cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Work-in-Progress: Incorporating Deadline-Based Scheduling in Tasking Programming Model for Extreme-Scale Parallel Computing

Processing and analyzing big data sets updated in real time in an increasing number of applications such as severe weather prediction and particle-physics experiments require the computational power of extreme-scale high-performance computing (HPC) systems. To address the scheduling of massive task/thread sets on these extreme-scale systems, current strategies rely on improving centralized, distributed, and parallel scheduling algorithms as well as virtualization developed for HPC systems which aim to reduce the makespan and balance the load among the computing nodes in these systems. However, these HPC schedulers provide no guarantees on meeting timing constraints such as deadlines that are required in an increasing number of these real-time science workflows. This paper describes a new project which departs from this established trend of best-effort scheduling of large-scale HPC Message Passing Interface (MPI) tasks and ensemble workloads found in fine-grain many-task computing (MTC) applications. The new approach brings real-time scheduling to address the demands of real-time science workloads. This new framework abstracts information about the tasks or threads, and continuously dispatch this workload to meet deadlines and other timing constraints associated with individual tasks or groups of tasks in extreme-scale HPC systems to reduce execution time and energy consumption. This paper introduces deadline-based scheduling in the tasking programming model.
The Role of Early Bioelectric Signals in the Regeneration of Planarian Anterior/Posterior Polarity

Abstract Axial patterning during planarian regeneration relies on a transcriptional circuit that confers distinct positional information on the two ends of an amputated fragment. The earliest known elements of this system begin demarcating differences between anterior and posterior wounds by 6 h postamputation. However, it is still unknown what upstream events break the axial symmetry, allowing a mutual repressor system to establish invariant, distinct biochemical states at the anterior and posterior ends. Here, we show that bioelectric signaling at 3 h is crucial for the formation of proper anterior-posterior polarity in planaria. Briefly manipulating the endogenous bioelectric state by depolarizing the injured tissue during the first 3 h of regeneration alters gene expression by 6 h postamputation and leads to a double-headed phenotype upon regeneration despite confirmed washout of ionophores from tissue. These data reveal a primary functional role for resting membrane potential taking place within the first 3 h after injury and kick-starting the downstream pattern of events that elaborate anatomy over the following 10 days. We propose a simple model of molecular-genetic mechanisms to explain how physiological events taking place immediately after injury regulate the spatial distribution of downstream gene expression and anatomy of regenerating planaria.
Relative Preservation of Superior Semicircular Canal Architecture in CHARGE Syndrome.

Objectives(1) Describe common patterns of semicircular canal (SCC) anomalies in CHARGE syndrome (CS) and (2) recognize that in CS, the architecture of the superior SCC may be relatively preserved.S...
Delivery and implementation of an algorithm for smoking cessation treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Compared to the general population, persons living with HIV (PLWH) have higher rates of tobacco use and an increased risk of morbidity from tobacco-related diseases. We conducted a single-arm pilot...
Economic evaluation in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: Past, present, and future

Economic evaluations provide evidence that informs stakeholders on how to efficiently allocate real and financial healthcare resources. The purpose of this study was to review and discuss the integration of economic evaluations into the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) since its inception, as well as expectations for the future of this relationship. A systematic review was performed on published and planned CTN economic evaluations in the CTN dissemination library and PubMed. The well-established Drummond checklist was used to evaluate the comprehensiveness and methodological rigor of published articles. One hundred thirty-eight ancillary, follow-up, or original protocols were reviewed, and 78 potentially relevant published articles were identified. A total number of 14 protocols included an economic evaluation. Of these, 6 protocols were completed, 2 were reported as active, and 6 were reported as in-development at the time of this review. Of the 78 published articles, 9 met the inclusion criteria. As gauged by the Drummond checklist, the quality of CTN published economic evaluations were found to improve over time, and recent published articles were identified as guides to cutting-edge economic research. As the CTN continues to grow and mature, it is imperative that high-quality economic evaluations are incorporated alongside trials in order to maximize the public health impact of the CTN.
Vertical Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: What is the Optimal Definition?

Author(s): Blumberg, Dean A; Underwood, Mark A; Hedriana, Herman L; Lakshminrusimha, Satyan
Estimating the Foreclosure Discount in Financially Distressed Hotels

This study investigates the magnitude of the distress sale and foreclosure sale discount in financially distressed hotels by determining the influence of financial distress conditions on hotel tran...
Does Moonlight Increase Predation Risk for Elusive Mammals in Costa Rica

An increasing body of evidence indicates that moonlight influences the nocturnal activity patterns of tropical mammals, both predators and prey. One explanation is that brighter moonlight is associ...
Agonist efficiency estimated from concentration-response curves

