cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality and outcomes of hysterectomy performed at low-income hospitals for patients with apparent early-stage endometrial cancer

Objectives: Evaluate the outcomes of hysterectomy for apparent early stage endometrial carcinoma performed at low-income hospitals. Methods: Patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2016 with an uterine, cervical or ovarian tumor with known insurance status were drawn from the National Cancer Database. Low-income hospitals (LIH) were determined as those with the highest percentage (>75th percentile) of uninsured or Medicaid patients. Hospitals with lowest percentage ( Results: A total of 1237 facilities who reported patients with gynecologic malignancies were identified. The average percentage of uninsured or Medicaid patients at LIH was 25.3% compared to 4.54% for non-LIH. A total of 53500 patients with apparent early stage endometrial carcinoma who met the inclusion criteria were identified; 40.3% were managed at a LIH. Compared to patients having surgery at a non-LIH, those undergoing hysterectomy at a LIH were younger (median 61 vs 62 years, p Conclusions: Patients with apparent early stage endometrial cancer undergoing surgery at a LIH have lower access to MIS techniques and increased peri-operative morbidity compared to those managed at non-LIH. A small increase in overall mortality was also noted.
On the formation and spectral signatures of magnesacyclopropene (C-MgC2H2)

Abstract Magnesium’s divalent nature and likely importance as a building block for planet formation lends it credence to being a reasonable replacement for oxygen in organometallic species found in the interstellar medium (ISM). With the natural abundance of acetylene and magnesium and the presence of propylene oxide in the ISM, a natural next-step for astrochemical exploration of such organometallic molecules would be magnesacyclopropene (c-MgC 2 H 2 ). The present work utilizes a combination of highly accurate quantum chemical quartic force field approaches to provide fundamental anharmonic frequencies to assist in the observation of the 1 1 A 1 and 1 3 B 2 electronic states of c-MgC 2 H 2 and potential energy surface (PES) scans of Mg dissociation to assist in possible formation pathways of this molecule. The 1 3 B 2 ω 7 mode is less than 0.5 cm−1 above previous theory implying that the current work is accurate and reliable. The 1 3 B 2 electronic state is lower in energy than the 1 1 A 1 by approximately 10.3 kcal/mol, while the 1 1 A 1 electronic state is more rovibrationally observable with three fundamental vibrational frequencies having intensities of greater than 100 km/mol and a dipole moment of 5.47 D. The PES scan of the Mg dissociation shows a flatter well for the 1 3 B 2 , rather than the 1 1 A 1 , electronic state offering overlap between the vibronic levels. While radiative association is likely required for formation of c-MgC 2 H 2 , the triplet surface is rather flat reducing the energy gaps between vibrational levels. Additionally, the singlet surface in many ways mirrors the triplet providing for both likely and low-energy transitions between the states.
Disclosing 'Political' Oversight of Agency Decision Making

Scholars and courts have been divided on whether presidential supervision enhances the legitimacy of the administrative state. For some, that the president can supervise administrative agencies is key to arguing that agency action is legitimate, because the president’s accountability to the electorate. Others, however, have argued that such supervision may simply taint, rather than legitimize, an agency action. The reality is that presidential supervision of agency rule making, at least, appears to be both significant and opaque. This paper presents evidence from multiple presidential administrations suggesting that regulatory review conducted by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is associated with high levels of changes in agency rules. Further, the paper documents the comparative silence regarding the effect of that supervision. Neither OMB nor the agencies generally report the content of supervision by presidential offices; nor do they report whether a particular agency decision is consistent with presidential preferences. Silence about content, the paper suggests, threatens to undermine the promise of presidential influence as a source of legitimacy for the administrative state. The paper then argues for greater transparency. Agencies should be required to summarize executive influence on significant rule making decisions. Such an ex ante disclosure regime is superior to proposals that judges be more receptive to “political reasons” in reviewing a particular agency action. Finally the paper suggests that some, but not all, “political reasons” for agency action are legitimate, but that only a more transparent system - by facilitating public dialogue and accountability to Congress - can fully resolve the question of which reasons are legitimate and which are not.
Rapid up-regulation and granule-independent transport of perforin to the immunological synapse define a novel mechanism of antigen-specific CD8+ T cell cytotoxic activity.

