cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term results from a 12-year experience with endovascular therapy for thoracic aortic disease.

Background Endovascular approaches promise to revolutionize therapy for thoracic aortic disease. This study describes a long-term analysis of endovascular thoracic aortic repair. Methods Seventy-three patients (mean age, 67.4 years) underwent endovascular thoracic aortic repair from 1993 to 2005. Indications for intervention included aneurysm (38%), dissection (23%), or penetrating ulcer or pseudoaneurysm (34%). Rupture was present in 16 patients (22%). Seventy-one percent were considered high risk for open surgery for reasons of age or comorbid conditions. Treated segments included ascending aorta (n = 1), distal arch (n = 24), and proximal (n = 50) or distal (n = 55) descending aorta. The total descending thoracic aorta was covered in 31 patients. Procedural success was achieved in 96%. Devices were delivered by femoral (79%), retroperitoneal iliac (18%), or carotid (2.7%) exposure. Devices used included Excluder (n = 30), Talent (n = 23), Zenith (n = 3), AneuRx (n = 5), and custom-fabricated (n = 14). Follow-up was 100% complete. Results Thirty-day mortality was 5.5%. Significant morbidity included stroke (8.2%) and need for dialysis (4.1%). Although 3 patients had transient spinal cord ischemia (4.1%), none had permanent sequelae. Intervention for fusiform aneurysm was independently associated with a composite end point of 30-day mortality, need for dialysis, and stroke ( p = 0.015). Eight patients (11%) had new or persistent endoleaks, and aortic reintervention was performed in 7 patients (9.6%). Mean survival for the entire cohort was 46.8 ± 5.1 months. Intervention for penetrating ulcer or pseudoaneurysm ( p = 0.045) was independently associated with long-term all-cause mortality. Conclusions An endovascular approach produces acceptable results for a broad range of thoracic aortic disease. However, the potential for endoleak or need for reintervention mandates continued close follow-up to achieve satisfactory long-term results.
Cardiovascular outcomes of treating high blood pressure.

Abstract Because hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it has been anticipated that therapeutic reduction of blood pressure would protect patients from serious complications. In fact, this has been shown for strokes, congestive heart failure, and renal insufficiency. But in large trials of hypertension treatment, patients receiving active medications experienced an incidence of coronary events that averaged only 7% lower than that in placebo-treated patients. This report examines some of the reasons for this disappointing outcome. During therapeutic trials patients recelving placebo tended to have fewer cardiovascular events than predicted. However, patients on active therapy in large-scale studies may have suboptimal blood pressure control. They may also be exposed to the adverse effects of inappropriate therapy. Careful selection of modern drugs should allow blood pressure to be controlled in a safe manner, and possibly contribute directly to protection from coronary events and other cardiovascular complications.
Counteracting Summer Slide: Social Capital Resources Within Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Families

Research on summer learning has shown that children from a higher socioeconomic status (SES) continue to learn during the summer months of elementary school, but lower-SES students tend to stagnate or lose ground. However, not all low-SES students experience summer learning loss. Drawing on the Beginning School Study (BSS), a longitudinal study of a random sample of Baltimore public school students who began first grade in 1982, this article identifies a small sample of low-SES students who gained as much as their higher-SES peers in reading or math during at least three of the four summers of elementary school. Drawing on Coleman and Hoffer's (1987) theory of within-family social capital, we identify parental characteristics and practices that set these low-SES exceptional summer learners (ESLs) apart from their low-SES peers, who evidence the more typical pattern of summer slide.
The association between sleep characteristics and prothrombotic markers in a population-based sample: Chicago Area Sleep Study.

Abstract Background and aim Short sleep duration and poor quality sleep are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality; however, the underlying pathophysiologic process remains unclear. Sleep apnea may confound the association because of its relationship with formation of thrombi, the vascular occlusive process in CHD. We tested whether sleep duration and quality were associated with prothrombotic biomarkers in adults with a low probability of apnea. Methods We included adults aged 35–64years recruited from the community and who had an apnea hypopnea index n =506). Sleep duration and maintenance were determined from 7days of wrist actigraphy; daytime sleepiness was estimated using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Factor VIII (FVIII), von Willebrand factor (vWF), thrombin antithrombin (TAT) complexes, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were measured in fasting blood. Results Sleep duration, maintenance, and daytime sleepiness were not associated with FVIII, vWf, or TAT. Sleep maintenance was modestly inversely associated with higher levels of log-transformed PAI-1 ( β =−0.07, standard error (SE)=0.03 per 4.8%, p =0.04) following adjustment for demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, and body mass index (BMI). Conclusions Mild impairment in sleep was modestly associated with activation of coagulation; further study is needed to evaluate the role of fibrinolytic factors in sleep-mediated coronary thrombosis.
A novel 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D - Activin A pathway in human alveolar macrophages is dysfunctional in patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP)

