cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sex and brain abnormalities in schizophrenia: fact or fiction?

Evidence is growing from studies in our laboratory and others'-' that there are significant differences between males and females in cognition, brain structure, and neural function in schizophrenia. However, an understanding of the sexual dimorphism of the human brain is still in its infancy. Evidence for these differences has previously been derived from animal studies,B'g postmortem pathology,'0*" and cognitive studies of brain function." Recently, researcher~'~'' have become interested in identifying sex differences in the normal brain using in vivo structural and functional imaging techniques. They have demonstrated sex differences in the volume of specific brain regions, in brain blood flow and glucose metabolism in the resting state and during cognitive challenge, and in lateralization of specific verbal functions. Further, some evidence suggests that sex differences in cognition in normals vary according to the sensory modality of the cognitive stimuli (e.g., visual versus auditory).''*" Thus, identifying normal sex differences in brain function and structure is critical in understanding how these interact with the pathological processes involved in schizophrenia to produce sex differences in the expression of the disorder. SEX AND THE NORMAL BRAIN Several animal studies have shown that estrogens and androgens have specific effects on fetal brain development. Sexually dimorphic areas of the brain include the preoptic area of the hypothalamus,'8 the massa intermedia," the anterior commissure," the stria terminalis,l' the corpus callosum,20 and the hippocampus.' lho recent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in normal humans have found that compared to men, women have a greater ratio of gray matter volume to total volume in the
Two-dimensional finite difference time domain analysis of cylindrical transmission lines

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of cylindrical transmission lines in a variety of applications. In this paper, the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used to calculate the propagation characteristics of cylindrical transmission lines. An efficient two-dimensional (2D) FDTD algorithm is developed by projecting the three-dimensional FDTD cell in the cylindrical coordinates on to the r−φ plane. An effective absorbing boundary condition is employed to truncate the mesh at its outer radial boundary. In addition to a detailed description of the developed 2D-FDTD algorithm, extensive numerical results are derived for different cylindrical transmission lines and compared with data available in the literature. Specifically, the newly proposed cylindrical coplanar waveguide is studied both theoretically and experimentally.
Increased area density in magnetic recording

Reliable digital storage at linear densities as high as 20 000 khzs per mc as result e from a n investigation establishing means of providing optimum recording and reproducing resolution. High linear densities make greater lateral densities practical by reducing interference between tracks. High lateral densities have been demonstrated: 1000 tracks per inch with special head structures, and 4000 tracks per inch with selective-erasure techniques. An area density as high as 32 million bits per square inch has been achieved. These developments remove some of the apparent limits of area density in magnetic recording, and place the emphasis on the necessity for improving reproducing techniques
Coupling of canopy gas exchange with root and rhizosphere respiration in a semi-arid forest

The strength of coupling between canopy gas exchange and root respiration was examined in 15-yr-old ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Doug. Ex Laws.) growing under sea- sonally drought stressed conditions. By regularly watering part of the root system to reduce tree water stress and measuring soil CO2 efflux on the dry, distant side of the tree, we were able to determine the strength of the relationship between soil autotrophic (root and rhizosphere) respi- ration and changes in canopy carbon uptake and water loss by comparison with control trees (no watering). After 40 days the soil CO2 efflux rate, relative to pre-treatment conditions, was twice that of the controls. This difference, attributable to root and rhizosphere respiration, was strongly correlated with differences in transpiration rates between treatments (r 2 = 0.73, p 0.99) for both treatments. At the ecosystem scale, daily soil CO2 efflux rate was linearly related to gross primary productivity (GPP) as measured by eddy-covariance technique (r 2 = 0.55, p<0.01), suggesting patterns of soil CO2 release appear strongly correlated to recent carbon assimilation in this young pine stand. Collectively the observed relationships suggest some consideration should be given to the inclusion of canopy processes in future models of soil respiration.
Use of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles to Predict Disciplinary Adjustment in Male Inmate Program Participants

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) was administered to program participants in two different federal prisons—a medium-security federal correctional institution and a maximum-security penitentiary—who were subsequently followed for a period of 24 months for evidence of disciplinary adjustment problems. Disciplinary outcome was measured by the total number of incident reports, the number of nonaggressive incident reports, and the number of aggressive incident reports received during the 24-month follow-up. Negative binomial regression was used to test the relationship between the eight PICTS thinking style scales and three disciplinary outcome measures because the total and nonaggressive disciplinary report distributions showed signs of overdispersion. The only PICTS thinking style scale to achieve statistical significance in this study was the Cutoff scale that successfully predicted total, nonaggressive, and aggressive incident reports in both samples.
Algebraic tensegrity form-finding

