cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Advances in cataract surgery

Recent advances in cataract surgery have increased the safety and efficacy of this common procedure. Cataract surgery has evolved from ‘couching’ with sub-optimal results to phacoemulsification with excellent results. Introduction of the femtosecond laser into cataract surgery may further the safety and predictability of this procedure. In addition, innovations in intraocular lens material have enabled the surgery to be done through a small incision with quicker recovery and more predictable refractive outcome. New intraocular lens design technologies have helped patients minimize their need for glasses at most distances. Further, invention of ophthalmic viscosurgical devices reduced the risk of endothelial decompensation and corneal edema. These innovations have transformed the goal of cataract surgery from purely visual rehabilitation to a refractive procedure as well.
Statistical Power with Moderated Multiple Regression in Management Research

Due to the increasing importance of moderating (i.e., interaction) effects, the use of moderated multiple regression (MMR) has become pervasive in numerous management specialties such as organizational behavior, human resources management, and strategy, to name a few. Despite its popularity, recent research on the MMR approach to moderator variable detection has identified several factors that reduce statistical power below acceptable levels and, consequently, lead researchers to erroneously dismiss theoretical models that include moderated relationships. The present article (1) briefly describes MMR, (2) reviews factors that affect the statistical power of hypothesis tests conducted using this technique, (3) proposes solutions to low power situations, and (4) discusses areas and problems related to MMR that are in need of further investigation.
Variational Bayesian data fusion of multi-class discrete observations with applications to cooperative human-robot estimation

A new method is presented for fusing conventional continuous sensor observations with discrete multi-categorical state-dependent information, which can be furnished by humans in many cooperative human-robot interaction problems. The hybrid likelihood function for mapping between continuous hidden states and categorical observations are specified via softmax models. Although softmax models avoid discretization of continuous states, they are challenging to implement for real-time data fusion since they are not analytically integrable. An approximation based on variational Bayesian (VB) methods is presented here to obtain fast closed-form Gaussian solutions to the desired posteriors in cases where the hidden continuous states have Gaussian pdfs. A joint human-robot target localization example illustrates the properties and utility of the VB hybrid fusion strategy, which also applies more generally to inference in hybrid Bayesian networks and mixture models.
A Marine Forecaster's View of Present Marine Weather Data Technology

The present state of marine weather data technology may be broken down into two major categories: 1) "in-situ" environmental measurements; and 2) remote sensing of the marine environment. In-situ weather measurements are routinely taken by observers on cooperating commercial vessels and aircraft crossing the oceans, as well as on the few remaining ocean weather station vessels. To an increasing extent however, observations of surface weather are being taken by automated buoys of several types. Coastal winds and waves are being observed by automated recording devices along the U.S. coastline. Remote sensing from operational satellites has also become an important source of data. Meteorological and surface oceanographic data is now available in real-time on a routine basis from several satellite systems, and development is continuing on new and improved types of sensors. Land-based remote sensors, particularly involving microwave applications, also show great promise for the near future.
Impulsive radon emanation on a creeping segment of the San Andreas fault, California

Radon emanation was continuously monitored for several months at two locations along a creeping segment of the San Andreas fault in central California. The recorded emanations showed several impulsive increases that lasted as much as five hours with amplitudes considerably larger than meteorologically induced diurnal variations. Some of the radon increases were accompanied or followed by earthquakes or fault-creep events. They were possibly the result of some sudden outbursts of relatively radon-rich ground gas, sometimes triggered by crustal deformation or vibration.
Meeting in the middle: The challenge of meso-level integration

One of the main challenges facing the land-use/cover change research community is the forging of robust linkages between the fine-grained understandings of land-use decisions and broad-scale models of land cover. A number of projects have undertaken this challenge in particular regions, and it is now time to derive lessons from these experiences to facilitate future communication between these two groups. In order to address this issue, an international workshop was organized in Ispra, Italy, October 17–20, 2000 by the Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) Project (http://www.indiana.edu/ Bact/focus1/), a programme element of the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme, and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. The purpose of the workshop was to enhance collaboration between those who study household decision-making and its land-cover consequences, and those who seek to explain broader-scale land cover through socio-economic driving forces. It has been proposed that the meeting place of these two groups lies at the regional scale, representing both the ‘‘upper limit’’ (maximum extent) of the survey-based land-use analyses and the ‘‘lower limit’’ (finest grain) of land-cover analyses based on the currently available remote-sensing data. The workshop had the following objectives:
All-Fiber Source of High-Power Picosecond Pulses at 1.5 μm Using Short and Heavily Doped Phosphate-Fiber Amplifier