We have shown that activin A, a cytokine implicated in regulating B-cell proliferation, is severely deficient in alveolar macrophages from patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), an autoimmune disorder characterized by surfactant accumulation and neutralizing autoantibodies to granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor. Mechanisms of activin regulation in alveolar macrophages are not well understood. Based on previous gene array results from PAP bronchoalveolar lavage cells suggesting deficiencies in vitamin D target genes, and on recent evidence of vitamin D receptor elements (VDREs) in the human activin A gene promoter, we investigated the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D(3)) on activin A expression in alveolar macrophages from healthy individuals and PAP patients. Activin A expression was stimulated by LPS in cultures of either healthy control or PAP alveolar macrophages; in contrast, vitamin D(3) increased activin A only in healthy controls but not in PAP. Compared to healthy controls, freshly obtained (uncultured) PAP alveolar macrophages displayed healthy intrinsic vitamin D receptor expression but deficient expression of vitamin D target genes, cathelicidin and thioredoxin interacting protein. PAP patients also demonstrated a relative insufficiency of circulating vitamin D. Investigation of activin A in murine alveolar macrophages confirmed a lack of functional response to vitamin D as anticipated since murine activin A does not contain VDREs. Results suggest that mechanisms of activin A deficiency in PAP alveolar macrophages may involve dysregulation of a novel species-specific vitamin D-activin A pathway.
An adaptation of Pregl’s microcombustion to a semi-microcombustion method for the determination of nitrogen

1. A semi-micro method based uponPregl’s excellent micromethod for the determination of nitrogen in organic compounds has been described.
The Predictive Abilities and Persistence of Morningstar Ratings: An Examination of Real Estate Mutual Funds

This study examines the predictive abilities of Morningstar ratings with respect to the future relative performance of real estate mutual funds. It also looks at the persistence of the rating system. Morningstar ratings and real estate mutual fund returns are analysed over the five-year period 2003 to 2007. The measures of future performance are raw returns and two Jensen’s alpha models. We find some weak evidence that Morningstar predicts the relative performance of real estate mutual funds when measured as raw returns. However, when returns are adjusted using the Fama–French three-factor model with momentum, we find no evidence that Morningstar ratings provide reliable guidance regarding future real estate mutual fund performance.
The Optimization Of The Productivity Index And The Fracture Geometry Of A Stimulated Well With Fracture Face And Choke Skins

The post-treatment performance of hydraulically fractured wells has been a recurring theme in the petroleum literature, covering the spectrum of understanding the physics of flow to the optimization of design. Optimization itself has taken different hues meaning comprehensive economic, or just the reduction of execution costs, or the maximization of the production or injection rates. Irrespective of the ultimate criterion, the magnitude of the reservoir permeability has been central to the fracture morphology. Long fractures are warranted for lowpermeability reservoirs; wide but short fractures are indicated for high-permeability formations. For a given reservoir of known permeability and dimensions the mass of proppant injected to the pay describes a unique and constant proppant number for which a maximum well productivity index can be achieved at the optimum dimensionless fracture conductivity. The proppant number and the optimum dimensionless fracture conductivity determine exclusively the optimum fracture dimensions. However, damaged hydraulic fracture performance deviates substantially from that of undamaged fractures. Two types of damage are considered, fracture face, often caused by fluid leakoff into the reservoir and choke fracture, which is caused by proppant flow-back, over-displacement or polymer damage. These damages, described by skin effects cause a departure, at times substantial, from the indicated undamaged optimum fracture geometry. In this work, the performance of a fractured well is calculated using a direct boundary element method. The method calculates the dimensionless productivity index and the model allows for the presence of the two different skin effects. The fracture face skin effect was found to have a significant detrimental effect on the dimensionless productivity index, especially for high-permeability reservoirs. The effect of the choke skin was found to be potentially also very detrimental, but less complex to account for, because it can be represented as an apparent reduction to the proppant
On Godel's Way In: The Influence of Rudolf Carnap

The philosopher Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970), although not himself an originator of mathematical advances in logic, was much involved in the development of the subject. He was the most important and deepest philosopher of the Vienna Circle of logical positivists, or, to use the label Carnap later preferred, logical empiricists. It was Carnap who gave the most fully developed and sophisticated form to the linguistic doctrine of logical and mathematical truth: the view that the truths of mathematics and logic do not describe some Platonistic realm, but rather are artifacts of the way we establish a language in which to speak of the factual, empirical world, fallouts of the representational capacity of language. (This view has its roots in Wittgenstein's Tractatus, but Wittgenstein's remarks on mathematics beyond first-order logic are notoriously sparse and cryptic.) Carnap was also the thinker who, after Russell, most emphasized the importance of modern logic, and the distinctive advances it enables in the foundations of mathematics, to contemporary philosophy. It was through Carnap's urgings, abetted by Hans Hahn, once Carnap arrived in Vienna as Privatdozent in philosophy in 1926, that the Vienna Circle began to take logic seriously and that positivist philosophy began to grapple with the question of how an account of mathematics compatible with empiricism can be given (see Goldfarb 1996). A particular facet of Carnap's influence is not widely appreciated: it was Carnap who introduced Kurt Godel to logic, in the serious sense. Although Godel seems to have attended a course of Schlick's on philosophy of mathematics in 1925–26, his second year at the University, he did not at that time pursue logic further, nor did the seminar leave much of a trace on him. In the early summer of 1928, however, Carnap gave two lectures to the Circle which Godel attended, or so I surmise. At these occasions, Carnap presented material from his manuscript treatise, Untersuchungen zur allgemeinen Axiomatik, that is, “Investigations into general axiomatics”, which dealt with questions of consistency, completeness and categoricity. Carnap later circulated this material to various people including Godel.
Stress Response among Physically Injured Spanish-Speaking/Surnamed Workers

