cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The study of Wretched subjects.

IN the last issue of Isis (vol. 41, 125–126, p. 374) there is a short review by Professor Sarton of a recent publication by E. S. Drower of the Mandean “Book of the Zodiac” which is characterized by the reviewer as “a wretched collection of omens, debased astrology and miscellaneous nonsense.” Because this factually correct statement1 does not tell the whole story, I want to amplify it by a few remarks to explain to the reader why a serious scholar might spend years on the study of wretched subjects like ancient astrology.
Genetic Aberrations in Human Brain Tumors

ABSTRACTOVER THE LAST decade, much has been learned about the genetic changes that occur in human neoplasia and how they contribute to the neoplastic state. Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes have been identified, and many powerful molecular genetic techniques have emerged. Brain tumors have been
Existence of Several Active Components in Crude Pepsin Preparations

THE original solubility measurements on crystalline swine pepsin led to the conclusion that the crystals consisted of a single pure protein or several closely related proteins1. Since that time, it has become apparent in this and other laboratories2,5 that pepsins prepared from the various commercial products or from pepsinogen differ in solubility, specific proteolytic activity and stability. Solubility measurements have now been made on various partially purified pepsin preparations in order to determine the cause of these variations.
Economic Roots of Civil Wars and Revolutions in the Contemporary World

To explain the distribution of civil wars, guerrilla warfare, and revolutionary outbreaks, the literature on modern political violence has shifted, broadly speaking, from a modernization perspective that emphasized the role of material conflict and of grievances to a more recent research program that stresses the geographical and organizational opportunities that insurgents may have to engage in violence. Drawing on those lines of inquiry equally, this article offers an integrated analytical model that considers both the motives and the opportunities of states and rebels. Civil wars, guerrillas, and revolutionary outbreaks are seen as a result of the nature and distribution of wealth in each country. Systematic and organized violent conflicts are most likely in economies where inequality is high and wealth is mostly immobile, that is, in societies where those worse off would benefit substantially from expropriating all assets. Violence is conditional on the mobilizational and organizational capacity of challengers and on the state capacity to control its territory. The theory is tested on data on civil wars from 1850 to 1999 for the whole world and on data on guerrilla warfare and revolutionary episodes spanning the years from 1919 to 1997 across all countries.
Inspiring College Students to Reach New Heights: Assessing Physical and Social Environments at a University Climbing Wall and Effects on Participant Satisfaction

Since the Appalachian State University (ASU) Outdoor Program's (OP) climbing wall opened in 2006, climbing wall managers have logged over 100,000 participations. As the program's most popular offering, the climbing wall has been identified as a gateway activity to other OP offerings. However, climbers routinely report dissatisfaction with the physical and social environments at the ASU climbing facility (A. Miller, personal communication, February 18, 2010). These complaints have included women who felt unwanted and uncomfortable at the climbing wall due to male climbers' attitudes, novice climbers who felt self-conscious around advanced climbers, and climbers who could not find enough easy routes and problems to keep them interested. The researchers' goal was to answer the following questions: How do the physical and social environments impact user satisfaction and feelings of acceptance? Is there a correlation between gender and dissatisfaction with the climbing wall environment? What can be done to increase participant satisfaction at the climbing wall?
A streamwise vortex embedded in a plane mixing layer

Experimental results are presented on the interaction of a single streamwise vortex with a plane turbulent mixing layer. In the present setup, the vortex is generated by a half-delta wing mounted in the settling chamber of a blower-driven wind tunnel. Initially, the vortex is shown to ride just below the mixing layer, locally distorting the mean velocity and turbulence Reynolds stress distributions in the lower part of the mixing layer. Once the vortex becomes embedded within the mixing layer, the distortions are found to spread through the whole width of the layer, and the induced extra strain rates in the mixing layer result in the generation of additional, relatively large, Reynolds normal and shear stresses, mainly in the regions above the vortex.
Response Surface Approach to Studying the Protein and Energy Requirements of Laying Hens

Abstract Two experiments were conducted with hens from 20 to 44 wk of age housed in cages. There were 384 hens in Experiment 1 and 360 hens in Experiment 2. The hens were fed various levels of protein and energy in a factorial arrangement in Experiment 1 and in a central composite rotatable design in Experiment 2. The diets contained primarily ground corn, soybean meal, wheat middlings, and poultry oil. Production responses to dietary protein and MEn were found to be nonlinear in nature and thus conformed to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Protein by MEn interactions, when significantly different from zero, were small in magnitude. Variability in hen performance (as measured by hen-day egg production, feed consumption, egg weight, and body weight gain) could be described better by using dietary protein and energy levels than the energy to protein ratio.
Fiscal policy, the military, and political stability in iberoamerica

