cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of protein supplementation on forage utilization by cattle in annual grass-dominated rangelands in the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington.

Medusahead [ (L.) Nevski] has become a major invasive plant on the annual grass-dominated rangelands within the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington. Livestock typically avoid grazing medusahead, and forage alternatives are becoming limited in the region. Our hypothesis was that supplying a high-CP supplement would provide a nutritional context that complements the nutritional composition of medusahead and other annual grasses and thus aid cattle in utilizing this vegetation component, making grazing a more effective method of weed control. Cattle grazed annual grass-infested rangelands dominated with medusahead for 10-d periods during June, July, and August over 2 consecutive years. Eight separate pastures were grazed by cattle pairs during each of the 3 grazing periods. Cattle in 4 control pastures received no supplement and cattle in another 4 pastures received a supplement of canola meal that supplied 75% of the daily recommended CP requirement. Bite counts were used to determine diet composition. Forage categories consisted of annual grasses, perennial grasses, and forbs. Bites taken of annual grasses were similar between treatment groups during the first 5 d of the grazing period ( > 0.05), and then cattle supplemented with canola meal increased consumption of annual grasses, during d 6 to 10 of the grazing periods, over nonsupplemented animals ( 0.05). Forb production was greatest the first year of grazing and declined the second year of grazing and continued to decline the following year with no grazing ( < 0.05). Perennial grass production was low throughout the study. The effects of grazing on medusahead abundance suggest cattle may be used to graze this weed after it has matured in an integrated management program with other forms of control to reduce infestation prior to seeding with desirable forage species.
Exhaustive Genome-Wide Search for SNP-SNP Interactions Across 10 Human Diseases

The identification of statistical SNP-SNP interactions may help explain the genetic etiology of many human diseases, but exhaustive genome-wide searches for these interactions have been difficult, due to a lack of power in most datasets. We aimed to use data from the Resource for Genetic Epidemiology Research on Adult Health and Aging (GERA) study to search for SNP-SNP interactions associated with 10 common diseases. FastEpistasis and BOOST were used to evaluate all pairwise interactions among approximately N = 300,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥ 0.15, for the dichotomous outcomes of allergic rhinitis, asthma, cardiac disease, depression, dermatophytosis, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hemorrhoids, hypertensive disease, and osteoarthritis. A total of N = 45,171 subjects were included after quality control steps were applied. These data were divided into discovery and replication subsets; the discovery subset had > 80% power, under selected models, to detect genome-wide significant interactions (P < 10(-12)). Interactions were also evaluated for enrichment in particular SNP features, including functionality, prior disease relevancy, and marginal effects. No interaction in any disease was significant in both the discovery and replication subsets. Enrichment analysis suggested that, for some outcomes, interactions involving SNPs with marginal effects were more likely to be nominally replicated, compared to interactions without marginal effects. If SNP-SNP interactions play a role in the etiology of the studied conditions, they likely have weak effect sizes, involve lower-frequency variants, and/or involve complex models of interaction that are not captured well by the methods that were utilized.
Effective Reduction in High Ethanol Drinking by Semisynthetic Tetracycline Derivatives.

Background New pharmacotherapies to treat alcohol use disorders (AUD) are needed. Given the complex nature of AUD, there likely exist multiple novel drug targets. We, and others, have shown that the tetracycline drugs, minocycline and doxycycline, reduced ethanol (EtOH) drinking in mice. To test the hypothesis that suppression of high EtOH consumption is a general property of tetracyclines, we screened several derivatives for antidrinking activity using the Drinking-In-the-Dark (DID) paradigm. Active drugs were studied further using the dose–response relationship. Methods Adult female and male C57BL/6J mice were singly housed and the DID paradigm was performed using 20% EtOH over a 4-day period. Mice were administered a tetracycline or its vehicle 20 hours prior to drinking. Water and EtOH consumption was measured daily. Body weight was measured at the start of drug injections and after the final day of the experiment. Blood was collected for EtOH content measurement immediately following the final bout of drinking. Results Seven tetracyclines were tested at a 50 mg/kg dose. Only minocycline and tigecycline significantly reduced EtOH drinking, and doxycycline showed a strong effect size trend toward reduced drinking. Subsequent studies with these 3 drugs revealed a dose-dependent decrease in EtOH consumption for both female and male mice, with sex differences in efficacy. Minocycline and doxycycline reduced water intake at higher doses, although to a lesser degree than their effects on EtOH drinking. Tigecycline did not negatively affect water intake. The rank order of potency for reduction in EtOH consumption was minocycline > doxycycline > tigecycline, indicating efficacy was not strictly related to their partition coefficients or distribution constants. Conclusions Due to its effectiveness in reducing high EtOH consumption coupled without an effect on water intake, tigecycline was found to be the most promising lead tetracycline compound for further study toward the development of a new pharmacotherapy for the treatment of AUD.
Chiral perturbation theory in few-body systems

