cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reproductive risk factors and breast cancer subtypes: a review of the literature

Aside from age, sex, and family history, risk of developing breast cancer is largely linked to reproductive factors, which characterize exposure to sex hormones. Given that, molecular testing at the tumor level is currently possible, clinical characterization of tumor subtypes is routinely conducted to guide treatment decisions. However, despite the vast amount of published data from observational studies on reproductive factor associations and breast cancer risk, relatively fewer reports have been published on associations specific to breast tumor subtypes. We conducted a review of the literature and summarized the results of associations between reproductive factors and risk or odds of three distinct tumor subtypes: estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor positive (hormone receptor positive, HR+ tumors), tumors overexpressing the human epidermal receptor 2 protein (HER2+), and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), which lacks the three markers. Results show that the most consistent evidence for associations with reproductive risk factors exists for HR+ breast cancers, with nulliparity, current use of menopausal hormone therapy, and prolonged interval between menarche and age at first birth being the strongest risk factors; increased age at first birth and decreased age at menarche were fairly consistently associated with HR+ cancers; and though less consistent, older age at menopause was also positively associated, while lactation was inversely associated with HR+ tumors. Fewer consistent associations have been reported for TNBC. The single protective factor most consistently associated with TNBC was longer duration of breastfeeding. Increased parity, younger age at first birth, older age at menarche, and oral contraceptive use were less consistently shown to be associated with TNBC. No remarkable associations for HER2+ breast cancers were evident, although this was based on relatively scarce data. Findings suggest heterogeneity in reproductive risk factors for the distinct subtypes of breast tumors, which may have implications for recommended prevention strategies.
Selective modulation and turnover of proteins in identified neurons of Aplysia.

Abstract 1. 1. Protein turnover rates were studied in three identified neurons, R2, R14 and R15, in the abdominal ganglion of Aplysia. 2. 2. In the bursting pacemaker neuron, R15, about 25 per cent of the de novo protein synthesis of the cell is directed towards producing a rapidly turning over class of small (about 12,000 daltons) proteins. 3. 3. Application of dopamine to the incubation medium causes a selective decrease in synthesis of this protein class, whereas increases in the K+ ion concentration of the medium causes a selective increase. 4. 4. This significance of these modulation effects and their relationship to turnover is discussed.
The Photarium: A Device for Taking Natural Photographs of Live Fish

Abstract Fabrication of Plexiglas tanks connected to a direct-current pump enables quality photographs of live fishes to be made in situ. The device is simple, inexpensive ($5–$10 for the tanks, $30-$50 for pump and battery), and its use eliminates the stress and distortion of subjects that normally accompany out-of-water photographs of fishes.
Development of a Flaw Detection/Health Monitoring Scheme for Turbine Engine Rotating Components

The hot section components of jet engines undergo severe environmental operating conditions where combined thermal and mechanical loading is the dominant factor in affecting their durability and performance. Minimizing the impact of these loads and inventing a flaw detection technology to monitor the health of these components is of utmost importance to the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AVSP). Work is underway through the AVSP’s Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Project to conduct research on ways to improve the safety, structural durability of critical hot engine section components, reduce cost, and improve performance in every aircraft class. Therefore, it is NASA’s goal to develop a robust health monitoring technique via utilizing means of in-situ and wireless detection technology by expanding on sensor systems that are capable of functioning in severe environments, transmitting a signal upon detecting a predetermined crack length, and acting in an impartial fashion with respect to the overall performance of the engine system. Development and implementation of such sensor technology and diagnostic capabilities is possible only by conducting combined analytical and experimental studies (coupon and sub-scale levels) to determine their applicability and success. As a result, ongoing research at NASA GRC has aimed at investigating both global and local approaches for monitoring critical rotor components 1-4 . This paper is focused on presenting current ongoing research activities concerning health monitoringflaw detection systems of turbine engine rotating components and their relevance on meeting the IVHM program goals and millstones. Test data obtained under various operating conditions of a rotor disk with and without an artificially induced notch rotated at a rotational speed up to 12000 Rpm are presented, discussed and evaluated for health monitoring applications. Disk flaw observations and related assessments from the collected data are reported. Lastly, parallel analytical results of disk spinning at a range of rotational speeds showing the disk modal shapes and notch influence on damage initiation and crack propagation are also included.
An efficient communication system for disaster detection and coordinated emergency evacuation

Speedily and safely evacuating the occupants of a disaster area is becoming increasingly important. Its indispensability is being further emphasized by the recurrence of events like terrorist threats, natural disasters and man-made disasters. Experiences from previous evacuation operations have proven that the proper, timely, and reliable communication with the evacuees is instrumental in executing a successful and satisfactory evacuation. Furthermore, conditions in an emergency situation are altogether different from normal circumstances, which can render the regular communication mechanisms completely unavailable in facilitating evacuation operations. However, the communication aspects of the evacuation procedures have not been touched in detail. In this paper, we propose a novel communication system for evacuation operation and three scenarios to efficiently reach out to evacuees in the case of emergencies.
Intensity-modulated radiotherapy: rethinking basic treatment planning paradigms.

