cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
New Heavens and New Earth: Early Pentecostal Soteriology as a Foundation for Creation Care in the Present

The article examines references in several early pentecostal periodicals concerning the soteriological destiny of the other-than-human created order to demonstrate that the current focus among many current pentecostal advocates of creation care is a valid expression of pentecostal spirituality in continuity with the soteriological emphases of early pioneers in the movement. After examining impediments to creation care that relate primarily to a missional focus on evangelism in light of popular dispensational understandings of eschatology, I survey the occurrence of the phrase new earth in early pentecostal periodical literature to show that many writers held views of eschatology and soteriology that held out hope for the redemption of all creation. Current pentecostal thought on creation care that challenges the noted impediments against this focus is not acquiescence to secular faddism, but is consonant with strands of thought early in the movement.
Development of 3-item questionnaire for preoperative evaluation of older cancer patients.

e21543Background: Our study aims at developing a very short screening questionnaire for the preoperative evaluation of older cancer patients in the surgical clinics. Methods: Our study was based on...
J M Keynes on the Enemies of Capitalism: The Internal, Endogenous Threat to the Macro Economy from Wall Street Stock Market Speculators and Rentiers

J M Keynes carefully read Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) before he was 28. Of extreme importance to Keynes was Smith’s categorization of a group of upper income class citizens, whose speculative and financial interactions with the private banking industry created a very severe danger to the society as a whole, as being projectors, imprudent risk takers, and prodigals. Keynes’s description of Smith’s projectors, imprudent risk takers, and prodigals in the General Theory, as well as Keynes’s extremely important, early 1937 papers in the Eugenics Review and Quarterly Journal of Economics, is that Smith’s projectors, imprudent risk takers, and prodigals are Keynes’s Wall Street speculators and rentiers. It is the speculators and rentiers who are mainly responsible for the problems of inflation and deflation in the macro economy. Keynes realized that this destructive, casino-gambling type behavior that is so damaging to the macro economy is facilitated and financed by the “…forces of banking and finance”. Keynes’s Chapter Twelve analysis on pages 147-162 in the General Theory of the speculative dangers resulting from the financial behavior of Wall Street speculators and rentiers is identical to Smith’s pages 114-115, 279-341 discussions in the Wealth of Nations of the dangers from projectors, imprudent risk takers, and prodigals. Both Smith’s and Keynes’s analysis complements each other. Both Smith and Keynes could have given the exact, same, vastly superior analysis and policy advice to government officials facing the 2007-2009 Great Recession that would have been greatly superior to the type of very poor policy analysis provided by DSGE macroeconomists in the period 2006-2010. Both Smith and Keynes explicitly point out and analyze the malign impacts(see Kennedy, 2008) on the macro economy perpetrated by either Smithian projectors, imprudent risk takers, or prodigals or Keynesian speculators and rentiers. The role of government is to impose constraints on these categories of upper income class members so as to prevent them from harming the sober people by proactive laws, rules, and regulations. The obvious reason that DSGE macro models failed so egregiously is that there are no variables in their models representing the impacts of these types of decision makers on the macro economy over time. The reason for this misspecification modeling error by DSGE proponents is that they accept Bentham’s critique of Smith that there are no such individuals in the economy as Smith’s projectors, imprudent risk takers, or prodigals.
High risk of spontaneous preterm birth among infants with gastroschisis.

We examined the association between gastroschisis and preterm birth (PTB, <37 weeks) by subtype. The sample was drawn from singleton live births in California from 2007 to 2012 contained in a birth cohort file maintained by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (n = 2,891,965; 1,421 with gastroschisis). Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for PTB by gestational age (<34, 34-36, and any <37 weeks) and by type (spontaneous labor with intact membranes, preterm premature rupture of the membranes [PPROM], provider initiated) and were adjusted for maternal characteristics. Over 44.5% of infants with gastroschisis were born preterm because of spontaneous etiologies; notably, 8.4% of infants with gastroschisis were born <34 weeks because of spontaneous etiologies (adjusted RRs 9.1-12.2). Overall, 53.7% of infants with gastroschisis were born preterm compared with only 6.9% of infants without gastroschisis (adjusted RR 15.2, 95% CI 13.6-19.5) and are at particularly high risk of spontaneous PTB. Nearly 9% of infants with gastroschisis delivered <34 weeks, regardless of preterm etiology, indicating that these infants are at great risk for PTB morbidities in addition to the complications from gastroschisis.
Public Support for Higher Taxes on the Wealthy: California’s Proposition 30

