cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Jewish Ethno-Religious Involvement and Political Liberalism

An investigation of the relationships among minority ethnic group involvement, reactions to non-ethnic opinion, and political attitudes was conducted with a panel of Jewish respondents. The degree of Jewish ethno-religious involvement was inversely related to the stability of political attitudes when the nonJewish majority was used as a negative reference group. HE political liberalism of American Jewry on economic, international, and social issues has been fairly well documented in the literature.' In a number of cases, Jewish political attitudes and voting behavior were not significantly related to income, occupation, education, and other demographic variables: factors which correlate with the political opinions and behavior of other ethnic and religious groups.2 These findings have led to the propagation of a number of explanations designed to account for at least some of the uniqueness of Jewish political
Physiological significance of early deceleration time prolongation in asymptomatic elderly subjects.

Abstract Background: Alterations in Doppler-derived diastolic filling patterns are common among elderly persons, but their physiological and prognostic significance remains uncertain, particularly in asymptomatic older persons without overt cardiac disease. This study was designed to determine whether early mitral inflow deceleration time (DT) prolongation is of physiological significance in asymptomatic elderly subjects. Methods and Results: In 15 asymptomatic patients aged 60 to 93 years with no history of heart failure (HF) or edema, we performed two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography and 60-minute head-out, isothermic water immersion to produce circulatory volume expansion. Plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured immediately before and after water immersion. Seven of 15 patients had a normal mitral early DT (160 to 240 milliseconds; group 1) and 8 of 15 patients had DT prolongation (>240 milliseconds; group 2). Group 2 subjects had significantly smaller chamber sizes and increased relative wall thickness without increased left ventricular mass. Head-out water immersion produced greater increases in plasma ANP levels in group 2 subjects with longer DTs despite similar degrees of circulatory volume expansion in each group. In contrast, plasma BNP levels did not increase significantly with water immersion in either group. Conclusion: Early DT prolongation in asymptomatic elderly subjects is associated with increased relative wall thickness and enhanced ANP increments after central volume expansion. Such exaggerated responses suggest that, in the elderly, a prolonged DT has physiological significance and may represent a precursor to symptomatic diastolic HF, a condition known to be associated with advancing age.
The impact of population abundance on the deposit-feeding rate of a cosmopolitan polychaete worm

The impact of population abundance on the deposit-feeding rate of Mediomastus ambiseta (Capitellidae: Polychaeta) was studied in still-water laboratory experiments. Mean individual pellet production rate (mg worm−1 d−1) decreased monotonically with increasing worm abundance in the range of 6.5 X 103 to 1.3 X l05 worms m−2. Worms fed roughly an order of magnitude slower in the high-density treatment than in the low-density treatment. The vertical distribution of pellets (i.e., sites of egestion), however, was insensitive to changes in worm abundance. Despite the high population abundances, the weight-% of pellets in the highest abundance treatments was <20%. Therefore, contrary to expectations, it was unlikely that feeding rate was limited by the availability of ingestable particles. Rather, some combination of resource depletion and possibly of enhanced physical or chemical interference caused the observed decline in feeding rate at higher population abundances. These results suggest that studies that seek to transfer laboratory-based measures of deposit-feeding rate to the field must be careful to match abundances in the two domains.
The epidermal growth factor receptor at the crossroads of airway remodeling.

airway remodeling during chronic inflammatory disease processes such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease involves a variety of morphological changes, including mucous cell metaplasia and airway fibrosis. Over the past several years, an intense effort has been aimed at elucidating the
Baryon current matrix elements in a light-front framework.

Current matrix elements and observables for electro- and photo-excitation of baryons from the nucleon are studied in a light-front framework. Relativistic effects are estimated by comparison to a nonrelativistic model, where we use simple basis states to represent the baryon wave functions. Sizeable relativistic effects are found for certain transitions, for example, to radial excitations such as that conventionally used to describe the Roper resonance. A systematic study shows that the violation of rotational covariance of the baryon transition matrix elements stemming from the use of one-body currents is generally small.
Time delay estimation for filtered Poisson processes using an EM-type algorithm

A modified expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used to estimate the time delay tau of the intensity lambda (t- tau ) of an inhomogeneous Poisson process N/sub t/, whose points are only partially observed as a noise contaminated output X(t) of a linear time-invariant filter excited by a train of delta functions: a filtered Poisson process. A modified EM algorithm is implemented by using a linear approximation to the conditional mean estimate of the increment dN/sub t/, given X and tau . Simulation results showing that the EM algorithm converges rapidly, that it achieves an improvement over conventional time delay estimation methods, and that its mean square error virtually achieves the Cramer-Rao (CR) lower bound for high count rates are presented. >
Prevention in dental practice, 1963-1965.

Primary prevention in dental practice is actually a relatively new development, since it received its major impetus from the application of fluorides as a preventive measure against dental caries. The four major categories of prevention are shown in a table.
Embrittlement of Cracks at Interfaces.

