cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bacterial carotenoids suppress Caenorhabditis elegans surveillance and defense of translational dysfunction

Abstract Microbial toxins and virulence factors often target the eukaryotic translation machinery. Caenorhabditis elegans surveils for such microbial attacks by monitoring translational competence, and if a deficit is detected, particular drug detoxification and bacterial defense genes are induced. The bacteria Kocuria rhizophila has evolved countermeasures to animal translational surveillance and defense pathways. Here, we used comprehensive genetic analysis of Kocuria rhizophila to identify the bacterial genetic pathways that inhibit C. elegans translational toxin surveillance and defense. Kocuria rhizophila mutations that disrupt its ability to disable animal immunity and defense map to multiple steps in the biosynthesis of a 50-carbon bacterial carotenoid from 5 carbon precursors. Extracts of the C50 carotenoid from wild type K. rhizophila could restore this bacterial anti-immunity activity to K. rhizophila carotenoid biosynthetic mutant. Corynebacterium glutamicum, also inhibits the C. elegans translation detoxification response by producing the C50 carotenoid decaprenoxanthin, and C. glutamicum carotenoid mutants are defective in this suppression of C. elegans detoxification. Consistent with the salience of these bacterial countermeasures to animal drug responses, bacterial carotenoids sensitize C. elegans to drugs that target translation and inhibit food aversion behaviors normally induced by protein translation toxins or mutations. The surveillance and response to toxins is mediated by signaling pathways conserved across animal phylogeny, suggesting that these bacterial carotenoids may also suppress such human immune and toxin responses.
Dietary composition and particle size effects on swine manure characteristics and gas emissions

Nutrients excreted from animals affect the nutritive value of manure as a soil amendment as well as the composition of gases emitted from manure storage facilities. There is a dearth of information, however, on how diet type in combination with dietary particle size affects nutrients deposited into manure storage facilities and how this affects manure composition and gas emissions. To fill this knowledge gap, an animal feeding trial was performed to evaluate potential interactive effects between feed particle size and diet composition on manure characteristics and manure-derived gaseous emissions. Forty-eight finishing pigs housed in individual metabolism crates that allowed for daily collection of urine and feces were fed diets differing in fiber content and particle size. Urine and feces were collected and stored in 446-L stainless steel containers for 49 d. There were no interactive effects between diet composition and feed particle size on any manure or gas emission parameter measured. In general, diets higher in fiber content increased manure nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations and increased manure VFA emissions but decreased manure ammonia emissions. Decreasing the particle size of the diet lowered manure N, C, VFAs, phenolics, and indole concentrations and decreased manure emissions of total VFAs. Neither diet composition nor particle size affected manure greenhouse gas emissions.
Modification of the abductor digiti minimi muscle flap for soft tissue coverage of the diabetic foot

The local intrinsic abductor digiti minimi muscle flap is ideal for lateral, plantar lateral traumatic or diabetic foot wounds following adequate surgical debridement to eradicate any soft tissue and/or osseous infection. Although the indications and surgical technique have been well-described in the literature, the authors present a unique modification of tunnelling the harvested muscle flap directly from the donor site to the plantar recipient foot wound by maintaining the intact overlying skin island at the surface of the fifth metatarsal base. This modification allows preservation of the patient's skin integrity in this area, thereby minimising potential morbidity at the major pedicle site. After the harvested muscle is tunnelled through the intact skin island, an adjacent local random flap mobilisation, autogenous or allogeneic skin graft can then be used for coverage over the muscle inset if primary wound closure is not feasible. Simultaneous soft tissue or osseous surgical procedures and/or surgical offloading with external fixation at the time of index surgery may be necessary to achieve optimal outcomes. The authors present a modified surgical technique for the abductor digiti minimi muscle flap that can be performed in the surgical reconstruction of a soft tissue wound in patients with diabetic Charcot neuroarthropathy.
Simple relativistic quark models

A class of phenomenological relativistic models of hadronic systems motivated by quantum chromodynamics that have dual representations as models of mesons and nucleons or quarks and gluons is investigated. These models are designed to provided qualitative insight into the role of sea quarks in hadronic structure and reactions. The model assumption is that the Hamiltonian can be divided into two parts: one that involves degrees of freedom in the same connected local and global color singlet and the remaining interactions that allow the connected local and global color singlets to interact. The first class of interactions results in infinite towers of bare ``particles'' with hadronic quantum numbers. All but a finite number of these remain stable when the second class of interactions is included. The model interactions are expressed in terms of subhadronic degrees of freedom, which determine the bare hadronic spectrum and the interactions involving the bare hadrons in terms of a small number of subhadronic model parameters. As a first test, this paper considers the simplest case of mesons that interact via a string-breaking interaction. One virtue of this model is that all of the bare meson masses and eigenfunctions can be computed analytically. In addition, the string-breaking interaction leads to production vertices that can also be computed analytically. The relativistic wave functions have a light-front kinematic symmetry. The goal is to find a simple relativistic quantum mechanical model based on subhadronic degrees of freedom that can provide an efficient, qualitatively consistent description of hadronic masses, lifetimes, cross sections, sea quark effects, and electromagnetic properties. The simplicity of the model makes it a potentially useful tool to study the impact of sea quarks on hadronic structure and reactions.
Lost to follow up: Exploring patients who initially fail cochlear implant evaluation.