This article deals with decision making in systems at the level of the society. An earlier paper published in Behavioral Science (Heggen & Cuzan, 1981) argued that government could be reduced to a firm whose behavior is consistent with the laws of microeconomics. This paper builds on that and related articles by Cuzan and Heggen. Several models of political stability in Iberoamerica are developed and tested. Their essential variables are fiscal, military, and electoral. These variables are related in ways that are consistent with Ashby's findings concerning stable systems.
Utilization of minimally invasive breast biopsy for the evaluation of suspicious breast lesions

Abstract Background Percutaneous needle biopsy, also known as minimally invasive breast biopsy (MIBB), has become the gold standard for the initial assessment of suspicious breast lesions. The purpose of this study is to determine modern rates of MIBB and open breast biopsy. Methods The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration outpatient surgery and procedure database was queried for patients undergoing open surgical biopsy and MIBB between 2003 and 2008. Results Although there was an increase in the use of MIBB, the overall rate of open surgical biopsy remained high (∼30%). A reduction in the open biopsy rate from 30% to 10% could be associated with a charge reduction of >$37.2 million per year. Conclusions The current rate of open surgical breast biopsy remains high. Interventions and quality initiatives are warranted, which could lead to a reduction in unnecessary operations for women, improved patient care, and a reduction in breast health care costs.
Transient kinetics of nucleation and crystallization: Part I. Nucleation

Analytical results obtained for the transient kinetics of nucleation enable one to interpret N(gd,t), the accumulated number concentration of clusters at the instrumentally detectable size, gd. The new results enable one to extract kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of nucleation from experimentally measured cluster concentrations and to test nucleation theories experimentally. An approach to estimate the mean time to form the first nucleated cluster in a given sample is also presented.
Performance Enhancement on Microprocessors with Hierarchical Memory Systems for Solving Large Sparse Linear Systems

In recent years, scientific computing is being driven by microprocessor-based architectures. Most architectural designs are characterized by fast processors, fast but small caches, and large but slow memories. As a result, problems of small sizes that fit in cache perform exceedingly well, whereas the performance of larger problems is limited by the speed of memory. In this paper, the authors study the performance characteristics of several iterative kernels for solving sparse linear systems on several popular microprocessors. Given the performance limitations posed by slow memory on large problem sizes, the authors show the effectiveness of using domain decomposition methods of the additive Schwarz type to enhance performance on single microprocessors.
The Impact of Socialism on Work Stoppages

Summary The impact of socialism on work stoppages in 15 industrialized countries for the years 1956–1965 was tested using three measures of socialism: (1) the proportion of tangible wealth owned by the state, (2) the ratio of public welfare expenditures to gross national product, and (3) whether or not the socislist party was in power. Results of the analyses performed show that socialism a p peared to have little impact on work stoppage rates among the countries.
Computed tomographic demonstration of colonic carcinoma metastatic to the spleen.

Abstract Metastasis to the spleen is a very uncommon medical entity. The author reports an unusual case of splenic metastasis originating from carcinoma of the colon demonstrated by computed tomography of the abdomen. The metastases appear as low density space occupying lesions which is a characteristic appearance seen in other metastases to the spleen.
Interteaching: Students as Teachers in Lower-Division Sociology Courses

On the basis of the presumption that the best way to learn something is to teach it, the author describes the use of interteaching in introductory-level sociology courses. This approach incorporates the strong points of several cooperative learning methods, with additional features that help ensure the quality of discussion questions and encourage students to read course materials more carefully, prior to class. The author has found interteaching to be an effective organizational and instructional approach for introductory-level sociology courses. The method produces more focused class discussions as well as more focused lectures. Moreover, it is an effective way to engage students in sociological theory and research.
Endocrine Issues in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

This article reviews selected issues of endocrine concerns in the pediatric intensive care unit, exclusive of diabetic ketoacidosis. The sympathoadrenergic arm of the neuroendocrine stress response is described, followed by discussions of two topics of particular current concern: critical illness hyperglycemia and relative adrenal insufficiency. A selected set of common scenarios encountered in the daily practice of intensive care follows.
An Approach for Dynamic Grids

An approach is presented for the generation of two-dimensional, structured, dynamic grids. The grid motion may be due to the motion of the boundaries of the computational domain or to the adaptation of the grid to the transient, physical solution. A time-dependent grid is computed through the time integration of the grid speeds which are computed from a system of grid speed equations. The grid speed equations are derived from the time-differentiation of the grid equations so as to ensure that the dynamic grid maintains the desired qualities of the static grid. The grid equations are the Euler-Lagrange equations derived from a variational statement for the grid. The dynamic grid method is demonstrated for a model problem involving boundary motion, an inviscid flow in a converging-diverging nozzle during startup, and a viscous flow over a flat plate with an impinging shock wave. It is shown that the approach is more accurate for transient flows than an approach in which the grid speeds are computed using a finite difference with respect to time of the grid. However, the approach requires significantly more computational effort.
Hydrogen atom in the momentum representation

