cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Geodetic point-in-polygon query processing in oracle spatial

As Global Positioning Systems (GPSs) are increasingly ubiquitous, spatial database systems are also encountering increasing use of location or point data, which is often expressed in geodetic coordinates: longitude and latitude. A simple but very important question regarding this data is whether the locations lie within a given region. This is normally called the point-inpolygon (PIP) problem. Within the Geodetic space, PIP queries have additional challenges that are not present in the Cartesian space. In this paper, we discuss several techniques implemented in Oracle Spatial to speed up geodetic PIP query processing. Our experiments utilizing real-world data sets demonstrate the PIP query performance can be significantly improved using these new techniques.
9.6 A 42.2Gb/s 4.3pJ/b 60GHz Digital Transmitter with 12b/Symbol Polarization MIMO

With an intent to galvanize high-speed wireless PAN connectivity in modern-day handheld computing devices around the unlicensed 57-to-71GHz band, the IEEE 802.11ay standard [1] supports 2-to$-4 \times $ bonding of 2.16GHz channels (i.e., 4.32 to 8.64GHz), constellations up to 64QAM, and spatial MIMO. To support such wideband TX, prior linear 60GHz solutions [2] employ baseband modulation followed by a linear upconversion and PA with saturated power of $\sim 10$ dBm. For OFDM and high-order single-carrier (SC) modulations, the PA operates in significant power back-off, leading to poor average output-to-DC (Pout-to-Pdc) power efficiency $(\lt 1.5$%). Additionally, for spectral compliance, these solutions use off-chip pulse-shaping with 8-to-12b, 25-to-65GS/s arbitrary waveform generators (AWG). Implementing such high-performance DACs on-chip would incur significant power overhead in handheld devices.
Interrogating Kinetic versus Thermodynamic Topologies of Metal-Organic Frameworks via Combined Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction Analysis.

Synthetic protocols that preferentially result in metal–organic framework (MOF) crystallization of one topology over another remain an elusive, empirical process. This is primarily because of a lack of fundamental insights into MOF crystal growth and the effect of various experimental parameters on the resulting topologies. In this Communication, we demonstrate the temperature–topology relationship of MOFs constructed from hexanuclear oxozirconium cluster nodes and tetrakis(4-carboxylphenyl)porphyrin linkers via a combined transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction study. Synthesis at room temperature led to a mixed phase consisting of 12-connected (assuming no defects) MOF-525 and 6-connected PCN-224, possessing ftw and she topologies, respectively. When the temperature was raised to 145 °C, 8-connected PCN-222 (csq topology) was found, with a possible concurrence of another 8-connected NU-902 (scu topology) and 12-connected PCN-223 (shp topology), in addition to MOF-525 and PCN-224. W...
Synchronous recurrence of concurrent colon adenocarcinoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma.

A 62-year-old man presented with concurrent sigmoid colon adenocarcinoma and small bowel mesenteric dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Following surgical resection of the colon cancer, complete excision of the mesenteric sarcoma and adjuvant folinic acid, fluorouracil and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy, the patient demonstrated no radiological evidence of disease for more than 2 years. The patient then developed synchronous recurrence of both cancers: the colon cancer metastasised to the liver and a pelvic lymph node, and the liposarcoma recurred in the original location. The patient underwent additional chemotherapy with complete response of the metastatic colon cancer and stable disease for the liposarcoma. The recurrent mesenteric tumour was subsequently resected. Although concurrent cancers have been reported, this unique case of synchronous recurrence raises interesting hypotheses regarding host–tumour interaction and immune surveillance.
Ezra Pound and Charles Bernstein: Opera, Poetics, and the Fate of Humanism

��� Opera is a peculiar genre. 1 While artistic practices are always enmeshed in the cultural, philosophical, and political tensions of their moment, opera is unique as a veritable petri dish of Renaissance musical humanism. There is perhaps no other instance in which theory so clearly precedes artistic practice, with opera emerging out of the debates over musical composition and text-setting that preoccupied the early humanists. 2 Notions of unity are central to opera from its very earliest stages—unity of words and music, unity of the past and the present, unity of different modes of knowledge, unity of the expressive subject—ideals that reach their apex in the nineteenth century with Richard Wagner’s conception of the Gesamtkunstwerk. Early opera is also shaped by the epochal shift under way during its founding: a shift from feudal order to a nascent bourgeoisie, the birth of modern science, and the establishment of modern subjectivity. 3 In many ways, opera bridges this gap, recalling the institutions and modes of the past and projecting the possibilities of the future in a combination of aesthetic spectacle and Orphic mystery. As opera participates in the humanistic project of reclaiming the best of the past in order to establish a better future, the practical ideal of unifying words and music becomes an allegory for unity writ large. And, just as political idealism belies the inequities and outright prejudices of practice, so too does the proposed unity of words and music prove elusive. Opera is often understood as the product of a great compromise between musical and textual demands, a way of thinking about the genre that lays bare the value judgments of aesthetic purists. 4 As Slavoj Žižek wryly summarizes, from this perspective, opera is “a stillborn child of musical art,” one that “always has to rely in a parasitic way on other arts (on pure music, on theater)” (viii). While Žižek typically embraces this always-already compromised nature of the genre, others have been much less generous. Even Brian Ferneyhough, the composer of one of the very works that interest us here, Shadowtime, has previously pronounced opera
Case report of pelvic tuberculosis resulting in Asherman's syndrome and infertility

