cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ecological and Behavioural Flexibility of Mantled Howlers (Alouatta palliata) in Response to Anthropogenic Habitat Disturbance.

While howlers are the most ecologically flexible of the atelines, they must still respond to issues arising from anthropogenic modifications, such as fragmentation or dietary changes. A group of Alouatta palliata living in a highly modified landscape (commensal group) at the Curu Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica was compared to howlers with limited human influence (control group). The commensal group had a more frugivorous diet than the control group (H = 9.23, p = 0.002) due to crop-foraging of mango fruits. The commensal group maintained a larger home range than the control group, at 39 and 10 ha, respectively. The commensal group also had increased travel (H = 7.37, p = 0.007) and feeding (H = 7.34, p = 0.007) time, as well as reduced proximity to conspecifics (H = 44.77, p = 0.000). There were no significant differences in rates of either aggressive or affiliative social behaviours. The increased home range, shift in diet, increased travel and foraging time and reduced group cohesion demonstrated by these animals represent responses to the varied utility of available landscapes and the more widely dispersed resources in their range. These data contribute to our understanding of Alouatta, one of the most successful of Neotropical primates in modified landscapes.
Caspase Signaling in ED Patients and Animal Models.

Abstract Background Current treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED) are ineffective in prostatectomy and diabetic patients due to cavernous nerve (CN) injury, which causes smooth muscle apoptosis, penile remodeling, and ED. Apoptosis can occur via the intrinsic (caspase 9) or extrinsic (caspase 8) pathway. Aim We examined the mechanism of how apoptosis occurs in ED patients and CN injury rat models to determine points of intervention for therapy development. Methods and Outcomes Immunohistochemical and western analyses for caspase 3-cleaved, caspase-8 and caspase-9 (pro and active forms) were performed in corpora cavernosal tissue from Peyronie’s, prostatectomy and diabetic ED patients (n = 33), penis from adult Sprague Dawley rats that underwent CN crush (n = 24), BB/WOR diabetic and control rats (n = 8), and aged rats (n = 9). Results Caspase 3-cleaved was observed in corpora cavernosa from Peyronie’s patients and at higher abundance in prostatectomy and diabetic tissues. Apoptosis takes place primarily through the extrinsic (caspase 8) pathway in penis tissue of ED patients. In the CN crushed rat, caspase 3-cleaved was abundant from 1–9 days after injury, and apoptosis takes place primarily via the intrinsic (caspase 9) pathway. Caspase 9 was first observed and most abundant in a layer under the tunica, and after several days was observed in the lining of and between the sinuses of the corpora cavernosa. Caspase 8 was initially observed at low abundance in the rat corpora cavernosa and was not observed at later time points after CN injury. Aged and diabetic rat penis primarily exhibited intrinsic mechanisms, with diabetic rats also exhibiting mild extrinsic activation. Clinical translation Knowing how and when to intervene to prevent the apoptotic response most effectively is critical for the development of drugs to prevent ED, morphological remodeling of the corpora cavernosa, and thus, disease management. Strengths and limitations Animal models may diverge from the signaling mechanisms observed in ED patients. While the rat utilizes primarily caspase 9, there is a significant flux through caspase 8 early on, making it a reasonable model, as long as the timing of apoptosis is considered after CN injury. Conclusions Apoptosis takes place primarily through the extrinsic caspase 8 dependent pathway in ED patients and via the intrinsic caspase 9 dependent pathway in commonly used CN crush ED models. This is an important consideration for study design and interpretation that must be taken into account for therapy development and testing of drugs, and our therapeutic targets should ideally inhibit both apoptotic mechanisms. Martin S, Harrington DA, Ohlander S, et al. Caspase Signaling in ED Patients and Animal Models. J Sex Med 2021;18:711–722.
Comprehensive sequence-to-function mapping of cofactor-dependent RNA catalysis in the glmS ribozyme

Massively parallel, quantitative measurements of biomolecular activity across sequence space can greatly expand our understanding of RNA sequence-function relationships. We report the development of an RNA-array assay to perform such measurements and its application to a model RNA: the core glmS ribozyme riboswitch, which performs a ligand-dependent self-cleavage reaction. We measure the cleavage rates for all possible single and double mutants of this ribozyme across a series of ligand concentrations, determining kcat and KM values for active variants. These systematic measurements suggest that evolutionary conservation in the consensus sequence is driven by maintenance of the cleavage rate. Analysis of double-mutant rates and associated mutational interactions produces a structural and functional mapping of the ribozyme sequence, revealing the catalytic consequences of specific tertiary interactions, and allowing us to infer structural rearrangements that permit certain sequence variants to maintain activity.
thornado-transport: IMEX schemes for two-moment neutrino transport respecting Fermi-Dirac statistics

