cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High efficiency Dual-Cycle Conversion System using Kr-85.

Abstract This paper discusses the use of one of the safest isotopes known isotopes, Kr-85, as a candidate fuel source for deep space missions. This isotope comes from 0.286% of fission events. There is a vast quantity of Kr-85 stored in spent fuel and it is continually being produced by nuclear reactors. In using Kr-85 with a novel Dual Cycle Conversion System (DCCS) it is feasible to boost the system efficiency from 26% to 45% over a single cycle device while only increasing the system mass by less than 1%. The Kr-85 isotope is the ideal fuel for a Photon Intermediate Direct Energy Conversion (PIDEC) system. PIDEC is an excellent choice for the top cycle in a DCCS. In the top cycle, ionization and excitation of the Kr-85:Cl gas mixture (99% Kr and 1% Cl) from beta particles creates KrCl* excimer photons which are efficiently absorbed by diamond photovoltaic cells on the walls of the pressure vessels. The benefit of using the DCCS is that Kr-85 is capable of operating at high temperatures in the primary cycle and the residual heat can then be converted into electrical power in the bottom cycle which uses a Stirling Engine. The design of the DCCS begins with a spherical pressure vessel of radius 13.7 cm with 3.7 cm thick walls and is filled with a Kr-85:Cl gas mixture. The inner wall has diamond photovoltaic cells attached to it and there is a sapphire window between the diamond photovoltaic cells and the Kr-85:Cl gas mixture which shields the photovoltaic cells from beta particles. The DCCS without a gamma ray shield has specific power of 6.49 W/kg. A removable 6 cm thick tungsten shield is used to safely limit the radiation exposure levels of personnel. A shadow shield remains in the payload to protect the radiation sensitive components in the flight package. The estimated specific power of the unoptimized system design in this paper is about 2.33 W/kg. The specific power of an optimized system should be higher. The Kr-85 isotope is relatively safe because it will disperse quickly in case of an accident and if it enters the lungs there is no significant biological half-life.
Epidemiology of Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer

Epidemiologic research on cancer in relation to electric and magnetic fields began with the 1979 publication of a case-control study by Wertheimer and Leeper1 of childhood cancers in Denver, Colorado, USA. This study showed moderately strong associations between all childhood cancers and a measure of exposure known as the “wiring configuration code,” an index based on the distance of homes from electric power distribution and transmission lines.
A Modular Approach to Model-Based Testing of Concurrent Programs

This paper presents a modular approach to testing concurrent programs that are modeled using labeled transition systems. Correctness is defined in terms of an implementation relation that is expected to hold between a model of the system and its implementation. The novelty of our approach is that the correctness of a concurrent software system is determined by testing the individual threads separately, without testing the system as a whole. We define a modular implementation relation on individual threads and show that modular relations can be tested separately in order to verify a non-modular implementation relation for the complete system. Empirical results indicate that our approach can significantly reduce the number of test sequences that are generated and executed during model-based testing.
The Role of the Sympathetic Nervous System in the Control of Left Ventricular Mass in Hypertension

In the past, the electrocardiogram and the chest x-ray have been used in the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension. The presence of signs of hypertrophy on the electrocardiogram or the presence of an enlarged heart on the chest x-ray were considered as an important prognostic marker of cardiovascular complications. In fact, data from the Framingham Study have revealed that the presence of cardiac hypertrophy is a more important risk factor than blood pressure itself (Kannel et al. 1970). The five year mortality rate increases with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy from 7 to 38% in men and from 4 to 20% in women. The risk of clinical manifestations of cardiovascular disease also increases significantly with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy on the electrocardiogram. Patients with hypertrophy more often had a myocardial infarction, angina, congestive heart failure, signs of occlusive peripheral vascular disease or cerebrovascular accidents than those without left ventricular hypertrophy (Kannel 1975). Successful antihypertensive therapy may lead to regression of signs of hypertrophy on the electrocardiogram (Freis 1980).
2103 Fecal bile acids, fecal short-chain fatty acids, and the intestinal microbiota in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and control volunteers

