cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Parallel Controlled Study of the Effectiveness of a Partially Flipped Organic Chemistry Course on Student Performance, Perceptions, and Course Completion

Organic chemistry is very challenging to many students pursuing science careers. Flipping the classroom presents an opportunity to significantly improve student success by increasing active learning, which research shows is highly beneficial to student learning. However, flipping an entire course may seem too daunting or an instructor may simply choose to use this approach selectively. This exploratory, mixed-methods study examines the effectiveness of a partially flipped course in the first semester organic chemistry course. Two sections were taught by the author in Fall 2015: a control section (n = 28 students) using a lecture-based format, and a flipped section (n = 26 students), where 8, 75 min classes (a third of the course) were taught with flipped pedagogy. Significant improvements in test questions on flipped topics were observed, as well as a significant reduction in the course withdrawal rate. While the average overall course grade was similar in the two sections, the flipped section had 25% mor...
From middens to modern estuaries, oyster shells sequester source-specific nitrogen

Abstract Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were an important food resource for native peoples of the northern Gulf of Mexico, who deposited waste shells in middens. Nitrogen (N) stable isotopes (δ15N) in bivalve shells have been used as modern proxies for estuarine N sources because they approximate δ15N in suspended particulate matter. We tested the use of midden shell δ15N as a proxy for ancient estuarine N sources. We hypothesized that isotopic signatures in ancient shells from coastal Mississippi would differ from modern shells due to increased anthropogenic N sources, such as wastewater, through time. We decalcified shells using an acidification technique previously developed for modern bivalves, but modified to determine δ15N, δ13C, %N, and % organic C of these low-N, high-C specimens. The modified method resulted in the greatest percentage of usable data from midden shells. Our results showed that oyster shell δ15N did not significantly differ between ancient (500–2100 years old) and modern oysters from the same locations where the sites had undergone relatively little land-use change. δ15N values in modern shells, however, were positively correlated with water column nitrate concentrations associated with urbanization. When N content and total shell mass were combined, we estimated that middens sequestered 410–39,000 kg of relic N, buried at a rate of up to 5 kg N m−2 yr−1. This study provides a relatively simple technique to assess baseline conditions in ecosystems over long time scales by demonstrating that midden shells can be an indicator of pre-historic N source to estuaries and are a potentially significant but previously uncharacterized estuarine N sink.
Mit kalten Atomen der Hochtemperatur-Supraleitung auf der Spur

Seit der Entdeckung der Hochtemperatur-Supraleitung suchen Physiker nach Materialien, die bei hoheren Temperaturen, vielleicht sogar bei Zimmertemperatur supraleitend werden. Es stellt sich jedoch als auserordentlich schwierig heraus, Quantenmaterialien ihre Geheimnisse zu entlocken. Abhilfe konnten Experimente mit ultrakalten Atomen als Modellsysteme bieten. Mit einem neuen Experiment ist unsere Gruppe an der Harvard University damit erstmals in den relevanten Bereich der Antiferromagneten vorgestosen.
Mechanical Signaling and Extracellular Matrix in Uterine Fibroids.

Fibroids (uterine leiomyomas) are the most common benign tumors of the female reproductive tract. Steroid hormones, growth factors, and cytokines have long been implicated in fibroid growth; however, research suggests that changes in the extracellular matrix and mechanical signaling play a critical role in fibroid growth and differentiation. Studies have shown that growth of fibroids is related to the change in the volume and composition of extracellular matrix with increased deposition of abnormal collagen, glycoproteins, laminins, fibronectins, and an increased osmotic stress. These changes generate mechanical stress which is converted to chemical signals in the cells through mechanotransduction and eventually affects gene expression and protein synthesis. Current studies also suggest that mechanical signaling in fibroid cells is abnormal as evidenced by decreased apoptosis of abnormal cells and deposition of a stiff extracellular matrix promoting fibrosis. Understanding and defining these mechanisms could help design new therapies for the treatment of fibroids.
Artificial Intelligence: Bayesian versus Heuristic Method for Diagnostic Decision Support.

Evoking strength is one of the important contributions of the field of Biomedical Informatics to the discipline of Artificial Intelligence. The University at Buffalo's Orthopedics Department wanted to create an expert system to assist patients with self-diagnosis of knee problems and to thereby facilitate referral to the right orthopedic subspecialist. They had two independent sports medicine physicians review 469 cases. A board-certified orthopedic sports medicine practitioner, L.B., reviewed any disagreements until a gold standard diagnosis was reached. For each case, the patients entered 126 potential answers to 26 questions into a Web interface. These were modeled by an expert sports medicine physician and the answers were reviewed by L.B. For each finding, the clinician specified the sensitivity (term frequency) and both specificity (Sp) and the heuristic evoking strength (ES). Heuristics are methods of reasoning with only partial evidence. An expert system was constructed that reflected the posttest odds of disease-ranked list for each case. We compare the accuracy of using Sp to that of using ES (original model, p
Handedness and Lateralization

