cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating theories of bilingual language control using computational models

Abstract Bilingual language control refers to a bilingual’s ability to speak exclusively in one language without the unintended language intruding. It has been debated in the literature whether bilinguals need an inhibitory mechanism to control language output or whether a non-inhibitory mechanism can be used. This paper presents mathematical models instantiating the two accounts. The models explain how participants’ reaction times in language production (naming) are impacted by across-trial semantic relatedness and consistency of language (same or different language across trials). The models’ predictions were compared to data from an experiment in which participants named semantically-related and -unrelated pictures in their first and second language. Results indicate that within-language facilitation effects are abolished after a language switch, supporting the predictions of the Inhibitory Model. However, within-language facilitation was observed over the course of ‘stay’ trials in which no language switch was required, contrary to the predictions of both models. A second experiment was conducted to determine the origin of this unexpected facilitation, by separating spreading activation effects from incremental learning effects. The results suggest the facilitation observed in Experiment 1 was due to spreading activation. Together, the modeling and data suggest that language switching abolishes spreading activation effects, but cumulative semantic interference (created by incremental learning) is unaffected by language switching. This suggests that (1) within-language control is non-competitive, (2) between-language language control is competitive and (3) incremental learning plays a role in bilingual language speech production.
Management of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in the Pediatric Patient

Pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Herein we review the diagnosis and classification for pediatric PAH and detail the current therapeutic options available for use in the pediatric PAH population. Classification and treatment of pediatric PAH is guided by adult criteria and treatment algorithms, yet the distribution of factors contributing to PAH in children differs significantly from that seen in adults. It is necessary to understand these differences in order to appropriately tailor therapy to the needs of the child or adolescent. An expanding array of targeted PAH drugs are now approved for use in adults, and many of these drugs are used “off-label” to treat children and adolescents with PAH. Use of these novel therapies has coincided with marked improvement in outcomes, suggesting significant benefit. However, because most of these drugs have not been studied in rigorous randomized, controlled trials in children, it is critical that physicians understand their mechanisms of action, potential benefits, and safety profiles. Pediatric PAH outcomes have improved substantially in the modern era, coinciding with the “off-label” use of targeted PAH drugs in children and adolescents. Ideally, care should be provided at centers with specialized expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric PAH by providers who understand the appropriate diagnostic algorithms, classification schemes, and treatment approaches.
HIV Vpr modulates the host DNA damage response at two independent steps to damage DNA and repress double-strand DNA break repair

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a signaling cascade that is vital to ensuring the fidelity of the host genome in the presence of genotoxic stress. Growing evidence has emphasized the importance of both activation and repression of the host DDR by diverse DNA and RNA viruses. Previous work has shown that HIV-1 is also capable of engaging the host DDR, primarily through the conserved accessory protein Vpr. However, the extent of this engagement has remained unclear. Here we show that HIV-1 and HIV-2 Vpr directly induce DNA damage and stall DNA replication, leading to the activation of several markers of double- and single-strand DNA breaks. Despite causing damage and activating the DDR, we found that Vpr repress the repair of double-strand breaks (DSB) by inhibiting homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Mutational analyses of Vpr revealed that DNA damage and DDR activation are independent from repression of HR and Vpr-mediated cell-cycle arrest. Moreover, we show that repression of HR does not require cell-cycle arrest but instead may precede this long-standing enigmatic Vpr phenotype. Together, our data uncover that Vpr globally modulates the host DDR at at least two independent steps; offering novel insight into the primary functions of lentiviral Vpr and the roles of the DNA damage response in lentiviral replication.
Beyond Trigger Warnings: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Teaching on Sexual Violence and Avoiding Institutional Betrayal:

As sociology instructors increasingly include materials on sexual violence in their courses, both instructors and students express anxieties over how best to handle such sensitive conversations. Th...
The Truman Show: The Fraudulent Origins of the Former Presidents Act

