cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adipogenic potential of human adipose derived stromal cells from multiple donors is heterogeneous

The current study was done to assess if heterogeneity existed in the degree of adipogenesis in stromal cells (preadipocytes) from multiple donors. In addition to conventional lipid-based methods, we have employed a novel signal amplification technology, known as branched DNA, to monitor expression of an adipocyte specific gene product aP2. The fatty acid binding protein aP2 increases during adipocyte differentiation and is induced by thiazolidinediones and other peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma ligands. The current work examined the adipogenic induction of aP2 mRNA levels in human adipose tissue stromal cells derived from 12 patients (mean age +/- SEM, 38.9 +/- 3.1) with mild to moderate obesity (mean body mass index +/- SEM, 27.8 +/- 2.4). Based on branched DNA technology, a rapid and sensitive measure of specific RNAs, the relative aP2 level in adipocytes increased by 679 +/- 93-fold (mean +/- SEM, n=12) compared to preadipocytes. Normalization of the aP2 mRNA levels to the housekeeping gene, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, did not significantly alter the fold induction in a subset of 4 patients (803.6 +/- 197.5 vs 1118.5 +/- 308.1). Independent adipocyte differentiation markers were compared between adipocytes and preadipocytes in parallel studies. Leptin secretion increased by up to three-orders of magnitude while measurements of neutral lipid accumulation by Oil Red O and Nile Red staining increased by 8.5-fold and 8.3-fold, respectively. These results indicate that preadipocytes isolated from multiple donors displayed varying degrees of differentiation in response to an optimal adipogenic stimulus in vitro. This work also demonstrates that branched DNA measurement of aP2 is a rapid and sensitive measure of adipogenesis in human stromal cells. The linear range of this assay extends up to three-orders of magnitude and correlates directly with independent measures of cellular differentiation.
Use of airway pressure release ventilation in a child with refractory hepatopulmonary syndrome after liver transplantation

HPS is a life-threatening condition in patients with end-stage liver disease, in which intrapulmonary vascular dilatations result in intrapulmonary shunts and hypoxemia. The only successful treatment is liver transplantation. Hypoxemia may be severe prior to transplantation; however, it can worsen or become refractory after liver transplantation and result in increased post-operative mortality. Here, we present the case of a 10-month-old female infant with progressive end-stage liver disease and severe HPS, who developed refractory hypoxemia after a successful liver transplantation. After 19 days of unsuccessful attempts to reverse the hypoxemia using conventional mechanical ventilation and HFOV, the patient responded dramatically to APRV, with rapid improvement in her PaO2 and sharp decline in her OI. She was able to begin weaning from APRV two days later and was extubated within seven days. APRV was successful in treating refractory hypoxemia in this patient with severe HPS after liver transplantation, possibly by modifying distribution of pulmonary blood flow. Although we cannot rule out coincidental natural resolution of the HPS, APRV could be a useful rescue therapy in patients with HPS and refractory hypoxemia.
The Colorado, USA, Joint Review Process: an initial evaluation of its success as a permit reform by key participants

Colorado, USA, developed the Joint Review Process (CJRP) in 1978 to coordinate the application and review of permits required for major development projects. Since then, the state has used the process on over 20 projects. This study examined whether the CJRP has achieved its primary goals—enhanced coordination of agencies, enhanced public participation, and strengthened communication between agencies and project sponsors— and several related secondary goals. The success of the process was measured through a survey of 54 key people who had been directly involved with the process. Those surveyed included federal and state agency staff, local agency managers, corporate officers, private consultants, and environmental leaders. All groups, with one exception, “agreed” that the process achieved its primary goals and that it should be retained. Environmental leaders were “neutral” about whether the process enhanced public participation and about retaining the process. The report concludes with a review of recommended improvements to and applications of the CJRP.
Untersuchungen über Raumladungen bei der Elektrolyse von Lösungen geringer Leitfähigkeit infolge endlicher Dissoziationsgeschwindigkeit des Elektrolyten

In Losungen organischer Ammoniumsalze in Cyclohexan wurden Potentialverteilungs- und Kondensatorentladungsmessungen fur Feldstarken bis 300 bzw. 6000 V/cm ausgefuhrt. Durch Abwanderung der Kationen von der Anode und die begrenzte Dissoziationsgeschwindigkeit des Elektrolyten kommt es zu einer Verarmung der Kationen in der Nahe der Anode und einer entsprechenden Raumladung mit nichtlinearer Potentialverteilung. Entsprechendes gilt fur die Umgebung der Kathode. Die so entstehenden Raumladungs-schichten sind fur den stationaren Zustand bei Stromdurchgang charakteristisch und uberlagern sich den im stromlosen Zustand infolge selektiver Ionenadsorption vorhandenen Doppelschichten. Die wesentlichen Zuge der Potentialverteilungen lassen sich quantitativ befriedigend beschreiben, soweit die Diffusion vernachlassigt werden konnte.
Impaired Fear Inhibition is a Biomarker of PTSD but not Depression