One hundred fifty Spanish speaking/surnamed workers injured in industrial accidents in the Los Angeles area were assessed through 1/2-hour individual psychiatric evaluations. Most were first-generation Mexican American males with little formal education and an agrarian background who had worked at unskilled jobs prior to their injuries. The most common physical disorders were back injuries and traumnatic amputations. The most common psychological symptoms were anxiety and depression. A smaller sample (50 subjects) underwent subsequent psychiatric treatment, the course of which is described. While some success was achieved in weaning subjects from use of narcotic pain killers anid relief of psychological symptoms like anxiety, a major finding was that the physical and psychiatric disorders should never have occurred. Use of faulty and dangerous equipment was apparently very often responsible for the physical injuries. Psychological disturbances were largely stress-related and arose from the trauma of the injury itself plus tr eatmenit by the medical-legal establishment that was both delayed and did not meet the subjects' particular sociocultural needs. Specific recommendations for future changes are outlined. Language: en
An orthopaedic case contributed substantially to the first malpractice crisis in the United States in the nineteenth century.

Surprisingly, the first malpractice crisis in the United States occurred in the early nineteenth century1. Recent articles commonly refer to three medical malpractice crises, occurring in the mid-1970s, 1980s, and 2002 to 2003—completely forgetting the first major crisis2,3. Even more surprisingly, the early malpractice crisis was triggered largely by an orthopaedic case, relatively unknown today, involving an irreducible dislocated hip that was first radiographed by the author almost 190 years after the patient’s injury. Before 1830, malpractice suits against physicians were rare in the United States4-6. Physicians did not feel threatened and paid little attention to the occasional suit. It is difficult to determine the actual number of suits, as records have been lost (partially because publication of all appellate court decisions did not occur until after the American Revolution). However, according to De Ville, it has been estimated that before 1830 the number of malpractice suits filed ranged from about nine to 100 cases for each appellate case6. Only two appellate malpractice decisions were published before 1830. Between 1830 and 1860, twenty-one appellate malpractice decisions (a 950% increase) and 2100 malpractice cases were reported. Between 1860 and 1890 there were 117 appellate malpractice decisions (a 457% increase). This rapid rise in malpractice cases continued until the beginning of the twentieth century, when the percentage of new appellate decisions increased by only 136%. Throughout this period, the number of medical malpractice suits far outpaced the increase in population, with the largest percentage increase in suits occurring between 1830 and 18606. As De Ville stated, “the late 1830’s represented a critical turning point in the history of American medical malpractice litigation.”6 This increase in medical malpractice suits in the nineteenth century so alarmed physicians that many …
Losartan Decreases p42/44 MAPK Signaling and Preserves LZ+ MYPT1 Expression

Heart failure is associated with impairment in nitric oxide (NO) mediated vasodilatation, which has been demonstrated to result from a reduction in the relative expression of the leucine zipper positive (LZ+) isoform of the myosin targeting subunit (MYPT1) of myosin light chain phosphatase. Further, captopril preserves normal LZ+ MYPT1 expression, the sensitivity to cGMP-mediated vasodilatation and modulates the expression of genes in the p42/44 MAPK and p38 MAPK signaling cascades. This study tests whether angiotensin receptor blockade (ARB) with losartan decreases p42/44 MAPK or p38 MAPK signaling and preserves LZ+ MYPT1 expression in a rat infarct model of heart failure. In aortic smooth muscle, p42/44 MAPK activation increases and LZ+ MYPT1 expression falls after LAD ligation. Losartan treatment decreases the activation of p42/44 MAPK to the uninfarcted control level and preserves normal LZ+ MYPT1 expression. The expression and activation of p38 MAPK, however, is low and does not change following LAD ligation or with losartan therapy. These data suggest that either reducing or blocking the effects of circulating angiotensin II, both decreases the activation of the p42/44 MAPK signaling cascade and preserves LZ+ MYPT1 expression. Thus, the ability of ACE-inhibitors and ARBs to modulate the vascular phenotype, to preserve normal flow mediated vasodilatation may explain the beneficial effects of these drugs compared to other forms of afterload reduction in the treatment of heart failure.
Role of L-asparaginase in acute lymphoblastic leukemia: focus on adult patients

