cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical management of tricuspid stenosis

Tricuspid valve stenosis (TS) is rare, affecting less than 1% of patients in developed nations and approximately 3% of patients worldwide. Detection requires careful evaluation, as it is almost always associated with left-sided valve lesions that may obscure its significance. Primary TS is most frequently caused by rheumatic valvulitis. Other causes include carcinoid, radiation therapy, infective endocarditis, trauma from endomyocardial biopsy or pacemaker placement, or congenital abnormalities. Surgical management of TS is not commonly addressed in standard cardiac texts but is an important topic for the practicing surgeon. This paper will elucidate the anatomy, pathophysiology, and surgical management of TS.
A Fetch-Based Statistical Method to Bias Correct and Downscale Wind Speed over Unresolved Water Bodies

AbstractThis paper presents a method to bias correct and downscale wind speed over water bodies that are unresolved by numerical weather prediction (NWP) models and analyses. The dependency of wind speeds over water bodies to fetch length is investigated as a predictor of model wind speed error. Because model bias is found to be related to the forecast wind direction, a statistical method that uses the forecast fetch to remove wind speed bias is developed and tested. The method estimates wind speed bias using recent forecast errors from similar stations (i.e., those with comparable fetch lengths). As a result, the bias correction is not tied to local observations but instead to locations with similar land–water characteristics. Thus, it can also be used to downscale wind fields over inland and coastal water bodies. The fetch method is compared to four reference bias correction methods using one year’s worth of wind speed output from three NWP analyses in Florida. The fetch method yields a bias error near ...
Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis

Both genetic and environmental risk factors may contribute to risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in children. Genetic risk factors include the presence of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1*1501 allele and other non-HLA single nucleotide polymorphisms. Environmental risk factors include parental smoking, low serum vitamin D levels, and prior exposure to Epstein–Barr virus. Some of these risk factors not only confer increased susceptibility to MS but may also alter the course of the disease. How different risk factors interact is a growing area of research. In this review, we examine the current literature regarding the genetic and environmental risk factors for MS in children.
Context Sensitive Word Deletion Model for Statistical Machine Translation

Word deletion (WD) errors can lead to poor comprehension of the meaning of source translated sentences in phrase-based statistical machine translation (SMT), and have a critical impact on the adequacy of the translation results generated by SMT systems. In this paper, first we classify the word deletion into two categories, wanted and unwanted word deletions. For these two kinds of word deletions, we propose a maximum entropy based word deletion model to improve the translation quality in phrase-based SMT. Our proposed model are based on features automatically learned from a real-word bitext. In our experiments on Chinese-to-English news and web translation tasks, the results show that our approach is capable of generating more adequate translations compared with the baseline system, and our proposed word deletion model yields a +0.99 BLEU improvement and a \(-2.20\) TER reduction on the NIST machine translation evaluation corpora.
Road Environment and Driver Fatigue

We distinguish between fatigue caused by the demands of the drivingtask itself (see Hancock & Desmond, 2001) from the standard traditionalapproach that links fatigue predominately to the lack of sleep. Fatigue can becaused by two sources: (1) the driver’s initial state before starting the drive, or (2)the characteristics of the drive and the road environment; both sources can have acumulative effect. It is not clear what principles are involved in making one roadenvironment more prone to inducing driver fatigue than another. For the purposeof the current presentation we provide empirical data on road environment anddriver fatigue summarized from a series of three experiments that the first authorhas conducted at Ben-Gurion University (see Oron-Gilad, 2003; Oron-Gilad, etal., 2001). Those are examined in relation to the Hancock and Warm (1989)model of adaptability. The most significant and consistent findings of the threeexperiment is in the way that fatigue is reflected in driving performance acrossdifferent road environments. These findings suggest that drivers are flexible in theway they handle fatigue over the course of time. They can adopt differentstrategies to compensate for their performance decrement, by focusing efforts oncritical elements of each different type of roadway. Understanding of thisdependency of fatigue symptoms on road conditions is of especial relevance todesigners of technological fatigue countermeasures as well as those of futureroadway systems.
Youth Civic Engagement: Do Youth Councils Reduce or Reinforce Social Inequality?:

Youth engagement in municipal government has the potential to benefit both youth and the community. Yet, some forms of youth civic engagement may be related to social class and race resulting in be...
Developmental Timing Is Everything: TZP and Phytochrome Signaling

Although they lack eyes, plants can differentiate between colors with a full complement of photoreceptors. Phytochromes (phys) are such photoreceptors dedicated to the visible light spectrum ranging from red light (600–700 nm) to far-red light (700–750 nm). phys are some of the most studied
Action potential initiation, propagation, and cortical invasion in the hyperdirect pathway during subthalamic deep brain stimulation

