cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound detection of blunt urological trauma : a 6-year study

Summary The objective of this study was to assess the utility of emergency ultrasonography in the detection of blunt urological injury. A retrospective review was conducted of all consecutive emergency blunt trauma ultrasonograms (US) obtained at a level I trauma centre from January 1995 to January 2001. Among the 4320 emergency ultrasonograms performed, 596 patients (14%) had intraabdominal injury and, of these, 99 patients (17%) had urological injuries. The sensitivity of ultrasound for all urological injuries was 67%, and specificity was 99.8%. For isolated urological injuries, sensitivity and specificity were 55.6 and 99.8%, respectively. Ultrasound was most accurate in the detection of grade III renal injuries, identifying 14/15 (93%), and 13 underwent laparotomy. For isolated urological injuries, 15 of 25 (60%) patients with a true-positive US underwent laparotomy compared to 3 of 20 (15%) with a false-negative US. Isolated urological injury was significantly associated with an ultrasonographic pattern of free fluid in the left upper quadrant and the left pericolic gutter (odds ratio=55.1; P P =0.04). Although emergency ultrasonography is useful in the triage of patients with blunt urological trauma, it may miss significant urological injury requiring further intervention. As most renal injuries may be managed non-operatively, further studies such as contrast-enhanced CT or angiography should be obtained in the stable patient with suspected blunt urological injury.
Cretaceous and Tertiary Deep-Sea Sediments from Atlantic Ocean: ABSTRACT

The sediments drilled during Leg 14 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project off northwestern Africa and northeastern South America comprise a wide range of Cretaceous and Tertiary deep-sea facies. The major processes controlling the distribution of these facies are the changing patterns of supply and preservation of biogenous matter, terrigenous influx, and erosion and redeposition on the ocean floor. The sequence of mid-Tertiary to Quaternary sediments can be described as an evolution from a "north Pacific" to a typical "Atlantic" facies, contingent upon a change in deep-sea circulation from ascending (estuarine) to descending (lagoonal), and a decreasing orogenic influence. For older sediments, recent counterparts are not available in many cases, and the reconstruction of the ncient environments involves unfamiliar sets of geochemical, climatological, and geographic variables, in addition to diagenesis. End_of_Article - Last_Page 604------------
Resilience among Low-Income African American Youth: An Ethnographic Perspective

This commentary uses ethnographic data on lowincome African American youth and their families to expand on theoretical discussions of resilience. Substantive findings are presented to highlight the impact of environmental conditions and family characteristics on specific processes. The discussion further considers the methodological contributions of ethnographic research for generating key insights on youth resilience.
A Case for Intervention in the Field

The question of the field anthropologist's participation or intervention in the affairs of the people he is studying has often been discussed. In the past (with the exception of James Spillius1), this question has been considered only in terms of the field worker who has a choice in the matter of intervention. The pros and cons in the discussions of this question have in fact been based on the assumption that there is always a free choice for the anthropologist in such field situations.2
Torsional Movements in the Ameba, Chaos carolinensis, Suggest a Helical Cytoskeletal Organization*†

SYNOPSIS. Centrifugation for 30–40 seconds at 8,000 g has been used to render monopodial specimens of the large free-living ameba. Chaos carolinensis. These monopodial amebae exhibit obvious torsional movements in the tail. In many cases the posterior ectoplasm assumes the form of a screw with helical ridges forming in place of the more common straight dorsal fins. This finding prompted a re-examination of normal polypodial C. carolinensis, and a majority of these were found also to exhibit torsional movement in the tail and in retracting pseudopodia. These movements suggest that the cytoskeleton of Chaos may have a helical component in its organization.
Curiosities of characteristic functions

Abstract We discuss certain types of characteristic functions with surprising and interesting properties, settle two problems of Ushakov, relate to an observation by Ramachandran, and pose new questions.
Regenerative braking of battery powered converter controlled PM synchronous machines

The powertrains of hybrid electric vehicles incorporate motor-generator units that can contribute propulsion torque or braking torque in response to driver demands and power management logic. A key feature of these motor-generator units is their ability to recover kinetic energy, through regenerative braking, that would otherwise be dissipated as heat. This paper clarifies and resolves several critical issues relating to regenerative braking of battery powered converter controlled permanent-magnet synchronous machines, including the determination of boundaries in the torque-speed plane defining the regenerative braking capability region and the determination of feasible operating points within that capability region that lead to maximum battery-pack recharge current.
Reversible inactivation of deep-sea amphipods (Paralicella capresca) by a decompression from 601 bars to atmospheric pressure

