cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bimodal character of polyester–solvent interactions. II. Evaluation of the chemical structures of the aromatic and aliphatic ester residues of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

The chemical structures of the aromatic (A) and the aliphatic ester (B) residues of poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, are evaluated from a comparison of their Hansen solubility parameters, as determined experimentally, and with those calculated for the various residues of PET. From such a comparison it is proposed that the structures of residues A and B are best represented by “hybrid” structures which may be taken as linear combinations of two or more structures rather than by single chemical structures. That is, the 1,4-carbonyl group which separates the benzene ring of the aromatic residue and the ethylene group of the aliphatic ester residue effectively acts as a common plane between the two residues and is “shared” by the benzene ring and the ethylene glycol group. It is proposed that the extent to which the 1,4-carbonyl group is “shared” by residues A and B is 0.33 and 0.67, respectively, which is consistent with the most probable molecular conformation of the 1,4-benzenoid residue of PET as calculated from the data of Tonelli23 and Daunbeny et al.21 and which gives support to the view that the bond connecting the benzene ring and the carbonyl group is not rigid, but free to rotate as proposed earlier by Flory27 and by Tonelli23
Severe asthma: advances in current management and future therapy.

Effective treatment of severe asthma is a major unmet need because patients' symptoms are not controlled on maximum treatment with inhaled therapy. Asthma symptoms can be poorly controlled because of poor adherence to controller therapy, and this might be addressed by using combination inhalers that contain a corticosteroid and long-acting β2-agonist as reliever therapy in addition to maintenance treatment. New bronchodilators with a longer duration of action are in development, and recent studies have demonstrated the benefit of a long-acting anticholinergic bronchodilator in addition to β2-agonists in patients with severe asthma. Anti-IgE therapy is beneficial in selected patients with severe asthma. Several new blockers of specific mediators, including prostaglandin D2, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13, are also in clinical trials and might benefit patients with subtypes of severe asthma. Several broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory therapies that target neutrophilic inflammation are in clinical development for the treatment of severe asthma, but adverse effects after oral administration might necessitate inhaled delivery. Macrolides might benefit some patients with infection by atypical bacteria, but recent results are not encouraging, although there could be an effect in patients with predominant neutrophilic asthma. Corticosteroid resistance is a major problem in patients with severe asthma, and several molecular mechanisms have been described that might lead to novel therapeutic approaches, including drugs that could reverse this resistance, such as theophylline and nortriptyline. In selected patients with severe asthma, bronchial thermoplasty might be beneficial, but thus far, clinical studies have not been encouraging. Finally, several subtypes of severe asthma are now recognized, and in the future, it will be necessary to find biomarkers that predict responses to specific forms of therapy.
Visual outcome after surgery for Peters' anomaly

The authors reviewed the charts of 22 patients with Peters' anomaly. Various surgical procedures were performed on 30 eyes of 18 patients (mean number of procedures = 3.3 per eye). Follow-up averaged six years. Visual acuity varied widely, with six eyes having an acuity of 20/400 or better, and 11 eyes with no light perception. Concomitant or secondary glaucoma required a greater number of surgical procedures (4.1 vs 3.4) per eye and was associated with a poorer visual outcome. No eyes with glaucoma had visual acuity better than 20/400. In bilaterally operated patients, visual results in one eye were independent of the outcome of the fellow eye. The range of visual acuity in bilaterally operated patients was similar to the vision in those operated unilaterally.Visual outcome in patients with Peters' anomaly remains guarded. With modern surgical techniques and aggressive attempts at visual rehabilitation, many patients may benefit from surgery. Some patients may have moderately good visual acuity for month...
Paying the Way: The Ticket to Gender Equality in Sports

Past research shows that consumers tend to equate higher prices with higher value. However, it remains unclear whether consumers of athletic events follow the predictions of equity theory when attributing value to particular teams. We conducted 3 studies to investigate the existence and consequences of a disparity between men's and women's college basketball ticket prices. In Study 1, a survey of 303 NCAA Division I programs demonstrated that the gender of a basketball team is a primary indicator of the price of a ticket, such that women's tickets are significantly less expensive than men's tickets nationwide, even after controlling for a number of contextual factors (e.g., win–loss records, size of the schools). Consistent with equity theory, Studies 2 and 3 revealed that such a price disparity can result in lower evaluation of women's teams than men's. These findings indicate a need to consider the costs and benefits of maintaining differences in ticket prices within a context of gender inequity.
Differential Expression of p16INK4a in Azoxymethane-Induced Mouse Colon Tumorigenesis

