cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Profit inefficiency of Indian farms: A system approach

This article attempts to measure the level of profit inefficiency of Indian farms using a stochastic profit function. In the process, the degree of misallocation of inputs and nonoptimal supply of output is also estimated. Likelihood ratio tests allow division of total observations into two groups-large and small farms. Results indicate that both groups are profit-inefficient due to misallocation of inputs and undersupply of output. However, small farms are less profit inefficient than their larger counterparts. Within each group relatively larger farms are less inefficient.
Twinning in YNbO4

This paper reports on twinning of the compound YNbO{sub 4} which is a 3-5 analogue of ZrO{sub 2} with two polymorphs: low-temperature monoclinic and high-temperature tetragonal forms. YNbO{sub 4} powder with a surface area of 40 m{sup 2}/g was prepared from citrate complexes. The powder sintered to theoretical density at 1550{degrees}C. Unlike pure ZrO{sub 2}, YNbO{sub 4} can be cooled through the tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase transformation without cracking. The phase transformation is gradual and takes place by shear, resulting in twinning.
Thermal oxidation of polycrystalline and single crystalline aluminum nitride wafers

Two types of aluminum nitride (AlN) samples were oxidized in flowing oxygen between 900°C and 1150°C for up to 6 h—highly (0001) textured polycrystalline AlN wafers and low defect density AlN single crystals. The N-face consistently oxidized at a faster rate than the Al-face. At 900°C and 1000°C after 6 h, the oxide was 15% thicker on the N-face than on the Al-face of polycrystalline AlN. At 1100°C and 1150°C, the oxide was only 5% thicker on the N-face, as the rate-limiting step changed from kinetically-controlled to diffusion-controlled with the oxide thickness. A linear parabolic model was established for the thermal oxidation of polycrystalline AlN on both the Al- and N-face. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the formation of a thicker crystalline oxide film on the N-face than on the Al-face, and established the crystallographic relationship between the oxide film and substrate. The oxidation of high-quality AlN single crystals resulted in a more uniform colored oxide layer compared to polycrystalline AlN. The aluminum oxide layer was crystalline with a rough AlN/oxide interface. The orientation relationship between AlN and Al2O3 was (0001) AlN//(\(10\bar 10\)) Al2O3 and (\(1\bar 100\)) AlN//(\(01\bar 12\)) Al2O3.
Incongruous oral and written naming ☆: Evidence for a subdivision of the syndrome of Wernicke's aphasia

Abstract A 28-year-old man developed the fluent paraphasic speech characteristic of Wernicke's aphasia after an episode of necrotizing temporal lobe encephalitis. He exhibited an unexpected, and heretofore unreported, superiority of written naming over oral naming. His reading comprehension was modestly superior to his auditory comprehension as well. These findings are at variance with the traditional view of Wernicke's aphasia as an undissociable syndrome of defective reading, writing, and speech. They suggest that an appropriately placed lesion can partially spare reading and writing while still producing fluent paraphasic speech.
Alternative FEM formulations for the inelastic large deflection analysis of plane frames

Abstract The present paper is concerened with the analysis of plane frames of arbitrary geometry undergoing large elasto-plastic deformations. On the basis of so-called mixed-hybrid variational theorems wherein displacements and stress resultants represent independent variables, three alternative finite element schemes are proposed. Their theoretical and computational advantages in comparison with the standard assumed displacement formulation are pointed out and discussed in detail.
Sugarcane mosaic virus in plantlets regenerated from diseased leaf tissue

Plantlets produced from sugarcane leaf tissue were examined to determine the effect of propagation on the frequency of occurrence of sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV).
Increased epidermal growth factor receptors in seborrheic keratoses and acrochordons of patients with the dysplastic nevus syndrome

Seborrheic keratoses and acrochordons may change in biologic behavior with pregnancy or during treatment with sex steroids. Because epidermal growth factor receptor localization may change in hyperproliferative skin diseases, we compared epidermal growth factor receptor immunolocalization in seborrheic keratoses and acrochordons from women who were or were not pregnant or taking oral sex steroid hormones. Epidermal growth factor receptor was further investigated in growing and quiescent seborrheic keratoses and acrochordons from women with and without the dysplastic nevus syndrome. The epidermal growth factor receptor concentration was strikingly elevated in suprabasilar keratinocytes of growing seborrheic keratoses and acrochordons from patients with the dysplastic nevus syndrome who were pregnant or taking sex steroid hormones and less elevated in growing seborrheic keratoses from other patients. In contrast, the epidermal growth factor receptor distribution pattern in acrochordons did not correlate as well with the history of growth of these lesions in normal patients. These data suggest sex steroids may affect epidermal growth factor receptor metabolism in benign epidermal hyperproliferative lesions, particularly in patients with the dysplastic nevus syndrome.
Non-ablative laser treatment of facial rhytides: A comparison of 1450-nm diode laser treatment with dynamic cooling as opposed to treatment with dynamic cooling alone

