cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract A7: Targeting the tumor microenvironment via inhibition of VEGF and PDGF to improve liposomal drug delivery in human non‐small cell lung cancer xenografts

Background: Pathological angiogenesis creates an abnormal microenvironment in tumors, characterized by elevated interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and hypoxia. Judicious attenuation of angiogenic signals may “normalize” the vascular bed, making it more suitable for drug delivery and radiotherapy. In this work, we investigate the role of pazopanib, a small‐molecule inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors and platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) receptors, on normalization parameters of IFP, vascular pericyte coverage, hypoxia, and liposomal drug delivery. Methods: Nude mice bearing A549 human non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) xenografts were treated with pazopanib 100mg/kg (n=20) or control (n=20) for 8 days, followed by a single intravenous dose of Doxil (liposomal doxorubicin) 10mg/kg. 24 hours after Doxil delivery, tumor IFP was measured, and tumors were snap frozen and sectioned. In a second study, designed similarly to the previous (n=4 pazopanib 100mg/kg, n=4 control), EF5 (hypoxia marker) was delivered 3 hours prior to tumor harvest. Tissue sections were stained for vasculature and pericytes using anti‐CD‐31 (endothelial cell marker) and anti‐alpha‐smooth muscle actin, respectively. Hypoxia was assessed via immunostaining for CA‐IX and EF5. High performance liquid chromatography was used to determine tumor doxorubicin concentration ([dox]), and the penetration distance of Doxil from CD‐31 stained vessels was calculated using a MATLAB algorithm. Results: Pazopanib treatment resulted in reduction of tumor IFP (116.571 ± 15.174 mmHg control vs. 61.000 ± 7.367 mmHg pazopanib, P = 0.0145) and decreased vessel density (251.228 ± 18.770 vessels/mm2 control vs. 101.313 ± 11.005 vessels/mm2 pazopanib, P Conclusions: Our results suggest a role for VEGF/PDGF inhibition in modulating functional parameters of the tumor microenvironment and improving drug distribution. However, these changes may be mediated by stromal changes in response to PDGF‐receptor blockade, rather than normalization. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):A7.
Constructing prevention: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the problem of disability models.

Both the medical model and the social model of disability have substantial drawbacks for the project of creating better lives for people with disabilities; the first denies the value of difference and the effects of discrimination, and the second denies any place for prevention and cure. Using fictional and non-fictional parental narratives of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, this article argues that a third model–a morphological model of disability–can best help us think about respectfully and effectively intervening in disability.
The gastrocolic response: Is it gip?

Abstract Previous experiments demonstrated that feeding is followed by increased electrical spike discharges and contractions of colon smooth muscle. This gastrocolic response has a definite lag period before onset, and is not due to distention of the colon by food. In these experiments, the possible association between altered serum concentration of certain gastrointestinal hormones and the gastrocolic response was investigated in eight stump-tailed monkeys. The animals had extraluminal miniature strain gauge force transducers and bipolar silver electrodes applied in pairs to the serosal surface of the cecum, ascending colon, and transverse colon to record contractions of circular muscle and electrical spike discharge potentials. The serum concentrations of gastrin, cholecystokinin, and gastric inhibitory polypeptide were measured by radioimmunoassay, and the contractile responses of the bowel were recorded, before and after presentation to fasted animals in random order of a dry meal, a wet saline meal, a wet magnesium sulfate meal, or a continued fast. The dry meal was associated with an increase in frequency of electrical spike discharges and contractions of circular colon muscle, as well as an increase in the serum concentration of gastric inhibitory polypeptide, both events occurring 15–60 min after beginning the meal. Other meals had no effect on colon motility or serum gastric inhibitory polypeptide concentration. Serum gastrin and cholecystokinin concentrations were unchanged by all experimental manipulations. This evidence supports our hypothesis that the gastrocolic response has an hormonal basis.
Language Learning in a Prospective Study of Otitis Media with Effusion in the First Two Years of Life.

We report cross-sectional findings on children’s early experience with otitis media with effusion (OME) related to hearing over time and emerging receptive and expressive language skills on the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development Scale (SICD). Tympanometry and otoscopy on the same day are combined to diagnose OME. Hearing from 6 to 12 months is significantly related to scores on the SICD beginning with receptive language at 12 months. At 18 and 24 months, both receptive and expressive language are significantly related to average hearing from 6 to 18 months. Better language is associated with better average hearing levels. These findings suggest that the relationship between OME and language is mediated by hearing. It remains to be seen whether these relationships persist as the children continue to develop language.
Psychosocial correlates of emotional distress and risk behavior in african-american women at risk for hiv infection

