cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Somatostatin release from dispersed hypothalamic cells: effects of diabetes

We examined the release of growth hormone-release inhibiting factor (somatostatin) from dispersed hypothalamic cells obtained from mature diabetic rodents and normal age-matched controls, in an attempt to demonstrate a possible hypothalamic defect which might underlie some of the reported abnormalities in somatotrophic function in diabetes mellitus. Insulinopoenic diabetes was induced by either streptozotocin or alloxan. Somatostatin release from cells from diabetic rats was diminished both basally and after stimulation by membrane depolarisation. Stimulated release was calcium dependent in cells from both normal and diabetic animals. The defect was present in both streptozotocin and alloxan induced diabetes. We also compared hypothalamic somatostatin release from cells obtained from obese hyperinsulinaemic C57 BL/Ks db/db diabetic mice and non diabetic lean litter mates (db/-). Despite longstanding marked hyperglycaemia, no significant alteration in somatostatin release was apparent. Likewise, starvation of rats for 5 days did not result in significant diminution of somatostatin release. These observations document a defect in hypothalamic somatostatin release in experimentally induced insulinopoenic diabetes, which is not apparent in the db/db mouse, suggesting that glucose per se is not responsible. Rather than the anticipated increase in hypothalamic somatostatin release in insulinopoenic diabetes, a reduction in release was observed. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that increased hypothalamic somatostatin release is not responsible for abnormal growth hormone secretion in this model.
Microfinance for Housing

UN-HABITAT has calculated that one-sixth of humanity – 1 billion people – currently live in slums. In the next 30 years, this figure could rise to over 31%. The vast majority of these households will never be able to afford, nor have access to, formal mortgage finance. Thus, increasing the availability of microfinance for housing (MFH) to help provide adequate shelter and sanitation will become increasingly important. Several decades ago, MFH was the nearly invisible stepchild of microenterprise finance (MEF). Microenterprise loans were used for housing purposes in some cases, but this was not recognised as such, and explicit loan products for MFH did not exist. However, change has come rapidly. MFH loan products are now widespread. MFH has two ‘parents’: microfinance institutions (MFIs) and groups advocating and supporting low-income housing. MFH was first strongly entrenched in Latin and Central America but is now widespread in Asia and is finally taking hold in Africa.
Surgical mission work: an inside perspective

It has been my privilege to participate in many foreign surgical missions the past 12 years. My first experience was accompanying Dr. John Preskitt to the southernmost part of Mexico in 1990. I became intimately involved with the missions in 1991 when Dr. Craig Hobar founded the LEAP Organization (Life Enhancement Association for People), which now averages 3 or 4 excursions annually. I cannot say that every morning I wake up with an altruistic mind-set, but I am much more cognizant of the resources and means in my immediate work environment that are available for use in missionary efforts.
Distinguishing patterns of evolution from patterns of deposition

Emerging fossil evidence seems to indicate, and it has been proposed elsewhere, that benthic organisms exhibit a different evolutionary pattern from that of pelagic organisms. However, data on evolutionary rates and larval dispersal contradict this notion. It is suggested that, rather than reflecting true differences in evolutionary patterns, the apparent difference in fossil patterns between the environments may be the result of different depositional regimes.
Concept domain validation and item generation for the Treatment-Induced Neuropathy Assessment Scale (TNAS)

Treatment-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN) is a difficult problem experienced by patients with cancer that can interfere with their ability to receive optimal therapy. The Treatment-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Scale (TNAS) is a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure developed to assess TIPN symptom burden. However, PRO validation is an ongoing process. The aim of this qualitative study was to define the conceptual model, establish content domain validity, and refine items for the TNAS based on patient input. Patients who received bortezomib, oxaliplatin, or platinum–taxane combination therapy reported their experience of TIPN in single qualitative audiotaped interviews. Themes of the TIPN experience were identified by descriptive analysis of the transcribed interviews. Three groups of 10 patients each who had received bortezomib, oxaliplatin, or platinum–taxane combination therapy, for a total of 30 patients, reported their experiences. Two themes reported by patients were TIPN sensations and functional interference. Five sensations (numbness, tingling, pain, heat or burning, and coldness) and five functional impacts (using hands, walking, maintaining balance or falling, wearing shoes, and sleeping) were reported by at least 20% of patients and were selected for inclusion in the TNAS v3.0 for additional psychometric testing. The assessment of TIPN must be convenient, reliable, and practical for patients, who are the most reliable source of information about symptoms. The TNAS, developed with direct patient input, provides an easily administered and conceptually valid method of patient report of TIPN burden for use in research and practice.
Development of coaxial 3D-LiDAR systems using MEMS scanners for automotive applications