Background and Objective Non-ablative dermal remodeling has been shown to create new dermal collagen. This is thought to occur secondary to a laser-induced injury to the skin. Other mechanisms of injury may lead to similar results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and complication rate of a 1450-nm diode laser and compare clinical effect when the laser is used in conjunction with cryogen cooling as compared to the use of cryogen cooling alone. Study Design/Materials and Methods Twenty subjects, skin types I–IV, age range 42–70 years, with Class I and II rhytides were enrolled in the study. Subjects were treated with 2–4 laser treatments and cryogen cooling on one side of their face, while the contralateral side was treated with cryogen cooling alone. Subjects were evaluated six months after their final treatment. Results Thirteen subjects showed clinical improvement on the laser/cryogen treated side. No subjects were noted to have any improvement at the cryogen alone side. Conclusion The 1450-nm diode laser can lead to non-ablative improvement of rhytides. This effect appears to be a direct laser induced effect. Lasers Surg. Med. 30:79–81, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Supercapacitor electrodes based on polyaniline–silicon nanoparticle composite

Abstract A composite material formed by dispersing ultrasmall silicon nanoparticles in polyaniline has been used as the electrode material for supercapacitors. Electrochemical characterization of the composite indicates that the nanoparticles give rise to double-layer capacitance while polyaniline produces pseudocapacitance. The composite shows significantly improved capacitance compared to that of polyaniline. The enhanced capacitance results in high power (220 kW kg−1) and energy-storage (30 Wh kg−1) capabilities of the composite material. A prototype supercapacitor using the composite as the charge storage material has been constructed. The capacitor showed the enhanced capacitance and good device stability during 1000 charging/discharging cycles.
Topological protection: Of bagels and Burgers

Even simple periodic mechanical lattices can exhibit exotic topologically protected modes. Incorporating defects into the mix makes things more interesting — revealing modes whose characteristics depend on properties of both the lattice and the defect.
Another look at women in the united states army: A comment on woelfel's article

Woelfel's (1981) article on women in the United States Army is examined from a situation-centered perspective. The assumption implied by military authors that women are liabilities to be accommodated to the existing military structure is challenged, and an alternative view of women as potential contributors to the evolution of androgynous standards of leadership is offered.
STM electroluminescence probes of metallic and polymeric materials

The STM-electroluminescence technique is shown to be a valuable tool for characterizing optoelectronic properties and understanding structure-function relationships in heterogenous or disordered material on nanometer length scales. The intensity of photon emission induced by tunneling electrons from rough Au films is found to depend on the surface feature size. This size-dependent photon emission yield is shown to agree with the theoretically predicted trend based on the inelastic electron tunneling mechanism. Correlated STM 'topography' and electroluminescence measurement of polypyridine (PPy) showed electroluminescence almost exclusively result from low conductivity regions of the film .This anomalous correlation between STM topography and photon emission maps of PPy films is interpreted as the consequence of the spatial variation of the carrier mobility. The results have important implications for understanding the underlying physics of electroluminescence of polymer films as well as for development of optoelectronic devices based on polymeric materials.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Removal of BPA model compounds and related substances by means of column chromatography using Octolig

Octolig®, a polyethylenediimine ligand covalently attached to high-surface area silica gel, was used to study the removal of phenolic compounds from aqueous samples by column chromatography. Model phenolic compounds of Bisphenol A (BPA), 4-isopropylphenol and 4-(t-butyl) phenol, were selected for this study due to their similarities in pKa and log P values. The percent removal of these compounds by Octolig® was 26 ± 2 and 22 ± 2, respectively. Furthermore, the three isomers of nitrophenol were investigated as well as additional phenolic compounds, such as amoxicillin and five phenolic dyes. These compounds have a pKa range of 2–10.2. The compounds that have pKa values less than 8.3 were able to be completely removed by Octolig®, yet compounds with pKa values of 8.3 and higher resulted in approximately 20–26% removal.
Synthesis and Solution Behavior of (Tetraisopropylcyclopentadienyl)calcium Acetylide Complexes. Molecular Structure of {[(C3H7)4C5H]Ca(μ-C⋮CPh)(thf)}2

The reaction of (Cp4i)Ca[N(SiMe3)2](thf) (Cp4i = (i-Pr)4C5H) (1) with several terminal alkynes HC⋮CR in either toluene or hexanes produces the corresponding calcium acetylide complexes (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CR](thf) (2) (R = Ph (2a), Fc (2b), SiMe3 (2c), Si(i-Pr)3 (2d), SiPh3 (2e)) in good yield. The (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CR](thf) complexes do not react with excess alkyne. (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CPh](thf) crystallizes from toluene as an acetylide-bridged dimer, [(Cp4i)Ca[μ-C⋮CPh)(thf)]2·C7H8, with a pentahapto [Cp4i]- ligand and a terminal THF ligand on each calcium. The calcium−carbon bond distances for the bridging [C⋮CPh]- ligands are 2.551(8) and 2.521(7) A; the average Ca−C(ring) bond distance is 2.713(15) A. As with other (Cp4i)CaX(thf)n complexes, the (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CR](thf) compounds are kinetically stabilized against disproportionation in the solid state and in THF solution; (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CSi(i-Pr)3](thf) is also indefinitely stable in aromatic solutions. Slow but substantial dissociation of the THF ligand in (Cp4i)Ca[C⋮CR](thf) (R = Ph...
Discrepancies in Bacterial Recovery from Dental Unit Water Samples on R2A Medium and a Commercial Sampling Device

