cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reduced plasma albumin predicts type 2 diabetes and is associated with greater adipose tissue macrophage content and activation

Plasma albumin is reduced during inflammation. Obesity, a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D), is associated with adipose tissue inflammation. However, whether albumin is associated with adipose tissue inflammation and whether it predicts T2D are unclear. Adults (predominantly American Indian) from a longitudinal study were included. Macrophage content and gene expression related to recruitment/activation were measured from subcutaneous adipose tissue (n = 51). The relationship between plasma albumin and adiposity (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or hydrodensitometry), glucose (oral glucose tolerance test), insulin action (hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp), and insulin secretion (intravenous glucose tolerance test) were evaluated (n = 422). Progression to T2D was evaluated by Cox regression (median follow-up 8.8 years; 102 progressors). Albumin was associated with macrophage markers including C1QB (r = − 0.30, p = 0.04), CSF1R (r = − 0.30, p = 0.03), and CD11b (r = − 0.36, p = 0.01). Albumin was inversely associated with body fat percentage (r = − 0.14, p = 0.003), fasting plasma glucose (r = − 0.17, p = 0.0003), and 2 h plasma glucose (r = − 0.11, p = 0.03), and was reduced in impaired glucose regulation compared with normal glucose regulation (mean ± SD: 39.4 ± 3.6 g/l and 40.1 ± 3.9 g/l, respectively; p = 0.049). Albumin predicted T2D, even after adjustment for confounders (HR, 0.75; 95% CI 0.58–0.96; p = 0.02; per one SD difference in albumin). Reduced albumin is associated with an unfavorable metabolic profile, characterized by increased adipose tissue inflammation, adiposity, and glucose, and with an increased risk for T2D.
CTF-R: A novel residual-based thermal hydraulic solver

Abstract The traditional scientific process has been revolutionized by the advent of computational modeling, but the nuclear industry generally uses “legacy codes,” which were developed early in the evolution of computers. One example of a legacy code, the thermal hydraulic subchannel code CTF, is modernized in this work through the development of a novel residual-based version, CTF-R. Unlike its predecessor, CTF-R is not limited by the strict computational limitations of the early 1980’s, and can therefore be designed such that it is inherently flexible and easy to use. A case study is examined to demonstrate how the flexibility of the code can be used to improve simulation results. In this example, the coupling between the solid and liquid fields is examined. Traditionally, this coupling is modeled explicitly, which imposes numerical stability limits on the time step size. These limits are derived and it is shown that they are removed when the coupling is made implicit. Further, the development of CTF-R will enable future improvements in next generation reactor modeling, numerical methods, and coupling to other codes. Through the further development of CTF-R and other residual-based codes, state-of-the-art simulation is possible.
Application of artificial intelligence to radiology.

Radiology has undergone two major technological transformations since its inception. First, Ultrasound, MRI and CT radically improved on X-ray for pathology detection. Next, Picture Archive and Computer Systems (PACS) dramatically improved radiologist efficiency and diagnostic accuracy. Radiology is now, again, on the precipice of another radical technological transformation—artificial intelligence (AI).
River of words as space for encounter: Contested meaning in rhetorical convergence zones

This essay explores a word-based public art project. In its quotidian presence and its technical violation of historic district codes, the project enables varied interactions. The project requires ...
Benefits of a Low-Stakes Write-to-Learn Assignment on Exam Performance:

This study examined whether a low-stakes write-to-learn (WTL) assignment improved exam performance. Students in one section of a child development course completed five assignments during a semeste...
Reconstruction of Cell-type-Specific Interactomes at Single-Cell Resolution

The human interactome is instrumental in the systems-level study of the cell and the contextualization of disease-associated gene perturbations. However, reference organismal interactomes do not capture the cell-type-specific context in which proteins and modules preferentially act. Here, we introduce SCINET, a computational framework that reconstructs an ensemble of cell-type-specific interactomes by integrating a global, context-independent reference interactome with a single-cell gene-expression profile. SCINET addresses technical challenges of single-cell data by robustly imputing, transforming, and normalizing the initially noisy and sparse expression of data. Inferred cell-level gene interaction probabilities and group-level interaction strengths define cell-type-specific interactomes. We use SCINET to reconstruct and analyze interactomes of the major human brain and immune cell types, revealing specificity and modularity of perturbations associated with neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric, and autoimmune disorders. We report cell-type interactomes for brain and immune cell types, together with the SCINET package.
School Exclusions During Selected Pertussis Outbreaks, Oregon, 2017–2018

Fifteen Oregon schools excluded undervaccinated students when struck by pertussis outbreaks during the 2017-2018 school year. Of 243 under- or unvaccinated, exposed, students in these schools, 134 (55%) accepted vaccination, and 87 (36%) were excluded and missed a total of 975½ school days. No excluded students were subsequently reported as cases.
Syntheses, solution behavior, and computational bond length analyses of trifluoromethyl and perfluoroethyl cuprate salts

