cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fabrication of high-aspect-ratio nanoporous high-k MTiO 3 (M= Ba, Sr, or Ba x Sr 1−x ) using anodization and hydrothermal processes

Fabrication of a nanoporous high-k material is demonstrated using anodization and hydrothermal processes. The fabrication process offers advantages of the formation of a high-aspect-ratio large surface area nanoporous structure, low temperature conformal surface conversion, and the creation of high dielectric constant perovskite ferroelectrics. The hydrothermal process is exploited to form various MTiO 3 materials such as BaTiO 3 , SrTiO 3 , and Ba x Sr 1−x TiO 3 with different Ba and Sr ratios. The crystalline phase, morphology, and element composition of the nanostructured material are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX), to prove the formation of ordered polycrystalline MTiO 3 arrays. The three dimensional high density capacitor would be realized by this fabrication method.
Medical and Nursing Education & Training

If the needs of older adults with serious illness are to be met in ways that are different from today, then the education and training of physicians and nurses will need to be different. First, the fundamental approach to decision-making for the older adult with serious illness needs to change. Second, meaningful changes in the behavior of clinicians will not be achieved unless they observe the desired approaches modeled by others that they respect, that they practice under supervision, and that are expected and rewarded when they are in practice. A variety of policy changes that will ensure the medical workforce is able to meet the needs of older adults with serious illness are needed.
Dynamics of Energy Transfer in Large Plasmonic Aluminum Nanoparticles

We report the first photophysical characterization of energy-transfer dynamics in large (100 nm diameter) plasmonic aluminum nanoparticles suspended in liquid 2-propanol. The spectral response of the particles to ultrafast excitation is characterized by a decrease in light transmission broadly across the visible and near-infrared on a 700 fs time scale that is consistent with predictions for electron–lattice relaxation processes. Time-dependent bleaching of the interband transitions is largely isolated from spectral changes to the intraband transition associated with light scattering and provides a window into electron–electron thermalization dynamics that complete on a ∼350 fs time scale. Subsequent relaxation in these particles is characterized by a 250 ps energy transfer to the surrounding medium, comparable to energy-transfer rates expected for much smaller particle sizes (<10 nm in diameter). Using a two-interface model, we find that the rapid thermal energy transfer is accounted for by the presence ...
Rodent Models of Cerebral Microinfarct and Microhemorrhage.

Microinfarcts are prevalent but tiny ischemic lesions that may contribute to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (Figure 1A and 1B).1 They are defined as areas of tissue infarction, often with gliosis or cavitation, visible only by examination of the autopsied brain at a microscopic level.2,3 Numerous autopsy studies have now shown that a greater microinfarct burden is correlated with increased likelihood of cognitive impairment.2,3 Cerebral microinfarcts are observed postmortem in the brains of ≈43% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 62% of patients with vascular dementia, and 24% of nondemented elderly subjects.4 However, reported microinfarct numbers are a significant underestimation of total burden, as only a small portion of the brain is examined at routine autopsy.1 Indeed, they can number in the hundreds to thousands within a single brain. Microinfarcts can arise from a variety of etiologies, including cerebral small vessel disease, large vessel disease, cerebral hypoperfusion, and cardiac disease, but their role in the pathogenesis of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia remains poorly understood.3,5–7 Figure 1. Human microinfarcts and microhemorrhages in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) cases. A , A cortical microinfarct on a hematoxylin & eosin–stained section. B , Microinfarct (black arrow) on a T2-weighted ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. C , A cortical microhemorrhage on a hematoxylin & eosin–stained section. D , Multiple lobar microbleeds (white arrows) on a gradient-repeat echo ex vivo MRI scan. Microhemorrhages are microscopic bleeds caused by rupture of cerebral microvessels, generating lesions on a similar scale as microinfarcts (Figure 1C and 1D).5 Pathologically, old microhemorrhages are defined as focal depositions of iron-positive hemosiderin-containing macrophages. Unlike microinfarcts, microhemorrhages easily escape detection on neuropathological examination, suggesting that they are not as widespread as microinfarcts. However, they can be detected …
Early experience with a combined surgical and obstetrics/gynecology clerkship: We do get along.

