cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Words matter: implications of semantics and imagery in framing animal-welfare issues.

As criticisms of contemporary farm-animal production escalate, scholars have begun to scrutinize the imagery and linguistic techniques used to frame animal issues and their implications. Pro–animal rights groups typically present animal use as unnecessary, oppressive, and exploitive and adopt themes of compassion and protection to engage the public. In contrast, anti–animal rights groups represent animal use as necessary for human benefit and often situate animal and human interests as being incompatible. Overly simplistic, polarized representations of animal issues therefore emerge. Several analyses, however, have indicated that the discourse on farm-animal production fails to either make a compelling ethical argument for animal agriculture or address the ethical concerns raised by animal-rights activists. Proponents of animal agriculture are argued to consistently misrepresent animal production practices and portray animals as inanimate objects, reflecting lack of genuine concern for animal suffering or welfare. Thus far, the veterinary community has escaped this level of scrutiny. However, veterinarians are often viewed as being connected to animal agriculture. As veterinarians strive to assume leadership in animal welfare, it is useful for the profession to recognize that, as is the case for members of the animal sciences and industries, some aspects of its discourse may contradict its professed values and beliefs about animal care and welfare. Analysis of this discourse affords the opportunity to more effectively engage with the public on animal-welfare issues and to develop a compelling narrative of the role of animals in an increasingly urban society.
The behavioral effects of heptylphysostigmine on rats lesioned in the nucleus basalis

The time course and dose dependence of acetylcholinesterase inhibition in three regions of brain were measured for the long-acting physostigmine derivative, heptylphysostigmine (HP). Behavioral studies were performed on rats lesioned with ibotenic acid in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nBM) using doses of HP that inhibit cholinesterase activity 20%, 40%, and 60% 2 h after injection. Spatially-cued learning and memory were tested in the water maze. Lesioned animals that received higher doses of HP showed a trend towards improvement in the acquisition of this task, but this was not statistically significant. Swimming speed was reduced in the group receiving the highest dose of HP in comparison with a lower dose. The acoustic startle response was diminished in all groups given HP in comparison with both lesioned and sham-lesioned saline-injected controls. Open field activity was slightly enhanced by the presence of the nBM lesion. HP reduced the hyperactivity in a dose-dependent manner. Deficiencies in limb strength or coordination were not detected. These results suggest that HP may decrease spontaneous, stressed, or reflexive activity, although an effect on the spatial learning deficit produced by an ibotenic acid lesion of the nucleus basalis was not detected.
Results of forecast of 1943 of flow into Lake Mead

The Bureau of Reclamation attempts to forecast, early in the successive months of February, March, April, and May, the subsequent inflow through July. These forecasts are based in large measure upon snow-measurements made on the first of these successive months, but we have found from experience that the results thus gained are certainly not infallible. We have therefore tempered our interpretations of snow-survey data by making a parallel forecast based upon cumulative precipitation subsequent to September 30 of the previous year, and, finally, by exercise of our best judgment.
Modeling of photovoltaic cells and arrays based on singular value decomposition

An accurate photovoltaic (PV) model is developed based on singular value decomposition (SVD) using measured or simulated data for PV current in terms of cell temperature, solar irradiance and output voltage. The SVD model projects the problem onto a space described by a small number of orthogonal basis functions (or modes). The number of modes adopted for constructing the model is determined based on the magnitudes of the singular values and the desired accuracy. This model is further implemented in a circuit simulator and applied to modeling of a PV array. Two PV test cells are used to verify the validity of the developed model. The SVD model is also demonstrated in a PV array with a non-uniform temperature profile. The developed SVD PV model requires no assumption to construct the model and is remarkably simple and accurate. To our best knowledge, this is the first application of SVD to modeling of semiconductor device characteristics and the first representation of SVD as an electric circuit.
Effect of Water-to-Binder Ratio, Air Content, and Type of Cementitious Materials on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Binary and Ternary Blended Concrete

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of water-to-binder ratio (w/b), air content, and type of cementitious material on the fresh and hardened properties of binary and ternary blended concrete mixtures in pavements. This experimental program prepared a total matrix of 54 mixtures with w/b of 0.40 and 0.45; nominal air content of 2, 4, and 8%; and three types of supplementary cementitious materials and one ordinary portland cement in different combinations. Binder systems included ordinary portland cement, binary mixtures with slag cement, Classes F and C fly ash, and ternary mixtures containing a combination of slag cement and one type of fly ash. Workability, total air content, air void system parameters (i.e., spacing factor and specific surface) in fresh concrete, setting time, compressive strength, surface resistivity, and shrinkage were determined. Test results showed that ternary mixtures followed the trends of their constituent materials. Binary and ternary mixtures contai...
Cloaking at optical frequencies using dielectrics

We experimentally demonstrate cloaking at optical frequencies. A dielectric carpet cloak is designed to hide object under a curved reflecting surface by mimicking the reflection from a flat surface, enabling broadband invisibility with low loss.
Surgical volume impacts bariatric surgery mortality: a case for centers of excellence.

