cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
More than meets the eye: a case of HCV-induced PAN

AbstractA 60-year-old male with a history of chronic active hepatitis C (HCV) was admitted for evaluation of subacute, additive weakness and pain of his upper and lower extremities along with jaw c...
Emotions, Drives, and Behavior

This chapter will be concerned primarily with the relationships between emotions and drives. The drive concept will be illustrated mainly by the commonly experienced but complex phenomenon of pain and the equally complex but highly pleasurable experiences associated with sexual intercourse. The chapter will also discuss emotion-drive interactions, particularly the interactions of emotions with pain and with the sex drive.
Industrial microbial enzyme safety: What does the weight-of-evidence indicate?

Abstract With the exception for the potential skin and eye irritating effects of some proteases, and the well-documented potential for respiratory sensitization in case of work place exposure, enzymes in general don't produce acute toxicity, dermal sensitization; genotoxicity, or repeated dose oral toxicity. Acute inhalation, reproduction, chronic toxicity, and carcinogenicity are not relevant for enzymes. Several hundred mutagenicity studies have been conducted on bacterial and mammalian cells using a variety of enzymes. No positive findings were observed. > 225 90-day studies have been performed and submitted to EFSA with no adverse findings, including in the bone marrow. The data showing no adverse effects for enzyme preparations also confirms that microbial metabolites and fermentation materials lack toxicity as well. Exposure to enzyme products is also minimal as recommended use levels are low, generally
Muscle Strength and Function Measures in a Multicenter Study of Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1): Baseline Impairment and Test-Retest Agreement over 3 Months (P5.455)

Objective: To examine the feasibility and reliability of assessing muscle function in a multicenter study of individuals with DM1. Background: Few studies of DM1 have examined test-retest agreement of motor function outcomes in a multicenter context. Design/Methods: Clinical evaluators from 6 sites participated in training sessions to standardize procedures for strength and function assessments. Ambulatory adults with non-congenital DM1 were enrolled in a 1 year natural history study. Evaluations included assessments of strength (quantitative muscle testing (QMT) and manual muscle testing (MMT)) and function (6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT), 30 foot go, and time to ascend 4 stairs) at baseline, 3 months and 12 months. Here we report mean values and variance at baseline, and test-retest agreement over 3 months (intraclass correlations, ICCs). Results: Primary evaluators completed training prior to enrollment of patients. The primary evaluators were responsible for training additional evaluators (6) at their site. 113 individuals with DM1 completed the baseline visit and 106 individuals completed the baseline and 3 month visits. The mean overall strength score was 4.29 on the MRC scale (MMT) and 60.1 percent predicted (QMT). Individuals walked a mean of 396 (standard deviation [sd] = 117) meters on 6MWT, performed the 30 foot go in 6.1 (sd=2.8) seconds, and ascended the stairs in 3.4 (sd=2.0) seconds. The 3 month ICCs (range across sites) were: overall QMT 0.93 (0.80 to 0.97), overall MMT (0.95), 6MWT 0.92 (0.82–.99), 30 foot go 0.92 (0.78–0.98), time to ascend 4 stairs 0.90 (0.85–0.97). Lower extremity strength moderately correlated with mobility tests (MMT: 0.62–0.75; p Conclusions: We demonstrated feasibility of an evaluator training program to produce excellent test-retest reliability across multiple sites, and showed cross-sectional associations between strength and functional outcomes. Study Supported by: NIH NS048843 (Wellstone Center), Muscular Dystrophy Association, Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation, Marigold Foundation, Biogen Disclosure: Dr. Eichinger has nothing to disclose. Dr. Currence has nothing to disclose. Dr. Capron has nothing to disclose. Dr. Duong has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gee has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Biogen, Ionis. Dr. Gee has received research support from Biogen, Ionis. Dr. Herbelin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Joe has nothing to disclose. Dr. King has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lott has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with PTC Therapeutics. Dr. Myotonic Dystrophy Clinical Re has nothing to disclose.
Krieger’s finite generator theorem for actions of countable groups I

For an ergodic p.m.p. action $$G \curvearrowright (X, \mu )$$ of a countable group G, we define the Rokhlin entropy $$h^{\mathrm {Rok}}_G(X, \mu )$$ to be the infimum of the Shannon entropies of countable generating partitions. It is known that for free ergodic actions of amenable groups this notion coincides with classical Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy. It is thus natural to view Rokhlin entropy as a close analogue to classical entropy. Under this analogy we prove that Krieger’s finite generator theorem holds for all countably infinite groups. Specifically, if $$h^{\mathrm {Rok}}_G(X, \mu ) < \log (k)$$ then there exists a generating partition consisting of k sets.
Functional properties of mechanoreceptors in mouse whisker hair follicles determined by the pressure-clamped single-fiber recording technique.

