cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prognostic value of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in patients undergoing resection of biliary tract cancer.

Background The clinical significance of abnormally high levels of carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 after resection of biliary tract cancer (BTC) is not well established. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of CA19-9 normalization in patients undergoing resection of BTC with curative intent. Methods Patients with BTC undergoing resection with curative intent (1996–2015) were divided into those with normal preoperative CA19-9 level (normal CA19-9 group), those with an abnormally high preoperative CA19-9 level (over 37 units/ml) and normal postoperative CA19-9 level (normalization group), and those with an abnormally high preoperative CA19-9 level and abnormally high postoperative CA19-9 level (non-normalization group). Overall survival (OS) was analysed and predictors of OS were determined. Results The normal CA19-9 group (180 patients) and normalization group (74) had better OS than the non-normalization group (58) (3-year OS rate 70·4, 73 and 31 per cent respectively; both P < 0·001). The normal CA19-9 and normalization groups had equivalent OS (P = 0·880). On multivariable analysis, factors associated with worse OS were lymph node metastases (hazard ratio (HR) 1·78; P = 0·014) and abnormally high postoperative CA19-9 level (HR 3·16; P < 0·001). In the normalization group, OS did not differ after R0 versus R1 resection (3-year OS rate 69 versus 62 per cent respectively; P = 0·372); in the non-normalization group, patients with R1 resection had worse OS (3-year OS rate 36 and 20 per cent for R0 and R1 respectively; P = 0·032). Conclusion Non-normalization of CA19-9 level after resection of BTC with curative intent was associated with worse OS. R1 resection was associated with a particularly poor prognosis when CA19-9 levels did not normalize.
Indirect Effect of Hypercapnia on the Phosphaturia of Respiratory Acidosis

The mechanism for the phosphaturia of respiratory acidosis is not well understood because there are concomitant alterations in arterial blood pCO2, pH, bicarbonate and phosphate which could all affect urinary phosphate excretion1–6. Recently, Webb et al1 demonstrated in the rat that alterations in the blood levels of phosphate, bicarbonate and parathyroid hormone could not entirely account for the phosphaturia of respiratory acidosis and concluded that it was the result of a direct effect of the elevated blood pCO2 on renal phosphate transport. Our present clearance and micropuncture experiments were, therefore, designed to reexamine the relationship between blood pCO2 and the phosphaturia of respiratory acidosis.
Truth in advertising: Rationalizing ads and knowing consumers in the early twentieth-century United States

This article examines the way advertising was rationalized in the early twentieth-century United States. Drawing on a targeted archival comparison with the United Kingdom, I show how the extensive mobilization undertaken to legitimate and rationalize advertising, rather than changes in the techniques employed in the content of ads themselves, were seen by actors in the mid-1920s to explain most of the extraordinary advances made by American advertising. Building on that comparison, I show how American advertising was transformed, particularly around World War I, into a legitimate profession situated at the center of a network of expertise about consumers and their media. Under the banner of “truth in advertising” ads came to be regarded as a legitimate, rational, and sustained business investment, leading to an enormous increase in aggregate expenditures. I argue that future research should examine how this process fuelled mass media and contributed to the conditions for modern consumerism.
Latinas’ Colorectal Cancer Screening Knowledge, Barriers to Receipt, and Feasibility of Home-Based Fecal Immunochemical Testing

Latinas’ high colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality makes them a priority population for CRC screening. CRC screening knowledge, perceived barriers, and feasibility of using the Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) was assessed among Latinas in Utah. Participants aged ≥50 (n = 95) were surveyed about knowledge and barriers to CRC screening. 27 participants completed a FIT and evaluation survey. Fisher’s exact tests assessed sociodemographic correlates of CRC screening outcomes. Most participants were overdue for CRC screening (n = 81, 85%). Age, acculturation, education, and employment were significantly associated with CRC screening status and/or reasons for being overdue (e.g., not knowing about the test, cost). All participants who received a FIT completed it, felt it was easy to use, and reported they would use it again. Latinas had limited awareness of CRC, CRC screenings, and experienced barriers to CRC screening (e.g., limited access, cost), but were willing to utilize a low-cost home-based FIT.
Snowpack: efficient parameter choice for GPU kernels via static analysis and statistical prediction

The running time of GPU kernels depends on an invocation parameter, the number of threads in each thread block. Sometime the dependence is quite strong leading to 50--100% change in execution time for long-running kernels. Till now, it has been an art form to decide on the optimal setting for this parameter. NVIDIA provides a tool for CUDA kernels, called OCC, that guides a developer toward this goal. In this paper, we show that OCC maximizes occupancy of GPU cores but does not meet the performance goal in a wide class of applications. We develop a solution called Snowpack that uses static features in a statistical learning framework to choose the optimal block size parameter. It does this without needing to execute the kernel multiple times, as a possible alternate solution Autotuner does. We evaluate our solution, Snowpack on 89 kernels of 10 applications.
Adaptive Reasoning Algorithm with Automated Test Cases Generation and Test Algebra in Saas System

