cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Outcomes of BRAF, MET, RET, and ROS1 Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer With Brain Metastases (NSCLCBM)

Purpose/Objective(s) Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) also accounts for the highest number of brain metastases. Recent advances have been made from standard platinum-based chemotherapy to gene-directed therapies. EGFR and ALK mutations are the most well-studied directed therapies. However, newer targets in NSCLC are being studied, including BRAF mutations, MET exon skipping, RET fusions, and ROS1 rearrangements. In this retrospective study, we evaluated overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in NSCLCBM patients with BRAF, MET, RET, and ROS1 gene mutations. Materials/Methods NSCLCBM patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2019 at our tertiary care center were investigated. Molecular marker status, systemic therapies, and date of progression were collected for each patient. We defined OS as the date of diagnosis of brain metastases to the date of last follow-up or death. The Cox proportional model was used to estimate OS and PFS. Results 2989 NSCLCBM patients were detected, 18 had a BRAF mutant, 12 had MET exon skipping, 4 had RET fusion, and 6 had ROS1 rearrangement. The median OS (mOS) in patients who were BRAF positive was 101.7 months, ALK positive was 97.7 months, RET positive was 49.3 months, and ROS1 positive was 50.8 months. The median PFS (mPFS) for BRAF, MET, RET, and ROS1 was 99.2 months, 97.7 months, 31.6 months, and 40.6 months, respectively. Conclusion Molecular mutations continue to be a topic of great interest in the field of NSCLCBM. These molecular mutations function as both prognostic predictors and druggable targets. Our retrospective study showed improved mPFS in patients with BRAF and MET mutations when compared to RET and ROS mutated patients and improved mOS in patients with MET mutations when compared to patients with RET mutations. However, due to the small sample size and the fact that these mutations are not mutually exclusive, it is difficult to determine statistical significance. Further studies need to be completed with larger sample sizes to determine outcomes in isolated mutations.
A Closed Form Solution for a Class of Non-Stationary Nonlinear Random Vibration Problems

A Markov approximation of the energy of a class of lightly damped, nonlinear, singledegree-of-freedom oscillators subjected to modulated white noise excitation is derived using the stochastic averaging method. The solution of the associated forward Kolmogorov equation for the transition probability density function is presented. The merit of this solution is demonstrated by deriving the spectral density of the oscillator stationary response to step modulated white noise.
Understanding International Art Markets and Management

1. Introduction 2. A Hybrid Discipline: International Arts Management 3. Religion, History, Money 4. The International Art Market 5. Tax Matters 6. Putting a Price to Art 7. The American Art Market 8. Emerging Art Markets 9. World Taste in Chinese Art 10. International and National Control of the Illicit Trade in Works of Art and Antiquities 11. Current Concerns in the Art Market and Arts Management 12. Business and Network Models Employed to Explain the Art Market 13. Conclusion
Bounds for the error in an approximation to the distribution of continuous random vectors with bounded supports

An approximation for the distributions of m-dimensional random variables with absolutely continuous cumulative distribution functions and bounded supports is presented. In addition, two easily computed bounds for the error in using the approximation rather than the actual distribution are provided for any measurable region.
Crack Growth Behavior of Irradiated Type 316 SS in Low Dissolved Oxygen Environment

Cracking susceptibility of austenitic stainless steels is known to be affected by dissolved oxygen (DO) or corrosion potential. In low-DO environments, crack growth rate (CGR) is significantly lower than that in high-DO environments. A strong dependence of CGR on corrosion potential has also been seen in irradiated stainless steels. While it has been shown that reducing the potential can reduce the CGRs of irradiated SSs, some high-dose specimens have shown elevated CGRs even in low potential environments. Thus, it is not clear how irradiation affects the dependence of CGR on corrosion potential. In the present study, a disk-shaped compact tension specimen of Type 316 SS was tested in low-DO environment. The specimen had been irradiated in the BOR-60 reactor to 5 dpa at 320°C. Post-irradiation CGR tests were performed in a low-DO environment. The effect of unloading on crack growth behavior in low-DO environment is discussed.
'What You Do unto These Little Ones' - Pedophilia Activists, Linguistic Manipulation, and Attempts to Sanitize Pedophilia

The explosion of technological progress in our modern society has given power never before seen to those skilled in linguistic use and manipulation. Among many examples in our modern culture, the global attempt to legitimize pedophilia through linguistic distortion is particularly hard to grasp. This paper will examine linguistic uses such as "adult/child sex" and "man/boy love" employed by pro-pedophilia activists and will argue that greater integrity of language is required in order to demythologize the values truly present. With our Lord’s words from the Gospel of Matthew as a backdrop, we will offer some foundational principles of analysis, then examine the contexts, strategies, and actors involved in the linguistic problem, offer a brief analysis of the issues, and finally close with some concluding remarks.
Reducing MLC flash memory retention errors through Programming Initial Step Only

