cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rotator Cuff Tear Size Regulates Fibroadipogenic Progenitor Number and Gene Expression Profile in the Supraspinatus Independent of Patient Age.

Background:Fatty infiltration of rotator cuff muscle is a limiting factor in the success of repairs. Fibroadipogenic progenitors (FAPs) are a population of stem cells within the rotator cuff that c...
The current status of cholera toxoid research in the United States.

One of the major efforts in cholera research in the United States has been the development of a cholera toxoid sufficiently free of somatic antigen that it would be suitable for the detection of any effectiveness that antitoxic immunity may have in preventing or ameliorating clinical cholera. In consideration of the degree of effectiveness of cholera vaccines [8-10] and the case rates of cholera that might be anticipated in various endemic areas [7], the Cholera Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health recognized that field trial populations would have to be very large if one wished to detect the effects of antitoxic immunity superimposed upon antibacterial immunity and therefore, from its earliest considerations, the committee established as one of the requirements for a toxoid that it be very low in somatic antigen content. It should be emphasized that the objective of the work to be reported here was the development of a toxoid that would be an experimental tool for the study of antitoxic immunity rather than at this time to develop an immunizing agent of optimal effectiveness.
Bioluminescence Tracks the in vivo effects of CCI-779 in a minimal residual disease model of HNSCC

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 4470 Overexpression of eIF4E in “tumor-free” surgical margins of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients is an independent predictor of recurrence and appears to be functionally active through activation of the Akt/mTOR pathway. mTOR inhibitors are cytostatic agents and hence best used in combination therapy or as single agents in minimal residual disease (MRD). We have previously shown using established and MRD models in nude mice that the rapamycin analog CCI-779 inhibits tumor growth. However to determine efficacy of this drug we have used traditional methods of tumor measurements and sacrifice of the mice. Bioluminescent imaging (BLI) is a sensitive, non-invasive method of detecting and quantifying minimal tumor cells. We hypothesize that BLI can provide us with a way of monitoring the in vivo effects of the mTOR inhibitor CCI-779 in a model of MRD thus offering an exciting preclinical strategy to assess tumor response. A HNSCC cell line FaDu was stably transfected with the reporter gene luciferase. 1× 106 FaDu9000 cells (clone with the highest luciferase activity) were pipetted into a surgical bed created in the dorsal flank of the animal. Ten animals were randomly assigned to one of two groups, control or drug (CCI-779 at 20mg/kg) to undergo BLI twice a week. After injecting luciferin, photons emitted from the luciferase expressing cells were quantified using the xenogen IVIS system which measures the photons/second in region of interest (ROI). The effects of the drug on the mTOR pathway were determined by analyzing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The first scan was performed immediately after surgery and there was no statistically significant difference in photon counts/second between the control and treated group, indicating the number of viable cells implanted were similar in the two groups of mice. CCI-779 prevented tumor formation and the average tumor volume at three weeks in the treated mice (35+ 13mm3) compared to the control group (408+40mm3). Using BLI we were able to observe the effects of the drug on the longitudinal growth of tumor cells. There were significant differences in luciferase activity between the control (32×105 + 3.7×105) and treated group (3.2×105 + 1×105) of mice at three weeks. Analysis of PBMC’s for total 4E-BP1 showed a decrease in the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 after treatment, indicating the antitumor effects were a result of mTOR inhibition. We have previously shown using a large sample size that CCI-779 prevents tumor formation and increases survival in MRD model of HNSCC. The methods of assaying tumor growth were by tumor volume using calipers. Using BLI we were able to both temporally and spatially measure tumor growth in our model of MRD and monitor response to therapy. This technology has great implications for accelerating the preclinical stages of drug development especially in drugs targeted at minimal residual disease.
Activity dependent CAM cleavage and neurotransmission

Spatially localized proteolysis represents an elegant means by which neuronal activity dependent changes in synaptic structure, and thus experience dependent learning and memory, can be achieved. In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that matrix metalloproteinase and adamalysin activity is concentrated at the cell surface, and emerging evidence suggests that increased peri-synaptic expression, release and/or activation of these proteinases occurs with enhanced excitatory neurotransmission. Synaptically expressed cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) could therefore represent important targets for neuronal activity-dependent proteolysis. Several CAM subtypes are expressed at the synapse, and their cleavage can influence the efficacy of synaptic transmission through a variety of non-mutually exclusive mechanisms. In the following review, we discuss mechanisms that regulate neuronal activity-dependent synaptic CAM shedding, including those that may be calcium dependent. We also highlight CAM targets of activity-dependent proteolysis including neuroligin and intercellular adhesion molecule-5 (ICAM-5). We include discussion focused on potential consequences of synaptic CAM shedding, with an emphasis on interactions between soluble CAM cleavage products and specific pre- and post-synaptic receptors.
Initial Public Offerings