Background: A central problem in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a reduced capacity to suppress fear under safe conditions. Previously, we have shown that combat-related PTSD patients have impaired inhibition of fear-potentiated startle (FPS). Given the high comorbidity between PTSD and depression, our goal was to see whether this impairment is specific to PTSD, or a non-specific symptom associated with both disorders. Methods: Fear-potentiated startle was assessed in 106 trauma-exposed individuals divided into four groups: (a) No diagnosis control, (b) PTSD only, (c) major depression (MDD) only, and (d) comorbid PTSD and MDD. We used a novel conditional discrimination procedure, in which one set of shapes (the danger signal) was paired with aversive airblasts to the throat, and different shapes (the safety signal) were presented without airblasts. The paradigm also included fear inhibition transfer test. Results: Subjects with comorbid MDD and PTSD had higher FPS to the safety signal and to the transfer test compared to controls and MDD only subjects. In contrast to the control and MDD groups, the PTSD and comorbid PTSD and MDD groups did not show fear inhibition to safety cues. Conclusions: These results suggest that impaired fear inhibition may be a specific biomarker of PTSD symptoms. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Construction union programs to regain jobs: Background and overview

All union initiatives discussed herein are based on union demands for monopoly. Unable to compete with the open-shop contractors on an economic basis, the construction unions seek to offset economic considerations with political initiatives. They have been remarkably successful in so doing; yet their membership continues to lag.47 The question for the future is whether politically assisted monopoly will smother economics with the public as the big loser.
The science supervisor and the utilization of curriculum materials

Would the reader identify with a supervisor of K-6 science, a supervisor selecting NSF-sponsored materials, or a university science educator? The author finds differences in the perception of a supervisor's role.
Interrelationships between inflammation, C-reactive protein, and insulin resistance

The recognition that inflammation plays a fundamental role in atherothrombosis has led to the measurement of circulating inflammatory biomarkers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as a means of improving cardiovascular disease detection and prevention. Clinically, levels of hs-CRP >3 mg/L indicate elevated risk for myocardial infarction and stroke, even among apparently healthy individuals with low-to-normal lipid levels. Emerging laboratory and epidemiologic data now link inflammation and hs-CRP to insulin resistance in that hs-CRP levels have been associated with impaired insulin sensitivity and the development of dysglycemic conditions, including the cardiometabolic syndrome and incident type 2 diabetes. hs-CRP has also been associated with each of the individual components of the cardiometabolic syndrome. Furthermore, in large prospective studies, hs-CRP adds prognostic information about cardiovascular risk beyond that provided by the cardiometabolic syndrome. These findings have led to discussion about the addition of hs-CRP measurement to the current definition of the cardiometabolic syndrome to improve detection of risk for both diabetes and cardiovascular events in patients. Multiple clinical studies are now underway that are evaluating whether agents traditionally used to improve glycemic control may also significantly reduce hs-CRP.
Effects of irradiation on malignant cell cytoplasm

Walker-256 carcinoma was transplanted subcutaneously in the dorsum of male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 100 to 120 gm. The tumors were allowed to grow to 1 cm in diameter. The animals were divided into experimental and control groups. The tumors in the experimental animals were irradiated shielding the rest of the animals, the dose ranging from 50 to 2,000 rads. Specimens were dissected from the irradiated tumors at intervals of 1, 2, 4, 12, 24, and 48 hours, and one week and two weeks after irradiation, and from the control animals at the same intervals. Light microscopy showed no cytoplasmic changes in the irradiated group when the dose was less than 500 rads. With 1,000- and 2,000-rad doses the nuclear profile changed and cytoplasmic basophilia was diminished. Enzyme histochemical studies showed diminution of succinic dehydrogenase and coenzyme I and II as the dose was increased to 2,000 rads, starting 24 hours after irradiation, with marked diminution on the seventh day. The hydrolytic enzyme activities were not altered with a dose up to 1,000 rads. With a 2,000-rad dose, diminution of acid phosphatase activity was seen one week after irradiation. The cytoplasm of the tumor cells in the irradiated group showed diminution in the mitochondrial and microsomal population, most marked when the dosage was increased to 2,000 rads, and one week after irradiation. On the basis of our results it can be proposed that radiosensitivity of a malignant cell in an experimental system is largely dependent on the cytoplasmic organelles.
Determination of triacylglycerol lipase activity using carbon-13-labeled triacylglycerols and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: evidence that hepatic lipase hydrolyzes medium-chain triacylglycerols.