Abstract Background High frequency (∼130 Hz) deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic region is an established clinical therapy for the treatment of late stage Parkinson's disease (PD). Direct modulation of the hyperdirect pathway, defined as cortical layer V pyramidal neurons that send an axon collateral to the subthalamic nucleus (STN), has emerged as a possible component of the therapeutic mechanisms. However, numerous questions remain to be addressed on the basic biophysics of hyperdirect pathway stimulation. Objective Quantify action potential (AP) initiation, propagation, and cortical invasion in hyperdirect neurons during subthalamic stimulation. Methods We developed an anatomically and electrically detailed computational model of hyperdirect neuron stimulation with explicit representation of the stimulating electric field, axonal response, AP propagation, and synaptic transmission. Results We found robust AP propagation throughout the complex axonal arbor of the hyperdirect neuron. Even at therapeutic DBS frequencies, stimulation induced APs could reach all of the intracortical axon terminals with ∼100% fidelity. The functional result of this high frequency axonal driving of the thousands of synaptic connections made by each directly stimulated hyperdirect neuron is a profound synaptic suppression that would effectively disconnect the neuron from the cortical circuitry. Conclusions The synaptic suppression hypothesis integrates the fundamental biophysics of electrical stimulation, axonal transmission, and synaptic physiology to explain a generic mechanism of DBS.
Regulation of Ontogeny in Temperate Conifers

Through their life stages, long-lived forest trees must adapt to challenges resulting from vast changes in size and external environment. Trees accomplish this by producing new tissues and growth habits adapted to specific life stages by pluripotent meristems. The morphology and physiology of these new tissues are determined by complex interactions of the external and internal environments of the tree, and gene expression both within meristems and during differentiation of cells produced by meristems. The trajectories of various age-related changes are both inter-related and independent at various scales, and, for the majority of species, are not purely physio-mechanical responses to increased tree height. Understanding the relationships between tree developmental state, tree size and its environment requires both a whole-tree approach integrated through time to encompass life stage strategies, and a molecular approach to understand the cues, transduction pathways and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate whole-life ontogeny.
Deployment Experience: Rolling Out a New Antispam Solution in a Large Corporation.

Our research group has developed new, stateof-the-art antispam software, described in other papers. We are in the process of deploying that software in a large production corporate infrastructure, as a replacement for the prior antispam solution. This paper describes how we went about the deployment, and our experiences therewith, with an eye toward pointing out the icebergs and the lifeboats, to help make the process go smoothly for others. We also report what we learned, in the process, about user needs and expectations with respect to antispam solutions.
Potential role of annexin A1 (ANXA1) as a growth inhibitor in breast cancer cell lines

2876 Annexin I (ANXA I) is a calcium and phospholipid binding protein which serves as a substrate for the tyrosine kinase of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). ANXA1 has been implicated in apoptosis, cell differentiation and proliferation. Alterations in ANXA1 expression have been described in several tumor types, including breast cancer. However, the precise role and function of ANXA1 in breast cancer have yet to be established. Our goal was to study ANXA1 function in breast cancer cells using cellular in vitro models with defined levels of ANXA1 expression. To evaluate ANXA1 expression in breast cancer cells, Western blot analysis was performed. Low ANXA1 protein expression was detected in MDA-MB-453 whereas high levels of ANXA1 were found in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231. To study the effects of ANXA1 overexpression, retrovirus was used to infect MDA-MB-453 with an expression vector containing ANXA1 cDNA. Conversely, to evaluate the effects of silencing ANXA1 expression, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231, were stably infected with small inhibitory RNAs (siRNA) specific for ANXA1. The siRNAs resulted in varying levels of attenuation of endogenous ANXA1 protein expression in the three different cell lines as assessed by Western blot analysis. The generated cell lines were used to evaluate the effects of ANXA1 on anchorage independent growth in soft agar. Overexpression of ANXA1 resulted in a 50% reduction of colony growth of MDA-MB-453/cDNA cells. In contrast, suppression of ANXA1 in both MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 resulted in a two-fold increase in anchorage independent growth. We wanted to determine whether ANXA1 interacts with HER2/neu, an important? protein in breast cancer and a member of the EGFR family. ANXA1 protein levels were measured in BT-474 and MDA-MB-435 with silenced HER2/neu. In these cell lines, silenced HER2/neu have been previously shown to decrease proliferation and decrease tumor growth in nude mice (J Biol Chem. 6;279:4339,04). In both BT-474 and MDA-MB-435, silenced of HER2/neu was associated with higher ANXA1 protein expression. In conclusion, our studies indicate that ANXA1 has a potential role in the suppression of breast cancer cell growth. We have successfully developed in vitro models to further study the role and function of ANXA1 in breast cancer and to determine whether the interaction of ANXA1 and HER2/neu can be used as a therapeutic site.
Ultra narrow band based IoT networks

