cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of extracellular vesicle uptake in stressed retinal pigment epithelial cell monolayers.

Abstract Purpose Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can mediate long-distance communication in polarized RPE monolayers. Specifically, EVs from oxidatively stressed donor cells (stress EVs) rapidly reduced barrier function (transepithelial resistance, TER) in naive recipient monolayers, when compared to control EVs. This effect on TER was dependent on dynamin-mediated EV uptake, which occurred rapidly with EVs from oxidatively stressed donor cells. Here, we further determined molecular mechanisms involved in uptake of EVs by naive RPE cells. Methods RPE cells were grown as monolayers in media supplemented with 1% FBS followed by transfer to FBS-free media. Cultures were used to collect control or stress EVs upon treatment with H2O2, others served as naive recipient cells. In recipient monolayers, TER was used to monitor EV-uptake-based activity, live-cell imaging confirmed uptake. EV surface proteins were quantified by protein chemistry. Results Clathrin-independent, lipid raft-mediated internalization was excluded as an uptake mechanism. Known ligand-receptor interactions involved in clathrin-dependent endocytosis include integrins and proteoglycans. Desialylated glycans and integrin-receptors on recipient cells were necessary for EV uptake and subsequent reduction of TER in recipient cells. Protein quantifications confirmed elevated levels of ligands and neuraminidase on stress EVs. However, control EVs could confer activity in the TER assay if exogenous neuraminidase or additional ligand was provided. Conclusions In summary, while EVs from both stressed cells and control contain cargo to communicate stress messages to naive RPE cells, stress EVs contain surface ligands that confer rapid uptake by recipient cells. We propose that EVs potentially contribute to RPE dysfunction in aging and disease.
Defamiliarizing the Maid: Alicia Scherson’s Play

Domingo Amestoy’s chapter analyzes the aesthetics of politics in Alicia Scherson’s Play (2004), the first digital film produced in Chile for wide distribution, in relation to the defamiliarizing techniques that make the global neoliberal city an object of desire for the Mapuche maid/care worker. Drawing from Jacques Ranciere’s theory on aesthetics, Domingo Amestoy argues that by defamiliarizing the maid and constructing a representation of spectatorship, Scherson presents a social critique that defies a more social realist cinema as presented in the later film La nana/The Maid (Sebastian Silva, Chile, 2009), in which the family remains the idealized figure for social relations.
Accuracy and Interobserver Reliability of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorders.

Objective This study aims to define the accuracy, predictive value, and interobserver reliability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) disorders. Study Design Two experienced radiologists independently interpreted the MRI studies of patients with possible PAS from two referral centers. Radiologists were blinded to sonographic and clinical information. We calculated diagnostic testing characteristics and kappa statistics of interobserver reliability for MRI findings of PAS. Results Sixty-eight MRI cases were evaluated. Confirmed PAS and severe PAS were present in 44 (65%) and 20 (29%) cases. For the diagnosis of any PAS, MRI had a sensitivity 66%, specificity 71%, positive predictive value (PPV) 81%, negative predictive value (NPV) 53%, and accuracy 68%. For the diagnosis of severe PAS (percreta), MRI had a sensitivity 85%, specificity 79%, PPV 63%, NPV 93%, and accuracy 81%. The accuracy of individual signs of PAS was lower (44–65%). Interobserver agreement was almost perfect for previa; substantial for myometrial interruptions, PAS, severe PAS, and placental bulging/balling; and moderate to slight for other signs of PAS. Conclusion Although the interobserver reliability of MRI for a diagnosis of PAS is substantial, the accuracy and predictive value are modest and lower than previously reported.
Accuracy of clinical staging in stage I and IIa/b testicular nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) and implications on survival.

e17058Background: Clinical stage (CS) dictates treatment in men with testicular cancer and its inaccuracy may affect clinical outcome. We evaluate the accuracy of clinical staging in men with CS I ...
GM Insect Biodiversity and Ecological Interactions

For many years we knew little about microbes because there was no reliable method to identify them. Advances in molecular genetics changed all that. With modern DNA methods, any life form can be identified. Recent studies have also begun to reveal how critically important microbes are to insect biology. The laboratory of Takema Fukatsu in Japan reported the astonishing result, that if you swap the gut microbes of two closely related stink bugs, the insects switch host plants. Genetic transformation has revolutionized plant breeding. It is now possible to apply that approach to insects in improving the ecologically friendly sterile insect technique. It is fair to say the world is having difficulty accepting these new genetic methods. Interdisciplinary studies are a powerful source of innovation.
Speculating on Precarious Income: Finance Cultures and the Risky Strategies of Healthy Volunteers in Clinical Drug Trials.

