cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An endothelial cell-smooth muscle cell co-culture model for use in the investigation of flow effects on vascular biology.

Flow and the associated shear stress have been shown to play an active role in the regulation of the structure and function of endothelial cells (EC)in vitro. Although cultured EC subjected to flow exhibit an elongated morphology and a decreased cell growth rate rather like those observedin vivo, there are differences in morphology and growth rate, as well as other characteristics, betweenin vitro andin vivo EC. This suggests that flow is only one of the many factors affecting EC differentiationin vivo. In this study, a co-culture model system was designed, which includes smooth muscle cells (SMC), a matrix of collagen type I, and a confluent monolayer of EC, and this simplified model of the arterial wall was subjected to a steady, laminar shear stress of 10 and 30 dyn/cm2. Under non-flow conditions, EC exhibited an elongated shape, but with a random orientation. In response to flow, there was an alignment with the direction of flow. This alignment occurred more rapidly at 30 dyn/cm2 than at 10 dyn/cm2. The collagen matrix was found to be primordial in the maintenance of a quiescent endothelium, even in the absence of SMC and flow, suggesting the importance of an organized extracellular matrix (ECM) in the differentiation of cellsin vivo.
Localization of glycogen phosphorylase activity in liver of fasted normal and adrenalectomized rats and in fasted adrenalectomized rats after injection of dexamethasone

BACKGROUND The intralobular distribution of activity of glycogen phosphorylase (GP), a key enzyme in the breakdown of glycogen, was evaluated to determine changes during early glycogen synthesis. Hepatic GP activity was localized in normal and adrenalectomized (ADX) rats after fasting overnight and in fasted ADX rats stimulated to synthesize glycogen by administration of dexamethasone (DEX) 2-8 h prior to sacrifice. METHODS Cryostat sections were incubated in medium containing appropriate substrate for demonstration of GP activity as indicated by glycogen synthesized by the enzyme during incubation. RESULTS In sections from fasted normal rats, GP activity in hepatocytes varied from undetectable to substantial amounts with no notable periportal to pericentral gradient evident. In contrast, GP activity in sections from adrenalectomized fasted rats was concentrated in discrete aggregates in random hepatocytes throughout lobules. Two hours after DEX injection, GP enzyme activity occurred as single aggregates or in a dispersed pattern in many hepatocytes. By 4 h after DEX administration, most cells displayed GP enzyme activity, the concentration of which appeared to be greater in pericentral cells than in periportal cells. Eight hours after injection of DEX, GP enzyme activity had increased and appeared more evenly distributed throughout the lobules. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that GP activity became concentrated in limited regions of selected hepatocytes in fasted ADX rats. DEX stimulation of glycogen synthesis in these rats resulted in increased GP activity that was concentrated in pericentral cells after 4 h. After 8 h, activity increased and was more evenly distributed throughout the lobules. The increase in GP enzyme activity concurrent with overall glycogen synthesis suggests that the enzyme may participate in glycogen turnover.
Specific reversal of diphtheria toxin mediated inhibition of protein synthesis in guinea pig tissues.

Abstract Formation of inactive transferase II by the action of diphtheria toxin in vivo has been demonstrated only in heart and other muscle tissues. Excess nicotinamide and toxin restored the activity of soluble extracts from the muscle tissues to normal levels. Soluble extracts derived from spleen, kidney and lung of diphtheritic guinea pigs could not be reactivated in this manner.
Synthesis of a cobalt(IV) ketimide with a squashed tetrahedral geometry

Oxidation of [Li(THF)]2[Co(NCtBu2)4] with 1 equiv. of I2 generates Co(NCtBu2)4 in 85% yield. In the solid-state, this complex exhibits a squashed tetrahedral structure about the Co center. DFT calculations reveal this geometry arises, in part, to maximize ketimide-to-cobalt π-donation.
Commentary on Shaw

Shaw’s paper is focused on Aristotle’s treatment of generation in Physics I and On Generation and Corruption. His idea is that these treatments are addressed to very different phenomena, which difference gives rise (in the one case) to a special problem (concerning the unity of living things) calling for a very special solution (the posit of an ‘ontological desire’ of matter for form). The thrust of my comments is that the pheno­mena in question (the generation of simple bodies, the generation of living things) are in the relevant respects very much alike. This means that the problem Shaw raises is even more radical than he supposes, and ditto (therefore) the idea appealed to in its solution.
Homology models of the C domains of blood coagulation factors V and VIII: a proposed membrane binding mode for FV and FVIII C2 domains.