This paper presents a synopsis of already published work for cracks on interfaces and new results on the effect of changing the chemistry of the atoms at the interface. Once the appropriate cut-off for the oscillatory singularity in the interface analysis is determined, the physics of the crack is determined in terms of an appropriate driving force for a particular event of interest, and a lattice resistance to the event. Analytic approximations are available for the driving forces, and the lattice resistance is determined on the basis of a block construction for the lattice. We show that for the case where the chemical bonding at the interface is different from that in the matrix, the same ideas are applicable, provided the different chemistry is incorporated correctly in the lattice resistance construction.
Effect of intense wind shear across the inversion on stratocumulus clouds

[1] A large-eddy simulation model is used to examine the impact of the intense cross-inversion wind shear on the stratocumulus cloud structure. The wind shear enhanced entrainment mixing effectively reduces the cloud water and thickens the inversion layer. It leads to a reduction of the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) production in the cloud layer due to the weakened cloud-top radiative cooling and the formation of a turbulent and cloud free sublayer within the inversion. The thickness of the sublayer increases with the enhanced wind shear intensity. Under the condition of a weaker inversion, the enhanced shear mixing within the inversion layer even lowers the cloud-top height and reduces the entrainment velocity. Finally, increasing wind shear or reducing inversion strength tends to create an inversion layer with a constant bulk Richardson number (∼0.3), suggesting that an equilibrium value of the Richardson number is reached.
Characteristics of Muskellunge Spermatozoa I: Ultrastructure of Spermatozoa and Biochemical Composition of Semen

Abstract We investigated the ultrastructure of spermatozoa and some physiological and biochemical parameters of semen in muskellunge Esox masquinongy. Ultrastructure of spermatozoa analyzed with scanning and transmission electron microscopes revealed a spherical head, 1.5 um in diameter. Unlike the spermatozoa of other teleost fishes, an elongated midpiece with abundant mitochondria was found to be characteristic for muskellunge spermatozoa. Three techniques for measuring sperm concentration, counting with a hemacytometer, spermatocrit, and spectrophotometric methods, provided similar results (19.7 ± 6.1 × 109 sperm/mL). The spectrophotometric method is recommended because it is rapid and requires only small amounts of semen. Ionic concentrations and osmolality (289 ± 16.8 milliosmols/kg) of seminal plasma were reported. Sodium (129 ± 6.7 mM) and potassium (27.88 ± 3.27 mM) concentrations were closer to levels found in the seminal plasma of salmonids than cyprinids. Aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) acti...
The effect of different salts of sodium and potassium on the germination of Atriplex prostrata (chenopodiaceae)

Abstract Seed germination and early growth of the halophyte Atriplex prostrata Boucher were measured to compare sodium chloride (NaCl) to other salts to determine if the inhibitory effects of salinity were osmotic or due to a specific ion inhibition. Seeds of A. prostrata were germinated in solutions containing NaCl, potassium chloride (KC1), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), and potassium sulfate (K2SO4) at concentrations with osmotic potentials equal to 0, ‐0.75, ‐1.0, and ‐1.5 MPa. Percent germination and shoot length was usually inhibited only at the lowest osmotic potential (‐1.5 MPa). However, at ‐1.5 MPa the rate of germination was more inhibited by sodium salts than by potassium salts. Ungerminated seeds pretreated with salts had recovery germination percentages in distilled water that were equal to that of the freshwater controls indicating that the previous effect of these salts was due to osmotic inhibition rather than a specific ion toxicity.
Invited Review: Significance of spatial and temporal heterogeneity of calcium transients in smooth muscle

The multiplicity of mechanisms involved in regulation of intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in smooth muscle results in both intra- and intercellular heterogeneities in [Ca(2+)](i). Heterogeneity in [Ca(2+)](i) regulation is reflected by the presence of spontaneous, localized [Ca(2+)](i) transients (Ca(2+) sparks) representing Ca(2+) release through ryanodine receptor (RyR) channels. Ca(2+) sparks display variable spatial Ca(2+) distributions with every occurrence within and across cellular regions. Individual sparks are often grouped, and fusion of sparks produces large local elevations in [Ca(2+)](i) that occasionally trigger propagating [Ca(2+)](i) waves. Ca(2+) sparks may modulate membrane potential and thus smooth muscle contractility. Sparks may also be the target of other regulatory factors in smooth muscle. Agonists induce propagating [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations that originate from foci with high spark incidence and also represent Ca(2+) release through RyR channels. With increasing agonist concentration, the peak of regional [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations remains relatively constant, whereas both frequency and propagation velocity increase. In contrast, the global cellular response appears as a concentration-dependent increase in peak as well as mean cellular [Ca(2+)](i), representing a spatial and temporal integration of the oscillations. The significance of agonist-induced [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations lies in the establishment of a global [Ca(2+)](i) level for slower Ca(2+)-dependent physiological processes.
Measurement of the Ξ − Magnetic Moment