Retention error has been recognized as the most dominant error in MLC (multi-level cell) flash. In this paper, we propose a new approach called PISO (Programming Initial Step Only) to reduce its number. Unlike a normal programming operation, a PISO operation only carries out the first programming-and-verifying step on a programmed cell. As a result, a number of electrons are injected into the cell to compensate its charge loss over time without disturbing its existing data. Further, we build a model to understand the relationship between the number of PISOs and the number of reduced errors. Experimental results from 1y-nm MLC chips show that PISO can efficiently reduce the number of retention errors with a minimal overhead. On average, applying 10 PISO operations each month on a one-year-old MLC chip that has experienced 4K P/E cycles can reduce its retention errors by 21.5% after 3 months.
Efficient and accurate multivariate class conditional densities using copula

Univariate densities can be modeled accurately and efficiently using nonparametric kernel density estimators, which unfortunately cannot be easily extended to the multivariate case. As an alternative, Gaussian mixture model is used to approximate underlying multivariate distributions, especially because its estimation is relatively straight forward through EM algorithm. However, the multivariate Gaussian mixture model imposes a particular form on the marginal, a Gaussian mixture model. This is a strong assumption on the marginal and is violated in many practical applications. We propose a simple generative classification model based on the copula model that takes advantage of the accuracy of the nonparametric univariate density estimator and the multivariate dependencies captured in the Gaussian mixture model, thus alleviating the aforementioned limitations. We compare the performance of our models with previous classification benchmarks from UCI repository and show that for the same number of parameters the proposed models consistently outperforms Gaussian mixture models. We find that these generative models perform as well or better than Support Vector Machine (SVM).
Efficient fish not faint-hearted

When compared with the blood circulation systems of birds and mammals, those of certain air-breathing fishes and most reptiles appear to be primitive and inefficient. There may, however, be a good physiological reason — delivery of oxygenated blood direct to the heart muscle — why they are designed the way they are. The principles concerned could inform clinicians who treat heart disease.
LDPC Coded OFDM with Alamouti/SVD Diversity Technique

Two transmit two receive space-time processing with LDPC coding is evaluated for OFDM transmission. The two methods for space-time processing are Alamouti's combining and the SVD technique. The channel estimates are calculated and provided to the diversity combiner, the SVD filters and LDPC decoder. Noise variance estimates are provided to the LDPC decoder. Using the proposed scheme we can obtain a BER of 10−5 at an SNR of 2.6 dB with spectral efficiency of 0.4 bits/sec/Hz and 14.5 dB with a spectral efficiency of 4.2 bits/sec/Hz.
Incorporating writing into software engineering

Summary form only given. This paper describes experiences in incorporating writing into a junior software engineering course (MACS306) as part of the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiative at the Colorado School of Mines. The motivation for inserting writing into the CS course was twofold. First, the software engineering discipline requires practitioners to be proficient in arguing for design and project management options. Second, writing provided a natural mechanism for evaluating the students' understanding of the supplemental reading, The Mythical Man-Month. The Mythical Man-Month is a collection of classic essays on real life software engineering experiences. The essays expose the students to the culture of software engineering, and offer practical lessons for their careers. The WAC approach was implemented as three assignments, each following a "microtheme" format. Under this format, the student produced a one page or less argument using the assigned readings to support a thesis or position posed by the instructor. The microthemes were tractable for the 70 students and the instructor, with the students spending two hours or less on writing and the instructor about three hours on grading. The students' writing abilities consistently improved throughout the semester, and the content indicated that the students were absorbing and integrating the material. This paper highlights the success of the approach plus several problems encountered (e.g. student's backgrounds, difficulties in grading, etc.), and offers suggestions on how to avoid them in the future.
Optimal image scaling using pixel classification

We introduce a new approach to optimal image scaling called resolution synthesis (RS). In RS, the pixel being interpolated is first classified in the context of a window of neighboring pixels; and then the corresponding high-resolution pixels are obtained by filtering with coefficients that depend upon the classification. RS is based on a stochastic model explicitly reflecting the fact that pixels falls into different classes such as edges of different orientation and smooth textures. We present a simple derivation to show that RS generates the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) estimate of the high-resolution image, given the low-resolution image. The parameters that specify the stochastic model must be estimated beforehand in a training procedure that we have formulated as an instance of the well-known expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. We demonstrate that the model parameters generated during the training may be used to obtain superior results even for input images that were not used during the training.
Radical Change Theory and Synergistic Reading for Digital Age Youth

One of our favorite books is McGillis’s The Nimble Reader: Literary Criticism and Children’s Literature.1 McGillis applies various literary theories—among them the New Criticism, structuralism, feminism, and postmodernism— to much-loved, time-honored books such as E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952), in each case coming up with a fresh interpretation of a well-known text. The Nimble Reader makes the point that the meaning of any object, experience, or creative endeavor can be evasive and changes according to the lens through which it is viewed. Theory uncovers, illuminates, reveals, explains, predicts, and adds value and dimensions to what otherwise might have been overlooked.
Photonic multichip packaging (PMP) using electro-optic organic materials and devices