When President Donald Trump was impeached for a second time, many commenters pointed out that, if Trump were to be convicted by the Senate, he would likely lose millions of dollars in future taxpayer-funded benefits. These benefits are provided to ex-presidents by the Former Presidents Act, a 1958 statute of considerable political significance and ongoing controversy, that nevertheless has to this point been ignored completely by the legal academic literature. This Article represents the first sustained discussion of the FPA in that literature. It concludes that the statute should be revoked — and it centers its critique on the law’s until-now unrevealed fraudulent origins. Essentially the only argument ever put forward in either scholarly or popular discourse to justify the existence of the FPA is that it was passed as a response to former President Harry Truman’s financial struggles, and in particular because he refused to exploit his status as a former president to ameliorate them. Using recently released and until now unexamined archival evidence, this Article demonstrates that, in a complete contravention of the existing standard historical record, Harry Truman was, as a direct result of being president, a very wealthy man on the day he left the White House, with an estimated net worth, in relative economic terms, of approximately $58 million in 2021 dollars. The Article reveals that this wealth was a result of both Truman’s enormous presidential salary — several times larger, in real terms, than the current salary for the office — and, more problematically, of the evident fact that Truman misappropriated essentially all of the multi-million dollar — in 2021 terms — presidential expense account that was set up for him by Congress at the beginning of his second term. The Article also reveals that, again contrary to the current historical understanding, Truman made another fortune after he left the presidency, by doing precisely what he claimed he was not doing, that is, exploiting his status as a former president to maximum economic advantage. Indeed, by the time Congress passed the FPA in response to Truman’s various claims that he was at least teetering on the brink of potential financial distress, Truman’s net worth was, in relative economic terms, approximately $72 million in 2021 dollars. In a precise inversion of the meaning ascribed to it by the standard historical narrative, Harry Truman’s actual financial biography illustrates exactly why the Former Presidents Act has always been a bad law, that has never had any reasonable justification in public policy.
Mentorship of physician scientists: a critical imperative.

Mentors are essential for sustaining the physician scientist workforce, but they cannot do it alone.
Autobiographical Memory and Social Cognition: Development of the Remembered Self in Adulthood

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the autobiographical memory and social cognition. Autobiographical memory poses a number of challenges to life-span researchers. It is a complex area that does not always lend itself to the traditional models of human memory. The chapter describes two things that have significant implications for social cognition. The first is that older adults are encoding daily experiences at about the same rate as are younger adults. The chapter explains that older adults perform very similarly to younger adults. Thus, when interacting with others, older adults have their recent past available. This would seem to have important implications for their ability to sustain social interactions, to be interesting conversation partners, and to maintain a sense of connectedness to their social world. The second major finding has been the bump. It has grabbed the attention of those autobiographical memory researchers with an interest in aging.
Curve evolution and segmentation functionals: application to color images

Curve evolution has developed into an important tool in computer vision and has been applied to a wide variety of problems such as smoothing of shapes, shape analysis and shape recovery. The different versions of curve evolution used in computer vision together with the preprocessing step of constructing an edge-strength function can be integrated in the form of a new segmentation functional. The new functional permits junctions such as triple points to develop. The numerical solutions obtained retain sharp discontinuities or "shocks", thus providing sharp demarcation of object boundaries. The new segmentation functional is extended for application to vector-valued features such as color.
Wormhole Broadcast in Hypercubes

We consider the problem of broadcasting a message in the n-cube, Q_n, equipped with wormhole switching. The communication model assumed is one-port, and the broadcasting scheme is path-based whereby, during broadcasting along a path by a node, all the nodes on that path will receive the message. The wormhole path length is m where <m≤n, and thus this is a generalization of an earlier work which considered a path length of n. First, a method is proposed which is based on recursively partitioning the cube to subcubes of dimension m, and then calling the previously developed algorithm on such Q_−m's concurrently (cube-based broadcast). The second method is based on the concept of Gray codes (GCs), and at every given step, it forms the Hamiltonian path of appropriate size as the broadcast path (GC-based broadcast). It is shown that the steps required in GC-based broadcast is fewer than or equal to those needed by cube-based broadcast. Furthermore, comparison of time complexity of GC-based broadcast to the lower bound reveals that this algorithm is near-optimal, and in fact optimal in many cases. This work improves on the best algorithm developed for path-based broadcast in one-port hypercube both in complexity and in simplicity.
The Conversation of Critical Practice: Pre-service Teachers As Educators for Social Justice

In this paper we examine aspects of the construction of authentic membership, competence, and sense of shared purpose within a professional community of educators accomplished by a class of pre-service teachers during a spontaneous electronic conversation. Implications for teacher education are considered.
Analysis of Small Disturbance Stability Regions of Power System Models with Real and Reactive Power Flows

Small-disturbance (SD) stability regions of power systems models incorporating bus voltage variation and the real and reactive power flow equations are analyzed. It is shown that SD stability regions may be disconnected. Furthermore, the regions contain fihnitely many components in a compact domain of interest. A sufficient condition is derived for a domain to have a unique SD stable solution of the real and reactive power flow equations. Other analytic properties of the SD stability regions are also investigated.
/spl epsiv/-fairness: a trade-off between overhead and max-min fairness

Max-min fair bandwidth allocation is desirable because it protects well-behaved flows while keeping network utilization high. Achieving and maintaining absolute global max-min fairness at finite flow granularity is improbable. Moreover, computing and communicating max-min fair rates has a significant overhead. In this paper, we define the notion of /spl epsiv/-fairness and derive the conditions for flow rates to be /spl epsiv/-fair. We describe a technique where max-min fairness is computed at the level of flow groups while /spl epsiv/-fairness is provided to individual flows. Using /spl epsiv/-fairness allows the network administrator to control the degree of fairness with an overhead proportional to the degree. An important implication of our technique is that traffic-pattern knowledge can be used to reduce overhead.
Efficient universal quantum circuits