To accurately assess the nature and extent of brain injury, is it important to know the patient’s handedness? Evidence from both clinical and normal populations indicates that the organization of brain functions differs for right- and left-handers. In general, left-handers are less lateralized for linguistic, visuospatial, and other cognitive and affective processes, and are likely to show bilateral representation of cognitive functions. Lack of standardization in the measurement of handedness and the influence of other variables such as familial sinistrality, sex, and reasoning ability on brain organization make it difficult to specify for any particular individual. However, awareness of the identified modifiers of brain organization and knowledge of findings on handedness relating to lateralized functions can assist the neuropsychologist in making more accurate diagnoses and inferences. This chapter will present current research findings on laterality and handedness and apply them to issues of clinical concern.
Thermomechanical behavior of viscoelastic polar materials

The theory of thermomechanical behavior of a linear viscoelastic Cosserat continuum is developed by making use of the fundamental concepts of continuum mechanics and irreversible thermodynamics. It is shown that, under conditions of arbitrary temporal and spatial variation of the temperature field, the stress tensor, the couple stress tensor and entropy density are derivable from a potential which is the free energy density Ψ.
Decision analysis and Bayesian methods in clinical trials

The standard statistical approach to designing and analyzing clinical trials is frequentist. A purpose of this chapter is to describe a Bayesian approach as an alternative, or perhaps as a supplement. The two approaches have focuses so different that they can be viewed as distinct disciplines. And yet both deal with empirical evidence and both use probability, so the distinction is poorly understood by nonstatisticians. The distinction is further blurred when frequentists and Bayesians act and think alike — which they are wont to do, despite ‘anti’ rhetoric coming from both sides. Both approaches have good characteristics. The most important advantage of the Bayesian approach is attitude, which is consistent with the scientific method.
A Lost Text By Zosimos Reproduced in an Old Alchemy Book

An Arabic translation of a text entitled "Keys of Wisdom," by the famous fourth century alchemist Zosimos, has been found in an Alchemy book written by a twelveth century Kurd, named Al-Tughra'i. The book starts with a discussion of the "four elements" (fire, air, water, and earth) and the "four natures" (hot, cold, moist, and dry), and continues with their quantitative estimation. This is followed by a determination of their ratios, which is needed to moderate the properties of metals and to form the elixirs used in transmutation. Although today's chemists disagree with most of these concepts, they must marvel at some of the ideas found in the present text. For example, Zosimos correctly understood the relationship between heat and movement, and in a remarkable statement he explains why, during distillation, vapors rise against gravity, by saying: "Motion is due to heat for without heat there would be no motion." This statement is true today and is taught in most thermodynamics text books. Alchemists also distinguished between distillation, and "smoking" (pyrolysis), and recognized the importance of the first in purification. Furthermore, they correctly believed that the physical properties of substances are directly related to their chemical composition and developed a highly sophisticated system to characterize compounds by means of nine tastes, three smells, and a multitude of colors.
Inferring ownership domains from refinements

Ownership type qualifiers clarify aliasing invariants that cannot be directly expressed in mainstream programming languages. Adding qualifiers to code, however, often involves significant overhead and difficult interaction. We propose an analysis to infer qualifiers in the code based on developer refinements that express strict encapsulation, logical containment and architectural tiers. Refinements include: makeOwnedBy, to make an object strictly encapsulated by another; makePartOf, to make an object logically contained in another; makePeer, to make two objects peers; makeParam, to make an object more accessible than the above choices; or makeShared, to allow an object to be globally aliased. If the code as-written matches the requested refinements, the analysis generates qualifiers that type-check; otherwise, it reports that the refinements do not match the code, so developers must investigate unexpected aliasing, change their understanding of the code and pick different refinements, or change the code and re-run the analysis. We implement the analysis and confirm that refinements generate precise qualifiers that express strict encapsulation, logical containment and architectural tiers.
Playing While White: Privilege and Power on and off the Field, by David J. Leonard

In Playing While White, David J. Leonard, professor at Washington State University in the United States makes the argument that whiteness matters in sporting culture. This is part of an overarching...
Investigating the effect of forgetting factor on tracking non-stationary neural dynamics

Neural dynamics can be non-stationary in many neural applications such as brain-machine-interfaces (BMIs) and long-term brain stimulation. Adaptive modeling is a useful approach in tracking the neural non-stationarities. Our prior work has tracked time-variant linear state-space models (LSSM) to describe human electrocorticogram (ECoG) dynamics. One key design parameter in adaptive LSSM identification is the forgetting factor, which could significantly influence the accuracy of the fitted model. However, this influence has not been systematically studied yet. Here, we use comprehensive numerical simulations to investigate the effect of the forgetting factor on identifying time-variant LSSMs. We simulate non-stationary neural activity using time-variant LSSMs and use different forgetting factors to track time-variant LSSMs and predict the simulated activity. We find that the prediction accuracy of the fitted models strongly varied with the choice of the forgetting factor. We also find that the optimal forgetting factor that led to the highest prediction accuracy varied as a function of various properties of the simulated time-variant LSSMs. Our results have implications for building more accurate adaptive models to track non-stationary neural network dynamics and can facilitate the investigation of neural non-stationarity using the adaptive models.
Development of a novel inducer for EBV lytic therapy