ABSTRACT The limitations ofmetal interconnections in MultiChip Modules (MCM's) are examined primarily with respect totheir bandwidth arid propagation loss. Comparison is made with the alternative ofemploying optical interconnections.Some of the technical issues which lie ahead to make a Photonic Multichip Package (PMP) possible are explored.Certain organic materials are identified as promising candidates for implementing optical interconnections. These arefound to be interesting because of their low deposition temperatures, and because they lend themselves to fabricationby techniques that are already finding acceptance for metal interconnections in thin film MCM manufacturing. 1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Limitations of Metal Interconnections In recent years, there has been an attempt to reduce the dimensions of the metal interconnections in multichippackaging, to cope with the increasing demand for more pinout imposed by advanced VLSI in an economical numberof wiring layers. This has led to the development of Thin Film MultiChip Modules (TFMCM's). In these packages,the wiring is fabricated by techniques resembling those used for the fine wires of semiconductor integrated circuits
Synergy, sigmoids and the seventh-year trifurcation

Summary Whereas linear and exponential growth have become relatively familiar metaphors, second-order growth processes, as exemplified by autocatalytic chemical reactions, have not yet entered the vernacular. Derek J. de Solla Price has discussed sigmoid growth, but described it as a three-phase process. It is shown here that these three phases are more apparent than real, with initial slow growth, intermediate rapid growth and ultimate saturation all characteristic of the same second-order process. A model, arrived at by the superposition of several sigmoid curves, is proposed for the periodic critical decision points which occur during the course of a career or the life time of an organization. These decision points correspond to a trifurcation, leading to renewed sigmoidal growth, saturation, or a rapid phase-out.
Seven perspectives on regional clusters and the case of Grand Rapids office furniture city

Abstract The globalization of the value chain puts older regional clusters characterized by local, vertical value chains across multiple connected sectors, at a significant risk. Firms operating within the local regional clusters need to develop new generic strategies and new bases of competitive advantage in response to the growing outsourcing within the regional cluster. We review Krugman's geography, Porter's diamond, and European regional innovation system perspectives, as well as three extensions of those perspectives, to identify relevant generic strategies and bases of competitive advantage in regional clusters. A seventh transnational value chain perspective is also discussed. Then, we contextually analyze the historical furniture cluster of the Greater Grand Rapids region, Michigan, USA, and highlight the shifts in the generic strategies and the bases of competitive advantage in response to globalization. The findings have critical implications for the theory of regional clustering, and for the policy decisions.
Role of kinins in anaphylactic-induced bronchoconstriction mediated by tachykinins in guinea-pigs

1. In the present study, we have investigated the role of kinins in allergen-induced bronchoconstriction. 2. Anaesthetized guinea-pigs were sensitized to ovalbumin, ventilated artificially, pretreated with atropine (1.4 mumol kg-1, i.v.) and total pulmonary resistance (RL) measured. In preliminary studies in the presence of the neutral endopeptidase inhibitor, phosphoramidon (4.5 mumol kg-1, i.v.), the bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist Hoe 140 (0.1 mumol kg-1, i.v.) completely abolished the increase in RL following aerosolized bradykinin (1 mM, 40 breaths), but had no effect on the increase in RL following aerosolized neurokinin A (NKA, 10 microM, 40 breaths). On the other hand, a combination of the NK1 (CP-96,345, 2 mumol kg-1, i.v.) and NK2 (SR 48968, 0.3 mumol kg-1, i.v.) tachykinin receptor antagonists abolished completely the increase in RL produced by NKA and partially inhibited the increase in RL produced by bradykinin. These results confirm previous studies that suggest that bradykinin induces the release of tachykinins from sensory nerves in guinea-pig airways. 3. Aerosolized ovalbumin (0.5%, 5 breaths) increased RL in sensitized guinea-pigs pretreated with atropine (1.4 mmol kg-1, i.v.), an effect that began within 2 min and reached a maximum within 5 min; RL remained above baseline at 20 min. Pretreatment with the bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist, Hoe 140, decreased the bronchoconstrictor effect of ovalbumin markedly at 10 to 20 min. In the presence of phosphoramidon (4.5 mumol kg-1, i.v.) the inhibition induced by Hoe 140 was apparent earlier and remained over the 20 min period of study. 4. Pretreatment with a combination of NK1 (CP-96,345) and NK2 (SR 48968) tachykinin receptor antagonists also markedly inhibited ovalbumin-induced bronchoconstriction; addition of the bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist to the NK1 and NK2 tachykinin receptor antagonists had no additional inhibitory effect on antigen-induced bronchoconstriction.5. These findings confirm that activation of sensory nerves to release tachykinins in guinea-pig airways contribute to antigen-induced bronchoconstriction, and provide evidence that tachykinin release is due to kinins generated during the allergic response.
Jejunal interposition for reflux esophagitis and esophageal stricture unresponsive to valvuloplasty