Abstract Heteroleptic cuprate salts of the form [X-Cu-Y][(SIMes)2Cu] (SIMes = 1,3-dimesitylimidazolin-2-ylidene, X and Y = permutations of Cl, CF3, C2F5) were generated by equilibrating mixtures of [(SIMes)Cu-X] and [(SIMes)Cu-Y] in CD2Cl2 solvent. The solubility features of the cuprates relative to the neutral species permitted the structural characterizations of new cuprates, including the first example of a mixed fluoroalkylated cuprate [(CF3)Cu(C2F5)][(SIMes)2Cu]. Computational studies (DFT and CCSD(T)) of fluoroalkylated cuprates generate Cu-C distances that are shorter than those in hydrocarbon analogues – a trend that in some cases may conflict with crystallographically determined values.
Median Survival, Hazard Ratios and Bounding Drug Effectiveness

This paper shows that differences in median survival rates are not be informative of a drug's effectiveness. The existence or lack of existence of a difference does not inform public policy or patient decision making. Moreover, other commonly used summary measures such as Kaplan-Meier plots and hazard ratios are generally not informative either. Published results from the EMILIA trial show that median survival difference was 5.8 months and the hazard ratio was statistically significantly less than 1 for T-DM1 against the benchmark. The FDA approved T-DM1 for metastatic breast cancer treatment based upon these results. However, without strong and non-credible assumptions we can only say that at least 7% of the sampled population would live longer on T-DM1 relative to the benchmark and some positive proportion of patients who would live 6 months longer on T-DM1 relative to the benchmark. The presented results do not allow us to rule out the possibility that most of the sampled population would live longer on the benchmark than on T-DM1.
Acute thrombotic events as initial presentation of patients with COVID-19 infection

We describe three patients with COVID-19 who presented with an acute vascular event rather than with typical respiratory symptoms. These patients were all subsequently found to have laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections as the likely cause of their thrombotic event. The primary presentation of COVID-19 infection as a thrombotic event rather than with respiratory symptoms has not been described elsewhere. Our cases and discussion highlight the thrombotic complications caused by COVID-19; we discuss management of these patients and explore the role of anticoagulation in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Brain Circuit of Claustrophobia-like Behavior in Mice Identified by Upstream Tracing of Sighing

Emotions are distinct patterns of behavioral and physiological responses triggered by stimuli that induce different brain states. Elucidating the circuits is difficult because of challenges in interrogating emotional brain states and their complex outputs. Here, we leverage the recent discovery in mice of a neural circuit for sighing, a simple, quantifiable output of various emotions. We show that mouse confinement triggers sighing, and this "claustrophobic" sighing, but not accompanying tachypnea, requires the same medullary neuromedin B (Nmb)-expressing neurons as physiological sighing. Retrograde tracing from the Nmb neurons identified 12 forebrain centers providing presynaptic input, including hypocretin (Hcrt)-expressing lateral hypothalamic neurons. Confinement activates Hcrt neurons, and optogenetic activation induces sighing and tachypnea whereas pharmacologic inhibition suppresses both responses. The effect on sighing is mediated by HCRT directly on Nmbneurons. We propose that this HCRT-NMB neuropeptide relay circuit mediates claustrophobic sighing and that activated Hcrt neurons are a claustrophobia brain state that directly controls claustrophobic outputs.
New insights on Franciscan Complex geology, architecture, depositional age, and provenance for the western Mt. Tamalpais area, Marin County, California

New geologic mapping of the Franciscan Complex in the western Mt. Tamalpais area northwest of San Francisco, California, reveals a tectonostratigraphic stack of accretionary units that young westwa...
Automated Journalism in Brazil: an Analysis of Three Robots on Twitter

Automated journalism is gaining more and more space in newsrooms around the world. In this article, we analyze three case studies that have emerged in recent years in Brazil: [1] the robot Rosie from the Serenata de Amor operation; [2] the robot Rui Barbot from Jota; [3] and the robot Fatima from Aos Fatos. Methodologically, we conducted semi-structured interviews to think over the role played by professionals in the development of the robots, seeking a broader concept of automated journalism that contemplates the plurality of actors mobilized by these technologies. O jornalismo automatizado tem ganhado cada vez mais espaco nas redacoes ao redor do mundo. Neste artigo, analisamos tres estudos de caso que surgiram nos ultimos anos no Brasil: [1] a robo Rosie da Operacao Serenata de Amor; [2] o robo Rui Barbot do Jota; e [3] a robo Fatima do Aos Fatos. Metodologicamente, realizamos entrevistas semiestruturadas com o intuito de refletir sobre o papel desempenhado pelos profissionais no desenvolvimento destes robos, em busca de um conceito de jornalismo automatizado mais abrangente que contemple a pluralidade de atores mobilizados por estas tecnologias. El periodismo automatizado esta ganando cada vez mas espacio en las redacciones de todo el mundo. En este articulo, analizamos tres casos de estudio que han surgido en los ultimos anos en Brasil: [1] el robot Rosie de la Operacion Serenata del Amor; [2] el robot Rui Barbot de Jota; y [3] el robot Fatima de Aos Fatos. Metodologicamente, realizamos entrevistas semiestructuradas con el objetivo de reflexionar sobre el papel de los profesionales en el desarrollo de estos robots, en busca de un concepto de periodismo automatizado mas ancho que contemple la pluralidad de actores movilizados por estas tecnologias.
Three-dimensional measurements of animal paths using handheld unconstrained GoPro cameras and VSLAM software.

