cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Promises and perils for the panda

AS A GLOBAL conservation icon and China's national treasure, the endangered giant panda has received exceptional attention worldwide. Between 2003 and 2013, giant pandas in the wild increased from 1596 to 1864, according to the results from the latest survey released by the State Forestry
Analysis of fire failure of wind turbine in a wind farm in Northwest China

The accident fan is the first-stage wind farm unit. From 2011 to 2019, the transformation of low-voltage crossing, lightning protection, grid switch, engine room grid cabinet and frequency converter cabinet are gradually carried out, and the original main control system is updated. One day in 2019, a fire accident happened to the generator, most of the engine room covers were burnt, the top section of the tower tube had traces of oil overflow after combustion, and a large area of combustion damaged parts scattered around the tower base. The cause of the accident is that the two phases of the stator contactor are not completely disconnected when the network is disconnected, and the main circuit breaker of the tower base is not tripped when the stator contactor is in fault, and the fault current is not cut off in time, which is a design defect.
Mood selection in Yucatec Spanish: Veridicality as the trigger

Abstract Mood selection under doxastic, or belief, predicates in Spanish have been traditionally treated as cases of polarity subjunctive: affirmative predicates license the indicative and negated the subjunctive. In previous accounts of mood in Spanish, researchers (i.e. Haverkate, 2002 , Quer, 1998 , Mejias-Bikandi, 1998 , Mejias-Bikandi, 2016 ) argue that either subjunctive or indicative is felicitous under negation as mood in this environment is pragmatically motivated. Yucatec Spanish is a contact variety that allows the use of the subjunctive in both affirmative and negated doxastic predicates. I use Yucatec Spanish data to argue that mood is licensed by the speaker's epistemic uncertainty, not negation. As an alternative, I adopt the notion of (non)veridicality ( Giannakidou, 1998 , Giannakidou, 2015 , Giannakidou and Mari, 2020 ) and follow Mari's (2016) proposal of suppositional subjunctive selection to argue that mood is triggered by the evaluation of the proposition in Yucatec Spanish. When a speaker of Yucatec Spanish evaluates a proposition as nonveridical, she recognizes the possibility that the proposition could be either true or false. In such cases, the speaker selects the subjunctive in the embedded clause regardless of the presence or absence of negation. Other nonveridical environments (i.e. interrogatives and modals) are also briefly discussed as both license higher rates of subjunctive use in Yucatec Spanish.
Treatment with shCCL20-CCR6 nanodendriplexes and human mesenchymal stem cell therapy improves pathology in mice with repeated traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a devastating neurological disorder, although the underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood. TBI causes blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, immune cell trafficking, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. CCL20 is an important chemokine mediating neuroinflammation. Human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) therapy is a promising regenerative approach but the inflammatory microenvironment in the brain tends to decrease the efficacy of the hMSC transplantation. Reducing the inflammation prior to hMSC therapy improves the outcome. We developed a combined nano-cell therapy by using dendrimers complexed with plasmids (dendriplexes) targeting CCL20 and its sole receptor CCR6 to reduce inflammation followed by hMSC transplantation. Treatment of TBI mice with shRNA conjugated dendriplexes followed by hMSC administration downregulated the inflammatory markers and significantly increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the cerebral cortex indicating future possible neurogenesis and improved behavioral deficits. Taken together, this nano-cell therapy ameliorates neuroinflammation and promotes brain tissue repair after TBI.
Degradation Detection of Power Switches in a Live Three Phase Inverter using SSTDR Signal Embedded PWM Sequence

This paper proposes a condition monitoring (CM) technique for power semiconductor devices in a live 3-phase power inverter using spread spectrum time domain reflectometry (SSTDR) embedded PWM sequence. Aging-related impedance variation within the device can be successfully characterized using SSTDR. SSTDR has been successfully used for device degradation detection in power converters while running at static condition. However, the rapid variation in impedance throughout the entire live converter circuit caused by the fast switching operation makes condition monitoring more challenging while using SSTDR. Until today, SSTDR based CM technique in a live converter requires a large amount of SSTDR data acquisition for the purpose of error reduction. The proposed method addresses this shortcoming and the experimental results validate that it requires significantly less amount of SSTDR data to successfully characterize the aging in power devices of a live three-phase inverter. Moreover, due to SSTDR’s ability to be embedded in the gate signal, the proposed technique can be integrated with the gate driver module, thus making it intelligent.
A Combined Alcohol and Smoking Cue-Reactivity Paradigm in People Who Drink Heavily and Smoke Cigarettes: Preliminary Findings.

