cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preliminary Incubation Count as an Index of Raw Milk Microbiological Quality During Storage.

During a 5-month period, 200 raw milk samples were collected from two Louisiana milk plants. Standard Plate Count (SPC), Psychrotrophic Bacteria Count (PBC), and Proteolytic Count (PC) of each sample were initially determined, then monitored daily during a 5-d storage period at 2.2°C. As hypothesized, all bacterial counts increased during the storage period. The magnitude of the increase in bacterial numbers during storage was further investigated by dividing the milk samples into bacteriologically acceptable and unacceptable groups based on SPC or Preliminary Incubation (PI) count. An SPC of 1.0 × 105/ml and PI counts of 1.0 × 105/ml, 1.5 × 105/ml, 2.3 × 105/ml, and 3.0 × 105/ml were used to repeatedly dichotomize the 200 raw milk samples into two groups. Median SPC, PBC, and PC for each acceptable and unacceptable group were then calculated. Dichotomization based on PI counts yielded acceptable sample groups having consistently lower bacterial counts during storage than did the acceptable sample group, which resulted from the dichotomization based on a SPC of 1.0 × 105/ml. The results of this study indicated that the PI count is of considerable value for raw milk quality control.
The Attorney General’s Disruptive Immigration Power

This essay responds to a piece by former Attorney General Gonzales and an Office of Immigration Litigation attorney advocating more frequent use of the Attorney General's "referral and review" mechanism. First, it disputes the authors' fundamental characterization of the referral and review mechanism as a purely political tool, like other forms of executive discretion. Second, it challenges the authors' supposition that the referral and review mechanism has contributed to a stronger immigration framework by aggregating information that shows how the recent usage of this tool has disrupted the consistent development of immigration law by the judiciary, Congress, and agencies themselves. This essay concludes, briefly, by noting how additional exploration of the referral and review mechanism could advance the investigation of immigration law's distinctive identity, including the extent to which it is both excused from and beholden to general tenets of administrative law.
Shifting Landscapes: The Impact of Centralized and Decentralized Nursing Station Models on the Efficiency of Care:

Objective The focus of this research was to analyze the impact of decentralized and centralized hospital design layouts on the delivery of efficient care and the resultant level of caregiver satisfaction. Background An interdisciplinary team conducted a multiphased pre- and postoccupancy evaluation of a cardiovascular service line in an academic hospital that moved from a centralized to decentralized model. This study examined the impact of walkability, room usage, allocation of time, and visibility to better understand efficiency in the care environment. Method A mixed-methods data collection approach was utilized, which included pedometer measurements of staff walking distances, room usage data, time studies in patient rooms and nurses' stations, visibility counts, and staff questionnaires yielding qualitative and quantitative results. Results Overall, the data comparing the centralized and decentralized models yielded mixed results. This study's centralized design was rated significantly higher in its ability to support teamwork and efficient patient care with decreased staff walking distances. The decentralized unit design was found to positively influence proximity to patients in a larger design footprint and contribute to increased visits to and time spent in patient rooms. Conclusion Among the factors contributing to caregiver efficiency and satisfaction are nursing station design, an integrated team approach, and the overall physical layout of the space on walkability, allocation of caregiver time, and visibility. However, unit design alone does not solely impact efficiency, suggesting that designers must consider the broader implications of a culture of care and processes.
Kicks Inc.: Confidential Information for Sebastian Martinez (Athlete)

Kicks Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of athletic apparel and shoes, had plans to launch a new tennis shoe line within the year and was seeking an up-and-coming young athlete to be its spokesperson. Sebastian Martinez had emerged as an ideal candidate, and contract discussions were underway. Six issues need to be resolved to the satisfaction of the six parties involved—the athlete, the athlete's mother, the athlete's father, the athlete's agent, the Kicks brand manager, and an International Tennis Federation representative. This case provides specific role information for the athlete. The case needs to be accompanied by the background information case, UVA-QA-0739. Excerpt UVA-QA-0745 Rev. Dec. 2, 2010 Confidential Information for Sebastian Martinez (Athlete) Sebastian Martinez grew up in Argentina and began playing tennis as soon as he could walk, when his father, Luis, put a racket in his hands and introduced him to the sport. Insisting he showed promise at a young age, Martinez's parents devoted his entire childhood to tennis lessons, match play, and tournaments across the country. In truth, he didn't have a choice: He would be a tennis great, whether he wanted to or not. At eight years old, Martinez began playing tournaments in the 12-and-under category, beating kids twice his height, having benefited from the fundamentals ingrained in him. Martinez was also quick and light on his feet, which served him well once he reached the 14-and-under category; he made up in speed what he lacked in strength as he grew older. Tennis was all Martinez knew. His closest friends were also his toughest opponents on the court, making it difficult to have real friendships. While traveling to find the best competition, Martinez and his mother, Adriana, became very close and reliant on one another. Adriana was more than just his cheerleader and homeschool teacher; she was also his confidant. Martinez's father pushed him hard as a young boy, intending for him to reach perfection. That perfectionism had fueled in him an undying work ethic as he strived to meet his father's expectations. At 14 years old, the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT) decided to make Martinez a priority athlete and sponsored his move to the United States in pursuit of better coaching and training. Martinez's mother was American, so Martinez's dual citizenship allowed him to attend the Saddlebrook academy without difficulty. Because of Martinez's abilities, he received the same personalized attention in Florida he had received at home with his parents. The coaches took a special interest in Martinez, providing him with world-class instruction and competition to develop him into an athlete capable of being successful at the professional level. . . .
Validation of the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale in a College Student Sample