I present the system PATMOS (Paths And Tessellated Meshes from ORB_SLAM2) for measuring three-dimensional paths of animals in situ using two handheld GoPro cameras and a small spatial reference object. Animal paths were triangulated from mobile camera positions obtained from a modified version of ORB_SLAM2, an open-source visual simultaneous localization and mapping software package. In addition to path calculation, this process provided a virtual three-dimensional surface approximation to the environment from which path to environment distances can be quantified. PATMOS can also fit a tranquil water's surface to an analytic plane if there are a sufficient number of visible objects intersecting the water's surface and can track objects over the water's surfaces with a single camera by measuring the object with its reflection. This technology was highly portable, could follow moving animals, and gave comparable spatial and temporal resolutions to fixed camera systems that use commercial cameras. An investigation of falling objects yielded a gravitational constant measurement of 978±40 cm/s2. I demonstrated PATMOS's utility in terrestrial and aquatic environments by quantifying dragonfly flight characteristics and the inter-spatial distances between substrate and damselfish.
Label-Free Deep Profiling of the Tumor Microenvironment.

Label-free nonlinear microscopy enables non-perturbative visualization of structural and metabolic contrast within living cells in their native tissue microenvironment. Here a computational pipeline was developed to provide a quantitative view of the microenvironmental architecture within the cancerous tissue from label-free nonlinear microscopy images. To enable single-cell and single-extracellular vesicle (EV) analysis, individual cells, including tumor cells and various types of stromal cells, and EVs were segmented by a multiclass pixelwise segmentation neural network and subsequently analyzed for their metabolic status and molecular structure in the context of the local cellular neighborhood. By comparing cancer tissue with normal tissue, extensive tissue re-organization and formation of a patterned cell-EV neighborhood was observed in the tumor microenvironment. The proposed analytical pipeline is expected to be useful in a wide range of biomedical tasks that benefits from single-cell, single-EV, and cell-to-EV analysis.
Main Trends and Conclusions in Russian Economy in February 2018

The existing geopolitical context is capable of endowing seemingly ordinary business events in one or other economic branch with almost global significance. One of the examples of this trend is the recent announcement, by a Japanese state-owned bank, of its readiness to finance a new natural gas project of Novatek. This means that, in spite of being under sanctions, a Russian company still can get access to foreign financing from a high-profile official source. Moreover, in the case under consideration, this new source of financing will become a competitor to the company’s previous sources of financing (for example, Chinese ones). Thus, the above news story has transmitted two positive signals at once, which overshadow, for the time being at least, the risks that can be brought about by changes in the global market situation, namely global liquefied natural gas demand and LNG prices in the mid-2020s, when this natural gas project, its total cost amounting to about $ 20bn, is planned to be completed.
Limited Surgery and Conformal Photon Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Craniopharyngioma: Long-Term Results From the RT1 Protocol.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) To estimate long-term disease control and selected complications for children and adolescents with craniopharyngioma after treatment with limited surgery and conformal photon radiation therapy (CRT) at a single institution. To benchmark outcomes to guide new treatment approaches, interventions, and surveillance. MATERIALS/METHODS A total of 101 pediatric patients with craniopharyngioma were prospectively enrolled on a phase II single institutional protocol beginning 1998. Surgery was individualized to treat presenting symptoms, reduce the irradiated volume, and avoid diabetes insipidus (DI). CRT (54Gy) was administered using a 1.0cm or 0.5cm clinical target volume margin and MRI was used during treatment to monitor the targeted volume. Patients were followed in the radiation oncology clinic for 10 years. Follow-up included serial MRI/MRA and a battery of tests to measure CNS effects. RESULTS Tumor progression was experienced by 20 patients. The median time to progression was 5.1 years. Death occurred in 12 patients who experienced tumor progression (n = 6), complications related to tumor or treatment (n = 5) or both (n = 1). With a median follow-up of 14.94 years for survivors, the 10-year estimates (± SE) of progression-free, event-free, and overall-survival were 78.84% ± 4.10%, 77.12% ± 4.19%, and 96.02% ± 1.95%, respectively. The 10-year cumulative incidence (± SE) of secondary tumor (1.99% ± 1.40%), secondary malignant tumor (1.0% ± 1.0%), necrosis (1.98% ± 1.39%), vasculopathy (8.47% ± 2.90%), and other permanent neurologic deficits (8.28% ± 3.37%) were estimated with tumor progression, secondary malignancy and death as competing risks. Three patients required revascularization surgery. Surgery was characterized by tumor-directed procedures: none (n = 5), single (n = 50), and multiple (n = 46). Excluding those who presented with DI (n = 7), there was no difference in prevalence of DI by number of procedures; however, the single procedure group had a higher incidence of DI after craniotomy compared to bur hole procedures (P < 0.001). Salvage therapy was successful in 13 patients using combinations of surgery and radiosurgery. Including frontline and salvage therapy, the incidence of diabetes insipidus (62%), growth hormone (82%), thyroid hormone (92%), adrenal hormone (89%), and sex hormone (81%) replacement therapies were individually assessed. Seizures that required treatment were observed in 19% and aspirin therapy was prescribed in 23%. CONCLUSION Limited surgery and CRT using photons results in excellent tumor control. Pediatric patients with craniopharyngioma experience a wide range of complications. The incidence and severity of complications may be further reduced by improving the type and extent of surgery procedures, newer methods of irradiation, and improving patient compliance with follow-up.
Cost-Effectiveness of TME Alone vs. Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy for Stage II and III Rectal Cancer.