Triacylglycerol lipse activity was studied using glycerol [1-13C] trioctanoate mixed with postheparin rat plasma. 13C NMR spectroscopy demonstrated triacylglycerol hydrolysis into free fatty acids with no difference at the 1,3 or 2 glycerol positions. There was no inhibition by high sodium concentration, consistent with lipase of hepatic origin. © 1989 Academic Press, Inc.
Women, Subalternity, and the Historical Novel of María Rosa Lojo

Maria Rosa Lojo (1954) has received critical recognition as a poet, short-story writer, and novelist. Her poetic work Visiones (1984) and Forma oculta del mundo (1991), first book of short-stories Marginales (1986), and two novels Cancion perdida en Buenos Aires al Oeste (1987) and La pasion de los nomades (1994), have received prestigious awards. Lojo's most recent work, informed and inspired by archival sources, has been acclaimed by both critics and the general public for having radically altered the established representation of canonical historical figures. The novels La princesa federal (1998), and Una mujer de fin de siglo (1999), and the short stories in Historias ocultas en la Recoleta (2000) and Amores insolitos de nuestra historia (2001), have proven to be a commercial success, indicative of the wider international phenomenon in which women are at the centre of both revisionist historiography and the new historical novel, as writers and as subjects, an important challenge to the traditional gendering of history. The marketing of this revisionist work has sparked a backlash against these forms of new historical writing. Kathryn Lehman asked Lojo to comment on the current position of women's writing and the historical novel in Argentina in an interview in Buenos Aires in October 2000 and again in September of 2002. This article is available in Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol29/iss1/6 Women, Subalternity and the Historical Novel of Maria Rosa Lojo: An Interview
Role of peripheral angiotensin in salt appetite of the sodium-deplete rat

Abstract Lines of evidence indicate that the importance of peripherally derived angiotensin II as a stimulus for salt appetite in rats has been underestimated. First, a series of observations is consistent with the idea that peripherally derived angiotensin acts at circumventricular organs of the brain to stimulate salt appetite following sodium depletion. Second, recent experiments show that depletion-induced salt appetite is abolished by the IV infusion of converting-enzyme inhibitor (captopril) at a dose that totally prevents the formation of angiotensin II within the peripheral circulation. This same dose of converting-enzyme inhibitor does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier to affect the actions of centrally derived angiotensin. These findings suggest that angiotensin II of peripheral origin is critical for the expression of salt appetite following extracellular fluid depletion. Together, these two lines of evidence suggest that the role of circulating angiotensin II in the stimulation of salt appetite in the rat should be re-examined.
Growth and characterization of single-crystal Er3+:KPb2Cl5 as a mid-infrared laser material

Abstract Laser-grade single crystals of Er3+-doped potassium lead chloride (KPb2Cl5) have been grown by a novel modification of the Bridgman method. This new method allows for consistent seeding of a single-crystal growth from polycrystalline material while avoiding any problems with supercooling. An extended in situ annealing step allows strain to relax out of the crystal, reducing cracking problems and improving the quality of the resultant material. These crystals showed significant quantities of depolarized scattering in the visible, concentrated in stacks of parallel planes, but very little scattering in the mid-infrared. Two solid–solid phase transitions were found in this material, and passage through the higher-temperature transition was linked to the formation of the depolarization planes. Measurements were also made of the indices of refraction of all three crystal axes in the near-infrared and mid-infrared, and the orientation dependence of the 4.5 μm fluorescence of Er3+ in this material was examined.
Stimulation of sodium transport by aldosterone and arginine vasotocin in A6 cells

The effects of aldosterone and arginine vasotocin (AVT) on transepithelial Na+ transport of cultured A6 cells were investigated. All experiments were performed with cells grown on Millicell™ culture-plate inserts for a period of 2–4 weeks in defined, serum-free medium. Omitting fetal bovine serum 2 days after seeding the cells on filters did not influence potential difference (PD) development or the hormonal responses tested. The cell layers were placed in an Ussing chamber for short-circuit current (ISC) and transepithelial conductance (G) measurements. Base-line values were (n = 93): PD, 51.0 ± 0.2 mV (apical side negative); ISC, 14.55 ± 0.06 μA/cm2; G, 0.306 ± 0.001mS/cm2. ISCandG were higher in cells pretreated with 10−7 M aldosterone for 24 h in the incubator, when compared to controls (ISC, 28 ± 2 vs.16 ± 2 μA/cm2, G, 0.41 ± 0.04vs.0.26 ± 0.01mS/cm2, n = 5) and both remained stable for at least 6 h. In cells not treated with aldosterone, 10−7 M AVT increased ISC within 1 min after addition, producing a maximum ISC within 15 min which then declined to baseline levels over the next 5 h. Addition of AVT to aldosterone-pretreated cells resulted in a significantly greater peak increase in ISC than in non-pretreated cells (change in ISC compared to controls: 8.1 ± 0.4 vs. 4.9 ± 0.4 μA/cm2, n = 5, P < 0.001), indicating a synergistic effect. A dose-response curve for amiloride obtained in the presence of AVT showed that amiloride completely inhibits ISC. Pretreatment of the A6 cells with aldosterone for 24 h shifted the amiloride dose-response curve to the right, as expressed in a doubling of the apparent Ki value (from 0.17 ± 0.02 to 0.33 ± 0.04 μ M). In conclusion, A6 cells grown in defined, serum-free medium express a greater than additive synergism between aldosterone and AVT in stimulating transepithelial Na+ transport.
Osteosarcoma--is there a role for oral low-dose methotrexate.