La compagnie Sigfox est reconnue comme un acteur prometteur pour des transmissions de longue-distance et faible consommation, dans le contexte de l'IoT. La modulation a bande ultra etroite (Ultra Narrow Band (UNB)), la technologie de communication choisie par Sigfox, permet de transmettre des informations dans des bandes de signal tres etroites (typiquement 100 Hz). A cause de l'imprecision frequentielle causee par les oscillateurs generateurs de frequence, il n'est pas realiste de transmettre des signaux UNB dans des canaux parfaitement orthogonaux. L'acces naturel au canal radio pour le systeme de UNB est de type ALOHA, avec un aspect aleatoire a la fois en en temps et en frequence. Cet acces aleatoire peut introduire des collisions qui degradent la performance du reseau. Le but de cette these est de caracteriser la capacite des reseaux bases sur UNB, ainsi que d’ameliorer la performance en considerant l'aspect aleatoire en temps et en frequence. La premiere contribution de cette these, est une evaluation de la capacite en theorie et en simulation pour une seule station de base (BS), sous des conditions de canal idealiste ou realiste. En conditions idealistes, nous avons exprime la capacite pour le cas de l'ALOHA generalise, et l'avons etendu aux cas de replications. Pour les conditions realistes, nous avons pris en compte l'interference spectrale d'UNB et le path loss (sans et avec Rayleigh fading) afin de caracteriser la performance des reseaux UNB, avec l'outil geometrie stochastique. La deuxieme contribution est d'appliquer l’annulation successive d'interference (SIC), qui nous permet d'attenuer les interferences, dans des reseaux de UNB. Nous avons fourni une analyse theorique de la performance des reseaux en considerant le SIC et l'interference spectrale de UNB, pour le cas de mono-BS. La troisieme contribution est l'amelioration de la performance des reseaux UNB, en exploitant la diversite de multi-BS. Nous avons fait une analyse theorique de performance en considerant multi-BS et selection combining (SC). En particulier, nous avons considere que l’interference vue par chaque BS est correlee. Nous avons ainsi demontre mathematiquement que cette correlation ne peut pas etre supprimee dans des systemes UNB. Ensuite, nous avons applique les technologies de la combinaison des signaux plus complexes comme MRC (max ratio combining) et EGC (equal gain combining), ainsi que le SIC a travers multi-BS. Nous avons evalue l'amelioration de performance que chaque technologie apporte, et les avons comparees. Nous avons souligne l'efficacite de ces technologies qui nous permettent d’obtenir des gains importants compares au cas mono-BS (e.x. 125 fois plus de reduction d'erreur avec SIC globale). La derniere contribution est une validation experimentale du modele d'interference spectrale de UNB, ainsi que la capacite des reseaux UNB, sur un testbed de radio FIT/Cortexlab.
Taking the CON out of Pennsylvania: Did hip/knee replacement patients benefit? A retrospective analysis

Abstract We analyze the effects of Certificate of Need (CON) laws on outcomes for hip and knee replacement procedures. Federal CON programs began in 1974 to stem rising health care costs by limiting hospital expansion and acquisition of equipment. The federal requirement for CON programs ended in 1987; however, 36 states and DC still maintain various forms of CON programs. In 1996, Pennsylvania (PA) let its CON law expire. We use data from the National Inpatient Survey from HCUP for the years 1993–1999 and examine four outcomes: hospital acquired infections, mortality, length of stay, and total charges. We use a difference-in-differences estimation method leveraging the expiration of PA's law to compare outcomes between patients in PA with patients in states that continued to have a CON law. We control for a number of covariates and pre-treatment trends in our analysis. We focus on hip and knee replacement surgeries — two procedures that have expanded greatly, have contributed increasingly to growing health care costs, and have not been well studied in the literature —for a population that includes Medicare beneficiaries and patients with other payment methods. Our results provide new evidence of the effects of CON (de)regulation. We find that the expiration of CON laws in PA increased length of stay within the patient population and reduced the probability of dying. The CON laws did not have statistically significant effects on hospital acquired infections or total charges.
Safe spaces, agency, and resistance: a metasynthesis of LGBTQ language use

The purpose of this metasynthesis is to present a structured review of the literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) language usage. Much of the rhetoric surrounding indi...
Why Immediate Repetition Is Good for Short-Time Learning Results but Bad for Long-Time Learning: Explanation Based on Decision Theory

It is well known that repetition enhances learning; the question is: when is a good time for this repetition? Several experiments have shown that immediate repetition of the topic leads to better performance on the resulting test than a repetition after some time. Recent experiments showed, however, that while immediate repetition leads to better results on the test, it leads to much worse performance in the long term, i.e., several years after the material have been studied. In this paper, we use decision theory to provide a possible explanation for this unexpected phenomenon.
Plasma levels of soluble ACE2 are associated with sex, Metabolic Syndrome, and its biomarkers in a large cohort, pointing to a possible mechanism for increased severity in COVID-19

Abstract We examined the associations between plasma concentrations of soluble ACE2 and biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome in a large (N=2,051) sample of individuals who participated in a commercial wellness program and who underwent deep molecular phenotyping. sACE2 levels were significantly higher in men, compared to women, and in individuals with Metabolic Syndrome, compared to controls. sACE2 levels showed reliable associations with all individuals components of Metabolic Syndrome, including obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and as well as markers of liver damage. This profile of associations was statistically significantly stronger in men, compared to women, and points to preexisting cardiometabolic conditions as possible risk factors for increased severity of symptoms in some COVID-19 patients through increased expression of ACE2 in the liver.
Cohesive Velocity Transitions in Robotic Platoons Using Nesterov-type Accelerated Delayed Self Reinforcement (A-DSR)