Abstract An effective hadronic field theory provides a framework to carry out systematic and consistent calculations of low-energy strong interaction processes. Its fundamental ingredient is chiral symmetry, which ensures a perturbative expansion of the nuclear potential in loops and many-nucleon effects. The two-nucleon potential to a certain order in this expansion provides a good fit to deuteron properties and to phase shifts up to 100 MeV laboratory energies. A consistent three-nucleon potential can also be obtained. Isospin violation from the quark mass difference and electromagnetism is shown to obey an observed hierarchy. Processes involving external probes—pion-deuteron scattering, proto-neutron radiative capture, pion photoproduction on the deuteron, and pion production in proton-proton collisions— are also discussed in the same framework.
Accelerated Distributed Dual Averaging Over Evolving Networks of Growing Connectivity

We consider the problem of accelerating distributed optimization in multi-agent networks by sequentially adding edges. Specifically, we extend the distributed dual averaging (DDA) subgradient algorithm to evolving networks of growing connectivity and analyze the corresponding improvement in convergence rate. It is known that the convergence rate of DDA is influenced by the algebraic connectivity of the underlying network, where better connectivity leads to faster convergence. However, the impact of the network topology design on the convergence rate of DDA has not been fully understood. In this paper, we begin by designing network topologies via edge selection and scheduling in an offline manner. For edge selection, we determine the best set of candidate edges that achieves the optimal tradeoff between the growth of network connectivity and the usage of network resources. The dynamics of network evolution is then incurred by edge scheduling. Furthermore, we provide a tractable approach to analyze the improvement in the convergence rate of DDA induced by the growth of network connectivity. Our analysis reveals the connection between network topology design and the convergence rate of DDA, and provides quantitative evaluation of DDA acceleration for distributed optimization that is absent in the existing analysis. Lastly, numerical experiments show that DDA can be significantly accelerated using a sequence of well-designed networks, and our theoretical predictions are well matched to its empirical convergence behavior.
Reduction in the number of CGG repeats on the FMR1 gene in carriers of genetic disorders versus noncarriers.

OBJECTIVE CGG repeat expansion on the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene is used to diagnose fragile X syndrome. Previous studies have discussed the correlation between the number of CGG repeats and its associated phenotypic components. The objective of this study is to determine whether the number of CGG repeats differ between carriers of genetic disorders versus noncarriers. METHODS We performed a retrospective chart review of 2867 patients who received genetic screening at our fertility clinic between June 2013 and July 2015. The number of CGG repeats on allele 1 and allele 2 on the FMR1 gene was collected and it was specified whether the patient was a carrier or a noncarrier of a specific mutation. Patients with CGG repeats greater than or equal to 45 were excluded from the study. RESULTS Carriers (n=759) had a reduced number of repeats compared to noncarriers (n=2024) on allele 1 (p=.03), allele 2 (p=.02) and the average of both alleles (p=.01). Additionally, the number of CGG repeats from the ten most carried diseases from the cohort were used and tested individually for clinical significance against the number of repeats in the noncarriers. A reduction in repeats was shown in several mutations and a few were outliers. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrate that there is a significant reduction in the number of CGG repeats in carriers of genetic mutations. A larger scale study of disease carrying patients would be beneficial.
Wideband elliptical metasurface cloaks in antenna technology

In this paper, we propose to use the concept of scattering cancellation in order to decrease the mutual coupling between wideband strip dipole antennas at GHz frequencies. Here, we show that by wrapping the antennas with two elliptically shaped metasurfaces, not only can the −10 dB bandwidth be drastically increased, the electromagnetic interaction between the antennas can be suppressed considerably, and the radiation patterns can be restored.
Fatal Exertional Heat Stroke and American Football Players: The Need for Regional Heat-Safety Guidelines.

Context: Weather-based activity modification in athletics is an important way to minimize heat illnesses. However, many commonly used heat-safety guidelines include a uniform set of heat-stress thresholds that do not account for geographic differences in acclimatization. Objective: To determine if heat-related fatalities among American football players occurred on days with unusually stressful weather conditions based on the local climate and to assess the need for regional heat-safety guidelines. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Data from incidents of fatal exertional heat stroke (EHS) in American football players were obtained from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research and the Korey Stringer Institute. Patients or Other Participants: Sixty-one American football players at all levels of competition with fatal EHSs from 1980 to 2014. Main Outcome Measure(s): We used the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and a z-score WBGT standardized to local climate conditions from 1991...
Curves on a Surface