AbstractIn 1978 the relative tranquility of the therapeutic approach to osteosarcoma was shattered when data from the Mayo Clinic questioned the validity of the historical control results of approximately 20% survival in patients with osteosarcoma treated with surgery alone (1,2). They demonstrated an increase in disease-free survival from 20 % to 40 % at the Mayo Clinic in patients treated with various methods of surgical ablation of the primary osteosarcoma during a 15-year period; and this compared favorably with their results with adjuvant chemotherapy. This finding led them to mount a randomized study of surgical ablation alone (18 patients) versus surgery and chemotherapy with high-dose methotrexate and vincristine (20 patients) (3). The results of this small randomized trial substantiated their nonrandomized observations; 42% of patients in both arms remained continuously disease free at 5 years. An additional 20% of patients with recurrent disease were salvaged after aggressive resection of pulmon...
A libration model calculation for 13C spin-rotation relaxation time in methyl compounds*☆

Abstract The spin-lattice relaxation time resulting from the spin-rotation interaction in liquids, T1,SR, was calculated for symmetric top molecules, the methyl group in particulak. The model includes the effect of barriers to rotation and assumes that the internal field spectral density is broadened because of the contribution of libration frequencies. In the extreme narrowing limit this results in less effective relaxation compared to that of the barrier free top, which is in agreement with experimental results. It is suggested that the concept of activation energy is not applicable to this type of interaction.
Report of 200 Cases:Video Transurethral Resection

Two hundred transurethral resections of the prostate (TURPs) were performed using a controlled continuous flow (CCF) resectoscope attached to a video camera by direct-beam coupler. Standing comfortably, the surgeon used a video monitor as the source of judgment for manipulating the loop. Data obtained were statistically similar to those obtained from 400 previous resections using the same resectoscope by the conventional viewing method. TURP can be performed safely, more efficiently and more comfortably with the CCF video technique.
EFFECT OF ACUTELY ELEVATED INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE ON CARDIAC OUTPUT AND OTHER CIRCULATORY FACTORS.

Summary When ICP is increased to levels above the control mean arterial pressure, the latter also increases. This is associated with increases in cardiac output, oxygen consumption and right atrial pressure, and a decrease in arteriovenous oxygen difference. There is little change in heart rate. The probable mechanisms for causing the changes are discussed.
Electron Microscope Studies of MuIIite Development in Fired KaoIinites

Preshadowed carbon replicas were used to follow changes in surface texture of poorly crystallized and well-crystallized kaolinites after firing to various temperatures between 850° and 1200°C. X-ray diffraction was used for phase identification. Mullite was observed consistently in preferred orientation on the large well crystallized kaolinite stacks but not on poorly crystallized specimens. Failure to detect mullite in preferred orientation in the latter may be due to flow of the reaction products which occurs in these specimens at temperatures below that at which mullite can be detected by electron microscopy or X-ray diffraction.
Transport of thymidine during the cell cycle in mitotically synchronized CHO cells.

The kinetics of total uptake of thymidine into the cell were determined for cells which had been mitotically synchronized, plated into scintillation vials and pulsed with five concentrations of [3H]-thymidine at various times during the cell cycle. From Lineweaver-Burk plots of these rates, Vmax and Km values were determined for the transport of thymidine. The Vmax values ranged from a low of 2.0 pmoles/ min/106 cells in mid-G1 to a high of 99.7 in mid-S before a decline in late S and G2. Km values displayed only a 5-fold range in values.
Comparison Of Defects In GaAs Epilayers Grown On Si by MBE and OMCVD: As-Grown And After Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA)

GaAs layers grown on silicon by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy (cross-section and plan view) and high-resolution electron microscopy. The nature of defects in the GaAs layers has been analyzed as a function of growth technique. The type, density and distribution of dislocations was virtually the same in both samples, however the MBE sample also had a high density of planar defects (twins and microtwins). The effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the defect density and nature has also been studied for both growth techniques. RTA leads to a decrease in the dislocation density in the near surface region and eliminates virtually all the twins and microtwins in the MBE sample.
Impact of Beliefs about HIV Treatment and Peer Condom Norms on Risky Sexual Behavior among Gay and Bisexual Men.

