cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of Catalase and Superoxide Dismutase on Ozone Inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes

The effects of ozone at 0.25, 0.40, and 1.00 ppm on Listeria monocytogenes were evaluated in distilled water and phosphate-buffered saline. Differences in sensitivity to ozone were found to exist among the six strains examined. Greater cell death was found following exposure at lower temperatures. Early stationary-phase cells were less sensitive to ozone than mid-exponential- and late stationary-phase cells. Ozonation at 1.00 ppm of cabbage inoculated with L. monocytogenes effectively inactivated all cells after 5 min. The abilities of in vivo catalase and superoxide dismutase to protect the cells from ozone were also examined. Three listerial test strains were inactivated rapidly upon exposure to ozone. Both catalase and superoxide dismutase were found to protect listerial cells from ozone attack, with superoxide dismutase being more important than catalase in this protection.
Structure relationship for binding of sulfonamides and penicillins to bovine serum albumin by fluorescence probe technique

The binding constants and the number of binding sites for the binding of 11 sulfonamide and seven penicillin derivatives to bovine serum albumin were determined using a fluorescence probe method. The results demonstrate that these drugs bind to hydrophobic sites on the serum albumin. The binding affinities of sulfonamide and penicillin are greatly affected by their side-chain substitutions. The binding is enhanced by the hydrophobic substitutions but decreased by the hydrophilic substitutions on the parent molecules.
Robot trajectory learning through practice

We present an algorithm that uses trajectory following errors to improve a feedforward command to a robot. This approach to robot learning is based on explicit modeling of the robot; and uses an inverse of the robot model as part of a learning operator which processes the trajectory errors. Results are presented from a successful implementation of this procedure on the MIT Serial Link Direct Drive Arm. The major point of this paper is that more accurate robot models improve trajectory learning performance, and learning algorithms do not reduce the need for good models in robot control.
Automated document distribution using AI based workstations and knowledge based servers

An approach is presented to document distribution in a large corporation via a corporate communications system using artificial intelligence and expert system concepts. A document is originated as an electronic file on a user workstation (WS), called the writer. The document is processed by an inference engine in the WS and appends the list of signers and reviewers. The document is then sent to a knowledge base server (KBS), which adds additional information regarding the distribution of the document. The activity of reviewing and signing the documents originated at the user WS. The document is retrieved from the KBS, reviewed by the user, signed, and returned to the KBS for intermediate storage. When the KBS has determined that the document has all the required signatures, the document is sent to the final destination. The system has been demonstrated using a C language implementation on personal computer workstations and a Unix-based KBS. >
Spray Chemical Vapor Deposition of CuInS2 Thin Films for Application in Solar Cell Devices

Chalcopyrite CuInS2 is a direct band gap semiconductor (1.5 eV) that has potential applications in photovoltaic thin film and photoelectrochemical devices. We have successfully employed spray chemical vapor deposition using the previously known, single-source, metalorganic precursor, (Ph3P)2CuIn(SEt)4, to deposit CuInS2 thin films. Stoichiometric, polycrystalline films were deposited onto fused silica over a range of temperatures (300–400 °C). Morphology was observed to vary with temperature: spheroidal features were obtained at lower temperatures and angular features at 400 °C. At even higher temperatures (500 °C), a Cu-deficient phase, CuIn5S8, was obtained as a single phase. The CuInS2 films were determined to have a direct band gap of ca. 1.4 eV.
Poverty, Facts, and Political Philosophies: Response to “More Than Charity”

Andrew Kuper begins his critique of my views on poverty by accepting the crux of my moral argument: The interests of all persons ought to count equally, and geographic location and citizenship make no intrinsic difference to the rights and obligations of individuals. Kuper also sets out some key facts about global poverty, for example, that 30,000 children die every day from preventable illness and starvation, while most people in developed nations have plenty of disposable income that they spend on luxuries and items that satisfy mere wants, not basic needs.
Using Antenna Arrays to Motivate the Study of Sinusoids

Educational activities involving antenna arrays to motivate the study of sinusoids are described. Specifically, using fundamental concepts related to phase and simple geometric arguments, students are asked to predict the location of interference nulls in the radiation pattern of two-element phased array antennas. The location of the radiation nulls are then verified experimentally. The activities have been employed both in a freshman-level electrical engineering course and, in expanded form, a summer research experience for high school students. Details of the experiments are given, as are results of student assessment and suggestions for further development.
A new method for estimating smoking-attributable mortality in high-income countries

