cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antenatal betamethasone therapy augments isoproterenol and prostaglandin E2-mediated relaxation of preterm ovine pulmonary veins.

Antenatal glucocorticoid therapy improves pulmonary function in preterm newborns. We have determined the effect of antenatal glucocorticoid therapy on isoproterenol and prostaglandin (PG) E2-mediated relaxation in preterm ovine pulmonary veins after birth. Ovine fetuses (121 and 126 d of gestation; term = 150 d) received an ultrasound guided intramuscular injection of betamethasone, 0.5 mg/kg, or saline. Lambs were delivered 15 or 48 h later, ventilated for 3 h, and killed. Isolated fourth generation pulmonary veins were suspended in organ chambers filled with modified Krebs-Ringer solution(95% O2, 5% CO2) at 37 °C, and their isometric tension was recorded. During contractions to U46619, isoproterenol and PGE2 induced greater relaxations of pulmonary veins of betamethasone-treated lambs than those of control. Forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, caused greater relaxation in veins of betamethasone-treated lambs than in those of controls. A greater relaxation of veins treated with betamethasone than that of control veins also occurred in the presence of isobutylmethylxanthine, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterases. All vessels relaxed similarly to 8-bromo-cAMP, a cell membrane-permeable analog of cAMP. When stimulated with isoproterenol, PGE2, and forskolin, adenylate cyclase activity of crude membrane preparations of pulmonary veins treated with betamethasone was greater than that of controls. These results demonstrate that antenatal betamethasone therapy potentiates isoproterenol and PGE2-mediated relaxation of pulmonary veins of preterm lambs; an enhanced adenylate cyclase activity explain in part the effect of antenatal glucocorticoid therapy on pulmonary veins of preterm lambs.
"Yes, but does it scale?": practical considerations for database-driven information systems

This paper explores the process of designing and implementing a database-driven system of online documentation, and putting it live on the web for customers to use. Using real-life examples, it discusses practical considerations for balancing performance, scalability, and reliability.
The Allocation of Resources in the Umma Silver Account System

The silver balanced accounts preserved in Sumerian language on clay tablets from the Southern Mesopotamian city of Umma from the Ur III period, conventionally dated 2112-2004 B.C.E., allow us to study how resources were distributed. These texts, which constitute the biennial records of a kind of government acquisitions agency, a General Services Administration, using persons called dam-gar3, 'merchant,' allow us to quantify the allocation of resources in the extant texts of one economic system'). And the quantification need not be in some measure of the goods themselves since this system rather modernly converts everything into silver money. Using these money notations as a standard of value, we should be able to say what proportion of the acquisitions went to certain groups. It is possible to divide the persons occurring in the merchants' accounts into at least two groups, those connected to the city governor and those connected to temple establishments2). And we also have a large mass of people, 54 persons, or 48 % of all persons mentioned in the texts except the subscribers, who are not clearly connected to either the city governor or the temple3).
B‐(Z)‐γ‐Methoxyallyldiisopinocampheylborane

[112571-25-2] InChI = 1S/C24H41BO/c1-15-19-11-17(23(19,3)4)13-21(15)25(9-8-10-26-7)22-14-18-12-20(16(22)2)24(18,5)6/h8,10,15-22H,9,11-14H2,1-7H3/b10-8-/t15-,16-,17+,18+,19-,20-,21?,22?/m1/s1 InChIKey = REIADFKXVYZJJI-AATYWXFTSA-N [112482-55-0] C24H41BO (MW 356.39) InChI = 1S/C24H41BO/c1-15-19-11-17(23(19,3)4)13-21(15)25(9-8-10-26-7)22-14-18-12-20(16(22)2)24(18,5)6/h8,10,15-22H,9,11-14H2,1-7H3/b10-8-/t15-,16-,17+,18+,19-,20-,21?,22?/m1/s1 InChIKey = REIADFKXVYZJJI-AATYWXFTSA-N (monofunctional alkoxyallylborating agent used for the reaction with aldehydes and imines to provide the α-alkoxyhomoallylic alcohols and amines, respectively, in a highly stereoselective fashion) Alternative Names: B-γ-Alkoxydiisopinocampheylborane. Analysis of Reagent Purity: 11B NMR (δ ∼80.0, s). Form Supplied in: not available commercially. Handling, Storage, and Precaution: prepared under inert nitrogen/argon atmosphere and used in situ. Physical Data: unstable at higher temperature and undergoes scrambling of the double bond. Preparative Methods: this reagent is prepared and used in situ and the typical procedure involves the lithiation of allylic ether 2 with sec-BuLi at −78 °C to form the (Z)-allylic anion 31 that upon reaction with Ipc2BOMe 4 provides an ‘ate’ complex 5. Addition of a strong Lewis acid (BF3·Et2O) to the ‘ate’ complex 5 releases the reagent (B)-(Z)-(γ)-alkoxyallyldiisopinocampheylborane 1 that is used in situ without isolation (eq 1).2 (1) Purification: none (air and moisture sensitive and unstable at higher temperatures, hence prepared and used in situ). Solubility: soluble in ether, THF, CH2Cl2, and other organic solvents.
Pupillary light reflex in humans: Evidence for an unbalanced pathway from nasal retina, and for signal cancellation in brainstem