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Objectives and goals of this study will be to: (1) compare fecal microbiota and fecal organic acids in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and controls and (2) investigate the association between colonic transit and fecal microbiota in IBS patients and controls. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We propose an investigation of fecal organic acids, colonic transit and fecal microbiota in 36 IBS patients and 18 healthy controls. The target population will be adults ages 18–65 years meeting Rome IV criteria for IBS (both diarrhea- and constipation-predominant, IBS-D and IBS-C) and asymptomatic controls. Exclusion criteria are: (a) history of microscopic colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, visceral cancer, chronic infectious disease, immunodeficiency, uncontrolled thyroid disease, liver disease, or elevated AST/ALT>2.0× the upper limit of normal, (b) prior radiation therapy of the abdomen or abdominal surgeries with the exception of appendectomy or cholecystectomy >6 months before study initiation, (c) ingestion of prescription, over the counter, or herbal medications affecting gastrointestinal transit or study interpretation within 6 months of study initiation for controls or within 2 days before study initiation for IBS patients, (d) pregnant females, (e) antibiotic usage within 3 months before study participation, (f) prebiotic or probiotic usage within the 2 weeks before study initiation, (g) tobacco users. Primary outcomes will be fecal bile acid excretion and profile, short-chain fatty acid excretion and profile, colonic transit, and fecal microbiota. Secondary outcomes will be stool characteristics based on responses to validated bowel diaries. Stool samples will be collected from participants during the last 2 days of a 4-day 100 g fat diet and split into 3 samples for fecal microbiota, SCFA, and bile acid analysis and frozen. Frozen aliquots will be shipped to the Metabolite Profiling Facility at Purdue University and the Mayo Clinic Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology for SCFA and bile acid measurements, respectively. Analysis of fecal microbiota will be performed in the research laboratory of Dr David Nelson in collaboration with bioinformatics expertise affiliated with the Nelson lab. Colonic transit time will be measured with the previously validated method using radio-opaque markers. Generalized linear models will be used as the analysis framework for comparing study endpoints among groups. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: This study seeks to examine the innovative concept that specific microbial signatures are associated with increased fecal excretion of organic acids to provide unique insights on a potential mechanistic link between altered intraluminal organic acids and fecal microbiota. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Results may lead to development of targets for novel therapies and diagnostic biomarkers for IBS, emphasizing the role of the fecal metabolome.
Boolean measure spaces

A Boolean measure space is a Boolean σ-space X together with a normalized measure on the σ-field of Borel sets in X, such that non-empty open sets have positive measure and nowhere dense Borel sets have measure zero. The last condition is a very strange one. At first glance it might seem that since a nowhere dense set is topologically small and a set of measure zero is measure-theoretically small, it is fitting and proper that the one should imply the other. A little measure-theoretic experience (with Lebesgue measure in Euclidean spaces, for instance) shows, however, that the implication is not at all likely to hold. The results of this section will show that Boolean measure spaces, in which the implication is assumed to hold, have rather pathological and almost paradoxical properties. The reason for considering them anyway is that measure algebras are important, and, as it turns out, Boolean measure spaces are exactly the duals of measure algebras.
Huntingtin fibrils with different toxicity, structure, and seeding potential can be reversibly interconverted

Abstract The first exon of the huntingtin protein (HTTex1) important in Huntington’s Disease (HD) can form cross-β fibrils of varying toxicity. We find that the difference between these fibrils is the degree of entanglement and dynamics of the C-terminal proline-rich domain (PRD) in a mechanism analogous to polyproline film formation. In contrast to fibril strains found for other cross-β fibrils, these HTTex1 fibril types can be reversibly interconverted. This is because the structure of their polyQ fibril core remains unchanged. Further, we find that more toxic fibrils of low entanglement have higher affinities for protein interactors and are more effective seeds for recombinant HTTex1 and HTTex1 in cells. Together these data show how the structure of a framing sequence at the surface of a fibril can modulate seeding, protein-protein interactions, and thereby toxicity in neurodegenerative disease.
Monofunctional platinum(II) compounds and nucleolar stress: is phenanthriplatin unique?

Platinum anticancer therapeutics are widely used in a variety of chemotherapy regimens. Recent work has revealed that the cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin and phenanthriplatin is through induction of ribosome biogenesis stress pathways, differentiating them from cisplatin and other compounds that mainly work through DNA damage response mechanisms. To probe the structure–activity relationships in phenanthriplatin’s ability to cause nucleolar stress, a series of monofunctional platinum(II) compounds differing in ring number, size and orientation was tested by nucleophosmin (NPM1) relocalization assays using A549 cells. Phenanthriplatin was found to be unique among these compounds in inducing NPM1 relocalization. To decipher underlying reasons, computational predictions of steric bulk, platinum(II) compound surface length and hydrophobicity were performed for all compounds. Of the monofunctional platinum(II) compounds tested, phenanthriplatin has the highest calculated hydrophobicity and volume but does not exhibit the largest distance from platinum(II) to the surface. Thus, spatial orientation and/or hydrophobicity caused by the presence of a third aromatic ring may be significant factors in the ability of phenanthriplatin to cause nucleolar stress.
RNA modifications and the link to human disease