Correspondence: Michael E Rytting Department of Pediatrics and Leukemia, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 87, Houston, TX, USA Email mrytting@mdanderson.org Abstract: Asparaginase preparations deplete asparagine in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) blasts. Asparaginase in its various forms is an important component of treatment regimens for pediatric ALL. Recently, interest and use of asparaginase in adult patients with ALL has increased, particularly in young adults. There is much less information on asparaginase use and toxicity in adult compared with pediatric populations. This review surveys prior published studies of the three most commonly used asparagine preparations as used in adult patients, and discusses important toxicities encountered in adult patients who receive asparaginase preparations.
Property Theory, Adjectives, and Modification in Chinese

It has been observed that there is a complementary distribution between simple adjectives (SAs) and complex adjectives (CAs) in Chinese in both the adnominal and predicate positions (Huang, 1997, Some remarks on adjectives in Mandarin Chinese. Paper delivered at the International Association of Chinese Linguistics-6 (IACL-6), Leiden, June 19–21, 1997, The Netherlands; Shen, 1997, Zhongguo Yuwen, 259, 242–250; Zhu, 1956, Xiandai Hanyu Xingrongci Yanjiu [Studies of adjectives in modern Chinese]. Yuyan Yanjiu 1. Also published in Zhu Dexi (1980) Xiandai Hanyu Yufa Yanjiu [Grammatical studies of modern Chinese], pp. 3–41). This article makes two major claims: (a) there are two subgroups of CAs, and while one is in total complementary distribution with SAs; the other is in partial complementary distribution with SAs; And (b) the total/ partial complementary distribution noted in (a) can be explained by a property- theoretic conjunction/intersection analysis of modification structures which ensures not only type matching but also sortal matching between the modifier and modifiee. Evidence from dialectal studies (Zhu, 1993, Fangyan, 2, 81–100) is provided as strong support for this hypothesis.
The injection from a half plane in the Oseen approximation

Die Stromung einer zahen Flussigkeit langs einer ebenen Platte mit Ausblasen wird im Rahmen der Oseenschen Theorie behandelt. Die Losung, welche mittels des Verfahrens von Wiener-Hopf erhalten wurde, zeigt, dass unter Umstanden eine negative Schubspannung bei der Vorderkante erscheinen kann.
The wear of a polytetrafluoroethylene-filled polyoxymethylene composite in connection with joint replacement

Abstract The wear behaviour of 22% PTFE-filled polyoxymethylene (Delrin ∗∗ ) rubbing against a metallic annular counterface has been evaluated. Wear tests were carried out on a thrust-washer type wear tester under three different lubricating conditions: dry, in water, and in plasma. Wear resistance is good under dry conditions but is reduced in the presence of water. The use of plasma instead of water gives a similar wear resistance to dry conditions. A slight difference in wear resistance with direction of testing is related to the arrangement of fibres. Scanning electron microscope study of worn surfaces revealed that the decrease of wear resistance for tests in a liquid was due to loosening of the PTFE fibres.
Inhibition by amiloride of sodium transport into rabbit kidney medulla microsomes.

Abstract Sodium transport into rabbit kidney medulla microsomes was 50% inhibited by amiloride. This Na + uptake was shown to represent transport when the uptake process was reversed by the ionophore nigericin. The transport was complete within 60 min and proportional to the microsomal protein concentration. The effect of amiloride on transport was specific since the similar compound sulfaguanidine failed to affect microsomal Na + transport. Amiloride-sensitive Na + transport into microsomes was inhibited 70% by decreasing the pH (from 7.0 to 5.9), but was unaffected by the presence of a pH gradient. The kinetics of Na + transport could be explained by a simple model, assuming that amiloride lowered the rate of Na + entrance into the vesicles but had no effect on the rate of efflux. The failure of amiloride to effect efflux from the vesicles was also demonstrated directly.
Modelling infection as a two-step process combining gene-for-gene and matching-allele genetics

The genetic basis of infection determines the dynamics of host-parasite coevolution and associated phenomena such as local adaptation and the evolution of sex and recombination. Here, we present parasite resistance as a two-step process in which hosts must first detect parasites and then eradicate them; failure at either step results in infection. The model incorporates 'matching-allele' (MA) genetics for detection and 'gene-for-gene' (GFG) genetics for eradication. We found that the oscillatory dynamics were similar to pure GFG genetics when the cost of 'virulence' alleles was low, but resembled pure MA genetics when the cost was high. The magnitude of the cost that switched the dynamics from GFG dominated to MA dominated depended on the genetic architecture of defence (i.e. the number of GFG and MA loci).
A new scheme for strong-coupling calculations in supersymmetric field theory

Abstract We propose a resummation scheme for strong-coupling diagrams in two-dimensional lattice supersymmetric theories originally derived by Bender et al. To any given order, this reduces the number of diagrams drastically. We calculate the ground state energy density up to eighth order and obtain a modified strong-coupling series in terms of a new expansion parameter which seems to have a smoother continuum limit.
Cooperative Learning, Group-to-Individual Transfer, Process Gain, and the Acquisition of Cognitive Reasoning Strategies

