cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular mechanism of neck formation in uniaxially stretched poly(ethylene naphthalate) films

Abstract When amorphous poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) sheets are stretched between the glass transition temperature and the cold crystallization temperature, they exhibit necking. The occurrence of this unusual neck formation above the glass transition temperature causes large local fluctuations in the thickness of samples. However, uniformity of sample thickness can be re-established when the films are stretched beyond the critical strain at which stress hardening due to crystallization starts to occur. To elucidate the mechanism of neck formation in films stretched up to 20–30°C above the glass transition temperature, a series of samples were prepared under selected conditions and were sliced in the machine direction-normal direction (MD-ND) plane. The structural variations along the necked region were analysed using optical retardation, infra-red dichroism and micro-beam X-ray diffraction techniques. The results obtained from these techniques indicate that, during the course of deformation, the naphthalene groups, which are large and highly planar, rapidly align their broad faces parallel to the surface of the flat film. This behaviour resembles a disorder-nematic order transition and occurs at highly localized regions in the sample, thereby manifesting itself macroscopically as a neck. The free-width uniaxially stretched films were found to exhibit uniplanar axial texture instead of the expected transverse isotropy as a result of this preferential orientation of the naphthalene planes.
Chemical transformations of nanosilver in biological environments.

The widespread use of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in consumer and medical products provides strong motivation for a careful assessment of their environmental and human health risks. Recent studies have shown that Ag-NPs released to the natural environment undergo profound chemical transformations that can affect silver bioavailability, toxicity, and risk. Less is known about Ag-NP chemical transformations in biological systems, though the medical literature clearly reports that chronic silver ingestion produces argyrial deposits consisting of silver-, sulfur-, and selenium-containing particulate phases. Here we show that Ag-NPs undergo a rich set of biochemical transformations, including accelerated oxidative dissolution in gastric acid, thiol binding and exchange, photoreduction of thiol- or protein-bound silver to secondary zerovalent Ag-NPs, and rapid reactions between silver surfaces and reduced selenium species. Selenide is also observed to rapidly exchange with sulfide in preformed Ag2S solid phas...
Relationship between body condition and levels of serum luteinizing hormone in postpartum mares

Abstract To study the endocrine environment of foaling mares at different levels of body condition, 12 mares were divided equally into two groups, one designed to foal at a condition score of 4.5 or less (thin) and the other to maintain a condition score of 6 or greater (control). Serum samples were collected twice weekly before foaling, and daily thereafter until 7 d following the second estrous cycle after parturition. Serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured by Radioimmunoassay. In addition, mares were weighed, body condition was scored and body fat content was measured weekly. One consequence of low body condition at foaling in thin mares was a longer mean gestation length than in control mares. Also, the pattern of LH observed during the first and second estrous cycles after foaling was different for thin vs control mares. Serum LH concentrations for thin mares were greater during their second estrous cycle than during their first estrous cycle. Also, in thin mares, the interval from parturition to ovulation, as indicated by the day of maximum concentration of LH during estrus, was random. Control mares had equivalent concentrations of serum LH in both cycles, and they had predictable intervals from parturition to ovulation. LH patterns in thin mares were similar to those reported in mares during seasonal transition, whereas LH patterns of control mares were similar to those reported in mares during the middle of the breeding season.
Fire Behavior, Weather, and Burn Severity of the 2007 Anaktuvuk River Tundra Fire, North Slope, Alaska

Abstract In 2007, the Anaktuvuk River Fire (ARF) became the largest recorded tundra fire on the North Slope of Alaska. The ARF burned for nearly three months, consuming more than 100,000 ha. At its peak in early September, the ARF burned at a rate of 7000 ha d−1. The conditions potentially responsible for this large tundra fire include modeled record high summer temperature and record low summer precipitation, a late-season high-pressure system located over the Beaufort Sea, extremely dry soil conditions throughout the summer, and sustained southerly winds during the period of vegetation senescence. Burn severity mapping revealed that more than 80% of the ARF burned at moderate to extreme severity, while the nearby Kuparuk River Fire remained small and burned at predominantly (80%) low severity. While this study provides information that may aid in the prediction of future large tundra fires in northern Alaska, the fact that three other tundra fires that occurred in 2007 combined to burn less than 1000 ha...
Incompatibility in vitro and in vivo demonstrated only with saline-suspended red cells.