It has long been argued that growing inequality would lead to growing demands for redistribution, especially from less affluent individuals who would benefit most from redistribution. Yet, in many countries we have not seen tax increases and even when ballot initiatives allow individuals to directly vote to raise taxes on the wealthy they decline to do so. This raises the question of how economic self-interest shapes voting on tax proposals, and what factors may weaken the links between economic self-interest and tax policy preferences. In the U.S. context partisanship is a factor that has a major influence on attitudes about taxation. To explore how self-interest sometimes overcomes partisanship we take advantage of competing initiatives that were simultaneously on the ballot in California in 2012. California’s Proposition 30, a successful 2012 initiative, significantly increased taxes on the wealthy. By comparing voting on Proposition 30 to voting on Proposition 38, which would have raised taxes on nearly everyone, we observe that when tax hikes are focused only on the wealthy a substantial number of lower income Republicans (i.e., conservatives) defect from their party position opposing taxation. We identify these low-income Republicans as “populists.” Lower income Republicans are also less supportive of income tax increases on the lower and middle classes, and are more sensitive to income tax increases than sales tax increases. We argue that economic self-interest causes heterogeneity within the parties in terms of attitudes toward tax increases.
Agrarian reform and usufruct farming in socialist Cuba

This article analyzes the evolution, progress, and hurdles of usufruct farming in Cuba since its inception in 2008, as well as its impact on agricultural output, exports, and imports. It contribute...
Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Amputation Following Attempted Free Flap Limb Salvage

Background Traumatic limb salvage with free flap reconstruction versus primary amputation for lower extremity (LE) injuries remains an oft debated topic. Limb salvage has well-studied benefits and advances in microsurgery have helped reduce the complication rates. A subset of patients eventually requires secondary amputation after a failed attempt at limb salvage. A better understanding of risk factors that predict subsequent amputation after failed free flap reconstruction of LE injuries may improve operative management. Patients and Methods A retrospective study (2002–2019) was conducted on all patients who underwent free flap reconstruction of the LE within 120 days of the original inciting event at a single institution. Patient and operative factors were reviewed including comorbidities, severity of the injury, flap choice, outcomes, and complications. Predictors of subsequent amputation were analyzed. Results A total of 129 patients requiring free flap reconstructions for LE limb salvage met inclusion criteria. Anterolateral thigh flaps (70.5%) were performed most frequently. Secondary amputation occurred in 10 (7.8%) patients. Preoperative factors associated with eventual amputation include diabetes mellitus (p = 0.044), number of preoperative debridements (p = 0.013), evidence of any arterial injury/pathology (p = 0.008), specifically posterior tibial artery (p = Conclusion Many factors contribute to the reconstructive surgical team's decision to proceed with limb salvage or perform primary amputation. Several variables are associated with failed limb salvage resulting in secondary amputation. Further studies are required to better guide management during the limb salvage process.
Design and Testing of Vector-Producing HEK293T Cells Bearing a Genomic Deletion of the SV40 T Antigen Coding Region.

The use of the human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cell line to manufacture vectors for in vivo applications raises safety concerns due to the presence of SV40 T antigen-encoding sequences. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to remove the SV40 T antigen-encoding sequences from HEK293T cells by transfecting them with a recombinant plasmid expressing Cas9 and two distinct single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) corresponding to the beginning and end of the T antigen coding region. Cell clones lacking T antigen-encoding sequences were identified using PCR. Whole-genome (WG) and targeted locus amplification (TLA) sequencing of the parental HEK293T cell line revealed multiple SV40 T antigen-encoding sequences replacing cellular sequences on chromosome 3. The putative T antigen null clones demonstrated a loss of sequence reads mapping to T antigen-encoding sequences. Western blot analysis of cell extracts prepared from the T antigen null clones confirmed that the SV40 large and small T antigen proteins were absent. Lentiviral vectors produced using the T antigen null clones exhibited titers up to 1.5 × 107 transducing units (TU)/mL, while the titers obtained from the parent HEK293T cell line were up to 4 × 107 TU/mL. The capacity of the T antigen-negative cells to produce high titer adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors was also evaluated. The results obtained revealed that the lack of T antigen sequences did not impact AAV vector titers.
US Prescription trends of antihistamines for atopic dermatitis, 2011-2016.

Antihistamine use for primary treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) is not recommended, but current guidelines state that sedating antihistamines are favored over non-sedating antihistamines for relief of burdensome pruritus. We analyzed the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data to compare use of antihistamines between dermatologists and non-dermatologists. Overall, dermatologists are more likely to prescribe sedating than non-sedating antihistamines when compared to non-dermatologists (P < .001, δabs = 0.45). Patients under 21 years old (P = .03, δabs = 0.10) and Black patients (P < .001, δabs = 0.19) were also more likely to receive sedating antihistamines than non-sedating antihistamines. These findings highlight the differential prescribing practices for atopic dermatitis among physicians.
Well-Being of the First Responder

This chapter will discuss healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms, sources of on-the-job stress, and resources available to you.
Gender as a Deterministic Factor in Procedure Selection and Outcomes in Bariatric Surgery.