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus that infects over 90% of the world's population that persists as a latent infection in various lymphoid and epithelial malignancies. The total number of EBV associated malignancies is estimated to exceed 200,000 new cancers per year. Current chemotherapeutic treatments of EBV-positive cancers include broad-spectrum cytotoxic drugs that ignore the EBV positive status of tumors and have limited safety and selectivity. In an effort to develop new and more efficacious molecules for inducing EBV reactivation, we have developed high-throughput screening assays to identify a class of small molecules (referred to as the C60 series) that efficiently activate the EBV lytic cycle in multiple latency types, including lymphoblastoid and nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. In this paper we report our preliminary structure activity relationship studies and demonstrate reactivation of EBV in the SNU719 gastric carcinoma mouse model and the AGS-Akata gastric carcinoma mouse model.
An exact, unifying framework for region-based association testing in family-based designs, including higher criticism approaches, SKATs, multivariate and burden tests

Abstract Analysis of rare variants in family-based studies remains a challenge. To perform a region/set-based association analysis of rare variants in family-based studies, we propose a general methodological framework that integrates higher criticism, maximum, SKATs, and burden approaches into the family-based association testing (FBAT) framework. Using the haplotype algorithm for FBATs to compute the conditional genotype distribution under the null hypothesis of Mendelian transmissions, virtually any association test statistics can be implemented in our approach and simulation-based or exact p-values can be computed without the need for asymptotic settings. Using simulations, we compare the features of the proposed test statistics in our framework with the existing region-based methodology for family-based studies under various scenarios. The tests of our framework outperform the existing approaches. We provide general guidelines for which scenarios, e.g., sparseness of the signals or local LD structure, which test statistic will have distinct power advantages over the others. We also illustrate our approach in an application to a whole-genome sequencing dataset with 897 asthmatic trios.
Developer Reputation Estimator (DRE)

Evidence shows that developer reputation is extremely important when accepting pull requests or resolving reported issues. It is particularly salient in Free/Libre Open Source Software since the developers are distributed around the world, do not work for the same organization and, in most cases, never meet face to face. The existing solutions to expose developer reputation tend to be forge specific (GitHub), focus on activity instead of impact, do not leverage social or technical networks, and do not correct often misspelled developer identities. We aim to remedy this by amalgamating data from all public Git repositories, measuring the impact of developer work, expose developer's collaborators, and correct notoriously problematic developer identity data. We leverage World of Code (WoC), a collection of an almost complete (and continuously updated) set of Git repositories by first allowing developers to select which of the 34 million(M) Git commit author IDs belong to them and then generating their profiles by treating the selected collection of IDs as that single developer. As a side-effect, these selections serve as a training set for a supervised learning algorithm that merges multiple identity strings belonging to a single individual. As we evaluate the tool and the proposed impact measure, we expect to build on these findings to develop reputation badges that could be associated with pull requests and commits so developers could easier trust and prioritize them.
Biologics may prevent cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis by inhibiting coronary plaque formation and stabilizing high‐risk lesions

Author(s): Karpouzas, George A; Ormseth, Sarah R; Hernandez, Elizabeth; Budoff, Matthew J | Abstract: ObjectiveTo evaluate whether biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether biologic DMARDs might have a beneficial effect on coronary plaque formation or progression.MethodsIn this single-center observational cohort study, 150 patients underwent computed tomographic angiography for evaluation of coronary atherosclerosis (total, noncalcified, mixed/calcified, and low-attenuation plaque); 101 had repeat assessments within a mean ± SD of 6.9 ± 0.3 years to evaluate plaque progression. All CVD events were prospectively recorded, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, revascularization, stroke, claudication, and hospitalization for heart failure. The Framingham-D'Agostino score was used to assess cardiovascular risk. The segment stenosis score was used to measure plaque burden. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated.ResultsAfter adjustment for the segment stenosis score, the Framingham-D'Agostino score, and time-varying Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using the C-reactive protein level using marginal structural models, current biologic DMARD use was associated with lower long-term CVD risk (OR 0.15 [95% CI 0.04-0.60]). Noncalcified and low-attenuation plaque presence moderated the effect of biologic DMARDs on CVD risk; specifically, biologic DMARD use was associated with lower CVD risk in patients with noncalcified or low-attenuation plaque at baseline (OR 0.21 [95% CI 0.04-0.99] and OR 0.08 [95% CI 0.01-0.70], respectively), but not in those without noncalcified or low-attenuation plaque. Per-segment plaque progression analyses showed that biologic DMARD exposure was associated with transition of noncalcified to mixed/calcified plaque (OR 4.00 [95% CI 1.05-15.32]). Biologic DMARD exposure predicted a lower likelihood of new plaque forming in segments without plaque among patients without mixed/calcified plaque in other coronary segments (OR 0.40 [95% CI 0.17-0.93]), but not among those with calcification. Biologic DMARD treatment also predicted low-attenuation plaque loss (P = 0.042).ConclusionOur findings indicate that in RA, biologic DMARD use is associated with reduced CVD risk, protective calcification of noncalcified lesions, and lower likelihood of new plaque formation in patients with early atherosclerosis.
Mathematical Modeling and Optimal Inference of Guided Markov-Like Trajectory

