cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Why deflationary nominalists shouldn’t be agnostics

A feature of agnostic views—views that officially express ignorance about the existence of something (God, mathematical abstracta, theoretical entities)—is that they are widely perceived to be epistemically more cautious than views that are committed to (or against) the entities in question. This is often seen as giving agnostics a debating advantage: all things being equal, fence-sitters have smaller argumentative burdens. Otavio Bueno argues in this way for what he calls “agnostic nominalism,” the view that we don’t know whether ontologically-independent Platonic objects exist. I show that agnostic nominalism, so called, can be sustained only in ways that don’t give agnostic nominalists debating advantages: the position must either be deduced from antecedently-held broader sceptical assumptions or it requires manufacturing potential referents for one’s terms that artificially generate grounds for scepticism. Neither maneuver leads to an agnostic nominalism with a debating advantage over its nominalist opponents.
Effect of hair growth cycles on experimental cutaneous candidiasis in mice.

Experimental cutaneous Candida albicans infections were produced in mice by inoculating the organisms onto areas of shaved flank skin where the hair follicles were in either the anagen (growing) or telogen (resting) phase of the growth cycle. Infection with Candida occurred in a majority of animals inoculated on either anagen or telogen skin, and the rate of clearance of the organisms was equivalent for infections on the 2 types of skin. Some of the animals inoculated on anagen skin developed foci of Candida infection in the well-developed hair follicles, below the skin surface. Deep foci of infection were not found after inoculation of the telogen areas. The infections resulted in increases in epidermal thickness and sensitization of the animals to Candida antigens, but these responses were not different between animals inoculated on the 2 types of skin. The results of these experiments indicate that although Candida albicans can infect skin containing either active or resting hair follicles, foci of infection below the skin surface occur only when well-developed hair follicles are present. These findings may have relevance to the consequences of human cutaneous candidacies.
Design and performance of a ruggedized large-area CZT detector module for hard X-ray astronomy

Abstract We discuss the design and performance of a large area (40 cm 2 ) CZT module for space-borne X-ray astronomy applications. This module is based upon the 32 mm ×32 mm CZT crossed strip detectors that have been under development at UCSD. This compact design includes readout electronics and allows for efficient tiling of modules to form large detector planes for wide field of view coded mask imagers, or for efficient packaging within an anticoincidence shield at the focus of a hard X-ray telescope.
Association of the jets of Enceladus with the warmest regions on its south-polar fractures

The Cassini flyby of 14 July 2005 revealed plumes of jets of water vapour and ice emanating from near the south pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. This region is anomalously warm, with the highest temperatures associated with four 'tiger stripe' surface fractures on the moon's surface, colourfully named Alexandria, Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. Joseph Spitale and Carolyn Porco have now applied triangulation techniques to Cassini images in order to obtain accurate bearings on the sources of the most prominent jets, and they find that they emanate from the tiger stripes, with the strongest sources situated on Baghdad and Damascus. Jets of material have been seen emanating from the south-polar terrain of Saturn's satellite Enceladus. Observations have shown that region is anomalously warm, with the hottest measured temperatures coinciding with four 'tiger stripe' fractures. Cassini images are used to triangulate the source locations for the most prominent jets, and find that the jets emanate from the four tiger stripes. Jets of material have been seen emanating from the south-polar terrain of Saturn’s satellite Enceladus1. Observations have shown that this region is anomalously warm2, with the hottest measured temperatures coinciding with the four ‘tiger stripe’ fractures, named Alexandria, Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus, that straddle the region1,2. Here we use Cassini images taken from a variety of viewing directions over two years to triangulate the source locations for the most prominent jets, and compare these with the infrared hotspot locations and the predictions from a recent model of tidally induced shear heating within the fractures3. We find that the jets emanate from the four tiger stripes, with the strongest sources on Baghdad and Damascus. All the jets from each fracture seem to lie in the same nearly vertical plane. There is a strong spatial coincidence between our geographical sources and the locations of increased temperature revealed by the infrared experiment. Comparison with the shear heating model shows broad agreement; the exception is the prediction that Baghdad is the least active lineament, whereas we find it to be the most active. We predict that several new hotspots remain to be discovered by future thermal observations.
Design enhancement of thin-walled steel beams with improved stiffness and reduced weight

Thin-walled beams have been extensively applied for engineering field, such as automotive industry and architecture industry, etc. In modern industry, those light stiffened structures are always preferred by designers or engineers. This paper presents an enhanced design of the thin-walled beam structures which employed 'self-made' rib stiffeners to provide higher stiffness compared to the general designs. The presented method can also be used to develop light structures without losing the stiffness. Three typical thin-walled beam structures are presented in this paper based on their cross section shapes – the L-section beam, the box section beam, and the Z-section beam. The improved designs for the three types of beams are demonstrated and structural analyses results prove that with the rib stiffeners, the ameliorated structures can significantly enhance the torsional stiffness while keeping the bending stiffness. Effects of the rib's shape, size, position, and number on the beam's global stiffness are discussed through a parametric study on the L-section beam and an optimised design is achieved for such beams. Following the design methods, the weight of the presented thin-walled beams can be reduced down to 60%.
An Ion‐Exchange Study of the Free Amino Acids in the Juices of Six Varieties of Citrusa