Abstract Several types of mechanoreceptors have been identified anatomically in rodent whisker hair follicles, but their functional properties have not been fully studied. Here we developed a pressure-clamped single-fiber recording technique to record impulses on mouse whisker hair follicle afferent nerves following displacements of whisker hair follicles. On the basis of the patterns of impulses evoked by the mechanical stimulation, three functional types of mechanoreceptors were identified, including rapidly adapting (RA), slowly adapting type 1 (SA1), and slowly adapting type 2 (SA2) mechanoreceptors. Impulses of all these mechanoreceptors were almost completely abolished by 30 nM TTX, and were largely suppressed by cooling temperatures at 15°C. Tested at different displacement distances as different stimulation intensity, RA mechanoreceptors showed a limited capacity for stimulation intensity encoding, but both SA1 and SA2 mechanoreceptors displayed linear increases of impulse numbers with increased stimulation intensity. Tested with different ramp speed of displacements, RA impulses were only evoked by rapid ramp stimulation but SA1 and SA2 impulses could be evoked by both rapid and slow ramp stimulation. Tested with different stimulation frequency, all three types of mechanoreceptors well followed the stimulation at 10–100 Hz. Taken together, this study revealed some important functional properties of RA, SA1 and SA2 mechanoreceptors, which helps better understand the encoding of tactile information by different types of low-threshold mechanoreceptors.
Federal Funding For Research On The Leading Causes Of Death Among Children And Adolescents

Firearm injuries are the second-leading cause of death for US children and adolescents (ages 1–18). This analysis quantified the federal dollars granted to research for the leading US causes of dea...
Treg-inducing microparticles promote donor-specific tolerance in experimental vascularized composite allotransplantation

For individuals who sustain devastating composite tissue loss, vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA; e.g., hand and face transplantation) has the potential to restore appearance and function of the damaged tissues. As with solid organ transplantation, however, rejection must be controlled by multidrug systemic immunosuppression with substantial side effects. As an alternative therapeutic approach inspired by natural mechanisms the body uses to control inflammation, we developed a system to enrich regulatory T cells (Tregs) in an allograft. Microparticles were engineered to sustainably release TGF-β1, IL-2, and rapamycin, to induce Treg differentiation from naive T cells. In a rat hindlimb VCA model, local administration of this Treg-inducing system, referred to as TRI-MP, prolonged allograft survival indefinitely without long-term systemic immunosuppression. TRI-MP treatment reduced expression of inflammatory mediators and enhanced expression of Treg-associated cytokines in allograft tissue. TRI-MP also enriched Treg and reduced inflammatory Th1 populations in allograft draining lymph nodes. This local immunotherapy imparted systemic donor-specific tolerance in otherwise immunocompetent rats, as evidenced by acceptance of secondary skin grafts from the hindlimb donor strain and rejection of skin grafts from a third-party donor strain. Ultimately, this therapeutic approach may reduce, or even eliminate, the need for systemic immunosuppression in VCA or solid organ transplantation.
QUARTER PINCHED HOMOGENEOUS SPACES OF NEGATIVE CURVATURE

Certain properties of simply connected spaces with quarter pinched sectional curvature K, −4<K≤1, are considered. Additional conditions guaranteeing that the corresponding group of isometries is a symmetric space are given.
Do hemodynamics matter in the treatment of patients with submassive pulmonary emboli

The present article examines the right heart (RH) pressures of patients with submassive pulmonary embolism before and after catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT). 40% of patients had a low cardiac output (CI ≤1.8 L/min/m2 ) despite normally preserved blood pressure. After thrombolysis, CI increased and pulmonary artery pressures decreased. Although routine RH pressure measurements may help in CDT management and possibly serve as a surrogate outcome measure, more comprehensive pulmonary embolism trials are needed to solidify the role of hemodynamics in this setting.
Criterion Validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory for American Indian College Students.

In this study the authors assess criterion validity of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank—Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SVIB-SCII) for a heterogeneous sample of American Indian college stud...
Effect of spinning on the shape and stability of a pendent drop

Assuming that we wish to measure the surface tension between two liquids by running a pendent drop experiment, we present calculations supporting the case for spinning the drop. For bridges, jets, etc., spinning a heavy fluid surrounded by a lighter fluid is strictly destabilizing. But we find that spinning a drop may be stabilizing and, if this is so, it leads to larger critical volumes, volumes where stability is lost, and thus more accurate measurements of surface tension. There are two observable patterns, one symmetric and the other unsymmetric, at the point of instability. The symmetric pattern leads to larger critical volumes. Our aim is to show how spinning can be used to achieve the symmetric pattern.
Cation Radicals of Hachimoji Nucleobases. Canonical Purine and Noncanonical Pyrimidine Forms Generated in the Gas Phase and Characterized by UV-Vis Photodissociation Action Spectroscopy.

