cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Human Rights Memory Media

We can link the emergence, growth, and proliferation of memory studies to post-violent environments and processes by which communities must come to terms with human rights violations and traumatic ...
A Novel Mechanism to Drive Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Androgen receptor signaling is critical for prostate adenocarcinoma, even after androgen deprivation therapy. Persistence of intratumoral androgens has been found in castration-resistant prostate cancer and attributed to increased in situ synthesis. Recently, Sharifi and colleagues reported an additional mechanism that can enhance local androgenic exposure: downregulation of an androgen-inactivating enzyme.
Community Processes: Coordination

Coordination of emergent community responses to disasters has challenged emergency managers especially in highly decentralized nations. Following a statement of theoretical context, five topics are assessed: 1) problem identification: fragmentation; 2) objects of study; 3) basic principles; 4) change agent strategies; and 5) future research agendas. Recent research indicates that community change agents have implemented numerous strategies that have increased resilience and reduced vulnerability. The analysis concludes that emergency managers must transcend the paradigm of community coordination toward a more active image of community change agents. This paradigm shift suggests several research agendas, including among others, documentation of coordination processes stemming from mitigation efforts and social adaptations to the enormous human consequences of climate change, impacts and limitations of information technologies, gender and vulnerable population issues.
HERD IMMUNITY – CHANGING CONCEPTS

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the changing concepts of herd immunity. Herd immunity is an integral part of epidemic theory, as it applies to agents that spread by relatively direct means from host to host and induce significant postinfection immunity. Epidemics arise when such agents are introduced into populations containing susceptible individuals, who make sufficient contact with one another to permit transfer of infection from each newly infected host to, on the average, more than one susceptible host. The epidemic curve declines when, on the average, each new case infects less than one susceptible and the outbreak terminates as the probability of transmission from a new case approaches zero, typically well before the supply of susceptible has been exhausted. In general, systematic immunization programs should be accompanied by surveys to identify particularly susceptible population subgroups and should provide for special efforts to reach groups identified.
Machine learning estimators for lattice QCD observables

A novel technique using machine learning (ML) to reduce the computational cost of evaluating lattice QCD observables is presented. The ML is trained on a subset of background gauge field configurations, called the labeled set, to predict an observable $O$ from the values of correlated, but less compute-intensive, observables $\mathbf{X}$ calculated on the full sample. By using a second subset, also part of the labeled set, we estimate the bias in the result predicted by the trained ML algorithm. A reduction in the computational cost by about 7%--38% is demonstrated for two different lattice QCD calculations using the Boosted decision tree regression ML algorithm: (1) prediction of the nucleon three-point correlation functions that yield isovector charges from the two-point correlation functions and (2) prediction of the phase acquired by the neutron mass when a small $CP$ violating interaction, the quark chromoelectric dipole moment interaction, is added to QCD, again from the two-point correlation functions calculated without $CP$ violation.
Passive ISAR part II: narrowband imaging

In part II of the passive inverse synthetic radar (P-ISAR) sequence, implications of narrow signal bandwidths on image formation procedures are considered within the previously developed P-ISAR framework of part I. Specifically, the case of single-channel digital television imaging systems is evaluated. For average sized airborne targets illuminated with narrow signal bandwidths, the response is confined to one or two down-range resolution cells, which has significant impact on both inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) resolutions and motion compensation procedures. Simulated results demonstrate that a non-parametric autofocus method, phase gradient algorithm, does not necessarily converge to a properly focused image. Contrast and entropy metrics are also shown to be insufficient for the narrowband imaging case. A parametric Doppler centroid approach is proposed for phase compensation, with resulting imagery closely resembling clairvoyant reconstruction. Finally, the proposed architecture is evaluated in full-scale experiments of commercial air targets, demonstrating the potential for discriminating large and small aircrafts.
Adjuvant Pelvic Radiation "Sandwiched" Between Paclitaxel/Carboplatin Chemotherapy in Women With Completely Resected Uterine Serous Carcinoma: Long-term Follow-up of a Prospective Phase 2 Trial.

