cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of teachers’ task and extra-role performance under different autonomy regimes

Purpose – Teachers constitute one of the largest groups of knowledge workers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents and outcomes of teachers’ task and extra-role performance (ERP) under two different autonomy regimes in charter and regular public schools. A special emphasis was given to the ERP of teachers. Both the predictors and outcomes of teacher work performance were comparatively investigated in these two different school environments. Design/methodology/approach – By applying a social-cognitive perspective and a causal comparative design, the study comparatively tested the reciprocal relationships among the study variables in public and charter schools. The clustered sample included 812 public school teachers and 112 charter school teachers. Findings – The findings revealed that the predictors and outcomes of teachers’ task and ERP have differing dynamics in these two distinct types of public schools. The School Type, which represented the differences in school autonomy between pu...
ACUTE ETHANOL EXPOSURE DECREASES THE ANALGESIC POTENCY OF MORPHINE IN MICE

Chronic (7 days), forced ethanol drinking can decrease the analgesic potency of opioid agonists in mice. In the present study, the effect of short-term ethanol treatment was examined using forced ethanol access and ethanol injection protocols. Mice were given forced access to 1, 3 or 7% (v/v) ethanol for 24 hr and then tested for s.c. morphine analgesia using the tailflick assay. Controls had access to water. Another group of mice was injected i.p. with 2.5 g/kg ethanol or water 4 times over a 21 hr period and tested 3 hr after the final injection for morphine analgesia. Other mice were injected once i.p. with 1, 2 or 3 g/kg ethanol or water and tested 24 hr later using the tailflick. In the forced access study, ethanol dose-dependently decreased morphine's analgesic potency with the highest dose (7%) producing a 1.6-fold shift in the ED50. This decrease in morphine potency was similar to that found in a related study using 7% ethanol for 7 days (1.8-fold shift). Repeated ethanol injections significantly reduced the analgesic potency of morphine (1.9-fold shift), whereas, a single injection of 1, 2 or 3 g/kg ethanol did not alter the potency of morphine. Control studies indicated that neither 24 hr water nor food deprivation affected morphine potency. Overall, these data show that sustained exposure to ethanol over a 24 hr period will dose-dependently decrease morphine's analgesic potency.
Social Justice, Ethics, and Citizenship: Learning from the Other

(2004). Social Justice, Ethics, and Citizenship: Learning from the Other. Theory & Research in Social Education: Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 285-289.
Bio-Sensing by Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Comprising Doubly-Corrugated Spoofed Surface Plasmon Polariton (DC-SSPP) Waveguide

The paper describes the design and analysis of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) structure consisting of doubly-corrugated spoofed surface plasmon polariton (DC-SSPP) waveguide. The dependence of phase change on the dielectric loading of the DC-SSPP structure causes the output from both arms to interfere and enhances features on the transmission spectrum of the MZI. The paper uses a mathematical model to predict the phase accumulation of THz signals travelling through each arm of the MZI with various sample loadings. HFSS simulation has been performed to verify the theoretical modeling and produce more sophisticated results. The paper demonstrates that compared with single-armed SSPP waveguide, the proposed MZI structure shows significant shift of the transmission maxima and minima with high quality factors for the transmission peaks when different materials are loaded. The paper also demonstrates that the proposed DC-SSPP MZI structure can be potentially used in tag-free bio-molecular sensing. The highly localized E-M field at frequencies close to SSPP resonance is shown to reduce the sample amount needed to produce interference patterns without affecting the selectivity of the sensing structure.
Separation of radiolabelled protein from brain and spinal cord of spinal hemisected rats on SDS polyacrylamide slab gels

After hemisection of the spinal cord in rats, alterations in amino acid incorporation into protein have been observed in brain and spinal cord. Proteins mediating these changes have been studied in the present experiment. Male, Long-Evans hooded rats were given either a laminectomy and dura incision (sham) at spinal segment T2, a left spinal cord hemisection, or no operative procedures. One hour prior to utilization at 1, 3 and 14 days postoperation, amimals were injected subcutaneously with 200 microCi of [3H]-L-lysine and 200 microCi of [3H]-L-amino acid mixture. Samples were prepared for electrophoresis and proteins separated on linear gradient SDS polyacrylamide slab gels (7.5-20% acrylamide). The Gel slabs were cut into slices and processed for scintillation counting. In right somatomotor cortex, there was evidence for a general stimulation of amino acid incorporation at one day postoperation in animals which received surgery. At other postoperation intervals, significant increases in proteins in the regions of 90-150,000, 50-65,000 and 35-45,000 molecular weight (MW) were observed. In spinal cord, significant increases in proteins in the regions of 55-65,000, 30-45,000 and 15,000 MW were observed over postoperation time in all animals receiving surgery compared to normals. A large, significant increase in the radioactivity of proteins in the region of 18-20,000 MW were observed in the spinal cord lesion site of spinal hemisected animals alone at three days postoperation. These results indicate that increases in amino acid incorporation into the brain and spinal cord of laminectomized and spinal hemisected animals observed previously are theresult of both specific and nonspecific changes in protein incorporation of precursors.
The Causes of Youths' Low News Consumption and Strategies for Making Youths Happy News Consumers

