cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A parametric study of the solid acid fuel cell cathode

Abstract A one dimensional macrohomogeneous model of a Solid Acid Fuel Cell (SAFC) is developed to identify the dominant parameters affecting cell performance. The model parameters are estimated through a computational sensitivity analysis in which one model parameter is varied to assess the range of values of that parameter yielding convergence and qualitatively reasonable fits. Using this analysis to provide initial values, the model is used to simultaneous fit a set of polarization curves with physical input data (derived from measurements) and model parameters. The Tafel slopes obtained in the model agree with those calculated assuming a single-electron transfer rate-limiting step and a transfer coefficient of 0.5 at 250 °C. The Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) drop agrees closely with the theoretical value at 250 °C. Based on the sensitivity analysis, permeability and roughness factor are key parameters for higher performance. The current density distribution and a breakdown of contributing overpotentials are calculated using the model parameters and presented. The results show the importance of limitations in available surface area and mass transport to the catalytic surface as the limiting processes in SAFC performance. This points to decreasing catalyst layer thickness and improved microstructural configuration as targets for SAFCs performance improvement.
Return on Investment of Free Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests in a Primarily Rural Uninsured or Underinsured Population in Northeast Texas.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the USA. Its economic impact is extensive, and preventive screening services are warranted to help prevent it. We sought to examine the return on investment, in terms of reduced costs attributed to cancer prevention, of a CRC screening outreach program providing education and screening in a primarily rural region targeting the uninsured and underinsured. The expenditures of the Northeast Texas CRC screening program were calculated for the years of 2016 and 2017. Prices ($US) were adjusted for inflation and converted to year 2017 values. The costs saved were calculated using the estimated costs of CRC care present in the literature. For fiscal years 2016 and 2017, the program provided an average return of $US1.46–2.06 for every tax dollar spent. Estimated cost avoidance was $US165,080 per avoided case and estimated cost avoidance of $US245,601 among early-stage cancer cases detected, resulting in potential savings ranging from $US3,893,676 to $US4,837,923. A CRC outreach program providing education and screening operating in less densely populated regions yields a positive return on investment.
1665 Trends in Extraction Techniques in Minimally Invasive Myomectomies: A Retrospective Study

Study Objective Our study aims to evaluate how the FDA's 2014 recommendation against the use of power morcellation for tissue extraction in minimally invasive myomectomies changed surgical approach at our hospital system. Our study investigated rates of laparoscopic versus abdominal myomectomies, and for laparoscopy, trends in mode of tissue extraction and resultant perioperative outcomes. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Southern California Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Patients or Participants Women undergoing a laparoscopic or robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy involving tissue morcellation from 2008 to 2018. Interventions One of 3 morcellation techniques: electronic power morcellation (PM), manual morcellation via minilaparotomy (ML), or contained power morcellation in a bag (CM). Measurements and Main Results A total of 3259 myomectomies were performed at our hospital system from 2008 to 2018. Rate of abdominal versus minimally invasive myomectomies, estimated blood loss, length of operation and hospital stay, major post-operative complications, and hospital re-admission were compared in the six years before and the four years after the FDA warning. A total of 151 laparoscopic cases were performed during the study period. The cohort was 38% Hispanic, 32% Black, 15% White, and 12% Asian. Mean age was 37 (SD 7.31). Mean BMI was 28 (SD 7.16). Prior to the FDA announcement, tissue extraction methods were 75% PM, 5% ML, and 9% CM. After the announcement, 0% PM, 34% ML, and 57% CM (Pearson chi = 93.28). There was no difference in complications in aggregate or individually between tissue extraction method. Conclusion Minimally invasive myomectomies make up a small portion of total myomectomies performed. For these cases, however, the FDA notice did, nonetheless, change surgical practice in regards to tissue extraction methods. There were no significant differences found among the tissue extraction techniques with regard to estimated blood loss, major post-operative complications, operating time, length of hospital stay or hospital re-admission.
DILTIAZEM VERSUS METOPROLOL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common pathological cardiac arrhythmia. AF is classified as Acute AF or Chronic AF. Heart rate control (RC) is the most common therapeutic approach for the management of both Acute AF and Chronic AF. Diltiazem and metoprolol are the most common agents used for RC
Molecular origin of the Raman signal from Aspergillus nidulans conidia and observation of fluorescence vibrational structure at room temperature.