The magnetic moment of the ${\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ hyperon has been measured to be $\ensuremath{\mu}({\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}})=\ensuremath{-}0.69\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02$ nuclear magnetons, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Measuring and modeling internet routing for realistic simulations

The Internet is composed of thousands of diverse networks that exchange routing information using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). BGP is one of the most critical protocols of the Internet, since it connects these diverse networks to enable communication between remote domains. Despite its critical nature, BGP suffers from a variety of serious problems, which have triggered substantial research on developing improved versions of BGP and new routing architectures. In this dissertation, we introduce necessary tools and data-mining techniques for analyzing the present routing architecture and for evaluating new routing protocols. We focus on the problem of performing realistic BGP simulations and we first develop a BGP simulator enabling detailed and large-scale BGP simulations. Then, we introduce techniques to collect vital Internet routing data, which are essential in conducting realistic BGP simulations. Finally, we introduce models of the collected data.
Matching, ranking, and selecting components: a COTS-aware requirements engineering and software architecting approach

At the heart of a well-disciplined, systematic methodology that explicitly supports the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components is a clearly defined process for effectively using components that meet the needs of the system under development. In this paper, we present the CARE/SA approach that supports the iterative matching, ranking, and selection of COTS components. The components are represented as an aggregate of its functional and non-functional requirements and architecture.
Impact of magnitude and percentage of global sagittal plane correction on health-related quality of life at 2-years follow-up.

Background Sagittal plane malalignment has been established as the main radiographic driver of disability in adult spinal deformity (ASD). Objective To evaluate the amount of sagittal correction needed for a patient to perceive improvement (minimal clinically important difference, MCID) in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores. Methods This was a multicenter, retrospective analysis of prospectively consecutively enrolled ASD patients. Inclusion criterion was a sagittal vertical axis (SVA) >80 mm. Demographic, radiographic, and HRQOL preoperative and 2-year postsurgery data were collected. Surgical treatment was categorized based on SVA correction: 120 mm. Changes in parameters were analyzed using paired t test, 1-way analysis of variance, and χ2 test. Results Seventy-six patients (preoperative SVA = 140 mm) were analyzed; each subgroup revealed significant HRQOL improvements following surgery. Compared with the 120 mm group (Oswestry Disability Index) but not for the 60 mm to 120 mm group. A significantly greater likelihood of reaching MCID thresholds was observed for corrections above 66% of preoperative SVA. Conclusion Best HRQOL outcomes for ASD patients with severe sagittal plane deformity were obtained with a correction >120 mm for SVA and at least 66% of correction. Although lesser amounts of SVA correction yielded clinical improvement, the rate of MCID threshold improvement was not significantly different for mild or modest corrections. These results underline the need for complete sagittal plane deformity correction if high rates of HRQOL benefit are sought for patients with marked sagittal plane deformity.
Improved performance on highly swept wings by suction boundary-layer control

A wind-tunnel experiment was conducted to investigate the use of suction boundary-layer control (BLC-suction) on the leading edge of a highly swept cranked-delta wing as a means to improve performance at a nominal take-off lift coefficient. Highly swept wings are paramount for efficient supersonic cruise but in the absence of any leading or trailing edge treatment have poor low-speed performance. The poor performance is caused by flow separation at the leading-edge that occurs at the take-off angle of attack. With the flow separated at the leading edge, a loss in leading-edge thrust occurs. A number of leading-edge devices have been investigated to retain the leading-edge thrust term, e.g., attached-flow flaps and vortex flaps are two of these devices. The BLC-suction method prevents leading-edge separation by forcing the boundary layer to remain thin and the velocity profiles full. The wind-tunnel test was conducted in the NASA Langley 30X 60-Foot Tunnel at a dynamic pressure of 10 lb/ft, Mach number of 0.1 and Reynolds number of 2.1 million. Integrated static force and moment data along with wing-surface pressures and suction plenum pressures were measured. In addition to L/D, the leading edge suction parameter, S, was used as a performance metric. The on-surface and off-surface flow fields were mapped with florescent mini-tufts and laser light sheet, respectively. Results from the wind-tunnel test showed that the BLC-suction method improved L/D by 21% and S by 32% over the suction-off configuration. Symbols AR aspect ratio, b/ Sref b wing span BL butt line Cq suction coefficient, poVo/pooVoo Cref reference wing chord (mean geometric chord) Cp pressure coefficient, P0 P_/q * Graduate Student, Student Member AIAA t Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept., Associate Fellow AIAA Copyright © by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved. FS fuselage station IB inboard LE leading edge L/D lift to drag ratio LS lower surface M Mach number OB outboard P0 local pressure P. freestream pressure q freestream dynamic pressure, l/2p«,V.. Re Reynolds number, p-V-Cref/ji. S leading-edge suction parameter 8, wing reference area SCFM standard cubic feet per minute US upper surface TE trailing edge o local velocity V., freestream velocity a angle of attack P angle of sideslip 8 flap deflection angle measured normal to the hinge-line A, taper ratio |J~ freestream viscosity
Fatal Genitourinary Mucormycosis in a Patient with Undiagnosed Diabetes

