cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Single and double charge transfer of He2+ ions with molecules at near-thermal energies

Rate coefficients were measured for charge-transfer reactions of He(2+) ions with H2, N2, O2, CO, CO2, and H2O. The experiments were carried out using a selected-ion drift-tube mass spectrometer. Total rate coefficients are found to be very large and are generally close to the limiting Langevin capture rate coefficients or the corresponding ADO-model (Su and Bowers, 1973) coefficients. The product-ion spectra indicate that both single and double charge transfer and possibly transfer ionization occur in these reactions.
Three-Dimensional a-Si:H Solar Cells on Glass Nanocone Arrays Patterned by Self-Assembled Sn Nanospheres

We introduce a cost-effective method of forming size-tunable arrays of nanocones to act as a three-dimensional (3D) substrate for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells. The method is based on self-assembled tin nanospheres with sizes in the range of 20 nm to 1.2 μm. By depositing these spheres on glass substrates and using them as an etch mask, we demonstrate the formation of glass nanopillars or nanocones, depending on process conditions. After deposition of 150 nm thick a-Si:H solar cell p-i-n stacks on the glass nanocones, we show an output efficiency of 7.6% with a record fill factor of ∼69% for a nanopillar-based 3D solar cell. This represents up to 40% enhanced efficiency compared to planar solar cells and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first demonstration of nanostructured p-i-n a-Si:H solar cells on glass that is textured without optical lithography patterning methods.
Art, society and archaeology

Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization. By Richard Burger. Thames and Hudson: 1992. Pp. 248. £38, $49.95.
The association between varus–valgus alignment and patellofemoral osteoarthritis

Objective Little is known about risk factors for patellofemoral (PF) osteoarthritis (OA). The lateral vector at the PF joint increases the likelihood of lateral PF versus medial PF pathology. Both valgus and varus malalignments affect forces at the PF joint and may predispose to PF OA. We examined whether lateral PF OA is more common than medial PF OA, whether valgus malalignment is more frequent in lateral PF OA than in medial PF OA, and whether knees with PF OA are more often valgus than knees with isolated tibiofemoral (TF) OA. Methods In 292 knee OA patients, we obtained semiflexed, fluoroscopy-confirmed radiographs of the TF joint and weight-bearing, 30° flexion, axial views of the PF joint. Varus–valgus alignment (the angle formed by the intersection of the mechanical axes of the femur and tibia) was measured on a full-limb radiograph. Results Lateral PF OA was more common than medial PF OA (P < 0.0001). Forty-three of 75 knees with lateral PF OA had valgus malalignment compared with only 5 of 21 patients with medial PF OA (P = 0.0066). Conversely, varus malalignment was more likely in the medial PF OA group. Knees with isolated PF OA were more likely to have valgus malalignment than those with isolated TF OA (P = 0.0002), as were knees with mixed PF–TF OA (P = 0.0006). Conclusion Varus–valgus alignment may influence the risk of PF OA and, in particular, which compartment is affected.
Charting molecular gas through cosmological time: Present results and future directions

Molecular gas, observed through tracers such as CO rotational transitions, is a vital component of galactic evolution and star formation. Recent detections of the CO molecule in massive galaxies at redshifts as high as z = 6:42 have demonstrated its existence in the early Universe, and have motivated its use as a means of exploring large-scale structure and as a probe of galaxy evolution in the early Universe. But many questions about molecular gas and the evolution of galaxies in the early Universe still remain: its distribution at high redshift understood is so poorly that theoretical models of the mean abundance of CO for z ≳ 2 span orders of magnitude. Direct detection of molecular gas in galaxies at these redshifts (with instruments like the VLA) have only found the largest and most luminous of galaxies at these redshifts (typically containing 1010M ⊙ of molecular gas and star formation rates of 100M ⊙ yr−1), whereas the bulk of the molecular gas is expected to be in the unseen masses of smaller galaxies (M gas ∼ 108M ⊙ ; SFR ∼ 1M ⊙ yr−1). While difficult to detect individually, these smaller galaxies are likely detectable as an integrated ensemble with the technique of “intensity mapping”. This technique, similar to those employed by HI epoch of reionization experiments, utilizes measurements of different 3D Fourier modes to construct a power spectrum.
Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein‐5 (IGFBP‐5) interacts with thrombospondin‐1 to induce negative regulatory effects on IGF‐I actions