Successful approaches to identification and/or biological characterization of fungal specimens through Raman spectroscopy may require the determination of the molecular origin of the Raman response as well as its separation from the background fluorescence. The presence of fluorescence can interfere with Raman detection and is virtually impossible to avoid. Fluorescence leads to a multiplicity of problems: one is noise, while another is “fake” spectral structure that can easily be confused for spontaneous Raman peaks. One solution for these problems is Shifted Excitation Raman Difference Spectroscopy (SERDS), in which a tunable light source generates two spectra with different excitation frequencies in order to eliminate fluorescence from the measured signal. We combine a SERDS technique with genetic breeding of mutant populations and demonstrate that the Raman signal from Aspergillus nidulans conidia originates in pigment molecules within the cell wall. In addition, we observe unambiguous vibrational fine-structure in the fluorescence response at room temperature. We hypothesize that the vibrational fine-structure in the fluorescence results from the formation of flexible, long-lived molecular cages in the bio-polymer matrix of the cell wall that partially shield target molecules from the immediate environment and also constrain their degrees of freedom.
James M. Buchanan’s constitutional project: past and future

A substantial amount of James Buchanan’s academic work was devoted to his constitutional project: the development of procedures for designing constitutional rules that would create a government sufficient to protect people’s rights but that would constrain government from violating people’s rights. Buchanan divides government functions into a protective state that preserves people’s rights and a productive state that produces collective goods that individuals could not produce on their own or through market mechanisms. Buchanan uses the benchmark of hypothetical agreement with the constitutional rules to evaluate whether they further the interests of those who are subject to them. This paper presents Buchanan’s constitutional project as a framework for analyzing constitutional rules and suggests how Buchanan’s framework can extend his constitutional project.
End-Tidal-to-Arterial PCO2 Ratio as Signifier for Physiologic Dead-Space Ratio and Oxygenation Dysfunction in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The ratio of end-tidal CO2 pressure to arterial partial pressure of CO2 ( P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 ) was recently suggested for monitoring pulmonary gas exchange in patients with ARDS associated with COVID-19, yet no evidence was offered supporting that claim. Therefore, we evaluated whether P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 might be relevant in assessing ARDS not associated with COVID-19. METHODS: We evaluated the correspondence between P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 and the ratio of dead space to tidal volume (VD/VT) measured in 561 subjects with ARDS from a previous study in whom P ETCO 2 data were also available. Subjects also were analyzed according to 4 ranges of P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 representing increasing illness severity (≥ 0.80, 0.6–0.79, 0.50–0.59, and RESULTS: P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 correlated strongly with VD/VT (r = –0.87 [95% CI –0.89 to –0.85], P P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 was associated with increased VD/VT and hospital mortality between all groups. In the univariate analysis, for every 0.01 decrease in P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 , mortality risk increased by ∼1% (odds ratio 0.009, 95% CI 0.003–0.029, P P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 CONCLUSIONS: Using P ETCO 2 /P aCO 2 as a surrogate for VD/VT may be a useful and practical measurement for both management and ongoing research into the nature of ARDS.
Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes

Ex vivo culture of the adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) presents the most relevant experimental system for the in vitro study of cardiac biology. Adult mammalian CMs are terminally differentiated cells with minimal proliferative capacity. The post-mitotic state of adult CMs not only restricts cardiomyocyte cell cycle progression but also limits the efficient culture of CMs. Moreover, the long-term culture of adult CMs is necessary for many studies, such as CM proliferation and analysis of gene expression. The mouse and the rat are the two most preferred laboratory animals to be used for cardiomyocyte isolation. While the long-term culture of rat CMs is possible, adult mouse CMs are susceptible to death and cannot be cultured more than five days under normal conditions. Therefore, there is a critical need to optimize the cell isolation and long-term culture protocol for adult murine CMs. With this modified protocol, it is possible to successfully isolate and culture both adult mouse and rat CMs for more than 20 days. Moreover, the siRNA transfection efficiency of isolated CM is significantly increased compared to previous reports. For adult mouse CM isolation, the Langendorff perfusion method is utilized with an optimal enzyme solution and sufficient time for complete extracellular matrix dissociation. In order to obtain pure ventricular CMs, both atria were dissected and discarded before proceeding with the disassociation and plating. Cells were dispersed on a laminin coated plate, which allowed for efficient and rapid attachment. CMs were allowed to settle for 4-6 h before siRNA transfection. Culture media was refreshed every 24 h for 20 days, and subsequently, CMs were fixed and stained for cardiac-specific markers such as Troponin and markers of cell cycle such as KI67.
Transcriptomic Analysis of Right Ventricular Remodeling in Two Rat Models of Pulmonary Hypertension: Identification and Validation of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Right Ventricular Failure.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a significant prognostic determinant of morbidity and mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Despite the importance of RV function in ...
The Feasibility of Introducing Squash Bees (Peponapis and Xenoglossa) Into the Old World

The introduction of honeybees from the Old World to the New has been of the utmost significance, for the pollination of agricultural crops as well as for honey and wax production. And in New Zealand, red clover seed crops failed until bumble bees were introduced from England. The New World, as well as the Old, is rich in native wild bees, and the present article discusses the question of introducing to the Old World from the New certain species of “squash bees”, so called because they are especially adapted for pollinating squashes and other species of Cucurbita (gourds, pumpkins and vegetable marrows).
Improving Memory Subsystem Performance Using ViVA: Virtual Vector Architecture

