cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Computation of the Instanton Contribution

As discussed earlier, instantons play an important role in the calculation of the functional integrals of type (25.3) and (25.4) by the Laplace method. Recall that this method is based on expanding the exponent of the exponential in a neighborhood of its minimum, discarding terms of degree greater than two, and computing the resulting Gaussian integral. In the case of instantons the exponent achieves its minimum not at a single point, but on an entire manifold. This requires a modification to the Laplace method, which we now describe.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor–induced inflammatory arthritis as a model of autoimmune arthritis

The development of inflammatory arthritis in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is increasingly recognized due to the growing use of these drugs for the treatment of cancer. This represents an important opportunity not only to define the mechanisms responsible for the development of this immune-related adverse event and to ultimately predict or prevent its development, but also to provide a unique window into early events in the development of inflammatory arthritis. Knowledge gained through the study of this patient population, for which the inciting event is known, could shed light into the pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritis. This review will highlight the clinical and immunologic features of these entities to define common elements for future study.
Potential Insights for US USO from Recent Federal Communication Commission’s Broadband Auctions

Last year, based on my telecom experience, I offered a roadmap for building new types of internal incentives and potentially privatizing the Postal Service’s last mile delivery. One feature of the proposal was to introduce a universal service fund and use it to auction service territories in high-cost areas. In 2018, the FCC used universal service funds to stimulate broadband network buildouts in rural, high-cost unserved areas. The results indicate that new entrants offered to build networks at roughly 1/3 the price offered to incumbent broadband providers. This may be an indication that a more politically palatable way to fund traditional mail is not to raise prices or lower service quality, but instead to use a universal service fund to assure reasonably similar national prices and service levels. This paper will summarize the CAF-II auction results and connect them to last year’s proposal. It will also refer to the Trump Administration Task Force’s strategic plan.
A Solid-State Support for Separating Astatine-211 from Bismuth

Increasing access to the short-lived α-emitting radionuclide astatine-211 (211At) has the potential to advance targeted α-therapeutic treatment of disease and to solve challenges facing the medical...
How Do Different Reflection Prompts Affect Engineering Students’ Academic Performance and Engagement?

This study explored the relative effectiveness of generic versus specific reflection prompts on engineering students’ academic performance and engagement with four scales (i.e., behavioral, emotion...
Using Systems-Level Consultation to Establish Data Systems to Monitor Coaching in Schools: A Framework for Practice

Coaching has been widely implemented to support the delivery of evidence-based practices in schools. Although coaching is effective in rigorous research studies, scholars question the effective tra...
How to Live in a Post-Meltdown and -Spectre World: Learn from the past to prepare for the next battle.

Spectre and Meltdown create a risk landscape that has more questions than answers. This article addresses how these vulnerabilities were triaged when they were announced and the practical defenses that are available. Ultimately, these vulnerabilities present a unique set of circumstances, but for the vulnerability management program at Goldman Sachs, the response was just another day at the office.
Associations between beta-blocker use and psychological distress in bereaved adults with cardiovascular conditions.

The death of a close other is a major life stressor that disrupts mental and physical health. Beta-blocker medications are indicated treatments for cardiovascular conditions that may also mitigate psychological distress in the context of stressors by reducing adrenergic activity. We sought to examine observational links between beta-blocker medication use and psychological distress during bereavement. Using publicly available data from the Midlife in the United States Refresher study, we examined associations between beta-blocker use and general distress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms (as measured by the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire) among bereaved adults with cardiovascular conditions (n = 161) using t-tests and regression models. Beta-blocker users reported lower levels of anxiety-related general distress (b = -2.49, SE = 0.88, p = 0.005) and depression-related general distress than non-users (b = -2.39, SE = 1.14, p = 0.039) in multivariate linear regression models adjusting for demographic characteristics, mental health treatments, time since loss and comorbid health conditions. These observed links between beta-blockers and lower psychological distress in bereavement warrant further investigation in prospective and randomized studies, as beta-blockers could be a scalable intervention for mitigating distress following loss.
Nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia: A call to action

In 2020 a group of U.S. healthcare leaders formed the National Organization to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (NOHAP) to issue a call to action to address non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NVHAP). NVHAP is one of the most common and morbid healthcare-associated infections, but it is not tracked, reported, or actively prevented by most hospitals. This national call to action includes (1) launching a national healthcare conversation about NVHAP prevention; (2) adding NVHAP prevention measures to education for patients, healthcare professionals, and students; (3) challenging healthcare systems and insurers to implement and support NVHAP prevention; and (4) encouraging researchers to develop new strategies for NVHAP surveillance and prevention. The purpose of this document is to outline research needs to support the NVHAP call to action. Primary needs include the development of better models to estimate the economic cost of NVHAP, to elucidate the pathophysiology of NVHAP and identify the most promising pathways for prevention, to develop objective and efficient surveillance methods to track NVHAP, to rigorously test the impact of prevention strategies proposed to prevent NVHAP, and to identify the policy levers that will best engage hospitals in NVHAP surveillance and prevention. A joint task force developed this document including stakeholders from the Veterans' Health Administration (VHA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Joint Commission, the American Dental Association, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice (OHNEP), Teaching Oral-Systemic Health (TOSH), industry partners and academia.
Deep-Learning-Based Multi-Organ Auto-Segmentation on 3D Transrectal Ultrasound for Ultrasound-Guided Prostate Brachytherapy.