In recent years, high-performance environment perception sensors are increasingly expected to realize autonomous driving systems. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is one of the most promising sensors due to its high angular resolution and range accuracy. Recently we've developed two types of cost-effective MEMS-LiDAR systems which consist of a single-pair of an emitter, a photodetector and a two-axis MEMS scanner in coaxial optics. The front-facing type takes advantage of telescopic optics to enlarge effective aperture for long range detection. The wide-view type utilizes omni-directional optics to achieve 360-degree panoramic scanning. In this study, we've investigated catadioptric devices and unique scanning MEMS mirrors for compact omni-directional LiDARs. The concept has been experimentally confirmed on a test bench. Here we report on the recent progress and describe the challenges and the prospects for MEMS-LiDAR systems.
The Influence of Gender and Age on Upper Airway Reflexes

Differences in upper airway collapsibility are thought to underlie the observations that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is more common in men and in older individuals. Baseline neuromuscular activity and upper airway reflexes are two of the determinants of upper airway size and collapsibility and gender and aging differences in these determinants could explain, in part, differences in OSA prevalence. The purpose of this review is to review the influence of gender and age on upper airway reflexes. Most recent findings indicate that aging is associated with both changes in baseline neuromuscular activity of the genioglossus muscle (when studied as muscle unit potentials) and is associated with impairment in upper airway reflexes, particularly the perception response to inspiratory loading. The limited data on gender differences in upper airway reflexes shows no difference in the negative pressure reflex or relationship between epiglottic pressure and genioglossus activity. Thus, gender differences in upper airway collapsibility are probably not explained by differences in upper airway reflexes. In contrast, there is evidence that upper airway reflexes are impaired with aging and these impairments might contribute to the increased collapsibility of the upper airway observed in some, though not all, studies of older subjects.
Flotation and wettability of a low-rank coal in the presence of surfactants

Several nonionic surfactants and one anionic surfactant were tested to enhance the flotation response of a low-rank coal. The nonionic surfactants included an ethoxylated octyl phenol and several polypropylene-polyethylene block copolymers, and the anionic surfactant was a dioctyl sulfosuccinate. All of the surfactants improved the yield significantly, but the influence on grade was complex. To elucidate the mechanisms involved, separate studies were conducted to determine the emulsification behavior of the surfactants. For the nonionic water soluble reagents, a correlation between the emulsifying power of the surfactant and the flotation response was observed. An increase in the number of droplets produced was considered to be the main reason for increases in the yield. However, a small amount of surfactant adsorption on coal is essential to promote adhesion of oil droplets. When the surfactant was introduced into the flotation pulp prior to addition of dodecane, the benefits of the surfactant decreased significantly. The decrease was attributed to both a decrease in hydrophobicity of coal through increased surfactant adsorption and a decrease in the surfactant available for emulsification. When a surfactant dispersed in oil was used, the transfer of surfactant to the aqueous phase was minimal, and a considerable increase in yield was observed.
Wayfair: Sales Tax Formalism and Income Tax Nexus

This is the second of a series of essays wherein we analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. In this essay, we address issues related to sales tax formalism and income tax nexus.
General Discussion on the Energy Balance in Short Wind Waves

The generally-accepted approach to the problem of the energy balance in short wind-generated waves is to use the action conservation equation. Most uncertainty enters this procedure in the selection of forms for the source terms on the right hand side of this equation although the equation can be solved to second-order in long wave slope in which case questions of long wave/short wave interactions enter the problem. The three areas encompassing all these source terms are wind input, wave/wave interactions, and dissipation.
Supply Chain Linkages and the Extended Carbon Coalition

Which firms oppose action to fight climate change? Networks of input sourcing and sales to downstream customers ought to propagate and reinforce opposition to decarbonization beyond direct emitters of CO2. To test this claim, we build the largest data set of public political activity for and against climate action in the United States, revealing that the majority of corporate opposition to climate action comes from outside the highest‐emitting industries. We construct new measures of the carbon intensity of firms and show that policy exposure via carbon‐intensive inputs and sales to downstream emitters explains this large volume of opposition from non‐emitting industries. Sixty‐six percent of U.S. lobbying on climate policy has been conducted by an extended coalition of firms, associations, and other groups that have publicly opposed reducing carbon emissions. Public opposition to climate action by carbon‐connected industries is therefore broad‐based, highly organized, and matched with extensive lobbying.
Identification of a novel prognostic DNA methylation signature for lung adenocarcinoma based on consensus clustering method.