Objective: To explore variables predicting which individuals return for repeat cochlear implantation (CI) evaluation after initially not qualifying. Study design: Retrospective chart review. Settin...
The Transformation of Social Institutions in the North American Southeast

Corporate institutions, which transformed in the American Southeast over some 14,000 years, include social heterarchies and hierarchies that arose within the institutional contexts of descent groups, ritual sodalities, and social houses. The strategic and tactical actions of competitive and cooperative agents contributed to differing expressions of organizational changes through a variety of forms, including feasting, feuding/warfare, inalienable goods circulation, indebtedness, monumental constructions, mortuary events, processions/rogations, strategic marriages, and additional ritual and social practices. The nexus of social institutions that evolved along these pathways served as a catalyst for social changes, including the ways through which social institutions became transformed. Such social processes inform archaeologists of the agency, organization, and practice of people who not only invented and manipulated cosmologies, ideologies, institutions, and resources to achieve varying degrees of inequality, power, and wealth, but also those who resisted the efforts of aggrandizers. The author’s arguments focus on aristocratic social actions and actors, and the practices that enabled them to gain power and wealth through exclusive and restrictive corporate institutions.
Leaders of the Pack: A Comparison of Chairs and Chiefs to Other Surgeons in American Academic Plastic Surgery.

ABSTRACT Chairs/chiefs of plastic surgery departments/divisions are responsible for directing activities at academic institutions and thus help determine the direction of academic plastic surgery. Other studies have characterized this group but have not shown which characteristics separate them from other surgeons in the field. To study this relationship, a cross-sectional analysis of plastic surgery faculty affiliated with United States residency training programs (n = 99) was initiated. Data were collected from public online websites. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify factors independently associated with chairs/chief status. Sub-analyses were performed within Tiers stratified by residency program rank of chair/chief's current institution. Among 943 plastic surgeons, 98 chairs/chiefs were identified. In accordance with prior literature, most are male (89%) and fellowship-trained (62%), and they have a median H-index of 17. Compared to other surgeons, chair/chiefs have more years in practice (odds ratio [OR]: 1.026, confidence interval [CI]: 0.002-0.049, P = 0.034), higher H-index (OR: 1.103, CI: 0.048-0.147, P < 0.001), and more citations (OR: 1.000, CI: -0.000 to -0.001, P = 0.006). Chair/chiefs were also more likely to be journal editorial board members (OR: 1.728, CI: -0.033 to 1.127, P = 0.046) and national society/organization presidents (OR: 1.024, CI: 0.008-0.039, P = 0.003). No notable differences were found between department chairs versus division chiefs or across Tiers. Overall, scholarly achievement and significant years of experience distinguish chairs/chiefs in American academic plastic surgery. Criteria for achieving this leadership role may not differ between departments and divisions. Further research is needed to evaluate whether these characteristics translate into more effective leadership.
Stigmatization of medications for opioid use disorder in 12-step support groups and participant responses

Background: 12-step groups are the most common approach to managing opioid use disorder (OUD) in the U.S. Medications for OUD (MOUD) are the most effective tool for preventing opioid misuse and relapse. Previous research has identified stigma of MOUD in 12-step groups. Objectives: We sought to identify how MOUD stigma is operationalized in 12-step groups and to identify responses to stigma. Methods: We recruited individuals with both MOUD experience and 12-step group experience from three syringe exchange programs in the U.S. using snowball sampling. We conducted individual telephone semi-structured interviews during 2018 and 2019. We coded data in Dedoose software and conducted thematic analysis using iterative categorization. Results: We recruited 30 individuals meeting our inclusion criteria. The following stigma operationalization methods were identified: prohibiting people using MOUD from speaking at meetings; encouraging shortened duration of MOUD treatment; refusing to sponsor people using MOUD; and refusing to let people using MOUD claim recovery time. Responses to stigma included the following: feeling shame; feeling anger; shopping around for different groups, leaving the group, or forming a new group; not revealing MOUD utilization or only telling a sponsor; speaking out on behalf of MOUD; and using cognitive approaches to avoid stigma internalization. Cognitive approaches included believing that anti-MOUD stigma is contrary to 12-step principles; disregarding statements as inaccurate based on one's experience of MOUD benefits; and accepting that all groups of humans have some ignorant people. Conclusion: Healthcare systems should help address MOUD stigma experienced by patients in 12-step groups, such as by offering non-12-step alternative groups and encouraging MOUD healthcare providers to prepare patients for potential stigma they may face. Some stigma response options, like shopping around for different groups, may not be feasible in rural areas or for participants newer to recovery.
Identification of approximate symmetries in biological development.

