cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contextualizing medical decisions to individualize care

Clinical decision making can be described as answering one question: “What is the best next thing for this patient at this time?” In addition to incorporating clinical information, research evidence, and patient preferences, the process requires considering contextual factors that are unique to each patient and relevant to their care. The failure to do so, thereby compromising that care, can be called a “contextual error.” Although proponents of evidence-based clinical decision making and many scholars of the medical interview emphasize the importance of individualizing care, no operational definition is provided for the concept, nor is any methodology proposed for the interpretation of clinically relevant patient-specific variables. By conceptualizing the physician-patient encounter as a participant-observer case study with an N of 1, this essay describes how existing approaches to studying social systems can provide clinicians with a systematic approach to individualizing their clinical decision making.
The Intersection of IDL and Climate Change Law

Scientists project serious increases in society’s exposure to extreme weather events as a result of climate change. Indeed, they have begun to link current disasters to climate change. As a result, international disaster law has begun to acknowledge the importance of taking account of climate change in disaster risk management. Simultaneously, climate negotiations are beginning to address disasters as a form of “loss and damage,” and more broadly under the rubric of climate change adaptation. Both fields of law can be enriched by this trend. This article discusses the growing interconnections of these two fields and future avenues for fruitful collaboration.
Decomposing the Motivation to Exert Mental Effort

Achieving most goals demands cognitive control, yet people vary widely in their success at meeting these demands. Although motivation is known to be fundamental to determining success at achieving ...
Managerial Ownership Change and Firm Value: Evidence from Dual Class Recapitalization and Insider Trading

This study explores the relation between managerial ownership and firm value by examining a sample of firms that announce dual class recapitalizations and the insider trading activity that precede these announcements. Insider trading activity, unlike the recapitalization, requires managers to commit their personal wealth and therefore serves as an indicator of the motivation behind the recapitalization. The recapitalization, in effect, allows managers to magnify the increase in vote ownership that results from insider buying and offsets the reduction in vote ownership that results from insider selling. This study adds to our understanding of dual class recapitalizations by linking the wealth effects and changes in ownership concentration with manager-shareholder agency issues that result from the recapitalization and insider trading activity. Results show a positive relation between the change in firm value and ownership for recapitalizations before the 1984 New York Stock Exchange moratorium on delisting dual class firms when ownership was high and control was firmly established. A negative relation exists for recapitalizations since 1984 when ownership levels were lower and voting control not assured. Results support the notion that more recent recapitalizations entrenched managers.
Population differentiation of polygenic score predictions under stabilizing selection

1 Abstract Given the many loci uncovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), polygenic scores have become central to the drive for genomic medicine and have spread into various areas including evolutionary studies of adaptation. While promising, these scores are fraught with issues of portability across populations, due to the mis-estimation of effect sizes and missing causal loci across populations not represented in large-scale GWAS. The poor portability of polygenic scores at first seems at odds with the view that much of common genetic variation is shared among populations (Lewontin, 1972). Here we investigate one potential cause of this discrepancy: phenotypic stabilizing selection drives the turnover of genetic variation shared between populations at causal loci. Somewhat counter-intuitively, while stabilizing selection to the same optimum phenotype leads to lower phenotypic differentiation among populations, it increases genetic differentiation at GWAS loci and reduces the portability of polygenic scores constructed for unrepresented populations. We also find that stabilizing selection can lead to potentially misleading signals of the differentiation of average polygenic scores among populations. We extend our baseline model to investigate the impact of pleiotropy, gene-by-environment interactions, and directional selection on polygenic score predictions. Our work emphasizes stabilizing selection as a null evolutionary model to understand patterns of allele frequency differentiation and its impact on polygenic score portability and differentiation.
Analysis of the gut microbiome in dogs and cats

The gut microbiome is an important immune and metabolic organ. Intestinal bacteria produce various metabolites that influence the health of the intestine and other organ systems, including kidney, brain, and heart. Changes in the microbiome in diseased states are termed dysbiosis. The concept of dysbiosis is constantly evolving and includes changes in microbiome diversity and/or structure and functional changes (eg, altered production of bacterial metabolites). Molecular tools are now the standard for microbiome analysis. Sequencing of microbial genes provides information about the bacteria present and their functional potential but lacks standardization and analytical validation of methods and consistency in the reporting of results. This makes it difficult to compare results across studies or for individual clinical patients. The Dysbiosis Index (DI) is a validated quantitative PCR assay for canine fecal samples that measures the abundance of seven important bacterial taxa and summarizes the results as one single number. Reference intervals are established for dogs, and the DI can be used to assess the microbiome in clinical patients over time and in response to therapy (eg, fecal microbiota transplantation). In situ hybridization or immunohistochemistry allows the identification of mucosa-adherent and intracellular bacteria in animals with intestinal disease, especially granulomatous colitis. Future directions include the measurement of bacterial metabolites in feces or serum as markers for the appropriate function of the microbiome. This article summarizes different approaches to the analysis of gut microbiota and how they might be applicable to research studies and clinical practice in dogs and cats.
Academic Visibility for Urban Planning and the Webometric Future