A new integrated testing framework is proposed to use adaptive reasoning algorithm with automated test cases generation (ARP) and test algebra (TA) for increasing SaaS testing efficiency in faulty combination identification and elimination. The ARP algorithm has been evaluated by both simulation and real experimentation using a MTA SaaS sample running on GAE (Google App Engine). Both the simulation and experiment show that the ARP algorithm can identify those faulty combinations rapidly and TA can eliminate a large number of faults from candidate test set with a small number of seeded faults.
Energy Landscape of the Substrate Translocation Equilibrium of Plasma-Membrane Glutamate Transporters

Glutamate transporters maintain a large glutamate concentration gradient across synaptic membranes and are, thus, critical for functioning of the excitatory synapse. Mammalian glutamate transporters concentrate glutamate inside cells through energetic coupling of glutamate flux to the transmembrane concentration gradient of Na+. Structural models based on an archeal homologue, GltPh, suggest an elevator-like carrier mechanism. However, the energetic determinants of this carrier-based movement are not well understood. Although electrostatics play an important role in governing these energetics, their implication on transport dynamics has not been studied. Here, we combine a pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of the translocation equilibrium with electrostatic computations to gain insight into the energetics of the translocation process. Our results show the biphasic nature of translocation, consistent with the existence of an intermediate on the translocation pathway. In the absence of voltage, the equilibrium is shifted to the outward-facing configuration. Electrostatic computations confirm the intermediate state and show that the elevator-like movement is energetically feasible in the presence of bound Na+ ions, whereas a substrate-hopping model is energetically prohibitive. Our results highlight the critical contribution of charge compensation to transport and add to results from previous molecular dynamics simulations for improved understanding of the glutamate translocation process.
Physical Activity for the Prevention of Child and Adolescent Drug Abuse

Data on the relationship between physical activity and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs warrant a closer look before automatically presuming that physical activity has the potential to reduce risk for drug abuse. For example, recent analyses from the Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) between substance use and physical activity (either exercise in general or athletic team participation specifically) among US middle and high school youth from 1992 to 2009 indicates varying patterns of use by type of physical activity (Terry-McElrath, O’Malley, & Johnson, 2011). Exercise in general (reported level of participation in sports, athletics, or exercising) was associated with lower prevalence of middle and high school alcohol use, binge drinking, cigarette use, smokeless tobacco use, marijuana use, and steroid use; in contrast, athletic team participation (extent of participating in school athletic teams) was associated with lower rates of marijuana and cigarette use in middle school and higher rates of alcohol use, binge drinking, and steroid use in high school. Clearly, based on this information from the MTF data, physical activity is not the “silver bullet” of drug abuse prevention. However, there are many possible explanations for these relationships, and those explanations could lead to different approaches to prevention. While the MTF measurement questions around physical activity specify some distinctions in type of physical activity, those questions leave out many of the important dimensions and nuances described in Chap. 1 of this volume, which is focused on definitions of physical activity. Thus, assuming the relationships found in the MTF study relate solely to organized sports participation, without looking at the specifics such as characteristics of the sport itself and the motivation of the individual for participating, may lead to erroneous conclusions about causality and misguided direction for prevention. A more holistic view of physical activity offers the potential of elucidating multiple etiologic pathways and more targeted approaches for drug abuse prevention interventions.
An Innovation for JPD and a Transition: The Profession and a Confession of an Editor

The following article is a short description of a new direction taken by this Volume VI, that is, a Symposium on Teaching Deliberative Democracy in many different fields of Academe. It is also an explanation of the past, present and future of JPD, all of which are bright.
Differential Roles of Shame and Guilt in L2 Learning: How Bad Is Bad?

This article aims to introduce shame and guilt from social psychology into second language acquisition (SLA), to validate their psychometric measurement, and to examine their effects on second language (L2) learners' motivation and language achievements. In Study 1, the prevalence of shame and guilt reactions in L2 settings was explored. Moreover, the Second Language Test of Shame and Guilt Affect (L2‐TOSGA) was developed and validated to measure L2 learners' individual differences in terms of proneness to shame and guilt during L2 learning. The results of qualitative and quantitative analyses evidenced the pervasiveness of shame and guilt in an L2 context, and attested to the reliability, stability, and validity of L2‐TOSGA subscales. In Study 2, the effects of learners' shame and guilt reactions on their motivation and language achievements were probed. The results showed that shame strongly but negatively affected L2 learners' motivation and language achievements, whereas guilt had positive effects on their motivation and language achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
PRENATAL ORGANOPHOPHOSPHATE AND CHILD NEURODEVELOPMENT: RESULTS FROM THE MOUNT SINAI CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER

Background & Aims: Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides has been shown to negatively impact child neurobehavioral development. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of o...
A contextual binding theory of episodic memory: systems consolidation reconsidered

Episodic memory reflects the ability to recollect the temporal and spatial context of past experiences. Episodic memories depend on the hippocampus but have been proposed to undergo rapid forgetting unless consolidated during offline periods such as sleep to neocortical areas for long-term storage. Here, we propose an alternative to this standard systems consolidation theory (SSCT) - a contextual binding account - in which the hippocampus binds item-related and context-related information. We compare these accounts in light of behavioural, lesion, neuroimaging and sleep studies of episodic memory and contend that forgetting is largely due to contextual interference, episodic memory remains dependent on the hippocampus across time, contextual drift produces post-encoding activity and sleep benefits memory by reducing contextual interference.
Insomnia and cardiometabolic disease risk

Abstract This chapter focuses on the association between insomnia and cardiometabolic disease risk, including hypertension, blood pressure dipping, impaired heart rate variability, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease as well as their associated mortality risk. This chapter also reviews the potential pathophysiologic mechanisms and health behaviors involved in the increased cardiometabolic risk associated with insomnia. Furthermore, this chapter reviews emerging data indicating that the association of insomnia with cardiometabolic disease risk is stronger in the insomnia with objective short sleep duration phenotype. Finally, this chapter discusses the public health and clinical implications of these associations, including the need for better screening of insomnia in the general population, preventive community-level interventions, and randomized clinical trials to determine whether cognitive-behavioral or pharmacological therapies for insomnia lead to improvement of subclinical and prognostic markers of cardiometabolic disease risk.
The Microbiome in Female Urology

Study of the female urinary microbiome is a relatively new focus of research. The female microbiome and its interaction with the body as a whole has the potential to explain a variety of clinical conditions, including recurrent urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. In this chapter, we will explore the available literature linking the female microbiome to urinary incontinence and pathologic lower urinary tract symptoms.
Knowledge-incorporating ESIM models for Response Selection in Retrieval-based Dialog Systems.

Goal-oriented dialog systems, which can be trained end-to-end without manually encoding domain-specific features, show tremendous promise in the customer support use-case e.g. flight booking, hotel reservation, technical support, student advising etc. These dialog systems must learn to interact with external domain knowledge to achieve the desired goal e.g. recommending courses to a student, booking a table at a restaurant etc. This paper presents extended Enhanced Sequential Inference Model (ESIM) models: a) K-ESIM (Knowledge-ESIM), which incorporates the external domain knowledge and b) T-ESIM (Targeted-ESIM), which leverages information from similar conversations to improve the prediction accuracy. Our proposed models and the baseline ESIM model are evaluated on the Ubuntu and Advising datasets in the Sentence Selection track of the latest Dialog System Technology Challenge (DSTC7), where the goal is to find the correct next utterance, given a partial conversation, from a set of candidates. Our preliminary results suggest that incorporating external knowledge sources and leveraging information from similar dialogs leads to performance improvements for predicting the next utterance.
Particulate Matter Sensors Mounted on a Robot for Environmental Aerosol Measurements

AbstractIn recent years, miniaturized particulate matter (PM) sensors have been studied intensively as an alternative device for air quality measurement due to their price advantage, moderate accur...
Conventional Cryptography Fundamentals

In this chapter, the conventional cryptography fundamentals are introduced. The chapter starts with basic terminology and cryptographic schemes, including symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, basic ciphers such as substitution and transposition ciphers, and one-time pads. The concepts of secrecy, authentication, and non-repudiation are introduced then, followed by various cryptanalytic attacks such as ciphertext-only, known-plaintext, chosen-plaintext, chosen-ciphertext, and adaptive-chosen-plaintext attacks. In section on information-theoretic approach to cryptography, the concept of perfect security is introduced and compared against the computational security. In the same section, unicity distance is discussed as well as the role of compression in cryptography. After that, one-way functions and one-way hash functions are discussed. The chapter concludes with several relevant practical cryptographic systems including DES and RSA systems as well as Diffie–Hellman public-key distribution.
A-Lister: a tool for analysis of differentially expressed omics entities across multiple pairwise comparisons