Approximately one-third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and it is a leading cause of infertility in endemic countries. The global incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is growing at approximately 0.4% per year, and much faster in sub-Saharan Africa. TB causing fertility is rare in developed countries. We present a case of genital tuberculosis causing Asherman’s syndrome and resultant infertility. The patient is a 34-year-old P0 who presented to care after a prolonged period of secondary amenorrhea and infertility. She underwent a hysterosalpingogram which demonstrated no free spill and a diagnostic hysteroscopy which had findings of mottled endometrium. Pathology returned positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient was treated with 9 months of antituberculous therapy. While she has not yet succeeded in becoming pregnant, the patient has started to notice cyclic spotting, indicating possible return of menses. This case highlights the importance of TB treatment and considering TB in patients who present with unexplained infertility.
Stem cell factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor promote brain repair and improve cognitive function through VEGF-A in a mouse model of CADASIL.

Abstract Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarct and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a cerebral small vascular disease caused by NOTCH3 gene mutation in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), leading to ischemic stroke and vascular dementia. To date, the pathogenesis of CADASIL remains poorly understood, and there is no treatment that can slow the progression of CADASIL. Using a transgenic mouse model of CADASIL (TgNotch3R90C), this study reveals novel findings for understanding CADASIL pathogenesis that decreased cerebral vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF/VEGF-A) is linked to reduced cerebral blood vessel density. Reduced endothelial cell (EC) proliferation and angiogenesis are seen in TgNotch3R90C mouse brain-isolated ECs. Decreased dendrites, axons, and synapses in the somatosensory and motor cortex layer 2/3 and in the hippocampal CA1, and reduced neurogenesis in both the subventricular zone and subgranular zone occur in 15-month-old TgNotch3R90C mice. These reductions in neuron structures, synapses, and neurogenesis are significantly correlated to decreased cerebral vasculature in the corresponding areas. Impaired spatial learning and memory in TgNotch3R90C mice are significantly correlated with the reduced cerebral vasculature, neuron structures, and synapses. Repeated treatment of stem cell factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (SCF+G-CSF) at 9 and 10 months of age improves cognitive function, increases cerebral VEGF/VEGF-A, restores cerebral vasculature, and enhances regeneration of neuronal structures, synaptogenesis and neurogenesis in TgNotch3R90C mice. Pretreatment with Avastin, an angiogenesis inhibitor by neutralizing VEGF-A, completely eliminates the SCF+G-CSF-enhanced cognitive function, vascular and neuronal structure regeneration, synaptogenesis and neurogenesis in TgNotch3R90C mice. SCF+G-CSF-enhanced EC proliferation and angiogenesis in TgNotch3R90C mouse brain-isolated ECs are also blocked by Avastin pretreatment. These data suggest that SCF+G-CSF treatment may repair Notch3R90C mutation-damaged brain through the VEGF-A-mediated angiogenesis. This study provides novel insight into the involvement of VEGF/VEGF-A in the pathogenesis of CADASIL and sheds light on the mechanism underlying the SCF+G-CSF-enhanced brain repair in CADASIL.
Predicting and interpreting uncertainty propagation in separation circuits using functional unit evaluation

Abstract The estimation and analysis of uncertainty propagation in separation circuits is an important, but challenging, aspect of a comprehensive circuit design strategy. Owing to the sophisticated and complex modeling requirements, many of the current separation circuit design tools rely on deterministic models, despite the ubiquity of uncertainty in the model input parameters. Additionally, many of the uncertainty assessment protocols, which rely on mathematical solutions, provide few insights on how particular circuit modifications will influence uncertainty propagation. As a supplement to these methods, the current paper describes a method of assessing and evaluating separation circuit uncertainty by integrating the fundamentals of linear circuit analysis, the law of propagation of error, and the separation functional unit evaluation technique. This analysis shows how the addition or modification of units within circuits, based on separation functional unit definitions, can be used to predict how uncertainty propagation will change, even with limited a priori data. The capabilities of this innovative approach are illustrated and critically evaluated through a systematic separation experimental study using the roll-type corona electrostatic concentrator for separating titanium from silica within a heavy mineral sand feed.
P426 Profound metabolic acidosis and hypertriglyceridaemia in mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) synthase- 2 deficiency (HMGCS2D)

