cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical approach, management, and oncologic outcomes of primary leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava: An institutional case series.

Background Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare tumor arising from the smooth muscle of vessel walls. Surgery is the only potential curative treatment. Given its rarity, optimal surgical, and oncologic management is not well described. We review our institutional series of primary leiomyosarcomas treated with resection and IVC reconstruction over the last decade. Methods Retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent surgical resection of primary leiomyosarcoma of the IVC from November 2009 to March 2020 at a single tertiary care center was performed. Results Among the eight patients treated, the majority were female (87.5%) with a median age of 52 years (range, 44-63). Tumor was located in the infrarenal IVC in five patients (62.5%). IVC was reconstructed using a ring-enforced PTFE graft in six patients (75%). All but one patient had an intermediate (grade 2) or high grade (grade 3) tumor, and all resections achieved grossly negative margins. The 1- and 3-year disease-free survival was 85.7% and 64.3%, respectively. There were no disease-specific deaths during a median follow-up of 36 months (interquartile range, 10-51 months). Conclusions With a well-coordinated multidisciplinary approach, primary leiomyosarcoma of the IVC can be safely resected with good long-term survival.
Using Learning Management System to Promote Self-regulated Learning in a Flipped Classroom

The inherent structure of the flipped classroom (FC) supports a learning environment that promotes students’ self-regulated learning. In this paper, we focus on how a Learning Management System (LMS), in this case BrightSpace D2L, plays a key role in supporting all aspects of the FC. We discuss how: Pre-class assignments suggest that students give their learning some forethought and planning accordingly; frequent formative assessment and feedback permits students to monitor their progress in the classroom; students control their choices for studying the resources they use; and how students have ample opportunities to reflect on their work regularly. Further, we explore how learning logs (a form of reflective writing), with the LMS journaling and Dropbox features are used to keep track of students’ journal entries as well as demonstrate how professors use the LMS to motivate and encourage students to develop self-regulated learning. Qualitative analysis of students writing are provided to reveal gains in self-regulation.
Propagation, deposition, and suspension characteristics of constant-volume particle-driven gravity currents

In this laboratory study, propagation behaviour, particle deposition patterns, and suspension characteristics of non-cohesive particle-driven gravity currents formed under constant-volume release conditions were investigated. The experimental gravity currents were created in a two-dimensional lock exchange type tank using two different particles (silicon carbide and glass beads) with four different median diameters. Video imaging and image processing techniques were utilized to monitor the current propagation, laser diffraction size analysis and dry weighing techniques were utilized to examine the size and mass characteristics of the deposits and suspensions, and acoustic Doppler velocimetry was utilized for flow velocity measurements for turbulence analysis. Our observations showed that the experimental gravity currents experienced two different propagation phases based upon the particle settling regimes. The first propagation phase was named as the propagation with the turbulence-dominated settling (TDS) and the later propagation phase was named as the propagation with gravity-dominated settling (GDS). It is found that a critical turbulent Reynolds number value (estimated to be O(1)) delineates the settling regimes, hence determines the transition between the propagation phases. With increasing particle settling velocity, the observed propagation phases in our experimental currents showed increasing deviations from the slumping, inertia-buoyancy, and viscous–buoyancy propagation phases that have been reported for homogeneous constant-volume gravity currents with no or negligible settling in the literature. Propagation observations showed that the initial median particle diameters of the currents have negligible effect on the current propagation characteristics during the TDS phase, but become important during the GDS phase. The currents with smaller initial median particle diameters propagated faster and a longer distance in the GDS phase than their counterparts with larger median particle diameters. The deposited particle characteristics indicated that particles of different sizes settle at similar speeds during the TDS phase due to turbulent mixing and the settling speed becomes dependent on the particle size during the GDS phase. As a result, size sorting of the deposited particles became more pronounced during the GDS phase. At the earlier stages of propagation, the vertical profiles of suspended particle concentrations in the current head showed some extent of vertical uniformity due to turbulent mixing around the half height of the current head. On the other hand, at the later stages of propagation, suspended particle concentration profiles exhibited an exponential profile. Deposited and suspended particle characteristics showed that horizontal particle sorting, that is size grading of particles in the flow direction, was more pronounced than the vertical particle sorting, that is size grading of particles at different elevations within the current head.
Pesticides Used on Beef Cattle Feed Yards Are Aerially Transported into the Environment Via Particulate Matter.

