cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
“Ethical and Legal First Amendment Implications of FBI v. Apple: A Commentary on Etzioni’s ‘Apple: Good Business, Poor Citizen?’”

This commentary proceeds as follows. First, it is argued from both ethical and legal perspectives through an analysis of Court precedents that Etzioni’s has improperly developed a too narrow First Amendment interpretation and conclusion that Apple should comply with the FBI’s demand to provide the FBI with a key to open iPhones. That is, broad First Amendment considerations and not solely narrow First Amendment “compelled speech” or only Fourth Amendment privacy issues are offered and analyzed from both ethical and legal perspectives. A key point here is that broad First Amendment considerations protect, with exceptions, political and ethical discretion space for “Press” organizations to exercise, or not, ethical responsibilities, including rights to publish or not publish information and opinions, rather than compliance with government orders to publish or not publish. Further, Court cases are discussed from both legal and ethical perspectives where the Courts have established that social media organizations such as Facebook and Twitter do and should have broad First Amendment protection of free expression and peaceful assembly as traditional media such as newspapers have. It is suggested that Apple can and should be considered a social media organization. In addition, special First Amendment protection and limitations concerning national security are analyzed. Second, it is suggested that Etzioni’s point that Apple protected its clients soley for “business profitability” reasons is also a too narrow interpretation since there are more complex, mixed, and combined ethical and political-economic reasons for protecting clients and First Amendment protections. Third, the philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s ethics process responsibility framework concerning relationships between ethics and law and the need for an ethics responsibility rather than a compliance approach, which is similar to Brandeis’ legal ethics approach, is compared with and offered as an alternative to Etzioni’s compliance based “Liberal communitarian” approach. It is suggested that the difference between the Rocoeur and Etzioni approaches is similar to the difference between compliance and ethics responsibility process programs in organizations.
Special Techniques for Nonunions Associated with Traumatic Bone Loss

Traumatic bone loss is a common and potentially devastating component of bony nonunion. Traditionally, acute bone loss is treated with acute bone grafting if the defect is small (less than or equal to 3 cm). There has been adequate success in these cases with simple bone grafting that is highlighted by a gold standard of cancellous autograft harvested from the iliac crest. When the defects become larger or when the zone of injury is necrotic, contaminated, or inadequately covered by soft tissues, the reconstructive ladder must be individualized to the patient and a multidisciplinary approach must be utilized to achieve bony union. This chapter outlines the techniques currently described for traumatic bone loss regeneration and substitution. The tradition of distraction osteogenesis continues to remain the gold standard of improving the biology of the healing environment along with providing deformity correction and massive bony regeneration, but this does not come without significant technical difficulty and shortcomings. The other described techniques are being employed with increasing frequency and may provide a more patient-centered approach to bony regeneration and provide answers to questions that can rarely be answered by distraction alone. These include the Masquelet technique, metal substitution, and vascularized tissue transfer.
Simulating and Estimating the Behavior of a Neuromorphic Co-Processor

Neuromorphic computing represents one technology likely to be incorporated into future supercomputers. In this work, we present initial results on a potential neuromorphic co-processor, including a preliminary device design that includes memristors, estimates on energy usage for the co-processor, and performance of an on-line learning mechanism. We also present a high-level co-processor simulator used to estimate the performance of the neuromorphic co-processor on real applications. We discuss future use-cases of a potential neuromorphic co-processor in the supercomputing environment, including as an accelerator for supervised learning and for unsupervised, on-line learning tasks. Finally, we discuss plans for future work.
Coaching Nephrology Trainees Who Struggle with Clinical Performance.

Amid the recruitment crisis currently facing nephrology, there is concern among nephrology educators that a proportion of fellows will struggle with clinical performance. In a recent survey of nephrology program leaders conducted by the American Society of Nephrology Workforce and Training Committee
Chromosome 9 mutations reported absent in some patients with basal cell carcinoma nevus syndrome.

Basal Cell Carcinoma Nevus Syndrome (BCCNS), also known as Gorlin syndrome, is a rare autosomal dominant condition with a substantial disease burden, thought to occur secondary to chromosome 9 mutation evoking a Hedgehog (Hh) signaling aberration that leads to early development of numerous basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). Individuals with BCCNS also present with keratocystic odontogenic tumors, medulloblastomas, and palmar or plantar pits1. This condition demonstrates variable expressivity, leading to differing phenotypes, even within the same family2. BCCNS diagnosis requires meeting two major or one major and two minor criteria (Table 1) or presence of Chromosome 9 and/or PTCH1 mutations1. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Chemokine-Mediated Choreography of Thymocyte Development and Selection

As they differentiate, thymocytes encounter spatially restricted cues critical for differentiation and selection of a functional, self-tolerant T cell repertoire. Sequential migration of developing T cells through distinct thymic microenvironments is enforced by the ordered expression of chemokine receptors. Herein, we provide an updated perspective on T cell differentiation through the lens of recent advances that illuminate the dynamics of chemokine-driven thymocyte migration, localization, and interactions with stromal cells. We consider these findings in the context of earlier groundwork exploring the contribution of chemokines to T cell development, recent advances regarding the specificity of chemokine signaling, and novel techniques for evaluating the T cell repertoire. We suggest future research should amalgamate visualization of localized cellular interactions with downstream molecular signals.
Vibration-guided mate searching in treehoppers: directional accuracy and sampling strategies in a complex sensory environment.

