cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical plan merging with application to process planning

We have developed a domain-independent systematic methodology for plan merging at the various levels of plan abstraction. This method manifests itself in the hierarchical plan graph where each level contains a complete, partially merged plan. The principle advantage of this approach is that, once external interactions between nodes on a given level have been established, the continued merging of the plan fragments in one node can take place independently of plan fragments in other nodes on that level. This provides a decomposition or divide-and-conquer approach to plan merging. Another advantage to this decomposition approach is that replanning effort is minimized in the presence of the selection of alternative actions at some level of the hierarchical plan graph. Only those plan fragments which are in the same branch as the alternative selection need be considered for replanning. Also, an algorithm is proposed which takes a bilateral approach to breaking cyclic dependencies between nodes in the hierarchical plan graph. We demonstrate the utility of this hierarchical approach to plan merging through examples in the process planning domain.
Inclusion in the Information Society for the Excluded Women in Greek Thrace

This article is based on a research conducted in Thrace, a Greek region in the North, bordering Turkey and Bulgaria. It aims to describe the efforts women, belonging to socially excluded communities i.e. Muslim women, Pontian women immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Roma women, make to adapt to the demands of today's world and to detect whether these women have access to and use of ICTs.
Economies of Scale in the Floriculture Industry

This study investigated the cost structure of the floriculture industry in the United States. Economies of scale and input elasticities were estimated with a normalized quadratic cost function. Results suggest that economies of scale exist in the floriculture industry. As producers become large and more automated, they have a cost advantage relative to smaller producers who are producing the same output product mix. The existence of economies of scale suggests that average grower size can increase in the future as growers increase in size to take advantage of cost efficiencies.
Traumatic cataracts secondary to combat ocular trauma.

Purpose To describe the characteristics, visual outcomes, and predictive value of the Ocular Trauma Score (OTS) in eyes with traumatic cataract from combat ocular trauma. Setting Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. Design Retrospective case series. Methods Records of service members with traumatic cataract from combat ocular trauma over a 7-year period were reviewed. Visual acuity at initial presentation and visual acuity at the final follow-up were compared in addition to outcomes in closed versus open globes, by final lens status, and in eyes receiving primary versus secondary intraocular lenses (IOLs). Visual outcomes were predicted using the OTS and compared to the achieved corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA). Results A total of 181 eyes of 167 patients were included in the final analysis. Twenty-six percent of all eye injuries sustained traumatic cataract. The mean final visual outcome was 0.86 logMAR ± 1.01 (SD) with 44 no light perception (NLP) eyes and 26 light perception (LP) eyes compared with an initial visual acuity of 2.41 ± 0.88 logMAR with 27 no NLP eyes and 64 LP eyes ( P ≤ .001, 2-tailed Student t test). Final CDVAs in eyes receiving primary IOLs were 0.72 ± 0.84 logMAR with 1 NLP and 1 LP eye versus 0.51 ± 0.78 logMAR with 2 LP eyes in eyes receiving a secondary IOL ( P = .37, Student t test). Conclusion Traumatic cataracts are frequently associated with ocular trauma. The OTS is a reliable means of predicting visual outcome. There was no difference in eyes receiving primary IOLs versus secondary IOLs. Financial Disclosure No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Highlights from the Abdominal Radiology Course, February 16–21, 2003, Cancun, Mexico

The 32nd Annual Post-Graduate Course and Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists (SGR) and 28th Scientific Assembly of the Society of Uroradiology (SUR) held their combined meeting under the umbrella of the Abdominal Radiology Course (ARC 2003) February 16–21, 2003, in Cancun, Mexico. The meeting was attended by approximately 508 participants, which included members and non-members of both societies. There were 438 participants from North America, 40 from Europe and 16 from Asia. The meeting was partly supported by 16 vendors. The SGR and the SUR had separate scientific research paper presentations on the first day of the meeting. There were 30 such oral presentations made at the SGR session and 28 presentations at the session of the SUR. As the two sessions were presented in adjacent ballrooms, it was nice to move from one to another to view presentations of interest to the individual. The SGR gave the Wylie J. Dodds Research Award to the group from the University of California at San Francisco for their innovative work on ‘Non-Invasive Evaluation of Pathology and Prediction of Outcome in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Role of MR Imaging and Spectroscopy’. The SUR gave its top paper award to the group from the University of Michigan for its work on ‘Multidetector CT Urography of Upper Tract Uroepithelial Malignancy’. There were a total of 55 main course lectures of which 23 were devoted to oncological imaging and included state-of-the-art imaging techniques with CT, MR and PET in the detection, staging and treatment of various neoplasms. There were also a total of 47 workshops of which 34 were dedicated to imaging and treatment of malignant neoplasms of the abdomen and pelvis. Several members of ICIS took part in the meeting as speakers for the workshops and the main course lectures. State-of-the-art imaging techniques in the diagnosis of renal, prostate, and urothelial malignancies were discussed in the SUR part of the meeting. The SGR had a special session on the detection and staging of colorectal cancer including virtual colonoscopy. There was also a special lecture on the role of whole-body screening using CT and MR for the detection of a variety of malignancies, especially lung and colorectal cancer.
Relaxation training reduces symptom reports and acid exposure in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Abstract Background/Aims: Previous studies have shown that psychological factors play a role in symptom perception among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. This report describes the first controlled study showing the effects of relaxation training on symptom reports and esophageal acid exposure in patients with reflux disease. Methods: Twenty subjects with documented reflux disease were studied during psychologically neutral and stressful tasks, followed immediately by either a relaxation or attention-placebo control intervention. Results: Stressful tasks, relative to neutral tasks, produced significant increases in blood pressure, subjective ratings of anxiety, and reports of reflux symptoms. Despite increased symptom reports, stressful tasks did not significantly increase objective measures of esophageal acid exposure. Subjects who received a relaxation intervention after the stressful task had significantly lower heart rate values and subjective ratings of anxiety compared with subjects who received the attention-placebo control intervention. Subjects who received relaxation training also had significantly lower reflux symptom ratings and total esophageal acid exposure than subjects who received the attention-placebo control intervention. Conclusions: Relaxation may be a useful adjunct to traditional antireflux therapy in patients who experience increased symptoms during stress.
Realism and Reality: The Novel and Society in India