Purpose/objective(s) Ultrasound (US) imaging has been widely used in image-guided prostate brachytherapy. Current prostate brachytherapy uses transrectal US (TRUS) images for implant guidance, where contours of prostate and organs-at risk are necessary for treatment planning and dose evaluation. This work aims to develop a deep learning-based method for pelvic multi-organ TRUS segmentation to improve TRUS-guided prostate brachytherapy. Materials/methods We developed an anchor-free mask convolutional neural network (CNN) that consist of three subnetworks, i.e., a backbone, a fully convolutional one-state object detector (FCOS) head, and a mask head. The backbone extracts multi-level and multi-scale features from US image. The FOCS head utilizes these features to detect the location of volume-of-interest (VOI) of each organ. In contrast to previous mask regional CNN (Mask R-CNN) method, which perform detection and segmentation within several pre-defined potential VOIs (called as anchors), FCOS head is anchor-free, which can capture spatial correlation of multi-organs due to whole image input. Mask head performs segmentation on each detected VOI, where a spatial attention strategy is integrated into mask head that helps to focus on informative features that can well-represent the organ boundary and suppress noise introduced by previous subnetwork and by arrival TRUS image itself. For evaluation, we retrospectively investigated 80 prostate cancer patients by a five-fold cross-validation. Prostate, bladder, rectum and urethra were segmented and compared with manual contours using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95), and mean surface distance (MSD). Results For all patients, the DSC, HD95 and MSD were 0.93 ± 0.03, 2.28 ± 0.64 mm and 0.57 ± 0.20 mm for prostate; 0.75 ± 0.12, 2.58 ± 0.7 mm and 1.26 ± 0.23 mm for bladder; 0.90 ± 0.07, 1.65 ± 0.52 mm and 0.34 ± 0.16 mm for rectum; and 0.86 ± 0.07, 1.85 ± 1.71 mm and 0.44 ± 0.32mm for urethra. The proposed method outperforms two state-of-art methods (U-Net and Mask R-CNN) with better agreement with physicians' manual contours and less mis-identified speckles. Conclusion We proposed an automatic deep learning-based pelvic multi-organ segmentation on 3D TRUS images for TRUS-guided prostate brachytherapy. The proposed method could provide fast and accurate multi-organ segmentations for prostate, bladder, rectum and urethra, and outperformed two competing methods. This deep-learning-based multi-organ auto-segmentation may play an important role in future clinical practice to improve auto-planning and auto-evaluation during TRUS-guided prostate brachytherapy.
Applying an efficient K-nearest neighbor search to forest attribute imputation

This paper explores the utility of an efficient nearest neighbor (NN) search algorithm for applications in multi-source kNN forest attribute imputation. The search algorithm reduces the number of distance calculations between a given target vector and each reference vector, thereby, decreasing the time needed to discover the NN subset. Results of five trials show gains in NN search efficiency ranging from 75 to 98 percent for k = 1. The search algorithm can be easily incorporated into routines that optimize feature subsets or weights, values of k, distance decomposition coefficients, and mapping.
Reticuloendothelial system function and histamine release in shock and trauma: relationship to microcirculation.

The material reviewed, and presented, here lends credence to the concept that the severity or course of the shock syndrome can be evaluated, quantitatively, at a tissue level by assessing RES phagocytic function. In general, the available data indicate that RE cell stimulants can adapt animals (and probably man) to the insults of circulatory shock and trauma; such substances could have important value in pretreating patients scheduled for massive surgery. The fact that a number of biologically active materials with vasotropic, and RE cell depressant, effects appear in the tissues and blood in shock, particularly when the organism becomes refractory to therapy, suggests that the final functional deterioration of the cardiovascular system may be due to the specific action of one or more of these biologically active materials; such a contender is, without doubt, histamine. Histamine has all the attributes of a typical shock-toxin. Evidence is presented that histamine can be a potent splanchnic (shock target-organ) arteriolar (microcirculatory) dilator even in physiologic (circulating) concentrations. Concentrations of histamine found in plasma of shocked animals and human subjects would produce extremely potent splanchnic vasodilator actions at the microcirculatory level. Evidence is also presented to indicate that microvessels can synthesize and release free, pharmacologically-active histamine. Endogenous release of histamine (e.g., with compound 48/80) produces dose-dependent and lethal shock-like anaphylactic actions; such release also produces, dose-dependently, RES phagocytic depression. Repeated administration of the histamine releaser, compound 48/80, results in almost a 400% enhancement of RES phagocytic function and cross-tolerance to lethal doses of whole-body trauma. Such results raise the possibility that the RES plays a pivotal role in the circulatory manifestations of compound 48/80 and anaphylactic-type (histamine release) shock syndromes. Evidence is presented to indicate that H1-receptor antihistamines can ameliorate circulatory shock (and trauma) and prevent RES phagocytic depression, whereas H2-receptor antihistamines do the reverse. Direct in situ microscopy revealed that the former types of histamine receptor blockers prevent tissue ischemia, whereas H2-receptor blockers exacerbate tissue ischemia in circulatory shock. Histamineinduced vasodilatation via H2-receptors may thus be a beneficial effect in circulatory shock and trauma; one must think seriously about the potential value of antihistamines as adjuvant drugs in the treatment of low-flow states and as preoperative medication. Collectively, the data reviewed herein could be taken as strong support for a pivotal role for the release (and possible synthesis) of free, pharmacologically-active histamine in shock.
Moral Hazard and Renegotiation: Multi-Period Robustness