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is involved in translation and transcription, which are the mechanisms in which cells express genes (Alberts et al., 2002). The three classes of RNA discussed are transfer RNA (tRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). mRNA is the transcript encoded from DNA, rRNA is associated with ribosomes, and tRNA is associated with amino acids and is used to read mRNA transcripts to make proteins (Lodish, Berk, Zipursky, et al., 2000). Interestingly, the function of tRNA, rRNA, and mRNA can be significantly altered by chemical modifications at the co-transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, and there are over 171 of these modifications identified thus far (Boccaletto et al., 2018; Modomics-Modified bases, 2017). Several of these modifications are linked to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders. In this review, we will introduce a few RNA modifications with biological functions and how dysregulation of these RNA modifications is linked to human disease.
Heteroepitaxy of NLO Materials for Frequency Conversion in the MWIR with Applications in Defense and Security

While many materials used for frequency conversion in the midwave infrared (MWIR) have achieved their fundamental or technological limits, we propose heteroepitaxy as a solution. In this work a series of materials such as GaAs, GaP, ZnSe, GaSe, and GaAsP ternaries have been grown with high surface and crystalline quality on non-native substrates and nonnative orientation-patterned (OP) templates using low pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy (LP-HVPE). The grown thick device quality quasi-phase matching (QPM) structures have been used for development of high-power, compact, broadly tunable frequency conversion laser sources for the MWIR with various applications in defense and security, including IR countermeasures, laser radar, high speed IR communications, remote sensing of chemical and biological agents, etc.
Frictional pressure losses of Non-Newtonian fluids in helical pipes: Applications for automated rheology measurements

Abstract Frequent and accurate drilling fluid measurements are critical to optimum well construction. Proper management of drilling fluid properties such as density and rheology optimizes the fluid's hydraulic and hole cleaning ability while maintaining the fluid in its role as primary well control barrier. In current practice, these measurements are typically done only once or twice a day using the methods described by American Petroleum Institute (API) standards. Moreover, taking the measurements is labor-intensive, and the data quality and reliability are highly dependent on the practicing engineer. An automated, continuous, and practical way of measuring and monitoring drilling fluid properties is therefore needed. In this paper, we introduce a novel helical pipe viscometer system for automated and continuous drilling fluid measurements. A flow-loop was constructed to measure frictional pressure losses of aqueous solutions with various concentrations of xanthan gum in water, generating a non-Newtonian fluid that is best described by a Yield-Power Law (YPL) rheological model. Flow tests were performed simultaneously in two straight- and two helical-pipe test-sections. Flow rate, density, and temperature data were obtained using a Coriolis flow meter. Pressure loss data was obtained using side by side differential pressure measurements from each test-section. A delayed transition to turbulent flow and elevated frictional pressure losses was observed in the experiments with the curved pipes. This is attributed to secondary flow driven by centrifugal forces in the helical pipe system. The results of the experimental data were compiled and used to build an empirical correlation for friction factor predictions using the Dean number. CFD analyses were also performed to validate the accuracy of pressure loss measurements and to obtain a better understanding of the helical velocity profiles. The proposed equation was compared with theoretical equations previously reported in the literature. The results from the analyses show that the equations previously derived for Newtonian and Power Law (PL) fluids are not applicable to YPL fluids in the tested geometries. An algorithm was developed and tested using the experimental data to prove the applicability of the helical system for rheological property calculations. Good accuracy was observed in mud rheology characterization tests. The helical system, which can be fully automated, provides significant practical advantages over standard linear pipe viscometers by offering improved accuracy and smaller footprint. The results of the study are also of importance for the hydraulic design and evaluation of coiled tubing drilling and well completion operations, where the pressure loss is a limiting factor for the maximum flow rate that can be used in such operations.
Cone-beam CT of traumatic brain injury using statistical reconstruction with a post-artifact-correction noise model

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability. The current front-line imaging modality for TBI detection is CT, which reliably detects intracranial hemorrhage (fresh blood contrast 30-50 HU, size down to 1 mm) in non-contrast-enhanced exams. Compared to CT, flat-panel detector (FPD) cone-beam CT (CBCT) systems offer lower cost, greater portability, and smaller footprint suitable for point-of-care deployment. We are developing FPD-CBCT to facilitate TBI detection at the point-of-care such as in emergent, ambulance, sports, and military applications. However, current FPD-CBCT systems generally face challenges in low-contrast, soft-tissue imaging. Model-based reconstruction can improve image quality in soft-tissue imaging compared to conventional filtered backprojection (FBP) by leveraging high-fidelity forward model and sophisticated regularization. In FPD-CBCT TBI imaging, measurement noise characteristics undergo substantial change following artifact correction, resulting in non-negligible noise amplification. In this work, we extend the penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) image reconstruction to include the two dominant artifact corrections (scatter and beam hardening) in FPD-CBCT TBI imaging by correctly modeling the variance change following each correction. Experiments were performed on a CBCT test-bench using an anthropomorphic phantom emulating intra-parenchymal hemorrhage in acute TBI, and the proposed method demonstrated an improvement in blood-brain contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR = 14.2) compared to FBP (CNR = 9.6) and PWLS using conventional weights (CNR = 11.6) at fixed spatial resolution (1 mm edge-spread width at the target contrast). The results support the hypothesis that FPD-CBCT can fulfill the image quality requirements for reliable TBI detection, using high-fidelity artifact correction and statistical reconstruction with accurate post-artifact-correction noise models.
Late-afternoon communication and patient planning (CAPP) rounds: an intervention to allow early patient discharges.

