cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial analysis of density dependent pattern in coniferous forest stands

An investigation of spatial pattern in relatively sparse Pinus ponderosa-P. Jeffreyi stands showed that a simple Poisson model of random distribution described the pattern at 5 to 50 m scales in the denser stands examined when allowance is made for inhibition between nearest neighbors. There is evidence for a clumped distribution in large quadrats for the sparsest stands, which concurs with prior work where a mixed Poisson model was fit to the data. The technique used was innovative in that it involved digitally recording tree locations from high resolution aerial photos, which allowed for the automatic application of several statistical techniques in order to determine how pattern varies with plot density and scale. Point locations were recorded for six 11.3 ha plots in three density regions of a 340 ha study area in northeastern California, USA. The inter-event distance distribution, and one- and two-dimensional power spectra were calculated, and variable quadrat analysis was performed for the data sets. The second order and spectral analyses showed no evidence of a distinctive clumped pattern at any scale, and all analyses showed that the pattern was regular at the scale of the average inter-plant distance in the denser stands. For the sparser stands, the counts in large quadrats did not fit a Poisson distribution, but were better fit by a mixed Poisson model describing aggregated pattern.
MicroRNAs—Regulators of Signaling Networks in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non-coding ribonucleotides that regulate expression of target genes governing diverse biological functions. Mechanistically, miRNA binding to the target complimentary sequences on the mRNA results in degradation or inhibition of protein translation. The short guiding and binding sequence of miRNA allows them to target a large repertoire of transcripts altering expression of many proteins. These miRNA targets are not restricted to specific signaling pathways but to a diverse group of transcripts, which harbor the target complimentary sequence. miRNA targeting of these diverse transcripts result in regulation of multiple signaling pathways establishing miRNAs as regulators of systems biomolecular networks. Accumulating evidence shows that miRNAs play an important role in cardiac development, hypertrophy, and failure, thereby are integral to regulating adaptive and maladaptive remodeling. Since cardiac remodeling and failure is a complex phenotype, it is apparent that global biomolecular networks and miRNAs profiles would be altered. Indeed, the miRNA profiles are varied with different etiologies of heart failure indicating that miRNAs could be the global regulators. Although the idea of miRNA being global regulators is not new, we believe that the time is ripe to discuss the role of miRNAs in regulating biomolecular networks. We discuss in the review, the use of Ingenuity Pathways Analysis algorithms with predicted targets of altered miRNA in dilated cardiomyopathy to computationally determine the alterations in canonical functional pathways and to generate biomolecular networks.
Synthesis and structural studies of ruthenium(II) 12S4 complexes with 4,4′-bipyridine: The crystal structures of [Ru(12S4)(bpy)Cl](Cl) · H2O and [{Ru(12S4)Cl}2-μ-(bpy)](PF6)2 · 2CH3CN

Abstract Reaction of the complex cis-[Ru(12S4)(dmso)Cl]+ (12S4 = 1,4,7,10-tetrathiacyclododecane) and 4,4′-bipyridine (bpy) produces the mononuclear complex [Ru(12S4)(bpy)Cl]+(1) when a 1:1 stoichiometry is employed while a 2:1 stoichiometry (Ru/bpy) produces the bpy bridged binuclear complex, [{Ru(12S4)Cl}2-μ-(bpy)]2+(2). The crystal structures of both complexes show the Ru(II) in a distorted octahedral environment of a cis arrangement formed by the four S donors from the 12S4, a bpy N donor, and a chloride. The 12S4 ligand adopts the same non-C2 symmetric conformation at all metal centers in both structures. The bridging of the 4,4′-bpy ligand to both Ru(II) centers in (2) is indicated by the presence of two resonances in its 1H NMR spectrum and three in its 13C NMR spectrum. The lower symmetry of the mononuclear complex (1) produces more complicated NMR spectra. Cyclic voltammetry for both complexes in CH3CN show a reversible one electron oxidation wave with E1/2 near +670 mV vs. Fc/Fc+ which is assigned as a Ru(II)/Ru(III) couple.
Discretionary policy implementation and reform

Abstract Regulatory agencies, treaty negotiators and other delegates often possess considerable authority over the details of policy change. I examine how such discretion can block a Pareto-improving reform when policy change requires the support of both the liberal and conservative factions. Gridlock, reform and reform paradoxes all emerge as cases in a general model with perfect information. A reformer with unknown policy preferences can facilitate escape from a gridlock equilibrium.
Finite element solution strategies for large-scale flow simulations☆

Abstract Large-scale flow simulation strategies involving implicit finite element formulations are described in the context of incompressible flows. The stabilized space-time formulation for problems involving moving boundaries and interfaces is presented, followed by a discussion of mesh moving schemes. The methods of solution of large linear systems of equations are reviewed, and an implementation of the entire finite element code, permitting the use of totally unstructured meshes, on a massively parallel supercomputer is considered. As an example, this methodology is applied to a flow problem involving three-dimensional simulation of liquid sloshing in a tank subjected to vertical vibrations.
Resection of hepatic and pulmonary metastases in patients with colorectal cancer.