Abstract This paper concerns the form-finding problem for general and symmetric tensegrity structures with shape constraints. A number of different geometries are treated and several fundamental properties of tensegrity structures are identified that simplify the form-finding problem. The concept of a tensegrity invariance (similarity) transformation is defined and it is shown that tensegrity equilibrium is preserved under affine node position transformations. This result provides the basis for a new tensegrity form-finding tool. The generality of the problem formulation makes it suitable for the automated generation of the equations and their derivatives. State-of-the-art numerical algorithms are applied to solve several example problems. Examples are given for tensegrity plates, shell-class symmetric tensegrity structures and structures generated by applying similarity transformation.
NUCLEAR‐CYTOSOL INTERACTIONS THAT MODULATE RNA SYNTHESIS AND TRANSCRIPT SIZE OF MOUSE BRAIN NUCLEI

– The addition of a dialyzed cytosol preparation from various types of mouse tissue, guinea-pig brain, and neuroblastoma cells resulted in an increased incorporation of [3H]GTP into RNA by mouse brain nuclei. In addition to a stimulation of the incorporation of [3H]GTP into RNA. the presence of these cytosol preparations also caused a significant increase in nuclear RNA transcript size. Although all cell cytosols appeared to influence nuclear RNA metabolism to some degree, dialyzed mouse serum had little stimulatory effect on brain nuclear RNA synthesis and failed to cause an increase in RNA product size. The polyanion, heparin, was found to be highly stimulatory to brain nuclear RNA synthesis although the size of the resulting RNA products was not significantly altered. RNA synthesis by neuronal and glial nuclei, isolated from adult brain tissue, showed a differential response to the presence of brain cytosol preparations. In the absence of cytosol, RNA synthesis by neuronal nuclei was more active than that measured in glial nuclei, and when the RNA products were analyzed by sucrose gradient centrifugation, those of glial nuclei were considerably larger than those isolated from neuronal nuclei. The addition of cytosol caused a significant increase in RNA transcript size with neuronal nuclei of adult brain tissue while little, if any, change in the size of the RNA products was measured with nuclei isolated from glial cells. Although an overall increase in product size could be measured in response to the addition of dialyzed cytosol with neuronal nuclei of 2,10, 20-day old and adult (over 60 days of age) brain tissue, a greater response was measured with nuclei prepared from the brains of more mature animals where the proportion of larger RNA products (>10S) was greatly increased.
Twist is an essential regulator of the skeletogenic gene regulatory network in the sea urchin embryo

Recent work on the sea urchin endomesoderm gene regulatory network (GRN) offers many opportunities to study the specification and differentiation of each cell type during early development at a mechanistic level. The mesoderm lineages consist of two cell populations, primary and secondary mesenchyme cells (PMCs and SMCs). The micromere-PMC GRN governs the development of the larval skeleton, which is the exclusive fate of PMCs, and SMCs diverge into four lineages, each with its own GRN state. Here we identify a sea urchin ortholog of the Twist transcription factor, and show that it plays an essential role in the PMC GRN and later is involved in SMC formation. Perturbations of Twist either by morpholino knockdown or by overexpression result in defects in progressive phases of PMC development, including specification, ingression/EMT, differentiation and skeletogenesis. Evidence is presented that Twist expression is required for the maintenance of the PMC specification state, and a reciprocal regulation between Alx1 and Twist offers stability for the subsequent processes, such as PMC differentiation and skeletogenesis. These data illustrate the significance of regulatory state maintenance and continuous progression during cell specification, and the dynamics of the sequential events that depend on those earlier regulatory states.
Tropical Pacific Forcing of North American Medieval Megadroughts: Testing the Concept with an Atmosphere Model Forced by Coral-Reconstructed SSTs*

The possible role that tropical Pacific SSTs played in driving the megadroughts over North America during the medieval period is addressed. Fossil coral records from the Palmyra Atoll are used to derive tropical Pacific SSTs for the period from A.D. 1320 to A.D. 1462 and show overall colder conditions as well as extended multidecadal La Nina–like states. The reconstructed SSTs are used to force a 16-member ensemble of atmosphere GCM simulations, each with different initial conditions, with the atmosphere coupled to a mixed layer ocean outside of the tropical Pacific. Model results are verified against North American tree ring reconstructions of the Palmer Drought Severity Index. A singular value decomposition analysis is performed using the soil moisture anomaly simulated by another 16-member ensemble of simulations forced by global observed SSTs for 1856–2004 and tree ring reconstructions of the Palmer Drought Severity Index for the same period. This relationship is used to transfer the modeled medieval soil moisture anomaly (relative to the modern simulation) into a model-estimated Palmer Drought Severity Index. The model-estimated Palmer Drought Severity Index reproduces many aspects of both the interannual and decadal variations of the tree ring reconstructions, in addition to an overall drier climate that is drier than the tree ring records suggest. The model-estimated Palmer Drought Severity Index simulates two previously identified “megadroughts,” A.D. 1360–1400 and A.D. 1430–60, with a realistic spatial pattern and amplitude. In contrast, the model fails to produce a period of more normal conditions in the early fifteenth century that separated these two megadroughts. The dynamical link between tropical SSTs and the North American megadroughts is akin to that operating in modern droughts. The model results are used to argue that the tropical Pacific played an active role in driving the megadroughts. However, the match between simulated and reconstructed hydroclimate is such that it is likely that both the coral-reconstructed SST anomalies contain significant errors and that SST anomalies in other basins also played a role in driving hydroclimate variations over North America during the late medieval period.
Fast Modular Reduction

