cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Court As Gatekeeper: Preventing Unreliable Pretrial eDiscovery from Jeopardizing a Reliable Fact-Finding Process

Over the past several years, a significant legal debate has evolved over whether the predicates outlined in Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and interpreted by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.1 should be applied to adjudicating issues relating to technology-assisted review (TAR).2 The proliferation of electronic evidence and discovery (eDiscovery)—and the massive volumes of electronically stored information (ESI) associated with eDiscovery—require that practitioners understand how the pretrial review of ESI impacts its admissibility at trial. As discussed more fully below, until a procedural scheme is codified by statute for the application of TAR and other related methodologies to
School as a Social System

This article is a revision of the previous edition article by M. Hallinan, volume 20, pp. 13563–13567, © 2001, Elsevier Ltd.
Invariant NKT Cells Require Autophagy To Coordinate Proliferation and Survival Signals during Differentiation

Autophagy regulates cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival in multiple cell types, including cells of the immune system. In this study, we examined the effects of a disruption of autophagy on the differentiation of invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. Using mice with a T lymphocyte-specific deletion of Atg5 or Atg7, two members of the macroautophagic pathway, we observed a profound decrease in the iNKT cell population. The deficit is cell-autonomous, and it acts predominantly to reduce the number of mature cells, as well as the function of peripheral iNKT cells. In the absence of autophagy, there is reduced progression of iNKT cells in the thymus through the cell cycle, as well as increased apoptosis of these cells. Importantly, the reduction in Th1-biased iNKT cells is most pronounced, leading to a selective reduction in iNKT cell-derived IFN-γ. Our findings highlight the unique metabolic and genetic requirements for the differentiation of iNKT cells.
Secure detection of public watermarks with fractal decision boundaries

In this paper we will address the problem of constructing a nonparameteric decision boundary for watermark detection. Most current watermarking algorithms have a parametric decision boundary that can be estimated if the pirate has unlimited access to the detector. In this work we propose a fractal decision boundary which can not be estimated. That boundary is obtained by processing the decision boundary corresponding to the underlying watermarking algorithm. The performance of the new technique is essentially similar to any watermarking algorithm from which it is derived.
Spackle and Immunity Functions of Bacteriophage T4

Cells of Escherichia coli B infected with the immunity-negative (imm2) mutant of bacteriophage T4 are able to develop a substantial level of immunity to superinfecting phage ghosts if the ghost challenge is made late in infection. This background immunity is not seen in infections with phage carrying the spackle (s) mutation in addition to the imm2 lesion. The level of immunity in s(-) infections is intermediate between that of imm(-) and wild-type infections under standard assay conditions. With respect to genetic exclusion of superinfecting phage, cells infected with imm(-) phage are completely deficient, whereas infections with the s(-) phage are only partially deficient compared to wild-type infections. Whereas s(-)-infected cells are unable to resist lysis from without by a high multiplicity of infection (MOI) of superinfecting phage, cells infected with imm(-) phage show less than wild-type levels of resistance and the majority of cells remaining intact are unable to incorporate leucine or form infective centers. Under conditions of superinfection by low MOI of homologous phage, imm(-)-infected cells are lysis inhibited, whereas s(-)-infected cells do not show this property. Superinfecting phage inject their DNA into imm(-)-infected cells with the same efficiency as seen in wild-type infections, but this efficiency is reduced when the cells are first infected with s(-) phage. The s function of T4 appears not only to affect the host cell wall as previously postulated by Emrich, but may also affect the junctures of cell wall and membrane with consequences similar to those of the imm function.
Deuteron Relaxation Rates in Liquid Crystalline Samples: Experimental Methods

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Spin Dynamics 3 Experimental Design 4 Site Specific Spectral Densities 5 Sample Rotation Experiments 6 Conclusions 7 Biographical Sketches Related Articles
Morphology of single ganglion cells in the glaucomatous primate retina.

Purpose To examine the degenerative effects that prolonged elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP), a risk factor commonly associated with glaucoma, has on the morphology of single ganglion cells in the primate retina. Methods The monkey model of glaucoma was combined with intracellular staining techniques using an isolated retina preparation. Midget and parasol cells from normal and glaucomatous eyes were labeled intracellularly, and their axons, somas, and dendritic fields were compared using confocal microscopy. Results In midget and parasol cells, the earliest signs of pressure-induced degeneration involved structural abnormalities associated with the dendritic arbor. Reductions in axon thickness appeared later, with changes in soma size occurring concomitantly or slightly later. Chronic elevation of IOP resulted in a significant decrease in the mean soma sizes of midget and parasol cells, but only parasol cells showed a significant reduction in dendritic field size and axon diameter. Comparisons of eyes with different levels of optic nerve damage, based on cup- disc ratio, showed that the axons and dendritic fields of parasol cells were significantly smaller at lower cup-disc ratios than were those of midget cells, suggesting a possible differential effect. Conclusions In glaucoma, retinal ganglion cells undergo a pattern of degeneration that originates with the dendritic arbor and ends with shrinkage of the cell soma. Although this pattern of degeneration implies early functional deficits and retinal ganglion cell atrophy that occurs earlier than previously thought, based on ganglion cell loss alone, it also suggests a window of opportunity for effective neuroprotection.
Biodegradation: Reductive Dehalogenation And Metabolism Of Chlorinated Organics By Anaerobes