Purpose/objective(s) The role of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer is rapidly evolving. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) reduces the risk of local recurrence in rectal cancer patients, but is associated with increased adverse events, costs, and prolonged treatment time. Pre-operative risk stratification of patients into low- and high-risk categories for local recurrence may identify populations that benefit from nCRT, despite these additional costs. Although total mesorectal excision (TME) alone and nCRT with TME (nCRT/TME) are both in clinical practice, no cost-effectiveness analysis comparing these two treatment approaches in rectal cancer has been published. We sought to determine the cost-effectiveness of primary TME versus nCRT with TME for patients with rectal cancer. Materials/methods We developed a Markov model to simulate the 3-year outcomes of 1 million hypothetical patients as treated on the OCUM trial (NCT00325649) with histologically confirmed invasive carcinoma of the rectum (cT2 to cT4, mC0) with distal tumor margin less than 16 cm from the anal verge undergoing either primary TME or nCRT followed by TME. To calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, we used utilities and probabilities from the literature and costs from Medicare fee schedules and the Healthcare Bluebook. We discounted utilities and costs at 3% annually. Willingness to pay (WTP) was defined at ICER of $100 000 or less per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). 1-way sensitivity analyses were performed varying selective model inputs to account for uncertainty. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) was conducted. Results TME was the dominant strategy compared with nCRT and TME (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, -$158,201.86/QALY). TME and nCRT/TME were associated with costs of $32,518 and $70,583 and QALYs of 1.91 and 1.67, respectively. TME remained the dominant strategy across all 1-way sensitivity analyses in cost, utility states, and probabilities with the exception of the utilities of the health states post-TME and post-nCRT/TME. When the utility of TME treatment fell below 0.4, nCRT/TME became the dominant strategy. Conversely, when the utility of nCRT/TME treatment rose above 0.69 (.1 above the baseline TME utility), nCRT/TME became the dominant strategy. PSA with 1,000,000 samples revealed TME was the cost-effective strategy in 67.4% of trials. Conclusion In patients with rectal cancer, TME was the cost-effective strategy compared with nCRT/TME. TME remained the cost-effective strategy across a range of tested variations in cost, probabilities, and utilities but was sensitive to the utility of TME and nCRT/TME. The results of this study contribute to the growing body of literature decreasing usage of nCRT/TME for patients with rectal cancer, particularly if they have low risk of local recurrence.
Incorporating Personal Device-Based Point-of-Care Ultrasound into Obstetric Care: A Validation Study

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the intraclass correlation (reliability) of personal-device-based-point-of-care-ultrasound (P-POCUS) devices as compared to standard ultrasound machines (SUM) in obstetrics. Study Design A prospective, observational study of patients between 19-39 weeks gestation in an urban, prenatal ultrasound diagnosis center. Each patient underwent assessment by an expert sonographer using SUM and P-POCUS to determine estimated fetal weight (EFW). Statistical reliability and agreement between EFW was assessed through intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), Bland-Altman plots, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results 100 paired-sets of scans were performed from October to December 2020. For EFW, there was near perfect agreement with ICC of 0.99 (p Conclusion P-POCUS devices are reliable tools for performing basic obstetric ultrasound and have potential to increase access to obstetric ultrasound worldwide.
Other Parallel AI Machines

Just as AI systems may be classified by identifying which form of knowledge representation they employ it seems that parallel AI computers may be classified by the representation they are intended to support. This chapter presents parallel AI effort that support network-based paradigms, semantic nets and frames, rule-based paradigms in the form of production systems and logic and last the development of general purpose parallel Lisp environments.
Autonomous perching and take-off on vertical walls for a quadrotor micro air vehicle

