cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of sulfasalazine and placebo for the treatment of axial and peripheral articular manifestations of the seronegative spondylarthropathies: a Department of Veterans Affairs cooperative study.

Objective To determine if the peripheral articular manifestations of the seronegative spondylarthropathies (SNSA) respond differently than the axial manifestations to treatment with sulfasalazine (SSZ). Methods This is a reanalysis of a previously reported series of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trials comparing the effects of SSZ, 2,000 mg/day, and placebo on the axial and peripheral articular manifestations of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and reactive arthritis (ReA; Reiter's syndrome). Patients were classified as treatment responders on the basis of meeting predefined improvement criteria in 4 outcome measures: namely, patient and physician global assessments in all patients, morning stiffness and back pain in patients with axial manifestations, and joint pain/tenderness scores and joint swelling scores in patients with peripheral articular manifestations. Results Six hundred nineteen SNSA patients (264 AS, 221 PsA, and 134 ReA) were studied. One hundred eighty-seven of these patients had only axial manifestations of their disease, while 432 patients had peripheral articular manifestations. Of the patients with axial disease, 40.2% of the SSZ group and 43.3% of the placebo group met the predefined response criteria (P = 0.67). Of the peripheral articular group, 59.0% of the SSZ-treated patients and 42.7% of the placebo-treated patients showed a response (P = 0.0007). Conclusion In a large group of affected individuals, the response of SNSA patients to SSZ appears to be related to the articular manifestations of their disease. These data demonstrate that the axial and peripheral articular manifestations of SNSA respond differently to treatment with SSZ. In SNSA patients with persistently active peripheral arthritis, SSZ is safe, well tolerated, and effective.
What Can the Theory of Knowledge Learn from the History of Knowledge

In recent years, philosophers of science have been increasingly concerned with questions about scientific change, and, in connection with those concerns, to rest their claims more and more on an examination of cases in the history of science. During the 1960s and early 1970s, those concerns tended to revolve around the question of whether scientific change, or at least major scientific change, is or is not “rational.” It seems to me, as I shall argue in what follows, that that question is misguided in principle, at least as it is usually understood, and that it calls attention away from the most important and potentially most fruitful problems about the nature of scientific change. Furthermore, I believe, and will argue below, that the most fundamental reasons for investigating scientific change, and the sense in which and degree to which it is necessary to base such investigation on an examination of the history of science (as well as of contemporary science) have not been adequately grasped even by many who are sympathetic to the approach. Finally, I do not believe that the difficulties in the way of such an approach have been properly appreciated and taken account of, and in many cases have not been considered at all. In particular, I will examine here five basic objections or types of objections against the view that the philosopher of science, in attempting to understand the nature of science, must examine the rationale of scientific development and innovation, and must base that examination on a study of cases from the history of science (as well as from contemporary science).
The New Economics of Prudential Capital Controls: A Research Agenda

This paper provides an introduction to the new economics of prudential capital controls in emerging economies. This literature is based on the notion that there are externalities associated with financial crises because individual market participants do not internalize their contribution to aggregate financial instability. We describe financial crises as situations in which an emerging economy loses access to international financial markets and experiences a feedback loop in which declining aggregate demand, falling exchange rates and asset prices, and deteriorating balance sheets mutually reinforce each other—a common phenomenon in recent emerging market crises. Individual market participants take aggregate prices and financial conditions as given and do not internalize their contribution to financial instability when they choose their actions. As a result they impose externalities in the form of greater financial instability on each other, and the private financing decisions of individuals are distorted toward excessive risk-taking. Prudential capital controls can induce private agents to internalize their externalities and thereby increase macroeconomic stability and enhance welfare.
THE EFFECT OF SOLAR RADIATION PRESSURE ON THE MOTION OF AN ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE

The effects of solar radiation pressure on the motion of an artificial satellite are obtained, including the effects of the intermittent acceleration which results from the eclipsing of the satellite by the earth. Vectorial methods have been utilized to obtain the nonlinear equations describing the motion, and the method of Kryloff-Bogoliuboff has been applied in their solution.
Employee perceptions of corporate partnership: An affective-moral quid pro quo

An affective-moral quid pro quo model provided the framework to test the relationship between worker satisfaction, perceptions of employees' citizenship behavior, and corporate commitment to moral-ethical ideals. A total of 198 full-time employees from a wide variety of work settings anonymously completed questionnaires. More than half of the respondents held management or supervisory positions; the number of males and females was nearly equal. Participants who indicated high satisfaction with work, promotions, and co-workers, and who viewed employees in their work setting as altruistic, perceived their organization as committed to employee welfare, employee rights, product quality, and as good corporate citizens.
Advantages of an off-Littrow mounting of an echelle grating

