cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electronic properties of σ-conjugated polysilanes

Abstract Recent experimental results on charge carrier transport, charge carrier generation and exciton-exciton annihilation in σ-conjugated polysilanes show that these materials have many interesting properties. The principal conclusions from these studies are: (1) Only holes are mobile and in poly(phenyl methyl silane) the transport is non-dispersive with a mobility of 10 −4 cm 2 /Vs; (2) Charge carrier generation does not occur by band-to-band transitions but by injection from the surface when excitons contact the surface; and (3) Singlet excitons are highly mobile in polysilanes and exciton-exciton annihilation is an important process at incident light intensities as low as 100 W/cm 3 , if the light is strongly absorbed.
Protective action of oestrogen against the lethal effect of endotoxin in the rat.

DURING investigations on the vascular effects of endotoxin in the isolated rat liver1, it was noted that the vasoconstrictive response to the administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide failed to occur if pooled female rather than male rat blood was used as the perfusate, and this prompted an investigation of the value of an oestrogenic compound in prolonging the survival time of rats after the administration of endotoxin. Female albino rats weighing 200–250 g, and male Sprague–Dawley rats weighing 350–400 g, were used. The animals were paired by sex and weight, and each pair was allotted to the treated or control group. Food and water were given freely until the start of the experiment, when they were removed. Conjugated equine oestrogens, expressed as sodium oestrone sulphate, were given intraperitoneally and each rat received 4 mg dissolved in 1 ml. of diluent at various intervals before and after the intraperitoneal administration of purified lipopolysaccharide (E. coli 0127 : B8, Difco Laboratories, Detroit). The diluent was given at the same intervals to the control animals. The numbers of survivors in the treated and untreated groups were recorded at 18 and 24 h. The few deaths occurring after 24 h were not included in the results, and statistical significance was determined by the method of χ2 using Yates correction.
Cortical projections arising from the basal forebrain: a study of cholinergic and noncholinergic components employing combined retrograde tracing and immunohistochemical localization of choline acetyltransferase.

Abstract The neurochemical identity of ascending putative cholinergic pathways from the rat basal forebrain was investigated employing a method for simultaneouly visualizing choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity and retrogradely transported horseradish peroxidase-conjugated wheatgerm agglutinin. This histochemical procedure revealed three distinct populations of neurons: (1) cells which stained only for choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity; (2) cells which stained only for retrograde tracer and (3) cells which stained simultaneously for choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity and retrograde tracer. The results demonstrated that this projection is topographically organized and consists of both cholinergic and noncholinergic components. The relative contribution of each component varied with the telencephalic target area as follows: the olfactory bulb receives a projection from cells of the horizontal limb nucleus, 10–20% of which are cholinergic (Ch3); the hippocampal formation receives afferents from cells of the medial septal and vertical limb nuclei, 35–45% of which are cholinergic (Chl and Ch2); and the cortical mantle receives afferents primarily from cells within the substantia innominata-nucleus basalis complex, 80–90% of which are cholinergic (Ch4). The topographical organization of Ch4 projections is not as completely differentiated as we have previously observed in the primate.
Enhanced sensitivity to molecular diffusion with intermolecular double-quantum coherences: implications and potential applications

Apparent molecular self-diffusion rates for (1)H intermolecular double-quantum coherences (iDQCs) were measured in solvents covering a wide range of intrinsic diffusion coefficients at 1.5, 9.4 and 14T, and water iDQC diffusion-weighted images were obtained at 1.5T in human brains and at 9.4T in rat brains. Conventional single quantum coherence (SQC) measurements were also made in the same samples. Experimental results indicate that iDQCs are approximately twice as sensitive to diffusion as SQC. A general theoretical expression was derived, and a model was proposed to explain the phenomenon. Potential applications in DWI and brain fMRI were also discussed.
Influencing factors of colostrum exposure to low-level lead and their relationship with early neural development of infants

