cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the relation between peripheral cleavage of parathyroid hormone and its biological activity in kidney

Abstract The time course of the renal metabolism of electrolytically iodinated 125I-bPTH(1–84) (E-PTH), previously shown to retain biological activity, was compared with that of Chloramine-T labeled, biologically inactive 125I-bPTH(1–84) (CT-PTH), the assumption being that observed differences would reflect biological specificities of metabolism. Denaturant gel filtration of kidney extracts indicated that the initial rate of cleavage of E-PTH was more rapid than that of CT-PTH. This difference was maximal at 5 minutes when the amount of unmetabolized hormone, expressed as a percentage of total kidney radioactivity was 40% for E-PTH and 68% for CT-PTH. The time courses of disappearance of intact E-PTH and CT-PTH from serum were similar. The metabolism of PTH labeled by the two methods was studied in vitro in rat renal cortical plasma membranes (RCPM). As was the case in vivo, E-PTH was cleaved 2–3 times more rapidly than CT-PTH by RCPM. Basal lateral membranes, containing PTH responsive adenylate cyclase activity, and brush border membrane fractions separated by free flow electrophorosis of RCPM also metabolized E-PTH 2–3 times more rapidly than CT-PTH. E-PTH metabolism in RCPM was not inhibited by 10−6 M unlabeled bPTH(1–84). However, histone f3 (1mg/ml) completely blocked metabolism of E-PTH in RCPM, and enhanced PTH-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity 5 fold
The influence of reinforcement morphology on the tensile response of 6061/SiC/25p discontinuously-reinforced aluminum

In order to study the effect of particle morphology on the tensile response of discontinuously-reinforced aluminum (DRA), two P/M 6061/SiC/25p materials were fabricated using established powder blending, compaction and extrusion techniques. One of the materials contained abrasive-grade SiC (F-600) whilst the second material was fabricated using a less angular SiC particulate with a lower aspect ratio, selected to give an overall higher bulk density (HBD) in the as-blended form. Care was taken to ensure that each material contained the same size and volume fraction of SiC particles, and that each material experienced an identical processing route. Mechanical testing was completed at ambient temperature, to measure the effect of particle morphology (F-600 vs. HBD) on both the elastic and plastic tensile response of the DRA. Specimens were tested in as-extruded (F), peak-aged (T6) and over-aged heat treatment (OA) conditions. The DRA produced with the HBD reinforcement consistently showed improved tensile elongation over the DRA containing the F-600 reinforcement, with the most significant effect being observed in the as-extruded (F) condition. The Considere criterion was used to show that different damage mechanisms may be operating in each material. Extensive microstructural and fractographic analyses were also carried out on the as-processed and as-tested specimens, using optical and electron microscopy. The dominant damage and failure mechanisms in each material are discussed in the light of these results.
Vacuum Instability and Higgs Scalar Mass

A procedure is given to estimate the decay probability of a metastable vacuum state in quantum field theory. As an application, in the Weinberg-Salam model the lower bound (for theta/sub W/=35degree) on the Higgs mass can be reduced from 4.9 GeV, corresponding to effective stability of a metastable vacuum. (AIP)
Local Action in a Transitional State: Community Responses to Proposed Development in the Czech Republic, 1992–1996*

Objective After the fall of the communist regime, the Czech government placed an emphasis on economic growth and development. Although research has been conducted on national-level change and civil society reactions to new institutions and initiatives, little is known about the transition process at the local level and the ways community sentiments and actions varied in response to development policies. This study examines responses to proposed development in communities in the Czech Republic and investigates the extent that actions were influenced by values, the availability of resources, and the local political context. Methods To understand factors shaping action, structured interviews were conducted with the mayors of 237 towns in the Czech Republic where landfills, incinerators, highways, and protected-area development were proposed or first publicly discussed between 1992–1996. Results Values pertaining to health, employment, property value, nature protection, and connection to place were associated with the adoption of newer modes of behavior, as were resources including national media coverage of an issue, the presence of a local environmental organization, and previous experience. Many aspects of the local political context had no relationship to behavior. Those that did appeared to foster and reinforce more ingrained patterns of action reminiscent of the former regime. Conclusions In general, while styles of action common during the former regime began to reemerge, they were balanced by new patterns of action signifying confidence and trust in the newly formed democratic institutions.
A Thermodynamic Framework for Understanding Temperature-Sensitivity in TRP Channels