Background and objectives With obesity rates rising in the United States, bariatric surgery has become a well-established and effective treatment for morbid obesity and its comorbid conditions. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy are two of the more common bariatric procedures. This study analyzes whether gender differences play a role in procedure selection and outcomes following either procedure. Methods Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database for years 2015 to 2017, we assessed demographics, postoperative complications, and readmission rates. Chi-square analysis, student t-test, and propensity analyses were performed appropriately. Results Data review found that men presenting for bariatric surgery had a higher incidence of comorbidities and higher body mass index than women. More men than women underwent Sleeve Gastrectomy (68.5% vs 63.0%, P Conclusions This study found that men are more likely to undergo Sleeve Gastrectomy than Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, despite higher complication rates for both. Women have higher rates of unplanned readmission rates regardless of procedure, despite lower postoperative morbidity.
Intelliquench: An Adaptive Machine Learning System for Detection of Superconducting Magnet Quenches

In superconducting magnets, the irreversible transition of a portion of the conductor to resistive state is called a “quench.” Having large stored energy, magnets can be damaged by quenches due to localized heating, high voltage, or large force transients. Unfortunately, current quench protection systems can only detect a quench after it happens, and mitigating risks in Low Temperature Superconducting (LTS) accelerator magnets often requires fast response (down to ms). Additionally, protection of High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets is still suffering from prohibitively slow quench detection. In this study, we lay the groundwork for a quench prediction system using an auto-encoder fully-connected deep neural network. After dynamically trained with data features extracted from acoustic sensors around the magnet, the system detects anomalous events seconds before the quench in most of our data. While the exact nature of the events is under investigation, we show that the system can “forecast” a quench before it happens under magnet training conditions through a randomized experiment. This opens up the way of integrated data processing, potentially leading to faster and better diagnostics and detection of magnet quenches.
Legislation and Regulation and Reform of the First Year

This essay discusses the development of a Legislation and Regulation course (or Leg-Reg) as part of a 1L curriculum reform that the Harvard Law School faculty unanimously adopted in 2006. The reform was adopted following three years of work by a Committee on Educational Innovations appointed by then-Dean Elena Kagan and chaired by future Dean Martha Minow. The Leg-Reg piece of the new curriculum aims to broaden the 1L program's perspective from the essential, but by today's standards incomplete, focus on private law topics and common law reasoning that had dominated the 1L curriculum since 1873. Leg-Reg instead focuses on statutes and the regulations that implement them. The course emphasizes not only the interpretation of those materials, but also the lawmaking process, institutional context, and political dynamics that shape the production and interpretation of statutes and regulations.This essay discusses several aspects of the Harvard experience with Legislation and Regulation. First, because reforming the 1L curriculum is such a daunting process, the paper provides a brief account of the extensive curricular reform process that successfully produced this and two other new 1L courses. Second, the essay discusses the course's strategy for fitting novel and somewhat different techniques, materials, and concepts into a 1L course. In particular, it will discuss the fact that, while the Leg-Reg incorporates many topics and methods that are touched on only tangentially, if at all, in other 1L courses (such as textual exegesis, legislative procedure, and public choice theory), it does so primarily by asking students (a) to learn and assess concrete, real-world legal decisions and then (b) to build out, through note material, to the broader concepts implicated by the cases. In addition, the version of the Leg-Reg course developed at Harvard is consciously transsubstantive, rather than focused on a particular policy area. Third, this essay elaborates on this pedagogical approach by giving some detail about the way Leg-Reg presents certain key cases on statutory interpretation. Fourth, the essay examines the administrative law (“Reg”) component of the course. In particular, the essay explains how starting with statutory interpretation addresses the often-voiced concern that administrative law is simply too complicated for 1Ls. This part of the essay also discusses the impact of 1L Leg-Reg course on enrollments in Administrative Law and related public law offerings
The Effect of Time-Based Compliance of Social Distancing and Mask Wearing on the Spread of a Disease in a Simulated College Campus

The recent COVID -19 pandemic has raised questions about how a disease may spread in an environment like a college campus or a business. In this paper, an agent-based model is presented which simulates the spread of a disease which starts with one infected agent. The agents in the model are randomly selected to follow social distancing and/or mask-wearing guidelines. Compliance with the guidelines reduces the agent's probability of contracting the modeled disease. A variety of compliance strategies are considered, including constant compliance, a time-based compliance where every agent complies during business hours and a subset does not during evenings and weekends, and a model where the population density is increased on weekends, with the introduced agents not complying with the guidelines. The question examined is, how does time-based compliance of the guidelines affect the size and timing of the outbreaks peak (i.e. maximum number of infected agents)? Funding Statement: The worked contained in this paper is unfunded. Declaration of Interests: The author has not received payment or services from a third party (government, commercial, private foundation, etc.) for any aspect of the submitted work (including but not limited to grants, data monitoring board, study design, manuscript preparation, statistical analysis, etc.). The author does not have any patents pending relevant to this work.
The Effect of Bulk Electron Density on the Accuracy of Treatment Planning for Postoperative Cervical Cancer.

