cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Obstetric anesthesia risk: a review of recent literature

At every annual meeting, a member of the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) delivers a talk summarizing important literature published during the preceding calendar year. For the 1993 meeting, I chose to discuss some topics that relate to obstetric anesthesia risk. An audience computer interactive system (IRIS) was available during the conference which allowed speakers to pose questions with multiple choice answers to the audience. The audience responded to the questions by pushing a button on a key pad at their seat. The results of the audience survey were then rapidly tabulated and presented. This system was used during this presentation, and the audience responses are included in this report.
The sociality of nesting in Rüppell's Weaver Ploceus galbula and the Lesser Masked Weaver Ploceus intermedius in an Ethiopian acacia woodland

Ruppell's Weaver Ploceus galbula and the Lesser Masked Weaver Ploceus intermedius nest prominently in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia. In both species the sociality or degree of aggregation of their nesting is varied. Ruppell's Weaver can nest singly or in small clusters, or in association with the Lesser Masked Weaver, which itself can nest in loose aggregations or bustling colonies. This variation suggests a continuum of nesting sociality in weavers, from solitary nesting through associative and gregarious nesting to full coloniality.
Collection and Measurement of Gases Produced During In Vitro Fermentation

Abstract A technique is described for collection and measurement of carbon dioxide and methane produced by in vitro fermentations. The method involves use of a syringe for measuring the gas production rate and a combustion train with sodium hydroxide traps for the quantitative absorption of the gases for titration and isotopic or other analyses.
A docking score function for estimating ligand-protein interactions: application to acetylcholinesterase inhibition.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition is an important research topic because of its wide range of associated health implications. A receptor-specific scoring function was developed herein for predicting binding affinities for human AChE (huAChE) inhibitors. This method entails a statistically trained weighted sum of electrostatic and van der Waals (VDW) interactions between ligands and the receptor residues. Within the 53 ligand training set, a strong correlation was found (R2 = 0.89) between computed and experimental inhibition constants. Leave-one-out cross-validation indicated high predictive power (Q2 = 0.72), and analysis of a separate 16-compound test set also produced very good correlation with experiment (R2 = 0.69). Scoring function analysis has permitted identification and characterization of important ligand−receptor interactions, producing a list of those residues making the most important electrostatic and VDW contributions within the main active site, gorge area, acyl binding pocket, and pe...
Application of Radio Control Cars as Intelligent Unmanned Ground Vehicles with Collaborative and Independent Behavior

Simple radio control cars commonly sold as toys can provide a viable starting platform for the development of low-cost intelligent Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) for the study of robot collectives. In a collaborative effort, Sandia National Labs and New Mexico Tech have successfully demonstrated proof-of-concept by utilizing low-cost radio control cars manufactured by Nikko. Initial tests have involved using a small number (two to ten) of these UGVs to successfully demonstrate both collaborative and independent behavior simultaneously. In the tests individuals share their locations with the collective to cover an area, thus demonstrating collaborative behavior. Independent behavior is demonstrated as each member of the collective maintains a desired compass heading while simultaneously avoiding obstacles in its path. These UGVs are powered by high-capacity rechargeable batteries and equipped with a custom-designed microcontroller board with a stackable modular interface and wireless communication. The initial modular sensor configuration includes a digital compass and GPS unit for navigation as well as ultrasonic sensors for obstacle avoidance. This paper describes the design and operations of these UGVs, their possible uses, and the advantages of using a radio control car platform as a low-cost starting point for the development of intelligent UGV collectives.
An empirical analysis of the U.S. Senate vote on NAFTA and GATT

This paper examines the determinants of the voting behavior of the U.S. Senate on the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Public choice theory suggests that the voting behavior of senators is influenced by constituent interests, special interest politics, and their ideology. This paper uses probit analysis to test the significance of the above factors. The results indicate that constituent economic interests and special interest money were significant determinants of the Senate voting on the North American Free Trade Agreement but not on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Staining of fresh epiphyseal cartilage with toluidine blue. Demonstration of previously unreported intracellular beta- and gamma-metachromatic granules.

Staining of fresh, unfrozen sections of rat tibia in 0.01% toluidine blue at pH 4.5 revealed the presence of large β-metachromatic granules in the cells of the proliferative zone, small γ-metachromatic granules in the cells of the hypertrophic zone, and both types in cells of intermediate size in the maturing zone. The matrix of the reserve zone stained with toluidine blue; the matrix of the proliferative and upper hypertrophic zone was not stained, but staining appeared again in the lower hypertrophic (calcifying) zone and in the cartilage cores of the metaphyseal trabeculae. Similar but more erratic results were obtained with frozen sections of Carnoy-fixed, gelatin-embedded specimens. These results could not be obtained with simple frozen section techniques or ordinary histological processing, which disrupt the intracellular granules and alter the state of combination of the protein-polysaccharides of the matrix. The results support the concept that a change in the nature of the mucopolysaccharide-containing components is one of the factors involved in the change from non-calcifiable to calcifiable cartilage matrix.
Islam and sexuality

This issue of Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture grew out of a conference on Islam and Sexuality organized by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Cultur...
Congenital testicular deficiency. I. Absence of spermatogonia, Sertoli and Leydig cells as a cause of eunuchoidism with cryptorchidism.