Considering the recent discovery of veterinary pharmaceutical aerial transport from industrial cattle feeding operations via particulate matter, the objective of this study was to determine the ext...
Isolation and functional characterization of Schwann cells derived from adult peripheral nerve

To facilitate the development of autologous transplantation techniques with which to test the ability of Schwann cell (ScC) implantations to treat nervous system injury, we have developed a method for procuring large, essentially pure populations of ScCs from adult peripheral nerve. By allowing small explants of peripheral nerve trunk to undergo axonal and myelin breakdown in vitro, rather than dissociating the nerve immediately after harvest, we are able to (1) rid the explant of nearly all fibroblasts and (2) capitalize on the intrinsic ScC mitogenic response to peripheral nerve degeneration. Here, we describe a method that yields up to 98% pure ScC populations from adult rat sciatic nerve (based on cell soma and nuclear morphology, S100 staining, and behavior of dissociated cells on neurites) at cell yields of greater than 2 x 10(4) cells/mg of starting nerve weight. The purification technique was successfully applied to human tissue; human phrenic nerve yielded 98% pure ScC populations at cell yields of 2 x 10(4) cells/mg of initial nerve weight. Similar to neonatally derived ScCs, adult rat cells can be expanded in coculture with dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons or in isolation in the presence of glial growth factor and forskolin. Cells expanded indefinitely on DRG neurons, or up to 10 weeks on chemical mitogens, return to quiescence following removal of the mitogenic stimulus. Expanded adult-derived rat ScCs retain functional capacity, as evidenced by their ability to myelinate DRG neurites and to support regeneration of processes from embryonic rat retinal explants.
Tuberous sclerosis: a primary pathology of astrocytes?

Summary Purpose:Cortical tubers are epileptogenic lesions in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Giant cells and dysplastic neurons are pathological hallmarks of cortical tubers. Severe astrogliosis, which is invariably present in tubers, has attracted much less attention. We hypothesize that the development of astrogliosis in cortical tubers constitutes a primary pathology of astrocytes and is directly related to TSC 1/2 mutations.. Methods:To begin to test this hypothesis, we performed immunohistochemical and electron microscopic analysis of brain tuber tissue resected from epileptic TSC patients. We compared alterations in tuber astrocytes to those found in other acute and chronic human epilepsy pathologies. Results:We found that astrogliosis in tubers is comprised of a mixture of “gliotic” and “reactive” astrocytes. The majority of tuber astrocytes are “gliotic” astrocytes that are morphologically and immunophenotypically similar to astrocytes in areas of gliosis in hippocampal sclerosis (HS). However, specific immunostaining features differentiate TSC gliosis from HS gliosis. “Reactive” tuber astrocytes are large-sized, vimentin positive cells in the vicinity of giant cells that show activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, consistent with mutated TSC gene function. These cells resemble acutely reactive human astrocytes seen in tissue resected from depth electrode implantation patients. Oligodendrocytes and NG2 expressing glial cells do not have any detectable alterations within tubers. Conclusions:We conclude that astrocytes are the type of glial cell selectively impacted in cortical tuber pathology. We propose that tubers may be dynamic lesions, with progression of astrocytes over time from “reactive” to “gliotic.” Tuber astrogliosis in TSC may represent a genetic “model” of gliosis that is phenotypically similar to gliosis seen in acquired human pathologies.
CONTROL OF ENDOTHELIAL CELL ADHESION BY MECHANOTRANSMISSION FROM CYTOSKELETON TO SUBSTRATE

The physical interactions among cells and extracellular matrix guide the physiological behavior of tissues. The success of reparative medicine and tissue engineering depends on the ability to promote migratory cell behavior for wound healing and vascular development and a quiescent phenotype for tissue and blood vessel stabilization. Thus, an improved understanding of how cells sense mechanochemical cues in their local environment is a critical challenge facing biomedical engineers. Because the cytoskeleton represents an interconnected mechanical structure that dynamically interacts with signaling proteins throughout the cell, it is a primary candidate to act as a central controller to integrate and differentiate complex signaling networks that determine cellular phenotype. This chapter explores mechanisms of physical interaction and signaling from the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix, using endothelial responses to hemodynamic forces as an example to suggest that a systems modeling approach will open new directions for vascular bioengineering.
The Prevalence and Impact of Respiratory Symptoms in Asthmatics and Nonasthmatics during Deployment

ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence, severity, and impact of respiratory symptoms in asthmatics and nonasthmatics during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Methods: A survey was given to 1,250 active duty soldiers and Department of Defense contractors returning from Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom. Subjects were asked about demographics, smoking habits, respiratory symptoms, and impact on job performance before and during deployment. Patients with a history of asthma were asked method of diagnosis, current symptoms, and asthma therapy. Results: A total of 1,193 subjects returned the completed questionnaire (95% response rate). Mean age of respondents was 38 ± 11 years, 83% (n = 977) were male, and 31% (n = 375) were past or present smokers. Sixty-one subjects (5%) reported a previous diagnosis of asthma. Both asthmatics and nonasthmatics had increased respiratory symptoms of wheezing, cough, sputum production, chest pain/tight...
Pulse generation at 100 GHz using Fabry-Perot lasers

Summary form only given. Passive mode locking of InGaAsP strained MQW Fabry-Perot lasers for 100-GHz pulse generation is reported. Mode-locking instability appearing as frequency jumps was observed.
In Search of Value: A Model of Wagering Intentions

