cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Behavioral engineering of activity choice in obese children

This laboratory study examined whether making sedentary activities contingent upon being physically active would increase obese children's physical activity. Fourteen obese children aged 8-12 y participated in a baseline session in which they had free choice among a variety of sedentary activities and riding a stationary bicycle. Children were then randomized to either a contingent group in which watching video cassette recorder (VCR) movies and playing video games were contingent upon riding the bicycle or a control group in which all physical and sedentary activities remained freely available. Contingent group children increased physical activity and decreased television activities in comparison to the control, even though other sedentary activities remained freely available. Findings suggest that highly valued sedentary activities can reinforce physical activities and that sedentary activities do not completely substitute amongst themselves. The automated system used to make television activities contingent upon physical activity has potential for modifying activity in the treatment of obesity.
Childhood immunization registries.

To the Editor. —We were pleased with the overview of immunization registries, or immunization information systems (IIS), by Mr Gostin and Ms Lazzarini. 1 However, several points raised by the authors require clarification. According to the article, "national data systems that can track all children and identify those who need to be vaccinated do not exist." While such a national system has been proposed, 2 state and local data systems were selected because immunizations are provided to persons in the community by local health departments and other private and public health care providers. Therefore, to accommodate local situations and preferences, IIS are most efficiently developed by state and local health departments. Developing IIS requires a great deal of collaboration among health departments, private providers, local volunteer and professional organizations, and many others. These collaborations can best be developed at the community level. Community-based IIS can fulfill the basic purposes of
Genetic variation in 5HTTLPR is associated with emotional resilience.

Emotional resilience can be defined as the ability to maintain healthy and stable levels of psychological functioning in the wake of stress and trauma. Although genes that contribute to psychopathology (often in interaction with environmental stressors) are being detected with increasing consistency, genes that influence resilience to stress have been less studied. In this study, 423 undergraduate college students completed a psychometrically sound 10-item self-report measure of resilience (CDRISC-10) and provided blood for DNA. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to model relationships between the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) and CDRISC-10 scores and categories, respectively. CDRISC–10 scores were normally distributed (mean 26.17 SD 5.88 [range 5 – 40]). In models adjusting for ancestry proportion scores (to mitigate confounding by population stratification) and other covariates, each copy of the “s” allele of 5HTTLPR was associated with ~1-point lower CDRISC-10 score. Each copy of the “s” allele was associated with increased (adjusted OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.06-2.21, p = 0.024) odds of being in the low resilient category (> 1 SD below the mean), compared to being homozygous for the “l” allele. These findings suggest that variation in 5HTTLPR is associated with individual differences in emotional resilience, defined as an individual's ability to withstand and bounce back from stress. This relationship may explain the frequently observed interaction between 5HTTLPR and life stressors in predicting adverse mental health outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms). Replication is needed, in concert with identification of other genes that influence emotional resilience and related phenotypes.
FORWARD GENETIC APPROACH STRIKES GOLD : CLONING OF A MAMMALIAN CLOCK GENE

This year marks the silver anniversary of the discovery of the circadian clock function of the mammalian SCN (seeKlein et al. 1991xKlein, D.C., Moore, R.Y., and Reppert, S.M. See all ReferencesKlein et al. 1991. Over the past 25 years, great progress has been made in understanding the physiological basis of mammalian circadian rhythms. Progress has been slower, however, on the cellular, biochemical, molecular, and genetic fronts. The cloning of the first candidate clock gene from a mammal should help ensure that progress over the next 25 years accelerates to CLOCK-breaking speed.
Microvascular decompression of the eighth nerve in patients with disabling positional vertigo: Selection criteria and operative results in 207 patients

Two-hundred seven patients who were operated on consecutively between January 1983 and December 1990 to relieve disabling positional vertigo (DPV) using the microvascular decompression (MVD) procedure were studied. Selection of the patients for MVD operations was based on both case history and the results of otoneurological tests. Of the 177 patients with unilateral symptoms, 8 were excluded because of previous vestibular nerve section, and 6 did not return for follow-up; of the remaining 163 patients, 129 (79%) were free of symptoms or markedly improved following MVD, and none became worse. Thirty patients had symptoms and signs of bilateral DPV, and of these 1 was excluded because of previous vestibular nerve section and 3 because of multiple operations. Of the remaining 26 patients, 20 (77%) were free of symptoms or markedly improved following MVD. Eleven of these patients had more than 2 operations. The follow-up time was an average of 38 months, ranging from 3 months to 10 years. The cure rate (about 80%) of MVD for DPV is similar to that reported for MVD for trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. The cure rate of MVD for DPV was not related to gender or to the duration of the symptoms. Following a total of 254 operations that these 207 patients underwent, 4 patients (1.6%) lost hearing and 4 (1.6%) suffered marked hearing loss. Three patients suffered temporary deficits of other cranial nerves. There were no other complications to these operations.
Cincinnati myocardial infarction and hormone family study: Family resemblance for testosterone in random and MI families