Abstract Concentration-response curves (CRCs) are characterized by a midpoint (EC50) and a high-concentration asymptote (Pomax) that relate to agonist affinity and efficacy. A third agonist attribute, efficiency, is the fraction of binding energy that is applied to the conformational change that activates the receptor. Here we show that agonist efficiency can be calculated from EC50 and Pomax, and estimate the efficiencies of 17 agonists of adult muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs). The distribution of efficiency values was bi-modal with means+s.d of 52±2% (n=11) and 41±3% (n=6). Efficiency is correlated inversely with the volume of the agonists’ head-group. For 22 binding site mutations only αY190A affects significantly ACh efficiency, switching it from the high-to the low-efficiency population. If agonist efficiency is known, EC50 can be estimated from Pomax and the receptor’s level of constitutive activity can be calculated from a CRC.
Fidelity of first-person reports following intracranial neuromodulation of the human brain: An empirical assessment of sham stimulation in neurosurgical patients.

Abstract Background Brain stimulation, both invasive and non-invasive, is increasingly being used to modulate mood and other aspects of subjective experience in various neuropsychiatric conditions. Because this enterprise is deeply dependent on first-person reports provided by patients, sham stimulation is routinely employed to control for demand characteristics and placebo effects. However, a general empirical assessment of the fidelity of this control is missing. Objective To provide an empirical exploration of the fidelity of first-person reports following intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) in neurosurgical patients. Methods We assessed Type I (false positive) error rate following 159 sham stimulations administered to 44 adult epilepsy patients implanted with intracranial electrodes and undergoing iES as part of routine clinical procedures at the Stanford Medical Center. Results: The majority of our patients (75%) never committed a single Type I error, and 93% of our sham stimulations (n = 148) yielded true negative reports. False positives were restricted to only 11 patients, and no patient committed more than a single Type I error, even after multiple sham stimulations. Conclusion Neurosurgical patients are highly resilient to Type I errors following sham intracranial brain stimulation. Our findings support the validity of prior research exploring first-person experiences elicited by electrical stimulation of the human brain. More broadly, our data are relevant to emerging efforts to use brain stimulation to modulate mood and other aspects of human subjective experience.
Multiple Faces of Ideology: Definitions and Approaches

This chapter provides a survey of multiple definitions of ideology submitted by scholars across different disciplines, categorizing them according to several different criteria. The chapter compares various definitions and approaches to ideology and highlights the contradictory, multi-faced nature of ideology and its functions.
Optimization of electric heating operation based on day-ahead electricity spot market

The emergence of Electricity Spot Market makes it possible that distributed electric heating equipment connect with the grid and participate in market competition as well. However, due to the functional limits, it is impossible for the power supply side to have a thorough understanding of the specific conditions of the load characteristics of the power user, and the user side will not take a global consideration of the real-time security and stability of the power grid. This paper focuses on the research about electricity consumption strategy of thermoelectric coupled load with the background of electricity spot market. The main works are as following: An operation strategy of consumer electric heating equipment based on electric spot market is proposed. Besides, an operation mode which responds to the market is obtained by analysing the time span of clearing nodes in power spot market and start-stop characteristics of distributed heat load equipment. Based on this, the operating cost control function of consumer electric heating load is designed, making it possible that the load follows changes of the clearing price under the premise of ensuring that the user’s heat demand is met within a day. Then we had a discussion about the impact of parameter changes on the operating strategy. With the help of the constraints of existing power grid, the operation strategy model of consumer electric heating equipment based on power spot market is realized.
Dimorphic cocoons of the robin moth, Hyalophora cecropia, reflect the existence of two distinct architectural syndromes

The architectural design of animal structures forms part of an individual's extended phenotype that can be subjected to strong selection pressures. We examined cocoon architectural dimorphism in robin moths (Hyalophora cecropia), which construct multilayered silk-woven cocoons that possess either a 'baggy' or 'compact' morphology. These dimorphic cocoons reflect extended phenotypes that can enable survival during a critical developmental period (pupal stage to adult emergence), with cocoons occurring either sympatrically or as monomorphic groups across different climatic regions in North America. We hypothesized that cocoon dimorphism is related to the cocoon's role as a mediating barrier for moisture. We predicted that the macro- and micro-architectural differences between the cocoon morphs would be consistent with this function. We compared the cocoon morphs in terms of their orientation when spun under natural field conditions, examined how these orientations affected cocoon water absorption under simulated rain trials, and performed material surface tests to compare the hydrophobicity of cocoons. We found that compact cocoons had traits that increased water resistance, as they had significantly greater hydrophobicity than baggy cocoons, because they absorbed less water and released water vapor faster. In contrast, the increased water absorptiveness of baggy cocoons can allow for greater moisture retention, a function related to the prevention of desiccation. Our study suggests that cocoon dimorphism in robin moths reflects distinct architectural syndromes, in which cocoons are spun to optimize either water resistance or retention. These different functions are consistent with strategies that act to respond to uncertain external environmental conditions that an individual might encounter during development.
Magna Carta, Civil Law, and Canon Law