Abnormal DNA methylation persists throughout carcinogenesis and cancer development. Hence, gene promoter methylation may act as a prognostic tool and provide new potential therapeutic targets for patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, to explore prognostic methylation signature, data regarding DNA methylation and RNA-seq, and clinical data of patients with LUAD from the Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA) were downloaded. After data preprocessing, the methylation data were divided into training (N = 405) and test sets (N = 62). Then, patients in the training set were assigned to five subgroups based on their different methylation levels using the consensus clustering method. We comprehensively analyzed the survival information, methylation levels, and clinical variables, including American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging, age, smoking history, and gender of these five groups. Subsequently, we identified a 16-CpG prognostic signature and constructed a prognostic model, which was verified in the test set. Further analyses showed stable prognostic performance in the stratified cohorts. In conclusion, the new predictive DNA methylation signature proposed in this study may be used as an independent biomarker to assess the overall survival of LUAD patients and provide bioinformatics information for development of targeted therapy.
Design, modelling, and testing of a vibration energy harvester using a novel half-wave mechanical rectification

Abstract Portable and wearable electric devices are an important part of our life and the energy supply is critical for their functions. Energy harvesting from human motion is a promising solution to provide the energy supply. This paper presents the design, modeling and testing of a vibration energy harvester using a novel half-wave mechanical rectification to enhance the performance of suspended energy harvesting backpack. The proposed half-wave mechanical rectification mechanism uses one set of rack-pinion and a one-way clutch that converts bidirectional vertical oscillation into unidirectional rotation of the generator with nonlinear inertia. As validated by both modelling and bench tests, the proposed half-wave mechanical rectification-based energy harvesting system can obtain about twofold average output power as the previous full-wave mechanical rectification system in the desired dominant excitation frequency and also maintains larger output power in the target frequency range. The influences of external resistance, human walking speed, and payload mass are also studied to comprehensively characterize the performance and robustness of the proposed design. Treadmill tests on different human subjects demonstrate an average power range of 3.3–5.1 W under a walking speed of 4.8 km/h (3 mph) with a 13.6 kg (30 lbs.) payload. Experimental results indicate that the proposed suspended energy harvesting backpack could continuously generate an amount of electricity suitable for powering portable and wearable electronic devices, which can be applied to the military, field workers, outdoor enthusiasts and disaster relief scenarios.
Property Threats and the Politics of Anti-Statism: The Historical Roots of Contemporary Tax Systems in Latin America

Tax revenues have risen robustly across Latin America in recent decades, casting doubt on the region's reputation for having states too poor to finance economic and social development. However, dramatic differences persist in the magnitude of national tax burdens and public sector size, even among seemingly similar countries. This book examines the historical roots of this variation. Through in-depth case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, as well as evidence from Ecuador and Guatemala, Ondetti reveals the lasting impact of historical episodes of redistributive reform that threatened property rights. Ironically, where such episodes were most extensive, they hindered future taxation by prompting economic elites and social conservatives to mobilize politically against state intervention, forming peak business associations, rightist parties, and other formal and informal organizations that have proven to be remarkably enduring.
The effect of resin-rich layers on mechanical properties of 3D printed woven fiber-reinforced composites

Abstract Composites for aerospace and automotive industries trend towards maximizing fiber volume fraction. In such applications, the design criteria typically maximize material stiffness with little concern for strength, and elongation at break. However, several fiber-composite applications would benefit from improved strength, and elongation at break. Given typical manufacturing constraints, limited success has been reported on maximizing composite properties imparted by the matrix, such as strength and toughness. Select studies have shown that inclusion of neat resin layer spacing between composite layers, referred to as resin-rich layers (RRL), lead to significant improvements in Mode II interlaminar toughness. Additive manufacturing offers a useful platform for manufacturing parts with controlled RRL and composite layer placement. In this study, we present a novel method for the fabrication of woven glass fiber reinforced composites with controlled RRLs using a 3D vat polymerization technique. We utilize a plain woven glass fiber mats and a novel methacrylated resin (DA-2) that allows for fiber mat incorporation during printing. The goal of this study is to determine the effects of RRL thickness on mechanical properties. Laminated composites are produced with controlled RRL thickness in the range of 0–200 µm. The printed laminates are tested for tensile, flexure, short beam shear, Mode I, and Mode II interlaminar properties. Overall, RRL does not show improved in-plane or out-of-plane performance for the chosen materials. However, the observed trends in interlaminar toughness are shown to strongly depend on the resin properties, namely the resin’s plastic zone size. We conclude that the resin plastic zone size is a key resin property that determines whether improved toughness and strength are achieved with the presence of RRLs.
Interacting with SCOBAs in a Genre-based Approach to Italian as a FL

The purpose of this study is to examine how four adult beginners of Italian as a foreign language used the Schema of a Complete Basis of Action (SCOBA) based on Gal’perin’s pedagogical model during a course of six one-hour lessons. The SCOBA for this course was designed using the Systemic Functional Linguistic concepts of genre and register (field, tenor, and mode) for the typified situation of requesting goods and services during a service encounter in a restaurant. The study investigated students’ perceptions regarding the usefulness of SCOBAs for navigating this context of language use. Data from the students’ talk-in-interaction, interviews, and in class use of the SCOBA were analyzed. It was found that during the course of instruction students used the SCOBA according to their own communicative needs. For example, students used the SCOBA to orient themselves to contextual differences and language choices when register variations of the typified situation were introduced during classroom tasks. Finally, students were able to modify the SCOBA based on classroom instruction and their own insights into the typified situation.
Equity and Equality in Legislative Bargaining