We report an all-fiber source of high-power picosecond pulses at 1.5µm. Rapid amplification in heavily-doped phosphate fiber produces pulses with peak power of 16.6kW while pulse distortion is minimal in either temporal or spectral domain.
SU-D-220-05: Dynamic Ultrasound Evaluation of Radiation-Induced Vocal Cord Injury in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Purpose: Curative radiation for oral cavity, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cancers can injure the vocal cords which can adversely affect speech and quality of life. Vocal cords are difficult to image with conventional MRI,CT or ultrasound. Currently, no imaging technique is available in the clinic to visualize and evaluate such injury. The purpose of this study is to develop a dynamic ultrasound technology to quantify radiation‐induced vocal cord injury. Methods: Eight healthy volunteers and five post‐radiation patients were enrolled under IRB approval. Each participant was scanned using a clinical ultrasoundscanner (Sonix Touch) with a 14‐MHz linear array transducer. The ultrasound probe was placed in the transverse plane approximately parallel to the vocal fold's mucosal wave propagation. Each participant was asked to phonate the vowel sound “a” and sustain the phonation for 5 seconds while 315 dynamic (consecutive) ultrasoundimages of the vocal fold were recorded. Vocal cord vibration patterns were obtained through these consecutive images. Vibration frequency and 2‐D dimensions were computed to measure vocal cord performance. Results: The vocal cords were clearly visualized using dynamic ultrasound in all participants. Vocal cord vibration patterns of the healthy volunteers revealed smooth sinusoidal wave propagation. In contrast, the patterns of post‐radiation vocal cords presented irregular wave propagation. M‐mode videos parallel and vertical to vocal cord vibration direction were generated. The vocal cord vibration pattern was most disrupted in the patient with clinically‐identifiedvocal cord injury. Aliased frequency estimated from M‐mode video could be used to distinguish damaged vocal cord injury from normal vocal cord. Conclusions: In the effort to develop a noninvasive imaging technique for evaluating vocal cord injury post radiotherapy, we identified dynamic ultrasound as a promising tool. Ultrasound is safe, simple, and cost‐effective. This study demonstrated its feasibility in imaging the vocal cords and quantifying the vocal cord condition. Part of this research is supported by Susan Komen Grant (KG101373).
Electron microscopy of iron oxides and implications for the origin of magnetizations and rock magnetic properties of Banded Series rocks of the Stillwater Complex, Montana

The origins of multiple magnetizations of the Archean Stillwater Complex have been investigated through scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy observations of mineralogical relations, using representative samples from nine sites in mafic Banded series rocks. On the basis of directional grouping and demagnetization behavior, three magnetizations (here labeled A, B, and C) have been recognized. The natural remanent magnetizaton (NRM) is lypically dominated by only one of these magnetizations and multicomponent behavior in individual specimens is rare. The A remanence resides in magnetic grains of high median destructive fields and high, discrete laboratory unblocking temperatures and is inferred to be a primary thermoremanent magnetization, of circa 2.71 Ga age. The B and C magnetizations, of lower median destructive fields and more distributed unblocking temperatures, are inferred to be secondary and related to alteration, including serpentinization, involving limited, moderate to low-temperature fluid interaction, perhaps in response to thermotectonic events (e.g., mafic dike emplacement). Samples with NRM dominated by the A magnetization contain titanium-free magnetite needles (width <1 μm and maximum dimension between about 2 and 50 µm ) with preferred orientations in cumulus plagioclase crystals; these oxides are interpreted to have formed during initial crystallization of cumulus phases. In samples containing only B or C magnetizations, such needles are absent in cumulus plagioclase, whereas secondary Fe-bearing silicates, particularly zoisite and chlorite, are conspicuous. The samples dominated by the B or C magnetizations contain anhedral low-chromian magnetite (FeCr2-xFexO4, 1.5<x<2.0) along fractures in both cumulus plagioclase and pyroxene and in zones of more pervasive alteration of pyroxenes. The paragenesis of these oxides is consistent with an origin related to hydrothermal alteration. Hysteresis data show that plagioclase crystals containing magnetite needles have higher remanent coercivities (Hcr=60 to 100 mT), whereas plagioclase crystals with anhedral chromian magnetite have remanent coercivities less than 60 mT, consistent with their alternating field response. Because oxygen isotope data show no indication of appreciable alteration of host plagioclase, we infer that the absence of magnetite needles and their associated A magnetization are caused by selective alteration of the magnetite needles to nonmagnetic phases in the remagnetized gabbros. In this case, rock magnetic and paleomagnetic data appear to be higher resolution indicators of fluid/rock interaction than the stable isotope data. Anhedral chromian magnetite precipitated during hydrothermal alteration and therefore carries secondary magnetizations.
Trust, Trustworthiness, and Information Sharing in Supply Chains Bridging China and the United States

Whether and how trust and trustworthiness differ between a collectivist society, e.g., China, and an individualistic one, e.g., the United States, generates much ongoing scientific debate and bears significant practical values for managing cross-country transactions. We experimentally investigate how supply chain members' countries of origin—China versus the United States—affect trust, trustworthiness, and strategic information sharing behavior in a cross-country supply chain. We consider a two-tier supply chain in which the upstream supplier solicits demand forecast information from the retailer to plan production; but the retailer has an incentive to manipulate her forecast to ensure abundant supply. The levels of trust and trustworthiness in the supply chain and supplier's capability to determine the optimal production quantity affect the efficacy of forecast sharing and the resulting profits. We develop an experimental design to disentangle these three aspects and to allow for real-time interactions b...
Successful Performance of the High Current Arc Ignition Test