Speculation has become a normalized occupational strategy and quotidian economic rationality that extends throughout society. Although there are many contemporary articulations of speculation, this...
The LETTER of Recommendation: Showcasing a Student's Strengths.

* Abbreviations: CV — : curriculum vitae LOR — : letter of recommendation As you wrap up your end-of-rotation feedback with a student, the student asks hesitantly, “Would you be willing to write me a strong recommendation letter for residency?” Your internal monologue starts to alarm: “Should I say yes? What makes a strong letter? I’ve never done this before! Where do I even start?” This article, next in the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics series on teaching medical students, will help you approach this important task with confidence and skill. Physicians in a variety of practice settings are tasked with teaching and evaluating students and may be approached to write a letter of recommendation (LOR). Writing an LOR can be a daunting task, especially for those unfamiliar with its expected structure and content. With this article, we provide a framework that any author can use to craft a strong LOR to facilitate a successful application for residency. LORs are an integral component of residency selection and have been shown to correlate with performance in pediatric internship.1 They provide an opportunity to highlight applicants’ professionalism and adherence to ethical standards, which are qualities important to program directors when selecting applicants to interview.2 In the next few years, US Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 will transition to a pass-fail test, and residency programs may increasingly … Address correspondence to Erin Pete Devon, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: petedevone{at}email.chop.edu
Consumers and Complaints: Marketing Evolution Leads to Legal Innovation from Contract Clauses to General Fairness

This chapter examines the ongoing legal innovation from law that heavily favors marketers to consumer complaint resolution that seeks to satisfy most consumers. The law started with the concept of “caveat emptor” declaring that consumers should not believe any “seller’s talk” and therefore could not complain about false statements. It then evolved to allow the enforcement of express warranties made by the marketer. Once explicit consumer contracts became the norm, government agencies and the courts restricted terms that unfairly favor marketers over consumers. However, U.S. law heavily favors the enforcement of contract-mandated arbitration but there is current controversy over whether such clauses also can prohibit class action arbitrations or lawsuits.
Stanniocalcin-1 Reduced Intraocular Pressure in Two Models of Ocular Hypertension.

Purpose/Aim: Glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) remains the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness. Treatments including topical medications are directed at reducing intraocular pressure ...
Topiramate as Possible Treatment for Catatonia in Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate (anti-NMDA) receptor encephalitis is a disorder characterized by the presence of pathological auto-antibodies, frequently paraneoplastic, and presenting primarily in young...
Towards user-defined SLA in cloud flash storage

NAND flash SSDs have gained increasing popularity in cloud storage services. However, there is a gap between what users need and what cloud SSDs provide. For users, storage applications often request asymmetric read and write bandwidth, with tail read latency guarantee. For cloud providers, typical cloud SSD offerings either provide read-write aggregate throughput guarantee or only specifies peak pure-read and write throughput. It is also hard for cloud NAND flash SSDs to provide tail latency guarantees because of their notorious read-write interference problem. As a result, users have to over-provision SSD resource to satisfy their service level agreement (SLA), leading to potential under-utilization. We propose Regulator which enables users to define their SLA for NAND flash based cloud storage. With the user-defined SLA, users can get desired performance and cloud providers can improve their resource efficiency. Regulator first proposes a formalization of user-defined SLA as SLA Curve, which contains fine-grained throughput and latency requirements. Regulator then proposes an SLA-aware data placement algorithm to efficiently co-locate users according to their SLA. Finally, Regulator provides a runtime QoS module to enforce users' SLA guarantees. Evaluation shows that Regulator can increase cloud flash utilization by 15%~44% while satisfying user-defined SLAs.
6 – Polyatomic Molecules

This chapter focuses on discrete spectrum, ionization potential, and autoionization region of polyatomic molecules such as ammonia (NH 3 ), methane (CH 4 ), acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), methanol (CH 3 OH), benzene (C 6 H 6 ), buckminsterfullerene (C 60 ), sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ), and silane (SiH 4 ). The adiabatic ionization potential of NH 3 , obtained by non-resonant, two-photon zero electron kinetic energy (ZEKE) spectroscopy is 82 159 ±1 cm –1 ≡ 10.1864(1) eV. The nitrogen K-edge of NH 3 occurs at 405.6 eV, but prominent structure begins to appear at ∼400 eV. The diffuseness of the absorption spectrum probably accounts for the lack of Rydberg series extrapolations of the adiabatic ionization potential of CH 4 . The best current adiabatic ionization potential (AIP) of C 2 H 2 , obtained from a Rydberg series limit, is 91 956 ±1 cm –1 ≡ 11.4011 ±0.0001 ev. Expectation values for S (−2) can usually be inferred from molar refractivity or dielectric constant measurements. Acetylene is one of those cases where the static polarizability is larger than that deduced from refractivity measurements in the visible and ultraviolet.
Increasing efficiency of SVM by adaptively penalizing outliers

