cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Survival following synchronous colon cancer resection

Background Synchronous colon cancers, defined as two or more primary colon cancer detected simultaneously at the time of initial diagnosis, account for up to 5% of all colon cancer diagnoses. Management principles and outcomes remain largely undefined. Methods A retrospective institutional review of patients undergoing curative intent resection for colon adenocarcinoma (Stages I-III) from 1995 to 2007 was performed. Hereditary causes or inflammatory bowel disease were excluded. Matching was performed and Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to compare overall survival. Results Of 2,387 patients, 100 (4.2%) had synchronous cancers. Patients with synchronous lesions tended to be older (median 77 vs. 72 years, P 0.05). Compared to solitary, synchronous cancers demonstrated an inferior 10-year overall survival (53.9% vs. 36.5%, P = 0.009). Subset analysis of patients with synchronous cancers showed no difference in overall survival between those with extended versus segmental resections at 120-months (P = 0.07). Conclusion Synchronous colon cancer is associated with decreased overall survival compared to patients with solitary tumors. Extended resection does not confer a survival benefit in these patients. Further research is needed to determine how to mitigate the poor outcomes. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:80-85. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Alunite on Mars

Identification of minerals on the surface of Mars is critical to understanding the geological history of our neighbor planet. In this issue of American Mineralogist , Ehlmann et al. report their discovery of alunite [KAl 3 (SO 4 ) 2 (OH) 6 ] in Cross Crater on Mars. Because terrestrial alunite forms from Al-rich acid sulfate waters, these results strongly suggest the past presence of Al-rich acid saline martian waters.
THE THEORY OF THE FIRM

For Friedman, lack of realism of assumptions is not a virtue. It is a necessary evil: to base theories on absolutely realistic assumptions is like drawing a map on a one-to-one scale. Mark Blaug Consumer Theory focuses on the buyer. It models a consumer's optimization problem and emphasizes deriving a Demand Curve as an important result. The Theory of the Firm is about the seller. Firm decisions about inputs and outputs are modeled as optimization problems. A key result will be deriving a Supply Curve. The Theory of the Firm is made up of three interrelated optimization problems. 1. Input cost minimization: Choose inputs to minimize the cost of producing a given level of output. Derive the cost function by changing q and tracking the minimum total cost. 2. Output profit maximization: Choose output to maximize profits. Derive the supply curve by changing the price and tracking the optimal output. 3. Input profit maximization: Choose inputs to maximize profits. Derive an input demand curve by changing an input price and tracking optimal input use. The economic approach (optimization and comparative statics) will play a key role, but there are three crucial innovations in the Theory of the Firm. 1. Market structure: The Theory of the Firm includes the market environment as an important consideration in the model. The firm can be a price taker , a perfectly competitive firm, or a price maker , a monopolist. Other market structures include oligopoly (where there a few firms) and monopolistic competition. 2. Time period: The Theory of the Firm distinguishes between long-run and short-run decision-making horizons. In the long run, all factors are freely variable and firms may enter or exit the industry. In the short run, at least one input (usually capital) is fixed and the firm may cease production (shut down), but it must pay fixed costs whether it produces or not. 3 […]
Nutzung der Windenergie

Die ungleichmasige Sonneneinstrahlung auf die Erdoberflache verursacht eine unterschiedliche Erwarmung des Festlandes und der Ozeane sowie der daruber befindlichen Luftmassen. Die resultierenden Dichteunterschiede bewirken eine aufsteigende oder abfallende Luftstromung, die sich in Luftdruckunterschieden ausert. In der Folge entwickeln sich Hoch- und Tiefdruckgebiete. Die ausgleichende Luftstromung, der Wind, die mit einem Stoff- und Energietransport verbunden ist, erfolgt in Bodennahe stets in Richtung des Druckgefalles von Gebieten hoheren Luftdrucks zu Gebieten niedrigeren Luftdrucks.
Poussin’s Elephant

Nicolas Poussin’s “Hannibal Crossing the Alps,” long considered one of his earliest surviving works, is here recognized as a portrait of a historical elephant who visited Rome in 1630 and re-dated accordingly. The article tells the story of this remarkable animal. It traces his passage from South Asia through Portugal, Spain, England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, and back again to France, and examines his encounters along the way with kings and courtiers, scholars, artists, and traveling showmen, giving insight into the diplomatic and economic uses of exotic animals in early modern Europe. Finally, returning to Poussin, it addresses the implications of the re-dating of the “Hannibal” for our understanding of the painter’s stylistic development and biography.
When the Basic Necessities of Life Are Missing: The Impact of Poverty on Children