We present what we believe is the first report in the world literature of penile necrosis due to mucormycosis, a rare and often fatal fungal infection. This case of rhizopus mucormycosis began with a penile lesion in a 27-year-old patient with undiagnosed diabetes ; it led to necrosis of the phallus, lower urinary tract, rectum, and pelvic musculature and finally to death. Despite repeated aggressive surgical debridement in conjunction with medical therapy, we were unable to halt the progression of the fungal and synergistic bacterial infections.
Dispersal Of The Cotton Rat, Sigmodon-Hispidus

Dispersal of cotton rats was examined over an annual cycle of abundance by removal trapping in pine flatwoods. All cotton rats live-trapped at biweekly intervals on two 0.49 ha grids were removed, whereas rats on an adjacent control grid were tagged and released alive on site. The null hypothesis was that dispersing cotton rats would represent a random sample of sex and weight (age) classes from the control population. Likewise, it was hypothesized that the proportion dispersing would be independent of population density on the control grid. Dispersing animals were most prevalent on the removal grids during November and December 1979 when numbers of cotton rats on the control grid were increasing. Dispersal appeared to be density proportional rather than density dependent. The proportion of individuals removed according to weight class was not significantly different among grids. Sex ratios of cotton rats on the control and removal grids were not different from 50:50 ( P > 0.05). The results do not reject the rank-order template hypothesis as the dispersal strategy of the cotton rat.
Top Quark Results from D

This is a brief summary of DO’s top quark measurements, including o \(t\bar t\) and m t in the l+jets and dilepton channels, o \(t\bar t\) in the all jets channel, and the search for top disappearance via t→bH + , H +→τv or \(c\overline s\).
The mechanism of halothane-induced myocardial depression: Altered diastolic mechanics versus impaired contractility

Although halothane has been shown to depress left ventricular function, it remains a common alternative to narcotic anesthesia in cardiac operations. To clarify the mechanism by which this functional depression occurs (direct decrease in contractility versus altered diastolic compliance), we studied seven dogs in the closed-chest state following instrumentation with ultrasonic dimension transducers to measure left ventricular anteroposterior diameter and micromanometers to measure transmural left ventricular pressure. Ventricular volumes were varied with transient vena caval occlusions in the awake state and following general anesthesia with halothane at 1% and 2% end-tidal concentrations. Ventricular contractility was assessed by the slope of the end-systolic pressure-diameter relationship (EES). Following normalization of end-diastolic diameters with a Lagrangian strain definition (E), diastolic compliance was assessed by fitting end-diastolic pressure-strain data to the exponential: P = α (eβE -1), where a and β are nonlinear elastic coefficients. Halothane was found to produce a significant, dose-dependent decrease in EES from 10.6 ± 0.6 control to 6.7 ± 0.4 at 1% halothane and 4.2 ± 0.5 at 2% halothane (p
The Ediacaran experiment.

NASA: The author reflects on presentations at an annual meeting of the Geological Society of America regarding the differences between Ediacaran fauna fossils and fossils from the Cambrian evolutionary explosion. The theory presented by Dolf Seilacher attributes the differences between Ediacaran animals and their modern counterparts to structure. He proposes that Ediacaran fauna were a failed evolutionary experiment. Related comments and meeting presentations are included.
Acute Lumbosacral Plexopathy in Diabetic Women after Renal Transplantation

AbstractRenal transplantation is an accepted treatment for patients with end stage renal disease from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Acute lumbosacral plexopathy developed following renal transplantation in 4 female patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus between January 1, 1981 and June 30, 1988. In all 4 patients the internal iliac artery was used for revascularization of the renal allograft with ligation of the anterior and posterior divisions. Within 24hours of surgery they complained of ipsilateral buttock pain, numbness in the leg and weakness below the knee. This complication has not been observed in nondiabetic patients at our institution, nor in diabetic patients when the internal iliac artery was not used. However, lumbosacral plexopathy occurred in 4 of 27 (14.8%) female patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus when the internal iliac artery was used (p less than 0.001). Age, duration of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cigarette smoking history and ki...
Enantioselective Synthesis of Oxetanes Bearing All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters via Iridium-Catalyzed C-C Bond-Forming Transfer Hydrogenation.