Background Cigarette smoking is responsible for a massive loss of life in both developed and developing countries. This article develops an alternative to the Peto–Lopez method for estimating the number or fraction of smoking-attributable deaths in high-income countries. Methods We use lung cancer death rates as an indicator of the damage caused by smoking. Using administrative data for the population aged ≥50 years from 20 high-income countries in the period from 1950 to 2006, we estimate a negative binomial regression model that predicts mortality from causes other than lung cancer as a function of lung cancer mortality and other variables. Using this regression model, we estimate smoking-attributable deaths based on the difference between observed death rates from lung cancer and expected rates among non-smokers. Results Combining the estimated number of excess deaths from lung cancer with those from other causes, we find that among males in 1955 the smoking-attributable fraction was highest in Finland (18%); among women, no country exceeded 1%. By 2003, Hungary had the highest fraction of smoking-attributable deaths among males (32%), whereas the USA held that position among women (24%). Our estimates are remarkably similar to those produced by the Peto–Lopez method, a result that supports the validity of each approach. Conclusions We provide a simple and straightforward method for estimating the proportion of deaths attributable to smoking in high-income countries. Our results demonstrate that smoking has played a central role in levels, trends and international differences in mortality over the past half century.
A neural network system to classify simulated ECG rhythms

A neural network system to detect abnormal ECG rhythms is developed. An electronic ECG simulator is used to generate normal and abnormal ECGs, for training and testing the system. The Neural Works Professional II Plus neural network building package was used for this purpose. Also, the performance and efficiency of the neural network for 'delta rule backpropagation' and 'Widrow-Hoffman rule' is compared. The delta rule is found to be more efficient in classifying data not encountered in its training phase. >
Assessment of transgenic maize events produced by particle bombardment or Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

Particle bombardment and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation are two popular methods currently used for producing transgenic maize. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is expected to produce transformants carrying fewer copies of the transgene and a more predictable pattern of integration. These putative advantages, however, tradeoff with transformation efficiency in maize when a standard binary vector transformation system is used. Using Southern, northern, real-time PCR, and real-time RT-PCR techniques, we compared transgene copy numbers and RNA expression levels in R1 and R2 generations of transgenic maize events generated using the above two gene delivery methods. Our results demonstrated that the Agrobacterium-derived maize transformants have lower transgene copies, and higher and more stable gene expression than their bombardment-derived counterparts. In addition, we showed that more than 70% of transgenic events produced from Agrobacterium-mediated transformation contained various lengths of the bacterial plasmid backbone DNA sequence, indicating that the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation was not as precise as previously perceived, using the current binary vector system.
Experimental and FDTD-computed radiation patterns of cellular telephones held in slanted operational conditions

The objective of this paper is to investigate, numerically and experimentally, the radiation patterns of various commercial cellular telephones held in a realistically slanted position relative to the head, to understand the performance of such devices for normal use conditions. The investigation has been performed with and without the human head model at an angle of 30/spl deg/ with respect to the vertical. To avoid the stair-step modeling of the cellular telephone for the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) formulation, the head has instead been tilted forward by 30/spl deg/ and a transformation of coordinates in the FDTD calculation has been used to obtain the desired vertical and horizontal polarizations. We show that the FDTD method gives results that are in good agreement with measurements, both for shape and gain of the radiation patterns, for all of the considered mobile telephones that use several types of antennas. Generally, a decrease of the cellular telephone gain for the vertical component of the field has been observed as compared to the vertical configuration of the telephone and also a decrease in gain is obtained when the phone is held against the human head. Furthermore, it is shown that the FDTD method is capable of providing fairly accurate results even for radiation patterns at a slanted angle and modeling of realistic cellular telephones.
Retrieval of soil moisture and vegetation canopy parameters with L-band radar for a range of boreal forests

In this paper, we study the radar retrieval of soil moisture and canopy parameters in a forested area. The forward model is a discrete scatterer radar model and the inverse model implements a global optimization scheme known as simulated annealing. Inversion is first applied to synthetic data assuming hypothetical allometric relationships to make the retrieval possible by reducing the number of unknowns. The inversion algorithm is then validated using data from the Canadian Experiment for Soil Moisture in 2010 (CanEx-SM10) acquired with the NASA/JPL UAVSAR in June 2010 in central Canada boreal forests in support of the pre-launch calibration and validation activities of NASA's Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) mission.
Effects of direct reaction coupling in compound reactions

The Hauser-Feshbach (HF) model with width fluctuation correction needs to be modified when strongly coupled direct reaction channels exist. We perform cross section calculations for compound reactions which include strongly coupled channels (direct), based on the Kawai-Kerman-McVoy (KKM) theory. In KKM the cross sections are expressed in terms of channel matrix, which is given by the coupled-channels method. Numerical calculations are given for the 238 U elastic scattering cross sections, and the elastic enhancement factor. It is shown that the compound elastic cross sections are affected by the direct channels when the coupling is strong.
First-Order Fire Effects Models for Land Management: Overview and Issues

