cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fracture risk in women with breast cancer: a population-based study.

A positive association has been reported between greater bone density and higher breast cancer risk, suggesting that these women could be at reduced risk of fracture. To estimate fracture risk among unselected community women with breast cancer, and to systematically assess associations with various risk factors including breast cancer treatments, we conducted a population-based historical cohort study of 608 Olmsted County, MN women with invasive breast cancer first diagnosed in 1990-99 (mean age, 61.6 ± 14.8 years), who were followed for 5776 person-years. Altogether, 568 fractures were observed in 270 women (98 per 1000 person-years). Overall fracture risk was elevated 1.8-fold; but the absolute increase in risk was only 9%, and 56% of the women did not experience a fracture during follow-up. Excluding pathologic fractures (15%) and those found incidentally (24%), to allow for ascertainment bias, the standardized incidence ratio was 1.2 (95% CI, 0.99–1.3) for total fracture risk and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.7–1.2) for osteoporotic fracture risk alone. Various breast cancer treatments were associated with an increased risk of fracture, but those associations were strongest for pathologic fractures, which were relatively more common among the women who were premenopausal when their breast cancer was diagnosed. Moreover, underlying clinical characteristics prompting different treatments may have been partially responsible for the associated fracture outcomes (indication bias). These data thus demonstrate that breast cancer patients in general are not at greatly increased risk of fracture but neither are they protected from fractures despite any determinants that breast cancer and high bone density may have in common.
A positive real condition for global stabilization of nonlinear systems

Abstract We study the possibility of globally stabilizing, by means of a smooth state feedback, systems obtained by cascading a linear controllable system and a general nonlinear system. Our main result is that global stabilization can be achieved if the output of the linear system can be chosen to be ‘feedback positive real’ (FPR). Some recent stabilization conditions appear as special cases of the new FPR condition. Examples of systems with the FPR property are given.
Andrology as the medical speciality to focus medical training on men's health?1

Abstract The debate article continues the discussion on the nature of andrology as a discipline. Background is provided on the origin of the term and the current status of andrology in North America and Europe and delineates some of the current problems in targeting clinical training programs focused on male reproductive health. As a short-term solution to these problems, a formal clinical training program focused on male infertility and reproductive health is advised. In the long-term, there is an opportunity to expand the currently held definition of andrology to encompass broad aspects of men's health and to formalize it as a board-recognized clinical discipline.
Remote Sensing of Angular Characteristics of Canopy Reflectances

The influence of the atmosphere on the remotely sensed angular distribution of canopy reflectance is studied by radiative transfer calculations with both a coupled atmosphere-canopy model and a pure atmosphere model with the canopy replaced by an equivalent bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). The canopy model, although one-dimensional, is able to reproduce typical canopy features like the "bowl shape" and the canopy "hot spot." In the decoupled mode, it can be used to compute canopy-equivalent BRDF's. The atmospheric perturbation of the angular reflectance pattern of a Lambertian, a mixed Lambertian/specular BRDF, and of the measured BRDF's of savannah and coniferous forest canopies is studied using one aerosol-free and two polluted atmospheres with surface visual ranges of V0 = 23 km and V0 = 5 km. It is shown that for surface albedoes > 10%, local extremes in the angular distribution of the surface reflectance and dependencies on the view azimuth angle are still detectable above the atmosphere and are nearly invariant to atmospheric perturbations. This result leads to the recommendation that off-nadir satellite observations in the near-infrared may contribute additional valuable information to crop identification. However, canopy reflectance variations with varying view zenith angles are dominated by atmospheric perturbations even for relatively clear atmospheres.
System boundary for embodied energy in buildings: A conceptual model for definition

Abstract Buildings consume nearly 40% of global energy annually in their production, operation, maintenance, replacement and demolition stages. Energy consumed in their life cycle stages other than the operation is called life cycle embodied energy. Total life cycle energy constitutes the building's embodied and operational energy over its service life. Operational energy constitutes a relatively larger fraction of life cycle energy in a conventional building. However, with the emergence of larger number of low energy buildings the significance of embodied energy is expected to grow. Current embodied energy calculations exhibit problems of variation, inaccuracy and incompleteness. System boundary definition is a key parameter that differs across studies and causes these problems, as studies define their system boundary subjectively. Research studies have proposed various system boundary models that should be applied to the buildings for life cycle analysis; however, the extent of their boundary definition differs. This paper gathers and synthesizes relevant literature opinions to develop a comprehensive system boundary model that can be adopted while performing the life cycle energy analysis of a building. The purpose of developing this model is twofold. Firstly, it would provide a clear picture of the system boundary. Second, it would provide a model to quantify the embodied energy of a building. Three possible approaches to cover the proposed system boundary are also recommended.
IS THE COACHELLA VALLEY FRINGE-TOED LIZARD (UMA INORNATA) ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION AT THOUSAND PALMS PRESERVE IN CALIFORNIA?

