cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Force Awakens: Tincher, Section 402A and the Third Restatement in Pennsylvania

In Tincher v. Omega Flex (2014), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached two important decisions regarding Pennsylvania product liability law. First, it overruled an earlier decision, Azzarello v. Black Brothers, Inc., which had mandated a bifurcated process for assessing product defects that required trial judges first to assess whether a product was potentially unreasonably dangerous before submitting the question of whether it was defective to the jury. Second, it rejected efforts by some Justices, federal courts and the defense bar to have the Court adopt the negligence-oriented principles of the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of Torts: Product Liability. Instead, the Court reaffirmed Pennsylvania’s commitment to the strict product liability principles set in Restatement (Second) Section 402A. This article assesses the implications of the Tincher decision for the future development of product liability law in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. It explains the foundational principles of strict product liability that the decision affirms, discusses the Court’s establishment of a composite consumer expectation and risk-utility test for determining defects in product design, defends the Court’s commitment to modest and incremental common-law adjudication, and discusses the development of jury charges that are faithful to Tincher’s approach. The article also takes issue with attempts by the product liability defense bar to push post-Tincher adjudication toward a negligence-based framework that is inconsistent with the Court’s reaffirmation in Tincher of a doctrine of strict product liability.
A fundamental study of printed ink resiliency for harsh mechanical and thermal environmental applications

Abstract The integration of novel additively manufactured (AM) materials and processes with traditional materials and manufacturing techniques, including the insertion of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components such as resistors, switches, batteries and light emitting diodes (LEDs), has led to the development of increasingly complex ‘hybrid’ electronics including: antennas, waveguides, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, various sensors, circuits and devices. However, in order to utilize these novel electronics in mechanically and thermally harsh environments (e.g. defense applications), more rigorous characterization and testing methods are required. Here we examine the resiliency and radio frequency (RF) performance of two commercially available conductive inks (DuPont CB028 and KA801) printed onto a radar transparent substrate (poly ether, ether ketone; PEEK). The quality of ink adhesion, a factor found to directly correlate with antenna performance, is examined via adhesion testing after exposure to high accelerations up to 20,000 g and temperature cycling from −54 °C to +71 °C. Overall, the designs, procedures and results provide a framework for multi-materials resiliency assessment as well as aspects unique to materials resiliency under harsh environmental conditions.
Regional Anesthesia for Dentistry and Oral Surgery

Pain is a perception that results from activation of a specific set of receptors by noxious stimuli. Processing by the central nervous system results in the stimulus to be perceived as pain. Thermal receptors respond to temperature changes, mechanoreceptors respond to pressure, tension, stretch, and chemoreceptors respond to substances released during the inflammatory process such as prostaglandins, histamine, serotonin, and bradykinin. The current standard of veterinary medical practice is adequate pain management for all patients. Regional anesthesia is one component of overall pain management of the oral surgery/dental patient and is described step-by-step.
Growing a cybersecurity program: comparing and contrasting multiple attempts

Few career paths have experienced a period of growth that compares to that which has engulfed the world of cybersecurity over the past 10 years, and few can match the field's expected employment growth looking forward. In response to this overwhelming demand for graduates trained to help secure our computing infrastructure, universities are moving to meet this need. While the speed and depth of the response has varied dramatically between institutions, there is now a definite trend of schools creating new courses, certificates, emphasis areas, and degree programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. While curriculum guidelines are beginning to appear from organizations such as ACM and ABET, schools are still struggling to determine just what path they will follow in developing their flavor of cybersecurity program.
In Salmonella enterica, OatA (Formerly YjgM) Uses O-Acetyl-Serine and Acetyl-CoA to Synthesize N,O-Diacetylserine, Which Upregulates Cysteine Biosynthesis.

L-cysteine biosynthesis has been extensively analyzed in Salmonella enterica. The cysteine regulon contains the genes whose protein products are necessary to convert sulfate to sulfide, which is eventually reacted with O-acetyl-serine (OAS) to generate cysteine. The LysR type regulator, CysB, is required for activation of the cysteine regulon, and its interaction with various cys genes has been thoroughly characterized. Results from previous studies by others, suggested that OAS undergoes a spontaneous O- to N- migration to produce N-acetyl-serine (NAS), and that NAS is the true signal sensed by CysB. It was unclear, however, whether such migration occurred spontaneously in vivo or if NAS was generated enzymatically. Work reported herein characterizes a S. enterica N-acetyltransferase, OatA (formerly YjgM), which acetylates the Nalpha-amino group of OAS, producing N,O-diacetyl-serine (DAS) at the expense of acetyl-CoA. We isolated OatA to homogeneity and performed its initial biochemical characterization. The product of the OatA reaction was isolated by HPLC and confirmed by mass spectrometry to be DAS; OatA did not acetylate NAS, consistent with the conclusion that OatA is an N-acetyltransferase, not an O-acetyltransferase. Binding of OAS to OatA appears to be positively cooperative with the apparent K0.5 for OAS determined to be 0.74 mM, the kcat was 1.05 s-1, and the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme (kcat/K0.5) was 1.4 x 103 M-1 s-1. Size exclusion chromatography indicated that OatA was a monomer in solution. In S. enterica, overexpression of oatA led to shorter lag times on sulfate-limiting medium and that these delayed lag times were due to increased expression of the cysteine regulon, as indicated by RT-qPCR results. OatA is the first Gcn5-related N-¬acetyltransferase (aka GNAT) involved in the regulation of amino acid biosynthetic genes in Salmonella. On the basis of results of transcriptomics studies performed by other investigators, we hypothesize that DAS may play a role in biofilm formation in S. enterica and other bacteria.
How to make porphyry copper deposits