ABSTRACT Animal movement decisions involve an action–perception cycle in which sensory flow influences motor output. Key aspects of the action–perception cycle involved in movement decisions can be identified by integrating path information with measurement of environmental cues. We studied mate searching in insects for which the primary sensory cues are mechanical vibrations traveling through the tissues of living plants. We mapped search paths of male thornbug treehoppers locating stationary females through an exchange of vibrational signals. At each of the males9 sampling locations, we used two-dimensional laser vibrometry to measure stem motion produced by female vibrational signals. We related properties of the vibrational signals to the males9 movement direction, inter-sample distance and accuracy. Males experienced gradients in signal amplitude and in the whirling motion of the plant stem, and these gradients were influenced to varying degrees by source distance and local stem properties. Males changed their sampling behavior during the search, making longer inter-sample movements farther from the source, where uncertainty is higher. The primary directional cue used by searching males was the direction of wave propagation, and males made more accurate decisions when signal amplitude was higher, when time delays were longer between the front and back legs, and when female responses were short in duration. The whirling motion of plant stems, including both the eccentricity and the major axes of motion, is a fundamental feature of vibrational environments on living plants, and we show for the first time that it has important influences on the decisions of vibrationally homing insects.
Transforming growth factor-beta 1 and -beta 2 positively regulate TGF-beta 1 mRNA expression in trabecular cells.

PURPOSE To determine whether transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 and -beta 2 and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) induce the gene expression of TGF-beta 1 in the first-passage trabecular meshwork cells of the eye. METHODS Trabecular meshwork cells were cultured from fresh porcine eyes and treated with 1 ng/ml of TGF-beta 1, TGF-beta 2, or bFGF for 1 hour. Cells maintained in serum-free medium were used as controls. Total cellular RNA was extracted, and the first-strand cDNA was synthesized. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and competitive PCR were performed on aliquots of the cDNAs by using either endogenous (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [G3PDH]) or exogenous sequence (PCR mimic for TGF-beta 1) as internal standards, respectively. The obtained products were quantitated by laser densitometry, and statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS The findings show that trabecular cells in vitro express the TGF-beta 1 messenger RNA constitutively. Both the techniques of multiplex PCR and competitive PCR demonstrated that the addition of either TGF-beta 1 or TGF-beta 2 at a concentration present in normal aqueous humor increased the mRNA levels of TGF-beta 1 by 2.82-to 3.07-fold over the controls, and these results were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Basic fibroblast growth factor did not have an effect on TGF-beta 1 expression (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Transforming growth factor-beta 1 activates its own gene expression in trabecular cells. Considering the multifunctional property of this cytokine, which includes increased deposition of extracellular matrix material and growth inhibition of trabecular cells, a change in its concentration within the eye would have a profound effect because of this autoinductive activity. Transforming growth factor-beta 2 treatment of trabecular cells also increased their expression of the TGF-beta 1 gene. The authors previously showed that the level of TGF-beta 2 in the aqueous humor of glaucomatous eyes is significantly higher than that of age-matched nonglaucomatous controls. The current finding suggests that this growth modulator may exert its effects directly on the trabecular cells or that it may act indirectly through upregulating the production of TGF-beta 1.
Ethylene dimerization in nickel containing MCM-41 and AIMCM-41 studied by electron spin resonance and gas chromatography

Dehydrated nickel-containing mesoporous MCM-41 and AIMCM-41 materials are catalytically active for ethylene dimerization. The catalytic activity is shown to be due to nickel(I) species in ion-exchange positions. The ethylene dimerization activity and product distribution is different in Ni-MCM-41 and Ni-AIMCM-41. Electron spin resonance studies show that an isolated nickel(I) species can be stabilized, which converts to a Ni(I)-C 2 D 4 complex after ethylene adsorption. After subsequent heating to 343 K two new species are observed, which can be ascribed to Ni(I)-product complexes.
Spectrum of Light Scattered by Critical Fluctuations

