cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Concept Maps for eTextbook Glossaries: Design and Evaluation

Glossaries play a major role in enhancing students’ comprehension of core concepts. Glossary terms have complex interrelationship that cannot be fully illustrated by standard approaches such as including all terms in a linear, alphabetized list. To overcome this limitation, we introduce an interactive design for glossary terms within the OpenDSA interactive eTextbook system using concept maps. Glossary terms are visualized as nodes in graphs and their relationships are described on the edges. A concept map associated with the selected term is generated on demand. We evaluate the effectiveness of our design by comparing student use of our concept-map based glossary to the traditional alphabetized list. We used exercises that target the comprehension of the glossary terms to make students familiar with the concept maps.
A full factorial experimental design to study the effect of flavoring agents on the mechanical properties of curcumin chewing gum tablets with high solids content.

Objective: Developing chewing gum tablets (CGTs) with high drug loads is a challenge due to the loss of mastication properties. We postulated that poor mastication properties of such gums could be ...
Evaluation of Locally Injected Mycobacterium Cell Wall Fraction in Horses with Sarcoids.

Abstract A reformulation of Mycobacterium cell wall fraction immunotherapeutic can be used to successfully treat sarcoids in horses. Sarcoids are reported to be the most common equine skin tumors with tumor type and location influencing the choice of treatment. Wide surgical excision is curative for many tumors, but may not always be feasible. Previous studies have reported sarcoid regression after injection with mycobacterial cell wall immunotherapeutics. A new formulation of the Mycobacterium phlei cell wall fraction immunostimulant (Immunocidin Equine) was used to treat cutaneous tumors in horses. Equids with skin tumors diagnosed as sarcoids were enrolled in the study. Sarcoids were injected at the initial visit with Immunocidin Equine and subsequently at approximately 2-week intervals. Of 17 cases, nine cases were completely resolved at the end of the study period evaluation or at the time of final follow-up (52.9%). Three cases were reported as improved (smaller), but not resolved (17.6%). Three cases were discontinued from the study as the respective masses were growing larger or not resolving (17.6%). One case (5.8%) with two masses had resolution of one mass, whereas the other tumor had a small regrowth 5 months after the last treatment. One case (5.8%) was lost to follow-up. All cases had mild to moderate swelling of the injection site, and some cases had discharge after the second, third, or fourth injections. No serious systemic side effects or complications were encountered during the study.
Supplemental Appendix to Macro-Finance Decoupling: Robust Evaluations of Macro Asset Pricing Models

This supplemental appendix provides the following supporting materials. Section SA contains proofs of the theoretical results in Section 4 of the paper on the size of the new conditional specification test. Section SB provides additional theoretical results on the power of the new test. Section SC provides comparison with some power envelopes through simulations. Section SD collects extra details of the empirical application. The full-text version of this paper can be found at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3609627.
Soft Mode Metal-Linker Dynamics in Carboxylate MOFs Evidenced by Variable-Temperature Infrared Spectroscopy

Through comprehensive analysis of carboxylate-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), we present general evidence that challenges the common perception of MOF metal-linker bonds being static. Struct...
Amplitude Based Beam Steerable Arrays: Mitigation of Grating lobes and Mutual Coupling

Designing beam steerable arrays with amplitude as the main parameter instead of phase as in the conventional arrays brings with it its own set of challenges: earlier occurrence of grating lobes and mutual coupling. An overview of these two issues along with their mitigation strategies is discussed here along with the further steps to be pursued in this regard.
BDUMP: A Rare Case of Vision Loss in a Lung Transplant Recipient

Introduction Bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation (BDUMP) is a potentially devastating rare paraneoplastic syndrome often associated with severe vision loss occurring in patients with underlying carcinoma. In approximately 50% of cases this may be the first sign of an underlying primary malignancy. First described in 1966 there are currently less then 100 cases described in the literature. Treatment of this condition includes treatment of the primary malignancy and plasmapheresis. We describe what we believe to be the first case reported in a lung transplant recipient. Case Report A 72 year old woman status post bilateral lung transplant for COPD was referred to ophthalmology due to increased vision loss for four months, one month prior to presentation she had undergone a left YAG capsulotomy. Maintenance immunosuppression included tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone. Fundus exam was remarkable for bilateral retinal pigment epithelium mottling and leopard spot fundus. Exam on the left showed edema. BDUMP was diagnosed, she was admitted to the hospital for plasmapheresis and an extensive evaluation for underlying malignancy. Remarkable laboratory studies showed a new acute kidney injury in the setting of chronic kidney disease with nephrotic range proteinuria. All tumor markers, ANA, ANCA, SPEP, and PLA2R were negative. CT of the head, chest, abdomen, and pelvis were unrevealing, PET scan showed a hypermetabolic breast nodule which was biopsied. The biopsy was consistent with ductal carcinoma in situ, and her mycophenolate was stopped. She completed 14 sessions of plasmapheresis and had improvement in her vision. Summary BDUMP, a rare condition which left untreated can lead to rapid vision loss, is associated with carcinomas of the cervix, uterus, ovary, lung, kidney, pancreas, breast, gastrointestinal tract, and Hodgkin lymphoma. While the exact pathogenesis for BDUMP has not yet been described it has been shown that these patients have a factor in the IgG fraction of serum that selectively causes melanocyte proliferation and thus plasmapheresis is an effective treatment. Patients that are immune suppressed are at an elevated risk for cancer, therefore it's highly important to keep up with health maintenance examinations in this population. Visual changes after transplant are also common, and a complete ophthalmologic examination should be completed with new onset of symptoms.
Physiology and Motility of the Normal and Replaced Esophagus