This paper argues that the traditional emphasis of scholarly communications, citation analysis, and faculty evaluation, limited to books, book chapters, and journal articles is out-moded and fails to capture a significant share of scholarly activity that is now being posted online. Planning academics, as social scientists, should value the extended range of dissemination provided by the web, and should also leverage its inherent functionality to evaluate scholarship. Scholarly output is further characterized relative to productivity, visibility, reputation, and impact for the purposes of a new evaluation paradigm. An example shows that both individual and faculty metrics can be used as a meaningful element of scholarly assessment. The implications of this approach touch on issues of scholarly communications and the promotion and tenure process.
EXTREME WATER LEVELS, WAVE RUNUP AND COASTAL EROSION

A probabilistic model has been developed to analyze the susceptibilities of coastal properties to wave attack. Using an empirical model for wave runup, long term data of measured tides and waves are combined with beach morphology characteristics to determine the frequency of occurrence of sea cliff and dune erosion along the Oregon coast. Extreme runup statistics have been characterized for the high energy dissipative conditions common in Oregon, and have been found to depend simply on the deep-water significant wave height. Utilizing this relationship, an extreme-value probability distribution has been constructed for a 15 year total water elevation time series, and recurrence intervals of potential erosion events are calculated. The model has been applied to several sites along the Oregon coast, and the results compare well with observations of erosional impacts.
Global fatigue: Transnational markets, linguistic capital, and Korean-American male English teachers in South Korea1

Mass migration characterizes the current moment of globalization. Constituting a particular subset of this global migration are Korean-American male English teachers who use the linguistic capital of English, commodified as the language of international communication, to exit from the United States and to return to South Korea as linguistic migrants, where they reassert their patriarchal privilege as Korean men. In the highly gendered and racialized Korean English language market, however, they must prove their ‘native English speaker’ status. Remaining oriented towards the U.S. as their proper home, they also continually defer leaving South Korea as it means giving up the privileges of being a male English speaker and become stuck in a life of leisure and aimlessness. As the shadow of neoliberal globalization deepens and their linguistic capital becomes devalued with the return of more Koreans from abroad, their feelings of being stuck turn into global fatigue. 일반 대중들의 대규모 이동은 오늘날 지구화/세계화의 특징적 현상이다. 이러한 전지구적 이주의 한 부분을 구성하는 집단으로 이 연구는 특별히 남성 재미교포 영어교사들에 주목한다. 지구화 시대의 국제 언어로 상품화된 영어 자본은 이들이 미국으로부터 탈출하여 남성으로서 가부장적 특권을 누릴 수 있는 한국사회로 언어적인 이주자로 되돌아 갈 수 있는 기회를 제공해준다. 그러나 성별, 인종 별로 고도로 세분화되고 차등화된 산업구조를 발달시켜온 한국의 영어교육 시장 안에서 이들은 ‘영어 모국어 사용자’로서의 지위를 다시금 증명해야만 한다. 언제고 다시 되돌아 가야 할 자신들의 진정한 고향은 미국이라고 주장하면서도, 계속해서 미국으로의 귀환을 미루는 이면에는 한국사회에서 남성이자 영어모국어 사용자로서 누려온 특권을 포기하지 못한 채, 유흥과 목적 없는 한국생활에 갇혀 버린 현실이 있다. 그러나 신자유주의적 세계화의 그늘이 점점 깊어가고, 외국에서 교육받고 한국으로 되돌아오는 영어에 능통한 한국인들이 늘어나면서 자신들의 영어자본의 가치가 점점 떨어지는 것을 지켜보며, 이들이 느끼는 정체감은 다시 세계화에 대한 불안과 피로감으로 바뀌게 된다. [Korean]
Fiddling as the World Burns: How Climate Change Urgently Requires a Paradigm Shift in the Permitting of Renewable Energy Projects

This article is among the first to integrate current climate change science, particularly ongoing impacts and predicted impacts, with a detailed roadmap for substantial reform of our environmental processes for reviewing proposed renewable energy projects. Most existing articles either focus only on climate science or on minor modifications to the regulatory system. Using offshore wind power as a case study, this article demonstrates how, in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, our existing environmental laws and regulatory process no longer achieve their underlying goals of long-term ecosystem conservation. To the contrary, that process is supporting a system with increasing greenhouse gas emissions that is annually costing trillions of dollars. We have little time left to create a practical path to achieving an eighty percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 — with failure resulting in average global temperatures rising more than the internationally-agreed ceiling of 2⁰ C. After examining the obstacles confronting a potential developer of offshore wind, this article clearly lays out why and how the existing regulatory process should be quickly reformed so that offshore wind and other clean renewable energy sources can help escape the escalating consequences of our carbon-intensive economic system.
Is there a moral duty to die