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale among college students. A total of 243 undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study from a southeastern public research one university in the United States. The scale yields good psychometric results in terms of internal consistency, split-half reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. We discussed the scale’s potential role of serving as an initial assessment tool for spiritually related issues within the college student population.
An Overview of the Assembly, Turnover and Recycling of the Murein Sacculus

In presenting an overview of this subject, I will limit my remarks to the situation in E. coli. The discussion is divided into two parts.
Comparing Chess Openings Part 2: A Test for Engine Bias

The results of the evaluation of a set of ten chess openings using a chess engine are found to be mostly reproducible in a different engine environment using two engines. The effect of some engine bias in the single engine results is noted and the dual engine design is proposed as a more suitable alternative.
Effects of Phosphonate Structures on Brine–Biotite Interactions under Subsurface Relevant Conditions

Phosphonates have been widely used as scale inhibitors in energy-related subsurface operations, where their performance is greatly affected by interactions with rocks and minerals. However, information about commonly used phosphonate scale inhibitor–shale interactions is limited. In this study, using Fe-bearing mica (biotite) as a model phyllosilicate mineral, the effects of three common phosphonates, namely, iminodi(methylene)phosphonate (IDMP), nitrilotris(methylene)phosphonate (NTMP), and diethylenetriaminepenta(methylene)phosphonate (DTPMP), were studied at 95 °C and 102 atm CO2. During the experiments (0–70 h), IDMP remained stable, while NTMP and DTPMP were degraded and released phosphate, formate, and new phosphonates with smaller molecular weights. As a result of the differences in complexation capability, IDMP, with the fewest phosphonate functional groups, promoted biotite dissolution mainly through surface complexation and DTPMP, with the most functional groups, promoted biotite dissolution mai...
Introduction: The New Environmental Crisis

The genesis of this book was the 50th Anniversary Workshop and Celebration of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware in 2014. In marking that milestone in the history of the center, we wanted a workshop in which participants would reflect on what is known about disaster science—much of which is owed to DRC, to its long lineage of intellectual descendants, and to their scholarly cousins in a variety of fields. We wanted to assess where that knowledge is uncertain, where new or reinforced knowledge is needed, and also to think about the state of practice. For this collection, authors were explicitly encouraged to be provocative; to be iconoclastic; to be speculative; to try as best possible to bring in new ideas or different approaches to familiar themes. In this first chapter, we consider some of today’s pressing environmental challenges and the associated research needs, moving from there to introduce the chapters and their overall contributions to this volume.
On communications through a Gaussian noise channel with an MMSE disturbance constraint

This paper considers a Gaussian channel with one transmitter and two receivers. The goal is to maximize the communication rate at the intended/primary receiver subject to a disturbance constraint at the unintended/secondary receiver. The disturbance is measured in terms of minimum mean square error (MMSE) of the interference that the transmission to the primary receiver inflicts on the secondary receiver. The paper presents a new upper bound for the problem of maximizing the mutual information subject to an MMSE constraint. The new bound holds for vector inputs of any length and recovers a previously known limiting (when the length for vector input tends to infinity) expression from the work of Bustin et al. The key technical novelty is a new upper bound on MMSE. This new bound allows one to bound the MMSE for all signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values below a certain SNR at which the MMSE is known (which corresponds to the disturbance constraint). This new bound complements the ‘single-crossing point property’ of the MMSE that upper bounds the MMSE for all SNR values above a certain value at which the MMSE value is known. The new MMSE upper bound provides a refined characterization of the phase-transition phenomenon which manifests, in the limit as the length of the vector input goes to infinity, as a discontinuity of the MMSE for the problem at hand. A matching lower bound, to within an additive gap of order O (log log 1/MMSE) (where MMSE is the disturbance constraint), is shown by means of the mixed inputs recently introduced by Dytso et al.
When the Race Is Lost: The Clinical Impact of Prosthetic Joint Infections

Joint arthroplasty, a procedure that can relieve patients of life-altering and debilitating pain, has proven to be so successful that over 1,000,000 procedures are performed annually in the USA alone. However, a prosthetic joint infection represents a devastating complication for patients which can lead to not only revision surgery but possible permanent loss of function, amputation, and even death. Infection can present not only in the immediate postoperative period but at any point for the duration of the implant’s life.
Glaucomatous visual fields and neurocognitive function are independently associated with poor lane maintenance during driving simulation.