This article highlights the important consequences of initial public offerings (IPOs) for firms operating in international markets. In a nutshell, going public can enhance a firms' ability to gain access to the economies made available by globalization. Additionally, the endorsement of prominent figures during the IPO process can also produce long-term benefits for firms wishing to operate across borders. Keywords: IPOs; strategic alliances; acquisitions; VC; investment banks; underwriters
The (Unrealized) Promise of School-to-Work Education: Assessing the Impact of the School-to-Work Opportunites Act of 1994 on Low-Income and Minority Students

The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STWOA) encOlu-aged schools across the country to implement educational curricula that explicitly linked the worlds of school and work. Legislators hoped that integrating work-based learning with traditional classroom instruction would make education more relevant to all students. This Note examines whether STWOA succeeded in encouraging schools to integrate school-towork programs into traditional classroom instruction. In particular, it explores school-to-work programs in Massachusetts to determine their effect on minority and low-income students. Although STWOA has largely failed to integrate work-based programs into the mainstream of educational curricula nationwide, this Note contends that STWOA helped to catalyze the implementation of school-to-work programs in key school districts such as Boston. After evaluating the benefits of work-based curricula to students in general and minority and low-income students in particular, this Note concludes that the federal government should reauthorize funding to school districts that have shown a commitment to school-to-work education.
Plasma-etching induced damage in thin oxide

It is pointed out that plasma Al etching and resist ashing processes cause Fowler-Nordheim current to flow through the oxide and that plasma-induced damage can be simulated and modeled as damage produced by constant current electrical stress. The current produced by the plasma process increases with the antenna size of the device structure. C-V measurement is a more sensitive technique for characterizing plasma-etching-induced damage than oxide breakdown. The stress current is collected only through the aluminum surfaces not covered by the photoresist during plasma processes. The plasma stress current is proportional to Al pad peripheral length during Al etching and Al pad area during photoresist stripping. A model of oxide damage due to plasma etching is proposed. >
A Rational-Function Identity Related to the Murnaghan–Nakayama Formula for the Characters of S n

The Murnaghan–Nakayama formula for the characters of Sn is derived from Young's seminormal representation, by a direct combinatorial argument. The main idea is a rational function identity which when stated in a more general form involves Mobius functions of posets whose Hasse diagrams have a planar embedding. These ideas are also used to give an elementary exposition of the main properties of Young's seminormal representations.
The Growing Complexity of the United States Patent System

In this Article, we compare a data set of 1000 U.S. patents issued between 1996 and 1998 to a similarly random sample of 1000 patents issued twenty years earlier, between 1976 and 1978. By studying the differences between the groups, we can get a clear picture of how the patent system has changed over time. The results are dramatic. By almost any measure - subject matter, time spent in prosecution, number of prior art references cited, number of claims, number of continuation applications filed, number of inventors - the patents issued in the late 1990s are more complex than those issued in the 1970s. While some of these effects are attributable to the patenting of new technologies like biotechnology and software, unknown in the early 1970s, the increase in complexity is robust even across areas of technology. Further, the patent system in the 1990s is more heterogeneous than it was in the 1970s. There are far greater differences by area of technology and by nationality in how patents are being prosecuted in the 1990s than there were in the 1970s. We explore a number of possible explanations for these results, and discuss the policy implications of the lack of uniformity that now characterizes our patent system.
Hyperhomocysteinemia, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and alcoholic liver injury

Deficiencies in vitamins or other factors (B6, B12, folic acid, betaine) and genetic disorders for the metabolism of the non-protein amino acid-homocysteine (Hcy) lead to hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). HHcy is an integral component of several disorders including cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, diabetes and alcoholic liver disease. HHcy unleashes mediators of inflammation such as NFkappaB, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8, increases production of intracellular superoxide anion causing oxidative stress and reducing intracellular level of nitric oxide (NO), and induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress which can explain many processes of Hcy-promoted cell injury such as apoptosis, fat accumulation, and inflammation. Animal models have played an important role in determining the biological effects of HHcy. ER stress may also be involved in other liver diseases such as alpha (1)-antitrypsin (alpha(1)-AT) deficiency and hepatitis C and/or B virus infection. Future research should evaluate the possible potentiative effects of alcohol and hepatic virus infection on ER stress-induced liver injury, study potentially beneficial effects of lowering Hcy and preventing ER stress in alcoholic humans, and examine polymorphism of Hcy metabolizing enzymes as potential risk-factors for the development of HHcy and liver disease.
Aging in the relaxor ferroelectric ( PbMn 1 ∕ 3 Nb 2 ∕ 3 O 3 ) 0.90 ( PbTiO 3 ) 0.10