A trajectory of a destination-directed moving object (e.g. an aircraft from an origin airport to a destination airport) has three main components: an origin, a destination, and motion in between. We call such a trajectory that end up at the destination destination-directed trajectory (DDT). A class of conditionally Markov (CM) sequences (called CM L ) has the following main components: a joint density of two endpoints and a Markov-like evolution law. A CM L dynamic model can describe the evolution of a DDT but not of a guided object chasing a moving guide. The trajectory of a guided object is called a guided trajectory (GT). Inspired by a CM L model, this paper proposes a model for a GT with a moving guide. The proposed model reduces to a CM L model if the guide is not moving. We also study filtering and trajectory prediction based on the proposed model. Simulation results are presented.
Cerliponase alfa for CLN2 disease, a promising therapy

Introduction: Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) is a rare, lysosomal storage disease that causes progressive neurodegeneration in children. Cerliponase alfa enzyme replacement therapy is...
Neck Dissections: History, Classification, and Indications

Surgical management of the cervical lymph nodes represents an essential element of comprehensive care for patients with oral/head and neck cancer. The histopathologic status of these lymph nodes remains the primary prognostic index for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of this anatomic region. It is therefore essential for ablative surgeons to establish and apply a scientific and sound philosophical approach to neck surgery to improve the potential for long-term survival, and possible cure of patients with oral/head and neck cancer. Such an approach is applicable to both the clinically positive neck (cN+) and the clinically negative neck (cN0). In fact, a distinct survival advantage exists when executing selective neck dissections for occult neck disease. This chapter reviews the history, classification, and indications for neck dissection in patients with oral/head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
The Effect of Interest Rate Volatility and Equity Volatility on Corporate Bond Yield Spreads: A Comparison of Noncallables and Callables

This research investigates the impact of interest rate volatility upon corporate bond yield spreads. We first consider the impact of interest rate volatility upon noncallable bond spreads. Because greater interest rate volatility likely increases the volatility of the firm’s debt, we hypothesize the relation will be positive. Given that we do find a positive relation, we thus investigate whether the positive effect of interest rate volatility on yield spreads is stronger or weaker for callable bonds. We find that the effect is weaker for callable bonds. This result indicates there is a negative relation between default spreads and call spreads, which is consistent with theory of Acharya and Carpenter (2002), but in contrast to the theory of King (2002). Furthermore, our results for the relationship between equity volatility and yield spread tend to support Acharya and Carpenter (2002) more than King (2002).
Weekly Course Content and Notation in Other Texts

For convenience in this appendix we use the following abbreviations: BF, Bedford 5 and Fowler [6]; BJ, Beer and Johnston [7]; H, Hibbeler [36]; MK, Meriam and 6 Kraige [48]; RS, Riley and Sturges [63]; and S, Shames [69].
Qualitative Political Communication| Understanding the Impact of the Transnational Promotional Class on Political Communication

This article is an overture to political communication researchers to broaden their categories and contexts of analysis when assessing the role of promotional practices in political life. It aims to make both methodological and empirical contributions to qualitative political communication research. Drawing on ongoing research into the proliferation of political communication strategies around the exploitation of oil in Canada and the United States, the article analyzes efforts by promotional intermediaries to achieve legitimacy for their clients in three sites: Montreal, Canada; Houston, Texas; and Fort McMurray, Alberta. Bringing to light the tools, techniques, and claims to authority of promotional actors and their practices, the article demonstrates the importance of field research to the analysis of political communication. By getting inside the social worlds of the actors and processes involved, researchers can make sense of the ways that political communication is defined, understood, and acted upon by interlocutors and audiences. The article also addresses specific methodological challenges of undertaking this research.
Using Disability-Adjusted Life Years to Assess the Burden of Disease and Injury in Rhode Island

