cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
‘My claim to fame is footnotes’: an interview with Derf Backderf

In Spring 2020, Vera Camden and Valentino Zullo, American editors of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics sat down with Derf Backderf to discuss his new book, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. Hig...
Hydroxycarbamide exposure and ovarian reserve in women with sickle cell disease in the Multicenter Study of Hydroxycarbamide.

The application of modern ovarian reserve measures to women with sickle cell disease (SCD) may help answer longstanding questions about whether SCD or hydroxycarbamide (HC; also known as hydroxyurea) affect women's reproductive lifespan. Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), an established marker of ovarian reserve, is used to assess the ovarian follicle pool. We used a standard clinical assay to measure AMH in 285 banked samples from 93 female subjects with haemoglobin SS from the historic Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea (MSH), which led to the United States Food and Drug Administration approval of HC for adults with SCD. No samples from the randomised portion of the MSH remain, so samples from the decade-long MSH follow-up studies were analysed. Most subjects were exposed to HC (86/93). The median AMH levels were lower in study subjects than in age- and sex-matched reference values. The median AMH levels consistent with diminished ovarian reserve, a risk factor for infertility, occurred in subjects starting at the age of 25-30 years; in healthy women, this occurs after the age of 40 years. In multivariate analysis, taking HC was independently associated with a low AMH (β = 0·001, 95% confidence interval -0·002 to 0·000; P = 0·006). These results suggest that ovarian reserve is prematurely reduced in women with haemoglobin SS and raise the possibility that HC contributes to this finding.
A global shape model for Saturn's moon Enceladus from a dense photogrammetric control network

Abstract. A planetary body’s global shape provides both insight into its geologic evolution, and a key element of any Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure (PSDI). NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn acquired more than 600 moderate- to high-resolution images (
A numerical investigation of salinity variations in the Barataria Estuary, Louisiana in connection with the Mississippi River and restoration activities

Abstract A three-dimensional numerical model was applied to the Barataria Estuary in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to study its salinity variations as well as the impacts from the Mississippi River discharges and proposed river diversions. Model-observation comparison showed that the model was able to reproduce the hydrodynamic fields on subtidal to seasonal time scales. Salinity in the Barataria Estuary was high in fall and low in summer, with a greater variability in the lower estuary than the upper estuary. While salinity in the upper estuary was controlled by discharges from a local freshwater diversion, salinity in the lower estuary was mostly affected by the mixed Mississippi River water transported via the tidal inlets in the south. The correlation between Mississippi River discharge and estuarine salinity indicated that low salinity Mississippi River water could intrude into the estuary through the middle and east tidal inlets. Sensitivity tests were performed to assess the impacts from the Mississippi River discharges and proposed mid-Barataria Estuary sediment diversion. Model results illustrated that salinity in the estuary was more sensitive to an increase of Mississippi River discharge than a decrease. The proposed mid-Barataria sediment diversion was likely to induce a dramatic decrease of salinity in the lower estuary. The ecosystem consequences of the fluctuation of Mississippi River discharge as well as that of the proposed river diversions need further investigations.
Testing Our Children When the World Shuts Down: Analyzing Recommendations for Adapted Tele-Assessment during COVID-19

In 2017, the National Association of School Psychologists described tele-assessment as the least researched area of telehealth. This became problematic in 2020 when COVID-19 curtailed the administr...
Developing Multiple Measures of Urban Patterns

Four measures of urban patterns are identified to describe the distributions of housing units in 59 large urban areas in the United States from 1950 to 2010. These measures include density; variation in density using the index of dissimilarity; centralization measuring the proportional reduction in distance to the center; and clustering using Moran’s I, a measure of spatial autocorrelation. An empirical assessment of the suitability of these measures was undertaken. All showed sufficient variation throughout the period. The measures were significantly correlated with one another, which was expected, but each retained significant uncorrelated variation as well. Principal components analysis showed that most of the variation in these measures could be captured in 3 independent factors, which were density, a mixture of variation and centralization, and clustering with some relationship to centralization.
Point of care genetic testing in a breast cancer survivorship clinic.

10580Background:: Breast cancer survivorship care (BCSC) includes the ongoing assessment of personal and family cancer history and offering genetic education, counseling and testing to survivors wh...
What's New in Skeletally Immature ACL?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, while previously thought to be rare in skeletally immature athletes, are being seen in increasing numbers. Due to unsatisfactory results with non-operative or delayed treatment, most patients benefit from early surgical reconstruction. However, surgical management with typical adult methods places the open physes at risk of injury or premature arrest. Appropriate treatment of these patients first requires an accurate assessment of the growth remaining, and a tailored surgical approach based on this assessment. In this review, we present an up to date algorithm for treating these difficult patients. Techniques described include intraarticular extraphyseal, all-epiphyseal, and physeal-respecting transphyseal reconstruction techniques. Unfortunately, despite appropriate surgical intervention, children and adolescents continue to have an elevated risk of subsequent ACL injury. Further high-level studies are needed in this realm to further hone our approach.
Hypermutation, Mismatch Repair Deficiency, and Defining Predictors of Response to Checkpoint Blockade.