The relaxor ferroelectric $({\mathrm{PbMn}}_{1∕3}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{2∕3}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}{)}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}({\mathrm{PbTiO}}_{3}{)}_{x}$, $x=0.1$ [PMN/PT (90/10)], is found to exhibit several regimes of complicated aging behavior. Just below the susceptibility peak there is a regime exhibiting rejuvenation but little memory. At lower temperature, there is a regime with mainly cumulative aging, expected for simple domain growth. At still lower temperature, there is a regime with both rejuvenation and memory, reminiscent of spin glasses. PMN/PT (88/12) is also found to exhibit some of these aging regimes. This qualitative aging behavior is reminiscent of that seen in reentrant ferromagnets, which exhibit a crossover from a domain-growth ferromagnetic regime into a reentrant spin-glass regime at lower temperatures. These striking parallels suggest a picture of competition in PMN/PT (90/10) between ferroelectric correlations formed in the domain-growth regime with glassy correlations formed in the spin-glass regime. PMN/PT (90/10) is also found to exhibit frequency-aging time scaling of the time-dependent part of the out-of-phase susceptibility for temperatures $260\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ and below. The stability of aging effects to thermal cycles and field perturbations is also reported.
DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Phosphorylation of IκBα and IκBβ Regulates NF-κB DNA Binding Properties

Regulation of the IκBα and IκBβ proteins is critical for modulating NF-κB-directed gene expression. Both IκBα and IκBβ are substrates for cellular kinases that phosphorylate the amino and carboxy termini of these proteins and regulate their function. In this study, we utilized a biochemical fractionation scheme to purify a kinase activity which phosphorylates residues in the amino and carboxy termini of both IκBα and IκBβ. Peptide microsequence analysis by capillary high-performance liquid chromatography ion trap mass spectroscopy revealed that this kinase was the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). DNA-PK phosphorylates serine residue 36 but not serine residue 32 in the amino terminus of IκBα and also phosphorylates threonine residue 273 in the carboxy terminus of this protein. To determine the biological relevance of DNA-PK phosphorylation of IκBα, murine severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) cell lines which lack the DNA-PKcs gene were analyzed. Gel retardation analysis using extract prepared from these cells demonstrated constitutive nuclear NF-κB DNA binding activity, which was not detected in extracts prepared from SCID cells complemented with the human DNA-PKcs gene. Furthermore, IκBα that was phosphorylated by DNA-PK was a more potent inhibitor of NF-κB binding than nonphosphorylated IκBα. These results suggest that DNA-PK phosphorylation of IκBα increases its interaction with NF-κB to reduce NF-κB DNA binding properties.
Carisoprodol: an unrecognized drug of abuse.

During a 6-month monitoring period, carisoprodol was detected in the urine specimens of 19 patients for whom drug screening had been ordered for purposes of patient care. The clinical history suggested that in 7 cases the drug was abused or implicated in a suicide attempt or gesture. In another 7 cases, the drug was used primarily for medical purposes, and in 5 cases the reason for use could not be determined. One patient ingested homemade tablets that were found to contain carisoprodol. In an additional case, the drug was detected in breast milk. Physical findings, clinical history, and treatment are described, and the profile of a typical carisoprodol user is discussed. It seems that carisoprodol has become an unrecognized drug of abuse, at least in our community. This drug and its metabolite, meprobamate, should be included in comprehensive drug screening. Language: en
The effects of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act on female labor supply

This article analyzes the effects of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) on the labor force participation rates of married women by estimating a dynamic model of labor force participation. Results show that the PDA increased the labor force participation rate of pregnant women by 8.2 percentage points, of women with a child less than one year old by 3.4 percentage points, and of women with older children by 1.5 percentage points. Counterfactual policy simulations show that the provision of unpaid leave will increase the labor force participation rate of women with older children by an additional 3.7 percentage points.
The Illegality of the U.S. Policy of Preemptive Self-Defense Under International Law

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, domestic and foreign political actors who might otherwise have balked if the world’s lone superpower claimed a broad right to use force abroad instead offered the U.S. a strong showing of goodwill and support.1 Perhaps interpreting this solidarity as willingness to support American uses of force abroad regardless of their permissibility under international law, the Bush administration articulated a provocative interpretation of the right of self-defense recognized in the United Nations Charter. In a formal policy statement, the administration claimed that this right, which is an exception to the general prohibition of the use of force in international relations, justified the use of preemptive force against “enemies” of the United States.2 The Bush administration’s assertion of a right of preemptive self-defense, along with its reliance on this purported right to justify its use of force against Iraq, has drawn considerable criticism on international law grounds.3 It is debatable whether
Nutritional Risk Index predicts mortality in hospitalized advanced heart failure patients.