Is the second best outcome of static agency models renegotiation proof? In models with one period of renegotiation, Fudenberg and Tirole (1990) answer no when the principal makes the offer, while Ma (1994) and Matthews (1995) answer yes when the agent makes the offer. This paper analyzes the robustness of these two claims when there are more periods of renegotiation. With a known number of periods, if the principal makes at least one offer, even if the agent makes the offer in every other period, the equilibrium is identical to Fudenberg and Tirole equilibrium. With an uncertain number of periods, the agency problem is even more severe than in the Fudenberg and Tirole model.
Total pneumonectomy for metastatic uterine sarcoma

Abstract A report is cited of a patient with sarcoma presumedly metastatic to the lung. Treatment consisted of total pneumonectomy. Approximately 11 years earlier a huge sarcoma of the uterus had been treated elsewhere by subtotal hysterectomy. At the present time, 21 months after pneumonectomy, the patient is apparently well without demonstrable evidence of further recurrence (Fig. 5). Although the prognosis is still in doubt, this experience tends to indicate that when a primary tumor has been apparently removed completely and when there is no evidence of metastatic spread other than a solitary metastasis to the lung, pneumonectomy or lobectomy has merit, either in prolonging life, or as a palliative procedure to add to the patient's comfort for the remaining months or years of life.
Some observations on the metatheory of speech perception.

Block diagrams accompanying four recent models of speech perception each had a different spatial orientation in portraying the relation between the external world and the idealized perceiver. These orientations were: (1) Fant's model; external world on the left, perceiver on the right: (2) Stevens and Halle's model, vice versa: (3) Morton and Broadbent's model; external world above, perceiver below: (4) Haskins Group's model: vice versa. The metatheoretical implications of these different spatial orientations were considered. This resulted in a classification of the models, respectively, as (1) empirical, (2) formal, (3) mechanical, (4) physiological. It was found that observations derived from the spatial orientation of the models were not, in themselves, sufficient as a general statement of the present status of speech perception theory, or metatheory.
Xe adsorption on Ag(111): Experiment

Abstract Precise structural and thermodynamic studies of Xe adsorbed on Ag(111) are made using low-energy diffraction. Spacings are measured relative to those of bulk adsorbed film. Effective equilibrium experiments are done using a directed gas beam and cryopumping. The density of only that gas in the coherently diffracting area is measured by the attenuation of the Ag(01) beam. With decreasing temperature at fixed gas flux one observes the sequential of 2D gas, monolayer, bilayer and bulk films. The effective pressure of the impinging gas is determined from the known bulk vapor pressure so bypassing absolute pressure measurements. The phase diagram, lattice spacings in the film at equilibrium and at zero pressure, latent heats of adsorption and isosteric heats are determined.
Metallic colloids and their plasmonic properties

Colloidal growth of plasmonic nanostructures may present some advantages such as shape control at the nm scale with atomic smoothness of the surfaces and possibly reduced damping. We show that the seed-mediated growth of gold nanostructures is strongly dependent on the gold seed nanocrystal structure. Starting with gold seed solutions prepared such that they are either single crystalline or multiply twinned, growth yields either nanorods with good control over the aspect ratio (~10%) or elongated bipyramidal nanoparticles. The nanorods are single crystalline while the gold bipyramids are penta-fold-twinned. The gold bipyramids are also strikingly monodisperse in shape with the sharpest ensemble surface plasmon resonance reported so far. Silver can be coated onto the gold nanostructures leading to a large blue-shift of the longitudinal plasmon resonance. Surprisingly, even a thin silver layer introduces much additional damping explained as scattering at the Au/Ag interface. Silver can be converted to silver sulphide yielding a large red-shift. The metal-semiconductor composite materials may present interesting nonlinear optical properties which are being currently investigated. Finally, the nonlinear optical scattering from individual Au nanorods was measured under excitation by ultrafast laser pulses on resonance with their longitudinal plasmon mode. Surprisingly, the ultrafast nonlinearity can be attributed entirely to the heating of conduction electrons and does not exhibit any response associated with coherent plasmon oscillation. This indicates an unanticipated damping of strongly driven plasmons.
In vitro synthesis of RNA with “aggregate” enzyme, chromatin, and DNA from liver of methylazoxymethanol acetate-treated rats☆