I study a distributive model of legislative bargaining in which the surplus generated by coalitions depends on the membership and the proposer. The vector of expected payoffs is unique and continuous in the characteristics of players when the surplus does not depend on the proposer's identity. The heterogeneous ability of players to generate surplus leads to asymmetric bargaining prospects in otherwise symmetric environments. More productive players have higher expected payoffs despite being recruited more often by other players, and the players who participate in every coalition have equal expected payoffs despite having different productivity. The bargaining outcomes are equal and efficient when the productivity is sufficiently homogeneous, while the effect of increased heterogeneity depends on the distribution of productivity. When the players become arbitrarily patient, the bargaining outcomes are equitable and efficient but not necessarily equal. An increase in the required quota promotes equality but leads to less equitable outcomes.
Multiple Lines of Evidence for Identifying Potential Hazards to Fish from Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Great Lakes Tributaries

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs; e.g. pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, pesticides, and industrial chemicals) are omnipresent throughout tributaries to the Great Lakes. Furthermore, CECs are often present at concentrations that are potentially hazardous to aquatic species. Since 2010, we characterized the presence of CECs at 309 sites within 47 Great Lakes tributaries and characterized responses of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to river water at a subset of 26 sites within 4 tributaries. Our work resulted in three independent lines of evidence related to the potential hazards of CEC exposure to fish. First, vulnerability (where 'vulnerability' refers to likelihood) of surface waters to CEC presence was predicted using select watershed characteristics. Second, hazard to fish (where 'hazard' means the potential for adverse biological responses) was predicted using screening values for a subset of CECs. Third, biological responses of fathead minnows exposed to river water in streamside exposures were measured. We assessed the congruence of these three lines of evidence for identifying sites with elevated hazards to CEC exposure. Predicted vulnerability and hazards agreed at 66% of all sites. Where the two indices did not agree, vulnerability often underestimated predicted hazard. When compared to measured biological responses from streamside exposures, predicted hazards agreed for 42% of samples. Furthermore, when predicted hazards for specific effect categories were compared to similar measured biomarkers, 26 and 46% of samples agreed for reproductive and physiological effect categories, respectively. Overall, vulnerability and hazard predictions tended to overestimate the measured biological responses, providing a protective estimate of the potential hazards of CEC exposure to fish. When used together, these three approaches can be useful for resource managers to prioritize management activities in efforts to minimize hazards of CEC exposure and can be used by researchers to prioritize studies focused on understanding the hazards of CEC exposure to fish. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Tumor in the Posterior Thigh

The posterior group of the thigh includes the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris muscles, the last consisting of the long and short heads. The patient is placed in a prone position, and a vertical longitudinal incision is made from the gluteal crease to the popliteal fossa, using an ellipse to circumscribe any previous biopsy incision (Fig. 49.1). When the tumor is not close to the skin, flaps are developed around the previous biopsy site, with the thickness of the flaps depending on the preoperative CT or MRI scan and the physical examination. For tumors located deep to the investing fascia, of course, the flaps do not have to be thin and one may carry the incision down to almost the fascia level and then around the fascia, leaving the fascia to be removed with the specimen. In the midline, the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve, sensory to the posterior thigh, courses directly underneath the investing fascia and is often sacrificed, because it can interfere with the exposure and en bloc resection of large tumors in this area.
Some characteristics of chemically-induced beta-cell lesions as possible contributing factors in diabetes.

It is generally accepted that the prediabetic state in IDDM is characterized by a progressive attack on the B cells, resulting in eventual B-cell death, and overt diabetes. The immune system, viruses or toxic chemicals in the environment may be involved. However, little is known how: chemical agents, possibly arising from these sources, are lethal to the B cell; these effects are propagated; and eventually how the target B cell can be protected from such chemical attacks.
Starting a Laser Practice

The field of energy based devices has witnessed an unparalleled growth in the last 10 years. The practicing physician is often overwhelmed and confused with the decision of how to integrate these devices into a practice. The marketing materials associated with these devices often override their actual clinical merits. Moreover, elaborate terms of financing these devices with unrealistic returns on investment (ROI) can further confuse the practicing physician. This chapter will review some fundamental aspects on how to integrate energy based devices in practical practice.
Hyperbaric Oxygen: Primary Treatment of Radiation-Induced Hemorrhagic Cystitis