Abstract Much of the world's economic copper resources are hosted in porphyry copper deposits (PCDs), shallow level magmatic intrusions associated mostly with thick ( > 45 km ) magmatic arcs, such as mature island arcs and continental arcs. However, a well-known, but unresolved paradox, is that arc magmas traversing thick crust, particularly in continental arcs, are generally depleted in Cu whereas in island arcs, where PCDs are less common, magmas become enriched in Cu. Here, we show that the formation of PCDs requires a complex sequence of intra-crustal magmatic processes, from the lower crust to the upper crust. PCDs form when the crust becomes thick ( > 45 km ) enough to crystallize garnet. Garnet fractionation depletes Fe from the magma, which drives sulfide segregation and removal of most of the magma's Cu into the lower crust, leaving only small amounts of Cu in the residual magma to make PCDs. However, because garnet is depleted in ferric iron, the remaining Fe in the magma becomes progressively oxidized, which eventually oxidizes sulfide to sulfate, thereby releasing sulfide bound Cu from the magma into solution. This auto-oxidation of the magma, made possible by deep-seated garnet fractionation, increases the ability of endogenic magmatic fluids to self-scavenge Cu from large volumes of otherwise Cu-poor magmas and then transport and concentrate Cu to the tops of magmatic bodies. Examination of the occurrence of PCDs in the central Andes shows that ore formation occurs when continental arcs reach their maximum thickness ( > 60 km ), just before the termination of magmatism.
Time-Dependent Resilience Assessment of Seismic Damage and Restoration of Interdependent Lifeline Systems

AbstractA simulation of the resilience of lifeline systems in a test bed subjected to a series of seismic events is presented in this paper. The simulation framework is comprised of a group of inde...
Lower soil carbon stocks in exotic vs. native grasslands are driven by carbonate losses.

Global change includes invasion by exotic (nonnative) plant species and altered precipitation patterns, and these factors may affect terrestrial carbon (C) storage. We measured soil C changes in experimental mixtures of all exotic or all native grassland plant species under two levels of summer drought stress (0 and +128 mm). After 8 yr, soils were sampled in 10-cm increments to 100-cm depth to determine if soil C differed among treatments in deeper soils. Total soil C (organic + inorganic) content was significantly higher under native than exotic plantings, and differences increased with depth. Surprisingly, differences after 8 yr in C were due to carbonate and not organic C fractions, where carbonate was ~250 g C/m2 lower to 1-m soil depth under exotic than native plantings. Our results indicate that soil carbonate is an active pool and can respond to differences in plant species traits over timescales of years. Significant losses of inorganic C might be avoided by conserving native grasslands in subhumid ecosystems.
Terminal Logic Behavior and Strategic Defection of Governmental Officials during Presidential Transitions in Guatemala: Implications for the Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Security Policy.

Background Presidents with no possibility of re-election overvalue far-future rewards and succumb to terminal logic behavior (TLB), responding to end-of-tenure legacy concerns despite political context. Government authorities perceiving the outgoing government is losing power at the end of term behave under the logic of strategic defection (SD), dissociating from the outgoing government once it is perceived powerless. In countries where re-election is impossible and government turnover and inconstant political parties are concerns, governmental officials at all levels may show TLB and SD during transitions that affect policy sustainability. Objectives This study aimed to understand the context during presidential transitions that makes TLB and SD relevant, whether TLB and SD affect sustainability of food and nutrition security policy (FNSP), and the tactics for navigating transitions that favor sustainability. Methods A case-study design was used with semi-structured qualitative interviews and document review of news articles in Guatemala. Purposeful criteria and snowball sampling were used to recruit 52 policy actors implementing an FNSP across 2 transitions; 252 news articles from the referenced period covering topics on policy programmatic areas were purposefully sampled. Interviews were analyzed using coding and thematic analyses. News articles were analyzed using a priori thematic coding for verifying themes in interviews and data triangulation. Results Governmental officials were replaced by others during transitions; political parties were perceived as inconstant. TLB and SD occurred at all levels and had consequences for sustainability of FNSP: implementation slow-down, dysfunctional collaboration, inefficient use of resources, benefits not reaching targeted groups, and loss of momentum. These occurred through individual, institutional, and political mechanisms. Civil society, international organizations, and government adopted tactics for maximizing sustainability. Conclusions Understanding governmental officials' experiences and the extent to which TLB and SD occur and affect sustainability could be advantageous to develop compensatory actions for reaching long-term FNSP goals.
Like America, Our Internal Revenue Service is a Work in Progress.