Based on the uses and gratifications theory and the Delphi technique, this study did an in-depth investigation among 28 college and high school students on youths' rationales behind their news consumption behavior. The study concludes that, in years to come, the news industry needs to realize a true convergence online by providing to the younger generation an experience of consuming multimedia news that is customizable and relevant to them with an opportunity for participatory journalism.
IPA Derivatives for Make-to-Stock Production-Inventory Systems with Backorders

A single-stage Make-to-Stock (MTS) production-inventory system consists of a production facility coupled to an inventory facility, and is subject to a policy that aims to maintain a prescribed inventory level (called base stock) by modulating production capacity. This paper considers a class of single-stage, single-product MTS systems with backorders, driven by random demand and production capacity, and subject to a continuous-review base-stock policy. A model from this class is formulated as a stochastic fluid model (SFM), where all flows are described by stochastic rate processes with piecewise constant sample paths, subject to very mild regularity assumptions that merely preclude accumulation points of jumps with probability 1. Other than that, the MTS model in SFM setting is nonparametric in that it assumes no specific form for the underlying probability law, and as such is quite general. The paper proceeds to derive formulas for the (stochastic) IPA (Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis) derivatives of the sample-path time averages of the inventory level and backorders level with respect to the base-stock level and a parameter of the production rate. These formulas are comprehensive in that they are exhibited for any initial condition of the system, and include right and left derivatives (when they do not coincide). The derivatives derived are then shown to be unbiased and their formulas are seen to be amenable to fast computation. The generality of the model and comprehensiveness of the IPA derivative formulas hold out the promise of gradient-based applications. More specifically, since the base-stock level and production rate are the key control parameters of MTS systems, the results provide the theoretical underpinnings for optimizing the design of MTS systems and for devising prospective on-line adaptive control algorithms that employ IPA derivatives. The paper concludes with a discussion of those issues.
Role of retinoic acid in the modulation of benzo(a)pyrene-DNA adducts in human hepatoma cells: implications for cancer prevention

Carcinogen-DNA adducts could lead to mutations in critical genes, eventually resulting in cancer. Many studies have shown that retinoic acid (RA) plays an important role in inducing cell apoptosis. Here we have tested the hypothesis that levels of carcinogen-DNA adducts can be diminished by DNA repair and/or by eliminating damaged cells through apoptosis. Our results showed that the levels of total DNA adducts in HepG2 cells treated with benzo(a)pyrene (BP, 2 μM)+RA (1 μM) were significantly reduced compared to those treated with BP only (P=0.038). In order to understand the mechanism of attenuation of DNA adducts, further experiments were performed. Cells were treated with BP (4 μM) for 24h to initiate DNA adduct formation, following which the medium containing BP was removed, and fresh medium containing 1 μM RA was added. The cells were harvested 24h after RA treatment. Interestingly, the levels of total DNA adducts were lower in the BP/RA group (390 ± 34) than those in the BP/DMSO group (544 ± 33), P=0.032. Analysis of cell apoptosis showed an increase in BP+RA group, compared to BP or RA only groups. Our results also indicated that attenuation of BP-DNA adducts by RA was not primarily due to its effects on CYP1A1 expression. In conclusion, our results suggest a mechanistic link between cellular apoptosis and DNA adduct formation, phenomena that play important roles in BP-mediated carcinogenesis. Furthermore, these results help understand the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, especially in relation to the chemopreventive properties of nutritional apoptosis inducers.
PYY‐preferring receptor in the dorsal vagal complex and its involvement in PYY stimulation of gastric acid secretion in rats

1. Microinjection of peptide YY (PYY, 7-46 pmol) into the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) stimulated gastric acid secretion in urethane-anaesthetized rats. Using a variety of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and PYY derivatives, we characterized the pharmacological profile of the receptor mediating the acid secretory response to PYY. 2. [Pro34]rat(r)/porcine(p)PYY and [Pro34]human(h)PYY (23-117 pmol), microinjected unilaterally into the DVC resulted in a similar maximal increase in net acid secretion reaching 68+/-11 and 89+/-31 micromol 90 min(-1) respectively. 3. Rat/hNPY and pNPY (47 pmol) microinjected into the DVC induced a similar net gastric acid secretion (27+/-8 and 23+/-8 micromol 90 min(-1) respectively) and a higher dose (116 pmol) tended to reduce the response. 4. Pancreatic polypeptide (PP, 4-46 pmol), [Leu31,Pro34]r/hNPY (47 and 117 pmol) and the Y2 selective agonists, hPYY3-36, pNPY5-36 and PNPY13-36 (25-168 pmol) microinjected into the DVC failed to influence basal gastric acid secretion. 5. The rank order of potency of PYY > or = [Pro34]r/pPYY = [Pro34]hPYY> r/hNPY = pNPY to stimulate gastric acid secretion upon injection into the DVC and the ineffectiveness of PP, [Leu31,Pro34]NPY and C-terminal NPY/PYY fragments suggest that a PYY-preferring receptor subtype may be involved in mediating the stimulating effect.
Long-term postoperative dysphagia in oral/pharyngeal surgery patients: Subjects' perceptions vs. videofluoroscopic observations

Dysphagia commonly results from surgical resection of various structures within the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal areas. The type and severity of swallowing dysfunction are based largely on the number and quantity of structures removed as well as the reconstructive procedure. Short term-recovery has been addressed in many studies [1–10]. However, follow-up studies of longterm functional results and continuing swallowing problems following oral/pharyngeal surgery are unavailable.
Relationship between respiration, end-tidal CO2, and BOLD signals in resting-state fMRI.

