cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sound production in Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus and its role in escape during predatory attack by Octopus briareus

Abstract The production of sound (commonly called stridulation) in spiny lobsters when disturbed by humans is well documented but its function during encounters with natural predators remains largely undocumented. Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus stridulate during tailflip escape attempts in response to grasping of the carapace or antennae by human divers. We hypothesised that stridulating may be effective against predators like octopus which grasp the carapace and antennae during attacks in a way similar to human divers. In this study, we examined defensive sound production during nighttime encounters with Caribbean reef octopus Octopus briareus to determine how P. argus use stridulation and whether it improves survival. In staged nighttime encounters with octopus, lobsters stridulated both during grasping attacks by octopus and after being captured and restrained. Stridulating lobsters escaped from attacking octopuses more frequently and remained uncaptured longer during encounters than experime...
Determination of 90strontium in bone

Abstract A procedure for the assay of 90 Sr in bone is presented, which is applicable for the determination of low levels of 90 Sr using ordinary counting equipment. The procedure involves extraction of the 90 Y daughter into a solution of dibutylphosphoric acid in scintillation fluid from a dilute nitric acid solution containing 90 Sr which had been concentrated from bone by the standard fuming nitric acid procedure. The extracted 90 Y in scintillation fluid can be counted directly without further preparation.
Minimally Invasive Inguinal Lymphadenectomy via Endoscopic Groin Dissection: Comprehensive Assessment of Immediate and Long-Term Complications

Purpose: Open inguinal lymphadenectomy has been associated with significant postoperative morbidity. Recently, small series have demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of endoscopic groin lymphadenectomy as an alternative to open surgery. Previously we reported the favorable results of our initial experience. Few reports of novel surgical methods include long-term complications. In this report we present a detailed analysis of immediate and long-term complications associated with the procedure using standardized complications reporting methodology including the Clavien classification.Materials and Methods: From September 2008 to December 2009, 29 patients underwent endoscopic groin dissection for inguinal lymphadenectomy. The indications for dissection were cutaneous malignancies of the genitourinary area and lower extremities. Endoscopic dissection was performed as previously published. Data were prospectively collected regarding patient demographics and minor/major complications during the perioperat...
Nitrogen cycling and metabolism in the thalweg of a prairie river

[1] Nutrient dynamics in rivers are central to global biogeochemistry. We measured ammonium (NH4+) uptake, metabolism, nitrification, and denitrification in the thalweg, the river region of greatest flow, of the Kansas River (discharge = 14,360 L/s). We estimated gross and net uptake with a depleted 15N-NH4+ release, metabolism with diel O2 measurements, and denitrification with dissolved N2 measurements. Net ecosystem production was negative. Net NH4+ uptake length was 2.1 km when concentrations were elevated, and gross uptake length was 1.9 km at ambient concentrations. Gross uptake rate measurements were comparable to estimates made using extrapolations from data obtained from streams (systems with 1/10th or less the discharge). Calculated lengths were maximal because the isotope pulse was primarily confined to the thalweg and not the shallow side channels or backwaters. Denitrification and nitrification rates were below detection. In the Kansas River, rates of N cycling are driven by heterotrophic processes, and considerable processing of N, particularly NH4+ uptake, occurred over a few kilometers of river length, with net uptake rates of NH4+ increasing with greater NH4+ concentrations.
Contextual potentiation of acquired behavior after devaluing direct context-US associations

Abstract In two experiments, water-deprived rats were exposed to tone-footshock pairings in a particular conditioning context. In Experiment 1, the training parameters were selected on the basis of parametric pilot data so as not to produce direct associations between the conditioning context and footshock. Despite independent evidence of no appreciable direct association between the conditioning context and footshock, animals tested in the conditioning context exhibited more lick suppression to the tone than other animals tested with the tone outside of the conditioning context. Thus, the conditioning context potentiated suppression to the tone in the absence of appreciable fear of the conditioning context. In Experiment 2, training parameters were used that permitted the formation of direct associations between the conditioning context and footshock; however, for half the animals, these associations to the context were then extinguished. With the tone absent, a comparison of extinguished animals tested either in the conditioning context or outside the conditioning context detected no differences in suppression, demonstrating the effectiveness of the extinction manipulation. However, other animals also subjected to extinction of direct context-footshock associations displayed greater suppression to the tone within the conditioning context than comparable animals tested outside the context. Collectively the data indicate that the superior retention-test performance seen within the training context can arise both from the commonly assumed direct associations between the training context and the unconditioned stimulus and from the potentiation by the training context of the associations between the nominal conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus.
Comparison of the seed germination effects of synthetic analogs of strigol, gibberellic acid, cytokinins, and other plant growth regulators