Introduction Mitochondrial HMG-CoA synthase deficiency (HMGCS2D) is an autosomal recessive disorder of ketone body synthesis characterised by hypoketotic hypoglycaemia, vomiting and hepatomegaly typically in the first year of life. Methods We report a previously well, 21-month old, unvaccinated male, of non-consanguineous Polish heritage, who presented with encephalopathy, hepatomegaly, severe anion-gap metabolic acidosis and mild hyperammonaemia following a brief intercurrent illness. While there was no documented hypoglycaemia, the sample was markedly lipaemic with Triglycerides 34 mmol/L. Unlike a similar, recently published case, he made a full neurological recovery. Results Urine organic acid analysis revealed marked ketonuria, very marked dicarboxylic aciduria and notable increase in medium chain 3-oxodicarboxylic acids. Glutarate was markedly elevated with mild increase in 3-hydroxyglutarate (3HG). 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-pyrone and four other putative biomarkers for HMGCSD2 were detected. DBS acetylcarnitine was raised on presentation. Acidosis and hypertriglyceridaemia gradually resolved with intravenous dextrose and bicarbonate. 3HG was slow to normalize while pyrone remained detectable. Molecular genetic analysis of the HMGCS2 gene identified compound heterozygosity for c.634G>A and c.1016+1G>A, not previously reported with this phenotype. Conclusions HMGCS2D should be considered in a child with severe unexplained metabolic acidosis even without hypoglycaemia. The condition should be added to the differential diagnosis of raised urinary glutarate and 3HG.
Isolation and characterization of Populus xyloglucan endotransglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) involved in osmotic stress responses

Abstract Xyloglucan endotransglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) belongs to the GH16 subfamily of the glycoside hydrolases of carbohydrate active enzymes and plays an important role in the structure and function of plant cell walls. In this study, 11 members of the XTH gene family were cloned from Populus tomentosa. A bioinformatics analysis revealed that 11 PtoXTHs could be classified into three groups, where PtoXTH27 and PtoXTH34 were most likely to exhibit XTH activity. Biochemical analyses of purified PtoXTHs demonstrated that PtoXTH27 and PtoXTH34 had detectable xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (XET) activity, while the others did not exhibit XET or XEH activity. Moreover, enzymatic assays revealed that the optimum reaction temperature of both PtoXTH27 and PtoXTH34 was 37 °C, while their optimum pH values differed, such that PtoXTH27 was 6.0 and PtoXTH34 was 5.0. Enzyme kinetic parameters indicated that PtoXTH34 had higher affinity for the receptor substrate, XXXG, implying that PtoXTH34 and PtoXTH27 in plants have different substrate structure specificity. Finally, heterologous expression of XTH significantly increased intracellular total sugar content and osmotolerance of yeast cells, indicating that PtoXTH27 and PtoXTH34 are potentially involved in osmotic stress responses. These results clearly demonstrate the enzymatic characteristics and putative role of XTH in osmotic stress responses.
Binary number applications

In this paper, four algorithms are presented, the first of which generates the binary numbers for a given number of bits. The remaining three algorithms are applications of the binary numbers to set theory, database, and the Tower of Hanoi. For set theory, the power set of a finite set is produced. The database application generates a list of superkeys, among which are the candidate keys, of a relational database, relating this to determining the minimal elements in the Hasse Diagram of the underlying partial order. The final application solves the well-known Tower of Hanoi problem by simply counting in binary. The implementation of each of these algorithms is an excellent programming exercise for students.
Theories as recipes: third-order virtue and vice

A basic way of evaluating metaphysical theories is to ask whether they give satisfying (not necessarily truthful!) answers to the questions they set out to resolve. I propose an account of “third-order” virtue that tells us what it takes for certain kinds of metaphysical theories to do so. We should think of these theories as recipes. I identify three good-making features of recipes and show that they translate to third-order theoretical virtues. I apply the view to two theories—mereological universalism and plenitudinous platonism—and draw out their third-order virtues and vices. One lesson is that there is an important difference between essentially and non-essentially third-order vicious theories. I also argue that if a theory is essentially third-order vicious, it cannot be assessed for more standard “second-order” theoretical virtues and vices, like parsimony. This motivates the idea that third-order virtues are distinct from second-order ones. Finally, I suggest that the relationship between truth, progress, and third-order virtue is more complex than it seems.
Information Divergence and the Generalized Normal Distribution: A Study on Symmetricity

This paper investigates and discusses the use of information divergence, through the widely used Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence, under the multivariate (generalized) $$\gamma $$-order normal distribution ($$\gamma $$-GND). The behavior of the KL divergence, as far as its symmetricity is concerned, is studied by calculating the divergence of $$\gamma $$-GND over the Student’s multivariate t-distribution and vice versa. Certain special cases are also given and discussed. Furthermore, three symmetrized forms of the KL divergence, i.e., the Jeffreys distance, the geometric-KL as well as the harmonic-KL distances, are computed between two members of the $$\gamma $$-GND family, while the corresponding differences between those information distances are also discussed.
LTC performance of C1–C4 water-alcohol blends with the same cooling potential