Near the critical point of second order phase transitions the order parameter describing the system shows very large amplitude fluctuations which relax back to equilibrium ever more slowly as the critical point is approached. This paper will present a brief review of experimental studies of the intensity and spectrum of light scattered near critical points of simple fluids and two component critical mixtures. These provide detailed information on the divergence of the fluctuations and their relaxation times in fluids. As has been pointed out by Ginzburg analogous behavior is to be observed in solids near second order phase transitions. We also propose a measurement of the spectral width of quasielastically scattered light as an indicator of the existence of critical opalescence in a solid. Estimates of the line width for such scattering are given for the case of NH4Cl.
Audio Steganography for Information Hiding and Covert Communication – a Tutorial

Steganography is concerned with hiding information in a medium such as text, image, audio or video. From Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek tattooed writing, and Chinese papyrus to text display or printout from a word processor, this data hiding technique has a long and varied history. Human auditory and visual imperfections, which lead to psychoacoustic masking effects in hearing and vision, respectively, are exploited in modern multimedia hiding methods for modifying a host, or cover, signal in accordance with a given piece of covert information. Since the modification is carried out in the masked regions of perceptibility, the information-embedded medium, or the ‘stego’ signal, appears to be the same as the original host signal in human perception. While encryption of a media signal (an audio, image or video) alters the signal to conceal its contents so that it becomes unintelligible, embedding uses the media signal as a carrier for hiding covert information without altering the perceptual quality of the carrier. Hence, the success of embedding information in a media signal depends, among others, on the detectability of any difference between the original host signal and the embedded, stego signal. Watermarking is a subset of steganography for unobtrusively concealing a small amount of information such as the authenticity of the cover media signal. Recovery of the hidden information without requiring the original host media signal – oblivious recovery – and robustness of the hidden information under adverse conditions during transmission are also essential in many applications of steganography. Additionally, the hidden information must withstand intentional or unintentional attacks in attempts to illegally access the information from the stego. Applications of general steganographic techniques abound in modern Internet based communication and file sharing. Watermarking of an audio signal, for instance, is used to determine the legal use of a music file that carries a hidden copyright logo or other information. Embedding biometric data such as a person's fingerprint features in his/her picture identification card for use in access-controlled areas can thwart illegal entry. By concealing the existence of hidden information, the technique can be applied for covert communication using unclassified channels without undue demand for bandwidth.
Abstract 216: Interleukin-10 Deficiency Impairs Reparative Properties of Bone Marrow-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cell Exosomes

EPC based therapy in clinical trials is largely benefited from paracrine effect such as exosomes. Exosomes mirror the behavior of parental cells and their function is dependent on RNAs and proteins...
Masters of Morphology: Explicit Multisensory Structured Metacognitive Language Strategies to Foster Adolescent Learners’ Content Vocabulary

As students move through the grades, content area learning becomes increasingly significant for reading, writing, and speaking tasks. One research-evidenced approach to actively engaging adolescent...
Soul-Searching at Standing Rock

This paper proposes the existence of two cultural complexes—a Native Complex and a Pilgrim Complex—active in the United States today. Continuously functioning since the nation’s founding, these complexes recently manifested in the #NoDAPL actions at the Standing Rock reservation and can be seen constellating with and in opposition to each other.
Modeling Approaches for Determining Appropriate Depth of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Tubing in Alfalfa

AbstractAlfalfa provides high-energy feed for dairy cows and other livestock. This crop is also known for its high water-use efficiency. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is an ideal method for meet...
Transsplenic portal vein recanalization and direct intrahepatic portosystemic shunt placement to optimize liver transplantation

Percutaneous trans-splenic portal vein recanalization (PVR) has been reported for facilitation of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS), however has not been applied to patients undergoing direct intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (DIPS). We report the utilization of trans-splenic-PVR with DIPS creation in a patient with chronic portal and hepatic vein occlusions undergoing liver transplantation evaluation. A 48-year-old male with decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis complicated by refractory ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and variceal bleeding underwent CT that demonstrated chronic occlusion of the hepatic veins (HV), extrahepatic portal vein (PV), and superior mesenteric vein (SMV). Due to failed attempts at TIPS at outside institutions, interventional radiology was consulted for portal vein recanalization (PVR) with TIPS to treat the portal hypertension and ascites and also facilitate an end-to-end PV anastomosis at transplantation. After an initial hepatic venogram confirmed chronic HV occlusion, a DIPS with trans-splenic PVR was planned. The splenic vein was accessed under sonographic guidance using a micropuncture set and subsequently upsized to a 6 French sheath over a stiff guidewire. A splenic venogram via this access confirmed occlusion of the PV with drainage of the splenic vein (SV) through gastric varices. The thrombosed PV was then recanalized and angioplastied to restore PV flow via the transsplenic approach. A transjugular liver access kit with a modified 21-gauge needle was advanced into the IVC through the internal jugular vein (IJV) sheath and directed towards the target snare in PV. The needle was used to subsequently puncture the PV through the caudate lobe and facilitate placement of a wire into the SV. The initial portosystemic gradient (PSG) was 20 mmHg. The IJV sheath was advanced through the hepatic parenchymal tract into the main-PV and a stent-graft was placed across the main PV and into the IVC. A portal venogram demonstrated brisk blood flow through the DIPS, resolution of varices and a PSG of 8 mmHg. One month after the procedure, the patient had a significant reduction in ascites and MELD-NA score. Patient is currently listed and awaiting transplantation. In the setting of chronically occluded portal and hepatic veins, trans-splenic PVR DIPS may serve as an effective bridge to liver transplantation by facilitating an end to end portal vein anastomosis.
Approximate Criterion for Prediction of Flow Oscillations in Supercritical Fluid Heat Exchangers

