cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Core size does not affect blinking behavior of dye-doped Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles for super-resolution microscopy

Dye-doped nanoparticles have been investigated as bright, luminescent labels for super-resolution microscopy via localization methods. One key factor in super-resolution is the size of the luminescent label, which in some cases results in a frame shift between the label target and the label itself. Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles, doped with organic fluorophores, have shown promise as super-resolution labels. One key aspect of these nanoparticles is that they blink under certain conditions, allowing super-resolution localization with a single excitation source in aqueous solution. In this work, we investigated the effects of both the Ag core and the silica (SiO2) shell on the self-blinking properties of these nanoparticles. Both core size and shell thickness were manipulated by altering the reaction time to determine core and shell effects on photoblinking. Size and shell thickness were investigated individually under both dry and hydrated conditions and were then doped with a 1 mM solution of Rhodamine 110 for analysis. We observed that the cores themselves are weakly luminescent and are responsible for the blinking observed in the fully-synthesized metal-enhanced fluorescence nanoparticles. There was no statistically significant difference in photoblinking behavior—both intensity and duty cycle—with decreasing core size. This observation was used to synthesize smaller nanoparticles ranging from approximately 93 nm to 110 nm as measured using dynamic light scattering. The blinking particles were localized via super-resolution microscopy and show single particle self-blinking behavior. As the core size did not impact blinking performance or intensity, the nanoparticles can instead be tuned for optimal size without sacrificing luminescence properties.
Perceptions of Breastfeeding for Women with Perinatal Depression: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study.

Women with perinatal depression have an increased risk for breastfeeding cessation, yet few studies have explored their lived experience. In this qualitative study, semistructured interviews were c...
Tracheal A-Frame Deformities Following Airway Reconstruction.

OBJECTIVES Airway reconstruction for subglottic and tracheal stenosis is often successful in achieving tracheostomy decannulation and improving airway symptoms. However, one common reason for late failure is development of a tracheal A-frame deformity, which can necessitate additional surgery. Although knowledge of this deformity exists, the incidence and risk factors have not been reported. This study seeks to determine the incidence of A-frame following airway reconstruction and define factors that correlate with development of this deformity. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS Patients under 21 years of age undergoing open airway reconstruction at our institution between January 2005-December 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, comorbidities, airway history/reconstruction type, and follow-up airway findings were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to examine time to A-frame repair. RESULTS Two hundred patients underwent airway reconstruction and 69 (34.5%) developed an A-frame deformity. History of tracheostomy was the most significant contributor to A-frame development (P < .0001). Double- versus single-stage procedures were not associated with increased odds of A-frame development (P = .94), however, patients undergoing resection procedures as opposed to laryngotracheal reconstruction (LTR) with cartilage grafts had a significantly lower chance of developing this deformity (P = .004). Of the patients with an A-frame, 27 (39%) required further surgical intervention. CONCLUSION Approximately one-third of patients undergoing airway reconstruction developed a tracheal A-frame deformity, with a significantly higher rate among patients with a history of tracheostomy and those undergoing LTR. Patients should be followed long term to assess for the development of an A-frame. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV Laryngoscope, 131:E1363-E1368, 2021.
Generalized Dystonia Treated With Deep Brain Stimulator: An Institutional Single Surgeon Experience.

Introduction Dystonia can cause severe disability when left untreated. Once a patient has exhausted medical management, surgical intervention may be the only treatment option. Although not curative, deep brain stimulation has been shown to be beneficial for patients affected by this condition. Our study sought to review patients undergoing deep brain stimulation for medically refractory dystonia to assess outcomes. Methods Our institution's operative database was reviewed retrospectively for all patients undergoing deep brain stimulator placement over the last six years. These medical records were reviewed for the severity of dystonia preoperatively and followed postoperatively for 24 months, focusing on the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS). Patients with less than two-year postoperative follow-up were excluded from the study. The patients were further stratified by age into Group A, consisting of patients less than 40 years old, and Group B, patients greater than or equal to 40 years old. Other attributes such as age, sex, age of disease onset, disease duration at the time of surgery, genetic tests for dystonia-related genes, and any complication associated with surgery were also reviewed. Results Four hundred fifty-five operative cases for deep brain stimulator placement were reviewed, and 16 patients met inclusion criteria for the study. The mean age for our patient cohort was 43.75 years, with four males and 12 females. The average time from the age of disease onset to time of surgery was 9.7 years for Group A and 10.8 years for Group B; the overall average was 10.3 years. All patients had globus pallidus interna (GPi) as their surgical target. The first incidence of a statistically significant decrease in BFMDRS score was noted at three months postoperatively (p<0.001) when compared to preoperative values. Fourteen patients in our cohort underwent preoperative genetic testing for DYT gene mutations, out of which four were found to have a mutation. Conclusion Our review of outcomes for primary generalized dystonia at our institution found that deep brain stimulator targeting the GPi is safe and effective. We found an overall 88% response rate with younger patients (< 40-year-old) showing a better response at two years than older patients.
Semi-classical limit of an inverse problem for the Schr\"odinger equation

