, which implies very rapid growth. The presence of both overgrowth and undergrowth phenomena (e.g. hypoplastic urinary tract and biliary atresia) may reflect dysregulation of paracrine growth factors, presumably due to genetic mutation.
The Restoration of Civil and Political Rights by Presidential Pardon.

Although much has been written on the general subject of the President's pardoning power, there is still considerable confusion concerning the use of that power for the restoration of civil and political rights to persons who have been deprived of them as a punishment for crime. Particular questions frequently raised are: What rights are lost? How are they lost? How may they be restored? That the issue is a live one is supported by the fact that in the year 1938 no fewer than 203 pardons were granted by the President to restore civil rights. The confusion on the subject is due in large measure to the complexities of our federal form of government. This was clearly noted by Attorney-General Caleb Cushing in his opinion of July 9, 1856, in the case of Oliver Robbins of Sackett's Harbor, New York. Robbins was convicted in 1851, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of New York, of an offense against federal law, and was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary of New York. In 1852, he received from President Fillmore a general pardon.
How do monkeys look at faces

Facial displays are an important form of social communication in nonhuman primates. Clues to the information conveyed by faces are the temporal and spatial characteristics of ocular viewing patterns to facial images. The present study compares viewing patterns of four rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to a set of 1-and 3-sec video segments of conspecific facial displays, which included open-mouth threat, lip-smack, yawn, fear-grimace, and neutral profile. Both static and dynamic video images were used. Static human faces displaying open-mouth threat, smile, and neutral gestures were also presented. Eye position was recorded with a surgically implanted eye-coil. The relative perceptual salience of the eyes, the midface, and the mouth across different expressive gestures was determined by analyzing the number of eye movements associated with each feature during static and dynamic presentations. The results indicate that motion does not significantly affect the viewing patterns to expressive facial displays, and when given a choice, monkeys spend a relatively large amount of time inspecting the face, especially the eyes, as opposed to areas surrounding the face. The expressive nature of the facial display also affected viewing patterns in that threatening and fear-related displays evoked a pattern of viewing that differed from that recorded during the presentation of submissive-related facial displays. From these results we conclude that (1) the most important determinant of the visual inspection patterns of faces is the constellation of physiognomic features and their configuration, but not facial motion, (2) the eyes are generally the most salient facial feature, and (3) the agonistic or affiliative dimension of an expressive facial display can be delineated on the basis of viewing patterns.
SpaRCS: Recovering low-rank and sparse matrices from compressive measurements

We consider the problem of recovering a matrix M that is the sum of a low-rank matrix L and a sparse matrix S from a small set of linear measurements of the form y = A(M)= A(L + S). This model subsumes three important classes of signal recovery problems: compressive sensing, affine rank minimization, and robust principal component analysis. We propose a natural optimization problem for signal recovery under this model and develop a new greedy algorithm called SpaRCS to solve it. Empirically, SpaRCS inherits a number of desirable properties from the state-of-the-art CoSaMP and ADMiRA algorithms, including exponential convergence and efficient implementation. Simulation results with video compressive sensing, hyperspectral imaging, and robust matrix completion data sets demonstrate both the accuracy and efficacy of the algorithm.
COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TOWED BALLUTE INTERACTIONS

A ballute (balloon-parachute) is an inflatable, aerodynamic drag device for application to planetary entry vehicles. Ballutes may be directly attached to a vehicle, increasing its cross-sectional area upon inflation, or towed behind the vehicle as a semi-independent device that can be quickly cut free when the requisite change in velocity is achieved. The aerothermodynamics of spherical and toroidal towed ballutes are considered in the present study. A limiting case of zero towline length (clamped system) is also considered. A toroidal system can be designed (ignoring influence of the tethers) such that all flow processed by the bow shock of the towing spacecraft passes through the hole in the toroid. For a spherical ballute, towline length is a critical parameter that affects aeroheating on the ballute being towed through the spacecraft wake. In both cases, complex and often unsteady interactions ensue in which the spacecraft and its wake resemble an aero spike situated in front of the ballute. The strength of the interactions depends upon system geometry and Reynolds number. We show how interactions may envelope the base of the towing spacecraft or impinge on the ballute surface with adverse consequences to its thermal protection system. Geometric constraints to minimize or eliminate such adverse interactions are discussed. The towed, toroidal system and the clamped, spherical system show greatest potential for a baseline design approach.
Does Final Market Demand Elasticity Influence the Location of Export Processing? Evidence from Multinational Decisions in China

