cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identifying Demand Responses to Illegal Drug Supply Interdictions

Successful supply-side interdictions into illegal drug markets are predicated on the responsiveness of drug prices to enforcement and the price elasticity of demand for addictive drugs. We present causal estimates that targeted interventions aimed at methamphetamine input markets ('precursor control') can temporarily increase retail street prices, but methamphetamine consumption is weakly responsive to higher drug prices. After the supply interventions, purity-adjusted prices increased then quickly returned to pre-treatment levels within 6-12 months, demonstrating the short-term effects of precursor control. The price elasticity of methamphetamine demand is -0.13 to -0.21 for self-admitted drug treatment admissions and between -0.24 and -0.28 for hospital inpatient admissions. We find some evidence of a positive cross-price effect for cocaine, but we do not find robust evidence that increases in methamphetamine prices increased heroin, alcohol, or marijuana drug use. This study can inform policy discussions regarding other synthesized drugs, including illicit use of pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A unified theory of turbulent flow IV

A general theory of turbulent flow is applied to Couette flow between concentric cylinders. It appears that the basic differential equation of the theory is capable of describing the velocity profiles obtained experimentally if suitable assumptions are made about the structure of the flow and the numerical value of constants in the equation. However, in its present state of development, the theory is not capable of predicting the flow pattern from the Reynolds number and relative diameters of the inner and outer cylinders. The need is shown for additional experimental investigations to define the conditions for the appearance of the various flow patterns.
Trigeminal Nerve Injuries: Avoidance and Management of Iatrogenic Injury

Iatrogenic injury to the trigeminal nerve can remain a source of concern and litigation even for the most experienced oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This article provides the most up-to-date evidence-based recommendations for identification, prevention, and management of these injuries to help clinicians provide the highest level of patient care.
Weighted Restless Bandit and Its Applications

Motivated by many applications such as cognitive radio spectrum scheduling, downlink fading channel scheduling, and unmanned aerial vehicle dynamic routing, we study two restless bandit problems. Given a bandit consisting of multiple restless arms, the state of each arm evolves as a Markov chain. Assume each arm is associated with a positive weight. At each step, we select a subset of arms to play such that the weighted sum of the selected arms cannot exceed a limit. The reward of playing each arm varies according to the arm's state. The exact state of each arm is only revealed when the arm is played. The problem weighted restless bandit aims to maximize the expected average reward over the infinite horizon. We also study an extended problem called multiply-constrained restless bandit where each time there are two simultaneous constraints on the selected arms. First, the weighted sum of the selected arms cannot exceed a limit, Second, the number of the selected arms is at most a constant K. The objective of multiply-constrained restless bandit is to maximize the long term average reward. Both problems are partially observable Markov decision processes and have been proved to be PSPACE-hard even in their special cases. We propose constant approximation algorithms for both problems. Our method involves solving a semi-infinite program, converting back to a low-complexity policy, and accounting for the average reward via a Lyapunov function analysis.
Investigating Multi-cancer Biomarkers and Their Cross-predictability in the Expression Profiles of Multiple Cancer Types

Microarray technology has been widely applied to the analysis of many malignancies, however, integrative analyses across multiple studies are rarely investigated. In this study we performed a meta-analysis on the expression profiles of four published studies analyzing organ donor, benign tissues adjacent to tumor and tumor tissues from liver, prostate, lung and bladder samples. We identified 99 distinct multi-cancer biomarkers in the comparison of all three tissues in liver and prostate and 44 in the comparison of normal versus tumor in liver, prostate and lung. The bladder samples appeared to have a different list of biomarkers from the other three cancer types. The identified multi-cancer biomarkers achieved high accuracy similar to using whole genome in the within-cancer-type prediction. They also performed superior than the one using whole genome in inter-cancer-type prediction. To test the validity of the multi-cancer biomarkers, 23 independent prostate cancer samples were evaluated and 96% accuracy was achieved in inter-study prediction from the original prostate, liver and lung cancer data sets respectively. The result suggests that the compact lists of multi-cancer biomarkers are important in cancer development and represent the common signatures of malignancies of multiple cancer types. Pathway analysis revealed important tumorogenesis functional categories.
Ethical and existential developments in contemporaneous American medicine: their implications for culture and society.