Of the enormous number of different halogenated organic compounds that have been chemically synthesized, several have found widespread use, particularly as solvents and biocides. This use has led to their being accidentally or intentionally released into the environment, mainly to groundwater. Although there is good evidence for natural production of chlorinated organic compounds, many of the anthropogenic organic halogen compounds appear to be resistant to chemical and biological degradation and therefore persist in the environment. This chapter discusses the roels of anaerobic microorganism in the biodegradation of these compounds and focuses mainly on chlorinated compounds. Keywords: chlorinated organic compounds; recudtive dehalogenation; microorganism; biodegradation; cometabolic reductive dechlorination; dehalorespiration; chloroethene utilization; bioremediation
A Construction of Difference Sets

In this paper, we will give a construction of a family of(4q^{2n+2}\frac{q^{2n+2}-1}{q^2-1} ,q^{2n+1}[\frac{2(q^{2n+2}-1)}{q+1}+1] , ( q^{2n+2}-q^{2n+1})\frac{q^{2n+1}+1}{q+1})-difference sets in the group K\times G, where q is any power of2 , K is any group with|K|=\frac{q^{2n+2}-1}{q^2-1} and G is an abelian2 -group of order 4q^{2n+2} which contains an elementary abelian subgroup of index 2.
Tunneling and nonlinear transport in a low-dimensional vertically coupled GaAs/AlGaAs system

Abstract We report low-dimensional tunneling in an independently contacted vertically coupled quantum wire system. This nanostructure is fabricated in a high-quality GaAs/AlGaAs parallel double quantum well heterostructure. Using a novel flip chip technique to align top and bottom split gates to form low-dimensional constrictions in each of the independently contacted quantum wells we explicitly control the subband occupation of the individual wires. Our designed geometry includes simultaneous measurement of both the 2D–2D and 1D–1D tunneling regimes. In addition to the expected 2D–2D tunneling results, we have found additional tunneling features that are related to the 1D quantum wires.
Improved rural access to care: dimensions of best practice.

This article describes the processes and outcomes of an action research project targeted at describing 'best practice' as experienced by interdisciplinary rural health projects funded by the Quentin N. Burdick Program for Rural Interdisciplinary Training, a Federally funded training grant competition in the USA. Each of 15 rural interdisciplinary health training projects across the areas of mental health, chronic disease, diabetes, minority health, and geriatrics was used to build a qualitative case study representing best practice experiences in projects focused on improving rural access to care. Across these programs, best practice is seen in the integrated dimensions of connections, community, and culture. In the USA, academic institutions build meaningful authentic connections with rural communities as they work together in meeting community needs, while demonstrating sensitivity and respect for cultural perspectives. Implications are offered in the context of higher education, health care delivery, a...
Relationship between airways response to allergens and nonspecific bronchial reactivity

Bronchial inhalation challenges to histamine, methacholine, and at least one antigen were performed on 183 asthmatic patients who previously had received skin tests to at least 16 different antigens. Individuals with a positive skin test and a positive antigen inhalation challenge to the same antigen had lower thresholds of response to both histamine and methacholine. This pattern was statistically significant for mixed trees, mixed grasses, mixed molds, and house dust but not for mixed ragweed. For those individuals who had a negative antigen inhalation challenge, skin test reactivity (positive or negative) alone was not associated with a different threshold of response to histamine or methacholine. Also, a higher percentage of positive antigen inhalation challenges were seen in the group of individuals with a low threshold of response to both histamine and methacholine than in groups with either a moderate or high threshold of response to these chemical agents. The results imply that at least two factors are associated with a positive bronchial inhalation challenge to a specific antigen: nonspecific airways hyperreactivity, as indexed by a methacholine or histamine inhalation challenge, and a positive skin test.
Similitude in stirred‐tank reactors: Laminar feed

Similarity parameters are derived to correlate the selectivity of mixing controlled parallel reactions within stirred-tank reactors. For the case of laminar reactant feed, the Kolmogoroff time is shown to correlate selectivity in turbulent, semibatch reactors, provided the reactor Reynolds number Re Re C , the inertial time scale defined in terms of a reactor feed length is shown to correlate selectivity. Scaling laws are demonstrated from available tank data taken at up to three reactant feed points in both aqueous and viscous solutions, and for a range of vessel volumes, feed tube diameters, and feed times.
Would-be worlds: Toward a theory of complex systems

