cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acoustoelastic Measurement of Second- and Third-Order Elastic Constants in Silicon Carbide and Alumina Particulate-Reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) can offer increased specific strength and stiffness, increased toughness, and an ability to operate at high temperatures. However, the mechanical properties of MMCs can be greatly influenced by residual stresses that result during fabrication from the differences in coefficients of thermal expansion of the constituents [1]. There are a number of non-destructive techniques for measuring residual stresses in these types of composites. The two most widely used techniques are x-ray and neutron diffraction. The x-ray diffraction technique is limited in that it has small penetration depths and beam sizes which are generally much greater than the reinforcement diameter. Although the neutron diffraction technique can provide through-thickness measurements, the availability of the specialized test equipment is a limitation, due to the necessity for using a neutron source [2]. An alternative technique for measuring residual stresses is using ultrasound.
Design of Bracings for Wind and Earthquake Forces

Lateral loads acting on a structure are mostly attributed to wind and earthquake forces. Ordinarily, in designing a building, members are first selected on the basis of gravity loads and then checked for a combination of loading patterns that include wind and/or earthquake forces. The magnitude of these forces is a matter of judgment and reliance on local and national code requirements. Rational analyses can be made using certain parametric assumptions and design criteria. The designer has the responsibility of using judiciously the guidelines of the code. Such action does not release him/her from the necessity of more elaborate analyses depending on specific building requirements and functions.
Naked Bodies and Nasty Pictures: Decoding Sex Scripts in Preadolescence, Re-Examining Normative Nudity through Art Education.

Through an analysis of his lived narratives, the author discusses the formative experiences some preadolescent boys have with nudity/nakedness as well as the initial experiences young male art students and teachers have with the nude in academia. This article examines how heteronormative ideas about sex—gender and professionalism—limit the possibility of rich educational experiences, affecting both educators and students. The conclusion of this study involves a discussion of the benefits of more inclusive examinations of the various conditions, frameworks, and approaches to interpreting the nude with a focus on specific works of art.
Evaluating the information management and collaboration of "bench to bedside" microarray research computing with qualitative methods.

This research is a qualitative longitudinal evaluation of the information management, collaboration and analysis of microarray gene expression analysis in use in basic science and clinical settings. Methods of qualitative observation and in-depth open-ended interviews are used within a theoretical framework to explore and contrast information use in small and medium sized laboratories involved in translational microarray research.
Mating scars among sharks: evidence of coercive mating?

On rare occasions, during mating season among sharks, ‘mating scars’ appear on female sharks’ bodies caused by the males holding onto them. The low frequency of sharks bearing such scars indicates that those markers are not part of regular mating efforts. These scars are mostly deeper cuts and punctures, indicating a more forceful motivation such as coercive mating from the male’s side. We discuss scenarios based on mating scars from three Carcharhinid species, describe and explain the arrangement of these bite scars, and consider plausible mating strategies used by males, including coercive mating.
Autoblog Forensics and Attribution

Autoblogging is the process of running automated scripts against established content sources or syndicated feeds and compiling the information into blog sites. Unfortunately, unlike mashups which seek to enhance the Internet experience by coalescing disparate content sources in novel ways, a criminal ecosystem is evolving to profit off of the associated technologies. By scraping content en-masse from legitimate ad supported websites and removing the ads, attribution, and by rewriting links, a malicious site can impersonate a legitimate site, yet with their own ads for profit. We introduce a forensic approach to help solve the problem of traceability when content is stolen en masse from one site and hosted on another. Content is first minified and then watermarked repeatedly with unique identifiers using a sparse encoding tailored to the user's available steganographic bandwidth. When scraped content is discovered, the encoded identifiers can be traced back to specific events in server logs, as a powerful aid in identifying perpetrators and to help combat this practice.
The World Bank Group: Innovative Financing for Health and Opportunities for Global Surgery

The World Bank Group is the largest global development organization working to end poverty and promote shared prosperity. Its 5 institutions play an essential role in the advancement of global health through innovative health financing, data collection and management, policy reform, and advocacy. Previously, the World Bank Group has supported global surgery through data collection and advocacy. As it grows, it must continue to focus on the importance of surgical care in promoting health and avoiding poverty in low- and middle-income countries. The house of surgery and its community should play an active role in advocating for the many ways in which the World Bank Group could facilitate the strengthening of surgical systems to improve access to surgical care worldwide.
Riluzole induces AR degradation via endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway in androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer cells.

Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is diagnosed at the highest rate of all non-cutaneous male cancers in the United States. The androgen-dependent (AD) transcription factor, androgen receptor (AR), drives PCa-but inhibiting AR or androgen biosynthesis induces remission for only a short time. At which point, patients acquire more aggressive castration-resistant (CR) disease with re-activated AR-dependent signaling. To combat treatment resistance, down-regulating AR protein expression has been considered as a potential treatment strategy for CR-PCa. Methods AD- and CR-PCa cell lines were treated with the well-tolerated FDA-approved oral medicine, riluzole. Expression of full-length or wild-type AR (AR-FL) and constitutively active AR-splice variant 7 (AR-V7) was assessed by immunoblotting. AR-FL/AR-V7 activity was measured using qRT-PCR of AR-target genes. Cytoplasmic [Ca2+ ] levels were measured using a fluorescent Ca2+ indicator microplate assay. Markers of the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) pathway and autophagy were assessed by immunoblotting. Direct interaction between AR and selective autophagy receptor p62 was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation. Results We demonstrate that riluzole downregulates AR-FL, mutant ARs, and AR-V7 proteins expression by protein degradation through ERS pathway and selective autophagy. Riluzole also significantly inhibited AR transcription activity by decreasing its target genes expression (PSA, TMPRSS2, and KLK2). Conclusions We provide key mechanistic insights by which riluzole exerts its anti-tumorigenic effects and induces AR protein degradation via ERS pathways. Our findings support the potential utility of riluzole for treatment of PCa.
Validating the extended character morality questionnaire

ABSTRACTThe morality of observed others is a central variable for many media effects research areas, including affective disposition theory, social cognitive theory, and entertainment-education. A ...
Biologic Characteristics of Shoulder Articular Cartilage in Comparison to Knee and Ankle Articular Cartilage From Individual Donors

ObjectiveTo describe histological and metabolic characteristics of glenohumeral joint (GHJ) articular cartilage and compare to knee and ankle joints.DesignMacroscopically healthy human humeral head...
Triarylaminium Radical Cation Promoted Coupling of Catharanthine with Vindoline: Diastereospecific Synthesis of Anhydrovinblastine and Reaction Scope.

A new triarylaminium radical cation promoted coupling of catharanthine with vindoline is disclosed, enlisting tris(4-bromophenyl)aminium hexachlororantimonate (BAHA, 1.1 equiv) in aqueous 0.05 N HCl/trifluoroethanol (1–10:1) at room temperature (25 °C), that provides anhydrovinblastine in superb yield (85%) with complete control of the newly formed quaternary C16′ stereochemistry. A definition of the scope of aromatic substrates that participate with catharanthine in the BAHA-mediated diastereoselective coupling reaction and simplified indole substrates other than catharanthine that participate in the reaction are disclosed that identify the key structural features required for participation in the reaction, providing a generalized indole functionalization reaction that bears little structural relationship to catharanthine or vindoline.
Prediction Approach for Ising Model Estimation

We consider the graph estimation for Ising model from observed binary data. Popular approaches in the literature are largely penalized sparse selection procedures that depend on tuning parameters to be selected. The output of such procedures is usually one single sparse graph without any ranking information of the individual edges. In scientific practice, however, it is more desirable to be able to rank all potential edges based on their statistical significance, and select the sparse graph by thresholding. In this paper, we propose a novel PRediction Approach for Ising Model Estimation (PRAIME). The proposed framework reformulates Ising model estimation as the prediction of the observed data, and provides an estimate and a statistical significance measure of the Ising model parameter for each node pair using only the predicted values. Thus it enables the ranking all potential edges and the flexible sparse graph selection by thresholding, and allows the researchers to use the predictive algorithm of their choice. We implemented PRAIME using random forest, illustrated the advantage of PRAIME over the penalized sparse selection approaches in accuracy and flexibility using synthetic data, and applied it to a congress co-sponsorship dataset.
Pharmacists’ Utilization of Non-HDL-C Levels in Managing Patients With Lipid Disorders:

Background: Since 2013 there have been cholesterol guideline changes impacting pharmacists’ clinical practice in managing lipid disorders. For more than a decade, cholesterol management was based o...
Characterization of the Dielectrophoretic Response of Different Candida Strains Using 3D Carbon Microelectrodes.

