cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intergenerational programming of metabolic disease: evidence from human populations and experimental animal models

We are in the midst of unparalleled epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes—complex phenotypes originating at the intersection of genetic and environmental risk. As detailed in other chapters, evidence indicates that non-genetic, or environmental, risk may initiate during prenatal and early postnatal life [1]. Striking examples in humans include the association of low birth weight (LBW) and/or accelerated early growth with increased risk of insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the close relationship between maternal obesity or diabetes with childhood obesity. In this chapter, we will focus on the intriguing emerging data from both human and animal models that indicate that intrauterine and childhood exposures can also influence risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in subsequent generations. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for these effects is critical in order to develop effective metabolic and nutritional interventions to interrupt such vicious intergenerational cycles potentiating risk for metabolic disorders.
Effect of edema and dietary sodium on efficacy of sodium removal by cation exchange resin.

Abstract It has been stated that the magnitude of the uptake of sodium by cation exchange resin in the gastrointestinal tract of the edematous patient varies directly with the amount of dietary sodium. 1–4 This has been considered evidence that the sodium taken up is unabsorbed dietary sodium, rather than the sodium of gastrointestinal secretions. 2 In the present paper it is shown that the uptake of sodium by resin in a given edematous patient varies directly with the amount of edema present and is not affected by a change in dietary sodium until that change in sodium intake has caused an appreciable change in the extracellular fluid volume. The clinical significance of this is discussed.
Body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa during the acute and recuperative phase

Perception of body size, subjective experience of body image distortions and differentiation of body concept in the human figure drawing were assessed in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients and controls shortly after hospital admission, and again 6 months later during the recuperative phase. Size estimation was not found to be a distinguishing variable, as both groups exhibited overestimation tendencies of comparable magnitude at both time periods. By contrast, experiences denoting estrangement from the body, insensitivity to body sensations, and weakness of body boundaries were more prevalent in anorexics, and persisted at high levels after frank symptoms of weight and eating disorder had subsided. Anorexics were also shown to depict the human figure with less differentiation relative to controls. Within the anorexic sample the presence of vomiting was linked to greater subjective experience of body image distortion, and such phenomena appear to be a more enduring feature in this subgroup. Overall, the results were viewed as lending support to the argument that defects in body image formation render the anorexic vulnerable to their manifest pathology, which is itself activated by maturational conflicts unique to adolescence.
Persistent infection of mice by lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus: transient virus replication in macrophages of the spleen.

Abstract In order to assess whether the spleen is the major site of replication of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) in mice during the acute phase of infection, LDV replication in the spleen was measured by electron microscopy and fluorescent antibody staining of tissue sections and northern hybridization of total spleen RNA with an LDV-specific cDNA probe, and the effect of splenectomy on LDV replication was determined. LDV RNA and antigens and infected cells, presumably macrophages, were present in the spleen in high concentrations 18–25 h post infection, but then rapidly disappeared to undetectable levels during the next 1–2 days. Thus, LDV clearly replicates in the spleen during the initial phase of infection, but LDV replication in the spleen is transient due to the cytocidal nature of LDV replication and destruction of all permissive macrophages in the spleen. Furthermore, spleen macrophages do not seem to represent the major source of LDV released into the circulation, since LDV viremia as well as anti-LDV antibody production were the same in splenectomized and control animals for at least 28 days postinfection.
A review: human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase.

In recent years the erythrocyte membrane has received considerable attention by many investigators. Numerous reviews on the composition [21, 111], immunologic [85, 116] and rheologic [65] properties, permeability [73], active transport [99], and molecular organization [109, 113, 117], attest to this interest. Although many studies relating to membrane enzymes have appeared, systematic reviews of this area are limited. More than a dozen enzymes have been recognized in the membrane of the human erythrocyte, although changes in activity associated with pathologic conditions are found regularly only with acetylcholinesterase (EC. 3.1.1.7). Although the physiologic functions of erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase remain obscure, the location of this enzyme at or near the cell surface gives it special significance in studies of cellular membranes and the activity alterations seen in several hemolytic disorders may be of importance in understanding certain basic disease processes. Present knowledge concerning erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase as related to health and disease, age of the individual, and erythrocyte aging is so diffuse that a review of this subject seems to be warranted.
Nationalism and legitimation for authoritarianism: A comparison of Nicholas I and Vladimir Putin