ABSTRACT The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning situations were compared on achievement on a number of tasks representing different levels on Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of cognitive instructional objectives. In the cooperative condition, American students worked in small groups to produce a group product and later completed similar tasks as individuals. In the individualistic condition, they worked by themselves to produce individual products and later completed similar tasks as individuals. First-grade students (N = 52) were randomly assigned to conditions stratifying for ability level and sex. The results indicated that on ail tasks, groups achieved more than did individuals, that the higher achievement of students in the cooperative condition transferred to individual testing situations for three higher level reasoning tasks (there were no differences between conditions on two lower level reasoning tasks), and that students in the cooperative condition used higher level reasoning strategi...
Selecting hydrocarbon rocket propulsion technology

Past studies have shown that the dry weight of future earth-to-orbit vehicles can be reduced by the combined use of hydrogen and hydrocarbon propulsion compared to all-hydrogen propulsion. This paper shows that the use of certain hydrocarbon engines with hydrogen engines produces the lowest vehicle dry mass. These hydrocarbon engines use propane or RP-1 fuel, hydrogen cooling, and hydrogen-rich gas generators. Integration of the hydrogen and hydrocarbon nozzles is also beneficial.
Human Illness Associated with Use of Veterinary Vaccines

Veterinary vaccines are being used with increasing frequency in the United States to protect the health of animals. However, humans may be inadvertently exposed to these products by means of unintentional inoculation or other routes of exposure. The potential for both exposure and for adverse consequences secondary to exposure to veterinary vaccines may be growing. With the exception of brucellosis vaccines, there have been few reports of suspected or confirmed adverse events in humans associated with the use of animal vaccines, but it is unclear whether that is because few adverse events occur or because adverse events are not recognized and/or reported. Results of a search for relevant literature and of communications with health officials at governmental and private institutions suggest that enhanced efforts are needed to recognize and to prevent human illness associated with use of veterinary vaccines.
Laughter: A Scientific Investigation

Laughter:. Scientific Investigation. By Robert R. Provine. 2000. New York: Viking. $24.95 (cloth).
A topological sorting and loop cleansing algorithm for a constrained MIMD compiler of shift-invariant flow graphs

This paper describes the use of topological sorting and loop cleansing techniques in an implementation of a multiprocessor compiler for shift invariant flow graphs. The complier is capable of generating three classes of synchronous MIMD implementations: skewed single instruction multiple data (SSIMD), static-parallel skewed single instruction multiple data (Static-PSSIMD), and parallel skewed single instruction multiple data (PSSIMD). The effect of the topological sorting and loop cleansing algorithm is to dramatically reduce the compilation time required to find an optimal or a best SSIMD implementation, as well as maximally fast, perfectly efficient, and minimum delay PSSIMD and Static-PSSIMD implementations.
ALMOST PERIODIC HARMONIZABLE PROCESSES

The class of harmonizable processes is a natural extension of the class of stationary processes. This paper provides sufficient conditions for the sample paths of harmonizable processes to be almost periodic uniformly, Stepanov and Besicovitch.
Automatic 3D selection technique assignment using real-time scenario analysis

Selection in 3D virtual environments can vary wildly depending on the context of the selection. Scene attributes such as object velocity, scene density, and user's cursor velocity can impact the user's ability to accurately select an object. Many 3D selection techniques have been explored, and are usually optimal for a specific set of conditions. As a result, software developers must compromise by choosing a single technique that works well on average, but is lacking in at least one scenario. We present a preliminary study that explores the feasibility of new autoselection algorithms that automatically determines the most appropriate selection technique in real-time, thus leveraging the performance benefits of each technique. We evaluated the techniques across three levels of scene density and three levels of object velocity.
GRADIENT ECOLOGY OF A BIOTIC INVASION: BIOFACIES OF THE TYPE CINCINNATIAN SERIES (UPPER ORDOVICIAN), CINCINNATI, OHIO REGION, USA

Recent studies have emphasized that faunal change is typically brief and most commonly occurs at sequence boundaries and major flooding surfaces. The Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati, Ohio, region records a major biotic invasion in the Richmondian Stage, which offers an opportunity to test these generalizations and to understand how episodes of faunal change are reflected in the structure of ecological gradients. The early Cincinnatian (C1–early C4 depositional sequences) displays two relatively stable faunal gradients, with the primary gradient reflecting onshore-offshore setting and the secondary gradient reflecting substrate consistency. During the mid-C4 sequence, dominant taxa of the shallow subtidal are extirpated, while deep subtidal taxa expand into those habitats, leading to a loss of cross-shelf faunal differentiation. This faunal breakdown is accompanied into the mid-C5 by a series of ecological epiboles, indicating an ongoing flux in ecological associations. The onshore-offshore gradient is reestablished in the C5, albeit with new associations dominated by or containing immigrant taxa. Recognition of this gradient is hindered by widespread increased abundance of bryozoans and by the delayed appearance of at least seven common genera of brachiopods and corals. The Richmondian Invasion plays out over multiple sequences and is not confined to a brief interval at the beginning of a sequence. These faunal changes do not coincide with sequence boundaries or major flooding surfaces and therefore cannot be sequence stratigraphic artifacts, nor can they represent a geologically instantaneous faunal response to sea-level change.
Multiuser detection in mismatched multiple-access channels