Background Concerns regarding care quality prompted credentialing processes for bariatric “Centers of Excellence” (COE). It is hypothesized that high-volume surgeons and hospitals have better outcomes. Objective This population-based study examines the effect of bariatric surgery volume on mortality in Pennsylvania. Methods Between 1999 and 2003, 14,716 patients having gastric bypass surgery in Pennsylvania hospitals were identified from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council database. Individual surgeons and hospitals were stratified as high (> 100 cases/yr), medium (50–100 cases/yr), or low volume ( Results There were 26–50 low ( n = 2,158), 35–54 medium ( n = 1,835), and 43–64 high ( n = 10,723) volume hospitals in Pennsylvania. The mean volume/hospital increased between 1999 and 2003 (30–120 cases/yr) and in-hospital mortality decreased (0.8–0.2%). Thirty-day mortality (1.15%) was approximately 2 times the in-hospital mortality (0.37%). Male gender (odds ratio [OR] 3.6, P P P = .002; OR 2.8, P = .015) and hospitals (OR 2.3, P = .01; OR 2.44, P = .017) had increased odds of 30-day mortality versus high-volume surgeons and hospitals. LOS was significantly shorter at high-volume hospitals as well. Conclusions In Pennsylvania, high volume is associated with decreased mortality and LOS. The results support the use of surgical volume in the COE credentialing process.
Proof without words: Regle des Nombres Moyens

(1994). Proof without Words: Regle des Nombres Moyens. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 34-34.
Beta-Catenin Induces A Population of Radio-Resistant Alveolar Stem/Progenitors That Progress To Form Hormone-Independent Breast Tumors in Mice

Materials/Methods: 1. In vivo screen: T7 Phage-displayed peptide libraries were administered by intracardiac injection at 1 hour, 3 hours and 5 hours after irradiation into mice bearing GL261 and LLC tumors in the hind limbs. After 5 minutes of circulation, the mice were perfused through the heart with PBS buffer and phages were recovered from the tumors. The rescued phages were pooled and amplified for the next round of in vivo screening. 2. In vivo binding assay: After six rounds of in vivo screening, several peptide-displayed phages were enriched. Among them, phage displayed RGD peptide was administered by intracardiac injection at 1hour and 5 hours following 4Gy irradiation. After perfusion, tissues were removed and homogenized, cell-binding phages were rescued by incubating cell pellets suspension with E. coli BL21. The specificity of vasculature homing was determined by tittering the recovered phages from tissues at different time points. 3. Tumor targeting with peptide-drug: We designed a synthetic drug, comprised of a tumor vasculature homing motif (SLRGDGSSV) and a proapoptotic peptide (KLAKLAKKLAKLAK). This proapoptotic peptide disrupts mitochondrial membranes and induces apoptosis. Each group of the animals received the following respective treatments: 4Gy radiation alone, synthetic drug alone, 4Gy plus synthetic drug at an hour and five hours after irradiation, respectively. The therapeutic effects were evaluated by measuring tumor volumes.
Evaluation of actual vs expected photodynamic therapy spot size.

Purpose To determine the accuracy of the photodynamic therapy (PDT) laser spot size on the retina as generated by 2 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved lasers. Design Prospective observational case series. Methods Fundus photographs were taken of 1 eye of each of 10 subjects with the WinStation 4000 fundus photography system (OIS; Ophthalmic Imaging Systems, Sacramento, California, USA); disc size was calculated using OIS software. Slit-lamp photographs were taken of the PDT laser spot focused on the retina adjacent to the optic disc, using various spot sizes in combination with 3 different contact lenses and 2 different lasers. Spot size at the retina was determined by measuring the ratio of disc diameter to spot diameter in Adobe Photoshop (San Jose, California, USA) and applying this ratio to the OIS disc measurements. Results Spot size at the retina averaged 87% of expected spot size for the Coherent Opal laser (Coherent Inc, Santa Clara, California, USA) and 104% of expected spot size for the Zeiss Visulas laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc, Dublin, California, USA)( P = .002). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that percentage of expected spot size decreased with larger spot diameter ( P = .01 for Coherent laser; P = .02 for Zeiss laser). Conclusions PDT spot size at the retina appears to be consistently smaller than expected for the Coherent laser while the spot size was consistently within 10% of expected size for the Zeiss laser. The deviation from expected size increased with larger spot size using the Coherent laser.
The Effects of Centrifugation and Hydrostatic Pressure on Avena Germination and Seedling Development