It is a classical derivation that the Wigner equation, derived from the Schrodinger equation that contains the quantum information, converges to the Liouville equation when the rescaled Planck constant $\epsilon\to0$. Since the latter presents the Newton's second law, the process is typically termed the (semi-)classical limit. In this paper, we study the classical limit of an inverse problem for the Schrodinger equation. More specifically, we show that using the initial condition and final state of the Schrodinger equation to reconstruct the potential term, in the classical regime with $\epsilon\to0$, becomes using the initial and final state to reconstruct the potential term in the Liouville equation. This formally bridges an inverse problem in quantum mechanics with an inverse problem in classical mechanics.
Effects of Individual Differences, Attention, and Memory Deficits on Driver Distraction:

The current study was designed to empirically examine the effects of individual differences in attention and memory deficits on driver distraction. Forty-eight participants consisting of 37 non-ADH...
Religious Movements and FBOs: The Climate Threat and COVID-19

Significant faith-based movements have mobilized around religious freedom, opposition to abortion, opposition to or support for LGBT rights, civilians’ safety in Darfur, sanctuary for immigrants, and debt relief. These and other movements, some with mass support, offer lessons about how faith communities help and hinder individual mobilization. Nelson examines US faith-based NGOs’ (FBO) responses to crisis issues in 2020—climate, COVID-19, and racial justice—and shows that most FBOs avoid linking their advocacy on development policy to high-profile national issues. Nelson argues that if FBOs are to contribute to mobilizing a moral voice among people of faith, they may have to extend their advocacy voice beyond relatively narrow development policy issues to engage with these moral, existential challenges.
Discourses of evaluation: Institutional logics and organizational practices among international development agencies

Abstract For several decades, the aid effectiveness movement has called for more robust, informed and independent impact evaluation of aid activities, but the prevalence and adoption of these practices remain unclear. This article seeks to understand the current state of impact evaluation practice in the development field by examining standard-setting documents intended to guide the behavior of entities involved in development assistance. We explore these standards as representations of institutional logics that encode current norms, practices, and expectations for these actors and examine the extent to which impact evaluation norms and practices are enshrined within these standard-setting documents. To do so, we examine guidance from a diverse set of 42 standards to better understand how evaluation is conceptualized and what standards are being articulated. We find both convergence and divergence in the institutional logics employed and in how evaluation norms and practices are incorporated into standards. We see convergence in the adoption of a normative, process-oriented logic that appears across many entities in the widely articulated commitment to practices such as information sharing, participation, and listening. We find more divergence in the adoption of a results-oriented logic that implies a commitment to impact evaluation. These distinct logics give rise to two discrete discourses: an “evaluation generalist” discourse that conceptualizes evaluation in broad terms and an “impact centric” discourse that articulates a more comprehensive set of principles emphasizing causal attribution. We suggest that structural characteristics and positionality in the aid system may help explain the adoption of different institutional logics and associated evaluation practices.
A qualitative meta-synthesis of common and unique preferences for supportive services among persons with young onset dementia and their caregivers:

Background and ObjectivesYoung onset dementias (young onset dementia) produce a myriad of stressors for persons with young onset dementia and their caregivers, yet there is a critical shortage of s...
Cooperative patching: a client based P2P architecture for supporting continuous live video streaming

We propose a cooperative patching architecture to achieve continuous live video streaming to a set of cooperative but unreliable end hosts. In this design, each end host caches an initial portion of the video content before playback. It then keeps the video that has been played out for a certain time before discarding it. An end host maintains a list of patching parents, and retrieves lost data from one of its patching parents. Any end host that has the requested video content can be a patching parent. Several parent selection algorithms are proposed and evaluated in this paper. This architecture relieves server load by completely shifting video patching responsibility to the client side. Video content is replicated in multiple locations across the overlay network to provide fast and timely data recovery. Cooperative patching is especially advantageous for legacy video systems, since it does not require modification of the video server. Simulation experiments demonstrate that our design can achieve continuous video streaming with moderate cost
Prostaglandin E2 inhibits the large-conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ channels in guinea pig urinary bladder smooth muscle (865.7)

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an important signaling molecule that has been shown to be involved in the regulation of urinary bladder smooth muscle (UBSM) contractility in both rodents and humans. How...
G. C. Lichtenberg: Dreams, Jokes, and the Unconscious in Eighteenth-Century Germany