Familial correlations for total testosterone and free testosterone were examined in both random and nonrandom families participating in the Cincinnati Myocardial Infarction and Hormone Family Study (CIMIH). The nonrandom families were ascertained through Caucasian males who had survived a myocardial infarction (MI) prior to age 56 years, while random families were recruited largely through an adolescent boy maturation study. Eight sex-specific familial correlations were estimated (father-mother, father-son, father-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter, son-son, daughter-daughter, and son-daughter) for each of the MI and random samples using maximum likelihood methods with appropriate ascertainment correction. These familial correlations were examined for differences between the random and MI samples, as well as for sex-specific familial patterns. The results suggest that total testosterone levels may have a limited role in determinig MI risk, as evidenced by the overall heterogeneity between samples, and lower serum levels in MI than random probands. The pattern of correlations for both androgens suggests that a simple genetic model appears unlikely; however, familiality connot be ruled out. Although possible covariate effects such as age and sex may have masked some potentially significant results, especially in males, familiality in females is suggested (correlations ranging from .3–.9) The relative stability of these hormones in females as compared to that in males may have contributed to its identification, and suggests the familial transmissibility may be associated with adrenal production and/or metabolic clearance of testosterone. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Sarcoidosis mimicking metastatic carinoid on indium-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy

Carcinoid is a neuroendocrine neoplasm derived from primitive stem cells, occurring most frequently in the alimentary tract. Somatostatin-receptor scintigraphy with indium-111 pentetreotide is a sensitive and noninvasive technique for imaging carcinoid and its metastatic spread. However, nontumoral lesions such as sarcoidosis may also express somatostatin receptors, which may present a diagnostic dilemma in some patients. We present a case of sarcoidosis mimicking metastatic carcinoid on indium-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy in a patient with a history of carcinoid and intra-abdominal metastasis.
Combined polynomial and near-dissociation representations for diatomic spectral data: Cl2(X) and I2(X)

Abstract Fluorescence data which sample virtually the entire ground state potential wells for Cl2 and I2 are least-squares analyzed in terms of mixed representations—polynomials in v + 1 2 at low v and near-dissociation expansions at high v. Smooth functional expressions for the vibrational energy and rotational constant are obtained by means of exact constraints introduced into the fits by Lagrange's method of undetermined multipliers. The resulting least-squares equations are less illconditioned than those often encountered in fitting to high-order polynomials, and the smoothness constraints are satisfied with negligible statistical penalty. The results of the fits are examined for their extrapolating ability and their sensitivity to changes in the orders of the component functions and in the low-v to high-v switchover point.
Tiller recruitment and mortality in the dryland bunchgrass Eragrostis curvula as affected by defoliation intensity

Abstract A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of moderate (14 cm) vs. severe (7 cm) defoliation on tiller recruitment and mortality within the interior and on the perimeter of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) tussocks. Tiller number per marked shoot within the interior was significantly greater in plants defoliated at 14-cm stubble height than at 7-cm stubble height (2·37 vs. 0·43, p
Clinical and morphological determinants of focal neurological deficits in patients with unruptured brain arteriovenous malformation

Objective Some patients with brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) present with focal neurological deficits (FNDs) unrelated to clinically discernable seizure activity or hemorrhage. The aim of this study is to determine demographic and morphological AVM characteristics associated with FNDs.
The Channel Electron Multiplier as an Alpha Detector

The response of Bendix CEM 401 channel electron multipliers to a hot filament electron source and a 244Cm alpha source has been investigated. This investigation shows that a CEM operated in the saturated mode produces output pulses for alpha particles which are, on the average, about twice the height of those for single electrons. A series of pulse height distribution curves obtained with various alpha absorbers and electric field potentials between the source and CEM are presented to substantiate this conclusion.
Collection zone kinetic model for industrial flotation columns

The collection zone recovery of a flotation column was modeled using a rectangular distribution function for the kinetic rate constant and a tank in series model with different vessel sizes for the residence time distribution. It was demonstrated that an analytical expression can be obtained and that data from large industrial columns fits well, keeping the parsimony principle by using a simple and practical solution. An example for the estimation of the maximum kinetic rate constant, useful for scale-up purposes, is shown using data from industrial flotation columns.
Noradrenergic neurons with divergent projections to the motor trigeminal nucleus and the spinal cord: A double retrograde neuronal labeling study