In this book, unless otherwise specified, by surface we shall always mean a connected compact complex manifold of complex dimension 2 which is a holomorphic submanifold of ℙ N for some N. Thus, “surface” is short for smooth (connected) complex algebraic surface. By Chow’s theorem, a surface is also described as the zero set in ℙ N of a finite number of homogeneous polynomials in N + 1 variables. The study of surfaces is concerned both with the intrinsic geometry of the surface and with the geometry of the possible embeddings of the surface in ℙ N . Just as with curves, we could organize this study in order of increasing complexity. In terms of the extrinsic (synthetic) geometry of a surface in ℙ N , we could for instance try to study and eventually classify surfaces in ℙ N of relatively small degree. Or we could attempt to order surfaces by complexity via some intrinsic invariants, by analogy with the genus of a curve. This is the aim of the Kodaira classification, which orders surfaces by their Kodaira dimension. For this scheme, we have a fairly complete understanding of surfaces except in the case of Kodaira dimension 2, general type surfaces. We will cover the broad outlines of the general theory of surfaces. In this chapter, we will discuss the basic invariants, intersection theory and Riemann-Roch, and the structure of the set of ample divisors. In Chapter 3, we will discuss birational geometry.
Integrating Perspectives on Affective Neuroscience: Introduction to the Special Section on the Brain and Emotion:

In this special section, three target articles present three different perspectives on emotion and how it is implemented in the human brain. Fundamental issues are discussed such as the nature and ...
P010 Heterogeneous flow cytometry crossmatch reactions in the presence of patient sera with pan-dr antibodies

Aim During routine clinical evaluations of antibody profiles using single antigen bead (SAB) assays, several instances of widespread reactivity exclusively to DR antigens (‘pan-DR’ antibodies) were observed. Additional assays were performed to investigate reactivity of these pan-DR positive sera against different antigenic conformations present on bead products and donor cells. Methods Four serum samples taken two months apart from two hematopoietic cell transplant candidates were evaluated. Mixed bead and C1q assays (One Lambda, Inc) were performed to verify that the antibodies being detected were indeed against DR antigens and not cryptic epitopes that are present on SAB. Flow cytometry crossmatch (FCXM) was performed against two different donor cells. ELISA was performed to assess the involvement of AT1R antibodies in positive FCXM reactions based on reports of the capacity of anti- AT1R to cause positive FCXM. Results All sera were negative for Class II antibodies using mixed beads and C1q screening assays, contradicting the Pan-DR reactions with SAB. From patient#2, FCXM showed that serum #3 was T+/B + crossmatched against cell #1 but became T-/B- crossmatched against cell #2. From patient #1, serum #1 was borderline T+/B + when crossmatched against cell #1 but became T+/B- when crossmatched against cell #2. FCXM with all serum samples from both patients against cell#2 were negative. Additionally, auto-crossmatches for both patients were negative despite the presence of auto-antibodies. There was no association between AT1R antibody level and pan-DR observation. Conclusions The presence of antibodies against both naive and denatured antigens was indicated in pan-DR positive SAB/negative mixed beads, and in the positive T-cell FCXM and/or B-cell FCXM reactions. It is plausible that pan-DR antibodies described by the SAB data are not HLA antibodies at all but rather non-HLA antibodies with cross reactivity between cryptic HLA-DR antigens and yet unidentified non-HLA epitopes on lymphocytes.
The Obstacle is the Way : Resilience in the Lives of Salvadoran Immigrants in the United States

Although Salvadorans are the third largest Spanish-speaking community in the United States, research on their adaptation and well-being remains scarce. This chapter seeks to contribute to the literature by (1) highlighting key moments in the history of El Salvador and its people, and (2) analyzing the existing literature on the Salvadoran immigrant experience from a strengths-based perspective. This chapter emphasizes the importance of considering different sources of resilience when seeking to understand the Salvadoran immigrant experience.
Heart Failure Severity Stratification beyond INTERMACS Profiles: A Step towards Identification of Optimal LVAD Implantation Timing

Purpose As skeletal muscle mass and quality decrease with heart failure progression, we hypothesized that pectoralis muscle mass and tissue attenuation measured on pre-left ventricular assist device (LVAD) CT scans would add meaningful heart failure severity stratification beyond INTERMACS profile alone. Methods Patients with chest CTs performed ≤ 3 months prior to LVAD implantation at University of Minnesota (n=143) and Houston Methodist Hospital (n=133) were identified from the larger cohorts (University of Minnesota n=353, Houston Methodist =278). Unilateral Pectoralis muscle mass indexed to body surface area and pectoralis muscle attenuation (approximated by mean Hounsfield units; PHUm) was measured on pre-operative chest CT scans. Patients within each INTERMACS profile were separated into HIGH and LOW pectoralis muscle measure groups (HIGH = upper two pectoralis muscle tertiles, LOW = lowest pectoralis muscle tertiles, repeated for both PMI and PHUm). Kaplan Meier survival analyses were performed to compare mortality among INTERMACS profiles by HIGH and LOW pectoralis muscle measure groups. Results INTERMACS 3 and 4 patients in the HIGH PHUm groups had the highest survival on LVAD support (2-year survival 80%, 95% CI 70 - 87%, p =0.0002). When the analysis was repeated for PMI, INTERMACS 3 and 4 patients in the HIGH PMI groups had the highest survival on LVAD support (2-year survival 80%, 95% CI 70 - 87%, p = 0.004). Conclusion INTERMACS 3 and 4 patients with the highest pectoralis muscle measures had the best survival on mechanical support. As skeletal muscle wasting is accelerated with advanced heart failure, these measures may help identify patients in whom watchful waiting is not safe. Further data will be required to confirm this hypothesis.
Real-time assessment of catheter contact and orientation using an integrated optical coherence tomography cardiac ablation catheter

