cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Qualitative Reading of 1H MR Spectroscopic Images for Presurgical Evaluation

PURPOSE: To study the feasibility and clinical potential of visual inspection of hydrogen 1 magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic metabolite images for the lateralization of unilateral nonlesional temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR imaging and 1H MR spectroscopic imaging were performed of the temporal lobes in 50 patients with TLE and 23 age-matched healthy volunteers. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and creatine plus choline metabolite images were read by two neuroradiologists who determined lateralization according to the side of lower NAA signal intensity. Quantitative estimates of NAA were calculated by using an automated fitting program. RESULTS: Agreement in lateralization between readers was significant with a κ score of 0.53 for all patients with TLE and 0.63 for patients displaying mild or marked NAA asymmetry. Among the 50 patients with TLE, lateralization was determined correctly by reader 1 in 38 (76%) patients and by reader 2 in 31 (62%) patients. If limited to patients with mild...
Effect of detrusor muscle length and tension on its response to pharmacologic and electrical stimulation Part II. In vitro study

The effect of varying lengths and tension of guinea pig detrusor strips on their response to pharmacologic and electrical stimulation was investigated. Our findings demonstrated that changes in muscle tension and length did alter the magnitude of the response to each agent tested.
Sensory-Processing Sensitivity and Nonverbal Decoding: The Effect on Listening Ability and Accuracy

Sensory-processing sensitivity (Aron & Aron, 1997) is a broad temperament construct consisting of two orthogonal dimensions, including deep processing of sensory information (manifest in a tendency to notice fine details) and a low threshold for arousal (exhibited as rapid irritability). This article investigates the multiple effects of sensory-processing sensitivity on nonverbal decoding, specifically identifying emotions from paralinguistic cues. High sensitivity is predicted to relate to enhanced accuracy. Additionally, participants are exposed to stimulation to examine whether arousal relates to deficits in accuracy. Results indicate no significant differences in decoding between sensitive and nonsensitive persons, regardless of the presence of stimulation.
Recruitment of proteins to modulate protein-protein interactions.

Abstract The use of a ‘borrowed' protein surface to either enhance or inhibit the interaction of a small ligand with its protein target has been reported recently. This approach represents a general method for modulating protein-protein interactions and may find many applications in both biology and medicine.
Snowchip: A high yielding potato variety for Alaskan growers and processors

Breeding ad selecting potatoes in Alaska to develop a variety that could be depended upon to process into light-colored chips has resulted in the naming and release of Snowchip. It is a selection from the cross Stately × Ontario. The oval, uniform, light buff, shallow-eyed tubers are suitable for either fresh market or chipping. Dry matter content of Snowchip, over a three-year period, expressed as specific gravity significantly exceeded Kennebec, Alaska 114 and Green Mountain. The rest period of this cultivar is short as is its paternal parent Ontario. However, Snowchip keeps well in storage at 38°F or cooler. Light-colored chips have been made conventionally from the 1971, 1972 and 1973 potato crops.
High Throughput Nanofluidic Architectures for Nanoparticle Separation

High blood cholesterol levels and associated complications are a major health concern the world over and current techniques to deal with this, especially low density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis, have significant room for improvement. We had previously reported a proof of concept technique that relies on silicon nitride based solid state nanopores to separate high density lipoprotein (HDL) like particles from LDL like particles. A mathematical model to describe the setup is reported. This model revealed that charge density of the pore surface was critical in determining the efficiency of separation. Accordingly we chemically modified our nanopores with (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (APTES) to achieve more efficient, high throughput particle separation. Such a technique could make it possible to develop safe and affordable LDL apheresis devices in the future.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Health Care Reform in Action — Calorie Labeling Goes National

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires establishments with 20 or more locations nationwide to post calorie counts along with a succinct statement concerning suggested daily caloric intake. Marion Nestle argues that calorie labeling is well worth the trouble.
The Fusion Hybrid as a Key to Sustainable Development

If world development is to continue, mid-century energy requirements are daunting. For world development, per capita energy use in the developing world must be brought up to levels in the already developed world. Restrictions on how much CO2 mankind can responsibly put into the atmosphere may complicate the task further. Studies show that by 2050 the world will require an additional 10–30 terawatts (TW) of carbon free power, at least as much additional, as the 10 TW generated today with fossil fuel. This paper suggests that the fusion hybrid is one of rather few possibilities for generating this power economically, in an environmentally acceptable way, and with little proliferation danger.
Rates of exchange of mitochondrial Mg2+ determined from 28Mg flux measurements