Double retrograde axonal tracing was combined with the indirect immunofluorescence antibody method to determine whether noradrenergic neurons have divergent projections to the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve and the spinal cord. Rhodamine-labeled microspheres were injected into the motor trigeminal nucleus and True Blue was deposited into lumbar segments of the spinal cord. After a 10-18-day survival period, brainstem sections were processed for immunofluorescence staining of noradrenergic neurons using antibodies to rat dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. Rhodamine-labeled noradrenergic neurons were observed ipsilaterally throughout the A5 and A7 groups; the contralateral A5 and A7 groups contained few rhodamine-labeled cells. A few rhodamine-labeled noradrenergic neurons were observed in the locus coeruleus and subcoeruleus. True Blue-labeled noradrenergic neurons were identified in the A5 and A7 groups, in the ventral part of the locus coeruleus and in the subcoeruleus. Double retrogradely labeled noradrenergic neurons were observed in the A5 and A7 groups but not in the locus coeruleus and subcoeruleus. Of the total number of rhodamine-labeled noradrenergic cells, a large percentage also contained True Blue: 54% in the caudal A5 group, 59% in the rostral A5 group, and 72% in the A7 group. Of the total number of True Blue-labeled noradrenergic neurons, the percentage of double retrogradely labeled cells was 33% in the caudal A5 group, 46% in the rostral A5 group, and 56% in the A7 group. The findings of this study provide the first anatomic evidence for the existence of a prominent population of noradrenergic cells in the A5 and A7 groups with divergent projections to the motor trigeminal nucleus and the spinal cord. We propose that this subpopulation of noradrenergic neurons in the A5 and A7 groups influences motoneurons at multiple levels of the neuraxis.
Adiabatic pulses in 1H-15N direct and long-range heteronuclear correlations.

The application of adiabatic inversion pulses to the detection of 1H–15N heteronuclear correlations is described. The pulse sequences studied were gHSQC, CRISIS-gHSQC, gHMBC and CRISIS-gHMBC. The poor inversion quality of rectangular 180° X pulses can lead to a loss of signal at the peripheries of the spectrum. Replacing these pulses with adiabatic sweeps significantly improves sensitivity across the potentially large 15N spectral window. Satellite spectrum profiles are shown to demonstrate the increase in sensitivity when employing adiabatic pulses on wide spectral widths. Additionally, the active pharmaceutical nizatidine was used as a model compound to demonstrate the improvements in the long-range correlation data. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dual-band femtocell traffic balancing over licensed and unlicensed bands

Many cellular user equipments (UEs) today are able to access both the unlicensed band (e.g., via WiFi) and the cellular licensed band. However, in most regions of the world, they are not allowed to access both bands simultaneously for data communications — users can only choose either WiFi or cellular. In order to allow UEs to enjoy both bands at the same time, in our earlier work a framework for femtocells to simultaneously access both licensed and unlicensed bands was proposed. In this paper, the framework is extended to include strategies for femtocells to balance their traffic in licensed and unlicensed bands. The goal is to maximize the sum utility (i.e., user satisfaction) of femto and WiFi users while keeping the femto-to-macro interference below predefined thresholds. The optimal femto traffic balancing scheme is obtained and implemented in a network simulator which considers the activities and interactions of macro, femto and WiFi networks. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly increases sum utility of all macro, femto and WiFi users, compared with the current practices where users can choose only one band (licensed or unlicensed).
Inhibition of interferon stimulation of natural killer cell activity in mice anesthetized with halothane or isoflurane

Background Basal cytotoxic activity of NK cells, a subtype of lymphocytes involved in the nonspecific immune response to viruses, tumors, and some bacteria, is altered in the postoperative period. The current study examines the effects of halothane and isoflurane on interferon-induced stimulation of NK cell cytotoxicity in vivo and in vitro. Methods Mice were exposed to either anesthetic on days 10, 5, 1, or -1 relative to interferon treatment on day 0. NK cytotoxicity was assessed 24 h later. Similarly, splenic mononuclear cells containing NK cells were treated with interferon, before or after in vitro exposure with either halothane or isoflurane, and cytotoxicity was determined. Results In vivo, isoflurane or halothane inhibited subsequent interferon-induced NK cell stimulation (> 90% and 67%, respectively). No inhibition occurred if interferon was given before anesthetic exposure. Significant inhibition of interferon-induced NK cell stimulation could be observed 11 days after anesthesia. In vitro, both anesthetics inhibited the subsequent stimulation of NK cytotoxicity by interferon, however, cytotoxicity of NK cells treated with interferon before anesthetic exposure was comparable to untreated interferon-stimulated NK cells. Conclusions Halothane and isoflurane inhibit interferon stimulation of NK cytotoxicity in naive (unstimulated) NK cells of the splenic mononuclear cell pool without affecting the cytotoxicity of previously stimulated (interferon) NK cells. This could occur directly by preventing the NK cell from responding or indirectly by altering other cells in the splenic mononuclear cell pool (T cells, macrophages), which then inhibit NK cell induction.
Stellar streams and dark matter halos of luminous galaxies.