Yet, for best results, it’s better to avoid thinking too much about what it is or is not! Instead, let’s think more about what the IRS ought to be! This Article thusly offers a realistic path forward with a decentralizing local presence, which can once again make it taxpayer/customer-centric. For more effective tax administration, it also offers a return to something that inexcusably went missing in 1998, senior-executive “on-site oversight" of field operations. If today’s Internal Revenue Service can be fairly described, by more people than ever before, as an exploding volcano of public mistrust and suspicion, which it undoubtedly is, how can we meet the challenge? That’s not an easy question; but there are reasonable answers and practical options.
The effect of different treatments for early lactation hyperketonemia on blood β-hydroxybutyrate, plasma non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin, and glucagon in dairy cattle

Despite increased efforts in preventing the occurrence of metabolic disorders in transition cows, hyperketonemia remains a frequent early lactation metabolic disease affecting an average of 40% of cows in herds in the US. Despite the demonstrated economic impact of this disorder there is a lack of controlled clinical trials comparing different treatment strategies in affected cows. The objective of our study was to investigate the effect of treatment with intravenous glucose, oral propylene glycol (PG), or a combination of both on the reduction in blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentrations of early lactation hyperketonemic dairy cows.
Reflections on US Psychiatry: How the Baton Was Passed From European Psychiatry and the Contributions of US Psychiatry.

ABSTRACT The medical model in psychiatry and descriptive psychopathology were established in Germany by Krapelin's textbook and Jaspers' General Psychopathology. In the United Kingdom, Mayer-Gross' textbook synthesized both books, influencing US psychiatry. US psychiatrists from the World War II generation defeated the US academic psychoanalytic establishment by building three pillars: biological psychiatry (brought by Wortis), the psychopharmacology revolution, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition (DSM-III). The psychopharmacology revolution included immigrants (e.g., Gershon), Cole's marketing, and textbooks by Klein and Fink. The "neo-Kraepelinians" introduced the medical model in US psychiatry and defined 15 valid psychiatric disorders. Spitzer supervised DSM-III's development. Its 1980 publication started the world dominance of US psychiatry and the multiplication of diagnoses. Major contributions by US psychiatrists include a) McHugh's update of the Jaspersian approach, b) Fink's inclusion of catatonia as a syndrome in DSM-5 (following Abrams and Taylor's studies), and c) DSM-III's departure from the Jaspersian hierarchy of schizophrenia and affective symptoms.
Supporting young Spanish speaking English learners through teacher scaffolding and reciprocal peer tutoring

Young English learners (ELs) whose home language is Spanish continue to lag behind in several school readiness areas including language and literacy skills in spite of their strong social skills, w...
OPEN PEDAGOGY: INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE IN TEACHING ABOUT NEW MEDIA

In the quest for independence from traditional media constraints, open pedagogy — involving students in the creation of openly licensed materials — offers training in open culture practices alongside deeper learning. Our research builds upon an exploratory study by Hilton et al. (2019). We collected quantitative and qualitative data about the experiences of 85 students participating in an open pedagogy course project: creating content for the open textbook Humans R Social Media (HRSM). We asked students to compare their experiences working on HRSM with traditional learning activities (e.g., writing papers, taking quizzes). About 66% of students said the HRSM project had greater educational value than traditional learning activities. Most students (54.1%) also reported that HRSM helped them master more core academic content, and 51.8% said the project helped them become more collaborative learners. Although a small percentage preferred traditional learning activities, most students reported that open pedagogy’s focus on agency and choice enabled them to share their individuality and creativity. We also found that students valued knowing their work could be shared beyond the classroom; and that publishing, in the words of one student, “gave me more incentive to make sure my assignments were my best product.” This study tentatively reinforces the benefits of independent, hands-on learning as well as collaborative interdependence in an online environment. These findings suggest the active nature of open pedagogy holds rich possibilities for cultivating participatory learning activities, involving students in the creation of knowledge as they learn, and cultivating interdependent connection and community.
An Interactive Graphical Interface for Symbolic Algebra Systems

Given the large number of symbolic algebra systems being offered that run on workstations it is unfortunate, and perhaps a bit surprising, that not much work has been done on improving the user interface. We have designed and implemented a program that displays mathematical expressions in much the same way a user would write them. The ability to interact with the displayed form opens up new solutions to the problems of displaying mathematical expressions. We hope that our work encourages others to tackle the problems involved in designing and implementing a general, graphical environment for interacting with symbolic algebra systems, and other systems that use mathematical expressions.
Chronic schizophrenics in the community: are they able to report their social adjustment?