We develop implicit-explicit (IMEX) schemes for neutrino transport in a background material in the context of a two-moment model that evolves the angular moments of a neutrino phase-space distribution function. Considering the upper and lower bounds that are introduced by Pauli's exclusion principle on the moments, an algebraic moment closure based on Fermi-Dirac statistics and a convex-invariant time integrator both are demanded. A finite-volume/first-order discontinuous Galerkin(DG) method is used to illustrate how an algebraic moment closure based on Fermi-Dirac statistics is needed to satisfy the bounds. Several algebraic closures are compared with these bounds in mind, and the Cernohorsky and Bludman closure, which satisfies the bounds, is chosen for our IMEX schemes. For the convex-invariant time integrator, two IMEX schemes named PD-ARS have been proposed. PD-ARS denotes a convex-invariant IMEX Runge-Kutta scheme that is high-order accurate in the streaming limit, and works well in the diffusion limit. Our two PD-ARS schemes use second-and third-order, explicit, strong-stability-preserving Runge-Kutta methods as their explicit part, respectively, and therefore are second-and third-order accurate in the streaming limit, respectively. The accuracy and convex-invariance of our PD-ARS schemes are demonstrated in the numerical tests with a third-order DG method for spatial discretization and a simple Lax-Friedrichs flux. The method has been implemented in our high-order neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics (thornado) toolkit. We show preliminary results employing tabulated neutrino opacities.
Therapeutic Plasma Exchange for Treatment of Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia in a Patient Undergoing Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation

Introduction Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an autoimmune reaction to heparin exposure that is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. HIT occurs when platelet factor 4 (PF4) antibodies are released and bind to exogenous heparin. This creates complexes that may induce a life-threatening systemic coagulopathy. Standard treatment for HIT includes discontinuation of heparin and administration an alternative thrombin inhibitor. We report a case of a man who developed HIT prior to left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, a procedure which requires a large dose of intraoperative heparin. The patient was treated with therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and was able to safely undergo LVAD implantation. Case Report A 52-year-old Caucasian man was initially admitted for a delayed presentation ST elevation myocardial infarction. He underwent left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stent placement and was discharged home on appropriate medical therapy but with significant residual left ventricular dysfunction. The patient returned three weeks later in cardiogenic shock requiring emergent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) placement with a heparin drip per protocol. He was weaned off ECMO and transitioned to Impella support. Labs for thrombocytopenia revealed HIT which was confirmed with a positive serotonin release assay (SRA). For refractory shock and an echocardiogram which showed an ejection fraction of 10-15%, the patient was approved for durable LVAD implantation. TPE was initiated to remove the PF4 antibodies. Using optical density as a guide, the patient underwent five rounds of TPE until he was SRA negative. He then uneventfully received heparin during LVAD implantation. Post procedure, the patient was started on argatroban with warfarin until his INR was therapeutic. The patient was discharged one-month post procedure. He has completed a course of rehab and is now functionally class I with plans for a transplant evaluation. Summary To our knowledge this is the first case report of the use of optical density guided TPE for HIT in a patient undergoing LVAD implantation. The treatment required a multidisciplinary approach and led to an excellent outcome in a critically ill patient.
Classifying Powder Flowability for Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing Using Machine Learning

Metal powders are used as feedstock in a variety of manufacturing methods, wherein the metallic particulates may be deposited upon a substrate, spread upon a build plate, or melted layer-by-layer. Regardless of how the powder is consumed during a given manufacturing process, the ease with which a powder flows maintains a significant impact on the properties and behavior of the resultant component procured. This is especially true for cold spray additive manufacturing, which is a solid-state metallic particulate deposition process that requires suitable flowability to prevent component waviness as well as prevent nozzle clogging.That being said, particle-level geometrical properties, such as size and shape features, greatly impact the capacity of a powder to flow, or its flowability. Existing techniques for measuring a particle’s flowability require manual powder processing which can be both time-consuming and vulnerable to man-made error. Both of these setbacks can be addressed through automatic, data-driven techniques trained to classify flowability from particle property measurements and expertly procured powder Hall Flow rates for training and testing.To our knowledge, we present the first computational model for classifying flowability (when captured in terms of the industrially standardized Hall Flow rates) of a metal powder given its particle-level physical property measurements. After obtaining twenty-one metal powder samples from manufacturers, particle-level physical property measurements of each powder were measured. We used these particle measurements to train a Decision Tree model to classify whether a particle’s Hall Flow rate was fast or slow. With an achieved accuracy 98.04%, our work illustrates that powder flowability, through the lens of Hall Flow rates, can be accurately classified using data-driven techniques. This work lays a promising foundation for further exploration into predictive models for this cutting-edge domain.
Comparison of Two Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) and Two Antigen Tests for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 from Upper Respiratory Specimens