The German physicist and writer Lichtenberg (1742-1799) was well known during the nineteenth century as a humorist, thinker, and psychologist. He was also a favorite author of Freud, who read him beginning in his teens, quoted him frequently, and called him a "remarkable psychologist." Despite this, he has been ignored by psychoanalysts and historians of psychiatry alike, and most of his writing is still unavailable in English. An introduction to Lichtenberg as a psychologist is provided, stressing material dealing with dream analysis, association theory, and drives. Relevant excerpts are translated into English. Lichtenberg is shown to have insisted upon the need for a systematic and rationalistic study of dreams, to have analyzed individual dreams (describing them as dramatized representations of thoughts, associations, and even conflicts from his own waking life), and to have emphasized the functional link between dreams and daydreams. His remarks on drives and commentary on eighteenth-century association theory represent a significant practical application, and thus refinement, of Enlightenment rationalistic psychology. These achievements are assessed in light of Freud's early fascination with him; it is argued that Lichtenberg is an example of the relevance of the historical and cultural background of psychoanalysis to clinical practice.
Subsite Specificity of Porcine Pepsin

The specificity of porcine pepsin toward small synthetic substrates has been extensively investigated (1–4), but only a few papers have dealt with the specificity of this enzyme toward polypeptide or protein substrates. Tang analyzed cleavage sites of 4 proteins by pepsin and concluded that the enzyme possessed a hydrophobic binding site (5). In addition, bonds split by pepsin in seven peptides or proteins of established sequence have been summarized by Hill (6). In neither study was the sample size large enough to yield any information other than the primary specificity of pepsin. Antonov and his coworkers (7) recently reported a more extensive analysis of pepsin specificity toward protein substrates and concluded that the enzyme possessed five subsites.
Higher Education Reforms in India

The number of institutions and enrollment in higher education continue their rapid growth, but the quality of this education remains uncertain. A small number of state-subsidized institutions attract a thin top layer of talent from each year’s cohort. High selectivity of admission to these elite institutions provides a screen valued by potential employers. Domestic and foreign demand for the services of these few thousand students has created an inflated reputation of the overall quality of India’s higher education. The number of such graduates remains small relative to the population and the demands of India’s economy for educated manpower. Reliable estimates of value-added by higher education, beyond the screening value of admission to elite institutions, are needed to assess colleges and universities, and to guide educational policy. Graduate education — the seed farm of higher education and scholarship — continues in an alarming state of disarray with respect to both quality and quantity. Pressed by budgetary constraints, the government appears to have decided on profit-oriented privatization of higher education as the solution. Political and business classes, with significant overlap between the two, see higher education as a source of lucrative private returns on investment. There is little theoretical or empirical evidence that supports the prospects of success of a for-profit model in building quality higher education. Some recent proposals hold promise of radical reform and renovation, including regulatory restructuring. It remains unclear whether the government has the wisdom, determination, financing, and power to push reforms past the resistance from entrenched faculty and from the political and business classes.
A task-oriented vision system

Recently, biologically inspired vision systems have been the focus of intense research effort to emulate the high energy-efficiency, performance and robustness of mammalian vision systems. However, previous vision accelerators have only focused on speeding up computationally intense portions of the system without exploiting effects seen in the human brain that demonstrate the task influence in the vision mechanism. In this paper, we propose a task-oriented two-level vision system which is composed of Saliency and SURF. To the best of our knowledge, our design is the first embedded system that utilizes task influence in the computation of visual attention and recognition. As a result, we show that the new system can achieve at most 12.75% accuracy improvement while saving 25% computation work.
Membrane estradiol signaling in the brain.

While the physiology of membrane-initiated estradiol signaling in the nervous system has remained elusive, a great deal of progress has been made toward understanding the activation of cell signaling. Membrane-initiated estradiol signaling activates G proteins and their downstream cascades, but the identity of membrane receptors and the proximal signaling mechanism(s) have been more difficult to elucidate. Mounting evidence suggests that classical intracellular estrogen receptor-α (ERα) and ERβ are trafficked to the membrane to mediate estradiol cell signaling. Moreover, an interaction of membrane ERα and ERβ with metabotropic glutamate receptors has been identified that explains the pleomorphic actions of membrane-initiated estradiol signaling. This review focuses on the mechanism of actions initiated by membrane estradiol receptors and discusses the role of scaffold proteins and signaling cascades involved in the regulation of nociception, sexual receptivity and the synthesis of neuroprogesterone, an important component in the central nervous system signaling.
Vascular Resection and Reconstruction for Pancreatic Malignancy: A Single Center Survival Study

Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in the USA. Recently, several centers have introduced portal and superior mesenteric vein resection and reconstruction during extended pancreatectomy, rendering the previously inoperable cases resectable. The aim of this study is to confirm whether patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer and mesenteric vascular invasion can be cured with extended pancreatectomy with vascular reconstruction (VR) and to compare their survival to patients treated with pancreatectomy without VR and those treated without resection (palliation). Survival of 22 patients who underwent pancreatectomy with VR was compared with two control groups: 54 patients who underwent pancreatectomy without the need for VR and 28 patients whose pre-operative imaging suggested resectability but whose laparotomy indicated inoperability. A slight survival benefit was noted in patients who did not require VR (33.5%) compared to those who did require VR [20%, p = 0.18], although not reaching statistical significance. Despite a low 15% three-year survival in patients treated palliatively, this was not statistically different compared to survival after resection with VR (P = 0.23). The presence of nodal metastasis was associated with worse survival (p = 0.006), and the use of adjuvant therapy was associated with better survival (p = 0.001). Pancreatic cancers that require VR to completely resect the tumor have a similar survival to those not requiring VR. Long-term survival was achievable in approximately 1 out 5 patients requiring VR, although we were not able to demonstrate statistically improved survival compared to palliative care.
The symbolic and object play of children with autism: a review

The unique characteristics of autistic children's symbolic and object play are presented and discussed in the context of a literature review covering research since 1964. Several theoretical issues are highlighted: the relationship of play in facilitating language and cognition, play as an intervention, and play as an assessment tool. Difficulties in research methodology due to pooling autistic and schizophrenic subject are raised, as well as possible difficulties inherent in ignoring severity levels within the autistic population. The appropriateness of play therapy is questioned, and evidence is presented to provide encouragement for further inquiry into the study of autistic play.
Peter F. Drucker's vision in public management 2000

Despite Peter F. Drucker's reputation as one of the nation's foremost social philosophers, public administration scholars have yet to explore the possible implications of his thought for the future of public management in the year 2000. This article seeks to fill this gap. The central theme of this essay is that Drucker's vision of public management's future can be uncovered from shards of his voluminous writings, extrapolated to the public sector, and encapsulated in six interlocking propositions: (1) Management began in the corporate sphere but is a benefaction to all societies, including Third World countries, which develop large organizations. (2) Management, despite its origin, is generic in its scope, adaptable to all organizations subject to some cultural limits, and thus transferable to the public domain whose use of it enhances prosperity and peace at home and abroad. (3) Managers in all sectors constitute elites, classes of experts best qualified to run bureaucracies of all kinds and likely to b...
Lung Cancer and History of Pulmonary Tuberculosis among the U.S. Elderly

Purpose The complex processes of inflammatory response induced by pulmonary tuberculosis may increase the risk for lung cancer. We conducted a registry-based case-control study to test this hypothesis. Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database was used to examine the association of lung cancer and history of tuberculosis among persons aged 65 and older. We identified lung cancer cases from SEER registries and frequency-matched population-based controls sampled from Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare claims data were used to identify inpatient and outpatient records of tuberculosis. We analyzed the association between case-control status and tuberculosis using logistic regression models adjusted for sex, age group, race, SEER registry, and year of diagnosis/selection. We also assessed the association with larynx and bladder cancers as a comparison, because these two types of cancers are not known to be related to tuberculosis. Results We identified 107,389 lung cancer cases and the same number of controls. Odds of having tuberculosis within the past 15 years were 4.2 times higher among cases than controls (95% CI 3.5–5.1). The association was stronger when history of tuberculosis was defined in terms of inpatient claims (OR = 4.7) compared to outpatient claims (OR = 3.8). The association was strongest in the year preceding lung cancer diagnosis (OR = 10.4), but was still significant in the 1–10 year period prior (OR = 2.5, p Conclusion History of tuberculosis seems to be associated with increased lung cancer risk. The stronger association in the year prior to cancer diagnosis suggests ascertainment bias. We were not able to adjust for smoking, which may be a confounder (based on increased odds of tuberculosis for larynx cancer). The possible etiologic association between tuberculosis and lung cancer needs to be clarified.
"Blastokinin": inducer and regulator of blastocyst development in the rabbit uterus.

A protein fraction that induces blastulation of rabbit morula and stimulates blastocyst development has been isolated from the uterus of the rabbit at early pregnancy. Partial purification of this fraction indicates that the activity is restricted to a single homogeneous protein component. The term "blastokinin" is proposed to describe the compound.
Influence of harvest date on the nutritive value and ensiling characteristics of maize stover

