cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A high intensity discharge lamp for monochromatized UV angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Abstract A differentially pumped rare gas discharge lamp is described which, when used with a curved grating monochromator, yields sufficiently high intensities so that even the weaker Ne(II) discharge lines can be used in angle-resolved photoemission experiments employing an electron velocity analyzer with single-channel detection.
Kautilya on principles of taxation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present Kautilya's principles of taxation during the fourth century BCE.Design/methodology/approach – Modern tools of economic analysis are used to present Kautilya's principles on income taxation.Findings – Kautilya implicitly suggests a linear income tax. He emphasizes fairness, stability of tax structure, fiscal federalism, avoidance of heavy taxation, ensuring of tax compliance and subsidies to encourage capital formation.Research limitations/implications – According to Kautilya, some linkage between the ability to pay (i.e. provision of a safety net to the poor, old and the sick) and the benefit principle may be better than the current approaches, which treat the ability to pay and the expenditure side of the taxation separately.Practical implication – Ensuring tax compliance and avoidance of heavy taxation are the most important ingredients of a sound fiscal policy.Originality/value – The paper presents the very first growth‐oriented fiscal policy along with...
Social status and aggressive and disruptive behavior in girls: Individual, group, and classroom influences

Recent studies have found distinct subtypes of aggressive youth, marked by either high social status or social marginalization, and that various measures of status differentially associate with aggression. The majority of these studies, however, focused on boys, adolescents, and/or relational aggression in girls. The current research examined how the kind of status measured and the social ecology affect the association between overt aggression and social status in a sample of 187 3rd grade girls. Cluster analysis uncovered aggressive-popular, aggressive-unpopular, and prosocial-popular configurations. Although likeability was related solely to prosocial behavior, other measures of status co-occurred with both prosocial and aggressive behavior. Peer-group behavior complemented that of individuals, though peer-group and classroom acceptance of aggression were not related to cluster prevalence.
The resonance lines of Hg II in IUE spectra of chemically peculiar stars

Twenty IUE images of chemically peculiar (CP) stars are analyzed to demonstrate that the previously detected Hg II overabundances in CP stars is real. Attention was focused on the Hg II resonance lines at 1650 and 1942 A. A total of eight stars were scanned and spectrum synthesis computations were performed to characterize the model atmospheres for each object. The 1942 A line was found to be insensitive to effective temperature, microturbulence and isotopic mixture influences, and therefore well-suited to abundance analyses. A non-LTE process was ruled out as a source of the Hg anomaly. Finally, it is suggested that diffusion-type processes be attributed to Hg enhancements in main sequences B stars.
AGE AT FIRST CALVING USED WITH MILK YIELD DURING FIRST LACTATION TO PREDICT LIFETIME PRODUCTION OF INDIAN CATTLE

India has 176 million head of cattle (1950), one quarter of the world's cattle population, far more than needed for economical production of milk and draft power. Unprofitable cattle utilize too much of the available feed supply. If these unproductive cattle were culled, better environment and feed could be provided for those which have economic value. However, the rate of improvement of the cattle population would be a direct reflection of the accuracy of the culling. To bring about the most rapid increase in the productive potentialities of the cattle, breeding and selection methods need to be developed which are applicable to the Indian breeds in their native country. The use of such methods, coupled with educational and political programs for overcoming backward practices now prevalent in cattle husbandry, should tend to alleviate some of the conditions which for years have blocked cattle improvement. One of the few places in India where efforts have been made to improve cattle husbandry from the standpoint of breeding and selection, as well as nutrition and management, is the Allahabad Agricultural Institute, a Christian college established in 1910. The long history of dairying at this institute has been summarized in several reports by Hutchinson and Joshi (4), Schneider (10), Rathore (8), and Stonaker et al. (13). From 1910 until 1934, improvement of the native cattle was attempted by crossing five Indian breeds with four European breeds. Although the resulting first generation crossbreds were satisfactory, the continuation of the program presented several difficulties, such as the need for continually importing bu]ls of European breeds. Since 1934, two specific breeding projects have been followed: (a) selective breeding within the Red Siudhi breed and (b) crossbreeding of Red Sindhi females to Jersey males followed by backcrossing with Red Sindhi males. Genes for high milk production were expected to be introduced from the Jersey breed, and heat tolerance and disease resistance were expected to be retained through backcrossing to Red Sindhi. All females born in the Agricultural Institute herd have been retained until they have completed at least one lactation with the exception of those that died or were nonbreedcrs. Culling was based on production during the first lactation,
Evaluating long-term results of modified Heller limited esophagomyotomy in children with esophageal achalasia