Summary Centrifugation of dry oat seeds has little effect on subsequent germination and seedling growth; however, when the seeds are centrifuged submerged in water inhibition results. Within limits, inhibition of seedling growth increases (1) with increase in the length of soaking time in water prior to centrifugation, (2) with increased duration of centrifugation, (3) with increase in relative centrifugal force up to 20,000 X g. The inhibition of germination caused by centrifugation is less consistent. The application of direct hydrostatic pressure to oat seeds in a pressure chamber reveals strikingly similar inhibition of seedling development. Apparently, the effect of centrifugation on Avena seeds is directly related to the water content of the seed and to the hydrostatic pressure produced by centrifugal force on the water column covering the seeds.
Scholarship: Beyond the paper

The journal and article are being superseded by algorithms that filter, rate and disseminate scholarship as it happens, argues Jason Priem.
Mode of action of β-carboline convulsants on the insect nervous system and their potential as insecticides

Little information is available on the actions of β-carboline convulsants on insect GABA receptors or their potential as insecticides. Accordingly, two compounds (3-ethoxy-β-carboline, 3-EBC; dimethoxy-β-carboline-3-methyl ester, DMCM) were studied for their effects on Drosophila melanogaster larval neuron discharge and also in lethality bioassays on adult female D. melanogaster and adult male Blattella germanica. Recordings of nerve spiking in the isolated larval central nervous system showed that 3-EBC and DMCM inhibited nerve discharge, and this inhibitory effect was not additive with that of GABA, confirming that the inhibition was expressed through an action on the GABA receptor. Nerve blockage induced by β-carbolines could not be reversed by picrotoxinin, indicating that there may exist some overlap or negative allosteric coupling between the picrotoxinin and β-carboline binding sites. DMCM and 3-EBC effectively antagonized the effects of exogenously applied GABA in nerve preparations from insecticide-susceptible larvae. In contrast, preparations from the rdl strain of D. melanogaster, which possesses a GABA receptor that is highly resistant to cyclodienes and related convulsants, were less sensitive to the GABA antagonist effect of DMCM. Neither of the β-carbolines produced any appreciable mortality in insects, even when synergized with piperonyl butoxide or S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate, The toxicity of the β-carbolines is probably limited by their relatively weak effects on the GABA receptor and perhaps also by pharmacokinetic factors. These considerations, coupled with the cross-resistance observed in cyclodiene-resistant insects, suggest that the currently available β-carbolines are not viable as lead compounds for insecticide screening efforts.
How fingerprints came into use for personal identification.

Abstract The use of fingerprints for personal identification became widespread early in this century. How the fingerprints slowly became standardized involves many persons, including Nathaniel Grew, Johannes Purkinje, William Herschel, Henry Faulds, Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, Mark Twain, Juan Vucetich, Edward Henry, and J. Edgar Hoover. Although fingerprints have been noted and used since antiquity, a 25-year burst of activity that secured adoption of their use for identification began in about 1880. New modifications and applications have continued to the present. The history of fingerprints offers an excellent example of how society adopts innovations. This story also includes a bitter struggle for appropriate credit for various crucial steps in developing and adopting this important tool. More recent technical advances, including computers and molecular biology, now supplementthe ease and usefulness of fingerprints, although the word fingerprinting continues in use by metaphoric extension.
Intestinal surgery performed on gynecologic cancer patients

A retrospective review covering a 9-year period revealed 113 patients who underwent 157 major bowel procedures during 130 operations performed solely by gynecologic oncology surgeons. Forty-eight percent of the operations were done for tumor cytoreduction, and 33% were performed for a bowel obstruction. Other indications included colostomy closure, fistula repair, resection for multiple enterotomies, temporary diversions, repair of perforated bowel, treatment for severe proctosigmoiditis, management of ureteral stricture, treatment for vulvar necrosis, and resection of an incidental small bowel tumor. Of the 157 procedures, 44% were colostomies, 32% were bowel resections with reanastomosis, 9% were urinary conduits, 6% were intestinal bypass procedures, 5% were colostomy closures, and 4% were ileostomies. Postoperative complications occurred in 32% of the 130 operations. These included wound infection, death, sepsis, fistula formation, urinary tract infection, unexplained febrile morbidity, anastomotic leakage, stomal infarction, adult respiratory distress syndrome, bowel obstruction, deep venous thrombosis, and wound hematoma. Four of the eight deaths were due to tumor progression, three were from sepsis, and one was from adult respiratory distress syndrome. Of the 130 operations, 89 (68%) were associated with no complications. These data support the concept that gynecologic oncology surgeons are able to perform intestinal operations as therapy for gynecologic malignancies with acceptable complication rates. Since a thorough understanding of the natural history of the cancer, familiarity with alternative therapeutic options, and knowledge of the prognosis are important in making operative decisions, and since gynecologic oncologists are technically capable of performing operations on the small bowel and colon, referral of patients with a primary or recurrent gynecologic malignancy or with a subsequent intestinal complication after initial therapy should be directed to the gynecologic oncologist whenever possible.
Can methotrexate replace cyclophosphamide in the treatment of a subset of Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis?