A biologically necessary property of thermosensory TRP channels (e.g., heat-activated TRPV1, cold-activated TRPM8) is high sensitivity to temperature change. ΔHo values for channel opening are typically 50-100 kcal/mol. The molecular source of such unusually high enthalpies has posed a persistent mystery in this field. We postulate here that these arise from a large molar heat capacity increase accompanying TRP opening, ΔCP ∼ 5 kcal/mol-K. (This idea is strictly analogous to the huge enthalpies of heat-driven and cold-driven protein unfolding, which reflect exposure of nonpolar groups to water, wherein ΔCP ∼ +15 cal/mol-K per CH2 group). Both ΔHo and ΔSo then become temperature-dependent, and the channel's opening equilibrium constant, K, becomes necessarily non-monotonic (“U-shaped”) with temperature:lnK(T) = lnK(To) + (ΔHo(To)/To - ΔCP) (1-To/T)/R - (ΔCP/R)ln(To/T)where To is an arbitrary reference temperature.The position of the “U” on the T-axis is determined by ΔHo(To), and the steepness of its rising arms by ΔCP. This behavior is a necessary, model-independent consequence of the First and Second Laws of thermodynamics; the only question is whether TRP opening exposes enough grease to give experimental temperature-sensitivity. Simple arithmetic shows that only ∼20 hydrophobic residues in each subunit need expose themselves to give ΔHo values observed in the physiological range. Moreover, the position of the U-shaped K-vs-T curve on the temperature axis determines whether a TRP channel would display heat- or cold-activation. According to this picture, we conclude that (1) heat-sensing and cold-sensing arise from the same type of conformational change, (2) all heat-sensing TRPs are also cold-sensing and vice versa (although both rising arms of the “U” may not be experimentally accessible in a given TRP), and (3) attempts to identify “temperature-sensor” domain differences between heat- and cold-activated TRPs are exercises in futility.
Pre-stimulus spectral EEG patterns and the visual evoked response

The relationship between the latencies and amplitudes of the N1 and P2 components of the visual evoked potential (VEP) and the psychophysiological state of the brain immediately preceding the time of the stimulus has been investigated in 7 male subjects. Power spectral measures in the delta, theta, alpha and beta bands of the 1 sec pre-stimulus EEG were used to assess the brain state, and low intensity flashes, delivered randomly between 2 and 6 whole seconds, were used as the stimuli. Trials were ranked separately according to the relative amounts of pre-stimulus power in each EEG band and were partitioned into groups by an equal pre-stimulus spectral power criterion. Averaged EPs were computed from these groups and multiple regression analysis was used to relate pre-stimulus spectral power values to EP features. Five of the 7 subjects displayed consistent increases in N1-P2 amplitude as a function of increasing pre-stimulus relative alpha power. The between-subjects effect of pre-stimulus EEG on N1 latency was small, but was moderate for P2 latency (both significant). Both N1 and P2 latency were found to decrease with increasing amounts of pre-stimulus relative delta and theta power.
Candidate Qualities through a Partisan Lens: A Theory of Trait Ownership

UsingPetrocik's (1996)theory of issue ownership as a point of departure, I develop and test a theory of “trait ownership” that provides an explanation for the origins of candidate trait perceptions and illustrates an important way that candidates affect voters. Specifically, I argue for a direct connection between the issues owned by a political party and evaluations of the personal attributes of its candidates. As a result, the American public views Republicans as stronger leaders and more moral, while Democrats hold advantages on compassion and empathy. I also draw on “expectations gap” arguments from psychology and political science to demonstrate how a candidate may gain an electoral advantage by successfully “trespassing” on his opponent's trait territory. National Election Studies data from the 1980–2004 presidential elections are used to demonstrate the existence, durability, and effects of trait ownership in contemporary American political campaigns.
Silver complexation by humic substances: Conditional stability constants and nature of reactive sites

Abstract Complexation of Ag+ by a range of humic and fulvic acids was determined using a Cl− ion-selective electrode sensitive to the free concentration of Ag+ in solution. Maximum binding capacities (MBC) ranged from 0.81 to 1.85 mmol Ag g−1 at pH 6.5 (ionic strength, I, of 0.1) and were more closely related to the magnitude in N contents of the humic substances (0.5 to 2.8 mmole N g−1) than to acidic functional group contents (3.8 to 7.9 mmoles COOH groups g−1). Scatchard plots of data obtained by titrations with Ag+ (pH 6.5, I of 0.1) were curvilinear, indicating a continuum of binding sites. Conditional stability constants for binding at low saturation of binding sites (log K1c) ranged from 3.53 to 4.51; constants for binding at medium saturation (log Knc) ranged from 3.08 to 3.34.
Incorporating the Nutrition Screening Initiative into the dental practice

Older patients' nutritional status must be assessed for their morbidity and mortality to be decreased and their quality of life improved. Food and fluid intake is markedly influenced by oral health status. In turn, oral health has an interrelationship with general health. Because nutritional status and oral health exist in a symbiotic relationship, it is essential that the dental team identify older patients who are nutritionally at risk. Screening for nutritional problems in elderly dental patients is made easier with screening instruments developed by the Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI). The NSI developed criteria to determine risk factors for poor nutritional status in older Americans. The DETERMINE Your Nutritional Health checklist, a 10-item screening instrument, followed by the Levels I and II Nutrition Screens, can be used in the dental office to ascertain which elderly patients are most likely to be in danger of experiencing nutritional problems. The dental team can then perform interventions and/or make appropriate referrals.
Mathematical programming approach to inventory control