Alterations in the p16(INK4a) gene have been implicated in the pathogenesis of different human cancers and animal tumors. We postulated that alterations in the p16(INK4a) gene may also be involved in mouse colon tumorigenesis induced by the chemical carcinogen azoxymethane (AOM). In the present study, p16(INK4a) deletion status and its expression were examined in an AOM-induced mouse colon tumor model. Polymerase chain reaction-based deletion analysis of p16(INK4a) exon 2 showed no deletions in the colon tumors. The expression and localization of p16(INK4a) and its gene product were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analyses, respectively. The p16(INK4a) mRNA levels were low, and in some cases undetectable, in control colon tissue. However, colon tumors exhibited an eightfold increase in p16(INK4a) mRNA level when compared with control colon tissue (P < 0.01). Whereas control colon epithelium was uniformly negative for p16(INK4a) immunoreactivity, p16(INK4a)-immunoreactive cells were markedly increased in preneoplastic lesions and adenomas isolated from AOM-treated mice. To further examine the p16(INK4a) regulatory pathway, the retinoblastoma tumor-suppressor protein (Rb) was also examined immunohistochemically in these tissues. A heterogeneous Rb immunostaining was observed in preneoplastic lesions and adenomas. Immunohistochemical analysis also showed a reciprocal relationship between p16(INK4a) and Rb protein expression. These findings suggest that alterations in the p16(INK4a)/Rb pathway may play an important role in AOM-induced mouse colon tumorigenesis. Mol. Carcinog. 28:139-147, 2000.
A class of robust stepwise alternatives to Hotelling's T 2 tests

Hotelling's T 2 test is known to be optimal under multivariate normality and is reasonably validity-robust when the assumption fails. However, some recently introduced robust test procedures have superior power properties and reasonable type I error control with non-normal populations. These, including the tests due to Tiku & Singh (1982), Tiku & Balakrishnan (1988) and Mudholkar & Srivastava (1999b, c), are asymptotically valid but are useful with moderate size samples only if the population dimension is small. A class of B-optimal modifications of the stepwise alternatives to Hotellings T 2 introduced by Mudholkar & Subbaiah (1980) are simple to implement and essentially equivalent to the T 2 test even with small samples. In this paper we construct and study the robust versions of these modified stepwise tests using trimmed means instead of sample means. We use the robust one- and two-sample trimmed- t procedures as in Mudholkar et al. (1991) and propose statistics based on combining them. The results o...
Multiple factor interactions in biomimetic mineralization of electrospun scaffolds

Abstract One of the major limitations in scaffold-based bone tissue engineering has been the inability to increase the loading of biologically active inorganic mineral. The present study introduces a novel two step strategy to increase overall mineral content of electrospun scaffolds and employs multiple factor interaction as a statistic to identify the combination of factors that yields maximal scaffold mineralization. Different amounts of nHA (0, 10, 25 and 50% by wt. of polymer) were electrospun in combination with polydioxanone (PDO) or poly(glycolide: lactide) to generate composite scaffolds. Successful incorporation of nHA within, on and in between nanofibers was confirmed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. These scaffolds were immersed in different types (conventional, revised, ionic and modified) of simulated body fluid (SBF), prepared at 1× and 4× concentrations and the incubation was carried out either in static or dynamic setting at biomimetic conditions. At 2 weeks, the total amount of mineral within the scaffold was quantified using a modified Alizarin Red-based assay. Each of the five independent factors was analyzed independently and tested for interaction using random effects ANOVA. Statistics revealed significant higher order interactions among factors and the combination of PDO containing 50% nHA incubated in 1× revised SBF resulted in maximum mineralization.
On kinetic friction between unlubricated metallic surfaces

Abstract A theory of friction between unlubricated metallic surfaces in sliding contact is proposed. For sliding conditions for which “hot” or “cold” welding of asperities is possible, the present weldjunction theory leads to a simple formulation of the coefficient of friction under idealized conditions. This result differs from that of Boeden and Tabor 3 in that the coefficient of friction is found as the ratio of the shear strength to the yield pressure multiplied by a factor in which additional effects of load, relative velocity, temperature, and other physical properties appear. In arriving at this factor, the process of welding and fracturing of surface asperities is postulated to be a unimolecular reaction.
Security Versus Liberty in the Context of Counterterrorism: An Experimental Approach

A critical question in counterterrorism studies concerns the extent to which governments adequately balance the continual provision of individual rights and freedoms with the appropriate level of national security when faced with a terrorist attack. We experimentally assess this tradeoff utilizing a 2 × 2 × 2 between-groups factorial design, manipulating (a) the extent of terror-related threats, (b) the level of invasiveness of subsequent counterterrorism policies, as well as (c) the terror context: transnational and domestic. The results provide evidence that the public is more willing to accept greater reductions in civil liberties under a greater threat of terrorism only when the perceived effectiveness of those policies to prevent future acts of terrorism is high. Furthermore, we find these results to be specific to the context of a transnational terror threat. This suggests that the public will be unwilling to accept reductions in civil liberties when the source of the attack is domestic, regardless ...
FIBROBLAST CULTURES IN DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Primary skin fibroblast cultures were grown from forearm pinch skin biopsies obtained from 24 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and ten normal controls matched for sex and age. The first subcultures were grown for 7 days and incubated with L-(3H)-proline for 24 hours. Intracellular collagen incorporation was significantly decreased (2.2 ×) and extracellular collagen incorporation significantly increased (1.8 ×) in fibroblast cultures from patients with DMD by both collagenase assay and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The synthesis of noncollagen proteins showed low values from the DMD fibroblast cultures. The alterations in synthesis and secretion of collagen and noncollagen proteins were characteristic only for the log phase of DMD fibroblasts.
Transient evoked otoacoustic emission-based screening in typical nurseries: a response to Jacobson and Jacobson