A phenomenon is described in which the size of the exit-slit image of the entrance slit is influenced by the angle at which an echelle grating is used. The phenomenon becomes significant only for large deviations from Littrow conditions. A mathematical treatment and experimental results are presented to show that proper exploitation of the effect results in simultaneous improvements in bandpass, range, and intensity for an echelle spectrometer.
1H NMR resonance assignments in a paramagnetic heme protein by two-dimensional spectroscopy : heme resonances in equine met-azido myoglobin

Abstract Specific heme protons for the majority of resonances in the downfield resolved region of equine met-azido myoglobin have been assigned using solely the two-dimensional 1H NMR experiments NOESY and COSY. Met-azido myoglobin provides a useful test case for the the applicability of these techniques to paramagnetic proteins for the following reasons. First met-azido myoglobin is a mixed spin-state protein, with significantly shorter relaxation times and broadened lines relative to pure low-spin systems (eg., met-cyano myoglobin). Second, met-azido hemoglobin and met-azido myoglobin are important as models for the physiological forms of hemoglobin. Third, a few sperm whale met-azido myoglobin resonances have been previously assigned, which permits a comparison of assignments for these similar proteins, and a check of the method presented here.
Employee communication strategies for organizational crises

Perhaps at no time is it more important for an organization to communicate sensitively and openly with its employees than during a crisis. Such efforts, however, are driven by management's view of a crisis situation, which frequently fails to consider employees' stress-induced responses to management communication behavior. This paper draws on research findings on life situations, crisis management, communication, stress, psychology, and information processing, to analyze employees' emotional, cognitive, and information needs when confronted by organizational crises. The authors present a receiver-oriented “Employee Crisis Communication Model.” This model outlines employees' stress-invoked perceptual and behavioral responses to major crises, which may, among other things, seriously impair their ability to handle information and make decisions. The authors then discuss the implications of applying certain communication strategies to crisis environments.
Modeling and On-Line Estimation of Electrode Wear in Resistance Spot Welding

Electrode wear is inherent in the resistance spot welding process. It determines the electrical and mechanical contact condition and thus strongly affects the resistance spot weld quality. A practical approach to minimizing the electrode wear effect is to compensate the welding current as the electrodes wear. However, the existing methods for welding current compensation rely on either a predetermined stepper schedule or an expulsion detection algorithm. These methods are not reliable since the welding current is not determined based on the contact condition for each weld made in the welding process. This paper presents an on-line electrode wear estimation approach to determining the contact condition and the welding current needed to make every weld a good weld during the entire life of the electrodes. In the stuffy, an incrementally coupled finite element simulation was first formulated to analyze the contact area behavior in the resistance spot welding process. A lumped parameter model was then developed to characterize the contact area change with the dynamic resistance measurement. A calibration and an estimation algorithm were subsequently devised for on-line applications. The proposed approach has been validated with experimental data. The results have shown that the estimation algorithm is robust under various process conditions including both welding current and electrode force.
Void formation in a filled SBR rubber determined by small‐angle X‐ray scattering

Two commercial styrene-butadiene (SBR) latexes were used to prepare a model filled material consisting of glassy SBR filler particles about 1000 A in diameter embedded in a rubbery SBR matrix crosslinked by γ-radiation. When transparent specimens of this material were extended, voiding occurred, as evidenced by stress whitening and greatly enhanced X-ray scattering intensity. More voids were formed at higher rates of extension, but voids disappeared when specimens were relaxed. The effects of filler content and cure time of the matrix on the size and number of voids formed were determined by low-angle X-ray scattering for a constant extension rate and a constant extension ratio λ = 1.6. The number of voids measured by X-ray scattering intensity decreased rapidly with time over the 3-h period of measurement. The number of voids remaining 1 h after extension increased about 40 times as filler content was increased from 15% to 50%. Increasing the cure time from 24 to 96 h increased the number of voids about four times. In contrast, the radius of gyration of the voids formed (250–350 A) did not depend strongly on time, nor did it depend strongly on the filler content or the cure time of the matrix. Stress relaxation measurements made under the same conditions as X-ray scattering measurements showed effects typical of filled materials. However, the relaxation of stress (which followed a power law decay) was much slower than the decay of the number of voids as measured by X-ray scattering intensity.
Induction and recovery characteristics of isoflurane and halothane anaesthesia for short outpatient operations in children.

Summary Induction and recovery characteristics of isoflurane anaesthesia were compared with halothane anaesthesia during outpatient mvringotomy and placement of Sheely ventilation tubes in I01 unpremedicated children. Compared with halothane. isojlurane resulted in prolonged induction times and inferior induction scores due to increased salivation, coughing, breathholding and laryngospasm. However, when modified by halothane induction. isoflurane anaesthesia decreased induction time and improved induction scores. Induction with thiamylal4 mglkg did not improve induction scores significantly. Recovery times from halothane plus isoflurane and pure isojlurane anaesthesia were quicker than pure halothane and thiamylal plus isojurane, although this was not statistically signiJicant. Compared to halothane, anaesthetic induction using isojlurane is associated with an increased incidence of respiratory problems in unpremedicated children.
Influence of frozen-section analysis of sentinel lymph node and lumpectomy margin status on reoperation rates in patients undergoing breast-conservation therapy.