Abstract In many production systems inventory cost is the major element of investment. It is essential in these systems to hold inventory at a near optimal level to minimize the total costs of the system. This paper presents a procedure for developing an optimal inventory control plan which can be solved by mathematical programming. Input to the model includes demand forecasts, ordering costs, carrying costs, shortage costs, price break data, space constraints, and probability of usage. Most of the factors affecting this plan are investigated in order to simplify the way of handling all the input values.
Structural evaluation of porcine heart valve prostheses with radiofrequency ultrasound

Background: Bioprosthetic heart valve use is limited by progressive degeneration. Early degenerative changes are often occult, making assessment of tissue integrity difficult. Ultrasound tissue characterization may detect alterations in tissue structure and allow early detection of leaflet degeneration. Methods: Using a modified echocardiographic unit (Acuson), radiofrequency (RF) integrated backscatter amplitude (IBA) (∫|RF|dt) was measured in 38 leaflets from nine explanted and six control porcine valves. Regions of interest in each leaflet were studied using four ultrasound frequencies. Radiographic gray scale mean and leaflet thickness were measured at each region of interest. Percent collagen and mineral were calculated for each region of interest using color-image processing of histologic sections and compared to IBA. Results: IBA values for control vs. explanted leaflets were (mean value±standard deviation): 8.2±4.69 dB vs. −4.7±4.64 dB at 7.0 MHz; −5.8±4.34 dB vs. −3.1±5.34 dB at 5.0 MHz; −3.8±3.38 dB vs. −2.1±3.18 dB at 3.5 MHz; and −9.0±4.58 dB vs. −7.1±4.25 dB at 2.5 MHz. Collagen content was 27.7±8.50% vs. 33.2±10.90%, mineral content was 0.1±0.10% vs. 2.1±4.30%, and radiographic gray scale mean was 150.6±1.96 vs. 145.3±5.14 for control vs. explanted leaflets, respectively. For control and explanted leaflets IBA, collagen content, mineral content, and radiographic gray scale mean were different (control vs. explanted P<0.05). Leaflet thickness was also noted to be different between the two groups. IBA was different among explanted leaflets with low, medium, and high mineral content. Conclusion: IBA was found to be a useful technique to differentiate normal from explanted porcine prosthetic valves in vitro. This method may be useful in the serial assessment of bioprosthetic leaflet degenerative properties in vivo.
Spring Precipitation as a Predictor for Peak Standing Crop of Mixed-Grass Prairie

Abstract Ranchers and range managers need a decision support tool that provides a reasonably accurate prediction of forage growth potential early in the season to help users make destocking decisions. Erroneous stocking rate decisions can have dire economic and environmental consequences, particularly when forage production is low. Predictions must be based on information that is easily obtained and relevant to the particular range. Our goal was to evaluate monthly precipitation in spring months as a potential predictor of forage production compared to annual and growing-season precipitation. We analyzed the relationships between grazed and ungrazed peak standing crop (PSC) and precipitation using nonlinear regression and a plateau model, Akaike's information criterion for model selection, and data from three locations: Streeter, North Dakota; Miles City, Montana; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. The plateau model included a linear segment, representing precipitation limiting production, and a plateau, an estimate ...
Light Scattering Study on the Effect of Polymer Composition on the Structural Properties of PEO–PPO–PEO Micelles

Abstract Micelle structural properties were determined for five poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer solutions at 25°C by using light scattering techniques. Size distributions for the Pluronic series P103, P104, P105, F108, and P123 were found from dynamic light scattering. Aggregation numbers from both dynamic light scattering and static light scattering were determined, and the results are interpreted using fundamental hydrodynamic and statistical thermodynamic models. The trends in aggregation behavior are discussed in terms of the surfactant composition. For a fixed poly(propylene oxide) content, surfactants with a higher poly(ethylene oxide) content were found to be less aggregated. For a fixed poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(propylene oxide) ratio, surfactants with a higher molecular weight were more aggregated. These results are shown to be in agreement with previous self-consistent mean-field calculations for the same series of polymers and are compared with “star” and “brush” model predictions for the effect of poly(ethylene oxide) chain length on the thickness of the micelle corona.
The management of chronic constipation

Abstract Chronic constipation is a common problem in childhood. A minority of cases are due to an underlying organic cause and such cases can usually be identified through a thorough history and examination, with focused investigations. Constipation can have a significant impact on the social and emotional development of a child, as well as affecting the family dynamics. It is important to take these factors into consideration when assessing and treating a child and a multidisciplinary approach to care has been shown to be the most effective. Although there is a general consensus regarding the principles of treatment, the evidence behind the choice of laxative is still lacking. Effective treatment requires the disimpaction of retained stool followed by re-establishment of a regular bowel habit. Whilst approximately 70% of children will become symptom free off all medication, a significant cohort continues to have symptoms despite a prolonged period of treatment.
Service use data analysis of pre-pregnancy psychiatric and somatic diagnoses in women with hyperemesis gravidarum.