Abstract Alcohols are renewable fuels with high cooling potentials and low φ-sensitivity, ideal properties for highly controllable low temperature combustion (LTC) concepts that enable high-efficiency, low-emissions operation. Recent work showed that the C1–C4 alcohols behave similarly in LTC. The primary difference between these fuels is their cooling potential, which impacts their stratified LTC behavior. To homogenize the stratified LTC performance of these fuels and create an equivalence class of fuels, water can be blended with these fuels to increase their cooling potential to some benchmark value. When ethanol or propanol is blended with water to WE80 (80% ethanol, 20% water) or WP70, no significant change in the sensitivity of the fuel to operating conditions occurs, with a 1–2 percentage point decrease in combustion efficiency and a slight decrease in NOx occurring with WP70. The isomers of butanol are not fully miscible with water and require a C1–C3 alcohol as a co-solvent. W25E50B25 (25% water, 50% ethanol, and 25% of one of the three butanol isomers (n-, iso, or sec-)) behaved similarly to WE80. The ethanol in the blend was able to mute the cool flame reactivity of n-butanol and sec-butanol, further homogenizing the LTC performance of these fuels. Overall, when ethanol, propanol, or butanol are blended with water to have the same cooling potential as methanol, there is no appreciable difference in their LTC performance (demonstrating interchangeability) other than a small combustion efficiency penalty, particularly at low loads. When load increases or when combustion is advanced, this penalty decreases.
“No endlesse moniment”: artificial memory and memorial artifact in early modern England

Hamlet’s innocuous expression of nostalgia elicits a startled – perhaps a startlingly startled – response. We better understand Horatio’s surprise: he has, after all, himself just come from seeing Hamlet’s father unexpectedly on the battlements of Elsinore and is alarmed to find Hamlet seeing him elsewhere. But Hamlet is, it turns out, not seeing him elsewhere but nowhere, attending in memory to his father’s flickering, ghostly image. What should perhaps startle us is Hamlet’s easy comprehension of Horatio’s surprised ‘Where?’ For Hamlet, the ‘mind’s eye,’ memory, works precisely like ordinary vision. It takes place in a where, and confronts its objects as visual. Horatio’s memory of sight is in an exterior, physical space; it is public, shared with Marcellus and Bernardo. In Hamlet’s case, the sight of memory takes place within the private space of thought, here treated in metaphor as involving sight and space.
Synthetic Control Method, Stationarity and Pointwise Statistical Inference

This article shows that, under some common assumptions, the pointwise synthetic control estimator would be unbiased if the outcome variable follows an autoregressive process. However, if such autoregressive process is nonstationary, then the variance of the pointwise estimator would be sensitive to the choice of the cutoff date (i.e. the last date of the chosen pre-treatment period if the exact start date of the treatment is uncertain), and the variance would increase over time unboundedly after the cutoff date. These two consequences of nonstationarity would create enormous challenges to the feasibility of pointwise statistical inference. Hence, I advise to take the first difference of the outcome variable to remove the unit root before using the synthetic control method when the panels are nonstationary. I apply the synthetic control method to a panel data set of housing price indexes of 33 small cities in China both before and after taking first difference to examine whether the inter-Korean rapprochement in early 2018 has increased the housing price in the Chinese border city Dandong. I show that the synthetic control estimation results after taking first difference are more robust in my empirical context. Numerically, the d'etente on the Korean Peninsula increased Dandong's housing price by around 9% in the second quarter of 2018, but there has been no significant appreciation afterwards.
Diverse Discourse: Analyzing the Potential of Public Affairs Magazine Online Forums to Reflect Qualities of the Public Sphere

Public affairs magazines have expanded beyond their print editions to offer online editions with forums for readers to discuss important public issues. For magazines that cater to ideologically specific audiences, online forums could serve as forms of alternative publics for presenting diverse viewpoints and values. The conversations that emerge also hold potential for portraying characteristics of the public sphere. This study used textual analysis to examine online comments associated with 21 articles from six different U.S. public affairs magazines representing various positions on the ideological spectrum. Using Dahlberg’s (2001) six-part assessment of quality public discourse, the analysis showed that moderate magazines serving a broad readership induced a lower-quality discussion. In contrast, liberal and conservative publications, when encouraging diverse and ideologically heterogeneous perspectives, produced quality discourse. These forums showed higher levels of quality characteristics such as exchange and critique of normative positions, reflexivity, sincerity, and constructive dialogue.
Acquiring CDMA packets in an ad hoc network using adaptive arrays

A computationally efficient reference beamformer is proposed to acquire and recover CDMA packets in an ad hoc network in the presence of co-channel interference. By combining a bank of code matched filters with a spatial whitener, multiple packets in the same time slot can be acquired simultaneously.
Reproduction in the Female

The right ovary and oviduct are present in embryonic stages of all birds, but the distribution of primordial germ cells to the ovaries of the chicken becomes asymmetrical by day 4 of incubation, and by day 10 regression of the right oviduct begins. The reproductive system of birds (Galliformes) consists of a single left ovary and its oviduct, although on occasion a functional right ovary and oviduct may be present. Among the falconiformes and in the brown kiwi, both left and right gonads and associated oviducts are commonly functional, although the ovaries may be asymmetrical in size; in sparrows and pigeons, about 5% of specimens have two developed ovaries (see Romanoff and Romanoff, 1949; Kinsky, 1971).
Aspects of chargino-neutralino production at the Fermilab Tevatron collider.