CTL are endowed with the ability to eliminate pathogens through perforin-mediated cytotoxic activity. The mechanism for perforin-mediated Ag-specific killing has been solely attributed to cytotoxic granule exocytosis from activated CD8 + T cells. In this study, we redefine this mechanism, demonstrating that virus-specific CD8 + T cells rapidly up-regulate perforin in response to stimulation temporally with IFN-γ and CD107a expression. Following Ag-specific activation, newly synthesized perforin rapidly appears at the immunological synapse, both in association with and independent of cytotoxic granules, where it functions to promote cytotoxicity. Our work suggests a novel mechanism of CTL cytotoxicity and identifies a novel correlate of CD8 + T cell-mediated immunity.
A treemap-based result interface for search engine users

Search engines and metasearch engines on the World Wide Web typically display representative information such as the result document titles and snippets in a one-dimensional ranked list. Alternatively, a few others such as Clusty and Kartoo cluster their results so that users can, to a certain extent, interact with documents, keywords and/or clusters. The number of documents that can be effectively presented in one screen is usually limited to between 10 and 20. In this paper, we propose a method based on treemap visualization that substantially improve the information compactness. In addition, it provides a few unique post-search interaction methods that enable a user to manage a large number of results. An online prototype system is built. Various experiments are designed and done to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness and usability.
An Investigation of Imine Formation in the Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Reaction

Abstract The occurrence of imine formation at the active site of acetoacetate decarboxylase and several aldolases prompted an attempt to demonstrate this mechanism in the formally similar isocitrate dehydrogenase reaction. Although treatment of isocitrate dehydrogenase with NaBH4 in the presence of α-ketoglutarate resulted in inactivation of the enzyme, reduction in the presence of labeled α-ketoglutarate did not yield labeled protein, nor was inactivation dependent on NADPH which is required for the enzymic β-H exchange of α-ketoglutarate. A study of the isocitrate dehydrogenase reaction in H218O was made possible by the observation that decarboxylation of α-ketoglutarate by H2O2 was faster than spontaneous exchange of the keto group with the medium. It was shown that succinate produced from enzymically formed α-ketoglutarate contained considerably less than 1 atom of 18O. It was concluded that this finding is not compatible with a mechanism of imine formation between keto intermediates (oxalosuccinate) and amino groups at the active site, since decarboxylation and hydrolysis of the imine to release α-ketoglutarate would have introduced 1 atom of 18O.
Exploring high-level plane primitives for indoor 3d reconstruction with a hand-held RGB-D camera

Given a hand-held RGB-D camera (e.g. Kinect), methods such as Structure from Motion (SfM) and Iterative Closest Point (ICP), perform poorly when reconstructing indoor scenes with few image features or little geometric structure information. In this paper, we propose to extract high level primitives---planes---from an RGB-D camera, in addition to low level image features (e.g. SIFT), to better constrain the problem and help improve indoor 3D reconstruction. Our work has two major contributions: first, for frame to frame matching, we propose a new scheme which takes into account both low-level appearance feature correspondences in RGB image and high-level plane correspondences in depth image. Second, in the global bundle adjustment step, we formulate a novel error measurement that not only takes into account the traditional 3D point re-projection errors, but also the planar surface alignment errors. We demonstrate with real datasets that our method with plane constraints achieves more accurate and more appealing results comparing with other state-of-the-art scene reconstruction algorithms in aforementioned challenging indoor scenarios.
Divergent transcriptional response to thermal stress by Anopheles gambiae larvae carrying alternative arrangements of inversion 2La.

The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae is polymorphic for chromosomal inversion 2La, whose frequency strongly correlates with degree of aridity across environmental gradients. Recent physiological studies have associated 2La with resistance to desiccation in adults and thermal stress in larvae, consistent with its proposed role in aridity tolerance. However, the genetic basis of these traits remains unknown. To identify genes that could be involved in the differential response to thermal stress, we compared global gene expression profiles of heat hardened 2La or 2L+a larvae at three time points, for up to eight hours following exposure to the heat stress. Treatment and control time series, replicated four times, revealed a common and massive induction of a core set of heat shock genes regardless of 2La orientation. However, clear differences between the 2La and 2L+a arrangements emerged at the earliest (0.25 h) time point, in the intensity and nature of the stress response. Overall, 2La was associated with the more aggressive response: larger numbers of genes were heat responsive and up-regulated. Transcriptionally induced genes were enriched for functions related to ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation, chaperoning, and energy metabolism. The more muted transcriptional response of 2L+a was largely repressive, including genes involved in proteolysis and energy metabolism. These results may help explain the maintenance of the 2La inversion polymorphism in An. gambiae, as the survival benefits offered by high thermal sensitivity in harsh climates could be offset by the metabolic costs of such a drastic response in more equable climates.
A new liquid aerosol generator

Abstract A new liquid aerosol generator has been designed and tested. Helium, which serves as the carrier gas, picks up NaCl nuclei in a combustion furnace and then passes down a vertical tube along the sides of which is flowing a film of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) maintained at an elevated temperature. The aerosol is formed by condensation of DBP on the nuclei as the mixture is cooled upon leaving the tube. This generator is capable of maintaining a stable output of aerosol over a long period of time. Furthermore, after an extended shutdown, it will reproduce the same aerosol for the same operating conditions. The influence of the furnace temperature, DBP film temperature, flow rate, dilution of nuclei, and a number of other factors on the size distribution has been studied.
Peripheral nerve microenvironment: Collection of endoneurially enriched fluid