Extract from review: '...Mukherjee's book is valuable as an original, insightful commentary upon the Indian regional novel. Further, it suggests a methodology for examining the means by which other derivative literatures within the colonized world reconciled the demands of western realism with the representation of indigenous realities.' Modern Fiction Studies
Über den Einfluss von Oberflächenströmen auf die Wechselstromverluste harter Supraleiter

Zusammenfassung Es wird auf den Einfluss von Oberflachenstromen auf die Wechselstromverluste in harten Supraleitern hingewiesen. Eine Formel, die diesen Einfluss berucksichtigt ist in guter Ubereinstimmung mit Experimenten an Nb-25% Zr.
The clinician in the driver's seat

Display Omitted 3 Main interaction strategies: gather and view, dynamic stage, purposive and organized.Left-right pattern of orienting materials, data, action items.Workers use spatial arrangement to facilitate workflow, cognition, fit to task.Users purposive in design for communication with others.Users are engaged, aware of problems, enthusiastic. User-composable approaches provide clinicians with the control to design and assemble information elements on screen via drag/drop. They hold considerable promise for enhancing the electronic-health-records (EHRs) user experience. We previously described this novel approach to EHR design and our illustrative system, MedWISE. The purpose of this paper is to describe clinician users' intelligent uses of space during completion of real patient case studies in a laboratory setting using MedWISE.Thirteen clinicians at a quaternary academic medical center used the system to review four real patient cases. We analyzed clinician utterances, behaviors, screen layouts (i.e., interface designs), and their perceptions associated with completing patient case studies.Clinicians effectively used the system to review all cases. Two coding schemata pertaining to human-computer interaction and diagnostic reasoning were used to analyze the data. Users adopted three main interaction strategies: rapidly gathering items on screen and reviewing ('opportunistic selection' approach); creating highly structured screens ('structured' approach); and interacting with small groups of items in sequence as their case review progressed ('dynamic stage' approach). They also used spatial arrangement in ways predicted by theory and research on workplace spatial arrangement. This includes assignment of screen regions for particular purposes (24% of spatial codes), juxtaposition to facilitate calculation or other cognitive tasks ('epistemic action'), and grouping elements with common meanings or relevance to the diagnostic facets of the case (20.3%). A left-to-right progression of orienting materials, data, and action items or reflection space was a commonly observed pattern. Widget selection was based on user assessment of what information was useful or relevant.We developed and tested an illustrative system that gives clinicians greater control of the EHR, and demonstrated its feasibility for case review by typical clinicians. Producing the simplifying inventions, such as user-composable platforms that shift control to the user, may serve to promote productive EHR use and enhance its value as an instrument of patient care.
Ultrawideband square and circular quad-ridge horns with near-constant beamwidth

Two quadruple-ridged, flared horns, one with circular aperture and the other with square aperture, are presented achieving nearly constant beamwidth and excellent return loss over 6:1 and 4:1 frequency bandwidths, respectively, are presented. The circular and square quad-ridge horns are designed with nominal 10 dB beamwidths of 85 and 140 degrees, respectively. Radiation pattern measurements show excellent beamwidth stability in Φ = 0, 45 degree planes for both horns. Measured return loss is > 10 dB over the entire band for the circular quad-ridge horn and much better for 85% of the frequency band. The square quad-ridge horn also has return loss ≥ 15 dB over much of the target frequency range. To the best knowledge of the authors, these horns are the first demonstrations of ultrawideband reflector antenna feeds with near-constant beamwidth which can accommodate widely different optical configurations.
Engineering a solution to jupiter exploration