AIMS Previous studies have shown that there may be an underlying mechanism that is common for co-use of alcohol and tobacco and it has been shown that treatment for alcohol use disorder can increase rates of smoking cessation. The primary aim of this study was to assess a novel methodological approach to test a simultaneous behavioral alcohol-smoking cue reactivity (CR) paradigm in people who drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. METHODS This was a human laboratory study that utilized a novel laboratory procedure with individuals who drink heavily (≥15 drinks/week for men; ≥8 drinks/week for women) and smoke (>5 cigarettes/day). Participants completed a CR in a bar laboratory and an eye-tracking (ET) session using their preferred alcohol beverage, cigarettes brand and water. RESULTS In both the CR and ET session, there was a difference in time spent interacting with alcohol and cigarettes as compared to water (P's 0.05). In the CR sessions, craving for cigarettes was significantly greater than craving for alcohol (P < 0.001), however, only time spent with alcohol, but not with cigarettes, was correlated with craving for both alcohol and cigarettes (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION This study showed that it is feasible to use simultaneous cues during a CR procedure in a bar laboratory paradigm. The attention bias measured in the integrated alcohol-cigarettes ET procedure predicted participants' decision making in the CR. This novel methodological approach revealed that in people who drink heavily and smoke, alcohol cues may affect craving for both alcohol and cigarettes.
COVID-19 and the Decline in Asian American Employment.

The unemployment rate has sharply increased as a result of the lockdown associated with the spread of COVID-19. The negative effect of the lockdown is more conspicuous among the less-educated workers than the highly-educated workers. Because Asian Americans are more likely to have a bachelor or higher degree than any other racial group, they are expected to be relatively immune to the drop in employment unless the detrimental impact of the lockdown is severer for Asian Americans. Exploiting the panel aspect of the Current Population Survey - Merged Outgoing Rotation Group, we examine the changes in At-work status before and after the lockdown and between the lockdown and months of the reopening. The empirical results uncover that Asian Americans are more negatively affected by the lockdown than any other racial group, net of education, immigration status, and other covariates. Surprisingly, the negative impact of the lockdown is entirely concentrated on less-educated Asian Americans. Regardless of gender, less-educated Asian Americans are substantially more likely to lose employment than equally educated Whites and are not more likely to regain employment during the reopening months. Other less-educated racial minorities do not experience more reduction in At-work status than Whites, net of covariates. Highly-educated Asian Americans' employment is equally affected by the lockdown with equally educated Whites.
Special Issue: Digital Collaboration

Over the past three decades, organizations have engaged in business-process, organizational, and technological redesigns to take advantage of the opportunities enabled by internet innovation. Often...
Introduction to the special issue on housing and disasters

Over time, natural disasters, e.g., wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, tsunamis, mudslides, and earthquakes, have increased in strength, length, and frequency worldwide (Hore et al., 2018; IPCC, 2014...
Novel simultaneous method for the determination of avobenzone and oxybenzone in human plasma by UHPLC-MS/MS with phospholipid removal pretreatment: An application to a sunscreen clinical trial.

Abstract Application of sunscreen is one of many ways to protect skin from the harmful effects of UV radiation. Sunscreen products are widely used and regulated as over-the-counter drug products in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends an assessment of human systemic absorption of sunscreen active ingredients with a Maximal Usage Trial. The FDA conducted a clinical study to determine the systemic exposure of sunscreen active ingredients present in 4 commercially available sunscreen products of different formulation types under maximal usage conditions. To support this clinical study, a sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of the two sunscreens avobenzone and oxybenzone in human plasma was developed. Phospholipid removal 96-well protein precipitation plates were used for sample clean-up and the extracted samples were chromatographed on an Ethylene-Bridged Hybrid (BEH) C18 column in isocratic flow using 10 mM ammonium formate in 0.1% formic acid and methanol (24:76, v/v) as a mobile phase. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was used to acquire data. The method was validated as per current FDA bioanalytical method validation guidance, in the ranges 0.20–12.00 ng/mL for avobenzone and 0.40–300.00 ng/mL for oxybenzone. The validated method was used to analyze these active ingredients in human clinical study samples.
Focus on Collaboration

In alternative dispute resolution, the word “collaboration” is highly prized. It means working together with other groups or individuals to create larger pies and “win-win” solutions, where all parties walk away with a bigger, creamier slice of pie than they ever thought possible. Ideally, collaboration unleashes creativity and the intermingling of thoughts and ideas from fields and pursuits that normally don’t intersect, thereby increasing the odds of finding solutions good for all parties involved, rather than only for the party that is the most powerful in terms of wealth, weapons, or political connections. The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution, within UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law, is a strong advocate of collaboration.
When Is It Safe to Operate After Therapeutic Carpal Tunnel Injections

BackgroundRecent studies suggest increased complications when surgery closely follows corticosteroid injection. The purpose of this study was to understand the occurrence of surgical site infection...
Abstract 250: UCSC Xena for the visualization and analysis of cancer genomics data