Abstract 1. 1. Amphipods were recovered cold and undecompressed (at 601 bars) from a 5900m depth. The animals at 2°C were decompressed from 601 bars to atmospheric pressure at a controlled rate with the loss of locomotor activity at 215 bars. 2. 2. The animals were left at atmospheric pressure for 4 min. Locomotor activity was immediately regained following recompression. 3. 3. Vertical migrations of more than 3000 m appear physiologically possible even if perhaps never done by the benthic amphipods studied. 4. 4. Brief manipulations of deep-sea amphipods outside of pressure vessels appear feasible.
The effectiveness of a single intraperitoneal infusion of a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist in reducing postoperative adhesion formation is time dependent

Background Current methods to prevent intraabdominal adhesions are not uniformly effective. We recently showed in rats that a neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist is capable of reducing adhesion formation. To determine the clinical feasibility of using an NK-1R antagonist to reduce adhesions, this study examined the time dependence for the effectiveness of NK-1R antagonist administration and its effects on wound healing. Methods Adhesions were surgically induced in rats receiving a single intraperitoneal infusion of the NK-1R antagonist, CJ-12,255, during or 1, 5, 12, or 24 hours after surgery. Adhesion formation was assessed 7 days later. In a subset of animals, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) activity, which is a measure of peritoneal fibrinolytic activity, was determined in peritoneal fluid 24 hours after surgery (48 hours for animals infused at 24 hours). The tPA activity was also determined in nonoperated animals 24 hours after peritoneal injection of the NK-1R antagonist. Colonic burst pressures were measured 7 days after creation of anastomoses in rats that were administered the antagonist at surgery. Results The NK-1R antagonist significantly reduced (P =.003) intraabdominal adhesions when administered during or 1 hour after surgery, only moderately reduced (P = .08) adhesions when administered at 5 hours, and had no effect at 12 or 24 hours. Peritoneal tPA activity was significantly increased (P Conclusions These data show that some of the events critical to adhesion formation occur within the first 5 hours following an abdominal operation in this model. The fact that the NK-1R antagonist does not impair colonic anastomotic healing enhances its usefulness as a therapeutic agent to inhibit adhesion formation.
Cultural identification and smoking among American Indian adults in an urban setting.

Objectives. Among American Indians (AIs), an important relationship has been theorized between cultural identification and substance abuse, including smoking. We investigated the relationship between cultural identification and smoking among AI adults. Design. Using the Orthogonal Cultural Identification Scale (OCIS), we examined the relationship between AI and White cultural identification and cigarette use in a sample of AI recruited at an urban Indian center (n=217). Results. We found that high AIs identification predicted smoker status and high White identification predicted non-smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence. Orthogonal cultural identification status (categorized as high White/high AI, high White/low AI, low White/high AI, or low White/low AI) did not predict smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence. OCIS item analysis revealed that positive responses to the individual OCIS items 'My family lives by the American Indian way of life,' 'I live by the American Indian way of life,' and 'I am a success in the American Indian way of life' predicted smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence. Conclusions. Our data suggest that, among some groups of urban AIs, recreational smoking is associated with AI cultural identification.
Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) Inhibits Growth and Invasion by Up-regulating Nuclear Receptors and 25-Hydroxylase (CYP27A1) in Human Prostate Cancer Cells

Epidemiological evidence suggests an inverse relationship between prostate cancer and serum vitamin D levels. We examined the ability of cholecalciferol (vitamin D(3)), a calcitriol precursor, to inhibit or reverse cellular changes associated with malignant transformation and invasion and explored its mechanisms of action. The RWPE2-W99 human prostate epithelial cell line, which forms slow-growing tumors in nude mice, was used because it mimics the behavior of the majority of primary human prostate cancers. Cholecalciferol, at physiological levels: (i) inhibited anchorage-dependent and -independent growth; (ii) induced differentiation by decreasing vimentin expression with a concomitant decrease in motility/chemotaxis; (iii) decreased MMP-9 and MMP-2 activity with concomitant decrease in invasion; and (iv) exerted its effects by up-regulating vitamin D receptor (VDR), retinoid-X receptor-alpha (RXR-alpha), and androgen receptor (AR) in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we found that RWPE2-W99 prostate cancer cells, similar to RWPE-1 cells (Tokar and Webber. Clin Exp Metast 2005; 22: 265-73), constitutively express the enzyme 25-hydroxylase CYP27A1 which is markedly up-regulated by cholecalciferol. Cholecalciferol has effects similar to those of calcitriol on growth, MMP activity, and VDR. The ability of CYP27A1 to catalyze the conversion of cholecalciferol to 25(OH)D(3) and of 25(OH)D(3) to calcitriol has been reported. RWPE2-W99 cells, similar to RWPE-1 cells, appear to have the rare ability to locally convert cholecalciferol to the active hormone calcitriol. Because it can inhibit cellular changes associated with malignant transformation and invasion, we propose that cholecalciferol may be an effective agent for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Hydrochloric Acid Ionization at the Surface of Stratospheric Ice