We give an overview of the science application process at work in supporting fire management. First-order fire effects models, such as those discussed in accompanying papers, are the building blocks of software systems designed for application to landscapes over time scales from days to centuries. Fire effects may be modeled using empirical, rule based, or process approaches. Fire effects software systems can be used to conduct risk assessments, develop prescriptions for fuel treatments or prescribed fire, or support long-term planning. A brief review of the software systems available and the fire effects models on which they are based is presented. We consider the future of software systems for fire management and, given gaps in fire effects modeling capabilities, how to strengthen their foundation.
A Test of Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory Using Structural Equation Modeling

This article presents a test of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the study, which are based on self-reports from a sample of 422 university students, generally support the theory. The support is qualified by methodological and analytical limitations. Despite its limitations, the study represents an addition to the growing body of empirical support for Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory.
Use of volunteers to help launch a pediatric residency program in Laos

When five Lao physicians began their training in a 3-year pediatric residency program in Laos in late 1997 it launched the first full-time postgraduate medical education in the history of the country. For a poor country with 5 million people, half of them children, and only seven fully trained pediatricians, the prospect of soon adding five new pediatricians per year has substantial implications for child health. This residency grew out of 10 years of collaboration between the Lao Faculty of Medical Sciences and a wide-ranging group of volunteer faculty members recruited from Case Western Reserve University and many other academic centres in the United States, Canada and Thailand, with the help of an all-volunteer organization, Health Frontiers. The collaboration grew slowly, first with a pediatric curriculum for medical students, then a series of intensive short courses in pediatrics, and finally a government-approved residency program, based on local health needs and consistent with international standards. This article reviews some of the academic, cultural, political, organizational and financial factors involved in the project. It suggests that the low-cost, in-country, volunteer-assisted residency program being developed in Laos may emerge as an effective and affordable model for introducing postgraduate medical education in other less developed countries.
Sensitivity of cationic surfactant templates to specific anions in liquid interface crystallization

Abstract We investigated the specific effects of potassium salts of various anions upon the interfacially templated crystal nucleation of K2SO4. Previously, we have shown that the presence of several salts at low concentrations could induce changes in important crystallization characteristics templated by 1-octadecylamine at the liquid–liquid interface, and that these changes depended greatly on the specific identity of the salt. In this work we extend our surfactant monolayers to include dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DODAB) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Addition of 10 mM of various potassium salts results in a diminution in efficiency of the templating capability of CTAB monolayer, as evidenced by higher Conset values and polycrystalline habit. The ability of the anions to perturb these values varied in a manner consistent with a Hofmeister series. However, DODAB maintained its templating effectiveness regardless of the nature of the salt or concentration. DODAB and CTAB are likely to be undergoing different reordering effects in the monolayer upon binding with chaotropic anions: a combined reduction in surface charge with different monolayer ordering results in a differing template ability. These studies have provided significant insights into the understanding of the interaction of ordered surfactant arrays with salts, and provide exciting possibilities for crystal engineering and materials design.
POPULATION DENSITY OF THE ENDANGERED FLORIDA KEY DEER

Abstract With decreased illegal hunting and better habitat conservation, the Florida Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) population grew from an estimated 25–50 animals in the late 1940s to approximately 200 animals on Big Pine and No Name keys, Florida, USA, by 1971, the last official survey. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) trend data indicate that the deer population continued to increase after 1971; however, current deer density estimates are necessary for the proposed reclassification of the Key deer from endangered to threatened. Our study objectives were to (1) obtain current population estimates of Florida Key deer and compare these to historical estimates, (2) evaluate survey methods (USFWS mortality and deer counts) in detecting changes in population trends, and (3) outline a protocol for future monitoring. Road counts (n = 889) were conducted from January 1971 to December 1971 and January 1976 to December 2001 on Big Pine and No Name keys. From mark–recapture data, we estimated that...
Range of Protons from N 14 ( n , p ) C 14

The mean range of protons emitted in the slow neutron disintegration of nitrogen has been measured in a cloud chamber to be 1.00 cm of air, in good agreement with other observers. It is suggested that this range and the energy (561 kev) of the emitted protons as deduced from the $n\ensuremath{-}H$ mass difference and the extrapolated end point of the ${\mathrm{C}}^{14}$ beta-ray spectrum be used to establish a reliable point on the proton range-energy curve. This point lies on Bethe's original 1937 range-energy curve, but disagrees with Bethe's curve revised to fit the ionization chamber range of artificially accelerated protons.
Viral-Chemical Combination Effects in Tumorigenesis