With the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta approaching, interest has been piqued in the charter, which influenced the development of the common law in its early stages. One debate surrounding the charter is the degree to which Roman and canon law influenced the text. This debate has important implications for the identity of the common law. We tend to think of common law as an English institution, very different from those continental civil-law systems that trace their ancestry back to medieval Roman and canon law. If Roman and canon law influenced the charter, it could serve as evidence that the early common law was not so insular in its outlook as we have thought, and that it really should be placed in a broader European context.Roman and canon law — collectively called the ius commune in the Middle Ages — certainly made their mark on Magna Carta, but this paper argues that the elements of the ius commune that found their way into Magna Carta were inserted not to influence the early development of the common law, as many scholars have assumed, but rather because ius commune, and more particularly canon law, was a political language that appealed to various important constituencies in England and abroad. Appeals to canon law in Magna Carta were more likely placed there to elicit support from the papacy than to reform English law. This paper places Magna Carta in the longer context of the Church reform movement and its instantiation in England — the Becket dispute — and argues that Magna Carta’s ius commune-influenced provisions were attempts by English actors to give universal significance to their local disputes.
TSO-DSO Operational Planning Coordination through l 1 -Proximal Surrogate Lagrangian Relaxation

The proliferation of distributed energy resources(DERs), located at the Distribution System Operator (DSO)level, bring new opportunities as well as new challenges to the operations within the grid, specifically, when it comes to the interaction with the Transmission System Operator (TSO). To enable interoperability, while ensuring higher flexibility and cost-efficiency, DSOs and the TSO need to be efficiently coordinated. Difficulties behind creating such TSO-DSO coordination include the combinatorial nature of the operational planning problem involved at the transmission level as well as the nonlinearity of AC power flow within both systems. These considerations significantly increase the complexity even under the deterministic setting. In this paper, a deterministic TSO-DSO operational planning coordination problem is considered and a novel decomposition and coordination approach is developed. Within the new method, the problem is decomposed into TSO andDSO subproblems, which are efficiently coordinated by updatingLagrangian multipliers. The nonlinearities at the TSO level caused by AC power flow constraints are resolved through a dynamic linearization while guaranteeing feasibility through l1proximal terms. Numerical results based on the coordination of the 118-bus TSO system with up to 32 DSO 34-bus systems indicate that the method efficiently overcomes the computational difficulties of the problem.
Lipid Rafts/Membrane Rafts

Lipid rafts or membrane rafts are membrane domains with specialized lipid and protein compositions. They are generally rich in sphingolipids and sterols, and their lipids exist in a tightly packed physical state relative to the reminder of the membrane. Difficulties in raft detection have made the subject of lipid raft formation and properties in living cells controversial. This article summarizes the properties of rafts and the methods used to detect rafts, together with their strengths and weaknesses. Proposed raft functions are summarized.
Solar cycle dependence of middle atmosphere temperatures

Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) temperature data during 2002 through 2013 and covering 20–110 km altitude between ±83° latitude are analyzed to determine the dependence of middle atmosphere temperatures on solar flux, as parameterized by a linear relation with 81 day mean values of the 10.7 cm solar radio flux, F10.7a. The basic data analyzed are 60 day mean values, which represent zonal and local-time means. Analysis is conducted on both fixed altitude and fixed pressure levels. Below 70 km, the sensitivity of SABER annual mean temperatures is of order 1–2 K per 100 solar flux units (100 sfu) when data are analyzed on fixed altitude levels. At 85 km this increases to 3–6 K/100 sfu between ±60°latitude. At 95 km, values of order 4–6 K/100 sfu are found over the latitude range ±50° with values of order 10–14 K/100 sfu at higher latitudes in both hemispheres; these values increase to 5–11 K/100 sfu and 13–29 K/100 sfu, respectively, at 105 km. Comparisons are made with similarly analyzed temperatures from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). At 85 km, the WACCM response is similar to observed but above that level WACCM predicts a lower response by a factor of about 2 at 95 km. On the other hand, below 70 km, the sensitivity of WACCM annual mean temperatures is stronger than SABER (∼3 K/100 sfu). When analysis is instead performed on pressure levels, the response in the lower thermosphere increases, especially at 105 km where changes of 29 to 51 K/100 sfu are seen in SABER annual mean temperatures.
Affiliation between the sexes in common grackles. II: Spatial and vocal coordination.

