cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Interpretation of Negative Evidence in Archaeology

One of the important changes in the archaeological paradigm that occurred in the l960s was the expansion of the scope of the problems addressed by researchers. This expansion was sparked largely by Lewis Binford (1968:22), who maintained that "data relevant to most, if not all, the components of past sociocultural systems are preserved in the archaeological record." Binford argued that we are limited not so much by the nature of the archaeological record as by our lack of principles for relating archaeological remains to past human behavior (1968:23). Just as artifacts tend to reflect more than one component of a cultural system, each component of a cultural system should be reflected in various material remains. This meant that gaps in the archaeological record could be circumvented. Where decay had claimed important information, models could be devised that turned to other, nonperishable, remains (Binford 1968:19, 1975:256)
Ancient Formulas to Strengthen the Nation: Healing the Modern Chinese Body with the Treatise on Cold Damage

The changing status of the Treatise on Cold Damage over its nearly two millennia of existence is perhaps one of the most interesting and reliable markers of trends in Chinese medicine theory and practice. During the early twentieth century, the Treatise may have reached the pinnacle of its importance when Chinese intellectuals believed that European and Japanese imperialism threatened the survival of the Chinese nation and even the Chinese race. Elite doctors in this period sought to heal the nation, and its frail bodies, by making the Treatise the linchpin of a reformed medical practice. They were inspired by the evidential scholarship trend within Confucianism, the antiquity and empiricism of the Treatise , and the apparent strength and robustness of its formulas. They were also drawn to unique Japanese interpretations of the Treatise , which seemed to be rigorous and scientific enough to compete with biomedicine in Japanese society. To these Chinese elite, the Treatise was the ultimate antidote to the world altering forces of the times and the foundation for building a renewed medical tradition that was distinctly Chinese. But after the Communist Revolution in 1949, the Chinese nation was no longer under threat. It became important to define the uniqueness of the Chinese body rather than dispel its weaknesses and frailties. The significance of the Treatise has ebbed in contemporary Chinese medicine, as it became just one important text among many in defining the modern Chinese body.
Chapter 11 Pricing models in marketing

Publisher Summary This chapter brings together a set of diverse efforts in the recent literature on the modeling of price decisions and related questions in marketing. There has been an impressive growth in the array of topics investigated in the literature. Various trends in the development of pricing models are evident from the foregoing review. First, one trend has been to develop theoretical models to describe observed pricing strategies in the marketplace and to derive conditions under which certain strategies are optimal. This trend is clearly evident when one considers the area of dynamic pricing models. Another trend is an attempt to develop pricing models in which certain aspects of consumer behavior (e.g asymmetric response to price increases versus price decreases) are incorporated. This development is quite recent and does offer a large potential. A third dominant direction is the use of game-theoretic models for developing equilibrium pricing strategies.
Exploring Planetary Atmospheres

The past decade has been an exciting time to study atmospheres. Fundamental studies of Earth's general circulation and hydrological cycle have been stimulated by questions about past climates and the future impacts of humankind's activities. Long-term spacecraft and Earth-based observations of solar system planets have reinvigorated the study of comparative planetary climatology. The explosion in discoveries of planets outside our solar system has made atmospheric science integral to understanding the diversity of our solar system and the potential habitability of planets outside it. Thus, the AGU Chapman Conference: Crossing the Boundaries in Planetary Atmospheres—From Earth to Exoplanets, gathered Earth, solar system, and exoplanet scientists to share experiences, insights, and challenges from their individual disciplines and to discuss areas in which thinking broadly might enhance scientists' fundamental understanding of how atmospheres work.
Interactive Web forms based on assistance rules

The paper describes techniques for developing assistance functions for Web form input operations. The techniques allow developers to define input-assistance functions as a set of assistance rules. The assistance rules are converted into a program that implements the assistance functions defined in the rules by a software module called a rule compiler. The program is embedded into a Web form to monitor a user's input operations on a Web browser and to provide assistance functions such as help-message displays, validation checks of input values, and automatic inputs in accord with the user's input operations. By defining assistance functions as a set of assistance rules, developers can implement interactive Web forms without any complicated script programming. Therefore, it is possible to rapidly prototype assistance functions and reduce the development cost of the interactive Web forms.
An Interprofessional Model of Care for the Pregnant Woman with Complex Psychiatric Illness