The wave functions for the hydrogen atom are determined in the momentum representation, using momentum variables ${p}_{r}$, ${p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}}$, ${p}_{\ensuremath{\varphi}}$ which are associated with the spherical polar variables $r$, $t(={e}^{i\ensuremath{\pi}cos\ensuremath{\theta}})$ and $v({e}^{i\ensuremath{\varphi}})$. The functions may be written as ${{\ensuremath{\varphi}}_{n,l,m}({p}_{r},{p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}},{p}_{\ensuremath{\varphi}})={\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{n,l}({p}_{r}){\ensuremath{\beta}}_{l}^{m}({p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}})\ensuremath{\delta}({p}_{\ensuremath{\varphi}}+m),}{{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{n,l}({p}_{r})={\left(\frac{n}{i{p}_{0}}\right)}^{3l+z}\ensuremath{\Sigma}\stackrel{n\ensuremath{-}l\ensuremath{-}1}{k=0}\left({n\ensuremath{-}l\ensuremath{-}1}{k}\right)\frac{{2}^{k\ensuremath{-}l+1}}{(2l+k+1)(2l+k)\ensuremath{\cdots}(l+k+2)}{\left(\frac{\frac{i{p}_{0}}{n}}{{p}_{r}\ensuremath{-}\frac{i{p}_{0}}{n}}\right)}^{l+k+2},}{{\ensuremath{\beta}}_{l}^{m}({p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}})=\ensuremath{\Sigma}\stackrel{E(\frac{l}{2})}{j=E(\frac{m}{2})}{{a}_{j}{p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}}}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{(m+1)}{2}}{J}_{\frac{j\ensuremath{-}(m\ensuremath{-}1)}{2}}({p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}}),}$ where $\ensuremath{\delta}$ is the Dirac delta function and ${p}_{0}=Z{a}_{0}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ (${a}_{0}$ is the Bohr radius). ${J}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}({p}_{0})$ are Bessel functions of integer or half-integer order. The radial functions are shown to have poles up to order $n+1$ at ${p}_{r}=i\frac{{p}_{0}}{n}$.
Sr and Nd isotopic evidence for punctuated clay diagenesis, Texas Gulf Coast

We report Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and mineralogical data for leached whole rock, 1200 m, independent of the duration of burial. The exchangeable Sr in the clay has remained an open system and has undergone isotopic exchange since that time. Minimum fluid/rock ratios of 0.2 to 2 are modeled from Sr isotopic data, consistent with rock-dominated, open system diagenesis. Leachates and residues of the < 0.1/zm fraction, below the smectite/illite transition appear to have achieved Nd isotopic equilibrium during clay diagenesis, and show no signs of subsequent exchange. The clay residues have low 147Sm/144Nd ( < 0.085), indicating that authigenic illite has a lower Sm/Nd ratio than its bulk rock protolith. Conversely the coexisting exchangeable REE inventory has elevated Sm/Nd, as reflected by leachate 14VSm/144Nd as high as 0.188. This Sm/Nd fractionation, in conjunction with the preserved isotopic equilibrium may be useful for dating diagenesis and associated fluid-rock interaction in older rocks.
The Nature of Group Work

Collaborative work, while very common, is also difficult. The reasons for pursing collaborative work are described, along with some of the most common sources of difficulty. New information technologies may provide support for collaboration. But in order to develop appropriate technology, it is necessary to draw upon existing theory and data in cognitive and social science. In addition, it is important to carry out observational studies of collaborative work to look for opportunities for technology intervention.
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Soluble Polymer Supports in Catalysis and Synthesis

Co- and terpolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide exhibit inverse temperature solubility in water with the polymer's lower critical solution temperature (LCST) being dependent on the polymer's microstructure and the concentration of salt in the water solvent. This solubility behavior has been used to prepare “smart” recoverable homogeneous catalysts and substrates. These catalysts' activity reversibly turns first off and then on as the temperature is first raised and then lowered due to changes in the polymer support's solubility. Such catalysts can be recovered by heating the aqueous solution or by adding brine. Catalysts prepared include both phosphine-ligated transition metal catalysts and acid catalysts. The transition metal catalysts are active in alkene hydrogenation, C−C coupling, and allylic substitution reactions. The acid catalysts are active in acetal hydrolysis. Substrates can be attached to these polymers and their activity likewise can be turned off and on by heating or cooling. Substrate activit...
Learning Communities: Examining Positive Outcomes