There are numerous tests available for acute diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 These tests fall into two main groups: nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and antigen-based assays We evaluated the clinical performance of two rapid antigen assays (BD Veritor System for Rapid Detection of SARS CoV-2 and Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card) and one NAAT (Hologic Aptima SARS CoV-2 Assay) by comparing them with the initial test of record, the Roche cobas SARS-CoV-2 assay;the antigen tests were also compared to Aptima We tested remnant frozen specimens from patients suspected of SARS-CoV-2 infections (either due to symptoms or exposure) on the comparator platforms to evaluate assay performance across a wide range of positive results, including cobas cycle threshold (Ct) values ranging between 12 and 35 We tested 250 previous positive and 50 previous negative specimens and found 95 6% positive percent agreement (PPA) with the Aptima assay The few discrepancies between the NAATs occurred only when Ct values were >32 Agreement was much lower for the rapid antigen tests, with 45 2%/47 3% PPA for the Veritor and 47 0%/47 0% PPA for the Binax compared to cobas/Aptima Discrepancies occurred when cobas Ct values were >20 for Veritor and >25 for Binax The negative percent agreement (NPA) was 100% for all assay comparisons These data indicate similar performance between the cobas and Aptima NAATs but demonstrate that antigen-based assays may be insufficient to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection when lower levels of the virus are shed
Bursting potentiates the neuro-AI connection.

For decades, researchers have wondered whether algorithms used by artificial neural networks might be implemented by biological networks. Payeur et al. have strengthened the connection between neuroscience and artificial intelligence by showing that biologically plausible mechanisms can approximate key features of an essential artificial intelligence learning algorithm.
The prevalence role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in hashimoto's thyroiditis via various stimuli mechanisms

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disease occurred at any age especially in the 30 and 50 years of patient, with time thyroid gland is lost its function, as the lymphocytes produce inflammatory cytokines, have a direct effect on the thyroid gland function. The monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP) produced by the podocyte and monocyte in response to these stimuli and has a role in the feedback based on thyroid hormones therefore MCP is increased secretion depending on thyroid hormones; also it's increased with enlargement of adipocyte tissue, i.e., in patients with high body mass index (BMI), there is a relationship between Hashimoto's disease and obesity, that has an effect on the thyroid gland function. Obesity have important role on thyrostimulated hormones (TSHs), as it has a great effect on metabolism and expansion of the thyroid gland; researchers have previously found that obese individuals have higher serum TSH levels. The results of the study have reported that MCP 1, TSH, and BMI levels were highly significant increased in sera of G2 compared with G1, while T3 and T4 levels were highly significant decreased in sera of G2 compared with G1 in referring to G1: Healthy control group while G2: HT patients.
Husk Power Systems: Scaling Up a Start-Up

Husk Power Systems (HPS) provides technologies that generate and distribute electrical power to rural villages in India. Since 2007, HPS has installed 60 mini power plants that power 25,000 households in more than 250 villages, impacting the lives of approximately 150,000 people in rural India. This case details the operational and strategic challenges associated with scaling up HPS, and provides details related to technology development, suppliers, operational capabilities, costs, and market adoption. Excerpt UVA-OM-1415 Rev. Sept. 5, 2019 Husk Power Systems: Scaling Up a Start-Up It was January 2009 when Manoj Sinha, a student at the Darden School of Business, drove to Washington, DC, to meet a potential investor in Husk Power Systems (HPS), a start-up company that built feedstock-fueled generators in rural India (Figure 1). He parked his car, entered a modern hotel, and sat down with Stefan Ramdas to discuss HPS's funding needs. Sinha had expected Ramdas to be interested in financial projections and EBITDA margins, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that one of Ramdas's biggest concerns was not financial but operational in nature. The investor wanted to understand Sinha's plan for scaling up his operations in India and other rice-producing countries. Sinha had thought about this quite a bit and had considered several options. For a brief moment, the entirety of his start-up journey flashed through his mind because he knew his response to this important question could make or break his chance at “getting to yes” with this investor. A Breakthrough Energy Start-Up Thinking back through the genesis of HPS, Sinha mused on the four-man partnership that made up the company: . . .
Including vegetation scattering effects in a radar based soil moisture estimation model