Abstract We have measured the mass of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) using a Keck/DEIMOS kinematic survey of red giant branch (RGB) stars lying in a giant tidal stream from a previous galactic encounter. The most likely value of the total mass of M31 is M (total) = 6.5 × 10 11 Mo out to 145 kpc. Further analysis of these data will yield robust constraints on the shape of the dark matter halo.
Using Insights From Behavioral Economics and Social Psychology to Help Patients Manage Chronic Diseases

Despite a revolution in therapeutics, the ability to control chronic diseases remains elusive. We present here a conceptual model of the potential role of behavioral tools in chronic disease control. Clinicians implicitly accept the assumption that patients will act rationally to maximize their self-interest. However, patients may not always be the rational actors that we imagine. Major behavioral barriers to optimal health behavior include patients’ fear of threats to health, unwillingness to think about problems when risks are known or data are ambiguous, the discounting of risks that are far in the future, failure to act due to lack of motivation, insufficient confidence in the ability to overcome a health problem, and inattention due to pressures of everyday life. Financial incentives can stimulate initiation of health-promoting behaviors by reducing or eliminating financial barriers, but may not produce long-term behavior change without additional interventions. Strategies have been developed by behavioral economists and social psychologists to address each of these barriers to better decision-making. These include: labeling positive behaviors in ways consistent with patient life goals and priorities; greater focus on more immediate risks of chronic diseases; intermediate subgoals as steps to a large health goal; and implementation of specific plans as to when, where, and how an action will be taken. Such strategies hold promise for improving health behaviors and disease control, but most have not been studied in medical settings. The effectiveness of these approaches should be evaluated for their potential as tools for the clinician.
Near-Field Source Parameter Estimation Using A Spatial Wigner Distribution Approach

An important problem in many applications is the estimation of emitter location parameters based on information received from an array of sensors. To date, the majority of techniques proposed for this problem are restricted to the special case of far-field emitters; that is, the wavefronts impinging on the array are assumed to be planar. More general methods are required, however, when sources are located close to the array (i.e., in the near-field) since the inherent curvature of the wavefront is no longer negligible. In this paper, we propose the use of high-resolution signal subspace methods in conjunction with a spatial version of the well-known Wigner-Ville distribution to solve the problem of source localization iii the near-field. Advantages of this approach are that accurate source range/DOA estimates are obtained with relatively good resolution, and without computation or search of a three-dimensional spectral surface. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by extensive simulations, and its performance relative to the Cramer-Rao bound is also presented.
Paediatric malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in the West Midlands, UK, 1957-2000: a large population based survey.

Background To investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics and survival of malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in children in the West Midlands in Britain over a 44-year span time, to identify any change over this period and to compare the data with the world literature. Procedure Retrospective population based study. Fifty-seven patients were identified from the records of the West Midlands Regional Children's Tumour Registry. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated using the world standardised population method. Statistical tests used were the Log rank test and survival curves were produced using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results The age-standardised incidence of overall gut tumours during the period 1957–2000 was 1.10/million/year. The age standardised incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was calculated as 0.9/million/year and for adenocarcinoma 0.14/million/year. Conclusion Malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract remain rare in children. No changing trends in incidence were observed over the 44-year period. NHL was the commonest malignancy overall and of the small bowel while equal number of adenocarcinoma and NHL were identified in the large bowel. There was no significant difference in survival between sexes, site and age groups in both NHL and adenocarcinoma. Survival has improved over the last four decades for NHL patients but remains poor for the adenocarcinoma patients. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Continual flow pipelines: achieving resource-efficient latency tolerance

With the natural trend toward integration, microprocessors are increasingly supporting multiple cores on a single chip. To keep design effort and costs down, designers of these multicore microprocessors frequently target an entire product range, from mobile laptops to high-end servers. This article discusses a continual flow pipeline (CFP) processor. Such processor architecture can sustain a large number of in-flight instructions (commonly referred to as the instruction window and comprising all instructions renamed but not retired) without requiring the cycle-critical structures to scale up. By keeping these structures small and making the processor core tolerant of memory latencies, a CFP mechanism enables the new core to achieve high single-thread performance, and many of these new cores can be placed on a chip for high throughput. The resulting large instruction window reveals substantial instruction-level parallelism and achieves memory latency tolerance, while the small size of cycle-critical resources permits a high clock frequency
Operating leverage as a determinant of systematic risk