The paper reports on the unexpected arcing phenomenon which takes place occasionally during the High Current Arc Ignition test. It also can be made to occur consistently by skillful placement of the electrodes. This will result in ignition with the smallest number of arcs. The differences in setting the electrodes is thought to be the major cause of inconsistent results among laboratories.
Inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in isolated adipocytes by 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid

The compound 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid (TOFA), a hypolipidemic agent, inhibits fatty acid synthesis, lactate and pyruvate accumulation and CO2 release in isolated at adipocytes. TOFA stimulates the accumulation of citrate. ATP levels are not lowered by TOFA. In comparison with the natural fatty acid, oleate, TOFA exhibited a much greater inhibitory effect on lipogenesis. TOFyl-CoA formation within intact adipocytes was demonstrated. Although not inhibited by TOFA, acetyl-CoA carboxylase is inhibited by TOFyl-CoA. It is proposed that many of the metabolic effects of TOFA in isolated adipocytes can be explained by TOFyl-CoA inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. TOFA inhibits glycolysis as a secondary event with the primary event of inhibition of fatty acid synthesis causing an accumulation of citrate which is an inhibitor of phosphofructokinase.
Extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure study of Al-Mn-Ru-Si icosahedral alloys

We report extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure measurements on the Mn and Ru K absorption edges in rapidly quenched icosahedral alloys of ${\mathrm{Al}}_{86}$${\mathrm{Mn}}_{14}$, ${\mathrm{Al}}_{75.5}$${\mathrm{Mn}}_{17.5}$${\mathrm{Ru}}_{4}$Si $_{3}$, and ${\mathrm{Al}}_{75.5}$${\mathrm{Mn}}_{15.5}$${\mathrm{Ru}}_{6}$Si $_{3}$, as well as the crystalline forms of ${\mathrm{Al}}_{6}$Mn and ${\mathrm{Al}}_{6}$Ru. In the icosahedral phase, we find an asymmetric distribution of Al atoms around Mn sites, containing at least two Al-Mn distances. The asymmetry becomes more pronounced with increasing Ru content. The Ru atomic environment appears to include an additional very short Ru\char22{}Al or Ru\char22{}Si bond.
Stereospecific 1H and 13C NMR Assignments of Crotonyl CoA and Hexadienoyl CoA: Conformational Analysis and Comparison with Protein−CoA Complexes

Stereospecific 1H and 13C resonance assignments of hexadienoyl-CoA and crotonyl-CoA have been determined. The two diastereotopic methyl groups at the C2‘‘ carbon were assigned via transferred nuclear Overhauser effect experiments on the complex of hexadienoyl-CoA with the enzyme enoyl-CoA hydratase. The two diastereotopic 1‘‘ protons were assigned using heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation experiments in conjunction with rotating frame nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy. This represents the first set of complete stereospecific assignments for any CoA derivative. The assignments allow a detailed quantitative conformational analysis of the uncomplexed form of the molecule. In particular, the relative population of the various rotamers about the C1‘‘−C2‘‘ and the C2‘‘−C3‘‘ bonds have been determined. The database of protein-bound CoA structures has been surveyed and used to compare the structure(s) of CoA in protein−CoA complexes with the conformational preferences of free CoA.
Effects of triethyl lead on hot-plate responsiveness and biochemical properties of hippocampus

Rats treated with a single dose of triethyl lead chloride (TEL) by subcutaneous injection (7.9 mg/kg) showed a transient increase in latencies to lick the hind paw during hot-plate testing. The time course of triethyl lead-induced antinociception was temporally associated with depressed binding capacity of benzodiazepine receptor sites and reduced levels of Substance P. Both of these changes appeared to be confined to the hippocampus and were not apparent in the cortex or striatum of treated rats. Met-enkephalin levels were not altered in any region studied at any time during the 21-day postdosing period. Lead levels within the brain were higher than blood levels 1 week after triethyl lead injection. Although changes in more than one factor may account for the antinociceptive effect of triethyl lead, the hippocampus seems especially vulnerable to this amphiphilic organometal.
Some applications of NMR to the study of magnetically-ordered materials with emphasis on the short-range order in (Fe-B)-based crystalline and amorphous alloys