Oxidation of nontraditional nucleobases 1-methylcytosine (hachimoji base S) and isoguanine (hachimoji base B) in gas-phase ternary complexes with CuII(terpyridine)2+ formed cation radicals that wer...
Strategic Service Design Attributes, Customer Experience, and Co-Created Service Choice: Evidence from Florida Hospitals

Services are typically characterized by the direct participation of customers in the production process. The service‐dominant (S‐D) logic argues that value to consumers is always co‐created by service providers and consumers jointly and reciprocally. While prior research has addressed the indirect impact of structural, infrastructural, and technology service design attributes on a customer’s perceived value via the realized service delivery system, an important question remains unanswered: Do these strategic service design attributes directly affect co‐created service choice? In this study, we explicitly consider the extent to which service delivery design characteristics—structural, infrastructural, and technology attributes—directly affect this co‐created choice. Using detailed patient‐level data from Florida hospitals on elective hip and knee surgeries, we find evidence of structural, infrastructural, and technological influences on patient–surgeon co‐created choice of hospitals. We also find that the characteristics of the service encounter—in this case, the interpersonal care experience—interact in essential ways with these design attributes to influence co‐created service choice. Specifically, structural and technological attributes may serve as a substitute for interpersonal care experience in determining co‐created choice of a hospital. These results inform our understanding of how patients choose hospitals for elective surgeries under conditions of information asymmetry. An extended analysis of data for elective heart surgery patients generally supports our framework. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.
Harmony in Sound, Body, and Technology: User Experience Design of Embodied Cognition in Creative Musical Technology

This study proposes how user experience designers can approach embodied cognition to design digital music tools. Designing digital tools for music is challenging because the individual's creative process involves bodily movement. The act of learning a musical instrument is embodied, where knowledge is gained through sensorimotor processes and emotions from music are analogous to physical emotions felt in the body [1,2,3]. In this study, design ethnography research was conducted with Pro ToolsTM in order to find users’ mental model on how people learn to produce music in a digital environment by transferring their embodied cognition. The findings reveal that prior musical background impacts efficiency of learning to translate ideas into the interface. Visual cues are the most important form of feedback for novice learners, whereas experts are able to translate their thoughts into the interface without as much input from visual cues, such as relying on their ears when mixing. A fluency akin to embodied cognition can come when one understands the interface as an instrument.
Neutrophil Elastase Facilitates Tumor Cell Intravasation and Early Metastatic Events.

Summary Functional roles of neutrophil elastase (NE) have not been examined in distinct steps of the metastatic cascade. NE, delivered to primary tumors as a purified enzyme or within intact neutrophils or neutrophil granule content, enhanced human tumor cell intravasation and subsequent dissemination via NE-mediated formation of dilated intratumoral vasculature. These effects depended on picomole range of NE activity, sensitive to its natural inhibitor, α1PI. In Elane-negative mice, the lack of NE decreased lung retention of human tumor cells in experimental metastasis. Furthermore, NE was essential for spontaneous metastasis of murine carcinoma cells in a syngeneic orthotopic model of oral cancer. NE also induced tumor cell survival and migration via Src/PI3K-dependent activation of Akt signaling, vital for tumor cell dissemination in vivo. Together, our findings implicate NE, a potent host enzyme specific for first-responding innate immune cells, as directly involved in early metastatic events and a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
Book Review: Verdicts on Lawyers

Verdicts on Lawyers, edited by Ralph Nader and Mark Green, is a volume of twenty-three essays offering a critique of the legal profession. One of the main themes of the volume is the legal profession’s ethical duty to provide legal services for the public. The authors make a number of specific suggestions for improving the public’s access to legal services, such as requiring lawyers to perform some percentage of pro bono work and introducing new services, including small claims courts, where the bar sees the necessity. The theme of several essays suggests that the legal profession needs more competition and that self-regulation has failed. Other essays choose to explore the attorney's broader duty to society. Many of the ideas discussed in this collection are not currently included in the Arkansas machinery, but should be considered for adoption. Despite being an indictment against the legal profession with unevenness in the tone, temperament, and quality of the essays, the volume raises many interesting points and should be examined by anyone concerned with the future of the legal profession.
Exploration and Exploitation Aliances in Biotechnology: A System of New Product Development

We link the exploration-exploitation framework of organizational learning to a technology venture's strategic alliances and argue that the causal relationship between the venture's alliances and its new product development depends on the type of the alliance. In particular, we propose a product development path beginning with exploration alliances predicting products in development, which in turn predict exploitation alliances, and that concludes with exploitation alliances leading to products on the market. Moreover, we argue that this integrated product development path is moderated negatively by firm size. As a technology venture grows, it tends to withdraw from this product development path to discover, develop, and commercialize promising projects through vertical integration. We test our model on a sample of 325 biotechnology firms that entered 2,565 alliances over a twenty-five year period. We find broad support for the hypothesized product development system and the moderating effect of firm size.
Antibiotic-Eluting Envelopes to Prevent Cardiac-Implantable Electronic Device Infection: Past, Present, and Future.

