cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regulating the Reproduction and Mothering of Poor Women: The Controlling Image of the Welfare Mother in Television News Coverage of Welfare Reform

This analysis demonstrates that the controlling image of the welfare mother was ubiquitous in television news coverage of U.S. welfare reform from 1992–2007. This controlling image consists of racist stereotypes of women on public assistance as childlike, hyperfertile, lazy, and bad mothers. In the discourse on welfare reform, these stereotypes were deployed to support policies intended to control poor women's reproduction and mothering. The welfare mother image was central to framing the debate in terms of the responsibility of public assistance recipients rather than the structural constraints that lead to families to require public assistance.
The effects of smoking (nicotine nystagmus) on Dynamic Visual Acuity

The effects of smoking on the resolution of moving targets were assessed under a range of velocity and duration conditions for both heavy and light smokers. In no instance was the smoking found to impair dynamic acuity. It was concluded that the nicotine nystagmus reported by previous investigators has little practical impact on a dynamic acuity task and, by implication, on real-world tasks involving the resolution of moving targets.
Transcriptional regulation of secretory capacity by bZip transcription factors

Cells of specialized secretory organs expand their secretory pathways to accommodate the increased protein load necessary for their function. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the Golgi apparatus and the secretory vesicles, expand not only the membrane components but also the protein machinery required for increased protein production and transport. Increased protein load causes an ER stress response akin to the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). Recent work has implicated several bZip transcription factors in the regulation of protein components of the early secretory pathway necessary to alleviate this stress. Here, we highlight eight bZip transcription factors in regulating secretory pathway component genes. These include components of the three canonical branches of the UPR-ATF4, XBP1, and ATF6, as well as the five members of the Creb3 family of transcription factors. We review findings from both invertebrate and vertebrate model systems suggesting that all of these proteins increase secretory capacity in response to increased protein load. Finally, we propose that the Creb3 family of factors may have a dual role in secretory cell differentiation by also regulating the pathways necessary for cell cycle exit during terminal differentiation.
Subsidence of continental margins

Abstract The possibility of the subsidence of the Blake-Bahama Basin is discussed. Restoration of this basin to its earlier shallow position indicates that it can be compared with several similar structures presently found at shallow depths. This comparison may provide clues to the processes involved in the subsidence.
Delta-SimRank computing on MapReduce

Based on the intuition that "two objects are similar if they are related to similar objects", SimRank (proposed by Jeh and Widom in 2002) has become a famous measure to compare the similarity between two nodes using network structure. Although SimRank is applicable to a wide range of areas such as social networks, citation networks, link prediction, etc., it suffers from heavy computational complexity and space requirements. Most existing efforts to accelerate SimRank computation work only for static graphs and on single machines. This paper considers the problem of computing SimRank efficiently in a distributed system while handling dynamic networks which grow with time. We first consider an abstract model called Harmonic Field on Node-pair Graph. We use this model to derive SimRank and the proposed Delta-SimRank, which is demonstrated to fit the nature of distributed computing and can be efficiently implemented using Google's MapReduce paradigm. Delta-SimRank can effectively reduce the computational cost and can also benefit the applications with non-static network structures. Our experimental results on four real world networks show that Delta-SimRank is much more efficient than the distributed SimRank algorithm, and leads to up to 30 times speed-up in the best case1.
Clinical Proton MR Spectroscopy in Central Nervous System Disorders

MR spectroscopy is used worldwide as an adjunct to MR imaging in several common neurologic diseases, including brain neoplasms, inherited metabolic disorders, demyelinating disorders, and infective focal lesions.
Dynamics of structures with wideband autoparametric vibration absorbers: theory

This article analyses the dynamics of a resonantly excited single–degree–of–freedom linear system coupled to an array of nonlinear autoparametric vibration absorbers (pendulums). Each pendulum is also coupled to the neighbouring pendulums by linear elastic springs. The case of a 1:1:…:2 internal resonance between pendulums and the primary oscillator is studied for stationary (harmonic) and non–stationary (slow frequency sweep) excitations. The method of averaging is used to obtain amplitude equations that determine the first–order approximation to the nonlinear response of the system. The amplitude equations are analysed for their equilibrium as well as non–stationary solutions as a function of the parameters associated with the absorber pendulums. For stationary excitation, most steady–state solutions correspond to modes in which only one pendulum and the primary system execute coupled motions. Conditions for the existence of manifolds of equilibria are revealed when the averaged equations are expressed in modal coordinates. In the non–stationary case with linear frequency sweep through the primary resonance region, delays through pitchforks, smooth but rapid transitions through jumps, and transitions from one stable coupled–mode branch to another are studied using numerical simulations of the amplitude equations. The array of autoparametric pendulums is shown to effectively attenuate the large–amplitude resonant response of structures over a wide band of excitation frequencies.
Misclassification of pulmonary hypertension due to reliance on pulmonary capillary wedge pressure rather than left ventricular end-diastolic pressure.