Childhood poverty affects one in five children in the United States. Living in poverty is more than simply not having money. It relegates children and families to a life of stressors ranging from food insecurity to transient living in which there is frequent moving from one neighborhood to the next. Additionally, violence, family turmoil, homelessness, separation, noise, and crowding often accompany poverty. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the world of poverty through the lens of children and how poverty impacts a child’s health and social-emotional development, therefore hindering academic success. It looks at basic expectations for a safe, secure childhood and these missing elements in the world of the impoverished. It further provides strategies and programs to address breaking the cycle of poverty and balancing the scales for children whose basic necessities are absent.
Invoking Common Law Defenses in Immigration Cases

This Article argues that we should take a deeper look at the applicability of federal common law defenses in immigration cases. In the rare cases where noncitizens attempt to raise common law defenses, such arguments tend to be dismissed offhand by immigration judges simply because removal proceedings are technically civil, not criminal. Yet many common-law defenses may be raised in civil cases. Additionally, immigration proceedings have become increasingly intertwined with the criminal system. After examining how judges already rely on federal common law to fill in gaps in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), this Article proposes three categories of removal cases where federal common law defenses are particularly viable. The first category involves INA provisions that require conduct to be unlawful without requiring a conviction; the second category involves INA provisions barring asylum, which are closely connected to principles of criminal culpability; and the third category involves certain grounds of removal with no explicit mens rea requirement. Finally, the Article examines some of the legal and practical challenges to prevailing with these defenses in the removal context, drawing on criminal cases where such defenses have been raised to immigration-related charges. The Article concludes that a more principled approach to the use of federal common law defenses in removal proceedings is necessary in order to promote consistent and fair adjudication.
Hybrid thermal lattice Boltzmann model to study the transportation of surfactants contaminated emulsions in parabolic flows

Abstract Oil produced from secondary and tertiary processes is mostly in the form of oil in water emulsions, which is an inherent characteristic of the extraction process itself. An attempt to optimize the factors contributing to the cost of transporting such mixtures from the fields to the processing facilities, seems to be very useful and cost effective. In this work, a thorough investigation of the factors influencing the rheology and transportation of emulsions in circular ducts such as temperature, volume fraction, flow driving pressure and surfactants concentration, is performed using a special Lattice Boltzmann model. A dimensionless power number ratio is presented and used for the assessment of the best practices leading to a more efficient emulsions transportation system.
Dyadic Neural Similarity During Stress in Mother-Child Dyads.

Shared psychological processes between individuals occur most between a mother and her child because the mother-child bond is one of the closest forms of human attachment, in which a mother and her child are essentially wired to connect. We recruited mother-child pairs (Ndyad = 19; adolescent: Mage = 13.74, 11 males; mothers: Mage = 44.26), who each completed an fMRI scan. We examined dyadic neural representational similarity as adolescents completed a stress task and mothers observed their child's performance during the same task. On average, mothers and their children did not show similar neural patterns during stress. However, neural similarity varied depending on family connectedness, such that only dyads reporting high family connectedness showed similar neural profiles. Importantly, increased neural similarity was associated with reduced stress in youth, suggesting that shared neural profiles in mother-child dyads enhance adolescents' psychological well-being.
A Multivariate Change-Point Model for Change in Mean Vector and/or Covariance Structure

A multivariate-analysis tool is described that can detect change in the mean vector and/or covariance matrix in addition to the epoch of change in an independent sequence of multivariate observations. The multivariate change model is investigated using ..
Unpacking Partnership, Engagement, and Collaboration Research to Inform Implementation Strategies Development: Theoretical Frameworks and Emerging Methodologies.

Background: Partnership, engagement, and collaboration (PEC) are critical factors in dissemination and implementation (DI (2) delivery system or implementation team partnership; and (3) sustainment/support or interagency/community partnership. A total of 39 studies, of which 21 were review articles, were selected for an in-depth review. Results: Across three forms of partnerships, four domains (cognitive, interpersonal/affective, behavioral, and contextual domains) were consistently identified as factors and strategies for promoting PEC. Depending on the stage (preparation or execution) and purpose of the partnership (regulating performance or managing maintenance), certain PEC strategies are more or less relevant. Recent developments of PEC frameworks, such as Partnership Stage of Change and multiple dynamic processes, provide more comprehensive conceptual explanations for PEC mechanisms, which can better guide PEC strategies selection and integration in D&I research. Conclusions: This review contributes to D&I knowledge by identifying critical domain factors, processes or mechanisms, and key strategies for PEC, and offers a multi-level PEC framework for future research to build the evidence base. However, more research is needed to test PEC mechanisms.
Uncertainty Analysis of Radionuclide Transport in a Fractured Coastal Aquifer with Geothermal Effects