Abstract In this review, we summatize recent developments in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies on (Fe-B)-based crystalline and amorphous alloys, focusing on the application of NMR in identifying the existence of short-range order (SRO), determining the types of SRO, characterizing the behavior of the SRO and exploring the effect of the SRO on the magnetic properties for the Fe-B system. NMR experiments reveal that certain local environments surrounding the B atoms exist in both crystalline and amorphous Fe-B alloys. The type of SRO existing in this rapidly quenched system can be either o-Fe 3 B or bct-Fe 3 B, or a mixture, depending on the composition and processing factors, especially the carbon content and quenching speed. The SRO originates from a strong covalent bonding between the B and Fe atoms. As this interaction plays the same role in both crystalline and amorphous Fe-B alloys, the SRO which occurs in the amorphous Fe-B alloys is similar to the SRO which exists in their crystalline counterparts. NMR, in combination with magnetization measurements, provides evidence indicating that the SRO existing in the amorphous Fe-B alloys has a significant effect on their soft magnetic properties and that different types of SRO may act differently, thus providing an opportunity to improve the magnetic properties by changing the SRO. In connection with reviewing the achievements of NMR studies in recent years, brief comments concerning the advantages and potential of NMR experiments in the investigation of other magnetically-ordered materials will also be presented.
Past and Future of Construction Equipment—Part IV

The development of construction equipment has followed the major changes in global transportation. In 1420, Giovanni Fontana was dreaming of and diagramming dredging machines. Development of the steam shovel was driven by a demand for an economical mass excavation machine to support the era of railroad construction. The Cummins diesel engine was developed in the early 1900s as the road-building phase of transportation construction began. In the short term, the basic machine frame will not change, but productivity, accuracy, and utility should improve because of enhancements. Machines will evolve into a mobile counterweight driven by an energy-efficient powerplant. This mobile counterweight will serve as a work platform for an array of hydraulic tools, and it will have synthesized computers that instantly communicate by satellite with distant management teams reporting diagnostics, production, and position.
The commoditization of products and taste: Slow Food and the conservation of agrobiodiversity

Slow Food is an Italy-based international organization that aims to save the varieties, breeds, and foods threatened by the standardization and homogenization of agriculture resulting from the widespread use of conventional practices. Through an analysis of one of Slow Food’s projects, a Basque Presidium, this paper examines the effects of Slow Food’s efforts on the products, producers, and agrobiodiversity it is trying to save. Drawing upon Igor Kopytoff’s descriptions of commoditization as process, this paper argues that the products and the values they embody, which Slow Food has identified for their singularity, are commoditized through a variety of mechanisms. This paper then argues that commoditization makes the endeavors of Slow Food resemble the conventional agricultural system it is trying to oppose, as well as undermining the very agrobiodiversity the organization seeks to protect. These effects create a disconnect between the organization’s goals and its actions on-the-ground, indicating that Slow Food is not as alternative as it claims to be. This paper ends by examining Slow Food’s role within the overall agricultural system, and suggests that the organization’s producers are important guardians of the global agrobiodiversity which conventional production erodes.
Differential diagnosis in uropathology, carcinoma in situ of prostate gland.

The appellation “carcinoma in situ” of the prostate gland denotes an incidental or clinically detected carcinoma when the neoplasm is found intra-acinar.’ There is usually no apparent light microscopic invasion of the surrounding fibromuscular stroma. However, even these microscopic foci of in situ cancer may also be associated with a prostatic neoplasm elsewhere in the gland with its extension to the prostatic capsule and nerves. It has been observed that the incidence of carcinoma of the prostate gland is significantly increased from 14 to 44 per cent when serial sections are taken. 2*3 An almost identical situation is also discernible when prostatic chips are examined by routine histopathologic procedures. Here, it is important that all of the prostatic tissue be embedded and cut properly and that each prostatic chip be pathologically examined. If this pathologic light microscopic examination is astutely executed then, in at least 20 per cent of the prostates so examined, there will be numerous combinations of different patterns ofprostatic cancer. The surgical pathologist who reviews these slides is often impressed by the multifocalness of this type of cancer and by variegated glandular configurations that are frequently seen. Often multifocal histologic patterns are encountered that are similar to Figure 1A and C. These in situ prostatic cancer areas also represent disturbances in architecture and are discernible under low power (x20) microscopy in prostatic chips or sections taken from a supraor retropubic prostatectomy. Before the designation “carcinoma in situ” can be given, it is often necessary to examine these foci at high magnifications (x80 to 200). Here the glands are almost “back-to-back” with a small residual amount of stroma interposed between these carcinomatous glands (Fig. 1B and D). This stroma is often exiguous, and the only method to perceive it is by electron microscopy. This reveals an intact basement membrane surrounding each of these glands, Many of the glands are usually not in a “streaming” pattern nor do they infiltrate between normal surrounding prostatic glands and/or ducts. Occasionally a prostate will be removed for obstructive uropathy which is clinically benign. On pathologic examination, some of these areas reveal numerous large nodular areas of carcinoma in situ (Fig. 2A-D). In the photomicrographs of this “carcinoma in situ” focus, there is still a nodular architecture with no “streaming” of the glands into the surrounding stroma. The anatomic axes of these oblong glands are not parallel to each other, and the basal myoepithelioid cells have disappeared. The cells have an eosinophilic cytoplasm and cancer nuclei.* There also may be numerous mitotic figures (Fig. 2D). In other step sections taken from this surgically removed prostate gland, there were no foci of an infiltrating or invasive carcinoma of the prostate. The patterns described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 are different from the histologic configurations seen associated with invasive carcinomas of the prostate. The various histologic
Experimental avoidance as a mediator of the effects of adolescent sexual victimization on negative adult outcomes.

