cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Second-order theory for the effective behavior and field fluctuations in viscoplastic polycrystals

Abstract A recently developed “second-order” homogenization procedure (Ponte Castaneda (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50 (2002a, b) 737, 759)) is extended to viscoplastic polycrystals and applied to compute the effective response of a certain special class of isotropic polycrystals. The method itself reduces to a simple expression requiring the computation of the averages of the stress field and the covariances of its fluctuations over the various grain orientations in an optimally selected “linear comparison polycrystal”. Therefore, the method not only allows the determination of the effective behavior of the polycrystal, but as a byproduct also yields information on the heterogeneity of the stress and strain-rate fields within the polycrystal. An application is given for a model 2-dimensional, isotropic polycrystal with power-law behavior for the constituent grains. The resulting predictions for the effective behavior are found to satisfy sharp bounds available from the literature and to be consistent with the results of recent numerical simulations. The associated averages and fluctuations of the stresses and strain rates are found to depend strongly on the strain-rate sensitivity (i.e., nonlinearity) and grain anisotropy. In particular, the stress and strain-rate fluctuations were found to grow and become strongly anisotropic with increasing values of the nonlinearity and grain anisotropy parameters.
Contractile properties of frog twitch fibres after D600 paralysis.

Twitch and contracture tensions were measured in single intact fibres of semitendinosus muscles with a sensitive miniature transducer. After a fibre was paralysed by a conditioning depolarization in the presence of 30 (μm D600 at low temperature (around 5° C), no twitch tension could be detected. When a paralysed fibre was warmed, its ability to give potassium-contractures recovered almost completely but its twitch tension revived to a variable extent, ranging from fully to partially or not at all. This variable recovery of twitch tension appeared to correlate very well with the variable repriming of Qγ observed previously in revived fibres. The optimal temperature at which twitch tension could be revived readily lay within a narrow window roughly between 8 to 16° C, within which the rate and extent of revival of twitch tension were temperature-dependent. Removal of D600 from the bathing solution after conditioning depolarization facilitated the revival of twitch tension but was neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for revival. A reduction of potassium concentration in the high K solution or an abbreviation of the duration of conditioning depolarization could bring a fibre to a partially paralysed state (or equivocally a partially revived state) without going through complete paralysis. The paralysing actions of submaximal condition depolarizations were additive. The partially revived state was unstable and affected by repetitive stimulations in a use-dependent manner. The effect of a 0.1 Hz train of action potentials on twitch tension was generally biphasic, with a small initial suppression followed by an enhancement. It is speculated that this use-dependent enhancement could be due to a competition between D600 molecules and intracellular Ca2+ ions.
The role of vitamin K in the etiology, prevention, and treatment of hemorrhage in the newborn infant

Summary Four cases of subclinical hemorrhagic disease are reported all associatedwith high prothrombin times. In each instance vitamin K concentrate administered by mouth in a few hours' time promptly reduced the prothrombin times to a safe and normal level. One case of hemorrhagic disease of the usual variety is reported, in which vitamin K administered by mouth promptly stopped all bleeding and reduced the prothrombin time to a safe and normal level. The hypothesis is advanced that marked prothrombin deficiency is the immediate cause of the syndrome now known as hemorrhagic disease of the newborn and that subclinical cases without spontaneous bleeding are of frequent occurrence. Evidence is presented in support of our suggestion that the prothrombin deficiency encountered at this age period is directly concerned with an insufficient amount of vitamin K. This same condition of bleeding is probably present at birth and may in fact account for many instances of intracranial hemorrhage associated with normal labor and delivery. The effect of vitamin K on prothrombin time and clotting time in a series of infants to whose mothers vitamin K has been administered previous to, and after the onset of, labor is described. The authors are encouraged to believe that when more cases have been studied, similar results will be shown in those infants vitamin K-treated through the mother and that intracranial bleeding associated with normal delivery can be materially lessened by such methods of preventive therapy. In vitamin K concentrate an agent is now available which will preventand control unnatural bleeding associated with prothrombin deficiency and occurring in the neonatal period. Synthetic vitamin K (2-methyl-1, 4-napthoquinone) has been found to be equally efficacious.
Measures of the Forearm via a Portable Device: Ready for Prime Time?