UCSC Xena (http://xena.ucsc.edu/) is a web-based visual integration and exploration tool for multi-omic data and associated clinical and phenotypic annotations. Researchers can easily view and explore public data, their own private data, or both using the Xena Browser. Data is kept on the researcher9s computer (we support Mac, Windows, and Linux) and is never uploaded to public servers. Questions Xena can help you answer: * Is overexpression of this gene associated with lower/higher survival? * Do my two subgroups have differential survival? * Is this gene differentially expressed in tumor vs normal samples? * What is the relationship between mutation, copy number, expression, etc for this gene? Xena showcases seminal cancer genomics datasets from TCGA, the Pan-Cancer Atlas, GDC, PCAWG, ICGC, and more; a total of more than 1500 datasets across 50 cancer types. We support virtually any type of functional genomics data: SNPs, INDELs, copy number variation, gene expression, ATAC-seq, DNA methylation, exon-, transcript-, miRNA-, lncRNA-expression and structural variants. We also support clinical data such as phenotypes, subtype classifications and biomarkers. All of our data is available for download via python or R APIs, or URL links. We show multiple data types side-by-side enabling discovery of correlations across and within genes and genomic regions. Other visualizations and analyses include dynamic Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, powerful filtering and subgrouping, charts, statistical analyses, genomic signatures, and the ability to generate URLs to live views. We link out to the UCSC Genome Browser as well as MuPIT/CRAVAT and TumorMap. New features include: * Data from PCAWG, latest data from the GDC, ATAC-seq from TCGA, and other studies like MET500 * New visualizations for ATAC-seq and DNA methylation data * Multiple survival endpoints for Kaplan-Meier analyses from the PanCan Atlas * Export PDFs from Chart View * Genomic signatures now supported for all datasets, including data from the GDC * Updated navigation to make it easier to dive into any genomic region * Better support for probes (e.g. methylation probes like "cg16203911") We are now published in Nature Biotechnology! If you use us, cite us here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-0546-8 We have also started to visualize scRNA-seq data including data from the HCA and the literature. Our beta prototype site delivers million-cell-scale multi-omics data for interactive visualization in a web browser. Contact us for access to our beta prototype site. Citation Format: Mary J. Goldman, Brian Craft, Jing-chun Zhu, David Haussler. UCSC Xena for the visualization and analysis of cancer genomics data [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 250.
Can Our Beloved Pets Love Us Back

Can our beloved cats and dogs love us back? This chapter aims to find a satisfactory theory of love that substantiates the claim that they can. It begins by reconstructing and critically evaluating recent attempts by scientists to show that dogs can love humans back. Although these attempts are argued to be unsuccessful, it is further argued that they illuminate the need for an adequate theory of love and offer us some plausible ideas about love that direct us to two recent philosophical theories of love that support the idea that dogs can love humans back. These two theories are discussed in detail before it is argued that dogs, but not cats, seem capable of loving humans under these theories. These theory-based defenses of the belief that dogs can love humans back are then criticized on the grounds that the theories they use are unsatisfactory because they fail to capture three central truths about love. This leads to a third theory of love that, after some friendly amendments, is argued to be a tentatively adequate theory that provisionally vindicates the claim that dogs, but not cats, can love humans back.
Social Support's Contribution to Reduced Welfare Dependency: Program Outcomes of Long Term Welfare Recipients

Long term welfare recipients participated in a state job training and welfare reform demonstration which provided education, job training, and supportive services via intensive case management. Social support research has focused on stress and physical and psychological health outcomes not welfare job training and education outcomes. Job training and welfare to work policies and programs have not emphasized providing social supports but the supportive services of transportation and child care. Program outcomes at follow-up included: education and job training certificates, including GEDs with some still studying; jobs; and a 50% reduction in welfare receipt. Results of hierarchical regression analysis suggest a participant's social support made a significant and meaningful contribution to reduced welfare dependency for hard to serve long term welfare recipients. Social support was more important than the length of time receiving welfare. Implications for social support theory, welfare to work policy and programs, job training, evaluation, and case management are discussed.
Heuristic optimization for variable rate nitrogen and seeding decisions

The economic opportunities for combining heuristics management (herein, rules-of-thumb) with several farming technologies (uniform rate, variable rate seeding, variable rate nitrogen (N) and variable rate of both seeding and N) are modeled and investigated. Results suggest that weather-based heuristics as a strategy of selecting optimal production practices is promising for enhancing profitability. The ability to exploit interactive effects between heuristic strategies and precision agriculture technologies offers the potential to enhance profitability of both. The model shows potential for providing useful insights into improved production management decisions.
Adipose tissue of Drosophila melanogaster. V. Genetic and experimental studies of an extrinsic influence on the rate of cell death in the larval fat body.