In recent years, there has been a great deal of philosophical discussion about the alleged moral right to die. If there is such a moral right, then it would seem to imply a moral duty of others to not interfere with the exercise of the right. And this might have important implications for public policy insofar as public policy ought to track what is morally right. But is there a moral duty to die? If so, under what conditions, if any, ought one to have such a duty, and why? In this paper, I distinguish between different moral grounds for the putative moral duty to die: deontological, intuitionist, and contractarian. Subsequently, I argue in support of Paul Menzel's theory of health care distribution. More precisely, I concur with his claim that there is a moral duty to die inexpensively in health care contexts. Then I provide and defend a philosophical analysis of the conditions in which such a duty could exist.
Personal Digital Archiving Conference, New York University, April 24-26, 2015

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of presentations and discussions held at the sixth Personal Digital Archiving Conference held at New York University, April 24-26, 2015. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative approach is used to describe the event. Findings – As individuals lead increasingly online lives and digital objects become correspondingly important to the archive, a whole host of issues from the technical to the ethical arises. Conference presentations ran the gamut, touching on all of these complicated areas and fleshing out the scope of the challenges that lie ahead for individuals grappling with their own data as well as archivists working to be responsible stewards of that data into the future. Practical implications – This review touches on key practical, technical and ethical issues in the field of personal digital archiving, a new and increasingly important area for libraries and archives. Originality/value – The conference explores current challenges and practices in personal digital archiving.
Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Attract Foreign Direct Investment? Only a BitAnd They Could Bite

Touted as an important commitment device that attracts foreign investors, the number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) ratified by developing countries has grown dramatically. Hallward-Driemeier tests empirically whether BITs have actually had an important role in increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to signatory countries. While half of OECD FDI into developing countries by 2000 was covered by a BIT, this increase is accounted for by additional country pairs entering into agreements rather than signatory hosts gaining significant additional FDI. The results also indicate that such treaties act more as complements than as substitutes for good institutional quality and local property rights, the rationale often cited by developing countries for ratifying BITs. The relevance of these findings is heightened not only by the proliferation of such treaties, but by recent high profile legal cases. These cases show that the rights given to foreign investors may not only exceed those enjoyed by domestic investors, but expose policymakers to potentially large-scale liabilities and curtail the feasibility of different reform options. Formalizing relationships and protecting against dynamic inconsistency problems are still important, but the results should caution policymakers to look closely at the terms of agreements. This paper - a product of Investment Climate, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the determinants of productive investment.
Trends and developments in magnetic confinement fusion reactor concepts

AbstractAn overview is presented of recent design trends and developments in reactor concepts for magnetic confinement fusion. The paper emphasizes the engineering and technology considerations of ...
Whole Genome Expression Microarray Analysis of Highly Versus Poorly Tumorigenic Murine Melanoma Cell Lines Provides Insights into Factors That Regulate Tumor Growth, Metastasis, and Immunogenicity.

Melanoma, a cancer derived from pigment-producing melanocytes of the skin, is a disease of major public health significance. Although it is the least common form of skin cancer, melanoma is by far the most lethal due to its propensity to metastasize to a number of vital organs, including the brain, lungs, liver, and other visceral organs (1). According to the American Cancer Society’s 2015 Cancer Facts & Figures statistics, melanoma accounts for <2% of all skin cancer cases but is responsible for nearly 75% of skin cancer-related deaths, and it is predicted that melanoma will cause 9,940 deaths in the U.S. this year (2). Worldwide estimates of mortality for melanoma are that this disease is responsible for over 65,000 deaths annually (3). Moreover, recent data collected by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program show that melanoma incidence rates have continued to increase over the previous 40 years (4). In the U.S. alone, the current annual costs for treatment and productivity losses associated with melanoma are near $3.3 billion (5). These numbers are even more staggering when considering a recent study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which ranked North America only fourth in melanoma incidence worldwide (6), thus highlighting the need to address melanoma as a global public health concern. With these statistics in mind, it is vital that we increase our understanding of the progression of melanoma so that we may improve current – and develop new – therapies for the treatment of this cancer. The B16 murine melanoma cell line is one of the most widely used models for studying the progression and treatment of melanoma in pre-clinical settings (7, 8). Characterized by its rapid outgrowth as both primary tumors and metastatic lesions, the B16-F1 subline has also been shown to elicit dysfunctional CD8+ T cell responses (9) that mimic those frequently observed in many melanoma patients (10–12), and soluble factors derived from this tumor have been shown to alter the function of dendritic cells (DC) as well (13–15). We have recently described a chemically mutated variant of B16 melanoma, D5.1G4, that is significantly less tumorigenic and immunosuppressive than its wild-type counterpart (13, 15), though the basis for these differences between B16-F1 and D5.1G4 are poorly understood. Therefore, we sought to gain insights into factors that regulate melanoma tumorigenicity by comparing whole genome expression profiles of these murine melanomas. The microarray dataset obtained from these experiments and described herein offers a great resource for investigators wishing to study melanoma growth and progression and will likely drive the design of future experiments aimed at understanding the role of both individual gene products and entire pathways in melanoma tumorigenesis.
Novel Coenzyme B12-dependent Interconversion of Isovaleryl-CoA and Pivalyl-CoA