Monitoring the number of bacterial colony-forming units is an important step in assuring compliance with the recommendation that water from dental units contain <200 CFU mL(-1). Media that have been used for this purpose include R2A, a standard plate counting medium for water samples, and the Millipore HPC Sampler device, designed to facilitate sampling in dental offices. Discrepancies between the two media have been observed. This study tested the hypothesis that differences in counts on the two media were due to the failure of some bacteria to grow on the HPC sampler or to grow at less efficiency than on R2A. Of four different bacterial colony phenotypes tested in three independent experimental trials, one phenotype did not grow on the HPC device, and another grew inconsistently and at lower efficiency. These results confirmed the hypothesis. From these findings, users of the HPC sampler should be aware that microbial undercounts may occur.
Pulmonary Immunologic Features of Alveolar Septal Amyloidosis Associated with Multiple Myeloma

A 74-year-old man presented with interstitial pulmonary disease which was proven to be alveolar septal amyloidosis by transbronchial biopsy. Multiple myeloma was diagnosed on the basis of monoclonal IgG-λ protein in serum, monoclonal λ light chains in urine, a bone marrow plasmacytosis of 22 percent, and serum IgA and IgM levels less than 100 mg/dl and 50 mg/dl, respectively. Appropriate investigations failed to show additional sites of deposition of amyloid. Analysis of fluid from bronchoalveolar lavage showed an increase in total cells recovered, a lymphocytosis with a ratio of T helper over T suppressor cells greater than that in peripheral blood, the presence of an IgG-λ paraprotein, and an IgG/albumin ratio greater than that in serum. While plasma cells could not be identified in the recovered cell population, cultured cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid showed increased production of IgG. These findings provide evidence of an ongoing pulmonary immune response resulting in excess IgG-λ protein in the pulmonary compartment, a factor which may contribute to the development of amyloidosis.
Transfer Student Persistence at a Hispanic-Serving University

Success after transfer has been understudied, particularly with Hispanic students. This study examined the persistence of Associate of Arts transfer students at a senior Hispanic-Serving Institution. Using data from institutional records, multinomial logistic regression analyses demonstrated that loans predicted persistence and that grant recipients did not persist at a significantly different rate from nonrecipients. Grant dollar amounts were associated with persistence but loan dollar amounts were not. Precollege demographic factors such as age and income as well as academic factors such as grade point average and enrollment intensity appear to play a similar role for transfer students as they do for traditional students.
Benzene destruction in fuel-rich jet-stirred reactor combustion

Abstract Benzene destruction was studied using a jet-stirred reactor burning premixed C 2 H 2 , C 6 H 6 , H 2 , O 2 , N 2 mixtures at 1 atm, 1630 K, a fuel equivalence ratio of 2.2, a C/H ratio of 0.5, and residence times of 5–6 ms. Stable species concentrations were measured by water-cooled probe sampling and gas chromatography. A set of equations relating the concentrations of radical species to those of measured stable species were solved to determine radical concentrations under the range of experimental conditions. C 6 H 6 formation and destruction occur simultaneously in combustion, but in this study, the destruction was enhanced relative to formation by adding C 6 H 6 to the fuel, thereby reducing the sensitivity of the net destruction rate to the formation kinetics. The net C 6 H 6 destruction rates predicted by the model are within 90% of the experimental values. According to the model, the largest contribution to C 6 H 6 destruction under these conditions is H abstraction, largely by H atom, OH and CH 3 , and the C 6 H 5 formed is destroyed by both addition and unimolecular destruction reactions.
Cationic curing of polymer coatings: Evaluation ofo-nitrobenzyl tosylate as a thermally labile acid precursor

The propensity ofo-nitrobenzyl tosylate to act as a thermal source ofp-toluenesulfonic acid useful in the cationic curing of polymers was established both in solution and the solid state using a combination of variable temperature1H NMR and quantitative infrared spectroscopy. Monitoring of the thermal generation ofp-toluenesulfonic acid within inert coatings of poly(styrene) or poly(methyl methacrylate) confirmed that the process was most efficient at temperatures between 100 and 110°C, though slow liberation of acid was observed at temperatures as low as 90°C.
DNA adsorption onto calcium aluminate and silicate glass surfaces