DEVELOPMENTAL and constitutional factors are among those most frequently considered in the evaluation of male hypogonadism of obscure origin. The concept of constitutional factors as a cause of primary gonadal deficiency is vague, ill defined, and not readily documented. By contrast, developmental defects as a cause of sex gland incompetence can usually be recognized without much difficulty. This applies not only to the grossly recognizable rare cases of gonadal agenesis but also to those instances requiring histopathologic analysis of the testis. The object of the present communication is to report an instance of eunuchoidism due to a congenital testicular defect and to draw attention to the histologic criteria for its recognition despite the presence of cryptorchidism. CASE REPORT The patient was a 23-year-old native of Puerto Rico who came to the United States three years previously. He was one of 11 siblings, 4 of whom were females, whose ages ranged between 11 and 30 years. One brother, 26 years of a...
Quality of life concerns in patients with breast cancer: evidence for disparity of outcomes and experiences in pain management and palliative care among African-American women.

BACKGROUND. African-American women are at higher risk for breast cancer mortality compared with their white counterparts. Furthermore, African-American women present for diagnosis and treatment later in the disease process. It may be expected that this greater disease burden would impose more symptoms compared with women who present with earlier stage disease. However, the effect of breast cancer on the quality of life of African-American women largely has been unexplored. METHODS. A qualitative literature review was conducted to identify racial disparities in the palliative care of patients with cancer and their impact on quality of life for African-American women. A Medline search was done encompassing the years between 1985 and 2000 and included the following search terms: breast cancer, palliative care, pain management, quality of life, health care disparities, and African Americans. Relevant articles were read and summarized for inclusion in this review. RESULTS. Differences in treatment patterns, pain management, and the use of hospice care exist between African-American women and women in other ethnic groups. Explanations for these differences have not been researched well. In addition, the emotional, social, and other aspects of quality of life for African-American women with breast cancer are not well understood, in part due to the absence of a standardized quality-of-life measure. CONCLUSIONS. Physicians and other health care providers must be educated better about pain management and hospice care and, in turn, must inform their patients better about these issues. Physicians' and researchers' considerations of the influence of race and ethnicity on quality of life are critical. Furthermore, future research should be focused on the establishment of a standardized measure for quality of life that better encompasses its social, spiritual, and emotional aspects. Quality-of-life measures should be incorporated into routine health surveillance mechanisms, with an increased emphasis on minority and other under-served populations.
Observations on the metabolism of Dirofilaria uniformis

Abstract 1. 1. Survival and metabolic rates of Dirofilaria uniformis were much lower in Earle's saline or in the chemically defined medium NCTC 109 than in the same media supplemented with 10% rabbit serum. 2. 2. Both males and females utilized considerable amounts of gluccse and produced large amounts of lactic acid, the lactic acid on an average accounting for nearly all the sugar consumed. 3. 3. Limited search for metabolites other than lactic acid did not reveal the excretion of either non-volatile acids other than lactic acid or volatile acids. 4. 4. The male series gave somewhat more variable results than the series with female worms. 5. 5. Female worms stored initially relatively small amounts of alkali-stable polysaccharides and it is possible that some variations in the glucose/lactic acid ratios may be due to synthesis or consumption of endogenous polysaccharide stores.
A simple procedure for rapid separation of enzymes and lectin from other cellular metabolites

Abstract An application of gel chromatography for rapid separation of heterogenous protein from other cellular constituents is described. Crude plant extracts were passed through a Sephadex® column and the resulting protein fraction immediately used for enzyme studies. The fraction was free of contaminants which frequently interfere with assays. Simple and rapid separation of a plant lectin was also demonstrated.
Soluble alkyl substituted polygermanes: Thermochromic behavior

Abstract : We have prepared a number of high molecular weight, soluble, symmetrical dialkyl substituted germanium homopolymers and germanium-silicon copolymers. In solution, the absorption of the homopolymers was approx. 20 nm red shifted from the corresponding silicon derivatives. That was somewhat unexpected based on theoretical predictions and has been rationalized on the basis of conformational arguments. In the solid state, samples of poly(di-n-hexylgermane) and poly(di-n-octylgermane) are strongly thermochromic. The effect is attributed to the conformational locking of the backbone which is caused by the crystallization of the side groups. In this regard, the germanium derivatives behave similarly to the corresponding silicon polymers and the convergence of the long wavelength absorptions for both types of polymers is consistent with theoretical predictions. The germanium-silicon copolymers are also strongly thermochromic, but the long wavelength absorption is somewhat blue shifted (8 nm) from the respective homopolymers. As expected, the new germanium homo and copolymers are quite sensitive to light and readily undergo chain scission to produce lower molecular weight materials.
An experimental-analytical hybrid model for the elasto-plastic stresses at a crack