The association between perceptions about condom use among one's peers, beliefs about new HIV treatments, and HIV sexual risk behavior was examined in a large urban sample ( N = 454) of gay and bisexual men in the Southeast. Results partially confirmed the hypothesis that men who endorsed new HIV treatment beliefs would report lower norms for condom use and higher HIV sexual risk behaviors than men who failed to endorse HIV treatment beliefs but with casual, and not main, partners. Moreover, results confirmed the hypothesis that the association between HIV treatment beliefs and unprotected sex would be partially mediated by peer condom norms. Results suggest social interventions are needed to promote condom norms in the social context of new HIV treatments. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Absence and atonic seizures induced by piperazine

A previously healthy 2-year-old girl, who presented with transient neurologic dysfunction manifested mainly by absence and atonic seizures, was treated with large doses of the antihelminthic piperazine hexahydrate. The role of piperazine salts and piperazine-containing compounds in producing neurotoxic side effects is discussed. We suggest that these drugs be considered as a possible cause of transient encephalopathy and nonepileptic seizures in previously healthy individuals.
Indentation Analysis of Linear-Chain Hydrocarbon Monolayers Anchored to Diamond

Classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to examine the indentation of monolayers composed of linear hydrocarbon chains with 8, 13, or 22 carbon atoms that are chemically bound (or anchored) to a diamond (111) substrate. Indentation is accomplished using both a flexible and rigid single-wall, capped [10,10] nanotube as the tip. Regardless of the nanotube used, the simulations show that indentation of the hydrocarbon monolayers causes a disruption of the original ordering of the monolayer, pinning of selected hydrocarbon chains beneath the tube, and the formation of gauche defects within the monolayer. Because nanotubes are stiff along their axial direction, the flexible nanotube is distorted only slightly by its interaction with the softer monolayers. However, interaction with the hard diamond substrate causes the tube to buckle. Severe indents with a rigid nanotube tip result in rupture of chemical bonds within the hydrocarbon monolayer.
Building Science-Relevant Literacy With Technical Writing in High School Tutorial

By drawing on the in-class work of an ongoing literacy outreach project, this paper explains how well-chosen technical writing activities can earn a place in high school science courses by enabling underperforming students (including English as a second language [ESL] students) to learn science more effectively. We adapted basic research-based text-design and usability techniques into age-appropriate exercises and cases using the cognitive apprenticeship approach. This enabled high school students, aided by explicit guidelines, to build their cognitive maturity, learn how to craft good instructions and descriptions, and apply those skills to better note taking and technical talks in their science classes
Compressive strength of composite laminates with interlaminar defects

Abstract The compressive strength of composite laminates is greatly reduced by the local instabilities initiated by interlaminar defects. In the present study, the reduction in compressive strength of a (0/±45 2 /0)s AS/3501-6 graphite-epoxy laminate containing implanted interlaminar defects is examined. The experimental study consisted of the four-point static loading of sandwich beams with graphite-epoxy face sheets having through-width delaminations of 0·5 in. (12·7 mm), 0·75 in. (19·1 mm), 1·0 in. (25·4 mm) and 1·5 in. (38·1 mm) in length. Failure consisted of the unstable interlaminar crack growth within the compressive face of the sandwich. Reduction in flexure strength was found to be directly proportional to debond length and varied from 41 to 87% of the pristine value. Combined stability and finite element analysis showed that the initial out-of-plane deformations of the sublaminate induced by residual stresses decreased axial stiffness of the buckled sublaminate and resulted in both Mode I and Mode II propagation at the interlaminar crack tip. An approximate strain energy release rate formulation for Mode I fracture is correlated with the experimental data, where a value of the strain energy release rate G IC = 1·4 lb/in. (250 N/m) yields accurate predictions of the compressive strength for all defect geometries considered.
Inherent demographic stability in mutualist-resource-exploiter interactions.

AbstractCore principles of ecological theory predict that, in the absence of other factors, mutualisms should experience destabilizing positive feedback and should be vulnerable to extinction through competitive exclusion by exploiter species. Many effective stabilizing mechanisms address one issue or the other, and many turn upon additional features. Using an explicitly demographic approach, I show that indirect, demography-mediated interactions between mutualists and exploiters can enable mutualist-exploiter coexistence, which in turn can stabilize the abundances of mutualists, exploiters, and their shared resources. This occurs because of the distinct resource demographic responses that are inherent to interaction with mutualistic and exploitative partners and can occur in long-lasting, exclusive interactions, such as protection mutualisms, as well as in apparently very different, short-lived mutualistic interactions, such as pollination. The key necessary factor—demographic response to interspecific i...
An Exploratory Study of Trade Show Formation and Diversity

ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyze the objectives of trade show participants and to link those objectives to trade show formation and diversity. Methodology/Approach: We conduct an exploratory analysis of trade show formation and diversity and link them to the differences in several seller and buyer interests across industries. We used data collected from a single large trade show to examine the nature of buyer and seller participation goals using multivariate statistical analysis. We then used a data set collected from the entire trade show industry to examine the trade show diversity via an econometric model. Findings: We find that higher selling and buying propensity is linked to more vertical shows whereas higher breadth of product interests is linked to more horizontal shows. We also find that a highly innovative industry is often linked to more horizontal shows. Originality/Value/Contribution: Although trade shows are critical elements of the communications mix in business-to-business marketing, very litt...
Poetry and Public Life

The public life is one entered more by the patience of the poetic ear than by the sharpness of the pen or the truth of the facts.
Fast dictionary attacks on passwords using time-space tradeoff

