cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The arginine requirement of chicks in relation to diet composition.

ABSTRACT IT IS becoming increasingly apparent that the amino acid requirement of the chick, expressed as a percentage of the diet, bears an inverse relationship to the utilizable energy content of the ration. Thus the growth promoting ability of highly refined diets containing suboptimal percentage levels of lysine, Williams and Grau (1956), and either tryptophan or arginine, Griminger et al. (1957), was materially improved by decreasing their content of digestible energy. The former group used a 15 percent protein sesame meal diet while Griminger and co-workers employed a 20 percent protein casein ration which has subsequently been shown to be severely deficient in total protein, Scott et al. (1957), It is conceivable, therefore, that the growth improvement resulting from the substitution of cellulose for cerelose reflects the increased intake of both protein and the limiting amino acid under investigation. It seemed desirable, therefore, to re-examine the problem under conditions where the . . .
A novel rotated disc electrode and time lag method for characterizing mass transport in liquid‐membrane systems

A time lag method is described for use with a membrane-covered, rotated disc electrode that allows determination of the partitioning and diffusivity of small molecules in hydrophilic gel membranes and membrane permeability from a single measurement. This new technique takes into account the concentration boundary layer in the solution adjacent to the membrane and reaction at the electrode surface of solutes that are diffusion- or kinetic-limited. Examples are given of the use of this method for characterizing mass transfer in a commercial cellulosic membrane with oxygen, hydroquinone, ferrocyanide, and glucose as solutes.
Detection and Mitigation of Reference Receiver Faults in Differential Carrier Phase Navigation Systems

In this paper, a methodology is developed to evaluate differential carrier phase navigation architectures subject to reference receiver faults. Carrier phase measurements can be used to provide high accuracy estimates of a user's position. But in applications that involve safety-of-life, such as in precision approach for autonomous shipboard landing, integrity also plays a critical role. One source of integrity risk is the potential for GPS reference receiver failure. Integrity risk in these situations is typically mitigated by equipping the reference station with redundant receivers. However, various approaches to utilize redundant carrier phase measurements from multiple reference receivers are possible. In this paper, we describe two new methods: an averaging approach where different position solutions are averaged in the position domain, and a coupled estimation approach where the measurements from all reference receivers are coupled in the range domain and used to estimate a unified position solution. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of using these methods on accuracy and integrity from several perspectives, including availability performance, cycle resolution capabilities, implementation complexity, and computational efficiency.
A Research Note on the Predictive Adequacy of the Kernel

The kernel, a game-theoretic solution concept, was tested competitively against minimum resource and pivotal power theories. Experimental data from six veto and six nonveto weighted-majority games served as the basis of the test. The kernel proved to be consistently inferior to both minimum resource and pivotal power theories in predicting payoffs.
Transport properties of particles with segmental flexibility. II. Decay of fluorescence polarization anisotropy from hinged macromolecules

An algorithm is presented for the Monte Carlo simulation of the decay of fluorescence polarization from segmentally flexible molecules. Based on the random walk model of Brownian motion, the treatment explicitly follows the stochastic changes in the diffusion coefficients as the molecule bends. It includes the effects of a linear restoring force opposing the bending and the effects of hydrodynamic coupling between the translational, rotational, and bending motions. One application is presented: the simulation of anisotropy decay curves for hinged rods. A variety of decay curves are obtained, including single- and multiexponential behavior, and the following conclusions are reached: (1) increasing the flexibility is usually, but not always, accompanied by a more rapid rate of depolarization; (2) reducing the size of the fluorescent subunit will usually, but not always, increase the rate of depolarization; and (3) the complex interplay between the effects of molecular shape, relative sizes of the subunits, restoring force, and orientation of the transition dipoles renders it unlikely that any simple method can be used to interpret anisotrophy data without simulation. In particular, it is not possible to determine the extent of bending by fitting the data with the two-exponential approximation used by some investigators in the past.
Use of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes and medication use data to identify nosocomial Clostridium difficile infection.

OBJECTIVE. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is used for surveillance of CDI. However, the ICD-9-CM code alone cannot separate nosocomial cases from cases acquired outside the institution. The purpose of this study was to determine whether combining the ICD-9-CM code with medication treatment data for CDI in hospitalized patients could enable us to distinguish between patients with nosocomial CDI and patients who were admitted with CDI. The primary objective was to compare the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of using the combination of ICD-9-CM code for CDI and CDI treatment records to identify cases of nosocomial CDI with the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of using the ICD-9-CM code alone. DES IGN. Validation sample cross-sectional study. SETTING. Academic health center. METHODS. Administrative claims data from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005, were queried to identify adults discharged with an ICD-9-CM code for CDI and to find documentation of CDI therapy with oral vancomycin or metronidazole. Laboratory and medical records were queried to identify symptomatic CDI toxin-positive adult patients with nosocomial CDI and were compared with records of patients whose cases were predicted to be nosocomial by means of ICD-9-CM code and CDI therapy data. RESULTS. Of 23,920 adult patients discharged from the hospital, 62 had nosocomial CDI according to symptoms and toxin assay. The sensitivity of the ICD-9-CM code alone for identifying nosocomial CDI was 96.8%, the specificity was 99.6%, the positive predictive value was 40.8%, and the negative predictive value was 100%. When CDI drug therapy was included with the ICD-9-CM code, the sensitivity ranged from 58.1% to 85.5%, specificity was virtually unchanged, and the range in positive predictive value was 37.9%-80.0%. CONCLUSION. Combining the ICD-9-CM code for CDI with drug therapy information increased the positive predictive value for nosocomial CDI but decreased the sensitivity.
Toxicokinetics of pentachloroanisole in F344 rats and B6C3F1 mice.