Of 8 patients with symptoms of advanced cystitis due to pelvic radiation treated with hyperbaric oxygen 7 are persistently improved during followup. All 6 patients treated for gross hematuria requiring hospitalization have been free of symptoms for an average of 24 months (range 6 to 43 months). One patient treated for stress incontinence currently is dry despite little change in bladder capacity, implying salutary effect from hyperbaric oxygen on the sphincter mechanism. One patient with radiation-induced prostatitis failed to respond. This experience suggests that hyperbaric oxygen should be considered the primary treatment for patients with symptomatic radiation-induced hemorrhagic cystitis.
Risk Factors for Stroke

BACKGROUND: Stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world. An absence of a definite treatment for stroke further emphasizes the importance of its prevention. This has led to a tremendous amount of research on the identification of the risk factors for stroke. Because of the publication of an enormous number of articles on this subject, a periodic review is always needed. This review has been conducted with similar objectives. METHODS: An effort has been mad to review the results of all major large scale studies which have been previously published on the identification of risk factors for stroke. We have also searched for the studies that have identified new risk factors for stroke. RESULTS: The risk factors for stroke identified in previous studies are hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, a history of myocardial infarction, asymptomatic carotid stenosis, transient ischemic attack, race, ethnicity, geographical location, and physical inactivity. The role of increased cholesterol as a risk factor for stroke could not be established. Though both light and heavy alcohol drinking were found to be associated with an increased incidence of hemorrhagic stroke, a J-shaped relationship was observed regarding ischemic stroke, with a somewhat protective effect of alcohol in light drinkers to an elevated risk in heavy drinkers. Increased levels of homocysteine in blood, cocaine use, obesity and sleep apnea were the other recently identified risk factors, though more studies are needed to confirm their role. CONCLUSION: The need for continuous identification and modification of risk factors for stroke is always going to be present. With the modification of the already identified risk factors, stroke incidence has seen a decline all over the world.
Communicating CSR via pharmaceutical company web sites: Evaluating message frameworks for external and internal stakeholders

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discover what corporate social responsibility (CSR) message themes are being communicated in selective pharmaceutical companies' mission and core values statements and their relevance to internal and external audiences.Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis of five pharmaceutical companies mission and value statement web pages are analyzed. A panel developed a list of key words that are then analyzed and assigned to a level of Lerbinger's pyramid of CSR schema in order to determine if the web site is primarily communicating with internal or external stakeholders.Findings – Keywords communicating the organizations' mission focus on activities that support societal issues relevant to external stakeholders. Keywords communicating the organizations' values support minimizing social costs including employee safety and therefore are of more interest and importance to internal stakeholders. The analysis indicates that the content provided by these five pharmace...
The History of Ghosts in Early Modern Europe: Recent Research and Future Trajectories

Although some scholars in the 1970s and 1980s noted the frequent appearance of ghosts in early modern European society, only in the last fifteen years have ghosts received more systematic study and most synthetic works are products of the last five years. Beginning with a definition of “ghost” that considers the early modern context, this article examines ghostly apparitions in a wide variety of fields ranging from the history of crime, drama, and gender to the more expected realms of the history of death and demonology. It also describes how literary scholars have used the concept of the “spectral” or “ghostly” to deconstruct early modern genres and how folklorists have continued their traditional classifications of ghost stories and moved into interpretation of ghosts' generic and psychological roots. Following an analysis of the ghost’s role in modern understandings of demonology and witchcraft, this article concludes by arguing for the need to integrate manuscript, archival, and print material on ghosts and to attempt transnational and transconfessional analysis of European beliefs about apparitions.
Skorokhod Embedding by Randomized Hitting Times

The “Skorokhod embedding” problem was solved for general strong Markov processes by Rost [R70,R71]: given such a process X = (X t; t ≥ 0), an initial law μ with σ-finite potential, and a target law v, there is a randomized stopping time T such that $${X_T} \sim v\quad when\quad {X_0} \sim \mu $$ (1.1) if and only if the potential of μ dominates that of v. Subsequently various authors have shown that under additional hypotheses on X one can take T to be nonrandomized, i.e. a stopping time of the natural filtration of X. For recent work on this subject see [C85] and [FF90]; see also [Fa81,Fa83] which contain references for the earlier literature.
Cutting Edge: Oral Type I IFN-τ Promotes a Th2 Bias and Enhances Suppression of Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Oral Glatiramer Acetate

