cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing the validity of self-reported history of rash caused by metal or jewellery.

BACKGROUND The use of metal-containing bio-devices is becoming increasingly common. Self-reported history of dermatitis with metal exposure is not established as being predictive for metal allergy. OBJECTIVES To assess the validity of two screening questions addressing metal allergy. METHODS At Massachusetts General Hospital Contact Dermatitis Clinic, 2132 consecutive patients were asked either 'Do you get rashes when jewellery touches your skin' (Q1; N = 1816) or 'Do you get rashes when metal touches your skin?' (Q2; N = 316) before being patch tested. RESULTS Testing showed that 20% of subjects had positive reactions to nickel, 7.4% had positive reactions to cobalt, and 5.8% had positive reactions to chromium. Q1 was 40% sensitive (95%CI: 35-45%). The positive predictive value (PPV) was 51%, and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 82%. Q2 was 77% sensitive (95%CI: 68-84%). The PPV was 71%, and the NPV was 84%. Q2 was 37% more sensitive than Q1 (p < 0.0001), with a higher relative risk (RR) (4.75, p < 0.001) than Q1 (RR = 3.01, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Patient-reported metal allergy, although not perfect, is a reasonable method for metal allergy screening to help identify those needing further objective evaluation by patch testing.
Chlorophyll fluorescence analysis revealed essential roles of FtsH11 protease in regulation of the adaptive responses of photosynthetic systems to high temperature

Photosynthetic systems are known to be sensitive to high temperature stress. To maintain a relatively “normal” level of photosynthetic activities, plants employ a variety of adaptive mechanisms in response to environmental temperature fluctuations. Previously, we reported that the chloroplast-targeted AtFtsH11 protease played an essential role for Arabidopsis plants to survive at high temperatures and to maintain normal photosynthetic efficiency at moderately elevated temperature. To investigate the factors contributing to the photosynthetic changes in FtsH11 mutant, we performed detailed chlorophyll fluorescence analyses of dark-adapted mutant plants and compared them to Col-0 WT plants under normal, two moderate high temperatures, and a high light conditions. We found that mutation of FtsH11 gene caused significant decreases in photosynthetic efficiency of photosystems when environmental temperature raised above optimal. Under moderately high temperatures, the FtsH11 mutant showed significant 1) decreases in electron transfer rates of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI), 2) decreases in photosynthetic capabilities of PSII and PSI, 3) increases in non-photochemical quenching, and a host of other chlorophyll fluorescence parameter changes. We also found that the degrees of these negative changes for utilizing the absorbed light energy for photosynthesis in FtsH11 mutant were correlated with the level and duration of the heat treatments. For plants grown under normal temperature and subjected to the high light treatment, no significant difference in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters was found between the FtsH11 mutant and Col-0 WT plants. The results of this study show that AtFtsH11 is essential for normal photosynthetic function under moderately elevated temperatures. The results also suggest that the network mediated by AtFtsH11 protease plays critical roles for maintaining the thermostability and possibly structural integrity of both photosystems under elevated temperatures. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of FtsH11 protease in photosystems may lead to improvement of photosynthetic efficiency under heat stress conditions, hence, plant productivity.
Local Amenities and Neighborhood Perception

Various local neighborhood amenities include ample green areas, nearby shopping, work access, and recreation. Amenities enhance life quality and may influence residential perception of urban neighborhoods and actual satisfaction with the neighborhood. To assess resident perceptions and satisfactions, a survey questionnaire was administered in Essen, Germany. Subjective perceptions from survey responses are commonly analyzed with factor analysis. Various urban amenities were grouped into uncorrelated factors. Factor scores were used in ordinal logistic regression to analyze ordered categorical outcomes controlling for sociodemographics. Perceptions and satisfaction with one’s neighborhood were measured by varying degrees of “importance” and “satisfaction.” Neighborhoods are more important when located in a safe and pollution-, litter-, and noise-free environment, with nearby green spaces and children’s educational and leisure facilities. The latter two amenities significantly influence residential satisfaction with urban neighborhoods.
Principles of Signal Analysis with Applications to Medical Imaging

In the accompanying chapter by Horton, Herron and Kerber and in that by Ayers and Huang the reader has been exposed to two of the first applications of signal analysis to computerized tomography (CT) image processing. The goal in both cases is to generate a quantitative analysis of tissue structure and/or tissue pathology. This is particularly appropriate in CT because of the fact that the image exists in computer memory as a number array which can be analyzed readily by the same computer which generated the image.
Target-Dependent and Target-Independent Changes in Rapid Axonal Transport During Regeneration of the Goldfish Retinotectal Pathway

