cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is the Copyright Monopoly a Best-Selling Fiction?

This paper attempts to determine the impact of copyright on the prices of books, which is a task that has not, to my knowledge, been undertaken before. Recent prices of best-sellers written between 1895 and 1940, some with copyright and some without, are compared. One set of empirical findings based on typical regressions indicate that the prices of copyrighted works do not appear higher than the prices of non-copyrighted works. Another set of findings, based upon giving greater weights to books that have greater unit sales, implies that copyright raises price by up to 14.5%. This bifurcated result allows the contemplation of two scenarios. In the first, copyright does not raise price at all. This is explained by appealing to the nascent literature on uniform pricing. If books are best described by this model I show that increases in copyright unambiguously increase welfare. The increased-price scenario notes that authors appear to receive all the industry rents and examines the possible deadweight losses due to the higher price of copyrighted books. I calculate a range of deadweight losses based upon seemingly reasonable market assumptions and find the size of the deadweight loss is small compared to industry revenue. Importantly, the size of this deadweight loss appears to be much less than the deadweight losses from a leading alternative system that has been proposed for distributing creative works.
Concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals in newborn blood spots and infant outcomes in the upstate KIDS study.

Abstract Background Novel methodologies to quantify infant exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) for population-based studies are needed. Objectives We used newborn dried blood spots to quantify three EDCs and their associations with infant outcomes in the Upstate KIDS Cohort. Methods We measured bisphenol A (BPA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in 2071 singleton and 1040 twin infants born to mothers in New York State. We log transformed concentrations after rescaling by their standard deviations and modeled each in relation to gestational age, birthweight, length, head circumference and Ponderal Index (PI) using linear regression techniques. All models were adjusted for maternal age, body mass index, education, infertility treatment and parity. Generalized estimating equations with robust standard errors were used to assess the associations for twins. Results Chemicals were largely quantified above the limits of detection (>99% for PFOS and PFOA; 90% for BPA). Overall, we observed no significant associations between PFASs and birth size irrespective of plurality of birth. However, among twins, BPA was associated with decreases in gestational age (adjusted β = −0.09 weeks; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): −0.16, −0.02) and birthweight (adjusted β = −32.52 g; 95% CI: −60.99, −4.05), head circumference (adjusted β = −0.18 cm; 95% CI: −0.38, −0.02) and increased PI in singletons (adjusted β = 0.02 cm; 95% CI: 0.004, 0.04). Conclusion We observed negative associations between BPA and birth size in twins. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of newborn dried blood spots for quantifying neonatal exposure at the population level.
A Review of the Nearctic Genus Lucaina Dugès, 1879 (Coleoptera: Lycidae: Lycinae: Calochromini), with Descriptions of Two New Species

A review of Lucaina Duges, 1879 with illustrations of diagnostic characters, distribution maps, and an identification key to the species is presented. Lucaina schini Duges, 1879, Lucaina discoidalisHorn, 1885, and Lucaina marginataGorham, 1884 are redescribed, and their status as valid species is confirmed. Macrolygistopterus bajacalifornicus (Zaragoza, 2003) is transferred to Lucaina bajacalifornica (Zaragoza, 2003), new combination. Lucaina greeni Ferreira and Ivie, new species and Lucaina milleri Ferreira and Ivie, new species are described. Lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated for L. marginataGorham, 1884, L. schini Duges, 1879, and L. discoidalisHorn, 1885.
Interaction of Proctoring and Student Major on Online Test Performance

Traditional and online university courses share expectations for quality content and rigor. Student and faculty concerns about compromised academic integrity and actual instances of academic dishonesty in assessments, especially with online testing, are increasingly troublesome. Recent research suggests that in the absence of proctoring, the time taken to complete an exam increases significantly and online test results are inflated. This study uses a randomized design in seven sections of an online course to examine test scores from 97 students and time taken to complete online tests with and without proctoring software, controlling for exam difficulty, course design, instructor effects, and student majors. Results from fixed effects estimated from a fitted statistical model showed a significant advantage in quiz performance (7-9 points on a 100 point quiz) when students were not proctored, with all other variables statistically accounted for. Larger grade disparities and longer testing times were observed on the most difficult quizzes, and with factors that reflected the perception of high stakes of the quiz grades. Overall, use of proctoring software resulted in lower quiz scores, shorter quiz taking times, and less variation in quiz performance across exams, implying greater compliance with academic integrity compared with when quizzes were taken without proctoring software.
Pressure Uncertainty Analysis for Wound Irrigation Devices