Learning communities, designed primarily to increase student persistence and academic achievement, are a common first-year initiative on university campuses. Assessments of learning communities frequently examine indicators that are easily quantifiable such as student persistence and academic achievement, but also examine factors thought to affect these outcomes such as student involvement and satisfaction. This article reviews published studies to determine the degree to which learning communities successfully affect involvement, satisfaction, achievement, and persistence, and attempts to identify the characteristics that produce positive results. The review concludes that first, learning communities do attain positive outcomes, but second, that it is difficult to determine which characteristics of learning communities (i.e., integrated course content, coordinated assignments, academic skills training, mentoring) account for their success due to the small number of studies, the heterogeneity of programs,...
The effect of stimulus probability on the speed and accuracy of naming alphanumeric stimuli

Previous studies that have investigated the effect of stimulus probability on the time to name alphanumeric stimuli have yielded inconsistent results. Experiments purporting to show the independence of naming reaction time from stimulus probability have displayed error rates that were correlated with probability levels. In order to investigate the possible influence of the speed-accuracy trade-off in these results, the effect of stimulus probability on a naming task was studied under different instructional conditions. When accuracy was emphasized, a significant effect of stimulus probability on reaction times was obtained. When speed was emphasized by the use of a response-time deadline procedure, a significant effect of stimulus probability on error rates was observed. It was concluded that stimulus probability does affect the time to name alphanumeric stimuli, that the effect can manifest itself in both reaction times or error rates, and that models predicting naming time to be independent of stimulus probability must be modified, possibly by elaborating the processing operations of the stimulus identification stage.
Hydrogen Peroxide-Catalase Milk Treatment for Enhancement and Stabilization of Diacetyl in Lactic Starter Cultures

Abstract Hydrogen peroxide-catalase treatment of milk, prior to inoculation with starter cultures containing diacetyl-producing aroma bacteria, has been found to increase synthesis and stabilization of diacetyl in the cultured milk. From 0.015 to 0.03% H 2 0 2 is mixed into pasteurized milk, followed by addition of sufficient food-grade catalase to decompose the peroxide. The milk then is inoculated (0.5 to 1.0%) and incubated (21C for 14 to 18 hours) as usually done with cultured buttermilk. The treatment results in at least a 100% increase in diacetyl production and the flavor produced is stable for at least one week, whether or not the product is cooled when the desired acidity is reached. Because of its simplicity, effectiveness, and nontoxicity, the method may be used in the dairy industry for increasing the level and uniformity of flavor in cultured buttermilk and sour cream.
An evaluation of retranslation methods in computing with words

To represent output fuzzy values of a computing with words (CW) system in natural language, a retranslation unit is required. In this work, retranslation methods applicable to a CW system are explored. Several methods that employ similarity measures of fuzzy sets, linguistic modifiers, or linguistic quantifiers have been applied to three real-world case studies. Performances of the applied methods have been evaluated through degree of validity, and comparison of characteristics of fuzzy sets such as fuzziness and specificity. Results show that invalid linguistic terms might be used in the retranslation process which also cause incomprehensible phrases in natural language.
Managed Care and Managed Death: Peas From the Same Pod?

Amid awhirlwind of change in medicine today, there is a disturbing concurrence of movements that share a commonality in name and may share common roots. These movements—toward managed care and managed death—are of particular concern to neurologists, whose access to patients is restricted by the former and whose patients are often the focus of the latter (at least in the practice of a self-styled obiatrist, Dr Kevorkian, more than half of whose patients came with neurologic diagnoses 1 to be assisted in "finding their deaths"). In a provocative commentary 2 on this question, in which he described a plausible scenario of a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis being offered by a harried health maintenance organization gatekeeper pills or a "quick and painless" injection among the various options for dealing with the grim future of that disease, Sulmasy predicted that "managed death, as a means of providing cost-effective managed care,
Termination of early gestation with a single vaginal suppository of (15s)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2α methyl ester

Abortion was induced in 20 women who were less than 49 days pregnant with a vaginal suppository containing 3.0 mg (15S)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2alpha methyl ester. Peripheral serum levels of (15S)-15-methyl F2alpha free acid, beta hCG and progesterone were measured before, during the 10 hours after treatment and over the next 14 days. Eighteen of the subjects had a complete follow-up: ten were aborted (53%), three had incomplete abortions and five were failures. There was a correlation between serum levels of F2alpha (15S)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2alpha free acid, and the incidence of success. Progesterone was significantly reduced in all three groups of subjects and, therefore, could not be utilized to judge the success of the procedure. A small but insignificant reduction of betahCG occurred in all subjects regardless of outcome during the ten-hour observation period. Since minor side effects of diarrhea and vomiting occurred in less than half of the aborted and only a few of the not aborted subjects, a larger amount of drug might improve the success rate.
Insertion of myoglobin T-cell epitopes into the Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase.