Background Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is typically distinguished from pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH) by documenting a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) Methods We examined hemodynamic data from the 11,523 unique patients undergoing simultaneous right-heart and left-heart catheterization at a large academic center from 1998 to 2007. Results Among 4,320 patients (37.5%) with pulmonary hypertension (PH) [mean pulmonary artery pressure, >or= 25 mm Hg], hemodynamic data were complete for 3,926 patients (90.9%). Of these, 580 patients (14.8%) met the criteria for PAH with a PCWP 15 mm Hg. Such discrepancies remained common among patients with a pulmonary vascular resistance > 3 Wood units and those being catheterized specifically to evaluate PH. PCWP provided moderate discrimination between patients with high vs normal LVEDP (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.81 to 0.86) but was poorly calibrated to LVEDP (Bland-Altman limits of agreement, - 15.2 to 9.5 mm Hg; Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit chi(2) statistic, 155.4; p Conclusions Roughly half of the patients presumed to have PAH based on PCWP may be found to have PVH based on LVEDP. Reliance on PCWP may result in the dangerous or cost-ineffective use of pulmonary vasodilators for patients with left-heart disease. Furthermore, without assessing LVEDP, investigators may include patients with left-heart disease in therapeutic trials of PAH drugs, thereby limiting their ability to detect beneficial drug effects.
Low overhead distributed diagnostic algorithms for very large multiple processor systems

The increasing need for the design of high-performance, highly reliable systems has led to the design of very large systems made up of hundreds of thousands of processors. The author proposes distributed algorithms for testing and reconfiguration of these systems. In these algorithms the number of tests and the amount of testing message overhead are reduced by making testing assignment dynamic. Initially a small number of processors, ideally one, is assigned to test every processor, and when some of the processor or communication channels fail, a new testing assignment is made to assign again a small number of testers to every processor. >
An Investigation of Organic and Inorganic Mercury Exposure and Blood Pressure in a Small-Scale Gold Mining Community in Ghana

There is increasing concern about the cardiovascular effects of mercury (Hg) exposure, and that organic methylmercury and inorganic Hg2+ may affect the cardiovascular system and blood pressure differentially. In small-scale gold mining communities where inorganic, elemental Hg exposures are high, little is known about the effects of Hg on blood pressure. In 2011, we assessed the relationship between Hg exposure and blood pressure (BP) in a cross-sectional study of adults from a small-scale gold mining community, Kejetia, and subsistence farming community, Gorogo, in Ghana’s Upper East Region. Participants’ resting heart rate and BP were measured, and hair and urine samples were provided to serve as biomarkers of organic and inorganic Hg exposure, respectively. Participants included 70 miners and 26 non-miners from Kejetia and 75 non-miners from Gorogo. Total specific gravity-adjusted urinary and hair Hg was higher among Kejetia miners than Kejetia non-miners and Gorogo participants (median urinary Hg: 5.17, 1.18, and 0.154 µg/L, respectively; hair Hg: 0.945, 0.419, and 0.181 µg/g, respectively). Hypertension was prevalent in 17.7% of Kejetia and 21.3% of Gorogo participants. Urinary and hair Hg were not significantly associated with systolic or diastolic BP for Kejetia or Gorogo participants while adjusting for sex, age, and smoking status. Although our results follow trends seen in other studies, the associations were not of statistical significance. Given the unique study population and high exposures to inorganic Hg, the work contained here will help increase our understanding of the cardiovascular effects of Hg.
The Yeast Recombinational Repair Protein Rad59 Interacts With Rad52 and Stimulates Single-Strand Annealing

The yeast RAD52 gene is essential for homology-dependent repair of DNA double-strand breaks. In vitro, Rad52 binds to single- and double-stranded DNA and promotes annealing of complementary single-stranded DNA. Genetic studies indicate that the Rad52 and Rad59 proteins act in the same recombination pathway either as a complex or through overlapping functions. Here we demonstrate physical interaction between Rad52 and Rad59 using the yeast two-hybrid system and co-immunoprecipitation from yeast extracts. Purified Rad59 efficiently anneals complementary oligonucleotides and is able to overcome the inhibition to annealing imposed by replication protein A (RPA). Although Rad59 has strand-annealing activity by itself in vitro, this activity is insufficient to promote strand annealing in vivo in the absence of Rad52. The rfa1-D288Y allele partially suppresses the in vivo strand-annealing defect of rad52 mutants, but this is independent of RAD59. These results suggest that in vivo Rad59 is unable to compete with RPA for single-stranded DNA and therefore is unable to promote single-strand annealing. Instead, Rad59 appears to augment the activity of Rad52 in strand annealing.
Demonstration of CAM and TCAM Using Phase Change Devices

We demonstrate novel designs for Content Addressable Memory (CAM) and Ternary CAM (TCAM) using Phase Change Memory (PCM) technology, which can potentially improve density and power consumption by >;5X as compared with conventional SRAM based implementations. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we also predict the desired characteristics of PCM devices for realizing large, high performance CAM/TCAM chips.
Ancient origin of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase 69-kilodalton catalytic subunit superfamily.