Universal circuits can be viewed as general-purpose simulators for central classes ofcircuits and can be used to capture the computational power of the circuit class beingsimulated. We define and construct quantum universal circuits which are efficient andhave very little overhead in simulation. For depth we construct universal circuits whosedepth is the same order as the circuits being simulated. For size, there is a log factorblow-up in the universal circuits constructed here which is nearly optimal.
Addressing the “Research Gap” in Special Education Through Mixed Methods:

At least some of the challenges faced in special education, such as the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students, the gap between research and practice, and inequitable educational opportunities, can be explained in part by a research gap, or, in other words, a failure to conduct the different types of research best suited for addressing the complicated issues faced in schools. In this article we discuss the benefits of being more open to and welcoming of mixed methods when conducting special education research. We provide an overview of mixed-methods research and explain different philosophical concepts associated with mixed methods. We emphasize why it is important to foreground culture when conducting educational research. We also compare educational research with research in the medical field and challenge the notion of randomized controlled trials as the “gold standard.” We finish by sharing an example of our own mixed-methods research.
The Roles of Marketing, Product Quality and Price Competition in the Growth and Composition of the U.S. Anti-Ulcer Drug Industry

The introduction of Tagamet in the United States in 1977 represented both a revolution in ulcer therapy and the beginning of an important new industry. Today there are four prescription H2- antagonist drugs: Tagamet, Zantac, Pepcid and Axid, and they comprise a multi-billion dollar market for the treatment of ulcers and other gastric acid conditions. In this paper, we examine the determinants of sales in this market, using a carefully constructed data set made possible by IMS America. We concentrate particularly on the marketing of these drugs to physicians through detailing and medical journal advertising, and we make an innovative attempt to distinguish between 'industry-expanding' and 'rivalrous' marketing efforts. We find that the impact of total marketing on the expansion of overall industry sales declines as the number of products on the market increases. In addition, we find that the stock of industry-expanding marketing depreciates at a near-zero rate, while the stock of marketing oriented towards rivalrous market share competition depreciates at a 40% annual rate. We also find that the products' sales are affected significantly by price, quality attributes (such as number of FDA- approved indications and number of adverse drug interactions), and order of entry into the market.
The Role of Biventricular Pacing in the Prevention and Therapy of Pacemaker-Induced Cardiomyopathy

Right ventricular (RV) pacing produces well-known long-term deleterious effects not only on already compromised, but also on the normal left ventricle (LV). The activation pattern mimicks that of left bundle branch block, with delayed activation of the LV free wall, and results in electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony. Long-term mandatory (100%) RV pacing, increases LV dimensions and decreases the ejection fraction. Many of these negative effects of pacing can be overcome by biventricular pacing. In this review, we describe the characteristics of pacemaker-induced cardiomyopathy, its incidence, and the use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for its therapy and prevention. The gaps in the current organizational guidelines for using CRT in the treatment of bradycardia are identified, and goals for future research are discussed.
Development of a semipurified diet for the adult pocket mouse (Perognathus).

Development of semipurifield diet for pocketmice of genus perognathus with minimal food supplementation
Bullying and School Liability—Implications for School Personnel

Abstract Bullying is a serious and escalating problem in public schools across America. Each day, thousands of students face taunts and humiliation stemming from bullies. Bullying victims experience emotional and psychological problems that may persist for a lifetime. Other victims commit suicide or retaliate against bullies out of fear for their own safety. Because the courts presume that schools are safe places, teachers and administrators have a leading responsibility to protect students from the harmful behavior exhibited by bullies. They are expected to foresee that bullying is a harmful activity and initiate appropriate steps to eliminate it. This article discusses the magnitude of the problem of bullying in public schools and the threat of liability for school personnel who fail to respond to bullying incidents. It concludes with a set of guides that should assist teachers and administrators in protecting students from foreseeable harm while minimizing their legal exposure to law suits based on neg...
Teetered, tip-controlled rotor: Preliminary test results from Mod-0 100-kW experimental wind turbine

Results of tests conducted using the MOD-0 100 kW experimental wind turbine are evaluated. The teetered rotor significantly decreased loads on the yaw drive mechanism and reduced blade cyclic flapwise bending moments by 25 percent at the 20 percent span location when compared to the rigid hub rotor. The teetered hub performed well, but impacted the teeter stops on occasion as wind speed and/or direction varied rapidly. The tip-controlled rotor performed satisfactorily with some expected loss of control when compared to the full span pitchable blade. The performance results indicate that a review of techniques used to calculate rotor power is in order.
Bacterial NADH-quinone oxidoreductases.