Previously, the IEM (Integral Equation Model) was successfully used in conjunction with an inversion model to retrieve soil moisture using multi-frequency and multi-polarization data from Spaceborne Imaging Radar C-band (SIR-C) and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR), without the need to prescribe time-varying land surface attributes as constraining parameters. The retrieved values were compared against in situ observations from the Washita'94 field experiment. The RMS error in the estimated soil moisture was of the order of 0.05 cm 3 cm -3 , which is comparable to the effect of noise in the SAR data. The IEM was originally developed for scattering from a bare soil surface, and therefore the vegetation scattering effects are not explicitly incorporated in the model. In this study, we couple a semi-empirical vegetation scattering model, modified after the water-cloud model, to the existing radar based soil moisture inversion model. This approach allows for the explicit representation of vegetation backscattering effects without the need to specify a large number of parameters. Although the use of this parameterization resulted in modest improvements (roughly 4% overall), it does provide a general framework that can be used for other applications.
Assessment of Sex Differences for Treatment, Procedures, Complications, and Associated Conditions Among Adolescents Hospitalized with Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND Sex differences among adults in healthcare treatment and outcomes have been reported; however, there is a paucity of literature regarding pediatric populations, particularly adolescents with Crohn's disease (CD). The objective was to identify whether sex differences exist with respect to complications, procedures, and medication usage (corticosteroids, biological agents, and total parenteral nutrition) among hospitalized adolescents with CD. METHODS Adolescents with CD (n = 5782) hospitalized between April 1, 2004, and June 30, 2012, were selected from the Pediatric Health Information System database with a 1:1 ratio of males to females by hospital. Frequency of disease complications, associated conditions, procedures performed, and medication usage were analyzed with nonparametric statistical tests for the existence of sex differences. RESULTS Five thousand seven hundred eighty-two patients were included with a median age of 15 years. Females were slightly more likely to have anemia (29% versus 25%, P = 0.012), infection (12% versus 8%, P = 0.001), and mood disorder (9% versus 6%, P < 0.001), whereas males had more maturational delays (3% versus 1%, P = 0.004) and malnutrition (18% versus 14%, P = 0.027). Among procedures, only one category demonstrated a sex difference: females had more blood product transfusions (9% versus 6%, P < 0.001). Female rates for corticosteroids (62%), biological agents (16%), and total parenteral nutritionTPN (18%) were not statistically different from those for males (62%, 15%, and 20%, respectively). There were no differences in length of stay by sex. CONCLUSIONS This cross-sectional study of an administrative database identified few sex differences among adolescents with CD. The effect sizes were universally small and generally consistent with known sex differences unrelated to IBD.
Efficacy of an unsupervised 8-month rifampicin-containing regimen for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected adults

TUBERCULOSIS (TB) is currently the most frequent cause of death in African adults infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).1 More than 40% of all new tuberculosis cases in many African countries occur among HIV-infected individuals.2–5 HIV infection is associated with progressive immune suppression. Many opportunistic infections in HIV-infected individuals, such as cryptococcal meningitis and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, require lengthy treatment and lifelong suppressive or secondary pro-phylactic therapy. These issues have raised concerns concerning the optimal duration and content of regimens for tuberculosis treatment in HIV-infected individuals. Pulido et al. recently reported that treatment of HIV-infected TB patients with less than 9 months of a rifampicin-containing regimen was associated with increased risk for relapse.6 Other studies have documented high success rates comparable to those in non-HIV-infected individuals treated with 6-month short-course regimens.7–9 Current US guidelines recommend therapy for 6 months except in patients with a slow response to treatment,10,11 whereas other nations such as Brazil have routinely treated HIV-infected patients with tuberculosis for 9 months.12 The optimal duration of treatment for HIV-infected individuals with TB is still controversial, and is an important issue for TB control programmes. Longer regimens are more expensive and associated with lower rates of compliance.13 In 1993 the Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration began a prospective cohort study of the effects of tuberculosis on HIV infection. Based on recommendations regarding the duration of anti-tuberculosis treatment in HIV-infected adults at the time the study was initiated, patients were treated with a daily, self-administered, 8-month regimen consisting of 2 months of isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), ethambutol and pyrazinamide, followed by 6 months of INH + RMP (2HREZ/6HR). In this report we describe treatment outcomes for 265 HIV-infected and 26 non-HIV-infected adults treated with this regimen.
Time scales and ratios of climate forcing due to thermal versus carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels

The Earth warms both when fossil fuel carbon is oxidized to carbon dioxide and when greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide inhibits longwave radiation from escaping to space. Various important time scales and ratios comparing these two climate forcings have not previously been quantified. For example, the global and time-integrated radiative forcing from burning a fossil fuel exceeds the heat released upon combustion within 2 months. Over the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, the cumulative CO2-radiative forcing exceeds the amount of energy released upon combustion by a factor >100,000. For a new power plant, the radiative forcing from the accumulation of released CO2 exceeds the direct thermal emissions in less than half a year. Furthermore, we show that the energy released from the combustion of fossil fuels is now about 1.71% of the radiative forcing from CO2 that has accumulated in the atmosphere as a consequence of historical fossil fuel combustion.
The Frequency of Financial Analysts' Forecast Revisions: Theory and Evidence