Jacobson and Jacobson (Int. J. Pediatr. Otorhinolaryngol. 29 (1994) 235-248) recently questioned whether TEOAE-based newborn hearing screening similar to what was recommended by the National Institutes of Health could be implemented in a typical nursery setting. They concluded that, 'the theoretical advantage of TEOAEs as a method for screening newborn babies at risk for hearing loss may not be realized in acute practice.' This article presents data based on dozens of currently operational TEOAE-based newborn hearing screening programs which demonstrate that the concerns raised by Jacobson and Jacobson are not representative of what is being experienced by operational newborn hearing screening programs.
Prion-like disorders: blurring the divide between transmissibility and infectivity

Prions are proteins that access self-templating amyloid forms, which confer phenotypic changes that can spread from individual to individual within or between species. These infectious phenotypes can be beneficial, as with yeast prions, or deleterious, as with mammalian prions that transmit spongiform encephalopathies. However, the ability to form self-templating amyloid is not unique to prion proteins. Diverse polypeptides that tend to populate intrinsically unfolded states also form self-templating amyloid conformers that are associated with devastating neurodegenerative disorders. Moreover, two RNA-binding proteins, FUS and TDP-43, which form cytoplasmic aggregates in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, harbor a ‘prion domain’ similar to those found in several yeast prion proteins. Can these proteins and the neurodegenerative diseases to which they are linked become ‘infectious’ too? Here, we highlight advances that define the transmissibility of amyloid forms connected with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Collectively, these findings suggest that amyloid conformers can spread from cell to cell within the brains of afflicted individuals, thereby spreading the specific neurodegenerative phenotypes distinctive to the protein being converted to amyloid. Importantly, this transmissibility mandates a re-evaluation of emerging neuronal graft and stem-cell therapies. In this Commentary, we suggest how these treatments might be optimized to overcome the transmissible conformers that confer neurodegeneration.
A bidirectional recording gasometer with solid state sensing element.

Abstract A bidirectional recording gasometer with solid state sensing element has been developed. The design of the instrument and the materials used for its construction permit a wide range of applications in which volume changes occur. Volumetric changes can be monitored independently of barometric changes, air different temperatures and under partial vacuum or pressure. The instrument is calibrated to read directly in volume units, which are recorded on a linear scale versus time. Response to pressure changes is relatively best and high sensitivities in the order of 10 −4 of full scale have been observed. Samples can be introduced or withdrawn during operation through a septum-type injection port or initially placed directly into the sample vessel. Use of a solid state sensing element eliminates a barometric fluid and thus increases sensitivity as well as reliability and ease of handling of the gasometer. The instrument can be used on a standby basis since it is of constant-pressure design and adapts to large changes in sample sizes.
Latinos’ Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS: Organizational and Individual Perspectives on Volunteering

Community involvement (e.g., volunteerism, activism) in HIV/AIDS may be an effective prevention strategy. Through involvement in HIV/AIDS-related organizations, individuals may develop a positive sense of themselves, maintain HIV preventive behaviors, and create community change. In this paper we examine the types of activities, motives, consequences, and deterrents to community involvement among Latino gay men using both community organizations' and Latino gay men's perspectives. Data come from an exploratory study in Chicago. It included telephone interviews with HIV/AIDS organizations (N = 62) and in-depth interviews with Latino gay men (n = 6 volunteers; n = 7 no volunteers). We found that organizations have few Latino volunteers and that the deterrents to involvement are stigma of HIV/AIDS and homosexuality, racism, and apathy. Among the positive consequences, we found an increase in self-esteem, sense of empowerment, and safer sex behaviors.
Phenanthrene-based tylophorine-1 (PBT-1) inhibits lung cancer cell growth through the Akt and NF-κB pathways