A significant component of BOLD fMRI physiological noise is caused by variations in the depth and rate of respiration. It has previously been demonstrated that a breath-to-breath metric of respiratory variation (respiratory volume per time; RVT), computed from pneumatic belt measurements of chest expansion, has a strong linear relationship with resting-state BOLD signals across the brain. RVT is believed to capture breathing-induced changes in arterial CO2, which is a cerebral vasodilator; indeed, separate studies have found that spontaneous fluctuations in end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2) are correlated with BOLD signal time series. The present study quantifies the degree to which RVT and PETCO2 measurements relate to one another and explain common aspects of the resting-state BOLD signal. It is found that RVT (particularly when convolved with a particular impulse response, the “respiration response function”) is highly correlated with PETCO2, and that both explain remarkably similar spatial and temporal BOLD signal variance across the brain. In addition, end-tidal O2 is shown to be largely redundant with PETCO2. Finally, the latency at which PETCO2 and respiration belt measures are correlated with the time series of individual voxels is found to vary across the brain and may reveal properties of intrinsic vascular response delays.
Age‐Dependent Differences in the Thermoregulatory Response of the Immature Rat to Ethanol

Major improvement in the homeothermic ability of the rat occurs during the first 2 weeks of postnatal development. Changes in thermoregulatory responsiveness to a single injection of ethanol (EtOH) may occur during this period. Immature rats (2-3, 8-9, and 14-15 days of age) were administered either saline or EtOH (2 or 4 g/kg BW; ip) at thermoneutral ambient temperatures (Ta). In one experiment, metabolic rate (MR) and body temperatures (colonic and skin) were recorded for 1-3 hr postinjection. A second experiment determined blood EtOH concentration in rats from the 3 age groups over an 8-hr period following injection of EtOH. 4 g EtOH/kg produced few significant reductions in thermoregulatory function of 2-3 day-old rats, but decreased MR by 16% and colonic temperature by 0.5-0.7 degrees C in 8-15 day-old animals. 2 g EtOH/kg had no effect on 8-9 day-old rats, but reduced MR and colonic temperature in rats aged 14-15 days. In every case, the hypothermic response to EtOH was correlated with a reduction in MR. Back and abdominal skin temperatures decreased with colonic temperature, and tail skin temperature indicated EtOH-induced vasoconstriction in older rats. Blood EtOH concentrations were similar in the three age groups during the first 2 hr postinjection and did not explain differences in metabolic response. The magnitude and duration of thermoregulatory responsiveness to EtOH increases with age in the immature rat.
Impacts of Heterogeneous Recycle in Fast Reactors on Overall Fuel Cycle

A study in the United States has evaluated the attributes of the heterogeneous recycle approach for plutonium and minor actinide transmutation in fast reactor fuel cycles, with comparison to the homogeneous recycle approach, where pertinent. The work investigated the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of the approach in the overall fuel cycle, including reactor transmutation, systems and safety impacts, fuel separation and fabrication issues, and proliferation risk and transportation impacts. For this evaluation, data from previous and ongoing national studies on heterogeneous recycle were reviewed and synthesized. Where useful, information from international sources was included in the findings. The intent of the work was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the heterogeneous recycle approach at the current time.
Managing the Outcomes of Discovered Deception

This study analyzed strategies individuals use to manage the discovery of deception in a relationship. A sample of 210 participants completed questionnaires detailing their use of repair strategies subsequent to deception. Findings showed that the use of repair strategies differed across relational types and that the use of prosocial relational repair strategies was positively correlated with the target's increase in trust for the deceiver, the target's expressions of affection for the deceiver, and relational intimacy. Relational satisfaction was positively correlated with the tendency to use prosocial strategies. The deceiver's message selection was partially constrained by perceptions of the target's attributions concerning the relational significance of the deception; prosocial strategies were correlated with the deceiver's belief that the target attributed relational significance to the deceptive act.
Symmetries of the firing squad sychronization problem revealed in a nested array

The firing squad problem of automata theory is described and a simple, nonoptimal solution is given. Examination of output traces shows that the solution has at least one obvious symmetry. If the transition matrix is reshaped and partitioned, the resulting nested array not only reveals and explicates more symmetries but suggests ways in which nested arrays can be used to save space.
An Atomic Mutation Cycle for Exploring RNA's 2‘-Hydroxyl Group