Abstract Background Exposure to low-level lead has a toxic effect on the development of neonates, which has attracted wide attention. Colostrum lead level can be used as the indication of lead exposure. Objective To observe the relationship of colostrum lead level and the neurobehavioral development of infants. Design A prospective control observation. Setting Center for Maternal and Child Health, Shanxi Provincial Children's Hospital. Participants Totally 128 neonates of full-term normal delivery, 76 male and 52 female, from Shanxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Center and Jiexiu Maternal and Child Health Center were involved in this study. All the involved neonates had no peripartal ischemic/hypoxic history or fetus intrauterine developmental lag. Pregnant women had no various acute and chronic diseases in pregnancy, family history of neurological disease or occupational lead exposure. 128 portions of colostrum sample of full-term normal delivery were collected. Informed consents of detected items were obtained from the puerperants and their relatives. Methods Experimental grouping: Lead level in the colostrum was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. According to lead level in the colostrum, the neonates were classified into two exposure groups of greater than or equal to 0.24 μmol/L in a high-level lead group and less than 0.24 μmol/L in a low-level lead group. Experimental evaluation: Mental developmental index (MDI) and psychological developmental index (PDI) of 3-month-old infants were evaluated with Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID). The relationships of MDI, PDI and colostrum lead level were performed correlation regression analysis; The relationship of colostrum lead level and development was performed multi-factor analysis with family environment and health questionnaires. Main outcome measures Evaluation results of MDI and PDI. Multi-factor analysis results. Results Totally 128 neonates were involved in the study. Ten and eleven neonates were lost due to emigration in the high-level lead group and low-level lead group respectively, and the other 107 neonates participated in the final analysis. MDI and PDI in the high-level lead group were significantly lower than those in the low-level lead group, respectively (P Four variables of the factors included by family environment and health questionnaires were taken into equation. Large maternal age, irrational dietary pattern in pregnancy and pollution degree of habitation environment in pregnancy were the risk factors of colostrum lead level (partial regression coefficien t =0.598 4,0.426 8,0.306 7,P Conclusion High colostrum lead level will have adverse effects on the early development of neonates; Large maternal age, irrational dietary pattern in pregnancy and pollution degree of habitation environment in pregnancy are the risk factors of colostrum lead level, and calcium supplementation in pregnancy was a protective factor.
Transmission of light through periodic arrays of sub-wavelength slits in metallic hosts

Using Bloch modes to study the extraordinary transmission of light through a periodic array of slits in a metallic host, we discuss the differing roles of surface plasmon polaritons and Wood’s anomalies in the observed behavior of such structures. Under certain circumstances, the first few excited modes appear to play a decisive role in determining the transmission efficiency of the array. Surface plasmon excitations tend to reduce the transmissivity of a semi-infinitely thick slit array, yet, paradoxically, the same reduction can account for enhanced transmission in an array of finite thickness τ, provided that τ is tuned to a Fabry-Perot-like resonance between the entrance and exit facets of the slit array. At the Wood anomaly, power redistribution produces sharp peaks in the diffraction efficiencies of various reflected and transmitted orders of the semi-infinite structure. With skew incidence, the degenerate states split, resulting in two peaks and two valleys, as observed by Wood in his 1902 experiments.
B4 androgen ablation: attacking the prostate cancer stem cell

There is increasing evidence that prostate cancers in rodent models and in men contain a cellular subpopulation that displays stem cell properties. These prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs) lack androgen receptor expression and are increased in castration-resistant disease. In this issue of the JCI, a study from Yoshioka et al. demonstrates that PCSCs are regulated by a pathway in which α6β4 integrin amplifies signaling through ErbB2 and c-Met receptors. Targeting this pathway provides a novel therapeutic strategy for hormone refractory prostate cancer.
Infrared and Raman spectra of the silicon-hydrogen bonds in amorphous silicon prepared by glow discharge and sputtering

We have studied the number and nature of the silicon-hydrogen bonds in amorphous silicon films prepared in plasmas either of silane or of hydrogen and argon. The films from silane glow discharges have qualitatively different Raman and infrared spectra which depend on deposition parameters such as substrate temperature and silane gas pressure. Three main groups of spectral bands are seen associated with the Si-H bonds: the Si-H bond stretch bands, the bands due to relative bending of two or three Si-H bonds with a common silicon atom, and the "wagging" bands of Si-H bonds with respect to the Si matrix. These bands are split in a way suggestive of the presence of SiH, Si${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, and Si${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ complexes: the bond-bending bands are absent when only SiH bonds are present. All three types of complexes are identified in films deposited from glow discharges of silane at pressures \ensuremath{\sim} 1 Torr and room temperature. Higher substrate temperatures and/or lower pressures reduce the Si${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ and Si${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ concentrations: films deposited at 250\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C and 0.1 Torr contain only SiH groups. From the strength of the corresponding absorption bands, H concentrations as high as 35 to 52 atomic percent are estimated. Films sputtered at 200\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C in a 10% ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$-90% Ar mixture contain all three groupings observed in the silane-derived samples. Deuterated sputtered films are used to confirm the analysis. The first- and second-order Raman scattering spectra of the Si-Si bonds in pure and hydrogenated $a\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}$ are also discussed. The scattering efficiency of $a\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}$ is found to be as much as 10 times that of crystal Si. The depolarization ratio of the $a\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}$ Raman spectrum has been remeasured. Finally, a picture is presented of when it is appropriate to refer to heavily hydrogenated $a\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}$ as still being a material describable by $a\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}$ network models.
TOXICITY AND DEPRESSANT ACTION OF ETHANOL AND HEXOBARBITAL AFTER PRETREATMENT WITH ASPARAGINE.