We report the first successful collection and biochemical analysis of endoneurially enriched fluid (EEF) from sciatic nerve of control and lead-intoxicated rats using an implanted polyethylene matrix capsule and collector. The EEF protein concentration was approximately one-half that of rat serum. Protein fractionation by sodium dodecyl sulfate-pore gradient electrophoresis revealed a different protein composition for the endoneurium, EEF, and serum from the same animal. In EEF there is a complex array of protein bands with a molecular weight range of 104 to 2 × 105 of which albumin was a major constituent. Preliminary results on lead-intoxicated rats suggest that total endoneurial fluid protein may be increased during lead intoxication.
Applications of nucleic acid probes in veterinary infectious diseases.

Abstract Nucleic acid probe technology is increasingly being used in basic research in veterinary microbiology and in diagnosis of infectious diseases of veterinary importance. This review presents an overview of nucleic acid probe methodology and its applications in veterinary infectious diseases. The major applications of nucleic acid probes include detection of pathogens in clinical samples, especially those organisms which are fastidious and difficult to cultivate, differentiation of virulent from a virulent organisms and vaccine strains from wild type isolates, typing of microorganisms mapping genes, screening libraries of cloned DNA for specific genes, detection of latently infected or carrier animals, study of mechanisms of pathogenesis, epidemiological studies and food safety.
Factors affecting consumers’ choices among types of potatoes: A multinomial logit analysis

Potatoes are marketed by type (e.g., round white, russet, long white, red). A better understanding of the determinants of consumers’ choices among types of potatoes is crucial to the success of the industry’s marketing efforts in areas of product development, merchandising and advertising. This study identified three important factors corresponding to consumers’ potato purchasing decision — preparation method, the number of different ways consumers prepare the potatoes, and the age of the consumers. A multinomial logit model was used in the study.
Electron precipitation and related aeronomy of the Jovian thermosphere and ionosphere

A comprehensive theoretical model of both the auroral and nonauroral atmosphere and ionosphere of Jupiter is presented and used to study particle precipitation effects in the Jovian upper atmosphere, both at middle and high latitudes. The sources of energy in the model include extreme ultraviolet radiation and energetic electrons. The precipitation of monoenergetic beams of both one and ten keV electrons at high Jovian latitudes are treated in detail, and the effects of higher energy electrons and soft electrons at middle and low latitudes are considered. The effects of this precipitation, such as airglow excitation, ionization, dissociation, and heating are examined. Calculations of the densities of hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and the important ions as well as the temperatures of the neutral, electron, and ion species are included.
Validated HPLC analytical method with programmed wavelength UV detection for simultaneous determination of DRF-4367 and Phenol red in rat in situ intestinal perfusion study.

Abstract A simple, precise and accurate isocratic reverse-phase liquid chromatography method with programmed wavelength detection has been validated to quantify DRF-4367 and Phenol red, simultaneously for application in rat in situ single pass intestinal perfusion study to assess intestinal permeability of DRF-4367, a novel cox-2 inhibitor. The method was validated on RP C-18 analytical column. Mobile phase consisted of sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate (pH 3.2, 0.01 M)–acetonitrile–methanol (30:50:20, v/v/v). The developed method has a short run time of 12 min with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The injector volume was set to 20 μl and acquisition was carried out using a PDA detector while processing was done by timed wavelength extraction. The percentage R.S.D. and recovery in all studies indicated that the method was suitable for the intended purpose. The validated method was found to be linear and precise in the working range. Suitability of storage at cold temperature was ensured along with complete sample recovery.
Effect of high temperature and dietary fat on milk fatty acids.

Abstract Two Latin squares balanced for carry on effects were used to study milk fat composition C 12:0 to C 18:2 of 12 cows fed high fat under environmental temperatures: cool 15 to 24C and a constant hot 32.2C with 60% relative humidity. Cows were fed daily: alfalfa-grass hay at 1.25% their body weight and one of three concentrates: control (without added lipids), oil (10% soybean oil), or fat (10% hydrogenated vegetable fat, iodine value 48) replacing corn by weight. The 32.2C temperature depressed proportion of milk fatty acids C 12:0 , C 14:1 to 15:0 , C 18:1 and C 18:2 while increasing C 16:0 and C 18:0 . Both dietary oil and fat depressed concentrations of C 12:0 , C 14:0 , C 14:1 to 15:O , C 15:1 , and C 16:0 but increased C 18:0 and C 18:1 . Compared with fat, dietary oil depressed C 16:0 more while increasing C 18:2 . Thermal stress increased C 18:0 more when the cows were receiving oil than fat. Cow differences were observed only with C 18:l , and proportions of C 18:0 increased and C 18:1 decreased with repeated exposure to heat.
Building A Global Learning Community