. An unusual IgG complement-binding antibody was observed in a 64-year-old man prior to surgery. This antibody was detectable by the indirect antiglobulin test when the red cells were suspended in saline, but not when they were suspended in acid citrate dextrose or albumin solutions. Positive reactions were obtained with the patient's own red cells and with the cells of all donors tested. In vivo chromium survival studies showed that donor cells and patient cells, when suspended in saline, had 1-hour survivals of 32 and 46%, respectively. In contrast, donor and patient cells suspended in ACD solution had 1-hour survivals of 77 and 93%, respectively. We conclude that this phenomenon may cause accelerated destruction of saline-suspended cells and should be suspected whenever in vitro incompatibility is noted only with red cells suspended in saline.
Hofmeister series salts enhance purification of plasmid DNA by non-ionic detergents

Ion-exchange chromatography is the standard technique used for plasmid DNA purification, an essential molecular biology procedure. Non-ionic detergents (NIDs) have been used for plasmid DNA purification, but it is unclear whether Hofmeister series salts (HSS) change the solubility and phase separation properties of specific NIDs, enhancing plasmid DNA purification. After scaling-up NID-mediated plasmid DNA isolation, we established that NIDs in HSS solutions minimize plasmid DNA contamination with protein. In addition, large-scale NID/HSS solutions eliminated lipopolysaccharides (LPS) contamination of plasmid DNA more effectively than Qiagen ion-exchange columns. Large-scale NID isolation/NID purification generated increased yields of high-quality DNA compared to alkali isolation/column purification. This work characterizes how HSS enhance NID-mediated plasmid DNA purification, and demonstrates that NID phase transition is not necessary for LPS removal from plasmid DNA. Specific NIDs such as IGEPAL CA-520 can be utilized for rapid, inexpensive, and efficient laboratory-based large-scale plasmid DNA purification, outperforming Qiagen-based column procedures.
Magnetic Circular Dichroism Used To Examine the Interaction of Escherichia coli Cytochrome bd with Ligands

The interactions of the fully reduced and fully oxidized cytochrome bd from E. coli with ligands CO, NO, and CN- have been studied by a combination of absorption and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy. In the reduced cytochrome bd, MCD resolves individual bands due to the high-spin heme b595 and the low-spin heme b558 components of the enzyme, allowing one to separately monitor their interactions along with ligand binding to the heme d component. The data show that at low concentrations, the ligands bind almost exclusively to heme d. At high concentrations, the ligands begin to interact with the low-spin heme b558. At the same time, no evidence for significant binding of the ligands to the high-spin heme b595 is revealed in either the reduced or the fully oxidized cytochrome bd complex. The data support the model [Borisov, V. B., Gennis, R. B., and Konstantinov, A. A. (1995) Biochemistry (Moscow) 60, 231−239] according to which the two high-spin hemes d and b595 share a high-affinity ligand bi...
Direct Binding of FtsZ to ZipA, an Essential Component of the Septal Ring Structure That Mediates Cell Division in E. coli

Abstract FtsZ is a soluble, tubulin-like GTPase that forms a membrane-associated ring at the division site of bacterial cells. While this ring is thought to drive cell constriction, it is not well understood how it is assembled or how it affects cell wall invagination. Here we report that FtsZ binds directly to a novel integral inner-membrane protein in E. coli that we call ZipA. We present genetic and morphological evidence indicating that this interaction is required for cell division, and show that a fluorescent ZipA-Gfp fusion protein is located in a ring structure at the division site, both before and during cell wall invagination. ZipA is an essential component of the division machinery, and, by binding to both FtsZ and the cytoplasmic membrane, is likely to be directly involved in the assembly and/or function of the FtsZ ring.
A method for direct measurement of systemic uptake and elimination of volatile organics in small animals

A method was developed which was suitable for toxicokinetic studies requiring direct, repetitive sampling of blood and breath during exposures of small animals to volatile chemicals. Anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats were tracheostomized, and a specially fabricated one-way breathing valve was inserted directly into the trachea, in order that the inhaled and exhaled breath streams could be separated and independently sampled. The desired concentration of 1,1,1-trichloroethane was generated in a gas sampling bag, which was connected to the inlet side of the valve for inhalation exposures. Rats dosed with 1,1,1-trichloroethane by gavage inhaled ambient air through the valve. A pneumotachograph was positioned in the influent air stream to measure respiration. Respiratory rate, minute volume, and core temperature were continuously recorded on a physiograph. Samples of inspired and expired air were periodically collected from sampling ports immediately adjacent to the breathing valve and were analyzed for their 1,1,1-trichloroethane content by gas chromatography. Using this system, it was possible to determine percentage systemic uptake at any given time and to monitor cumulative uptake (i.e., total dose received) over the course of inhalation exposures. Alveolar concentrations were calculated by taking into account the respiratory indexes and dead space volume. A femoral vein was cannulated, so that concentrations of the chemical in the blood and breath could be measured concurrently. Data from rats dosed orally and by inhalation with 1,1,1-trichloroethane are presented to illustrate the applicability of the method in kinetics studies of volatile chemicals.
Topic maintenance in preschoolers' conversation in three play situations