Abstract Since the development of the capital asset pricing model, a number of studies have examined the effect of a firm's operating leverage on its systematic risk. The essential conclusion of these studies is that operating leverage affects systematic risk through either the contribution margin or unit variable costs. In this paper, the models derived in previous research are refined and extended to demonstrate that, for either a single-product or multiproduct firm, the degree of operating leverage measures the full effect of a firm's operating leverage on its systematic risk. In addition, it is shown that a sales variability measure should also be an important differentiating factor among the systematic risk of common stocks. Thus, the results have important practical implications for financial managers when estimating project or divisional risk for investment decisions, and for security analysts when predicting the systematic risk of common stocks.
Unsteady combustion modelling of energetic solids, revisited

The mathematical problem of unsteady combustion of a homogeneous solid propellant with zero-order, high activation-energy, single-step decomposition and zero-activation-energy, quasi-steady gas-phase reaction is considered. Two approximate decomposition models, simple pyrolysis and leading-order asymptotic, are compared with each other and with the full, distributed reaction solution. It is shown that the leading-order asymptotic model is a reasonably good approximation of the exact solution for steady, linear-oscillatory and, with some additional limitations noted herein, nonlinear transient combustion conditions. Further, it is shown that the pyrolysis model can be made equivalent to the leading-order asymptotic model locally, i.e. for given pressure and temperature conditions, at the sensitivity parameter or linear behaviour level, but not beyond. Several misconceptions and unresolved issues associated with these models are resolved. It is shown that when equivalence is enforced, which necessarily invo...
Androgen production and metabolism in normal and virilized women

Abstract There is considerable biologic evidence indicating that testosterone is the most important androgen in women. Testosterone production rates have been elevated in almost every virilized patient studied to date. Clinical evaluation of the hirsute patient, however, is complicated by the observation that plasma testosterone alone may not adequately reflect testosterone production. This relates to the fact that plasma androgen levels in women may be independently influenced by the rate of steroid entry into blood (production rate) as well as removal from blood (clearance). The testosterone production rate must be measured in hirsute women if a complete assessment of androgen metabolism is to be made. The origin of testosterone in normal and virilized women can best be determined by a combination of steroid kinetic studies and direct sampling of adrenal and ovarian venous effluents. In normal women about 65% of plasma testosterone is derived from plasma prehormones (androstenedione and dehydro-epiandrosterone) and 35% is apparently secreted by adrenals and ovaries. In clear-cut cases of adrenal or ovarian disease, excessive androgen production can usually be traced to the abnormal organ. In most women with idiopathic hirsutism, the ovaries, rather than the adrenals, are the most common sites of androgen oversecretion.
Practical Considerations for Waveguide-Ballistic Thermal Energy Conversion

The potential of converting heat energy into electrical energy using a previously reported waveguide-ballistic device is presented. The interactions between incident electromagnetic waves and free electrons in a metal waveguide are analyzed with respect to their transport through a high-frequency ballistic rectifier using finite element method simulation. It was determined that the resulting conversion efficiency to a dc potential is approximately 6%, yielding a power density on the order of 30 W/m 2 .
Metal-mediated addition of alcohols to dicyandiamide

Abstract The syntheses of 1-amidino-O-alkylurea sulphates and their corresponding copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes are described. These compounds exhibit bi-univalent electrolyte conductances in aqueous solution. The electronic spectra and magnetic moments of the copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes are characteristic of square planar stereochemistry. Vibrational spectra provide useful information regarding ligand bonding sites.
A study of the scale-up of reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Abstract A general rate model for liquid chromatography which considers nonlinear isotherms and various mass transfer effects, including axial dispersion, interfacial film mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion is applied to the modeling and scale-up of reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The model is solved with a fortran program which is run on a personal computer. With a few simple experiments using a small analytical column, the binding characteristics and the porosity of the packing particles are determined. Mass transfer parameters are evaluated using existing correlations in the literature without any experimentation. Human growth hormone and a recombinant human growth hormone analog (hGHG120R) were used as protein samples in experiments. Gradient elution profiles of a preparative column are predicted without a posteriori data.
Complementation in vivo between structural mutants of alkaline phosphatase from E. coli.

In vivo complementation has been observed between alkaline phosphatase structural mutants of E. coli . The enzymes produced by complementation are in most cases more heat labile than the standard phosphatase enzyme. This observation, as well as other properties of the complementing strains, suggests that phosphatase complementation results from the formation of hybrid enzyme molecules.
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF TEST‐WISENESS

Longitudinal studies were conducted to examine test-wiseness (tw) with respect to (a) grade differences, (b) grade by sex interaction, and (c) stability. Included in the tw measure were stem-option, absurd-options, similar-options, and specific-determiners. Ss were students in grades 5 through 11; 539 Ss were observed twice with a 2 year interval between observations. Results indicated (a) significant increases on tw in four of five cases, (b) no sex by grade interaction, and (c) tw as a stable characteristic over the grade levels studied.
On flexibility of boehmians