Virtually all forms of life, from single-cell eukaryotes to complex, highly differentiated multicellular organisms, exhibit a property referred to as symmetry. However, precise measures of symmetry...
Cognitive Theory: Schemas, Attributes, and Decision Biases

The world surrounding us presents us with a constantly changing flow of stimulation. We are bombarded by an ever-shifting pattern of light and heat radiation, surges of sound impulses, and other stimulus qualities to which we are sensitive. How do we ever make sense of it? How is it possible that we come to “know” our environments and ourselves, with a sense of easy familiarity? These questions provide the basis for this chapter. In the present chapter we discuss some ideas from cognitive psychology about how our knowledge of the world is acquired and organized, and how it is utilized in new settings. In the following two chapters we consider the implications of these ideas for understanding how people organize and use knowledge of themselves, and of their physical and social environments (cf. Kelly, 1955).
A Review of “The Wars of Myron King: A B-17 Pilot Faces WWII and U.S.-Soviet Intrigue”

There is an old cliche that pronounces, You cannot make up a story like this. A prime example of this is the case of the World War II experience of Myron King. James Lee McDonough (a noted Civil Wa...
CHRONIC INTERSTITIAL PNEUMONITIS IN PEDIATRIC AIDS AND AIDS RELATED COMPLEX (PRODROME)

28 of 30 (93%) children with AIDS or prodrome displayed clinical and radiologic evidence of progressive interstitial pulmonary disease. Usually no adventitious sounds were heard on pulmonary auscultation. Digital clubbing occurred in 6 patients. Chronic hypoxia (PO2<80 on room air) developed in most patients. Chest roentogenograms displayed diffuse reticulonodular interstitial densities with perihilar haze. Histologically, interstitial lymphocyte and plasma cell infiltration was noted in 8 of 8 pulmonary biopsy specimens. Infiltrates were both focal-nodular and diffuse, occurring both within alveolar septae and surrounding bronchioles. Silver methenamine stain was positive for pneumocystis carinii in 3 patients, all of whom responded well to intravenous Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxasole or Pentamidine. Mycobacterium avium was isolated in 2 patients. Pulmonary cyto-megalovirus was noted in 2 patients. In 2 patients resolution of chronic hypoxia was achieved following daily and subsequently alternate day Prednisone therapy. Chronic intersitital pulmonary disease in pediatric patients with AIDS or its prodrome may be similar to lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis and may be a manifestation of polyclonal B cell activation.
Immigration Policy in Europe

This chapter presents a brief history of European immigration policy. Europe shifted from being a major source of immigrants for several centuries to itself becoming a major destination of immigrants after the middle of the twentieth century. European immigration policy today is an interesting compromise between mitigating the difficulties of absorbing large numbers of foreigners, expanding the free movement of people among the member states of the European Union, and respecting high standards for civil and human rights. This chapter concludes with discussions on temporary immigration programs and to what degree immigration can mitigate the problem of population ageing.
8 Economic thresholds and nematode management

Publisher Summary Models to estimate economic threshold population levels of plant-parasitic nematodes are increasingly used to help manage pests. The accuracy of economic predictions based on the measurement of plant-parasitic nematodes depends heavily on factors that influence the host-parasite interaction. Variation in the characteristics of a given soil environment and those extraneous factors that will occur at an unknown frequency or intensity, compromise the value of present efforts to forecast nematode-induced crop loss. This chapter reviews methods that have been developed to estimate nematode population thresholds and apply the information for nematode control. Interest in alternatives to nematicides for nematode control is high. Quantitative models of the effects on nematode populations of crop rotation, biological control, resistance and tolerance, cultural practices, and other control measures have been developed to help foster research progress and to aid in their application in the field. Accordingly, some methods to manage nematodes are reviewed as are methods to predict their effects on nematode populations.
In Brief: Climate change effects on European seas and coasts

Greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere are likely to have persistent impacts in a range of areas, including on seas and coasts. A new report from a working group of the European Science Foundation's Marine Board has documented existing knowledge about climate change and its potential impacts on European seas and coasts. The report also makes several recommendations for future monitoring. These include a call for the research community to better predict and identify the nature and rate of the consequences of climate change on the marine environment, including marine organisms, as well as potential feedback mechanisms. The report also identifies future monitoring, modeling, and research needs.
Temperature Stability Limits for an Isothermal Demagnetization Refrigerator