Tylophorine and related natural compounds exhibit potent antitumor activities. We previously showed that PBT-1, a synthetic C9-substituted phenanthrene-based tylophorine (PBT) derivative, significantly inhibits growth of various cancer cells. In this study, we further explored the mechanisms and potential of PBT-1 as an anticancer agent. PBT-1 dose-dependently suppressed colony formation, induced cell cycle G2/M arrest and apoptosis. DNA microarray and pathway analysis showed that PBT-1 activated the apoptosis pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. In contrast, PBT-1 suppressed the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) pathway and focal adhesion. We further confirmed that PBT-1 suppressed Akt activation accelerated RelA degradation via IκB kinase-α, and downregulated NF-κB target gene expression. The reciprocal recruitment of RelA and RelB on COX-2 promoter region led to downregulation of transcriptional activity. We conclude that PBT-1 induces cell cycle G2/M arrest and apoptosis by inactivating Akt and by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway. PBT-1 may be a good drug candidate for anticancer chemotherapy.
Family Poverty and Public Dependency

The author used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, survey year 1993, to identify determinants of public benefits among families above and below the official poverty line in 1992. The relative effects of sociodemographic and attitudinal/cultural characteristics were assessed to determine the likelihood of male and female respondents receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children, food stamps, and/or unemployment-compensation benefits. Results indicated that many sociodemographic characteristics exerted similar influence on men and women regarding the likelihood of using public assistance regardless of poverty status. Marital status and education were notable exceptions. Findings suggested that men and women used public assistance as a buffer against economic vulnerability and that increased education might be a less effective means to self-sufficiency than commonly thought. Antipoverty policy implications are discussed.
A search for principles of disability using experimental impairment of Drosophila melanogaster.

Abstract The results of life table experiments to determine the effects of artificial impairment (leg amputation) in 7500 Drosophila melanogaster adults revealed that the extent to which life expectancy was reduced in impaired individuals was conditional on: (1) leg location and number amputated – front leg had greatest impact and the number of legs amputated directly correlated with mortality impact; (2) age of amputation – the greatest relative reduction in remaining life expectancy occurred when young flies were impaired; (3) vial orientation – mortality in impaired flies was the least when vials held upside-down (most friendly environment) and the greatest when they were right-side up (least friendly environment); and (4) sex – male mortality was increased more than female mortality in nearly all impairment treatments. These results were used to formulate a set of general principles of disability that would apply not only to humans but to all organisms.
Prospective memory: A comparative perspective

Abstract Prospective memory consists of forming a representation of a future action, temporarily storing that representation in memory, and retrieving it at a future time point. Here, we review the recent development of animal models of prospective memory. We review experiments using rats that focus on the development of time-based and event-based prospective memory. Next, we review a number of prospective-memory approaches that have been used with a variety of non-human primates. Finally, we review selected approaches from the human literature on prospective memory to identify targets for development of animal models of prospective memory. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: “Tribute to Tom Zentall”.
Germ cell survival, differentiation, and epididymal transit kinetics in mouse testis subjected to high in vivo levels of testosterone enanthate

Androgenic steroids induce oligospermia at high doses, but few studies have assessed which cell types and spermatogenic processes are affected. Testis cell numbers and rate of differentiation were quantitatively evaluated in testosterone enanthate-treated male mice by use of histological and cell separation techniques. Reduction in the number of testicular germ cells in treated animals accounted for 40% of the total reduction of spermatozoa. Testis cells differentiated at a similar rate in treated and control animals. Spermatozoa moved to the cauda epididymidis a day earlier in testosterone-treated animals, and were lost from the cauda after only two days, rather than after the normal seven days. These results suggest that over half of the 98% reduction in sperm number in testosterone-treated animals occurred at the stage of passage through the cauda epididymidis.
Outcome of diabetic vitrectomy in Latino population.

Purpose: Evaluation of visual acuity and anatomic outcome in Latino patients undergoing vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy, using silicone oil or gas tamponade. Methods: Retrospective review of 57 vitrectomies, 42 in Latino patients, performed by a single surgeon over a 3-year period. Results: Seventy-four percent of vitrectomies were on patients of Latino descent. Sixty-three percent of eyes had traction retinal detachments involving the macula. Overall, 29% in the Latino group received silicone oil tamponade, while the remainder received gas tamponade. In the gas treatment group, 16% developed rhegmatogenous detachments, while no rhegmatogenous detachments occurred in oil-treated eyes. This difference was not statistically significant. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 4 years (median, 1 year). The change from pre- to postsurgery visual acuity was calculated for both gas and oil treated groups, showing no statistically significant difference. Pre- and postsurgery visual acuity median was hand motions for both. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in final anatomic outcome or visual outcome in Latino eyes undergoing surgery for severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Silicone oil and gas tamponade appeared to work equally well in this population.
Simulation performance evaluation of SRUC protocol

It is found that the SRUC protocol, previously thought to be stable at all traffic levels, suffers from a new adverse phenomenon of ‘protocol oscillations’. Also, some previous simulation results of SRUC are felt not to be correct, and the corresponding results that we believe to be correct instead, are given.
Music Education and Performing Arts Medicine: The State of the Alliance

As a group, musicians tend to be somewhat disembodied; their awareness of their whole selves extends almost exclusively to the parts involved directly with musical technique. Even though many consider musicians to be small muscle athletes, it is unusual to see a group of beginning musicians working out or warming up on their practice field, or having a trainer present to supervise their movements or their mental performance orientation, as one would in sports. Several questions come to mind. How has this state of things come about? What do musicians know about the mental, spiritual, and physical attributes they bring to music making? What do music teachers teach students about wellness? How can a collaboration of the fields of music education and rehabilitation medicine approach these issues? This article addresses these questions.
Synaptotagmins are trafficked to distinct subcellular domains including the postsynaptic compartment.