Abstract The primary obstacle preventing the analytical determination of physically sensible stresses at a crack tip is the presence of a mathematical singularity there. This singularity is best known in its elastic form; however it persists even in elasto-plastic crack-tip stresses. To overcome the difficulty we adopt the following strategy: we attempt to capture initial elastic stresses experimentally, than track subsequent elasto-plastic stress distributions analytically. We infer a finite stress at a crack tip from the experimental behaviour of cracked specimens at fracture when the specimens are made of a truly brittle material. Given a size-independent result, we argue that the crack-tip stress at fracture must equal the ultimate stress for such a material; thus dividing by the applied stress at the same point gives a measure of the stress concentration factor, K T . The approach is checked for size independence and against hole configurations with known theoretical, yet physically reasonable, K T . Then the effective experimental K T are taken as inputs for the second phase of the study in which we model the crack as being a smooth notch having the same stress concentration factor as found experimentally. In this way our configuration initially shares the same stresses at the crack tip as we inferred physically. Next we track effects of incremental plastic flow on a set of finite element grids. Satisfactory resolution in return for modest computational effort is obtained by employing a substructuring method. The accuracy in both the elastic and the elasto-plastic regime is checked against trial problems with exact solutions. Thereafter, physically interpretable stress distributions ahead of the crack are determined for a range of materials and for varying load levels.
Volume Bragg grating stabilized spectrally narrow Tm fiber laser

A Tm-doped large mode area (LMA) silica fiber laser has been locked to a stable wavelength of 2053.9 nm using a volume Bragg grating (VBG). The measured spectral width of the laser output was <300 pm, limited by the spectrometer resolution. Although this laser had modest output (~5W) and slope efficiency (41%), this new approach to spectrally limiting the output of LMA fiber lasers is inherently extendable to kilowatt powers, opening up several applications including high-power pulsed fiber lasers and spectral beam combining. Performance characteristics of the laser compared to one using a dielectric mirror as a high reflector are described, and the results imply low VBG losses.
Xlcaax-1 is localized to the basolateral membrane of kidney tubule and other polarized epithelia during Xenopus development

Xlcaax-1 is a novel, maternally expressed, 110-kDa, CAAX box containing protein that undergoes isoprenylation and palmitoylation through which it associates with the plasma membrane. We report here the cellular and subcellular localization of the xlcaax-1 protein during development of Xenopus laevis. Whole-mount immunocytochemistry and immunoperoxidase staining of tissue sections show that during development the xlcaax-1 protein accumulation is coincident with the differentiation of the epidermis, pronephros, and mesonephros. In the pronephros and mesonephros the xlcaax-1 protein is localized to the basolateral membrane of differentiated tubule epithelial cells. Thus, the xlcaax-1 protein serves as a marker for tubule formation and polarization during Xenopus kidney development. Xlcaax-1 may also be used as a marker for the functional differentiation of the epidermis and the epidermally derived portions of the lens and some cranial nerves. Western blot analysis shows that in the adult the xlcaax-1 protein is most abundant in kidney. Immunogold EM analysis shows that the xlcaax-1 protein is highly enriched in the basal infoldings of the basolateral membrane of the epithelial cells in adult kidney distal tubules. In addition, immunoperoxidase staining of tissue sections detected low levels of xlcaax-1 protein in the epithelial cells of skin, urinary bladder, gall bladder, and parietal glands of the stomach. The localization pattern of xlcaax-1 suggests that the protein may function in association with an ion transport channel or pump.
Use of genetics for personalized management of heritable thoracic aortic disease: How do we get there?

The major diseases affecting the thoracic aorta are aortic aneurysms and acute aortic dissections. Medical treatments can slow the enlargement of aneurysms, but the mainstay of treatment to prevent premature death resulting from dissection is surgical repair of the thoracic aortic aneurysm, which is typically recommended when the aortic diameter reaches 5.0 to 5.5 cm. Studies of patients with acute aortic dissections, however, indicate that as many as 60% of dissections occur at aortic diameters smaller than 5.5 cm. Clinical predictors are therefore needed to distinguish those at risk for dissection at an aortic diameter smaller than 5.0 cm and to determine the aortic diameter that justifies the risk of surgical repair to prevent an acute aortic dissection. Data from genetic studies during the past decade have established that mutations in specific genes can distinguish patients at risk for the disease and predict the risk of early dissection at diameters smaller than 5.0 cm. This information has the potential to optimize the timing of aortic surgery to prevent acute dissections.
International Trade and Devaluation of the Dollar, 1932–1934