Oxetanes bearing all-carbon quaternary stereocenters are readily prepared through the iridium catalyzed anti-diastereo- and enantioselective C-C coupling of primary alcohols and isoprene oxide. Based on this methodology, an oxetane containing analogue of haloperidol was prepared. A related azetidine formation also is described.
Pedestrian detection aided by temporal prior

In this paper, we developed an algorithm to construct temporal priors to improve the stability of pedestrian detections. The proposed temporal prior has no additional computation cost and could be applied to any image based pedestrian detector. We also present a FPGA implementation that can process VGA video at a frame rate of 30∼40 frames per second in real time. The design is implemented on a Xilinx Zynq FPGA. It performs all steps of the algorithm in the FPGA fabric including: color space conversion, frame rescaling, HOG feature extraction, and candidate evaluation in a sliding window. The design uses parallel pipelines to evaluate multiple scales per frame.
Muses and Patrons: Mary Sidney Herbert and Anna Roemers Visscher

Chapter 3 concentrates on the work of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, and Anna Roemers Visscher, two early writers who represented important models for later female authors. The author’s examination of the work of Pembroke and Visscher as well as their treatment in praise poetry allows us to consider the publicity of elite women. High status enabled a move out of the household into male circles, yet Pembroke and Visscher were also praised primarily for their function as muse to others, rather than as authors in their own right. To counter this problem, they formulated their own publicity, founded on the fame of male relatives and situated within the conventions of ideal courtly femininity. The chapter includes analysis of non-textual self-representations created and authorized by both women, to see how they helped forge a respectable female version of authorship by using a variety of cultural images and materials that claimed a high degree of religious, political, and social significance for female pastimes.
Test of Nonverbal Intelligence: A Language-Free Measure of Cognitive Ability

As the author of this chapter note, the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (Brown et al. 1982, 1990, 1997, 2010) was built over 30 years ago to address the increasing diversity and complexity of a society in which the evaluation of intellectual ability and aptitude was rapidly becoming common practice. It is a highly standardized, norm-referenced measure of abstract reasoning and problem solving that requires no reading, writing, speaking, or listening. The test is culture-reduced and largely motor-free, requiring only a point, nod, or meaningful gesture as a response, and is appropriate for use with people ranging in age from 6–0 through 89–11 years and its pantomime and oral formats make TONI-4 particularly well suited for not only English speakers but also people who do not understand spoken or written English, either for cultural reasons or due to trauma, disease, or disability. As mentioned in the critical reviews, TONI-4 is suitable for use with almost all populations other than people who are blind or visually impaired. TONI-4 can be administered individually in about 10–15 min, yields index scores and percentile ranks, is available in two equivalent forms containing 60 items each, and employs a multiple response format. Finally, TONI-4 is psychometrically sound, is normed on a large, demographically representative and stratified sample of 2272 people, and has been characterized as reliable, valid, relatively free of bias with regard to gender, race, ethnicity, and other relevant variables.
Cyclic deformation and fatigue data for Ti–6Al–4V ELI under variable amplitude loading

This article presents the strain-based experimental data for Ti-6Al-4V ELI under non-constant amplitude cyclic loading. Uniaxial strain-controlled fatigue experiments were conducted under three different loading conditions, including two-level block loading (i.e. high-low and low-high), periodic overload, and variable amplitude loading. Tests were performed under fully-reversed, and mean strain/stress conditions. For each test conducted, two sets of data were collected; the cyclic stress-strain response (i.e. hysteresis loops) in log10 increments, and the peak and valley values of stress and strain for each cycle. Residual fatigue lives are reported for tests with two-level block loading, while for periodic overload and variable amplitude experiments, fatigue lives are reported in terms of number of blocks to failure.
Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich. The Elizabethan Country House Entertainment: Print, Performance, and Gender . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp 256.

This review considers The Elizabethan Country House Entertainment: Print, Performance, and Gender .
Are rapid changes in brain elasticity possible

Elastography of the brain is a topic of clinical and preclinical research, motivated by the potential for viscoelastic measures of the brain to provide sensitive indicators of pathological processes, and to assist in early diagnosis. To date, studies of the normal brain and of those with confirmed neurological disorders have reported a wide range of shear stiffness and shear wave speeds, even within similar categories. A range of factors including the shear wave frequency, and the age of the individual are thought to have a possible influence. However, it may be that short term dynamics within the brain may have an influence on the measured stiffness. This hypothesis is addressed quantitatively using the framework of the microchannel flow model, which derives the tissue stiffness, complex modulus, and shear wave speed as a function of the vascular and fluid network in combination with the elastic matrix that comprise the brain. Transformation rules are applied so that any changes in the fluid channels or the elastic matrix can be mapped to changes in observed elastic properties on a macroscopic scale. The results are preliminary but demonstrate that measureable, time varying changes in brain stiffness are possible simply by accounting for vasodynamic or electrochemical changes in the state of any region of the brain. The value of this preliminary exploration is to identify possible mechanisms and order-of-magnitude changes that may be testable in vivo by specialized protocols.
Renal Forniceal Rupture: Is Conservative Management Safe?