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to redress weaknesses in past studies of a psychogenic etiology for hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) by (1) estimating from a known population what proportion of HG cases also have psychiatric diagnoses, (2) determining if psychiatric disorder preceded HG, and (3) re-considering whether non-pregnancy somatic conditions also precede HG.Methods. We analyzed insurance data for all 11,016 members who gave birth to singletons in 2000–2004, 208 of whom had HG.Results. Prevalence of HG was 1.8% overall, 3.8% with one psychiatric diagnosis, 5.8% with >1 psychiatric diagnosis. One in 10 HG cases had pre-pregnancy depression, anxiety, or substance abuse diagnoses. One in five HG cases had either a psychiatric or a somatic condition (e.g., chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea) diagnosis prior to pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy psychiatric diagnosis doubled the adjusted odds of HG. Combined psychiatric and somatic diagnoses quadrupled the adjusted odds of HG.Discussion. Vomiting is a non-...
Novel approaches to biosensing and nano-biological interactions

Nanotechnology has recently been applied to a wide range of biological systems. In particular, there is a current push to examine the interface between the biological world and micro/nano-scale systems. Our research in this field has led to the development of novel strategies for spatial patterning of biomolecules, electrical and optical biosensing, nanomaterial delivery systems, single-cell manipulation, and the study of cellular interactions with nano-structured surfaces. Current work on these topics will be presented, including work on novel, semiconductor-based DNA detection methods and mechanical, atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based characterization of bacterial biofilms in threedimensional microfluidic systems.
Crack dealing, gender, and arrest avoidance

Drawing from interviews with female crack dealers, this paper explores the techniques they use to avoid arrest. We present these techniques through a four-part typology of contextual assimilation consisting of projected self-image, stashing, selling hours, and routine activities/staged performances. In addition to confronting many of the same risks and challenges as their male counterparts, women dealers face unique circumstances that are indisputably gendered. Our goal is to explore how gender shapes and mediates their dealing experience, paying specific attention to arrest-risk management. The data's larger conceptual implications are addressed, particularly as they relate to dynamic interchanges between gender and emergent street crack market conditions.
Evaluation measures for preference judgments

There has been recent interest in collecting user or assessor preferences, rather than absolute judgments of relevance, for the evaluation or learning of ranking algorithms. Since measures like precision, recall, and DCG are defined over absolute judgments, evaluation over preferences will require new evaluation measures that explicitly model them. We describe a class of such measures and compare absolute and preference measures over a large TREC collection.
GnRHa flare and IVF pregnancy rates

Abstract Objectives: GnRH agonist administered early in the menstrual cycle (flare) causes an endogenous discharge of FSH and LH. Flare has been used in conjunction with gonadotropin ovarian stimulation for IVF ‘poor responders’. There is an ongoing controversy regarding whether flare protocols improve pregnancy rates in ‘poor responders’. The current study was designed to compare a GnRHa flare protocol with long suppression GnRHa IVF in ‘poor responders’. Methods: Seventy-three newly diagnosed poor responders who failed long GnRHa suppression IVF attempts were compared retrospectively with 128 age-matched IVF patients previously known poor ovarian responders treated with a long GnRHa suppression protocol. ‘Poor responders’ consisted of patients with peak E2 less than 1000 pg/ml and/or less than five mature follicles with diameter >15 mm on the day of hCG administration. Student's t-test was used to analyze the data and the chi-squared test was used to compare fertilization and pregnancy rates. Results: The flare protocol produced higher peak E2 levels (1647±747 vs. 720±258 mIU/ml, P 0.05, NS). Conclusions: A comparison between the flare protocol group and the age-matched control group of poor ovarian responders subject to down regulation protocol, revealed higher peak E2 levels and more mature follicles, respectively. However, both groups yielded comparable pregnancy rates. The use of high dose gonadotropin treatment in our study groups seems to be the only explanation for their subsequent successful outcome. We concluded that GnRH agonist flare protocol does not result in better IVF outcome compared with long GnRH agonist suppression protocol in IVF poor responders.
Geomorphic response of coastal streams to low, intermediate, and high rates of uplift, Medocino triple junction region, northern California