Magnetic refrigeration can provide additional cooling for infrared detectors on space missions such as the Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) and the Large Deployable Reflector (LDR). From the 2 K offered by the primary cryogens, such refrigerators could cool bolometers or pumped photoconductors to 0.1 K or below. The lower operating temperatures would allow greater sensitivity for bolometers and longer wavelength response for pumped photoconductors. The sensitivity of detector systems also depends on the stability of the operating temperature. Two types of magnetic refrigeration cycles have been proposed1–3: One (Refs. 1, 2) uses a feedback-controlled isothermal demagnetization; the other (Ref. 3), uses a complete demagnetization. This paper will discuss the temperature stability limits of the former type. The stability of the latter type is easily calculated from the heat capacity and heat leak of the refrigerator.
Empathy, Shame, Guilt, and Narratives of Interpersonal Conflicts: Guilt-Prone People Are Better at Perspective Taking

Both guilt and empathic perspective taking have been linked to prosocial, relationship-enhancing effects. Study 1 found that shame was linked to personal distress, whereas guilt was linked to perspective taking. In Studies 2 and 3, subjects were asked to describe a recent experience of interpersonal conflict, once from their own perspective, and once from the perspective of the other person. Guilt-prone people and guilt-dominated stories were linked to better perspective taking (measured by changes between the two versions of the story) than others. Shame had no effect. Guilt improved relationship outcomes but shame harmed them. Path analysis suggested that trait guilt-proneness leads to perspective taking, which leads to actual guilt feelings, which produces beneficial relationship outcomes. Guilt feelings may mediate the relationship-enhancing effects of empathy.
A real-time Petri nets simulator for automated manufacturing systems

A real-time Petri nets simulator (RTPNS), including software specifications, interactive algorithm, firing rule, and real-time implementation, is presented. The software provides an intuitive design tool with graphical orientation and convenient debugging capability for the modeling and control of automated manufacturing systems. The complex interactions among control, communication, and database functions in a manufacturing environment is also addressed by using a Petri net model. The performance of the total system is evaluated by the developed software through computer simulation. The firing time, a key to the production rate, can be optimally selected through the simulation results. A computer simulation of control of a prototype flexible manufacturing system using the RTPNS is described. >
Estimation of the chemical diffusion coefficient of H2O in Ba3Ca1.18Nb1.82O(9-δ) from conductivity measurements

Four-probe de measurements were conducted on a polycrystalline material of composition Ba 3 Ca 1.18 Nb 1.82 O, which showed that the conductivity changed linearly with time during the initial stages when the atmosphere was changed from dry air to wet air. of vice versa. In order to analyze this transient conductivity change with time, a model was developed assuming rapid surface reaction The model was then used to fit the experimental traces of conductivity vs. time, and estimate the chemical diffusion coefficient of H 2 O, D H2O , over a range of temperatures from 400 to 900 C. The temperature dependence of the chemical diffusion coefficient could be described by an Arrhenius equation with an activation chergy of ∼0.80 eV. The technique was also used to estimate the chemical diffusion coefficient of H 2 O in BaCe 0.85 Gd 0.15 O (3-δ) .
Cochrane systematic reviews and co-publication: dissemination of evidence on interventions for ophthalmic conditions

Systematic reviews of interventions provide a summary of the evidence available on intervention effectiveness and harm. Cochrane systematic reviews (CSRs) have been published electronically in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) since 1994, and co-publication (publication of a Cochrane review in another journal) has been allowed since that time, as long as the co-publishing journal has agreed to the arrangement. Although standards for co-publication were established in 2008, the frequency of co-publication and adherence to the standards have remained largely unexamined. Our objective was to examine the frequency of co-publication of Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group (CEVG) reviews, adherence to the co-publication policy, the relative numbers of citations of the two modes of publishing, and differences in times cited in CSRs with and without a co-publication. We identified all CEVG reviews published by May 30, 2014 in The Cochrane Library. Using keywords from the title, author names, and “Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group”, we searched Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases to identify possible co-publications. We also emailed contact authors of all identified CEVG reviews to ask them whether they had published their CSR elsewhere. We compared each co-publication to the corresponding CEVG review for adherence to the Cochrane Policy Manual (dated June 10, 2014). We recorded the number of times each CEVG review and each co-publication had been cited by others according to Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus, as of June 11, 2014. We identified 117 CEVG reviews;19 had been co-published in 22 articles. Adherence to Cochrane policy on co-publication was moderate, with all authors complying with at least one of four requirements we addressed. Co-publications were cited more often than the corresponding CEVG reviews; CEVG reviews with at least one co-publication were cited approximately twice as often as CEVG reviews without a co-publication. The number of citations varied considerably depending on whether the CEVG review had a co-publication or not. The findings support encouraging co-publication while maintaining the primacy of the Cochrane systematic review. Support for co-publication may be tempered by other factors such as the possibility that CEVG reviews with a co-publication covered more clinically important and timely topics than those without a co-publication. Assuming that citations are a valid measure of dissemination effectiveness, the 15-year CEVG experience with co-publication of systematic reviews suggests that Cochrane authors should be encouraged to co-publish in traditional medical journals.
Biogeography of goby lineages (Gobiiformes: Gobioidei): origin, invasions and extinction throughout the Cenozoic