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 (IGFBP-5) and thrombospondin-1 (TS-1) are both present in extracellular matrix (ECM). Both proteins have been shown to bind to one another with high affinity. The purpose of these studies was to determine how the interaction between IGFBP-5 and TS-1 modulates IGF-I actions in porcine aortic smooth muscle cells (pSMC) in culture. The addition of increasing concentrations of TS-1 to pSMC cultures enhanced the protein synthesis and cell migration responses to IGF-I; whereas the addition of IGFBP-5 alone resulted in minimal changes. In contrast, the addition of IGFBP-5 to cultures that were also exposed to IGF-I and TS-1 resulted in inhibition of protein synthesis. When the cell migration response was assessed, the response to IGF-I plus TS-1 was also significantly inhibited by the addition of IGFBP-5, whereas 1.0 microg/ml of IGFBP-5 alone had no effect on the response to IGF-I. To determine the molecular mechanism by which this inhibition occurred, a mutant form of IGFBP-5 that does not bind to IGF-I was tested. This mutant was equipotent compared to native IGFBP-5 in its ability to inhibit both protein synthesis and cell migration responses to IGF-I plus TS-1 thus excluding the possibility that IGFBP-5 was inhibiting the response to TS-1 and IGF-I by inhibiting IGF-I binding to the IGF-I receptor. To determine if an interaction between TS-1 and IGFBP-5 was the primary determinant of the inhibitory effect of IGFBP-5, an IGFBP-5 mutant that bound poorly to TS-1 was utilized. The addition of 1.0 microg/ml of this mutant did not inhibit the protein synthesis or cell migration responses to IGF-I plus TS-1. To determine the mechanism by which IGFBP-5 binding to TS-1 inhibited cellular responses to TS-1 plus IGF-I, TS-1 binding to integrin associated protein (IAP) was assessed. The addition of IGFBP-5 (1.0 microg/ml) inhibited TS-1-IAP association. In contrast, a mutant form of IGFBP-5 that bound poorly to TS-1 had a minimal effect on TS-1 binding to IAP. Further analysis showed that IGFBP-5 addition altered the ability of TS-1 to modulate the SHPS-1/IAP interaction. When the IGFBP-5 mutant that did not bind to IGF-I was incubated with TS-1 and IGF-I, it inhibited the capacity of TS-1 to enhance the IGF-I receptor phosphorylation and MAP kinase activation in response to IGF-I. In contrast, the IGFBP-5 mutant that did not bind to TS-1 had no effect on IGF-I stimulated IGF-I receptor phosphorylation or MAP kinase activation. These results indicate that IGFBP-5 inhibits the binding of TS-1 to IAP, and this results in an alteration of the ability of TS-1 to modulate the disruption of the IAP/SHPS-1 interaction which leads to attenuation of the ability of TS-1 to enhance cellular responsiveness to IGF-I.
LATCHKEY CHILDREN AND AFTER‐SCHOOL CARE: A FEMINIST DILEMMA?

Many children of working parents regularly care for themselves after school. Questionable findings about the danger of children's self-care (latchkey) arrangements are being used in an effort to obtain public funding for after-school care. The use of this evidence poses a dilemma for feminists and others. Arguing that latchkey children are at risk may improve the chances of receiving funds for child care. But it could also lead to unintended negative consequences for women. Emphasizing the risks of self-care could result in greater social opposition to working mothers. From a feminist perspective, the best argument for after-school care would be one that focuses on the special needs and circumstances of working parents, and does not rely on suspect data that suggest negative consequences of self-care for children's development.
Examining the technique class: re‐examining feedback

The technique class can be an amalgam of frustration and joy, cautious imitation and mindless replication, being right and being wrong. Competing requisites, such as a desire for expressive freedom in relation to the demand that a movement be precisely structured, can unwittingly create a tension between teachers and students. The reasons for such tensions highlight a fundamental conundrum. Feedback, as a teaching and learning tool, is one way to bring the situation into focus. Yet to better understand what is happening under the rubric of technique, the voices of students should be heard. This essay, engaging student voices, examines the nature of the technique class by re‐examining the meaning of feedback.
Why is parallel computing so hard

The paper discusses various aspects of parallel programming including: debugging; programming models; languages; input/output; performance; architecture; and research prospects. >
RBoost: Riemannian distance based regularized Boosting

Boosting is a versatile machine learning technique that has numerous applications including but not limited to image processing, computer vision, data mining etc. It is based on the premise that the classification performance of a set of weak learners can be boosted by some weighted combination of them. There have been a number of boosting methods proposed in the literature, such as the AdaBoost, LPBoost, SoftBoost and their variations. However, the learning update strategies used in these methods usually lead to overfitting and instabilities in the classification accuracy. Improved boosting methods via regularization can overcome such difficulties. In this paper, we propose a Riemannian distance regularized LPBoost, dubbed RBoost. RBoost uses Riemannian distance between two square-root densities (in closed form) - used to represent the distribution over the training data and the classification error respectively - to regularize the error distribution in an iterative update formula. Since this distance is in closed form, RBoost requires much less computational cost compared to other regularized Boosting algorithms. We present several experimental results depicting the performance of our algorithm in comparison to recently published methods, LPBoost and CAVIAR, on a variety of datasets including the publicly available OASIS database, a home grown Epilepsy database and the well known UCI repository. Results depict that the RBoost algorithm performs better than the competing methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii in Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii has not been detected previously in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We tested whole blood from 60 white-tailed deer for Bartonella spp. DNA; three (5%) were positive for Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii. This is the first detection of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii in white-tailed deer.
Effect of Sorting and Optaflexx Supplementation on Feedlot Performance and Profitability of Long Yearling Steers1