Abstract Background/Purpose Modified Heller esophagomyotomy has become the initial treatment of choice for esophageal achalasia in children. However, only limited and not objective data are currently available on the long-term results of modified Heller limited esophagomyotomy (LEM). This retrospective study was undertaken to objectively assess the long-term results of LEM in childhood esophageal achalasia. Methods Medical records of 15 patients with a median age of 9.5 years (range, 6-13 years) who underwent an LEM without an antireflux procedure from January 1991 to December 2005 were reviewed. Clinical scores, barium esophagogram, flexible upper alimentary endoscopy, 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring, and esophageal manometry before and 0.5 to 15 years after surgery were analyzed. Results An excellent to good outcome was observed in 14 (93.3%) patients. One patient (6.7%) required reoperation 8 months after surgery because of persistent dysphagia. The late barium esophagogram showed a significant decrease (from 4.2 ± 0.95 to 2.4 ± 1.1 cm, P Conclusions Transabdominal LEM without an antireflux procedure is an effective and safe treatment of esophageal achalasia in children because of its long-term high rate of symptoms relief and low incidence of postoperative complications, despite the lack of esophageal motility restoration to normal.
The l 1 penalized decoder and its reweighted LP

Linear programming (LP) decoding for low density parity check (LDPC) codes proposed by Feldman et al. has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Despite having theoretical guarantees in some regimes, at low SNRs LP decoding is observed to have worse error performance than belief propagation (BP) decoding. In this paper, we present a novel decoding algorithm obtained by trying to solve a non-convex optimization problem using the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). This non-convex problem is constructed by adding an l 1 penalty term to the LP decoding objective. The goal of the penalty term is to make “pseudocodewords”, which are the non-integer vertices of the LP relaxation to which the LP decoder fails, more costly. We name this the “l 1 penalized decoder”. We also develop a reweighted LP decoding algorithm base on this l 1 penalized objective. We show that this reweighted LP has an improved theoretical recovery threshold compared to the original LP. In addition, simulations show that, in comparison to LP decoding, these two decoders both achieve significantly lower error rates and are not observed to have an “error floor”. In particular, the l 1 penalized decoder meets or outperforms the BP decoder at all SNRs.
The EPR spectrum of Mn(CO)5

Abstract Examination by EPR spectroscopy of products of the reaction between Na or Ag atoms and Mn(CO) 5 Cl or Mn(CO) 5 Br on a rotating cryostat reveals the presence of a common paramagnetic species. Its spectrum is characteristic of anisotropic interactions between one unpaired electron, one manganese nucleus and the magnetic field. It is believed to be Mn(CO) 5 in which the unpaired electron occupies an a 1 orbital.
Issues associated with the analysis and acquisition of thin-film grain size data

Reliable quantification of microstructural parameters via microscopy is of primary importance for the optimization of materials properties, especially for thin films such as those used in microelectronics or magnetic storage applications. Thus, we present a grain-size analysis for an Al thin-film microstructure consisting of the order of 104 grains for the purpose of examining the predictions of various grain growth models. The microstructural information was acquired with a recently developed automated grain recognition methodology, and the relatively large population obtained here permits a meaningful comparison of tabulated grain-size distributions with those inherent in theoretical models. Finally, we consider the role of grain identification criteria in determining grain-size distributions.
Fungal bioleaching of metals in preservative-treated wood

Abstract Twenty-four brown-rot and 10 white-rot fungi were screened to evaluate their applicability for detoxification of preservative-treated wood impregnated with copper and chromium (CC) salts. Brown-rot fungi generally showed higher tolerance towards copper inhibition than white-rot fungi. Additionally, brown-rot fungi were found to accumulate considerable quantities of oxalic acid (up to 44.3 mM) in liquid medium, while white-rot fungi generally accumulated only traces of this organic acid. Oxalic acid is a strong organic acid capable of complexing a variety of heavy metals. Four Antrodia vaillantii and two Poria placenta brown-rot strains that displayed both a high copper tolerance and a high oxalic acid production were selected for further study. The brown-rot fungi effectively decayed wood containing up to 4.4% CC causing corrected mass losses of up to 24.3% in 4 weeks. Fungal treatment was also found to promote extensive leaching of chromium (up to 52.4%), but only moderate leaching of copper (15.6% or less). These results indicate the potential of solid-state fermentation with copper-tolerant fungi for the remediation of preservative-treated wood. Improving the solubility of copper will be an important challenge for future research.
PHOTOCELL ANALYSIS OF THE LIGHT OF THE CUBAN ELATERID BEETLE, PYROPHORUS.