This study of the frequencies of activities performed by four breeding pairs of Common Grackles Quiscalus quiscula examined the behavioral regulation of partners' spatial association and vocal interactions and the possible effects of these interactions on the seasonal course and persistence of their affiliation. Spatial association of partners remained high until incubation began and then declined progressively. The ♀s' vocalizations when leaving the colony increased the chances that her mate would follow and thus promoted the pair's association. Song-answering, a form of antiphonal singing, was frequent only before the start of intensive nest-building and copulation. Measures of spatial association and frequencies of antiphonal singing were lower in pairs in which the ♀ chose her nest site early in the season, an indication that the behavior of younger and older pairs might differ. Differences in partners' interactions after choosing a nest site had no clear associations with differences in the seasonal development of their reproductive states or the persistence of their bond through incubation.
Functional roles assigned to the periplasmic, linker, and receiver domains of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens VirA protein.

Abstract VirA and VirG activate the Agrobacterium tumefaciens vir regulon in response to phenolic compounds, monosaccharides, and acidity released from plant wound sites. VirA contains an amino-terminal periplasmic domain and three cytoplasmic domains: a linker, a protein kinase, and a phosphoryl receiver. We constructed internal deletions of virA that truncate one or more domains and tested the ability of the resulting proteins to mediate environmentally responsive vir gene activation in vivo. The periplasmic domain is required for sensing of monosaccharides (in agreement with earlier results), while the linker domain is required for sensing of phenolic compounds and acidity. The phosphoryl receiver domain of VirA plays an inhibitory role in signal transduction that may be modulated by phosphorylation. The carboxy terminus of the protein was also dispensable for tumorigenesis, while the periplasmic domain was required.
National Security and Core Values in American History – By William O. Walker III

Historians generally recognize the importance of “core values” in crafting American foreign policy, but they often leave unexamined how those values contributed to defining American national intere...
The pluripotency factor Nanog is directly upregulated by the androgen receptor in prostate cancer cells.

Background The Androgen Receptor (AR) is a nuclear hormone receptor that functions as a critical oncogene in all stages of prostate cancer progression, including progression to castration-resistance following androgen-deprivation therapy. Thus, identifying and targeting critical AR-regulated genes is one potential method to block castration-resistant cancer proliferation. Of particular importance are transcription factors that regulate stem cell pluripotency; many of these genes are emerging as critical oncogenes in numerous tumor cell types. Of these, Nanog has been previously shown to increase the self-renewal and stem-like properties of prostate cancer cells. Thus, we hypothesized that Nanog is a candidate AR target gene that may impart castration-resistance.
Rotational Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (cMUTs)

A rotational capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer is introduced. Two pressure-sensitive diaphragms atop vacuum-sealed cavities are mechanically coupled via a rocking beam structure. The rocking structure is designed to reduce deflection of the vacuum-sealed diaphragms under atmospheric pressure while introducing ideally zero rotational stiffness to differential diaphragm pressure. The rocking structure responds to in-plane pressure gradients and is therefore anticipated to have dipole-type directivity to ultrasound. Prototypes employing 200 μm diameter polysilicon diaphragms are presented with a fundamental resonance frequency of 250 kHz.
Miniaturized electron magnetic spectrometer

Abstract Traditionally magnetic electron spectrometers provide the most reliable electron measurements in space at energies above ∼10 keV. However, the inclusion of powerful magnets presents problems for spacecraft with stringent magnetic cleanliness requirements, and the magnetic yoke required to close the instrument is bulky and heavy. To mediate the aforementioned shortcomings, we report a preliminary conceptual design on a new miniature magnetic electron spectrometer that measures energetic electrons from 50 keV to 1.5 MeV. The new detector covers close to 360° in the azimuthal direction and ± 3° off the plane, and if mounted on a spinning spacecraft, will measure the full spherical angular distribution twice per spin. This represents a very large advance over previous designs, which typically measure a very limited angular cone at any one time. As a result of the placement of the magnets in this design, the magnetic flux closes intrinsically, hence no bulky flux-containing magnetic yoke, typical in previous magnetic electron spectrometer designs, is required. We are funded by a NASA instrument development grant to develop a prototype of this sensor over the next 2 years.
Radio-interferometric imaging of the subsurface emissions from the planet Mercury

The distribution of total and polarized intensities from Mercury's subsurface layers have been mapped using VLA observations. The first detection of a hot pole along the Hermean equator is reported and modeled as black-body reradiation from preferential diurnal heating. These observations appear to rule out any internal sources of heat within Mercury. Polarized emission from the limb of the planet is also found, and is understood in terms of the dielectric properties of the Hermean surface.
A comparison of fetal echocardiography in university and health maintenance organization settings.