Abstract We examined a model of stress and coping in 749 African-American women at risk for HIV infection. Women in the sample were either homeless, intravenous drug users (IVDUs) sexual partners of IVDUs, or prostitutes. A model was hypothesized based on stress and coping theory and research. Antecedents studied were personal resources, specifically self-esteem and available support. Mediators were threat appraisal and coping efforts. Outcomes studied were emotional distress and HIV risk behaviors. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test hypothesized pathways between these variables. Forty-five percent of the variance in emotional distress in these women was explained by the model with self-esteem and avoidant coping the strongest predictors. Ten percent of the variance in risk behavior was explained by the model with emotional distress the strongest predictor. Direct and indirect pathways predicting risk behavior and distress are discussed. Implications of results for intervention and ...
A microcomputer based decision support tool for assigning dock doors in freight yards

This paper addresses issues at the shipping/receiving dock of a shipping company, where trucks come in from venders, get their shipments unloaded and reloaded onto trucks going to the customers. The assignment of dock doors to incoming and outgoing trucks determines the efficiency of the dock operation. A microcomputer based tool based on a bilinear program is proposed for recognition of the shipping pattern, and the assignment of the dock doors.
Spatial distribution functions of random packed granular spheres obtained by direct particle imaging.

We measure the two-point density correlations and Voronoi cell distributions of cyclically sheared granular spheres obtained with a fluorescence technique and compare them with random packing of frictionless spheres. We find that the radial distribution function $g(r)$ is captured by the Percus-Yevick equation for initial volume fraction $\ensuremath{\phi}=0.59$. However, small but systematic deviations are observed because of the splitting of the second peak as $\ensuremath{\phi}$ is increased toward random close packing. The distribution of the Voronoi free volumes deviates from postulated $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ distributions, and the orientational order metric ${Q}_{6}$ shows local order but no long range order. Overall, these measures show significant similarity of random packing of granular and frictionless spheres, but some systematic differences as well.
A potential hazard of the use of the surgical ultrasonic aspirator in tumor reductive surgery

The surgical ultrasonic aspirator (USA) is a recently developed surgical instrument being used for an increasingly wide range of surgical procedures including tumor reductive surgery in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. This paper introduces a potential hazard of the use of this instrument. It was determined that the mist produced by the ultrasonic aspirator during tumor reductive surgery contains intact and possibly viable cancer cells.
The relationship of anticipatory smooth eye movement to smooth pursuit initiation

We measured anticipatory smooth eye movements and smooth pursuit initiation with predictable and unpredictable step-ramp stimuli in normal subjects. Subjects generated anticipatory eye motion before targets moved and during intervals when targets suddenly disappeared. Expectations of target trajectory modified pursuit acceleration and latency, demonstrating that pursuit initiation is not governed by visual inputs alone. Anticipatory smooth eye movements and predictive contributions to smooth pursuit had similar accelerations and velocities. Anticipation and pursuit initiation varied in parallel between subjects; anticipation was stronger in subjects who generated faster smooth pursuit. These findings imply that anticipatory and smooth pursuit eye movements are governed by a common mechanism.
Early Identification of Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities.

A sample of 221 children (102 females, 119 males) were tested in kindergarten with a battery of tests that included measures of phonological awareness, phonological coding in lexical access, and coding in working memory. Reading skill was measured in third grade with a group-administered achievement test (vocabulary and comprehension), and children were classified as severely disabled, poor, average, or superior readers. Of the 19 possible kindergarten predictors, only rapid naming of letters, general ability, and discrimination of beginning sounds within words significantly contributed to the prediction of reading outcome. With general ability removed from the analysis, rapid letter naming, beginning sound discrimination, and auditory conceptualization predicted reading outcome. These three measures were very accurate in predicting reading outcome for the extremely poor and superior readers. The false negative rate was low but the false positive rate was quite high. These results suggest that the diagnos...
The twitcher mouse: myelinogenesis in organotypic culture.

Abstract Myelinogenesis was followed in organotypic cultures of the spinal cord of the neurological mutant mouse, the Twitcher. As a clinically, pathologically and biochemically equivalent model of Krabbe disease this mutant is an important tool for investigating the nervous system. Normal initiation and development of myelination was observed. At 35 days in vitro (DIV) the Twitcher cultures exhibited blisters attached to the intact myelin sheath and bubbling of myelin suggestive of myelin breakdown. Myelin degeneration progressed thereafter. The Twitcher spinal cord survived in culture for more than two months, a period much longer than the life span of affected mice. In order to correlated pathological and biochemical changes, the activity of UDP-galactose: ceramide galactosyltransferase was quantitated in normal and Twitcher cultures. In both the Twitcher and the control groups the galactosyltransferase activity rapidly increased up to 20–25 DIV and then declined. The galactosyltransferase activity of the Twitcher tended to be lower than the controls even during the early myelination period. At 35 DIV the activity in the Twitcher was definitely lower than the controls, and at 52 DIV it was early negligible. The galactosyltransferase activity therefore correlated well with the morphologically observed early normal myelination and subsequent myelin degeneration.
Conformational analysis of the covalent Pirkle chiral stationary phases

