cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Gender and Sex Hormones on Disease Susceptibility of Channel Catfish to Edwardsiella ictaluri

The use of monosex populations for aquaculture is becoming widely used for several species. The current studies determined if there were any differences between male and female channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in disease susceptibility to Edwardsiella ictaluri, one of the most important pathogenic bacteria in catfish culture. Disease challenge experiments were carried out on fingerling channel catfish fed 17β-estradiol or testosterone before the challenge, and on all male and on sibling all female fingerlings. All male populations were produced by mating YY males with normal XX females. Sibling females were produced by hormonally sex reversing a subpopulation of six of the all male families. Weight gain or specific growth rate did not differ in fish fed testosterone or estrogen. Fish fed the highest dose of estrogen (50 mg/kg) had a significant higher mortality (P < 0.05), while mortality was similar in catfish fed 10 and 50 mg/kg of testosterone compared to controls. There were no differences in mortality between sibling males and females. These data indicate no increased disease susceptibility to E. ictaluri between males and females or due to exogenous sex hormones. Production of all male catfish for culture can proceed without concern for disease susceptibility to E. ictaluri.
Sampling Globalization in Calixthe Beyala's Le petit prince de Belleville

Employing as a reading strategy the controversial notion of "sampling" as understood in the context of hip-hop music, this article analyzes Calixthe Beyala's multiple literary borrowings in The Little Prince of Belleville . Rather than scrutinizing Beyala's defense, it turns to the original texts of the iconic works that Betrayal "samples" to show how they are themselves examples of transcultural literary works, purely French neither in origin or subject matter. Demonstrating how, despite their various differences, these earlier coming-of-age novels often strike a similar range of chords in their tales of children-as outsiders, the article explores how Beyala's novel both appropriates their legacy and attempts to make it signify otherwise. Ultimately, it argues, Beyala's story of a Malian immigrant boy comically navigating multicultural Paris and his family heritage continues to defy judgment, instead repeatedly confronting us with the ideological entanglements that pervade global cultural economies.
Perceptual enhancement of pulmonary nodule recognition in chest radiographs

Perceptual feedback (by circling) of chest image areas receiving prolonged gaze duration significantly increases pulmonary nodule detection performance. Other methods of perceptual cueing do not lead to such dramatic increases in performance. The mechanisms by which circling influences detection performance were examined. The results of a number of experiments indicate that circling improves nodule detection because (1) the circle isolates the nodule-containing region from the rest of the image, making the disembedding and perceptual integration of nodule features more likely, (2) the circle insulates the region-of-interest from distracters in the chest anatomy outside of the circle boundary which tend to interfere with attention and detection processes, and (3) the circle increases the precision with which the eye fixates relevant nodule features within the region-of-interest, and decreases the dispersion of fixations within this area. The facilitative effects of circling thus seem to influence some basic visual processes. The results should be generalizable to other types of radiological search and detection tasks.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Making of Minority Rights Norms in the Context of EU Enlargement: The Czech Republic and the Roma

The end of the Cold War, the twin processes of democratisation and European Union enlargement in the Central and East European states, and the desire to prevent inter-ethnic tensions in the region have created new incentives and resources for the promotion and protection of minority rights. Engaging the constructivist approach within international relations theory, this article seeks to understand the domestic impact of international minority rights norms and the actors who promote them by applying a current ‘spiral model’ of human rights norm socialisation concerning the case of the Roma minority in the Czech Republic. By tracing the mechanisms of the norm socialisation process, this article illustrates how minority policy and the domestic salience of minority rights norms regarding the Roma steadily progressed between 1990 and EU accession in 2004. Initial changes in minority policy were made for instrumental reasons, but as the Czech Republic became increasingly enmeshed in the transnational minority r...
The use of fibrin glue for fixation of acellular human dermal allograft in septal perforation repair

Abstract Objectives Acellular human dermal allograft used as an interpositional graft between mucoperichondrial flaps has been shown to be effective in the repair of septal perforations. The material is typically sutured to the septum, but this can be technically difficult. We describe a technique in which fibrin glue is used to secure the acellular human dermal allograft for septal perforation repair. Study design A retrospective case series of 5 patients who underwent this procedure are reviewed. Methods Five patients with preexisting septal perforations underwent septal repair using fibrin glue to secure the interpositional acellular human dermal allograft. The graft was first placed between the mucoperichondrial flaps, and 1/3 cm3 of fibrin glue was applied to both sides. One side was then covered with a bipedicled mucosal flap and compressed for 5 minutes to allow for fixation. Results The use of fibrin glue compared with conventional suturing decreased the length of the procedure by approximately 30 minutes. At the 3-month postoperative examination, all 5 patients were found to have successful outcomes. Conclusion The use of fibrin glue for fixation of the acellular human dermal allograft in septal perforation repair is technically less difficult and reduces the length of the procedure, and we believe it reduces graft migration when compared with conventional suturing techniques.
Sex hormones mediate interleukin-1β production by human osteoblastic HOBIT cells