A BSTRACT Reliable estimates of extinction time for small populations of threatened and endangered species based on long-term field surveys provide crucial information for species conservation. We estimated population parameters and extinction times for Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard (Uma inornata), which is listed as a federally threatened species and a California state endangered species. We used field survey data from 2 transects (TPP1 and TPP2) at Thousand Palms Preserve, California, from 1986 to 2003. We also used data from another subpopulation (TPP3) of this species 6 km from TPP1 and TPP2, where this species became extinct in 2001, to estimate uncertainty of extinction time. Our results indicated that the difference between modeled extinction time and the real extinction time of the subpopulation on TPP3 was about 2 y. The extinction times for U. inornata at TPP1 and TPP2 would be about 23 to 50 y. The extinction time estimate has good relationship with the habitat area; thus, in larger effective habitat area, there will be an increase in the estimated time to extinction. Assuming all available habitats have population connectivity, the estimated extinction time would be about 78 y. There was a trend toward a decrease in the mean reproductive productivity of the lizard during the study. Although there were cycles in population dynamics, the population density trajectories on phase diagram became close to 0. For fragmented sand-dune habitats ,100 to 200 ha, the persistence of subpopulations of U. inornata is doubtful. The main cause for the decrease of this subpopulation might be the shortage of food resources during the frequent, severe droughts.
Economic Fish Passage: An Innovative Alternative:

Many existing stream-crossing structures on low-volume roads were designed and constructed to pass the design flow. Many of these structures are large-diameter metal culverts that are mechanically sound and still sufficient for the volume of traffic and the design vehicle as well as the maximum designed stream flow. However, design of these structures often gave no thought to the migration or mobility of aquatic species, particularly fish. Continued existence of many aquatic species requires that habitat fragmented by development be reconnected, specifically stream segments separated by road-crossing structures such as large culverts. The user cost-benefits and revenues available to the low-volume road manager make full replacement of existing structures prohibitive and difficult to justify, especially when the existing structure is sufficient for the traffic need. An effective, economic alternative to the removal of large culverts is offered, one that can be implemented with commonly acquired equipment and labor, with costs kept reasonably low in meeting the objective of reconnecting segments of aquatic habitat.
An MSSCF study of the electric properties of the Be atom

Abstract The polarizability (α), second hyperpolarizability (γ), and the dipole—dipole—quadrupole hyperpolarizability ( B ) is calculated by a finite-field procedure for the Be atom using variational RHF and MCSCF methods and nonvariational MBPT (2). The values obtained are compared to previous calculations. The main advantage of the MCSCF methods is that it allows the use of the dipole moment expansion instead of the energy expansion. This leads to much more reliable values for γ and B .
Analytical and numerical evaluation of the Debye and Meissner masses in dense neutral three-flavor quark matter

We calculate the Debye and Meissner masses and investigate chromomagnetic instability associated with the gapless color superconducting phase changing the strange quark mass M{sub s} and the temperature T. Based on the analytical study, we develop a computational procedure to derive the screening masses numerically from curvatures of the thermodynamic potential. When the temperature is zero, from our numerical results for the Meissner masses, we find that instability occurs for A{sub 1} and A{sub 2} gluons entirely in the gapless color-flavor locked (gCFL) phase, while the Meissner masses are real for A{sub 4}, A{sub 5}, A{sub 6}, and A{sub 7} until M{sub s} exceeds a certain value that is larger than the gCFL onset. We then handle mixing between color-diagonal gluons A{sub 3}, A{sub 8}, and photon A{sub {gamma}}, and clarify that, among three eigenvalues of the mass squared matrix, one remains positive, one is always zero because of an unbroken U(1){sub Q-}t{sub ilde} symmetry, and one exhibits chromomagnetic instability in the gCFL region. We also examine the temperature effects that bring modifications into the Meissner masses. The instability found at large M{sub s} for A{sub 4}, A{sub 5}, A{sub 6}, and A{sub 7} persists at finite T into themore » u-quark color superconducting (uSC) phase which has u-d and s-u but no d-s quark pairing and also into the two-flavor color superconducting (2SC) phase characterized by u-d quark pairing only. The A{sub 1} and A{sub 2} instability also goes into the uSC phase, but the 2SC phase has no instability for A{sub 1}, A{sub 2}, and A{sub 3}. We map the unstable region for each gluon onto the phase diagram as a function of M{sub s} and T.« less
Planning for a long-term optical demonstration from the International Space Station

The Optical Communications Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will deploy an optical communications transmitter demonstration and facility to the International Space Station in January 2002. The purpose of the demonstration is to establish a Gbps-class downlink from the International Space Station to ground and measure the flight terminal's performance. A large number of downlink passes are required to accurately measure the flight terminal's performance and the International Space Station provides such a long-term demonstration opportunity. The International Space Station simultaneously provides a payload-friendly environment. In this paper we discuss the objectives of the optical communications demonstration as well as the schedule for and issues related to the design, construction, and deployment of the flight terminal.
Endemic Diseases and African Economic Growth: Challenges and Policy Responses.