Poster Presentation Background Caring for a severely ill, suicidal pregnant woman with a history of concomitant drug abuse and violence is uncommon. When caring for such women and their families, diversions from standards of care may occur. Thus, to mitigate the potential challenges for such a woman, an interprofessional approach to care was developed to ensure not only optimal care for the woman and her fetus, but also to provide a safe, therapeutic, working environment for staff. Case In this case, the woman was a homeless, multiparous, 39‐year‐old with a history of drug abuse, severe depression, multiple suicide attempts, and violence. Her obstetric history was significant for a previous term vaginal delivery. She arrived by ambulance at 23 weeks gestation to an obstetric triage setting with bleeding following cocaine use. She admitted the desire to kill herself during this stay. Immediate consultation was obtained from psychiatry, social work, and obstetrics. After a brief in‐patient stay, the woman was discharged to a homeless shelter and given prescriptions for psychiatric medications. As the pregnancy progressed, the woman's mental health deteriorated and violent, psychotic behavior was exhibited. Risk management, hospital security, ethics, and the obstetric care team met to develop a comprehensive plan. These meetings occurred throughout the pregnancy and included updates on condition, delivery, and postpartum planning. The decision to commit the woman involuntarily was made. The woman was scheduled for a term induction of labor and the interprofessional care plan was utilized throughout her stay. She had a normal vaginal delivery and provided skin‐to‐skin care for her healthy infant. A petition was filed for a child abuse and neglect form at the time of birth, which meant the woman would not have custody of the infant. The woman was eventually discharged to her psychiatric facility, and the infant was discharged to care of the maternal grandmother. Discharge to outpatient care occurred at 2 weeks postpartum. A follow up report was obtained of the woman's suicide shortly thereafter. Conclusion Utilizing concepts of ethical and moral care coupled with interprofessional coordination can minimize maternal and neonatal morbidity and provide a safe environment for the woman, family, and the care team. This case illustrates the need for early postpartum follow‐up for women with depression.
Depletion of T Cells by Type I Interferon: Differences between Young and Aged Mice

Type I IFN (IFN-I or IFN-alphabeta) plays an important role in the innate immune response against viral infection. Here we report that a potent inducer of IFN-alphabeta, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)], led to the depletion of T cells in young, but not aged mice, and that this depletion was limited to central memory, but not effector memory, T cells. Although early activation of T cells in vivo by poly(I:C), as demonstrated by CD69, was not impaired with aging, the expression of active caspase-3 was higher in young compared with aged mice. This depletion of T cells and induction of active caspase-3 in young mice and of CD69 in both young and aged mice by poly(I:C) were blocked by anti-IFN-alphabeta Ab. Although poly(I:C) stimulated lower circulating levels of IFN-alphabeta in aged mice, administration of IFN-alphabeta after poly(I:C) did not induce depletion of T cells in aged mice. These results indicate that IFN-alphabeta plays a critical role in the depletion of T cells of young mice, and further suggest that the lower level of functional IFN-alphabeta and decreased induction of active caspase-3 in T cells of aged mice after poly(I:C) may be responsible for the increased resistance of T cells of aged mice to depletion.
Electrophysiological identification of glucose-sensing neurons in rat nodose ganglia

The vagal afferent system is strategically positioned to mediate rapid changes in motility and satiety in response to systemic glucose levels. In the present study we aimed to identify glucose-excited and glucose-inhibited neurons in nodose ganglia and characterize their glucose-sensing properties. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in vagal afferent neurons isolated from rat nodose ganglia demonstrated that 31/118 (26%) neurons were depolarized after increasing extracellular glucose from 5 to 15 mm; 19/118 (16%) were hyperpolarized, and 68/118 were non-responsive. A higher incidence of excitatory response to glucose occurred in gastric- than in portal vein-projecting neurons, the latter having a higher incidence of inhibitory response. In glucose-excited neurons, elevated glucose evoked membrane depolarization (11 mV) and an increase in membrane input resistance (361 to 437 M). Current reversed at 99 mV. In glucose-inhibited neurons, membrane hyperpolarization (13 mV) was associated with decreased membrane input resistance (383 to 293 M). Current reversed at 97 mV. Superfusion of tolbutamide, a K(ATP) channel sulfonylurea receptor blocker, elicited identical glucose-excitatory but not glucose-inhibitory responses. Kir6.2 shRNA transfection abolished glucose-excited but not glucose-inhibited responses. Phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP(2)) depletion using wortmannin increased the fraction of glucose-excited neurons from 26% to 80%. These results show that rat nodose ganglia have glucose-excited and glucose-inhibited neurons, differentially distributed among gastric- and portal vein-projecting nodose neurons. In glucose-excited neurons, glucose metabolism leads to K(ATP) channel closure, triggering membrane depolarization, whereas in glucose-inhibited neurons, the inhibitory effect of elevated glucose is mediated by an ATP-independent K(+) channel. The results also show that PIP(2) can determine the excitability of glucose-excited neurons.
Optimal crowd-powered rating and filtering algorithms

