cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Primary xenografts of human prostate tissue as a model to study angiogenesis induced by reactive stroma.

Characterization of the mechanism(s) of androgen-driven human angiogenesis could have significant implications for modeling new forms of anti-angiogenic therapies for CaP and for developing targeted adjuvant therapies to improve efficacy of androgen-deprivation therapy. However, models of angiogenesis by human endothelial cells localized within an intact human prostate tissue architecture are until now extremely limited. This report characterizes the burst of angiogenesis by endogenous human blood vessels in primary xenografts of fresh surgical specimens of benign prostate or prostate cancer (CaP) tissue that occurs between Days 6–14 after transplantation into SCID mice pre-implanted with testosterone pellets. The wave of human angiogenesis was preceded by androgen-mediated up-regulation of VEGF-A expression in the stromal compartment. The neo-vessel network anastomosed to the host mouse vascular system between Days 6–10 post-transplantation, the angiogenic response ceased by Day 15, and by Day 30 the vasculature had matured and stabilized, as indicated by a lack of leakage of serum components into the interstitial tissue space and by association of nascent endothelial cells with mural cells/pericytes. The angiogenic wave was concurrent with the appearance of a reactive stroma phenotype, as determined by staining for α-SMA, Vimentin, Tenascin, Calponin, Desmin and Masson's trichrome, but the reactive stroma phenotype appeared to be largely independent of androgen availability. Transplantation-induced angiogenesis by endogenous human endothelial cells present in primary xenografts of benign and malignant human prostate tissue was preceded by induction of androgen-driven expression of VEGF by the prostate stroma, and was concurrent with and the appearance of a reactive stroma phenotype. Androgen-modulated expression of VEGF-A appeared to be a causal regulator of angiogenesis, and possibly of stromal activation, in human prostate xenografts.
Equivalent squares of irregular photon fields

The tables of equivalent fields published by the British Journal of Radiology (BJR) are intended for calculation of depth-dose functions in rectangular photon fields. We have investigated the validity of the equivalent-field concept for fields of arbitrary shape over a range of photon energies, field sizes and depths. We show that the empirical scatter-radius function (Day function) used to generate the equivalent-field tables is a good approximation to the average over energy of normalized scatter-air ratios extracted from BJR beam data for depths up to 10 cm. However, this function tends to diverge from the data as depth increases. Accuracy can be improved by making the Day function depend on depth. Equivalent squares, determined by sector integration of the original or modified Day functions, are suitable for megavoltage photon-beam dose calculations at central-axis and off-axis points in irregular as well as rectangular fields.
H2 in expanding circumstellar shells

Hydrogen molecules are formed in the thin dense shell of interstellar gas swept up by the expanding interstellar bubble around an early-type star with a strong stellar wind. The formation of molecules on grains is not in equilibrium with photodestruction. Theoretical calculations of the column densities of H2 in rotational levels j = 0-6 agree reasonably well with Copernicus ultraviolet observations of some early-type stars. The model explains why no H2 features with column densities in the range from 10 to the 15th to 10 to the 18th power per sq cm have been observed.
Physically-accurate fur reflectance: modeling, measurement and rendering

Rendering photo-realistic animal fur is a long-standing problem in computer graphics. Considerable effort has been made on modeling the geometric complexity of fur, but the reflectance of fur fibers is not well understood. Fur has a distinct diffusive and saturated appearance, that is not captured by either the Marschner hair model or the Kajiya-Kay model. In this paper, we develop a physically-accurate reflectance model for fur fibers. Based on anatomical literature and measurements, we develop a double cylinder model for the reflectance of a single fur fiber, where an outer cylinder represents the biological observation of a cortex covered by multiple cuticle layers, and an inner cylinder represents the scattering interior structure known as the medulla. Our key contribution is to model medulla scattering accurately---in contrast, for human hair, the medulla has minimal width and thus negligible contributions to the reflectance. Medulla scattering introduces additional reflection and transmission paths, as well as diffusive reflectance lobes. We validate our physical model with measurements on real fur fibers, and introduce the first database in computer graphics of reflectance profiles for nine fur samples. We show that our model achieves significantly better fits to the measured data than the Marschner hair reflectance model. For efficient rendering, we develop a method to precompute 2D medulla scattering profiles and analytically approximate our reflectance model with factored lobes. The accuracy of the approach is validated by comparing our rendering model to full 3D light transport simulations. Our model provides an enriched set of controls, where the parameters we fit can be directly used to render realistic fur, or serve as a starting point from which artists can manually tune parameters for desired appearances.
Pagenumber of complete bipartite graphs

Given an ordering of the vertices of a graph around a circle, a page is a collection of edges forming noncrossing chords. A book embedding is a circular permutation of the vertices together with a partition of the edges into pages. The pagenumber t(G) (also called book thickness) is the minimum number of pages in a book embedding of G. We present a general construction showing t(Km,n) ⩽ ⌈(m + 2n)/4⌉, which we conjecture optimal. We prove a result suggesting this is optimal for m ⩾ 2n − 3. For the most difficult case m = n, we consider vertex permutations that are regular, i.e., place vertices from each partite set into runs of equal size. Book embeddings with such orderings require ⌈(7n − 2)/9⌉ pages, which is achievable. The general construction uses fewer pages, but with an irregular ordering.
Patient care problems in patients undergoing reoperation for coronary artery grafting surgery.