Records are reproduced showing various types of luminescence intensity—time curves for the prothoracic light organs of Pyrophorus. A small (5 per cent) rhythmic fluctuation of light intensity during the reflex emission of light is to be observed in many records, which because of its rapid rate is attributed to rhythmic nerve discharge from a photogenic centre. Longer "pulsations" of luminescence intensity (25 per cent change) can be detected by the eye.
The Knowledge Model of Protégé-2000: Combining Interoperability and Flexibility

Knowledge-based systems have become ubiquitous in recent years. Knowledge-base developers need to be able to share and reuse knowledge bases that they build. Therefore, interoperability among different knowledge-representation systems is essential. The Open Knowledge-Base Connectivity protocol (OKBC) is a common query and construction interface for frame-based systems that facilitates this interoperability. ProtEgE-2000 is an OKBC-compatible knowledge-base-editing environment developed in our laboratory. We describe ProtEgE-2000 knowledge model that makes the import and export of knowledge bases from and to other knowledge-base servers easy. We discuss how the requirements of being a usable and configurable knowledge-acquisition tool affected our decisions in the knowledge-model design. ProtEgE-2000 also has a flexible metaclass architecture which provides configurable templates for new classes in the knowledge base. The use of metaclasses makes ProtEgE-2000 easily extensible and enables its use with other knowledge models. We demonstrate that we can resolve many of the differences between the knowledge models of ProtEgE-2000 and Resource Description Framework (RDF)--a system for annotating Web pages with knowledge elements--by defining a new metaclass set. Resolving the differences between the knowledge models in declarative way enables easy adaptation of ProtEgE-2000 as an editor for other knowledge-representation systems.
DEVELOPMENT OF AN AFTERBODY RADIATIVE AND CONVECTIVE HEATING CODE FOR OUTER PLANET PROBES

An afterbody heating code for outer planet probes has been formulated which includes radiative and convective contributions. The inviscid base flow is determined by a methodof-characteristics solution initiated from a nonadiabatic forebody flowfield solution. The viscous flowfield is determined by basic conservation equations with empirical velocity profiles, including recirculation. Base radiative heating is approximated by one-dimensional slab techniques. Base convective heating is obtained from boundary-layer integral solutions using empirical base stagnation-point velocity gradient appropriate to the recirculation velocity profiles. Typical base heating predictions are presented for a Jupiter entry probe. Nomenclature C »
Temperature Dependent Deformation Mechanisms of Alloy 718 in Low Cycle Fatigue

During the mid and late 1970’s, the increased emphasis on efficient use of oil and gasified coal for power generation resulted in the emergence of new design technology. One aspect of this technology is the water cooling of rotating parts in power generating gas turbines. By means of water cooling, it is possible to efficiently burn low BTU content fuels at the required high temperatures (above 1370°C) while maintaining low metal temperatures in the parts.1
A crossed random effects modeling approach for estimating diagnostic accuracy from ordinal ratings without a gold standard

In diagnostic studies without a gold standard, the assumption on the dependence structure of the multiple tests or raters plays an important role in model performance. In case of binary disease status, both conditional independence and crossed random effects structure have been proposed and their performance investigated. Less attention has been paid to the situation where the true disease status is ordinal. In this paper, we propose crossed subject-specific and rater-specific random effects to account for the dependence structure and assess the robustness of the proposed model to misspecification in the random effects distributions. We applied the models to data from the Physician Reliability Study, which focuses on assessing the diagnostic accuracy in a population of raters for the staging of endometriosis, a gynecological disorder in women. Using this new methodology, we estimate the probability of a correct classification and show that regional experts can more easily classify the intermediate stage than resident physicians.
Noise Enhanced Nonparametric Detection

This paper investigates potential improvement of nonparametric detection performance via addition of noise and evaluates the performance of noise modified nonparametric detectors. Detection performance comparisons are made between the original detectors and noise modified detectors. Conditions for improvability as well as the optimum additive noise distributions of the widely used sign detector, the Wilcoxon detector, and the dead-zone limiter detector are derived. Finally, a simple and fast learning algorithm to find the optimal noise distribution solely based on received data is presented. A near-optimal solution can be found quickly based on a relatively small dataset.
Multiple imputation: a primer:

In recent years, multiple imputation has emerged as a convenient and flexible paradigm for analysing data with missing values. Essential features of multiple imputation are reviewed, with answers to frequently asked questions about using the method in practice.
Difficulty in Implementing a Family Intervention for Bipolar Disorder: The Predictive Role of Patient and Family Attributes*

Family affect was examined as a predictor of difficulty implementing a 9-month, manual-based, psychoeducational family therapy for recently manic bipolar patients. Prior to therapy, family members were administered measures to assess both their expressed emotion and affective behavior during a family interaction task. Following family treatment, both therapists and independent observers rated the overall difficulty of treating the family, and therapists also rated each participant's problem behaviors during treatment, in the areas of affect, communication, and resistance. Therapists regarded affective problems among relatives and resistance among patients as central in determining the overall difficulty of treating the family. Relatives' critical behavior toward patients during the pretreatment interaction task predicted both independent observers' ratings of overall treatment difficulty and therapists' perceptions of relatives' affective problems during treatment. Moreover, patients' residual symptoms predicted independent observers' ratings of overall difficulty and therapists' perceptions of patients' resistance to the family intervention. Results suggest that difficulties in conducting a manual-based family intervention can be predicted from systematic, pretreatment family and clinical assessment.
Social monogamy in a territorial salamander.