The esophagus serves as a conduit between the pharynx and the stomach. The normal esophagus has three functional regions including the upper esophageal sphincter (UES), esophageal body, and lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Each region has its specific function, and any disruption to these areas can compromise the esophageal motility. Various etiologies contribute to esophageal dysmotility, which may require surgical intervention. Common surgical disorders include esophageal atresia, severe peptic and caustic strictures, anastomotic strictures, achalasia, and other rare esophageal disorders. Here we cover the normal esophageal physiology and motility pattern and summarize common dysmotility patterns for associated surgical disorders.
The Dynamic Constitution: Equal Protection of the Laws

No State shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. – The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment I n 1994, jennifer gratz applied for admission to the University of Michigan. Gratz was a good student. Her adjusted high school grade-point average was 3.8 on a 4-point scale, and she had achieved a solid but not top-notch score on a standardized college admissions test. At many colleges this record would have ensured admission. At the University of Michigan, it did not. After applying in the fall of 1994, Gratz received a letter in January 1995 notifying her that she would need to wait until April for a final decision: Although she was “well qualified,” she was “less competitive than the students who have been admitted on first review.” In April a second letter arrived, this one with the news that Gratz had been rejected. Unwilling to accept this result, Gratz filed suit in federal court, alleging that the University of Michigan had deprived her of “the equal protection of the laws” guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. In particular, Gratz, who is white, argued that Michigan unconstitutionally discriminated against her by granting race-based admissions preferences to members of historically underrepresented minority groups. The facts of Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) were complicated, in part because the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions policy – like those at many elite colleges – took a number of factors into account.
Key-Efficient steganography

Steganographic protocols enable one to embed covert messages into inconspicuous data over a public communication channel in such a way that no one, aside from the sender and the intended receiver, can even detect the presence of the secret message. In this paper, we provide a new provably-secure, private-key steganographic encryption protocol secure in the framework of Hopper et al. [2]. We first present a "one-time stegosystem" that allows two parties to transmit messages of length at most that of the shared key with information-theoretic security guarantees; employing a pseudorandom generator (PRG) then permits secure transmission of longer messages in a striaghtforward manner. The advantage of our construction in comparison with previous work is key-length efficiency: in the information-theoretic setting our protocol embeds a n bit message using a shared secret key of length (1+o(1))n while achieving security $2^{-n/\log^{O(1)}n}$ : this gives a rate of key length over message length that converges to 1 as n→∞; the previous best result [5] achieved a constant rate >1 regardless of the security offered. In this sense, our protocol is the first truly key-length efficient steganographic system. Furthermore, in our protocol, we can permit a portion of the shared secret key to be public while retaining precisely n private key bits. In this setting, by separating the public and the private randomness of the shared key, we achieve security of 2−n. Our result comes as an effect of a novel application of randomness extractors to stegosystem design.
Development of HIV protease inhibitors: A survey

In the treatment of infections caused by rapidly mutating viruses like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), combination therapy with multiple drugs acting by different mechanisms offers several advantages over monotherapy. It may provide: synergistic effect, possible reduction of dosages and side-effects, and reduction of the chance of drug resistance. In the past few years, hundreds of HIV protease inhibitors have been synthesized and tested in order to overcome the limitations of reverse transcriptase inhibitors like zidovudine and others. In this review, emphasis is placed on the development of HIV protease inhibitors as antiviral agents against HIV, and structure-activity relationship analysis of saquinavir and related compounds Limitations of some protease inhibitors and ways to overcome the shortcomings are presented. Among these many protease inhibitors five have been marketed during 1995–1999. They are saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir and amprenavir. Their different structural features, important physicochemical, pharmacokinetic and clinical profiles are presented in a table form for easy comparison. It is hoped that in the future new drugs based on additional mechanisms can be developed for the treatment of AIDS.
Studies on the action of diazomethane on deoxyribonucleic acid: The action of diazomethane on deoxyribonucleosides