Measurement of areal bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is an important tool in the evaluation of bone health in children and adolescents, but available data in the pediatric population are limited, particularly in younger children. To address this issue, Hazell et al (1) present results from their study evaluating the correlation between areal BMD measures of the forearm by peripheral instantaneous X-ray imager (PIXI), a portable DXA device that affords BMD measures of the appendicular skeleton, compared with forearm measures by standard DXA in preschool-aged children. The study found that PIXI results correlated moderately well with areal BMD at the ultradistal radius as measured by DXA in boys and girls in this age group, suggesting that this tool holds promise as a skeletal assessment tool. The benefits of a portable DXA device are welldescribed, including use in field research in regions where standard DXA and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) machines are not possible due to size and portability issues (2). The use of PIXI forearm measures in the adult population has yielded important data that might otherwise not have been feasible to obtain (3e5), and the measures have also been used in adolescent subjects (6,7). The low radiation dose associated with these devices is also noteworthy for use in a pediatric population. By applying this technology to younger children, this study provides an important foundation on which further studies can build. The ability
PET Measurement of Absolute Myocardial Blood Flow and LV Function in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

quantitative positron emission tomography (pet) imaging to assess absolute myocardial blood flow (mbf) is superior to standard stress/rest tracer uptake images for functional assessment of the coronary circulation ([1][1]) and in selected patients (e.g., renal insufficiency, low prior probability of
Parallel-C++ for the Java virtual machine

Object-oriented modeling and design is a way of solving problems using models based upon real-world concepts. In this paradigm, the fundamental construct is the object, an entity that encompasses both data structure and behavior. Parallel computing strives to increase computational power through task subdivision and concurrent execution. The combination of these two areas has led to active research in concurrent object-oriented programming languages. The Parallel-C++ language was designed to support concurrent object-oriented programming in parallel and distributed computing environments. The language provides support for fine-grained parallelism, concurrent process execution, inter-process communication, and object migration. A prototype Parallel-C++ to Java Byte Code compiler is implemented to provide program execution on any architecture that supports the Java Virtual Machine. This mechanism could serve as the basis for an environment that facilitates the implementation of distributed applications and object migration across heterogeneous systems.
The influence of response distortion in assessing self-perceptions of physical ability and attitude toward physical activity.

Abstract Response distortion is an acknowledged concomitant variable in psychometric research. Although the influence of response bias on the Estimation scale of the Physical Estimation and Attraction Scales (PEAS) has previously been considered for adolescent males, experimental evidence concerning the sensitivity of the adult versions of both the Attraction and Estimation scales to “faking” has not been provided. To determine this sensitivity, adult versions of the PEAS were administered to male and female undergraduates (N = 122). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and received either “fake bad,” “fake good,” or standard instructional sets. Results generally supported the view that the total score on each of the Attraction and Estimation scales is relatively insensitive to attempts to “fake good.” However, attempts to “fake bad” consistently resulted in a significant decrease (p < .01) in both Attraction and Estimation scores as compared to a standard control group. These findings s...
Metabolic regulation of steroidogenesis in isolated adrenal and adrenocortical carcinoma cells of rat. The incorporation of (20S)-20-[7-3H]hydroxycholesterol into deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone

Abstract Previous studies from these laboratories have demonstrated the following: (1) that cyclic 3′5′-AMP (c-AMP) phosphodiesterase activity of adrenocortical carcinoma 494 is only 20% of that found in the normal adrenal; (2) that corticosteroido-genesis in the isolated tumor cells is inhibited by ACTH, and (3) that the normal adrenal biosynthetic pathway from pregnenolone to corticosterone is intact but less active in the tumor. The present studies show that both the isolated adrenocortical carcinoma cell and the normal isolated adrenal cell of the rat have the capacity to transform (20S)-20-hydroxycholesterol into deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone. It is, therefore, proposed that the lack of stimulation by ACTH of corticosterone synthesis of the tumor cells cannot be explained by the absence of enzymes cleaving the cholesterol side chain. It is, therefore, postulated that a modified protein kinase may be present in the tumor which is not stimulated by c-AMP.
Complementary effects of surface water and groundwater on soil moisture dynamics in a degraded coastal floodplain forest

summary Restoration of degraded floodplain forests requires a robust understanding of surface water, groundwater, and vadose zone hydrology. Soil moisture is of particular importance for seed germination and seedling survival, but is difficult to monitor and often overlooked in wetland restoration studies. This research hypothesizes that the complex effects of surface water and shallow groundwater on the soil moisture dynamics of floodplain wetlands are spatially complementary. To test this hypothesis, 31 long-term (4-year) hydrological time series were collected in the floodplain of the Loxahatchee River (Florida, USA), where watershed modifications have led to reduced freshwater flow, altered hydroperiod and salinity, and a degraded ecosystem. Dynamic factor analysis (DFA), a time series dimension reduction technique, was applied to model temporal and spatial variation in 12 soil moisture time series as linear combinations of common trends (representing shared, but unexplained, variability) and explanatory variables (selected from 19 additional candidate hydrological time series). The resulting dynamic factor models yielded good predictions of observed soil moisture series (overall coefficient of efficiency = 0.90) by identifying surface water elevation, groundwater elevation, and net recharge (cumulative rainfall–cumulative evapotranspiration) as important explanatory variables. Strong and complementary linear relationships were found between floodplain elevation and surface water effects (slope = 0.72, R 2 = 0.86, p < 0.001), and between elevation and groundwater effects (slope = � 0.71, R 2 = 0.71, p = 0.001), while
Naltrexone reverses a long term depressive effect of a toxic lithium injection on saccharin preference.