Groundwater flow and radionuclide transport at the Milrow underground nuclear test site on Amchitka Island are modeled using two-dimensional numerical simulations. A multi-parameter uncertainty analysis is adapted and used to address the effects of uncertainties associated with the definition of the modeled processes and the values of the parameters governing these processes. In particular, we focus on the effects on radioactive transport of uncertainties associated with conduction and convection of heat relative to the uncertainties associated with other flow and transport parameters. These include recharge, hydraulic conductivity, fracture porosity, dispersivity and strength of matrix diffusion. The flow model is conceptualized to address the problem of density-driven flow under conditions of variable salinity and geothermal gradient. The conceptual transport model simulates the advection–dispersion process, the diffusion process from the high-velocity fractures into the porous matrix blocks, and radioactive decay. For this case study, the uncertainty of the recharge-conductivity ratio contributes the most to the output uncertainty (standard deviation of mass flux across the seafloor). The location of the freshwater–saltwater transition zone changes dramatically as this ratio changes with the thickness of the freshwater lens and the location of the seepage face changing as well. In the context of radionuclide transport from the nuclear test cavity that is located in the area where the transition zone is uncertain, travel times of radionuclide mass from the cavity to the seepage face along the seafloor are significantly impacted. The variation in transition zone location changes the velocity magnitude at the cavity location by a large factor (probably an order of magnitude). When this effect is combined with porosity and matrix diffusion uncertainty, the uncertainty of transport results becomes large. Although thermal parameters have an effect on the solution of the flow problem and also on travel times of radionuclides, the effect is relatively small compared to other flow and transport parameters.
Competing and Disruptive Objectives: Inefficient Communication Design in Medical Clinic and Healthcare Systems

The American system of delivering health treatment is highly expensive and extremely dysfunctional: in exploring solutions to our broken system of health treatment and healthcare delivery, we would do well to investigate how the dysfunctions arise within communication systems between clinics and insurance corporations. This study describes two situations, with notes gathered from observations and interviews of medical clinic staff, that exemplify the power struggles between competing systems and objectives and to show how the actors within the medical clinic systems work, often inefficiently and at great cost to the clinic, to advance the objectives of the clinic through the use of communicative tools, like claim and payment forms, letters of exception, and grievances to government offices. By investigating how these ineffective and inefficient tensions arise through genres used by the health insurance companies and medical clinics, this study suggests some solutions to establish more effective communication systems and, thus, less expensive overhead for medical clinics.
Organic molecular markers in marine aerosols over the Western Mediterranean Sea.

Abstract A scientific campaign was undertaken along the Western sector of the Mediterranean Sea in the summer 2015 (26th Jun to 13th Jul), with the goal of gathering information about organic contaminants affecting marine aerosol over the Italian seas and with a special focus on changes in composition due to sources. 24 PM10 atmospheric samples in total were chemically characterized, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aliphatic hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) and phthalate esters. Contemporarily, regulated gaseous toxicants (i.e. ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide) and meteorological parameters were recorded. Samplings were carried out inshore in front of harbors (N = 7) and along the cruise, both during the vessel shipping (N = 11, transects) and at its stops offshore (N = 6). Total PAH concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 1.94 ng/m3 and raised close to harbors and coastal sites, confirming that continental sources were responsible for the strong increase of pollution levels there compared to offshore. The percent composition and diagnostic ratio rates of PAHs were different for harbors, while transects were in agreement with offshore stops, possibly due to the different impact of pollution sources. n-Alkanes (C21 C38) and the corresponding carbon preference index rates (CPI) were assessed; their values ranged 8.7–90 ng/m3 and 1.1–2.9 respectively, which suggested that fossil fuel combustion was the dominant source, though biogenic emission could contribute. Alkyl phthalates revealed wide variability in concentrations among aerosol samples. Moreover, long-range atmospheric transport and particle ageing effect induced by photo-oxidants were important factors controlling the composition of organic aerosols in the Mediterranean Sea air.
Phonological Ambiguity Detection Outside of Consciousness and Its Defensive Avoidance

Freud proposes that in unconscious processing, logical connections are also (heavily) based upon phonological similarities. Repressed concerns, for example, would express themselves by way of phonologic ambiguity. In order to investigate a possible unconscious influence of phonological similarity, 31 participants were submitted to a tachistoscopic subliminal priming experiment, with prime and target presented at 1 msec. In the experimental condition, the prime and one of the targets were phonological reverses though graphemically dissimilar (e.g. “nice” and “sign”); in the control condition the targets were pseudo-randomly attributed to primes to which they don’t belong. The experimental task was to “blindly” pick the choice most similar to the prime. ERPs were measured with a focus on the N320, which is known to react selectively to phonological mismatch in supraliminal visual word presentations. The N320 amplitude-effects at the electrodes on the midline and at the left of the brain significantly predicted the participants’ net behavioural choices more than half a second later, while their subjective experience is one of complete arbitrariness. Moreover, the social desirability score (SDS) significantly correlates with both the behavioural and the N320 brain responses of the participants. It is proposed that in participants with low SDS the phonological target induces a normal reduction of N320 as compared to control that increases their probability to pick this target, while high defensive participants have a perplexed brain reaction upon the phonological target with a negatively peaking N320 as compared to control that more often leads them to avoid this target. Social desirability, which is understood as reflecting defensiveness, might also manifest itself as a defence against the (energy-consuming) ambiguity of language. The specificity of this study is that all of this is happening totally out of awareness and at the level of very elementary linguistic distinctions.
Social influence and economic incentives: Complements or substitutes?—The case of fighting crimes