Nine consecutive patients underwent surgery for liver and lung metastases from colorectal cancer (Dukes' stage B in five, C in one and ‘D’ in three) between 1980 and 1991. A total of 21 procedures were performed: 16 thoracotomies with six lung lobectomies and 17 lung wedge resections, ten laparotomies with nine hepatectomies and six liver wedge resections. No operative or hospital deaths occurred and the mean(s.d.) postoperative hospital stay was 10(7) days per procedure. Perioperative blood transfusions for all nine patients amounted to a total of 7 units. The median survival after completion of liver and lung surgery was 27 (range 10–62) months. Median survival from resection of the first liver or lung metastasis was 30 (range 12–62) months and from excision of the primary colorectal tumour 46 (range 30–78) months. Two patients were alive and well 11 and 62 months after liver and lung resections; seven have died with metastases. This controversial aggressive treatment resulted in longer survival times than most alternative therapies in these highly selected and well motivated young patients, with no hospital mortality and only moderate morbidity.
Informational efficiency and the information content of earnings during the market crash of October 1987

Abstract This paper examines the joint hypothesis that stock markets were efficient with respect to announcements of quarterly earnings and that these earnings numbers were important in the determination of equilibrium security prices in four subperiods before, during, and after the crash of October 1987. Results for the complete sample and the NYSE subsample strongly support the joint hypothesis in each subperiod, except for the worst of the crash, October 19–20, 1987. In contrast, NASDAQ firms reacted in the predicted direction during most subperiods (including the crash), but not all associations were significant.
Design data for Algol-60 machines

The performance of a high-level language machine will depend upon the characteristics of its workload. Equally, the design for such a machine should be guided by some understanding of the work which it will be called upon to perform. We present here some behavioral properties of a large Algol-60 program in terms of the requests they represent for the various processing resources of an Algol-60 machine. The data provide insight into the behavior of such machines, particularly with respect to dynamic memory requirements and the procedure activation rates associated with direct Algol-60 execution. The data can thus be of value to designers of high-level language machines in view of their implications for the performance of such systems.
The interaction of a pair of point potential vortices in uniform shear

Abstract A simple point vortex model is formulated to investigate the deformation and translation of lens-like oceanic eddies, such as Mediterranean Salt Lenses, in large-scale shear. The idealized eddy is represented by a pair of quasigeostrophic ‘point potential vortices’ at different depths in a uniformly stratified fluid. The point vortices are assumed to be embedded in a flow with uniform vertical and horizontal shear, and they are advected by the background flow as they interact with one another. The model successfully reproduces many aspects of the behaviour of low-mode disturbances found in models with continuous (non-singular) representations. Depending upon the strengths of the vortices, their initial separation, and the intensity of the background shear, the vortex pair is either torn apart by the shear, or else remains coupled for all time, in which case the vortices execute a periodic motion while propagating with respect to the ambient fluid. Solutions representing steadily translating point vortex configurations are obtained for certain values of the model parameters. For a given vertical separation between the vortices and a specified background shear, there can exist up to three steadily translating solutions, each with a different horizontal separation between the vortices, and each aligned perpendicular to the background flow direction. The translation speed of these pairs is directly proportional to the difference in the strengths of the vortices. A detailed analysis of the character of the steadily translating solutions is made, and the linear stability properties of the solutions are investigated.
Regulation of Body Pigmentation by the Abdominal-B Hox Protein and Its Gain and Loss in Drosophila Evolution

Hox genes have been implicated in the evolution of many animal body patterns, but the molecular events underlying trait modification have not been elucidated. Pigmentation of the posterior male abdomen is a recently acquired trait in the Drosophila melanogaster lineage. Here, we show that the Abdominal-B (ABD-B) Hox protein directly activates expression of the yellow pigmentation gene in posterior segments. ABD-B regulation of pigmentation evolved through the gain of ABD-B binding sites in a specific cis-regulatory element of the yellow gene of a common ancestor of sexually dimorphic species. Within the melanogaster species group, male-specific pigmentation has subsequently been lost by at least three different mechanisms, including the mutational inactivation of a key ABD-B binding site in one lineage. These results demonstrate how Hox regulation of traits and target genes is gained and lost at the species level and have general implications for the evolution of body form at higher taxonomic levels.
Reaction, Lévy flights, and quenched disorder.

