cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Fabricated siRNA Nanoparticle for Ultralong Gene Silencing In Vivo

Persistent gene silencing is crucially required for the successful therapeutics of short interfering RNA (siRNA). Here, we describe a nanoparticle based delivery system which assembled by layering siRNAs between protease degradable polypeptides to extend the therapeutic window. These tightly packed nanoparticles are efficiently taken up by cells by endocytosis, and the fabricated siRNAs are gradually released following intracellular degradation of the polypeptide layers. During cell division, the particles are distributed to the daughter cells. Due to the slow degradation through the multiple layers, the particles continuously release siRNA in all cells. Using this controlled release construct, the in vivo gene silencing effect of siRNA is consistent for an ultra-long period of time (>3 weeks) with only a single treatment.
Intranasal interleukin-12 gene therapy enhanced the activity of ifosfamide against osteosarcoma lung metastases.

BACKGROUND Cyclophosphamide (CTX) and ifosfamide (IFX) are alkylating agents used to treat osteosarcoma (OS). It was previously demonstrated that the sensitivity of OS cells to 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC, the active metabolite of CTX) is augmented by interleukin (IL)-12 in vitro through a mechanism involving the Fas/FasL pathway. The purpose of these studies was to determine whether this synergistic effect is operational in vivo. METHODS Mice were injected intravenously with human LM7 osteosarcoma cells. Treatment was initiated with IFX (2.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally) with or without intranasal polyethylenimine (PEI):IL-12 gene therapy given twice weekly for 6 weeks. RESULTS Expression of IL-12 protein in the lung was demonstrated in all mice receiving intranasal PEI:IL-12 but not in control mice or those treated with IFX alone. Increased expression of FasL was detected in lungs of all mice receiving IFX. Both IFX and PEI:IL-12 alone significantly inhibited lung metastasis when compared with control groups (P < 0.05). However, the most significant tumor effect was observed in mice receiving IFX+PEI:IL-12 (P < 0.01). Immunohistochemical staining for CD31 and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and the number of proliferating cells as quantified by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining were also most significantly decreased in mice receiving combination therapy. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that combining IFX and IL-12 may have therapeutic potential and that this increased efficacy may be mediated through a mechanism involving the Fas/FasL pathway. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society
Definition and origin of the dune-field pattern at White Sands, New Mexico

Abstract A LiDAR-derived digital elevation model (DEM) of a representative portion of the White Sands Dune Field, New Mexico, allows for characterization of an unprecedented range of dune-field parameters and serves as a basis for pattern analysis. Dune-field parameters were measured and statistically analyzed for populations of dunes selected at random and occurring along transects. Populations sampled by these two different methods are comparable, but highlight the sensitivity of transect placement in a dune field that has pattern heterogeneity. Based upon coefficients of variation, pattern emerges at White Sands primarily because of a strong fabric of crestline orientation, and secondarily because of the regularity of spacing between dunes of similar shape as defined by sinuosity, height and length. Linear regression of dune parameters shows that dune geometric relationships vary primarily with crestline length, but there is little correlation between other parameters, including dune spacing and height. This result highlights the sensitivity of identifying topographic heterogeneity in a LiDAR-derived DEM, given that mean ratios conform to global averages. Stripping off the dunes in Matlab shows a terraced surface, which is interpreted to represent paleo-shorelines formed during relative still stands in the overall retreat of Lake Otero. Elevated bands of higher, more closely spaced dunes occur just leeward of the paleo-shorelines. A revised model for the White Sands Dune Field consists of the basinward progradation of successive dune-field segments. Each segment is associated with a paleo-shoreline, and consists of an upwind dune ridge, represented by the elevated bands, and a leeward dune field.
Comportamento humano numa vilaglobal: uma perspectiva pós-moderna(construtiva) sobre psicologiacomunitária do terceiro mundo

Este artigo discute a concepcao da Psicologia, com suas bases positivistas, e instiga os psicologos brasileiros, especialmente os psicologos comunitarios, a examinar seus valores e agir sobre eles para criar uma Psicologia com uma significância pratica para a cultura brasileira. Especificamente, e sugerido que os pesquisadores brasileiros formem "colaboracoes horizontais" com agencias nacionais e regionais para trabalhar com problemas praticos em populacoes analfabetas e pobres (rurais e urbanas). Um equilibrio deve ser alcancado entre os seguintes valores, igualmente importantes: respeito e empatia, auto-determinacao, diversidade humana, colaboracao e participacao democratica, e justica distributiva, como descrito por Prilleltensky (1997). Nosso desafio e buscar mudancas estruturais no tecido social se quisermos evitar um futuro catastrofico para a humanidade.
Ground-based and space-based laser ranging systems

Laser ranging is expected to help unlock the mysteries of the earthquake phenomenon by producing unique results of crustal motions of the Earth. The current state of the art and future projections are presented, including principal applications and characteristics of typical systems.
Pityriasis lichenoides in children: Therapeutic response to erythromycin

Fifteen of twenty-two children with pityriasis lichenoides were treated with oral erythromycin. Eleven (73%) had a remission, usually within 2 months. Two others showed partial improvement, and two were unimproved. Seven of the children who experienced a remission were off erythromycin and free of lesions after 2 to 5 months of therapy. A trial of erythromycin as described herein should be considered in children with pityriasis lichenoides before other, possibly more toxic, measures are instituted. (J Am Acad Dermatol 15:66-70, 1986.)
Anion template effect on the self-assembly and interconversion of metallacyclophanes.