Abstract When policy makers can both use economic incentives and nudge social influence to alter individual behavior, an open question is: are these instruments substitutes or complements? Within a crime framework, we show that they can be either. We distinguish this result from the “social multiplier” effect in the literature.
Quantifying the Effects of Nondiffuse Noise on Ballistic and Coda Wave Amplitude From Variances of Seismic Noise Interferometry in Southern California

We develop a new approach based on the variance of noise cross-correlation to characterize the noise source and wave propagation under the influence of a non-diffuse noise field. Based on the rando...
Identifying subgroups of well-being among patients with cancer: Differences in attitudes and preferences around surveillance after curative-intent surgery.

BACKGROUND Patient perceptions and preferences related to postoperative surveillance are not yet well defined. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of the surveillance practice preferences and attitudes was undertaken based on subgroups derived from clustering participants for measures of well-being, including financial toxicity, emotional, family/social, and functional well-being. RESULTS Among 212 participants, the average age was 58.1 years and most patients were female (57.1%) and white (90.2%). Common malignancies included melanoma/sarcoma (26.4%), thyroid (25.5%), breast (18.9%), gastrointestinal (18.4%), and lung (7.5%) cancer. Respondents within the highest well-being subgroup rated their perception of communication as being the highest more consistently compared with the other well-being subgroups (P = .005). Participants with the highest level of well-being felt more reassured by follow-up appointments (Subgroup 1, Med = 4.00, interquartile range (IQR) = 0.25 vs subgroup 4, Med = 3.75, IQR = 0.73, P = .023). In contrast, patients with the lowest sense of well-being had the highest level of nervousness related to surveillance (subgroup 1, Med = 1.60, IQR = 1.00 vs subgroup 4, Med = 2.20, IQR = 1.15, P < .001). There were no differences in surveillance frequency preferences among different well-being subgroups. CONCLUSION Attitudes towards postoperative surveillance varied with regard to perception of provider communication, nervous anticipation, and assuredness depending on overall patient well-being. Providers should attempt to assess patient well-being as part of a tailored approach to postcancer surgery surveillance.
Epilogue: Three Billboards and Modulations of Shakespearean Revenge

I conclude with a recent film that shows the ways in which versions of Shakespearean structure and theme are continually produced in culture. Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Twentieth Century Fox, 2017) shows a Titus Andronicus-like concern with revenge for a murdered child, but does so through a radical maternal angle. The heroine must navigate through her grief and rage to come to an understanding that does not involve forgiveness, but eschews vengeance. Not Shakespeare but his view of the world becomes the obstacle to optimism in this present life; there are too many revenge stories, too many Hamlets and the like, but in the non-adaptation, we can tell those stories in a different way, to a different end.
Sick mitochondria cause telomere damage: implications for disease

Dysfunctional mitochondria have been implicated in a variety of human pathophysiological conditions such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and aging. However, the precise role of mitochondrial-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these maladies is unclear. Using a light-activated mitochondrially targeted approach, we recently reported direct evidence that damaged mitochondria produce a wave of secondary ROS, causing rapid and preferential telomere dysfunction but not gross nuclear DNA damage (Fig 1).
Gender differences in competitiveness and narcissism as exhibited through pictures on Facebook

Abstract The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of competitiveness on the photos that men and women choose to present of themselves on Facebook. Participants consisted of 236 undergraduate students. Participants completed competitiveness and narcissism scales. Participants allowed researchers to screen shot their most recent 10 Facebook photos, including their profile. Results indicated that competitive men were more likely to post athletic photos. Men lower in vanity were more likely to post attractive photos. Men and women higher in authority/entitlement were more likely to post sexual photos. Overall, the study supports the argument that both competitiveness and narcissism influence the photos that men and women choose to post on social media. In addition, competitiveness and narcissism predicted different types of photo selection.
Teaching one of the differences between rational numbers and whole numbers

First, given any whole number, is there a whole number that we can multiply it by so that the product is 1? Of course, 1 X 1 = 1; but if the given whole number is any number other than one, there is no whole number we can multiply it by to obtain 1 as the product. For example, there is no whole number N such that 2 x N 1. Rational numbers are different. For any nonzero rational number, like %, there is a rational number (% in the case of %) such that the product of the numbers is 1 . Second, is there a whole number between any two whole numbers? Obviously the answer is no. There is no whole number between 4 and 5, nor is there a whole number between any other pair of consecutive whole numbers. However, there is a rational number namely %, or 4г/2 that is between % and %, or 4 and 5. Between any two rational numbers there is always another rational number indeed, there are many rational numbers. The fact that the rational numbers have this property makes them ideally suited for measurement.
Demography of Meadow and Spotted Knapweed Populations in New York