ABSTRACT A 2-yr study was conducted using 200 long yearling steers/yr (436 ± 30 kg) to determine the effect on performance and economics of sorting by BW at feedlot entry and feeding 200 mg/steer of Optaflexx (OPT) daily for the last 28 d. At feedlot entry, steers were allotted into 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement: sorted or unsorted with or without OPT. Sorted steers were placed into 1 of 3 groups—1) heavy steers (32%; 468 kg), 2) medium steers (44%; 432 kg), or 3) light steers (24%; 399 kg) — and were fed for 97, 118, or 132 d, respectively. Initial BW for unsorted steers averaged 436 kg and steers were fed 111 d. There were no sorted × OPT interactions (P > 0.10) and feeding OPT did not affect steer performance (P > 0.10). Sorted steers were fed more days than unsorted steers (114 vs. 111) and were not statistically different in final BW (645 vs. 640 kg; P = 0.15) or hot carcass weight (406 vs. 403 kg; P = 0.14). Sorting increased LM area (P
N-acetylcysteine inhibits the up-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis genes in livers from rats fed ethanol chronically.

Background Chronic ethanol (EtOH) administration to experimental animals induces hepatic oxidative stress and up-regulates mitochondrial biogenesis. The mechanisms by which chronic EtOH up-regulates mitochondrial biogenesis have not been fully explored. In this work, we hypothesized that oxidative stress is a factor that triggers mitochondrial biogenesis after chronic EtOH feeding. If our hypothesis is correct, co-administration of antioxidants should prevent up-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis genes. Methods Rats were fed an EtOH-containing diet intragastrically by total enteral nutrition for 150 days, in the absence or presence of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at 1.7 g/kg/d; control rats were administered isocaloric diets where carbohydrates substituted for EtOH calories. Results EtOH administration significantly increased hepatic oxidative stress, evidenced as decreased liver total glutathione and reduced glutathione/glutathione disulfide ratio. These effects were inhibited by co-administration of EtOH and NAC. Chronic EtOH increased the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis genes including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-coactivator-1 alpha and mitochondrial transcription factor A, and mitochondrial DNA; co-administration of EtOH and NAC prevented these effects. Chronic EtOH administration was associated with decreased mitochondrial mass, inactivation and depletion of mitochondrial complex I and complex IV, and increased hepatic mitochondrial oxidative damage, effects that were not prevented by NAC. Conclusions These results suggest that oxidative stress caused by chronic EtOH triggered the up-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis genes in rat liver, because an antioxidant such as NAC prevented both effects. Because NAC did not prevent liver mitochondrial oxidative damage, extra-mitochondrial effects of reactive oxygen species may regulate mitochondrial biogenesis. In spite of the induction of hepatic mitochondrial biogenesis genes by chronic EtOH, mitochondrial mass and function decreased probably in association with mitochondrial oxidative damage. These results also predict that the effectiveness of NAC as an antioxidant therapy for chronic alcoholism will be limited by its limited antioxidant effects in mitochondria, and its inhibitory effect on mitochondrial biogenesis.
Improvement in precision of counting actinic keratoses.

Summary Background Actinic keratoses (AKs) often serve as a primary endpoint for clinical studies. However, reliability of counting these lesions is poor, even among expert dermatologists. Objectives To investigate the reliability of counting AKs before and after a yearly consensus meeting, held annually for 4 years. Methods As part of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Keratinocyte Carcinoma Chemoprevention Trial, board-certified dermatologists convened annually for 4 years to individually count the number of actinic keratoses on three to five test subjects. The dermatologists then met as a group for a consensus discussion on what constituted an AK lesion on each subject. Afterwards, each dermatologist repeated the independent counting exercise on three to five new subjects. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the reliability of counting AKs among the dermatologists. Results Eight dermatologists participated in this exercise for 4 consecutive years. Pre-consensus discussion ICCs over 4 years were 0·18, 0·34, 0·38, 0·75, respectively, showing sustained improvement with each consensus discussion. The greatest improvement in reliability of AK counts was shown during the first year of consensus discussions, when the ICC improved from 0·18 to 0·67. There was no improvement by the fourth year of consensus discussion, with pre- and post-consensus ICCs of 0·75 and 0·75, respectively. Conclusions Annual consensus discussions can lead to improvement in reliability of AK counts. This improvement was sustained over 4 years. By the fourth year, the discussion meeting had no effect on improvement in reliability. A consensus meeting discussion may be helpful for improving reliability in other trials.
Nonconfocal unstable resonator for solid-state dye lasers based on a gradient-reflectivity mirror.