Background Frozen-section analysis (FS) of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is performed to avoid reoperation for axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), but it can miss micrometastatic disease, is labor intensive for the pathologist, and does not alter the number of breast-conservation therapy (BCT) patients needing reoperation for positive margins. The purpose of this study was to determine if eliminating FS would change reoperation rates in BCT patients. Study Design Between January 2004 and December 2005, 1,218 patients had simultaneous BCT and SLN biopsy for invasive breast cancer. FS of the SLN was used selectively at the surgeon's discretion. Clinical and pathologic data were collected. Results Overall, 542 of 1,218 (44%) patients had positive margins. FS of the SLN was performed in 931 of 1,218 (76%) patients. In those having FS, the SLN positivity rate was 33% (306 of 931). FS identified the positive SLN in 170 of 306 (56%) patients with positive nodes, allowing for immediate ALND. But 101 of these 170 patients had positive lumpectomy margins; and FS of the SLN saved 69 of 931 (7%) patients a second operation. Of patients not having FS, 48 of 287 (17%) had a positive SLN on final pathology. Only 18 of 48 (those seen on routine hematoxylin and eosin) might have been seen on FS, potentially sparing reoperation. Half of patients not having FS required reexcision for positive margins. FS would have spared reoperation for only 8 of 287 (3%) patients in this group. Overall, of 354 of 1,218 patients with SLN metastases, 170 had immediate ALND and 98 had delayed ALND. Of those having delayed ALND, 68 of 98 also had positive margins. Conclusions Among patients having BCT with SLN biopsy, FS identified the positive SLN in 56% of patients with positive SLNs, allowing immediate ALND, and was false negative in 44%. Margin status remains a frequent indication for reoperation in BCT; routine FS analysis of the SLN ultimately saves only a minority of patients a second operation.
Synsedimentary chert breccia; a Mississippian tempestite

ABSTRACT A section of crinoidal calcarenites of the Lower Burlington Limestone, Middle Mississippian, displays an occurrence of chert nodules penecontemporaneously brecciated by a short-lived and localized high-energy event interpreted as the touch-down of a tornado system. This example of tempestite demonstrates the syngenetic generation of completely indurated and fragile chert nodules within an unconsolidated carbonate sediment. It is speculated that such an early origin of cherts is more widespread than generally assumed.
EPR studies of amino and other quinones

Abstract The semiquinone anion radicals, amino quinones and quinone thioethers formed from benzoquinones and various amines and mercaptans have been studied by EPR. The influence of thioether substitution is close to that of alkoxy substitution on quinones on the spin distribution in semiquinone radical anions. Participation of lone pair electrons is slight. Aminoquinones are greatly stabilized by electron release from the nitrogen. Anomalous behavior of aminoquinones and quinone thioethers having methyl or phenyl substituents ortho to the heteroatom substituents are interpreted as evidence of steric hindrance. The labile proton of aminoquinones and aminosemiquinones is identified as an amine proton. Strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the amine proton causes a large down field NMR chemical shift, slow deuterium exchange and an anomalously small hyperfine splitting constant.
Temperature fluctuations and a new third law of thermodynamics

We point out that because the heat capacity C(T) tends toward zero as the absolute temperature T approaches zero, temperature fluctuations of a reservoir will diverge in this limit. As a consequence, it is expected that the reservoir will exhibit a threshold temperature T0 given by Cv(T0) = Boltzmann's constant. Possible experimental consequences are discussed.
Mechanisms for improved XeF laser performance at elevated temperatures

Lasing spectra and output efficiency have been measured for four Ne/Xe/NF(3) laser mixtures from 300 to 450 K. These high resolution spectra have been correlated with a theoretical rotational bandhead structure to identify rotational states contributing to two narrowband emissions in the 351-nm band. Rotationalvibrational population shifts appear to be the most important mechanisms responsible for the increase in laser efficiency with temperature. Increased ground-state dissociation and decreased narrowband absorption may not be as important as previously thought.
Progressive Fracture of Fiber Composite Build-Up Structures

Damage progression and fracture of built-up composite structures is evaluated by using computational simulation. The objective is to examine the behavior and response of a stiffened composite (0 +/-45/90)(sub s6) laminate panel by simulating the damage initiation, growth, accumulation, progression and propagation to structural collapse. An integrated computer code CODSTRAN was augmented for the simulation of the progressive damage and fracture of built-up composite structures under mechanical loading. Results show that damage initiation and progression to have significant effect on the structural response. Influence of the type of loading is investigated on the damage initiation, propagation and final fracture of the build-up composite panel.
Prevalence and incidence of major depressive disorder in Alzheimer's disease: Findings from two databases