Abstract The pupillary light reflex pathway is a simple binocular system that shows both convergence and divergence of information. We studied pathway organization with stimuli delivered to restricted portions of the retina of either eye. When a stimulus turned off at one location and on at another, small bilateral pupil contractions occurred. Response size was minimum for simultaneous onset and offset, suggesting cancellation of signals in the brainstem. When a stimulus fell on nasal retina, the response was greater in the stimulated eye. The difference between responses was much less sensitive to stimulus timing than was the average response size. All of our results can be economically explained by a simple proposed scheme for pathway organization.
Ion transport within random-sulfonated and block-sulfonated copolyimides

A series of sulfonated copolyimides was prepared from 4,4-oxydianiline, sulfonated 4,4′-oxydianiline, and 4,4′-(4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalic anhydride). Both random- and block structures were prepared by varying the timing of monomer addition to the polymerization reaction. The polymers were converted to their acid forms and then cast into films. 1H NMR, FTIR, and non-aqueous titration verified the degree of polymer sulfonation. The block copolymers showed higher water uptake and proton conductivities than random copolymers with similar ion exchange capacity (IEC) values. These differences became pronounced as the IEC value was increased.
Fiber optic sensing technology for detecting gas hydrate formation and decomposition

A fiber optic-based distributed sensing system (DSS) has been integrated with a large volume (72 l) pressure vessel providing high spatial resolution, time-resolved, 3D measurement of hybrid temperature–strain (TS) values within experimental sediment–gas hydrate systems. Areas of gas hydrate formation (exothermic) and decomposition (endothermic) can be characterized through this proxy by time series analysis of discrete data points collected along the length of optical fibers placed within a sediment system. Data are visualized as an animation of TS values along the length of each fiber over time. Experiments conducted in the Seafloor Process Simulator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory clearly indicate hydrate formation and dissociation events at expected pressure-temperature conditions given the thermodynamics of the CH4–H2O system. The high spatial resolution achieved with fiber optic technology makes the DSS a useful tool for visualizing time-resolved formation and dissociation of gas hydrates in large-...
Gene delivery to spinal motor neurons

This study demonstrates the direct delivery of plasmid gene constructs into spinal motor neurons utilizing retrograde axoplasmic transport. The plasmid vectors contained the Lac Z gene under the control of both the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and Simian virus (SV)40 promoters. beta-Galactosidase expression was observed in alpha and gamma motor neurons by histochemical staining following direct injection into the sciatic nerve or gastrocnemius muscle. The presence of LacZ gene constructs was confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The ability to introduce gene constructs into motor neurons allows for the study of gene regulation and permits the development of gene therapy strategies for motor neuron diseases including the spinal muscular atrophies (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
A Survey of Training Needs of Experienced Certified Addictions Counselors.

The alcohol and other drug abuse field has, more often than not, determined the topics of education and training be directed by published authors and associated authority figures. Rarely do workshop instructors ask the field what they would like to see presented, or how they prefer the information to be conveyed. A recent survey was conducted by The Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Chemical Abuse Certification Board to address these questions. The results indicate a preference for training topics that encompass cultural issues, alternative forms of treatment and relapse prevention. The preferred style of delivery was that via discussion groups and lectures. Data such as this needs to be weighed into future drug and alcohol education.
Role of Third Bodies in Friction Behavior of Diamond-like Nanocomposite Coatings Studied by In Situ Tribometry

The friction and wear behavior of amorphous diamond-like nanocomposite (DLN) coatings (C:H:Si:0) in low speed, dry sliding contact has been investigated using a home-built in situ tribometer. Tests were performed under reciprocating sliding against sapphire and steel hemispheres in dry (∼4% RH) and moist (35 to 52% RH) air at contact stresses of 0.7 and 1.1 GPa. In situ visual observations identified how third body processes affected the friction behavior of DLN coatings. For all test conditions, a transfer film began to form on the sapphire hemisphere during the first cycle, and the coefficient of friction dropped during further buildup of the transfer film. Video analysis showed most of the sliding motion took place between the transfer film on the hemisphere and the DLN coating. This velocity accommodation mode, interfacial sliding, was responsible for steady-state friction coefficients between 0.03 and 0.05 with lower values obtained at high stress and low RH. When the transfer film broke up the frict...
Analysis of quasi-periodic pore-network structure of centric marine diatom frustules

Diatoms are a common type of phytoplankton characterized by their silica exoskeleton known as a frustule. The diatom frustule is composed of two valves and a series of connecting girdle bands. Each diatom species has a unique frustule shape and valves in particular species display an intricate pattern of pores resembling a photonic crystal structure. We used several numerical techniques to analyze the periodic and quasi-periodic valve pore-network structure in diatoms of the Coscinodiscophyceae order. We quantitatively identify defect locations and pore spacing in the valve and use this information to better understand the optical and biological properties of the diatom.
Discrimination indexes and models for studying sensory functioning in aging