I examine the economic effects of disease and disease control. I consider both the effect of disease on conventionally measured GDP and also the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from lower mortality. Regarding the effects on conventional GDP, I evaluate a number of approaches including cross-country regression (with and without instruments for disease) and simulation based on microeconomic studies. I also discuss theoretically and empirically the different channels that link disease and economic outcomes, including effects that run through labour productivity, education and population growth. Different approaches yield somewhat different results, but the overall finding is that there is at best weak support for the claims that the disease burden in Africa significantly lowers GDP or that improving health would provide a big impetus to economic growth. In contrast, the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from better health can be extremely large. For example, reduced mortality in many developing countries has made a contribution to utility of roughly the same value as the growth of conventional GDP over the last several decades.
Women's Discourse on Beauty and Class in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela:

Group-based inequalities have been explored through traditional laboratory methods using student participants, but more attention is needed at the level of people's everyday lives in cultural context. The present study looks at how people create and uphold social order through discursive practices. This dimension of social reproduction is explored in Venezuela, where the Bolivarian Revolution makes `social class' a politically salient signifier. I use the notions of interpretative repertoires (Potter & Wetherell, 1987) and carriers (Moghaddam, 2002) to analyze how women negotiate `class' and moral positions in talk about an everyday, resource-dependent practice (beauty). The analyses show how certain repertoires reproduce class positions while making equivocal the moral significance of class. I discuss how the instability of class as a carrier of moral goodness becomes a terrain on which concerns for establishing moral equality take precedence over concerns for achieving economic equality.
Performance Evaluation of Convolutive Blind Source Separation of Mixtures of Unequal-Level Speech Signals

The performance of any signal enhancement method depends on the relative amplitudes of the signals and interferences present in the original measurements. Previous evaluations of convolutive blind source separation methods for speech enhancement have considered situations where the signal-to-interference ratios (SIRs) of all the talkers' speech signals are nearly equal in the recorded signal mixtures. This paper presents real-world separation experiments of two- and three-talker signal mixtures in which the level of one talker's speech is lower than those of the others. Methods based on decorrelation, frequency-domain information maximization, and time-domain contrast optimization are studied. Experimental evaluation shows that the weaker talker's speech receives the most enhancement in the separated system's outputs, whereas the stronger talker's speech signals receive moderate to little enhancement beyond a limiting value.
The legacy of the clergy abuse scandal

The clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has left its mark on child protection efforts. It was a major national story about child maltreatment that has dominated the media for more than an entire year. It has prompted discussions about child exploitation issues in countless homes and organizations. But has it helped the cause of child protection? I do not think the answer is a straightforward yes. The controversy has had a complex kind of impact in the United States, both positive and negative. The scandal certainly kept the child maltreatment topic in the news. The sustaining power of the sexual abuse issue never fails to amaze. Social scientists tend to see public interest in most social problems as reaching some saturation point over the course of a few years and then subsiding. But sexual abuse keeps managing to reincarnate itself in new guises, just when one thinks it might expire. Before the clergy scandal, backlash concerns seemed to be the major focus in the media. People sensed a negative tide on this issue. But, then ensued, to almost everybody's surprise, a year full of the most credible child maltreatment stories. Gone are images of overzealous investigators, mendacious children, and a child protection system threatening the integrity of families. Back are images of fiendish predators, intimidated children and a message that state child protection mandates need to be expanded to penetrate some still recalcitrant corners of our society. Certainly this news helped by keeping the topic of child maltreatment in public view. Certainly it overrode much of a negative press the child maltreatment field was getting. But beyond these superficialities, child abuse professionals need to be cautious and critical and consider what was helpful and what was harmful in the public awareness generated by this scandal. First helpful aspect: this scandal almost certainly alerted parents again of the need to talk to children about sexual abuse and about the risk at the hands of people who are known and respected by children and families. There are few Catholic parents who did not ask their children sometime during the course of this year, "Did Father so-and-so ever do anything
The Precautionary Principle: Development of an International Standard

This Note characterizes and evaluates the current status of the precautionary principle in international law and suggests how it could be more effectively incorporated into bodies of law such as trade law. Much of the literature focuses on whether the principle is a legal rule. This Note shows that precaution need not necessarily fit into the traditional categories of international legal sources but may derive its legal force from being interpreted as a standard.The Note argues that the legal status of the principle has evolved from a policy discourse to a binding form. However, the status of the principle as a standard is not necessarily a step on the way to the creation of a rule. The fact that a treaty makes it a rule to use precaution does not alter the nature of precaution as a standard. The precautionary principle will therefore gain its legal value from being refined by negotiators and interpreted by adjudicators rather than being turned into a traditional rule.
Despite 2007 Law Requiring FDA Hotline To Be Included In Print Drug Ads, Reporting Of Adverse Events By Consumers Still Low