The mechanisms by which the sex hormones achieve their bone-sparing effects remains unresolved. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an autocrine/paracrine regulator of bone that may be produced in an estrogen-sensitive manner. The regulation of IL-1β production by the gonadal steroids was tested in the human osteoblastic HOBIT cell model. Dose-dependent 4–8-fold increases (P < 0.05) in IL-1β mRNA levels followed a 6–48 h treatment with 17β-estradiol or testosterone. Receptor mediation of these responses was indicated by experiments using 17α-estradiol or flutamide. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) dependent increases in IL-1β mRNA levels were additive to the effects of the steroids. Testosterone and TNF increased IL-1β protein release (P < 0.05) while 17β-estradiol had little effect on release. The bone-sparing effects of the gonadal steroids may be accomplished, in part, through their mediation of local IL-1β production.
Developing Water Stable Gliadin Films Without Using Crosslinking Agents

For the first time, gliadin films with excellent strength and water stability have been developed without using any crosslinking agents. So far, it has not been possible to obtain water stable gliadin films even after crosslinking. In this research, a novel method of using aqueous urea and ethanol has been developed to obtain highly water stable gliadin films without using crosslinking chemicals. The effects of concentrations of gliadin, urea and ethanol on the strength of the films and the stability of the films in water at high temperatures and various pH conditions has been studied. Gliadin films developed in this research have strength of about 30 MPa similar to the strength of previously reported gliadin films crosslinked with aldehydes and cysteine. Gliadin films obtained in this research were stable in pH 7.2 water at 50 °C for 20 days. The gliadin films did not dissolve in 70% ethanol which readily dissolves gliadin powder.
Five-Year Experience with Magovern Aortic Prostheses

Experience with 105 patients in whom the Magovern aortic valve prosthesis was employed and who were followed for up to five years is presented and analyzed. Twenty-eight patients had a second valve repaired or replaced, four had triple valve disease, and four had aneurysms of the ascending aorta in addition to the aortic valve disease. The ages of these patients ranged from 21 to 74 years with 23 patients in the seventh and eighth decades of life. There were eight operative deaths (8%) and 17 late deaths (17%). Four late deaths were due to embolization or bleeding. Seventeen patients (16%) suffered emboli, and eight (8%) had significant bleeding complications for a total of 25 complications from these causes. Permanent heart block occurred in 9% of the patients and was as common late after operation as early. Although two patients required reoperation because of leaks, in no instance did the prosthesis work loose if it was properly sized and properly positioned.
Adaptive Component Paradigm for Highly Configurable Business Components

It is unlikely that a business component can always be reused as is, without configuration and customization. When change is needed, the current state of the art is source code modification (Ferguson et al, 2005). However, the ability to deliver wide reuse of components depends heavily on the capability to adapt components to the environment in which they are being used. To achieve this result, business components need to be designed and implemented having change in mind. By change, we mean change of the behavior of the component with out changing the code base of the component (customization with out programming). Thus, there is a need for adaptive component architecture that is generic, extensible, and dynamic in dealing with change of behavior so that the component can be reused in different environments. In order to satisfy these features, component architecture should have a mechanism for supporting and configuring itself to achieve customization without programming. This paper proposes reference architecture for software business component design and development based on adaptive component paradigm. Employing adaptive component paradigm for reference architecture helps in identifying component internal key abstractions and their relationships, which are repeatable and non-arbitrary, as constituent parts of business component. The proposed generic reference architecture for business components is designed using layered architecture pattern. The use of reference component architecture facilitates business component specification process by providing the initial sets of key abstractions and helps in reducing the cost of development as well as maintenance effort
Some convex programs without a duality gap

An important issue in convex programming concerns duality gap. Various conditions have been developed over the years that guarantee no duality gap, including one developed by Rockafellar (Network flows and monotropic programming. Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1984)involving separable objective function and affine constraints. We show that this sufficient condition can be further relaxed to allow the constraint functions to be separable. We also refine a sufficient condition involving weakly analytic functions by allowing them to be extended-real-valued.
Determination of capacity achieving input probabilities for a class of finite state channels with side information

The form of capacity achieving input distribution is specified for a class of finite state channels with side information available to the transmitter. It is shown that the best random codes consist of strategy function sequences whose elements are selected independently. It is a result of Theorem 4 (which is of independent interest) that the required distribution of the strategy functions is for the present class of channels specified by ah instead of the apparent ah parameters, so that a random selection of optimal codes is practically possible. As an application, an extremely simple capacity expression for finite state galois additive noise channels is obtained, and it is shown that the value of capacity will not increase if the transmitter is supplied with information about the channel states.
SU‐FF‐T‐334: Outcomes‐Based Quality Improvement: The Future Role of Outcomes in Monitoring the Radiotherapy Process