Abstract In 2 experiments, using female rats, we demonstrated that an injection of 2% body weight 150 mM lithium chloride (LiCl) reduced saccharin preference, measured 48 hr later. Furthermore, Experiment 1 showed that this effect of lithium was reversed by 10 mg/kg naltrexone injected immediately before lithium administration. Experiment 2 demonstrated that one injection of 10 mg/kg morphine also depressed saccharin preference 48 hr post-injection. Paradoxically, morphine given before lithium reversed the effects of lithium on saccharin preference. The experiments suggest the involvement of endogenous opioid peptides in the long term toxic effects of lithium on saccherin preference.
A not-so-abrupt departure.

Given R. A. Kerr's past record of outstanding science journalism, we were surprised by the unfortunate errors and omissions in his ScienceScope piece “Knock hockey,” surrounding issues of how scientists gauge temperature over the last two millennia (10 Mar., p. [1359][1]). The assertion that “[Michael] Mann made himself scarce throughout the proceedings, even abruptly departing as [Stephen] McIntyre stood to make a final comment” is incorrect. Mann's early departure had to do with his teaching obligations and a limited flight schedule. Mann was unaware of who may have been making comments as he departed following the official close of the presentation period, and he has been responsive to all requests made of him by the committee. Kerr incorrectly asserts that Mann and colleagues have “sworn off” the method used in their original work. As “sworn off” has the connotation of renouncing or conceding a flaw in past work, this is simply incorrect. Mann and colleagues have developed more sophisticated approaches, as should be expected over the decade that has passed since the original work was begun. The newer approaches yield an essentially indistinguishable result ([1][2]) but are immune to potential criticisms of the simpler, original methodology (“Estimates, uncertainties, and noise,” Editors' Choice, 25 Nov. 2005, p. [1249][3]). Kerr does make the key point that additional recent research provides “independent support for temperature trends resembling Mann's.” He might also have noted that high-profile criticisms of Mann and colleagues' original work have now been shown to have been based on an incorrect implementation of their procedures ([2][4]). 1. 1.[↵][5] 1. S. Rutherford 2. et al. , J. Clim. 18, 2308 (2005). [OpenUrl][6] 2. 2.[↵][7] 1. E. R. Wahl, 2. D. M. Ritson, 3. C. M. Ammann , Science [www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/312/5773/529b][8]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.311.5766.1359b [2]: #ref-1 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.310.5752.1249b [4]: #ref-2 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1. in text" [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJ.%2BClim.%26rft.volume%253D18%26rft.spage%253D2308%26rft.atitle%253DJ%2BCLIM%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2. in text" [8]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/312/5773/529b
Individual differences in managerial accounting judgments and decision making

Abstract Managers are influenced in their decisions by the information provided by managerial accountants. Two typical examples from textbooks are the irrelevance of sunk costs and, more recently, the affect of knowing the outcome of a decision or revised budget forecast. Individual differences in the cognitive ability of decision makers to use information can lead to systematic differences in judgments. We identify and label one of these individual cognitive differences comprehensive thinking ability: the ability to think about multiple paths, branches or alternatives. Significant comprehensive thinking ability is likely to mitigate systematic differences in judgment in many contexts. We report the results of a series of studies using a variation on the investment trap (sunk cost or irrelevant cost) problem and a probability revision task. The findings suggest that comprehensive thinking ability may also explain other common systematic differences in judgment.
Whirling of Composite-Material Driveshafts including Bending-Twisting Coupling and Transverse Shear Deformation

A simplified theory for predicting the first-order critical speed of a shear deformable, composite-material driveshaft is presented. The shaft is modeled as a Bresse-Timoshenko beam generalized to include bending-twisting coupling. Numerical results are compared with those for both thin and thick walled shell theories and generalized Bernoulli-Euler theory
Canine Mast Cell Adenosine Receptors: Cloning and Expression of the A3 Receptor and Evidence that Degranulation Is Mediated by the A2B Receptor

We cloned and characterized the canine A3 adenosine receptor (AR) and examined AR-induced degranulation of the BR line of canine mastocytoma cells. Canine A3AR transcript is found predominantly in spleen, lung, liver, and testes and encodes a 314-amino acid heptahelical receptor.125I-N6-Aminobenzyladenosine binds to two affinity states of canine A3AR withKD values of 0.7 ± 0.1 and 16 ± 0.8 nm, reflecting G protein-coupled and -uncoupled receptors, respectively. Xanthine antagonists bind with similar affinities to human, canine, and rabbit receptors but with 80–400-fold lower affinities to rat A3AR. Although canine BR mastocytoma cells contain A1AR, A2BAR, and A3AR, degranulation seems to be mediated primarily by A2BARs stimulated by the nonselective agonist 5′-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) but not by the A3-selective agonistN6-(3-iodobenzyl)adenosine-5′-N-methylcarboxamide. NECA-stimulated degranulation is not prevented by pertussis toxin and is blocked by enprofylline (Ki = 7 μm), an antiasthmatic xanthine with low affinity (Ki > 100 μm) for A1AR, A2AAR, and A3AR. NECA increases canine mastocytoma cell cAMP, Ca2+, and inositol trisphosphate levels; these responses are antagonized half-maximally by 7–15 μm enprofylline. The results suggest that (i) the cloned canine A3AR is structurally and pharmacologically more similar to human than to rat A3AR; (ii) the A2BAR, and not the A1AR or A3AR, is principally responsible for adenosine-mediated degranulation of canine BR mastocytoma cells; and (iii) the BR cell A2BAR couples to both Ca2+ mobilization and cAMP accumulation. Although A2B receptors play a major role in the regulation of BR mast cell degranulation, multiple AR subtypes and G proteins may influence mast cell functions.
Germline and germline mosaic PTEN mutations associated with a Proteus-like syndrome of hemihypertrophy, lower limb asymmetry, arteriovenous malformations and lipomatosis