In 2007 the federal government began requiring drug makers to include in their print direct-to-consumer advertisements information for consumers on how to contact the Food and Drug Administration directly, either by phone or through the agency's website, to report any adverse events that they experienced after taking a prescription drug. Adverse events can range from minor skin problems like itching to serious injuries or illness that result in hospitalization, permanent disability, or even death. Even so, current rates of adverse event reporting are low. We studied adverse event reports about 123 drugs that came from patients before and after the enactment of the print advertising requirement and estimated that requirement's impact with model simulations. We found that if monthly spending on print direct-to-consumer advertising increased from zero to $7.7 million per drug, the presence of the Food and Drug Administration contact information tripled the increase in patient-reported adverse events, compared to what would have happened in the absence of the law. However, the absolute monthly increase was fewer than 0.24 reports per drug, suggesting that the public health impact of the increase was small and that the adverse event reporting rate would still be low. The study results suggest that additional measures, such as more publicity about the Adverse Event Reporting System or more consumer education, should be considered to promote patient reporting of adverse events.
The human interferon alpha species and receptors.

Interferon (IFN) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on June 5, 1986. As the first biotherapeutic approved, IFN-alpha paved the way for development of many other cytokines and growth factors. Nevertheless, we have just touched the surface of understanding the multitude of human IFNs. This paper reviews the history of the purification of human leukocyte IFN and key aspects of our current state of knowledge of human interferon alpha genes, proteins, and receptors.
A direct approach to obtain tighter bounds for large fault trees with repeated events

This paper presents a direct approach to provide a bound on the probability of occurrence of the TOP event in large fault trees with repeated events. Our method uses the concept of a cutting heuristic discussed in the literature to obtain the signal probabilities for testability measurement in logic circuits. The method is efficient and solves coherent and noncoherent fault trees with repeated events and having standard gates such as AND, OR, XOR and NOT gates. Examples are used to illustrate the approach. >
Parents and Mathematics Education Reform: Voicing the Authority of Assessment

In this article, we explore the meaning that parents bring to and make out of their interactions with the school through assessment. Based on a qualitative study of mathematics reform, we examine interviews with 18 parents of middle school students. Through a Bakhtinian analysis, we find that parents' perspectives on assessment are framed by their past experiences with schools. Their reaction is situated historically, politically, and socially; the evidence that many of them used to evaluate new forms of schooling was assessment. We argue that assessment can be seen as a voice of authority in the discourse of teaching and learning and that it speaks loudly to frame students and their parents in particular ways.
Liver X Receptor Agonists Suppress Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Inhibit Neointima Formation in Balloon-Injured Rat Carotid Arteries

The liver X receptors and (LXR and LXR) are important regulators of cholesterol homeostasis in liver and macrophages. Synthetic LXR ligands prevent the development of atherosclerosis in murine models; however, the potential functional relevance of LXRs in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) has not been investigated. In the present study, we demonstrate that LXRs are expressed and functional in primary human coronary artery VSMCs (CASMCs). LXR ligands inhibited mitogen-induced VSMC proliferation and G13S phase progression of the cell cycle. Inhibition of G1 exit by LXR ligands was accompanied by a dose-dependent inhibition of retinoblastoma protein (Rb) phosphorylation, which functions as the key switch for G13S cell cycle progression. LXR ligands suppressed mitogen-induced degradation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 Kip1 , attenuated cyclin D1 and cyclin A expression, and inhibited the expression of S phase-regulatory minichromosome maintenance protein 6. Stabilization of p27 kip1 by LXR ligands was mediated by supressing the transcriptional activation of the S phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2), an F-box protein that targets p27 Kip1 for degradation. Inhibition of Rb phosphorylation and G13S cell cycle progression by LXR ligands was reversed in VSMCs overexpressing Skp2, indicating that Skp2 as an upstream regulator of p27 Kip1 degradation plays a central role in LXR ligand-mediated inhibition of VSMC proliferation. Furthermore, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of the S phase transcription factor E2F, which is released after Rb phosphorylation, reversed the inhibitory effect of LXR ligands on VSMC proliferation and S phase gene expression, suggesting that the primary mechanisms by which LXR ligands inhibit VSMC proliferation occur upstream of Rb phosphorylation. Finally, neointima formation in a model of rat carotid artery balloon injury was significantly attenuated after treatment with the LXR ligand T1317 compared with vehicle-treated animals. These data demonstrate that LXR ligands inhibit VSMC proliferation and neointima formation after balloon injury and suggest that LXR ligands may constitute a novel therapy for proliferative vascular diseases. The full text of this article is available online at http://circres.ahajournals.org. (Circ Res. 2004;95:e110-e123.)
Integrity capacity, organisational innovation and global technological challenges