Communicating over differing continents and time zones is not an obstacle when the quality and tone of the communication are viewed as important as the project at hand.
A numerical method for reflected diffusions: Control of the reflection directions and applications

We are concerned with a numerical method for the optimal control of the reflection directions of a reflected diffusion process, and with either a discounted or an ergodic cost criterion. The Markov chain approximation method is adapted to this nonclassical problem and convergence of the method is proved. The problem originally arose in the important application of rerouting in large trunk-line communications systems. A reasonable heavy-traffic approximation leads to the described model. The numerical method has been applied with success, but no proofs of convergence were given previously. Nonboundary controls can be easily added.
Control of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae), on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, using integrated pest management measures. I. Feasibility of sterile male releases

The feasibility of controlling the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans , on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands using sterile male releases was evaluated. With the observed rates of increase, population densities, daily emergence rate, and mass-rearing capacity, it was found that sterile male releases (SMRs) are feasible during the dry season at sterile:fertile ratios of 0.5:1, 1:1, and 2:1 and at a 5:1 ratio if only a portion of the island is to be treated. Fewer options are available during the wet season, because rates of increase are too great to use SMR alone at the 0.5:1 and 1:1 sterile:fertile ratios, and only ½ of the island can be treated at 5:1. It is suggested that SMRs might be integrated into a pest management program, since partial suppression is all that would be necessary to reduce fly populations to levels low enough in both wet and dry seasons so that the SMR technique could be feasible.
Treatment of newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer patients with chemotherapy agents in combination with hormones versus hormones alone

A prospective trial from July 1976 to September 1980 by the National Prostatic Cancer Project randomized newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer patients to DES 1 mg orally three times daily or orchiectomy; or DES, 1 mg, three times daily, plus cyclophosphamide at 1 mg/m2 iv every three weeks, or cyclophosphamide 1 g/m2 iv every three weeks plus estramustine phosphate (Estracyt) at 600 mg/m2 orally daily in three divided doses. There were 246 patients evaluated for response of 301 entered. These consisted of 83 on the DES/orchiectomy arm, 77 on DES plus cyclophosphamide, and 86 on Estracyt plus cyclophosphamide. Objective response rates, initially evaluated at 12 weeks, were similar among the treatments. However, chemotherapy as used in this study early in the diagnosis of metastatic disease appears to exhibit an improved effect on overall survival compared to hormone therapy alone. Analysis within groups having pain versus no pain at entry revealed a marked advantage after 80 weeks for chemotherapy when pain was initially present and a slight advantage during treatment (throughout follow-up) when the pain was absent. Median survival times were 92, 91, and 94 weeks, respectively, for the three treatments. The progression-free interval for responders showed no difference between initial treatments, although nearly one half of the patients are still in remission; hence, further follow-up will be essential. Side effects were not excessive for the chemotherapy treatment arms and patient compliance was good. This national multicenter trial provides the basis for further testing of chemotherapy agents at an earlier phase for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer.
THE FABRIC OF MECHANICALLY COMPACTED KAOLIN

An electron microscope study was made to determine the effect of mechanical compaction method on the fabric produced in a compacted commercial kaolin. Direct platinum-shadowed carbon replicas were made from horizontal and vertical fracture surfaces within the middle third of cylindrical specimens compacted by static load, impact, and kneading compaction at optimum moisture content and at 3% above and below optimum. Replicas were studied in the electron microscope to arrive at a qualitative evaluation of fabric. No oriented fabric or edge-to-face random fabric of individual particles, as postulated by others, was found. Regardless of compaction method the fabric was found to consist of parallel and random arrangements of packets of kaolin flakes. Both impact and kneading compaction produced essentially the same fabric consisting of trajectories of parallel packets, probably the result of shearing deformation during compaction, within essentially randomly oriented zones of packets. Static load compaction produced a fabric in which some tendency of the packets to orient normal to the direction of loading was apparent. For all compaction methods some increase in parallel packet orientation was noted with increase in molding water content. The mode of parallel orientation differed between static load compacted specimens and those produced by either impact or kneading compaction. Results of the study indicate that some revision of concepts regarding particle orientation due to mechanical compaction should be made.
Exploring novel silicon-containing polymers---From preceramic polymers to conducting polymers with nonlinear optical properties