Aim To combine a time-calibrated phylogeny with distributional, fossil and geomorphological data to infer the patterns of lineage origins and biogeography among gobies. Location Global marine areas (Indo-West Pacific, Western Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Atlantic and Eastern Pacific) throughout the Cenozoic. Methods I inferred a molecular phylogeny using beast, simultaneously calibrating nodes for Gobiidae, Gobionellidae and their combined clade. I used that phylogeny, coupled with current range data, to reconstruct historical distributions with the R module BioGeoBEARS under both a dispersal, extinction and cladogenesis (DEC) model and an augmented model including founder effect speciation (DEC+J). I then compared model fits for placing the ancestral node of Gobiidae + Gobiidae at varying reef hotspots throughout the Cenozoic: the West Tethys (Mediterranean), Western Indian Ocean or Indo-West Pacific. Results Goby lineages arose over a 12–13 million year period in the late Eocene, followed by repeated invasions of the Eastern Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean from an ancestral Indo-West Pacific distribution. Optimization with DEC+J is preferred to DEC, but constraining the root of the phylogeny with a West Tethyan (Mediterranean) or Western Indian Ocean distribution does not result in significantly different model fits under DEC+J. Main conclusions In Gobiidae, several lineages migrated through the West Tethys to the Atlantic, followed by extinction in the Mediterranean. In contrast, lineages of Gobionellidae in the Mediterranean did not spread beyond the eastern North Atlantic. Gobionellidae invaded the Eastern Pacific by distinct routes in different lineages, either from the Caribbean through the open Isthmus of Panama or around the northern Pacific Rim. Eastern Pacific Gobiidae are younger and derived from tropical Atlantic clades. Although the reconstructed ancestral area of gobies is the Indo-West Pacific, fossils indicate that gobioids were present in the West Tethys region throughout the Oligocene and Miocene, including taxa that are not known from that area today.
Therapy: Azithromycin and decolonization after HUS

An observational study associates azithromycin use with accelerated stool decolonization in patients infected with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O104:H4. Even if this association is causal, however, the value of late-in-illness treatment is not established and the results provide no support for early-in-illness treatment of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections.
On the laminar and turbulent free convection heat transfer from a vertical plate over the entire range of Prandtl numbers

Abstract In a number of papers, Arpaci et al. (Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 29, 1071 (1986); 40, 3819 (1997) obtained equations for the laminar and turbulent heat transfer in free convection from a vertical plate over the entire range of Prandtl numbers. The objective of the present paper is to note that their approach for the laminar case is similar to that of Ruckenstein (AIChE Journal, 26, 850 (1980). Their treatment of the turbulent case differs from that of Ruckenstein and Felske (J. Heat Transfer, 102, 773 (1980) and arguments are brought to demonstrate that the latter is more plausible than the former.
GRISLEE: Gasmain Repair and Inspection System for Live Entry Environments:

US gas companies spend over $300 million annually detecting and repairing gas leaks in urban and suburban settings. The current approach is one of above-ground leak detection and pinpointing, follo...
A simple technique to eliminate ethylene emissions from biochar amendment in agriculture

Biochars have potential value for greenhouse nurseries as a potting amendment, reducing the need for environmentally costly products currently in use. The onsite manufacture of biochars by pyrolysis of woody waste offers additional greenhouse value as a source of clean heat. However, recent work observed that some biochars may evolve ethylene gas, a plant hormone that has adverse effects on many nursery crops. We hypothesize that suitable post-production handling techniques would eliminate ethylene emissions. We monitored for 6 months ethylene emissions from four fresh biochars made from two feedstocks at two temperatures. We also monitored samples of expanded vermiculite for comparison. We then repeated the same testing on the same batches of biochars after they had been stored in the open for 90 days. Ethylene can affect plant development in greenhouses at concentrations as low as 10 ppb. Biochars sampled that were made from hazelnut shells at 370 °C emitted 161 to 183 μg ethylene kg−1 biochar on the first day of incubation and then tapered down slowly. Hazelnut shell biochars prepared at 620 °C emitted 37 to 43 μg ethylene kg−1 biochar the first day of incubation, but then increased slightly on the second day and did not begin to taper off until after day 14. Biochars made from Douglas fir wastes released small amounts of ethylene beginning on the second day, but ceased doing so after the first week. None of the biochars stored in the open for 90 days following manufacture emitted any ethylene. We conclude that this simple post-production handling technique renders biochars safe for use as nursery and greenhouse potting amendments, possibly replacing environmentally expensive expanded vermiculite and/or peat.
Predicting Shifts in the Mean of a Multivariate Time Series Process: An Application in Predicting Business Failures