Wound irrigation is defined as the steady flow of a fluid across an open wound for the removal of bacteria, necrotic tissue, and deeper debris. In a wound irrigation process, the surface pressure obtained at the wound is critical. Correct pressure determination ensures that the pressure at the wound due to an irrigation device is enough for the removal of bacteria and foreign debris, but not so high that it causes further tissue damage. Surface pressure measurements were performed for three irrigation devices, including a 500-ml bottle with four holes in the pouring cap, a 60-ml Monoject™ COVIDIEN™ syringe, and an IRIG-8™ Wound Irrigation System from CENTURION™. The irrigation trials were performed by a total of 20 participants consisting of doctors and nurses using the three devices (60 trials) at the Carolina Medical Center Emergency Department, Charlotte, NC. The uncertainty in the pressure measurements was evaluated using both Monte Carlo and analytical approaches, and the results are reported. It is anticipated that this study will help to standardize irrigation pressure measurement within the medical community.
Incidental Cancer Diagnoses in Trauma Patients: A Case-Control Study Evaluating Long-term Outcomes.

Abstract Background This study evaluates whether trauma patients who incidentally learned about a malignancy have similar long-term outcomes as patients who organically learned about their malignancy. Materials and methods Incidental findings (IF) patients were matched to noninjured cancer controls on age group, sex, cancer site, stage, and year of diagnosis. Unadjusted covariates included race, insurance type, rural residence, and time from diagnosis to first cancer intervention. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to measure adjusted all-cause and cancer-specific mortality risk. Results Adjusted long-term mortality risk among IF cases was 1.42 (95% confidence interval [1.11-1.81]) compared with noninjured cancer controls. There was no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality among IF cases who survived at least 30 d (1.24 [0.88-1.74]). IF cases had no increased risk of cancer-related mortality compared with controls (1.26 [0.96-1.64]). Conclusions Long-term mortality risks among trauma patients with incidental cancer diagnoses are no different than the cancer population as a whole among patients who survive at least 30 d after injury. IF trauma patients are not more susceptible to cancer-related causes of death as a result of a physiological stress response due to injury.
The Bicentennial and the Battle over DC’s Downtown Redevelopment during the 1970s:

Few studies of post–World War II, Washington, DC, focus on the development decisions local black officials made following the passage of limited home rule measures during the 1960s–1970s. This arti...
Chapter 8 – ASYMPTOTIC EXPANSIONS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the definition and properties of asymptotic expansions. An asymptotic expansion approximates the function, this approximation is highly accurate and may be used to calculate the value of f(z), but unlike convergent series, taking additional terms needs not improve the accuracy, because ɛ depends on n. From the integration and uniqueness properties, it is followed that if f' (z) has an asymptotic expansion, it is obtained by term-by-term differentiation of the asymptotic expansion of f (z). Moreover, the method of steepest descent is useful in determining the asymptotic behavior of integral representations of analytic functions. The method of steepest descent or the saddle point method is applied in the approximate evaluation of integrals.
Relative enhancement of ultrafast emission in gold nanorodes

Ultra-fast time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to probe the emission properties in gold nanospheres and nanorods. The decay of the emission was found to be on the order of ~40 fs for both the gold nanorods and nanospheres. Measurements of the ultra-fast anisotropy decay suggest that the emission is depolarized on a very fast time-scale. The spectrum of the ultra-fast emission in the nanostructures is provided. The gold nanorods show an enhanced ultra-fast emission spectrum in the vicinity of the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance in comparison to the nanospheres.
Chapter 72 – Genomic Tools

Since most mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) are known, and can be assessed using arrays or RNAseq, they offer unique insight into the molecular biology of ischemic stroke and hemorrhage. Although no one blood mRNA or miRNA can diagnose stroke or hemorrhage, panels or profiles of mRNAs/miRNA can distinguish ischemic stroke from intracerebral hemorrhage and control patients. There are also specific profiles of mRNA and miRNA in blood for large-vessel, cardioembolic, and lacunar causes of stroke that can be used to predict the causes of cryptogenic stroke. There are also specific profiles for patients with ischemic compared with nonischemic transient neurological events, and profiles within 3 h of a stroke that predict which patients will develop hemorrhagic transformation following tissue plasminogen activator.
A Virtual Roundtable on COVID-19 and Human Rights with Human Rights Watch Researchers.

In a virtual roundtable of discussion several human rights watch researchers talk about their work and the challenges that they are seeing are presented According to Corinne Dufka, West Africa Director, some of the key issues that Human Rights Watch addressed in West Africa then were: right to information, protecting human rights amidst quarantines, government obligations to protect health workers, the specific gender dimensions of the epidemic, abusive conduct of state security forces, and accountability issues and monitoring the imposition of emergency powers Yaqiu Wang, China Researcher added that China's government initially withheld basic information about the coronavirus from the public, underreported cases of infection, downplayed the severity of the infection, and dismissed the likelihood of transmission between humans Authorities detained people for reporting on the epidemic on social media and internet users for "rumor-mongering," censored online discussions of the epidemic, and curbed media reporting
Optimism bias in understanding neonatal prognoses