Bloodstream infection with Candida fungal cells remains one of the most life-threatening complications among hospitalized patients around the world. Although most of the cases are still due to Candida albicans, the rising incidence of infections caused by other Candida strains that may not respond to traditional anti-fungal treatments merits the development of a method for species-specific isolation of Candida. To this end, here we present the characterization of the dielectrophoresis (DEP) response of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis. We complement such characterization with a study of the Candida cells morphology. The Candida strains exhibited subtle differences in their morphology and dimensions. All the Candida strains exhibited positive DEP in the range 10–500 kHz, although the strength of the DEP response was different for each Candida strain at different frequencies. Only Candida tropicalis showed positive DEP at 750 kHz. The current results show potential for manipulation and enrichment of a specific Candida strain at specific DEP conditions towards aiding in the rapid identification of Candida strains to enable the effective and timely treatment of Candida infections.
The influence of environmental reliability in the marshmallow task: An extension study

This study is an extension of an experiment where the reliability of children's environment was manipulated before children completed the Marshmallow Task (Cognition, 2013, Vol. 126, pp. 109-114). In that experiment, Kidd, Palmeri, and Aslin found a significant difference in waiting time between two conditions in which the experimenter demonstrated reliability (by returning with promised reward) or unreliability (by not returning with rewardP). Children who had an unreliable experimenter did not wait as long during the Marshmallow Task, suggesting that delay gratification performance may be, in part, based on a rational decision. Due to the important theoretical and practical implications of this finding, we repeated the procedure of this experiment with 60 3- to 5-year-old children (twice as many as in the original study), but in a more familiar context (e.g., children's school instead of a lab). Using Bayesian analyses, we found an effect (albeit smaller than in the original study) of experimenter reliability as well as a significant gender by condition interaction effect.
The Northwestern Abdominoplasty Scar Model: A Tool for High-Throughput Assessment of Scar Therapeutics

Significance: Scar management is an important concern in plastic surgery. Scar models that best mimic in vivo human scarring are essential for understanding scar development and progression, assessing the efficacy of therapeutics, and providing reliable and valid research outcomes. Recent Advances: In 2016, Lanier et al. proposed a new in vivo patient model, the Northwestern Abdominoplasty Scar Model, that overcomes the prior limitations of both animal and human models, with greater representativeness of the human scarring process, expedited recruitment, smaller sample requirements, and greater flexibility in the types and number of interventions that can be studied simultaneously. Critical Issues: Existing animal models suffer from limitations that impede generalization to human scars. Human scar studies are difficult to conduct and rarely used due to recruitment difficulties, ethical concerns regarding purposeful wounding, and inherent variability based on location, type of scar, and the heterogeneity of the host response between humans. Although overcoming many of these hurdles, the Northwestern Abdominoplasty Scar Model still has a few limitations. In addition, there remains a need for further study of and comparison between the Northwestern Abdominoplasty Scar Model and existing human and animal models, to inspire more widespread acceptance of a standardized human scar model. Future Directions: The Northwestern Abdominoplasty Scar Model is a critical stepping stone toward better human scar models. This model hopefully will inspire other in vivo patient models utilizing elective surgery to overcome recruitment and ethical concerns.
Latent Class Analysis of Teacher Characteristics: Can We Identify Effective Teachers?.

Latent classes of effective and non-effective Algebra I teachers were established using measurements of teacher promoted engagement, teacher promoted understanding, and classroom management from th...
Effect of cellulose–lignin interactions on char structural changes during fast pyrolysis at 100–350 °C

Abstract This study investigates the cellulose–lignin interactions during fast pyrolysis at 100–350 °C for better understanding fundamental pyrolysis mechanism of lignocellulosic biomass. The results show that co-pyrolysis of cellulose and lignin (with a mass ratio of 1:1) at temperatures
Predictors of volitional motor recovery with epidural stimulation in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES) has enabled volitional lower extremity movements in individuals with chronic and clinically motor complete spinal cord injury and no clinically detectable brain influence. The aim of this study was to understand whether the individuals' neuroanatomical characteristics or positioning of the scES electrode were important factors influencing the extent of initial recovery of lower limb voluntary movements in those with clinically motor complete paralysis. We hypothesized that there would be significant correlations between the number of joints moved during attempts with scES prior to any training interventions and the amount of cervical cord atrophy above the injury, length of post-traumatic myelomalacia and the amount of volume coverage of lumbosacral enlargement by the stimulation electrode array. The clinical and imaging records of 20 individuals with chronic and clinically motor complete spinal cord injury who underwent scES implantation were reviewed and analysed using MRI and X-ray integration, image segmentation and spinal cord volumetric reconstruction techniques. All individuals that participated in the scES study (n = 20) achieved, to some extent, lower extremity voluntary movements post scES implant and prior to any locomotor, voluntary movement or cardiovascular training. The correlation results showed that neither the cross-section area of spinal cord at C3 (n = 19, r = 0.33, P = 0.16) nor the length of severe myelomalacia (n = 18, r = -0.02, P = 0.93) correlated significantly with volitional lower limb movement ability. However, there was a significant, moderate correlation (n = 20, r = 0.59, P = 0.006) between the estimated percentage of the lumbosacral enlargement coverage by the paddle electrode as well as the position of the paddle relative to the maximal lumbosacral enlargement and the conus tip (n = 20, r = 0.50, P = 0.026) with the number of joints moved volitionally. These results suggest that greater coverage of the lumbosacral enlargement by scES may improve motor recovery prior to any training, possibly because of direct modulatory effects on the spinal networks that control lower extremity movements indicating the significant role of motor control at the level of the spinal cord.
In-vivo mechanical characterization of coronary atherosclerotic plaques in living swine using intravascular laser speckle imaging.