By their very nature, complex systems resist analysis by decomposition. It is just not possible to study, say, the human immune system or a stock market, by breaking it up into individual parts—molecules or traders-and looking at what these parts do in isolation. The very essence of the system lies in the interaction among all its parts, with the overall behavior of the system emerging from these interactions. So by throwing away the interactions, one also throws away any hope of actually understanding the workings of the system. The problem is that until very recently, there was no way of studying these sorts of systems as complete entities, since to do experiments with stock markets, immune systems, rainforest ecosystems, and the like was either too expensive, too dangerous, or just plain too difficult. But the arrival of cheap, powerful, widespread computing capability over the past decade or so has changed the situation entirely. This paper will examine the way in which the ability to create surrogate versions of real complex systems inside our computing machines changes the way we do science. In particular, emphasis will be laid upon the idea that these so-called, “artificial worlds” play the role of laboratories for complex systems, laboratories that are completely analogous to the more familiar laboratories that have been used by physicists, biologists, and chemists for centuries to understand the workings of matter. Now, however, we have laboratories that allow us to explore information instead of matter. Because the ability to do controlled, repeatable experiments is a necessary precondition to the creation of a scientific theory of anything, the argument will be made that, for perhaps the first time in history, we are now in a position to think realistically about the creation of a theory of complex systems. These philosophical points will be illustrated by ongoing work with artificial road-traffic networks, as well as with systems for studying social and cultural phenomena.
Emetic action of bacterial endotoxin in the cat.

SummaryIntravenously administered bacterial endotoxin (LPS) is an effective emetic for cats. The site of emetic action in this animal was studied by determining the emetic responsiveness to LPS following different denervation procedures. Intrathoracic vagotomy and vagotomy + abdominal sympathectomy had very little influence on subsequent response to LPS. High LPS challenge doses elicited only prodromal signs of vomiting in cats subjected to spinal cord transection at T3-T4. Complete tolerance to emetic action of LPS resulted from abdominal deafferentation produced by vagotomy + spinal cord sectioning. The changes in sensitivity of the cat to the emetic action of intravenously administered staphylococcal enterotoxin were comparable to that for LPS for the different types of denervation.
THE SHARED-LOAD WEAR MODEL IN LUBRICATED SLIDING: SCUFFING CRITERIA AND WEAR COEFFICIENTS*

Abstract One model that is offered for predicting the wear of minimally lubricated sliding parts suggests that wear may be predicted directly from the mechanics of contact. In this model the lubricant is assumed to carry part of the applied load and asperities carry the remainder of the load by solid contact and adhesion with each other. Experiments show that the assumed metallic adhesion does not take place on the predicted scale in ordinary practice, and thus catastrophic wear does not necessarily take place. The reason is that protective chemical species form on the asperities to prevent high surface shear stress. These films form in all practical systems but are particularly effective when a proper running-in procedure is followed.
Layer-by-layer assembled porous photoanodes for efficient electron collection in dye-sensitized solar cells

Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a versatile approach to generate hybrid materials with unique properties. Here, LbL is employed to insert genetically engineered M13 bacteriophage nanowires into a porous polymeric network for efficient dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanodes. Both dip and spray LbL processes can be utilized in fabricating novel porous titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanodes that exhibit advantageous electron transport properties, characterized by a longer electron diffusion length compared to the nanoparticle DSSC. Incorporation of the high aspect-ratio M13 bacteriophage, which yields electron percolation pathway and facilitates electron diffusion within the photoanode, is shown to further enhance the efficiency and the diffusion length in DSSCs.
Lifetimes of Parity Forbidden Transitions of the Cu+ Center in the Alkali Iodides

The ultraviolet photoluminescence spectra and excited state lifetime measurements of the Cu+ center in the alkali iodides are reported from 5 to 300 °K. The long lifetimes (greater than 10 μs for all temperatures) obtained indicate that a forbidden transition is involved. The strong temperature dependence of the emission lifetime for LiI:Cu and NaI:Cu is explained on the basis of a linear electron–phonon interaction coupling even and odd parity states, whereas the weak temperature dependence and shorter lifetimes observed for KI:Cu and RbI:Cu are explained on the basis of an off-center position for the Cu+ excited ion. The oscillator strength determination for the Cu+ absorption in RbI:Cu and the temperature dependence of the absorption for LiI:Cu are reported. These measurements and similar measurements by other authors on NaI:Cu and KI:Cu are compared with the lifetime data. The absence of a correlation between lifetime and absorption measurements indicates that the levels involved in the emission process are different from those of the absorption process. UV-Photolumineszenzspektren und Messungen der Lebensdauer angeregter Zustande von Cu+-Zentren in den Alkalijodiden zwischen 5 und 300 °K werden mitgeteilt. Die gefundenen langen Lebensdauern (groser als 10 μs fur alle Temperaturen) zeigen an, das ein verbotener Ubergang stattfindet. Die starke Temperaturabhangigkeit der Emissionslebensdauer fur LiI:Cu und NaI:Cu wird mit einer linearen Elektron–Phononwechselwirkung, die Zustande gerader und ungerader Paritat koppelt, erklart. Dagegen werden die schwache Temperaturabhangigkeit und die kurzere Lebensdauer, die fur KI:Cu und RbI:Cu beobachtet werden, mit einer „off-center”-Position des angeregten Cu+-Ions erklart. Uber die Bestimmung der Oszillatorenstarke fur die Cu+-Absorption in RbI:Cu und die Temperatur-abhangigkeit der Absorption fur LiI:Cu wird ebenfalls berichtet. Diese Messungen und ahnliche Messungen anderer Autoren an NaI:Cu und KI:Cu werden mit den Lebensdauerdaten verglichen. Das Fehlen einer Korrelation zwischen Lebensdauer und Absorptions-messungen deutet an, das die Niveaus, die im Emissionsprozess eine Rolle spielen, von denen im Absorptionsprozes verschieden sind.
What Use Sociobiology