Mutational burden is positively correlated with tumor neoantigen load and studies have demonstrated an association between high tumor mutational burden (TMB) and response to checkpoint blockade. On the basis of a phase II study, the anti-PD-1 therapy, pembrolizumab, was given FDA approval for use in any solid tumor with a high TMB (i.e., >10 mutations/megabase) as assessed by the FoundationOne companion diagnostic. This was an important step in expanding a potentially efficacious treatment option to patients who are likely to benefit and have limited other therapies available. Following this approval, there has been debate regarding the wide applicability of this approval and the most appropriate use of TMB as a predictive biomarker, with several studies questioning the predictive utility of TMB in this context. We discuss the scientific rationale and utility of using TMB as a tool to predict response to immunotherapy as well as address this biomarker9s limitations.
A Realistic Appraisal of the New International Economic Order

The current rhetoric involving the new international economic order creates the impression that it is possible and that U.S. firms should begin to adapt to it. The reality is quite different. Domestic political and economic considerations make U.S. agreement doubtful. Implementation problems are nearly insurmountable. And the internal difficulties of the developing nations make much of it of suspect value. This paper analyzes the NIEO so that a more rational evaluation of its impact on international marketing can be achieved.
A Decentralized Sequential Test with Data Fusion

In this paper, we generalize the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) of Wald to a distributed system. In particular, we consider a network of two detectors which are connected in parallel. Each local detector performs an SPRT based on its own observations and communicates its local decision to the global decision maker. The global decision maker combines the local decisions according to a predetermined fusion rule, and decides either to terminate the overall test and accept one of the two hypotheses, or to continue. The global error probabilities are shown to be functions of the local error probabilities and the fusion rule. The global test length is formulated in terms of the local test lengths, and the average global test length is derived. An example is presented for the case of two identical local detectors. The results obtained show clearly that for the same level of performance, the proposed scheme has a shorter average decision time than the single detector case.
Lazy Kleene Algebra

We propose a relaxation of Kleene algebra by giving up strictness and right-distributivity of composition. This allows the subsumption of Dijkstra’s computation calculus, Cohen’s omega algebra and von Wright’s demonic refinement algebra. Moreover, by adding domain and codomain operators we can also incorporate modal operators. Finally, it is shown that predicate transformers form lazy Kleene algebras again, the disjunctive and conjunctive ones even lazy Kleene algebras with an omega operation.
Development of echolocation calls and neural selectivity for echolocation calls in the pallid bat

Studies of birdsongs and neural selectivity for songs have provided important insights into principles of concurrent behavioral and auditory system development. Relatively little is known about mammalian auditory system development in terms of vocalizations or other behaviorally relevant sounds. This review suggests echolocating bats are suitable mammalian model systems to understand development of auditory behaviors. The simplicity of echolocation calls with known behavioral relevance and strong neural selectivity provides a platform to address how natural experience shapes cortical receptive field (RF) mechanisms. We summarize recent studies in the pallid bat that followed development of echolocation calls and cortical processing of such calls. We also discuss similar studies in the mustached bat for comparison. These studies suggest: (1) there are different developmental sensitive periods for different acoustic features of the same vocalization. The underlying basis is the capacity for some components of the RF to be modified independent of others. Some RF computations and maps involved in call processing are present even before the cochlea is mature and well before use of echolocation in flight. Others develop over a much longer time course. (2) Normal experience is required not just for refinement, but also for maintenance, of response properties that develop in an experience independent manner. (3) Experience utilizes millisecond range changes in timing of inhibitory and excitatory RF components as substrates to shape vocalization selectivity. We suggest that bat species and call diversity provide a unique opportunity to address developmental constraints in the evolution of neural mechanisms of vocalization processing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 75: 1125–1139, 2015
The Long Lingering Shadow: Law, Liberalism, and Cultures of Racial Hierarchy and Identity in the Americas

