cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sex-Specific Differences in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Since the 1980s medical advancements in prevention and management of ischemic heart disease have dramatically reduced morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately improvements in care have not affected men and women equitably and there remain significant disparities in outcomes post acute myocardial infarction (AMI) when gender is considered. Women have worse outcomes from AMI as compared to men, with younger women experiencing comparatively higher mortality rates. As our knowledge of cardiovascular health continues to develop, we have come to recognize that there are gender differences in AMI presentation, pathophysiology and eventual management. The basis for this can be attributed to both biological differences in pathophysiological mechanisms and also to unequal delivery of care. Women with AMI remain under-recognized and under-treated by the current health care system, despite increasing awareness and advancement in women’s cardiovascular health. This chapter will discuss known and emerging gender differences in pathophysiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of AMI, with aim to educate healthcare providers about ongoing significant disparities. Additional efforts and research are imperative to improving outcomes for women with AMI.
Remarks on partition ordinals

After a brief survey of the theory of partition ordinals, i.e., ordinals α such that α → (α,n)2 for all n < ω, it is shown that MA(ℵ1) implies that ω1ω and ω1ω2 are partition ordinals. This contrasts with an old result of Erdős and Hajnal that α ↛ (α,3)2 holds for both these ordinals under the Continuum Hypothesis.
Using Knot Theory to Analyze DNA Experiments

There exist naturally occurring enzymes(topoisomerases and recombinases), which, in order to mediate the vital life processes of replication, transcription and recombination, manipulate cellular DNA in topologically interesting and nontrivial ways. These enzyme actions include promoting writhing(coiling up) of the DNA molecules, passing one strand of DNA through another via and enzyme-bridged transient break in one of the strands, and breaking a pair of strands and recombining to different ends. If one regards DNA as very thin string, these enzyme activities are the stuff of which modern knot theory is made! In order to describe and understand these enzyme mechanisms, knot theory is an essential tool. When reacted with unknotted closed circular DNA, each enzyme produces a characteristic family of knots and catenanes. A new experimental technique(rec A coating) produces high-resolution electron micrographs of these reaction products. By analyzing these reaction products, one can discover facts about enzyme mechanism. A new topological model(the tangle model) for enzyme mechanism will be discussed, and used to analyze experiments on the recombinant enzyme Tn3 resolvase.
Stress and Coping

Stress and coping are topics of substantial current interest, and much has been said and could be said about these topics. In considering stress, it is important to define the term for purposes of clear communication and theory construction, yet it has been defined in numerous ways and is frequently used without a clear referent. One purpose of the present chapter, then, is to discuss the definitions of stress and to try to deal with some of the problems associated with traditional approaches to defining the concept by distinguishing psychological from physiological stress. In doing so, a phenomenological definition of psychological stress will be provided.
Neuronal Polarization Packs a One-Two Punch.

In this issue of Neuron, Ambrozkiewicz et al. (2018) define a new molecular circuit controlling neuronal polarization and migration through the transcription factor SOX9 to coordinate the production of regulators of both protein synthesis and degradation.
Case 2-2019: A 36-Year-Old Man with Rash, Abdominal Pain, and Lymphadenopathy.

A Man with Rash, Abdominal Pain, and Lymphadenopathy A 36-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of abdominal pain, rash, and lymphadenopathy. Diffuse papules and hyperpigmented nodules ...
The Future of Wild Mammals in Oil Palm Landscapes in the Neotropics

Colombia is the fourth largest producer of palm oil in the world with a growth of 42% in 2017, affecting its ecosystems and biodiversity. Here we review current understanding from science, policy, and practice to help shape a better fate for mammals across oil palm landscapes in Colombia. In order to prevent large mammal species erosion and decimation as has happened in South East Asia, the following lessons in zoning, infrastructure, harvest, monitoring and research should be implemented. Native habitat is irreplaceable. New oil palm frontiers should occur in degraded ecosystems, with adequate governance and without requirement of new infrastructure. Roads favor hunting, logging, and disorganized human occupation. Plantations should conserve water bodies and forests to ensure connectivity and refuge for sensitive mammal species. Higher structural complexity with added plants is desired for a varied mammal assemblage. Harvest should be done manually and crepuscular work hours should be avoided. Application of the abovementioned tactics will consolidate a more sustainable strategy for the future of mammals in oil palm landscapes in mega-diverse countries.
Pandemic abandonment, panoramic displays and fascist propaganda: The month the earth stood still

In early June, 2020, Fox News displayed for viewers a color-coded graph that compared the amounts that the stock market had risen in the aftermath of major racial tragedies, including the assassina...
Impacts of extrusion processing on nutritional components in cereals and legumes: Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals

Abstract Although the extrusion process has found numerous applications in developing ready-to-eat cereals, confectionary products, and sweet and salty snacks, interest has grown in understanding how extrusion influences the nutritional components in cereals and legumes. Extrusion offers the opportunity to manipulate the rate and extent of starch digestibility and nondigestible carbohydrate fermentation by gut bacteria, both of which have implications on human health. Proteins are generally modified in a positive way by increasing their digestibility and solubility, although some exceptions exist and losses in available lysine can occur. Extrusion can be used to deliver high-value oils that are rich in ω-3 fatty acids using novel strategies such as encapsulation. Vitamin stability can be an issue in extruded products, although mineral element bioavailability can increase with extrusion. Overall, extrusion has the potential to produce highly nutritious ready-to-eat products from cereals and legumes.
Start With Problems or Solutions? Medical Device Design in Industry and Academia

Design processes can be influenced by their practice environments. Although design processes of industry engineers have been examined in multiple research studies, few studies have investigated design processes of academic engineers. As academia and industry have different sociocultural norms and constraints, their design processes likely also differ. To examine this question, we conducted semi-structured interviews with both academic and industry engineers who had successfully designed medical devices. Our qualitative findings revealed that engineers in industry described their design process as a sequence with problem definition, solution exploration, detail design, evaluation, and communication. Academic engineers, in contrast, described their design process as beginning with a discovered solution, then searching for application problems, evaluating compatibility between problems and solution, and finally, communicating their findings through publications. Understanding differences in design processes of academic and industry engineers can facilitate knowledge sharing and promote collaboration between academia and industry. The findings also highlight the impact of sociocultural norms on practices, even in disciplines with highly trained and clearly defined processes.
Business Income Taxes

Governments tax production, and they tax consumption. This note is concerned with the taxation of income from production in the U.S. The goal is to make sense, if possible, of special features of the taxation of the securityholders of open corporations. The special features are as follows. (i) Interest payments on bonds are tax deductible at the corporate level, which means they are only taxed at the personal level and at personal tax rates. (ii) Dividends are not tax deductible at the corporate level, which means the income that produces them is subject first to the corporate tax and then to personal taxes – double taxation. (iii) Retained earnings are subject to the corporate tax, and they are subject to personal tax but at rates below ordinary income rates (at least historically) and only when eventually realized as capital gains.
Spinal vascular malformations: Angiographic evaluation and endovascular management

Spinal vascular malformations (SVM) are classified based on their location (intramedullary, perimedullary, radicular, extradural) and flow pattern (high-flow, low-flow, no arteriovenous shunt). High-flow SVMs are generally congenital lesions diagnosed in children and young patients without gender predominance. They present with hemodynamic disturbances, mass effect, or hemorrhages, but may also be discovered incidentally. Low-flow SVMs tend to be acquired lesions presenting in older men with progressive myelopathy caused by spinal venous hypertension. They are rarely associated with vascular syndromes but may accompany prothrombotic conditions. The sensitivity and specificity of conventional MRI are excellent for high-flow SVMs but poor for low-flow lesions, which are frequently diagnosed with extensive delays reducing the potential for favorable outcomes. The sensitivity of advanced MRI techniques remains unclear, notably for the detection of low-flow shunts without flow voids on conventional MRI. Catheter angiography remains the gold standard modality for the evaluation of the spinal vasculature and its disorders. SVMs can be treated by surgical or endovascular means. Initially plagued by high recurrence rates due to inadequate embolization material, endovascular techniques represent nowadays a valid alternative to surgery, thanks notably to the introduction of liquid embolic agents.
Benzoic acid derivatives as luminescent sublimation dyes in cyanoacrylate fuming of latent fingerprints.

Development of latent prints employing cyanoacrylate ester (CA) can be a multistep process including CA fuming and subsequent fluorescent staining to produce fingerprints of sufficient contrast for comparison work. To enable a single-step CA fuming-staining process, a selection of fluorophores have been developed as sublimation dyes in CA fuming. A greater array of such luminescent sublimation dyes would allow users greater flexibility in selecting a particular dye-CA combination to best suit their processing needs. Toward this end, six benzoic acid derivatives were evaluated for use as luminescent sublimation dyes under elementary CA fuming conditions using a single non-porous surface type and an inexpensive handheld UV lamp for excitation. Two benzoic acid derivatives, 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid) and 2-aminobenzoic acid (anthranilic acid), were identified as new potential luminescent sublimation dyes with stained fingerprints excited at 254 nm. The fluorescence intensity and stability of prints produced via the sublimation of CA with 2-hydroxybenzoic acid and 2-aminobenzoic acid were evaluated over approximately six weeks using image and statistical analysis.
AI Trust Score: A User-Centered Approach to Building, Designing, and Measuring the Success of Intelligent Workplace Features

This paper describes how to help product teams move increasingly towards responsible AI experiences by examining user trust within business contexts. We discuss the development, application, and validation of the AI Trust Score, which allows teams to measure the success of an AI feature from enterprise users’ perspectives. The Trust Score is a multi-dimensional metric which consists of several statements users respond to that inform their trust, including whether an AI feature helps with job efficiency and effectiveness and understanding how and when to use the feature for their job role. The metric, along with usability feedback, can be adapted to encourage UX-related conversations and actions within product or feature development processes.
Heliox for Pediatric Critical Asthma: A Multicenter, Retrospective, Registry-Based Descriptive Study.