Abstract A firm in the early stages of financial distress exhibits characteristics different from those of healthy firms. As the economic condition of a firm worsens, its financial characteristics shift toward those of failed firms. Practitioners in the financial sector have long been interested in the early detection of a firm's slide toward insolvency. Several models have been developed with this purpose in mind, but these older models are static in nature. Therefore, a need exists for the development of business failure prediction models that assess the financial condition of firms sequentially over time. This article addresses this need by presenting a sequential business failure prediction model.
Is the argument from marginal cases obtuse

Elizabeth Anderson claims that the argument from marginal cases is 'the central argument' behind the claim that nonhuman animals have rights. But she thinks, along with Cora Diamond, that the argument is 'obtuse'. Two different meanings could be intended here: that the argument from marginal cases is too blunt or dull to dissect the reasons why it makes sense to say that nonhuman animals have rights or that the argument from marginal cases is insensitive regarding nonrational human beings (the marginal cases of humanity). The purpose of the present article is to argue that, despite Anderson's and Diamond's nuanced and perceptive treatments of the argument from marginal cases, this argument is not obtuse in either sense of the term.
The International Monetary Fund and Economic Stabilization: The Argentine Case

Preface Economic Stabilization, the IMF, and the Argentine Case Industrializations, Balance-of-Payments Crisis, and the Creation of External Debt The Stabilization Plan of the Frondizi Administration The Stabilization Plan of the Videla Administration The Stabilization Plan of the Alfonsin Administration Conclusions Selected Bibliography Index
The relative expression of mutant and normal thyroid hormone receptor genes in patients with generalized resistance to thyroid hormone determined by estimation of their specific messenger ribonucleic acid products.

Generalized resistance to thyroid hormone (GRTH), is a syndrome of reduced tissue responsiveness to thyroid hormone. So far, mutations linked to GRTH have been only detected in the hormone-binding domain of the human thyroid hormone receptor (hTR)-beta gene. Although there is no doubt that these mutations result in abnormal hTRs, there is a conspicuous lack of correlation between the severity of clinical manifestations and the degree of functional impairment of the mutant hTRs. In this work we examined whether variable expression of mutant genes relative to the normal genes could explain the observed discrepancies. The relative amounts of mutant and normal hTR beta and normal hTR alpha messenger RNAs in fibroblasts from normal subjects and those from individuals with GRTH were estimated by coamplification of their complementary DNA products. Heterozygous subjects with GRTH from two families manifesting differences in the severity of clinical manifestations expressed equally both normal and mutant hTR beta...
Human T-cell Kv1.3 potassium channel blockers: new strategies for immunosuppression

Blockers of the Kv1.3 channel, a voltage-gated K+ channel found in human T-cells, have recently been recognised as a general strategy for immunosuppression. These blockers are divided into two classes – peptidyl and non-peptidyl Kv1.3 channel blockers. This article covers the patents filed for Kv1.3 channel blockers dating from 1996 to the first quarter of 2000.
Manual and Automated Measurement of the Whole Thalamus and Mediodorsal Nucleus Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The thalamus is an important relay structure in the brain that may be relevant to a variety of brain diseases. It is divided into multiple subnuclei with different cortical connections. The medial dorsal (MD) nucleus is particularly important because it forms key connections with the prefrontal cortex. The current study reports precise and efficient methods for measuring the whole thalamus and the MD with MRI that have a high degree of interrater reliability. A multispectral image acquisition and novel image processing technique were used to improve structure visibility. The tricolor image assigns a color to each of the T1, T2, and PD weighted images, represented by red, green, and blue, respectively. The manually defined regions were then used to train an artificial neural network (ANN) to automatically define both the whole thalamus and the MD. The ANN provides an efficient automated method, making studies using larger sample sizes more feasible.
Pretend Companions (Imaginary Playmates): The Emergence of a Field.

Over the last century, investigation of pretend companions has developed as an emerging field. Although pretend companions are a commonplace childhood phenomenon and perhaps an epitome of children's imagination, that topic received little attention before the end of the 19th century. Only since the last decade has attention to it truly begun to burgeon. Broad developments in the history of thought and research on pretend companions fall into 6 stages: (a) early history, (b) early theory, (c) earliest empirical research, (d) midcentury lull, (e) a renewal of empirical attention, and (f) emergence into a significant field whose investigators are committed to reliable, increasingly sophisticated methods and to the examination of pretend companions within the broader context of pretend play. Following depictions of the field's past and current status, the authors present future directions for its progress.
Planting Date and Irrigation Effects on Seed Quality of Early-Maturing Soybean in the Mid-South USA