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to study the acid ionization of hydrochloric acid (HCl) at the basal plane surface of ice at 190 kelvin, as a model for the acid ionization process in Antarctic polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). Initial conditions for HCl placement within the top bilayer of the ice lattice were selected on the basis of relevant dynamic equilibrium adsorption-desorption conditions. Free energy changes calculated for the first step in the stepwise acid ionization mechanism ranged from −5.8 to −6.7 kilocalories per mole for various likely initial conditions. These results indicate that acid ionization is thermodynamically favorable and that this process has important implications for ozone depletion mechanisms involving PSCs.
Toward the library generation of natural product-like polycyclic derivatives by stereocontrolled diversity-oriented synthesis

Due to the growing interest in small molecules that could help in understanding protein-protein interactions based on signal transduction, the demand for the generation of small-molecule libraries that are inspired by bioactive natural products has grown signifi- cantly. Many of these pathways are highly complex and present tremendous challenges with the use of classical tools. A rapid access to natural product-like small molecules having struc- tural complexity and diversity is crucial for systematically dissecting the functions of com- plex protein networking and understanding cell signaling pathways. The complex nature, the three-dimensional architecture, and the number of protein binding functional groups pre- sented in three-dimensional arrays are some of the attractive features to incorporate in small- molecule chemical probes to be used as modulators of protein function.
Watching The Daily Show in Kenya

Global distribution of a popular American television programme – Jon Stewart's Daily Show – offers a rare opportunity to examine transnational contingencies of meaning in political satire. Drawing on focus group discussions in Kenya, this analysis shows how some East Africans appropriated and reinterpreted – indeed unexpectedly subverted – The Daily Show's political content, deriving from it insights that Stewart himself might have found surprising. Kenyan viewers perceived in The Daily Show gaps between the rhetoric and reality of empire and pointed to limitations of Stewart's dissident satire as they rejected its depictions of non-wealthy nations and marginalized peoples. They reconfigured Daily Show episodes as commentaries on global power relations; reflected critically on Kenyan politics, media and their own political subjectivities; and revised their own earlier assumptions about the gap between Africa and supposedly ‘mature’ democracies such as the United States. Thus, American political satire suc...
Communication For Omniscience by a Neutral Observer and Information-Theoretic Key Agreement of Multiple Terminals

We derive a new upper bound on the secrecy capacity in the source model with eavesdropper which strictly improves the currently best upper bound, i.e. the double intrinsic information bound of Renner and Wolf. Furthermore, unlike that bound, which is defined only in the case of two terminals, the new upper bound is not specific to the two terminals case. We define a problem of communication for omniscience by a neutral observer and establish the equivalence between this new problem and the problem of secret key agreement.
Prime-boost vaccination with plasmid DNA encoding caprine-arthritis encephalitis lentivirus env and viral SU suppresses challenge virus and development of arthritis.

This study evaluated the efficacy of prime-boost vaccination for immune control of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV), a macrophage tropic lentivirus that causes progressive arthritis in the natural host. Vaccination of Saanen goats with pUC-based plasmid DNA expressing CAEV env induces T helper type 1 (Th1) biased immune responses to vector-encoded surface envelope (SU), and the plasmid-primed Th1 response is expanded following boost with purified SU in Freund’s incomplete adjuvant (SU-FIA) (J. C. Beyer et al., 2001, Vaccine 19, 1643-1651). Four goats vaccinated with env expression plasmids and boosted with SU-FIA were challenged intravenously with 1 × 104 TCID50 of CAEV at 428 days after SU-FIA boost and evaluated by immunological, virological, and disease criteria. Controls included two goats primed with pUC18 and eight unvaccinated goats. Goats receiving prime-boost vaccination with CAEV env plasmids and SU-FIA became infected but suppressed postchallenge virus replication, provirus loads in lymph node, and development of arthritis for at least 84 weeks.
Periodic B-spline basis for quasi-steady periodic inverse heat conduction

Abstract A method based on the use of periodic B-splines and the integral transform technique is proposed for the solution of quasi-steady periodic linear inverse heat conduction problems. Previous approaches based on a finite Fourier series representation of the unknown surface condition are best suited to smooth time variations of the surface condition. Now, using a B-spline representation, problems with discontinuities or abrupt variations in the surface condition can be handled readily. The versatility of the B-spline basis allows prior information concerning the general functional behavior of the surface condition to be better incorporated into the model.
32P-analysis of DNA adducts in somatic and reproductive tissues of rats treated with the anticancer antibiotic, mitomycin C