The 2'-hydroxyl group fulfills numerous structural and functional roles in RNA, including those of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor. While loss of function upon 2'-deoxynucleotide substitution establishes the importance of specific 2'-hydroxyl groups within RNA, this approach provides no information about how these hydroxyl groups impart their functional contribution. We use an atomic mutation cycle to evaluate the functional importance of the 2'-hydroxyl group's hydrogen atom. Using the Tetrahymena ribozyme reaction, we challenge the cycle to expose the catalytic contribution of the cleavage site 2'-hydroxyl group and its associated hydrogen bond network. The results establish the viability of this cycle as an approach to reveal 2'-hydroxyl groups that donate functionally significant hydrogen bonds.
Experimental demonstration of non-line-of-sight ultraviolet communication channel characteristics

We report some latest experimental results on non-line-of-sight (NLOS) ultraviolet (UV) scattering communication channel characteristics. Those results include both channel path losses and impulse responses, critical for UV communication system design. Path losses were measured using a UV light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) based test-bed, while impulse responses by a UV laser based test-bed. The effects of transmitter and receiver pointing angles, separation distance and transmit beam angle are demonstrated.
In situ phosphorus doped alpha silicon films for micromechanical structures

Abstract Two amorphous silicon films have been studied for potential application for micromechanical structures. Good conductivity with minimum thermal budgets was achieved with an in situ phosphorus doped, plasma enhanced, alpha silicon film deposited at 350 °C. Some cantiliver structures were demonstrated for possible application to sensors that could be made on the same chip with signal processing circuitry.
The Effect of Administrative Boundaries and Geocoding Error on Cancer Rates in California

Geocoding is often used to produce maps of disease rates from the diagnosis addresses of incident cases to assist with disease surveillance, prevention, and control. In this process, diagnosis addresses are converted into latitude/longitude pairs which are then aggregated to produce rates at varying geographic scales such as Census tracts, neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states. The specific techniques used within geocoding systems have an impact on where the output geocode is located and can therefore have an effect on the derivation of disease rates at different geographic aggregations. This paper investigates how county-level cancer rates are affected by the choice of interpolation method when case data are geocoded to the ZIP code level. Four commonly used areal unit interpolation techniques are applied and the output of each is used to compute crude county-level five-year incidence rates of all cancers in California. We found that the rates observed for 44 out of the 58 counties in California vary based on which interpolation method is used, with rates in some counties increasing by nearly 400% between interpolation methods.
The histological dating of the human corpus luteum of menstruation.

Ovaries and endometriums of approximately 400 specimens collected from women in active menstrual life suffering from a variety of gynecological disorders all nonpregnant were sectioned and prepared by routine histological techniques in order to date the corpora lutea. Cas es were arranged in chronological order from the day of ovulation to the 4th day of menstruation according to endometrial dating. Corpora lutea were then independently dated. 213 samples were satisfactory as examples of each day in the life of a corpus luteum. Corpora lutea of Days 1-8 are in process of development and are distinct from one another. Corpora lutea of Days 9-12 show evidence of progressive secretory exhaustion. The exact day of development in this time period is difficult to discern. Mulberry cells distinguish corpora lutea of 13-14 days from the previous group. Corpora lutea during menstruation are extremely variable in the amount of cellular degeneration although they show an extreme concentration of cells and nuclei of great variation in size and structure which distinguishes them from those of the 2 preceding days. Mitoses are rarely seen during the first 4 days of active life and never after Day 4. Bleeding into the central cavity may occur on any day but usually accompanies ovulation and menstruation.
A hierarchical adaptive approach to optimal experimental design

Experimentation is at the core of research in the behavioral and neural sciences, yet observations can be expensive and time-consuming to acquire (e.g., MRI scans, responses from infant participants). A major interest of researchers is designing experiments that lead to maximal accumulation of information about the phenomenon under study with the fewest possible number of observations. In addressing this challenge, statisticians have developed adaptive design optimization methods. This letter introduces a hierarchical Bayes extension of adaptive design optimization that provides a judicious way to exploit two complementary schemes of inference (with past and future data) to achieve even greater accuracy and efficiency in information gain. We demonstrate the method in a simulation experiment in the field of visual perception.
The subversiveness of the marginalized women of scripture: Models of faith and action for twenty-first century women

T his decade of the twenty-first century is a pivotal one for Catholic women. The Church is in turmoil due to many factors, not least of which are the recently uncovered scandal ofpedophilia, the decline of vocations to the all-male priesthood, and the current transition taking place within the papal leadership. The effect these factors will have on the role of women in Catholic ministry is yet to be seen. I propose, though, that the role of women in the Catholic Church does not solely depend upon external circumstances. The female laity does not have to wait meekly until the Magisterium sees fit to grant greater participation to its sisters in the faith. There are circuitous routes that can be taken to claim ownership of the reins of our collective destiny if we but seek them out. It is my contention that the stories o f our biblical matriarchs can shed some light on a proposed course of action for assuming leadership. They, like many women in the Church today, were marginalized by the traditional social and religious institutions o f their time. Yet, these women of scripture possessed exemplary faith, and the wisdom and ingenuity to work within the confines imposed on them by their culture and society. So, too, can the female laity of the modern Church maneuver within the institutional confines imposed on them in the name of "tradition." My approach will be a bit different from the usual ways of addressing the question of female leadership within the Church. In the first of a series of two articles, I will select and analyze particular women in the First and Second Testaments
Inferring the orientation of texture from polarization parameters