Purpose: Current quality assurance/improvement regimens are based on part of the radiation therapy chain of events, and typically ignore the goal, namely positive patient outcomes. We propose that the widespread implementation of Outcomes‐based Quality Assurance/improvement programs (‘OQA,’ programs, pronounced ‘OK’) have the capability to fundamentally improve radiation oncology practice. Our short‐term goal is: (1) to be able to routinely generate customizable reports which summarize clinical outcome rates (stratified by known risk factors), as well as (2) provide data‐mining and modeling capabilities to identify outcomes correlates for further consideration. Methods: Our institutional informatics infrastructure to support an OQA program is under development. Key components which are partially implemented include: (1) tools for routine capture of treatment planning information, (2) web‐based tools to facilitate remote treatment data reviews, (3) treatment report tools which summarize dose‐volume information about a treatment plan, (4) the database design, (5) interfaces to routinely enter patient followup data, customized to clinical service needs, (6) query interfaces, and (7) tools to explore outcomes data vs. extracted dose‐volume data. Key future challenges include processing followup dictation, interfacing with the hospital IS system, and incorporating tools which capture IGRT data. Results: Limited applications of this strategy have previously shown significant success in identifying important, previously unappreciated correlates to local control and toxicity (de Crevoisier et al., IJROBP 2005, 62:965–73; Hope et al., IJROBP 2006, 63:S231). Disadvantages include the cost of collecting the data and the potential for misreading results due to statistical fluctuations or changes in the patient cohort mix. Conclusion: Adding outcomes to the analysis of treatment quality increases the validity and sensitivity of the quality improvement process in radiation oncology. Outcomes‐based quality assurance should be developed and practiced on a more routine basis, with datasets available for comparison between institutions. Research partially sponsored by the NIH and TomoTherapy, Inc.
Ondelettes: The spinor QED3 connection

Abstract It is known that the formal perturbation theory of spinor quantum electrodynamics in three space-time dimensions requires no ultraviolet renormalization. We introduce an ondelette cluster expansion (with an infrared cutoff) which converges without counter-terms for weak coupling, thus making the knowledge rigorous. Following the formalism of Lesniewski, we integrate out the bosons at the outset to make the genuine absence of a large-field problem transparent. The combinatoric part of the convergence proof—indeed the precise case-by-case definition of the inductive expansion—is reserved for a subsequent paper. In this paper we publicize the language of ondelette diagrams—originally introduced by Federbush—and describe the correspondence to Feynman diagrams.
Algorithms for optimally arranging multicore memory structures

As more processing cores are added to embedded systems processors, the relationships between cores and memories have more influence on the energy consumption of the processor. In this paper, we conduct fundamental research to explore the effects of memory sharing on energy in a multicore processor. We study the Memory Arrangement (MA) Problem. We prove that the general case of MA is NP-complete. We present an optimal algorithm for solving linear MA and optimal and heuristic algorithms for solving rectangular MA. On average, we can produce arrangements that consume 49% less energy than an all shared memory arrangement and 14% less energy than an all private memory arrangement for randomly generated instances. For DSP benchmarks, we can produce arrangements that, on average, consume 20&% less energy than an all shared memory arrangement and 27% less energy than an all private memory arrangement.
Influence of Brood Fish Size on the Breeding Performance of Channel Catfish

Abstract Influence of the size of 5-year old brood channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) on spawning success, spawn weight, hatchability, swim-up interval, and growth of fry and fingerlings were investigated in a 2-year study. Brood fish that differed in body weight by one standard deviation were classified into three size-classes, large (LG), medium (M), and small (S). Brooders were pair-mated in individual pens and egg masses were artificially incubated. Fry and fingerlings hatched from individual egg masses were reared together as sibling groups in indoor tanks for 40 weeks. Mathematical relationships between parental size catfish and the traits of their offspring were determined by regression analysis. Chi-square analysis indicated that the size of the pair-mated brood fish was associated with spawning success. An increase of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) in body weight of male brooders was associated with a decrease of 15-21% in spawning success. Female size-classes significantly influenced spawn weight and number ...
Design, synthesis, and evaluation of phenanthridine derivatives targeting the telomerase RNA/DNA heteroduplex.