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different play situations on the topic maintenance performance of 4- to 5-year-old children. The conversations of 12 dyads, 6 female and 6 male, were examined in three counterbalanced videotaped play situations: Legos, Fisher-Price miniature hospital, and hospital props. Speaking turns were coded as either continuous discourse, shading, discontinuous discourse, or a combination of these categories. Using three levels of analysis to compare topic maintenance across play situations, children were found to engage in more continuous discourse in play with Legos than with the miniature hospital or hospital props. Discontinuous discourse and shading were more characteristic of the two hospital conditions than the Legos. Hence, the findings suggest that some play situations may be more supportive of the development of conversational maintenance skills in young children than are others.
Shell model yrast states of the N=83 nucleus 150Ho☆

Abstract Studies of delayed γ-rays from the reactions 122 Te( 32 S, p3n) and 121 Sb( 32 S, 3n) have located high-spin excitations in 150 Ho up to a 92 ± 8 ns isomer at 2625 keV. The main yrast level sequence is found to agree closely with shell model predictions (based on an inert 146 Gd core) of level energies, isomeric half-life and deexcitation pathway for the (πh 11 2 ) 3 vf 7 2 configuration.
Mercury(II) sorption to two Florida Everglades peats: evidence for strong and weak binding and competition by dissolved organic matter released from the peat.

The binding of mercury(II) to two peats from Florida Everglades sites with different rates of mercury methylation was measured at pH 6.0 and 0.01 M ionic strength. The mercury(II) sorption isotherm...
A note on least time path computation considering delays and prohibitions for intersection movements

Abstract Most shortest path algorithms do not explicitly consider intersection movements in calculating best paths. However, in congested street networks, turning movement delays can be significant, and ignoring them may lead to the calculation of suboptimal or illogical paths. To reflect turning movements in practice, it is common to “explode” the network representation for use with standard shortest path algorithms. This paper proposes a considerably more efficient approach; it consists of an extension to the commonly used forward star structure to represent the network including intersection movements and movement prohibitions. A label correcting shortest path algorithm is modified to take advantage of the proposed representation and calculate the least time paths in a computationally efficient way. The approach is implemented, tested and compared with existing techniques. The application of similar modifications to time-dependent and k-shortest path algorithms is also discussed.
Energy conservation in cupola operation

Abstract The divided blast air energy-conservation option was selected over four other techniques for retrofitting an existing cupola. The cost of energy in dollars per million B.t.u.s has been determined for coke, natural gas, and electricity.
Recombination modulates how selection affects linked sites in Drosophila.

One of the most influential observations in molecular evolution has been a strong association between local recombination rate and nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. This is interpreted as evidence for ubiquitous natural selection. The alternative explanation, that recombination is mutagenic, has been rejected by the absence of a similar association between local recombination rate and nucleotide divergence between species. However, many recent studies show that recombination rates are often very different even in closely related species, questioning whether an association between recombination rate and divergence between species has been tested satisfactorily. To circumvent this problem, we directly surveyed recombination across approximately 43% of the D. pseudoobscura physical genome in two separate recombination maps and 31% of the D. miranda physical genome, and we identified both global and local differences in recombination rate between these two closely related species. Using only regions with conserved recombination rates between and within species and accounting for multiple covariates, our data support the conclusion that recombination is positively related to diversity because recombination modulates Hill–Robertson effects in the genome and not because recombination is predominately mutagenic. Finally, we find evidence for dips in diversity around nonsynonymous substitutions. We infer that at least some of this reduction in diversity resulted from selective sweeps and examine these dips in the context of recombination rate.
Eigenvector assignment in power system controller design: illustration through predatory control

This work examines eigenvector assignment through feedback in a power systems application. The right eigenvector defines the physical mode shape of natural response (e.g., the grouping, phases, and magnitudes of generators' frequency swings experienced in an electromechanical mode). Hence the ability to influence the mode shape through controller design is an important capability in power systems applications. However, while well known in the linear control literature, this design capability has received relatively little attention in the power literature. To extend eigenvector assignment toward practical power applications, we examine designs using output feedback, based on highly reduced order observers. This work concludes with a speculative, but intentionally dramatic, example of the eigenvector assignment technique; the so-called "predatory control" design. Here local output feedback control is exercised among a group of generators to intentionally destabilize another group, maximizing the concentration of energy of the unstable mode in the "target" group, while minimizing its energy in the group exercising the control.
Functional annotation of regulatory pathways