This paper details an autonomous perching and take-off method for a quadrotor micro air vehicle (MAV) using a novel dry adhesive gripper on smooth vertical walls. The gripper mechanism uses three directional dry adhesive pads in a triangular configuration. Each pad is equipped with a force sensor that can detect the pad's loading condition. A servo motor is used to actuate the attachment and detachment of the gripper, which is mounted in the front of a quadrotor MAV. This makes perching possible by simply flying toward and hitting the target surface. Autonomous control is made possible using a Microsoft Kinect to localize the MAV and a PID controller to control the perching maneuver. Experiments show that a minimum speed of 0.4m/s is required to guarantee a successful perch. Also, in 93% of the experiments in which the MAV hits the target at a speed higher than 0.4m/s, the perching maneuver is successful. To initiate a take-off procedure, a release signal is sent to the servo and the gripper is detached from the wall by pulling the adhesive away from the surface. Once the gripper is detached, the MAV becomes airborne again and the control system stabilizes the flight.
Synergistic mixture of azochloramid, urea and sulfanilamide

Abstract A wound dusting powder having as its main constituents sulfanilamide, azochloramid, urea, and buffer has been investigated. It exhibited no apparent tissue toxicity in experimental animals and in a small series of clinical cases. Results obtained in twenty-five cases of infected lesions showed that the preparation has definite merits.
Communication in Domains with Unreliable, Single-Channel, Low-Bandwidth Communication

In most multiagent systems with communicating agents, the agents have the luxury of using reliable, multi-step negotiation protocols. They can do so primarily when communication is reliable and the cost of communication relative to other actions is small. Conversely, this paper considers multiagent environments with unreliable, high-cost communication. This paper presents techniques for dealing with the obstacles to inter-agent communication in such environments. A successful prototype system is fully implemented and tested in the simulated robotic soccer domain.
Uncertain Reasoning in Concept Lattices

This paper presents concept lattices as a natural representation of class hierarchies in object-oriented databases and frame based knowledge representations. We show how to extend concept lattices by uncertainty in the form of conditional probabilities. We illustrate that uncertain reasoning within the hierarchical structure of concept lattices can be performed efficiently and makes uncertain conclusions more precise.
Distinct responses of basal ganglia substance P systems to low and high doses of methamphetamine.

Substance P (SP) is a neuropeptide closely associated with basal ganglia dopaminergic neurons. Because some neuropeptide systems in the basal ganglia (i.e. neurotensin and metenkephalin) are differentially affected by treatment with low or high doses of methamphetamine, we determined if basal ganglia SP pathways were also differentially influenced in a dose-dependent manner by this psychostimulant. Employing in vivo microdialysis, it was observed that the lowdose (0.5 mg/kg) of methamphetamine increased the extracellular concentration of SP in the substantia nigra, but not in globus pallidus or striatum. In contrast, the high dose (10 mg/kg) of methamphetamine did not increase extracellular SP content in any of these structures. The effect of the low-dose methamphetamine treatment on nigral extracellular SP levels was blocked by pre-treatment with either a D1 or D2 antagonist. In addition, 12 h after similar methamphetamine treatments, a dose-dependent differential response in SP tissue levels occurred in some of the regions examined. When these changes occurred, the low dose of methamphetamine usually reduced, whereas the high dose increased, SP tissue content. This study demonstrated opposite responses of the basal ganglia SP system to low and high doses of methamphetamine and suggested that a combination of dopamine D1 and D2 receptor activity contributed to these effects.
Retrieval in case-based reasoning: using semantic representation to cluster cases

Reasoning from previous experience, or case-based reasoning, has been used in numerous domains. The basic metaphor for case-based reasoning is one of analogical reasoning. The author presents a semantic representation structure based on NIKL to capture the analogic reasoning metaphor behind case-based reasoning. This provides numerous benefits, including conceptual organization and explanation support. This approach was implemented in a military command and control tactical planning environment. Its advantages and disadvantages are presented. >
Fatty acid-binding protein from embryonic chick retina resembles mammalian heart fatty acid-binding protein.

Purpose Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABP) make up a family of cytosolic proteins of unknown function found in many tissues, including the embryonic chick retina. To further understand its function in the developing retina, the protein from embryonic chicks was purified and characterized. The tissue distribution of this protein in embryonic and hatched chicks was determined using polyclonal antiserum prepared against this FABP. Methods FABP was purified by column chromatography and native gel electrophoresis; denaturing gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing were used to characterize the protein. Polyclonal antiserum prepared in rabbits demonstrated immunoreactivity with a single protein from retina cytosolic fraction. Tissue distribution of retinal FABP was determined by immunoblotting and localization of FABP in eyes of E15 and adult chickens was studied by immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections. Results Retinal FABP has a molecular weight of approximately 15,100 and an isoelectric point of 4.4. An immunoreactive protein of the same apparent molecular weight is present in the brain, heart, adipose tissue, and red muscle; a trace of FABP is present in white muscle, lung, and liver. There is no apparent cross-reactivity with a protein in intestine or in retinal pigment epithelium/choroid. Immunostaining of sections of the adult eye at the region of the ora serrata revealed little staining of the retina, but intense staining of the nonpigmented layer of the ciliary epithelium. Conclusions Retinal FABP resembles the heart subtype of FABP (H-FABP) with respect to molecular weight, isoelectric point, and tissue distribution. However, as retinas do not use fatty acids for beta-oxidation, a process H-FABP is believed to participate in, there must be some other function for FABP in the chick eye, especially at early stages of development. In the mature retina, this function is apparently not needed, because there is little staining of the retina in adults but obvious immunoreactivity in the ciliary epithelium, implying some other role for FABP in this tissue.
The Confessions as Autobiography