Analysis of three-dimensional morphological properties of 24 coastal drainage basins that have evolved in areas of low ( 3 m/1,000 yr) rates of uplift near the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ), coastal northern California, identified channel gradients as the best indicator of tectonism in the landscape. Lower-order tributaries best reflect tectonically controlled differences. The largest streams examined, of third order, are able to adjust to most base-level change and maintain their profile form, whereas lower-order streams farther upstream tend to accumulate the effects of net base-level fall and have steepest profiles in the areas of highest uplift rates. Variations in steepness of first-order channel gradients indicate that (1) high uplift rates in the wake of the MTJ have existed for at least 73,000 yr and (2) differential tilt of the region to the north and south of the current locus of highest uplift rate is occurring in association with regional uplift. Although first-order streams are excellent indicators of areas of both high uplift rates and regional differential tilting, they are less useful in distinguishing between areas of low and intermediate uplift rate. Analysis of the longitudinal profile of the main trunk stream of ten of the 24 drainage basins, using the stream-gradient index, was more useful to categorize broadly the uplift rates and to distinguish between streams in low- and intermediate-uplift-rate areas. Although the hypotheses tested herein do not identify the exact mechanism off uplift in the MTJ region, they do indicate that the nature of deformation is most likely regional tilt rather than crustal shortening with localized compressional folding and thrust faulting. They also indicate that geomorphic responses trail in the wake of the uplift-rate response caused by development of a slab window beneath the North American plate; (1) maximum uplift rates occur ∼9 km south of the northern boundary of the slab window, (2) maximum mean first-order channel gradient occurs 16 km south of the northern edge of the slab window, and (3) maximum drainage-basin relief occurs 20 km south of the northern edge of the slab window. Associated lag times between passage of the southern edge of the subducted Gorda plate slab and geomorphic responses are ∼160,000 yr for maximum uplift rates, ∼290,000 yr for maximum channel gradients, and ∼370,000 yr for maximum relief.
Policy rationing in rural credit markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a discussion on the idea of “policy rationing”. Policy rationing refers to constraining impacts on farm credit through policy action or inaction. To present the ideas the author discusses ten themes in policy rationing, ranging from macro‐finance policies to smart lending and financial inclusion.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is developed as a narrative on agricultural credit policies based largely on existing literature.Findings – This paper argues that the various critiques of rural credit policy in favor of free market principles have generally not worked in developing economies. Large numbers of farmers do not have access to formal credit. It is argued that there is a role for government and credit programs.Research limitations/implications – The opinions expressed in this paper are based on existing literature and not all ideas hold with general agreement across researchers and practitioners. The discussion is not exhaustive and in some cases...
Improvement in the Balance of Payments: A Response to Monetary Policy or to Ad Hoc Fiscal Policies

THE events of the past few years have alerted economists and non-economists alike to the difficulty of choosing appropriate monetary policies while making the implicit assumption that the economy is closed. The problems posed for policy-makers by the existence of a deficit in the balance of payments and a continued gold outflow are familiar enough. Indeed, the balance-of-payments deficit and the gold outflow have received so much recent attention that it is perhaps time to recall that there are also dangers in ignoring or minimizing certain domestic effects of monetary policy. The dangers result from the tendency to equate monetary policy with its effect upon interest rates and its effects on gold outflows and balance-of-payments deficits through interest rates. My conclusion that the domestic effects of changes in money are often ignored is based on several sources. Some of these are familiar; for example, the analysis that was widely used to support the 1964 tax cut in the United States, and recent governmental policy statements suggesting that monetary policy be used for balance-of-payments purposes, while fiscal policy be used to stimulate the domestic economy. More disturbing are the indications of a possible change in current monetary policy that is reflected in a reduced growth rate of the money supply. Enticing as it is to peculate about the present direction of policy, it is probably more fruitful to discuss the rationale used to justify the policy actions of the last few years.
Two new species of Tridentella Richardson, 1905 (Isopoda: Flabellifera: Tridentellidae) from California, with a rediagnosis and comments on the family, and a key to the genera of Tridentellidae and Corallanidae

ABSTRACT Two new species of the marine isopod genus Tridentella Richardson, 1905, are described from California. The monogeneric family Tridentellidae Bruce, 1984, is rediagnosed and a comparison to the original diagnosis is presented. A list of the ten described species of Tridentellidae is given, with synonymies and general distributional information. Notes on the ecology and biogeography of the family are presented, as well as a key to the genera of the closely related families Tridentellidae and Corallanidae.
Some physical-chemical properties of succinylated transferrin, conalbumin, and orosomucoid

Reduced-alkylated-succinylated transferrin and conalbumin had random coil conformations in a dilute aqueous buffer solution and had molecular weights near those of native proteins, indicating a lack of subunit structure. Iron served to protect transferrin against denaturation induced in the iron-free protein by succinylation. 10 to 11 fewer amino groups were susceptible to succinylation in the iron-saturated protein than in iron-free transferrin, indicating either the participation of these groups in the iron-binding phenomenon or the fact that iron-saturated transferrin assumes a more compact conformation than iron-free transferrin. Reduced-alkylated-succinylated orosomucoid had a molecular weight close to that of the native protein, however, judging from its β-value of 2.20 · 106, it failed to assume a random coil shape in dilute aqueous buffers.
The advanced-step NMPC controller: Optimality, stability and robustness

Widespread application of dynamic optimization with fast optimization solvers leads to increased consideration of first-principles models for nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). However, significant barriers to this optimization-based control strategy are feedback delays and consequent loss of performance and stability due to on-line computation. To overcome these barriers, recently proposed NMPC controllers based on nonlinear programming (NLP) sensitivity have reduced on-line computational costs and can lead to significantly improved performance. In this study, we extend this concept through a simple reformulation of the NMPC problem and propose the advanced-step NMPC controller. The main result of this extension is that the proposed controller enjoys the same nominal stability properties of the conventional NMPC controller without computational delay. In addition, we establish further robustness properties in a straightforward manner through input-to-state stability concepts. A case study example is presented to demonstrate the concepts.
Eight Steps to Improved Teacher Remediation.