Abstract A common technique for small-scale isolation of genomic DNA is via adsorption of the DNA molecules onto a silica scaffold. In this work, the isolation capacities of calcium aluminate based glasses were compared against a commercially available silica scaffold. Silica scaffolds exhibit a negative surface at the physiological pH values used during DNA isolation (pH 5–9), while the calcium aluminate glass microspheres exhibit a positive surface charge. Isolation data demonstrates that the positively charged surface enhanced DNA adsorption over the negatively charged surface. DNA was eluted from the calcium aluminate surface by shifting the pH of the solution to above its IEP at pH 8. Iron additions to the calcium aluminate glass improved the chemical durability without compromising the surface charge. Morphology of the glass substrate was also found to affect DNA isolation; 43–106 μm diameter soda lime silicate microspheres adsorbed a greater quantity of genomic DNA than silica fibers with an average diameter of ∼2 μm.
Is the customer always right

The article examines the success and failure of firms within the disk drive industry that has been characterized by significant technological change and innovation. Some firms which have achieved both technological superiority and financial success fail to adopt new technologies due to an over-reliance on customer-defined technologies. In order for firms that have been marked by technological change to succeed, they must pursue innovations that are not demanded by their current customers. The research indicated the relying to heavily on customer-oriented strategies can prohibit innovation and success. Customers are usually concerned with incremental changes which can stifle disruptive innovation strategies.
Information-Theoretic Measures and the Analysis of Social Structures

This paper presents a conceptual and methodological framework for the multivariate, nonparametric analysis of models of social structure. Following McFarland (1969), an information-theoretic measure of the openness of a social structure is developed. A Proportional-Reduction-in-Error (PRE) interpretation is presented for this measure and appropriate statistical testing procedures are indicated. This measure is applied to an analysis of the social structure of university teaching and its performance is compared with that of other PRE measures. Finally, the multivariate application of the measure is outlined.
Photodetector linearization using adaptive electronic post-distortion

Photodetector linearization using a monolithic CMOS polynomial generator is demonstrated. Improvements of 32.5 dB and 7.2 dB are demonstrated for the 2/sup nd/ order and 3/sup rd/ order input intercept point, respectively.
Lorentz-Violating Electrostatics and Magnetostatics

The static limit of Lorentz-violating electrodynamics in vacuum and in media is investigated. Features of the general solutions include the need for unconventional boundary conditions and the mixing of electrostatic and magnetostatic effects. Explicit solutions are provided for some simple cases. Electromagnetostatics experiments show promise for improving existing sensitivities to parity-odd coefficients for Lorentz violation in the photon sector.
Cities of the Sea: Maritime Trade and the Origin of Philistine Settlement in the Early Iron Age Southern Levant

The question of the origins of the Philistines, who settled in the southern Levant in the early Iron Age (12th century BC) has long been the subject of debate. Traditionally, they have been understood to lie with the ‘Sea Peoples,’ raiders who were thought to have wreaked havoc in the eastern Mediterranean at this time. A new conceptualization of the ‘Sea Peoples,’ phenomenon as the emergence of decentralized maritime trade leads to new questions regarding the settlements associated with it, namely those along the southern Levantine coastal plain and especially those considered ‘Philistine.’ It is the aim of this paper to reinterpret these sites in terms of their functional role within this decentralized network and it is suggested that they were established and maintained specifically for that purpose. Finally, the development of this network of interconnections is related to the parallel emergence of the Phoenicians and the Israelites in the eleventh and tenth centuries.
Recombinant human neurotrophic factors accelerate colonic transit and relieve constipation in humans.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of recombinant human brain-derived neurotrophic factor (r-metHuBDNF) and recombinant human neurotrophic factor 3 (r-metHuNT-3) on gastrointestinal motor functions in healthy people and in patients with constipation. Methods: Gastrointestinal and colonic transit was measured by scintigraphy before and after 2 weeks of treatment. Daily diaries documented symptoms over 6 weeks before, during, and after treatment. In a randomized study of healthy subjects, 40 received 100 μg/kg r-metHuBDNF or placebo subcutaneously (SC) daily. In a separate study, 8 healthy subjects and 8 patients with constipation received 300 μg/kg r-metHuNT-3 SC thrice weekly. Results: r-met-HuBDNF accelerated overall and proximal colonic emptying (P < 0.05) in health. r-metHuNT-3 accelerated overall colonic transit in health and constipation (all P < 0.05) and gastric and small bowel transit (both P < 0.05) in health. r-metHuBDNF tended to increase stool frequency compared with placebo in health (P = 0.09). r-metHuNT-3 increased stool frequency (P = 0.05) and facilitated passage of stool (P < 0.01) in constipated patients. The effects on stool frequency started within 3 days of the beginning of neurotrophin administrations and lasted up to 5 days after treatment ended. r-metHu neurotrophic factors were well tolerated, although half of the participants in the 2 studies developed injection site reactions or paresthesiae. Conclusions: Exogenous neurotrophic factors stimulate human gut motility in health and constipation. GASTROENTEROLOGY 2000;119:41-50
Theories and controversies in finance: a paradigmatic overview