Background Hospitalized advanced heart failure (HF) patients are at high risk for malnutrition and death. The Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) is a simple, well-validated tool for identifying patients at risk for nutrition-related complications. We hypothesized that, in advanced HF patients from the ESCAPE (Evaluation Study of Congestive Heart Failure and Pulmonary Artery Catheterization Effectiveness) trial, the NRI would improve risk discrimination for 6-month all-cause mortality. Methods We analyzed the 160 ESCAPE index admission survivors with complete follow-up and NRI data, calculated as follows: NRI=(1.519 × discharge serum albumin [in g/dl]) + (41.7 × discharge weight [in kg] / ideal body weight [in kg]); as in previous studies, if discharge weight is greater than ideal body weight (IBW), this ratio was set to 1. The previously developed ESCAPE mortality model includes: age; 6-minute walk distance; cardiopulmonary resuscitation/mechanical ventilation; discharge β-blocker prescription and diuretic dose; and discharge serum sodium, blood urea nitrogen and brain natriuretic peptide levels. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling for the outcome of 6-month all-cause mortality. Results Thirty of 160 patients died within 6 months of hospital discharge. The median NRI was 96 (IQR 91 to 102), reflecting mild-to-moderate nutritional risk. The NRI independently predicted 6-month mortality, with adjusted HR 0.60 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.93, p = 0.02) per 10 units, and increased Harrell's c-index from 0.74 to 0.76 when added to the ESCAPE model. Body mass index and NRI at hospital admission did not predict 6-month mortality. The discharge NRI was most helpful in patients with high (≥ 20%) predicted mortality by the ESCAPE model, where observed 6-month mortality was 38% in patients with NRI 100 ( p = 0.04). Conclusions The NRI is a simple tool that can improve mortality risk stratification at hospital discharge in hospitalized patients with advanced HF.
Hepatic fibrosis is enhanced and accompanied by robust oval cell activation after chronic carbon tetrachloride administration to Egr-1-deficient mice.

The transcription factor early growth response (Egr)−1 regulates the expression of genes required for execution of the wound healing response. Multiple cycles of injury, coupled to incomplete wound healing, lead to fibrosis. Therefore, we hypothesized that Egr-1 is required for the development of hepatic fibrosis. To test this hypothesis, we exposed wild-type and egr-1−/− mice to acute or chronic carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Acute CCl4 exposure established a profibrotic milieu in the liver, including activation of hepatic stellate cells as well as expression of type 1 collagen genes and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase 1 in both wild-type and egr-1−/− mice. This response was exacerbated in egr-1−/− mice. After chronic CCl4 exposure, hepatic fibrosis was established in both genotypes; however, the fibrotic response was profoundly worsened in Egr-1–deficient mice. Importantly, enhanced fibrosis in egr-1−/− mice was accompanied by a robust activation of the oval cell response, suggesting more severe liver injury and/or reduced hepatocyte proliferation when compared with wild-type mice. Hepatic expression of genes indicative of oval cell activation, as well as the number of cells expressing A6, a mouse oval cell marker, was greater in egr-1−/− mice. Taken together, these data reveal novel roles for Egr-1 as a negative regulator of both CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis and the oval cell response.
On interfacial tension at a rigid apolar wall-water interface.

Evidence is presented that the interfacial tension or excess free energy per unit area of the planar interface between extensive, rigid, apolar walls and modeled water is an arithmetic sum of three independent quantities: the surface tension of water, the contribution of the integrated wall–water dispersion interaction, and the contribution of the net exclusion volume associated with the rigid, noninteracting wall. The fact that the interfacial tension is linearly dependent on the wall–water interaction parameter is the inspiration for two conjectures: the interfacial water structure is independent of eSL, and the mean interfacial water density profile is not a measure of the interfacial water structure.
Mechanical and thermal analysis of raisin components

Abstract Moisture content is known to change the mechanical properties of raisins. The progressive chemical removal of cell components was carried out to assess their contribution to the overall raisin properties. It was achieved by preparing an alcohol insoluble residue which was then sequentially extracted and its carbohydrate composition analysed. The removal of structure and geometry effects was undertaken by pressing uniform mouldings of the raisin and its insoluble components, which were conditioned over saturated salt solutions at room temperature. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) of the mouldings indicated their decreasing stiffness with increasing temperature as well as the occurrence of the glass transition, which was complemented by Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The data from DSC and DMTA were interpreted in terms of contributions from the raisin cell-wall components and sugars and showed the glass transitions of the cell-wall polymers to be consistent with published results on grapes and wood.
A simple, inexpensive, and precise microcell for the exchange dialysis and equilibrium dialysis of small samples.

Abstract A simple equilibrium dialysis cell may be quickly prepared from common, inexpensive microcentrifuge tubes. The resulting cell is easy to use and precise enough for quantitative dialysis studies of small samples (
Asymptotic intensity of the quasi-periodic oscillations in fully developed turbulent shear layers

Etude experimentale en regime de developpement et en regime asymptotique des couches de cisaillement turbulentes engendrees par une plaque separatrice et un demi-ecran
Automated memory leak detection for production use

This paper presents Sniper, an automated memory leak detection tool for C/C++ production software. To track the staleness of allocated memory (which is a clue to potential leaks) with little overhead (mostly
A Constructive Deconstruction of Deconstructionists: A Response to Demeritt

(2001). A Constructive Deconstruction of Deconstructionists: A Response to Demeritt. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Vol. 91, No. 2, pp. 338-344.
Rotation to achieve factorial invariance