Abstract We are targeting molecules to the RNA/DNA heteroduplex that forms during the enzyme telomerase’s catalytic cycle. Telomerase is a potential universal anti-cancer target that we have previously shown can be inhibited by molecules that target this heteroduplex. The aim of this work was to make derivatives of our lead, ethidium, that would allow its straightforward incorporation into molecules in both solid and solution phase. The heteroduplex targeting intercalator will act as a scaffold to allow the incorporation of new functionalities that will interact with specific protein surfaces of telomerase, thereby potentially increasing affinity and specificity. In examining multiple new derivatives of ethidium, with literature precedent or novel, we have identified one, a 5-benzylic acid ethidium derivative that is synthesized in three steps as a single isomer, and completely retains the inhibition efficacy of the parent compound. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that it can be effectively incorporated into resin bound amines on the solid phase. As such it represents an ideal monomer for the exploration of telomerse inhibition or for other applications which would benefit from hybrid molecules that can target duplexes.
A generalized conjugate gradient method for nonsymmetric systems of linear equations

We consider a generalized conjugate gradient method for solving systems of linear equations having nonsymmetric coefficient matrices with positive-definite symmetric part. The method is based on splitting the matrix into its symmetric and skew-symmetric parts, and then accelerating the associated iteration using conjugate gradients, which simplifies in this case, as only one of the two usual parameters is required. The method is most effective for cases in which the symmetric part of the matrix corresponds to an easily solvable system of equations. Convergence properties are discussed, as well as an application to the numerical solution of elliptic partial differential equations.
Lack of predictive power of the "tethered" median stress test in suspected carpal tunnel syndrome.

Abstract Kaul MP, Pagel KJ, Dryden JD. Lack of predictive power of the "tethered" median stress test in suspected carpal tunnel syndrome. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2000;81:348-50. Objective: To investigate the value of the "tethered" median nerve stress test (TMST) in predicting electrodiagnostically confirmed carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with symptoms suggestive of CTS. Study Design: Blinded comparison of a clinical diagnostic test with neurophysiologic testing. Setting: Portland (OR) Veterans Administration Medical Center Electrodiagnostic Laboratory. Patients: One hundred two consecutive patients referred for symptoms suggestive of CTS. Study inclusion criteria were referral for evaluation of symptoms of paresthesia (with or without pain) inclusive of the median nerve distribution distal to the wrist. Results: Fifty-seven percent of referred patients had electrodiagnostically confirmed CTS. The sensitivity of the TMST was 50%. The specificity was 59.1%. The positive predictive value was 61.7%. The negative predictive value was 47.3%. Conclusion: The TMST does not have utility in predicting electrodiagnostic consult results in veteran patients with symptoms suggestive of CTS. © 2000 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Does the Big Mac Predict Exchange Rates

Traders, political analysts, and even tourists are always looking for ways to forecast changes in the value of currencies. But this economist finds that no models predict well, including the Economist's Big Mac Index.
Parathyroid Hormone Hormone-Related Protein and the PTH Receptor Regulate Angiogenesis of the Skin

In developing organs, parathyroid hormone (PTH)/parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) receptor (PPR) signaling inhibits proliferation and differentiation of mesenchyme-derived cell types resulting in control of morphogenic events. Previous studies using PPR agonists and antagonists as well as transgenic overexpression of the PPR ligand PTHrP have suggested that this ligand receptor combination might regulate the anagen to catagen transition of the hair cycle. To further understand the precise role of PTHrP and the PPR in the hair cycle, we have evaluated hair growth in the traditional K14-PTHrP (KrP) and an inducible bitransgenic PTHrP mice. High levels of PTHrP trangene expression limited to the adult hair cycle resulted in the production of shorter hair shafts. Morphometric analysis indicated that reduced proliferation in the matrix preceded the appearance of thinner hair follicles and shafts during late anagen. CD31 staining revealed that the late anagen hair follicles of the KrP mice were surrounded by reduced numbers of smaller diameter capillaries as compared to controls. Moreover, the fetal skins of the PTHrP and PPR knockouts (KOs) had reciprocal increases in the length, diameter, and density of capillaries. Finally, crossing the KrP transgene onto a thrombospondin-1 KO background reversed the vascular changes as well as the delayed catagen exhibited by these mice. Taken together, these findings suggest that PTHrP's influence on the hair cycle is mediated in part by its effects on angiogenesis.
Evidence for an arene oxide-NIH shift pathway in the transformation of naphthalene to 1-naphthol by Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 transformed naphthalene predominately to 1-naphthol. Experiments with [14C]naphthalene showed that over a 24 h period, B. cereus oxidized 5.2% of the added naphthalene. 1-Naphthol accounted for approximately 80% of the total metabolites. B. cereus incubated with naphthalene under the presence of 18O2 led to the isolation of 1-naphthol that contained 94% 18O. The metabolism of [1-2H]- and [2-2H]-naphthalene by B. cereus yielded 1-naphthol which retained 95% and 94% deuterium, respectively, as determined by mass spectral analysis. NMR spectroscopic analysis of the deuterated 1-naphthol formed from [1-2H]-naphthalene indicated an NIH shift mechanism in which 19% of the deuterium migrated from the C-1 to the C-2 position. The 18O2 and NIH shift experiments implicate naphthalene-1,2-oxide as an intermediate in the formation of 1-naphthol from naphthalene by B. cereus.
Analysis of the modified MOS Wilson current mirror: a pedagogical exercise in signal flow graphs, Mason's gain rule, and driving-point impedance techniques