Over the past six years there has been a 15-fold increase in the number of patients requiring reoperation coronary artery bypass grafting (RCABG) surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. To determine the perioperative risk, a retrospective chart survey of one calendar year’s (198J) experience was made comparing the 58 RCABG patients with 59 cohorts undergoing primary operation. All patients were anaesthetized with diaze-pam, fentanyl and halothane or enflurane anaesthesia. Preoperative evaluation revealed by history that the incidence of unstable angina and digoxin use were greater (p = 0.05) in the RCABG patients. Cardiac catheterization revealed a higher incidence (26 vs 89 percent) of left main coronary disease in controls and similar indices of left ventricular function (wall abnormalities, ejection fraction and LVEDP). Operating and bypass times were longer (p < 0.01) for RCABG patients and there was a trend for greater (p = 0.08) use of dopamine in the RCABG patients. CK-MB release was significantly (p < 0.05) greater in RCABG patients. Serious postoperative complications (CK-MB ≥ 15IU/L, low cardiac output, and death) were significantly (p = 0.02) greater in the RCABG group, his concluded that
Principles of stray light suppression and conceptual application to the design of the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment for NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer

The Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) is a 10 band filter photometer that will operate at superfluid helium temperatures. Diffuse galactic and extragalactic infrared radiation in the 1-300 micrometer wavelength region will be measured by the instrument. Polarization measurements will be made for 3 bands in the 1-4 micrometer spectral region. The main sources of unwanted radiation are the sun, earth, thermal radiation from an external sun shield, the moon, the brighter planets and stars, and sky light itself from outside the instrument's nominal one degree square field of view. The system level engineering concepts and the principles of stray light suppression that resulted in the instrument design are presented.
SELF ALIGNED MASKLESS PROCESS FOR ETCHING CAVITIES IN SOI WAFERS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY FACTOR OF MEMS RESONATORS

We present a low cost, self-aligned, process to etch cavities under movable structures in commercially available SOI wafers. The cavity is formed by electrochemically etching the substrate through the openings in the SOI structural layer. A tuning fork structure fabricated with the cavity SOI process has resonant frequency of 247 kHz and the measured intrinsic is Q = 82,000 at 35 mTorr. Comparing the measured quality factor as function of pressure for devices with and without the cavity, the devices with cavity showed a consistent improvement in the quality factor by a factor of 2-3 except for very low pressures where the intrinsic mechanical quality factor dominates. As the distance between the device and substrate is increased from 2 μm (buried oxide thickness) to 10 μm (electrochemically etched cavity), the parasitic capacitance to the substrate is also reduced by 5x. In addition, the stiction between the device and substrate is effectively eliminated.
Vibrational Relaxation in Atactic Polystyrene: An Infrared Spectroscopic Study

The shapes and widths of infrared bands and Raman lines are an important source of information on interactions and molecular dynamics and have been used to study vibrational and rotational relaxation processes in the picosecond time range. Most of this work has focused on small molecules, however, and the analysis of bandwidths and band shapes has been a largely neglected topic in polymer vibrational spectroscopy. The characterization of polymers introduces both advantages and new problems. One simplification is a consequence of the large mass and moments of inertia of these molecules. Relaxation times associated with the reorientation of chain segments and many side groups are long compared to vibrational relaxations, and their contribution to band and line contours can be neglected. Unfortunately, this simplification is accompanied by new problems: the multiplicity of overlapping bands observed in many systems and the complications introduced by conformational sensitivity. Some of these experimental pr...
Successful transition from expert nurse to novice educator?: Expert educator: it's about you!

Abstract This article provides a successful methodology designed and systematically utilized for nursing faculty orientation to enhance faculty retention and support faculty transitioning from clinical practice to educator role. The Core Competencies of Nurse Educators was used as the framework to provide knowledge and skills needed to prepare new faculty for the role responsibilities.
Upper crustal densities derived from sea floor gravity measurements: Northern Juan De Fuca Ridge

A transect of sea floor gravity stations has been analyzed to determine upper crustal densities on the Endeavour segment of the northern Juan de Fuca Ridge. Data were obtained using ALVIN along a corridor perpendicular to the axis of spreading, over crustal ages from 0 to 800,000 years. Calculated elevation factors from the gravity data show an abrupt increase in density with age (distance) for the upper 200 m of crust. This density change is interpreted as a systematic reduction in bulk porosity of the upper crustal section, from 23% for the axial ridge to 10% for the off-axis flanking ridges. The porosity decrease is attributed to the collapse and filling of large-scale voids as the abyssal hills move out of the crustal formation zone. Forward modeling of a plausible density structure for the near-axis region agrees with the observed anomaly data only if the model includes narrow, along-strike, low-density regions adjacent to both inner and outer flanks of the abyssal hills. The required low density zones could be regions of systematic upper crustal fracturing and faulting that were mapped by submersible observers and side-scan sonar images, and whose presence was suggested by the distribution of heat flow data in the same area.
Citizenship struggles in Soviet successor states.