Under certain conditions it is reasonable to assume that the same factor pattern matrix will describe the regression of observed on factor scores in different populations. However, ordinary factoring procedures will not reveal in general the existence of such a factor pattern matrix. Two procedures for rotating any number of factor pattern matrices based on different populations to conform to a single “best fitting” factor pattern matrix are developed in this paper. It is assumed that the same number of factors have been determined for each population. Both procedures will yield oblique results in the various populations. The procedures are illustrated with data taken from the 1939 Holzinger-Swineford monograph. Four groups of individuals are utilized.
A comparison of positive and negative contrast effects

Rats originally trained on large reward displayed negative contrast when shifted to a varied large/small reward schedule, while rats trained on the small reward schedule displayed positive contrast when shifted to the varied reward schedule. The durations of the obtained positive and negative contrast effects were comparable. These data, in conjunction with previous findings, suggest an appraisal of the general characteristics of theoretical accounts of contrast effects.
New Harpacticoid Copepods Associated With Pacific Cephalopods

[Trois nouvelles especes de copepodes Harpacticoides appartenant a la famille des Tisbidae Stebbing, 1910 sont decrites: Octopinella tenacis gen. et. sp. nov., Cholidyella breviseta sp. nov. et C. nesisi sp. nov. Toutes ces especes de copepodes parasitent des octopodes dans les eaux pacifiques littorales du Japon et des Kouriles., Trois nouvelles especes de copepodes Harpacticoides appartenant a la famille des Tisbidae Stebbing, 1910 sont decrites: Octopinella tenacis gen. et. sp. nov., Cholidyella breviseta sp. nov. et C. nesisi sp. nov. Toutes ces especes de copepodes parasitent des octopodes dans les eaux pacifiques littorales du Japon et des Kouriles.]
Indexing and searching handwritten medical forms

Extracting and reading handwritten data from medical forms is an important task in medical informatics as it paves the way for efficient archival, indexing, and retrieval. This paper addresses two important challenges: (i) extraction of handwritten text data from images of carbon copies, and (ii) intelligent use of context to reduce lexicons to make the task of handwriting recognition tractable. We have developed a smart binarization algorithm targeted to carbon copy images that outperforms methods reported in the literature. The lexicon reduction method is based on learning the medical concept, and hence the probable medical terms to be encountered in the narrative part that describes the chief complaint of the patient by training on OCR output. In our experiments, we have worked with about 600 medical forms, 20 medical concepts, and a lexicon size of 4,700. We have observed that if the concept is one of top 3 choices, the lexicon can be reduced by two-thirds on an unseen form.
SERIAL LEVELS OF D-DIMER PREDICT SHORT TERM OUTCOME IN SYSTEMIC JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (s-JRA). • 2339

We previously reported that levels of D-dimer, a measure of fibrin degradation, were elevated in patients with active s-JRA. We therefore analyzed serial levels in 11 patients to determine whether such levels might parallel disease course or predict outcome. Levels were measured by a semiquantitative latex agglutination assay and were reported as 8 ng/dl (scored as 0, 1, 2, 3 respectively). We obtained 3-10 of these levels per patient over 5-34 months, and correlated them with hematocrit, WBC and platelet counts, ESR, joint count, duration of AM stiffness, and maximal fever. In this group of patients, a D-dimer score of 2 or 3 indicated (1) a current severe complication (pericarditis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy), (2) subsequent severe course defined as ≥4 months of persistent fever of ≥38.3° C, or severe arthritis (joint count >10 or AM stiffness≥45 min), or (3) recurrence of any of these signs/symptoms upon tapering of corticosteroids (steroid dependence). A score of ≥1 in patients on any dose of corticosteroid or other immunomodulatory agent (methotrexate, azathioprine, immunoglobulin) predicted disease exacerbation with medication taper, even when other markers such as hematocrit, platelet count, and ESR had normalized. Conversely, a score of 0 in patients off these agents or on low-dose steroid (≤0.25 mg/kg/d) predicted remission or mild course during the remainder of the follow-up period, even when other markers such as ESR were still abnormal. These data indicate that levels of D-dimer may predict response to medications and short-term outcome in s-JRA.
Nuclear relaxation in the superconducting state of YBa2Cu3O7: Evidence for an s+id state.