Unlike mammals, in which most pathways of the adult central nervous system fail to regenerate if injured, neurons in fish and amphibia retain the capacity to regenerate their axons even in the mature animal. Of particular interest, both to the clinical and basic neuroscience communities, has been lower vertebrates’ ability to regenerate the optic nerve, a phenomenon first described by Matthey in 1925. Despite the enormous number of fibers that must reconnect from the eye to the brain and the apparent disarray of these fibers within the optic nerve, visually guided behaviors return to a level indistinguishable from that seen before surgery within 1-2 months (Sperry, 1943). In a classic series of experiments, Sperry (1948, 1963; Attardi and Sperry, 1963) demonstrated that this return of vision is predicated on the reestablishment of a precise, topographically organized mapping of the retinal ganglion cells’ nerve terminals onto appropriate brain structures, the optic tectum of the midbrain in particular. Numerous studies have subsequently used the regenerating retinotectal pathway of lower vertebrates as a model system for studying the events that underlie the development and regeneration of complex neural systems (Grafstein, 1975; Jacobson, 1978; also, Murray, 1976, 1982; Springer et al., 1977; Ingoglia and Tuliszewski, 1976; Giulian et al., 1980; Quitschke et al., 1980; McQuarrie and Grafstein, 1982; Heacock and Agranoff, 1976, 1982; Meyer, 1980; Benowitz et al., 1981, 1982, 1983).
Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder characterized by recurrent upper airway collapse during sleep resulting in inadequate ventilation and subsequent acute gas exchange abnormalities and sleep fragmentation. OSA is associated with myriad cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurobehavioral consequences. Upper airway patency is determined by the interplay of many factors, including upper airway anatomy and neuromuscular function. The diagnosis of OSA is based on the integration of clinical factors, such as habitual snoring, snort arousals, witnessed apneas, nonrestorative sleep, daytime sleepiness, body habitus, and crowded oropharynx as well as sleep testing via polysomnography in the laboratory or at home. The most efficacious treatment is continuous positive airway pressure, but problems with patient adherence are common. Risk factor modifications, oral appliances, and upper airway surgical procedures are additional options.
Time and the Self: The Limits of Idealist Consciousness

Who, then, are we? Part of the answer has already been given in the course of the last chapter. We are, at least, temporally discursive intelligences. The characterization has three parts. Separately and conjointly, these parts all have consequences.1
Retrograde techniques and the impact of operator volume on percutaneous intervention for coronary chronic total occlusions an early U.S. experience.

Objectives Our purpose was to determine if “Japanese style” technical strategies can be successfully applied in the U.S. practice environment and to better understand the learning curve for chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Background Procedural technical success remains the major limiting factor for CTO PCI, and has been unchanged over time. Methods Demographic, procedural, and outcome data were collected on 636 consecutive patients between January 2005 and March 2008 having CTO PCI (514 antegrade, 122 retrograde attempts) at 2 U.S. medical centers. Operators were divided into 2 groups: higher CTO volume, retrograde operators (ROs) (>75 total CTO PCI cases and >20 retrograde attempts during the study period) and lower CTO volume, nonretrograde operators (NROs) to evaluate the impact of CTO-specific operator case volume and retrograde techniques on procedural outcomes. Results Two operators met the criteria for RO category and 10 were NRO. ROs performed 395 CTO PCI cases (mean total CTO case experience = 197.5, 60 retrograde) and NROs performed 241 CTO PCI cases (mean total CTO case experience = 24.1, Conclusions Complex antegrade and retrograde “Japanese style” PCI approaches can be applied in the U.S. practice environment with high technical success and low adverse event rates. Higher CTO-specific operator case volume is associated with improved technical success rates.
Anatomy of Construction Equipment Move and Algorithms for Collision Detection

Equipment-involved accidents are a long-lasting problem of the construction industry. Collisions between pieces of equipment are responsible for a significant portion of damages resulting from those accidents. This study discusses strategies for preventing such collisions on the construction jobsites. The strategies are built up on two premises: (1) equipment operators can prevent construction equipment from colliding with each other when they are timely aware of approaching equipment in close proximity; and (2) the understanding of the patterns of moves that equipment makes during operation can increase the capability of predicting potential collisions more proactively. Noting that precision tracking technologies can contribute to increasing equipment operator’s situation awareness, this study evaluates such technologies in a systematic way so as to identify a technology that is best suited for the proposed strategies. This study analyzes and simplifies the patterns of equipment moves and classifies those into axial-rotation and random-move. The strategies address various collision scenarios for the two patterns, respectively. Incorporating Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, the strategies allow equipment operators to assess the possibility of collision in real-time.
Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance studies of potato starch hydration.