Discrepancies between physician and parent neonatal prognostic expectations are common. Optimism bias is a possible explanation. Parents interpreted hypothetical neonatal prognoses in an online survey. Good prognoses tended to be interpreted accurately, while poor prognoses were interpreted as less than the stated value. One-third of participants consistently overstated survival for the three lowest prognoses, compared to the sample as a whole. Three significant predictors of such optimistic interpretations were single-parent status (OR 0.39; 95% CI 0.2–0.75; p = 0.005), African-American descent (OR 3.78; 95% CI 1.63–8.98; p = 0.002) and the belief that physicians misrepresented prognoses (OR 3.11; 95% CI 1.47–6.65; p = 0.003). Participants’ explanations echoed research on optimism bias in clinical and decision science studies. Participants accepted positive prognoses for critically ill neonates, but reinterpreted negative ones as being unduly pessimistic demonstrating optimism bias.
Role of secondary shear-layer vortices in the development of flow asymmetry on a cone–cylinder body at high angles of incidence

Vortex asymmetry develops on slender bodies at high angles of incidence, leading to large side-forces and yaw moments even in symmetrical flight conditions. In the present experimental study, the flow over a slender body consisting of a conical forebody and a cylindrical aftbody is studied at high angles of incidence at low speeds. Experiments consisted of force measurements using a six-component strain gauge balance and velocity field using Particle Image Velocimetry. Results show that a pair of counter-rotating vortices develop nearly symmetrically over a polished cone but become asymmetric over the cylinder. Several secondary shear-layer vortices develop at the cone–cylinder junction and over the cylinder due to sharp turning angle, surface imperfections, and joints. These secondary shear-layer vortices then merge with the primary vortex pair, leading to the flow asymmetry. The flow characteristics and side-forces vary significantly when the conical forebody is rotated about its axis of symmetry and set to different azimuthal positions. The results strongly suggest that a change in the geometry at the cone–cylinder junction and surface imperfections present on the cylindrical aftbody play an important role in determining the overall flow-asymmetry and the magnitude of side-forces generated on the slender body at high angles of incidence.
Classification and review of free PCR primer design software.

Motivation Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been a revolutionary biomedical advancement. However, for PCR to be appropriately used, one must spend a significant amount of effort on PCR primer design. Carefully designed PCR primers not only increase sensitivity and specificity, but also decrease effort spent on experimental optimization. Computer software removes the human element by performing and automating the complex and rigorous calculations required in PCR primer design. Classification and review of the available software options and their capabilities should be a valuable resource for any PCR application. Results This article focuses on currently available free PCR primer design software and their major functions (https://pcrprimerdesign.github.io/). The software are classified according to their PCR applications, such as Sanger sequencing, reverse transcription quantitative PCR, single nucleotide polymorphism detection, splicing variant detection, methylation detection, microsatellite detection, multiplex PCR and targeted next generation sequencing, and conserved/degenerate primers to clone orthologous genes from related species, new gene family members in the same species, or to detect a group of related pathogens. Each software is summarized to provide a technical review of their capabilities and utilities.
Learning gains from a one-day training in acceptance-based behavior therapy.

The primary method of training for individual licensed mental health professionals is continuing education (CE). Despite the promise of CE as a vehicle for training clinicians in evidence-based pra...
The role of genome duplication in big sagebrush growth and fecundity.

PREMISE Adaptive traits can be dramatically altered by genome duplication. The study of interactions among traits, ploidy, and the environment are necessary to develop an understanding of how polyploidy affects niche differentiation and to develop restoration strategies for resilient native ecosystems. METHODS Growth and fecundity were measured in common gardens for 39 populations of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) containing two subspecies and two ploidy levels. General linear mixed-effect models assessed how much of the trait variation could be attributed to genetics (i.e., ploidy and climatic adaptation), environment, and gene-environment interactions. RESULTS Growth and fecundity variation were explained well by the mixed models (80% and 91%, respectively). Much of the trait variation was attributed to environment, and 15% of variation in growth and 34% of variation in seed yield were attributed to genetics. Genetic trait variation was mostly attributable to ploidy, with much higher growth and seed production in diploids, even in a warm-dry environment typically dominated by tetraploids. Population-level genetic variation was also evident and was related to the climate of each population's origin. CONCLUSIONS Ploidy is a strong predictor growth and seed yield, regardless of common-garden environment. The superior growth and fecundity of diploids across environments raises the question as to how tetraploids can be more prevalent than diploids, especially in warm-dry environments. Two hypotheses that may explain the abundance of tetraploids on the landscape include selection for drought resistance at the seedling stage, and greater competitive ability in water uptake in the upper soil horizon.
Defining Clinical Attunement: A Ubiquitous But Undertheorized Aspect of Palliative Care.