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the paradigmatic context and structure of the current theories and controversies in mainstream academic finance. It identifies the context among paradigms and the structure within the identified paradigm. The paper is based on the view that worldviews underlie theories and controversies in general, and those of finance, in particular. It notes how any worldview can be positioned on a continuum formed by four basic paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. Then, the paper notes that theories and controversies in mainstream academic finance, despite their apparent diversity, are founded on and associated with the functionalist paradigm. Then, the paper continues with the discussion of the hierarchical structure of paradigms. It discusses that it consists of three consecutive levels: paradigm; metaphor; and puzzle solving. It looks at a sample of prominent controversies in academic finance and notes that they belong to the substructure of the functionalist paradigm. Throughout, the paper emphasizes that, in the future, mainstream academic finance should benefit from the contributions of the other three paradigms.
Fluoxetine treatment for prevention of relapse of depression in children and adolescents: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

ABSTRACT Objective: To compare fluoxetine 20 to 60 mg/day with placebo for prevention of relapse of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents who had achieved Children's Depression Rating Scale, Revised scores of ≤28 during treatment with fluoxetine 20 to 60 mg. Method: In this 32-week relapse-prevention phase of a double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled 51-week study, 20 patients continued to receive their fixed dose of fluoxetine (F/F group), while 20 similar patients were switched to placebo (F/P group). Definition of relapse for the primary analysis was a Children's Depression Rating Scale, Revised score of >40 with a 2-week history of clinical deterioration or relapse in the opinion of the physician. Adverse events were compared between treatment groups to assess discontinuation-emergent adverse events. Results: Mean time to relapse was longer in the F/F recipients than in the F/P recipients ( p = .046). Relapse occurred in an estimated 34% in the F/F cohort and 60% in the F/P cohort. Incidence of adverse events and tolerability were similar in the F/F and F/P groups, suggesting that fluoxetine is not associated with significant discontinuation events. Conclusions: Fluoxetine 20 to 60 mg/day was well tolerated and can significantly delay relapse of major depressive disorder symptoms in children and adolescents.
Junction Temperature in Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes

The junction temperature and thermal resistance of AlGaN and GaInN ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 295 and 375 nm, respectively, are measured using the temperature coefficient of diode-forward voltage. An analysis of the experimental method reveals that the diode-forward voltage has a high accuracy of ±3°C. A comprehensive theoretical model for the dependence of diode-forward voltage (Vf) on junction temperature (Tj) is developed taking into account the temperature dependence of the energy gap and the temperature coefficient of diode resistance. The difference between the junction voltage temperature coefficient (dVj/dT) and the forward voltage temperature coefficient (dVf/dT) is shown to be caused by diode series resistance. The data indicate that the n-type neutral regions are the dominant resistive element in deep-UV devices. A linear relationship between junction temperature and current is found. Junction temperature is also measured by the emission-peak-shift method. The high-energy slope of the spectrum is explored in the measurement of carrier temperature.
Damage tolerance of woven graphite-epoxy buffer strip panels

Graphite-epoxy panels with S glass buffer strips were tested in tension and shear to measure their residual strengths with crack-like damage. The buffer strips were regularly spaced narrow strips of continuous S glass. Panels were made with a uniweave graphite cloth where the S glass buffer material was woven directly into the cloth. Panels were made with different width and thickness buffer strips. The panels were loaded to failure while remote strain, strain at the end of the slit, and crack opening displacement were monitoring. The notched region and nearby buffer strips were radiographed periodically to reveal crack growth and damage. Except for panels with short slits, the buffer strips arrested the propagating crack. The strength (or failing strain) of the panels was significantly higher than the strength of all-graphite panels with the same length slit. Panels with wide, thick buffer strips were stronger than panels with thin, narrow buffer strips. A shear-lag model predicted the failing strength of tension panels with wide buffer strips accurately, but over-estimated the strength of the shear panels and the tension panels with narrow buffer strips.
Temperature insensitivity of the Al-free InGaAsP lasers for λ =808 and 980 nm

In this work, we present our recent achievements for the reliability of the Al-free lasers at high temperatures and high powers. Laser operations up to 30,000 hours were achieved without any degradation in the lasers characteristics from 7 randomly selected InGaAsP/GaAs diodes for (lambda) equals 808 nm. The test were performed for lasers without mirror-coating for optical power of 0.5 to 1 W CW at 50 approximately 60 degree(s)C. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first direct demonstration of the extremely high reliability of Al-free diodes operations at high powers and temperatures for periods of time much longer than practical need (approximately 3 years). The characteristics during the tests are discussed in detail.
Purification and properties

Abstract We have demonstrated the existence of a peptide-like opioid in bovine and porcine pituitary, and determined some of its properties. It is an opioid agonist on the guinea pig myenteric plexus-longitudinal muscle preparation, and on the mouse vas deferens, and it binds to opiate receptors in homogenates of guinea pig brain. Its physiologic role and its possible presence in hypothalamic or other brain regions remain to be determined.
Immunology of Helicobacter pylori and prospects for vaccine.