Motivation: Standardized annotations of biomolecules in interaction networks (e.g. Gene Ontology) provide comprehensive understanding of the function of individual molecules. Extending such annotations to pathways is a critical component of functional characterization of cellular signaling at the systems level. Results: We propose a framework for projecting gene regulatory networks onto the space of functional attributes using multigraph models, with the objective of deriving statistically significant pathway annotations. We first demonstrate that annotations of pairwise interactions do not generalize to indirect relationships between processes. Motivated by this result, we formalize the problem of identifying statistically overrepresented pathways of functional attributes. We establish the hardness of this problem by demonstrating the non-monotonicity of common statistical significance measures. We propose a statistical model that emphasizes the modularity of a pathway, evaluating its significance based on the coupling of its building blocks. We complement the statistical model by an efficient algorithm and software, Narada, for computing significant pathways in large regulatory networks. Comprehensive results from our methods applied to the Escherichia coli transcription network demonstrate that our approach is effective in identifying known, as well as novel biological pathway annotations. Availability: Narada is implemented in Java and is available at http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/jpandey/narada/ Contact: jpandey@cs.purdue.edu
Ferromagnetism of Mn/Ge Multilayers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We report on novel ferromagnetic Mn/Ge multilayers for spintronics applications investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Two Mn/Ge multilayers are grown on GaAs (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The period of each multilayer consists of an Mn layer of varying thickness (0.6 and 5 A) and a 10 A thick Ge spacer layer. From temperature-dependent magnetization and hysteresis loop measurements, the Mn (0.6 A)/Ge (10 A) multilayer showed very weak ferromagnetic ordering, which is persistent up to 260 K, whereas the Mn (5 A)/Ge (10 A) multilayer exhibited strong ferromagnetism up to 305 K. The coercive field of the Mn (5 A)/Ge (10 A) multilayer was 277 Oe at 200 K. Density functional electronic band structure calculations on a number of Mn/Ge (001) multilayers determined them to be ferromagnetic, and estimates of their critical temperatures are reported.
Separability and refinement of hierarchical semantic video labels and their ground truth

We investigate several problems in the annotation of video shots by semantic labels which are implicitly embedded in a semantic hierarchy, leading to analyses and novel methods for refining video ontologies and their ground truth. First, in the large 449 LSCOM semantic concept data set, we show that within the implicit ldquouse ontologyrdquo, many concepts tags are ambiguous as to purposeful activity, visual scope, or social agency, or are absent altogether, but that better ldquouse sensesrdquo can be refined algorithmically. Second, we find that both traditional hard and fuzzy k-medoid clustering techniques are inadequate for hierarchical concepts, but a novel ldquofirm k-medoidrdquo clustering method both separates clusters and distributes superconcepts equitably. Third, we show how the scores of SVM semantic filters can be more reliably and quickly converted to probabilities by using a closed-form approximation to SVM behavior between its margins. Fourth, we show that the quality of SVM semantic filters for hierarchical concepts can be analyzed by their ability to separate their positive ground truth examples from those of any other concept in the hierarchy; the most discriminating are those with ground truth showing distinctive physical backgrounds.
Online task-scheduling for fault-tolerant low-energy real-time systems

In this paper we investigate fault tolerance and Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) in hard real time systems. We present two low-complexity fault-aware scheduling algorithms that combine feasibility analysis of Rate Monotonic Algorithm (RMA) schedules and DVS-based frequency scaling using exact characterization of RMA algorithm. These algorithms lay the foundation for highly efficient online schemes that minimize energy consumption by adapting DVS policies to runtime behavior of tasks and fault occurrences without violating the offline feasibility analysis. Simulation results demonstrate energy savings of up to 60% over low-energy offline scheduling algorithms [22].
On the Use of Non-Orthogonal Signal Expansions for Recognitlon

This paper presents a novel approah for template recognition by signal expansion into a set of non-orthognal template-similar basis functions. Expansion matching is a special case of the general non-orthogonal expansion and is equivalent to "restoration" of undegraded signals. It is quite robust in conditions of noise, superposition and severe occultation. It is shown that expansion matching maximizes a new and more practically defined Discriminative signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR). Theoretical and experimental comparisons with the widely used correlation matching (matched filtering), show that expansion matching yields much higher DSNR.
Gating of attentional effort through the central thalamus

The central thalamus plays an important role in the regulation of arousal and allocation of attentional resources in the performance of even simple tasks. To assess the contribution of central thalamic neurons to short-term adjustments of attentional effort, we analyzed 166 microelectrode recordings obtained from two rhesus monkeys performing a visuomotor simple reaction time task with a variable foreperiod. Multiunit responses showed maintained firing rate elevations during the variable delay period of the task in ∼24% of recording sites. Simultaneously recorded local field potentials demonstrated significant decreases in power at ∼10–20 Hz and increases in power at 30–100 Hz during the delay period when compared against precue baselines. Comparison of the spectral power of local field potentials during the delay period of correct and incorrect trials showed that, during incorrect trials, similar, but reduced, shifts of spectral power occurred within the same frequency bands. Sustained performance of even simple tasks requires regulation of arousal and attention that combine in the concept of “attentional effort”. Our findings suggest that central thalamic neurons regulate task performance through brief changes in firing rates and spectral power changes during task-relevant short-term shifts of attentional effort. Increases in attentional effort may be reflected in changes within the central thalamic local populations, where correct task performance associates with more robust maintenance of firing rates during the delay period. Such ongoing fluctuations of central thalamic activity likely reflect a mix of influences, including variations in moment-to-moment levels of motivation, arousal, and availability of cognitive resources.
Dynamics of Young Children's Socially Adaptive Resolutions of Peer Conflict