Background:In cases of critical asthma (CA), heliox may be applied as an adjunctive rescue therapy to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), improve deposition of aerosolized medications, and ...
Microfabricated Electro-Permanent Magnets Using AlNiCo and CoPt

This letter demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of externally switchable electro-permanent magnets (EPMs) microfabricated on silicon wafers. Each EPM comprises a thick-film bilayer of electroplated cobalt-platinum as the hard magnetic phase and screen-printed aluminum-nickel-cobalt/polydimethylsiloxane composite as the soft magnetic phase. The selected magnetic materials and corresponding fabrication methods are compatible with standard semiconductor processes, which enable batch fabrication capability for low-cost and system-on-chip integration. An on/off magnetic moment ratio of 265 is achieved for the miniaturized 3.6 mm × 3.6 mm × 0.3 mm EPM devices by varying the volume ratio of the constituent materials. Scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry are used to characterize the microscopic structure and magnetic performance of the fabricated devices, respectively.
Pressure dependence of the dielectric properties of Pb(Sc1Ta1/2)O3B

Note: Setter, N Penn State Univ,Mat Res Lab,University Pk,Pa 16802Kp039Times Cited:28Cited References Count:7 Reference LC-ARTICLE-1980-002 Record created on 2006-08-21, modified on 2017-05-10
Self-conscious roots of human normativity

What are the roots of human normativity and when do children begin to behave according to standards and norms? Empirical observations demonstrate that we are born with built-in (implicit and automatic) orientation toward what is predictable and of the same - henceforth what deviates from it -, what is the norm or the standard in the generic sense of the word. However, what develop in humans is self-consciousness, transforming norms from “should” to “ought” and making human normativity profoundly different from any other forms expressed in infancy, other animals, or any smart machines. Self-consciousness is the ability to objectify oneself through the evaluative eyes of others. It sets us apart as a species and is at the roots of human normativity. A developmental blueprint capturing the progressive co-emergence of self-consciousness and normativity in the human child is proposed.
Probing the Structure, Composition, and Spatial Distribution of Ligands on Gold Nanorods.

The structure and size of ligands attached to the surfaces of gold nanorods, such as adsorbed surfactants or grafted polymers, are important considerations that facilitate the use of such nanoparticles in the human body, in advanced materials for energy harvesting, or in devices for single molecule detection. Here, we report small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements from surfactant or poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coated gold nanorods in solution, which quantitatively determine the location, structure, and composition of these surface layers. In addition, by synthesizing gold nanorods using seed crystals which are coated with deuterated cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (dCTAB), we are able to exploit the isotopic sensitivity of SANS to study, for the first time, the retention of surfactant from the seed crystals to the final gold nanorod product, finding that very little exchange of the deuterated with hydrogenated surfactant occurs. Finally, we demonstrate that, when Au NRs are PEGylated using stand...
Wireless map-based handoffs for mobile robots

Most wireless solutions today are centered around people-centric devices like laptops and cell phones that are insufficient for mobile robots. The key difference is that people-centric devices use wireless connectivity in bursts under primarily stationary settings while mobile robots continuously transmit data even while moving. When mobile robots use existing wireless solutions, it results in intolerable and seemingly random interruptions in wireless connectivity when moving [1]. These wireless issues stem from suboptimal switching across wireless infrastructure access points (APs), also called AP handoffs. These poor handoff decisions are due to stateless handoff algorithms that make wireless decisions solely from immediate and noisy scans of surrounding wireless conditions. In this paper, we propose to overcome these motion-based wireless connectivity issues for autonomous robots using highly informed handoff algorithms that combine fine-grain wireless maps with accurate robot localization. Our results show significant wireless performance improvements for continuously moving robots in real environments without any modifications to the wireless infrastructure.
[3H]phytic acid (inositol hexaphosphate) is absorbed and distributed to various tissues in rats

To understand the mechanism of antineoplastic action of phytic acid, we investigated the absorption and distribution of myo-[inositol-2-3H(N)] hexakisphosphate in rats. The radioactivity was measured in urine, feces, blood, gastrointestinal tract contents and various organs and tissues at 1 and 24 h after intragastric administration. Of the total radioactivity, 79.0 +/- 10.0% was absorbed and at least 26.6% was degraded during the 24-h period following ingestion. The absorption was rapid; 11.0 +/- 2.6% of the radioactivity was detected in the wall of the stomach (4.4 +/- 3.7%) and upper small intestine (6.6 +/- 1.9%), 6.5 +/- 2.6% in the skeletal muscle and 4.0 +/- 1.5% in the skin after 1 h. Much of the radioactivity after 24 h was in the liver (4.0 +/- 0.9%), kidneys (2.2 +/- 1.1%), muscle (18.1 +/- 3.4%) and skin (10.1 +/- 3.3%). Analysis of plasma and urine demonstrated that most of the radioactivity was due to myo-inositol and small amounts of inositol monophosphate (InsP1). Gastric epithelial cells, however, contained inositol and various inositol phosphates (InsP1-6). Our data suggest that soluble InsP6 when administered in drinking water is rapidly absorbed through the stomach and upper small intestine, becomes quickly dephosphorylated within the mucosal cells and is distributed to various organs as inositol and InsP1.
A secure, real-time stock market protocol