Abstract We are interested in antigen processing mechanisms of antigen-presenting cells, and to what extent the susceptibility of protein antigens to degradation contributes to immunogenicity. Understanding the biochemistry of antigen processing may be essential for reliable prediction of T-cell epitopes and for the design of vaccines that are optimized for T-cell priming. To examine possible effects of protein structural context on antigen presentation, we used genetic engineering techniques to insert helper T-cell epitopes derived from sperm whale myoglobin into surface loops of the highly stable Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase, with the expectation that presentation of the myoglobin guest epitopes might vary with their position in the carrier protein. Levels of recombinant protein expression in E. coli cells and residual enzyme activity depended on the location of the guest peptides in the alkaline phosphatase carrier. Mutants with insertions between residues 189–190 of the carrier were recovered with yields and activities similar to the wild type protein; however, insertion of the same peptides at a second site, between residues 165–166, led to low recoveries and diminished phosphatase activities. Subcutaneous injection of mice with one of the purified recombinant proteins in complete Freund's adjuvant induced T cells that responded to in vitro challenge with myoglobin. The potential use of this system to dissect processing mechanisms is discussed.
Effects of nitrogen mustards on the incorporation of amino acids into the proteins of tumors and other tissues; the mustard derivative of serine.

Abstract The effects of O-[N-di-(2-chloroethyl)carbamoyl]- dl -serine, a nitrogen mustard derivative of serine, on the incorporation of amino acids into proteins have been studied in rats bearing the Walker 256 carcinosarcoma. The intraperitoneal injection of 1,500 mg of the compound/kg regularly induced carcinostasis and occasionally produced complete regression of the tumor, while producing minimal systemic toxicity. These effects were accompanied by an inhibition of the incorporation of amino acids into the protein of the tumor. The degree of inhibition was always greater in the nuclear proteins than in the cytoplasmic proteins, suggesting a predominantly antinuclear action which is consistent with biologic information about alkylating agents. It is proposed that these findings are related to the mechanism of action of these compounds. The inhibition observed after administration of serine mustard occurred only in the tumor, while other mustards such as HN2 and uracil mustard have been shown to inhibit these processes in a variety of nontumor tissues. Serine mustard was as effective in the inhibition of the formation of proteins from methionine as from serine. These data suggest that the compound acts not as an analogue inhibitor but as an alkylating agent with altered tissue specificity.
On the negative poisson ratio in monocrystalline zinc

Consider an anisotropic body with the elastic compliance coefficients Sijkl, relative to an orthogonal coordinate system. If the body is loaded uniaxially by stress sn in the direction defined by unit vector n, the stress components are sij 5 sn ninj, with the corresponding strains eij 5 sn Sijkl nknl. The longitudinal strain in the direction n is thus en 5 ni eij nj 5 sn ninj Sijkl nknl. The lateral strain in the direction m due to stress sn in the orthogonal direction n is likewise em 5 mi eij mj 5 sn mimj Sijkl nknl. The Poisson ratio in the direction m due to stress in the direction n is consequently
Some Factors that Affect Change in Weight of Fresh Chilled Poultry 1. Length of Chill Period, Chilling Medium and Holding Temperature

Abstract CHILLING processed poultry in slush ice has become an accepted commercial practice. It provides a rapid means of removing carcass heat and enhances the appearance and shelf life of the poultry. Although the application of this process for poultry is relatively new, much attention has been given to some of the problems associated with slush ice chilling. Roberts and Robertson (1941), Bailey, Stewart and Lowe (1948) and Orr (1953) established the fact that carcasses chilled in liquid mediums increase in weight due to liquid uptake during chilling. However, much of the weight increase due to liquid uptake was lost during storage and cooking as reported by Bailey, Stewart and Lowe (1948). Fromm and Monroe (1958) observed that the amount of moisture uptake was directly proportional to the time carcasses were held in slush ice and that there was a direct relationship between length of chilling time and the amount of…
System Conversion: Teaching vs. Reality.

This article summarizes the coverage of conversion in 17 current textbooks from major publishers â€” 10 for introductory MIS and seven for systems analysis. It compares this coverage with current practice, as determined by (a) studies of 74 organizations by the authorâ€™s students and (b) conversions reported in the trade press. Differences between typical textbook coverage and practice are documented, and recommendations for remedying the situation are made.
High Speed Magnetic Tweezers at 100KHz with Superluminescent Diode Illumination

Magnetic tweezers apply force to single DNA molecules to measure changes in DNA length as a function of time. The technique is ideally suited to explore the dynamics of biophysical processes such as DNA unzipping by helicase motor proteins due to the constant force applied to the DNA. However, instrumental improvements are needed to resolve the length and time scales of single enzymatic steps. Here, we introduce a superluminescent diode as the illumination source and a high-speed CMOS camera as the optical detector to achieve magnetic tweezing of DNA at a bandwidth of 100 kHz. We show how GPU-accelerated video processing can be used to determine three-dimensional particle positions from a series of video frames with a spatial resolution below 1 Angstrom. We demonstrate the quantitative capabilities of this instrument by measuring the drag coefficient of a magnetic bead and the stiffness of a tethered DNA molecule at a corner-frequency of 1 kHz, and by measuring DNA hairpin dynamics that were previously characterized in optical tweezer experiments.
SU‐E‐T‐156: Fast Cone‐Beam Optical CT Scanning of a Radiochromic Solid Dosimeter for Clinical 3‐D Dose Verification