Abstract Pretreatment with l -asparagine enhanced the depressant properties of ethanol as measured by sleeping time and immobility time which have been operationally defined. A similar synergism of hexobarbital was observed. Neither the LD 50 of alcohol nor hexobarbital was altered significantly when animals were pretreated with l -asparagine.
Quantifying oscillatory ventilation during exercise in patients with heart failure

Background: This study tested the validity of a data analysis scheme to quantify measures of oscillatory ventilation at rest and during exercise in heart failure patients (HF). Methods: Eleven patients (age=53±8yrs, LVEF=17±4%, NYHA Class=II (7)/IV (4)) were recruited. Ventilation (VE) and gas exchange were measured. Amplitude and period of oscillations in VE, tidal volume (VT), end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2), and oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured manually (MAN), using novel software which included a peak detection algorithm (PK), sine wave fitting algorithm (SINE), and Fourier analysis (FOUR). Results: During PB, there were no differences between MAN and PK for amplitude of VE, VT, PETCO2, or VO2. Similarly, there were no differences between MAN and SINE for amplitude of VE or VT although PETCO2 and VO2 were lower with SINE (p Conclusion: These data suggest 1) PK consistently captures amplitudes but underestimates period, 2) SINE and FOUR consistently capture period although SINE underestimates amplitude. Thus, an optimal algorithm for quantifying oscillatory ventilation in HF might combine multiple analysis methods. NIH grants HL71478/KL2-RR024151
Enhancement of the Erythropoietic Response of Cats to Hypoxia Following Removal of the Carotid Body

SummaryPlasma erythropoietin levels in carotid body-ablated cats exposed to hypoxia (0.50 atm for 18 hr) 48 hr after removal of the carotid bodies were significantly higher than that of sham-operated controls exposed to the same degree of hypoxia. The mean plasma ESF levels in the carotid body-ablated group (1.29 ± 0.16 units/ml of plasma) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of sham-operated controls (0.74 ± 0.11 units/ml of plasma). However, plasma ESF levels in cats exposed to hypoxia 2 wk after carotid body ablation or sham-operation were not significantly different. The present studies indicate that removal of the carotid bodies in cats enhances the erythropoietic response to hypoxia.
Adjunctive strategies in the treatment of refractory bipolar depression: clinician options in the absence of a systematic database.

Multiple approaches to enhancing antidepressant treatment response in bipolar depression are available and should, in many instances, be explored despite a lack of definitive controlled trial literature supporting their efficacy. Given that the morbidity of depression is three times greater than mania in bipolar illness, a range of treatment approaches to this phase of illness should be pursued. This paper highlights the preliminary evidence of efficacy versus side effects, tolerability, and safety in order to suggest an overall provisional utility grade for each well-studied to highly-experimental option. Given the general paucity of evidence to support efficacy or to sequence different approaches for augmenting treatment of bipolar depression, it is critical that patient and physician adopt a systematic and, preferably, daily rating approach to the assessment of benefit for a given patient of each strategy contemplated. The goal is to achieve and maintain remission of depressive symptoms and associated ...
Minimizing branch misprediction penalties for superpipelined processors

Branch misprediction penalties depend on branch misprediction rates and branch penalties. Dynamic branch schemes take advantage of hardware to record and predict branch behavior at run-time for reducing branch misprediction rates. Static branch schemes take advantage of scheduling safe instructions into branch delay slots at compile-time for reducing branch penalties. This paper evaluates and compares the performance of various state-of-the-art static and dynamic branch schemes for super-pipelined processors.
Elevated carboxyhemoglobin in a marine mammal, the northern elephant seal

Low concentrations of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO), generated primarily through degradation of heme from heme-proteins, have been shown to maintain physiological function of organs and to exert cytoprotective effects. However, high concentrations of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), formed by CO binding to hemoglobin, potentially prevent adequate O2 delivery to tissues by lowering arterial O2 content. Elevated heme-protein concentrations, as found in marine mammals, are likely associated with greater heme degradation, more endogenous CO production and, consequently, elevated COHb concentrations. Therefore, we measured COHb in elephant seals, a species with large blood volumes and elevated hemoglobin and myoglobin concentrations. The levels of COHb were positively related to the total hemoglobin concentration. The maximum COHb value was 10.4% of total hemoglobin concentration. The mean (±s.e.m.) value in adult seals was 8.7±0.3% (N=6), while juveniles and pups (with lower heme-protein contents) had lower mean COHb values of 7.6±0.2% and 7.1±0.3%, respectively (N=9 and N=9, respectively). Serial samples over several hours revealed little to no fluctuation in COHb values. This consistent elevation in COHb suggests that the magnitude and/or rate of heme-protein turnover is much higher than in terrestrial mammals. The maximum COHb values from this study decrease total body O2 stores by 7%, thereby reducing the calculated aerobic dive limit for this species. However, the constant presence of elevated CO in blood may also protect against potential ischemia–reperfusion injury associated with the extreme breath-holds of elephant seals. We suggest the elephant seal represents an ideal model for understanding the potential cytoprotective effects, mechanisms of action and evolutionary adaptation associated with chronically elevated concentrations of endogenously produced CO.
Evaluating the Effect of Abnormal Audit Fees on Future Restatements