I. Effects of devaluation contrasted with influence of other forces, 416.— Changes in total trade following devaluation of the dollar, 417.— Relations between price and quantity changes for individual commodities, 419.— II. "Ideal" prices (compensatory solely for currency changes) contrasted with recorded prices, 423.—Classification of changes in prevailing prices, 424.— Causal factors accounting for failure of recorded prices to reflect realization of effects of devaluation, 425.— III. Conclusion, 434.
The Construct and Concurrent Validity of Two College-Level Academic Self-Concept Scales for a Sample of Primarily Hispanic Community College Students:

The scores of a community college sample of 202 students (102 females and 100 males) primarily of Hispanic background provided the means for determining (a) the correlations of each of five factor subscales of a research form of the Dimensions of Self-Concept (DOSC) measure derived from a psychological theory of academic self-concept with the Total Score of the Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS) intended to measure general academic self-concept and (b) the empirical factor structure of each instrument. It was concluded that the DOSC is a multidimensional academic self-concept measure whereas the ASCS is essentially unidimensional and therefore that the two measures reflect not altogether similar constructs. The Level of Aspiration subscale shows considerable promise as a potentially valid predictor of college achievement, as it exhibited among all five DOSC subscales the highest degree of concurrent validity with self-report measures of academic success.
The Nodes at the Reduction Division in Bivalents of Hyacinthus

IN the grasshoppers and some other animals, nodes have been demonstrated in the bivalents, at the late prophase, by Sutton, McClung, Robertson, Wenrich, Janssens, etc. One of the Orthoptera, Chortophaga sp., has eleven bivalents and one univalent (X chromosome) at the late prophase of the maturation divisions in the spermatocytes. These are well shown in ironacetocarmine preparations. The writer found that the six largest bivalents showed 28 cases with one node to 19 with two nodes. The smallest five bivalents had only one node each. At each node it was obvious, as had been previously demonstrated by others, that one chromatid from each homologue seemed to pass to the other side, while the other chromatid remained on the same side.
Country preferences, currency values and policy issues

Abstract The paper sketches an approach to exchange rate modeling that links currency values to the prospective income streams associated with claims on physical capital in different countries. This framework represents an alternative to general equilibrium models in which asset preferences are derived essentially from the use of different transactions currencies in different countries. The new framework provides perspectives on: the safe-haven phenomenon; the role for monetary policy and the debate over fixed versus flexible exchange rates; the effectiveness of exchange market intervention; and the dual nature of policies toward capital flows and policies toward tradable goods industries.
Prostaglandin E1 increases survival with extended anhepatic phase during liver transplantation.

Objective The authors investigated the intraoperative treatment effects of Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) for extension of the anhepatic phase and improvement of survival in a rat liver transplant model. Background Cross-clamping the inferior vena cava and the portal vein during liver transplantation causes severe pathophysiologic changes during surgery. The time of the anhepatic phase is strictly limited and results in a very tenuous period during the liver transplant operation. Methods Prostaglandin E1 was infused at 0.5 microgram/kg/min into five subgroups of rats with 20, 30, 40, 60, and 80 minutes of anhepatic phase during transplantation. Bile secretion, serum aspartate transaminase (AST), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and blood gas analysis were studied in the 30-minute subgroup. The results were compared with the sham-operated and control groups. Results Intraoperative treatment with PGE1 extended the maximal anhepatic phase from 30 minutes in the sham-operated group up to 80 minutes, and increased survival. Significant changes in the PGE1 treated rats in the 30-minute subgroup included an increase of bile flow and bile salt output and decrease of AST and LDH activities after surgery. Blood gas analysis showed a decrease in acidosis and hypercarbia at the end of the anhepatic phase. Conclusions The PGE1 treatment increased survival with extended anhepatic phase during rat liver transplantation. The beneficial effects can be attributed to its biologic activities.
Decreased tolerance of hypothalamic hyperphagics to quinine in drinking water

Thirsty hypothalamic hyperphagic rats are less willing than normals to drink water containing quinine. This finding makes tenuous the inference, which has been made by other investigators, that hypothalamic hyperphagics’ unwillingness to eat quinine adulterated food implies that their hunger drive is low.
A Supervised Learning Approach to Uncertainty Decoding for Robust Speech Recognition

Recently several algorithms have been proposed to enhance noisy speech by estimating a binary mask that can be used to select those time-frequency regions of a noisy speech signal that contain more speech energy than noise energy. This binary mask encodes the uncertainty associated with enhanced speech in the linear spectral domain. The use of the cepstral transformation leads to a smearing of this uncertainty. We propose a supervised approach to learn the non linear transformation of the uncertainty from the linear spectral domain to the cepstral domain. This uncertainty is used by a decoder that exploits the variance associated with the enhanced cepstral features to improve robust speech recognition. Systematic evaluations on a subset of the Aurora4 task using the estimated uncertainty shows substantial improvement over the baseline performance.
Prior knowledge and functionally relevant features in concept learning.