Researchers commonly analyze lists of differentially expressed entities (DEEs), such as differentially expressed genes (DEGs), differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), and differentially methylated positions/regions (DMPs/DMRs), across multiple pairwise comparisons. Large biological studies can involve multiple conditions, tissues, and timepoints that result in dozens of pairwise comparisons. Manually filtering and comparing lists of DEEs across multiple pairwise comparisons, typically done by writing custom code, is a cumbersome task that can be streamlined and standardized. A-Lister is a lightweight command line and graphical user interface tool written in Python. It can be executed in a differential expression mode or generic name list mode. In differential expression mode, A-Lister accepts as input delimited text files that are output by differential expression tools such as DESeq2, edgeR, Cuffdiff, and limma. To allow for the most flexibility in input ID types, to avoid database installation requirements, and to allow for secure offline use, A-Lister does not validate or impose restrictions on entity ID names. Users can specify thresholds to filter the input file(s) by column(s) such as p-value, q-value, and fold change. Additionally, users can filter the pairwise comparisons within the input files by fold change direction (sign). Queries composed of intersection, fuzzy intersection, difference, and union set operations can also be performed on any number of pairwise comparisons. Thus, the user can filter and compare any number of pairwise comparisons within a single A-Lister differential expression command. In generic name list mode, A-Lister accepts delimited text files containing lists of names as input. Queries composed of intersection, fuzzy intersection, difference, and union set operations can then be performed across these lists of names. A-Lister is a flexible tool that enables the user to rapidly narrow down large lists of DEEs to a small number of most significant entities. These entities can then be further analyzed using visualization, pathway analysis, and other bioinformatics tools.
Increased inflammation in BA21 brain tissue from African Americans with Alzheimer’s disease

Chronic neuroinflammation is strongly associated with AD and altered peripheral and central levels of chemokines and cytokines have been frequently described in those with AD. Given the increasing evidence of ethnicity-related differences in AD, it was of interest to determine if those altered chemokine and cytokine levels are ethnicity-related. Because African Americans exhibit a higher incidence of AD and increased symptom severity, we explored chemokine and cytokine concentrations in post-mortem brain tissue from the BA21 region of African Americans and Caucasians with AD using multiplex assays. IL-1β, MIG, TRAIL, and FADD levels were significantly increased in African Americans while levels of IL-3 and IL-8 were significantly decreased. Those effects did not interact with gender; however, overall levels of CCL25, CCL26 and CX3CL1 were significantly decreased in women. The NLRP3 inflammasome is thought to be critically involved in AD. Increased activation of this inflammasome in African Americans is consistent with the current results.
Editorial Commentary: The Best Medial Patellofemoral Reconstruction May Include Components of Both Quadriceps and Patellar Attachments.

Abstract Given different functions of the medial quadriceps tendon–femoral ligament and medial patellofemoral ligament components of the proximal medial patellar restraints, reconstructions to the midpoint of the medial patellofemoral ligament and medial quadriceps tendon–femoral ligament are probably optimal, combining the benefits of both in surgical treatment of recurrent patella instability.
The Price of Inclusion: Evidence from Housing Developer Behavior

In many cities, incentives and regulations lead developers to integrate low-income housing into market-rate buildings. How cost-effective are these policies? I study take-up of a tax incentive in New York City using a model in which developers trade off between tax savings and pre-tax income. I estimate the model using policy variation and microdata on all development from 2003 to 2015. I estimate a citywide marginal fiscal cost of $1.6 million per low-income unit. Differences in neighborhoods, not developer incidence, explain the cost premium over other housing programs. Weighing costs against external estimates of neighborhood effects, I conclude middle-class neighborhoods offer "opportunity bargains."
Flow through an elbow: A direct numerical simulation investigating turbulent flow quantities

Abstract Turbulent flow in a sharp 90 ° elbow in a square duct was numerically investigated by performing a direct numerical simulation (DNS) and the results were compared to experimental and Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) data. This is the first part of an effort to expand the understanding of particle transport in complex geometries. The paper is divided into two parts: a validation of the flow, and then a discussion of additional flow quantities that are important for modeling particles but were not measured experimentally. In the validation section the DNS results were compared to experimental and RANS data at a Reynolds number of 11 , 500 . Profiles of the mean and root-mean-square (RMS) fluctuating velocities were compared at various points along the elbow’s midplane. Upstream of the bend, the predicted mean and RMS velocities from the RANS and DNS simulations compared well with the experiment, differing only slightly near the walls. Downstream of the bend the DNS and the experimental results were virtually identical, varying by no more than 2 % . However, the RANS results deviated, showing a more extended region of flow re-circulation, causing the mean and RMS velocities to differ by as much as 40 % . After the validation, one of the additional quantities was the secondary flow structures in the plane perpendicular to the mean flow direction. The RANS and DNS showed similar results upstream of the bend, exhibiting in-plane vortices of the second-kind. Downstream, the vortical flows of the first-kind were observed with a magnitude of about 40 % of the mean flow and differed by about 5 % between the DNS and the RANS. Eulerian time scales at different locations upstream and downstream of the elbow were also evaluated. The upstream Eulerian time scales showed trends similar to channel flow data, with maximum time scales near the wall. The downstream time scales were qualitatively different showing non monotonic behavior across the channel and values that were significantly different than a channel flow.
COVID-19 and the Ruralization of U.S. Criminal Court Systems