Abstract After emergence into the adult stage, the cells of the larval fat body disappear rapidly from approximately 1000 to about 100 cells per fly during the first 2 days and more slowly to a zero level during the next 2 days. Cell counts in apterous4 (ap4) adults indicate the death rate is less than that in wild type during the first 2 days, and the number of cells remains relatively constant for the next 3 days. Regression analyses of these data indicate the death rate in wild type is 1.6 times greater than in ap4 for the first 2 days and the rate in 3- to 5-day-old ap4 flies is zero. Transplantation of both ap4 or wild-type cells into 8-day-old hosts demonstrated that the death rate was the same in both and about four times slower than in recently emerged flies. Furthermore it was shown that the slowness of cell death in in situ ap4 cells is because the ap4 internal environment is permissive. Additional experiments with hosts of various ages indicated that the adult environment which is initially restrictive becomes rapidly permissive. It was also shown when cells that have been exposed to the hostile environment for 1 day are transplanted to a permissive environment, they die as rapidly as the in situ wild-type cells.
Collision Avoidance Training Using a Driving Simulator in Drivers with Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Study

Parkinson's disease (PD) impairs driving performance, and simulator studies have shown increased crashes compared to controls. In this pilot study, eight drivers with PD participated in three drive sessions with multiple simulator intersections of varying visibility and traffic load, where an incurring vehicle posed a crash risk. Over the course of the three sessions (once every 1-2 weeks), we observed reduction in crashes (p=0.059) and reaction times (p=0.006) to the vehicle incursion. These findings suggest that our simulator training program is feasible and potentially useful in drivers with PD. Future research questions include transfer of training to different driving tasks, duration of benefit, and the effect on long term real life outcomes in comparison to a standard intervention (e.g., driver education class) in a randomized trial. Language: en
Anther culture selection to enhance snow mold disease resistance in winter wheat.

Snow mold is one of the most serious diseases of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and grasses in Alaska and other high latitute regions (1–9). Snow mold disease can be caused by one or more of several low temperature parasitic fungi (7, 9). In Alaska, Sclerotinia borealis (=Myriosclerotinia borealis) and a sclerotial low temperature basidiomycete (sLTB) (identified as Coprinus sp. by Traquair in 1980 [10]) are the most prevalent pathogens (5,9). These fungi infect host plants in late fall or winter when the soil is not yet frozen. During long winters, under a thick snow layer, these fungi proliferate and spread in host tissues because of the dark, humid conditions. Death of the plant is due to depletion of carbohydrate reserves (11,12) and maceration of plant tissues (13,14) (McBeath and Adelman, unpublished data).
The Past and Future of Deinstitutionalization Litigation

Two conflicting stories have consumed the academic debate regarding the impact of deinstitutionalization litigation. The first, which has risen almost to the level of conventional wisdom, is that deinstitutionalization was a disaster. The second story does not deny that the results of deinstitutionalization have in many cases been disappointing. But it challenges the suggestion that deinstitutionalization has uniformly been unsuccessful, as well as the causal link critics seek to draw with the growth of the homeless population. This dispute is not simply a matter of historical interest. The Supreme Court’s 1999 decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that unjustified institutionalization can violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, was followed by a wave of new lawsuits challenging institutionalization of people with psychiatric, developmental, and/or physical disabilities. And the Obama Administration’s Community Living Initiative has led the United States Department of Justice to move aggressively into this field as well. The question naturally arises whether this new round of deinstitutionalization litigation will end in the same place as the litigation of the 1970s and 1980s.This article contends that things will be different this time — though not necessarily better. The outcomes of the first wave of deinstitutionalization litigation resulted from the interaction between the political dynamics into which advocates inserted themselves and the legal claims they employed. But, as this article shows, both the political dynamics and the legal claims have changed significantly. Precisely because the first wave of deinstitutionalization litigation was so successful in moving residents out of large state institutions for people with psychiatric and developmental disabilities, the efforts of deinstitutionalization advocates have turned to ensuring the availability of adequate services in the community. This has shifted the fiscal politics of the field in ways that destabilize old political alliances but create the potential for new ones. At the same time, deinstitutionalization advocates have moved from the due process theories on which they relied in the 1970s and 1980s to an antidiscrimination theory relying on the ADA and Olmstead. That theory focuses directly on state resource-allocation decisions and affords states a powerful incentive to create and fund adequate community services. All of which leaves the future of deinstitutionalization uncertain. Deinstitutionalization advocates are focused to a greater extent than ever on the goal of building up a robust community-based treatment system. And they are employing the most powerful legal tool they have ever possessed to achieve that goal. But the political partners who helped them achieve their great success in the first wave of deinstitutionalization will likely be the biggest obstacle to success in the next wave.
Assessing the Dependability of Embedded Software Systems Using the Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology

The Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology (DFM) is an integrated methodological approach to modeling and analyzing the behavior of software-driven embedded systems for the purpose of dependability assessment and verification. The methodology has two fundamental goals: 1) to identify how events can occur in a system; and 2) to identify an appropriate testing strategy based on an analysis of system functional behavior. To achieve these goals, the methodology employs a modeling framework in which models expressing the logic of the system being analyzed are developed in terms of causal relationships between physical variables and temporal characteristics of the execution of software modules. These models are then analyzed to determined how a certain state (desirable or undesirable) can be reached. This is done by developing timed fault trees which take the form of logical combinations of static trees relating the system parameters at different points in time. The resulting information concerning the hardware and software states that can lead to certain events of interest can then be used to increase confidence in the system, eliminate unsafe execution paths, and identify testing criteria for safety critical software functions.
Clinical experience with a glass-fiber gastroscope.