The ability to evaluate the viscoelastic properties of coronary arteries is crucial for identifying mechanically unstable atherosclerotic plaques. Here, we demonstrate for the first time in living swine, the capability of intravascular laser speckle imaging (ILSI) to measure an index of coronary plaque viscoelasticity, τ, using a human coronary to swine xenograft model. Cardiac motion effects are evaluated by comparing the EKG-non-gated τ¯NG, and EKG-gated τ¯G among different plaque types. Results show that both τ¯NG and τ¯G are significantly lower in necrotic-core plaques compared with stable lesions. Discrete-point pullback measurements demonstrate the capability of ILSI for rapid mechanical characterization of coronary segments under physiological conditions, in-vivo.
Using eye-tracking to investigate the effects of pre-takeover visual engagement on situation awareness during automated driving

Automated driving systems are becoming increasingly prevalent throughout society. In conditionally automated vehicles, drivers may engage in non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs), which can negatively affect their situation awareness (SA) and preparedness to resume control of the vehicle, when necessary. Previous work has investigated engagement in NDRTs, but questions remain unanswered regarding its effect on drivers' SA during a takeover event. The objective of the current study is to use eye-tracking to aid in understanding how visual engagement in NDRTs affects changes in SA of the driving environment after a takeover request (TOR) has been issued. Thirty participants rode in a simulated SAE Level 3 automated driving environment and engaged in three separate pre-TOR tasks (Surrogate Reference Task, Monitoring Task, and Peripheral Detection Task) until presented with a TOR. Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) scores and gaze behavior were recorded during the post-TOR segment. Overall, longer times spent viewing the driving scene, and more dispersed visual attention allocation, were observed to be associated with better overall SA. Also, location-based eye tracking metrics show most promise in differentiating between task conditions with significantly different SAGAT scores. Findings from this work can inform the development of real-time SA assessment techniques using eye movements and ultimately contribute to improved operator roadway awareness for next-generation automated transportation.
Connective Ambition and Creative Caution: Facebook Use among Unstably Housed Adults in Chicago

Because poverty is in part a factor of social networks that are local and homophilous, the ability to connect to the wider world through social network sites is a potential boon for residents of economically depressed communities. At the same time, low-income and particularly older adults are shown to have the lowest level of digital skills while at once being those who are most targeted by online scams and hacks. For those seeking connection as a means to survive life in poverty, then, digital inclusion through social network sites presents unique promise and risk. Studies of younger and middle-class social media users argue that users negotiate opportunity and risk in reference to personal experience and levels of digital skill. How do economically marginalized adults approach such a balance based on their experience of poverty and limited digital skills? The aim of this study is to understand how unstably housed adults in the inner city approach social networking on Facebook. The method of study – ethnography and in-depth interviews – allows insights into how practices follow from attitudes, and attitudes from experience. The study explores in-depth the cases of low-income adults in Chicago who consider Facebook one tool for getting off the street and into self-sufficiency in income and housing, an digital-age optimism I refer to as “connective ambition.” To shield themselves from risk, users engage in atypical tactics to avoid unwanted exposure and root out scammers, tactics of “creative caution”. The study concludes that promoting privacy skills is a frontier for the digital inclusion for disadvantaged users on social network sites. Yet skills are not a silver bullet: disadvantaged users such as those experiencing homelessness face difficult choices in whether to present themselves as homeless online in order to appeal for help. The barriers to digital inclusion are thus not only instrumental – as in access and skills – but also social and perceptual – including the stigma that follows marginalized users as they venture into networked publics.
Record Drift Performance in a Hollow-Core Resonator Fiber Optic Gyroscope Using Anti-Resonant Fiber

Resonator Fiber Gyroscope (RFOG) performance has hitherto been limited by non- linearity, modal impurity, and backscattering in sensing fibers. By employing high-performance anti-resonant fiber, we show dramatically improved long-term stability (>500x) over prior hollow- core fiber RFOGs.
Corporate governance through the proxy process