This article links the subfields of organisational ethics and organisational innovation in the context of five global technological challenges. The authors provide an interactive model of organisational innovation and integrity capacity that depicts parallel reinforcing findings at the individual, group, organisational and environmental levels of analysis. They provide level–specific, proactive queries designed to critically review and simultaneously leverage innovation and integrity capacities in the face of global technological challenges.
INPUT QUALITY, RELATIONAL CONTRACTS AND INTERNATIONAL OUTSOURCING

. This paper presents a Ricardian trade model in which the quality of intermediate inputs affects the productivity of labour at the final production stage. The role of contracting frictions is shown by comparing the chain of comparative advantage obtained with full information with that resulting when the quality of inputs is affected by actions that are not verifiable in court. Conditions are derived under which parties can use the potential for repeat business (relational contracts) to sustain efficient production choices. These results yield predictions for how country and industry characteristics will affect the level of contracting frictions.
Synaptic Enhancement and Enhanced Excitability in Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Neurons in the Conditioned Stimulus Pathway of Hermissenda

Identified type A photoreceptors of Hermissenda express differential effects of classical conditioning. Lateral type A photoreceptors exhibit an increase in excitability to both the conditioned stimulus (CS; light) and extrinsic current. In contrast, medial type A photoreceptors do not express enhanced excitability, but do show enhancement of the medial B to medial A synaptic connection. Therefore, both enhanced excitability and changes in synaptic strength may contribute to long-term plasticity underlying classical conditioning. The activation of protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in the induction of enhanced excitability of identified type B photoreceptors produced by one-trial conditioning and the expression of enhanced excitability in B photoreceptors after multitrial classical conditioning. We have examined a possible role for persistent kinase activity in the expression of enhanced excitability in lateral type A photoreceptors and enhancement of the medial B to medial type A synaptic connection after classical conditioning. Injection of the PKC inhibitor peptide PKC(19 ‐36) into medial type B photoreceptors of conditioned animals did not significantly change the amplitude of medial A IPSPs elicited by single spikes in the medial B photoreceptor. Injections of PKC(19 ‐36) into medial B photoreceptors of pseudorandom controls also did not significantly change the amplitude of IPSPs recorded from the medial A photoreceptor. In contrast, spikes elicited by extrinsic current in lateral type A photoreceptors of conditioned animals were significantly reduced in frequency after intracellular injection of PKC(19 ‐36) as compared with pseudorandom controls. Injection of the noninhibitory analog peptide [glu 27 ]PKC(19 ‐36) did not affect excitability. Thus, enhanced excitability in the lateral A photoreceptor of conditioned animals seems to be influenced, in part, by a constitutively active kinase or a persistent kinase activator, whereas synaptic enhancement of the connection between the medial B and medial A photoreceptors of conditioned animals may involve a different mechanism.
Role of 11β-OH-C19 and C21 steroids in the coupling of 11β-HSD1 and 17β-HSD3 in regulation of testosterone biosynthesis in rat Leydig cells

Here we describe further experiments to support our hypothesis that bidirectional 11β-HSD1-dehydrogenase in Leydig cells is a NADP(H) regenerating system. In the absence of androstenedione (AD), substrate for 17β-HSD3, incubation of Leydig cells with corticosterone (B) or several C(19)- and C(21)-11β-OH-steroids, in the presence of [(3)H]-11-dehydro-corticosterone (A), stimulated 11β-HSD1-reductase activity. However, in presence of 30 μM AD, testosterone (Teso) synthesis is stimulated from 4 to 197 picomole/25,000 cells/30 min and concomitantly inhibited 11β-HSD1-reductase activity, due to competition for the common cofactor NADPH needed for both reactions. Testo production was further significantly increased (p<0.05) to 224-267 picomole/25,000 cells/30 min when 10 μM 11β-OH-steroids (in addition to 30 μM AD) were also included. Similar results were obtained in experiments conducted with lower concentrations of AD (5 μM), and B or A (500 nM). Incubations of 0.3-6.0 μM of corticosterone (plus or minus 30 μM AD) were then performed to test the effectiveness of 17β-HSD3 as a possible NADP(+) regenerating system. In the absence of AD, increasing amounts (3-44 pmol/25,000 cells/30 min) of 11-dehydro-corticosterone were produced with increasing concentrations of corticosterone in the medium. When 30 μM AD was included, the rate of 11-dehydro-corticosterone formation dramatically increased 1.3-5-fold producing 4-210 pmol/25,000 cells/30 min of 11-dehydro-corticosterone. We conclude that 11β-HSD1 is enzymatically coupled to 17β-HSD3, utilizing NADPH and NADP in intermeshed regeneration systems.
Potential Dependent Endothelial Cell Adhesion, Growth and Cytoskeletal Rearrangements