SUMMARY : This article summarizes our recently published article, “Abnormal Audit Fees and Restatements” (Blankley et al. 2012), which discusses the relationship between abnormal audit fees and future restatements. We find that there is a negative relationship between the two; specifically, unusually low audit fees are associated with an increased likelihood of a future restatement (i.e., one or two years in the future). This relationship has important implications for auditors in terms of audit planning, pricing, and client retention. After summarizing the published study, we discuss how examining abnormal audit fees may be useful for audit professionals and audit committees.
Positive temperature coefficient of impact ionization in strained-Si

We have experimentally studied impact ionization (II) in the strained-Si layer of a strained-Si/SiGe heterostructure. Our key finding is that the impact ionization multiplication coefficient has a positive temperature coefficient which is opposite to that of bulk Si. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the multiplication coefficient has been found to be exponential in nature. Our experimental work shows that the combination of a strong and positive temperature dependence of the II coefficient and the significant self-heating that this structure suffers from results in an overall impact ionization rate that is more than an order of magnitude higher than that of reference Si devices operating under identical bias conditions.
Set representations required for the acquisition of the “natural number” concept

Rips et al. consider whether representations of individual objects or analog magnitudes are building blocks for the concept natural number. We argue for a third core capacity – the ability to bind representations of individuals into sets. However, even with this addition to the list of starting materials, we agree that a significant acquisition story is needed to capture natural number.
Competitive learning in asynchronous pulse density integrated circuits

The authors introduce a MOS circuit for the integrated implementation of pulse-coded competitive learning. They describe an autoadaptive synapse circuit for a pulse-coded competitive learning rule. The specific focus is upon an adaptive synapse cell which combines a capacitive analog storage element with subthreshold adaptation circuitry. The adaptation circuitry is designed to compensate for nonlinear device transconductance in the subthreshold operating region. The simulation results presented verify circuit operation in a 2-input-3-output competitive network. Accurate clustering of random training data was demonstrated. >
Designing a trust chain for a thin client on a live Linux cd

CD-boot Linuxi is a live Linux environment, which is easy to use because it is not installed in the hard disk, but simply boots directly from a CD. This helps protect the sensitive information because a clean environment can be prepared at boot time. To insure this environment protects sensitive information, we adapted the trusted computing technology to define a trustworthy environment.
Screening Enlightenment: Hollywood and the Cultural Reconstruction of Defeated Japan. Hiroshi Kitamura. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.

Screening Enlightenment: Hollywood and the Cultural Reconstruction of Defeated Japan. Hiroshi Kitamura. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.This is an engaging study of the cultural occupation of postwar Japan in the years 1945-1952. This pivotal period marked a remarkable transition for a nation imbued with a sense of cultural purity into a market cracked open for "Hollywoodization." Hiroshi Kitamura argues that the U.S. military and motion picture producers formed a mutually beneficial partnership during the occupation and, with the necessary participation of the Japanese themselves, reformed postwar Japan with a heavy dose of American-styled bunka (culture). In a theoretical sense, he adds to a growing body of scholarship on the cultural dimensions of twentieth-century American foreign policy. While many of those histories have focused attention on Europe, Kitamura builds on the work of John Dower, Naoko Shibusawa, and others who have examined the political, diplomatic, and cultural relations between the United States and postwar Japan.Americans, of course, had entered the Japanese cultural market before the Second World War, but militarists in Tokyo in the 1930s and 1940s soon insisted on motion pictures that reinforced its imperial ambitions in the Pacific and depictions that idealized its military actions in East Asia. Protectionist policies further limited American influence. After the war, Allied occupation fell under the auspices of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), which joined diplomats, policymakers, and motion picture studio executives in a corporatist partnership to reeducate and to bring "enlightenment" to the defeated Japanese. Working with the Central Motion Picture Exchange (CMPE), SCAP coordinated Hollywood distribution in Japan with an eye for promoting liberal values that complemented political reforms- in Kitamura's words, "to replace the perceived militaristic tendencies with peace-oriented, democratic values" (33). The first shipment included wholesome fare: Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), Going My Way (1944), Our Town (1940), and Tall in the Saddle (1944). In an effort to secure the industry's place in the occupation project, distributors marketed these and other films as bunka to American officials and Japanese audiences alike, whether their products truly reached the status of high culture or not.Kitamura does an admirable job showing the complexities of cultural reeducation plans during the occupation. Clearheaded SCAP officials avoided playing favorites by undertaking actions that occasionally relieved many Japanese and confounded some Americans. At the same time that SCAP used its authority to open the market for Hollywood, for example, it also liberated the domestic Japanese motion picture industry from years of imperial control. …
Planning for multi-robot exploration with multiple objective utility functions