This is an article on race relations and comparative legal history. It contrasts the law of race and slavery in three Latin American nations, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, with the parallel history in the United States. The article examines the Afro-Latin experience as a critical issue in its own right and as a way to better inform our discussion of racial hierarchy, identity, and legal remedy in the United States. This article examines the paradoxical role played by liberal legal and cultural norms in the United States. It shows how liberalism helped create a system of castelike separation between black and white in the United States. This castelike separation was far more rigid than found elsewhere in the hemisphere and was enforced by discriminatory laws. Yet the article also argues that the very liberalism that helped create strong castelike boundaries in the United States has also helped produce a more thorough North American civil rights revolution than has, to date, occurred in Latin America. After the Introduction in Part I, this article is divided into four more parts. Part II, entitled "The Enduring Significance of Race," briefly reviews current debates in U.S. society over the extent to which law should recognize race or take race into account in such areas as remedial efforts, racial definition, and criminal justice. Part III is called "Afro-Americans, A Hemispheric Perspective," and provides the reader with an introduction to the issues of race and Afro-American populations in Latin America, as well as a comparison of racial stratification in the United States and Latin America. Part IV is named "Slavery, Freedom, and the Law: Differing American Experiences." This Part examines the role of the law of slavery in developing and sustaining differing patterns of race relations in the Americas. The role of law in perpetuating and challenging racial hierarchy in the United States, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela after emancipation is examined in Part V, entitled "From Emancipation to Equality, the Unfinished Journey."
Factors Affecting the Successful Employment of Transition-Age Youths with Visual Impairments

The following variables were found to be associated with employment for transition-age youths with visual impairments who are served by vocational rehabilitation agencies: work experience, academic...
Hidden Engines of Destruction

This article explores whether a duty to warn should exist in the context of digital products. It argues in favor of creating a "reasonable expectation of code safety." Section I explains the dominant ways that digital products can harm consumers through their code and not their content, focusing on functionality and information security harms. Section II reviews existing regulation of digital products and highlights their focus on improving information parity and consumer control over digital product relationships. Section II then sets forth the scope of the duty to warn and protect from harms in real space owed by possessors of land to their business visitors upon it and argues in favor of importing these concepts into the digital consumer protection context. Finally, Section II proposes a "reasonable expectation of code safety," comprised of a duty of code inspection, a duty to warn of code harms and a duty to repair code promptly. It also proposes a three-tiered framework inspired by systems theory and the land-based duty to warn and repair. Section III considers the primary challenge against the proposed framework - on First Amendment grounds - and finds the framework to fully comport with First Amendment protections.
Doença mão-pé-boca no adulto - A propósito de um caso clínico

Introduction: Hand, food and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common infection caused by the Enteroviruses group, including Coxsackievirus A and Enterovirus 71. It usually affects children between the ages of three and ten years old and is rare in adults. In most cases it is self-limited but cardiac and neurological complications or even death may ensue. Case Report: We report the case of a 35 year old man who went to his general practitioner with complaints of fever, pain, paresthesias of the hands and feet, odynophagia, and ulcerated lesions in the oral cavity that did not improve with antibiotic treatment. Suspecting a viral disease, the physician ordered tests that confirmed the diagnosis of HFMD, allowing for appropriate management and follow-up. Comment: HMFD is rare in adults and even typical manifestations can be misdiagnosed. Maintaining a strong clinical suspicion can ensure correct management and follow-up.
Five Reasons Why You Should Attend Conferences as a Student

If you are an undergraduate student and reading this, your first thought is likely to be: "I know a couple of reasons why I shouldn't attend a conference." Concerns such as travel and participation costs, not being ready to publish your research, and the good old "talking with people is not really my thing." I understand where you are coming from because I've been there. Well, there's good news! The financial and research issues are easy to overcome: volunteer. Conferences need volunteers, and organizers usually reward you for your services with a free conference registration and sometimes even a t-shirt. This is exactly what I did in my junior year, and it was an eye-opener. Here are my five reasons why you should try it too.
The sythesis and structure determination of bis(1,3-dimethylindenyl)iron(III) hexafluorophosphate

Abstract The title compound is formed by the oxidation of bis(1,3-dimethylindenyl)iron by either HCl or AgPF6. It crystallizes in the triclinic space group P 1 , with two formula units per unit cell with lattice dimensions: a = 9.2586(16) A, b = 13.2849(22) A, c = 8.5681(16) A, α = 98.062(14)°, β = 91.311(14)°, γ = 83.950(13)°. The observed density is 1.559(2) g cm−3, in accord with the density calculated from these data (1.559 g cm−3). Diffraction data were collected by automated diffractometer methods, and the crystal and molecular structure determined using conventional methods and refined by full matrix isotropic—anisotropic least squares analysis of 2136 independent counter data to give a final unweighted R value of 4.38%. The structure consists of discrete cationic and anionic units. In the cation the metal is coordinated to the five-membered rings of each indenyl ligand and is slightly displaced away from the six-membered ring. It has roughly a staggered configuration with six-membered rings assuming positions differing by 93.5° rotation of one ring. The iron to ring centroid distance is 1.716 A, slightly greater than the analogous distance in the 1,1′-dimethylferrocenium cation.
Climate impacts of parameterized Nordic Sea overflows