Deuterium Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements at 4.7 Tesla were used to study the hydration properties of potato starch suspensions as a function of the starch-to-water ratio. The deuterium NMR spectrum of potato starch suspensions consisted of a relatively tall, single Lorentzian (D2O) peak and a resolved doublet (‘powder’ pattern) of about 1 kHz quadrupole splitting and low amplitude. The deuterium NMR transverse relaxation rate (R*2) was measured for the single Lorentzian, deuterium oxide peak; this rate increased with increasing starch-to-water ratio. Deviations of such R*2 dependences from linearity were observed only at high ratios of starch-to-water, above ~ 40% solids. In addition to the ‘free’ or bulk population (which has a very fast rotational correlation time of 5 ps), a second population of water weakly sorbed on the starch granule surface was monitored and found to be in fast exchange with the bulk water; this second water population has a rotational correlation time of 17 ps at 298 K, only about three times slower than that of bulk water. Additionally, a third population of slowly exchangeable water is present, which is “anisotropically bound” and has a highly restricted motion within the potato starch granule structure; well-defined quadrupole splittings are observed from this latter population of water in potato starch. Potato starch exhibits unique hydration properties that have not been found in cereal starches.
Toddlers on touchscreens: immediate effects of gaming and physical activity on cognitive flexibility of 2.5-year-olds in the US

Interactive technologies have become a common play medium for young children; it is not unusual for toddlers to play games on a touchscreen device in lieu of games in the yard. Here, we compared th...
What is neo- about neo-Hindutva?

What are the new characteristics of Hindu nationalism—now in a phase when Hindutva logics are percolating into various local practices, in India and in diaspora, and now that the BJP has assumed el...
Research-Based Practices for Emergent Bilinguals with Moderate Intellectual Disability: A Review of Literature

Emergent Bilinguals (EB), particularly those of Latino descent, who have a moderate intellectual disability (ID) are arguably one of the most underserved and under researched populations. Although ...
Summary Cloze: A New Task for Content Selection in Topic-Focused Summarization.

A key challenge in topic-focused summarization is determining what information should be included in the summary, a problem known as content selection. In this work, we propose a new method for studying content selection in topic-focused summarization called the summary cloze task. The goal of the summary cloze task is to generate the next sentence of a summary conditioned on the beginning of the summary, a topic, and a reference document(s). The main challenge is deciding what information in the references is relevant to the topic and partial summary and should be included in the summary. Although the cloze task does not address all aspects of the traditional summarization problem, the more narrow scope of the task allows us to collect a large-scale datset of nearly 500k summary cloze instances from Wikipedia. We report experimental results on this new dataset using various extractive models and a two-step abstractive model that first extractively selects a small number of sentences and then abstractively summarizes them. Our results show that the topic and partial summary help the models identify relevant content, but the task remains a significant challenge.
A Note On Variable Knot, Variable Order Composite Quadrature For Integrands With Power Singularities

for integrands of the form x α g(x), α > 0 and g(x) analytic, we show that a class of composite quadrature formulas with variable grid, variable orders and positive weights yields exponential convergence in the number of integrand evaluations.
Large carnivore extirpation linked to loss of overstory aspen in Yellowstone

Abstract The striping of bark on the lower portion of aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis), or “barking”, increases entry points for disease organisms such as wood-decaying fungi, thereby increasing aspen tree mortality from heart rot. We hypothesized that this has occurred in Yellowstone's northern range aspen stands as part of a trophic cascade and has contributed to the premature and widespread loss of overstory trees. To evaluate these potential effects, we randomly selected aspen stands along a 60-km traverse across the park's northern range. For overstory trees ≥15 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) within these stands, which were accessible to elk, we measured the height of barking (as indicated by deeply furrowed/blackened bark) and the proportion of increment core lengths with heart rot. Sampled trees had an average barking height of 2.2 m and 93.8% of them had heart rot. In contrast, only 13.3% of aspen trees that had grown in an environment protected from elk had heart rot. Heart rot comprised 45.2% and 2.5% of increment core lengths for the elk-accessible and protected stands, respectively. Results support a multi-level trophic cascade, from predator-to-prey-to-plants-to-fungi, whereby an incomplete large carnivore guild, over a period of seven decades, allowed the widespread barking of aspen by elk to occur. This, in turn, may have increased the prevalence of heart rot and has contributed to an accelerated loss of overstory aspen across the northern range.
COVID-19: Will there be a silver lining for patient safety and public health?

An editorial is presented which discusses public health emergency of international concern" caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus;It mentions the vast majority of coronavirus infections had occurred in China;COVID-19 for short, 2020 will go down in history as the year that coronavirus threw global health and the world economy into chaos;and it proposes COVID-19, science is experiencing a kind of rehabilitation
Gastric ulcerations after a traumatic horse kick

Abstract Blunt abdominal trauma in pediatric patients can lead to a wide range of consequences and disease processes. To date, there have only been a few documented cases of gastric ulcers from blunt abdominal trauma. Even less frequent, are reports describing ‘kissing gastric ulcers' from blunt abdominal injuries in the pediatric patient population. In our case report, we highlight a case of a 13-year-old female presenting to an emergency room after sustaining a kick to the abdomen by a horse. Initial cross sectional imaging was significant for mild left upper quadrant mesenteric edema and the patient was discharged in stable condition. However, upon repeat presentation to the emergency room with hematemesis, an upper endoscopy was performed revealing two large opposing areas of ulceration on the greater and lesser curvature of the stomach. This case report provides an insight in to a rare condition that can be difficult to diagnose. Clinicians must be cognizant of these potential injuries when evaluating patients presenting with blunt abdominal trauma.
Mirrors with a Memory: Postmortem Photography and Spirit Photography in Transitional British Fiction and Culture