OBJECTIVES: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) measure the burden of disease and injury in a population. We tested the feasibility of calculating DALYs to assess the burden of disease and injury in Rhode Island (RI). METHODS: We computed DALYs for the 2008 RI population using methods developed by the World Health Organization, Harvard University, and the World Bank. DALYs are a composite measure that sum years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature mortality with years lived with disability (YLDs). We calculated crude mortality, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs for 90 major health conditions for RI and stratified them by gender and age. Calculations for YLLs and YLDs were based on five-year averages. We compared our results with U.S. and Los Angeles County, California, estimates. RESULTS: A DALYs ranking produces a different picture of RI's disease and injury burden than does mortality-based ranking. Of 90 major health conditions assessed for RI, six of the top 10 causes for mortality and DALYs were the same, but were ranked differently: ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer dementia and other dementias, trachea/bronchus/lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes mellitus. These six conditions accounted for 59% of deaths but only 35% of DALYs. Causes and rank orders for DALYs differed between males and females and among age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Including nonfatal health conditions in an assessment of population health provides a different picture than traditional mortality-based assessments. This study demonstrates the feasibility and constraints of using DALYs to assess the burden of disease and injury at the state level. Language: en
An Empirically Derived Framework of Global Supply Resiliency

In today’s global business environment, supply chains have increased in both length and complexity. This increase in length and complexity coupled with a focus on improving efficiency, such as lean manufacturing practices, may lead to higher levels of supply chain risk where the likelihood of a disruption severely impacting supply chain performance increases. Resilient supply chains have been touted as a means to reduce the likelihood and severity of supply chain disruptions. However, there is little empirical evidence relative to the factors that contribute to or detract from supply resiliency. Using systems theory and the resource-based view of the firm as the theoretical underpinnings, this study provides an in-depth systematic investigation of supply resiliency. Adopting a theory-building approach based on a multi-industry empirical investigation, this study derives empirical generalizations linking 19 supply chain characteristics to supply resiliency. The study culminates in a framework that could be used to assess the level of resiliency in a supply base. Building on this framework, the study also provides a supply resiliency matrix that can be utilized to classify supply chains, or supply chains segments according to the level of resiliency realized. This article concludes by proposing several future research directions and issues that may be investigated in more detail.
The Climatic Impact of Secular Variations in Solar Irradiance

Variations in solar luminosity are expected to give rise to variations in average sea-surface temperatures (SST). We explore this possibility using both indirect evidence on the variability of tropical SST based on measurements of tropopause height, and a recent compilation of direct SST measurements by ships over the past 130 years. Both data sets show modulation that could be construed as arising from solar variability. A simple advective-diffusive model of the response of the ocean to thermal forcing is used to estimate the amplitude of the solar variations needed to explain the observed variability. We conclude that a modulation of the sun’s luminosity with a period of about 80 years and an amplitude of about 0.5% is consistent with the globally averaged direct SST measurements, but that the consistency of the results is weakened if the calculated response to the increase in atmospheric CO2 is included in the model. Any 11-year component is unlikely to have had a large enough amplitude to cause a significant effect, except possibly during the great solar cycle that peaked in the late 1950s.
Effects of glucose-insulin-potassium on myocardial substrate availability and utilization in stable coronary artery disease. Studies on myocardial carbohydrate, lipid and oxygen arterial-coronary sinus differences in patients with coronary artery disease.

Abstract To assess the metabolic effects of myocardial substrate alteration In patients with coronary artery disease, glucose-insulin-potassium solution was administered intravenously for 30 minutes to 14 men with stable angiographically documented coronary artery disease. The glucose-insulin-potassium solution (300 g of glucose, 50 units of regular insulin and 80 mEq of potassium chloride per liter of water) was infused at a constant rate in each patient, but individual infusion rates ranged from 0.013 to 0.032 ml/kg per min (4 to 10 mg glucose/kg per min) in the 14 patients. Simultaneous arterial and coronary sinus samples were obtained at 15 minute intervals during a stable 30 minute control period and again at 15 minute intervals during the infusion; samples were assayed for glucose, lactate, free fatty acid and oxygen content. In all 14 patients, during the glucose-insulin-potassium infusion, arterial glucose and lactate increased and arterial free fatty acid levels fell; the magnitude of the changes in arterial lactate and free fatty acids as related to the rate of infusion. Arterial-coronary sinus differences (A-C s ) for glucose, lactate and free fatty acid levels correlated with the arterial concentrations of these substrates ( r = 0.66, 0.87 and 0.79, respectively). Regression analyses demonstrated myocardial thresholds for the uptake of these substrates as follows: glucose 79 mg/100 ml; lactate 300 μmole/liter; and free fatty acids 100 to 200 μEq/liter. Finally and most importantly, the reduction in A-C s oxygen values after glucose-insulin-potassium infusion correlated with the reduction in A-C s free fatty acid levels ( r = 0.64, P Myocardial substrate availability may be an important determinant of myocardial oxygen demand in patients with coronary artery disease. Infusion of glucose-insulin-potassium solution has the potential to alter myocardial substrate availability, thus improving the balance between myocardial oxygen demand and supply.
Dynamic External Fixation in the Treatment of Dupuytren’s Contracture