Attunement, the process of understanding and responding to another's spoken and unspoken needs, is a fundamental concept of human development and the basis of meaningful relationships. To specializ...
Chapter 29. Solid State Organic Chemistry and Drug Stability

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the basic principles of solid state organic chemistry and its role to bear on the pharmaceutical problems, such as drug stability. Solid state organic chemistry generally emphasizes the study of crystalline solids because the geometric arrangement of molecules in the reacting solid can be determined. The general steps in a solid state reaction are different from those of a solution reaction. Solid state reactions begin at one or more nucleation sites in the solid and spread through the crystal. The known solid state organic reactions can be classified as either physical transformations or chemical reactions. Physical transformations are solid state reactions, in which no new covalent bonds are formed or broken, but instead the nature and structure of their crystal is altered. There are two types of physical transformations: polymorphic transformations and desolvations. Chemical reactions include solid-gas reaction, solid state photochemical reactions, solid state thermal reactions, solid-solid reactions etc. A variety of methods are available for the study of solid state organic chemistry and the solid state chemistry of drugs. The use of these techniques has been discussed in the chapter. Other potential applications for solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy include the study of amorphous forms, solid state reactions, and drug-polymer interactions. The future directions of the field of solid state organic chemistry and drug stability mostly involve the careful investigation of other solid state reactions.
Is Immune Aging a Cause of Disease among the Elderly, or is it a Passive Indicator of General Decline of Physiologic Function?

Chronologic aging is associated with increased incidences and morbidity of infections, malignancies, and autoimmune disorders [1–4]. Hence, it has been articulated that advancing age might be the most potent cause of disease [5]. Is aging indeed a cause of disease among the elderly? Perhaps a more provocative question is: is aging a disease? Whichever side one might take on these issues, a key consideration for a definitive answer would have to be the contribution of immune function, or dysfunction thereof. This latter argument is founded on the fundamental evolutionary concept that immunity is a determinant of individual fitness and survival [6–8]. In this second special of Aging and Immunity, 8 articles examine inflammatory and immunologic processes that may contribute to age-related disease.
Development of cholinergic innervation in the hippocampal formation of the rat. I. Histochemical demonstration of acetylcholinesterase activity.

Abstract The postnatal development of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the hippocampal formation of the developing rat brain, as demonstrated histochemically by the copper-thiocholine technique, serves as a marker for the ingrowing cholinergic afferent fibers. The discrete laminar pattern of staining characteristic of the adult hippocampal formation develops entirely after birth. Stain deposit is observable earliest (about 4 days after birth) at the septal end of the hippocampus. During the following week, AChE activity can be demonstrated in successively temporal segments until, about 11 days after birth, all parts of the hippocampal formation exhibit activity. Within each segment, the pattern of developing activity suggests association with three distinct fiber projections emanating from the fimbria, each with its own characteristic time of appearance and rate of growth: (1) a projection through stratum oriens of hippocampus regio inferior to stratum oriens of regio superior; (2) fibers which cross straum pyramidale of regio inferior, run in the suprapyramidal zone of that region and continue into the supra- and infragranular zones in the external leaf of the dentate gyrus; (3) a projection through stratum oriens of regio inferior which continues into the supra- and infragranular zones in the internal leaf of the dentate gyrus.
The roles of knowledge and deduction in program synthesis

In the earliest attempts to apply artificial intelligence techniques to program synthesis, deduction (that is, the use of a general purpose mechanism such as a theorem prover) played a central role. Some recent systems have relied almost exclusively on knowledge about programming in particular domains, with no significant role for deduction. Even in such knowledge-based systems, however, there seems to be an important role for deduction in testing the applicability conditions of specific programming rules. This auxiliary role for deduction can be seen clearly in a hypothetical synthesis of a breadth-first enumeration algorithm. The hypothetical synthesis also demonstrates the utility of detailed programming knowledge for dealing with non-algorithmic specifications.
New-Build Gentrification and the Everyday Displacement of Polish Immigrant Tenants in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

In response to research that has downplayed or denied the reality of gentrification-induced displacement, critical urban geographers have called for rethinking the concept of displacement. This article takes up that call by examining the impact of new-build gentrification on the everyday place-making abilities of Polish immigrant tenants in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Based on nearly four years of work as a tenant organizer, this article looks at the forms of “everyday displacement”—the ongoing loss of the agency, freedom, and security to “make place”—experienced by immigrant tenants who struggle to remain in the neighborhood. Drawing upon Lefebvre's spatial triad and Blomley's work on the social relations of property, this article argues that everyday displacement is experienced through the production of new spaces of prohibition, appropriation, and insecurity that constitute a form of neighborhood erasure.
Self-efficacy and motivation for controlling drinking and drinking/driving: an investigation of changes across a driving under the influence (DUI) intervention program and of recidivism prediction.