This article draws parallels between Tsar Nicholas I and current Russian President Vladimir Putin with respect to their use of nationalism to justify statist policies and political authoritarianism. Building upon insights by Alexander Gerschenkron about the economic development of “backwards” states, it argues that both Nicholas and Putin have rhetorically used Western concepts such as nationalism and democracy to legitimize their rule but have modified them to give them more statist content. Under Nicholas, this was exemplified in the tripartite (Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality) Official Nationality policy. Putin has emphasized patriotism, power, and statism to justify centralization of power and authoritarian policies. Putin's policies and rhetoric are strong analogs to those of Nicholas. Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to explain state-inspired Russian nationalism and how it has been aligned with authoritarian politics, as well as specifying similarities between present and past in Russia.
A note on the use of statistics in reporting detrital clastic compositions

Error polygons and error bars are commonly used graphical methods for showing the precision associated with means on triangular diagrams and orthogonal plots, respectively. If the error or precision associated with a mean, based either upon counts of individual components or upon count ratios, is to be defined using basic statistics, the confidence interval method should be used. Standard deviation alone, which has been frequently in the literature, is not an appropriate statistic to use for this purpose. The graphical use of confidence intervals permits a rapid visualization of statistically significant differences between means, and thus more quantitative description of detrital clastic composition. Previous investigators using the standard deviation method have underestimated the precision of their data when sample sizes are large, and overestimated precision with small samples.
Toward a synoptic model of gambling behavior

Most social science explanations emphasize idiosyncratic or psychopathological motivation for gambling behavior. These explanations understate the fundamental significance of conventional social structural and cultural factors in determining the meaning and outcome of human social behavior such as gambling. They also neglect the gradual process by which the individual is socialized into the gambling subculture with its roles, norms, and values and the process by which subculture is internalized eventually as cognitive rules which distinguish the gambler from the nongambler. The synoptic model presented in this paper proposes a process by which gamblers continuously compare their gambling behavior with the cognitive rules with which they define gambling. The degree of consonance gamblers perceive between their own gambling behavior and their cognitive image of the standard gambler determines the gambler's behavior in subsequent gambling events.
Indirect effect of early-season infestations of Trichosirocalus horridus on Rhinocyllus conicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract Field experiments were conducted to determine whether early vegetative feeding by Trichosirocalus horridus alters musk thistle ( Carduus nutans ) as a resource for the later-arriving Rhinocyllus conicus . Results showed that thistles with high larval densities of T. horridus (66 per plant) produced more and shorter flower stems, significantly fewer flower heads, and delayed flowering by 1 week when compared to uninfested thistles. Also, colonization and oviposition on flower heads by adult R. conicus were as much as three and five times lower, respectively, on thistles heavily infested with T. horridus than on uninfested thistles. As a result, 63% fewer R. conicus adults developed from T. horridus -infested thistles. Musk thistles that were infested with lower densities of T. horridus larvae ( R. conicus to T. horridus -infested and uninfested plants. In a greenhouse experiment, the mortality rate of R. conicus was higher on musk thistles that were heavily infested by T. horridus , implying a change in musk thistle quality. However, this effect was apparent only at low R. conicus larval densities. T. horridus can indirectly and negatively affect R. conicus through a variety of mechanisms, but only when densities of T. horridus are high. This finding may have important implications for the continued redistribution of both weevils, which were imported for the classical biological control of musk thistle, a noxious weed in pastures and rangeland.
Catalytic mechanism of penicillin-binding protein 5 of Escherichia coli.

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and β-lactamases are members of large families of bacterial enzymes. These enzymes undergo acylation at a serine residue with their respective substrates as the first step in their catalytic events. Penicillin-binding protein 5 (PBP 5) of Escherichia coli is known to perform a dd-carboxypeptidase reaction on the bacterial peptidoglycan, the major constituent of the cell wall. The roles of the active site residues Lys47 and Lys213 in the catalytic machinery of PBP 5 have been explored. By a sequence of site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification, we individually introduced γ-thialysine at each of these positions. The pH dependence of kcat/Km and of kcat for the wild-type PBP 5 and for the two γ-thialysine mutant variants at positions 47 and 213 were evaluated. The pH optimum for the enzyme was at 9.5−10.5. The ascending limb to the pH optimum is due to Lys47; hence, this residue exists in the free-base form for catalysis. The descending limb from the pH optimum is...
A systematic compilation of earthquake precursors