[1] A new overflow parameterization (OFP) of density-driven flows through ocean ridges via narrow, unresolved channels has been developed and implemented in the ocean component of the Community Climate System Model version 4. It represents exchanges from the Nordic Seas and the Antarctic shelves, associated entrainment, and subsequent injection of overflow product waters into the abyssal basins. We investigate the effects of the parameterized Denmark Strait (DS) and Faroe Bank Channel (FBC) overflows on the ocean circulation, showing their impacts on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the North Atlantic climate. The OFP is based on the Marginal Sea Boundary Condition scheme of Price and Yang (1998), but there are significant differences that are described in detail. Two uncoupled (ocean-only) and two fully coupled simulations are analyzed. Each pair consists of one case with the OFP and a control case without this parameterization. In both uncoupled and coupled experiments, the parameterized DS and FBC source volume transports are within the range of observed estimates. The entrainment volume transports remain lower than observational estimates, leading to lower than observed product volume transports. Due to low entrainment, the product and source water properties are too similar. The DS and FBC overflow temperature and salinity properties are in better agreement with observations in the uncoupled case than in the coupled simulation, likely reflecting surface flux differences. The most significant impact of the OFP is the improved North Atlantic Deep Water penetration depth, leading to a much better comparison with the observational data and significantly reducing the chronic, shallow penetration depth bias in level coordinate models. This improvement is due to the deeper penetration of the southward flowing Deep Western Boundary Current. In comparison with control experiments without the OFP, the abyssal ventilation rates increase in the North Atlantic. In the uncoupled simulation with the OFP, the warm bias of the control simulation in the deep North Atlantic is substantially reduced along with salinity bias reductions in the northern North Atlantic. There are similar but more modest bias reductions in the deep temperature and salinity distributions especially in the northern North Atlantic in the coupled OFP case. In coupled simulations, there are noticeable impacts of the OFP on climate. The sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are warmer by more than 5°C off the North American coast and by more than 1°C in the Nordic Sea with the OFP. The surface heat fluxes mostly act to diminish these SST changes. There are related changes in the sea level pressure, leading to about 15% weaker westerly wind stress in the northern North Atlantic. In response to the warmer Nordic Sea SSTs, there are reductions in the sea ice extent, improving comparisons with observations. Although the OFP cases improve many aspects of the simulations compared to observations, some significant biases remain, more in coupled than in uncoupled simulations.
Beliefs and Attitudes toward Vegetarian Lifestyle across Generations

The objective of the study was to examine whether reasons to adopt vegetarian lifestyle differ significantly among generations. Using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), we identified that 4% of the participants were vegans, 25% lacto-ovo-vegetarians, 4% pesco-vegetarians and 67% non-vegetarian. Younger people significantly agreed more with the moral reason and with the environmental reason. People ages 41–60 significantly agreed more with the health reason. There are significant differences across generations as to why people choose to live a vegetarian lifestyle.
Underwriter reputation and pricing of risk: evidence from seasoned equity offerings

This paper investigates how underwriter-issuer matching choices and firm risks affect the cost of equity issuance. We show that underwriter-issuer matching is not random; it reflects underwriter reputation and risk concerns, issuers’ quality, and equity market conditions. We apply Heckman self-selection estimation model to control for the endogenous underwriter-issuer matching. We find that the matching choice leads to considerable heterogeneity in pricing of issuer systematic and firm-specific risks in seasoned equity offering (SEO) underwriting fees. Low-reputation underwriters require compensation for bearing issuer’s systematic risk but not for firm-specific risk, while high-reputation underwriters do the opposite. Moreover, evidence in this paper suggests that the underwriter-issuer matching decision entails a non-linear relation between SEO spread and underwriter reputation: high- and low- reputation underwriters earn higher spreads than medium-reputation underwriters. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for underwriter-issuer matching in assessing SEO underwriting contracts. The results are robust to alternative underwriter reputation measure, model specifications, sample periods, and different samples of firms.
Microwave multiphoton rabi oscillations

We have made direct observations of microwave multiphoton Rabi oscillations between two Rydberg states in potassium in the strong-radiation-field regime, where a perturbative treatment of the atom-field interaction becomes invalid. The results of measurements of the Rabi oscillation frequency are presented and compared with results calculated using Floquet theory, which predicts a very different field dependence for the Rabi frequency than is typical in the perturbation-theory limit.
Digital natives, searching behavior and the library

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that digital natives are different from older age groups.Design/methodology/approach – The first survey asks questions about general computer searching behaviors. The second survey asks the students to find two items to see if they can find them.Findings – Digital natives are different in their search behavior, preferring to use web‐based search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.Research limitations/implications – There are 120 respondents to the first survey and 27 in the second.Practical implications – More focus needs to be placed on the digital natives' search habits to find out how best to serve this population.Social implications – Unless digital natives are taught how to search academic databases, they will be done a great disservice.Originality/value – The two surveys are unique in data content.
Trends and current patterns of marital status among nonwhite persons