Measures of (a) self-efficacy and (b) motivation to change (stage) for controlling drinking and drinking/driving were examined at the beginning and the end of a four-week intervention in a sample of 670 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenders in a court-mandated program. Hypotheses regarding stability of stage classifications over the course of intervention, and the relation between stage classification, stage scores, self-efficacy, and DUI recidivism were examined. Based on results of an earlier study it was expected that most offenders would be classified into the action stage at entry and that classifications would tend to remain stable from pretest to posttest. Action was the most frequent stage classification in both drinking and drinking/driving domains at both test periods, with precontemplation being the least frequent classification. When tracked over the four weeks, stage classifications for drinking and drinking/driving were stable for 74 to 89% of offenders in the two domains, respectively. As predicted, higher action and self-efficacy scores were related to lower recidivism, and action scores in the drinking/driving domain were the best early recidivism predictors among a predictor set that included traditional recidivism indicators. Drinking contemplators (i.e., those with the highest stage score on the contemplation scale) had higher recidivism rates than other drinking stage classifications. Implications for DUI intervention programs are discussed.
An interference immune modulation and demodulation technique for the downlink of spread spectrum communication systems

In this paper, a novel method for modulation and demodulation of user information bit in spread spectrum code division multiple access (CDMA) systems is proposed. Synchronous CDMA poses intrinsic protection against co-channel interference due to orthogonal spreading codes used. However, in the presence of multipath, the signals lose their orthogonality property, leading to an increased cross correlation. In this paper we show that the performance of the system will be close to single user system if we assign two codes to each user and these two codes are used for modulation and demodulation. The well-known maximum length sequence codes are good candidates for the present modulation and demodulation technique. The limiting factor to the system capacity is the maximum number of codes and-the capacity is half of that number.
Prognosis with vesicoureteral reflux.

One hundred and fifteen children with vesicoureteral reflux have been followed for 5 or more years. In 86 children the findings on excretory urography have remained normal. In one girl the findings became abnormal. In 11 with abnormal findings on excretory urography, the abnormalities were present at the time of the first examination, and they did not change. In 17 children the findings on follow-up excretory urography were inconclusive because the renal margins or the calices were not satisfactorily defined, or slight dilatation of a calix due to normal variation in caliber could not be differentiated from pathological dilatation. The clinical course of these children has been different from that of a separate group of 16 children with the microscopic diagnosis of chronic pyelonephritis.
The Nature of Interstellar Dust in Local Group Galaxies from Observations of Extinction and Polarization

The assumption of Galactic Interstellar Dust properties in modeling the effects of Extragalactic Interstellar Dust will lead to large errors. Properties of Galactic dust have been amenable to study through observations of scattering and absorption along individual sightlines toward point sources, and through high spatial resolution observations of extended sources. Observations of Interstellar Dust in other galaxies are much more difficult since the light detected in a given aperture is the sum of a complex geometry of sources and dust which can only be separated using Radiative Transfer models. With the aid of NASA observatories such as Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Astro-2, Interstellar Dust in Local Group galaxies can be subjected to the same kind of observations used to study Galactic dust. Individual sightlines can be observed at high spatial resolution allowing simple geometries to be studied.
Sheath energy transmission in a collisional plasma with collisionless sheath

Sheath energy transmission governs the plasma energy exhaust onto a material surface. The ion channel is dominated by convection, but the electron channel has a significant thermal conduction component, which is dominated by the Knudsen layer effect in the presence of an absorbing wall. First-principle kinetic simulations reveal a robustly supersonic sheath entry flow. The ion sheath energy transmission and the sheath potential are accurately predicted by a sheath model of truncated bi-Maxwellian electron distribution. The electron energy transmission is further enhanced by a parallel heat flux of the perpendicular degrees of freedom.
Timing of the Critical Period for Plasticity of Ocular Dominance Columns in Macaque Striate Cortex

Visual deprivation induced by monocular eyelid suture, a laboratory model for congenital cataract, results in shrinkage of ocular dominance columns serving the closed eye. We performed monocular suture in macaques at ages 1, 3, 5, 7, and 12 weeks to define the critical period for plasticity of ocular dominance columns. After a minimum survival of 8 months, complete montages of [3H]proline-labeled columns were reconstructed from flat-mounts of striate cortex in both hemispheres. In any given monkey, visual deprivation induced the columns throughout striate cortex (V1) to retract the same distance from their original borders in layer IVcbeta. After deprivation, the widest columns remained in the foveal representation and along the V1/V2 border, where columns are widest in control animals. The narrowest deprived columns belonged to the ipsilateral eye, especially along the horizontal meridian and in the periphery, where columns are narrowest in control animals. At the earliest age that we tested (1 week), visual deprivation reduced the columns to fragments. These fragments always coincided with a cytochrome oxidase patch, or a short string of patches, in the upper layers. More severe column shrinkage occurred in layer IVcbeta (parvo) than layer IVcalpha (magno). The geniculate input to the patches in layer III (konio) appeared normal after deprivation, despite loss of CO activity. Surprisingly, the blind spot representation of the open eye was shrunken by monocular deprivation, although binocular competition is absent in this region. Our principal finding was that eyelid suture at age 1 week caused the most severe column shrinkage. With suture at later ages, the degree of column shrinkage showed a progressive decline. Deprivation commencing at age 12 weeks caused no column shrinkage. These results imply that primate visual cortex is most vulnerable to deprivation during the first weeks of life. Our experiments should provide further impetus for the treatment of children with congenital cataract at the earliest possible age.
Effects of Post-Translational Modifications on the Structure and Stability of Human LDL