When cryogenic fluids are strongly heated, as they pass through a heat exchanger, flow oscillations can be encountered. This instability phenomenon can have detrimental effects on the system operation, Platt and Wood [1] document instabilities observed in the development of the Saturn booster. Similar oscillations have been observed with other types of fluids as well [2–4].
II.5 – REAL PIXELS

Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes the concept of real pixels. It discusses a floating point format that only requires 32 bits per pixel and is completely portable between machine architectures. The idea is using an 8-bit mantissa for each primary and following it with a single 8-bit exponent. In most floating point formats, the mantissa is normalized to lie between .5 and 1. Because this format uses the same exponent for three mantissas, only the largest value is guaranteed this normalization, and the other two may be less than .5. It appears that this format favors the largest primary value at the expense of accuracy in the other two primaries. This is true, but it is also true that the largest value dominates the displayed pixel color so that the other primaries become less noticeable. The 32-bit real pixel format presented in the chapter preserves the bits that are most significant, which is the general goal of any floating point format. The chapter highlights that besides the ability to perform more general image processing without losing accuracy, real pixels are great for radiosity and other lighting simulation programs, because the results can be evaluated numerically well outside the dynamic range of the display.
Relationship satisfaction predicts lower stress and inflammation in breast cancer survivors: A longitudinal study of within-person and between-person effects.

Abstract Background Breast cancer survivors with elevated inflammation have a greater risk for cancer recurrence, premature mortality, and comorbid disease development. The psychological stress survivors experience when confronted with a breast cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment can heighten inflammation. Identifying factors that reduce stress and inflammation could lead to improvements in survivors’ long-term health. Accordingly, this study examined the health-enhancing effects of romantic relationships—a key health determinant—on breast cancer survivors’ stress and inflammation. Methods Breast cancer survivors (n = 139, stages 0–IIIC) completed a baseline visit before treatment and two follow-up visits 6 and 18 months after treatment ended. Women completed self-report questionnaires assessing their romantic relationship satisfaction and perceived stress, and they provided a blood sample for serum markers of inflammation at each visit. The longitudinal design allowed for examination within and between survivors. We conducted multilevel mediation analyses to assess how changes in survivors’ relationship satisfaction were related to changes in stress and inflammation from visit to visit (i.e., within-person effects), as well as how the average effects of relationship satisfaction were associated with average stress and inflammation levels throughout the study (i.e., between-person effects). Results At the within-person level, at visits in which survivors were more satisfied with their relationships, they also perceived less stress, which in turn was related to lower than their own average levels of serum C-reactive protein and proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β). At the between-person level, survivors who had greater relationship satisfaction throughout the study had lower perceived stress, which was linked to lower levels of inflammation. Conclusion Breast cancer survivors in satisfying romantic relationships felt less stressed and in turn had lower inflammation throughout cancer treatment. This study illustrates the utility of a within-person approach to not only consider the average effects of relationship satisfaction, but also how changes in their own relationship satisfaction impact stress and inflammation over time. Our findings demonstrate important psychological and immunological pathways through which satisfying relationships may promote breast cancer survivors’ long-term health.
CaliPro: A Calibration Protocol That Utilizes Parameter Density Estimation to Explore Parameter Space and Calibrate Complex Biological Models.

Mathematical and computational modeling have a long history of uncovering mechanisms and making predictions for biological systems. However, to create a model that can provide relevant quantitative predictions, models must first be calibrated by recapitulating existing biological datasets from that system. Current calibration approaches may not be appropriate for complex biological models because: 1) many attempt to recapitulate only a single aspect of the experimental data (such as a median trend) or 2) Bayesian techniques require specification of parameter priors and likelihoods to experimental data that cannot always be confidently assigned. A new calibration protocol is needed to calibrate complex models when current approaches fall short. Herein, we develop CaliPro, an iterative, model-agnostic calibration protocol that utilizes parameter density estimation to refine parameter space and calibrate to temporal biological datasets. An important aspect of CaliPro is the user-defined pass set definition, which specifies how the model might successfully recapitulate experimental data. We define the appropriate settings to use CaliPro. We illustrate the usefulness of CaliPro through four examples including predator-prey, infectious disease transmission, and immune response models. We show that CaliPro works well for both deterministic, continuous model structures as well as stochastic, discrete models and illustrate that CaliPro can work across diverse calibration goals. We present CaliPro, a new method for calibrating complex biological models to a range of experimental outcomes. In addition to expediting calibration, CaliPro may be useful in already calibrated parameter spaces to target and isolate specific model behavior for further analysis.
Optimizing medical management for diverticular disease: A systematic review and gap analysis