How do young children negotiate conflicts with peers that result in mutually beneficial resolution and peaceful interaction after conflict? A few studies suggest that when children use conciliatory strategies in conflict, socially adaptive outcomes are more likely to be achieved. The present study explores the relative associations of types of children's conciliatory conflict resolution strategies (i.e., prosocial, compliance-oriented, solution-oriented, and verbal clarification/apology) with conflict outcomes to contribute to knowledge of the discrete behaviors that might have salience for conflict resolution training. Socially adaptive conflict outcomes were expected to strongly relate to children's resolution strategies of a prosocial nature as well as to teacher or peer interventions encouraging prosocial behavior or empathy. Sampled conflicts (N = 521) were collected through field observations of 107 ethnically/racially and socioeconomically diverse four- to seven-year-old children. Logistic regression analyses with bootstrap-based inference suggested that children's prosocial behaviors in conflict were most strongly tied to mutually beneficial resolution and peaceful postconflict interaction, when controlling for relevant covariates. Other conciliatory strategies varied in their association with socially adaptive outcomes. The hypothesis regarding third-party interventions encouraging prosociability or empathy could not be examined due to infrequent occurrence. Insights for future research on children's socially adaptive conflict negotiations are discussed.
Regulation of Macronuclear DNA Content in Tetrahymena thermophila

Synopsis. Unequal macronuclear division in Tetrahymena thermophila introduces variance into G1 macronuclei; unless eliminated such variance would result in continuous variation in DNA content. Analysis of G1 and G2 macronuclear variances reveals that the added variance is eliminated by action on the extremes of macronuclear DNA content. In this model (Model II), macronuclei with small amounts of DNA have an additional complete S phase, while those with large amounts of DNA skip S. From available data, chromatin extrusion is shown not to contribute significantly, if at all, to the elimination of variance. Computer simulations utilizing haploid subunits indicate that model II predictions apply reasonably well to experimental data in terms of coefficients of variation, mean DNA content, and frequency of additional and skipped S phases. The simulations reveal also that within certain constraints, particularly the thresholds for additional and skipped S phases, macronuclear assortment is unaffected by Model II regulation. The relationships between Model II and other aspects of the cell cycle are briefly discussed.
Safety and Efficacy of INCB018424, a JAK1 and JAK2 Inhibitor, in Myelofibrosis

Background Myelofibrosis is a Philadelphia chromosome–negative myeloproliferative neoplasm associated with cytopenias, splenomegaly, poor quality of life, and shortened survival. About half of patients with myelofibrosis carry a gain-of-function mutation in the Janus kinase 2 gene (JAK2 V617F) that contributes to the pathophysiology of the disease. INCB018424 is a potent and selective Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) and JAK2 inhibitor. Methods We conducted a phase 1−2 trial of INCB018424 in patients with JAK2 V617F−positive or JAK2 V617F−negative primary myelofibrosis, post–essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis, or post–polycythemia vera myelofibrosis. Results A total of 153 patients received INCB018424 for a median duration of more than 14.7 months. The initial dose-escalation phase established 25 mg twice daily or 100 mg once daily as maximum tolerated doses, on the basis of reversible thrombocytopenia. A dose-dependent suppression of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a ...
Dynamic Rank Factor Model for Text Streams

We propose a semi-parametric and dynamic rank factor model for topic modeling, capable of (i) discovering topic prevalence over time, and (ii) learning contemporary multi-scale dependence structures, providing topic and word correlations as a byproduct. The high-dimensional and time-evolving ordinal/rank observations (such as word counts), after an arbitrary monotone transformation, are well accommodated through an underlying dynamic sparse factor model. The framework naturally admits heavy-tailed innovations, capable of inferring abrupt temporal jumps in the importance of topics. Posterior inference is performed through straightforward Gibbs sampling, based on the forward-filtering backward-sampling algorithm. Moreover, an efficient data subsampling scheme is leveraged to speed up inference on massive datasets. The modeling framework is illustrated on two real datasets: the US State of the Union Address and the JSTOR collection from Science.
Management of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