Abstract ABSTRACT: We present homology models of the C domains of coagulation factors V (FV) and VIII (FVIII). Using a threading approach, we identified the binding domain of galactose oxidase as an appropriate template for each C domain. The C1 and C2 domains of FV associate to form an elongated cylinder of 80A long and 30A diameter. The folding unit is a β-sandwich with a long axis of 40A and a diameter of 30A. The current model allows us to propose a membrane binding mode for the C2 domains of FV and FVIII with three major characteristics: 1) solvent-exposed hydrophobic side chains from three loops at one end of the β-sandwich are buried in the hydrophobic layer of the outer phospholipid leaflet; 2) a crown of positively charged residues is located in the polar zone of the phospholipid head groups; and 3) the long axis of the β-sandwich of the C2 domain is perpendicular to the plane of the membrane. This proposal satisfies experimentally observed characteristics of membrane binding for the C2 domain and the light chain of FVa.
Criminal Defense Lawyer Moneyball: A Demonstration Project

The book and movie “Moneyball” portray the iconoclastic general manager of a baseball team. When drafting new players, this GM de-emphasized the insights of baseball scouts as on-the-scene evaluators of a player’s talents, and looked instead to statistical measures of player quality. We take this idea from baseball into the criminal courts. In this article, we argue that criminal defense organizations could meaningfully evaluate the skills of their attorneys through the use of metrics, rather than relying so heavily on the in-person observation of their work in the courtroom. Statistical performance-based rankings could support better leadership in defense attorney organizations. Rather than simply assert that a rating system is possible, we attempt in this paper to show its feasibility. We employ data from the North Carolina courts as a demonstration project to illustrate how an office might develop a rating system for the attorneys who work there. Our attorney ratings are based on the bottom line: sentencing reductions those attorneys achieve for their clients, principally through plea negotiations. We then use our tentative quality ratings to address the question of structural causes. What makes one attorney noticeably more or less effective than the typical defense lawyer? Our most surprising discovery is that experience actually has a negative correlation with performance after the first eight years: the more time an attorney has spent in the profession, the more likely that her clients will obtain a more severe sentence. We close with some reflections on other potential users of a statistical rating system, concluding that managers of defense organizations are better situated than judges, prosecutors, or clients to make wise use of ratings data.
An infinity of commensurate phases in a simple Ising system: The ANNNI model (invited)

The ANNNI or axial next‐nearest neighbor Ising model in d dimensions consists of (d−1)‐dimensional layers of Ising spins, si = ±1, with nearest neighbor ferromagnetic couplings, J0≳0, within layers but competing ferromagnetic, J1, and antiferromagnetic, J2 = −κJ1<0, axial couplings between spins in first‐ and second‐neighboring layers. It is the simplest model expected to display spatially modulated magnetically ordered states with wavevectors nontrivially related to the lattice spacing a, as observed in various real systems. The ground state is ferromagnetic for κ<1/2; of (2, 2), or 〈2〉, antiphase character (two layers ’’up’’, two ’’down’’, periodically) for κ≳1/2; but infinitely degenerate for κ = 1/2. Systematic low‐temperature expansions may be generated about all possible ground states and carried to all orders where necessary. For d≳2 they show that (T,κ) = (0,1/2) is a multiphase point from which spring an infinite sequence of distinct, spatially modulated commensurate phases, 〈2j−13〉, with wavevec...
Domestic Fowls as Hosts of the Poultry Gapeworm

Abstract IN CONNECTION with the control of the poultry gapeworm, Syngamus trachea, it is important to know what birds are susceptible to gapeworm infection and how long each type of host may remain a carrier of the parasite. Obviously, those birds which serve as carriers of gapeworm the longest are potentially the most dangerous spreaders of these worms. In this paper are presented data which show that the turkey, the guinea fowl, and the young chicken may remain infected with gapeworms long enough to be regarded as important factors in the spread of this parasite. Furthermore, evidence is available for the first time to show that the turkey may be responsible for the perpetuation of gapeworm disease from one warm season to another. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The birds used in the experiments reported in this paper were hatched in incubators and reared under parasite-free conditions until infected experimentally with gapeworms. Following experimental . . .
Effect of aspirin on constitutive nitric oxide synthase and the biovailability of NO

Abstract Introduction: Aspirin decreases the activity of iNOS and the formation of prostanoids. Constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) is present in endothelial cells, platelets, leukocytes and neurons, yet no data are available on the effect of aspirin on cNOS and the bioavailability of NO produced by this enzyme. Materials and methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), rat adrenal gland pheocromocytoma cells (PC-12) and human platelets were incubated with different aspirin concentrations. The kinetics of NO, O2− and ONOO− release were measured simultaneously in single cells or platelet suspensions using tandem electrochemical nanosensors. The NO, O2− and ONOO− release from cells and platelets was stimulated with calcium ionophore and collagen, respectively. cNOS expression was estimated by Western blot analysis. Results: Incubation of HUVECs and PC-12 with 10−5 mol/l of aspirin increased cNOS expression by 70±7% and 50±5, respectively. However, the NO concentration increased only by 33% in HUVECs incubated with the same aspirin concentration. Incubation of HUVECs with aspirin also increased the O2− and ONOO− production. Therefore the bioavailability of NO increased only slightly in endothelium and did not reflect the increase in eNOS. This was in contrast to platelets, where maximal NO bioavailability almost doubled after incubation with aspirin. Conclusions: Aspirin did not have a significant effect on the NO bioavailability in endothelial cells. However, aspirin highly improved the NO production in platelets. The high NO production in platelets may counteract the effect of thromboxane, inhibit platelet aggregation, and compensate for the reduction of prostacycline concentration by aspirin.
Patch use as an indicator of habitat preference, predation risk, and competition