LDL remodeling in vivo (by hydrolysis, oxidation, glycosylation, lipid transfer, drugs, etc.) may affect LDL entrapment in the arterial wall, which causes inflammation and promotes atherosclerosis. The molecular basis underlying the pro- or anti-atherogenic effects of modified LDL is unclear. To test whether LDL modifications lead to changes in LDL structure and stability, we used (i) myeloperoxidase and Cu2+ to produce LDL oxidized to various stages, (ii) phospholipase A2 (PLA2) to hydrolyze LDL phospholipids, (iii) beta-glucose to glycosylate apoB in LDL. Earlier we showed that heat denaturation of LDL is a kinetically controlled reaction that involves partial unfolding of the beta-sheet structure in apoB, protein dissociation, and changes in LDL morphology such as fusion and rupture. Here we test the effects of LDL modifications on these structural transitions.Our results show that LDL oxidation leads to a gradual unfolding of the secondary structure in apoB (observed by far-UV circular dichroism, CD) and inhibits heat-induced LDL fusion (observed by turbidity, near-UV CD and electron microscopy). We propose that fusion inhibition results from modifications that increase surface-to-core ratio (e.g., transfer of polar lipids to LDL or lipolysis of apolar lipids), and/or from protein cross-linking upon advanced oxidation.To assess the effect of PC hydrolysis, we hydrolyzed LDL phospholipids by PLA2, removed free fatty acids by albumin, and analyzed the structure and stability of modified LDL. CD spectroscopy showed no significant changes in the apoB secondary structure. Turbidity and electron microscopy showed that PC hydrolysis promotes LDL fusion, an effect that is reversed by albumin treatment. Consequently, free fatty acids promote lipoprotein fusion. Interestingly, glycosylation of apoB and LDL treatment with niacin also promote lipoprotein fusion. These results help understand molecular basis for LDL fusion in vivo and in vitro.
The primary structure of rabbit β-globin mRNA as determined from cloned DNA

Abstract The rabbit β-globin DNA insertion of the hybrid plasmid PβG1 (Maniatis et al., 1976) was sequenced by the method of Maxam and Gilbert (1977). A sequence of 576 nucleotides was determined and verified by pyrimidine tract analysis of double-stranded DNA, synthesized in vitro starting from β-globin mRNA. The derived sequence is in complete agreement with previously reported partial mRNA sequencing data and with the predictions from the primary structure of the protein. Moreover, the globin DNA insertion is missing only 13 nucleotides corresponding to the 5′ terminal sequence of the mRNA. The rabbit β-globin mRNA consists of a coding region of 438 nucleotides, flanked by a 5′ noncoding region of 56 nucleotides (including the initiation codon AUG but not the 7-methyl-guanine of the "cap structure") and by a 3′ non-coding region of 95 nucleotides (including a UGA termination codon). The features of the mRNA sequence are discussed with specific attention to the selective use of particular codons, the probable existence of extensively base-paired segments at the 5′ terminal region and the ribosome binding site. The faithful representation of β-globin mRNA in the PβG1 DNa insertion establishes the validity of using cloned DNA, initially derived from double-stranded DNA transcripts of mRNA, for studying the structure of eucaryotic genes.
An Estimable Dynamic Model of Recreation Behavior with an Application to Great Lakes Angling

Abstract This paper develops an estimable model of recreation behavior in which the recreation decision is cast as a dynamic programming problem. The model is illustrated with an application to salmon and trout fishing on Lake Michigan. The application considers various factors affecting the trip decision, including the expected catch, the weather, the opportunity to participate in a fishing derby, and the time elapsed since the last fishing trip. Catch is modeled as a Poisson-distributed random variable. Estimation results are promising, but a number of practical obstacles must be surmounted for the model to be regularly applied in recreation demand analysis.
Study of polarization CRS and polarization ICRS with application to benzena