BACKGROUND Driving simulators are a safe alternative to on-road vehicles for studying driving behavior in glaucoma drivers. Visual field (VF) loss severity is associated with higher driving simulator crash risk, though mechanisms explaining this relationship remain unknown. Furthermore, associations between driving behavior and neurocognitive performance in glaucoma are unexplored. Here, we evaluated the hypothesis that VF loss severity and neurocognitive performance interact to influence simulated vehicle control in glaucoma drivers. METHODS Glaucoma patients (n = 25) and suspects (n = 18) were recruited into the study. All had > 20/40 corrected visual acuity in each eye and were experienced field takers with at least three stable (reliability > 20%) fields over the last 2 years. Diagnosis of neurological disorder or cognitive impairment were exclusion criteria. Binocular VFs were derived from monocular Humphrey VFs to estimate a binocular VF index (OU-VFI). Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was administered to assess global and sub-domain neurocognitive performance. National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) was administered to assess peripheral vision and driving difficulties sub-scores. Driving performance was evaluated using a driving simulator with a 290° panoramic field of view constructed around a full-sized automotive cab. Vehicle control metrics, such as lateral acceleration variability and steering wheel variability, were calculated from vehicle sensor data while patients drove on a straight two-lane rural road. Linear mixed models were constructed to evaluate associations between driving performance and clinical characteristics. RESULTS Patients were 9.5 years older than suspects (p = 0.015). OU-VFI in the glaucoma group ranged from 24 to 98% (85.6 ± 18.3; M ± SD). OU-VFI (p = .0066) was associated with MoCA total (p = .0066) and visuo-spatial and executive function sub-domain scores (p = .012). During driving simulation, patients showed greater steering wheel variability (p = 0.0001) and lateral acceleration variability (p < .0001) relative to suspects. Greater steering wheel variability was independently associated with OU-VFI (p = .0069), MoCA total scores (p = 0.028), and VFQ driving sub-scores (p = 0.0087), but not age (p = 0.61). CONCLUSIONS Poor vehicle control was independently associated with greater VF loss and worse neurocognitive performance, suggesting both factors contribute to information processing models of driving performance in glaucoma. Future research must demonstrate the external validity of current findings to on-road performance in glaucoma.
Pill esophagitis

Pill esophagitis is a preventable cause of morbidity. Simple advice on how and when to take medication could probably prevent most cases of the illness. Avoidance of implicated medications in patients with significant risk factors for developing pill esophagitis could prevent additional cases. When the disease presents despite these preventive measures, the mainstays of treatment are immediate discontinuation of the offending agent and supportive care. If the diagnosis is in question, the principle diagnostic modalities are double-contrast barium esophagogram and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Medical management of moderate to severe cases includes sucralfate to coat, protect, and promote healing of ulcerated esophageal mucosa, and acidsuppressing therapy if gastroesophageal reflux disease is felt to have played a role in the pathogenesis of the illness. Rare cases may require therapeutic endoscopy or surgical intervention early in the disease course. Late complications include esophageal strictures that may require therapeutic endoscopy or bougienage.
Studies on the Structure and Function of the Asialoglycoprotein Receptor in the Cell, in Vitro, and in Reconstituted Membranes

The hepatocyte of mammalian liver is a highly differentiated polarized cell. The plasma membrane of the hepatocyte is also complex consisting of the following differentiated regions or domains: the perisinusoidal domain facing the liver sinusoid which is carrying blood from the gastrointestinal system of the animal via the hepatic portal vein; lateral domains between two adjacent hepatocytes; the bile canaliculus formed by the opposed membranes of two adjacent hepatocytes; desmosomes, tight and gap junctions; and the basal domain attaching the hepatocyte to its connective tissue substratum (Figure 1). Each of these domains is comprised of different sets of proteins and possibly lipids which endow the domain with its characteristic function and in some cases a recognizably characteristic morphology at the electron microscope level. The perisinusoidal domain is involved in secretion of serum proteins and the uptake of small and large molecular weight material from the blood. This domain would jontain receptors involved in the cellular uptake of hormones like insulinI, other constituents in the blood including low density lipoproteins2, and glycoproteins terminated in penultimate galactose jegidues rather than the normal sialic acid residues (asialoglycoproteins3–5). The perisinusoidal domain in addition would contain factors involved in fusion of secretory vesicles arising from the trans region of the Golgi apparatus with this area of the plasma membrane.
Oxygen reduction on a graphite paste and a catalyst loaded graphite paste electrode