A popular paradigm in experimental psychophysics has subjects estimate sensation magnitude by assigning numbers to stimuli in some way. While it is typical to analyze the central tendency (e.g. means and slopes) of the subjects' psychophysical. functions, there is often a greater need to analyze the internal consistency of these functions. A subject who gives increasing mean responses across increasing stimulus intensities and also gives highly consistent responses within stimulus intensities is showing superior sensory discrimination. We propose new discrimination indexes, based on measures of association and lack-of-fit, that summarize monotonic regressions of the subject's data, as well as non-metric and metric-sensitive measures related to Kendall's coefficient of concordance. We use these indexes in quadratic spline regression models for cross-sectional age trends in sensory discrimination, with covariates included to adjust for task demands and gender differences.Because such data are potentially af...
Film-Cooling Prediction on Turbine Blade Tip with Various Film Hole Configurations

Different film hole arrangements on the plane and squealer tips of a turbine blade are investigated using a Reynolds stress turbulence model and nonequilibrium wall function. The three film hole configurations considered are 1) the camber arrangement, where the film-cooling holes are located on the mid-camber line of the tips; 2) the upstream arrangement, where the film holes are located upstream of the tip leakage flow and high heat transfer region; and 3) the two-rows arrangement, which is a combination of the camber and upstream arrangements. Calculations were performed first for the nonrotating cases under low inlet/outlet pressure ratio conditions with three different blowing ratios. The predicted heat transfer coefficients are in good agreement with the experimental data, but the film-cooling effectiveness is somewhat overpredicted downstream of the film holes. Simulations were then performed for the nonrotating and rotating camber line film hole configuration under high inlet/outlet pressure ratio conditions, which are close to engine conditions. It is found that the rotation decreases the plane tip film-cooling effectiveness but only slightly affects the squealer tip film cooling. However, the rotation significantly increases heat transfer coefficient on the shrouds.
Neutron-Proton Capture Cross Section

The mean lifetime of thermal neutrons in water is measured with a large moderator (radius \ensuremath{\sim}7 diffusion lengths), for which the correction for escape is only about 5%. The geometry is such that the perturbing effect of the immersed B${\mathrm{F}}_{3}$ neutron detector can be almost rigorously calculated. The value obtained is $\ensuremath{\tau}=206.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.0$ \ensuremath{\mu}sec, giving the neutron-proton capture cross section as (0.330\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.008)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. A possible systematic error from higher modes in the neutron distribution is discussed.
TU‐D‐332‐02: Abdominal Fat Quantification Accuracy Using Water Saturated B‐SSFP MRI Sequences: A Verification Study

Purpose: To verify the fat quantification accuracy of abdominal fat quantification results on images acquired with a Water Saturated b‐SSFP (WS b‐SSFP) MRI Sequence. Method and Materials: 10 healthy (5 female and 5 male) volunteers underwent both WS T1W TSE and WS b‐SSFP scans with breath hold on a 1.5 T clinical MR scanner. For the WS T1W TSE sequence, the parameters were as follows: TR/TE/flip angle = 500 ms/5 ms/90°, turbo factor = 7 and readout bandwidth = 128 KHz. For the WS 3D b‐SSFP sequences, the imaging parameters were as follows: TR/TE/flip angle = 2.9 ms/1.2 ms/55°, ETL = 128 with 12 dummy echoes, and readout bandwidth = 200 KHz. For WS T1W TSE sequence, 6 axial slices centered at L2‐L3 level were acquired in two consecutive expired breath‐holds, with 14 seconds each. Since WS b‐SSFP is a much faster scan, 8 slices (with slice 2–7 imaged at the same positions of the 6 TSE slices) were obtained in 11 seconds in one breath‐hold. For each subject, fat volumes from six common slices of WS TSE and WS b‐SSFP were measured and summed. Total abdominal fat (TAF), intra‐abdominal fat (IAF), and subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAF) volumes from images of both scans were measured and compared. Results: The TAF, IAF, and SAF mean differences of the fat volume measured from images of the two scans are only 0.34%, −0.25%, and 0.91%, respectively. The Bland‐Altman plots show that all the measurement differences between WS b‐SSFP and WS TSE are within the 95% of difference. Conclusion: The two methods are the same in terms of the measurement accuracy for human abdominal imaging. Therefore, WS b‐SSFP MRI can be used for abdominal fat quantification to reduce imaging and post‐processing difficulties and ultimately reduce research cost in abdominal fat distribution studies.
Multiangle technique for measurement of ground-source emission