Centaurea stoebe subsp. micranthos (Spotted Knapweed) and the hybrid C. x moncktonii (Meadow Knapweed) are perennial forbs introduced from Europe; the latter also originated from hybridization in North America of 2 other introduced knapweed species. They are invasive in grasslands and pastures in various regions of North America, including increasingly in the Northeast. We collected data from 4 life stages on 11 different demographic rates involving germination, survival, growth, and fecundity. We monitored 4 populations of Meadow Knapweed and 3 populations of Spotted Knapweed over 3 years in New York State by marking and tracking individual plants. Both knapweeds showed moderate to high rates of seed germination, very low survival of dormant seeds, and low survival of early vegetative stages with some site-specific exceptions. Survival of older vegetative and flowering plants was generally moderate to high. The main life-history differences between knapweed taxa involved more rapid maturation to and higher mortality of the flowering stage of Spotted Knapweed, a greater tendency for Spotted Knapweed to alternate between a flowering and vegetative state, and the potential for Meadow Knapweed to grow much larger in size. Spotted Knapweed matured more slowly in New York than in more western populations. Also, the flower head-infesting fly Urophora quadrifasciata and weevils Larinus spp. were present at all study sites. These data add to the knowledge of knapweed demography and can offer insights into the continued expansion and control of these invasive plants.
Casting a Broad Net: The Federal Communication Commission’s Preemption of State Broadband Internet Regulation

In 2018, the FCC abruptly reversed course in the federal scheme for regulating the Internet. With its “Restoring Internet Freedom Order,” the FCC re-reclassified broadband Internet as an “information service,” and thus found it has no statutory authority to impose the net neutrality rules promulgated an earlier FCC in 2016. Nonetheless, the agency included a provision preempting state net neutrality laws or regulation. But it did so relying only on broad grants of regulatory authority and congressional policy. And in judicial review of that Order, the D.C. Circuit vacated the preemption portion of the Order, upholding the remainder of the administrative action. I argue that the FCC’s Order is a timely example of a modern administrative agency relying on expansive and broad statutory authority to preempt state law and getting it wrong. Doing so threatens to destabilize the already delicate balance of federalism implicated when the federal government implements its constitutional authority to preempt state law. Not only did the agency preempt state law after finding no statutory authority to impose the very laws it was preempting but arguably it relied on a broad reading of its delegated authority to do so. When exercising the power of preemption, special care is required for agencies no less Congress. This order simply does not pass muster. Ultimately, I argue the analysis the agency presented is informative as to the implications of the modern administrative state with federalism concerns.
Triple oxygen isotopes in the water cycle

Abstract The past decade has seen a remarkable expansion of studies that use mass-dependent variations of triple oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, 18O) in isotope hydrology and isotope geochemistry. Recent technological and analytical advances demonstrate that small deviations of δ′18O and δ′17O from a mass-dependent reference relationship are systematic and are explained by well-known equilibrium and kinetic fractionations. Measurements of δ′18O and δ′17O complement traditional metrics like deuterium-excess, constrain isotope effects of kinetic fractionation that are impossible to discern with δ18O alone, and help reconstruct past environmental conditions from geologic records. In this review, we synthesize published meteoric (derived from precipitation) water triple oxygen isotope data with a new, near-global surface water dataset of δ′18O, δ′17O, δ2H, deuterium-excess, and ∆′17O, where ∆′17O is defined as δ′17O – λref δ′18O, δ′ notation is a logarithmic definition of the common δ value (δ′=ln(δ + 1), and λref is equal to 0.528. The expanded dataset shows that meteoric water δ′18O and δ′17O fit multiple regression lines and indicates that one global meteoric water line does not adequately describe all triple oxygen isotope data. Instead, this isotope system may be sensitive to processes such as moisture transport, rainout, and evaporation that do not affect the water cycle equally across the globe. This review provides a practical guide to understand ∆′17O variation in waters, explains the utility of this isotope system in hydrologic and paleoclimate studies, and outlines directions of future work that will expand the use of ∆′17O.
INTO Mason: ACE Initiative

Location: Dewberry Hall Abstract: In partnership with the American Council on Education (ACE), Mason has entered 2019-2020 with the launch of the Mason International Collaborative which sets into motion the opportunity to thoroughly review and deliberately advance George Mason University’s international efforts and programs in the context of our overall strategy and goals as an institution. This poster session outlines the overall project -- e.g. timeline, key areas of focused activity, related strategies/priorities of the university, etc. -- and aims to generate discussion and feedback on the ways in which Mason can best advance its internationalization goals.
FACTS OF THE IMAGINATION (FROM THE INSIDE OUT)