At several points after deciding to join the catholic church in the summer of 386, Augustine framed current arguments – especially against the Manicheans – by referring to his own past. While these references can be appreciated as Augustine’s “first confessions” (so O’Donnell 1992: 1.li–lvi), they bear only a superficial resemblance to Augustine’s astonishing masterpiece of ca. 397. A brilliant and profoundly original work of creative theology, the Confessions combines biblical interpretation, late Platonism, and anti-Manichean polemic with haunting autobiographical narrative. Augustine’s account of his past, which begins in Book 1 and shapes his narrative through to the close of Book 9, is the stylistic hallmark of the Confessions. It is what makes this work so unusual in its own period, so perduringly valuable to Augustine’s later biographers, and so seemingly accessible to his modern readers. On the strength of this narrative, the Confessions has been hailed as the first introspective autobiography in western letters. In one sense, this description is apt. Composed as a prayerful address to God, the Confessions surveys Augustine’s life during the 33-year period from his birth and early education (Books 1 and 2), through his years with the Manicheans, up until his liberating encounter with Neoplatonic thought inMilan (Books 3–7) and his resolve to enter Ambrose’s church as a sexual celibate (Book 8), ending at the point when, shortly after baptism, his mother Monica dies (Book 9). Once this narrative section concludes, however, some 40 percent of the Confessions’ eighty thousand words remain. After Book 9, Augustine’s focus shifts abruptly from his past (ca. 387, when the “autobiographical” section ends in Italy) to his present (ca. 397, when the bishop of Hippo, resuming the question with which he had opened this work in 1.1.1, ponders how fallen humanity can know God). Book 10 contemplates memory; Book 11, the nature of time; Book 12, spiritual and material creation; Book 13, revelation, the church, and final redemption. These incandescent final books retrospectively alter any simple reading of the
Riemann-Liouville transform polarography

The current that flows at a dropping mercury electrode (DME) under potentiostatic conditions (as in dc polarography) is made up of faradaic and capacitive components which, to a first approximation, exhibit different known functionalities. i(t)=if(t)+ic(t)=Kft1/6+Kct-1/3 where kf=709 nD1/2 cm2/3 and kc=0.00567Ci(Ez-E)m2/3 with all factors having the usual electrochemical significance. Various methods (tast, normal pulse, differential pulse polarography and chronocoulometry at the DME) have been developed in an attempt to separate if(t) from ic(t). In this paper, we introduce a simple convenient method which can be used for the numerical determination of kf and kc from digitally acquired i(t) data. Because this new method repeatedly performs Riemann-Liouville transformations of order −1/3 and +1/6 on i(t) to determine both kf and kc simultaneously, we call this method Riemann-Liouville transform (RLT) polarography. Herein, we present the theoretical background of this method and the first experimental evidence of its possible utility in trace analysis. Using this method, we have found it possible to obtain in linear faradaic calibration curve for Cd2+ over the 0.1 μM to 0.1 mM concentration range. This calibration curve yields 0.00278 cm/s1/2 as a determination for D1/2 for Cd2+. The capacitive RLT polarogram yields −0.35 V vs. SCE as a measure for Ez and 14.9 μF/cm2 for Ci in 0.1 M NH3/NH4+ buffer.
Implications of the Discovery of HTLV-III for the Treatment of AIDS

The recent discovery of HTLV-III, a cytopathic member of the family of human T-cell lymphotropic viruses (HTLV), and its identification as the etiological agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have important implications for the treatment of this disorder. The pathogenesis of AIDS involves the destruction of helper/inducer T-lymphocytes by active viral infection, and drugs which inhibit the replication of HTLV-III or monoclonal antibodies directed at viral antigens may be important components of future therapeutic strategies. There are a number of steps in the replication of HTLV-III which might potentially be susceptible to antiviral agents. One drug, suramin, which was originally developed as an antitrypanosomal agent, has been found to be an inhibitor of reverse transcriptase. This drug has been shown to block the infectivity and cytopathic effect of HTLV-III [Mitsuya, H., Popovic, M., Yarchoan, R., Matsushita, S., Gallo, R. C., and Broder, S. Science (Wash. DC), 266: 172-174, 1984]; in addition, it is able to block the in vitro replication of another member of the HTLV family, HTLV-I, at concentrations of 25 to 75 micrograms/ml. Lymphocyte proliferation in vitro is minimally inhibited at these concentrations of suramin, and the ratios of helper/inducer to cytotoxic/suppressor T-lymphocytes are not affected. Clinical trials are being initiated to study the effect of suramin on patients with AIDS. Evaluation of this and other antiviral treatments for AIDS will optimally involve direct assessment of its effects on HTLV-III replication in vivo. Recent evidence, however, suggests that these patients have a low level of viral replication in lymphoid tissue which may spontaneously fluctuate, making such evaluation complex.
Immunodiffusion Analysis of Isolates of Xanthomonas cyamopsidis