Objective We prospectively evaluated patients with completely resected uterine serous carcinoma (USC) treated with radiation “sandwiched” between carboplatin/paclitaxel (C/T). The primary objective was to determine the safety profile, and the secondary outcome was to evaluate progression-free and overall survival. Methods Surgically staged patients with completely resected USC were enrolled to receive 3 cycles of paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 and carboplatin (area under the curve, 6–7.5) every 21 days, followed by radiotherapy and an additional 3 cycles of T/C at area under the curve of 5–6 (6 cycles + radiotherapy). Toxicity was graded according to National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria, version 4.03. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to compare survival probabilities. Results One hundred forty patients were enrolled, of which 132 were evaluable, completed at least 3 cycles of chemotherapy and radiation. One hundred seven (81%) completed 6 cycles of chemotherapy and radiation. Patients with early-stage (I/II) disease have survival probabilities of 0.96 and 0.81 at 2 and 5 years. Patients with stage I USC and lymphovascular invasion have considerably worse overall survival, with 2.7 times’ higher risk of death than those without lymphovascular invasion. Patients with late-stage (III/IV) disease had overall survival probabilities of 0.64 and 0.18 at 2 and 5 years, which is far higher survival than what has been reported in single-modality trials. Interestingly, and different than what is reported in other studies, there is no difference in survival in African Americans versus whites/other races who were evaluable. Of the 779 cycles administered, 22% and 14% of cycles were associated with grades 3 and 4 hematologic toxicities, respectively. Grades 3 and 4 nonhematologic toxicities occurred in 6.9% of cycles. Conclusions The long-term follow-up in this study demonstrates that “sandwich” therapy is an efficacious, well-tolerated treatment approach with acceptable toxicities. Lymphovascular invasion (LVSI) is a significantly poor prognostic factor in stage I USC. Multimodal “sandwich” therapy should be considered in all USC patients who have undergone complete surgical resection and staging.
Repair of Congenital Diaphragm Hernias: Morgagni and Bochdalek

Morgagni and Bochdalek hernias are two types of congenital diaphragmatic hernias that are commonly seen in the pediatric population. Although much more rare, they are also seen in the adult population in otherwise asymptomatic individuals. This chapter looks at the embryology, presentation, and surgical techniques for repair of these hernias in the adult population, specifically focusing on the minimally invasive approach to repair.
Mutation in the vasopressin gene eliminates the sex difference in social reinforcement in adolescent rats

The neuropeptide, arginine vasopressin (AVP), is thought to contribute to sex differences in normative and pathological social development by regulating social motivation. Recent studies using Brattleboro rats that have a mutation in the Avp gene, however, have suggested that AVP impacts adolescent social behaviors of males and females in a similar manner through actions on behavioral state (i.e., arousal). In the present study, we made use of a recently developed operant conditioning paradigm to test whether the chronic, lifelong AVP deficiency caused by the Brattleboro mutation impacts the reinforcement value of social stimuli during adolescence. Operant responding for access to a familiar conspecific was assessed in male and female adolescent wild type (WT; normal AVP), heterozygous Brattleboro (HET), and homozygous Brattleboro (HOM) rats. Following the social reinforcement test, rats were tested in the same operant paradigm except that the social reinforcer was replaced with a light reinforcer to determine whether effects of the Brattleboro mutation were specific to social stimuli or a general characteristic of operant conditioning. WT males directed a greater proportion of their responding toward the social and light stimuli than WT females; only males exhibited a preference for these reinforcers over unreinforced ports. The sex difference in social reinforcement was absent in HOM rats, whereas the sex difference in light reinforcement was present in all genotypes. These data indicate that adolescent males are more sensitive to the reinforcing properties of social and light stimuli, and that the sex difference in social, but not light, reinforcement depends upon normal levels of AVP. These findings support the hypothesis that AVP plays a critical role in sex differences in social development by acting on factors that influence social motivation.
Demo: Expanding Blocks4All with Variables and Functions

Blocks-based programming environments are often inaccessible for children with visual impairments who cannot interact with their visual components. We present our work on expanding Blocks4All, a touchscreen-based blocks-based programming environment that is accessible with screen readers, to improve its accessibility and expand its functionality. We describe our designs to support more complex functionality such as modifiable blocks, variables and functions and provide our code to encourage others to make their own environments accessible. We plan to evaluate the updated interface with children with low vision participating in a robotics competition
Automatic Peak Integration and Baseline Correction for Micro-scale Gas Chromatographs Using Continuous Wavelet Transform

Chromatograms generated by micro-scale gas chromatographs are complex sensor signals comprised of multiple chemical retention peaks superimposed upon a non-monotonic baseline. Depending on the chemical properties, the peaks may have Gaussian shapes with different widths, heights, skew, and overlap, all of which pose challenges to automated recognition and quantification of chemicals. This paper presents an automatic algorithm based on continuous wavelet transforms for peak integration and baseline correction of chromatograms generated by micro-scale gas chromatographs. This algorithm identifies peaks using a dynamic filter based on the inherent and known relationship between the peak widths and peak locations. The width of each peak is determined from continuous wavelet transform coefficients by locating the pair of local minima that straddle the apex. This approach provides peak detection and width estimation with low false positive rates, even for skewed peaks with tailing or fronting and for non-monotonic baselines.
Efficiently adding up our sensory evidence.

How do we effectively process the information arriving to our senses to make adaptive decisions and behave appropriately, and which brain areas are responsible? A new study combines multimodal noninvasive neuroimaging in humans to reveal the anatomical locus of efficient sensory evidence accumulation.
Papillary fibroelastoma presenting with multi-organ symptoms.