The synaptotagmin family has been implicated in calcium-dependent neurotransmitter release, although Synaptotagmin 1 is the only isoform demonstrated to control synaptic vesicle fusion. Here, we report the characterization of the six remaining synaptotagmin isoforms encoded in the Drosophila genome, including homologues of mammalian Synaptotagmins 4, 7, 12, and 14. Like Synaptotagmin 1, Synaptotagmin 4 is ubiquitously present at synapses, but localizes to the postsynaptic compartment. The remaining isoforms were not found at synapses (Synaptotagmin 7), expressed at very low levels (Synaptotagmins 12 and 14), or in subsets of putative neurosecretory cells (Synaptotagmins α and β). Consistent with their distinct localizations, overexpression of Synaptotagmin 4 or 7 cannot functionally substitute for the loss of Synaptotagmin 1 in synaptic transmission. Our results indicate that synaptotagmins are differentially distributed to unique subcellular compartments. In addition, the identification of a postsynaptic synaptotagmin suggests calcium-dependent membrane-trafficking functions on both sides of the synapse.
Automatically generating malicious disks using symbolic execution

Many current systems allow data produced by potentially malicious sources to be mounted as a file system. File system code must check this data for dangerous values or invariant violations before using it. Because file system code typically runs inside the operating system kernel, even a single unchecked value can crash the machine or lead to an exploit. Unfortunately, validating file system images is complex: they form DAGs with complex dependency relationships across massive amounts of data bound together with intricate, undocumented assumptions. This paper shows how to automatically find bugs in such code using symbolic execution. Rather than running the code on manually-constructed concrete input, we instead run it on symbolic input that is initially allowed to be "anything." As the code runs, it observes (tests) this input and thus constrains its possible values. We generate test cases by solving these constraints for concrete values. The approach works well in practice: we checked the disk mounting code of three widely-used Linux file systems: ext2, ext3, and JFS and found bugs in all of them where malicious data could either cause a kernel panic or form the basis of a buffer overflow attack.
New Approaches to the Study of Lanthanide/Actinide Chloride - Aluminum Chloride Vapor Phase Complexes

Recent interest in vapor phase complexes of lanthanide and actinide halides with aluminum halides has been focused on their dynamic optical properties, since these systems have potential as optical gain media. In addition, their thermodynamic properties indicate that elemental separation by chemical transport is potentially viable. The reaction for gas complexation is generally written as follows for lanthanide chlorides and aluminum chloride $$ mLnCly\left( c \right) + nA{l_2}C{l_6}\left( g \right) \rightleftarrows L{n_m}A{l_2}_nC{l_{6n + my}}\left( g \right) $$ (1) .
Lossless compression of medical images

Lossless compression of magnetic resonance images is reviewed using both the theoretical and implementation models. The compression level of selected algorithms (Lempel-Ziv and Huffman) are compared against the first-order, second-order, and conditional entropies. It is found that the compression upper limit for Huffman is the first-order entropy and for Lempel-Ziv, the second-order or first-order conditional entropies. The experiments showed that the second-order and conditional entropies were lower per pixel than the first-order, suggesting a certain amount of dependencies between the adjacent pixels. As a result, the Lempel-Ziv achieved more compression than the Huffman. The first transformation (difference coding) improves the compression level by 6% for Huffman and 1% for Lempel-Ziv. In a second transformation, where images are split by their upper and lower bytes of each pixel, Lempel-Ziv performs better on the higher byte and Huffman performs better on the lower byte. >
Epizootiological features of avian cholera on the north coast of California.

An avian cholera (Pasteurella multocida) epizootic was observed among wildfowl at the Centerville Gun Club, Humboldt County, California (USA) in January 1978. Compared to their live populations and use of the area, coots (Fulica americana) died in proportionately greater numbers than any other species. Coots collected by gunshot were evaluated for sex and age composition, and morphometry from November 1977 through mid-January 1978 at this site. There was no substantial difference in the sex, age or morphometry between birds dying of avian cholera and from those dying from gunshot. Assuming coots dying of gunshot are representative of the general population, it appears there was little selection among coots by P. multocida. There was evidence for a sequential mortality similar to that reported previously at this site: coots were the first birds to die, followed by American wigeon (Anas americana) and northern pintails (A. acuta acuta); northern shovelers (A. clypeata) and mallards (A. platyrhynchos) died l...
Relativism, Absolutism, and Democracy.