1. Toxicokinetics of pentachloroanisole (PCA) were studied in F344 rat and B6C3F1 mouse of both sexes by gavage at doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg and by i.v. at 10 mg/kg. 2. PCA was rapidly demethylated to pentachlorophenol (PCP) in both rat and mouse and the resulting PCP plasma concentrations were much higher than that of parent PCA due to the much smaller apparent volume of distribution of PCP. 3. Peak plasma concentrations of PCA and PCP increased with dose in both rat and mouse. 4. Bioavailability of PCA was low in both rat and mouse and was sex independent. 5. The high plasma concentrations and relatively long biological half-life of PCP in both species after both i.v. and oral dosing with PCA indicate possible bioaccumulation of PCP upon multiple oral administrations of PCA.
Aspects of Order during the Deformation of Nylon Fibers1

Different structure parameters can be measured in wide- and small-angle x-ray diffraction patterns of fibers which describe order. A brief study of these parameters is given for fibers of 66 nylon ...
Big Data and the Future of Radiology Informatics

Rapid growth in the amount of data that is electronically recorded as part of routine clinical operations has generated great interest in the use of Big Data methodologies to address clinical and research questions. These methods can efficiently analyze and deliver insights from high-volume, high-variety, and high-growth rate datasets generated across the continuum of care, thereby forgoing the time, cost, and effort of more focused and controlled hypothesis-driven research. By virtue of an existing robust information technology infrastructure and years of archived digital data, radiology departments are particularly well positioned to take advantage of emerging Big Data techniques. In this review, we describe four areas in which Big Data is poised to have an immediate impact on radiology practice, research, and operations. In addition, we provide an overview of the Big Data adoption cycle and describe how academic radiology departments can promote Big Data development.
TRAUMATIC SPINAL CORD INJURY IN OLMSTED COUNTY, MINNESOTA, 1935–1981

The incidence rate for acute traumatic spinal cord injury in Olmsted County, Minnesota, for 1935-1981, standardizing for age, sex, and calendar year, was 54.8 per million person-years--83.4 for males and 27.7 for females. Thirty-eight per cent of cases died prior to hospitalization. The annual incidence rate for those reaching hospital alive was 34.2 per million person-years. The proportion of cases dying during initial hospitalization was 11.5%. Considering all deaths within the first year after injury, the standardized mortality rate from spinal cord trauma was 25.5 per million person-years. Automobile-related injuries constituted half of all causes of spinal cord injury and death. An increase in both incidence and hospitalization rates of traumatic spinal cord injuries in the past 17 years was observed in young men, attributable to recreational and motorcycle-related events. Language: en
Assessment of CEPH-Accredited Institutions Offering Public Health Programs in the United States: A Short Report.

Aims: Examine the distribution of the CEPH accredited institutions offering public health educational programs in the United States, and characterize their various attributes. Methods: A search was conducted during the period of June 2014, using the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health database (ASPPH), and individual university websites to obtain a complete list of CEPH accredited institutions offering programs in Public Health at the Certificate, Masters, and Doctoral levels in the United States. Detailed information were abstracted from the various programs offerings including: school/program information, school type, geographic location, admission cycle, education delivery format, public health concentration, number of credits, presence of a global component, joint programs and tuition. The data was analyzed in August 2014. Results: A total of 85 CEPH accredited institutions designated as either “Schools of Public Health”, or individual “Programs of Public Health” were present in the ASPPH database at the time of this data collection (2014). These institutions offer programs in public health at the Certificate (61%, n=52), Masters (100%, n=85) and Doctoral (44%, n=37) levels in the US. More than half of the programs offered were provided by schools of public health (58%, N=49), which were mostly public universities (75%, n=64), concentrated in the Northeast (22%, n=19) and mainly admitted students during the fall semester. Ninety three concentrations of Public Health currently exist, of which 25 concentrations are predominant. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which examines the distribution of existing CEPH accredited Public Health educational programs offered by US institutions. We suggest future areas of research to assess existing Public Health workforce demands, and map them to the curriculums and competencies provided by institutions offering Public Health educational programs in the United States. This could provide valuable insight on the extent to which public health curriculums are meeting workforce demands.
Stabilization and Attitude Determination Methods for FalconSAT-3