We consider an additive white Gaussian noise multiple-access channel and investigate the performance degradation of several multiuser detectors due to imperfect knowledge of the channel parameters, induced by either estimation errors or sampling/quantization of the receiver's sufficient statistics. The symbol error rates and the asymptotic multiuser efficiencies (AMEs) of these detectors are examined as functions of both true and approximated channel parameters for 2 asynchronous users. The results quantify the loss of near-far resistance due to parameter estimation errors and demonstrate that detectors which are optimal for ideal conditions are often more sensitive to parameter mismatch. Examples are given which illustrate a reverse ordering of the symbol error rates for these detectors in the high signal-to-noise regime, and also illustrate cases when the conventional matched filter detector exhibits superior performance over multiuser detectors.
The pinholin of lambdoid phage 21: control of lysis by membrane depolarization.

The phage 21 holin, S 21 , forms small membrane holes that depolarize the membrane and is designated as a pinholin, as opposed to large-hole-forming holins, like S λ . Pinholins require secreted SAR endolysins, a pairing that may represent an intermediate in the evolution of canonical holin-endolysin systems.
Normal cochlear function in mdx and mdx(Cv3) Duchenne muscular dystrophy mouse models.

Objectives/Hypothesis: Sensorineural hearing loss has been found in association with inherited muscular dystrophies in humans and in mouse models. An increased brainstem auditory evoked response threshold has been previously reported in the dystrophin-deficient mdx mouse model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggesting that full-length dystrophin (Dp427) is involved in hearing. The objective of the present study was to confirm cochlear dysfunction with this gene defect and determine whether the shorter carboxyl terminus isoforms of dystrophin are also critical in maintaining normal hearing. Study Design: Case controlled. Animal model. Methods: Auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiometry to pure tones was used to evaluate cochlear function. Fourteen mdx, 4 mdxCv3, and 13 age-matched control (C57BL/6J and C57BL/10ScSn) male mice were tested at 5 weeks and 11 weeks of age. The ABR thresholds to tone-burst stimuli at 4, 8, 16, and 32 kHz were obtained for each ear and statistically compared (ANOVA) for potential group differences. Results: Both mdx and mdxCv3 mice demonstrated normal ABR thresholds when compared with controls. Conclusions: Both mdx and mdxCv3 mouse models have normal hearing by ABR. The authors' data suggest that dystrophin and its carboxyl terminus isoforms do not play a critical role in hearing in the mouse. This was unexpected, as previous studies using the brainstem auditory evoked response method suggested that the mdx mouse has an increased threshold for hearing.
A study of loss of heterozygosity at 70 loci in anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme with implications for tumor evolution

Cancers that arise from astrocytes in the adult CNS present as either anaplastic astrocytomas (AAs) or as more aggressive glioblastomas multiforme (GBMs). GBMs either form de novo or progress from AAs. We proposed to examine the molecular genetic relationship between these CNS tumors by conducting a genome-wide allelic imbalance analysis that included 70 loci on examples of AA and GBM. We found significant loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 13 discrete chromosomal loci in both AAs and GBMs. Loss was significant in both AAs and GBMs at 9 of these loci. AAs show the highest rates of LOH at chromosomes 1p, 4q, 6p, 9p, 11p, 11q, 13q, 14q, 15p, 17p, 17q, and 19q. GBMs showed the greatest losses at 1p, 6q, 8p, 9p, 10p, 10q, 11p, 13q, 17p, 17q, 18p, 18q, and 19q. GBMs also demonstrated significant amplification at the epidermal growth factor receptor locus (7p12). These data suggest that there are three classes of loci involved in glioma evolution. First are loci that are likely involved in early events in the evolution of both AAs and GBMs. The second class consists of AA-specific loci, typified by higher LOH frequency than observed in GBMs (4q, 6p, 17p, 17q, 19q). The third class consists of GBM-specific loci (6q, 8p, 10, 18q). Damage at these loci may either lead to de novo GBMs or permit existing AAs to progress to GBMs. Glioma-related LOH profiles may have prognostic implications that could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of brain cancer patients.
Box invariance in biologically-inspired dynamical systems

A dynamical system is box invariant if there exists a box-shaped positively invariant region. We show that box invariance can be checked in cubic time for linear and affine systems, and that it remains decidable for classes of nonlinear systems of interest (with polynomial structure). We present results on the robustness of box invariance for linear systems using spectral properties of Metzler matrices. We also present sufficient conditions for establishing box invariance of switched and hybrid systems. In general, we argue that box invariance is a characteristic of many biologically-inspired dynamical models.
Ultrastructural changes during stimulation of amphibian oxyntic cells viewed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy

Amphibian oxyntic cells exposed by cryofracture were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Comparisons were made between the structure thus revealed and those seen in thin-sectioned material from the same mucosas examined by transmission electron microscopy. Resting oxyntic cells had apical surfaces which were relatively smooth with some short microvilli. Apical cytoplasm was filled with smooth membrane tubules (so-called vesicotubules). Stimulation with a combination of histamine, dibutyryl cyclic AMP, and isobutylmethylxanthine (a phosphodiesterase inhibitor) led to a dramatic elaboration (i.e., increased membrane surface area) and a decrease in number of vesicotubules in the apical cytoplasm. The surface morphology of the stimulated oxyntic cell was much different from that reported for the mammalian parietal cell. Two types of surface elaboration were observed. Most commonly the surface was formed of flattened microplicae or lingulae. An irregular surface formed by the swelling of enlarged spaces near the apical surface was also observed. These new data have been used to evaluate the models which have been proposed to explain the nature of the transition from resting to stimulated morphology. A new model, which incorporates fusion of intracellular vesicotubules with each other and also with apical membrane, is proposed. The proposed fusion process may cause an increase in membrane area open to the extracellular (luminal) solution within the cell (rather than the eversion of membranes into the gastric lumen). Expansion of spaces between the microplicae may be caused by hydroosmotic pressures developed during active HCl secretion.
Self-Configuration Protocols for Small-Scale P2P Networks

This paper proposes several protocols, including the random, egoist, altruist, greedy and optimizer protocols, for individual peers to self-configure the P2P overlay network. Our simulation studies show that the optimizer protocol for the P2P overlay network self-configuration tries to minimize the difference between the physical network distance and the logical network distance of two nodes by creating a virtual link along the network path having the shortest physical distance in the network, is superior to other protocols in terms of the network diameter and average node eccentricity.
9α,11β-Prostaglandin F2: A New Prostanoid, That Inhibits Platelet Aggregation and Constricts Blood Vessels

Nugteren and Hazelhof (1)were the first to report the formation of PGD2 from endoperoxides (PGG2 and PGH2). Subsequently, PGD2 was found to be one of the major products of arachidonic acid cascade in many tissue and cell types (2). Since then the transformation of PGH2 to PGD2 has been demonstrated in brain homogenates (3,4) and neuroblastoma cells (5). The enzyme PGD2 synthetase, which catalyzed the conversion of PGH2 to PGD2, has been purified to homogeneity and clearly distinguished from that of glutathione-S-transferase(6). It has been reported that PGD2 is released by platelets during aggregation (7) and was found to be a potent inhibitor of platelet aggregation, with a potency only less than that of prostacyclin (PGI2) and its stable biologically active metabolite, 6-keto-PGE1 (8,9). The metabolism of prostaglandin D2 in the monkey has been reported by Ellis et al. (10), who found that more than two-thirds of the PGD2 metabolites have the cyclopentane 1,3-diol ring structure (PGF2α). These workers postulated the existence of an enzyme 11-ketoreductase which may have converted the infused PGD2 to PGF2α before it was further degraded by 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase and β-oxidation.
Diminished Idiosyncrasy as an Explanation for the Temporal Increase in the Earnings' Cash Flows Predictability

We find that the R2 of time-series regressions of next-year cash flows on current-year earnings has not significantly changed over time. This contrasts with the dramatic increase (over time) in the R2 of cross-sectional regressions in prior studies. We show evidence that cross-firm heterogeneity in the relation between next-year cash flows and current-year earnings has significantly decreased over time (call it diminished idiosyncrasy), which is consistent with the increase in the R2 of prior studies’ cross-sectional regressions. In addition, we show that cash flows smoothness is positively associated with the increase in earnings’ ability to predict future cash flows. Given this finding, it is premature to conclude that evidence on the increasing cash flows predictability of earnings conflicts with the declining value relevance of earnings as a predictor of stock returns.
Laser interstitial thermal therapy in the management of brain metastasis and radiation necrosis after radiosurgery: An overview

With advances in stereotactic and neuroimaging techniques, various minimally invasive image-guided techniques have gained widespread acceptance in the field of neuro-oncology. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is an image-guided technique that involves generation of high temperatures using a laser fiber, to ablate pathological tissue. Radiation necrosis (RN) and radiosurgery resistant brain metastasis often pose significant challenges to the treating physicians. In the last two decades, various studies have documented the efficacy of LITT in managing radiosurgery resistant metastases, radiation necrosis, surgically inaccessible malignant gliomas and ablation of epileptogenic foci. The aim of this paper is to summarize the current literature on the efficacy of LITT in patients with radiation necrosis and brain metastasis. We have also touched upon the physical properties of currently available LITT systems and the mechanism of action of laser therapy including histopathological changes.
Crosscurrents: American and European Music in Interaction, 1900–2000 edited by Felix Meyer, Carol J. Oja, Wolfgang Rathert, and Anne C. Shreffler

The contents of the volume were commissioned at a conference that occurred on two continents. There were two parts to this conference. Papers in the first half occurred at Harvard University in Cam...
Aruna Shanbaug and workplace safety for women: the real issue sidestepped.