An essay-review of the book and the field it proposed to establish looks at the uses of biological data and methods for communications research. Sociobiology by Edward O. Wilson.
Human capital development and welfare participation

This paper uses a sample from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to conduct an empirical investigation of how the Aid to Dependent Families with Children Transfer Program (AFDC) affects two types of human capital formation, namely, the educational attainment of young women, and their subsequent performance in the labor market. The analysis begins by confirming two stylized facts about AFDC, namely, the high rates of nonparticipation in AFDC by eligible females, and the negative duration dependence of those who enroll in AFDC. Then the paper uses reduced-form econometric techniques to demonstrate that educational attainment is not significantly affected by the level of welfare support provided by different states, but that hours worked in the labor force declines. The latter parts of the paper estimate a dynamic model of discrete choice which incorporates the features of wage growth through experience on the job, and preferences which adapt to labor supply and welfare experience, to explain nonparticipation in AFDC among eligible families and the observed negative duration dependence of families who enroll. Both model features are found to play important reinforcing roles in explaining these two empirical regularities.
Contrast sensitivity: psychophysical and evoked potential methods compared.

Abstract Contrast sensitivity functions derived from steady state evoked potential thresholds show high correlation with psychophysically derived threshold contrast sensitivity functions. This correlation holds as flicker rate, type of flicker, optical correction and visibility conditions are changed over a substantial range, provided that VEP and psychophysical data are recorded under the same experimental conditions.
Micro-FTIR As A Stress Probe For Ceramic Materials

A method to measure stress in ceramics has been developed using an FTIR equipped with an infrared microscope. The method, developed with sapphire a a model ceramic materfal, involves calibration of small shifts in the 630 cm -1 band. A differential technique using spectral subtraction was developed to accurately measure the shifts (0.1-0.4 cm'). A four point bending apparatus was built to induce variable stresses in the surface of the sapphire. Ttle amount of stress has been correlated with the measured shift in the 630 cm 11absorbance band. The technique has been automated using a computer controlled mapping stage. Stresses near a crack in a sapphire sample have been profiled. This non-destructive technique has applications as a tool to help understand and improve mechanical properties of polycrystalline ceramics, composites, and optical fibers.
The effects of multimedia on cognitive aspects of decision-making

Abstract Businesses make multimedia presentations, combining film clips and text, which could be made at less cost using a single medium. Extending prior findings that film clips in multimedia presentations can impact affective states (e.g., [Rose J. Behavioral decision aid research: Decision aid use and effects. In Arnold and Sutton, Research Accounting as an Information Systems Discipline (ch 6). Sarasota: AAA; 2002]), our study examines how multimedia presentations affect decision-making cognitively (rather than affectively). Participants performed two types of tasks using information presented to them in two single medium modes (text-only and film-only) and a multimedia mode (combined text/film). Based on theories of presentation modes/modalities, media richness, and information overload research, we hypothesize the effects of different presentation modes (single medium versus multimedia), task familiarity (familiar versus unfamiliar), and information overload (above versus below overload) on decision-makers' consistency with, compliance with, and willingness to apply externally provided information processing rules concerning the solving of various types of tasks. Results provide full to partial support for the predicted effects of task familiarity and information overload on consistency, compliance and willingness. Specifically, multimedia presentations increase the willingness to apply externally provided rules but decrease the consistency with which rules are applied to tasks. Overall, our study suggests that decision-makers are reluctant to use externally provided instructions, instead of their own internally learned rules, especially as their understanding of the task at hand increases. Such understanding is enhanced by high task familiarity, clear presentation formats (i.e., single medium), and low information load. This study has implications for businesses trying to decide how much to invest in multimedia presentations, and also on organizations and society at large as they frequently direct individuals to follow various types of instructions.
Marital Quality, Context, and Interaction: A Comparison of Those Currently Receiving Government Assistance with Those Who Are Not