Abstract Background Resolution of acute diverticulitis is often associated with ongoing gastrointestinal symptoms and risk for recurrent episodes. Surgical guidelines recommend individualized treatment options but medical management strategies have been inconsistently implemented in surgical practice. This study reviews the evidence for medical management to reduce episodes or decrease gastrointestinal symptoms to inform shared decision-making discussions with patients and identifies key evidence gaps for the medical management of diverticular disease. Methods PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically searched to identify randomized clinical trials on recurrent acute diverticulitis and symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease that studied medical treatment strategies including fiber supplementation, probiotics, mesalamine, and rifaximin. Two independent researchers screened references and assessed articles for eligibility. Outcomes of interest included patient-reported symptom improvement and diverticulitis recurrence. Results 27 of 485 unique articles identified in the electronic research met eligibility for inclusion. Three focused on fiber, three on probiotics, twelve on mesalamine, and nine on rifaximin with conflicting results. Conclusion Medical management options are available and may be helpful in some patients following resolution of acute diverticulitis to improve symptom burden and recurrent episodes of diverticulitis. Further investigation is needed to inform which subpopulation of patients are likely to benefit from different treatment strategies.
Compost application to degraded vineyard soils: Effect on soil chemistry, fertility, and vine performance

A two-year experiment investigated the effects of compost application rate on soil chemical properties, vine nutrient status, vine performance, and grape juice characteristics in a degraded vineyard soil in northern California. The intent of the research was to identify vineyard management strategies to improve soil fertility and to identify optimal compost application rates. We applied composted steer manure at three rates (11.2, 22.4, and 33.6 t/ha) in a randomized complete block design before the 2012 growing season. Pruning and berry weight increased over the control at the highest application rate in both years, while vine yield significantly increased over the control in year two. Polynomial orthogonal contrasts suggest that pruning weight, vine yield, and berry weight increased linearly with increasing compost application rate in 2012, and that vine yield and berry weight increased linearly and quadratically with compost application rate in 2013. Measured soil properties increased from compost application, including nitrogen (N), carbon, pH, exchangeable potassium (K), manganese, and calcium and available phosphorus (P, Olsen-P), while phosphorus fixation decreased. Vine petiole nutrients (N, P, and K) significantly increased from compost application in both years. Juice characteristics (pH, total soluble solids, and titratable acidity) were unaffected by compost application. Similarly, vine balance was unaffected by compost application. All vine metrics improved at the highest application rate, and soil chemical properties increased with the two highest application rates. Therefore, significant benefits to soil fertility and vine performance can be achieved for at least two years in degraded vineyard soils following a single dose of compost at higher application rates (22.4 and 33.6 t/ha) without compromising juice characteristics or vine balance.
Delayed Presentation of Urethral Valves: A Diagnosis That Should Be Suspected Despite a Normal Prenatal Ultrasound.

Background. Congenital urethral obstruction occurs most frequently as a result of urethral valves. The diagnosis is usually confirmed pre- or neonatally. Though not ideal, delayed diagnosis can occ...
So many Nigerians: why is Nigeria overrepresented as the ancestral genetic homeland of Legacy African North Americans?

Summary The genetics of African North Americans are complex amalgamations of various West and Central African peoples with modest gene flow from specific European and Amerindian peoples. A comprehensive understanding of African North American biohistory is a prerequisite for accurate interpretations of the ancestral genetics of this population. Too often, genetic interpretations falter with ahistorical reconstructions. The recently reported overrepresentation of Nigerian lineages in African North Americans reflects pronounced limitations in the African genomic database, the artificiality of the colonial maps of Africa, the contributions of multiple African empires and kingdoms into the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, and the overrepresentation of Yoruba peoples in the existing limited representation of West Africans in public genomic databases. This Matters Arising paper is in response to Micheletti et al. (2020), published in The American Journal of Human Genetics. See also the response by Micheletti et al. (2020), published in this issue.
Clinical Simulation to Evaluate Students' Intraprofessional Telehealth Skills Between Multiple University Campuses

Abstract Telehealth is a vital skill for providing access to care, cost-effective quality care, and intraprofessional collaboration. As more schools of nursing move toward online education, the concern is how to effectively train nurse practitioner students with telehealth knowledge and skills. Simulation can prepare students to develop these needed skills and to use telehealth effectively through innovative experiential learning opportunities. To overcome these educational challenges an intraprofessional pilot telehealth simulation was implemented to evaluate nurse practitioner students' knowledge, skills, and clinical abilities between universities.
How Soon is Now? A Temporal Account of Moral Disruption in Alzheimer's Dementia.