We study the relationship between the symmetry of the pairing state and the NMR measurements in the superconducting state of YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7]. We find that among various pairing states including [ital s]-wave, [ital d]-wave, and [ital s]+[ital id] states, only the [ital s]+[ital id] state is in qualitative agreement with [ital both] the Knight shift [ital and] 1/[ital T][sub 1] measurements. This conclusion is further supported by the agreement between the calculated result using the [ital s]+[ital id] state and the experimental data on the ratio of the nuclear relaxation rates of Cu(2) and O(2,3) nuclei which cannot be fit by either [ital s]-wave or [ital d]-wave states.
The Nature and Possibility of Public Philosophy

The article argues that there is a central problem with the concept of public philosophy, in that philosophy is partly defined by questioning reflection on its own sense, while public or popular culture characteristically relies unreflectively on its ultimate givens, and these are mutually exclusive modes of thought. The article proposes, however, that because of philosophy’s reflection on and potential questioning of its own sense it has a paradoxical structure of foundational and comprehensive conflict with itself and its own procedure, and that this self-divergence allows a genuinely philosophical role for public philosophy. In the public context, acknowledged failure to understand beyond a certain point makes room for a limitation of sense that incompletely but effectively substitutes for the properly philosophical explicit and questioning reflection on the nature of sense as such and on the possibility that even what we do understand about the relevant issues fails to have sense.
Hormonal control of protein granule accumulation in fat bodies of Drosophila melanogaster larvae.

It has been previously shown that large granules of protein accumulate in the larval fat body of holometabolous insects shortly before pupation. In the butterfly Calpodes ethlius there is evidence that the protein in these granules is sequestered from the hemolymph and that their accumulation is controlled by the molting hormone, ecdysone. Evidence as to hormonal control of granule accumulation in Drosophila melanosaster is conflicting. In this thesis it is shown that if 3 H-labelled proteins and 14 C labelled amino acids are injected into D. melanogaster larvae at the time of granule formation, the proteins are incorporated into the granules but the free amino acids are not. The conclusion that all proteins in the granules are preformed hemolymph proteins is reinforced by the observation that injection of cycloheximide shortly before first appearance of the granules did not in any way interfere with their formation. It is shown that injection of ecdysterone into early third instar larvae will induce precocious formation of granules. When fat bodies are incubated in vitro in media containing serum, addition of ecdysterone consistently causes granule formation. However, granules sometimes form in the absence of added hormone. Addition of 50 mg/ml or more protein consistently causes the formation of small granules, whether or not hormone is also present. When fat bodies are incubated in media without serum, granules consistently appear in aerated media without addition of hormone. However, addition of hormone causes the formation of larger granules which appear earlier. It is therefore concluded that in D. melanogaster ecdysone is sufficient but not necessary for granule formation. Since the granules appear seventeen hours before pupariation, while ecdysone is secreted only four hours before pupariation, it is suggested that ecdysone is not involved in control of the natural appearance of the granules in D. melanogaster. The hypothesis is presented that the granules form spontaneously as soon as the juvenile hormone titer falls below a certain level. In the course of this work it was incidentally noticed that injection of ecdysterone into early third instar larvae caused a syndrome which resembled a partial and abortive prepupal molt. No puparium was formed and the larvae died within a few days.
Atomistic mechanism of bulk metallic glass formation

The question of alloy selection for bulk metallic glasses is addressed from the atomistic point of view, in relation to the fragility of liquid. By extending the topological theory of glass formation to multi-component systems, it is suggested that increasing the number of elements involved, increasing the atomic size ratio, increasing the attractive force between small and large atoms, and introducing a repulsive potential between small atoms will help the formation of bulk metallic glasses.
Decreased Inflammation and Improved Survival With Recombinant Human Activated Protein C Treatment in Experimental Acute Pancreatitis

Hypothesis Drotrecogin alfa (activated), the pharmacologic form of activated protein C and the first Food and Drug Administration–approved drug for treatment of severe sepsis, is beneficial in experimental acute pancreatitis (AP). Design Animal study. Setting Laboratory. Subjects Male Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions Mild (intravenous cerulein) or severe (intravenous cerulein plus intraductal glycodeoxycholic acid) AP was induced in 72 rats, and coagulation evaluated. Rats with severe AP were randomized to treatment with drotrecogin alfa (activated), 100 μg/kg per hour, or isotonic sodium chloride. Main Outcome Measures Histologic scoring of pancreatic necrosis, inflammation of the pancreas and lung (measured by myeloperoxidase concentration), coagulation measures, and 24-hour survival. Results Severe consumptive coagulopathy, hemoconcentration, and leukocytosis were observed 6 hours after induction of severe AP, but not in mild AP. Treatment of AP with drotrecogin did not worsen coagulation measures. Although the degree of pancreatic necrosis was comparable in treated and untreated animals with severe AP, drotrecogin significantly reduced myeloperoxidase levels in the pancreas ( P = .009) and lungs ( P = .03). The 24-hour survival in severe AP was markedly improved in animals treated with drotrecogin (86% vs 38%; P = .05). Conclusions Animals with severe AP have severe consumptive coagulopathy, but administration of drotrecogin alfa (activated), 100 μg/kg per hour, does not worsen coagulation abnormalities. Drotrecogin treatment reduces inflammation in the pancreas and lungs and significantly improves survival. These results encourage clinical investigation of drotrecogin in the treatment of severe AP.
Rapid Adsorption of Alcohol Biofuels by High Surface Area Mesoporous Carbons