SUMMARY Free amino acids were determined in the juices of mature Valencia and Washington navel oranges, Eureka and Lisbon lemons, Dancy taugerines, and Marsh grapefruit. Twelve amino acids and ammonia were identified and measured quantitatively. Eleven unidentified ninhydrin-positive compounds were also'detected. Alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, set-me, γ-aminobutyric acid, and arginine occurred in substantial amounts in all fruits. Proline was the most prominent amino acid in every fruit except the grapefruit, hut appeared in especially high concentrations in the Valencia orange. Aspartic acid predominated in the grapefruit. Nitrogen calculated from the amino acids accounted for approximately 70% of the Kjeldahl nitrogen in each of the juices.
Two distinct modalities of NMDA-receptor inactivation induced by calcium influx in cultured rat hippocampal neurons

Abstract Repetitive stimulation of glutamate (glu) receptors elicits increasingly smaller ionic currents in hippocampal neurons. To investigate mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, voltage clamp whole-cell currents evoked by glu (100 μM) were recorded from hippocampal neurons in culture. These currents were primarily carried by N-methyl- d -aspartate-receptor (NMDA-R) channels, as shown by the voltage-dependent sensitivity to extracellular Mg2+ blockade, and inhibition by the specific antagonist MK-801. In the presence of 2.2 mM extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]e, repetitive glu applications (15 episodes of 4 s/min) elicited progressively smaller currents that stabilized at 45% of their initial peak value. Replacement of [Ca2+e, by Ba2+ produced similar effects. This phenomenon, defined as interepisode inactivation, was exacerbated by elevating [Ca2+]e to 11 mM, attenuated by reducing [Ca2+e to 0.22 mM, and further diminished by shortening the length of the glu pulse to 2 s. Current decay exhibited during individual stimuli, or intraepisode inactivation, was dependent on [Ca2+]e yet remained stable during repetitive stimulation. We conclude that interepisode and intraepisode inactivations of NMDA-R currents are the expression of two distinct processes triggered by Ca2+. These modalities of inactivation may arise from Ca2+ binding either to the receptor or to closely associated regulatory proteins.
Comparison of first principles calculations and experiments for hydrogen permeation through amorphous ZrNi and ZrNiNb films

Amorphous metals are interesting candidates for use as H2 purification membranes and also occur in some applications of H2 storage. We have recently introduced methods that combine first principles density functional theory calculations and statistical mechanics to make predictions of the properties of interstitial H in amorphous metals. In this paper, we apply these methods to investigate H solubility, diffusivity and permeability in amorphous Zr36Ni64 and Zr30(Ni0.6Nb0.4)70, two materials for which experimental data is available. Our calculations, which require no experimental input, agree well with the available experimental data, indicating that our methods can make reliable predictions about performance of amorphous metal membranes for hydrogen purification.
Symbolic Values and the Integration of Society Among the Mapuche of Chile

THE Mapuche are best known to anthropologists by the generic term "Araucanian," under which are subsumed the now extinct Picunche, the heavily acculturated Huilliche, and the Mapuche, the "people of the land." The Mapuche live on more than 2,000 small reservations in southern Central Chile, where they engage in field agriculture and raise cattle, horses, sheep, and other animals. Their population is estimated at 200,000, and they occupy an area roughly the size of Delaware. After resisting White soldiers and settlers for approximately three hundred years, they were finally defeated in the Rebellion of 1880-82 and placed on reservations. Their society underwent numerous important structural changes, and cultural modifications took place as well, as a result of the reservation system (see Faron 1956, 1961a, 1961c); but they have survived as one of the largest functioning indigenous societies in the New World. In this paper I would like to analyze a most significant aspect of the cultural and social ambient of the contemporary Mapuche, one which has considerable implications for any consideration of social stability or change. Following Durkheim, Radcliffe-Brown wrote long ago that "it is in ancestorworship that we can most easily discover and demonstrate the social function of a religious cult" (1952:163). Since the propitiation of ancestral spirits is central to the scheme of Mapuche morality (see Faron 1961b), it could possibly be argued that concern with ancestral spirits in some way conditions most aspects of Mapuche social life. However, this line of inquiry might easily bog down in a morass of tortuous evaluations and judgments, as does Durkheim's classification of phenomena into sacred and profane categories, and, in any case, would not seem to result in the creation of a total impression of the relationship between Mapuche ideational and social systems. But it may be possible to discover a more fundamental principle than ancestor propitiation in Mapuche society, in which the total structure of symbolic values may be related to the social order. This is the line of inquiry pursued here. In Durkheim's treatment of the sacred and profane, one encounters a consideration of what are clearly moral values of society. It is according to these values that the sacred and profane categories are defined. But one is confronted with much a priori reasoning and tortuous argument to the end of establishing all phenomena in categories of either sacred or profane dimensions. The pervasive notion of dualism among the Mapuche, at least at first glance, would seem to lend itself to orthodox Durkheimian classification. A sacred-profane
Turbot Fillet Sections Cooked by Microwave and Conventional Heating Methods: Objective and Sensory Evaluation