Abstract Social monogamy, which does not necessarily imply mating or genetic monogamy, is important in the formation of male–female pair associations. We operationally define social monogamy as occurring when two heterosexual adults, exclusive of kin-directed behaviour, direct significantly less aggression and significantly more submission towards each other, and/or spend significantly more time associating with each other relative to other adult heterosexual conspecifics. Long-term pair associations (i.e. those lasting through a lengthy breeding season) that are characteristic of social monogamy are common in some taxa but are virtually unknown in amphibians. Recent studies, however, have suggested that red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus , have complex (for amphibians) social systems. Our laboratory experiments tested the hypothesis that red-backed salamanders found in pairs in the forest display behaviours consistent with social monogamy. During the summer noncourtship season, newly collected male–females pairs showed no preference to associate with their partners more than with a novel conspecific of the opposite sex. However, during the autumn courtship season, paired males and females significantly directed preferential behaviours towards their partners rather than towards a surrogate or a novel paired salamander. Focal animals showed no significant preferences when presented with their partner and a novel single salamander, but they never directed preferential behaviours towards a novel salamander (whether paired or single) or a surrogate. These results are the first to suggest that a salamander species engages in social monogamy. Furthermore, our results suggest that social monogamy may not inhibit paired males and females from displaying alternative strategies: preferring partners when extrapair associations may be disadvantageous (i.e. the extrapair animal is already paired) but not preferring partners when extrapair associations may be advantageous (i.e. the extrapair animal is single).
Use of Immunoperoxidase for the Rapid Identification of Human Myxoviruses and Paramyxoviruses in Tissue Culture

Abstract The immunoperoxidase method, using commercially available antisera, was compared with standard virological methods for the identification and typing of 77 isolates of human myxoviruses and paramyxoviruses. Results of typing using neutralization tests and the immunoperoxidase technique were identical for 76 of the 77 isolates. With the immunoperoxidase method there was one false negative reaction, but no false positive reactions. Cross-reactivity between influenza A (soluble) and A2/HK antisera with influenza A isolates was noted, but did not interfere with the interpretation of results. It is concluded that the immunoperoxidase method is ideally suited for the rapid identification and typing of common human respiratory viruses on a routine basis. It offers a number of decided advantages over both immunofluorescence and standard virological methods.
A phase II study of vorinostat and rituximab for treatment of newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma

This study examines the activity and tolerability of a regimen combining vorinostat and rituximab in patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A total of 28 patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory follicular, marginal zone, or mantle cell lymphoma, with 4 or less prior therapies were eligible for this open-label phase II study. Oral vorinostat 200 mg was administered twice daily on days 1–14 along with 375 mg/m2 of intravenous rituximab on day 1 of a 21-day cycle, continuing until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary end point was objective response rate, with secondary end points of progression-free survival, time to progression, duration of response, safety, and tolerability. Median follow up was 25.6 months and median number of vorinostat cycles was 11.5. Overall response rate was 46% for all patients, 67% for previously untreated, and 41% for relapsed/refractory patients. Median progression-free survival was 29.2 months for all patients, 18.8 months for previously treated patients, and not reached for untreated patients. The regimen was well tolerated over long treatment periods with the most common grade 3/4 adverse events being asymptomatic thrombosis, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, and fatigue. The vorinostat/rituximab combination exhibits activity in indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with an acceptable safety profile and durable responses. Re-treatment was effective in 2 of 3 relapsing responders. This phase II clinical trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov identifier: 00720876.
Safety and efficacy of endoscopic dilation for primary and anastomotic Crohn's disease strictures

Background Literature on endoscopic dilation of Crohn's disease (CD) strictures, especially for primary (non-anastomotic) strictures is limited. Methods A historical cohort study was performed on patients who underwent endoscopic stricture dilations for CD in our IBD center. Primary endpoint was the efficacy of first endoscopic dilation in preventing the need for surgery in primary strictures compared to anastomotic strictures. Cox proportional hazards models using robust sandwich covariance matrix estimate were used to evaluate the need for surgery and any further endoscopic intervention. Results In our study cohort (mean age 42.2 ± 13.1 years, 57% females, 16.4% current smokers, and median follow-up 1.8 years), 128 patients underwent a total of 430 endoscopic stricture dilations for 169 strictures (88 primary, 81 secondary). Forty-two patients (32.8%) required surgery in the follow-up period, with a mean interval period between first dilation and surgery of 33 months. There was no difference between primary or anastomotic strictures with respect to the need for surgery (34.1% vs. 29.6%, p = 0.53), redilation (59.1% vs. 58%, p = 0.89) or total interventions (surgery + redilations, 71.6% vs. 72.8%, p = 0.86). Multivariable analysis did not show any significant difference between patients who received and did not receive intralesional steroid injections, biologics or immunomodulators with respect to the need for repeat intervention or surgery. Conclusion Efficacy and safety of endoscopic dilation are similar between primary and anastomotic CD strictures. Intralesional steroid injection or use of biologics did not decrease the need for re-intervention or surgery for either primary or anastomotic strictures. * Abbreviations : CD : Crohn's disease CTE : computed tomography enterography EHR : electronic health record IBD : inflammatory bowel disease ICD-9-CM : International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification MRE : magnetic resonance enterography TTS : through the scope.
In Defence of Systematic Phonemics.