With the continued improvements in portable computing power and sensing systems it is becoming more common for groups of robots to cooperate to achieve a goal. When the robots are operating in an initially unknown environment, the most natural form of cooperation is multi-robot exploration. For many years frontier based approaches have been commonly used to assign target points for each of the robots in the group based on expected information gain and distance to travel. In this paper we present an expansion to these approaches allowing for the incorporation of multiple objective utility functions that allow adjustment of the exploration priorities both for the individual robots and the group as a whole. In addition, we discuss real world results of our algorithm including our first place finish at the Old Ram Shed Challenge and second place at the MAGIC2010 main competition.
An analog circuit implementation of a quadratic integrate and fire neuron

Silicon neurons are of importance both to implement hybrid electronic-biological system as well as to develop fundamental understanding of the neurobiological systems they emulate. We have implemented a hardware version of the quadratic integrate and fire neural model. The quadratic integrate and fire neuron differs from the more common integrate and fire neuron in that the model, and thus the hardware, intrinsically generate spikes. Readily available discrete surface mount components are used to make the hardware available to a wider audience and facilitate experimentation.
Investigating the role of small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) in the resistance of Clostridium perfringens spores to heat.

Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning is caused by enterotoxigenic C. perfringens type A isolates that typically possess high spore heat-resistance. The molecular basis for C. perfringens spore heat-resistance remains unknown. In the current study, we investigated the role of small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) in heat-resistance of spores produced by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates. Our current study demonstrated the presence of all three SASP-encoding genes (ssp1, 2 and 3) in five surveyed C. perfringens clinical food poisoning isolates. β-Glucuronidase assay showed that these ssp genes are expressed specifically during sporulation. Consistent with these expression results, our study also demonstrated the production of SASPs by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates. When the heat sensitivities of spores produced by a ssp3 knock-out mutant of a C. perfringens food poisoning isolate was compared with that of spores of the wild-type strain, spores of the ssp3 mutant were found to exhibit a lower decimal reduction value (D value) at 100°C than exhibited by the spores of wild-type strain. This effect was restored by complementing the ssp3 mutant with a recombinant plasmid carrying wild-type ssp3, suggesting that the observed differences in D values between spores of wild-type versus ssp3 mutant was due to the specific inactivation of ssp3. Furthermore, our DNA protection assay demonstrated that C. perfringens SASPs can protect DNA from DNase I digestion. The results from our current study provide evidences that SASPs produced by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates play a role in protecting their spores from heat-damage, which is highly significant and relevant from a food safety perspective. Further detailed studies on mechanism of action of SASPs from C. perfringens should help in understanding the mechanism of protection of C. perfringens spores from heat-damage.
Preoperative Evaluation for Thoracic Surgery

The goal of the preoperative evaluation for thoracic surgery is to assess and implement measures to decrease perioperative complications and prepare high-risk patients for surgery. Major respiratory complications, such as atelectasis, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, occur in 15% to 20% of patients and account for most of the 3% to 4% mortality rate. Development of pulmonary complications has been associated with higher postoperative mortality rates. Strategies aimed at preventing postoperative difficulties have the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, decrease hospital stay, and improve resource use. One lung ventilation leads to a significant derangement of gas exchange, and hypoxemia can develop due to increased intrapulmonary shunting. Recent advances in anesthetic management, monitoring devices, improved lung isolation techniques, and improved critical care management have increased the number of patients who were previously considered inoperable. In addition, there is a growing tendency to offer surgery to patients with significant lung function impairment; hence a higher incidence of intraoperative gas-exchange abnormalities can be expected. The anesthesiologist must also consider the risks of denying or postponing a potentially curative operation in patients with lung cancer. Detailed consideration of the information provided by preoperative testing is essential to successful outcomes following thoracic surgery.
Pharmacy students' ability to identify plagiarism after an educational intervention.