We consider the $A+A\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\emptyset}$ reaction, where the transport of the particles is given by L\'evy flights in a quenched random potential. With a common literature model of the disorder, the random potential can only increase the rate of reaction. With a model of the disorder that obeys detailed balance, however, the rate of reaction initially increases and then decreases as a function of the disorder strength. The physical behavior obtained with this second model is in accord with that for reactive turbulent flow, indicating that L\'evy flight statistics can model aspects of turbulent fluid transport.
Consumer Acceptance of Vacuum Packaged Ground Beef as Influenced by Product Color and Educational Materials

Questionnaires were completed by 1750 grocery store shoppers to determine the effect of product color and educational materials on purchase intent for vacuum packaged (VP) ground beef. Consumers (74%) indicated that color was important in their product purchase intent decision. Half the consumers received product information (informed). Informed consumers were more likely (P<0.0001) to indicate a positive purchase intent for VP ground beef than uninformed consumers. Informed consumers were as likely to purchase the purplered VP product as the bright cherry red product they are accustomed to purchasing. It appears possible to effectively educate the consumer to accept the purple-red color of VP ground beef.
Application of Post- $\hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Fluorine Plasma Treatment for Improvement of $\hbox{In}_{0.53}\hbox{Ga}_{0.47} \hbox{As}$ MOSFET Performance

Notable improvements in the HfO2/In0.53 Ga0.47As gate stack have been achieved by a post- HfO2 fluorine plasma treatment, including excellent interface quality of low-equivalent-oxide-thickness HfO2 (1.4 nm) directly on In0.53Ga0.47As with no interface passivation layer, over five-times reduction in interface trap density from 2.8 × 1012 to 4.9 × 1011 cm-2·eV-1, improved subthreshold swing from 127 to 109 mV/dec, and reduced Id-Vg hysteresis in pulsed Id-Vg measurement. Consequently, improved electrical performances have been achieved in 29% higher effective channel mobility and 29% higher drive current.
On the existence of positive solutions of quasilinear elliptic boundary value problems

Abstract We establish the existence of positive solutions to a class of quasilinear anisotropic problems which have either sublinear or superlinear nonlinearity. With a , b nonnegative constants and α , β positive constants, one example is If b − a λ ∈[0, ∞), (1) has a solution. On the other hand, if b − a >1 (superlinear case), then there exists a λ *>0 such that for 0⩽ λ λ *, (1) has at least one solution, and for λ > λ * no solution exists.
A variational mechanics analysis of the stresses around breaks in embedded fibers

Abstract Embedded single-fiber tests are often used to characterize the fiber/matrix interface, but their interpretation is usually limited by reliance on the qualitative view of the stresses provided by shear-lag analyses. This paper describes a new, three-dimensional, axisymmetric solution for the stresses around breaks in embedded fibers. The new solution is obtained using variational mechanics. It obeys equilibrium and traction boundary conditions exactly, obeys compatibility approximately, includes all components of the stresses, accounts for interacting fiber breaks, and includes residual thermal stresses. We apply the stress analysis to the single-fiber fragmentation test. In some sample calculations, we plot all components of stress at the fiber/matrix interface and give predictions for an “ideal” single-fiber fragmentation test. The stress analysis technique is readily adaptable to new problems such as the single-fiber pull-out test, the microdrop debond test, the description of interfacial fracture or yielding, and the effect of interfacial friction.
Initial management of severe hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes: an observational study.

Introduction Current guidelines recommend insulin for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and severe hyperglycemia, but this recommendation lacks sufficient evidence and poses practical challenges. It is unclear whether non-insulin treatments are effective in this setting. The objective of this study was to describe treatment strategies of T2D patients with severe hyperglycemia and identify which initial treatments, interventions, or patient characteristics correlated with successful glucose lowering.
Social status, glucocorticoids, immune function, and health: Can animal studies help us understand human socioeconomic-status-related health disparities?

For humans in developed nations, socioeconomic status (SES)--relative income, education and occupational position in a society--is a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality rates, with increasing SES predicting longer life span (e.g. Marmot et al., 1991). Mechanisms underlying this relationship have been examined, but the relative role of each mechanism still remains unknown. By understanding the relative role of specific mechanisms that underlie dramatic health disparities between high and low social status individuals we can begin to identify effective, targeted methods to alleviate health disparities. In the current paper, we take advantage of a growing number of animal studies that have quantified biological health-related correlates (glucocorticoid production and immune function) of social status and compare these studies to the current literature on human SES and health to determine if and how animal studies can further our understanding of SES-associated human health disparities. Specifically, we compared social-status related glucocorticoid production and immune function in humans and animals. From the review, we show that our present understanding of the relationships between social status and glucocorticoid production/immune function is still growing, but that there are already identifiable parallels (and non-parallels) between humans and animals. We propose timely areas of future study focused on (1) specific aspects of social status that may influence stress-related physiology, (2) mechanisms underlying long-term influences of social status on physiology and health, and (3) intervention studies to alleviate potentially negative physiological correlates of social status.
Safety of calcium antagonists in patients with congestive heart failure