Empirical learning models have typically focused on statistical aspects of features (e.g., cue and category validity). In general, these models do not address the contact between people's prior knowledge that lies outside the category and their experiences of the category. A variety of extensions to these models are examined, which combine prior knowledge with empirical learning. Predictions of these models were compared in 4 experiments. These studies contrasted the cue and category validity of features with people's prior knowledge about the relevance of features to the functions of novel artifacts. The findings suggest that the influences of knowledge and experience are more tightly integrated than some models would predict. Furthermore, relatively straightforward ways of incorporating knowledge into an empirical learning algorithm appear insufficient (e.g., use of knowledge to weight features by general relevance or to individually weight features). Other extensions to these models are suggested that focus on the importance of intermediary features, coherence, and conceptual roles.
Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience

The category “experience” has played a cardinal role in modern studies of buddhism. Few scholars seem to question the notion that Buddhist monastic practice, particularly meditation, is intended first and foremost to inculcate specific religious or “mystical” experiences in the minds of practitioners. Accordingly, a wide variety of Buddhist technical terms pertaining to the “stages on the path” are subject to a phenomenological hermeneutic—they are interpreted as if they designated discrete “states of consciousness” experienced by historical individuals in the course of their meditative practice.
The effects of schistosomiasis on the cervix uteri in the African female.

Summary In a prospective study of 55 African patients in whom the cervix uteri was removed and examined, 12 showed definite evidence of bilharziasis and 9 of these had evidence of bilharziasis elsewhere on routine screening. The 12 patients who had bilharzial cervicitis were clinically analyzed in detail. Only rarely does cervical bilharziasis simulate cervical carcinoma, but it may give rise to suspicious abnormal vaginal bleeding. The need for careful biopsy of all suspicious cervical lesions in endemic areas is emphasized, and the value of anti-bilharzial treatment in proven cases, is stressed. In our experience, based on a series of 18 consecutive cases of cervical carcinoma, there is no correlation with cervical bilharziasis.
Managing the risk of covert information flows in virtual machine systems

Flexible mandatory access control (MAC) enforcement is now available for virtual machine systems. For example, the sHype MAC system for the Xen virtual machine monitor is part of the mainline Xen distribution. Such systems offer the isolation of VM systems with the flexible security of MAC enforcement. A problem is that such MAC VM systems will only be assured at modest levels (e.g., Common Criteria EAL4), so they may contain covert channels. Covert channels are often difficult to identify and harder to remove, so we propose an approach to manage possible covert leakage to enable verification of security guarantees. Typically, covert channels are outside of access control policies, but we propose an approach that includes both overt flows and covert flows to assess the possible risk of information leakage due to their combination. We define the concept of a risk flow policy that describes the authorized risks due to covert flows. In this paper, we evaluate the ability of four policy models to express risk flow policies. Further, we examine how such policies will be enforced in VM systems. We find that variants of the Chinese Wall model and Bell-LaPadula model have features necessary to express risk flow policies. Further, we find that such policies can be enforced in the context of sHype's Type Enforcement model.
Evaluation of environmental and plant-associated cues for nymphal settling preference by Trioza eugeniae

Experiments were conducted to determine potential cues used by nymphs when they select the preferred abaxial side of a leaf. Nymphs most frequently settle and develop on the abaxial side of leaves. The degree of preference for the abaxial side was found to be reduced when a high density of nymphs were present, however. The orientation of leaves in a completely darkened chamber did not influence settling preference for the abaxial side, even when leaves were oriented abaxial side up. Coating both sides of a leaf with an antitranspirant compound did not prevent nymphs from preferring the abaxial side for settling. Similar results were obtained when leaves were dipped in pentane. These studies show that nymphs do not use gravity, color, light, or contact chemoreception when selecting suitable settling sites on a leaf.
A Detergent-Based Assay for the Detection of Promiscuous Inhibitors

At micromolar concentrations, many small molecules self-associate into colloidal aggregates that non-specifically inhibit enzymes and other proteins. Here we describe a protocol for identifying aggregate-based inhibitors and distinguishing them from small molecules that inhibit via specific mechanisms. As a convenient proxy for promiscuous, aggregate-based inhibition, we monitor inhibition of beta-lactamase in the absence and presence of detergent. Inhibition that is attenuated in the presence of detergent is characteristic of an aggregate-based mechanism. In the 96-well-format assay described here, about 200 molecules can be tested, in duplicate, per hour for detergent-dependent sensitivity. Furthermore, we also describe simple experiments that can offer additional confirmation of aggregate-based inhibition.
Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and community structure on three co-occurring leguminous canopy tree species in a Neotropical rainforest