Measure effect of late-afternoon communication and patient planning (CAPP) rounds to increase early electronic discharge orders (EDO). We enrolled 4485 patients discharged from six subspecialty med...
The New Face of Mimicry Consumption Behavior

Mimicry consumption has been conceived as an impulsive buying behavior, often caused by peer pressure. So, previous research has been limited to the early stages of consumers' buying behavior and has examined a limited range of role models, such as celebrities, mothers, or innovators, However, consumers can access information and communicate directly or indirectly with not only celebrities but also their friends, family, and influencers, anytime and anywhere via social media. Social media today might play an important role as a trigger for mimicry consumption. With the explosive growth of social media, the market environment is advancing rapidly, and mimicry consumption behavior today has become more prominent than ever before. Mimicry consumption should not be treated as incomplete or impulse buying behavior. To better understand consumers' mimicry consumption behavior, this study explored consumers' SWLS as precedent elements that have an impact on mimicry consumption and Instagram activities as mediators.
An explicit upper bound on disparity for trees of a given diameter

It is known that the minimum number of distinct eigenvalues c ( T ) of a symmetric matrix whose graph is a given tree T is at least the diameter d ( T ) of that tree. However, the disparity c ( T )...
Clinical reviewNovel testing of human gastric motor and sensory functions: rationale, methods, and potential applications in clinical practice

Sensitive and reproducible tests are essential to investigate the mechanisms of gastric motility and sensation in healthy humans and patients with unexplained upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Electrogastrography, manometry, scintigraphic emptying, and barostat studies with an intragastric balloon were initially used to understand physiology and pathophysiology of gastric motility. However, manometry and barostat studies are time-consuming, costly, and invasive, thus reducing their widespread clinical application. To overcome these shortcomings, several novel approaches have been proposed: water/nutrient drink test, paracetamol absorption test, 13C-octanoic acid or spirulina breath tests, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and tensostat. The water/nutrient (satiety) test is a noninvasive test proposed as an alternative to sensory studies performed with an intragastric balloon. The satiety test cannot measure gastric accommodation; interpretation of sensory tests usually has required independent assessment of accommodation or compliance. The tensostat can be used as a gastric sensation test because it measures gastric wall tension, which is related to the perception of gastric distention. To measure gastric emptying, the paracetamol absorption test, 13C breath tests, ultrasound, or MRI can be used. The paracetamol absorption test can measure the gastric emptying of liquids. 13C breath test can measure the gastric emptying of solids or liquids and can achieve accuracy comparable with gastric scintigraphy. Ultrasonography requires special skills, and MRI requires costly equipment. To measure gastric accommodation to a meal, ultrasound, MRI, and SPECT have been proposed. The recently introduced SPECT requires an intravenous injection of 99mTc-pertechnetate, which the gastric mucosa specifically takes up, and specialized imaging and analysis, which have potential to be automated. Thus, novel, noninvasive approaches assess different dimensions of gastric motility and sensation testing. With further development of these techniques, refinement of their conduct and analysis, and validation of clinical usefulness, they are likely to be applicable in clinical practice to enhance cost-effective, evidence-based management of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Such applications may provide an alternative to sequential empirical trials for symptoms.
Outcomes Using TORS or Definitive Chemoradiation for T3/T4 HPV+ Oropharynx Cancer.

Purpose/Objective(s) Patients with HPV+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) generally have a good prognosis, though those with locally advanced (LA) disease are at increased risk of locoregional failure (LRF) and distant metastases (DM). A recent SEER study suggested improvement in overall survival and cancer-specific mortality with trimodality therapy compared to definitive chemoradiation (dCRT) for LA HPV+ OPSCC, but is prone to confounding and lacks pattern of failure data. We therefore performed this retrospective analysis of oncologic outcomes for patients with T3/T4 HPV+ OPSCC treated at a high-volume TORS center with surgery +/- adjuvant therapy compared to dCRT alone. Materials/Methods Included were patients with cT3/T4 HPV+ OPSCC treated with dCRT or upfront TORS +/- adjuvant therapy from 2010-2019 with ≥1 year of follow-up. Patients with DM at diagnosis were excluded. Primary outcomes were freedom from LRF (FF-LRF) and LRF leading to death, defined as LRF directly resulting in death or occurring at the same time or before DM resulting in death. Secondary outcomes were freedom from DM (FF-DM) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Patients were risk stratified based on criteria in the secondary analysis of RTOG 0129 by Ang et al (NEJM 2010): Low-risk: ≤10 pack-year (py) smoking, or > 10 py and N0–N2a disease (AJCC 7th ed.); Intermediate-risk: > 10 py and N2b-N3 disease. Fisher's exact test was used to compare demographics and Kaplan-Meier estimates to compare endpoints. Results 78 patients were treated with dCRT and 44 with upfront TORS. Significantly more dCRT patients were Intermediate-risk (per RTOG 0129 criteria) compared to TORS patients (35.9% vs 6.8%, P Conclusion This large, single-institution series of patients with T3/T4 HPV+ OPSCC treated with either dCRT or upfront TORS +/- adjuvant therapy shows high FF-LRF and low rates of LRF leading to death regardless of treatment. Even in patients with advanced T stage, dCRT was able to obtain excellent disease outcomes. Future prospective studies are warranted to determine which combinations of multimodality therapy are optimal for LA HPV+ OPSCC, incorporating both oncologic and functional outcome endpoints.
[New perspectives on Alzheimer's disease from neuroimaging].

INTRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Over the next 50 years, the proportion of the population over the age of 65 will increase dramatically, and the number of individuals with neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer's disease will rise, as well. Current pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment strategies have focused on the symptomatic phases of Alzheimer's disease, but with the ability to identify the disease earlier in its clinical course comes an increased under-standing of the factors that alter the risk of expressing the clinical syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Neuroimaging studies are now revealing that many of the conditions that normally afflict individuals as they become older also have effects on the structural integrity of the brain. Successful management of these conditions, especially if combined with other therapeutic interventions, could extend the dementia-free time and decrease the burden to the patient, family, and to society.
Aeolian sediment transport and morphologic change on a managed and an unmanaged foredune

Sediment transport and short-term morphologic change were evaluated at a site where sand fences are deployed and the beach is raked (Managed Site) and a site where these human adjustments are not practiced (Unmanaged Site). Data were gathered across the seaward portion of a low foredune when winds blew nearly shore-normal at mean speeds 8.9 to 9.3 m s-1. Data from traps revealed sediment transport rates at unvegetated portions of the foredune crest (40.2 to 43.5 kg m-1 h-1) were greater than on the backshore (4.9 to 11.2 kg m-1 h-1) due to onshore decreases in surface moisture and speed-up of the wind passing over the foredune. Data from erosion pins indicate sediment input to the dune was 1.48 m3 m-1 alongshore at the Managed Site and 1.25 m3 m-1 at the Unmanaged Site. The Unmanaged Site had deposition at the dune toe, erosion at mid-slope, and deposition at the crest. Deposition occurred at mid-slope on the Managed Site near a partially buried (0.58 m high) fence with a porosity of about 65%. Deposition at partially buried wrack on the upper backshore and dune toe at the Unmanaged Site was about twice as great as deposition in this zone at the Managed Site. Results indicate that: (1) the seaward slope of the foredune can be a more important source of sand to the lee of the crest than the beach; (2) wrack near the toe can decrease transport into the foredune; (3) a scour zone can occur on the foredune slope above the wrack line; (4) a fence placed in this location can promote deposition and offset scour, but fences can restrict delivery of sediment farther inland. Evaluation of alternative configurations of fences and strategies for managing wrack is required to better determine the ways that humans modify foredunes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bootlegging Literacy Sponsorship, Brewing Up Institutional Change

This paper considers how community literacy programs factor into broader economies of literacy development. The author analyzes two Appalachian community literacy projects, Shirley Brice Heath’s ethnographic project in the Carolina Piedmont and Highlander Research and Education Center’s organizing efforts with the Appalachian People’s Movement, to construct an image of sponsors of diverted literacy, people and institutions that employ three interdependent tactics to usefully redirect the means by which literacy travels through the educational marketplace.
Linkage disequilibrium and haplotype analysis among Polish families with spinal muscular atrophy.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is an inherited degenerative disorder of anterior horn cells that results in progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. The autosomal recessive forms of childhood-onset SMA have been mapped to chromosome 5q11.2-13.3, in a number of studies examining different populations. A total of 9 simple sequence repeat markers were genotyped against 32 Polish families with SMA. The markers span an approximately 0.7 cM region defined by the SMA flanking markers D5S435 and MAP1B. Significant linkage disequilibrium (corrected P < .05) was detected at four of these markers, with D/Dmax values of < or = .89. Extended haplotype analysis revealed a predominant haplotype associated with SMA. The apparently high mutation rate of some of the markers has resulted in a number of haplotypes that vary slightly from this predominant haplotype. The predominant haplotype and these closely related patterns represent 25% of the disease chromosomes and none of the nontransmitted parental chromosomes. This predominant haplotype is present both in patients with acute (type I) and in chronic (types II and III) forms of SMA and occurs twice in a homozygous state, both times in children with chronic SMA.
The Existential Concept of Freedom for Maxine Greene: The Influence of Sartre and Merleau-Ponty on Greene's Educational Pedagogy