IFN-tau, a novel type I IFN that possesses immunomodulatory properties, lacks toxicity normally associated with other type I IFNs. We examined the effects of oral IFN-tau alone and in combination with oral glatiramer acetate in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). By comparison of oral administration of IFN-alpha, -beta, and -tau to myelin basic protein-specific TCR-transgenic mice, we demonstrate these type I IFNs promote secretion of the Th2 cytokine IL-10 with similar efficiency. Whereas IFN-alpha and -beta induced IFN-gamma secretion, a Th1 cytokine, IFN-tau did not. Oral IFN-tau alone suppressed EAE. When suboptimal doses were administered orally in combination to wild-type mice, IFN-tau and glatiramer acetate had a synergistic beneficial effect in suppression of EAE. This combination was associated with TGF-beta secretion and enhanced IL-10 production. Thus, IFN-tau is a potential candidate for use as a single agent or in combination therapy for multiple sclerosis.
Current Status of Animal Radioimmunotherapy

Progress in animal radioimmunotherapy has been reviewed by highlighting 22 successful experiments using human xenografts in rodent models. Significant tumor growth delay has been observed in all experiments with five groups reporting tumor control 100 days post-tumor implantation. The radiobiological significance of these experiments is analyzed through a proposed framework for the comparison of radioimmunotherapy to external beam therapy in both animals and humans. The limits of applicability of animal modeling to the clinical setting are evaluated in terms of intrinsic radiosensitivity, tumor volume effects, tumor bed effects, and the host defense mechanism. A generalized strategy for the development of clinical radioimmunotherapy is proposed based on utilization of radioimmunotherapy as a boost therapy in combination with external beam radiation.
Analysis of the Autosomal Mutation abo and Its Interaction with the Ribosomal DNA of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: The Role of X-Chromosome Heterochromatin

The autosomal recessive, maternal-effect mutation abnormal oocyte (abo: 2–38) preferentially lowers the viability of XO progeny. The severity of the sex-ratio distortion is reduced by duplications of maternal or zygotic heterochromatin (Sandler 1970, 1977; Parry and Sandler 1974). Utilizing X-chromosome inversions that contain modifications in the quantity and arrangement of the heterochromatic functions, Xhabo and cr+, we have extended our investigations of abo's influence on XO male recovery and rDNA redundancy (Krider, Yedvobnick and Levine 1979).——XO males bearing In(1)scS1Lsc4R or In(1)wm4Lsc4R are recovered twice as frequently as X chromosomes containing a single Xh region, implying that these inversions possess a duplication of Xhabo. abo mutant females heterozygous for In(1)scS1Lsc4R and wild-type X chromosomes generate XO progeny that do not contain elevated rDNA redundancies. XO males containing In(1)wm4 exhibit male recoveries and rDNA elevations similar to those of males bearing a wild-type X chromosome, when both derive from a common abo/abo mother. Reciprocal crosses between In(1)wm4 and Canton-S males to attached-X abo females show significant, though reduced, sex ratios in the absence of an rDNA effect. The observation that abo can elevate the rDNA redundancy of In(1)wm4, a chromosome that does not compensate, suggests that abo and cr+ functions are not directly related.
MUTATIONS IN RNA POLYMERASE II AND ELONGATION FACTOR SII SEVERELY REDUCE MRNA LEVELS IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

Elongation factor SII interacts with RNA polymerase II and enables it to transcribe through arrest sites in vitro. The set of genes dependent upon SII function in vivo and the effects on RNA levels of mutations in different components of the elongation machinery are poorly understood. Using yeast lacking SII and bearing a conditional allele of RPB2, the gene encoding the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, we describe a genetic interaction between SII and RPB2. An SII gene disruption or the rpb2-10 mutation, which yields an arrest-prone enzyme in vitro, confers sensitivity to 6-azauracil (6AU), a drug that depresses cellular nucleoside triphosphates. Cells with both mutations had reduced levels of total poly(A)+ RNA and specific mRNAs and displayed a synergistic level of drug hypersensitivity. In cells in which the SII gene was inactivated, rpb2-10 became dominant, as if template-associated mutant RNA polymerase II hindered the ability of wild-type polymerase to transcribe. Interestingly, while 6AU depressed RNA levels in both wild-type and mutant cells, wild-type cells reestablished normal RNA levels, whereas double-mutant cells could not. This work shows the importance of an optimally functioning elongation machinery for in vivo RNA synthesis and identifies an initial set of candidate genes with which SII-dependent transcription can be studied.
Mortality factors for the vetch bruchid, Bruchus brachialis.

The vetch bruchid, Bruchus brachialis Fahr., is an insect pest of European origin that has become one of the major insect pests in the production of seed of hairy vetch. Vicia millosa Roth, in the United States. Mortality data were collected on the development of the insect from egg to emerging adult. Mortality in the egg stage resulted from the factors: eggs lost from the pods (29.7%), death of embryo (8.5%), sterile or nonviable eggs (4.0%), and female bruchids feeding on their eggs (1.7%). In the larval stage, there was a 21.7% mortality of individuals that failed to enter a seed, and 23.5% of the larvae died within the seeds. Very little difference occurred in success of larvae between those that entered the seed through the hilum, or those that. entered on the side of the seed. The pupal stage showed no mortality, and less than 1% mortality occurred owing to failure of prepupae to pupate or adults to escape from the seed. The accumulated mortality from egg to adult was 89.32%.
Administrative Agencies in a Technological Era: Are Eavesdropping and Wiretapping Now Acceptable Without Probable Cause?