Objective To outline treatment considerations and outcomes for a cohort of patients with forniceal rupture with the aim of adding to a very limited body of literature regarding clinical practice in this area. Methods We retrospectively searched all radiographic records for patients treated at our institution between January 2009 and January 2016 with forniceal rupture. We compiled demographic data, etiology, clinical factors, treatments, and outcomes. Results Of the 103 patients analyzed, the median age at presentation was 64 years (interquartile range 52-73), and 56 (54%) were female. The etiology of forniceal rupture was most commonly urolithiasis (73%), with cancer being the next most common cause (11%). Most cases (61%) were caused by small (1-5 mm) stones in the distal ureter. Thirty-one patients (30%) were treated surgically with ureteral stent placement upfront; 27 of those patients had a ureteral stone, and most had some clinical factors making them higher risk. There was only 1 operative complication during the study period. Only 1 patient developed an abscess. Forty-three patients (42%) were sent home from the emergency room. Of the patients who were admitted, the average hospital stay was 3 days (interquartile range 2-6). For the entire cohort, there were 6 (6%) readmissions in the study period. Conclusion Very limited data exist in the literature regarding clinical practice in the treatment of forniceal rupture. Clinical practice at our institution is conservative treatment of forniceal rupture in the absence of infection, kidney failure, or other risk factors with few complications or readmissions.
Betaine in the Brain: Characterization of Betaine Uptake, its Influence on Other Osmolytes and its Potential Role in Neuroprotection from Osmotic Stress.

Betaine (N-trimethylglycine), a common osmolyte, has received attention because of the number of clinical reports associating betaine supplementation with improved cognition, neuroprotection and exercise physiology. However, tissue analyses report little accumulation of betaine in brain tissue despite the presence of betaine/GABA transporters (BGT1) at the blood brain barrier and in nervous tissue, calling into question whether betaine influences neuronal function directly or indirectly. Therefore, the focus of this study was to determine what capacity nervous tissue has to accumulate betaine, specifically in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with learning and memory and one that is particularly susceptible to damage (e.g., seizure activity). Here we report that hippocampal slices actively accumulate betaine in a time, dose and osmolality dependent manner, resulting in peak intracellular concentrations four times extracellular concentrations within 8 h. Our data also indicate that betaine uptake differentially influences the accumulation of other osmolytes. Under isosmotic conditions, betaine uptake minimally impacted some osmolytes (e.g., glycerylphosphorylcholine and glutamate) while significantly reducing others (taurine, creatine, and myo-inositol). Under osmotic stress (hyperosmotic) conditions, we observed dramatic changes in osmolytes like glycine and glutamine—key players in inhibitory neurotransmission—and little change in osmolytes such as taurine, creatine and myo-inositol when betaine was available. These data suggest that betaine may influence pathways of inhibitory neurotransmitter production/recycling in addition to serving as an osmolyte and metabolic intermediate. In sum, our data provide detailed characterization of betaine uptake in the hippocampus that implicates betaine in the modulation of hippocampal neurophysiology and neuroprotection.
Extension of the Polarizable Charge Equilibration Model to Higher Oxidation States with Applications to Ge, As, Se, Br, Sn, Sb, Te, I, Pb, Bi, Po, and At Elements

We recently developed the Polarizable Charge Equilibration (PQEq) model to predict accurate electrostatic interactions for molecules and solids and optimized parameters for H, C, N, O, F, Si, P, S, and Cl elements to fit polarization energies computed by quantum mechanics (QM). Here, we validate and optimize the PQEq parameters for other p-block elements including Ge, As, Se, Br, Sn, Sb, Te, I, Pb, Bi, Po, and At using 28 molecular structures containing these elements. For elements in the Se column of the periodic table, we now include molecules with higher oxidation states: III and V for the As column, IV and VI for the Se column, -I, III, and V for the Br column. We find that PQEq predicts polarization energies in excellent agreement with QM.
NO QUEER AGGIORNAMENTO THIS TIME: RESUBSCRIBING TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL LAW, POPE FRANCIS FORECLOSES REFORMS OF CATHOLIC TEACHING ON SEXUALITY

This article argues that a much anticipated liberalization of doctrine of matters of sexuality will not take place under Pope Francis. Though the pope has brought a more tolerant manner and tone in his discourse on homosexuality, the underlying foundation remains frozen, amid reiterated essentializations of gender that derive from archaic Catholic constructions of natural law. The article reviews Catholic doctrine on sexuality, particularly since the Church’s 1975 instruction on sexual ethics. Thinking with the “indecent theology” proposals of Argentine-Scottish theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid, the author compares prior expressions of doctrine with those found in key magisterial writings of Pope Francis. He concludes that the more open spirit and tone in the Pope’s public pronouncements are not matched by any significant shift in his teaching on sexuality, compared to his predecessors.
Harnessing macrophage-mediated degradation of gelatin microspheres for spatiotemporal control of BMP2 release