Contemporaneous Western medicine is often depicted as a vast body of scientific knowledge, technical skills, medicaments and machinery wielded by physician-led teams of hospital-based professionals and paraprofessionals, garbed in uniforms of starched white, surgical green and auxiliary pink or blue. Underlying this image is the conception that medicine is shaped primarily by scientific and technological advances, and that its major impetus derives from a highly organized collective effort vigorously to preserve life, by attaining progressive mastery over illness and preventable death.
Does the Market Punish Aggressive Experts? Evidence from Caesarean Sections

There are many markets in which a seller simultaneously diagnoses a customer's needs and recommends a product or service to meet them. Customers have limited information on which to judge the merits of the recommendation and may, as a result, agree to excessively costly or unnecessary services. This asymmetry of information poses a theoretical conundrum. What prevents sellers from always exaggerating the value of their products? A simple but compelling explanation is that consumers may choose not to purchase the product if the seller routinely exaggerates its value. In this paper, we examine whether the market does, in fact, punish overzealous sellers. We focus on the market for deliveries, a procedure in which a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist is faced with the choice of prescribing one of two possible modes: vaginal birth vs. a more highly reimbursed alternative, a cesarean section. We find that maternity patients prefer not to visit physicians with aggressive styles (i.e. physicians who overprescribe cesarean sections), ceteris paribus. The effect is most pronounced for high income patients and HMO patients, two segments of the market that might be very attractive to some obstetricians.
Evidence for cyclohexyl as a reactive surface intermediate during high-pressure cyclohexane catalytic reactions on Pt(111) by sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy.

Sum frequency generation (SFG) surface vibrational spectroscopy has been used to identify reactive surface intermediates in situ during catalytic dehydrogenation reactions of high-pressure cyclohexane (C6H12) on the Pt(111) crystal surface in the presence and absence of high-pressure hydrogen. These experiments provide the first spectroscopic evidence of cyclohexyl (C6H11) as a reactive surface intermediate during the cyclohexane catalytic conversion to benzene at high pressure in the presence of excess hydrogen. In addition, it was proposed from temperature-dependent SFG experiments that dehydrogenation of cyclohexyl is a rate-limiting step in the cyclohexane catalytic conversion to benzene.
Effects of alcohol dependence on cortical thickness as determined by magnetic resonance imaging

Alterations of brain structures have been seen in patients suffering from drug abuse or mental disorders like schizophrenia. Similar changes in volume of brain structures have been observed in both alcoholic men and women. We examined the thickness of gray matter in the cerebral cortex in control men and women (n=69, 47 men) and alcohol-dependent subjects (n=130, 83 men) to test the hypothesis that alcoholic inpatients would have more cortical damage than controls. We also hypothesized that alcoholic women would be more affected than alcoholic men. Alcoholic participants with a history of schizophrenia, psychotic, or bipolar disorder were excluded from the study. Volumetric structural magnetic resonance images were collected, 3D surfaces were created using Freesurfer, and statistical testing for cortical thickness differences was carried out using AFNI/SUMA. Covarying for age and years of education, we confirmed significant differences between alcoholics and healthy controls in cortical thickness in both the left and right hemispheres. Significant differences in cortical thickness between control men and women were also observed. These differences may reflect sexual dimorphisms in the human brain, a genetic predisposition to alcoholism and comorbid drug use, and the extent of gray matter damage in alcoholism and substance use.
Expression of Neural 5α-Reductase Messenger Ribonucleic Acid: Comparison to 5α-Reductase Activity during Prenatal Development in the Rat*

The present study was designed to characterize the developmental pattern of 5 alpha-reductase messenger RNA (mRNA) levels and enzyme activity in intact medial basal hypothalamic (MBH) and preoptic area (POA) tissue fragments of rats during fetal development. 5 alpha-Reductase activity was determined using [3H]testosterone as the substrate and quantifying, by TLC, the radiolabeled 5 alpha-reduced metabolites (dihydrotestosterone [DHT] and 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol). Confirmation of the identity of the [3H]5 alpha-DHT formed was demonstrated by recrystallization of the derivatized DHT to constant specific activity. Under saturating substrate conditions (1.7 microM testosterone), there were no significant sex differences (male vs. female) detected in neural 5 alpha-reductase during prenatal, perinatal, or neonatal development. 5 alpha-Reductase activity was low but detectable at gestational day (GD) 15 (approximately 10 pmol/h.mg protein), increased over 3-fold to peak levels at GD 18, and then declined to moderate levels at GD 22 (approximately 22 pmol/h.mg protein) and 4 days after birth (approximately 17 pmol/h.mg protein). In addition, the developmental pattern of 5 alpha-reductase mRNA expression in fetal MBH-POA tissue was determined, by RNA blot hybridization, using a complementary DNA encoding the rat 5 alpha-reductase enzyme. A single mRNA species was detected at 2.5 kilobase in MBH-POA tissue, which is similar in size to adult rat liver and prostate 5 alpha-reductase mRNA. At GD 15, 5 alpha-reductase mRNA was clearly detectable; the abundance increased on GD 17, remained at maximal levels at GDs 18, 19, and 20, and then decreased to moderate levels on GD 22. A correlation calculated between the normalized 5 alpha-reductase mRNA levels and enzyme activities revealed a strong correspondence between mRNA abundance and enzyme activity values during prenatal development, r = 0.80, P = 0.056. These findings indicate that neural 5 alpha-reductase activity may be developmentally regulated, and that the changes in 5 alpha-reductase activity in MBH-POA tissue during late fetal development are regulated, in part, by the levels of mRNA encoding the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme.
Tests for Equality of Several Binomial Populations Against an Order Restricted Alternative and Model Selection for One-Dimensional Multinomials