FalconSAT-3 is a cadet-built and -operated satellite that was launched in 2007. In late 2014, cadets successfully stabilized the satellite for the first time through an operational test campaign using a B-dot controller. This paper describes the many challenges in attitude stabilization and determination, and the solutions provided to achieve partial mission capability of two payloads with a magnetometer as the only sensor. Due to problems with onboard sun sensors, engineers have used solar panel currents to create a sun vector to perform a full three-axis attitude determination. This paper compares two different methods for determining the sun vector from solar panel currents and uses the triad method to perform a three-axis attitude determination. A discussion of the key lessons learned from the cadet-run satellite operations is also included.
Life Cycle Environmental Impact of High-Capacity Lithium Ion Battery with Silicon Nanowires Anode for Electric Vehicles

Although silicon nanowires (SiNW) have been widely studied as an ideal material for developing high-capacity lithium ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles (EVs), little is known about the environmental impacts of such a new EV battery pack during its whole life cycle. This paper reports a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a high-capacity LIB pack using SiNW prepared via metal-assisted chemical etching as anode material. The LCA study is conducted based on the average U.S. driving and electricity supply conditions. Nanowastes and nanoparticle emissions from the SiNW synthesis are also characterized and reported. The LCA results show that over 50% of most characterized impacts are generated from the battery operations, while the battery anode with SiNW material contributes to around 15% of global warming potential and 10% of human toxicity potential. Overall the life cycle impacts of this new battery pack are moderately higher than those of conventional LIBs but could be actually comparable when consideri...
Suppressive therapy with levothyroxine for solitary thyroid nodules. A double-blind controlled clinical study.

Abstract Thyroid nodules are present in up to 50 percent of adults in the fifth decade of life. Patients are often treated with thyroxine in order to reduce the size of the nodule, but the efficacy of thyrotropin-suppressive therapy with thyroxine remains uncertain. In this study, 53 patients with a colloid solitary thyroid nodule confirmed by biopsy were randomly assigned in a double-blind manner to receive placebo (n = 25) or levothyroxine (n = 28) for six months. Before treatment, pertechnetate-99m thyroid scanning showed that 22 percent of the nodules were functional, 25 percent hypofunctional, and 53 percent nonfunctional. High-resolution (10-MHz) sonography was used to measure the size of the nodules before and after treatment. Suppression of thyrotropin release was confirmed in the levothyroxine-treated group by the administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone; thyrotropin release was normal in the placebo group. Six months of therapy did not significantly decrease the diameter or volume of the ...
Intravesical PAC1 Receptor Antagonist, PACAP(6-38), Reduces Urinary Bladder Frequency and Pelvic Sensitivity in NGF-OE Mice.

Chronic NGF overexpression (OE) in the urothelium, achieved through the use of a highly urothelium-specific uroplakin II promoter, stimulates neuronal sprouting in the urinary bladder, produces increased voiding frequency and non-voiding contractions, and referred somatic sensitivity. Additional NGF-mediated pleiotropic changes might contribute to increased voiding frequency and pelvic hypersensitivity in NGF-OE mice such as neuropeptide/receptor systems including PACAP(Adcyap1) and PAC1 receptor (Adcyap1r1). Given the presence of PAC1-immunoreactive fibers and the expression of PAC1 receptor expression in bladder tissues, and PACAP-facilitated detrusor contraction, whether PACAP/receptor signaling contributes to increased voiding frequency and somatic sensitivity was evaluated in NGF-OE mice. Intravesical administration of the PAC1 receptor antagonist, PACAP(6–38) (300 nM), significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased intercontraction interval (2.0-fold) and void volume (2.5-fold) in NGF-OE mice. Intravesical instillation of PACAP(6–38) also decreased baseline bladder pressure in NGF-OE mice. PACAP(6–38) had no effects on bladder function in WT mice. Intravesical administration of PACAP(6–38) (300 nM) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) reduced pelvic sensitivity in NGF-OE mice but was without effect in WT mice. PACAP/receptor signaling contributes to the increased voiding frequency and pelvic sensitivity observed in NGF-OE mice.
Cultural Sensitivity to Satisfaction and Service Quality Measures

This study uses a dental setting to test cultural sensitivity to several existing scales for measuring satisfaction and service quality. Expected level of service and performance were controlled and manipulated by using a two by two experimental design. Hispanics, specifically Mexican-Americans, were chosen as the ethnic group to test cultural sensitivity. The sample consisted of 378 adult respondents primarily from metropolitan El Paso, Texas. Findings indicate that the satisfaction and service quality scales tested were indeed culturally sensitive, with Mexican-Americans indicating significantly higher levels of satisfaction expressed and service quality perceived at the .05 level than Anglos in the same service situation.
Significance of prostate weight on peri and postoperative outcomes of robot assisted laparoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy.