In Experiment 1, for three years, triplicate samples of maize plants were collected at varying intervals from 3 weeks pre- to 5 weeks post-physiological maturity and were analyzed as the whole stover or its stalk, leaf, husk and cob fractions. The concentration of digestible dry matter in vitro (IVDDM) in stover was negatively correlated with grain yield (r=−0.62) and the grain-to-stover ratio (r=−0.77), which varied with year and harvest date. The concentrations of IVDDM and crude protein (CP) decreased (P<0.01) linearly with later harvest. The concentration of total non-structural carbohydrates (TNC) decreased linearly with later harvest in years 1 and 3, but increased in year 2 (day × year, P<0.01). Changes in the concentrations of neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and cellulose (CE) were inversely related to those of TNC. Although the concentration of acid detergent lignin (ADL) increased linearly (P<0.05) with later harvest, there was no change in the ADL:NDF ratio. Changes in the concentrations of TNC, NDF, ADF, ADL and IVDDM of the silages produced in polyethylene bags from the stover harvested in years 2 and 3 were similar to those observed in their respective forages before ensiling. The concentrations of lactic acid and total volatile fatty acids in the stover silages decreased (P<0.01) with later harvest. Although the concentrations of IVDDM decreased (P<0.05) in all the morphological fractions of the stover, significant rates of loss in the amount of IVDDM were only observed from the leaves and cobs. In Experiment 2, stover silage which was produced 17 days post-physiological maturity had a higher (P<0.05) concentration of CP and lower (P<0.05) concentrations of DM, ADF, ADL and CE than did stover silage harvested 14 days later. Heifers fed on the early-harvested stover silage tended to have greater daily gains and required less feed per kg gain (P<0.05) than did heifers fed on the late-harvested stover silage.
Single cell analysis in Vivo

Whole tissue can grow from a single stem cell, so can cancer. I will discuss recent efforts to study the biology of single cells in live animals. Article not available.
Lacunary series and Tauberian-type hypotheses

In this article, we introduce some Tauberian-type conditions and prove variants of Hardy-Littlewood’s high indices theorem for certain classes of series.
Extended hypoxia in the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, increases survival but causes sub-lethal effects.

Many insects are tolerant of hypoxic conditions, but survival may come at a cost to long-term health. The alfalfa leaf-cutting bee, Megachile rotundata, develops in brood cells inside natural cavities, and may be exposed to hypoxic conditions for extended periods of time. Whether M. rotundata is tolerant of hypoxia, and whether exposure results in sub-lethal effects, has never been investigated. Overwintering M. rotundata prepupae were exposed to 10%, 13%, 17%, 21% and 24% O2 for 11 months. Once adults emerged, five indicators of quality - emergence weight, body size, feeding activity, flight performance, and adult longevity, - were measured to determine whether adult bees that survived past exposure to hypoxia were competent pollinators. M. rotundata prepupae are tolerant of hypoxic condition and have higher survival rates in hypoxia, than in normoxia. Under hypoxia, adult emergence rates did not decrease over the 11 months of the experiment. In contrast, bees reared in normoxia had decreased emergence rates by 8 months, and were dead by 11 months. M. rotundata prepupae exposed to extended hypoxic conditions had similar emergence weight, head width, and cross-thorax distance compared to bees reared in standard 21% oxygen. Despite no significant morphological differences, hypoxia-exposed bees had lower feeding rates and shorter adult lifespans. Hypoxia may play a role in post-diapause physiology of M. rotundata, with prepupae showing better survival under hypoxic conditions. Extended exposure to hypoxia, while not fatal, causes sub-lethal effects in feeding rates and longevity in the adults, indicating that hypoxia tolerance comes at a cost.
Preliminary profile of the Cryptosporidium parvum genome: an expressed sequence tag and genome survey sequence analysis.

Cryptosporidium parvum is a protozoan enteropathogen that infects humans and animals and causes a pronounced diarrheal disease that can be life-threatening in immunocompromised hosts. No specific chemo- or immunotherapies exist to treat cryptosporidiosis and little molecular information is available to guide development of such therapies. To accelerate gene discovery and identify genes encoding potential drug and vaccine targets we constructed sporozoite cDNA and genomic DNA sequencing libraries from the Iowa isolate of C. parvum and determined approximately 2000 sequence tags by single-pass sequencing of random clones. Together, the 567 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and 1507 genome survey sequences (GSSs) totaled one megabase (1 mb) of unique genomic sequence indicating that approximately 10% of the 10.4 mb C. parvum genome has been sequence tagged in this gene discovery expedition. The tags were used to search the public nucleic acid and protein databases via BLAST analyses, and 180 ESTs (32%) and 277 GSSs (18%) exhibited similarity with database sequences at smallest sum probabilities P(N) or =6)/(TTA)(> or =6) and (TA)(> or = 10)/(AT)(> or =10 ) being the most prevalent, occurring 40 and 15 times, respectively. Various cellular RNAs and their genes were also identified including the small and large ribosomal RNAs, five tRNAs, the U2 small nuclear RNA, and the small and large virus-like, double-stranded RNAs. This investigation has demonstrated that survey sequencing is an efficient procedure for gene discovery and genome characterization and has identified and sequence tagged many C. parvum genes encoding potential therapeutic targets.
Using visual analytics model for pattern matching in surveillance data