In a recent article in this journal Gillian Brown (I969) considers two very interesting questions: 'the status of the syllable and the scope of redundancy rules in generative phonology'. As to the first question the syllable the redundancy rules which she suggests for Lugisu do no more than assign values to the feature [? syllabic] to segments already marked for the feature [+ consonantal], which assignment is context restricted, i.e. sequential redundancy rules. Thus, a preconsonantal nasal is marked [+syllabic] and thereby is 'realized as syllabic nucleus' (p. 7). Her rules also restrict any occurrence of two sequential true vowels, specifying the first [consonantal] segment in a sequence as a glide, and therefore not a syllabic nucleus. (As we shall see below, her rule as stated does not work.) Thus she determines that 'A [+consonantal] segment occurring before a [-consonantal] segment will be realized as a syllable onset. The following [consonantal] segment will be realized as syllable nucleus, except when it occurs before another [-consonantal] segment when, by the operation of rule 4 it will be assigned the feature value [-syllabic]' (p. 8). I do not see how this differs substantially from the position of Chomsky and Halle which she criticizes. She finds unsatisfactory their statement 'When vowels become nonsyllabic they turn into glides' (Chomsky & Halle, I968: 354). Yet she is saying that when vowels turn into glides they become nonsyllabic. I fail to see any profundity in the difference. What she really seems to be objecting to is the postulating of an underlying vowel for a surface phonetic glide since she feels this lacks 'simplicity' since 'A grammar which assigns a value by the operation of one rule and then creates another rule which automatically changes this feature assignment can hardly claim to be "simple" ' (p. 5). I am not quite sure what rule she is referring to which assigns the first value. If she is referring to morpheme structure conditions (Stanley, I967) these do not assign any values but rather state in a formal way the segmental and sequential morpheme redundancies. But, as we shall see, she herself commits the same 'sin'. While I agree with her conclusion that a separate phonological component independent of the grammar is unnecessary she does not add anything substantially to current generative theory as it relates to syllables. Her morpheme structure rules do not use the notion syllable as 'the distributional unit of the phonetic realization' as she claims, but rather depend on sequences of segments just as do other phonological descriptions. The more interesting questions which she raises relate to the nature of phonological redundancy. She proposes that we 'extend the function of the redundancy
Quantifying characteristic growth dynamics in a semi-arid grassland ecosystem by predicting short-term NDVI phenology from daily rainfall: a simple four parameter coupled-reservoir model

Predicting impacts on phenology of the magnitude and seasonal timing of rainfall pulses in water-limited grassland ecosystems concerns ecologists, climate scientists, hydrologists, and a variety of stakeholders. This report describes a simple, effective procedure to emulate the seasonal response of grassland biomass, represented by the satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index NDVI, to daily rainfall. The application is a straightforward adaptation of a staged linear reservoir that simulates the pulse-like entry of rainwater into the soil and its redistribution as soil moisture, the uptake of water by plant roots, short-term biomass development, followed by the subsequent transpiration of water through foliage. The algorithm precludes the need for detailed, site specific information on soil moisture dynamics, plant species, and the local hydroclimate, while providing a direct link between discrete rainfall events and consequential biomass responses throughout the growing season. We applied the algorithm using rainfall data from the Central Plains Experimental Range to predict vegetation growth dynamics in the semi-arid shortgrass steppe of North America. The mean annual rainfall is 342 mm, which is strongly bifurcated into a dominantly ‘wet’ season, where during the three wettest months May, June and July the mean monthly rainfall is approximately 55 mm month−1; and a ‘dry’ season, where during the three driest months December, January and February, the mean monthly rainfall is approximately 7 mm month−1. NDVI data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer MODIS MOD13Q1 16 day, 250 m × 250 m product were used as a proxy for grassland phenology for the period-of-record 2000–2013. Allowing for temporal changes in basic parameters of the response function over the growing season, the predicted response of the model tracks the observed NDVI metric with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.92. A two-stage series reservoir is preferred, whereby the characteristic time for transfer of a rainfall event to the peak response of NDVI decreases from 24 days early growing season to 12 days late growing season, while the efficiency of a given volume of rainfall to produce a correspondingly similar amount of aboveground biomass decreases by a factor of 40% from April to October. Behaviours of the characteristic time of greenup and loss of rainfall efficiency with progression of the growing season are consistent with physiological traits of cool-season C3 grasses versus warm-season C4 grasses, and with prior research suggesting that early season production by C3 grasses is more responsive to a given amount of precipitation than mid-summer growth of C4 shortgrasses. Our model explains >90% of seasonal biomass dynamics. We ascribe a systematic underprediction of observed early season greenup following drought years to a lagged or ‘legacy’ effect, as soil inorganic nitrogen, accumulated during drought, becomes available for future plant uptake.
A single center experience with 1000 consecutive cases of multifetal pregnancy reduction.