Political convictions may be said to be tied up with philosophical views. But is any one particular school of philosophy necessarily linked to any one particular political doctrine? More specifically, are philosophical and political absolutism interrelated, and, similarly, is democracy linked to philosophical relativism or empiricism? Kelsen and others have recently defended this thesis: "For, just as autocracy is political absolutism and political absolutism is paralleled by philosophical absolutism, democracy is political relativism which has its counterpart in philosophical relativism."' It is the purpose of this paper to test whether such links exist. In doing so, it will be necessary to refrain from siding with either philosophical absolutism or relativism. The conclusion we will reach will compel us, however, to abandon our previous neutrality with respect to these opposite philosophies. Our examination involves the difficulty of how to use precise language for analysing concepts to which various and often vague meanings have been assigned in the past. We shall use these terms in the broadest sense which it is possible to give them without loss of precision. Philosophical absolutism maintains that there is an "absolute reality" which can be known with certainty on the basis of revelation, intuition, or reason. These sources provide the "true knowledge" of the "essential nature of the universe" as well as of its "moral and spiritual order," while sense experience leads only to probable and therefore unessential knowledge of "appearances." Intrinsic value judgements are generally included among the statements Whose truth or falsity can be determined a priori. Thus, ethical absolutism holds that certain states of affairs are intrinsically good and desirable, and can be known to be so with certainty. The natural law doctrine, which affirms the existence of "just law," recognizable by "right reason," is an instance of philosophical absolutism in general and ethical absolutism in particular. Philosophical relativism denies the possibility of all objective knowledge about what is and about what ought to be, because sense experience as well as intuition and reason differ from one individual to another. Empiricism occupies an intermediary position. According to this view, some kind of objective knowledge is indeed possible, but only the probable knowledge which absolutism discards as unessential. Non-analytical2 assertions are
Making Scents Out of Spatial and Temporal Codes in Specialist and Generalist Olfactory Networks

The first-order olfactory centers in the brains of vertebrates and invertebrates are characterized by arrays of morphologically discrete glomeruli, and cross-phyletic comparisons have repeatedly found striking similarities in glomerular organization across evolutionarily remote animals. A growing list of studies shows that the vertebrate olfactory bulb (OB) and insect antennal lobe (AL) are organized chemotopically, and an individual glomerulus reflects the odorresponse profile of the olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) that converge on it (Bozza and Kauer, 1998; Belluscio et al., 2002; Ng et al., 2002; Wang et al., 2003). While these different studies using a wide range of methods have supported glomerular chemotopy in diverse species, many fundamental questions about the neural circuitry underlying these activity patterns remain. Evidence is increasing, in fact, that the molecular receptive range (MRR) or ‘odor tuning’ of a glomerulus is also shaped by interglomerular— and particularly inhibitory—interactions (Christensen et al., 1998; Lei et al., 2002; Sachse and Galizia, 2003; Aungst et al., 2003; Nagayama et al., 2004), but the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying this modulation remain poorly understood.
Isoprenoid Biosynthesis in Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria kills nearly 1 million people each year, and the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum has become increasingly resistant to current therapies. Isoprenoid synthesis via the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway represents an attractive target for the development of new antimalarials. The phosphonic acid antibiotic fosmidomycin is a specific inhibitor of isoprenoid synthesis and has been a helpful tool to outline the essential functions of isoprenoid biosynthesis in P. falciparum. Isoprenoids are a large, diverse class of hydrocarbons that function in a variety of essential cellular processes in eukaryotes. In P. falciparum, isoprenoids are used for tRNA isopentenylation and protein prenylation, as well as the synthesis of vitamin E, carotenoids, ubiquinone, and dolichols. Recently, isoprenoid synthesis in P. falciparum has been shown to be regulated by a sugar phosphatase. We outline what is known about isoprenoid function and the regulation of isoprenoid synthesis in P. falciparum, in order to identify valuable directions for future research.
Accuracy assessment of the vegetation continuous field tree cover product using 3954 ground plots in the south-western USA

An accuracy assessment of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation continuous field (VCF) tree cover product using two independent ground-based tree cover databases was conducted. Ground data included 1176 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots for Arizona and 2778 Southwest Regional GAP (SWReGAP) plots for Utah and western Colorado. Overall rms. error was 24% for SWReGAP and 31% for FIA data. VCF bias was positive at low observed tree cover but systematically increased thereafter until at greater than 60% observed tree cover, VCF tree cover was 40% (SWReGAP) to 45% (FIA) too low. Errors are unlikely to be related to habitat fragmentation or variation in canopy height but may be influenced by scaling discontinuities between ground and satellite resolutions.
Analytical modeling of pulse-pileup distortion using the true pulse shape; applications to Fermi-GBM