Background: Reports on the frequency of major depression in Alzheimer’s disease are conflicting, some suggesting that it is frequent, others suggesting that it is uncommon. <i&gt
Extension of Neuromuscular Pedicles and Direct Nerve Implants in the Rabbit

• Extension of neuromuscular pedicles and direct nerve implants was investigated in ten rabbits. All rabbits underwent facial nerve resection bilaterally. In five rabbits a neuromuscular pedicle, based on the ansa cervicalis nerve, was implanted into the denervated mentalis muscle unilaterally. On the opposite side, reinnervation was attempted using a neuromuscular pedicle with an interposed nerve graft. In the other five rabbits, reinnervation was attempted using a direct nerve implant on one side and a direct nerve implant extended with a nerve graft on the opposite side. Evoked electromyographic muscle tension and histologic studies were used to evaluate reinnervation. Functional neuromuscular units were consistently produced with neuromuscular pedicles, direct nerve implants, and extended direct nerve implants, while extended neuromuscular pedicles failed to produce detectable reinnervation. ( Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1989;115:217-223)
Organic Materials In Future Integrated Opto-Electronic Circuits

During the last two decades, lithium niobate has been extensively studied for applications in integrated optical circuits. However, it is difficult to integrate lithium niobate optical devices with semiconductor electronic devices because of incompatibility of the materials. In recent years, semiconductor materials are emerging as the main contender in applications; these materials have the advantage that both the optical and electronic devices can be integrated. Further, the semiconductor technology has advanced rapidly allowing us to engineer device parameters very precisely. In semiconductor opto-electronic devices, i.e. bulk and quantum well structures, mainly electro-absorption has been used for amplitude modulation of light. The electro-refraction effect is most useful for devices employing phase modulation techniques but this effect cannot be effectively utilized in semiconductors since the strongest electro-refraction effect is near the absorption edge of the material. Recently, organic materials have been shown to have electro-optic coefficients of equal or larger than that of lithium niobate. There are major advantages of organic materials: (a) the organics can be deposited on semiconductor substrates and therefore both electronic and optical circuits can be integrated (b) in organic materials the electro-refraction can be effectively utilized to obtain both amplitude and phase modulation (c) the organic material composition can be adjusted to satisfy some device requirements. In this paper, a comparison of these material systems will be made in terms of device applications.
Using hypertext in selecting reusable software components

software reuse; software libraries; component selection; hypertext; Kiosk. Recently, there has been increasing interest in software reuse as a way to improve software quality and productivity. One of the major problems with reusing libraries of software components is helping users effectively select (find and understand) components of interest. This paper explores the use of hypertext to enhance the process of component selection through a prototype system called Kiosk. Included are discussions of the selection process, why hypertext is well suited for supporting selection, and important characteristics of hypertext systems intended to support reuse. Also discussed are how reusable libraries can be structured using hypertext, how these structured libraries can be mechanically built, and how their use enhances the component selection process.
Octreotide uptake in the head and neck

A 56-YEAR-OLD woman with a history of medullary thyroid carcinoma had a total thyroidectomy in 1968 with subsequent bilateral neck irradiation and then a right neck dissection in 1970. For recurrent disease, a left neck dissection was required in 1975, followed by a right supraclavicular and upper mediastinal dissection in 1980 with consequent lower neck and superior mediastinal irradiation. An octreotide study was performed in efforts to localize recurrent or metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma. Abnormal uptake just to the right of the skull vertex and within the base of the skull and in the neck in the region of the thyroid gland (Fig 1) was found. Magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain showed an extra-axial 1.2-cm mass along the fight parietal parasagittal convexity which enhanced uniformly, highly suggestive of a meningioma or possibly a metastases from the patient's known thyroid carcinoma (Fig 2). Magnetic resonance imaging scan of the neck showed a highly vascular right parapharyngeal mass extending from the carotid bifurcation encompassing the fight internal carotid artery with extension into the skull base. On two separate occasions, the parapharyngeal tumor was embolized with Ivalon particles in efforts to reduce its vascularity, before surgical removal. The patient underwent fight neck exploration with excision of the parapharyngeal mass. Pathology confirmed recurrence of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. A few months later, the right extra-axial mass was surgically removed with pathological confirmation of a secretory meningioma. amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) or neuroendocrine tumors have been shown to have an affinity for octreotide and have been described in recent literature. 4 The prime utility for octreotide has been endocrine active tumors of the gastroenteropancreatic system, malignant lymphomas, small cell lung carcinomas, pheochromocytomas, and carcinoid tumors. The complete list however is becoming quite extensive) Both endocrine and nonendocrine neck and cranial tumors are included in the differential for octreotide uptake. Detection for meningiomas by octreotide scanning has shown a 100% sensitivity: -7 Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid has shown a 71% sensitivity for the presence of somatostatin receptors in a recent series. Possible causes of head and neck activity on octreotide scans include the following:
Oscillator strength of the CN A 2Πi → B 2Σ+ (0,0) transition