Abstract Background In 2012, the Ohio State University College of Medicine (OSUCOM) implemented a new undergraduate medical curriculum. We compare outcomes of a third year traditional clerkship format to a combined Surgery and Obstetrics/Gynecology ‘ring’. Methods Performance outcomes of 4 consecutive classes were compared between pre- (2014, 2015) and post-curricular revision (2016, 2017). Results Three hundred ninety-one students consented use of their educational data for research. We examined medical knowledge (NBME scores, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores) and student satisfaction between pre- and post-curricular revision. Results demonstrated no statistically significant difference in the Obstetrics/Gynecology NBME shelf examination. Surgery NBME and USMLE Step 2 scores were increased and statistically significant but satisfaction of both disciplines was higher pre-curricular revision. Conclusion Medical knowledge outcomes in this combined ’ring’ were similar to or higher than performance in previous years'. Future analyses are needed to assess the impact of OSUCOM curricular revision.
Search techniques for Fourier-based learning

Fourier-based learning algorithms rely on being able to efficiently find the large coefficients of a function's spectral representation. In this paper, we introduce and analyze techniques for finding large coefficients. We show how a previously introduced search technique can be generalized from the Boolean case to the real-valued case, and we apply it in branch-and-bound and beam search algorithms that have significant advantages over the best-first algorithm in which the technique was originally introduced.
Parents, children, and their physicians: the complex journey of parenthood.

The theme editor introduces a theme issue focusing on the specialty of pediatrics, pediatric patients, and the parents of children with serious illnesses. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Palliative Care and the Elderly: Complex Case Management

The number of chronically ill and disabled elderly people with complex medical, psychosocial and financial needs is rapidly growing. The elderly population has been steadily increasing in the United States due to the efforts of modern medicine and disease prevention techniques. The elderly will now live for three to six years prior to death with increasing levels of disability (Fried, 2002). The US health-service was designed several decades ago when life expectancy was shorter and the duration of disability before death was brief. Its emphasis on curative and disease focused interventions is poorly aligned with the complex healthcare needs of the elderly and their caregivers. Shorter lengths of stay in acute care hospitals and limitations in eligibility to even the most basic levels of homecare render frail elderly patients more susceptible to the complications of multiple competing chronic illnesses. Increased disability, poly-pharmacy, strained resources and caregiver systems, limited knowledge and precarious decisional capacity are complications not addressed by traditional models of health-service, thus resulting in episodic, unplanned delivery of service and preventable hospitalizations with a focus on individual diagnoses. In order that elderly patients may be better served, complex case management models will need to be integrated into primary care delivery and specialty palliative care programs across multiple healthcare settings. In this chapter we will describe the demographic data that support the development of such models and some of the key elements that are integral to the provision of case management to elderly patients at the end-of-life.
Neuropsychological Forensic Evaluations

The early neuropsychological role in forensic evaluations was primarily in the civil rather than the criminal areas. Individuals would be injured in car accidents or as a result of medical practice or through negligence which would result in cognitive, personality, motor, or sensory problems. Evaluations were the traditional comprehensive evaluations which made sense since any problem arising from the injury was potentially of interest to the court. Slowly, there was increasing involvement of neuropsychologists in criminal cases as well. Initially, much of this work focused on the identification of mental retardation as a mitigating or explanatory concept in the criminal behavior of the client. Over time, this has spread to a wide variety of cases, especially in regard to the roles of the frontal lobes in criminal behavior.
Awareness of Health Outcomes Associated with Insufficient Physical Activity and Associations with Physical Activity Intentions and Behavior.

Introduction: Little is known about people’s awareness of the link between insufficient physical activity and increased risk for multiple health outcomes.Methods: Of 1161 respondents to an online cross-sectional survey of the US population, we randomly selected 361 and used content analysis to code up to three responses to an open-ended question asking what illnesses are caused by insufficient physical activity. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests examined relations between disease codes and socio-demographics; t-tests and Mann–Whitney U tests examined relations between codes and physical activity intentions and behavior.Results: Ten codes emerged: cardiovascular (63.5% of participants), metabolic (65.8%), musculoskeletal (10.5%), fatigue (2.0%), psychiatric (8.0%), respiratory (3.4%), gastrointestinal (0.9%), cancer (3.4%), other (2.8%), unexpected interpretation (1.4%). 55.6% of participants named .05. Physical activit...
Individual Level Determinates of the Transition from Third to First-Person Opportunity Beliefs

The current study empirically examines the move from third-person to first-person opportunity beliefs. To that end, we develop an extension of McMullen and Shepherd’s (2006) two-stage action-based ...
A pistil-expressed pectin methylesterase confers cross-incompatibility between strains of Zea mays

A central problem in speciation is the origin and mechanisms of reproductive barriers that block gene flow between sympatric populations. Wind-pollinated plant species that flower in synchrony with one another rely on post-pollination interactions to maintain reproductive isolation. In some locations in Mexico, sympatric populations of domesticated maize and annual teosinte grow in intimate associate and flower synchronously, but rarely produce hybrids. This trait is typically conferred by a single haplotype, Teosinte crossing barrier1-s. Here, we show that the Teosinte crossing barrier1-s haplotype contains a pistil-expressed, potential speciation gene, encoding a pectin methylesterase homolog. The modification of the pollen tube cell wall by the pistil, then, is likely a key mechanism for pollen rejection in Zea and may represent a general mechanism for reproductive isolation in grasses.
Smallholder farmers spend credit primarily on food: gender differences and food security implications in a changing climate