Greenland turbot fillet sections were baked in conventional and microwave ovens. The microwave oven cooked the fish faster, required less energy, and demonstrated greater relative efficiency than did the conventional oven. Solid-drip and total cooking losses were greater and Kramer shear values and evaporative loss were lower for microwave-heated fish. No differences in sensory flakiness and moisture were found between oven treatments, but microwave-heated samples were rated softer and less chewy by a trained panel. Several significant correlations were found among sensory attributes and objective measures of quality. A 39-member consumer panel indicated no differences in acceptability of turbot heated by the two cooking methods.
Data reduction from thin-film heat gauges in fluidized beds

Abstract Thin-film heat gauges are used to measure local, instantaneous heat transfer coefficients, h, in fluidized beds to immersed surfaces. Usually, the amplitude of fluctuation in the sensor temperature is taken as a representation of the amplitude of fluctuation in h or a semi-infinite medium assumption for the substrate is used to transform the surface temperature into h-values. This paper is a numerical study of a typical thin-film heat gauge using a 1-D heat conduction model with finite depth for the substrate and a sinusoidal variation of h with time. Computer simulations of the gauge for different thermophysical properties of the substrate show that the substrate acts as a thermal capacitor and dampens the amplitude of fluctuations in sensor temperature otherwise driven by fluctuations in h. This damping effect increases with increasing thermal conductivity, and heat capacity of the substrate and decreasing thermal diffusivity, and width of the substrate. This may be the reason for some of the discrepancies in reported values of fluctuations in h in the literature.
Genetic diversity of public inbreds of sorghum determined by mapped AFLP and SSR markers.

The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the level of genetic diversity in elite sterility-maintaining (B) and fertility-restoring (R) sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] lines as compared with a group of exotic and converted germplasm (IS) from the World Collection, (ii) to compare the classification of germplasm on the basis of estimates of genetic similarities obtained by means of AFLP and microsatellite (SSR) markers, and (iii) to compare the classification of germplasm obtained by different classes of molecular markers. A set of 100 SSRs, 1318 EcoRI/Msel AFLP, and 496 PstI/MseI AFLP markers with known map positions were utilized to determine the genetic similarity in a group of B, R, and IS public inbreds. Cluster analysis of genetic similarity estimates (GS ij ) revealed that the classification of sorghum inbreds is based on the sorghum working groups, Zera-zera, Kafir, Kafir-Milo, Durra, and Feterita. Cluster analyses failed to give a clear differentiation between B- and R-lines, suggesting that R- and B-lines do not represent well-defined heterotic groups in this set of public lines. By comparing the different classes of molecular markers (SSRs, AFLPs, combinations of SSRs and AFLPs), we determined that the distribution of the markers and the coverage of the genome by the markers did affect the classification of genotypes. Dendrograms of genetic similarity (GS) based on PstI/MseI AFLP markers, or a set of markers spaced at 1- to 2-cM intervals across the genome, produced clusters that were in better agreement with pedigree information than the analysis based solely on the EcoRI/ Msel AFLP or SSR markers used in this study.
Gonadotropin-Induced Expression of Messenger Ribonucleic Acid for Cyclooxygenase-2 and Production of Prostaglandins E and F2α in Bovine Preovulatory Follicles Are Regulated by the Progesterone Receptor

Follicular production of prostaglandins (PGs) is essential for ovulation, but the factors mediating gonadotropin-induced secretion of PGE and PGF2α remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that gonadotropin-induced changes in progesterone and its receptor (PR) mediate the increase in periovulatory PGs. Heifers were treated with PGF2α and GnRH to induce luteolysis and the LH/FSH surge (ovulation occurs ∼30 h after GnRH). Because there are two increases in intrafollicular progesterone/PR mRNA during the bovine periovulatory period, we first examined the temporal pattern of PG production by follicles collected at 0, 3.5, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h after GnRH. Although PGs did not increase in the follicular fluid until 24 h after GnRH, acute secretion of PGs by follicle wall (theca + granulosa cells) was initiated by 18 h and had increased manyfold by 24 h after GnRH. In vitro, FSH and LH induced dramatic transient increases in PG production by follicle wall and granulosa, but not theca, cells isolated from ...
The weight-per-symbol polytope and scaffolds of invariants associated with Markov chains