Normal endothelial cells (ECs), lining the blood vessels, are influenced by their interaction with the underlying potentially piezoelectric extracellular matrix (ECM). That this interaction may affect the EC metabolic state and functions in vivo prompted us to study the subsequent response of cultured ECs on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass electrodes subjected to 1 hr of constant DC surface potential ranging from -0.3 to +0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). We measured, relative to controls, cellular viability, growth rate and changes in actin microfilament organization in ECs over a subsequent 6 days in culture. The growth rate of ECs was stimulated by negative potential and inhibited by positive potential. Differences could be detected as early as three days post-potential. We also observed a potential dependent cellular shape change and actin microfilament rearrangement at positive potentials within four days of treatment. ECs changed in average cell surface area and assumed a polygonal cell shape in response to treatment. Using NBD-phalloidin stain for actin and fluorescence microscopy, microfilaments were observed to re-distribute to the periphery of the cell at positive potential, indicative of cellular stress.
Performance and Textuality in Aristophanes' Clouds

During the 5th century BCE Athenians honored the god Dionysus at two public events with ritual activity, political business and public spectacle. The smaller of the two, the Leneaen festival, took place in the winter, and the city Dionysia a few months later in the spring.2 These festivals featured a number of musical and poetic events, but they are best known to us as the occasions for the performance of Greek tragedy and comedy.3 Comments Reprinted from The Yale Journal of Criticism, Volume 10, Issue 2, 1997, pages 397-421. The author has asserted his right to include this material in ScholarlyCommons@Penn. This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/classics_papers/27
From Shanties to Lace Curtains: The Irish Image in Puck, 1876–1910

Students of drama, magazine fiction and novels know that virtually every nationality and minority group has been represented by a stereotype in print and on the stage. Social scientists generally discuss stereotypes as components of prejudiced beliefs accompanied by strong, unexamined reactions of dislike or approval. Historians and specialists in literature do not equate stereotyping with prejudice. Instead, they emphasize the origin of stereotypes as routinized, crude or at least oversimplified classifications of multifaceted characters and situations.
Reliability of identification techniques for drugs of abuse in a urine screening program and drug excretion data

Results of a double-blind study regarding the validation of extraction and identification techniques for abuse drugs in 50 control urines to which were added known concentrations of drugs are presented. Data on the excretion of some commonly abused drugs in human urine are also reported.
Nitrous Oxide Emission from Riparian Buffers in Relation to Vegetation and Flood Frequency

The nitrate (NO(3)(-)) removal capacity of riparian zones is well documented, but information is lacking with regard to N(2)O emission from riparian ecosystems and factors controlling temporal dynamics of this potent greenhouse gas. We monitored N(2)O fluxes (static chambers) and measured denitrification (C(2)H(2) block using soil cores) at six riparian sites along a fourth-order stretch of the White River (Indiana, USA) to assess the effect of flood regime, vegetation type, and forest maturity on these processes. The study sites included shrub/grass, aggrading ( 80 yr) forests that were flooded either frequently (more than four to six times per year), occasionally (two to three times per year), or rarely (every 20 yr). While the effect of forest maturity and vegetation type (0.52 and 0.65 mg N(2)O-m(-2) d(-1) in adjacent grassed and forested sites) was not significant, analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant effect ( < 0.01) of flood regime on N(2)O emission. Among the mature forests, mean N(2)O flux was in this order: rarely flooded (0.33) < occasionally flooded (0.99) < frequently flooded (1.72). Large pulses of N(2)O emission (up to 80 mg N(2)O-m(-2) d(-1)) occurred after flood events, but the magnitude of the flux enhancement varied with flood event, being higher after short-duration than after long-duration floods. This pattern was consistent with the inverse relationship between soil moisture and mole fraction of N(2)O, and instances of N(2)O uptake near the river margin after flood events. These results highlight the complexity of N(2)O dynamics in riparian zones and suggest that detailed flood analysis (frequency and duration) is required to determine the contribution of riparian ecosystems to regional N(2)O budget.
Clinical Outcomes during Opioid Titration following Initiation with or Conversion to Remoxy®, an Extended-Release Formulation of Oxycodone