It is shown that once the diffusely scattered polarization properties are calibrated, the texture orientation can be calculated directly from diattenuation and retardance. Polarization scattering properties are studied for a rough aluminum surface with one-dimensional rough texture and well-defined orientation. Functions of Mueller matrix elements related to sample orientation about the normal via the arctangent function are investigated. The Mueller matrix bidirectional reflectance distribution function is measured for a linearly sanded aluminum sample. Sinusoidal fits to the Mueller matrix show that the angular orientation of the data can be recovered explicitly from its properties.
Algorithm 425: generation of random correlated normal variables [G5]

We have programmed and made timing comparisons for two algorithms which sample the multivariate normal density N(m, V) = |V-1|/(2p)n/2·exp(- 1/2(Y - m)TV-1(Y - m)) (1) where V is an n X n covariance matrix, m is an n component vector of means, and Y is an n component random vector [1].
The relation between postoperative cardiac and noncardiac complications: pathophysiological dominoes or doubles tennis?

Most research on postoperative medical complications has focused on cardiac complications, whereas less attention has gone to pulmonary complications and the least attention to combined cardiac-noncardiac complications. Recent research has shown that postoperative pulmonary and cardiac complications after elective abdominal surgery and hip fracture repair are equally important clinically in terms of mortality and length of stay, and that patients with multiple complications are an important minority with the poorest outcomes (1,2). In a recent study of a predictive index for postoperative pneumonia in a large cohort of veterans undergoing various operations, the incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction was 7.5-fold greater in patients with postoperative pneumonia compared with those without pneumonia, but no information was given as to which occurred first
Successful Management of Secondary Aortoesophageal Fistula

Aortoesophageal fistula is a rare complication after thoracic aortic aneurysm repair. Six previously reported cases of aortoesophageal fistula management have been uniformly fatal. We present our successful management and review the literature on this topic.
Improved diffusion measurement in heterogeneous systems using the magic asymmetric gradient stimulated echo (MAGSTE) technique

A magic asymmetric gradient stimulated echo (MAGSTE) sequence was recently proposed to improve molecular diffusion measurements in the presence of spatially varying background gradients. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated previously with simulated background gradients and in phantoms that contain bulk susceptibility differences. In this study, we investigated the MAGSTE technique in microscopically heterogeneous systems, and compared it with the conventional bipolar pulsed gradient stimulated echo (bPGSTE) sequence. We demonstrated that the MASGTE measurements, compared to the bPGSTE method, varied significantly less when the diffusion encoding/decoding interval (δ) was changed. In addition, the MAGSTE technique provided good characterization of the surface area-to-volume ratio for heterogeneous systems investigated in this study. In sum, this study showed that the MAGSTE technique provided diffusion measurements superior to those of the bPGSTE sequence, especially in the presence of severe heterogeneous background gradients.
Endothelial glutathione-S-transferase A4-4 protects against oxidative stress and modulates iNOS expression through NF-κB translocation

Our recent work in endothelial cells and human atherosclerotic plaque showed that overexpression of glutathione-S-tranferases (GSTs) in endothelium protects against oxidative damage from aldehydes such as 4-HNE. Nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB plays a crucial role during inflammation and immune responses by regulating the expression of inducible genes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). 4-HNE induces apoptosis and affects NF-kappaB mediated gene expression, but conflicting results on 4-HNE's effect on NF-kappaB have been reported. We compared the effect of 4-HNE on iNOS and the NF-kappaB pathway in control mouse pancreatic islet endothelial (MS1) cells and those transfected with mGSTA4, a alpha-class GST with highest activity toward 4-HNE. When treated with 4-HNE, mGSTA4-transfected cells showed significant upregulation of iNOS and nitric oxide (NO) through (NF)-kappaB (p65) translocation in comparison with wild-type or vector-transfected cells. Immunohistochemical studies of early human plaques showed lower 4-HNE content and upregulation of iNOS, which we take to indicate that GSTA4-4 induction acts as an enzymatic defense against high levels of 4-HNE, since 4-HNE accumulated in more advanced plaques, when detoxification and exocytotic mechanisms are likely to be overwhelmed. These studies suggest that GSTA4-4 may play an important defensive role against atherogenesis through detoxification of 4-HNE and upregulation of iNOS.
Impact charging of particulate materials