The efficacy of catheter ablation treatment for atrial fibrillation is directly impacted by the quality of lesion formation. Two parameters that are critical for maximizing energy delivery are sustained catheter contact and orientation. Currently, these parameters must be inferred indirectly through tactile feedback or measurements of bioelectrical impedance and tip force. In this work, we propose a method for discerning contact and orientation based on direct endomyocardial imaging mediated by optical coherence tomography (OCT)-integrated ablation catheters. A two-stage classifier is developed to deduce contact parameters from M-mode images. Experimental validation within swine left-atrial specimens demonstrate accuracies of 99.96% and 92.88% for contact and orientation stages, respectively. These results highlight the potential of OCT M-mode imaging for guiding catheter placement during radiofrequency ablation interventions.
The effect of the Zika virus outbreak on fertility and female labour market outcomes

ABSTRACTSince the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil, the number of microcephaly cases significantly increased among newborn children. Detrimental effects on the health outcomes of newborn childr...
Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise and Influence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk

@fmct:Contents @toc4:Forewordxxx @tocca:Robert M. O'Neil @toc4:Prefacexxx Acknowledgmentsxxx @toc2:1. In Search of the Elusive Supreme Court Law Clerk000 2. A Portrait of the Supreme Court Law Clerk000 3. The Law Clerk as Stenographer000 4. The Law Clerk as Legal Assistant000 5. The Law Clerk as Law Firm Associate000 6. Courtiers of the Marble Palace000 @toc4:Appendices000 Notes000 Bibliography000 Index000
The Ties that Bind Us: The Influence of Perceived State Similarity on Policy Diffusion

In this paper, we propose a new measure to understand policy connections between the states. For decades, diffusion scholars have relied on the largely untested assumption that contiguous states ar...
Buprenorphine: prospective novel therapy for depression and PTSD

Background Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are leading causes of disability and loss of life by suicide. Currently, there are less than satisfactory medical solutions to treat these mental disorders. Here, we explore recent preclinical and clinical studies demonstrating the potential of using buprenorphine to treat major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, and PTSD. Method Bibliographic databases were searched to include preclinical and clinical studies demonstrating the therapeutic potential of buprenorphine and the involvement of the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) in mediating these effects. Results Original clinical studies examining the effectiveness of buprenorphine to treat depression were mixed. The majority of participants in the PTSD studies were males and suffer from chronic pain and/or substance use disorders. Nonetheless, these recent studies and analyses established proof of concept warranting farther investigations. Additionally, KOR likely mediates the antidepressant and some of the anxiolytic effects of buprenorphine. Still, it appears that the full spectrum of buprenorphine's beneficial effects might be due to activity at other opioid receptors as well. Conclusions Pharmaceuticals' abilities to treat medical conditions directly relates to their ability to act upon the endogenous biological systems related to the conditions. Thus, these recent findings are likely a reflection of the central role that the endogenous opioid system has in these mental illnesses. Further studies are necessary to study the involvement of endogenous opioid systems, and specifically KOR, in mediating buprenorphine's beneficial effects and the ability to treat these medical conditions while minimizing risks for misuse and diversion.
A Microfluidic System to Measure Neonatal Lung Compliance Over Late Stage Development as a Functional Measure of Lung Tissue Mechanics.

Premature birth interrupts the development of the lung, resulting in functional deficiencies and the onset of complex pathologies, like bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), that further decrease the functional capabilities of the immature lung. The dysregulation of molecular targets has been implicated in the presentation of BPD, but there is currently no method to correlate resultant morphological changes observed in tissue histology with these perturbations to differences in function throughout saccular and alveolar lung development. Lung compliance is an aggregate measure of the lung's mechanical properties that is highly sensitive to a number of molecular, cellular, and architectural characteristics, but little is known about compliance in the neonatal mouse lung due to measurement challenges. We have developed a novel method to quantify changes in lung volume and pressure to determine inspiratory and expiratory compliance throughout neonatal mouse lung development. The compliance measurements obtained were validated against compliance values from published studies using mature lungs following enzymatic degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The system was then used to quantify changes in compliance that occurred over the entire span of neonatal mouse lung development. These methods fill a critically important gap connecting powerful mouse models of development and disease to measures of functional lung mechanics critical to respiration and enable insights genetic, molecular, and cellular underpinnings of BPD pathology and improve lung function in premature infants.
Pregnancy After Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD): a 2020 Update