The problem of testing the equality of several binomial population against an order restricted alternative and model selection for one-dimensional multinomials is studied. Test procedures are proposed. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistics are obtained. Comparisons are made with other test statistics including the likelihood ratio test for stochastic ordering. Also alternatives which does not depend on the distribution of test statistic is proposed.
Neuro-ophthalmology Internet digital media library

Fred Bernard1 once said that one picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, then how many is a video worth? A collection arranged by Dr. Shirley H. Wray gives you the opportunity to contemplate this question. She has organized a unique peer-reviewed, Web-accessible database of neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic texts, images, and videos designed to educate practitioners, students, and patients. The archives are part of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library, which has been formed by a collaboration between the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society and the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah. Dr. Wray's collection reflects a unique approach to organizing the enormous number of cases she has collected over the course of her …
Down's syndrome, precocious puberty, and transverse vaginal septum: an unusual cause of abdominal pain.

Hematocolpos should be considered in adolescent girls who present with lower abdominal pain, a pelvic mass, and primary amenorrhea. The authors describe a rare case of a young child with Down's syndrome, precocious puberty, and hematocolpos caused by a transverse vaginal septum. The diagnosis was facilitated using a combination of computed tomography and ultrasound scanning. J Pediatr Surg 36:641-643.
Signal Eigenvector Method For General Array Signal Processing

A high resolution algorithm is presented for resolving multiple incoherent and coherent plane waves incident on an array of sensors. The incident sources may be a mixture of narrowband and broadband sources, and, the array's geometry is unrestricted. This algorithm makes use of a fundamental property associated with the signal eigenvectors of the array's spectral density matrix. Specifically, it is shown that these signal eigenvectors may be represented as linear combinations of steering vectors which identify the directions of the incident plane waves. As such, linear algebraic methods may be efficiently used to estimate the plane wave directions-of-arrivals. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the high resolution performance achieved with this new approach relative to that obtained with smoothed MUSIC and the Wang-Kaveh algorithms.© (1988) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Application of epithermal neutron activation in multielement analysis of silicate rocks employing both coaxial Ge(Li) and low energy photon detector systems

The instrumental activation analysis of silicate rocks using epithermal neutrons has been studied using both high resolution coaxial Ge(Li) detectors and low energy photon detectors, and applied to the determination of 23 elements in eight new U.S.G.S. standard rocks. The analytical use X-ray peaks associated with electron capture or internal conversion processes has been evaluated. Of 28 elements which can be considered to be determinable by instrumental means, the epithermal activation approach is capable of giving improved sensitivity and precision in 16 cases, over the normal INAA procedure. In eleven cases the use of the low energy photon detector is thought to show advantages over convertional coaxial Ge(Li) spectroscopy.
PHOX2A regulation of oculomotor complex nucleogenesis

Brain nuclei are spatially organized collections of neurons that share functional properties. Despite being central to vertebrate brain circuitry, little is known about how nuclei are generated during development. We have chosen the chick midbrain oculomotor complex (OMC) as a model with which to study the developmental mechanisms of nucleogenesis. The chick OMC comprises two distinct cell groups: a dorsal Edinger-Westphal nucleus of visceral oculomotor neurons and a ventral nucleus of somatic oculomotor neurons. Genetic studies in mice and humans have established that the homeobox transcription factor gene PHOX2A is required for midbrain motoneuron development. We probed, in forced expression experiments, the capacity of PHOX2A to generate a spatially organized midbrain OMC. We found that exogenous Phox2a delivery to embryonic chick midbrain can drive a complete OMC molecular program, including the production of visceral and somatic motoneurons. Phox2a overexpression was also able to generate ectopic motor nerves. The exit points of such auxiliary nerves were invested with ectopic boundary cap cells and, in four examples, the ectopic nerves were seen to innervate extraocular muscle directly. Finally, Phox2a delivery was able to direct ectopic visceral and somatic motoneurons to their correct native spatial positions, with visceral motoneurons settling close to the ventricular surface and somatic motoneurons migrating deeper into the midbrain. These findings establish that in midbrain, a single transcription factor can both specify motoneuron cell fates and orchestrate the construction of a spatially organized motoneuron nuclear complex.
A minimalist approach to objects