Abstract Objective: Multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR) is a technique developed to reduce the risks of a multifetal pregnancy. The objective of this article was to report the outcome of MPR in the largest single-center experience to date. Study Design: A computerized database was used to determine the outcome of 1000 consecutive cases patients undergoing transabdominal MPR between the years 1986 and 1999. Outcomes analyzed included pregnancy loss rates, preterm delivery rates, and mean birth weights. Results: The complete pregnancy loss rate was 5.9%, whereas the unintended pregnancy loss rate was 5.4%. The loss rate was 9.5% in the first 200 cases and remained stable at 4.5% to 6.0% over the next 800 cases. The loss rate was lowest with starting numbers of two fetuses (2.5%), remained stable for three, four, and five fetuses, and increased to 12.9% with starting numbers of six fetuses or greater. Loss rates were similar with a finishing number of one or two (3.5 % and 5.5%, respectively) but were highest for a finishing number of three (16.7%). Analysis of birth weights showed a linear decline with increasing starting and finishing numbers. Mean gestational age of delivery for finishing numbers of one, two, and three fetuses was 37.9, 35.3, and 33.5 weeks. Conclusion: Unintended loss rates associated with MPR have stabilized at 5.4%. Loss rates are highest with starting numbers of six or more fetuses, but did not differ for starting numbers of three, four, or five fetuses. Gestational age of delivery for finishing numbers of one, two, and three fetuses are similar to that of nonreduced pregnancies. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;187:1163-7.)
IDEALIZATION AND IRONY IN SALLUST'S JUGURTHA: THE NARRATOR'S DEPICTION OF ROME BEFORE 146 B.C.*

An examination of the idealized image of Rome before 146 b.c. constructed in the Jugurtha (Jug.) reveals that despite the narrator's own stated opinions, his depiction of it is perverse and unhistorical. The narrator's value judgements are unappealing, his archaizing affected, his history plainly wrong: these are serious interpretative problems. Is this an attempt, as in the dialogues of Cicero, to re-educate the moral intuitions of his day by means of a fictitious past? Perhaps; but narratological analysis of the relevant sections suggests another solution, an extrapolation to the narratorial persona of the technique of ironic subversion used in the speeches. The key to understanding the depiction of Rome before 146 lies in the identification of political and historical discourse and the consequent extension to the latter of the factionalization characteristic of the former. The problematic aspects of the depiction of Rome before 146 empower the reader to articulate a critique of faction; the text needs to be surmounted to be understood.
@spam: the underground on 140 characters or less

In this work we present a characterization of spam on Twitter. We find that 8% of 25 million URLs posted to the site point to phishing, malware, and scams listed on popular blacklists. We analyze the accounts that send spam and find evidence that it originates from previously legitimate accounts that have been compromised and are now being puppeteered by spammers. Using clickthrough data, we analyze spammers' use of features unique to Twitter and the degree that they affect the success of spam. We find that Twitter is a highly successful platform for coercing users to visit spam pages, with a clickthrough rate of 0.13%, compared to much lower rates previously reported for email spam. We group spam URLs into campaigns and identify trends that uniquely distinguish phishing, malware, and spam, to gain an insight into the underlying techniques used to attract users.Given the absence of spam filtering on Twitter, we examine whether the use of URL blacklists would help to significantly stem the spread of Twitter spam. Our results indicate that blacklists are too slow at identifying new threats, allowing more than 90% of visitors to view a page before it becomes blacklisted. We also find that even if blacklist delays were reduced, the use by spammers of URL shortening services for obfuscation negates the potential gains unless tools that use blacklists develop more sophisticated spam filtering.
Sequence and structural determinants of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase aggregation.

Diverse point mutations in the en- zyme Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) are linked to its aggregation in the familial form of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The disease-associ- ated mutations are known to destabilize the protein, but the structural basis of the aggregation of the destabilized protein and the structure of aggregates are not well understood. Here, we investigate in silico the sequence and structural determinants of SOD1 aggregation: (1) We identify sequence frag- ments in SOD1 that have a high aggregation propen- sity, using only the sequence of SOD1, and (2) we perform molecular dynamics simulations of the SOD1 dimer folding and misfolding. In both cases, we identify identical regions of the protein as hav- ing high propensity to form intermolecular interac- tions. These regions correspond to the N- and C- termini, and two crossover loops and two -strands in the Greek-key native fold of SOD1. Our results suggest that the high aggregation propensity of mutant SOD1 may result from a synergy of two factors: the presence of highly amyloidogenic se- quence fragments ("hot spots"), and the presence of these fragments in regions of the protein that are structurally most likely to form intermolecular con- tacts under destabilizing conditions. Therefore, we postulate that the balance between the self-associa- tion of aggregation-prone sequences and the spe- cific structural context of these sequences in the native state determines the aggregation propensity of proteins. Proteins 2005;61:617- 632.
Mental Models: Theoretical Issues for Visualizations in Science Education