TAISIR, the Temperature and Imaging System Infrared, is a nominally satellite based platform for remote sensing of the earth. One of its design features is to acquire atmospheric data simultaneous with ground data, resulting in minimal dependence on external atmospheric models for data correction. One technique we employ to acquire atmospheric data is a true multi-angle data acquisition technique. Previous techniques have used only two angles. Here we demonstrate the advantage of using a large number of viewing angles to overconstrain the inversion problem for critical atmospheric and source parameters. For reasonable data acquisition scenarios, simulations show source temperature errors of less than 1K should be possible. Tradeoffs between flight geometry, number of look angles,, and system signal-to-noise are given for typical parameter ranges.
Altered prevalence of gating modes in neurotransmitter inhibition of N-type calcium channels

G protein-mediated inhibition of voltage-activated calcium channels by neurotransmitters has important consequences for the control of synaptic strength. Single-channel recordings of N-type calcium channels in frog sympathetic neurons reveal at least three distinct patterns of gating, designated low-Po, medium-Po, and high-Po modes according to their probability of being open (Po) at -10 millivolts. The high-Po mode is responsible for the bulk of divalent cation entry in the absence of neurotransmitter. Norepinephrine greatly decreased the prevalence of high-Po gating and increased the proportion of time a channel exhibited low-Po behavior or no activity at all, which thereby reduced the overall current. Directly observed patterns of transition between the various modes suggest that activated G protein alters the balance between modal behaviors that freely interconvert even in the absence of modulatory signaling.
Trichinella spiralis: taxes of first-stage migratory larvae.

Abstract Male albino mice were infected orally with 450 ± 10 excysted Trichinella spiralis larvae. Between Days 6 and 11 after infection, adults were collected from the intestine and incubated in vitro. The females shed first-stage migratory larvae which were collected and placed in a migratory chamber. The larvae showed a definite ability to respond to a microenvironmental stimulus. The taxis was positive (p 0.05) to either glycogen or phosphocreatine.
The crystal structure of valeric acid

Crystal structure of valeric acid - hydrogen bonding of fatty acids determined by x-ray diffraction
A spectrum whose cohomology is a certain cyclic module over the steenrod algebra

$1. INTRODUCIION LET A be the mod 2 Steenrod algebra and x : A -+ A the canonical antiautomorphism. We adopt the notation suggested by Frank Adams, namely, if Y is a spectrum, Y,(X) and Y“(X), for a space X, denotes its q-homology and cohomology groups with respect to Y. Let H be the spectrum whose qth term is an Eilenberg MacLane space of type (Z, , q). Let M(k), k 2 0, be the module over A defined by M(k) = A/A{x(Sq’) 1 i > k}. The main result of this paper is:
Political action committees, ‘soft’ money, foreign contributions and US politics: Lessons from the American experience

Political fund‐raising practices in the US have created what might be considered institutionalised bribery, resulting in growing concerns about the role of foreign money, entrenchment of politicians, an intergenerational shift of resources and consolidation of key industries. The new political environment has also spawned a growing sense that all votes and candidates are for sale. This paper reviews a bit of history about American political campaign financing, outlines current abuses, highlights implications of those abuses, and offers a few solutions.
Immunization of Aotus Monkeys with Recombinant Cysteine-Rich Interdomain Region 1α Protects against Severe Disease during Plasmodium falciparum Reinfection

BACKGROUND: After continuous exposure to malarial infections in regions of Africa where malaria is hyperendemic, children attain clinical immunity. This immunity results, in part, from the acquisition of antibodies against a large repertoire of variant antigens expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes, such as the Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). We determined whether a subunit vaccine to a portion of PfEMP1 could induce protection in nonhuman primates. METHODS: We immunized Aotus nancymai monkeys with PfEMP1 recombinant (r) cysteine-rich interdomain region 1 alpha (CIDR1 alpha ) and infected them twice with P. falciparum Vietnam Oak Knoll strain, the most virulent strain of P. falciparum in Aotus monkeys--each infection expressed a different PfEMP1. Anti-PfEMP1 antibodies were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against rCIDR1 alpha and by flow cytometry against infected erythrocytes. RESULTS: Immunization with rCIDR1 alpha was not protective, despite delayed patency during the first infection, but it protected monkeys against severe anemia during reinfection. Protection against anemia is associated with a more rapid increase in antibodies to PfEMP1. CONCLUSION: The findings of reduced severe disease in rCIDR1 alpha -vaccinated Aotus monkeys provide experimental support for a PfEMP1-based vaccine to protect African children against severe malarial disease. Such vaccination may function by priming for the accelerated acquisition of immunity to new PfEMP1 variants.
Discrimination of rippled-spectrum noise from flat-spectrum noise by chinchillas: evidence for a spectral dominance region