Abstract The action of diazomethane on deoxyguanosine, deoxythymidine, deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine has been examined. Under conditions whereby deoxyguanosine and deoxythymidine are completely methylated, deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine are recovered unchanged. Methylation products of deoxyguanosine and deoxythymidine have been isolated, characterized and identified; deoxyguanosine yields a mixture from which deoxy-1-methylguanosine, deoxy -(O-6)- methylguanosine and deoxy-7-methylguanosine have been detected. Deoxythymidine gives deoxy-1-methylthymidine.
Anatomy, physiology and pharmacology of the periaqueductal gray contribution to antinociceptive controls.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) contribution to antinociceptive controls. Studies emphasized the multiplicity of the bulbospinal antinociceptive control systems that are activated by electrical stimulation of or microinjection of opiates into the midbrain PAG. There are important noradrenergic controls and a wide variety of peptide-containing bulbospinal neurons. The chapter summarizes the cytochemistry of the afferent and efferent connections of the PAG and some intrinsic circuits within the PAG through which the controls are activated. The complexity of antinociceptive controls exerted from the midbrain PAG is illustrated. Anatomically and functionally, the PAG is heterogeneous. There is evidence that β-endorphin, enkephalin, dynorphin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and neurotensin neurons contribute to the controls generated from the PAG. Electrical stimulation of or microinjection of drugs into the PAG activates multiple stages of this circuitry. The complex interaction of narcotics, such as morphine, with the multiple opioid receptor sites in the PAG makes interpretation of drug injection studies equally complicated.
Memahami Kritik al-Qur’an terhadap Agama Lain

This article discusses some Qur’anic verses which criticizes other religions, especially Jews and Christianity. The thesis of this article is that these criticisms reflect a conflict in the early Islam, and the formation of Muslim communal identity. At the end of the article, the writer discusses the most heated debate whether Islam abrogates previous religions.
Bridging social evolution theory and emerging empirical approaches to social behavior

Spurred on by technological advances, the last several years have seen an explosion of studies of behavioral, genomic, and neurophysiological mechanisms of social behaviors. Yet these empirical studies and the vast amount of data they produce are typically disconnected from well-established social evolution theory. We argue that unlocking the transformative potential of the emerging empirical approaches to social behavior requires new kinds of theoretical approaches that integrate proximate behavioral, genomic, and neurophysiological mechanisms with evolutionary dynamics. We review recent efforts in this direction that show how proximate mechanisms are important for evolutionary dynamics. However, we argue that these frameworks are still too distant from empirical systems to interface with emerging datasets. As an example of improved approaches that can be developed, we focus on the evolution of social gene regulatory networks, and discuss how integrating dynamics of gene regulatory networks with social evolution theory can result in rigorous hypotheses that are testable with sociogenomic data.
Attenuation of Rhinovirus Type 15: Relation of Illness to Plaque Size

Abstract Rhinovirus type 15 passaged three times in WI-38 cells produced illness in only one of 35 volunteers, but infection resulted in formation of significant quantities of antibodies in the serums of 100%, and in nasal secretions of 89%, of infected volunteers. The inoculum contained large- (60%) and small- (40%) plaque variants. “Purified” large- and small-plaque inocula were prepared, and each was administered to 20 volunteers. There was a significant association of illness with the small-plaque inocula (P < 0.01) but the incidence of infection, quantitative virus shedding patterns, and mean serum and nasal secretory antibodies were not significantly different between the two groups. These findings suggest that plaque size may be an in vitro marker of attenuation of illness production by rhinoviruses.
Biohydrogenation of Fatty Acids and Digestibility of Fresh Alfalfa or Alfalfa Hay Plus Sucrose in Continuous Culture

Abstract The pattern of biohydrogenation of fatty acids from fresh alfalfa or alfalfa hay supplemented with 3 concentrations (0, 4, and 8%) of sucrose was studied at a constant pH of 6.2. Four continuous culture fermenters were used in a 4×4 Latin square design to test the hypothesis that fresh forage would increase flow of vaccenic acid (VA) from the fermenters compared with the same forage in hay form and that this difference would be diminished by adding sucrose to the hay diet by changing the bacterial community profile. Effluent was collected from each of the 4 fermenters during the last 3 d of each 10-d period. Nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acids (VFA), and fatty acids in the effluent were measured. Flow of bacterial organic matter (OM) and neutral and acid detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber digestibilities were higher for fresh alfalfa than alfalfa hay. True OM digestibility of alfalfa hay tended to linearly decrease with sucrose supplementation. However, microbial efficiency and flow of bacterial OM (g/d) linearly increased with sucrose addition. There was no change in total VFA concentration; however, proportion of acetate linearly decreased and proportion of butyrate linearly increased with sucrose addition. Fresh alfalfa increased total biohydrogenation of fatty acids compared with than hay. Vaccenic acid flow (mg/d) was much higher for fresh alfalfa compared with alfalfa hay (216 vs. 41) and VA was the predominant 18:1 isomer, followed by trans -13 18:1; however, sucrose had no effect on VA flow. The percentage of VA (of total trans -18:1) was not different between fresh alfalfa and hay, whereas percentage of trans -10 18:1 was much lower for fresh alfalfa. Therefore, the ratio of VA to trans -10 18:1 was higher for fresh alfalfa. Flow of trans -12 18:1 linearly increased, whereas flows of cis -12 and total cis -18:1 had quadratic responses to sucrose supplementation. Total biohydrogenation and biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids linearly decreased with sucrose; however, there was no effect of sucrose on total trans fatty acid flow. Sucrose may be more detrimental to the last step of biohydrogenation of VA. The effects of sucrose on biohydrogenation and concentration of VFA may have been caused by a shift in microbial population by mechanisms that are independent of pH.
Molecular specificity in photoacoustic microscopy by time-resolved transient absorption