The breakup of the Soviet Union has transformed yesterdays internal migrants secure in their Soviet citizenship into todays international migrants of contested legitimacy and uncertain membership. This transformation has touched Russians in particular of whom some 25 million live in non-Russian successor states. This article examines the politics of citizenship vis-a-vis Russian immigrants in the successor states focusing on the Baltic states where citizenship has been a matter of sustained and heated controversy. The author concludes that "formal citizenship cannot be divorced from broader questions of substantive belonging. Successor states willingness to accept Russian immigrants as citizens and immigrants readiness to adopt a new state as their state will depend on the terms of membership for national minorities and the organization of public life in the successor states." Data are from a variety of published sources. (EXCERPT)
The role of intestinal transplantation in the Management of intestinal failure

Significantly reduced morbidity and mortality is needed before intestinal transplantation will be applicable in most patients with intestinal failure who are on long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN). However, transplantation does play a role if TPN fails, with failure defined by Medicare as liver failure, frequent line sepsis, major central vein thrombosis, or recurrent dehydration. Of these complications, the relationship between liver failure and subsequent death in high-risk subgroups of long-term TPN patients has been shown clearly. Patients with less than 100 cm of postduodenal small bowel, an end-jejunostomy, no ileocecal valve or cecum, or persistently elevated liver function levels are at high risk for end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Early referral to experienced centers is suggested in these circumstances. High-risk patients may also take part in clinical trials of promising therapies to increase intestinal adaptation and prevent liver failure. Living donors should be considered for transplant candidates to minimize waiting time and optimize HLA matching. ESLD patients need a liver-intestine transplant. Because their waiting-list mortality is very high, their status on the liver waiting list should be elevated if possible. High incidence of early death from sepsis is reported after intestinal transplant, even at experienced centers. Aggressive measures should be taken if uncontrolled sepsis occurs, including discontinuing immunosuppression and removing the graft. Further research is needed in intestinal immunology and in development of strategies to decrease the need for aggressive immunosuppression in these transplant recipients. The ultimate role of intestinal transplantation will be determined by its capacity to show superiority, both in effectiveness and safety, to long-term TPN.
An Attribution-Affect-Action Theory of Behavior Replications of Judgments of Help-Giving

Four self-contained experimental conditions (N = 496) examined the relations between perceived controllability, emotional reactions of anger and sympathy, and judgments of helping behavior. In accordance with prior findings, it was confirmed that an attribution-affect-action path captures the motivational process in this domain. Controllable causes of a need state give rise to anger, which, in turn, evokes neglect, whereas uncontrollable causes of a need state elicit pity, which, in turn, generates judgments of help-giving. These paths were not altered by self-focus and other-focus (empathy) instructions or by instructions to ignore feelings and concentrate on the objective situation. General issues pertaining to helping and affect were examined.
Just-in-time hypermedia

Many analytical applications, especially legacy systems, create documents and display screens in response to user queries "dynamically" or in "real time". These documents and displays do not exist in advance, and thus hypermedia must be generated "just in time"---automatically and dynamically. This dissertation details the idea of "just-in-time" hypermedia and discusses challenges encountered in this research area. A fully detailed literature review about the research issues and related research work is given. A framework for the "just-in-time" hypermedia compares virtual documents with static documents, as well as dynamic with static hypermedia functionality. Conceptual "just-in-time" hypermedia architecture is proposed in terms of requirements and logical components. The "just-in-time" hypermedia engine is described in terms of architecture, functional components, information flow, and implementation details. Then test results are described and evaluated. Lastly, contributions, limitations, and future work are discussed.
Cloning, sequencing and functional expression of an acetylcholinesterase gene from the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

Abstract A degenerate PCR strategy was used to isolate a fragment of the acetylcholinesterase gene ( Ace ) homolog from Aedes aegypti and screen for a cDNA clone containing the complete open reading frame of the gene. The predicted amino acid sequence of the Aedes gene shares 64% identify with Ace from Drosophila and 87% identity with the acetylcholinesterase gene from another mosquito species Anopheles stephensi . High levels of expression of the Aedes gene were achieved by infection of Sf 21 cells with a recombinant baculovirus containing the Aedes Ace cDNA. The catalytic properties and sensitivity of the recombinant enzyme to insecticide inhibition are described and discussed in relation to the role of insensitive AChE in conferring resistance to organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides.
Topographic placement of management practices in riparian zones to reduce water quality impacts from pastures