Esophagitis that persists after repeated failure of operations upon the cardia and/or a fibrotic, nondilatable distal esophageal stricture is a difficult problem. In a personal, consecutive series, 28 patients had 117 prior operations upon the cardia and diaphragmatic hiatus. In these carefully selected patients, utilization of the interposed jejunal segment described by Merendino and Dillard resulted in low mortality and morbidity and, to date, uniform control of gastroesophageal malfunction. Preoperative diagnoses in the 28 patients were: nondilatable stricture in 9, unrelenting gastroesophageal reflex in 12, and a combination of both abnormalities in 7. The decision to perform jejunal interposition was made preoperatively in 15 patients and intraoperatively in 13 patients. One patient died and 11 others sustained complications, 4 of which were major. In a mean follow-up of 5.5 years, only 2 patients required an additional operation, both for unrelated illnesses. Comparison with a similar but somewhat more favorable group of 8 patients who had another attempt at an effective antireflux procedure instead of jejunal interposition showed the results of the interposition operation to be superior. Jejunal interposition, when selectively applied and carefully conducted, is the procedure of choice for reconstruction of the malfunctioning esophagogastric junction that has been selected previously to repeated, unsuccessful operations.
Prenatal programming of pulmonary hypertension induced by chronic hypoxia or ductal ligation in sheep

Pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is caused by a spectrum of functional and structural abnormalities of the cardiopulmonary circuit. The existence of multiple etiologies and an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of disease progression have hindered the development of effective therapies. Animal models offer a means of gaining a better understanding of the fundamental basis of the disease. To that effect, a number of experimental animal models are being used to generate pulmonary hypertension in the fetus and newborn. In this review, we compare the mechanisms associated with pulmonary hypertension caused by two such models: in utero ligation of the ductus arteriosus and chronic perinatal hypoxia in sheep fetuses and newborns. In this manner, we make direct comparisons between ductal ligation and chronic hypoxia with respect to the associated mechanisms of disease, since multiple studies have been performed with both models in a single species. We present evidence that the mechanisms associated with pulmonary hypertension are dependent on the type of stress to which the fetus is subjected. Such an analysis allows for a more thorough evaluation of the disease etiology, which can help focus clinical treatments. The final part of the review provides a clinical appraisal of current treatment strategies and lays the foundation for developing individualized therapies that depend on the causative factors.
Velocity interferometry for time-resolved high-velocity measurements

In the early days of shock wave investigations of the dynamic high-pressure properties of solid materials, the shock wave diagnostics consisted primarily of measurements of the shock velocity and the peak particle velocity in the shocked specimen. By the decade of the 1960's, however, it was already well recognized that the measurement of time-resolved particle velocity history or stress history, as opposed to only peak values, could provide valuable additional information concerning such material properties as phase changes, yield strengths, and rate effects.1© (1984) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A Method for Impregnating Myelinated Axons in Adult Central Nervous System1

A method has been developed for impregnating myelinated axons in blocks of brain tissue of adult animals. Tissue pieces were fixed in osmium tetroxide-potassium di-chromate for 30 to 250 days, followed by immersion in 0.75% AgNO3 solution for 5 to 7 days. The pieces were treated with 10% formalin for 2 to 3 days, followed by a second impregnation in 0.75% AgNO3 solution for 1 day and finally treated with 10% formalin for 4 to 5 days. The tissue was rapidly dehydrated and imbedded in 62d`C paraffin under vacuum. Sections were cut at 50 μ, mounted on slides, cleared with cedarwood oil, and covered with Canada balsam without a coverslip. Preparations have been stable for 1 1/2 years.The advantage of the present technique is that the course of a single myelinated axon can be followed for many millimeters in a section. Such fibers appear to retain their normal diameters so that populations of different anatomical or functional categories of axons can be estimated.
Infliximab and anterior optic neuropathy: case report and review of the literature.