Deinstitutionalization of schizophrenic patients makes it imperative that we develop reliable and valid methods to assess social adjustment. This report focuses on data obtained from the administration of the Social Adjustment Scale II. High agreement was found between the reports of 56 schizophrenic patients and their significant others.
Operation and development of electronic markets as prognostic instrument for business planning

Abstract Strategic planning is crucial for the survival of a company, wide‐ranging decisions about future action must be taken. The information basis for such decisions is often gained from forecasts about the future with more or less accurate probability of the assumed event occurring. Electronic markets have been the subject matter of numerous investigations in recent years and if organized correctly show a high degree of accuracy in forecasting future events relevant to the business of a company. In major enterprises prediction markets have already been used successfully as a new kind of prognostic instrument. It is also suitable, however, for small and medium‐sized enterprises for the gathering and assessment of the information available to the employees. When developing prognostic markets it is necessary to take into consideration psychological factors, which could favour incorrect results.
Integrating Science, Management, and Policy for the Future of Water in California

Society faces complex, multifaceted problems that call for research that transcends disciplinary boundaries and informs public policy. Water resources management in the face of climate change in California is one such challenge. Understanding responses to future conditions requires integration of climatic, hydrologic, ecological, and social dynamics. To catalyze the development and application of this science, the graduate students of the U.S. National Science Foundation–funded Climate Change, Water, and Society Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (CCWAS IGERT) at the University of California, Davis organized a “State of the Science” workshop to identify knowledge gaps; promote cross-disciplinary communication, fertilization, and collaboration; and better connect science and policy.
Bayesian Chance‐Constrained Hydraulic Barrier Design under Geological Structure Uncertainty

The groundwater community has widely recognized geological structure uncertainty as a major source of model structure uncertainty. Previous studies in aquifer remediation design, however, rarely discuss the impact of geological structure uncertainty. This study combines chance-constrained (CC) programming with Bayesian model averaging (BMA) as a BMA-CC framework to assess the impact of geological structure uncertainty in remediation design. To pursue this goal, the BMA-CC method is compared with traditional CC programming that only considers model parameter uncertainty. The BMA-CC method is employed to design a hydraulic barrier to protect public supply wells of the Government St. pump station from salt water intrusion in the "1500-foot" sand and the "1700-foot" sand of the Baton Rouge area, southeastern Louisiana. To address geological structure uncertainty, three groundwater models based on three different hydrostratigraphic architectures are developed. The results show that using traditional CC programming overestimates design reliability. The results also show that at least five additional connector wells are needed to achieve more than 90% design reliability level. The total amount of injected water from the connector wells is higher than the total pumpage of the protected public supply wells. While reducing the injection rate can be achieved by reducing the reliability level, the study finds that the hydraulic barrier design to protect the Government St. pump station may not be economically attractive.
New Approaches to IRIS Recognition: One-Dimensional Algorithms

Currently, most iris recognition systems require a cooperative subject with frontal high quality iris image to obtain a descent recognition result. However, for a noncooperative subject who may be facing away from the camera, the obtained iris image may be blurry, deformable, or highly occluded. As a result, only a portion of the iris information may be extracted (a partial iris). Partial iris pattern analysis would be an important step for noncooperative subject iris recognition. Little research has been performed in this area. Traditional iris recognition systems typically use an iris signature that requires circular rotation for pattern matching purposes. The new approach generates one-dimensional iris signatures that are orientation, scale, contrast, rotation, and illumination invariant. The system will work with less of the iris than commercial systems, and thus can enable partial iris recognition. In addition, this iris recognition system is more tolerant of noise. This method is simple to implement, and the computational complexity is relatively low. Keywords: iris recognition; one-dimensional iris signature; local texture pattern (LTP); partial iris analysis; Du measure
Assessment of Empirical Concrete Impact Formulas

Data from 145 recent impact tests of reinforced concrete walls with solid and pipe missiles are used to assess the accuracy of several empirical formulas. For solid missiles, penetration depths greater than six-tenths the missile diameter are predicted by the NDRC formula to within —25%, scabbing is predicted equally well by the NDRC, Bechtel, and Stone and Webster formulas, and perforation is predicted best by the CEA-EDF formula. For pipe missiles, the best overall agreement with data is obtained with the NDRC formulas, using the outside diameter in the penetration equation and the equivalent solid diameter in the equations for scabbing and perforation. The limitations of all of the formulas for impact conditions outside their range of applicability are pointed out. For example, the formulas are inapplicable for highly deformable missiles such as wooden poles and autos and give only approximate results for rotating or irregularly shaped missiles such as fragments from rotating machinery.
The Limits of Exchange Rate as Nominal Anchor: Evidence from the 1999-2005 Ukrainian Experience