5′-Deoxyadenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl)-dependent isomerases catalyze carbon skeleton rearrangements using radical chemistry. We have recently characterized a fusion protein that comprises the two subunits of the AdoCbl-dependent isobutyryl-CoA mutase flanking a G-protein chaperone and named it isobutyryl-CoA mutase fused (IcmF). IcmF catalyzes the interconversion of isobutyryl-CoA and n-butyryl-CoA, whereas GTPase activity is associated with its G-protein domain. In this study, we report a novel activity associated with IcmF, i.e. the interconversion of isovaleryl-CoA and pivalyl-CoA. Kinetic characterization of IcmF yielded the following values: a Km for isovaleryl-CoA of 62 ± 8 μm and Vmax of 0.021 ± 0.004 μmol min−1 mg−1 at 37 °C. Biochemical experiments show that an IcmF in which the base specificity loop motif NKXD is modified to NKXE catalyzes the hydrolysis of both GTP and ATP. IcmF is susceptible to rapid inactivation during turnover, and GTP conferred modest protection during utilization of isovaleryl-CoA as substrate. Interestingly, there was no protection from inactivation when either isobutyryl-CoA or n-butyryl-CoA was used as substrate. Detailed kinetic analysis indicated that inactivation is associated with loss of the 5′-deoxyadenosine moiety from the active site, precluding reformation of AdoCbl at the end of the turnover cycle. Under aerobic conditions, oxidation of the cob(II)alamin radical in the inactive enzyme results in accumulation of aquacobalamin. Because pivalic acid found in sludge can be used as a carbon source by some bacteria and isovaleryl-CoA is an intermediate in leucine catabolism, our discovery of a new isomerase activity associated with IcmF expands its metabolic potential.
Sensitivity to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in fibroblasts from patients with schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have an increased likelihood of demonstrating evidence of ventricular enlargement or prominent sulci in brain imaging studies (Weinberger et al. 1983). The findings are consistent with either pathological central nervous system (CNS) develop ment and/or degeneration. Recent autopsy studies support the premise that the disease is at least characterized by abnormal development (Kovelman and Scheibel 1984; Benes et al. 1986). Faulty DNA repair mechanisms have been implicated in the etiology of more clearly documented human CNS developmental, as well as degenerative, disorders (Bridges 1981; Robbins et al. 1983; Robison and Bradley 1984; Li and Kaminskas 1985). In particular, hypersensitivity to the radiomimetic, DNA-damaging agent N-methyl-N’-nitV Scudiero et al. 1981). Thus, we judged the importance of evaluating sensitivity to MNNG in fibroblasts derived from patients with schizophrenia.
Using Ada as a programming language for robot-based manufacturing cells

The use of Ada to program a robot-based manufacturing cell, an example of real-time embedded system, is described. The computing issues in manufacturing cells are discussed with respect to Ada. Using an experimental manufacturing cell presently under construction as an example, a strategy for robot programming based on Ada is described. A case study of the software for the vision subsystem is used to illustrate a central feature of Ada, namely, data abstraction. Additional important features of Ada for software management, that is, multitasking and program abstraction through generics and operator overloading, are also illustrated. The principal advantages and difficulties in using Ada for programming robot-based manufacturing cells are summarized on the basis of the software issues described and the case study.
Diversity of Pol IV Function Is Defined by Mutations at the Maize rmr7 Locus

Mutations affecting the heritable maintenance of epigenetic states in maize identify multiple small RNA biogenesis factors including NRPD1, the largest subunit of the presumed maize Pol IV holoenzyme. Here we show that mutations defining the required to maintain repression7 locus identify a second RNA polymerase subunit related to Arabidopsis NRPD2a, the sole second largest subunit shared between Arabidopsis Pol IV and Pol V. A phylogenetic analysis shows that, in contrast to representative eudicots, grasses have retained duplicate loci capable of producing functional NRPD2-like proteins, which is indicative of increased RNA polymerase diversity in grasses relative to eudicots. Together with comparisons of rmr7 mutant plant phenotypes and their effects on the maintenance of epigenetic states with parallel analyses of NRPD1 defects, our results imply that maize utilizes multiple functional NRPD2-like proteins. Despite the observation that RMR7/NRPD2, like NRPD1, is required for the accumulation of most siRNAs, our data indicate that different Pol IV isoforms play distinct roles in the maintenance of meiotically-heritable epigenetic information in the grasses.
Case report: responses to cabazitaxel in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after extensive docetaxel treatment.