ABSTRACT Information is lacking in soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr.] on whether or not variety selection and management practices can improve seed quality in early production systems. Effects of planting date, irrigation, genotype and maturity on seed quality traits in soybean were investigated in Arkansas for two years. Irrigation (I), planting dates (PD), and maturity groups/genotypes (MG/G) significantly affected seed quality traits. The MG/G, followed by I and PD treatments, made the largest contribution to variations in seed quality traits. Irrigation and late planting significantly improved seed standard and cold germination for most maturity groups. Irrigation also tended to increase seed protein content, whereas planting dates had no impact on seed protein and oil content. Both irrigation and planting dates had little or no effect on visual seed quality and seed pathogen infection. Maturity group and genotype significantly affected all seed quality traits. Late-maturing genotypes exhibited significa...
The effect of different diets or mineral oil on liver pathology and polybrominated biphenyl concentration in tissues.

Abstract Groups of 10 adult (3.5 months) male Sherman strain rats were given 0 or a single dose of 500 mg polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) in corn oil/kg by stomach tube. Three weeks later, groups of 10 rats each that had received 500 mg/kg and groups of 10 rats each that had been given corn oil were started on a purified 20% fiber or 4% fiber diet. Ten rats each that had received 500 mg/kg or corn oil were continued on Purina Chow. An additional group of 10 rats given 500 mg/kg was also continued on Purina Chow but was given 2 ml mineral oil/kg three times a week. All rats were given the different diets or the mineral oil for 3 months. Chemical analysis of blood, liver, and adipose tissue by gas chromatography for PBBs showed no statistically significant difference in the PBB concentrations in blood and adipose tissue among the different groups. The PBB concentrations in the liver of rats fed Purina Chow were significantly lower than in the other groups if they were calculated on a wet weight basis. When PBB concentrations in liver were calculated on a lipid basis, the differences were not statistically significant. Total liver lipids showed statistically significant increases in rats given 500 mg/kg followed by 4 or 20% purified fiber diet or by Purina Chow and 2 ml of mineral oil/kg every other day. Microscopic examination of the livers showed essentially normal parenchyma in all rats that had not received PBBs. The rats given a single oral dose of 500 mg/kg which was followed by Purina Chow or Purina Chow and mineral oil showed some centrolobular vacuolated hepatocytes and enlarged hepatocytes around the central veins. The vacuolation was more pronounced in rats receiving Purina Chow and mineral oil also. Rats given 500 mg/kg followed by 4 or 20% purified fiber diet showed severe steatosis of the liver with megalo-hepatocytes, areas of cell necrosis and interstitial fibrosis. The interstitial fibrosis was more pronounced in rats given the 20% purified fiber diet. These results indicate a pronounced additive effect on PBB liver toxicity in rats by the 4 or 20% purified fiber diets which may be deficient in some nutrients or may prevent absorption of important nutrients.
Arthroscopic subacromial decompression in the treatment of full-thickness rotator cuff tears

Arthroscopic subacromial decompression has become an accepted treatment for patients with impingement syndrome; however, its use for full-thickness rotator cuff tears is controversial. We observed 25 patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears treated by arthroscopic subacromial decompression and cuff debridement alone with a minimum of 1 year follow-up observation. Based on the University of California at Los Angeles shoulder rating, 84% of the cases were rated as excellent or good. There was significant improvement in pain, function, motion, and strength. Eighty-eight percent of the patients were satisfied with the procedure. Although all tear sizes improved significantly, smaller tears fared better than larger tears. The preliminary results of arthroscopic subacromial decompression with cuff debridement compare favorably to open techniques of rotator cuff repair with or without acromioplasty and should be considered in selected patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears.
Composite-Component Transformation and Predictive Coding of the Component Color TV Signal

Component coding of the NTSC color TV signal is investigated. This coding involves digital demodulation of the composite signal sampled at three times the color subcarrier frequency, the implementation of the compression algorithms on the subsampled component signal, and digital reconstruction of the processed NTSC color signal. The comb filter, bandpass filter, and Hilbert transformer are used for the demodulation of the luminance and the I and Q chrominance signals. The reconstructed components at the receiver are interpolated and modulated to obtain the composite signal. Different combinations of comb filters, bandpass filters and Hilbert transformers are used to investigate their effect on compositecomponent separation and reconstruction. Because of their reduced bandwidths, the chrominance signals are subsampled both horizontally and vertically. Several intrafield and intraline predictors are simulated. Of these, three predictors with small variances of the prediction error are combined with 4 and 3 bit Max quantizers for further processing and transmission in a TDM format. The data compression algorithms have been applied to color test pictures and their effectiveness is compared on the basis of quantitative criteria. The bandwidth reduction technique results in digital transmission of a single color TV signal at 32-43 Mbits/s.
Discrete-Event Sensor Fault Isolation With Application to an Electro-Mechanical Break System