Continuing high morbidity and mortality have spurred an ongoing search for new therapeutic agents for patients with congestive heart failure. Calcium antagonists (CAs) have been under active investigation in patients with heart failure since their introduction into clinical medicine, because their anti-ischemic and vasodilator properties were thought to be of potential benefit in this patient population. However, review of published clinical trials of CAs in patients with heart failure reveals that some of these drugs are associated with detrimental effects, including acute hemodynamic deterioration, increased symptoms of heart failure, and increased mortality. The adverse effects of short-acting CAs in patients with heart failure include negative inotropic effects and neurohormonal activation. Long-acting CAs, such as amlodipine and felodipine, had fewer negative inotropic effects, showed less evidence of neurohormonal activation, and were better tolerated in clinical trials. Amlodipine, in combination with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, had a neutral effect in patients with ischemic heart failure and an unexplained benefit in a subgroup of patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Although the preliminary experience with long-acting dihydropyridine CAs in heart failure has been encouraging, safety concerns raised by past trials dictate that no CA can be recommended for the treatment of heart failure at this time.
Effects of marital discord on the school behavior of children of schizophrenic, affectively disordered, and normal parents

An association between children's school behavior and two family variables, marital discord and parental psychopathology, has been consistently reported in the literature. However, the joint effects of each of these two familial factors has not been closely examined. The present report provides a further examination of the interrelationships among these three variables with particular emphasis on the effects of marital discord on children's school behavior in families with behaviorally disturbed parents. Marital discord was found to account for much of the association between having a parent with bipolar disorder or unipolar depression and problematic school behavior, but the same variable did not explain the relationship between having a schizophrenic parent and problems in school. The implications of these findings for interventions with the children of disturbed parents and for high-risk research are discussed.
The complete sequence of a chromosomal mouse α-globin gene reveals elements conserved throughout vertebrate evolution

Abstract The mammalian α- and β-globin genes are thought to have evolved from a common ancestral sequence by a duplication event that occurred over 500 million years ago. We have now determined the entire nucleotide sequence of a cloned mouse α-globin gene, including regions that flank and interrupt the coding sequence, and have compared this sequence with the sequences of the two mouse β-globin genes (Konkel, Tilghman and Leder, 1978; Konkel, Maizel and Leder, 1979). Like the two β genes, the α gene is interrupted by two intervening sequences at precisely homologous positions, suggesting that these interruptions were present and have been preserved throughout vertebrate evolution. While the α and β genes conserve considerable (∼55%) sequence homology in their coding regions, this homology—with certain interesting exceptions—is lost in the highly divergent flanking and intervening sequences. These exceptions are short preserved sequences positioned in such a way that they might encode signals for transcriptional initiation, poly(A) addition and RNA splicing. Furthermore, a comparison of the recently diverged β genes and the long separate α gene allows us to distinguish two clearly different modes of nucleotide sequence change in evolution: a fast mode which is characterized by drastic sequence alterations involving deletions and insertions, and a slow mode which preserves sequence homology to a large extent and involves mainly point mutations.
Comparison of 2-D and 3-D models of grid erosion in an ion thruster

Numerical results of particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo calculations of accelerator grid erosion in an ion thruster are presented. Specifically, it is shown that a three-dimensional model is required to account for the experimentally observed pitting of the accelerator grid between grid apertures. Some comparisons with earlier two-dimensional, axisymmetric model are made, and it is shown that, for identical operating conditions of the thruster, the wear-through time in the three-dimensional model is about two to three times higher than that obtained previously with the two-dimensional model, namely on the order of 10,000 hours for sample calculation.
Cancer spectrum in DNA mismatch repair gene mutation carriers: results from a hospital based Lynch syndrome registry

The spectrum of cancers seen in a hospital based Lynch syndrome registry of mismatch repair gene mutation carriers was examined to determine the distribution of cancers and examine excess cancer risk. Overall there were 504 cancers recorded in 368 mutation carriers from 176 families. These included 236 (46.8 %) colorectal and 268 (53.2 %) extracolonic cancers. MLH1 mutation carriers had a higher frequency of colorectal cancers whereas MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 mutation carriers had more extracolonic cancers although these differences were not statistically significant. Men had fewer extracolonic cancers than colorectal (45.3 vs. 54.7 %), whereas women had more extracolonic than colorectal cancers (59.0 vs. 41.0 %). The mean age at diagnosis overall for extracolonic cancers was older than for colorectal, 49.1 versus 44.8 years (P ≤ 0.001). As expected, the index cancer was colorectal in 58.1 % of patients and among the extracolonic index cancers, endometrial was the most common (13.8 %). A significant number of non-Lynch syndrome index cancers were recorded including breast (n = 5) prostate (n = 3), thyroid (n = 3), cervix (n = 3), melanoma (n = 3), and 1 case each of thymoma, sinus cavity, and adenocarcinoma of the lung. However, standardized incidence ratios calculated to assess excess cancer risk showed that only those cancers known to be associated with Lynch syndrome were significant in our sample. We found that Lynch syndrome patients can often present with cancers that are not considered part of Lynch syndrome. This has clinical relevance both for diagnosis of Lynch syndrome and surveillance for cancers of different sites during follow-up of these patients.
The Use of Positive Matrix Factorization with Conditional Probability Functions in Air Quality Studies: An Application to Hydrocarbon Emissions in Houston, Texas