Objective. To determine if an educational intervention in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program increases pharmacy students’ ability to identify plagiarism. Methods. First-year (P1), second-year (P2), and third-year (P3) pharmacy students attended an education session during which types of plagiarism and methods for avoiding plagiarism were reviewed. Students completed a preintervention assessment immediately prior to the session and a postintervention assessment the following semester to measure their ability. Results. Two hundred fifty-two students completed both preintervention and postintervention assessments. There was a 4% increase from preintervention to postintervention in assessment scores for the overall student sample (p<0.05). The mean change was greatest for P1 and P2 students (5% and 4.8%, respectively). Conclusion. An educational intervention about plagiarism can significantly improve students’ ability to identify plagiarism.
Transfusion-Transmitted Cytomegalovirus: Lessons From a Murine Model

Transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (TT-CMV) continues to complicate blood transfusion therapy, which can lead to severe morbidity or mortality in immunocompromised or immuno-immature recipients. The biological mechanisms that underlie TT-CMV (eg, viral latency in donor monocytes or stimulatory signals in the transfusion recipient leading to cytomegalovirus reactivation) are difficult to study in humans, but can be addressed in animal models. In this review, we discuss a mouse blood transfusion model, which can be used to investigate these issues as well as to validate methods to prevent TT-CMV in at-risk patients.
CYTOKINE-INDUCED EXPRESSION OF NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE IN C2C12 SKELETAL MUSCLE MYOCYTES

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important mediator of diverse physiological and pathological responses. To determine whether NO production can be induced in skeletal muscle, we stimulated C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle myocytes with putative inducers of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Neither lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), nor interferon-gamma (IFN) was able to stimulate nitrite production by C2C12 cells when administered alone. However, combinations of IFN with either TNF or IL-1 resulted in significant nitrite production; simultaneous stimulation of cells with all three cytokines resulted in significantly increased nitrite production compared with any combination of two cytokines. Northern analysis of RNA obtained from stimulated C2C12 cells revealed induction of a single mRNA band that precisely coincided with the mRNA band of mouse macrophage-inducible NOS (iNOS). Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis followed by sequencing of the 5' 765 bases of the skeletal muscle iNOS cDNA demonstrated exact homology with mouse macrophage iNOS. These findings indicate that combinations of cytokines stimulate NO production in skeletal muscle cells via induction of the macrophage-type iNOS gene.
Democratic Citizenship and Congressional Reconstruction: Defining and Implementing the Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship

This article, which is part of a symposium volume entitled "Vision and Revision: The Fourteenth Amendment", considers the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment during Reconstruction through the lens of democratic citizenship. I argue that Reconstruction can profitably be seen as an exploration of the possible meanings of democratic citizenship, conducted at a time when emancipation forced upon politicians and political thinkers questions about the real-world meaning of citizenship. Congress confronted the necessity of implementing actual privileges, rather than merely proclaiming vague ideals, and did so by enacting a spate of federal legislation throughout Reconstruction designed to implement citizenship and its privileges. I argue that these enactments, when considered in conjunction with the activities of the Freedmen's Bureau and with the arguments and actions of African-American leaders and political actors such as John Mercer Langston, demonstrate a nascent concept of democratic citizenship encompassing a range of activities in civil society - including family, religion, politics, commerce, and education - which were seen as essential to the implementation of full citizenship. Along the way I also challenge the standard historical interpretation that the Reconstruction Era legal and political actors assumed a rather clear division of rights into the three tiers of civil, political, and social, and the even more disputable idea that they "meant" to exclude social rights from national citizenship protection. The Article concludes with some thoughts on the possible meanings of a democratic citizenship vision of the Fourteenth Amendment for modern interpreters.
Referential Hierarchy Effects on Grammar: Toward a Unifying Functional Approach

It is still unclear whether grammatical systems based on referential hierarchies should be treated as an alignment type in its own right (Nichols 1992, Siewierska 2005, Zuniga 2006), viewed in terms of voice (Givon 1994, Shibatani 2006), or analyzed based on the properties of individual systems (Bickel 2008). This paper examines referential hierarchy effects on grammatical marking in 45 languages showing that all systems can be explained in terms of subjectivity, politeness, and topicality, and that in different languages these functions are fulfilled in structurally distinct ways conditioned by genetic inheritance and contact�induced change, consequently supporting Bickel’s idiosyncratic approach.
Biochemical and Physiologic Basis for Susceptibility and Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Antimicrobial Agents

absence of significant P-lactamases, and, possibly, the initiation of cell wall lysis. Susceptibility to aminoglycosides is based on membrane permeation and transport and specific binding to the 30S ribosomal subunit. Antipseudomonal activity of the polymyxins is related to their binding to membrane phospholipids, with subsequent disruption of the membrane; and activity of tetracycline and erythromycin, which is pH-dependent, affects protein synthesis. Resistance to p-lactam agents is mediated through 1-lactamases, the Id and V enzymes being especially important in P. aeruginosa. Other postulated mechanisms of resistance include the presence of a permeability barrier, insensitivity of target sites, decreased binding, and "trapping." Decreased binding to the S,2 protein (often termed the P,, protein in references to streptomycin), decreased active transport, and enzyme-mediated modification are the major mechanisms responsible for resistance to aminoglycosides. The factors involved in resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin remain unclear. The emergence of resistance during a single course of p-lactam therapy is a special problem with P. aeruginosa and may be due to acquisition of resistance genes, cross-infection, selection or induction of resistance in some variants, or mutation.
The Rhetoric of Authority: The Making of Social Values in Planter Family Correspondence