Most bettors know that long-run positive returns are unattainable in uncertain gaming contexts. If, as most marketing scholars assume, consumers strive for net positive returns from market transact...
Marxism and Free Parties

The centennial of the publication of the Communist Manifesto is a reminder of the diverse and unreconciled aspirations of 1848. Since that critical year, and particulayly since the death of Marx and Engels, a number of farreaching developments have taken place in democratic theory and practise developments that run sometimes far beyond and sometimes directly counter to the basic concepts of the two great philosophers of socialism. An important case in point is the contrast and even outright contradiction between (a) the modern conception of political parties widely accepted by democratic theorists, both socialist and non-socialist, in England and America, and (b) the views on this subject, or often the lack of them, of Marx and Engels. The current "democratic" assumptions about political parties,' constituting a doctrinal position often defended with almost religious intensity, may be summarized roughly as follows:
Potential Contributions of Nmda and Ampa Glutamate Receptors To the Developmental Pattern of Hypoxic Ventilatory Response in the Rat

Potential Contributions of Nmda and Ampa Glutamate Receptors To the Developmental Pattern of Hypoxic Ventilatory Response in the Rat
Water Resources: Streams of Inquiry

A Review of Major Monograph and Report Series Significant for the Field of Water Resource Geography While planning this review, it became clear that the candidate volumes were too many and too dive...
Electronic Heat Capacity and Susceptibility of Small Metal Particles

Detailed calculations of the temperature dependence of the heat capacity and magnetic spin susceptibility of small metal particles are presented. The results depend sensitively upon the symmetries or near symmetries of the dynamics, and exhibit the usual thermodynamic behavior only as the particle size becomes sufficiently large.
Neuropilar Projections of the Anterior Gastric Receptor Neuron in the Stomatogastric Ganglion of the Jonah Crab, Cancer Borealis

Sensory neurons provide important feedback to pattern-generating motor systems. In the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system (STNS), feedback from the anterior gastric receptor (AGR), a muscle receptor neuron, shapes the activity of motor circuits in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) via polysynaptic pathways involving anterior ganglia. The AGR soma is located in the dorsal ventricular nerve posterior to the STG and it has been thought that its axon passes through the STG without making contacts. Using high-resolution confocal microscopy with dye-filled neurons, we show here that AGR from the crab Cancer borealis also has local projections within the STG and that these projections form candidate contact sites with STG motor neurons or with descending input fibers from other ganglia. We develop and exploit a new masking method that allows us to potentially separate presynaptic and postsynaptic staining of synaptic markers. The AGR processes in the STG show diversity in shape, number of branches and branching structure. The number of AGR projections in the STG ranges from one to three simple to multiply branched processes. The projections come in close contact with gastric motor neurons and descending neurons and may also be electrically coupled to other neurons of the STNS. Thus, in addition to well described long-loop pathways, it is possible that AGR is involved in integration and pattern regulation directly in the STG.
The 2011 ACGME standards: impact reported by graduating residents on the working and learning environment.

Abstract Objective Changes in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements, including duty hours, were implemented in July 2011. This study examines graduating pediatrics residents' perception of the impact of these standards. Methods A national, random sample survey of 1000 graduating pediatrics residents was performed in 2012; a total of 634 responded. Residents were asked whether 9 areas of their working and learning environments had changed with the 2011 standards. Three combined change scores were created for: 1) patient care, 2) senior residents, and 3) program effects, with scores ranging from −1 (worse) to 1 (improved). Respondents were also asked about hours slept and perceived change in hours slept. Results Most respondents felt that several areas had worsened, including continuity of care and senior resident workload, or not changed, including supervision and sleep. Mean change scores that included all study variables except those related to sleep all showed worsening: patient care (mean −0.37); senior residents (mean −0.36), and program effects (mean −0.06) ( P Conclusions In the year after implementation of the 2011 ACGME standards, graduating pediatrics residents report no changes or a worsening in multiple components of their working and learning environments, as well as no changes in the amount of sleep they receive each day.
Pollution abatement and economic growth: An application of the von neumann model of an expanding economy†

The generalized von Neumann model of an expanding economy permits both joint products and alternative processes. Pollutants may be explicitly treated as the normal by-products of certain economic processes and “clean” and “dirty” production alternatives may be simultaneously available. The paper describes some methods for incorporating pollutants in the model and several techniques that may be used to study the relationship between pollution abatement and economic growth. Numerical examples are used to illustrate cases of direct control of processes, consumer demand for “eliminated pollutant” and the limitation of total produced pollutants by exogenous constraint. In the last case an effluent charge is calculated.
Nonlinear Analysis and Simulation of a Fet Oscillator