Abstract Surfactant templated mesoporous carbons were evaluated as biofuel adsorbents through characterization of equilibrium and kinetic behavior for both ethanol and n-butanol. Variations in synthetic conditions enabled facile tuning of specific surface area (500–1300 m2/g) and pore morphology (hexagonally packed cylindrical or BCC spherical pores). n-Butanol was more effectively adsorbed than ethanol for all mesoporous carbons, suggesting a mechanism of hydrophobic adsorption. The adsorbed alcohol capacity increased with elevated specific surface area of the adsorbents, irrespective of pore morphology. While adsorption capacity of these mesoporous carbons is comparable to commercially-available, hydrophobic polymer adsorbents of similar surface area, the pore morphology and structure of mesoporous carbons greatly influenced adsorption rates, enhancing them by up to 1–2 orders of magnitude over commercial polymer adsorbents. Multiple cycles of adsorbent regeneration did not impact the adsorption equilibrium or kinetics. The high chemical and thermal stability of mesoporous carbons provide potential significant advantages over other commonly examined biofuel adsorbents, such as polymers and zeolites.
Effects of plastic constraint on the cyclic and static fatigue behavior of metal/ceramic layered structures

Abstract The role of metal layer thickness and resultant plastic constraint in the metal layer during the failure of metal/ceramic layered structures is examined under cyclic and static loading conditions. Crack-growth experiments were conducted on sandwich specimens consisting of 99.999% pure aluminum layers bonded between 99.5% pure polycrystalline alumina with the metal layer thickness varying from 5 to 100 μm. Under cyclic loading, crack growth occurred primarily at the interface separating the two materials; additionally, stable fatigue cracks deviated into the alumina for thin-layered samples at high driving forces. Under monotonically increasing loads, the fracture toughness increased with Al layer thickness, whereas under cyclic loads the threshold driving force for crack growth conversely decreased with increasing layer thickness. Under static loading in a moist environment, interfacial crack growth was never observed at measurable rates (⩾10−9 m/s) for driving forces up to 200 J/m2; however, for thin-layered samples, subcritical cracks did deviate off the interface and grow, sometimes stably, into the alumina. Trends in crack-growth rates and crack trajectories are examined in terms of the level of constraint, loading conditions and environmental influences.
Absolute free energy of solvation from Monte Carlo simulations using combined quantum and molecular mechanical potentials

A new method for computing the absolute free energy of solvation using combined quantum mechanical (QM) and molecular mechanical (MM) potentials and the Monte Carlo method is presented.
Can Brand Reputation Improve the Odds of Being Reviewed On-Line?

Recent research has reinforced the importance of product reviews in e-commerce. Since posting and maintaining on-line reviews is quite inexpensive, most e-business sites keep them for the entire duration of a product offering. Few products enjoy a steady stream of new reviews. A longitudinal study measured the impact of brand and pooled reputation on the odds of additional reviews being posted. The model was tested by an analysis of 395 e-books sold by Amazon.com over a period of six months. The analysis suggests that goods that start with a highly rated brand are more likely to have additional reviews posted than goods with an initial poorly rated brand. Early pooled reputation of complementary goods also influences the posting of additional reviews. A key practical recommendation is that firms can improve their on-line sales performance by managing their brand portfolio in ways that improve the odds of generating more reviews of their products.
Estrogen receptors similarly mediate the effects of 17β-estradiol on cellular responses but differ in their potencies

17β-estradiol (E2), as the main circulating estrogen hormone, plays critical roles in the physiology and pathophysiology of various tissues. The E2 information is primarily conveyed by the transcription factors, estrogen receptors (ERs) α and β. ERs share similar structural and functional features. Experimental studies indicate that upon binding to E2, ERs directly or indirectly interact with DNA and regulate gene expressions with ERα being more potent transregulator than ERβ. However, studies also showed that ERβ induces alterations in phenotypic features of cancer cell lines independent of E2. These observations suggested that the manner in which the unliganded ERβ induces phenotypic alterations in cancer cell models differs from that of ERα. Studies demonstrated that while requiring E2 for function at low levels of synthesis, the unliganded ERα at augmented concentrations modulates gene expressions and cellular growth. We, therefore, anticipated that heightened levels of ERβ synthesis could similarly circumvent the dependency on E2 leading to gene transcriptions and cellular proliferation. To test this prediction, we used adenovirus-infected cancer cell lines in which ERs were shown to induce genomic and cellular responses. We found that while ERβ at low levels of synthesis was dependent upon E2 for function, the receptor at high levels regulated gene expression and cellular proliferation independent of E2. We then addressed whether ERs at comparable levels that require E2 for function differentially alter gene expressions and cellular responses. We found that ERs mediate the effects of E2 on gene expression, cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and motility with an overlapping pattern. However, ERα was more potent regulator than ERβ in inducing cellular responses. Our results suggest that differences in potencies to regulate the expression of genes are a critical feature of the ER subtypes in mediating E2 signaling in cancer cell lines.
Infants' perception of depth from cast shadows.