is a high likelihood of metabolically and clonogenically active tumor, the treatment plan might be designed to deliver a dose significantly higher than that delivered to a different region within the CTV in which the risk of tumor progression is considered lower. In a similar way, a region of the CTV located immediately adjacent to a critical normal structure might be given a lower target priority rating simply because the risk/benefit equation for this field segment is heavily in favor of normal tissue sparing. The traditional PTV is thus deconstructed into a series of regions of greater or lesser desired treatment intensity. This may lead to grossly inhomogeneous treatment plans, with hot spots (or, more rarely, cold spots) of 20% or more. We must learn how to make best use of these dosimetric inhomoge
Invention and Public Dialogue: Lessons from Rhetorical Theories

Although the dialogical nature of publics and public deliberation has been acknowledged frequently in recent years, several scholars have challenged the viability of dialogue as an instrument of public deliberation. This study discusses some of those challenges and examines a form of invention drawn from sophistic rhetoric for its potential to contribute to the theory and practice of facilitated dialogue on public issues. An extended illustration is drawn from an actual multilogue on a public issue.
Minor challenges: modified diverticulectomy and myotomy for recurrent Zenker diverticulum.

Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum or Zenker diverticulum is a relatively uncommon surgical problem. The cause of this entity has been debated but still remains inconclusive. The symptoms of dysphagia, regurgitation of undigested food, aspiration, noisy deglutition, halitosis, and voice changes usually prompt surgical correction.1 A variety of techniques have been proposed for its correction, including diverticulopexy, diverticulectomy, cricopharyngeal myotomy, and endoscopic stapling or lasering. All of these techniques have proponents and detractors.1-5 The most common technique to treat Zenker diverticulum has been combined diverticulectomy and cricopharyngeal myotomy. This approach has achieved excellent results, with an overall success rate of 95%, a recurrence rate of 3.6%, and a low mortality rate of 1.2%.5 This has been our standard approach, with equally good results. We have usually performed the diverticulectomy open over a 40F to 50F bougie. The resulting defect is closed with inverting 4-0 silk sutures. The adjacent esophageal muscle is closed over the repair for the second layer of closure. Subsequently, a myotomy is then performed at a remote site on the esophagus. During a recent operation for a failed repair performed elsewhere, there was little available esophageal muscle for the second layer of closure after resecting the diverticulum and completing the myotomy. We chose to use the omohyoid muscle to buttress the diverticulectomy site and to separate the edges of the myotomy, with excellent results. Failed operations for Zenker diverticulum pose challenging problems. Tissue planes are difficult to identify because of the previous diverticulectomy and myotomy. Knowing where the previous myotomy was performed can be difficult to determine and subject to inadvertent opening of the esophagus. By using the diverticulum as a guide to establish the correct plane for myotomy, one can easily perform this important part of the operation. Adequate tissues to cover the diverticulectomy site are often lacking. The use of the nearby omohyoid muscle provides a secure closure, with little if any cosmetic or functional loss. We have used this approach in 3 reoperations and 2 primary repairs with good results.
Nested case-control study of occupational chemical exposures and prostate cancer in aerospace and radiation workers.

Background To date, little is known about the potential contributions of occupational exposure to chemicals to the etiology of prostate cancer. Previous studies examining associations suffered from limitations including the reliance on mortality data and inadequate exposure assessment. Methods We conducted a nested case-control study of 362 cases and 1,805 matched controls to examine the association between occupational chemical exposures and prostate cancer incidence. Workers were employed between 1950 and 1992 at a nuclear energy and rocket engine-testing facility in Southern California. We obtained cancerincidencedatafromtheCaliforniaCancerRegistryandsevenotherstatecancerregistries. Data from company records were used to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for occupational exposures to hydrazine, trichloroethylene (TCE), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs),benzeneand mineraloil.Associations betweenchemical exposures and prostate cancer incidence were assessed in conditional logistic regression models. Results With adjustment for occupational confounders, including socioeconomic status, occupational physical activity, and exposure to the other chemicals evaluated, the odds ratio for low/moderate TCE exposure was 1.3; 95%CI ¼0.8 to 2.1, and for high TCE exposure was 2.1; 95%CI ¼1.2 to 3.9. Furthermore, we noted a positive trend between increasing levels of TCE exposure and prostate cancer (P-value for trend ¼0.02). Conclusion Our results suggest that high levels of TCE exposure are associated with prostate cancer among workers in our study population. Am. J. Ind. Med. 50:383– 390, 2007. 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
On the Use of CloudSat and MODIS Data for Estimating Hurricane Intensity