In this paper, a novel training method is proposed to increase the classification efficiency of support vector machine (SVM). The efficiency of the SVM is determined by the number of support vectors, which is usually large for representing a highly convoluted separation hypersurface. We noted that the separation hypersurface is made unnecessarily over-convoluted around extreme outliers, which dominate the objective function of SVM. To suppress the domination from extreme outliers and thus relatively simplify the shape of separation hypersurface, we propose a method of adaptively penalizing the outliers in the objective function. Since our reformulated objective function has the similar format of the standard SVM, the idea of the existing SVM training algorithms is borrowed for training the proposed SVM. Our proposed method has been tested on the UCI machine learning repository, as well as a real clinical problem, i.e., tissue classification in prostate ultrasound images. Experimental results show that our method is able to dramatically increase the classification efficiency of the SVM, without losing its generalization ability.
Does Stock Market Liquidity Matter? Evidence from Seasoned Equity Offerings

This paper presents empirical evidence that stock market liquidity is an important determinant of the cost of raising external capital. Because the role of an investment banking syndicate in a public security offering is analogous to that of a block trader, investment banks should charge lower fees to firms with more liquid securities. Using a large sample of seasoned equity offerings, we find that, ceteris paribus, investment banks' fees are significantly lower for firms with more liquid stock. We estimate that the difference in the investment banking fee for firms in the most liquid quintile versus the least liquid quintile, controlling for other factors, is approximately 107 basis points, which represents about 22.3 percent of the average investment banking fee in our sample. Our findings suggest that firms have an incentive to promote the market liquidity of their equity.
UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENT WORK IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL CONTEXTS

This study investigated the characteristics of adolescents who work and the relationship between intensive work and risky social and behavioral consequences. A sample population of 7392 students in grades 7-12 from six school districts who responded to a survey on the effects of work were used for empirical examination. Results showed that the ideal type teen who work intensively is older, lower or middle SES, male, and a member of an ethnic minority group. Furthermore, intensive employment of teens is linked to lower levels of well-being, less achievement in academics and higher levels of delinquency and substance use. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Pediatric hydrocephalus: systematic literature review and evidence-based guidelines. Part 5: Effect of valve type on cerebrospinal fluid shunt efficacy.

Object The objective of this systematic review was to examine the existing literature to compare differing shunt components used to treat hydrocephalus in children, find whether there is a superior shunt design for the treatment of pediatric hydrocephalus, and make evidence-based recommendations for the selection of shunt implants when placing shunts. Methods Both the US National Library of Medicine PubMed/MEDLINE database and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were queried using MeSH headings and key words chosen to identify publications comparing the use of shunt implant components. Abstracts of these publications were reviewed, after which studies meeting the inclusion criteria were selected. An evidentiary table was compiled summarizing the selected articles and quality of evidence. These data were then analyzed by the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines Task Force to consider evidence-based treatment recommendations. Results Two hundred sixty-nine articles...
Quantitative profiling of differentiation-induced microsomal proteins using isotope-coded affinity tags and mass spectrometry.

Quantitative profiling of differentiation-induced microsomal proteins using isotope-coded affinity tags and mass spectrometry
Arcs and Clumps in the Uranian λ Ring

Careful reprocessing of the Voyager images reveals that the Uranian lambda ring has marked longitudinal variations in brightness comparable in magnitude to those in Saturn's F ring and Neptune's Adams ring. The ring's variations show a dominant five-cycle (72-degree) periodicity, although additional structure down to scales of about 0.5 degree is also present. The ring's shape is defined by a small overall eccentricity plus a six-cycle (60-degree) sinusoidal variation of radial amplitude around 4 kilometers. Both of these properties can be explained by the resonant perturbations of a moon at a semimajor axis of 56,479 kilometers, but no known moon orbits at this location. Unfortunately, the mass required suggests that such a body should have been imaged by Voyager.
Alpha calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II selectively expressed in a subpopulation of excitatory neurons in monkey sensory- motor cortex: comparison with GAD-67 expression