Biomaterials-based approaches to harnessing the immune and inflammatory responses to potentiate wound healing hold important promise. Bone fracture healing is characterized by an acute inflammatory phase, followed by a transition to a regenerative and repair phase. In this study, we developed genipin-crosslinked gelatin microspheres designed to be preferentially degraded by inflammatory (M1) macrophages. Highly crosslinked (>90%) microspheres allowed efficient incorporation of bioactive bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), a potent stimulator of osteogenesis in progenitor cells, via electrostatic interactions. Release of BMP2 was directly correlated with degradation of the gelatin matrix. Exposure of microspheres to polarized murine macrophages showed that degradation was significantly higher in the presence of M1 macrophages, relative to alternatively activated (M2) macrophages and unpolarized controls. Microsphere degradation in the presence of non-inflammatory cells resulted in very low degradation rates. The expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of MMP (TIMPs) by macrophages were consistent with the observed phenotype-dependent degradation rates. Indirect co-culture of BMP2-loaded microspheres and macrophages with isolated adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) showed that M1 macrophages produced the strongest osteogenic response, comparable to direct supplementation of the culture medium with BMP2. Controlled release systems that are synchronized with the inflammatory response have the potential to provide better spatiotemporal control of growth factor delivery and therefore may improve the outcomes of recalcitrant wounds.
Egalitarianism, Sociology of

Egalitarianism is a relatively modern ideal that faces acute obstacles. Market economies enhance production while they lead to massive inequalities of benefits from social organization. Therefore, it seems likely that equality trades off with production. Strict equality of incomes turns national production into one vast problem in which the collective national income is produced by collective action. Individuals have no personal incentive to contribute much to the collective good; personal investment in human capital is not rewarded; and innovators have no incentives to take large risks. Achieving great equality is also likely to require strong government to control distribution, and such government is empowered to do other, often harmful, things. If a single nation strives to achieve far greater equality than other nations, it may have to resort to autarky and harsh controls on migration. For many collective achievements, hierarchy and division of labor seem to be necessary. These typically entail unequal nonmonetary emoluments. Finally, inequality of wealth may actually promote technological progress, because the relatively wealthy will buy new technologies while their prices are far too high for a mass market. The problem of grievous inequality between communities is dynamic; its long-term solution requires enabling people in impoverished communities to engage in productive work to increase their welfare.
Patterns of Dysphoria in a Puerto Rican Urban Community

This study was undertaken to explore the prevalence of perceived dysphoria in a poor, urban, predominantly Puerto Rican community. A cross-sectional sample of 704 adult respondents were asked a single validated question, with a five-item Likert scale response, about their level of perceived dysphoria. Chi-squared analysis and Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to assess the association of level of dysphoria with social characteristics, barriers to health care, health status, and substance use. Linear regression modeling was used to control for confounding variables. Twenty percent of the respondents were dysphoric. Respondents with no health insurance or no source of health care were least likely to be dysphoric. Persons who perceived distance to the hospital and the doctor, and understanding language of the doctor and office staff as barriers to care were more likely to be dysphoric. Ethnicity was not correlated with level of perceived dysphoria; however, age, gender, and health status were found to be associated with level of dysphoria after controlling for other correlated variables. These results indicate that the psychological needs of communities need to be understood and interventions that are appropriate for the population need to be devised.
Formation of Banded Microstructures with Rapid Intercritical Annealing of Cold-Rolled Sheet Steel

The effects of heating rate in the range of 0.3 to 693 °C/s on transformations during intercritical annealing of a cold-rolled 0.12C-1.4Mn-0.02Nb steel with either a ferrite-pearlite or ferrite-spheroidized carbide microstructure were evaluated. Heating rates were selected to impart different predicted degrees of ferrite recrystallization present at the onset of austenite formation. Rapid heating minimized ferrite recrystallization with both prior microstructures and minimized pearlite spheroidization in the ferrite-pearlite condition, and austenite formation occurred preferentially in recovered ferrite regions as opposed to along recrystallized ferrite boundaries. Martensite was evenly distributed in slowly heated steels because austenite formed on recrystallized, equiaxed, ferrite boundaries. With rapid heating, austenite formed in directionally oriented recovered ferrite, which increased the degree of banding. The greatest degree of banding was found with intermediate heating rates leading to partial recrystallization, because austenite formed preferentially in the remaining recovered ferrite, which was located in bands along the rolling direction. Ferrite-spheroidized carbide microstructures had somewhat reduced martensite banding when compared to the ferrite-pearlite condition, where elongated pearlite enhanced banded austenite leading to banding in transformed microstructures.
An Overview of the CADCEUS System

CADCEUS is an integrated CAD/CAM/CAE/CG system designed to totally support product development processes from conceptual design through manufacturing preparation for automobile, machinery, precision, electric and electronics industries. The term CADCEUS(Computer Aided Design, manufacturing and engineering for Concurrent Engineering by nihon Unisys System) is derived from the English word ‘CADUCEUS’ which means a stick with two entwined snakes and two wings, which God’s messenger Hermes had. It is so named in the hope that it shall strongly support engineers who are engaged in mechanical design and manufacturing.
Closing the Gold Window: The End of Bretton Woods as a Contingency Plan:

In August of 1971, President Nixon announced that the United States was “closing the gold window,” bringing an end to the postwar system of international exchange rate stability and precipitating a...
The effects of New Urbanism on public health