INTRODUCTION: To determine the significance of prostate weight (PW) on clinical and pathological outcomes in patients undergoing da Vinci robot assisted laparoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy (EP-RARP). METHODS: From November 2008 to January 2010, 295 men underwent EP-RARP at our institution. We retrospectively reviewed our database and stratified patients into four groups based on pathologic PW: Group 1, less than 30 g; Group 2, 30 g to less than 50 g; Group 3, 50 g to less than 80 g; and Group 4, 80 g or larger. We prospectively compared these groups with respect to patient age, body mass index, prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score, pathological stage, margin status, operative time, blood loss, transfusion rate and length of stay. Statistical analysis was performed using SYSTAT 13 software. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was used to compare the continuous variables among the groups. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare categorical variables. RESULTS: Of the 295 patients, 10, 182, 91, and 12 had a PW of less than 30 g; 30 g to less than 50 g; 50 g to less than 80 g; and 80 g or larger, respectively. A significant difference was found in age, prostate weight and prostate-specific antigen values among the four groups (p < 0.05). Patients in Group 4 had larger prostates, were older (mean age 65 years), had higher pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (median 5.85 ng/mL) and lower Gleason score (mean 6.2). Based on the D'Amico risk stratification, our study showed a trend toward higher risk disease, presence of extra capsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion and positive margin status in Groups 1, 2 and 3 rather than in Group 4. No significant differences in operative time, estimated blood loss, transfusion rate, hospital stay, and postoperative complication rate were observed among the four groups. CONCLUSIONS: Da Vinci robot assisted laparoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy (EP-RARP) is feasible in patients with larger prostates, offering acceptable operative times, blood loss, hospital stay and complication rates. In our cohort of patients, we found pathologically smaller prostates are generally associated with higher Gleason score, higher risk group stratification and positive surgical margin status. Although technically challenging, increased prostate weight should not be considered a contraindication for EP-RARP if performed by experienced surgeons.
Effectiveness and safety of pemetrexed for non-small cell lung cancer in the Andalusian Public Health System.

Objective: To evaluate effectiveness and safety profile of pemetrexed in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) when it´s used on real clinical practice in Andalusia (a Spanish region with 8.5 million inhabitants, 2014 census data). Methods: An observational multicentre retrospective study was conducted. Adult patients with locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC who received pemetrexed in any hospital in the Andalusian Public Health System during the last term of 2011 were included. We collected patients´ baseline characteristics, diagnostic and treatment data, effectiveness variables (response to treatment with pemetrexed and overallsurvival) and main adverse reactions detected. Results: 172 patients from 17 hospitals were included (77.33% were men), median age 63 years old (between 34 and 83). The predominant histology was adenocarcinoma (84.30%) and 85.20% were diagnosed of lung cancer with IV-stage. 78.49% had been smokers at some point in their lives. Median overall survival from the start of pemetrexed was 9 months (95%CI, 4.1-13.9). Progression of the disease was the most frequent response (33.14%), only one patient had complete response. Stable disease was associated with a higher probability of survival. Main adverse reactions detected were asthenia, haematological reactions, gastrointestinal reactions and dermal o mucous toxicity. No patients discontinued treatment for serious toxicity. Conclusions: Pemetrexed resulted quite effective in NSCLC when it was used on real clinical practice, with higher survival in non-squamous histology and patients with the best score of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale. The toxicity profile was well tolerated. Prospective studies would be needed to confirm the effect of prognostic factors observed.
A Pilot Study of Yttrium 90 (90Y) Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin®) in Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL): Delivering Cross Fire Radiation by Targeting Reactive B Cells in the Microenvironment.

Both non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and HL are radiosensitive tumors. Although the efficacy of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) targeting CD20 antigen has been established in several types of B-cell NHL, no data exisit on the potential use of this approach in classical HL. The malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of HL infrequently express CD20 suggesting that classical HL may not be the optimal tumor to be targeted by this approach. However, HRS cells are frequently surrounded by reactive B lymphocytes that express CD20. Therefore, we hypothesized that targeting reactive B cells in HL microenvironment by RIT could deliver effective radiation dose to HL lymph nodes killing HRS cells by cross-fire effect. To test this hypothesis, we treated 4 patients with relapsed classical HL with Zevalin RIT. During the imaging phase, patients received a slow intravenous infusion of rituximab (250 mg/m2) followed by an intravenous injection of 4–5 mCi of In-111 labeled anti-CD 20 (In-111 Zevalin). Whole-body scans were performed at 2–4 hours and 40–48 hours after injection using a Siemens dual-head gamma camera. Simultaneous anterior and posterior projections were obtained at these time points. After ruling out any unfavorable biodistribution of Zevalin was confirmed on images at both time points, patients underwent the treatment phase which consisted of rituximab (250 mg/m2) followed by Y-90 anti-CD 20 (Y-90 Zevalin). To-date 4 patients are enrolled on study (ages 25, 31, 65, and 74 years). Two patients received prior ASCT, and 2 were treated after failing ABVD chemotherapy alone. All patients received 0.4 mCi/Kg up to a maximum dose of 32 mCi. Normal biodistribution of Zevalin was confirmed in all 4 patients during the imaging phase. No Zevalin-avid lesions was noted in one patient. There was faint visualization of some of the known lesions (by Ga-67 SPECT, CT or F-18 FDG PET) in the axilla and abdomen in 2 of the 4 patients. Intense Zevalin-uptake sites were identified in the supraclavicular, infraclavicular, mediastinal, hepatic and abdominal lymphatic chains in another patient. Imaging results and treatment responses are shown in the following table: Treatment was well tolerated with hematologic toxicity similar to those observed in NHL patients. Our preliminary results suggest that RIT targeting reactive B cells in classical HL is feasible and safe. Future studies should incorporate pretreatment evaluation of a selected lymph node by fine needle aspiration to determine the fraction of reactive B cells in the microenvironment prior to treatment with RIT targeting CD20.
Machine Learning and Big Data