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a disease which affects a predominantly female and relatively young population, some of whom have not yet completed their reproductive lives. SCAD has traditionally been considered a contraindication to future pregnancy due to concerns about the risk of recurrence and the high-risk phenotype associated with pregnancy-associated SCAD (P-SCAD). This review summarizes recent advancements in the understanding of pregnancy and reproductive health after SCAD. Although traditionally under-recognized and underdiagnosed, the importance of SCAD as a unique clinical entity is now recognized in a growing number of expert guidelines and consensus documents which provide advice on the management of pregnancy. Recent data, although insufficient to alter current management recommendations, offers hope that the recurrence rate in subsequent pregnancies may be lower than previously believed. Pregnancy and reproductive health for women after SCAD is a complex area with relatively limited data to guide management decisions. At present, there is insufficient data to challenge the traditional assumption that subsequent pregnancy should be avoided. Where pregnancy is pursued, thoughtful multidisciplinary management in expert women’s heart health centres is vital. Going forward, increased experience in the management of all aspects of reproductive health in these women will hopefully provide data to allow more accurate understanding of risks and optimal management in this population.
Arsenal of the Global South: Yugoslavia’s Military Aid to Nonaligned Countries and Liberation Movements

Yugoslavia’s military internationalism was one of the most practical expressions of the country’s policy of nonalignment. Beginning with Algeria in the 1950s until its demise in the 1990s, Yugoslavia was an ardent supporter of liberation movements and revolutionary governments in Africa and Asia. This article argues that Yugoslav military internationalism was at the heart of Yugoslavia’s efforts to reshape the post-1945 global order and represented an extension of Yugoslav revolution abroad. Military aid was an expression of personal identification of Yugoslavia’s “greatest generation” with decolonization struggle. However, Yugoslav military aid to other countries went beyond a single foreign policy issue. Yugoslav military internationalism touched upon many other issues that included problems related to finances, economic development, the acquisition and transfer of military technology, relations with the superpowers, national security, ideology and politics, and prestige and status in global affairs. By the end of the 1970s, with the departure of the World War II generation and the looming economic crisis, Yugoslav military involvement in the Global South became increasingly driven by economic reasons. Former Yugoslav republics, after a short hiatus in the 1990s during the wars for Yugoslavia’s succession, are still present in the arms trade in the Global South.
Reduced-Order Analytical Models of Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Systems for Low-Frequency Oscillation Analysis

Low-frequency oscillations have been observed in a real-world solar photovoltaic (PV) farm. The goal of this research is to build a simplified analytical model in the synchronous frame for large-signal simulation and small-signal analysis. The latter, e.g., eigenvalue analysis and participation factor analysis, can reveal influencing factors of the oscillations. Two simplified analytical models are proposed, ignoring PV dc-side dynamics (e.g., dc/dc boost converter control and maximum power point tracking), while preserving the grid-side converter (GSC) controls and electromagnetic dynamics of the grid interconnection. The first model assumes the input power from PV's dc side known and constant. The second model assumes that PV's dc side is represented by a constant dc voltage behind an impedance. The simplified models are compared with an electromagnetic transient (EMT) testbed with full details on time-domain simulation results, admittance frequency-domain responses, and eigenvalue-based stability analysis results. The second simplified model is found as capable of accurately predicting oscillation stability.
Inferior Articular Process Fracture in a Collegiate Athlete Causing Back Pain: A Case Report of Surgical Treatment.

Case A 20-year-old male athlete presented with 8 months of low back pain. Conservative management had been unsuccessful. He noted lumbar spine pain with extension, and imaging showed features of an L4-5 inferior articular facet tip fracture. The fragment was excised, he returned to college lacrosse and is without symptoms at the 9-month follow-up. Conclusion In similar cases with facet fragments, we would recommend a full workup and attempt nonoperative therapy. If not improved and a diagnostic injection provides near-complete relief, then resection of the facet fragment can be discussed as a potentially effective and conservative surgical option.
Recovering defect distributions from reduced-area bright-field wafer inspections

Background: The universal pressure to reduce costs is particularly sharp with respect to those manufacturing operations that are not considered to directly contribute to the final product. This often results in defect inspections having an aggressive level of inspection area reduction, especially where it is necessary to identify the extent of excursions or perform engineering experiments. Inspection swath skipping is one of the most convenient ways by which wafer inspections can have their inspection area reduced and consequently inspection times shortened. This presents some challenges for those charged with interpreting the subsequent results. Objective: The recovery of the underlying defect distribution from wafer inspections that use swath skipping, in order to determine the true condition of the wafers and allow the accurate estimate of their upper yield potential, for process control purposes. Approach: A simulated wafer containing three distinct binomial distributions is examined in order to demonstrate the impact of reduced inspection coverage upon the observed defect distribution. Two of the distributions are localized to represent the behavior of defect signatures or systematic distributions. Results: Using the ratio of defect bin counts to identify the most likely defect density to have produced the observed counts, is demonstrated as an effective means to identify distinct density components. These components once scaled can be used to reconstruct the original, underlying defect distribution. Conclusions: The presented method is capable of handling wafers affected by highly localized defect signatures or systematic distributions. Thus allowing dramatic reductions in inspection times without a loss of process control. This extends beyond the capabilities of conventional models to restore distributions with fidelity and should be of benefit to operators of Bright-filed inspection tools and the tool manufacturers.
Temperature-dependent photoluminescence of a dot-in-a-rod nanowire emitting at 1310nm