In situ hybridization histochemistry and immunocytochemistry, including double immunofluorescence, were used to study the populations of neurons expressing the alpha subunit of type II calcium/calmodulin- dependent protein kinase (CAM II kinase-alpha) or glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in the somatic sensory and motor areas of the macaque monkey cerebral cortex. Sections were subjected to in situ hybridization using radioactive, complementary RNA probes specific for monkey CAM II kinase-alpha or 67 kDa GAD mRNAs. Others were stained immunocytochemically for CAM II kinase-alpha and/or GABA. CAM II kinase- alpha and GAD-67 are expressed in different populations of cells, with no colocalization. CAM II kinase-alpha is expressed in pyramidal cells of layers II-VI, especially layers II and III, as well as in certain small nonpyramidal cells of layer IV in areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2 and of middle regions of area 4. Both cell types produce excitatory amino acid transmitters. Therefore, as in subcortical regions, CAM II kinase-alpha will be found on the presynaptic side of excitatory synapses but on the postsynaptic side only when these synapses occur on excitatory neurons in the sensory-motor cortex. Quantitative examination showed that CAM II kinase-alpha immunoreactive cells form, on average, approximately 50% of the total neuronal population in each area, while GABA immunoreactive or GAD cRNA hybridized cells form approximately 25–30%. Thus, CAM II kinase-alpha expressing cells cannot account for the total population of non-GABAergic cortical cells, and a certain proportion of the pyramidal cells probably do not express it. In other cortical areas, gene expression for the two molecules is regulated by afferent activity. Therefore, the present results form a necessary basis for studies aimed at determining the role of activity-dependent changes in the balance of excitation and inhibition as a mechanism underlying plasticity of representational maps in the primate sensory-motor cortex.
Association of blood cotinine level with cognitive and physical performance in non-smoking older adults

Abstract Background Studies show that active smoking may be associated with cognitive decline. However, the consequence of secondhand smoke on cognitive and physical performance remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of secondhand smoke with cognitive performance and physical function using a population-based sample. Methods Data of 2,542 non-smoking participants from the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Secondhand smoke exposure level was estimated using blood cotinine concentrations. Cognitive performance was assessed with the Digit Symbol Substitution Test and self-reported confusion/memory problems. Physical performance was analyzed using visual gait speed (m/s) and self-reported physical function. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the association. Results In never smokers, cognitive performance score decreased by 2.03 points (95% confidence interval (CI): −3.00, –1.05) per one unit increase in log-transformed blood cotinine level. After adjusting for potential confounders, including diabetes, hypertension, body mass index, alcohol, and blood lead level, change in cognitive performance score was still statistically significant (−1.17 95% CI: −2.32, –0.02). Similar trends were observed in former smokers. Gait speed decreased by 0.02 m/s for one unit increase in log-transformed blood cotinine level. This was evident in both never and former smokers. The relationship remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders in former smokers. Conclusions Our study suggests that secondhand smoke may contribute to cognitive decline in never and former smokers. Considering the cross-sectional design and the limitations of this study, the relationship warrants further assessment.
Delegation of access rights in multi-domain service compositions

Today, it becomes more and more common to combine services from different providers into one application. Service composition is however difficult and cumbersome when there is no common trust anchor. Hence, delegation of access rights across trust domains will become essential in service composition scenarios. This article specifies abstract delegation, discusses theoretical aspects of the concept, and provides technical details of a validation implementation supporting a variety of access controls and associated delegation mechanisms. Abstract delegation allows to harmonize the management of heterogeneous access control mechanisms and to offer a unified user experience. The authors observe standardization efforts to reduce application and domain-specific delegation mechanisms, but this variety is very unlikely to completely disappear.
Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System by Galanin-Like Peptide—A Possible Link between Leptin and Metabolism

The effects of leptin upon body weight (BW) cannot be explained by its anorectic actions alone. Part of the metabolic changes elicited by leptin includes sympathetic nervous system activation leading to increased energy expenditure. Galanin-like peptide (GALP), a recently described hypothalamic neuropeptide, is up-regulated by leptin and has anorectic effects in the mouse. We postulated that GALP mediates effects of leptin upon metabolism. To test this hypothesis, we administered GALP centrally to the leptin-deficient ob/ob mouse. Acutely, GALP induced a decrease in food intake and BW, both of which remained significant relative to controls for 4 d. Chronic GALP administration resulted in a sustained decrease in BW and an increase in core body temperature, despite significant recovery of food intake. In a pair-fed model, chronic GALP treatment resulted in a greater decrease in BW than that seen in controls. Furthermore, GALP treatment resulted in increased body temperature and uncoupling protein 1 mRNA and protein in brown adipose tissue compared with controls. The expression of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA in the arcuate nucleus was decreased after chronic GALP treatment. These observations suggest that leptin's activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and ultimately thermogenesis, may be partially mediated by GALP through a melanocortin-independent mechanism.
Using the Process of Disruption to Find New Markets and to Develop New Marketing Programs for Management Education