In many low-income nations agriculture is used as the primary source of income, which in the face of a changing climate, is known to be at considerable risk for the smallholder farmers that rely on it. Financial resources may enable smallholder farmers to implement adaptation practices and diversify income and investments, which has the potential to affect household income and food security. Here we explore relationships between access to different types of financial resources among male and female-headed households and women versus men, use of financial resources, and its relationship to food security. We use data from the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) program from four sites including Nyando (Western Kenya) and Wote (Eastern Kenya), Rakai (Uganda) and Kaffrine (Senegal), to represent major farming systems and agro-ecological zones across Africa. We find that male and female-headed households do not attempt to borrow financial resources in significantly different quantities; however, female-headed households are likely to have access to financial resources if they wanted them. We find that men and male-headed households are more likely to access formal loans. As well, we find that male and female-headed households spend their financial resources differently with female-headed households most likely to use their credit for food, medical expenses and education and male-headed households most likely to use it on food, agriculture/ livestock inputs and education. Formals loans were more frequently associated with credit spent on agriculture/livestock inputs while informal loans were more likely to be utilized for buying food and medical care. We find that all households and sexes that attempted to borrow money were less likely to borrow food and other goods, but that female-headed households were more than twice as likely to borrow food overall. These results add nuance to the relationship of financial resources to food security, suggesting that for many smallholders, especially women, credit is often used to obtain food and other health outcomes as compared to on-farm investment. The use of financial resources for these varying purposes likely has different short-term versus long-term returns and tradeoffs, which could influence smallholder farmer capacity for climate change adaptation.
A Rare Case of Isolated Nontyphoidal Salmonella Lymphadenitis

Over 95% of cases of typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella infection are foodborne. Focal Salmonellosis without bacteremia is rarely reported, especially the setting of non-enteric lymphadenitis. We present a rare case of Salmonella typhimurium inguinal lymphadenitis. We also reviewed major risk factors for focal Salmonellosis and appropriate treatments.
Beauty and Beholders: Are Past Intuitions Correct?

This essay discusses four definitions of beauty from Western philosophy in light of recent experimental work from the more modern fields of psychology and biology. The first idea, derived from Plato, that beauty consists of relationships between parts, is partially confirmed by recent psychological experiments on infants and adults. The second idea, that beauty consists of one salient feature amid a mass of details, is more recent, perhaps from Hume, and is confirmed by some experiments on adults, but this finding has not been replicated in non-Western cultures. The third idea, that beauty is based on utility, occurs in Plato but is more difficult to support through experiments; biology suggests that a longing for beauty, not merely for survival, is an evolutionary target. Finally, the fourth idea, that beauty is a type of cognitive pleasure, is a constant thread from Plato through the work of Aquinas and Kant and seems to confirm a preference for an optimum level of complexity by adults, but cannot explain a parallel preference for complexity in human infants.
Mild traumatic brain injuries with minor intracranial hemorrhage: Can they Be safely managed in the community? – A cohort study

Abstract Background Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are frequently transferred to level 1 trauma centers (L1TC) if they have minor findings on a computerized tomographic scan of the head due to the absence of continuous neurosurgical coverage in community hospitals (CH). We hypothesized that such patients can be safely managed at community hospitals with a qualified Trauma team. Methods This is a multicentered Retrospective Cohort Study. Patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (defined as Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 13–15 at presentation) and with minor findings on head Computerized Tomography (CT) presenting at a L1TC or 4 Community Hospitals between March 1st, 2012 and February 28th, 2014 were included. All these community hospitals are Level III Trauma center with a well-organized trauma team. Minor CT findings were defined as 1) epidural hematoma Our primary end point was the need for TBI specific interventions in 3 groups of patients: 1) direct admission to the L1TC (L1TC group), 2) those admitted at one of the 4 CH (CH group), and 3) those transferred from CH to L1TC (TRANSFER group). TBI-specific interventions were defined as intracranial pressure monitor (ICP) placement, hyperosmolar therapy, or neurosurgical operation. Our secondary aim was to demonstrate that these patients can be safely managed in Community Hospitals with qualified Trauma teams. We also sought to identify the clinical outcomes in these three groups of patients – in terms of mortality and complications. Results A total of 191 patients were included - 39 CH, 64 L1TC and 88 TRANSFER. There was no difference among the groups in terms of TBI-specific interventions: one TRANSFER, four L1TC, and no CH patients required hyperosmolar therapy (p = 0.277). None of the patients required placement of an intracranial pressure monitoring device (ICP) or a neurosurgical operation and complications and mortality rates were similar among the groups. Conclusions Patients with mild TBI and minor findings on head CT can be safely managed at CH with qualified Trauma Teams. Level of evidence Therapeutic/Care Management Study, Level IVhbv.
Impact of advanced clinical fellowship training on future research productivity and career advancement in adult cardiac surgery.