The disparity between microprocessor clock frequencies and memory latency is a primary reason why many demanding applications run well below peak achievable performance. Software controlled scratchpad memories, such as the Cell local store, attempt to ameliorate this discrepancy by enabling precise control over memory movement; however, scratchpad technology confronts the programmer and compiler with an unfamiliar and difficult programming model. In this work, we present the Virtual Vector Architecture (ViVA), which combines the memory semantics of vector computers with a software-controlled scratchpad memory in order to provide a more effective and practical approach to latency hiding. ViVA requires minimal changes to the core design and could thus be easily integrated with conventional processor cores. To validate our approach, we implemented ViVA on the Mambo cycle-accurate full system simulator, which was carefully calibrated to match the performance on our underlying PowerPC Apple G5 architecture. Results show that ViVA is able to deliver significant performance benefits over scalar techniques for a variety of memory access patterns as well as two important memory-bound compact kernels, corner turn and sparse matrix-vector multiplication -- achieving 2x---13x improvement compared the scalar version. Overall, our preliminary ViVA exploration points to a promising approach for improving application performance on leading microprocessors with minimal design and complexity costs, in a power efficient manner.
The Classification of Roles in Social System Accounts

In Chapter 4 we described how eco-behavioral data for behavior setting genotypes could be merged with economic data for SIC industries. We suggested construction of a genotype-by-industry matrix of perhaps 400 genotype rows and 260 industry columns, the elements of which would contain estimates of the time spent in each genotype within each industry by (a) gainfully employed persons and (b) others. The living-time of the U.S. population in a given year would be allocated exhaustively among the genotype rows and also among the industry columns (as augmented to include the occupancy times of their customers, students, spectators, and--in the private household ‘industry’--household members). Over the years, technological, economic, and social change would be reflected in the periodic joint updating of industry and genotype classifications and the jointly-shifting allocations of time among industries and genotypes.
Exact solutions for a class of heat and mass transfer problems

A number of heat and mass transfer problems of chemical engineering interest involve the convective diffusion equation of the form where θ = θ(X1, X2). Exact solutions for such problems are developed in terms of well-known functions which have been thoroughly studied in recent years. Several problems which have appeared in the literature, solved by completely numerical methods, are re-examined and new problems are discussed and solved. The results of the present analysis are compared with those obtained by other methods where possible. The problem of axial diffusion of heat or mass is solved in terms of known functions. The present formulation is shown to be particularly useful in the analysis of conjugated boundary value problems, i. e. for problems involving heat or mass transfer across an interface where the interfacial boundary condition is not known a priori but is related to the temperature or concentration fields in the adjacent phases.
Compressions on partially ordered abelian groups

If A is a C*-algebra and p E A is a self-adjoint idempotent, the mapping a → pap is called a compression on A. We introduce effect-ordered rings as generalizations of unital C*-algebras and characterize compressions on these rings. The resulting characterization leads to a generalization of the notion of compression on partially ordered abelian groups with order units.
In Brief: NOAA moving forward with scientific integrity policy

[1] The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is moving forward with an agency-wide scientific integrity policy and has released a draft policy to all of NOAA's employees for their review and comment, NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said on 8 February. The draft policy lays out guidance for scientific conduct at the agency, encourages scientists to publish their data and findings, provides whistle-blower protection, encourages NOAA scientists to be leaders in the scientific community, and explicitly states that NOAA science managers and supervisors “must never suppress, alter or otherwise impede the timely release of scientific or technological findings or conclusions,” Lubchenco said at a meeting of the Union of Concerned Scientists' board of directors.
Dual Rupture of Non-coronary Sinus of Valsalva Into the Right Heart Chambers

Normal.dotm 0 0 1 66 381 OSU Medical Center 3 1 467 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pc .45pc 0pc .45pc; mso-para-margin:0pc; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} We are reporting a case of infective endocarditis complicated with rupture of sinus of valsalva of the non-coronary cusp into right atrium and right ventricle, severe aortic regurgitation as well as moderate tricuspid regurgitation, which was diagnosed after appropriate utilization of the transthoracic echocardiogram in clinically and hemodynamically deteriorating condition in a young patient without appreciating a continuous murmur on the physical exam.
sarA-mediated repression of protease production plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus USA300 isolates.