Abstract The relative oscillator strength of the A 2 H i → B 2 Σ + transition has been measured by comparing the laser-induced fluorescence signal from excitation of a known distribution of CN A 2 H i and CN B 2 Σ + produced by the photodissociation of cyanogen at 158 nm. The oscillator strength of the A 2 H i → B 2 Σ + transition is 0.011 ± 0.006 times that of the X 2 Σ + → B 2 Σ + system. This leads to a value of (4.0 ± 2.2) × 10 −4 for the band oscillator strength.
Multistep Photoinduced Electron Transfer in a de Novo Helix Bundle: Multimer Self-Assembly of Peptide Chains Including a Chromophore Special Pair1

The importance of protein aggregation in providing environments for charge transport is now well established in natural systems that include the helix bundle that facilitates the light-induced proton pump in bacteriorhodopsin, as well as the membrane protein matrix that houses the reaction center of photosynthetic bacteria. In the present article, the authors describe a de novo 24-residue peptide having propensity for a high order of self-assembly. Moreover, the synthetic protein is capable of multistep electron-transfer involving an electrostatic docking agent. Other feature of the prevailing arrangement include an orientation for peptide chains that allows organization of N-terminal pyrene chromophores as dimers. Photooxidation of the self-assembled peptide bundle using methyl viologen (MV{sup 2+}) as electron acceptor is followed by charge migration to a remote site on the peptide provided by a tryptophan moiety.
First do no harm: population-based study shows non-evidence-based trastuzumab prescription may harm elderly women with breast cancer

Trastuzumab, although cardiotoxic, is associated with improved survival in HER2-positive breast cancer. Non-compliance with HER2 testing guidelines before prescribing trastuzumab occurs in practice; however, the clinical consequences are unclear. Using SEER-Medicare database (2000-2009), we assessed differences in baseline characteristics between women ≥ 65 with breast cancer who received and did not receive HER2 testing prior to trastuzumab prescription. We used propensity score matched-pair analysis to balance the confounders between these two groups. We assessed the differences in overall survival and 3-year rates of avoiding congestive heart failure (CHF) between women who received trastuzumab without HER2 testing (trastuzumab group) and women who had chemotherapy but did not receive trastuzumab (irrespective of testing) (chemo-only group). Based on the matched data, we used Cox regression in these assessments with double robust estimation or with stratification. Among women who received trastuzumab, 140 (4.7 %) had no documentation of HER2 testing. Breast surgery, south residential region, and an earlier year of diagnosis were predictive of no HER2 testing in multivariate logistic regression. Women in the chemo-only group had similar overall survival (HR = 1.28; P = 0.108) over an 8-year follow-up post-diagnosis and significantly higher likelihood of avoiding CHF over 3 years after the first administration of chemotherapy or trastuzumab (HR = 1.66, P = 0.036) compared to women in the trastuzumab group, using the propensity score-matched data. Non-evidence-based prescription of trastuzumab is associated with increased rates of CHF with no additional survival benefit among older women with breast cancer. Inappropriate prescriptions of targeted therapies agent can lead to detrimental health and financial consequences.
CD8+ T suppressor cells and the ILT3 master switch

Similar to helper and cytotoxic T cells, CD8(+) T suppressor cells (Ts) acquire antigen specificity via direct interaction with antigen-presenting cells (APC). They induce the upregulation of the inhibitory receptor immunoglobulin-like transcript (ILT)3 on professional and nonprofessional APC, rendering these cells tolerogenic and able to induce the differentiation of further waves of regulatory and suppressor T cells. This review sums up evidence that ILT3 is the centerpiece of CD8(+) Ts-driven suppression and acts as a master switch in the regulation of CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-cell responses to antigens in transplantation, autoimmunity, allergy, and cancer.
Forecasting Specific Turning Points

Abstract The trade-off between accuracy of the call of a specific turn and the recognition lag is calculated for 17 monthly series from the NBER short list of indicators based on smoothing by Months of Cyclical Dominance (MCD), Average Duration of Run (ADR), and Declining Weights (DW). With a two-month recognition lag and only 1/3 of calls correct, both MCD and DW outperformed ADR. MCD was relatively better for smooth and ADR for irregular series. With each series smoothed to obtain 50 percent likelihood changes are cyclical, the typical leading series led reference peaks by seven months but showed no lead at troughs.
Extra centrosomes and/or chromosomes prolong mitosis in human cells

Using laser microsurgery and cell fusion we have explored how additional centrosomes and/or chromosomes influence the duration of mitosis in human cells. We found that doubling the chromosome number added approximately 10 min to a 20 min division, whereas doubling the number of centrosomes added approximately 30 min more. Extra centrosomes and/or chromosomes prolong mitosis by delaying satisfaction of the spindle assembly checkpoint. Thus mitosis can be prolonged by non-genetic means and extra chromosomes and centrosomes probably contribute to the elevated mitotic index seen in many tumours.
Josephson-junction array in an irrational magnetic field: A superconducting glass?