A compact high-brightness solid-state dye laser, consisting of a nonconfocal unstable resonator formed of a planar mirror and a gradient-reflectivity mirror, is modeled by use of ray-tracing analysis. Collimated 80-mJ output was obtained in a 10-mm mrad beam.
Medical and Surgical Evaluation Prior to Pediatric Cochlear Implantation

Abstract The evaluation of children for cochlear implantation requires a multidisciplinary effort among several groups of professionals. Given the recent trend towards very early identification of hearing loss, clinicians have begun to evaluate these children and make intervention recommendations in the first few months of life. In addition to an accurate audiological assessment, a search for the etiology of the hearing loss as well as associated medical conditions is critical and frequently affects the management paradigm. The evaluation usually requires a number of studies, including imaging of the temporal bones and brain, electrocardiograms, genetic testing, and careful review of medical records. The timely identification, and management of, confounding otological problems such as otitis externa and otitis media is frequently needed. This presentation will focus on an otologist's perspective in the multidisciplinary evaluation prior to the implantation process.
Appearance-based place recognition for topological localization

This paper presents a new appearance-based place recognition system for topological localization. The method uses a panoramic vision system to sense the environment. Color images are classified in real-time based on nearest-neighbor learning, image histogram matching, and a simple voting scheme. The system has been evaluated with eight cross-sequence tests in four unmodified environments, three indoors and one outdoors. In all eight cases, the system successfully tracked the mobile robot's position. The system correctly classified between 87% and 98% of the input color images. For the remaining images, the system was either momentarily confused or uncertain, but never classified an image incorrectly.
Distinguishing Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection and Disease with CMV Nucleic Acid Assays

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among transplant recipients. Molecular assays have been developed for the detection and quantification of CMV nucleic acid. In evaluating the clinical utility of these assays, correlations with clinical outcome are essential. The Amplicor CMV Monitor and NucliSens CMV pp67 tests were compared to the CMV antigenemia assay for 45 transplant recipients and 1 patient with Wegener's granulomatosis. Twenty-three patients remained antigenemia negative throughout the monitoring period, none of whom developed CMV disease. In this patient group, both the Amplicor and NucliSens assays showed very high specificity; only 1 of the 324 specimens assayed by NucliSens and none of the 303 specimens assayed by Amplicor were positive. Twenty-three patients were antigenemia positive during the monitoring period, 12 of whom developed 13 episodes of symptomatic CMV disease. In this patient group, the NucliSens assay was positive at or before the development of symptoms in 12 of the 13 episodes of CMV disease. All eight patients with symptomatic CMV disease who were tested by the Amplicor assay were positive at or before the development of disease. For the 11 asymptomatic patients, the NucliSens assay was positive less frequently than the antigenemia or Amplicor assays. The NucliSens assay was more likely to be positive at higher antigenemia or viral load levels. Both the NucliSens and Amplicor assays appear to have clinical utility in monitoring patients for CMV disease.
The Use of Structural Equation Modelling in the Study of Ability in Music

Recent advances in structural equation modeling (SEM) are enabling researchers to study the effects of latent variables on constructs used and developed in the behavioural sciences. This study examined the construct validity of The Primary Measures of Music Audiation with a kindergarten sample of 191 children. A 3- factor model of music aptitude was tested using the EQS/Windows program. The results of the SEM analysis suggest that three factors, general, orienting, and structuring, underlie the ability to audiate short tonal music patterns. Sample goodness-of-fit indices showed an excellent fit (GFI = .973, AGFI =.926). Comparative fit indices were not as high (BBNFI = .855, BBNNFI = .840, CFI =.926). Gordon's (1987) theory of developmental music aptitude suggests that music aptitude fluctuates until around age 9, when it stabilises. The initial step in testing this hypothesis lends support for the 3- factor model and suggests that model fit will improve as children mature.
A Wide-Band Balun

Experimental results are given for a transformer from an unbalanced 50-ohm coaxial line to a balanced pair of 50-ohm coaxial lines. The design is one proposed by Marchand. The balance, standing wave ratio, and insertion loss are nearly constant over a 13 to 1 frequency range from 650 mc to 8500 mc. The standing wave ratio is less than 2.1 to one and the insertion loss is about 0.5 db over this band of frequencies.
Optimizing Completion Time and Resource Provisioning of Pig Programs

As cloud computing continues to mature, IT managers have started concentrating on the support of additional performance requirements: quality of service and tailored resource allocation for achieving service performance goals. In this paper, we consider the popular Pig framework that provides a high-level SQL-like abstraction on top of MapReduce engine for processing large data sets. Programs written in such frameworks are compiled into directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of MapReduce jobs. Often, data processing applications have to produce results by a certain time deadline. We design a performance modeling framework for Pig programs that solves two inter-related problems: (i) estimating the completion time of a Pig program as a function of allocated resources, (ii) estimating the amount of resources (a number of map and reduce slots) required for completing a Pig program with a given (soft) deadline. To achieve these goals, we first, optimize a Pig program execution by enforcing the optimal schedule of its concurrent jobs. This optimization reduces a program completion time (10%-27% in our experiments), and moreover, it eliminates possible non-determinism in the DAGs execution. Based on our optimization, we propose an accurate performance model for Pig programs. This approach leads to significant resource savings (20%-60% in our experiments) compared with the original, unoptimized solution. We validate our approach in a 66-node Hadoop cluster using two workload sets: TPC-H queries and a set of customized queries mining a collection of HP Labs' web proxy logs.
Investigating relationships between journalists and public relations practitioners: Working together to set, frame and build the public agenda, 1991–2004