Abstract Pulse-pileup affects most photon counting systems and occurs when photon detections occur faster than the detector's shaping and recovery time. At high input rates, shaped pulses interfere and the source spectrum, as well as intensity information, get distorted. For instruments using bipolar pulse shaping there are two aspects to consider: ‘peak’ and ‘tail’ pileup effects, which raise and lower the measured energy, respectively. Peak effects have been extensively modeled in the past. Tail effects have garnered less attention due to increased complexity. We leverage previous work to derive an accurate, semi-analytical prediction for peak and tail pileup including high order effects. We use the pulse shape of the detectors of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. The measured spectrum is calculated by expressing exposure time with a state-space expansion of overlapping pileup states and is valid up to very high rates. The model correctly predicts deadtime and pileup losses, and energy-dependent losses due to tail subtraction (sub-threshold) effects. We discuss total losses in terms of the true rate of photon detections versus the recorded count rate.
Singularity theory and stability robustness analysis

The objective of the paper is to apply singularity theory to stability robustness analysis. Instead of using the mapping theorem of Zadeh and Desoer, singularity, open covering and the Jordan curve theorem of topology are used as major tools for stability margin computation. It is shown that singularity theory and differential topology are useful to understand the discontinuity phenomenon of real robustness margin problems.
Global distribution of the solar wind during solar cycle 23: ACE observations

[1] The composition of the solar wind can be used to determine its origin at the Sun; e.g., solar wind from coronal holes has demonstrably lower charge states than solar wind of other origins. The 0 7+ /0 6+ ratio as measured by Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) during 1998-2008 is used to divide the solar wind into three categories: non-transient solar wind from coronal holes (hereafter referred to as CHW); non-transient solar wind that originates from outside of coronal holes (hereafter referred to as NCHW), and solar wind associated with transient interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). The global distribution of the solar wind relative to the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS), as specified by a Potential-Field-Source-Surface model, is then determined. The solar wind from outside of coronal holes is found to originate from a band of about 40° in width about the HCS during solar maximum conditions, and a much smaller band of < 17° during solar minimum. These results are consistent with models for the global transport of the solar magnetic field during the solar cycle, and they are consistent with earlier global flow structure determinations based upon velocity alone.
The quantum efficiency of green GaInN/GaN light emitting diodes

Energy efficient lighting can be achieved by help of high efficiency light emitting diodes (LEDs). Substantial performance gains are feasible in the green – 500–555 nm – spectral region by implementing proper design of the active region. Here we analyze external quantum efficiency of high performing LED dies as a function of current and temperature in order to formulate relevant optimization rules. Among a large sample set we identify traits that clearly correlate with respective device performance. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Trawling exerts big impacts on small beasts

Throughout the world, there is concern about the impact of trawling on deep-sea bottom communities (1). For the most part, this concern has been directed toward deep-sea coral reefs and sponge beds (2, 3). Reef structures, formed by the scleractinian coral, Lophelia pertusa, for example, can be up to 8,000 y old and can provide habitat for more than 700 smaller species (2). In contrast, there has been the sense that trawling on open mud bottoms has little or no impact on the resident species or at least that, because the smaller species have higher turnover rates, the recovery from trawling will be rapid (4). In PNAS, however, Pusceddu et al. show that trawling on deep-sea muddy bottoms strongly alters the biochemical nature of the sediment and reduces the species diversity and abundance of meiofaunal organisms (animals ∼40–500 µm in size), and, in particular, the nematodes (5).
Goal-Based Strategies Can Help Schools In Self-Improvement

Having worked for several years with three Wisconsin school districts—Ashwaubenon, Cedarburg, and Milwaukee—the au thor describes the metaplan that emerged for developing dis trictwide improvement plans. He presents a completed plan to clarify the process. The participating school districts welcome inquiries.
SDDM-a prototype of a distributed architecture for database security

A description is given of the secure distributed data management (SDDM) system, which is a prototype of a distributed architecture for multilevel database security that meets the US Department of Defense's trusted computer system evaluation criteria at the B3 level. The distributed architecture separates data by its security classification onto multiple single-level back-end database hosts and uses distributed data-management technology to provide integrated access to the distributed multilevel database. Discretionary access control is provided by access views defined on the database. An overview of the SDDM system, particularly its security policy, design, and provisions for mandatory and discretionary access controls is provided. >
Determination of sex from the hyoid bone

This article explores size differences related to sex in the hyoid bones from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection. A series of measurements were taken from 398 hyoids, both fused and unfused. The inclusion of unfused hyoids in the study provides the opportunity to investigate previously unknown size differences between sexes as well as to determine their utility in determining sex. Two-way ANOVA was used to explore differences in hyoid size as related to ancestry and sex. Discriminant function analysis was employed to test the ability of the hyoids to be classified by sex. Six discriminant function equations ranging in accuracy from 82% to 85% are provided, each of which is more accurate than many of the discriminant functions developed in past hyoid research, are simple to use, and can be used to estimate the sex of a hyoid regardless of its state of fusion. In addition to providing further information about the morphological form of the hyoid, these analyses provide a method that can be easily employed to assess sex of the individual from the hyoid bone.
Bis[μ-1,2-bis(2-pyridyl)ethyne-κ2N:N']-bis[aquadinitratocadmium(II)]