Two problems concerning Boehmians are discussed: local comparison of Boehmians and regular operators and composition of Boehmians and diffeomorphisms.
Some remarks on the Gribov ambiguity

The set of all connections of a principal bundle over the 4-sphere with compact nonabelian Lie group under the action of the group of gauge transformations is studied. It is shown that no continuous choice of exactly one connection on each orbit can be made. Thus the Gribov ambiguity for the Coloumb gauge will occur in all other gauges. No gauge fixing is possible.
A component repository for learning objects: a progress report

We believe that an important category of SMET digital library content will be highly interactive, explorable microworlds for teaching science, mathematics, and engineering concepts. Such environments have proved extraordinarily time-consuming and difficult to produce, however, threatening the goals of widespread creation and use. One proposed solution for accelerating production has been the creation of repositories of reusable software components or learning objects. Programmers would use such components to rapidly assemble larger-scale environments. Although many agree on the value of this approach, few repositories of such components have been successfully created. We suggest some reasons for the lack of expected results and propose two strategies for developing such repositories. We report on a case study that provides a proof of concept of these strategies.
The response of the testis of the hamster to chronic treatment with different estrogens.

introduction THE atrophy which occurs in the testes of laboratory animals treated with estrogens has been well known for many years (Herrmann and Stein 1916, Laqueur and deJongh 1928, Golding and Ramirez 1928, Spencer, D’Amour and Gustavson 1932, Krohn and Zuckerman 1950, and others). Information on the reaction of the human testis is beginning to appear as there become available more cases of individuals with prostatic cancer and of criminal sexual offenders treated with estrogens (Dunn 1941). Morrione (1944), Bennett, Baggenstoss and Butt (1950) and others have described testicular atrophy in patients with hepatic cirrhosis of long standing, presumably from failure of the liver to inactivate circulating estrogens. Although there appears to be no need to review in detail the changes that have been described, briefly they include a progressive disappearance of spermatogenic elements beginning with the late stages of spermatogenesis. Ultimately the tubules appear to contain only Sertoli cells, scattered sp...
Substrate-Assisted Laser-Initiated Ejection of Proteins Embedded in Water Films

Molecular dynamics simulations have been employed to investigate laser initiated liftoff of the protein enkephalin embedded in a H2O film adsorbed onto a gold substrate. The laser energy is deposit...
Cost-effectiveness of Guided Self-help Treatment for Recurrent Binge Eating

Objective—Adoption of effective treatments for recurrent binge-eating disorders depends on the balance of costs and benefits. Using data from a recent randomized controlled trial, we conducted an incremental cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of a cognitive behavioral therapy guided self-help intervention (CBT-GSH) to treat recurrent binge eating compared to treatment as usual (TAU). Method—Participants were 123 adult members of an HMO (mean age = 37.2, 91.9% female, 96.7% non-Hispanic White) who met criteria for eating disorders involving binge eating as measured by the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE, Fairburn & Cooper, 1993). Participants were randomized either to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus CBT-GSH. The clinical outcomes were binge-free days and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs); total societal cost was estimated using costs to patients and the health plan, and related costs.
What Is Political about Rawl's Political Liberalism?

Rawls's political liberalism introduces important modifications into the idea of justice presented in A Theory of Justice. His understanding of politics is compatible with several accounts of the political realm. Though Rawls's political liberalism claims to oppose perfectionist, teleological, and utilitarian traits, his own account suggests a more complex view in which justice as fairness is not exempt from perfectionist, teleological, and utilitarian elements. Rawlsian political liberalism is governed by the centrality of juridical institutions, which are the embodiment of public reason.
Water Contamination from Agricultural Chemicals: Welfare Measures for Chemigation Producers

ABSTRACT Nebraska producers have been applying agricultural chemicals to their crop land through irrigation systems since the 1960s. Beginning in 1987, environmental regulatory requirements were implemented to prevent water contamination associated with this practice. The purpose of this paper is to use the contingent valuation method to estimate the value chemigation producers place on a reduction in ground and surface water contamination from agricultural chemicals, and to estimate producer surplus associated with a change in environmental quality resulting from the adoption of a new chemigation technology. The analysis shows that a sample of Nebraska certified chemigation applicators indicated positive willingness to pay estimates to reduce water pollution from agricultural chemicals applied through irrigation systems.
Activity-based costing concepts for quality improvement

Abstract This article shows how activity-based costing concepts can be adapted to measure quality-related costs and prioritize quality improvement efforts. It first reviews three levels of activity analysis that can be used to quantify the internal costs arising from failure to meet customer requirements. It then highlights how activity-based costing concepts can be extended to encompass quality-related costs arising from supplier deficiencies and the opportunity costs of lost sales due to quality problems.
Ultraviolet Sensitization of Photographic Plates with Sodium Salicylate