#### Key Points Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is an uncommon cutaneous malignancy that usually presents with patches and/or plaques, less commonly with tumours and/or haematological involvement Mycosis fungoides is usually an indolent condition that can be managed with skin-directed therapies
Is Information Systems a Reference Discipline

In recent times, there has been a growing interest in the level of intellectual contribution that IS makes to other disciplines. Much of the debate that has dominated the literature so far is based on the visions and opinions of a few IS scholars. This study endeavors to provide new insights into these deliberations by examining citation flows between journals from various business fields, many of which have served as reference disciplines to IS research. A log-multiplicative model was used to assess the influence of IS journals vis-a-vis other business journals. Further, inter-disciplinary flows were analyzed to address the question of whether IS is a valuable source or provider of knowledge. The results suggest that IS, while serving as a modest source of knowledge to management and marketing, is still predominantly a refereeing discipline, relying primarily on these two disciplines for its research.
Regge Trajectories and Elementary Poles

Elementary poles are introduced as poles of physical partial wave amplitudes ${F}_{l}(s)$ which are not present in the analytic interpolating function $F(s,\ensuremath{\lambda})$. It is shown that ${F}_{l}(s)=F(s,l)$ for $lg1$, and that all particles with spin larger than one must be members of Regge trajectories; only bosons are considered explicitly. Additional restrictions are discussed which would make it possible to eliminate elementary poles also for spin one and zero. The possibility that the physical $s$-wave amplitude ${F}_{0}(s)$ is not determined by the interpolation function ${F}_{+}(s,0)$ could be used to avoid the ghost associated with the vacuum trajectory. The problem of branch-point trajectories is discussed briefly.
Patient and Treatment Factors Associated With Complications After Prostate Brachytherapy

Purpose To assess the prevalence and predictors of complications after prostate brachytherapy in a population-based sample of older men. Patients and Methods We analyzed claims for Medicare-enrolled men older than age 65 years living in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) surveillance areas diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1991 to 1999 who underwent brachytherapy as initial treatment. Results There were 5,621 men who had brachytherapy with at least 2 years of follow-up. A complication diagnosis or invasive procedure occurred in 54.5% of men within 2 years, with 14.1% undergoing an invasive procedure. Urinary, bowel, and erectile morbidity rates were 33.8%, 21.0%, and 16.7%, respectively, and invasive procedure rates were 10.3%, 0.8%, and 4.0%, respectively. On multivariable analysis, combined urinary diagnoses and invasive procedures (obstruction, incontinence, bleeding, fistula) were associated with older age (P < .01), nonwhite race (odds ratio [OR], 1.30; P = .01), low income (OR, 1.7...
A slope adaptive delta modulator for VLSI signal processing systems

A novel method of analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion utilizing a Slope Adaptive Delta Modulation approach which we will call Instantly Adaptive Delta Modulation (IADM), is described. This new system provides higher quality processable code than present modulators yet requires substantially reduced sampling rates. It displays a wide tolerance for variations in its component values and operates undisturbed in the presence of large amplitude dc or 60-Hz interference signals. An analysis of the frequency response and quantization noise characteristics of the system are presented. Specific designs for the component blocks demonstrate the compatibility of the system with present day CMOS technology. The compatibility of this system with VLSI technology makes it especially attractive for implementation in a monolithic audio-processing IC, such as a CODEC filter, or audio quality A/D converter.
Unsanitized Domestic Allegories: Biomedical Politics, Racial Uplift, and the African American Woman's Risk Narrative

"Unsanitized Domestic Allegories" begins the work of recovering the complex history linking Progressive-Era biomedicalization, gender expectations, and ideologies of racial uplift within African American culture. Through a close reading of early-twentieth-century African American health care activists, including C. V. Roman, founding member of the National Medical Association (1895) and the first editor of the Journal of the National Medical Association, E. Elliott Rawlins, health columnist for the Amsterdam News, and Mary Fitzbutler Waring, chair of the Committee for Health and Hygiene of the National Association for Colored Women, Knadler's essay argues that race leaders recruited a language of health and hygiene to shape, manage, and regulate the class divisions and cultural disorientations of urban migration. But this community epidemiology was also connected to a particular biomediated image that functioned as part of a politics of risk and affect to preempt women's freedom: the (un)sanitized woman who was said to endanger the health of her family and the community at a time when many African American neighborhoods were experiencing epidemics of diseases as a result of health-care disparities and environmental racism. Knadler then turns to a close reading of Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928) to show how its unruly, unsanitized domestic allegory exposes and destabilizes this interworking of medical language, affect, and gendered risk within racial uplift. Quicksand testifies to the complex meaning of agency in a world in which political, economic, and moral crises have been recast as the medical condition of specific "risky" bodies and doubts over their competence at maintaining sanitary self-care.
Converting interpreters into compilers