Abstract The multidimensional potential energy surface for a model Pirkle chiral stationary phase is computed with MM2. Five minimum energy conformations are located, the minimum energy reaction pathway between the three lowest energy forms is described and the ability of these chiral phases to act as templates is discussed.
Forcing behavioral subtyping through specification inheritance

A common change to object-oriented software is to add a new type of data that is a subtype of some existing type in the program. However, due to message passing, unchanged pearls of the program may now call operations of the new type. To avoid reverification of unchanged code, such operations should have specifications that are related to the specifications of the appropriate operations in their supertypes. This paper presents a specification technique that uses inheritance of specifications to force the appropriate behavior on the subtype objects. This technique is simple, requires little effort by the specifier, and avoids reverification of unchanged code. We present two notions of such behavioral subtyping, one of which is new. We show how to use these techniques to specify examples in C++.
Predicting migration system dynamics with conditional and posterior probabilities

Traditional models of migration assume that migrants move to places of greatest economic incentive, and are more likely to move when current economic conditions ‘push’ migrants from their origin. Although prospective income at a destination has been a major determining factor for migration in preexisting migration models, and distance between origin and destination is also a major consideration, we take a new approach with a model that reflects migration ‘chaining’, where migrants to a city B send information back to their origin city A, and interest other members of A to migrate to B. We isolate the social factors of place-pair synergies through components from Bayes' Law: conditional probability and posterior probability of unique origin/destination migrant volume, and a system-wide probability of unique O/D transfer. These allow us to model social space as well as physical space, rather than physical space alone. We test these variables' power for predicting future migration against four other predictive models: the traditional gravity model, transit data, airline and trip data, and linear trends. We use a case study of U.S. Migration flows in a system of major cities, given annual data from 1996–2004 to predict city-to-city flows annually for 2005–2008, and find that conditional and posterior probabilities outperform system-wide probabilities, gravity, transit and linear forecast models. These probabilities also exhibit a surprising level of steady-state stationarity, and therefore are a promising avenue for more accurately modelling future migration flows.
Effect of Initial Size Distribution on Aerosol Coagulation

The effect of particle coagulation on an aerosol with a truncated Junge initial size distribution was calculated for arbitrary particle size and time by obtaining an exact analytical solution to the Smoluchowski equation. The solution exhibits a crossover from the Junge form to an asymptotic exponential form. The persistence of a Jung-type size distribution for atmospheric aerosols and smoke aerosols is shown to be consistent with coagulation theory.
Quantitative and descriptive comparison of four acoustic analysis systems: vowel measurements.

Purpose This study examines accuracy and comparability of 4 trademarked acoustic analysis software packages (AASPs): Praat, WaveSurfer, TF32, and CSL by using synthesized and natural vowels. Features of AASPs are also described. Method Synthesized and natural vowels were analyzed using each of the AASP's default settings to secure 9 acoustic measures: fundamental frequency (F0), formant frequencies (F1–F4), and formant bandwidths (B1–B4). The discrepancy between the software measured values and the input values (synthesized, previously reported, and manual measurements) was used to assess comparability and accuracy. Basic AASP features are described. Results Results indicate that Praat, WaveSurfer, and TF32 generate accurate and comparable F0 and F1–F4 data for synthesized vowels and adult male natural vowels. Results varied by vowel for women and children, with some serious errors. Bandwidth measurements by AASPs were highly inaccurate as compared with manual measurements and published data on formant ba...
Preventive medicine teaching cases for preventive medicine residents

Preventive medicine education is unique in that its successes are measured in groups of people. Conveying this population perspective can be difficult, even to preventive medicine residents, some of whom have been in clinical practice for many years. The Case-Based Series in Population-Oriented Prevention (C-POP) was adapted for use in the New York State Preventive Medicine Residency curriculum. Parts of two of the cases were felt to be too clinical for use in this setting, but the other cases were well received and imparted the desired population perspective. Although the C-POP series was produced for undergraduate medical education, it is generally adaptable to the needs of a preventive medicine curriculum.
A Model for Ethics in Marketing

Is a given marketing action always ethical, never ethical, or ethical relative to time, place, and circumstances? Upon what logical bases can a marketer determine what is “right” for him to do, not...
Adequacy of several theories of capillary wave damping for drawing inferences of interfacial properties at gas-liquid interfaces