The proliferation of data along with the ability to quickly compute has in recent years led to a variety of techniques for estimating probabilities that depends less on assuming a particular model for the data and more on utilizing large amounts of data. Such techniques are often referred to as being “machine learning”. This chapter will give an introduction to certain popular machine learning techniques.
Discovery and Background of the Bowman-Birk Protease Inhibitors

This is an account of the initial work on a protease inhibitor now generally and appropriately designated simply as BBI. It is also appropriate that this account be brief. It is the work of other investigators that provides whatever significance inhibitors of this type possess.
TIME-WISE PERSISTENCE OF ERROR IN PRESENTATION OF THERMODYNAMIC DATA, SUCH AS ON “ENTROPY”

Pendant de nombreuses annees les unites fondamentales definissant la valeur de l'entropie, par exemple, ont ete publiees sur une base erronee. On a peine a croire que c'est du a une mauvaise comprehension des concepts fondamentaux, mais c'est sans doute plutot du a une negligence dans la repetition d'erreurs faites au depart dans des tables de valeurs thermodynamiques largement repandues, telles que les tables de vapeur et de fluide frigorigene. L'aspect du point de vue physique oppose au point de vue mathematique entre aussi en jeu. Cette situation semble internationale et continue a se manifester meme dans des publications tres serieuses meme encore en 1969.
Helium Shows New Chemistry Not Seen Anywhere Else

Work by Dong et al., recently published in Nature Chemistry , shows that the chemistry of noble gases, far from being restricted to a few instances of covalent bonding with highly electronegative elements, is more interesting than we thought—more interesting than that of most elements, even.
Evaluating the Impact of Pro Environmental Energy Policy in Scotland and the UK: the Case of Increased Efficiency in Household Energy Use

In this thesis, I use multi-sectoral computable general equilibrium techniques to investigate the system wide impacts of improvements in households' energy efficiency use, and technical progress in delivering households' energy services, in Scotland and the UK. The thesis consists of three main, self-contained but correlated essays. The first essay looks the system wide impacts of an illustrative 5% energy efficiency improvement in households' energy use in Scotland and highlights the economic implications of increasing energy efficiency in a regional economy. I find that this results in a small economic stimulus, accompanied by a reduction in energy use that is less than the expected energy savings from the pure energy efficiency increase- the rebound effect. The stimulus is higher when migration of workers is allowed between Scotland and the rest of the UK. However, the higher expansion also delivers a higher rebound in energy use. The stimulus from the higher efficiency in energy use if further enhanced when I consider the impact of greater fiscal autonomy in Scotland, and allow for endogenous government expenditure or tax rates. The second essay analyses the distributional impacts of households' energy efficiency improvements in the UK, focussing the attention on effciency improvements in lower income households. I discuss whether there is an argument for the Government to fund household energy efficiency programmes via a temporary reallocation of current government expenditure or an increase in the income tax rate. While reallocating public spending has short-term negative impacts on demand over the period of the payment, the efficiency improvement delivers a net long-run stimulus However, an increase in income tax adversely affects the real take home wage and delivers a long-term reduction in GDP. In all scenarios, lower income households are able to increase their energy consumption and their income by approximately the same amount. The third essay looks at the consumption of energy intensive services using the example of private transport. Here I argue that private transport should be modelled as a household self-produced commodity, composed of refined fuels and motor vehicles. By using a simple partial equilibrium model, I show that technical improvement in motor vehicles can reduce refined fuels use, when there is enough substitutability between the two inputs, and depending on the price elasticity of demand for private transport. By taking the case of the UK, and using a CGE model, I find that technical progress in motor vehicles delivers a small expansionary improvement if the consumer price index is adjusted to account for the implicit price of private transport.
Dissolution and transport of insensitive munitions formulations IMX-101 and IMX-104 in saturated soil columns