Reactions of 3,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (bptz) with solvated first-row transition metals M(II) (M(II) = Ni, Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu) have been explored with emphasis on the factors that influence the identity of the resulting cyclic products for Ni(II) and Zn(II). The relatively small anions, namely [ClO4]- and [BF4]-, lead to the formation of molecular squares [{M4(bptz)4(CH3CN)8}⊂X][X]7, (M = Zn(II), Ni(II); X = [BF4]-, [ClO4]-), whereas the larger anion [SbF6]- favors the molecular pentagon [{Ni5(bptz)5-(CH3CN)10}⊂SbF6][SbF6]9. The molecular pentagon easily converts to the square in the presence of excess [BF4]-, [ClO4]-, and [I]- anions, whereas the Ni(II) square can be partially converted to the less stable pentagon under more forcing conditions in the presence of excess [SbF6]- ions. No evidence for the molecular square being in equilibrium with the pentagon was observed in the ESI-MS spectra of the individual square and pentagon samples. Anion-exchange reactions of the encapsulated ion in [{Ni4(bp...
The CsSUT1 promoter from Citrus sinensis confers sink-specific expression of a downstream reporter gene in transgenic Arabidopsis

Membrane-localized H+-symporting sucrose transporters (SUC or SUT proteins) are involved in sucrose loading into the phloem of source tissues and sucrose uptake into sink tissues, which are essential events in the growth and development of higher plants. While many of these sucrose transporters are localized in the phloem, others function in sink tissues. In an attempt to gain insight into which class the CsSUT1 gene from Citrus sinensis falls, we isolated a 1537-bp upstream region of this gene (CsSUT1p), inserted it upstream of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and transformed the resulting vector into Arabidopsis thaliana. Histochemical and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses indicated that the CsSUT1p conferred GUS expression in floral tissues and the roots of young seedlings, but not above ground vegetative tissues. In flowers, GUS expression was noted in young floral buds, as well as immature stamens and carpels. Deletion analyses indicated that a −1052 to −1 fragment (relative to the translational start codon at +1) of the CsSUT1p, but not a −496 to −1 fragment, was able to drive the same pattern of expression of a downstream reporter gene in transgenic Arabidopsis. Taken together, these results suggest that the CsSUT1 gene, like numerous SUC/SUT genes from other plant species, may play a role in the uptake of sucrose into sink tissues.
Rapid determination of spatio-temporal temperatures and heat transfer in simple bodies cooled by convection: Usage of calculators in lieu of heisler-gröber charts

Abstract The objective of this paper is to provide a compact set of correlation equations that permit fast and reliable calculations of the one-dimensional temperature response and associated heat transfer rates of simple bodies: slabs, cylinders and spheres which are cooled by convection to a surrounding fluid. Analogous to the Heisler charts, these alternate correlation equations are based on one-term series and apply to dimensionless times greater than 0.2. Numerical evaluation of the local temperatures, space-mean temperatures and heat transfer rates can be easily carried out with calculators.
First International Workshop on Mining Multiple Information Sources

This paper demonstrates how methods borrowed from information fusion can improve the performance of a classifier by constructing (“fusing”) new features that are combinations of existing numeric features. This work is an example of local pattern analysis and fusion because it identifies potentially useful patterns (i.e., feature combinations) from a single data source. In our work, we fuse features by mapping the numeric values for each feature to a rank and then averaging these ranks. The quality of the fused features is measured with respect to how well they classify minority-class examples, which makes this method especially effective for dealing with data sets that exhibit class imbalance. This paper evaluates our combinatorial feature fusion method on ten data sets, using three learning methods. The results indicate that our method can be quite effective in improving classifier performance, although it seems to improve the performance of some learning methods more than others. General Terms Algorithms, Performance, Experimentation
“Noticing” as an Alternative Transfer of Learning Process

As transfer researchers have begun to investigate a broader range of phenomena, they have correspondingly put forward new processes to provide explanatory accounts for the occurrence of transfer. This move coincides with a call to acknowledge the contribution of social interactions, language, cultural artifacts, and normed practices to the generalization of learning. In this article, we posit “noticing” as a plausible transfer process and investigate both individual noticing and the social organization of noticing via the focusing framework. Specifically, we relate the nature of students' reasoning on transfer tasks with what students notice mathematically in classrooms when many sources of information compete for their attention, and then we account for noticing as socially situated in classroom discourse practices, features of mathematical tasks, and the nature of mathematical activity.
Comprehensive maritime awareness (CMA) joint capabilities technology demonstration (JCTD)