In this study the marital quality of respondents who were currently receiving government assistance was compared with those who were not. Contextual variables (e.g., gender, age, age at first marriage, religiosity, education, etc.) and interactional variables (i.e., escalating negativity, criticism, negative interpretation, withdrawal) were measured as potential correlates with marital quality. Results indicated that those who received government assistance differed significantly from those who did not on all six indicators of marital quality that were measured and on 8 of 11 contextual variables measured. Findings from this study will help policymakers, therapists, and other helping professionals gain an increased awareness of the needs of these two distinct populations and how to target educational programs to best address those needs.
Superexchange in molten MnF2

Abstract Utilizing the fact that fast-relaxing impurities broaden the EPR linewidth of strongly coupled paramagnets in proportion to the strength of the impurity-host exchange coupling, we have been able to show that the exchange interaction in the molten phase is a large as, if not larger than, it is in the solid state of Fe-doped MnF 2 . This unique experiment distinguishes exchange from motional effects unlike resonance in the pure paramagnets.
Spintronics: an insulator-based transistor.

A theoretical study proposes the use of molecular magnets in a type of transistor in which the flow of collective spin excitations transports and processes information.
Singlet → triplet transitions in methyl-substituted ethylenes

Abstract The low energy electron impact energy-loss spectra of ethylene and its six methylated derivatives have been studied at impact energies from 15 eV to 80 eV, and at scattering angles from 10° to 80°. In each molecule, the N → T singlet → triplet transition has been detected with a maximum intensity at an energy loss which shifts from 4.32 eV in ethylene to 4.10 eV in tetramethylethylene. No features which can be assigned to the N → T R singlet → triplet Rydberg transition or the N → R * (π → σ * ) singlet → singlet Rydberg transition were detected.
Lactate oxidation byTreponema pallidum

Whole cells ofTreponema pallidum consumed O2 with lactate in a glucose-depleted medium.d(−) Lactate caused marked stimulation of O2 uptake at a rate similar to that with glucose, whereasl(+) lactate resulted in no increase over the reduced rate observed upon glucose depletion. Lactate oxidation was specific for α-hydroxy straight-chain acids of 3,4, and 5 carbons. O2 uptake during lactate oxidation proceeded independently of pyruvate oxidation and required NAD. The product of lactate oxidation was pyruvate.d(−) Lactate-stimulate O2 uptake was sensitive to chlorpromazine and resistant to amytal and cyanide. Glucose did not inhibit the oxidation of lactate as shown by the additive effect of both substrates on O2 uptake. Oxidation of glucose, but not lactate, provided energy necesary for motilibty or maintenance of virulence. A mixture of lactate isomers was formed from glucose with thel(+) isomer concentration remaining constant and thed(−) isomer concentration varying inversely with dissolved O2 concentration. The function of lactate as an oxidizable substrate is apparently quite distinct from that of glucose.
Erythrocyte cation transport in endogenous depression: clinical and psychophysiological correlates.

– Clinical (psychometric), psychophysiological and biochemical (erythrocyte membrane transport) variables were studied in 44 patients with endogenous depression (unipolar/bipolar) during acute depressive episode and in remission. All parameters studied showed paralleled and unidirectional changes when depression was compared with remission period. During a depressive episode, unipolar patients had greater intensity of depression than bipolar patients. Ouabain-dependent sodium fluxes were significantly lower in female than in male patients during depression than in remission. In male bipolar patients, the indexes of active transport in erythrocytes showed significant correlations with clinical ratings and with results of psychophysiological tests. The results point to a possible relationship between various levels of physiological functioning in endogenous depression. This suggests a generalised “background” defect of energy-dependent membrane transport pertaining to both erythrocytes and nerve cells, which may be linked to disturbances of activational processes within the central nervous system.
Hot spots unglued.

Single-sperm genotyping has provided evidence for hot spots of locally intense recombination in humans. Previous efforts have shown that statistical methods can identify these hot spots as local deficits of linkage disequilibrium, but a report in this issue shows that some recombination hot spots leave no signature of reduced linkage disequilibrium.
Ethnic/racial diversity, maternal stress, lactation and very low birthweight infants

(1) To compare maternal characteristics and psychological stress profile among African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic mothers who delivered very low birthweight infants. (2) To investigate associations between psychosocial factors, frequency of milk expression, skin-to-skin holding (STS), and lactation performance, defined as maternal drive to express milk and milk volume. Self-reported psychological questionnaires were given every 2 weeks after delivery over 10 weeks. Milk expression frequency, STS, and socioeconomic variables were collected. Infant birthweight, education, and milk expression frequency differed between groups. Trait anxiety, depression and parental stress in a neonatal intensive care unit (PSS:NICU) were similar. African-American and Caucasian mothers reported the lowest scores in state anxiety and social desirability, respectively. Maternal drive to express milk, measured by maintenance of milk expression, correlated negatively with parental role alteration (subset of PSS:NICU) and positively with infant birthweight and STS. Milk volume correlated negatively with depression and positively with milk expression frequency and STS. Differences between groups were observed for certain psychosocial factors. The response bias to self-reported questionnaires between groups may not provide an accurate profile of maternal psychosocial profile. With different factors correlating with maintenance of milk expression and milk volume, lactation performance can be best enhanced with a multi-faceted intervention program, incorporating parental involvement in infant care, close awareness and management of maternal mental health, and encouragement for frequent milk expression and STS.
Women and Family Property: A Review of U.S. Inheritance Studies