It is widely acknowledged that efficient modular multiplication is a key to high-performance implementation of public-key cryptography, be it classical RSA, Diffie-Hellman, or (hyper-) elliptic curve algorithms. In the recent decade, practitioners have relied mainly on two popular methods: Montgomery Multiplication and regular long-integer multiplication in combination with Barrett's modular reduction technique. In this paper, we propose a modification to Barrett's algorithm that leads to a significant reduction (25% to 75%) in multiplications and additions.
Target detection for very high-frequency synthetic aperture radar ground surveillance

A target detection algorithm is developed based on a supervised learning technique that maximises the margin between two classes, that is, the target class and the non-target class. Specifically, the proposed target detection algorithm consists of (i) image differencing, (ii) maximum-margin classifier, and (iii) diversity combining. The image differencing is to enhance and highlight the targets so that the targets are more distinguishable from the background. The maximum-margin classifier is based on a recently developed feature weighting technique called Iterative RELIEF; the objective of the maximum-margin classifier is to achieve robustness against uncertainties and clutter. The diversity combining utilises multiple images to further improve the performance of detection, and hence it is a type of multi-pass change detection. The authors evaluate the performance of the proposed detection algorithm, using the CARABAS-II synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image data and the experimental results demonstrate superior performance of the proposed algorithm, compared to the benchmark algorithm.
Anthraquinone repellent to reduce take of non-target birds from zinc phosphide rodenticide applications

a b s t r a c t We evaluated anthraquinone as an avian repellent to reduce take of non-target birds from zinc phosphide rodenticide applications. We observed zero mortalities and no overt signs of zinc phosphide toxicosis among 20 Canada geese (Branta canadensis), 24 horned larks (Ere- mophila alpestris), and 47 ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) offered baits treated with 1% or 2% anthraquinone and 2% zinc phosphide (target concentrations; wt/wt) during laboratory performance experiments. Thus, anthraquinone successfully prevented con- sumption of 2% zinc phosphide baits among non-target birds in captivity. We observed 10% mortality among black-tailed prairie dogs (i.e., target rodent; Cynomys ludovicianus) offered oats treated with 1% anthraquinone and 2% zinc phosphide, and 30% mortality among black- tailed prairie dogs offered oats treated with 2% anthraquinone and 2% zinc phosphide. Upon completion of our experiments, chemical analyses indicated that actual concentra- tions were 1.66% and 1.45% zinc phosphide among oats treated with1% anthraquinone + 2% zinc phosphide, and 2% anthraquinone + 2% zinc phosphide, respectively. We observed 24-37% repellency during a concentration-response test with black-tailed prairie dogs offered corn seeds treated with 0.5-4% anthraquinone (target concentrations; wt/wt). Thus, anthraquinone may affect consumption of repellent-treated rodenticide baits for black-tailed prairie dogs. Supplemental performance testing and field efficacy studies (e.g., 0.25-0.5% anthraquinone and 2% zinc phosphide, actual concentrations; wt/wt) are neces- sary for further development of an efficacious, bird-repellent rodenticide bait. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Remembering the Other's Others: Theorizing the Approach of International Law to Muslim Fundamentalism