Serious gaps exist in identifying and prioritizing world-wide maritime threats. Maritime security and defense forces lack the capabilities and capacities to provide timely and accurate maritime situational awareness. They lack automatic tools to identify and prioritize relevant and actionable information to avoid information overload. The inability to acquire, fuse and manage disparate information limits timely cueing and focus. Information sharing is inhibited by technical, cultural and policy barriers. The Comprehensive Maritime Awareness Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration attempts to address these problems by developing a "culture of sharing" between international partners and the U.S. and between U.S. agencies. It is our vision that we will be able to automatically; 1) 100% of the maritime movements within an area of responsibility, 2) automatically identify threats, and 3) prioritize them for action. The over all objective is to improve maritime security by acquiring, integrating, and exchanging relevant maritime activity information, identifying possible threats using available information, and then focusing limited interdiction and inspection assets on the most probable threats.
Trait psychology and culture: exploring intercultural comparisons.

Personality traits, studied for decades by Western personality psychologists, have recently been reconceptualized as endogenous basic tendencies that, within a cultural context, give rise to habits, attitudes, skills, beliefs, and other characteristic adaptations. This conceptualization provides a new framework for studying personality and culture at three levels. Transcultural research focuses on identifying human universals, such as trait structure and development; intracultural studies examine the unique expression of traits in specific cultures; and intercultural research characterizes cultures and their subgroups in terms of mean levels of personality traits and seeks associations between cultural variables and aggregate personality traits. As an example of the problems and possibilities of intercultural analyses, data on mean levels of Revised NEO Personality Inventory scales from college age and adult samples (N = 23,031) of men and women from 26 cultures are examined. Results showed that age and gender differences resembled those found in American samples; different subsamples from each culture showed similar levels of personality traits; intercultural factor analysis yielded a close approximation to the Five-Factor Model; and factor scores were meaningfully related to other culture-level variables. However, mean trait levels were not apparent to expert raters, casting doubt on the accuracy of national stereotypes. Trait psychology can serve as a useful complement to cultural perspectives on human nature and personality.
Effect of clofibrate on peroxisomal lignoceroyl-CoA ligase activity

The effect of a 2-week clofibrate (0.5%)-fortified diet on peroxisomal palmitoyl-CoA and lignoceroyl-CoA ligases was studied. The activities of palmitoyl-CoA and lignoceroyl-CoA ligases in peroxisomes isolated from clofibrate-treated animals were 4.4- and 4.0-fold higher than those of the controls. The different degrees of increases in these two enzyme activities support the previous conclusions that in peroxisomes palmitoyl-CoA ligase and lignoceroyl-CoA ligase are different enzymes. Since clofibrate treatment increases both of these peroxisomal acyl-CoA ligase activities and normal palmitoyl-CoA ligase is the source of the partial activity for the oxidation of lignoceric acid in X-ALD, treatment with a hypolipidemic drug, which can increase human peroxisomal enzyme activities, may be helpful in lowering the amount of the pathogen, VLC fatty acids, in X-ALD.
Need and design of short-term auctions in the EU gas markets☆

Abstract In the EU, gas markets are based on socializing network flexibility services. However, shippers have different preferences on network flexibility, which are not reflected in current allocation models. We propose the introduction of auction mechanisms to allocate network services in the short run. The auction aims to represent simultaneously the diversity of players′ preferences and the trade-offs implied by network constraints. Two sealed-bid auctions are proposed: (a) an auction based on bids for gas, which allocates network services through the minimization of gas price differences; (b) an auction with explicit bids for line-pack, which allows shippers′ valuation of line-pack storage.
On the integral formulas of Stokes and Vening Meinesz

Recently much work has been done concerning the behavior of the truncation errors of the integral formulas of Stokes and Vening Meinesz. In our paper we examine the theoretical foundations of truncation error behavior.
Analytic continuation of local representations of symmetric spaces

We prove the following analytic continuation theorem which applies to any virtual representation of any symmetric space (G, K, σ). The problem of passing from the Euclidean group to the Poincare group appears first to have been addressed and solved this way by Klein and Landau. Let G be a Lie group, K a closed subgroup, and σ an involutive automorphism with K as fixed-point subgroup. If g = k + m is the corresponding symmetric Lie algebra, we form g∗ = k + im, and let G∗ denote the simply connected Lie group with g∗ as Lie algebra. We consider virtual representations π of G on a fixed complex Hilbert space H, adopting the definitions due to J. Frohlich, K. Osterwalder, and E. Seiler; in particular, π(g−1) ⊂ π(σ(g))∗ (possibly unbounded operators) for g in a neighborhood of e in G. We prove that every such π continues analytically to a strongly continuous unitary representation of G∗ on H. Our theorem extends results due to Klein-Landau, Frohlich et al., and others, earlier, for special cases. Previous results were known only for special (G, K, σ), and then only for certain π.
A Rare Case of Amatoxin Poisoning in the State of Texas