This article addresses the rapid transfer of velocity-transition information through a robotic platoon, without the need for centralized communication. Such rapid propagation of information through a network is important since it can lead to cohesive maneuvers, which in turn aids in performance, e.g., to maintain smaller headway between the agents in the platoon. A challenge, however, is that in absence of centralized communication, each agent uses neighbor-based update laws, which tend to be diffusive in nature and lead to loss of cohesion in the overall response. The main contribution of this work is to use a Nesterov-type, accelerated-gradient-based approach to improve both the convergence and cohesion of a platoon’s response. An advantage is that the modified update law can be implemented using a delayed-self-reinforcement (DSR) method that does not require new information from the network nor any modification of the network connectivity. Additionally, the article presents conditions for stability as well as experimental results to illustrate the performance improvements.
Dynamics of hepatic steatosis resolution and changes in gut microbiome with weight loss in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Background Weight loss is recommended as the primary treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the magnitude and velocity of hepatic steatosis resolution with weight loss is unclear, making it difficult to counsel patients seeking weight loss for treatment of NAFLD. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of hepatic steatosis improvement and stool microbiome changes associated with rapid diet-induced weight loss in NAFLD. Methods Fourteen NAFLD patients (mean ± standard deviation, body mass index [BMI] 36.4 ± 4 kg/m2) enrolled in a 12-week meal replacement program underwent frequent measurement of Fibroscan-controlled attenuation parameter (CAP). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-Dixon method) for hepatic fat quantitation and stool microbiome analysis (16S rRNA gene sequencing) were completed in 11 subjects at baseline and Week 12. Results At Week 12, mean (95% confidence interval) weight loss was -13.4 (-15.2, -11.5)% and CAP score -26.6 (-35.6, -17.6)% (both Ps < 0.001). CAP scores changed at a rate of -4.9 dB/m/kg (-30.1 dB/m per unit BMI) in Weeks 1-4 and -0.6 dB/m/kg (-2.4 dB/m per unit BMI) in Weeks 8-12. MRI-determined hepatic fat fraction decreased by -74.1% (p < 0.001) at a rate of -0.51%/kg (-3.19% per unit BMI), with complete steatosis resolution in 90% patients. BMI change was associated with decreased stool microbial diversity (coefficient = 0.17; Shannon Index), increased abundance of Prevotella_9 (Bacteroidetes; coefficient = 0.96) and decreased abundance of Phascolarctobacterium (Firmicutes; coefficient = -0.42) (both Ps < 0.05). Conclusions Diet-induced intensive weight loss is associated with rapid improvement and complete resolution of hepatic steatosis and decreased stool microbial diversity. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of hepatic fat and may help clinicians to develop evidence-based treatment goals for patients with NAFLD and obesity who undertake weight loss interventions. Further research is warranted to understand the effects of intensive weight loss and gut microbiome changes on long-term NAFLD resolution.
Harnessing Joule heating in microfluidic thermal gel electrophoresis to create reversible barriers for cell enrichment

Gel electrophoresis is a ubiquitous bioanalytical technique used to characterize the components of cell lysates. However, analyses of bulk lysates sacrifice detection sensitivity because intracellular biomolecules become diluted, and the liberation of proteases and nucleases can degrade target analytes. This report describes a method to enrich cells directly within a microfluidic gel as a first step toward online measurement of trace intracellular biomolecules with minimal dilution and degradation. Thermal gels were employed as the gel matrix because they can be reversibly converted between liquid and solid phases as a function of temperature. Rather than fabricate costly heating elements into devices to control temperature-and thus the phase of the gel-Joule heating was used instead. Adjoining regions of liquid-phase and solid-phase gel were formed within microfluidic channels by selectively inducing localized Joule heat. Cells migrated through the liquid gel but could not enter the solid gel-accumulating at the liquid-solid gel boundary-whereas small molecule contaminants passed through to waste. Barriers were then liquified on-demand by removing Joule heat to collect the purified, non-lysed cells for downstream analyses. Using voltage-controlled Joule heating to regulate the phase of thermal gels is an innovative approach to facilitate in-gel cell enrichment in low-cost microfluidic devices.
Transforming a TBL Programming Class from Face-to-Face to Online Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a public health emergency of international concern. The spread of the virus all over the world sent billions of people into lockdown. In light of rising concerns, a growing number of universities across the globe and specifically in the United States have either postponed or canceled all campus events such as workshops, conferences, sports, and other activities. Universities took intensive measures to prevent and protect all students, faculty, and staff members from the highly infectious disease. This resulted in migrating all face-to-face courses into an online course. In this paper, the authors present the impact of COVID19 on migrating a Team-based Learning C programming course from face-to-face to online delivery and its effect on student learning. The results section of this paper shows that the student learning curve was affected significantly by the sudden online delivery of the course.
Full-term pregnancy complicating carcinoma of the cervix