We have used ISAJET 7.01/ISASUSY 1.0 to evaluate the rates and study distributions for trilepton events from the leptonic decays of charginos and neutralinos produced at the Fermilab Tevatron via the reaction $p\overline{p}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{W}}_{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{Z}}_{2}+X$ for cuts inspired by the CDF and D0 experiments. We find that about 60% of these events do not contain any jets, and so should be easily identifiable over standard model backgrounds from $t\overline{t}$ and $\mathrm{WZ}$ production, provided that the decay ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{Z}}_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{Z}}_{1}Z$ is kinematically inaccessible. We further show that, with suitable cuts, these backgrounds can be reduced to less than 1-2 fb even if ${n}_{\mathrm{jet}}=1$, effectively increasing the SUSY sample by 50%. We confirm that the signal is only rate limited, and that the Fermilab Tevatron after an accumulation of 100 ${\mathrm{pb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of integrated luminosity will be able to explore parameters well beyond the range of CERN LEP and, if sleptons are substantially lighter than squarks, close to the reach of LEP 200.
A Simple Graph Package Providing an Iterator

Graphs, of one form or another, are an important data structure throughout most of computer science. This example displays an implementation of a simple package providing an abstraction of directed graphs. The specification includes some type definitions, culminating in the Ob j record type, that serves to define the structure of directed graphs. The user is responsible for allocation, initialization and manipulation of the nodes that form a graph.
Randomized Legal Experimentation

Social scientists have performed and analyzed a number of randomized studies of policies, but the legal literature has not addressed whether and how the legal system should incorporate experimental methods. This Article identifies several benefits of randomized legal experimentation and argues that these benefits supports self-executing experiments, whose results would lead to policy changes agreed upon in advance. Randomized experiments can generate information, and self-execution can help ensure that this information affects the policy process. Such experiments may be easier to enact than other legal reforms, because each side of a policy debate may believe that an experiment is likely to support its cause. This Article argues that administrative law doctrine should be more deferential to agency decisions to perform such experiments than to enact policies without evidence from randomized experiments. The Article describes the advantages and limitations of randomization, and explores ethical and equality-based arguments against experimentation.
A new, nonirritating opaque medium for uterosalpingography

Abstract 1.1. Uterosalpingography, as an adjunct to transuterine tubal insufflation in sterility studies, is a useful diagnostic measure in a certain restricted group of case instances. 2.2. Iodized oil injected into the uterine cavity and the Fallopian tubes as the opaque medium for x-ray visualization is followed too frequently by sharp reactions, either from chemical irritation by the iodine, or allergic in type as though from the oils.The foreign-body effects of iodized oil, persisting as this substance does for indefinite periods of time after injection into the abdominal cavity, result often in encysted masses with local acute and chronic peritonitis. 3.3. In an effort to avoid such reactions, a new nonirritating radiopaque compound has been devised, consisting of mono-iodomethane sulphonate of sodium (skiodan) (40 per cent) with acacia (20 per cent). 4.4. This chemical compound does not release free iodine and is rapidly excreted from the body through the urine. The acacia, added for viscosity, does not have a foreign body effect as do poppy seed or sesame oils. 5.5. Adequate animal experiments were conducted to demonstrate, histologically and chemically, the correctness of the foregoing statements before beginning the clinical use of this medium with patients. 6.6. It has now been used in our clinic in a series of patients over a period of nearly two years without clinical evidence of inflammatory or other reactions, either immediate or delayed. Moreover, the x-ray pictures appear to be more distinct than with the iodized oil preparations. 7.7. Further studies are now being made by us to determine the rate of excretion of mono-iodomethane sulphonate of sodium through the urine, and also the fate of acacia injected into body cavities.It is suggested that this preparation may be of distinct use in bronchoscopic work. Our Research Laboratory is now collaborating with the Department of Neuro-surgery at this Hospital in an effort to develop a modification of this preparation suitable for intraspinal and intracranial use.
Purification of fungal phenolsulfatase.

SummaryFungal phenolsulfatase of Mylase P was purified by fractionations with ethanol, zone electrophoresis on cellulose, and treatment with aluminum hydroxide gel. Related to the activity of the original Mylase P the enzyme was purified approximately 1900 times. On the basis of purification of the protein of Mylase P approximately 230-fold purifications were achieved.
The role of visual cues in learning escape behaviour in the little brown skink (Scincella lateralis)