In his book, In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer's, Joseph Jebelli likens the experience of witnessing his beloved grandfather’s cognitive decline to “watching someone endlessly fall ...
Effects of dopamine depletion on striatal neurotensin: biochemical and immunohistochemical studies

Interactions between striatal dopamine (DA) and neurotensin (NT) have been suggested by anatomical, behavioral, and biochemical studies. Nigrostriatal DA neurons, in contrast to mesocorticolimbic DA neurons, do not appear to contain NT. Thus, distinct neuronal elements subserve interactions between DA and NT within the striatum. We have previously demonstrated that reserpine-induced depletion of striatal DA is accompanied by a dose- and time-dependent increase in striatal NT concentrations. In order to further characterize the effects of reserpine and to define the mechanism by which reserpine acts to increase striatal NT concentrations, we have used immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches. Immunohistochemical examination of rats pretreated with reserpine revealed marked increases in the density of NT-like immunoreactive (NT-li) perikarya and fibers, and the development of NT-li patches. Pretreatment with reserpine had no apparent effect on NT synthesis, as assessed by examination of cycloheximide-induced inhibition of protein synthesis. However, reserpine administration resulted in a significant decrease in the release of both DA and NT into the striatal extracellular fluid, as measured by in vivo microdialysis. These data suggest that the increase in striatal NT concentrations observed after reserpine treatment results from decreased release, rather than increased synthesis of the peptide.
From Affirmative Action to Diversity: Critical Reflections on Graduate Education in Sociology

This article explores the contradictory results of the shift from a race-conscious affirmative action discourse to a broader “diversity embrace” that advocates tolerance, equality, and respect for cultural differences on university campuses. Drawing on critical race theory and research on the practice of affirmative action in organizations, we argue that the diversity embrace subsumes recognition of racialized histories, social relations, and practices in favor of a “color-blind” rhetoric that reinforces negative assumptions about the academic merit and worthiness of underrepresented minority students (URM). Our review of the status and condition of URM graduate students in sociology departments reveals that minority inclusion is part of a larger strategy that emphasizes individual and group differences rather than corrective action for past discrimination. We find that access and inclusion in graduate programs in sociology have been uneven with relatively few departments producing a majority of URM sociology doctorates. The diversity embrace obscures their continual low representation in graduate programs, fosters professionalization practices detrimental to these students, and undermines efforts to create a “critical mass” of faculty of color. Such practices constitute a racial project that preserves White privilege at the individual and institutional levels.
What does Medicare pay rhinologists? An analysis of Medicare payment data

Background Information about charges and payments for physician services continues to be scrutinized. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released data regarding Medicare charges and payments to all physicians for calendar year 2012. The purpose of this study was to investigate the variability and patterns in Medicare charges and payments among a large sample of rhinologists. Methods Charge and payment data were obtained from publicly available CMS datasets (http://www.cms.gov). Data for all otolaryngologists and rhinology subsets were extracted. Charges, payments, fee multipliers, and total submitted claims were compared. Unequal variance 2-tailed t tests were used for analysis. Results Mean submitted charges for rhinologists were $291,464 compared to $211,209 for all otolaryngologists (p = 0.0014). Mean payments to rhinologists were $70,172 compared to $77,275 for all otolaryngologists (p = 0.24). Fees for services ranged from 1.33 to 14.29 times Medicare reimbursement rates (mean = 4.47). The fee multiplier was significantly higher for operating room–based codes compared to office-based codes (9.43 vs 3.44, p < 0.001). Academic rhinologists submitted fewer claims and had a higher fee multiplier than private rhinologists (p < 0.001). Academic and private rhinologists had no difference in submitted charges (p = 0.28). Conclusion The wide availability of Medicare payment information makes it important for physicians to understand how their individual data compares to that of their colleagues. Medicare payments to rhinologists were comparable to otolaryngologists as a whole. Charges for services commonly performed by rhinologists vary widely. Academic rhinologists submitted fewer claims than their private colleagues, but overall charges and payments were comparable between the 2 groups.
Financial Capital and Premarital Sexual Activity in Africa: The Case of Zambia