Background Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) agents have been increasingly used to treat patients with Crohn’s disease, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and persistent uveitis. We describe a 68-year-old man with Crohn’s esophagitis who developed a possible bilateral toxic anterior optic neuropathy during infliximab infusion.
Thermal Conductivity of Polyethylene Chains Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We used molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the thermal conductivity of polyethylene chains, by employing the widely used Green-Kubo formula. The simulations use the AIREBO potential and employ periodic boundary conditions to mimic the dynamics of an infinite chain. In this limiting case, we observed that when the simulation domain is large enough the thermal conductivity diverges. The results suggest that single polymer chains intrinsically have high thermal conductivity. Although polymers are generally known to have low thermal conductivity, our observation of divergent thermal conductivity in a single chain suggests that high thermal conductivity polymer materials can be engineered, which would be of interest to a wide range of applications.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Specific Remodeling of Splenic Architecture by Cytomegalovirus

Efficient immune defenses are facilitated by the organized microarchitecture of lymphoid organs, and this organization is regulated by the compartmentalized expression of lymphoid tissue chemokines. Mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection induces significant remodeling of splenic microarchitecture, including loss of marginal zone macrophage populations and dissolution of T and B cell compartmentalization. MCMV preferentially infected the splenic stroma, targeting endothelial cells (EC) as revealed using MCMV-expressing green fluorescent protein. MCMV infection caused a specific, but transient transcriptional suppression of secondary lymphoid chemokine (CCL21). The loss of CCL21 was associated with the failure of T lymphocytes to locate within the T cell zone, although trafficking to the spleen was unaltered. Expression of CCL21 in lymphotoxin (LT)-α–deficient mice is dramatically reduced, however MCMV infection further reduced CCL21 levels, suggesting that viral modulation of CCL21 was independent of LTα signaling. Activation of LTβ-receptor signaling with an agonistic antibody partially restored CCL21 mRNA expression and redirected transferred T cells to the splenic T cell zone in MCMV-infected mice. These results indicate that virus-induced alterations in lymphoid tissues can occur through an LT-independent modulation of chemokine transcription, and targeting of the LT cytokine system can counteract lymphoid tissue remodeling by MCMV.
Sulfone-based electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries

A series of cyclic or acyclic sulfones have been synthesized and evaluated as electrolyte solvents for lithium (ion) batteries. This report summarizes the physical and electrochemical properties of these new compounds. It is found that, while the anodic stability of these solvents is independent of the sulfone structure, i.e., no oxidative decomposition is observed before 5.5 V vs. Li in any sulfone, the structure of their alkyl substituents dictates their compatibility with graphitic anodes. In the most favorable cases, this compatibility is comparable with that found with carbonate-based electrolytes. Fluorination of alkyl groups in the sulfone seems to help in forming a stable solid electrolyte interface on the anode, while also improving the conductivity. Initial tests of these cells containing such electrolyte solvents show promising performance.
Tours that bind: diaspora, pilgrimage, and Israeli birthright tourism

Tours that bind: diaspora, pilgrimage, and Israeli birthright tourism, by Shaul Kelner, New York, NY, New York University Press, 2010, 304 pp., US$24.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-1847-4817-6; US$35.0...
Influences of the ocean surface mixed layer and thermohaline stratification on Arctic Sea ice in the central Canada Basin

[1] Variations in the Arctic central Canada Basin mixed layer properties are documented based on a subset of nearly 6500 temperature and salinity profiles acquired by Ice-Tethered Profilers during the period summer 2004 to summer 2009 and analyzed in conjunction with sea ice observations from ice mass balance buoys and atmosphere-ocean heat flux estimates. The July–August mean mixed layer depth based on the Ice-Tethered Profiler data averaged 16 m (an overestimate due to the Ice-Tethered Profiler sampling characteristics and present analysis procedures), while the average winter mixed layer depth was only 24 m, with individual observations rarely exceeding 40 m. Guidance interpreting the observations is provided by a 1-D ocean mixed layer model. The analysis focuses attention on the very strong density stratification at the base of the mixed layer in the Canada Basin that greatly impedes surface layer deepening and thus limits the flux of deep ocean heat to the surface that could influence sea ice growth/decay. The observations additionally suggest that efficient lateral mixed layer restratification processes are active in the Arctic, also impeding mixed layer deepening.
Direct Spectroscopic Study of Reconstituted Transcription Complexes Reveals That Intrinsic Termination Is Driven Primarily by Thermodynamic Destabilization of the Nucleic Acid Framework

Changes in near UV circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectra of site-specifically placed pairs of 2-aminopurine residues have been used to probe the roles of the RNA hairpin and the RNA-DNA hybrid in controlling intrinsic termination of transcription. Functional transcription complexes were assembled directly by mixing preformed nucleic acid scaffolds of defined sequence with T7 RNA polymerase (RNAP). Scaffolds containing RNA hairpins immediately upstream of a GC-rich hybrid formed complexes of reduced stability, whereas the same hairpins adjacent to a hybrid of rU-dA base pairs triggered complex dissociation and transcript release. 2-Aminopurine probes at the upstream ends of the hairpin stems show that the hairpins open on RNAP binding and that stem re-formation begins after one or two RNA bases on the downstream side of the stem have emerged from the RNAP exit tunnel. Hairpins directly adjacent to the RNA-DNA hybrid weaken RNAP binding, decrease elongation efficiency, and disrupt the upstream end of the hybrid as well as interfere with the movement of the template base at the RNAP active site. Probing the edges of the DNA transcription bubble demonstrates that termination hairpins prevent translocation of the RNAP, suggesting that they transiently "lock" the polymerase to the nucleic acid scaffold and, thus, hold the RNA-DNA hybrid "in frame." At intrinsic terminators the weak rU-dA hybrid and the adjacent termination hairpin combine to destabilize the elongation complex sufficiently to permit significant transcript release, whereas hairpin-dependent pausing provides time for the process to go to completion.
Instruments of Concord: Making Peace and Settling Disputes Through a Notary in the City and Contado of Late Medieval Bologna