Abstract “Aggregate” enzyme, chromatin and DNA preparations were isolated from livers of rats treated with the carcinogen, methylazoxymethanol (MAM) acetate. DNA template activity for RNA synthesis in vitro was unimpaired while the template activity of chromatin was slightly reduced. There was a marked inhibition of UTP incorporation into RNA, however, when the “aggregate” enzyme preparation was the source of both template and RNA polymerase. Circular dichroism analysis of the “aggregate” enzyme preparation indicated a change in conformation of the protein component. The results suggest that MAM acetate interacts with nuclear proteins and produces conformational changes which result in a decreased RNA synthesis.
"Pray Earnestly": The Textual Construction of Personal Involvement in Pentecostal Prayer and Song

This article addresses how a perceived tension between the spontaneous personal and the shared textual elements of religious language is resolved in the context of Pentecostal services recorded at two Assemblies of God (AG) churches in California and Michigan. In an analysis of prayer and the metapragmatic commentary that surrounds it, I argue that the balance between spontaneously created prayer and invocation of fixed text plays on an opposition that goes beyond ritual or religious language; rather, it is best understood as characterizing two opposing text-building or entextualization strategies. Using evidence from AG prayer, sermons, and songs, I show that the preferred entextualization strategy highlights the situatedness of the text in a particular context and as emanating from a particular speaker. My findings have significance not only for research on religious language, but also for further understandings of entextualization and the discursive means of constructing personhood and affect.
Demand-driven alias analysis for C

This paper presents a demand-driven, flow-insensitive analysisalgorithm for answering may-alias queries. We formulate thecomputation of alias queries as a CFL-reachability problem, and use this formulation to derive a demand-driven analysis algorithm. The analysis uses a worklist algorithm that gradually explores the program structure and stops as soon as enough evidence is gathered to answer the query. Unlike existing techniques, our approach does not require building or intersecting points-to sets.Experiments show that our technique is effective at answering alias queries accurately and efficiently in a demand-driven fashion. For a set of alias queries from the SPEC2000 benchmarks, an implementation of our analysis is able to accurately answer 96% of the queries in 0.5 milliseconds per query on average, using only 65 KB of memory. Compared to a demand-driven points-to analysis that constructs and intersects points-to sets on the fly, our alias analysis can achieve better accuracy while running more than 30 times faster. The low run-time cost and low memory demands of the analysis make it a very good candidate not only for compilers, but also for interactive tools, such as program understanding tools or integrated development environments (IDEs).
Reasoning with uncertain categories

Five experiments investigated how people use categories to make inductions about objects whose categorisation is uncertain. Normatively, they should consider all the categories the object might be in and use a weighted combination of information from all the categories: bet-hedging. The experiments presented people with simple, artificial categories and asked them to make an induction about a new object that was most likely in one category but possibly in another. The results showed that the majority of people focused on the most likely category in making inductions, although there was a group of consistently normative responders who used information from both categories (about 25% of our college population). Across experiments the overall pattern of results suggests that performance in the task is improved not by understanding the underlying principles of bet-hedging but by increasing the likelihood that multiple categories are in working memory at the time of the induction. We discuss implications for i...
Recent experimental strategies for prejudice reduction in American schools and classrooms

(1986). Recent experimental strategies for prejudice reduction in American schools and classrooms. Journal of Curriculum Studies: Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 331-338.
Solubility of methane in cellulose acetate — conditioning effect of carbon dioxide

Abstract The solubility of CH 4 and CO 2 in cellulose 2.4-acetate membranes was measured at temperatures between —10° and 30°C, and at pressures of up to 40 atm. Pre-exposure of the membrane samples to high-pressure CO 2 caused an increase in the solubility of CH 4 , as well as of CO 2 [2]. In contrast, pre-exposure of the samples to high-pressure CH 4 did not alter the solubility of either CH 4 or CO 2 . A similar “conditioning effect” by high-pressure CO 2 was also observed with other glassy polymers by Paul et al. [9-11], who reasonably attributed it to the non-equilibrium nature of the glassy state. The solubility isotherms for CH 4 and CO 2 in cellulose 2.4-acetate can be fitted to the “dual-mode” sorption model [1], but a consideration of the heats of solution suggests that a “two Langmuir sites” model [16] may offer a more satisfactory representation of the data. The cellulose acetate samples employed in this study were prepared by drying reverse osmosis membranes and are believed to have contained a large amount of free volume.
Diffusion bonding between BPA polycarbonate and poly(butylene terephthalate)