Mutation of staphylococcal accessory regulator (sarA) results in increased production of extracellular proteases in Staphylococcus aureus, which has been correlated with decreased biofilm formation and decreased accumulation of extracellular toxins. We used murine models of implant-associated biofilm infection and S. aureus bacteremia (SAB) to compare virulence of USA300 strain LAC, its isogenic sarA mutant, and derivatives of each of these strains with mutations in all 10 of the genes encoding recognized extracellular proteases. The sarA mutant was attenuated in both models, and this was reversed by eliminating production of extracellular proteases. To examine the mechanistic basis, we identified proteins impacted by sarA in a protease-dependent manner. We identified 253 proteins where accumulation was reduced in the sarA mutant compared to the parent strain, and was restored in the sarA/protease mutant. Additionally, in SAB, the LAC protease mutant exhibited a hypervirulent phenotype by comparison to the isogenic parent strain, demonstrating that sarA also positively regulates production of virulence factors, some of which are subject to protease-mediated degradation. We propose a model in which attenuation of sarA mutants is defined by their inability to produce critical factors and simultaneously repress production of extracellular proteases that would otherwise limit accumulation of virulence factors.
Supervised learning with implicit preferences and constraints

In classical Combinatorial Optimization, a well-defined objective function is to be optimized satisfying a set of deterministic constraints. Approximation algorithms and heuristic methods are often applied to the problems proven to be difficult, or NP-Complete and beyond. However, in many real-world problem domains the objective (or utility or preference) function an individual is trying to optimize is not explicitly known. Furthermore, preferences can take many different forms and it is difficult to pre-define the correct format of the true utility function one is optimizing. To circumvent such limitations, we model these problems as machine learning tasks with implicit preferences that can be inferred from observations of the choices the individual made in the past. This approach contrasts with the traditional approach that learns the parameters of an utility or preference function, whose functional form is explicitly defined a priori. We study a set of different learning problem domains in which the preferences, or utility functions, are not explicitly defined. These include structural learning, document citation ranking and resource capacity constraint satisfaction. Our goal is to accurately make predictions for future instances, assuming the same underlying preferences as those expressed in past observations, without explicitly modeling them. The new algorithms and techniques we propose to optimize our learning formulations are shown to be very effective. For situations where both the prediction accuracy and the explicit forms of preferences are important, we provide an Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) based algorithm to extract the preferences from a “black-box” machine learning model for intuitive human interpretation.
Drivers of Municipal Bond Defaults during the Great Depression

Approximately 4800 municipal bond issuers defaulted on interest or principal payments during the Great Depression. Although municipal bond defaults have been quite rare over the last 70 years, some commentators have suggested that another large wave of municipal bond defaults will occur in the near future. This paper assesses the likelihood of such a credit event by analyzing the Depression experience. It also reviews techniques used to gauge default risk for municipal bonds and analogous asset classes, with an eye toward determining which methods are most effective.Statistical analysis relies upon a list of Depression-era city defaults collected by the author from contemporary bond manuals, trade publications and other historical sources. This list is used in conjunction with a database of municipal fiscal data compiled from historical censuses of local governments. This data set provides a collection of exogenous financial variables that may be predictive of default. Econometric analysis is performed on the data set with the goal of building a logistic regression model that can be used to estimate default probabilities for current municipal bond issuers. The paper also includes a discussion of the Depression-era municipal bond environment and its relevance (or lack thereof) to the current situation.
Bulls‐Eye Cutaneous Infarct of Zygomycosis

A seventy-year-old woman with a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia was admitted to the hospital for change in mental status. She had a splenectomy five years prior to admission. The white blood cell count was 154,000 cells/microliter with 95% lymphocytes and 4% neutrophils. Blood cultures grew Salmonella enteritidis and Candida krusei. She developed a wrist lesion at the site of a previous arterial line. The lesion had a striking resemblance to a bulls-eye, with three distinct concentric zones. A bedside touch preparation rapidly processed with Periodic Acid Schiff staining demonstrated a single intact aseptate broad hypha. Punch biopsy specimens demonstrated broad, aseptate hyphae throughout the dermis and subcutis invading both blood vessels and interstitum. A skin biopsy specimen sent for fungal culture grew Rhizopus arrhizus. Cutaneous zygomycosis is a rare, devastating disease that can occur in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts. This case illustrates a distinct morphology, which we have coined the “bulls-eye infarct of cutaneous zygomycosis”. Recognition of this unique appearance allows a rapid bedside diagnosis of this life threatening infection. To our knowledge, this morphology has been reported only twice in the medical literature.
Digital least squares restoration of multi-channel images

Summary form only given. A least-squares filter for the restoration of multichannel images is presented. The process involves the removal of noise and degradation from observed multichannel imagery, such as color or multispectral images. The restoration filters utilize information distributed across image channels and process all channels as a single entity. They use a priori information and constraints, thus avoiding some of the drawbacks of the minimum-mean-squared-error filter. >
Nicotinic Receptor-Induced Apoptotic Cell Death of Hippocampal Progenitor Cells