The southern planter family has lately emerged as central to our understanding of how personal life nourished the social authority of that powerful class. We have new visions of the ethic of honor, the role of the plantation mistress, the definition of gender, and how all of these were rooted in planters' expectations of family and family relationships. But as more comes to light, new interpretive problems arise about how planters actually shaped family relationships into a domestic sphere that, often uneasily, united private life and public power. In what specific ways, for instance, did planter family members create the personal values that supported their social dominance during the antebellum years, and how may those ways be seen as a kind of work similar to their other efforts to dominate southern society? What may we learn about the conflicts in that work if we reconstruct the inner lives of families? This essay looks at the relationship between parents and adolescent children as one aspect of the planter family at work creating its domain. The primary aim is to cast light on a significant tension between authority and intimacy in this process and on the crucial role played by family letters. The tension was related to a change in elite southerners' understanding of the connection between personal traits and class authority. From the eighteenth century planters inherited an assumption that external signs -wealth, public prominence, and an air of control both marked and justified social leadership. In the nineteenth century planters sent their adolescent children to academies, expecting the schools to help them acquire the signs of class leadership. But academy life often led youths to prize personal expression more than patrician reserve and egalitarian, intimate friendships more than hierarchical, formal relationships. Thus youths came to expect that the expressive individuality and intimacy they had learned to value would enhance their authority as members of the South's ruling class. However, the reality was not so straightforward. As they wrote to their families young southerners of the planter class discovered a tension between their preferences for intimacy and the claims of master-class responsibility.
Accessing long-lived disconnected spin-1/2 eigenstates through spins > 1/2.

Pairs of chemically equivalent (or nearly equivalent) spin-1/2 nuclei have been shown to create disconnected eigenstates that are very long-lived compared with the lifetime of pure magnetization (T1). Here the classes of molecules known to have accessible long-lived states are extended to include those with chemically equivalent spin-1/2 nuclei accessed by coupling to nuclei with spin > 1/2, in this case deuterium. At first, this appears surprising because the quadrupolar interactions present in nuclei with spin > 1/2 are known to cause fast relaxation. Yet it is shown that scalar couplings between deuterium and carbon can guide population into and out of long-lived states, i.e., those immune from the dominant relaxation mechanisms. This implies that it may be practical to consider compounds with 13C pairs directly bound to deuterium (or even 14N) as candidates for storage of polarization. In addition, experiments show that simple deuteration of molecules with 13C pairs at their natural abundance is suffi...
Case Series Using a Novel Implant and Accelerated Rehabilitation for Patients Undergoing an Isolated Talonavicular Arthrodesis

Talonavicular (TN) arthrodeses for TN arthritis have a high rate of nonunions for an essential hindfoot joint. In this case series, 12 patients underwent an isolated TN arthrodesis using a novel implant (IO FiX) by a single surgeon with a minimum 1-year follow-up (30.1 ± 14.7 months; mean ± SD). All patients (62 ± 12 years) underwent an aggressive rehabilitation protocol given the strength and compression of the implant. There were no nonunions, nor were there any patients lost to follow-up. Time to radiographic union was 9.6 ± 1.4 weeks. The Visual Analog Scale pain level decreased from 7.3 ± 0.9 preoperatively to 2.1 ± 0.7 postoperatively (P .05). Use of the novel fixation device for TN arthrodesis by a single surgeon with an accelerated rehabilitation prot...
Analysis of measles epidemiological characteristics of measles surveillance system in Huainan city in 2005

Objective To the data of measles surveillance system(MSS)in Huainan city of Anhui province in 2005 in order to understand the measles epidemiological characteristics.Methods 421 suspected measles cases were reported.The cases distributed in 6 counties(districts).Both the sporadic and outbreak cases in the same districts ex- isted,19.24% cases were outbreak cases.In all measles cases,13.78%(58 cases)were below 8 months,62.22% (262 eases)were from 8 months to 15 years old,the rest accounted for 24.00%.The prevalent season was from March to June.In all measles cases,21.62% had measles vaccine hnmunization history.One dose 96.70%,the sec- ond dose were 3.30%,55.82% were non-vaccinated and 22.56% were uncertain.Results Measles cases were mainly due to low immunization coverage rate and failure of immunization coverage.Conclusion It is more impor- tant to carry out the measles“catch-up”immunization,the first immunization and revaccination must be strength- ened and vaccination quality must be improved.Effective strategy for measles control includes strengthening measles surveillances system,improving the immunization coverage rate and developing mass vaccination and so on.
“Capturing” the Benefits of Dual-Therapy Stent Technology : Is This a Promise or Reality?∗