Abstract The diffusion bonding of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) to BPA polycarbonate (BPAPC) has been studied over the temperature range 100–230°C. The studies were carried out on laminates of the two polymers prepared by a novel spray application procedure. Variations in adhesive bond strength with temperature at fixed times and with time at fixed temperatures were determined by means of peel tests. Concurrently, TEM studies of interfacial cross sections were used to monitor the extent of diffusion. The results suggest that adhesion is strongly coupled to the level of solubility between the two resins and is independent of the rate or extent of diffusion once an equilibrium number of interfacial chains has been established. A phenomenological model is presented.
HPIS3: towards a high-performance simulator for hybrid parallel I/O and storage systems

The performance gap between processor and storage device has continuously increased during the past few decades. The gap is further exacerbated recently because applications are becoming more data-intensive in both industry and academia. Traditional storage devices, such as hard disk drives (HDD), fail to keep up with the paces of this growth. A known solution is to use solid state drives (SSD) as fast storage. Due to high cost of SSD, data and supercomputing centers usually adopt a hybrid storage system, which consists of a combination of HDD and SSD I/O servers. However, hybrid I/O and storage systems have increased the complexity, making SSD often underutilized. The configuration and utilization of HDD/SSD hybrid systems is a lasting phenomenon. In this study, we propose a high performance hybrid parallel I/O and storage simulator, HPIS3. As a co-design tool, HPIS3 is capable of simulating a variety of parallel storage systems, especially under hybrid scenarios. The experimental results show that the lowest error rate is 2%, and the average is 11.98%.
Long term recall of memory CD8 T cells in mice to first and third generation smallpox vaccines

Since long-term immunity is a critical component of any effective vaccine, we compared over a 15-month period, the strength, durability and specificity of immunity of an attenuated smallpox vaccine Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) to the New York City Board of Health (NYCBH) vaccine. The frequencies of CD8(+) T cells to an immunodominant CD8 T cell epitope B8R(20-27) remained remarkably stable in mice given either MVA or NYCBH. Both groups were also protected from a lethal intranasal challenge with Western Reserve strain of vaccinia virus (VACV-WR). Cytokine responses to virus-specific peptides were detectable with significant boosting upon challenge. Expression of most phenotypic markers that define antigen-specific memory CD8 T cells was similar while CD27 was differentially expressed on lung-specific T cells compared to the spleen. Our data indicate robust vaccinia-specific CD8(+) T cell recall responses to lethal secondary challenge in protected mice with no apparent effect of age on T cell pools established much earlier in life.
Elimination of inhaled 3,3'-dichlorobiphenyl and the formation of the 4-hydroxylated metabolite.

The recent discovery of 3,3′-dichlorobiphenyl (CB11) as a byproduct of pigment manufacturing underscores the urgency to investigate its biological fate. The high level and ubiquity of atmospheric C...
Actin bends over backward for directional branching

The actin cytoskeleton is the major force-generating machinery in the cell that produces pushing, pulling, and resistance forces. To perform these functions, actin filaments, with the help of many accessory proteins, form architecturally distinct structures designed for specific purposes. Thus, pushing forces are frequently generated by branched networks that assemble in the vicinity of a load and exert force using energy of actin polymerization (1, 2). Although the current level of molecular and biophysical understanding of this process is exemplary (3, 4), a key remaining question is how to maintain the directionality of the constantly branching network and prevent it from expanding into unwanted cell areas. The report by Risca et al. in PNAS (5) links the directionality of actin branching to the load-imposed curvature of actin filaments. This connection supports a direct mechanosensing role of actin filaments and explains the tunneling of actin polymerization toward the load.
Abstract P1-09-14: Relationship between socioeconomic status, race, and breast cancer clinical stage at presentation

Introduction: Racial and ethnic minority breast cancer patients present with later clinical stage at diagnosis, which may be due to lack of access to care due to poor socioeconomic status (SES). Our hypothesis was that the racial gap in clinical stage at breast cancer presentation would be eliminated after adjustment for SES. Methods: Retrospective review was performed of breast cancer (excluding ductal carcinoma in situ) patients from 10 hospitals in Harris County Texas between 2002 and 2011. Demographic and clinical information was recorded. Clinical stage was calculated based on data from the institutional tumor registry and electronic medical record. Zip code-based SES data, including mean household income and percentage of households receiving social support, were downloaded from [www.census.gov][1]. A multivariate ordered logistic regression clustered by hospital was used to identify predictors of clinical stage. Results: Of 3084 breast cancer patients, the mean age at diagnosis was 59 ± 14 years. The cohort included 1873 Caucasian (61%), 519 African-Americans (17%), 353 Hispanics (11%), and 339 Asian/others (11%). Age, race, mean household income, and percentage of household receiving social support were predictive of clinical stage at presentation (p<0.05). View this table: Ordered Logistic Regression The largest racial gap was observed between African-Americans and Caucasians. African Americans from areas with a mean income up to $180K still had a lower predicted probability of presenting with clinical stage 1a disease than the Caucasians from the poorest mean income areas ( $305K) still had a higher probability of presenting with clinical stage 4 disease as Caucasians from areas with a mean income as low as $100K. Conclusion: Both African-American race and residence in a low SES zip code contribute independently to late clinical stage at presentation among breast cancer patients. Both genetic and social factors may play a role in this disparity. Addressing factors related to just race or low SES status alone is unlikely to improve outcomes for African-Americans from low SES zip codes. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P1-09-14. [1]: http://www.census.gov
Nucleosomal organization of telomere-specific chromatin in rat