Ingestion of mushrooms from the genus Amanita can present detrimental consequences to the human body. The mushroom is frequently found in the coastal Pacific Northwest, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. Amanitin, one of the two distinct toxins isolated from the Amanita mushroom, is responsible for the majority of symptoms and signs seen with mushroom poisoning. Clinically, ingestion of these mushrooms can result in a wide range of clinical symptoms including nausea, vomiting, crampy abdominal pain, and diarrhea. There have been several case reports of patients who developed severe hepatic failure that required liver transplantation. Thus, it is important to recognize the symptoms early and treat the patients with the available agents including multidose activated charcoal, N-acetylcysteine, penicillin G, and Silybum. Through an extensive literature search, we found no published literature on amatoxin poisoning in the state of Texas. With new cases of amatoxin poisoning emerging in the state, it is important for healthcare providers and workers to have a better awareness and early recognition of the detrimental effects of Amanita species poisoning and to be educated to provide the proper care for this group of patients.
The protean nature of Stanford University's biological sciences, 1946––1972

Academic literature has paid scant attention to the biological sciences at Stanford University, an omission all the more conspicuous considering their productivity since World War II. This article draws on previously unused archival material to establish a starting point for further study of the biological sciences at Stanford. It traces the evolution of Stanford's biological sciences through three experimental fields: self-directed developmental and evolutionary studies; fundamental research at the molecular level; and biomedical applications of fundamental knowledge. Taken together, a history of Stanford's biological sciences offers a remarkably fertile example of organizational flexibility in historical context. This essay ends by suggesting that a fourth phase of biological research at Stanford will be governed by commercial interest in biology.
“Of And and Of : The Politics of Grammar and the Study of Religion”

Grammatical constructions in course titles and research agendas reflect particular theoretical orientations in the study of religion. Privileging one construction over the others amounts to a politics of grammar. Two constructions are examined here—the conjunction and the genitive: “Religion and…” and “…of Religion.” Whereas non-reductive methods such as theology/phenomenology and cultural anthropology endorse the conjunction, reductive methodologies such as biological anthropology invoke the genitive. With the evidence amassing in favor of natural, human universals (pace cultural anthropology) and against supernatural realities (pace theology/ phenomenology), the essay argues that only the genitive construction has a place in the study of religion.
Educational Policy Study and the Historical Perspective

Because of the nature of policy-making, and its crucial difference from decision-making, more than empirical knowledge is required. Consequently, according to this article, programs for educating educational administrators ought to include the perspective provided by the humanities, and particularly history.
A Compact Laparoscopic Probe for Optical Stimulation of the Prostate Nerves

The cavernous nerves (CN) course along the prostate surface and are responsible for sexual function. Optical nerve stimulation (ONS) has recently been tested as a potential alternative to electrical nerve stimulation for identifying and preserving these delicate nerves during prostate cancer surgery. However, the optimal range of laser parameters for safe and consistent laser nerve stimulation is relatively narrow; low-level irradiation may not stimulate the nerve, while high-level irradiation may result in thermal damage to the nerve and loss of erectile function. The objective of this study is to design, build, and provide preliminary data on testing of a laparoscopic probe capable of delivering a collimated, flat-top spatial beam profile to the nerve surface for uniform, safe, and reproducible irradiation of the nerve. Chemical etching of the distal fiber optic tip in combination with an aspheric lens resulted in a 3.4-mm-OD laparoscopic probe capable of delivering a collimated 1-mm-diameter, flat-top laser beam over a working distance of about 20 mm. Successful ONS using this probe was observed in a rat prostate model, in vivo. Upon further testing, this probe may be useful for identifying and preserving the CN during laparoscopic nerve-sparing prostate cancer surgery.
Health physics and radioactive waste considerations for the TFTR

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) began high power fusion operations, with tritium, in November of 1993. These operations utilize a 50/50 mixture of deuterium and tritium which yields 14 MeV neutrons at a magnitude of 2.0E+18 per 3 second pulse. These high energy neutrons interact with the vacuum vessel, neutral beams, confinement coils and other structural and peripheral materials resulting in fusion activation products. These operations also consist of the delivery, storage, injection and subsequent processing of tritium gas in support of the D-T fusion program. These systems have manipulated and processed 208 PBq of tritium throughout the past year. The operational health physics program involves maintenance on activated materials and tritium contaminated systems. Survey data and findings are collected on routine and special maintenance situations ranging from work on small volume piping to large volume neutral beam systems. The results of radiological measurements are described in relation to the differentiation of elemental tritium to tritium oxide in worker's breathing zones and the associated general work area. The contamination levels, airborne radioactivity, and oil concentrations are also compared. Measurements for gamma radiation are performed to determine personnel access requirements and for comparison to activation and decay models as a planning tools. TFTR presents many unusual challenges with regard to dismantling, packaging and disposal of its components and ancillary systems. A functional time phased radioactive waste generation schedule was developed to enhance project planning. This project will be the first demonstration of the decommissioning of a tritium fuelled fusion test reactor.
Epizootiology of Plasmodium hermani in Florida: Chronicity of Experimental Infections in Domestic Turkeys and Northern Bobwhites