Stock markets constitute the largest electronic commerce market in the world. The tremendous growth in trading volume and the need for fast and accurate transaction execution has made the stock market one of the most technology friendly markets. The fastest growing stock exchange, NASDAQ, is a wholly electronic stock exchange with all transactions conducted over computer networks. However, the transaction model used by NASDAQ and other electronic stock markets still borrows heavily from the older traditional models used by non-electronic stock exchanges. Two important requirements of modern day stock market transactions are: (a) customer’s ability to place sophisticated transaction orders to buy/sell stock, and (b) customer’s ability to detect transaction delays. Modern electronic stock exchanges lack both the ability to place newer, more sophisticated transaction orders and the ability to detect delays in transaction execution. In this paper, we propose a protocol for stock market transaction that can model a new sophisticated model for transaction orders while continuing to support traditional transaction orders. The protocol is augmented with a mechanism to detect delays in transaction execution. It is further shown that the protocol proposed is secure, atomic, anonymous, private, and incurs low overhead costs.
The Unbounded Home: Property Values Beyond Property Lines

The Unbounded Home grapples with a core modern reality -- that the value and meaning of a home extend beyond its property lines to schools, shops, parks, services, neighbors, neighborhood aesthetics, and market conditions. The resulting tension between the homeowner's desire for personal autonomy at home and the impulse to control everything that could affect the home's value fuels continual conflict among neighbors and communities. The home's unbounded nature implicates nearly every facet of residential life, from the financial vulnerability of homeowners to the persistence of segregation by race and class. This book shows how innovations that increase the flexibility of property law can address critical issues of neighborhood control and community composition that have been simmering unresolved for decades -- and how homeownership itself can be reinvented to better deliver on its promises.
The Representative-Vector Method for Calculating Operator-Moments

The utility of operator-moments or traces in the various applications of spectral-distribution theory is well-documented in the literature1–6 as well as being the subject of a good many of the papers at this conference. From these references, past and current, it is clear that to take full advantage of the powerful entree that spectral distribution theory offers in nuclear physics, at least, it may be generally necessary to have many moments beyond the first two Hamiltonian moments ‹H› and ‹H2›. In order to calculate, for one example, level densities reliably in the excitation-energy regions of physical interest it is now known that it may be necessary to have the moments ‹J z 2 Hn› and of course ‹Hn› with n ranging as high as 8 or so.6 The subject of this paper is a new method for obtaining these higher moments which is based on the use of random multi-particle vectors, which we call random representative vectors (RRV), in conjunction with an appropriate shell-model space and Hamiltonian. With this method it is possible to calculate average properties of very large spaces with well-defined symmetries by averaging the results over a relatively few RRV’s.
Chemical and biological methods to detect post‐translational modifications of arginine

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of protein embedded arginines are increasingly being recognized as playing an important role in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic biology, and it is now clear that these PTMs modulate a number of cellular processes including DNA binding, gene transcription, protein-protein interactions, immune system activation, and proteolysis. There are currently four known enzymatic PTMs of arginine (i.e., citrullination, methylation, phosphorylation, and ADP-ribosylation), and two non-enzymatic PTMs [i.e., carbonylation, advanced glycation end-products (AGEs)]. Enzymatic modification of arginine is tightly controlled during normal cellular function, and can be drastically altered in response to various second messengers and in different disease states. Non-enzymatic arginine modifications are associated with a loss of metabolite regulation during normal human aging. This abnormally large number of modifications to a single amino acid creates a diverse set of structural perturbations that can lead to altered biological responses. While the biological role of methylation has been the most extensively characterized of the arginine PTMs, recent advances have shown that the once obscure modification known as citrullination is involved in the onset and progression of inflammatory diseases and cancer. This review will highlight the reported arginine PTMs and their methods of detection, with a focus on new chemical methods to detect protein citrullination.
FURTHER STUDIES ON A LABILE IMMUNOGENIC PARTICULATE SUBSTANCE ISOLATED FROM MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS.