The study examined experiential avoidance as a mediator between sexual victimization and negative adult outcomes. Baron and Kenny's (1986) regression analyses were performed on a sample of 304 undergraduate women to assess direct and indirect effects of sexual victimization on depressive, psychological distress, and alcohol abuse symptoms. Experiential avoidance accounted for statistically significant, but modest effects of victimization on depressive and distress symptoms. Child sexual abuse was not directly associated with experiential avoidance or negative outcomes, but increased vulnerability for adolescent sexual victimization. Adolescent sexual victimization contributed to increased experiential avoidance, which was associated with greater negative outcomes. These results uniquely contribute to the existing literature linking experiential avoidance to psychological problems. Language: en
Landscape dynamics in crown fire ecosystems

Crown fires create broad-scale patterns in vegetation by producing a patch mosaic of stand age classes, but the spread and behavior of crown fires also may be constrained by spatial patterns in terrain and fuels across the landscape. In this review, we address the implications of landscape heterogeneity for crown fire behavior and the ecological effects of crown fires over large areas. We suggest that fine-scale mechanisms of fire spread can be extrapolated to make broad-scale predictions of landscape pattern by coupling the knowledge obtained from mechanistic and empirical fire behavior models with spatially-explicit probabilistic models of fire spread. Climatic conditions exert a dominant control over crown fire behavior and spread, but topographic and physiographic features in the landscape and the spatial arrangement and types of fuels have a strong influence on fire spread, especially when burning conditions (e.g., fuel moisture and wind) are not extreme. General trends in crown fire regimes and stand age class distributions can be observed across continental, latitudinal, and elevational gradients. Crown fires are more frequent in regions having more frequent and/or severe droughts, and younger stands tend to dominate these landscapes. Landscapes dominated by crown fires appear to be nonequilibrium systems. This nonequilibrium condition presents a significant challenge to land managers, particularly when the implications of potential changes in the global climate are considered. Potential changes in the global climate may alter not only the frequency of crown fires but also their severity. Crown fires rarely consume the entire forest, and the spatial heterogeneity of burn severity patterns creates a wide range of local effects and is likely to influence plant reestablishment as well as many other ecological processes. Increased knowledge of ecological processes at regional scales and the effects of landscape pattern on fire dynamics should provide insight into our understanding of the behavior and consequences of crown fires.
The new dimensions of collaboration: mega and intelligent communities, ICT and wellbeing

Purpose – This paper presents best practices of global and local initiatives for social and economic capital development. It introduces the notion of “megacommunities” representing broad multilateral stakeholder groups that work together for the resolutions of large‐scale health, environmental and social problems. The paper also takes a more local view by discussing a few regional and municipal examples of “intelligent communities” at the forefront of the knowledge economy. These mega and intelligent communities are often the first to adopt information and communication technologies (ICT), especially pervasive broadband technologies services, for achieving superior social, human and economic wellbeing. The objective of the paper is to identify common drivers and characteristics of these communities and how they utilize ICT to promote higher‐level growth.Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a general review. The paper introduces the notions of wellbeing, human, social and economic capi...
Multisource Assessment of Young Handicapped Children: A Comparison of a Diagnostician, Teachers, Mothers, and Fathers

Four scores were generated for 32 young handicapped children on the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic Edition and on the Developmental Profile, using a diagnostician, teachers, mothers, an...
Biological mechanisms underlying RU 486 clinical effects: inhibition of endometrial stromal cell tissue factor content

Despite the pronounced hemorrhagic effects of RU 486 administration on luteal phase and early gestational endometrium, no information is available on the effect of RU 486 on endometrial hemostatic potential. The expression of endometrial stromal cell tissue factor (TF), the primary initiator of hemostasis, has been shown to be progestationally regulated in vivo and in vitro. To evaluate the effects of RU 486 on progestin-enhanced TF expression, confluent stromal cell cultures derived from proliferative phase endometria were exposed to vehicle control, 10(-8) mol/L estradiol (E2), 10(-6) mol/L dexamethasone, 10(-7) mol/L medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), E2 plus MPA, E2 plus 10(-6) mol/L progesterone (P), or 10(-6) mol/L RU 486 alone or with E2 plus MPA or E2 plus P for 3-4 days. Compared to the vehicle control, E2, dexamethasone, and RU 486 alone had no effect on the content of immunoreactive and functionally active TF protein, whereas MPA increased and the combination of E2 and MPA further increased TF protein content. Similarly, E2 and P enhanced the stromal cell TF content. These progestin effects were blocked by RU 486. Similar results were obtained for steady state TF messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels. Possible RU 486-mediated reversal of progestin-enhanced stromal cell TF expression was assessed by incubating confluent cultures in E2 plus MPA for 3-10 days to enhance TF content, then washing the cultures and reexposing them to either E2 plus MPA or to RU 486 alone or with E2 plus MPA for 3, 4, or 7 days. Exposure to RU 486 alone or with E2 plus MPA greatly reduced levels of stromal cell TF protein and mRNA expression compared to those in cultures maintained in E2 plus MPA. These findings demonstrate that RU 486 not only blocks but also reverses in vitro progestin-enhanced stromal cell TF protein and mRNA expression, suggesting an additional mechanism for RU 486-induced menses and early abortion.
Commentary on Stotz and Griffiths, Burian, and Waters: genes, concepts, DST implications, and the possibility of prototypes.