A pen-reared northern bobwhite and a domestic turkey were infected with a strain of Plasmodium hermani obtained originally from a wild turkey in southern Florida. Blood films from these 2 birds were positive microscopically for 188 and 370 days postinfection (PI), respectively. Culicine mosquitoes (Culex nigripalpus and C. salinarius) were blood fed on the bobwhite and the turkey at different times during the infection and used to transmit the malaria to other bobwhites and turkeys up to days 298 and 473 PI, respectively. It was concluded that in nature, P. hermani could remain in a chronic phase in avian hosts for a year, or longer, allowing survival of the parasite between seasons of mosquito transmission.
Modeling of high-speed optical fiber local area networks with finite size source buffers

The development of a dynamic model for a multichannel optical fiber local area network with finite size source buffers based on the Slotted ALOHA/ALOHA protocol is presented. The input, measured in terms of the number of user requests in each time slot, is modeled as a Poisson random process with time varying mean intensity thereby allowing time varying data traffic. A cost functional reflecting the measure of performance of the system in terms of expected average throughput, channel under utilization, and waiting time is introduced. The model allows estimation of design parameters that cannot be achieved by static analysis. >
Managing Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Through Partitioning Care into Focused Wings

We consider the partitioning of care types into wings from the perspective of a hospital administrator who wishes to optimize the use of a fixed number of beds that provide services for heterogeneous care types. The hospital administrator decides on the number of wings to form, the number of beds to allocate to each wing, and the set of care types to assign to each wing to maximize the total utility to the hospital. The administrator faces an inherent trade-off between forming large wings to pool demand and bed capacity, and forming specialized wings to focus on narrow ranges of care types. Specialized wings not only provide advantages from focused care but also allow the protection of beds for high-utility care types. We provide an optimization model for the wing formation decision and address the advantages of focus endogenously in our model. Using data from a large urban teaching hospital in the United States along with a national database, we report on a number of managerial insights. In particular, as the overall demand increases across all care types, wings are formed to reserve more beds for higher-utility types, which leads to higher overall hospital utility but also some disparity across types, such as increased hospital access for some and decreased access for others. Furthermore, overall bed occupancy decreases as the hospital is split into wings. However, if sufficient focus is attained, shorter lengths-of-stay associated with focused care may increase overall patient throughput. We also observe that when patients are willing to wait longer for admission, the hospital tends to form more wings. This implies that hospitals that garner longer waits can form more specialized wings and thereby benefit from focused care, whereas hospitals that cannot will tend to form fewer, if any, wings, choosing to pool demand and bed capacity.
Insertion of helical Siberian snakes in RHIC

For polarized protons in RHIC, two Siberian snakes and four spin rotators per ring will be used. Snakes, 180/spl deg/ apart, and with their axis of spin precession at 90/spl deg/ to each other, are an effective means to avoid depolarization through resonances. Spin rotators, in pairs, rotate the spin from the vertical to the horizontal and back at an interaction. They are needed to study proton collisions with the spin in the horizontal plane.
Transmucosal delivery of testosterone in rabbits using novel bi-layer mucoadhesive wax-film composite disks.

Testosterone exhibits very low oral bioavailability because of its low aqueous solubility and extensive first-pass metabolism. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel bi-layer mucoadhesive wax-film composite (WFC), and to test the relative bioavailability of testosterone via the buccal route in rabbits. The release rate of testosterone from optimal WFCs (3/8-in. diameter) per unit surface area was 5.6 microg x cm(2) x mL(-1) x min(-1) and was zero-order. Bi-layer WFCs (average weight of 14 +/- 2.6 mg and thickness of 186 +/- 34 microns) containing 4 mg of testosterone were applied to the buccal pouch of anesthetized New Zealand white rabbits. Rabbits (n = 3) injected intravenously had C(max) and area under the curve values of 1200 +/- 46 ng/mL, and 48,227 +/- 12,995 ng x min/mL, respectively. Rabbits (n = 3) dosed via the buccal pouch had C(max), T(max), and area under the curve values of 127 +/- 13 ng/mL, 200 +/- 35 min, and 24,221 +/- 1543 ng x min/mL. The relative bioavailability for rabbits treated with the WFC was 50.2 +/- 3.2% with a coefficient of variation of 6.4%. It was concluded that these bi-layer mucoadhesive WFCs disks could deliver physiologically relevant amounts of insoluble drugs such as testosterone across the buccal mucosa.
Values and Ethics of Global Civil Society Actors: Insights from a Survey and Content Analyses