Abstract In this paper, we describe two advanced statistical techniques suited to address the following questions: which source categories of emissions affect given areas and where do these source categories come from? A source category is defined as a combination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with a specific industrial process. A discussion of the positive matrix factorization (PMF) multivariate receptor model is presented, and this PMF technique applied to hourly average concentrations of VOCs measured at five Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS) located near the emission-rich Houston Ship Channel region in Texas. The observations were made between June and October 2003, and the PMF analysis was limited to nighttime measurements (21:00–06:00 CDT) to remove the complexity of photochemical processing and associated changes in the concentrations of primary and secondary VOCs. Six to eight VOCs source categories were identified for the five Ship Channel sites. Specific geographic areas associated with each source category were identified through the use of conditional probability functions that identify source regions when superimposed on maps of VOC emissions.
Thermoanaerobium brockii gen. nov. and sp. nov., a new chemoorganotrophic, caldoactive, anaerobic bacterium

The isolation of a new anaerobic thermophilic bacterium, Thermoanaerobium brockii, from volcanic features is described. Successful enrichment required a complex medium containing glucose or other fermentable sugars and incubation temperatures of 55–80° C. Strains of T. brockii were gram positive, rods of uneven length that existed singly, in pairs, chains or filaments. Electron micrographs of thin sections of cell revealed a monolayered cell wall and a constrictive or “pinching off” cell division process. The organism was nonsporeforming, obligately anaerobic and chemoorganotrophic. The optimal temperature for growth was 65–70° C, the maxium was below 85° C and the minimum above 35° C. The doubling time at the optimal temperature for growth was about 1 h. The DNA base composition of three strains of T. brockii varied from 30.0–31.4 mol % guanosine plus cytosine. Fermentable carbohydrates included glucose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, cellobiose and insoluble starch. The fermentation products of cells grown on glucose were ethanol, lactic acid, acetic acid, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Growth of all strains tested was inhibited by fairly low concentrations of cycloserine, penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. The possible ecological, evolutionary, and industrial significance, and taxonomic relationships of Thermoanaerobium are discussed.
Effects of polyunsaturated fatty acid diets on plasma lipids of patients with adrenomultineuronal degeneration, hepatosplenomegaly and fatty acid derangement☆

The effect on plasma fatty acid composition of 3-6 weeks feeding of standard diets supplemented with various omega 6 polyenoic fatty acids (18:2, 18:3, 20:3 or 20:4) was studied in two young brothers with multineuronal degeneration plus. These boys had mental retardation or maldevelopment, neurosensory hearing loss, retinitis pigmentosa, progressive muscular atrophy, hepatosplenomegaly and adrenal failure. The study objectives were to localize the site of metabolic block and to assess the safety and short-term clinical effect of dietary treatment. Our studies have shown that the low plasma levels of 20:4 omega 6 can be corrected by feeding ethyl arachidonate and that no adverse effects were experienced. A diet enriched in ethyl linoleate produced no obvious increases of 18:2 omega 6 metabolites, indicating that these patients do not have a linoleate deficiency in their omega 6 polyenoic fatty acid pathway. Lack of incorporation of 20:4 omega 6 and a retroconversion of 20:3 omega 6 to 18:2 omega 6 after a dihomo-gamma-linolenate-enriched diet suggest that a defect of delta 5 desaturase may be involved.
The McDonaldization of childhood: children's mental health in neo-liberal market cultures

As the failings of neo-liberalism have recently been revealed through the collapse of much of the banking and financial services sector, it seems an opportune time to think about the impact this economic, political, and social value system has had on the well-being of children. After analyzing how our beliefs and practices around children and families are shaped by a variety of economic, political, and cultural pressures, I discuss how policies that promote a particular form of aggressive capitalism lead to a narcissistic value system that permeates social institutions, including those that deal with children. Not only does this impact children's emotional well-being, but it also shapes the way we conceptualize children and their problems. These dynamics facilitate the rapid growth of child psychiatric diagnoses and the tendency to deal with aberrant behavior or emotions in children through technical--particularly pharmaceutical--interventions, a phenomenon I refer to as the 'McDonaldization' of children's mental health. The present article seeks to challenge many of the unhelpful cultural assumptions regarding childhood embedded within the narrow biomedical frame that neo-liberalism has encouraged.
São Paulo in the Brazilian Federation, 1889-1937