Human-memorable passwords are a mainstay of computer security. To decrease vulnerability of passwords to brute-force dictionary attacks, many organizations enforce complicated password-creation rules and require that passwords include numerals and special characters. We demonstrate that as long as passwords remain human-memorable, they are vulnerable to "smart-dictionary" attacks even when the space of potential passwords is large.Our first insight is that the distribution of letters in easy-to-remember passwords is likely to be similar to the distribution of letters in the users' native language. Using standard Markov modeling techniques from natural language processing, this can be used to dramatically reduce the size of the password space to be searched. Our second contribution is an algorithm for efficient enumeration of the remaining password space. This allows application of time-space tradeoff techniques, limiting memory accesses to a relatively small table of "partial dictionary" sizes and enabling a very fast dictionary attack.We evaluated our method on a database of real-world user password hashes. Our algorithm successfully recovered 67.6% of the passwords using a 2 x 109 search space. This is a much higher percentage than Oechslin's "rainbow" attack, which is the fastest currently known technique for searching large keyspaces. These results call into question viability of human-memorable character-sequence passwords as an authentication mechanism.
Are Changes in Composition in Response to Treatment of a Mouse Model of Osteogenesis Imperfecta Sex-dependent?

Background Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disease characterized by skeletal fragility and deformity. There is extensive debate regarding treatment options in adults with OI. Antiresorptive treatment reduces the number of fractures in growing oim/oim mice, an animal model that reproducibly mimics the moderate-to-severe form of OI in humans. Effects of long-term treatments with antiresorptive agents, considered for treatment of older patients with OI with similar presentation (moderate-to-severe OI) are, to date, unknown.
Second Additional Theory of Origin of Fiamme in Ignimbrites

Gibson and Tazieff1 have questioned a widely accepted explanation of dense black clots of glass (fiamme) in ignimbrites. A new interpretation of these features is long overdue, for the conventional interpretation of fiamme as flattened and highly compressed lumps of pumice is very difficult to substantiate. As they point out, in many ignimbrites there are few if any lumps of pumice in the upper, uncompacted levels that are large enough to produce the dense glassy clots by compression.
Nonlinearities of the human ERG reflected by Wiener kernels

The Electroretinograms (ERGs) of three subjects were represented by first- and second-order Wiener kernels using the analytical procedures previously reported for lower vertebrate (Marmarelis and Naka, 1973) and invertebrate (McCann, 1974) retinal studies. The variances between the kernel estimates were relatively small, yet the second-order kernels were relatively large. The significance of the nonlinearities reflected by each second-order kernel was assessed by comparing the predicted response to the white-noise stimulus obtained using a first-order kernel with that obtained using a second-order kernel.
Mass media as a sexual super peer for early maturing girls.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the possibility that the mass media (television, movies, music, and magazines) serve as a kind of super peer for girls who enter puberty sooner than their age-mates. Multiple studies have demonstrated significant associations between earlier pubertal timing and earlier transition to first sex. Does puberty also stimulate interest in sexual media content that is seen as giving permission to engage in sexual behavior? Methods White and African-American female adolescents (n = 471; average age 13.7 years) recruited from public middle schools in central North Carolina completed two self-administered surveys in their homes about their pubertal status, interest in and exposure to various media, and perceptions of sexual media content. Results Earlier maturing girls reported more interest than later maturing girls in seeing sexual content in movies, television, and magazines, and in listening to sexual content in music, regardless of age or race. Earlier maturing girls were also more likely to be listening to music and reading magazines with sexual content, more likely to see R-rated movies, and to interpret the messages they saw in the media as approving of teens having sexual intercourse. Conclusions The mass media may be serving as a kind of sexual super peer, especially for earlier maturing girls. Given the lack of sexual health messages in most media adolescents attend to, these findings give cause for concern. The media should be encouraged to provide more sexually healthy content, and youth service providers and physicians should be aware that earlier maturing girls may be interested in sexual information.
Examining treatment adherence among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract Background Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) participate in a variety of treatments, including medication, behavioral, alternative and developmental treatments. Parent adherence to these treatments is crucial for positive child outcomes. Objective The current study: 1) Explored patterns of parent adherence across the full range of treatments that are prescribed to children with ASD and, 2) Examined whether parent demographics, parent treatment attitudes, and child ASD severity contribute to parents' adherence across ASD treatments. Method Questionnaires were distributed to parents of children with ASD in a southeastern state. Parents ( N = 274) were included if they were parenting a child with ASD who was receiving treatment for ASD symptoms. Paired t -tests and multiple linear regression were used to assess the study aims. Results Adherence to medication treatment was significantly greater than adherence to behavioral, developmental, or alternative treatments (adjusted p -values 0.0006, 0.0030, 0.0006 respectively). Perceived family burden of a treatment was associated with lower adherence to medication, developmental, and alternative treatments. Finally, greater ASD severity was associated with lower adherence to alternative treatments. Conclusion Overall, the independent variables accounted for more variance in adherence to medication and alternative treatments than in behavioral and developmental treatments. Parents' adherence to ASD treatment differs significantly by treatment type and is influenced by parental perceptions of the burden of treatment on the family. These findings highlight the importance of understanding and addressing the impact of ASD treatment regimens on family life.
Evidence that the Folate-Dependent Proteins YgfZ and MnmEG Have Opposing Effects on Growth and on Activity of the Iron-Sulfur Enzyme MiaB