We have recently harnessed transient absorption, a resonant two-photon process, for ultrahigh resolution photoacoustic microscopy, achieving nearly an order of magnitude improvement in axial resolution. The axial resolution is optically constrained due to the two-photon process unlike traditional photoacoustic microscopy where the axial resolution is inversely proportional to the frequency bandwidth of the detector. As a resonant process, the arrival time of the two photons need not be instantaneous. Systematically recording the signal as a function of the delay between two pulses will result in the measurement of an exponential decay whose time constant is related to the molecular dynamics. This time constant, analogous to the fluorescence lifetime, but encompassing nonradiative decay as well, can be used to differentiate between molecular systems with overlapping absorption spectra. This is frequently the situation for closely related yet distinct molecules such as redox pairs. In order to enable the measure of the exponential decay, we have reconfigured our transient absorption ultrasonic microscopy (TAUM) system to incorporate two laser sources with precisely controlled pulse trains. The system was tested by measuring Rhodamine 6G, an efficient laser dye where the molecular dynamics are dominated by the fluorescence pathway. As expected, the measured exponential time constant or ground state recovery time, 3.3±0.7 ns, was similar to the well-known fluorescence lifetime, 4.11±0.05 ns. Oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin are the quintessential pair whose relative concentration is related to the local blood oxygen saturation. We have measured the ground state recovery times of these two species in fully oxygenated and deoxygenated bovine whole blood to be 3.7±0.8 ns and 7.9±1.0 ns, respectively. Hence, even very closely related pairs of molecules may be differentiated with this technique.
On the relationship between description logic and predicate logic queries

Description languages form the basis of several object-centered knowledge base management systems developed in recent years, including ones in industrial use. Originally used for conceptual modeling (to define views), DLs are seeing increased use as query languages for retrieving information. This paper, aimed at a general audience that includes database researchers, considers the relationship between the expressive power of DLs and that of query languages based on Predicate Calculus.We show that all descriptions built using constructors currently considered in the literature can be expressed as formulae of the First Order Predicate Calculus (FOPC) with at most three variable symbols, though we have to allow numeric quantifiers and infinitary disjunction in order to handle some special constructors. Conversely, we show that all first-order queries (formulae with one free variable) built up from unary and binary predicates using at most three variables can be expressed as descriptions. We conclude by exhibiting queries that cannot be expressed as DL concepts, and reflecting briefly on consequences.
Technical Note-Surrogate Constraints and the Strength of Bounds Derived from 0-1 Benders' Partitioning Procedures

One commonly employed branch-and-bound approach to 0-1 mixed-integer programming problems is to use bounds obtained from the Benders' partitioning of the problem as a device to restrict the enumeration. We investigate the strength of such bounds through the development of a Geoffrion-type strongest surrogate constraint for the Benders' problems. We show that such a surrogate constraint can be developed for the complete Benders' integer problem without explicit enumeration of any of the extreme-point constraints. The bound obtained from this surrogate constraint is then shown to be as strong as that obtained from any of the more common Benders-based approaches, but yet exactly equal to the bound obtained from the linear relaxation of the original mixed-integer program.
Transportvorgänge in Membranen zur umgekehrten Osmose

Transport processes in membranes for reverse osmosis. The transport processes of electrolytes and undissociated polar organic compounds in membranes for reverse osmosis in individual or mixed systems are described with the aid of model equations. In addition the influence of the structure of the polymer used as membrane on the transport of the dissolved material is discussed from the viewpoint of interaction of dissolved material, solvent and membrane surface.
Characterizing protein structure in amorphous solids using hydrogen/deuterium exchange with mass spectrometry.

Abstract Elucidating protein structure in amorphous solids is central to the rational design of stable lyophilized protein drugs. Hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was applied to lyophilized powders containing calmodulin (17 kDa) and exposed to D2O vapor at controlled relative humidity (RH) and temperature. H/D exchange was influenced by RH and by the inclusion of calcium chloride and/or trehalose in the solid. The effects were not exhibited uniformly along the protein backbone but occurred in a site-specific manner, with calcium primarily influencing the calcium-binding loops and trehalose primarily influencing the α-helices. The results demonstrate that the method can provide quantitative and site-specific structural information on proteins in amorphous solids and on changes in structure induced by protein cofactors and formulation excipients. Such information is not readily available with other techniques used to characterize proteins in the solid state, such as Fourier transform infrared, Raman, and near-infrared spectroscopy.
Adaptation in motion perception: alteration of motion evoked by ocular pursuit.