article A survey of published scientific literature was undertaken to identify and catalog observed earthquake pre- cursors. The earthquake precursors selected for analysis included electric and magnetic fields, gas emissions, groundwater level changes, temperature changes, surface deformations, and seismicity. For each of these precursors, the published scientific literature was searched to document the statistics of each reported earth- quake precursor (spatial extent, time, duration, amplitude, signal/noise ratio), to analyze dependence of the observable for each precursor on earthquake magnitude, and to explore proposed physical models to explain eachearthquakeprecursor.Somegeneralcharacteristics wereobservedfortheseprecursoryphenomena.First, the largest amplitude precursory anomalies tend to occur before the largest magnitude earthquakes. Also, the number of precursory anomalies tends to increase the closer in time to the occurrence of the earthquake. Finally,theprecursoryanomaliestendtooccurclosetotheeventualepicenterof theearthquake.Ingeneral,the physical models indicate that all of the precursory phenomena are related to deformation that occurs near the fault prior to the main earthquake. While the models provide plausible physical explanations for the pre- cursors, there are many free parameters in the models that are poorly resolved.
Progressive intercarrier and co-channel interference mitigation for underwater acoustic multi-input multi-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

Multi-input multi-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing MIMO-OFDM has been actively studied for high data rate communications over the bandwidth-limited underwater acoustic UWA channels. Unlike existing receivers that treat the intercarrier interference ICI as additive noise, in this paper, the proposed receiver considers ICI explicitly together with the co-channel interference CCI due to parallel transmissions in MIMO-OFDM. Using a recently developed progressive receiver framework, the proposed receiver starts with low-complexity ICI-ignorant processing and then progresses to ICI-aware processing with increasing ICI levels. The key components of the proposed receiver include the following: 1 compressed sensing-based sparse channel estimation, 2 soft-input soft-output minimum mean square error/Markov chain Monte Carlo detector for interference mitigation, and 3 soft nonbinary low-density parity check decoding. In addition to simulation, we use real data from the Surface Processes and Acoustic Communications Experiment 2008 SPACE08 and the Mobile Acoustic Communications Experiment 2010 MACE10 to verify the system performance, where the transmitter in SPACE08 was stationary and that in MACE10 was slowly moving. Simulation and experimental results show that explicitly addressing ICI and CCI significantly improves the performance of MIMO-OFDM in UWA systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impacts of a simulated heat wave on composition of a marine community

Extreme events, such as heat waves, are predicted to increase in frequency, duration, and severity as a consequence of climate change. However, global change research generally focuses on increases in mean temperatures and fails to address the potential impacts of increasingly severe heat waves. In addition, climate change may interact with another primary threat to biodiversity, non-native species invasions. We assessed the impacts of a short-term heat wave on the marine epibenthic fouling community of Bodega Harbor, California, USA, by exposing experimental mesocosms to a simulated heat wave in the laboratory and then monitoring community development in the fi eld. We hypothesized that (1) juveniles would be more susceptible to heat waves than adults, (2) native species would be more susceptible than non-native species, and (3) non-native species would recover more quickly than native species. We observed no eff ect of the heat wave on juvenile species richness, either initially or during the recovery period, relative to communities at ambient seawater temperatures. In contrast, total adult species richness initially declined in response to the heat wave. Adult community composition also changed in heat-wave treatments, with non-natives representing the majority of species and occupying more cover than native species. Th e reduction in native richness associated with the heat wave persisted through the recovery period, whereas invasive richness was actually higher on heat-wave versus ambient plates at 95 days. Heat waves have the potential to alter the composition of this community because of species-, taxon-, and/or origin-specifi c responses; for example, nonnative bryozoans displayed greater resistance than native and non-native tunicates. Recovery from the heat wave occurred via growth of resistant individuals and larval recruitment. Our study highlights the importance of considering species ’ and community responses to heat waves, and not just mean predicted temperature increases, to evaluate the consequences of climate change.
Explaining adaptive shifts in body size on islands: a life history approach

The tendency for island populations to differ in body size from their mainland relatives has been well documented, but the mechanisms for these size changes remain speculative. Explanations have typically been based on ecological interactions that directly favor either an increase or decrease in body size. While it is clear that direct ecological interactions can influence body size, life history shifts present an alternative explanation for observed insular size trends across phylogenetic groups and trophic levels. Here I describe how decreased resource availability and reduced predation pressure, the same selective forces invoked by previous hypotheses, can operate to produce body size changes via the evolution of life history traits. This mechanism is more generally applicable than previous explanations and is consistent with much of the available data.
Docosahexaenoic acid accumulates in cardiolipin and enhances HT-29 cell oxidant production