Cabazitaxel (Jevtana; sanofi-aventis) is a novel taxane that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2010, in combination with prednisone, for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) previously treated with docetaxel (1). Approval of this agent was based on a randomized, open-label, phase III trial (TROPIC) of 755 men with mCRPC with progression of disease during or after treatment with docetaxel. Participants were randomized to cabazitaxel (25 mg/m2 every three weeks) or mitoxantrone (12 mg/m2 every three weeks), both in combination with prednisone 10 mg daily (2). The cabazitaxel-treated patients demonstrated statistically significant improvements in overall survival (15.1 versus 12.7 months) and progression-free survival (2.8 versus 1.4 months). We describe two patients with extensive mCRPC, heavily pretreated who experienced dramatic responses with PSA decline, improvement in tumor-related disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and stabilization of visceral disease with cabazitaxel. These cases illustrate that meaningful responses with low toxicity can be achieved with cabazitaxel in aggressive mCRPC despite significant prior exposure to taxanes.
Musings on a Metaphysics of Modeling

Editor-in-chief Norman Chonacky explains how CiSE magazine meets a metaphysics mandate in the world of computational science and science for engineering.
MEASURING THE COSTS OF REALLOCATING WATER FROM AGRICULTURE: A MULTI‐MODEL APPROACH

. Increasing demand for water by environmental interests, coupled with the diminishing prospects for constructing new water diversion projects, is forcing farmers in the western United States to cope with reduced surface water deliveries. The cost of improving instream water quality by reducing agricultural diversions is shown to depend mainly on how the supply reductions are allocated among users and on the extent of water trading. A central contribution of this paper is a methodology for measuring the impacts of water supply policy reforms on irrigated agriculture. The paper nests three empirical models in a general conceptual framework. The models differ in terms of their degree of detail and assumptions about input substitution. By comparing model results, it is possible to place bounds on the consequences of policy changes, and to identify critical factors determining economic impacts. The models are applied to the problem of improving water quality in the San Francisco Bay/Delta estuary.
6Li scattering: A failure of the double-folded potential model

Abstract Data for 6 Li scattering elastically from various nuclei were analyzed using the double-folding model together with a recently introduced “realistic” effective interaction which has reproduced the potentials for heavier ions. However, it is concluded that the potential for 6 Li is not given by this model which systematically overestimates it by nearly a factor of two.
Hyperglycemia-Induced Hemiballismus Hemichorea: A Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

Abstract Background Metabolic conditions, including hyperglycemia, can have various neurological presentations. Hemiballismus hemichorea is a rare manifestation reported to occur with severe hyperglycemia and is reversed in most cases with control of sugars. Case Report We present a case of a patient with no known diabetes history who presented with uncontrolled jerky movements of one-half of her body, which resolved with achievement of euglycemia. Conclusions Important differential diagnoses that need to be evaluated are discussed.
Decisions as statistical evidence and Birnbaum's ‘confidence concept’

To whatever extent the use of a behavioral, not an evidential, interpretation of decisions in the Lindley-Savage argument for Bayesian theory undermines its cogency as a criticism of typical standard practice, it also undermines the Neyman-Pearson theory as a support for typical standard practice. This leaves standard practice with far less theoretical support than Bayesian methods. It does nothing to resolve the anomalies and paradoxes of standard methods. (Similar statements apply to the common protestation that the models are not real anyway.) The appropriate interpretation of tests as evidence, if possible at all, is difficult and counterintuitive. Any attempt to support tests as more than rules of thumb is doomed to failure.
Comparison of cardiac computed tomography examination appropriateness under the 2010 revised versus the 2006 original Appropriate Use Criteria

Background The 2006 Cardiac CT Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) were recently revised in 2010. In addition to rating an expanded number of indications, the new criteria adjusted the appropriateness of existing indications to reflect changes in clinical practice and new evidence since 2006. Objective We sought to determine how the appropriateness of cardiac CT examinations performed at a tertiary-care hospital changed under the revised criteria compared with the original AUC. Methods Data were collected from the medical records and personal interview of 267 consecutive patients referred for cardiac CT in 2008. With the use of the 2010 and 2006 AUCs, two physicians designated each examination's indication as appropriate, inappropriate, uncertain, or "not classified" if examination indication could not be assigned. Results With the use the new 2010 AUC, a highly significant change was observed in the classification of examination appropriateness ( P P P P = 0.33). Consequently, the proportion of examinations that were not classified was significantly reduced under the 2010 AUC (29% vs. 13%; P Conclusion The revision of the AUC for cardiac CT had a significant effect on examination appropriateness. In comparison to the 2006 AUC, the 2010 AUC provided improved clarification of examination appropriateness. This shift was because of the inclusion of many previously unaddressed indications and the designation of more examinations as either appropriate or inappropriate.
Replication of RNA viruses: Specific binding of the Qβ RNA polymerase to Qβ RNA

Abstract The specific binding in vitro of the Qβ RNA polymerase to Qβ RNA has been detected by the formation of an enzyme-Qβ RNA complex that did not exchange bound RNA molecules and was not dissociated by 0.8 m NaCl. Formation of this nondissociating complex required GTP and two host protein factors, but not ATP, CTP, UTP, or Mg 2+ ions. GDP, GMP, dGTP, ITP, and β,γ-methylene GTP did not replace GTP in the reaction. Complex formation at 0 °C was not observed, and the rates of the reaction at 30 °C and 25 °C were 41% and 23%, respectively, of the rate at 37 °C. The reaction occurred with intact Qβ RNA and with polycytidylic acid template but not with bacterial or other bacteriophage RNA. With limiting amounts of enzyme, the amount of Qβ RNA bound in the nondissociating complex was the same as the amount of [γ- 32 P]GTP incorporated into nascent RNA chains, indicating a close relationship between complex formation and the initiation of RNA synthesis. The two reactions appear to be separate, however, because in the absence of Mg 2+ ions, when complex formation occurred readily, no RNA synthesis could be detected either by incorporation of labeled substrate into acid-insoluble material or by formation of short RNA chains still attached to the enzyme. In the presence of factor protein and GTP, a maximum of one active enzyme molecule was bound per molecule of Qβ RNA template, as determined by a liquid polymer phase-separation procedure. These results suggest that formation of the nondissociating complex measures recognition by the Qβ RNA polymerase of a single Qβ RNA site utilized for the initiation of synthesis.
The Preshock Gas of SN 1006 from Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys Observations