The market for management education has grown rapidly over the past 40 years. However, increasing competition stemming from new entrants such as for-profit universities and from the globalization of management education have changed the dynamics of the market thereby presenting business schools with difficult challenges. The process of disruption is offered as a methodology for rethinking program offerings, recruitment, marketing communications, and stakeholder satisfaction. Three disruptive ideas: business schools are not de facto management development centers, the market for management education is fragmented, and management is a profession and should be marketed accordingly are proposed to challenge the conventional thinking that underlies how management education is marketed. The intended result is greater differentiation among business schools, more customer-oriented marketing, and more effective management of the marketing mix.
Computerized detection and classification of lesions on breast ultrasound

We are developing a computerized method that detects suspicious areas on ultrasound images, and then distinguishes between malignant and benign-type lesions. The computerized scheme identifies potential lesions based on expected lesion shape and margin characteristics. All potential lesions are subsequently classified by a Bayesian neural net based on computer-extracted lesion features. The scheme was trained on a database of 400 cases (757 images) - consisting of complex cysts, benign and malignant lesions - and tested on a comparable database of 458 cases (1740 images) including 578 normal images. We investigated the performances of lesion detection and subsequent classification by a Bayesian neural net for two tasks. The first task was the distinction between actual lesions and false-positive (FP) detections, and the second task the distinction between actual malignant lesions and all detected lesion candidates. In training, the detection and classification method obtained an Az value of 0.94 in the distinction of false-positive detections from actual lesions, and an Az of 0.91 was obtained on the testing database. The task of distinguishing malignant lesions from all other detections (false-positives plus all benign type lesions) showed to be more challenging and Az values of 0.87 and 0.81 were obtained during training and testing, respectively. For the testing database, the combined detection and classification scheme correctly identified lesions in 82% (0.45 FP per image) of all the patients, and in 100% (0.43 FP malignancies per image) of the cancer patients.
Serum tocopherol measurement: effect of unsuspected impurities in water.

SummaryRecoveries of d, l-alphatocopherol from serum using a simple screening procedure were found to be satisfactory (95–100%). Poor recoveries (66–76%) using a second method involving aqueous solutions were due to traces of impurity in distilled water and were increased to 86–95% by the addition of disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA). It is recommended that EDTA be added to aqueous solutions used in procedures for extraction or measurement of tocopherol.
Use of Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme Inhibitors as Monotherapy and in Combination with Diuretics and Calcium Channel Blockers

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have earned an important place in medical therapy since their discovery about two decades ago. This family of drug has grown tremendously since the introduction of captopril in 1981. There are currently more than 14 ACE inhibitors in the world and 9 are available in the United States. Although these agents share many similarities, they differ in their pharmacokinetic properties, approved indications, and cost. This paper provides guidance for selection of ACE inhibitors by examining the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug interactions, adverse effects, and cost of these agents. Combination products of ACE inhibitors with either diuretics or calcium channel blockers also are reviewed.
Adult Perception of the Horizontal

The conceptualization of the horizontal was tested by having 128 university students draw the water surface on pictures of tilted glasses, as if the glasses were half-filled with water. Most Ss made errors of more than 5°, which suggests that adults have difficulty, much as children do, with the concept of horizontality as tested by this task.
An introduction to the UCSD PASCAL system

This paper provides an introduction to the UCSD PASCAL system: a nearly machine-independent software system for micro- and minicomputers. The system is designed to run as a single-user interactive system. It is written almost entirely in the PASCAL programming language and consists of: a single-user operating system, PASCAL pseudomachine interpreter, PASCAL compiler, screen- and line-oriented editors, file manager, debugger, utility programs, and a BASIC compiler. A CAI package is also available.
Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance analysis of water diffusion in poly[styrene‐b‐isobutylene‐ b‐styrene] block copolymer membranes

A Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance technique was used to study the diffusion of water through poly(styrene-b-isobutylene-b-styrene) block copolymers (BCPs), as well as sulfonated (H+) and Na+-sulfonated ionomer versions. Diffusion data were collected and interpreted for these membranes versus polystyrene block composition, degree of sulfonation, Na+ ion content in the ionomers, and the effect of initially dry versus prehydrated conditions. An “early time” diffusion coefficient, D, decreased with increasing percent polystyrene for a series of unmodified BCPs. D decreased with increasing degree of sulfonation, and with increasing ion content for the Na+-exchanged samples and this was interpreted in terms of diffusion limitations caused by a strong tendency for ion hydration. The method also yielded information relating to the time evolution of water structure from the standpoint of degree of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Membrane prehydration causes profound increases in D for both the unmodified BCP and sulfonated samples, as in plasticization. The simultaneous acquisition of information relating to interactions between water molecules and interactions of water molecules with functional groups on the host polymer matrix offers more information than conventional diffusion measurement techniques that simply count transported molecules. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 764–776, 2005
Solid and Skip‐Row Spacings for Irrigated and Nonirrigated Upland Cotton