Military training exercises can result in deposition of energetic residues on range soils, which ultimately can contaminate groundwater with munitions constituents. Column experiments followed by HYDRUS-1D modeling were conducted to evaluate dissolution and transport of energetic constituents from the new insensitive munitions (IM) formulations IMX-101, a mixture of 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), nitroguanidine (NQ), and 2, 4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), and IMX-104, a mixture of NTO, 1,3,5-hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and DNAN. NTO and DNAN are emerging contaminants associated with the development of insensitive munitions as replacements for traditional munitions. Flow interruption experiments were performed to investigate dissolution kinetics and sorption non-equilibrium between soil and solution phases. The results indicated that insensitive munitions compounds dissolved in order of their aqueous solubility, consistent with prior dissolution studies conducted in the absence of soil. Initial elution of the high concentration pulse of highly soluble NTO and NQ was followed by lower concentrations, while DNAN had generally lower and more constant concentrations in leachate. The sorption of NTO and NQ was low, while RDX, 1,3,5,7-octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitrotetrazocine (HMX, an impurity in technical grade RDX), and DNAN all exhibited appreciable sorption. DNAN transformation was observed, with formation of amino-reduction products 2-ANAN (2-amino-4-nitroanisole) and 4-ANAN (4-amino-2-nitroanisole). HYDRUS-1D model, incorporating one-dimensional advective-dispersive transport with particle dissolution and first-order solute transformation was used to simulate the measured breakthrough curves. Optimized dissolution parameters varied widely but were correlated between compounds in the same formulation. Determined adsorption coefficients generally agreed with values determined from batch and column studies conducted with pure NTO and DNAN, while mass-loss rate coefficients were in better agreement with ones from batch than column studies possibly due to suppression of microbial transformation during elution of high concentrations of explosives. Even in the low organic matter soils selected in this study DNAN experienced significant retardation and transformation, indicating potential for its natural attenuation.
Classics in the Garden: Suppers in an Earthly Paradise

Historically, the studies of classics have focussed on their use in education, the formation of youth, and have concerned themselves only indirectly or incidentally with the adult use of the classics for self formation. What I propose to do here is to look at the practices in which adults used the classics. What were these practices? They were performative practices—song and classical poetry recitals, storytelling, the reading of classics aloud to one another and discussion of them. These practices were concerned with texts, but there were others that involved other media—music both vocal and instrumental, food and drink, costuming, the viewing of sculptures and paintings, and the use of architecture—most if not all with classical connections. The use of these media in conjunction with one another had the effect of turning these practices into entertainments or spectacles, performances which the performers considered theatrical and didactic. The main institutional venue for these practices was some sort of daily or occasional meeting that involved food and drink and other performances. This is an institution that has a number of variants and a long and complicated history that interconnects the ruling classes of empires and kingdoms from China and India to Iberia, including, of course, the symposium of European antiquity. The locus for these meetings was, from early times, a garden-palace, a palace or pavilion with an audience and banqueting hall complemented by a garden of delights. Almost invariably the masters of these garden-palaces themselves considered these settings to be paradises on earth—exclusive places where those who were qualified by birth and divine connection could have some sort of experience of transcendence of the everyday world by engaging in a liberating practice of some kind—and encouraged others to think so. I refer to the garden-palaces as courtly paradises.
Taking Social Equity Seriously in MPA Education

In this article, David Rosenbloom suggests five limitations of the 2004 J-PAE symposium on Social Equity in Public Affairs Education. He offers five injunctions, paralleling those limitations, to g...
Advanced Aerospace Materials: Titanium Aluminide Intermetallic Compounds and Metal Matrix Composites

The aerospace systems of the twenty-first century will have mission requirements considerable beyond present day vehicles; including operation in a cost-effective manner. This in turn will require materials with enhanced mechanical property characteristics compared to current state-of-the-art materials. The mission scenarios of the future air and space systems will be briefly reviewed followed by a general consideration of the materials of construction. Two specific types of advanced materials will then be discussed - intermetallic compounds and metal matrix composites. It will be pointed out that while both generic types of materials offer increased strength, stiffness and temperature capability, both also suffer from low ambient temperature “forgiveness” (ductility, fracture toughness, fatigue crack growth rate, etc.) and high cost. The advances which have been made in resolving these concerns, while maintaining other characteristics at attractive levels, will be discussed. A detailed presentation of monolithic and composite titanium aluminides (Ti Al, where x = 1 or 3) will be made.
Assessing Mechanisms of Neural Synaptic Activity

Synaptic activity of stimulated nerve tissues is routinely studied in neurophysiological experiments designed to investigate the stochastic behaviour of neurons, individually and collectively. Common experiments result in observed time series measuring evoked neural responses following electrical stimulus of the nerve tissue, and analyses typically focus on simple numerical summaries, such as estimates of maximum levels of response under given stimuli. Issues of wide interest in the neurosciences are being addressed using representations of such data using mixtures of uncertain numbers of normal distributions. Focuses of analysis are on mixture deconvolution, and on the numbers and weights of components. One approach currently under study uses Dirichlet process mixtures of normals. Some of the scientific issues, together with technical aspects of data analysis, modelling, and the use of prior information, are described and exemplified in this paper.
Sexuality training in counseling psychology

The United States (U.S.) is characterized by some of the poorest sexual health outcomes in the industrialized world, as indicated by the teen and unplanned pregnancy rates, rate of sexually transmi...
Modulation of tendon tap reflex activation of soleus motor neurons with reduced stability tandem stance.