We focus on crowd-powered filtering, i.e., filtering a large set of items using humans. Filtering is one of the most commonly used building blocks in crowdsourcing applications and systems. While solutions for crowd-powered filtering exist, they make a range of implicit assumptions and restrictions, ultimately rendering them not powerful enough for real-world applications. We describe two approaches to discard these implicit assumptions and restrictions: one, that carefully generalizes prior work, leading to an optimal, but often-times intractable solution, and another, that provides a novel way of reasoning about filtering strategies, leading to a sometimes suboptimal, but efficiently computable solution (that is asymptotically close to optimal). We demonstrate that our techniques lead to significant reductions in error of up to 30% for fixed cost over prior work in a novel crowdsourcing application: peer evaluation in online courses.
Identification of low‐frequency earthquakes in non‐volcanic tremor using the subspace detector method

[1] Shelly et al. identified 188 low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) in a one-hour episode of tremor recorded at Japanese Hi-Net borehole stations. Later they proposed that non-volcanic tremor may consist entirely of a sequence of LFEs. We search for additional LFEs using the subspace detector technique. This method uses a matrix of template waveforms and, via singular value decomposition, builds a set of basis vectors that, in some linear combination, can reproduce the templates or similar events that fall within the subspace. We explore the utility of the method to search for additional LFEs within the subspace spanned by our basis vectors. The results compare well with previous LFE detections. We also compare our results with an independent measure of signal polarization and find that the polarization takes on a distinct character during times of known LFEs. This suggests that signal polarization may also have potential for tremor detection, characterization, and monitoring.
Chemical Diversity and Origin of Thioredoxin Catalysis Revealed by Force-clamp Spectroscopy

Understanding the chemical mechanisms by which enzymes attain their rate acceleration has been an object of intense research in the last decades. Single-molecule force spectroscopy has become a powerful tool allowing for direct manipulation of chemical reactions, thus providing a new perspective to study the kinetics and mechanisms involved in enzyme catalysis. In the present study, we have used force-clamp spectroscopy to show that by applying a stretching force to the substrate, disulfide reduction by the enzyme thioredoxin (Trx) can take place through different chemical pathways. In particular, we have used Trxs from four different kingdoms to demonstrate that three different catalytic mechanisms are widespread in nature. While all Trxs have developed a complex enzymatic mechanism that can be detected at low force, two distinct chemical mechanisms dominate at high forces. In the case of prokaryotic-origin Trxs, the high-force mechanism is force-accelerated and well-described by an SN2 reaction featuring a bond elongation of 0.17 A. By contrast, for eukaryotic-origin Trxs such a mechanism is force-independent, which implies that the disulfide bond does not elongate at the reaction transition state. We propose that an ancestral Trx-like enzyme should exhibit the force-accelerated SN2 mechanism while showing little or no enzymatic mechanism. The emergence of the Trx binding groove through evolution is likely to be responsible for the appearance of the low-force enzymatic mechanism and also for the different catalytic behaviour in the high force-regime. Indeed, computational structural analysis and molecular dynamics simulations show that the Trx binding groove is significantly deeper and more restricted in eukaryotic Trxs than in prokaryotic Trx. Such a structural difference may have a direct effect on the chemical reaction mechanism observed at high force, favouring an electron transfer reaction over an SN2 reaction in eukaryotic Trxs.
Does the potential for organ donation justify scene flights for gunshot wounds to the head

Objective : The goal of this study was to evaluate helicopter transport to an urban level I trauma center from the scene of injury for patients with self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. Design : This study is a retrospective review of the prehospital, hospital, and billing records. Measurements and Main Results : Despite the fact that 10 of 28 patients (36%) had an airway established by the medical flight crews, scene flights did not enhance survival. Twenty-seven of 28 patients (96%) died. The remaining patient's survival could not be attributed to the scene flight. We estimated that 27 of 28 patients would have arrived at the trauma center sooner if they had been transported by the first-responder emergency medical services ground unit. Flight service charges were approximately one-third of the hospital charges. As a group, patients with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head had the highest rate of organ donation in this trauma center (26%). Twenty-nine organs were harvested from the seven donors. Conclusions : The use of helicopter scene flights from the scene of injury for patients with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head provides no medical advantage to the victims, but provides a high-yield source of desperately needed organs. The prompt establishment of an airway in the field may prolong patient survival long enough to allow evaluation for organ donation. Helicopter transport of these patients is justified only as a means of rapidly delivering the personnel capable of providing advanced airway skills to the scene. Patients requiring CPR in the field after isolated gunshot wounds to the head will not live long enough to become organ donor candidates ; therefore, there is no benefit to helicopter transport for these patients.
Oxazepam in the treatment of anxiety states: a controlled study.