Dynamically typed environment-passing interpreters (EPIs), such as Scheme, are known for their small footprint. In this era of ubiquitous computing, there is an advantage for providing in situ programming support for systems having limited resources. Thus, EPIs may play an important role in programming embedded systems, especially with system-on-a-chip approaches. It is desirable that embedded interpreters be full featured, such as including an object system. By taking a view that equates function definitions with classes and environments with objects, it is shown how any EPI having functions and environments as first-class objects can be made object-oriented with a strong inheritance model through the addition of proxies and judicious use of dynamic scope and/or assignment. Moreover, the sum total of the necessary changes is surprisingly small. The result is an object-oriented interpreter with little additional cost in terms of interpreter size or specialized syntax.
Phase II study of capecitabine (Xeloda) and concomitant boost radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of capecitabine (Xeloda®), an oral fluoropyrimidine, as a radiosensitizer in the neoadjuvant treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Methods and Materials: We conducted a phase II study of capecitabine (825 mg/m2 orally, twice daily continuous) with radiotherapy (52.5 Gy/30 fractions to the primary tumor and perirectal nodes) in 54 patients with LARC (node-negative ≥T3 or any node-positive tumor) staged by endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). The primary endpoint was pathologic response rate; secondary endpoints included toxicity profiles and survival parameters. Results: Of the 54 patients (median age, 56.7 years; range, 21.3–78.7 years; male:female ratio, 1.7; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0–1: 100%), 51 patients (94%) had T3N0 or T3N1 disease by EUS. Surgery was not performed in 3 patients; 2 of these patients had metastatic disease, and the third patient refused after a complete clinical response. Of the 51 patients evaluable for pathologic response, 9 patients (18%) achieved complete response, and 12 patients (24%) had microscopic residual disease ( Conclusion: This regimen of radiotherapy plus capecitabine is well tolerated and is more convenient than protracted venous infusion of 5-FU. The pathologic response rate is comparable to our previous experience using protracted venous infusion 5-FU for LARC.
Multiple forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase in pig epidermis

Pig epidermal cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (EC 3.1.4.16) have been partially purified by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. At least three different forms of the epidermal phosphodiesterases were identified. They were cyclic GMP-specific, cyclic GMP- and cyclic AMP-hydrolyzing and apparently a cyclic AMP-specific enzyme: the first two forms were soluble and the last was the particulate enzyme. The cyclic GMP-specific soluble fraction had a relatively low Km, the cyclic GMP- and cyclic AMP-hydrolyzing fraction had a high Km for the respective substrates and the third particulate enzyme had both high and low Km values for cyclic AMP. The cyclic GMP-hydrolyzing enzyme was localized almost entirely in the soluble fraction, whereas cyclic AMP-hydrolyzing enzyme was distributed to both soluble and particulate fractions. Thus, our studies show that the multiple forms of pig epidermal enzyme differ distinctly in their substrate affinity, specificity and subcellular distribution.
Views of IRBs Concerning Their Local Ecologies: Perceptions of Relationships, Systems, and Tensions Between IRBs and Their Institutions

Background: Research has generally examined institutional review boards (IRBs) in isolation, but critical questions arise of how these entities fit into the larger institutional contexts in which they operate and what the implications may be. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with leaders of IRBs from among the top 240 institutions receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health. Results: Interviewees felt that institutions may affect IRBs through both broad, indirect features (e.g., size, type of research, and culture of the institution), and more direct, IRB-related factors (e.g., amount of leadership and resource support for the IRB). Interviewees thought that institutional support of IRBs ranged from financial to nonfinancial, and direct to indirect, and that these institutional factors can mold amounts of IRB staff and education, audits, education of principal investigators (PIs), and tensions IRBs had to address. Respondents felt that these factors can in turn potentially af...
Socially-Responsive Gene Expression in Male Drosophila melanogaster Is Influenced by the Sex of the Interacting Partner

Behavior is influenced by an organism9s genes and environment, including its interactions with same or opposite sex individuals. Drosophila melanogaster perform innate, yet socially modifiable, courtship behaviors that are sex specific and require rapid integration and response to multiple sensory cues. Furthermore, males must recognize and distinguish other males from female courtship objects. It is likely that perception, integration, and response to sex-specific cues is partially mediated by changes in gene expression. Reasoning that social interactions with members of either sex would impact gene expression, we compared expression profiles in heads of males that courted females, males that interacted with other males, or males that did not interact with another fly. Expression of 281 loci changes when males interact with females, whereas 505 changes occur in response to male–male interactions. Of these genes, 265 are responsive to encounters with either sex and 240 respond specifically to male–male interactions. Interestingly, 16 genes change expression only when a male courts a female, suggesting that these changes are a specific response to male–female courtship interactions. We supported our hypothesis that socially-responsive genes can function in behavior by showing that egghead ( egh ) expression, which increases during social interactions, is required for robust male-to-female courtship. We predict that analyzing additional socially-responsive genes will give us insight into genes and neural signaling pathways that influence reproductive and other behavioral interactions.
Opposite-sex interpersonal attraction as a function of the sex roles of the perceiver and the perceived

Androgynous, sex-typed, and undifferentiated high school males and females were asked to rate opposite-sex androgynous, sex-typed, and undifferentiated stimulus persons on both platonic and romantic liking measures. The sex-role attributes of the perceiver did not importantly mediate preferences. However, the sex-role personality characteristics of the stimulus person had significant consequences for attraction. Androgynous stimulus persons were found to be the most attractive on both platonic and romantic measures of liking. Females especially preferred androgynous males, whereas males tended to prefer androgynous females for friendship and feminine females for romance. Undifferentiated stimulus persons were consistently the least popular. Discussion of the possible dynamics underlying the obtained pattern of results is offered.
Ion Channels in Rabbit Cultured Fibroblasts