Abstract Mitomycin C (MMC) is clinically used drug with mutagenic and antitumor activities, presumably elicited through its covalent binding to DNA, however, little is known about MMC binding to DNA in vivo. A 32 P-postlabeling method that does not require radiolabeled test compounds was employed here to study the formation of DNA adducts in somatic and reproductive tissues of rats 24 h after an i.p. dose of 9 mg/kg MMC. Among 14 tissues studied in female rats, MMC-DNA adduct levels were within a 2-fold range in 11 tissues, i.e. bladder, colon, esophagus, heart, kidney, liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, small intestine and stomach (minimum levels of 9.6–21.9 adducts per 10 7 ). Three other tissues, i.e. brain, spleen and thymus, exhibited lower adduct levels (0.2, 5.4 and 1.4 adducts, respectively, per 10 7 N). Liver DNA adduct levels were 32% lower in male than in female rats. Testicular DNA contained 2.5 adducts per 10 7 N, i.e. 5.3. times less than ovarian DNA. 32 P-labeled adduct patterns were qualitatively similar among the different tissues and consisted of 10 adducts, one of which comprised 71 (±5)% of the total. All these adducts were chromatographically identical to adducts formed by the reaction of chemically reduced MMC with DNA in vitro, demonstrating that metabolic activation of MMC occured via reduction. Using homopolydeoxyribonucleotides modified with MMC, in vivo adducts were shown to be mostly (>90%) gaunine derivatives and small amounts of adenine, cytosine and thymine products. Most of the adducts appeared to be monofunctional derivatives of DNA nucleotides. Dose-dependent MMC-DNA adduct formation was determined in rat liver over an 82-fold range of MMC administered (0.11–9.0 mg/kg). The lowest dose level studied was 4.5 times lower than the recommended single dose for human cancer chemotherapy (20 mg/m 2 ). Thus, these results predict that 32 P-postlabeling methodology is suitable to monitor and quantify DNA adducts in tissue biopsies of patients receiving MMC chemotherapy.
Management of behavior disturbance in Alzheimer disease: current knowledge and future directions.

SummaryAssessment and treatment of behavior problems in patients with Alzheimer disease and related disorders is a seriously neglected area of study. Despite the fact that such problems are integral to the disorder, little is known about effective management. This article summarizes the current thin
Worldbrane actions for string solitons

Abstract The space-time dynamics of recently discovered fivebrane solitons in heterotic and type II string theories are described in terms of supersymmetric low-energy field theories which live on the (5+1)-dimensional soliton worldbranes. Several surprising features emerge, including: the (hitherto unsuspected) existence of both chiral and non-chiral type II five-branes; spin-one gauge as well as anti-self-dual tensor zero modes; extended supersymmetry on the worldbrane. Non-renormalization theorems for supersymmetric worldbrane actions are used to argue that gauge fivebrane (and instanton) solutions to the leading-order low-energy string equation of motion correspond to exact supersymmetric solutions of the full string equation of motion.
Mitochondrial Dynamics and Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is perhaps the archetypal disease of axonal degeneration, characteristically involving degeneration of the longest axons in the body. Evidence from both inherited and acquired forms of peripheral neuropathy strongly supports that the primary pathology is in the axons themselves and points to disruption of axonal transport as an important disease mechanism. Recent studies in human genetics have further identified abnormalities in mitochondrial dynamics--the fusion, fission, and movement of mitochondria--as a player in the pathogenesis of inherited peripheral neuropathy. This review provides an update on the mechanisms of mitochondrial trafficking in axons and the emerging relationship between the disruption of mitochondrial dynamics and axonal degeneration. Evidence suggests mitochondria are a "critical cargo" whose transport is necessary for proper axonal and synaptic function. Importantly, understanding the regulation of mitochondrial movement and the consequences of decreased axonal mitochondrial function may define new paths for therapeutic agents in peripheral neuropathy and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Correspondence of aortic valve area determination from transesophageal echocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography, and cardiac catheterization

The correspondence of aortic valve area measurements from transesophageal echocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography, and cardiac catheterization was determined in 100 patients with severe aortic stenosis (aortic valve area ≤ 0.75 cm2), moderate aortic stenosis (aortic valve area >0.75 to ≤ 1.2 cm2), mild aortic stenosis (aortic valve area > 1.2 to ≤2.0 cm2), and nonstenotic aortic valves (aortic valve area >2.0 cm2). Because high correlation does not require high agreement, data were assessed by analysis of agreement. Aortic valve areas determined by transthoracic echocardiography (1.43 ± 0.76 cm2), transesophageal echocardiography (1.40 ± 0.79 cm2), and cardiac catheterization (1.47 ± 0.82 cm2) were similar. Correlations between methods were excellent (r values = 0.96). “Limits of agreement” between the three comparisons did not differ significantly. Similar levels of agreement when comparing these independent methods for determining the aortic valve area indicate that direct planimetry by transesophageal echocardiography, the continuity equation with transthoracic echocardiography, and the Gorlin formula are equally accurate and may be used interchangeably. Clinically important discrepancies between methods are uncommon and are readily settled by adding a third method.
Root Infinitives in Child Second Language English: An Aspectual Features Account.