FACTS OF THE IMAGINATION (FROM THE INSIDE OUT) By Janelle Iglesias A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Major Director: Kendall Buster Professor of Sculpture, Sculpture and Extended Media Growing up in a bicultural household, navigating the F train as well as mountain creeks, studying culture and then participating in its production, these are some of the idiosyncrasies that I bring to my work. My investigations are rooted in combining a rediscovery of the sensuousness of the natural world and an investigation of the poetics of everyday life. Choosing materials and situations within the realm of the everyday, I’m interested in a transformation that suggests the infinite potential and worth in all things. The resulting objects have identities as complex as my own. They are ridiculous and iv serious, normal and magical, and confident in their awkwardness. This document was created in Microsoft Word X for mac.
The effects and efficacy of cognitive enhancing substances in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

In the past 30 years, literally hundreds of cognitive enhancing substances have been investigated. This large body of research has produced mixed results and there is no consensus as to whether these substances actually enhance cognition. Furthermore, little systematic evidence is available that documents whether or not these substances are efficacious treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. This review summarizes findings of well-controlled clinical studies, provides a brief discussion of current therapeutic approaches for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, discusses research regarding cognitive enhancing substances, and draws impartial conclusions concerning the efficacy of cognitive enhancing substances for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Studies on L-glutamine D-fructose 6-phosphate amidotransferase. I. Feedback inhibition by uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine.

Abstract The enzyme, l-glutamine d-fructose 6-phosphate amidotransferase (EC 2.6.1.16), that catalyzes the formation of glucosamine 6-phosphate has been partially purified from rat liver, HeLa cells, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis. Enzyme from the mammalian sources is subject to feedback inhibition by uridine diphosphate-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, but enzyme from the bacteria is not. The approximate molecular weights, estimated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, are 340,000 for enzyme from the former two sources, and 100,000 for enzyme from the latter two. Kinetic studies on the rat liver enzyme show that UDP-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine increases the Michaelis constant (Km) for fructose 6-phosphate without affecting the maximum velocity, and that it does not alter the Km for l-glutamine. A variety of treatments result in partial desensitization of the rat liver enzyme to inhibition by UDP-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, suggesting that the inhibitor binds at a site on the enzyme distinct from the active site.
Distributed Kalman Filtering with quantized sensing state

This paper studies a Quantized Gossip-based Interactive Kalman Filtering (QGIKF) algorithm implemented in a wireless sensor network, where the sensors exchange their quantized states with neighbors via inter-sensor communications. We show that with the information loss due to quantization, the network can still achieve weak consensus, i.e., the estimation error variance sequence at a randomly selected sensor can converge weakly (in distribution) to a unique invariant measure. To prove the weak convergence, we first interpret the error variance sequence evolution as the interacting particle, then formulate the sequence as a Random Dynamical System (RDS), and finally prove that it is stochastically bounded.
University-to-industry advanced technology transfer

Abstract This case study examines the events in the transfer of an advanced technology (a text-to-speech reading machine) from the university group that developed the technology to an industrial firm seeking to exploit the innovation. After a brief history of the six-year project, the paper discusses the roles of the participants, markets, and time and cost considerations. A model of technology transfer is presented and policy implications derived from the case are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the need for matching technical competence between donor and recipient, and on the function of a transfer agent in facilitating the social process of technology transfer.
Eighth Amendment Gaps: Can Conditions of Confinement Litigation Benefit from Proportionality Theory?

The Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishments” conveys different meanings in different contexts. When challenges are brought to prison conditions, a range of cases that encompasses claims such as overcrowding, excessive uses of force, and failure to provide adequate medical care, a prisoner must show that a particular prison official acted with a sufficiently culpable state of mind to deprive the prisoner of an objectively serious need. When challenges are brought to the proportionality of criminal sentences, the Court compares the severity of the sentence with the seriousness of the criminal offense of incarceration. In both sets of cases, although courts purport to review a “punishment” for its conformity with the Eighth Amendment, different standards contribute to the ultimate resolution. This paper questions whether these differences are justified and whether there are ways to bridge the gap between proportionality review and conditions of confinement review.In particular, I argue here that there are two ways in which elements of proportionality litigation could invigorate conditions of confinement review. First, I suggest that the focus on subjective state of mind in conditions of confinement litigation is called into doubt by proportionality jurisprudence. Second, I propose that the deference to legislators which is assumed in proportionality litigation is not as easily translated into conditions of confinement cases, where the delegation which such deference implies may not be present or appropriate. I conclude by examining three specific areas of conditions jurisprudence in which proportionality principles could be usefully applied.
Optimal redundancy removal without fixedpoint computation