We study Markov chains via invariants constructed from periodic orbits. Canonical extensions, based on these invariants, are used to establish a constraint on the degree of finite-to-one block homomorphisms from one Markov chain to another. We construct a polytope from the normalized weights of periodic orbits. Using this polytope, we find canonically-defined induced Markov chains inside the original Markov chain. Each of the invariants associated with these Markov chains gives rise to a scaffold of invariants for the original Markov chain. This is used to obtain counterexamples to the finite equivalence conjecture and to a conjecture regarding finitary isomorphism with finite expected coding time. Also included are results related to the problem of minimality (with respect to block homomorphism) of Bernoulli shifts in the class of Markov chains with beta function equal to the beta function of the Bernoulli shift.
Synchrotron X-ray Scattering Study of Freely Suspended Discotic Strands

Abstract We report the feasibility of x-ray scattering studies of freely suspended strands of discotic liquid crystals of triphenylene hexa-n-dodecanoate (HATH) and of hexa-alcoxy derivatives of triphenylene (HET11). With use of a pin and cup configuration, we are able to grow strands, which are stable for days, of diameter > 50 μm with a few single crystal domains. In HATH, as a function of increasing temperature, the system exhibits two liquid crystal columnar phases labeled Dl and D2. In the columnar phases, the molecules segregate into infinite liquid columns arranged in two-dimensional lattices. We find that the quasi-two-dimensional columnar D2-D1 structural phase transition from hexagonal to centered rectangular (herringbone) is associated with a small lattice distortion consistent with a close-packed model with only the core of the molecule tilted in the Dl phase. By carrying out longitudinal (parallel to column axis) diffuse scattering scans in HATH and a series of both small core discotics: benz...
dHvA measurements of long range strain effects due to lattice dislocations in copper

Lattice dislocations have been shown to produce a factor of 103 greater dHvA scattering temperature than an estimate from resistivity. The magnitude of this discrepancy is explained by a first principles phase smearing calculation, and is due to the sensitivity of the quantum oscillations to small angle scattering by the long range strain field. Breaking the cubic symmetry by introducing a forest of edge dislocations allows a test of the sensitivity of previously equivalent neck orbits to the relative orientation with respect to the dislocation lines. Both magnitudes and anisotropy agree with the theory. It is shown how to separate these effects from mosaic structure effects also present in these deformed crystals. In a separate experiment, neutron irradiation was used to produce dislocation loops. Here, the dHvA scattering is observed to be of the same order as resistivity scattering, due to the cancellation of the long range dislocation strain field in the loop geometry.
Thermal helium desorption spectrometry of helium-implanted iron

Abstract Thermal helium desorption spectrometry (THDS) is employed to study the kinetics and energetics of helium in iron implanted with 100 keV He to 1 × 1011, 1 × 1013, and 1 × 1015 He/cm2. While no clear desorption signals are observed for the two lower dose samples, preliminary results reveal that the majority of the He atoms desorb at ∼1000 °C and at >1100 °C for the 1 × 1015 He/cm2 sample. Both conventional reaction model and Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) transformation model are utilized to analyze the ∼1000 °C desorption event. The measured signal can be reproduced very well by combining a first-order and a higher order (n ∼ 5.8) JMA fits. This event is observed repetitively during successive heating–cooling cycles. The success of the higher order JMA model and the repetitive appearance strongly suggest that this event is mainly associated with α ↔ γ phase transformation, while the dissociation of HeV clusters may also be involved. The observation of spurious peaks which may affect future studies is also reported.
The Effects of Candidate Gender on Campaign Spending in State Legislative Elections

Objective. This article will investigate whether candidate gender affects levels of campaign spending in state legislative elections. Methods. The analysis compares men and women candidates running for the state legislature in 20 states over two election cycles. By controlling for a range of contextual factors, the analysis isolates the independent influence of candidate gender. Results. The findings demonstrate that women and men spend similar levels of campaign funding in running for the state legislature. Running as incumbents, challengers, or open-seat candidates, women are not at a financial disadvantage relative to similarly situated men candidates in the general election. Conclusions. Although women may suffer difficulties at other parts of the electoral process, women are not at a disadvantage relative to men in how much money their campaigns ultimately allocate for the purposes of gaining voter support.
Cross-National Coverage of Human Trafficking: A Community Structure Approach

A community structure analysis compared cross-national coverage of human trafficking in 250+ word articles in newspapers in 18 countries for a 12-year period: July 27, 2000 to July 27, 2012. The resulting 266 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction” (“government responsibility,” “society responsibility,” or “balanced/neutral”), then combined into a composite “Media Vector” score for each newspaper (range = .5167 to −.0214). Seventeen of 18 Media Vectors reflected media emphasis on government responsibility to end human trafficking. Pearson correlations identified that two characteristic clusters had significant relationships with media coverage: privilege (the “buffer” hypothesis associates higher levels of privilege with coverage emphasizing government action to reduce human trafficking) and stakeholders (associating larger proportions of groups with a stake in human trafficking with coverage emphasizing government action to reduce it). Pearson correlations revealed that female school life ex...
Flow dichroism of deoxyribonucleic acid solutions.