Germline PTEN mutations cause Cowden syndrome (CS) and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRR), two hamartoma-tumour syndromes, and somatic PTEN alterations have been shown to participate, to a greater or lesser extent, in a wide variety of sporadic neoplasia. PTEN is a tumour suppressor and dual-specificity phosphatase which affects apoptosis via its lipid phosphatase activity in the phosphoinositol-3-kinase and AKT pathway as well as inhibiting cell spreading via the focal adhesion kinase pathway. CS and BRR share some features, such as hamartomas and lipomatosis. To determine whether other syndromes characterized by overgrowth and lipomas are part of the PTEN syndrome spectrum, we ascertained six individuals with overgrowth and lipomas but who did not meet the diagnostic criteria for CS or BRR. Five had Proteus syndrome and one, a Proteus-like syndrome. When germline DNA and DNA from at least one involved tissue per case were examined for PTEN mutations, only the Proteus-like patient was found to harbour a germline R335X mutation. Interestingly, a lipomatous mass, an epidermoid naevus and arteriovenous malformation tissue, all of which were sampled from physically distinct sites, were all found to carry a second hit R130X mutation on the allele opposite the germline R335X. Both mutations have been described in CS and BRR. We postulate that the second hit, R130X, occurred early in embryonic development and may even represent germline mosaicism. Thus, PTEN may be involved in Proteus-like syndrome with its implications for cancer development in the future.
Beacon code usage statistic

Beacon codes are a set of limited National Airspace System (NAS) resource. Currently, the beacon code allocation process is based upon the concept of discreet beacon code assignment to each ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center). This allocation process is done according to the rules published in NBCAP (National Beacon Code Assignment Plan). In this paper, the distribution of codes to the ARTCCs is presented. Also, Host data is analyzed to demonstrate the utilization of codes through the day with varying level of traffic. This analys is supposed to help identify beacon code bottlenecks in the NAS. There are two kind of bottlenecks studied: (i) ARTCCs which run out of beacon codes most frequently due to high demand/traffic. (ii) ARTCCs where maximum instances of enroute beacon code reassignment occurs due to conflict with another aircraft using the same beacon code. These kinds of beacon code reassignments are undesirable as it increases pilot/controller workload during hand-off. Five (5) months of HOST data from 1st August to 31st December 2007 is analyzed. Individual beacon code utilization statistic for each of the 20 ARTCCs in the CONUS is reported for the 5 month period. On select days for which radar track data is available, the correlation of the code utilization with the traffic level in the corresponding ARTCC is also presented. This analysis provides the foundation of exploiting the inherent structure of NAS traffic to enable a more efficient beacon code assignment, i.e. with fewer beacon code reassignments and more efficient distribution of the Beacon Codes among the ARTCCs.
SUPERNOVA NEUTRINOS IN SUPER–KAMIOKANDE

The Super–Kamiokande experiment, located in Mozumi, Japan, is perhaps best known for its studies of atmospheric and solar neutrinos. However, Super–K is also the world's most sensitive detector of neutrinos generated by type II supernovae. Super–K's expected response to such a stellar collapse in our galaxy is explored in light of recent theoretical advances.
Surgical informatics on the Internet: any improvement?

Purpose: The Internet is a popular, but ungoverned, source of medical information. This study tracked the change in performance of commonly available search engines and the quality of medical data therein over a four-year period. Methods: We compared the accuracy of information on a commonly performed surgical procedure (vasectomy) using six standard search engines in a four-year period and with two recently developed search engines. The top 25 ranked sites cited by each search engine were scored for description of the procedure, post-operative instructions, complications and unproven associations. Results: There was no improvement in quality of individual sites over the study period. Additionally, the hit rate of search engines remained poor with 27 sites cited (40%) in 2002 either irrelevant or unavailable. Discussion: Few useful sites with accurate information on surgical procedures are available on the Internet and simple search strategies fail to identify site quality or relevancy. Conclusion: At present, the Internet cannot be recommended as a reliable resource for many aspects of health information for patients. The onus is on health-care providers to provide high quality sites and direct patients to these sources of reliable information
Do football teams learn from changing coaches? A test of the deceleration hypothesis

AbstractThe paper explores the nature of change and finds evidence in favor of deceleration hypothesis: prior changes of a given type decrease the likelihood of a subsequent change of the same type while controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. We analyze leadership changes by explaining factors that influence football teams to replace their coaches. We use panel data for 33 National Football League’s teams from 1976 to 2008.
Role of brown fat in pathogenesis of rabies in insectivorous bats (Tadarida b. mexicana.