Industrial verification and synthesis tools routinely identify and eliminate redundancies from logic designs. In the former case, redundancy removal yields critical speedups to the overall verification process. In the latter case, redundancy removal constitutes a primary mechanism to optimize the final fabricated circuit. Redundancy identification frameworks often utilize a greatest-fixedpoint iteration, initially postulating a set of candidate redundancies to be conjunctively proved then refining candidates based upon failed proof attempts. Such procedures generally do not yield any soundly-proved redundancies until a fixedpoint is achieved. In this paper, we overcome this drawback by augmenting the fixedpoint procedure with a set of efficient techniques to track dependencies between candidate redundancies. This approach enables the identification of an optimal subset of valid redundancies before the fixedpoint is reached, and may also be used to reduce the number of computations within the fixedpoint procedure. We apply our techniques to enhance k-induction as well as a more general transformation-based verification flow. For induction, we demonstrate up to 75% reduction in runtime and 97% reduction in the number of inductive proofs. For the more general flow, we demonstrate up to 90% reduction in runtime and 80% reduction in the total number of proof obligations.
Low Latency Message-Passing for Reflective Memory Networks

In this paper we present an efficient design for message passing over a reflective memory network. First, we consider the attributes of reflective memory communication networks and the requirements to efficiently build message-passing functionality on these networks. We then introduce the Bill-Board Protocol, a lock-free protocol which provides low-latency send, receive, and multicast functionality to higher-level applications over reflective memory networks. The communication protocol and an implementation on SCRAMNet is described in detail. Lastly, the performance of this protocol is demonstrated.
Purification and Some Properties of Two Boticins

Two bacteriocins (boticins) were elaborated without induction by strain S5, a nontoxigenic variant of Clostridium botulinum type E. After separation of the two active entities by gel filtration on Sephadex G-50, a large particle with boticin activity was isolated by density gradient ultracentrifugation, and a small soluble boticin was purified by continuous curtain electrophoresis and chromatography on sulfoethyl-Sephadex. Large and small boticins were purified 200- and 3,000-fold, respectively, with yields of 50% or more. The small boticin, a basic substance with molecular weight under 30,000, was the predominant species; the large boticin, a negatively charged particle with particle weight greater than 40 × 106, represented less than 20% of the total activity. Both purified boticins were resistant to heat and were attacked by proteolytic enzymes, but the large boticin was less thermostable and less sensitive to proteolytic enzymes than was the smaller variety. The activity of the large boticin was not reduced by treatment with urea or deoxyribonuclease. Both boticins exhibited sporostatic and bactericidal activities for C. botulinum type E, strain 070. A suspension of type E strain 070 vegetative cells was rendered nonviable within 9 min by the small boticin. The lethal action of this bacteriocin was not reversed by trypsin.
Avicenna: The Metaphysics of the Rational Soul

The subject that animates–literally–Avicenna’s philosophical system and lends to it unity and coherence is his theory of the rational soul, i.e., the part of the soul which is distinctively human, the intellect by which we think. The background of this development certainly lies in Aristotle’s De anima III.4–5 and the long series of commentaries in the Greek tradition which it generated, as well as in the enhancement of the ontological role played by the intellect, nous, in the philosophy of Plotinus and especially in the Neoplatonism of the Athenian school. This tradition was continued, in Arabic this time, in the work of al-Fārābi (d. 950), in whom noetics plays also an integrating role, and it was perfected in Avicenna, who considered himself a successor to al-Fārābi, at least certainly in this respect. The study of the different aspects of the rational soul in Avicenna unites most branches of his philosophy and in addition incorporates into the same rational whole such traditionally religious subjects as prophecy, revelation, miracles, theurgy, and divine providence. It therefore constitutes more than a mere theory of the soul but is a veritable metaphysics of the rational soul, and it clearly appears as the primary purpose and goal of all philosophical praxis. The rational soul, according to Avicenna, is a substance subsisting by itself which is imprinted neither in a human body nor in anything else corporeal; it is completely separable and abstracted from matter. This he establishes empirically by the self-awareness that the rational soul has of its existence, together with its independence and substantiality in the famous flying man argument. The rational soul comes into
African-American Business Ownership: Strength In Numbers, But Where?