Abstract A case of full-term pregnancy associated with a fairly extensive cancerous involvement of the cervix is presented. The diagnosis of malignancy was first made four days before the patient went into labor. Delivery was accomplished by cesarean section followed by supracervical hysterectomy because of the degree of cervical involvement by the malignancy. As soon as the abdominal incision was healed, deep x-ray therapy was begun. This was given over a two-month period, so that the patient got 9,600 r. units. Shortly after this, 6,500 mg. hr. of radium were given. Several months later, additional radium (3,600 mg. hr.) was used. In spite of intensive radiotherapy, the malignant process, which in the first eight or nine months seemed to be under control, spread slowly but definitely. At the end of the first year, there was beginning involvement of the lower end of the left ureter, although the patient's general condition was still fair. By the end of fifteen months, there was a marked right hydronephrosis, and the patient was rapidly going downhill, with marked cachexia, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. A frozen pelvis was present by this time. At the end of seventeen months the patient was on the critical list at Welfare Island, with the prospect that she would not live more than a few weeks.
Toward the design of a semantic communication protocol in heterogeneous database systems

The problem of semantic reconciliation in heterogeneous databases is discussed. In general, semantic differences are context dependent. The context within which the semantics are interpreted must thus be clearly understood to facilitate reconciliation. Knowledge-based techniques are one approach used to model the context. It assumes that the semantics of data exchanged can be captured. Another approach models the interaction process itself rather than the knowledge exchanged. A drawback of both of these approaches is that the set of possible interactions is predefined and the type of interaction is independent of the knowledge conveyed. The authors believe that a single model which determines the type of interaction dynamically based on the knowledge exchanged is the solution. This model should allow dynamic evolution of the context within which the dialogue is to be conducted to reconcile the semantic differences. >
The Political Gap Revisited

Recent research in comparative politics has demonstrated that executive-legislative confrontation is not a necessary condition for political instability (Perez-Linan 2007). Instead, the ability of the opposition to remove a chief executive from office ultimately hinges on the degree of popular mobilization against the government. These findings raise the following questions: is it true that polities unable to accommodate change are brittle? How does popular mobilization affects a government's chances of survival in office? And does a high concentration of power over the policy-making process lead to protest and dissent? This paper addresses these questions by examining the relationship between chief executives' legislative passage rates and social/political unrest. Using a combination of cross-national data and statistical techniques, as well as historical and contemporary case studies (the fall of Allende in Chile and of Sanchez de Lozada in Bolivia), the paper demonstrates that governability is best served when the opposition has realistic chances of defeating the executive in the legislative arena.
Intrachiasmatic craniopharyngioma: a rare cause of chiasmal thickening: Case report

✓ The authors describe the case of a young man who presented with a central scotoma in one eye and a temporal hemianopsia in the other. Magnetic resonance imaging showed distinctive bilobed thickening of the chiasm and a “potbelly” expansion of the contiguous optic nerves. The distal portions of the intracranial optic nerves appeared normal. At craniotomy, incision of the lamina terminalis exposed intraventricular craniopharyngioma with anterior extension into the chiasm and proximal optic nerves. Partial resection of the tumor restored normal vision.
Abstract W MP61: Relationship Between Tracheostomy and Readmission Rates Among Mechanically Ventilated Patients with Stroke

Introduction: Patients with ischemic stroke (IS), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who undergo mechanical ventilation (MV) frequently require tracheostomy for management of persistent respiratory failure. Given the potential complications of chronic immobility and respiratory failure, these patients may be at high risk for hospital readmission. Methods: Using previously validated ICD-9-CM codes and statewide administrative claims data from California (2005-2011), Florida (2005-2012), and New York (2006-2011), we compared readmission rates among patients with a first-recorded stroke (IS, ICH, or SAH) who received MV and were discharged with or without a tracheostomy. Survival statistics and Poisson regression analyses with robust standard errors were used to report rates of hospital readmission and the association between tracheostomy and readmission rates. Results: Among 39,881 patients with stroke who underwent MV, 10,690 received a tracheostomy. The rate of any readmissio...
The Phantom Philosophy? An Empirical Investigation of Legal Interpretation

While articles and books offering theories of judicial philosophy or legal interpretation flourish, evidence of the costs and benefits of various interpretive approaches is sorely lacking. Indeed, although there is evidence that ideology explains a limited amount of judicial decisions, there is virtually no systematic evidence that judges' interpretive philosophies, at least as typically defined by academics, even matter in their decisions. While a variety of studies test the ideological or attitudinal model of judicial decision-making, this research often omits any measure of the legal model, that is, traditional interpretive approaches, such as formalism, textualism, and originalism. This omission is not an oversight; the role of interpretive philosophies is rarely tested because of the difficulty in operationalizing the relevant variables. This Article tests a model of judicial decision-making that incorporates elements of both the attitudinal model and the legal model, along with a measure of collegiality and other variables. We develop a measure of interpretive philosophy using two sources of data: judicial opinions, which we code for certain indicators of traditional interpretive approaches (i.e., the use of interpretive tools); and a survey of former judicial clerks. The critical question is whether judges with similar interpretive philosophies are more likely to agree with one another in deciding cases. Our general finding is that ideology and interpretive philosophy are not significant predictors of agreement. Instead, experience on the bench together is a significant predictor of agreement, supporting the conclusion that judging is more about solving problems pragmatically with an eye to maintaining a collegial work environment. While further testing of the importance of the legal model is certainly warranted, at the present time, interpretive theorists pursue their labors in the absence of any evidence that interpretive theory matters in the day-to-day activities of actual judging.
Effects of drought on shrub survival and longevity in the northern Sonoran Desert1