Abstract Until recently, reliable experimental data for testing the validity of the several theoretical models of capillary-wave propagation and damping have been lacking. In this paper experimental data for air-clean water at room temperature reported within the past 15 years are compared with results from the models of Lamb (1), Levich (2), Goodrich (3), Hansen and Mann (4), Mayer (5), and Bellman and Pennington (6). Exact solutions for the Bellman and Pennington model are presented for the first time. All models gave nearly identical wave velocities, which were about 1% higher than experiment. Compared to a least-squares line through the experimental data on wave damping, the first-order Lamb and the Goodrich models were about 0.9% low; the Bellman and Pennington model was about 5.4% low; and the Lamb-Levich, Mayer, and Hansen and Mann models were about 8 to 8.5% low. The reason or reasons for these differences are not now evident. Since several investigators (5, 11, 12, 13) have employed these same basic models with added terms to infer surface properties of liquid-gas interfaces in the presence of surfactants from experimental damping data, the present results show that such inferred properties may be subject to significant errors and should be used with caution.
Hypertensive crisis in children

Hypertensive crisis is rare in children and is usually secondary to an underlying disease. There is strong evidence that the renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the genesis of hypertensive crisis. An important principle in the management of children with hypertensive crisis is to determine if severe hypertension is chronic, acute, or acute-on-chronic. When it is associated with signs of end-organ damage such as encephalopathy, congestive cardiac failure or renal failure, there is an emergent need to lower blood pressures to 25-30% of the original value and then accomplish a gradual reduction in blood pressure. Precipitous drops in blood pressure can result in impairment of perfusion of vital organs. Medications commonly used to treat hypertensive crisis in children are nicardipine, labetalol and sodium nitroprusside. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology, differential diagnosis and recent developments in management of hypertensive crisis in children.
The Effects of Warm-Up Activities on Small Group Divergent Problem-Solving with Young Children

Summary This study investigated the effects of warm-up activities on divergent production by young children in small group problem-solving settings, hypothesizing that game-like activities designed to develop a psychological set for creative thinking previous to group problem-solving will actually facilitate idea production. One hundred five first-grade children were randomly assigned to four conditions with number and sex equated: three differing warm-up treatments (two task-related and one not) and one condition of no warm-up for 20 minutes previous to a small group administration of an activity from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Scores obtained for fluency, flexibility, and originality showed significant treatment effects on originality, with flexibility approaching significance, for the two task-related warm-up treatments. It was concluded that these types of activities positively influence a psychological set for divergent production.
Painting in space

The goal of our research is to enable artists to interact with the world of their imagination; to create art by moving, molding, and shaping virtual forms as if by their own bodies. We show a print that represents a scene painted into virtual reality and tell how the scene and the subsequent print were done. There will be some discussion of the meaning of the work, the intent of the artist and the relationship between the art and the technology used to create it. The print seen here is both a picture of an exotic place and the artistic fruit of research into how to embody the user in virtual reality. Our approach is based on the premise that embodiment is an appropriate direction for developing tools to facilitate artistic expression. It is also a premise of this research that the constraints requisite to creating art will also result in tools that serve the visualization community in general. BLUI (Body Language User Interface) is a virtual reality program that facilitates drawing and sculpting in 3D space. It employs elements of a gestural interface. BLUI is described as a tool for artistic creation, as well as for annotation and exploration of 3D visualizations in general. The quality of the artistic example presented here derives from the truly 3D approach.
Grounded Theory Managing the Challenge for Those Facing Institutional Review Board Oversight

The authors examine one of the earliest systematic forms of qualitative inquiry to identify some of the boundaries needed in grounded theory designs to provide a small corner of clarity in the disc...
Effect of sediment test variables on selenium toxicity to Daphnia magna

The effects of three test method variables (spiking method, sediment storage and sediment: water ratio) on solid-phase sediment toxicity of selenite-spiked sediments were investigated using Daphnia magna 48-h acute exposures. Spiking methods compared stirring and shaking of selenite with sediments followed by toxicity testing from 4 to 72 h. The two methods produced similar LC50 values; however, significant toxicity changes occurred over time. The effect of mixing spiked sediments from 0.5 to 48 h showed decreased toxicity after 24 and 48 h of shaking. Storage of selenite-spiked sediments at 4 and 25°C revealed significant differences in LC50 values between storage temperatures and with time of storage. Toxicity tended to decrease faster in sediments stored at 25°C. Sediment: water comparisons varied the volume of sediment and water used in test beakers and the sediment surface area. In general, only extreme sediment: water ratios affected survival. Varying the sediment surface area while maintaining a constant 1:4 ratio did not alter survival. An increased surface area and a decreased sediment: water ratio (1:8) decreased survival.
Long-term compositional dynamics of Acadian mixedwood stands under different silvicultural regimes

Pathways of forest compositional dynamics over five decades (1953–2005) were reconstructed using measurements from permanent sample plots in a long-term silviculture experiment in a central Maine m...
Research on Optimal Configuration of Digital Down-Conversion