The folate-dependent protein YgfZ of Escherichia coli participates in the synthesis and repair of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters; it belongs to a family of enzymes that use folate to capture formaldehyde units. Ablation of ygfZ is known to reduce growth, to increase sensitivity to oxidative stress, and to lower the activities of MiaB and other Fe-S enzymes. It has been reported that the growth phenotype can be suppressed by disrupting the tRNA modification gene mnmE. We first confirmed the latter observation using deletions in a simpler, more defined genetic background. We then showed that deleting mnmE substantially restores MiaB activity in ygfZ deletant cells and that overexpressing MnmE with its partner MnmG exacerbates the growth and MiaB activity phenotypes of the ygfZ deletant. MnmE, with MnmG, normally mediates a folate-dependent transfer of a formaldehyde unit to tRNA, and the MnmEG-mediated effects on the phenotypes of the ΔygfZ mutant apparently require folate, as evidenced by the effect of eliminating all folates by deleting folE. The expression of YgfZ was unaffected by deleting mnmE or overexpressing MnmEG or by folate status. Since formaldehyde transfer is a potential link between MnmEG and YgfZ, we inactivated formaldehyde detoxification by deleting frmA. This deletion had little effect on growth or MiaB activity in the ΔygfZ strain in the presence of formaldehyde, making it unlikely that formaldehyde alone connects the actions of MnmEG and YgfZ. A more plausible explanation is that MnmEG erroneously transfers a folate-bound formaldehyde unit to MiaB and that YgfZ reverses this.
Hairy Cell Leukemia

Hairy cell leukemia is a malignancy with a variable course that can be relatively indolent or rapidly fatal. Alterations in the immune system are responsible for much of the morbidity and mortality from hairy cell leukemia. More than 60% of patients die from infection, and infections are both pyogenic and nonpyogenic. Many patients have transfusion requirements, and bleeding complications can also occur. Treatment strategies for hairy cell leukemia have evolved and are being modified as more is learned about the disease. Splenectomy is the initial treatment when patients become symptomatic, and if the disease progresses after splenectomy, chlorambucil offers good control in many patients. Radiation can be used for local palliation, as when complications such as bulky adenopathy or bone lesions occur. Initial studies using interferon in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia look encouraging, but more investigation is necessary before the role of interferon in treatment of hairy cell leukemia is determined.
Reactions of diboron tetrahalides with some unsaturated organometallic compounds

Tetrachloro- and tetrafluorodiborane(4) add to the double bond in a number of vinyl derivatives of boron, carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin to form 1,2-bis(dihaloboryl)ethyl derivatives. Most of the compounds are stable in vacuo at temperatures in excess of 150°. Tetrachlorodiborane(4) undergoes addition considerably more readily than does tetrafluorodiborane(4). Relative rates of addition have been determined and shown to be markedly dependent on the nature of the substituent on the vinyl group.
PASS cognitive processes, phonological processes, and basic reading performance for a sample of referred primary‐grade children

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among cognitive processing, phonological processing and basic reading skill performance. Cognitive theorists propose that Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive (PASS) processes are related to various phonological skills. A sample of 62 Primary Grade children referred for reading problems were administered measures of cognitive processes (Cognitive Assessment System), phonological processes (Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing) and basic reading achievement (Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Academic Achievement-III). Findings indicated that some cognitive processes were significantly related to phonological processes as well as basic reading skills. The strongest relationships were found between phonological memory and successive processes and between phonological awareness and basic reading performance.
The R. A. Fisher Memorial Lecture, 1988: Quality Improvement: An Expanding Domain for the Application of Scientific Method

Fisher’s early work on statistical data analysis and experimental design made possible the application of scientific method to industrial problems and to the improvement of the quality of everyday life. The use is discussed of simple statistical techniques for informed observation which can be used to improve quality in hospitals and other service organizations as well as in the factory. At a more sophisticated level, statistical experimental design may be used by engineers and scientists to design products that rarely go wrong. Experimental design can be employed to maximize a desirable quality characteristic, to minimize its variance, and to make it insensitive to environmental changes. Such expansion of the domain of the application of scientific method can not only raise industrial efficiency, but can improve the quality of life for everyone.
Effects of innervation state on Hsp25 content and phosphorylation in inactive rat plantaris muscles.