Four synthetic multiring analogs of strigol, a naturally occurring sesquiterpene lactone that promotes germination of dormant seeds ofStriga (witchweed), were found to stimulate germination of dormantLactuca (lettuce) seeds. The effects on light-sensitive and light-insensitive lettuce seeds were concentration-dependent and exceeded those produced by equimolar (0.1 mM) solutions of gibberellic acid. Strigol and epistrigol promoted lettuce seed germination to a lesser degree than did the synthetic analogs. The strigol group compounds had minimal effect on the germination of monocot seeds. The results indicate that the synthetic strigol analogs have plant growth regulatory activity in dormant seeds of genera beyondStriga in which germination stimulation by strigol and the synthetic analogs was first demonstrated.
Local rigidity of partially hyperbolic actions I. KAM method and ℤk actions on the torus

We show C ∞ local rigidity for ℤ k (k ≥ 2) higher rank partially hyperbolic actions by toral automorphisms, using a generalization of the KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) iterative scheme. We also prove the existence of irreducible genuinely partially hyperbolic higher rank actions on any torus T N for any even N ≥ 6.
Rachel Carson’s Environmental Ethics

Rachel Carson is well known as a founder of the modern American environmental movement, which some date to the publication of Silent Spring in 1962. This essay argues that Carson was not just a successful polemicist, but a deep and insightful environmental thinker, whose life and writings have much to offer contemporary environmental philosophy. It focuses on explicating the environmental ethics articulated in Silent Spring, which rest on the triple foundation of human health considerations, the moral considerability of non-human beings, and the value to humans of preserving wild nature and a diverse and varied landscape. Carson generally emphasizes the complementarity in the great majority of cases of the three basic goals of protecting human health, preserving non-human life, and promoting human flourishing. In trying to move her society toward greater recognition of non-human interests and higher human interests, she develops an environmental ethics with both non-anthropocentric and enlightened anthropocentric elements. While Silent Spring shows how these two aspects may ‘converge’ regarding an important public policy issue, Carson’s own life, dedicated to knowing and appreciating nature, shows how they converge at the personal level. Three further themes round out the ethical argument of Silent Spring. First, Carson’s disapproval of economism – the overvaluation or exclusive focus on economic goals and pursuits. Second, her criticisms of a human ‘war on nature’. Third, her warnings concerning the increased artificiality and simplification of the landscape.
The Acute Management of Sport Concussion in Pediatric Athletes

During the past two decades the focus on sport concussion has increased significantly. Young athletes represent the most vulnerable population to sustain a sport concussion yet receive the least amount of attention. Specifically, young athletes who sustain a sport concussion can go unrecognized and continue to participate in sport putting them at an increased risk for a more significant injury. The purpose of this review is to provide a clinical framework for the evaluation and management of sport concussion. In addition, this review provides considerations for health care professionals in regard to clinical measures and follow-up strategies during the acute phase following concussion in young concussed athletes following injury.
Settling‐velocity and flume‐behavior of non‐spherical particles

The importance of particle-shape in sediment-transportation has been pointed out by numerous writers. Comparatively few experimental data are available, however, and even these are partly confused by the use of two geometrically distinct shape-characteristics. Some writers emphasize the angularity of the corners and edges, whereas others emphasize the general form, that is, the ratios between length, breadth, and thickness of the particles. Most commonly both aspects are included in the same classification.
Ventilator modes used in weaning

Weaning techniques include spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs), pressure-support ventilation (PSV), and synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV). SBTs can be conducted using one of several approaches, including T-piece breathing, low-level continuous positive airway pressure, low-level PSV, or setting the ventilator to flow-triggering with no pressure applied to the airway. The SBT can be used as a method to identify extubation readiness or as a weaning technique in which the duration of the trial is gradually increased over time. With pressure-support weaning, the level of pressure support is gradually reduced over time. With weaning using SIMV, the mandatory rate setting on the ventilator is gradually reduced. Randomized controlled trials have reported the poorest weaning outcomes using SIMV. Although new ventilator modes have been introduced to facilitate weaning, to date there is no evidence to support the use of these modes. Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation also has been reported to facilitate weaning, but the ability to generalize these findings remains to be determined.
Effects of non-causal artifacts in a hadronic rescattering model for Au-Au collisions at s NN =200 GeV

It has been shown that calculations based on our hadronic rescattering model agree reasonably well with experimental results from RHIC Au+Au collisions. Because of the large particle densities intrinsically present at the early time steps of Monte Carlo calculations attempting to model RHIC collisions undesirable artifacts resulting in non-causality may be present. The effects of such artifacts on observables calculated from the rescattering model are studied in the present work in two ways: (1) varying the time step and (2) using the subdivision method. It is shown that although non-causal artifacts are present in the rescattering model they have no appreciable effects on the calculated observables, thus strengthing the confidence in the results of this rescattering model for RHIC energies.
Compact, frequency-agile, absorptive bandstop filters