Maxine Greene and Jean-Paul Sartre both believe that it is through the dialectical principle of negativity and freedom that meaning and intelligibility are conferred upon the world in their manifest form. This notion is important throughout Greene’s work, and is particularly important in Dialectic of Freedom, where Greene says about the student that “We must foster the freedom that he/she can attain as she moves dialectically between necessity and fulfillment, between the ineradicable qualities of her particular situation and the thus far unrealized capacities which are hers” (DF, 163).
Electronic properties of the Zr–ZrO2–SiO2–Si(100) gate stack structure

The interface electronic structure of a layered Zr–ZrO2–SiO2–Si(100) system was studied with x-ray (hν=1254eV) and ultraviolet (hν=21.2eV) photoemission spectroscopies. In situ growth and characterization allow the structures to be deposited and studied in a stepwise manner without the risk of contamination. This study discusses the electronic properties including electron affinities and work functions, valence band maxima, band bending in the Si, and internal fields in a layered high-κ gate stack. With this information the band alignments can be reconstructed and compared to predictions of the vacuum alignment models (i.e., the Schottky-Mott model for metal-semiconductor interfaces or the electron affinity model for heterojunctions) and the interface induced gap states model. The vacuum alignment models are first order approaches to determine the electronic barrier height for a heterojunction, and interface bonding can contribute to charge transfer across the interface, affecting the dipole contribution ...
Lipoxin Signaling in Murine Lung Host Responses to Cryptococcus neoformans Infection

Lipoxins (LX) are proresolving mediators that augment host defense against bacterial infection. Here, we investigated roles for LX in lung clearance of the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (Cne). After intranasal inoculation of 5,000 CFU Cne, C57BL/6 and C.B-17 mice exhibited strain-dependent differences in Cne clearance, immunologic responses, and lipoxin A4 (LXA4) formation and receptor (ALX/FPR2) expression. Compared with C.B-17 mice, C57BL/6 lungs had increased and persistent Cne infection 14 days after inoculation, increased eosinophils, and distinct profiles of inflammatory cytokines. Relative to C.B-17 mice, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid levels of LXA4 were increased before and after infection in C57BL/6. The kinetics for 15-epi-LXA4 production were similar in both strains. Lung basal expression of the LX biosynthetic enzyme Alox12/15 (12/15-lipoxygenase) was increased in C57BL/6 mice and further increased after Cne infection. In contrast, lung basal expression of the LXA4 receptor Alx/Fpr2 was higher in C.B-17 relative to C57BL/6 mice, and after Cne infection, Alx/Fpr2 expression was significantly increased in only C.B-17 mice. Heat-killed Cne initiated lung cell generation of IFN-γ and IL-17 and was further increased in C.B-17 mice by 15-epi-LXA4. A trend toward reduced Cne clearance and IFN-γ production was observed upon in vivo administration of an ALX/FPR2 antagonist. Together, these findings provide the first evidence that alterations in cellular immunity against Cne are associated with differences in LXA4 production and receptor expression, suggesting an important role for ALX/FPR2 signaling in the regulation of pathogen-mediated inflammation and antifungal lung host defense.
Equidistribution of CM-points on quaternion Shimura varieties

The aim of this paper is to show some equidistribution statements of Galois orbits of CM-points for quaternion Shimura varieties. These equidistribution statements will imply the Zariski densities of CM-points as predicted by Andre-Oort conjecture (see Section 2). Ourmain result (Corollary 3.7) says that the Galois orbits of CM-points with themaximalMumford-Tate groups are equidistributed provided that some subconvexity bounds onRankin-Selberg L-series and on torsions of the class groups. A proof of the subconvexity bound for L-series has been announced by Michel and Venkatesh. Combining with some work of Cogdell, Michel, Piatetski-Shapiro, Sarnak, and Venkatesh, we obtain the following unconditional results about the equidistribution of CM-points in the following cases. (1) Full CM-orbits on quaternion Shimura varieties (Theorem 3.1). This is a generalization of the work of Duke [11] for modular curves, Michel [20], and Harcos and Michel [16] for Shimura curves over Q. (2) Galois orbits of CM-points with a fixed maximal Hodge-Tate group (Corollary 3.8). Under our setting, this strengthens a result of Edixhoven and Yafaev [15] about the finiteness of CM-points on a curve with fixed Q-Hodge structure.
Medicare Payment Policy Creates Incentives For Long-Term Care Hospitals To Time Discharges For Maximum Reimbursement

Long-term care hospitals are postacute care facilities for patients requiring extended hospital-level care. These facilities are reimbursed by Medicare under a prospective payment system with a short-stay outlier policy, which results in substantially lower payments for patients discharged before a diagnosis-related group–specific short-stay threshold. Using Medicare data, we examined the impact of the short-stay policy on lengths-of-stay and Medicare reimbursement among patients in long-term care hospitals who require prolonged mechanical ventilation. After accounting for case-mix and facility-level differences, we found that discharges for reasons other than death in the period 2005–10 were most likely to occur on the day of or immediately after the short-stay threshold; this held true regardless of facility ownership. In contrast, live discharges in 2002—the year before the prospective payment system started phasing out cost-based payment—were evenly distributed around the day that later became the sho...
Development and Validation of the Underprepared Mathematics Teacher Assessment.