Despite its adoption of a nominal-anchor exchange-rate policy during the period 1999-2005, Ukrainian financial markets were subject to substantial premia in interest rates on interbank markets relative to what is observed in Euro credit markets. In this paper I demonstrate that there were three independent premia, and that these sources had different causes. Estimation of a stochastic-discount-factor model using weekly data over the period 1999-2005 illustrates that the government’s “nominal anchor” policy vis a vis the US dollar was effective at eliminating the risk of currency depreciation. However, other risks related to convertibility and liquidity were either not addressed or exacerbated, and thus deviations from uncovered interest parity continued through the period. Future monetary and financial-sector policy should be calibrated to address all three.
The synthesis of dinaphthothiophenes

The synthesis of dinaphtho[1,2-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene (6), dinaphtho[2,1-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene (15), dinaphtho-[1,2-b:1′,2′-d]thiophene (20), dinaphtho[2,1-b:1′,2′-d]thiophene (26), dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene (37) and dinaphtho[1,2-b:2′,1′-d]thiophene (45) has been accomplished.
DNMT1 and Cancer: An Electrifying Link

Aberrant epigenetic methylation is linked to the onset and progression of cancer. In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Furst and Barton (2015) describe a sensitive electrochemical assay that can detect hyperactive epigenetic methylation in tumor tissue.
Genetic control of enzyme polymorphisms in the california vole, Microtus californicus.

Inheritance of 15 polymorphic isozymes was investigated in captive Microtus californicus. Eleven of the isozymes show patterns consistent with a Mendelian model of inheritance: glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD), lactate dehydrogenases A and B (LDH-A and LDH-B), malic enzyme 2 (ME-2), isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (ICD-1), phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD), glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase 1 (GOT-1) phosphoglucomutase 2 (PGM-2), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI), and esterase 2 (ES-2, from kidney). four of the isozymes show patterns that cannot be interpreted by a simple genetic model: esterases 1 and 4 (ES-1, ES-4, from hemolysate), esterase 3 (ES-3, from plasma), and protein 1 (PT-1). The following pairs of loci are assorting independently: LAP and PGD, LAP and PGM-2, GOT-1 and PGD, GOT-1 and GPD, LAP and GPD, GPD and PGD, GPI and PGD. Data from one test cross mating indicate that GPD and PGM-2 are loosely linked with recombination about 30%. Additional data are needed to confirm this relationship.
The cyberinfrastructure for scholars project: componentized architecture for sustainable scholarly portals

With the advent in recent years of widespread digital collections, web services (including “Web 2.0”), and metadata harvesting (most notably with OAI-PMH), a challenge has arisen of meshing these elements into coherent and sustaining scholarly information environments (“digital libraries,” “portals,” etc.). Many system instances have been successfully constructed demonstrating technical solutions to various problems in these areas, but these instances have not as of yet translated into wide adoption.
Multistate Effects in Calculations of the Electronic Coupling Element for Electron Transfer Using the Generalized Mulliken−Hush Method

A simple diagnostic is developed for the purpose of determining when a third state must be considered to calculate the electronic coupling element for a given pair of diabatic states within the context of the generalized Mulliken−Hush approach (Chem. Phys. Lett. 1996, 275, 15−19). The diagnostic is formulated on the basis of Lowdin partitioning theory. In addition, an effective 2-state GMH expression is derived for the coupling as it is modified by the presence of the third state. Results are presented for (i) a model system involving charge transfer from ethylene to methaniminium cation, (ii) a pair of donor−acceptor-substituted acridinium ions, and (iii) (dimethylamino)benzonitrile, and the diagnostic is shown to be a useful indicator of the importance of multistate effects. The effective 2-state GMH expression is also shown to yield excellent agreement with the exact 3-state GMH results in most cases. For cases involving more than three interacting states a similar diagnostic is presented and several a...
Chemokine receptors: signposts to brain development and disease.

During the development of the nervous system, populations of progenitor cells that eventually become neurons and glia face the complex task of finding their way from their place of birth to their final destinations. What are the molecular processes that provide the information for guiding progenitor cells along their way? In this article, we discuss recent information indicating that chemokines and their receptors are of great importance in directing the proliferation and migration of immature neurons, glia and their precursors. Furthermore, chemokine receptor function in the nervous system continues to be important throughout adult life, and chemokines participate in various brain disorders, including AIDS dementia, neuroinflammatory disease and neuroplasia, making them important potential therapeutic targets in these cases.
Thermoelectric polymers: Behind organics' thermopower

Conjugated polymers with high electrical conductivity and high thermopower are now demonstrated. The electronic structure of these materials is that of a semi-metal, a previously unreported state for organic conductors.
A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in african-american women