Since its first appearance in clinical practice, drug-eluting stent (DES) technology has been in continuous evolution [(1)][1]. Through the abluminal elution of a cytotoxic or a cytostatic antiproliferative drug from a polymer, a DES successfully prevents the development of exuberant neointimal
Additive manufacturing of boron carbide via continuous filament direct ink writing of aqueous ceramic suspensions

Abstract Direct ink writing, a type of additive manufacturing, has been used to fabricate near-net shaped boron carbide (B 4 C) specimens at room temperature with aqueous suspensions. Suspensions with B 4 C solids loading of 48–56 vol.% were dispersed with polyethlenimine (PEI, 25,000 and 750,000 g/mol) and exhibited yield-pseudoplastic behavior. Specimens with filament layer shape retention were produced with suspensions with 50–56 vol.% B 4 C and yield stresses ≥43 Pa and equilibrium storage moduli ≥700 Pa. No residual porosity or cracking between deposited layers was observed in any samples. However, warpage was observed in some green body specimens and was minimized through use of a low molecular weight polymer and reduction of the B 4 C solids loading. Optimal specimens with high filament layer shape retention and no warpage were produced with suspensions containing 54 vol.% B 4 C and 25k g/mol PEI.
Fault-Tolerant MPI

As supercomputers are entering an era of massive parallelism where the frequency of faults is increasing, the MPI standard remains distressingly vague on the consequence of failures on MPI communications. In this chapter, we present the spectrum of techniques that can be applied to enable MPI application recovery, ranging from fully automatic to completely user driven. First, we present the effective deployment of most advanced checkpoint/restart techniques within the MPI implementation, so that failed processors are automatically restarted in a consistent state with surviving processes, at a performance cost. Then, we investigate how MPI can support application-driven recovery techniques, and introduce a set of extensions to MPI that allow restoring communication capabilities, while maintaining the extreme level of performance to which MPI users have become accustomed.
Factors Affecting African American Entrepreneurship

Although there has been considerable research on entrepreneurship (Rauch & Frese, 2000), limited research has focused on African American entrepreneurs (e.g., Green & Pryde, 1990; Robb, 2002; House...
A Deep Learning Methodology for Semantic Utterance Classification in Virtual Human Dialogue Systems

This paper describes the development of a deep learning methodology for semantic utterance classification (SUC) for use in domain-specific dialogue systems. Semantic classifiers need to account for a variety of instances where the utterance for the semantic domain class varies. In order to capture the candidate relationships between the semantic class and the word sequence in an utterance, we have proposed a shallow convolutional neural network (CNN) along with a recurrent neural network (RNN) that uses domain-specific word embeddings which have been initialized using Word2Vec for determining semantic similarity of words. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of shallow neural networks for SUC.
Measuring the Uncanny Valley Effect: Refinements to Indices for Perceived Humanness, Attractiveness, and Eeriness

Using a hypothetical graph, Masahiro Mori proposed in 1970 the relation between the human likeness of robots and other anthropomorphic characters and an observer’s affective or emotional appraisal of them. The relation is positive apart from a U-shaped region known as the uncanny valley. To measure the relation, we previously developed and validated indices for the perceptual-cognitive dimension humanness and three affective dimensions: interpersonal warmth, attractiveness, and eeriness. Nevertheless, the design of these indices was not informed by how the untrained observer perceives anthropomorphic characters categorically. As a result, scatter plots of humanness vs. eeriness show the stimuli cluster tightly into categories widely separated from each other. The present study applies a card sorting task, laddering interview, and adjective evaluation ( $$N=30$$ ) to revise the humanness, attractiveness, and eeriness indices and validate them via a representative survey ( $$N = 1311$$ ). The revised eeriness index maintains its orthogonality to humanness ( $$r=.04$$ , $$p=.285$$ ), but the stimuli show much greater spread, reflecting the breadth of their range in human likeness and eeriness. The revised indices enable empirical relations among characters to be plotted similarly to Mori’s graph of the uncanny valley. Accurate measurement with these indices can be used to enhance the design of androids and 3D computer animated characters.
Civil Society and Human Rights

The concept of civil society has evolved in history and has acquired different meanings. Despite these meanings, any definition of civil society should include descriptive characterizations such as the notion of network of nongovernmental, noneconomic associations, institutions, and movements in which democratic action is situated. The existence of an active civil society is a determinant factor for the vitality of democracy and promotion of human rights because it is capable of both mobilizing people and challenging government officials so that they can be responsive to the people. Through the process of will-formation, civil society enables citizens to internalize and practice values such as justice, equality, and freedom so as to build and sustain a democratic society based on human rights. Because of this important role, civil society must be capable of guaranteeing and keeping intact the dynamic of the communication structures of the public sphere. If such a dynamic is maintained, public opinion can exert influence over parliaments, courts, and administrations in favor of specific policies, though that influence is not a political power. Thus, it is important for civil society to preserve its independence from the state apparatus.