There is an effective and quite general method of manually deriving compilers from programming-language interpreters without dealing directly with machine language. The method is an implementation of the largely theoretical and under-appreciated concept of partial computation, but can be understood on its own terms. It involves the translation of a source program's intermediate form into the interpreter's implementation language. This paper shows how the method can be used to transform both a sample iterative interpreter and a sample recursive interpreter into compilers. The result can be a large gain in program execution speed. Other advantages of the method, including the ease and practicality of applying it, are discussed.
Toward Greater Responsiveness in Marketing Education: A Social Marketing Framework

This article explores how marketing educators can apply the social marketing concept to more effectively serve an important constituent public—employers of marketing graduates. First, a literature review focusing on efforts to survey practi tioners' attitudes towards marketing education is presented. Next, a model is devel oped, based on a social marketing conceptual framework, to guide marketing educators in the collection and use of feedback from practitioners. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the major implications and the related benefits of adopting a social marketing posture by the marketing academics.
Quantitative Proteome Analysis of Pluripotent Cells by iTRAQ Mass Tagging Reveals Post-transcriptional Regulation of Proteins Required for ES Cell Self-renewal

Embryonic stem cells and embryonal carcinoma cells share two key characteristics: pluripotency (the ability to differentiate into endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm) and self-renewal (the ability to grow without change in an untransformed, euploid state). Much has been done to identify and characterize transcription factors that are necessary or sufficient to maintain these characteristics. Oct-4 and Nanog are necessary to maintain pluripotency; they are down-regulated at the mRNA level by differentiation. There may be additional regulatory genes whose mRNA levels are unchanged but whose proteins are destabilized during differentiation. We generated proteome-wide, quantitative profiles of ES and embryonal carcinoma cells during differentiation, replicating a microarray-based study by Aiba et al. (Aiba, K., Sharov, A. A., Carter, M. G., Foroni, C., Vescovi, A. L., and Ko, M. S. (2006) Defining a developmental path to neural fate by global expression profiling of mouse embryonic stem cells and adult neural stem/progenitor cells. Stem Cells 24, 889-895) who triggered differentiation by treatment with 1 μM all-trans-retinoic acid. We identified several proteins whose levels decreased during differentiation in both cell types but whose mRNA levels were unchanged. We confirmed several of these cases by RT-PCR and Western blot. Racgap1 (also known as mgcRacgap) was particularly interesting because it is required for viability of preimplantation embryos and hematopoietic stem cells, and it is also required for differentiation. To confirm our observation that RACGAP-1 declines during retinoic acid-mediated differentiation, we used multiple reaction monitoring, a targeted mass spectrometry-based quantitation method, and determined that RACGAP-1 levels decline by half during retinoic acid-mediated differentiation. We knocked down Racgap-1 mRNA levels using a panel of five shRNAs. This resulted in a loss of self-renewal that correlated with the level of knockdown. We conclude that RACGAP-1 is post-transcriptionally regulated during blastocyst development to enable differentiation by inhibiting ES cell self-renewal.
Towards end-to-end government performance management: Case study of interorganizational information integration in emergency medical services (EMS)

Abstract A recent line of e-government research has emphasized the importance of interorganizational information sharing in the public domain. This research extends these information-sharing dimensions to explore information sharing relative to service performance. It utilizes a time-critical information services (TCIS) conceptual framework as an analytical lens. TCIS highlights multiple dimensions of information sharing, including operational, organizational, and governance factors as well as timeliness and quality as key performance metrics. A case study approach was employed to examine the exchange of performance-related information in a key time information critical service: a county-wide emergency medical services (EMS) system. The paper first explains the theoretical foundations for the study, stemming from interorganizational systems (IOS) literature, e-government IOS, and even more specifically, IOS in emergency medical services (EMS). The paper discusses performance measures in EMS, describes the TCIS analytical lens, the study methodology, and the case study under investigation. Case study findings are reported along operational, organizational, and governance dimensions. In general, the case study illustrates promising factors that can enhance information sharing across organizations, while noting that considerable gaps remain in achieving an end-to-end IT-enabled performance approach. Future research should aim to better understand how to overcome these gaps, including addressing the usability constraints that can confront professionals working in time information critical circumstances, such as trauma conditions.
Attachment as a Cultural and Ecological Problem with Pluralistic Solutions