The objective of this study was to investigate membrane fatty acids for their effects on mitochondrial function in live cells. Mitochondrial potential and oxidant production were measured in human colonic adenocarci- noma (HT-29) cells with membranes enhanced in either oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, or docosahexaenoic acid. Docosahexaenoic acid-en- riched cells had increased mitochondrial potential and pro- duced 5-fold more cellular oxidants than did cells enriched with any other fatty acid. Oxidant production in fatty acid- enriched HT-29 cells did not correlate with the degree of unsaturation for total membrane fatty acids. However, there was a strong correlation between the degree of fatty acid unsaturation of cardiolipin, a critical inner-mitochon- drial membrane phospholipid, and oxidant production. Cardiolipin acyl composition is known to influence the ac- tivity of electron transport complexes, an effect that can in- crease mitochondrial oxidant production. Docosahexaenoic acid was enriched to 48 mol% of the fatty acids present in HT-29 cell cardiolipin. These results demonstrate the im- portance of membrane acyl composition to mitochondrial potential and oxidant production in live cells. Additionally, results suggest that docosahexaenoic acid increases cell oxi- dant production by accumulating in cardiolipin, where its presence alters electron transport efficiency.— Watkins, S. M., L. C. Carter, and J. B. German. Docosahexaenoic acid accumulates in cardiolipin and enhances HT-29 cell oxidant production. J. Lipid Res. 1998. 39: 1583-1588.
Business Value of Information Technology in Network Environments.

Business value of information technology (IT) continues to be an important issue for both practitioners and academic scholars. Most IT business value literature focuses on the scope of an individual firm and overlooks the impact of the network environment it resides in. On the other hand, interorganizational system (IOS) studies tend to rely on a single information system and fall short on providing a complete picture of IT business value in a network environment. This study extends current IT business value models with explicit inclusion of the network environment factors and examines effects of IT resources on network capabilities and firm performance. Considering theories of dynamic capabilities, flexible specialization, and social network, we propose that IT resources are directly related to both network characteristics and network capabilities. In turn, these network characteristics and capabilities affect firm performance. By referring to different theoretical bases and proposing a nomological model, we advance current IT business value research and provide guides for IT practitioners.This study is planned with both archival and survey data in large, multidivisional and multinational companies in high-tech industries.
Dynamic capability for trustworthy software development

SUMMARY Software development organizations are increasingly recognizing the need for flexibility in almost every project they execute. At the same time, development teams are under ever-increasing pressure to deliver software products in shorter cycles and with higher levels of quality. The current software development projects face conflicting demands: improving process predictability to deliver trustworthy software products, and improving process flexibility to adapt to the dynamic context. Although the importance of process tailoring is well recognized, the current literature and industry standards fail to provide theoretically and empirically grounded guidelines on how to tailor the development process to suit the needs of developing trustworthy software in the current dynamic environment. This paper examines how software development teams achieve dynamic capabilities to pursue conflicting demands on trustworthiness and flexibility through a case study of a large military software development project. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Buddy programs for people infected with HIV.

The purposes of this correlational study were to describe and compare clients'and volunteers'perceptions of a buddy program for people infected with HIV and to identify relationships between social support and clients' quality of life. Clients' social support was assessed with the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL), and their quality of life was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study–HIV (MOS-HIV) Scale. Clients' and volunteers' perceptions of satisfaction and assistance with activities were assessed with researcher-developed instruments. A convenience sample of 46 client-volunteer dyads was recruited from five AIDS service organizations. Clients perceived adequate levels of social support, moderate amounts of assistance, high levels of satisfaction with client-volunteer relationships, and moderate to low quality of life. A positive relationship was found between clients' and volunteers' perceptions of satisfaction. Relationships were found between ISEL subscales and the Health Transition and Mental Health subscales of the MOS-HIV and the MOS-HIV total scale scores. The findings of the study provide support for the continuation of buddy programs.
3D Integration Using Self-Assembly at Air-Water-Solid Interface

This paper presents the first proof-of-concept 3D integration using fluidic self-assembly of chip-scale parts (2000 $\,\times\,$ 2000 $\,\times\,$ 100 $\mu{\rm m}^{3}$ ) at an air-water-solid interface. Four-layer 3D integration is achieved by assembling new parts over previously assembled parts. Assembly proceeds as an assembly substrate is pulled up through an air-water interface and electrical and mechanical bonding are achieved by solder reflow. Magnetic fields and temporary Faraday waves are introduced for one-to-one part-to-site registration in proper orientation. The alignment accuracy degrades with increasing number of layers due to weaker magnetic force. The maximum number of layers that can be achieved is simulated and analyzed. Via resistance including the effect of degradation of solder over repeated reflow process is measured. $\hfill[2013\hbox{-}0162]$
Intermediate resolution NMR spectra of solids by means of magnetic dilution

Abstract A method for enhancing the resolution of NMR spectra of molecules in solids has been developed and applied to the spectrum of a methyl group. The theoretical aspects are briefly discussed.
A generalization of the ring of triangular matrices.