A new perceptual adaptation, an alteration in the perceived direction of motion given by ocular pursuit, is reported. When an object starts to move on a straight path, its displacement is initially given by a shift of its image on the retinas of the stationary eyes; then, after about 200 msec, the eyes start to track the moving object. The perception of motion that results from ocular pursuit was altered by causing ocular pursuit of a moving object to be preceded regularly by a displacement of the object’s image whose direction differed from the direction of the pursuit movement. This was arranged by changing the direction of the given motion at approximately the moment when image displacement changed into tracking. Prolonged exposure to such conditions resulted in a change of the tracked motion’s apparent direction, which became somewhat more like the direction of the preceding motion phase that was given by image displacement.
A family of pseudo Youden designs with row size less than the number of symbols

Abstract It is shown that if s is a prime or a prime power with s ≡ 3 (mod 4), then there is an ( s(s + 1) 2 ) × ( s(s + 1) 2 ) array of s2 symbols whose rows and columns together form a balanced incomplete block design.
Attacks on PKM Protocols of IEEE 802.16 and Its Later Versions

Without physical boundaries, a wireless network faces many more vulnerabilities than a wired network does. IEEE 802.16 provides a security sublayer in the MAC layer to address the privacy issues across the fixed BWA (broadband wireless access). Several articles have been published to address the flaws in IEEE 802.16 security after IEEE 802.16-2001 was released. However, even the enhanced version IEEE 802.16-2004 does not settle all the problems and additional flaws emerge. In addition, we found that PKM (privacy and key management) protocols version 2 (PKMv2), proposed by recently released IEEE 802.16e, is also vulnerable to new attacks. In this paper, we first overview the IEEE 802.16 standard, especially the security sublayer, and then investigate possible attacks on the basic PKM protocol in IEEE 802.16 as well as in its other versions from related works and the newest PKMv2. We also give possible solutions to counter those attacks and verify our analysis using formal (BAN) logic.
Systemic Delivery of Gemcitabine Triphosphate via LCP Nanoparticles for NSCLC and Pancreatic Cancer Therapy

Nucleoside analogs are a significant class of anti-cancer agent. As prodrugs, they terminate the DNA synthesis upon transforming to their active triphosphate metabolites. We have encapsulated a biologically activate nucleotide analog (i.e. gemcitabine triphosphate (GTP)), instead of the nucleoside (i.e. gemcitabine) derivative, into a novel Lipid/Calcium/Phosphate nanoparticle (LCP) platform. The therapeutic efficacy of LCP-formulated GTP was evaluated in a panel of human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and human pancreatic cancer models after systemic administrations. GTP-loaded LCPs induced cell death and arrested the cell cycle in the S phase. In vivo efficacy studies showed that intravenously injected GTP-loaded LCPs triggered effective apoptosis of tumor cells, significant reduction of tumor cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, leading to dramatic inhibition of tumor growth, with little in vivo toxicity. Broadly speaking, the current study offers preclinical proof-of-principle that many active nucleotide or phosphorylated nucleoside analogs could be encapsulated in the LCP nanoplatform and delivered systemically for a wide variety of therapeutic applications.
Social Skills and Birth Order

This study examined differences in bask dimensions of social skill among birth orders. 205 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire that asked about family sibling structure and family inco...
Nonmonotonic Synaptic Excitation and Imbalanced Inhibition Underlying Cortical Intensity Tuning

Intensity-tuned neurons, characterized by their nonmonotonic response-level function, may play important roles in the encoding of sound intensity-related information. The synaptic mechanisms underlying intensity tuning remain unclear. Here, in vivo whole-cell recordings in rat auditory cortex revealed that intensity-tuned neurons, mostly clustered in a posterior zone, receive imbalanced tone-evoked excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. Excitatory inputs exhibit nonmonotonic intensity tuning, whereas with tone intensity increments, the temporally delayed inhibitory inputs increase monotonically in strength. In addition, this delay reduces with the increase of intensity, resulting in an enhanced suppression of excitation at high intensities and a significant sharpening of intensity tuning. In contrast, non-intensity-tuned neurons exhibit covaried excitatory and inhibitory inputs, and the relative time interval between them is stable with intensity increments, resulting in monotonic response-level function. Thus, cortical intensity tuning is primarily determined by excitatory inputs and shaped by cortical inhibition through a dynamic control of excitatory and inhibitory timing.
Ascaris and Escherichia coli Inactivation in an Ecological Sanitation System in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The goal of this study was to evaluate the microbial die-off in a latrine waste composting system in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Temperature data and samples were collected from compost aged 0 – 12+ months. Samples collected from compost bin centers and corners at two depths were assessed for moisture content, E. coli concentration, and Ascaris spp. viability. Center temperatures in compost bins were all above 58 °C, while corner temperatures were 10 – 20 °C lower. Moisture content was 67 ± 10% in all except the oldest compost. A 4-log reduction in E. coli was observed over the first sixteen weeks of composting at both locations and depths, after which E. coli was undetectable (LOD: 142 MPN g-1 dry weight). In new compost, 10.4% and 8.3% of Ascaris eggs were viable and fully embryonated, respectively. Percent viability dropped to zero in samples older than six weeks. These findings indicate that the Haitian EcoSan composting process was effective in inactivating E. coli and Ascaris spp. in latrine waste within sixteen weeks. This study is one of the first to document efficacy of an ecological sanitation system under field conditions and provides insight into composting methods and monitoring for other international settings.
Statistical-Mechanical Approach to the Thermodynamic Functions in the Unfolding of Biomolecules