This letter presents preliminary results concerning the use of new observations from the A-Train Constellation for testing a new technique of remotely sensing hurricane intensity from space based on modeling a hurricane as a balanced, convectively neutral vortex. The key observational requirements are simultaneous, accurate measurements of cloud-top height, cloudtop temperature, and cloud profiling information across the center of the storm, although there are ways to bypass the need for cloud-top temperature. In this letter, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer onboard Aqua provides an estimation of the cloud-top temperature, and the near-simultaneous CloudSat observations provide the essential cloud-top height and cloud profiling information. Initial results indicate that the new technique is a promising method for estimating storm intensity when compared post facto to the best track database. Potential uncertainties and room for further refinement of the technique are discussed.
A singular perturbation approach to modeling and control of manipulators constrained by a stiff environment

Mathematical models for robot manipulator dynamics which incorporate the effects of interaction forces between the manipulator end effector and a stiff environment are presented. With appropriate assumptions, the model is transformed into a standard singularly perturbed form expressed in terms of a small parameter which is inversely proportional to the stiffness and the damping of the environment. The model for the slow time scale dynamics, corresponding to the case where the environment is rigid, is shown to be equivalent to the differential-algebraic equations which have been developed previously for mechanical systems with holonomic constraints. the model for the fast time scale dynamics is also derived. A feedback structure based on control of the slow time scale dynamics is proposed and justified. A simple example is presented to illustrate the concepts. >
Gate Level Fault Diagnosis in Scan-Based BIST

A gate level, automated fault diagnosis scheme is proposed for scan-based BIST designs. The proposed scheme utilizes both fault capturing scan chain information and failing test vector information and enables location identification of single stuck-at faults to a neighborhood of a few gates through set operations on small pass/fail dictionaries. The proposed scheme is applicable to multiple stuck-at faults and bridging faults as well. The practical applicability of the suggested ideas is confirmed through numerous experimental runs on all three fault models.
Amino acid sequence similarity between GCN3 and GCD2, positive and negative translational regulators of GCN4: evidence for antagonism by competition

The GCD2 gene product is required in conditions of amino acid sufficiency to repress the synthesis of GCN4, a transcriptional activator of amino acid biosynthetic genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. GCD2 is also required unconditionally for cell viability. The constitutive derepression of GCN4 expression and temperature sensitivity for growth associated with GCD2 alleles, known as gcd12 mutations, are completely masked by wild-type GCN3, a positive regulator of GCN4 expression. This observation suggests that GCN3 can promote or at least partially substitute for GCD2 function in normal growth conditions, while acting as an antagonist of GCD2 in amino acid starvation conditions. We report here that the predicted amino acid sequence of GCN3 shows extensive similarity with the carboxyl-terminal portion of GCD2. Based on this finding, it seems likely that gcd12 mutations specifically affect the domain of GCD2 that is similar in sequence to GCN3. We propose that GCN3 can substitute for this domain in a gcd12 mutant grown in normal growth conditions, and that modification of GCN3 in starvation conditions causes it to interfere with, rather than substitute for GCD2 function. A gcd2 deletion and gcd2-1 are each expected to inactivate a second domain for which GCN3 cannot substitute, accounting for the inability of GCN3 to mask the phenotypes associated with these mutations.
Twitchin kinase interacts with MAPKAP kinase 2 in Caenorhabditis elegans striated muscle

In Caenorhabditis elegans, twitchin is a giant polypeptide located in muscle A-bands. The protein kinase of twitchin is autoinhibited by 45 residues upstream (NL) and 60 residues downstream (CRD) of the kinase catalytic core. Molecular dynamics simulation on a twitchin fragment revealed that the NL is released by pulling force. However, it is unclear how the CRD is removed. To identify proteins that may remove the CRD, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using twitchin kinase as bait. One interactor is MAK-1, C. elegans orthologue of MAPKAP kinase 2. MAPKAP kinase 2 is phosphorylated and activated by p38 MAP kinase. We demonstrate that the CRD of twitchin is important for binding to MAK-1. mak-1 is expressed in nematode body wall muscle, and antibodies to MAK-1 localize between and around Z-disk analogues and to the edge of A-bands. Whereas unc-22 mutants are completely resistant, mak-1 mutants are partially resistant to nicotine. MAK-1 can phosphorylate twitchin NL-Kin-CRD in vitro. Genetic data suggest the involvement of two other mak-1 paralogues and two orthologues of p38 MAP kinase. These results suggest that MAK-1 is an activator of twitchin kinase and that the p38 MAP kinase pathway may be involved in the regulation of twitchin.
Mechanical behavior of articular cartilage in shear is altered by transection of the anterior cruciate ligament.