A technique for using patch giving up densities to investigate habitat preferences, predation risk, and interspecific competitive relationships is theoretically analyzed and empirically investigated. Giving up densities, the density of resources within a patch at which an individual ceases foraging, provide considerably more information than simply the amount of resources harvested. The giving up density of a forager, which is behaving optimally, should correspond to a harvest rate that just balances the metabolic costs of foraging, the predation cost of foraging, and the missed opportunity cost of not engaging in alternative activities. In addition, changes in giving up densities in response to climatic factors, predation risk, and missed opportunities can be used to test the model and to examine the consistency of the foragers' behavior. The technique was applied to a community of four Arizonan granivorous rodents (Perognathus amplus, Dipodomys merriami, Ammospermophilus harrisii, and Spermophilus tereticaudus). Aluminum trays filled with 3 grams of millet seeds mixed into 3 liters of sifted soil provided resource patches. The seeds remaining following a night or day of foraging were used to determine the giving up density, and footprints in the sifted sand indicated the identity of the forager. Giving up densities consistently differed in response to forager species, microhabitat (bush versus open), data, and station. The data also provide useful information regarding the relative foraging efficiencies and microhabitat preferences of the coexisting rodent species.
Irritant-Induced Airway Disorders

Thousands of persons experience accidental high-level irritant exposures each year but most recover and few die. Irritants function differently than allergens because their actions proceed nonspecifically and by nonimmunologic mechanisms. For some individuals, the consequence of a single massive exposure to an irritant, gas, vapor or fume is persistent airway hyperresponsiveness and the clinical picture of asthma, referred to as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). Repeated irritant exposures may lead to chronic cough and continual airway hyperresponsiveness. Cases of asthma attributed to repeated irritant-exposures may be the result of genetic and/or host factors.
Single-Source Three-Dimensional Imaging System For Remote Sensing

A recent development in three-dimensional imaging is the application of VISIDEP technology to surveillance and reconnaissance. The results of initial efforts to develop a single-source system using a moving platform are reported. These tests clearly demonstrate the feasibility of such a system. Although film was used to achieve the present results, electronic imaging can be used to generate near-real-time three-dimensional video images with delays of less than 3 s. With the continued development of high density video and digital imaging, improved image resolution is easily achievable. The theoretical basis, testing results, and projections for future development are presented in full detail. Potential applications and expectations are discussed briefly as a part of the conclusion drawn from this basic effort.
The Effect of Social Class on the Adjudication of Criminal Cases: Class-linked Behavior Tendencies, Common Sense, and the Interpretive Procedures of Court-appointed Defense Attorneys

This article addresses some important issues concerning the effect of social class on criminal case outcomes. Although the findings reported here support Donald Black’s (1 989) argument that a defendant’s relative social class effects the quantity of law applied to a criminal case, they also indicate that this influence occurs through actors’ interpretive procedures. Specifically, one group of court-appointed defense attorneys link behavior tendencies to court actors characterized as different social class types. These behavior tendencies are expressed through the grammar and rhetoric of “common sense’’-a knowledge system which is evoked throughout all types of judicial proceedings. The attorneys’ expectations of court actors shape their behavior such that lower-class defendants are likely to endure a greater quantity of law. The article concludes with some suggestions on how researchers might reconsider studying the effect of social class on criminal case outcomes.
Stimulated optical patterns in a Kerr slice-feedback mirror-type experiment

Transverse optical patterns originating from nonlinear interactions between inserted image spatial modes and self-induced modes in a passive nonlinear system are considered. Experimentally observed stimulated patterns, together with results of numerical simulation and mode amplitude equation analysis, are presented.
Extrarenal uptake of99mTc-DTPA at the site of bone marrow biopsy

Unexpected iliac uptake of99mTc-DTPA was noted in a 10-year old female referred for evaluation of renal function prior to receiving chemotherapy for relapsed acute lymphocytic leukemia. This scan finding corresponded to the site of a bone marrow biopsy performed five days earlier. X-ray of the area revealed no abnormality. It is assumed that the extrarenal uptake was due to increased vascularity at the site of recent bone marrow biopsy, most likely due to increased osteoblastic reaction in the cortex of the ilium. The patient proceeded with the bone marrow transplant and was well at follow-up six months later.
Structured Learning of Gaussian Graphical Models

We consider estimation of multiple high-dimensional Gaussian graphical models corresponding to a single set of nodes under several distinct conditions. We assume that most aspects of the networks are shared, but that there are some structured differences between them. Specifically, the network differences are generated from node perturbations: a few nodes are perturbed across networks, and most or all edges stemming from such nodes differ between networks. This corresponds to a simple model for the mechanism underlying many cancers, in which the gene regulatory network is disrupted due to the aberrant activity of a few specific genes. We propose to solve this problem using the perturbed-node joint graphical lasso, a convex optimization problem that is based upon the use of a row-column overlap norm penalty. We then solve the convex problem using an alternating directions method of multipliers algorithm. Our proposal is illustrated on synthetic data and on an application to brain cancer gene expression data.
A geospatial modeling framework for assessing biofuels-related land-use and land-cover change