Can methotrexate replace cyclophosphamide in the treatment of a subset of Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis?
Improved GPR interpretation through resolution of lateral velocity heterogeneity: Example from an archaeological site investigation

Abstract In a typical common-offset ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey, lateral velocity contrasts may go undetected leading to misinterpretation. Resolution of lateral velocity heterogeneity requires multi-fold acquisition and analysis. Further, pre-stack depth migration (PSDM) is required to produce accurate images in the presence of large lateral velocity gradients. In an archaeological investigation conducted near Boise, Idaho, we delineated a portion of what we interpret to be an abandoned dump site. Using multi-fold acquisition with reflection tomography, we identified an abrupt lateral velocity increase of ∼ 40% resulting in a substantial velocity pull-up in the time domain. PSDM corrected for the velocity pull-up enabling a more accurate interpretation and identification of additional structures of potential historical significance. The migration velocity model provided additional constraints on materials which enhanced our understanding of the subsurface.
Supercooling Characteristics of Isolated Peach Flower Bud Primordia

The amount of unfrozen water in dormant peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch, cv Redhaven) flower buds, isolated primordia, and bud axes was determined during freezing using pulse nuclear magnetic resonance methods. Differential thermal analysis studies were conducted on whole buds and isolated primordia in the presence of ice nucleation. The results showed that some of the water in isolated primordia remained supercooled in the presence of ice nucleation. Although most tissue water froze (57.5%) following ice nucleation at −2.5°C, a considerable amount of water was found to supercool. In the presence of ice nucleation, increased hydration of isolated primordia resulted in the elimination of the supercooling characteristic. The structural integrity of isolated primordia appeared to be essential for supercooling.
Insulin resistance and risk of incident heart failure: Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background—Patients with heart failure (HF) have higher fasting insulin levels and a higher prevalence of insulin resistance as compared with matched controls. Insulin resistance leads to structural abnormalities in the heart, such as increased left atrial size, left ventricular mass, and alterations in transmitral velocity that can precede the diagnosis of HF. It is not known whether insulin resistance precedes the development of HF or whether the relationship between insulin resistance and HF is present among adults with HF caused by nonischemic heart disease. Methods and Results—We examined 4425 participants (60% women) from the Cardiovascular Health Study after excluding those with HF, myocardial infarction, or treated diabetes mellitus at baseline. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the relative risk of incident HF associated with fasting insulin measured at study entry. There were 1216 cases of incident HF (1103 without antecedent myocardial infarction) during a median follow-up of ...
Addendum to “Feedforward Carrier Recovery for Coherent Optical Communications”

In a previous paper , we noted when the transmitted signal constellations has rotational symmetry, laser phase noise can be mitigated using non-data-aided (NDA) feedforward (FF) carrier recovery. The structures of a FF carrier recovery unit and a NDA soft-decision phase estimator were shown in Fig. 3 and 4(a), respectively. We have found that in an NDA FF carrier recovery unit, the order of the linear filter and phase estimator can be exchanged in a manner not possible with a decision-directed (DD) FF carrier recovery unit. We show that this alternative NDA (ANDA) FF carrier recovery unit exhibits better immunity to cycle slips compared to standard NDA.
Changes in the Photophysical Properties with Heavy Atoms and the Effects of Modulus for 4-Phenylphenol in Solid-Matrix Luminescence

Fluorescence and phosphorescence quantum yields and fluorescence and phosphorescence lifetimes were obtained for 4-phenylphenol adsorbed on filter paper with either NaCl, NaBr, or NaI at 296 and 93 K. From these data several photophysical parameters were calculated and compared. In general, the photophysical data showed that the heavy-atom effect was operative, with Nal showing the greatest effect. However, NaBr at 93 K showed both the heavy-atom effect and another effect which was particular to NaBr. For 4-phenylphenol with Nal, very little increase occurred for the phosphorescence quantum yield from 296 to 93 K, which indicated that almost maximum phosphorescence quantum yield was achieved at room temperature for 4-phenylphenol with Nal present. The increase in phosphorescence lifetime for 4-phenylphenol from room temperature to low temperature was shown to be related to the increase in the Young's modulus of filter paper as the temperature was lowered. Calculated phosphorescence lifetimes at room temperature and at low temperature with equations that included Young's modulus values agreed very well with experimental lifetime values.
Diffusion and kinetic control of weathering layer development