1. Clinical experience with a fiber gastroscope indicated this to be a useful instrument. 2. Topical anesthesia and an assistant to support the head were not required. 3. The examination caused minimal discomfort in most patients and for this reason prolonged examination was possible. 4. Color photographs were easily obtained without special skills or equipment. 5. The body, antrum, and pylorus of the stomach were clearly visualized. Examination of the fundus and cardioesophageal region was not satisfactory. Visualization of the duodenum was not consistently accomplished.
The Influence of Age on pH Regulation in Hippocampal Slices Before, During, and after Anoxia

Changes in intracellular and extracellular pH may influence the vulnerability of brain tissue to anoxic or ischemic damage. In the present study, we investigated whether the increased vulnerability of aged brain tissue to anoxic damage is associated with age-related alterations in pH regulation. We obtained evidence for altered pH regulation by measuring concurrent changes in intracellular and extracellular pH before, during, and after anoxia in hippocampal slices from young adult (6-8 months old) and aged (24-27 months old) rats. We found indications of impaired pH regulation in aged hippocampal slices (a) before anoxia, as seen in a lower resting intracellular pH, (b) during anoxia, as seen in a slower decline in extracellular pH, and (c) during recovery after anoxia, as seen in a slower rate of recovery of intracellular pH. Age-related changes in pH regulation may contribute to the faster onset of anoxic depolarization in aged brain tissue during anoxia.
The costimulatory function of antigen-presenting cells

In addition to the expression of MHC-antigen complexes and molecules which non-specifically promote cell adhesion, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) provide costimulatory activity for T-lymphocyte stimulation. Costimulatory molecules are essential for activation and multiplication: the presentation of antigen by cells lacking such molecules may lead to T-cell tolerance. In this review, Casey Weaver and Emil Unanue update information on interleukin 1 (IL-1), the original and best-studied costimulator, and investigate the nature of novel, as yet uncharacterized, costimulatory molecules.
Influence of perceived competence and causal dimension orientation on expectations, persistence, and performance during perceived failure.

Abstract This investigation was conducted to compare the influence of high and low perceived competence (PC) and various causal dimension orientations on expectations, persistence, and performance while perceiving failure on a motor task. Based on a response to a PC scale, 84 junior high school students were selected to participate in this study. Separately, 42 low and 42 high PC subjects were oriented to perceive their performance on a stabilometer balancing task as due to: (a) internal, controllable, unstable factors (ICU); (b) internal, uncontrollable, stable factors (IUS); or (c) nothing in particular (NDO). Subjects then received fictitious negative feedback over 15 trials. Results revealed that persistence, expectations, and performance dependent measures were significant for PC and Causal Dimension groups. More specifically, the High PC group persisted longer, had higher expectations, and performed significantly better than the Low PC group. Furthermore, the subjects presented ICU orientations pers...
Gene targeting reveals a hierarchy of transcription factors regulating specification of lymphoid cell fates

Specification of B- and T-lymphoid cell fates appears to involve the expression of a shared set of genes encoding recombination proteins and of genes encoding lineage-specific components of antigen receptors. Recent studies using gene targeting have identified transcription factors that are required for the proper specification of lymphoid cell fates. On the basis of these data, a regulatory gene hierarchy which orchestrates the development of lymphoid progenitors from hematopoietic stem cells can be proposed.
On the accurate description of piezoelectric resonators subject to biasing deformations

The linear electroelastic equations for small dynamic fields superposed on a static bias obtained from the general rotationally invariant nonlinear electroelastic description are presented. Since these linear equations are obtained from a properly invariant description, they may be and, indeed, are referred to the known reference coordinates, which are convenient to use because they never change with any bias. Intrinsically linear descriptions must be referred to the changed position coordinates when any bias, even a homogeneous temperature bias, is present. These coordinates are inconvenient to use and can lead to and, indeed, have led to unnecessary errors. It is shown that the linear equations referred to the known reference coordinates result in a far more accurate description of the behavior of electroelastic devices subject to different biases, including homogeneous thermal, than the intrinsically linear equations.
Finding Ways to Reduce the Prevalence of Child Maltreatment Among Fathers: A Comment on the Alternative Approaches

Scott and Crooks (this issue) provide a thoughtful and thorough accounting of the characteristics that are more typical among maltreating than nonmaltreating fathers. Despite the merit in the suggested guidelines for intervention programs, questions may be raised about the relative utility of interventions rather than prevention programs with at-risk males. The effectiveness of one such prevention program is described.
A Kuhnian Perspective on Asset Pricing Theory