As Stotz and Griffiths write at the beginning of their paper in this special issue, 'this is a particularly exciting time to be studying molecular bioscience because of the extraordinary rate of change in basic concepts' (Stotz 2004). Other papers in this issue offer representative examples of this ferment in our basic concepts, with a primary focus on the concept of the gene. The biological, and biomedical, sciences have clearly entered a period of 'rational exuberance' in the ways that variant fundamental ideas in genetics are developed and deployed.1 As I see it, there are three engines driving this exuberant diversification of concepts: (1) attempts to link various levels of aggregation, observation, experimentation, and theorizing, (2) the extraordinary financial support and investigator efforts that molecular biomedical science has witnessed in the past 50 years since Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helical structure of DNA in 1953, and, (3) the stunning array of powerful new experimental techniques and instruments developed in this time period.2
Mathematical Inhibitor Model for Barium Sulfate Scale Control

A semiempirical mathematical model has been developed to predict inhibitor efficiency for barium sulfate scale control in industrial processes. This model can be used for selecting effective inhibitors and determining the minimal effective concentration needed for a given system. The model incorporates experimental data of the nucleation and inhibition kinetics. Specifically, the induction period in the presence and absence of scale inhibitors has been measured experimentally and inputted into the model: Cinh = (1/b) log[tinh/t0], where Cinh is the inhibitor concentration, tinh is the inhibition time (e.g., 20 min), t0 is the nucleation induction period of the scaling mineral crystal, and b is the inhibitor efficiency. The inhibition kinetics of barium sulfate nucleation with bis(hexamethylene)triaminepenta(methylenephosphonic acid) (BHMTPMP) and several other polyphosphonate and polyacrylate inhibitors have been measured. Many factors which are important to nucleation and inhibition kinetics, such as th...
Restorative rhinoplasty in the aging patient.

Objective: The objective of this study is to review our favorable experience in performing rhinoplasty in aging patients. Methods: All patients aged 65 years or greater who underwent rhinoplasty, either esthetic or functional, by the senior author (Y.D.) from August 1997 to July 2005 with a minimum follow up of 1 year were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 51 patients met the inclusion criteria and had complete records available for review. The average age was 69.5 years (range, 65–82 years) with 24 female and 27 male patients. All but two patients underwent open rhinoplasty. Eighteen procedures represented secondary rhinoplasties. Seven patients required auricular cartilage grafts, and 11 patients required costal cartilage grafts. One costal cartilage graft was aborted as a result of excessive calcification. All patients underwent columellar strut placement, 92% underwent internal valve grafts, and 80.4% underwent grafting of the external nasal valves. Nasal osteotomies were performed in only 23.5% of patients, all with the percutaneous technique. Revision surgery was necessary in only three (5.8%) patients, all of whom required grafting of the external valve (not performed primarily). In each of these cases, no significant external valve collapse was noted preoperatively. Premaxillary augmentation with diced or crushed cartilage grafts was performed in 81.8% (n = 18) of patients with an edentulous maxillary arch. Conclusions: Aging patients present unique technical challenges in rhinoplasty that warrant a comprehensive approach to restore internal and external valve competency and tip support. Consideration of prophylactic external valve grafts in addition to the routine use of internal valve grafts and columellar struts may help decrease the need for revision surgery in this patient population. Reasonable functional and esthetic outcomes can be expected in the aging patient.
Vortex Ventilation in the Laboratory Environment

Assured containment at low airflow has long eluded the users of ventilated enclosures including chemical fume hoods used throughout industry. It is proposed that containment will be enhanced in a hood that has a particular interior shape that causes a natural vortex to occur. The sustained vortex improves the containment of contaminants within the enclosure at low airflow. This hypothesis was tested using the ASHRAE 110 tracer gas test. A known volume of tracer gas was emitted in the hood. A MIRAN SapphIRe infrared spectrometer was used to measure the concentration of tracer gas that escapes the enclosure. The design of the experiment included a written operating procedure, data collection plan, and statistical analysis of the data. A chemical fume hood of traditional design was tested. The hood interior was then reconstructed to enhance the development of a vortex inside the enclosure. The hood was retested using the same method to compare the performance of the traditional interior shape with the enhanc...
Biographical Feature: John Matsen, M.D.

