cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The politics of liberalism in a realist world

This book has clearly shown the extent to which human rights has become a routine part of international relations. Michael Ignatieff has captured the trend succinctly but brilliantly: “We are scarcely aware of the extent to which our moral imagination has been transformed since 1945 by the growth of a language and practice of moral universalism, expressed above all in a shared human rights culture.” The language and practice of universal human rights, and of its first cousin, regional human rights, has been a redeeming feature of a very bloody and harsh twentieth century. But the journalist David Rieff reminds us of a more skeptical interpretation of universal human rights. “The universalizing impulse is an old tradition in the West, and, for all the condemnations that it routinely incurs today, particularly in the universities, it has probably done at least as much good as harm. But universalism easily declines into sentimentalism, into a tortured but useless distance from the particulars of human affairs.” Or, to drive the same point home with a more concrete example, whereas virtually all states formally endorse the abstract principles of human rights in peace and war, “Combatants are as likely to know as much about the laws of war as they do about quantum mechanics.” The international law of human rights is based on liberalism, but the practice of human rights all too often reflects a realist world.
Changes in Knee Extension and Flexion Maximal and Rapid Torque Characteristics During a Collegiate Women's Soccer Season

Akehi, K, Palmer, TB, Conchola, EC, Thompson, BJ, Kasl, A, Bice, M, and Unruh, S. Changes in knee extension and flexion maximal and rapid torque characteristics during a collegiate women's soccer season. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2020-The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in maximal and rapid torque capacities of the knee extensor and flexor muscles over the course of a competitive season in NCAA Division II women's soccer players. Eighteen female soccer athletes performed 2 maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) of the knee extensor and flexor muscles before, during, and at the end of the competitive season. Peak torque (PT) and rate of torque development (RTD) at 50 (RTD50), 200 (RTD200), and 100-200 (RTD100-200) milliseconds were extracted from each MVIC for both legs. The rapid (RTD50) to maximal force ratio (RTD:PT), hamstring-to-quadriceps (H:Q) strength ratio, and bilateral strength differences were also calculated. Results indicated that PT, RTD50, and RTD200 decreased 11-21% from the preseason to the midseason for the knee extensors (p 0.05). These findings suggest that participation in a soccer season can change maximal and rapid torque production of the knee extensors and flexors. Coaches and clinicians should consider incorporating a season-long strength training and maintenance plan for soccer players with the aim to improve athletic performance and minimize the risk of musculoskeletal injuries to the lower extremities.
Value of head-up tilt table test in the diagnosis of syncope in children

Syncope is a common emergency condition, which can cause harmful danger to the physical and mental health, quality of living and learning of children.Even, syncope-related body traumatic injuries and anxiety and depression often occur in these children, and some have a high risk of sudden death.So, early diagnosis is of great significance.Head-up tilt table test is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of syncope, it plays a significant role in diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of therapeutic effects. Key words: Syncope; Head-up tilt table test; Diagnosis; Child
Sorghum Segmentation by Skeleton Extraction

Recently, several high-throughput phenotyping facilities have been established that allow for an automated collection of multiple view images of a large number of plants over time. One of the key problems in phenotyping is identifying individual plant organs such as leaves, stems, or roots. We introduced a novel algorithm that uses a 3D segmented plant on its input by using a voxel carving algorithm, and separates the plant into leaves and stems. Our algorithm first uses voxel thinning that generates a first approximation of the plant 3D skeleton. The skeleton is transformed into a mathematical tree by comparing and assessing paths from each leaf or stem tip to the plant root and pruned by using biologically inspired features, fed into a machine learning classifier, leading to a skeleton that corresponds to the input plant. The final skeleton is then used to identify the plant organs and segment voxels. We validated our system on 20 different plants, each represented in a voxel array of a resolution \(512^3\), and the segmentation was executed in under one minute, making our algorithm suitable for the processing of large amounts of plants.
Judicial Discretion and Sentencing Behavior

This research studies the impact of changes to federal judicial discretion on criminal sentencing outcomes. The Feeney Amendment to the 2003 PROTECT Act restricted federal judges' ability to impose sentences outside of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and required appellate courts to review downward departures. Using data on all federal sentences between 1999 and 2004, we examine the effect of the Feeney Amendment on the downward departures rate and prison sentence. We control for type of offense, district of sentencing, criminal history, and demographic characteristics of the offender, in order to isolate the changes in judicial sentencing due to the implementation of the Feeney Amendment. Our results suggest that the Feeney Amendment reduced the probability of a downward departure by 5% and increased prison sentences by two months. There is no evidence that judges adjust sentences in an effort to circumvent the intentions of the Feeney Amendment.
Bank of Russia Updates Bank Resolution MechanismTo Increase its Control