This paper examines two theoretical perspectives on sexual behavior in Africa using the 1992 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey data on never-married adolescent females. The results offer more support to the rational adaption hypothesis which assumes that many young women may be entering into sexual relationships to obtain money and material goods they cannot get within the financial capital of their families. There are, however, indications that some adolescents are sexually active before marriage as a result of the breakdown of traditional social controls that elders had over the younger people. The way in which this assumption of the social disorganization theory can be further explained is examined under the conceptual model of social capital.
The Use of Calorimetry to Study Ligand–DNA Interactions

Calorimetry monitors heat changes accompanying biological or chemical processes. As applied to the study of ligand–DNA interactions, calorimetry can be used to monitor processes including the isothermal titration of DNA targets with putative DNA binding ligands; as well as, the thermal denaturation of DNA in the absence and presence of binding ligands. By monitoring the small heat changes accompanying these events calorimetry can directly provide thermodynamic information which is invaluable for understanding the basis of how molecules interact with each other. In this chapter, the use of calorimetric approaches to the study of ligand–DNA interactions will be discussed.
Exact Quantum Loop Results in the Theory of General Relativity

We present a new approach to quantum general relativity based on the idea of Feynman to treat the graviton in Einstein's theory as a point particle field subject to quantum fluctuations just as any such field is in the well-known Standard Model of the electroweak and strong interactions. We show that by using resummation techniques based on the extension of the methods of Yennie, Frautschi and Suura to Feynman's formulation of Einstein's theory, we get calculable loop corrections that are even free of UV divergences. One further by-product of our analysis is that we can apply it to a large class of interacting field theories, both renormalizable and non-renormalizable, to render their UV divergences finite as well. We illustrate our results with applications of some phenomenological interest.
Minimizing pharmacodynamic interactions of high doses of lacosamide.

Edwards HB, Cole AG, Griffiths AS, Lin B, Bean A, Krauss GL. Minimizing pharmacodynamic interactions of high doses of lacosamide. Acta Neurol Scand: 2012: 125: 228–233. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objectives – To determine whether pharmacodynamic interactions between high doses of lacosamide (400–800 mg/day) and concomitant sodium channel antiepilepsy drugs (AEDs) can be minimized in patients with drug-resistant partial-onset seizures. Materials and methods – Patients were rapidly initiated with high-dose lacosamide (100 mg/week; increases to 400 to 800 mg/day), while simultaneously tapering concomitant sodium channel AEDs. Seizure frequency and side effects were evaluated at six time points: baseline, titration, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Results – Twenty-three patients had a baseline median of 4 seizures/month with persisting partial-onset seizures, despite previous treatment with an average of 6.8 AEDs. Mean decreases in monthly seizure frequency were as follows: 3 months 49.9% (P = 0.011), 6 months 55.4% (P = 0.010), 9 months 60.8% (P = 0.002) and 12 months 58.2% (P = 0.011). Most adverse events were mild CNS-related symptoms and occurred transiently only during titration – there was no significant relationship (χ2 0.1) between lacosamide dose and the presence of side effects at 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. Conclusion – s – Drug-resistant patients rapidly titrated to high doses of lacosamide with simultaneous tapering of traditional sodium channel AEDs had marked reduction in CNS-related adverse events compared with patients treated in three previous pivotal trials that used fixed doses of concomitant AEDs.
Analysis of the retina in the zebrafish model

The zebrafish is one of the leading models for the analysis of the vertebrate visual system. A wide assortment of molecular, genetic, and cell biological approaches is available to study zebrafish visual system development and function. As new techniques become available, genetic analysis and imaging continue to be the strengths of the zebrafish model. In particular, recent developments in the use of transposons and zinc finger nucleases to produce new generations of mutant strains enhance both forward and reverse genetic analysis. Similarly, the imaging of developmental and physiological processes benefits from a wide assortment of fluorescent proteins and the ways to express them in the embryo. The zebrafish is also highly attractive for high-throughput screening of small molecules, a promising strategy to search for compounds with therapeutic potential. Here we discuss experimental approaches used in the zebrafish model to study morphogenetic transformations, cell fate decisions, and the differentiation of fine morphological features that ultimately lead to the formation of the functional vertebrate visual system.
Comparison of short- and long-term complications and survival following jejunojejunostomy, jejunoileostomy and jejunocaecostomy in 112 horses: 2005-2010.