Passage from the microscopic third-order optical polarizability tensor to the macroscopic third-order susceptibility tensor elements in coherent Raman scattering (CRS: CARS and CSRS) is reviewed with appropriate orientation averaging for an isotropic medium. The results are applied to existing polarized CARS measurements for the 991 cm−1 vibration in benzene as a neat liquid [M. D. Levenson and N. Bloembergen, J. Chem. Phys. 60, 1323 (1974)] and also to new polarized interferometric data on the same system from a method called interferometric coherent Raman spectroscopy (ICRS; ICSRS in particular is used). Lineshape analysis of the CARS spectra seen in both the ZXXZ polarization (mildly dispersive) and the ZZZZ polarization (strongly dispersive) leads to ratios for the non-resonant to resonant parts of the corresponding susceptibility elements. Thus X/X = 0.5 (from 0.3-1.7) (a new result) and X/X = 0.042 + 0.002 (from Levenson and Bloembergen). It is shown that given one ratio, the second must be completely determined by the depolarization ratio from conventional Raman scattering. These same tensor element ratios are incorporated into ICSRS theory to produce polarized interferograms which qualitatively confirm the strikingly different patterns seen in the ZXXZ and ZZZZ polarized ICSRS experiments. On the quantitative level, agreement is less satisfactory.
The role of publication type in the evaluation of LIS programs

In evaluating library and information science programs, how important is it to differentiate publication types when counting faculty publications? Do books need to be counted along with journal articles? Drawing on data from an internal university review, publications and citations for a comparison cohort of senior faculty at four library and information science (LIS) programs, (University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Illinois-Champaign, Indiana-Bloomington, and Michigan-Ann Arbor) are presented. These results shed light on issues regarding publication types (and, to a lesser extent, use of citations) in studies of program quality in the field. It is suggested that faculty publication types should be differentiated in program evaluations, that book production by faculty is important to such evaluations, and that the role of humanities-oriented LIS faculty may be misread or lost without attention to book production. Finally, based on these considerations, a formula is suggested for LIS program evaluation.
Feasibility and safety of transthoracic cardiac acoustic radiation force impulse imaging methods

This work examines clinical feasibility of using noninvasive transthoracic echocardiography techniques to visualize temporal variations of stiffness through the cardiac cycle using acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging. Custom M-mode ARFI sequences were implemented on a Verasonics Research Platform using a Philips/ATL P4-2 phased-array echocardiography transducer. The research systems robust power supply, full parallel-receive capability, and programmable interface enabled sustained excitations, rapid data acquisition, and real-time processing and display of images in the clinic. An extended radiation force pulse length of 480 μs was used to produce tissue displacements up to 12μm around a region of excitation focused at 3 cm. Quadratic motion filters were used to separate ARFI excitation-induced displacements from intrinsic cardiac and respiratory physiological motion artifacts. Acoustic intensity and face heating measurements, as well as finite element method tissue focal heating simulations, were completed. These measurements and simulations calibrated the sequences with respect to the FDA acoustic exposure limits for intensity, mechanical index (MI) and tissue heating. Tests were conducted in phantom and animal models in preparation for the clinical trial. A series of 7 healthy volunteers were scanned in accordance with an approved Duke University Medical Center Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol. Measurements were acquired from the apical 4 chamber view of the apex, at power levels with MI's ranging from 1.9-3.0. During each M-mode ARFI acquisition, the matched ECG signal was acquired, enabling registration with cardiac cycle. The M-mode ARFI displacement images reflect the expected myocardial stiffness changes through the cardiac cycle, with greatest displacements in diastole and lowest in systole. In the 7 volunteers, the mean displacements throughout the cardiac cycle rose with increasing transmit power level. The ratio of diastolic-to-systolic displacement was examined as a possible indicator of myocardial health. In this study, the measured ratios were in range up to 3.1:1 for the 7 patients, showing agreement with previous ratios reported by an animal studies using transthoracic, intracardiac and epicardial imaging methods. These preliminary clinical results support the feasibility of real-time imaging of cardiac stiffness in vivo using transthoracic ARFI imaging.
Structural analysis of monosulfated side-chain oligosaccharides isolated from human tracheobronchial mucous glycoproteins.

Abstract To determine the location of some sulfate esters on respiratory mucins, an unambiguous sequencing strategy was developed for a crude, monosulfated oligosaccharide fraction derived from tracheobronchial mucous glycoproteins, isolated from sputum from a patient with cystic fibrosis, and which possessed Ricinus communis -I lectin affinity. Employing fractionation by Bio-Gel P-2 chromatography and high-voltage paper electrophoresis of the pool, eighteen branched and four straight-chained monosulfated oligosaccharides, each possessing at least one neutral d -galactose residue at a nonreducing terminus, were purified. Desulfated analogs of each sulfated oligosaccharide were then produced. Elucidation of their structures and sulfate ester locations was accomplished through a parallel comparative sequencing approach for the sulfated oligosaccharide and its desulfated analog. The method was based on their carbohydrate composition and parallel analysis by sequential exoglycosidase degradations, endoglycosidase digestion, permethylation analyses, and specific lectin affinities. Key to this approach was the inability for specific exoglycosidases and lectins to cleave or bind to, respectively, carbohydrates of their specificity which occupied nonreducing termini and possessed a sulfate ester. Herein we report the structures of twenty-two novel sulfated oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides ranged from trisaccharides to heptasaccharides, were branched and unbranched, and each possessed a single sulfate ester on either C-6 of a terminal or an internal d -galactose residue or on C-6 of an internal residue of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy- d -glucose ( N -acetyl- d -glucosamine).
PPPS-2013: A PIC-fluid hybrid algorithm for multi-scale simulations of laser-plasma interactions