This article argues that the field of asset pricing theory is undergoing a scientific revolution in Kuhnian terms. The orthodox view is one of determinate change in causal processes and inherent stability whereby financial markets, left unfettered, allocate nearly perfectly society's scare capital. However, decades of mounting anomalous evidence against the implications of stable causal processes perpetuated by conventional models based on efficient markets and the rational expectations hypothesis have paved the way for alternative avenues of research. Although various approaches are being developed, the imperfect knowledge economics (IKE) class of models has emerged as a potential new paradigm in the field of macro-finance. By stopping short of fixing in advance the specification of individual forecasting behavior and the causal process, the IKE class of models has been able to reconcile many of the puzzles found within the literature on asset price behavior and risk.
Novel structural templates for estrogen-receptor ligands and prospects for combinatorial synthesis of estrogens

Introduction The development of estrogen pharmaceutical agents with appropriate tissue-selectivity profiles has not yet benefited substantially from the application of combinatorial synthetic approaches to the preparation of structural classes that are known to be ligands for the estrogen receptor (ER). We have developed an estrogen pharmacophore that consists of a simple heterocyclic core scaffold, amenable to construction by combinatorial methods, onto which are appended 3–4 peripheral substituents that embody substructural motifs commonly found in nonsteroidal estrogens. The issue addressed here is whether these heterocyclic core structures can be used to prepare ligands with good affinity for the ER. Results We prepared representative members of various azole core structures. Although members of the imidazole, thiazole or isoxazole classes generally have weak binding for the ER, several members of the pyrazole class show good binding affinity. The high-affinity pyrazoles bear close conformational relationship to the nonsteroidal ligand raloxifene, and they can be fitted into the ligand-binding pocket of the ER-raloxifene X-ray structure. Conclusions Compounds such as these pyrazoles, which are novel ER ligands, are well suited for combinatorial synthesis using solid-phase methods.
Effects of disorder on the transport properties of bis (tetrathiatetracene)triiodide

Bis(tetrathiatetracene)triiodide [${(\mathrm{TTT})}_{2}$${\mathrm{I}}_{3}$] is a quasi-one-dimensional organic metal consisting of segregated stacks of tetrathiatetracene (TTT) cation radicals and polyiodide chains. The TTT and iodine (I) sublattices are incommensurate with respect to each other, and the iodine lattice exhibits considerable disorder. In this paper, we report measurements of the conductivity and thermoelectric power of single crystals of TT${\mathrm{T}}_{2}$${\mathrm{I}}_{3}$ in which the degree of disorder is varied. The disorder is modified by crystallization processes and is characterized by x-ray studies. ${(\mathrm{TTT})}_{2}$${\mathrm{I}}_{3}$ exhibits metallic behavior at high temperatures ($100\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{K}lTl300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{K}$) even in the presence of considerable disorder. Below 100\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K, ${(\mathrm{TTT})}_{2}$${\mathrm{I}}_{3}$ undergoes a broad metal-nonmetal transition. The effects of disorder on this transition and on the low-temperature transport properties are discussed. The present results are compared with data on ${(\mathrm{TTT})}_{2}$${\mathrm{I}}_{3}$ taken by other investigators.
Investigation of the mechanism of hypertension in apparent mineralocorticoid excess

Abstract Apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME) is a rare form of low renin hypertension caused by deficiency of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD), the enzyme responsible for conversion of cortisol to the bioinactive metabolite, cortisone. This results in prolonged cortisol half-life, activation of type I (mineralocorticoid) receptors by cortisol, sodium and fluid retention, and consequent childhood-onset hypertension. The cortisol secretion rate is low, perhaps due to cortisol's binding to type II (glucocorticoid) receptors and suppressing corticotropin secretion. Patients with AME thus lack stigmata of Cushing's syndrome. To evaluate any potential contribution of the type II (glucocorticoid) receptor to the development of hypertension in AME patients, we administered RU486, a steroid analogue that acts as a pure type II receptor blocker. Selective glucocorticoid receptor blockade did not decrease blood pressure in our patient; instead, a significant increase in average blood pressure was observed (125.1 ± 1.7 pre-RU486 v 144.7 ± 1.2 during RU486 treatment, P = .0001). We conclude that the type II receptor does not contribute to the development of hypertension in patients with AME.
Photoelectrocatalysis of oxygen evolution on nTiO2

Abstract Photoelectrochemical evolution of oxygen on n -TiO 2 is catalysed in basic medium by metal islets deposited on the electrode surface. The electrocatalytic effect increases linearly with D (M—H). However, no catalytic effect of the metal islets is observed in acidic solutions. Such findings are contrary to those expected on a Schottky barrier model. They are consistent with a model in which the overall rate of the photoelectrochemical reaction is controlled by the step at the metal —solution interface.
Surface modification of sapphire for IR window application

Two surface modification techniques, a `super polish' (SP), and ion implantation, were evaluated for improving the mechanical performance of sapphire IR window material. Both techniques increased the average strength as measured by 4-point bend tests and were effective in preventing the propagation of surface flaws. Ion implantation improved the reliability at lower stresses more than the SP. Neither process significantly affected the IR transmission. The SP produced a smoother surface as shown by optical scatter measurements.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Cat-scratch fever.