(1989). Women and Family Property: A Review of U.S. Inheritance Studies. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History: Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 116-122.
Peritoneal dialysis-associated tuberculous peritonitis in an intravenous drug user with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

A rare case of tuberculous peritonitis in a continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patient who had multiple risk factors for extrapulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is presented. This patient's acute course was atypical with a predominance of neutrophils and low levels of protein in the peritoneal fluid. Obtaining the diagnosis of tuberculous peritonitis by acid-fast smear was also unusual, probably facilitated by centrifugation of large amounts of fluid. The patient was successfully treated without catheter removal. Tuberculosis should be considered in patients with culture-negative CAPD peritonitis.
Electric conductivity of sodium decyl sulfate solutions

Abstract A modified method of preparing the sodium decyl sulfate based on the insolubility of its alcoholate is described, and conductivity measurements in the highly dilute region and in the c.m.c. region in water and in the presence of salt are reported. The behavior of this compound seems quite normal throughout and it shows no indication of marked dimerization.
High school completion and future youth unemployment: new evidence from High School and Beyond

In this paper, I provide new evidence from High School and Beyond (HSB) on the effects of compulsory attendance on high school completion and future youth unemployment. I develop Bayesian estimation approaches to the simultaneous equation model with ordered probit and two-limit censored regression and the bivariate duration model, accounting for the heterogeneity in returns to education and the nonlinearity in the effects of compulsory attendance. I find substantial variability in returns to education across schools and evidence of diminishing marginal effects of compulsory attendance on high school completion. The simulation results suggest that increasing the compulsory attendance age raises the probability of completing high school and reduces the proportion of time the individuals are unemployed. These effects are much more pronounced for disadvantaged students but less pronounced for advantaged students, suggesting the potential effects of compulsory attendance on reducing the inequality in education and employment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Homogenization of Periodic Structures Using the FEM

Homogenization is an efficient for simulating multiscale problems using the finite-element method. Three different forms of homogenization are available to model small scale electromagnetic fields: a homogeneous sheet isotropic/anisotropic impedance boundary condition for thin 2-D structures, a dielectric slab made of homogenous effective permittivity and permeability for thick 2-D structures, and a general 3-D isotropic/anisotropic homogeneous material for 3-D structures. This paper gives an overview of homogenization including new improvements to the three procedures using the finite-element solution of a unit cell. Applications are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.
Time Required by Pharmacy Technicians to Reconstitute New versus Old Piperacillin/Tazobactam Formulations:

Background: Piperacillin/tazobactam, an intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotic commonly used in the hospital setting, has recently been reformulated with edetate disodium dehydrate (EDTA) and sodium citrate due to new guidelines on particulate standards. This reformulation is now compatible with lactated Ringer's solution and certain aminoglycosides. Objective: To determine the time required for pharmacy technicians to reconstitute the reformulated piperacillin/tazobactam solution compared with the original and European (Vial X) formulations. Methods: This study was conducted in an intravenous preparation room using a time-motion design. Each of 5 pharmacy technicians, who were blinded to the formulation, repeated the reconstitution process 6 times for a total of 30 observations of each strength within each formulation. Each piperacillin/tazobactam vial was reconstituted individually. Labor costs were calculated using the 2005 US hourly wage for pharmacy technicians. Results: Reconstitution times did not differ between formulations for the 3.375 g vial (mean ± SE, 4.15 ± 0.26 min for original vs 4.92 ± 0.58 min for EDTA formulations; p = 0.112). However, formulations containing EDTA went into solution more rapidly at the 4.5 g strength (4.41 ± 0.33 min vs 6.79 ± 0.61 min; p < 0.001) and did not differ from the Vial X formulation (4.12 ± 0.23 min; p = 0.781). The large 40.5 g pharmacy bulk vial was tested only with the EDTA formulation, which required 5.58 ± 0.41 minutes to reconstitute. Conclusions: Based on these timings, the labor costs associated with reconstituting a single vial of each strength is approximately $1 per vial, regardless of which formulation is used. Reformulated piperacillin/tazobactam containing EDTA and sodium citrate will go into solution at least as quickly as the original formulation.
GAAS-ALGAS superlattice band structure under hydrostatic pressure: An analysis based on the envelope function approximation

Abstract We propose new interface connection rules to determine the electronic properties of superlattices. Although similar to the so-called two-band model, these new rules are more general. Our approach is used to study the electronic structure of superlattices under high hydrostatic pressure. In our model, the influence of the pressure is taken into account by considering the modification of the energy gap and layer width of each material separately. It is demonstrated that the low value observed in the experimental determination of the pressure coefficient θSL of the GaAs layers is a consequence of the increasing rigidity of the energy band for energies away from the edges. Moreover the apparent homogeneity of θSL (GaAs) is the result of two opposing effects—the variation of the band rigidity and the narrowing of the layer thickness—which compensate each other.
ATP and other nucleotides stabilize the Rho-mRNA complex.