Producers of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) are interested in alternative row spacings and planting patterns to improve productivity. We conducted factorial experiments for 3 yr in adjacent irrigated and nonirrigated fields at Milan, TN, of cotton grown in 25-, 76- and 102-cm rows, each planted in a solid and 2 x 1 skip-row pattern. Narrower rows and solid plantings tended to close canopy earlier and more completely, to suppress weed growth, and to mature earlier than in wider rows and skip-row patterns. Incomplete canopy closure in wider skip-row spacings resulted in less weed suppression, but weed growth in skipped rows diminished with narrower row spacing. Skip-row cotton matured later than solid planting, but this effect also diminished with narrower rows. Without irrigation, row spacing and configuration for maximum lint yield depended on growing conditions of the particular year. Under irrigation, however, solid planted 76-cm rows consistently yielded more than either 25- or 102-cm solid or skip-row cotton. With or without irrigation, lint yields were 13 to 15% lower in 102-cm skip-row cotton than in 102-cm solid planting, but yields did not differ between solid and skip-row in narrower rows. Across years and treatments, plant density was the most influential yield component in nonirrigated cotton, but plant density and bolls plant -1 had similar influence under irrigation. Cotton producers interested in skip-row planting should consider rows spaced 76-cm or less to minimize weed problems and yield loss.
Editorial: Detection of small polyps: much ado about nothing?

Computed tomographic (CT) colonography (CTC) represents an alternative to optical colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening. However, diminutive polyps (≤5 mm) are not routinely reported for CTC. An observational study comparing the rates of recovery of subcentimeter adenomas in average-risk patie
Stability of Solid Phases in the Ternary Systems of Silicon and Carbon with Rhenium and the Six Platinum Metals

Possible reactions in the ternary systems of carbon and silicon with rhenium, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium, and iridium were studied at 1600 deg , 1340 deg , 1170 deg , 1350 deg , and 1340 deg C, respectively. At these temperatures the only stable phases are solid metal silicides and silicon carbide. Approximate ternary diagrams are fixed for the systems carbon -- silicon-- palladium and carbon-- silicon-- platinum by examination of phases formed during cooling above the liquidus temperatures. Lower limits to the thermodynamic stability of many of the metal silicides are set by the stability of these phases relative to reaction with carbon to form silicon carbide. Higher limits to the stability of the other metal silicides are set by their instability relative to reaction with carbon to form silicon carbide. These limits are used to estimate heats of formation for the platinum family metal silicides. Measured and estimated heats of formation of other transition metal silicides are tabulated.
All-glass optical fibers derived from sapphire

Increasing power levels and novel applications are demanding from fibers performance capabilities that have, to date, not been realized. One such example arises from the nascent push towards the 10-kW power threshold for narrow linewidth fiber lasers designed for applications including coherently-phased laser arrays and spectroscopic lidars. It is well-known that Brillouin scattering still restricts continued power scaling in these systems, despite several recent advances in acoustic-wave Brillouin management. Accordingly, novel fibers possessing a Brillouin gain coefficient 10 dB or more less than previously demonstrated would be of great practical benefit if they comprise novel materials in simple geometries and are manufactured using industry-accepted methods. Introducing a new and effective approach to the management of Brillouin scattering, we present on all-glass optical fibers derived from silica-clad sapphire with alumina concentrations up to 55 mole percent; considerably greater than conventionally possible enabling the design of optical fiber possessing a series of essential properties. Markedly, a Brillouin gain coefficient of 3.1 × 10-13 m/W was measured for a fiber with an average alumina concentration of 54 mole percent. This value is nearly 100 times lower than standard commercial single-mode fiber and is likely the lowest ever specified value. This reduction in Brillouin gain is enabled by a number of key material properties of the alumina-silica system, amazingly even leading to a predicted, but not yet demonstrated, composition with zero Brillouin gain. Optical fiber materials with these and other crucial properties will be discussed in the context high energy fiber laser systems.
IKKγ (NEMO) is involved in the coordination of the AP-1 and NF-κB pathways