A pedagogical analysis of the modified MOS Wilson current mirror using signal flow graphs (SFGs), Mason's gain rule and driving-point impedance (DPI) techniques is presented as an exercise for undergraduate electrical engineering students learning to analyze transistor-level circuits with multiple-feedback loops. While students often prefer the SFG representation for single feedback loops, they often abandon it in favor of the more familiar nodal analysis methods for multiple loops. Yet these methods can be long and cumbersome and contribute little to intuition. In an attempt to preserve the intuitive grasp of tradeoffs, this paper presents an exercise of several well-established analytical techniques for generating and analyzing SFGs. The modified Wilson current mirror is used to compare three analytical approaches: (1) fundamental laws with brute-force algebra; (2) fundamental laws with Mason's gain rule; and (3) DPI technique with Mason's gain rule. The concepts reinforced in this paper include: (1) tradeoffs between gain and other quantities such as output resistance or bandwidth; (2) how Mason's gain rule simplifies the analysis of closed-loop gain; and (3) how DPI techniques simplify the generation of SFGs.
Variability of response to atrial natriuretic peptide and sodium nitroprusside in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells from three blood vessels.

OBJECTIVES Vascular beds vary in their responses to atrial natriuretic peptide and sodium nitroprusside. Both of these agents dilate blood vessels by increasing intracellular guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic-GMP) but activate different enzymes in the vascular smooth muscle cell. We aimed to determine if the response of intracellular cyclic-GMP to atrial natriuretic peptide and sodium nitroprusside varies in smooth muscle cells cultured from different vascular beds. DESIGN Prospective, repeated measures analysis of concentration-response curves. SETTING Anesthesia research laboratory of an academic medical center. SUBJECTS Guinea pigs: Cultured guinea pig smooth muscle cells were obtained from three different blood vessels. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Intracellular cyclic-GMP was measured by radioimmunoassay and concentration-response curves of cyclic-GMP to atrial natriuretic peptide and sodium nitroprusside were determined. Cells from the thoracic aorta were the most responsive to atrial natriuretic peptide. Atrial natriuretic peptide (1 microM) increased cyclic-GMP concentrations to 72 +/- 5 pmol/mg (20-fold increase) with a 50% effective concentration of 3 nM. The concentration-response curve in epicardial coronary smooth muscle cells was to the right with an 50% effective concentration for atrial natriuretic peptide of 20 nM and a maximum response of a ten-fold increase in cyclic-GMP. Coronary resistance vessel cells were unresponsive to atrial natriuretic peptide. In response to sodium nitroprusside, the concentration-response curve in coronary resistance vessel cells was significantly to the left of either thoracic aorta cells or the epicardial coronary cells. The 50% effective concentration for sodium nitroprusside in coronary resistance vessel smooth muscle cells was approximately 1 microM, while in both thoracic aortic cells and epicardial coronary cells, the 50% effective concentration was ten times higher. Coronary resistance cells were the most responsive with a 62-fold increase in cyclic-GMP in response to 1 mM of sodium nitroprusside. The maximum response in thoracic aorta cells and epicardial cells was 20- and 30-fold, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Smooth muscle cells respond differently to vasodilators. The response of these cultured cells mimics the response of the intact vascular bed from which they were obtained. These findings suggest that phenotypic properties of smooth muscle cells within a blood vessel contribute to the responsiveness of the vessel.
Photoneutrons from high energy medical linear accelerators: Measurement of the spectrum and dose using a miniature proportional counter