The NADH-quinone oxidoreductases of the bacterial respiratory chain could be divided in two groups depending on whether they bear an energy-coupling site. Those enzymes that bear the coupling site are designated as NADH dehydrogenase 1 (NDH-1) and those that do not as NADH dehydrogenase 2 (NDH-2). All members of the NDH-1 group analyzed to date are multiple polypeptide enzymes and contain noncovalently bound FMN and iron-sulfur clusters as prosthetic groups. The NADH-ubiquinone-1 reductase activities of NDH-1 are inhibited by rotenone, capsaicin, and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The NDH-2 enzymes are generally single polypeptides and contain non-covalently bound FAD and no iron-sulfur clusters. The enzymatic activities of the NDH-2 are not affected by the above inhibitors for NDH-1. Recently, it has been found that both of these types of the NADH-quinone oxidoreductase are present in a single strain of bacteria. The significance of the occurrence of these two types of enzymes in a single organism has been discussed in this review.
Electoral institutions, gender stereotypes, and women's local representation

Despite dramatic progress in winning election to political office, women remain underrepresented at all levels of government in the USA. A great deal of research has focused on institutional barriers to equal representation, particularly at the city level. Yet, the findings have been inconsistent across studies and little attention has been paid to the possible mechanisms that might account for the relationships between institutions and representation. In this paper, we focus on one particularly well-studied institution – the method of election for city councilors. We use a decade of candidate-level data from a single, large state (California) to show that women are significantly advantaged in district (versus at-large) elections and in city clerkships compared with mayoralties and council positions. We suggest that this may be the result of the competitiveness of elections, the status of the offices, and gender stereotypes. We offer support for this argument by analyzing the proportion of women elected t...
Journal Club: The Conduct and Reporting of Meta-Analyses of Studies of Diagnostic Tests, and a Consideration of ROC Curves

Editor's Capsule Summary for Hlibczuk et al 1 What is already known on this topic Abdominal computed tomography (CT) is widely used for evaluation of suspected appendicitis, but the utility of CT without contrast remains controversial. What question this study addressed What is the diagnostic accuracy of noncontrast CT in the emergency department (ED) evaluation of adults with suspected appendicitis? What this study adds to our knowledge This 7-study systematic review of noncontrast CT yielded pooled estimates of sensitivity 93%, specificity 96%, positive likelihood ratio 24, and negative likelihood ratio 0.08, which are comparable to findings of previously published reviews. How this might change clinical practice Noncontrast CT has high sensitivity and specificity in the ED diagnosis of adult appendicitis and is a reasonable alternative to contrast CT for this indication.
Alcohol and managerial performance.

Effects of alcohol intoxication at .05 and .10 breath alcohol concentration upon a number of validated indicators of managerial performance were investigated in a double-blind crossover placebo-controlled simulation design. Managers (N = 48) spent 2 days handling quasi-experimental (partially event-controlled) tasks that permitted realistic managerial decision making under both "normal" and "emergency" conditions. The data showed that speed and frequency of managerial action were affected by alcohol at the .10 but not the .05 level. Strategy and planning deteriorated at both levels. Limited improvement of performance was observed for one simpler component of managerial functioning at the lower intoxication level, possibly due to myopia and/or a motivated "strain" toward better performance induced by the perception of impairment.
Factors affecting time–composition equivalence in ternary block copolymer/cosolvent systems

Time–temperature rheological equivalence is one of the most important and broadly used concepts developed with regard to the viscoelastic behavior of polymers. In this study, we explore the generality of an analogous relationship, time–composition equivalence, in several series of ternary block copolymer/cosolvent systems at ambient temperature. Of particular interest are triblock copolymers solvated with a miscible mixture of midblock-selective solvents to yield physical gels. Such gels, consisting of a midblock-rich network stabilized by glassy endblock-rich microdomains, exhibit remarkable elasticity. The copolymers employed here are styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, whereas the solvents include an aliphatic/alicyclic mineral oil and several different tackifying resins varying in molecular weight and, hence, viscosity. Despite changes in solvent properties, time–composition superpositioning (tCS) yields master curves wherein the composition shift factors consistently scale with cosolvent zero-shear viscosity. Corresponding scaling exponents vary linearly with copolymer concentration and change slope at a morphological transition. Failure of tCS at low frequencies can be largely avoided by implementing copolymers with high-molecular-weight endblocks.
Cubic-crystal-field levels and functions: A group-theoretical computational approach

The number of independent crystalline eigenstates and energies of an ion is equal to the number of independent terms in the crystal-field Hamiltonian. Closed-form analytical expressions are given for the general eigenstates and energies in terms of two independent solutions for the cubic crystalline field.
An antifungal terpenoid defends a neotropical tree (Hymenaea) against attack by fungus-growing ants (Atta).