A model is used to show that a Josephson junction array in an irrational magnetic field undergoes a glass transition for finite cooling rate. At zero temperature the resultant glassy state possesses a nonzero critical current. The low-temperature behavior of the system can be modeled by a spin-wave theory. The relevance of these results for real experiments on arrays is discussed.
Anterior shoulder stability: Contributions of rotator cuff forces and the capsular ligaments in a cadaver model.

The purpose of this study was to quantify in a biomechanical model the contributions to shoulder joint stability that are made by tensions in the four tendons of the rotator cuff and by static resistance of defined portions of the capsular ligaments. A materials testing machine was used to directly determine anterior joint laxity by measurement of the force required to produce a standard anterior subluxation. Shoulders were tested in external or neutral humeral rotation. Data were analyzed by multiway analysis of variance with regression analysis. This model simulated tensions in the rotator cuff musculature by applying static loads at the tendon insertion sites acting along the anatomic lines of action. A load in any of the cuff tendons resulted in a measurable and statistically significant contribution to anterior joint stability. The contributions between different tendons were not significantly different and did not depend on the humeral rotation (neutral or external). In neutral humeral rotation the superior and middle glenohumeral ligaments together function equally with the inferior glenohumeral ligament as primary stabilizers against anterior humeral translation. The posterior capsule is a secondary stabilizer. The external rotation of the abducted humerus increases anterior stability by more than doubling the stability contribution from the inferior glenohumeral ligament. The stability contribution from the posterior capsule is larger in external rotation than in neutral rotation but is still of secondary magnitude. In external rotation the stability contribution of the anterior capsule, including the superior glenohumeral ligament and the middle glenohumeral ligament, becomes insignificant. The model presented here simulates the combined effect of two major sources of shoulder stability. This versatile model permits the direct measurement of the contributions to anterior shoulder stability that are made by tensions in the rotator cuff tendons and by static resistance of defined capsular zones. The use of multiple regression analysis—a standard statistical technique but one relatively new to the orthopaedic literature—permits quantitative determination of the contribution of each independent variable to the dependent variable, shoulder stability.
A TECHNIQUE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT

Since Freud's (1920) emphasis on the role of conflict in neurosis, and Pavlov's (1927) demonstration thar conflict behavior could be generated and st~~died in the laboratory, this "clinical" problem has been the subject of extensive experimental interest. Kurt Lewin's (1931) descriptions of conflict in terms of "field forces," Hull's (1938) reformulations of these notions within his own system, and the subsequent invescigarions of N. E. Miller (1944) have done much to define significant variables and issues. The present paper is concerned with the description of a free-operant procedure for use in studying conflict behavior. The technique has its origin in the principles of von Bekesy's ( 1947) subject-controlled audiometer, particularly as they have been applied by Blough ( 1955). T he basic notion is thar Ss themselves control several of the parameters of the conflict situation. This results in a continuous measure of conflict, making the procedure especially suitable for the analysis of the behavioral effects of prolonged exposure to conflict, or the time course of action of phnrmacological agents.
Unifying strategies and tactics: A survivability framework for countering cyber attacks

This paper presents a framework to enhance a system's survivability to thwart malicious attacks and to continuously provide critical services to users. We focus on two key survivability elements: strategy and tactic. The latter further includes a set of activities and operations. We show how survivability activities are developed in light of tactics to implement the chosen survivability strategies in face of malicious attacks. An example of military command and control system is presented, where a set of survivability activities are specified to carry out two strategies: dynamic system reconfiguration and transparent system repairs. An architectural model is proposed to facilitate system design in building survivable systems.
A self-supplied inertial piezoelectric energy harvester with power-management IC

Harvesting energy from ambient vibrations is a promising technology for fully autonomous wireless sensor nodes, which can give birth to new applications in biomedical, industrial, and environmental monitoring. There have been independent solutions in increasing the harvesting efficiency either on the mechanical harvester [1] or on its power management circuitry [2,3]. Recently, a piezoelectric MEMS harvester using AlN was demonstrated to generate enough energy to autonomously power a wireless temperature sensor with a full-bridge rectifier built with off-the-shelf components [1]. Meanwhile, AC-DC converters for piezoelectric harvesters have been designed to enable efficient power extraction [2], or efficient rectification of low-voltage outputs [3], and have been tested with commercial meso-scale piezoelectric beams. However, to realize an efficient stand-alone energy generator platform, it is necessary to integrate these efforts into a single low-volume system. This paper presents a self-supplied energy generator, which includes a MEMS harvester hybridly integrated with its power management circuitry for autonomous charging of an energy reservoir (Fig. 6.9.1). The proposed packaging of the generator is <0.3cm3. Initial testing results are obtained with an unpackaged MEMS harvester.
Mobile-C: a mobile agent platform for mobile C-C++ agents