Effective antimicrobial therapies have been developed to treat Helicobacter pylori that, with proper compliance, are more than 85% successful. Individual and population-based problems with pharmaceutical treatment, however, support a role for vaccination in the control of H. pylori infection. Current therapies require the patient to ingest multiple agents several times a day for at least 1 week. 77 Treatment can be accompanied by nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and pseudomembranous colitis. 5,73 These adverse effects contribute to patient noncompliance and reduce the efficacy of the therapy. Additionally, these therapies are prohibitively expensive in developing nations where H. pylori infection is endemic with rates of infection as high as 80% to 90%. Widespread treatment of H. pylori could also result in the development of antibiotic resistant strains that have already been observed in patients treated with triple therapy in whom infection was not cured. 52,66 Additionally, antibiotic cure does not result in protective resistance to subsequent reinfection with H. pylori. It has been reported that successfully treated patients can become reinfected by accidental endoscopic transmission. 66 Finally, pharmaceutical therapies do not address the particular need of those nonsymptomatic individuals who might go on to develop gastric adenocarcinoma caused in part by H. pylori infection. 16 Despite the fact that individuals chronically infected with H. pylori mount a robust humoral immune response, several laboratories have demonstrated the efficacy of prophylactic and therapeutic immunization to prevent or cure H. pylori infection (see later discussion). Childhood vaccination could, in theory, provide an inexpensive and convenient solution to prevent adult gastritis and peptic ulcer disease and reduce the incidence of gastric cancer later in life.
INTRACARDIAC YOLK SAC TUMOR : ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION

To our knowledge, this case of an abdominal yolk sac tumor with extensive cardiac involvement is the first to be reported in a pediatric patient. The report describes the echocardiographic findings of the tumor and the role of echocardiography in providing important information for patient management decisions.
An analytic solution to the optimal design of information structure and cooperative control in networked systems

In this paper, the optimal design problem of both information structure and cooperative control is investigated for a collection of heterogeneous nonlinear systems. The concept of generalized passivity is presented to not only extend the concept of passivity to dynamical systems of any relative degree but also achieve the decoupling between designing a system-level self-feedback control law for any of the individual systems and designing a network-level distributed cooperative control as the command signal to the system-level control. The separation enables a new formulation in which both communication network topology and network-based cooperative control gains can be optimized in general. The performance indices in the formulation are chosen to minimize the cost of local communication network and to maximize convergence to consensus. Optimal gains in the cooperative controls can analytically be solved in terms of any information structure, and recursive algorithms of polynomial time are provided to find Pareto non-inferior solutions of information structures and the corresponding cooperative control gains.
A VO-seeded approach for the growth of star-shaped VO2 and V2O5 nanocrystals: facile synthesis, structural characterization, and elucidation of electronic structure

Obtaining shape and size control of strongly correlated materials is imperative to obtain a fundamental understanding of the influence of finite size and surface restructuring on electronic instabilities in the proximity of the Fermi level. We present here a novel synthetic approach that takes advantage of the intrinsic octahedral symmetry of rock-salt-structured VO to facilitate the growth of six-armed nanocrystallites of related, technologically important binary vanadium oxides VO2 and V2O5. The prepared nanostructures exhibit clear six-fold symmetry and most notably show remarkable retention of electronic structure. The latter has been evidenced through extensive X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements.
Gender Wage Differences in Soviet and Transitional Estonia

AbstractWe use the retrospective, covering the years 1989 – 1994, Estonian Labor Force Survey to examine potential wage discrimination against women. We look at full-time workers of Estonian and Russian ethnicity in the years 1989, the Soviet period, and 1994, the last full year of the survey and three years after Estonian independence and the beginning of the transition to a market economy. We find substantial evidence of wage discrimination against women in both years. In fact, despite the official rhetoric of gender equality in the Soviet Union, our results indicate the relative level of wage discrimination against female workers in Estonia changed very little between 1989 and 1994 when occupational dummies are excluded from the wage equations.
Cellular-Logic Devices: Concepts and Applications

Cellular-logic devices, using a parallel processing element for each element of a rotating memory, allow fast data search and manipulation.
Thyroidal response to graded doses of bovine thyrotropin.