Purpose/Objective(s) MRI (Magnetic Resonance Images) only treatment planning is desirable due to its high soft tissue contrast and nature of non-radiation. This study investigates the impact of bulk electron density assignment on the dose accuracy in MRI-only treatment planning for postoperative cervical cancer treatment. Materials/Methods 20 cases of postoperative cervical cancer treatment plans were selected to generate new plans using bulk electron density assigning to OARs (Organs at Risk) and tissues on CT images in treatment planning systems. Contours include OARs such as bladder, rectum, small intestine, kidney, spinal cord, femoral head and Planning Target Volumes (PTV). The plans employed Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) with double arcs (360°) and 0.3 cm × 0.3 cm × 0.3 cm calculation grid with 0.6 cm minimum subfield. New plans (PlanN) were generated from original plans with bulk electron density assigning to organs. Fluence optimization and IMRT dose constraints are the same as that with original plans (Plano). Dose Volume parameters (DVPs) of OARs and PTV were extracted from the two groups plans including: V30, V40-relative volume received 30 Gy, 40 Gy; mean dose-Dmean; D2, D98-dose received by 2%,98% of the target volume. The DVPs were compared between original and new plans using scatter plots. Paired-t test for DVPs was used to test the significance of the statistics. Results Relative deviation of most of the dosimetry parameters between original and new plans are less than 1%. PCTV1 Dose of the PlanN are higher 0.1% ∼ 0.2% (P > 0.05) than Plano. The dose difference of PCTV2 and PCTVln for the two group of plans is within 0.6(P 0.05), respectively. The OARs dosimetry differences including V20, V30, D1cc, Dmean for bladder, rectum, small intestine is within 0.2%, 0.6%, 0.2%. There is no noticeable distinction observed from dose distribution between Plano and PlanN. Monitor Units for PlanN are higher 0.84% than Plano. The statistical results of all parameters showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion The dose deviation between the MRI-only plan and the routine CT-based plan was less than 2%, which met the clinical requirements. It provided a feasible method for MRI to replace CT in radiotherapy plan design and dose calculation.
The New Taxonomy

Introductory: Towards the New Taxonomy, Q.D. Wheeler Networks and Their Role in e-Taxonomy, M.J. Scoble Taxonomy as a Team Sport, S. Knapp Planetary Biodiversity Inventories as Models for the New Taxonomy, L.M. Page On the Use of Taxonomic Concepts in Support of Biodiversity Research and Taxonomy, N. Franz, R. K. Peet, and A.S. Weakley International Infrastructure for Enabling the New Taxonomy: The Role of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), L. Speers and J.L. Edwards DNA Sequences in Taxonomy: Opportunities and Challenges, R. Meier Animal Names for All: ICZN, ZooBank and the New Taxonomy, A. Polaszek, R. Pyle, and D. Yanega Understanding Morphology in Systematic Contexts: Three- Dimensional Specimen Ordination and Recognition, N. MacLeod Taxonomic Shock and Awe, Q.D. Wheeler Index
Public-private partnerships for internet development

Attendees at this BoF included government CIOs from the state and local level, and academics from computer science, economics and policy disciplines. The BoF leaders, Sharon Gillett and Bill Lehr of MIT, gave a brief overview of four types of local and state government interventions aimed at fostering broadband Internet infrastructure development and adoption: demand stimulation and adoption, policy rule changes, funding programs, and infrastructure development typically undertaken in partnership with the private sector.
Text(ing) Humanitarian Intervention: The Rule of Law, Mandate and Report

Humanitarian intervention requires massive mobilization of personnel and resources from around the world in complex projects of peacekeeping, nation building, protecting human rights, and re-establishing the rule of law. This substantial undertaking is authorized, set in motion, coordinated, and concluded through texts. This Article considers three central categories of texts in humanitarian intervention and their networks of interconnection as they organize and manage work in the field missions deployed on humanitarian grounds. These texts are examined not just for their substantive content but also for their active facilitating work in the intervention. These dominant texts — and networks of texts — in international law reflect both the global and local relations of power in humanitarian intervention. At the global or international level, there is the formal law — international treaties — that frames and authorizes the international intervention. Connecting international to national, there is the mandate — inscribed in U.N. Security Council Resolutions — authorized by law and implemented through international administrators. Finally, connecting global to local, there are the everyday texts of the field mission, the myriad reports prepared and used by field officers, also shaped by and responsive to the law and the mandate. Law travels to and through the field primarily via these essential texts of humanitarian intervention.
Closed-form quality measures for compressed medical images: statistical preliminaries for transform coding