Abstract Twenty-six psychoneurotic inpatients received oxazepam (60–120 mg daily) or placebo for one to two weeks. The strongest evidence for the superiority of oxazepam over placebo was that a greater proportion of oxazepam-treated patients remained on the study the full two weeks than placebo-treated patients. Patients' self-evaluations on the MMPI also favored oxazepam. Behavioral ratings by clinicians and ward personnel on the BPRS, symptom checklist, and assessment of global disorder did not discriminate the active drug from placebo as well as self-ratings did. Most of the differences found favored oxazepam, although some failed to reach acceptable levels of significance. It is suggested that the relative similarity of neurotic individuals to normal individuals with respect to pathology (e.g. anxiety, tension, depression) and difficulties in life and that the subjectivity of experience and the absence of gross and easily demonstrable symptoms make evaluation of improvement difficult. Symptom measurement on behavioral rating devices is probably less effective in discriminating drug-placebo differences in neurotic syndromes than in psychotic syndromes.
The reactions of arachno-[B9H14]− and nido-[B9H12]− with acids: Preparation and structures of chlorononaborates

Abstract Previous studies directed at cluster expansion via hydride abstraction reactions have produced a number of known neutral boranes, as well as unidentified products that account for up to half of the total boron content of the system. These unidentified products were previously suggested to be polymeric in nature. The unidentified product from the hydride abstraction reaction between [B9H14]− and BCl3 that produces B10H14, [HBCl3]−, and H2 has been shown to consist of a mixture of singly-, doubly- and triply-chlorinated analogues of arachno-[B9H14]−. X-ray diffraction analyses indicate that these species co-crystallize in the solid state, and show a range of composition between 1.5 to approximately 3 Cl atoms per anion. Chlorine substitution occurs at adjacent positions of the B9 framework. These problems of disorder prompted us to prepare an analogous singly-substituted cluster, [B9H13Cl]−. This species was obtained pure and in essentially quantitative yield from the reaction between nido-[B9H12]− and anhydrous HCl, and its structure was also determined by X-ray analysis.
Persistent photoconductivity in chemically modified single-wall carbon nanotubes

Control of the conductivity of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is crucial for the use of carbon nanotubes in molecular electronics. We report a new fundamental characteristic of semiconducting SWNTs: the persistent photoconductivity of chemically modified carbon nanotube films. Illumination of carboxylated semiconducting SWNTs with ultraviolet or visible light causes a persistent decrease in the conductivity of semiconducting films. The photoinduced conductivity persists in the dark with a characteristic half-life of 35 s to 1.2 × 103 s at room temperature and an activation energy of 0.35 eV. Infrared illumination restores the conductivity of SWNT films. Ultraviolet and visible light illumination partially refills empty valence band states of chemically modified SWNTs by electron injection from the dopant sites. Photoinduced injection of electrons is accompanied by a decrease of the conductivity of the p-doped SWNT film, because of neutralization of holes by injected electrons. Covalent attachment o...
Molecular mechanisms of hypolipidemic effects of curcumin

Recent evidence suggests potential benefits from phytochemicals and micronutrients in reducing the elevated oxidative and lipid-mediated stress associated with inflammation, obesity, and atherosclerosis. These compounds may either directly scavenge reactive oxygen or nitrogen species or they may modulate the activity of signal transduction enzymes leading to changes in the expression of antioxidant genes. Alternatively, they may reduce plasma lipid levels by modulating lipid metabolic genes in tissues and thus reduce indirectly lipid-mediated oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress through their hypolipidemic effect. Here we review the proposed molecular mechanisms by which curcumin, a polyphenol present in the rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa) spice, influences oxidative and lipid-mediated stress in the vascular system. At the molecular level, mounting experimental evidence suggests that curcumin may act chemically as scavenger of free radicals and/or influences signal transduction (e.g., Akt, AMPK) and modulates the activity of specific transcription factors (e.g., FOXO1/3a, NRF2, SREBP1/2, CREB, CREBH, PPARγ, and LXRα) that regulate the expression of genes involved in free radicals scavenging (e.g., catalase, MnSOD, and heme oxygenase-1) and lipid homeostasis (e.g., aP2/FABP4, CD36, HMG-CoA reductase, and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I (CPT-1)). At the cellular level, curcumin may induce a mild oxidative and lipid-metabolic stress leading to an adaptive cellular stress response by hormetic stimulation of these cellular antioxidant defense systems and lipid metabolic enzymes. The resulting lower oxidative and lipid-mediated stress may not only explain the beneficial effects of curcumin on inflammation, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative disease, but may also contribute to the increase in maximum life-span observed in animal models.
Depression and Epilepsy: A Review of Multiple Facets of Their Close Relation

Depressive disorders are the most frequent comorbidity of PWE. As discussed in this article, the depressive disorder is another expression of a neurologic disorder with psychiatric symptoms. The high comorbidity of both conditions can be explained by the existence of common pathogenic mechanisms whereby one condition facilitates the occurrence of the other. The negative impact of depressive disorders in the life of PWE is significant; hence, a prompt recognition should be followed by a treatment designed to yield complete symptom remission.
Transient model and experimental validation of low-stretch solid-fuel flame extinction and stabilization in response to a step change in gravity