Rat liver interphase chromosomes have telomeres 20-100 kb in length. Micrococcal nuclease digestion of nuclei cleaves telomeres with a uniform 157 bp periodicity, producing soluble particles that sediment in sucrose gradients exactly like oligonucleosomes. The monomeric telomere particles comigrate with nucleosome core particles on nucleoprotein and DNA gels but do not bind H1. DNAase I cleaves telomere nucleoprotein into a series of bands spaced by about 10.4 bp and with the same intensity distribution as bands from bulk nucleosomes. Removal of H1 from chromatin alters the sedimentation properties of telomeres in parallel with bulk chromatin. Thus, telomeres of mammals are constructed of closely spaced nucleosomes, in contrast with the telomeres of lower eukaryotes, which show no evidence of nucleosomal structure.
Surface tension of polymer liquids

A cell theory for the prediction of the surface tension of simple liquids is adapted to polymer liquids. The combinatory, free volume and potential energy zero terms of the partition function are all modified to account for the preservation of connectivity when a surface is created. Theory and experiment are in good agreement without an adjustable surface parameter.
Off-budget activities of local government: The bane of the tax revolt

This paper has demonstrated that the tax revolt of the 1970s has not been as successful in reducing the level of state and local government expenditure as preliminary empirical findings indicate, and that the rate of increase in state and local public spending is likely to be far greater than previously believed. The evidence presented here shows clearly that constitutional and statutory limitations on the taxing and spending powers of local governments have led to a massive amount of off-budget spending and borrowing. The debt issued by off-budget enterprises is larger and growing at a much faster rate than the voter-approved debt issued by state and local governments, and has been since 1975. Thus, even though statistics on property taxation and expenditure may indicate a slow-down in the growth of local taxation, the true cost of local government may continue to increase at previous rates, although this is an empirical question which we are not yet able to address. Off-budget enterprises are heavily subsidized by local, state, and federal governments. These subsidies represent a hidden tax liability to present and future generations of taxpayers. In addition, the debt and expenditures of OBEs contribute substantially to the crowding-out of private spending and investment.
Type I interferons in combination with bacterial stimuli induce apoptosis of monocyte-derived dendritic cells

Both type I interferons (IFNs) as well as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) individually compromise selected monocytic or dendritic cell (DC) functions. This study investigates the influence of these agents on the differentiation and the regulation of cell death of monocyte-derived DCs generated in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor plus interleukin-4 (IL-4). It is reported that excessive apoptosis occurred rapidly in monocyte-derived DC cultures, if IFN-α or IFN-β was added in combination with LPS or lipoteichoic acid (LTA). The small fraction of cells surviving in such cultures displayed a mature DC phenotype with expression of CD83, CD80, and CD86. IL-10 was found in the supernatants of monocyte-derived DC cultures, if supplemented with LPS or IFN-α plus LPS but not in control cultures. When monocyte-derived DCs were generated in the presence of IFN-α without LPS, these cells displayed an immature DC phenotype with a reduction of cell recovery but no overt apoptosis. However, the addition of LPS, LTA, LPS plus IFN-γ, or tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) plus prostaglandin E2 to such cells again resulted in the rapid induction of apoptosis in the majority of cells, together with a reduced production of IL-12 p70 and TNF-α. Together, these data indicate an exquisite sensitivity of monocyte-derived DCs to activation-induced cell death if generated in the presence of IFN-α, indicating the existence of an important mechanism of immunosuppression caused by IFN-α–inducing agents, such as viral or bacterial stimuli.
God at Play: Seeing God Through the Lens of the Young Krishna

: This article begins with the absence of biblical stories about Jesus' youth. This lack means that typical boyhood characteristics, such as playfulness, are absent from a traditional Christian picture of the divine. Using the lens of stories told about Krishna's youth in the Bhagavata Purana, I suggest that Christians could learn from the Hindu idea of a “god at play,” as such a concept enhances a Christian understanding of who God has revealed Godself to be, and how Christians are called to be in relationship to God.
Effects of caffeine and theophylline on adenosine and benzodiazepine receptors in human brain

The binding of various adenosine receptor ligands and of [3H]diazepam, as well as their inhibition of methylxanthines, have been studied in human brain cerebral cortex membranes. Caffeine and theophylline competitively inhibit binding of [3H]cyclohexyladenosine, [3H]diethylphenylxanthine, [3H]phenylisopropyladenosine and [3H]diazepam. Both caffeine and theophylline are more potent as inhibitors of adenosine receptor ligand binding compared to [3H]diazepam binding. Theophylline was more potent than caffeine in its ability to compete with adenosine receptor ligand binding while the reverse was true for [3H]diazepam binding. The meaning of these results for the mode of action of methylxantine is discussed.
Exploring the deep biosphere probing microbial systems at Earth' extremes