We report on temperature-dependent photoluminescence properties of a single $\mathbf{In} \mathbf{A s}_{\mathbf{x}} \mathbf{P}_{1-\mathbf{x}} / \mathbf{In} \mathbf{A s} \mathbf{y} \mathbf{P}_{1-\mathbf{y}}$ quantum dot-in-a-rod (DROD) nanowire emitting at 1310 nm. We will discuss the variation of the emission intensity, linewidth, peak energy and decay time of the exciton peak as a function of the temperature in the 4 - 120 K range. Strong emission from the DROD nanowire at 300 K is also observed. A relative quantum yield of about 61 % is measured at room temperature.
Afro-descendant Trajectories: A Methodological Reflection

This article offers a reflection about how we think of Afro-descendant people as objectsor subjects of study. To do this, it reflects on the question: How does the study of Afrodescendantpeoples change when the so-called “unit of analysis” is not a slave, but anenslaved ancestor who is part of your contemporary cosmology? The way of arriving atthis question, and the analysis presented henceforth attempts to highlight key aspects foradvancing Afro-descendant scholarship: specifically the role of black feminist thought andpractices on ancestral consciousness; and its subsequent impact on the interpretation andproduction of historical and socio-political sources.
Interpolation Sets for the Ball Algebra

We shall be concerned with compact sets K ⊂ S. For convenience, we introduce six labels, (Z), (P), (I), PI), (N), and (TN), to denote certain properties that K may or may not have in relation to the ball algebra A(B).
Learning in Two Languages: From Conflict to Consensus in the Reorganization of Schools

After being off the public agenda for a decade, the subject of bilingual education is once again at the center of public debate. Assumptions about the values of cultural pluralism and the rise of the "unmeltable ethnics" so dominant for the last twenty years have met a renewed public affirmation of the value of assimilation. In the United States "bilingual education" refers to programs that emphasize students' home languages and culture; teach academic subject matter in students' home languages; and introduce English into the curriculum at a deliberate pace. Students in such programs are generally members of immigrant groups and racial and ethnic minorities, and they usually come from lower-class economic backgrounds. Over the years, a number of different objectives have been advanced for bilingual education programs. In the 1960s and early 1970s, educators believed that these programs should be evaluated by students' linguistic proficiency and progress on standardized tests. More recently, advocates have promoted more subjective measures, such as students' enhanced sense of well-being and self-esteem. And yet others argue that the real goals of bilingual education should be social change and economic redistribution, and that programs should be evaluated by these long-range goals. The conference that gave rise to the essays in this volume was the first national symposium at which advocates and critics of bilingual education confronted each other's arguments face-to-face. These essays address the objectives by which bilingual education should be evaluated; the administrative practices by which programs are run; and the latest research findings on the effectiveness of bilingual education. Authors include Henry Trueba, Rudolph Troike, James Banks, Joshua Fishman, and Christine Rossell. "Learning in Two Languages "will interest educators and policy researchers, students of ethnic relations, and others concerned about the future direction of U.S. educational policies in this controversial area.
Skeletal muscle adiposity is associated with serum lipid and lipoprotein levels in Afro-Caribbean men.

Objective: When compared with other ethnic groups, African ancestry individuals have lower triglycerides and higher High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, although the mechanisms for these differences remain unclear. A comprehensive array of factors potentially related to fasting serum lipid and lipoprotein levels in African ancestry men was evaluated. Design and Methods: Men (1,821) underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measures of total body fat and quantitative computed tomography assessments of calf skeletal muscle adiposity [subcutaneous and intermuscular adipose tissue (AT), and muscle density as a measure of intra-muscular AT]. Results: Multivariable linear regression analysis identified age (−), total body fat (+), subcutaneous AT (−), fasting glucose (+), fasting insulin (+), diastolic blood pressure (+), and non-African ancestry (+) as independent correlates of triglycerides (all P < 0.05). Total body fat (+), intra-muscular AT (−), and diastolic blood pressure (+) were independent correlates of Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (all P < 0.001). Age (+), waist circumference (−), fasting insulin (−), physical activity (+), and alcohol intake (+) were independent correlates of HDL-C (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: A novel relationship between skeletal muscle adiposity and serum lipid and lipoprotein levels in African ancestry men, independent of total and central adiposity was illuminated. In African ancestry populations, genetic factors are likely a significant determinant of triglycerides levels.
Low-Cost Hollow Mesoporous Polymer Spheres and All-Solid-State Lithium, Sodium Batteries