Abstract This study examines values, ethics and principles of conduct that underlie activities of global civil society organizations. It uses an international web-based survey, and a content analysis of the codes of conduct for exploring views of global civil society actors active on global issues and participating in global civil society events. The findings of this analysis highlight many similarities in the ways global civil society organizations of different forms and origins define their goals, values, ethical standards and responsibilities. The normative consensus discerned in this research is limited in scope, however. It revolves around a particular, liberal, view of civil society. The study discusses results of the survey and content analyses in light of the current debates on the nature of global civil society and its relation to the system of states and the global market.
Virtual Relationships and Real Benefits: Using E-Mentoring to Connect Business Students with Practicing Managers

This article reports the results of our study of electronic mentoring (e‐mentoring) in a population of business students. As career paths have become more fluid and less predictable, a growing number of educational and business organizations have implemented traditional and, more recently, e‐mentoring programs. But practice is ahead of evaluation when it comes to e‐mentoring. We attempted to fill this gap by looking more closely at strengths and weaknesses associated with this type of mentoring. Building on research in traditional mentoring and integrating literature in computer‐mediated communication, education and management, we developed a model of e‐mentoring’s antecedents and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of business students (proteges) who were mentored by practicing managers. It was found that perceived similarity in terms of attitudes and values is positively related to effective e‐mentoring, while demographic similarity (gender, race) is not. Moreover, effective e‐mentoring ma...
Experiments with typing in process modeling

Much of our recent work has been predicated on the hypothesis that extensive use of typing will be an important aspect of creating and using process models. In particular, we have been actively investigating type models specifically tailored for use in software environment and process model definition. We recently used class projects in two different software engineering courses as preliminary experiments on the efficacy of typing in creating process models. In this paper we sketch our type model work, describe the experiments and offer a brief assessment of the results.
An empirical analysis of consumers' attitudes toward physicians' advertising.

ABSTRACT Advertising by physicians is a relatively recent phenomenon. Historically, most professions prohibited licensed members from engaging in speech activities that proposed a commercial transaction—advertising. However the history of a physician's legal right to advertise is not the main focus of this article. A brief review of the past, present, and possible future of such rights might assist readers in understanding the revolutionary constitutional and commercial speech changes that have occurred over the past three decades. A physician's legal right to advertise has developed as part of the evolutionary interpretation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The purposes of this study were to determine (a) consumers' attitudes toward advertising by physicians and (b) whether city of residence, occupation, age, sex, race, marital status, number of children in household, total family household income, and education of the consumer accounted for any significant difference in attitude toward p...
Approximations to auctions of digital goods with share-averse bidders

We consider the case of a digital product for share-averse bidders, where the product can be sold to multiple buyers who experience some disutility from other firms or consumers owning the same product. We model the problem of selling a digital product to share-averse bidders as an auction and apply a Bayesian optimal mechanism design. We also design constant-approximation algorithms in the prior-free setting including both average- and worst-case analyses.
Surface modification of a polymeric contrast agent for cancer targeting

In order to develop a targeted contrast agent that enhances ultrasound images, polylactic acid (PLA) microcapsules were coated with fibronectin peptide sequences. The microcapsules were coated with either GRGDS or REDV peptide sequences that target integrins expressed in angiogensis, /spl alpha//sub v//spl beta//sub 3/ and /spl alpha//sub v//spl beta//sub 5/. Preliminary in vitro (static and flow regimes) results indicate that the modified capsules remain highly echogenic and adhere to the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 as opposed to unmodified control capsules. Specific targeting of ultrasound contrast agents could be used as a means of targeted imaging for tumor cells and potentially as a drug delivery vehicle.
Analytical Considerations for Mass Spectrometry Profiling in Serum Biomarker Discovery

The potential of using mass spectrometry profiling as a diagnostic tool has been demonstrated for a wide variety of diseases. Various cancers and cancer-related diseases have been the focus of much of this work because of both the paucity of good diagnostic markers and the knowledge that early diagnosis is the most powerful weapon in treating cancer. The implementation of mass spectrometry as a routine diagnostic tool has proved to be difficult, however, primarily because of the stringent controls that are required for the method to be reproducible. The method is evolving as a powerful guide to the discovery of biomarkers that could, in turn, be used either individually or in an array or panel of tests for early disease detection. Using proteomic patterns to guide biomarker discovery and the possibility of deployment in the clinical laboratory environment on current instrumentation or in a hybrid technology has the possibility of being the early diagnosis tool that is needed.
Steps toward an APL compiler