Abstract Reduced stability while standing typically decreases the soleus muscle Hoffmann (H-) reflex amplitude, purportedly to prevent the Ia afferent signal from excessively activating spinal motor neurons during the unstable stance. H-reflex measures, however, by excluding the spindle do not reflect the actual effect of the Ia pathway (i.e. the combined effects of spindle sensitivity and Ia presynaptic inhibition) on motor neuron activation, as tendon tap reflex measures can. But the effect of stance stability on soleus muscle tendon tap reflex amplitude is largely unknown. This study examined 30 young adults (mean(s), 21(2) years) as they stood in a wide stable stance position and an unstable tandem stance with a reduced base of support. Standing body sway, the amplitude of the soleus muscle tendon tap reflex, background EMG and tap force were measured in both stances. A repeated measured design t-test was calculated for each variable. Most subjects (69%) decreased tendon tap reflex amplitude when in the tandem stance position (mean decrease 11.6%), compared to the wide stance (wide stance 0.248(0.124) mV, tandem stance 0.219(0.119) mV, p
Patient-reported vision-related quality of life after bilateral wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis.

PURPOSE To evaluate functional vision and quality-of-life outcomes after bilateral wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). SETTING Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA. DESIGN Prospective case series. METHODS Visual acuity, refractive error, and aberrometric measurements were obtained preoperatively and 1, 6, and 12 months after bilateral wavefront-guided LASIK. The Refractive Status and Vision Profile questionnaire scores were completed at each timepoint and compared with baseline scores. RESULTS The study comprised 84 eyes of 42 patients (aged 24 to 47 years). At 1 year, 76 eyes (90.5%) had an uncorrected distance visual acuity of 20/20 or better and 88.1% of patients were satisfied with their vision without correction. Total refractive status and vision profile scores improved significantly from a mean of 30.9 points at baseline to 20.7 points 1 year postoperatively (P < .001). The visual function, perceptions, and problems with corrective lenses subscales statistically significantly improved from preoperatively to postoperatively (all P < .001). In contrast, the driving (P = .286) and visual symptoms subscales (P = .199) did not show significant changes from baseline to 1 year. CONCLUSION Wavefront-guided LASIK not only afforded clinically measurable improvements in vision but also significant improvements in subjective functional vision and vision-related quality of life 1 year after surgery.
Regulation of Biosynthesis of Carotenoids in Phycomyces Blakesleeanus

Carotenoid biosynthesis can be affected by bioregulatory agents like MPTA [2-diethylaminoethyl-4-methylphenylether] and DCPTA [2-diethylaminoethyl–3,4-dichlorophenylether] which regulate biosynthesis of carotenoid pigments in a wide array of plants and microorganisms (1,2). These bioregulatory agents possess two distinct properties; 1) indirect stimulation of the synthesis of carotenoids and 2) direct inhibition of the transformation of acyclic to cyclic carotenoids. Thus, when citrus fruits [Citrus spp.] are treated at postharvest with MPTA, for example, the usual response observed is a rapid formation of red coloration caused by a large net synthesis of acyclic lycopene [ω,ω-carotene] in the flavedo of the peel (3). The cyclization of the acyclic lycopene to the monocyclic gamma-carotene [β,ω-carotene] and the bicyclic beta-carotene [β,β -carotene] is inhibited (4). There is also observed an accumulation of the intermediate acyclic hydrocarbons such as zeta- carotene [7,8,7′,8′-tetrahydro- ω, ω -carotene and neurosporene [7,8-dihydro-ω,ω-carotene]. Antibiotic studies strongly suggest that the stimulation of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway is regulated by action at the gene expression level. Antibiotics like alpha-amanitin, cordycepin and anisomycin, which are known transcriptional inhibitors, inhibit the biological activity of MPTA (5). Additionally, cycloheximide, which is a known translational inhibitor, severely inhibits the bioregulatory action of MPTA in carotenoid biosynthesis [5]. Studies also have shown that DCPTA increases the activities of key enzymes, such as mevalonic acid kinase and isopentenylpyrophosphate isomerase which are involved in the isoprenoid pathway, indicating an increase in protein synthesis [6].
Brook lamprey survival in the dry riverbed of an intermittent stream

Abstract Intermittent streams account for approximately one half of the global river network, and are especially common in arid and semi-arid regions. These systems are inhabited by several fish species that are adapted to their natural flow intermittency. While many fish species rely on permanent pools or perennial reaches to survive during the dry season, our knowledge regarding fish survival strategies in dry reaches is incomplete. Our observations revealed that ammocoetes (i.e. lamprey larvae) of a non-parasitic brook lamprey (Lampetra sp.) survived in the hyporheic zone of an intermittent stream in the absence of surface water for at least 22 days. This is the first reported observation of ammocoetes persisting in the hyporheic water after loss of surface water, a behavior that has been previously reported for just a few fish species.
A New Reformed Catholicity: Catholicity and Confessing in Reformed Ecclesiology