A practical, low-cost synthesis of hollow mesoporous organic polymer (HMOP) spheres is reported. The electrochemical properties of Li+/Na+-electrolyte membranes with these spheres substituting for oxide filler particles in poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-filler composite are explored. The electrolyte membranes are mechanically robust, thermally stable to over 250 °C, and block dendrites from a metallic-lithium/sodium anode. The Li+/Na+ transfer impedance across the lithium/sodium–electrolyte interface is initially acceptable at 65 °C and scavenging of impurities by the porous-spheres filler lowers this impedance relative to that with Al2O3. All-solid-state Li/LiFePO4 and Na/NaTi2(PO4)3 cells give stable discharge capacity of ≈130 and 80 mAh g−1, respectively, at 0.5 C and 65 °C for 100 cycles.
NuMesh: an architecture optimized for scheduled communication

The NuMesh system defines a high-speed communication substrate optimized for off-line routing. By determining possible communication paths at compile time, highly efficient hardware and software constructs can be exploited to yield superior network performance. These communication paths can be independently tuned to allow more utilized paths greater bandwidth. Although communication paths are scheduled, data need not be sent during every scheduled cycle. Flow-control protocols allow for empty communication cycles as well as for data backup in the network. Limited gate delays between NuMesh registers as well as single-cycle message transfers allow for a high clock frequency and low network latency. A highly pipelined architecture for this communication is presented and a mechanism for efficient flow-controlled communication is discussed. A unique communication protocol is presented and shown to provide single-cycle transfers between nodes. An overview of the necessary compiler support is also provided. Preliminary results and a description of the current hardware and software status are listed.
Growth hormone down-regulates growth hormone receptor mRNA in chickens but developmental increases in growth hormone receptor mRNA occur independently of growth hormone action

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of growth hormone (GH) in regulating expression of the chicken GH receptor (cGHR) gene by comparing the levels of cGHR mRNA in livers of normal chickens with that of GHR-deficient dwarf chickens. Since the sex-linked dwarf chicken lacks a functional cGHR, there are no genes activated as a result of GH action. Examination of the early developmental profile of hepatic cGHR mRNA in normal and dwarf chickens should yield information on the relative contribution of developmental and hormonal factors to the regulation of cGHR gene expression. Using a sensitive RNase protection assay, we found that the abundance of the major cGHR transcripts (4.3, 3.2 and 0.8 kb) in normal chickens increases about 2-fold between 1 and 7 weeks of age. Due to a splice site mutation in the dwarf chicken, the two larger transcripts encoding the full-length cGHR are not expressed. However, the expression of the truncated cGHR transcript (0.8 kb) in dwarf chickens increases about 5-fold between 1 and 7 weeks of age which suggests that the cGHR gene is overexpressed when not down-regulated by GH. Furthermore, a single promoter, appears to control expression of cGHR transcripts in liver since primer extension analysis revealed the same 5'-end in both full-length and 0.8 kb transcripts. These observations suggest that even though developmental increases in cGHR gene expression occur independently of GH action, GH, either directly or indirectly, down-regulates expression of the cGHR gene in normal chickens.
Serum-free cell culture of normal human urothelium

A simple and effective method is described for obtaining epithelial cell cultures from normal human urothelium (bladder or ureter epithelium) using a new serum-free medium, HMRI-2. Tissue explanted in HMRI-2 exclusively produced epithelial outgrowths that could be subcultured once or twice and cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen in the complete absence of serum.
Accurate base composition of double-strand DNA by mass spectrometry

An accurate molecular weight (M r) assignment for a double-strand (ds) DNA determines or greatly restricts the possible number of each of its four bases, while the compositions for its two single-strand (ss) components can also be derived from their M r values. For a ds 64-mer (39 kDa), the ss-M r values (±0.5 Da) of its high-resolution mass spectrum from an electrospray ionization/Fourier transform instrument yield only the correct ds- and ss-base compositions. Literature mass spectra of lower mass accuracy show that such data can also restrict their possible composition assignments, with further discrimination using the abundance vs. base composition of small fragment ions from the dissociation of the ss molecular ions.
Operative Salvage for Locoregional Recurrent Colon Cancer After Curative Resection: An Analysis of 100 Cases