Foragers of the leafcutting ant, Atta cephalotes L. (Formicidae, Attini) seldom or never attack many of the plant species available to them in nature. In the semideciduous forests of lowland Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, one of the tree species seldom cut is Hymenaea courbaril L. (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). We tested the hypothesis that this species is avoided by the ants because of the presence of ant-repellent secondary compounds in the leaves. A bioassay to test repellency of leaf extracts was developed to guide the chemical isolation of ant repellents, using a laboratory colony of Atta cephalotes.The presence of one or more extractable ant repellents was quickly demonstrated. Subsequent chemical isolation and identification revealed that there was essentially only one terpenoid responsible for the repellency: caryophyllene epoxide. Tests with a concentration series of the pure compound demonstrated that the natural concentration of this terpenoid in Hymenaea could fully account for the observed repellency of intact leaves. Field bioassays of the terpenoid in Costa Rica confirmed this result; leaves of a preferred species, Spondias purpurea L. (Anacardiaceae), became as repellent as Hymenaea leaves when treated with caryophyllene epoxide at natural Hymenaea leaf concentrations. Repellency of the epoxide was 20 times greater than that of caryophyllene, its sesquiterpene hydrocarbon precursor, which is also found in Hymenaea leaves.Attine ants cut leaves to serve as substrate for culturing a specific fungus for food, principally for their larvae. A reasonable hypothesis is that these ants selectively avoid plant species whose leaves contain compounds which are toxic to their fungus. We tested caryophyllene epoxide for antifungal activity and found that it is an extremely potent compound, not only against the attine fungus, but other fungi as well. We speculate that many of the other plant species avoided by these ants in nature may be similarly protected from ant attack by antifungal compounds in their leaves. We further suggest that plant defense against leafcutting ants may be largely an incidental byproduct of selection for fungal resistance in plants.
Retinal photoreceptors and visual pigments in Boa constrictor imperator

The photoreceptors of Boa constrictor, a boid snake of the subfamily Boinae, were examined with scanning electron microscopy and microspectrophotometry. The retina of B. constrictor is duplex but highly dominated by rods, cones comprising 11% of the photoreceptor population. The rather tightly packed rods have relatively long outer segments with proximal ends that are somewhat tapered. There are two morphologically distinct, single cones. The most common cone by far has a large inner segment and a relatively stout outer segment. The second cone, seen only infrequently, has a substantially smaller inner segment and a finer outer segment. The visual pigments of B. constrictor are virtually identical to those of the pythonine boid, Python regius. Three different visual pigments are present, all based on vitamin A(1.) The visual pigment of the rods has a wavelength of peak absorbance (lambda(max)) at 495 +/- 2 nm. The visual pigment of the more common, large cone has a lambda(max) at 549 +/- 1 nm. The small, rare cone contains a visual pigment with lambda(max) at 357 +/- 2 nm, providing the snake with sensitivity in the ultraviolet. We suggest that B. constrictor might employ UV sensitivity to locate conspecifics and/or to improve hunting efficiency. The data indicate that wavelength discrimination above 430 nm would not be possible without some input from the rods.
Americium removal from nitric acid waste streams

Separations research at the Rocky Flats Plant /RFP/ has found ways to significantly improve americium removal from nitric acid/7M/ waste streams generated by plutonium purification operations. Partial neutralization of the acid waste followed by solid supported liquid membranes /SLM/ are useful in transferring and concentrating americium from nitrate solutions. Specifically, DHDECMP /dihexyl-N, N-diethylcarbamoylmethylphosphonate/ supported on Accurel polypropylene hollow fibers assembled in modular form transfers >95% of the americium from high nitrate /6.9M/, low acid /0.1M/ feeds into 0.25M oxalic acid stripping solution. Maximum permeabilities were observed to be 0.001 cm sec−1, consistent with typical values for other systems. The feed:strip volume ratio shows an inverse relationship to the fraction of metal ion transferred. Cation exchangers may be used to concentrate americium from the strip solution. Furthermore, OOD/iB/CMPO /or CMPO/ /octylphenyl-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide/ has been tested in an extraction chromatography mode. Preliminary results show CMPO to be effective in removing americium if the feed is neutralized to 1.OM acidity and iron/III/ is complexed with 0.20M oxalic acid.
Sinonasal papillomas: clinicopathologic review of 40 patients with inverted and oncocytic schneiderian papillomas.