Time and energy spent on remediation will pay divi dends. When done properly, it can improve the climate within a school by demon strating commitment to excellence.
CON: Patients with Recurrent Ovarian Carcinoma Should Not Be Treated with Antiangiogenic Agents in Combination with Chemotherapy

a O a c t t t p d b w t t Introduction The following discussion argues against the assertion that patients with recurrent ovarian cancer should routinely receive anti-angiogenic agents in combination with chemotherapy. In order to support the premise that antiangiogenic agents should not yet be routinely used in all patients, we will consider the following items: (1) standard approaches for patients with recurrent disease; (2) the activity and toxicity of bevacizumab as the predominant representative agent in recurrent ovarian cancer; (3) ongoing phase III clinical trials; and (4) critical questions that remain to be answered.
A NEW CLASS OF MODELS FOR THE DISCRIMINANT PROBLEM

Discriminant analysis is relevant to business decision making in a variety of contexts, such as when one decides to make or buy a specified component, fund a venture project, or hire a particular person. Potential applications in artificial intelligence, particularly in the area of pattern recognition, have further underscored the importance of the field. A recent innovation in discriminant analysis is provided by special linear programming (LP) models, which offer attractive alternatives to classical statistical approaches. The scope of application in which discriminant analysis can be advantageously employed is broadened by the flexibility to tailor parameters in the LP approaches to reflect diverse goals and by the power to explore the sensitivity of these parameters. In spite of the promise of the LP formulations, however, limitations to their effectiveness have been uncovered in certain settings. A recent advance involving a normalization construct removes some of the limitations but entails solving the LP model twice (to allow for different signs of a normalization constant) and does not yield equivalent solutions for different rotations of the problem data. This paper introduces a new model and a new class of normalizations that remedy both remaining limitations, making it possible to take advantage of the modeling capabilities of the LP formulations without the attendant shortcomings encountered by earlier investigations. Our development shows by empirical testing and illustrative analysis that the quality of solutions from LP discriminant approaches is more favorable (relative to the classical model) than previously supposed.
Differences between IQ and school achievement in anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a multidimensional syndrome in which perfectionistic striving appears as a common component of the symptom cluster. Multiple studies have linked this character trait to attempts to achieve a "perfect" weight. In contrast, no empirical data are available that document perfectionistic striving outside of food and weight themes. The present study (N = 20) looked for evidence of perfectionistic striving in school behavior by comparing school achievement and IQ scores. School achievement was found to be significantly greater than would be predicted by IQ scores. This finding and directions for future research are discussed.
International Financial Institutions and Democracy in Africa: The Case for Political Conditionality and Economic Unconditionality

Paul Dale Bush analyzed the conditions under which "progressive" institutional change is likely to occur. After 60 years of failed development policies, Africa is in desperate need of such change. However, the IMF and World Bank continue to support corrupt dictatorships and retard the forces of progressive institutional change. This paper outlines the case for a new policy approach that emphasizes democracy, accountability and economic flexibility as crucial ingredients to create the conditions for progressive institutional change in Africa. The paper develops policy recommendations emphasizing political conditionality and economic unconditionality to lay the foundations for a developmental state in Africa.
Fine-Grained DDoS Detection Scheme Based on Bidirectional Count Sketch

Over the past decade, various intrusion detection and prevention systems have been proposed to detect DDoS attacks and mitigate the caused damage. However, many existing IDS systems still keep per-flow state to detect anomaly, and thus do not scale with link speeds in multi-gigabit networks. In this paper, we present a two-level approach for scalable and accurate DDoS attack detection by exploiting the asymmetry in the attack traffic. In the coarse level, we use a modified count-min sketch (MCS) for fast detection, and in the fine level, we propose a bidirectional count sketch (BCS) to achieve better accuracy. At both detection levels, sketch structures are utilized to ensure the scalability of our scheme. The main advantage of our approach is that it can track the victims of attacks without recording every IPaddress found in the traffic. Our scheme can save over 90% key storage. Such feature is significant for the detection in the highspeed environment. Experimental results using the real Internet traffic show that our approach is able to quickly detect anomaly events and track those victims with a high level of accuracy.
Microphone array processing for distance speech capture: A probe study on whisper speech detection