Riparian buffers, a best management practice (BMP), lessen environmental impacts caused by pasture-based agriculture by excluding livestock from streams and removing sediment and nutrients from overland flow before they enter the watercourse. Geospatial data analysis of digital elevation models (DEMs) can improve BMP placement by ensuring that BMPs intercept flow paths. Livestock heavy use areas and riparian buffers within 100 m of the stream were digitized using aerial photography of Spring Creek watershed (Pennsylvania, USA). Flow path lengths and stream entry points from heavy use areas, from all agricultural land uses, and from a random sample of points were calculated using 1, 10, and 30 m DEM resolutions. Euclidean distances identified the nearest stream entry point regardless of topography. Drainage areas for each streambank cell were evaluated using each DEM resolution. Topographic calculations differed significantly from Euclidean, with median differences of 14.3 m for flow path length and 24.1 m between stream entry points for the 10 m DEM. Existing buffers intercepted runoff from only 23 % of heavy use areas. Drainage areas ranged from one to hundreds of DEM cells. Any DEM is an arbitrary representation of a continuous surface; both resolution and processing method affect the suitability of such a representation for any given purpose. We found that 30 m DEMs did not provide reasonable flow path estimates at the scale of grazing agriculture in this region, while Pennsylvania 1 m DEMs were minimally smoothed during DEM preparation, resulting in erratic flow paths. The 10 m DEMs were the most suitable available DEM product, and should be used in conjunction with site visits for planning pasture BMP placement.
The bounded injury priority method and the learnability of unions of rectangles

Abstract We develop a bounded version of the finite injury priority method in recursion theory. We use this to study the learnability of unions of rectangles over the domain {0, …, n − 1}d with only equivalence queries. Applying this method, we show three main results: 1. (1)The class of unions of rectangles is polynomial time learnable for constant dimension d. 2. (2)The class of unions of rectangles whose projections at some unknown dimension are pairwise-disjoint is polynomial time learnable. 3. (3)The class of unions of two disjoint rectangles is polynomial time learnable with unions of two rectangles as hypotheses.
Transverse·inelastic form factor of the first excited state in 39K

Abstract A recent measurement of the transverse electron scattering form factor for the first excited state of 39 K shows a significant departure from the single-particle picture of a pure d 3 2 − → 1 s 1 2 −1 proton transition. The data are well explained by a calculation including second-order core polarization and meson-exchange current corrections to both the M1 and E2 transition densities. These results are consistent with previous work on the elastic magnetic form factor, which also shows a significant departure from the extreme single-particle model.
Alkylation of adenine with functionalized tert.-Propargyl carbonates. Synthesis of 3′-hydroxymethyladenallene — A new analogue of 2′-deoxyadenosine

Abstract Esters 9d – 9g derived from acetylenic carbinol 5 were prepared and they were studied as potential alkylating agents with adenine (10), N6-benzoyl- and N6-dimethylamino-methyleneadenine (16 and 17). Carbonates 9f and 9g were the most suitable giving allene 11 and acetylene 12 (after N-deprotection in case of 16 and 17). On a scale larger than 0.2 mmol, slow addition of carbonate 9f or 9g to a solution of 10, 16 or 17 in DMF at 60°C was most conducive to formation of allenic derivative 11. Such conditions also suppressed formation of by-products such as carbonate 13a and N9-methyladenine (14) observed in the case of methyl carbonate 9f. Intermediates 11 and 12 were deprotected using BCl3 in CH2Cl2 to give 3′-hydroxymethyladenallene (4a) and diol 15, respectively. Compound 4a was deaminated with adenosine deaminase.
Dose-Dependence of Pb-Ion Implantation Damage in Zirconolite, Hollandite, and Zircon*

The long-term stability of nuclear waste forms is an important consideration in their selection for safe disposal of radioactive waste. Stability against long-term radiation damage is particularly difficult to assess by short-term laboratory experiments. Much of the displacement damage in high-level waste forms will be generated by heavy recoil nuclei emitted during the α-decay process of long-lived actinide elements. Hence, an accelerated aging test which reliably simulates the α-recoil damage accumulated during thousands of years of storage is desirable. One recent approach to this simulation is to implant the waste form with heavy Pb-ions.I- 6 If the validity of this approach is to be fully assessed, two important questions which have not yet been investigated must be answered.(1) Is the structural damage, including cumulative effects, similar for irradiation by Pb-ions and a-recoil nuclei in a given material? (2) Is the dose-dependence of the accumulated damage similar? The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent of these similarities in selected materials. We utilized transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize the radiation damage and measure its dose-dependence.
Psychosocial resources, adolescent risk behaviour and young adult adjustment : is risk taking more dangerous for some than others ?