The resolution of Bank Otkrytie FC will be the first case of applying a recently introduced new mechanism for the resolution of commercial banks. The mechanism enables the Bank of Russia to control more efficiently bank resolution costs and can tilt the balance between banking license revocation and solvency recovery in favour of the latter.
Abstract 2891: Protein phosphatase 5 regulation of cell motility

Metastasis has been considered as one of the cancer hallmarks. Approximately 90% of cancer-related death is due to cancer metastasis. Tumor cell migration is a prerequisite for cancer metastasis. Protein phosphatase 5 (PP5) is a serine/threonine protein phosphatase that belongs to the phosphoprotein phosphatase (PPP) family including PP1 and PP2A. It is well known that PP5 regulates apoptosis, proliferation, and stress response. However, the role of PP5 in the regulation of cell motility is only beginning to be recognized, and the mechanism of PP5 regulation of cell motility is largely unknown. In this study, our tissue microarray (TMA) studies showed the expression of PP5 increased with the stages of prostate cancer, which is consistent with the previous findings that there is a positive correlation between PP5 overexpression and breast cancer metastases. Furthermore, by the single-cell motility assay, we found that overexpression of PP5 increased the motility of various tumor cells, whereas knockdown of PP5 decreased the cell motility, suggesting that PP5 positively regulates cell motility. As focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a key regulator of cell motility, and a report has shown that PP5 forms a complex with ASK1, FAK, CXCR4 in wounded alveolar epithelial cancer cells, we examined whether PP5 activates FAK. The Western blotting results showed that overexpression of PP5 did not obviously affect the phosphorylation of FAK. The results suggest that PP5 regulates cell motility through a new mechanism. Further research is on the way to identify how PP5 positively regulates cell motility. (Supported by the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA, USA.) Citation Format: n Li, Shile Huang. Protein phosphatase 5 regulation of cell motility [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 2891.
Comparisons of Exact and SN Solutions of the Monoenergetic Critical Equation with Anisotropic Scattering

(1965). Comparisons of Exact and SN Solutions of the Monoenergetic Critical Equation with Anisotropic Scattering. Nuclear Science and Engineering: Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 115-118.
Virus-Specific Ribonucleic Acid in Cells Producing Rous Sarcoma Virus: Detection and Characterization

Cells producing Rous sarcoma virus contain virus-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) which can be identified by hybridization to single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesized with RNA-directed DNA polymerase. Hybridization was detected by either fractionation on hydroxyapatite or hydrolysis with single strand-specific nucleases. Similar results were obtained with both procedures. The hybrids formed between enzymatically synthesized DNA and viral RNA have a high order of thermal stability, with only minor evidence of mismatched nucleotide sequences. Virus-specific RNA is present in both nuclei and cytoplasm of infected cells. This RNA is remarkably heterogeneous in size, including molecules which are probably restricted to the nucleus and which sediment in their native state more rapidly than the viral genome. The nature of the RNA found in cytoplasmic fractions varies from preparation to preparation, but heterogeneous RNA (ca. 4-50S), smaller than the viral genome, is always present in substantial amounts.
Fierce Mustache, Muddy Chaos, and Nothing Much Else: Two Cinematic Images of the Balkans:

This article reviews the current North American scholarly and popular accounts on the Balkans as the framework to discuss two war films, Behind Enemy Lines and Harrison's Flowers. The depicted wars serve as a stage on which Western heroes exercise their moral superiority, winning over the amorphous Balkan characters.
Invisible Body and the Predicaments of Existence in an Urbanizing China

This article contextualises the art practice of Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin and examines ways in which his artworks illuminate the sociopolitical conditions that regulate the everyday reality of underprivileged social groups amid China’s spectacular urban transformation in the 2000s. The tension between individual existence and the force of urbanization underlays Liu’s most important work, entitled Hiding in the City. This performance photographic series, in which Liu covered his body thoroughly with paint so that he “disappeared” into the background, was initiated as a response towards the demolition of an artist village in Beijing where the artist resided and worked. The series has since been developed into an ambitious and years-long project in which the artist surveys the disparate urban living environment of the city, bringing to the surface dominant forces that render the existence of the individuals “invisible”.
Experimental Prototyping in Smalltalk

Smalltalk promotes fearless programming. Users can signicantly alter an application — even the system itself — without fearing unrecoverable disasters.
Leaching of clay minerals in a limestone environment

Water saturated with CO2 at about 25°C was percolated through mixed beds of limestone or marble fragments and montmorillonite, “illite” and kaolinite in polyethylene tubes for six and fortyfive complete runs. The leachates were analysed for SiO2, A12O3 and Fe2O3, but only SiO2 was found. The minerals lost SiO2 in this order: montmorillonite > kaolinite > “illite”. The differential removal of SiO2 during the short period of these experiments suggests a mechanism for the accumulation of bauxite deposits associated with limestones.
The influence of chilling requirement on the southern distribution limit of exotic Russian olive ( Elaeagnus angustifolia ) in western North America