Iterated rippled noise having infinite iterations is generated when a flat-spectrum wideband noise is delayed T ms and the delayed version is added to the undelayed noise through positive feedback. The resulting signal has a rippled spectrum, and the perceived pitch of this iterated rippled noise by human listeners corresponds to a frequency of 1/T. We have previously demonstrated that chinchillas can discriminate the rippled-spectrum noise from the flat-spectrum noise. In the present study, chinchillas discriminated a bandpass filtered rippled-spectrum noise from a bandpass flat-spectrum noise in a psychophysical task. The passbands were set to be one octave wide. Psychometric functions were obtained for 5 chinchillas and performance was measured as d'. The best behavioral performance was obtained when the center frequency of the bandpass filter generally corresponded to the 3rd 5th harmonic peak of the rippled noise (i.e., at 3/T to 5/T), but the precise location of the dominant region varied with the delay of the rippled noise such that the dominance region tended to shift to lower harmonics as 1/T increased. These results indicate that not all spectral regions are weighted equally in the discrimination task. The spectral dominance region found in chinchillas is similar to that described for human pitch perception.
An interference network model for optically-routed fiber-optic systems

A memoryless channel model is introduced that is based on non-linear phenomena observed in optically-routed fiber-optic networks. The main characteristic of the model is that amplitude variations are converted into phase interference. Some observations concerning the capacity are made.
Privatization in agro‐food sector: the case of Turkish dairy industry

Purpose – This article aims to focus on the issue of privatization movement in the agro‐food sector, in the light of the Turkish Dairy Industry Enterprises (TSEK) case, and the effects on the sector following privatization. In order to make an appropriate evaluation, the background of the privatization movement and the general structure of the dairy sector in Turkey are examined first.Design/methodology/approach – After a brief evaluation, the privatization process of TSEK and its effects on the sector are discussed in the light of the results of empirical data that obtain from the ANOVA model.Findings – It has been concluded that the liberalization process has been adopted without the setting up of market regulatory policies, thus, the price balance in the dairy sector has changed to the disadvantage of both producers and consumers, while market concentration has increased and regional differentials have become more apparent.Originality/value – This article may be relevant for other countries where priva...
Address space virtualization in reconfigurable computers

Operating Systems virtualize the execution environment of a task by managing the available resources of the system. On traditional architectures a task executes on a static environment, i.e. every instant of a task will be carried upon a fixed set of physical resources. In reconfigurable computers the availability of resources and thus the physical environment upon which a task executes may vary for different executions of a task as well as during the execution of the task. The execution of a task must be independent of configuration. This paper discusses the virtualization of the address space of a task executing in a reconfigurable environment.
Fatigue in Textile Fibers Part VII: Fatiguing by Cyclic Tension; Considerations of Creep and Force Data

Creep measurements during fatiguing by cyclic tension have been made on an acrylic fiber and two types of Dacron,2 at various strokes and frequencies. The curves for creep extension vs fatiguing ti...
Serum high‐density lipoprotein in the crab, Cancer antennarius Stimpson: II. Annual cycles

Hemolymph lipoproteins in crustaceans are of the high-density type (HDL). Serum concentrations of HDL were measured monthly during 1982–1987 in crabs (Cancer antennarius) collected off the coast of Southern California. The annual profiles of concentrations feature female-specific elevations during October–December, with the peak in November being an average four-fold higher than the lows of early summer. The single departure from this pattern occurred in February–March, 1983, coinciding with a rise in water temperature due to the El Nino phenomenon. Females collected in most months were in various stages of egg maturation and brooding females also could be found at any time of year. Despite this heterogeneity, evidence supports an hypothesis that the annual increase in serum HDL occurs when most females in the population are actively vitellogenic.
SUBOPTIMAL VIRULENCE OF AN INSECT-PARASITIC NEMATODE

Recent considerations of parasite virulence have focused on the adverse effects that parasites can have on the survival of their hosts. Many parasites, however, reduce host fitness by an equally deleterious but different means, by causing partial or complete sterility of their hosts. A model of optimal parasite virulence is developed in which a quantity of host resources can be allocated to either host or parasite reproduction. Increases in parasite reproduction thus cause reductions in host fertility. The model shows that under a wide variety of ecological conditions, such parasites should completely sterilize their hosts. Only when opportunities for horizontal transmission are very limited should the parasites appropriate less than all of a host's reproductive resources. Field and laboratory evidence shows that the nematode parasite Howardula aoronymphium is relatively avirulent to one of its principal host species, Drosophila falleni, whereas it is much more virulent to D. putrida and D. neotestacea, suggesting that there may be substantial vertical transmission in D. falleni. However, epidemiological studies in the field and laboratory assays of host specificity strongly suggest that the three host species share a single parasite pool in natural populations, indicating that parasites in all three host species experience high levels of horizontal transmission. Thus, the low virulence of H. aoronymphium to D. falleni is not consistent with the model of optimal parasite virulence. It is proposed that this suboptimal virulence in D. falleni is a consequence of populations of H. aoronymphium being selected to exploit simultaneously several different host species. As a result, virulence may not be optimal in any one host. One must, therefore, consider the full range of host species in assessing a parasite's virulence.
The information zone system