Postmortem photography and spirit photography reveal a similar attitude toward death: namely, they share an attempt to rethink death as a social experience. Through an analysis of photography archives as well as literature spanning the 1880s–1910s—including Cyril Bennett’s “The Spirit Photograph” (1888), Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop (1888), and E. W. Hornung’s The Camera Fiend (1911)—this chapter addresses the ways both postmortem and spirit photographs represent memorialization as an ongoing, dynamic interaction with the past—a temporal challenge, in some respects, to the pastness of death.
Is COVID Revealing a CMBS Virus

Commercial loan valuations crucially depend on accurate loan income, but underwritten income on CMBS loans is commonly overstated relative to actual property income. Consistent with these differences being originator specific, income overstatement in CMBS 2.0 deals varies widely and persistently across originators, is priced by originators, related across property types within an originator, predictable ex-ante, and accompanied by inflation of past financials. Risk-retention and associated regulation had no discernable effect on income overstatement. Originator income overstatement is highly predictive of pre- and COVID-period loan distress. Overall, recent market stresses reveal large systemic differences in underwriting standards across originators.
Grain refinement mechanisms in additively manufactured nano-functionalized aluminum

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) is a new and promising production methodology adept at producing complex geometries, which can be optimized for lower weight and enhanced capabilities. The material properties of these additive components are dictated by the microstructures developed during processing, with a high sensitivity to grain structure and associated anisotropy. With this new processing modality comes the added difficulty of understanding the thermodynamics and kinetic mechanisms that dictate the evolution of microstructure. This research addresses the unique thermal conditions present in AM and the pathways for grain refinement in nanofunctionalized aluminum alloys. The Al-Ta system, in which Al3Ta intermetallic compounds are demonstrated to have substantial grain refining capacity, are the focus of this study. The grain size is shown to be reduced relative to pure aluminum by 1000X when tantalum is added at 1 vol%. The effectiveness of the Al3Ta intermetallic is dictated by the crystallography and availability of the inoculant phase under AM conditions.
Perturbative removal of a sign problem

This paper presents a method for alleviating sign problems in lattice path integrals, including those associated with finite fermion density in relativistic systems. The method makes use of information gained from some systematic expansion---such as perturbation theory---in order to accelerate the Monte Carlo computation. The method is exact, in the sense that no approximation to the lattice path integral is introduced. Thanks to the underlying systematic expansion, the method is systematically improvable, so that an arbitrary reduction in the sign problem can in principle be obtained. The Thirring model (in $0+1$ and $1+1$ dimensions) is used to demonstrate the ability of this method to reduce the finite-density sign problem.
Arginine kinetics are altered in a pilot sample of adolescents and young adults with Barth syndrome

Barth syndrome (BTHS) is a rare, X-linked cardiomyopathy that is characterized by abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolism, with less known regarding amino acid metabolism. This pilot study characterized whole-body arginine kinetics and found lower arginine rate of appearance into plasma (0.69 ± 0.09 vs. 0.88 ± 0.06 μmol/kgFFM/min, p < 0.01) and arginine non-oxidative disposal rate (0.64 ± 0.11 vs. 0.80 ± 0.03 μmol/kgFFM/min, p < 0.02) in adolescents and young adults with BTHS compared to Controls. This study provides a foundation for more in-depth studies on how arginine and potentially other amino acid abnormalities contribute to the pathology and clinical manifestations of BTHS.
Fate and reduction of bromate formed in advanced water treatment ozonation systems: A critical review

Disinfection in water treatment and reclamation systems eliminates the potential health risks associated with waterborne pathogens, however it may produce disinfection by-products (DBPs) harmful to human health. Potentially carcinogenic bromate is a DBP formed during the ozonation of bromide-containing waters. To mitigate the problem of bromate formation, different physical/chemical or biological reduction methods of bromate have been investigated. Until now, adsorption-based physical method has proven to be more effective than chemical methods in potable water treatment. Though several studies on biological reduction methods have been carried out in a variety of bioreactor systems, such as in biologically active carbon filters and denitrifying bioreactors, the microbiological mechanisms or biochemical pathways of bromate minimization have not been clearly determined to date. Genetic analysis could provide a broader picture of microorganisms involved in bromate reduction which might show cometabolic or respiratory pathways, and affirm the synergy functions between different contributing groups. The hypothesis established from the diffusion coefficients of different electron donor and acceptors, illustrates that some microorganisms preferring bromate over oxygen contain specific enzymes which lower the activation energy required for bromate reduction. In addition, considering microbial bromate reduction as an effective treatment strategy; field scale investigations are required to observe quantitative correlations of various influencing parameters such as pH, ozone dose, additives or constituents such as ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and/or chloramine, dissolved organic carbon levels, dissolved oxygen gradient within biofilm, and empty bed contact time on bromate removal or reduction.
Accurate reconstruction of cross-section images from limited-angular-range data in human-limb imaging