This article presents the design, implementation and application of Mobile-C, an IEEE Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) compliant agent platform for mobile CsC++ agents. IEEE FIPA standards are a set of specifications designed to ensure the interoperation between agents in a heterogeneous network. Mobile-C conforms to the FIPA standards both at agent and platform level. Mobile-C extends FIPA standards to support mobile agents by integrating an embeddable CsC++ interpreter—Ch—into the platform as a mobile agent execution engine and defining a mobile agent mobility protocol to direct agent migration process. Agent migration in Mobile-C is achieved through FIPA agent communication language (ACL) messages encoded in XML. Using FIPA ACL messages for agent migration provides a straightforward but effective way for inter-platform agent migration in FIPA compliant agent systems as both agent communication and migration can share the same communication mechanism. Choosing scriptable CsC++ as a mobile agent language allows mobile agents easy interfacing with low-level software modules and underlying hardware. Mobile-C has been used to simulate highway traffic detection and management. The agent-based traffic detection and management system uses agent technology for real-time distributed traffic information fusion. Mobile agents in the system are used for dynamic code deployment and performing unanticipated actions. The application of agent technology shows a great potential for enhancing the interoperability, flexibility and distributed computing capabilities of intelligent transportation systems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ANISOTROPIC LINE EMISSION AND THE GEOMETRY OF THE BROAD-LINE REGION IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Attention is given to an escape probability-based formalism, including the interaction with a background opacity, which is used to predict line-beaming factors for broad-line region (BLR) clouds of AGN. Several computational details necessary to model gas exposed to an intense nonthermal continuum are outlined. It is found that all hydrogen lines are strongly inwardly beamed, and that C IV 1549 is moderately beamed. The implications of this for the geometry of the emission-line regions of AGN are discussed. Beaming is found to cause the source-cloud separation to be overestimated by variability studies (so that the radiation field at the BLR is even more intense than previously thought); it can even cause spherical geometries to have little instantaneous response to continuum changes.
Susceptibility to Disease Across Developmental Stages: Examining the Effects of an Entomopathogen on a Grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Pest

Abstract An important but under studied component of grasshopper ecology is how pathogens affect grasshopper population dynamics. However, insect population responses to disease may depend upon age demographics which vary temporally. In a field experiment, we varied grasshopper [Camnula pellucida (Scudder)] developmental stage (3rd instar, 4th instar, 5th instar, and adults) and fungal pathogen exposure (lab and field) and measured grasshopper mortality and survival. Lab exposed grasshoppers were directly inoculated with the pathogen, while field exposed grasshoppers were passively exposed to naturally occurring spores. Disease increased grasshopper mortality rates and decreased overall survival. However, this effect varied with grasshopper developmental stage and mode of pathogen exposure. Adults were far less susceptible to fungal infection than nymphs. Disease mortality was 52% higher in lab exposed grasshoppers compared to individuals exposed to a natural fungal epizootic in the field. Lab exposure de...
An Intersubunit Disulfide Bond Prevents in Vitro Aggregation of a Superoxide Dismutase-1 Mutant Linked to Familial Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis †

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) is linked to over 90 point mutations in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1), a dimeric metalloenzyme. The postmortem FALS brain is characterized by SOD1 inclusions in the motor neurons of regions in which neuronal loss is most significant. These findings, together with animal modeling studies, suggest that aggregation of mutant SOD1 produces a pathogenic species. We demonstrate here that a mutant form of SOD1 (A4V) that is linked to a particularly aggressive form of FALS aggregates in vitro, while wild-type SOD1 (WT) is stable. Some A4V aggregates resemble amyloid pores formed by other disease-associated proteins. The WT dimer is significantly more stable than the A4V dimer, suggesting that dimer dissociation may be the required first step of aggregation. To test this hypothesis, an intersubunit disulfide bond between symmetry-related residues at the A4V dimer interface was introduced. The resultant disulfide bond (V148C-V148C') eliminated the concentration- dependent loss of enzymatic activity of A4V, stabilized the A4V dimer, and completely abolished aggregation. A drug-like molecule that could stabilize the A4V dimer could slow the onset and progression of FALS.
Friction velocity and aerodynamic roughness of conventional and undercutter tillage within the Columbia Plateau, USA

Friction velocity ðu� Þ and aerodynamic roughness (zo) at the soil–plant–atmosphere interface affect wind erosion, but no attempts have been made to quantify these parameters as affected by tillage systems within the Columbia Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest United States. Wind velocity profiles above adjacent field plots (>2 ha), with plots subject to conventional or undercutter tillage during the summer fallow phase of a winter wheat–summer fallow rotation, were measured over 50 high wind events (wind velocities in excess of 6.4 m s � 1 at a height of 3 m) during 2005 and 2006 near Lind, Washington to �� ��
Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the knee: a non-traumatic injury with prolonged recovery time