Personas con mas de un matrimonio constituyen una mayor proporcion de todos los matrimonio entre personas no-blancas que entre blancas. Entre aquellas casadas mas de una vez, la proporcion de viudas es mayor entre las no-blancos y la proporcion de divorcios es mayor entre los blancos. Junio es el mes modal para matrimonios; diciembre es la segunda moda. Las ratas estandarizadas de matrimonio por edades son menores para mujeres no-blancas que para blancas, aunque debajo de las 18 y arriba de los 45 anos, las ratas para mujeres no-blancas son mayores. Los matrimonios en los cuales ambos novios son solieros constituyen un porcentaje ligeramente mayor entre blancos que entre noblancos.
Energy dependence of the total differential cross sections for H+ + Ar and H+ + Kr☆

Abstract Total differential cross sections, the sum of the differential cross sections for all processes, including charge transfer, were measured for H + + Ar and H + + Kr. The results are compared to two theoretical models, one employing a single, average trajectory and the other based on semi-classical wave analysis. These models give very different results in the rainbow region of the ground state molecular ion potential when the probability of a transition becomes significant. The second method gives better qualitative agreement with the present data.
Some Revisionary Proposals About Belief and Believing

There is consensus about some general conditions on a theory of believing and belief such as (1) believing is a relation between a subject, the believer, and an object or set of objects as given in the grammatical form of the sentence, ’x believes that S’; (2) beliefs, whatever they are, can be acquired, replaced, or abandoned; (3) they enter along with desires, needs, wants and other particular circumstances into an explanation of action; and (4) for some circumstances and for some beliefs it is appropriate to describe a subject’s beliefs as justified or unjustified, rational or irrational, and the like.
Psychological test characteristics associated with training-success in a MEDEX (physician's extension) training program.

Summary.-A multiple regression model for predicting trainee success in a Medex training progrzn is reporred. This model employs selected MMPI and Strong scales as predictor variables. Although the model has not yet been cross-validated (plans to do so ace underway), elements of it seem consisrent with evaluations based on clinical judgment. Although there are training programs in six states designed to train exmilitary corpsmen-medics :o be Medex (cf. Stone & Bassett, 1972), there has been little or no formally presented empirical evidence for suggesting that certain psychological test score information may be related to eventual success of trainees in a Medex training program. Part of the difficulty has been the lack of an established criterion measure of success in such programs; only very recently has such a measure been presented (Stone, Bassett, Brosseau, DeMers, & Stiening, 1972b), which is based on multidimensional judgment scaling principles (cf. Coles & Stone, 1972; Stone & Coles, 1970; Stone, Coles, & Lindem, 1970). Without going into great detail. an oversimplified description of this particular criterion measure of trainee success (in the program) is that it is the primary and major dimension exuacted from a multidimensional scaling (the Stone-Coles method) of the judgments obtained from a single MEDEX program's staff regarding their about-to-be-gtaduated trainees in this MEDEX program. This most potent judgment dimension was comfortably identified (by the judges involved) as a kind of "academic achievement" continuum. The purpose of the present investigation was to study possible relationships between position on the developed "academic achievement" dimension and scaletest scores from four selected psychological inventory-test measures. The primary reason for this "premature" (i.e., not cross-validated) presentation of the to-be-described prediction model is that we have been deluged with requests for this information. METHOD AND RESULTS
On factors affecting the size, fat content and behavior of a scolytid1

High attack density resulted in lower dry weight and fat content of most developmental stages of the Douglas-fir beetle Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk., but did not seem to significantly affect the weight and fat content of young adults during their period of subcortical feeding; probably because they normally form feeding aggregations. Lower temperature increased the effect of competition on size and fat content by causing longer larval mines and greater interaction between members of adjacent broods. The temperature regime during brood development of the Douglas-fir beetle affected the accumulation and retention of lipids. Fat content declined during early adult life at all temperatures tested, but the greatest decrease occurred at a constant temperature. The decline in fat content during early adult life and the previously established correlation between fat content and behavior is discussed in relation to different scolytid life histories. Zusammenfassung Uber einige Faktoren, welche die Grose, den Fettgehalt und das Verhalten einer Borkenkafer-Art beeinflussen Eine hohe Befallsdichte fuhrte zum Absinken des Trockengewichts und Fettgehalts der meisten Entwicklungsstadien des Borkenkafers Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk. Das Gewicht und der Fettgehalt junger Imagines wahrend der Zeit ihres Frases unter der Rinde schien davon jedoch nicht beeinflust, vielleicht weil die Borkenkafer normalerweise Frasgesellschaften bilden. Niedere Temperaturen steigerten den Affekt der Konkurrenz auf Korpergrose und Fettgehalt, indem sie zur Anlage langerer Larvengange und zu verstarkten Interaktionen zwischen den Larven benachbarter Bruten fuhrte. Wahrend der Larvenentwicklung werden die Fette akkumuliert und zuruckgehalten. Der Fettgehalt der jungen Borkenkafer-Imagines sank bei allen Untersuchungen, insbesondere bei konstanten Temperaturen. Der Fettabbau wahrend der ersten Zeit des Imagmallebens und die Korrelationen zwischen Fettgehalt und Verhaltensweise werden im Hinblick auf die verschiedenartige Lebensweise von Borkenkafern erortert.
THE EXCRETORY SYSTEM OF YOUNG CHICKENS EXPERIENCING MERCURY TOXICITY. EFFECTS ON KIDNEY DEVELOPMENT, MORPHOLOGY, AND FUNCTION