Abstract The purpose of this article is to determine whether the increasing availability of new technologies, combined with persistent terrorist threats since September 11, 2001, weakened American citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. This will be accomplished by examining precedents established by the U.S. Supreme Court on Fourth Amendment protections, and contrasting it with the federal government's application of warrantless computer eavesdropping by using surveillance programs such as Project Echelon and Carnivore.
Dependence of Petroleum Source Materials on Rate of Burial: ABSTRACT

Organic matter, including parent materials of hydrocarbons and porphyrins, is produced by phytoplankton living in oceanic surface waters in quantities far greater than required for petroleum. Mostly, however, these materials are regenerated in the water and at the bottom, and thus are lost to petroleum. An understanding of petroleum genesis includes knowledge of how they can be preserved. Radiocarbon age determinations at several depths in cores from basins off southern California show that the rate of deposition of total sediment varies from 8 to 125 mg/cm2/year. Highest rates occur in basins close to shore where rates are similar to those for the now-filled Los Angeles and Ventura basins during the Pliocene epoch; the grain size, content of calcium carbonate, and interruption by turbidity currents also are similar. Most of the sediment is detrital silt and End_Page 1248------------------------------ clay from the mainland. Organic matter is diluted by this detrital sediment so that it forms a lower percentage of total sediment in nearshore than in offshore basins. Even though hydrocarbons and porphyrins are also diluted by detrital sediments in nearshore basins, both are much more abundant (constituting a higher percentage of total sediment) in nearshore than in offshore basins. Thus, it is evident that both hydrocarbons and porphyrins are more easily oxidized than is total organic matter and that their preservation is greatly enhanced by rapid burial which removes them from contact with the oxidizing overlying water. Comparison with estimated ultimate petroleum recovery from Los Angeles basin shows that far more organic matter, hydrocarbons, and porphyrins were produced and depo ited in the basin sediments than were required to form the petroleum. Nevertheless, present production of petroleum from Los Angeles basin is at a rate that appears to be about 150,000 times greater than its rate of formation. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1249------------
Model-based neural algorithms for parameter estimation

Abstract Recently θ-adaptive neural networks (TANN) were developed for parameter estimation for systems with nonlinear parametrization [1]. This paper discusses the estimation problem when additional information is available about the model structure. In particular, algorithms are presented for recursive parameter estimation for systems with partial nonlinear parametrization and for systems where the nonlinearities appear in an additive manner in the regression equation. Training procedures are developed for the neural networks which ensure the stability of the algorithms. It is shown how the training procedures can be modified to ensure stability in the presence of a bounded disturbance. The complexity of the neural networks needed to perform the identification tasks is greatly reduced compared to the TANN algorithm proposed in [1]. Simulation results are presented which demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithms.
Kinematics of the Beating Heart

We introduce a new approach to the quantification of myocardial strain. It utilizes the theoretical frame work of kinematics and can thus account for the large time-varying displacements present in the intact beating heart. For arbitrary small segments of myocardium, we show how these displacements can be described completely by a rotation tensor and a stretch tensor. We demonstrate the physiologic meaning of this analysis in an anesthetized dog. An epicardial region was seen to exhibit a local twist quantified by the rotation tensor and a segmental shortening quantified by the stretch tensor.
Binding sites as a limiting factor in amino acid incorporation.

Abstract A stabilized, cell-free amino acid-incorporating system from mouse liver has been studied. For maximum incorporation magnesium ions, a large amount of glutathione, guanosine triphosphate, potassium ions, adenosine triphosphate, and an energy-generating system are required. The limiting factor in the incorporation appears to be the number of amino acid sites available on the particles. No release of acid-insoluble radioactivity from the particles was observed.
Structural Determinants of Developmental Toxicity1

Developmental toxicity, an area of public concern, suffers from the lack of accessible, reliable, peer-reviewed compilations of data and substantial gaps in testing. These deficits frequently make it necessary for regulatory agencies to use other toxicological end points to regulate developmental toxicants. We have utilized a database of chemicals identified as developmental toxicants in rats, mice, rabbits, and humans and an expert system which learns the association between molecular structure and biological response (Computer Automated Structure Evaluation; CASE) to explore structure-activity relationships in developmental toxicity. Developmental toxicity was defined as death, growth retardation, or structural or functional malformations. In analyzing the data CASE selects its own molecular descriptors from a learning set of active and inactive molecules. Using randomly constructed learner and tester sets, the concordance of the predictions with the actual data was between 77 and 82%. CASE identified 13 major structural fragments associated with developmental toxicity in mice, 15 in rats, 9 in rabbits, and 7 in humans. These analyses indicate that there is indeed a structural basis for developmental toxicity which may be used to predict the developmental hazard of untested or inadequately tested chemicals.
Advances in imaging angiogenesis and inflammation in atherosclerosis