Longitudinal analyses examined the extent to which adolescent alcohol use, illegal drug use, and antisocial behaviour predicted adjustment and risk behaviour during young adulthood, and whether psychosocial resources buffered any impact of risk-taking. American adolescents completed questionnaires in Grade 12 and 2 years later (n = 694). Personal and social resources predicted success in occupational, relational, and health domains. High school risk behaviours predicted decreased success in relational domains, and alcohol use predicted higher educational attainment, independent of the relations with psychosocial resources. Interactions of resources with risk behaviours predicting adjustment were inconsistent, but resources predicted decreased risk behaviours in young adulthood among adolescent risk-takers. Discussion focuses on the value of, and challenges to, research on consequences of adolescent risk taking.
Two different strains of an alphaherpesvirus can establish latency in the same tissue of the host animal: evidence from bovine herpesvirus 1.

We inoculated plaque-purified bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV 1), strain K22, subtype BHV 1.2b, intravenously into susceptible cattle. Five months later, we reactivated latent virus with dexamethasone and then super-infected the same cattle intranasally and intravaginally with a different plaquepurified BHV1, strain Cooper, subtype BHV 1.1. After a second dexamethasone treatment four months later, reactivated viruses were isolated and examined with restriction endonucleases. We showed that both virus subtypes were reactivated, proving that 2 different strains of an alphaherpesvirus can establish latency in the same tissue in the host animal.
Vermial and microbial management of biological sludges under dynamic conditions of temperature and seasonal changes

Abstract The application of earthworm (vermial) biotechnology, in conjunction with indigenous microbial activity, has been suggested as a potentially efficient method for managing biological sludges and other labile organic matter on land. Studies were conducted in order to determine the effect of variable temperatures and seasonal changes on vermial and microbial activities. The results suggested that vermial activity and growth are accelerated under dynamic conditions of recurrently fluctuated temperatures—vermial and microbial stabilization of biological sludges on soil will persist under ambient conditions of temperature and seasonal changes—and the rate of stabilization and turnover of biological sludges is accelerated when vermial and microbial activities are combined.
Evolution of Senescence: Longevity and the Expression of Heat Shock Proteins

Senescence is the progressive deterioration of organismal function leading to accelerating rates of mortality. Cumulative extrinsic and intrinsic stresses are thought to contribute to senescence. Molecular chaperones, such as heat shock proteins, are hypothesized to modulate senescence through their ability to mitigate protein damage. Recent discoveries made with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster lend strong support to this theory. Longevity extending mutants of the nematode also increase intrinsic and inducible thermotolerance, and they overexpress heat shock proteins upon thermal shock. Intriguingly, these genes regulate dauer (diapause) formation, and are associated with an insulin-like dependent signal transduction pathway. Direct evidence for a casual role of hsp70 in aging is provided by analysis of transgenic fruit flies. When hsp70 is induced by mild heat shock, flies that overexpress the protein have greatly reduced mortality rates during subsequent weeks of aging at normal temperatures. Current work with fruit flies focuses on the relationship between insulin-like receptors, ovarian diapause, heat shock and aging.
The design and performance of real-time Java middleware

More than 90 percent of all microprocessors are now used for real-time and embedded applications. The behavior of these applications is often constrained by the physical world. It is therefore important to devise higher-level languages and middleware that meet conventional functional requirements, as well as dependably and productively enforce real-time constraints. We provide two contributions to the study of languages and middleware for real-time and embedded applications. We first describe the architecture of jRate, which is an open-source ahead-of-time-compiled implementation of the RTSJ middleware. We then show performance results obtained using RTJPerf, which is an open-source benchmarking suite that systematically compares the performance of RTSJ middleware implementations. We show that, while research remains to be done to make RTSJ a bullet-proof technology, the initial results are promising. The performance and predictability of JRate provides a baseline for what can be achieved by using ahead-of-time compilation. Likewise, RTJPerf enables researchers and practitioners to evaluate the pros and cons of RTSJ middleware systematically as implementations mature.
Fuzzy Information Extraction on OCR Text

In this paper, we report on two experiments on identification and extraction of Date of Birth instances. The objective of these experiments is to increase the recall level by increasing the edit distance while obtaining a reasonable precision.
Reliability-Aware Approach: An Incremental Checkpoint/Restart Model in HPC Environments

For full checkpoint on a large-scale HPC system, huge memory contexts must potentially be transferred through the network and saved in a reliable storage. As such, the time taken to checkpoint becomes a critical issue which directly impacts the total execution time. Therefore, incremental checkpoint as a less intrusive method to reduce the waste time has been gaining significant attentions in the HPC community. In this paper, we built a model that aims to reduce full checkpoint overhead by performing a set of incremental checkpoints between two consecutive full checkpoints. Moreover, a method to find the number of those incremental checkpoints is given. Furthermore, most of the comparison results between the incremental checkpoint model and the full checkpoint model (Liu et al., 2007) on the same failure data set show that the total waste time in the incremental checkpoint model is significantly smaller than the waste time in the full checkpoint model.
The Status of Teaching on Voluntary Methods of Land Use Control in Planning Curricula