Aruna Shanbaug (born 1948) passed away on May 18, 2015 and the coverage that the news got on the front pages and the primetime news slots surprised everyone. One wonders whether this news would have got so much coverage had it not involved the sensational euthanasia debate. That Aruna should have been projected as the face of the euthanasia debate in India disturbs those who have been following her "story". The fact remains that it was a debate set off by Pinki Virani - for people like Aruna - with due respect to the former's earnest intentions and efforts. That Aruna was subjected to violence in November 1973 was nothing but the potential experience of every working woman in India. Aruna should be remembered for that reason - a cause much more bitter than passive euthanasia. She has been and will remain the face of working women in India against whom male prejudice has remained unabated even 42 years after Aruna became a victim. How many Arunas were assaulted, murdered and violated physically, emotionally and mentally during this period? To a substantial number of Indians, women still belong to the hearth and the harem, and the rapist of the Delhi girl whom we nicknamed Nirbhaya told us this impudently from within the Tihar jail in Delhi (1)i. India as a society seems to refuse to recognise the ethical issues associated with denying women their right to be safe at their workplaces. Language: en
Surface-normal Fabry-Perot multiquantum well-index modulator

We describe a novel Fabry-Perot MQW-index reflection modulator which may be tuned electronically. We have measured an on/off ratio of 2.0:1 for the device with an applied field of 125 kV/cm. From measurements of the device performance we estimate that the linear-electrooptic (LEO) and quadratic-electrooptic (QEO) account for 20 and 80%, respectively, of the measured modulation at a wavelength of 882 nm.
Science Communication: Quality at Stake

The ferment in the scientific publishing world was nicely illuminated in J. Bohannon's News story “Who's afraid of peer review?” (special section on Communication in Science, 4 October, p. [60][1]). Bohannon revealed how the open-access (OA) movement may have had the unintended consequence of undermining quality peer review. The proliferation of certain OA journals that publish as many papers as possible to maximize their revenue has led to the publication of much mediocre science; it has also led to increased competition for the best papers, weakening established journals published by scientific societies, which insist on rigorous peer review. The traditional subscription-based model for financing scientific journals had the advantage of incentivizing quality: Why would a subscriber want to pay for a journal that publishes junk science? We fully support open access. The public should have access to the science that its tax dollars fund. But it is equally important to assure quality control and to develop a new financial model that does not place the full OA page charge burden on authors. [1]: pending:yes
DTA/TGA Study of Eutectic Melting in the System BaF2-BaO-Y2O3-CuOx−H2O

Differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA/TGA) experiments have been completed in the BaF2-BaO-Y2O3-CuOx-H2O system at various oxygen pressures to determine the effect of adding solid BaF2and gaseous H2O (at pH2O = 2.5 kPa) on the eutectic melting in the system BaO-Y2O3-CuOx. We have investigated the eutectic melting temperature over the range of pO2 = 20 Pa to pO2 = 0.1 MPa under the following conditions: 1) without BaF2 or H2O; 2) with H2O only; 3) with BaF2 only; 4) with both BaF2 and H2O. Results indicate that without BaF2 or H2O, eutectic melting is depressed from 917°C at pO2 = 0.1 MPa to 838°C at pO2 = 1 kPa. At oxygen pressures below 1 kPa, down to pO2 = 20 Pa, no further lowering of eutectic melting temperature was observed. The topologies of the temperature vs. log pO2 curves for various combinations of BaF2 and H2O were similar to that for the experiments without BaF2 or H2O, but all curves were shifted to lower temperatures. For the experiments with addition of BaF2 only, H2O only, and BaF2 with H2O, the eutectic melting temperatures as a function of pO2 were lowered by, respectively, 5°C - 15°C, 15°C - 25°C and 20°C - 30°C. Application of results to the “BaF2 ex-situ” method of processing Ba2YCu3Ox coated conductors is discussed.
Phosphorelay control of phycobilisome biogenesis during complementary chromatic adaptation

For some cyanobacteria, the spectral distribution of light in the environment regulates the synthesis of specific polypeptides of the phycobilisome or light harvesting antenna complex. This process, called complementary chromatic adaptation, is controlled by a complex type of two component regulatory system. In such pathways, phosphorelay typically occurs through two histidine and two aspartate residues. Generation and complementation of mutants in CCA have uncovered three elements of this pathway, a putative sensor, RcaE, and two response regulators, RcaC and RcaF. RcaC, a large response regulator, contains two input domains, a DNA binding motif and a putative histidine phosphoacceptor domain. RcaF is a small response regulator and apparently lacks an output domain. Ordering of the pathway components has placed RcaE before RcaF, and RcaF before RcaC. This phosphorelay circuitry is novel because it has, instead of four, at least five potential phosphoacceptor domains for signal transduction.
Hard Times: Turkey during the Great Depression

The essays contained in this volume challenge and complement standard treatments of Turkish history during the 1930s. Typically, the 1930s are cast as a decade that opened with the Turkish economy reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. Decisionmakers in the ruling Republican People's Party (RPP) were not without a response, however. They introduced statist economic policies whereby the Turkish state began to play an augmented role in production and capital accumulation. The conventional story thus chronicles the ruling elite's most visible policy reaction to the material hardships of the 1930s.