The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing typically rural practice constraints on the United States' urban and suburban criminal court systems. This "ruralization" of criminal practice offers lawyers, policymakers, and researchers a window into the challenges and opportunities that inhere in rural systems. This is no small matter. For decades, lawmakers, researchers, reformers, and philanthropists have overlooked, undertheorized, and underfunded rural criminal legal systems-and have done so at great peril. Nearly 20 percent of the nation's population lives in nonmetropolitan areas, where the opioid addiction crisis rages. Rural incarceration increasingly drives mass incarceration. The U.S. countryside warehouses the nation's prison populations, and rural pretrial detention rates continue to rise. Indeed, the success of criminal justice reforms depends in part on our ability to address the incarceration crisis in rural America. The authors discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural criminal courts highlighting their research at the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center on small, tribal, and rural (STAR) criminal legal systems.
An Episcopalian in Samoa: Review of Elesha J. Coffman, Margaret Mead: A Twentieth Century Faith. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021

A question for a parlor quiz game: who among the most famous women in American history chose to be buried in the graveyard of the small-town Pennsylvania Episcopal Church in which she had been bapt...
Automated midline shift detection on brain ct images for computer-aided clinical decision support

Midline shift (MLS), the amount of displacement of the brain's midline from its normal symmetric position due to illness or injury, is an important index for clinicians to assess the severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this dissertation, an automated computer-aided midline shift estimation system is proposed. First, a CT slice selection algorithm (SSA) is designed to automatically select a subset of appropriate CT slices from a large number of raw images for MLS detection. Next, ideal midline detection is implemented based on skull bone anatomical features and global rotation assumptions. For the actual midline detection algorithm, a window selection algorithm (WSA) is applied first to confine the region of interest, then the variational level set method is used to segment the image and extract the ventricle contours. With a ventricle identification algorithm (VIA), the position of actual midline is detected based on the identified right and left lateral ventricle contours. Finally, the brain midline shift is calculated using the positions of detected ideal midline and actual midline. One of the important applications of midline shift in clinical medical decision making is to estimate the intracranial pressure (ICP). ICP monitoring is a standard procedure in the care of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. An automated ICP level prediction model based on machine learning method is proposed in this work. Multiple features, including midline shift, intracranial air cavities, ventricle size, texture patterns, and blood amount, are used in the ICP level prediction. Finally, the results are evaluated to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method in ICP level prediction.
Enzymology of Glutamine

Glutamine is an essential building block of proteins, and occupies a central position in nitrogen metabolism [1]. Thus, it is a storage form and a transport form of both glutamate and ammonia. Glutamine is more effectively transported across the blood-brain barrier and across certain cell membranes than glutamate. Ammonia is toxic to many animal tissues, whereas glutamine serves efficiently as a nontoxic source of ammonia for many reactions. Glutamine provides nitrogen for the synthesis of N3 and N9 of the purine ring, the amide nitrogen atoms of asparagine and NAD, the amino groups of glucosamine 6-phosphate, guanine, cytidine, and (as carbamyl phosphate) N1 of the pyrimidine ring. The synthesis of glutamine is a reaction of significance in maintaining the normally low levels of ammonia found in tissues and body fluids. The synthesis of glutamine is of particular importance in the central nervous system for removal of ammonia and of glutamate, a neurotransmitter. Glutamine is a major energy source in kidney [2], small intestine [3], bone [4], and in certain cells grown in tissue culture [5,6J. Hydrolysis of glutamine by renal glutaminase plays a key role in acid-base balance. Glutamine is used in man and in certain higher apes for the detoxication of phenylacetic acid, which is formed in the metabolism of phenylalanine; phenylacetate is coupled, via phenylacetyl adenylate and phenylacetyl coenzyme A, with glutamine to form phenylacetyl glutamine; the daily urinary excretion of this compound in man is about 300 mg [7].
Foreign Investments and the Rule of Law

This paper attempts to answer two questions. First, is foreign investment good for the host country? Second, what factors are associated with greater foreign investments? To answer the first question, this study calculates the global stock market integration scores of a sample of 41 countries, and it finds that this integration is associated with greater per capita income, stronger growth in income, and higher levels of natural capital and produced capital. In addressing the second question, this study finds that the risk-adjusted return does not influence the foreign investment decision; rather, it is the rule of law–the host country’s ability to ensure the safety and mobility of foreign capital–that is the primary driving force for foreign investments.
The Photosystem I 5.5 kDa subunit (the psaK gene product). An intrinsic subunit of the PSI reaction center complex

Abstract Previous studies of the Photosystem I reaction center complex, the chlorophyll protein 1 complex (CPI), have shown it is a heterodimer of two high-molecular-mass subunits of 83000 and 82000, the psa A and psa B gene products. The present work has identified another intrinsic low-molecular-mass subunit of 5 500 (as determined by SDS-PAGE) that is tightly associated with the CPI complex. This subunit can be separated from CPI after treatment with thiol agents. CPI complexes prepared either in the presence or absence of thiols show no differences in photochemical activity under steady-state actinic illumination. A comparison of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 5.5 kDa subunit with the sequence of a Chlamydomonas PSI subunit, P37, identifies this low-molecular-mass subunit as the PSI psa K gene product.
KECho - Event Communication for Distributed Kernel Services