Abstract With the increasing biofuel demands in recent years, the cultivated lands for biofuel crops, i.e., corn and soybeans, the major sources of ethanol and biodiesel, have been greatly expanding in the northern Great Plains states of the United States. Simulating the spatio-temporal dynamics of biofuel croplands can provide critical information required for assessing the impacts of land-use change on wildlife conservation and water quality. But, yearly agricultural practices such as crop rotations often complicate the spatially explicit modeling of specific crops’ expansion. Our research focused on developing a geospatial modeling framework that is able to distinguish long-term, regional changes in croplands from short-term, local fluctuations (such as rotations), using geographic information systems (GIS) and the land transformation model (LTM). The USDA Cropland Data Layers (CDLs) of North Dakota for 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011 were spatially and temporally aggregated to generate a series of biofuel cropland maps. The historical cropland data for 1999/2000 and 2004/2005, together with a collection of environmental factors (i.e., topography, soil fertility, and climate), were used to calibrate the neural network embedded in the LTM. Validation analysis was then conducted by simulating the biofuel cropland change during the period of 2004/2005–2010/2011 using the calibrated LTM and comparing the simulation result with the observed change for the same time period, resulting in 6.3% allocation disagreement (0% quantity disagreement) and 27.4% figure of merit. Future forecast for 2020 showed that biofuel croplands would be expanding northwestward from southeastern North Dakota.
Feasibility of multiplex quantum dot stain using primary antibodies from four distinct host animals

We discuss the feasibility of multiplex QD stain for four biomarkers and our progress in finding four suitable biomarkers from four different hosts. There is a demand for using more than three fluorescent probes on a single tissue sample for disease detection to offer a more reliable prediction of disease progression. We developed a protocol for targeting four biomarkers using four primary antibodies from four different animal hosts. We performed primary-secondary antibody binding assays on nitrocellulose paper and stained breast cancer microarray slides with known expression of ER, PR, and HER2. We identified the lack of a standard protocol and the limited supply of primary antibodies from hosts other than rabbit and mouse in the market as key challenges. The results show variable success in both assays, but indicate future potential for this protocol with more development.
Output feedback sampled-data stabilization of nonlinear systems

This paper studies sampled-data output feedback control of a class of nonlinear systems. It is shown that the performance of a stabilizing continuous-time state feedback controller can be recovered by a sampled-data output feedback controller when the sampling period is sufficiently small. The output feedback controller uses a deadbeat discrete-time observer to estimate the unmeasured states. Two schemes are proposed to overcome large initial transients when the controller is switched on.
Nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic defects in CD1 mice.

In previous clinical reports, we have documented the association of several morphologic changes with congenital diaphragmatic hernia or, perhaps more appropriately termed, congenital diaphragmatic defect (CDD). These anomalies include decreased cardiac mass with left ventricular hypoplasia in infants with left-sided CDDs (Siebert et al., '84), enlarged, asymmetric chests (Siebert and Benjamin, '87), and extrathoracic anomalies (Benjamin et al., '88), including urinary tract anomalies and elevated kidney weights in otherwise normal kidneys (Glick et al., '90; Siebert et al., '90). Hypoplastic lungs and hearts and enlarged chests are thought to result from the herniation of abdominal viscera into the thoracic cavity, but for the renal abnormalities, pathogenesis is unclear. The findings are intriguing, for they could mirror unrecognized developmental relationships between the diaphragm, lung, heart, and kidney. In order to further examine these issues and to test the applicability of experimentally produced CDDs to human disease, we administered nitrofen (2,4-dichlorophenyl-p-nitrophenyl ether), an herbicide known to produce diaphragmatic defects in rodents, to time-mated CD1 mice by gavage feeding on gestational days 8 and 9. Dosages were 200 (low dose) or 500 (high dose) mg/kg body weight, and fetuses were studied on gestational day 18. Diaphragmatic defects occurred in a dose-response fashion: 0% (0/48) control or sham-fed, 5% (5/104) in the low-dose group, and 25% (19/75) in the high-dose group. Several fetuses with cleft palate, renal agenesis, exencephaly/encephalocele, and/or Di-George sequence were noted at the high dose, the latter a previously undescribed finding. Diaphragmatic defects were primarily right sided and only associated with herniation of abdominal viscera in animals exposed to 500 mg/kg. Body weight was uniformly decreased and crown-rump length variably so by nitrofen exposure, while chest diameters were increased. Reduced heart and lung weights and elevated kidney weights were identified in animals exposed to low- or high-dose nitrofen, but this occurred regardless of the presence of a diaphragmatic defect, suggesting that growth of the lung, heart, and kidney is directly affected by nitrofen. Because the effects of nitrofen could not be differentiated from those associated with CDDs or visceral herniation, it is impossible to resolve questions regarding the interrelationships of diaphragmatic defects and pulmonary, renal, and cardiac changes. Morphogenetic, anatomic, and other differences between laboratory rodents and humans reaffirm the need for careful extrapolation between experimental, teratogenic models and human disease. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Activity Budgets, feeding behavior, and habitat use of pygmy chimpanzees at Lomako, Zaire.