Abstract A content analysis of 413 reports of interviews conducted with 418 journalists from 1991 to 2004 grounded in agenda-setting, framing and agenda-building theories found that journalists giving higher estimates of practitioners’ influence on the news reported having better relationships with practitioners. On average, journalists estimated that 44% of the content of news media in the United States is influenced by practitioners. Journalists who were interviewed in 2002–2004 valued public relations more, but expressed love–hate sentiments as much as those interviewed in 1991–1996. Journalists who had worked 18–45 years reported improving relationships with practitioners more often than journalists with 8 or fewer years of experience. Journalists believed good relationships with practitioners are important, but hold practitioners responsible for them.
HTS Machines for Applications in All-Electric Aircraft

Environmental preservation has now become paramount as natural resources are rapidly consumed. A global reduction of the emissions of pollutants in the atmosphere is therefore needed and new technologies have to be considered. A large part of the emissions rejected in the atmosphere comes from transportation vehicles, including cars, trucks or airplanes, due to the nature of their combustion-based propulsion systems. To contribute to solving the problem, our team has been working for several years on the development of high power density superconducting motors for aircraft propulsion. This paper investigates the feasibility of all-electric aircraft based on currently available technology through the presentation of several designs of machines. Electric propulsion would require the development of high power density electric propulsion motors and generators. The requirements in terms of weight and volume of these components cannot be achieved with conventional technologies; however, the use of superconductors associated with hydrogen based power plants makes possible the design of power components reasonably light and would therefore enable the development of all-electric aero-vehicles. Many advantages would come from electrical propulsion such as better controllability of the propulsion, higher efficiency, higher availability and less maintenance needs. This paper shows that high temperature superconducting machines are mature enough to be used in aircraft.
On the profile design and optimization of epitaxial Si- and SiGe-base bipolar technology for 77 K applications. I. Transistor DC design considerations

The DC design considerations associated with optimizing epitaxial Si- and SiGe-base bipolar transistors for the 77-K environment are examined in detail. Transistors and circuits were fabricated using four different vertical profiles, three with a graded-bandgap SiGe base, and one with a Si base for comparison. All four epitaxial-base profiles yield transistors with DC properties suitable for high-speed logic applications in the 77-K environment. The differences between the low-temperature DC characteristics of Si and SiGe transistors are highlighted both theoretically and experimentally. A performance tradeoff associated with the use of an intrinsic spacer layer to reduce parasitic leakage at low temperatures and the consequent base resistance degradation due to enhanced carrier freeze-out is identified. Evidence that a collector-base heterojunction barrier effect severely degrades the current drive and transconductance of SiGe-base transistors operating at low temperatures is provided. >
Collecting duct-specific Rh C glycoprotein deletion alters basal and acidosis-stimulated renal ammonia excretion

NH3 movement across plasma membranes has traditionally been ascribed to passive, lipid-phase diffusion. However, ammonia-specific transporters, Mep/Amt proteins, are present in primitive organisms and mammals express orthologs of Mep/Amt proteins, the Rh glycoproteins. These findings suggest that the mechanisms of NH3 movement in mammalian tissues should be reexamined. Rh C glycoprotein (Rhcg) is expressed in the collecting duct, where NH3 secretion is necessary for both basal and acidosis-stimulated ammonia transport. To determine whether the collecting duct secretes NH3 via Rhcg or via lipid-phase diffusion, we generated mice with collecting duct-specific Rhcg deletion (CD-KO). CD-KO mice had loxP sites flanking exons 5 and 9 of the Rhcg gene (Rhcgfl/fl) and expressed Cre-recombinase under control of the Ksp-cadherin promoter (Ksp-Cre). Control (C) mice were Rhcgfl/fl but Ksp-Cre negative. We confirmed kidney-specific genomic recombination using PCR analysis and collecting duct-specific Rhcg deletion using immunohistochemistry. Under basal conditions, urinary ammonia excretion was less in KO vs. C mice; urine pH was unchanged. After acid-loading for 7 days, CD-KO mice developed more severe metabolic acidosis than did C mice. Urinary ammonia excretion did not increase significantly on the first day of acidosis in CD-KO mice, despite an intact ability to increase urine acidification, whereas it increased significantly in C mice. On subsequent days, urinary ammonia excretion slowly increased in CD-KO mice, but was always significantly less than in C mice. We conclude that collecting duct Rhcg expression contributes to both basal and acidosis-stimulated renal ammonia excretion, indicating that collecting duct ammonia secretion is, at least in part, mediated by Rhcg and not solely by lipid diffusion.
Lentiviral shRNA Screen To Test the Validity of a Gene Signature of Breast Cancer Stem Cells Using High Throughput Mammosphere Assays.