Large outward currents are recorded with the whole-cell patch-clamp technique on depolarization of rabbit cultured fibroblasts. Our findings suggest that these outward currents consist of two voltage-dependent components, one of which also depends on cytoplasmic calcium concentration. Total replacement of external Cl$^{-}$ by the large anion ascorbate does not affect the amplitude of the currents, indicating that both components must be carried by K$^{+}$. Consistent with these findings with whole-cell currents, in single channel recordings from fibroblasts we found that most patches contain high-conductance potassium-selective channels whose activation depends on both membrane potential and the calcium concentration at the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane. In a smaller number of patches, a second population of high-conductance calcium-independent potassium channels is observed having different voltage-dependence. The calcium-and voltage-dependence suggest that these two channels correspond with the two components of outward current seen in the whole-cell recordings. The single channel conductance of both channels in symmetrical KCl (150 mM) is 260-270 pS. Both channels are highly selective for K$^{+}$ over both Na$^{+}$ and Cl$^{-}$. The conductance of the channels when outward current is carried by Rb$^{+}$ is considerably smaller than when it is carried by K$^{+}$. Some evidence is adduced to support the hypothesis that these potassium channel populations may be involved in the control of cell proliferation.
CUTANEOUS BASOPHIL (JONES-MOTE) HYPERSENSITIVITY AFTER "TOLEROGENIC" DOSES OF INTRAVENOUS OVALBUMIN IN THE GUINEA PIG

Cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) was studied for tolerogenic requirements. Graded doses of intravenous ovalbumin (OA) were given to guinea pigs which were subsequently immunized appropriately to produce CBH, classic delayed hypersensitivity (classic DH), and/or antibodies of both passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) and hemolytic types. Results showed that doses of intravenous antigen sufficient to induce subsequent tolerance for classic DH and hemolytic antibody actually stimulate CBH reactivity and PCA antibody production. Other studies of dose-route relationships for CBH production demonstrated that optimal immunogenic dosage requirements for CBH varied widely with route of antigen employed. OA in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) injected into footpads had low dosage requirements, intravenous OA had high dose requirements, and intradermal soluble OA dosage requirements were intermediate. The observation that blatant immunogenic responses occur during the early period of tolerance induction amplifies the significant heterogeneity of the cellular immune response and may be of importance in understanding tolerogenesis. Similar immunogenic-tolerogenic requirements and the prime role played by the basophil suggest a developmental or functional relationship between CBH and PCA antibody response.
Unearthing Benny the Bulldozer: the culture of clearance in postwar children's books.

Alongside the large-scale clearance of buildings and land in the post-World War II United States emerged a body of children’s “bulldozers books” that reflected and endorsed this work. While scholars and adult non-fiction authors have typically treated the bulldozer as symbol of protest, rather than subject of inquiry, postwar children’s book writers and illustrators placed the machine front and center. Through their books, they helped a younger generation make sense of the world around them as their environment underwent massive physical destruction for suburban, highway, and urban renewal construction. They also naturalized real-world clearance processes by promoting this work as technological progress, attempting to involve readers in clearance, and putting a friendly, masculine, all-American face on the machines and their operators. In so doing, the books and their authors advanced a “culture of clearance”—the ideology, technology, policy, and practice of clearing the landscape of its natural and built environment.
Techniques and efficacy of flexible endoscopic therapy of Zenker's diverticulum.

Zenker’s diverticulum (ZD) is an abnormal hypopharyngeal pouch often presenting with dysphagia. Treatment is often sought with invasive surgical management of the diverticulum being the only mode of definitive therapy. Primarily done by an open transcervical approach in the past, nowadays treatment is usually provided by otolaryngologists using a less invasive trans-oral technique with a rigid endoscope. When first described, this method grew into acceptance quickly due to its similar efficacy and vastly improved safety profile compared to the open transcervical approach. However, the main limitation with this approach is that it may not be suitable for all patients. Nonetheless, progress in the field of natural orifice endoscopic surgery over the last 10-20 years has led to the increase in utilization of the flexible endoscope in the treatment of ZD. Primarily performed by interventional gastroenterologists, this approach overcomes the prior limitation of its surgical counterpart and allows adequate visualization of the diverticulum independent of the patient’s body habitus. Additionally, it may be performed without the use of general anesthesia and in an outpatient setting, thus further increasing the utility of this modality, especially in elderly patients with other comorbidities. Today, results in more than 600 patients have been described in various published case series using different techniques and devices demonstrating a high percentage of clinical symptom resolution with low rates of adverse events. In this article, we present our experience with flexible endoscopic therapy of Zenker’s diverticulum and highlight the endoscopic technique, outcomes and adverse events related to this minimally invasive modality.
The Role of Radio in the Rwandan Genocide