Objective Cardiac-implantable electronic device (CIED) infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In this review, we describe the risk factors and pathogenesis of CIED infections and review the rationale and the evidence for the use of antibiotic-eluting envelopes (ABEs) in patients at increased risk for CIED infections. Findings The majority of CIED infections are caused by staphylococci that involve generator pocket and occur due to contamination of the device or the pocket tissues at the time of implantation. Clinical trials have shown that extending the duration of post-operative systemic antibacterial therapy is not beneficial in reducing CIED infection rate. However, ABEs that reduce device migration after implantation and provide sustained local delivery of prophylactic antibiotics at the pocket site, may provide benefit in reducing infection. Currently, there are two types of commercially available CIED envelope devices in the United States. The first ABE device (TYRX™, Medtronic Inc., Monmouth Junction, NJ) is composed of a synthetic absorbable mesh envelope that elutes minocycline and rifampin and has been shown to reduce CIED pocket infections in a large multi-center randomized clinical trial. The second ABE device (CanGaroo-G™, Aziyo Biologics, Silver Spring, MD) is composed of decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) and was originally designed to stabilize the device within the pocket, limiting risk for migration or erosion, and providing a substrate for tissue ingrowth in a preclinical study. This device has shown promising results in a preclinical study with local delivery of gentamicin. Compared with artificial materials, such as synthetic surgical mesh, biologic ECM has been shown to foster greater tissue integration and vascular ingrowth, a reduced inflammatory response, and more rapid clearance of bacteria. Conclusions and relevance ABE devices provide sustained local delivery of antibiotics at the generator pocket site and appear beneficial in reducing CIED pocket infections. Given the continued increase in the use of CIED therapy and resultant infectious complications, innovative approaches to infection prevention are critical.
Dramatic Effect of γ-Heteroatom Dienolate Substituents on Counterion Assisted Asymmetric Anionic Amino-Cope Reaction Cascades

We report a dramatic effect on product outcomes of the lithium ion enabled amino-Cope-like anionic asymmetric cascade when different γ-dienolate heteroatom substituents are employed. For dienolates...
Fluorescent-dependent comparative Ct method for qPCR gene expression analysis in IVF clinical pre-implantation embryonic testing.

The use of quantitative PCR (qPCR) and other polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods in the field of human in vitro fertilization blastocoel fluid analysis can potentially be utilized for assisting clinicians in embryo selection based on specific gene expression patterns. Since typical Comparative cycle threshold (Ct ) analysis utilizes one threshold for runs per gene target and requires an inherent control group, this method is inadequate for analysis of small stochastic systems, such as embryonic-derived fluid. We mathematically demonstrate analytical modifications upon the Comparative Ct qPCR workflow to incorporate a variable fluorescence threshold (utilizing only the parameters defined in the Comparative Ct method), and subsequently demonstrate the typical workflow in which this modified method can successfully quantifiably analyze embryonic blastocoel fluid qPCR analysis.
Increased Isolation in Single and Multi-Antenna Full Duplex Wideband Radios

To meet the ever-increasing consumer needs, new wireless applications including IOT are being developed at a tremendous pace. However, only a very small percentage of spectrum is available to accommodate these applications. Specifically, wireless applications targeting sub-6 GHz frequency band require efficient hardware infrastructures and protocols to operate in the highly congested spectrum, to avoid signal fratricide. Consequently, there is a strong need to develop spectral efficient full duplex communication techniques [1] .
Learning to Aggregate and Refine Noisy Labels for Visual Sentiment Analysis.

Visual sentiment analysis has received increasing attention in recent years. However, the quality of the dataset is a concern because the sentiment labels are crowd-sourcing, subjective, and prone to mistakes. This poses a severe threat to the data-driven models including the deep neural networks which would generalize poorly on the testing cases if they are trained to over-fit the samples with noisy sentiment labels. Inspired by the recent progress on learning with noisy labels, we propose a robust learning method to perform robust visual sentiment analysis. Our method relies on an external memory to aggregate and filter noisy labels during training and thus can prevent the model from overfitting the noisy cases. The memory is composed of the prototypes with corresponding labels, both of which can be updated online. We establish a benchmark for visual sentiment analysis with label noise using publicly available datasets. The experiment results of the proposed benchmark settings comprehensively show the effectiveness of our method.
Expression Analysis of DGKK during External Genitalia Formation.