Summary This report, concerned with cases of cat-scratch fever, is the result of a series of studies carried out in children in the South Texas area. Within the past eighteen months twelve cases of cat-scratch fever have come to our attention, which emphasizes again the probable widespread incidence and frequent observation of this disease in the everyday practice of medicine. all of these patients showed the characteristic features of the disease: malaise, fever, and unexplained local adenopathy, in which the size of the enlarged lymph node may be quite impressive. The incubation period is somewhat variable, averaging from ten to thirty days. As a rule, the patient does not appear acutely or chronically ill. In most instances the history will reveal some association with cats, although the location or time of a specific scratch may be uncertain. At the time that medical advice is sought, lymphadenopathy is the chief presenting symptom, and there may be an exacerbation of redness and swelling at the site where a primary lesion has been in the process of healing. Patients with cat-scratch fever show uniformly a positive skin reaction when tested by intradermal injection with an antigen prepared by the Frei procedure from the bubo of a known case of cat-scratch fever. The preparation of this antigen for skin testing is described in detail. As a basis for comparison in the present study, a group of “control” subjects was tested for skin reaction of the type observed in cat-scratch fever. This group consisted of normal volunteers who showed complete absence of response to intradermal injection of the antigenic material, patients with no evidence of lymph node disease and patients with suppurative or nonsuppurative adenopathy thought to be attributable to other causes than catscratch fever. The results of these skin tests were negative consistently. No untoward effects of any kind occurred as a result of the injection of the antigenic skin-testing materials. In the course of the study, skintestingantigens were prepared from material obtained by needle aspiration of involved lymph nodes in three separate patients whose signs and symptoms were typical of cat-scratch fever. All three antigen samples gave similar results. With few exceptions the disease is mild and self-limited. No specific therapeutic measures have been of definite benefit in cases proved by skin-test reaction. Aureomycin seems to shorten the febrile course in some instances and to alleviate the systemic symptoms in some degree. While the etiology of this disease entity has not been clarified completely, there is considerable evidence in support of the view that the infectious agent concerned belongs to the psittacosis-lymphogranuloma group of viruses.
Improvement of extraction recovery for the monobutyltin species from sediment

Abstract An improvement of the extraction recovery of the MBT species from sediment has been achieved by using a more polar solvent, toluene, and tropolone as chelating agent. A recovery of 84.7 ± 6.3% from spiked sediment has been achieved, which is the highest recovery of MBT species from sediment so far reported using solvent extraction techniques. The relative detection limit for organotin compounds in general in sediment (2 g) is 0.5 ng g −1 when gas chromatography with atomic emission spectrometric detection is used for the analysis. Relative standard deviations (%) for recovery of MBT, DBT and TBT in spiked sediment range from 2.5 to 6.3% (at 0.5 μg g −1 level). The extraction solution also recovers satisfactorily 7 other commonly used organotin compounds. Analyses of selected environmental samples and the Reference Sediment PACS-1 are given.
Interposition vein grafts in microvascular head and neck reconstruction

Objectives/Hypothesis: To understand when interposition vein grafting may be needed in head and neck reconstruction and become familiar with the factors associated with use of interposition grafts and their effect on free flap survival. Study Design: Descriptive case-series design in a tertiary referral center. Methods: Charts were reviewed in patients undergoing interposition vein grafts for microvascular reconstruction of head and neck defects between August 1998 and February 2009. Results: In a 10-year period, interposition vein grafts were used in 20 free tissue transfers, representing 1.7% of all microvascular reconstruction cases (n = 1,143). Seventy percent of vein grafts were used in cases of secondary reconstruction or prior radiotherapy. Free flap survival in the interposition vein graft group was 95%, compared with 96% overall flap survival. Conclusions: Interposition vein grafts are used most often in cases involving a threatened flap, prior free flap, flap failure or radiation, and tumor recurrence. The use of interposition vein grafting in microvascular reconstruction is not associated with decreased flap survival. Laryngoscope, 2011
Unleashing Exposed Terminals in Enterprise WLANs: A Rate Adaptation Approach

The increasing availability of inexpensive off-the- shelf 802.11 hardware has made it possible to deploy access points (APs) densely to ensure the coverage of complex enterprise environments such as business and college campuses. However, dense AP deployment often leads to increased level of wireless contention, resulting in low system throughput. A promising approach to address this issue is to enable the transmission concurrency of exposed terminals in which two senders lie in the range of one another but do not interfere each other's receiver. However, existing solutions ignore the rate diversity of 802.11 and hence cannot fully exploit concurrent transmission opportunities in a WLAN. In this paper, we present TRACK - Transmission Rate Adaptation for Colliding linKs, a novel protocol for harnessing exposed terminals with a rate adaptation approach in enterprise WLANs. Using measurement-based channel models, TRACK can optimize the bit rates of concurrent links to improve system throughput while maintaining link fairness. Our extensive experiments on a testbed of 17 nodes show that TRACK improves system throughput by up to 67% and 35% over 802.11 CSMA and conventional approaches of harnessing exposed terminals.
Fixed-bed performance for production of oxygen-enriched carbon dioxide stream by perovskite-type ceramic sorbent