Muslim fundamentalist movements pose major challenges to international law. Yet, the field of international law has failed to offer a significant response. Seeking to provide simple counter-narratives to the admittedly problematic narratives of some governments in the context of the "war on terror", international lawyers have often omitted discussion of Muslim fundamentalism altogether. While Edward Said's notion of Orientalism may manifest in stereotypical approaches to fundamentalism, it may also surface in the refusal to address the question at all because it is deemed to be embedded in Muslim culture. The silences of international law with regard to Muslim fundamentalism speak volumes about the discipline. There are a number of explanations for such lacunae. These include decreasing confidence in universality, the misapplication of legitimate concerns about discrimination, and narrow discourses about victimhood. Whatever their causes, the result of these silences is that international legal scholarship and the human rights policy it informs may misrepresent significant global controversies. For example, the admittedly flawed "war on terror" becomes solely a misguided assault on an undifferentiated Muslim population (which it sometimes has been, sometimes not), while the existence of an organized jihadist international, the "other" side of the "war on terror," is disappeared. Such narratives undercut opponents of fundamentalists in Muslim populations. Why does any of this matter? Consequently, the very governments that international lawyers seek to constrain may cease to take us seriously. Potential allies among anti-fundamentalists of Muslim heritage (whose projects are critical to the success of international law) may be further disempowered. Worse still, international law may be misused to the benefit of social movements antithetical to its goals. To better respond to the challenges posed by Muslim fundamentalism, international lawyers must apply their discipline's universalist principles with scrupulous consistency. Moreover, they need to confront the complexity of international law and construct a non-discriminatory, yet unashamedly critical, human rights account of Muslim fundamentalism. Ultimately, international lawyers need to reconceptualize international law's world. They must cease opposing Samuel Huntington's problematic paradigm of the "clash of civilizations" with what is simply a post-colonial inversion of this same construct. By accepting his basic binary dividing "the West" and "Islam," even in the name of "difference," this approach actually reifies Huntington's notion of immutable inter-cultural fault lines that delimit the contemporary moment. The only way to refute Huntington is to recognize that the clashes about international law and human rights within civilizations, such as those between fundamentalists and their opponents, are as determinative as those between civilizations.
Pulsed-field gel analysis of the pattern of DNA double-strand breaks in the Saccharomyces genome during meiosis

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has been used to study the timing, frequency, and distribution of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in chromosomal-sized DNA during meiosis in yeast. It has previously been shown that DSBs are associated with some genetic hotspots during recombination, and it is important to know whether meiotic recombination events routinely initiate via DSBs. Two strains have been studied here--a high-sporulating homothallic wild type and a congenic mutant strain carrying a rad50S mutation. This mutant has previously been reported to accumulate broken molecules in meiosis to much higher frequencies than wild type and to abolish the characteristic wild-type processing of DNA that has been observed at the break sites. When whole chromosomes are resolved by PFGE, both strains show some broken molecules starting at the time that cells commit to genetic recombination. Breakage has been assessed primarily on Chromosome III and Chr. XV, using Southern hybridization to identify these chromosomes and their fragments. At any one time, break frequency in wild type is much lower than the cumulative frequency of recombination events that occur during meiosis. However, there is suggestive evidence that each break is short-lived, and it is therefore difficult to estimate the total number of breaks that may occur. In rad50S, chromosome breaks accumulate to much higher levels, which are probably broadly consistent with the estimated number of recombination events in wild type. However, since rad50S is substantially defective in completing recombination, it is not known for certain if it initiates events at wild-type frequencies. A surprising feature of the data is that a strong banding pattern is observed in the fragment distribution from broken chromosomes in both strains, implying that at least much of the breakage occurs at specific sites or within short regions. However, with the exception of the rDNA region on Chr. XII, assessment of the genetic map indicates that recombination can occur almost anywhere in the genome, although some regions are much hotter than others. Possible reasons for this apparent paradox are discussed. It may in part result from breakage levels too low for adequate detection in cold regions but may also imply that recombination events are localized more than previously realized. Alternatively, there may be a more indirect relationship between break sites and the associated recombination events.
An α‐amylase (At4g25000) in Arabidopsis leaves is secreted and induced by biotic and abiotic stress

Leaves are reported to contain a secreted alpha-amylase that accumulates during senescence or after biotic or abiotic stress; however, a gene encoding this enzyme has not been described. Because a secreted amylase is isolated from plastidic starch, the function of this enzyme is difficult to predict, but circumstantial evidence suggests that it may degrade starch after cell death. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome contains three alpha-amylase genes, one of which, AMY1 (At4g25000), has a putative signal sequence suggesting that the protein may be secreted. Two independent T-DNA insertion mutants in AMY1 lacked an amylase band on starch zymograms, which was previously named 'A1'. Washed leaf protoplasts contained reduced A1 activity suggesting that the enzyme is secreted. Native AMY1, fused to a weakly fluorescent form of GFP, was sensitive to proteinase K infiltrated into leaf apoplastic spaces, while a cytosolic form of GFP was unaffected until cell breakage, confirming that the AMY1 protein is secreted. Amylase A1 was transcriptionally induced in senescing leaves and in leaves exposed to heat stress, treated with abscisic acid or infected with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato expressing avrRpm1. The A1 amylase was also extremely heat resistant and its expression was up-regulated in cpr5-2, an activated defence response mutant.
The institutionalization of information technology

The institutionalization of technology represents the degree to which the technology becomes a routine commodity within the organization. It is that point at which the use of the technology within the organization is so pervasive that it becomes the acceptable way of doing things. Once this occurs, the full impact of the technology is experienced by the organization and the technology becomes part of the organization's processes. The author discusses the use of information technology within organisations and the characteristics of institutionalisation.
Species of coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) in shrews from Alaska, U.S.A., and northeastern Siberia, Russia, with description of two new species.