Abstract Background Advanced clinical fellowships are important for training surgeons with a niche expertise. Whether this additional training impacts future academic achievement, however, remains unknown. Here, we investigated the impact of advanced fellowship training on research productivity and career advancement among active, academic cardiac surgeons. We hypothesized that advanced fellowships do not significantly boost future academic achievement. Methods Using online sources (eg, department webpages, CTSNet, Scopus, Grantome), we studied adult cardiac surgeons who are current faculty at accredited United States cardiothoracic surgery training programs, and who have practiced only at United States academic centers since 1986 (n = 227). Publicly available data regarding career advancement, research productivity, and grant funding were collected. Data are expressed as counts or medians. Results In our study, 78 (34.4%) surgeons completed an advanced clinical fellowship, and 149 (65.6%) did not. Surgeons who pursued an advanced fellowship spent more time focused on surgical training (P Conclusion Academic adult cardiac surgeons who pursue advanced clinical fellowships exhibit similar research productivity and similar career advancement as those who do not pursue additional clinical training.
Displacement of a Total Ossicular Replacement Prosthesis Following Ossicular Chain Reconstruction.

Objective:Herein we describe the diagnosis and management of total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP) displacement following tympanoplasty with ossicular chain reconstruction (OCR).Methods:Cas...
Representing Race and Ethnicity in American Fiction, 1789-1920

Our project, which aims to reconstruct racial discourse in American literature, tracks three critical aspects of the representation of race and ethnicity in a corpus of over 18,000 American novels published between 1789 and 1920. First, we provide a historically sensitive account of the ethnicities that most occupied the nation’s racial imaginary, registering how different ethnic groups were perceived to be biologically, geographically, or socially linked. Second, we track the descriptive terms most associated with particular ethnicities over time as we trace the changing discursive fields surrounding particular racial groups. Finally, we explore the coherence of the discourse around each race and ethnicity represented across American literature before 1920, paying close attention to the ways in which various groups did or did not exist as semantically unified groups at specific historical moments. Taken together, our three questions show not just who was under discussion and how, but also the history—and historicity—of racialization and ethnic thinking writ large.
Funds of Knowledge, Community Cultural Wealth, and the Forms of Capital: Strengths, Tensions, and Practical Considerations:

Funds of Knowledge (FK), Community Cultural Wealth (CCW), and Bourdieu’s analysis of capital (BAC) have each been applied in powerful ways to address complex issues of urban education; however, the...
Platelet factor 4 polyanion immune complexes: heparin induced thrombocytopenia and vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia.

Background This is a review article on heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, an adverse effect of heparin therapy, and vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, occurring in some patients administered certain coronavirus vaccines. Main body/text Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia occurs when specific antibodies bind to platelet factor 4 /heparin complexes. Platelet factor 4 is a naturally occurring chemokine, and under certain conditions, may complex with negatively charged molecules and polyanions, including heparin. The antibody-platelet factor 4/heparin complex may lead to platelet activation, accompanied by other cascading reactions, resulting in cerebral sinus thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, lower limb arterial thrombosis, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, skin necrosis, and thrombotic stroke. If untreated, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia can be life threatening. In parallel, rare incidents of spontaneous vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia can also occur in some patients administered certain coronavirus vaccines. The role of platelet factor 4 in vaccine-induced thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome further reinforces the importance the platelet factor 4/polyanion immune complexes and the complications that this might pose to susceptible individuals. These findings demonstrate, how auxiliary factors can complicate heparin therapy and drug development. An increasing interest in biomanufacturing heparins from non-animal sources has driven a growing interest in understanding the biology of immune-mediated heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, and therefore, the development of safe and effective biosynthetic heparins. Short conclusion In conclusion, these findings further reinforce the importance of the binding of platelet factor 4 with known and unknown polyanions, and the complications that these might pose to susceptible patients. In parallel, these findings also demonstrate how auxiliary factors can complicate the heparin drug development.
Membrane-Based Two Phase Heat Sinks for High Heat Flux Electronics and Lasers