The formation of porous weathering rinds (layers of chemical alteration) on the exterior of rocks is a consequence of dissolution and precipitation of minerals occurring at the mineral–fluid interface within the pores. The speed at which the developed rind advances is controlled by both kinetic reaction rates and the transport of reaction products away from the pore spaces into the outside fluid. We show, using both reaction-diffusion theory and numerics, that under diffusion limitations, the weathering rate depends on the size and curvature of the sample. This leads to a relationship between rind thickness, δ, and age, t. As the rind thickens, the result in three dimensions differs substantially from the one-dimensional result of δ˜t. We describe the conditions under which the one-dimensional and diffusion-limited approximations apply and how they evolve as the rock weathers. Under chemical kinetic limitations, the rind advances at a constant rate, dδ/dt = v. We defend the application of a spherical approximation to irregular non-spherical rocks and apply our results to field observations reported in the literature to show consistency with established methods. Finally, we argue that the variability in size, as well as in mineralogy, over ensembles of grains contributes to heterogeneous weathering rates. We demonstrate that this heterogeneity can contribute to the aging, or gradual decrease with time, of weathering rates previously observed in laboratory and field measurements.
Self-affine scaling of fractal river courses and basin boundaries

The scaling properties of the geometrical features of river courses and basin boundaries are investigated. These structures show anisotropic scaling which classify them as self-affine fractals. The self-affine characteristics of channels and boundaries have been found to be the same across the different river basins analyzed. Using a simulation model of river networks and basin landscapes, the relationship between the self-affine characteristics of channels and the three-dimensional structure and evolution of the landscape is shown.
Novel concept for medium voltage circuit breakers using microswitches

This letter presents a new concept for circuit breakers (CBs) using microelectromechanical switches (MEMS). The building block is a switching unit, including a micro-switch shunted by a diode. Several switching units are connected in series and in parallel to form a switching string assembly. The opening of the mechanical switches transfers the current to the diodes. The diodes interrupt the current at the first zero crossing. The use of micro-switches miniaturizes the CB and assures arc less current interruption by the end of the first half cycle.
Job level, demands, and resources as antecedents of work-family conflict

Although substantial research has examined the conflict that employees experience between their work and family roles, the literature has not investigated the prevalence and antecedents of work–family conflict for individuals who work at different levels of an organization. This study examines differences in work–family conflict (work interference with family and family interference with work) for lower-level and higher-level employees, the factors that might explain these differences, and the differential effect of resources on conflict across job levels. Results indicate that higher-level workers experience greater conflict in both directions than lower-level workers, and that work- and home-based resources are differentially related to the conflict experienced by employees who hold lower-level and higher-level jobs.
Abstracts for Numeracy

s for Numeracy Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License This editorial is available in Numeracy: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art1 Editorial – Abstracts for Numeracy A pleasure of reading papers in the field of numeracy is that one visits many disciplines. In reading abstracts, I am beginning to imagine myself a little like an anthropologist on a field trip. Different disciplines seem to have different abstract-writing cultures. Some communities seem to have abstracts that serve as summaries of their papers, complete with objectives, results and conclusions; these abstracts are helpful as I look for content. Some communities seem to have abstracts that are previews, like a table of contents in paragraph form; these movie-trailer abstracts are inadequate, more frustrating than illuminating. Todd Chavez of the USF Libraries and I have an article in this issue of Numeracy on a 338-item bibliography of papers in so-called impact journals. We include a link and guide to an online version of that bibliography 1 that provides access to abstracts of the vast majority of those papers. Look at Paper 51, “Inadequate functional health literacy among patients at 2 public hospitals,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This abstract states the objective, design, setting, subjects (patients), main outcome measure, results, and conclusions. Then look at Paper 103, “Some class-participation demonstrations for introductory probability and statistics,” published in the Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics. This abstract consists of one sentence that says about the same thing as the title. It may be because of limited visits, but my impression is that mathematics publishing does not have a culture of informative, stand-alone abstracts. Therefore, with the heavy participation of mathematicians in this journal, I am afraid that I anticipate manuscript submissions with abstracts more like Paper 103 than Paper 51. Why afraid? For our new cross-disciplinary field, we need abstracts like that of Paper 51. We live in busy times. We want busy people to know the content of our papers. We do not want to put barriers in their way. Uninformative abstracts are, at best, obstacles to information seekers. At worst, they are annoying and become barriers. As a geologist, my education in writing abstracts was influenced by K. K. Landes, who changed the abstract-writing culture in all of publishing geology while editor of the Bulletin of the Association of Petroleum Geologists. His onepage scrutiny of the inadequate abstract 2 has been required reading in “Geological Writing” courses for more than 50 years. Of course, as an editor of Numeracy, I will ask authors to have informative, complete, stand-alone abstracts.
Introduction to the Special Issue on Elderly Volunteerism

Although the substantial contributions of America's older volunteers have a long and well documented history as a vital component to our overall well-being, volunteerism is changing to reflect the ...
CAFE-the MIT computer aided fabrication environment