PURPOSE A new method of measuring photoneutron dose to the patient during treatment with high energy photon or electron beams is presented. This method has the advantage of providing not only the dose, but the microdosimetric spectrum at the same time. METHODS AND MATERIALS A miniature cylindrical gas proportional counter (0.5 mm diameter by 0.5 mm height) has been used to measure scatter radiation from a 20 MV teletherapy photon beam. At atmospheric pressure, filled with propane base tissue equivalent gas, this counter simulates a unit density tissue region of approximately 0.9 microns. We present here single event microdosimetric spectra measured outside the primary beam 1.4 m from the target. This technique allows a single measurement to determine the scattered dose due to gammas and photoneutron contamination, as well as the quality factor of the photoneutrons. RESULTS Spectral components from scattered photons and the photoneutrons are easily separated, and dose contributions can be estimated. The ratio of photoneutron dose measured by the proportional counter to photon dose at isocenter is 0.75 x 10(-4). CONCLUSIONS Neutron dose was also measured using a bubble neutrometer. The proportional counter and neutrometer agree within experimental errors. This type of instrument is shown to be a viable technique for determination of exposure of patient and also personnel to photoneutrons, providing not only a dose determination, but also a spectrum that can be used to estimate quality factors for equivalent dose. Its main drawback is that it requires a lengthy (several hours) measurement because of low count rate of the neutrons.
A Social Cognitive Approach to Examining Joint Venture General Manager Performance

Joint ventures (JVs) are an important element of many firms' strategies, but many of these ventures fail to achieve their objectives. A critical factor influencing venture performance is the joint ...
Structural and dynamical uncertainties in modelling axisymmetric elliptical galaxies

Quantitative dynamical models of galaxies require deprojection of the observed surface brightness to determine the luminosity density of the galaxy. Existing deprojection methods for axisymmetric galaxies assume that a unique deprojection exists for any given inclination, even though the projected density is known to be degenerate to the addition of 'konus densities' that are invisible in projection. We develop a deprojection method based on linear regularization that can explore the range of luminosity densities that are statistically consistent with an observed surface brightness distribution. The luminosity density is poorly constrained at modest inclinations (i ~ 30°), even in the limit of vanishing observational errors. In constant mass-to-light ratio, axisymmetric, two-integral dynamical models, the uncertainties in the luminosity density result in large uncertainties in the meridional plane velocities. However, the projected line-of-sight velocities show variations comparable to current typical observational uncertainties.
Anastomotic Leaks: What is the Best Diagnostic Imaging Study?

Postoperative anastomotic leaks are one of the most devastating consequences of colorectal surgery. Diagnostic imaging for upper gastrointestinal anastomotic leaks has been evaluated and reported on extensively. No study has compared the utility and effectiveness of CT scans and water-soluble enemas for the identification of postoperative lower gastrointestinal anastomotic leaks. The present study was designed to evaluate and compare these two common radiographic imaging modalities in detecting lower gastrointestinal anastomotic leaks. A retrospective chart review was performed that identified 36 patients during a seven-year period who underwent reoperative surgery for a lower gastrointestinal anastomotic leak. Patient’s imaging studies were classified as positive if extravasation of contrast material was demonstrated. When negative, a study was retrospectively reviewed in an attempt to identify findings suggestive of an anastomotic leak. There were 36 patients identified with a postoperative lower gastrointestinal leak requiring surgical intervention. There were 28 of 36 patients (78 percent) re-explored on the basis of a radiologic study demonstrating an anastomotic leak. A total of 27 CT scans were performed, of which 4 (14.8 percent) were considered positive for an anastomotic leak. On review of the remaining negative CT scans, nine (33.3 percent) were considered descriptive positive with a large amount of fluid or air in the peritoneal cavity but without obvious extravasation of contrast. Eighteen patients were evaluated with a water-soluble enema and 15 (83.3 percent) demonstrated extravasation of contrast material. In the 26 patients with a distal anastomotic leak, 17 water-soluble enemas were performed, with 15 (88 percent) demonstrating a leak. In contrast, only 2 of 17 (12 percent) CT scans were positive in this group of patients (P < 0.001). There were ten patients who initially had a CT scan followed by a water-soluble enema. Of these patients, eight of nine (88 percent) initially had a negative CT scan but were considered to be clinically suspicious of having an anastomotic leak and subsequently had a leak demonstrated on a water-soluble enema. Early intervention in patients who develop an anastomotic leak can be shown to improve the ultimate outcome, especially with respect to mortality. It is usually necessary to obtain objective tests of anastomotic integrity because of the nonspecificity of clinical signs. Our study supported the superiority of water-soluble enema to CT imaging in patients in whom both modalities were used. This difference was most pronounced for distal anastomotic leaks, whereas no radiologic imaging study proved effective in evaluating proximal anastomoses.
Asymptotically optimal power-aware routing for multihop wireless networks with renewable energy sources

In this paper, we model and characterize the performance of multihop radio networks in the presence of energy constraints and design routing algorithms to optimally utilize the available energy. The energy model allows vastly different energy sources in heterogeneous environments. The proposed algorithm is shown to achieve a competitive ratio (i.e., the ratio of the performance of any off-line algorithm that has knowledge of all past and future packet arrivals to the performance of our online algorithm) that is asymptotically optimal with respect to the number of nodes in the network. The algorithm assumes no statistical information on packet arrivals and can easily be incorporated into existing routing frameworks (e.g., proactive or on-demand methodologies) in a distributed fashion. Simulation results confirm that the algorithm performs very well in terms of maximizing the throughput of an energy-constrained network. Further, a new threshold-based scheme is proposed to reduce the routing overhead while incurring only minimum performance degradation.
Toughness characterization of a metal filled PolyTetraFluoroEthylene using the J-integral