Reformed ecclesiology suffers from a lack of a concrete sense of catholicity, a lack that easily shatters unity in the church. This article broadly sketches a way in which Reformed confessions and the practice of confessing can help fill that lack, drawing from Robert Schreiter's The New Catholicity. By understanding confessing in terms of re-membering dangerous memories, Reformed catholicity has the potential for enabling the church to be a unifying witness in an age where globalizing forces have fragmented societies and inflamed troubling sentiments.
Chapter 4 – Attenuation

Attenuation and absorption alter the shape of a propagating pulse and its spectrum. The absorption of most materials, including tissues, follows a power-law dependence on frequency. A time causal model relates phase velocity dispersion to frequency-dependent absorption and describes these effects in both the time domain as a material impulse response function and in the frequency domain as a material transfer function. Wave equations for this model contain fractional derivatives. Based on a modified Hooke’s law, a related viscoelastic model is also derived. In addition, the following models are reviewed: Voigt, Maxwell, thermoviscous and multiple relaxation, Zener, and fractional Zener. Power law equations derived from first principles are also discussed. For propagating pulses in time and space, methods for transient and Green’s functions for lossy media are presented. The topic of propagating shear waves is given special consideration. Time gain compensation controls on diagnostic ultrasound systems are explained.
Enteric methane, lactation performances, digestibility, and metabolism of nitrogen and energy of Holsteins and Jerseys fed 2 levels of forage fiber from alfalfa silage or corn silage

Our objective was to determine the effects of replacing alfalfa silage (AS) neutral detergent fiber (NDF) with corn silage (CS) NDF at 2 levels of forage NDF (FNDF) on enteric methane (CH4), lactation performance, ruminal fluid characteristics, digestibility, and metabolism of N and energy in Holstein and Jersey cows. Twelve Holstein and 12 Jersey cows (all primiparous and mid-lactation) were used in a triplicated split-plot 4 × 4 Latin square experiment, where breed and diet formed the main and subplots, respectively. The 4 iso-nitrogenous and iso-starch dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 × 2 factorial with 2 levels of FNDF [19 (low FNDF, LF) and 24% (high FNDF, HF) of dry matter] and 2 sources of FNDF (70:30 and 30:70 ratio of AS NDF to CS NDF). Soyhull (non-forage NDF) and corn grain were respectively used to keep dietary NDF and starch content similar across diets. Total collection of feces and urine over 3 d was performed on 8 cows (1 Latin square from each breed). The difference in dry matter intake (DMI) between Holsteins and Jerseys was greater when fed AS than CS. Compared with Jerseys, Holstein cows had greater body weight (48%), DMI (34%), fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM; 31%) and CH4 production (22%; 471 vs. 385 g/d). However, breed did not affect CH4 intensity (g/kg of FPCM) or yield (g/kg of DMI), nutrient digestibility, and N partitioning. Compared with HF, LF-fed cows had greater DMI (10%), N intake (8%), and FPCM (5%), but they were 5% less efficient (both FPCM/DMI and milk N/intake N). Compared with HF, LF-fed cows excreted 11 and 17% less urinary N (g/d and % of N intake, respectively). In spite of lower (2.5%) acetate and higher (10%) propionate (mol/100 mol ruminal volatile fatty acids) LF-fed cows had greater (6%) CH4 production (g/d) than did HF-fed cows, most likely due to increased DMI, as affected mainly by the soyhulls. Compared with AS, CS-fed cows had greater DMI (7%) and FPCM (4%), but they were less efficient (5%), and CH4 yield (g/kg of DMI) was reduced by 8%. In addition, per unit of gross energy intake, CS-fed cows lost less urinary energy (15%) and CH energy (11%) than did AS-fed cows. We concluded that, in contrast to level and source of FNDF, breed did not affect digestive and metabolic efficiencies, and, furthermore, neither breed nor dietary treatments affected CH4 intensity. The tradeoff between CH4 and N losses may have implications in future studies assessing the environmental effects of milk production when approached from a whole-farm perspective.
An Analysis of T Cell Receptor–Ligand Interaction Using a Transgenic Antigen Model for T Cell Tolerance and T Cell Receptor Mutagenesis

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an analysis of T cell receptor-ligand interaction using a transgenic antigen model for T-cell tolerance and T-cell receptor mutagenesis. It presents an analysis of the molecular basis of T-cell receptor (TCR) recognition of foreign peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (MHC). The chapter presents a few experiments that succeeded in transferring Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB) reactivity. T-cell receptor sequences, particularly V regions, are very similar to immunoglobulins, and the consensus of a number of experts is that they probably fold and pair in much the same way. However, the preponderance of their sequence diversity lies in the V(D)J junctional or CDR3-equivalent region, exceeding the diversity of immunoglobulin CDR3s by many orders of magnitude in the absence of somatic mutation.