In this work, we investigate and develop a method for cross-section image reconstruction from data collected over limited-angular ranges in the context of human-limb imaging. We first design a convex optimization program with constraints on directional image total-variations (TVs), and then tailor a convex primal-dual algorithm, which is referred to as the directional TV (DTV) algorithm, for solving this program. By using the proposed DTV algorithm, we investigate image reconstructions in studies with data collected from numerical thigh phantoms over a limited-angular range of 60◦. The results of the numerical studies demonstrate that the method proposed can yield, from limited-angular-range data, cross-section images with significantly reduced artifacts that are observed otherwise in images obtained with existing algorithms.
The MuvB Complex Binds and Stabilizes Nucleosomes Downstream of the Transcription Start Site of Cell-Cycle Dependent Genes

The chromatin architecture in promoters is thought to regulate gene expression, but it remains uncertain how most transcription factors (TFs) impact nucleosome position. The MuvB TF complex regulates cell-cycle dependent gene-expression and is critical for differentiation and proliferation during development and cancer. MuvB can both positively and negatively regulate expression, but the structure of MuvB and its biochemical function are poorly understood. Here we determine the overall architecture of MuvB assembly and the crystal structure of a subcomplex critical for MuvB function in gene repression. We find that the MuvB subunits LIN9 and LIN37 function as scaffolding proteins that arrange the other subunits LIN52, LIN54 and RBAP48 for TF, DNA, and histone binding, respectively. Biochemical and structural data demonstrate that MuvB binds nucleosomes through an interface that is distinct from LIN54-DNA consensus site recognition and that MuvB increases nucleosome occupancy in a reconstituted promoter. We find in arrested cells that MuvB primarily associates with a tightly positioned +1 nucleosome near the transcription start site (TSS) of MuvB-regulated genes. These results support a model that MuvB binds and stabilizes nucleosomes just downstream of the TSS on its target promoters to repress gene-expression.
The Effectiveness of Monetary and Promotion Rewards in the Public Sector and the Moderating Effect of PSM (PSM-Reward Fit or PSM Crowding Out): A Survey Experiment:

To what extent does public service motivation (PSM) affect how monetary rewards and promotion opportunities motivate government officials? This study offers an answer to this question through a sur...
Cooling Design of Integrated Motor Drives Using Analytical Thermal Model, Finite Element Analysis, and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Effective cooling system design is one of the biggest challenges in integrated motor drives (IMDs), where power electronics and electric machine are tightly co-packaged. Reducing the power electronics size for a seamless integration increases the thermal impedance of the system, leading to inefficient heat dissipation. This paper presents a cooling system design method for a silicon carbide (SiC) based IMD using a combination of analytical thermal model, finite element analysis (FEA), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). An analytical thermal model of a 4-layer printed circuit board (PCB) populated with a D2Pak SiC MOSFET has been developed. Based on the information extracted from this analytical thermal model, the PCB 3D model used in the FEA simulations can be substantially simplified, reducing the number of required finite elements and allowing much faster convergence. The developed simplified FEA model has been used to estimate the required PCB-to-ambient heat transfer coefficients for different inverter losses. Finally, a CFD simulation has been used to estimate the required intake airflow to achieve the desired heat transfer coefficient. Experimental measurements of the IMD power electronics temperature demonstrate the effectiveness of this cooling design.
CCL25 Signaling in the Tumor Microenvironment

Multiple checkpoint mechanisms are overridden by cancer cells in order to develop into a tumor. Neoplastic cells, while constantly changing during the course of cancer progression, also craft their surroundings to meet their growing needs. This crafting involves changing cell surface receptors, affecting response to extracellular signals and secretion of signals that affect the nearby cells and extracellular matrix architecture. This chapter briefly comprehends the non-cancer cells facilitating the cancer growth and elaborates on the notable role of the CCR9-CCL25 chemokine axis in shaping the tumor microenvironment (TME), directly and via immune cells. Association of increased CCR9 and CCL25 levels in various tumors has demonstrated the significance of this axis as a tool commonly used by cancer to flourish. It is involved in attracting immune cells in the tumor and determining their fate via various direct and indirect mechanisms and, leaning the TME toward immunosuppressive state. Besides, elevated CCR9-CCL25 signaling allows survival and rapid proliferation of cancer cells in an otherwise repressive environment. It modulates the intra- and extracellular protein matrix to instigate tumor dissemination and creates a supportive metastatic niche at the secondary sites. Lastly, this chapter abridges the latest research efforts and challenges in using the CCR9-CCL25 axis as a cancer-specific target.
Kausalität und Gesetzmäßigkeit