Fetal echocardiographic findings, and decisions to continue or to terminate affected pregnancies, may differ between university (UNIV) and health maintenance organization (HMO) settings. The aim of this study was to review the fetal echocardiographic experience at a combined university/health maintenance organization program over a 4-year period. Imaging and counseling for affected pregnancies were provided by the same, single investigator at both sites. Out of a total of 1382 studies (940 UNIV, 442 HMO), 127 abnormals were identified (94 UNIV, 33 HMO). Among the 127 pregnancies with fetal heart disease, 24 (19%) underwent elective termination, 16% at UNIV and 27% at HMO (p= 0.2). Mean gestational age at the time of diagnosis was 25.2 weeks at UNIV compared with 22.3 weeks at HMO (p= 0.002). At UNIV, only 51% of diagnoses were made before 24 weeks compared with 79% at HMO (p= 0.003). Screening fetal sonograms, performed between 18 and 20 weeks on every pregnancy at HMO but not at UNIV, enabled earlier detection of congenital heart disease (CHD) and allowed more women with severely affected pregnancies the option to terminate. In both settings, indications with the highest yields for CHD included a right-sided stomach, abnormal four-chamber view, sustained bradycardia, abnormal fetal karyotype, fetal omphalocele, and maternal indomethacin. An echogenic reflector was identified in 86 pregnancies (7%) and did not represent a risk factor for CHD. No major differences in CHD were found between UNIV and HMO. In summary, this study found a significantly earlier diagnosis of CHD at HMO than at UNIV. This discrepancy between programs may explain, at least in part, the trend toward a higher frequency of decisions to terminate affected pregnancies at HMO than at UNIV, despite similar fetal findings.
Some trends in constitutive equation model development for high-temperature behavior of fast-reactor structural alloys

Abstract Constitutive equations for representing the inelastic behavior (elastic-plastic and creep) of fast-reactor structural alloys are discussed with an emphasis on 2 1 4 Cr-1 Mo steel. Equations that are recommended for use in current design activities are outlined, and background information to their selection is discussed. Some results from ongoing efforts to establish improved methods are also described. Sample experimental data illustrate specific features of material behavior, and a constitutive equation model that is qualitatively capable of representing these observations is described. The model is a flow potential formulation, and its relationship to the works of other investigators is identified.
Survival, growth and reproduction of the salt-marsh amphipod Uhlorchestia spartinophila reared on natural diets of senescent and dead Spartina alterniflora leaves

The talitrid amphipod Uhlorchestia spartinophila lives in close association with standing-dead leaves of the smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Loisel in salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of North America. This study probed the strength of the trophic link between the amphipod population and the decomposition process in this detrital-based ecosystem. We measured survival, growth and reproductive output in groups of amphipods reared for 6 wk on five diets derived from sheath and blade portions of S. alterniflora leaves just prior to (senescent) and during (dead) decomposition. In unfed treatments, the daily specific mortality rate was 0.391 and starved amphipods survived no longer than 11 d. Among the fed treatments, a diet of senescent sheaths resulted in the lowest survival (20%) and yielded no offspring. Groups fed senescent blades, dead sheaths, dead blades and unwashed dead sheaths had survival rates of 56 to 84% and produced 5.0 to 12.5 offspring replicate−1. Sex ratio usually favored females, but approached unity in treatments with high overall survival, suggesting that quality of available food resources may influence sex ratio in this species. Mean specific growth rates (mm mm−1 d−1) ranged from 0.013 to 0.016, and matched previous estimates of growth from field populations. Overall ecological performance (survival + growth + reproduction) was similar for all food treatments, except senescent sheaths, which yielded a final mean (±SD) dry biomass (0.4 ± 0.42 mg replicate−1) of amphipods significantly lower than that of other diets (1.7 ± 0.81 to 2.6 ± 0.69 mg replicate−1). Natural diets derived from decomposing cordgrass leaves can fulfill the nutritional requirements of U. spartinophila populations, but variation in initial amounts of living fungal biomass among the five experimental diets only partially explained the responses of amphipods in our experiment. Structural characteristics and variation in rates of fungal occupation within different portions of cordgrass leaves may affect the amphipod's ability to access plant production made available by decomposers.
Perceived Emotion Control Moderates the Relationship Between Neuroticism and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The relationships between neuroticism, perceived emotion control, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) severity were examined in 293 individuals diagnosed with GAD at a specialty anxiety disorders clinic. Hierarchical regression analyses performed within a structural equation modeling framework revealed that (1) neuroticism and perceived emotion control both predicted a latent variable of GAD in the expected direction, and (2) perceived emotion control moderated the relationship between neuroticism and GAD severity, such that lower levels of perceived emotion control were associated with a stronger relationship between neuroticism and GAD severity. The other dimensions of perceived control (i.e., stress and threat control) did not moderate the effect of neuroticism on GAD severity. The findings are discussed with regard to their implications to conceptual models of the psychopathology of GAD, and theory-based differential relationships between dimensions of vulnerability, perceived control, and anxiety disorders.
Generalized performance parameter for single-threshold detection systems.