Youmans, Anne S. (Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Ill.), and Guy P. Youmans. Further studies on a labile immunogenic particulate substance isolated from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J. Bacteriol. 87:278–285. 1964.—A particulate fraction which was highly immunogenic for mice was collected by ultracentrifugation from mycobacteria disrupted in 0.25 m sucrose buffer. The active immunogenic material was present in the gelatinous pellet obtained after centrifugation at 40,000 rev/min (144,000 × g) for 3 hr. This active material could be prepared free from whole cells and cell walls. This was done either by several centrifugations at lower speeds, or by filtering the supernatant fluid from the 10,000 rev/min centrifugation through a Millipore filter (porosity 0.5 μ). No microorganisms were found on slides or in cultures made from these filtrates. The immunogenic moiety in the particulate fraction was found to be very labile. Temperatures higher than 0 to 4 C inactivated the immunogenic activity. There was an irreversible linear decrease in activity as the temperature increased. If fractions were frozen or lyophilized, the activity remained as high as the original material for 4 weeks, and then rapidly decreased. The immunogenic material also was very sensitive to the hydrogen-ion concentration; the optimal activity was found at pH 6.8 to 7.0. The activity decreased rapidly at more acid or alkaline pH values. Also, particulate fraction prepared in sucrose buffer at pH 7.3 and 7.6 was much less active than that prepared in sucrose buffer at pH 7.0. Immunogenic activity was decreased if the particulate fraction was dialyzed overnight against 0.01 m phosphate buffer or distilled water at 4 C. The detergent sodium lauryl sulfate inactivated immunogenic activity. Moreover, the use of a Waring Blendor to blend the ruptured cell mass before centrifugation decreased the activity. Finally, a markedly lower activity resulted if both the 20,000 and 40,000 rev/min centrifugations were done the day after the rupture of the cells. Some refinements in technique which are used now in the preparation of the particulate fraction are detailed.
Institutional Corruption and the Crisis of Liberal Democracy

The inevitability and stability of liberal democracy is taken for granted in contemporary political discourse, although many of the architects of modern politics viewed democracies as fragile and prone to corruption and disintegration. A close look at the historical record reveals that a number of unique conditions enabled modern democratic states to be economically productive and socially cohesive - conditions that are not inevitable and which must be cultivated outside of the logic of democratic bargaining if the goods we associate with democratic governance are to resist corruption. Two of these conditions are paramount and warrant our attention more than ever today: first, a cultural commitment to “liberal ethics;” and, second, the ability to generate wealth without holding political power. When combined in the right way with democratic institutions these help explain the genius of western prosperity. However, democratic politics inherently generate forces that threaten to undermine these pillars of social cohesion and economic growth. In particular, democracy provides powerful incentives for rent seeking, grandstanding, and unsustainable borrowing. This paper explores the logics that give rise to these three phenomena, and further argues they are aggravated by complexity and the centralization of political power. The corrupting tendencies of democracy can be resisted, this paper concludes, through two principle means: investigative efforts that uncover and communicate abuses, and ideological commitments that limit the scope of political bargaining - both of which are necessary to preserve the “liberal” character of liberal democracies.
Inhibition of Cyclin E–Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 Complex Formation and Activity Is Associated with Cell Cycle Arrest and Withdrawal in Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells

Stimulatory and inhibitory signals regulate cell proliferation through the activity of specific enzymes that operate in distinct phases of the cell cycle. We have studied cell cycle progression, arrest, and withdrawal in the oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) cell model system, focusing on the G 1 phase and G 1 –S transition. Not only were proliferating OPs found to display higher protein levels of cyclin E and D and cyclin-dependent kinases (cdk) 2, 4, and 6 than cells that had permanently withdrawn from the cycle, but the kinase activities of both cyclin D–cdk4/6 and cyclin E–cdk2 were also higher in dividing OPs. This was associated with a decrease in the formation of the cyclin E–cdk2 and cyclin D–cdk4/cyclin D–cdk6 complexes in differentiated oligodendrocytes that had permanently withdrawn from the cell cycle. Reversible cell cycle arrest in G 1 induced by glutamatergic and β-adrenergic receptor activation or cell depolarization, however, did not modify cyclin E and cdk2 protein expression compared with proliferating OPs. Instead, these agents caused a selective decrease in cdk2 activity and an impairment of cyclin E–cdk2 complex formation. Although cyclin D protein levels were higher than in proliferating cells, cyclin D-associated kinase activity was not modified in G 1 -arrested OPs. Analysis in corpus callosum in vivo showed that cyclin E–cdk2 activity increased between postnatal days 3 and 15 and decreased between postnatal days 15 and 30. Our results indicate that the cyclin E–cdk2 complex is a major regulator of OP cell cycle progression and that the cdks involved in reversible cell cycle arrest are distinct from those implicated in permanent cell cycle withdrawal.
Characteristics of Burns Conducted under Modified Prescriptions to Mitigate Limited Fuels in a Semi-Arid Grassland