Data from 250 hours of focal animal sampling in the Lomako Forest of central Zaire show pygmy chimpanzees spent 70% of feeding time on fruit and 25% on young leaves. Feeding and resting each accounted for about 40% and traveling less than 20% of the time. Sitting was the most frequent feeding posture. Locomotion was predominantly quadrupedal walking and quadrumanous climbing. Most feeding and resting occurred above 30 m. Pygmy chimpanzees spent most time in primary forest. Activity budgets varied with forest type. Most levels were used in each forest type. Pygmy chimpanzees spent most time in the canopy when in primary and slope (Bolafa) forests, and on the ground in secondary forest. These results show pygmy chimpanzees as arboreal, but habituation may have influenced the results. Pygmy chimpanzees at Lomako and Wamba have similar diets, despite differences in methods of data collection. At Wamba and Lomako, pygmy chimpanzees use secondary forest more and swamp forest less than expected given the abundance of each forest type at both sites.
Hardware implementation of trellis coded quantization

An implementation of trellis coded quantization (TCQ) of memoryless sources on dedicated digital signal processing hardware is described. The effect of encoding delay (i.e. the TCQ symbol release rule) on the overall encoding performance is evaluated. It is shown that quite modest encoding delays cause negligible loss in performance, compared to very long (e.g. 1000 sample) trellis search depths. The hardware requirements of TCQ encoding are discussed. A TCQ implementation on the DSP32 and TMS32020 digital signal processing (DSP) integrated circuits is described. Analytical expressions are provided for the per source sample implementation complexity (in clock cycles) for each DSP integrated circuit. >
Foreign Tax Credit versus Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Under the New Law

This paper deals with the recent new law concerning foreign earned income exclusion and foreign housing cost allowance exclusion. It points out that the former is $95,100 in 2012, while the latter has a certain limit depending on the location in the world. Nevertheless, both exclusions do not give rise to the reduction of marginal tax rate. Instead, a taxpayer’s tax bracket is determined as if no exclusions were taken. This new tax rule has far-reaching consequences on a U.S. expatriate’s foreign tax credit and tax liability. This paper demonstrates many examples. It also investigates the problem of foreign qualified dividend in determining foreign tax credit. This paper further develops many tax planning strategies for foreign tax credit. The decision depends on whether a foreign country has high or low income and tax rate.
An Imaging Nulling Interferometer to Study Extrasolar Planets

Interferometric techniques offer two advantages for the detection and analysis of thermal radiation from planets: destructive interference to strongly suppress the stellar emission, and the possibility of high-resolution imaging to resolve planets and distinguish them from dust emission. This paper presents a new interferometric configuration in which the conflicting requirements for these goals are reconciled. It realizes a very strong, broad interference null, so high-resolution fringes can be used while maintaining good suppression of the stellar disk. Complex phase measurement is precluded by the need for destructive interference, but we find that a cross-correlation technique analogous to aperture synthesis can recover true images. When operated 5 AU from the Sun to escape background emission from local zodiacal dust, the interferometer's sensitivity will be limited fundamentally by noise in the photon flux from warm zodiacal dust in the planetary system under observation. In order to scale the interferometer for adequate sensitivity, the 10 μm emission from such dust could be determined early on by a ground-based interferometer. If stars at 10 pc distance have zodiacal clouds like our own, a 50 m long space interferometer with four 1 m elements should see individual planets like the Earth in images taken over 10 hours. Simultaneous infrared spectra of planets like Earth, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn could be obtained during a 3 month integration, with the sensitivity to detect carbon dioxide, water, and ozone at the levels seen in Earth's spectrum.
Tuberculosis of the upper respiratory tract misdiagnosed as Wegener's granulomatosis—an important distinction

Four cases, two personal, of mis-diagnosis of tuberculosis of the upper respiratory tract as Wegener's granulomatosis have been presented. Greater awareness of this possibility of mis-diagnosis may diminish the possibility of mis-treatment. It is suggested that fresh specimens should be sent for bacteriological examination and culture in all relevant upper respiratory tract lesions.
FAT THICKNESS AND LOIN EYE AREA EFFECTS ON PORK CARCASS QUALITY MEASURES

Pork carcasses (n = 133), varying in fatness and muscling, were selected to evaluate the relationship between pork carcass cutability and pork meat quality. Carcasses were selected with three levels of 10th rib fat (TRBF: 2.54 cm, n = 42) and three levels of loin eye area (LEA: 41.9 cm2, n = 48). Data were collected on the longissimus muscle of ribbed carcasses. Carcasses in the leanest TRBF group had less (P < 0.05) marbling, and softer (P < 0.05) and more watery (P < 0.05) lean than the fatter categories. Carcasses in the leanest category were also redder in color (P < 0.05; higher a* values) than the fattest category. Carcasses in the smallest LEA group had higher (P < 0.05) marbling and firmness scores than the largest LEA group and carcasses in the largest LEA group had more (P < 0.05) exudative loin muscles than the remaining LEA groups. Collectively, these data indicate that selection for reduced carcass fatness and increased carcass muscling, in swine, has significant negative effects on pork meat quality.
René Cassin and the Alliance Israélite Universelle