The computer-aided fabrication environment (CAFE) is a software system being developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for use in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). CAFE is intended to be used in all phases of process design, development, planning, and manufacturing of IC wafers. While still under active development, CAFE presently provides day-to-day support to research and production facilities at MIT with both standard and flexible product lines. CAFE provides a platform for work in several active research areas at MIT, including technology (process and device) computer-aided design (TCAD), process modeling, manufacturing quality control, and TCAD tool integration. The overall architecture and characteristics of the CAFE system are described. The significant problems solved and the design decisions made are identified, and some of the most important components of the CAFE system as it currently exists are discussed. The CAFE architectural framework supports a wide variety of software modules, including both development tools and on-line applications. The key components of the CAFE architecture are the data model and data base schema, the process flow and wafer representations, the user interface, and the application programming and database interfaces. >
Alcohol-Induced IGF-I Resistance Is Ameliorated in Mice Deficient for Mitochondrial Branched-Chain Aminotransferase

Acute alcohol intoxication decreases skeletal muscle protein synthesis by impairing mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). In 2 studies, we determined whether inhibition of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism ameliorates the inhibitory effect of alcohol on muscle protein synthesis by raising the plasma BCAA concentrations and/or by improving the anabolic response to insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I. In the first study, 4 groups of mice were used: wild-type (WT) and mitochondrial branched-chain aminotransferase (BCATm) knockout (KO) mice orally administered saline or alcohol (5 g/kg, 1 h). Protein synthesis was greater in KO mice compared with WT controls and was associated with greater phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-4E binding protein-1 (4EBP1), eIF4E-eIF4G binding, and 4EBP1-regulatory associated protein of mTOR (raptor) binding, but not mTOR-raptor binding. Alcohol decreased protein synthesis in WT mice, a change associated with less 4EBP1 phosphorylation, eIF4E-eIF4G binding, and raptor-4EBP1 binding, but greater mTOR-raptor complex formation. Comparable alcohol effects on protein synthesis and signal transduction were detected in BCATm KO mice. The second study used the same 4 groups, but all mice were injected with IGF-I (25 microg/mouse, 30 min). Alcohol impaired the ability of IGF-I to increase muscle protein synthesis, 4EBP1 and 70-kilodalton ribosomal protein S6 kinase-1 phosphorylation, eIF4E-eIF4G binding, and 4EBP1-raptor binding in WT mice. However, in alcohol-treated BCATm KO mice, this IGF-I resistance was not manifested. These data suggest that whereas the sustained elevation in plasma BCAA is not sufficient to ameliorate the catabolic effect of acute alcohol intoxication on muscle protein synthesis, it does improve the anabolic effect of IGF-I.
Thyroid disease and reproductive health.

are rela-tively common in the general population. Important epi-demiologic data regarding these conditions has been pro-vided by three large population-based screening studies: theWhickham Survey (1), The Colorado Thyroid Disease Preva-lence Study (2), and The National Health And Nutrition Ex-amination Survey III (3). The prevalence of previously un-diagnosed overt hypothyroidism (defined as an elevatedserum thyrotropin [TSH] and low serum levels of total thy-roxine [T
The Effectiveness of Transferring Multi-Agent Behaviors From a Learning Environment in the Presence of Synthetic Social Structures

The diverse behavior representation schemes and learning paradigms being investigated within the robotics community share the common feature that successful deployment of agents requires that behaviors developed in a learning environment are successfully applied to a range of unfamiliar and potentially more complex operational environments. The intent of our research is to develop insight into the factors facilitating successful transfer of behaviors to the operational environments. We present experimental results investigating the effects of several factors for a simulated swarm of autonomous vehicles. Our primary focus is on the impact of Synthetic Social Structures, which are guidelines directing the interactions between agents, much like social behaviors direct interactions between group members in the human and animal world. The social structure implemented is a dominance hierarchy, which has been shown previously to facilitate negotiation between agents. The goal of this investigation is to investigate mechanisms adding robustness to agent behavior.
On the Independence of Local Algebras in Quantum Field Theory

A review is made of the multitude of different mathematical formalizations of the physical concept ‘two observables (or two systems) are independent’ that have been proposed in quantum theories, particularly relativistic quantum field theory. The most basic mathematical formulation of independence in any quantum theory is what one may call kinematical independence: the two observables, resp. the observables of the two quantum systems, which are represented by elements of a C*-algebra, resp. two subalgebras of a C*-algebra, are required to commute. This is related to a mathematical formulation of the notion of the coexistence (or compatibility) of two observables. Another basic notion of independence, generally called statistical independence in the literature, is, roughly speaking, two quantum systems are said to be statistically independent if each can be prepared in any state, how ever the other system has been prepared. There are numerous mathematical formulations of this notion and their interrelationships are explained. Statistical independence and kinematical independence are shown to be logically independent. Additional notions such as strict locality and their relation to statistical independence are discussed. The mathematics of a more quantitative measure of statistical independence, Bell’s inequalities, is reviewed and its relations with previously introduced notions are indicated. All of these notions are then viewed in application to relativistic quantum field theory.
Functional interaction of the bovine papillomavirus E2 transactivation domain with TFIIB