Summary • The ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis was historically considered restricted to the temperate zones, but recent studies have shown the importance of this symbiosis across the tropics. We examined ECM fungal diversity, host plant phylogeny and ECM host preferences in a rainforest dominated by the leguminous host plants Dicymbe corymbosa, Dicymbe altsonii and Aldina insignis. • Ectomycorrhizal fungi were identified by internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequencing and host species were verified with chloroplast trnL sequencing. To test whether Dicymbe and Aldina represent independent gains of the ECM symbiosis, we constructed a Fabaceae phylogeny using MatK and trnL. We identified four independent ECM lineages within the Fabaceae. • We detected a diverse community of 118 ECM species dominated by the ⁄ clavulina, ⁄ russula-lactarius, ⁄ boletus, and ⁄ tomentella-thelephora lineages. Ectomycorrhizal species in Agaricales, Atheliales and Polyporales may represent previously unrecognized tropical-endemic ECM lineages. Previous studies suggested that ECM fungi did not diversify in the tropics, but the ⁄ clavulina lineage appears to have a center of diversity in tropical South America. • Dicymbe and Aldina represent independent gains of the ECM symbiosis in Fabaceae but their fungal symbionts showed no host preferences. Spatial factors are more important than hosts in structuring the ECM fungal community in this ecosystem.
An Empirical Assessment of What We Know About Structural Covariates of Homicide Rates: A Return to a Classic 20 Years Later

As the 20-year mark since the publication of an article by Kenneth C. Land, Patricia L. McCall, and Lawrence Cohen, "Structural Covariates of Homicide Rates: Are There Any Invariances Across Time and Social Space?" approaches, the question that these scholars originally posed is raised again: Have researchers been able to identify a set of robust structural covariates that consistently predict crime rates? Subsequent to the publication of this piece, numerous scholars have replicated and extended its conceptual, methodological, and empirical work in various ways—with more than 500 citations to date. In response to this attention, the authors first review the advances made by the Land et al. article. This is followed by a review of findings from studies published over the past 20 years to determine which structural predictors identified in the Land et al. piece continue to be prominent in the study of homicide and which structural predictors have surfaced in recent years as influential to crime rates. Using data on U.S. cities for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000, the authors then present a systematic empirical assessment of the explanatory power of the covariates of homicide rates identified in the Land et al. study. Twenty years later, we find support for the claims of invariance established in Land et al. and acknowledge the contributions of this piece to the macrolevel study of homicide rates.
Maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters of discrete fractionally differenced Gaussian noise process

A maximum-likelihood estimation procedure is constructed for estimating the parameters of discrete fractionally differenced Gaussian noise from an observation set of finite size N. The procedure does not involve the computation of any matrix inverse or determinant. It requires N/sup 2//2+O(N) operations. The expected value of the loglikelihood function for estimating the parameter d of fractionally differenced Gaussian noise (which corresponds to a parameter of the equivalent continuous-time fractional Brownian motion related to its fractal dimension) is shown to have a unique maximum that occurs at the true value of d. A Cramer-Rao bound on the variance of any unbiased estimate of d obtained from a finite-sized observation set is derived. It is shown experimentally that the maximum-likelihood estimate of d is unbiased and efficient when finite-size data sets are used in the estimation procedure. The proposed procedure is extended to deal with noisy observations of discrete fractionally differenced Gaussian noise. >
Restoring the physical meaning of metamaterial constitutive parameters

Metamaterial homogenization is often based on implicit assumptions inspired by naturalmaterial models. However, retrieved permittivity and permeability frequently retain nonphysical values, especially near the metamaterial resonances where most interesting features are expected. We explain here the nature of typical homogenization artifacts, relating them to an inherent form of magnetoelectric coupling associated with the finite phase velocity along metamaterial arrays. Our findings allow restoring the proper definition and physical meaning of local constitutive parameters for metamaterials.
Profiles of Chicken Macrophage Effector Functions

In contrast to the mammalian system, avian species lack the so-called "resident" or "harvestable" macrophage population in the abdominal exudate. However, macrophages can be recruited into the chicken's abdominal cavity (presumably from the blood monocyte pool) if an inflammatory agent such as Sephadex is injected. The kinetics of inflammatory cell recruitment in terms of time, cell type, and state of activation to perform a particular effector function is currently an active area of research. This report will provide information on several chicken macrophage effector functions, including in vivo chemotaxis, phagocytosis, bacterial uptake and killing, biosynthesis of nitric oxide and various enzymes, and monokines such as interleukin-1 and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.
A testbed for analyzing security of SCADA control systems (TASSCS)

The critical infrastructures of our society are in the process of being modernized. Most significantly impacted are the industrial control systems through replacement of old electromechanical systems with advanced computing and communication technologies. This modernization has introduced new vulnerabilities to those infrastructures. Securing critical infrastructures is a challenging research problem, as these control systems were not designed with security in mind. This paper presents a testbed designed to study and simulate the various available techniques for securing and protecting Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems against a wide range of cyber attacks. The testbed is also used to evaluate the detection rate, false alerts and effectiveness of the protection techniques. We present preliminary results on using the testbed to detect a selected set of cyber attacks and the impact of the protection techniques on the operations of the system.
Reticulated black solar lentigo ('ink spot' lentigo).