Event services have received increased attention as scalable tools for the composition of large-scale, distributed systems, as evidenced by their successful deployment in interactive multimedia applications and scientific collaborative tools. This paper introduces KECho, a kernelbased event service aimed at supporting the coordination among multiple kernel services in distributed systems, typically to provide applications using these services with certain levels of Quality of Service (QoS). The publish/subscribe communication supported by KECho permits components of remote kernels as well as applications to coordinate their operation. The target group of such a kernel-based event service is the rapidly increasing number of extensions that are being added to existing operating systems and are intended to support the Quality of Service and real-time requirements of distributed and embedded applications.
Early Weaning Induces Jejunal Ornithine Decarboxylase and Cell Proliferation in Neonatal Rats

Increased ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity is associated with rapid cell proliferation in many cell types. The cellular effects of early weaning on intestinal development are not well established. To investigate whether ODC is involved in intestinal growth after early weaning, we precociously weaned suckling rats on postnatal d 15 and followed through d 21 (6 d after early weaning). Age-matched suckling pups served as controls. Rat pups were killed 1, 2, 3 and 6 d after early weaning and jejunal mucosa was assayed for ODC and sucrase activities, and protein and DNA contents. Jejunal cell proliferation was monitored by bromodeoxyuridine immunohistochemistry. Elevated jejunal ODC activity 1 d after early weaning was the earliest cellular event that was detected in the current study. ODC activity peaked at d 3 (about 15-fold greater than age-matched unweaned suckling controls). Sucrase activity was elevated at d 2 after weaning and peaked at d 3 (about 10-fold greater than controls). Greater bromodeoxyuridine immunostaining in early weaned rats occurred on d 3. Protein and DNA contents were greater in jejunal mucosa of early weaned rats at d 6. Serum corticosterone levels were elevated on d 1 and d 2 after early weaning compared to controls. To explore whether the intake of nonpurified diet played a role, we also compared the induction of jejunal ODC activity in early weaned pups and pups that were food-deprived for 1 d. ODC activity was not greater in the food-deprived group compared to suckling controls while the early weaned group had 6-fold greater activity 1 d after early weaning. Early weaning stimulates jejunal cell proliferation and differentiation. The temporal sequence of increased ODC activity followed by increases in other growth variables suggests that the induction of ODC activity may act as an early marker of intestinal growth during early weaning.
Paraflagellar rod proteins administered with alum and IL-12 or recombinant adenovirus expressing IL-12 generates antigen-specific responses and protective immunity in mice against Trypanosoma cruzi

Successful vaccination of mice against an otherwise lethal challenge with the Peru strain of Trypanosoma cruzi necessitates the induction of a strong cell mediated immune response. Previously, immunization of mice with the paraflagellar rod proteins from Trypanosoma cruzi90% reduction in parasitemia in immunized mice challenged with the bloodstream stage of Trypanosoma cruzi.
Dynamic power modulation in baseband OFDM signal processor using application driven metrics: Image transmission and processing

In this research we study how power can be saved in the baseband processor of an OFDM transceiver from the knowledge of an end application to which the transmitted or received data is applied. The specific applications that we study are image and video transmission across a wireless link. It is assumed that edge detection (image) and object tracking (video) is to be performed on the received data. Power is saved by reducing the wordlength of computation in the filters and FFT functions of the baseband processor and simultaneously reducing the supply voltage. Power modulation is done on the basis of closed-loop feedback control using a control law that continuously "tunes" the baseband processor for minimum power using the wireless channel quality, the image/video quality and the current quality of baseband signal processing as input parameters. It is assumed that the image/video quality metric is computed by the image acquisition system and transmitted along with data.
Pole Face Winding (PFW) Equipment for Eddy Current Correction at the Zero Gradient Synchrotron (ZGS)

The titanium vacuum chambers installed in the ZGS this past summer were equipped with PFW's. In this paper, the operation and monitoring of the windings used to flatten the guide field in the ZGS will be described. The physical and electrical characteristics of the system will be discussed along with a computer program which calculates the magnetic field shape in the vacuum chamber as a function of PFW current and other machine parameters.
Density labeling of proteins with 13C-labeled amino acids: no accumulation of an inactive alpha-amylase precursor in barley aleurone cells.