Our statistical-mechanical formulation for calculating heat-capacity and enthalpy functions in conformational changes of biomolecules is extended to include free-energy and entropy functions and generalized to treat multidomain systems. Each conformant may consist of one or several independent sections or domains. The treatment is based on a two-state model in which all residues within a domain are fully cooperative. The thermodynamic functions can be evaluated from the ratio of the effective partition functions of the residues in the different conformants, the difference in their zeros of energy, and the temperature derivatives of these partition functions. The former two parameters were evaluated from published optical density data of the conformants within the transition region; the last item was obtained from published heat-capacity data of the pure conformants outside the transition region. Three types of thermodynamic functions were considered: (1) total functions, which include contributions from ...
On Dead Subjects: A Rejoinder to Lundberg on (a) Psychoanalytic Rhetoric

Owing to a longstanding commitment to the autonomous, self-transparent subject, many roads have not been taken in rhetorical studies. Our present conversation about Lacanian psychoanalysis represents one of those roads, which is the most radical route stemming from the little traveled thoroughfare of the “rhetoric of the interior.” Insofar as its central category is the dynamic unconscious, psychoanalysis in general represents a theory of an inside or interiority that has largely been ignored, and sometimes attacked, in favor or defense of surfaces and exteriorities (e.g., fantasy themes and rhetorical visions, rational argument in ideal speech situations, and so on). Despite the pioneering work on Jung and mythic criticism by Janice Hocker Rushing and Thomas S. Frentz, despite articulate calls for psychoanalytic research by Barbara Biesecker, Michael J. Hyde, and Loyd S. Pettegrew, and despite the remarkable, interdisciplinary work of Henry Krips, among NCA-style rhetorical studies scholars, psychoanalysis has been the place of dead roads, indeed, the place of dead subjects. Christian Lundberg’s welcome and insightful critique of “Refitting Fantasy” ought to be read as a road sign of sorts, indicating not only an exciting route for research, but also the number of places it might go. In general, Lundberg argues that a critical perspective that begins in the imaginary overlooks the master’s focus on the Symbolic order, thereby missing the true locus of rhetoric in Lacan’s work (principally, “tropology”). Further, Lundberg argues that a critical attention to fantasies is limited to discrete texts and intersubjective encounters, thereby avoiding an opportunity to do true Lacanian rhetorical criticism. The consequence of an approach focused on the criticism of (pre-)conscious and unconscious fantasies, he implies, is twofold. First, it promotes a perspective akin to the project of “ego-psychology” and, thus, relies on the “naive psychologism of solely intersubjectively mediated accounts of subject formation,” which bars scholars from the pursuit of a deeper, more
Plasma Agmatine and Platelet Imidazoline Receptors in Depressiona

Plasma agmatine concentrations are elevated significantly in depressed patients compared to healthy controls. Treatment with the antidepressant bupropion normalized plasma agmatine levels. Correlational evidence is presented that a change in plasma agmatine levels may lead to similar changes in platelet I1 imidazoline receptors.
Transient fear-induced alterations in evoked release of norepinephrine and GABA in amygdala slices.

Abstract Presentation of a tonal cue that previously had been associated with a fearful experience (footshock) produces alterations in arousal and sleep that occur after the fearful cue is no longer presented. To begin investigating neurochemical mechanisms that may underlie the effects of fearful cue presentation, we measured release of [ 3 H]-norepinephrine ([ 3 H]-NE]) and [ 14 C]-γ-amino-butyric acid ([ 14 C]-GABA) from brain regions known to regulate arousal states and REM sleep. Depolarization-evoked release of [ 3 H]-NE from amygdalar slices of mice, which were trained to recognize a tone as a fearful cue, was suppressed at 2–3 h after exposure of animals to the fearful cue, but recovered after 4–5 h. Interestingly, depolarization-evoked release of [ 14 C]-GABA was significantly increased in the amygdala, and also showed a tendency for enhancement in the hippocampus, NPO, and DRN at 2–3 h after cue presentation. The changes in [ 14 C]-GABA release were also transient; 4–5 h after cue presentation no significant differences were detected between samples derived from experimental groups which experienced fearful or neutral cues. The similar time course of fearful cue-induced changes in neurotransmitter release and changes in arousal and REM sleep suggests that alterations in amygdalar neurotransmission may be involved in the changes in arousal and sleep that occur after fear.
Reference material for improving the quality of nutritional composition data for foods