Recently, two distinct cDNA clones encoding the catalytic subunit of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) were isolated from the allotetraploid cotton species Gossypium hirsutum L. cv ‘Acala SJ-2’ (Wilkins 1992, 1993). Differences in the nucleotide sequence of these clones were used as molecular markers to explore the organization and structure of the V-ATPase catalytic subunit genes in the A and D genomes of diploid and allotetraploid cotton species. Nucleotide sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products amplified from G. arboreum (A2, 2n=26), G. raimondii (D5, 2n=26), and G. hirsutum cv ‘Acala SJ-2’ [(AD)1, 2n=4x=52] revealed a V-ATPase catalytic subunit organization more complex than indicated hitherto in any species, including higher plants. In the genus Gossypium, the V-ATPase catalytic subunit genes are organized as a superfamily comprising two diverse but closely related multigene families, designated as vat69A and vat69B, present in both diploid and allotetraploid species. As expected, each vat69 subfamily is correspondingly more complex in the allotetraploid species due to the presence of both A and D alloalleles. Because of this, about one-half of the complex organization of V-ATPase catalytic subunit genes predates polyploidization and speciation of New World tetraploid species. Comparison of plant and fungal V-ATPase catalytic subunit gene structure indicates that introns accrued in the plant homologs following the bifurcation of plant and fungi but prior to the gene duplication event that gave rise to the vat69A and vat69B genes approximately 45 million years ago. The structural complexity of plant V-ATPase catalytic subunit genes is highly conserved, indicating the presence of at least ten introns dispersed throughout the coding region.
Variation in faecal water content may confound estimates of gastro-intestinal parasite intensity in wild African herbivores

Estimates of parasite intensity within host populations are essential for many studies of host –parasite relationships. Here we evaluated the seasonal, age- and sex-related variability in faecal water content for two wild ungulate species, springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) and plains zebra (Equus quagga). We then assessed whether or not faecal water content biased conclusions regarding differences in strongyle infection rates by season, age or sex. There was evidence of significant variation in faecal water content by season and age for both species, and by sex in springbok. Analyses of faecal egg counts demonstrated that sex was a near-significant factor in explaining variation in strongyle parasite infection rates in zebra (P ¼ 0.055) and springbok (P ¼ 0.052) using wet-weight faecal samples. However, once these intensity estimates were re-scaled by the percent of dry matter in the faeces, sex was no longer a significant factor (zebra, P ¼ 0.268; springbok, P ¼ 0.234). These results demonstrate that variation in faecal water content may confound analyses and could produce spurious conclusions, as was the case with host sex as a factor in the analysis. We thus recommend that researchers assess whether water variation could be a confounding factor when designing and performing research using faecal indices of parasite intensity.
The effect of the radio-protective agents ethanol, trimethylglycine, and beer on survival of X-ray-sterilized male Aedes aegypti

Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented to control, and in some cases, eradicate, dipteran insect populations. SIT has great potential as a mosquito control method. Different sterilization methods have been used on mosquitoes ranging from chemosterilization to genetically modified sterile male mosquito strains; however, sterilization with ionizing radiation is the method of choice for effective sterilization of male insects for most species. The lack of gentle radiation methods has resulted in significant complications when SIT has been applied to mosquitoes. Several studies report that irradiating mosquitoes resulted in a decrease in longevity and mating success compared to unirradiated males. The present study explored new protocols for mosquito sterilization with ionizing radiation that minimized detrimental effects on the longevity of irradiated males. We tested three compounds that have been shown to act as radioprotectors in the mouse model system - ethanol, trimethylglycine, and beer. Male Aedes aegypti were treated with one of three chosen potential radioprotectors and were subsequently irradiated with identical doses of long-wavelength X-rays. We evaluated the effect of these radioprotectors on the longevity of male mosquito after irradiation. We found that X-ray irradiation with an absorbed dose of 1.17 gy confers complete sterility. Irradiation with this dose significantly shortened the lifespan of male mosquitoes and all three radioprotectors tested significantly enhanced the lifespan of irradiated mosquito males. Our results suggest that treatment with ethanol, beer, or trimethylglycine before irradiation can be used to enhance longevity in mosquitoes.
Analysis of attacks on SDMI audio watermarks