Objective: To evaluate the pathological features and variations of sinonasal inverted and oncocytic papillomas and correlate the microscopic findings with the clinical behavior. Study Design: A retrospective review and pathological assessment. Methods: A retrospective review and pathological assessment were performed on 40 patients with a diagnosis of inverted papilloma treated by the senior author (W.L.) between 1994 and 2001. Results: Forty cases were identified and reviewed. Seven patients developed recurrences (18%), and four underwent malignant transformations (10%). Pathological assessment revealed 34 (85%) inverted papillomas and 6 (15%) oncocytic schneiderian papillomas. Dysplasia was present in 26 cases (65%), including 9 cases (22%) of high-grade dysplasia (moderate to severe). Metaplasia of the sinonasal mucosa adjacent to inverted papillomas and oncocytic schneiderian papillomas was seen in 18 (45%) cases. Recurrence developed in two patients with oncocytic schneiderian papillomas (33%) and five patients with inverted papillomas (15%). Four cases (10%) of carcinoma ex papilloma were seen; one arose from oncocytic schneiderian papilloma (17%), and three arose from inverted papilloma (9%). Oncocytic schneiderian papilloma was more often mixed with typical inverted papilloma, rather than presenting in its pure form. Conclusions: Although oncocytic schneiderian papilloma is uncommon relative to inverted papilloma, the results suggest that they have higher rates of both recurrence and malignant transformation. The common admixture of oncocytic schneiderian papilloma with inverted papilloma speaks for a common etiological factor of these two lesions. A larger number of cases for analysis would be necessary to confirm the trend noted in our data. Nonetheless, pathological findings consistent with oncocytic schneiderian papilloma should be explicit in any classification system and justify aggressive treatment and careful postoperative surveillance.
Innate immune responses of primary murine macrophage-lineage cells and RAW 264.7 cells to ligands of Toll-like receptors 2, 3, and 4

Although studies have been performed to characterize responses of macrophages from individual anatomical sites (e.g., alveolar macrophages) or of murine-derived macrophage cell lines to microbial ligands, few studies compare these cell types in terms of phenotype and function. We directly compared the expression of cell surface markers and functional responses of primary cultures of three commonly used cells of monocyte-macrophage lineage (splenic macrophages, bone marrow-derived macrophages, and bone marrow-derived dendritic cells) with those of the murine-leukemic monocyte-macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7. We hypothesized that RAW 264.7 cells and primary bone marrow-derived macrophages would be similar in phenotype and would respond similarly to microbial ligands that bind to either Toll-like receptors 2, 3, and 4. Results indicate that RAW 264.7 cells most closely mimic bone marrow-derived macrophages in terms of cell surface receptors and response to microbial ligands that initiate cellular activation via Toll-like receptors 3 and 4. However, caution must be applied when extrapolating findings obtained with RAW 264.7 cells to those of other primary macrophage-lineage cells, primarily because phenotype and function of the former cells may change with continuous culture.
Kinetics of Spherulitic Growth of Poly(pivalolactone) in Blends with Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-tetrafluoroethylene): Effect of Specific Interactions on the Thermodynamic and Kinetic Secondary Nucleation Parameters

The kinetics of spherulitic growth of α-phase poly(pivalolactone) (PPVL) in blends with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (P(VF 2 -TFE)) has been investigated as a function of blend composition and crystallization temperature by hot-stage polarized optical microscopy and analyzed by the Lauritzen-Hoffman (LH) secondary nucleation theory. The composition dependence of the equilibrium melting temperature of α-phase PPVL was determined directly from the analysis of spherulitic growth rate data evaluated at various crystallization temperatures between 169.4 and 217.4 °C. The estimated equilibrium melting temperatures were analyzed by the Nishi-Wang method to yield a negative Flory-Huggins interaction parameter (XF-H = -0.06 ± 0.03). Analysis of the composition dependence of the nucleation constants, K g , in crystal growth regimes II and III suggests that the PPVL crystal/melt lateral interfacial free energy, σ, decreases markedly with increasing P(VF 2 -TFE) concentration in the blends. The present results were examined in light of conclusions drawn from previous studies of PPVL/PVF 2 blends and allowed us to state that the composition dependence of K g and a for α-phase PPVL is unequivocally a function of the strength of the specific interactions between the blend components. These observations are rationalized through arguments based on the minimization of the free energy of demixing and an increase in the conformational entropy of chains adsorbed at the melt/crystal interphase (i.e. an increase in crystal/melt lateral interfacial thickness) with an increase in the strength of the specific interactions.
Immunomodulation In Vivo by the Mycoplasma arthritidis Superantigen, MAM

Mycoplasma arthritidis produces a potent superantigen (MAM) that activates specific murine and human T lymphocytes to proliferate and secrete lymphokines. We show here that MAM also influences both T- and B-cell functions in vivo. Lymphocytes from mice injected with MAM exhibit a suppression of proliferative responses to MAM in vitro but only a partial suppression of responses to other mitogens. This T-cell anergy not only decreased contact sensitivity to dinitrofluorobenzene but also prolonged survival of skin transplants. In contrast, B-cell reactivity is increased following in vivo injection of MAM, as evidenced by enhanced antibody responses to sheep red blood cells and ovalbumin
Guns, Butter, and Anarchy.