Oxygen reduction was studied in basic solution at a graphite paste electrode (GPE). The GPE was used as the disk of a rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) and experiments were done using the voltage scan technique. The enhancements afforded by catalysts applied to the GPE were also studied. Oxygen reduction on a GPE was shown to be a two-electron process resulting in the formation of peroxide. The Tafel slope (plotted as potential versus log(i/sub l/ x i/(i/sub l/ - i))) was 180 mV. The presence of gold, silver, or platinum on the GPE shifted the oxygen reduction wave approximately 800 mV in the anodic direction. Comparison of the data on a metal catalyzed GPE to the solid metal electrode showed that the former electrode produced a greater fraction of peroxide as product than did the latter. Silver and gold catalyzed GPEs gave Tagel slopes of about 120 mV. The intermediate catalysis of iron and cobalt porphyrin was also examined. While the cobalt porphyrin catalyzed oxygen reduction at a more anodic potential than the iron porphyrin, the latter appeared more active in reacting the peroxide formed as the product of the disk reaction.
Measurement of Proton/M412 Ratios in Suspensions of Purple and White Membrane from Halobacterium Halobium

We have studied isolated purple membrane from Halobacterium halobium strain S9 and white membrane from the mutant strain JW-5, making careful measurements of the proton to M412 stoichiometry of our preparations, and also examining them by Quasi Elastic Light Scattering (QELS) and by negative staining electron microscopy (EM), to assess extent of aggregation and hydrodynamic radius.
Leveraging valence and activation information via multi-task learning for categorical emotion recognition

Deep learning technologies have been successfully applied to acoustic emotion recognition lately. In this work, we propose to apply multi-task learning for acoustic emotion recognition based on the Deep Belief Network (DBN) framework. We treat the categorical emotion recognition task as the major task. For the secondary task, we leverage two continuous labels, valence and activation. Two strategies are employed to achieve multi-task learning. First, we map the continuous labels into three categorical labels: low; medium; high, and use classification for the secondary task. Second, we project the continuous labels into [−1; 1] range, and use regression for the secondary task. The combination of the loss functions from the major and secondary tasks is used in the objective function in multi-task learning. After iterative optimization, the values from the last hidden layer are used as features in the backend SVM classifier for emotion classification. Our experimental results show significant improvement over the baseline results using DBN, suggesting the benefit of utilizing additional information in a multi-task learning setup.
Determinants of Board Structure: A Comparison of Publicly-Traded and Privately-Owned Insurance Companies

This paper compares board determinants of publicly-traded and privately-owned property-liability insurance firms and the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on board structure of those firms. Although regulation imposes severe constraints on board structure of insurance firms, we find strong evidence that both public and private insurance firms endogenously choose board structure in ways consistent with the economic theory. Specifically, we find evidence in support of the scope-of-operation hypothesis, the information-cost hypothesis, the incentive-alignment hypothesis, and the executive-power hypothesis for public insurance firms and evidence in support of the scope-of-operation hypothesis and the managerial-discretion hypothesis for private insurance firms. Overall, our board determinants models explain as much as 54% variation in board structure of public insurance firms and 44% variation in board structure of private insurance firms. Although SOX applies to only publicly-traded firms, we find that SOX effects had spilled over to private firms. Larger and less levered private insurance firms are more likely to increase board independence post-SOX, suggesting board governance is resource dependent.
Managing technical collaboration: methods and mechanisms

Summary form only given as follows. In strategic management, an extensive literature exists on make or buy decisions, which represent a choice between markets and hierarchies as coordinating mechanisms. Much less research exists on the mechanisms by which different functions in the value chain are coordinated within an organization. Meanwhile, the developing resource based view of the firm suggests that interfirm differences are crucially important in the understanding of strategy. The main stream of thought on the issue of how organizations do, in fact, manage this internal coordination follows William Ouchi's distinction between "bureaucratic" and "clan" (or cultural) controls. The current study uses a grounded theory model to examine the use of bureaucratic and clan controls among technical specialists who must coordinate their work across boundaries, both organizational and disciplinary. Results of the first stage of the study, obtained through personal interviews, suggest that this dichotomy between bureaucratic and dan controls, in many cases, may not reflect actual coordination processes. It was expected that some respondents would focus on interpersonal mechanisms, while others would concentrate on more bureaucratic or rule dependent techniques. This expectation was not met. Of the 12 individuals interviewed, only one mentioned ever using a coordination mechanism that could be considered bureaucratic, and that was an incentive system rather than a control mechanism. The other responses were exclusively descriptions of interpersonal techniques.
Drosophila rab GDI mutants disrupt development but have normal Rab membrane extraction.