Analytical values for the nutritional composition of foods are required for a range of purposes, in particular, for the construction of nutritional data bases. These provide the basis for estimating nutrient intakes in population groups, and for the nutritional labelling of foods. Both of these uses requires analytical values that accurately represent the composition of the foods. The requisite quality can only be achieved by the institution of a sound quality assurance programme in which reference materials have a vital role.
Role of Beam Geometry in Population Statistics and Pulse Profiles of Radio and Gamma-Ray Pulsars

We present results of a pulsar population synthesis study that incorporates a number of recent developments and some significant improvements over our previous study. We have included the results of the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey in our select group of nine radio surveys, doubling our sample of radio pulsars. More realistic geometries for the radio and gamma-ray beams are included in our Monte Carlo computer code that simulates the characteristics of the Galactic population of radio and gamma-ray pulsars. We adopted with some modifications the radio beam geometry of Arzoumanian, Chernoff & Cordes (2002). For the gamma-ray beam, we have assumed the slot gap geometry described in the work of Muslimov & Harding (2003). To account for the shape of the distribution of radio pulsars in the P(dot) - P diagram, we continue to find that decay of the magnetic field on a timescale of 2.8 Myr is needed. With all nine surveys, our model predicts that EGRET should have seen 7 radio-quiet (below the sensitivity of these radio surveys) and 19 radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars. AGILE (nominal sensitivity map) is expected to detect 13 radio-quiet and 37 radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars, while GLAST, with greater sensitivity is expected to detect 276 radio-quiet and 344 radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars. When the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey is excluded, the ratio of radio-loud to radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars decreases, especially for GLAST. The decrease for EGRET is 45%, implying that some fraction of EGRET unidentified sources are radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars. In the radio geometry adopted, short period pulsars are core dominated. Unlike the EGRET gamma-ray pulsars, our model predicts that when two gamma-ray peaks appear in the pulse profile, a dominant radio core peak appears in between the gamma-ray peaks. Our findings suggest that further improvements are required in describing both the radio and gamma-ray geometries.
Abstract 973: Targeting cancer stem cells by a novel anti-frizzled antibody inhibits pancreatic tumor growth and induces differentiation

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Clinical management of pancreatic cancer over the past years has not been improved and this disease remains the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death. It has been suggested that cancer stem cells drive tumor growth and progression and are resistant to many current therapies. The WNT/beta-catenin pathway, which signals through the Frizzled (FZD) receptor family and co-receptors, plays an important role in regulating cell fate, stem cell self-renewal and maintenance. We have recently demonstrated that inhibition of WNT/beta-catenin pathway by an anti-FZD antibody 18R5 decreased tumorigenicity and induced differentiation in solid tumors. The present study evaluated the anti-tumor effect of OMP-18R5 in a panel of pancreatic tumors. In vivo studies using primary pancreatic xenograft tumor models showed that OMP-18R5 was efficacious against both high and low grade pancreatic tumors. Histologic and gene expression analyses indicated that the 18R5-mediated anti-tumor effect was associated with inhibition of WNT target genes while inducing of mucin expression and tumor cell differentiation. Furthermore, inclusion of OMP-18R5 delayed pancreatic tumor recurrence following termination of gemcitabine. The delay in tumor recurrence by OMP-18R5 treatment was associated with a decrease in cancer stem cell frequency. The combination of OMP-18R5 and gemcitabine further decreased cancer stem cell frequency compared to the single agents. Our findings provide a rationale to target cancer stem cells through interference with WNT/beta-catenin pathway as a therapeutic approach in pancreatic cancer treatment. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 973. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-973
Lactose repressor protein reaction with 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol.

Abstract Reaction of the lactose repressor protein with 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol resulted in modification of two of the three cysteine residues per monomer at all pH values tested. At pH 8.1 it was possible to detect two equivalence points, corresponding to one and two mercurinitrophenol residues introduced per monomer. Inducer and operator binding activities were not affected by the introduction of the mercurial into the protein structure. Inducer binding, but not anti-inducer binding, produced a change in the spectrum of the mercurinitrophenol, apparently due to alterations in the environment of the chromophores as a result of shifts in the structure of the repressor protein.
High-speed parameter estimation algorithms for nonlinear smart materials