We examine and interpret the role of the government-controlled Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which involved mass killings both of and by civilians. We consider the historical and political context of the genocide and analyze excerpts from RTLM radio broadcasts and observational accounts, and we interpret, via several strands of communication scholarship related to collective reaction effects and dependency theory, the role played by radio in inciting the genocide.
THE INTERACTION OF THE OVARIAN HORMONES IN EXPERIMENTAL MENSTRUATION

ALTHOUGH THE SPECIFIC CAUSE responsible for the precipitating uterine bleeding during the normal menstrual cycle is yet quite obscure, it seems probable that an explanation will be found in the physiological action of estrogen and progesterone on the endometrium. From an experimental standpoint, there is general agreement that bleeding will occur following an adequate estrogen treatment if the injections are discontinued or the dosage reduced below a certain threshold level. Such bleeding can be inhibited indefinitely by giving progesterone and is precipitated by its withdrawal. It is also a general experience that once an endometrium has been transformed into a fully developed progestational condition by progesterone it is extremely difficult if not impossible to prevent bleeding by giving estrogen. The exact progestational effects resulting from a series of injections of progesterone, which make it difficult for estrogen to inhibit bleeding, are not known but they are not correlated with modification of...
The Structure of Instrumental Practical Reasoning

Standard views of instrumental practical reasoning often appeal just to an end-directed desire and a means-end belief. I argue that such accounts are insufficient when it comes to the practical lives of agents. Instead I offer a novel view of such reasoning, the heart of which is the addition of a normative belief concerning the desirability of the agent's end.
Optimal markdown pricing strategy with demand learning

When launching a new product, a firm has to set an initial price with incomplete information about demand. However, after observing the demand over a period of time, the firm might decide to mark down the price, especially when the Bayesian updated belief about demand is lower than originally anticipated. We consider the case in which the manufacturer makes three decisions: initial price, when to mark down the price, and the markdown price. Modeling the cumulative demand as a Brownian motion with an unknown drift, we compute the posterior probability distribution of the unknown drift. We then show that it is optimal to mark down the price when the posterior probability is below a computable threshold. This threshold policy enables us to determine the optimal (a) regular price, (b) markdown price, and (c) markdown time. Additionally, we examine the impact of demand volatility and evaluate the value of learning.
Serological Reactivity and ln Vivo Toxicity of Staphylococcus aureus Enterotoxins A and D in Selected Canned Foods

Staphylococcal enterotoxins A (SEA) and D (SED) were added to infant formula and to cream of celery soup to determine the persistence of their serological and biological activities during simulated commercial canning. When both food products were retorted at 123.9°C with Fo values of approximately 3 and 8, the enterotoxins were reduced or inactivated serologically; however, they were found to be biologically active when injected into kittens. It was concluded that SEA and SED remain active under some canning conditions and are potential hazards to health.
Ontogeny of hepatic peroxisomal uricase activity in the mongrel puppy.

Summary: Activities of uricase, catalase, and acid phosphatase were measured in the light mitochondrial subcellular fraction of liver from late fetal, neonatal, and adult dogs in order to examine the hypothesis that diminished hepatic peroxisomal uricase activity is responsible for elevated plasma uric acid concentrations in new-born puppies. Late fetal dogs had slightly lower uricase activity than 1-day-old puppies (1.4 ± 1.0 (S.D.) and 3.9 ± 0.7 × 10−5 μ mole hydrolyzed/min/g liver, respectively, P < 0.5), and both were much lower than 30-day-old and adult dogs (46.3 ± 33.7 and 30.8 ± 17.6, respectively, P < 0.5). Comparison with the pattern of development of catalase and acid phosphatase demonstrated non-parallelism with uricase activity lagging behind both other enzymes. Plasma urate concentrations of 0.66 ± 0.09 (S.D.) mg/dl in fetal annuals were higher than the maternal plasma value (0.22 mg/dl), which appears to exclude the possibility that low fetal uricase activity was the result of decreased enzyme substrate.
Residential segregation and differentiated citizenship

(1999). Residential segregation and differentiated citizenship. Citizenship Studies: Vol. 3, Cities and Citizenship in a Global Age, pp. 237-252.
Effect of fentanyl on minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in Rhesus monkeys

Isoflurane (ISO) is commonly combined with fentanyl (FEN) during maintenance of anaesthesia. There are no reports of the efficacy of this combination in monkeys. This study determined the ISO sparing effect of FEN in male Rhesus monkeys.
Covalent IR820-PEG diamine conjugates: characterization and in vivo biodistribution