Summary1. Studies on the progression of peripherally inoculated rabies virus in Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida b. mexicana) suggest that the brown (hibernating) fat plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of rabies in this animal. 2. Brown fat may serve as a depot for the storage of virus in symptomless carriers of the rabies virus. 3. These studies provide another example of selective viral lipotropism.
Biomedical engineering: Integration of research, education and innovation

Professor Demir's keynote will give an overview of biomedical engineering (BME) education and research and how BME advances both engineering and life sciences. She will focus on the interdisciplinary nature of the research and how the future engineers need to be developed for the BME workforce. She will address the importance of innovation in the field and summarize challenges for the future of engineering and BME.
Estradiol and progesterone differentially regulate the dendritic arbor of neurons in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus of the female rat (Rattus norvegicus)

The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH), with its major subdivisions, the dorsomedial and ventrolateral VMH (dmVMH and vlVMH, respectively), has been studied extensively for its role in female sexual behavior. This behavior is controlled by the vlVMH through the cellular actions of estradiol combined with progesterone. Although the effects of treatment with estradiol alone on neuronal morphology in the vlVMH have been examined, much less is known about the combined effects of estradiol and progesterone on neuronal structure. The present study employed Golgi impregnation to investigate the effects of estradiol treatment alone vs. estradiol combined with progesterone treatment on dendritic arbor of VMH neurons. The dendritic arbor of VMH neurons was somewhat different in the vlVMH vs. the dmVMH, with longer and more dendrites in the vlVMH. Estradiol treatment alone caused a marked reduction in the length of long primary dendrites in the vlVMH, but not in the dmVMH. The estradiol-induced retraction of long primary dendrites in the vlVMH was reversed within 4 hours of progesterone treatment. The differences in the dendritic arbors of dmVMH and vlVMH provide further support for the notion that these two regions have different patterns of neural connectivity. In addition, this study is the first to report opposing effects of estradiol alone vs. estradiol plus progesterone on the dendritic arbor of neurons in the vlVMH. These results suggest a structural mechanism for estradiol alone to have a modest effect on mating behavior while setting the stage for its ample expression.
Increased Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Gene Expression in Human Cervical Cancers☆

Abstract Objective. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a classical glycolytic protein. A higher level of GAPDH mRNA was found in lung, pancreas, and prostate cancers, but in cervical carcinoma there have not been any reports about the level of GAPDH gene expression. So, we tried to investigate the GAPDH gene expression patterns in cervical carcinomas compared to normal cervical tissues, and the relationships between the expression levels of this gene and conventional clinicopathological parameters were evaluated. Materials and methods. In this study, 25 normal exocervical tissues, 35 primary untreated cervical cancer tissues, 2 cervical cancer cell lines, and 2 post-nude-mouse-derived cervical cancer cell lines were subjected to Northern blot analyses for GAPDH gene expression. Results. Northern blot analyses revealed that the levels of GAPDH gene expression were elevated in 34 of 35 (97%) cervical carcinoma tissues and all of the 4 cervical cancer cell lines compared to normal cervical tissues. The levels of GAPDH gene expression were more prominent in rapidly proliferating cervical carcinoma cells. The levels of the GAPDH gene expressions in cervical cancer tissues were not associated with conventional clinicopathological parameters including clinical stage, histological type, and degree of differentiation. Conclusion. These results suggest that increased GAPDH gene expression is characteristic of human cervical carcinomas and that rapidly proliferating carcinoma cells express more enhanced GAPDH gene. Future gene therapy using antisense oligodeoxynucleotide directed against GAPDH mRNA might be another therapeutic tool for human uterine cervical carcinoma.
Significant differences in the material properties between aged human and porcine aortic tissues