Four trials were conducted to determine if toxic levels of mercury affect kidney development, morphology, and renal function. Mercury, administered via the drinking water as mercuric chloride caused a reduction in gross kidney weight, an increase in relative kidney weight and a slight but significant increase in the percentage water retained by left kidney of 6-week-old cockerels. Mercury had no effect on renal function of 6-week-old birds as indicated by the clearance of phenol red from circulation. Histological discontinuity of the kidney was extensive and evidenced by foamy cell degeneration and nuclear pyknosis. Although mercury caused gross alterations in the morphology of the kidney, normal excretory function was maintained.
Genotype diversity of Trypanosoma cruzi in small rodents and Triatoma sanguisuga from a rural area in New Orleans, Louisiana

Chagas disease is an anthropozoonosis caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that represents a major public health problem in Latin America. Although the United States is defined as non-endemic for Chagas disease due to the rarity of human cases, the presence of T. cruzi has now been amply demonstrated as enzootic in different regions of the south of the country from Georgia to California. In southeastern Louisiana, a high T. cruzi infection rate has been demonstrated in Triatoma sanguisuga, the local vector in this area. However, little is known about the role of small mammals in the wild and peridomestic transmission cycles. This study focused on the molecular identification and genotyping of T. cruzi in both small rodents and T. sanguisuga from a rural area of New Orleans, Louisiana. DNA extractions were prepared from rodent heart, liver, spleen and skeletal muscle tissues and from cultures established from vector feces. T. cruzi infection was determined by standard PCR using primers specific for the minicircle variable region of the kinetoplastid DNA (kDNA) and the highly repetitive genomic satellite DNA (satDNA). Genotyping of discrete typing units (DTUs) was performed by amplification of mini-exon and 18S and 24Sα rRNA genes and subsequent sequence analysis. The DTUs TcI, TcIV and, for the first time, TcII, were identified in tissues of mice and rats naturally infected with T. cruzi captured in an area of New Orleans, close to the house where the first human case of Chagas disease was reported in Louisiana. The T. cruzi infection rate in 59 captured rodents was 76%. The frequencies of the detected DTUs in such mammals were TcI 82%, TcII 22% and TcIV 9%; 13% of all infections contained more than one DTU. Our results indicate a probable presence of a considerably greater diversity in T. cruzi DTUs circulating in the southeastern United States than previously reported. Understanding T. cruzi transmission dynamics in sylvatic and peridomestic cycles in mammals and insect vectors will be crucial to estimating the risk of local, vector-borne transmission of T. cruzi to humans in the United States.
Intersonic shear crack growth along weak planes

Classical dynamic fracture theories predict the Rayleigh surface wave speed (cR) to be the limiting speed of propagation for mode-I cracks in constitutively homogeneous, isotropic, linear elastic m...
TISSUE MANAGEMENT FOR FULL CAST VENEER CROWNS.

Abstract The relationship between the tooth and its investing and environmental tissues has been discussed. Three important relationships of the tooth and the tissues are as follows: (1) attachment of the gingiva to the tooth occurs at the cementoenamel junction, (2) the cervical ridge of the enamel flares out forming a convexity under which the free marginal gingiva lies protected, and (3) the enamel flare is of the same width as the tip of the free marginal gingiva. This provides deflective protection for the entrance to the gingival sulcus and permits the stimulation of the gingival tissues by the functional contact of the musculature. These relationships are incorporated into both the temporary and the final restorations. Adequate tooth structure must be removed subgingivally in the preparation of the tooth to allow for the thickness of the restorative material. The temporary restoration should act as guide to the final contour of the permanent restoration.
Significance of 99mTc-sulfur colloid splenic image in malignant melanoma.