Abstract This paper analyzes a proxy solicitation and subsequent restructuring at Honeywell Inc. in 1989. The solicitation was financed and led by noninstitutional investors and co-sponsored by two public pension funds. The solicitation and restructuring both appear to increase firm value, though the effects of the restructuring are much larger. The voting records of Honeywell's 72 largest institutional shareholders reveal that banks and insurance companies are significantly more supportive of two management-sponsored antitakeover proposals than public pension funds add independent investment managers. Existing business ties between Honeywell and its institutional investors, however, do not appear to explain these voting differences.
Corruption's Impact on Liquidity, Investment Flows, and Cost of Capital

Corruption decreases liquidity available to institutional traders and discourages foreign portfolio investment inflows into a country. Corruption also increases corporations’ cost of equity capital. The effects of corruption on foreign investment and the cost of equity capital are nonlinear and reverse J-shaped, with intermediate levels of corruption yielding the most negative effects. Highly transparent nations, where a “level playing field” exists between foreign and local investors due to lack of information asymmetries related to corruption, attract the most investment flows. However, at the margin, very corrupt countries attract more flows than moderately corrupt countries because a “perverse level playing field” in the former countries may put foreigners and locals on an even footing in terms of resolving asymmetric information problems.
Tacit knowledge mobilization effect due to information structure

This original experiment demonstrates knowledge workers' ability to learn faster when a common knowledge base is represented in the recommended information structures. This paper describes the unique application of these new structures and closed knowledge system techniques in an open knowledge system employed as a collaborative environment. Information technology based collaborative environments can help teammates share by eliciting knowledge capture in these recommended information structure constructs. The new structure, named Multiple Informational Representations Required of Referent MIRRoR Knowledge, is shown to allow knowledge workers to learn faster and do better on posttest questions.Findings: Knowledge bases represented in a MIRRoR Knowledge structure improve men's and women's ability to learn and remember knowledge base content, with 99% confidence.Higher performing teams effectively leverage open knowledge systems to collaborate synergistically. Business stands to reap the practical rewards of higher performing teams when efficiency gains create more enterprise value sooner.
Abundance of encapsulated C60 in single-wall carbon nanotubes

Abstract Spherical objects (presumably C60 molecules) have been observed inside ∼14 A diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes. We applied acid etching to access the interior of the tubes, and leaching in toluene to dissolve liberated C60. Quantitative UV–Vis of the 335 nm C60 transition establishes beyond doubt that these are indeed C60, and that their relative abundance in a macroscopic sample can be as high as 5.4% (expressed as the filled fraction of total tube length). Variations in abundance with growth and processing conditions provide clues as to how they form.
Magnetic Field Observations in High β Regions of the Magnetosphere

For a description of the distortions of the geomagnetic field in the magnetosphere ΔB provides a useful measure. Figure 1 shows approximate equi-ΔB contours for the two 90° sectors centered at the noon and midnight meridian half planes, based on a preliminary sampling of a much greater body of OGO 3 and 5 rubidium magnetometer data.
Design, fabrication, and characterization of engineered materials in the microwave and millimeter wave regime

We present the study of a two-dimensional square-lattice photonic crystal with all-angle negative refraction in its first band. Using this photonic crystal, we designed and fabricated a flat lens functioning as a cylindrical lens, by increasing the vertical dimension of the photonic crystal. Two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation validated negative imaging and sub-wavelength resolution. To perform the experiment, a microwave imaging system was built based on a vector network analyzer. Field distributions were acquired by scanning the imaging plane and object plane. The experiment demonstrated negative refraction imaging in both amplitude and phase, and verified sub-wavelength resolution.
Finishing Beef Cattle on Grass Supplemented with Self-fed By-Products

Summary and Implications The objective of this study was to feed beef cattle to market weight (or as near as possible) by grazing cool-season grass supplemented with self-fed by-product pellets. The study took place at two locations in southwest Iowa. Yearling cattle were used at the Armstrong Farm and fall born calves were used at the Neely-Kinyon Farm. At each location, the cattle were allotted by weight to treatments of: 1) grazing with immediate access to by-product pellets in a self-feeder (early) and 2) grazing with later access (mid-June) to the same pellets (late). The trial started April 21, 2005. The by-product pellets were a blend of DDGS, soy hulls, and wheat midds. Overall, the calves supplemented the by-product feed early grew faster than the calves supplemented later. The early supplemented calves consumed 15.5 lb/day of by-product feed and gained 2.50 lb/day. The later supplemented calves consumed 17.4 lb/day of feed and gained 2.17 lb/day overall and 2.37 lb/day while supplemented. Overall, the yearling steers supplemented the by-product feed early grew faster (ADG=2.61) than the steers supplemented later (ADG=1.80). The early supplemented steers consumed an average of 19.9 lb/day for 180 days. The late supplemented steers during the first period (without supplementation) gained only 0.53 lb/day, which was the result of a shortage of forage and the forage that was available was fescue. Once supplementation occurred, the late supplemented steers partially compensated by consuming 20.1 lb/day of supplemental feed and gaining 2.32 lb/day. Some of the cattle reached market weight by the end of grazing season on October 12, 2005. Five calves were harvested with an average live weight of 1,009 lb, an average carcass weight of 598 lb, and 59.3% yield. Nineteen yearling steers were harvested with average live weight of 1,225 lb, an average carcass weight of 744 lbs, and 60.7% dressing percentage. Average daily feed cost for the by-product feed including feeder rent ranged from $1.19/day to $1.48/day. Some lessons can be derived from this study. The by-product feed was a ration that the cattle consumed readily from self-feeders with minimal problems. The by-product feed should be offered as soon as the cattle are put in pasture for maximal gains. With good grass, yearling steers can be expected to gain 400 to 500 lb over six months of grazing with by-product feed supplementation. Achieving choice grade may be challenging with this system.
Physiological responses of horses to 24 hours of transportation using a commercial van during summer conditions.