In a persistent surveillance system huge amount of data is collected continuously and significant details are labeled for future references. In this paper a method to summarize video data as a result of identifying events based on these tagged information is explained, leading to concise description of behavior within a section of extended recordings. An efficient retrieval of various events thus becomes the foundation for determining a pattern in surveillance system observations, both in its extended and fragmented versions. The patterns consisting of spatiotemporal semantic contents are extracted and classified by application of video data mining on generated ontology, and can be matched based on analysts interest and rules set forth for decision making. The proposed extraction and classification method used in this paper uses query by example for retrieving similar events containing relevant features, and is carried out by data aggregation. Since structured data forms majority of surveillance information this Visual Analytics model employs KD-Tree approach to group patterns in variant space and time, thus making it convenient to identify and match any abnormal burst of pattern detected in a surveillance video. Several experimental video were presented to viewers to analyze independently and were compared with the results obtained in this paper to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Valence-band spectra of tin oxides interpreted by X α calculations

The two tin oxides, SnO and ${\mathrm{SnO}}_{2}$, are not easily distinguished by their core x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic regions, but have significantly different valence-band regions. In addition, significant differences exist in the separations between the near-core region and the valence-band region. These differences are well explained by X\ensuremath{\alpha} calculations.
The effect of substituent groups on polymer conformation in good solvent: polyoctene and polydecene

The influence of the size of the side group is a key parameter for understanding the local rigidity of soluble conjugated polymers. We report an additional experimental proof with a light scattering study upon very simple saturated polymers with different side group extension : polyoctene and polydecene. The results show an unambiguous relation between the statistical length and the size of the side group. We also show that the magnitude of the statistical length is not the relevant parameter for describing the optical properties of the conjugated polymers in solution.
Skew-Aware Join Optimization for Array Databases

Science applications are accumulating an ever-increasing amount of multidimensional data. Although some of it can be processed in a relational database, much of it is better suited to array-based engines. As such, it is important to optimize the query processing of these systems. This paper focuses on efficient query processing of join operations within an array database. These engines invariably ``chunk'' their data into multidimensional tiles that they use to efficiently process spatial queries. As such, traditional relational algorithms need to be substantially modified to take advantage of array tiles. Moreover, most n-dimensional science data is unevenly distributed in array space because its underlying observations rarely follow a uniform pattern. It is crucial that the optimization of array joins be skew-aware. In addition, owing to the scale of science applications, their query processing usually spans multiple nodes. This further complicates the planning of array joins. In this paper, we introduce a join optimization framework that is skew-aware for distributed joins. This optimization consists of two phases. In the first, a logical planner selects the query's algorithm (e.g., merge join), the granularity of the its tiles, and the reorganization operations needed to align the data. The second phase implements this logical plan by assigning tiles to cluster nodes using an analytical cost model. Our experimental results, on both synthetic and real-world data, demonstrate that this optimization framework speeds up array joins by up to 2.5X in comparison to the baseline.
Effect of chemical weathering on the RbSr date of feldspar in neogene till, Mount Fleming, South Victoria Land, Antarctica

Abstract Cenozoic till deposits occur in presently ice-free areas at high elevations in the Transantarctic Mountains. These tills could have been deposited by local ice caps that no longer exist, or by ancestral outlet glaciers of the Antarctic ice sheet. Because the possible sources of the sediment differ significantly in age, RbSr dates of detrital feldspar in till can be used to evaluate these hypotheses. However, chemical weathering products adversely affect RbSr dates and must be removed to obtain dates that reflect the time of formation of the feldspar and, hence, the provenance of the sediment. A feldspar-quartz concentrate of till from Mr. Fleming was cleaned ultrasonically in 36 incremental steps for a total of 85 hr. in order to remove weathering products from the feldspar. Aliquots of the feldspar grains and the weathering products removed from them were collected after each cleaning step for SEM, XRD and RbSr analysis. Illite is the primary weathering product of K-feldspar; kaolinite forms from plagioclase, and gibbsite seems to occupy the outermost layer on both feldspars. The average total thickness of the altered layer is 4.5μm. Progressive cleaning causes the position of the feldspar on a RbSr isochron diagram to move in a way that affects the date derived from it. Illite has the greatest effect and causes RbSr dates of weathered feldspar to be lowered. The presence of an X-ray amorphous precursor of illite apparently has no effect on the RbSr date. Cleaned feldspar from Mt. Fleming till yields a date of 506 Ma, which is similar to the age of the granitic basement rock of the Transantarctic Mountains. There is no evidence that the till contains feldspar from other sources. We conclude that deeply weathered feldspar should be ultrasonically cleaned for at least 30 hr. to remove the alteration products that affect the RbSr date.
Zinc-porphyrin Solvation in Folded and Unfolded States of Zn-cytochrome c