Flexion contracture of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint due to Dupuytren’s remains a difficult problem to treat. Surgical experience and research has previously demonstrated disappointing results in the operative treatment of this particular condition (Rodrigo et al. 1976; Bryan and Ghorbal 1988). Treatment of PIP contracture continues to evolve, and no surgical consensus regarding operative treatment currently exists. Dupuytren’s contracture at the PIP joint results in progressive restriction of the soft tissue envelope and shortening of the neurovascular structures (Kasabian 1998; Messina and Messina 1993). Single stage operative correction to achieve full PIP extension necessitates placement of skin grafts to correct the skin deficiency. But this single stage correction may also result in digital ischemia through vascular spasm and thrombosis. Dynamic external fixation can be used to lengthen soft tissues. Thus, soft tissue distraction offers an additional surgical option to potentially avoid these problems with surgical correction. The Digit Widget™ (Hand Biomechanics Lab Inc, Sacramento, CA) is one such device which can be used to correct difficult to treat PIP flexion contractures due to Dupuytren’s through dynamic external fixation.
Selective Loss of Sperm Bearing a Compound Chromosome in the Drosophila Female

The Drosophila compound entire second chromosome, C(2)EN , displays paternal transmission well below Mendelian expectations (Novitski et al. 1981). Because C(2)EN stocks also show higher-than-expected rates of zygotic lethality, it was proposed that this reduced paternal inheritance might be wholly or partially due to postfertilization events. Efforts to investigate this phenomenon have been hampered because the progeny of crosses between C(2)EN -bearing individuals and those with normal karyotypes die during embryogenesis. We have circumvented this obstacle by employing fluorescence in situ hybridization to directly karyotype early embryos from crosses involving C(2)EN -bearing individuals. This analysis reveals that the distortion in paternal transmission is established before fertilization. Moreover, measurement of the sperm ratios within both the male and female reproductive organs demonstrates that C(2)EN -bearing sperm are selectively lost after sperm transfer to the female and before storage of sperm in the seminal receptacles and spermathecae. Our results are consistent with a model of meiotic drive in which aberrations occuring early in meiosis lead ultimately to sperm dysfunction.
Are isolated nucleic acid bases really planar? A Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics study.

Car−Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations of the flexibility of isolated DNA bases have been carried out. The comparison of lowest ring out-of-plane vibrations calculated by using MP2/cc-pvdz and BLYP/PW methods reveals that the DFT method with the plane wave basis set reasonably reproduces out-of-plane deformability of the pyrimidine ring in nucleic acid bases and could be used for reliable modeling of conformational flexibility of nucleobases. The conformational phase space of pyrimidine rings in thymine, cytosine, guanine, and adenine has been investigated by using the ab initio Car−Parrinello molecular dynamics method. It is demonstrated that all nucleic acid bases are highly flexible molecules and possess a nonplanar effective conformation of the pyrimidine ring despite the fact that the planar geometry corresponds to a minimum on the potential energy surface. The population of the planar geometry of the pyrimidine ring does not exceed 30%. Among the nonplanar conformations of the pyrimidine ring...
On necessary conditions for verbal irony comprehension

The conditions for verbal irony comprehension implicitly or directly claimed as necessary by all of the recent philosophic, linguistic and psycholinguistic theories of verbal irony (Clark and Gerrig 1984; Kreuz and Glucksberg 1989; Kumon-Nakamura, Glucksberg and Brown 1995; Sperber and Wilson 1981, 1986) were experimentally tested. Allusion to a violation of expectations, predictions, desires, preferences, social norms, etc., was confirmed as a necessary condition, but pragmatic insincerity was not. Pragmatically sincere comments can be comprehended ironically. A revised set of conditions was proposed, involving intentional violation of Gricean conversational maxims and the portrayal of a contrast between expectations and reality. A cautionary note was made, however, regarding the viability of a single account of verbal irony comprehension.
Direct and correlated responses to selection on age at physiological maturity in Drosophila simulans

Biologists who study the timing of development in insects have focused on variation in duration of pre-adult stages almost without exception. However, development is not complete until adults are not only morphologically mature, but also reproductively mature. Here we describe an experiment in the fruit fly, Drosophila simulans, in which we used artificial selection to create lines with shortened and lengthened duration from eclosion to the age when the first egg was laid. We found significant genetic variation for this trait. The response to selection on age when the first egg was laid was due to variation among females. Delayed adult development was correlated with rapid pre-adult development and longer life span in females. The approach we use here resolves some difficulties with previous approaches used to study the genetics of senescence, and provides an opportunity to study the hitherto unexamined predictions derived from classic models for the evolution of senescence.
Bimodular behaviour and crack closure in compression in a brittle material

A vibrating beam method was used to determine the elastic modulus of graphite rods. The frequency and apparent modulus were determined as a function of compressive end-loading. Following fracture of the rod, the frequency and apparent modulus were decreased. At a compressive end-loading of about 0.83 MPa (120 p.s.i.), crack closure was sufficient for the fractured rod to behave similarly in vibration to the unfractured rod. Thus, the fractured material behaves in a bimodular fashion and crack closure can be achieved to enable unimpeded stress transfer across the fracture surface during vibration.
Compressive Creep of Uranium Carbide