Induction of gene expression by the papillomavirus E2 protein requires its ∼220-amino-acid amino-terminal transactivation domain (TAD) to interact with cellular factors that lead to formation of an activated RNA polymerase complex. These interaction partners have yet to be identified and characterized. The E2 protein localizes the transcription complex to the target promoter through its carboxy-terminal sequence-specific DNA binding domain. This domain has been reported to bind the basal transcription factors TATA-binding protein and TFIIB. We present evidence establishing a direct interaction between amino acids 74 to 134 of the E2 TAD and TFIIB. Within this region, the E2 point mutant N127Y was partially defective and W99C was completely defective for TFIIB binding in vitro, and these mutants displayed reduced or no transcriptional activity, respectively, upon transfection into C33A cells. Overexpression of TFIIB specifically restored transactivation by N127Y to close to wild-type levels, while W99C remained inactive. To further demonstrate the functional interaction of TFIIB with the wild-type E2 TAD, this region was fused to a bacterial DNA binding domain (LexA:E2:1-216). Upon transfection with increasing amounts of LexA:E2:1-216, there was reduction of its transcriptional activity, a phenomenon thought to result from titration of limiting factors, or squelching. Squelching of LexA:E2:1-216, or the wild-type E2 activator, was partially relieved by overexpression of TFIIB. We conclude that a specific region of the E2 TAD functionally interacts with TFIIB.
Intravenous conivaptan for the treatment of hyponatraemia caused by the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone in hospitalized patients: a single-centre experience

Background. Intravenous conivaptan is a novel therapeutic agent indicated for the treatment of euvolaemic and hypervolaemic hyponatraemia. However, there is paucity of reported clinical experience using conivaptan for the treatment of the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Moreover, while there is reasonable concern for overcorrection, no pre-treatment variables are known to be helpful to identify patients at risk for rapid correction.Methods. We searched our records for hospitalized patients treated with intravenous conivaptan for moderate to severe hyponatraemia due to SIADH, with a starting serum sodium <130 mmol/L, between 2006 and 2009 (n = 18), to examine its efficacy as aquaretic, and to search for pre-treatment variables that could predict degree of response.Results. Twenty-four hours after initiation of therapy, all patients had at least a 3-mmol/L increase in serum sodium, with 66.7% (12/18) of the patients having an absolute increase ≥4 mmol/L, and a median increase in serum sodium of 7 mmol/L (range: 3-16 mmol/L). Concomitantly, urine osmolality decreased in all patients with a mean reduction of 45.9 ± 28.8% from baseline. Lower serum sodium, lower blood urea nitrogen and higher estimated glomerular filtration rate at baseline had a significant correlation with the magnitude of the absolute increase in serum sodium 24 hours after initiation of therapy.Conclusions. We conclude that intravenous conivaptan is an effective aquaretic to treat hyponatraemia caused by SIADH, as evidenced by a simultaneous increase in serum sodium and decrease in urine osmolality. Baseline values of serum sodium, blood urea nitrogen and estimated glomerular filtration rate may help predicting the magnitude of response to therapy.
Technical analysis of a river basin-based model of advanced power plant cooling technologies for mitigating water management challenges

Thermoelectric power plants require large volumes of water for cooling, which can introduce drought vulnerability and compete with other water needs. Alternative cooling technologies, such as cooling towers and hybrid wet–dry or dry cooling, present opportunities to reduce water diversions. This case study uses a custom, geographically resolved river basin-based model for eleven river basins in the state of Texas (the Brazos and San Jacinto–Brazos, Colorado and Colorado–Brazos, Cypress, Neches, Nueces, Red, Sabine, San Jacinto, and Trinity River basins), focusing on the Brazos River basin, to analyze water availability during drought. We utilized two existing water availability models for our analysis: (1) the full execution of water rights—a scenario where each water rights holder diverts the full permitted volume with zero return flow, and (2) current conditions—a scenario reflecting actual diversions with associated return flows. Our model results show that switching the cooling technologies at power plants in the eleven analyzed river basins to less water-intensive alternative designs can potentially reduce annual water diversions by 247–703 million m 3 —enough water for 1.3–3.6 million people annually. We consider these results in a geographic context using geographic information system tools and then analyze volume reliability, which is a policymaker’s metric that indicates the percentage of total demand actually supplied over a given period. This geographic and volume reliability analysis serves as a measure of drought susceptibility in response to changes in thermoelectric cooling technologies. While these water diversion savings do not alleviate all reliability concerns, the additional streamflow from the use of dry cooling alleviates drought concerns for some municipal water rights holders and might also be sufficient to uphold instream flow requirements for important bays and estuaries on the Texas Gulf coast.
Doing time: putting qualitative reasoning on firmer ground