A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in a sample of 289 African-American women was evaluated. Using a structural equation methodology, life events, social support, physical health problems, and internalized racialism were significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Although neither marital status nor religious orientation had predicted inverse effects on depressive symptoms, we found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on depressive symptoms were mediated through these and other variables specified in the model.
SU‐FF‐T‐405: Impact of Tissue Heterogeneities Upon Dose Delivery to Lung Lesions and Comparison of BrainSCAN Treatment Planning System Dose Calculations

Purpose: Tissue heterogeneity changes result in a build down/build up of the recoil electron fluence at heterogeneity interfaces. The use of stereotactic radiosurgery beams on small lung lesions can compromise the dose delivery to lesions ranging from 6 mm up through 30 mm in diameter, since the dimensions of the lesions are comparable to the range of the secondary electrons in lung and air. Dose perturbations are evaluated for a range of lesion diameters in lung equivalent phantom material. Method and Materials: Lesion diameters of 6.4, 12.5, 19.7, and 25.4 mm of unit density were inserted into lung equivalent material. The dose distributions were measured with film densitometry and calculated with the dose calculation engine of the ADAC Pinnacle system. The Pinnacle treatment planning system uses the adaptive convolution superposition algorithm, which rigorously reproduces x‐ray beam attenuation, and the electron fluence changes at tissue heterogeneity interfaces.Results: The physical density of the lung equivalent phantom material is 0.30 g/cm3 in contrast to water and normal tissue at 1.0 g/cm3. The spherical tumor phantoms were irradiated with beam margins of 0, 7, 10, and 25 mm. Dose volume histogram analysis was performed to develop a DVH surface map of the dose delivery to each lesion as a function of margin size. It was determined that a 7 mm margin for all lesion diameters delivers a minimum tumor dose of 94 % of the prescribed isocenter dose for all lesion diameters. The DVH analysis and film dosimetry were also compared with the dose calculations of the BrainSCAN planning system. Conclusion: These measurements and calculations confirm the clinical feasibility of stereotactic irradiations of lung lesions with minimal compromise of the tumor dose. Research supported by BrainLAB, AG Munich, Germany.
Research on environment protection mode based on ecosystem property

Making the ecosystem property quantified and being a virtual ecosystem shareholder in an enterprise is a daily protection mode compared to the other traditional protection modes. This paper has the ecosystem value initialized, and calculates the annual ecosystem shareholder equity based on every enterprisepsilas pollution quantity. Whatpsilas more, these enterprises are required to expose regularly the status of ecosystem shareholder equity changing and their auditing reports. According to those materials, the department of environment protection makes measures to supervise those enterprises.
The Effects of Changing Technology and Government Policy on the Commercialization of Music

ABSTRACT Government policy in the form of copyright protection laws fostered the commercial development of music. Technological innovation spawned the recording, movie and radio and television broadcast industries, expanding the economic horizon of music. Readily available recording devices, digital recording and Internet peer-to-peer song swapping have led to piracy problems. Although digital electronic music delivery could increase industry revenues, lack of consumer portability and conflicts between copyright protection for the industry and fair use provisions for individuals precluded widespread adoption. Choices and costs for consumers and industry growth and profits have been affected more by changes in technology and government policy than by variations in industry structure. Deregulation and technological development have changed the radio broadcast and concert promotion industries from monopolistically competitive to oligopolies, which in turn has threatened the growth of the music industry.
Intranasal treatment of cowpox virus respiratory infections in mice with cidofovir.

Abstract Orthopoxvirus infections in mice have been effectively treated with cidofovir, a clinically approved drug given by intravenous infusion to treat cytomegalovirus infections. In a bioterrorist scenario it would be technically difficult to give this drug to a large number of exposed individuals. New treatment approaches are being sought, which include giving cidofovir by alternative routes or designing oral prodrugs of cidofovir. In this report, intranasal cidofovir was investigated as a treatment of pulmonary cowpox virus infections in BALB/c mice. Ninety to 100% of animals given a single intranasal drug treatment (10, 20 or 40 mg/kg) 24 h after virus challenge survived the infection, whereas all placebo-treated mice died. Doses of 2.5 and 5 mg/kg resulted in 60 and 80% survival, respectively. Single treatments of 20 and 40 mg/kg could be given up to 3 days after virus inoculation and still be 80–90% protective. A single 40 mg/kg treatment of infected mice given 1 or 2 days after infection also resulted in statistically significant decreases in virus titer in lungs and nose/sinus compared to the placebo group. Drug efficacy was found to be contingent upon treatment volume. A 10 mg/kg intranasal dose given 24 h after virus challenge was 100 and 50% effective in volumes of 40 and 20 μl, respectively. The same dose in 5 and 10 μl volumes caused no decrease in mortality. The results of these studies establish the utility of cidofovir treatment of poxvirus infections in mice by intranasal route. The data suggest the possibility that aerosol delivery of cidofovir to human lungs may be a viable alternative to intravenous dosing.
An Update on Psychogenic Movement Disorders