This is the third of three independent but coordinated studies on Brazilian regionalism from the beginning of the Republic to the establishment of Getulio Vargas's Estado Novo in 1937. The first volume, on the state of Minas Gerais by John D. Wirth, was published in 1977; the second volume, on the state of Pernambuco by Robert M. Levine, was published in 1978. These studies present the first overall survey of the politics, economy, and society of these key regions and offer important new data and interpretations on political elites, fiscal systems, and social integration. The authors examine the complex dynamics of state-level social and political structures in three leading states-Sao Paolo in the Center-South, which received the greatest benefits from export growth; politically important Minas Gerais, situated between the prosperous southern states and the impoverished Northeast; and Pernambuco, the Northeast's most important state. The studies trace the shift of power from the centralized Empire to the states and then follow the course of the Union's gradual assumption of authority and responsibility over the ensuing half century. They are organized on thematic rather than chronological lines, but each author uses a chronology appropriate to his own state while relating regional events to those at the national level and those in other states. Similarities and differences in identically defined political elites are thrown into relief by the comparative analysis of quantitative biographical data of the three state elites-revealing not only who they were, but what they wanted, what they tried to get, and what they settled for. Sao Paulo's story is one of rapid economic expansion, first in agriculture and then in manufacturing. Its political elites-relying on massive exports and foreign borrowing-pioneered in state intervention in economy and society, and in the process confused the interests of Brazil with their own.
A multi-institutional phase II trial of a novel inpatient schedule of continuous interleukin-2 with interferon α-2b in advanced renal cell carcinoma: major durable responses in a less highly selected patient population

Abstract Background A prospective multi-institutional phase II trial was undertaken to define the activity and toxicity of a unique decrescendo infusion of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in combination with interferon (IFN) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The identical regimen has shown promise in advanced melanoma. Patients and methods Between February 1997 and March 1999, 47 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, from five institutions, were treated with outpatient s.c. IFN (10 mU/m2/day) on days 1–5, followed by inpatient IL-2 via continuous i.v. decrescendo infusion [18 million International Units (MIU) (1 mg)/m2/6 h, followed by 18 MIU/m2/12 h, then 18 MIU/m2/24 h and 4.5 MIU/m2/24 h for the following 3 days] on days 8–12, in a hospital ward without intensive care unit (ICU)-type monitoring. Treatment was repeated every 4 weeks. In contrast to high dose IL-2 protocols, patient eligibility did not require pulmonary function tests and allowed serum creatinine up to 2 mg/dl. Results Among 44 eligible patients, 57% (25) had their primary in place, 57% (25) had bone or visceral involvement, and only 4% (2) had lung as their only site of disease. The overall response rate in 43 response-evaluable patients was 16.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3 to 27.3], with three complete responses and four partial responses observed. The median survival was 13 months; nine patients remain alive at >23 months. The median duration of response is 36 months (range 11.5 to 48+ months). Toxicity was modest, consisting of typical cytokine-induced systemic symptoms and rare organ dysfunction. Severe grade 4 toxicity occurred in only 13% of the 130 cycles. Conclusions This unique, reasonably well tolerated IL-2/IFN combination induced a modest response rate with a number of durable remissions. While the optimal IL-2-based regimen for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma remains elusive, the present regimen should attract considerable interest. This is based on tumor activity very similar to high dose IL-2 in a patient population not as carefully selected for optimal organ function.
Robotic test bed for autonomous surface exploration of Titan, Mars, and other planetary bodies

Tier-scalable robotic reconnaissance missions are called for in extreme space environments, including planetary atmospheres, surfaces (both solid and liquid), and subsurfaces (e.g., oceans), as well as in potentially hazardous or inaccessible operational areas on Earth. Such future missions will require increasing degrees of operational autonomy: (1) Automatic mapping of an operational area from different vantages (i.e., spaceborne, airborne, surface, subsurface); (2) automatic sensor deployment and sensor data gathering; (3) automatic feature extraction and target/region-of-interest/anomaly identification within the mapped operational area; (4) automatic target prioritization for follow-up or close-up (in-situ) examination; and (5) subsequent automatic, targeted deployment and navigation/relocation of agents/sensors (e.g., to follow up on transient events). We report on recent progress in developing an Earth-based (outdoors) robotic test bed for Tier-scalable Reconnaissance at the University of Arizona and Caltech for distributed, science-driven, and significantly less constrained (compared to state-of-the-art) reconnaissance of prime locations on a variety of planetary bodies, with particular focus on Saturn's moon Titan with its methane/hydrocarbon lakes and Mars. The test bed currently comprises several computer-controlled robotic surface vehicles, i.e., rovers and lake landers/boats equipped with a variety of sensors. To achieve a fully operational Tier-scalable Reconnaissance test bed, aerial platforms will be integrated as a next step. The robotic surface vehicles can be interactively or automatically controlled from anywhere in the world in near real-time via the Internet. The test bed enables the implementation, field-testing, and validation of algorithms and strategies for navigation, exploration, sensor deployment, sensor data gathering, feature extraction, anomaly detection, and science goal prioritization for autonomous planetary exploration. Furthermore, it permits field-testing of novel instruments and sensor technologies, as well as testing of cooperative multi-agent scenarios and distributed scientific exploration of operational areas. As such the robotic test bed enables the development, implementation, field-testing, and validation of software packages for inter-agent communication and coordination to navigate and explore operational areas with greatly reduced reliance on (ultimately without assistance from) ground operators, thus affording the degree of mission autonomy/flexibility necessary to support future missions to Titan, Mars, and other planetary bodies, including asteroids. 1 2
The intersection between acute coronary syndrome and heart failure