Advances in imaging technology have provided powerful tools for dissecting the angiogenic and inflammatory aspects of atherosclerosis. Improved technology along with multi-modal approaches has expanded the utilisation of imaging. Recent advances provide the ability to better define structure and development of angiogenic vessels, identify relationships between inflammatory mediators and the vessel wall, validate biological effects of anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic drugs, delivery and/or targeting specific molecules to inflammatory regions of atherosclerotic plaques.
Application of non-linear discretetime feedback regulators with assignable closed-loop dynamics

In the present work the application of a new approach is demonstrated to a discrete-time state feedback regulator synthesis with feedback linearization and pole-placement for non-linear discrete-time systems. Under the simultaneous implementation of a non-linear coordinate transformation and a non-linear state feedback law computed through the solution of a system of non-linear functional equations, both the feedback linearization and pole-placement design objectives were accomplished. The non-linear state feedback regulator synthesis method was applied to a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) under non-isothermal operating conditions that exhibits steady-state multiplicity. The control objective was to regulate the reactor at the middle unstable steady state by manipulating the rate of input heat in the reactor. Simulation studies were performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed non-linear state feedback regulator, as it was shown a non-linear state feedback regulator clearly outperformed a standard linear one, especially in the presence of adverse disturbance under which linear regulation at the unstable steady state was not feasible.
Retooling for the Future: Launching the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence's Laboratory, 1980––1986

In the early 1980s, David Shirley tried to launch a new synchrotron light source for materials science at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). Building accelerators was LBL9s stock-in-trade. Yet with the Advanced Light Source (ALS) nothing proceeded as in the past. Whereas nuclear and high energy physicists had been happy when funding was procured for new machines, materials scientists were irritated to learn that Shirley had brokered a deal with Presidential Science Advisor George Keyworth to fund the ALS. Materials scientists valued accelerators less because materials science had benefitted less from large-scale devices; such devices were therefore uncommon in their field. The project also faced competition and the criticism that LBL managers wanted it only to help their laboratory weather the threatening times that came with Ronald Reagan and his promise to cut the size of government (and in fact that was a part of the rationale). The ALS also suffered because Shirley9s deal was ill-suited for Washington in the 1980s. Scientists were less influential than in previous decades and a more robust federal bureaucracy controlled funding. Other ALS advocates eventually crafted a convincing scientific justification, recruited potential users, and guided the proposal through materials science reviews and the proper Washington channels. Although one-on-one deal making aa la Ernest Lawrence was a relic of the past, Shirley did bargain collectively with other directors, paving the way for ALS funding and a retooling of the national laboratories and materials science: in the 1990s and 2000s the largest Department of Energy accelerators were devoted to materials science, not nuclear or high-energy physics.
A rapid, semiempirical method of calculating the stability margins of superconductors cooled with subcooled He-II

A rapid, semiempirical method is presented for calculating the stability margins of superconductors cooled with subcooled He-II. Based on a model of Seyfert et al., the method takes into account both time-dependent Gorter-Mellink heat transport and the effects of interfacial Kapitza resistance. The method has been compared favorably with heat transfer data of Seyfert et al., stability data of Meuris, and stability data of Pfotenhauer and van Sciver.
Comparison of phospholipid and fatty acid composition of human erythrocytes and platelets.

Summary. The phospholipid and fatty acid composition of the diacyl and plasma-logen derivatives of the choline and ethanolamine phosphoglycerides of human erythrocytes and platelets have been compared. No distinctly new information on the phospholipid composition of either cell was uncovered. However, the fatty acid composition studies showed rather distinct patterns among the four fractions, and between the cell types. The possible biosynthetic mechanisms responsible for and physiological meaning of these differences are considered in the discussion.
An integrative approach to eWOM and marketing communications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of how different forms of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and simultaneous marketing communications (MC), two crucial components of relationship marketing, affect consumer persuasion when presented in a business-to-customer (B2C)-sponsored vs a customer-to-customer (C2C)-sponsored social network site (SNS). A concise typology of eWOM is also proposed. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment involving different social network movie sites was conducted testing the effects of different eWOM along with a comparison to MC on consumers’ interest in, and likelihood to watch movie DVDs. Findings – The empirical results showed that not all eWOM types have the same persuasiveness and community sponsorship as a source credibility cue is more influential from a C2C-sponsored SNS than from a B2C one, particularly for many-to-one eWOM communications. Research limitations/implications – Future research should include both positive and negative types...