Two absorptive bandstop filter circuit topologies are introduced. The preferred topology is analyzed and its advantages over traditional approaches quantified. A corresponding varactor-tuned microstrip absorptive bandstop filter is described and its unique ability to maintain its attenuation while tuning across a broad frequency range using only resonant frequency tuning is demonstrated.
What are impossible worlds

In this paper, I argue for a particular conception of impossible worlds. Possible worlds, as traditionally understood, can be used in the analysis of propositions, the content of belief, the truth of counterfactuals, and so on. Yet possible worlds are not capable of differentiating propositions that are necessarily equivalent, making sense of the beliefs of agents who are not ideally rational, or giving truth values to counterfactuals with necessarily false antecedents. The addition of impossible worlds addresses these issues. The kinds of impossible worlds capable of performing this task are not mysterious sui generis entities, but sets of structured propositions that are themselves constructed out of possible worlds and relations. I also respond to a worry that these impossible worlds are unable to represent claims about the shape of modal space itself.
The Challenges of Emerging Economies

Reports on computer technologies and communications technologies that can be provided to emerging economies that are affordable and will enable the building of efficient communications infrastructures.
Distributed routing in networks using affinity propagation

This paper applies affinity propagation (AP) to develop distributed solutions for routing over networks. AP is a message passing algorithm for unsupervised learning. This paper demonstrates that AP can be generalized and applied to a wide class of problems in networking. In particular, AP can be used to develop distributed routing mechanisms for networks. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed schemes compare favorably with the existing methods.
Deterministic annealing for trellis quantizer and HMM design using Baum-Welch re-estimation

The deterministic annealing algorithm for data clustering is extended to address the trellis quantizer design problem. The approach is derived within information theory and probability theory, using the principle of maximum entropy to induce a distribution over all possible path encodings of the training set. The resulting method is intimately connected to estimation procedures on Markov chains. Performance gains over known methods are obtained for memoryless, multimodal scalar sources as well as for the vector Gaussian and Laplacian sources. The method is also suggested for an estimation problem in hidden Markov models. For a Gaussian mixture state example, this approach achieves a greater likelihood value than the best result of standard Baum-Welch re-estimation, based on numerous initializations within the data. >
Citrulline and arginine increase the growth of the ward colon tumor in parenterally fed rats

Arginine is considered a necessary component of parenteral regimens because of the high nitrogen intake. The effect of arginine on tumor growth, however, is controversial. Our results suggest that substituting ornithine for arginine in parenteral regimens will ameliorate an arginine-related increase in growth of a Ward colon tumor. Although a metabolite of arginine and ornithine in the urea cycle, citrulline has differential effects on growth in vivo and in vitro. To evaluate the effect of citrulline on tumor growth, Ward colon tumor-bearing rats were given parenteral nutrition regimens with ornithine (ENO) or citrulline (ENC) substituted for arginine (ENA). The plasma amino acid profiles and tumor growth were compared. Tumor growth was evaluated by changes in the calculated tumor weight over an eight-day feeding period. The initial tumor weight for all groups was equivalent. The final tumor weights of rats receiving ENA (14.1 +/- 3.3 g) and ENC (12.7 +/- 1.4 g) were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than those of rats receiving ENO (8.8 +/- 2.0 g) or the chow-fed controls (8.9 +/- 2.1 g). Plasma concentrations of arginine, ornithine, and citrulline were significantly increased when the respective amino acids were components of the regimen. The plasma arginine concentration of rats receiving ENO (60.4 +/- 3.8 microM) was significantly lower than the control (149.9 +/- 24.1 microM). The plasma arginine concentration was significantly increased for rats receiving ENA (280.3 +/- 68.1 microM) and was even further increased for rats receiving ENC (481.8 +/- 94.1 microM). The plasma glutamine concentration for ENO rats (536.4 +/- 37.5 microM) was significantly higher than that for controls (483.5 +/- 53.5 microM). The plasma glutamine concentration for rats receiving ENA (402.3 +/- 50.3 microM) and ENC (379.9 +/- 37.6 microM) was significantly lower than that of the control fed chow. These results further implicate arginine as a major factor for the total parenteral nutrition-enhanced growth of the Ward colon tumor.
Use of pure nickel and LiOH for thermal energy storage

The solid to liquid phase transformation of LiOH has been proposed as an ideal candidate thermal energy storage media for a Rankine Cycle powered electrical generation unit envisioned in Space Station based solar dynamic systems. Due to the corrosive nature of molten hydroxides, long term containment of LiOH is of concern. Pure nickel is thought to be a suitably resistant material, and a program has been instituted to measure the effects of prolonged exposure of liquid and gaseous LiOH on the mechanical properties of pure nickel alloys. Results to date indicate that negligible weight and thickness changes occurred in Ni alloys exposed to LiOH for as long as 2500 hr at 775 K, and essentially no difference in 77–900 K tensile properties could be detected between LiOH exposed and vacuum annealed Ni specimens. Although there was little sign of outward damage, microstructural examination revealed that all hydroxide contaminated tensile test specimens had surface connected intergranular cracks along the gage lengths. Two other potential problems, which have strong implications with respect to a LiOH/Ni energy storage system, were also noted during the corrosion experiments. In particular stress corrosion cracking of weld joints in pressurized vessels and permeation of hydrogen through nickel, which leads to the loss of LiOH, were observed.
An optical microsystem for wireless neural recording