A new generalized performance parameter for single-threshold detection systems is investigated that provides a more consistent measure of system performance than the conventional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It is shown explicitly that this parameter decreases monotonically as the Bayes risk and probability of error increase, and that it reduces to the SNR under appropriate conditions. An example is presented in which this parameter is monotonic with system performance, but the SNR is not. The analysis, which utilizes normalizing transformations, is also useful in the direct calculation of the Bayes risk, probability of error, and sensitivity, as is considered in detail subsequently ( P. R. Prucnal , Applied Optics19, 3606 ( 1980)).
Ga actions on Cn

Rational actions of the additive group of complex numbers on complex n space are considered. A ring theoretic criterion for properness is given, along with ideal theoretic criteria for local triviality of such actions. The relationship between local triviality and flatness of the polynomial ring over its subring of Ga invariants is investigated.
Microglia and cytokines in neurological disease, with special reference to AIDS and Alzheimer's disease

Microglia are associated with central nervous system (CNS) pathology of both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In AD, microglia, especially those associated with amyloid deposits, have a phenotype that is consistent with a state of activation, including immunoreactivity with antibodies to class II major histocompatibility antigens and to inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1-beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha). Evidence from other studies in rodents indicate that microglia can be activated by neuronal degeneration. These results suggest that microglial activation in AD may be secondary to neurodegeneration and that, once activated, microglia may participate in a local inflammatory cascade that promotes tissue damage and contributes to amyloid formation. In AIDS, microglia are the primary target of retroviral infection. Both ramified and ameboid microglia, in addition to multinucleated giant cells, are infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). The mechanism of microglial infection is not known since microglia lack CD4, the HIV-1 receptor. Microglia display high affinity receptors for immunoglobulins, which makes antibody-mediated viral uptake a possible mechanism of infection. In AIDS, the extent of active viral infection and cytokine production may be critically dependent upon other factors, such as the presence of coinfecting agents. In the latter circumstance, very severe CNS pathology may emerge, including necrotizing lesions. In other circumstances, HIV infection of microglia probably leads to CNS pathology by indirect mechanisms, including release of viral proteins (gp120) and toxic cytokines. Such a mechanism is the best hypothesis for the pathogenesis of vacuolar myelopathy in adults and the diffuse gliosis that characterizes pediatric AIDS, in which very little viral antigen can be detected.
Rabbits fed on β-carotene have higher serum levels of all-trans retinoic acid than those receiving no β-carotene

The aim of the present work was to determine the effect of giving increasing doses of supplements of beta-carotene on serum retinoic acid levels in rabbits. Four groups of 7-week-old female rabbits were fed for 9 weeks on a pelleted diet containing 1.72 mg vitamin A as retinyl acetate/kg and including control gelatin beadlets devoid of beta-carotene or 1, 2 or 4 mg beta-carotene/kg body-weight per d. Serum was collected at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after the beginning of the experiment and the concentration of all-trans retinoic acid was determined by a gradient reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography system following a double-phase extraction. The average concentration of retinoic acid in serum of the combined control and 1 mg beta-carotene/kg groups was 3.80, 3.06 and 2.40 nM at 3, 6 and 9 weeks respectively. The concentrations of retinoic acid in serum of the combined 2 and 4 mg beta-carotene/kg groups were 4.80 nM (P less than 0.05), 3.76 nM (not significant) and 4.90 nM (P less than 0.005) at 3, 6 and 9 weeks respectively. A SAS (SAS Institute Inc., 1985) general linear model repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that the effects of treatment (P less than 0.01), time (P less than 0.05) and treatment x time interaction (P less than 0.05) were statistically significant. It is concluded that giving beta-carotene is associated with higher concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid in the serum of rabbits than in those receiving no beta-carotene.
Local discretization error bounds using interval boundary element method

In this paper, a method to account for the point-wise discretization error in the solution for boundary element method is developed. Interval methods are used to enclose the boundary integral equation and a sharp parametric solver for the interval linear system of equations is presented. The developed method does not assume any special properties besides the Laplace equation being a linear elliptic partial differential equation whose Green's function for an isotropic media is known. Numerical results are presented showing the guarantee of the bounds on the solution as well as the convergence of the discretization error. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Experiments with document components for indexing and retrieval

Abstract The use of document components—such as a term, a sentence, or a whole document — for indexing and retrieval has been investigated employing two medium-size collections. A number of probabilistic similarity measures based on document components are studied, as well as a new method of handling probability estimates involving small sample sizes. It is seen that some of the new similarity measures can provide comparable performance to those methods studied by other investigators. In general, the term and sentence modes result in substantially equal performance, and both are superior to the document mode. However, it may be necessary to use longer documents in order to reveal fully the usefulness of the sentence mode, because documents in our databases may not have sufficient numbers of sentences.
Endocrine profile of Win 49596 in the rat: a novel androgen receptor antagonist.