Papillary fibroelastomas are a rare cardiac neoplasm typically found on the left side of the heart, and most commonly on the aortic valve, which can present with cardiac or neurologic symptoms. A 5...
A Comparative Case Study on Process Optimization and the Modern Law Library’s Involvement in Achieving Efficiency at the Law School in Times of Change

Law firms have been utilizing process optimization tools, such as Lean Six Sigma, to improve internal processes and build efficiencies. Successful outcomes require leadership teams that believe tha...
Genomic profile of columnar cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Columnar cell variant (CCV) is a rare papillary thyroid carcinoma subtype. The majority of CCV occur in older patients and are large, invasive tumours that pursue an aggressive clinical course. Rare well-circumscribed CCV occur in younger female patients and are comparatively indolent. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively identified CCV with material available to perform targeted next-generation sequencing and correlated molecular results with clinicopathological features and outcome. Our cohort was comprised of nine CCV. Nearly all were aggressive tumours; however, one was predominantly well-circumscribed and arose in a thyroglossal duct cyst of a 26-year-old woman who had no evidence of disease at last follow-up. Seven (78%) cases demonstrated activating oncogenic driver alterations in BRAF, including BRAF V600E, an activating N486_P490del deletion, and BRAF-AGK fusions. Activating RAS mutations were seen in two (22%) cases. Additionally, three (33%) cases had TERT promoter mutations, four (44%) had loss of the tumour suppressor CDKN2A and one (11%) case had a loss of function TP53 mutation. Most cases (89%) also demonstrated copy number alterations, including recurrent gain of chromosome 1q (five cases) and losses of chromosome 9p (three cases) and 22q (four cases). The one case without secondary pathogenic mutations or copy number alterations was the tumour in the 26-year-old woman. CONCLUSIONS We found that CCV is primarily a BRAF-driven tumour, with most also harbouring secondary oncogenic mutations and multiple chromosomal gains and losses. Moreover, our findings suggest that molecular analysis could potentially be used to help risk stratify CCV.
Phase I clinical trial of an antithrombotic drug protocol combining apixaban and clopidogrel in dogs.

Abstract Introduction Combining an antiplatelet drug, clopidogrel, with the direct oral Factor Xa inhibitor, apixaban, could provide an effective antithrombotic strategy in dogs. Thus, a limited 3 + 3 phase I dose-escalation clinical trial in healthy dogs was conducted to evaluate bleeding (primary end-point) and pharmacodynamic (PD)/pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters (secondary end-point). Animals Eleven beagle dogs, median body weight 10.2 kg (9.7–10.9 kg), were enrolled. Methods Four doses of apixaban (three dogs/dose) administered for eight days. Clopidogrel dose was fixed at 18.75 mg per os (PO) q 24 h with escalation of apixaban dose at 5 mg PO q 12 h, 5 mg PO q 8 h, 10 mg PO q 12 h, and 10 mg PO q 8 h. Laboratory testing included fecal occult blood, coagulation parameters, Factor X activity, apixaban concentration, platelet aggregometry, and thromboelastography on days 1, 3, and 8. Results Evidence of bleeding was not observed at any dosage. Dose-dependent changes in PD/PK parameters between baseline and 3 h post-medication were observed including a prolongation of prothrombin time, a prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time, a decrease of Factor X activity level, and increased apixaban concentration. Conclusions The combination of apixaban at a dosage range of approximately 0.5 mg/kg PO q 12 h to 1 mg/kg PO q 8 h and clopidogrel at approximately 1.8 mg/kg PO q 24 h did not cause bleeding over a one-week period in healthy dogs. Clinically relevant changes in PD/PK data occur at all dosage levels. This study provides a starting point for longer-term clinical trials to determine safety and efficacy.
Lysophospholipid (S1P) receptors in GtoPdb v.2021.2

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptors (nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee on Lysophospholipid receptors [89]) are activated by the endogenous lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). Originally cloned as orphan members of the endothelial differentiation gene (edg) family [16, 112], the receptors are currently designated as S1P1R through S1P5R [69, 16, 112]. Their gene nomenclature has been codified as human S1PR1, S1PR2, etc. (HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee, HGNC) and S1pr1, S1pr2, etc. for mice (Mouse Genome Informatics Database, MGI) to reflect species and receptor function. All S1P receptors have been knocked-out in mice constitutively and in some cases, conditionally. S1PRs, particularly S1P1, are expressed throughout all mammalian organ systems. Ligand delivery occurs via two known carriers (or "chaperones"): albumin and HDL-bound apolipoprotein M (ApoM), the latter of which elicits biased agonist signaling by S1P1 in multiple cell types [18, 49]. The five S1PRs, two chaperones, and active cellular metabolism have complicated analyses of receptor ligand binding in native systems. Signaling pathways and physiological roles have been characterized through radioligand binding in heterologous expression systems, targeted deletion of the different S1PRs, and most recently, mouse models that report in vivo S1P1R activation [94, 96]. A crystal structure of an S1P1-T4 fusion protein confirmed aspects of ligand binding, specificity, and receptor activation, determined previously through biochemical and genetic studies [65, 17]. fingolimod (FTY720), the first FDA-approved drug to target any of the lysophospholipid receptors, binds as a phosphorylated metabolite to four of the five S1PRs, and was the first oral therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) [33]. siponimod and ozanimod that target S1P1 and S1P5 are also FDA approved for the treatment of various MS forms [16, 112]. The mechanisms of action of fingolimod and other S1PR-modulating drugs now in development include binding S1PRs in multiple organ systems, e.g., immune and nervous systems, although the precise nature of their receptor interactions requires clarification [129, 35, 59, 60].
From Criminal Man to Carceral Body: An Ethnography of Intake in the New York City Jails