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), a Eurasian tree now abundant along rivers in western North America, has an apparent southern distribution limit running through southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We used field observations to precisely define this limit in relation to temperature variables. We then investigated whether lack of cold temperatures south of the limit may prevent the accumulation of sufficient chilling, inhibiting dormancy loss of seeds and buds. We found that Russian olive occurrence was more strongly associated with low winter temperatures than with high summer temperatures, and results of controlled seed germination and vegetative bud-break experiments suggest that the chilling requirements for germination and bud-break are partly responsible for the southern range limit. Both seed germination proportion and germination time decreased under conditions simulating those south of the range limit. Similarly, percentage bud break decreased when chilling dropped below values typical of the range limit. In 17–65% of the years from 1980 to 2000, the chilling accumulated at a site near the range limit (El Paso, TX) would lead to a 10% or more decrease in bud-break. The potential decline in growth could have large fitness consequences for Russian olive. If climate change exhibits a warming trend, our results suggest the chilling requirement for bud-break of Russian olive trees will not be met in some years and its southern range limit may retreat northward.
Electronic And Structural Properties Of Interfaces Created By Potassium Deposition ON TiO2 (110) Surfaces

Potassium was deposited onto stoichiometric TiO 2 (110) surfaces and the chemical bonding and structure were studied with UPS, XPS, LEED, and RHEED. Potassium interacts strongly with the oxygen anions of the TiO 2 and reduces the valency of Ti cations at the interface. At submonolayer potassium coverages, a large charge transfer to the substrate causes a sharp drop in work function, a population of electronic states within the bulk TiO 2 band gap, and surface band bending. After large potassium doses at 300 K, multilayers of K 2 O are formed by diffusion of oxygen anions from the substrate, creating a substoichiometric TiO 2−x interface composition. No metallic potassium is present even after large doses. The K 2 O layers remain stable after annealing as high as 900 K, and LEED indicates that they are disordered. RHEED characterization is limited by the roughness of the stoichiometric TiO 2 (110) surface.
Ischemic heart disease in patients with large gland prostatic hypertrophy

Fifty consecutive patients with large gland prostatic hypertrophy, requiring open prostatectomy, were analyzed retrospectively with regard to relationship to the subsequent development of ischemic heart disease. A significant increase in the development of progressive ischemic heart disease and sudden death was found in these patients when compared with two control groups. These findings are analyzed.
Behavioral Treatment of Drunk-driving Recidivists: Short-term and Long-term Effects

This study was designed to investigate the relative effects of two behavioral group treatments on short-term (knowledge and attitude change) and long-term (recidivism) variables among persons with multiple arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Subjects were randomly assigned to a behavioral treatment that was highly-individualized and focused on principles of self-control or to a general behavioral treatment (which focused on alcohol education, relaxation training, and guided reevaluation of situations typically associated with DUI arrests). Results showed that subjects in both groups reported, over treatment, a more frequent use of portable breath test devices for assessing blood alcohol levels and perceived an increased probability of being arrested if they drank and drove. In addition, subjects in the individualized behavioral groups reported that they subsequently spent more time thinking about avoiding DUI. However, the two treatment groups did not differ in their rates of DUI arrest recidivism (which averaged 11.7% per year over the three-year follow-up period). One third of the subjects were rearrested for DUI during the 36-month follow-up period, although there were indications that rearrests may have been delayed as a function of the treatment interventions. Taken together, the data suggest that these drunk-driving recidivists may be responsive to the treatment interventions described herein. Additional research is needed to specify the relative impact of the behavioral techniques utilized in the treatment programs and to identify strategies for maintaining treatment gains over longer periods of time.
Evaluation of the Hemagglutinating Activity of Low-temperature Cooked Kidney Beans

Methodology was developed that allowed sensitive measurement of phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the lectin of kidney beans. Trypsinated porcine red blood cells were treated with saline extracts of kidney beans, incubated, and the nonagglutinated cells were quantitated using a Coulter Counter. This hemagglutination activity (HA) assay was then used to monitor the PHA in cooked kidney beans. The thermal treatment (minutes @°C) required to reduce HA by 1 log cvcle was: 12 @ 100°C: 62 @ 93°C: 136 @ 88°C: 160 @ 82°C. Beans were prepared in commercially available low-temperature cookers and evaluated for tenderness and residual hemagglutinating activity.
Effects of membrane pore geometry on fouling behavior during yeast cell microfiltration