Abstract Bowers, J. E. (U.S. Geological Survey, 1675 West Anklam Road, Tucson, AZ 85745). Effects of drought on shrub survival and longevity in the northern Sonoran Desert. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 132: 421–431. 2005.—Permanent vegetation plots in the northern Sonoran Desert, USA, provided an opportunity to assess the effects of recent drought on desert shrubs and to examine survival in relation to rainfall variability during the past 76 years. Survival and maximum longevity of six species were determined for eight intercensus periods between 1928 and 2004. Average annual survival was Ambrosia deltoidea, 0.9167 ± 0.0415; Encelia farinosa, 0.7952 ± 0.0926; Janusia gracilis, 0.9334 ± 0.0247; Krameria grayi, 0.9702 ± 0.0270; Larrea tridentata, 0.9861 ± 0.0174; and Lycium berlandieri, 0.9910 ± 0.0077. The longest-lived species were Larrea, Lycium, and Krameria, with average maximum life spans of 330, 211, and 184 years. Janusia, Ambrosia, and Encelia were much shorter lived, with average maximum longevity of 53, 4...
Effects of UGT1A1 genotype on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicities of belinostat administered by 48-hour continuous infusion in patients with cancer

The histone deacetylase inhibitor belinostat is eliminated through glucuronidation by UGT1A1. Polymorphisms that reduce UGT1A1 function could result in increased belinostat exposure and toxicities. We wanted to determine which single-nucleotide polymorphisms alter belinostat exposure and toxicity. In a phase 1 trial (belinostat over 48 hours in combination with cisplatin and etoposide), belinostat (400, 500, 600, or 800 mg/m(2) /24 h, 48-hour continuous infusion) was administered to patients with cancer in combination with cisplatin and etoposide (n = 25). Patients were genotyped for UGT1A1 variants associated with reduced function: UGT1A1*6, UGT1A1*28, and UGT1A1*60. End points were associations between UGT1A1 genotype and belinostat pharmacokinetics (PK), toxicities, and global protein lysine acetylation (AcK). Belinostat AUC was increased (P = .003), and t1/2 increased (P = .0009) in UGT1A1*28 and UGT1A1*60 carriers who received more than 400 mg/m(2) /24 h. The incidence of grades 3-4 thrombocytopenia (P = .0081) was associated with UGT1A1 polymorphisms. The US Food and Drug Administration-approved package insert recommends dose adjustment of belinostat for UGT1A1*28. However, our data suggest dose adjustment is also necessary for UGT1A1*60. UGT1A1 polymorphisms were associated with increased systemic belinostat exposure, increased AcK, and increased incidence of toxicities, particularly at doses > 400 mg/m(2) /24 h.
Simultaneous acceleration of electrons and ions in solar flares

Data from the observations of two gamma ray and electron bremsstrahlung X-ray emitting solar flares, on June 7 and 21, 1980, were used to examine the relative starting times of the energetic ion and electron interactions. The data were gathered by the SMM, which was viewing the 2.223 MeV line from H-1(n, gamma)H-2, the 0.511 MeV line from electron-positron annihilation, the prompt nuclear lines at 4.44 and 6.13 MeV from excited C-12 and excited O-16, and the energetic solar neutrons at 1 AMU. Excess gamma ray and X-ray emissions were detected at relatively the same times during both flares in all energy bands, and were attributed to ion-induced emissions. The timing of the peaks of electron and ion activity indicate that both electrons and ions are accelerated to their peak activity in under 5 sec.
A truer measure of our ignorance

In December 2003, Giot et al. (1) published a systematic investigation of the protein interaction network—the interactome—of Drosophila melanogaster. Giot et al. produced a draft map of 7,048 proteins and 20,405 interactions, which they then refined to “a higher confidence map of 4,679 proteins and 4,780 interactions.” The magnitude of the undertaking led to the study being lauded as the “dawn of systems biology” in a number of commentaries and news releases. Giot et al.'s study was preceded and followed by a number of investigations of the interactomes of other species, ranging from bacteria to humans (2–5). However, none of these studies was able to provide an estimate of the actual size of the interactome being sampled. In a systematic statistical study published in this issue of PNAS, Stumpf et al. (6) provide convincing estimates of the interactome size of four organisms, including humans.
Identity Status, Sex-Role Orientation, and Self-Esteem in Late Adolescent Females