Abstract Win 49596 is a new orally active, steroidal androgen receptor antagonist. Win 49596 inhibited ventral prostate, seminal vesicle and levator ani weight gain in either 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or testosterone propionate-treated castrated, immature male rats. In intact, adult male rats. Win 49596 significantly inhibited weight gain by the ventral prostate, dorsal lateral prostate and seminal vesicles, but not the testes at doses as low as 50 mg/kg/day × 14 p.o. However, daily oral administration of equivalent antiandrogenic doses of either Win 49596, ICI 176,334, or flutamide for 14 days to mature, intact male rats resulted in elevations of circulating testosterone of approximately 3-, 2-, and 10-fold, respectively. At doses as high as 400 mg/kg p.o. Win 49596 did not have androgenic, progestational, estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity in rat or rabbit models. However, in the Clauberg assay. Win 49596 did have weak antiprogestational activity at doses of 25–400 mg/kg/day p.o. These data indicate that Win 49596 is a peripherally selective antiandrogen that has minimal effects on circulating testosterone levels and is devoid of hormone agonist activity. Thus, Win 49596 may be useful for the treatment of androgen dependent conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic cancer.
Oxidized LDL Decreases l-Arginine Uptake and Nitric Oxide Synthase Protein Expression in Human Platelets Relevance of the Effect of Oxidized LDL on Platelet Function

Background Oxidized LDL (ox-LDL) promotes vasoconstriction and platelet activation. The present study was undertaken to determine the involvement of the l-arginine–nitric oxide (NO) pathway in ox-LDL–mediated platelet activation. Methods and Results Washed human platelets were incubated with native LDL or ox-LDL for 1 hour at 37°C followed by measurement of platelet function and indexes of the l-arginine–NO pathway. Ox-LDL but not native LDL caused a concentration-dependent increase in thrombin-induced platelet aggregation and 14C-serotonin release. These effects of ox-LDL were inhibited by pretreatment of platelets with l-arginine, the precursor of NO. Ox-LDL also caused a concentration-dependent reduction in the uptake of 3H-l-arginine by platelets. In addition, NO synthase activity, measured as conversion of 3H-l-arginine to 3H-l-citrulline, decreased on incubation of platelet cytosol with ox-LDL. Nitrite production was also reduced by treatment of platelets with ox-LDL. These effects of ox-LDL on NO s...
Light and electron microscopic observations on the morphogenesis of the chorioallantoic placenta of the golden hamster (Cricetus auratus). Days seven through nine of gestation.

In the mature placental labyrinth of common myomorph rodents (rat, mouse and hamster) fetal capillaries are separated from maternal blood spaces by trabeculae composed of three distinct cytoplasmic layers. To resolve the controversy regarding the embryonic origin(s) of these layers a correlated light and electron microscopic study was made of the developing placental tissues of the golden hamster during the eighth and ninth days of gestation, the critical period of labyrinth morphogenesis in this species. It was determined that the syncytial inner layer (layer III) of the trabeculae, the layer bordering the fetal capillaries, is derived from the “true” chorionic ectoderm which fuses with the undersurface of the Trager (ectoplacental cone) early on the eighth day of gestation. Both the syncytial middle layer (layer II) and the cellular outer layer (layerI) of the trabeculae, on the other hand, were found to differentiate from the trophoblastic cells of the Trager. Allantoic mesenchyme, which approximates the fused chorionic-Trager tissues late on day eight and is the source of the fetal capillaries and mesenchyme of the labyrinth, was noted to exert a critical inductive effect on the morphogenesis of syncytial layers II and III. On the basis of fine structure, the developing labyrinth appears not to be a major site for maternal-fetal transfer of macromolecules nor to be involved to a significant degree in the production of proteins or steroids for secretion.
Chloromethane stimulates growth of Methylomicrobium album BG8 on methanol

Studies were performed to determine if the growth of Methylomicrobium album BG8 on methanol could be enhanced through the provision of chloromethane. M. album BG8 was found to be able to oxidize chloromethane via the particulate methane monooxygenase with an apparent Ks of 11±3 μM and Vmax of 15±0.6 nmol (min mg protein)−1. When up to 2.6 mM chloromethane was provided with 5 mM methanol, methanotrophic growth was significantly enhanced in comparison to the absence of chloromethane, indicating that methanotrophs can utilize chloromethane to support growth, although it could not serve as a sole growth substrate. [14C]chloromethane was found to be oxidized to [14C]CO2 as well as incorporated into biomass. These results indicate that reactions previously thought to be cometabolic may actually provide some benefit to methanotrophs and that these cells can use multiple compounds to enhance growth.
Giving refuge: reflections on working with asylum seekers.