Summary: Rab GTPases are essential for vesicular transport. Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) binds to GDP-bound rabs, removes rabs from acceptor membranes and delivers rabs to donor membranes. We isolated lethal GDI mutations in Drosophila and analyzed their developmental phenotypes. To learn how these mutations affect GDI structure, the crystal structure of Drosophila GDI was determined by molecular replacement to a resolution of 3.0 A. Two hypomorphic, missense mutations are located in domain II of GDI at highly conserved positions, but not in previously identified sequence conserved regions. The mutant GDIs were tested for ability to extract rabs from membranes and showed wild-type levels of rab membrane extraction. The two missense alleles showed intragenic complementation, indicating that domain II of GDI may have two separable functions. This study indicates that GDI function is essential for development of a complex, multicellular organism and that puparium formation and pole cell formation are especially dependent on GDI function. genesis 31:17–29, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Monolayer Growth and Exchange Kinetics for Alkylamines on the High-Temperature Superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-δ

Using redox-active alkylamine adsorbates, we have studied monolayer growth and adsorbate−adsorbate exchange kinetics on YBa2Cu3O7-δ. Herein we show that the formation kinetics for monolayers of FcC(O)NH(CH2)4NH2 [Fc = (η5-C5H4)Fe(η5-C5H5)] do not follow typical Langmuir adsorption isotherm behavior. Specifically, a parabolic tailing in the isotherms has been attributed to the diffusion of adsorbates through the porous material. The displacement of surface-adsorbed FcC(O)NH(CH2)4NH2 by another redox-active alkylamine, Fc(CH2)6NH2, has been studied and determined to be a reversible and dynamic process. Concentration dependence studies suggest that the exchange takes place via an associative process involving surface Cu(II) sites. The lability of the surface-adsorbed alkylamine “ligands” and the proposed exchange mechanism are consistent with the solution coordination chemistry of Cu(II).
Analysis of repetitive DNA in three species of Gossypium.

The rate of reassociation of denatured DNA was determined for two selected diploid species, Gossypium thurberi (D genome) and G. arboreum (A genome), and one allotetraploid species, G. hirsutum (AD genome). The relative genome size and DNA content of the chromosomes of the diploids were A > D. Renaturation curves indicated that the differences in genome sizes were due primarily to the repetitive DNA content.
STUDIES ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS : SOME EFFECTS OF LIGHT OF HIGH INTENSITY ON CHLORELLA.

1. The effect on oxygen evolution of Chlorella vulgaris produced by light intensities up to about 40,000 f.-c. has been studied by the use of the Warburg technique. 2. Above a certain critical intensity, which is determined by the previous history of the cells, the rate of oxygen evolution decreases from the maximum to another constant rate. This depression is at first a completely reversible effect. 3. With a sufficiently high intensity this constant rate represents an oxygen uptake greater than the rate of dark respiration. During such a constant rate of oxygen uptake a progressive injury to the photosynthetic mechanism takes place. After a given oxygen consumption the rate falls off, approaching zero, and the cells are irreversibly injured. 4. The constant rate of oxygen evolution (2 and 3) decreases in a continuous manner with increasing light intensities, approaching a value which is approximately constant for all lots of cells regardless of previous history. 5. Two alternative hypotheses have been presented to explain the observed phenomena. The more acceptable of these proposes quick inactivation of the photosynthetic mechanism, the extent of inhibition depending on the light intensity. 6. In Chlorella vulgaris solarization is influenced by the previous history of the cells.
Extraordinary magnetoresistance of a semiconductor-metal composite van der Pauw disk

We have calculated the extraordinary magnetoresistance of an InSb van der Pauw disk with a centrally embedded cylindrical metallic inhomogeneity by solving the Maxwell equations with corresponding boundary value conditions. The room temperature MR of such a device can exceed 100% at 500 G. Our calculations incorporate no adjustable parameters and are in excellent agreement with our recent experimental results provided the finite size of the contact electrodes is included.
Recurrent athletic head injury: risks and when to retire

This article focuses on the issues related to recurrent athletic head injuries; specifically, when cumulative exponential injury or the second impact syndrome may be anticipated. Case histories and research studies are used to illustrate the salient points. A signs-and-symptoms checklist for use in concussion evaluation and management is included. Finally, the topic of when to retire after repeated athletic head injuries is discussed and illustrated with a case study.
Solvent Effects on Chemical Processes. 10. Solubility of α-Cyclodextrin in Binary Aqueous-Organic Solvents: Relationship to Solid Phase Composition

The equilibrium solubility at 25 degrees C of alpha-cyclodextrin was measured in several binary aqueous-organic solvent mixtures, the organic cosolvents being methanol, 2-propanol, ethylene glycol, and acetone. Solubility maxima were observed as the solvent composition was varied from pure water to pure cosolvent. The maximum in methanol systems was hardly detectable, but it was very pronounced in 2-propanol and acetone, and two maxima were seen in the ethylene glycol system. Karl Fischer analysis of the solid phase isolated from 2-propanol/water equilibrium systems showed that alpha-cyclodextrin hexahydrate is the stable form in water, whereas a solid phase containing three water molecules per molecule of alpha-cyclodextrin is the stable form in the presence of 2-propanol. The appearance of a solubility maximum in this system, and by extension presumably in the other cosolvent systems, is attributed to the existence of more than one stable solid phase of alpha-cyclodextrin.
An open label pilot study evaluating the safety, tolerance and efficacy of thioguanine (6-TG) as an alternate therapy in patients failing 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP)

An open label pilot study evaluating the safety, tolerance and efficacy of thioguanine (6-TG) as an alternate therapy in patients failing 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP)
Tissue acetylcholinesterase in plasma of chick embryos and dystrophic chickens.