The flow-independent viscoelastic and equilibrium behaviors of canine articular cartilage were examined with time after transection of the anterior cruciate ligament. The equilibrium, transient, and dynamic shear behaviors of cartilage were studied in biaxial compression-torsion testing at two time periods after transection of the anterior cruciate ligament and at two sites on the femoral condyle, in order to test for differences between sites of frequent and less frequent contact. Water content also was measured in cartilage at sites corresponding to the areas of mechanical testing. Transection of the anterior cruciate ligament produced significant decreases in all measured moduli of articular cartilage tested in equilibrium and dynamic shear and in equilibrium compression; the values for these moduli were 61, 56, and 77% of the control values, respectively, beginning at 6 weeks following transection of the anterior cruciate ligament. There was evidence of increased energy dissipation of cartilage in shear, with a 13 and 35% increase in tan δ at 6 and 12 weeks after transection of the anterior cruciate ligament, respectively. Changes in the viscoelastic relaxation function of cartilage in shear also were evident at 12 weeks after surgery. In all tissue, there was a significant increase in hydration of approximately 4% at 6 or 12 weeks after surgery. There was little difference between the material parameters for areas considered to be in frequent and less frequent contact, with the exception of hydration, which was greater for areas of less frequent contact. The observed changes in material properties demonstrate that relatively short periods of joint instability result in significant changes in the flow-independent viscoelastic behavior of articular cartilage, as well as in the intrinsic stiffnesses in compression and shear.
Transient Stability Program Output Analysis

The output of a conventional transient stability program is analyzed using transient energy functions for individual machines. The analyst is provided with a quantitative index of the degree of stability or instability for each generator. This index is useful for guiding the selection of subsequent case studies. The transient energy consists of two components: kinetic and potential energy. In the post-disturbance period, profiles of the kinetic energy (VKE), the potential energy (VPE), and the time derivative of the potential energy (V?PE) are obtained. These are used to develop a criterion for the degree of stress on a disturbed but stable machine, and to assess the extent of instability for an unstable machine. The method of analysis has been tested on two power networks representing the system of the state of Iowa, and validated by studies on a Philadelphia Electric Co. network.
Obamacare: what the Affordable Care Act means for patients and physicians

The Affordable Care Act’s core achievement is to make all Americans insurable, by requiring insurers to accept all applicants at rates based on population averages regardless of health status. The act also increases coverage by allowing states to expand Medicaid (the social healthcare program for families and people with low income and resources) to cover everyone near the poverty line, and by subsidizing private insurance for people who are not poor but who do not have workplace coverage. The act allows most people to keep the same kind of insurance that they currently have, and it does not change how private insurance pays physicians and hospitals. Although the act falls short of achieving truly universal coverage, nine million uninsured people have received coverage so far. Market reforms have not hurt the insurance industry’s profitability, prices for individual insurance have been lower than expected, and government costs so far have been less than initially projected. The act expands several ongoing pilot programs in Medicare that reform how doctors and hospitals are paid, but it does not directly change how private insurers pay healthcare providers. Nevertheless, it has set into motion market dynamics that are affecting medical practice, such as limiting insurance networks to fewer providers and requiring patients to pay for more treatment costs out of pocket. In response, many hospitals and physicians are forming closer and larger affiliations. Further time and study are needed to learn whether these evolutionary changes will achieve their goals without harming the doctor-patient relationship.
End points of lactate and glucose metabolism after exhausting exercise

To determine the extent of metabolite oxidation, rats were injected with [U-14C]lactate, -glucose, or -bicarbonate (n = 5, each) during rest or after continuous (CE) and intermittent (IE) exercises to exhaustion. Tissue analyses of resting rats, or rats killed following CE and IE and pulse injection with [14C]lactate or -glucose (n = 72, each), were used to determine the metabolic pathways of these two substrates. Oxygen consumption (VO2) declined rapidly for the first 15 min after exercise; thereafter, VO2 declined slowly and remained elevated above resting levels for 120 min. The slow phase of decline in VO2 during recovery did not coincide with lactate removal, which occurred within 15 min. Two-dimensional radiochromatograms produced from blood, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle, and heart indicated a rapid incorporation of 14C into several amino acid pools, including alanine, glutamine, glutamate, and aspartate. Four-hour postexercise recoveries (means of CE and IE) of injected [14C]lactate were lactate (0.75%), glucose (0.52%), protein (8.57%), glycogen (18.30%), CO2 (45.18%), and HCO3- (17.72%). Greater (P < 0.05) incorporation of 14C into protein and glycogen constituents after exercise, compared with rest, was demonstrated. Incorporation of [14C]lactate into glycogen represented a significant but only minor fraction of the metabolism of lactate after exhausting exercise. It is suggested that classical explanations of excess postexercise O2 consumption (i.e., "O2 debt") are too simplistic.
The role of surveillance endoscopy and endosonography after endoscopic ablation of high-grade dysplasia and carcinoma of the esophagus