Compilation of APL programs could yield a dramatic improvement in performance for some kinds of programs, provided that the compiler could simplify the processing to the actual requirements of the particular algorithm. Other optimization approaches have been unable to achieve the performance improvements that seem to be possible. Compilation aided by declarations has been demonstrated, but it is undesirable to require declarations if most of the information they contain can be deduced by inspection of the program. Certain changes and restrictions to the language would make such deduction feasible by simplifying the analysis of control flow and removing apparent interfaces between programs that are not actually used as interfaces. Some of the proposed language changes are regarded as improvements because they facilitate deductions about programs by humans and therefore contribute to program readability and reliability. The other restrictions are inconvenient when debugging a program, but the impact is minimal because compilation of APL would be appropriate mainly for production programs that already have been tested.
Interpersonal Violence and Women With Disabilities: Analysis of Safety Promoting Behaviors

Very little information exists related to the interpersonal violence safety promoting behaviors of women with disabilities. Information about women’s use of safety promoting behaviors was gathered from 305 disabled and deaf women who completed an anonymous Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview. Exploratory factor analyses revealed factors related to seeking abuse-related safety information, building abuse-related safety promoting skills, using relationship support, planning for emergencies, taking legal action, and managing safety in personal assistance relationships. Four of these factors demonstrated significant relationships to women’s experience of different forms of abuse and their perpetrator’s characteristics.
Publication and Language Trends of References in Spanish and Latin American Literature

This study examined references found in three journals in the field of Spanish and Latin American literary studies. Few previous studies have examined types of publishers producing highly cited/referenced books. The data indicate that the primary publishers of scholarly monographs referenced in the journals are U.S. university presses, foreign academic trade presses, and foreign popular trade presses. U.S. university presses, foreign academic trade presses, and government entities published most of the volumes of collected essays referenced. Scholarly monographs published outside the U.S. represented the largest proportions of references, with large growth in references to volumes of collected essays published in the United States. References to English-language materials increased significantly from 1970 to 2000.
Increased adrenergic signaling is responsible for decreased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the chronically hyperinsulinemic ovine fetus.

Insulin may stimulate its own insulin secretion and is a potent growth factor for the pancreatic β-cell. Complications of pregnancy, such as diabetes and intrauterine growth restriction, are associated with changes in fetal insulin concentrations, secretion, and β-cell mass. However, glucose concentrations are also abnormal in these conditions. The direct effect of chronic fetal hyperinsulinemia with euglycemia on fetal insulin secretion and β-cell mass has not been tested. We hypothesized that chronic fetal hyperinsulinemia with euglycemia would increase glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and β-cell mass in the ovine fetus. Singleton ovine fetuses were infused with iv insulin to produce high physiological insulin concentrations, or saline for 7–10 days. The hyperinsulinemic animals also received a direct glucose infusion to maintain euglycemia. GSIS, measured at 133 ± 1 days of gestation, was significantly attenuated in the hyperinsulinemic fetuses (P < .05). There was no change in β-cell mass. ...
Drawing a line between killing and letting die: the law, and law reform, on medically assisted dying.

Traditional medical ethics and law draw a sharp distinction between allowing a patient to die and helping her die. Withholding or withdrawing life sustaining treatment, such as by abating technological nutrition, hydration or respiration, will cause death as surely as a lethal injection. The former, however, is a constitutional right for a competent or once-competent patient, while the latter poses a risk of serious criminal or civil liability for the physician, even if the patient requests it.
Integrating low water potential seed hydration with other treatments to improve cold tolerance

Matriconditioning improved the performance of pepper, tomato, sweet corn, snap bean, table beet, sugar beet and watermelon seeds in early field plantings at suboptimal temperatures (averaged over 10 d after planting) ranging from 12 to 18 °C. Reduction in the time to 50% (T(50)) emergence in conditioned seeds ranged from 0·6 d in watermelon to 3·3 d in pepper and improvement in emergence from 10% in sugar beet to 30% in table beet. Further improvement in emergence occurred by inclusion of pesticides and/or gibberellin during conditioning. A 4 d conditioning of pepper at 25 °C was superior to 7 d conditioning at 15 °C in seeds germinated at 15 °C on filter paper, but 15 °C conditioning was superior in improving percentage emergence in early field plantings. Tomato seeds conditioned at 15 or 25 °C performed equally well in the field. A 2 d conditioning was superior to 1 d conditioning in improving the performance of supersweet sweet corn cultivars grown in a growth chamber at 10/20 °C. The water uptake rate in the presence of Micro-Cel E during matriconditioning of sweet corn seeds was slower than when the seeds were exposed to the same amount of water in absence of the carrier. Electrolyte leakage was greater in supersweet 'Challenger' sweet corn seeds carrying the sh(2) gene compared to the sugary type sweet corn 'More', and in both cases matriconditioning reduced the leakage. Lettuce seeds matriconditioned for 24 h had higher 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid (ACC) content, developed greater ACC oxidase activity and performed better at 10 °C (germinated earlier and had higher percentage germination) than the untreated seeds. Matriconditioning appears to bring about beneficial physical, physiological and biochemical changes that seemingly improve embryo growth potential and tolerance to low temperatures.
Becoming Occupation-Based: A Case Study