Summary form only given. Fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of simulation of laser-plasma interactions has a forty-year history. The simulation of the fast ignition approach to laser fusion presents extreme challenges to traditional explicit algorithms because of the multi-scale nature of the plasma - the plasma density ranges from vacuum to near solid density. Here we describe a PIC-fluid hybrid algorithm that has proven successful in modeling laserplasma interactions in fast-ignition laser fusion.1 In this hybrid algorithm a traditional fully electromagnetic, relativistic, explicit PIC method is used in the vacuum region and in the plasma up to a density much greater than the critical density for the laser, e.g., ne/nc~100. For higher plasma densities (as long as the plasma remains sufficiently cold and collisional) an Ohm's law is used to determine the electric field in the plasma, and inclusion of the displacement current in Ampere's law becomes optional, which eliminates light waves and electron plasma waves as justified by the high collisionality. This approach achieves efficiencies by eliminating requirements on resolving the electron Debye length, the skin depth and the plasma frequency in the high-density region. A particle representation of the plasma electrons and ions is retained throughout the simulation domain. An important aspect of this hybrid model is the inclusion of an accurate and efficient Coulomb collision operator that is compatible with unequally weighted particles, which can be achieved with a variant of the Takizuka-Abe (or Nanbu) collision algorithm extended to a grid-based model.
Unsuspected pulmonary embolism in lung cancer patients: comparison of clinical characteristics and outcome with suspected pulmonary embolism.

Purpose Compare the clinical characteristics, rate of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) and outcome of suspected and unsuspected pulmonary embolism (PE) detected on computed tomography in patients with lung cancer.
First-principles interatomic potentials in transition metals

The first ab initio theory of structure-independent interatomic potentials in $d$-electron transition metals has been developed from a multi-ion expansion of the total energy within the density-functional formalism. Explicit results for the volume term and two-ion and three-ion potentials entering this expansion have been obtained and successfully tested for $3d$-series metals.
Structure of mannose-specific snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) lectin is representative of a new plant lectin family

Tetrameric Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (50,000 Mr) belongs to a super-family of α-D-mannose-specific plant bulb lectins known to be potent inhibitors of retroviruses. The 2.3 A crystal structure of this lectin complexed with methyl α-D-mannose reveals a novel three-fold symmetric β-sheet polypeptide fold. Three antiparallel four-stranded β-sheets, each with a conserved mannose-binding site, are arranged as a 12-stranded β-barrel. The tetramer displays 222 symmetry. Pairs of monomers form stable dinners through C-terminal strand exchange. The so formed hybrid β-sheets are the sites for high affinity mannose binding in the dimer interface. Occupancy observed at corresponding sites in other β-sheets suggests a potential for twelve sites per tetramer.
Blue Gods, Blue Oil, and Blue People

Studies of the composition of coal tar, which began in Prussia in 1834, profoundly affected the economies of Germany, Great Britain, India, and the rest of the world, as well as medicine and surgery. Such effects include the collapse of the profits of the British indigo monopoly, the growth in economic power of Germany based on coal tar chemistry, and an economic crisis in India that led to more humane tax laws and, ultimately, the independence of India and the end of the British Empire. Additional consequences were the development of antiseptic surgery and the synthesis of a wide variety of useful drugs that have eradicated infections and alleviated pain. Many of these drugs, particularly the commonly used analgesics, sulfonamides, sulfones, and local anesthetics, are derivatives of aniline, originally called "blue oil" or "kyanol." Some of these aniline derivatives, however, have also caused aplastic anemia, agranulocytosis, and methemoglobinemia (that is, "blue people"). Exposure to aniline drugs, particularly when two or three aniline drugs are taken concurrently, seems to be the commonest cause of methemoglobinemia today.
Frequency-dependent Elastic Wave Propagation In Dry And Saturated Vuggy Carbonate Cores: Experiment And Simulation

Summary We use experimental measurements and finite-difference modeling to investigate the characteristics of wave propagation in saturated and dry vuggy carbonate cores. The detailed vug structure is obtained through x-ray computed tomography (CT) and used to drive the simulations. We find that our models capture the experimentally observed behavior, which is that vugs attenuate the ultrasonic waves and that dry cores have comparatively less attenuation in the high frequency regime than saturated cores.