Nicotine has many effects on CNS functions, presumably through its action on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs). One subclass of AChRs that binds the snake venom toxin α-bungarotoxin (α-Bgt-AChRs) has been shown to modulate neurotransmission in the brain. We now show that α-Bgt-AChR activation by low doses of nicotine results in apoptotic cell death of both primary and immortalized hippocampal progenitor cells. In HC2S2-immortalized hippocampal progenitors, nicotine is cytotoxic to undifferentiated cells, whereas it spares the same cells once differentiation has been induced. The activation of α-Bgt-AChRs by nicotine results in the induction of the tumor suppressor protein p53 and the cdk inhibitor p21. The cytotoxic effect of nicotine is dependent on extracellular calcium levels and is probably attributable to the poor ability of undifferentiated progenitors to buffer calcium loads. The major calcium buffer in these cells, calbindin D28K, is present only after differentiation has been induced. Furthermore transfection of undifferentiated cells with calbindin results in dramatic protection against the cytotoxic effects of nicotine. These results show that nicotine abuse could have significant effects on the survival of progenitor populations in the developing and adult brain and also suggest an endogenous role for α-Bgt-AChRs in neuronal development and differentiation.
Tissue culture studies of possible uremic neurotoxins: myoinositol.

Tissue culture studies of possible uremic neurotoxins: Myoinositol. Organotypic cultures of dorsal root ganglion cells revealed neuronal toxicity when exposed to myoinositol at doses of 1090 to 109µM (500 to 50µg/ml). The ultrastructural changes consisted of membranous cytoplasmic bodies at high concentrations and dense bodies at lower concentrations. There were no changes at 0 to 22µM (0 to 10µg/ml). This range of neurotoxicity parallels the levels of myoinositol found in the serum of uremic patients. Myelin loss occurred in a pattern suggesting "secondary demyelination," similar to the pattern seen in uremic neuropathy. The relevance as a possible model for uremic neuropathy is discussed. Etudes sur des cultures tissulaires de toxines uremiques potentielles: Myoinositol. Des cultures organotypiques de cellules ganglionnaires de la racine dorsale permettent de mettre une toxicite en evidence lors de l'exposition au myoinositol a des concentrations de 1090 a 109 µM (500 a 50µg/ml). Les modifications ultrastructurales consistent en des inclusions cytoplasmiques membraneuses aux fortes concentrations et des inclusions denses aux faibles concentrations. Aucune modification n'a ete observee aux concentrations entre 0 et 22 µM (0 a 10 µg/ml). Ce niveau de neurotoxicite est semblable aux concentrations de myoinositol trouvees dans le serum des malades uremiques. La perte de myeline se produit selon des modalites qui suggerent une "demyelinisation secondaire" semblables a celles observees dans la neuropathie uremique. L'interet de cette preparation en tant que modele de neuropathie uremique est discute.
Treatment of alopecia X with medroxyprogesterone acetate

Background Alopecia X is a common cause of noninflammatory alopecia in Pomeranian dogs. In the past, treatment with growth hormone injections resulted in hair regrowth in many individuals. Progesterone can induce mammary-derived growth hormone and is used to treat dogs with congenital growth hormone deficiency. Hypothesis/Objectives To determine whether progesterone induces endogenous insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and causes hair regrowth in dogs with alopecia X. Animals Eight neutered Pomeranian dogs with alopecia X for 1–2 years. Methods In part 1, two male and three female dogs received 5 mg/kg medroxyprogesterone acetate injected subcutaneously (s.c.) every 4 weeks for a total of four injections. In part 2, one male and two female dogs received 10 mg/kg medroxyprogesterone acetate injected s.c. every 4 weeks for four injections. Dogs were monitored monthly with physical examinations and complete blood counts, chemistry panels and urinalyses. In part 3, two coated Pomeranian dogs and two normal-coated small breed dogs received two s.c. injections of 10 mg/kg medroxyprogesterone acetate. Serum was saved from each visit for IGF-1 analysis. Results In part 1, two dogs had partial hair regrowth of ~40–60%. In part 2, one dog had partial hair regrowth and one dog had complete hair regrowth 2 months after completion of the study. Unlike the normal-coated dogs, whose IGF-1 concentrations increased, the IGF-1 concentrations in alopecic and coated Pomeranian dogs were low and remained unchanged. No adverse effects were noted. Conclusions and clinical importance Results of this study showed that medroxyprogesterone injections resulted in partial hair regrowth in three and complete hair regrowth in one of eight Pomeranian dogs with alopecia X.
Henri de Blainville and the animal series: A nineteenth-century chain of being