This paper develops a theory of the frequency of financial analysts' forecast revisions and then tests the empirical predictions of the model. Financial analysts act as information intermediaries for firms and investors and therefore their forecast revision frequency helps explain the equilibrium of the supply of and demand for earnings predictions and assessments of firm value. The theory is based on the analyst's costs of information gathering and the profits obtained from selling the information to investors. Our analysis is conducted in two stages. In the first stage, a single-period, Kyle (1985) model is used to determine the profits generated by privately informed investors who trade on the analyst's forecast revision. The analyst is assumed to be compensated as a function of these profits. In the second stage, the analyst's optimal revision frequency to collect and sell private information is determined. We find that the analyst's optimal revision frequency is increasing in the variance of liquidity trading volume, the volatility of the underlying earnings process, and the earnings-response coefficient and decreasing in the total number of informed traders who invest in the firm and the cost of revision. These theoretical results are developed into empirical hypotheses that the frequency of analysts' forecast revisions between earnings announcements is positively associated with variability of the earnings process, average prior trading volume, and earnings response coefficients, and negatively associated with skewness of prior trading volume, after controlling for firm size and prior average daily stock price changes. These hypotheses are tested cross-sectionally and we find significant support each of the hypothesized relations.
Isolation and characterization of a new plasmid from a Flavobacterium sp. which carries the genes for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate.

A Flavobacterium sp. (strain 50001), capable of degrading 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D), 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetate, and 2-chlorobenzoate and imparting resistance to mercury, harbored a degradative plasmid, pRC10. Cured strains of the Flavobacterium sp. lost the plasmid as well as the ability to degrade these chlorinated compounds. Comparison of this plasmid with the well-characterized 2,4-D-degradative plasmid pJP4 from Alcaligenes eutrophus showed regions of homology between the two plasmids. Restriction fragments of plasmid pRC10 which shared homology with the regions conferring 2,4-D-degradative genes (tfd) of plasmid pJP4 were cloned into a broad-host-range plasmid and studied in Pseudomonas putida. From the results obtained, the cloned DNA fragment expressed the genes for 2,4-D monooxygenase (tfdA) and 2,4-dichlorophenol hydroxylase (tfdB). In spite of the similarity in function, the size (45 kilobases) and restriction pattern of plasmid pRC10 were considerably different from those of pJP4 (80 kilobases). This may be due to the difference in the microbial background during evolution of the two plasmids. Images
Testing of a Loop Heat Pipe with Two Evaporators and Two Condensers

Most existing Loop Heat Pipes (LHPs) consist of one single evaporator and one single condenser. LHPs with multiple evaporators will be very desirable for cooling multiple heat sources or a heat source with large thermal footprints. Extending the LHP technology to include multiple evaporators and multiple condensers faces some challenges, including the interaction between individual compensation chambers, operating temperature stability, and adaptability to rapid power and sink temperature transients. This paper describe extensive testing of an LHP with two evaporators and two condensers. Tests performed include start-up, power cycle, sink temperature cycle, reservoir temperature cycle, and capillary limit. Test results showed that the loop could operate successfully under various heat load and sink conditions. The loop operating temperature is a function of the total heat load, the heat load distribution between the two evaporators, and temperatures of the two condenser sinks. Under most conditions, only one reservoir contained two-phase fluid and the other reservoir was completely liquid filled. Moreover, control of the loop operating temperature could shift from one reservoir to the other as the test condition changed.
The Effects of Minimum Salaries on Career Length: Evidence from the National Football League (NFL)

We use National Football League (NFL) data to analyze the impact of minimum salaries on an employee’s career length. The NFL has a salary structure in which the minimum salary a player can receive increases with the player’s years of experience. Salary schedules similar to the NFL’s exist in public education, federal government agencies, the Episcopalian church, and unionized industries. NFL data allows us to control for a player’s productivity. We find statistically significant evidence that minimum salaries shorten career length when they require teams to increase a player’s base salary or total compensation from year t to year t plus 1.
A review of the interactive marketing literature in the context of personal selling and sales management: A research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this 16-year review is to summarize interactive marketing literature in the context of personal selling and sales management. This paper serves as precursor to the Special Issue on the Convergence of Interactive Marketing and Personal Selling and Sales Management to be published by the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. Key research needs are identified. Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis was performed on 106 articles categorized over 1998-2013. Ebsco Host was used as the database search engine, running impendent searches using personal selling, professional selling and sales management as identifiers across a variety of interactive marketing topics identified by Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing (JRIM)’s Editorial Board. Findings – The examination of the convergence of interactive marketing in a personal selling/sales management context revealed 106 articles, with approximately 60 per cent being published in the past eight years. Although the i...
Intercomparison of Satellite Ozone Profile Measurements

Ozone profile data are available from the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) and the Solar and Backscattered Ultraviolet Spectrometer (SBUV) flown on Nimbus 7, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) flown on Atmospheric Explorer Mission 2, and the Ultraviolet and Infrared Spectrometers flown on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME). The initial measurements were obtained with a number of fundamentally different measurement techniques. Ozone data were derived from the measurements with independently derived processing algorithms. The data cover different time periods and have different spatial and temporal resolutions. Investigators wishing to make the best use of this multitude of data need to know how these data sets are interrelated. Unfortunately, there is no independent set of ozone profile “truth” measurements which can be used to determine this. An intercomparison of data from each of these sensors is being conducted jointly by the four teams that produced the data to determine the similarities and differences between the individual data sets. This effort will primarily be focused on directly comparing the spacecraft data sets in the form of individual profiles, zonal mean profiles and global analyses. Comparisons with ground data from balloons and Umkehr stations will also be done. Some results of the intercom parison are presented.
An efficient message authentication and source privacy with a hidden generator point based on ECC