Abstract Gibberellic acid enhances α-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) production in isolated barley aleurone layers after a lag period of 4 to 8 h, and most of the enzyme is produced after 12 h of hormone treatment. Amino acids necessary for protein synthesis in barley aleurone layers are derived from the degradation of storage proteins in this tissue. Since bromate is an inhibitor of barley protease, in the presence of bromate the production of α-amylase in aleurone layers becomes dependent on exogenous amino acids. We have incubated aleurone layers with bromate plus 13 C-labeled amino acids and [ 3 H]leucine from 0 to 24, 0 to 12, and 12 to 24 h after the application of gibberellic acid. The chemical quantity of [ 3 H]leucine was negligible in comparison to that of 13 C-labeled amino acids. Therefore, any density shift of proteins observed must be due to the incorporation of 13 C-labeled amino acids. The density shift of α-amylase and that of newly synthesized proteins (radioactivity profile) were determined by isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl density gradients. The density shift of α-amylase isolated from aleurone layers incubated with 13 C-labeled amino acids from 12 to 24 h after the addition of hormone was much larger than that of α-amylase isolated from aleurone layers incubated with 13 C-labeled amino acids from 0 to 12 h of hormone treatment. By comparing the density shift of α-amylase with that of newly synthesized proteins, it is apparent that essentially all the amylase molecules are de novo synthesized. We can conclude that there is little or no accumulation of an inactive α-amylase precursor in barley aleurone cells between the time of the application of gibberellic acid and the time of the rapid increase in α-amylase activity.
Matrix transformations for spacecraft attitude determination.

A common problem for experimental space physicists is the determination of the attitude matrix T which transforms vectors between representations in X and X' coordinate systems according to (vector V sub X) = (T sub XX')(vector V sub X'). A straightforward, simple, and efficient solution for the transformation matrix is a double-cross transformation. It is calculated from any two directions A and B, which are vectors normalized to unit length and are known in both X and X' coordinates. The B direction need be known only well enough to define the plane in which vectors A and B lie. The problem of the intersection of two cones as applicable to attitude solutions is also discussed.
Polyamine accumulation in normal and denervated neonatal muscle.

Abstract Polyamines were monitored in normal and denervated neonatal rat gastrocnemius muscle as markers of the degeneration-regeneration processes in muscle characteristic of progressive neuromuscular disorders. The muscle was denervated within 6 h of birth. The highest polyamine concentrations were present at day 2 of birth and remained elevated during the first week, the period of most rapid muscle growth. Denervation did not alter the concentration of any of the polyamines compared with normal or contralateral controls during the first 3 weeks postparturition. These data suggest that neonatal polyamine synthesis, an index of extent of cell growth processes, is not affected by denervation. However, prolonged denervation did alter the polyamine accumulation patterns, with denervated muscle having significantly elevated spermine at 21 days, putrescine and spermidine concentrations at 28 days, and elevated spermidine at 56 days of age. Within 56 days, denervated muscle compared with normal innervated contralateral control muscle contained fourfold and twofold more spermidine and spermine per milligram protein. In conclusion, it is likely that the continued elevation of polyamines in denervated muscle represents the conservation of a metabolic pattern characteristic of immature muscle, as it is known that neonatal denervation results in failure of muscle maturation and differentiation. However, fibroblast proliferation also may be a contributing factor to the markedly altered polyamine concentrations found in denervated muscle.
Inexpensive acoustoelectric hydrophone for mapping high intensity ultrasonic fields

We describe an inexpensive alternative to conventional hydrophones for measuring ultrasonic fields. The hydrophone, composed of common laboratory supplies, depends on the acoustoelectric (AE) effect, a well-known interaction between electrical current and pressure. Beam patterns of a 540 kHz annular transducer captured using a bowtie graphite hydrophone were consistent with patterns obtained using conventional, more expensive hydrophones. The AE signal was proportional to both the applied bias current (1.83 µV/mA) and pressure (13.3 µV/MPa) with sensitivity better than 50 kPa. Disposable AE hydrophones may be an attractive alternative for clinical applications that require close monitoring of high intensity acoustic fields.
Food‐related value‐orientations, attitudes, and beliefs of vegetarians and non‐vegetarians

This paper reports the results of research performed to determine the influences of value‐, attitude‐, and belief‐ patterns on the food‐related behavior, vegetarianism. Data were collected by questionnaire from 487 respondents, approximately one‐fourth of whom were self‐reported vegetarians. The vegetarian group adhered more strongly to the food‐related value‐orientations of ethics, religion, and health than non‐vegetarians. Belief patterns also differed, as the vegetarians believed in consuming “health” foods and distrusted food processing and additives. Non‐vegetarians showed greater agreement with the “nutrition is important” scale than vegetarians. The discriminant analysis results indicated that over 90 percent of the sample was correctly classified as either vegetarians or non‐vegetarians when actual group membership was compared with predicted group membership on the basis of responses to value‐orientation, attitude, and belief scales. These data provide strong support for the fact that attitudes, ...
Dispersal of yearling yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris)

Abstract Field studies of the social organization of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) in the vicinity of Gothic, Colorado, were initiated in 1962. Data collected during the subsequent 14 years are sufficient to analyse the behaviours that correlate with the time yearling male and yearling female marmots leave their natal home sites. Dispersal of yearling male yellow-bellied marmots was delayed when there were many yearling males in a harem, when yearling males were underweight, and when the rates of amicable interactions between yearling males and adults were high. Dispersal of yearling females was delayed when adults behaved amicably toward them and when the rates of adult aggression were low. Dispersal of yearling females was independent of the number of females in a harem. These observations are in accord with a model of dispersal that relates sexual differences in dispersal to maternal reproductive tactics, and to responses of yearlings that would maximize their own fitness.
A Demonstration of Individual Preference for Novel Mands during Functional Communication Training.