There are mentors, and then there are individuals who catapult the careers of others. There are ideologues, and then there are the rare few who shape their visions into something spectacularly innovative. Finally, there are teachers, researchers, and clinical microbiologists among us, but John
The presence of large amounts of adenosine triphosphate in phenol extracts of chicken lenses.

Abstract RNA obtained from chicken lenses by phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation is contaminated with large amounts of a dialyzable, ultraviolet-absorbing material. Analysis of this material by chromatographic, spectrophotometric and enzymatic means shows it to be ATP, and to have no significant content of oligonucleotides or other nucleoside triphosphates.
Social Development: the Economic, the Political, and the Normative Emphases

[This paper presents the possibility that a new definition of social development is emerging based upon global "value" transformations. Global value transformation can be found in such organizations as the United Nations, OPEC, and other international/ global organizations.Definitions of social development are briefly reviewed, the relationship between social work and social development is explored, the traditional emphases of social development (economic and political) are presented, and finally, the normative emphasis as a emerging focus of social development is introduced.An appendix which refers to social development and social change terminology is included.]
Human neutrophil protein kinase C: calcium-induced changes in the solubility of the enzyme do not always correlate with enzymatic activity.

Abstract We hypothesized that calcium and 1,2-diacylglycerols stimulated human neutrophil (PMN) protein kinase C (EC 2.7.1.37) in a two-step mechanism. The proposed mechanism entails (1) increased insoluble protein kinase C activity and (2) endogenous protein phosphorylation, events which have not been biochemically dissociated. PMN which were treated with 100 nM ionomycin shifted protein kinase C activity from being mostly soluble to insoluble. Concentrations of ionomycin greater than 300 nM stimulated a doubling of total cellular (soluble + insoluble) protein kinase activity and stimulated increased endogenous phosphorylation of PMN proteins. Intracellular calcium (measured with fura-2) increased from 65 nM (basal) to 680 nM using 500 nM ionomycin; calcium increases were dose-dependent. The anti-inflammatory agents acetylsalicylic acid and sodium salicylate (but not ibuprophen, indomethacin or acetaminophen) inhibited ionomycin-induced protein kinase C activation and protein phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting the production of diacylglycerols. 1-Oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol reversed the inhibitory effect of salicylates. In contrast to the effect of acetylsalicylates on protein kinase C functional activity the distribution of phorbol-receptors was unaffected in acetylsalicylate-treated, ionomycin-stimulated PMN using a phorbol-binding assay. Our results show that ionomycin increased intracellular diacylglycerol levels 3.5-fold over those present in control PMN, while acetylsalicylate decreased diacylglycerol production in ionomycin-stimulates PMN below baseline values. These results support the hypothesis that increased intracellular calcium activated protein kinase C leading to protein phosphorylation in two distinct dissociable events: (1) increased intracellular calcium; and (2) increased 1,2-diacylglycerol levels.
A Risk Assessment Architecture for Enhanced Engine Operation

On very rare occasions, in-flight emergencies have occurred that required the pilot to utilize the aircraft's capabilities to the fullest extent possible, sometimes using actuators in ways for which they were not intended. For instance, when flight control has been lost due to damage to the hydraulic systems, pilots have had to use engine thrust to maneuver the plane to the ground and in for a landing. To assist the pilot in these situations, research is being performed to enhance the engine operation by making it more responsive or able to generate more thrust. Enabled by modification of the propulsion control, enhanced engine operation can increase the probability of a safe landing during an inflight emergency. However, enhanced engine operation introduces risk as the nominal control limits, such as those on shaft speed, temperature, and acceleration, are exceeded. Therefore, an on-line tool for quantifying this risk must be developed to ensure that the use of an enhanced control mode does not actually increase the overall danger to the aircraft. This paper describes an architecture for the implementation of this tool. It describes the type of data and algorithms required and the information flow, and how the risk based on engine component lifing and operability for enhanced operation is determined.
Coulomb excitation of 117, 119Sn

Abstract A total of 5 states in 117Sn and 4 states in 119Sn were observed to be Coulomb excited with α-particle and 16O projectiles. Level energies, spins, B(E2) and B(M1) transition probabilities and mean-lives were obtained. For 117Sn, spin 3 2 + states were observed at 158.7 and 1005 keV and spin 5 2 + states were observed at 1020, 1180 and 1447 keV. For 119Sn, spin 3 2 + states were observed at 23.9 and 920.5 keV and spin 5 2 + states were observed at 921.4, 1090 and 1354 keV. A total of 20 B(E2) values were obtained and they varied in magnitude from 1 10 to 10 times the single-particle estimate. About 12 B(M1) values were obtained and they range from 10−1 to 10−4 of the single-particle estimate. Evidence was found for the existence of quadrupole collective states built on low-lying excited quasiparticle states.
High-Q UV whispering gallery mode resonators made of angle-cut BBO crystals