Fifteen mature horses (mares, n = 6); geldings, n = 9) were used to assess the physiological responses of 24 h of transport in a commercial van under California summer conditions. The study was conducted on four consecutive days, and data were collected on d 1 and d 2 to obtain baseline values and to determine any diurnal variation in the individual measurements. Travel commenced on d 3 at 0800 for 24 h, with a total of 1,622 km traveled. Blood samples were collected at 0800, 1100, 1400, 2000, and 0200 each day. Horses were weighed and rectal temperatures recorded at 0800 each day and at 2000 each day except d 3. Body weight, rectal temperature, serum cortisol, serum lactate, and white blood cell (WBC) counts exhibited diurnal variation (P = .0001) on d 1 and d 2. Body weight immediately after unloading showed a 6% loss. At 24 h following transit, a 3% deficiency in body weight loss remained. The WBC counts showed a progressive increase with duration of travel and peaked at the termination of transport. Dehydration measures of hematocrit and total protein increased during transport and returned to baseline during the posttransport period. Serum concentrations of lactate, creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase increased during transport and in the early posttransit period, but returned to baseline values at the conclusion of the 24-h posttransport period. Glucose concentration increased with the initiation of transport and did not decrease to baseline concentration at the end of the 24-h posttransport period. Plasma cortisol and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio increased with duration of transit and returned to baseline during the posttransport period. These data clearly showed physiological responses of horses undergoing 24 h of transport including changes in muscle metabolism, stress indices, dehydration and immune parameters, and body weight. These responses may increase disease susceptibility and influence energy availability for athletic performance following long-term transport of horses.
Binary Response Models for Panel Data: Identification and Information

This paper considers a panel data model for predicting a binary outcome. The conditional probability of a positive response is obtained by evaluating a given distribution function (F) at a linear combination of the predictor variables. One of the predictor variables is unobserved. It is a random effect that varies across individuals but is constant over time. The semiparametric aspect is that the conditional distribution of the random effect, given the predictor variables, is unrestricted. This paper has two results. If the support of the observed predictor variables is bounded, then identification is possible only in the logistic case. Even if the support is unbounded, so that (from Manski (1987)) identification holds quite generally, the information bound is zero unless F is logistic. Hence consistent estimation at the standard pn rate is possible only in the logistic case.
Nomadism, Dependency, Slavery and Nationhood: Comparative Politics in the Book of Exodus

This paper continues the analysis of the Hebrew Bible as a work of political theory. Previous papers have presented the Garden of Eden story as a prolegomenon outlining concepts of legitimate authority; the stories of the Dark Age and the Flood as a justification for the role of government and law in facilitating human flourishing; and the accounts of the Patriarchs as an exploration of patriarchy as a form of social organization. The present paper examines the first fifteen chapters of the book of Exodus. In Exodus, the author moves to the topic of political authority – the exercise of power over people not connected by close family ties. The author demonstrates that political authority is the only feasible way to govern populations that have grown to any substantial size. He compares and contrasts four types of political organization, each of which was well known in the ancient Near East: nomadism, dependency, slavery, and nationhood. The author demonstrates that nationhood is strictly superior to the alternatives as a means for structuring political power.
Physical and social environment of newborn infants in special care units

Infants in newborn intensive and convalescent care units are exposed to large amounts of sensory stimulation of various sorts. Although infants in these units do not lack visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation, they receive relatively infrequent coordinated sensory experiences. Furthermore, there is no diurnal rhythmicity in physical and social stimulation across days.
Intraspecies variability and conopeptide profiling of the injected venom of Conus ermineus.

