cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Public–private partnerships in solid waste management: sustainable development strategies for Brazil.

An often overlooked issue in the discussion of sustainable development is that of municipal solid waste management. Yet solid waste management is pervasive in all sustainable development objectives: its management, or lack thereof, can have major implications for the health of the environment, economy and society. This article argues the need for a governance dimension in the sustainability model, taking into account implementation strategies, monitoring and institutional controls. This focus heavily relies on integrated public–private partnerships and deliberative democracy approaches in order to achieve sustainability within the solid waste management sector. In this article, national and local policies in Brazil are analysed, primarily focusing on the inclusion of informal waste collection into municipal solid waste management schemes. The city of Curitiba, in the state of Parana, which is world-renowned for its innovative sustainable development policies, is used to frame and illustrate the case.
Giant cell and granulomatous myocarditis.

Although myocarditis first was described in 1837, the distinction between histologic subtypes did not occur until the late 19th century. In 1905, Saltykow [1] described a case of fatal myocarditis characterized by giant cells associated with a widespread inflammatory infiltrate and myocyte destruction. His was the first published case of what would be called idiopathic giant cell myocarditis (GCM). In 1929, a different histologic type of myocarditis with giant cells was described in which the giant cells were located within noncaseating granuloma and associated with fibrosis rather than with lymphocytic infiltrates [2]. This disorder is now called cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) or idiopathic granulomatous myocarditis. The clinical significance of GCM and CS was not appreciated fully until the 1970s, when endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) permitted the antemortem diagnosis of myocarditis and its subtypes [3]. Myocarditis with giant cells (granulomatous and idiopathic giant cell types) was found to have a worse prognosis than the more common lymphocytic myocarditis [4]. Although many infectious or inflammatory disorders occasionally are associated with GCM or granulomatous myocarditis, most cases remain idiopathic even after a careful investigation. Therefore, because of their histologic similarities and distinctive clinical features, GCM and CS are treated together in this article. This article compares the clinical presentation, natural history, prognosis, and treatment of these two disorders to the features of the more common idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and lymphocytic myocarditis (LM).
Synoptic climatology of the Western United States in relation to climatic fluctuations during the twentieth century

An objectively derived catalogue of daily pressure patterns for 1899-1974 has been prepared for the western United States. The temperature and precipitation characteristics of the major types are described and a more detailed analysis for Colorado in extreme cold and warm months shows that the sign of the anomalies for each type is generally consistent with expectation based on the probable airflow patterns. A regression analysis of type frequencies versus temperature and precipitation anomalies for 1899-1970 at stations east and west of the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountain states shows that useful explanation of variance is obtained only for temperatures in the transition seasons and for precipitation west of the Divide in winter and east of the Divide in spring. Within-type variability of the climatic characteristics is one source of the discrepancy. The results underline the problems encountered in trying to link climatic anomalies with atmospheric circulation characteristics.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma: surgical management in 285 patients.

Background Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive, and deadly malignancy. Despite increasing incidence, no treatment modality is accepted standard of care. This report analyzes our experience with surgical management of mesothelioma. Methods All patients with surgery for mesothelioma from January 1985 through December 2003 were retrospectively reviewed. Results There were 285 patients with a median age of 66 years (range, 26 to 91 years). One hundred forty-six patients (51%) had biopsy only, 73 (26%) had extrapleural pneumonectomy, 34 (12%) had subtotal parietal pleurectomy, 22 (8%) underwent exploration without resection, and 10 (3%) had total pleurectomy. Histopathology was epithelial, nonepithelial, and unclassified in 134, 108, and 43 patients, respectively. Twenty patients were stage IA, 82 patients were stage IB, 24 patients were stage II, 75 patients were stage III, 60 patients were stage IV, and 24 patients were of unknown stage. Fifty-three patients (19%) had chemotherapy alone, 16 (5.6%) had radiation alone, and 42 (14.7%) had both. Thirty-day operative mortality was 6.3% and was not significantly associated with the operative procedure (p = 0.79). Fifty-one percent of extrapleural pneumonectomy patients had major complications, significantly greater than patients having any other procedure ( p Conclusions Extrapleural pneumonectomy can be performed with similar 30-day mortality as other procedures for malignant pleural mesothelioma with a median survival better than subtotal pleurectomy, exploration without resection, and biopsy alone. However, extrapleural pneumonectomy has significant morbidity and a 3-year survival of only 14%.
A critique of some regression adjustments used in allometric size “correction” in numerical taxonomy