As digital imaging technology advances, the amount of image data we generate increases and the need for compressed images becomes apparent. Because lossy compression will yield higher compression ratios than lossless methods, objective assessment metrics of reconstructed image quality are needed. In medical applications, model observers, especially the channelized Hotelling observer, have been successfully used to predict human observer performance and to evaluate image quality for detection tasks on various backgrounds. To use model observers, however, requires knowledge of noise statistics. This paper finds closed-form expressions for the noise induced by transform coding, one of the most commonly used methods for image compression. Knowledge of the noise enables us to study the effect of image compression on the clinical utility of medical images that have been reconstructed after being compressed using transform coding. In this paper, by analyzing image compression procedures, we propose a block-based transform coding representation in 1-D form, identify the quantization noise as the sole distortion source in transform coding, and derive the compression noise statistics. We show that the probability density function (pdf) of the compression noise is defined as a function of the transform matrix and its corresponding quantization matrix in the transform coding algorithm. We prove that the compression noise is a normal distribution when the dimension of the transform (the block size) is typical. We also provide the pdf of JPEG compression noise as a function of the quantization table and the DCT transform bases. This work provides the theoretical foundation for using the model observers in closed mathematical form, and can be applied to other image compression application areas that require the statistics of compression noise as well.
Modulating the immune response to genetic immunization.

Genetic immunization, also known as DNA or polynucleotide immunization, is a novel strategy for vaccine development in which plasmid DNA encoding either individual or a collection of antigens is directly administered to a host. Such immunization leads to host expression of the delivered foreign gene, resulting in the induction of a specific immune response against the in vivo produced antigen. DNA immunization has been shown to induce protective immune responses in several infectious disease and cancer experimental model systems. Furthermore, DNA vaccines have recently entered the clinic for analysis as both prophylactic and therapeutic agents. Although the mechanisms of immunity to DNA have not yet been fully elucidated, it has become apparent that the immune response achieved by DNA vaccination is quite malleable, and can be manipulated by altering the conditions under which the vaccine is administered. Either through changing the method or location of immunization, altering the number of immunostimulat...
Franz Brentano (1838–1917): Forerunner of the Phenomenological Movement

How far is it legitimate to begin the history of the Phenomenological Movement with Franz Brentano? Certainly Brentano himself did not claim to be a phenomenologist, although he lived long enough to see the Phenomenological Movement spread even beyond Husserl. In fact, as far as he followed Husserl’s development at all, his reaction, in spite of his persistent friendship and good will, was one of growing bewilderment and dismay.1
Fully Analytic Implementation of Density Functional Theory for Efficient Calculations on Large Molecules

Fullerene like cages and naonotubes of carbon and other inorganic materials are currently under intense study due to their possible technological applications. First principle simulations of these materials are computationally challenging due to large number of atoms. We have recently developed a fast, variational and fully analytic density functional theory (ADFT) based model that allows study of systems larger than those that can be studied using existing density functional models. Using polarized Gaussian basis sets (6-311G**) and ADFT, we optimize geometries of large fullerenes, fullerene-like cages and nanotubes of carbon, boron nitride, and aluminum nitride containing more than two thousand atoms. The calculation of C2160 using nearly 39000 orbital basis functions is the largest calculation on any isolated molecule reported to-date at this level of theory, and it includes full geometry optimization. The electronic structure related properties of the inorganic cages and other carbon fulerenes have been studied.
Heart Rate Variability in Intensive Care

Clinicians have long been aware that the normal oscillations in a heart beat are lost during fetal distress, during the early stages of heart failure, with advanced aging, and with critical illness and injury. However, these oscillations, or variability in heart rate and other cardiovascular signals, have largely been ignored or discounted as variances from the mean or average values. It is becoming increasingly clear that these oscillations reflect the dynamic interactions of many physiologic processes, including neuroautonomic regulation of heart rate and blood pressure. We present a synthesis and review of the current literature concerning heart rate variability with special reference to intensive care. This article describes the background of time series analysis of heart rate variability including time and frequency domain and nonlinear measurements. The implications and potential for time series analysis of variability in cardiovascular signals in clinical diagnosis and management of critically ill ...
Sexual Diversity and the 2014 Sochi Olympics: No More Rainbows by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj

Back in 2007, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Sochi, a resort town in Russian South, to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, a few expressed concern about the correctness of the deci...
Comments on dixon, scarantino, and mulligan and scherer