Unter den philosophischen Theorien, die sich mit dem Begriff der Kausalitat auseinandersetzen, ist Humes Regularitatstheorie wohl die bekannteste. Nach der Ansicht Humes behauptet jedes Kausalurteil eine regelmasige Aufeinanderfolge von Ereignissen bestimmter Art. Nun verbinden wir mit dem Begriff der Kausalitat nicht nur den der regelmasigen Aufeinanderfolge, sondern auch den der Notwendigkeit: Wenn wir sagen, das die Sonnenbestrahlung die Erwarmung des Steins verursachte, so meinen wir nicht nur, das immer, wenn die Sonne den Stein bescheint, der Stein sich hierauf erwarmt, sondern wir sind geneigt zu sagen, das sich der Stein erwarmen muste. Kant betonte diesen Umstand, indem er darauf verwies, das im Kausalurteil der Begriff der notwendigen Verknupfung enthalten sei. Man kann Hume jedoch nicht den Vorwurf machen, das er diesen Umstand ubersehen hat. Vielmehr finden wir bei ihm eine ausfuhrliche Analyse des Begriffes der notwendigen Verknupfung. Demgemas werden wir die Diskussion der Regularitatstheorie in zwei Teilen durchfuhren. Wir werden zuerst zu klaren versuchen, was unter dem Begriff der „regelmasigen Verknupfung“ zu verstehen sei und bei diesem Anlas verschiedene kritische Bemerkungen an der Regularitatstheorie Humes anbringen. Und wir werden hierauf die Humesche Analyse des Begriffes der notwendigen Verknupfung besprechen.
Democratic Constitutional Change: Assessing Institutional Possibilities

This paper develops a normative framework for both conceptualizing and assessing various institutional possibilities for democratic modes of constitutional change, with special attention to the recent ferment of constitutional experimentation. The paper’s basic methodological orientation is interdisciplinary, combining research in comparative constitutionalism, political science and normative political philosophy. In particular, it employs a form of normative reconstruction: attempting to glean out of recent institutional innovations the deep political ideals such institutions embody or attempt to realize. Starting from the assumption that contemporary constitutional democracies are attempting to realize the broader ideals of deliberative democratic constitution (ideals outlined briefly in the first section), the paper proposes an evaluative framework, comprised of six criteria, for assessing various mechanisms of constitutional change. It argues that democratic forms of constitutional change embody six distinct ideals—operationalizability, structural independence, democratic co-authorship, political equality, inclusive sensitivity, and reasons-responsiveness—and that these ideals can be used to gauge the normative worth of different mechanisms for carrying out such change. The framework is developed with reference to recent constitutional developments (e.g., in Venezuela, South Africa, Colombia, Bolivia, and Iceland) highlighting distinct criteria and showing how they appear to capture the general direction of institutional innovation. The paper conjectures that the set of six criteria yield the best normative reconstruction of the crucial ideals embodied in the constitutional change mechanisms of contemporary constitutional democracies, and so, ought to be used for purposes of evaluating institutional design proposals.
The Impact of Risk and Return Perceptions on the Portfolio Reallocation Decisions of Mutual Fund Investors

To explore how portfolio allocations among equities, fixed income securities, and cash are impacted by investors’ risk and return expectations, this paper explores portfolio reallocations among equity, bond, and money market mutual funds. As predicted by the literature on optimal portfolio allocations for hypothetical investors, mutual fund investors rebalance in response to variables which have been found to have possible predictive content for future stock market returns and/or volatility, especially the slope of the term structure. We also find that investors’ portfolio reallocation decisions are strongly correlated with recent stock and bond market returns and stock and bond market uncertainty as measured by implied volatilities. Stock market returns primarily stimulate exchanges between equity and money market funds with little impact on bond funds. Similarly bond market returns primarily stimulate exchanges between bond and money market funds with little impact on stock funds. Mutual fund investors apparently pay more attention to bond market returns than to current yields-to-maturity. Increases in stock market uncertainty lead to a movement of funds out of equity funds while increases in bond market uncertainty lead to exchanges out of bond funds. We find no evidence that mutual fund investors follow the advice of financial advisors to rebalance following large stock or bond price movements to restore their portfolio proportions to pre-existing target levels. Instead they do the opposite moving more funds into equity funds when the stock market rises and into bond funds when the bond market rises.
Using task models for cascading selective undo

Many studies have shown that selective undo, a variant of the widely-implemented linear undo, has many advantages over the prevailing model. In this paper, we define a task model for implementing selective undo in the face of dependencies that may exist between the undone action and other subsequent user actions. Our model accounts for these dependencies by identifying other actions besides the undone one that should also be undone to keep the application in a stable state. Our approach, which we call cascading selective undo, is built upon a process-programming language originally designed in the software engineering community. The result is a formal analytical framework by which the semantics of selective undo can be represented separately from the application itself. We present our task model, the selective undo algorithm, and discuss extensions that account for differing kinds of inter-action dependencies.
Using attosecond transient absorption to study non-adiabatic molecular dynamics