Barrett's esophagus (BE) with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or early carcinoma treated with surgery or photodynamic therapy (PDT) is at risk of recurrence. The efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for surveillance after PDT is unknown. Our objective was to determine if EUS is superior to esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and/or CT scan for surveillance of BE neoplasia after PDT. The study was designed as a retrospective review with the setting as a tertiary referral center. Consecutive patients with BE with HGD or carcinoma in situ treated with PDT were followed with EUS, CT scan and EGD with jumbo biopsies every 1 cm at 3, 4, or 6-month intervals. Exclusion criteria was < 6 months of follow up and/or < 2 EUS procedures. Main outcome measurements were residual or recurrent disease discovered by any method. Results showed that 67/97 patients met the inclusion criteria (56 men and 11 women). Median follow-up was 16 months. Recurrent or residual adenocarcinoma (ACA) was detected in four patients during follow-up. EGD with random biopsies or targeted nodule biopsies detected three patients. EUS with endoscopic mucosal resection of the nodule confirmed T1 recurrence in one of these three. In the fourth patient, CT scan revealed perigastric lymphadenopathy and EUS-FNA (fine needle aspiration) confirmed adenocarcinoma. There were two deaths, one related to disease progression and one unrelated. The rate of recurrent/persistent ACA after PDT was 4/67 = 6%. EUS did not detect disease when EGD and CT were normal. Limitations of this study include non-blinding of results and preferential status of non-invasive imaging (CT) over EUS. Our experience suggests that EUS has little role in the surveillance of these patients, unless discrete abnormalities are found on EGD or cross-sectional imaging.
The quasi-distributed gap technique for planar inductors: design guidelines

The use of low-permeability magnetic materials to form a uniformly distributed gap can facilitate the design of low-AC resistance planar inductors. Alternatively, a quasi-distributed gap, which employs multiple small gaps to approximate a uniformly distributed gap, can effect the same result. Finite-element simulations are used to systematically analyze the design of quasi-distributed gap inductors. It is shown that a good approximation of a distributed gap is realized if the ratio of gap pitch to spacing between gap and conductor is less than four, or if the gap pitch is comparable to a skin depth or smaller. For a practical range of gap lengths, the gap length has little effect, but large gaps can reduce AC resistance. An analytical expression, which closely approximates the AC resistance factor for a wide range of designs, is developed.
Gangs, Gender, and Violent Victimization

AbstractGang scholars have recently turned their attention to a unique and underdeveloped line of inquiry: the victimization of gang members. However, the gang-victimization link remains unclear, especially in terms of how gang men and women are violently victimized in different—or similar—ways. Using a sample of 2,345 adult jail inmates incarcerated in Florida (ages 18–84), this study explores the role of gender in terms of (1) the forms of violent crimes gang members experience more than nongang members, (2) who victimizes gang members, and (3) if gang members’ risky lifestyles explain victimization risk. Findings reveal more similarities than differences among gang men (n = 300) and women (n = 53). Gang men and women are generally victimized by the same violent crimes, and while the offenders who target gang members vary, there are no significant gender differences. Female gang members were significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted by members of their own gang and nonmembers (compared to membe...
Board Interlocks and the Study of the Transnational Capitalist Class

In a recent synopsis of theories and findings on transnational corporate ties published in this journal, Nollert (2005) argues that while there may be good theoretical reasons to hypothesize the emergence of a Transnational Capitalist Class (tcc), to this point there is relatively little empirical evidence, aside from Sklairs (2001) work, to support the claim that such a class exists or is forming. However, a few researchers have attempted to apply the study of interlocking directorates to the search for a network of transnational directors who might be in a position to form such a class. Drawing on empirical findings on the worlds largest transnational corporations and banks reported elsewhere (Staples 2007a; Staples 2007b), as well as additional analyses done specifically for this paper, I argue that studies that rely exclusively on transnational corporate interlocks dramatically underestimate the extent of the tcc network because such studies count only transnational connections between corporations and miss transnational connections within corporationsconnections that have grown more numerous in recent years as corporate boards have become more multinational, largely as a result of the concentration of global capital. Counting both between and within transnational capitalist connections points to a far greater level of capitalist transnationality than is suggested by focusing exclusively on between corporate connections, as has been done in this work so far. And while the existence of such a network falls well short of convincing proof that a tcc exists, it does show that capitalists from different countries increasingly have opportunities to interact as they work together to run the worlds largest corporations, and it is out of such interactions that we would expect a tcc to emerge.
Knapsack auctions

We consider a game theoretic knapsack problem that has application to auctions for selling advertisements on Internet search engines. Consider n agents each wishing to place an object in the knapsack. Each agent has a private valuation for having their object in the knapsack and each object has a publicly known size. For this setting, we consider the design of auctions in which agents have an incentive to truthfully reveal their private valuations. Following the framework of Goldberg et al. [10], we look to design an auction that obtains a constant fraction of the profit obtainable by a natural optimal pricing algorithm that knows the agents' valuations and object sizes.We give an auction that obtains a constant factor approximation in the non-trivial special case where the knapsack has unlimited capacity. We then reduce the limited capacity version of the problem to the unlimited capacity version via an approximately efficient auction (i.e., one that maximizes the social welfare). This reduction follows from generalizable principles.
The bipore model in solid/liquid extraction: the continuous process