After a brief review of the use of photochemical triggers and heme metal substitution to probe the folding dynamics of cytochrome c, we present new results on the photophysics and photochemistry of folded and unfolded states of the zinc-substituted protein (Zn-cyt c). Our measurements of Zn-cyt c triplet state decay kinetics reveal a systematic isotope effect on lifetimes: the decay in the folded protein (τ_H_2_O ∼ 10 ms) is only modestly affected by isotopically substituted buffers (k_H_2_O/k_D_2_O = 1.2), whereas a reduced triplet lifetime (∼1.3 ms) and greater isotope effect (1.4) were found for the chemically denatured, fully unfolded protein. The shortest lifetime (0.1−0.4 ms) and greatest isotope effect (1.5) were found for a fully exposed model compound, zinc-substituted N-acetyl-microperoxidase-8 (ZnAcMP8), implying that the unfolded protein provides some protection to the Zn-porphyrin group even under fully denaturing conditions. Further evidence for partial structure in unfolded Zn-cyt c comes from bimolecular quenching experiments using Ru(NH_3)_6^(3+) as an external Zn-porphyrin triplet state quencher. In the presence of quencher, partially unfolded protein at midpoint guanidinium chloride (GdmCl) and urea concentrations exhibits biphasic triplet decay kinetics, a fast component corresponding to an extended, solvent-exposed state (6.6 × 10^8 M^(-1) s^(-1) in GdmCl, 6.3 × 10^8 M^(-1) s^(-1) in urea) and a slow component attributable to a compact, relatively solvent-inaccessible, state (5.9 × 10^7 M^(-1) s^(-1) in GdmCl, 8.6 × 10^6 M^(-1) s^(-1) in urea). The variation in Zn-porphyrin solvation for the compact states in the two denaturants reveals that the cofactor in the partially unfolded protein is better protected in urea solutions.
The Cleveland Clinic Rotodynamic Pump Program.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation has developed a unique rotodynamic blood pump for future use as a permanent implant. This pump is small (2.5 ± 2.5 inches) and requires an electric input power of 7 watts to produce 5 L/min of blood flow against 100 mm Hg at 3,000 rpm. Initial in vivo testing has confirmed in vitro function and shown low hemolysis. Endurance bench testing has exceeded 12 months of continuous function. This pump is the basis of an innovative ventricular assist system in which power is supplied by a tranocutaneous electrical transmission system, and pacer technology is used for both control logic and telemetry functions. The resulting system will be completed and tested under an NHLBI contract during the next 5 years.
Determination of dissolved oxygen in photosynthetic systems by nitroxide spin-probe broadening.

Abstract Concentrations of dissolved oxygen were monitored by following the width of the midfield line of the electron spin resonance spectrum of a nitroxide spin-probe. Measurements of peak-to-trough widths of first derivative spectra yielded accurate data over a high range of O2 concentrations (up to 5 m m ). Continuous traces of second harmonic line heights yielded similar results and proved to be advantageous for kinetic measurements, but were nonlinear and less sensitive at O2 levels above 2 m m . Photosynthetic oxygen evolution and respiratory oxygen uptake in the cyanobacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum were thus examined over a broad range of oxygen concentrations. Upon prolonged (>1 min) illumination, effects of photooxidative damage to both photosynthesis and respiration were demonstrated in the same experimental system. With the addition of an impermeable paramagnetic broadening agent, rapid transients in intracellular concentrations of dissolved O2 also could be measured.
New systolic architectures for inversion and division in GF(2/sup m/)

We present two systolic architectures for inversion and division in GF(2/sup m/) based on a modified extended Euclidean algorithm. Our architectures are similar to those proposed by others in that they consist of two-dimensional arrays of computing cells and control cells with only local intercell connections and have O(m/sup 2/) area-time product. However, in comparison to similar architectures, both our architectures have critical path delays that are smaller, gate counts that range from being considerably smaller to only slightly larger, and latencies that are identical for inversion but somewhat larger for division. One architecture uses an adder or an (m+l)-bit ring counter inside each control cell, while the other architecture distributes the ring counters into the computing cells, thereby reducing each control cell to just two gates.
Databasing Molecular Identities of Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Clones Constructed with Microsatellite (SSR) DNA Markers

This paper reports the development of the first SSR marker-based sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) molecular identity database in the world. Since 2005, 1,025 sugarcane clones were genotyped, including 811 Louisiana, 45 Florida, 39 Texas, 130 foreign, and eight consultant/seed company clones. Genotyping was done on a fluorescence-capillary electrophoresis detection platform involving 21 highly polymorphic SSR markers that could potentially amplify 144 distinctive DNA fragments. Genotyping data were processed with the GeneMapper? software to reveal electrophoregrams that were manually checked against the 144 fragments. The presence (A) or absence (C) of these 144 fragments in any sugarcane clone was recorded in an affixed sequence order as a DNAMAN® file to represent its molecular identity being achieved into a local molecular identity database. The molecular identity database has been updated annually by continued genotyping of newly assigned sugarcane clones. The database provides molecular descriptions for new cultivar registration articles, enables sugarcane breeders to identify mis-labeled sugarcane clones in crossing programs and determine the paternity of cross progeny, and ensures the desired cultivars are grown in farmers’ fields.
Synovial haemangioma of the knee joint