The venom of cone snails (ssp. Conus), a genus of predatory mollusks, is a vast source of bioactive peptides. Conus venom expression is complex, and venom composition can vary considerably depending upon the method of extraction and the species of cone snail in question. The injected venom from Conus ermineus, the only fish-hunting cone snail species that inhabits the Atlantic Ocean, was characterized using nanoNMR spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, RP-HPLC and nanoLC–ESI-MS. These methods allowed us to evaluate the variability of the venom within this species. Single specimens of C. ermineus show unchanged injected venom mass spectra and HPLC profiles over time. However, there was significant variability of the injected venom composition from specimen to specimen, in spite of their common biogeographic origin. Using nanoLC–ESI-MS, we determined that over 800 unique conopeptides are expressed by this reduced set of C. ermineus specimens. This number is considerably larger than previous estimates of the molecular repertoire available to cone snails to immobilize prey. These results support the idea of the existence of a complex regulatory mechanism to express specific venom peptides for injection into prey. These intraspecies differences can be a result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The differential expression of venom components represents a neurochemical paradigm that warrants further investigation.
Folly and the Holy Face: The Medievalism of Ignazio Silone

Silone’s strong and highly public commitment to social justice and personal freedom, his direct criticism of the Catholic Church’s politics, and his belief that human energy and action could bring about social change more readily than a passive reliance on Divine Providence alone, make him an unlikely exponent of medieval thought. His writings show otherwise: Silone maintained a consistent, though complex, attachment to the medieval world and found in it powerful political analogues for his own day. In Silone’s works, references to the Middle Ages abound; he describes his native Abruzzo in medieval terms and features radical reformers like Saints Bernard and Francis of Assisi and Joachim of Fiore, men often thought mad or foolish by their contemporaries. His comments on their integral place in his background and thought, and the consistency with which they appear over a lifetime’s work call for a closer look; so too does his mention of his own literary career in terms of medieval monks who spent their lives repainting the Holy Face of Jesus, the literal imago Dei for believers. Silone’s medievalism is not the ornament of nostalgia, nor the vehicle for cynicism or escapism; it is essential to his political orientation, and to seeing in his fictive works that proximate defeat does not mean ultimate despair.
Influence of Membrane CD25 Stability on T Lymphocyte Activity: Implications for Immunoregulation

Background CD25, a component of the IL-2 receptor, is important in T cell proliferation, activation induced cell death, as well as the actions of both regulatory (Treg) and effector (Teff) T cells. Recent genome wide association studies have implicated the CD25 locus as an important region for genetic susceptibility to a number of autoimmune disorders, with serum levels of soluble CD25 receptor (sCD25) serving as a potential phenotypic marker for this association. However, the functional impact of CD25 cleavage, as well as the influence of sCD25 on immunoregulatory activities, remain largely unknown and form the basis of this effort.
Efficiency in academe: Comparative advantage vs. "publish or perish."

Abstract A basic tenet of economic theory is that production increases in total whenever factors of production specialize according to their comparative advantages. This very basic law of comparative advantage is not restricted in its application to merely the physical factors of production such as land. Labor, or human capital, is a factor of production, and thus total production is greater if individuals specialize according to their natural, or acquired, talents. Despite the fact that academics propound this law of comparative advantage, very little has been done to implement the law into faculty assignments. Rather, we find that most academic departments at universities require their faculty to not only teach, but also to perform research. This assignment policy occurs even though not all faculty have equal capabilities in both teaching and research. The authors criticize this tendency toward standardization of faculty, using the economic law of comparative advantage as the theoretical justification for their criticism.
Abscisic acid maintains S-type anion channel activity in ATP-depleted Vicia faba guard cells

The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates important developmental and stress responses. Recent data show that ABA activates phosphorylation events, but whether dephosphorylation events are post-translationally regulated by ABA or whether these are constitutive remains unknown. Slow anion channels in the plasma membrane of guard cells have been proposed to play an important role during ABA-induced stomatal closing. Anion channels are deactivated by removal of cytosolic ATP. However, when guard cells were treated with ABA and depleted of ATP, anion currents remained active. Subsequent removal of extracellular ABA caused deactivation of currents. Deactivation of currents was reversed by reintroduction of cytosolic MgATP. These data show that anion channels are regulated by ABA even in the absence of cytosolic ATP required for kinase-induced phosphorylation events and that anion channel activity is maintained by ABA under conditions that favor dephosphorylation-induced deactivation. Furthermore, channel activation proceeded at high ATP concentrations with nanomolar cytosolic Ca2+ showing a Ca2+-independent final step in anion channel activation.
Total Synthesis of the Cyclic Tetrapeptide, HC-Toxin

Abstract The amino acid sequence of the host-specific phytotoxin, HC-toxin, cyclo(L-Ala-D-Ala-L-Aoe-D-Pro) has been confirmed by total synthesis.
Investment Implications of Selected WTO Agreements and the Proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment

The substantial increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years has triggered a discussion of a uniform treatment of investment in international law. Most contributions to the multilateral investment framework derive from the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements on trade liberalization. The resulting framework is incomplete, as the WTO agreements restrict their focus on investment to aspects related to international trade and often apply to selected sectors only. A broader investment regime is needed to provide a more neutral incentive framework for investment liberalization and to promote efficient international investment flows.
Sporozoite and normal salivary gland induced immunity in malaria.