Fecal samples (n = 636) from 10 species of shrews collected in Alaska (n = 540) and northeastern Siberia (n = 96) were examined for the presence of coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae). Five distinct oocyst morphotypes were observed. Three types were consistent with oocysts of previously recognized coccidia species from other shrew hosts. These were Eimeria inyoni, E. vagrantis, and Isospora brevicauda, originally described from the inyo shrew (Sorex tenellus), dusky shrew (S. monticolus), and northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda), respectively. We found 5 new host records for E. inyoni, 3 for E. vagrantis, and 3 for I. brevicauda. The 2 additional oocyst morphotypes, both from the tundra shrew (Sorex tundrensis), are putative new species. Sporulated oocysts of Eimeria beringiacea n. sp. are subspheroidal, 17.7 × 15.6 μm (14–24 × 13–20 μm) with a length (L)/width (W) ratio of 1.1 (1.0–1.4); these lack a micropyle (M), an oocyst residuum (OR), and a polar granule (PG). Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, ...
On the interaction of deaffrication and consonant harmony.

Error patterns in children’s phonological development are often described as simplifying processes that can interact with one another with different consequences. Some interactions limit the applicability of an error pattern, and others extend it to more words. Theories predict that error patterns interact to their full potential. While specific interactions have been documented for certain pairs of processes, no developmental study has shown that the range of typologically predicted interactions occurs for those processes. To determine whether this anomaly is an accidental gap or a systematic peculiarity of particular error patterns, two commonly occurring processes were considered, namely Deaffrication and Consonant Harmony. Results are reported from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of 12 children (age 3;0 – 5;0) with functional phonological delays. Three interaction types were attested to varying degrees. The longitudinal results further instantiated the typology and revealed a characteristic trajectory of change. Implications of these findings are explored.
Course development in IC manufacturing

A traditional curriculum in electrical engineering separates semiconductor processing courses from courses in circuit design. As a result, manufacturing topics involving yield management and the study of random process variations impacting circuit behaviour are usually vaguely treated. The subject matter of this paper is to report a course developed at Texas A&M University, USA, to compensate for the aforementioned shortcoming. This course attempts to link technological process and circuit design domains by emphasizing aspects such as process disturbance modeling, yield modeling, and defect-induced fault modeling. In a rapidly changing environment where high-end technologies are evolving towards submicron features and towards high transistor integration, these aspects are key factors to design for manufacturability. The paper presents the course's syllabus, a description of its main topics, and results on selected project assignments carried out during a normal academic semester. >
Fault coverage of DC parametric tests for embedded analog amplifiers

The test quality of DC parametric manufacturing test sets is evaluated versus the open fault model for analog amplifiers. Using two case studies in CMOS and bipolar technologies, the fault coverage of the test set is shown to be rather low (less than 80%). Several open faults in the signal path remain undetected. When the amplifiers are embedded in a larger circuit, the functional test set is usually unable to detect these faults as well. Detection is strongly correlated to circuit topology in two signal processing circuits used as examples. Test selection guidelines are presented
The Canine Urethra: A Comparison of First and Second Intention Healing

Urethrotomy was performed on 12 normal male dogs at the base of the os penis. The surgical site was allowed to heal by second intention in six dogs, and suture closure of the urethral mucosa, tunica albuginea, and subcuticular tissue was performed in six dogs. All dogs were maintained for 60 days postoperatively. Packed cell volume and serum total protein were measured before surgery and at 2, 4, 7, 14, and 60 days postoperatively. Suture closure of the urethra resulted in less hemorrhage during the postoperative recovery period. Urethral mucosal irregularity was seen in urethrograms performed on all operated dogs 60 days postoperatively. Urethral stricture was not observed in any of the dogs in this study.
Eating, weight, and dieting disturbances in male and female lightweight and heavyweight rowers

Rowers compete in a sport that allows comparison of male and female athletes and where some (lightweight) but not others (heavyweights) must meet specific weight criteria. Eating attitudes, dieting patterns, weight fluctuation, and methods of weight loss were evaluated in 162 rowers: 82 heavyweights (56 females, 26 males) and 80 lightweights (17 females, 63 males). Females displayed more disturbed eating practices and weight control methods than did males. Lightweights did not have more disturbed eating practices than heavyweights, but employed more extreme weight loss methods. Male rowers were more affected by weight restriction than were female rowers. Lightweight males showed greater weight fluctuation during the season and gained more weight during the offseason than did lightweight females and heavyweight males and females. These results indicate that rowing can join the growing list of sports where eating and weight disturbances may be present. Male athletes may be more vulnerable to these problems than previously recognized. © 1993 by lohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Targeting diabetes preventive care programs: insights from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.