The challenge associated with operating a spacecraft for long periods within the radiation belts of Jupiter is significant. The promise of incredible science is well worth the risk though, when the risk is identified and controlled. To be managed within reasonable resource limits, a system level engineering approach is needed to balance available resources, bolstering the weakest areas and adjusting the design as a whole for best results, rather than focusing on local concerns. It is important to establish these design methodologies early in conceptual development, and carry them forward in a committed, disciplined manner through development and operation. Early risk assessment and mitigation activities are also essential to controlling cost and risk. The JEO team has been pro-active in deploying a comprehensive risk mitigation plan, now in its second year, to retire most radiation risks prior to the Phase A development. The JPL/APL team has capitalized on prior deep space experience, significantly leveraging this technical expertise. Experience gained from Juno and RBSP would aid the proposed JEO mission during Phase A/B development; and the Galileo orbiter, in particular, has provided both a wealth of radiation data and an invaluable demonstration, well beyond anyone's expectations, of the practicability of operating a scientific spacecraft in the most intense regions of Jupiter's radiations belts.
Furosemide-induced vasodilation: importance of the state of hydration and filtration.

The circumstances under which furosemide increases renal blood flow was examined in mongrel dogs as it may relate to a tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism. Two maneuvers, desoxycorticosterone (DOCA) plus salt treatment and inhibition of tubular fluid flow, were used in the dogs to evaluate the renal vascular effects of furosemide because these maneuvers have been reported to blunt the tubuloglomerular feedback in micropuncture studies. In addition, we also used two structurally different nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs to assess the importance of prostaglandins to achieve furosemide's renal vasodilatation. Furosemide (5 mg/kg, i.v.) increased renal blood flow in volume-depleted animals from a baseline flow of 141 +/- 28 ml/min to a maximum of 176 +/- 35 ml/min at 6 min after furosemide administration. If the animals were pretreated with a high-salt diet and i.m. DOCA for 5 days, furosemide administration produced no renal vascular effects but still caused a large diuresis, and these dogs still had a responsive renal vascular bed to infused prostaglandin E2. In addition, kidneys rendered non-filtering in volume-depleted animals had no renal vascular response to furosemide. Volume-depleted animals, pretreated with either indomethacin or sodium meclofenamate, did not have a renal vascular response to furosemide although they did have a diuretic response and a responsive renal vasculature to prostaglandin E2. From our data, we hypothesize that the renal vascular response to furosemide is secondary to a tubular mechanism mediated by a vasodilatory prostaglandin. Because furosemide has been shown to disrupt the tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism, and the two maneuvers, DOCA plus salt treatment and lack of filtration, blunt the tubuloglomerular feedback response as well as inhibit the renal vascular response to furosemide, we further hypothesize that furosemide-induced renal vasodilation may be secondary to the disruption of an active tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism.
Selected Preconception Health Indicators and Birth Weight Disparities in a National Study

Abstract Background This analysis explored the effect of timing, sequencing, and change in preconception health across adolescence and young adulthood on racial/ethnic disparities in birth weight in a diverse national cohort of young adult women. Methods Data came from Waves I (1994–1995), III (2001–2002), and IV (2007–2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Eligibility was restricted to all singleton live births to female non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Mexican-origin Latina, or Asian/Pacific Islander participants (n = 3,014) occurring between the Wave III (ages 18–26 years) and IV (ages 24–32 years) interviews. Birth weight was categorized into low ( 4,000 g). Preconception health indicators were cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, overweight or obesity, and inadequate physical activity, measured in adolescence (Wave I, ages 11–19 years) and early adulthood (Wave III) and combined into four-category variables to capture the timing and sequencing of exposure. Findings Measures of preconception health did not explain the Black–White disparity in low birth weight, which increased after adjustment for confounders (odds ratio [OR], 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33–3.53) and effect modification by overweight/obesity (OR, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.65–7.78). A positive association between adult-onset overweight/obesity and macrosomia was modified by race (OR, 3.83; 95% CI, 1.02–14.36 for Black women). Conclusions This longitudinal analysis provides new evidence on preconception health and racial/ethnic disparities in birth weight. Specifically, it indicates that interventions focused on prevention of overweight/obesity and maintenance of healthy weight during the transition to adulthood, especially among Black females, may be warranted.
Oxide scale adhesion and impurity segregation at the scale/metal interface

The chemistry at scale/metal interfaces was studied using scanning Auger microscopy after removal of the scale in ultra-high vacuum using an in situ scratching technique. Al2O3 and Cr2O3 scales formed between 900°C and 1100°C on Fe-18 wt.% Cr-5 wt.% Al and on Ni-25 wt.% Cr alloys, respectively, were investigated. The adhesion of these scales was determined qualitatively by way of micro-indentation and scratching on the surface oxide. All of the alumina scales fractured to the same degree to expose the metal surface, regardless of the oxidation temperature. The chromia-forming alloy on the other hand, developed more adherent scales at lower oxidation temperatures. About 20 at.% sulfur was found at the metal surface in all cases, and its presence was not only detected on interfacial voids, but also on areas where the scale was in contact with the alloy at temperature. Results from this study clearly demonstrated that sulfur as an alloying impurity does segregate to the scale/alloy interface. However, for alumina scales and chromia scales, the effect of this segregation on oxide adhesion is noticeably different.
Sequential DNA Methylation of the Nanog and Oct-4 Upstream Regions in Human NT2 Cells during Neuronal Differentiation