The three main articles in this symposium deal with different issues concerning the concept of emotion. I discuss each of these articles separately.
Solid State Electrometer Amplifier

A solid state electrometer amplifier is described, using at the input a field-effect-transistor instead of a thermionic electrometer valve. A circuit description and analysis, as well as design considerations and parameters, are also given. The amplifier offers useful applications in radiation dosimetry, with the advantages of reliability, simplified circuitry and space reduction.
Spatial variation of the stable nitrogen isotope ratio of woody plants along a topoedaphic gradient in a subtropical savanna

Variation in the stable N isotope ratio (δ15N) of plants and soils often reflects the influence of environment on the N cycle. We measured leaf δ15N and N concentration ([N]) on all individuals of Prosopis glandulosa (deciduous tree legume), Condalia hookeri (evergreen shrub), and Zanthoxylum fagara (evergreen shrub) present within a belt transect 308 m long × 12 m wide in a subtropical savanna ecosystem in southern Texas, USA in April and August 2005. Soil texture, gravimetric water content (GWC), total N and δ15N were also measured along the transect. At the landscape scale, leaf δ15N was negatively related to elevation for all the three species along this topoedaphic sequence. Changes in soil δ15N, total N, and GWC appeared to contribute to this spatial pattern of leaf δ15N. In lower portions of the landscape, greater soil N availability and GWC are associated with relatively high rates of both N mineralization and nitrification. Both soil δ15N and leaf [N] were positively correlated with leaf δ15N of non-N2 fixing plants. Leaf δ15N of P. glandulosa, an N2-fixing legume, did not correlate with leaf [N]; the δ15N of P. glandulosa’s leaves were closer to atmospheric N2 and significantly lower than those of C. hookeri and Z. fagara. Additionally, at smaller spatial scales, a proximity index (which reflected the density and distance of surrounding P. glandulosa trees) was negatively correlated with leaf δ15N of C. hookeri and Z. fagara, indicating the N2-fixing P. glandulosa may be important to the N nutrition of nearby non-N2-fixing species. Our results indicate plant 15N natural abundance can reflect the extent of N retention and help us better understand N dynamics and plant-soil interactions at ecosystem and landscape scales.
On the Subphotospheric Origin of Coronal Electric Currents

Using photospheric vector magnetograms from the Haleakala Stokes Polarimeter and coronal X-ray images from the Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT), we infer values of the force-free field parameter α at both photospheric and coronal levels within 140 active regions. We determine the value of α for a linear force-free field that best fits each magnetogram in a least-squares sense. We average values from all available magnetograms to obtain a single mean photospheric α-value αp for each active region. From the SXT images we estimate α in the corona by determining (π/L) sin γ for individual loops, where γ is the observed shear angle of X-ray loops of length L. We then average these values of α to obtain a single coronal α value, αc, for each active region. In active regions for which the photospheric α-map is predominantly of one sign, we find that the values of αp and αc are well correlated. Only for active regions in which both signs of α are well represented, and in which our method of analysis therefore breaks down, are the values of αp and αc poorly correlated. The former correlation implies that coronal electric currents typically extend down to at least the photosphere. However, other studies imply subphotospheric origin of the currents, and even current systems, that are observed in the photosphere. We therefore conclude that the currents responsible for sinuous coronal structures are of subphotospheric origin.
Sensitive analysis of anti-HIV drugs, efavirenz, lopinavir and ritonavir, in human hair by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.

A highly sensitive and selective method using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed and validated for the measurement of three antiretroviral agents, efavirenz, lopinavir and ritonavir, in human hair. Hair samples from adherent HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapies were cut into about 1 mm length segments and drugs were extracted by first shaking the samples with methanol in a 37°C water bath overnight (>14 h), followed by methyl tert-butyl ether/ethyl acetate (1:1) extraction under weak alkaline conditions. The extracted lopinavir and ritonavir were separated by reversed-phase chromatography and detected by tandem mass spectrometry in electrospray positive ionization mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), while efavirenz was monitored in negative ionization MRM mode. This method was validated from 0.01 to 4.0 ng/mg hair for ritonavir and 0.05–20 ng/mg hair for lopinavir and efavirenz by using 2 mg of a human hair sample. The interday and intraday assay precision (coefficients of variation, CV) for spiked quality control (QC) samples at low, medium and high concentrations were within 15% and accuracy ranged from 89% to 110%. Assay reproducibility was also demonstrated by analysis of incurred hair QC samples (CV <14%). No significant matrix ionization suppression was observed. This developed method allowed for the monitoring of these target medications in the hair samples of HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy in an observational study using small amounts of hair.
A method for improving numerical stability of implicit time integration for nonlinear dynamical structural response