The compressive creep rates of slightly hyperstoichi-ometric uranium carbide were determined in vacuum at 1200° to 1600°C and 3000 to 10,000 psi. The equation best describing the minimum creep rates of uranium carbide over this range is: e= 1.8 × 10−3σ3 exp (-90,000/RT)
A dual metathesis route to oligomeric sulfonamides

Abstract A strategy employing both ring-closing metathesis (RCM) and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) as routes to synthesizing oligomeric sulfonamides is described. Amino acid-derived α,β-unsaturated γ-sultams, containing either exo-cyclic or γ-endo-cyclic stereogenic centers, are generated via RCM. These sultams undergo stereoselective Diels–Alder reactions to yield endo-norbornenyl sulfonamides as the major diastereomers. Subsequent ROMP rapidly produces sulfonamide-based oligomers.
Markedly abnormal mitral valve motion without simultaneous intraventricular pressure gradient due to uneven mitral-septal contact in idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis☆

Abstract Although echocardiographic analysis reliably diagnoses idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis by detection of systolic forward anterior mitral valve motion and estimates severity of obstruction by the timed mitral encroachment of the interventricular septum, echographic stenosis may occur without hemodynamic obstruction or pressure gradient across the left ventricular outflow tract. Demonstration and mechanism of this apparent inconsistency are described in three patients with a previously unrecognized state of Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis characterized by marked systolic forward movement of the anterior mitral valve without a simultaneous intraventricular pressure gradient, resulting from uneven septal apposition by the anterior leaflet. Echographic obstruction indexes (40, 34 and 31) during cardiac catheterization in the three patients were predictive of respective peak gradients of 37, 25 and 20 mm Hg. The horizontal nonparallel mitralseptal contact consistent with severe systolic forward movement of the anterior mitral valve in the absence of hemodynamic stenosis is believed to be caused by markedly forward displacement of the anterior papillary muscle, so that its chordae tendineae produce greater tension on the posteromedial aspect of the anterior mitral valve. Thereby the posterior portion of the leaflet is pulled forward more than its anterior side, allowing marked systolic forward anterior mitral valve motion without a pressure gradient in idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis.
An evaluation of the mechanism of action of pentamidine isethionate

The effect of pentamidine on DNA, RNA, phospholipid, and protein synthesis was evaluated in 6C3HED ascites tumor of C3H mice by incorporation in vitro of 3H-thymidine, 3H-uridine, 3H-algal protein hydrolysate, and 32P-orthophosphate. Inhibition of all parameters measured was observed, suggesting that pentamidine does not, as has been suggested, selectively inhibit DNA synthesis or act as an antifol. A reduced incorporation of 32P into charcoal adsorbable acid soluble phosphate was observed, suggesting that pentamidine may impair nucleotide formation.
Some thoughts about random walks on figure eight

Abstract In this paper we discuss the issues of recurrence and transience of random walks in multiply connected spaces and, in particular, in the presence of knots. Such problems are of interest in polymer physics since almost all sufficiently long linear polymer chains are (quasi) knotted at least at theta solvent quality conditions and, hence, the transience/recurrence provides mathematically rigorous definition of the entanglement concept. These problems are also of biological interest since they clarify the role of topology in problems involving molecular recognition. Obtained results extend and generalize the results of earlier published Rapid Communication (Kholodenko, Phys. Rev. E 58 (1998) R5213). They also provide some answers to problems which were just mentioned in our earlier published report (Kholodenko, Phys. Reports 298 (1998) 251).
Efficiency and competition: The reagan administration's legacy in merger policy

The full effects of the latest merger wave will not be evident for a number of years. Further, many forces other than the Reagan administration's permissive policy contributed to the surge in asset redeployment that characterized the 1980s. Nevertheless, the rationale for this policy should be evaluated as promptly as possible, since antitrust remains the nation's primary policy instrument for dealing with untoward effects of merger. Both empirical evidence and underlying theory contradict beliefs in the efficiency-enhancing character of most mergers and of the market for control. Several emerging and potential harmful effects are noted.
Effect of ferrous sulfate and multivitamins with zinc on absorption of ciprofloxacin in normal volunteers.