This paper explains and analyzes the successful attacks submitted by the authors on four audio watermark proposals during a 3-week SDMI public challenge. Our analysis points out some weaknesses in the watermark techniques currently under SDMI consideration and suggests directions for further improvement. The paper also discusses the framework and strategies for analyzing the robustness and security of watermarking systems as well as the difficulty, uniqueness, and unrealistic expectations of the attack setup.
Radiosensitization in prostate cancer: mechanisms and targets

Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men over the age of 45 years and is the third most common cause of cancer related deaths in American men. In 2012 it is estimated that 241,740 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 28,170 men will succumb to prostate cancer. Currently, radiation therapy is one of the most common definitive treatment options for localized prostate cancer. However, significant number of patients undergoing radiation therapy will develop locally persistent/recurrent tumours. The varying response rates to radiation may be due to 1) tumor microenvironment, 2) tumor stage/grade, 3) modality used to deliver radiation, and 4) dose of radiation. Higher doses of radiation has not always proved to be effective and have been associated with increased morbidity. Compounds designed to enhance the killing effects of radiation, radiosensitizers, have been extensively investigated over the past decade. The development of radiosensitizing agents could improve survival, improve quality of life and reduce costs, thus benefiting both patients and healthcare systems. Herin, we shall review the role and mechanisms of various agents that can sensitize tumours, specifically prostate cancer.
Multiple episodes of volcanism in the Southern Austral Islands: Flexural constraints from bathymetry, seismic reflection, and gravity data

[1] At the southeastern end of the Cook-Austral Island chain, in the vicinity of the currently active Macdonald Seamount, multiple episodes of volcanism have left a diverse population of seamounts. Multichannel seismic reflection and shipboard gravity data provide observational constraints on the magnitude and wavelength of flexure, and multibeam bathymetry obtained by R/V Ewing and F/S Sonne within the study area provides full spatial coverage of all volcanic loads. Three-dimensional flexural modeling of closely spaced loads emplaced at discrete times, performed both with analytical models of idealized loads and with fourier domain solutions of the observed volcanic loads partitioned into the younger and older seamounts, is compared with seismic and gravity data. This modeling provides a more complete view of the volcanic history than radiometric dating and geochemical analysis of sparse dredge samples alone. Wide-angle seismic refraction data from ocean bottom hydrophones (OBHs) and expendable sonobuoys are also consistent with the flexural modeling results. Volume estimates of the different volcanic episodes show that one-half to two-thirds of the material added to the abyssal seafloor by midplate volcanic processes is due to older volcanism that erupted on young lithosphere, while the younger, higher seamounts contributed the remainder.
The Effect of Certain Variables in Warp Sizing on Weavability

The effect of certain variables (size add-on, degree of polymerization of size, and temperature of application) in sizing was determined in relation to simulated weaving for a cotton yarn sized with poly(ethylene oxide).Increasing the size add-on decreased the tendency of the sized yarns to shed fibers and size. The effect of resin DP varied with size add-on. At low add-ons an increase in DP was accompanied by an improvement in weavability which was attributed to the concomitant increase in toughness of the resin; after very high values of DP were reached, however, weaving became unsatisfactory, apparently because of poor anchoring of resin to yarn. At high add-ons an increase in resin DP resulted in improved weaving performance for all ranges of DP, and this effect was attributed both to the increase in toughness of the resin film and to the increase in film coverage of the yarn surface and in film thickness achieved at high add-ons. As the temperature of application was raised, penetration of size throu...
Outage analysis for general decode-and-forward cooperative relaying systems with co-channel interference

General multi-branch multi-hop (MBMH) cooperative diversity systems with decode-and-forward (DF) relays are investigated on non-identical Nakagami-m fading channels in the presence of an arbitrary number of non-identical co-channel interferers. This paper presents exact closed-forms for the probability density function of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and the outage probability of a DF MBMH cooperative relaying system. The results show that the performance of the DF MBMH cooperative relaying system is more vulnerable when co-channel interferers are closer to the destination than when they are closer to the relays. Our analytical results are verified by Monte Carlo simulations.
Higgs decays and brane gravi-vectors

Higgs boson decays in flexible brane world models with stable, massive gravi-vectors are considered. Such vectors couple bilinearly to the standard model fields through either the standard model energy-momentum tensor, the weak hypercharge field strength, or the Higgs scalar. The role of the coupling involving the extrinsic curvature is highlighted. It is found that within the presently allowed parameter space, the decay rate of the Higgs into two gravi-vectors (which would appear as an invisible Higgs decay) can be comparable to the rate for any of the standard model decay modes.
Residential segregation in the American metropolis: concentration, dispersion and dominance