UV sensitization of photographic plates with sodium salicylate noting advantages over Schumann plates
Assessment of critical path analyses of the relationship between permeability and electrical conductivity of pore networks

Abstract Critical path analysis (CPA) is a method for estimating macroscopic transport coefficients of heterogeneous materials that are highly disordered at the micro-scale. Developed originally to model conduction in semiconductors, numerous researchers have noted that CPA might also have relevance to flow and transport processes in porous media. However, the results of several numerical investigations of critical path analysis on pore network models raise questions about the applicability of CPA to porous media. Among other things, these studies found that (i) in well-connected 3D networks, CPA predictions were inaccurate and became worse when heterogeneity was increased; and (ii) CPA could not fully explain the transport properties of 2D networks. To better understand the applicability of CPA to porous media, we made numerical computations of permeability and electrical conductivity on 2D and 3D networks with differing pore-size distributions and geometries. A new CPA model for the relationship between the permeability and electrical conductivity was found to be in good agreement with numerical data, and to be a significant improvement over a classical CPA model. In sufficiently disordered 3D networks, the new CPA prediction was within ±20% of the true value, and was nearly optimal in terms of minimizing the squared prediction errors across differing network configurations. The agreement of CPA predictions with 2D network computations was similarly good, although 2D networks are in general not well-suited for evaluating CPA. Numerical transport coefficients derived for regular 3D networks of slit-shaped pores were found to be in better agreement with experimental data from rock samples than were coefficients derived for networks of cylindrical pores.
Sex differences in pharmacokinetics and toxicity of antiretroviral therapy

Worldwide, the rate of new HIV infections continues to increase among women. Over the past 5 years there has been a growing focus on the clinical aspects of HIV infection among women. Historically, the majority of subjects enrolled in HIV clinical trials were male patients. Consequently, most knowledge about antiretroviral efficacy and toxicity has been derived from studies of predominately male subjects. More recently, results from clinical trials, especially those that have focused on HIV-infected female subjects, suggest that there may be clinically important gender-related differences in several aspects of HIV disease. These include, but are not limited to, differences in natural history, efficacy and safety of drug treatment. This chapter reviews current data on gender differences in antiretroviral pharmacokinetics and toxicity.
Feasibility study of using detection of direct positrons in plant imaging research

While nuclear methods find application in plant biology there are very limited amount of instrumentation that is geared to the unique challenges that plant biology presents. Mostly researchers are utilizing devices created for clinical and preclinical imaging. The majority of the biologically significant elements involved in plant formation have positron emitting isotopes, making positron emission tomography a naturally fitting imaging modality. One particular caveat in using PET instrumentation in plant imaging is extremely small thickness of the leaf as an annihilation medium for emitted positrons. For positron energies around 1MeV (as in case of C-11), about 1 mm of water equivalent material is required for positron conversion, so most of the positrons would not annihilate inside the leaf, therefore limiting both sensitivity and spatial resolution of the imaging system. In this work we made an attempt of determining whether direct imaging of positrons could be beneficial in plant biology studies. We compared performance of direct positron detector with a planar PET system. Detection efficiency ratio of ~ 650 in favor of direct positron detection system was measured. Direct comparison of spatial resolutions yielded comparable numbers for a setup, when a phantom was placed directly onto the entrance window of the positron detector. We also determined quick deterioration of spatial resolution as a function of source to detector distance. The last observation makes it necessary to maintain close proximity of the object to the detector, but this condition can be met in plant biology study.
Reply to Maltzman's “Why Alcoholism is a Disease”

(1995). Reply to Maltzman's “Why Alcoholism is a Disease”. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 287-291.
Wavelength locking via teleportation using distant quantum entanglement and Bloch-Siegert oscillation

Abstract Recently, we have shown theoretically [M.S. Shahriar, P. Pradhan, J. Morzinski, Phys. Rev. A 69 (2004) 032308] as well as experimentally [G. Cardoso, P. Pradhan, J. Morzinski, M.S. Shahriar, Phys. Rev. A 71 (2005) 063408] how the phase of an electromagnetic field can be determined by measuring the population of either of the two states of a two-level atomic system excited by this field, via the so-called Bloch–Siegert oscillation resulting from the interference between the co- and counter-rotating excitations. Here, we show how a degenerate entanglement, created without transmitting any timing signal, can be used to teleport this phase information. This phase-teleportation process may be applied to achieve wavelength locking of remote oscillators.
Semantic preserving language conversion by simple pattern matching

This paper describes a scheme for language conversion, i.e. the transformation of a program written in one language into an equivalent program written in another language. The internal representation used in this scheme holds responsible for a very simple transformation process. Further, the internal representation can be used for other reengineering tasks, like program understanding or restructuring. The internal representation is therefore recommended as the representation base of a CARE tool.
Integrated all-electric high energy ion beam guidance on chip: Towards miniature particle accelerator