Notarial culture permeated all aspects of social life in late medieval Italy, including dispute settlement. This article examines the notarial acts produced to settle conflicts and make peace outside of a court in the city and countryside of Bologna. Through their offer of legal expertise and an array of contract options (namely, the instrumenta conpromissi transactionis, arbitrii, laudi, and pacis et concordie) notaries facilitated reconciliations made by private citizens and contadini as well as Bologna's signore, Taddeo Pepoli, and the men of his dominant Scacchese faction. The trail of contracts demonstrates how Taddeo Pepoli orchestrated his rise to power through peace acts and arbitrations, and after he was declared lord of his allies—university professors linked to him through marriage and Scaccese officials—continued as arbiters and hosts for peace acts. While the elite had arbitrators for political purposes, commoners and women used simple contracts without arbitration for family matters, often dowry and inheritance. The most common contract was the pax, which at times ended feuds and vendetta, but was more frequently used to release assailants from criminal bann after personal assault. Notaries—common witnesses and proxies for parties in all types of settlement—were essential components to power and justice.
Intelligence and School Phobia.

Abstract Although the notion is widespread that school phobics are generally brighter than average, data to support this notion have never been collected systematically. Evidence from this study suggests that if the sample size is large and if economic barriers to treatment are not present, one finds that intelligence is distributed among school phobics as it is distributed in the general population. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Differentiation of the microvascular endothelium during early angiogenesis and respiratory onset in the chick chorioallantoic membrane

The present study served to determine the extent of microvascular endothelial differentiation during early stages of morphogenesis (days 4.5-5.5 of the 21-day incubation) in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). CAM's, which serve as the embryonic lung, were prepared for intravital injections of a graded series of FITC-dextrans and subsequent ultrastructural morphometric analyses of the microvascular units. The precapillary, capillary, and postcapillary microvascular segments presented a continuous endothelium that was substantially thicker than that of adult lung endothelia (DeFouw, 1988). Further, plasmalemmal vesicles were uniformly sparse, while endothelial vacuoles, of variable diameters, were present continuously in the proliferating microvascular units. Average widths and depths of the interendothelial clefts were uniform and suggested complete structural differentiation from the onset of CAM morphogenesis. Based on our recent estimates of CAM microvascular permeability coefficients (Rizzo et al., 1995), the observed endothelial ultrastructure was associated with microvascular selectivity comparable to that of adult pulmonary microvessels (Lanken et al., 1985). Therefore, despite incomplete ultrastructural differentiation of the early CAM microvascular endothelium, these angiogenic microvessels presented adult-like barrier properties. Further they were less permeable than (Wu et al., 1993; Yuan et al., 1993) and ultrastructurally distinct from (Kohn et al., 1992) certain tumorigenic microvessels. Thus, angiogenesis is likely not a routinely homogeneous process, and CAM microvascular permeability characteristics may be teleologically significant.
Expert opinion on emerging drugs: chronic low back pain

Introduction: It is difficult to overestimate the personal and socioeconomic impact of chronic low back pain (CLBP). It is the leading cause of years lost to disability and poses the highest economic toll among chronic illnesses. Despite the strong need for extensive research efforts, few drugs have consistently demonstrated effectiveness for this condition.Areas covered: In this review, the epidemiology, rationale for mechanism-based treatment, competitive environment and market trends, and the preclinical and clinical evidence supporting over 15 different classes of analgesic medications studied for CLBP or related pain conditions are discussed. Treatments are divided by drug category, type of CLBP they are likely to treat (e.g., neuropathic or mechanical), and whether they are new formulations of existing treatments, new indications for existing treatments or represent novel mechanisms of action. Databases searched included MEDLINE, Embase, Pharmaprojects and various clinical trial registries.Expert op...
Authentic selfhood in Heidegger and Rosenzweig