Summary Eighty-eight undergraduate women at a large Southwestern university were interviewed to determine their “identity status” (identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, Diffusion). They also completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire to assess their sex-role orientation (androgynous, masculine or feminine sex-typed, or undifferentiated) and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory to measure self-esteem. Masculine sex-typing was associated with identity Achievement, while feminine sex-typing and undifferen-tiatedness were associated with Moratorium and Diffusion. Significant differences among the identity statuses on masculinity were found which were independent of self-esteem, although a high correlation between masculinity and self-esteem was found. No differences among the identity statuses were found on femininity. Findings were interpreted to indicate that high masculinity, but not femininity, was probably associated with successful resolution of the identity crisis in women (identity Achiev...
Emotion recognition from spontaneous speech using Hidden Markov models with deep belief networks

Research in emotion recognition seeks to develop insights into the temporal properties of emotion. However, automatic emotion recognition from spontaneous speech is challenging due to non-ideal recording conditions and highly ambiguous ground truth labels. Further, emotion recognition systems typically work with noisy high-dimensional data, rendering it difficult to find representative features and train an effective classifier. We tackle this problem by using Deep Belief Networks, which can model complex and non-linear high-level relationships between low-level features. We propose and evaluate a suite of hybrid classifiers based on Hidden Markov Models and Deep Belief Networks. We achieve state-of-the-art results on FAU Aibo, a benchmark dataset in emotion recognition [1]. Our work provides insights into important similarities and differences between speech and emotion.
Perceived self-efficacy as a predictor of aftercare treatment entry by the detoxification patient.

63 urban, male, polysubstance abusers enrolled in an inpatient, hospital detoxification program with plans for aftercare were administered a set of 27 items describing behaviors that staff members nominated as necessary to make a transition from detoxification to aftercare. Patients were asked to rate each item twice, estimating (1) the importance of the described behavior to the achievement of aftercare and (2) their perceived ability to execute it. These ratings produced two highly saturated univariate tests, the Importance to Aftercare Scale (alpha = .89) of 17 items that did not predict aftercare entry and the Perceived Efficacy to Aftercare Entry Scale (alpha = .90) of 20 items which did correlate (.28) with entering aftercare.
Centromeres Poised En Pointe: CDKs Put a Hold on CENP-A Assembly

Eukaryotic centromeres are propagated by incorporation of the centromere-specific histone CENP-A into centromeric chromatin. Silva et al. (2012) now show that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) hold the CENP-A assembly machinery in an inactive state until mitotic exit and entry into G1, at which time new CENP-A is loaded.
Whole-body phantoms with anthropomorphic-shaped skeletons for evaluation of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements.

We have developed a set of four whole-body phantoms with anthropometric-shaped skeletons constructed of CaHPO4-doped expoxy resin, to simulate average body sizes of children at ages 4, 10, 15 and 18. Each phantom was measured on a Hologic QDR-2000 instrument with and without a set of polyethylene overlays to simulate excess body fat, and with and without a 0.6% NaCl/water mixture to simulate differences in lean tissue composition. Precision of total body BMC, based on 4 scans over 2 wk, were 0.5%–1.8%, and were correlated (r2 = 0.999, p < 0.001) with the chemical Ca content of the simulated skeleton. The addition of overlays to the phantoms to simulate increased body size and/or body fat resulted in small but significant increases in the measured values for BMC and bone area, but not that of BMD.
An Axisymmetric Boundary Element Model for Determination of Articular Cartilage Pericellular Matrix Properties In Situ via Inverse Analysis of Chondron Deformation

The pericellular matrix (PCM) is the narrow tissue region surrounding all chondrocytes in articular cartilage and, together, the chondrocyte(s) and surrounding PCM have been termed the chondron. Previous theoretical and experimental studies suggest that the structure and properties of the PCM significantly influence the biomechanical environment at the microscopic scale of the chondrocytes within cartilage. In the present study, an axisymmetric boundary element method (BEM) was developed for linear elastic domains with internal interfaces. The new BEM was employed in a multiscale continuum model to determine linear elastic properties of the PCM in situ, via inverse analysis of previously reported experimental data for the three-dimensional morphological changes of chondrons within a cartilage explant in equilibrium unconfined compression (Choi, et al., 2007, "Zonal Changes in the Three-Dimensional Morphology of the Chondron Under Compression: The Relationship Among Cellular, Pericellular, and Extracellular Deformation in Articular Cartilage," J. Biomech., 40, pp. 2596-2603). The microscale geometry of the chondron (cell and PCM) within the cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) was represented as a three-zone equilibrated biphasic region comprised of an ellipsoidal chondrocyte with encapsulating PCM that was embedded within a spherical ECM subjected to boundary conditions for unconfined compression at its outer boundary. Accuracy of the three-zone BEM model was evaluated and compared with analytical finite element solutions. The model was then integrated with a nonlinear optimization technique (Nelder-Mead) to determine PCM elastic properties within the cartilage explant by solving an inverse problem associated with the in situ experimental data for chondron deformation. Depending on the assumed material properties of the ECM and the choice of cost function in the optimization, estimates of the PCM Young's modulus ranged from approximately 24 kPa to 59 kPa, consistent with previous measurements of PCM properties on extracted chondrons using micropipette aspiration. Taken together with previous experimental and theoretical studies of cell-matrix interactions in cartilage, these findings suggest an important role for the PCM in modulating the mechanical environment of the chondrocyte.
A liberalism betrayed? American neoconservatism and the theory of international relations