There is a tremendous spectrum of disease severity within the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The risk of major cardiovascular outcomes is highly related to age and concomitant medical conditions, as well as factors that characterize the extent of the myocardial infarction. Patients that develop pulmonary congestion with transient signs of heart failure and/or left ventricular dysfunction as measured by a reduced ejection fraction are generally at the high end of risk stratification. Prior studies have demonstrated that these patients derive particular benefit with the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The development of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) raises the question of whether this mode of inhibiting the renin—angiotensin system will be as good as or potentially even better than the ACE inhibitors. Unfortunately, the first major test of this concept in the Optimal Therapy in Myocardial Infarction with the Angiotensin II Antagonist Losartan (OPTIMAAL) study did not show a favourable trend for the ARB. The Valsartan in Acute Myocardial Infarction Trial (VALIANT) study is in its final phases of completion and is testing whether the use of the ARB valsartan either alone or in combination with captopril can improve survival over and above what is already achievable with the ARB. Since this patient population is at particularly high risk, even small relative improvements in clinical outcomes will have major public health implications. © 2003 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Sealing OS processes to improve dependability and safety

In most modern operating systems, a process is a hardware-protected abstraction for isolating code and data. This protection, however, is selective. Many common mechanisms---dynamic code loading, run-time code generation, shared memory, and intrusive system APIs---make the barrier between processes very permeable. This paper argues that this traditional open process architecture exacerbates the dependability and security weaknesses of modern systems.As a remedy, this paper proposes a sealed process architecture, which prohibits dynamic code loading, self-modifying code, shared memory, and limits the scope of the process API. This paper describes the implementation of the sealed process architecture in the Singularity operating system, discusses its merits and drawbacks, and evaluates its effectiveness. Some benefits of this sealed process architecture are: improved program analysis by tools, stronger security and safety guarantees, elimination of redundant overlaps between the OS and language runtimes, and improved software engineering.Conventional wisdom says open processes are required for performance; our experience suggests otherwise. We present the first macrobenchmarks for a sealed-process operating system and applications. The benchmarks show that an experimental sealed-process system can achieve performance competitive with highly-tuned, commercial, open-process systems.
A New Approach to Stability Analysis of Partitioned Systems

A methodology is presented for analyzing the stability of elemental explicit-implicit partitions of multi-step time integrators, and is applied to develop stability criteria for elemental partitions of the generalized trapezoidal rule for first order systems and Newmark β-method for second order systems. The methodology developed here is readily applicable to other explicit-implicit methods, since in contrast to energy methods, it does not involve any serendipity. Through the use of the theorems and methodologies presented here, any elemental explicit-implicit method can be analyzed in a straightforward manner.
Facilitated advancement of the Palmaz-Schatz stent delivery system with the use of an adjacent 0.018′ stiff wire

The 5.0 French Palmaz-Schatz stent delivery system is a relatively bulky, stiff system which can be advanced only over a 0.014" wire. Although crossing failure is rare, advancement of the delivery system through tortuous, rigid vessels may be unsuccessful. We report on four consecutive cases in which the initial advancement of the Palmaz-Schatz stent delivery system was unsuccessful due to vessel tortuosity or vessel angulation. The use of a 0.018" stiff wirer adjacent to the Palmaz-Schatz delivery system, to "straighten" the vessels and to give additional guide catheter support, allowed for the successful advancement and delivery of coronary stents in all four cases.
ACL IN 1977