We derive the preshock density and scale length along the line of sight for the collisionless shock from a deep HST image that resolves the Hα filament in SN 1006 and updated model calculations. The very deep ACS high-resolution image of the Balmer line filament in the northwest quadrant shows that 0.25 cm-3 ≤ n0 ≤ 0.4 cm-3 and that the scale along the line of sight is about 2 × 1018 cm, while bright features within the filament correspond to ripples with radii of curvature less than 1/10 that size. The derived densities are within the broad range of earlier density estimates, and they agree well with the ionization timescale derived from the Chandra X-ray spectrum of a region just behind the optical filament. This provides a test for widely used models of the X-ray emission from SNR shocks. The scale and amplitude of the ripples are consistent with expectations for a shock propagating through interstellar gas with ~20% density fluctuations on parsec scales as expected from studies of interstellar turbulence. One bulge in the filament corresponds to a knot of ejecta overtaking the blast wave, however. The interaction results from the rapid deceleration of the blast wave as it encounters an interstellar cloud.
Ford Whitman Harris and the Economic Order Quantity Model

Ford Whitman Harris first presented the familiar economic order quantity EOQ model in a paper published in 1913. Even though Harris's original paper was disseminated widely, it apparently was unnoticed for many years before its rediscovery in 1988. During this period much confusion developed over the origin of the EOQ model. This paper explores the early literature on this model and traces the evolution of the confusion. It also sketches the remarkable life of Harris, who made contributions as an engineer, inventor, author and patent attorney, even though he received no formal education beyond high school. Harris's original 1913 essay is reprinted following this paper.
Implications of a large flattening strain for the origin of a bedding-parallel foliation in the Early Proterozoic Thomson Formation, Minnesota

Abstract A bedding-parallel foliation exists in an area of multiple deformation in the Early Proterozoic Thomson Formation of Minnesota. Comparison of strain measurements in a region where the bedding-parallel foliation occurs with those from an area where it does not, indicates that a large flattening strain accompanied the development of the foliation. This, and the relationship of the foliation to other structures, demonstrates that it is a tectonic foliation, and not a result of inherited depositional orientation or mimetic recrystallization along bedding.
Health outcomes in persons with epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common disorder that effects millions of persons worldwide and costs billions of dollars for direct medical care. Despite the importance of epilepsy from a public health perspective, the physiological and psychosocial outcomes from epilepsy are incompletely understood and are in some ways controversial. The paroxysmal nature and the immense social stigma of the disorder have contributed to misunderstanding of its associated health outcomes. This article reviews the issues surrounding the assessment of health outcomes from the epilepsies and the interventions used to treat recurrent seizures.
Slow-wave transmission line transformers/baluns

the design and analysis of a miniaturized transmission line transformer/balun for RF applications are presented in this paper. A novel right-handed slow-wave line using three-dimensional periodic substrate metallization is proposed, where each unit cell is made up of a multilayer loop as a series inductor and parallel strips as a shunt capacitor. DC isolated single-end primary and differential secondary are constructed using three quarter-wave slow-wave lines. A design example is given for a 1∶3 voltage ratio at 1.9GHz with slow-wave factors (SWF) between 8∼9 for the quarter-wave lines on a three-layer FR4 substrate. The planar dimensions of the electrically small balun are 10mm by 6mm. Details of the designs with simulated and measured data are discussed.
Cytogenetic analysis of ependymoma and teratoma of the ovary

Abstract Cytogenetic analysis was performed on G-banded chromosomes from short-term cultures established from surgically removed tumor material from two patients. A karyotype of 56,XX,+5,+7,+7,+8,+13,+13,+18,+19,+20,+21 was found in one ovarian ependymoma. The grade 3 immature teratoma showed a karyotype of 47,XX,+3.
GUTENBERG-RICHTER AND CHARACTERISTIC EARTHQUAKE BEHAVIOR IN SIMPLE MEAN-FIELD MODELS OF HETEROGENEOUS FAULTS

The statistics of earthquakes in a heterogeneous fault zone is studied analytically and numerically in a mean-field version of a model for a segmented fault system in a three-dimensional elastic solid. The studies focus on the interplay between the roles of disorder, dynamical effects, and driving mechanisms. A two-parameter phase diagram is found, spanned by the amplitude of dynamical weakening (or ``overshoot'') effects \ensuremath{\epsilon} and the normal distance $L$ of the driving forces from the fault. In general, small \ensuremath{\epsilon} and small $L$ are found to produce Gutenberg-Richter type power law statistics with an exponential cutoff, while large \ensuremath{\epsilon} and large $L$ lead to a distribution of small events combined with characteristic system-size events. In a certain parameter regime the behavior is bistable, with transitions back and forth from one phase to the other on time scales determined by the fault size and other model parameters. The implications for realistic earthquake statistics are discussed.
HYPOTHALAMIC SURGERY AND CHEMOTHERAPY

Suprasellar tumors are the second most common supratentorial tumors in children less than 12 years of age. The two most common lesions in this area are the craniopharyngioma and the hypothalamic /chiasmatic astrocytoma. The majority of the astrocytic tumors are histologically low grade, however, they are unpredictable and may act aggressively especially in infants. Our experience with more than 50 children with this tumor indicates that radiation therapy (RT) can delay the time to tumor progression and may even prolong survival. Although RT is effective its side effects in infants is unacceptable. We have shown that various chemotherapy regimens are effective in halting growth or reducing tumor size in approximately 70% of children treated (this is true for children of all ages). Chemotherapy may allow RT to be delayed until after infancy and on rare occassions for extended periods of time even avoiding RT. Surgical debulking is frequently possible witn minimal morbidity and mortality. Long term survival is common in this disorder (5- and 10-year survival has been 93 and 74% respectively in our experince) and neuroendocrine dysfunction is the rule rather than the exception. Our approach to diagnosis, management, and long term outcome will be presented. Treatment of craniopharyngioma remains controversial but, it is essentially a surgically curable tumor, with 10 year survivals in excess of 90% in those tumors with a post-operative MR scan confirming a total resection. Subtotally resected or recurrent tumors require and respond to RT which delays recurrence and prolongs survival. Neuroendocrine and neuropsychological dysfunction is common in this group of children no matter which form of therapy is employed. If time allows, our experience and recomendations for treatment of craniopharyngioma will also be presented.
Photopic visual input is necessary for emmetropization in mice

Abstract It was recently demonstrated that refractive errors in mice stabilize around emmetropic values during early postnatal development, and that they develop experimental myopia in response to both visual form deprivation and imposed optical defocus similar to other vertebrate species. Animal studies also suggest that photopic vision plays critical role in emmetropization in diurnal species; however, it is unknown whether refractive eye development is guided by photopic vision in the mouse, which is a nocturnal species. We used an infrared mouse photorefractor and a high-resolution MRI to clarify the role of photopic visual input in refractive eye development in the mouse. Refractive eye development and form-deprivation myopia in P21–P89 C57BL/6J mice were analyzed under 12:12 h light–dark cycle, constant light and constant darkness regimens. Animals in all experimental groups were myopic at P21 (−13.2 ± 1.6 D, light–dark cycle; −12.5 ± 0.9 D, constant light; −12.5 ± 2.0 D, constant dark). The mean refractive error in the light–dark-cycle-reared animals was −0.5 ± 1.3 D at P32 and, and did not change significantly until P40 (+0.3 ± 0.6 D, P40). Animals in this group became progressively hyperopic between P40 and P89 (+2.2 ± 0.6 D, P67; +3.7 ± 2.0 D, P89). The mean refractive error in the constant-light-reared mice was −1.0 ± 0.7 D at P32 and remained stable until P89 (+0.1 ± 0.6 D, P40; +0.3 ± 0.6 D, P67; 0.0 ± 0.4 D, P89). Dark-reared animals exhibited highly hyperopic refractive errors at P32 (+5.2 ± 1.8 D) and became progressively more hyperopic with age (+8.7 ± 1.9 D, P40; +11.2 ± 1.4 D, P67). MRI analysis revealed that emmetropization in the P40–P89 constant-light-reared animals was associated with larger eyes, a longer axial length and a larger vitreous chamber compared to the light–dark-cycle-reared mice. Constant-light-reared mice also developed 4 times higher degrees of form-deprivation myopia on average compared to light–dark-cycle-reared animals (−12.0 ± 1.4 D, constant light; −2.7 ± 0.7 D, light–dark cycle). Dark-rearing completely prevented the development of form-deprivation myopia (−0.3 ± 0.5 D). Thus, photopic vision plays important role in normal refractive eye development and ocular response to visual form deprivation in the mouse.
“Epistemology, Ethos, and Environment”: In Search of a Theology of Pentecostal Theological Education

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to take a theological look at Pentecostal theological education at the global level. While dialoguing widely with various current and historical discussions of the theology of theological education, particularly with David Kelsey of Yale University, the essay urges Pentecostals to negotiate an epistemology that corrects and goes beyond both modernity and postmodernity. The essay also urges Pentecostals to negotiate several seeming opposites such as “academic” versus “spiritual” or “doctrinal” versus “critical.” The final part of the essay offers Pentecostals some advice and inspiration from the reservoirs of the long history and experience of non-Pentecostal theological institutions.
A mathematical model of proliferating cell populations: further development and consideration of the resting state