• Background and Design.— Pigmented lesions that are black and have an irregular outline are often considered suspicious for melanoma; however, these features may be seen in benign lesions. The reticulated black solar lentigo is such a lesion and is described in a clinicopathologic study of nine lesions in eight patients. Results.— The "ink spot" lentigo is distinguished clinically by its color and wiry or beaded, markedly irregular outline. It has a reticulated pattern and most resembles a spot of ink on the skin. In this series of patients, the lesions were limited to sun-exposed areas of the body and had a distribution pattern similar to that of solar lentigines. Although all the patients were of Celtic ancestry and had numerous solar lentigines, they usually had only one black lentigo (range, one to four; mean, 1.6; median, one). Histologic evaluation, including electron microscopy and dopa-incubated vertical sections, demonstrated lentiginous hyperplasia of the epidermis, marked hyperpigmentation of the basal layer with "skip" areas that involved the rete ridges, and a minimal increase in the number of melanocytes. Conclusions.— Because of their dark color, irregular border, and limited number, reticulated black solar lentigines were of concern to patients and primary care physicians. However, the characteristic features of these lesions allow one to make the clinical diagnosis of a benign lentigo. (Arch Dermatol.1992;128:934-940)
Inhibitory Action of Fatty Acids on the Growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Fatty acids of various chain lengths (C1 to C24) were examined for their effects on growth, oxygen consumption, and in vitro reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase activity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae CS-7. The growth inhibition caused by saturated fatty acids increased with increasing chain length to a maximum with palmitic acid (C16). Stearic acid (C18) and longer saturated fatty acids showed little inhibition of growth. However, unsaturated fatty acids of chain length C16 to C20 were inhibitory. Similar inhibition was observed with Bacillus subtilis and a deep rough mutant of Salmonella typhimurium. Wildtype S. typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were more resistant to medium-chain (C7 to C10) fatty acids and completely resistant to long-chain (C12 to C18) fatty acids. Thus, sensitivity of N. gonorrhoeae to long-chain fatty acids appears to be related to the permeability of the outer membrane. Growth inhibition by short-chain (C1 to C6) fatty acids was pH dependent; inhibition of growth increased with decreasing pH. Saturated fatty acids inhibited oxygen consumption by log-phase cells of N. gonorrhoeae. This inhibition increased with increasing chain length to a maximum observed with myristic acid (C14). Whereas stearic acid (C18) had little effect upon oxygen consumption, unsaturated C18 fatty acids were inhibitory. An in vitro inhibition of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase activity by saturated (C1 to C12) and unsaturated (C16 to C20) fatty acids was also observed. Although the inhibitory concentrations were generally higher than those required to inhibit growth or oxygen consumption, an inhibition of electron transport may be partially responsible for the observed growth inhibition.
Intensity, Chronicity, Circumstances, and Consequences of HIV-Related Fatigue: A Longitudinal Study

HIV-related fatigue remains the most troubling complaint of seropositive people. Researchers often use tools to measure fatigue that were developed for other patient populations; thus, the measurement of fatigue specific to HIV is needed. This article describes results from the HIV-Related Fatigue Scale (HRFS) including: (a) the variability in intensity and chronicity of HIV-related fatigue, (b) the circumstances surrounding changes in fatigue, (c) the impact of fatigue on activities of daily living (ADLs), and (d) the consequences of HIV-related fatigue. We collected data every 3 months over a 3-year period from 128 people. HIV-related fatigue was chronic and did not appear to remit spontaneously; those who were the most fatigued at the beginning of the study remained the most fatigued over 3 years. Fatigue interfered more with instrumental activities of daily living than basic ADLs; it also interfered with work, family, and social life. Stress and depression increased fatigue.
On the response policy of software decoys: Conducting software-based deception in the cyber battlespace

Intelligent software decoys employ deception techniques to maintain the interaction between themselves and calling processes or threads that violate the contracts of the software components that the decoys defend. The software decoy's goal is to learn about the nature of such interactions before either terminating the interaction or treating the calling process or thread as a cyber combatant. Software components can be wrapped at any level of abstraction, from web applets to operating system calls. It is foreseeable that the decoying actions, termination of interaction, or counterattack by the decoy could in some way violate the law of armed conflict. In this paper we examine the response policy of software decoys in terms of discrimination, necessity, proportionality, and chivalry on the cyber battlefield.
Insulin sensitive and resistant obesity in humans: AMPK activity, oxidative stress, and depot-specific changes in gene expression in adipose tissue