Abstract The plasma cholinesterases of chickens (line 304) with inherited muscular dystrophy and 2 normal lines were examined from 12 days of incubation to 14 weeks after hatching. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and non-specific cholinesterase (BChE) activities were distinguished by spectrophotometric, electrophoretic and titrimetric analyses using acetylcholine, butyrylcholine, and their thioester analogs acetylthiocholine and butyrylthiocholine as substrates and 284C51 and iso-OMPA as selective inhibitors. Plasma from normal and dystrophic embryos and from dystrophic chicks had high AChE activity. For example, by 12 weeks of age, 37% of plasma acetylthiocholine hydrolysis was inhibited by the anti-AChE agent 284C51. The results support the view that embryo plasma contains AChE and BChE forms. After hatching the AChE forms decrease greatly in normal plasma and a shift in BChE forms occurs. Later, the AChE forms return in dystrophic line plasma. AChE activity in plasma was circumstantially associated with multiple molecular forms of AChE in the sarcoplasm of embryo and dystrophic muscles and it is likely that these muscles are sources of the plasma AChE activity. The results also confirmed that acetyl-β-methylcholine, unlike the situation which exists in mammals, is hydrolyzed by both AChE and BChE forms in the chicken, and cannot be used to distinguish these cholinesterases.
Intraoperative dobutamine stress echocardiography to assess aortic valve stenosis.

C b w f c 4 OBUTAMINE STRESS echocardiography (DSE) has a dual purpose during the assessment of patients with severe eft ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and low-gradient ortic valve stenosis. First, the detection of viable myocardium nd, second, the differentiation between pseudoand fixed ortic valve stenosis, the latter being a condition in which the entricle does not eject forcefully enough to open the aortic eaflets fully (Table 1).1-11 For patients with severe fixed aortic tenosis (AS) and reversible LVSD, aortic valve replacement AVR) improves outcome.3-6 Conversely, for patients with ireversible LVSD, the perioperative mortality is high and the ong-term benefits of AVR are small.1,7-11 Differentiating beween pseudoand fixed AS helps to determine whether or not VR is indicated. Although intraoperative DSE has been reported for assessent of coronary artery disease (CAD), the intraoperative ssessment of aortic valve function using DSE has not been escribed.12-15 The authors describe 2 patients presenting emerently for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery who lso had suspected aortic valve pathology in which the intraperative use of DSE aided in surgical decision making.
Concurrent determination of 237Np and Pu isotopes using ICP-MS: analysis of NIST environmental matrix standard reference materials 4357, 1646a, and 2702

Abstract An optimized method was developed to analyze environmental soil and sediment samples for 237 Np, 239 Pu, and 240 Pu by ICP-MS using a 242 Pu isotope dilution standard. The high yield, short time frame required for analysis, and the commercial availability of the 242 Pu tracer are significant advantages of the method. Control experiments designed to assess method uncertainty, including variation in inter-element fractionation that occurs during the purification protocol, suggest that the overall precision for measurements of 237 Np is typically on the order of ±5%. Measurements of the 237 Np concentration in a Peruvian Soil blank (NIST SRM 4355) spiked with a known concentration of 237 Np tracer confirmed the accuracy of the method, agreeing well with the expected value. The method has been used to determine neptunium and plutonium concentrations in several environmental matrix standard reference materials available from NIST: SRM 4357 (Radioactivity Standard), SRM 1646a (Estuarine Sediment) and SRM 2702 (Inorganics in Marine Sediment).
Mice cloned from olfactory sensory neurons

Cloning by nuclear transplantation has been successfully carried out in various mammals, including mice. Until now mice have not been cloned from post-mitotic cells such as neurons. Here, we have generated fertile mouse clones derived by transferring the nuclei of post-mitotic, olfactory sensory neurons into oocytes. These results indicate that the genome of a post-mitotic, terminally differentiated neuron can re-enter the cell cycle and be reprogrammed to a state of totipotency after nuclear transfer. Moreover, the pattern of odorant receptor gene expression and the organization of odorant receptor genes in cloned mice was indistinguishable from wild-type animals, indicating that irreversible changes to the DNA of olfactory neurons do not accompany receptor gene choice.
Segregation of cognitive and motor aspects of visual function using induced motion

Targets were displaced to cancel an apparent displacement induced by a step motion of a background or were held stationary while appearing to jump in an induced displacement. Target and background were then extinguished, and the subject pointed to the target’s last position. When the target had appeared to move but did not, background position did not significantly affect pointing; when the target had moved but appeared to remain stationary (displacement canceled by opposite induced displacement), pointing depended upon the target’s egocentric position. A similar result was obtained with sinusoidal motion. In terms of a two visual-systems hypothesis, the motor system uses more veridical spatial information and is less affected by relative changes in two retinal signals than is the cognitive system.
The status of women in the rural U.S.S.R.