The effects of the pore geometry on yeast cell fouling during microfiltration were studied using novel micro-patterned membranes having well-defined slot-shaped or circular pores. Normal flow filtration experiments were performed with Baker's yeast suspensions. The flux decline data were consistent with initial fouling by pore blockage followed by cake filtration. The specific resistance of the cake layer was a function of both the pore geometry and the overall membrane porosity. The initial rate of flux decline was slower for the membrane with slotted pores compared to the membrane with circular pores since the initial cell deposition only covered a small fraction of the slotted pore due to its high aspect ratio. The data then show a transition to cake filtration, with the nature of the transition also a function of the underlying pore geometry. A simple geometric model was developed to describe the cake growth phenomenon on slotted pore membranes. These results provide important insights into the effects of pore geometry on membrane fouling.
OxNASH score correlates with histologic features and severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Background and Aim Oxidative stress is a core abnormality responsible for disease progression in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). By employing a highly sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) approach we recently were able to define the circulating profile of bioactive lipid peroxidation products characteristic of patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and developed the OxNASH score for NASH diagnosis. The aims of this study were to assess the utility of OxNASH as a predictor of NASH and study the association between OxNASH and specific histologic features of NAFLD.
Tests of independence for censored bivariate failure time data

Bivariate failure time data is widely used in survival analysis, for example, in twins study. This article presents a class of χ2-type tests for independence between pairs of failure times after adjusting for covariates. A bivariate accelerated failure time model is proposed for the joint distribution of bivariate failure times while leaving the dependence structures for related failure times completely unspecified. Theoretical properties of the proposed tests are derived and variance estimates of the test statistics are obtained using a resampling technique. Simulation studies show that the proposed tests are appropriate for practical use. Two examples including the study of infection in catheters for patients on dialysis and the diabetic retinopathy study are also given to illustrate the methodology.
Suppressor T-cell abnormality in idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus.

Suppressor T cells were evaluated by their capacity to inhibit immunoglobulin (Ig) synthesis and secretion of anti-DNA antibody by B cells when co-cultured in presence of pokeweed mitogen. Ig synthesis was tested by staining the cytoplasm with fluorescent anti-Ig reagent, and antibody secretion was determined by binding of cell supernatants to tritiated native DNA. T cells in the blood of patients with idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in contrast to T cells from normals, were incapable of suppressing Ig synthesis or antibody secretion when tested against B cells from the patient, from other SLE patients, or from those of normals. T cells from normals were capable of suppressing B cells from each patient tested (P < 0.001). SLE-B cells, when cultured alone, synthesized more Ig than B cells of normals (P < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between disease activity and the degree of suppression of SLE-B cells by the T cells of normals. The emergence of autoreactive clones and hyperfunction of B cells could be secondary to suppressor T-cell deficiency or dysfunction in SLE.
Two New Species of Stereospermum (Bignoniaceae) from Madagascar

Abstract. A recent review of the Malagasy Bignoniaceae for the Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar has led to the discovery of two new species in the genus Stereospermum Cham.: S. gentryi Callm., Phillipson & G. E. Schatz and S. randrianaivoi Callm., Phillipson & G. E. Schatz. Stereospermum gentryi is unique in having leaflets spotted with red glands that give a reddish color when dry, and a long, lax, paniculate inflorescence bearing flowers with large corollas that are red-purple inside the mouth and throat. Stereospermum randrianaivoi can be distinguished by its usually 3-foliolate leaves with thick, coriaceous leaflets that are discolorous, with the adaxial surface drying pinkish green and the upper surface a dull gray-green, and shiny in vivo. Both of the new species are provided with illustrations, a discussion of their morphological affinities, and a conservation threat analysis based on the IUCN Red List Criteria.
Surface-polariton-like waves guided by thin, lossy metal films.

The dispersion relations are solved for waves guided by a thin, lossy metal film surrounded by media of dielectric constant ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{3}$. For symmetric structures (${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{1}$=${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{3}$), there are the usual two Fano modes whose velocity and attenuation vary with film thickness. For very thin films, one of these modes can attain multicentimeter propagation distances when \ensuremath{\lambda}g1 \ensuremath{\mu}m. In addition, there are two leaky waves which correspond to waves localized at the ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{1}$ (or ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{3}$) dielectric-metal interface whose fields decay exponentially across the metal film and radiate an angular spectrum of plane waves into ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{3}$ (or ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{1}$, respectively). Both radiative waves can be interpreted as spatial transients, which could have physical significance near a transverse plane. When ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{1}$\ensuremath{\ne}${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{3}$, there are still four distinct solutions for a given film thickness, two radiative and two nonradiative. For lossy films, there are always two nonradiative solutions for thick enough films. As the thickness goes to infinity, the four solutions reduce to two waves, each radiative and nonradiative pair becoming degenerate. The physical interpretation of these solutions and their dependence on dielectric constant and wavelength are discussed.
Self-Efficacy and Skill Development: Influence of Task Strategies and Attributions

This study determined how task strategies and attributions for success during mathematics learning influenced children's self-efficacy and skills. Children who lacked division skills received training and practiced solving problems. Children's use of effective task strategies was determined from recordings of their verbalizations while they solved problems. Attributions of problem-solving success to high ability exerted the strongest influence on increases in self-efficacy. Higher self-efficacy and use of task strategies promoted children's division skills. Future research should determine the relationship of strategy use and self-efficacy at different times while children are learning. Implications of this study for teaching are discussed.
Biologic therapy of melanoma with cytokines and lymphocytes