Many small animals escape predators by running under an escape retreat such as a rock, log, or pile of leaves. Rapid escape to a retreat would be facilitated if the animal already learned the location of the retreat before it ever had to flee from a predator. One way a small animal might do this is to attend to a prominent ‘local cue’, that is, a visual cue that is part of, or contiguous with, the retreat. I tested the hypothesis that a small lizard commonly known as the little brown skink, Scincella lateralis, can use a local visual cue to learn an escape behaviour. Little brown skinks were presented with two retreats side-by side in an observation chamber. One retreat was backed with a vertical striped cue and the other backed with a horizontal striped cue. Each lizard was induced to run from one end of the observation tank to the opposite end with the two retreats; the retreat that each lizard chose for escape was recorded through a series of 15 trials conducted over three days. Half of the lizards were trained to escape to the vertical cue retreat; half were trained to escape to the horizontal cue retreat. About one-third of little brown skinks met the learning criterion of escaping to the correct retreat in five consecutive trials. However, significantly more of the vertical cue lizards met the learning criterion than did horizontal cue lizards. Also, the vertical cue lizards escaped to the correct retreat significantly more often than expected by chance. Furthermore, even the horizontal cue lizards showed a preference for escaping to the vertical cue retreat. This suggests little brown skinks can use a local visual cue to learn an escape behaviour, but only if it a vertical cue. This may be related to the use of a vertical cue to obtain positional information to locate a retreat or perhaps to the tendency of this forest species to attend to abundant vertical cues in its habitat.
Displacement Analysis of Terpene Hydrocarbons:*: I. Preliminary Studies

Displacement analysis on silica gel has been investigated as a method of separating terpene hydrocarbons. The use of adsorption isotherms in predicting the nature of displacement diagrams has been substantiated. An application of displacement analysis to a mixture of terpene hydrocarbons isolated from a natural source is presented.
Estradiol-induced follicular atresia in rhesus monkeys is not prevented by exogenous gonadotropins.

Estradiol-17β (E2) induces atresia of the dominant preovulatory follicle (DF) when administered on day 6 of the menstrual cycle. The present study was designed to determine whether the atretogenic effect of E2 could be averted by the administration of exogenous gonadotropins, in an attempt to determine whether E2-induced atresia in primates is due to a direct action at the ovarian level or is mediated via pituitary secretion. After identification of the DF during laparoscopy, cyclic monkeys received Silastic capsules containing E2 placed s.c. for 24 hours, plus one of the following treatments: phosphate-buffered saline, or 25 I.U. of either human urinary menopausal gonadotropin (hMG), FSH-rich hMG, human urinary FSH (uFSH), or human pituitary FSH (pFSH) injected i.m. twice daily for 2 days. The control treatment resulted in atresia of the DF and extended follicular phases (26.3 ± 5.9 days, x ± S.D.), but in normal luteal phases following ovulation of a substitute DF. Similar results occurred in all animals receiving FSH-rich hMG or pFSH, and in 11 of 16 animals receiving hMG or uFSH (P > 0.05). Since all possible routes and regimens of gonadotropin administration were not attempted, a central action of E2 cannot be ruled out. However, we believe that the experimental observations support our contention that the atretogenic action of E2 is exerted in part at the ovary.
Ovarian Vein Embolization: Technique, Results, and Complications

Abstract Ovarian and pelvic (internal iliac) varices have long been recognized as one potential cause of chronic pelvic pain in women. A clinical evaluation, imaging studies to rule out other pelvic pathologies, and selective ovarian and internal iliac venography with the ‘intent to treat’ are described. This article provides background information on the nature of chronic pelvic pain due to ovarian and pelvic varices, reviews the literature, and discusses complications and areas of future research.
Eolian dynamics and sediment mixing in the Gran Desierto, Mexico, determined from thermal infrared spectroscopy and remote-sensing data

The Gran Desierto dune field is only partially composed of quartz-rich sands from the ancestral Colorado River. Local sources have been previously underestimated as a major source of sand because previous remote-sensing studies were limited in their capability to detect silicate minerals. Compositions of sands were evaluated in this study using a combination of laboratory thermal emission spectroscopy and thermal remote-sensing data acquired from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument. The spatial interpolation of sample compositions allowed visualization of the sand transport pathways from feldspar-rich local sources by revealing gradients of composition between the dune field and surrounding local sources. The laboratory data were comparable to the remote-sensing retrievals of quartz and feldspar abundance. The mineralogical maturity of the Desierto dunes could be determined by the quartz/feldspar ratio, therefore providing a context for understanding the provenance of the Gran Desierto in relation to other Mojave and Sonoran dune fields. The composition of a previously undescribed group of dunes east of the Pinacate, the Sonoyta dunes, was measured as higher in potassium feldspar relative to the rest of the dune field. The composition of Sonoyta dunes is characteristic of other Mojave dune fields, which are more isolated near local feldspar-rich sources. South of the Pinacate, quartz-rich sand from the west admixes with feldspar-rich sand from the Sonoyta dunes to the east. The northern margin of the Gran Desierto is similarly enriched in feldspar from alluvial fans, and the coastal sand is influenced by carbonate sand that does not appear to survive transport to the inland dunes.
Implementation of unipolar inverter based on spatial wave-function switched FET (SWSFET)