This article considers the claim that French Jews emerged from the Second World War with a sense of disenchantment with the Republican tradition. I want to present to you the opposite case, that of a man whose Republican commitment was unshakable and indeed deepened by the war and the Shoah. ReneCassin, jurist, inter- national statesman, and one of the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, never lost his faith in the Republican project at home and abroad. From 1940 on, he worked to revitalize that tradition, not to discard or refashion it. 1 I will bypass the story of his wartime role as the jurist of Free France between 1940 and 1944, and his mediation of the return to the Republican legal order after Liberation. Instead, I will focus on his work on behalf of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, of which he was president from 1943 until his death 33 years later. How did he get there? It was not through a lifelong commitment to Jewish beliefs and practices. Born in Bayonne in 1887, he had a Jewish education to satisfy his mother, and then, like his father, left religious practice behind. He was severely wounded in 1914, and mar- ried a Catholic woman, Simone Yzombard, in 1917. From 1940, he had a liaison with a second Catholic woman, Ghislaine Bru, a film actress with whom he fell in love in London during the Blitz. They married in 1975, when he was eighty-eight years old, just three months before his death. Until the 1930s, ReneCassin was an assimilated Jewish Republican, whose Jewishness was of secondary importance to him. From the 1930s on, and even more so after the defeat of 1940, he became a Republican Jew, with a commitment to the Jewish cause as a central element in his commitment to universal rights. In 1948, ReneCassin put the point this way. It was a year of great achievements for him, including the pilotage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the General Assembly of the United Nations. It was passed without dissent (though with seven abstentions) on 10 December 1948. In that same year, he was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and thereby became a
Sharing Decision Making About Cardiac Surgery Improving the Quality of the Decision to Undergo or Forego Surgery

Aortic valve replacement surgery is the only available treatment option able to improve survival in patients with symptomatic and severe aortic valve stenosis. Without surgical intervention, patients with symptomatic dyspnea and severe aortic valve stenosis have a median survival less than 2 years. In an ideal, patient-centered healthcare system, the decision whether to undergo risky yet potentially life-prolonging surgery should not only reflect judicious application of the evidence of safety and efficacy of the surgery, but it also should be consistent with the patient’s clinical and personal contexts, and their goals, values, and preferences for life and healthcare. Article see p 533 The report by Bach et al1 is the latest in their series of investigations to uncover why cardiac valve replacement surgery is underused among eligible candidates. In this report, they seek explanations among patient, clinician, and hospital-level characteristics and suggest the following hypothesis: clinicians, particularly cardiologists, are making apparently inconsistent judgments as to which patients should be referred to cardiac surgeons for consideration of aortic valve replacement. Among 191 patients with severe aortic valve stenosis who did not undergo cardiac surgery, a cardiologist evaluated 182 (95%), but referred only 57 (30%) to a cardiac surgeon. In this editorial, we will place this finding in the context of the evolving field of shared decision-making and suggest how this focus could improve the quality of care delivered to patients with valvular heart disease. Shared decision making is a 3-step process.2 The first step involves knowledge transfer. In its idealized form, shared decision making requires symmetrical and bidirectional exchange of information between patients and clinicians. This exchange aims to identify and distinguish the available options under consideration, including the option of no treatment. The other 2 steps require the patient and clinician to (1) actively engage in deliberating (ie, …
ROMARCHITE, HYDROROMARCHITE AND ABHURITE FORMED DURING THE CORROSION OF PEWTER ARTIFACTS FROM THE QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE (1718)

Pewter, a tin-rich alloy, has been widely used for ornamental and utilitarian purposes for the last 400 years because it is durable, relatively easily worked, resistant to corrosion, and similar to silver in appearance. Pewter plates and implements ha ve been recovered and examined from what is believed to be the wreck site of the Queen Anne’s Revenge , flagship of the pirate Blackbeard, that sank near Beaufort, North Carolina in 1718. All of the pewter artifacts from the site display a surface veneer of corrosion products and may be viewed as experiments on tin corrosion that have been continuously in operation for more than 280 years. Mineralogical examination of the pewter samples has revealed that the corrosion products are composed of romarchite (SnO), hydroromarchite [Sn3O2(OH)2], and abhurite [Sn 21Cl16(OH)14O6]. The corrosion generally develops in crudely concentric layers, with an inner layer of abhurite in contact with the pewter; the overlying outer layers consist of romarchite and hydroromarchite. Romarchite, hydroromarchite, and abhurite occur as irregular grains and laths up to 100 micrometers in length. Abhurite also occurs as masses of equant grains with abundant small inclusions of residual pewter. Thermodynamic considerations reveal that romarchite may be a metastable phase, and is present as the result of sluggish kinetics in the process of the formation of cassiterite (SnO 2), the most stable tin oxide in most natural environments. Observation and identification of these phases will be useful in understanding the stability of tin in the weathering environment and the nature of the metal’s corrosi on products.
To Tax or Not to Tax: Alternative Approaches to Slowing Global Warming