Through the theory of Digital Down-Conversion, the paper brings forward the proposal that using multi-stage filtering and decimation to reduce the amount of computation and memory space, and targeted solved the technical question of spectrum aliasing. Combination of an engineering practice designed by Intermediate Frequency Digital Demodulator, the paper suggests an optimal configuration principle and method to the programmable Digital Down-Converter HSP50214B, making the demodulator achieves a very good receiving and demodulation effect.
Falling film absorption on a cylindrical tube

The falling liquid film has become a popular means of transferring heat and mass from a vapor to a binary liquid film; applications include heat pump systems, desalination, and gas-liquid contactors. In the heat pump application, in particular, the length of the liquid film is a crucial factor because of size and weight limitations. Consequently, it is desirable to be able to predict the amount of mass absorbed in a given length of tube. In this work the absorption of water vapor into a Lithium-Bromide Water mixture is considered. It is shown that mass transfer takes place in a thin layer of fluid near the liquid-vapor interface which is indicative of a very high level of liquid-side mass-transfer resistance. Closed form solutions for the velocity field may be used to derive a simple closed form solution for the mass fraction. For very thin films the temperature distribution may be obtained analytically in Laplace transform space; however, due to the complexity of the solution, numerical techniques are employed to obtain quantitative results. For thicker films a closed form solution for the temperature may be obtained as well. The principal objective of this work is to develop a design procedure not requiring a significant amount of numerical work whereby the absorption capacity of a given tube may be predicted as a function of the governing geometrical and physical parameters. The analytical/numerical results are presented for parameters corresponding to those of recent experiments and the agreement between theory and experiment is good.
Application of automatic differentiation in TOUGH2

Automatic differentiation (AD) is a way to accurately and efficiently compute derivatives of a function written in computer codes. We describe the procedures necessary to apply the AD method to the multiphase, multicomponent, nonisothermal flow simulator TOUGH2. In particular, we apply the AD method to the ECO2 module of the TOUGH2 code to explore a scheme for efficiently calculating the Jacobian matrix, which is required by the Newton-Raphson method for handling the nonlinearities arising at each iteration. The ECO2 module allows TOUGH2 to accurately simulate CO2 sequestration in aquifers. The robustness and efficiency of the AD-generated derivative codes are compared to the conventional derivative computation approach based on first-order finite differences (FD). Our result with the test problem set indicates that the AD-generated derivative code could improve the convergence behavior in the linear solution step, taking less computational time to compute one linear matrix system.
Dialectic of Consumerism: How A Series of Unfortunate Events Defies Itself

Contemporary American culture is steeped in consumerist ideology. It is a social climate where profit rules and control of cultural production is limited to a select few corporate interests. As such, popular culture is designed to reinforce consumerist values in order to keep wealth and power concentrated at the upper echelons of the social hierarchy, keeping the middle class oppressed. This paper seeks to explore ways in which a seemingly subversive text reifies hegemonic ideology within the dominant societal discourse. A rhetorical critical discourse analysis of the first three books of Daniel Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events reveals that despite the author’s intent to subvert consumerist ideology rooted in the Victorian sensibility, as a product of popular culture, the text adheres to the dominant discourse. In covert ways, it enforces consumerist values by perpetuating the myth that the upper class lifestyle is normative and desirable, that happiness is found in materialism, and that poverty is necessarily villainous and disgusting.
EFFECTS OF STIFFNESS ON SHORT, SEMIFLEXIBLE HOMOPOLYMER CHAINS

Conformational and transition behavior of finite, semiflexible homopolymers is studied using an extension of the Wang–Landau algorithm. Generation of a flat distribution in the sampling parameters energy and stiffness allows for efficient investigation of transitions between various conformational phases. Of particular importance is the ability to predict behavior for a given stiffness value, where three classes of minimum energy conformations are expected: Solid-globular, rod-like and toroidal. We present first results highlighting the behavior of a single N = 20 length chain.
Oxidative damage and iron effects following RBC transfusion

It is controversial whether transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) after prolonged refrigerated storage induces adverse effects. Nonetheless, due to the RBC ‘storage lesion’, at outdate, the 24-h post-transfusion RBC recovery averages 75% in healthy recipients; alternatively, ~25% of these RBCs are cleared, mostly within 1–2 h post-transfusion. Clearance is even greater in hospitalized patients. In addition, oxidative damage is, at least partly, responsible for the storage lesion. We hypothesized that donors with RBCs that are less, or more, able to withstand oxidative stress could constitute ‘poor storers’, or ‘super storers’, respectively. We also hypothesized that delivering a bolus of haemoglobin-derived iron, resulting from macrophage catabolism of these rapidly cleared RBCs, is responsible for, at least some of, the adverse effects of these transfusions. For example, increased intracellular iron levels enhance the virulence of intracellular bacterial pathogens. Furthermore, in this setting, excess iron is exported to plasma through ferroportin at a pace exceeding transferrin's rate of iron uptake, thereby producing circulating non-transferrin-bound iron, which enhances the virulence of extracellular pathogens. To address the ‘iron hypothesis’, we are using cell culture models in vitro, murine and canine models in vivo, and transfusion studies in healthy human volunteers. Although experimental results demonstrate the effects of the post-transfusion release of iron on infection, several unresolved questions remain.
Polyimide-Based Conformal Ultrasound Transducer Array for Needle Guidance