The aim of the paper is to present methods of nonlinear analysis and show how can they be applied to oscillator design. We start with a simple but general circuit and we reduce the circuit to generalized van der Pol equations. We then apply the method of averaging and that of harmonic balance . The methods allow us to estimate power and frequency of oscillations. We also show how those two can be affected by the operating point. HP microwave nonlinear sirnulator. In particular the llsddl(l arbitrary nonlinear device)allows us to simplify the FET oscillator and to compare it directly with theoretical results.
Intermediate-term Outcome of Variable Dose Mitomycin C Filtering Surgery

Purpose: Trabeculectomy with adjunctive mitomycin C is associated with high success rates in studies with follow-up of less than 1 year. This report evaluates the visual and intraocular pressure (IOP) outcome in eyes after trabeculectomy with adjunctive mitomycin C 1 to 3 years after surgery in a predominantly white group (98.1%). Methods: The records of 157 eyes of 157 consecutive patients, aged 18 or older, who underwent mitomycin C trabeculectomies for uncontrolled glaucoma of various causes were reviewed. All surgeries were performed between April 1991 and June 1993. The concentration of mitomycin C varied from 0.2 to 0.5 mg/ml and was applied for 30 seconds to 5 minutes (only one patient received 0.2 mg/ml). Of the 157 eyes, 110 eyes were at high risk for failure (previous surgeries or inflammatory glaucoma). Thirty-nine eyes had preoperative IOP ≤ 21 mmHg. Results: The mean preoperative IOP was 29.4 ± 10.3 mmHg. This was reduced to 13.0 ± 7.6 mmHg at 1 year, 11.5 ± 6.4 mmHg at 2years, and 13.4 ± 7.3 mmHg at 3 years. Cumulative survival rate by life-table analysis was 94.2% ± 1.9% at 1 year, 92.1% ± 2.4% at 2 years, and 88.7% ± 4.0% at 3 years, where failure was defined as reoperation for control of IOP. Complications included cataract formation-progression (n = 31), hyphema (n = 26), choroidal detachment (n = 21), hypotony maculopathy (n = 5), and endophthalmitis (n = 2). Vision deteriorated in 29 eyes and improved by 2 or more Snellen visual acuity lines in 29 eyes. Conclusion: The IOP reduction after mitomycin C filtering surgery is sustained in the intermediate-term, 1 to 3 years, follow-up period.
38 Depressive symptoms in midlife african american and white women

Abstract PURPOSE: To describe ethnic, sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health characteristics associated with high levels of depressive symptoms in 2914 midlife women. METHODS: Data for this study are from the baseline evaluation of a multiethnic cohort of women, aged 42-52, who are participants in the longitudinal 7-site Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). All women completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D), a 20-item standardized measure of depressive symptoms. The usual cut-off score of ⩾16 was used to identify women with high depressive symptoms. Women provided data on numerous demographic, psychosocial, and health related factors. We used univariate and multiple logistic regressions to assess ethnic differences in prevalence of and independent contributions of ethnicity and covariates to CES-D ⩾16. RESULTS: Overall, 24% of the sample had a CES-D ⩾ 16. Ethnic group prevalences varied (p CONCLUSIONS: In our sample of midlife women, prevalences of CES-D ⩾ 16 were highest among Hispanics and African Americans and lowest among Chinese and Japanese. However, the ethnic variation appears to be due to psychosocial and health factors which are linked to socioeconomic status. Women with high stress, low support, and health-related problems are at greatest risk for high depressive symptom levels.
High-performance liquid chromatography of proteins: purification of the acidic isozyme of adenylosuccinate synthetase from rat liver.

Abstract High-performance ion-exchange liquid chromatography was utilized for the purification of the acidic isozyme of adenylosuccinate synthetase from rat liver. Initial steps in the purification included ammonium sulfate fractionation and DEAE-cellulose and agarose-GTP affinity columns. The final steps were done on a SynChropak AX-300 anion-exchange support. The enzyme was purified 3000-fold with an overall yield of 10%. The enzyme preparation exhibited only one protein band on gel electrophoresis.
Kinetics at a multifunctional RNA active site.

Kinetics of a self-capping RNA, Iso6, have been investigated to constrain the catalytic mechanism. The role of phosphates has been examined by varying the number of phosphates on the nucleophilic attacking group or on the RNA. While the number of phosphates in the nucleophile affects capping kinetics, only KM but not kcat is altered. The KM values for GMP, GDP, GTP and ppppG are 200, 11, 13 and 31 μM, respectively. A reaction product, pyrophosphate, is also found to strongly inhibit RNA activities through a competitive exchange mechanism with an apparent Ki of 200 nM. Uniquely strong binding of pyrophosphate supports the idea that capping originated by utilization of the initial pyrophosphate leaving group site for capping nucleophiles. In contrast to the nucleophile phosphate, change of 5′ RNA terminus from triphosphate to tetraphosphate enhances the overall rate and kcat by 40%, with little effect on KM. Thus, only the leaving group appears to affect the rate of the chemical transformation. We propose two possible mechanisms that explain this apparent rate-limiting chemical step, either dissociation of pyrophosphate to form a metaphosphate monoester intermediate or formation of a circular phosphoramidate intermediate, using an internal RNA nitrogenous group. A single essential Ca ion is required for all activities.
Long Ago It Was Meant to Be: The Interplay Between Time, Construal, and Fate Beliefs