Background Conventional chemotherapies are effective initially in controlling growth of many tumors, yet, many patients relapse over time. A possible explanation for relapse is that a rare sub-population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) with tumorigenic potential is intrinsically resistant to conventional therapy. We have identified a gene signature which is derived from human breast cancer biopsies that is the overlap between CD44 + /CD24 -/low vs. all other cell subpopulations, and cancer-derived mammospheres (MS) vs. bulk tumor. Both the CD44 + /CD24 -/low subpopulation and mammospheres are typically enriched for tumor-initiating “cancer stem cells” and their division-competent descendents. We found that 477 genes were differentially expressed in the combination group of which 185 of these were highly expressed in CD44 + /CD24 -/low cells and in MS, a highly significant overlap ( p + /CD24 -/low cells and cancer-derived MS vs. all other cells and bulk tumors, respectively (p Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 1158.
Chern-Simons gauge theory on orbifolds: Open strings from three dimensions

Chern-Simons gauge theory is formulated on three-dimensional Z2 orbifolds. The locus of singular points on a given orbifold is equivalent to a link of Wilson lines. This allows one to reduce any correlation function on orbifolds to a sum of more complicated correlation functions in the simpler theory on manifolds. Chern-Simons theory on manifolds is known to be related to two-dimensional (2D) conformal field theory (CFT) on closed-string surfaces; here it is shown that the theory on orbifolds is related to 2D CFT of unoriented closed- and open-string models, i.e. to worldsheet orbifold models. In particular, the boundary components of the worldsheet correspond to the components of the singular locus in the 3D orbifold. This correspondence leads to a simple identification of the open-string spectra, including their Chan-Paton degeneration, in terms of fusing Wilson lines in the corresponding Chern-Simons theory. The correspondence is studied in detail, and some exactly solvable examples are presented. Some of these examples indicate that it is natural to think of the orbifold group Z2 as a part of the gauge group of the Chern-Simons theory, thus generalizing the standard definition of gauge theories.
An Optimal Strategy for Persistent Contrail Avoidance

Persistent contrails have been recognized as a potential threat to the global climate. This paper presents a methodology to optimally reroute aircraft trajectories to avoid the formation of persistent contrails with the use of mixed integer programming (MIP). The main contributions of this paper are the introduction of a more realistic fuel burn model, and the implementation of a quadratic cost function. Existing MIP path planning literature has used a 1-norm approximation of the vehicle acceleration for fuel burn. The fuel burn model created for this paper is based on aircraft data and engine performance software, and the fuel burn cost was approximated with piecewise linear, and quadratic functions for implementation into the MIP. Fuel optimal trajectories for contrail avoidance were created for each cost function and the results were compared. In addition, differences between the linear and quadratic cost were investigated with a pathological obstacle field, and the sensitivity of the trajectory to changes in the planning horizon length and time step size are presented. For a specific scenario, it was found that persistent contrails could be avoided with a 2.76% increase in fuel burn.
Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower‐Caste Empowerment in North India

ABSTRACT With this article, I seek to contribute to an anthropological understanding of democracy through an examination of the politics of lower-caste empowerment in Bihar, a populous state in north India. I argue that democracy has to be examined within the context of historical processes that have shaped the larger political economy within which democratic practice unfolds, revealing the specificities of India's postcolonial democracy. Caste as political identity extends democratic practice into the relations of everyday life, challenging routine forms of violence and inequality and collapsing any pretense to a separate “political sphere.” An explicitly lower-caste politics generated political subjectivities based on a notion of popular sovereignty as rule by the lower-caste majority, and I show the ways in which this disruptive politics transformed village life. This underscores that Bihar represents an “alternate democracy” but also that we need alternate frameworks for understanding the multifarious experience of democracy today.
Transient radar for target identification and detection

Summary form only given. A radar system using narrow interrogating EM (electromagnetic) pulses can provide target identification and detection capabilities. When a target is illuminated by a narrow EM pulse, the scattered response from the target consists of an early-time response and a late-time response. The late-time response has been utilized to discriminate and identify the target based on the E-pulse (extinction-pulse) and the S-pulse (single-mode extraction pulse) techniques. These techniques are aspect-independent and their basic principles have been developed at Michigan State University. The present effort on these techniques is to study their effectiveness in the presence of sea clutter and noise. >
Good Night, Zoo: a Children's Guide to Humanimal Spaces

Children’s books interpellate their readers and listeners into a vision of nature in which boundaries and dualities begin to shudder and collapse. Braverman’s essay focuses on Peggy Rathmann’s story Good Night, Gorilla to show how images of city and wilderness, captivity and freedom, home and zoo, and human and nonhuman animality can become fluid, thereby opening up possibilities for other, novel spaces to emerge. This book’s liminal scheme sets up the stage for the surprising hybrids that can occur when species meet.
A tutorial introduction to high performance data mining

The goal of the tutorial is to provide researchers, practitioners, and advanced students with an introduction to techniques from high performance computing and high performance data management which are applicable to data mining and to illustrate their use on a variety of practical data mining problems.
Response of soil and leaf litter microarthropods to forest application of diflubenzuron