Deep drilling of marine sediments and oceanic crust offers a unique opportunity to explore how life persists and evolves in the Earth's deepest subsurface ecosystems. Resource availability deep beneath the seafloor may impose constraints on microbial growth and dispersal patterns that differ greatly from the surface world. Processes that mediate microbial evolution and diversity may also be very different in these habitats. Communities in parts of the deep subsurface may resemble primordial microbial ecosystems, and may serve as analogues of life on other planets that have, or once had, water. In short, the deep biosphere is one of the least explored biomes on Earth and deserves intense exploration.
Impaired motor unit control in paretic muscle post stroke assessed using surface electromyography: A preliminary report

The objective of this preliminary study was to examine the possible contribution of disordered control of motor unit (MU) recruitment and firing patterns in muscle weakness post-stroke. A novel surface EMG (sEMG) recording and decomposition system was used to record sEMG signals and extract single MU activities from the first dorsal interosseous muscle (FDI) of two hemiparetic stroke survivors. To characterize MU reorganization, an estimate of the motor unit action potential (MUAP) amplitude was derived using spike triggered averaging of the sEMG signal. The MUs suitable for further analysis were selected using a set of statistical tests that assessed the variability of the morphological characteristics of the MUAPs. Our preliminary results suggest a disrupted orderly recruitment based on MUAP size, a compressed recruitment range, and reduced firing rates evident in the paretic muscle compared with the contralateral muscle of one subject with moderate impairment. In contrast, the MU organization was largely similar bilaterally for the subject with minor impairment. The preliminary results suggest that MU organizational changes with respect to recruitment and rate modulation can contribute to muscle weakness post-stroke. The contrasting results of the two subjects indicate that the degree of MU reorganization may be associated with the degree of the functional impairment, which reveals the differential diagnostic capability of the sEMG decomposition system.
Mouse epidermal Ia molecules have a bone marrow origin

The major histocompatibility or H–2 complex of the mouse is divided into five regions (K, I, S, G and D)1. Genes in the I region regulate immune responses2. The I region has several subregions which are designated I–A, I–B, I–J, I–E and I–C. The I–A and I–E subregions also code for a set of serologically detected cell-surface alloantigens, designated Ia antigens3. The relationship between the genes regulating the immune response and those encoding the serologically detectable alloantigens is still unknown. A number of species including man, rats and guinea pigs contain genetic regions apparently equivalent to the murine I region. Ia molecules are integral cell-surface glycoproteins that consist of two subunits of approximate molecular weights 35,000 (α) and 28,000 (β). Unlike the classical transplantation antigens which are present on almost all cells, the Ia antigens are found primarily on cells of the immune system—lymphocytes and macrophages4–6. A notable exception has been the demonstration of Ia antigens in mice, or Ia-like antigens in other mammals, on epidermal cells6–13. There is controversy about the numbers of Ia-positive cells in the epidermis. Fluorescence studies in humans11,12, guinea pigs14 and mice15 indicate that only about 5% of epidermal cells are Ia positive. These cells were identified by morphological criteria as the macrophage-like Langerhans cells. However, cytotoxicity studies in mice using anti-Ia sera indicate that a majority of epidermal cells (up to 90%) are Ia positive6–8. The reason for this discrepancy is not known. Here we demonstrate that the epidermal Ia molecules are synthesised by bone marrow-derived cells, presumably Langerhans cells.
Super-resolution light microscopy goes live.

Microscopic resolution far beyond the diffraction limit is possible by localizing single molecules individually. This approach has now been demonstrated on living cells.
Hirudin in Acute Myocardial Infarction Thrombolysis and Thrombin Inhibition in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) 9B Trial

Background The TIMI 9 trial evaluated whether the direct antithrombin hirudin is more effective than an indirect-acting antithrombin, heparin, as adjunctive therapy for thrombolysis in myocardial infarction. Methods and Results Patients (n=3002) with acute myocardial infarction were treated with aspirin and either accelerated-dose tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) or streptokinase. They were randomized within 12 hours of symptoms to receive either intravenous heparin (5000 U bolus followed by infusion of 1000 U/h) or hirudin (0.1 mg/kg bolus followed by infusion of 0.1 mg/kg per hour). The infusions of both antithrombins were titrated to a target activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) of 55 to 85 seconds and were administered for 96 hours. Patients randomized to hirudin were significantly more likely to have an aPTT measurement in the target range (P<.0001). The primary end point (death, recurrent nonfatal myocardial infarction, or development of severe congestive heart failure or cardiogenic shock...
The Capacity of the Fourth Chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster to Establish End-to-End Contacts with the Other Chromosomes in Salivary-Gland Cells*