Aim: Previous reports suggest a role for neuromuscular activity levels and/or connectivity in modulating Hsp25 expression and phosphorylation (pHsp25) in skeletal muscles. However, pHsp25 has only been studied in denervated muscles and/or muscles exposed to high levels of residual neuromuscular activity. Spinal cord isolation (SI) provides a model in which the muscle is exposed to nearly complete inactivity with maintenance of the nerve–muscle connection. To parcel out the roles of innervation state and activity-independent neural factors, we compared Hsp25 and pHsp25 in the plantaris of control (Con), SI, and denervated (Den, inactivity without neural connectivity) rats. Methods: Hsp25 and pHsp25 protein levels (soluble and insoluble fractions) were measured with Western blot analysis after 1, 3, 8, 14, or 28 days of SI or Den. pHsp25 was normalized to non-pHsp25 at each time point. Results: Hsp25 was unchanged (days 1, 3 and 14) or increased (days 8 and 28) in the soluble fraction, and decreased (day 1) or increased (days 3, 8 and 14) in the insoluble fraction in Den compared with Con rats. pHsp25 was reduced after 1 and 28 days of Den, but near control levels on days 3, 8, and 14 in the soluble fraction. In the insoluble fraction, pHsp25 levels were lower in Den than Con rats on all days. In both fractions, Hsp25 was lower in SI than Con rats. pHsp25 levels were lower in the soluble fraction and higher in the insoluble fraction in SI than Con rats. Conclusion: These results suggest that an intact innervation, even in the absence of muscle activation and/or loading, is critical for Hsp25 phosphorylation in the insoluble fraction. However, the time-dependent decrease in Hsp25 with SI suggests a role for minimal levels of muscle activation and/or loading in maintaining Hsp25 expression during sustained inactivity.
Evaluation of Internal Control from a Control Objective Narrative

Many accounting firms have changed the way their auditors evaluate internal control. Instead of preparing flowcharts documenting transaction flows, they only document the controls that have a bearing on specific financial statement assertions. This shift in documentation marks a change in the structure of the internal control evaluation task from transaction flow to control objective. This case presents documentation organized by control objective for internal control of a company's purchasing cycle. The case includes discussion and objective format questions and is relatively short, which means it can be used as an in‐class or out‐of‐class exercise or an in‐class testing or assessment device on internal control evaluation.
First Pass Radionuclide Assessment of Right and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Chronic Pulmonary Disease: Effect of Oxygen upon Exercise Response

Right and left ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF; LVEF) were determined in patients with severe chronic pulmonary disease (mean ± SEM [FEV 1 percent predicted 36 ± 3%; PaO 2 : 64 ± 3 mm Hg]), utilizing first pass radionuclide angiocardiography. RVEF and LVEF were measured at rest and again during upright bicycle exercise while patients breathed room air, and again during low flow oxygen (O 2 ) administration. Mean RVEF was abnormal ( 2 administration. LVEF at rest was normal in all subjects. These data suggest: 1) RV exercise ejection fraction is abnormal in most patients with chronic pulmonary disease; 2) while low flow O 2 does not alter RV performance at rest, it improves RV exercise ejection fraction in some patients.
Religion in Human Life

Religion in Human Life ROBERT H. LOWIE* University of California the S INCE this article is concerned with own moot matter of religion, I should perhaps begin by making clear my point of view and my reasons for coming to the conclusions that I have come to. My first awareness of religious strife came from my grandfather before I left Vienna at the age of ten; he had been an agnostic from his medical student days, and he laid the foundations for my own later attitudes. From my parents I received no religious training of any kind. By the time I was sixteen, I was already reading the philosophes and imitating their violent anti-clericalism and bitterness toward all religion. This period continued, largely under the stimulus of and acquaintance with Ernst Haeckel, until I was about 25. At this point I was already going into the field as an ethnologist. It did not take long to discover that to the primitive mind religion was of paramount importance. If I wanted to understand the Indians of that period I simply had to study its values for them. Moreover, my constant field trips brought me into contact with dedicated men of all faiths who were certainly deriving neither money nor renown by being missionaries to a group of Indians on a remote reservation. They lived as other members of the community did, in poverty, and they remained with their charges through pestilence and famine. One day it occurred to me that both the Indians and the hardy souls who were trying to convert them to Christianity had some inner strength that I lacked. Nor was I unique in this lack. I began to wonder how many scientists would undergo for their science the years of poverty that the priests and ministers willingly accepted for their religion. Here clearly was a phenomenon of both primitive and civilized life that war­ ranted study. So I began to collect information about native religions on the same objective basis upon which I assembled data on basket-weaving, social organization, hunting, or any other aspect of primitive life. Moreover, through my reading I discovered that no group of people had ever been found who did not have a religion of some kind. Since religion is a universal manifestation, it must have some value. I found also that despite the immense variations in the outward observances, the inner glow and the function of religion in the group were identical from one form to another. The Catholic priest, the Mormon missionary, the Eskimo shaman, the African witch-doctor, and the Protestant clergyman were all alike in their sense of inner conviction, in their intense desire to help others, and in their dependence upon some force outside themselves that gave them courage. Fanatic, ignorant, or rigid they might be, but they were men of faith. I cannot say that I have become a religious man as the result of my study, but I have become an informed one; and I have seen too Professor Lowie died on September 21, 1957. This article was found among his papers.