The spatial wave-function switched field effect transistor (SWSFET) has two or three low band-gap quantum well channels that can conduct carrier flow from source to drain of the SWSFET. Because of this property, SWSFETs are useful to implement different multi-valued logic with reduced device count. In this work, we introduce the circuit model of a SWSFET and the design of a unipolar inverter where only one kind of charge carrier contributes to the current flow.
Intercity rail fixed-interval, timed-transfer, multihub system : Applicability of the Integraler Taktfahrplan strategy to North America

The Integraler Taktfahrplan (ITF) strategy for coordinating intercity rail and other modes at multiple timed-transfer hubs is described. The ongoing Swiss experience in establishing a countrywide ITF system is presented, and the ITF strategy is applied to North America, using a region within the United States. The Swiss Rail + Bus 2000 Plan will bring all intercity public transportation modes into a comprehensive fixed-interval, timed-transfer, multihub system, including high-speed intercity trains, regular intercity and regional trains, buses, ferries, and funiculars. Timed connections with urban transit systems will be provided. The repeating schedule, associated with the ITF strategy, allows for two powerful analysis and communication tools: (a) a schedule map and (b) symmetrical train graphs. The schedule map helps planning, marketing, scheduling, engineering, and operations work together as they iteratively design the system. The map, which graphically combines routes and schedules, is easy to unders...
Approaches to robust pole assignment

Abstract Robust pole assignment is a non-linear optimization problem in many variables. We describe numerical methods for determining robust or well-conditioned so-lutions to the problem of pole assignment by state feedback. The solutions are chosen to minimize various objective functions based on the condition number of the eigenvector matrix. Careful choice of parametrization and objective function avoids singularities and artificial variable constraints; explicit formulae for the gradient and hessian permit rigorous stopping criteria and rapid local convergence. Several computational examples are included.
Acetaminophen prevents aging‐associated hyperglycemia in aged rats: effect of aging‐associated hyperactivation of p38‐MAPK and ERK1/2

Background Aging-related hyperglycemia is associated with increased oxidative stress and diminished muscle glucose transporter-4 (Glut4) that may be regulated, at least in part, by the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). Methods To test the possibility that aging-related hyperglycemia can be prevented by pharmacological manipulation of MAPK hyperactivation, aged (27-month old) Fischer 344/NNiaHSD × Brown Norway/BiNia F1 (F344BN) rats were administered acetaminophen (30 mg/kg body weight/day) for 6 months in drinking water. Results Hepatic histopathology, serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase analyses suggested that chronic acetaminophen did not cause hepatotoxicity. Compared with adult (6-month) and aged (27-month) rats, very aged rats (33-month) had higher levels of blood glucose, phosphorylation of soleus p38-MAPK and extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), superoxide and oxidatively modified proteins (p < 0.05), and these changes were associated with decreased soleus Glut4 protein abundance (p < 0.05). Chronic acetaminophen treatment attenuated age-associated increase in blood glucose by 61.3% (p < 0.05) and increased soleus Glut4 protein by 157.2% (p < 0.05). These changes were accompanied by diminished superoxide levels, decrease in oxidatively modified proteins (−60.8%; p < 0.05) and reduced p38-MAPK and ERK1/2 hyperactivation (−50.4% and − 35.4%, respectively; p < 0.05). Conclusions These results suggest that acetaminophen may be useful for the treatment of age-associated hyperglycemia. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Loosening the belt: on the effects of goal-conflict situations on regular savings

This paper examines the effect of implementation intentions on consumers' success in pursuing conflicting saving–spending goals. Surveys of participants in a community-based savings programme were conducted to test whether the forming of implementation intentions in specific action plans facilitate the pursuit of the focal savings goal. The intervention had no effect in facilitating the savings goal, suggesting that goal conflict undermines goal commitment above and beyond the influence of commitment mechanisms. Inquiring into the reasons for not saving within the implementation intention group, we found that conflict with spending goals emerged as a partial mediator explaining subjects' failure to enact their savings intentions. Implications for community-based savings programmes are also discussed.
Mode II Fatigue Crack Propagation