Several new types of silicon-containing preceramic polymers, i.e., poly(diorganosilacetylene) and poly(diorganosilvinylene) have been synthesized with molecular weights from 10,000 to 120,000. These polymers could be thermally converted to SiC with a moderate to high char yields. Ready solubility and good processability made these types of polymers attractive in their applications to ceramics. The thermal polymerization of diethynyldiphenyl-silane, which was reported in 1968 to afford poly(diphenylsilyldiacetylene) via dehydrogenation, was reinvestigated. Spectroscopic studies showed that the polymer had a structure of polyacetylene type not diacetylene. Diphenyldiethynylgermane and a series of diorganodiethynylsilances were synthesized. These could be polymerized in the presence of MoCl{sub 5} or WCl{sub 6} to afford a soluble, violet material with Mw as high as 108,000. 100 refs., 56 figs., 16 tabs.
Heterogenous iodination of α-cellulose: Preparation of a radioactive analog of dietary fiber

Abstract α-Cellulose has been iodinated by a method which yields a chemically stable iodinated cellulose of high specific activity. The preparation and chemical stability of the derivative are described, together with potential application as a tracer for the study of digestion and as an imaging agent in the digestive tract.
Ethylene flame synthesis of well-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract A stainless steel grid baked by a propane–air premixed flame had iron, chromium and nickel oxide deposits on the grid surface. With this grid, entangled and curved shape multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were harvested from an ethylene–air diffusion flame with yield rate of 3 mg/min. Nitrogen addition to the flame was found to straighten the entangled tubes probably by lowering the flame temperature. A cobalt-electrodeposited stainless steel grid was finally applied to the nitrogen-diluted ethylene diffusion flame; well-aligned and well-graphitized carbon nanotubes consisting of 20 nm diameter and 10 μm long element tubes were obtained.
Highly conductive multiwall carbon nanotube and epoxy composites produced by three-roll milling

Abstract Length and diameter distributions as well as the conductivity of bucky papers made of different multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been measured. While the average diameter is in good agreement with the manufacturer specification, the average length is significantly shorter than that given by the manufacturer. Highly conductive and homogeneous dispersions of up to 8 wt% MWCNTs in an epoxy resin are obtained by three-roll milling. The influence of shear intensity and number of passes on the nanotube dispersion and composite conductivity is investigated. The aspect ratio of the MWCNTs is one of the most important parameters that determine the composite conductivity and the percolation behavior. We have found that the composite conductivity increases almost 10 times as the aspect ratio increases 5.5 times. The percolation parameters in conjunction with the optical microscopy revealed a kinetic rather than statistic percolation. We have observed that three-roll milling induces extended alignment of MWCNTs with high aspect ratio at moderate loading (2–4 wt%).
Strategies to control antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a worldwide concern. Antibiotic resistance may be caused by sporadic mutations, which are not important unless spread clonally. Clonal resistance may disseminate a highly resistant clone to widespread geographic areas. The most effective interventions to limit the clonal spread of resistant organisms are effective infection control measures. Hospital antibiotic formulary restriction is the only control measure with proven effectiveness to control resistance related to antibiotic use. Hospital formularies should eliminate or restrict antibiotics with a high-resistance potential (eg, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and imipenem), and should be replaced with equivalent antibiotics with a low-resistance potential (eg, cefe-pime, levofloxacin, and meropenem). Such low-resistance-potential antibiotics can either prevent or eliminate resistance problems associated with Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter species, or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. High-resistance-potential antibiotics, particularly ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime, also may indirectly increase the prevalence of highly resistant organisms (eg, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA], vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE]). Vancomycin use should be restricted, not because it increases enterococcal resistance per se, but because it selects out naturally resistant enterococcal strains (eg, Enterococcus faecium that are vancomycin resistant). Linezolid does not increase the prevalence of VRE. Clinicians in the outpatient setting should also preferentially use oral antibiotics with a low-resistance potential (eg, clindamycin, metronidazole, doxycycline, minocycline, fluoroquinolones except ciprofloxacin, linezolid, and oral cephalosporins) in preference to their high-resistance-potential counterparts. For antibiotic resistance control interventions to be effective, they must be applied simultaneously to all antibiotics with activity against the specific resistance pathogen at the hospital formulary level. Multiple antibiotic substitutions are usually necessary to eradicate resistance problems caused by a particular pathogen. Multiple drugs of the same spectrum and low-resistance potential are necessary to eliminate resistance problems; single antibiotic substitutions are not effective.
Nitrogen Mineralization Following Fertilization of Douglas-fir Forests with Urea in Western Washington