In this study, we develop a probe system for whisper-island detection for distance speech capture using a microphone array technique. The developed corpus consists of distance speech in neutral vocal effort and embedded with whisper speech which are produced at different distances for this study. The microphone array beamforming technique is used to enhance the distance speech before being processed by the whisper-island detection system. The enhanced distance speech provides better vocal effort change point detection results, which is indicated by either 0.0% miss detection rate or lower Multi-Error Score(MES) compared to unprocessed distance speech. The final whisper-island detection results produce a higher detection rate and lower false alarm rate for enhanced speech, which illustrates the improvement of whisper-island detection for distance speech attained from microphone array processing.
Look up!: your future is in the cloud

The "Cloud" is a wonderfully expansive phrase used to denote computation and data storage centralized in a large datacenter and elastically accessed across a network. The concept is not new; web sites and business servers have run in datacenters for a long time. These, however, were specialized applications, outside of the mainstream of desktop programs. The past few years has seen enormous change as the mainstream shifts from a single computer to mobile devices and clusters of computers. Three factors are driving this change. 1) Mobile computing, where apps run on a size- and power-constrained device and would be far less interesting without backend systems to augment computation and storage capacity. 2) Big data, which uses clusters of computers to extract valuable information from vast amounts of unstructured data. 3) Inexpensive, elastic computing, pioneered by Amazon Web Services, which enables everyone to rapidly obtain and use many servers.As a researcher from the language and compiler community, I firmly believe this sea change is at heart a programming problem. Cloud computing is far different from the environment in which most of today's languages and tools were developed, and few programmers have mastered its complexity. New challenges include pervasive parallelism, partial failure, high and variable communication latency, and replication for reliability and throughput.
Brain Damage in the Epileptic Beagle Dog

Brain lesions associated with seizures in an epilepsy-prone colony of beagle dogs were studied in 68 dogs which died as a result of the disorder. Approximately 48.5% of the dogs had a relatively specific pattern of acute brain damage on microscopic examination. In all affected areas, there was a triad of lesions consisting of perineuronal and perivascular astrocytic swelling, perineuronal basophilic incrustations, and ischemic cell change in neurons. The most common areas of involvement were the cerebral cortex, basal nuclei, claustrum, amygdala, septal nuclei, dorsal thalamic nuclei, isthmus of the pyriform lobe, and hippocampus. The cerebellum was affected only rarely. In addition, intraneuronal inclusions identical to Lafora's bodies found in myoclonus epilepsy of man were detected in thalamic nuclei of six dogs.
Effect of Partial Oxygen Pressure on Structural, Electrical, and Magneto transport Properties of Cobalt Doped Indium Oxide Thin Films

Dilute magnetic semiconductors are ferromagnetic semiconductors recently discovered in nitride and oxide semiconductors by incorporating a small percentage of magnetic atoms into the semiconductors host. Recently it is reported that the structural and electrical properties of pure indium oxide can be modified by growth parameters. In this paper we investigate magneto-transport properties of Co-doped In2O3 dilute magnetic semiconductors thin films grown on sapphire and quartz substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. The effect of partial oxygen pressure on structural, electrical, optical, and magneto-transport properties was discussed in details. The crystallinity of the films largely depends on growth temperature. Magneto-transport properties such as temperature dependent resistivity and magneto-resistance were found to be very sensitive to the micro-structural properties such as crystalinity as well as oxygen defect. The electrical carrier density of the films depends on oxygen pressure and a change of two orders of magnitude is observed. Depending on growth parameters, both positive and negative magneto-resistance is observed. Optical band-gap seems to vary with the growth partial oxygen pressure.
Successful medical management of emphysematous gastritis with concomitant portal venous air: a case report

The causes of diffuse abdominal pain following pelvic surgery are numerous. We present a rare case of acute abdominal pain in a woman in the post-partum period. A 25-year-old Caucasian woman with neurofibromatosis type 1 presented to our hospital with diffuse abdominal pain immediately after a cesarean section. The patient was acutely ill and toxic with a fever of 38.8°C, a pulse of 120 beats per minute and a distended abdomen with absent bowel sounds. A computed tomography scan showed air in the wall of the stomach and portal venous system. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous antibiotics, bowel rest and total parenteral nutrition. It is rare for a case of emphysematous gastritis associated with portal venous air to be treated successfully without surgery. To the best of our knowledge, to date there has been no reported association of emphysematous gastritis with neurofibromatosis.
Dynamical Equations for the Plane Change Maneuver of the Lunar Hopping Laboratory

Dynamical motion of Lunar Hopping Laboratory in plane change maneuver between ballistic and foot-in-contact phases
Current approaches to venous ulcers and compression.