Thermal management is the current bottleneck in advancement of high-power integrated circuits (ICs), and phase change heat sinks are a promising solution. With a unique structural configuration consisting of a membrane positioned above the heater surface, membrane-based heat sinks (MHSs) have thus far attained heat fluxes of up to 2 kW/cm2 and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of up to 1.8 MW/ $\text{m}^{2}~\cdot $ K using water as the working fluid. This work reports the latest progress and performance evaluation of MHS for high flux thermal management. MHS is implemented in conjunction with a low surface tension liquid to rapidly expel bubbles from the heated surface and reach a critical heat flux (CHF) of 340 W/cm2 and a HTC of 120 kW/ $\text{m}^{2}~\cdot $ K. A parametric comparison shows that thermal efficiency, defined as the ratio of cooling capacity and pumping power consumption, of the prototypical devices exceeds values reported hitherto in literature by more than two orders of magnitude. Our results indicate that coupled with the surfaces of higher thermal conductivity and membranes of higher permeability, the MHS devices could be a promising solution to thermal management needs of high-power electronics and lasers.
Three models of the international rule of law

a b s T r a c T While it is common to refer to the international rule of law, it is less common to define it or to explore what it means. In this essay I examine the international rule of law both in practice and as a concept. This is important because many controversies about the direction of world politics in fact rest on different accounts of the international rule of law. Understanding the various ways the idea is used, and their implications for policy-choices, can help clarify what it and what it is not being argued over in global controversies. I set out three distinct approaches to the concept of the international rule of law and compare them to contemporary state practice. The first is anchored on the obligation of states to comply with their international legal obligations. The second draws on an analogy with the domestic rule of law. The third begins from the observation that states invoke international law to explain and justify their policies - from this it expands into a model of law as integral to political legitimation. I find that the third provides the most conceptually coherent understanding of the international rule of law, and has interesting implications for the study of international law and politics. p a l a b r a s c l a v e international rule of law, international politics, policy-choices, contemporary state practice.
Operator Visual Workload Shifts as a Function of Vehicle Stability

This research was initiated to compare the visual performance/workload of pilots during fixed wing and rotary wing flights. The corneal reflection technique was used to obtain the visual data. The results demonstrate that visual performance/workload of the pilots was different for each aircraft. Because the major difference between the aircraft was the aerodynamic stability, it was assumed that the visual workload was in fact a function of aircraft stability. The overall purpose of such research has been to provide information concerning pilots' visual requirements for safe mission accomplishment.
Developmental and experimental changes in retinal glia cells: cell interactions and control of phenotype expression and stability.

Publisher Summary This chapter is concerned with the differentiation of neural retina cells. It focuses mainly on the glia cells, and on the role of contact interactions with neurons in the control of their phenotypic characteristics. The main purpose is to bring together findings and interpretations within a framework of a unifying working hypothesis. Studies have been concerned mainly with the characteristics of glia cells in the neural retina (NR) of the chick embryo. There is growing awareness of the importance of glia cells in the development and function of the NR, prompting increased interest in their properties. Among the key functions of glia cells is the regulation of the neuronal extracellular milieu because of their ability to take up and metabolize various transmitters and other products released from nerve terminals and also because they contribute to nerve cells and their immediate microenvironment metabolic and physical conditions essential for normal activity. The chapter reviews published and ongoing work on the developmental programs of two “markers” of definitive glia cells in the NR, the enzymes carbonic anhydrase-C and glutamine synthetase. It describes experiments on modification of definitive glia cells into lens-like cells and proposes that the cell surface and cell interactions play a key role in the expression and stability of Muller glia phenotype.
From Two-Way to One-Way Finite Automata—Three Regular Expression-Based Methods

We describe three regular expression-based methods to characterize as a regular language the language defined by a two-way automaton. The construction methods yield relatively simple techniques to directly construct one-way automata that simulate the behavior of two-way automata. The approaches also offer conceptually uncomplicated alternative equivalence proofs of two-way automata and one-way automata, particularly in the deterministic case.
Particulate Matter Emission During Start-up and Transient Operation of a Spark-Ignition Engine

In order to understand why emissions of Particulate Matter (PM) from Spark-Ignition (SI) automobiles peak during periods of transient operation such as rapid accelerations, a study of controlled, repeatable transients was performed. Time-resolved engine-out PM emissions from a modern four-cylinder engine during transient load and air/fuel ratio operation were examined, and the results could be fit in most cases to a first order time response. The time constants for the transient response are similar to those measured for changes in intake valve temperature, reflecting the strong dependence of PM emissions on the amount of liquid fuel in the combustion chamber. In only one unrepeatable case did the time response differ from a first order function: showing an overshoot in PM emissions during transition from the initial to the final steady state PM emission level. PM emissions during controlled, motored start-up experiments show a peak at start-up followed by a period during which emissions are either relatively constant or drift somewhat. When the fuel injection and ignition are shut off, PM emissions also peak briefly, but rapidly decay to low levels. Qualitative implications on the study and modeling of PM emissions during transient engine operation are discussed. Copyright © 1999 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Detection of Group A Streptococci in Throat Swabs by Direct Fluorometry