Purpose: There is an urgent need for fast 3‐D dose verification for advanced radiotherapy techniques such as IMAT. This study is to evaluate the accuracy and clinical relevance utilizing a fast cone‐beam optical CTscanner with a radiochromic solid dosimeter, PRESAGE®. Methods: A first‐generation laser optical CTscanner, in conjunction with gels and radiochromic solid dosimeters, has been successfully used for 3‐D dose verification of complex treatments such as IMRT and radiosurgery. However, a major limitation with this type scanner is the long scanning time (8‐hours), which makes same‐day dose verification for treatment impossible. In this study three radiochromic dosimeters (PRESAGE®) were irradiated with 12Mev electron beam, 6MV photon beam, and 5‐field IMRT, respectively. Dose readout was performed using a Vista™ cone beam optical scanner (Modus Medical Devices Inc.). This scanner utilizes a LED diffuse light panel and a lens based CCD camera to capture a series of 2D optical projections through the region of interest while the object is being rotated 360°. Feldkamp filtered back projection was used to reconstruct the 3D dose map, with a spatial resolution of 1×1×1mm. Each dosimeter was scanned both before and after irradiation in order to eliminate artifacts caused by light scattering and dosimeter un‐uniformity. Dose distributions were compared with results from a first‐generation laser optical CTscanner and Eclipse planning system. Results: The PDDs measured with PRESAGE® and the beam data from Eclipse agree within 3% and 1mm. Comparison of the IMRTdose distributions between PRESAGE® measurements and Eclipse calculation shows 93% Gamma index passing rate (3%, 3mm criteria). The scanning time for a 3‐D dose map is less then 30 minutes. Conclusions: The Vista™ cone‐beam optical CTscanner and radiochromic dosimeter, PRESAGE®, has shown the potential for fast 3‐D dose verification.
Accuracy of plagioclase compositions from laboratory and Mars spacecraft thermal emission spectra

[1] Plagioclase, the most abundant mineral in many terrestrial and Martian igneous rocks, exhibits a range of compositions that reflects changing conditions during crystallization. Thermal emission spectrometers (TES, THEMIS, and Mini-TES) on board Mars spacecraft provide a means of determining average plagioclase compositions directly. We demonstrate that spectrally modeled average plagioclase compositions in terrestrial basalts, andesites, and dacites correspond to measured values to within +10/−6 An (molar [Ca/(Ca + Na)] × 100) of weighted average values and +13/−14 An of normative compositions. Analyses of spectra from two-component plagioclase mixtures (varied by volume and composition) provide additional insight into potential effects of plagioclase zoning. Considering the variability in types of observed plagioclase zoning patterns in terrestrial volcanic rocks, normal zoning (calcic cores and sodic rims) cannot be assumed and thus cannot account for an apparent “sodic bias” seen in previous spectrally modeled compositions. This bias is better explained by higher abundances of sodic groundmass plagioclase relative to calcic phenocrysts. Deconvolution modeling of laboratory spectra of physical mixtures (convolved to various instrument resolutions) predicts that TES, THEMIS, and Mini-TES spectra may be used to extract plagioclase compositions to within +9/−12 An, +11/−12 An, and +8/12 An (respectively) of measured values in coarse sand plagioclase mixtures, with 1σ standard deviations of ±4 An for laboratory, TES, and Mini-TES resolutions and ±6 An for THEMIS resolution.
An Intense H- Source for the IPNS-I Rapid Cycling Synchrotron

Increases in the intensity of the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS-I) at Argonne National Laboratory will eventually require that the present H- ion source be replaced with a higher current source. Laboratory studies of a Penning H- ion source for this purpose have been carried out. The source design is essentially due to Allison.1 The source has operated continuously for more than a week at 15 Hz with 45 mA of H- current during the 80 ?s pulse. For shorter periods, it has delivered the same current at 30 Hz with 45 ?s pulses. At present, two technical problems prevent the source from being operational. It is not adequately reliable, and the beam emittance at 20 keV is larger than expected.
Constructivism and the Problem of Explanation: A Review Article