Abstract In this paper the consequence of unloading is explored under the framework of implicit time integration for elasto-plastic materials. It is shown that simple unloading problems cause numerical failure in the integration scheme due to divergence during equilibrium iteration and that this divergence will occur regardless of time step size. An improved logical scheme is presented which is capable of recognizing when material unloading occurs and suitably modifying the equilibrium iteration scheme. The incorporation of this solution algorithm in conventional implicit time integration schemes for nonlinear finite element structural analysis will significantly improve both the numerical stability and the accuracy of the structural response calculations.
Thermochemical Interaction of Thermal Barrier Coatings with Molten CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (CMAS) Deposits

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are increasingly susceptible to degradation by molten calcium–magnesium alumino silicate (CMAS) deposits in advanced engines that operate at higher temperatures and in environments laden with siliceous debris. This paper investigates the thermochemical aspects of the degradation phenomena using a model CMAS composition and ZrO2–7.6%YO1.5 (7YSZ) grown by vapor deposition on alumina substrates. The changes in microstructure and chemistry are characterized after isothermal treatments of 4 h at 1200°–1400°C. It is found that CMAS rapidly penetrates the open structure of the coating as soon as melting occurs, whereupon the original 7YSZ dissolves in the CMAS and reprecipitates with a different morphology and composition that depends on the local melt chemistry. The attack is minimal in the bulk of the coating but severe near the surface and the interface with the substrate, which is also partially dissolved by the melt. The phase evolution is discussed in terms of available thermodynamic information.
Lower bounds for some matrices, II

In a series of papers, Rhaly [6]-[8] introduced three classes of matrices which are generalizations of the Cesaro Matrix of order 1. In this paper we obtain lower bounds for these classes, under certain restrictions on p.
Prothrombin G20210A Mutation Is Associated With Young-Onset Stroke The Genetics of Early-Onset Stroke Study and Meta-Analysis

Background and Purpose—Although the prothrombin G20210A mutation has been implicated as a risk factor for venous thrombosis, its role in arterial ischemic stroke is unclear, particularly among young adults. To address this issue, we examined the association between prothrombin G20210A and ischemic stroke in a white case–control population and additionally performed a meta-analysis. Methods—From the population-based Genetics of Early Onset Stroke (GEOS) study, we identified 397 individuals of European ancestry aged 15 to 49 years with first-ever ischemic stroke and 426 matched controls. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) in the entire population and for subgroups stratified by sex, age, oral contraceptive use, migraine, and smoking status. A meta-analysis of 17 case–control studies (n=2305 cases <55 years) was also performed with and without GEOS data. Results—Within GEOS, the association of the prothrombin G20210A mutation with ischemic stroke did not achieve statistical significa...
Immunologic Correlates of the Hyperresponsive Syndrome of Loiasis

The usual clinical picture of loiasis in long-term visitors to endemic areas differs from that in residents of these areas, with allergic symptoms, hypergammaglobulinemia, profound hypereosinophilia, and increased serum levels of IgE being more prominent. In further analyzing the immunologic correlates of this apparent hyperreactivity in 20 patients, we have found the following: (1) parasite-specific IgG (in all) and IgE (in some) were extremely elevated in the patients; (2) qualitative analysis by immunoblotting indicated multiple antigens recognized by both IgG and IgE antibodies in these patients; (3) filaria antigen-specific, lymphocyte proliferative immune responses were vigorous in all patients and, in each individual, exceed the response to other soluble antigens; (4) spontaneous and antigen-driven, parasite-specific antibody production in vitro was elevated in all six patients studied; (5) there was a significant increase in the ratio of CD4/CD8+ T cells. These observations suggest that both specific dysregulation of the immune response to the parasite antigen, as well as nonspecific immune activation, accounts for the clinically apparent hyperresponsive state seen in expatriates acquiring loiasis.
Electrochemical characterization of a new vanadium penicillamine-ester complex

Abstract The synthesis and isolation of VO(PenOCH 3 ) 2 (PenOCH 3 = the anion of the carboxylate ester of penicillamine) is reported. This is the first report of the isolation of a vanadyl complex with penicillamine ligands. Based on IR data, the structure is proposed to be similar to that of VO(CysOCH 3 ) 2 (Cys-OCH 3 = the anion of the carboxylate ester of cysteine) which is known to be square pyramidal with bonding of trans sulfur atoms and trans nitrogen atoms to vanadium. The oxidation of VO(PenOCH 3 ) 2 in DMSO is a reversible process at 0.3 V versus SCE followed by a rapid chemical reaction of the initial product. Controlled potential coulometric oxidation did not give reproducible results until a ruthenium mediator was added. Under these conditions the coulometric data indicated a one electron oxidation, as previously reported for VO(CysOCH 3 ) 2 . Thus, these two vanadyl compounds exhibit similar one electron oxidations giving vanadium(V) products.
"It's about the Kids": Transforming Teacher-Student Relationships through Action Research