A state in the international system implicit in realism must allocate its limited resources between satisfying its intrinsically valued ends and the means of military power. I formalize this guns-versus-butter problem in a simple infinite-horizon model in which two states must continually decide how to allocate their resources and whether to attack the other state. The analysis establishes sufficient conditions to ensure the existence of an equilibrium in which neither state attacks; shows that there is a strictly Pareto-dominant pair of peaceful equilibrium payoffs; characterizes the unique, peaceful Markov perfect equilibrium that yields them; and describes the comparative statics of the equilibrium allocations. More broadly, the analysis also suggests that the notion of anarchy has little if any substantive significance distinctively related to international politics and that the problem of absolute and relative gains is superfluous.
Thermal modification of vegetable oils

This article reviews old and recent literature concerning the hypothesis that the Diels-Alder reaction is the dominant reaction in the thermal polymerization of vegetable oil. Both triacylglycerol oils and methyl esters are used to show that this mechanism is unlikely to be a significant contributor en route to the reaction products. The products formed under a range of different reaction conditions are reviewed, including dimer acid, where Diels-Alder chemistry is not claimed, to the polymerization of mono-unsaturated methyl oleate in the presence of oxygen. In these, and even in the system where Diels-Alder chemistry is claimed, the polymerization of conjugated methyl linoleate, six-membered ring structures are not found in levels detectable by 13C NMR. Since such structures are formed by a Diels-Alder reaction, it is unlikely that any more than 5% of the reaction could be formed by that method. Other factors against the Diels-Alder contribution to this process, such as conformation and electron withdrawing ability of the substrates are also discussed.
Hypothalamic epinephrine is released into hypophysial portal blood during stress

The hypothalamic secretion of epinephrine (EPI), norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA) into hypophysial portal blood was studied in adrenalectomized rats subjected to heat stress. Portal plasma EPI levels were increased 3-fold by heat stress whereas portal plasma concentrations of NE and DA were not altered by stress. These data suggest that EPI of hypothalamic origin may be involved directly in the modulation of anterior pituitary secretion during stress.
Automated computerized classification of malignant and benign masses on digitized mammograms.

Rationale and Objectives. To develop a method for differentiating malignant from benign masses in which a computer automatically extracts lesion features and merges them into an estimated likelihood of malignancy. Materials and Methods. Ninety-five mammograms depicting masses in 65 patients were digitized. Various features related to the margin and density of each mass were extracted automatically from the neighborhoods of the computer-identified mass regions. Selected features were merged into an estimated likelihood of malignancy by using three different automated classifiers. The performance of the three classifiers in distinguishing between benign and malignant masses was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis and compared with the performance of an experienced mammographer and that of five less experieced mammographers. Results. Our computer classification scheme yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (A Z ) value of 0.94, which was similar to that for an experienced mammographer (A Z = 0.91) and was statistically significantly higher than the average performance of the radiologists with less mammographic experience (A Z = 0.81) ( P = 0.13). With the database used, the computer scheme achieved, at 100% sensitivity, a positive predictive value of 83%, which was 12% higher than that for the performance of the experienced mammographer and 21% higher than that for the average performance of the less experienced mammographers ( P Conclusion. Automated computerized classification schemes may be useful in helping radiologists distinguish between benign and malignant masses and thus reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies.
A Micromechanical Approach for Analyzing Thermo-Mechanical Responses of Functionally Graded Materials

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) consist of continuously or discretely changing thermal and mechanical properties in the graded directions. The FGMs are often used for applications that involve high temperature gradients. Under this condition, the thermal and mechanical properties of materials can strongly depend upon the temperatures, which create a thermo-mechanical coupling. Available micromodels of FGMs have focused on obtaining the through-thickness mechanical properties [2,4,7]. This study develops an integrated micromechanical and structural framework for analyzing coupled heat conduction and deformations in the FGMs. A through-thickness material variation is represented with piecewise homogeneous media. Average thermomechanical properties in each homogeneous medium are obtained using a micromodel of particle reinforced composites, whose constituents’ properties can change with temperatures and/or stresses. Sequentially coupled heat transfer and displacement analyses are performed, which allows analyzing stress/strain with temperature dependent mechanical properties, but the temperature field is obtained without knowledge of stress/strain responses. Parametric studies are performed to determine the effects of through thickness material variation and constituent properties on the overall performance of the FGM. Available experimental data and analytical models are used for comparisons.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Cytogenetic analysis of retinoblastoma: evidence for multifocal origin and in vivo gene amplification

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is an uncommon childhood tumor of the neural retina with a significant genetic component in its etiology. A small proportion of patients have a deletion in chromosome 13 encompassing band 13q14, an observation which permitted the assignment of the RB1 locus to this region. About 20% of Rb tumors exhibit microscopic deletions of band 13q14 or monosomy 13. Trisomy 1q and i(6p) have also been reported in a high percentage of tumors. We analyzed the chromosome complements from direct preparations of 10 Rb tumors derived from seven patients. Modal chromosome numbers ranged from 45 to 48, and occasional duplications of the genomes were noted. In general, the tumors were chromosomally stable, although karyotypic evolution and random chromosome loss were encountered. Consistent abnormalities included trisomy 1q, i(6p), 6q-, and del(13)(q12----14). One patient with bilateral Rb had three tumor clones (two in one eye and one in the other) with chromosome abnormalities unrelated in origin. A second patient with unilateral Rb had two tumor clones with chromosome abnormalities again unrelated in origin. These two patients provide some of the first cytogenetic evidence for the multifocal origin of primary Rb. In the untreated tumor of a third patient, a homogeneously staining region (HSR) was detected in 1p32, indicating gene amplication in vivo; previously, an HSR at this site has been reported in the established Rb cell line Y79.
Back-side emission from filtered gold targets