In semi-arid grasslands of the North American Great Plains, fire has traditionally been viewed as having few management applications, and quantitative measurements of fire behavior in the low fuel loads characteristic of this region are lacking. More recently, land managers have recognized potential applications of prescribed fire to control undesirable plant species and to manage habitat for wildlife in this region. Working in the shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado over a 7-year period, we quantified peak temperatures, heating duration, and heat dosage produced near ground level during prescribed burns conducted under a wide range of fuel loads and weather conditions. We use an information theoretic approach to develop models that predict peak temperature and heat dosage as a function of weather parameters and fuel loads. Under the weather conditions that we examined, successful burns (>80 % of target area burnt) occurred with fuel loads varying from 350 kg ha−1 to 1175 kg ha−1, while burns with fuel loads <350 kg ha−1 generally failed to spread and burned less than 60 % of target areas. Peak temperatures, heat duration, and heat dosage during shortgrass burns: 1) were lower than reported for mixed grass prairies, 2) increased linearly with increasing fuel loads, and 3) were secondarily influenced by wind speed, ambient air temperature, and relative humidity. Compared to desert grassland, heat doses near the ground surface were similar, but peak temperatures were lower and heat duration longer in shortgrass steppe burns. Our findings provide quantitative predictions for heat production from fires in shortgrass steppe near the ground surface, where most plant meristems are located. Based on these relationships, we provide suggestions for burn prescriptions to achieve goals such as reducing abundance of undesirable plant species and providing habitat for native grassland birds.
Mereology without Weak Supplementation

According to the Weak Supplementation Principle (WSP)—a widely received principle of mereology—an object with a proper part, p, has another distinct proper part that doesn't overlap p. In a recent article in this journal, Nikk Effingham and Jon Robson employ WSP in an objection to endurantism. I defend endurantism in a way that bears on mereology in general. First, I argue that denying WSP can be motivated apart from the truth of endurantism. I then go on to offer an explanation of WSP's initial appeal, argue that denying WSP fails to have untoward consequences for the rest of mereology, and show that the falsity of WSP is consistent with a primary guiding thought behind it.
Neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine assessed in three-dimensional reaggregate tissue cultures.

Three-dimensional, rotation-mediated, reaggregate tissue cultures formed from dissociated fetal rostral mesencephalic tegmental (RMT) and corpus striatal (CS) or frontal cortical (FCx) cells were used to study methamphetamine neurotoxicity. Analysis of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels using HPLC techniques revealed decreases in RMT-CS and RMT-FCx reaggregate DA and 5-HT levels after treatment between 14 and 21 days in culture with methamphetamine in concentrations ranging from 10−6 M to 10−3 M. Dopamine cell numbers in RMT-CS and RMT-FCx reaggregates were estimated after visualization by histofluorescent techniques. Methamphetamine treatment caused decreases in DA cell numbers which paralleled the decreases in endogenous DA levels. Estimates of the accumulation of exogenous DA by RMT-CS reaggregates treated with methamphetamine showed that the amount of accumulation per cell remained fairly constant despite marked reductions in total DA cell numbers. This suggests that the reductions in endogenous DA levels following methamphetamine were secondary to loss of entire DA neurons rather than of a portion of the terminal axonal fields in the surviving neurons. Reaggregate tissue cultures are a useful tool in the study of potential neurotoxic effects of new or untested psychotherapeutic agents.
The rapid radiochemical separation of radioactive praseodymium from radioactive cerium.

IN ORDER to determine the half life, the decay scheme and other characteristics of a radioactive nuclide, it is important to obtain a sample of very high radiochemical purity. The time interval from the end of irradiation to the beginning of counting is very important, especially in the measurement of the decay constants of short lived radionuclides. In order to obtain pureshort-lived radioactive cerium and pure short-lived radioactive praseodymium from a praseodymium metal target (99.9 per cent pure) irradiated at the NBS Linac, the following two requirements must be met: (1) the rapid transfer of the target material ; (2) the rapid dissolution and separation of cerium from praseodymium. A procedure was developed to rapidly transfer and separate praseodymium and cerium. The praseodymium metal is dissolved in nitric acid and this solution is then divided into at least two aliquots. Fraction one is used to precipitate cerium (IV) iodate, giving an aqueous phase free of cerium radioactivity. A second fraction is extracted with a 0.7 M solution of hydrogen di-(2 ethylhexyl) orthophosphoric acid (HDEHP) . The cerium (IV) in the organic phase is free of praseodymium radioactivity. The total time of transfer is 5 rain and the time required for the separations is 5 rain. Figure 1 shows the scheme for separating cerium and praseodymium. 147 EXPERIMENTAL
The effects of a single acupuncture treatment in horses with severe recurrent airway obstruction.