This article analyses the ideological and theoretical underpinnings of neoconservative discourses on international relations. It moves beyond recent polemics and debates over the Bush administration's foreign policy to offer a deeper look at the intellectual premises of the peculiar synthesis of realism and idealism which characterizes the neoconservative mode of political engagement with the world. Looking at the domestic and foreign policy dimensions of neoconservative political sociology, the article argues that neoconservatism is not the centrist ‘liberal’ conservatism that it pretends to be (and that many foreign policy analysts have diagnosed in recent years). It argues that to the extent that neoconservatism is committed to the Enlightenment narrative of human rights and liberal democracy, these commitments are predicated on an atavistic conservative philosophy that is in fact ferociously predatory on liberal values and liberal mechanisms of governance. The aim here is not to provide a normative de...
Semantic multicast: intelligently sharing collaborative sessions

We introduce the concept of semantic multicast to implement a large-scale shared interaction infrastructure providing mechanisms for collecting, indexing, and disseminating the information produced in collaborative sessions. This infrastructure captures the interactions between users (as video, text, audio and other data streams) and promotes a philosophy of filtering, archiving, and correlating collaborative sessions in user and context sensitive groupings. The semantic multicast service efficiently disseminates relevant information to every user engaged in the collaborative session, making the aggregated streams of the collaborative session available to the correct users at the right amount of detail. This contextual focus is accomplished by introducing proxy servers to gather, annotate, and filter the streams appropriate for specific interest groups. Users are subscribed to appropriate proxies, based on their profiles, and the collaborative session becomes a multi-level multicast of data from sources through proxies and to user interest groups.
HIGHWAY BRIDGE LOADINGS

Abstract The paper presents a comparison of the AASHTO design live loadings for bridges with various other loading situations. Comparisons are made with some European design live loads, with native and foreign legal loads, normal permit overloads, and abnormal permit loads. The results of a bridge load rating exercise are presented. Some actual bridge load histograms are given, as well as a comprehensive histogram based on the national loadometer surveys for 1970. Fatigue loadings and damage are discussed in the light of actual and design loadings. It is concluded that it may be timely to increase the AASHTO HS design loadings. To improve the bridge load rating process, it is suggested that some standard load rating vehicle and test method be employed. Further refinement of the fatigue design provisions for steel bridges do not seem warranted in light of the great variation of actual loadings on bridges.
Multiphoton Isotope-Selective Dissociation of Formic Acid Molecules under Action of a Free Electron Laser

The infrared multiphoton dissociation (IR MPD) of formic acid molecules (HCOOH → CO + H2O) with free electron laser radiation in the 3 μm region (C−H stretch vibrational absorption band) and in the 6 μm region (CO stretch vibrational absorption band) has been achieved using the same laser. Results indicate that initial excitation of this dimer is more efficient for MPD then initial monomer excitation. Carbon isotope-selective MPD has been performed with an isotopic mixture, H12COOH + H13COOH (50% + 50%), at an irradiating wavelength of 5.56 μm. For this mixture, isotopic selectivity s = k12/k13 = 23 has been attained as a ratio of the rate constants of the H12COOH MPD and the H13COOH MPD, respectively. The isotopic selectivity for 13C in the naturally occurring mixture (1.1% of 13C-containing molecules) s = k13/k12 = 22 has been attained at an irradiating wavelength of 5.90 μm.
On the Realization of 2D Lattice-Ladder Discrete Filters

In this paper, the one-dimensional Gray–Markel lattice-ladder discrete filter structure is extended to two dimensions (2D). The proposed 2D circuit implementation has minimal number of unit delays. Based on this circuit implementation the corresponding 2D state space realization is derived. The matrices A, b, c′ and the scalar d of the 2D state space model are presented in generalized closed form, having minimal dimension.
Embryotoxicity of irradiated and nonirradiated catalytic converter‐treated automotive exhaust

This study was undertaken to examine the relative embryotoxicity in chick embryos of photochemically reacted and unreacted diluted automotive exhaust emissions from a system equipped with a catalytic converter. Clean air controls and H2SO4 aerosol controls equivalent in concentration to those found in the catalytic exhaust atmosphere were also studied. From day 1 through day 14 of development, continuous exposure to nonirradiated exhaust resulted in decreased survival, lowered embryonic weight, a small increase in heartlbody weight ratio, and altered hematocrit and serum enzyme activities (LDH and GOT). Irradiated exhaust had little effect on survival or on embryonic weight but resulted in a higher liver/body weight ratio as well as altered hematocrit and serum enzyme activities. Interactions or cumulative effects of different compositions of exhaust atmospheres may play a role in differing biological responses between unreacted and irradiated exhaust. Sulfuric acid aerosol had a minimal effect on surviva...