How cancountries best coordinate their policies toslow globalwarming? This studyreviews different approaches to the political and economic control of global public goods such as global warming. It compares quantity-oriented mechanisms like the Kyoto Protocol with price-type control mechanisms such as internationally harmonized carbon taxes. The analysis focuses on such issues as the relationship to ultimate targets, performance under conditions of uncertainty, volatility of induced carbon prices, the inefficiencies of taxation and regulation, potential for corruption and accounting finagling, and ease of implementation. It concludes that price-type approaches such as carbon taxes have major advantages for slowing global warming. Before discussing different approaches, it will be useful to sketch the scientific basis for concerns about global warming. As a result of the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), it is expected that signif icant climate changes will occur in the coming decades and beyond. The major industrial GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, ozone, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Using climate models as well as examining past climatevariations,scientistsexpectsignificantclimaticchangesinthecomingyears.Current estimates are that an increase that doubles the amount of CO2 or the equivalent in the atmosphere compared with preindustrial levels will, in equilibrium, lead to an increase in the global surface temperature of 1.5‐4.5 ◦ C, an increase in precipitation and evaporation, and a rise in sea levels of 10‐90 cm over this century. Some models also predict regional shifts, suchas hotterand drier climates in midcontinental regions, suchas the U.S. Midwest. Climate monitoring indicates that the predicted global warming is occurring in line with scientific predictions. 1
Broadband-CDMA: one phone for a wireless twenty first century

We are in the midst of a revolution in telecommunications. Worldwide economic development coupled with the need for increased mobility has created a need for the immediate installation of a very large number of telephones. To meet this need and to accommodate the requirement of mobility, one must employ wireless telecommunications. Wireless systems are currently in wide, ever increasing, use in the US, UK, Europe, and all of Asia. Systems include fixed wireless local loop as well as cellular and PCS. In many areas of the world, second generation systems are being installed and third generation systems ordered. Multimedia and data services are being added to the basic voice service currently available. This paper discusses this evolution and explains why broadband-CDMA (B-CDMA) is required to meet the service and capacity needs of the 21st Century.
Inhabiting the ‘tragic gap’: pre-service teachers practicing racial literacy

Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of children’s literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about? What conceptual and discursive tools do they use? We were guided by these questions, along with theoretical perspectives of racial literacy, multicultural discourses and a form of critical discourse analysis referred to as ‘positive discourse analysis’ or ‘reconstructive discourse analysis’. Our analysis illustrates that the participants held two questions, what constitutes racism and what makes a person a White ally, without firm resolution in the form and function of their talk. Their discourses illustrate that racial literacy involves what teachers say and also a willingness to stand in the space of indeterminacy, which may create space for new social positions. We argue for a continued theorization...
Infrared spectra and theoretical calculations for Fe, Ru, and Os metal hydrides and dihydrogen complexes.

Laser-ablated iron, ruthenium, and osmium atoms react with hydrogen in excess argon, neon and pure hydrogen to produce the FeH2 molecule, and the FeH2(H2)3, RuH(H2)4, RuH2(H2)4, and (H2)MH complexes (M = Fe, Ru, Os), as identified through infrared spectra with D2 and HD substitution. DFT frequency calculations support the assignment of absorptions observed experimentally. The FeH2 molecule has a quintet ground state with a quasi-linear structure, and is repulsive to the addition of one more H2 ligand: however, with three more H2 ligands, stable triplet and singlet state FeH2(H2)3 supercomplexes can be formed. The quintet FeH2 molecule and FeH2(H2)3 supercomplex undergo reversible near-ultraviolet photochemical rearrangement in solid neon and hydrogen. The RuH2 molecule has a bent triplet ground state and forms the stable singlet RuH2(H2)4 supercomplex, but only the latter is observed in these experiments. In like fashion RuH has a quartet ground state and the doublet RuH(H2)4 complex is trapped in solid h...
A Fully Integrated Ring-Type Fluxgate Sensor Based on a Localized Core Saturation Method

This paper reports a new micromachined fluxgate sensor with extremely low power consumption using a localized core saturation method. The extremely low power consumption has been achieved by shrinking the magnetic core width wound by the sensing coils, 10 times smaller than that wound by the excitation coils. With such core configuration, the magnetic field within sensing coils will be enhanced several times larger than that within excitation coils. This will thus allow the fluxgate sensor to be operated in a localized core saturation mode. That is, only relatively small amount of excitation current is needed to saturate the sensing core and induce the fluxgate effect at the sensing coils while the excitation core is not saturated yet. The device exhibits a power consumption of ~4 mW, sensitivity of 600 V/T at 60 muT, and sensor span of ~250 muT In comparison with our previously reported micro-fluxgate sensor the newly developed sensor consumes 25 times less power but at the expense of sensor span and linearity.
Time scale-based observer design for battery state-of-charge estimation