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of forest application of diflubenzuron (Dimilin®), a gypsy moth suppressant, on nontarget invertebrates in litter and soil on the forest floor. Four experimental watersheds (two treatment and two reference) in the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia, were sampled for two years before and one year after application of diflubenzuron (70 g ha−1, AI). Soil and leaf litter arthropods were monitored before and after application using soil cores and litter bag colonization samplers. Frequency analysis, BACIP, and ANOVA were used to analyse the data for diflubenzuron treatment effects. During the 36 month study, soil core samples were dominated by mites (49%) and springtails (28%). A total of 19 taxonomic groups were suitable for statistical analysis. We detected no significant treatment effects based on total organism counts or counts by trophic categories (p < 0.05). There were no significant treatment effects for populations of major taxonomic groups, except for Araneae (spiders). Analysis of leaf litter bags also showed no significant differences in total numbers of invertebrates or in trophic categories between treated and reference watersheds during the 12 month post-treatment study. Density of one species of springtail (Sminthurus purpurescens) and springtails as a group were significantly lower in treated watersheds. High variation was associated with both soil core and leaf bag samples; because of this variation, a significance level of 0.05 should be considered very conservative. Long-term trends in soil biota were evident, demonstrating the need for well-established pre-treatment baseline data for pesticide impacts on soil organisms
Britain and the abdication of Reza Shah

ABSTRACTOn the eve of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in the Second World War, Sir Reader Bullard, the British minister in Tehran, urged on his government the desirability of removing the Iranian ruler, Reza Shah, from office. Association with the ‘universally detested’ shah, whom he described as a ‘greedy ignorant savage’, was detrimental to Britain's interests and its war effort. In the weeks that followed the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran, Bullard continued to press for and to shape the ultimate British decision to force Reza Shah to abdicate and go into exile. Yet, this was not always Bullard's view of Britain's relationship with the Iranian ruler. When he presented his credentials 20 months earlier, Bullard described it as his ‘urgent duty’ to win Reza Shah's favour. Nor did Bullard's insistence that Britain depose the Shah initially find favour with the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, his Middle East staff at the Foreign Office, or with Churchill. This article traces the evolution of Bullard's ...
Polyphosphazenes with Cyclotetraphosphazene Side Groups: Synthesis and Elastomeric Properties

Trifluoroethoxy cyclotetraphosphazene units, [N4P4(OPhO–)(OCH2CF3)7], have been linked to the main chain of fluoroalkoxy polyphosphazenes through –OPhO– spacer groups. The thermal and mechanical properties of these inorganic backbone polymers have been investigated to examine the influence of the bulky cosubstituent groups. Five polymers with OCH2CF3 as the major substituents (90–99 %) and [N4P4(OPhO–)(OCH2CF3)7] units as the minor side groups (1–10 %) have been synthesized and characterized. The glass transition temperatures and microcrystallinity are influenced dramatically by the incorporation of the cyclotetraphosphazene side groups. Specifically, the polymers range from leathery to elastomeric materials as the percentage of the cyclotetraphosphazene side groups increases from 1 to 10 %. Tensile stress vs strain tests were carried out for the polymers with 4.0 and 8.3 % cyclotetraphosphazene side groups respectively. Break elongations of 838 and 1485 % for polymers with 4 and 8.3 mol% of the bulky side groups respectively were recorded, with both polymers showing reversible elongation with some deformation. The special elastomeric properties are attributed partially to non-covalent cross-links from interdigitation of the bulky cyclotatraphosphazene units.
Individual differences in recognising involuntary autobiographical memories: impact on the reporting of abstract cues.

This study examined individual differences in the ability to recognise involuntary autobiographical memories. We hypothesised that individuals may not always recognise involuntary memories which are cued by abstract experiences (e.g., thoughts or language), while they are better able to recognise those which are cued by concrete sensory/perpetual experiences. We hypothesised that individuals without formal training in psychology would be more prone to these recognition failures than individuals with training in psychology. We tested the hypothesis by comparing the results of general first-year undergraduate students, graduate students in psychology and graduates students in other disciplines after each had participated in a two-week diary study of their naturally occurring involuntary memories. The results showed undergraduate participants and non-psychology graduate participants reporting fewer involuntary memories being triggered by abstract cues than the graduate psychology participants, while the grou...
Factors Influencing Calcium Balance in Man

Calcium balance studies are time-consuming and tedious to perform. They also require strictly controlled study conditions, namely a constant dietary intake, completeness of collections of excreta, analyses of calcium intake as well as urinary and fecal excretions. These balances have to be determined for relatively long periods of time in order to obtain interpretable data because of the time required for adaptation to a given calcium intake. Another reason for employing long-term balance studies is the fact that passage of minerals, including calcium, through the intestine may be considerably delayed [2,38]. Despite these difficulties and the unavoidable errors inherent in determining calcium balances, the state of calcium metabolism can be quite reliably assessed by determining the intake and excretion of calcium in urine and stool. The loss of calcium in sweat is usually not monitored, and calcium balances must therefore be considered as maximal values.
Properties of chipped rubber roofing membrane and sand mixtures for civil engineering applications