In this paper, we describe an optical microsystem for wireless neural recording. The system incorporated recording electrodes, integrated electronics, surface-mount LEDs, and a CCD camera. The components were mounted on a PCB platform having a total dimension of 2.2X2.2cm2, 4 integrated biopotential amplifiers (IBA) and 16 LEDs. The IBAs having a bandwidth of 0.1-93.5Hz with the midband gain of 38 dB were fabricated using AMI 1.6µm technology. The simulated local field potentials (LFP) were amplified and used to drive the LEDs. A CCD camera with a temporal resolution of 30FPS was used to capture the image and retrieve the signal.
The Design of Problem-Solving Systems

Problem solving, from a systems point of view, is to be considered as a complex, cognitive-affective process of formation and reorganization of conceptual systems. Conceptualization of problem-solving systems includes the development of a problem solver's possible points of view, their naming by explicitly introduced terms, and finally elaboration of ideal-typical formal design models. This paper suggests a taxonomic framework that elaborates and interconnects six design viewpoints, in order to give the problem solver comprehended as a systems designer better conceptual support than the “general” systems concept which is still mechanistically employed. These viewpoints furnish corresponding formal design ideals for the design and improvement of problem-solving processes. They must be completed by both normative premises and behavioral science concepts.
One Size Does Not Fit All: Toward User- and Query-Dependent Ranking for Web Databases

With the emergence of the deep web, searching web databases in domains such as vehicles, real estate, etc., has become a routine task. One of the problems in this context is ranking the results of a user query. Earlier approaches for addressing this problem have used frequencies of database values, query logs, and user profiles. A common thread in most of these approaches is that ranking is done in a user- and/or query-independent manner. This paper proposes a novel query- and user-dependent approach for ranking query results in web databases. We present a ranking model, based on two complementary notions of user and query similarity, to derive a ranking function for a given user query. This function is acquired from a sparse workload comprising of several such ranking functions derived for various user-query pairs. The model is based on the intuition that similar users display comparable ranking preferences over the results of similar queries. We define these similarities formally in alternative ways and discuss their effectiveness analytically and experimentally over two distinct web databases.
Visualizing tensor fields in geomechanics

The study of stress and strains in soils and structures (solids) help us gain a better understanding of events such as failure of bridges, dams and buildings, or accumulated stresses and strains in geological subduction zones that could trigger earthquakes and subsequently tsunamis. In such domains, the key feature of interest is the location and orientation of maximal shearing planes. This paper describes a method that highlights this feature in stress tensor fields. It uses a plane-in-a-box glyph which provides a global perspective of shearing planes based on local analysis of tensors. The analysis can be performed over the entire domain, or the user can interactively specify where to introduce these glyphs. Alternatively, they can also be placed depending on the threshold level of several physical relevant parameters such as double couple and compensated linear vector dipole. Both methods are tested on stress tensor fields from geomechanics.
Performance analysis of the filtered backprojection image reconstruction algorithms

We investigate performance tradeoffs for a class of filtered backprojection (FBP) image reconstruction algorithms. The recently developed fast hierarchical backprojection asymptotically achieves the same O(N/sup 2/ log N) cost as Fourier-based methods while retaining many advantages of the FBP technique. In this paper, we provide a detailed cost and performance analysis of the algorithm on a general purpose platform. Based on carefully tuned implementations of both the direct and the hierarchical backprojection, we explore the tradeoffs between distortion and runtime by varying several algorithm and implementation choices. Experimental results show that, given the desired performance, the choice of algorithm parameters is not obvious and largely depends on the image properties and the underlying computer platform.
The Relationship Between the Hydrated and Dehydrated States of an Halloysite

A study of the mineralogical changes taking place during the loss of interlayer water in an halloysite has been carried out in order to clarify the relationship between the most hydrated and least hydrated states of the mineral. A number of samples of halloysite which together exhibit a variety of average interlayer water capacities were obtained by the conditioning of a largely hydrated sample with different atmospheres of known relative humidities. Profiles were obtained of X-ray peaks which characterize the interlayer water capacities of halloysite samples. An attempt has been made to analyse these profiles into a sum of peaks attributable to the fully hydrated and dehydrated states of the mineral. Such an analysis does not satisfactorily explain the profile shapes. A mechanism of interstratification of hydrated and dehydrated kaolin layers in which there is a tendency towards the segregation of these layer types gives a more satisfactory explanation of these profile shapes. It is concluded that dehydration takes place through an interstratification in which there is a partial segregation of the two basic layer types. This conclusion implies that halloysites with all average interlayer water contents between 0 and 2 molecules per unit cell may exist and that fully hydrated halloysite and dehydrated halloysite are the end members of a continuous series of hydration states.
The use of nonoxynol-9 for protection against cervical gonorrhea.