This article calls for an abolitionist turn in Science and Technology Studies (STS) in order to engage with mass incarceration and the carceral-industrial-complex. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in New York City jails, this article sets out to (1) argue for an abolitionist STS that intervenes in the racialized logics of “criminal man”; (2) offer the carceral body as arising from this abolitionist intervention into mass incarceration; and (3) illustrate how ontological multiplicities and critical phenomenology might be deployed as abolitionist STS tools. The premise is that ending mass incarceration requires philosophical interventions that resist the current racist, capitalist framework of the carceral-industrial-complex by disrupting the very foundations of reality. Abolitionist STS arises out of feminist and critical race STS as an intervention not only into criminology, but also into social theory’s ontological turn by attending to the interplay of carceral epistemologies and ontologies. When multiplicities, experientialities, complexities, contradictions, and power dynamics are drawn out, abolition is no longer an undoing but a proliferation that disinvests and contravenes carceral logics.
Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the Tropics: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Future of Latin America

1. A spot for manifest destiny 2. Antilles to Isthmus 3. Beyond Kansas 4. Caribbeanizing the house divided 5. A matter of inches 6. Freedom in the tropics.
Molecular Phylogeny of Chlamydia and Relatives

Chlamydia spp. cause a variety of human and animal diseases and are one of the most prevalent causes of sexually transmitted diseases. By 16S rRNA analysis, chlamydiae fall into one of about 40 "divisions," or main relatedness groups, that make up the bacterial phylogenetic domain. The application of PCR coupled with rRNA-based phylogenetic techniques has resulted in a substantial accumulation of Chlamydia-related sequences. Phylogenetic analyses from several laboratories generally concur in their assessments of the phylogeny of the group. The Chlamydia species are all relatively closely related, yet until recently they have represented an entire bacterial division. Phylogenetic analyses carried out with the RNase P RNA sequences from C. trachomatis, C. pneumoniae, and C. psittaci, the only ones available, support the rRNA tree, showing that C. pneumoniae and C. psittaci are more closely related to each other than either is to C. trachomatis. All known members of the Chlamydiales phylogenetic division are intracellular parasites, although it is possible that free-living instances of the division exist in the environment. Members of the Planctomycetales and Verrucomicrobiales divisions are little-studied organisms that recent molecular studies show to be conspicuous in the environment. Although their relatedness through sequence comparisons is currently ambiguous, an additional similarity between members of these groups and members of Chlamydiales is the apparent lack of peptidoglycan in their cell walls. Complete genome sequences of representatives of the Planctomycetales and Verrucomicrobiales will facilitate a better analysis of their possible specific relationships with the Chlamydiales, and increase knowledge of bacterial division-level diversity.
Executive information systems: a critical perspective

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to clarify what EIS are, why they are developed, and what should be considered when such systems are proposed. Although EIS can be very valuable, there is a need for a critical perspective and careful review of proposed investments in such systems. Various organizational conditions might lead to a premature development of EIS when the required MIS sub-structure is not yet well formed, and when investments in MIS would be more beneficial. Furthermore, for some situations, the periodic distribution of focused and integrated MIS reports may be better than the online EIS reporting mode.
Towards an Incremental Update Approach for Concrete Textual Syntaxes for UUID-Based Model Repositories

Textual concrete syntaxes for models are beneficial for many reasons. They foster usability and productivity because of their fast editing style, their usage of error markers, autocompletion and quick fixes. Several frameworks and tools from different communities for creating concrete textual syntaxes for models emerged during recent years. However, these approaches failed to provide a solution in general. Open issues are incremental parsing and model updating as well as partial and federated views. On the other hand incremental parsing and the handling of abstract syntaxes as leading entities has been solved within the compiler construction communities many years ago. In this short paper we envision an approach for the mapping of concrete textual syntaxes that makes use of the incremental parsing techniques from the compiler construction world. Thus, we circumvent problems that occur when dealing with concrete textual syntaxes in a UUID based environment.
Immunopathogenesis of chronic periapical lesions: A review