Nitrogen mineralization following repeated applications of urea fertilizer was determined in the A horizon soil from two stands of Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Repeated applications of urea at rates ranging from 0 to 600 kg N ha -1 were made at annual and 5-yr intervals over a 6-yr period. Nitrogen fertilization increased N mineralization potential in these soils. However, soil N mineralization followed a quadratic relationship with the total amount of N applied in fertilizer over the 6-yr treatment period, increasing up to total application rates of 450 kg N ha -1 and then declining at higher rates. The decrease in N mineralization rates at the high N fertilization rates may be due to changes in the quality of soil organic matter, which reduced the effectiveness of extracellular enzymes and decreases the rate of decomposition and mineralization. Soil pH dropped following urea fertilization, with greater declines observed in the highest rates of urea fertilizer. Decreases in extractable Ca and Mg levels in the soil accompanied the decline in soil pH. These results suggest that high rates of nitrification occurred and that nitrate leaching was stripping Ca and Mg from the cation-exchange complex in these soils. It appears that repeated applications of urea fertilizer at low to intermediate rates may increase long-term N availability and thus improve soil quality. However, annual applications of high rates of urea may decrease soil quality because under these circumstances N mineralization did not increase and there was a loss of cations from the soil.
Adhocratic Governance in the Internet Age: A Case of Wikipedia

In recent years, a new realm has appeared for the study of political and sociological phenomena: the Internet. This article will analyze the decision-making processes of one of the largest online communities, Wikipedia. Founded in 2001, Wikipedia—now among the top-10 most popular sites on the Internet—has succeeded in attracting and organizing millions of volunteers and creating the world's largest encyclopedia. To date, however, little study has been done of Wikipedia's governance. There is substantial confusion about its decision-making structure. The organization's governance has been compared to many decision-making and political systems—from democracy to dictatorship, from bureaucracy to anarchy. It is the purpose of this article to go beyond the earlier simplistic descriptions of Wikipedia's governance in order to advance the study of online governance, and of organizations more generally. As the evidence will show, while Wikipedia's governance shows elements common to many traditional governance mo...
Familiality of addiction and its developmental mechanisms in girls

Background Drug use disorders (DUD) have been theorized to share sources of risk variation with other consummatory behaviors. We hypothesized that common mechanisms exist for familial risk for DUD, physiological maturation and nutritional status in girls. Whereas body fat content must exceed a threshold to enable adrenarche and gonadarche, nutritional status may also be a behavior risk indicator. Impaired psychological self-regulation associated with DUD risk may manifest in early overeating, which could in turn accelerate reproductive maturation, resulting in a greater likelihood of affiliation with deviant/older peers and drug use.
Interface control and incremental development in the PIC environment

The PIC environment is designed to provide support for interface control that facilitates incremental development of a software system. Interface control, the description and analysis of relationships among system components, is important from the earliest stages of the software development process right through to the implementation and maintenance stages. Incremental development, wherein a software system is produced through a sequence of relatively small steps and progress may be rigorously and thoroughly assessed after each step, must be accommodated by any realistic model of the software development process. This paper focuses on the analysis component of the PIC environment and demonstrates how it contributes to precise interface control capabilities while supporting an incremental software development process.
Modeling of collision avoidance protocols in single-channel multihop wireless networks

Although there has been considerable work on the performance evaluation of collision avoidance schemes, most analytical work is confined to single-hop ad hoc networks or networks with very few hidden terminals. We present the first analytical model to derive the saturation throughput of collision avoidance protocols in multi-hop ad hoc networks with nodes randomly placed according to a two-dimensional Poisson distribution. We show that the sender-initiated collision-avoidance scheme achieves much higher throughput than the ideal carrier sense multiple access scheme with a separate channel for acknowledgments. More importantly, we show that the collision-avoidance scheme can accommodate much fewer competing nodes within a region in a network infested with hidden terminals than in a fully-connected network, if reasonable throughput is to be maintained. Simulations of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol and one of its variants validate the predictions made in the analysis. It is also shown that the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol cannot ensure collision-free transmission of data packets and thus throughput can degrade well below what is predicted by the analysis of a correct collision avoidance protocol. Based on these results, a number of improvements are proposed for the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol.
Influence of process variations on microstructure in doped sol-gel derived α-alumina

Abstract The grain morphology in Al 2 O 3 -0.4 wt.% TiO 2 samples derived from the same solution and subjected to the same high temperature heat treatments varies considerably depending on the preparation of the material prior to sintering. In samples calcined at 1200°C for 1 h and then sintered at 1400°C for 2 h, the volume fraction of anisotropic grains with aspect ratio of 2.0 was ∼11% in spun-on thin films, ∼61% for directly sintered gel pieces (GP), and 51% for sintered powder compacts derived from crushed gel pieces (P). In addition, these samples showed different aspect ratio distributions.
Lunar basalt breccia identified among Antarctic meteorites