Introduction: IR820 is a near-infrared probe with potential applications in optical imaging and hyperthermia. Its chlorosubstituted cyclohexene makes it amenable to forming conjugates as multifunctional probes. We prepared a novel covalent IR820/PEG-diamine (IRPDcov) nanoconjugate. Methods: IRPDcov was prepared using IR820 and 6kDa PEG-diamine, characterized by SEM, H-NMR, spectrophotometry, and spectrofluorometry; and studied in vitro and in vivo. Mice (n=36) were used to explore the biodistribution of IRPDcov compared to IR820 and indocyanine green (ICG) after i.v. injection of a 0.24 mg/kg dose of dye, with plasma samples collected at 15-30-60 minutes and 24 hours. The plasma concentrations were fit to a biexponential curve following a two compartment model. Organ samples were collected after 24 hours. Results and Discussion: IRPDcov retained the ability to fluoresce for in vivo optical imaging and also to generate heat, and was significantly more stable than IR820 in aqueous solution over a period of 72 hours. IRPDcov and IR820 demonstrated significantly longer (p<0.05) plasma half-lives, elimination half-lives, and area-under-the-curve values compared to ICG. This could pose an advantage in therapeutic probe applications such as hyperthermia or drug delivery. Both IR820 and IRPDcov showed a very strong signal in the liver and lower-intensity signal in the kidneys 24 hours after injection, whereas the predominant signal for ICG was weak and located in the intestines, demonstrating a much more rapid GI elimination. IR820 showed signal in the lungs, which was not present in IRPDcov subjects indicating that IRPDcov may have been able to escape detection by alveolar macrophages.
Late effects in survivors of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation: a report from the bone marrow transplant survivor study.

Abstract We determined the prevalence of self-reported late-effects in survivors of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL, n=92) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL, n=184) using a 255-item questionnaire and compared them to 319 sibling controls in the Bone Marrow Transplant Survivor Study. Median age at HCT was 39 years (range: 13-69) and median posttransplant follow-up was 6 years (range: 2-17). Median age at survey was 46 years (range: 21-73) for survivors and 44 years (range: 19-79) for siblings. Compared to siblings, HCT survivors reported a significantly higher frequency of cataracts, dry mouth, hypothyroidism, bone impairments (osteoporosis and avascular necrosis), congestive heart failure, exercise-induced shortness of breath, neurosensory impairments, inability to attend work or school, and poor overall health. Compared to those receiving no total-body irradiation (TBI), patients treated with TBI-based conditioning had higher risks of cataracts (odds-ratio [OR] 4.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5-15.5) and dry mouth (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.1-10.4). Females had a greater likelihood of reporting osteoporosis (OR 8.7, 95% CI: 1.8-41.7), congestive heart failure (OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.1-17.2), and abnormal balance, tremor, or weakness (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.5). HL and NHL survivors of autologous HCT have a high prevalence of long-term health-related complications and require continued monitoring for late effects of transplantation.
A comparison of leukocyte ascorbate levels measured by the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine method with high-performance liquid chromatography using electrochemical detection.

Abstract In leukocytes a dynamic relationship between the reduced form of ascorbic acid (AA) and its oxidized product dehydro-AA has been described. It is therefore important to know which form of the vitamin predominates when choosing a methodology. The purpose of this study was to find out if the majority of ascorbate in human leukocytes isolated by centrifugation through Percoll is in the reduced AA form by (1) measuring reduced AA by HPLC and comparing the values to those obtained by using the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) method which measures total ascorbate, and (2) quantifying the reduced and oxidized forms of the vitamin in leukocytes using a modification of the DNPH method. There was no significant difference (P > .05) between the HPLC and DNPH values for 12 individuals and 87% of the AA was found to be in the reduced form. These results support the assumption that the majority of AA found in a mixed leukocyte population isolated through Percoll is in the reduced form and that both methods can be used for AA measurements.
Assigning Culture: An Example of a Cross-Cultural Assignment for Teaching Introductory Psychology

Psychology teachers and textbooks continually introduce content into courses that emphasizes diversity in all forms, particularly those attributed to culture. The present study examined the effect of an assignment involving a book report and literature review that incorporated cross-cultural psychology into an introductory course. Students were assigned a book on cross-cultural applications of psychology in addition to a standard introductory textbook. Students selected a mental illness as a report topic that included a discussion of cross-cultural applications of western concepts of mental illness. A pre-test/post-test design surveying students' attitudes and knowledge revealed significant improvement in understanding how culture influences the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. The authors discuss the effectiveness of the assignment in terms of changing student attitudes and knowledge of cross-cultural issues.
Best interpolation with polynomials lacking the linear term

Abstract Interpolation of minimal norm into the space of polynomials spanned by the monomials 1, t 2 , …, t n + 1 on an interval [ a , b ], with 0 a b , is shown here to be characterized by the equioscillation properties (Bernstein-Erdős conditions) which characterize minimal norm interpolation into several other spaces, including in particular the classical case of the space spanned by the consecutive monomials 1, t , …, t n on any underlying interval. A natural conjecture is that the Bernstein and Erd ' os conditions in fact characterize minimal norm interpolation in practically any space spanned by an extended Chebyshev system (Markov system). Thus far, this conjecture eludes proof. It is hoped that the techniques employed here, in a concrete case, may be of help in this more general problem.
The role of herbivory in terrestrial ecosystem dynamics