The flow dichroism of dilute DNA solutions (A260 ≈ 0.1) has been studied in a Couette-type apparatus with the outer cylinder rotating and with the light path parallel to the cylinder axis. Shear gradients in the range of 5–160 sec.−1 were studied. The DNA samples were whole, “half,” and “quarter” molecules of T4 bacteriophage DNA, and linear and circular λb2b5c, DNA. For the linear molecules, the fractional flow dichroism is a linear function of molecular weight. The dichroism for linear λ DNA is about 1.8 that of the circular molecule. For a given DNA, the dichroism is an approximately linear function of shear gradient, but with a slight upward curvature at low values of G, and some trend toward saturation at larger values of G. The fractional dichroism increases as the supporting electrolyte concentration decreases.
MX Frontiers at the One Micron Scale: Making the Case for Micro-Beams

Macromolecular crystallographic (MX) structure determination at synchrotron radiation sources has the potential to advance significantly through use of X-ray beams of one micron or smaller cross-sections. Recently, the MX Frontiers at the One Micron Scale Workshop explored structural biology scientific opportunities made possible through the use of micro-beams, and anticipated technical challenges for developers of MX beamlines at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). More than 100 attendees participated in the workshop, which included one-and-a-half days of lectures, discussions, and a semi-formal poster session on July 23–24, 2009, at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).
Sublethal toxic effects of cyanobacteria and nonylphenol on environmental sex determination and development in Daphnia

In many cladoceran zooplankton, females divide their reproductive effort among females, males, and resting eggs depending on a suite of environmental conditions. Having alternative life-history strategies allows cladocerans such as Daphnia to achieve high reproductive rates asexually when conditions are favorable and to produce offspring sexually for survival when the environment becomes unsuitable. Because of their rapid reproduction, Daphnia and other cladocerans are useful model organisms in aquatic toxicology. Bioassays using Daphnia serve two functions, to estimate the ecosystem level risk posed by specific chemicals and to quickly detect contaminated waters. Bioassays examine effects in terms of life history features such as growth, survival, and asexual fecundity. We studied the effects of toxic stress on Daphnia galeata mendotae grown under conditions in which it produces female, male, and ephippial offspring. Fecundities in terms of the three types of offspring showed different sensitivities to chemical stress. The stressors were a toxic strain of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa and nonylphenol, a plasticizer, which is a surfactant that interferes with endocrine function in vertebrates. Production of resting eggs and female offspring were affected in both experiments, but the experiments showed different dose responses. Production of males was less sensitive. Exposure to nonylphenol also produced a characteristic developmental abnormality at environmentally relevant concentrations. Life table analysis showed that stress during the sexual phase of the life cycle of Daphnia reduces short-term population growth and as well as affecting the stock of dormant individuals.
An Orientation and Motivation Inventory

The report describes the construction and development of an inventory designed to measure 10 dimensions of general orientation, preference, and motivation toward activities, tasks, and people. The Orientation and Motivation Inventory was administered to 281 high school juniors and seniors and to 121 college freshmen and sophomores along with an occupational inventory. Each of the scales was subdivided for analysis into four subtests. Then the intercorrelations among the 40 subscores were analyzed by the method of principal components. In the Varimax rotational solution for the high school sample, nine of the postulated dimensions were confirmed. In the college factor analysis six of the dimensions were fully confirmed. The scale scores were evaluated by applying them in a discriminant function analysis of Holland's six vocational interest types. Students had been allocated to one of the types on the basis of their occupational scores. Analyses of the high school and college samples disclosed two and three...
Adolescents as Deliberative Citizens: Building Health Competence in Local Communities

Given the host of tragic events that children experience, it is often compelling for well-intended adults to respond in a protective and charitable fashion. The child rights approach asks for more. Building on their collective experiences in the developmental and social sciences, the authors present in roughly chronological fashion a synopsis of the theoretical explorations and scientific evaluation that completes a framework to advance the status of children as citizens. The recognition of the agency and capability of a child and the dynamic and enduring source of socialization from and social integration within the community are fundamental to this project. The participatory rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child serve as an impetus and inspiration to this project, the Young Citizens Program. What began with small-scale deliberative groups in Chicago matured into a cluster randomized controlled trial in northern Tanzania.
A nation of suspects: drug testing and the Fourth Amendment.

Description des pratiques repandues de depistage des toxicomanies par dosages urinaires et sanguin dans le milieu professionnel aux USA et discussion des limites a ces pratiques presentes dans le 4eme amendement a la Constitution
Two-year outcomes on bone density and fracture incidence in patients with T2DM randomized to bariatric surgery versus intensive medical therapy.