This paper presents the exact analytical solution for the general case of continuous mass transfer between a solid with a biporous structure (micro and macroporosity) and a countercurrent flowing fluid phase. The transport inside the solid is by molecular diffusion and outside of it the convective film resistance is included. A general expression is given which is valid for the infinite plate, for the infinite cylinder and for the sphere. The standard monopore case is obtained as a particular solution.
Czochralski Crystal Growth of Zinc Oxide-Tellurium Oxide System

Czochralski technique was employed in an attempt to grow a single crystal of the system ZnO-TeO2. A good quality grown crystal is expected to be transparent with a very light yellow color. The crystals exhibit a high resistivity of the order of 1013 Ω-cm. Different mole percentages have been tested for growth. Several attempts were performed to pull a single crystal. It was found that the best mole percentage of ZnO-TeO2 is 35.5:64.5. The pulled material grows uniformly, such that necking and conning are noticed. The pulled material contained multiple single crystals which were isolated and studied. Each one of them was transparent. Some properties will be presented. The pulled material of the 40:60 ZnO-TeO2 mole percentage returned four phases. Two of these phases are very uncommon.
Computational Sports Aerodynamics of a Moving Sphere: Simulating a Ping Pong Ball in Free Flight

Fluid dynamics associated with many sports involving spheric shaped equipments such as tennis, golf and ping pong balls tends to be very unsteady and viscous, with occasionally transitional behaviors. Some of the intricate aerodynamic behaviors are the mechanisms that make these sports competitive and spectacular. In this paper we discuss using highorder method as an effective method for solving unsteady fluid dynamics pertaining to sports. In particular, we perform direct numerical simulation of unsteady viscous flow past a spinning sphere. Taking a different approach from the usual computational practice of performing simulations of fixed free-stream and fixed Reynolds number flows, we compute the flow field around the spheric body together with the dynamic motion of the body. By coupling the sphere dynamic to the aerodynamic flow, we are able to simulate the flight trajectory of the sphere in free flight and examine the effect of introducing different varieties of spin on game play. The flow solver is based on the high-order Spectral Difference method. Coupling of fluid and structure is enforce weakly by advancing the equation of motion and flow equations in time together using the explicit multi-stage Runge-Kutta scheme. We rely on the inherent numerical dissipation in the high order method to resolve transitional flow, which effectively acts as a kind of implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES).
Varied Responsiveness to Immigrant Community Growth among Local Governments Evidence from the Richmond, Virginia, Metropolitan Area

Immigration policy remains a hotly debated issue nationally in the United States, but the interaction of legislative gridlock on comprehensive reform and the actions of policy entrepreneurs push policy innovation into the arena of state and local governments. This article examines the intersection of immigration and local policy making, examining basic patterns of local responsiveness and apparent factors driving the response. Using the insights of existing research, including Rubaii-Barrett and Brenner, this article highlights political incorporation (e.g., Ramakrishnan and Gulasekaram) and bureaucratic incorporation (e.g., Marrow) as competing explanations in the literature. As an exploratory effort to evaluate the relative claims, this article reports the results of a document analysis of the local government Web sites for seventeen localities in the Richmond, VA, Metropolitan Statistical Area looking first at how localities are responding, second at indications of why and finally assessing whether ini...
Longshore Currents and Nearshore Topographies

Validity of seven analytical formula as well as linear and non-linear multiple regressive schemes was tested using field data from the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Generally, agreement proved unsatisfactory. Field experiences indicate that the longshore current is a velocity field consisting of a multitude of velocity vectors whose basic pattern varies depending upon the regimes of wavecurrent- topography interaction. The need to recognize topography as a responding variable as well as a process variable in the physical scheme of longshore current is emphasized.
Calcium spike-mediated digital signaling increases glutamate output at the visual threshold of retinal bipolar cells.

Most retinal bipolar cells (BCs) transmit visual input from photoreceptors to ganglion cells using graded potentials, but some also generate calcium or sodium spikes. Sodium spikes are thought to i...
Fuzzy Logic Based Real-Time Prediction Model for Wild-Land Forest Fires

Wildland fires have consumed acres of land and affected natural habitat in ways beyond a common man’s intuition. More often than not, rescue operations including evacuation of surrounding urban areas have failed in saving the damage to life and property. Case studies of historical fires hold lack of situational awareness the biggest obstacle in forest fire-fighting. Eliminating the considerable rack of accurate information about fire-spread behavior can help fire-managers enhance safety of fire-personnel during on-field attacks. Fire-behavior study tools like FARSITE provide a good platform for study of historical fire and help in better understanding. Similar mathematical algorithms can be applied to real time environmental and spatial information to predict the spread of fireperimeters and intensities. Systems like this can be used with surveillance-based unmanned aircrafts and enable firefighters plan on-field fire-attacks and air-drops. The following is a step towards building such a system. The work uses topographical data from the GAP project for the West Virginia Land Cover. A decision making tool is developed using fuzzy logic to designate a fuel model for forestfires. This fuel model is then subjected to surface fire-spread techniques provided by Huygen’s Principle and Rothermel’s equation to develop a real time fire-predicting system.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SYSTEMIC THERAPY: A RE-INTRODUCTION TO JACKSON AND WEAKLAND'S "CONJOINT FAMILY THERAPY" (1961)