Abstract Immunodiffusion analysis of intact, sonically treated, and sonically treated and heat-treated cell antigen preparations of isolates of races 0 and 1 of Xanthomonas cyamopsidis of guar, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, indicated that these races differ from one another antigenically. The differentiating precipitin reactions are believed to have been brought about by specific heat-stable surface antigens, possibly similar to lipopolysaccaride somatic antigens of other slime-producing xanthomonads. Because differences in host reaction to inoculation with the two isolates of race 1 were known to be minor, these isolates are considered to represent serotypes of the race rather than distinct separate races. This conclusion is supported by the antigenic behavior of isolates 14 and 19 to antiserum 19. The applicability of immunodiffusion analysis for the study of pathogenic variability in X. cyamopsidis is demonstrated.
Temporary Parks? Sunday Streets, Serving the Need for Urban Outdoor Recreation

Parks offer multiple benefits; however, the provision of additional park space is limited in dense urban environments. Park(ing) Days, Pavement to Parks, and Sunday Streets are three examples in San Francisco of public streets functionally serving as temporary parks. A review of definitions of parks found that essentially parks are spaces that provide opportunities for public outdoor recreation. However, the literature is mute on the question of the duration a space must be dedicated to public outdoor recreation for it to be considered a park. It was posited that Sunday Streets could be considered a temporary park if individuals functionally treated Sunday Streets as a space to engage in public outdoor recreation. Moreover, the relationship between concentration of residential parks and the probability of participation at Sunday Streets was investigated to further explore whether Sunday Streets was treated as a substitute for local parks. A 36-item survey was developed using previous research, an expert panel, cognitive interviews, and a pilot test. A Spanish and Chinese language version of the survey was created. Researchers chose survey locations and a strategy to recruit participants to maximize the possibility of collecting the most random sample possible. A sample of 558 Sunday Streets participants responded to the survey at three different Sunday Streets street openings. Almost all of the respondents engaged in outdoor recreation at street openings. Two distance-oriented outdoor recreation activities, walking and bicycling, were the most popular outdoor recreation activities. A regression analysis found that distance between participants’ residence and the street opening and the presence of local parks around participants’ residence were both significant negative predictors for participation at Sunday Streets (R2 = .273). This finding supported the hypothesis that Sunday Streets functionally operates as a temporary park. As a temporary park, Sunday Streets offers one option for providing additional park space in an urban environment. Public streets are not limited to the role of transportation; they can also serve the recreational needs of city residents. Sunday Streets is one example of how urban cities repurpose city streets to temporarily transform their public streets into spaces for outdoor recreation.
Metric tree-like structures in real-world networks: an empirical study

Based on solid theoretical foundations, we present strong evidence that a number of real-world networks, taken from different domains such as Internet measurements, biological data, web graphs, and social and collaboration networks exhibit tree-like structures from a metric point of view. We investigate a few graph parameters, namely, the tree-distortion and the tree-stretch, the tree-length and the tree-breadth, Gromov's hyperbolicity, the cluster-diameter and the cluster-radius in a layering partition of a graph; such parameters capture and quantify this phenomenon of being metrically close to a tree. By bringing all those parameters together, we provide efficient means for detecting such metric tree-like structures in large-scale networks. We also show how such structures can be used. For example, they are helpful in efficient and compact encoding of approximate distance and almost shortest path information and in quick and accurate estimation of diameters and radii of those networks. Estimating the diameter and estimating the radius of a graph or distances between arbitrary vertices are fundamental primitives in many network and graph mining algorithms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 671, 49-68 2016
The Restructuring of Europe: Projected Terrorist Trends in the Twenty-First Century

This article examines how recent historical events in Europe are reshaping some aspects of international terrorism while leaving others intact. Basic concepts are defined and then placed in the context of contemporary issues such as the reunification of Germany, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the ethnic wars of the Balkan states. Likely developments are projected, and appropriate responses and areas for further study are suggested.
Threats to Peace: Threat Perception and the Persistence or Desistance of Violent Conflict