Spatial data is complex data composed of hundreds or thousands of attribute/value pairs that define logical, physical, and abstract geographic features. It has traditionally been available to researchers and other users as paper maps, but it is now commonplace to collect and distribute spatial data as structured graphical elements (e.g., vectors) and their associated relational data sets, or as scanned images (when no analysis is necessary). Even though vast stores of spatial data exist, awareness of and access to these data sets, images, and related documents remain tremendous problems [2]. This situation is due in part to the lack of integration between geographic information systems (GIS), storage management, and network tools. It also is due to the dependence on text-based menus and queries to support access. Text-based access is inconsistent for many spatial data users since users conceptualize and data is organized by geographic location [1].
Selecting Parameters and Limits for Equipment Operational Qualification

While operational qualification (OQ) is a well-established term within equipment qualification, users of equipment often become unsure when it comes to implementation. The biggest problem is how to select procedures and acceptance criteria. Should these be the vendor's specifications or should the users define their own limits, and, if so, how? Should all instruments of the same type have the same values or should these be optimized for each individual instrument? This article will provide an overall strategy and specific examples for HPLC on how to select procedures and acceptance limits that are based on efficient use of resources, on practicality and on the intended use of the equipment.
Cement, carbon dioxide, and the 'necessity' narrative: A case study of Mexico

Abstract Portland cement production accounts for ∼5–7% of total global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, the cement industry is an important target for emissions–reduction strategies. However, according to industry projections, global cement demand will increase 43–72% by 2050, with growth concentrated in such economically-developing regions as India, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. To the cement industry, the challenge is to simultaneously increase cement production while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. To date, industry efforts have included adoption of eco-efficient technologies, alternative and renewable fuel use, blended cements, and carbon sequestration. Yet little attention is given to the dynamics of cement consumption, especially in projected growth regions. In this paper, I use a case study of Mexico to (1) illustrate how cement is predominantly consumed, and (2) examine the role of the cement industry in promoting cement consumption. Recent scholarship on sustainability transitions provides a conceptual framework for understanding how carbon-intensive socio-technical regimes can transition to lower-carbon alternatives. Discursive regulation provides an analytical lens to understand how power dynamics underlying such regimes often forestall sustainable transitions and keep industries locked in to unsustainable practices. The Mexico case study shows that over 50% of cement is used in housing construction. As well, industry narratives linking cement to modernity, sustainability, and environmentalism serve to normalize cement and make it seem a necessity. The paper highlights how the cement industry uses power to discursively regulate cement consumption, which both fosters socio-technical regime path dependency and prevents the sustainable transition of the industry.
Freedom and Violence

topic separately considered is too broad for the brevity I must employ and arrogant because the finest minds of Western civilization Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Hobbes, Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Hegel, Kant, to mention only a few-have written about freedom, or liberty (which I use interchangeably), civil disobedience, rebellion and revolution, individual and collective violence. I can do little more
Swimming movements of ctenophores, and the mechanics of propulsion by ctene rows

This study focuses on the mechanics of ciliary movement of ctenophores in relation to locomotion and feeding, with field and laboratory observations documented with 35 mm photographs and video sequences. Movement through the water is strongly modified by subtleties of body morphology. Whereas the entire ctenophore moves in a flow regime where the Reynolds numbers range from 100 to 6000, the cilia on the surface of the ctenophores move in a flow regime where the Reynolds numbers range only from 10 to 300. The water flow patterns seen by use of fluorescein dye do not match any current model of ciliary flow and assumptions for a new model are postulated. Ctenophores exhibit a wide variety of morphological adaptations that reduce drag, and a variety of behaviours that exploit fine-scale water movements for prey capture.
Vigiles: Fine-Grained Access Control for MapReduce Systems

Security concerns surrounding the rise of Big Data systems have stimulated myriad new Big Data security models and implementations over the past few years. A significant disadvantage shared by most of these implementations is that they customize the underlying system source code to enforce new policies, making the customizations difficult to maintain as these layers evolve over time (e.g., over version updates). This paper demonstrates how a broad class of safety policies, including fine-grained access control policies at the level of key-value data pairs rather than files, can be elegantly enforced on MapReduce clouds with minimal overhead and without any change to the system or OS implementations. The approach realizes policy enforcement as a middleware layer that rewrites the cloud's front-end API with reference monitors. After rewriting, the jobs run on input data authorized by fine-grained access control policies, allowing them to be safely executed without additional system-level controls. Detailed empirical studies show that this more modular approach exhibits just 1% overhead compared to a less modular implementation that customizes MapReduce directly to enforce the same policies.
Electron paramagnetic resonance and relaxation of amorphous silicon below 1 K

Abstract Amorphous silicon, generated within crystalline Si by 28 Si + ion implantation, exhibits an electron spin relaxation rate which varies with temperature as T 2.37 between 0.3 and 4.2 K. These results exclude the current model of a phonon-limited, direct relaxation mechanism in a -Si. A relaxation process, consistent with the known temperature variation, is outlined. EPR signal strengths, relative to a known paramagnet at temperatures near 1.2 and 0.4 K, put limits on an antiferromagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature of 0⩽θ⩽0.06 K.
Some effects of first proton-air interactions on development of giant air showers