Synovial haemangioma of joints are rare, but usually affect the knee joints of children and adolescents. Recurrent swelling, usually due to haemarthrosis, and intermittent pain may be present for a long time before the diagnosis is made. In this case report the common features of the condition are described, with emphasis on the occurrence of atraumatic haemarthrosis in children. The value of arthroscopy in diagnosis is discussed.
CRYOPROTECTANTS PRESERVE QUALITY OF RESTRUCTURED TROUT PRODUCTS FOLLOWING FREEZE–THAW CYCLING

The cryoprotective action of 8% sucrose/sorbitol, 8% trehalose, 8% trehalose/sorbitol and 2% sodium lactate was measured in restructured trout products after 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 freeze–thaw (FT) cycles (–20C; 8 h and 3C; 16 h). Sucrose/sorbitol, trehalose and trehalose/sorbitol minimized thaw loss and toughening of restructured products following FT cycling. Trehalose and trehalose/sorbitol have the potential to replace sucrose/sorbitol. Products containing sodium lactate were firmer and tougher, especially after three FT cycles, and this effect suggests that sodium lactate cannot be substituted for sucrose/sorbitol to stabilize protein denaturation that results from repeated freezing and thawing. Sodium lactate reduced bacterial growth and lipid oxidation, and it did not affect color of raw, restructured products.
Further studies of an inactive form of a trypsin-like enzyme in rabbit testes

Abstract An inactive form of rabbit testicular trypsin-like activity was partially purified utilizing acid pH conditions for extraction, dialysis, and Sephadex gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. An inhibitor of the testicular trypsin-like activity was separated from the inactive form, but the latter still remained inactive until incubation with bovine pancreatic trypsin or “autoactivation” at pH 8. “Autoactivation” followed a sigmoidal time course and was not reversible. These results suggest the existence of a zymogen form of rabbit testicular trypsin-like activity.
A large glycoprotein of Moloney leukemia virus derived from interferon-treated cells.

Summary Moloney murine leukemia virus produced in interferon-treated mouse thymus and bone marrow cells has a high particle to infectivity ratio (1, 2). This virus contains a prominent glycoprotein with a molecular weight of about 85,000. This large glycoprotein is only a very minor component of Moloney leukemia virus produced in control TB cells and may be an uncleaved precursor to gp 69–71 (3, 4).
The range of autonomy: Informed consent in medicine

On the basis of the characterization of autonomy set out by Beauchamp and Childress in Principles of Biomedical Ethics, we first explore some of the parameters along which autonomy may vary in degree through a series of hypothetical examples drawn from various settings; and, second and in more detail, we examine how the range of autonomy is affected through informed consent to various medical diagnostic tests. Our conclusions are (1) that there are significant implications for patient autonomy inherent in new and forthcoming diagnostic modalities, and (2) that attention should be paid to these implications in formulating policies for both clinical practice and research. We close with (a) some specific policy recommendations for clinical practice and research, and (b) some metaphysical speculations raised by our explorations.
Electricity substitution: some local industrial evidence

Substitution elasticities between electricity, production and non-production labor, and capital in Alabama's textiles, paper, chemicals and primary metals industries are estimated. There is generally weak substitution between inputs and declining shares of production labor. Textiles exhibit a trend toward more capital intensive techniques. All outputs are biased away from electricity. Electricity demand is price inelastic, which implies regulatory constraints are binding.
Beta-lipotropin: a new aldosterone-stimulating factor

Beta-Lipotropin stimulated the production of aldosterone in collagenase-dispersed rat adrenal capsular cells. The maximum response obtained with beta-lipotropin was the same as the response obtained with corticotropin and was greater than that obtained with angiotensin II. These data suggest that beta-lipotropin may play a role in aldosterone regulation.
Acceleration of peritoneal mass transport by drugs and hormones.

The major restrictions to the transport of solute and solvent across the peritoneum are the limited peritoneal blood flow, area and permeability. Recent investigations have demonstrated that several vasoactive drugs influence transport parameters. Isoproterenol, nitroprusside, dipyridamole and dopamine exemplify drugs that dilate the splanchnic vasculature, thereby augmenting transport, whereas vasoconstriction induced by Q-norepine-phrine decreases clearances. The tissue prostaglandins affect peritoneal mass transport in accord with their known vasoactive effects, suggesting a role in modulating peritoneal blood flow. The gastrointestinal hormones vasodilate the splanchnic circulation. Exposure of the endothelial surface to glucagon markedly increases peritoneal mass transport, while secretin increases the ultrafiltration rate significantly. These preliminary studies suggest the possible future clinical use of drugs and hormones to augment the efficiency of peritoneal dialysis.