Given the pace of land conservation in North America, the increasing complexity of land protection transactions, the charged social and political scenarios that often attend restriction of development rights, and the impacts of land conservation on local taxation, it is clear that municipal planners should be conversant about methods for and implications of voluntary land conservation planning and practice. To evaluate the nature of teaching on these issues, we conducted a survey of accredited planning degree programs. Results suggest that among accredited planning education degree programs, there is significant room for improvement in quality and quantity of teaching about voluntary land conservation. Recommendations include making some currently elective courses required and introducing more varied and participatory teaching methods in current and new courses that cover these topic areas.
Using interceptors to enhance CORBA

The integration of distributed computing and the object model leads to distributed object computing, in which objects rather than processes are distributed across multiple computers. A well-established standard for distributed object computing is the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). Previously, you would have had to create-and enable the application to use-the components that provide such additional capabilities. Using these components requires specialized knowledge and understanding of problems outside the application domain. With the advent of interceptors-non-application components that can alter application behavior-you can enhance CORBA applications at runtime with components whose operation is transparent to both the application and the CORBA framework, modifying application behavior without modifying the application or the CORBA framework.
Politics, Speech, and the Art of Persuasion: Toward an Aristotelian Conception of the Public Sphere

This paper argues that Aristotle's Rhetoric is a valuable source for contemporary theorists of the public sphere. Thus far, these scholars have failed to recognize that Aristotle's discussion of the art of rhetoric contains important elements of both rational/deliberative and agonistic models of the public sphere. Aristotle recognizes that persuasive political speech is reasonable, passionate, and reflective of the character of the speaker. After presenting a reconstruction of Aristotle's arguments concerning (1) the content of persuasive public speech and (2) its role in political deliberation, I discuss areas of agreement and disagreement between Aristotle and the two most influential representatives of rational/deliberative and agonistic models of the public sphere: Jurgen Habermas and Hannah Arendt. The paper's conclusion refers to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s use of rhetorical speech in order to illustrate the advantages of Aristotelian persuasion over rational/deliberative and agonistic for...
Holey Graphene as a Weed Barrier for Molecules

We demonstrate the use of “holey” graphene as a mask against molecular adsorption. Prepared porous graphene is transferred onto a Au{111} substrate, annealed, and then exposed to dilute solutions of 1-adamantanethiol. In the pores of the graphene lattice, we find islands of organized, self-assembled molecules. The bare Au in the pores can be regenerated by postdeposition annealing, and new molecules can be self-assembled in the exposed Au region. Graphene can serve as a robust, patternable mask against the deposition of self-assembled monolayers.
Kinetic 17O effects in the hydrologic cycle: Indirect evidence and implications

Abstract The abundances of 18 O and deuterium in the present and past hydrologic cycle have proven to be an important tool in Earth systems science. In contrast, the abundance of 17 O in precipitation has thus far been assumed to carry no additional information to that of 18 O. Here, we demonstrate, using known constraints on oxygen isotope abundances from the O 2 cycle and existing data about the natural abundance of 17 O in water, that the relationship between the discrimination against 17 O and 18 O in water may vary. This relationship, presented here as θ = ln ( 17 α)/ln ( 18 α), is found to be 0.511 ± 0.005 for kinetic transport effects and 0.526 ± 0.001 for equilibrium effects, with very low temperature sensitivity. As a result, the 17 Δ of precipitation is controlled primarily by kinetic effects during evaporation of the initial vapor and, in contrast to the deuterium excess, is independent of the temperature at the evaporation (and condensation) site. This makes 17 Δ a unique tracer that complements 18 O and deuterium, and may allow for a decoupling of changes in the temperature of the ocean, that serves as the vapor source, from changes in the relative humidity above it. In addition, the 17 Δ of ice caps is influenced by the kinetic effects in ice formation, and therefore measurement of ice 17 Δ can be used as an additional constraint for better understanding and parameterization of these effects.
The computational extraction of temporal formal structures in the interactive dance work '22'

In this paper we propose a framework for the computational extraction of time characteristics of a single choreographic work. Computational frameworks can aid in revealing non-salient compositional structures in modern dance. The computational extraction of such features allows for the creation of interactive works where the movement and the digital feedback (graphics, sound etc) are integrally connected at deep level of structures. It also facilitates a better understanding of the choreographic process. There are two key contributions in this paper: (a) a systematic analysis of the observable and non-salient aspects of solo dance form, (b) computational analysis of temporal phrasing structures guided by critical understanding of observable form. Our analysis results are excellent indicating the presence of rich, latent temporal organization in specific semi-improvisatory modern dance works that may provide rich structural material for interactivity.
Associative and non-associative mechanisms of morphine analgesic tolerance are neurochemically distinct in the rat spinal cord