Measuring residential segregation is a challenging and crucial task. Many important questions in urban history can be understood fully only after correctly assessing the importance and significance of the clustering patterns of different groups of urbanites. However, the extent to which and the ways in which various social classes, races, and ethnic groups congregated in the expanding industrial metropolis of nineteenth-century America form the subject of heated debates among historians. With large black ghettos now existing in all major cities, experts and lay citizens alike agree that Americans live in a ‘separated society’. In the first half of the twentieth century, metropolitan areas took the form of ghettoized central cities with white suburbs. With the transfer of many urban functions to suburban units, and the shift of America from a nation of urbanites to a nation of suburbanites, a complex pattern of suburban segregation also developed. The universal concern about the magnitude of today's segregation makes the historical debate intriguing. Was it once different? Was there a time when cities were integrated? At some time in the past, many believe, American cities were better places in which to live—hence we should strive to recover our lost community.
The performance of flow graph locking

The performance of flow graph locking (FGL) is compared with that of two-phase locking (2PL). As the data sharing level increases, FGL has a better response time than 2PL. Regardless of the data sharing or multiprogramming levels, FGL usually facilitates a better throughput rate than 2PL. >
Less conservative performance bounds with the LMI method for a class of semi-active control problems with nonlinear actuator dynamics

The problem of establishing less conservative performance bounds relative to a classical technique is investigated for a class of semi-active control problems with nonlinear actuator dynamics and discontinuous feedback control. The performance problem is formulated as a linear matrix inequality problem and it is shown by way of a 3D example that this approach provides several orders of magnitude performance bound improvement over that obtainable by a classical technique. However, the LMI bound is still one order of magnitude larger than that provided by simulation. It is interesting to note that the LMI bound is the same order of magnitude as that provided by the L/sub 1/-system norm of the linear system that results from the case where the valve on the semi-active element remains open on the whole space (equivalent to a passive damper). Even with the large improvement over the classical technique, the LMI bound did not differentiate between various competing Lyapunov type controllers for the 3D example. The LMI method is only used here to establish an upper bound on the system performance. The control design here is based on the steepest descent Lyapunov formulation, not on the LMI treatment.
Definability in the Existential Theory of Concatenation and Undecidable Extensions of this Theory

We study extensions of the decidable existential theory of concatenation over words. We show that two equal-length predicates are equivalent and are not existentially definable by equations in concatenation. By adding a further length predicate we get an undecidable existential theory. Whether the existential theory of concatenation and equal length is decidable remains unknown.
A novel exon finding algorithm based on the 3-base periodicity analysis of genome information

With the exponential growth of genomic sequences, there is an increasing demand to accurately identify protein coding regions (exons) from genomic sequences. Despite progresses being made in the identification of protein coding regions by computational methods previously, the performance and efficiency of the prediction methods are still needed to be improved. It is essential to develop different prediction methods since combining different methods may greatly improve the prediction accuracy. The 3-base periodicity, identified as a pronounced peak at the frequency N/3 (N is the length of the DNA sequence) of Fourier power spectrum of protein coding regions, is used as a marker in exon finding algorithms. Understanding the origin of the 3-base periodicity will provide useful information in designing better methods to identify exons, and also provide deep insight into other periodicities. The thesis presents stochastic simulations to investigate the origin of the 3-base periodicity in DNA sequences. The results imply that the 3-base periodicity in DNA sequence is determined by unbalanced nucleotide distributions on the three codon positions. There is a linear correlation between the nucleotide distributions on the three codon positions and the power spectrum at frequency N/3. The study indicates the relationship between the variance of nucleotide distributions and the average Fourier power spectrum, which is the noise signal in gene finding methods. The thesis develops an effective exon finding algorithm based on the 3-base periodicity, which computes the 3-base periodicity and the background noise of the stepwise DNA segments of the target DNA sequences using the nucleotide distributions on the three codon positions of the DNA sequence. Exon and intron sequences can be identified from trends of the 3-base periodicity signal to background noise in DNA sequences. Cases studies show that this method is an effective approach in exon prediction.
Metabolic Aspects of Adaptation to Carbon Dioxide

Acute hypercapnia has been shown to result in an inhibition of glycolysis, lipolysis, and cyclic AMP formation by Nahas and his coworkers (NAHAS, POYART, and TRINER [1968], POYART and NAHAS [1968a], NAHAS and STEINSLAND [1968b], NAHAS [1971]). We were interested in studying adaptation of metabolic functions in chronic hypercapnia following the depression induced during the acute phase of hypercapnia. Guinea pigs and rats were used during prolonged exposure to 15% CO2. Under these conditions we observed biphasic changes, an initial transitory depression of functions followed by a recovery and a return to control levels or near control levels associated with the biphasic changes in pH. The concentration of 15% CO2 was chosen for these studies because it is high enough to cause during the acute phase a sufficiently large fall in pH (7.4 to 7.0) so as to affect pH-dependent enzymes. During the subsequent adaptation to respiratory acidosis the pH rises again above the level at which most of the pH-dependent enzymes are inhibited (SCHAEFER, MESSIER, and MORGAN [1970]). Under these conditions we observed a transient pH-dependent inhibition and subsequent recovery of red-cell glycolysis (JACEY and SCHAEFER [1971]) which was associated with a biphasic shift in the oxygen dissociation curve (SCHAEFER, MESSIER, and MORGAN [1970]) and pH-dependent changes in red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (MESSIER and SCHAEFER [1971]).
The intrauterine device, pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility: the confusion between hypothesis and knowledge