OBJECTIVES. Although condoms are the best defense against sexually transmitted disease, little is known about the effectiveness of female-controlled methods containing nonoxynol-9 as backup protection when condoms are not being used. METHODS. To assess the extent to which nonoxynol-9 protects women against gonorrhea, a cohort of 303 female sex workers (prostitutes) in Yaounde, Cameroon, were asked to use condoms and suppositories containing nonoxynol-9 at every sexual encounter and to record daily sexual activity and use of condoms and suppositories on coital logs that were reviewed monthly. Evidence of gonorrheal infection was based on a positive gonorrhea culture. Stratified analysis and proportional hazards regression were used to estimate rate ratios. RESULTS. Forty-one women enrolled in the study were excluded from the current analysis. The estimated incidence of gonorrhea was 6.2 infections per 100 person-months of observation. Incidence rate ratios estimated from proportional hazards regression mod...
Biotransformation of thebaine by cell suspension cultures of Papaver somniferum cv. Marianne

Abstract Thebaine is biotransformed to neopine by cell suspension cultures of Papaver somniferum cv. Marianne grown in O-B5 medium. Results of precursor stu
Resisting the Stigma of Mental Illness

The relationship between stigmatization and the self-regard of patients/consumers with mental disorder is negative but only moderate in strength, probably because a subset of persons with mental illness resists devaluation and discrimination by others. Resistance has seldom been discussed in the stigma and labeling literatures, and thus conditions under which individuals are resistant have not been identified. I define resistance as opposition to the imposition of mental illness stereotypes by others and distinguish between deflecting (“that’s not me”) and challenging resistance strategies. Individuals should be more likely to employ resistance strategies when they have: past experience with stigma resistance; past familiarity with an ill family member or friend; symptoms that are non-severe or controlled; treatment experience in settings run by consumers; initially high levels of psychosocial coping resources; and multiple role-identities. Incorporating resistance into classic and modified labeling theor...
Linkage structures strongly influence the binding cooperativity of DNA intercalators conjugated to triplex forming oligonucleotides.

Abstract Conjugation of DNA intercalators to triple helix forming oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN's) can enhance ODN binding properties and consequently their potential ability to modulate gene expression. To test the hypothesis that linkage structure could strongly influence the binding enhancement of intercalator conjugation with triplex forming ODN's, we have used a model system to investigate binding avidity of short oligomers conjugated to DNA intercalators through various linkages. Using a dA10.T10 target sequence imbedded in a 20 bp duplex, binding avidities of a T10 ODN joined to the DNA intercalator 6,9-diamino, 3-methoxy acridine (DAMA) by 8 different 5' linkages were measured using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Although unmodified T10 has a very limited capacity for stable binding under these conditions (apparent Kd > 250 microM at 4 degrees C), conjugation to DAMA using flexible linkers of certain lengths and chemical compositions greatly enhanced binding (Kd of 1 microM at 4 degrees C). Other linkers, however, modestly enhanced binding or had no effect on binding at all. Thus, the length, flexibility, and chemical composition of linker structures all substantially influence intercalator conjugated oligodeoxynucleotide binding avidity.
Laboratory Simulation of Charge Exchange-Produced X-ray Emission from Comets

In laboratory experiments using the engineering spare microcalorimeter detector from the ASTRO-E satellite mission, we recorded the x-ray emission of highly charged ions of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, which simulates charge exchange reactions between heavy ions in the solar wind and neutral gases in cometary comae. The spectra are complex and do not readily match predictions. We developed a charge exchange emission model that successfully reproduces the soft x-ray spectrum of comet Linear C/1999 S4, observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Using scanpaths as a learning method for a conflict detection task of multiple target tracking.

Objective:The objective was to determine whether the scanpaths of air traffic controllers (ATCs) could be used to improve the performance of novices in a conflict detection task.Background:Studies in other domains show that novice performance can be improved by exposure to experts’ scanpaths. Whether this effect can be found for an aircraft conflict detection task is unknown.Method:Scanpaths of 25 professional ATCs (“experts”) were recorded using a medium-fidelity air traffic control simulation with realistic scripted traffic that included aircraft pairs that would lose separation. A total of 20 novices were exposed to experts’ scanpaths (“treatment”), and their performance (for both loss of separation detection rates and false alarm rates) was compared to that of 20 novices given no treatment or instructions (“control”) and 20 novices who were verbally instructed to attend to altitude (“instruction-only”). Interviews were held about the helpfulness of the exposure. The scanpaths were analyzed to find pat...
The Npc1 mutation causes an altered expression of caveolin-1, annexin II and protein kinases and phosphorylation of caveolin-1 and annexin II in murine livers.