Abstract When a particle impacts on a wall, electrostatic charges may be generated. This is called contact/impact/frictional electrification. One question to be answered is how and what process dominate the amount of the charge. In this respect, the separating process, rather than the contacting one, is important. It is shown that the potential difference between the surfaces can increase so rapidly in the separation process that it can cause gas discharge. Once such a gas discharge takes place, the charge on each surface can relax on the path: the amount of charge after the separation is a kind of residual charge after the charge relaxation. This process has been modeled and the model is called the “charge relaxation model.” It can estimate the amount of the impact charge without any empirical parameters, although the gas discharge itself is only an assumption so far which has not been directly observed or confirmed experimentally. In the experimental aspect, an “impact charging experiment” with single particles was carried out to provide a basis for the fundamental discussions. Polymer as well as metal particles about 3 mm in diameter ones were initially used, and the results showed good agreement with the “charge relaxation model.” The sensitivity of the instrument was enhanced to allow measurements with 100 μ m micrometer particles. These results are also reviewed here.
Theory and applications of hazard plotting for censored failure data

This paper presents theory and applications of a simple graphical method, called hazard plotting, for the analysis of multiply censored life data consisting of failure times of failed units intermixed with running times on unfailed units. Applications of the method are given for multiply censored data on service life of equipment, for strength data on an item with different failure modes, and for biological data multiply censored on both sides from paired comparisons. Theory for the hazard plotting method, which is based on the hazard function of a distribution, is developed from the properties of order statistics from Type II multiply censored samples.
Successes and failures of Hubbard-corrected density functional theory. The case of Mg doped LiCoO2

We have evaluated the successes and failures of the Hubbard-corrected density functional theory approach to study Mg doping of LiCoO2. We computed the effect of the U parameter on the energetic, geometric, and electronic properties of two possible doping mechanisms: (1) substitution of Mg onto a Co (or Li) site with an associated impurity state and (2) formation of impurity-state-free complexes of substitutional Mg and point defects in LiCoO2. We find that formation of impurity states results in changes on the valency of Co in LiCoO2. Variation of the Co U shifts the energy of the impurity state, resulting in energetic, geometric, and electronic properties that depend significantly on the specific value of U. In contrast, the properties of the impurity-state-free complexes are insensitive to U. These results identify reasons for the strong dependence on the doping properties on the chosen value of U and for the overall difficulty of achieving agreement with the experimentally known energetic and electronic properties of doped transition metal oxides such as LiCoO2.
Low noise radiometers for passive millimeter wave imaging

W-band passive millimeter wave imaging cameras for concealed weapons detection are being developed and commercialized for security screening and rotorcraft applications. The direct detection chipset from HRL Laboratories has become the standard for the front end because of the low noise of its Sb-based backward tunnel diode detectors and InP HEMT low noise amplifiers. Here we review recent results demonstrating that an NETD<0.5 K can be achieved without the use of Dicke switching or optical chopping using a two-MMIC chipset consisting of a low noise amplifier and matched detector. Recent results for an 8times8 imaging array with no RF amplification will also be presented, indicating an NETD of <3 K for a 30 Hz video rate.
Angiotensin II Inhibits bTREK-1 K+ Channels in Adrenocortical Cells by Separate Ca2+- and ATP Hydrolysis-dependent Mechanisms

Abstract Bovine adrenocortical cells express bTREK-1 K+ channels that set the resting membrane potential (Vm) and couple angiotensin II (AngII) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) receptors to membrane depolarization and corticosteroid secretion. In this study, it was discovered that AngII inhibits bTREK-1 by separate Ca2+- and ATP hydrolysis-dependent signaling pathways. When whole cell patch clamp recordings were made with pipette solutions that support activation of both Ca2+- and ATP-dependent pathways, AngII was significantly more potent and effective at inhibiting bTREK-1 and depolarizing adrenal zona fasciculata cells, than when either pathway is activated separately. External ATP also inhibited bTREK-1 through these two pathways, but ACTH displayed no Ca2+-dependent inhibition. AngII-mediated inhibition of bTREK-1 through the novel Ca2+-dependent pathway was blocked by the AT1 receptor antagonist losartan, or by including guanosine-5′-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) in the pipette solution. The Ca2+-dependent inhibition of bTREK-1 by AngII was blunted in the absence of external Ca2+ or by including the phospholipase C antagonist U73122, the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor antagonist 2-amino-ethoxydiphenyl borate, or a calmodulin inhibitory peptide in the pipette solution. The activity of unitary bTREK-1 channels in inside-out patches from adrenal zona fasciculata cells was inhibited by application of Ca2+ (5 or 10 μm) to the cytoplasmic membrane surface. The Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin also inhibited bTREK-1 currents through channels expressed in CHO-K1 cells. These results demonstrate that AngII and selected paracrine factors that act through phospholipase C inhibit bTREK-1 in adrenocortical cells through simultaneous activation of separate Ca2+- and ATP hydrolysis-dependent signaling pathways, providing for efficient membrane depolarization. The novel Ca2+-dependent pathway is distinctive in its lack of ATP dependence, and is clearly different from the calmodulin kinase-dependent mechanism by which AngII modulates T-type Ca2+ channels in these cells.
Cystic acoustic schwannomas: MR characteristics.