An earlier editorial made many false claims against the IUD and women. In many cases the author extrapolated experience from the Dalkon Shield to todays IUDs. He even said the modern contraception has not reduced fertility but data from at least 7 developing countries clearly refute that statement. Moreover he claims that the most female ambition is motherhood. Thus he blamed women for high fertility rates without acknowledging that women in developing countries have little control over fertility. Husbands determine when and how often to have intercourse and whether to use contraceptives or not. Women do not always have access to contraceptives. The author boldly stated that the IUD poses a threat to future fertility because it causes pelvic infections. The real threat is intercourse by which upper genital tract infections are transmitted. It is these sexually transmitted diseases that cause pelvic infections. The studies the author quoted have been found to have considerable bias and/or methodologic flaws. Some studies used as the comparison group women using contraceptive which lower the pelvic infection risk. Contemporary studies find no increased risk of infertility in copper and hormone IUD users but instead show increased risk for multiple sex partners. Some studies do indicate an increased risk shortly after insertion which is due to insertion instrumentation used. The author even claimed that a Swedish study concluded that IUDs promote pelvic infection in patients with gonorrhea and chlamydia. But the Swedish study found no difference in pelvic infection risk between IUD and non-IUD nonhormonal contraceptive users. Based on hundreds of millions of woman-years of worldwide experience WHO claims modern copper and hormone releasing IUDs when used as directed may be the most effective and reliable reversible contraceptive method. This editorial based on flawed conclusions and misinformation does an injustice to the IUD and to women.
ET-59DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A MEK1 INHIBITOR (AZD6244) SENSITIVE CHILDHOOD ASTROCYTOMA CELL LINE

We previously characterized the development and reversal of acquired resistance to the MEK1 inhibitor AZD6244 in an in vivo model of childhood astrocytoma. The BT-40 astrocytoma xenograft model expresses mutated BRAFV600E and is highly sensitive to AZD6244, but acquires resistance, which can be overcome with the addition of the STAT3 inhibitor LLL12. The purpose of this current study was to establish and characterize a cell line derived from the xenograft model as well as develop an orthotopic mouse model. Sensitivity to AZD6244 and LLL12, expression-profiling assessment of MEK signature and compensatory pathways, and cytokine levels were assessed in the newly developed BT-40 cell line. The BT-40 cell line exhibited sensitivity to AZD6244 and LLL12 with IC50 values of 350nM and 1 µM, respectively. Combination treatment was additive. Treatment with AZD6244 inhibited p-Erk and the mTOR downstream signaling molecule p-S6, while p-Akt, p-STAT3, p-4E-BP1 increased. Kinase expression arrays performed on cells treated with AZD6244 showed a decrease in IL-1α, G-CSF, and IL-6 and an increase in CXCL10. The decrease in IL-6 was restored to baseline levels with the addition of LLL12. Interestingly, the JAK2 inhibitor AZD1480 failed to restore the IL-6 levels. The IL-6 results observed in the expression arrays were confirmed by ELISA. The BT-40 cell line, along with a cell line stably expressing luciferase (BT-40Luc), were implanted into the caudate putamen using stereotaxic guidance. The BT-40Luc cells exhibited exponential growth over time as evaluated with bioluminescent imaging. In conclusion, a cell line derived from a previously described in vivo model of childhood astrocytoma was developed that closely recapitulated our original findings in the xenograft model following treatment with the MEK1 inhibitor AZD6244. Furthermore, an orthotopic model of these cells was developed, which will allow us to characterize response to established and novel therapeutic agents. Supported by PHS award {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"CA169368","term_id":"35091720","term_text":"CA169368"}}CA169368.
The Studies on Brdicka's Catalytic Hydrogen-Wave l