Degree of sex equality in rural areas of the U.S.S.R. is assessed with reference to a multi-variable model which specifies demographic, technological, social, and ideological factors associated with sex stratification. Such analysis reveals that the emphasis in the U.S.S.R. on women's participation in production as the key to sex equality ignores other dimensions of sex stratification which are not changed using this tactic. In particular, rural traditions of higher birth rates, more authoritarian families, greater religious emphasis, and male scorn for women have kept the status of rural women even lower than that of their urban counterparts. Additionally, the agrarian techno-economic base and lack of institutional supports for childcare and housework help perpetuate sex stratification. Increasing sex differentiation is probably in store for the Soviet Union, because official pronatalist policies are likely to be facilitated by expanding the service sector, which will further increase the division of labor in the market.
The extent of extracapsular extension may influence the need for axillary lymph node dissection in patients with T1-T2 breast cancer.

Whether extracapsular extension (ECE) of tumor in the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is an indication for axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in patients managed by American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0011 criteria is controversial. Here we examine the correlation between ECE in the SLN and disease burden in the axilla. Patients meeting Z0011 clinicopathologic criteria (pT1–2, cN0 with 2 mm) of ECE. Of 11,730 patients, 778 were pT1–2, cN0 with 2 mm of ECE. Patients with ECE were older (57 vs. 54 years; p = 0.001) and had larger (2.0 vs. 1.7 cm; p 2 mm ECE had ≥4 additional positive nodes at completion ALND, compared with 9 % in the 2 mm of ECE was the strongest predictor of ≥4 positive nodes at completion ALND (odds ratio 14.2). Presence and extent of ECE were significantly correlated with nodal tumor burden at completion ALND, thus suggesting that >2 mm of ECE may be an indication for ALND or radiotherapy when applying Z0011 criteria to patients with metastases in <3 SLNs. ECE reporting should be standardized to facilitate future studies.
A2B Adenosine Receptor Promotes Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation to Osteoblasts and Bone Formation in Vivo

The differentiation of osteoblasts from their precursors, mesenchymal stem cells, is an important component of bone homeostasis as well as fracture healing. The A2B adenosine receptor (A2BAR) is a Gαs/αq-protein-coupled receptor that signals via cAMP. cAMP-mediated signaling has been demonstrated to regulate the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into various skeletal tissue lineages. Here, we studied the role of this receptor in the differentiation of MSCs to osteoblasts. In vitro differentiation of bone marrow-derived MSCs from A2BAR KO mice resulted in lower expression of osteoblast differentiation transcription factors and the development of fewer mineralized nodules, as compared with WT mice. The mechanism of effect involves, at least partially, cAMP as indicated by experiments involving activation of the A2BAR or addition of a cAMP analog during differentiation. Intriguingly, in vivo, microcomputed tomography analysis of adult femurs showed lower bone density in A2BAR KO mice as compared with WT. Furthermore, A2BAR KO mice display a delay in normal fracture physiology with lower expression of osteoblast differentiation genes. Thus, our study identified the A2BAR as a new regulator of osteoblast differentiation, bone formation, and fracture repair.
Characterization and properties of an organic–inorganic dielectric nanocomposite for embedded decoupling capacitor applications

Abstract Polymer/aluminum nanocomposites have a high dielectric constant and a low dielectric loss because of the combined characteristics of polymer–ceramic (due to the insulating ceramic shell of an aluminum particle) and polymer–metal (due to the metal core of an aluminum particle) systems. In this work, an aluminum particle surface treatment was performed with an epoxide-functionalized silane coupling agent in order to further improve the dielectric properties and processibility of polymer/aluminum composites. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) were used to characterize the aluminum particles before/after coupling agent treatment. It was found that the silane coupling agent was successfully grafted on the aluminum particle surface. Rheology studies of polymer/aluminum composites showed that the coupling agent treatment could significantly reduce the viscosity of the aluminum composites, which indicates coupling agent treatment can improve the processibility of aluminum composites at high filler loading levels. Dielectric properties, including the frequency responses and temperature coefficient of capacitance of the aluminum composites were studied with a dielectric analyzer (DEA). The microstructures of aluminum composites were characterized with a field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that a coupling agent treatment can improve the aluminum particle distribution and thereby enhancing the dielectric constant of aluminum composites.
Scanning Probe Lithography on Fluid Lipid Membranes

Scanning probe lithography (SPL) is applied to pattern fluid lipid membranes on a solid borosilicate substrate. Grids of metal lines, prepatterned onto the substrate by electron beam lithography, serve to partition the supported membrane into an array of isolated fluid pixels. By toggling the pH of the surrounding solution, the effect of the probe tip on the membrane can be regulated. Alkaline conditions favor membrane removal, while neutral pH favors membrane deposition. Arbitrary membrane patterns with spatial dimensions limited by the underlying grid size can be constructed by sequential SPL membrane removal followed by refill with a different membrane type. In the present study, bilayers of unique composition fill 1 x 1 mum corrals and were positioned 100 nm apart.
The further epidemiological differentiation of cleft lip and palate: a population study of clefts in King County, Washington, 1956-1965.