Melanoma has a somewhat unpredictable behavior, and spontaneous regressions do occasionally occur. Many have surmised that these are the result of immunologic attack by the host. Immunologic treatment has been more successful for melanoma than for most other neoplasms, even with relatively crude therapies, such as bacterial products. With the availability of recombinant cytokines, immunotherapy for melanoma has entered a new era. Interleukin-2 (IL-2), which acts entirely through immunologic mechanisms, has been tested extensively, either alone, in combination with other cytokines, or with adoptive cellular therapy. Alone, it has only modest antitumor activity, even at high doses. Its utility may be greater when combined with immunocompetent cells, especially tumor-sensitized T lymphocytes, in adoptive immunotherapy. On the other hand, nonspecific lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells do not appear to add significantly to the efficacy of IL-2 alone. Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) [corrected] also has had fairly limited activity in the advanced disease setting, but, on the basis of a recently completed randomized trial, has arguably become the "standard of care" in the adjuvant setting for patients with high-risk melanoma, particularly node-positive patients. A number of regimens combining IL-2, IFN-alpha, and chemotherapeutic agents have yielded striking response rates in small trials and await confirmation in larger studies. With better delineation of the host immune response and definition of relevant tumor antigens, we can look forward to exciting results with combinations of vaccines, cytokines, and adoptive cellular approaches, particularly in patients with micrometastatic disease.
Preferential oxidation of cardiac mitochondrial DNA following acute intoxication with doxorubicin.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether acute doxorubicin intoxication causes a preferential accumulation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8OHdG) adducts to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as opposed to nuclear DNA (nDNA), particularly in cardiac tissue. Adult male rats received a single i.p. bolus of doxorubicin (15 mg/kg) and were killed 1-14 days later. Acute intoxication with doxorubicin caused a 2-fold greater increase in 8OHdG adducts to mtDNA compared to nDNA, the concentration of adducts to both nDNA and mtDNA being 20%-40% greater for heart as opposed to liver. For both tissues, the relative abundance of adducts was highest at the earliest time-point examined (24 h) and decreased to control values by 2 weeks. The temporal dilution of 8OHdG adducts was not the result of cell hyperplasia and was only partially due to amplification of the mitochondrial genome, most probably via an increase in DNA copy number rather than a stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.
Definibility in Normal Theories

This paper initiates an investigation which seeks to explain elementary definability as the classical results of mathematical logic (the completeness, compactness and Lowenheim-Skolem theorems) explain elementary logical consequence. The theorems of Beth and Svenonius are basic in this approach and introduce automorphism groups as a means of studying these problems. It is shown that for a complete theory T, the definability relation of Beth (or Svenonius) yields an upper semi-lattice whose elements (concepts) are interdefinable formulas of T (formulas having equal automorphism groups in all models of T). It is shown that there are countable models A of T such that two formulae are distinct (not interdefinable) in T if and only if they are distinct (have different automorphism groups) in A. The notion of a concept h being normal in a theory T is introduced. Here the upper semi-lattice of all concepts which define h is proved to be a finite lattice — anti-isomorphic to the lattice of subgroups of the corresponding automorphism group. Connections with the Galois theory of fields are discussed.
Nutrient solution nitrogen form and barley yellow dwarf virus disease tolerance in oat and wheat

Abstract The form of nutrient solution nitrogen (either NH4‐N or NO3‐N or mixtures of the two) provided to plants influences the severity of many crop diseases. This greenhouse study was conducted to determine how growth, grain yield, and yield components of oat (Avena sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants given nutrient solutions containing different ratios of NO3‐N to NH4‐N would react to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) infection. Fifteen‐day‐old seedlings (2nd leaf stage) were either infected with BYDV (PAV strain) or left uninfected. Nutrient solution treatments (started 19 d after germination) provided three ratios of NO3‐N to NH4‐N (100% NO3, 50:50 NH4:NO3, or 100% NH4) for a 30‐d period, after which plant height and tillers plant−1 were measured. Oat and wheat plants given NH4 had fewer tillers than plants given the other nutrient solution treatments. BYDV‐infected oat and wheat plants were shorter than uninfected plants. All pots then received NO3 nutrient solution until plant maturi...
The Stability of the Catenary Shapes for a Hanging Cable of Unspecified Length.