Abstract We have previously demonstrated (1) an increased expression of caveolin-1 in murine heterozygous and homozygous Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) livers, and (2) an increased concentration of unesterified cholesterol in a detergent insoluble caveolae-enriched fraction from homozygous livers. To define further the relationship between caveolin-1 function and the cholesterol trafficking defect in NPC, we examined the expression and distribution of additional caveolar and signal transduction proteins. The expression of annexin II was significantly increased in homozygous liver homogenates and the Triton X-100 insoluble floating fraction (TIFF). Phosphoamino acid analysis of caveolin-1 and annexin II from the homozygous TIFF demonstrated an increase in serine and tyrosine phosphorylation, respectively. To determine the basis for increased phosphorylation of these proteins, the expression and distribution of several protein kinases was examined. The expression of PKCα, PKCζ and pp60-src (protein kinases) were significantly increased in both heterozygous and homozygous liver homogenates, while PKCδ was increased only in homozygous livers. Of the protein kinases analyzed, only CK IIα was significantly enriched in the heterozygous TIFF. Finally, the concentration of diacylglycerol in the homozygous TIFF was significantly increased and this elevation may modulate PKC distribution and function. These results provide additional evidence for involvement of a caveolin-1 containing cellular fraction in the pathophysiology of NPC and also suggest that the Npc1 gene product may directly or indirectly, regulate the expression and distribution of signaling molecules.
Elevation steering of the pattern of a vertical array of vertically polarized elements over a ground screen

Patterns of vertically polarized elements above circular finite ground screens directly on soil were computed, using equations obtained recently by Wait [1]. The applicability of a steering illumination, considered optimum for an array above a perfect ground of infinite extent to the ground screen case, was investigated. It was found that this illumination gives very good results even for a modest ground screen ( 16\lambda ) in the region above 3 dB beamwidth of the aperture, consisting of the elements and the images.
Does religious diversity make us unhappy

I investigate the effect of religious diversity on well-being using the World Values Survey data across 77 countries. Religious diversity is measured as fractionalisation or polarisation. People are unhappy in religiously diverse societies. One explanation is that people have a need to belong and like to live among like-minded individuals. Another explanation is that religion creates bonding social capital as opposed to bridging social capital. Directions for further research are discussed.
A case of successfully treated acute respiratory distress syndrome complicating Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

While endemic malaria has been eliminated in the United States, approximately 1200 mostly imported cases are reported annually in the country, with fewer than 20 recorded deaths.1 Because of the rarity of this disease in the United States, clinicians are often unfamiliar with its diagnosis and presentation. In a review of all malaria deaths in the United States from 1963 to 2001, failure to diagnose malaria on initial presentation, promptly initiate treatment, and/or prescribe appropriate antimalarial drugs were identified as contributing factors to death.2 Plasmodium falciparum can lead to a particularly severe type of malaria complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and physicians must be alert to the possibility of this diagnosis in immigrants and returning travelers. We report a case of successfully treated acute respiratory distress syndrome complicating imported P falciparum malaria at a large teaching hospital in Washington, DC.
Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol. I as psychotherapy manual

Manuals for clinical practice arrive in numbers and in force, threatening the first of the particular with the first of a philosophy. Yet the individual with no manual but his/her own particularities is likely to suffer and make others suffer. Thus, respect for the quest to discover a manual coupled with persistence in rejecting all that come along seems a responsible course of action. If this struggle is embraced, it may generate a fecund state of mental tension, prone to surprises and sudden inspirations, which the writer calls dii-consciousness. For a dii-conscious clinician, manuals for treatment exist like violets in the wild. One searches and picks; the flower wilts, is discarded; one walks on and more are found. The author plucks a treatment manual from the film under discussion, considering diagnosis, theory, and practice in detail. Yet this manual must be discarded on the path, its truth no preservative against wilting.
Charley Peirce's Head Start in Chemistry

As a youngster of perhaps 8 years, Charles S. Peirce was given a chemistry laboratory in which he probably did experiments in qualitative analysis. These experiments were modeled on the hypothetico-deductive method of inquiry. I argue that this laboratory experience initiated Peirce’s life-long interest in logic and the logic of science, and flowered in his “pragmaticism.”
The Birth of Ordered Polymer Technology for Air Force Applications

Since the late seventies, the Air Force Materials Laboratory and Air Force Office of Scientific Research has had a very energetic program in lyotropic liquid crystalline rigid-rod polymers. The objective of the multifaceted program was the attainment of mechanical properties for a structural material comparable with those currently obtained from fiber reinforced composites. This paper will describe the orgins of this program as derived from the unique aggregation properties of aromatic heterocyclic ladder polymers.
Myocardial revascularization 1978