One of the most important "events" in early twentieth century intellectual life on the European continent was the publication of Martin Heidegger's Being and Time1 in 1927. This work and Heidegger's subsequent work became the fulcrum of continental thought. Whatever else Heidegger's monumental book is, or is meant by its author to be, whether primarily an ontology, an epistemology, or a phenomenol? ogy, the bulk of its pages are devoted to the elaboration of an original theory of the self. Because of the underlying aim of the project initiated in Being and Time, Heidegger does not name this dimension of his thought as I have just named it, a "theory of the self," but rather he calls it an "analytic of Dasein," a "Dasein analytic."2 Heidegger's aim is not subjectivity per se, but to uncover the truth of being, being qua being. To approach this ancient and exalted task, however, to enter into first philosophy, he must first clear a path by uncovering the truth of human being. These preliminaries, the propaedeutic through subjectivity, the author's inevitable preface, are the very way of modern or post-modern thought, post-Cartesian thought. Whatever else its larger goals and wider horizons, Being and Tim?is very much an account of the being and time of human subjectivity. Though one would not know it from reading Being and Time, or from reading any of Heidegger's many publications, or, for that matter, as far as I know, from reading his entire voluminous Gesamtausgabe, six years before the publication of Being and Time, in 1921, another profoundly original and comprehensive book of philosophy had been published in Germany in German: The Star of Redemption by Franz Rosenzweig.3 In stark contrast to the eager interest and acclaim with which Being and Time was received, and the ever widening audience which Heidegger's then rising intellectual stardom attracted thenceforth, the appearance of Rosenzweig's book was hardly noticed. Rosenzweig himself, though also a young man, only one year older than Heidegger, died eight years after the publication of The Star of Redemption, in 1929, at the age of forty three. A small group of his
POPULATION DYNAMICS STUDIES OF WILD-TYPE AND DRUG-RESISTANT MUTANT HIV IN MIXED INFECTIONS

We have studied the population dynamics in response to selective drug pressure of mixtures of wild-type and mutant HIV viruses exposed to either an inhibitor of the viral protease or a nonnucleoside allosteric inhibitor of the viral reverse transcriptase. In order to quantitate mutant virus present in a mixed population, we developed a selective plaque assay, which appears to be generally applicable to population dynamics studies where the viruses in question differ in the sensitivity to a given drug by at least 10-fold. In this assay system, the titer of virus in a mixture is measured in the absence and presence of a concentration of a specific inhibitor known to suppress virus replication by 99%. Virus detected in the presence of inhibitor corresponds to mutant virus, whereas detection in the absence of drug results in quantitation of the total virion population. Wild-type virus is then estimated by difference. Utilizing this system we studied the fate of mixtures of wild-type and the protease-resistant mutant variant I84V in the presence and absence of the cyclic urea HIV protease inhibitor, DMP 450. We also examined the dynamics of mixtures of wild-type and the resistant mutant variant, L100I, in the presence and absence of the drug DMP 266. In both systems we demonstrated that in the absence of drug, mutant virus is at a selective disadvantage for growth compared to wild-type, whereas in the presence of a specific inhibitor, mutant virus exhibits the selective growth advantage over wild-type virus. Better understanding of HIV population dynamics may allow the development of superior inhibitors and the careful application of combination therapy in the clinical setting.
Exploring the cache design space for large scale CMPs

With the advent of dual-core chips in the marketplace, small-scale CMP (chip multiprocessor) architectures are becoming commonplace. We expect a continuing trend of increasing the number of cores on a die to maximize the performance/power efficiency of a single chip. We believe an era of large-scale CMPs (LCMPs) with several tens to hundreds of cores is on the way, but as of now architects have little understanding of how best to build a cache hierarchy given such a large number of cores/threads to support. With this in mind, our initial goals are to prune the cache design space for LCMPs by characterizing basic server workload behavior in such an environment.In this paper, we describe the range of methodologies that we are developing to overcome the challenges of exploring the cache design space for LCMP platforms. We then focus on employing a trace-driven approach to characterizing one key server workload (OLTP) in both a homogeneous and a heterogeneous workload environment. We study the effect of increasing threads (from 1 to 128) on a three-level cache hierarchy with emphasis on second and third level caches. We study the effect of varying sizes at these cache levels and show the effects of threads contending for cache space, the effects of prefetching instruction addresses, and the effects of inclusion. We make initial observations and conclusions about the factors on which LCMP cache hierarchy design decisions should be based and discuss future work.
Public Support for Rehabilitation Programs: The Analysis of U.S. Disability Policy

ABSTRACT Although political scientists have displayed relatively little interest in research on disability thus far, a brief review of major issues in rehabilitation in the United States indicates the contribution that policy analysts can make to the study of this subject. This opportunity is enhanced by a recent shift in the definition of disability from a medical orientation, which emphasizes functional impairments, and from an economic approach, which stresses vocational limitations, to a socio-political perspective, which regards disability as the product of interactions between individuals and the environment. The latter definition has become the foundation for a new ‘minority-group’ model of disability that is challenging the traditional ‘functional-limitations’ paradigm and that might profitably be utilized in future research.
Monoclonal antibodies cross-reactive with group a streptococci and normal and psoriatic human skin