Five- and 7-month-old infants viewed displays in which cast shadows provided information that two objects were at different distances. The 7-month-olds reached preferentially for the apparently nearer object under monocular-viewing conditions but exhibited no reaching preference under binocularviewing conditions. These results indicate that 7-month-old infants perceive depth on the basis of cast shadows. The 5-month-olds did not reach preferentially for the apparently nearer object and, therefore, exhibited no evidence of sensitivity to cast shadows as depth information. In a second experiment, 5-month-olds reached preferentially for the nearer of two objects that were similar to those used in the first experiment but were positioned at different distances from the infant. This result indicated that 5-month-olds have the motor skills and motivation necessary to exhibit a reaching preference under the conditions of this study. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that depth perception based on cast shadows first appears between 5 and 7 months of age.
In-plane magnetic texture of sputtered amorphous Fe60B40 detected by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Abstract Angular investigation of Mossbauer line intensities has been performed on a sputtered sample of amorphous Fe 60 B 40 . Accurate data, obtained using linear combination of standard spectra, reveal in-plane magnetic texture of the material.
A solute vapor pressure study of complexes between benzene and caffeine in aqueous solutions

Highly precise vapor pressure-solubility measurements have been obtained for aqueous solutions of caffeine at temperatures in the range 15 to 45°C. Values of the fugacity of benzene at known total concentrations of benzene and caffeine have been calculated and used to derive equilibrium constants for the interaction of benzene molecules with monomers and aggregates of caffeine. Data are quite precisely represented by a mass action model in which benzene attaches to associated caffeine species with a binding constant that increases in direct proportion to the molecular weight of the caffeine aggregate. An equilibrium constant for the reaction benzene monomer+caffeine monomer-benzene·caffeine is reported at each temperature. The role of hydrophobic association effects in stabilizing the various complexes is considered.
Characterization of Irregular Stress Distributions Induced by Klippel Feil Syndrome

Klippel Feil Syndrome (KFS) is a congenital disorder characterized by failure of segmentation of cervical vertebrae, resulting in “fusions” at any level of the cervical spine. Clinical diagnosis of KFS occurs at a mean age of 7.1 years, with children diagnosed with KFS often exhibiting reduced motion and function characterized by reduction of upward and downward motions of the head on the neck (flexion/extension), axial rotation, and tilting of the head side to side (lateral bending). More importantly, however, previous KFS studies have acknowledged possible compromises to the structural integrity and overall health of the cervical spine in the presence of abnormal fusion. Instances of instabilities such as fracture and large amounts of mobility at vertebral segments adjacent to fusion have been recorded, both posing significant neurological and physiological dangers to an individual afflicted with KFS. While fusion and instability appear to be interrelated, more intrinsic evaluation of KFS-related instabilities is needed. Current KFS studies, relying predominantly on static radiographic modalities, have been unsuccessful in identifying factors contributing to craniocervical (CC) destabilization in the presence of congenital vertebral fusion. It has been hypothesized that fusion of vertebral bodies induces abnormal stress distributions that catalyze instances of fracture along any KFS spine segment. Using Finite Element (FE) Modeling and Analysis to characterize motion alterations and irregular stress patterns associated with vertebral fusion, a high fidelity computational representation of a KFS affected cervical spine segment spanning the base of the occiput to C6 was constructed. Computer Tomography (CT) images were used for vertebral reconstruction with soft tissue components such as intervertebral discs (IVDs), articular cartilages (ACs), and the transverse ligament were modeled as homogenous solid components.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Sexually transmitted infections in women who have sex with women: who cares?

What is known about the occurrence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in women who have sex with women (WSW), and should it matter? Demographically, this is not a trivial issue: estimates of lifetime same sex behaviour among women range from 8% to 20%, and between 1.4% and 4.3% of all women may be WSW on the basis either of behaviour or self defined identity.1–3 WSW have traditionally been viewed as “low risk” for STI, including HIV, and data from several small studies seem to support this belief.4–9 However, as is often the case when one attempts to categorise any group by a descriptive “measurement” as complex as sexual behaviour, the real situation is of course more complicated. As several studies have reported, the sexual practices of WSW present a reasonable means for vagina to vagina transmission of infected cervicovaginal secretions,10–12 a concept most directly supported by documentation of trichomoniasis being sexually transmitted between women.13 There is strong evidence that transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV) between female sex partners occurs, as HPV and associated squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) have been detected in WSW who reported no previous sex with men.10,14,15 Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition associated with pelvic inflammatory disease and adverse outcomes of pregnancy,16 occurs in 24% to 51% of WSW,5,9,12,17,18 and sexual transmission of some responsible factor has been debated.12,17 Although uncommon, transmission of HIV and hepatitis B between female sex partners has been reported.19–23 Many WSW are also at risk for STI acquisition from male partners. Even when surveyed outside STI clinic settings, most WSW report having had sex with men, and many (20–30%) continue to have sex with men as well as women. …