In 1839, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1 777-1850), professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris, began a course in the history of science entitled "The Principles of Zoology Deduced from the Progress of Science from Aristotle to the Present."' A systematist in all he undertook, Blainville chose to organize his course around great men, savants whom he believed to be the "personification of an epoch, of a degree of development of science."2 These included such notables as Aristotle, Galen, Albertus Magnus, Vesalius, Harvey, Buffon, and Linnaeus. But when Blainville arrived at the modem period in France, he did not choose as his "characteristic type" the man who was almost universally regarded as France's greatest naturalist that is, Georges Cuvier. Instead he selected as representative of the era, and the man who had contributed most to the progress of science, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.3 The historian might well wonder: why Lamarck? Why would Blainville, an antievolutionist, have awarded such a distinction to a man who was generally ignored by his contemporaries? In part, Blainville's choice can be attributed to a long-standing animosity to Cuvier, but Blainville also shared with Lamarck certain scientific doctrines and attitudes regarding the pursuit of science. Most significant, Blainville, like Lamarck, believed that all animals could be arranged in a single linear sequence. According to most historians, the ancient doctrine of the chain of being which reached a height of popularity in the mid-eighteenth century was repudiated by the leaders of natural history in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It fell victim to Cuvierian comparative anatomy, the natural system of classification, and rising
The Effects of Sintering on the Photocatalytic Activity of N-Doped TiO2 Nanoparticles

N-Doped titanium oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through the hydrolysis of N-substituted titanium isopropoxide precursors and postsynthesis treated by sintering at different temperatures in a nitrogen atmosphere and in air. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the presence of oxygen during the sintering also affects the crystallization of the N-doped TiO2 NPs. The air and N2 sintering produced different nitrogen concentrations and visible-light absorbances. The N-doped TiO2 NPs sintered at 200–250 °C in air for 1/2 h produced the best photocatalytic nanoparticles for visible-light decomposition of methylene blue in water. On the other hand, sintering in N2 atmosphere at any temperature provided photocatalysts with about half-the activity for visible-light decomposition of methylene blue compared to the air-sintered NPs. The zeta potential of the N-doped TiO2 NPs solution used in the photocatalytic tests shows that higher sintering temperatures create more negative charges on the NP sur...
Mucopolysaccharides in sweat

Abstract Mucopolysaccharides occurring in sweat were isolated by coated-glass chromatography. By infrared analysis they were shown to consist for the greater part of desulfated heparin. Some fractions contained a considerable amount of urea and traces of amines and amino acids. The properties of the substances are discussed.
Human Emotions: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective

Evolutionary approaches to the emotions have traditionally focused on a subset of emotions that are shared with other species, characterized by distinct signals, and designed to solve a few key ada...
Characterization of expressed sequence tags generated from skin cDNA clones of Equus caballus by single pass sequencing.

A cDNA library was built using RNA extracted from the skin tissue of an adult horse. The library was primed with oligo (dT) and sequences were directionally inserted in order to produce an expression library. The library has 5.8X 105 plaque forming units with 99.6% recombinant phage. The average insert size is 1.3 Kbp. Three hundred and thirteen expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from sequencing of the 5 prime end of randomly selected skin cDNA clones. The ESTs were sequenced on an ABI 377 using Big-Dye chemistry. A similarity search was performed on each EST using the NCBI non-redundant protein database and 206 ESTs were putatively identified. Twenty six percent of the identified ESTs were redundant. The ESTs were categorized by function. The most frequently identified functional class was translational proteins.
Linking functional decline of telomeres, mitochondria and stem cells during ageing

The study of human genetic disorders and mutant mouse models has provided evidence that genome maintenance mechanisms, DNA damage signalling and metabolic regulation cooperate to drive the ageing process. In particular, age-associated telomere damage, diminution of telomere 'capping' function and associated p53 activation have emerged as prime instigators of a functional decline of tissue stem cells and of mitochondrial dysfunction that adversely affect renewal and bioenergetic support in diverse tissues. Constructing a model of how telomeres, stem cells and mitochondria interact with key molecules governing genome integrity, 'stemness' and metabolism provides a framework for how diverse factors contribute to ageing and age-related disorders.
The Library and the Computer Center: Organizational Patterns at Land Grant Universities.