Summary Reasons for performing the study There is disagreement among surgeons over whether jejunoileostomy (JI) or jejunocaecostomy (JC) is the better method of anastomosis following proximal ileal resection. Objective To compare short- and long-term complications and outcome in horses undergoing jejunojejunostomy (JJ), JI and JC and to test the hypotheses that a higher proportion of horses undergoing JI would have short-term complications and mortality compared with horses undergoing JC or JJ and that JC would be associated with a higher long-term mortality and occurrence of colic. Study design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods Medical records of horses undergoing celiotomy for a small intestinal obstruction and JJ, JI or JC from 2005 to 2010 were reviewed. Post operative complications were recorded. Short-term outcome was alive vs. dead at hospital discharge and was analysed using a Chi-squared test. Long-term follow-up was obtained and a Kaplan–Meier estimate of the survivor function was performed. Results There were 112 horses included. A higher proportion of JI horses had a repeat celiotomy during hospitalisation compared with horses undergoing JC. The number of horses alive at hospital discharge was not different between groups: JJ 79% (95% confidence interval [CI] 68–90%), JI 78% (95% CI 61–96%), JC 83% (95% CI 71–96%). Among horses discharged with long-term follow-up, more horses had colic after JC compared with JJ or JI. Long-term post discharge survival based on the Kaplan–Meier survivor function was lower for horses undergoing JC than JJ or JI (P = 0.04). Conclusion While there was no difference in short-term outcome between groups, more horses with JI underwent a repeat celiotomy during hospitalisation. Horses with a JC were more likely to have long-term complications with colic. Horses that were subjected to euthanasia because of colic within 12 months of hospital discharge either had a JC or repeat celiotomy. The results suggest that, when possible, a JI may be the preferred method of anastomosis based on more favourable survival and lower occurrence of colic long term.
Characteristics of glutamine transport in dog jejunal brush-border membrane vesicles.

The present study characterizes glutamine transport across brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) prepared from dog jejunum. The purity of these vesicles was demonstrated by a 20-fold enrichment of leucine aminopeptidase, a marker for BBM. Glutamine uptake was found to occur into an osmotically active space with no membrane binding and to exhibit temperature and pH dependence (optimal uptake at pH 7-7.5). Glutamine uptake was driven by an inwardly directed Na+ gradient with a distinct overshoot not observed under K+ gradient. Lithium could not substitute for Na+ as a stimulator of glutamine uptake. Na+-dependent glutamine uptake was not inhibited by methylaminoisobutyric acid, a typical substrate for system A, and was found to be electrogenic and saturable with a Km of 0.97 +/- 0.58 mM and a Vmax of 3.93 +/- 0.99 nmol.mg protein-1.10 s-1. A Na+-glutamine coupling ratio of 1:1 could be demonstrated by a plot of Hill transformation. Na+-independent glutamine uptake was found to be electroneutral and saturable with a Km of 3.70 +/- 0.66 mM and a Vmax of 2.70 +/- 1.55 nmol.mg protein-1.10 s-1. Inhibition studies confirmed the presence of a Na+-dependent as well as a Na+-independent carrier for glutamine uptake. We conclude that glutamine uptake across dog BBMV occurs via two transport systems: a Na+-dependent high-affinity system similar to the neutral brush-border system and a Na+-independent lower-affinity system similar to system L.
Minimax-Optimal Hypothesis Testing With Estimation-Dependent Costs

This paper introduces a novel framework for hypothesis testing in the presence of unknown parameters. The objective is to decide between two hypotheses, where each one involves unknown parameters that are of interest to be estimated. The existing approaches on detection and estimation place the primary emphasis on the detection part by solving this part optimally and treating the estimation part suboptimally. The proposed framework, in contrast, treats both problems simultaneously and in a jointly optimal manner. The resulting test exhibits the flexibility to strike any desired balance between the detection and estimation accuracies. By exploiting this flexibility, depending on the application in hand, this new technique offers the freedom to put different emphasis on the detection and estimation subproblems. The proposed optimal joint detection and estimation framework is also extended to multiple hypothesis tests. We apply the proposed test to the problem of detecting and estimating periodicities in DNA sequences and demonstrate the advantages of the new framework compared to the classical Neyman-Pearson approach and the GLRT.
Latest Pleistocene lake shorelines and glacial chronology in the Western Basin and Range Province, U.S.A.: insights from AMS radiocarbon dating of rock varnish and paleoclimatic implications

Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of organic matter in the basal layer of rock varnish provides a minimum surface exposure age for the underlying landform. Varnishes 14C ages indicate that the latest Pleistocene highstand of Lake Lahontan was abandoned before 12.7 ka, Searles Lake before 13.6 ka, Lake Manly before 13.0 ka, and Lake Mojave before 11.6 ka. The maxima of the Tioga glaciation at Pine Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and the Middle Creek glaciation in the adjacent White Mountains of California-Nevada was just before 18–19 ka; major recessional moraines were deposited in these ranges before 12–13 ka. Penecontemporaneous glacial retreat and high levels in closed-basin lakes cannot be explained by glacial melt water, but probably reflects higher snowlines and more precipitation. A relatively minor glacial advance, perhaps related to the “Younger Dryas” in Europe, may be penecontemporaneous with a slight transgression in lake levels about 10–11 ka in the western Basin and Range, suggesting a temporary return to cooler or wetter conditions, or both at the termination of the Pleistocene.