To evaluate the clinical significance of 99mTc-sulfur-colloid (TcSC) spleen scan findings in patients with malignant melanoma, a retrospective study was undertaken. Eighty-one patients with histologically proven malignant melanoma who received treatment in Roswell Park during a five-year period were included in this study. The scans were analyzed for spleen size, differential uptake of the tracer in liver and spleen, and for the presence of metastases in these two organs. These data were compared with stage of disease, survival, and autopsy findings. Significant correlation was found between the splenic size as measured on the scintiscan and at autopsy examination. The spleen size was found to be normal in 92% of the patients in early melanoma. The median survival of patients who had a normal-sized spleen by scan criteria was found to be longer than those who had splenomegaly. No significant difference in survival was noted between the patients with and without augmented splenic uptake of TcSC. Only a small number (17.7%) of patients with augmented splenic uptake had splenic metastases; hence, the possible role of immunological factors was considered.
Chronic GM1 gangliosidosis presenting as dystonia: II. Biochemical studies

A patient with chronic GM1 gangliosidosis was studied enzymatically and biochemically. Leukocyte acid beta-galactosidase activity was severely deficient. In brain and liver, the 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-galactosidase with acidic pH optimum and lactosylceramidase II were deficient while other hydrolases were present in normal amounts, including sialidase determined with N-acetylneuramin-lactose and fetuin as substrates. Neutral beta-galactosidase in liver was increased up to fourfold over the control. Corresponding to the pathological findings, GM1 ganglioside sialic acid was increased in the basal ganglia to 57% of the total (normal, 12 to 16%), accounting for the rise in total ganglioside to 180% of normal in this origin. Only slight to moderate elevations in the proportion of GM1 ganglioside were noted in the cerebral cortex and white matter, without major increase in total ganglioside. Elevated asialo GM1 ganglioside was also confined to the basal ganglia. There was no increase in hepatic glycoproteins or in keratan sulfate-like materials. This is the only known patient with chronic GM1 gangliosidosis in whom abnormal accumulation of GM1 ganglioside has been demonstrated in affected tissue and sialidase deficiency has been excluded as the primary genetic defect.
An integrated structural health monitoring approach for crack growth monitoring

A novel structural health monitoring approach consisting of guided ultrasonic waves, acoustic emission, and digital image correlation, as well as real-time and postmortem analyses, was implemented ...
The Technology Integration Assessment Instrument: Understanding Planned Use of Technology by Classroom Teachers.

Abstract Cognizant of the difficulty teachers face in attempting to integrate computers into instructional settings, the authors propose a new technology integration assessment strategy that can guide individual development or be used to track programmatic change. The Technology Integration Assessment Instrument (TIAI) explores seven dimensions of planning with specific attention to levels of technology integration. Repeated use of the TIAI is anticipated to promote individuals' abilities to track their own growth, as well as provide a standard method for documenting the application of Type II uses of educational computing. This paper presents the TIAI, identifying the method of analyzing lesson plans employed in this system, as well as addressing likely uses of the instrument by teachers, administrators, and program evaluators.
Determination of free CO2 in emergent groundwaters using a commercial beverage carbonation meter

Summary Dissolved CO2 in groundwater is frequently supersaturated relative to its equilibrium with atmospheric partial pressure and will degas when it is conveyed to the surface. Estimates of dissolved CO2 concentrations can vary widely between different hydrochemical facies because they have different sources of error (e.g., rapid degassing, low alkalinity, non-carbonate alkalinity). We sampled 60 natural spring and mine waters using a beverage industry carbonation meter, which measures dissolved CO2 based on temperature and pressure changes as the sample volume is expanded. Using a modified field protocol, the meter was found to be highly accurate in the range 0.2–35 mM CO2. The meter provided rapid, accurate and precise measurements of dissolved CO2 in natural waters for a range of hydrochemical facies. Dissolved CO2 concentrations measured in the field with the carbonation meter were similar to CO2 determined using the pH-alkalinity approach, but provided immediate results and avoided errors from alkalinity and pH determination. The portability and ease of use of the carbonation meter in the field made it well-suited to sampling in difficult terrain. The carbonation meter has proven useful in the study of aquatic systems where CO2 degassing drives geochemical changes that result in surficial mineral precipitation and deposition, such as tufa, travertine and mine drainage deposits.
Altered response of vascular smooth muscle cells to exogenous biochemical stimulation in two- and three-dimensional culture.