Mlada Bukovansky, Legitimacy and Power Politics: The American and French Revolutions in International Political Culture (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002). Neta Crawford, Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Martha Finnemore, The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003). Ted Hopf, Social Construction of International Politics: Identities and Foreign Policies; Moscow, 1955 and 1999 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002). The four books under review here offer insightful and penetrating analyses of the role of such factors as legitimacy, ideas, norms, culture, and identities in world politics. Martha Finnemore's The Purpose of Intervention demonstrates that great powers intervene in small states for reasons significantly different from those in the past. Neta Crawford's Argument and Change in World Politics chronicles arguments for and against Western imperialism over the past five centuries and contends that those arguments helped bring about the birth, long life, and death of Western formal empires. Mlada Bukovansky's Legitimacy and Power Politics examines the social, economic, and political forces at work in the American and French revolutions; she asserts that those events wrought changes in prevailing notions of what makes a state legitimate. Ted Hopf's Social Construction of International Politics analyzes discourses in Moscow in 1955 and 1999 and maintains that these discourses are an important cause of Soviet or Russian foreign policy attitudes in the two periods. David Dessler is an associate professor at the College of William & Mary (dadess@wm.edu). John Owen is an associate professor at the University of Virginia (jmo4n@virginia.edu). The authors thank Jeffrey Legro, Jack Snyder, Michael Tierney, David Waldner, Joshua Yates, two anonymous reviewers, and Greg McAvoy for comments on previous versions of this article. John Owen presented an earlier version to the research seminar at the Centre for International Relations at the University of British Columbia, and the authors also thank those who participated in that seminar, especially Mikulas Fabry and Richard Price. All errors are the sole responsibilities of the authors.
Mapping Precursor Movement through the Postnatal Thymus Reveals Specific Microenvironments Supporting Defined Stages of Early Lymphoid Development

Cellular differentiation is a complex process involving integrated signals for lineage specification, proliferation, endowment of functional capacity, and survival or cell death. During embryogenesis, spatially discrete environments regulating these processes are established during the growth of tissue mass, a process that also results in temporal separation of developmental events. In tissues that undergo steady-state postnatal differentiation, another means for inducing spatial and temporal separation of developmental cues must be established. Here we show that in the postnatal thymus, this is achieved by inducing blood-borne precursors to enter the organ in a narrow region of the perimedullary cortex, followed by outward migration across the cortex before accumulation in the subcapsular zone. Notably, blood precursors do not transmigrate the cortex in an undifferentiated state, but rather undergo progressive developmental changes during this process, such that defined precursor stages appear in distinct cortical regions. Identification of these cortical regions, together with existing knowledge regarding the genetic potential of the corresponding lymphoid precursors, sets operational boundaries for stromal environments that are likely to induce these differentiative events. We conclude that active cell migration between morphologically similar but functionally distinct stromal regions is an integral component regulating differentiation and homeostasis in the steady-state thymus.
Automatic synthesis of gate-level timed circuits with choice

This paper presents a CAD tool for the automatic synthesis of gate-level timed circuits from general specifications to basic gates such as AND gates, OR gates, and C-elements. Timed circuits are a class of asynchronous circuits that incorporate explicit timing information in the specification which is used throughout the synthesis procedure to optimize the design. Our procedure begins with a textual specification capable of specifying conditional operation, or choice. This specification is systematically transformed to a graphical representation which can be analyzed using an exact and efficient timing analysis algorithm to find the reachable stale space. From this state space, a timed circuit that is hazard-free at the gate-level is derived, facilitating the use of semi-custom components, such as standard-cells and gate-arrays. Because timing information is used to guide the synthesis to reduce circuit complexity while guaranteeing correct operation, the resulting timed circuit implementations are up to 40 percent smaller and 50 percent faster than those produced using other design methodologies.
Toward the Development of the Stereotypic Roles for Black Women Scale

Preliminary findings on the validation of the Stereotypic Roles for Black Women Scale (SRBWS) are presented. A sample of 186 African American women took the SRBWS along with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Racial Identity Attitude Scale–B. A confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor structure of the scale, and moderate reliability estimates were found for each of the interrelated but distinct subscales. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that Mammy and Sapphire images were significant predictors of self-esteem scores and that the internalized stereotypic roles contributed unique variance over racial identity attitudes in understanding self-esteem in Black women. Suggestions for future research and validation of the SRBWS are discussed.
Design of a stereo robot head: hardware and software issues

Current research in machine vision encompasses a wide variety of systems developed with a broad spectrum of characteristics. Many of these existing systems are prohibitively expensive or overly complicated for implementation in an undergraduate research program. This paper presents a stereo vision system designed to be low-cost, light-weight, and compact. The system is intended for use in extracting 3-D surface information from a scene and providing this information to a recognition system.
Barriers to hypertension control.

Randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the benefits of hypertension therapy, and medications are available that can control blood pressure with minimal side effects. Yet, as documented by other articles in this symposium, inadequate blood pressure control remains all too common, contributing to excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Thus, considerable efforts are still required to translate the findings of these randomized studies into effective clinical practice. Such efforts, though, cannot succeed without a comprehensive understanding of the barriers to optimal hypertension care. In the traditional view of hypertension care, the major barrier to blood pressure control is patient nonadherence to prescribed therapies. For example, the 1988 Report of the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure states that poor adherence is the bmajor reason for inadequate control of high blood pressure,Q and physicians cite failure to make lifestyle changes and take medications as instructed as the 2 most common factors impeding effective treatment. This is consistent with the belief that if patients could only be convinced to take their medications, adequate blood pressure control would be achieved. This traditional view is now being increasingly recognized as overly simplistic. Results of recent research suggest that clinicians also contribute to the problem of inadequate blood pressure control through their everyday decisions about whether to initiate or increase pharmacological therapy. Here we review barriers associated with inadequate blood pressure control, and we define a barrier as any factor associated with impaired control. Some of the factors associated with poor control may not directly
Cigarette smoke causes lung vascular barrier dysfunction via oxidative stress-mediated inhibition of RhoA and focal adhesion kinase.

Cigarette smoke (CS) is a major cause of chronic lung and cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies indicate that tobacco use is also a risk factor for acute lung injury (ALI) associated with blunt t...
Perioperative central nervous system injury in neonates.

Summary Anaesthetic-induced developmental neurotoxicity (AIDN) has been clearly established in laboratory animal models. The possibility of neurotoxicity during uneventful anaesthetic procedures in human neonates or infants has led to serious questions about the safety of paediatric anaesthesia. However, the applicability of animal data to clinical anaesthesia practice remains uncertain. The spectre of cerebral injury due to cerebral hypoperfusion, metabolic derangements, coexisting disease, and surgery itself further muddles the picture. Given the potential magnitude of the public health importance of this issue, the clinician should be cognisant of the literature and ongoing investigations on AIDN, and raise awareness of the risks of both surgery and anaesthesia.
Granular data model: semantic data mining and computing with words

Using computing with words as a representation theory of Lin-Zadeh's notion of granular computing, the bitmap indexes of relational tables is formalized and extended. We call it a granular data model (GDM). If all granulations are partitions, a GDM is reduced to a classical relation in relational data model. Based on GDM, semantically rich rules can be mined. The underlying theme of this paper is computing with words; data mining on GDM is one form of computing with words.
Age-Related Changes in Peripheral Nerves of the Dog. II. A Morphologic and Morphometric Study of Cross-Sectional Nerve:

Qualitative histologic studies and quantitative measurements were made on cross-sectional preparations of common peroneal and ulnar nerves of 32 neuromuscular disease-free dogs from birth to 15 years of age, to provide normative data not available previously. Minimal lesions were seen in nerves of dogs from birth to seven years; however, in older dogs, the incidence of axonal degeneration and segmental demyelination and remyelination increased. Total fiber density of both nerves was over 40,000 fibers/mm2 at birth and declined rapidly during the first six to nine months to level off at about 10,000 fibers/mm2 by one year of age. Density of small (less than 5 micrometers) and large (greater than or equal to 5 micrometers) diameter fibers attained adult values by one year of age. The frequency distribution of the myelinated fibers was unimodal at birth and became bimodal between three and six months of age. The peak of the small and large fiber groups occurred at 3 micrometers and 6 micrometers, respectively. Larger diameter fibers (10 micrometers to 12 micrometers) reached adult values between nine months and one year of age. A 2.5 fold increase in mean fiber diameter occurred during the first year of life. There was no statistically significant change in any histometric parameter after maturity (approximately one year of age).
Assessing and interviewing the elderly: interpretation of signs and symptoms

Interviewing the elderly patient, typified by poor memory, often confused and sometimes hard of hearing, requires great patience and perseverance on the part of the physician to extract pertinent information from a complicated history involving past and present illnesses, multiple medications (both prescribed and over-the-counter), and social as well as economic issues. These circumstances may include retirement, death of a spouse and a change of living conditions. Assessment of these issues, followed by a careful physical examination, must lead to a diagnostic programme that is thorough yet practical, with consideration of the benefit of each procedure contemplated. The ultimate goal must be to renew the patient's ability to function as well as to improve the patient's quality of life. Many illnesses characteristic of the aged person are treatable but not curable. The goal is to improve the quality of life and to make the declining years as comfortable as possible. Typical cases illustrating these points are presented and discussed and their resolutions described.
Photoaging: A Daily CareIntroduction

There is increasing awareness that exposure of skin to UVA radiation cannot be considered to be without risk. The amount of UVA reaching the surface of the earth is approximately 20 times greater than that of UVB. Moreover, unlike UVB rays, UVA rays are not attenuated by the ozone layer, they pass through clouds and glass and are emitted at a constant rate throughout the day from the sunrise to the sunset. Finally while 90% of UVB radiation [...]