A transient stagnation point numerical model was developed that includes gas-phase and solid-phase radiation and solid-phase coupling to describe the dynamic transition from a flame at higher stretch to a flame at lower stretch. To validate the model, low-stretch experiments using PMMA samples were performed in NASA Glenn's Zero Gravity Facility. When the final stretch rate is sufficiently low, the flame transitions to extinction. Above the critical stretch rate, the flame reaches a new steady state with larger flame standoff distance. But the transient process is very dynamic. The model captures the transient behavior of the experimental flame. A parametric study of the surface temperature and standoff distance demonstrates that the flame standoff overshoot at the beginning of the drop is the result of the faster response of the gas phase and the slower response of the solid layer immediate beneath the surface sample. The predicted surface energy balance shows that as the feedback from the flame decreases, the importance of the ongoing heat losses becomes greater, and extinction is observed when these losses represent 80% or more of the flame feedback. Extinction is attributable to insufficient heat feedback to the surface to compensate for existing heat losses under these low-stretch conditions. There is good agreement between the model and both the drop tower and previous buoyant low-stretch experiments in terms of a limiting stretch rate. This work supports the hypothesis that buoyant experiments with large burners can be used to evaluate the low-gravity, low-stretch flammability limits of a material.
Genetic evidence suggests a widespread distribution of native North American populations of reed canarygrass

Reed canarygrass is an important agricul- tural crop thought to be native to Europe, Asia, and North America. However, it is one of the worst wetland invaders in North American wetlands. The native North American status has been supported by the circumstantial evidence of early botanical records and the dating and location of herbarium specimens. The lack of empirical evidence has left the North American native status of the species in doubt and prevented comparisons between native North Amer- ican and Eurasian populations of the species. We utilized genetic markers to compare a wide range of European and Asian collections to DNA extracted from 38 early North American herbarium specimens. The genetic data confirm the presence of a distinct population present throughout North America in the early twentieth century, but not present in Europe or Asia, ranging from Alaska, USA to New Brunswick, Canada. These native North American populations of reed canarygrass are likely present throughout Alaska today, as one specimen was collected as recently as 1996, and may still be present in other regions of North America. Future research can utilize this dataset to determine the origin of present-day invasive popula- tions in North American wetlands.
Nursing Home Medical Staff Organization: Correlates With Quality Indicators

Objectives Little is known about the relationship between how medical care is organized and delivered in nursing homes. Taking a lead from the acute care arena, we hypothesize that nursing home medical staff organization (NHMSO) is an important predictor of clinical outcomes in the nursing home. Methods A total of 202 usable surveys from a 2-wave survey process using the Dillman Method were returned from medical directors who were randomly selected from the AMDA membership and were asked to fill out a survey on the structure of medical organization in their primary nursing home practice. Quality measures that are likely to be affected by physician practice patterns were culled from NH Compare and OSCAR data sets and matched to the physician surveys, ie, long stay residents’ prevalence of pain, restraint use, catheter use, pressure ulcers, pneumococcal vaccination, influenza vaccination, presence of advanced directives, prescription of antibiotics, and prevalence of depression. Results Using a series of hierarchical multiple regressions, significant R 2 changes were found when the medical staff organization dimensions were added in the regressions after controlling for nursing home structural characteristics for the following outcomes: pneumococcal vaccination and restraint use. Near significant findings were noted for pain prevalence among long-stay residents, catheter use, and prevalence of pressure ulcers. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate a relationship between medical staff organizational dimensions and clinical outcomes in the nursing home setting and as such represents an initial “proof of concept.” NHMSO should be considered as a potentially important mediating or moderating variable in the quality of care equation for nursing homes.
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts for refractory ascites after liver transplantation

Abstract Purpose To study the efficacy of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) in the management of refractory ascites after liver transplantation. Patients and Methods Between January 1995 and December 2003, 309 primary adult liver transplants were performed. Refractory ascites was defined as active interventions (salt restriction, diuretic use, repeated paracentesis) needed beyond 30 days after transplantation. These patients were managed with TIPS placement. Results Eight TIPS were placed in 8 patients at a mean of 11.5 months after transplantation (range, 2–36 months). There were 5 males and 3 females, age 54 ± 8.2 years. Hepatitis C was the primary diagnosis in 7 patients and primary biliary cirrhosis in 1. Indications for TIPS included refractory ascites (8), associated variceal bleeding (2), and various degrees of hepatic vein outflow stenosis (3). Seven patients had resolution of ascites and associated findings of portal hypertension, and 1 patient with persistent ascites had severe hepatic vein outflow stenosis and associated hepatitis C in the allograft. Two patients required retransplantation for recurrent hepatitis C. There were 3 deaths: liver failure (1), organ failure after retransplantation (1), and lung cancer 5 months after TIPS (1). Currently, 5 patients are alive without clinical evidence of ascites 9, 13, 15, 24, and 70 months after TIPS. Conclusions The TIPS device can be used safely and effectively to control refractory ascites after liver transplantation. In the setting of organ dysfunction, these patients should be considered sooner for retransplantation.
An Analysis of Methods for Permanently Mounting Ovules Cleared in Four-and-a-Half Type Clearing Fluids