INTRODUCTION Many individuals with diabetes do not receive flu or pneumonia vaccinations or dilated eye exams, despite the documented efficacy of these practices. Understanding the individual factors associated with not receiving recommended vaccinations and exams is essential to developing effective targeted promotional programs. METHODS Data from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey were analyzed to identify predictors of failure to report flu and pneumonia vaccinations and dilated eye exams. Key predictors included indicators of disease severity, access to care, and demographic characteristics. RESULTS Significant factors varied by vaccination. For all 3 practices, failure to receive was associated with being younger, being a member of an ethnic minority group, having had no diabetes education, not taking insulin, and engaging in fewer prevention practices requiring physician contact. Other salient characteristics included having no health insurance, having less education, and reporting good general health. CONCLUSION Promotional programs should be tailored for younger, minority patients, and those messages should encourage preventive care despite general good health or less severe disease. Indirect methods of promotion may include participation in diabetes education programs and regular contact with physicians. Additionally, health care professionals may be appropriate target groups for preventive care campaigns.
Author's response: Short answer question case series—diagnosis and management of glaucoma

Thank you for the opportunity to clarify the confusion in our article due to the typographical mistakes related to pupillary (as related to the pupil) and papillary (as related to the ciliary body, sometimes referred to as the papillary muscle).1 The primary mechanism of ocular β-blockers in glaucoma is related to a decrease in the production of aqueous humour. There is, at the same time, some weak evidence that there is also a mild …
Multiple Attribute Decision Making Techniques Applied to Reusable Responsive Spacelift

Determining the “best” operationally responsive spacelift system is a classic case of competing objectives. Cost versus respon siveness in the simplest terms, with the effects of performance requirements also requiring consideration. This paper examines the application of multiple attribute decision making (MADM) techniq ues to alternative designs for Operationally R esponsive Spacelift (ORS) systems . Five different types of MADM techniques are app lied to this problem. They are D ominance, Maximin , Simple Additive Weighting, TOPSIS, and the Median Ranking M ethod. After apply ing MADM techniques, no clearly preferred ORS configuration c ould be identified from among the options that were considered .
Life at the extreme: physiological adaptation.

Many of us in North America, Europe, and Asia are looking forward to the end of winter and the emergence of spring and renewed life. But a closer look would reveal the robust existence of life that has adapted to winter's coldness and the shorter periods of sunlight. Physiological adaptations are
Trends in mortality due to malignant tumors in Wucheng District of Jinhua City

Objective To investigate the trends of mortality due to malignant tumors in respective periods of 1986 to 1988 and 2004 to 2005.Methods Malignant tumors mortality trends were examined by reviewing deaths registry data according to The Guidance of the Third National Retrospective Sampling Survey on the Death Causes of Residents.Results In the period of 2004 to 2005,the life expectancies were 73.18 and 78.53 years in males and females,respectively.In comparison with that in the period of 1986 to 1988,there were increases of 4.38 years in males and 5.64 years in females.With a decrease of 22.20‰ compared with the period of 1986 to 1988,the average standardized mortality in 2004-2005 declined to 7.22‰.Malignant tumors,once the second death cause,became the leading cause of deaths.The sequence of three leading malignant tumors,gastric cancer,lung cancer,and liver cancer,was reordered by lung cancer,liver cancer and gastric cancer.The standardized mortality due to these three top malignant tumors in males was twice higher than that in females.And this standardized mortality was observed with an ascending trend in males while a descending trend in females from 1986-1988 to 2004-2005.Conclusions In the beginning of this century,there seemed to be a rising trend in mortality due to malignant tumors.Lung cancer became the first death cause among malignant tumors.Digestive system cancer rose significantly.Lung cancer,liver cancer and gastric cancer occupied three leading death causes in malignant tumor consistently.The findings suggested that malignant tumors have key impact in life expectancy.
Inner-Defect Detection Method for Composite Insulators

As principal product to prevent pollution flashover for overhead transmission lines,composite insulators are applied to power networks in large quantity,but existing detection methods cannot effectively detect the inner-defect of composite insulators,so that the inner-defect becomes hidden danger to secure operation of power grids to certain extent.By means of theoretical analysis and a lot of testings as well as combining with practical operation of power grids,the authors propose a set of effective modified water-diffusion test methods and parameters for casual inspection and test items to detect inner-defect in new composite insulators and insulators in operation as well as an effective measure to detect ageing condition of composite insulators.In addition,a measure using airborne infrared imaging device to periodically inspect the inner-defect of composite insulators in service is put forward to ensure the secure operation of power grids.
Effect of diet on glucose transporter site density along the intestinal crypt-villus axis