Objective To determine the 2-year outcomes of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) vs. intensive medical therapy (IMT) on lean body mass, total bone mass, and bone mineral density (BMD) measures from the STAMPEDE trial. Methods 54 subjects (BMI: 36 ± 1 kg/m2, age: 48 ± 4 years) with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (HbA1c: 9.7 ± 2%) were randomized to IMT, RYGB, or SG and underwent DXA at baseline and at 1 and 2 years. Results At 2 years, the reduction in BMI was similar after RYGB and SG and was greater than IMT (P < 0.001). Lean mass was reduced by ∼10%, total bone mineral content reduced by ∼8%, and hip BMD reduced by ∼9% in both surgical groups and was significantly greater than IMT despite increases in vitamin D intake in all groups. The change in hip BMD correlated with weight loss (r = 0.84, P < 0.0001) and changes in lean mass (r = 0.74, P < 0.0001) and leptin (r = 0.53, P < 0.0001). Peripheral fractures were self-reported in RYGB (4/18 patients), SG (2/19 patients), and IMT (4/16 patients). Conclusions Surgically induced weight loss is associated with modest reductions in lean mass, bone mineral content, and BMD, despite calcium and vitamin D supplementation in patients with T2DM. Awareness for bone loss is indicated for patients undergoing bariatric procedures.
Decision‐making preference and opportunity in VA ambulatory care patients: Association with patient satisfaction

Using data from the Veterans Health Study, associations were examined for decision-making preference, decision-making opportunity, and satisfaction with medical care among a sample of 266 men who use Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ambulatory health care services. Results indicated that veterans with a high preference for involvement in decision-making and low provider-offered decision-making opportunities had significantly lower satisfaction with medical care compared to veterans with either low preference for decision-making involvement with high or low opportunity, or those with a high decision-making preference and high decision-making opportunity. The findings suggest that health care providers may increase patient satisfaction with medical care by providing opportunities for decision-making to patients who prefer involvement in their health care decision-making. Provider strategies for increasing patient decision-making involvement are discussed.
Magnesium deficiency in critical illness.

Magnesium (Mg) deficiency commonly occurs in critical illness and correlates with a higher mortality and worse clinical outcome in the intensive care unit (ICU). Magnesium has been directly implicated in hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, tetany, and dysrhythmia. Moreover, Mg may play a role in acute coronary syndromes, acute cerebral ischemia, and asthma. Magnesium regulates hundreds of enzyme systems. By regulating enzymes controlling intracellular calcium, Mg affects smooth muscle vasoconstriction, important to the underlying pathophysiology of several critical illnesses. The principle causes of Mg deficiency are gastrointestinal and renal losses; however, the diagnosis is difficult to make because of the limitations of serum Mg levels, the most common assessment of Mg status. Magnesium tolerance testing and ionized Mg2+ are alternative laboratory assessments; however, each has its own difficulties in the ICU setting. The use of Mg therapy is supported by clinical trials in the treatment of symptomatic hypomag...
Remarriage and Reconstituted Families

Remarriage is not a new social invention for repairing marital disruption. The earliest recorded histories document that remarriage was a recognized option for some, but not all, individuals whose marriages were disrupted by the death of the husband or wife. Some societies accorded the same status to remarriages as they did to first marriages, others a lesser or greater status. Many so-cieties developed rules designating the particular person in the extended family network, such as a brother or sister of the deceased, who was obligated to support an indi-vidual whose spouse had died, and rules specifying that that support ought to take the form of marriage (Murstein, 1974).
Faculty Training in Political Science: Results from a Survey of Department Chairs

n recent years, increased attention has focused on how doctoral programs pre pare graduate students to become faculty members at colleges and universities. One reflection of this interest is the de velopment of such training programs as Preparing Future Faculty (PFF), which the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Council of Graduate Schools founded in 1993. With financial support from the Pew Charita ble Trusts, the National Science Founda tion, and the Atlantic Philanthropies, and with the participation of several profes sional associations, including the Ameri can Political Science Association, PFF has grown to include nearly 300 colleges and universities nationwide. In the recent past, 21 doctoral departments, including four from political science, have received funding for PFF. In addition to formal PFF programs, the literature on graduate education suggests that many doctoral departments have established their own training routines to assist graduate stu dents as they prepare to teach and/or to assume faculty responsibilities.' As the PFF web site and publications discuss, one of the central purposes of the program is to expose doctoral stu dents to the many duties that faculty members have at institutions of higher
A distributed architecture for MMORPG

We present an approach to support Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Our proposed solution begins by splitting the large virtual world into smaller regions, each region handled by a different server. We present techniques and algorithms that (1) reduce the bandwidth requirements for both game servers and clients, (2) address consistency, hotspot, congestion and server failure problems typically found in MMORPG and (3) allow seamless interaction between players residing on areas handled by different servers. By implementing a simple game, Kosmos, we show the applicability of our approach as well as the relative performance benefits of designing new games using our architecture.
Watershed land use and river engineering drive wetland formation and loss in the Mississippi River birdfoot delta