PURPOSE To evaluate the spectrum of MR characteristics of cystic acoustic schwannoma and to investigate its incidence. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the MR findings and clinical records of 16 patients with cystic acoustic schwannomas. In addition, the MR examinations of 411 consecutive patients referred for clinical suspicion of acoustic schwannomas were reviewed retrospectively to assess the incidence of acoustic schwannomas with cystic lesions arising from the internal auditory canal. RESULTS Of the 16 acoustic schwannomas with MR evidence of intramural cysts, 11 tumors had single small cysts, and five had multiple intramural cysts of variable size. Intramural cysts in 11 of the 16 tumors exhibited higher signal intensity than that of cerebrospinal fluid; the remainder were isointense to cerebrospinal fluid on both T1- and T2-weighted images. All intramural cysts showed circumferential enhancement after contrast administration. Nine of the 16 cystic acoustic schwannomas also had MR evidence of extramural/arachnoid cysts. Six of the extramural/arachnoid cysts had epicenters away from the dural interface, and the other three cysts were broadly based against the dura. The incidence of cystic acoustic schwannomas was 11.3% and association with extramural/arachnoid cysts 7.5%. CONCLUSION Our series suggests that cystic changes in acoustic schwannomas and the association with extramural/arachnoid cysts are not as rare as previously reported by other diagnostic methods. The high signal intensity of intramural cysts is probably related to necrotic material, blood, or colloid-rich fluid. The difference in the MR characteristics of extramural/arachnoid cysts associated with acoustic schwannomas and those of typical arachnoid cysts not associated with neoplasia may be related to higher protein and/or colloid contents secreted by the tumor. Most extramural/arachnoid cysts had epicenters between the tumor and brain, suggesting that the most likely mechanism of formation is peritumoral adhesions. It creates a pseudo-duplication caused by the trapping of fluid between the leptomeninges and the mass, resulting in an acquired type of arachnoid cyst.
Novel opportunities for thymidylate metabolism as a therapeutic target

For over 40 years, the fluoropyrimidine 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has remained the central agent in therapeutic regimens employed in the treatment of colorectal cancer and is frequently combined with the DNA-damaging agents oxaliplatin and irinotecan, increasing response rates and improving overall survival. However, many patients will derive little or no benefit from treatment, highlighting the need to identify novel therapeutic targets to improve the efficacy of current 5-FU-based chemotherapeutic strategies. dUTP nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) catalyzes the hydrolysis of dUTP to dUMP and PPi, providing substrate for thymidylate synthase (TS) and DNA synthesis and repair. Although dUTP is a normal intermediate in DNA synthesis, its accumulation and misincorporation into DNA as uracil is lethal. Importantly, uracil misincorporation represents an important mechanism of cytotoxicity induced by the TS-targeted class of chemotherapeutic agents including 5-FU. A growing body of evidence suggests that dUTPase is an important mediator of response to TS-targeted agents. In this article, we present further evidence showing that elevated expression of dUTPase can protect breast cancer cells from the expansion of the intracellular uracil pool, translating to reduced growth inhibition following treatment with 5-FU. We therefore report the implementation of in silico drug development techniques to identify and develop small-molecule inhibitors of dUTPase. As 5-FU and the oral 5-FU prodrug capecitabine remain central agents in the treatment of a variety of malignancies, the clinical utility of a small-molecule inhibitor to dUTPase represents a viable strategy to improve the clinical efficacy of these mainstay chemotherapeutic agents.
Inhibition of chondrocyte apoptosis in vivo following acute osteochondral injury

In spite of advances and refinements in surgical technique, the development of post-traumatic arthritis following osteochondral injury remains one of the major unsolved problems faced by orthopedic surgeons. Of particular interest is the possibility that chondrocyte programmed cell death (PCD), or ‘apoptosis’, contributes to the subsequent development of post-traumatic arthritis 1–5 . Recent studies have shown that inhibitors of caspases, key enzymes in the apoptosis pathway, can block chondrocyte PCD in vitro 4–7 . The goal of the presented study was to test the hypothesis that short-term, intra-articular caspase inhibitor treatment can limit chondrocyte PCD in vivo following acute osteochondral injury. Adult New Zealand white rabbits underwent experimental osteochondral injury. One group of rabbits received daily intra-articular injections of the broadspectrum caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk. A control group of rabbits received daily intra-articular injections of vehicle alone. After four days of treatment, the articular cartilage was analyzed for chondrocyte PCD. Treatment with Z-VADfmk resulted in a marked reduction in the percentage of chondrocytes undergoing PCD compared to controls [treated=7.4±1.8%; controls=32.5±8.6% (P<0.0001 by student’s t-test)]. The degree of PCD inhibition was dependent upon the distance from the site of injury, with levels of PCD reduced to background levels in areas beyond 1 mm from the drill hole. These results suggest that the intraarticular administration of PCD inhibitors may be a useful strategy for the treatment of osteochondral injury by limiting the extent of articular chondrocyte loss due to apoptosis. For these experiments, a drill with a cooled 2 mm bit was used to create osteochondral injuries in the hind limb femoral condyles of adult rabbits. The injuries were created in the weight bearing portions of the condyles and penetrated into the subchondral bone. Following surgery, five animals received daily intra-articular injections of the caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk (100 µM in 0.1% DMSO, 0.5 cc; Calbiochem, CA) delivered via an indwelling catheter. A control group of five rabbits received daily intra-articular injections of vehicle alone. The knee tissue was harvested on post-injury day 4, decalcified in EDTA, embedded in paraffin, and then sectioned in the sagittal plane at 5 µm thickness for further analysis. Chondrocyte apoptosis was quantified by TUNEL analysis using the ApopTag ® Direct in situ apoptosis detection kit (Intergen, NY) with DAPI used as a counterstain. Fluorescence images were captured using appropriate filters with an Axiocam digital camera (Zeiss, NJ) at 1 megapixel resolution. Each captured field was subdivided into three ‘Zones’ with Zone 1 encompassing the full thickness of articular cartilage extending from 0 to 0.5 mm away from the drill hole; Zone 2 extending from 0.5 to 1 mm away from the drill hole; and Zone 3 extending from 1 to 1.5 mm away from the drill hole (Fig. 1). Semi-automated data collection and analysis were performed using custom
Revealing the Silver and Red Lining in Drug-Eluting Stents With Angioscopy