Summary Reasons for performing study: Acupuncture may be recommended for horses with ‘heaves’ because it is being increasingly applied to treat human asthma. Therefore, its efficacy was investigated in horses with this asthmalike disease. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a single acupuncture treatment for the relief of airway obstruction in heaves-affected horses. Methods: The efficacy of a single acupuncture treatment was tested in 10 heaves-affected horses, and the effect of removal from the dusty stall environment in 5 heaves-affected horses. Before treatment, horses were stabled to induce airway obstruction and, apart from trips to the laboratory for pulmonary function measurements, they remained stabled for the duration of each treatment. The severity of airway obstruction was quantified by measurement of lung function before treatment (baseline), and at 20, 60, 120 and 240 mins and 24 h after the following treatments administered in random order: halter restraint and patting, a single acupuncture treatment by an experienced acupuncturist, and a single acupuncture treatment using predetermined points (recipe) by a veterinarian with no acupuncture training. In a second study, horses were untreated and remained either in their stall or in a paddock for all measurements of lung function, after baseline readings were made. Results: In the first study, after all treatments, there was a temporal improvement in maximal change in pleural pressure, pulmonary resistance, dynamic compliance, respiratory rate, and tidal volume that lasted less than 24 h. There was no specific effect of acupuncture treatment. In the second study, removal from the dusty environment did not produce an improvement in lung function in the first 6 h. We conclude that most of the improvements in lung function observed in the study were due to handling. Conclusions: Assessed objectively, a single acupuncture treatment during an attack of heaves causes no more improvement in lung function than does handling the horse. Potential relevance: Acupuncture should not replace conventional medical treatments for heaves.
Adenovirus E1A inhibits cardiac myocyte-specific gene expression through its amino terminus.

Adenovirus E1A oncoproteins inhibit muscle-specific gene expression and myogenic differentiation by suppressing the transcriptional activating functions of basic helix-loop-helix proteins. As one approach to identifying cardiac-specific gene regulatory proteins, we analyzed the functional regions of E1A proteins that are required for muscle gene repression in cardiac cells. Myocyte-specific promoters, including the α-actins and α-myosin heavy chain, were selectively and potently inhibited (>90%) by E1A, while the ubiquitously expressed β-actin promoter was only partially (∼30%) repressed; endogenous gene expression was also affected. Distinct E1A protein binding sites mediated repression of muscle-specific and ubiquitous actin promoters. E1A-mediated inhibition of β-actin required both an intact binding site for the tumor repressor proteins pRb and p107 and a second E1A domain (residues 15–35). In contrast, cardiac-specific promoter repression required the E1A amino-terminal residues 2–36. The proximal skeletal actin promoter (3′ to base pair −153) was a target for repression by E1A. Although E1A binding to p300 was not required for inhibition of either promoter, co-expression of p300 partially reversed E1A-mediated transcriptional repression. We conclude that cardiac-specific and general promoter inhibition by E1A occurs by distinct mechanisms and that cardiac-specific gene expression is modulated by cellular factors interacting with the E1A p300/CBP-binding domain.
Information Assurance Education: A Work In Progress

The recognition that we need improved computer security education has increased over the past several years. Recent cyberattacks in Georgia and Estonia exemplify the new threats faced by economies that rely on the Internet. Thus, more people see the need to protect cyberspace-which translates into improving computer security in all aspects of computer use-as crucial for everyone, not merely for those who work with technology. In this column, we reflect on emerging opportunities and challenges in instruction as well as the need for increasing the partnerships among industry, government, and academia to foster mutual understanding of challenges and joint participation in solutions.
Death by design: mechanism and control of apoptosis

Active cellular suicide by apoptosis plays important roles in animal development, tissue homeostasis and a wide variety of diseases, including cancer, AIDS, stroke and many neurodegenerative disorders. A central step in the execution of apoptosis is the activation of an unusual class of cysteine proteases, termed caspases, that are widely expressed as inactive zymogens. Originally, the mechanisms for regulating the caspase-based cell death programme seemed to be different in Caenorhabditis elegans, mammals and insects. However, recent results suggest that these apparent differences in the control of cell death reflect our incomplete knowledge, rather than genuine mechanistic differences between different organisms.
Cued recall of specific memories in children and adults

Abstract The goal of this study was to determine some of the factors that contribute to developmental differences in using cues to retrieve specific memories. Second- and fifth-grade children and college adults were shown adjective noun-noun word stimulus events (e.g., bloody axe-sword), in which the adjectives strongly modified event meaning, and asked acquisition orienting questions that amplified (specific questions) or diluted (category questions) event specification. In addition, the stimuli were presented once only (one trial) or there was a repeated presentation with a constant or varied orienting question on the second presentation. At retrieval, orienting questions were asked of the retrieval cues that were the same as the acquisition questions, semantically related to the acquisition questions, or no questions were asked, and the retrieval cues reinstated the acquisition context (adjective noun cues) or represented the nominal type of event that was experienced (noun cues). The one-trial results showed that the children had less success than the adults using in the adjective noun retrieval cues for no questions and the related questions, relative to same questions, and also that the children used the noun cues particularly ineffectively. The event repetitions modified these patterns in predictable ways. The results suggest that type information may mediate the use of cues to retrieve specific memory tokens, and type information seems more salient in adult than in child event representations in memory.
Randomized, controlled trial of standard-definition white-light, high-definition white-light, and narrow-band imaging colonoscopy for the detection of colon polyps and prediction of polyp histology.