Nine normal euthyroid human subjects (5 males, 4 females) were given varying doses of bovine thyrotropin (bTSH) (6 subjects, 2 IU and 3 subjects, 0.4 IU) im, and their sera were tested at timed intervals for thyroglobulin (HTg), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and bTSH concentrations. Data from a previous study on 5 normal euthyroid subjects (3 males, 2 females) given 10 IU were compared, and it was found from both studies that regardless of the dose of bTSH employed, the same qualitative response pattern was observed. T3 and T4 peaked close together and HTg peaked much later. Furthermore, it was shown that when the dose of bTSH was decreased there was no change in the sequence of response of the various thyroidal products. This suggests that the difference between the pattern of HTg response to bTSH and to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) noted previously probably is not due to the variation in degree of thyroidal stimulation but to a qualitative difference in human thyroidal response to bTSH an...
Identification of D-peptide ligands through mirror-image phage display

Genetically encoded libraries of peptides and oligonucleotides are well suited for the identification of ligands for many macromolecules. A major drawback of these techniques is that the resultant ligands are subject to degradation by naturally occurring enzymes. Here, a method is described that uses a biologically encoded library for the identification of D-peptide ligands, which should be resistant to proteolytic degradation. In this approach, a protein is synthesized in the D-amino acid configuration and used to select peptides from a phage display library expressing random L-amino acid peptides. For reasons of symmetry, the mirror images of these phage-displayed peptides interact with the target protein of the natural handedness. The value of this approach was demonstrated by the identification of a cyclic D-peptide that interacts with the Src homology 3 domain of c-Src. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies indicate that the binding site for this D-peptide partially overlaps the site for the physiological ligands of this domain.
Composite Patch Repairs of Metal Structures: Adhesive Nonlinearity, Thermal Cycling, and Debonding

Comparison with the experimental data has been carried out to determine the ability of the finite element alternating method in predicting the fatigue response of a cracked metallic panel with a partially debonded composite patch. A total of 15 different specimens are considered in this comparison. Some of the parameters that are varied in these specimens include the disbond location, the disbond area, the initial crack length, the maximum stress loading, and the stress ratio. For all of these specimens, it has been found that the numerical results correlate very well with the experimental data when the adhesive nonlinearity is properly accounted for in the analysis. In addition to this comparison with the experimental data, numerical studies have been carried out to examine the effect of the thermal cycling on the fatigue response of a bonded repair. It was found that, due to the strong difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of the boron/epoxy patch and the aluminum panel, the fatigue life of a specimen, which undergoes cycles of high stress at low-temperature and low stress at high-temperature loading, is dramatically reduced. It was also found that the fatigue life of a specimen that undergoes a thermal-mechanicalfatigue cycle is more sensitive to disbonds in the adhesive layer than a similar specimen that undergoes mechanical fatigue loading at a constant temperature. In addition to this study, numerical analysis has been carried out to study the interaction between two nearby composite patches. The study found very little interaction between the two patches when these two patches lie next to each other, with both the cracks under the patches being collinear and both being normal to the direction of the load. On the other hand, when the two patches lie vertical to each other, i.e., when the two cracks under the patches are parallel and one being on the top of the other, both the cracks being normal to the direction of the load, the fatigue life of this specimen can increase substantially when these two patches are very close to each other; however, this may lead to failure of the metal in between the patches, but this is not considered in the present study.
The reaction. A density functional theory study

Abstract The potential energy surface for the O ( 3 P )+ HBr ( χ 1 Σ + )→ OH ( χ 2 Π )+ Br ( 2 P ) reaction with a variety of density functional theory methods is studied. The methods included SVWN, BLYP, B1LYP, B3LYP, B3PW9I, and B3P86. The B1LYP/6-311++G(3df, 3pd) method give the best approximate of around 2.94 kcal/mol for the classical barrier height, which is in excellent agreement with the experimental values available. This work describes our conclusions in regards to what the geometry of the transition state is. It has been argued by previous ab initio studies that the transition state is linear however, in this work density functional theory reveals not only good experimental correlation to the theoretical results but also enough evidence to clearly label the transition state for this reaction to be bent. Lowdin and Mulliken bond orders, imaginary frequencies, and calculated partition functions are used in support to our claim.
Blueprints for Violence Prevention: From Research to Real-World Settings—Factors Influencing the Successful Replication of Model Programs

As science-based programs become more readily available to practitioners, the need for identifying and overcoming problems associated with the process of implementation becomes critical. A major goal of the Blueprints for Violence Prevention initiative has been to enhance the understanding of program implementation by studying the influence of human- and systems-level factors that challenge the successful implementation of programs. This article describes the results of a process evaluation focused on discovering common implementation obstacles faced by 42 sites implementing eight of the Blueprints programs. This evaluation revealed that most sites involved in the project faced many challenges when implementing in real-world settings. Using regression analyses to identify the most important of these factors, findings revealed that the quality of technical assistance, ideal program characteristics, consistent staffing, and community support were important influences on one or more measures of implementation success.
Analyzing Law - A Framework for Understanding Law of All Sorts and for All Purposes (Cases, Exercises and Commentary)