An investigation of the rapid rise time of incoherent x-ray emission from targets heated by an ultra-short pulse (USP) high-intensity optical laser was conducted for use as the x-ray source for inner- shell photo-ionized (ISPI) x ray lasing. Previous studies considered front-side x-ray emission; however, ISPI x-ray lasing requires a filtered x-ray source. Modeling using the hydrodynamics/atomic kinetics code LASNEX of a 40 fs USP driving laser with an intensity of 10 exp(17W/CM2) incident on a flat target of thin Au layered on a Be filter is presented. The filter has a modest influence on the x- ray emission of the Au via conduction cooling but has a large effect on the backside spectrum by removing low energy x rays as the Au emission passes through the filter. The use of such a filtered source is shown to provide the needed x rays to achieve high gain in C at 45A.
A new method for the measurement of dynamic shear mechanical properties of materials with a rheovibron viscoelastometer

The Rheovibron viscoelastometer is useful for obtaining dynamic tensile mechanical properties of films and fibers over a wide temperature range. Numerous studies of dynamic tensile mechanical properties have been made in the temperature range of −160°C to 250°C in an atmosphere at 0% relative humidity. However, no studies exist which show the measurement of dynamic shear mechanical properties of materials using the Vibron instrument. A new shear grip and procedure was developed for measuring dynamic mechanical properties of material in the shear mode using the Rheovibron instrument. The dynamic shear properties on a polyurethane elastomer and polyester film are presented. This technique will be useful in studies on the dynamic shear characterization of materials in conjunction with end use performance.
Conformational variants of duplex DNA correlated with cytosine-rich chromosomal fragile sites.

We found that several major chromosomal fragile sites in human lymphomas, including the bcl-2 major breakpoint region, bcl-1 major translocation cluster, and c-Myc exon 1-intron 1 boundary, contain distinctive sequences of consecutive cytosines exhibiting a high degree of reactivity with the structure-specific chemical probe bisulfite. To assess the inherent structural variability of duplex DNA in these regions and to determine the range of structures reactive to bisulfite, we have performed bisulfite probing on genomic DNA in vitro and in situ; on duplex DNA in supercoiled and linearized plasmids; and on oligonucleotide DNA/DNA and DNA/2′-O-methyl RNA duplexes. Bisulfite is significantly more reactive at the frayed ends of DNA duplexes, which is expected given that bisulfite is an established probe of single-stranded DNA. We observed that bisulfite also distinguishes between more subtle sequence/structural differences in duplex DNA. Supercoiled plasmids are more reactive than linear DNA; and sequences containing consecutive cytosines, namely GGGCCC, are more reactive than those with alternating guanine and cytosine, namely GCGCGC. Circular dichroism and x-ray crystallography show that the GGGCCC sequence forms an intermediate B/A structure. Molecular dynamics simulations also predict an intermediate B/A structure for this sequence, and probe calculations suggest greater bisulfite accessibility of cytosine bases in the intermediate B/A structure over canonical B- or A-form DNA. Electrostatic calculations reveal that consecutive cytosine bases create electropositive patches in the major groove, predicting enhanced localization of the bisulfite anion at homo-C tracts over alternating G/C sequences. These characteristics of homo-C tracts in duplex DNA may be associated with DNA-protein interactions in vivo that predispose certain genomic regions to chromosomal fragility.
Is there really an NPY Y3 receptor

NPY is an abundant neuropeptide that is widely distributed throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. Based on pharmacological and cloning data, there are believed to be six different types of NPY receptors. The Y3 receptor is the only one of the six that has not been cloned or well characterized. Y3 receptors have been shown to be important in the regulation of visceral afferents within the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). In the present experiments, we have compared the effects of NPY and various analogs on Ba2+ currents in acutely dissociated neurons from the NTS and the neighboring area postrema (AP). No neurons from either NTS or AP responded to [D-Trp32]NPY suggesting that these areas lack Y5 receptors. However, we found a group of NTS neurons that only responded to NPY and not PYY or any other analogs. This agonist profile corresponds to that described for NPY Y3 receptors. No AP neurons showed this type of agonist profile. Other neurons responded to a variety of NPY analogs indicating the presence of Y1, Y2, and Y4 receptors in both nuclei.