A direct fluorometric test for the rapid detection of group A streptococci from throat swabs was compared with the microscopic fluorescent-antibody test. Formalinized throat swab cultures (490) were examined by the two methods, and the results agreed on 84% of the specimens. In another comparison, 15-hr broth cultures of 103 freshly taken throat swabs were tested by both methods. Of the specimens tested, 101 (98%) were either positive or negative by both methods. In all cases, the latter results correlated with the demonstration of presence or absence of group A streptococci in the specimens by cultural isolation and precipitin grouping tests. It may be feasible to use the direct fluorometric test in a diagnostic laboratory as described or possibly to adapt it for automatic processing of throat swab cultures.
Possible Involvement of Retinylidene Phospholipid in Photoisomerization of All-trans-Retinal to 11-cis-Retinal

Rhodopsin regeneration from opsin and all-trans-retinal involves two discrete reactions: isomerization of all-trans-retinal to 11-cis-retinal and binding of 11-cis-retinal with opsin. We have previously found that phospholipid stimulates the photic regeneration of rhodopsin. We now report that, if opsin maintains its native conformation after the photic bleaching of the chromophore, phospholipid is not required for retinal binding but is essential for the isomerization reaction. Evidence for the involvement of phospholipid includes: (a) bleached rod outer segments form a complex (λmax = 458 nm) with all-trans-retinal in the dark and convert all-trans-retinal to the 11-cis isomer in the light; (b) 450- to 460-nm light is the most effective for isomerization; (c) the isomerizing activity of partially delipidated rod outer segments is restored by added phosphatidylethanolamine (phosphatidylcholine is without effect and phosphatidylserine is inhibitory); (d) phosphatidylethanolamine can form a complex with all-trans-retinal and is active in the isomerization reaction; and (e) treatment of rod outer segments with guanidine hydrochloride or trichloroacetic acid, extreme pH values (1 and 13), or heat completely denatures opsin protein but affects isomerizing activity only slightly. From these results, we conclude that the isomerizing activity of rod outer segments is not of enzymic nature but can be accounted for by formation of a protonated Schiff base between phosphatidylethanolamine and all-trans-retinal. Kinetic data suggest that about 30 % of the phosphatidylethanolamine molecules associated with rod outer segments are involved in complex formation with all-trans-retinal and retinal remains in the complex after photoisomerization.
[24] Neuropeptides as immunomodulators: Measurements of calcitonin gene-related peptide receptors in the immune system

Publisher Summary This chapter describes lymphocyte populations express CGRP receptors and illustrates that the receptors are functional, and that CGRP may have an inhibitory role in early B-cell differentiation. The presence of CGRP receptors on specific cells in the immune system has been reported by other investigators, as have effects on other cells in the immune system. With respect to receptor expression, it is not clear whether CGRP receptors are expressed on all T and B cells, or whether CGRP receptors are expressed on distinct subpopulations. In earlier studies using a fluorescent analog of SP and two-color FACS analysis, Payan found that the SP receptor is expressed on distinct subpopulations of both CD4 and CD8 human T cells.
Trapped cracks at indentations

Indentation radial cracking has been examined in a series of yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) with a range of grain sizes. For all materials, two distinct types of cracks were found to exist. Above a threshold indentation load, short cracks of variable length were observed, “trapped” in a compressive, contact-induced transformation zone. Above a second threshold, longer, “well-developed” cracks of more consistent length formed, extending beyond the zone boundary. The stochastic nature of the formation of both types of cracks, and the existence of the transformation zone in general, generate many artefacts in toughness estimates made using unmodified indentation fracture mechanics analyses.
Facebook, the JOBS Act, and Abolishing IPOs

The market for initial public offerings (IPOs) — the first sale of private firms’ stock to the public — is notorious for its swings from peaks to valleys. This paper argues that these swings reflect serious flaws in the IPO scheme, and that U.S. capital markets should move toward a more stable alternative. Specifically, this paper argues for a two-tier market system in which new stock issuers initially participate in a less-regulated private capital market of accredited investors and then, if they choose, they can move to a more regulated, broader public market. Likewise, firms currently participating in the public market can choose to move to the accredited investor market. Such a scheme would harness private markets to promote the public good while simultaneously eliminating the public bad of IPOs.
“Yes We Can! Down with Colonization!” Race, Gender, and the 2009 General Strike in Martinique

In early 2009, general strikes were mobilized in Martinique and Guadeloupe, overseas departments of France located in the Lesser Antilles, paralyzing the two island economies for more than a month. Although the 2009 strikes in the French Antilles were not Obama-centered, demonstrations and protests included a “Yes We Can” rhetoric, familiar to many of us from President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. In this article, I use the 2009 general strike in Martinique to explore how blackness as a global discourse traverses international boundaries and figures in the everyday lives of Martinicans, particularly at moments in which social change is envisioned and demanded. I use discussions from my fieldwork, specifically those around Obama as the first black U.S. president, as well as conversations around U.S. black feminist and womanist praxis, as keys that both unlock and critically engage diasporic currents of thinking exported from the United States to Martinique.
Managing the implementation of a pharmacy information system