In international security, there are many cases of inter-group conflict where violence persists and conflict-oriented policies dominate at the expense of a more mutually beneficial allocation of societal goods. What are the barriers to successful negotiation in such scenarios, and why are conflict management policies difficult to achieve? Most studies of conflict focus on high-level political, economic, or sociological causes, however, psychological influences on decision-making, such as threat and personal motivation, play a large role in impeding conflict resolution or negotiation. In this paper, we analyze the psychological dynamics of threat perception and vested interests on the persistence or desistence of conflict. Threat perception can cause sudden and dramatic shifts in opinion and political choices, an effect which can be further amplified by media reporting. Leaders with a vested personal interest in continued conflict-"spoilers"-can manipulate this phenomenon to derail a peace process. We present a dynamic game theoretic framework of parallel inter-group negotiation and conflict models that incorporates this feedback between threat perception, motivations, leadership decisions, and the success of negotiations, explicitly representing the psychological components of conflict. A prototype implementation is used in empirical simulations to identify cases of conflict persistence and desistence.
Muscle metabolic economy is inversely related to exercise intensity and type II myofiber distribution.

It is not known what causes the well-established inverse relationship between whole-body exercise economy and exercise intensity. The purpose of this study was to: (1) evaluate muscle exercise economy at 45%, 70%, and maximum isometric strength using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS); and (2) determine the relationship between percent type II muscle fiber cross-section, whole-body exercise economy, and muscle exercise economy. Subjects included 32 premenopausal women. Muscle exercise economy was significantly different across the three exercise intensities (28.1 ± 10.4, 24.8 ± 8.2, and 20.2 ± 7.5 N/cm2 · mmol/L adenosine triphosphate [ATP] for the 45%, 70%, and maximum intensities, respectively). Percent type II muscle area was significantly related to whole-body metabolic economy during activities of daily living (r = −0.68) and 31P-MRS muscle metabolic economy during isometric plantar flexion (r = −0.53). These data suggest that skeletal muscle becomes less economical as force production increases, and that these decreases in metabolic economy may be related to increased dependence on inefficient type II muscle. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 24: 654–661, 2001
Architecture and design of the aquarius instrument for RF and thermal stability

In this paper, we present the architecture and design of the Aquarius instrument: a spaceborne combination radiometer-scatterometer in L-band, for measuring ocean surface salinity. In order to achieve the unprecedented measurement stability of 0.1 Kelvin for the radiometer, the Scatterometer (for correction of the sea surface roughness) is required to have a calibrated stability of 0.1 dB. Active and passive thermal control was utilized as well as RF self calibration. Novel test techniques were also developed to verify the stability requirement was met.
Colorado tick fever

Colorado tick fever, also known as mountain fever and mountain tick fever, is a well-described, viral, tick-borne disease common to the Rocky Mountain region of the United States and Canada. The Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni, is the primary vector. The triad of high fever, severe myalgia, and headache is typical, but not specific. Although a self-limited disease in most cases, severe complications may occur. PCR techniques have been developed that allow the diagnosis to be established from the first day of symptoms. Ribavirin may merit consideration in the appropriate clinical setting.
Drug treatment and workplace drug testing: Politics, symbolism and organizational dilemmas

This article explains how the link between drug testing and drug treatment was forged, how it has been implemented in the workplace, and speculates on its organizational implications. Part I argues that widespread drug testing in the core institutions of American society would not have been politically possible without forging an explicit link to drug treatment. The authors identify the key variables which account for the link between testing and treatment, including public opinion, employer self interest, collective bargaining agreements, the precedent and influence of Employee Assistance Programs, and developments in the law of the workplace. Part II describes how the link between drug testing and drug treatment has been implemented in the workplace, including the emergence of new organizational units, roles, and inter-organizational relationships. Part III examines the organizational dilemmas created by the testing/treatment linkage. Language: en
OSMOTIC ACTIVITY OF LIVER CELLS AND MELTING POINT OF LIVER

Depression of the melting point of liver tissue rapidly frozen by liquid nitrogen during life provides a means by which the molecular concentration within liver cells may be compared with that of solutions of sodium chloride or of blood or of blood serum. The rising temperature of frozen blood of guinea pig under the conditions of these experiments is retarded when melting occurs, pursues when plotted a prolonged linear course, and finally rises precipitously at –0.54°C. when melting is complete. With the melting of blood serum of guinea pig and of blood of cat and of rat, the temperature takes approximately the same course. The temperature changes are nearly the same as those of a frozen solution of sodium chloride isotonic with blood serum. The temperature changes of frozen liver assumes when plotted a linear course at about –1.1°C., increases at intervals with step-like progress and finally rises precipitiously at –0.76°C. The temperature changes in melting liver of cat and of rat are similar. The melting of liver begins at a level which approximates that of a solution of sodium chloride isotonic with it. The step-like course of temperature changes which occur during the melting of frozen liver are best explained by the assumption that the cells contain substances which successively and temporarily retard the rise of temperature.
Second sound in metals

Abstract The existence of a new type of second sound is predicted. This effect should exist at low temperatures in a metal in the presence of a strong magnetic field and takes the form of a wavelike propagation of temperature variations through the electron gas with a velocity of the order of the Fermi velocity.