Abstract The applicability of a previously derived mathematical model of a dividing cell population has been extended to the case in which the population is in plateau phase of growth, with cell division balanced by (postmitotic) cell loss. In addition, the “resting” cell component has been characterized; the resulting distribution of transit times through the resting phase has been incorporated into the complete distribution of G 1 phase durations and cell cycle times. Expressions have been derived for the fraction of cells in the resting state and the rate of cell loss.
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling: A novel pathway in OSA induced vascular endothelial dysfunction

The mechanism of vascular endothelial dysfunction (VED) and cardiovascular disease in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is unknown. We performed a comprehensive evaluation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) function directly in the microcirculatory endothelial tissue of OSA patients who have very low cardiovascular risk status. Nineteen OSA patients underwent gluteal biopsies before, and after effective treatment of OSA. We measured superoxide (O2(•-)) and nitric oxide (NO) in the microcirculatory endothelium using confocal microscopy. We evaluated the effect of the NOS inhibitor l-Nitroarginine-Methyl-Ester (l-NAME) and the NOS cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) on endothelial O2(•-) and NO in patient endothelial tissue before and after treatment. We found that eNOS is dysfunctional in OSA patients pre-treatment, and is a source of endothelial O2(•-) overproduction. eNOS dysfunction was reversible with the addition of BH4. These findings provide a new mechanism of endothelial dysfunction in OSA patients and a potentially targetable pathway for treatment of cardiovascular risk in OSA.
Sudden Unexpected Death After Balloon Valvuloplasty for Congenital Aortic Stenosis

Objectives The aims of this study were to determine the incidence and risk factors of sudden unexpected death (SUD) after balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAVP) for congenital aortic stenosis (AS) and to assess the effect of exercise restriction. Background Exercise restriction is recommended for some patients with congenital AS because of a perceived increased risk for SUD. Little is known about the incidence of SUD in those with treated AS or the efficacy of exercise restriction in preventing SUD. Methods A review was conducted of 528 patients who underwent BAVP for congenital AS at Children9s Hospital Boston from 1984 to 2008. Exercise restriction status was ascertained for those ≥4 years of age, censored at aortic valve replacement or transplantation. Results Median subsequent follow-up was 12.0 years (range 0 to 24.8 years), for a total of 6,344 patient-years of follow-up. There were 63 deaths, with SUD in 6 patients, 5 of which occurred at ≤18 months of age. For patients ≥4 years of age at most recent follow-up with no histories of pulmonary hypertension (n = 422), median follow-up after BAVP was 14.6 years, for 6,019 patient-years of follow-up. Exercise restriction was prescribed in 183 patients (43%; 2,541 patient-years) and no restriction in 220 (52%; 2,691 patient-years); there were insufficient data in 19 patients. There were 17 deaths in this cohort of 422 patients, with 1 SUD (the patient, who was exercise restricted, died during sleep), for an incidence of 0.18/1,000 patient-years (95% confidence interval: 0.01 of 1,000 to 1.01 of 1,000). Conclusions SUD is extremely rare after BAVP for congenital AS. No beneficial effect of the recommendation for exercise restriction was observed in this longitudinal cohort with 6,000 patient-years of follow-up.
On the existence of one-sided designs

A collection of subsets (called blocks) of a fixed vertex set (possibly with repetition) is called a (t n , t n −1, ..., t 1; a m , a m −1, ..., a 1)-design if it satisfies certain regularity conditions on the number of blocks which contain subsets of the vertex set of certain size, and other regularity conditions on the size of the intersections of certain numbers of the blocks. (For example, a BIBD (or (b, v, r, k, λ)-configuration) is a (1, 2; 1)-design, and a t-design is a (t, t−1, ..., 1; 1)-design.) A design has design-type (t n , ..., t 1; a m , ..., a 1) if it satisfies only those conditions. A one-sided design is a design with design-type (t n , ..., t 1;) or (;a m , ..., a 1). In this paper we show, by construction, that any one-sided design-type is possible.
Polar motion measurement at the Observatoire de Lyon in the late nineteenth century

Abstract The motion of geographic poles, predicted by Euler, was discovered at the end of the 1880s, mainly by German and American astronomers. However, French astronomers were strongly reluctant to accept the reality of this phenomenon. Indeed, all observations at the Observatoire de Paris converged toward non-detection of the polar motion. Science, as most fields of public life, was extremely centralized in France, and the Observatoire de Paris was still living on past glory gained in the field of classical astronomy. However, the directors who succeeded Urbain Le Verrier were doubtful about the accuracy of the observation in such an urban observatory, and were pushing for the construction of an observatory outside the city. At the same time, just after the French defeat of 1871, a wide decentralization of the universities started, and a few big regional cities were selected to host new observatories. In this paper we show how it is in one of these new observatories, in Lyon, that the polar motion was first observed in France, and how this was immediately recognized internationally. Although the weight of French Jacobinism kept the new observatories at an embryonic stage for many decades, this contribution to an internationally discussed problem shows how enthusiastically and efficiently work was carried out in the early years of French provincial observatories.