Human NT2 cells, which differentiate into neurons and astrocytes, initially express and then permanently down-regulate Nanog and Oct-4 (POU5F1). We investigated the relationship between the expression of these genes and the methylation state of their 5'-flanking regions. Gene expression and DNA methylation were assayed with quantitative polymerase chain reaction and bisulfite genomic sequencing, respectively. Retinoic acid-induced differentiation of NT2 cells to neurons is accompanied by a sequential decrease in the expression of both genes, paralleled by sequential epigenetic modification of their upstream regions. This is the first report demonstrating changes in DNA methylation in the promoter regions of Nanog and Oct-4 in a human cell line.
Effects of Tin on the Physical Properties and Crack Growth in Soda-Lime-Silica Float Glass

The effect of tin on the properties of soda-lime-silica glass was examined in glasses doped with 0.2–3.0 mol% SnO2. Trends in the properties are consistent with an increase in the network connectivity with increasing tin concentration. The difference in the thermo-elastic properties of the tin doped glasses suggests the creation of residual stresses in the near surface region of float glass, resulting from the tin concentration gradient during cooling. Two-point fiber bend tests were conducted to determine the effect of tin on the stress corrosion susceptibility of tin doped sodalime-silica glasses. The results showed the stress corrosion exponent for the tin-doped glasses to be a weak positive function of tin concentration.
The determination of the D/H ratio of non-exchangeable hydrogen in cellulose extracted from aquatic and land plants

A method has been developed for the analysis of D/H ratios of non-exchangeable hydrogen in plant cellulose. Plant samples are nitrated at low temperature and pure cellulose nitrate is extracted by acetone dissolution. Tests of this nitrated product have demonstrated that the nitration-extraction procedure eliminates the OH hydrogen and does not alter the D/H ratio of the cellulose carbon-bound hydrogen. Significant differences exist between δD values of plant total hydrogen and δD values of cellulose nitrate hydrogen. This difference is due to the effect of chemical heterogeneity of the δD value of plant material. Plant-extracted cellulose nitrate D/H ratios are systematically related to the D/H ratios of the associated environmental water. The overall relationship is linear with slope of one and intercept of −22%. Five aquatic plants which grew at 16–17°C are related isotopically to the water by a linear curve with a slope of 1 and intercept of −36%. Three plants which grew at 28–29°C have an intercept of −11%. The general dependence of plant cellulose non-exchangeable hydrogen D/H ratios on the D/H ratios of the associated environmental water suggests that variations of the extracted cellulose nitrate δD values of plants can be used as indicators of climatic change.
"BUT THE PENSION FUND WAS JUST SITTING THERE . . . ": THE POLITICS OF TEACHER RETIREMENT PLANS

Abstract The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to satisfy today's claimants in the here and now at the expense of long-term concerns. Teacher pensions, in particular, pose two challenges. The first is that political incentives invite irresponsible fiscal stewardship, as public officials make outsized short-term commitments to employees. The second is that incentives hinder modernization, as policy makers avoid the politically perilous task of altering plans ill suited to attracting talent in the contemporary labor market. The alignment of the political stars has helped some states and localities to address the first challenge, but far too few have demonstrated a willingness to tackle the second. We illustrate the political dynamics through discussions of pension plans in New Jersey, Oregon, and San Diego, California, and suggest several political strategies that could make pension challenges more tractable and encourage public officials to be responsible fiscal stewards or to revis...
Effects of barium on some stimulus evoked inhibitory post-synaptic potentials in the brain of Helix pomatia

Abstract 1. 1. On the dorsal surface of the suboesophageal ganglionic mass about 50 neurones were studied which responded with IPSPs to stimulation of the four main nerves. Ba2+ depressed or totally abolished the stimulus evoked IPSPs. 2. 2. All the IPSPs eliminated by barium administration had a null potential (EIPSP) at or very near to the potassium equilibrium potential (EK) and were not chloride dependent. 3. 3. The mechanism of the barium effect on the post-synaptic membrane was a blockage of the potassium conductance induced by the unknown transmitter mediating the transmission. 4. 4. Effect of Ba2+ on IPSPs differed from that of TEA+ because barium did not show cholinoceptive specificity. Barium was able to depress potassium conductance of the post-synaptic area evoked by any kind of transmitter except for a few cases where the unknown transmitter may have antagonized this effect of barium. 5. 5. A supposed pre-synaptic effect of Ba2+ could have realized in an enhanced transmitter release on a neurone where in presence of barium, both spontaneous and stimulus evoked inhibitory responses increased. This type of PSP showed a null potential very near to the chloride equilibrium potential (Ec1).
WHY DOES A METHOD THAT FAILS CONTINUE TO BE USED