Shortly after the discovery of the first tumor virus by Rous (1) in 1911 and the first experimental demonstration of chemical induction of cancer in rabbit skin by painting coal tar by Yamagiwa and Ichikawa (2) in 1915, Rous and Kidd (3, 4) reported that tar enhanced the carcinogenic activity of the Shope papillomavirus for the rabbit skin. Since then, numerous reports of interaction between viruses and chemical carcinogens have been published (revs. 5–15) with the majority of these showing synergism. These findings have attracted increasing attention as evidence is mounting that human populations are often exposed to both viruses and chemical carcinogens and that the high incidence of human cancer in certain geographic areas can be attributed to viral-chemical synergistic action. The focus of this section is to review studies indicative of viral-chemical interaction in tumorigenesis in humans, experimental animals, and cell culture systems.
Augmenting Ion Trap Mass Spectrometers Using a Frequency Modulated Drift Tube Ion Mobility Spectrometer.

Historically, high pressure ion mobility drift tubes have suffered from low ion duty cycles and this problem is magnified when such instrumentation is coupled with ion trap mass spectrometers. To significantly alleviate these issues, we outline the result from coupling an atmospheric pressure, dual-gate drift tube ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) to a linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LIT-MS) via modulation of the ion beam with a linear frequency chirp. The time-domain ion current, once Fourier transformed, reveals a standard ion mobility drift spectrum that corresponds to the standard mode of mobility analysis. By multiplexing the ion beam, it is possible to successfully obtain drift time spectra for an assortment of simple peptide and protein mixtures using an LIT-MS while showing improved signal intensity versus the more common signal averaging technique. Explored here are the effects of maximum injection time, solution concentration, total experiment time, and frequency swept on signal-to-noise ratios...
What it Means to Become a Flagship University1

It’s a familiar if not fully explained paradigm. A “World Class University” is supposed to have highly ranked research output, a culture of excellence, great facilities, a brand name that transcends national borders. But perhaps most importantly, the particular institution needs to sit in the upper echelons of one or more world rankings generated each year by non-profit and for-profit entities.
Institutions, Property Rights, and Economic Growth: Using Economic Experiments to Measure Informal Institutions

In many developing countries, formal legal institutions play a minimal role in the lives of most citizens, particularly those living in rural areas. Many states do not have the capacity to protect property rights and enforce contracts consistently; for example, many African states have struggled to project power outside the national capital in the post-independence period (Herbst 2000). Even when state capacity is present, formal rules are not always enforced. In such contexts, the informal rules of the game may be more salient determinants of economic outcomes than laws and regulations. However, the amorphous nature of social norms and conventions makes them substantially more difficult to analyze than legal or government institutions. From a development perspective, the gradual evolution of norms makes it difficult to distinguish between those informal institutions that facilitate growth and modernization from those that result from economic progress. In this paper, I explore the potential for using economic experiments to analyze informal institutions. North (1990) defines institutions broadly, as “the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction.” Though some institutions — for example, written consti∗Prepared for Washington University in St. Louis Conference on “The Legacy and Work of Douglass C. North: Understanding Institutions and Development Economics.” †Address: Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1208, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 631030-4899, pjakiela@wustl.edu.
Socially Influenced Decision-Making and Latino College Student Experiences in the United States: Introduction to the Issue

Access to college is a complex process that involves the interaction between multiple social forces. The authors argue for a more nuanced exploration into how and why Latina/o student groups' experience barriers related to college access. Further, they call for further action-oriented research that addresses the process of removing barriers.
A Class Symposium on Current Affairs

B Y MEANS of a topical arrangement of the subject matter, the study of contemporary life is being pursued jointly by representatives of four liberal arts departments at the University of Alabama. Political science, sociology, economics, and journalism are involved. With the current session the course enters upon its third year. Basically the work partakes of the nature of a class in orientation, a discussion group, and a seminar; but in several respects the procedure is different. First, each instructor selects from the advanced students specializing in his department the three most distinguished for sound scholarship and original ability. These are invited to enroll. Thus the class is limited to twelve students. So far no student asked to become a member has declined his invitation. Secondly, the topics selected for treatment are those which bear upon all the fields involved. Each instructor is expected to develop the special interests of his field in connection with each of the topics. Thirdly, credit toward graduation is granted the students in any one of the departments concerned. Since the instructors have undertaken the class in addition to their regular departmental work, the course has met one hour a week for only the second semester of each year. Listed in the university catalogue as Journalism ioo, the course is entitled Modern Trends. Among the considerations motivating the organization of the class and directing its methodology, the following eight are representative:
Control of European Foulbrood Disease of the Honey Bee