A fundamental step in the model construction for ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and ferroelastic materials is the estimation or identification of material parameters given measurements of the material response. Moreover, actuator and/or material properties may be a function of operating conditions which can necessitate the re-estimation of parameters if conditions change significantly. In this paper, we focus on the development of highly robust and efficient identification algorithms for use in industrial, aeronautic and aerospace applications. Following a discussion of present and future applications, we summarize the homogenized energy model used to characterize hysteresis and constitutive nonlinearities in these compounds. We next discuss the parameter estimation problem and detail algorithms used to speed implementation. The validity of the framework is illustrated through comparison with experimental data.
The mechanism of inhibition of Ran-dependent nuclear transport by cellular ATP depletion

Rran-dependent nuclear transport requires a nuclear pool of RanGTP both for the assembly of export complexes and the disassembly of import complexes. Accordingly, in order for these processes to proceed, Ran-dependent nuclear import and export assays in vitro require the addition of GTP to produce RanGTP. Notably, no ATP requirement can be detected for these transport processes in vitro. But in vivo, when cells are depleted of ATP by the addition of sodium azide and 2-deoxyglucose to block ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis, respectively, Ran-dependent nuclear import and export are rapidly inhibited. This raised the question of whether there is an ATP requirement for these nuclear transport pathways in an intact cell that has remained undetected in vitro. Here we report that the free (but not total) GTP concentration rapidly drops to an undetectable level upon ATP depletion as does the availability of RanGTP. Our conclusion is that the inhibition of Ran-dependent nuclear transport observed upon ATP depletion in vivo results from a shortage of RanGTP rather than the inhibition of some ATP-dependent process.
Quantitative Stereological Investigations of Porous Alumina Implant Biomaterials

We made several conclusions from this study on a candidate porous alumina bioceramic. First, the volume fraction of porosity varied from 64 to 79%, whereas Archimedes density shows 62% porosity. Second, the mean lineal intercept and tangent diameter varied from 0.048 to 0.058 cm and 0.034 to 0.040 cm, respectively, and did not provide a good concept of the minimum pore size neck dimensions for the specimen. Third, the pore-size dimension varied from 0.0185 to 0.1157 cm which indicated a minimum pore neck size large enough for tissue ingrowth and ossification if located in bone. Fourth, the pore structure was totally interconnected with considerable side branching and multi-interconnections. Fifth, the serial sectioning of the porous alumina ceramic biomaterial provides considerable insight into the critical features of the material as a candidate for a surgical implant material and a better understanding of the relationships between two-dimensional and three-dimensional structural components.
Cross-regulation of intracellular cGMP and cAMP in cultured human corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells.

Abstract The goal of this study was to assess the potential cross-regulation of cyclic nucleotides in human corpus cavernosum (HCC). Incubation of primary cultures of HCC smooth muscle cells with either the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 10 μM) or the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE 5) inhibitor sildenafil (50 nM) produced little or no changes in the intracellular cGMP levels. Incubation with both SNP and sildenafil produced marked increases in cGMP. Interestingly, incubation of cells with 10 μM of forskolin or PGE1 produced significant enhancement of cGMP accumulation. These increases were not further enhanced by the addition of SNP and sildenafil. Kinetic analyses of cGMP hydrolysis by PDE 5 showed that high concentrations of cAMP reversibly inhibited the enzyme with a Ki of 258 ± 54 μM. The increase in cGMP levels in response to cAMP generating agents is not due to assay artifact since cAMP did not cross-react with cGMP antibody. Our data suggest that cAMP up-regulates intracellular levels of cGMP, in part, by inhibition of PDE 5. We also noted that cGMP down-regulates cAMP synthesis via a mechanism requiring G-protein coupling of adenylyl cyclase. These observations may have important implications in the utility of pharmacotherapeutic agents targeting cyclic nucleotide metabolism for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Long-Term Follow-Up Results of Selective Laryngeal Adductor Denervation-Reinnervation Surgery for Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia

Selective laryngeal adductor denervation-reinnervation surgery for the treatment of adductor spasmodic dysphonia was reported in 1999 in 21 patients with encouraging results. Here, we report long-term results of this procedure. Surgical outcome was evaluated using patient surveys and perceptual voice assessment. Measured outcomes included Voice Handicap Index (VHI)-10 scores, patient questionnaire, and perceptual evaluation for voice breaks and breathiness. Patient survey was obtained from 83 patients, and perceptual voice evaluation was performed in voice samples from 46 patients. Average follow-up interval was 49 months. Mean VHI-10 scores improved from a mean of 35.6 to 12.7. Eighty-three percent showed significantly improved VHI-10 scores, representing improved physical, social, and emotional well-being. There was a high degree of patient satisfaction, with 91% agreeing that their voice is more fluent after the surgery. Perceptual evaluation of postoperative voice samples revealed voice breaks in 26% (15% mild, 4% moderate, 7% severe) and breathiness in 30% (11% mild, 13% moderate, 6% severe). A majority of patients had stable, long-lasting resolution of spasmodic voice breaks.