A conformal ultrasound imaging system has been developed that may potentially decrease the user variability associated with operation of rigid transducer-based medical ultrasound systems. Conformal transducer arrays were built and characterized, featuring bulk piezoelectric elements mounted on an array of silicon islands, connected with flexible polyimide joints. The joints successfully supported electrodes while bending, and were sufficiently soft to enable both conformation to body surfaces and needle insertion for ultrasound guidance procedures. A signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 39 dB was achieved from a needle target in a soft tissue phantom. A space-time backward propagation image reconstruction algorithm was simulated to demonstrate needle detection using a conformal transducer with an arbitrary array architecture.
A Receiver with Start-up Initialization and Programmable Delays for Wireless Clock Distribution

A receiver for wireless clock distribution runs at 2.25GHz with 5pspp jitter. The clock is distributed as a sine wave at 8 times the actual clock frequency to mitigate dispersion. The receiver includes an initialization circuit and a frequency divider with 16 quantized programmable delays for skew reduction
Parallel frontal solver for large-scale process simulation and optimization

For the simulation and optimization of large-scale chemical processes, the overall computing time is often dominated by the time needed to solve a large sparse system of linear equations. A new parallel frontal solver that can significantly reduce the wallclock time required to solve these linear equation systems using parallel/vector supercomputers is presented. The algorithm exploits both multiprocessing and vector processing by using a multilevel approach in which frontal elimination is used for the partial factorization of each front. Results of several large-scale process simulation and optimization problems are presented.
PEARL BODIES OF A NEOTROPICAL TREE, OCHROMA PYRAMIDALE: ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Multicellular, spherical or club-shaped pearl bodies characterized by large intracellular lipid vesicles are produced on leaves and stems of juvenile Ochroma pyramidale, a tree of second growth vegetation in lowland wet forest of the neotropics. Several lines of evidence suggest that pearl bodies are linked to maintenance of foraging ants on the plant: (1) their production is closely associated with foliar nectar secretion; (2) they are abundant on saplings grown in the glasshouse (averaging 402 bodies leaf-1) but were not observed in the field where ants are predictably associated with Ochroma samplings; (3) pearl bodies are energyand lipid-rich averaging 27.80 kJ/g dry wt-' and 74.4% lipid; (4) they are constricted at the base and easily detach from the leaf; (5) four ant species collect pearl bodies from artificial depots and return them to their nests. Chelaner sp. detaches pearl bodies from the leaf and returns them to the nest. Production of pearl bodies represents about 25% of the energy allocated to foliar nectar
Dissecting Self-* Properties

The scale and complexity of distributed systems have steadily grown in the recent years. Management of this complexity has drawn attention towards systems that can automatically maintain themselves throughout different scenarios. These systems have been described with many terms, such as self-healing, self-stabilizing, self-organizing, self-adaptive, self-optimizing, self-protecting, and self-managing. These attributes are collectively referred to as self-* properties. Even with the increased focus on self-* research, there exists much ambiguity in the perceptions of the different self-* properties. In this paper, we propose to resolve the ambiguity by introducing a template for defining self-* properties, and use it to offer formal definitions of existing self-* terms. We then present some observations about the relationships among the different self-* properties. Finally, we propose two new self-* properties that are meaningful in this space.
Neural Network Routing for Random Multistage Interconnection Networks

A routing scheme that uses a neural network has been developed that can aid in establishing point-to-point communication routes through multistage interconnection networks (MINs). The neural network is a network of the type that was examined by Hopfield (Hopfield, 1984 and 1985). In this work, the problem of establishing routes through random MINs (RMINs) in a shared-memory, distributed computing system is addressed. The performance of the neural network routing scheme is compared to two more traditional approaches - exhaustive search routing and greedy routing. The results suggest that a neural network router may be competitive for certain RMINs.
SYNCHRONY IN METAPOPULATIONS WITH SPORADIC DISPERSAL

We study synchronization in ecological networks under the realistic assumption that the coupling among the patches is sporadic/stochastic and due to rare and short-term meteorological conditions. Each patch is described by a tritrophic food chain model, representing the producer, consumer, and predator. If all three species can migrate, we rigorously prove that the network can synchronize as long as the migration occurs frequently, i.e. fast compared to the period of the ecological cycle, even though the network is disconnected most of the time. In the case where only the top trophic level (i.e. the predator) can migrate, we reveal an unexpected range of intermediate switching frequencies where synchronization becomes stable in a network which switches between two nonsynchronous dynamics. As spatial synchrony increases the danger of extinction, this counterintuitive effect of synchrony emerging from slower switching dispersal can be destructive for overall metapopulation persistence, presumably expected from switching between two dynamics which are unfavorable to extinction.
John E. Harris — I. The Scientist