Fatigue crack propagation rates were obtained for 2024-T3 bare aluminum plates subjected to in-plane, mode I, extensional loads and transverse, mode II, bending loads. These results were compared to the results of Iida and Kobayashi for in-plane mode I-mode II extensional loads. The engineering significance of mode I-mode II fatigue crack growth is considered in view of the present results. A fatigue crack growth equation for handling mode I-mode II fatigue crack growth rates from existing mode I data is also discussed.
Empirical evaluation of the inter-relationship of articular elements involved in the pathoanatomy of knee osteoarthritis using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In this cross-sectional study, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of all articular elements that could be measured using knee MRI. We assessed the association of pathological change in multiple articular structures involved in the pathoanatomy of osteoarthritis. Knee MRI scans from patients over 45 years old were assessed using a semi-quantitative knee MRI assessment form. The form included six distinct elements: cartilage, bone marrow lesions, osteophytes, subchondral sclerosis, joint effusion and synovitis. Each type of pathology was graded using an ordinal scale with a value of zero indicating no pathology and higher values indicating increasingly severe levels of pathology. The principal dependent variable for comparison was the mean cartilage disease score (CDS), which captured the aggregate extent of involvement of articular cartilage. The distribution of CDS was compared to the individual and cumulative distributions of each articular element using the Chi-squared test. The correlations between pathological change in the various articular structures were assessed in a Spearman correlation table. Data from 140 patients were available for review. The cohort had a median age of 61 years (range 45-89) and was 61% female. The cohort included a wide spectrum of OA severity. Our analysis showed a statistically significant trend towards pathological change involving more articular elements as CDS worsened (p-value for trend < 0.0001). Comparison of CDS to change in the severity of pathology of individual articular elements showed statistically significant trends towards more severe pathology as CDS worsened for osteophytes (p-value for trend < 0.0001), bone marrow lesions (p = 0.0003), and subchondral sclerosis (p = 0.009), but not joint effusion or synovitis. There was a moderate correlation between cartilage damage, osteophytes and BMLs as well as a moderate correlation between joint effusion and synovitis. However, cartilage damage and osteophytes were only weakly associated with synovitis or joint effusion. Our results support an inter-relationship of multiple articular elements in the pathoanatomy of knee OA. Prospective studies of OA pathogenesis in humans are needed to correlate these findings to clinically relevant outcomes such as pain and function.
Spectral densities and nuclear spin relaxation in solids

Abstract We investigate the properties of ten spectral densities relevant for nuclear spin relaxation studies in solids. This is preceded by a brief review of nuclear spin relaxation in solids which includes a discussion of the appropriate spin-dependent interactions and the various relaxation rates which can be measured. Also, the link between nuclear spin relaxation and dielectric relaxation is discussed. Where possible and/or appropriate each of the spectral densities is expressed as a continuous distribution of Bloembergen-Purcell-Pound (or Debye) spectral densities 2ξ /(1 + ξ 2 ω 2 ) for nuclear Larmor angular frequency ω and correlation time ξ. The spectral densities are named after their originators or the shape of the distributions of correlation times or both and are (1) Bloembergen-Purcell-Pound or δ-function, (2) Havriliak-Negami, (3) Cole-Cole, (4) Davidson-Cole, (5) Fang, (6) Fuoss-Kirkwood, (7) Bryn Mawr, (8) Wagner or log-Gaussian, (9) log-Lorentzian, and (10) Frohlich or energy box. The Havriliak-Negami spectral density is related to the Dissado-Hill theory for dielectric relaxation. The spectral densities are expressed in a way which makes them easy to compare with each other and with experimental data. Many plots of the distributions of correlation times and of the spectral densities vs. various correlation times characterizing the distributions are given.
Representations of Blackness and the Performance of Identities

Representations of Blackness and the Performance of Identities. Jean Muteba Rahier ed. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1999. ix. 264 pp., figures, photographs, bibliography, index.
Pathways for clearance of surfactant protein A from the lung

Uptake and degradation of 125I-surfactant protein A (SP-A) over a 1-h period was studied in alveolar cells in culture and in isolated perfused lungs to elucidate the mechanism for clearance of the ...
Creatine kinase-MB enzyme elevation following successful saphenous vein graft intervention is associated with late mortality.

Background—Although the risk for development of creatine kinase (CK-MB) elevation after saphenous vein graft (SVG) intervention is high, its prognostic significance remains unknown. This study evaluated the impact of periprocedural CK-MB elevation on late clinical events following successful SVG angioplasty. Methods and Results—We studied 1056 consecutive patients with successful (defined by angiographic success and absence of major complications) intervention of 1693 SVG lesions. These patients were grouped as normal CK-MB (n=556), minor CK-MB rise (CK-MB 1 to 5 times normal, n=339), and major CK-MB rise (CK-MB >5 times normal, n=161). There were no differences in major clinical events at 30-day follow-up among the 3 groups. However, 1-year mortality was 4.8%, 6.5%, and 11.7%, respectively, P<0.05 (ANOVA). Even within a population without any intraprocedure or in-hospital complications (n=727, 69% of the overall cohort), 1-year mortality remained significantly higher with CK-MB elevation: 2.4%, 5.5%, and...
The Future of Paris: A Systems Study in Strategic Urban Planning

The paper is based on a study conducted by the author (under contract to the French Government) concerning the possible roles and functions of Paris during the next thirty years. New findings regarding the interactions which emerge between the definition of complex, ill-structured problems — the ‘problematique9 - and planning methodology are reported on, and a generalizable planning approach that synthesizes the most recent thinking in the field, both at the theoretical and the methodological levels, will be discussed. The introductory section covers the background of the Paris Project, and elaborates the notion of ‘problematique9 The second section outlines the deductive-heuristic approaches that systems theory seems to require when applied to problems which have overlapping boundaries. This is followed by a discussion of the relatively new concepts of ‘ normative ’ planning and ‘ idealized ’ design that underlie any strategic considerations when the decision-context is a situation of great complexity. The concluding portions deal with relations between the ideas of purpose and function, and the implications of such relations for national policy.