It has long been known that when a cable of specified length is hung between two poles, it takes the shape of a catenary—a hyperbolic cosine function. In this paper, we study a variation of this problem. First, we consider a cable hanging between two poles in which one end of the cable is fixed to one pole; the other end of the cable runs over a pulley, attached to the other pole, and then down to a table. Here, the length of the cable can vary as the pulley rotates. For a specified horizontal distance between the two poles, we vary the height of the fixed cable end. We then determine both experimentally and analytically the stability of the resulting catenary-cable shapes. Interestingly, at certain heights there are two catenaries of different lengths—we use Newtonian mechanics to show that only one of these is stable. Below a certain critical height, no catenary exists and the cable is pulled down to the table. Finally, we explore a related problem in which one end of the cable runs over a pulley, but the other end can now freely move vertically along a pole. These experiments nicely lend themselves as teaching tools in a classroom setting.
Consciousness Re‐Evaluated: Interpretive Theory and Feminist Scholarship*

This paper suggests that interpretive sociology should review its model of consciousness in the light of the new feminist scholarship on women's experience of self and society. The thesis of the paper is that there is a fundamental conflict in women's consciousness between meaning systems inherited from the culture and those that are acquired through lived experience. This paper demonstrates that interpretive sociology's model of consciousness does not account for the conflicts posed by the feminist perspective and suggests future issues for research.
Feedback Control of Globally Unstable Flows: Impinging Shear Flows

Abstract Global oscillations of impinging shear flows are excited by a fluid-dynamics feedback mechanism, by means of which the distortion of the vorticity field upon impingement is fed back upstream to the separation location. It is shown that these global oscillations can effectively be suppressed, without destabilizing other modes, by actively cancelling the effect of the fluid-dynamic feedback. This achieved with the aid of loudspeakers, focused on the upstream separation edge only and activated by a transducer measuring the flow response. With the aid of an adaptive digital controller, it was possible to eliminate the flow oscillation altogether, even at transitional test conditions at which the flow oscillations could occur at one or the other of the two possible modes.
Thermal Energy Reaction Rates of Titanium Monomer Cation

New determinations of quantitative forward rate constants for reactions of titanium monomer cation with C2H6, C3H8, H2O, NH3, and O2 are accomplished using a high-pressure (multicollision) flow tube reactor. These experiments were prompted by our observation of conflicting reports in the literature. The reaction rates we consider have been determined previously by both single-collision and multicollision methods, with some systems having generated notably contrasting results. An effort is made to reconcile the difference in values by explicitly addressing possible potential sources of error which have been suggested in earlier publications as the most likely reasons for the discrepancies. A “titration” technique is employed which allows controlled collisional quenching of excited state titanium cations with nitrogen gas such that excited state ion effects can be selectively observed and subsequently eliminated. No evidence is found to cast doubt upon the validity of multicollision methods for the determin...
The implications of costs, capacity, and competition on product line selection

We consider a situation in which a manufacturer has to select the product(s) to sell as well as the selling price and production quantity of each selected product. There are two substitutable products in the consideration set, where product 2 has a higher quality and reservation price than that of product 1. By considering the cannibalization effect that depends on the selling price of each product, the manufacturer needs to evaluate the profit function associated with three different product line options: sell both products or only one of the 2 products. In order to examine the impact of costs, capacity, and competition on the optimal product line selection, optimal price, and optimal production quantity analytically, we present a stylized model in this paper so that we can determine the conditions under which a particular option is optimal.
Auxology and anthropology

Borms, J., R. Hauspie, A. Sand, C. Susanne, and M. Hebbelinck, eds. Human Growth and Development. New York: Plenum Press, 1984. xvi + 836 pp. including list of contributors, references, index. $125.00 cloth.
Adderall Abuse in Texas, 1998–2004

Adderall is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and is subject to abuse. This study describes the patterns of Adderall abuse calls received by several poison control centers in Texas during 1998–2004. Drug abuse calls were assessed by call year and geographic location. Drug abuse calls were then compared to all other human exposure (nonabuse) calls with respect to various factors. Of all Adderall exposure calls, 12% involved abuse. The number of drug abuse calls received per year increased during the first part of 7-yr period but then declined. Male patients accounted for almost 60% of both drug abuse and nonabuse calls. Adolescent patients comprised 69% of drug abuse calls and children less than 13 yr old comprised 66% of nonabuse calls. Although the majority of both types of human exposures occurred at the patient's own residence, drug abuse calls were more likely than nonabuse calls to involve exposures at another residence (6% vs. 3%), school (22% vs. 5...
Chicken feet: Part one

Propulsion, as defined in Webster's Dictionary, is a giving of forward motionor urging onward. For the last 8 days, however, I have felt propelled into history—reversed to a time and place of cruder things—and if I can keep from crying, I would like to tell you of an incredible journey that I was privileged to take. A journey, of awareness of how lucky I am to live in the United States of America. A journey of learning respect for a people struggling against odds that I can hardly imagine. A journey of great emotional upheaval for me, from which I am not sure I will ever recover.
Stress, salt and hypertension