Given the importance many developing countries attach to attracting foreign investors engaged in export-processing activities, surprisingly little is known about the sensitivity of these investors to local wage differences and the role played by final product market conditions. Using data on 2,884 foreign-invested manufacturing projects in China, we estimate the importance of host province wages to firm’s location choice and investigate how this sensitivity varies with demand conditions facing the industry in China’s largest export market, the United States. We use the profit function to show theoretically that firms’ ability to pass wage costs through to final markets matters for location choice and we test the implications of the theory using a control-function technique for conditional logit developed by Petrin and Train. As predicted, we find that investors facing more elastic demand in the US market are more sensitive to wages across export-processing locations. Taking both the factor intensity of the activity and final market demand elasticity into account, we find that investors producing homogenous goods, such as metals, chemicals, and food processing, are more likely to be attracted by relatively low wages than those producing differentiated goods. We also find that while OECD investors are more responsive to wage differences than are investors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, they are less likely to choose a location that has received a large share of prior foreign investment.
Aberrant Gene Silencing in Tumor Progression: Implications for Control of Cancer

Although it is clear that genetic alterations are critical for the initiation and maintenance of human cancer, it is also becoming evident that epigenetic changes may be essential for the development of these diseases as well. The best studied of these latter processes is heritable transcriptional repression of genes associated with aberrant DNA hypermethylation of their promoters. Herein we review how very early occurrence of these gene silencing events may contribute to loss of key gene functions which result in disruption of cell regulatory pathways that may contribute to abnormal cell population expansion. These altered regulatory events may then provide a setting where mutations in the same disrupted pathways may be readily selected and serve to lock tumor progression into place. This hypothesis has potential impact on means to prevent and control cancer and for the use of epigenetic markers for cancer risk assessment and early diagnosis.
Child Welfare Policy

As states struggle to secure resources for the child welfare systems, they continue to face the on-going fact that more than half of child abuse and neglect investigations result in no finding of abuse or neglect. In addition, funding for services for those families and children substantiated for abuse or neglect is primarily provided by local or state funding. Thus, one of the policy issues that may be addressed in the next decade is to revisit the legal definitions of child maltreatment. One possible policy approach would be to reverse the expansion of the definition of abuse and neglect and create a narrower definition that could result in fewer investigations and the release of more funding for services; or states could create stricter screening procedures and reduce the number of investigations. None of the federal legislative initiatives in the last 25 years has yielded significant improvements in achieving permanence for children in out-of-home care, assuring stable reunifications, and/or reducing the number of children waiting for adoption while also reducing adoption disruptions. The pendulum has swung from a concern for family reunification to child safety, but the issue or permanence remains to be appropriately and adequately addressed. Keywords: child welfare; youth; child policy
The Pulmonary Circulation

The pulmonary circulation carries oxygen-depleted blood from the right heart to the lungs and returns oxygenated blood to the left heart for delivery to the systemic circulation while serving as a source of humoral mediator production and a barrier to the exchange of fluid and solutes. This chapter discusses several aspects of this unique circulation, including a brief history of its discovery and the tools used to explore it; an overview of pulmonary hemodynamics and how they affect right ventricular function; structure and mechanical properties of the pulmonary circulation; and neural/humoral regulation of the pulmonary vascular tone and barrier properties that prevent leakage of fluid and solutes into the alveolar space. The chapter is written to highlight those unique properties of the pulmonary circulation that are involved with the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension and the response of the right ventricle and pulmonary blood vessels to disease development. The overall aim is to prepare the reader for an in-depth discussion of pulmonary hypertensive diseases that follows in the subsequent chapters.