Abstract The rate of exchange of the endogenous Mg 2+ of isolated rat liver mitochondria was measured by means of the radioisotope 28 Mg. Two different centrifugation techniques yielding similar results, were utilized for separating the mitochondria from suspenpension media for analysis. Mitochondrial Mg 2+ exchanges very slowly with externally added Mg 2+ . The influx of labeled Mg 2+ observed in the presence of substrate is blocked by treatment with the respiratory inhibitor, rotenone, or the uncoupler, p -trifluoromethoxy(carbonylcyanide) phenylhydrazone. The observed rates of Mg 2+ influx are similar in order of magnitude to rates of K + influx measured under comparable conditions. Parathyroid hormone stimulates Mg 2+ influx, but only when metabolic energy is available to support net Mg 2+ uptake.
Is atmospheric CO2 a selective agent on model C3 annuals

Atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) was as low as 18 Pa during the Pleistocene and is projected to increase from 36 to 70 Pa CO2 before the end of the 21st century. High pCO2 often increases the growth and reproduction of C3 annuals, whereas low pCO2 decreases growth and may reduce or prevent reproduction. Previous predictions regarding the effects of high and low pCO2 on C3 plants have rarely considered the effects of evolution. Knowledge of the potential for evolution of C3 plants in response to CO2 is important for predicting the degree to which plants may sequester atmospheric CO2 in the future, and for understanding how plants may have functioned in response to low pCO2 during the Pleistocene. Therefore, three studies using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system for C3 annuals were conducted: (1) a selection experiment to measure responses to selection for high seed number (a major component of fitness) at Pleistocene (20 Pa) and future (70 Pa) pCO2 and to determine changes in development rate and biomass production during selection, (2) a growth experiment to determine if the effects of selection on final biomass were evident prior to reproduction, and (3) a reciprocal transplant experiment to test if pCO2 was a selective agent on Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis showed significant positive responses to selection for high seed number at both 20 and 70 Pa CO2 during the selection process. Furthermore, plants selected at 20 Pa CO2 performed better than plants selected at 70 Pa CO2 under low CO2 conditions, indicating that low CO2 acted as a selective agent on these annuals. However, plants selected at 70 Pa CO2 did not have significantly higher seed production than plants selected at 20 Pa CO2 when grown at high pCO2. Nevertheless, there was some evidence that high CO2 may also be a selective agent because changes in development rate and biomass production during selection occurred in opposite directions at low and high pCO2. Plants selected at high pCO2 showed no change or reductions in biomass relative to control plants due to a decrease in the length of the life cycle, as indicated by earlier initiation of flowering and senescence. In contrast, selection at low CO2 resulted in an average 35% increase in biomass production, due to an increase in the length of the life cycle that resulted in a longer period for biomass accumulation before senescence. From the Arabidopsis model system we conclude that some C3 annuals may have produced greater biomass in response to low pCO2 during the Pleistocene relative to what has been predicted from studies exposing a single generation of C3 plants to low pCO2. Furthermore, C3 annuals may exhibit evolutionary responses to high pCO2 in the future that may result in developmental changes, but these are unlikely to increase biomass production. This series of studies shows that CO2 may potentially act as a selective agent on C3 annuals, producing changes in development rate and carbon accumulation that could not have been predicted from single-generation studies.
A temporal relational model and a query language

Abstract This paper proposes an extension of the relational data model for incorporating temporal semantics of the real world into a database. In this temporal relational model (TRM), the attributes are categorized as synchronous and asynchronous. This categorization leads to the notions of temporal dependency and time normal form. The imposition of time normal form avoids redundancy and retrieval and update anomalies. New relational algebra operations for this model are also discussed. A temporal query language called tsql , which is a superset of sql , has been proposed to retrieve information from time-varying relations. tsql has several new features, which provide extremely powerful query processing capabilities for time-varying relations. The model and the language have numerous applications, where data in their historical form are important.
Metabolic Disposition Study of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Rats and Mice

ABSTRACTChlorinated hydrocarbons found In a bioassay to be carcinogenic to both B6C3F1 mice and Osborne-Mendel rats (1,2-dichloro-ethane), carcinogenic only to mice (1,1,2-trlchloroethane, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, hexachloroethane, trlchloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene), and noncarcinogenlc to either species (1,1-dichloroethane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane) were used to investigate the biochemical bases for tumorigenesis. Studies were conducted after chronic oral dosing of adult mice and rats with the MTD and V4 MTD of each compound. The extent to which the compounds were metabolized in 48 hr, hepatic protein binding, and urinary metabolite patterns were examined. Metabolism of the compounds (mmoles per kg body weight) was 1.7 to 10 times greater In mice than In rats. Hepatic protein binding (nanomole equivalents bound to 1 mg of liver protein) was 1.2 to 8.3 times higher in mice than In rats except for 1,2-dichloroethane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. The noncarclnogens 1,1-dlchloroethane and 1,1,1-trich...
Phase stability and microstructure of Al-Ti-Fe near Al3Ti

The phase stability and microstructure of Al-Ti-Fe near Al3Ti at 800 °C are studied by using high resolution electron microscopy and backscattered electron imaging. One of the most significant changes resulting from the addition of small amounts of iron in this system is to convert tetragonal Al3Ti or Al2Ti into cubic Ll2 structures. In addition, the added iron can change the stacking structure of Al2Ti and the domain size of the long-period one-dimensional antiphase domain structures. A partial ternary phase diagram in this region is also determined.
Chronic intussusception associated with Yersinia enterocolitica mesenteric adenitis.

Abstract An unusual case of chronic intussusception, without any digestive sign, secondary to mesenteric lymphadenitis caused by Yersinia enterocolitica is reported. Operative reduction by taxis was performed but ileopexy and antibiotic treatment were also carried out to reduce chances of recurrent intussus-ception.
The effect of potassium on the chemisorption of carbon monoxide on the Rh(111) crystal face

The adsorption of CO on the clean and potassium-predosed Rh(111) crystal surface has been studied using TPD and HREELS. When 10% of a monolayer of potassium is preadsorbed, the thermal desorption spectrum of CO broadens up to 100 K higher temperature. In the presence of 10–36% of a monolayer of coadsorbed potassium, two new high temperature desorption maxima develop due to dissociation of CO. The CO stretching vibrations decrease continuously with either increasing potassium coverage or decreasing CO coverage. Substantial population and adsorption sequence shifts in site occupancy from the atop to the bridge site occur as a function of increasing potassium coverage. The results indicate both strengthening of the M-C bond and weakening of the C-O bond in the presence of potassium, due presumably to increased electron occupancy of the 2π∗-orbital of CO. Broadening and asymmetry of the vibrational peaks suggest the proximity of the CO molecules to the potassium adatoms influence the chemisorption behavior, although nonlocal interactions are also indicated.
Issues in Association Analysis: Error Control in Case-Control Association Studies for Disease Gene Discovery

Several sources of errors are discussed. While genotyping errors have little effect on power in case-control association studies, they tend to strongly increase false positive results in TDT type test
Dynamic Derivation of Application-Specific Error Detectors and their Implementation in Hardware

This paper proposes a novel technique for preventing a wide range of data errors from corrupting the execution of applications. The proposed technique enables automated derivation of fine-grained, application-specific error detectors. An algorithm based on dynamic traces of application execution is developed for extracting the set of error detector classes, parameters, and locations in order to maximize the error detection coverage for a target application. The paper also presents an automatic framework for synthesizing the set of detectors in hardware to enable low-overhead runtime checking of the application execution. Coverage (evaluated using fault injection) of the error detectors derived using the proposed methodology, the additional hardware resources needed, and performance overhead for several benchmark programs are also reported.
The management of non-functioning pituitary adenomas

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas most commonly present secondary to mass effect and are classified according to their size and immunohistochemical staining. Local intrasellar mass effect may cause varying degrees of hypopituitarism. With extrasellar growth, neurological signs and symptoms develop. Appropriate therapy for these tumors requires close interaction across multiple disciplines. Trans-sphenoidal surgery offers safe and effective treatment in the overwhelming majority of patients with relatively low risk of new neurological and endocrinologic deficits. The multidisciplinary management of non-functioning adenomas, their diagnosis and therapeutic outcomes, is discussed.
Practical Examples of Natural Language Processing in Radiology

t R i m “ v e b p c h i p b t t The utility of natural language processing (NLP) for understanding voluminous amounts of textual data has been recognized for 6 decades, and NLP now permeates everyday life, from Internet search engines to email filtering to telephone banking. NLP has gained ground in medicine, most recently as a consequence of the increasing adoption of electronic medical records, which remain composed primarily of unstructured textual data. Inevitably, the primary challenge for quality improvement and biomedical research initiatives has become how to uncover and extract necessary information from this rich data resource. A plethora of applications have been developed and reviewed for clinical applications, a vast number of which focus on information extraction [1].
Re-usable kinematic models and algorithms for manipulators and vehicles

A generalized kinematic modeling framework, called mechanism_model, has been developed for use in the CLARAty robotic reusable software. Mechanism_Model supports a wide range of systems - from manipulator arms to legged and wheeled rovers. It also enables the development of generalized kinematics, dynamics and collision detection algorithms. In this paper, we describe the unified modeling approach used in mechanism_model and provide details of its object-oriented implementation in C++. We also present an example application illustrating use of mechanism_model.
Effects of air and yarn characteristics in air-jet filling insertion. Part II: Yarn velocity measurements with a profiled reed

In Part I of this series, air pressure and air velocity are measured on an air-jet filling insertion simulator with tube and profiled reed. In this second part, the filling yarn insertion time is measured on the air-jet filling insertion simulator with the profiled reed, and yarn velocity is calculated. The effects of supply pressure and running speed bn filling insertion are analyzed, as are the effects of yarn hairiness, twist, ply, yarn count, and yarn manufacturing system on insertion time. The results show that most of the yarn properties have an effect on yarn insertion behavior.
Isoprostanes: an overview and putative roles in pulmonary pathophysiology

Isoprostanes are produced during peroxidation of membrane lipids by free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Initially, they were recognized as being valuable markers of oxidative stress, and in the past 10 years, dozens of disease states and experimental conditions with diverse etiologies have been shown to be associated with marked increases in urinary, plasma, and tissue levels of isoprostanes. However, they are not just mere markers; they evoke important biological responses on virtually every cell type found within the lung, and these responses exhibit compound-, tissue-, and species-related variations. In fact, the isoprostanes may mediate many of the features of the disease states for which they are used as indicators. In this review, I describe the chemistry, metabolism, and pharmacology of isoprostanes, with a particular emphasis on pulmonary cell types, and the possible roles of isoprostanes in pulmonary pathophysiology.
4H-SiC PIN Recessed Window Avalanche Photodiode

We report 4H-SiC p-i-n recessed window avalanche photodiodes with low dark current and high quantum efficiency. For a circular device of 250 mum diameter, the device demonstrated a responsivity of ~135.5 mW/A (external quantum efficiency = ~64%), a dark current ~90 pA (~0.183 mum/cm2) at a photocurrent gain of 1000, and an excess noise factor k of slightly less than 0.1.
River Current Measurement Using Coherent Microwave Radar: Toward Gaging Unstable Streams

For several years, the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington has been working with the US Geological Survey to monitor surface currents in various rivers in western Washington State using coherent, continuous-wave (CW) and pulsed microwave systems. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring horizontal profiles of surface current velocity for use in making non-contact river discharge measurements. Using an X-band pulsed Doppler radar, called RiverRad, from the river bank, we have demonstrated that discharge can be determined from surface velocity measurements on streams with unchanging beds. These measurements were made with the radar antennas directed nearly perpendicular to the flow. The results compare well with standard USGS discharge measurements and with those made by other more conventional instruments. In addition, two arrays of K-band CW microwave sensors, called Riverscat, have been mounted on bridges over the Cowlitz and Nooksack Rivers in a configuration where the antennas are directed along the flow. Intermittent data have now been collected at these sites for several years. The results of these measurements show that the surface velocity of rivers is a function of the depth of the river both at the site and at downstream controls. We indicate here how time series of surface velocity and stage may be used to infer depths of unstable rivers.
Enhancing the thermal stability of mitochondrial cytochrome b5 by introducing a structural motif characteristic of the less stable microsomal isoform

Outer mitochondrial membrane cytochrome b5 (OM b5) is the most thermostable cytochrome b5 isoform presently known. Herein, we show that OM b5 thermal stability is substantially enhanced by swapping an apparently invariant motif in its heme-independent folding core with the corresponding motif characteristic of its less stable evolutionary relative, microsomal cytochrome b5 (Mc b5). The motif swap involved replacing two residues, Arg15 with His and Glu20 with Ser, thereby introducing a Glu11-His15-Ser20 H-bonding triad on the protein surface along with a His15/Trp22 pi-stacking interaction. The ferric and ferrous forms of the OM b5 R15H/E20S double mutant have thermal denaturation midpoints (Tm values) of approximately 93 degrees C and approximately 104 degrees C, respectively. A 15 degrees C increase in apoprotein Tm plays a key role in the holoprotein thermal stability enhancement, and is achieved by one of the most common natural mechanisms for stabilization of thermophilic versus mesophilic proteins: raising the unfolding free energy along the entire stability curve.
Photoelectric measurements (made during the summer of 1930) of the penetration of light (wave‐length 2,900 to 4,800 Ångström Units) in sea‐water, and the results of laboratory photoelectric measurements (made during the summer of 1931) of the absorption‐coefficient of sea‐water

Shelford and Gail on Paget Sound, Washington, and Poole and Atkins in the English Channel off Plymouth, England, determined quantitatively the penetration of light for various depths in sea-water by the photoelectric cell method using electrical circuits with high sensitivity. Attempts to apply their data to another area, such as the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California, could not be done, nor would the application of their figures to such an entirely different body of water be justified. Therefore, during the summer of 1930, an area seven miles off the coast of La Jolla (city of San Diego), California, was studied by submerging a Burt photoelectric sodium-vacuum cell to various depth-levels in the ocean.
Cellular immune reactions of larvae of Drosophila algonquin

The haemocytic reactions of larvae of Drosophila algonquin leading to encapsulation and melanization of eggs of the hymenopterous parasite Pseudeucoila bochei are characterized in part by the premature mass differentiation of plasmatocytes to lamellocytes. Normally this transformation of blood cells occurs at the time of pupation. The data suggest the haemocytes are stimulated to differentiate by chemotactic means. In susceptible host larvae the parasite appears activately to inhibit the immune reactions by blocking cellular differentiation.
Improving the Quality of Community Care for the Chronically Mentally Disabled: The Role of Case Management

This article draws upon an extensive case management literature in order to integrate a number of key concepts and findings that must' be considered by those responsible for the planning, administration, and provision of effective community care to the chronically mentally disabled. A discussion of the reasons for the current popularity of the case management concept within human services is followed by a detailed presentation of the objectives, ideology, functions, and structural elements that characterize case management systems. A series of practical problems and issues that must be addressed to effectively implement a case management system are then identified and analyzed. Finally, a set of recommendatio ns for those developing case management systems is offered, and a number of important unanswered research questions about the delivery and impact of case management services are identified.
Information-theoretic metric learning

In this paper, we present an information-theoretic approach to learning a Mahalanobis distance function. We formulate the problem as that of minimizing the differential relative entropy between two multivariate Gaussians under constraints on the distance function. We express this problem as a particular Bregman optimization problem---that of minimizing the LogDet divergence subject to linear constraints. Our resulting algorithm has several advantages over existing methods. First, our method can handle a wide variety of constraints and can optionally incorporate a prior on the distance function. Second, it is fast and scalable. Unlike most existing methods, no eigenvalue computations or semi-definite programming are required. We also present an online version and derive regret bounds for the resulting algorithm. Finally, we evaluate our method on a recent error reporting system for software called Clarify, in the context of metric learning for nearest neighbor classification, as well as on standard data sets.
Structure and Evolution of Winter Cyclones in the Central United States and Their Effects on the Distribution of Precipitation. Part VI: A Mesoscale Modeling Study of the Initiation of Convective Rainbands

Abstract A cyclonic storm that moved over the central United States on 8–9 March 1992 developed two convective rainbands, namely, a pre–dry trough rainband and a cold front aloft (CFA) rainband. This study extends the results of previous investigations of these two rainbands by examining their initiation with the use of a nested-grid mesoscale model simulation with spatial resolution down to 8.3 km. The model simulation reproduced the synoptic-scale setting in which the rainbands developed, as well as the mesoscale processes that initiated the rainbands. The pre–dry trough rainband was produced by the gradual ascent of a convectively unstable airstream above a gently sloping warm-frontal zone east of the dryline. After sufficient lifting, the instability was released through upright convection. The gradual ascent is well estimated by quasigeostrophic diagnosis, but the location and timing of the rainband are very sensitive to the convective stability characteristics within the airstream. The CFA rainband ...
Selective Inhibition of Mitochondrial Dehydrogenases by Ammonia and Fatty Acyl Coenzyme a Derivatives

Hyperammonemia and organic acidemia are consistently found in hepatic encephalopathy, Reye’s syndrome, organic acidemias, and several other metabolic encephalopathies (Lai et al., 1977; Cooper and Plum, 1987; Cooper and Lai, 1987; Butterworth et al., 1987). However, the biochemical mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of these compounds have not been fully elucidated. Administration of fatty acids and ammonia can induce reversible coma in experimental animals (see Lai et al. (1987) and Cooper and Plum (1987) for discussion). It is known that once the fatty acids enter tissues and cells, they are metabolically converted to CoA derivatives. An excess of these CoA derivatives may lead to metabolic derangements (see Patel et al. (1983) and Stumpf et al. (1985) for discussion).
Osteosarcoma arising from heterotopic ossification after an electrical burn. A case report.

Extraskeletal bone formation (heterotopic ossification) may originate in tendons, fasciae, periosteum, subcutaneous fat, or organs such as the kidney or breast22. It is histologically similar to myositis ossificans, which refers more specifically to the formation of bone in muscle tissue. Because of the histological and clinical similarities between heterotopic ossification and osteosarcoma, the conditions can be easily misdiagnosed. Heterotopic ossification usually develops after a single traumatic injury or a series of minor injuries and is considered to be a benign, self-limiting condition. Thermal injury is one of the least common causes of extraskeletal bone formation. The reported prevalence of heterotopic ossification following thermal injury has ranged from less than 1 to 23 percent6,13,20,25. Boyd et al. retrospectively reviewed the cases of approximately 1000 patients who had been seen during a twenty-five-year period for the treatment of a burn and identified six patients (less than 1 percent) who had heterotopic ossification6. In a retrospective study of 1460 patients who had been hospitalized because of a burn during a twenty-four-year period, Evans identified twenty-nine patients (2 percent) who had heterotopic ossification13. In a prospective study, Munster et al. noted the formation of heterotopic bone in twelve (14 percent) of eighty-eight patients who were managed at the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research because of a burn injury20. In a similar study from the same institution, Schiele et al. reported heterotopic ossification in sixteen (23 percent) of seventy patients25. Heterotopic ossification following a burn injury most often develops about the elbow, where it leads to stiffness and contracture of the joint22,25. As far as we know, the only well documented report of osteosarcoma arising from heterotopic ossification involved a patient …
Patterns of State Savings with Budget Stabilization Funds and General Fund Surplus