Let R be a ring with unit, and e be an idem potent in R such that (1 - e)Re = 0. In this note we shall explore the relationships between homological properties of R and those of its subring eRe . Examples of such rings are abundant, the most common being perhaps the ring R of all two-by-two upper triangular matrices over a field, where—
America's Most Admired Companies Social Media Industry Divide

While public relations and marketing research has analyzed how companies are using individual social media channels, minimal research has explored an organization's social media presence across several channels or identified differences among industries. Using theoretical guidelines for best practices, this study does both by analyzing the complete list of Fortune's “America's Most Admired Companies” (N = 417) on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Results found there were differences across industries regarding their adoption and integration of best practices into their social media accounts. A list of 20 gold standard companies is provided.
Are master plans effective in limiting development in China's disaster-prone areas?

Abstract The effectiveness of urban master plans in limiting development in a disaster-prone area of China was empirically investigated by measuring cities’ land-cover changes against their master plans. If a master plan serves as guidance for urban polices that reduce property loss from earthquakes, floods, landslides, land subsidence, and rises in sea level, it will substantially limit urban development in areas at risk from environmental hazards. An environmental risk map weighted toward valuable forms of land cover was generated using geospatial databases of China's Yangtze River Delta region. Based on this data, the effects of five master plan measures—ring-road patterns, block size, the area of urban built-up lands, the locations of industrial sites, and preservation zoning—were tested using the multiple regression method. Cities showing a high degree of compliance, in particular with preservation zoning, had a smaller amount of urban land located in high-risk zones, on average, by 14 km2. Among the top ten cities exposed to disproportionately high risks, eight were towns and only two were cities like Huzhou and Kunshan.
Trends in high performance graphic systems(Panel Session)

Accompanying the rapid development of integrated circuit fabrication technology has been a parallel, but slower, development of IC design techniques and systems. Recent approaches to IC design enable individual designers to consider developing their own VLSI circuits. Such capability may open the door to a more varied set of system designs than could previously be considered in most design environments.The panel members are all currently designing graphic systems oriented towards VLSI implementation. Each will give a short presentation describing one of their system designs. Following these presentations, three members of the previous session (Forest Baskett, Andreas Bechtolsheim, and Fred Parke) will discuss common issues, problems, and future prospects.
Part I. A look at population-based medical care

Recent trends toward managed health care have generated interest in developing strategies to manage the health care of a population as a whole. Population-based medicine places the individual patient within the context of the larger community, which is composed of both sick and well individuals; when viewed in these terms, only a small proportion of the people who consult a primary care physician are at risk for substantial morbidity. However, the physician serves as the central figure for delivering population-based health care to the entire community. Many strategies for population-based care contain the following 4 basic elements: 1. Identifying the health and disease states that are likely to be responsive to population-based care, 2. Applying principles of epidemiology to define the population-of-interest, 3. Assembling a multidisciplinary team, and 4. Building information systems to support ongoing surveillance of population-based care. To date, most of the published examples of population-based management have been conducted in managed care environments, but population-based management may also be used by a single physician practice or a small group practice. Programs aimed at health promotion or disease prevention are among the easiest to implement. By examining the results of an entire population with a given condition, physicians and their teams may begin to identify ways to improve the overall delivery of care, either by establishing new procedures or improving old ones.
Efficient inference with multiple heterogeneous part detectors for human pose estimation

We address the problem of estimating human pose in a single image using a part based approach. Pose accuracy is directly affected by the accuracy of the part detectors but more accurate detectors are likely to be also more computationally expensive. We propose to use multiple, heterogeneous part detectors with varying accuracy and computation requirements, ordered in a hierarchy, to achieve more accurate and efficient pose estimation. For inference, we propose an algorithm to localize articulated objects by exploiting an ordered hierarchy of detectors with increasing accuracy. The inference uses branch and bound method to search for each part and use kinematics from neighboring parts to guide the branching behavior and compute bounds on the best part estimate. We demonstrate our approach on a publicly available People dataset and outperform the state-of-art methods. Our inference is 3 times faster than one based on using a single, highly accurate detector.
The Genomic Challenge to Adaptationism