The relationship of the academic library with the campus computing center has been an issue since at least the late 1970s. The issue was discussed at length in the 1980s with little effect on existing organizations. Interest in the issue was rekindled in the 1990s, when a number of institutions merged or aligned the library and the computer center, with varying results. The literature assumes or asserts that it is the norm for academic libraries and computing centers to be merged or administratively aligned. A census of land grant universities contradicts such a view. For this homogeneous group of large state universities, the traditional organization, in which the library dean reports to the provost and the computer center is a separate organization, still prevails overwhelmingly.
Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) studies indicate a role for CCAAT enhancer binding proteins alpha and epsilon (C/EBPα and C/EBPε) and CDP/cut in myeloid maturation-induced lactoferrin gene expression

In vitro models of granulopoiesis involving the inducible expression of either CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) or C/EBPe in myeloid cells have been shown to lead to the induction of a granulocytic maturation program accompanied by the expression of myeloid-specific genes. Since members of the C/EBP family of transcription factors recognize and bind to similar DNA-binding motifs, it has been difficult to elucidate the specific role of each of the C/EBP family members in eliciting myeloid gene expression. In order to address this issue, we focused on the expression of the lactoferrin (LF) gene. LF expression is transcriptionally regulated in a C/EBP-dependent manner in myeloid cells. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis we demonstrate that C/EBPα binds to the LF promoter in nonexpressing cells. Upon induction of maturation, C/EBPe binds to the LF promoter, which correlates with LF expression. Lack of LF expression in the acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line NB4, which harbors the t(15;17) translocation, cannot be correlated with aberrant binding at the C/EBP site in the LF promoter. It is, however, associated with the persistent binding of the silencer CCAAT displacement protein (CDP/cut) to the LF promoter in these cells. We conclude that C/EBPα, C/EBPe, and CDP/cut all play definitive roles in regulating late gene expression during normal myeloid development.
Changes in food-maintained progressive-ratio responding of rats following chronic buprenorphine or methadone administration.

Seven rats lever pressed under a progressive ratio 3 (PR 3) schedule of food presentation; the number of responses per reinforcer systematically increased during each session. Break point (i.e., the number of responses in the last completed ratio before session termination) was measured under daily methadone (4.5 mg/kg and 3.0 mg/kg) or buprenorphine (0.3 mg/kg) administered prior to experimental sessions. Both drugs initially eliminated rats' food-maintained progressive-ratio responding. Break points during chronic methadone did not return to baseline levels after 80 drug sessions and a dose reduction. In contrast, break points during chronic buprenorphine administration were considerably above baseline control levels for two rats and returned to baseline levels for the third.
An analysis of the mobile readiness and dialogic principles on Fortune 500 mobile websites

Abstract With the rise in mobile technologies, companies must be aware of how various stakeholders are using their websites through their mobile devices. Using a content analysis, this study analyzed the five dialogic principles of Fortune 500 websites accessed from mobile phones and also assessed their mobile readiness. While most companies did not have mobile websites, more non-mobile websites featured the dialogic principles due to their targeting of multiple stakeholders as mobile websites appeared to be more customer-centric.
Neural MPPT Control of Wind Generators With Induction Machines Without Speed Sensors

This paper presents a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique for high-performance wind generators with induction machines based on the growing neural gas (GNG) network. In this paper, a GNG network has been trained offline to learn the turbine-characteristic surface torque versus wind and machine speeds and has been implemented online to obtain the wind tangential speed on the basis of the estimated torque and measured machine speed (surface function inversion). The machine reference speed is then computed on the basis of the optimal tip speed ratio. For the experimental application, a back-to-back configuration with two voltage source converters has been considered, one on the machine side and the other on the grid side. The field-oriented control of the machine has been further integrated with an intelligent sensorless technique; in particular, the so-called total least squares (TLS) EXIN full-order observer has been adopted. Finally, a comparison with a classic perturb-and-observe MPPT has been made on a real wind-speed profile.
Experimental characterization of FRP composite-wood pile structural response by bending tests

Abstract A special prefabricated fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite shield or jacket was developed to repair wood piles in the field. Two types of load-transfer mechanisms between the wood pile and the FRP composite shield were developed and tested: (1) cement-based structural grout; and (2) steel shear connectors with an expanding polyurethane chemical grout. The objective of this paper is to characterize the structural response of full-size pre-damaged wood piles repaired with the FRP composite shield system. A three-point bending test procedure was used to simulate the response of a pile subjected to lateral loads. The load-deformation response, deflected shape profile, relative longitudinal displacements (slip), strain distribution, ultimate bending moment capacity and mode of failure were evaluated. Wood piles were pre-damaged by reducing approximately 60% of the cross-section over a portion of the pile. It was found that a pre-damaged wood pile repaired using the FRP composite shield with cement-based grout exceeded the bending capacity of a reference wood pile. The repair system using the FRP composite shield with steel shear connectors and polyurethane grout did not fully restore the bending capacity of a reference wood pile; however it can be used for marine borer protection when wood damage is not critical.
Modeling tree mortality in response to short- and long-term environmental stresses