Subchondral insufficiency fractures are non-traumatic fractures that occur immediately below the cartilage of a joint. Although low bone density may be present concurrently, it is not the underlying cause of subchondral insufficiency fractures in the majority of patients. Patients with subchondral insufficiency fracture characteristically have unremarkable plain radiographs, while MRI examination may reveal extensive bone marrow oedema and subchondral bone collapse. This article presents a 51-year-old postmenopausal woman, a physician, who had subchondral insufficiency fractures of the knee associated with prolonged standing during clinical work. She was treated with partial weight bearing on crutches until 14 months after the injury, viscosupplementation at 4 months to treat osteoarthritis and teriparatide treatment to improve bone healing at 7 months. By 26 months after the injury, she tolerated independent walking with a fabric knee support but still experienced mild posterolateral knee pain and numbness on prolonged standing.
Horizontal and Vertical 2DPCA-Based Discriminant Analysis for Face Verification on a Large-Scale Database

This paper first discusses some theoretical properties of 2D principal component analysis (2DPCA) and then presents a horizontal and vertical 2DPCA-based discriminant analysis (HVDA) method for face verification. The HVDA method, which applies 2DPCA horizontally and vertically on the image matrices (2D arrays), achieves lower computational complexity than the traditional PCA and Fisher linear discriminant analysis (LDA)-based methods that operate on high dimensional image vectors (1D arrays). The horizontal 2DPCA is invariant to vertical image translations and vertical mirror imaging, and the vertical 2DPCA is invariant to horizontal image translations and horizontal mirror imaging. The HVDA method is therefore less sensitive to imprecise eye detection and face cropping, and can improve upon the traditional discriminant analysis methods for face verification. Experiments using the face recognition grand challenge (FRGC) and the biometric experimentation environment system show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In particular, for the most challenging FRGC version 2 Experiment 4, which contains 12\thinspace776 training images, 16 028 controlled target images, and 8014 uncontrolled query images, the HVDA method using a color configuration across two color spaces, namely, the YIQ and the YCbCr color spaces, achieves the face verification rate (ROC III) of 78.24% at the false accept rate of 0.1%.
Investment Potential of Agricultural Futures Contracts

Investment benefits from trading live cattle, hog, corn, and soybean futures contracts are considered under the assumption that the investor's risk/return evaluation is relative to a highly diversified stock portfolio. A mean-variance approach is used to find the “optimal” mix of investments for the initial stock portfolio and for portfolios which may include both stocks and futures. The addition of futures contracts to the portfolio rarely increases the portfolio return. This finding is consistent with risk-premium results of previous studies. However, investment benefits from agricultural futures are found in the form of a reduction in the portfolio's nonsystematic risk.
CD24 can be used to isolate Lgr5+ putative colonic epithelial stem cells in mice

A growing body of evidence has implicated CD24, a cell-surface protein, as a marker of colorectal cancer stem cells and target for antitumor therapy, although its presence in normal colonic epithelium has not been fully characterized. Previously, our group showed that CD24-based cell sorting can be used to isolate a fraction of murine small intestinal epithelial cells enriched in actively cycling stem cells. Similarly, we hypothesized that CD24-based isolation of colonic epithelial cells would generate a fraction enriched in actively cycling colonic epithelial stem cells (CESCs). Immunohistochemistry performed on mouse colonic tissue showed CD24 expression in the bottom half of proximal colon crypts and the crypt base in the distal colon. This pattern of distribution was similar to enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression in Lgr5-EGFP mice. Areas expressing CD24 contained actively proliferating cells as determined by ethynyl deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation, with a distinct difference between the proximal colon, where EdU-labeled cells were most frequent in the midcrypt, and the distal colon, where they were primarily at the crypt base. Flow cytometric analyses of single epithelial cells, identified by epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) positivity, from mouse colon revealed an actively cycling CD24+ fraction that contained the majority of Lgr5-EGFP+ putative CESCs. Transcript analysis by quantitative RT-PCR confirmed enrichment of active CESC markers [leucine-rich-repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5), ephrin type B receptor 2 (EphB2), and CD166] in the CD24+EpCAM+ fraction but also showed enrichment of quiescent CESC markers [leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobin domains (Lrig), doublecortin and calmodulin kinase-like 1 (DCAMKL-1), and murine telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTert)]. We conclude that CD24-based sorting in wild-type mice isolates a colonic epithelial fraction highly enriched in actively cycling and quiescent putative CESCs. Furthermore, the presence of CD24 expression in normal colonic epithelium may have important implications for the use of anti-CD24-based colorectal cancer therapies.