Purpose: Genetic variants in diacylglycerol kinase κ (DGKK) have been strongly associated with risk of hypospadias. We investigated the expression pattern of Dgkk during development of mouse external genitalia to better understand its function and mechanism in the etiology of hypospadias.Materials and Methods: We performed Dgkk expression analysis via indirect immunofluorescence in histological sections of CD-1 mouse embryonic and postnatal male, female and diethylsilbestrol treated external genitalia. Histological findings were supplemented with DGKK expression analysis using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays.Results: In mouse external genitalia Dgkk was expressed in the membrane and cytoplasm of differentiating squamous epithelial cells of urethral plate/groove and epidermis but not in the undifferentiated epithelial cells of preputial lamina or basal layer of urethral groove epithelium. CD-1 gestation day 18 male mouse genital tubercle treated with oil or diethylstilbestrol showed...
Fishing for Fluke: the Genetics of Flk and the Flagellar Type 3 Secretion Specificity Switch

In the spring of 1991, using a simple genetic selection, the author and his colleagues discovered two negative regulators of flagellar gene expression, Flk and FlgM. They discovered that the negative regulator, FlgM, would sense the completion of the flagellar hook-basal body (HBB) and allow for transcription of filament genes, fliC or fljB, only after HBB completion. Upon HBB completion, FlgM became a substrate for secretion from the cell, and its negative regulatory activity was physically removed. The fliC::Mud--lac and fljB::Mud--lac fusions provided a nice, visual assay for Salmonella flagellar phase variation using lactose indicator medium. This chapter describes flagellar phase variation, flagellum assembly, and coupled gene regulation. When a fliC::MudJ insertion was introduced into HBB-defective single mutants, flgA through flgG, the cells were Lac-, but when the fliC::MudJ was introduced into a deletion of flgA through flgG, the cells were Lac+. Flk exerts its control over the flagellar assembly process at the level of the flagellar secretion specificity switch. The frequency of switching to late secretion in the absence of Fluke varied among the different rod-ring-hook mutant strains.
Anti-Judaism and a Hermeneutic of the Flesh

This article investigates the manifestations of anti-Judaism that informed fifteenth-century debates over the religious and civic status of the conversos. Insurgents in Toledo supported the persecution of the conversos and their exclusion from public life by insisting on their continued Jewishness despite baptism. Documents such as the “Petition” and the “Sentencia-Estatuto” issued by the rebel regime, the “Appeal and Supplication” written by Marcos Garcia de Mora, and the anonymous “Privilege,” show that the conversos’ opponents developed a hermeneutic of the flesh founded in a reading of the epistles of Paul and informed by their own particular historical context. This hermeneutic afforded the conversos’ opponents a theological basis for shutting certain baptized Christians out of Spanish society based on their carnal descent, weaving race into Christian theology. So useful a conceptual and rhetorical tool was anti-Judaism, however, that even converso defenders employed it as a weapon against their opponents.
Frailty in older Mexican Americans

Objectives: To identify sociodemographic characteristics and health performance variables associated with frailty in older Mexican Americans. Design: A prospective population-based survey. Setting: Homes of older adults living in the southwest. Participants: Six hundred twenty-one noninstitutionalized Mexican-American men and women aged 70 and older included in the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly participated in a home-based interview. Measurements: Interviews included information on sociodemographics, self-reports of medical conditions (arthritis, diabetes mellitus, heart attack, hip fracture, cancer, and stroke) and functional status. Weight and measures of lower and upper extremity muscle strength were obtained along with information on activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. A summary measure of frailty was created based on weight loss, exhaustion, grip strength, and walking speed. Multivariable linear regression identified variables associated with frailty at baseline. Logistic regression examined variables predicting frailty at 1-year follow-up. Results: Sex was associated with frailty at baseline (F=4.28, P=.03). Predictors of frailty in men included upper extremity strength, disability (activities of daily living), comorbidities, and mental status scores (Nagelkerke coefficient of determination (R2)=0.37). Predictors for women included lower extremity strength, disability (activities of daily living), and body mass index (Nagelkerke R2=0.29). At 1-year follow-up, 83% of men and 79% of women were correctly classified as frail. Conclusion: Different variables were identified as statistically significant predictors of frailty in Mexican-American men and women aged 70 and older. The prevention, development, and treatment of frailty in older Mexican Americans may require consideration of the unique characteristics of this population.
Far From the Finish

What Remains to Be Discovered . John Maddox. Free Press, New York, 1998. 448 pp. $26. ISBN 0-684-82292-X. In this survey of the broad expanses of the scientific frontiers Maddox, the former editor of Nature , marshals his forceful opinions and fearless predictions to demonstrate that we are currently far from the end of science.
Chatanika radar measurements of the electrical properties of auroral arcs

Ionospheric parameters measured in the presence of auroral arcs by the incoherent scatter Chatanika radar are used to define properties of the arcs. The radar broadcasts at 3-5 MW with a range resolution of 4.5 km along the radar line-of-sight, and has yielded auroral measurements on the variation of electron density, Hall and Pederson conductivity, horizontal electric fields, electrojet currents, precipitating electron energy flux, and the Joule heating rate. Elevation-scan techniques have been utilized to study the latitude and altitude variation of the ionospheric plasma parameters, and fixed-position scans allow determination of ionization conditions, including the electric fields and the acceleration of precipitating auroral electrons. Arcs in the diffuse aurora have been found to be local conductivity enhancements, while discrete arcs correspond to the boundary plasma sheet and have an asymmetric electric field pattern reduced on the northward side.
Effect of Different Commerical Agar Preparations on the Inhibitory Activities of Phenols