High-carbohydrate diets stimulate intestinal brush-border glucose uptake and increase the number of glucose-protectable phlorizin binding sites, but it has been unknown where along the crypt-villus axis these effects are expressed. We attacked this problem by three methods. First, by measuring phlorizin binding to isolated mouse enterocytes fractionated along the crypt-villus axis by the Weiser method, we identified a high-affinity binding site predominating from villus tip to midvillus and a site of possibly lower affinity predominating in the crypts. A high-carbohydrate diet increased by severalfold the density of the villus sites and probably also of the crypt sites, without changing their binding constants. Second, autoradiography revealed increased glucose-protectable phlorizin binding along the whole crypt-villus axis on a high-carbohydrate diet. Finally, a polyclonal antibody against the Na(+)-glucose cotransporter recognized a protein in the brush-border membrane of villus cells. Hence, substrate-dependent upregulation of intestinal glucose transport involves increased numbers of transporters along the crypt-villus axis.
Micropinocytotic ferritin in erythroid cells: species dependency and relation to serum iron levels.

Effect of SI level and saturation of TIBC on the induction of ferritin in erythroid cells was investigated in rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Evidence presented indicates that species difference and serum iron level are important factors in induction of micropinocytotic ferritin in developing erythroid cells: (1) Micropinocytotic ferritin was occasionally seen in erythroblasts of control guinea pigs. Erythroblasts of control rats and rabbits were negative. (2) Elevated SI and high saturation of TIBC increased micropinocytotic ferritin in developing erythroid cells in guinea pigs. Iron administration to rats and rabbits did not affect the accumulation of micropinocytotic ferritin. In guinea pigs, disappearance of stromal ferritin during erythroid maturation was demonstrated. High SI level did not affect the stromal ferritin of erythroid cells. Dissociation of ferritin increase in micropinocytotic vesicles of erythroblasts on the one hand and in macrophage cytoplasm on the other was seen when iron-sorbitol was injected. The results emphasize the biologically dissimilar nature and kinetics of morphologically different types of ferritin in erythroblasts.
William Henry Fox Talbot . The Pencil of Nature . Chicago: KWS Publishers, 2011. 164p. ISBN 978-0981773667. $149.95

Rediscovering William Henry Fox Talbot’s The Pencil of Nature , the first commercially produced photography book, led my mind back more than 20 years to when, as a young photographer, I studiously devoured the lessons wrought from the photographers Eugene Atget, Man Ray, and August Sander. One day as I sat in a verdant backyard absorbing books filled with images by these three photographers, my father plopped The Pencil of Nature by my side. In his quiet but immutable manner he said, “He [Talbot] did it first.” Atget, a late nineteenth-century/early twentieth-century photographer, took more than 5,000 pictures of Paris and . . .
Mesoscale variability of the summer bloom over the northern Ross Sea shelf: A tale of two banks

Abstract Multi-year satellite records indicate an asymmetric spatial pattern in the summer bloom in the Northern Ross Sea, with the largest blooms over the shallows of Pennell Bank compared to Mawson Bank. In 2010–2011, high-resolution spatiotemporal in situ sampling focused on these two banks to better understand factors contributing to this pattern. Dissolved and particulate Fe profiles suggested similar surface water depletion of dissolved Fe on both banks. The surface sediments and velocity observations indicate a more energetic water column over Mawson Bank. Consequently, the surface mixed layer over Pennell Bank was more homogeneous and shallower. Over Mawson Bank we observed a thicker more homogeneous bottom boundary layer resulting from stronger tidal and sub-tidal currents. These stronger currents scour the seafloor resulting in sediments less likely to release additional sedimentary iron. Estimates of the quantum yield of photosynthesis and the initial slope of the photosynthesis-irradiance response were lower over Mawson Bank, indicating higher iron stress over Mawson Bank. Overall, the apparent additional sedimentary source of iron to, and longer surface residence time over Pennell Bank, as well as the reduced fluxes from the more isolated bottom mixed layer over Mawson Bank, sustain the observed asymmetric pattern across both banks.
Covert Action: swampland of American foreign policy

The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee finds in the excesses of the CIA the symptoms of an illusion of American omnipotence which has entrapped and enthralled the nation's presidents
Sustainability performance assessment focusing on coral reef protection by the tourism industry in the Coral Triangle region

Abstract Coral reef based tourism in the Coral Triangle region is responsible for economic benefits but also for negative social and environmental impacts, thus an approach to evaluate this industry's sustainability performance would be valuable. We selected 10 key indicators, out of 681, that were directly relevant to the impacts of tourist activities on coral reefs in economic, social, environmental, and wildlife aspects of sustainability. Efficiency, inefficiency and overall models were developed to measure relative sustainability performance focusing on coral reef protection by the tourism industry for all six countries in the Coral Triangle, from 2008 to 2012. Our results showed that Indonesia had the best relative performance among countries in the region, followed in descending order by; Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Solomon Islands. Future plans to achieve higher performance by the tourism industry in each country can be made if a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is carried out.
Simultaneous wastewater treatment and biological electricity generation.