Formative validation methods were used with over 90 mathematics teachers in Utah to design an assessment of the mathematical and mathematics teaching cognitive competencies of underprepared middle and secondary school mathematics teachers. The resulting written-response test produces a score for each of 12 subtests: mathematics teaching methods, number theory, algebra, geometry, analysis, trigonometry, statistics, sets, knowledge of algorithms, comprehension of communications, conceptualization, and application. A summative validation study using 47 subjects indicated that the test is valid and reliable. The test has been adopted by the Utah State Office of Education for use in making recommendations for granting mathematics teaching endorsements and for planning in-service programs.
Neuropsychiatric update of the crime "profile" and "signature" in single or serial homicides: rule out limbic psychotic trigger reaction.

A neuropsychiatric and -psychological update of the crime "profile" and "signature" is a necessary addition to the traditional sociopsychological model likely to miss limbic system dysfunctioning. Thus, occurrence of a brief (c. 20 minutes) limbic seizure has been proposed based on behaviors of 12 white male homicidal loners, who showed a dozen symptoms and signs: Limbic Psychotic Trigger Reaction. Readily overlooked can be (a) a transient psychosis (hallucinations and/or delusions), (b) autonomic hyperactivation (e.g., loss of bladder control, nausea, ejaculation), (c) motiveless, out-of-character, unplanned, and well-remembered homicidal acts, (d) committed with a flat affect (not emotionally or impulsively provoked), (e) typically involving a stranger who happened to provide an objectively harmless and only subjectively important stimulus. (f) Such an individualized stimulus triggered the memory revival of mild to moderate but repeatedly experienced hurts. Such a specific sequence of events implicates the specific mechanism of limbic seizure, "kindling," which does not necessarily involve motor convulsions. Repetition of such limbic episodes with "criminal acts" is conceivable under specific circumstances including cases in which the triggering stimulus is associated with pleasurable delusions (e.g., of grandiose power or wealth) or constitutes a specific aspect of a basic drive motive. For example, eating or sexual activities might be planned but degenerate into a limbic episode with a specific core symptomatology. Language: en
Dynamical Bloch Band Suppression in an Optical Lattice

Dynamical Bloch band suppression is observed for the first time, using cold sodium atoms in a far detuned standing wave of light. This system has well-defined Bloch bands as its energy spectrum, which are modified dynamically by imposing a strong phase modulation of the standing wave. The atoms are prepared in the lowest band, and the spectrum is mapped out by introducing a weak spectroscopic probe that drives transitions between the modified bands. Dynamical suppression of the bands is observed at a critical value of the modulation strength, and is well supported by a full quantum mechanical analysis that goes beyond the single-band and tight-binding approximations.
Places of Change Special Education's Power and Identity in an Era of Educational Reform

Special education is in danger of disintegration due to (a) justified criticisms of implementational failures, and (b) unjustified criticisms from reformers and detractors, mostly having to do with its conceptualization and the separate placement of some students with disabilities. Needed reforms in special education include (a) constructing defensible rival philosophies, (b) improving the preparation and support of special education teachers, and (c) putting educational methods on a sound scientific footing.
Whole Blood Lactate Kinetics in Patients Undergoing Quantitative Resuscitation for Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock

Abstract Background We sought to compare the association of whole-blood lactate kinetics with survival in patients with septic shock undergoing early quantitative resuscitation. Methods This was a preplanned analysis of a multicenter, ED-based, randomized, controlled trial of early sepsis resuscitation. Inclusion criteria were suspected infection, two or more systemic inflammation criteria, either systolic BP 4 mM, two serial lactate measurements, and an initial lactate level > 2.0 mM. We calculated the relative lactate clearance, rate of lactate clearance, and occurrence of early lactate normalization (decline to Results The analysis included 187 patients, of whom 36% (n = 68) normalized their lactate level. Overall survival was 76.5% (143 of 187 patients), and the AUC of initial lactate to predict survival was 0.64. The AUCs for relative lactate clearance and lactate clearance rate were 0.67 and 0.58, respectively. Lactate normalization was the strongest predictor of survival (adjusted OR, 5.2; 95% CI, 1.7–15.8), followed by lactate clearance ≥ 50% (OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.6–10.0). Lactate clearance ≥ 10% (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 0.6–4.4) was not a significant independent predictor in this cohort. Conclusions In patients in the ED with a sepsis diagnosis, early lactate normalization during the first 6 h of resuscitation was the strongest independent predictor of survival and was superior to other measures of lactate kinetics. Trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT00372502; URL: clinicaltrials.gov
Cisapride Stimulates Contraction of Idiopathic Megacolonic Smooth Muscle in Cats