The Mississippi River basin was developed for agriculture at an unprecedented scale and intensity within the last 200 yr. These changes favored erosion and sediment transport, which were subsequently reduced by soil conservation practices, the trapping of sediment behind large reservoirs, and channel engineering. We discuss the relationship between sediment loading and the growth, loss, and stability of wetlands in the Mississippi River birdfoot delta (MRBD). We report an anthropogenically driven increase in mean suspended sediment concentrations in the Mississippi River below New Orleans, from a modeled 350 mg L21 (174 3 109 kg yr21) at the end of the 18th century to a measured maximum of 675 mg L21 (348 3 109 kg yr21) in the late 19th century, followed by a sharp reduction, and then a period of stabilization at 157 mg L21 (91 3 109 kg yr21) after 1962. Changes in wetland area of the MRBD over the past two centuries reflect variations in sediment supply during periods of increasing, decreasing, and stable sediment loading, and are distinct from wetland loss patterns in other areas of coastal Louisiana. The rapid growth of the MRBD until the 1930s, which has been used as a reference for one of the world’s largest wetland restoration efforts, may not be a suitable archetype for the majority of the coast. Additionally, future variation in sediment supply to the MRBD would likely change the total wetland area of the MRBD.
Growth, microstructure, and resistivity of RuO2 thin films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Polycrystalline RuO2 thin films were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on both SiO2/Si(001) and Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(001) substrates. Films having a controllable and reproducible structural texture and phase purity were synthesized by carefully controlling deposition parameters. Moderate growth temperatures (∼350 °C) and low growth rates ( 30 A/min). The most conductive RuO3 films had resistivities of 34 to 40 µΩ−cm at 25 °C, an average grain size of 65 ± 15 nm, and a surface roughness (rms) of 3 to 10 nm. Both single-phase Ru and mixed Ru/RuO2 phase material were also fabricated at low temperatures (<350 °C) by using lower oxygen flow concentrations (<10%).
A novel proof of natural boundary conditions for the Poisson equation

The finite-element formulation of Poisson's equation has implicit natural boundary conditions that are not immediately obvious through introductory-course teaching methods. To prove the existence of these conditions, it is necessary to resort to more elaborate Galerkin techniques. In practice, to avoid going into the complex proofs of the Galerkin methods, introductory courses in numerical methods for electrical engineers gloss over the boundary conditions. The author presents a self-contained proof for the natural boundary conditions of the variational expression for elliptical field problems without recourse to the theory of weighted residuals. This allows educators to treat natural boundary conditions with greater rigor and thereby impart a better understanding of them in early courses in finite elements. >
The economic costs of pain in the United States.

In 2008, according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), about 100 million adults in the United States were affected by chronic pain, including joint pain or arthritis. Pain is costly to the nation because it requires medical treatment and complicates treatment for other ail- ments. Also, pain lowers worker productivity. Using the 2008 MEPS, we estimated 1) the portion of total U.S. health care costs attributable to pain; and 2) the annual costs of pain associated with lower worker productivity. We found that the total costs ranged from $560 to $635 billion in 2010 dollars. The additional health care costs due to pain ranged from $261 to $300 billion. This represents an increase in annual per person health care costs ranging from $261 to $300 compared to a base of about $4,250 for persons without pain. The value of lost productivity due to pain ranged from $299 to $335 billion. We found that the annual cost of pain was greater than the annual costs of heart disease ($309 billion), cancer ($243 billion), and diabetes ($188 billion). Our estimates are conservative be- cause they do not include costs associated with pain for nursing home residents, children, military personnel, and persons who are incarcerated. Perspective: This study estimates that the national cost of pain ranges from $560 to $635 billion, larger than the cost of the nation's priority health conditions. Because of its economic toll on society, the nation should invest in research, education, and training to advocate the successful treatment, management, and prevention of pain. a 2012 by the American Pain Society
A Window of Opportunity for Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. The rapidly escalating personal and public costs associated with Alzheimer’s disease makes the need for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of paramount importance. In rare instances,
Conformal sigma models for a class of T p,q spaces

We consider a two-dimensional conformal theory based on (G×G')/H coset sigma model introduced by Guadagnini, Martellini and Mintchev. It is shown that in the case of (SU(2)×SU(2))/U(1) the metric of the corresponding background is of Tp,q coset space form (but is not an Einstein one). A similar interpretation is possible for the Lorentzian coset space W4,2 = (SL(2,R)×SL(2,R))/U(1). The resulting ten-dimensional homogeneous space metric on W4,2×Tp,q supplemented with a 2-form field gives a critical NS-NS superstring background with a conformal sigma model interpretation.
Listening to programmers Taxonomies and characteristics of comments in operating system code