It is well known that the catalytic wave of protein discovered by Brdicka' shows a double wave in the solution of ammoniacal ammonium chloride containing either divalent or trivalent cobalt, and in general, the waves found with a trivalent cobalt solution are larger than those found with a divalent cobalt solution at the same total cobalt concentra tion. Brdicka2), in the series of his studies on the catalytic hydrogen wave, described that the wave was quite different in character when the ammoniacal solution contained divalent or trivalent cobalt. In order to learn more of the nature of the catalytic wave, a series of amino acids was tested, and he found that only cystine or cysteine showed a effect similar to protein in ammoniacal cobaltous solution, and that each of these compounds gave rise to a wave which was in the same position as the second wave of protein. The appearance of catalytic wave by cystine in the cobaltic solution was not described by him, and the difference of the catalytic wave in ammoniacal solution containing divalent or trivalent cobalt has not been known up to now.In 1954, Kalous and Ji.rsa discovered that during the polarographic investigation of cystine, the catalytic wave appeared even in the presence of trivalent cobalt in a solution of relatively high concentration, i.e., about 10-3M. Recently, he reported4) a complicated electrode reaction of influence of trivalent cobalt on the reduction of cystine and presented an explanation for the mechanism of the catalytic wave by using Kalousek commutatorn.In the present study, the catalytic wave of cystine with trivalent cobalt has been in vestigated by D.C. and A.C. polarograph to learn more of the electrode reactions. The parameters studied with respect to the effect on the catalytic wave were the concentration of cystine and cobalt and pressure of the dropping mercury electrode. A.C. polarographic waves showed the reduction waves corresponding to various D.C. polarographic waves given by cystine in the solution of ammoniacal trivalent cobalt. The relation between the reduction process of prewave of cystine (at -0.58 V.) and divalent cobalt at the surface of mercury produced by the reduction of trivalent cobalt, was investigated, and an explana tion for the mechanism of the catalytic wave was presented.
Rethinking racial progress: a response to Wimmer

ABSTRACTRecent debates on racial progress in the pages of Ethnic and Racial Studies suffer from an under-theorization of the notion of progress. In this article, we draw on a well-known theory from medical sociology to argue that racism is a 'fundamental cause' of social inequality. The proximate causes of racial inequality have historically changed, but basic relations of sub- and superordination have been remarkably stable. Seeing racism as a fundamental cause allows theorists to explain both continuity and change in racial inequality better than theories that rely on an implicitly linear notion of racial progress.
An analysis of write-in marks on optical scan ballots

Optical scan ballot systems are widely used in elections today. However, deployed optical scan systems may not always interpret write-in votes correctly. For instance, if a voter writes in a name but forgets to shade in the corresponding voting target, an optical scanner may not detect the write-in, which could lead to a lost vote. In this paper, we study methods for automatic recognition of write-in marks. We then apply these methods to ballots from an election in Leon County, Florida and study the kinds of write-in marks that are seen in practice. Our results from this election show that voters frequently (about 49% of the time) do not fill in the write-in bubble when entering a write-in vote. Consequently, votes may be lost in current voting systems.
Induced Dipole-Dipole Interactions Influence the Unfolding Pathways of Wild-Type and Mutant Amyloid β-Peptides.

Amyloid-forming proteins undergo a structural transition from α-helical to disordered conformations and, ultimately, cross-β fibrils. The unfolding and aggregation of the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) have been implicated in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). However, the events underlying the initial structural transition leading to the disease state remain unclear. Although most cases are sporadic, several genetic variants exist that alter the electrostatic properties of Aβ and lead to more rapid unfolding and more severe phenotypes. In the present study, the enhanced unfolding is shown to be due to the mutated side chains altering the local peptide-bond dipole moments leading to local destabilization of the α-helix, as determined from polarizable molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of wild-type (WT) Aβ fragments and several common mutations. The local perturbation of the helix then leads to progressive unwinding of the α-helix in a cooperative fa...
Doppler Lidar in the Wind Forecast Improvement Projects

This paper will provide an overview of some projects in support of Wind Energy development involving Doppler lidar measurement of wind flow profiles. The high temporal and vertical resolution of these profiles allows the uncertainty of Numerical Weather Prediction models to be evaluated in forecasting dynamic processes and wind flow phenomena in the layer of rotor-blade operation.
Churchill’s Isolation

Brooke was promoted to Field Marshal on 1 January 1944. A new year may have dawned with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff attaining the ‘top rung of the ladder’, but such promotions were insignificant compared to the Allied policy battles still taking place.1 Britain’s official responses to the questions raised by Roosevelt’s policy of trusteeship, anti-imperialism and the possibility of French participation in the war in the Far East continued to vex officials in Whitehall. At the Foreign Office, Cadogan was aghast at the unprofessional fashion in which the President conducted intra-Allied business.2 A British rejoinder to Roosevelt’s Indo-Chinese questions was not aided by the deterioration in the relationship between Mountbatten and Stilwell within SEAC.3 The two commanders were never suited to get along at the best of times. Mountbatten was related to a number of European royal families — Edward VIII was the best man at his wedding. Stilwell was a hard-talking American anti-imperialist known as ‘vinegar Joe’. Their mutual distrust and animosity became symbolic of the Anglo-American war effort. Was America fighting for the return of European imperialism or was this a ruse to attain access to new markets and business opportunities? Trusteeship was certainly not without its financial benefits. The Foreign Office was against finding a local Southeast Asian solution to the Mountbatten—Stilwell dispute. It held that the source of all intra-Allied Indo-Chinese problems lay in Washington. Until this was addressed localised negotiations were unlikely to yield any positive results.4
A Study of Occupy D.C.: The Global Psychology Perspective