Since the late 1990s, the characterization of complete DNA sequences for a large and taxonomically diverse set of species has continued to gain in speed and accuracy. Sequence analyses have indicated a strikingly baroque structure for most eukaryotic genomes, with multiple repeats of DNA sequences and with very little of the DNA specifying proteins. Much of the DNA in these genomes has no known function. These results have generated strong interest in the factors that govern the evolution of genome architecture. While adaptationist ‘just so’ stories have been offered (as typically occurs in every area of biology), recent theoretical analyses based on mathematical population genetics strongly suggest that non-adaptive processes dominate genome architecture evolution. This article critically synthesizes and develops these arguments, explicating a core argument along with several variants. It provides a critical assessment of the evidence that supports these arguments’ premises. It also analyses adaptationist responses to these arguments and notes potential problems with the core argument. These theoretical analyses continue the molecular reinterpretation of evolution initiated by the neutral theory in 1968. The article ends by noting that some of these arguments can also be extended to evolution at higher levels of organization which raises questions about adaptationism in general. This remains a puzzle because there is probably little reason to doubt that many organismic features are genuine adaptations.
Hindered settling function with no empirical parameters for polydisperse suspensions

A new hindered settling function containing no empirical parameters has been proposed for the sedimentation of polydisperse suspensions at low Reynolds number. This function has the form of the Richardson-Zaki formula for monodisperse suspensions and agrees with the theory of Batchelor (1982) for dilute suspensions
Early Detection and Quantification of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis by Magnetic Resonance Black-Blood Thrombus Imaging.

Background and Purpose— Early diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is currently a major clinical challenge. We proposed a novel magnetic resonance black-blood thrombus imaging technique (MRBTI) for detection and quantification of CVT. Methods— MRBTI was performed on 23 patients with proven CVT and 24 patients with negative CVT confirmed by conventional imaging techniques. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the duration of clinical onset: ≤7 days (group 1) and between 7 and 30 days (group 2). Signal/noise ratio was calculated for the detected thrombus, and contrast/noise ratio was measured between thrombus and lumen and also between thrombus and brain tissue. The feasibility of using MRBTI for thrombus volume measurement was explored, and total thrombus volume was calculated for each patient. Results— In 23 patients with proven CVT, MRBTI correctly identified 113 of 116 segments with a sensitivity of 97.4%. Thrombus signal/noise ratio was 153±57 and 261±95 for group 1 (n=10) and group 2 (n=13), respectively ( P P Conclusions— The current findings support that with effectively suppressed blood signal, MRBTI allows selective visualization of thrombus as opposed to indirect detection of venous flow perturbation and can be used as a promising first-line diagnostic imaging tool.
Renal response to atrial natriuretic factor is modulated by intrarenal angiotensin II

The present study in anesthetized dogs (n = 8) was designed to test the hypothesis that intrarenal angiotensin II (ANG II) attenuates the increase in sodium excretion in response to atrial natriuretic factor (ANF). To test this hypothesis, renal hemodynamic and excretory responses to systemically administered ANF (0.3 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) were assessed in the presence of ANG II infusion into the left kidney (ANG II K) at a nonpressor dose (1.5 ng.kg-1.min-1) and with an infusion of saline into the right kidney, the latter which served as control (CK). During ANF infusion, absolute increases in urinary sodium excretion (delta + 160.8 +/- 44.7 vs. delta + 369.4 +/- 56.9 mu eq/min, P less than 0.005) and fractional sodium excretion (delta + 2.55 +/- 0.62 vs. delta + 4.26 +/- 0.82%, P less than 0.03) were markedly attenuated in the ANG II K compared with CK. Glomerular filtration rate increased only in the CK. Urine osmolality decreased in both the ANG II K and CK. These studies demonstrate an attenuated natriuresis to ANF in the presence of intrarenally infused ANG II, which is associated with a blunted increase in glomerular filtration rate. These studies support the hypothesis that the renal hemodynamic and excretory responses to ANF are modulated by intrarenal ANG II.
Focus on Elementary: Rock of Ages: Developing Healthy Perspectives of Aging in the Elementary Grades

Nearly half a century ago, the chart-topping Beatles had yet another hit with When I'm Sixty-Four:When I get older,Losing my hair,Many years from now …Will you still need me,Will you still feed meW...
Therapeutic drug monitoring of theophylline, salicylates, and acetaminophen.

Theophylline and salicylates, drugs that are frequently prescribed for pediatric patients, have a well-defined range of optimal therapeutic concentration; therapeutic monitoring of these agents is accurate and specific. In contrast, despite the widespread use of acetaminophen, its therapeutic range is not well established; however, serious toxicity from overdose is predictable from the serum concentration.
Managing Clostridium difficile in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection has emerged as a significant clinical challenge for patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). C. difficile can both precipitate and worsen flares of IBD, contributing to emergent colectomies and mortality. Advances in the management of C. difficile infection in IBD include recommendations for testing for this infection in the setting of clinical flare and hospitalization, improved diagnostic testing, identification of high rates of carriage and infection in pediatric IBD, and new data associating patterns of IBD genetic risk alleles with the development of this infection. Therapeutically, oral vancomycin has emerged as a superior treatment for IBD patients with moderate to severe disease compared with metronidazole. Although highly effective in the general population, fecal microbiome transplantation for recurrent C. difficile infection in IBD patients has been associated with colitis flare in the majority of patients who have received this treatment.
Aloof from the horrors of Hiroshima and the bomb