Ovules cleared in benzyl benzoate-4 1/2 clearing fluid can be permanently mounted in Piccolyte or Permount by replacing the cleaning fluid with absolute ethanol, upgrading the ovules in mixtures of ethanol and xylene (3:1, 2:2, 1:3, and xylene), and mounting them in either mountant under the supported coverglass of a Raj slide. Optical saggittal sections through the ovules resemble microtome sections in that the protoplasts are slightly shrunken away from the cell walls. The artifact is common in permanently mounted sections; fixation and paraffin infiltration are usually cited as the causes--its appearance in the whole-mounted ovules is caused by xylene. Although miscible with the clearing fluid, Euparal is the least satisfactory of the standard mountants for permanent preparations of cleared ovules and is best used with an equal quantity of clearing fluid for semipermanent preparations. A large quantity of Euparal in the mountant produces pronounced shrinkage. A method for permanently mounting cleared ovules with the clearing image unaltered employs a mountant which contains the ingredients of Spurr low viscosity embedding medium. Vinylcyclohexene dioxide (10 drops) is combined with diglycidyl ether of polypropylglycol (6 drops) and nonenyl succinic anhydride (26 drops). Ovules treated for 24 hr in benzyl benzoate-4 1/2 clearing fluid are passed through a graded series of clearing fluid-epoxy medium mixtures (3:1, 2:2, 1:3, and pure epoxy medium) at intervals of 14 minutes. One drop of dimethylaminoethanol, the cure accelerator, is then added to the epoxy medium and the ovules are mounted and covered immediately on a Raj slide. The preparation is cured in an oven at 60 C for 24 hr and observed with phase contrast or Nomarski interference optics.
Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of Cross-Shaped Spiral Fuel in High-Power-Density BWRs

Power up-rating of existing nuclear reactors promises to be an area of great study for years to come. One of the major approaches to efficiently increasing power density is by way of advanced fuel design, and cross-shaped spiral-fuel has shown such potential in previous studies. Our work aims to model the thermal-hydraulic consequences of filling a BWR core with these spiral-shaped pins. The helically-wound pins have a cross-section resembling a 4-petaled flower. They fill an assembly in a tight bundle, their dimensions chosen carefully such that the petals of neighboring pins contact each other at their outer-most extent in a self-supporting lattice, absent of grid spacers. Potential advantages of this design raise much optimism from a thermal-hydraulic perspective. These spiral rods possess about 40% larger surface area than traditional rods, resulting in increased cooling and a proportional reduction in average surface heat flux. The thin petal-like extensions help by lowering thermal resistance between the hot central region of the pin and the bulk coolant flow, decreasing the maximum fuel temperature by 200°C according to Finite Element (COSMOS) models. However, COSMOS models also predict a potential problem area at the “elbow” region of two adjoining petals, where heat flux peaking is twice that along the extensions. Preliminary VIPRE models, which account only for the surface area increase, predict a 22% increase in critical power. It is also anticipated that the spiral twist would provide the flowing coolant with an additional radial velocity component, and likely promote turbulence and mixing within an assembly. These factors are expected to provide further margin for increased power density, and are currently being incorporated into the VIPRE model. The reduction in pressure drop inherent in any core without grid-spacers is also expected to be significant in aiding core stability, though this has not yet been quantified. Spiral-fuel seems to be a favorable alternative to traditional pins from a thermal-hydraulic standpoint, though further study of the trends shown in this paper are required.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Thromboxane A2 does not act at the carotid sinus to mediate cardiovascular, adrenocorticotropin, cortisol, or blood gas responses.

Thromboxane A2 (TxA2), well known as a vasoconstrictor and activator of platelets, also stimulates reflex cardiovascular, pituitary, adrenocortical, and blood gas responses, although the site of ac...
Antibody-independent isolation of circulating tumor cells by continuous-flow dielectrophoresis.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are prognostic markers for the recurrence of cancer and may carry molecular information relevant to cancer diagnosis. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been proposed as a molecular marker-independent approach for isolating CTCs from blood and has been shown to be broadly applicable to different types of cancers. However, existing batch-mode microfluidic DEP methods have been unable to process 10 ml clinical blood specimens rapidly enough. To achieve the required processing rates of 106 nucleated cells/min, we describe a continuous flow microfluidic processing chamber into which the peripheral blood mononuclear cell fraction of a clinical specimen is slowly injected, deionized by diffusion, and then subjected to a balance of DEP, sedimentation and hydrodynamic lift forces. These forces cause tumor cells to be transported close to the floor of the chamber, while blood cells are carried about three cell diameters above them. The tumor cells are isolated by skimming them from the bottom of the chamber while the blood cells flow to waste. The principles, design, and modeling of the continuous-flow system are presented. To illustrate operation of the technology, we demonstrate the isolation of circulating colon tumor cells from clinical specimens and verify the tumor origin of these cells by molecular analysis.
MRI compatibility of microfabricated magnetic actuators for implantable catheters: Mechanical evaluations