The minimal inhibitory concentrations of 11 phenolic inhibitors were compared in five commercial agars and in nutrient broth. It was found that the brand of agar affected the end point obtained for a particular inhibitor, and that the degree of antagonism varied with each compound studied. The results indicate that there are at least two deleterious factors present in agar, one of which is water-soluble and one which is not. The major portion of the total antagonism was due to the water-soluble factor, which could be removed by washing the agar in warm distilled water prior to use in the test medium.
The Treatment of Trusts and Other Partial Interests of the Surviving Spouse Under the Redesigned Elective-Share System: Some Concerns and Suggestions

This Article addresses various concerns with the redesigned elective-share system in terms of its effect on the surviving spouse who owns or succeeds to a partial interest in property. In particular, this Article focuses on the surviving spouse’s right as the income beneficiary of a trust for life. The Article first explains the general operation of the redesign elective-share system, and then considers the system’s application to trust and other partial interests. The remainder of the Article raises concerns over, and makes suggestions with respect to the treatment or trust and other partial interests under the redesigned system. The author addresses specific problem areas that deserve attention in this context, including: valuation problems, especially the potential for reducing the surviving spouse’s benefit by overvaluing partial interests; the rule that counts disclaimed property against the surviving spouse; and the inclusion of certain separate property in elective share computations. The author’s comments are made in the spirit of constructive criticism and with the hope that improvements can be made in the redesigned elective-share system’s treatment of partial interests. The author goes on in his final analysis to find that the goal of a uniform elective-share law is desirable, especially considering the shocking lack of uniformity among the forty-one American jurisdictions currently operating under elective-share systems.
Characterization and preliminary root cause identification of black powder content in a gas transmission network – A case study

Abstract Black powder is a global issue faced by almost all gas producing countries. Understanding characteristics and nature of black powder is required for successful pipeline operations and to assess root-cause of its formation. This paper is mainly divided into two parts. First part gives a synopsis of the global black powder experience and summarizes associated issues and challenges. Second part of the current study is dedicated to chemical characterization of black powder samples received from a sales gas pipeline and root-cause assessment of its formation in a gas processing plant in the Middle East. Elemental analysis of black powder samples show presence of mainly iron and sulfur with traces of various other elements. Further analysis shows presence of both iron sulfides and iron oxides in the network. Root-cause assessment measurements are made from three gas treating and dehydration units in a gas processing plant. Analysis of about 5 month's data indicated that the H 2 S levels in one of the trains were 3–4 times higher than the other two trains. Assessment analysis points to the possibility of black powder being generated in some processing units and in the sales gas pipeline.
Efficacy and safety of novel oral anticoagulants in patients with bioprosthetic valves

Purpose Prosthetic valve replacement is performed in several hundred thousand patients worldwide annually, and many of these patients have or will ultimately develop atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF). Novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are not recommended in patients with AF and mechanical valves but have not been evaluated in patients with bioprosthetic valves. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NOACs in patients with AF and bioprosthetic valves.
Using Toyota's A3 Thinking for Analyzing MBA Business Cases

A3 Thinking is fundamental to Toyota's benchmark management philosophy and to their lean production system. It is used to solve problems, gain agreement, mentor team members, and lead organizational improvements. A structured problem-solving approach, A3 Thinking builds improvement opportunities through experience. We used The Toyota Way to introduce these concepts and practices and we incorporated A3 Thinking into the case analysis dimension of our functionally integrated MBA class, Managing People and Processes. Results of A3 Thinking were communicated by the A3 report, using a single 11” by 17” sheet of paper. We surveyed students at the end of the semester, after they had created numerous A3 reports for case analysis. In addition to reinforcing A3 Thinking concepts, students and faculty found that A3 reporting added value to case analysis, class discussions, and presentations and pushed the focus of analysis into key issues and root causes often overlooked in a more intuitive approach. Emphasis on conciseness and graphics helped students improve communication and the format of the A3 reports helped instructors quickly review and evaluate the case analyses.
Subjective effects for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana association with cross-drug outcomes.

Abstract Methods The cross-drug relationship of subjective experiences between alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana and problem drug use behaviors were examined. Data were drawn from 3853 individuals between the ages of 11 and 30 years of age participating in the Colorado Center on Antisocial Drug Dependence [CADD]. Subjective experiences were assessed using a 13-item questionnaire that included positive and negative responses for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Lifetime abuse and dependence on these three drugs was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, Substance Abuse Module [CIDI-SAM]. Results Positive and negative subjective experience scales were similar for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, although the hierarchical ordering of items differed by drug. Subjective experience scales for each of the three drugs examined correlated significantly, with the strongest relationship being for alcohol and marijuana experiences. Significant associations were identified between how a person experienced a drug and abuse and dependence status for the same or different drug. Conclusion Cross-drug relationships provide evidence for a common liability or sensitivity towards responding in a similar manner to drugs of abuse within and across different pharmacological classes.
Causes of low thermospheric density during the 2007–2009 solar minimum