Drug-eluting stents (DES) are widely used in percutaneous coronary intervention and have resulted in significant reductions in target-vessel revascularization as compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in randomized, controlled trials and in unrestricted patient and lesion subsets.1,2 Comprehensive analyses have proven the safety of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) compared with BMS, with similar rates of death and myocardial infarction after as much as 4 years of follow-up2,3; however, a valid safety concern remains, given that DES increase the risk of late (>30 days) and very late (>1 year) stent thrombosis compared with BMS. Our understanding of the risk factors for stent thrombosis has been derived from experimental models, pathological findings, and clinical trials. The mechanisms underlying the increased thrombogenicity of DES are multifactorial and include patient, lesion, and procedural factors, as well as compliance with and response to antiplatelet therapy.4–6 However, all currently available DES may be susceptible to late and very late stent thrombosis because of the delayed arterial healing and impaired endothelialization that accompany the drugs used to inhibit neointimal hyperplasia. We can postulate that the rate of healing varies from patient to patient, and even from lesion to lesion within the same patient, but we do not have a method to assess or measure healing after stenting. Therefore, we have empirically recommended that dual-antiplatelet therapy be extended for at least 12 months after DES implantation in an effort to reduce events during the period when the stent is prone to thrombus formation.7 Articles see pp 20 and 28 In terms of assessing the mechanisms of stent failure, including restenosis and stent thrombosis, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has been helpful. Subacute stent thrombosis (<30 days) in BMS and DES alike often has a cause that is identifiable by IVUS, such as severe …
Aristotle's Four Becauses

What has traditionally been labelled ‘Aristotle's theory of causes’ would be more intelligible if construed as ‘Aristotle's theory of explanations’, where the term ‘explanation’ has substantially the sense of Hempel and Oppenheim, who construe explanations as deductions. For Aristotle, specifying ‘causes’ is constructing demonstrations.
Delta-Hedged Gains and the Negative Market Volatility Risk Premium

We investigate whether the volatility risk premium is negative by examining the statistical properties of delta-hedged option portfolios (buy the option and hedge with stock). Within a stochastic volatility framework, we demonstrate a correspondence between the sign and magnitude of the volatility risk premium and the mean delta-hedged portfolio returns. Using a sample of S&P 500 index options, we provide empirical tests that have the following general results. First, the delta-hedged strategy underperforms zero. Second, the documented underperformance is less for options away from the money. Third, the underperformance is greater at times of higher volatility. Fourth, the volatility risk premium significantly affects delta-hedged gains even after accounting for jump-fears. Our evidence is supportive of a negative market volatility risk premium.
G-Store: a scalable data store for transactional multi key access in the cloud

Cloud computing has emerged as a preferred platform for deploying scalable web-applications. With the growing scale of these applications and the data associated with them, scalable data management systems form a crucial part of the cloud infrastructure. Key-Value stores -- such as Bigtable, PNUTS, Dynamo, and their open source analogues-- have been the preferred data stores for applications in the cloud. In these systems, data is represented as Key-Value pairs, and atomic access is provided only at the granularity of single keys. While these properties work well for current applications, they are insufficient for the next generation web applications -- such as online gaming, social networks, collaborative editing, and many more -- which emphasize collaboration. Since collaboration by definition requires consistent access to groups of keys, scalable and consistent multi key access is critical for such applications. We propose the Key Group abstraction that defines a relationship between a group of keys and is the granule for on-demand transactional access. This abstraction allows the Key Grouping protocol to collocate control for the keys in the group to allow efficient access to the group of keys. Using the Key Grouping protocol, we design and implement G-Store which uses a key-value store as an underlying substrate to provide efficient, scalable, and transactional multi key access. Our implementation using a standard key-value store and experiments using a cluster of commodity machines show that G-Store preserves the desired properties of key-value stores, while providing multi key access functionality at a very low overhead.