Air shower simulations have been studied for dependence on features of the initial proton-air collisions at 10 19 eV. Comparisons are made between results with Sibyll and QGSjet hadronic interaction event generators.
Stimulus control following training on a conditional discrimination

Pigeons were trained on a conditional discrimination in which responding was reinforced either in the presence or in the absence of a vertical line, depending on the color of the key and the chamber’s illumination. When subsequently tested for generalization along the line-orientation dimension, all subjects showed a decremental gradient when the Unes were combined with the color that had signaled reinforcement in the presence of the vertical line. In addition, most subjects showed an incremental gradient when the lines were combined with the color that had signaled no reinforcement in the presence of the vertical line.
Transient myeloproliferative disorder and acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia in Down syndrome

Two infants with Down syndrome had transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) during the neonatal period and subsequently acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL). Histochemically, the blast cells in TMD were indistinguishable from those in ANLL. Only the constitutional chromosome (trisomy 21) was found in TMD, whereas new cytogenetic abnormalities emerged in ANLL. A mixed growth pattern in stem cell cultures during TMD suggested the existence of an abnormal clone that might be responsible for the evolution into ANLL at a later date. Serial cytogenetic studies and culture studies of peripheral blood cells may help to understand the pathophysiology and risk of ANLL in patients with TMD.
Cost of cervical cancer treatment: implications for providing coverage to low-income women under the Medicaid expansion for cancer care.

Abstract Background To date, no study has reported on the cost of treating cervical cancer among Medicaid beneficiaries younger than 65 years of age. This information is essential for assessing the cost effectiveness of screening interventions for low-income women and the funding required for treatment programs established by the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000. Methods Administrative data from the North Carolina Medicaid program linked with cancer registry data were used to analyze total Medicaid costs for these patients and the incremental costs of cervical cancer care at 6 and 12 months from diagnosis. We compared 207 beneficiaries diagnosed with cancer during the years 2002 to 2004 with 414 controls. Findings Total Medicaid costs at 6 months after diagnosis were $3,807, $23,187, $35,853, and $45,028 for in situ, local, regional, and distant cancers, respectively. The incremental cost of cancer treatment for local and regional cancers was $13,935 and $26,174 and by 12 months increased to $15,868 and $30,917, respectively. Conclusion Medicaid coverage may be required for many months after diagnosis to ensure the provision of comprehensive care, especially for women with late-stage cancers. Given the great differences in cost of early versus late-stage cancers, interventions aimed at increasing screening among low-income women are likely to be cost effective.
Different types of contractions in rat colon and their modulation by oxidative stress.

The aim of this study was to investigate the modulation of in vitro rat colonic circular muscle contractions by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced inflammation and in spontaneous inflammation in ...
Prophylaxis of HIV Infection following Occupational Exposure

OBJECTIVE:To review the risk of HIV infection following occupational exposure, the theoretical basis for chemoprophylaxis, investigative experience with chemoprophylaxis in animals and humans, and the economic aspects of postexposure chemoprophylaxis.DATA SOURCES:English-language articles and conference proceedings pertaining to the risk of occupational HIV infection and to postexposure chemoprophylaxis.STUDY SELECTION:Studies evaluating chemoprophylaxis of HIV infection following occupational exposure were selected for review. Abstracts reporting ongoing clinical trials were also included.DATA EXTRACTION:In vitro studies are discussed to provide the immunologic rationale for chemoprophylaxis. Animal studies examining the efficacy of chemoprophylaxis in preventing non-HIV retroviral infection are reviewed, and their applicability to human HIV infection is critically evaluated. Human studies and case reports describing attempts at chemoprophylaxis of HIV infection following occupational exposure are discus...
Lacunae based stabilization of PMLs

Perfectly matched layers (PMLs) are used for the numerical solution of wave propagation problems on unbounded regions. They surround the finite computational domain (obtained by truncation) and are designed to attenuate and completely absorb all the outgoing waves while producing no reflections from the interface between the domain and the layer. PMLs have demonstrated excellent performance for many applications. However, they have also been found prone to instabilities that manifest themselves when the simulation time is long. Hereafter, we propose a modification that stabilizes any PML applied to a hyperbolic partial differential equation/system that satisfies the Huygens' principle (such as the 3D d'Alembert equation or Maxwell's equations in vacuum). The modification makes use of the presence of lacunae in the corresponding solutions and allows us to establish a temporally uniform error bound for arbitrarily long-time intervals. At the same time, it does not change the original PML equations. Hence, the matching properties of the layer, as well as any other properties deemed important, are fully preserved. We also emphasize that besides the aforementioned PML instabilities per se, the methodology can be used to cure any other undesirable long-term computational phenomenon, such as the accuracy loss of low order absorbing boundary conditions.
Athletes, Best Friends, and Social Activists: An Integrative Model Accounting for the Role of Identity in Organizational Identification