The stages by which a pharmacy information system should be implemented are described. Implementation can be divided into three stages. The first stage is preimplementation, during which the hardware vendor installs and configures the operating system, the software is installed, the site is prepared, files are built, policies and procedures are modified or written, staff members are trained, functions or programs are tested, and supplies are purchased. The second stage is implementation, in which the new system becomes operational and is expanded. There are four basic implementation strategies: abrupt switchover, parallel conversion, conversion of one location at a time, and conversion of functions or modules in stages. The final stage is postimplementation, which consists of testing of the system, acceptance or rejection of the system, and the institution of quality control procedures. The acceptance criteria should be developed before the system is purchased. It is important to involve the pharmacy staff and other hospital departments in the planning for an information system. Careful management before, during, and after the implementation of a new pharmacy information system is essential to a smooth and timely conversion.
Show, Don't Tell: Legal Writing for the Real World (Chapter Outline)

Show, Don’t Tell is designed to help all members of the legal profession learn to effectively draft the most common litigation documents. Far too many books offer tips and advice about good writing, but don’t actually show the reader specific examples of good writing or show the reader why examples offered are effective. The authors have read many books on legal writing, but once we learned the basics of legal writing, we didn’t learn anything in those books to make us better writers. Why? We were exposed to the best theories, but never given practical, how-to tips to turn book knowledge into real-world skills. Most people can relate — you read a legal writing book or leave a lecture thinking you now know how to write. Then, when you sit down to write, you find yourself staring at a blank computer screen, feeling lost. We wrote Show, Don’t Tell so that you can see real progress in your writing and feel confident in your ability to draft documents you will most frequently draft in litigation. After all, you can learn everything about how to fly a plane, but until you get into the cockpit, you’re not a pilot. Learning is good, but doing is essential. Show, Don’t Tell will not only benefit law students, but will assist law schools that are transitioning to an experiential-based learning model, and law firms that seek a concise, economic, and comprehensive guide to teach young lawyers litigation drafting.Our book has a unique structure. Beginning with Chapter One, Show, Don’t Tell immerses the reader in an interesting, hotly contested hypothetical lawsuit. The following chapters take the reader through each step of the litigation process, from the initial memorandum to the appellate brief. Each chapter focuses on a specific legal document — such as a complaint or motion for summary judgment — and includes examples drafted and edited by each of the authors, who act as opposing counsel. For example, Chapter Two discusses the purpose and scope of a legal memorandum, including the particular writing skills that ensure a high-quality memorandum. That chapter includes two full length memorandums by the authors, and concludes by discussing the reasons these example memos are effective examples of good legal writing.
Integration, Diffusion, and Merging in Information Management Discipline

We observe that information is the life force through which we interact with our environment. The dynamic state of the world is maintained by information management. These observations motivated us to develop the concept of fully connected information space which we introduce in this paper. We discuss its structure and properties and present our research work and contributions for its maintenance. We also speculate the future of this information space and our mode of interaction with it.
RELAXED CONDITIONS FOR CONSENSUS IN MULTI-AGENT COORDINATION

This paper proposes relaxed suffient conditions for the consensus of multi-agent systems by the averaging protocols with time-varying system topology. Bidirectional information exchange between neighboring agents is considered and both the discrete-time and continuous-time consensus protocols are studied. It is shown that the consensus is reached if there exists an unbounded time sequence such that two agents who own the maximum and minimum states at each time instant in the sequence will be jointly connected at some future time. Further, this result is applied to the original nonlinear Vicsek model, and a sufficient condition for the heading consensus of the group with restricted initial conditions is obtained.
Two-loop renormalization group equations in a general quantum field theory: (III). Scalar quartic couplings

Abstract The two-loop β-functions for the scalar quartic couplings are computed in a general renormalizable quantum field theory with scalar, spin - 1 2 , and (vector) gauge fields associated with a general gauge group G, using dimensional regularization and modified minimal subtraction (−MS). A more explicit form is given for the two-loop β-function of the quartic coupling of the Higgs doublet in the minimal QCD electroweak theory based on SU(3) × SU(2) × U(1).
Further Evidence for the Plastic Crystalline Nature of l-Vinyl-o-Carborane