THE Antarctic meteorite Elephant Moraine (EET) 87521 is a lunar mare basalt breccia. This 30.7-g meteorite was originally identified as a brecciated eucrite1, but new petrographic evidence from a more representative thin section (Fig. 1) indicates that it is a breccia of mainly very-low-titanium (VLT) basalt, and should be reclassified as a lunar meteorite. The four (or five) Antarctic lunar meteorites collected previously at Allan Hills, Yamato Mountains and MacAlpine Hills (ALHA81005, Y79117/Y793274, Y82192/82193+/-Y86032(?) and MAC88104/88105) have all sampled only the plagioclase-rich lunar highlands2,3 which dominate the surface of the Moon. EET87521 extends the lunar meteorite collections to include the less abundant basaltic provinces (the maria) of the lunar crust.
Empirical Evidence and the Death Penalty: Past and Future

The Supreme Court in recent decades has been increasingly receptive to social science evidence in a variety of contexts and appeared poised in the early 1970s to employ such evidence in its consideration of the death penalty. This expectation was not fulfilled, and majorities in most death penalty cases since Gregg v. Georgia (1976) have shown little interest in such evidence. For example, although the Court often cites public sentiment as the basis for decisions about evolving standards for what is cruel and unusual punishment, it has not appreciated the measurement issues associated with gauging such sentiment. We discuss a variety of reasons why the Court may have eschewed social science evidence in death penalty litigation, and suggest an agenda for future research that is driven not simply by litigation prospects but also by more general questions about jury decision making.
FAMILIAL MAMMARY TUMORS IN THE RABBIT : I. CLINICAL HISTORY.

The clinical histories of two different types of familial mammary cancer in the rabbit have been described. In one type, the first clinical sign of breast abnormality was a sudden and intense engorgement and thereafter the disorder passed through stages of cyst formation and benign neoplasia to cancer with metastasis. In the second type, neoplasia originated in clinically normal breast tissue and there was no history of antecedent mammary abnormality.
Evaluation of computerized edge tracking for quantifying intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery from B-mode ultrasound images

A new method to measure carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) from B-mode ultrasound images was developed that utilizes automatic tracking of the lumen-intima and media-adventitia echoes. Phantom studies and human replicate studies under typical clinical protocols for common carotid IMT measurement were carried out to assist in evaluation of the method. A lucite step wedge phantom was used to show that incorporation of sub-pixel interpolation to locate echo boundaries allowed detection of changes in the echo separation that were 5-10 times smaller than the axial resolution of the ultrasound transducer. For average IMT measured in the distal common carotid artery (CCA) wall in 24 subjects scanned twice within 60 days, mean absolute difference was 0.036 mm with a standard deviation of 0.045 mm. Replicate scans obtained 1 week apart of eight subjects by three sonographers showed the intersonographer variability was 5.4%. In another study of 12 subjects scanned every 4 months for 48 months, the root mean square deviation of the IMT measurements from a linear regression line was 0.030 mm. These data indicate that the method is equally precise over short intervals (60 days) and over long intervals (48 months). The new automated computerized edge tracking method presented in this paper represents an advance for image analysis of B-mode ultrasound images of common carotid IMT with measurement variability substantially reduced (2 to 4 times) compared with currently available manual methods.
High-performance liquid chromatographic and capillary electrophoretic enantioseparation of plant growth regulators and related indole compounds using macrocyclic antibiotics as chiral selectors

Enantioseparation of plant growth regulators, such as 3-(3-indolyl)-butyric acid, abscisic acid and structurally related molecules including a variety of substituted tryptophan compounds, has been achieved by HPLC and/or CE. The covalently bonded macrocyclic antibiotics, teicoplanin, ristocetin A and vancomycin, were used as chiral stationary phases (CSPs) in HPLC. Most of the racemates were baseline resolved in the reversed-phase mode (EtOH-H2O) using the teicoplanin CSP. The chiral recognition mechanism is discussed in regard to the structure of the analytes. In CE, the three aforementioned macrocyclic antibiotics were used as chiral additives in a phosphate run buffer. The effect of pH and the concentration of the organic modifiers were considered. The results obtained by HPLC and CE were compared.
Using Encyclopedic Knowledge for Automatic Topic Identification

This paper presents a method for automatic topic identification using an encyclopedic graph derived from Wikipedia. The system is found to exceed the performance of previously proposed machine learning algorithms for topic identification, with an annotation consistency comparable to human annotations.
The “Black Girl Turn” in Research on Gender, Race, and Science Education: Toward Exploring and Understanding the Early Experiences of Black Females in Science, a Literature Review

For the past 40 years, research studies have largely focused on sex equity issues. However, within the last few years, gender equity issues have become a hotly debated area of research. One may contend that sex is biologically determined maleness and femaleness; whereas, gender is influenced by cultural, social, and historical factors. Although, there has been much emphasis on the unfair treatment or exclusion of girls from science, the focus was mainly on White, middle class girls with little focus placed on Black girls. Thus, this has fueled the debate for the promotion of the “Black Girl Turn” in research on gender, race, and science education, as over the centuries Blacks and girls have been denied their turn in science due to cultural and historical–biological reasons. This literature review concludes with a call for more student-based inquiry approaches that can explore and seek to understand Black females’ experiences in science.
Effects of Western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) venom on heart muscle.