Locoregional recurrence after resection of colon carcinoma is an uncommon and difficult clinical problem. Outcome data to guide surgical management are limited. This investigation was undertaken to review our experience with surgical resection for patients with locoregional recurrence colon cancer, determine predictors of respectability, and define prognostic factors associated with survival. A prospective database was queried for patients who had recurrent colon cancer between January 1991 and October 2002. Patients were selected for analysis if they had either isolated resectable locoregional recurrence or concomitant resectable distant disease. Disease-specific survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier actuarial method, and factors associated with outcome were determined by the log-rank test and Cox regression. During this period of time, 744 patients with recurrent colon cancer were identified and 100 (13.4 percent) underwent exploration with curative intent for potentially resectable locoregional recurrence: 75 with isolated locoregional recurrence, and 25 with locoregional recurrence and resectable distant disease. The median follow-up for survivors was 27 months. Locoregional recurrence was classified into four categories: anastomotic; mesenteric/nodal; retroperitoneal; and peritoneal. Median survival for all patients was 30 months. Fifty-six patients had an R0 resection (including distant sites). Factors associated with prolonged disease-specific survival included R0 resection (P < 0.001); age <60 years (P < 0.01); early stage of primary disease (P = 0.05); and no associated distant disease (P = 0.03). Poor prognostic factors included more than one site of recurrence (P = 0.05) and involvement of the mesentery/nodal basin (P = 0.03). The ability to obtain an R0 resection was the strongest predictor of outcome, and these patients had a median survival of 66 months. Salvage surgery for locoregional recurrence colon cancer is appropriate for select patients. Complete resection is critical to long-term survival and is associated with a single site of recurrence, perianastomotic disease, low presalvage carcinembryonic antigen level, and absence of distant disease.
LOW-TEMPERATURE RECONSTRUCTION PATHWAY TO THE SI(111)(3 3)R30-AG INTERFACE

Using the spectroscopic capabilities of a scanning tunneling microscope, we identified and investigated a low-temperature reconstruction pathway for forming Si(111)($\sqrt{3}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$\sqrt{3}$)R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}-Ag from the Si(111)3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1-Ag interface. A metastable intermediate phase consisting of one-dimensional atom chains atop the Si(111)3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1-Ag reconstruction stabilizes locally. The density of states at the chains indicates a Ag-Si bonding configuration similar to that of the ($\sqrt{3}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$\sqrt{3}$)R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} reconstruction. We propose a mechanism for the (3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1) to ($\sqrt{3}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$\sqrt{3}$)R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} phase transformation at low temperature. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Burkean scapegoating, mortification, and transcendence in presidential campaign rhetoric

The essay explains Kenneth Burke's concepts of scapegoating and mortification as symbolic means of redeeming guilt, and transcendence as a symbolic means of avoiding guilt. Presidential campaign rhetoric from 1980 illustrates these three rhetorical strategies well: Jimmy Carter used a strategy of mortification and redemption, Ronald Reagan employed transcendence, and John Anderson used scapegoating. Some implications for theory of political rhetoric are explored.
Transurethral Collagen Injections in the Therapy of Post-Radical Prostatectomy Stress Incontinence

AbstractPurpose: We report on our initial results with glutaraldehyde cross-linked collagen used as an injectable bulking agent for the therapy of post-radical prostatectomy stress incontinence.Materials and Methods: A total of 19 men underwent collagen injection for treatment of post-radical prostatectomy stress incontinence.Results: Of the 19 patients treated 11 had either a good (4) or improved (7) result, for an overall satisfaction rate of 58 percent with a followup of 3 to 15 months (mean 10.4). Failure correlated with presence of bladder neck contracture or scarring and severity of incontinence.Conclusions: Injection of collagen for stress incontinence after radical prostatectomy has an acceptable short-term success rate, particularly in men with milder incontinence and lack of bladder neck scarring.
Synthesis and Characterization of New Polymers Containing Bis 1,2,4-Triazole Ring and Used in the Purification of Wastewater from Copper Ion

In this study, two types of polymers containing bis 1,2,4-triazole were prepared (poly thioether and poly thioester) by condensation polymerization. These polymers were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, DSC and TGA techniques. Also, intrinsic viscosities were measured to estimate the molecular weight of the polymers. We use these polymers in treating wastewater containing heavy metal ion, Cu+2. The effect of time on the efficiency of Cu+2 ion removal in 25°C was investigated. Results showed that when researchers used poly thioester to removal the copper ion from wastewater, the ability of removal is better than when poly thioether is used.
Actual focal length of a symmetric biconvex microlens and its application in determining the transmitted beam waist position.

The actual focal length of a three-dimensional continuous profile symmetric biconvex microlens with normal monochromatic plane wave illumination is theoretically determined using a full-field separation of variables method in the oblate spheroidal coordinate system. The investigations are performed for microlenses of 5, 10, and 20 wavelength diameters by calculating the electromagnetic field distributions inside of and adjacent to the microlenses. The importance and potential application of the microlens actual focal length in the design of microlens optical systems are demonstrated by showing that for normal monochromatic TEM00 mode Gaussian beam illumination, the transmitted beam waist position through a single microlens, calculated using Self’s beam waist position transformation formula [Appl. Opt.22, 658 (1983)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.22.000658] with the microlens actual focal length, closely matches the exact value given by the separation of variables method.