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) activates the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) pathway in various cell types, leading to expression of cell survival and inflammatory proteins. One mechanism of cell survival brought about by NF-κB is the inhibition of Activator Protein-1 (AP-1), which when activated, could lead to cell death. However, TNFα can also induce the AP-1 pathway, and the mechanisms by which these two pathways are regulated in response to TNFα are poorly understood. We proposed that Inhibitor of κB Kinase gamma (IKKγ) (which is also known as NF-κB essential modulator, NEMO) plays a key role in integrating and coordinating these two pathways. Our results showed that IKKγ activates the AP-1 pathway, via a mechanism that is dependent on the first leucine zipper (LZ) domain of IKKγ, by interacting with two proteins of the AP-1 complex, c-Jun and c-Fos, and changing the phosphorylation status of c-Jun. Even though IKKγ is required for the activation of NF-κB, we found that it reduced the activity of NF-κB when it was overexpressed. In summary, we demonstrated that transfected IKKγ, while inhibiting the NF-κB pathway, directly interacts with the AP-1 proteins and activates the AP-1 pathway independent of its effects on NF-κB. Our results indicate that IKKγ regulates TNFα signaling by coordinating cell responses mediated by the AP-1 and NF-κB pathways.
Software for the EVLA: current status

The Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) project is the next generation instrument for high resolution long-millimeter to short-meter wavelength radio astronomy. It is currently funded by NSF, with completion scheduled for 2012. The EVLA will upgrade the VLA with new feeds, receivers, data transmission hardware, correlator, and a new software system to enable the instrument to achieve its full potential. This software includes both that required for controlling and monitoring the instrument and that involved with the scientific dataflow. This manuscript presents an update on the overall design, and details for the pre-observing portions of the software, including: user authentication; proposal preparation, submission, and handling; and observation preparation. It will focus particularly on the observation preparation software, describing an implementation of a web-based interface for creation of a detailed observation description, and plans to achieve common observation preparation software with the ALMA telescope.
Evaluation of the use of metallothionein as a biomarker for detecting physiological responses to mercury exposure in the bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo

Previous studies have demonstrated that sharks, perhaps more so than any other fishes, are capable of bioaccumulating the non-essential toxic metal mercury (Hg) to levels that threaten the health of human seafood consumers. However, few studies have explored the potential effects of Hg accumulation in sharks themselves. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine if physiological effects occur in sharks in response to environmentally relevant levels of Hg exposure. To address this goal, the relationship between muscle Hg concentrations and muscle/hepatic levels of metallothionein (MT), a widely used protein biomarker of toxic metal exposure in fish, was examined in bonnetheads, Sphyrna tiburo, from three Florida estuaries. Total Hg concentrations in bonnethead muscle, as determined using thermal decomposition and atomic absorption spectrometry, ranged from 0.22 to 1.78 μg/g wet weight and were correlated with animal size. These observations were consistent with earlier studies on Florida bonnetheads, illustrating that they experience bioaccumulation of Hg, often to levels that threaten the health of these animals or consumers of their meat. However, despite this, MT concentrations measured using Western blot analysis were not correlated with muscle Hg concentrations. These results suggest that either environmentally relevant levels of Hg exposure and uptake are below the physiological threshold for inducing effects in sharks or MT is a poor biomarker of Hg exposure in these fishes. Of these two explanations, the latter is favored based on a growing body of evidence that questions the use of MTs as specific indicators of Hg exposure and effects in fish.
Computing a population budget from sequentially sacrificed, replicated cultures

When a population budget must be obtained from censuses based on replicated, sacrificed cultures, it is difficult to obtain estimates of transition probabilities and of the errors of such estimates, because there is no logical basis for pairing successive census counts. In a study of this nature estimating a population budget of immature stages of the housefly, the problem was solved by a randomization treatment of the original census results obtained at two densities. One hundred randomly generated census matrices over all census times for each density were smoothed to remove the effects of sampling error and a population budget constructed according to defined rules. Transition probabilities computed from the population budget were plotted on triangular coordinate paper and mean probabilities, 95% confidence regions for these means, and 95% equal frequency ellipses computed. All computations and the graphing of the results were carried out on a digital computer. The computer program, available from the authors, is written in FORTRAN IV and could be easily modified for similar studies.
The Limiting Shape of the Generic Initial System of a Complete Intersection

Consider a complete intersection I of type (d 1,…, d r ) in a polynomial ring over a field of characteristic 0. We study the graded system of ideals {gin(I n )} n obtained by taking the reverse lexicographic generic initial ideals of the powers of I and describe its asymptotic behavior. This behavior is nicely captured by the limiting shape which is shown to depend only on the type of the complete intersection.
Medulloepithelioma Diagnosed by Ultrasound and Vitreous Aspirate: Electron Microscopic Observations