Action research is often included in teacher education programs to improve teacher reflection and practice; however, there is little indication of its impact on students. In this article, the authors examine action research conducted by 114 experienced teachers enrolled in a masters of education program. The teachers came from a range of disciplines and grade levels. Based on their investigation, the authors determined that action research provided a vehicle for teachers to (a) establish more personal relationships with students, (b) develop a better understanding of students as learners, and (c) give students a voice in the classroom. The authors illustrate these themes with three portraits of exemplar teachers.
An invisible speaker can facilitate auditory speech perception

Watching moving lips facilitates auditory speech perception when the mouth is attended. However, recent evidence suggests that visual attention and awareness are mediated by separate mechanisms. We investigated whether lip movements suppressed from visual awareness can facilitate speech perception. We used a word categorization task in which participants listened to spoken words and determined as quickly and accurately as possible whether or not each word named a tool. While participants listened to the words they watched a visual display that presented a video clip of the speaker synchronously speaking the auditorily presented words, or the same speaker articulating different words. Critically, the speaker’s face was either visible (the aware trials), or suppressed from awareness using continuous flash suppression. Aware and suppressed trials were randomly intermixed. A secondary probe-detection task ensured that participants attended to the mouth region regardless of whether the face was visible or suppressed. On the aware trials responses to the tool targets were no faster with the synchronous than asynchronous lip movements, perhaps because the visual information was inconsistent with the auditory information on 50% of the trials. However, on the suppressed trials responses to the tool targets were significantly faster with the synchronous than asynchronous lip movements. These results demonstrate that even when a random dynamic mask renders a face invisible, lip movements are processed by the visual system with sufficiently high temporal resolution to facilitate speech perception.
Molecular orbital study of stereoselective addition of ligands to the hydride, alkyl, and halide complexes of iridium and zirconium. The question of central versus lateral attack

Abstract Electronic structures of Ir(N(SiH3)2)(PH3)2H2, Cp2ZrMe2, Cp2ZrH2, and Cp2ZrCl2 complexes and stereoselectivity of CO addition to each of them are studied by the nonparametrized Fenske-Hall method. A new measure of the interaction between reactants, designated ΔE, is defined and used to calculate energy profiles of the carbonylation reactions. Stereoselectivity seems to be controlled by the composition and localization of the frontier orbitals. The experimental observations are explained successfully: the first two complexes undergo lateral attack, the third one undergoes central attack, and the fourth one is unreactive. The unreactivity of the chloro complex is attributed to the repulsion between the lone pairs of the Cl and CO ligands. The nature of the frontier orbitals, and consequently the preferred approach of an incoming ligand, depends markedly on the LZrL angle: the LUMO is localized laterally when the angle is acute and centrally when it is obtuse. Experiments are proposed that may test the correlation between the facility of ligand-addition reactions and the localization of the frontier orbitals.
A Multiscale Analysis of Nest Predation on Least Bell's Vireos (Vireo Bellii Pusillus)

Abstract We examined variables influencing nest predation on the endangered Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) at three spatial scales to determine what nest-site, habitat, or landscape characteristics affect the likelihood of nest predation and to determine the spatial distribution of predation risk and the variables influencing it. We used MARK to calculate daily survival rates of Least Bell's Vireo nests and applied an information-theoretic approach to evaluate support for logistic regression models of the effect of habitat variables on predation risk. Analysis of data for 195 nests collected during 1999 and 2000 at the San Luis Rey River and Pilgrim Creek in southern California revealed no effect of fine-scale factors, including nest height, supporting plant species, and three measures of nest concealment, on the likelihood of predation. At the intermediate scale, distances to the riparian-habitat edge and to internal gaps in the canopy were unrelated to nest survival. Surrounding land-use typ...
The effect of stress and temperature on the velocity of dislocations in pure iron monocrystals

The velocity of edge oriented dislocations in pure iron single crystals was determined as a function of stress and temperature. The velocities were determined from measurements of the growth of slip bands which had been subjected to constant amplitude stress pulses of known duration. Slip bands were observed using the Berg-Barrett X-ray technique. Measurements were made for temperatures of 77, 198, 295 and 373°K. Resolved shear stresses covered a range of 10–500 Mdyn/cm^2. Measured velocities ranged from 10^(−2) to 1 cm/sec. A strong temperature dependence of the dislocation velocity was observed. The results can only be correlated with theories of a single thermally activated mechanism if a substantial entropy of activation exists. Alternative explanations of the experimental results in terms of multiple processes and differences in slip band structure are proposed.