Mental models have been outlined as internal representations of concepts and ideas. They are memory structures that can be used to extrapolate beyond a surface understanding of presented information, to build deeper comprehension of a conceptual domain. Thus, these constructs align with the explicit objectives of science education; instructors want students to understand the underlying principles of scientific theories, to reason logically about those principles, and to be able to apply them in novel settings with new problem sets. In this chapter, I review cognitive and educational psychological research on mental models. Specific attention is given to factors that may facilitate students’ construction of mental models for scientific information. In addition, these factors are related directly to the use (and potential) of visualizations as educational methodologies. The chapter concludes with several challenges for future work on visualizations in science education.
Intubated Trauma Patients Do Not Require Full Trauma Team Activation when Effectively Triaged.

Background Full trauma team activation in evaluating injured patients is based on triage criteria and associated with significant costs and resources that should be focused on patients who truly need them. Overtriage leads to inefficient care, particularly when resources are finite, and it diverts care from other vital areas. Although shock and gunshot wounds to the abdomen are accepted indicators for full trauma activation, intubation as the sole criterion is controversial. We evaluated our experience to assess if intubation alone merited the highest level of trauma activation. Study Design All trauma patients from 2012 to 2013 were assessed for level of activation, injury characteristics, presence of intubation, and outcomes. Results Of 5,881 patients, 646 (11%) were level 1 (full) and 2,823 (48%) were level 2 (partial) activations. Level 1 patients were younger (40 ± 17 vs 45 ± 20 years), had more penetrating injuries (42% vs 9%), and had higher mortality (26% vs 8%)(p Conclusions When appropriately triaged, selected intubated trauma patients do not require full trauma activation to receive timely, efficient care.
Sporadic Retinoblastoma and Parental Smoking and Alcohol Consumption before and after Conception: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Author(s): Azary, Saeedeh; Ganguly, Arupa; Bunin, Greta R; Lombardi, Christina; Park, Andrew S; Ritz, Beate; Heck, Julia E | Abstract: BackgroundRetinoblastoma is the most frequent tumor of the eye in children and very little is known about the etiology of non-familial (sporadic) retinoblastoma. In this study we examined whether parental tobacco smoking or alcohol consumption (pre- or post-conception) contribute to the two phenotypes (bilateral or unilateral) of sporadic retinoblastoma.MethodsTwo large multicenter case-control studies identified 488 cases through eye referral centers in the United States and Canada or through the Children's Oncology Group. Controls (n = 424) were selected from among friends and relatives of cases and matched by age. Risk factor information was obtained via telephone interview. We employed multivariable logistic regression to estimate the effects of parental tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption on retinoblastoma.FindingsMaternal smoking before and during pregnancy contributed to unilateral retinoblastoma risk in the child: year before pregnancy conditional Odds Ratio (OR), 8.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-51, and unconditional OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3-4.7; month before or during pregnancy, conditional OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 0.5-20.8, and unconditional OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.1-7.0. No association was found for maternal or paternal alcohol consumption.ConclusionThe results of this study indicate that maternal active smoking during pregnancy may be a risk factor for sporadic retinoblastoma. Our study supports a role for tobacco exposures in embryonal tumors.
Transformation of Inseminated Females of Aphytis lingnanensis into Factitious Virgins by Low-Temperature Treatment

Exposure of adult Aphytis lingnanensis Compere to the low temperature of 30cF for 8 or more hours nearly always caused 100% mortality of sperm in the testes of males and in the spermathecae of mated females, but there were exceptions. However, prolongation of treatment to positively insure complete sperm mortality resulted in excessive mortality of the treated adults as well as excessive reduction in progeny production by the survivors. Different genetic strains had different requirements for the period of cold treatment necessary to cause complete sperm sterilization. Cold-sterilized males of A. lingnanensis were found to display normal courtship and copulatory behavior, but cold-sterilized previously mated females of this species did not accept males a second time, even though normal males were provided. Cold treatment of males apparently had a permanent sterilizing effect. No sperm regeneration whatsoever occurred during the lifetime of the males tested. A pilot test to study the effect of cold treatment on virgin females indicated that none of the previously cold-treated virgin females subsequently were inseminated by the normal males provided, inasmuch as they produced only male progeny. Whether this phenomenon resulted from a lack of sexual receptivity of the cold-treated subvirgin females or whether they became unattractive to males or were otherwise affected is not known. On the other hand, in the control using untreated virgin females, normal insemination and production of female progeny occurred after males were provided. The following possible uses have been suggested for the cold-sterilization technique: (1) mated females of species that are multi-nuptial might be artificially transformed into virgins by this method for use in interstrain or interspecific crosses, provided 100% sperm mortality could be achieved and the females remained psychologically and physiologically suitable for subsequent matings. (2) the technique may be used to sterilize mated females for the purpose of isolating a uniparental strain (females that are capable of reproducing by thelytoklus parthenogenesis) of a hymenopterous parasite from a biparental culture. (3) the technique may be used to maintain a favorable sex ratio in laboratory cultures of parasitic Hymenoptera that exhibit the phenomenon of autoparasitism. (4) possibly the technique may be used as a substitute for irradiation or chemosterilization in methods of insect pest control involving the sterile-male technique or other uses of sterile individuals for population manipulation.
Physiological Aspects of Molting in Blue Crabs from the Tidal Fresh-Water Potomac River, Virginia