Abstract Ultrasonography and cytologic examination of the vitreous aspirate established the correct pre-enucleation diagnosis of medulloepithelioma in the case of an 8-year-old boy. The use of a muscle hook allowed the examiner to elevate the eye and bring the ciliary body into adequate ultrasonographic view. Histopathologic examination of the enucleated eye showed a partially pigmented mass composed of elongated neuroepithelial tubules and cords arising from the ciliary body interiorly. Several tubules displayed a central lumen with rosette-like structures. The tumor was classified as a benign, nonteratoid medulloepithelioma. Electron microscopically the lumens of the rosettes contained myriad, slender microvilli, and were bordered by numerous terminal bar complexes and areas displaying zonula adherens and zonula occludens type junctions. Additionally, invaginating gap junctions, which clearly established that the tumor originated from the ciliary epithelium, were identified.
Permanent beat assignments in association with community policing: Assessing the impact on police officers' field activity

Although the permanent assignment of police officers to their beats has long been an important goal in community policing, its utility has not been assessed empirically. Using a multiple time-series quasi-experimental design, the present study reports on an impact assessment of permanent beat assignment in conjunction with a community policing program implemented in the Philadelphia Housing Authority Police Department. Permanent beat assignment in the treatment sites led to increases in officer-initiated investigative activity (indicating greater responsibility for beats), while no such changes were observed in the comparison sites. Implications for public policy and for conducting police research in public housing are discussed; future research directions are suggested.
Turbulent flow between concentric rotating cylinders at large Reynolds number.

Turbulent Taylor vortex flow is studied in experiments for Reynolds numbers ${10}^{3}$R${10}^{6}$. Simple scaling of the torque with Reynolds number is m/Inot observed for any range of R, although the characteristic time scales and the transport of passive scalars are found to scale with the global torque measurements. Above a nonhysteretic transition observed at R=1.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{4}$, the torque has a Reynolds number dependence similar to the drag observed in wall-bounded shear flows such as pipe flow and flow over a flat plate.
Factorization theorems for univariate splines on regular grids

For a given univariate compactly supported distributionφ, we investigate here the spaceS(φ) spanned by its integer translates, the subspaceH(φ) of all exponentials inS(φ) and the kernelK ϕ of the associated semi-discrete convolutionφ*. The paper addresses a variety of results including a complete structure ofH(φ) andK ϕ and a characterization of splines of minimal support. The main result shows that eachφ can be expressed asφ = p(∇)τ * M, wherep(∇) is a finite difference operator,τ is a distribution of smaller support satisfyingH(τ) =K τ = {0}, andM is a spline which depends onH(φ) but not onφ itself, and which in the generic case (termed here “regular”) is the exponential B-spline associated withH(φ). The approach chosen is direct and avoids entirely the Fourier analysis arguments. The fact that a distribution is examined, rather than a function, is essential for the methods employed.
Self-activation and inhibition: A simple nonlinear model

Abstract Self-activation and self-inhibition of cell number density (or growth factor concentration) due to a spatially localized source are studied. Both the time-independent and time-dependent models are examined, and the linear stability of the resulting three steady states of the former is discussed.
A performance study for multivariate location and shape estimators

Exploratory data-analysis methods and empirical model-building techniques often attempt to determine the center and spread of multivariate data in order to determine the relative location of observations. The most common measure of multivariate location is the Mahalanobis distance. This measure uses standard mean and covariance matrix estimators for the center and spread. Outliers tend to influence these standard measures such that the corresponding Mahalanobis distances are inappropriately large for data near the true centroid, and relatively small for true outliers. As such, robust measures of location and spread are needed. Many robust measures have been proposed including the minimum covariance determinant, and the minimum volume ellipsoid. It is not clear how these methods perform under various data settings. We perform a comprehensive evaluation of the most referenced methods from the literature. A Monte Carlo simulation study is used to generate data without outliers and data with outliers dispersed separately and in groups or clouds. The methods are evaluated in terms of their ability to detect outliers and their ability not to signal false alarms for clean data. The findings from the study indicate that, although several methods display consistently solid performance, the method of Rocke and Woodruff performs the overall best. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transmission electron microscopy studies of TiC and VCTiC deposits prepared by activated reactive evaporation

Abstract The activated reactive evaporation technique is used for processing carbide alloy coatings on tools. Improved properties of these films can be developed if the relationships between processing parameters, microstructural features and mechanical properties are well understood. The main aim of the present investigation was to characterize the microstructures of TiC and (V,Ti)C films prepared by the activated reactive evaporation process at varying deposition temperatures (550–1000°C) and to relate these features to the hardness. The transmission electron microscopy technique was used for this purpose. Two characteristic and completely different grain morphologies are produced in these films, one at low temperatures (extremely fine grained with grain diameters of about 10 nm) and one at high temperatures (of more normal grain structure with micronsized grains). These are all equilibrium single-phase structures of TiC and (V,Ti)C respectively except for the low temperature deposit of (V-23 at.% Ti)C prepared at 550°C; (V-23 at.% Ti)C is a mixture of TiC, VC and free graphite phases. The hardness is superior in the large-grained structures.