Reasons are given why calcium, obesity and genetics cannot be considered primary factors in the etiology of essential hypertension. This leaves the major protagonists as salt and neuroendocrine responses to the emotions aroused by the social environment. Most essential hypertension is renin dependent and associated with the physiological changes induced by arousal of the defence response. The psychosocial stimulation associated with this arousal induces an increase in salt appetite. This makes the salt consumption of society a measure of the social stress to which it is exposed. Primitive people whose blood pressure remains normal throughout their lives may lack modern societies' physically protective achievements but their religiously prescribed social solidarity may protect them from psychosocial stress. Our chronic suppression of awareness of emotional arousal together with loss of the ritualized support of affiliative behavior may result in repressed emotional responses which find somatic expression in diseases such as essential hypertension. Hypertensiologist George Pickering proposed that the primitive's ritual and taboo (the equivalent in our society might be the Alcoholic's Anonymous belief in a 'Higher Power') protect them from much anger and despair. He gave this precedence over salt as the primary factor in essential hypertension. New evidence supports this. Despite a high salt diet the blood pressure of socially adjusted rodents remains normal throughout their lifespan. On the other hand, the hypertension that develops when they are psychosocially stimulated is not abated by a low salt diet. In humans, the blood pressure of cloistered, secluded Italian nuns on a high salt diet has remained normal for 20 years while that of nearby village women has risen at a startling 2 mmHg/annum during the same period. On the other hand, in rapidly changing Malawi mature adult, rural and urban blood pressures are rising fast despite a low salt intake. Thus the evidence today argues that the most important factor in the etiology of essential hypertension is not salt but psychosocial stimulation.
MO-F-213CD-01: GPU-Based Monte Carlo Methods for Accelerating Radiographic and CT Imaging Dose Calculations: Feasibility and Scalability

Purpose: To develop a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) based Monte Carlo(MC) code that uses a dual‐GPU system to accelerate radiographic simulation and CTimaging dose calculations. Methods: We considered two clinical cases, a chest x‐ray radiography and an abdominal CT scan. In the first case, a voxelized VIP‐Man phantom with detailed 3D anatomical information was used and an x‐ray beam of 120kVp was simulated. In the second case, a voxelized abdomen phantom derived from 120 CT slices was used, and a GE LightSpeed 16‐MDCT scanner was modeled. The CPU version of the MC code was written in C++ and run on Intel Xeon X5660 2.8GHz CPU, then translated into GPU code written in CUDA C and tested on a dual Tesla m2090 GPU system. The code was featured with automatic assignment of simulation task to multiple GPUs, as well as accurate calculation of energy‐ and material‐dependent cross‐sections. Results: Double‐precision floating point format was used for accuracy. In the first case, radiograph formation was simulated and doses to the organs listed in ICRP‐60 were calculated. When running on a single GPU, the MC GPU code was found to be x13 times faster than the CPU code and x29 times faster than MCNPX. In the second case, doses to the rectum, prostate, bladder and femoral heads were calculated. A speedup of x19 was observed compared to CPU code. These speedup factors were doubled on the dual‐GPU system. The imaging dose was benchmarked against MCNPX and a maximum difference of 1% was observed when the relative error is kept below 0.1%. Conclusions: A GPU‐based MC code was developed to simulate radiography and calculate imaging dose using detailed patient and CTscanner models. Efficiency and accuracy were both guaranteed in this code. Scalability of the code was confirmed on the dual‐GPU system.
Working Wives and Earnings Inequality Among Married Couples, 1967–84

since World War II which has been more persistent and dramatic than the movement of married women into the paid work force. The causes and consequences of the trend are far-ranging and have attracted considerable attention from economists and others. A relatively neglected aspect, at least until recently, has been the effect of these additional working wives on the distribution of family earnings. This effect cannot be predicted on the basis of economic theory. The outcome depends, rather, upon the interplay of multiple forces, the magnitude and direction of which must be determined empirically. For example, wives whose husbands are low earners have historically participated in the labor force at higher rates than wives of high earners, but whether family earnings at a given time are thereby rendered more equal depends, among other things, on the extent to which the employed wives of high earners tend to earn more than the employed wives of low earners. Furthermore, these relationships may change as additional wives enter the work force. In recent years labor force participation has increased fastest among wives of high earners. Is Thurow correct, that wives are now "contributing to inequality rather than equality" (1980, p. 157)? As Alice Rivlin (1975) has suggested, answering such questions could shed important light on the meaning to be attached to changes in postwar income inequality. This paper investigates how growth in the proportion of working wives fits into a broader context of secularly changing inequality of
Tracheostomy scars in Guillain-Barré syndrome: a reason for concern?