A field test was made in Red Lion, New Jersey, to compare effectiveness of Terramycin® and ethylene oxide against European foulbrood disease. Both Terramycin and ethylene oxide reduced the severity of the disease, but neither completely prevented recurrence. The relative populations of colonies established in equipment fumigated with ethylene oxide were larger than the populations in either the untreated controls or the colony fed Terramycin.
Secure Messaging in Electronic Health Records and Its Impact on Diabetes Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Abstract In 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which aims for the universal adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in primary care settings and “meaningful use” of this technology. The objectives of “meaningful use” are well defined and executed in stages; one of the objectives of stage 2, beginning in 2014, was implementation of a secure messaging system between patients and providers. Secure messaging has been shown to positively affect patients who struggle with managing chronic diseases on a day to day basis. This review aims to assess the clinical evidence supporting the use of secure messaging in EHRs in self-management of diabetes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed was conducted, and 320 results were returned. Of these, 11 were selected based on outlined criteria. Conclusions: Evidence from 7 of the 11 included studies suggests significant improvement in patients' hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with the us...
Solute- and temperature-responsive "smart" grafts and supported membranes formed by covalent layer-by-layer assembly.

Polymers like poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. A variety of reports have shown that brush grafts of PNIPAM on surfaces exhibit similar temperature responsiveness. We recently described an alternative synthetic approach to such surfaces that affords surfaces with similar LCST-like behavior. We also noted how such surfaces’ wettability can change in response to the identity and concentration of solutes. Here we show that this synthetic procedure can be extended to glass surfaces and to more complex surfaces present in porous glass frits. Functionalized glass surfaces exhibit solute-dependent wetting behavior analogous to that previously reported. We further show that the resulting responsive nanocomposite grafts on such frits exhibit “smart” responsive permeability with a greater than 1000-fold difference in permeability to water versus aqueous solutions of sodium sulfate. This “smart” permeability is ascribed to the solute-dependent wettabili...
Transport of Vanadium and Oxovanadium Ions Across Zeolite Membranes: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) have become an attractive form of energy storage because of their safety, capacity, and small environmental footprint; however, this technology is not yet widely available due to inefficiencies in the ion-exchange membrane. The current technology widely utilizes polymeric membranes that have stability problems in the highly reactive environment of the RFB and tend to break down, shortening the life of the battery. Also, they present less than desirable selectivity for proton transport, which is crucial to the overall efficiency of the battery. It has been proposed that thin zeolite membranes will provide both the stability and the selectivity to improve the performance of RFBs and make their wide-scale application more feasible. A molecular dynamics study of six types of these membranes (ERI, LTA, MFI, BEC, CFI, DON) and the ions present in the vanadium-RFB has been undertaken to determine their transport behavior and investigate the molecular level requirements for their suita...
Analysis of lawsuits related to point-of-care ultrasonography in neonatology and pediatric subspecialties.

Analysis of lawsuits related to point-of-care ultrasonography in neonatology and pediatric subspecialties
Characterization of Human Intestinal Lactase and Hetero-β-Galactosidases of Infants and Adults

In general, the activity of mammalian intestinal lactase is greatest in the perinatal period, decreasing before weaning to very low levels in the adult intestine. In some human subjects, lactase activity remains relatively high throughout life (lactase-sufficient individuals), while in others, enzyme activity falls, following the usual mammalian pattern (lactase-insufficient individuals). The activity of lactase measured at pH 5.8 in intestine samples from three groups of individuals showed: 6 infants, 28.5 ± 6.3 units of enzyme (UE) per g of protein; 8 lactase-sufficient adults, 16.6 ± 6.9 UE per g of protein; and 6 lactase-insufficient adults, 2.7 ± 1.8 UE per g of protein. The activities for sucrase and maltase were similar in the three groups. Density gradient ultracentrifugation in 5 to 20% mannitol revealed only a single peak of lactase activity which also showed cellobiase activity at pH 5.8 in all three groups. Kinetic properties (Km for lactose, Ki for fructose) including pH optimum curves were also identical for the lactases prepared from the intestine of all three groups of patients. Examination of colchicine inhibition revealed considerably less effect on the human lactase than has been reported in the case of the rat enzyme. The sedimentation patterns for the hetero-β-galactosidases determined at pH 5.8 from each of the three groups of intestine demonstrated two peaks of activity. The first peak area overlapped with the single peak of lactase activity. The second peak area showed less than 1% of the total lactase activity. The relative hetero-β-galactosidase activities were similar in all three groups of intestine, both at pH 5.8 and 3.5. We have found no differences in the properties of either intestinal lactase or hetero-d-galactosidases in the three groups of intestine examined.
Earnings replacement rates of new retired workers.