After more than ten years of clinical application, direct myocardial revascularization with saphenous or mammary vein grafts is becomining one of the most common types of elective major surgery performed in the United States. The need for and the results of revascularization surgery are determined by cine coronary arteriography. The principles on which this type of surgery is based are simple. Critical occlusion of a coronary artery may produce an arteriographically identifiable area of myocardial perfusion deficit in the left ventricle. The functional demand for blood that results is usually manifested by anginal pain. When the occlusion is reduced by rest and administration of vasodilators, the immediate threat of infarction is alleviated. When pain persists in spite of treatment, direct revascularization surgery should be considered. This type of surgery need not involve ultrasophisticated adjuncts. Some of these adjuncts increase morbidity and contribute appreciably to the cost of operation and hospitalization. The record of myocardial revascularization suggests that the surgical treatment of coronary artery disease can and should be done in qualified community hospitals.
A Simplified Apparatus for the Microbiological Isolation of Calves

SUMMARY An isolator has been developed for rearing gnotobiotic and specific pathogen free (SPF) calves. The isolator consisted of relatively cheap components which could be rapidly assembled; the upper half being a flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) canopy clamped to a glass fibre tank. This formed the lower half of the microbiological barrier, and also served as the calf pen. The assembled isolator could be sterilized with peracetic acid. Over fifty gnotobiotic calves have been reared successfully in this type of isolator. Some calves were kept for up to five months, though the average time within the isolator was one month. Ten cases of contamination were thought to be attributable to faults in the rearing isolator. No cases of cross contamination of experimental agents from one isolator to another were discovered in either gnotobiotic or SPF animals.
Automatic Generation of Normalized Relational Schemas from Nested Key-Value Data

Self-describing key-value data formats such as JSON are becoming increasingly popular as application developers choose to avoid the rigidity imposed by the relational model. Database systems designed for these self-describing formats, such as MongoDB, encourage users to use denormalized, heavily nested data models so that relationships across records and other schema information need not be predefined or standardized. Such data models contribute to long-term development complexity, as their lack of explicit entity and relationship tracking burdens new developers unfamiliar with the dataset. Furthermore, the large amount of data repetition present in such data layouts can introduce update anomalies and poor scan performance, which reduce both the quality and performance of analytics over the data. In this paper we present an algorithm that automatically transforms the denormalized, nested data commonly found in NoSQL systems into traditional relational data that can be stored in a standard RDBMS. This process includes a schema generation algorithm that discovers relationships across the attributes of the denormalized datasets in order to organize those attributes into relational tables. It further includes a matching algorithm that discovers sets of attributes that represent overlapping entities and merges those sets together. These algorithms reduce data repetition, allow the use of data analysis tools targeted at relational data, accelerate scan-intensive algorithms over the data, and help users gain a semantic understanding of complex, nested datasets.
Direct visualization of sliding-induced tribofilm on Au/MoS 2 nanocomposite coatings by c-AFM

The nanoscale lubrication mechanism of nanocomposite Au/MoS2 solid lubricant coatings has been studied by conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM). A direct visualization of the lubricating process suggests tribomechanical formation of a MoS2 tribofilm to be a key mechanism. The sliding-induced tribofilm formation was visualized by a reduction in local friction and conductivity in nanoscale AFM images. The tribofilm was found to possess considerable crystallinity and orientation, which was not observed in the as-deposited coatings. The observed mechanism is broadly applicable to a range of nanocomposite metal/MoS2 coatings.
Long-term Sandhills prairie responses to precipitation, temperature, and cattle stocking rate

Understanding of Sandhills prairie, the most expansive sand dune region stabilized by perennial grasses in the Western Hemisphere, is limited by lack of long-term vegetation data. We used a 26-year dataset to evaluate Sandhills prairie responses to year-to-year variation in precipitation, temperature, and cattle stocking rate. Basal cover, a measurement that is constant seasonally and used to detect long-term changes in bunchgrass vegetation, was measured in 38–40 permanent plots positioned along four transects spanning 769 ha from 1979 to 2007. Across this period, total basal cover averaged 2.4 % and was dominated by warm-season grasses (81.1 %). Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), the dominant warm-season bunchgrass, consisted of 60.0 % relative basal cover. Warm-season grass and total basal cover responded positively to lag 3-year growing season precipitation indicating delayed responses to improved growing season conditions, but these variables also were positively associated with stocking rate. The positive responses may be due to slow spread of warm-season grasses by vegetative structures in response to favorable growing conditions in light to moderately stocked rangeland. Despite its dominance, however, warm-season grass cover had no influence on cover of other functional groups providing weak support for competition as regulator of Sandhills prairie composition. Forb cover was best related in a negative manner to 3-year running mean total precipitation, a surprising result that maybe signaling factors governing basal responses in prairie remain largely unresolved. Woody species cover, however, was positively associated with mean growing season temperatures indicating potential of these to spread under warming scenarios.
Repairing the Aged Parkinsonian Striatum: Lessons from the Lab and Clinic