We propose a novel time scale-based observer to estimate the state-of-charge (SoC) of a Lithium-ion battery. The design of the observer promises eventual hardware instantiations that require less power to operate than standard observer designs, while still increasing the accuracy of SoC estimation relative to Coulomb counting methods.1
Elevating the top IS position to CIO

Transition to the chief information officer (CIO) position, which requires a clear vision of where one is going and a transition plan to get there, is discussed. Difficulties that some firms have experienced in establishing the CIO function are examined. They are attributed primarily to the rapid evolution of the CIO role. In order to investigate this evolution, the authors conducted a study of how CIOs allocated their time in the job which qualified them for promotion to CIO. The survey results showed strong priorities on human resource management and peer interaction activities. Strong statistical interactions were found to exist between many of the activities CIOs identified for successful promotion. >
Powering point-of-care diagnostic devices

Effective and rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostics have the capability to revolutionize public healthcare both in developed and developing countries. One of the key challenges that is critical to address in developing POC devices is to effectively and sufficiently power them. In developing countries, where the electricity grid is not well established and the use of batteries is not cost-effective, power supplies are the most problematic issue for stand-alone and self-sustained POC devices. In this review, we provide an overview of techniques for powering POC diagnostic devices for use in both developed and developing countries, as well as detailed discussions of recent advancements in POC devices. Then, we discuss next-generation POC diagnostics and their power source strategies.
Comparison of bupivacaine moistened dressing and conventional dressing for pain relief on skin graft donor sites.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of bupivacaine moistened dressing and conventional dressing in patients requiring split thickness skin graft for reconstruction of various defects. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial. saline. Outcome was measured by calculating rescue analgesia requirements in the two groups after 24 hours. Significance was determined by comparing analgesia sparing effect of each dressing using chi-square test. Results: In Group A, 5 out of 75 (6.7%) patients required rescue analgesia. In Group B, 72 out of 75 (96%) patients required rescue analgesia (p < 0.0001). There was 93.3% effectiveness of bupivacaine soaked dressing while only 4% effectiveness of conventional dressing. Conclusion: Bupivacaine soaked dressing is much more effective in pain relief and in reducing the requirement of rescue analgesia, in early postoperative period, at split thickness skin graft donor site compared to the conventional dressing.
Pilot study of chronic maternal hyperoxygenation and effect on aortic and mitral valve annular dimensions in fetuses with left heart hypoplasia

OBJECTIVE Acute maternal hyperoxygenation (AMH) results in increased fetal left heart blood flow. Our aim was to perform a pilot study to determine the safety, feasibility and direction and magnitude of effect of chronic maternal hyperoxygenation (CMH) on mitral and aortic valve annular dimensions in fetuses with left heart hypoplasia (LHH) after CMH. METHODS Gravidae with fetal LHH were eligible for inclusion in a prospective evaluation of CMH. LHH was defined as: sum of aortic and mitral valve annuli Z-scores < -4.5, arch flow reversal and left-to-right or bidirectional atrial level shunting without hypoplastic left heart syndrome or severe aortic stenosis. Gravidae with an affected fetus and with ≥ 10% increase in aortic/combined cardiac output flow after 10 min of AMH at 8 L/min 100% fraction of inspired oxygen were offered enrollment. Nine gravidae were enrolled from February 2014 to January 2015. The goal therapy was ≥ 8 h daily CMH from enrollment until delivery. Gravidae who were cared for from July 2012 to October 2014 with fetal LHH and no CMH were identified as historical controls (n = 9). Rates of growth in aortic and mitral annuli over the final trimester were compared between groups using longitudinal regression. RESULTS There were no significant maternal or fetal complications in the CMH cohort. Mean gestational age at study initiation was 29.6 ± 3.2 weeks for the intervention group and 28.4 ± 1.8 weeks for controls (P = 0.35). Mean relative increase in aortic/combined cardiac output after AMH was 35.3% (range, 18.1-47.9%). Median number of hours per day on CMH therapy was 9.3 (range, 6.5-14.6) and median duration of CMH was 48 (range, 33-84) days. Mean mitral annular growth was 0.19 ± 0.05 mm/week compared with 0.14 ± 0.05 mm/week in CMH vs controls (mean difference 0.05 ± 0.05 mm/week, P = 0.33). Mean aortic annular growth was 0.14 ± 0.03 mm/week compared with 0.13 ± 0.03 mm/week in CMH vs controls (mean difference 0.01 ± 0.03 mm/week, P = 0.75). More than 9 h CMH daily (n = 6) was associated with better growth of the aortic annulus in intervention fetuses (0.16 ± 0.03 vs 0.08 ± 0.02 mm/week, P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS CMH is both safe and feasible for continued research. In this pilot study, the effect estimates of annular growth, using the studied method of delivery and dose of oxygen, were small. Copyright © 2015 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.