John E. Harris has been a much admired colleague and friend for over thirty years. His affable manner and warm personality have endeared him to all his associates.
Community empowerment and service learning practices through computer science curricula of a major metropolitan university: tutorial presentation

Service learning continues to be an evolving but exciting field in academia. The learning engages students in civic practices that empower community non-profit organizations in real solutions. More than half of higher level institutions in the United States have service learning in their curricula. In this tutorial, instructors of a major institution in the northeast demonstrate diverse practices of service learning in interdisciplinary courses of computer science curricula. The courses, and especially the projects in the courses, are helping community organizations on novel solutions which are taking immediate advantage of 21st century technologies, including those of the Web. This tutorial is an introduction to best of class pedagogy in community engagement and computer science at one of the pioneers in service learning that is cited frequently in practitioner and scholarly media.
Do patients hospitalised in high-minority hospitals experience more diversion and poorer outcomes? A retrospective multivariate analysis of Medicare patients in California

Objective We investigated the association between crowding as measured by ambulance diversion and differences in access, treatment and outcomes between black and white patients. Design Retrospective analysis. Setting We linked daily ambulance diversion logs from 26 California counties between 2001 and 2011 to Medicare patient records with acute myocardial infarction and categorised patients according to hours in diversion status for their nearest emergency departments on their day of admission: 0, Participants 29 939 Medicare patients from 26 California counties between 2001 and 2011. Main outcome measures (1) Access to hospitals with cardiac technology; (2) treatment received; and (3) health outcomes (30-day, 90-day, and 1-year death and 30-day readmission). Results Hospitals serving high volume of black patients spent more hours in diversion status compared with other hospitals. Patients faced with the highest level of diversion had the lowest probability of being admitted to hospitals with cardiac technology compared with those facing no diversion, by 4.4% for cardiac care intensive unit, and 3.4% for catheterisation laboratory and coronary artery bypass graft facilities. Patients experiencing increased diversion also had a 4.3% decreased likelihood of receiving catheterisation and 9.6% higher 1-year mortality. Conclusions Hospitals serving high volume of black patients are more likely to be on diversion, and diversion is associated with poorer access to cardiac technology, lower probability of receiving revascularisation and worse long-term mortality outcomes.
Spectroscopic investigation of human tooth

The spectroscopic properties of non-carious transparent human root dentin, and dentin-enamel junction are investigated using microscopic emission imaging, and micro-spectroscopy. Experimental results reveal new information on the structural and biochemical characteristics of human tooth
Further Pursuit of the Dissonant Consumer: A Comment

Journal of Marketing, Vol. 29 (April, 1965), pp. 33-34. OR those who are attempting to apply the theory of cognitive dissonance to marketing problems, the lucid discussion by Bruce C. Straits in the JOURNAL OF MARKETING last year is useful.1 But certain of his comments need further discussion. A pilot study on the psychic tension or dissonance following the purchase of a new Chevrolet was reported by the present writer in 1963.2 Two matched groups of respondents were interviewed, one of which had recently purchased a new Chevrolet. Various possible manifestations of post-decision doubt were examined, including readership of advertisements and undue sensitivity to information either challenging or supporting the decision. Straits analyzed these findings in some detail, commenting for the most part on aspects and limitations of the experimental design. However, the substance of the data at certain critical points was not presented correctly. Straits did point out quite correctly that dissonance should be less when the purchase receives the social support of others, or when the alternatives under consideration are essentially similar. In turn, it is reasonable to expect dissonance to be greater following the purchase of a more unusual item, such as a foreign sports
Photocatalytically patterned TiO2 arrays for on-plate selective enrichment of phosphopeptides and direct MALDI MS analysis.

We report the development of photocatalytically patterned TiO2 arrays for selective on-plate enrichment and direct matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis of phosphopeptides. A thin TiO2 nanofilm with controlled porosity is prepared on gold-covered glass slides by a layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition/calcination process. The highly porous and rough nanostructure offers high surface area for selective binding of phosphorylated species. The patterned arrays are generated using an octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) coating in combination of UV irradiation with a photomask, followed by NaOH etching. The resulting hydrophilic TiO2 spots are thus surrounded by a hydrophobic OTS layer, which can facilitate the enrichment of low-abundance components by confining a large volume sample into a small area. The TiO2 arrays exhibit high specificity toward phosphopeptides in complex samples including phosphoprotein digests and human serum, and the detection can be made in the fmole ran...
Nobles, Modernism, and the Culture of fin-de-siècle Munich