This article presents replacement rates based on actual earnings for persons first receiving Social Security retired-worker benefits in the early 1980’s. One of the advantages of actual earnings replacement rates is that they reflect the complexities of real-life workers. Because there is no well-established procedure to calculate actual rates, several alternative definitions are used to show the range of possible figures based on reasonable starting assumptions. This analysis demonstrates that actual earnings replacement rates vary greatly depending on how they are measured and on the employment earnings patterns over the worker’s entire career and during the last few years of the worker’s career. For this reason, it is difficult to point to one summary measure of replacement rates based on actual earnings. Replacement rates based on earnings in both the 5 years of highest earnings and the last 5 years before benefit receipt converged when quarters of coverage in the last 5 years were near the maximum possible, when work on the last job was full time rather than part time, and when the earnings in the last 5 years were close to the 5 years of highest earnings. However, most retirees had gaps in earnings or declining earnings during the last 5 years before benefit receipt and, in some cases, last earnings replacement rates were several times higher than highest earnings rates.
THE MODIFIED SHIRODKAR OPERATION. A 5 YEAR REVIEW FROM HARTFORD HOSPITAL

Abstract A 5 year review of the incidence of cervical incompetency at Hartford Hospital between 1958 and 1962 is presented. A detailed analysis of 25 patients upon whom 29 modified Shirodkar procedures were performed with Mersilene exclusively, is made. Twenty-one of the 29 procedures resulted in the birth of live infants at term. The fetal salvage rate before procedure was 25 per cent, and following the procedure, 73 per cent.
Autonomous Provinces and the Problem of ‘Semi-Sovereignty’ in European International Law

AbstractThrough an analysis of European and Ottoman international law textbooks, this paper explores the problem of ‘semi-sovereignty’ in the Ottoman Empire and connects this to the question of the Ottoman Empire’s status in the Eurocentric international legal order. Before territorial losses in the Balkans in 1878, international lawyers described autonomous provinces such as Mt. Lebanon and Egypt as a characteristic feature of Ottoman statecraft and administration. Subsequently, European lawyers viewed autonomous provinces as a mark of diminished sovereignty. Ottoman lawyers argued instead that granting autonomy to such provinces, which arose out of agreements between the Ottoman and European empires, formed part of the treaty law of Europe—one of the main sources of international law. International agreements creating the autonomous provinces, Ottoman lawyers noted, formalized international recognition of them as integral parts of the Ottoman Empire. By the First World War, Ottoman lawyers abandoned thi...
Wildfire, water, and society: Toward integrative research in the “Anthropocene”

Abstract Across the globe, wildfires are increasing in frequency and magnitude under a warming climate, impacting natural resources, infrastructure, and millions of people every year. At the same time, human encroachment into fire-prone areas has increased the potential for ignition, as well as risks and damages to human communities. In an era of intensifying human activities on Earth – the “Anthropocene” – societal interactions with post-fire landscapes are becoming commonplace. Yet, theories regarding post-fire impacts derived from individual disciplines no longer apply in cases where human interactions are intense. A holistic approach that accounts for interactions between natural and human systems is necessary to understand the altered dynamics of post-fire landscapes. Focusing on the intersection of fire, water, and society, this paper explores an integrative research framework to couple post-fire fluvial and human processes. We review trends in wildfires and growing impacts on humans, how fluvial processes and systems are altered by wildfires, and the potential hazards for human settlements. This review forms a basis for integrating societal concerns, such as vulnerability, economic impacts, and management responses. We then link disciplinary questions into broad interdisciplinary research through an integrative framework. The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire (Colorado, USA) provides an illustrative case with intense human interactions, both during and after the fire, to formulate critical questions within the integrative framework. Utilizing emergent integrative conceptual frameworks and tools will assist scholars in meeting the challenges and opportunities for broad collaboration, which are necessary to understand and confront wildfires characteristic of the “Anthropocene.”
miR-221 regulates CD44 in hepatocellular carcinoma through the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway.

CD44 and miR-221 are upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and tumors, however a connection between the two has not been identified. As the expression of miR-221 directly correlated with CD44 in HCC cells, we hypothesized that miR-221 may directly or indirectly regulate CD44 expression. Inhibition of miR-221 with antisense in Sk-Hep-1 or SNU-449 cell lines reduced CD44 protein expression while miR-221 mimic increased CD44 protein levels. miR-221 antisense did not alter the CD44 mRNA levels in Sk-Hep-1 or SNU-449 cells suggesting that regulation of CD44 protein occurs post transcriptionally. To discover miRNAs that may be involved in the miR-221 regulation of CD44, we performed miRNA profiling in SNU-449 cells treated with anti-miR-221. Several miRNAs were increased with miR-221 inhibition including miR-708-5p, a miRNA that targets CD44. As miR-221 targets several regulators of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway and a link between this pathway and CD44 has been previously shown in prostate cancer, we considered miR-221 regulation of CD44 may be through this pathway. Inhibition of miR-221 reduced p-4EBP1, a downstream effector of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. Likewise, inhibiting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway with the ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor PP242 reduced CD44 protein in SNU-423 and SNU-449 cells without altering CD44 mRNA levels.
Investigation of long-term effects of larval rearing temperature on growth, deformities, flesh quality, and phenotypic sex of cultured sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)