Abstract The effects of Crotalus atrox venom on the transmembrane potentials of isolated cardiac Purkinje fibers and ventricular papillary muscles and the effect of venom on papillary muscle contractions were investigated. Based on the data collected, it appears that cardiac tissue is relatively resistant to the direct effects of the venom.
Chronic haloperidol does not alter G protein α-subunit levels in rats

Abstract Female Sprague-Dawley rats were administered continuous haloperidol or no drug for 32 weeks via subcutaneous silastic implants. Three days after drug withdrawal, animals were rapidly decapitated and tissue samples were analyzed for levels of G a subunits for G i and G s using immunoblotting procedures. No significant differences were seen between groups in the dopaminergic terminal regions of the medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, or dorsolateral caudate-putamen. These results suggest that haloperidol administered in a regimen known to produce alterations in several parameters of dopamine function fails to alter the amount of receptor-linked G protein subunits in rat brain.
Patterns for software architectures

Software designers rely on informal patterns, or idioms, to describe the architectures of their software systems—the configurations of components that make up the systems. My purpose here is to reflect on the role these patterns play in software design. I am particularly interested in the ways that informal patterns shape the configurations. These patterns, or idioms, determine how separate parts are combined, or “woven together”. The resulting organization is often called the architecture of the system. Current programming languages do not support these patterns; indeed, the patterns address problems that lie outside the scope of conventional programming languages. This paper describes the character of these architectural patterns and the status of work on models and tools to support them.
RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION THERAPY IN ATYPICAL OR MULTIPLE ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODE REENTRY TACHYCARDIAS

Electrophysiologic study and radiofrequency ablation therapy were performed in 23 patients with atypical (8 patients) or multiple (15) atrioventricular node reentry tachycardias. Dual pathways with anterograde fast and slow pathway conductions were demonstrated in 16 patients. Studies on retrograde conduction revealed the presence of three different pathways, including fast (15 patients), intermediate (17), and slow (16). The radiofrequency current was applied to the inferior aspect, one-third anterior two-thirds posterior between the His bundle and the ostium of the coronary sinus, of Koch's triangle along the tricuspid annulus in all patients. Application of the current resulted in selective ablation or modification of both retrograde intermediate and slow pathway conductions in 20 patients. In two patients retrograde fast pathway conduction was also modified. Complete atrioventricular block occurred in the remaining patient. Sixteen patients had no induction of tachycardia or echo, 4 had induction of a single echo, and 2 had induction of the slow-fast form tachycardia; one of those 2 patients underwent a second trial and was successful. A median application of 2 was delivered at a power of 25 +/- 5 W and a duration of 18 +/- 4 sec. The total fluoroscopic time was 25 +/- 21 minutes. The anterograde fast pathway conduction was unaffected; the shortest atrial paced cycle length that sustained 1:1 fast pathway conduction was 329 +/- 65 msec and 330 +/- 68 msec before and after ablation, respectively. A follow-up electrophysiologic study was performed in 16 patients 60 +/- 15 days after ablation. Eleven had no induction of tachycardia or echo, and five had induction of < 3 echoes. This study demonstrated that radiofrequency ablation with the inferior approach is effective and safe in atypical or multiple atrioventricular node reentry tachycardias. It resulted in ablation of the slow pathway and retrograde intermediate pathway conduction with preserved atrioventricular conduction.
The safe minimum standard of conservation and endangered species: a review

The safe minimum standard (SMS) approach is a collective choice process that prescribes protecting a minimum level of a renewable natural resource unless the social costs of doing so are somehow excessive or intolerably high. Arguments for the SMS are typically invoked in settings involving considerable uncertainty and potentially irreversible losses. However, the SMS is most commonly viewed as existing only on the periphery of thought in traditional environmental and resource economics. The specific objectives are: (1) to define the SMS approach generally and examine theoretical support, particularly for its application in endangered species decision settings; (2) to examine the relationship between an SMS approach and benefit-cost analysis (BCA); (3) to examine the relationship between an SMS approach and non-market valuation; (4) to compare an SMS approach to alternative definitions of sustainability; and (5) to review the general consistency of the SMS approach with the USA's Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. Recent attention on this pragmatic policy approach has been something far greater than cursory, with advances and detailed discussions on theoretical considerations, philosophical underpinnings and case study applications. While the SMS emerges as a fairly coarse policy instrument, its pragmatic value is seen in complex environmental policy applications, such as endangered species protection.