Historians of central Europe agree that the fin de siecle was a time of artistic ferment and change that was critical in the formation of the ‘modern’, but ignore the influence and role of the nobility, assuming that nobles were insignificant actors in the cultural realm. This article contests that notion by investigating the janus-faced artistic nobility in Munich. The author argues that nobles played an important role in the artistic markers of Munich's fin de siecle (Secession, art nouveau, cabaret); more importantly, many nobles were instrumental in the reception and propagation of ideas that informed the European avant-garde, and acted as a model for a European variant of alternative modernism.
Epigram, Art, and Devotion in Later Byzantium

This book explores the nexus of art, personal piety, and self-representation in the last centuries of Byzantium. Spanning the period from around 1100 to around 1450, it focuses upon the evidence of verse inscriptions, or epigrams, on works of art. Epigrammatic poetry, Professor Drpic argues, constitutes a critical - if largely neglected - source for reconstructing aesthetic and socio-cultural discourses that informed the making, use, and perception of art in the Byzantine world. Bringing together art-historical and literary modes of analysis, the book examines epigrams and other related texts alongside an array of objects, including icons, reliquaries, ecclesiastical textiles, mosaics, and entire church buildings. By attending to such diverse topics as devotional self-fashioning, the aesthetics of adornment, sacred giving, and the erotics of the icon, this study offers a penetrating and highly original account of Byzantine art and its place in Byzantine society and religious life.
Autonomous Replication of the Conjugative Transposon Tn916.

ABSTRACT Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), also known as conjugative transposons, are self-transferable elements that are widely distributed among bacterial phyla and are important drivers of horizontal gene transfer. Many ICEs carry genes that confer antibiotic resistances to their host cells and are involved in the dissemination of these resistance genes. ICEs reside in host chromosomes but under certain conditions can excise to form a plasmid that is typically the substrate for transfer. A few ICEs are known to undergo autonomous replication following activation. However, it is not clear if autonomous replication is a general property of many ICEs. We found that Tn916, the first conjugative transposon identified, replicates autonomously via a rolling-circle mechanism. Replication of Tn916 was dependent on the relaxase encoded by orf20 of Tn916. The origin of transfer of Tn916, oriT(916), also functioned as an origin of replication. Using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we found that the relaxase (Orf20) and the two putative helicase processivity factors (Orf22 and Orf23) encoded by Tn916 likely interact in a complex and that the Tn916 relaxase contains a previously unidentified conserved helix-turn-helix domain in its N-terminal region that is required for relaxase function and replication. Lastly, we identified a functional single-strand origin of replication (sso) in Tn916 that we predict primes second-strand synthesis during rolling-circle replication. Together these results add to the emerging data that show that several ICEs replicate via a conserved, rolling-circle mechanism. IMPORTANCE Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) drive horizontal gene transfer and the spread of antibiotic resistances in bacteria. ICEs reside integrated in a host genome but can excise to create a plasmid that is the substrate for transfer to other cells. Here we show that Tn916, an ICE with broad host range, undergoes autonomous rolling-circle replication when in the plasmid form. We found that the origin of transfer functions as a double-stranded origin of replication and identified a single-stranded origin of replication. It was long thought that ICEs do not undergo autonomous replication. Our work adds to the evidence that ICEs replicate autonomously as part of their normal life cycle and indicates that diverse ICEs use the same replicative mechanism.
Advanced biotic ligand models: Using surface complexation modeling to quantify metal bioavailability to bacteria in geologic systems

Abstract There is considerable evidence that metal adsorption onto microbial cell envelopes represents the first step in bioavailability of the metal to the cell. Traditional biotic ligand models were the first attempts to relate metal bioavailability, as manifested by metal toxicity, to the concentration of adsorbed metal on organisms, using a single generic ‘biotic’ ligand as the lone metal binding site on the organism. Because biotic ligand models represent the bound metal using a non-mechanistic reaction, these models cannot be extrapolated accurately to predict metal adsorption, and hence metal bioavailability, under conditions that were not directly measured in the laboratory. Over the past 20 years, surface complexation modeling has been applied to model metal adsorption onto bacteria and other microorganisms, yielding a mechanistic understanding of the adsorption reactions that have been studied. The development of mechanistic surface complexation models for bacteria provides an opportunity to develop advanced biotic ligand models which are similar to traditional biotic ligand models but which incorporate the mechanistic approach of surface complexation modeling to quantify metal adsorption. This review summarizes the studies that have been conducted to date which explore and calibrate this approach, and each of these studies demonstrates a strong correlation between the concentration and/or speciation of adsorbed metal and the bioavailability of that metal to bacteria. Using a surface complexation approach for modeling metal bioavailability to bacteria creates powerful quantitative models of metal bioavailability which can be extrapolated to complex realistic geologic or engineered systems.