Pathways to wafer and chip-scale ion beam guidance is demonstrated for the first time, with the use of lateral electric fields only. Ar+ ions of ∼2keV are shown to be guided and bent along a curved path to realize a 90° turn, in silicon micro-fabricated channels of radius 1-mm and 2mm respectively and on printed circuit boards of 4-mm radius. The lateral field guides can be used to guide charged particles for energy analysis or acceleration. Chip-scale ion acceleration and deceleration, of up to 30eV, is also demonstrated with the use of longitudinal electrical fields. These methods pave the way towards complete ion manipulation in MEMS electrostatic actuators and modulators to control chip-scale lateral ion fluxes. Applications include compact generation of pharmaceutical radioisotopes, x-ray sources, RF radiation and fusion sources.
DARCY-BRINKMAN FLOW WITH SOLID INCLUSIONS

The slow viscous flow in a Darcy-Brinkman porous medium with solid inclusions is studied. The general separable solutions in spherical and cylindrical coordinates are applied to the flow over a sphere and a circular cylinder. The problem is governed by a parameter k representing the effect of the porous medium. As k approaches zero, the solutions approach the Stokes flow solution for the sphere, but singularly vanish for the cylinder, confirming the Stokes paradox. For large k, the influence of the sphere or cylinder is limited to its immediate surroundings. The pressure drop due to multiple inclusions is then predicted.
Advanced clinical trials for China

Clinical trials are the primary means through which new drugs and devices are developed for use in patients. Through a series of studies that aim to demonstrate safety, activity, benefit, and effectiveness, clinical trials provide a rigorous scientific methodology for evaluating questions in clinical medicine and advancing new treatments to the marketplace. Clinical trials are also essential to directly compare the effectiveness of various treatment options and to assess the cost and cost effectiveness of new treatments. Clinical trials also provide a context and infrastructure that enables investigators to prospectively collect biospecimens that can be used to answer important questions about the benefits and harms of therapies in subgroups of patients as well as to develop new prognostic and predictive tests.
Blood mononuclear cell production of TNF-alpha and IL-8: engagement of different signal transduction pathways including the p42 MAP kinase pathway.

Recent studies of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with IgG subclasses have suggested that tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) produc- tion proceed along different signal transduction pathways. To investigate this possibility, inhibitors of signal transduction pathways were employed. Human PBMC were pretreated with various inhibi- tors before being added to IgG2-coated wells and 4-h supernatant fluids evaluated for cytokine con- tent. The effects of various inhibitors on MAP kinase activation were determined. Inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases, phosphatases, and phos- pholipase C decreased TNF-a and IL-8 production, suggesting that all three enzyme pathways are involved in cytokine generation. Inhibitors of G- proteins had differing effects: pertussis toxin inhib- ited IL-8 but not TNF-a production, whereas chol- era toxin inhibited TNF-a but not IL-8 production. Pretreatment of PBMC with pertussis toxin re- sulted in reduced IgG2-induced calcium mobiliza- tion, whereas cholera toxin had no effect, correlat- ing with the effects of pertussis toxin on IL-8 expression. Inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) completely blocked TNF-a generation but had no effect on IL-8 production. Go ¨6976, which inhibits certain isoforms of PKC, inhibited production of both IL-8 and TNF-a. Isoforms of PKC may have opposing effects on cytokine production. PD 98059, a compound that specifically inhibits the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase ki- nase (MEK1), inhibited TNF-a production, but had insignificant effects on IL-8 production. Pretreat- ment of PBMC with either PD 98059 or genistein reduced the extent of phosphorylation of p42 MAP kinase in cells activated on contact with IgG2. These findings suggest distinct signal transduction pathways for cytokine production in PBMC stimu- lated with IgG2. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 124-133; 1998.
ANTI-CORRUPTION IN AMERICAN HISTORY

What will it take to get Americans to do something about political corruption? I mean the deep corruption of politics and policy now caused by massive campaign contributions, by lobbyists who bundle those contributions for political candidates and then influence the policy decisions of elected officials, by the revolving door between public office and lucrative private employment, and—through all these instruments and more—by the influence of wealthy individuals and interests over the agencies and institutions of government. Some people say this is just American politics as usual: money is inevitable in public life, and anyway it's all perfectly legal. Sadly, those who say this are, at this moment, winning the argument. Writing for the Supreme Court majority in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), Justice Anthony Kennedy opined, “It is well understood that a substantial and legitimate reason, if not the only reason, to cast a vote for, or to make a contribution to, one candidate over another is that the candidate will respond by producing those political outcomes the supporter favors. Democracy is premised on responsiveness.” Cementing the case, says the Court, is the First Amendment, which protects political speech and political dollars.