As I leaf through my own "ACL (Historical)" file (which, I am frightened to observe, goes back to the Fourth Annual Meeting, in 1966), and focus in particular on 1977, when I was President, it strikes me that pretty much everything significant that happened in the Association that year was the work of other people. Don Walker was completing the mammoth task of transferring all of the ACL's records from the East Coast to the West, paying off our indebtedness to the Center for Applied Linguistics, and in general getting the Association onto the firm financial and organizational footing which it has enjoyed to this day. Dave Hays was seeing to it that the microfiche journal kept on coming, and George Heldorn Joined him as Associate Editor that year to begin the move toward hard copy publication. That was the year when we hitched up our organizational pants and moved our Annual Meeting back to the Spring, after some years when it had been in the Fall. Jonathan Allen and his Program Committee coped admirably with the challenge of putting on an Annual Meeting program less than six months after the last one. The culinary staff at the Foundry Restaurant in Georgetown provided a banquet that I still remember as delicious.
Membrane interactions of a phosphomonoester elevated early in Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract Phosphoserine (L-PS) is among several phosphomonoesters found to be elevated in autopsied Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain tissue. To investigate the molecular interactions of L-PS with membrane lipid bilayers, small angle X-ray diffraction and high resolution differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) approaches were used with liposomes composed of lecithin and cholesterol. A one-dimensional electron density profile of a control dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC)/cholesterol lipid bilayer with a unit cell dimension of 52 A at 37°C was generated from the X-ray diffraction data. Following incubation with 2.0 mM L-PS, a broad decrease in electron density ±4−12 A from the lipid bilayer center was observed concomitant with an increase in the width of the phospholipid headgroup electron density and a 3 A reduction in lipid bilayer width. The interactions of L-PS with DMPC lipid bilayers were concentration-dependent, highly affected by cholesterol content and reproduced in egg phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes. DSC analysis showed that millimolar (1.0–5.0 mM) L-PS levels decrease the phase transition cooperative unit size of DMPC liposomes in a highly concentration-dependent manner which was significantly greater in preparations containing cholesterol. The endotherm width at half-maximum doubled at 5.0 mM and 1.25 mM L-PS, respectively, for DMPC and DMPC/cholesterol liposomes. These data provide direct evidence that elevated phosphomonoester levels modulate the biophysical properties of the membrane lipid bilayer which may, in turn, lead to altered structure/function relationships in membranes during AD.
Asymmetric Cell Division and Template DNA Co-Segregation in Cancer Stem Cells

During tissue homeostasis, normal stem cells self-renew and repopulate the diverse cell types found within the tissue via a series of carefully controlled symmetric and asymmetric cell divisions (ACDs). The notion that solid tumors comprise a subset of cancer stem cells (CSCs) with dysregulated self-renewal and excessive symmetric cell divisions has led to numerous studies aimed to elucidate the mechanisms regulating ACD under steady-state conditions, during stem-cell expansion and in cancer. In this perspective, we focus on a type of asymmetry that can be established during ACD, called non-random co-segregation of template DNA, which has been identified across numerous species, cell types, and cancers. We discuss the role of p53 loss in maintaining self-renewal in both normal and malignant cells. We then review our current knowledge of the mechanisms underlying co-segregation of template DNA strands and the stem-cell pathways associated with it in normal and CSCs.
Improved sensitivity of intensity-modulated spectroscopy using correlative signal processing.

Frequency-modulation (FM) spectroscopy is known to be a sensitive spectroscopic technique capable of accurately measuring the frequency dependence of the absorption and index of refraction of narrow spectral features. The absorption and index of refraction are coupled by a form of the Kramers–Kronig (K-K) relations, and both components provide information about the spectral feature. In this Letter, we propose a processing technique based on fitting the data to a complex signal model derived from the K-K relation. By using this complex constraint and only processing a single quadrature, our model predicts significant improvement in the minimum detectable absorption compared with conventional FM spectroscopy.
Distinct activities of the related protein kinases Cdk1 and Ime2.

In budding yeast, commitment to DNA replication during the normal cell cycle requires degradation of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor Sic1. The G1 cyclin–CDK complexes Cln1–Cdk1 and Cln2–Cdk1 initiate the process of Sic1 removal by directly catalyzing Sic1 phosphorylation at multiple sites. Commitment to DNA replication during meiosis also appears to require Sic1 degradation, but the G1 cyclin– CDK complexes are not involved. It has been proposed that the meiosis-specific protein kinase Ime2 functionally replaces the G1 cyclin–CDK complexes to promote Sic1 destruction. To investigate this possibility, we compared Cln2–Cdk1 and Ime2 protein kinase activities in vitro. Both enzyme preparations were capable of catalyzing phosphorylation of a GST–Sic1 fusion protein, but the phosphoisomers generated by the two activities had significantly different electrophoretic mobilities. Furthermore, mutation of consensus CDK phosphorylation sites in Sic1 affected Cln2–Cdk1- but not Ime2-dependent phosphorylation. Phosphoamino acid analysis and phosphopeptide mapping provided additional evidence that Cln2–Cdk1 and Ime2 targeted different residues within Sic1. Examination of other substrates both in vitro and in vivo also revealed differing specificities. These results indicate that Ime2 does not simply replace G1 cyclin–CDK complexes in promoting Sic1 degradation during meiosis.
Dynamic noise analysis in precharge-evaluate circuits

A dynamic noise model is developed and applied to analyze the noise immunity of precharge-evaluate circuits. Considering that the primary source of noise-injection in the circuit is cross-talk, a simple metric represented as voltage-time product can be used to quantify the dynamic noise-margin. This is verified by HSPICE simulation on DOMINO gates. A tool is also developed to obtain static and dynamic noise-margins at various points in the circuit. Dynamic noise-margins are translated into maximum allowable coupling capacitances between the pairs of nets for precharge-evaluate logic circuits. An accurate estimate of dynamic noise-margin and coupling coefficient bounds will allow improvement of the circuits in terms of robustness.