We previously reported that adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity is lower in adipose tissue of morbidly obese individuals who are insulin resistant than in comparably obese people who are insulin sensitive. However, the number of patients and parameters studied were small. Here, we compared abdominal subcutaneous, epiploic, and omental fat from 16 morbidly obese individuals classified as insulin sensitive or insulin resistant based on the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance. We confirmed that AMPK activity is diminished in the insulin resistant group. A custom PCR array revealed increases in mRNA levels of a wide variety of genes associated with inflammation and decreases in PGC-1α and Nampt in omental fat of the insulin resistant group. In contrast, subcutaneous abdominal fat of the same patients showed increases in PTP-1b, VEGFa, IFNγ, PAI-1, and NOS-2 not observed in omental fat. Only angiotensinogen and CD4+ mRNA levels were increased in both depots. Surprisingly, TNFα was only increased in epiploic fat, which otherwise showed very few changes. Protein carbonyl levels, a measure of oxidative stress, were increased in all depots. Thus, adipose tissues of markedly obese insulin resistant individuals uniformly show decreased AMPK activity and increased oxidative stress compared with insulin sensitive patients. However, most changes in gene expression appear to be depot-specific.
Supermembranes, Superstrings, and Supergravity

A fundamental problem in particle physics concerns the structure of elementary particles: whether they are pointlike or extended objects. Lorentz [1] already considered relativistic models for an extended electron, but his description was not Lorentz invariant, and contrary to what is done in modern string theory, the boundaries of his objects did not propagate with the speed of light. Dirac [2] considered a shell-like electron with a surface charge whose action is the sum of the Maxwell action outside the shell, plus a Nambu-Goto area term for the shell. The repulsive electric forces counterbalance the attractive surface tension, and one can compute the quantum mechanical energy levels, choosing the strength of the surface tension such that the lowest state is the electron mass. Of course, the size of this electron is far too large. His action was Lorentz invariant, but it did not contain the notion of spin (it did, however, predict a muon as an excited state of the electron, with a mass of 53m e ).
Motivating Women With Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence

Social workers working in substance abuse settings often find that their clients are also survivors of intimate partner violence. This article uses the conceptual frameworks of the transtheoretical model of behavior change and associated motivational interviewing techniques to enhance practitioners' ability to intervene with women in a holistic manner. We describe specific strategies to increase clients' motivation and offer specific skills to address abusive relationships. We finish with a case example.
Integrating Water Quality Modeling with GIS to Determine Management Strategies: A Study of Fort Gordon, GA

Land managers of the Fort Gordon military installation in Augusta, GA were in need of a tool which would predict the effects to water quality produced by changes in land use as well as predict impacts of existing land use condition to the quality of water on and leaving the installation. Over the past ten years many studies have evolved which provided differing levels of integration between water quality models and geographic information systems software. The Hydrologic Unit Water Quality Tool is a software package developed by NRCS employees in Ft. Collins, Colorado, which provides an intermediate integration between AGNPS and GRASS. The overall purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of this software as an aide in modeling water quality for Fort Gordon.
Emergency Department Therapy of Acute Heart Failure

Acute heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Most patients present with dyspnea as their predominant symptom, and the emergency department therapy is largely directed toward the alleviation of this. Management is rapidly evolving from an approach that is focused largely on diuresis to one that responds more directly to the complex interplay of underlying disease and acute precipitant. To do this effectively, acute care providers must appreciate the existence of divergent patient profiles and understand various therapeutic options for targeted patient stabilization. This chapter will provide the basics of such an approach, with a focus on treatment options to reduce preload, afterload, and work of breathing.
Section 8 Renters in the Phoenix, Arizona, Foreclosure Crisis: Implications for Poverty Deconcentration

AbstractHow the recent U.S. foreclosure crisis affected federal housing mobility programs has not been well studied. This article explores the crisis’s impact on low-income renters receiving Section 8 vouchers in Phoenix, Arizona. We find that (a) 8% of voucher holders lived in homes that underwent foreclosure, (b) they were in comparably affluent neighborhoods, and (c) most eventually moved after foreclosure. Yet, those who moved after foreclosure were not overtly disadvantaged in the housing market. This unexpected finding may be explained by the opening up of new housing opportunities for voucher holders as foreclosures in more affluent areas were converted to rentals. Overall, this research suggests that the foreclosure crisis did not adversely affect the Section 8 program’s goal of deconcentrating poverty in Phoenix and may have even advanced it—a dynamic potentially occurring in other formerly booming and economically distressed Sunbelt regions.