Background Missing adenomas and the inability to accurately differentiate between polyp histology remain the main limitations of standard-definition white-light (SD-WL) colonoscopy. Objective To compare the adenoma detection rates of SD-WL with those of high-definition white-light (HD-WL) and narrow-band imaging (NBI) as well as the accuracy of predicting polyp histology. Design Multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Setting Two academic medical centers in the United States. Patients Subjects undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy. Intervention Subjects were randomized to undergo colonoscopy with one of the following: SD-WL, HD-WL, or NBI. Main Outcome Measurements The proportion of subjects detected with adenomas, adenomas detected per subject, and the accuracy of predicting polyp histology real time. Results A total of 630 subjects were included. The proportion of subjects with adenomas was 38.6% with SD-WL compared with 45.7% with HD-WL and 46.2% with NBI ( P = .17 and P = .14, respectively). Adenomas detected per subject were 0.69 with SD-WL compared with 1.12 with HD-WL and 1.13 with NBI ( P = .016 and P = .014, respectively). HD-WL and NBI detected more subjects with flat and right-sided adenomas compared with SD-WL (all P values P values Limitations Academic medical centers with experienced endoscopists. Conclusions There was no difference in the proportion of subjects with adenomas detected with SD-WL, HD-WL, and NBI. However, HD-WL and NBI detected significantly more adenomas per subject (>60%) compared with SD-WL. NBI had the highest accuracy in predicting adenomas in real time during colonoscopy. (Clinical Trial registration number: NCT 00614770.)
Experimental evaluation of a humanities program

Abstract This research sought to determine the effects of a one-hour humanities lecture concerning midwest architectural preservation on a group of college undergraduates. Effects were assessed by a semantic differential procedure which revealed two factors in a pre-treatment trial. A four-group design required administration of the instrument to two groups one week prior to the lecture, and to all groups one week following the lecture. ANOVA and post hoc analyses revealed significant changes in the experimental group's “semantic space” on three of eight architectural concepts which were assessed. The results provide an empirical basis for the success of the program which the humanities people had “known” all along.
Facing the challenge of unmet needs in asthma

Background As the prevalence of asthma rises, new treatment options are becoming available; however, despite these advances, asthma management continues to be suboptimal in many patients. Objectives To examine asthma control levels, as evaluated by the occurrence of asthma exacerbations (worsening symptoms, rescue medication use, and emergency department visits or hospitalizations), attained using current treatment methods and to assess the effectiveness of treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) alone or combined with long-acting β 2 -agonists (LABAs). Methods Selected studies evaluating the effects of using ICSs alone or combined with LABAs on asthma control were reviewed. Results Most patients with asthma experienced 1 or more exacerbations per year. Findings from the reviewed studies indicate that aiming for total asthma control by increasing the dose of the administered ICS and adding a LABA to a higher dose of an ICS can reduce the proportion of patients experiencing exacerbations to 5%. These findings suggest that prolonged use of high-dose ICSs may offer beneficial results regarding long-term treatment outcomes. However, with increased use at higher doses, the systemic and oropharyngeal safety of ICSs needs to be carefully considered. Conclusions Therapy with ICSs alone or combined with LABAs is effective for the treatment of asthma; however, current prescribing patterns may not optimize the potential of these therapies. A reexamination of treatment regimens and goals for asthma therapy is necessary to improve outcomes for patients.
Deliberation affects risk taking beyond sensation seeking.

We examined the effects of sensation seeking and deliberation on risk taking activities in a large sample of college students. Students were asked to indicate how many times in the past year they had engaged in a number of risk taking activities. We hypothesized that deliberation would account for a unique portion of the variance in risk taking activities with negative outcomes beyond that of sensation seeking. From the pool of risk taking items, we constructed two internally consistent scales to assess risk taking with negative outcomes and risk taking with non-negative outcomes. Sensation seeking was significantly positively correlated with both types of risk taking. Deliberation accounted for a unique portion of the variance in risk taking with negative outcomes, beyond participation in activities with non-negative outcomes and sensation seeking. Deliberation may be a protective factor against choosing risk taking activities with negative outcomes.
Procedures for Detecting Outlying Observations in Samples

Procedures are given for determining statistically whether the highest observation, the lowest observation, the highest and lowest observations, the two highest observations, the two lowest observations, or more of the observations in the sample are statistical outliers. Both the statistical formulae and the application of the procedures to examples are given, thus representing a rather complete treatment of tests for outliers in single samples. This paper has been prepared primarily as an expository and tutorial article on the problem of detecting outlying observations in much experimental work. We cover only tests of significance in thii paper.