Psychogenic movement disorders (PMD) and other conversion disorders (CD) with apparent neurologic signs (neurologic CD) plague patients and perplex physicians. Due to a lack of objective evidence of underlying brain lesions, CD were largely abandoned by neurologists and remained poorly understood psychiatric diagnoses throughout most of the 20th century. Modern neuroscience now supports increasingly comprehensive biological models for these complex disorders, definitively establishing their place in both neurology and psychiatry. Although it is often clinically useful to distinguish a movement disorder as either “organic” or “psychogenic,” this dichotomy is difficult to defend scientifically. Here we describe the neuroimaging and neurophysiologic evidence for dysfunctional neural networks in PMD, explain the diagnostic potential of clinical neurophysiologic testing, discuss the promising if increasingly complex role of neuropsychiatric genetics, and review current treatment strategies.
On connected area coverage sets in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks consist of small senor nodes with limited battery and processing capability. During any time, a number of senor nodes must be kept active to sense the covered area and maintain the connectivity to the base station. This paper addresses the minimum connected area coverage set problem with equal sensing and communicating radii. With location information of its neighbor, each node selects minimum number of its neighbor nodes as sensing and forwarding nodes to cover the sensing area of itself and all its neighbors and guarantee the connectivity to all its two-hop neighbors. After exchanging the sensing and forwarding node set with its neighbors, each node decides whether it should be active. The active sensor nodes together guarantee area coverage and connectivity. The proposed algorithm is fully localized with O(nlogn) time complexity and O(n) message complexity where n is the maximum number of neighbors.
Simulating the co-encapsulation of drugs in a “smart” core-shell-shell polymer nanoparticle

A coarse-grained lattice Monte Carlo method is used to simulate co-encapsulation and delivery of both a hydrophilic and hydrophobic drug from polymer nanoparticles. In particular, core-shell-shell polymer nanoparticles with acid-labile bonds are simulated, and the preferential release of the encapsulated drugs near more acidic tumors is captured. While these simple models lack the molecular details of a real system, they can reveal interesting insights concerning the effects of entropy and enthalpy in these systems.
Monte Carlo studies of percolation in a superconducting array

We investigate phase transitions in a two-dimensional site-diluted superconducting array, using Monte Carlo simulations. The array is modeled via a site-diluted classical {ital XY} model on a square lattice in the regime {ital p}{sub {ital c}}{lt}{ital p}{lt}1, where {ital p} is the concentration of spins'' (representing the phases of the superconducting order parameters on the grains) and {ital p}{sub {ital c}} denotes the percolation threshold. In the unfrustrated case (zero magnetic field), we find that the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition temperature {ital T}{sub {ital c}}({ital p}) approaches zero according to the power law {ital T}{sub {ital c}}({ital p}){similar to}({ital p}{minus}{ital p}{sub {ital c}}){sup {kappa}} and {kappa}{approx}1.14, as {ital p}{r arrow}{ital p}{sub {ital c}} from above. To within the accuracy of the calculation, {kappa} equals the expected value of {ital t}, where {ital t}{approx}1.30 is the usual conductivity exponent. In the fully frustrated case, which in a perfect lattice ({ital p}=1) is characterized by a phase transition of combined KT- and Ising-like character, we find no Ising-like character in the diluted lattice. The apparent KT behavior is broadened over a considerable temperature range, compared to the case in the perfect lattice.
Does 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) disrupt cell proliferation and neuronal maturation in the adult rat hippocampus in vivo?

5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) is frequently used as a mitotic marker in studies of cell proliferation. Recent studies have reported cytotoxic effects of BrdU on neural progenitor cells in embryonic and neonatal brains in vivo and in adult tissue studied in vitro. The present study was conducted to assess whether BrdU interferes with cell proliferation and neuronal maturation in the rat adult hippocampus in vivo. BrdU effects across a wide range of doses (40-480 mg/kg) on cell proliferation and the population of immature neurons in the adult hippocampus were investigated using immunohistochemical labeling methods for the cell cycle marker Ki67 and a marker for immature neurons, doublecortin. BrdU did not influence cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus or the population of immature neurons observed in the adult hippocampus relative to those observed in saline treated controls. Thus, in contrast with reports of deleterious effects of BrdU in embryonic and neonatal tissue and adult tissue studied in vitro, BrdU does not appear to have cytotoxic effects on proliferating hippocampal cells or immature neurons in vivo in rats.
Cytotoxicity and inflammation in human alveolar epithelial cells following exposure to occupational levels of gold and silver nanoparticles