Abstract This paper reports on an experimental study on production of oxygen-enriched carbon dioxide stream by a fixed-bed packed with a perovskite-type ceramic sorbent La 0.1 Sr 0.9 Co 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 3− δ , which can adsorb oxygen from air. Oxygen-enriched carbon dioxide stream is produced by passing carbon dioxide into the fixed-bed saturated with oxygen. Fixed-bed experiments were performed to study the oxygen separation performance of this sorbent. The separation process was experimentally confirmed to be a reversible chemical sorption and desorption process. Experimental results are also reported to show the effects of operation conditions, including adsorption time, flow rates of feed gases, and fixed-bed temperatures in the adsorption and desorption steps, on average oxygen concentration of the product stream, oxygen recovery, carbon dioxide recovery and productivity. Experimental results suggest that adsorption and desorption temperatures are the most critical operation parameters. Under the optimum conditions (850 and 900 °C adsorption and desorption temperatures) the fixed-bed adsorber can produce an oxygen-enriched carbon dioxide stream with average oxygen concentration, oxygen recovery, carbon dioxide recovery and productivity, respectively, of 58.8%, 18.7%, 26.6% and 0.272 ml/min. This oxygen-enriched carbon dioxide stream may be used as an oxidant in the oxyfuel combustion process.
The clinical role of noncontrast helical computed tomography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis

Abstract Background: The accuracy of noncontrast helical computed tomography (CT) for appendicitis has recently been demonstrated. What is its clinical utility? Methods: This was a retrospective review of 443 consecutive community hospital patients evaluated for acute appendicitis over an 18-month period using limited pelvic CT scan or clinical acumen alone. Results: Appendicitis was pathologically proven in 158 patients. The negative appendectomy rate was 5.4%. The best radiological indicators for a positive CT for appendicitis were pericecal inflammation (88%) and appendicolith(57%). Appendiceal CT was found to have a 92% sensitivity, 99.6% specificity, and a 97.5% accuracy. There were 260 patients who had a negative CT; 243 of these were sent home. Alternative diagnoses were identified in 22% of patients. Conclusions: The liberal use of noncontrast helical CT results in a low negative appendectomy rate and a high degree of confidence that a negative CT will allow patients to be sent home safely.
A photobleaching recovery study of glucocorticoid effects on lateral mobilities of a lipid analog in S3G HeLa cell membranes.

Abstract Treatment of the S3G strain of HeLa cells with dexamethasone inhibits cholesterol synthesis and thus results in decreased plasma membrane cholesterol-to-protein ratios. Incubation of HeLa cells with dexamethasone for 24 h lowers the steady-state fluorescence polarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) in intact cell plasma membranes and isolated plasma membranes (Johnston, D. and Melnykovych, G. (1980) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 596, 320–324). We have examined the effect of dexamethasone treatment of S3G HeLa cells on the lateral diffusion of the fluorescent lipid analogue 3,3′-dioctadecylindocarbocyanine iodide (DiI) by the fluorescence photobleaching recovery technique. The lateral diffusion of DiI was measured in cells 0, 2, 6, 12, and 24 h following treatment with dexamethasone and in cells identically handled without dexamethasone at 37°C. The diffusion constants of DiI in the treated and untreated cell membranes at zero time were (4.52±0.30) · 10 −9 cm 2 /s and (4.56±0.24) · 10 −9 cm 2 /s, respectively. There was no significant change in the lateral diffusion of DiI in the untreated cells over the 24 h period. The lateral diffusion of the lipid probe in the dexamethasone-treated cells began to increase 6 h following treatment and reached (6.43±0.27) · 10 −9 cm 2 /s at 24 h. The lateral diffusion of DiI was also measured at 25, 17, 10 and 4°C following 24 h incubation with and without dexamethasone. The effect of dexamethasone treatment on the lipid probe lateral diffusion observed at 37°C is decreased at 25°C and reversed in direction at 10 and 4°C. These results agree with those obtained in artificial systems containing varying amounts of cholesterol and support the suggestion that cholesterol acts to suppress phospholipid phase changes in animal cells. The lateral diffusion of DiI localized as a monolayer at a mineral oil-water interface was measured by fluorescence photobleaching recovery. The resulting data and the viscosity of the mineral oil were used to calculate the microviscosities of the plasma membranes of untreated and dexamethasone-treated cells at 25°C. Membrane microviscosities were also calculated from the fluorescence polarization studies cited above. In both cases the dexamethasone treatment reduced the apparent microviscosity by approximately 25%. However, the absolute microviscosity values obtained by the two techniques differ by a factor of 3.