STUDIES using sporozoites as antigenic material to induce protection against malaria have been relatively scarce compared with those employing antigens of the blood stages. Many workers1–5 have reported considerable protection against challenging homologous sporozoites of Plasmodium gallinaceum. Richards4, using three injections of sporozoites exposed to ultraviolet, dried or treated with formalin, found at least eighteen birds out of twenty were protected, but with freeze-thawed sporozoite material he found only fifteen out of twenty protected. By using six to seven injections of X-irradiated sporozoites of Plasmodium berghei, Nussenzweig et al.6,7 obtained 90–100% protection when the animals were challenged with 2,000 sporozoites two weeks after the last injection.
Social Exchange, Values, and the Marketing of Pharmaceuticals

The social exchange erspective has been identified by the marketing discipline as the foundation for theory development. The origins and evolution of the exchange perspective, from a sociological viewpoint, are reviewed with an emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of this perspective in explaining or predicting social behavior. Issues relating to the rationality of human decision making, the accessibility of information, the awareness of alternatives, and the assessment of value of products and services need to be considered and studied if this approach becomes the dominant way to market pharmaceuticals.
An elastic analysis of growth stresses during oxidation

A quantitative analysis of oxide growth stresses is carried out for the model advanced by Rhines and Wolf in which new oxide forms along preexisting oxide grain boundaries. The mean oxide stress developed within the oxide is calculated using standard techniques from continuum dislocation theory. This analysis shows that the mean growth stress is compressive and is directed parallel to the oxide/ matrix interface. The growth stress is found to be independent of the oxide scale thickness, provided that the scale is thicker than the oxide grain size. However, in thin scales, the growth stress is very sensitive to oxide scale thickness. The compressive growth stress increases in direct proportion to the width of the new grain boundary oxide layer formed. The oxide scale is expected to either fail by buckling, or the growth mode will change to one in which additional compressive stresses are not generated.
Towards practical intrusion tolerant systems

In this paper, we propose a new approach for building mission-critical systems with an emphasis on intrusion tolerance. The fundamental mechanisms employed in this approach includes: (1) The separation of execution and state management, which enables the use of a single process to manage application requests, thereby reducing runtime overhead and enables highly concurrent executions. (2) The append-only logging policy, which protects the state of the system against an intrusion attack and ensures a clean state for the system to fallback on during recovery. (3) The use of acceptance testing as a way of verifying the integrity of the execution of application requests.
Safe treatment of the emphysema patient

Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are discussed with respect to cause, pathophysiologic aspects, symptoms and signs, physical status classification, and possible dental treatment modification for the safety and comfort of affected patients.
Ionic basis of the receptor potential in a vertebrate hair cell.

Vertebrate hair cells, the primary receptors of auditory, vestibular and lateral-line organs, occur in epithelia which separate fluids of differing ionic composition. The apical surfaces of hair cells, on which the mechanosensitive hair bundles are situated, face a high-K+ fluid (termed endolymph in the inner ear); the basolateral surfaces instead contact fluid (perilymph or a related substance) of a composition similar to that of other extracellular fluids1–3. The universal occurrence of high-K+ fluid on the apical surfaces of hair cells in vertebrates has been taken as evidence that it is important for the transduction process, in particular that it relates to the ionic specificity4 of the conductance change5 underlying the receptor potential. There is, however, conflicting experimental evidence regarding this specificity. K+ has generally been thought to carry the receptor current, as replacement of endolymph with perilymph in the guinea pig cochlea abolishes the extracellularly recorded microphonic potential6. Yet microphonic potentials, as well as intracellular receptor potentials, have been recorded in other preparations when the apical surfaces of the hair cells faced instead a high-Na+ saline, and thus when the electrochemical gradient for K+ was near zero5,7. Ca2+ has also been proposed to carry the receptor current8, but its concentration is quite low in endolymph3, particularly that of the mammalian cochlea9. We present evidence here that the receptor current in a vertebrate hair cell is carried in vivo by K+, but that the transduction channel is in fact nonspecific, being permeable to Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, Ca2+, and at least one small organic cation.