Here we demonstrate the mechanical robustness of microfabricated torsional magnetic actuators in withstanding the magnetic fields produced by a 7 T MRI magnet. The static and dynamic mechanical characteristics of 30 devices were quantitatively measured before and after exposure to both uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields. The results show no statistically significant change in both the static and dynamic mechanical performance, which mitigates concerns about the mechanical compatibility of our devices with MRI scanners. Additional experiments are required to quantify the potential image-artifact size and radio-frequency-induced heating caused by the magnetic microactuators inside an MRI scanner.
Bandwidth allocation for isochronous connections in DQDB using the PA scheme

The PA scheme in DQDB is suitable for constant-rate and connection-oriented transmissions. In this paper, we propose and evaluate four bandwidth allocation policies, which are based on the harmonic case of the pinwheel scheduling algorithm^1^,^ ^2 for isochronous connections using the PA scheme. The idea is to classify isochronous connections into several harmonic classes according to their periods. Isochronous connections from the same class can share the same unit channel as long as the total bandwidth is no greater than the available bandwidth they requested in the unit channel. The main advantage of our schemes is that all isochronous connections can be established with zero variability. The proposed policies are evaluated in terms of their blocking probabilities and processing overhead via both simulation and analysis.
High G+C Content of Herpes Simplex Virus DNA: Proposed Role in Protection Against Retrotransposon Insertion.

The herpes simplex virus dsDNA genome is distinguished by an unusually high G+C nucleotide content. HSV-1 and HSV-2, for instance, have GC contents of 68% and 70% respectively, while that of the host (human) genome is 41%. To determine how GC content varies with genome location, GC content was measured separately in coding and intergenic regions of HSV-1 DNA. The results showed that the 75 genes constitute a uniform population with a mean GC content of 66.9 ± 4.1%. In contrast, intergenic regions were found in two non-overlapping populations, one with a mean GC content (69.3 ± 4.6% n=32) similar to the coding regions and another where the GC content is lower (56.0 ± 4.9 n=30). Compared to other regions of the genome, intergenic regions with reduced GC content were found to be enriched in local GC minima, CACACA sequences and a primary target sequence (TTAAAA) for retrotransposition events. The results are interpreted to suggest that a high GC content is part of the way HSV-1 protects its genes from invasion by mobile genetic elements active during cell differentiation in the nervous system.
HPLC METHOD FOR QUANTIFICATION OF ARGININE CONTAINING VASOPRESSIN

An isocratic technique was developed for the analysis of [Arg8]- vasopressin (AVP) by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using a 220 nm UV detection, Brownlee Spheri-5 ODS column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm, 100 A), mobile phase (methanol: 0.1% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid: : 3:7), and 1.5 mL/min flow rate. The coefficients of variation (C.V.) for precision and proportionality assays were lower than 2% for all concentrations studied. The detection limit, recovery rate, and tailing factor for AVP were 50 ng/mL (signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1), 0.97 ± 0.03, and 0.99–1.1, respectively.
Relativistic generalization of the hypernetted chain approximation

A method of obtaining the nonperturbative ground state of a relativistic quantum field theory is proposed. The final result expresses the internal energy in terms of two variational functions and two integral equations.
Law, Politics, and Democracy in the Twenty-first Century

Political scientists have long rejected the old law and politics dichotomy and recognize instead that law and court decisions are inherently political in numerous ways. Still, courts are not the same as executive and legislative institutions, and law is not simply a synonym for politics or policy. Law and courts are distinct and yet connected to political processes and policy outcomes in complex and nuanced ways. The question for law and courts scholars, then, is how and why do political actors (with seemingly increasing frequency) turn to law and the judiciary to influence public policy, and what are the impacts of infusing law and courts into the US political process? The three recent books under review help to answer these questions.
Wetting & Wicking Effects of Superhydrophilic Nano-Structured Coatings

Superhydrophilic Nano-Structured Coatings (SHNC) were discovered during pool boiling experiments using nanofluids with alumina nanoparticles. During nucleate boiling, the nanoparticles are deposited on the heater surface, forming a uniform oxide coating. These coatings have been demonstrated to greatly decrease the liquid contact angle observed on the surfaces, both by increased surface roughness and increased surface energy. An illustration of this roughness, within 1 μm thickness, can be seen in the 3-D optical microscope mapping of a SHNC surface, top right. These highly wetting structures can greatly enhance macro-level mass transfer effects, such as capillary action. The series of images on the left depict the wickability enhancement achieved by SHNC coating inside a 0.92 mm internal diameter aluminum tube. In the tube coated with SHNC, a 21 μl water droplet disappeared in 183 milliseconds, resulting in an average wicking speed along the pipe of 17 cm/sec. The bare aluminum tube does not wick at all, even as it is pushed into the droplet. The bottom right sequence shows the wettability enhancement responsible for this behavior; an 8 μl water droplet is dropped onto both a SHNC-coated and a bare aluminum surface from a height of 1 cm. The droplet on the SHNC-coated surface spreads instantaneously due to the high wettability of the SHNC, while the droplet on the bare aluminum remains aggregated as a hemisphere.
Molecular motors: A traffic cop within?