Fate means that an event was meant to be, that is, predetermined by prior unseen forces. Most people believe in fate, which seems at odds with similarly pervasive beliefs that alternative past actions would have brought about different circumstances (i.e., counterfactual beliefs). Two experiments revealed that construal level accounts for the relative plausibility of fate versus counterfactual explanations. Construal was manipulated in Experiment 1, such that goal pursuits framed in abstract (“why?”) as opposed to concrete (“how?”) terms heightened fate but not counterfactual attributions. Extending this finding, Experiment 2 showed that fate judgments were higher for temporally distant than recent past events, an effect mediated by construal perceptions. Neither counterfactual nor luck judgments varied with temporal distance. These findings help to explain how individuals explain complicated yet meaningful life events while extending the reach of Trope and Liberman’s (2003) construal-level theory.
Assessing inspection sensitivity as it relates to damage tolerance in composite rotor hubs

Increasing niche applications, growing international markets, and the emergence of advanced rotorcraft technology are expected to greatly increase the population of helicopters over the next decade. In terms of fuselage fatigue, helicopters show similar trends as fixed-wing aircraft. The highly unsteady loads experienced by rotating wings not only directly affect components in the dynamic systems but are also transferred to the fixed airframe structure. Expanded use of rotorcraft has focused attention on the use of new materials and the optimization of maintenance practices. The FAA's Airworthiness Assurance Center (AANC) at Sandia National Labs has joined with Bell Helicopter and other agencies in the rotorcraft industry to evaluate nondestructive inspection (NDI) capabilities in light of the damage tolerance of assorted rotorcraft structural components. Currently, the program's emphasis is on composite rotor hubs. The rotorcraft industry is constantly evaluating new types of lightweight composite materials that not only enhance the safety and reliability of rotor components, but also improve performance and extend operating life as well. Composite rotor hubs have led to the use of bearingless rotor systems that are less complex and require less maintenance than their predecessors. The test facility described in this paper allows the structural stability and damage tolerance of composite hubs to be evaluated using realistic flight load spectrums of centrifugal force and bending loads. NDI was integrated into the life-cycle fatigue tests in order to evaluate flaw detection sensitivity simultaneously with residual strength and general rotor hub performance. This paper will describe the evolving use of damage tolerance analysis (DTA) to direct and improve rotorcraft maintenance along with the related use of nondestructive inspections to manage helicopter safety. Overall, the data from this project will provide information to improve the producibility, inspectability, serviceability, and cost effectivity of rotorcraft components.
Coordinating industrial modernization services: Impacts and insights from the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership

This study examines how programs sponsored through the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) have influenced the organization and delivery of industrial modernization services to small and medium-sized manufacturers in regions in the United States. The study found that increased service coordination has occurred and that this, in turn, has mostly improved the quality and comprehensiveness of assistance delivered to firms. But there are also some costs and drawbacks associated with multi-partner service delivery approaches. The study identifies and examines best practices that can help MEP centers increase the effectiveness of service coordination.
Non-Cognitive Synonymy and the Definability of ‘Good’

It was argued many years ago by G. E. Moore, in his Principia Ethica, that ‘good’ is (in a sense) indefinable. Some critics of Moore who find his analysis faulty still go along with him at least to the extent of holding, as does Charles Stevenson in his Ethics and Language (p. 82), that ‘‘Good’ is indeed indefinable... if a definition is expected to preserve its customary emotive meaning.’ And a leading representative of more recent linguistic philosophy, R.M. Hare (in his The Language of Morals, London, 1952) in much the same spirit tells us that ‘it is not the case that there is any conjunction C of descriptive characteristics such that to say a man has C entails that he is morally good. For if this were the case we should be unable to commend any man for having these characteristics...’ (p. 145 op. cit.). ‘Value terms have a special function in language, that of commending; and so they plainly cannot be defined in terms of other words which themselves do not perform this function, for if this is done, we are deprived of a means of performing the function.’ (p. 91; I have italicized the question-begging parts of the above quotations). In this paper I wish to examine some of the ideas and assumptions underlying statements of the kind illustrated above, in order, if possible, to come to some decision regarding their correctness.
The use of neuroproteomics in drug abuse research