Abstract Temperature can have wide-ranging effects on the early development of marine fish. In aquaculture, higher larval rearing temperatures can accelerate development and thus shorten the intensive and expensive larval rearing period. In a previous study with larval sablefish ( Anoplopoma fimbria ), time between first feeding on live prey and weaning onto artificial diets was shortened when larval rearing temperatures were increased from 12 °C to 15 °C or 18 °C. However, those higher temperatures may induce delayed or persistent effects that may not be detected until the fish are older. In this study, we took weaned fish from the above previous study and reared them for up to nine months at a common, naturally fluctuating temperature (mean 11 °C, SD 2.3, range 7.9–13.6 °C) to learn about effects of prior larval rearing temperature on future growth, flesh firmness, deformities, and phenotypic sex. At the beginning of this study, soon after weaning onto prepared feeds, larvae that had been previously reared at 18 °C were larger than larvae that had been previously reared at 12 °C or 15 °C. However, 15 °C juveniles caught up in size to the 18 °C juveniles by 3.5 months after removal from the temperature exposures and rearing at common temperature, and surpassed them in size by nine months (weights at nine months for 12 °C: 438 ± 12 g, 15 °C: 530 ± 15 g, and 18 °C: 472 ± 11 g). Survival rates from weaning to the end of the nine-month common-temperature rearing period were greater for fish previously reared at 15 °C (92.3%) than for fish previously reared at 12 °C (83.9%) or 18 °C (82.6%). After the nine-month common-temperature rearing period, raw flesh from 15 °C fish was slightly softer than flesh from 18 °C fish, but neither treatment differed from 12 °C fish. Spinal deformities were highest in 12 °C fish, maxilla deformities were highest in 15 °C fish, and pelvic fin deformities were highest in 18 °C fish. Some deformities were associated with decreased growth. Broodstock crosses significantly differed in frequencies of isthmus, pelvic fin, and maxilla deformities, indicating possible genetic, maternal, and/or early environmental effects. Phenotypic sex matched genetic sex in all treatments; therefore, none of the prior temperature treatments induced sex reversal. This study shows that larval sablefish can be reared at temperatures > 12 °C without inducing severe long-term effects, and that warmer larval rearing temperatures—particularly 15 °C—may have benefits to rates of survival, deformity, and growth that do not become evident until long-term rearing after the temperature exposure period. Statement of relevance Larval rearing temperature can have long-term effects.
Rule-Based Facial Makeup Recommendation System

Facial makeup style plays a key role in the facial appearance making it more beautiful and attractive. Choosing the best makeup style for a certain face to fit a certain occasion is a full art. Also, foretelling how the face will look like after applying the proposed makeup style requires a high imagination. To solve this problem computationally, an automatic and smart facial makeup recommendation and synthesis system is proposed in this paper. This system starts by classifying the makeup related facial traits that makeup artists consider to decide the makeup style; Then, a rule-based makeup recommendation system is built by creating a knowledge base that models the relation between the facial style attributes and makeup style attributes, taking into account the occasion such as daily makeup or heavy makeup and the desired trend with semantic text explaining logic behind the recommended style. Finally, an automatic facial makeup synthesis system is developed to apply the recommended style on the facial image as well. To this end, a new dataset with 961 different females photos collected and labeled. To evaluate the performance of the proposed system, an extensive experimental analysis is conducted on the automatic facial attributes classification, the recommendation efficiency and the synthesis accuracy under different conditions. The obtained results show the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed fully automatic framework.
The Dawn of Therapy 1936–1955

The age of therapy dawned only two years after the publication of Abbott’s Atlas. Dr William Gross, at that time a surgical Resident at the Children Hospital in Boston, ligated a patent ductus arteriosus on August 26 1938 [84]. The concept of clinicophysiologic correlation had already been introduced, but the advent of surgery gave diagnosis an impetus and immediacy which had been lacking before. Repair of aortic coarctation and the development of the Blalock Taussig shunt followed soon afterwards, and by the end of the 1940s closed heart surgery was available for many defects. The period from 1936 to 1955 was the dawn of therapy, the beginning of a completely new way of viewing congenital heart defects as capable of diagnosis, understanding, and treatment.
Differences between spontaneous and induced abortions as risk factors for breast cancer.