The pathogenesis of periapical lesions has not been fully elucidated. Currently, the possibility of its being an immunologic phenomenon is receiving much attention. This article presents a review of the literature concerning immunologic reactions which may involve periapical lesions. It appears that antigen-antibody complexes and IgE-mediated reactions can initiate preliminary changes in periapical tissues. It is also likely that delayed hypersensitivity participates in the perpetuation and progression of periapical disease.
Phase III Trials

The objective of phase III clinical trials is to confirm the preliminary but inconclusive evidence obtained from phase II studies that a drug is safe and effective for the intended indication in the relevant patient population. Phase III studies provide the primary basis upon which drugs are approved for use by the various regulatory agencies. Because no universally best approach to phase III research exists, it is important to tailor features of the study to the specific situation at hand. This article focuses on the key aspects of the design, conduct, and analysis of phase III trials and the trade-offs between them that are necessary to consider when designing a trial intended to yield confirmatory evidence of a drug's effect. Nevertheless, even the best designed trials will have limitations. Any one trial may address its primary hypotheses with little or no ambiguity while other important questions remain unresolved. Therefore, information from the current trial, coupled with knowledge from earlier trials, is used to continually reevaluate what is known. With this knowledge one must reconsider what important questions remain unresolved, and continue to plan and conduct appropriate studies to address the unresolved questions. Keywords: Clinical trials; Phase III
Design principles for high efficiency small-grain polysilicon solar cells, with supporting experimental studies

Design principles suggested here aim toward high conversion efficiency (greater than 15 percent) in polysilicon cells. The principles seek to decrease the liabilities of both intragranular and grain-boundary-surface defects. The advantages of a phosphorus atom concentration gradient in a thin (less than 50 microns) base of a p(+)/n(x)/n(+) drift-field solar cell, which produces favorable gradients in chemical potential, minority-carrier mobility and diffusivity, and recombination lifetime (via phosphorus gettering) are suggested. The degrading effects of grain boundaries are reduced by these three gradients and by substituting atoms (P, H, F or Li) for vacancies on the grain-boundary surface. From recent experiments comes support for the benefits of P diffusion down grain boundaries and, for quasi-grain-boundary-free and related structures. New analytic solutions for the n(x)-base include the effect of a power-law dependence between P concentration and lifetime. These provide an upper-bound estimate on the open circuit voltage. Finite-difference numerical solutions of the six Shockley equations furnish complete information about all solar-cell parameters and add insight concerning design.
An innovative interprofessional education model to engage community and nonclinical participants

Many institutions and individuals are encouraging use of interprofessional educational models to prepare future health care professionals who can effectively address complex healthcare needs in a dynamic healthcare environment. This report describes a seven-step model to plan and implement university-based interprofessional healthcare education. The model is unique in that it incorporates faculty and students from both clinical and nonclinical professional programs, administrators, as well as community partners into the interprofessional healthcare education deliberation and implementation process. It also incorporates many guiding principles for planning and implementing interprofessional education discussed in the literature.
A Dynamic Normalized Weighting Based Context Reasoning in Home-Based Care

Some types of contextual information are more important than others for inferring a situation of the patient in home-based care. The weight of this information may be changed due to the variations of the sensed values over time. Some researches applied a static weighting based fusion process to their systems to model these variations. However, this fusion process sometimes reduces the reliability of contextual information, since it does not consider a dynamic change of the importance over time. We propose the dynamic weighting based evidential fusion process (DWEFP) as a context reasoning method. DWEFP applies a normalized weighting technique to dynamic evidential networks for improving the confidence level of contextual information. To show the improvement of the proposed method, we compare our DWEFP with previous static weighting based fusion methods such as Bayesian Networks (BNs), Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST), Static Evidential Fusion Process (SEFP), Dynamic Evidential Fusion Process (DEFP), and Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs).
Soluble and participate activators of complement and granulomatous pulmonary reactions

In order to test the hypothesis that the histological changes of extrinsic allergic alveolitis result from non-specific activation of the complement cascade we studied pulmonary reactions to equivalent doses of soluble and particulate activators of complement in rats. A single intratracheal instillation of zymosan, a particulate activator of the complement system, produced a florid granulomatous pneumonitis which was maximal at 5 days. This granulomatous reaction did not appear to be associated with the development of hypersensitivity to zymosan. Complement depletion by cobra venom factor did not suppress the granulomatous reaction. Equivalent doses of soluble activators of complement failed to produce any inflammatory changes in the lung. Large doses of immune complex produced an acute, complement dependent, haemorrhagic alveolitis which was maximal at 8 hr and which resolved completely by 48 hr. We conclude that the late granulomatous pulmonary reaction to intra-tracheally administered zymosan is not due to an immune response, or a consequence of direct activation of the alternative pathway of complement, but is of 'foreign body' type. We urge caution in drawing conclusions regarding the pathogenesis of the allergic alveolitides on histological appearances alone.
Bound-neutrino sphere and spontaneous neutrino-pair creation in cold neutron stars.