This paper investigates how the 10 New Urbanism principles produce outcomes that affect public health. The outcomes include: (1) higher usage of non-motorized and public transit modes, which result...
Two Birds with One Stone: Therapeutic Targeting of IL1α Signaling Pathways in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and the Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts

In this issue of Cancer Discovery, Biffi and colleagues report that IL1 signaling cascades resulted in JAK/STAT activation and promoted an inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblast (iCAF) state, which contributed to the establishment of distinct fibroblast niches in the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) microenvironment to support the growth of PDAC cells. Furthermore, the investigators demonstrated that TGFβ signaling inhibited IL1R1 expression, antagonized IL1α responses, and promoted differentiation of CAFs into myofibroblasts; thus, IL1α signaling is an important therapeutic target for both PDAC cells and the iCAFs in the tumor microenvironment.See related article by Biffi et al. p. 282.
Solubilization of organics I: 1H NMR chemical shift perturbations, diffusometry, and NOESY indicate biphenyls internalize in micelles formed by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of persistent environmental contaminants, and micellar solubilization can be applied to remediate them. The intermolecular aggregates of biphenyl (BP) analogs and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) were studied by chemical shift perturbation, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusometry, quantitative proton NMR, and nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) spectroscopy to understand the structural determinants of their solubilization. The micelles of CTAB solubilized BPs readily, but its capacity depended strongly on the nature of the functional group (BPCH2 OH > > BPCHO > BPCOOH ≈ BPCl ≈ BP). Upon internalization, the BPs diffused much slower, introduced significant low-frequency 1 H chemical shift changes for CTAB, and displayed strong intermolecular NOEs. The semiquantitative analysis of NOEs revealed further that the BPs are located in the palisade layer closer to the N+ (CH3 )3 head group, away from the hydrophobic core. 1 H NMR offers a simple high-throughput screening assay for evaluating and quantitating the solubilization of organics in micelles. The intermolecular NOEs and site-specific perturbation of chemical shifts add further insights on the location of solubilizates in micelles, which may be important for designing surfactants specific for environmental pollutants.
Correlation Functions for the Distribution Coefficients of U(IV) and Pu(III) Ions between Aqueous Nitric Acid and 30% TBP in an Aliphatic Diluent

Distribution coefficient correlations for U(IV) and Pu(III) are obtained in terms of a modified form of the total nitrate ion salting strength that was successfully used to obtain distribution coef...
Food Poisoning Caused by Deoxynivalenol at a School in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, in 2019

Deoxynivalenol (DON) or “vomitoxin” is a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species. Few food poisoning cases caused by DON have been reported since the 1990s in China. However, on May 16, 2019, the Zh...
Reforming Variable Vagueness

Like much of constitutional law, the Supreme Court’s void-for-vagueness doctrine employs a system of tiered scrutiny. This decades-old framework imposes differential demands of clarity, depending on the type of enactment under review. But the distinctive workings of variable vagueness remain largely obscure to courts and scholars alike. This Article seeks to illuminate this integral facet of constitutional litigation. My comprehensive study of tiered vagueness reveals an enterprise awash with fluidity. By articulating such a raw and complex decisional structure—and failing to police its development in the ensuing years—the Court has unsettled a doctrine whose entire purpose is to maximize legal clarity. This Article lays bare the resulting methodological rot and charts a path toward doctrinal reconstruction. The present variability framework has revealed itself to be little more than a taxonomic misadventure, relying as it does on crude and equivocal proxy tests. Nor has the Court provided any guidance on how the canonical variability factors interact. In addition, the framework’s non-exhaustive quality has enabled courts to spin off novel low-scrutiny contexts—ones that other decisions have deemed flatly insusceptible to vagueness challenges. And the current system invites courts to issue broad constitutional pronouncements for the sole purpose of choosing a case-specific level of scrutiny. I propose a drastically simplified model that focuses directly on the severity of applicable penalties. Having selected a presumptive level of scrutiny on this basis, courts should then tailor the “ordinary intelligence” inquiry to account for any pertinent attributes shared by the regulated class—for example, children’s diminished legal acumen.
Abstract TP291: Developing an Electronic Medical Record Based Data Abstraction Tool to Allow for Real Time Clinical Quality Review in Stroke Patients

Background: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) participates in American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines® - Stroke (GWTG) registry to help drive quality improvement. As the ...
Implicitly Maximizing Margins with the Hinge Loss.

A new loss function is proposed for neural networks on classification tasks which extends the hinge loss by assigning gradients to its critical points. We will show that for a linear classifier on linearly separable data with fixed step size, the margin of this modified hinge loss converges to the $\ell_2$ max-margin at the rate of $\mathcal{O}( 1/t )$. This rate is fast when compared with the $\mathcal{O}(1/\log t)$ rate of exponential losses such as the logistic loss. Furthermore, empirical results suggest that this increased convergence speed carries over to ReLU networks.