Innovations from multiple directions have been proposed to improve software reliability. Unfortunately, many of the innovations are not fully exploited by programmers. To bridge the gap, this paper proposes a new approach to “listen” to thousands of programmers: studying their programming comments. Since comments express programmers' assumptions and intentions, comments can reveal programmers' needs, which can provide guidance (1) for language/-tool designers on where they should develop new techniques or enhance the usability of existing ones, and (2) for programmers on what problems are most pervasive and important so that they should take initiatives to adopt some existing tools or language extensions. We studied 1050 comments randomly sampled from the latest versions of Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenSolaris. We found that 52.6% of these comments could be leveraged by existing or to-be-proposed tools for improving reliability. Our findings include: (1) many comments describe code relationships, code evolutions, or the usage and meaning of integers and integer macros, (2) a significant amount of comments could be expressed by existing annotation languages, and (3) many comments express synchronization related concerns but are not well supported by annotation languages.
Pearls and Pitfalls of Botox and Filler Substances in the Upper Third of the Face

The three aesthetic units that comprise the upper third of the face are the midline glabellar complex, the forehead, and the peri-ocular areas. Unlike rhytids in the lower half of the face, which are static and primarily due to cumulative photodamage and gravitational changes, wrinkles above the zygomatic arch are dynamic and are in large part a result of hypertrophy of the underlying musculature. The deep vertical lines in between the eyebrows are from chronic movement of the brow depressor muscles: the procerus, the bilateral corrugator supercilii, and the medial fibers of the orbicularis oculi (depressor supercilii). The horizontal creases of the forehead are the result of the brow elevator, the frontalis muscle, and the arciform perioribital lines (the crow’s feet) are due to the lateral fibers of the orbicularis oculi muscle. There are many treatment options available to improve these lines, including surgery as well as the ever-expanding list of new filler agents and lasers. However, as with any intervention, the treatment should be aimed at the underlying pathology, and as such the treatment of choice for rhytids in the upper third of the face is chemodenervation with botulinum toxin. A small amount of botulinum toxin injected precisely into facial muscles renders them immobile and releases the superimposed cutaneous defect and rhytid (Table 123.1) Currently the sole FDA-approved neurotoxin is Botox (Allergan Inc., Irvine, CA) and the only cosmetic indication is “for the temporary improvement in appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines associated with corrugator and/or procerus muscle activity in adult patients 65 years of age or younger.” All other uses are considered off-label.1,2 Open image in new window Table 123.1. General Dosing Guidelines for the Treatment of the Upper Third of the Face with Botox
Introduction: Towards a Critical Pedagogy for Undergraduate Popular Music History Courses in the Twenty-First Century

How should teachers introduce today’s undergraduates to popular music history? This opening essay briefly introduces the following roundtable, which presents various pedagogical strategies for conceiving and structuring undergraduate popular music history courses for a twenty-first century student populace. These essays argue that greater attention to contemporary conditions of music-making can both challenge the uncritical continuation of earlier pedagogical approaches to popular music and better account for student experience.
Mortality rates from size distributions

A population model explicitly describing the dynamics of an arbitrary population size distribution is presented. One consequence of the model is an equation for the exact shape of the size distribution of a stationary or steady-state population. The shape is expressed as a function of sizespecific mortality and growth rates. From the equation, various mortality estimation formulas can be derived, two of which are discussed in detail. One of the methods permits estimation of size-specific mortality rates without the assumption of a theoretical growth model.
Cultural populism and egalitarian democracy: Herder and Michelet in the nineteenth century

In the late eighteenth century there began a great debate on popular culture that extends down to our own time but that has yet to find its historian.1 Literary writers started to face directly the question of the cultural and political meaning of the growing market for printed goods for they were becoming more dependent on a relatively wide middle-class and partly artisan audience (first present in eighteenth-century England), and were experiencing the erosion of the privately endowed aristocratic patronage system. Leo Lowenthal showed thirty years ago how important this was in the origin of the modern debate on "mass culture."2 The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw also, however, several developments that began to polarize attitudes amongst the intellectual elite toward the traditional artisan and peasant culture that still predominated in Europe. Three developments, in particular, are worth citing here. First, widening educational and cultural differences between upper social strata and the common people after the mideighteenth century, coupled with the growing threat of rebellious rural and urban crowds to aristocratic politics in the age of the "democratic revolution," brought on sustained conservative alarm at the "vile multitudes."3 Second, the initial rise of an ascetically-minded business class and the beginnings of "progressive" economic liberalism, especially in western Europe, saw attacks on a traditional popular culture seen as unfit for the making of a modern civilization requiring prudent, industrious values.4 Third, the spread of a populist romanticism aimed against "enlightened" gentility brought many intellectuals to praise peasant and artisan "folk" against courtly or bourgeois culture in the years between the German Sturm and Drang (the 1770s) and the Revolutions of 1848 1849.