Transcription termination factor Rho from Escherichia coli is a protein that consists of a single 47 kDa protomeric unit that can form a hexameric structure. To determine whether active hexamers ca...
Human inferior colliculus activity relates to individual differences in spoken language learning.

A challenge to learning words of a foreign language is encoding nonnative phonemes, a process typically attributed to cortical circuitry. Using multimodal imaging methods [functional magnetic resonance imaging-adaptation (fMRI-A) and auditory brain stem responses (ABR)], we examined the extent to which pretraining pitch encoding in the inferior colliculus (IC), a primary midbrain structure, related to individual variability in learning to successfully use nonnative pitch patterns to distinguish words in American English-speaking adults. fMRI-A indexed the efficiency of pitch representation localized to the IC, whereas ABR quantified midbrain pitch-related activity with millisecond precision. In line with neural “sharpening” models, we found that efficient IC pitch pattern representation (indexed by fMRI) related to superior neural representation of pitch patterns (indexed by ABR), and consequently more successful word learning following sound-to-meaning training. Our results establish a critical role for the IC in speech-sound representation, consistent with the established role for the IC in the representation of communication signals in other animal models.
Postnatal neurogenesis as a therapeutic target in temporal lobe epilepsy

After it was first identified that seizures increase neurogenesis in the adult brain of laboratory animals, the idea that postnatal neurogenesis may be involved in epilepsy became a topic of widespread interest. Since that time, two perspectives have developed. They primarily address temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), because the data have either been based on animal models of TLE or patients with intractable TLE. The first perspective is that postnatal neurogenesis contributes to the predisposition for seizures in TLE. This premise is founded in the observations showing that there is a dramatic rise in neurogenesis after many types of insults or injuries which ultimately lead to TLE. As a result of the increase in neurogenesis, several changes in the dentate gyrus occur, and the net effect appears to be an increase in excitability. One of the changes is the formation of a population of granule cells (GCs) that mismigrate, leading to ectopic granule cells in the hilus (hilar EGCs) that exhibit periodic bursts of action potentials, and contribute to recurrent excitatory circuitry. Atypical dendrites also form on a subset of GCs, and project into the hilus (hilar basal dendrites). Hilar basal dendrites appear to preferentially increase the glutamatergic input relative to GABAergic synapses, increasing excitability of the subset of GCs that form hilar basal dendrites. The alternate view is that postnatal neurogenesis is a homeostatic mechanism in epilepsy that maintains normal excitability. This idea is supported by studies showing that some of the new GCs that are born after seizures, and migrate into the correct location, have normal or reduced excitability. Here we suggest that both perspectives may be important when considering a therapeutic strategy. It would seem advantageous to limit the numbers of mismigrating GCs and hilar basal dendrites, but maintain normal neurogenesis because it is potentially homeostatic. Maintaining normal neurogenesis is also important because it has been suggested that a decrease in dentate gyrus neurogenesis contributes to depression. It is challenging to design a strategy that would achieve these goals, and it is also difficult to propose how one could administer such a therapy prophylactically, that is, as an "antiepileptogenic" approach. Another issue to address is how a therapeutic intervention with these goals could be successful if it were administered after chronic seizures develop, when most patients seek therapy. Although difficult, a number of approaches are possible, and technical advances suggest that there are more on the horizon.
Determination of lead sorption capacities of selected Illinois soils using titration curves

Abstract The capacity of a soil to sorb or bind Pb+2 may be determined by titrating the soil with a PbCl2 solution. The addition of Pb to the soil results in a shift in pH. The sorption capacity corresponds to the point of maximum curvature in the tritration curve. Sorption capacities obtained in this manner are highly correlated with plant uptake.
What is Yours, Ours, and Mine: Authorial Ownership and the Creative Commons*

OCTOBER 126, Fall 2008, pp. 91–114. © 2008 October Magazine, Ltd. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As lawsuits abound throughout the world involving contentions of creativepropert y theft , plagiar ism, and infr ingement s on fair use, the field of intellectual-property rights has become white-hot. Questions that formerly might have seemed frivolous or peripheral to aesthetic theory are increasingly freighted with juridical consequence: who owns your life story? This was a key concern in a lawsuit brought by original cast members of A Chorus Line, who were convinced that producer Michael Bennett had insufficiently remunerated them for a script built on their oral histories of childhood abuse, marital woes, and professional struggles. Should writers be held liable if they lift episodes from the lives of others (at issue in the controversies surrounding Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel Atonement, which is alleged to have been plagiarized from Lucilla Andrews’s 1977 memoir No Time for Romance, and Bryony Lavery’s 2004 play Frozen, reliant on Malcolm Gladwell’s article in The New Yorker that was in turn indebted to a psychiatrist’s account of her work with serial killers)?1 Would literature be possible if writers were proscribed from “translating” into fiction reality-based experiences and reallife human interest stories? The query was answered vehemently in the negative by writers polled on the McEwan case: Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, Colm Toibin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Thomas Keneally. Can readers stake a legal claim to an author’s life story? This question animated the controversial case of James Frey when it was revealed that he had fictionalized portions of his drug recovery memoir, A Million Little Pieces (2003). Readers did not stop at outrage over Frey’s violation of what critic Philippe Lejeune has dubbed “the autobiographical pact” (grounded in the presumed credibility of the auto-text and the guaranteed match of proper name
A systems biology approach to multicellular and multi-generational radiation responses