Federal and state governments have seen fit to create enterprise and empowerment zones which benefit community redevelopment. Are these areas good for minority businesses? Data from Broward County, Florida show that African-American owned businesses tend to be in ethnic communities. They also tend to be in enterprise zones moreso than the other groups, and less likely than women-owned businesses to be in industry clusters. The findings, if replicated in other diverse urban communities, have implications for potential minority business owners. Future research should address whether the differences in location patterns are related to business success.
When Stuff Happens: A Narrative Theory Perspective on Moderator Intervention in Brand Communities

Grievance redress is central to organizations’ duty to act in an ethical and socially responsible manner. In this era of Web 2.0, customer grievances are often posted to the online brand community ...
SMALL ANGLE; X-RAY SCATTERING FROM COAL-DERIVED LIQUIDS

Small anele Zrlids are complex mixtures of liquid and semi-liquid canstituents. They can be broadly classified as oils, resins, asphalknes and preasphaknes. Oils and resins are nominally soluble in pentane, asphaltenes are insoluble irl pentane but soluble in benzene or toluene and preasphaftenes are insoluble in totuene but soluble in t4rahydrofur.m (THF) cw pyridine. The mobcular wd;lht, number of condensed aromatic rings, the number of nitrogen, oxy@n and sulfur hrterotltoms and the concentration of metals increases in going from the average molecule in the oil fraction to the average molecufe in the preasphaltene &a&ion [I] a Most of the oxygen in the asphaltenc and preasphaltene fractions is phenolic oxygen and most of the nitrogen is basic ring nitrogen. The physical state of coakkived liquids depends significantly on the reIative amounts of each fraction. Anomalies sre observed when coal liqciefaction slurries containing high levels of asphaltenes and preasphaknes are Ekered in the 2OU-320°C temperaturu range [2). The anoma.E& have been attri
Characterization of genes encoding two manganese peroxidases from the lignin-degrading fungus Dichomitus squalens

Genes encoding two manganese peroxidases from the white-rot basidiomycete Dichomitus squalens were cloned and sequenced. The mnp1 and mnp2 genes encode mature proteins of 369 and 365 amino acids, respectively. The amino acids involved in peroxidase function, those forming the MnII binding site, and those forming the five disulfide bonds in other Mn peroxidases are conserved in these sequences. Both predicted D. squalens proteins contain multiple acidic residues in their C-terminal sequences, which may be involved in additional metal binding. Both genes contain seven small introns, the locations of which align with each other. The promoters of both D. squalens genes contain putative AP-2 sites, which may be involved in their regulation by nutrient nitrogen. Southern blot analysis of genomic PCR fragments suggests that these sequences represent separate genes rather than allelic variants.
Decreased susceptibility to NMU-induced mammary carcinogenesis in transgenic rats carrying multiple copies of a rat ras gene driven by the rat Harvey ras promoter.

Ras protein over-expression has been observed in human breast cancers although the significance of Ras over-expression in the etiology of breast cancer is unknown and its contribution to breast cancer prognosis is still debated. In this study, the over-expression of both wild-type Harvey and Kirsten Ras proteins as contributors to rat mammary carcinogenesis were examined using a transgenic rat model. Three rat transgenic lines (designated HrHr transgenics) carrying three to six copies of wild-type rat Harvey ras driven by the wild-type rat Harvey ras promoter were produced. In addition, transgenic lines carrying either three or seven copies of the Kirsten ras gene under the same promoter (HrKr) were produced. No pathological changes in the mammary gland were observed in any of the HrHr or HrKr transgenic rat line heterozygotes. Two of the Ras transgenic lines, HrHr (R8) and HrKr (4334), had a significant reduction in NMU-induced rat mammary cancer when compared to their non-transgenic littermates. All five Ras transgenic lines developed fewer carcinomas than their non-transgenic littermates following NMU exposure. The percentage of NMU-induced G35 to A35 activating mutations in the endogenous Harvey ras gene in mammary carcinomas from the HrHr, HrKr transgenic rats and their non-transgenic littermates was similar (∼50%). In contrast, less than 1% of the NMU-induced carcinomas in these Ras transgenic rats had an activating ras mutation in their transgenes. These findings highlight the potential of Ras to function as a modifier gene in repressing mammary carcinogenesis.
In silico genomic subtraction guides development of highly accurate, DNA-based diagnostics for Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 and blood disease bacterium

New rapid diagnostic methods are urgently needed to discriminate the quarantine pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum (Rs) race 3 biovar 2 (R3B2) from other populations of Rs that lack the adaptation to cause bacterial wilt disease in temperate regions. We used an in silico bioinformatic approach to identify several genome sequences potentially specific to R3B2 strains. Primer sets were designed to PCR-amplify sequences in these regions, and four sets were ultimately shown to be >99% accurate for detection of R3B2 strains. On the basis of these results, several primers were designed to enable development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay that was rapid, technologically simple, and essentially 100% accurate for identification of R3B2 when applied to a comprehensive collection of geographically diverse Rs strains. We fortuitously found that a sequence in one of the “R3B2-specific” regions has ~90% identity to a sequence present in strains of the blood disease bacterium (BDB), a member of the Rs species complex that infects banana. Alignments of these sequences allowed design of a second PCR primer set that proved 100% accurate for identification of BDB strains when tested on the 22 BDB strains available to us. These results demonstrate the power of in silico genomic subtraction for rapid identification of population-specific DNA sequences and for the development of simple, reliable detection methods for Rs subpopulations.