As a critical framework for addressing a diversity of evolutionary and ecological questions, any method that provides accurate and detailed phylogeographic inference would be embraced. What is difficult to understand is the continued use of a method that not only fails, but also has never been shown to work—nested clade analysis is applied widely even though the conditions under which the method will provide reliable results have not yet been demonstrated. This contradiction between performance and popularity is even more perplexing given the recent methodological and computational advances for making historical inferences, which include estimating population genetic parameters and testing different biogeographic scenarios. Here I briefly review the history of criticisms and rebuttals that focus specifically on the high rate of incorrect phylogeographic inference of nested-clade analysis, with the goal of understanding what drives its unfettered popularity. In this case, the appeal of what nested-clade analysis claims to do—not what the method actually achieves—appears to explain its paradoxical status as a favorite method that fails. What a method promises, as opposed to how it performs, must be considered separately when evaluating whether the method represents a valuable tool for historical inference.
'Les Petits Parisiens En Province': the Silent Revolution in the Allier, 1860-1900:

Nancy Fitch is Associate Professor of History at Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass. 01002. She is completing a study on the transition from feudal ism to capitalism in central France.ABSTRACT:By the end of the nineteenth century, thousands of households in the Allier supplemented family income by raising Parisian foundlings for the Bureau of Public Assistance. The article surveys the developments that led to this situation and the institutions that facilitated it; and argues that the "migration" of these children to the countryside helped to produce a social transformation comparable in scope to that which resulted from rural exodus elsewhere. Economic change in the Allier had brought about acute shortages of male labor and this, combined with the underemployment of women, made mercenary motherhood an attractive source of additional labor and income. Mercenary motherhood meant something entirely different for peasant and artisanal women than it did for agricultural day laborers or sharecroppers. Economical...
Hereditary Pigmented Paravenous Retinochoroidal Atrophy

A father and son with pigmented paravenous retinochoroidal atrophy demonstrated the classical fundus appearance of bilateral sharply circumscribed patches of retinochoroidal atrophy and pigmentation along the retinal veins. Our patients, and the preponderance of males in previously reported cases of this disease, suggest the possibility of Y-chromosome mediated male-to-male transmission. Electrophysiologic findings in our patients included elevated dark-adaptation thresholds, slightly reduced electroretinographic amplitudes, slightly prolonged a- and b-wave implicit times, and (in Case 1) abnormal electro-oculographic ratios. These findings indicate a diffuse tapetoretinal degeneration, and suggest that pigmented paravenous retinochoroidal atrophy is another incomplete form of retinitis pigmentosa.
Properties of fullerene nanotubules

Abstract Recent reports show that single graphitic tubules with diameters on the order of fullerene diameters have been synthesized. We have examined both the electronic and structural properties of these materials using a range of methods. We have calculated the electronic structure of several graphitic tubules using a first-principles, self-consistent, all-electron Gaussian-orbital based local-density functional (LDF) approach. We have found that the class of high-symmetry tubules we denote as “serpentine” are metallic, with nonzero gaps for other finite radius tubules. With potential electronic and structural applications, these materials appear to be appropriate synthetic targets for the current decade.
RENDZINA FORMATION ON BATHURST ISLAND11

Summary The identification of a Rendzina soil on Bathurst Island at 75° G45′ N, 99°30′ W, is believed to mark its northernmost known occurrence. The Rendzina soil is quite shallow, usually no more than 5 to 10 cm on for-like limestone structures, but on the debris apron surrounding the base of the tor, the soil may be as much as 30 cm or more in depth.
The Germanic Symphony of the Nineteenth Century: Genre, Form, Instrumentation, Expression

Abstract A systematic overview of all Germanic symphonies published in the years 1800–1914 reveals many trends and shifts, some not previously recognized by Carl Dahlhaus and others. Publications declined consistently until the 1850s (19 symphonies in 1850–59), then rose consistently to a peak in the 1880s (52 works) and then declined again. Over 85% are in four movements, and certain keys remained in favor (C, c, D, d, E‐flat, B‐flat). A distinction must be made between true “program” or "malende” symphonies and “characteristic” symphonies. The latter are more closely allied to the traditional, even deeply conservative “absolute” symphony deriving from the mainstream eighteenth‐century “festive/brilliant” symphony. Also related to the latter are the “monumental/sublime” symphonies, but these remained few after Beethoven, recovering a bit (later in the century) under the hands of Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler.
The Werewolf's Indifference