Preference for mand topography was evaluated for 2 individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibited problem behavior. The results of a functional analysis showed that each participant's problem behavior was maintained by social reinforcement. Participants were taught two novel mand topographies for the same functional reinforcer, and each proved to be effective in reducing problem behavior. Finally, preference for mand topography was assessed within a concurrent-schedules design. Results indicated that functional communication training was an effective treatment, regardless of the mand used, and that each participant demonstrated a preference for one mand topography relative to the other.
The Expediency of Hybridity: Beijing 2008

In this article, we examine the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympiad as an opportunity for the Chinese government to “speak” using a highly expedient discourse of hybridity (Pieterse, 2004). Moreover, we ask how Beijing 2008 may be representative of a larger trend whereby Olympic events serve to chill free speech. We suggest that it is important to see how the apolitical discourse adopted by the International Olympic Committee and its corporate partners can serve to minimize conflicts for the sake of entertainment value. Building on previous work engaging the Chinese television show Super Girl (Peaslee, Berggreen, & Kwak, 2010), in which the authors suggested that the show's disruption of gender conservatism (hybridity) was “expedient,” we apply the same theoretical construct to the 2008 Opening Ceremonies, where overt political control and abnegation of personal and press freedoms are obscured by a celebration of Sino-Olympic diversity. Using discourse and textual analysis, we examine the discursiv...
Improved missile control effectiveness payoffs

Simplified planar air-to-air engagements are examined to indicate the effects of various missile characteristics on the average time to intercept a target. For example, in a typical case the missile should be capable of 30 g maneuvers with an overall time constant no greater than 0.5 s. These parameters are related, in turn, to missile geometry and flight conditions. One significant finding is the actuator torque required, which must exceed the maximum hinge moment.
The Rhetorics of Slavery and Citizenship: Suffragist Discourse and Canonical Texts in Britain, 1880–1914

This article examines the pivotal role played by two canonical texts in shaping the political subjectivities of suffragists in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain. Read and discussed by three generations of British feminists, John Stuart Mill's Subjection of Women and Giuseppe Mazzini's Duties of Man shaped suffragist thinking on relationships between family, state, and citizenship and provided impetus for the creation of new kinds of argumentation and organisations for women's political activism.
Cross talk between mitochondria and superoxide generating NADPH oxidase in breast and ovarian tumors

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) signal cascades involved in cell growth, cell death, mitogenesis, angiogenesis and carcinogenesis. ROS are produced as a byproduct of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in the mitochondria. It is estimated that 2-4% of the oxygen consumed during OXPHOS is converted to ROS. Besides mitochondria, NADPH-oxidase 1 (Nox1) also generates a significant amount of ROS in the cell. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that mitochondria control Nox 1 redox signaling and the loss of control of this signaling contributes to tumorigenesis. We analyzed Nox1 expression in a mitochondrial gene knockout (rho(0)) cell line and in the isogenic cybrid cell line in which mitochondrial genes were restored by transfer of wild type mitochondria into rho(0) cells. Our study revealed, for the first time, that the inactivation of mitochondrial genes leads to down-regulation of Nox1 and that the transfer of wild type mitochondrial genes restored the Nox1 expression to a level comparable to that in the parental cell line. Consistent with Nox1 down-regulation, we found that rho(0) cells contained low levels of superoxide anion and that superoxide levels reversed to parental levels in cybrid cells when Nox1 expression was restored by transfer of wild type mitochondria. Increasing mitochondrial superoxide levels also increased the expression of Nox1 in parental cells. Confocal microscopy studies revealed that Nox1 localizes in the mitochondria. Nox1 was highly expressed in breast (86%) and ovarian (71%) tumors and that its expression positively correlated with expression of cytochrome C oxidase encoded by mtDNA. Our study, described in this paper demonstrates the existence of cross talk between the mitochondria and NADPH oxidase. Furthermore, our studies suggest that mitochondria control Nox1 redox signaling and the loss of control of this signaling contributes to breast and ovarian tumorigenesis.
Intestinal lengthening in adult patients with short bowel syndrome.

Introduction Limited information regarding the usefulness of bowel lengthening in adult patients with short bowel syndrome is available.