When the fourth chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster is attached, as the result of an induced translocation, to 21A in 2L or 60E in 2R, its tip exhibits a marked capacity to pair end-to-end with the tips of the other chromosomes. In each of the translocations, about 59 per cent of the contacts involving the tip of 4 were with the tip of X. If this pairing preference reflects structural similarity, the tip of 4 is much more like the tip of X than that of any other chromosome. The significance of this phenomenon is discussed with respect to the standard pattern of end-to-end association in the Oregon-R wild-type stock that provided the control preparations. In the 4-2L rearrangement, the interaction of chromosome 4 with the tip of 2L (101E with 21A) led to pronounced puffing in subdivisions 21A and B, as was most strikingly manifested when the distal segments of 2L failed to synapse and the homologue of paternal origin showed a large puff whereas that of maternal origin (not carrying the fourth chromosome) remained unpuffed.
Quasiparticle theory of surface electronic excitation energies

Abstract An important factor contributing to the phenomenal advances in surface science in the past three decades has been the development and applications of numerous high resolution spectroscopies to the electronic properties of surfaces and interfaces. Over the same period, equally impressive progress has been made in the theoretical front in understanding and predicting surface electronic structure. In this paper, the development of a first-principles quasiparticle approach to the electronic excitation energies in crystals and at surfaces is reviewed. The approach allows an accurate computation of the particle-like excitations (quasiparticle states) of the interacting electrons in real materials. It is the quasiparticle energies which essentially determine the spectral features measured in photoemission, optical, scanning tunneling, and various other spectroscopic experiments. Applications of this approach to the analysis of selected bulk and surface systems are presented. Significant self-energy corrections arising from many-electron effects to the excitation energies are found. Employing atomic positions from total energy minimization, the calculated excitation energies have been used to explain and predict the experimental spectra of a variety of systems.
The inner mapping radius of harmonic mappings of the unit disk

The class Sn consists of univalent, harmonic, and sense-preserving functions J unit disk δ such that where . Using a technique from Clinic and Shell-Small, we construct a family of I-slit mappings in Sp by varying . As W(z) changes, the tin of the slit slides along the negative real axis from the point U to - 1 In doing so. we establish that the inner mapping radius p(f) can be as large as 4. In addition, we show that the inner mapping radius for functions in can be as small as 1/2 and as large as 2.
Gunshot wounds to the buttocks: predicting the need for operation.

BACKGROUND: Gunshot wounds to the buttocks may cause significant intra-abdominal injuries. Policies of aggressive abdominal exploration or extensive diagnostic testing have been suggested to avoid delays in treatment and consequent morbidity. Our group has recently suggested that clinical examination is a safe and reliable tool for triaging patients with anterior and posterior abdominal gunshot wounds. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that patients with gunshot wounds to the buttocks can be managed selectively on the basis of clinical findings. SETTING: A large academic Level I trauma center was the setting for this study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine consecutive patients, suffering from gunshot wounds to the buttocks with potential retroperitoneal trajectories, were managed during a 12-month period in our center. RESULTS: Based on clinical findings, 19 (32.2 percent) patients were operated on, with significant intra-abdominal injuries in 17 (28.8 percent). The remaining 40 (67.8 percent) patients were successfully observed. There were no missed injuries or delays in diagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity of clinical examination for identifying significant intra-abdominal injury was 100 percent and 95.3 percent, respectively. CONCLUSION: Clinical examination is a safe method for selecting patients with gunshot wounds to the buttocks for nonoperative treatment.
State-Level Air Emissions Trading: The Michigan and Illinois Models

ABSTRACT Since passage of the 1990 Amendments to the U.S. Clean Air Act, there has been growing interest in the use of economic incentives for air pollution control. This trend is epitomized by the federal Acid Rain Program and the RECLAIM program for smog control in the Los Angeles basin. The adoption of these programs for attainment of the ozone standard is problematic, because of vexing issues of geography, atmospheric chemistry, source coverage, and monitoring and enforcement. These issues are especially salient in the use of emission reduction credit (ERC) trading systems. Cap and trade programs circumvent some of these difficulties by limiting total emissions and increasing source coverage but may still face monitoring challenges. Finally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently proposing that states use another incentive program, known as Open Market Trading. Michigan and Illinois have both developed new market incentive programs for ozone compliance. Michigan adopted an ERC mod...
Ovarian, oviductal, and adrenal vascular connections in female lizards (genus Anolis)

The urinogenital blood vessels of Anolis equestris and A. carolinensis were studied using dissection, injection of silicone rubber, and histology. A new blood-vascular connection between small veins in the pampiniform plexus at the base of the ovary and an ostial extension of the secondary oviductal vein is described. Chemical messengers could thus be carried in the blood from the ovarian venous drainage to the oviduct. Furthermore, close apposition of the secondary oviductal vein and artery provides an anatomical basis for countercurrent exchange of these messengers. A circular venous arcade, involving the supracardinal vein and branches of the oviductal veins, also is described; this arcade could serve to deliver adrenal hormones to each oviduct.