PolyTetraFluoroEthylene (PTFE) is a semi-crystalline polymer that demonstrates a range of fracture properties when tested at various temperatures and loading rates. The addition of a powdered aluminum filler to obtain enhanced mechanical properties results in a multiphase material containing crystalline, amorphous and filler phases. In this work fracture toughness is measured for the aluminum filled PTFE material over a range of test temperatures and loading rates using a version of the ASTM E1820 normalization method and the non-linear elastic J-integral. The normalization method works exceptionally well for this material to define both the initiation fracture toughness and the J-integral resistance curves over a wide range of test conditions. When this material is loaded at modest rates, at or above ambient temperature it demonstrates a high toughness behavior, but if the test rate is elevated to 25 mm/s or above the fracture toughness rapidly falls. On the other hand, if elevated temperatures or slow loading rates are used, time-dependent crack growth is observed, and the fracture toughness in this instance is also very low. Scanning electron microscope observations show that very different micromechanical mechanisms exist under these different loading conditions resulting in the dramatic changes in material toughness observed.
Lemon Encodes an Unusual Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinase Expressed during Gametogenesis in Hydra

In a screen for receptor protein-tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes expressed during gametogenesis in the cnidarian Hydra vulgaris, we isolated a cDNA encoding Lemon, an RTK with unusual features. Lemon is orthologous to Drosophila Dtrk, chicken Klg, and human colon carcinoma kinase-4. These genes constitute an RTK class characterized by a conserved transmembrane sequence, the presence of extracellular immunoglobulin-like repeats, and the absence of the DFG motif in the kinase domain. We provide evidence that Lemon is a component of an unusual RTK signal transduction mechanism that may involve transmembrane domain-mediated interactions and may not be dependent on its own catalytic activity. Lemon transcription is dynamically regulated in interstitial cells during asexual budding and gametogenesis. Transcriptional up-regulation occurs early in spermatogenesis and oogenesis concurrent with the local accumulation of interstitial cells in the body column of sexual polyps.
Quantitative Analysis of Steroid Autoradiograms

Two types of quantitative criteria are compared that have been used to discriminate labeled and nonlabeled cells in steroid autoradiograms: multiplicative criteria and a criterion based on the Poisson distribution. Several factors affect the accuracy of the assessment of cell labeling, including variations in the length of exposure, variations in cell size, and possible nonlinearities in the grain density of autoradiograms as a function of exposure time. These factors have a greater effect on the accuracy of the determination of cell labeling when using multiplicative criteria, so that the Poisson criterion is more suitable.
The assessment of acne: An evaluation of grading and lesion counting in the measurement of acne

The basic morphology of acne—comedones, papules, pustules, and nodules—and the extent of involvement do not permit simple evaluation due to the number of variables involved. Because these acne lesions may vary in number during the natural course of the disease, various measurements have been developed, based on clinical examination and photographic documentation. These range from global assessments to lesion counting, with the latter providing more objective data.
AdRob: examining the landscape and impact of android application plagiarism

Malicious activities involving Android applications are rising rapidly. As prior work on cyber-crimes suggests, we need to understand the economic incentives of the criminals to design the most effective defenses. In this paper, we investigate application plagiarism on Android markets at a large scale. We take the first step to characterize plagiarized applications and estimate their impact on the original application developers. We first crawled 265,359 free applications from 17 Android markets around the world and ran a tool to identify similar applications ("clones"). Based on the data, we examined properties of the cloned applications, including their distribution across different markets, application categories, and ad libraries. Next, we examined how cloned applications affect the original developers. We captured HTTP advertising traffic generated by mobile applications at a tier-1 US cellular carrier for 12 days. To associate each Android application with its advertising traffic, we extracted a unique advertising identifier (called the client ID) from both the applications and the network traces. We estimate a lower bound on the advertising revenue that cloned applications siphon from the original developers, and the user base that cloned applications divert from the original applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large scale study on the characteristics of cloned mobile applications and their impact on the original developers.
Paclitaxel Prodrugs with Sustained Release and High Solubility in Poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) Micelle Nanocarriers: Pharmacokinetic Disposition, Tolerability, and Cytotoxicity

Purpose Develop a Cremophor® and solvent free formulation of paclitaxel using amphiphilic block co-polymer micelles of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) and characterize their release, solubility, cytotoxicity, tolerability, and disposition.
Melanin concentrating hormone and estrogen receptor-α are coexstensive but not coexpressed in cells of male rat hypothalamus