We investigate superexcited Oxygen using attosecond transient absorption. Spectral lineshape evolution is used to resolve the autoionization dynamics and strong-field control is explored. We find that the symmetry of electronic states plays an important role.
The Ontological Status of the Cosmological Singularity

According to the Big Bang Theory, the cosmological singularity is that point in the history of the universe in which the entire universe is squeezed into at least one point of infinite density, infinite temperature, infinite curvature. It is the point where all the known laws of physics collapse and where even the Causal Principle becomes problematical. I undertake a philosophical analysis of this singularity, and raise the question of whether the term “the cosmological singularity” could ever denote. I then relate this analysis to the topic of the nature of scientific theories, specifically the realism/anti-realism debate in the philosophy of science.
Practical limitations of NTP time transfer

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is commonly utilized to synchronize computer clocks in packet-switched, wide area networks (WANs) such as the public Internet. The delay asymmetry in WANs, often due to inconsistent routing and/or bandwidth saturation, is usually the dominant source of error. It typically limits NTP time transfer uncertainty to about one millisecond. This paper discusses the uncertainty of NTP time transfer when network asymmetry is largely eliminated. We performed NTP measurements over a local area network (LAN) when both the server and client are referenced to a common clock. Three variations of a LAN are tested, including a direct connection between the server and client with an Ethernet crossover cable. The elimination of network asymmetry reveals other uncertainty sources that serve as practical limitations for NTP time transfer, including client instability, asymmetry in network interface cards, and server instability.
Signal-Space Coding

Error control, introduced in Chapter 13, adds redundancy, in the form of extra bits, and then uses that redundancy to correct errors introduced by the channel. There are shortcomings that we will address in this chapter: In typical applications, the extra bits either increase the bandwidth and the noise allowed into the receiver, or increase the number of bits per symbol. In the second case, the constellation minimum distance will be decreased or the average power increased. Convolutional and block codes specify how to generate redundant bits, but do not specify how to map the additional bits into data symbols.
Dielectrophoretic sorting of lipid-containing microorganisms using high frequency electric fields produced by conducting post arrays

This paper describes a dielectrophoretic cell sorter containing arrays of conducting microposts. This sorter will be used to identify high-lipid-content organisms, which have commercial value for oil production and other applications. Cell sorting based on dielectrophoresis (DEP) typically utilizes planar electrodes, limiting throughput. Here, we present a rapid electroplating method that can produce an array of 15 µm tall posts in roughly ten minutes. Using this device, we were able to distinguish between two phenotypes of Yarrowia lipolytica, a lipid-containing yeast. In future work, we will use flow cytometry to confirm the lipid content of the sorted cell populations.
Characteristics of Time Series

The analysis of experimental data that have been observed at different points in time leads to new and unique problems in statistical modeling and inference. The obvious correlation introduced by the sampling of adjacent points in time can severely restrict the applicability of the many conventional statistical methods traditionally dependent on the assumption that these adjacent observations are independent and identically distributed. The systematic approach by which one goes about answering the mathematical and statistical questions posed by these time correlations is commonly referred to as time series analysis.
Step-like magnetisation curves in Tb3Ga5O12

Near-crossing of the lowest energy levels of Tb3+ in high magnetic fields causes the step-like change in the magnetisation curve of TbGG. Crystal-field theory predicts the near-crossing at 95, 200 and 275 kOe in the magnetic field applied along cubic directions (110), (100) and (111) respectively. Magnetisation curves measured along the (110) direction in DC fields up to 150 kOe in the helium temperature range are reproduced within a few per cent by the theory.
Variability of naturally occurring antihuman placental lactogen dependent upon preparations tested.

Abstract Postpartum sera previously shown to have antibody activity directed against relatively impure preparations of human placental lactogen (HPL) were tested against several more highly purified preparations. Variable antibody activity was found to be present in postpartum sera against even the most highly purified materials. The results indicate that the mother produces antibody against HPL as well as other fetal antigens.
Vascular Permeability Factor (VPF)/Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Receptor-1 Down-modulates VPF/VEGF Receptor-2-mediated Endothelial Cell Proliferation, but Not Migration, through Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase-dependent Pathways