Intracellular transport along microtubules is often bidirectional, employing multiple plus- and minus-end directed motors. How cells regulate such transport in time and space is a fundamental but unsolved question in cell biology. A recent paper presents a new modeling approach to predict how much of transport can be understood just from our knowledge of the motors involved. The model can generate strikingly complex patterns of motion, mimicking key aspects of cargo transport in vivo. Previous studies had inferred that plus-end motors on bidirectional cargoes are usually turned off when the minus-end motors are engaged (and vice versa). In the model, such motor coordination can arise from motors competing in a tug-of-war, without help from additional regulators. This new theoretical framework should stimulate much research that will help unravel whether regulation of intracellular transport is dominated by higher-order control mechanisms or is achieved simply by tuning basic properties of the motors themselves.
The View a Decade On

In this account that draws heavily on interviews with key participants, McElheny examines the background, course, and prospects of the Human Genome Project.
Competitive spatial price discrimination with strictly convex production costs

Abstract This paper studies the equilibrium between two competing firms which have strictly convex production costs and which can engage in spatial price discrimination. The subgame perfect Nash equilibrium locations coincide with the social cost-minimizing locations, at the quartiles of the market, only when marginal cost of production is constant. When marginal cost of production is increasing, although social cost is minimized when the firms locate at the quartiles, they will locate elsewhere in the equilibrium.
Inconsistent response patterns and the prediction of child maltreatment

Inconsistent response patterns have been used with other measures to screen for child maltreatment. To date the inconsistency (IC) scale, a validity scale on the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, has not been used as a screening criterion for physical child abuse. The present study examined the responses of 89 physical child abusers and 108 comparison subjects to determine if the CAP Inventory IC scale has any utility in the screening for physical child abuse. While results indicated the CAP Inventory IC scale scores were significantly higher for the physical child abuse group, a series of discriminant analyses indicated that the IC scale did not account for any meaningful variance after variance related to child abuse factors was removed. Further, the results indicated that dependence on the IC scale alone for physical child abuse screening purposes could be expected to produce excessive false positive and false negative classifications.
A reexamination of the Sudbury landing

Abstract The arrival of the massive body that led to the Sudbury impact structure has been interpreted as a relatively gentle event, with temperatures not exceeding 1300 K on the basis of the presence of fullerene-caged helium. Such temperatures are well below the 10,000 K peaks suggested in large impact modeling, and in contrast to that higher temperature regime they can accommodate the survival of exogenous precursors to life. A reexamination of the kinetics of the thermolysis of C 60 -helium shows that the impact was probably not extraordinary, and yielded temperatures in the extreme range. Thermodynamic and kinetics arguments suggest, moreover, that the fullerenes were not extraterrestrial in origin but produced during impact.
Identity and social action among south indian craft producers of the vijayanagara period

Economic, political, demographic, territorial, and social changes in fourteenth through seventeenth century southern India contributed to an expansion in the production and exchange of a range of craft goods. Producers of these goods responded to and benefited from changing conditions in a variety of ways. In this paper I consider archaeological and inscriptional evidence for craft production from the Vijayanagara period, with a focus on how changing demands and valuations of goods differentially affected the ability of craft producing communities to manipulate or redefine their social identity and social status. I focus on three scales of social identity and action: the individual artisan, local caste communities, and multi-caste or regional artisan groups.
Effect of Form of Enrichment and Iron on Thiamin, Riboflavin and Niacinamide, and Cooking Parameters of Enriched Spaghetti

The effect of encapsulation, iron and low (LT) or high (HT) temperature drying on thiamin, riboflavin and niacinamide concentrations and on cooked spaghetti parameters of enriched spaghetti were studied. Thiamin, riboflavin and niacinamide were greater in the encapsulated enriched spaghetti. Cooked spaghetti had lower cooked weight but greater firmness when enriched with encapsulated vitamins. Thiamin, niacinamide and cooked weight were greater in cooked spaghetti when iron was added, but spaghetti was less firm. High temperature drying resulted in lower riboflavin and niacinamide in dried spaghetti but did not affect vitamin concentrations in cooked spaghetti. High temperature drying caused less cooking loss and greater firmness in cooked spaghetti.