The number of discovery proteomic studies of drug abuse has begun to increase in recent years, facilitated by the adoption of new techniques such as 2D-DIGE and iTRAQ. For these new tools to provide the greatest insight into the neurobiology of addiction, however, it is important that the addiction field has a clear understanding of the strengths, limitations, and drug abuse-specific research factors of neuroproteomic studies. This review outlines approaches for improving animal models, protein sample quality and stability, proteome fractionation, data analysis, and data sharing to maximize the insights gained from neuroproteomic studies of drug abuse. For both the behavioral researcher interested in what proteomic study results mean, and for biochemists joining the drug abuse research field, a careful consideration of these factors is needed. Similar to genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic methods, appropriate use of new proteomic technologies offers the potential to provide a novel and global view of the neurobiological changes underlying drug addiction. Proteomic tools may be an enabling technology to identify key proteins involved in drug abuse behaviors, with the ultimate goal of understanding the etiology of drug abuse and identifying targets for the development of therapeutic agents.
Heat capacity of hafnia at low temperature

Abstract The low temperature (2 to 300) K heat capacity of monoclinic hafnia (HfO 2 ) was measured using the heat capacity option of a Quantum Design Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS). The thermodynamic functions in this temperature range were derived by curve fitting. The standard entropy and enthalpy of hafnia at T = 298.15 K was calculated to be 56.15 ± 0.57 J · mol −1 · K −1 and 9.34 ± 0.09 kJ · mol −1 , respectively. The results are in fairly good agreement with old data, which only covered temperatures from (50 to 298) K. Hafnia has a higher heat capacity than zirconia at all temperatures from (2 to 300) K.
Ascorbic acid reduction of residual active chlorine in potable water prior to halocarboxylate determination

In studies on the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), it is necessary to scavenge residual active (oxidizing) chlorine in order to fix the chlorination byproducts (such as haloethanoates) at a point in time. Such research projects often have distinct needs from requirements for regulatory compliance monitoring. Thus, methods designed for compliance monitoring are not always directly applicable, but must be adapted. This research describes an adaptation of EPA Method 552 in which ascorbic acid treatment is shown to be a satisfactory means for reducing residual oxidizing chlorine, i.e., HOCl, ClO−, and Cl2, prior to determining concentrations of halocarboxylates. Ascorbic acid rapidly reduces oxidizing chlorine compounds, and it has the advantage of producing inorganic halides and dehydroascorbic acid as opposed to halogenated organic molecules as byproducts. In deionized water and a sample of chlorinated tap water, systematic biases relative to strict adherence to Method 552 were precise and could be corrected for using similarly treated standards and analyte-fortified (spiked) samples. This was demonstrated for the quantitation of chloroethanoate, bromoethanoate, 2,2-dichloropropanoate (dalapon), trichloroethanoate, bromochloroethanoate, and bromodichloroethanoate when extracted, as the acids, into tert-butyl methyl ether (MTBE) and esterified with diazomethane prior to gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). Recoveries for chloroethanoate, bromoethanoate, dalapon, dichloroethanoate, trichloroethanoate, bromochloroethanoate, bromodichloroethanoate, dibromoethanoate, and 2-bromopropanoate at concentrations near the lower limit of detection were acceptable. Ascorbic acid reduction appears to be the best option presently available when there is a need to quench residual oxidants fast in a DBP formation study without generating other halospecies but must be implemented cautiously to ensure no untoward interactions in the matrix.
T-cell vaccination for autoimmune diseases: immunologic lessons and clinical experience in multiple sclerosis.

Autoreactive T-cells are regulated under the normal conditions and play an important role in autoimmune pathologies when they are dysregulated as a result of genetic, environmental and other unknow...
Resection or transplant‐listing for solitary hepatitis C‐associated hepatocellular carcinoma: an intention‐to‐treat analysis

Abstract Objectives The relative roles of liver resection (LR) and liver transplantation (LT) in the treatment of a solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. This study was conducted to provide a retrospective intention‐to‐treat comparison of these two curative therapies. Methods Records maintained at the study centre for all patients treated with LR or listed for LT for hepatitis C‐associated HCC between January 2002 and December 2007 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria required: (i) an initial diagnosis of a solitary HCC lesion measuring ≤ 5 cm, and (ii) Child–Pugh class A or B cirrhosis. The primary endpoint analysed was intention‐to‐treat survival. Results A total of 75 patients were listed for transplant (LT‐listed group) and 56 were resected (LR group). Of the 75 LT‐listed patients, 23 (30.7%) were never transplanted because they were either removed from the waiting list ( n = 13) or died ( n = 10). Intention‐to‐treat median survival was superior in the LR group compared with the LT‐listed group (61.8 months vs. 30.6 months), but the difference did not reach significance. Five‐year recurrence was higher in the LR group than in the 52 LT patients (71.5% vs. 30.5%; P Conclusions In the context of limited donor organ availability, partial hepatectomy represents an efficacious primary approach in properly selected patients with hepatitis C‐associated HCC.
BINARY ANSWERS TO IMPRECISE QUESTIONS

In constructing intelligent machines we must at times include the capability to perform precise actions in the face of imprecise information. Using fuzzy subset theory we show how to build algorithms to meet this task.
Emergent pedagogy: learning to enjoy the uncontrollable—and make it productive