It is shown that neutrinos (massless or massive), produced with kinetic energies below \ensuremath{\sim}50 eV in a supernova, have bound orbits in the remnant neutron star. The binding is mediated by a radial weak-interaction force, caused by a gradient in the collective weak potential of the neutrons in the star. This force is also able to create spontaneously neutrino-antineutrino pairs. If the bound-neutrino sphere is not fully degenerate at low momenta, a cold neutron star will shine continuously antineutrinos with energies \ensuremath{\lesssim}50 eV, as a result of the density gradient in it. In principle, these effects can also be realized at smaller (e.g., solid) densities for sufficiently low neutrino energies.
A particle detector using solid neon frozen from a neon-hydrogen mixture

Abstract In developing an electromagnetic calorimeter to improve the analysis of neutrino events in large bubble chambers, the possibility of using a sandwich structure of lead and solid neon has been discussed. The tests reported here demonstrate that when neon-hydrogen mixtures, available in large quantities at CERN and Fermilab, are frozen in a small ionization counter the pulses produced by high energy muons are comparable to those seen previously with pure neon. It has also been demonstrated that contaminated and thus insensitive liquid argon yields clear particle pulses after it has been frozen solid.
The rate of development of a microsporidan in moth cell culture.

A microsporidan parasite of the forest tent caterpillar Malacosoma disstria infected cells and replicated in vitro in a line from the moth Heliothis zea. After spore germination, the incidence of infected cells increased with time until leveling off with sporulation. During the first 24 hr, there was a static number of parasites, followed by a 2-day logarithmic growth phase during which the population doubled five to six times. The growth rate was 9 to 11 hr per population doubling. Sporulation commenced on day 3, and 40 to 50 spores were recovered from each infected cell. The life cycle was completed within 6 days, culminating in spores that were infectious for cultured cells. The antibiotic fumagillin at a dose of 1 ppm in the culture medium was microsporida-static.
Effect of neonatal dietary cholesterol deprivation in pigs with genetically high or low plasma cholesterol on plasma lipids and early atherogenesis

Sixty-eight neonatal female pigs from populations selected for high (HG) or low (LG) plasma total cholesterol were used in two experiments to test the hypothesis that dietary cholesterol deprivation during the first 4 or 8 weeks of postnatal life increases plasma total cholesterol and exacerbates early aortic atherogenic lesions following free access to a high fat (15 g/100g)-high cholesterol (0.5 g/100g) diet from 4 or 8 weeks to 5 or 6 mo of age. Pigs were removed from their dam at one d of age and given free access to a modified sow-milk replacer diet containing 0 or 0.5% crystalline cholesterol. In each experiment, half of the HG and LG pigs were fed a sow-milk replacer diet containing 0 cholesterol and half were fed the same diet containing 0.5% added cholesterol. All pigs (except HG and Lg pigs in experiment 2 deprived of cholesterol throughout) were fed a 15% fat-0.5% cholesterol diet from 57 d to 6 mo (experiment 1) or 5 mo (experiment 2) of age. Overall total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were greater in HG than in LG pigs (P<0.01) and less in pigs fed no cholesterol than in those fed cholesterol neonatally (P<0.05) in both experiments. Nevertheless, dietary cholesterol deprivation neonatally in either HG or LG pigs did not affect the incidence or severity of aortic myogenic fiber degeneration, considered to be an early stage of atherogenic lesion development in these experimental swine. It is concluded that early aortic atherogenic lesions induced in young adult female HG and LG pigs by a high dietary cholesterol challenge during the postweaning period are not exacerbated by dietary cholesterol deprivation in neonatal life.
Tubal sterilization in relation to breast cancer risk

Tubal sterilization methods may damage surrounding tissue, potentially disrupting the ovarian blood supply and hormonal functioning, and may decrease breast cancer risk. We examined this hypothesis, within the Nurses' Health Study, among 77,511 women, aged 30–55 years and free of cancer at the start of follow-up in 1976. We documented 4,176 cases of invasive breast cancer from 1976 to 2000. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for multiple breast cancer risk factors, provided rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Overall, tubal sterilization was not associated with breast cancer risk (RR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.88–1.03). However, tubal sterilizations performed from 1970 to 1974 were inversely associated with risk (RR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.73–0.97), while procedures performed in other years were not associated with risk. Among women with procedures performed in 1970–1974, those who were ≥35 years old at the time of sterilization were at the lowest risk (RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.66–0.98), while younger women had a suggested decreased risk (RR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.72–1.06). Overall, tubal sterilization was not associated with breast cancer risk. However, a modest inverse association was observed at a time when the potentially destructive unipolar electrocautery method was commonly used, providing some support for an association between lower lifetime exposure to hormones and a decreased risk of breast cancer. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Anesthesiologic aspects of laparoscopic fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux in children with chronic respiratory and gastroenterological symptoms