Sirs: The majority of patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) who require mechanical ventilation will eventually need a tracheostomy [1]. However, we recently found that 22 % of a hospital series of GBS patients can be weaned within three weeks, potentially avoiding tracheostomy. In addition, we have identified criteria using bedside pulmonary function tests that may assist in the timing of tracheostomy [2]. But the technique of tracheostomy remains a matter of debate and no studies have specifically addressed the cosmetic appearance after tracheostomy in patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome. We performed a follow-up study (median 10 years, range 2 to 20 years) in 18 patients who received a tracheostomy following long-term mechanical ventilation. All patients were diagnosed with GBS and admitted to Mayo Clinic-affiliated hospitals between January 1976 and December 1996 and at that time were evaluated by neurologists. Details of other aspects of care can be found in prior publications [1, 2]. A detailed structured telephone interview was performed. The questions covered dyspnea, pain around the stoma region, cough, difficulty in clearing secretions, voice changes and scar appearance. Close-up photographs of the tracheostomy scars were sent to the authors and reviewed with a plastic surgeon. In our patient series the median age of the patients was 50 years (range 11–66). The median duration of ventilation was 39 days (range 11–110). The median duration of pre-tracheostomy translaryngeal intubation was 8 days (range 3–16). No patients developed symptoms of the late tracheal stenosis, tracheomalacia or tracheoesophageal fistula. Tracheostomy was performed under general anesthesia by a member of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology. Only 4 of 18 patients had a satisfactory cosmetic result following tracheostomy (a barely noticeable scar less than 1 inch with no retractive pit).A scar up to several inches wide was noted in the remaining patients, and these patients seriously considered cosmetic surgery; they covered the scar with clothing and even retouched photographs. In five patients the scar was deep enough to bury a fingertip. Two patients eventually had plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons with good results (Fig.). No patients developed late tracheal stenosis. None of the patients had a super sensitivity to the scar or itching, a sign of scar hypertrophy. One patient noticed loss of a singing voice. Neurologic outcome was satisfactory in all patients with a full recovery or had mild weakness or sensory symptoms all not interfering with quality of life. LETTER TO THE EDITORS
On the computational efficiencies of two FFT-based solution methods for the scalar multiple-scattering equation

We compare and improve the computational efficiencies of two FFT-based solution techniques for the scalar t-matrix multiple-scattering equation. The FFT operation requires field quantities be expressed on a regular grid and the two techniques differ in how to go about achieving this; the first technique uses the non-diagonal translation operator of the spherical multipole field, while the second method uses the diagonal translation operator of Rokhlin (1998). Because of its use of the non-diagonal operator, the first technique has been thought to require a greater number of FFT operations than the second one. We first show that both techniques require about the same number of FFT operations. After considering the symmetry relations of the non-diagonal and diagonal translation operators, we show that these symmetry relations can be used to reduce the respective memory requirements of the two FFT t-matrix methods
Effects of antiarrhythmic drugs on premature action potential duration in canine ventricular muscle fibers

The range of premature action potential duration (APDs) during the first 100 ms of electrical restitution was determined in canine ventricular muscle fibers (VM) in the presence of lidocaine (4 and 8 micrograms/ml), mexiletine (8 micrograms/ml), flecainide (2 and 4 micrograms/ml), procainamide (50 micrograms/ml), quinidine (10 micrograms/ml), and disopyramide (10 micrograms/ml). The drug effects on the characteristics of action potential at the basic cycle lengths (BCLs) of 500 and 1,000 ms were similar to those reported previously. At control, the range of premature APDs was approximately 40 ms at BCL of 1,000 ms and approximately 30 ms at BCL of 500 ms. It was decreased 26-52% by lidocaine, mexiletine, and flecainide, not changed significantly by procainamide, and increased 17-53% by quinidine and disopyramide. The range of premature APDs at control and in the presence of drugs in ventricular muscle was smaller than in Purkinje fibers at the same or lower drug concentrations (Varro et al., J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1985;233:304). The four factors influencing the premature APD range in the Purkinje fibers operated in the VM as follows: The difference between the duration of effective refractory period (ERP) and the APD at BCL (APDb) (i.e., the ERP-APDb interval) was increased by lidocaine, mexiletine, and flecainide; normalized restitution curve was shifted toward longer premature APD values only by flecainide; the kinetics of restitution were slowed only by procainamide; and APD at BCL of 1,000 ms was shortened by lidocaine and mexiletine, and prolonged at BCLs of 1,000 and 500 ms by the other four drugs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lack of effect of the MEFV E148Q polymorphism on IL-1β in Henoch-Schönlein purpura.

Henoch–Schonlein purpura (HSP) is considered as an immune-mediated inflammatory disease with unknown aetiology. Interleukin (IL)-1β is a proinflammatory cytokine that is involved in various physiol...
An improved synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles and pyrazoles from C(α),O-dilithiooximes and C(α),N-dilithiophenylhydrazones

C(α),O-Dilithiooximes and C(α),N-dilithiophenylhydrazones were prepared using an excess of lithium diisopropylamide (1:3). Condensation with esters followed by acid cyclization gave isoxazoles and pyrazoles.