Intra- and interpatient variability in opioid response usually necessitates opioid therapy titration to optimally balance analgesia and side effects, whether initiating therapy or converting from another opioid. Remoxy® (King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bristol, TN, which was acquired by Pfizer Inc in March 2011) is an extended-release formulation of oxycodone designed to maintain its rate-controlling mechanism following physical and chemical manipulation. A recent phase 3 trial, which required dose titration following initiation or conversion to Remoxy, demonstrated the long-term safety and efficacy of Remoxy in relieving moderate to severe chronic pain. In this study, opioid-naive patients were to be initiated on Remoxy 5 mg twice daily (10 mg total daily oxycodone dose) and opioid-experienced patients were to be converted to Remoxy at a dose equivalent to their previous opioid daily dose, determined from a conversion chart. A post-hoc analysis of study data provided clinically relevant information regarding initiation of or conversion to Remoxy. The intent-to-treat population (N=823) consisted of 429 opioid-experienced patients (52%) and 394 opioid-naive patients (48%). A stable Remoxy dose (defined as the first dose administered on 2 consecutive visits, whereby on the first of these visits, further dose titration was deemed unnecessary) was achieved by 325 opioid-experienced patients (76%; mean, 2.2 titration steps), of whom 278 (86%) successfully converted to Remoxy according to the prospectively determined post-hoc definition (≤4 titration steps). Of opioid-naive patients, 300 (76%) reached a stable dose of Remoxy (mean, 2.2 titration steps), 253 (84%) of whom successfully initiated on Remoxy. Pain intensity decreased from baseline to study completion by approximately 35% for both opioid-experienced and opioid-naive patients and adverse events were similar to those typically reported for opioids, with a higher incidence rate reported during titration (pre-stable dose period). These data provide important clinical information when initiating opioid-naive patients on or converting opioid-experienced patients to Remoxy.
Distribution of Glycine, γ‐Aminobutyric Acid, Glutamate Decarboxylase, and γ‐Aminobutyric Acid Transaminase in Rabbit and Mudpuppy Retinas

The distributions of glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15), and GABA transaminase (EC 2.6.1.19) were determined in rabbit and mudpuppy retinas. In both species, peak levels of the amino acids and the enzymes occurred in the inner plexiform layer. Glutamate decarboxylase was almost entirely confined to the inner plexiform layer. Determinations were also made of the GABA content of 107 individual putative amacrine cell somas from mudpuppy retina. About 30% of those somas were found to have high endogenous GABA levels.
Effective elastic moduli of two dimensional solids with distributed cohesive microcracks

Effective elastic properties of a defected solid with distributed cohesive micro-cracks are estimated based on homogenization of the Dugdale–Bilby–Cottrell–Swinden (Dugdale–BCS) type micro-cracks in a two dimensional elastic representative volume element (RVE). Since the cohesive micro-crack model mimics various realistic bond forces at micro-scale, a statistical average of cohesive defects can effectively represent the overall properties of the material due to bond breaking or crack surface separation in small scale. The newly proposed model is distinctive in the fact that the resulting effective moduli are found to be pressure sensitive.  2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
Dynamics of facial expression: normative characteristics and individual differences

Although the importance of facial expression in human computer interaction and in normal human interaction is widely acknowledged, there is very little data on the normative characteristics and stable individual differences for even the most common facial expressions. Dynamic characteristics of 195 spontaneous smiles from 95 individuals were measured using the facial action coding system, automated facial analysis and facial electromyography. Normative patterns observed included the characteristic timing of other facial actions with respect to action unit 12 (“smile”) and a mean duration of 15.7 frames for smile onset. Stable inter-individual differences included patterns of nonverbal actions associated with individuals’ smiles, and the amount of activity in the zygomaticus major muscle in two sessions recorded a year apart. These data are important in quantifying and fully describing individual differences in naturalistic human facial expression, as well as adding to our knowledge of spontaneous human smiles.
The influence of lithospheric flexure on magma ascent at large volcanoes on Venus

[1] Large volcanoes on Venus exert large vertical loads on the lithosphere, which responds by deflecting downward. Stresses induced by this lithospheric flexure can have a strong influence on magma ascent pathways from the mantle source region to the surface. Here we propose that flexural stresses exert control over the shapes of volcanic edifices on Venus, applying criteria for magma ascent expressed in terms of stress orientations (can vertical dikes form?) and gradients (is magma squeezed upward or downward in a vertical dike?) to determine favored magma ascent paths and locations. For conical edifices emplaced on lithosphere with high elastic thickness Te, (e.g., > 40 km) both sets of magma ascent criteria are satisfied over the entire lithosphere, allowing essentially unimpeded ascent of magma to the surface and the formation of relatively steep edifices. However, for lower values of Te, high adverse stress gradients tend to cut off magma ascent beneath the summit, instead favoring lateral transport of magma at depth to distal regions with gentler stress gradients, resulting in domical edifice shapes. At the lowest values of Te (< 10 km), large short-wavelength deflections of the lithosphere tend to produce narrow and widely spaced zones of magma ascent: Such zones may produce annular ridges of volcanic material, thereby generating forms characteristic of a subset of features known as “coronae” on Venus. Another subset of coronae may form by intrusive-based generation of annular fractures at the edge of the summit region of domical edifices, as proposed for Alba Mons on Mars.
Visual field loss in HIV-positive patients without infectious retinopathy