In male rats, estradiol (E(2)) exerts marked anorectic effects. One mechanism proposed for this effect is an E(2)-mediated down-regulation of the orexigenic neuropeptide melanin concentrating hormone (MCH). Previous anatomical work has shown that both MCH and estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) are found in quantity in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), a structure long associated with appetite and ingestive behavior. It has been hypothesized that the most direct manner by which E(2) could affect MCH expression and feeding would be via classical nuclear ERalpha located in MCH neurons. To evaluate this notion, we performed double-label immunohistochemistry for MCH and ERalpha in male rat hypothalamus. We report here that MCH neurons do not contain ERalpha, suggesting that the primary locus for estrogenic control of feeding is not the MCH neurons themselves. Rather, we show substantial overlap in the anatomical distribution of both cell types, raising the possibility that E(2) influences MCH signaling indirectly via adjacent ERalpha-containing cells.
Interdependencies in the timing of migration and mobility events

Methods for examining interdependencies between the timing of migration events and other major events in the life histories of individuals are presented. Individual locational histories are treated as realizations of discrete-state, continuous-time random variables, with migration or mobility events corresponding to transitions between states. The timing of migration is compared to the timing of other transitions in individual life histories, including changes in household organization and labor force status, by investigating the durations of time separating the two kinds of transitions. Empirical investigations are carried out using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Patterns of Exclusion of Personal Property From American Property Tax Systems

Selective and general exclusions, along with assessment practices, have made the personal property share of the general property tax base now smaller than at any time since the assumption of homogeneity emerged in the early 19th century. Of the types of tangible and intangible personal property, only business depreciable fixed assets remain taxable in a majority of states. Evidence indicates that removing personal property from the base, rather than crippling fiscal capacity, permits higher property taxation possibly because governments feel less constrained by interstate competition after extracting a physically mobile element from the base, possibly because an inequity has been removed (arguments for personal property taxation being less clear than for real property), or possibly because businesses become less vigilant when this property is excluded. Because uniform taxation of all real and personal property may have significant logical and practical problems leading to personal property exclusion, sepa...
The role of vitamin A in reducing child mortality and morbidity and improving growth

This is an update of knowledge on the role of the vitamin A status in determining child mortality, morbidity and growth. Recent information confirms the earlier conclusion of Beaton et al. that a 23% reduction in young child mortality results following improvements in the vitamin A status. Studies show that the mortality effect is primarily due to reductions in deaths due to acute gastroenteritis and measles but not acute respiratory infections (ARI) and malaria. While improvement of the vitamin A status enhances the survival of older preschool children, it remains unclear whether it benefits infants (i.e. <6 months). Vitamin A supplementation does not reduce the overall incidence and prevalence of common childhood illness; however, it reduces the incidence of more severe episodes of diarrhea. Also, vitamin A supplementation either during and/or immediately after the illness does not improve its symptomatology. Finally, contrary to earlier expectations, recently completed, placebocontrolled randomized interventions have failed to detect improvements in child growth.
What is the role of iFOBT in screening for colorectal cancer

Policy makers will need to consider if it has one, not only as an adjunct to gFOBT screening, but also as a primary screening test
Fibroblast heterogeneity in the cancer wound

Fibroblasts regulate the structure and function of healthy tissues, participate transiently in tissue repair after acute inflammation, and assume an aberrant stimulatory role during chronic inflammatory states including cancer. Such cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) modulate the tumor microenvironment and influence the behavior of neoplastic cells in either a tumor-promoting or tumor-inhibiting manner. These pleiotropic functions highlight the inherent plasticity of fibroblasts and may provide new avenues to understand and therapeutically intervene in malignancies. We discuss the emerging themes of CAF biology in the context of tumorigenesis and therapy.
Direction finding in the presence of colored noise by candidate identification

A method is developed for identifying correct angles of arrivals from a set of candidate angles that contains spurious angles and the true ones, under the assumption that the colored noise is an autoregressive process and that a uniform linear array of sensors is used. The procedure is based on a relation derived for the higher-order reflection coefficients corresponding to the autocorrelation sequence of the signal plus noise. It is shown that the higher-order reflection coefficients of a set of plane waves impinging on a uniform linear array of sensors, in the presence of an unknown spatially autoregressive colored noise process, are equal to an order independent linear combination of the values of the Fourier transform of the corresponding optimal linear least squares normalized prediction error filter at the electric phase angles of the plane waves. The magnitudes of the coefficients are then used to decide whether a given candidate direction of arrival corresponds to an actual plane wave or not. The estimation of candidate angles is also briefly discussed. >