When Journal of Systemic Therapies Editor Jim Duvall asked for input about pivotally important—even essential—publications in the emergence of systemic brief therapies, the research and publications of the Palo Alto Group immediately came to mind. There are many noteworthy contributors to systemic thinking and practice, yet the pervasive influence of this small group of researchers stands almost unparalleled. First in Gregory Bateson’s research team (1952–1961), continuing at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) and later in the MRI Brief Therapy Center (1958– present) the contributions of Gregory Bateson, Don D. Jackson, John Weakland, Jay Haley, William Fry, and later Virginia Satir, Richard Fisch, Paul Watzlawick, and colleagues revolutionized systemic understanding of human behavior and methods for promoting change efficiently and effectively. Systemic epistemology and models of therapy as currently known and practiced stand solidly on the foundation built by what has come to be known as the Palo Alto Group. Imagine being a therapist in 1961, well trained in the individually oriented approaches so prevalent at that time, when Jackson and Weakland’s “Conjoint Family Therapy: Some Considerations on Theory, Technique, and Results” appeared in the journal Psychiatry. Freudian concepts and practices pervaded the behavioral sciences. Most therapeutic theory, clinical practice, and literature focused on identifying and either accepting as incurable or attempting to treat pathology located inside the individual. While the Interpersonal Theory of Harry Stack Sullivan, M.D. (1947), and colleagues such as Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, M.D. (1950), had gained wider acceptance, the focus of theory and clinical practice remained almost exclusively on individual pathology and biology, and was past causal in orientation. One wonders what it was like to read the research papers from the Palo Alto Group. The appearance of “Toward a Theory of Schizophrenia” (Bateson, Jackson, Haley, & Weakland, 1956), “The Question of Family Homeostasis” (Jackson,
Renal response to hypercapnia.

SummaryAn average increase of 17.9 volume % in arterial blood CO2 concentration was produced in dogs by rebreathing from a spirometer. No evidence of significant renal vasomotor alteration was noted. However, urinary pH decreased, and sodium excretion progressively decreased to an average of 35% of control. Thus, elevated H+ concentration of the blood had in some manner enhanced the tubular reabsorption of sodium. Potassium excretion also diminished, presumably due to depressed tubular secretion by the predominance of H+ made increasingly available for exchange with sodium. Plasma concentration of potassium increased during hypercapnia, due to renal retention or mobilization from the intracellular compartment. Plasma sodium showed a similar trend. Hyperventilation occurred for a time on return to room air. This phase manifested a decrease in blood CO2, increase in urinary pH, and increase in the excretion of potassium and sodium beyond control averages.
The application of brain CT in the follow-up visit of low birth weight premature with "normal" imaging during infantile period

Objective To explore the application value of brain CT in the follow-up visit of low birth weight premature with "normal" imaging during infantile period.Methods One hundred and three cases of low birth weight premature whose brain CT was normal were given brain CT examination at the 12 months and 18 months.Results The abnormal rate of brain CT was 8.7% in the 103 cases of low birth weight premature at 12 months,and the rate was 7.8% at 18 months.Conclusion Brain CT examination is useful in identifying brain neurodevelopmental abnormalities,and it can be routine examination in the follow-up visit of low birth weight premature.
Loss of follicles during the follicular phase of the estrous cycle of swine as affected by genetic group and level of feed intake.

SUMMARY One hundred and .tWO puberal gilts from nine genetic groups were used to determine the association of two morphological types of Ovarian follicular loss (hemorrhagic and milky) with genetic background of ~gilts, level of feed intake and stage of estrous cycle. At estrus (day 0 of estrous cycle) a lesser prqportion of gilts (P<.05) had hemorrhagic foiiicles than gilts at day-15. While the total number of follicles decreased from day-15 to estrus (P<.01), the proportion of milky follicles increased (P<.01). No milky follicle was larger-than 6 mm in diameter. The high level 9f feed intake increased (P=.06) the number Of large follicles (7 to 10 ram), their average mean diameter (P<.05) and the proportion of gilts with hemorrhagic follicles (P<.05). Although the proportion of milky follicles did not differ significantly between the feed groups, the regression of the average number of large follicles on the average percent milky was negative (-.26) and
Perceptions of Adult Businesspeople Regarding Sex Role Portrayals in Specific Industry Advertising: The Case of Singapore