[1] Satellite drag data indicate that the thermosphere was lower in density, and therefore cooler, during the protracted solar minimum period of 2007–2009 than at any other time in the past 47 years. Measurements indicate that solar EUV irradiance was also lower than during the previous solar minimum. However, secular change due to increasing levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, which cool the upper atmosphere, also plays a role in thermospheric climate, and changes in geomagnetic activity could also contribute to the lower density. Recent work used solar EUV measurements from the Solar EUV Monitor (SEM) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and the NCAR Thermosphere‐ Ionosphere‐Electrodynamics General Circulation Model, finding good agreement between the density changes from 1996 to 2008 and the changes in solar EUV. Since there is some uncertainty in the long‐term calibration of SEM measurements, here we perform model calculationsusingtheMgIIcore‐to‐wingratioasasolarEUVproxyindex.Wealsoquantify the contributions of increased CO2 and decreased geomagnetic activity to the changes. In these simulations, CO2 and geomagnetic activity play small but significant roles, and the primarycauseofthelowtemperaturesanddensitiesremainstheunusuallylowlevelsofsolar EUV irradiance.
Fredholm operators associated with strongly pseudoconvex domains in Cn

This paper generalizes the index theorem of Gohberg and Krien on Weiner-Hopf operators on the unit circle. Let Ω be a strongly pseudoconvex domain in Cn and suppose L2N(Ω) is the space of square integrable functions ƒ: Ω → CN. Let H2N(Ω) be the subspace of all ƒ ϵ L2N(Ω) which are holomorphic in Ω and let P: L2N(Ω) → H2N(Ω) be the orthogonal projection. Let s be a continuous, N × N matrix valued function on Ω which is smooth in Ω such that det s(z) ≠ 0 for z ϵ ∂Ω, and let S : H2N(Ω) → L2N(Ω) be the operator defined by S1ƒ = sƒ for ƒ ϵ H2N(Ω). It is then proved that the operator S = PS1 is Fredholm. The problem of obtaining a general formula for index is open. However, if Ω is the open unit ball in Cn, then it is proved that the index of the operator S is equal to (−1)n time degree of the restriction of s to ∂Ω, if N ⩾ n. These results have obvious points of contact with the Atiyah-Singer index theorem.
Some nonmetric, first countable, cancellative topological semigroups that are generalized metric spaces

Abstract A first countable topological group is metrizable. Certain nonfirst countable topological groups are “generalized metric spaces”. To elucidate the latter, we briefly list some theorems and examples. To indicate the difficulty of generalizing those theorems (especially the first countable case) even to “nice” topological semigroups we exhibit some nonmetrizable first countable cancellative topological semigroups that are, respectively: a quasi-metrizable, locally compact, Moore space; a nonquasi-metrizable Moore space; a Nagata space having no semimetric that is separately continuous in one variable; and a paracompact, quasi-metrizable, quasi-developable space that is neither developable nor stratifiable.
On the theory of liquid and solid He3

Abstract The object of the present paper is to develop quantitatively several features of the theory of the nuclear spin system in liquid and solid He3, elaborated previously. The effect of the application of external pressure on the spin system will thus be described in a more rigorous way than heretofore. The attempt to correlate the various experimentally determined thermal properties of the compressed liquid from the standpoint of the theory of the spin system leads one to recognize the need of new and precise nuclear paramagnetic susceptibility measurements in order to verify various predictions of the theory. One of these concerns the strictly asymptotic temperature approach of the nuclear paramagnetic susceptibility of the liquid, or the solid, toward its limiting ideal Langevin-Brillouin limit. This feature of the susceptibility appears to be necessary for an explanation of the locus of the vanishing expansion coefficients located, at already moderate pressures, at relatively high temperatures, T ≳ 1.0°K. On assuming the absence of nuclear magnetic anomalies, the spin system of the solid is expected to render this phase also anomalous in its thermal properties, up to relatively high temperatures and pressures, as suggested by recent findings of two independent groups of experimental investigators in this Laboratory. Within certain relatively mild limitations, it is shown that solid He3 may exhibit two possible types of thermal excitations of its normal degrees of freedom. One of these, denoted as case (a), corresponds to excitations which appear to be particle like, as those of the liquid all over its phase diagram. They impose at low temperatures negative latent heats in the solid-liquid phase change, through the dominance of the entropy decrease of the nuclear spin system in this transformation. In case (b), phonon types of thermal excitations appear to be allowed, provided the solid-liquid phase separation line has a positive though small temperature slope at low temperatures. The importance of the indicated empirical decision between these two types of thermal behaviors for the theory of the dense phases of He3 hardly needs to be emphasized.
Direct flutter and limit cycle computations of highly flexible wings for efficient analysis and optimization