Recent studies have highlighted crosstalk between irradiated cells and non-irradiated bystander cells and have uncovered high-frequency phenotypes of genomic instability in the progeny of irradiated cells that cannot be solely explained by radiation-induced mutation. It is difficult to explain these multicellular and multi-generational phenomena using the current paradigm of radiation biology. Radiation-induced bystander effect is a type of multicellular response to radiation that illustrates that the unit of function in multicellular organisms is neither the genome nor the cell. Cell function in complex three-dimensional tissues is coordinated by soluble signaling peptides and by small molecules within the context of insoluble scaffolding provided by the extracellular matrix. Adaptive response and radiation-induced genomic instability could thus result from persistent signaling perturbations following radiation exposures. A model of radiation response based on the systems biology principles of network interconnectivity and spatial organization should reconcile the apparent contradiction of these cellular phenotypes within the higher order structure of tissues and organisms.
Effect of hormones on cyclic AMP in dog pancreatic tissue and secretion.

Abstract Secretin and cholecystokinin (CCK-PZ) were administered intravenously in graded doses to live anesthetized dogs. Pancreatic secretion and tissue biopsies were analyzed for cyclic AMP content. Both secretin and CCK-PZ caused an output of cyclic AMP into pancreatic secretion, secretin being a more potent stimulant than CCK-PZ. The concentration of cyclic AMP in the pancreatic juice increased with increasing doses of secretin but not with CCK-PZ. Tissue cyclic AMP content remained unchanged during infusion of either secretin or CCK-PZ. Infusion of aminophylline with secretin did not potentiate the action of secretin. It is concluded that synthesis of cyclic AMP in the dog pancreas is stimulated by both secretin and CCK-PZ and that the newly synthesized cyclic AMP is rapidly secreted into pancreatic juice, resulting in a steady content of tissue cyclic AMP.
Müllerian inhibiting substance is an accurate marker of ovarian response in women of advanced reproductive age undergoing IVF.

While multiple investigators have demonstrated that Mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS) concentration is an accurate marker of ovarian reserve, all previous reports have focused on patients aged 36 and younger. It remains to be seen if MIS concentration is a useful marker in patients with the highest prevalence of diminished ovarian reserve: those aged 37 and over. Day 2 MIS concentrations in patients aged 37 and over undergoing IVF were examined, and the predictive value of MIS concentration was compared to that of FSH and oestradiol concentration. Three groups of patients were studied: (i) patients who experienced cycle cancellation; (ii) patients who underwent oocyte retrieval; (iii) patients who were precluded from IVF due to elevated FSH concentrations. While FSH and oestradiol concentrations were statistically similar in groups 1 and 2, MIS concentrations were significantly lower in group 1. In group 2, MIS concentration positively correlated with the number of oocytes retrieved. In group 3, 91% had low or undetectable MIS concentrations. The results indicate that MIS concentration accurately predicts cycle cancellation that is belied by normal FSH and oestradiol meaurements, and has a better correlation with the number of oocytes retrieved than FSH and oestradiol measurements.
Atg5 but not Atg7 in dendritic cells enhances IL-2 and IFN-γ production by Toxoplasma gondii-reactive CD4+ T cells.

The autophagy proteins (Atg) modulate not only innate but also adaptive immunity against pathogens. We examined the role of dendritic cell Atg5 and Atg7 in the production of IL-2 and IFN-γ by Toxoplasma gondii-reactive CD4+ T cells. T. gondii-reactive mouse CD4+ T cells exhibited unimpaired production of IL-2 and IFN-γ when stimulated with Atg7-deficient mouse dendritic cells that were infected with T. gondii or pulsed with T. gondii lysate antigens. In marked contrast, dendritic cells deficient in Atg5 induced diminished CD4+ T cell production of IL-2 and IFN-γ. This defect was not accompanied by changes in costimulatory ligand expression on dendritic cells or impaired production of IL-12 p70, IL-1β or TNF-α. Knockdown of Irg6a in dendritic cells did not affect CD4+ T cell cytokine production. These results indicate that Atg5 and Atg7 in dendritic cells play differential roles in the modulation of IL-2 and IFN-γ production by T. gondii-reactive CD4+ T cells.