Wireless Sensor Networks have been widely used by researchers in different personal and organizational applications. Recently, WSN has become the major focus of researchers to establish a secure network against malicious node. The security of WSN can be subjected to threats by attackers. In order to limit these threats on WSNs, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) introduces great features such as smaller key size, less parameters, and higher intensity compared with RSA and public key algorithms. In this paper, we proposed an ECC based approach using a unique authentication message and source privacy through a hidden generator point. This scheme contains the initialization phase, registration phase, and authentication phase. These phases were introduced to develop an efficient algorithm, decrease the overhead, and increase the authentication between nodes. The scheme allows many nodes to transfer unlimited messages without any imposed threshold and guarantee the message source privacy.
The Role Political Connections Play in Access to Finance: Evidence from Cross-Listing

What role does political influence play in access to finance? Using a comprehensive cross-country dataset, I characterize how and why domestic political connections affect firms’ ability to access all types of finance — exploiting firms’ cross-listing activity as a source of empirical identification. The results extend our understanding from recent single-country studies focused exclusively on domestic bank finance. First, political influence improves firms’ access to finance beyond domestic (bank) debt markets — political connections also improve access to foreign, equity finance. Second, the mechanism through which political influence works to improve access to finance is broader than political coercion of local bankers — political connections function as a firm-level substitute for strong national property rights, reducing connected firms risk premiums vis-a-vis unconnected peers.
Prison Litigation: From the 1960s to the 1990s*:

Prison litigation has been a critical issue for criminal justice and legal scholars, and for correctional practitioners for three decades. It generally is agreed that lawsuits filed by prison inmat...
The Sociology of Humor: A Stillborn Field?

A multiple review has the advantage of allowing the reviewer to triangulate the books considered, to lay out the major dimensions of their common concerns more systematically and comprehensively than the reviewer-or for that matter, the author-of any single book can. From this perspective, all the books under review are concerned less with humor itself than with the best way to approach humor sociologically. The prime task of sociologists of humor today is to determine what kind of research into this topic might have enough intellectual appeal to overcome the almost insurmountable social factors that impede the acceptance of the sociology of humor as an academic specialty. To avoid raising the reader's expectations about this essay's entertainment value, given its topic, I must state up front that its abstract concerns and spatial limits have forced me to render it joke free.
Electronic State Structure and Optical Properties of Tb(oda)33- Complexes in Trigonal Na3[Tb(oda)3]·2NaClO4·6H2O Crystals†

Polarized optical absorption and emission measurements are used to locate and assign 95 crystal-field energy levels split out of the 4f 8 electronic configuration of Tb3+ in single crystals of Na3[Tb(oda)3]·2NaClO4·6H2O (where oda denotes an oxydiacetate ligand). The absorption measurements span the 235−490 nm wavelength range, and the emission measurements span the 485−685 nm wavelength range. The combined absorption and emission spectra measurements provide access to the energy-level structures of 46 different 4f 8[SL]J multiplet manifolds of Tb3+ (all multiplet manifolds with baricenter energies <42 400 cm-1 above ground). The site symmetry of the Tb3+ ions in Na3[Tb(oda)3]·2NaClO4·6H2O is D3, and the point-group symmetry of the tris-terdentate Tb(oda)33- coordination complexes is also D3. The Tb(oda)33- complexes are chiral, and they exist in just one, fully resolved enantiomeric form in single crystals of Na3[Tb(oda)3]·2NaClO4·6H2O. The crystals exhibit strong chiroptical activity in their absorption...
Parametric Representation of the Yield Strength-Strain Rate Behavior of A533B Steel

Technique pour un programme non lineaire simulant l'equation de Malvern. Essai sur l'acier A533
Effects of Prolonged Inhibition of 11β-Hydroxylase in the Dog

Prolonged inhibition of 11β-hydroxylation in the adrenal cortex has been produced in 8 normal dogs by means of mepyrapone (Metopirone; Su-4885). Physiologic changes which occurred consisted of blood pressure elevation, hypokalemia, polyuria, a decrease in urinary specific gravity, and an increase in urinary excretion of 17- ketosteroids. Many of these changes, including the blood pressure elevation, were reversed by administration of dexamethasone. Adrenal hyperplasia was noted in several of the animals. These changes are thought to be similar to those occurring in the hypertensive form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Additional evidence is thus provided for the theory of 11β-hydroxylase deficiency as the cause of this disease. An experimental model has been described which may aid in further study of the physiologic changes resulting from this enzymatic abnormality. (Endocrinology 78: 511, 1966)
The use of oral labetalol in the treatment of arrhythmias associated with the long QT syndrome.