Abstract The usefulness of flutter as a design metric is diluted for wings with destabilizing (softening) nonlinearities, as a stable high-amplitude limit cycle (subcritical) may exist for flight speeds well below the flutter point. It is thus desired to design aeroelastic structures such that the post-flutter behavior is as benign (i.e., supercritical) as possible, among the other constraints commonly considered in the optimization process. In order to account for these metrics in an accurate and efficient manner, direct tools are utilized to first locate the Hopf-point (flutter speed), and then to obtain a nonlinear perturbation solution via the method of multiple scales. The latter scheme provides a scalar variable whose sign and magnitude dictate the nature of the limit cycle. The accuracy of these methods is demonstrated with a high-aspect-ratio highly flexible wing, modeled with nonlinear beam finite elements and the ONERA dynamic stall tool. Stiffness and inertial design variables are allowed to vary spatially throughout the wing, in order to conduct gradient-based optimization of the limit cycle under flutter and mass constraints. The resulting wing structure demonstrates strongly supercritical behavior, as well as several design conflicts between linear (flutter) and nonlinear (limit cycles) sensitivities, which are not present in the uniform baseline wing.
Noncanonical NFATc1 activation in DN thymocytes

Double-negative (DN) thymocytes depend on interleukin 7 (IL-7) for survival. In DN2 and DN3 cells, a new role has now been identified for signaling via the IL-7 receptor and the kinase Jak3 that leads to noncanonical activation of the transcription factor NFATc1 and upregulation of expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2.
Cellular responses to DNA damage in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Article de synthese sur les mecanismes de reparation de l'ADN chez S. cerevisiae comprenant les mecanismes de reaction induits par les UV et les genes impliques dans la reparation a l'obscurite, formant les groupes epistatiques RAD3, RAD6 et RAD52
Constructing Skeptical Citizens: How Campaign Microsites Foster New Ways of Engaging Political Information and Understanding Citizenship

ABSTRACT Digitally mediated campaign messages contain normative expectations of citizens' political and civic behaviors that users must navigate routinely. This analysis of microsites (smaller Web sites containing a different address than the organization producing the site) from the 2010 election argues that these tools’ content reflects an account of how citizens should approach information. Differing from traditional campaign communications, microsites highlight “hidden” content and complicate notions of what counts as “fact.” In doing so, they perform a skeptical encounter with political information, and construct a normative model of citizens who ought to use similar measures to discern valid from invalid information.
Entropic measure for localized energy configurations: Kinks, bounces, and bubbles

Abstract We construct a configurational entropy measure in functional space. We apply it to several nonlinear scalar field models featuring solutions with spatially-localized energy, including solitons and bounces in one spatial dimension, and critical bubbles in three spatial dimensions, typical of first-order phase transitions. Such field models are of widespread interest in many areas of physics, from high energy and cosmology to condensed matter. Using a variational approach, we show that the higher the energy of a trial function that approximates the actual solution, the higher its relative configurational entropy, defined as the absolute difference between the configurational entropy of the actual solution and of the trial function. Furthermore, we show that when different trial functions have degenerate energies, the configurational entropy can be used to select the best fit to the actual solution. The configurational entropy relates the dynamical and informational content of physical models with localized energy configurations.
A study of 27Mg by means of the 26Mg(d, pγ)27Mg reaction

Abstract The low-lying excited states of 27Mg have been studied by means of 26Mg(d, pγ)27Mg angular correlation measurements at deuteron bombarding energies of 3.00, 3.37 and 4.28 MeV. Analysis by plane wave stripping theory led to assignments J π = 3 2 + , 5 2 + , ( 5 2 + ), 3 2 − and ( 3 2 + ) for the states of 27Mg at 0.984, 1.69, 1.94, 3.56 and 3.76–3.78 MeV, respectively. Rough values for the multipole-mixing parameter δ of the gamma rays were deduced. Analysis of the results, using the extreme single-particle collective model suggests that 27Mg is a prolate spheroid with a nuclear deformation η ≈ 2. The ground state is assumed to occupy Nilsson orbit 9, and the 0.984 and 1.95 MeV levels are assumed to be the second and third members of the rotational band based on the ground state. A consistent set of model parameters have been determined which give reasonable agreement with the observed energy spacings, branching ratios, multipole-mixing parameters and with previously measured spectroscopic factors. The 1.69 MeV state is conjectured to be a state formed by core excitation.
Hooker on Rule-Consequentialism and Virtue

In Ideal Code, Real World, Brad Hooker proposes an account of the relation between his rule-consequentialism and virtue according to which the virtues (1) have intrinsic value and (2) are identical with the dispositions that are ‘essential parts of accepting the rules’ of the ideal code. While it is not clear whether Hooker actually intends to endorse this account or only intends to moot it for discussion, I argue that for him to adopt it would be a mistake. Not only would this mean that his moral theory was no longer properly a consequentialist view at all, but it would commit him to inconsistent views about how normative theories – in particular theories of morality in the deontic sense and theories of virtue – are justified.