ABSTRACT Blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, were collected by beach seine from Gunston Cove and Dogue Creek, Virginia, during the summer and fall of 1985 and 1986. Ninety-one % of all crabs were males and the size range was 7-160 g wet weight. Almost all of the crabs were in premolt stages (D1-4) or had recently molted (stages A or B). A large fraction of the crabs were collected in or adjacent to a dense bed of submerged aquatic vegetation. Hemolymph samples were obtained from crabs after being brought to the laboratory where they were maintained under conditions as near natural as possible. Molting was accompanied by a wet weight increase of nearly 100%, approximately twice that of blue crabs molting in high salinity water. This weight gain did not seem to be size-dependent in crabs less than 100 g, and is presumed to be due to facilitation of water uptake resulting from the large osmotic gradient (approximately 600 mOsm). It is concluded that there must be an increase in the permeability of the epithelium to water in order to take advantage of the osmotic gradient. Molting was associated with an alkalosis of the hemolymph and an increase in total carbon dioxide, but the magnitude of both changes was substantially smaller than in blue crabs molting in high salinity water. Thus, the migration of blue crabs into the tidal fresh-water areas of the Potomac River results in significantly greater incremental growth and diminished acid-base disturbances during the molt.
Geologically rapid Late Triassic extinctions: Palynological evidence from the Newark Supergroup

Orbitally controlled, sedimentary cycles of the Newark Supergroup permit palyniferous Late Triassic sections to be calibrated in time. Carnian palynofloras from · the Richmond basin exhibit 2-m.y. fluctuations in the spore/pollen ratio, but taxonomic composition remains stable. Diversity of Norian and Rhaetian palynofloras increases prior to a 60% reduction at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. The extinction of Late Triassic palynomorph species is coincident with a spike in the spore/pollen ratio and approximately synchronous with the last appearances of tetrapod taxa and ichnofossil genera. This geologically brief episode of biotic turnover is consistent with bolide impact hypotheses.
Determination of lead content in cosmetics by microwave digestion-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

AbstrcatLead content in cosmetics was determined by measurement of fluorescence spectrum generated from lead hydride, which is contained in cosmetics that has been digested by microwave.Through laboratory experimental work, the suitable sample preparation and determination process as well as the analysis conditions was developed. Linearity range of the measurement results is 0～100 μg/L. The correlation coefficient is 0.999 5, with RSD 2.8 %. The recovery is 98.3 %～104.6 % for eye shadow and 97.9 %～105.8 % for compact make-up.
Morbidity of viral hepatitis and intervention measures during 1958 to 2006 in Fangshan District of Beijing

Objective To analyze morbidity of virus hepatitis and its intervention measures during 1958～2006 in Fangshan District to provide scientific basis for adopting relevant measures of its prevention and control and reducing its incidence.Methods Data of notification of viral hepatitis in Fangshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the past 48 years were used in a descriptive epidemiologic study.Results Totally,25?132 cases of virus hepatitis were notified during the past 48 years in Fangshan District,with an average yearly incidence of 80.31 per hundred thousand with an obvious yearly fluctuation,the highest of 412.40 per hundred thousand in 1981 and lowest of 7.30 per hundred thousand in 1995,respectively.Tendency of incidence of viral hepatitis correlated with immunization of hepatitis B and A vaccines.Viral hepatitis occurred mainly in males,focused on school and preschool children either prior to or after intervention.Conclusion Viral hepatitis accounted for an important proportion of infectious disease incidence in Fangshan District,Beijing.Since the implementation of immunization with hepatitis B vaccine for the newly-born babies by the end of 1980s and immunization with hepatitis A vaccine for the susceptible and high-risk population by 1990s,remarkable economic and social effectiveness has been achieved.It is suggested that effective prevention and control measures should be strengthened further in key areas and population,especially in improving immunization coverage of hepatitis B and A vaccines to further decrease incidence of viral hepatitis in Fangshan.