A 7-year-old white boy with the long QT syndrome began to experience recurrent syncope associated with torsade de pointes ventricular tachycardia in spite of beta-blocker therapy. The patient was therefore given a combined alphaand beta-blocking agent (labetalol) with complete suppression of the syncopal episodes. This suggests a role for combined alpha- and beta-blocking agents in the therapy of arrhythmias associated with the long QT syndrome.
Localization of specific binding sites for atrial natriuretic factor in the central nervous system of rat, guinea pig, cat and human.

Abstract Specific, high-affinity binding sites for atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) were identified and localized in the rat and guinea pig central nervous system (CNS), the cat brainstem, and the rat, guinea pig, cat and human spinal cord using quantitative autoradiographic techniques. The radioligands tested were rat125I-ANF(1–28) in guinea pig, rat, cat and human tissues, human125I-ANF in rat and human, and rat [3H]atriopeptin III in rat. All 3 radioligands labeled essentially the same structures in the brain and spinal cord of all species in which they were tested. In guinea pig very high concentrations of ANF binding sites were observed in the olfactory bulb, lateral olfactory tract and the granule cell layer of the cerebellum, high concentrations were observed in the fasciculus retroflexus, interpeduncular nucleus and subfornical organ. Moderate concentrations were observed in the nucleus accumbens, dorsomedial and suprachiasmatic hypothalamic nuclei, paraventricular thalamic nuclei, primary olfactory cortex and the subcommissural organ. High concentrations of ANF binding sites were also observed in the choroid plexus and the leptomeninges. Low concentrations were observed in the pineal gland. In the rat the same structures were labeled as in the guinea pig except that suprachiasmatic and dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei, paraventricular thalamus and cerebellum were unlabeled. In the lower brainstem of the cat and all levels of the rat, guinea pig, cat and human spinal cord, the only site where specific binding was observed was in the pia/arachnoid. These findings suggest that ANF binding sites constitute several functional classes in the CNS as well as in a variety of other tissues. Outside the blood-brain barrier binding sites are prominent in (1) glandular tissues implicated in the production of hormones involved in fluid and electrolyte balance, e.g. adrenal glomerulosa, neurohypophysis and subfornical organ, (2) unstratified epithelia involved in ion gradient exchange, e.g. renal glomerulus, ciliary body, choroid plexus and pia mater; crossing the blood-brain barrier are sites in the (3) anterior hypothalamus, e.g. organum vasculosum, (4) regions of the brain parenchyma associated with angiotensin II binding sites, e.g. dorsomedial nucleus of hypothalamus, some of which may be occupied by brain rather than cardiac synthesized ANF, (5) regions of brain lacking an obvious role in fluid and ion exchange or regulation, e.g. cerebellum, although association with K+, Na+-ATPase in guinea pig cerebellum may be a relevant clue and (6) brain regions possibly implicated in an integrative and/or indirect regulatory role in fluid and electrolyte balance, but in a manner that is not understood, e.g. habenulo-interpeduncular system and nucleus accumbens.
Enhancing Employment Outcomes for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: A Developmental Work Personality Perspective.

Rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) are high. Many survivors elect to leave abusive relationships and seek treatment to address the abusive cycle and psychiatric symptoms that may result. Programs to assist survivors often include an employment component. This article discusses the use of the Developmental Work Personality Scale (D. R. Strauser & J. Keim, 2002) in assessment and counseling, to assist survivors of IPV with obtaining successful employment outcomes.
Fodor's asymmetric causal dependency theory and proximal projections

Evaluation de la theorie de la dependance causale asymetrique developpee par J. Fodor dans son article intitule «A theory of content, II: the theory» (in «A theory of content and other essays», 1990), qui affirme que l'article syntaxique X designe un stimulus sensible proche et non pas un objet lointain de l'environnement. Examinant le probleme du stimulus proche, la condition de vigueur selon laquelle il existe des X non-causes par X, ainsi que le probleme de la projection sensible, l'A. montre que les deux strategies adoptees par Fodor pour resoudre ces problemes n'ont fait que deplacer la difficulte de la reference des objets materiels du monde exterieur a l'impossibilite de satisafaire les conditions de sa propre theorie
We Had a Dream: A Tale of the Struggle for Integration in America

Back in the innocence of a time when many Americans were eager to bring the races together, a white boy and a black girl fall in love. The boy's father, professing to want the best for his son, breaks up their romance. The years roll forward. Long after the two teenage lovers last saw each other, they are reunited. They are still in love, but for them to marry would still cause great family discord. Will history repeat itself? Thus begins We Had a Dream, Howard Kohn's intricate morality tale about America one generation after the modern era of civil rights activism. Kohn brings us a true story that unfolds against a backdrop of racial politics, suburban culture, and fired-up emotions. The principal characters are sympathetic souls, people who want to make good on the dream. And yet ... The first love affair soon coincides with a second one. A black boy and a white girl are attracted to each other, but not long after they meet, the boy is found shot to death outside the girl's bedroom, killed by her father, a local police officer. However, the father is not arrested. Instead, his daughter is, charged in a murder conspiracy with her dead boyfriend. And this is still only the beginning of the story.
Dependence of the response characteristics of somatosensory neurons on the form of their afferent input.