Introduction: During the past three decades laparoscopy has significantly improved. As fundoplication extensively benefits by the great advantages of the minimally invasive approach, many surgeons chose laparoscopic fundoplication for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux in adults and children as well. Pneumothorax, cardiovascular collapse, hypoxia, and hypercarbia are some of the anesthesiologist's principal fears during carbon dioxide insufflation. Thus, monitoring cardiovascular and respiratory status is mandatory to early detect any complication and to maintain a proper balance during pneumoperitoneum. Materials and methods: At Gaslini Children's Hospital we performed a prospective nonrandomized study aimed at describing the main cardiorespiratory changes produced by pneumoperitoneum in 33 pediatric patients operated on by laparoscopic fundoplication between January 2000 and June 2001. Patients were divided into two groups; namely, group A and group B. Group A included 14 patients with chronic respiratory symptoms, and group B included 19 children who preoperatively mainly emphasized gastrointestinal symptoms. We monitored intraoperative cardiorespiratory status, timed length of surgery, and described intraoperative complications. Results: No significant cardiovascular changes occurred during carbon dioxide insufflation. Partial oxygen saturation remained still in all the patients. End tidal CO2, meanly higher in group A children, increased in all the patients after pneumoperitoneum creation, but never exceeded 45 mmHg. Similarly, peak inspiratory pressure increased in all the patients, but was always maintained within acceptable values. Finally, group B patients required a harder and slower surgery, whose length seems to be negatively influenced by age. No intraoperative complication occurred. Conclusions: Carbon dioxide insufflation does not impair cardiovascular function, if intraabdominal pressure is maintained lower than 10 mmHg nor does it interfere with gas exchanges. Pneumoperitoneum slightly reduces ventilatory function, mainly in respiratory patients with various degrees of underlying bronchopulmonary impairments, but this effect is easily correctable. Thus, laparoscopic fundoplication is feasible and safe in both respiratory and gastroenterological patients, although surgery is easier and faster if periesophagitis is less evident.
Synthesis and Identification of Graft Copolymers of Wood Pulp and 4-Methyl-2-oxy-3-oxopent-4-ene

Abstract A set of graft copolymers of wood pulp and 4-methyl-2-oxy-3-oxopent-4-ene has been synthesized. The graft reaction is a free radical polymerization coinitiated by calcium chloride, hydrogen peroxide on wood pulp in dimethylsulfoxide at 30°C. The wood pulps used in this research are unbleached products produced by chemical, thermal and mechanical pulping. All of them contain 25 to 29 weight percent lignin. Separation of the grafted wood pulp from homopoly(1-methyl-1-(2-oxy-1-oxopropyl)ethylene) formed during the reaction was done by benzene extraction. The results show that after the reaction, virtually all the wood pulps have a weight increase and, for very high yield sodium bisulfite pulp, a weight increase of up to 92.7% of the original weight of pulp was obtained. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of the benzene unextr-actable fractions provide strong proof of grafting. The grafted wood pulp is a surface-modified pulp. Grafting has changed the surface properties of the starting wood pulp ...
Reduction of cerebellar norepinephrine alters climbing fiber enhancement of mossy fiber input to the Purkinje cell.

Abstract Extra-cellular simple and complex spike activity from 58 Purkinje cells were recorded in cats that previously received an intracisternal injection of 6-OHDA which depletes brain catecholamines. The severest catecholamine depletion was noted for cerebellar norepinephrine (21.1% of controls). Less depletion occureed in the brainstem and the visual cortex. Past studies have shown that in normal non-depleted cats, somatosensory stimuli (forepaw tap) evoke both complex and simple spike responses. On those trials where complex spike or climbing fiber responses are evoked, there is an enhancement or increase in responsiveness in the majority of excitatory and inhibitory simple spike responses. In the norepinephrine depleted animal, there is a significant decrease in this climbing fiber enhancement only for the excitatory response components. Furthermore, on those trials where no complex spikes are evoked, there is a significant firing rate is also observed in the depleted animals. Thus, depletion of norepinephrine is associated with a reduction of both response amplitude and climbing fiber induced enhancement of excitatory simple spike responses. The inhibitory responses in these same cells are unchanged when compared to those recorded in the normal non-depleted animals.
Agyaat: mutual anonymity over structured P2P networks

Purpose – To provide mutual anonymity over traditionally un‐anonymous Distributed Hash Tables (DHT) based Peer‐to‐Peer overlay networks, while maintaining the desired scalability and guaranteed lookup properties of the DHTs.Design/methodology/approach – Agyaat uses a novel hybrid‐overlay design, a fully decentralized topology without any trusted proxies. It anonymizes both the querying and responding peers through the use of unstructured topologies, called clouds, which are added onto the structured overlays. In addition, it regulates the cloud topologies to ensure the guaranteed location of data and scalability of routing. A unique characteristic of the design is the ability of users to tradeoff between desired anonymity and performance. The paper presents a thorough performance and anonymity analysis of the system, and also analyzes few anonymity compromising attacks and countermeasures.Findings – The results indicate that Agyaat is able to provide mutual anonymity while maintaining the scalability of l...
Synthesis of amino acid-based polymers via atom transfer radical polymerization in aqueous media at ambient temperature