This article examines the emergence of finiteness in early second language (L2) English of five consecutive bilinguals (ages 6 to 9). The departure point is Gavruseva's (2002; 2003) proposal that nonfinite root predicates result from the underspecification of syntactic aspectual heads at the initial state S. Gavruseva's ‘underspecification of AspP' account is developed further by examining the feature contents of aspectual projections in English from a crosslinguistic perspective. It is argued that English, in contrast to Russian and French, lacks the genuine imperfective and perfective morphemes and so makes use of a greater variety of aspectual features (e.g., intrinsic and compositional telicity features, ). It is also proposed that an English verb's telicity semantics defines its aspectual class and predicts its finiteness status in children's early grammar. An advantage of the ‘aspectual features account' is that it explains why statives (inherent atelics) and punctual eventives (inherent telics) show much higher finiteness rates than nonpunctual eventives (an aspectual class defined by a compositional telicity feature) in the child L2 data. Other approaches to the root infinitive phenomenon such as the (Rizzi 1993=94) and the (Haznedar and Schwartz, 1997; Lardiere, 1998; Prevost and White, 2000) cannot explain these finiteness patterns.
Earth-Line Maneuver Strategies for the Extended Pioneer 1 Jupiter/Saturn Mission

Pioneer 11 was launched in April 1973, eight months before the Jupiter encounter of the front-running twin spacecraft, Pioneer 10. Near-Earth maneuvers placed Pioneer 11 on an interim flight path designed to retain a later retargeting capability to repeat the Pioneer 10 flyby geometry or encounter a wide variety of alternate Jupiter aimpoints, including one resulting in an extended mission to Saturn. Pioneer 11 was retargeted for the extended mission in April 1974, subsequent to the successful Jupiter encounter of Pioneer 10 in December 1973. Pioneer 11 successfully met its Jupiter objectives during flyby in December 1974 and is now headed for a Saturn encounter in September 1979. This paper presents the retargeting and trimming maneuver strategies and analyses that were required to assure the productive Jupiter encounter and to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving a subsequent Saturn mission.
Is It Better Not to Talk? Group Polarization, Extended Contact, and Perspective Taking in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Mass media are often used to generate discussion for the purpose of conflict reduction. A yearlong field experiment in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tested the impact of one such media program, a talk show designed to promote listener discussion about intergroup conflict and cooperation. A stratified random half of all nonoverlapping broadcast regions in eastern DRC aired the talk show, which encouraged listeners to consider tolerant opinions and outgroup perspectives, and promoted extended intergroup contact using a related soap opera. The other regions aired the soap opera only. Compared to individuals exposed to the soap opera only, talk show listeners discussed more but were more intolerant, more mindful of grievances, and less likely to aid disliked community members. These results point to some of the limits of discussion and suggest further research on ideas connecting theoretical recommendations for discussion and conflict reduction.
“She’s getting married; I’m getting drunk”: women’s risk and protective strategies at bachelorette parties

Objective: Bachelorette parties comprise a common setting where young, reproductive-aged women engage in high-risk drinking behaviors. This study examines drinking behaviors among bachelorette party attendees, and identifies the individual and party related characteristics that influence these behaviors. Method: 122 young women (Mean age = 25.1 ± 4.0 years) responded to an online survey assessing drinking-related behaviors associated with the most recent bachelorette party attended in the past 12 months. Results: More than 80% of our sample reported drinking at the bachelorette party they attended, with an average of five drinks consumed the day of the party. Drinking behaviors of party attendees bore a strong correspondence to their typical drinking behaviors. Parties organized in public locations and with larger sizes were more likely to be associated with heavier drinking than parties organized in private settings and with fewer attendees. Overall, the presence of safety plans was associated with a low...
The Combinatorial BLAS: design, implementation, and applications

This paper presents a scalable high-performance software library to be used for graph analysis and data mining. Large combinatorial graphs appear in many applications of high-performance computing, including computational biology, informatics, analytics, web search, dynamical systems, and sparse matrix methods. Graph computations are difficult to parallelize using traditional approaches due to their irregular nature and low operational intensity. Many graph computations, however, contain sufficient coarse-grained parallelism for thousands of processors, which can be uncovered by using the right primitives. We describe the parallel Combinatorial BLAS, which consists of a small but powerful set of linear algebra primitives specifically targeting graph and data mining applications. We provide an extensible library interface and some guiding principles for future development. The library is evaluated using two important graph algorithms, in terms of both performance and ease-of-use. The scalability and raw performance of the example applications, using the Combinatorial BLAS, are unprecedented on distributed memory clusters.
A novel image reconstruction software for optical/infrared interferometry

Imaging large intensity gradients for rapid rotators, complicated spot patterns on rotating RS CVn binaries, and diffuse disk emission around Young Stellar Objects requires advanced imaging methods beyond the current image reconstruction paradigms in optical/infrared interferometry. We report on the ongoing development of SQUEEZE, a flexible software for optical and infrared interferometry capable of simultaneous model-fitting and image reconstruction, and possessing useful new capabilities such as imaging on a spheroid. We treat the problem of the local minimas due to the "missing phase" and explore the use of non-pixel-based reconstructions within the Bayesian evidence and compressed sensing frameworks.
The Case for a More Truly Social Epistemology