Background. Venous ulcers affect as many as 2.5 million people in the United States and can cause substantial pain and loss of function. Objective. To review current approaches to venous ulcers and compression. Method. Treatment options that have been proposed in the literature are discussed utilizing the Cochrane library database, Medline, and the author's clinical experience. Results. Diagnostic findings and management strategies for venous ulcers are reviewed. Conclusion. Good wound care and compression therapy will heal the majority of small venous ulcers of short duration. For ulcers that are slow to heal, other approaches such as venous surgery and grafting with conventional or bioengineered skin substitutes should be considered.
The Severity of Toxic Reactions to Ephedra: Comparisons to Other Botanical Products and National Trends from 1993–2002

Objective. Ephedra is a botanical product widely used to enhance alertness, as a weight loss aide, and as a decongestant. Its reported adverse effects led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban ephedra-containing products in the United States in 2004. This study's purpose was to compare toxicity from botanical products containing ephedra to nonephedra products. Methods. The Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS), a national poison center database, was utilized to determine the number and outcomes of cases involving botanical products reported from 1993–2002. Cases listing both a botanical product and any other drugs or chemicals were excluded a priori. Ten-year hazard rates (moderate outcomes + major outcomes + deaths per 1000 exposures) were used to compare botanical product categories. Results. There were 21,533 toxic exposures with definitive medical outcomes reported over the 10 yrs where a botanical product was the only substance involved. Of these, 4,306 (19.9%) had moderate or major medic...
X-ray Crystallographic Structure of the Norwalk Virus Capsid

Norwalk virus, a noncultivatable human calicivirus, is the major cause of epidemic gastroenteritis in humans. The first x-ray structure of a calicivirus capsid, which consists of 180 copies of a single protein, has been determined by phase extension from a low-resolution electron microscopy structure. The capsid protein has a protruding (P) domain connected by a flexible hinge to a shell (S) domain that has a classical eight-stranded beta-sandwich motif. The structure of the P domain is unlike that of any other viral protein with a subdomain exhibiting a fold similar to that of the second domain in the eukaryotic translation elongation factor-Tu. This subdomain, located at the exterior of the capsid, has the largest sequence variation among Norwalk-like human caliciviruses and is likely to contain the determinants of strain specificity and cell binding.
Asynchronous expression of duplicate genes in angiosperms may cause apomixis, bispory, tetraspory, and polyembryony

Apomicts that produce unreduced parthenogenetic eggs are generally polyploid and occur in at least 33 of 460 families of angiosperms. Embryo sacs of these apomicts form precociously from ameiotic megaspore mother cells (diplospory) or adjacent somatic cells (apospory). Polysporic species (bisporic and tetrasporic) are sexual and occur in at least 88 families. Their embryo sacs also form precociously, but only non-critical portions of meiosis are affected. It is hypothesized that (i) the partial to complete replacement of meiosis by embryo sac formation in apomictic and polysporic species results from asynchronously-expressed duplicate genes that control female development, (ii) duplicate genes result from polyploidy or paleopolyploidy (diploidized polyploidy with chromatin from multiple genomes), (iii) apomixis results from competition between nearly complete sets of asynchronously-expressed duplicate genes, and (iv) polyspory and polyembryony result from competition between incomplete sets of asynchronously-expressed duplicate genes. Phylogenetic and genomic studies were conducted to evaluate this hypothesis. Apomictic, polysporic, and polyembryonic species tended to occur together in cosmopolitan families in which temporal variation in female development is expected, apomicts were generally polyploid with few chromosomes per genome (X = 9.6pL0.4 SE), and polysporic and polyembryonic species were paleopolyploid with many chromosomes per genome (x= 15.7pL0.6 and 13.2pL0.4, respectively). These findings support the proposed duplicate-gene asynchrony hypothesis and further suggest asexual reproduction in apomicts preserves primary genomes, sexual reproduction in polysporic and polyembryonic polyploids accelerates paleopolyploidization, and pa-leopolyploidization may sometimes eliminate gene duplications required for apomixis while retaining duplications required for polyspory or polyembryony. Hence, apomixis, with its long-term reproductive stability, may occasionally serve as an evolutionary springboard in the evolution of normal and developmentally-novel paleopolyploid sexual species and genera.
Acetabular development after bipolar hemiarthroplasty for osteosarcoma in children

A retrospective analysis was performed of eight patients with an open triradiate cartilage, who underwent resection for osteosarcoma and reconstruction of the proximal femur with a hemiarthroplasty, in order to identify changes of acetabular development. An analysis of the centre-edge angle, teardrop-to-medial prosthesis distance, superior joint space, teardrop-to-superior prosthesis distance, degree of lateral translation, and arthritic changes, was performed on serial radiographs. The median age at the time of the initial surgery was 11 years (5 to 14). All patients developed progressive superior and lateral migration of the prosthetic femoral head. Following hemiarthroplasty in the immature acetabulum, the normal deepening and enlargement of the acetabulum is arrested. The degree of superior and lateral migration of the prosthetic head depends on the age at diagnosis and the length of follow-up.