PIP: Recent epidemiologic studies have found that spontaneous abortion has no association with breast cancer, while induced abortion is associated with a moderately increased risk. Although this finding may, in part, reflect confounding and ascertainment bias, there are credible biologic reasons for a difference in risk between these two events. Experiments with rats have indicated that proliferated but not differentiated terminal duct and lobular cells increase the susceptibility of breast tissue to carcinogens. Since ductal and lobuloalveolar breast cells proliferate in the first two trimesters of pregnancy and differentiate in the third, it would follow that the later (up through the late second trimester) the pregnancy is terminated, the greater the risk. Although there is a trend toward induced abortion at earlier gestational ages, spontaneous abortion tends to be the earlier event. Even when induced and spontaneous abortions occur at the same gestational age, dead embryos or fetuses are probably retained in utero for several weeks before expulsion, meaning hormone levels drop appreciably earlier than is the case with induced abortion, where the hormone profile drops only after termination. Moreover, since the average time to another pregnancy is significantly shorter after spontaneous abortion (12 months), the protective effect of subsequent full-term pregnancies may dilute the risk effect of spontaneous abortion to a greater extent than is the case with induced abortion. Now that most induced abortions occur in the first trimester, the implications for breast cancer risk should become minimal for both types of interrupted pregnancies.
Immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescent staining of Rickettsia rickettsii in skin biopsies. A comparative study.

OBJECTIVE To compare immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase staining of Rickettsia rickettsii in skin biopsies of patients suspected of having Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). DESIGN Immunofluorescent staining results for R rickettsii from skin biopsies of patients suspected of having RMSF were obtained by computer and chart review. Immunoperoxidase staining for R rickettsii was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsies from the same patient population. PATIENTS Twenty-six patients who were clinically suspected of having RMSF were included in this study. Skin biopsies of these patients were examined for evidence of RMSF by immunofluorescence and routine histology. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The sensitivity and specificity of both immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase staining techniques were calculated. The chi 2 method was used to assess significance. RESULTS Both tests were highly significant for the detection of R rickettsii (P .05). CONCLUSION The sensitivity and specificity of immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase staining of R rickettsii in routinely processed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsies of patients suspected of having RMSF are identical. Although not as rapid as the immunofluorescent technique, immunoperoxidase staining of R rickettsii has advantages over the immunofluorescent technique; these include easier antigen localization and concomitant viewing of the corresponding histopathology.
Sleep Disturbances in Midlife Women at the Cusp of the Menopausal Transition

Study Objectives:To compare causes of sleep disturbance and to compare self-reported sleep duration among groups of late premenopausal women and early perimenopausal women.Methods:In a longitudinal...
Monte Carlo and 60 Co-based kilovoltage x-ray dosimetry methods.

PURPOSE This work seeks to investigate new methods to determine the absorbed dose to water from kilovoltage x rays. Current methods are based on measurements in air and rely on correction factors in order to account for differences between the photon spectrum in air and at depth in phantom, between the photon spectra of the calibration beam and the beam of interest, or in the radiation absorption properties of air and water. This work aims to determine the absorbed dose to water in the NIST-matched x-ray beams at the University of Wisconsin Accredited Dosimetry Calibration Laboratory (UWADCL). This will facilitate the use of detectors in terms of dose to water, which will allow for a simpler determination of dose to water in clinical kilovoltage x-ray beams. MATERIALS AND METHODS A model of the moderately filtered x-ray beams at the UWADCL was created using the BEAMnrc user code of the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code system. This model was validated against measurements and the dose to water per unit air kerma was calculated in a custom built water tank. Using this value and the highly precise measurement of the air kerma made by the UWADCL, the dose to water was determined in the water tank for the x-ray beams of interest. The dose to water was also determined using the formalism defined in the report of AAPM Task Group 61 and using a method that makes use of a 60 Co absorbed dose-to-water calibration coefficient and a beam quality correction factor to account for differences in beam quality between the 60 Co calibration and kilovoltage x-ray beam of interest. The dose to water values as determined by these different methods was then compared. RESULTS The BEAMnrc models used in this work produced simulations of transverse and depth dose profiles that agreed with measurements with a 2%/2 mm criteria gamma test. The dose to water as determined from the different methods used here agreed within 3.5% at the surface of the water tank and agreed within 1.8% at a depth of 2 cm in phantom. The dose-to-water values all agreed within the associated uncertainties of the methods used in this work. Both the Monte Carlo-based method and the 60 Co-based method had a lower uncertainty than the TG-61 methodology for all of the x-ray beams used in this work. CONCLUSION Two new dose determination methods were used to determine the dose to water in the NIST-matched x-ray beams at the UWADCL and they showed good agreement with previously established techniques. Due to the improved Monte Carlo calculation techniques used in this work, both of the methods have lower uncertainties compared to TG-61. The methods presented in this work compare favorably with calorimetry-based standards established at other institutions.