A werewolf is the problem of animal difference expressed in monster’s flesh. This compound creature asks how intermixed with the bestial (-wolf ) the human (were-) might already be. All that is civilized, ennobling, and sacred is lost in fleshly tumult with lupine appetites, impulses, and violence. The werewolf would seem the ideal monster to query the suppression of ‘‘the animal part within us all.’’1 Yet a warning that this monstrous admixture is not so easy to make a universalizing metaphor inheres in the fact that Latin possesses no common noun for the creature. Lycaon might be transformed by an angry god into a wolf, and might (in Ovid’s narration) inhabit briefly an interstitial space where he possesses human and bestial qualities, but at transformation’s end one term replaces another, vir to lupus. When Gervase of Tilbury in the Otia imperialia is describing men who metamorphose under lunar influence, he observes: ‘‘In England we have often seen men change into wolves [homines in lupos mutari] according to the phases of the moon. The Gauls call men of this kind gerulfi, while the English name for them is werewolves, were being the English equivalent of uir.’’2 Gervase must employ French and English words to gloss his Latinate circumlocution.3 As its etymologically admixed nature suggests, the werewolf is a hy-
The effect of molecular size on humic acid associations

Aqueous solutions of two humic acids were subjected to UV photolysis, resulting in chain scission of the solute. The molecular fragments were found to have diminished detergent properties, indicated by a reduced tendency to associate with small hydrophobic species. This is ascribed to the inability of smaller and stiffer humic acid segments to form structured pseudomicellar domains that can sequester nonpolar species. It was noted that photolysis is more likely to involve covalent bond breakage than dissociation of hydrogen bonded conglomerates. An association index, based on fluorescence anisotropy, provided a quantitative measure of humic acid associations.
Nonlinear Dynamics of Ultrasound Contrast Agent Microbubbles: Simulation and Experimentation

The nonlinear response of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles is investigated through various simulations in regimes of clinical relevance. A spherical model is used based on a compressible form of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation that is combined with a thin-shell model developed by Lars Hoff to simulate the radial response of contrast agents subject to ultrasound. The response of a Sonazoid contrast agent is analyzed through the application of techniques from dynamical systems theory such as phase portraits, Poincare sections, bifurcation diagrams, and Lyapunov exponents to illustrate the qualitative dynamics and transition to chaos that occurs under certain changes in system parameters. The dynamic response of the contrast agent is shown to be similar regardless of the filling gas assumed or the presence of blood or water as the external medium. The effect of continuous and pulsed acoustic forcing is also compared. Furthermore, an experimental setup for investigating the dynamic response of contrast agents subject to ultrasound is presented that uses a standing acoustic wave to trap and drive bubbles at a prescribed frequency. The feasibility of the apparatus is demonstrated through high-speed images of an air bubble trapped at the antinode of the acoustic chamber.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
An analysis of response prevention and flooding procedures in the treatment of adolescent obsessive compulsive disorder

Flooding and response prevention have been widely used in the treatment of adult obsessive compulsive disorder but have been overlooked in favor of less restrictive procedures when treating children. The present case investigates the utility of these procedures in an adolescent with severe compulsive handwashing. Treatments were introduced hierarchically to minimize subject distress; graded exposure decreased the frequency of handwashing, but flooding was required to eliminate the compulsion. Guidelines for the ethical use of flooding and exposure therapies with children are offered.
Map and Ground View Integration in UGV Systems: A Structured Observational Analysis:

Compared to natural perception, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) operations place the human operator at a perceptual disadvantage, especially with regard to spatial comprehension and navigation. Map views using dynamic informative vehicle icons are seen as key to the efficiency of UGV mission scenarios. The recently completed ARL ADA Navigation Aides Experiment, a collaborative venture of New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, Alion Science, and SA Technologies, provided an opportunity for observing participant behavior in UGV scenarios using various map options. Observations, anecdotal evidence, and conjectures regarding the human factors of map use in UGV interface systems are discussed.
‘Clefless’ notation, counterpoint and the fa-degree

In recent years a number of music scholars have interpreted ‘clefless’ musical works from the 15th century as grounded on the mechanism of hexachordal solmization. The basic assumption that drives such analyses is that medieval and Renaissance musicians were trained to understand the notated pitches as embedded in segments of six syllables and six pitches. Thus, the primary function of the flat and sharps signs found in ‘clefless’ works has been taken to be one of indicating the fa and mi degrees of underlying hexachords.However, the particular notational features of a ‘clefless’ rondeau, Gilles Binchois’s Mon seul et souverain desir, may point to different conclusions. This study suggests that ‘clefless’ notation ultimately assigns priority to the octave-based notion of musical space (grounded on the seven claves) that shaped not only the structure of the gamut, but also the grammar of counterpoint. While six-syllable solmization may well have been successfully used to sight read this chanson, it was by no means a mandatory step for performance. The non-hexachordal approach to ‘clefless’ notation proposed here is in line with the early history of staffed notation, as well as with the general orientation of medieval and Renaissance theorists on the issue of hexachordal solmization.
Regioselective O-alkylation of cortienic acid and synthesis of a new class of glucocorticoids containing a 17α-alkoxy, a 17α-(1′-alkoxyethyloxy), a 17α-alkoxymethyloxy, or a 17α-methylthiomethyloxy function