In his path-breaking recent book, Knowledge in a Social World, Alvin Goldman brings academic epistemology to bear on important real world issues in information technology, the media, science, law, politics, and education. Though the project that Goldman undertakes ramifies in many directions, the motivating idea is simple. Knowledge (in the weak sense of true belief) is important. Social institutions and practices can and should be evaluated on how well or how poorly they contribute to knowledge of propositions of interest. This is Goldman's criterion of veritistic value, which, he acknowledges, is only one of the criteria for evaluating social practices.1 Taken as a whole, this book is one of the most effective explanations in the philosophical literature of why truth (i.e., veritistic value) matters, both theoretically and in practice. Although Goldman's book is path-breaking, I have to admit that I wish he had broken off the main pathway of traditional epistemology even further. Goldman's traditionalism manifests itself most significantly in two ways: (1) Although the avowed topic is social epistemology, Goldman's analytical framework is largely individualistic. (2) In the theoretical second section of the book, the emphasis on proof and on general argument leads Goldman to
Answers to Common Questions About the Use and Safety of CT Scans

Articles in the scientific literature and lay press over the past several years have implied that computed tomography (CT) may cause cancer and that physicians and patients must exercise caution in its use. Although there is broad agreement on the latter point--unnecessary medical tests of any type should always be avoided--there is considerable controversy surrounding the question of whether, or to what extent, CT scans can lead to future cancers. Although the doses used in CT are higher than those used in conventional radiographic examinations, they are still 10 to 100 times lower than the dose levels that have been reported to increase the risk of cancer. Despite the fact that at the low doses associated with a CT scan the risk either is too low to be convincingly demonstrated or does not exist, the magnitude of the concern among patients and some medical professionals that CT scans increase cancer risk remains unreasonably high. In this article, common questions about CT scanning and radiation are answered to provide physicians with accurate information on which to base their medical decisions and respond to patient questions.
Synergistic use of QuickBird multispectral imagery and LIDAR data for object-based forest species classification

Abstract This study evaluated the synergistic use of high spatial resolution multispectral imagery (i.e., QuickBird, 2.4 m) and low-posting-density LIDAR data (3 m) for forest species classification using an object-based approach. The integration of QuickBird multispectral imagery and LIDAR data was considered during image segmentation and the subsequent object-based classification. Three segmentation schemes were examined: (1) segmentation based solely on the spectral image layers; (2) segmentation based solely on LIDAR-derived layers; and (3) segmentation based on both the spectral and LIDAR-derived layers. For each segmentation scheme, objects were generated at twelve different scales in order to determine optimal scale parameters. Six categories of classification metrics were generated for each object based on spectral data alone, LIDAR data alone and the combination of both data sources. Machine learning decision trees were used to build classification rule sets. Quantitative segmentation quality assessment and classification accuracy results showed the integration of spectral and LIDAR data, in both image segmentation and object-based classification, improved the forest classification compared to using either data source independently. Better segmentation quality led to higher classification accuracy. The highest classification accuracy (Kappa = 91.6%) was acquired when using both spectral- and LIDAR-derived metrics based on objects segmented from both spectral and LIDAR layers at scale parameter 250, where best segmentation quality was achieved. Optimal scales were analyzed for each segmentation-classification scheme. Statistical analysis of classification accuracies at different scales revealed that there was a range of optimal scales that provided statistically similar accuracy.
Perspectives on models of spinal muscular atrophy for drug discovery

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive motor neuron disease, which is one of the most common forms of inheritable infant death in the world. SMA results from reduced levels of SMN protein. Various models systems used in SMA research are available and it is possible to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Although each of these models has its limitations, they must be used together so as to effectively and efficiently identify potential SMA therapeutics.
China beach, prime time war in the Postfeminist age: An example of patriarchy in a different voice

This essay examines the gender ideology displayed in the prime time television series, China Beach. Specifically, this television criticism essay identifies and discusses three interrelated strategies through which the series feminized violence and militarism and naturalized war.
Genetic Control of Programmed Cell Death in the Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans

Studies of the development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans established that programmed cell death involves specific genes and proteins and that those genes and proteins act within the cells that die. This finding revealed that cell death is a fundamental and active biological process, much like cell division and cell differentiation. The characterization of genes responsible for programmed cell death in C. elegans has defined a molecular genetic pathway. This pathway is conserved evolutionarily and provides a basis for understanding programmed cell death in more complex organisms, including humans. Knowledge of the mechanisms of programmed cell death should help lead to new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases characterized by too many or too few cell deaths, including cancer.
Understanding and Using Principles of Arithmetic: Operations Involving Negative Numbers