An understanding of how environmental stresses contribute to tree mortality is essential for predicting the impact of these stresses on forests. Utilizing a qualitative, mechanistic model of tree resource acquisition and allocation, I evaluated a conceptual model of the process of tree mortality. The conceptual mortality process model posits that tree mortality may result from short-term environmental stresses (e.g. drought or insect defoliation) acting on trees that have been predisposed to injury by long-term environmental stresses (e.g. air pollution or competition). A previous field study identified oaks that died in a manner consistent with this conceptual model and the mechanistic model provides further support for the conceptual model. When subjected to simulated short- and long-term stresses, the mechanistic model predicts changes in tree vigor that are similar to the changes in vigor predicted by the conceptual mortality process model. The simulation results also suggest a mechanism by which short-term environmental stresses affect tree physiology prior to death.
Encoding sequential structure: experience with the real-time recurrent learning algorithm

It is shown that recurrent nets trained with the RTRL (real-time recurrent learning) algorithm are able to learn tasks that Elman nets appear unable to learn. Moreover, they learn a more stringent form of the task that does not require knowledge of the string boundaries to be used. This is of potential importance in cases in which this information is not known beforehand but must be learned by the network, such as speech recognition. Although the recurrent nets learn the prediction tasks, they do so with great difficulty, requiring many string presentations to reach criteria. This is a significant problem because of the large amount of computation required by the recurrent algorithm. Some of the tasks have taken 30 hours of CPU time on a Sun-4/280 to be learned. This time could be greatly reduced if advantage could be taken of the very high degree of parallelism in the RTRL algorithm. >
Asymptotics for the moments of singular distributions

Abstract We determine the asymptotic behavior of the moments of some singular distributions defined on [0, 1], including the Cantor singular function and some special cases of the Riesz-Nagy singular function. We also conduct some numerical studies of the coefficients in the recurrence relation for the orthogonal polynomials generated by the distributions.
Aerosol direct forcing of the summer Indian monsoon as simulated by the NCAR CAM3

In this study, the effects of aerosols on the simulation of the Indian monsoon by the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model CAM3 are measured and investigated. Monthly mean 3D mass concentrations of soil dust, black and organic carbons, sulfate, and sea salt, as output from the GOCART model, are interpolated to mid-month values and to the horizontal and vertical grids of CAM3. With these mid-month aerosol concentrations, CAM3 is run for a period of approximately 16 months, allowing for one complete episode of the Indian monsoon. Responses to the aerosols are measured by comparing the mean of an ensemble of aerosol-induced monsoon simulations to the mean of an ensemble of CAM3 simulations in which aerosols are omitted, following the method of Lau et al. (2006) in their experiment with the NASA finite volume general circulation model. Additionally, an ensemble of simulations of CAM3 using climatological mid-month aerosol concentrations from the MATCH model is composed for comparison. Results of this experiment indicate that the inclusion of aerosols results in drops in surface temperature and increases in precipitation over central India during the pre-monsoon months of March, April, and May. The presence of aerosols induces tropospheric shortwave heating over central India, which destabilizes the atmosphere for enhanced convection and precipitation. Reduced shortwave heating and enhanced evaporation at the surface during April and May results in reduced terrestrial emission to cool the lower troposphere, relative to simulations with no aerosols. This effect weakens the near-surface cyclonic circulation and, consequently, has a negative feedback on precipitation during the active monsoon months of June and July.
Adolescent Religiosity and Selective Exposure to Television

Relying on the Adolescent Media Practice Model and selective exposure theory, this study investigated whether religious adolescents watch less mature television entertainment programs than their less religious peers. Program maturity was measured using V-chip ratings, with higher maturity scores indicating content that included more sexuality, violence, and/or adult and sexual language. The responses from 1,335 16- to 18-year-olds who completed Wave 2 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) survey were analyzed. Findings indicate that religiosity contributes to explaining the variance in television maturity means, with more religious adolescents indicating a preference for less mature television entertainment. Gender, race, income, and parents' monitoring of teens' media were also found to influence television maturity. Teens' attitudes toward premarital sex appeared to mediate the effect of religiosity on their television entertainment choices.
Congenital tracheal agenesis: a postmortem contrast radiographic study.

W.A. Payne was the first to describe tracheal agenesis in 1900.1 Since that t ime, there have been less than 100 cases repor ted in the literature. The chance for long-term survival is small in congenital t racheal agenesis, wi th most cases resul t ing in a fatal outcome. Treatmen t is compl ica ted by the increased frequency of other associated congeni ta l malformations. 2-4 A fatal case of t racheal agenesis is repor ted wi th a pos tmor tem contrast radiographic study.
Collective frequencies and metastability in networks of limit-cycle oscillators with time delay.

We analyze the dynamic behavior of large two-dimensional systems of limit-cycle oscillators with random intrinsic frequencies that interact via time-delayed nearest-neighbor coupling. We find that even small delay times lead to a novel form of frequency depression where the system decays to stable states which oscillate at a delay and interaction-dependent reduced collective frequency. For greater delay or tighter coupling between oscillators we find metastable synchronized states that we describe analytically and numerically.