Ten years ago, a psychiatrist colleague asked me to see Annie, a young Cameroonian woman who was seeking asylum in the United States, because a medical examination would be helpful to support the applicant’s case. Annie was not easy to interview. She spoke in a whisper, made little eye contact, and sat in an attitude of fear, with her shoulders hunched and knees drawn in. When she was 20 years old, she was arrested and abused in prison, and the story she told me was chilling: For two weeks, she suffered daily beatings, food deprivation, and multiple sexual assaults before a sympathetic soldier helped her to escape. The soldier told her that if she were rearrested, she would be killed. Annie was not involved in politics and had no strong convictions to sustain her during her ordeal. She never knew for certain why she had been arrested but suspected that it was because of her boyfriend’s political activities. After her escape, relatives helped her to flee, and she arrived in the United States and requested asylum. At the time I met her, she was living with strangers, sheltered by a local church. Several computer crashes later, I cannot find the evaluation I wrote on her behalf, but I remember that thin, frightened, young woman and how terribly alone she felt. Like others I would later meet, she suffered hourly reminders of her
Slow Convergence of the Born Approximation for Electron-Atom Ionization

It is usually assumed that the first-Born approximation for electron-atom ionization becomes valid for the fully differential cross section at sufficiently high impact energies, at least for asymmetric collisions where the projectile suffers only a small energy loss and is scattered by a small angle. Here we investigate this assumption quantitatively for ionization of hydrogen atoms. We find that convergence of the Born approximation to the correct nonrelativistic result is generally achieved only at energies where relativistic effects start to become important. Consequently, the assumption that the Born approximation becomes valid for high energy is inaccurate, since by the time it converges, nonrelativistic scattering theory is not valid.
Electrode shape change during deposition onto an array of parallel strips

Abstract Shape change processes were investigated at a cathode consisting of parallel metal strips separated by, and coplanar with, insulating strips. Copper deposition was carried out in well-stirred acidified sulphate baths with controlled variation of conductivity and potential. At various times during the course of deposition, the cathode shape was measured with a stylus-type profilometer. Experimental data were compared with theoretical calculations made with a finite element model which predicted evolution of smooth deposit shapes based on secondary current distribution principles. Agreement between experimental and theoretical results was good, but was adversely influenced by surface roughness which was not accounted for in the calculations.
An application of Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) to three national forests in Colorado and Wyoming

Abstract Despite widespread recognition that social-value information is needed to inform stakeholders and decision makers regarding trade-offs in environmental management, it too often remains absent from ecosystem service assessments. Although quantitative indicators of social values need to be explicitly accounted for in the decision-making process, they need not be monetary. Ongoing efforts to map such values demonstrate how they can also be made spatially explicit and relatable to underlying ecological information. We originally developed Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) as a tool to assess, map, and quantify nonmarket values perceived by various groups of ecosystem stakeholders. With SolVES 2.0 we have extended the functionality by integrating SolVES with Maxent maximum entropy modeling software to generate more complete social-value maps from available value and preference survey data and to produce more robust models describing the relationship between social values and ecosystems. The current study has two objectives: (1) evaluate how effectively the value index, a quantitative, nonmonetary social-value indicator calculated by SolVES, reproduces results from more common statistical methods of social-survey data analysis and (2) examine how the spatial results produced by SolVES provide additional information that could be used by managers and stakeholders to better understand more complex relationships among stakeholder values, attitudes, and preferences. To achieve these objectives, we applied SolVES to value and preference survey data collected for three national forests, the Pike and San Isabel in Colorado and the Bridger–Teton and the Shoshone in Wyoming. Value index results were generally consistent with results found through more common statistical analyses of the survey data such as frequency, discriminant function, and correlation analyses. In addition, spatial analysis of the social-value maps produced by SolVES provided information that was useful for explaining relationships between stakeholder values and forest uses. Our results suggest that SolVES can effectively reproduce information derived from traditional statistical analyses while adding spatially explicit, social-value information that can contribute to integrated resource assessment, planning, and management of forests and other ecosystems.
Cyberspace meets domestic space: Personal computers, women's work, and the gendered territories of the family home

During the early 1990s, marketing discourse in key US magazines attached a newly invented “feminine”; identity to the personal computer, fuelling a second great wave of home adoption. These public fantasies, which attempted to ease the machine into the pre‐gendered spaces of the American family home, drew upon a slate of postfeminist appeals, emphasizing the PC's value in women's work‐both income‐producing and family‐centered. This three‐part paper traces how Utopian expectations for a postfeminist work tool and recommendations about where to place it on the domestic map ultimately collided with the gendered constraints built into the pre‐established territories of the US home. The first part of the paper documents the addition of postfeminist work applications to a formerly masculinized technology; the second part reviews the marketing appeals that extolled the PC's potential to help a woman produce income, manage her household, and provide educational advantages to her children, all at once; the final p...