A retrospective epidemiological study of cleft lip and palate in King County, Washington, between 1956 and 1965 is reported. Multiple sources of ascertainment were employed, and particular attention was given to obtaining information concerning other associated malformations. Occurrences of cleft lip (CL), cleft lip and palate (CL + P), and cleft palate (CP) were analyzed by sepa rate categories, depending on the presence or absence of associated major or minor malformations. The results strongly indicated that clefts with associated malformations are different epidemiological entities from pure clefts. Sex-ratio reversals occurred for some categories with associated malformations. In contrast to the usual male excess of CL ± P, there was a female excess of CL ± P with major associated malformations. In contrast to the usual female excess of CP, 49% of children with CP with associated malformations were male. No maternal-age effect was observed for any “pure” cleft category, but significant “U-shaped” maternal-age distributions were seen for CL + P with associated major malformations, CP with associated major malformations, and CP with all associated malformations. Increased frequency of low birth weight and infant mortality were confined to categories with associated malformations. No significant birth order, season, secular change, or time–space clustering effects were observed. The incidence rate for all clefts was 1.84/1000 live births.
Uniform help facilities for a cooperative user interface

This paper describes the design of the help and explanation component of a user-friendly operating system command interface called COUSIN. The facility can provide two kinds of information: (1) static descriptions of the various subsystems that can be invoked, their parameters, and the syntax that must be used; (2) dynamically generated descriptions of the state of the current interaction, why that state has arisen, and what the user's options for action are. Both types of information are presented in the same way through a network of small text frames connected by semantically motivated links in the style of the ZOG system. Frames containing static information are generated automatically for each subsystem from a declarative description of the subsystem which is also used by COUSIN for its other services, including spelling and grammar correction and interactive error resolution. Dynamically generated frames are incorporated temporarily into the static network with semantic links appropriate to the current command context.
“A cost-outcome analysis of retransplantation: The need for accountability” — A response

R oger W. Evans' article " A Cost-Outcome Analysis of Retransplantation: The Need for Accountability" (Transplantation Reviews, vol 7, October 1993, pp 163-175) accents a t remendous conflict in health care delivery and policy today, l Physicians want to provide the best possible care for their individual patients. Yet, as citizens they are constantly reminded of the high cost of health care (especially of new technologies such as transplantation) and are asked to limit total expenditures. For physicians, a reasonable compromise is to consider carefully both the cost and the benefit either of using or of not using a new technology ( t rea tment modality) for an individual patient (or group of patients). Evans suggests that such cost-benefit decisions need to be made on a public policy level and specifically argues that transplant "patient selection has become both irrational and irresponsible" (p 163). His major thesis is that retransplantation should not be performed. His a rgument is as follows: the demand for transplantation is increasing and waiting times are getting longer; patients deteriorate while waiting for a transplant, and thus "patients who receive transplants today are sicker than they were several years ago"; that "as the case-mix of transplant candidates becomes more adverse," patient outcome may be worse and the cost-effectiveness of transplantation will decrease, leading "public policy officials (to) question the fiscal prudence of transplantation" (p 163). Evans suggests that concerns about access (to transplantation) must be balanced against a cost-effectiveness mandate, and uses a cost-benefit analysis of retransplantat ion to support his argument. Evans suggests that retransplantation is less effec-
Enhanced crystal grain size by bromine doping in electrodeposited Cu2O

Abstract Extremely large crystal grains are obtained by bromine doping in electrodeposited Cu2O on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate through an acetate bath. The grains are as large as 10,000 μm2 in area, or ~ 100 μm in linear dimension, while the film is only 1–5 μm thick. The enhanced grain size is explained by the effect of over-potential for the Cu2+/Cu+ redox couple on nucleation density of Cu2O on ITO substrate. The over-potential is a function of several deposition conditions including solution pH, deposition potential, deposition temperature, bromine precursor concentration, and copper precursor concentration. In addition, undoped Cu2O displays a high resistivity of 100 MΩcm. Bromine doping in Cu2O significantly reduces the resistivity to as low as 42 Ωcm after vacuum annealing. Br-doped Cu2O shows n-type behavior.
Stability analysis of hereditary iterative processes

By employing the theory of difference inequalities, several comparison theorems in the context of vector-Lyapunov functions are developed. These comparison theorems are applied to study various stability properties of the equilibrium state of the hereditary iterative processes. Examples are given to demonstrate the obtained results. The method provides a tool to investigate the fundamental problem of stability versus hereditary effect.