Abstract Activity in single neurons isolated in the cuneate nucleus and sensorimotor cortex of the cat was evoked by electrical shocks to individual strands of subdivided nerves of the forelimb. The dependence of various parameters of the evoked response upon the intensity of the stimulation of each strand, upon the timing of stimulation of pairs of nerve strands, and upon the rate of stimulation of the whole nerve was analyzed. Cuneate and cortical neurons behaved alike, with minor exceptions. The neuron responses changed most rapidly at stimulus intensities that were near threshold for the nerve, but continued to change significantly until the nerve response had become maximal. Simultaneous stimulation of two nerve strands of equal size significantly shortened the latency of the neuron response and increased the number of spikes in each discharge; sequential stimulation of certain nerve strands had a similar effect. The latency of the response also decreased significantly as the rate of stimulation increased. A general mechanism for these changes was formalized in terms of the shape and size of the afferent input and the membrane time constant of the responding neuron.
Reconstitution of the glucose transporter from bovine heart

Reconstitution of the glucose transporter from heart should be useful as an assay in its purification and in the study of its regulation. We have prepared plasma membranes from bovine heart which display D-glucose reversible binding of cytochalasin B (33 pmol sites/mg protein; Kd = 0.2 muM). The membrane proteins were reconstituted into liposomes by the freeze-thaw procedure. Reconstituted liposomes showed D-glucose transport activity which was stereospecific, saturable and inhibited by cytochalasin B, phloretin, and mercuric chloride. Compared to membrane proteins reconstituted directly, proteins obtained by dispersal of the membranes with low concentrations of cholate or by cholate solubilization showed 1.2- or 2.3-fold higher specific activities for reconstituted transport, respectively. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by electrophoretic protein transfer and labeling with antisera prepared against the human erythrocyte transporter identified a single band of about 45 kDa in membranes from both dog and bovine hearts, a size similar to that reported for a number of other glucose transporters in various animals and tissues.
SU‐E‐T‐632: Study the Effect of Grid Size On Head and Neck IMRT Dosimetry

Purpose: In IMRT, ICRU‐83 requires dose prescription to be at D50% also as mean dose. Dosimetry is impacted by the calculational grid size that is studied for head and neck IMRT with special consideration on the tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Methods: Five head and neck patients treated with IMRT and daily IGRT were chosen for this study. Using Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) treatment plans were generated for different grid sizes in the range 1.0 mm−5.0 mm for the same optimization criterion with a 6MV photon beam. The desired dose volume constraints were kept the same to provide uniform dose to the PTV. The dose volume histogram (DVH) was recorded for all IMRT plans and dosimetric data were compared. ICRU‐83 dose points such as D2%, D50% and D98% were also calculated. In addition, TCP and NTCP were calculated using LQ Poisson model and Lyman Kutcher Burman model respectively from DVH data. Results: The PTV mean dose decreases with increasing grid size from 1mm to 5mm with an average decrease of 1.5%. It is also found that TCP decreases with increase in grid size with an average decrease of 1.6%. Mean dose and NTCP for the right parotid increases with increase in grid size with an average increase in mean dose by 1.6% and NTCP by 4.8%. Similar patterns were observed for all other OARs: left parotid, mandible, brainstem and spinal cord. Conclusion: It is concluded that smallest possible grid size should be used for accurate dose calculation in head and neck IMRT planning. Smallest calculational grid also improves TCP for target volumes and reduces NTCP for normal tissues. The grid size effect is most important for smaller structures such as cochlea, optic chiasm and lens.
Spontaneous activity and adipose cellularity in the genetically obese Zucker rat (fafa)

The development of spontaneous activity was studied in obese and lean Zucker rats. Rats were given access to activity wheels for 3 hr/day before weaning and for 24 hr/day after weaning. Zucker obese rats are less active than lean rats. This decreased activity occurs at weaning and follows the onset of hyperphagia and obesity. At 8 wk of age exercised lean and obese rats have less total fat and fewer adipocytes than their appropriate controls. Adipose cell size is decreased only in exercised lean rats. When rats are exercised until 8 wk of age and then confined until 6 mo of age, body weight and fat is elevated in these formerly active rats compared to control rats. Adipose cell number is permanently decreased only in formerly active lean rats. Exercise has no long-term effect in decreasing cell number in obese rats.