Abstract The synthesis of a new class of glucocorticoids, to be evaluated as anti-inflammatory agents with expected low systemic toxicity, is described. The new steroids possess a 17β-chloromethyl carboxylate function and a 17α-alkoxy, a 17α-(1′-alkoxyethyloxy), a 17α-alkoxymethyloxy, or a 17α-methylthiometh-yloxy function. A 17α-alkoxy function is a new feature in cortisol analogs.
Pressure–volume–temperature of molten and glassy polymers

The pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) dependencies of several amorphous polymers (PS, PC, PPE, and PPE/PS 1:1 blend) in the glassy and molten state were studied. The Simha-Somcynsky (S-S) lattice-hole equation of state (EOS) was used. Fitting the PVT data in the molten state to the EOS yielded the free volume quantity, h = h(T, P), and the characteristic reducing parameters, P*, V*, and T*. The data within the glassy region were interpreted assuming that the latter parameters are valid in the molten and vitreous state, than calculating h = h(T, P) from the experimental values of V = V(T, P). Next, the frozen free volume fraction in the glass was computed as FF = FF(P). The FF values of polystyrene (PS) resins at ambient pressure showed little scattering (FF P=1 = 0.691 ± 0.008), while their P-dependencies varied, reflecting the thermodynamic history of the glass formation as well as the PVT measurements protocol. The pressure gradient of Tg was compared with the Ehrenfest relation for the second-order transition; here also agreement depended on the method of vitrification. The experimental values of FF at ambient pressure decreased with increasing values of the characteristic temperature reducing parameter, T*.
Strict Identity with No Overlap

Is standard, Kripke-style semantics for quantified modal logic compatible with the view that no individual may belong to more than one possible world? One is naturally inclined to answer in the negative, arguing that the view requires a Lewis-style, counterpart-theoretic semantics instead. Strictly speaking, however, this natural answer is wrong-headed. This note explains why.
Tension of a composite bar with fibre discontinuities and soft inter-fibre material☆

Abstract A problem of a composite bar under tension applied at infinity is analysed. The bar consists of four square fibres arranged in square array where the fibres are joined by soft material. The four fibres have discontinuities at different locations. Both fibres and inter-fibre material are linear and elastic. Using shear-lag model, solutions for fibre stresses and shear stresses in fillers are obtained and the force transfer patterns studied for different geometrical and material parameters. The analysis may be useful in designing the joint of such a bar.
Analysis of Brownian particle deposition and reentrainment in granular beds

Abstract An analysis is presented to describe the deposition of particles from suspensions flowing through granular beds, taking into account the possible reentrainment of the deposited particles. The extent of reentrainment is found to be a monotonic function of the extent of deposition and declines drastically with the increase in particle size.
Response of circadian locomotor activity and the proestrous luteinizing hormone surge to phase shifts of the light-dark cycle in the hamster

Female hamsters with regular 4 day estrous cycles were exposed to either a 3 hour phase advance or delay of the 14:10 light-dark (LD) cycle on the first, second or third day before proestrus. Blood samples were taken on proestrus to characterize the LH surge, and locomotor activity onset was recorded. Both the LH surge and activity onset phase delayed more quickly than they advanced, which can be explained by the free-running period of the hamster (longer than 24 hours). Higher estradiol levels were correlated with more rapid advances of activity onset.
The effect of bacterial endotoxin on repair in connective tissue.

Summary o 1. Under the conditions of these experiments, there is no evidence that the administration of a bacterial endotoxin favorably affects normal repair by connective tissue as measured by the formation of collagen, gain in tensile strength or rate of contraction. In fact, in repeated doses it may inhibit repair. 2. A suboptimal rate of growth as observed around implanted plastic sponges is stimulated by the administration of endotoxins in appropriate doses. 3. This study provides additional evidence that there is a specific relation between the initial inflammatory response to injury and the rate of connective tissue formation. There appears to be an optimal inflammatory response beyond which stimulation is deleterious.
Predicting the Effects of Anti-angiogenic Agents Targeting Specific VEGF Isoforms