The Occupy Movement in the U.S. was a reflection of globalization inspired by the Arab Spring and grounded in Ghandi’s model of non-violent protestation. However, it was largely ineffective at significantly shifting public policy. This study was conducted during the heart of the movement, spring 2012, and utilized a qualitative phenomenological design from an international psychology perspective to explore the meaning, perception, change, and motivation of Occupy members at one of the most prominent Occupy Movement locations, Washington, D.C.’s McPherson Square Park. Additionally, the study explored the understanding of, attitudes toward, and willingness to assist the Occupy Movement of students and faculty at a professional psychology school located in one of the buildings overlooking McPherson Square Park. Semi-structured and online interviews of Occupy members (N=10) and psychology school students (N=10) and faculty (N=3) were conducted. An online survey was also utilized for each group, Occupy members (N=8) and students (N=40). The results indicate that Occupy DC members valued diversity of opinion, goals, and viewpoints; however the acceptance and promotion of varying viewpoints appears to have disjointed occupiers’ vision and the professional psychology school’s student and faculty knowledge of the meaning and reason behind Occupy in DC. The first signs of the reasons for the eventual decline of Occupy DC were identified, such as a loss of coherent vision and forced removal from the park for environmental and health reasons. These signs also acted as barriers that kept the neighboring professional psychology students and faculty from providing assistance to the occupiers.
Neuropsychological Sequelae of Reye’s Syndrome

The author, a pediatric neurologist at the U. of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kansas, reviews the sequelae and risk factors in survivors of Reye’s syndrome.
Die Konfrontation der idealistischen Geschichtsauffassung mit dem naturwissenschaftlichen Denken

Innerhalb der Geschichtsschreibung hatte sich die »Garung«, von der Doblin spricht, seit der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts angekundigt und in der Frage nach dem Verhaltnis von Natur und Geschichte zugespitzt. Nur wer die zeitgenossische Brisanz dieses Problems nicht einbezieht, kann wie Ribbat zu dem Ergebnis kommen, Doblin halte noch an einem ›naiven Naturglauben‹ [259] fest.
Evaluation of Low-Distortion Approximation Methods For Overlay Multicast Tree construction

In this paper we investigate the performance of distortion-bounded approximation methods for overlay multicast tree construction and compare them to common overlay multicast tree construction techniques such as the minimum spanning tree (MST) and core-based trees. We study the fanout-distortion tradeoff of these techniques on both synthetic and real Internet topologies. The performance results vary not only between different methods but also between different topologies. Our study of the fanout-distortion tradeoff reveals that low distortion approximation methods sacrifice fanout for low distortion suggesting a more careful design in order to balance both mertics. Furthermore, MST outperforms low distortion approximation methods both in distortion and fanout, especially on realistic Internet topologies, even though it was not designed to optimize distortion or fanout.
Wideband amplitude-only direction finding subsystem with conical spirals

In this paper we present a direction finding antenna subsystem utilizing two modified conical spirals. Antennas are squinted symmetrically along the systems axis, enabling an amplitude only direction finding function. The design is meant to achieve better front to back ratio than preexisting systems, and thereby higher efficiency and longer detection range. Presented here is a system exhibiting a 23:1 bandwidth available for a range of possible direction finding functions and fields of view.
From sad to happy to happier: Emotion regulation strategies used during a vacation

Abstract Emotion regulation is a psychological intervention tourists use to maximize the positive outcomes of their travel experiences. Tourists either down-regulate negative emotions (e.g., from sad to happy) or up-regulate positive emotions (e.g., from happy to happier). The construct of emotion regulation was used as a guiding framework to uncover which emotion regulation strategies tourists used during their vacations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study findings revealed tourists used three phases of emotion regulation strategies—interpersonal, situational, and intrapersonal—during their vacations. These findings not only contribute to tourism research by documenting the transient, dynamic and variable nature of emotions, but also provide a glimpse into how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists' emotions.
Counter-hegemony: grassroots use of the Internet to save dialects in China

The Internet is used to create a grassroots counter-hegemony force. However, how individuals can effect changes to the development of language policies, especially in contexts such as China, is understudied. This study analyses three different forms of online activities – self-generating content, interaction, and discussion – to demonstrate how the Internet empowers individuals and creates a virtual public sphere for public participation and increased public awareness. It found that the Internet enabled citizens to participate in the manufacturing of online counter-hegemony discourse. These democratised contents and the process of participation provide grassroots bargaining power against the hegemony discourse. The study also discusses the challenges and limitations of the role of individuals in changing language policies in countries where citizens have limited political and civic rights.