Objective:Currently,percutaneousaorticvalve(PAV)replacementdevicesarebeinginvestigatedtotreataorticstenosisinpatientsdeemedto be of too high a risk for conventional open-chest surgery. Successful PAV deployment and function are heavily reliant on the tissue—stent interaction. Many PAV feasibility trials have been conducted with porcine models under the assumption that these tissues are similar to human; however, this assumption may not be valid. The goal of this study was to characterize and compare the biomechanical properties of aged human and porcine aortic tissues. Methods: The biaxial mechanical properties of the left coronary sinus, right coronary sinus, non-coronary sinus, and ascending aorta of eight aged human (90.1 � 6.8 years) and 10 porcine (6—9 months) hearts were quantified. Tissue structure was analyzed via histological techniques. Results: Aged human aortic tissues were significantly stiffer than the corresponding porcine tissues in both the circumferential and longitudinal directions (p < 0.001). In addition, the nearly linear stress—strain behavior of the porcine tissues, compared with the highly nonlinear response of the human tissues at a low strain range, suggested structural differences between the aortic tissues from these two species. Histological analysis revealed that porcine samples were composed of more elastin and less collagen fibers than the respective human samples. Conclusions: Significant material and structural differences were observed between the human and porcine tissues, which raise questions on the validity of using porcine models to investigate the biomechanics involved in PAV intervention. # 2010 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The Role of the Conductor's Goal Orientation and Use of Shared Performance Cues on Collegiate Instrumentalists' Motivational Beliefs and Performance in Large Musical Ensembles.

This study examined the effects of the conductor’s goal orientation (mastery vs. performance) and use of shared performance cues (basic vs. interpretive vs. expressive) on instrumentalists’ self-efficacy, collective efficacy, attributions, and performance. Eighty-one college instrumentalists from two musical ensembles participated in the study. It was hypothesized that instrumentalists who undergo a mastery goal-oriented rehearsal and experience a conductor’s use of expressive shared performance cues would report higher levels in all measures than those who undergo a performance goal-oriented rehearsal and are exposed to interpretive performance cues, which in turn surpass those who experience basic performance cues. Results indicated that participants in the mastery goal orientation condition reported higher levels of collective and self-efficacy beliefs and attributed the success or failure of the ensemble most frequently to the conductor’s use of rehearsal strategies (i.e., baton technique, verbal dire...
Indications for and outcomes of repeat penetrating keratoplasty, 1989–1995

Abstract Objective To evaluate the indications for and outcomes of repeat penetrating keratoplasty over a 7-year period and compare them to a similar study over the prior 6-year period at the same institution. Design Retrospective noncomparative case series. Participants Two hundred twenty-three consecutive repeat corneal transplants performed by one of five corneal surgeons between 1989 and 1995 were studied. Main outcome measures Reasons for primary and regraft failure, indications for the initial corneal graft, graft clarity, and best-corrected visual acuity were measured on each patient. Results Between 1989 and 1995, 16% (271 of 1689) of transplants performed by our cornea group were regrafts compared with 9% (165 of 1860) in the period from 1983 to 1988 ( P P = 0.03), and a decrease was revealed in the incidence of aphakic bullous keratopathy (19% to 9%, P = 0.01). Of the 223 regrafts, 55 (25%) failed during the study period (range, 1 month to 7.5 years; mean 2.1 years). Eleven percent (6 of 55) of regraft failures occurred within 6 months, and 55% (30 of 55) failed within 18 months. Of the 150 regrafts with 2 years follow-up (mean, 3.9 years), 111 (74%) had clear grafts. A best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 to 20/40 was achieved in 41% (46 of 111), 20/50 to 20/100 in 32% (36 of 111), 20/200 to 20/400 in 21% (23 of 111), and counting fingers to no light perception in 5% (6 of 111). Conclusions Failed grafts are increasing as an indication for penetrating keratoplasty. Graft clarity and visual acuity results continue to be very good, supporting the use of repeat corneal transplantation.
A set of diagnostics for evaluating chemistry‐climate models in the extratropical tropopause region

[1] Three related diagnostics are used to evaluate the representation of chemical transport processes in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) by chemistry-transport and chemistry-climate models. The diagnostics are based on in situ observations of ozone, carbon monoxide, water vapor profiles (obtained on board the NASA ER-2 research aircraft, near 65°N and during 1997), and their interrelationships in the UTLS. The first diagnostic compares the observed and modeled UTLS trace gas profiles in a relative altitude coordinate. The second one compares the observed and modeled UTLS tracer relationships. The third one compares the observed and modeled thickness of the tropopause transition layer. Together, they characterize the model's ability to reproduce the observed chemical distribution in the UTLS region and chemical transition across the extratropical tropopause. These are key indicators of whether the contributions of dynamics and chemistry to this region are correctly represented in the models. These diagnostics are used to evaluate the performance of an NCAR chemistry-transport model (CTM), MOZART-3, and a chemistry-climate model (CCM), WACCM3. Results from four model runs with different meteorological fields and grid resolution are examined. Overall, the NCAR models show qualitative agreement with the observations in the location of the chemical transition across the extratropical tropopause. Quantitatively, there are significant differences between the modeled and the observed chemical distributions. Both the meteorological field and grid resolutions are contributing factors to the differences.
Reliable adaptable Network RAM