An examination of the general perceptions of adult businesspeople regarding their sex role portrayals in advertising was undertaken in Singapore. As opposed to previous work, this study focused not on general perceptions, but on perceptions regarding the advertising depictions of sex roles by specific industry advertisers (e.g., Fast Food, HealthFitness, Personal Care, and Alcoholic Beverages). The sample population were 120 Singaporean businesspeople in an executive MBA program offered through an American Business School. The average age of the respondents was 32.5 years with 83 females and 3 7 males participating. The questionnaire was pretested in Singapore in English with focus groups, which indicated that there were no conceptual equivalency problems. The participants understood the items, and there were no problems noted with the scales, which were utilized. Anonymity was assured, and each respondent was given examples for each of the specific industries in question (e.g., pizza for fast food, running shoes for health/fitness, soap for personal care products, and beer for alcoholic beverages).
A hierarchical Bayesian approach for combining pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and Phase IIa trial design in orphan drugs: Treating adrenoleukodystrophy with Lorenzo's oil.

ABSTRACTX-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is a rare, progressive, and typically fatal neurodegenerative disease. Lorenzo’s oil (LO) is one of the few X-ALD treatments available, but little has been done to establish its clinical efficacy or indications for its use. In this article, we analyze data on 116 male asymptomatic pediatric patients who were administered LO. We offer a hierarchical Bayesian statistical approach to understand LO pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) resulting from an accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids. We experiment with individual- and observational-level errors and various choices of prior distributions and deal with the limitation of having just one observation per administration of the drug, as opposed to the more usual multiple observations per administration. We link LO dose to the plasma erucic acid concentrations by PK modeling, and then link this concentration to a biomarker (C26, a very long-chain fatty acid) by PD modeling. Next, we design a Bayesi...
GNAI3: Another Candidate Gene to Screen in Persons with Ocular Albinism.

Ocular albinism type 1 (OA), caused by mutations in the OA1 gene, encodes a G-protein coupled receptor, OA1, localized in melanosomal membranes of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This disorder is characterized by both RPE macro-melanosomes and abnormal decussation of ganglion cell axons at the brain’s optic chiasm. We demonstrated previously that Oa1 specifically activates Gαi3, which also signals in the Oa1 transduction pathway that regulates melanosomal biogenesis. In this study, we screened the human Gαi3 gene, GNAI3, in DNA samples from 26 patients who had all clinical characteristics of OA but in whom a specific mutation in the OA1 gene had not been found, and in 6 normal control individuals. Using the Agilent HaloPlex Target Enrichment System and next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the Illumina MiSeq platform, we identified 518 variants after rigorous filtering. Many of these variants were corroborated by Sanger sequencing. Overall, 98.8% coverage of the GNAI3 gene was obtained by the HaloPlex amplicons. Of all variants, 6 non-synonymous and 3 synonymous were in exons, 41 in a non-coding exon embedded in the 3’ untranslated region (UTR), 6 in the 5’ UTR, and 462 in introns. These variants included novel SNVs, insertions, deletions, and a frameshift mutation. All were found in at least one patient but none in control samples. Using computational methods, we modeled the GNAI3 protein and its non-synonymous exonic mutations and determined that several of these may be the cause of disease in the patients studied. Thus, we have identified GNAI3 as a second gene possibly responsible for X-linked ocular albinism.
Computational prediction of probabilistic ignition threshold of pressed granular octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,2,3,5-tetrazocine (HMX) under shock loading

The probabilistic ignition thresholds of pressed granular octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,2,3,5-tetrazocine explosives with average grain sizes between 70 μm and 220 μm are computationally predicted. The prediction uses material microstructure and basic constituent properties and does not involve curve fitting with respect to or prior knowledge of the attributes being predicted. The specific thresholds predicted are James-type relations between the energy flux and energy fluence for given probabilities of ignition. Statistically similar microstructure sample sets are computationally generated and used based on the features of micrographs of materials used in actual experiments. The predicted thresholds are in general agreement with measurements from shock experiments in terms of trends. In particular, it is found that grain size significantly affects the ignition sensitivity of the materials, with smaller sizes leading to lower energy thresholds required for ignition. For example, 50% ignition threshold of the material with an average grain size of 220 μm is approximately 1.4–1.6 times that of the material with an average grain size of 70 μm in terms of energy fluence. The simulations account for the controlled loading of thin-flyer shock experiments with flyer velocities between 1.5 and 4.0 km/s, constituent elasto-viscoplasticity, fracture, post-fracture contact and friction along interfaces, bulk inelastic heating, interfacial frictional heating, and heat conduction. The constitutive behavior of the materials is described using a finite deformation elasto-viscoplastic formulation and the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The ignition thresholds are determined via an explicit analysis of the size and temperature states of hotspots in the materials and a hotspot-based ignition criterion. The overall ignition threshold analysis and the microstructure-level hotspot analysis also lead to the definition of a macroscopic ignition parameter (J) and a microscopic ignition risk parameter (R) which are statistically related. The relationships between these parameters are established and delineated.