This descriptive case study illustrates the experiences of a 55-year-old male with a chronic disability resulting from a stroke, living in the community and a clinician's trial using occupation-based interventions predominately in a rehabilitation setting. The participant engaged in occupation-based interventions three times a week for 5 weeks guided by the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews during the intervention sessions and journal entries made by the therapist. Results suggested occupation-based interventions facilitated a transformation for both the client and the therapist by enhancing the participant's occupational performance and the ability to resume previous roles. The therapist's belief in the power and value of occupation-based practice was reinforced and validated, particularly in the rehabilitation of an individual with chronic stroke.
The P-V-T Behavior of Nitrogen, Argon, and Their Mixtures

Interest in the P-V-T behavior of mixtures at low temperatures has increased considerabiy in recent years. Such data are important with regard to the calculation of thermodynamic properties, gas separation and liquefaction, possible uses of mixtures as refrigerants, and phase equilibrium correlations, as well as to the study and evaluation of intermolecular potential functions.
A 500μW Wireles Neural Streaming System

This chapter describes a fully integrated neural interface which wirelessly streams a digitized neural waveform over 15m [2]. In contrast to the NeuralWISP described in the previous chapter, this system is designed to operate from a small battery. The battery allows the system to operate at a greater range from the receiver and to transmit more data. Because of the low power consumption in the analog front end and the wireless transmitter, the system can operate from a very small battery, resulting in an extremely lightweight system with a small form-factor.
Myocardial overexpression of GRK3 in transgenic mice: evidence for in vivo selectivity of GRKs.

Transgenic mice were generated with cardiac-specific overexpression of the G protein-coupled receptor kinase 3 (GRK3) to explore the in vivo role of this GRK in cardiac function. GRK3 is expressed ...
Patch-Clamp Fluorometry based Determination of Relative Ion Permeability for HCN Channels

Determining the relative permeability of different ions is a classical topic for channel biophysics. Two traditional methods have been used are: 1) single channel recording method, and 2) the reversal potential measurement based on the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz (GHK) equation. Both methods have been used extensively, but certain limitations such as the extremely small single channel conductance prevent the broad application of either method to every type of channels. For the GHK/reversal potential method, when the differential ion concentrations across the cell membrane lead to changes in channel gating property or local biophysical parameters such as pH, the interpretation of the results could be complicated. For the determination of the relative permeability of ammonium (NH4+) compared to another ion, such as potassium (K), the GHK/reversal potential method may not produce accurate results because NH4+ in mill molar range produces a change in local pH on other side of the membrane. The hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels are known to be sensitive to different levels of pH. Here we have proposed a novel method for determining the relative permeability of different ions based on the technique of patch-clamp fluorometry (PCF), which enables simultaneous measurements of macroscopic current amplitude and fluorescence intensity. The slope of the current amplitude vs. fluorescence intensity is directly correlated to the relative ionic permeability. We applied this PCF-based method to the EGFP-tagged HCN channels and determined the ionic selectivity of K, Na+, and NH4+. The PK/PNa was found to be 2.92, the PK/PNa in the absence of any potassium ions was found to be 39, and the PK/PNH4 was found to be 15. Our results were consistent with previous reports. The PCF-based approach holds the potential as an alternative approach for determining the relative ion permeability.
Antihypertensive drugs and lipid profiles.

Abstract The large clinical trials of the treatment of hypertension, in which diuretics were used as initial drug therapy, have demonstrated a major reduction in stroke but little benefit in the incidence of coronary heart disease. The limited effect of treatment on coronary disease is surprising given the strong risk factor relationship to pre-existing hypertension. This may mean that the risk factor relationship is not a causal one. Alternatively, the drug therapy may have subtle toxicity that in the long term offsets the benefit of lowering blood pressure. This review explores the latter possibility by reviewing the evidence that the antihypertensive drugs used preferentially heretofore have adverse effects on the lipid profile. Diuretics increase triglycerides (average of 30%), total cholesterol (average of 6-8%), and LDL or VLDL cholesterol. beta-1 selective and nonselective beta-blockers increase triglycerides (average of 30%) and lower HDL cholesterol (average of 5-15%). Whereas the adverse modifications of the lipid profile appear small and inconsequential, the increase in total cholesterol during diuretic therapy is of the same magnitude as observed in the Lipid Research Clinic trial (although opposite in direction) that significantly affected coronary events. The persistence of the lipid changes during long-term treatment is unresolved due to fragmentary and poorly controlled observations. Nevertheless, considerable data suggest that it continues during extended therapy. Selective alpha-1 adrenoceptor blocking drugs and perhaps calcium antagonists and beta-blockers with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity have a favorable influence on the lipid profile.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)