Recent work in qualitative reasoning has focused on predicting the dynamic behavior of continuous physical systems. Significant headway has been made in identifying the principles necessary to predict this class of behavior. However, the predictive inference engines based on these principles are limited in their ability to reason about time. This paper presents a general approach to behavioral prediction which overcomes many of these limitations. Generality results from a clean separation between principles relating to time, continuity, and qualitative representations. The resulting inference mechanism, based on propagation of constraints, is applicable to a wide class of physical systems exhibiting discrete or continuous behavior, and can be used with a variety of representations (e.g., digital, quantitative, qualitative or symbolic abstractions). In addition, it provides a framework in which to explore a broad range of tasks including prediction, explanation, diagnosis, and design.
Negative Stereotypes Underlying Other-Person Perceptions of the Elderly

When assessing effects of advertisements on themselves and on people in their mid-40s and 70s, more than 30% of respondents drew upon negative stereotypes when making estimates about effects of advertising messages on the elderly. There was no difference between first-year university students and seniors majoring in advertising in the rate of stereotyping. Results of earlier studies have suggested that greater levels of education and more in-depth knowledge of advertising might account for differences between them. Those not using stereotyping were more apt to have cited an exemplar.
Balanced interactions between Lyn, the p85alpha regulatory subunit of class I(A) phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, and SHIP are essential for mast cell growth and maturation

The growth and maturation of bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) from precursors are regulated by coordinated signals from multiple cytokine receptors, including KIT. While studies conducted using mutant forms of these receptors lacking the binding sites for Src family kinases (SFKs) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) suggest a role for these signaling molecules in regulating growth and survival, how complete loss of these molecules in early BMMC progenitors (MCps) impacts maturation and growth during all phases of mast cell development is not fully understood. We show that the Lyn SFK and the p85α subunit of class IA PI3K play opposing roles in regulating the growth and maturation of BMMCs in part by regulating the level of PI3K. Loss of Lyn in BMMCs results in elevated PI3K activity and hyperactivation of AKT, which accelerates the rate of BMMC maturation due in part to impaired binding and phosphorylation of SHIP via Lyn's unique domain. In the absence of Lyn's unique domain, BMMCs behave in a manner similar to that of Lyn- or SHIP-deficient BMMCs. Importantly, loss of p85α in Lyn-deficient BMMCs not only represses the hyperproliferation associated with the loss of Lyn but also represses their accelerated maturation. The accelerated maturation of BMMCs due to loss of Lyn is associated with increased expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf), which is repressed in MCps deficient in the expression of both Lyn and p85α relative to controls. Our results demonstrate a crucial interplay of Lyn, SHIP, and p85α in regulating the normal growth and maturation of BMMCs, in part by regulating the activation of AKT and the expression of Mitf.
Sustainability of Firms and Prices

Previous chapters explain that liberalization of utility markets can increase the complexity of the regulator’s job. This is particularly true with respect to regulating prices. As Chapter 4 explains, there is an inherent conflict between competitive processes and some of the traditional approaches to protecting against cross-subsidy. For example, regulators often protect against anti-competitive cross-subsidy by establishing price floors for competitive services. Regulators typically base these price floors on incremental costs, so each price floor requires a cost study. With this approach, opening more markets to competition increases, rather than decreases, the work the regulator has to do. Also, as Berg and Weisman (1992, p. 453) state, pricing below incremental cost at certain times can be a perfectly legitimate business practice, but the price floors prevent this from happening.
Molecular-orbital and empirical-potential descriptions of CaCO3

The molecular-orbital picture of bonding in the calcium carbonate monomer is reviewed. Energies and geometries predicted by empirical potentials are compared to results of molecular-orbital calculations. An empirical potential is presented that allows charge redistribution and bonding changes within the carbonate ion in response to the position of calcium.
Major Depression Associated With Widowhood.

The authors look at the frequency of depressive symptoms and syndromes associated with spousal bereavement in late life and assess both the course and associated morbidity of those syndromes over a 2-year period. The prevalence of major depressive syndromes ranges from 24% 2 months after the spouse's death to 14% at 25 months. Major depression was associated with poor role functioning, interpersonal difficulties, poor medical health, and increased medical treatment. Risk factors for continuing major depression 25 months after the death of a spouse include, in descending order of importance, early post-bereavement depressive syndromes, intensity of early depressive symptoms, family history of depression, alcohol consumption, medical health, and suddenness of the death.
U.S. Trade In Goods With Latin America (2001-2010): Trends And Perspectives

Between 2001 and 2010, U.S. trade in goods with Latin America grew at an unprecedented 7.04% per year. However, during these years, mostly as a consequence of the rapid growth of trade between China and Latin America, the relative importance of the U.S. as a trading partner of Latin America declined significantly. Projections indicate that, although trade between the U.S. and Latin America will grow, this decline is very likely to continue, thereby contributing to the erosion of U.S. influence on this region of the world.