Previous work has investigated adults' knowledge of principles for arithmetic with positive numbers (Dixon, Deets, & Bangert, 2001). The current study extends this past work to address adults' knowledge of principles of arithmetic with a negative number, and also investigates links between knowledge of principles and problem representation. Participants (N = 44) completed two tasks. In the Evaluation task, participants rated how well sets of equations were solved. Some sets violated principles of arithmetic and others did not. Participants rated non-violation sets higher than violation sets for two different principles for subtraction with a negative number. In the Word Problem task, participants read word problems and set up equations that could be used to solve them. Participants who displayed greater knowledge of principles of arithmetic with a negative number were more likely to set up equations that involved negative numbers. Thus, participants' knowledge of arithmetic principles was related to their problem representations.
Scheduling algorithms for automated traffic

We consider the problem of scheduling automated traffic in a city. Each car has a specified route from its origin to its destination, and the task of the scheduler is to provide timed trajectories for all cars, which follow the respective cars' routes and further ensure that no collisions or deadlock will result Our approach reduces the problem to a discrete-time graph scheduling problem, by defining an appropriate graph to model the road network. Our main result is a sufficient condition on the graph of the road network and on the initial distribution of cars, under which there exists a scheduling algorithm that is guaranteed to clear the system in finite time. The nature of this result allows the design of provably correct scheduling algorithms that require only a small portion of future routes of all cars to be known, and are consequently able to work in real time. We also address the optimization of performance with respect to delay, by focusing on the "one-step move" problem. Finding an optimal solution for the one-step problem would provide a greedy solution of the original network-wide scheduling problem, but is itself NP-hard. We present a polynomial time heuristic algorithm and evaluate its performance through simulations.
Health care provider choice and utilization among the elderly in a state in Brazil: a structural model

OBJECTIVES: Current demographic trends point to the need for understanding the health challenges facing the elderly in Latin America today. This study assessed whether health care provider choice and household income impact utilization and health among the elderly in Brazil. METHODS: Using a sample taken in 1995 in southern Brazil, a structural model was used to estimate the parameters of a function that represents the choice of health care provider, controlled for health care services utilization and a health production function. The dependent variable for the production function was self-assessed health. These two functions were structurally linked by introducing the probability of choosing a private over a public provider in the health production function as an added explanatory variable. With this structural linkage, the production function assessed how much the selection of a public versus a private provider affects health, while controlling for the possibility that individuals with poorer health have a tendency to prefer one or other health care provider. RESULTS: Health care services utilization by the elderly was constrained by two factors: the number of providers at the municipality level and household income. The elderly who live in municipalities with a greater number of public, outpatient clinics and providers were more likely to use the public system. Patients who used the public health care system had lower self-assessed health status than those using the private system. This result is valid even after controlling for demographic variables and morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Brazil’s public health system does not adequately provide for the health needs of the elderly population. Policy recommendations include further investments in the public health care infrastructure, full implementation of the National Plan for Elderly Health, and developing new programs for effective geriatric consultations at the primary care level.
Predatory Interactions between Mud-Dauber Wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) and Argiope (Araneae, Araneidae) in Captivity

Abstract We report on efforts to maintain two common sphecid wasps, Chalybion caeruleum (Saussure 1867) and Sceliphron caementarium (Drury 1773), in field and laboratory enclosures in order to observe their predatory interactions with the orb-weaving spiders Argiope aurantia Lucas 1833 and A. trifasciata (Forskal 1775). Both species of wasps seemed to locate webs primarily by chance while flying along the tops of the vegetation but differed greatly in their hunting tactics once webs were located. Sceliphron caementarium was most successful at capturing spiders that had dropped out of webs in response to the wasp's hitting the web. But, C. caeruleum often employed a type of aggressive mimicry: it landed in the web or used its middle legs to pluck the web, luring the spider to the wasp. Argiope did not differ in their defensive response to C. caeruleum and S. caementarium. Most Argiope dropped out of webs in response to attacks rather than using other defensive behaviors such as shuttling between sides of w...
Suspected Mitochondrial Disorder

Lactate elevations in blood, CSF, or urine or frank lactic acidosis are a hallmark of disorders of energy metabolism, more specifically respiratory chain disorders, disorders of oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial disorders, or mitochondriopathies. These can involve any organ at any age. Organs commonly affected include muscle, brain, retina, extraocular muscles, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, gut, and bone marrow (Table D6.1). Systemic growth may be impaired. It is sometimes said that the greater the number of organ systems involved, the greater the likelihood of a mitochondrial disorder.
Expanded Method Development for the Determination of Pesticides in Dried Hops by Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An analytical method was developed for the determination of several agrochemicals (abamectin [as B1a], bifenazate, bifenthrin, boscalid, carfentrazone-ethyl, cymoxanil, dimethomorph, etoxazole, fam...
Instability of cypermethrin resistance in a field population of the German cockroach (Orthoptera: Blattellidae)