We report an investigation on angle-cut beta barium borate (BBO) whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators operating in the ultra violet (UV) wavelength range. A quality (Q) factor of 1.5 × 108 has been demonstrated at 370 nm. New upper bounds for the absorption coefficients of BBO are obtained from the Q factor measurements. Moreover, polarization rotations of WGMs in the angle-cut birefringent resonators are observed and investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this is not only the first reported demonstration of an angle-cut WGM resonator but also the first reported high Q WGM resonator in the UV region.
THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE WORLD: W.E.B. DU BOIS AND THE RACE CONCEPT AT MIDCENTURY

Eric Porter, THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE WORLD: W.E.B. DU BOIS AND THE RACE CONCEPT AT MIDCENTURY, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010, 237 pp., $22.95/£14.99 (paper) The work of W.E.B Du Bois th...
Implementation of alternating minimization algorithms for fully 3D CT imaging

Algorithms based on alternating minimization (AM) have recently been derived for computing maximum-likelihood images in transmission CT, incorporating accurate models of the transmission-imaging process. In this work we report the first fully three-dimensional implementation of these algorithms, intended for use with multi-row detector spiral CT systems. The most demanding portion of the computations, the three-dimensional projections and backprojections, are calculated using a precomputed lookup table containing a discretized version of the point-spread function that maps between the measurement and image spaces. This table accounts for the details of the scanner. A cylindrical phantom with cylindrical and spherical inserts of known attenuation was scanned with a Siemens Sensation 16, which was employed in a rapid, spiral acquisition mode with 16 active detector rows. These data were downsampled and reconstructed using a monoenergetic version of our AM algorithm. The estimated attenuation coefficients closely match the known coefficients for the cylinder and the embedded objects. We are investigating methods for further accelerating these computations by using a combination of techniques that reduce the time of each iteration and that increase the convergence of the log-likelihood from iteration to iteration.
Methods of Estimating Larval Fish Mortality from Daily Increments in Otoliths

Abstract Two methods are presented for estimating instantaneous daily mortality rates of larval fishes with otolith-increment data. The first involves construction of a histogram of the numbers of daily increments per larva from a sample of larvae, and estimation of mortality from the decline in the loge-transformed increment-frequency curve. The second approach is to convert larva lengths to number of increments with a growth curve derived from otolith data, and then to estimate mortality from the descending limb of a loge-transformed increment-frequency histogram. Counts of daily increments in otoliths of larval anadromous alewives Alosa pseudoharengus collected from a coastal Massachusetts pond were used to compare results from these two methods with results from a third method that uses the decline in catch per unit effort of larvae through time. The estimate of instantaneous daily mortality for larval alewives from otolith methods was 0.122, which was an average rate for larvae 6.0 to 13.9 mm total l...
Energy-aware design for multi-rail encoding using NCL

A novel technique named Signal Bypassing and Zero Insertion to design energy-aware asynchronous circuits in multi-rail encoding logic is developed. Several examples including pipeline components, multiplier, and counter are designed and simulated. The proposed technique has advantages in energy saving and delay reduction as well.
Ca2+-activated ATPase during the cell cycle of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus☆

Abstract During the first divisions of S. purpuratus an ATPase is found which shows in every cell cycle one activity peak in interphase and another one during metaphase. The enzyme is Ca2+-activated and has a pH-optimum at pH 8.5. The increase of activity cannot be prevented by colchicine or lithium; both activity peaks can be inhibited by a puromycin treatment which prevents the cells from entering mitosis. A connection between the enzyme and the chromosome cycle is discussed.
Synthesis of n-octyltrichlorosilane labeled with 13C in the terminal position

This report describes the synthesis of carbon-13 labeled n-octyltrichloro silane from 13C-barium carbonate. The product is labeled at the 8-position of the alkyl chain.
Numerical solution for trapped modes around inclined Venice gates

For protection against storm tides, four mobile barriers, each of which consists of 20 gates hinged at the bottom axis, have been proposed to span the three inlets of the Venice lagoon. In stormy weather these gates are raised from their housing to an inclination of 50° from the horizon, so as to act as a dam and to keep the water-level difference up to 2 m across the barrier. The gates were originally expected to swing in unison in response to the normally incident waves, but subsequent laboratory experiments revealed that the neighboring gates can oscillate out of phase in a variety of ways and affect the intended efficiency. In this paper we extend the linear theory of Mei, Sammarco, Chan, and Procaccini for trapped waves around vertical rectangular gates and examine the inclined gates by using the hybrid finite-element method to account for the prototype geometry of the gates, the local bathymetry, and the intended sea-level differences. Finite elements are employed only in the immediate neighborhood ...