Vascular permeability factor (VPF)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) achieves its multiple functions by activating two receptor tyrosine kinases, Flt-1 (VEGF receptor-1) and KDR (VEGF receptor-2), both of which are selectively expressed on primary vascular endothelium. To dissect the respective signaling pathways and biological functions mediated by these receptors in primary endothelial cells with these two receptors intact, we developed a chimeric receptor system in which the N terminus of the epidermal growth factor receptor was fused to the transmembrane domain and intracellular domain of KDR (EGDR) and Flt-1 (EGLT). We observed that KDR, but not Flt-1, was responsible for VPF/VEGF-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) proliferation and migration. Moreover, Flt-1 showed an inhibitory effect on KDR-mediated proliferation, but not migration. We also demonstrated that the inhibitory function of Flt-1 was mediated through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K)-dependent pathway because inhibitors of PI-3K as well as a dominant negative mutant of p85 (PI-3K subunit) reversed the inhibition, whereas a constitutively activated mutant of p110 introduced the inhibition to HUVEC-EGDR. We also observed that, in VPF/VEGF-stimulated HUVECs, the Flt-1/EGLT-mediated down-modulation of KDR/EGDR signaling was at or before intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization, but after KDR/EGDR phosphorylation. By mutational analysis, we further identified that the tyrosine 794 residue of Flt-1 was essential for its antiproliferative effect. Taken together, these studies contribute significantly to our understanding of the signaling pathways and biological functions triggered by KDR and Flt-1 and describe a unique mechanism in which PI-3K acts as a mediator of antiproliferation in primary vascular endothelium.
Preliminary experience with a prospective, multi-centered evaluation of out-of-hospital endotracheal intubation ☆

Abstract Study Objective: Previous out-of-hospital airway management data are limited by small, single-site designs. We sought to evaluate the feasibility of performing a prospective, multi-centered evaluation of out-of-hospital endotracheal intubation (ETI) using a standardized data collection tool. Methods: We designed a prospective multi-centered observational study involving 45 advanced life support (ALS) services from a mid-Atlantic state. Using a standardized data form, prehospital personnel reported details of each attempted ETI, including patient demographics, methods used, difficulties encountered, and initial patient outcomes. We calculated and assessed data form return rates (using independent queries of the number of ETI attempted by each EMS service) and missing data entry rates. We also performed preliminary cross-sectional assessments of factors of current interest in out-of-hospital ETI. Accuracy and validity of responses were not evaluated. Data were stored centrally and analyzed using descriptive techniques. Results: Participants included 8 urban, 15 suburban, 20 rural, and 2 air medical services. Data forms were received on 783 adults receiving ETI attempts during the study period June 1, 2001–November 30, 2001. The pooled data form return rate was 72.7%. Per-service return rates ranged from 0 to 100% and the median per-service return rate was 75%. Non-response (data form not returned for attempted intubation) was problematic, with nine services demonstrating data return rates less than 50%. Data return rates could not be calculated for an additional nine services. The missing data entry rate was 0.5–22.2%. The overall reported ETI success rate was 86.8% (92.8% for cardiac arrests and 76.8% for non-arrests) and did not appear to vary between population settings. There were two cases of delayed recognition of esophageal intubation, one case of unrecognized esophageal intubation, and 22 cases of tube dislodgement during patient care or transport. Bag-valve-mask ventilation was used as the rescue airway technique in the majority of failed ETI. When stratified for cardiac arrests vs. non-arrests, ETI success was not associated with field or initial ED survival. Conclusions: We successfully obtained complete data for the majority of ETI attempted across multiple EMS services. Our data also indicate the need to address problems with non-response. Preliminary cross-sectional data highlight areas of current interest in out-of-hospital airway management.
Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift reactions.

We report that alkali ions (sodium or potassium) added in small amounts activate platinum adsorbed on alumina or silica for the low-temperature water-gas shift (WGS) reaction (H 2 O + CO → H 2 + CO 2 ) used for producing H 2 . The alkali ion–associated surface OH groups are activated by CO at low temperatures (~100°C) in the presence of atomically dispersed platinum. Both experimental evidence and density functional theory calculations suggest that a partially oxidized Pt-alkali-O x (OH) y species is the active site for the low-temperature Pt-catalyzed WGS reaction. These findings are useful for the design of highly active and stable WGS catalysts that contain only trace amounts of a precious metal without the need for a reducible oxide support such as ceria.
Breakfast cereal sampling study for nutritional elements

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has established a Dietary Supplement Laboratory Quality Assurance Program (DSQAP) in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements (NIH-ODS). The DSQAP invites laboratories twice annually to participate in interlaboratory studies where participants elect to measure concentrations of nutritional and/or toxic elements as well as active and/or marker compounds. One of these studies was designed to determine the effects of material granularity and sample processing techniques on measurement variability (precision) as well as to provide participating laboratories information on their performance relative to the NIST assigned values (bias) and to the other participants (concordance). Participants were asked to determine the mass fractions of Ca, Fe, and Zn, in mg/kg, in six breakfast cereal samples. Cereal samples consisted of three ground materials (homogenized wheat, wheat, and rice), two flake materials (wheat and rice) and a partially crushed material (a wheat/rice mixture). In general, approximately 25 % of the laboratories processed and analyzed the suite of six cereal materials with adequate to exemplary measurement precision. Over half of the laboratories (60 %) experienced measurement issues related to only a particular type of cereal matrix or for only a single element. A small number (15 %) of laboratories experienced significant sample processing or measurement problems. Future studies planned by the DSQAP may be designed to use commercial products to aid laboratories with their sampling and analytical techniques.