While inhalation represents one of the most likely routes of exposure, the toxicity and response of nanoparticles at concentrations expected from such an exposure are not well understood. Here we characterized the in vitro response of human A549 adenocarcinomic alveolar epithelial cells following exposure to gold (AuNP) and silver (AgNP) nanoparticles at levels approximating an occupational exposure. Changes in neither oxidative stress nor cytotoxicity were significantly affected by exposure to AgNPs and AuNPs, regardless of NP type (Ag vs. Au), concentration, surface ligand (citrate or tannic acid), or size. An inflammatory response was, however, observed in response to 20 nm AgNPs and 20 nm AuNPs, where significant differences in the release of interleukin (IL)-8 but not IL-6 were observed. Additional data demonstrated that increased IL-8 secretion was strongly dependent on both nanoparticle size and concentration. Overall these data suggest that, while not acutely toxic, occupational exposure to AuNPs and AgNPs may trigger a significant inflammatory response in alveolar epithelium. Moreover, the differential responses in IL-8 and IL-6 secretion suggest that NPs may induce a response pathway that is distinct from those commonly elicited by allergens and pathogens.
Brain Imaging in Communication Research: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Evaluating fMRI Studies

Core communication research questions are increasingly being investigated using brain imaging techniques. A majority of these studies apply a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. This trend raises two important questions that we address in this article. First, under what conditions can fMRI methodology increase knowledge and refine communication theory? Second, how can editors, reviewers, and readers of communication journals discriminate sound and relevant fMRI research from unsound or irrelevant fMRI research? To address these questions, we first discuss what can and cannot be accomplished with fMRI. Subsequently, we provide a pragmatic introduction to fMRI data collection and analysis for social-science-oriented communication scholars. We include practical guidelines and a checklist for reporting and evaluating fMRI studies.
Oil Refining: Cross-Elasticities of Supply

I. Introduction, 214. — II. Time series comparisons, 222. — III. Regional comparisons, 228. — IV. Cracking and recycling data, 230. — V. Conclusions, 235.
The ghosts talk: Personal interviews with three former speechwriters

This essay contains portions of the transcripts of personal interviews with Dr. William Lee Miller, a former speechwriter for Adlai Stevenson's 1956 campaign for President; Dr. Robert Turner, a former speechwriter for Presidents Harry Truman and John Kennedy; and Mrs. Dorothy Collins, a speechwriter for several key administrators at a major midwestern university. All three interviewees were asked the same questions, allowing us to compare and contrast their answers.
Least Square Approach to Multi-Path Maxmin Rate Allocation

The maxmin fair bandwidth allocation has been proposed as a flow control mechanism for managing the data traffic in connection-oriented networks. This paper devises a fast convergence algorithm based on the least square approach to solve multi-level multi-path maxmin problems. We prove that the least square result obtained by our method converges to the optimal solution which is multi-level multi-path maxmin. Our approach is the only known algorithm that can achieve lexicographical separation among the many maxmin levels.
Yeast histone genes show dosage compensation

Abstract The copy number of yeast histone genes was increased by inserting an extra H2A,H2B gene pair into the haploid genome by the technique of yeast transformation. The presence of this extra gene copy has no detectable effect on cell growth. The steady-state levels of histone H2A,H2B mRNAs are not elevated in transformed strains, and they correspond to the levels measured for the parental strain. The transcription rate is increased in these strains, however, and the parental steady-state levels of histone mRNAs are maintained by increased turnover of histone transcripts. These results demonstrate that yeast histone genes display dosage compensation through the operation of posttranscriptional controls. They also suggest that maintenance of a constant ratio between histone mRNA concentration and the rate of chromosome replication may be of general importance to histone mRNA metabolism.
Internal structure of a domain wall in ultrathin magnetic film

Micromagnetic analysis of a domain wall internal structure in ultrathin magnetic film is carried out. The case when the film thickness is much smaller than the exchange length (the effective width of a Bloch line) is considered. It is shown that in this limiting case the angle of the domain wall twisting is very small and the domain wall has the quasi-Bloch structure.
Diels-alder reaction on solid supports using polymer-bound oxazolidinones

Abstract Hydroxymethyl resin-bound oxazolidone crotonates undergo Diels-Alder reactions with yields and stereoselectivities comparable to those observed in solution. The stability of the resin to the Lewis acid (Et 2 AlCl) employed is critical to the success of these cycloadditions.
Eugenio Trías's reading of Joan Maragall: from civil Catalunya-ciutat to postcivil Catalunya-estat

This article examines Eugenio Trias's reading of the esthetics and politics of Joan Maragall. Trias uses Maragall as an occasion to articulate his theory of a Catalan civil society based on the figure of Catalunya-ciutat. My text traces the main components of this articulation and relates them to two general problematics: the contemporary withering of civil society, and the ontology of being. I pay special attention to Trias's identification of Maragall's opposition between homeland and city with Martin Heidegger's distinction between Earth and World. My general hypothesis is that the civil society of Catalunya-ciutat is no longer a viable social project and must be replaced by the postcivil design of Catalunya-estat.