The primary risk factor associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) is advanced age. While there are symptomatic therapies for PD, efficacy of these eventually wane and/or side-effects develop over time. An alternative experimental therapy that has received a great deal of attention over the past several decades has been neural transplantation aimed at replacing nigral dopamine (DA) neurons that degenerate in PD. However, in PD patients and parkinsonian rats, advanced age is associated with inferior benefit following intrastriatal grafting of embryonic DA neurons. Traditionally it has been thought that decreased therapeutic benefit results from the decreased survival of grafted DA neurons and the accompanying poor reinnervation observed in the aged host. However, recent clinical and preclinical data suggest that factors inherent to the aged striatum per se limit successful brain repair. In this short communication, we focus discussion on the implications of our recent grafting study in aged parkinsonian rats, with additional emphasis on a recent clinical report of the outcome of cell therapy in an aged PD patient with long-term (24 years) survival of DA neuron grafts. To address aging as a limiting factor in successful brain repair, we use the example of cell transplantation as a means to interrogate the environment of the aged striatum and identify factors that may, or may not, respond to interventions aimed at improving the prospects for adequate repair of the aged brain. We offer discussion of how these recent reports, in the context of other historical grafting studies, might provide new insight into specific risk factors that have potential to negatively impact all DA cell or terminal replacement strategies for clinical use in PD.
Intrarenal phosphate reabsorption: role of nephron heterogeneity.

The possibility that phosphate handling may differ between superficial and deep nephrons has been suggested by several investigators over the past 15 years, to explain the discrepancy between phosphate delivery to the distal tubule of superficial nephrons and phosphate excretion in the urine (1, 2). Subsequent micropuncture studies have confirmed this notion. During phosphate conservation (by TPTX), phosphate reabsorption was enhanced in deep nephron proximal tubules (3), whereas, when the excretion of phosphate was high, phosphate reabsorption was relatively greater in superficial nephrons (4, 5). However, the role of nephron heterogeneity in the regulation of phosphate homeostasis was not clear (6). Moreover, in contrast to the in vivo micropuncture experiments, in vitro studies using isolated, perfused tubule segments failed to find any differences in phosphate transport between superficial and deep nephrons (7, 8). To help resolve some of the controversy, this review will highlight recent findings from our laboratory regarding phosphate transport in superficial and deep nephrons and the response to regulators of phosphate reabsorption, which will point to the importance of nephron heterogeneity in the renal handling of phosphate.
Displacement and Deformation Gradients

To get much farther with the analysis of strain, we now have to introduce four kinds of equations by which a deformation can be specified. We then explain what is meant by displacement and deformation gradients, and this leads directly, in the next four chapters, to simple formulae that allow us to calculate the tensor components of strain.
Dual PI3K and Wnt pathway inhibition is a synergistic combination against triple negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer accounts for 15–20% of all breast cancer cases, but despite its lower incidence, contributes to a disproportionately higher rate of mortality. As there are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved targeted agents for triple negative breast cancer, we embarked on a genomic-guided effort to identify novel targeted modalities. Analyses by our group and The Cancer Genome Atlas have identified activation of the PI3K-pathway in the majority of triple negative breast cancers. As single agent therapy is commonly subject to resistance, we investigated the use of combination therapy against compensatory pathways. Herein, we demonstrate that pan-PI3K inhibition in triple negative breast cancers results in marked activation of the Wnt-pathway. Using the combination of two inhibitors currently in clinical trial as single agents, buparlisib(pan-PI3K) and WNT974(WNT-pathway), we demonstrate significant in vitro and in vivo synergy against triple negative breast cancer cell lines and xenografts. Taken together, these observations provide a strong rationale for testing dual targeting of the PI3K and WNT-pathways in clinical trials. Two experimental drugs currently in clinical trials as single agents might work better together against triple negative breast cancer. Jeffrey Solzak and Milan Radovich, and colleagues from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, USA, analyzed gene expression data from cancerous and healthy breast tissues and from published genomic datasets. They found the PI3K pathway consistently activated in the majority of breast cancers that test negative for the three most common receptors known to fuel breast tumor growth. Inhibiting PI3K in these cells led to a marked increase in the activity of another critical pathway called Wnt, an observation that prompted the researchers to test a combination of a PI3K inhibitor, buparlisib, and a Wnt inhibitor, WNT974, in cell lines and xenograft models. Tumor cells shrunk more and mice lived longer than treatment with either agent alone.