The generation of theoretical physicists who were born in the first decade of the century are passing from the scene. They came of age with the advent of quantum mechanics and rode the crest of its successes. Theoretical physics became a professional path open not only to those of the stature of Dirac, Heisenberg and Pauli, but also to those at the next level of ability. Robert Serber was among these.
Transcendental illusion III: rational theology

Kant has a complex attitude toward religion. One one hand he consistently rejects religious belief based on superstition, fanaticism, and anthropomorphism. He especially opposes faith that appeals to emotion at the expense of reason. As Allen Wood explains, “Kant is willing to condone a faith which bases itself on special divine revelation only insofar as the content of its revelation accords with the precepts revealed naturally to every human being through the faculty of reason.” And in keeping with transcendental idealism, Kant rejects the possibility of metaphysical knowledge of God. As he famously puts it in the 1787 Preface: “Thus I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith ” (Bxxx). On the other hand, although rational theology is a pseudoscience, the idea of God serves two legitimate purposes. First, it is necessary for moral faith. As rational moral agents, we recognize the moral law to pursue the highest good. But we can realize our purposes only within the world of nature. Thus moral action makes sense only on the assumption that nature is in harmony with morality. For Kant, this implies that nature is governed by a supremely perfect being. Kant elaborates on this point in the Lectures on the Philosophical Doctrine of Religion as well as his ethical writings. In its second role, the idea of God has a regulative function promoting the inquiry into natural purposive systems in empirical science.
Galvanic coupling Intra-Body Communication link for real-time channel assessment

The emerging field of Intra-Body Communication (IBC) will result in the innovation of many health care applications by allowing in-situ monitoring and mobility for the human subjects. We use a technique called Galvanic Coupling (GC) that uses weak electrical currents for the intra-body links, instead of RF, as this is two orders of magnitude superior when comparing energy efficiency. In this work, we demonstrate an experimental setup that can be used to implement and validate physical layer communication schemes and link layer protocols using off-the-shelf hardware and commercially procured synthetic human tissue. Our setup uses Universal Software Radio Peripherals (USRPs) as the transmitter and receiver nodes, with additional interfacing electronics, to allow flexible transmission of signals in the 100 kHz – 1 MHz frequency range. Furthermore, we provide a visual GUI-based configuration as well as demonstration of link quality based results. The complete hardware and software design, as well as an instructional video, are made available license-free for public consumption to stimulate further research in this field.
Effect of Chelators and Substrates on Phytoremediation of Synthetic Leachate for Removal of Trace Elements

ABSTRACTThe present study deals with technique for improving phytoremediation of trace metals from synthetic leachate in the presence of recycled waste material (crushed brick and steel slag) as substrates. It is an economic and environment-friendly approach as compared to chelators. Chelators induce adverse effects on plant growth, which might affect the phytoextraction capability. This study was conducted to compare the removal of copper and zinc by Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia with chelators (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ∼2.5 mmol, citric acid ∼2.5 mmol) and substrates (slag ∼2 kg, crushed brick ∼2 kg) for 21 days. Translocation of copper in T. latifolia and P. australis increased with increase in its applied concentration and this increase was higher in presence of slag as compared to crushed brick. In treatment systems with chelators, translocation decreased with increase in copper concentration. Principal component analysis revealed correlation between the removal of copper and zinc w...
Continuous Time Random Walk Based Theory for a One-Dimensional Coarsening Model

In this work we propose a master equation describing evolution of the velocity statistics in a one-dimensional coarsening model motivated by the studies of polycrystalline materials. The model postulates the dynamics of a large number of intervals—referred to as domains—on the real line. The length of the intervals changes during evolution and the intervals are removed from the system once their length reaches zero. The coarsening process observed in this model exhibits a number of interesting features, such as nonhomogeneous inter-arrival times between reconfiguration events and development of spatiotemporally self-similar distributions. We generalize the standard continuous time random walk (CTRW) theory to include time-dependent jumps and subject it to time-dependent temporal rescaling to obtain an accurate non-homogeneous Poisson description of the coarsening process in the one-dimensional model. The theory leads to the evolution equation having self-similar solutions observed in simulations. The new framework allows to accurately estimate coarsening rates and characterize resulting steady-state distribution for the domain energies described by a power law of a uniformly distributed quantity. Although derived here in the context of a one-dimensional systems, this work naturally extends to higher dimensional CTRW coarsening models.
Immigration as International Trade: Optimal Tariffs and Quotas