Opiate tolerance involves both associative and non-associative changes. However, procedures designed to distinguish between these two processes have rarely been employed when investigating the physiological basis of such plasticity. The present experiments assessed some of the mechanisms contributing to both associative and non-associative decreases in morphine analgesic potency following repeated IV morphine administration (4 days, 5 mg/kg per day). For one group of rats, testing for morphine analgesia (tailflick) occurred in a context that had been repeatedly paired with morphine administration. Another group of rats, exposed equally to the testing context, handling procedures and morphine, was tested for morphine analgesia in a context that was specifically unpaired with prior drug. Although both of these groups showed a decrease in the drug effect following repeated administrations, those rats tested in the morphine-associated context were significantly more tolerant than the unpaired group. We evaluated the spinal cord involvement of NMDA receptors, as well as the peptide neurotensin in these two types of tolerance. NMDA receptors appeared to mediate non-associative changes in drug potency, as rats tested in either context were less tolerant when morphine administration was preceded with the non-competitive NMDA antagonist, MK-801 (2.5 and 5 nmol). Spinal neurotensin antagonism with [d-Trp11]neurotensin (3 pmol) selectively abolished associative tolerance. These findings provide information about the mechanisms of opiate tolerance and support the distinction between associative and non-associative processes underlying these changes.
RNA polymerase II elongation complexes paused after the synthesis of 15- or 35-base transcripts have different structures.

Abstract We have purified specific RNA polymerase II elongation intermediates initiated at the adenovirus type 2 major late promoter and paused either 15 or 35 to 36 bases downstream of the transcription initiation site. Transcription was arrested at these two sites by combining modification of the promoter sequence with limitation of appropriate nucleotide concentrations in the in vitro reaction. The resultant complexes were remarkably stable and could be purified away from free DNA and contaminating protein-DNA complexes, without loss of activity, by the use of sucrose gradient sedimentation and low-ionic-strength polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The complexes were characterized by both DNase I and o-phenanthroline-copper ion nuclease protection assays. The DNase I footprints revealed that the structures of the 15- and 35- to 36-nucleotide transcription complexes differed from those previously reported for an adenovirus type 2 major late preinitiation complex and a subsequent intermediate formed upon addition of ATP. Furthermore, the 35- to 36-nucleotide complex protected a significantly smaller portion of the template than the 15-nucleotide species and migrated at a slightly higher rate in polyacrylamide gels. These observations suggest that changes in structural organization may continue to occur in transcription complexes which are already committed to elongation.
Strategies and New Developments in the Management of Bacterial Meningitis

The principles of antimicrobial therapy for acute bacterial meningitis include use of agents that penetrate well into cerebrospinal fluid and attain appropriate cerebrospinal fluid concentrations, are active in purulent cerebrospinal fluid, and are bactericidal against the infecting pathogen. Recommendations for treatment of bacterial meningitis have undergone significant evolution in recent years, given the emergence of pneumococcal strains that are resistant to penicillin. Clinical experience with use of newer agents is limited to case reports, but these agents may be necessary to consider in patients who are failing standard therapy.
Validation of otolith growth rate analysis using cadmium‐exposed larval topsmelt (Atherinops affinis)

We applied otolith growth rate analysis to an investigation of cadmium (Cd)-exposed larval topsmelt (Atherinops affinis) to determine if growth rate was a more sensitive measure than somatic growth (body wt or length). Topsmelt otoliths, calcareous concretions in the fish inner ear, formed daily increments, and otolith growth was proportional to somatic growth. Nine-day posthatch larval topsmelt were exposed to Cd (0-100 ppb) in seawater for 14 d and fed low or high ration levels in separate experiments. Whereas Cd impaired topsmelt growth and growth rates, the extent of growth reduction was dependent on the ration level. At high ration levels, otolith and somatic growth rates of fish exposed to Cd (50 and 100 ppb) were significantly reduced; however, no differences in final mean weight and only marginal differences in final mean length of Cd-exposed topsmelt were observed. At low ration levels, we detected reductions in both somatic growth as well as otolith and somatic growth rates of topsmelt exposed to Cd (50 and 100 ppb). Otolith growth rate analysis was more sensitive than growth measurements of Cd-exposed topsmelt, because it allowed the detection of small differences in growth rates even when differences in somatic growth were not observed.
Quality of life following paediatric heart transplant: are age and activity level factors?