Well-defined acryloyl β-alanine (ABA) polymers were synthesized directly via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) under near physiological conditions using various water soluble initiators with high yield and narrow molecular weight distributions.
Amendment to the Naturalization Examination and Its Social Impact on International Marriage Immigrants in South Korea

This article provides a brief description of a change in the 2009 naturalization law of international marriage immigrants in South Korea (hereafter Korea). Compared with the previous naturalization law, which automatically granted citizenship eligibility after 2 years of marriage and residence in Korea, the 2009 amendment requires all international marriage immigrants either to take the naturalization test or to attend up to 650 hours of a society integration education program including both Korean language and culture education. The Ministry of Justice, Republic of Korea (hereafter Ministry of Justice), claimed that the former system failed in its efforts to promote Korean language learning and under standing of Korean culture and society and hopes that the new mandatory system provides an opportunity for marriage immigrants to better adjust to Korean society. However, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and marriage immigrant experts argue that the new system will put marriage immigrants in a far more difficult position in their attempts to obtain legal status in Korea by not taking into account the financial and familial situations of marriage immigrants (e.g., Kim, 2009). This article analyzes these arguments with special attention to the rationale of the amendment and to the covert and overt exclusionism in relation to the test. Based on
Control Study for Five-Axis Dynamic Spin Rig Using Magnetic Bearings

The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed a magnetic bearing system for the Dynamic Spin Rig (DSR) with a fully suspended shaft that is used to perform vibration tests of turbomachinery blades and components under spinning conditions in a vacuum. Two heteropolar radial magnetic bearings and a thrust magnetic bearing and the associated control system were integrated into the DSR to provide magnetic excitation as well as non-contact mag- netic suspension of a 15.88 kg (35 lb) vertical rotor with blades to induce turbomachinery blade vibration. For rotor levitation, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller with a special feature for multidirectional radial excitation worked well to both support and shake the shaft with blades. However, more advanced controllers were developed and successfully tested to determine the optimal controller in terms of sensor and processing noise reduction, smaller rotor orbits, more blade vibration amplitude, and energy savings for the system. The test results of a variety of controllers that were demonstrated up to 10.000 rpm are shown. Furthermore, rotor excitation operation and conceptual study of active blade vibration control are addressed.
Echocardiography Screening of Siblings of Children With Bicuspid Aortic Valve

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Left heart defects, such as bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), are heritable. Consensus guidelines have recommended echocardiographic screening of first-degree relatives. The utility of this approach in siblings of children with BAV is not known. The objective of this study is to evaluate the yield of routine screening of siblings of children with BAV and undertake an economic analysis of this practice. METHODS: Siblings of children with BAV who underwent echocardiographic screening in a single pediatric cardiology practice were identified. The anatomic features and hemodynamics of siblings newly diagnosed with BAV were recorded. A Markov model was constructed to determine cost-effectiveness ratios, and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: There were 207 screened siblings of 181 children with BAV. The median age at screening was 7 years. BAV was identified in 21 (10.1%) of siblings screened. The median peak Doppler gradient was 18 mm Hg. Aortic insufficiency was mild or less in all. The mean cost to diagnose BAV in a sibling was $2109 per new case found. The estimated mean cost to avert a single aortic dissection in the third or fourth decade of life was $363 911. The estimated cost per life-year saved was $74 884 and ranged from $17 461 to $1 136 536 in sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Echo screening among siblings of those with BAV is effective and inexpensive and may lower the risk of the complications of such as dissection, although it comes at a moderate cost relative to benefits gained. Screening of siblings should be incorporated into clinical care.
Spectrum of relaxation time scales for metastable RNA folding

Abstract We investigate the universal (length-independent) behaviour in time of the two-base-pair correlation, ΔQ, in the folding of a random uncorrelated RNA chain. As a starting point, we provide evidence supporting the existence of a relaxation time scale with arate of divergence identical to the nonergodic relaxation time scale for spin glasses, as the thermodynamic limit is approached. The analysis is carried out making use of a Monte Carlo simulation which computes nonequilibrium refolding events occuring in a random uncorrelated primary sequence as it is formed by sequential incorporation of nucleotides. Our results on the universal behavior of ΔQ reveal the existence of a whole spectrum of relaxation time scales for folded states, each of these time scales diverging in the thermodynamic limit.
Modified TLS-Prony method using data decimation

This paper introduces a modified TLS-Prony method which uses data decimation. The use of data decimation results in the reduction in the computational complexity in a variety of applications by allowing several low order estimations to be performed rather than one high order estimation. We also present an analysis of pole variance statistics for the modified TLS- Prony method which is used to explain and quantify the characteristics of decimation. We show that using decimation we can obtain comparable performance results at a fraction of the computational cost.