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key mediator of angiogenesis, whose effect on cancer growth and development is well characterized. Alternative splicing of VEGF leads to several different isoforms, which are differentially expressed in various tumor types and have distinct functions in tumor blood vessel formation. Many cancer therapies aim to inhibit angiogenesis by targeting VEGF and preventing intracellular signaling leading to tumor vascularization; however, the effects of targeting specific VEGF isoforms have received little attention in the clinical setting. In this work, we investigate the effects of selectively targeting a single VEGF isoform, as compared with inhibiting all isoforms. We utilize a molecular-detailed whole-body compartment model of VEGF transport and kinetics in the presence of breast tumor. The model includes two major VEGF isoforms, VEGF121 and VEGF165, receptors VEGFR1 and VEGFR2, and co-receptors Neuropilin-1 and Neuropilin-2. We utilize the model to predict the concentrations of free VEGF, the number of VEGF/VEGFR2 complexes (considered to be pro-angiogenic), and the receptor occupancy profiles following inhibition of VEGF using isoform-specific anti-VEGF agents. We predict that targeting VEGF121 leads to a 54% and 84% reduction in free VEGF in tumors that secrete both VEGF isoforms or tumors that overexpress VEGF121, respectively. Additionally, 21% of the VEGFR2 molecules in the blood are ligated following inhibition of VEGF121, compared with 88% when both isoforms are targeted. Targeting VEGF121 reduces tumor free VEGF and is an effective treatment strategy. Our results provide a basis for clinical investigation of isoform-specific anti-VEGF agents.
Estrogen receptor α, but not β, plays a major role in 17β-estradiol-induced murine cholesterol gallstones

Abstract Background & Aims: Cholesterol gallstones are more common in women than men, and exposure to oral contraceptive steroids and conjugated estrogens increases the risk for gallstones. It is hypothesized that estrogen enhances cholesterol cholelithogenesis by augmenting functions of hepatic estrogen receptors (ERs). Methods: To investigate molecular mechanisms of how estrogen influences cholesterol gallstones, we studied gonadectomized AKR/J mice of both genders that were implanted subcutaneously with pellets releasing 17β-estradiol at 0, 3, or 6 μg/day and that were fed a lithogenic diet for 12 weeks. To test the hypothesis that ERs play a pivotal role in mediating lithogenic actions of estrogen and to dissect the potential pathophysiologic roles of each receptor subtype, ERα and ERβ, in the formation of gallstones, we investigated gonadectomized mice treated with synthetic ER subtype-selective agonists or antagonists. Results: 17β-estradiol promoted gallstone formation by up-regulating hepatic expression of ERα but not ERβ, and the lithogenic actions of estrogen can be blocked completely by the antiestrogenic ICI 182,780. The ERα-selective agonist propylpyrazole, but not the ERβ-selective agonist diarylpropionitrile, augmented hepatic cholesterol output that resulted in cholesterol supersaturated bile and gallstones. Similar to the 17β-estradiol treatment, tamoxifen significantly increased biliary cholesterol secretion and gallstone prevalence in both gonadectomized females and males. Conclusions: The hepatic ERα, but not ERβ, plays a critical role in 17β-estradiol-induced cholesterol gallstones. Our findings may offer a new approach to treat gallstones by inhibiting hepatic ER activity with a liver-specific, ERα-selective antagonist.
Exchange and correlation energies in density-functional theory: Bounds from available data

It is pointed out that the Kohn-Sham orbitals, for the exact interacting ground-state energy and density for the external potential of interest v(r), are simultaneously the optimum orbitals of the exact exchange?(hyonly computation for the modified external potential v(r)+${v}_{c}$(r), where ${v}_{c}$(r) is the correlation potential. This theorem is used to derive necessary bounds that the exact density-functional-theory correlation energy must satisfy in terms of approximate correlation energies which are obtained from available data. Numerical examples of one of the bounds is given with respect to the surface correlation energies of jellium metal.
A versatile framework for microbial engineering using synthetic non-coding RNAs

Synthetic non-coding RNAs have emerged as a versatile class of molecular devices that have a diverse range of programmable functions, including signal sensing, gene regulation and the modulation of molecular interactions. Owing to their small size and the central role of Watson-Crick base pairing in determining their structure, function and interactions, several distinct types of synthetic non-coding RNA regulators that are functional at the DNA, mRNA and protein levels have been experimentally characterized and computationally modelled. These engineered devices can be incorporated into genetic circuits, enabling the more efficient creation of complex synthetic biological systems. In this Review, we summarize recent progress in engineering synthetic non-coding RNA devices and their application to genetic and cellular engineering in a broad range of microorganisms.
Closing the surveillance gap.

Since 1986 there has been substantial progress in developing surveillance systems for occupational disease and injury that meet the goals of surveillance: identification or new diseases and causes of injury; estimation of the magnitude and trend of injuries and illnesses; identification of epidemic clusters; and identification of sentinel cases representing failures of prevention. A quiltwork of surveillance systems for occupational diseases and injury has been implemented by several federal agencies; surveillance systems for many more disease and injuries are being developed by the states. The conceptual basis for “closing the surveillance gap” has been developed; national implementation is the next challenge. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The synthesis of taurine from sulfate. VI. Vitamin B6 deficiency and taurine synthesis in the rat

SummaryAn enzyme system capable of catalyzing the biosynthesis of taurine in vitamin B6-deficient rats has been demonstrated. This activity was constant in liver even after rats had been fed the B6-deficient diet for 5 weeks. The CSA decarboxylase of rat liver was shown to be significantly reduced after 5 weeks of B6-defi-cient feeding. The significance of this enzyme system to the animal is discussed.