Removal of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) from their native environment alters the biochemical and mechanical signals responsible for maintaining normal cell function, causing a shift from a quiescent, contractile phenotype to a more proliferative, synthetic state. We examined the effect on SMC function of culture on two-dimensional (2D) substrates and in three-dimensional (3D) collagen Type I gels, including the effect of exogenous biochemical stimulation on gel compaction, cell proliferation, and expression of the contractile protein smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) in these systems. Embedding of SMC in 3D collagen matrices caused a marked decrease in both cell proliferation and expression of SMA. The presence of the extracellular matrix modulated cellular responses to platelet-derived growth factor BB, heparin, transforming growth factor-β1, and endothelial cell-conditioned medium. Cell proliferation and SMA expression were shown to be inversely related, while gel compaction and SMA expression were not correlated. Taken together, these results show that SMC phenotype and function can be modulated using biochemical stimulation in vitro, but that the effects produced are dependent on the nature of the extracellular matrix. These findings have implications for the study of vascular biology in vitro, as well as for the development of engineered vascular tissues.
A Hydrostatic Tester for Egg Shell Strength

Abstract IT IS perhaps paradoxical that the quality of the non-edible portion of an egg is a primary factor in the production of market eggs. However, the importance of shell strength is indicated by its frequent study. In a recent review of the subject (Tyler, 1961), 16 methods of shell strength determination were reported. Subsequently different methods have been reported by Rehkugler (1962) and Frank et al. (1964). In general, quantitative studies of shell strength have been made by either static loading of eggs, or impacting some moving object against them. None of these methods simulate the more frequent conditions of shell failure—dynamic situations involving impact deceleration of the egg. Dynamic testing of egg shell strength requires large and complex machines—drop testers—which are not ordinarily available to those interested in shell quality. However, impact deceleration can be simulated by increasing the hydrostatic pressure of the egg contents. A…
Enzymic synthesis of methionine: formation of a radioactive cobamide enzyme with N5-methyl-14C-tetrahydrofolate.

Abstract When extensively purified preparations of N 5 -methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine transmethylase were incubated with N 5 -methyl- 14 C-tetrahydrofolate in the presence of S -adenosyl- l -methionine and a FMNH 2 -dithiothreitol reducing system, 14 C-labeled protein was obtained. This radioactivity was stable to light and the amount corresponded to at least 0.3 mμmole of bound 14 C per mμmole of B 12 -chromophore. Upon incubation of the 14 C-labeled protein with excess homocysteine, methionine- 14 CH 3 was formed in nearly stoichiometric quantities. Propylation of the B 12 -chromophore on the transmethylase inhibited the rate of catalysis of methionine synthesis and the amount of 14 C labeling from N 5 -methyl- 14 C-tetrahydrofolate to the same extent. All the available evidence indicates that a cobamide enzyme containing methyl- 14 C groups was isolated.
Cell-specific trafficking suggests a new role for renal ATP7B in the intracellular copper storage.

Human Cu-ATPases ATP7A and ATP7B maintain copper homeostasis through regulated trafficking between intracellular compartments. Inactivation of these transporters causes Menkes disease and Wilson disease, respectively. In Menkes disease, copper accumulates in kidneys and causes tubular damage, indicating that the renal ATP7B does not compensate for the loss of ATP7A function. We show that this is likely due to a kidney-specific regulation of ATP7B. Unlike ATP7A (or hepatic ATP7B) which traffics from the TGN to export copper, renal ATP7B does not traffic and therefore is unlikely to mediate copper export. The lack of ATP7B trafficking is not on account of the loss of a kinase-mediated phosphorylation or simultaneous presence of ATP7A in renal cells. Rather, the renal ATP7B appears 2–3 kDa smaller than hepatic ATP7B. Recombinant ATP7B expressed in renal cells is similar to hepatic protein in size and trafficking. The analysis of ATP7B mRNA revealed a complex behavior of exon 1 upon amplification, suggesting that it could be inefficiently translated. Recombinant ATP7B lacking exon 1 traffics differently in renal and hepatic cells, but does not fully recapitulate the endogenous phenotype. We discuss factors that may contribute to cell-specific behavior of ATP7B and propose a role for renal ATP7B in intracellular copper storage.
Identification of the Unsaturated Heptadecyl Fatty Acids in the Seed Oils of Thespesia populnea and Gossypium hirsutum

The fatty acid composition of the seed oils of Thespesia populnea and cotton variety SG-747 (Gossypium hirsutum) were studied to identity their 17-carbon fatty acids. With a combination of chemical derivatization, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry, 8-heptadecenoic acid, 9-heptadecenoic acid, and 8,11-heptadecadienoic acids were identified in both oils. Additionally, traces of 10-heptadecenoic acid were identified in the T. populnea oil. Although these odd-carbon number fatty acids are present in only minor amounts in cottonseed oil, they make up about ~2 % of the fatty acids in T. populnea seed oil. The identification of these acids indicates that fatty acid α-oxidation is not restricted to cyclopropene fatty acids in these plants, but also occurs with unsaturated fatty acids. Combined with malvalic acid (generally accepted as being formed by α-oxidation of sterculic acid), ~7 % of the fatty acids in T. populnea seed have under gone α-oxidization. The results should help clarify the composition of T. populnea seed oil, which has been reported inconsistently in the literature.