We have previously shown that cisapride, a substituted piperidinyl benzamide, stimulates contraction of healthy feline colonic smooth muscle. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the effect of cisapride on feline idiopathic megacolonic smooth muscle function. Longitudinal smooth muscle strips from ascending and descending colon were obtained from cats with idiopathic megacolon, suspended in a 1.5 mM Ca(2+)-HEPES buffer solution (37 degrees C, 100% O2, pH 7.4), attached to isometric force transducers, and stretched to optimal muscle length (Lo). Control responses were obtained at each muscle site with acetylcholine (10(-8) to 10(-4) M), substance P (10(-11) to 10(-7) M), or potassium chloride (10 to 80 mM). Muscles were then stimulated with cumulative (10(-9) to 10(-6) M) doses of cisapride in the absence or presence of tetrodotoxin (10(-6) M) and atropine (10(-6) M), or in a 0 calcium HEPES buffer solution. In cats with idiopathic megacolon, cisapride stimulated contractions of longitudinal smooth muscle from both the ascending and the descending colon. Cisapride-induced contractions were similar in magnitude to those induced by substance P and acetylcholine in the ascending colon, but were less than those observed in the descending colon. Cisapride-induced contractions in megacolonic smooth muscle were only partially inhibited by tetrodotoxin and atropine, but were virtually abolished by removal of extracellular calcium. We concluded that cisapride-induced contractions of feline megacolonic smooth muscle are largely smooth muscle mediated and dependent on influx of extracellular calcium. Cisapride-induced contractions in megacolonic smooth muscle are only partially dependent on enteric cholinergic nerves. Thus, cisapride may be useful in the treatment of cats with idiopathic megacolon.
The Perturbing And Iterating Classifier Algorithm

A classification algorithm called the Perturbing and Iterating Classifier (PIC) is presented. This algorithm is a heuristic classifier that determines the classification of a segment by examining the number of self-consistent perturbations that are necessary for a segment's descriptor vector to become very close to a model descriptor vector. Unlike many other classifiers, this algorithm does not rely on the initial closeness or similarity of descriptor vectors. The theory of PIC is initially explained, an application of PIC in two dimensional shape matching is given, and then the physical interpretation of the algorithm is presented. An example of how PIC can discriminate shape over a wide range is also presented.
Urban Landscape and the Postsocialist City

In his article "Urban Landscape and the Postsocialist City" Krzysztof Nawratek discusses contemporary capitalism as shaping the urban environment of Riga, a multiethnic and bilingual postsocialist, post-Soviet, and postindustrial city. When communism collapsed at the end of the twentieth century the majority of European socialist cities in central and East Europe adopted two ideas: 1) the idea of neoliberal deregulated management based on private, multi-agent ownership of land (and on land speculation) and the weakened role of the city council and 2) the "cultural turn" rejecting the industrial heritage of the socialist city and the ideology of the proletariat and instead focusing on a postindustrial service-based economy of tourism and cultural production aiming to (re)create society with a strong middle class. These two notions are significant changes of paradigm — from material production to immaterial production — and Nawratek argues that both of these notions caused crises in postsocialist countries such as Latvia.
The visual perception of surface texture in photographs.

A theoretical and empirical investigation was undertaken to investigate the role of surface texture in ecological optics. Forty-nine subjects each viewed a set of 30 professionally produced photographs of rectangular samples of surface textures. The photographs included common textures such as sand, fur, rock, and so forth. These photographs were flat and, therefore, these static surfaces provide only a fraction of the information afforded by normal textures. Subjects answered questions about the identity, physical properties, and viewing conditions of each texture. Correct identifications were made in about two-thirds of the cases. When no identification, or an incorrect one, was given, subjects were still able to identify physical state (solid, liquid, gas), planarity (planar, rough), and pigmentation (homogeneous, uneven) at a better than chance level, though hardness could not be accurately assessed. Diffuseness versus directionality of incident light could be distinguished, though mistakes were more frequent on this discrimination. The direction of incident light, in cases where it was sharply defined, could be determined accurately for only a few cases of rough textures; in some others, light was reported as incident from either the correct side or its 180° opposite — a “polarization effect”. Most subjects correctly detected the orientation of textures photographed in the frontal plane, but only a few textures' slants were accurately perceived. The results are interpreted in terms of properties of substances as specified by invariants of the optic way.