Abstract Waste rubber materials have been a popularly recycled material in Civil Engineering applications in recent years. The use of chipped rubber, particularly waste tires, has proven to have economical and performance benefits while making use of common waste materials. Within the construction and demolition sector, EPDM rubber roofing membranes are now being disposed of by chipping the waste sheets into uniform, angular chips roughly 1–2 mm in nominal diameter. The shredded roofing membrane is fire resistant and has potential to be used as a replacement for conventional materials in Civil Engineering projects. In this study, the geotechnical properties of chipped rubber roofing membrane are investigated both alone and mixed with a sand at various ratios by weight. To determine potential suitability as a lightweight material, Proctor Compaction Tests, Direct Shear Tests, Triaxial Tests, and Permeability tests were performed on EPDM rubber chip-sand mixtures in ratios by weight of 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%. The results show that the new composite material is light weight but has high permeability and friction angle that are comparable to a granular soil. Based on these properties it is believed that the new material can be used as light weight retaining wall backfill, drainage layer in landfills, insulator in roadway subgrades and embankment fill.
Thirty-day outcomes for posterior fossa decompression in children with Chiari type 1 malformation from the US NSQIP-Pediatric database

Purpose The multicenter National Surgical Quality Improvement Program—Pediatric (NSQIP-P) database maintained by the American College of Surgeons was used to describe 30-day outcomes following Chiari type 1 decompression in children and to identify risk factors for readmission, reoperation, and perioperative complications.
Ukraine's Gas Liberalization Process

In the past year, Ukraine has taken steps to liberalize its energy market with a view to maintaining its significance as a transit country for Europe and strengthening its competitive position vis-a-vis Gazprom. While the reforms have led to a positive response from the EU and several European companies, a number of prominent European businesses have announced that they will continue signing deals with Gazprom, which is trying to decrease Europe’s reliance on the Ukrainian gas transit. As a result, Ukraine is concerned that the EU does not have a unified stance in the energy sector. In this paper, I argue that Ukraine’s worries are valid, particularly in light of Gazprom’s plans to construct a new pipeline — Nord Stream II. This pipeline is to run parallel to the existing Nord Stream pipeline, bypass the Ukrainian market, and supply an additional 55 billion cubic meters (“bcm”) of gas annually to Europe. If the project is completed, it will render the Ukrainian transit futile.
Mechanistic Lessons from the Save Study

The Survival and Ventricular Enlargement (SAVE) study was designed to test the hypothesis that chronic use of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril in survivors of myocardial infarction with left ventricular dysfunction would prevent a further deterioration of ventricular function and thereby improve clinical outcome. The study did demonstrate that randomization to the ACE inhibitor resulted in improved survival and, specifically, lessened cardiovascular deaths. The prestudy rationale that less ventricular enlargement would be observed in ACE inhibitor treated patients was validated by an echocardiographic substudy. As anticipated, fewer patients treated with the ACE inhibitor went on to manifest the prespecified definitions of more overt congestive heart failure. Importantly, not only were the manifestations of congestive heart failure reduced, there were fewer fatal events subsequent to development of failure. Although this concept of attenuation of progressive remodeling leading to benefits was upheld, the study also yielded other observations to support the generation of new hypotheses to explain a component of the overall benefit of ACE inhibitor therapy. Particularly attractive, and supported by observation from the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) studies, is the reduction in myocardial infarction and subsequent death following myocardial infarction with chronic ACE inhibitor therapy. These clinical observations point to an important potentially modifiable interface between the renin-angiotensin system and the risk of experiencing a coronary atherosclerotic event.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Space and Society in Central Brazil

This ethnography by Elizabeth Ewart challenges long-held notions regarding Ge-Bororo dual organisation and explores Panara identity in terms of an opposition between selves and others. Also known a...
Detection of Therapeutic Levels of Ionizing Radiation Using Plasmonic Nanosensor Gels

Radiotherapy is a highly complex and efficient treatment modality for ablation of malignant tumors. Despite several technological advances, determination of the dose delivered to the tumor remains a challenge due to limitations of complex fabrication, cumbersome operation, and high costs associated with current dosimeters. This study describes fundamental studies and development of a novel gel-based colorimetric nanosensor for detecting therapeutic levels of X-rays (1–10 Gy) administered in clinical radiotherapy. Following exposure to X-rays, gold salts in the gel are converted to nanoparticles within the matrix, resulting in the formation of a maroon-colored plasmonic gel. Differences in color intensity of the gel following irradiation are used as a quantitative indicator of the radiation dose employed. The gel-based nanosensor is able to detect doses as low as 0.5 Gy, and demonstrates a linear detection range of 0–3 Gy, which indicates its application in the fractionated radiotherapy regime. The gel is also able to successfully report therapeutic levels of radiation doses administered to anthropomorphic tissue phantoms. The range of detection, ease of fabrication, simplicity of colorimetric detection, and relatively lower costs indicate that this technology can be potentially translated to different radiotherapy applications in the clinic.