Two twisted 1,2-bis(2-pyridyl)ethyne ligands bridge two Cd(2+) centers in the C(2)-symmetric title complex, [Cd(2)(NO(3))(4)(mu-C(12)H(8)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)]. The bridging ligands arch across one another creating a 'zigzag loop' molecular geometry. Two nitrate ions and a water molecule complete the irregular seven-coordinate Cd-atom environment. The dihedral angles between the equivalent pyridyl ring planes of the two independent ligands are 67.2 (1) degrees. O(water)-H.O(nitrate) hydrogen bonding creates two-dimensional layers parallel to the ab plane.
Enhanced step mode FTIR position control

A step-scan interferometer has been modified to allow mirror locking a 1/6 He Ne wavelength intervals by generating quadrature synthetic reference signals representing a 3x multiple of the actual signal. Sample TRS data is presented.
The Secret History of the Bluebook

The Bluebook, or Uniform System of Citation as it was formerly titled, has long been a significant component of American legal culture. The standard account of the origins of the Bluebook, deriving directly from statements made by longtime Harvard Law School Dean and later Solicitor General of the United States Erwin N. Griswold, maintains that the citation manual originated at the Harvard Law Review in the 1920s and was created or adapted by Dean Griswold himself. This account is wildly erroneous, as proven by intensive research we conducted in the archives of Harvard and Yale. In fact, the Bluebook grew out of precursor manuals at Yale Law School, apparently inspired by a legal scholar even more important than Griswold, namely Karl N. Llewellyn. The "uniform citations" movement that began at Yale was actually at first opposed by Harvard.In his most extreme misstatement, Griswold asserted that a collaborative decision was made in the 1920s by Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, and University of Pennsylvania Law Review to share the revenues from publishing the Bluebook (eventually amounting to millions of dollars) among the four journals. There is indeed now four-way revenue-sharing, but it did not commence until the 1970s, and then only after a revolt of the three "junior partners" against Harvard Law Review's complete monopolization of Bluebook income for half a century, a revolt initiated by Joan Wexler of the Yale Law Journal.Some readers may question whether originating the hyper-complicated Bluebook should be a source of pride for Yale. Our response is that, although the Bluebook version that subsequently developed under the leadership of Harvard Law Review currently consists of 582 pages, the two earliest Yale precursors of the Bluebook were, respectively, one page and fifteen pages long.
Mass of 36 Ca

The /sup 40/Ca(/sup 4/He,/sup 8/He)/sup 36/Ca reaction has been used to provide the first observation of the nuclide /sup 36/Ca. The Q value and mass excess were found to be -57.58 +- 0.04 and -6.44 +- 0.04 MeV, respectively. The new mass completes four members of the A = 36 isobaric quintet and hence serves as a test of the isobaric multiplet mass equation.
Abstract 382: Geographic Access to Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Relative to Other Cardiac Services: A Statewide Analysis

Objective: We determined geographic access to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in Michigan, and compared it to the access of other invasive cardiac services; namely, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), non-transplant cardiac surgery, and cardiac transplant surgery. Methods: A geographic information systems analysis was performed using the 2010 U.S. Census Survey and hospital data from the state of Michigan to construct maps of service areas around hospitals providing TAVR, PCI, non-transplant cardiac surgery, and cardiac transplant surgery. Hospital service areas ranging from 5-miles to 75-miles driving distance were included in the analysis. Geographic access was calculated as the percentage of the population living within the hospital service areas providing the four types of cardiac procedures studied in this analysis. Results: A total of 15 hospitals provide TAVR in Michigan in 2015. For TAVR clinical sites, the mean number of beds, total annual discharges, and total annual patient days are 571, 28,946, and 140,859, respectively. Of the 9,883,640 persons in Michigan, 2,365,783 (23.9%) live within 5 miles, 7,856,455 (79.5%) live within 30 miles, and 9,004,943 (91.1%) live within 50 miles driving distance of a hospital offering TAVR. In general, these proportions mirror those for PCI (8,857,148 [89.6%] living within 30 miles) and non-transplant cardiac surgery (8,814,143 [89.2%] living within 30 miles), as opposed to cardiac transplant surgery (5,481,122 [55.5%] living within 30 miles) (Figure). Conclusions: Nearly 4 of 5 Michigan residents live within 30 miles driving distance of a hospital providing TAVR. Relative to other invasive cardiac services, TAVR is more similar in geographic access to PCI and non-transplant cardiac surgery than it is to cardiac transplant surgery. These findings may have implications for whether TAVR remains a highly specialized procedure or becomes a more broadly available option for aortic stenosis. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif