cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Commodified Promises and Contract Theory

This is a comment on Erik Encarnacion, “Contract as Commodified Promise.” In that article, Encarnacion offers a novel and provocative approach to understanding what the justifications and limits of contract law are, and should be: one grounded on a commodification theory. The commentary notes the potential strengths of a commodification approach, but also raises concerns. In particular, the article notes that one might worry that trying to guide outcomes – or even just guide analyses – through commodification might exacerbate disagreements rather than reduce them.
The Hazard-Product method of generalization: Application to the gompertz and exponentiated Half-Normal distributions

As new data sources arrive, novel methods of defining undiscovered distributions are increasingly useful. In this presentation, the Hazard-Product method of generalizing survival functions is intro...
Collective Behavior and the Generality of Integrated Theory: A National Study of Gang Fighting

ABSTRACTThis paper uses integrated theory to explain gang fighting. Integrated theory combines elements of social control, social learning, and strain theories. We focus on gang fighting to assess ...
Fundamentals of Structural Connections

Connector failures, along with instability failures, account for the vast majority of structural inadequacies. Thus, it is imperative that the designer become familiar with the techniques for analysis of structural joints.
Path Planning and Following of Omnidirectional Mobile Robot Based on B-spline

Path planning and following is a problem that must be considered when controlling wheeled robots. In this field, the conventional method is using straight lines and arcs to design the path and follow it. Generally, people expect the robot to follow any specified path, and follow their command accurately and smoothly. In this paper, we put forward a path planning method of omnidirectional mobile robot based on Uniform Cubic B-Spline Curves. The method avoids large-scale matrix calculation, effectively reduces the time complexity and space complexity of the algorithm and has strong operability. It supports not only input methods of multiple types of points, but also offline planning and online planning. In addition, for the omnidirectional mobile robot, how to accurately and smoothly follow the path is studied, and a non-time-referenced path following method is proposed. This method is simple in control and can effectively track any arbitrary curve. Through Simulation and experiment, the effectiveness of the algorithm is verified.
Assessment of Cognitive/Intellectual Functioning

A wide variety of psychological test instruments exist that are used to evaluate intellectual functioning. The description of instruments that follows is not all inclusive; rather, it focuses on tests that are used most frequently in clinical practice and that the primary-care physician will most likely come in contact with (see Table 7.1).
Religion: what it is, how it works, and why it matters

Understanding religion is a particularly thorny problem for the social sciences. On the one hand, it is clearly a vital human phenomenon, deeply shaping the lives of individual people, institutions...
Augmentation of vaccine-induced humoral and cellular immunity by a physical radiofrequency adjuvant

Protein/subunit vaccines often require external adjuvants to induce protective immunity. Due to the safety concern of chemical adjuvants, physical adjuvants were recently explored to boost vaccination. Physical adjuvants use physical energies rather than chemicals to stimulate tissue stress and endogenous danger signal release to boost vaccination. Here we present the safety and potency of non-invasive radiofrequency treatment to boost intradermal vaccination in murine models. We show non-invasive radiofrequency can increase protein antigen-induced humoral and cellular immune responses with adjuvant effects comparable to widely used chemical adjuvants. Radiofrequency adjuvant can also safely boost pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccination with adjuvant effects comparable to MF59-like AddaVax adjuvant. We find radiofrequency adjuvant induces heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) release and activates MyD88 to mediate the adjuvant effects. Physical radiofrequency can potentially be a safe and potent adjuvant to augment protein/subunit vaccine-induced humoral and cellular immune responses.
A phase I and pharmacokinetic study of paclitaxel and carboplatin combined with sodium selenite in patients with gynecologic malignacies

3983 Drug resistance to platinum-based regimens remains a major factor that limits clinical effectiveness in several cancers, including gynecologic malignancies. In animal and ovarian xenografts models selenium was reported to protect against nephrotoxicity and development of resistance to cisplatin (Camargo et al 2001, Caffrey et al 2000). Therefore, we developed a phase I clinical trial investigating the combination of sodium selenite (SS) with carboplatin. The objective of this phase I study is to determine the dose-limiting toxicity and maximum-tolerated dose of SS when given with carboplatin/paclitaxel to chemo-naive patients with advanced gynecologic malignancies. Since selenium is known to alter glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and GFR is widely used to determine the dose of carboplatin, the study was also designed to determine whether selenium alters carboplatin pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters. On day 1 selenium was administered intravenously (i.v.) for 5 hours, and on day 3, paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 was infused i.v. over 3 hours, followed by i.v. carboplatin AUC 5 (Calvert method) for 30 min. During the first cycle carboplatin dose was AUC 5, and during subsequent cycles carboplatin AUC was escalated to 6. SS was escalated in cohorts of 3 patients. Plasma and plasma ultrafiltrate were analyzed for carboplatin concentration (using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, ICP-MS at 195.8 m/z on a Thermal-Element X5 instrument). Eleven patients have been enrolled at SS doses of 50 μg (n=3), 100 μg (n=6), and 200 μg (n=2) and treated for a total of 53 cycles. Grade 3/4 toxicities included neutropenia (4/53 cycles), thrombosis/embolism (1/53), and nausea/vomiting (1/53). One complete response, 3 partial responses, and 1 stable disease, were observed in 5 patients with measurable disease. The average observed AUCs on cycle 1 were 4.4 (range 3.8-5.7) and on cycle 2 were 5.5 (3.3 - 7.5). These results indicate that at current doses, SS can be coadministered safely with carboplatin. Further, at these doses there is no significant alteration of predicted carboplatin AUC by SS. Supported by grant from New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research
Lambert-Eaton Myasthenia With and Without Cancer: Clinical Characteristics and Long-term Survival (P6.444)

Objective: To describe clinical characteristics and long-term survival in LEM patients seen in the Duke Myasthenia Gravis (MG) Clinic. Background: Lambert-Eaton Myasthenia (LEM) is an autoimmune disease associated with pre-synaptic P/Q-type calcium channel antibodies. Approximately 50–60% of LEM patients have cancer (CA-LEM). Few studies report long-term survival of LEM patients without cancer (NCA-LEM). Design/Methods: LEM patients seen between January 1980 and December 2015 were identified by review of the Duke MG Clinic Database. Results: Of 126 LEM patients, 71 (56%) were NCA-LEM. 58% of NCA-LEM and 49% of CA-LEM patients were female (p=0.34); the mean age of symptom onset was 48 and 63 years, respectively, in the 2 groups (p At 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, the survival probabilities of NCA-LEM patients were similar to those from the 2013 National Vital Statistics Report (p=0.07). Log-rank analysis of the unadjusted survival probabilities revealed a significant difference between LEM patients with and without cancer (p Conclusions: In a large longitudinal cohort, compared to LEM patients with cancer, a slightly higher proportion of those without cancer were female; they were also younger at onset, less likely to smoke tobacco, and had longer survival. Although virtually all patients with cancer had a history of smoking, a smoking history did not significantly affect long-term survival in LEM patients without cancer. LEM patients with and without cancer had a similar prevalence of coincidental autoimmune conditions. LEM did not significantly affect long-term survival in patients without cancer. Disclosure: Dr. Raja has nothing to disclose. Dr Juel has nothing to disclose. Dr. Massey has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Revance, Quatrobio. Dr. Hobson-Webb has nothing to disclose. Dr. Guptill has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Alexion, Argen-X, Becton Dickinson, and Grifols. Dr. Gable has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sanders has nothing to disclose.
The (Mis)Education of Giorgio Agamben

It is customary in a monograph such as this one to provide biographical information to get to know the man or woman behind the work, in order to better understand the origin and formation of his or her ideas, and to reveal the human—and maybe all too human—side of a prominent thinker. In Agamben’s case, the problem is that we have only very little information about what is commonly considered a personal life. It is not that Agamben’s life lacks personal experiences or relationships but that those are so closely tied to his work that it is virtually impossible to distinguish between the two. As David Kishik has observed, “neither Agamben’s ‘life’ nor his ‘work’ can really make a lot of sense independently of one another, because they both operate in the zone of indetermination that we call a ‘lifework’” (2012, p. 3). That this closeness between his life and his work as a writer is not unintentional can be gleaned from his assertion that “life is only what is made in speech” (EP, p. 81). While we should not take this to mean that, for Agamben, language is all there is (in contrast to Derrida, for Agamben there is life “outside the text”), it is certainly true that he sees the use of language as an essential and constitutive feature of a human life. This also means that instead of searching for clues about his ideas in “so-called real life” (EP, p. 82), to better understand his work, we need to look at what it means to lead a life that is “made in speech.”
Analysis of Abdominal Radiology fellowship website content and comprehensiveness

Fellowship programs’ online content plays a key role in prospective Abdominal Radiology applicants’ evaluation of programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the online accessibility of Abdominal Radiology fellowships, the comprehensiveness of the program websites’ content, and evaluate whether specific program characteristics are associated with differentiated website comprehensiveness. A list of 67 Abdominal Radiology fellowship programs was obtained from the Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR) website. Each of the 65 publicly-available fellowship websites was scored for the presence of 19 binary variables related to the program’s attributes and curriculum to assess informational comprehensiveness. Comprehensiveness scores were compared by program characteristics (accreditation status, region, and size) using Kruskal–Wallis and two-tailed t tests. Mean comprehensiveness score of Abdominal Radiology fellowship websites as measured by online criteria met was 52.6% (10.0 ± 3.0/19). Application requirements and information, rotation scheduling, and program director contact were found on more than 87.5% of the 65 websites, whereas salary and benefits, social information, and alumni were listed on fewer than 33.8% (22/65) of websites. Program accreditation status, region, and size were not associated with difference in mean comprehensiveness scores. There is a discrepancy between information commonly sought by prospective Abdominal Radiology fellowship applicants and what is available on fellowship program websites. Programs and applicants alike may benefit from programs strengthening their online material.
SZ-SAS: A Framework for Preserving Incumbent User Privacy in SAS-Based DSA Systems

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is a promising solution to alleviate spectrum crowding. However, geolocation database-driven spectrum access system (SAS) presents privacy risks, as sensitive Incumbent User (IU) operation parameters are required to be stored by SAS in order to perform spectrum assignments properly. These sensitive operation parameters may potentially be compromised if SAS is the target of a cyber attack or SU inference attack. In this paper, we propose a novel privacy-preserving SAS-based DSA framework, Suspicion Zone SAS (SZ-SAS). This is the first framework which protects against both the scenario of inference attacks in an area with sparsely distributed IUs and the scenario of untrusted or compromised SAS. Evaluation results show SZ-SAS is capable of utilizing compatible obfuscation schemes to prevent the SU inference attack, while operating using only homomorphically encrypted IU operation parameters.
Update on systemic therapy for colorectal cancer: biologics take sides

Over the last decade, progress in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) has focused on the development of biologic therapy in addition to the back bone of combination chemotherapy. Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies and agents targeting angiogenesis are widely used in the clinic, and more recently, in a subset of patients with mismatch repair (MMR) deficient cancer, immunotherapy with immune check point inhibitors have been integrated into clinical practice. The major challenge with the use of these biologic therapies is determining predictive biomarkers to optimize patient selection. In this review, we discuss the most recent updates in the use of biologic therapy in CRC. We review data on the role of primary tumor location (PTL) (sidedness) as predictive biomarker and recent advances in treatment of CRC with BRAF mutation.
ISOLATED PULMONARY ARTERY STENOSIS IN VASCULITIS AND RIGHT HEART FAILURE

Isolated pulmonary artery (PA) stenosis in vasculitis is rare and a challenge to diagnose and treat. It carries high mortality due to risk of right heart failure and death. A 21-year-old woman presented with 2 weeks of progressive shortness of breath. The physical exam was notable for II/VI
Perceptions of Referendums and Democracy: The Referendum Disappointment Gap

We examine the gap between perceptions of seeing referendums as an important democratic principle, versus perceiving how referendums are used in practice. We term this the “referendum disappointment” gap. We find support for referendums as a democratic principle is strongest among those most disaffected from the political system, and that the disaffected are more likely to perceive they are not given a say via referendums. We also find context-specific effects. Disappointment was greater in countries with higher corruption and income inequality. We also find higher disappointment among right-populist voters, those who distrusted politicians, and among people who viewed themselves at the bottom of society. Overall, these patterns reflect disappointment with democracy among sections of society who have a sense of not being heard that conflicts with how they expect democracy should work in principle.
Long-Term Outcomes of Patients with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Treated with Myeloablative Fractionated Total Body Irradiation TBI-Based Conditioning with a Tacrolimus- and Sirolimus-Based Graft-versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis Regimen: 6-Year Follow-Up from a Single Center

ABSTRACT Cyclophosphamide (Cy)/etoposide combined with fractionated total body irradiation (FTBI) or i.v. busulfan (Bu) has been the main conditioning regimens for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) for young patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) eligible for a myeloablative conditioning (MAC) regimen. Recent data has suggested that i.v. Bu could be the preferred myeloablative regimen in patients with myeloid malignancies. However, Bu-based regimens are associated with higher rates of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome. Here we report long-term survival outcomes of patients with AML receiving FTBI combined with Cy or etoposide before undergoing alloHCT at City of Hope (COH). We obtained a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained institutional registry of clinical outcomes in 167 patients (median age, 41 years; range, 18 to 57 years) with AML in first or second complete remission who underwent alloHCT at COH between 2005 and 2015. Eligible patients received a MAC regimen with FTBI (1320 cGy) and Cy (120 mg/kg) for unrelated donor transplantation or etoposide (60 mg/kg) for related donor transplantation. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was provided with tacrolimus and sirolimus. In this retrospective study, 6-year overall survival was 60% and nonrelapse mortality was 15%. The GRFS rate was 45% at 1 year and 39% at 2 years. We also describe late metabolic effects and report the cumulative incidence of secondary malignancies (9.5%). Overall, in this young adult patient population, our results compare favorably to chemotherapy-based (i.v. Bu) conditioning regimens without significant long-term toxicity arising from TBI-based regimens.
School-Based Health Centers in the United States: Roots, Reality, and Potential.

BACKGROUND Given the amount of time children and adolescents spend in school, these locations may be ideal for simultaneously supporting young people's health and academic achievement. School-based health centers (SBHCs) not only bring care to students in accessible and familiar locations, these centers also provide guidance for young people during a life stage when they are establishing lifelong health behavior habits. METHODS This article examines the literature exploring the impact of SBHCs from the perspective of multiple stakeholder groups including students, guardians, school personnel, community members, providers, hospital administrators, public health officials, and insurers. RESULTS Studies describe the positive effects of SBHCs on students' health and educational outcomes. SBHCs are generally associated with decreased health care disparities among students, accelerated treatment, and increased school attendance. CONCLUSIONS Additional research exploring strategies for optimizing SBHC's economic efficiency and tailoring SBHC services to meet the needs of vulnerable patient populations is essential. Investigation into the impacts of SBHCs on community stakeholders outside of the student population is also vital.
Fluid model for the piezothermal effect

Abstract When a gas in an externally imposed potential field is compressed, temperature gradients appear. This has been called the piezothermal effect. It is possible to analytically calculate the time-dependent behavior of the piezothermal effect using a linearized fluid model. Quantitative differences between the fluid-model results and previous numerical calculations can be explained by the effects of viscosity and heat conductivity. The fluid model casts the piezothermal effect as a spectrum of buoyancy oscillations, which yields new physical insights into the effect.
Antibacterial activity of nitric oxide-releasing carboxymethylcellulose against periodontal pathogens.

The prevalence of periodontal disease poses a significant global health burden. Treatments for these diseases, primarily focused on removal and eradication of dental plaque biofilms, are challenging due to limited access to periodontal pockets where these oral pathogens reside. Herein, we report on the development and characterization of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) derivatives and evaluate their in vitro bactericidal efficacy against planktonic Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, two prominent periodontopathogens. Bactericidal exposure assays revealed that three of the synthesized NO-releasing polymers were capable of reducing bacterial viability of both species by 99.9% in 2 hr at concentrations of 4 mg ml-1 or lower, reflecting NO's potent and rapid bactericidal action. The NO-releasing CMCs elicited minimal toxicity to human gingival fibroblasts at their bactericidal concentrations following 24-hr exposure.
An Assessment of the Influence of Local Conditions on the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of Drain Water Heat Recovery Systems

Abstract Energy crisis caused by the population growth, increasing demand, and the limited availability of fossil fuels has led to wastewater-based heat recovery emerging as an alternative energy source. As wastewater-based resource recovery systems are location-specific, a holistic view of their sustainability requires a comprehensive analysis of the effect of local conditions on these systems. This study evaluated the role of climate and population density on the economic and environmental sustainability of drain water heat recovery systems (DWHRS) and compared it to that of a medium-scale district heating system. The DWHRS installed in a cold location showed about 2–2.6 times higher energy recovery and 4 times higher greenhouse gas emissions than that in a hot place. The economic impact was predominantly influenced by the cost of electricity, while the environmental sustainability was found to decrease with a decrease in the ambient temperature and solar radiation. Lower population density increases economic sustainability and lowers environmental sustainability of the system. The DWHRS is more sustainable than the medium-scale district heating system in low population density regions irrespective of the climatic conditions. However, in cold places with a high population density, the trade-off between the economic and environmental sustainability must be evaluated to decide whether to install a small- or medium-scale system. Therefore, it is essential to perform a detailed location-specific analysis before deciding the optimal type of heat recovery system for the location under consideration. The model can be utilized as an evaluation tool to quantify the sustainability of the DWHRS and help consumers decide the most suitable method of waste heat recovery.
Active line scan with spatial gating for sub-diffuse reflectance imaging of scatter microtexture

We examine the value of an active line scan with spatial gating for imaging sub-diffuse, wide-field reflectance microtexture. Line scanning combined with spatial gating and linear translation can be used for localized detection of features in the surface layer of a turbid target. The line scan provides broadband spatial frequency modulation, and the spatial gating effectively high-pass filters the reflectance. The major benefit of this approach is that of high dynamic range (70%–90%) signal preservation and high contrast to noise when imaging at high spatial frequencies. Alternative approaches, such as spatial frequency domain imaging, are degraded by low dynamic range in demodulated images, making it nearly impossible to image over a wide field of view at frequencies over 1.5mm−1 using commercial technology. As such, active line scanning with spatial gating presents as an inherently high sensitivity and high dynamic range method of imaging microscopic scattering features in only the surface layer of a turbid medium.
Reflections on a century of vitamin E research: Looking at the past with an eye on the future

The name vitamin E, was given by Barnett and Sure who suggested that the factor proposed by Evans and Bishop as substance "X," be termed vitamin "E" as the next vitamin after the A, B, C and D vitamins had been already described. The identification of vitamin E with a-tocopherol was made in 1936 by Evans' group. One year later β-tocopherol and 11 years later δ-tocopherol were isolated. Tocotrienol (named zetatocopherol) was first described in 1957 and later isolated in 1961. The antioxidant property of tocopherols was reported by Olcott and Emerson in 1937. Inherited vitamin E deficiency, AVED, characterized by a form of neuromyopathy was first described in 1981. The disease, was localized to chromosome 8q and found to be caused by a mutation of the a-TTP gene. The subsequent paragraphs are not a comprehensive review but only critical reflections on some important aspects of vitamin E research.
Risk assessment of latent tuberculosis infection through a multiplexed cytokine biosensor assay and machine learning feature selection.

Accurate detection and risk stratification of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) remains a major clinical and public health problem. We hypothesize that multiparameter strategies that probe immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis can provide new diagnostic insights into not only the status of LTBI infection, but also the risk of reactivation. After the initial proof-of-concept study, we developed a 13-plex immunoassay panel to profile cytokine release from peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated separately with Mtb-relevant and non-specific antigens to identify putative biomarker signatures. We sequentially enrolled 65 subjects with various risk of TB exposure, including 32 subjects with diagnosis of LTBI. Random Forest feature selection and statistical data reduction methods were applied to determine cytokine levels across different normalized stimulation conditions. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis for full and reduced feature sets revealed differences in biomarkers signatures for LTBI status and reactivation risk designations. The reduced set for increased risk included IP-10, IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-15, IL-17, CCL3, and CCL8 under varying normalized stimulation conditions. ROC curves determined predictive accuracies of > 80% for both LTBI diagnosis and increased risk designations. Our study findings suggest that a multiparameter diagnostic approach to detect normalized cytokine biomarker signatures might improve risk stratification in LTBI.
Clinical experience with one hundred seven diabetic pregnancies

Abstract Clinical experience with 45 pregnancies in women with Class A diabetes and 62 pregnancies in women with insulin-requiring diabetes is described. The perinatal mortality rates were 0, 16.1, and 9.3, respectively, among the Class A, insulin-requiring, and total diabetic populations. Diabetic mothers experienced significantly higher prevalences of cesarean section and ketoacidosis than did the overall population. There were no other significant differences in maternal complications. Diabetic mothers demonstrated high rates of abnormal estriol levels and relatively low rates of positive contraction stress tests. Postive contraction stress tests were highly correlated with abnormal outcome. Delivery occurred either at or after 37 weeks in 93% of the Class A and in 81% of the insulin-requiring women. In comparison to infants in the general population, those of diabetic mothers experienced significantly elevated rates of being large for gestational age, macrosomia, and hypoglycemia. Congenital abnormalities were significantly higher in the Class A, but not in the insulin-requiring population. Neonatal morbidity could not be related to maternal diabetic control and was only minimally related to gestational age.
Finite Horizon Control Design for Optimal Model Discrimination

In many fault detection and system identification problems, it is essential to be able to discriminate between a number of competing models of a system based on observed system outputs. For example, in a fault detection scenario we may wish to determine whether a system is best modeled by a known nominal model, or a known failure model. The probability of detecting the true system model can be enhanced by design of the control inputs applied to the system. In this paper we present a method by which a finite sequence of control inputs is designed automatically in order to minimize an upper bound on the probability of model selection error between any two linear, discrete-time systems. We are able to solve this problem efficiently by showing that it is an instance of a Quadratic Program. In addition, linear equality and inequality constraints can be applied to the control inputs and expected system state. These constraints can be used to ensure that a certain task is fulfilled, make sure the system stays within a valid linearization region, or to guarantee safe operation. Experimental results for the case of an aircraft actuator failure scenario show that the method significantly reduces the upper bound on the probability of model selection error when compared to a manually generated sequence and a fuel-optimal sequence.
Role of socializing agents in female sport involvement.

Abstract A social learning paradigm was used to examine the influence of socializing agents on the process of socialization of women into sport. A fixed-alternative questionnaire was administered to 585 female participants in the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The first hypothesis, which predicted differential influence of socializing agents over the life cycle, was partially accepted. Peers were the major influence throughout each life-cycle stage; family served as a strong socializing agent during childhood, had no significant effect during adolescence, and proved to be significantly less influential during adulthood. Teachers and coaches served as significant agents only during adolescence. The second hypothesis, which predicted males as predominant role models, was not rejected for childhood, but was rejected for adolescence and the adult stage when female role models became more significant. When role models were examined from the perspective of athletes only, male athletes we...
Connecting Again with Magnetic Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is the process whereby Earth9s magnetic field interacts with interplanetary fields, and the mechanism by which energy can be transferred from one to the other. It also figures in many spectacular phenomena in the solar system, such as solar flares. In their research commentary, Kulsrud, Tang, and Yamada describe results presented at a recent workshop on reconnection in which new data and theoretical developments were presented.
Algunos criterios biológicos sobre el proceso de eutrofización a orillas de seis localidades del Lago Titikaka

Se evaluaron las condiciones ambientales de 6 sitios a orillas del lago Titikaka (La Paz, Bolivia), encontrandose diferentes grados de eutrofizacion. Se emplearon 4 indicadores de evaluacion rapida: macrofitas flotantes y sumergidas, fitoplancton y propiedades organolepticas, complementandolos con analisis de pH y micro-meso fauna. Se encontraron diferentes grados de afectacion por el proceso eutrofico en parte debido a la influencia humana y la contaminacion de los sitios de estudio. Se analizo la relevancia de cada indicador en este caso particular.
Laser processing of materials and devices

Summary form only given. Laser processing of materials is widely used for fabrication of devices. The talk will describe the emerging applications of laser processing of materials in areas such as nanotechnology (carbon nanotubes and nanopatterning), micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS), laser crystallization of Si for solar cells and displays, surface texturing, advanced lithography and surface modification. Lasers can provide unique material processing solutions. Laser-solid interactions will develop new fields of nanoscience and technology. Well-controlled nanostructures can be synthesized and manipulated by lasers for future nanodevices. Femtosecond lasers are an exciting new technology for materials processing and device fabrication as it is independent of the optical properties of the materials. We will describe some results obtained with the femtosecond laser to fabricate field emission and grating structures. The practical applications of lasers in the manufacturing process of microelectronic, optoelectronic and microsystems devices will be described.
Creatinine Change on Vasoconstrictors as Mortality Surrogate in Hepatorenal Syndrome: Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

Background and Aims Hepatorenal syndrome is a severe complication of cirrhosis and associates with significant mortality. Vasoconstrictor medications improve renal function in patients with hepatorenal syndrome. However, it is unclear to what extent changes in serum creatinine during treatment may act as a surrogate for changes in mortality. We have performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials of vasoconstrictors assessing the association between changes in serum creatinine, taken as a continuous variable, and mortality, both while on treatment and during the follow-up period for survivors. Methods The electronic databases of PubMed, Web of Science and Embase were searched for randomized trials evaluating the efficacy of vasoconstrictor therapy for treatment of HRS type 1 or 2. The relative risk (RR) for mortality was calculated against delta creatinine. The proportion of treatment effect explained (PTE) was calculated for delta creatinine. Results Seven trials enrolling 345 patients were included. The correlation between delta creatinine and ln (RR) was moderately good (R2 = 0.61). The intercept and parameter estimate indicated a fall in creatinine while on treatment of 1 mg/dL resulted in a 27% reduction in RR for mortality compared to the control arm. In patients surviving the treatment period, a fall in creatinine while on treatment of 1 mg/dL resulted in a 16% reduction in RR for post-treatment mortality during follow-up. The PTE of delta creatinine for overall mortality was 0.91 and 0.26 for post-treatment mortality. Conclusions Changes in serum creatinine in response to vasoconstrictor therapy appear to be a valid surrogate for mortality, even in the period following the completion of treatment.
Cell-Mediated Immunity in Diabetes Mellitus

Cell-mediated immunity was evaluated in patients with diabetes mellitus by delayed hypersensitivity skin tests and in vitro lymphocyte transformations. Only 44% of diabetic patients had skin test reactivity to Candida antigen, compared with 88% of normal controls (P 200 mg/dl) had lower levels of transformation than did IDD patients with fasting serum glucose levels less than 150 mg/dl. Lymphocytes from two IDD patients with poor lymphocyte transformation responses had marked improvement in response to phytohemagglutinin when the lymphocytes were cultured after a preincubation period designed to deplete cultures of suppressor activity. Seven IDD patients were studied serially over 12 months. Lymphocyte transformation responses in four of these patients improved coincidentally with a change in the level of fasting hyperglycemia from >200 to 200 mg/dl had poor lymphocyte transformation responses. Diabetic patients have demonstrable defects in lymphocyte function which improved in a small number of patients with reduction in the level of fasting hyperglycemia.
A SELF-CONTAINED, INDWELLING CONTINUOUS FLOW APPARATUS DESIGNED FOR INTRA-ORAL RESEARCH.

Abstract A self-contained, continuous flow apparatus weighing 12.5 g was developed. The apparatus had two chambers, experimental and control, each with a capacity of 0.7 ml of solution which was delivered at a constant rate (1 ml in 5.7 hr). The apparatus was strapped to the back of an adult rat with an adjustable harness and small polyethylene tubing was placed subcutaneously from the apparatus to the mouth. A 30-gauge needle was attached to the tubing and pierced the interdental papillary area between the maxillary first and second molars. The experimental chamber was filled with a solution of hyalurondiase and collagenase and the control chamber was filled with distilled water. Twelve and twenty-four hour experimental runs were conducted. Marked inflammation and sloughing were observed grossly on the experimental side. The control side exhibited only slight redness. In another group of animals, to which the test and control solutions were applied intermittently (every hour) there was little difference between control and experimental areas. It was concluded that the apparatus would function in vivo , that a continuous flow rate was essential for producing the observed changes, and that any cross contamination occurring was not sufficient to obscure differences between control and experimental areas. This report suggests that the perfusion apparatus may be most usefully adapted to a variety of experimental situations, including the study of periodontal disease and caries.
Dipole reorientation from bound-polaron hopping in single crystal NiO

Abstract We report observation of a first order thermal depolarization peak at 190 K in NiO single crystals which we attribute to the reorientation of Ni 3+ Ni V 2+ dipoles. Analysis of the data in terms of these bound polarons, using a non-adiabatic hopping model, yields values of activation energy, E = 0.31eV and the polaron band width, J = 8.6 × 10 −6 eV.
Stability analysis of mechanical systems with constraint damping.

where L'/L is given by Eq. (7) and xt/L' is evaluated from Eq. (1) with p4 replaced by p4'. For example, assuming a driver gas with 74 = f and an area ratio of 16, then MQ = 6 and L'/L = 0.50 as indicated in the illustration of Fig. 1. When the flow is overexpanded, the optimum shock-tube length depends on the strength of the downstream swept shock. From the space-time diagram of Fig. 2b we can write
The Reflection of Electrons from Crystals.

The recent experiments of Davisson and Germer(1) on the reflection of electrons from a crystal of nickel have shown a strong analogy between this phenomenon and the reflection of X-rays from the same crystal; the analogy is not complete, however, and the essential differences may be summarized in the following two hypotheses.
Cytopathic protective factor: its production by normal uninfected serum-free cell cultures.

AT the present time two well-defined systems of viral interference by cell products have been demonstrated in vitro. They are interferon1 and viral inhibitory factor2, the latter possibly being a variety of interferon. Both at least have in common the fact that they are produced in cell cultures infected with virus, active virus in the case of the latter, or inactivated where interferon is concerned. Other differences and similarities are discussed in a recent report by Ho and Enders3. It is well known that virus inhibitors are present in a variety of mammalian tissues and fluids4 and may be demonstrated either in vivo or in vitro.
The effect of paraben preservatives on albumin binding of bilirubin

The interaction of methylparaben and propylparaben with bilirubin-albumin complexes was studied using difference spectra, Sephadex gel filtration, red blood cell uptake of bilirubin, and the peroxidase assay. Methylparaben was found to be a weak competitor with bilirubin for binding to primary albumin-binding sites but a strong binding competitor (similar to sulfisoxazole) at secondary sites. The displacing effects of methylparaben and sulfisoxazole were additive. Propylparaben bound to albumin but did not displace bilirubin. Drugs and injectable saline and water preparations which contain methylparaben should be avoided in jaundiced newborn infants when the high-affinity albumin-binding sites approach saturation.
Educational Subsidy, Agricultural Development, and Fertility Change

In this paper, the effects of continuing agricultural technical change on the allocation of resources by households between increments to family size and to schooling are examined within the context of a model of household decision-making in which education facilitates innovation. An empirical application of the model to data from India indicates, consistent with the theory, that in farm households more intensively exposed to the new technologies associated with the â€œgreen revolution,â€ fertility was significantly reduced, while the level of schooling investment was significantly increased. In contrast, and also consistent with the model, proximity of schools, in the absence of technical change, had only marginal effects on schooling and little impact on family size.
Effeminate behavior present in boys from early childhood

An attempt is made to evaluate the possible relationship of effeminate behaviorin boys during early childhood to subsequent sexual identification.
Financing the UN development system and the future of multilateralism

This article seeks to accomplish four tasks. It explores the historical relationship between the financing instruments that dominated different phases of the evolution of the UN development system and the understanding of the concept of multilateralism. Bearing in mind this historical context, it seeks to analyse the defining characteristics of multilateral finance in the context of the UN, in particular the characteristics that make a financial instrument more or less multilateral. It then explores a number of new financial instruments and their possible impact on the future shape multilateralism takes in the UN system. The article concludes with some thoughts on financing for a new multilateralism. In order to go beyond the core/non-core stalemate, it is necessary to develop a new variable geometry based on function, which brings into play assessed, negotiated pledges, voluntary core and non-core instruments.
The Lp Neumann problem for the heat equation in non-cylindrical domains

We consider the Lp(∂Ω) Neumann problem for the heat equation when 1<p<2 in a time varying domain Ω. Using a perturbation technique and previous L2(∂Ω) Neumann results, the authors obtain a generalization of earlier work in caloric cylinders.
Rapidly tunable polarisation independent optical add drop multiplexer in Ti:LiNbO3

A polarisation-independent four-port electro-optic tunable filter in the 1550 nm wavelength regime utilising strain-induced polarisation conversion with 20 nm tuning range, 5.4 dB fibre-to-fibre insertion loss, and 44 ns tuning speed has been demonstrated.
SIERRA observations of Alfvénic processes in the topside auroral ionosphere

[1] The NASA SIERRA rocket mission was a multiple-payload, auroral plasma physics experiment that flew into a 100 nT auroral substorm at altitudes up to 735 km over the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska on 14 January 2002. The flight environment was composed of an equatorward region of inverted-V electron precipitation followed by a poleward region of mostly field-aligned suprathermal electron bursts. In the inverted-V region, the measured δE/δB implied a stationary field-aligned current configuration. In the poleward region, the average electric field was much larger, 50 mV/m compared with 20 mV/m, included time-varying components that exceeded 100 mV/m with periods of 0.5–5 s, and δE/δB was Alfvenic. Our multiple-payload observations show that the perpendicular scale size of most of these waves is on the order of a kilometer or less. At smaller scales, broadband, extremely low-frequency (BBELF) fluctuations associated with observed Alfven waves had spectral ratios (δE/δB) appropriate for inertial Alfven waves larger and smaller than the electron inertial length (λe = c/ωpe), but the phase angle differences between δE and δB indicate mostly propagating Alfven waves for spatial scales much larger than λe and a transition to spatial perturbations, embedded in the plasma, for scales near λe. The data are consistent with the model of kilometer-scale oblique Alfvenic arcs that are unstable to the current shear-driven instabilities discussed in previous theoretical investigations, lending support to the conclusion that the observed BBELF fluctuations are likely driven by the wave-associated field-aligned current shear.
The development of a shape factor instability index to guide severe weather forecasts for aviation safety

An instability index, called the shape factor (SF), for weather forecasting was proposed using temperature profiles from a NASA/LaRC-hosted web-page featuring NOAA Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) radiosonde data used for short-term weather predictions. The index of instability was predicated on the sign and magnitude of the gradient of the equivalent potential temperature. A training data set of temperature profiles was obtained for both clear and severe weather conditions and the SF index was computed. The data showed marked differences in the magnitudes of the shape factors for the two weather conditions. Calculations of SF were compared with the several well-established instability indices and there appeared marked agreement between the SF and these other metrics. It is being proposed that this new index could be used as a parameter for input to statistical weather forecasting models to enhance overall aviation safety and air traffic management efficiency. Of particular relevance is the fact that more comprehensive results can be garnered since the SF index is calculated from the entire temperature profile and not just from selected temperatures as is the case for other indices of instability. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society
Proteolytically Activated Receptor-3: A Member of an Emerging Gene Family of Protease Receptors Expressed on Vascular Endothelial Cells and Platelets

Macromolecular assembly and generation of serine proteases on cellular surfaces is critically involved in regulation of hemostatic, inflammatory, or fibrinolytic pathways. The concept that a number of these serine proteases may effect cellular activation and proliferative responses has engendered an emerging paradigm focusing on the molecular mechanisms regulating cellular/protease interactions. Previous data suggest that some of these cellular responses are mediated by a novel class of G protein-coupled proteolytically activated receptors. Proteolytically activated receptor-3 (PAR-3) is the third member of this rapidly emerging gene family, all three of which (PAR-1, PAR-2, PAR-3) are known to co-cluster in the human genome, and are expressed on vascular endothelial cells, cells which critically regulate the hemostatic repertoire. This review will focus on the genetics of these receptors (emphasizing recent advances in the identification and characterization of PAR-3), review known structure/function similarities, and outline potential links in regulation of the hemostatic response by protease generation on the endothelial cell surface.
The Divine Flood: Ibrahim Niasse and the Roots of a Twentieth-Century Sufi Revival, by Rüdiger Seesemann, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2011, xvi + 331pp. ISBN 978 0 19 538432 1 (hbk)

The Divine Flood: Ibrahim Niasse and the Roots of a Twentieth-Century Sufi Revival, by Rudiger Seesemann, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2011, xvi + 331pp. ISBN 978 0 19 538432 1 (hbk) In The Div...
An Appraisal of the Food and Drug Administration Warning on Urogynecologic Surgical Mesh

Currently, there is no consensus on the use of mesh in transvaginal surgical repairs for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. This review recapitulates and assesses the recent U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings about the use of surgical mesh in transvaginal pelvic organ prolapse repair and summarizes the responses of the national organizations that represent the health care providers most invested in treating patients with transvaginal surgical mesh. Mesh exposure or extrusion through the vaginal wall, true mesh erosion into viscera, and infection are the major complications that are currently used to define the safety of synthetic mesh use. Other potential adverse postsurgical outcomes that can affect quality of life, sexual function, and patient satisfaction include dyspareunia, “hispareunia” (ie, complaints of a sexual partner), prosthetic contraction or prominence, vaginal shortening, pelvic pain, urinary dysfunction, and failure of the repair. These outcomes are frequently attributed to mesh use, and can result in expense, frustration, and the need for further medical and surgical interventions for patients undergoing treatment for pelvic floor disorders. Information regarding the FDA’s reports on the use of surgical mesh in pelvic organ prolapse repair should be made available to patients at the time of surgical planning and should be used as an adjunct in the process of obtaining informed consent.