Infection with group A streptococci has been implicated as a factor capable of exacerbating psoriasis. In order to explore the possibility of cross-reactivity between streptococcal antigens and human skin in this phenomenon, skin from psoriatic patients and control subjects was reacted with 3 monoclonal antibodies against group A streptococci and antibody binding was estimated by the indirect immunofluorecence technique. Monoclonal antibody 54.2.8 stained the nuclei and cytoplasm of cells within the epidermis and epidermal appendages, as well as cells scattered throughout the dermis. In contrast, monoclonal antibodies 49.8.2 and 36.2.2 labeled the cytoplasm of epidermal cells and epidermal appendages but did not react with nuclei. No difference in the staining patterns of control skin and uninvolved skin from patients with psoriasis was observed. However, skin from psoriatic lesions contained large amounts of cross-reactive skin component(s). Sera from patients with guttate psoriasis did not react differently with normal or psoriatic skin when compared with normal sera. Western immunoblots of skin extracts demonstrated that monoclonal antibody 54.2.8 reacted with a family of proteins in the molecular weight range of 60–70K. The results indicate that component(s) in human skin share cross-reactive epitopes with group A streptococci. Immunologic cross-reactions between group A streptococci and human skin may play an important role in the exacerbation of certain skin disorders following streptococcal infections.
The Annual Range of Southern Hemisphere SST: Comparison with Surface Heating and Possible Reasons for the High-Latitude Falloff*

Abstract Globally, the seasonal cycle is the largest single component of observed sea surface temperature (SST) variability, yet it is still not fully understood. Herein, the degree to which the structure of the seasonal cycle of Southern Hemisphere SST can be explained by the present understanding of surface fluxes and upper-ocean physics is examined. It has long been known that the annual range of Southern Hemisphere SST is largest in the midlatitudes, despite the fact that the annual range of net surface heat flux peaks well poleward of the SST peak. The reasons for this discrepancy (“falloff of the annual range of SST”) are determined here through analysis of net surface heat flux estimates, observed SST, and mixed layer depth data, and results from experiments using two different one-dimensional ocean models. Results show that (i) the classical explanations for the structure of the annual range of SST in the Southern Hemisphere are incomplete, (ii) current estimates of surface heat flux and mixed lay...
The United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the Epidemiology of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Currently available U.S. population-based data for ankylosing spondylitis (AS), spondyloarthritis and inflammatory back pain (IBP) from the nationally representative U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) include both NHANES I (1971-1975) and NHANES II (1976-1980) surveys. The pelvic radiographs obtained in NHANES I provided U.S. prevalence estimates for radiographic sacroiliitis, an important component of the AS case definition. AS and spondyloarthritis prevalences cannot readily be calculated from NHANES I survey data; however, IBP prevalence (Rudwaleit et al Criteria 7b) can be estimated from NHANES II. The NHANES II estimate for IBP is 0.8% of the adult population ages 25 to 49 years. The prevalence of IBP in the subset of persons with a history of a back pain episode lasting 2 or more weeks was 6.7%. The 2009-2010 NHANES U.S. Inflammatory Back Pain/Spondyloarthritis survey is currently fielded.
Interaction between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and high-dose methotrexate: a literature review.

An important step in preventing methotrexate (MTX) toxicity is to assess patient self-medication of over-the-counter drugs before high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) treatment is administered. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs given within a 10-day period before a patient receives HDMTX leads to a decreased MTX excretion rate causing MTX toxicity. Education of the nursing staff and patients and their families is vital to avoid the potentially dangerous effects of a delayed MTX excretion rate.
The Role of Oxygen in Solid State Polymerization. II. The Effect of Oxygen and Other Reactive Gases on the Polymerization of Methacrylamide

Abstract Methacrylamide polymerizes in the solid state in a manner analogous to acrylamide; i.e., the polymer nucleates as a second phase during reaction. However, in this case, the reaction is sensitive to the presence of reactive gases. These gases are presumed to diffuse along surfaces, lattice defects, and the monomer-polymer interface. Nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide inhibits both the in-source and postirradiation polymerization. Oxygen behaves anomalously. It inhibits the postirradiation reaction, but accelerates the in-source one. It apparently does this by shortening the induction period. A possible mechanism is suggested.
Expert Forecasts and the Emergence of Water Scarcity on Public Agendas

ABSTRACT Expert forecasts of worldwide water scarcity depict conditions that call for proactive, preventive, coordinated water governance, but they have not been matched by public agendas of commensurate scope and urgency in the United States. This disconnect can not be adequately explained without some attention to attributes of forecasts themselves. I propose that the institutional fragmentation of water expertise and prevailing patterns of communication about water scarcity militate against the formulation of a common public definition of the problem and encourage reliance on unambiguous crises to stimulate social and policy agenda setting. I do not argue that expert forecasts should drive public agendas deterministically, but if their purpose is to help prevent water crises (not just predict them), then a greater effort is needed to overcome the barriers to meaningful public scrutiny of expert claims and evaluation of water strategies presently in place.