We initiated a program to reduce the level of resistance to 3 pyrethroid insecticides-cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, and esfenvalerate-in a field population (RHA) of German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), in urban apartments buildings. Applications of all pyrethroids to RHA-infested apartments stopped in July 1990, and control was provided primarily by chlorpyrifos. By using resistance ratios (RR) at LC 50 , we used the level of cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, and esfenvalerate resistance in the RHA population periodically to monitor field responses of collected cockroaches for 13 generations (F 1 -F 13 ). The resistance ratio for cypermethrin declined from 180 in July 1990 to 123 in March 1991 (F 2 ) to 66 in October 1991 (F 5 ), to 41 in October 1992 (F 9 ), and to 2.5 in October 1993 (F 13 ). For cyfluthrin resistance, the 27 RR (1990) declined to 3.3 in 1993. For esfenvalerate resistance, the 17 RR in 1991 declined to 4.6 in 1993. The percentage reduction of apartment infestations of RHA 2 wk after application of 0.2% (AI) cypermethrin increased from 20% in 1990 to 76% in 1993 after 3 yr without exposure. Percent reduction of RHA infestation provided by cyfluthrin increased from 49% in 1991 (F 1 ) to 74% in 1993 (F 13 ). The resistance ratio based on LD 50 and percentage reduction data appear to be reliable indications of the return of limited pyrethroid susceptibility to the RHA population.
Neuroradiologic characteristics of astroblastoma and systematic review of the literature: 2 new cases and 125 cases reported in 59 publications

Astroblastoma is a rare tumor of uncertain origin most commonly presenting in the cerebrum of children and young adults. The literature contains only case reports and small series regarding its radiologic features. This systematic review is the largest study of imaging findings of astroblastoma to date and serves to identify features that might differentiate it from other neoplasms. This study describes the imaging features of astroblastoma based on a systematic review of the literature and two new cases. We conducted a PubMed and Google Scholar database search that identified 59 publications containing 125 cases of pathology-confirmed astroblastoma, and we also added two new cases from our own institution. Data collected include patient age, gender, tumor location, morphology, calcifications and calvarial changes. We recorded findings on CT, MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), MR spectroscopy, positron emission tomography (PET) and catheter angiography. Age at diagnosis ranged 0–70 years (mean 18 years; median 14 years). Female-to-male ratio was 8:1. Of 127 cases, 66 reported CT, 78 reported MRI and 47 reported both findings. Not all authors reported all features, but the tumor features reported included supratentorial in 96% (122/127), superficial in 72% (48/67), well-demarcated in 96% (79/82), mixed cystic–solid in 93% (79/85), and enhancing in 99% (78/79). On CT, 84% (26/31) of astroblastomas were hyperattenuated, 73% (27/37) had calcifications and 7 cases reported adjacent calvarial erosion. Astroblastomas were hypointense on T1-W in 58% (26/45) and on T2-W in 50% (23/46) of MRI sequences. Peritumoral edema was present in 80% (40/50) of cases but was typically described as slight. Six cases included DWI findings, with 100% showing restricted diffusion. On MR spectroscopy, 100% (5/5) showed nonspecific tumor spectra with elevated choline and decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA). PET revealed nonspecific reduced uptake of [F-18] 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and increased uptake of [11C]-Methionine in 100% (3/3) of cases. Catheter angiography findings (n=12) were variable, including hypervascularity in 67%, arteriovenous shunting in 33% and avascular areas in 25%. Astroblastomas occur most often in adolescent girls. Imaging often shows a supratentorial, superficial, well-defined, cystic–solid enhancing mass. On CT, most are hyperattenuated, have calcifications, and may remodel adjacent bone if superficial. MRI characteristically reveals a hypointense mass on T1-W and T2-W sequences with restricted diffusion. MR spectroscopy, PET and catheter angiography findings are nonspecific.
Activation of TLR3 promotes the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells by upregulating the protein levels of JNK3.

Purpose. To investigate whether activation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) promotes the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by upregulating the protein levels of c-jun N-terminal kinase 3 (JNK3).
The nature of the substances adsorbed on the surface of the fat globules in cow's milk. (Preliminary Report).

It is possible to account for the emulsion character of the fat in milk and cream both on theoretical grounds, because of the abundant presence of hydrophilic colloids in milk plasma, and on experimental grounds, because milk plasma (skim milk) readily stabilizes emulsions of oils and fats foreign to milk. However, a number of investigators, beginning with Danilewski and Raden-hausen,1 have attempted to isolate the emulsifying substance from milk. Storch2 concluded, as the result of extensive experiments, that a special substance, a mucin-like protein, is involved. Voltz and Abderhalden3 and Voltz4 decided against the existence of a special substance because of the wide variety of products of varying proportions isolated by them. More recently Bredenberg,5 who, like Voltz, gives a very complete review of the literature, concluded that a mixture of protein, mucous and fatty substances, including calcium soaps, constitutes the so-called membrane around the fat globules.By using for the most part physical me...