This essay reflects the shared experiences of four college faculty members (a biologist, a psychologist, a computer scientist, and a feminist literary scholar) working together with K-12 teachers to explore a new perspective on educational practice. It offers a novel rationale for independent thinking and learning, one that derives from rapidly developing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary inquiries in the sciences and social sciences into what are known as “complex” or “emergent” systems. Using emergent systems as a model of teaching and learning makes at least three significant contributions to our thinking bout teaching, in three very different dimensions. It invites us into an awareness that the brains of individual students and teachers operate as emergent systems that are neither possible nor desirable to control fully. It invites us to appreciate as well that the activities and benefits of a classroom are not all individual interactions between teacher and student. Interactions among students and teachers are collectively contributing to a somewhat unpredictable project with an insistently social dimension, which is in turn crucial to the individual achievements of all involved. Finally, emergent pedagogy encourages us to consider more carefully the relations between the individual classroom and the larger educational community of which it is a component, including a challenge to rethink the matter of assessment.
A review of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: Prediction of patients at risk

This review attempts to provide up-to-date quantitative data from published reports on sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) appearing on Medline and, especially, to provide a means to predict the probability of SUDEP in a given patient. The mean incidence of SUDEP was 1.8/1000, similar to the median of 1.5. The mean standardized mortality ratio was 6.8, and the mean percentage of SUDEP cases among deaths from epilepsy was 16.6. Seventeen risk factors were identified, each given a value according to the number of studies in the literature that specified that condition as a significant risk. The addition of these 17 values then indicated the risk for a given patient. The author calculated these for a group of 91 patients who died of SUDEP and also for 91 live patients. Many of their values for the different risks were significantly different. The sensitivity of these SUDEP values was 71.3%, the specificity 81.8%, and the positive predictive value 84.6%. A discussion includes the question of whether the death in SUDEP is primarily cardiac or pulmonary and the suggestion that it may be either or both in a given patient. The most important risk factor in this study was noncompliance with antiepileptic medication, and the main message of this study to caregivers is that therapeutic drug levels are crucial to avoid SUDEP.
A unified framework for primal/dual quadrilateral subdivision schemes

Quadrilateral subdivision schemes come in primal and dual varieties, splitting faces or respectively vertices. The scheme of Catmull-Clark is an example of the former, while the Doo-Sabin scheme exemplifies the latter. In this paper we consider the construction of an increasing sequence of alternating primal/dual quadrilateral subdivision schemes based on a simple averaging approach. Beginning with a vertex split step we successively construct variants of Doo-Sabin and Catmull-Clark schemes followed by novel schemes generalizing B-splines of bidegree up to nine. We prove the schemes to be C^1 at irregular surface points, and analyze the behavior of the schemes as the number of averaging steps increases. We discuss a number of implementation issues common to all quadrilateral schemes. In particular we show how both primal and dual quadrilateral schemes can be implemented in the same code, opening up new possibilities for more flexible geometric modeling applications and p-versions of the Subdivision Element Method. Additionally we describe a simple algorithm for adaptive subdivision of dual schemes.
The Role of Insulin Sensitivity (S I and IGFBP-1 and 3 in the hyperandrogenism (HA) of Black and Hispanic (B/H) girls with Premature Adrenarche (PA). • 425

The Role of Insulin Sensitivity (S I and IGFBP-1 and 3 in the hyperandrogenism (HA) of Black and Hispanic (B/H) girls with Premature Adrenarche (PA). • 425
When “difference” is “dominance”: A critique of the “anti-power-based” cultural approach to sex differences

This article analyzes the dichotomization of two opposing approaches to studying sex differences in language use: the “difference/cultural” approach, which treats women and men as having “different but equally valid” rules of conversation, and the “dominance/power-based” approach, which focuses on male dominance and sexual division of labor in talk. I critique the stance taken by the difference approach. First, its notion of women and men as belonging to different “cultures” is too simplistic to account for everything that occurs in mixed-sex conversation. Second, the dichotomization of “power” and “culture” as two separate, independent concepts is inappropriate, because social interaction always occurs in the context of a patriarchal society. As a direction for further research, I propose that the relationship between gender and language should be approached from the viewpoint that we are doing gender in interaction. (Sociolinguistics, communication, conversational style, gender, sex differences)
On the existence of even indexed disclinations in nematic liquid crystals

Abstract The stability of cylindrically symmetrical line disclinations is examined by continum theory calculations and topological arguments, to show that these singularities can almost always be replaced by a continuous structure of lower energy. The calculations are applied to the four basic types of index ± 2 structures. Experimental observations are presented to support the proposed continuous structures as seen in cylindrical samples, and in the classical structures a fils and a noyaux.
Comment on “Spectral shape of the alpha-process in supercooled liquids revisited”

We analyze Kudlik et al.'s recent criticism of the scaling procedure for the primary relaxation in supercooled liquids introduced by Dixon et al.. We find that those criticisms result from imposing unjustified constraints on the scaling procedure and from improper separation of the primary relaxation from other features in the spectrum.
Insights into the factors controlling the rates of the deactivation processes that compete with charge separation in photosynthetic reaction centers