Fault detection and isolation has become one of the most important aspects in vehicle control system design. In this paper, a new method for single sensor fault detection and isolation for automotive on-board applications that combines model-based diagnostic and qualitative modeling approach is presented. A depth one algorithm for qualitative identification is given and applied to a electro-brake system.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Block copolymer thin films: Pattern formation and phase behavior

Abstract During the last decade, research on thin, sub-micron thick, block copolymer films was devoted toward understanding and controlling microstructural and topographical features at temperatures T T ODT , where T ODT is the order–disorder transition temperature below which thermodynamic interactions favor the formation of ordered (phase separated) microstructures. Symmetric diblock copolymers, the subject of this review, undergo an isotropic to lamellar transition when T T ODT . Topographical features, ‘islands’ or ‘holes,’ of these films typically reflect the underlying phase separation; and the dimension of these features, normal to the substrate is equal to the interlamellar spacing, L . Two aspects of block copolymer thin films that have not received much attention are discussed in this paper: (1) pattern formation in symmetric block copolymers under conditions of T > T ODT ; and (2) phase behavior of thin film symmetric diblock copolymer/homopolymer mixtures, when T T ODT .
Off the corner and into the kitchen: entering a male-dominated research setting as a woman:

Drawing on ethnographic data about 15 juvenile offenders, collected before and after my own pregnancy, this article shows how becoming a mother enabled me to access a previously closed-off research site while studying young male offenders on Chicago’s South Side. In this study, I introspectively reflect on the obstacles female ethnographers may encounter as they are trying to build rapport in a male-dominated setting. My narrative shows that the apprentice role, often adopted by male ethnographers of the American inner city, may be challenging for women to take on. Sexual advances and limited access to male-only spheres can significantly impede data collection. Yet, as I will demonstrate, women can alternatively rely on nonsexual, gender-specific roles, such that of a mother, not only to build rapport but also to broaden the perspective on field sites that have largely been explored from a male point of view.
Definition Of An Unstructured Scene Using Structured Light Processing

In this paper, processing of images of projected structured light is applied to define a 3-D unstructured scene. The structured light, viewed by a stereoscopically located, single video camera, results in an image in which the regional 3-D characteristics of the scene are represented by corresponding distortion of the structure of the projected light. Image points of the structured light can be mapped to the 3-D location of their corresponding scene points. These points can then be processed to yield a planar fit of the region of interest in the scene. An illustrative example is presented. The scene definition capabilities of this method can provide essential input to an autonomous navigation system for an ofd road or planetary exploration vehicle.
Surface Roughness Optimization in a Drilling Operation Using the Taguchi Design Method

This article presents a study where the Taguchi Design was applied to optimize the surface quality in a computer numerical control (CNC) drilling operation. The control factors in this study included feed rate, spindle speed, peck rate, and tool type while the noise factors simulated were shop vibration and the presence or absence of magnetism in the workpiece material. Through statistical analysis of response variables and signal-to-noise ratios, the determined significant factors were the spindle speed, tool type, and peck rate, and the optimal combination of cutting parameters were selected. Confirmation tests verified that the selected optimal combination through Taguchi Design were able to achieve desired surface roughness.
DRAWING STRAIGHT LINES WITH A PYRAMID CELLULAR AUTOMATON

This paper gives an efficient algorithm for drawing a straight line through two given points in a digitized picture, where the picture is stored one pixel per processor at the base of a pyramid cellular automaton (PCA). Dyer [l] defines a PCA to be a finite-state automaton which is replicated at each node of a finite, complete 4-ary tree, but for our purposes it is easier to take the equivalent view that each node contains a copy of a random access machine with a fixed number of memory cells, each of which can store only a fixed amount of information. In unit time a processor at height k can send a fixed amount of information to any of its neighbors: four sons at height k 1, a father at height k + 1, or four adjacent processors at height k. (The base is at height 0, and there are obvious communication restrictions for processors along the sides, see Dyer [ 11.) All nine communication links can be used simultaneously independent of each other. An input to a PCA consists of initializing the, memory of the base processors, setting all processors except the apex into a quiescent state, -and putting the apex into a start state. PCAs have appeared in [ 1,3,4,5,6] and elsewhere. nates y. Sakoda [3] recently posed the exact fine problem: suppose two base processors (corresponding to pixels) are initially ‘marked’, with all others ‘unmarked’. The PCA must mark the processors representing the straight line between the centers of the two initially marked processors. There are various criteria used to draw a digitized line, and Sakoda considered the following one: in each column between the marked processors mark the square containing the intersection of the column’s centerline with the line between the endpoints, using the upper square if the intersection occurs at a boundary. (This applies only if the difference in x coordinates between the marked processors equals or exceeds the difference in y coordinates. Using techniques given below, in O(log n) time it is possible to decide if this condition holds, and to rotate the entire procedure if it does not.)