This is the introductory chapter and the tables of contents of a set of materials that applies a single framework for analyzing law of all sorts and for all purposes to a wide variety of legal subjects. The central focus is on the choice among decision makers such as courts, markets, and political processes (institutional choice) and the analytical framework is comparative institutional analysis. Put simply, the allocation of decision-making is the logic of the law and understanding the trade-offs involved is the approach to understanding what law is and ought to be. There are many purposes for these materials. They are, as they seem, the basis for a course or inputs into many courses. But their main purpose is to make comparative institutional analysis more accessible to the law school and legal communities in general. By using the most familiar of formats – the casebook – and the most basic of issues – the lawyering question, I am seeking to bring the tools of comparative institutional analysis to more law teachers, lawyers and judges.
Antithrombotic therapy and outcomes of cervical arterial dissection in the trauma patient: a case series

The use of antithrombotic therapy (anticoagulants and/or antiplatelets) in the setting of traumatic cervical arterial dissection (CAD) for the prevention of stroke remains controversial. This issue is further complicated by the frequent co-existence of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and other intracranial injuries, and also the wide variability in treatment due to a lack of evidence-based guidance. To address these controversies, a registry in a major Level I trauma center was created. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the safety of antithrombotic therapy in post-traumatic CAD. Analysis from the first year is presented. All cervical dissections from the year 2005 were identified in patients at least 18 years of age by diagnosis code from radiology and trauma databases. Presence of arterial injury and grade, and other intracranial disease or injury such as stroke was diagnosed by a trauma radiologist and adjudicated by a neuroradiologist. Fifty-five patients with cervical artery dissection were identified. Fourteen patients presented with a total of 20 acute, post-traumatic intracranial hemorrhages (ICH). Seven of the 14 patients with ICH were treated with antithrombotic therapy, and none extended their intracranial hemorrhages. Of the 41 patients without pre-existing ICH, 28 were treated with antithrombotic therapy and only one developed an interval hematoma. Among all 55 cases, two patients developed an acute ischemic stroke in the territory of the dissected artery after admission; both patients were in the untreated group. In so far as antithrombotic therapy may offer benefit in preventing early ischemic stroke following cervical artery dissection, these data suggest withholding antiplatelet or other antithrombotics following trauma may not be warranted, even in the setting of intracranial hemorrhage. From a safety perspective, this registry-based case series indicates antithrombotic management of arterial injury did not contribute to development or progression of ICH, even in patients with pre-existing ICH. This data suggest that instituting early antithrombotic therapy presents a low risk of ICH or hemorrhage extension among traumatic cervical dissection patients.
The Generalized Weyl-von Neumann Theorem and C*-algebra Extensions

An important problem in the C*-algebra theory is to classify the extensions of $$0 \to A \to E \to B \to 0$$ of B by A, where A, B, E are C*-algebras. We will assume that both E and B are unital and the surjective map from E to B is also unital. Furthermore, we assume that extensions are essential, i.e. A may be viewed as an essential ideal of E. The BDF-theory classifies those extensions when A = K and B = C(X), where K is the C*-algebra of compact operators on an infinite dimensional and separable Hilbert space and X is a compact metric space ([BDF1] and [BDF2]). Since early 1970’s, the C*-algebra extension theory and the KK-theory have been developed rapidly (we are not attempting to give a complete list of references but refer the reader to [Bl] for references). With the Universal Coefficient Theorem (see [RS,1.17]), for example, one can compute Ext(A, B) in many cases. However, unlike the original BDF-theory, in general, Ext (A, B) does not provide enough information for classifying these extensions.
Magnetic Resonance–Based Anatomical Analysis of Scar-Related Ventricular Tachycardia: Implications for Catheter Ablation

In catheter ablation of scar-related monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT), substrate voltage mapping is used to electrically define the scar during sinus rhythm. However, the electrically defined scar may not accurately reflect the anatomical scar. Magnetic resonance–based visualization of the scar may elucidate the 3D anatomical correlation between the fine structural details of the scar and scar-related VT circuits. We registered VT activation sequence with the 3D scar anatomy derived from high-resolution contrast-enhanced MRI in a swine model of chronic myocardial infarction using epicardial sock electrodes (n=6, epicardial group), which have direct contact with the myocardium where the electrical signal is recorded. In a separate group of animals (n=5, endocardial group), we also assessed the incidence of endocardial reentry in this model using endocardial basket catheters. Ten to 12 weeks after myocardial infarction, sustained monomorphic VT was reproducibly induced in all animals (n=11). In the epicardial group, 21 VT morphologies were induced, of which 4 (19.0%) showed epicardial reentry. The reentry isthmus was characterized by a relatively small volume of viable myocardium bound by the scar tissue at the infarct border zone or over the infarct. In the endocardial group (n=5), 6 VT morphologies were induced, of which 4 (66.7%) showed endocardial reentry. In conclusion, MRI revealed a scar with spatially complex structures, particularly at the isthmus, with substrate for multiple VT morphologies after a single ischemic episode. Magnetic resonance–based visualization of scar morphology would potentially contribute to preprocedural planning for catheter ablation of scar-related, unmappable VT.