This paper takes economic principles commonly applied to international trade and applies them to trade in labor services. This analysis derives the optimal immigration policy for a variety of welfare objectives, including both economic efficiency and distributive justice. The analysis suggests that the maximization of any measure of economic welfare would probably require levels of immigration higher than those allowed by current U.S. policies. First, this paper describes the immigration policy that would maximize the welfare of natives. Trade principles indicate that the United States should eliminate its immigration quotas and other nontariff protectionist barriers and use immigration tariffs instead. A tariff could take the form of an income tax that discriminates between natives and immigrants. The analysis takes account of external effects from immigration through the public sector, such as congestion costs and effects on the public treasury. The optimal tariff not only includes a Pigouvian component to internalize external costs, but also reflects optimal-tax considerations and market power. The optimal tariff is positive for immigrants with low incomes but is likely to be negative for immigrants with sufficiently high incomes. These results suggest that skilled immigration should be permitted (indeed encouraged) without quantitative or other protectionist restrictions and that unskilled immigration should be permitted without quantitative restrictions but subject to less generous fiscal policies than those applied to natives. Second, the paper extends the analysis to include the welfare of immigrants among our objectives. If our measure of social welfare includes distributive concerns, then it may be optimal to provide poor immigrants with access to transfer programs and to use liberal quotas to regulate their immigration. Finally, the paper considers the policies that would maximize global economic welfare, giving equal weight to all persons.
Mimickers of classic acantholytic diseases

Acantholysis is a commonly encountered histological pattern which typically generates a differential of the pemphigus variants, Hailey-Hailey, Darier's and Grover's diseases. In addition to these diseases, the dermatologist and dermatopathologist must be aware of entities that mimic classic acantholytic dermatoses and of rare disease variants, which are characterized by acantholysis.
Constitutive Modeling of Polymeric Matrix under Multi-Axial Static and Dynamic Loading

1. General Introduction Recent and ongoing research in fiber reinforced polymer composites has shown that there is a significant rate effect on the resin dominated stiffness and strength properties of these materials [1, 2]. Fabrication and testing of these composites is costly due to the expense of the material itself, and its anisotropic behavior that requires time consuming multi-axial testing. In the case of carbon/epoxy composites, the fiber itself shows no rate dependence in its mechanical response. This suggests that all of the rate effects on the composite can be traced to the matrix. Since the polymer matrix is basically isotropic, a much less costly evaluation of a composite can be achieved by characterizing the bulk matrix at various strain rates. The constitutive and strain rate behavior of epoxies under various loading conditions has been studied by many researchers [3-13]. Some studies focus on characterization of the resin at various rates [3, 4]. Many investigators have focused on viscoelastic analysis and the determination of shift factors used in temperature-time superposition modeling [5-8]. Some have attempted to link the monomer structure to the bulk properties [9]. Goldberg et al. have published works on both testing various resins under multiaxial conditions at various rates as well as modeling with a state variable approach [10-13]. The objective of this study was to characterize a matrix resin under multi-axial loading at different strain rates and develop a general three-dimensional elasto-viscoplastic model that incorporates rate effects including dilatational and deviatoric states of stress. Emphasis was placed on development of a relatively simple model that would not require extensive testing for evaluation of a given matrix.
ANTHOCYANIDINS OF SOME IMPATIENS SPECIES.

The genus Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) is mainly tropical with a few members native to temperate regions. The chromosome numbers thus far reported form an aneuploid series of n = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 and a polyploid series of n = 16, 17, 20, 24, and 33 (Jones and Smith, 1966). Over one thousand species have been described, but possibly only half of these should be recognized as valid. Both woody and herbaceous habits are present in the genus. A variety of morphological characteristics gives the impression that the genus might easily be subdivided, but Hooker and Thomson (1860, p. 106) observed: "A little further examination of these seemingly objective groups sufficed to dispel the illusion." Since Impatiens is so rich in subtlely varying taxa which include many endemics (Chatterjee, 1962), it appears to be ideal for the study of evolutionary trends within a genus. Members of this group are pollinated by birds, bees, beetles, moths, and butterflies, and show the expected correlation between principal pollinator and the shape and color of the flower (Vogel, 1954). It is well documented that bees fly readily to blue and yellow flowers, and birds to red (Meeuse, 1961). However, this distribution does not seem to be as clear cut as once thought. Since many insect eyes are sensitive to ultra-violet light but not to red light, some flowers appearing red in