Abstract This article addresses the factors that underlie the unity quantum yield of charge separation in the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center (RC). Of particular interest are the factors that suppress charge recombination and other deactivation processes which could compete effectively with charge separation. Studies on mutant RCs with enhanced charge recombination show that rates of decay processes can be increased tenfold or more upon a relatively small fractional increase in the free energy gap to the ground state. This behavior is opposite to that expected on the basis of Franck-Condon effects, where an increase in Δ G should decrease the deactivation rate. In the mutants, it is proposed that the enhanced deactivation rates of the intermediate charge-separated states result from (i) increased quantum mechanical mixing with electronic states at slightly higher energy that have inherently strong deactivation properties, and (ii) increased thermal repopulation of such strongly deactivated states. The thermal repopulation mechanism is proposed to play an important role in the heterodimer mutants studied here. This mechanism requires that the free energy gaps between the charge-separated and strongly deactivated states must decrease with temperature to be consistent with the weakly temperature-dependent deactivation behavior. Potential mediating states include the excited dimeric primary electron donor and a state involving the oxidized dimer and the reduced accessory bacteriochlorophyll molecule. It is concluded that increasing the free energy of charge-separated intermediates in order to minimize the Franck-Condon factors can enhance the deactivation rates and thus reduce the quantum yield of charge separation.
Effect of changing milk and yogurt consumption on human nutrient intake and serum lipoproteins.

Thirty-two healthy, normolipemic male college students eating in a single dining hall participated in a study designed to ascertain the effect of changing milk consumption on nutrient intake and lipoprotein. The men drank no milk for 3 wk, then 1500 ml milk with 2% fat daily for 3 wk, their usual diet for 2 wk, no milk again for 3 wk, 1250 ml nonfat milk daily for 3 final wk. Similarly, 30 female college students consumed either 480 ml lowfat yogurt, then no yogurt for 4 wk each in a crossover design. Body weight and physical activity were not different among dietary treatments. Protein, energy, and calcium intake varied significantly with changes of milk consumption. Total dietary fat decreased significantly when no milk or nonfat milk was consumed, whereas dietary cholesterol was significantly lower only when nonfat milk was consumed. Yogurt supplementation significantly increased intake of calcium and carbohydrate. Although some serum lipid means differed significantly among some sampling points, there was no effect on total cholesterol, total triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, or distribution of electrophoretic lipoprotein fractions that could be attributed to changing milk or yogurt consumption.
User Assessment of Electronic Reserves and Implications for Digital Libraries

In the 1990s, electronic reserves services rapidly developed in academic libraries following the emergence of the Internet, particularly the World Wide Web, as an information delivery tool. Because similar technologies are used to develop and access digital libraries and electronic reserves, the implications for the evaluation of electronic reserves go beyond traditional service satisfaction levels. User responses to electronic reserves are an indicator of the acceptance and technical challenges of digital libraries. As we examine user reactions, inferences can be made on such topics as user technical skills, institutional networking infrastructure and the electronic communication process in instruction. These inferences give us greater insights into the future use, satisfaction level and technical demands in the use of digital libraries.
Depression of cholinesterase activity by ethylestrenol in organophosphorus-poisoned and normal rats.

Abstract The twice-daily oral administration of ethylestrenol to nonpoisoned rats depressed cholinesterase activity in the brain, stomach, and diaphragm. In rats chronically poisoned with disulfoton, ethylestrenol reduced the rate of return of cholinesterase activity in the stomach and diaphragm but not in the brain. Ethylestrenol also decreased the rate of weight gain of both poisoned and nonpoisoned animals.
Increasing and broadening undergraduate participation in IT — A new approach

Over the last decade the percentage of women and non-Asian minorities within the US IT workforce has dropped, and the number of undergraduates pursuing computer science degrees has dropped, leading to predictions of a shortage of US citizens who are trained IT professionals [1], [2], [13]. In this paper, "IT professionals" includes a broad spectrum of experts in areas such as computer science, network operations, computer security, and engineering, Web applications development, telecommunications management, and enterprise computing.
The relationship between job satisfaction and demographic variables for healthcare professionals

Purpose – The study aims to examine the association between job satisfaction and demographic variables, such as years in profession, of healthcare professionals in an in‐patient rehabilitation hospital setting.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 128 employees were surveyed using a 47‐item opinion survey to assess demographic variables and overall job satisfaction, as well as nine facets of job satisfaction.Findings – The findings indicate that years in profession (professional experience) is associated with job satisfaction in a defined pattern.Research limitations/implications – These findings need to be tested in other professional groups where plateauing is common. The results are limited by the use of a convenience sample, relatively small sample size, some categorical data that restricted the forms of analysis, and the fact that only demographic variables were examined. The use of continuous measures and broadening the study to include other organizational variables and personal variables would ...