It is possible to directly generate electricity using bacteria while accomplishing wastewater treatment in processes based on microbial fuel cell technologies. When bacteria oxidize a substrate, they remove electrons. Current generation is made possible by keeping bacteria separated from oxygen, but allowing the bacteria growing on an anode to transfer electrons to the counter electrode (cathode) that is exposed to air. In this paper, several advances are discussed in this technology, and a calculation is made on the potential for electricity recovery. Assuming a town of 100,000 people generate 16.4 × 106 L of wastewater, a wastewater treatment plant has the potential to become a 2.3 MW power plant if all the energy is recovered as electricity. So far, power densities are low, resulting in power generation rates of ∼150 kW/m2. Progress is being made that we believe may result in as much as 0.5 MW from wastewater treatment. The generation of electricity during wastewater treatment may profoundly affect the approach to anaerobic treatment technologies used in wastewater treatment.
Bilateral thigh methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus necrotising fasciitis in a man with newly diagnosed Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) necrotising fasciitis (NF) is rare and constitutes a medical and surgical emergency. We report a case of a 53-year-old man with type-2 diabetes mellitus and newly diagnosed HIV infection who presented with 1 week of progressively worsening bilateral sharp thigh pain. On presentation, he was febrile, tachycardic and had bilateral thigh erythema and mild tenderness without open wounds. He had leucocytosis, lactic acidosis and acute kidney injury. Urgent incision and drainage (I&D) was performed for suspected NF. Blood cultures and I&D were positive for MRSA. Biopsy of bilateral thighs showed NF. He was treated with wound washout and 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics. After undergoing skin graft for wounds, he was discharged to physical rehabilitation. Here we report severe sepsis from bilateral thigh MRSA NF in a patient with newly diagnosed HIV.
Asperger Syndrome and its Relationships to Autism

Asperger syndrome is one of the pervasive developmental disorders, diagnosed behaviorally and characterized by social impairments and rigid and repetitive interests or behaviors paired with relatively preserved cognitive and verbal facilities. This chapter describes the diagnostic concept and the clinical manifestation of the disorder, as well as guidelines for diagnostic assessment and intervention. Existing research is reviewed within the areas of epidemiology, etiology and pathophysiology, treatment and intervention, and outcome. In closing, future directions for treatment and research are discussed.
Potassium fertilizer via hydrothermal alteration of K-feldspar ore

Fertilizers ensure the necessary agricultural yields to feed an increasing world population. Augmenting fertilizer use conflicts with environmental concerns such as eutrophication and soil pollution, as well as with limited availability of fertilizers in the Global South. Currently, potassium fertilizers are soluble salts such as KCl, which are mined in the northern hemisphere. Two key issues arise for tropical agriculture. First, the inherent solubility of potassium salts questions their efficacy in weathered soils. Second, long-distance transportation leaves unsolved the problems of limited local supplies and infrastructure, freight-related CO2 emissions and cost of the fertilizer for the end user. In this work, we synthesize according to green-chemistry principles a novel potassium-bearing material which mineralogy and elemental release have the potential to overcome the limitations of KCl. We process in mild hydrothermal conditions (T = 200 °C; P∼ 14 atm; t = 5 h) locally available K-feldspar ore (ultrapotassic syenite) and CaO. The resulting hydrothermal material is characterized using X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Electron Microscopy (EM), Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer (EPMA), Particle Size Distribution (PSD) and Specific Surface Area (SSA). Additionally, leaching tests are performed, showing that the availability of potassium in the processed material is two orders of magnitude higher than in the raw K-feldspar ore. This work introduces a green-chemistry paradigm for the synthesis of potassium fertilizers.
Predicate Abstraction via Rewriting

We present a predicate abstraction and discovery procedure for proving invariants of reactive systems using a combination of theorem proving and model checking. Our method makes use of term rewriting on the definition of the target system to reduce an invariant proof of the target system to reachability analysis on a finite predicate abstraction, which can be discharged by model checking. The method affords substantial automation in invariant proofs, while preserving the expressiveness and control afforded by theorem proving. We discuss how our approach enables the two disparate techniques, theorem proving and model checking, to complement one another. We demonstrate the use of the procedure in the verification of cache coherence protocols.
Embodying Care: Igniting a Critical Turn in a Teacher Educator’s Relational Practice

AbstractWhen a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between me and my students of color, I found myself at a crossroads as a White teacher educator: use coercion and force students to follow my ...
Designing responsible research and innovation to encourage serendipity could enhance the broader societal impacts of research

This article argues that (i) RRI should be conceived as a tool; (ii) RRI can be used to enhance the broader societal impacts of research; and (iii) designing RRI specifically to encourage serendipi...