In pursuing a policy goal, government often reinforces one instrument with another. These policy tools are called “cofunctional instruments” for supplementation. But substitution effects may emerge in the supplementation process. This chapter examines such effects between BSF and GFS as two major instruments of the budget stabilization policy at the subnational level. American states used to keep savings as general fund surplus (conventionally but incorrectly referred to as general fund balance) and have over the past few decades added budget stabilization funds to store reserves during boom years. The new instrument interacts with the old, causing supplementation and substitution effects. This chapter conducts empirical analyses and contributes to the academic literature and policy practice with evidence over three recent economic cycles. The tests control for features and adoption of the budget stabilization fund, state economy, budgetary institutions, state politics, and time trend. Results from the empirical tests show that despite partial substitution (15%), supplementation dominates (85%) the interaction between the two policy instruments. The reinforcing effect from the new instrument, however, may trickle off over time. The chapter concludes that a reinforcing instrument can be effective over a certain span of policy duration.
Silicon Valley's High-Velocity Labor Market: When Labor Markets Work Like Information Markets

The remarkable growth of Silicon Valley has often been linked to its high-velocity labor market, as characterized by short-term hiring and frequent employee departures to competitors or start-ups. Such employee mobility is said to contribute to economic growth by facilitating rapid diffusion of information among firms. Law, nearly everywhere, is a potential obstacle to Silicon Valley-style growth. In nearly all European countries, the problem is labor laws that discourage the creation of short-term employment relations and saddle employers with significant obligations when jobs are eliminated. In America, the legal obstacle to the creation of high-velocity labor markets is the law of covenants not to compete and trade secrets. California law, however, does not permit effective enforcement of either covenants not to compete or trade secret agreements. California companies that have sued departing employees have usually lost the suits, suffered damage to their reputations in their industry, and had difficulty recruiting employees. After showing how this result has been achieved by the California legal system, this article goes on to explain why a labor market in which employees have information that is valuable to employers, and in which long-term contracting is not feasible, may be economically efficient (in spite of a potentially dampening effect on corporate R & D). A high-velocity labor market functions more like an information market than like the traditional labor markets analyzed by economists; by spreading information more rapidly, it eliminates much wasteful duplication of effort and achieves more rapid "convergence" on solutions to technological problems-which in turn creates more growth opportunities and start-ups. In making this argument, the author draws on Paul Romer's model of economic growth in which growth rests on "increasing returns" to information. Following Romer, the author suggests that the economic benefits of information diffusion achieved by labor mobility are likely to outweigh the risks that companies will underinvest in research because of their reduced ability to protect trade secrets.
Role of Concrete Manufacturing in the Pennsylvania Economy

Concrete manufacturing is an important part of the history and economy of Pennsylvania. The industry creates jobs and compensation for workers and generates tax revenues in the Commonwealth.
The Supply Elasticity for Milk in the Short Run

LTHOUGH the recent reduction in the price support level for milk Ahas focused attention on the nature of its supply elasticity, this subject has been the subject of intermittent study by economists for many years. I think it is fair to say that many of these studies have met with a rather poor degree of success, part of which is due to some characteristics of the basic data economists have had to work with, and partly to the inherent complexity of the dairy industry itself. Furthermore there seems little prospect that these difficulties will become much less troublesome in the near future.
Audits Made Simple

A company just got notified there is a big external audit coming in 3 months. Getting ready for an audit can be challenging, scary, and full of surprises. This Gold Paper describes a typical audit from notification of the intent to audit through disposition of the final report including Best Practices, Opportunities for Improvement (OFI), and issues that must be fixed. Good preparation can improve the chances of success. Ensuring the auditors understand the environment and requirements is paramount to success. It helps the auditors understand that the enterprise really does think that security is important. Understanding and following a structured process ensures a smooth audit process. Ensuring follow-up on OFIs and issues in a structured fashion will also make the next audit easier. It is important to keep in mind that the auditors will use the previous report as a starting point. Now the only worry is the actual audit and subsequent report and how well the company has done.
There Will Be Birds: Images of Oil Disasters in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

124 The Journal of American History June 2012 Between 1967 and 1977, with a string of marine oil spills, national newspapers and magazines expanded their century-old repertoire of oil disaster images beyond gushers and fires to include photographs of oil-soaked birds and other wildlife, crippled, dying, or dead. These images of oil’s wild victims marked something new. They contested older visual narratives of oil as abundant and powerful, the source of American economic and national dominance.1 The oil-soaked bird or mammal, paired with the oft-seen image of volunteers bathing the animal, suggested a range of new stories. These included oil as a threatening evil and the individual American oil consumer (affluent, white) as guilty, through demand for oil, of victimizing innocents. Those images also created narratives of guilt-ridden consumers as rescuers, seeking salvation from oily sin through efforts to save the helpless. Finally, through these images, stories were able to project the fate of oilsoaked birds and mammals onto oil consumers: wounded, powerless victims of technology and oil dependence. “Not only was it man’s fault that they suffered,” a 1977 Boston Globe editorial stated of rescued auks and loons, “but we can look at their sad plight and see in it our own fate.” Just as Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 film of California oil business, There Will Be Blood, made murder the inevitable product of oil wealth, so too, by the late 1970s, had media images of oil disasters settled on a single trope.2 Americans’ new oil stories reflected key historical developments of the post–World War II era: a broad shift in middle-class values from the primacy of industrial growth and economic gain to a focus on consumption of environmental amenities at home and at play, including fresh air, clean water, and open space in local, state, and national parks; the resulting rise of modern middle-class environmentalism, characterized by widespread concern about pollution as a threat to human health, wildlife populations, and residential There Will Be Birds: Images of Oil Disasters in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
The impact of acute aerobic exercise on chitinase 3-like protein 1 and intelectin-1 expression in obesity

Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) and intelectin 1 (ITLN-1) recognize microbial N-acetylglucosamine polymer and galactofuranosyl carbohydrates, respectively. Both lectins are highly abundant in plasma and seem to play pro- and anti-inflammatory roles, respectively, in obesity and inflammatory-related illnesses. The aim of this study was to examine whether plasma levels of these lectins in obese subjects are useful for monitoring inflammatory conditions immediately influenced by acute aerobic exercise. Plasma interleukin-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, was also examined. Twenty-two (11 obese and 11 normal-weight) healthy subjects, ages 18-30 years, were recruited to perform a 30 min bout of acute aerobic exercise at 75% VO2max. We confirmed higher baseline levels of plasma CHI3L1, but lower ITLN-1, in obese subjects than in normal-weight subjects. The baseline levels of CHI3L1 were negatively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness (relative VO2max). However, when controlled for BMI, the relationship between baseline level of CHI3L1 and relative VO2max was no longer observed. While acute aerobic exercise elicited an elevation in these parameters, we found a lower ITLN-1 response in obese subjects compared to normal-weight subjects. Our study clearly indicates that acute aerobic exercise elicits a pro-inflammatory response (e.g. CHI3L1) with a lower anti-inflammatory effect (e.g. ITLN-1) in obese individuals. Furthermore, these lectins could be predictors of outcome of exercise interventions in obesity-associated inflammation.
An Anytime Distributed Load-Balancing Algorithm Satisfying Capacity and Quantization Constraints

Current research in the field of distributed consensus algorithms fails to adequately address physical limitations of real systems. This paper proposes a new algorithm for quantized distributed load balancing over a network of agents subject to upper-limit constraints. More precisely, loads are integer values, and nodes are constrained to remain under maximum load capacities at all times. Convergence to a set of balanced states is proven for all connected graphs with any feasible initial load distribution, given some conditions on the placement of nodes with finite capacity. We present simulations that verify our results and discuss possible extensions of the algorithm.
Regularity and latency of units in ventral cochlear nucleus: implications for unit classification and generation of response properties

1. The responses of neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) of decerebrate cats are described with regard to their regularity of discharge and latency. Regularity is measured by estimating th...
Endoscopy in neutropenic and/or thrombocytopenic patients

To evaluate the safety of endoscopic procedures in neutropenic and/or thrombocytopenic cancer patients.We performed a literature search for English language studies in which patients with neutropenia and/or thrombocytopenia underwent endoscopy. Studies were included if endoscopic procedures were used as part of the evaluation of neutropenic and/or thrombocytopenic patients, yielding 13 studies. Two studies in which endoscopy was not a primary evaluation tool were excluded. Eleven relevant studies were identified by two independent reviewers on PubMed, Scopus, and Ovid databases.Most of the studies had high diagnostic yield with relatively low complication rates. Therapeutic endoscopic interventions were performed in more than half the studies, including high-risk procedures, such as sclerotherapy. Platelet transfusion was given if counts were less than 50000/mm(3) in four studies and less than 10000/mm(3) in one study. Other thrombocytopenic precautions included withholding of biopsy if platelet count was less than 30000/mm(3) in one study and less than 20000/mm(3) in another study. Two of the ten studies which examined thrombocytopenic patient populations reported bleeding complications related to endoscopy, none of which caused major morbidity or mortality. All febrile neutropenic patients received prophylactic broad-spectrum antibiotics in the studies reviewed. Regarding afebrile neutropenic patients, prophylactic antibiotics were given if absolute neutrophil count was less than 1000/mm(3) in one study, if the patient was undergoing colonoscopy and had a high inflammatory condition without clear definition of significance in another study, and if the patient was in an aplastic phase in a third study. Endoscopy was also withheld in one study for severe pancytopenia.Endoscopy can be safely performed in patients with thrombocytopenia/neutropenia. Prophylactic platelet transfusion and/or antibiotic administration prior to endoscopy may be considered in some cases and should be individualized.
Determination of the time of ovulation in chimpanzees by measurement of LH, estrone sulfate, and pregnanediol 3α-glucuronide in urine : comparison with serum hormone patterns

The concentrations of LH, total estrogens, and pregnanediol 3 alpha-glucuronide (PdG) were determined by specific radioimmunoassays on daily overnight urine samples obtained in 13 menstrual cycles of six adult female chimpanzees during the periods of increasing, maximal, and decreasing tumescence of the perineal sex skin. The peaks of estrogens and LH and the rise in PdG in urine accurately reflected the peaks of estradiol-17 beta and LH and the subsequent rise in progesterone in the serum of the same animals during the same menstrual cycles, and can be used to predict and verify the occurrence of ovulation, thus avoiding the repeated tranquilizations necessary to obtain daily blood samples.
Impact of TKA Design on Stability and Mechanics During Simulated Activities of Daily Living

Introduction: While survivorship of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is excellent, up to 25% of patients remain dissatisfied with their outcome [1, 2]. Knee instability, which is common during high demand activities, contributes to patient dissatisfaction [3]. As younger patients undergo TKA, longevity requirements and functional demands will rise [4]. Design factors influence the functional outcome of the procedure [5, 6], although in clinical studies it can be difficult to distinguish joint mechanics differences between designs due to confounding variability in patient-related factors. The objective of the current study was to assess the stability and mechanics of several current TKA designs during high-demand dynamic activities using a computational model of the lower limb. Methods: Three high-demand dynamic activities (gait, stepdown, squat) were simulated in a previously described lower limb model (Fig. 1) [7]. The model included calibrated tibiofemoral (TF) soft-tissue structures, patellofemoral (PF) ligaments and extensor mechanism [8]. Loading conditions for the simulations were derived from telemetric patient data in order to evaluate TKA designs under physiological kinematic and loading conditions [7, 9]. Four fixed-bearing TKA designs (both cruciate-retaining (CR) and posterior-stabilizing (PS) versions) were virtually implanted into the lower limb model and joint motion, contact mechanics and interface loads were evaluated during simulation of each dynamic activity. Results: The range of anterior-posterior (A-P) and internal-external (I-E) motion for the least stable design was twice that of the most stable design during dynamic activity (Fig. 2). The increased anterior stability on some components did not translate directly to the largest bone-implant interface shear loading, which was dependent on coronal plane conformity and I-E torque, as component ranking varied throughout activity (Fig. 2, 3). Current designs varied substantially in conformity, resulting in reduced contact area and increased contact pressures with low-conformity articulation (Fig. 2). Discussion: While contemporary TKA designs all have good survivorship, there exists significant design differences related to the inherent stability of the articulating surfaces which result in kinematic differences during simulated high demand activities. The dynamic activity simulations developed in this study are representative of activities of daily living and provide a useful platform for design-phase iteration and pre-clinical testing of prospective TKA components.
Comparative Pharmacokinetic Profiling of Different Polymyxin B Components

Polymyxin B is increasingly used as a treatment of last resort for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. Despite being available as a mixture of several structurally related analogues, the properties are commonly reported as an aggregate of the individual components. We compared the pharmacokinetics of individual polymyxin B components in an animal model and in humans. There were no considerable differences observed in the pharmacokinetics among major components of polymyxin B. Combining different components for pharmacokinetic analysis appeared reasonable.
Social Status and Landscape in a Nineteenth-Century Planned Industrial Alternative Community: Archaeology and Geography of Feltville, New Jersey

Feltville is located in Union County, New Jersey. This small-scale planned industrial village was designed and operated by David Felt, a liberal Unitarian printer and stationer, from 1845 to 1860. Archaeological and documentary materials recovered over the last six years paint a picture of conditions in Felt’s rural industrial reformist alternative and provide a glimpse into the worldview of the community architect. Examination of Feltville and its historical context allows for the evaluation of the potential practical and theoretical contributions of historical archaeology in the study of utopian movements. Specifically, the diversity of sociopolitical ideals expressed prior to the advent of Marxian socialism calls into question the conflation of communalist and utopian social designs in some contemporary treatments.
Till death do us part? Conversations with deceased celebrities through memorial pages on Facebook

ABSTRACTWithin the considerable body of research that the notion of parasocial interaction (PSI) has generated since the late 1950s, one aspect has been largely overlooked: the maintenance of one-sided relationships between fans and celebrities after the death of the latter. The present study focuses on this particular form of PSI, as reflected by memorial pages on Facebook dedicated to deceased public figures. Through a combination of content and theme analyses, we explored expressions of intimacy, role modelling, and identification by visitors of these pages and the subjects for whom these virtual shrines are designed. Corroborating findings from previous studies, our data revealed that a large number of postings serve a pseudo-dialogical function, allowing visitors to engage in public, unilateral ‘conversations’ with dead celebrities. Moreover, our analyses identified three recurrent themes underlying these pages: expansion of fans’ communicating capabilities across different dimensions of reality; leg...