John J. Parent , Lauren Sterrett, Randall Caldwell, Robert Darragh, Marcus Schamberger, Debbie Murphy,Eric EbenrothDepartment of Pediatric Cardiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, United States of AmericaAbstract Background: We evaluated whether quality of life correlates to age and activity in children following hearttransplantation. In addition, quality of life in children following heart transplantation was compared with previouslyreported values in children with congenital heart diseas e. Quality of life remains an important aspect of therapy.Methods: The Pediatric Quality of Life Inve ntory Generic Core Scales and Cardiac Module were administered to14 children who had previously undergone heart transplantation. Patients wore a pedometer for 7 days to assessdaily activity. Results: The age at assessment was 13.1 ±1.9 years. The patients were 7.1 ±5.7 years post hearttransplantation. There was a negative correlation between age at ﬁrst heart transplantation and emotional (r =−0.64;p<0.05) and school function (r =−0.57; p<0.05). A negative correlation between patient’s age at assessment andperceived physical appearance existed (r =−0.53; p<0.05). Daily steps negatively correlated with cognitive(r =−0.58; p<0.05), physical (r =−0.63; p<0.05), emotional (r =−0.62; p<0.05), and school function(r =−0.66; p<0.01). Heart transplantation patients reported better scores for treatment and symptoms (p <0.05)but lower physical health scores (p <0.01) than those with moderate congenital heart disease. Conclusions: Paediatrichearttransplantationpatientsreported overallsimilarqualityoflifeaspatients withmoderatecongenitalheartdisease.Children receiving heart transplants at an older age may re quire additional emotional and educational support. Hearttransplantation patients with higher activity levels may be more aware of their physical, emotional, and cognitivelimitations, and thus score lower on these quality of life indicators.
Soft SVM and its application to video object extraction

Support vector machines (SVM) are state-of-the-art learning machines and have found a great deal of success in a wide range of applications. In the framework of SVM, each sample belongs to either one class or the other. This requirement, however, makes it difficult to apply SVM to the applications where the data exhibit partial or unclear class memberships. To address this problem, this paper reformulates the standard SVM to be a new learning machine that is capable of dealing with binary (or hard) as well as real-valued (or soft) class memberships. The new machine, which is named soft SVM (S-SVM), has been integrated into a classification-based video object extraction approach, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approach.
Abundance and variation of colloidal organic phosphorus in riverine, estuarine, and coastal waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico

The abundance of colloidal organic phosphorus (COP) and colloidal inorganic phosphorus (CIP) was quantitatively determined using an ultrafiltration permeation model for riverine, estuarine, and coastal waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) was the dominant species in Mississippi and Pearl River waters, while dissolved organic phosphorus was dominant in marine environments. The abundance of COP was highest in the Pearl River (up to 88%), followed by the Mississippi Bight (,67%), and the Bay of St. Louis (,59%), but was lowest in the Mississippi River (41–50%). These variations highlight the roles of terrestrial inputs, autochthonous production, and anthropogenic activities in controlling the COP abundance in different aquatic environments. In the Gulf of Mexico, COP abundance generally decreased with increasing depth and coincided with chlorophyll a, reflecting the production of COP by phytoplankton and remineralization during downward transportation in the water column. The colloidal organic C : P molar ratios were substantially higher than the Redfield ratio but consistently lower than those of the bulk dissolved organic matter except for the Mississippi River, indicating a diagenetically fresher or younger COP pool. The percentage of CIP in the DIP pool was generally negligible or very low (#3%) except in the Pearl River, where CIP abundance was as high as 27– 47%, likely contributed from colloidal soils, minerals, and iron oxyhydroxides. We hypothesize that high COP abundance and seasonal P-limitation play an important role in regulating the biogeochemical cycling of P and the development of hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient that plays a key role in regulating primary production in aquatic environments (Benitez-Nelson 2000). Among P species, phosphate is the form most readily utilized by aquatic organisms and can be depleted before inorganic nitrogen (N) species and, thus, may limit primary production in various aquatic ecosystems (Cotner et al. 1997; Murrell et al. 2002; Sylvan et al. 2006). To reduce nutrient stress and P limitation, microorganisms and phytoplankton may utilize dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) through hydrolyzation by various enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase and 59nucleotidase, under conditions of low phosphate concentration (Karl and Craven 1980; Ammerman and Azam 1985;
A high performance Si on Si multichip module technology

A high-performance microprocessor and cache core based on a silicon-on-silicon multichip module technology is discussed. The technology was designed to have low interconnect parasitics and low cost. A 12-chip module operating at over 75 MHz using this technology was built incorporating an i486 microprocessor, a cache controller, and 256 K of SRAM cache. This represents a 40-50% clock rate improvement over a conventional packaged part approach. The dice were attached to a four-layer metal and polyimide silicon substrate using controlled collapse chip connection (C4) technology. The unit was assembled into a 350 pin ceramic pin grid array (PGA) package. A low-dielectric-constant polyimide and a flip chip die interconnection process minimized RC delay and inductance, and the module can operate at over 160 MHz. The module can dissipate up to 20 W using an array of thermal bumps spaced over the die surface and attached to staircase vias through the substrate. >