Cations such as magnesium and aluminum significantly impair the absorption of ciprofloxacin. Twelve healthy adult male volunteers participated in this four-way crossover study to investigate the effects of ferrous sulfate and multivitamins with zinc on the absorption of ciprofloxacin. Doses of ciprofloxacin (500 mg) were given 7 days apart and after an overnight fast. Dose 1 was administered alone (regimen A). The subjects then received either a ferrous sulfate tablet (325 mg three times a day; regimen B) or a once-daily multivitamin with zinc (regimen C) for 7 days; dose 2 of ciprofloxacin was then given with the last dose of regimen B or C. Subjects were crossed over to the alternate regimen for 7 days, and dose 3 of ciprofloxacin was again administered with the last dose of regimen B or C. After a 7-day washout, dose 4 of ciprofloxacin was given (regimen D). Ciprofloxacin concentrations were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The areas under the concentration-time curve (AUCs) of ciprofloxacin for regimens A and D were not significantly different (14.5 +/- 2.3 versus 15.7 +/- 2.8 micrograms.h/ml, mean +/- standard deviation). The AUCs for regimen B (5.4 +/- 1.7 micrograms.h/ml) and regimen C (11.3 +/- 2.4 micrograms.h/ml) were significantly different from the AUCs for regimens A and D. Peak concentrations of ciprofloxacin with regimen B were below the MIC for 90% of strains of many organisms normally considered susceptible. Ferrous sulfate and multivitamins with zinc significantly impaired the absorption of ciprofloxacin. The effect of ferrous sulfate is likely to be clinically significant; the responsible component of multivitamins with zinc requires additional study.
Suppressing vortex-induced vibrations via passive means

Abstract We investigate numerically the hydrodynamic effect of a slit in circular cylinders with the goal of finding a geometric modification that minimizes vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) without any energy consumption. A slit parallel to the incoming flow is found to be very effective in suppressing VIV by either weakening or detuning vortex shedding. Through a series of simulations, the optimal size of the slit to suppress VIV is found at Reynolds number 500; this size is smaller at a higher Re = 1000 . The effectiveness of the slit in suppressing VIV is confirmed over a wide range of values of the reduced velocity. Modified cylinders with a slit of sufficiently large width cause a strong jet flow into the wake that changes the vortex shedding pattern dramatically. For slits larger than the critical width, the instantaneous flow fields do not show periodic vortex shedding. While unsteadiness of the flow persists in these cases, it is the effective detuning process of the jet flow interacting with the wake flow that leads to VIV suppression. A linear stability analysis shows that jet flow through a slit changes the stability in the wake of cylinder by inducing two small pockets of absolute instability at the back of the cylinder followed by bands of convectively and absolutely unstable regions. We also present results with alternative geometry modifications using perforated thin shells.
A Probabilistic Theory of Consumer Behavior

I. The state of affairs, 507. — II. The deficiency of the Complete Ordering Axiom, 508. — III. Redefinition of preference and the choice mechanism, 510. — IV. Intransitivity, 518. — V. Expected behavior under price and income changes, 525. — VI. Conclusion, 536.
On semimonotone matrices with nonnegative principal minors

In this paper we examine two well-known classes of matrices in linear complementarity theory: semimonotone matrices and matrices possessing nonnegative principal minors. We derive two sets of conditions under which the two classes are identical.
Interracial activism in the Los Angeles Community Service Organization: Linking the World War II and civil rights eras

Through the lens of the Community Service Organization (CSO), this article explores the emergence of Los Angeles ethno-racial communities9 political activism and what enabled their success in a difficult Cold War climate. The CSO9s creation in 1947, when it became the first enduring civil rights organization for the largest urban Mexican-origin population in the United States, is striking since historical narratives generally assume the Cold War crushed meaningful civil rights change. The CSO complicates this declensionist narrative. Its success stemmed in part from its reliance upon interracial networks that sustained it in its early years. The CSO reveals links between different racial and ethnic communities, in three different eras—the World War II, Cold War, and civil rights eras—that made the emergence and persistence of such activism possible.
The renal transplant: rejection and acute tubular necrosis.

ENAL R allograft transplantation has in many instances become the preferred treatment for the patient in chronic renal failure. Although the immunologic factors that permit renal transplantation are still incompletely understood, and although its complications are numerous and often serious, kidney transplantation is preferable to chronic hemodialysis for many patients. The major posttransplantation problem is organ rejection. Rejection episodes are common, with an incidence as high as 93% when cadaveric kidneys are used. The cumulative statistics of the 1976 Renal Transplant Registry (19,631 patients) indicate that 68% of all patients who have received transplants are alive; in 45% the grafts are functioning, and in 23% the grafts are not functioning or have been removed. Of the remaining 32% of transplanted patients who have died, at the time of death 2 1% had a functioning graft and 11% did not. The transplantation results over the last several years at the Downstate Medical Center show a 42% 2-year functional survival of cadaveric grafts. Live related donor transplantatior is more successful, with an overall 2-year fu~lctional survival of 64%. When perfect histocompatibility has existed, 2-year functional survival has been 75 %. ‘.y A second and equally important complication that essentially is restricted to patients receiving cadaveric allografts is acute tubular necrosis. Factors such as the donor source, the modality of harvesting and preserving the kidney, and the operative technique influence the incidence of acute tubular necrosis, which ranges from 5 % to 75 %. 1.2 Since the majority of renal transplantations