Organizational identification links together organizational and member identity, yet we currently lack theory explicating the role of organizational and member identity variations in members' evaluations of organizations as identification targets. In this theoretical paper, I outline a model of organizational identification that aims to do three things—account for the role of identity in the identification process, integrate and extend disparate approaches to organizational identification, and illuminate social comparison processes underlying members' organizational evaluations. The model proposes that members undertake two identity comparisons to assess the value of organizational membership for identification purposes. In one, they compare the organization's current identity with their own identity, allowing them to assess the organization's ability to meet their motivation for self-continuity. In the other, they compare the organization's current identity with its expected identity, allowing them to assess the organization's ability to meet their motivation for self-esteem. After introducing the identity congruence framework, I apply to it the identity orientation lens to make specific predictions about how organizational and member identity shape the nature and outcomes of the specific social comparison content drawn upon in each of the two identity comparisons. This analysis reveals how the metrics used to evaluate organizations fundamentally vary by organizational and member identity. Implications for organizational studies are addressed, including those related to organizing and stakeholder theory.
Protein adsorption and transport in cation exchangers with a rigid backbone matrix with and without polymeric surface extenders.

We compare the properties and protein adsorption characteristics of two polymeric cation exchangers: UNOsphere S, which has an open macroporous architecture, and Nuvia S, which is based on a very similar backbone matrix but contains sulfonated polymeric surface extenders. A monoclonal IgG and lysozyme were used as model adsorbates. The characteristic pore sizes, determined by inverse size exclusion chromatography, were about 140 nm for UNOsphere S, and only about 10 nm for Nuvia S, indicating that the polymeric extenders occupy a substantial portion of the base matrix pores. Greater exclusion limits were found for Nuvia S in 1 M NaCl and for a similar matrix containing uncharged surface extenders, suggesting that the polymeric extenders collapse partially at high ionic strength or when they are uncharged. Large equilibrium binding capacities were obtained for Nuvia S, approaching 320 ± 10 mg/mL of particle volume for both proteins in comparison with the UNOsphere S values of 170 ± 10 and 120 ± 10 mg/mL for lysozyme and IgG, respectively. Much higher adsorption rates were also found for Nuvia S, and the rate was nearly independent of protein concentration in solution. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed very sharp intraparticle protein concentration profiles for UNOsphere S, consistent with a pore diffusion mechanism but diffuse concentration profiles for Nuvia S, consistent with a solid diffusion mechanism. The improved capacity and transport afforded by the polymeric extenders provide substantial potential benefits for bioprocess applications without sacrificing the desirable flow properties of the backbone matrix. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2011
Slipping the knot: a comparison of knots used in adjustable suture strabismus surgery

Purpose To evaluate the frictional force created by different knots used in adjustable suture strabismus surgery. Methods To allow the simulation of strabismus surgery suture tying methods a model using 6-0 polyglactin 910 suture was created. Three different knots were evaluated: (1) the sliding noose knot with a double wrap of suture, (2) the cinch knot with a single throw on both sides of the pole suture, (2) and a single-throw square knot. (Bow-tie knots were not included.) A digital force meter was used to measure the force (gram-force [gf]) required to overcome the static friction created by the knot. Each simulation was repeated with new suture material 5 times and the force required after subsequent repositioning was also recorded. Results The force to overcome static friction of the sliding noose knot was 240 gf [95% CI, 187–284 gf]; of the cinch knot, 150 gf [95% CI, 123–167 gf]; and of the square knot, 110 gf [95% CI, 95–121 gf]. Subsequent movement of each knot along the same suture required progressively less force, with the sliding noose maintaining the most static friction. Conclusions The sliding noose knot generates the most frictional force and also maintains the most friction after subsequent repositioning. Important consideration should be given to multiple repositioning movements, because the force required for each subsequent repositioning decreases.
Adrenal Cortex and Renal Pressor Function

The pressor response of the nephrectomized rat to the injection of kidney extracts and to a renal graft, was used as an index of the renal content and secretion of pressor substances during adrenal insufficiency or treatment with corticosteroids. Adrenalectomy caused an elevation of both content and secretion, which was best demonstrated after two to three weeks of maintenance therapy. Treatment with cortisone and cortisol decreased slightly but significantly the secretion of pressor substances without altering renal content. ACTH had no effect on either function. Sequential studies of content and secretion of pressor substances during treatment with DCA plus salt showed first a rapid disappearance of prossor activity from renal vein blood followed by a decrease in renal content to near zero levels; DCA without excess salt elicited the same effects but more gradually; administration of 1% saline alone decreased secretion without altering content. It is concluded that salt active corticosteroids specifically inhibit the formation and secretion of renal pressor substances and that determination of the index of secretion constitutes a more reliable and sensitive indicator of the renal pressor function than determination of the pressor activity in kidney extracts.