We present reliability solutions for adaptable network RAM systems running on general-purpose clusters. Network RAM allows nodes with over-committed memory to swap pages over the network, storing them in the idle RAM of other nodes and avoiding swapping to slow, local disk. An adaptable network RAM system adjusts the amount of RAM currently available for storing remotely swapped pages in response to changes in nodespsila local RAM usage. It is important that network RAM systems provide reliability for remotely swapped page data. Without reliability, a single node failure can result in failure of unrelated processes running on other nodes by losing their remotely swapped pages. Adaptable network RAM systems pose extra difficulties in providing reliability because each nodepsilas capacity for storing remotely swapped pages changes over time, and because pages may move from node to node in response to these changes. Our novel dynamic RAID-based reliability solutions use idle RAM for storing page and reliability data, avoiding using slow disk for reliability. They are designed to work with the adaptive nature of our network RAM system (Nswap), allowing page and reliability data to migrate from node to node and allowing pages to be added to or removed from different parity groups. Additionally, page recovery runs concurrently with cluster applications, so that cluster applications do not have to wait until all data from a failed node is recovered before resuming execution. We present results comparing Nswap to disk swapping for a set of benchmarks running on our gigabit cluster. Our results show that reliable Nswap is up to 32 times faster than swapping to disk, and that there is virtually no impact on the performance of applications as they run concurrently with page recovery.
Media Feeding Frenzies: Press Behavior during Two Clinton Scandals

Specifically, this article describes and tests the conclusions of Larry Sabato, who in his book, Feeding Frenzy, suggests that journalists of all varieties begin to act like sharks when they "smell the blood" of a political scandal.1 This article describes Sabato's con cept and examines the Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones cases against Sabato's explana tion of frenzy. The Gary Hart/Donna Rice frenzy offers an occasional point of comparison in light of the research Sabato has already done. In gathering data to describe and analyze the Flowers and Jones frenzies, only arti cles from the New York Times and the Washington Post were examined.2 These newspapers were chosen because they set the standard for the news media in terms of what is suitable to report.3 Therefore, any reference to "number of articles" refers to articles that men tion at least twice the names of Donna Rice, Gennifer Flowers, or Paula Jones.
Poetry and Trauma: Wordsworth’s Understanding of Early Development1Portions of the present essay rework material previously published in “Wordsworth and Metapsychology,” in Wordsworth’s Poetic Theory: Knowledge, Language, Experience, ed. Alexander Regier and Stefan H. Uhlig (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 195–211.

This essay considers Wordsworth’s account in The Prelude of his development from the perspective of trauma studies. If the “spots of time,” the specific and frightening childhood incidents that stay in his memory as an archaic core, are acknowledged as traumatic, the developmental question becomes how childhood trauma plays a role in overcoming the adult crisis of psychic deracination and moral disorientation he experiences in the years immediately following the French Revolution. Modifying Freud’s hypothesis of a death instinct seeking to cancel the tension produced by the evolution of an animate and even conscious matter, an answer is sought in the responsiveness of Wordsworth’s poetry to the mute appeal of nature’s inanimate material substrate, a responsiveness that cultivates a refusal to leave something behind that remains perceptible and basic in the makeup of human life. (Editor’s note, JW)
A Pilot Study Comparing the Diabetogenic Effects of Dexamethasone and Prednisolone in Cats

Fourteen cats received either daily prednisolone (4.4 mg/kg per os [PO]) or dexamethasone (0.55 mg/kg PO) for 56 days. These doses were clinically equipotent. Serum fructosamine and urine glucose were measured on days 0, 28, and 56. Insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, and peak insulin secretion were measured in each group prior to and at the end of the courses of glucocorticoid administration. On day 56, the prevalence of glucosuria was significantly greater (P=0.027), and a trend was seen toward greater fructosamine concentrations (P=0.083) in dexamethasone-treated cats compared to prednisolone-treated cats. The results of this pilot study also showed a trend toward a greater decrease in insulin sensitivity (P=0.061) and a significantly lower compensatory increase in insulin secretion (P=0.081) in the dexamethasone-treated cats than in cats administered prednisolone. These preliminary data suggest that dexamethasone exhibits greater diabetogenic effects in cats than equipotent doses of prednisolone. Further study is justified to support this hypothesis.
Identifying and reducing the health and safety impacts of fuel-based lighting

Abstract The inequity of costly and low-quality fuel-based lighting is compounded by adverse health and safety risks including burns, indoor air pollution, poisoning due to accidental ingestion of kerosene fuel by children, compromised visual health, maternal health issues, and reduced service in health facilities illuminated solely or sporadically with fuel-based lighting. This article compiles and synthesizes information on the health and safety impacts of fuel-based lighting from 135 reports spanning 33 countries. Energy efficient, off-grid lighting solutions offer the most promising and scalable means to eliminate adverse health outcomes, while lowering lighting costs and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Deployments seeking the greatest possible health benefit should target the most impacted geographical and demographic user groups. Because women and children are disproportionately impacted, improved lighting technologies for use by these groups will yield particularly significant health benefits.
EFFECT OF SODIUM CITRATE ON MILK YIELD IN RATS.