Abstract A hypothesis is presented concerning the effect of herbivory in terrestrial ecosystems based on the supposition that an addition of grazers to a system increases the rate of material flow, thus resulting in a greater resistance of system components to environmental change. A sensitivity analysis (parameter) of model ecosystems depicting three stagesof succession indicates that increased herbivory in early stages of succession increases the system's (model) resistance to environmental perturbation, while increased herbivory in the mature forest model significantly decreases this capability. An analysis of the model's parameter sensitivities indicates that in the earlier stages of succession, an increase in the rate of material cycling and/or a reduction of producer biomass caused by herbivory is associated with an increase in the system's resistance to environmental change.
Low-temperature synthesis, pyrolysis and crystallization of tantalum oxide gels

Tantalum oxide gels in the form of transparent monoliths and powders have been prepared from hydrolysis of tantalum pentaethoxide under controlled conditions using different mole ratios of Ta(OC2H5)5∶C2H5OH∶H2O∶HCl. Alcohol acts as the mutual solvent and HCl as the deflocculating agent. For a fixed alkoxide∶ water∶ HCl ratio, the time of gel formation increased with the alcohol to alkoxide molar ratio. Thermal evolution of the physical and structural changes in the gel has been monitored by differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy. On heating to ∼ 400 °C, the amorphous gel crystallized into the low-temperature orthorhombic phase β-Ta2O5, which transformed into the high-temperature tetragonal phase α-Ta2O5 when further heated to ∼ 1450 °C. The volume fraction of the crystalline phase increased with the firing temperature. The α-Ta2O5 converted back into the low-temperature phase, β-Ta2O5, on slow cooling through the transformation temperature of 1360 °C, indicating a slow but reversible transformation.
MO-E-I-609-04: New Detector for Low Dose Cone Beam Computed Tomographic (CT) Mammography Based On Microchannel Plate Image Amplifiers

Purpose: It is becoming recognized that tomosynthesis and/or full cone‐beam CTmammography may provide more diagnostic information than standard two view projection mammography; however, current flat panel digital image receptors have limitations on image quality and low dose due to excessive lag and detectornoise. Maintaining the same or lower total procedure dose can severely restrict the per‐view exposure, or the number of views. A new high‐resolution detector with adjustable high gain is being investigated to overcome these limitations. Method and Materials: A detector design consisting of a CsI x‐ray converter, fiber‐optic taper, microchannel‐plate‐based image amplifier with variable gain of 6 orders of magnitude, and optical coupling to a high resolution rapid sequence, low noise, 10242–20482 matrix pixel CCD camera is being investigated for this application. Results: A detector with a 16 cm diameter FOV can be achieved with the capability for total scan times of a few seconds. Additionally, off‐center magnification modes of full‐field‐corrected truncated cone‐beam CT are possible involving either geometric or optical magnification to improve spatial resolution. Initial tests of a small field‐of‐view prototype detector of the proposed design with 10242 matrix demonstrated linear response (quantum limited performance) for a range of detector entrance exposures from less than 0.2 microR to greater than 1 mR per view for pixels below 35 microns. Conclusion: The proposed detector design has advantages over flat panel detectors of exhibiting virtually no ghosting or lag and of providing more than 10× lower exposure per view capability due to the huge gain dynamic range and low noise available. Further investigations involving optimization of voxel size, number of views, reconstruction algorithm, exposure per view, exposing x‐ray spectrum, equalization filters, scatter reduction, patient positioning, and total scan times are proceeding. (Partial support: NIH grants R01EB002873 and R01NS43924)
Three-Dimensional Ultrasound-Derived Physical Mitral Valve Modeling

Purpose Advances in mitral valve repair and adoption have been partly attributed to improvements in echocardiographic imaging technology. To educate and guide repair surgery further, we have developed a methodology for fast production of physical models of the valve using novel three-dimensional (3D) echocardiographic imaging software in combination with stereolithographic printing. Description Quantitative virtual mitral valve shape models were developed from 3D transesophageal echocardiographic images using software based on semiautomated image segmentation and continuous medial representation algorithms. These quantitative virtual shape models were then used as input to a commercially available stereolithographic printer to generate a physical model of the each valve at end systole and end diastole. Evaluation Physical models of normal and diseased valves (ischemic mitral regurgitation and myxomatous degeneration) were constructed. There was good correspondence between the virtual shape models and physical models. Conclusions It was feasible to create a physical model of mitral valve geometry under normal, ischemic, and myxomatous valve conditions using 3D printing of 3D echocardiographic data. Printed valves have the potential to guide surgical therapy for mitral valve disease.
Neuropathic Pain in Children With Cancer

Different mechanisms of cancer pain may involve somatic, visceral, and neural tissues. Pain that involves the neural tissues is classified as neuropathic pain and is less responsive to analgesics t...