Purpose To determine the extent of vision loss in a cross-sectional study of HIV-positive individuals who had no infectious retinopathy. Methods Visual field loss was determined by computerized achromatic automated perimetry and short-wavelength automated perimetry in both eyes in 65 HIV-positive individuals without infectious retinopathy and in one randomly selected eye each in 57 age-matched normal controls. Results were analyzed using the global index of mean defect and the Glaucoma Hemifield Test, and significance was determined through analysis of variance, chi-square, and Tukey-Kramer tests. Results We found that HIV-positive patients, compared with age-matched HIV-negative controls, demonstrated significant (at least P Conclusions There is a significant loss of visual function in HIV-positive individuals that is not the result of infectious retinopathies. The finding by short-wavelength perimetry of more severe defects suggests that the vision defects are not caused by attentional or other suprachiasmatic problems because the neurologic difficulty of both achromatic and short-wavelength perimetry is similar. The effects of this vision loss on the daily living and occupational tasks of this population require further study.
Information Fusion in Kernel-Induced Spaces for Robust Subpixel Hyperspectral ATR

Hyperspectral-based automatic target recognition (ATR) and classification systems often project the high-dimensional hyperspectral reflectance signatures onto a lower dimensional subspace using techniques such as principal component analysis, Fisher's linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and stepwise LDA. In a general classification framework, these projections are suboptimal and, in the absence of sufficient training data, are likely to be ill conditioned. In recent work, the authors proposed a divide-and-conquer approach that partitions the hyperspectral space into contiguous subspaces followed by a multiclassifier and decision-fusion (MCDF) framework. Although this technique alleviated the small-sample-size problem and provided a good recognition performance in light and moderate pixel mixing, the performance significantly decreased under severe mixing conditions, as it does with conventional ATR techniques. In this letter, the authors propose a kernel discriminant analysis-based projection in each subspace of the partition, followed by the MCDF framework to ensure robust recognition even in severe pixel-mixing conditions. The performance of the proposed system (as measured by overall recognition accuracies) is greatly superior to conventional dimensionality-reduction techniques as well as the more recently proposed LDA-based MCDF technique.
Flavor-Cued Modulation of Intake in Rats: Role of Familiarity and Impact on 24-h Intake

Following training with distinctively flavored nutritive solutions that differ in concentration and thus in caloric value, rats demonstrate flavor-postingestive consequence learning by preferentially consuming one of the flavors in two-bottle tests (both flavors in nutrient-identical solutions.) Experiment 1 investigated whether the relative familiarity of the flavor-nutrient combinations encountered in two-bottle tests contributes to the observed preference. One of the training concentrations (rather than the customary intermediate concentration) was used to present the flavors in testing; thus, one of the flavors was in a familiar context while the other was in an unfamiliar context. The results of two independent trials (rats trained with 1 and 5% sucrose; rats trained with 5 and 40% sucrose) confirmed that two-bottle test preference was not a preference for the familiar flavor-nutrient combination. Experiment 2 examined whether caloric expectancies based upon a previously learned flavor-postingestive consequence association would affect total daily intake. On alternating days, rats consumed 30 mL of dilute (5%) and concentrated (40%) sucrose, each distinctively flavored. When given 30 mL of 22.5% sucrose containing each of the flavors on separate test days, they ate less chow and thus fewer total calories over 24 h when given the flavor previously paired with concentrated sucrose. Experiment 3 replicated the design of Experiment 2 except that fat calories were used instead of sucrose; no significant adjustment of chow intake in extinction tests was noted, even when the number of fat calories used in training was increased (Experiment 4). Thus, rats did not exhibit flavor-cued modulation of chow intake when trained with fat, in contrast to responsivity to flavor cues when trained with sucrose. This differential responding to fat versus carbohydrate calories is consistent with previous observations, in a variety of paradigms, that modulation of caloric intake is less energetically appropriate when ingested foods are high in fat relative to high-carbohydrate foods.
Estimates and Projections of an Income-Efficient Commercial-Farm Industry in the North Central States

This article reports the principal findings from a study of agricultural‐income efficiency in the North Central states conducted under NC‐53. Estimates and projections are presented of (1) the income efficiency of the 1959 observed organization, (2) the characteristics of income‐maximizing organizations in 1959 and 1980, (3) the size of the adjustments that would be needed to meet income‐efficiency criteria, and (4) the potential real national income gain associated with an income‐efficient organization. If the number of entrants into commercial agriculture in the North Central region does not exceed the number who quit farming to take nonfarm jobs, normal mortality and retirement will reduce the number of commercial farmers in the North Central Region to about 418,000 by 1980, or 36 percent of the number in 1959. Although this is still about 23 percent more than the projected number of farmers under the 1980 income‐efficient organization, this reduction would be a long step toward achieving an income‐efficient commercial‐farm sector. An approximation to an income‐efficient farm sector by 1980 could probably be achieved at relatively low cost.