SummaryThe milk yield of rats was determined on days 14, 16, 18 and 20 by separating the litters from their dams for 10 hours, then injecting 2 USP units of oxytocin and allowing the young to nurse for 30 minutes. Immediately prior to test milking on days 16 and 20 an experimental group of 15 rats was injected with 1.25 ml of 25% sodium citrate to cause convulsions (tetany) due to the decrease in ionized plasma calcium. The milk yield of these rats was greatly reduced in comparison with their own previous production and in comparison with the milk yield of the control group on the same day. It is suggested that the contractility of the mammary gland myoepithelial cells by oxy-tocin is greatly reduced by the lack of plasma calcium. Thus the decreased milk yield of parathyroidectomized rats is due to a reduction in the synthesis of milk and interference with the removal of the milk secreted.
Kinetic mechanism at the branchpoint between the DNA synthesis and editing pathways in individual DNA polymerase complexes.

Exonucleolytic editing of incorrectly incorporated nucleotides by replicative DNA polymerases (DNAPs) plays an essential role in the fidelity of DNA replication. Editing requires that the primer strand of the DNA substrate be transferred between the DNAP polymerase and exonuclease sites, separated by a distance that is typically on the order of ∼30 A. Dynamic transitions between functional states can be quantified with single-nucleotide spatial precision and submillisecond temporal resolution from ionic current time traces recorded when individual DNAP complexes are held atop a nanoscale pore in an electric field. In this study, we have exploited this capability to determine the kinetic relationship between the translocation step and primer strand transfer between the polymerase and exonuclease sites in complexes formed between the replicative DNAP from bacteriophage Φ29 and DNA. We demonstrate that the pathway for primer strand transfer from the polymerase to exonuclease site initiates prior to the trans...
Reconstructing the Tree of Life: A net overlaid on a tree may better depict the complex history of lateral gene transfers and vertical inheritance that led to biodiversity

Efforts to construct the tree of life typically capture organismal evolution on a single bifurcating tree. Yet such a tree captures only vertical descent among lineages, excluding hybridization and lateral (or horizontal) gene transfers (LGT). Here we focus on LGT, because of the overwhelming evidence that lateral events are a major driving force in evolution. Lateral events recast vertical lines of descent into netlike relationships. Hence, capturing and depicting LGT is of critical importance to projects such as the Open Tree of Life project (http://opentreeoflife.org), which aims to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the development of biodiversity on Earth.
Diamond synthesis at low temperatures

Diamond growth at room temperature [i.e., on unheated monocrystalline silicon (111) substrates], has been demonstrated by the laser irradiation of CO/H2 gas mixtures at low pressures. The CO is photodissociated by a multiphoton process using 193 nm radiation from an excimer laser. This process, referred to as laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD), is distinct from the laser-excited CVD (LECVD) process described in an earlier publication. Although no quantitative measurements have yet been made on the gas-phase species compositions in LCVD, the growth of diamond particles at room temperature marks a beginning to enabling diamond deposition on materials with low melting temperatures.
Control of the lone star tick in Oklahoma parks through vegetative management.

Seasonal densities of free-living Amblyomma americanum (L.) were determined for vegetatively managed and unmanaged areas in 5 Oklahoma parks during 1978 and 1979. A Dry Ice® method was used to sample for adults and nymphs, and a cloth drag method was used for larvae. Vegetative management consisted of partial removal of overstory, removal of understory, and frequent mowing to maintain the height of grasses at < 15 cm. Overall controls obtained through vegetative management for adult females, adult males, nymphs, and larvae were 78, 76, 93, and 84%, respectively.
Strategy on Breeding of Drought Resistance in Maize

Maize is one of the largest water-requirement upland crops,while drought is one of the main abiotic stress factors which limit maize production seriously.Drought is the most important factor of causing low and unstable maize yield in all over the world and China.By analyzing the significance of maize drought-resistance breeding,this paper has summarized the heredity basis of breeding,the ways of choosing and identifying breeding materials,the popular methods of breeding for drought resistance of maize.
Analysis of a water tank energy storage system for use in a warm water cooled data center

Increases in cloud computing, social media usage, streaming video and remote data storage are driving up the number and size of data centers. With cooling costs reaching a substantial portion of operating costs, research into a chillerless design called warm water cooling has shown that it can be an effective and less expensive way to provide sufficient cooling throughout most of the year. However, in certain climates warm water cooling, which fluctuates with ambient temperature, is insufficient to keep chip temperatures below a certain threshold during parts of the year. This problem can be overcome by using a cold thermal energy storage system (CTES) in which water cooled during the lower temperatures at night is stored to be used during the day. The project evaluates CTES systems for data center applications using analytical modeling and applies the model to illustrate improved performance of a warm water cooled data center. Several different CTES systems are considered. A 1-D Plug Flow numerical model is developed and used to predict the temperature distribution in a stratified water storage tank. The model accounts for mixing near the inlets and heat transfer due to conduction throughout the tank. Overall heat transfer coefficients are used to account for heat transfer through the tank walls. The model is validated against experimental data. The validated water storage model is integrated into a data center system level model tool