Abstract In the course of this investigation it has been shown that l-vinylo-carborane has two phases between the crystalline solid below − 65°C and the isotropic liquid above + 79°C. In phase I between + 11 and + 79°C, this waxy material has been shown to be isotropic with a face-centered cubic structure. In this phase the NMR resonance line width was a function of temperature and found to be of the order of 0.01 gauss, which is consistent with spherical rotation and diffusional motion of the molecular centers of gravity. The evidence presented here together with that previously reported provides convincing evidence of the plastic crystalline nature of phase I. In the range of − 65 to + 11°C, phase 11, I-vinyl-o-carborane has been shown to be birefringent and more crystalline like in nature.
Fatigue Damage of the Locomotive Suspension Elements Under Random Loading

Spectral analysis techniques are employed to analyze the fatigue damage to the suspension of a six axle locomotive on tangent track with vertical and lateral random track irregularities. The locomotive is represented by a thirty-nine (39) degrees of freedom linear model. Spectral densities of forces and probability density functions for stress levels in suspension elements are generated. Using a modified definition of transmissibility, the probability density functions of the output/input and mean square values of outputs are obtained for various stiffness ratios. A cumulative linear damage criterion based on Miner's theory is employed to predict fractional damage per operational second and mean life of the suspension elements. Operational stress cycles/sec. versus operational stress level are plotted for the suspension elements. These operational characteristics in conjunction with fatigue characteristics (S-N curve) can be effectively used as a tool for fatigue design.
A Brief Social Historiography of Male (Homo) Sexuality in Colonial Spanish America

Abstract LOS NEFANDOS PLACERES DE LA CARNE. LA IGLESIA Y EL ESTADO FRENTE A LA SODOMIA EN LA NUEVA ESPANA 1721-1820. Jorge Bracamonte Allain. Debate Feminista, Vol. 18, Octubre 1998, 395-415. BUTTERFLIES WILL BURN: PROSECUTING SODOMITES IN EARLY MODERN SPAIN AND MEXICO. Federico Garza-Carvajal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003, 310 pp. INFAMOUS DESIRES: MALE HOMOSEXUALITY IN COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA. Pete Sigal, ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003, 223 pp. FROM MOON GODDESSES TO VIRGINS: THE COLONIZATION OF YUCATAN MAYA SEXUAL DESIRE. Pete Sigal, ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000, 320 pp. HONOR, SEXUALITY, AND THE COLONIAL CHURCH: THE SINS OF DR. GONZALEZ, CATHEDRAL CANON. In The Faces of Honor: Sex, Shame, and Violence in Colonial Latin America. Lyman L. Johnson and Sonya Lipsett-Rivera, eds. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998, 45-67. UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR THE ABOMINABLE SIN: DAMIAN DE MORALES STANDS ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO SEDUCE ANTON TIERRA DE CONGO (CHA...
Effects of High-Heat Treatment on Stability of Calcium Caseinate Aggregates in Milk

Abstract Under standard conditions of centrifugation, the concentration and composition of the nonsedimenting nitrogen content of heated milks are found to vary. It decreases in concentration with increasing temperature to between 103 and 110 C, where its concentration increased again with temperature. Below 103 C the nonsedimenting nitrogen fraction was found to consist of whey proteins and the proteosepeptone fraction; at 110 C and above the nonsedimenting nitrogen fraction consisted predominantly of caseinate. The amounts of nonsedimenting nitrogen produced above 110 C was dependent on the temperature of heating, the concentration of milk solids, and on the phosphate and citrate concentrations. It has been reported by others, and also found in this investigation, that the soluble calcium and phosphate concentrations of milk decreased during heating, whereas those of citrate remained constant. Soon after heating, the soluble calcium concentration of milk returned to its former value. Formation of dissociated caseinate at temperatures of 110 C and above may be attributed to removal of calcium from caseinate aggregates by the free citrate ion. Since the citrate concentration was not changed by heating, its formation of a soluble calcium citrate complex also returns the soluble calcium concentration to its value before heating.
UNILATERAL TESTICULAR INJURY FROM EXTERNAL TRAUMA: EVALUATION OF SEMEN QUALITY AND ENDOCRINE PARAMETERS

AbstractPurpose: Because few studies have described the impact of unilateral testicular trauma on fertility parameters, we review the experience at the Ben Taub General Hospital during a 16-year period. Semen and endocrine profiles were analyzed to evaluate the influence on the outcomes of orchiectomy versus testicular salvage.Materials and Methods: From 1979 to 1995, 67 patients were identified who sustained unilateral testicular trauma. Of these patients 12 were located and 10 agreed to be evaluated. Injuries included gunshot wounds, stab wounds and blunt trauma, and treatment consisted of unilateral orchiectomy or testicular repair. The study protocol comprised a history and physical examination, routine semen analysis, determination of semen and serum antisperm antibody titers (Immunobead* assay) and a modified gonadotropin stimulation test. Results were compared with a group of semen donors with proved fertility.Biorad, Seattle, Washington.Results: In the 7 patients who underwent unilateral orchiecto...