I stood next to a mother who was watching (through a one-way window) her child being assessed in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). The child was labeled ‘avoidant,’ according to the child’s behavior profile, at least as identified by the scoring and classification of the child’s attachment. But the mother proudly commented that: ‘This is what I have been working for by having him be with other kids and families while I am working. Look how independent he is! See how he can play by himself?’ This mother was a single parent by choice. She had told us about her goals for independence for herself and her child, the importance of living a profeminist kind of family life, as she defined it, and her efforts to establish an ongoing convoy of friends and caretakers for her child to provide relational support and security. The meaning of the behaviors revealed in the SSP were positive to her, and her construction of the situation reflected a valorizing of her child’s life path as well as the mother’s. For her, the behaviors she saw meant that they both were on a positive, adaptive, virtuous path. Her child was not in fact ‘at risk’ for ‘attachment disorder’ nor relational insecurity in her frame of meaning, whatever the scoring of her child’s behaviors might have been (and in fact, longitudinal follow-up through adolescence did not show any signs of risk either) [Weisner, 1996a, 2001; Weisner & Bernheimer, 1998; Weisner & Garnier, 1992]. Harwood, Miller, and Irizarry [1995] show more systematically than this case example that indigenous perceptions of desirable and undesirable attachment behaviors can and do differ from the labels given to them by the attachment theory. Their study compared Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers from working- and middleclass backgrounds. They found that mothers could prefer behaviors coded as insecure, and disapprove behaviors coded as secure, based on an SSP-type rating procedure. Using vignettes of SSP behaviors, they found that both socioeconomic status
Companion Study: Rationale

The heart failure pandemic afflicts 5 million people in the United States, accounts for 900,000 hospitalizations and causes or contributes to 300,000 deaths per years [1–3]. Pharmacologic therapy reduces heart failure progression, morbidity and mortality but still leaves many patients with symptoms and shortened survival. Thus any new modality such as cardiac resynchroniza- tion therapy (with or without backup defibrillation) has important implications for patient clinical status and, perhaps, survival.
A Comparison of Greedy Search Algorithms

We discuss the relationships between three approaches to greedy heuristic search: best-first, hill-climbing, and beam search. We consider the design decisions within each family and point out their oft-overlooked similarities. We consider the following best-first searches: weighted A*, greedy search, ASeps, window A* and multi-state commitment k-weighted A*. For hill climbing algorithms, we consider enforced hill climbing and LSS-LRTA*. We also consider a variety of beam searches, including BULB and beam-stack search. We show how to best configure beam search in order to maximize robustness. An empirical analysis on six standard benchmarks reveals that beam search and best-first search have remarkably similar performance, and outperform hill-climbing approaches in terms of both time to solution and solution quality. Of these, beam search is preferable for very large problems and best first search is better on problems where the goal cannot be reached from all states.
Needs, rights, and the human family: the practicality of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an important document that has both policy and practice implications. Its practicality as a working document hinges on its implementation. This article proposes that the CRC be viewed from a child rights perspective that has five building blocks. These building blocks relate to specific articles in the CRC. They also each allow for the CRC to be realistically interpreted and to be actively promoted. Language: en
Prepubertal children exposed to concentrated disadvantage: An exploratory analysis of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction

Objective It is unclear whether physiologic and metabolic biomarkers are associated with chronic stressors evidenced during early childhood. Methods Cross-sectional data were obtained from a cohort of healthy, prepubertal (Tanner stage < 2) children (n = 96; age: 8.06 [7.8] years; M = 51 [53%]; F = 45 [47%]; African-American = 26 [27%]; Caucasian = 70 [73%]; with obesity = 21 [22%]; without obesity = 75 [78%]) from the MET study. Body mass index z-score (z_BMI), total body fat (BF), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), intrahepatic and intramyocellular lipids, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured. Chronic stress was assessed using neighborhood concentrated disadvantage index (CDI) for the U.S. Census tracts in which participants resided. Spearman's rank correlations were used to examine relationships, accounting for sex and race. Results CDI was not positively associated with inflammatory and metabolic markers of dysfunction. However, z_BMI (−0.234, P = 0.023), BF (−0.228, P = 0.028, n = 95), and VAT (−0.241, P = 0.042, n = 74) were significantly negatively associated with CDI. When stratifying by race, these relationships remained significant in Caucasian children only. Conclusions These findings suggest chronic stress during early childhood is not associated with inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers, typically observed in adults. Therefore, exposure to stress during this critical developmental period may remain latent and emerge during a later developmental stage.
Cord/rubber material properties

Abstract Recent developments in nonlinear finite element methods (FEM) and mechanics of composite materials have made it possible to handle complex tire mechanics problems involving large deformations and moderate strains. The development of an accurate material model for cord/rubber composites is a necessary requirement for the application of these powerful finite element programs to practical problems but involves numerous complexities. Difficulties associated with the application of classical lamination theory to cord/rubber composites were reviewed. The complexity of the material characterization of cord/rubber composites by experimental means was also discussed. This complexity arises from the highly anisotropic properties of twisted cords and the nonlinear stress—strain behavior of the laminates. Micromechanics theories, which have been successfully applied to hard composites (i.e., graphite—epoxy) have been shown to be inadequate in predicting some of the properties of the calendered fabric ply mat...