Residuals from an allometric regression line fitted in log–log space between linear measurements and a size variable are frequently used in numerical taxonomy as “size-adjusted” variables. Two forms that these residuals can take are: (1) log observed – log expected and (2) following conversion back to original scale, (observed – expected)/expected. Clustering and ordination procedures are used to demonstrate that summaries of morphometric affinities can be influenced by choice of residual. The discrepancy is predicted to be greater when some objects of study have predominantly positive or negative residuals. This situation may be more likely when many variables are functionally related. An argument is made for use of log residuals. Among the many other size “corrections” employed in multivariate morphometrics are those of Corruccini (1972,1975a, 1978). These are examined and are shown to give undesirable results.
National Planning for Locally Controlled Health Systems: The Finnish Experience

The World Health Organization considers Finland's health planning system to be among the most successful in the developed world. Despite tight resource constraints--symbolized by total health expenditures held consistently to less than 7 percent of gross domestic product--the Finns have built up a strong primary care sector and dramatically improved the overall availability and accessibility of needed services. This article compares the official health planning system with the actual planning process as experienced within one Finnish central hospital district. The official planning system seeks to integrate national strategic goals with local municipal ownership, administration, and funding of service delivery. The actual planning process within the studied district suggests that technically oriented civil servants at the regional level may be at least as important in the overall decisionmaking structure. The article concludes with a brief exploration of this finding's potential consequences for the long-term development of the Finnish health care system and for national health planning efforts generally.
Device capable small arms ammunition for unmanned systems

The design of current small arms ammunition requires the use of radial and lateral accelerations to permit the inclusion of current Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Research at Louisiana Tech's Institute for Micromanufacturing into equipping small arms with MEMS technology has led to the development of a new type of small arms system. This ammunition is able to accelerate outside of its barrel, thereby decreasing the required acceleration for a specified maximum velocity. Additionally, the design of this ammunition eliminates the lateral accelerations typically required to stabilize current small arms ammunition, and permits the inclusion of non-metallic barrels and other components. A review of the current design and performance standards of this ammunition is presented, along with the current MEMS technology being tested for inclusion into this ammunition. A review of new armament systems, capabilities, and applications as a result of these advances is also presented.
Saturation of the Endocytic Pathway for the Transferrin Receptor Does Not Affect the Endocytosis of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

Cell-surface receptors that undergo clathrin-mediated endocytosis contain short amino acid sequences in their cytoplasmic domain that serve as internalization signals. Interactions between these sequences and components of the endocytic machinery should become limiting upon overexpression of the constitutively recycling transferrin receptor (TfR). A tetracycline-responsive system was used to induce overexpression of the TfR up to 20-fold in HeLa cells. Internalization assays indicate the rate of 125I-transferrin uptake per surface TfR is reduced by a factor of 4 in induced cells. Consistent with endocytosis being the rate-limiting step, TfRs shift from an endosomal to more of a plasma membrane distribution with TfR overexpression. The clathrin-associated protein AP-2 has been proposed to interact directly with the cytoplasmic domain of many receptors, yet no changes in the amount or distribution of AP-2 were detected in induced cells. The internalization rate for the epidermal growth factor receptor was also measured, with or without induction of TfR expression. Even though endocytosis of the TfR is saturated in induced cells, 125I-labeled epidermal growth factor continues to be internalized at a rate identical to that seen in uninduced cells. We propose that there are different limiting steps for the endocytosis of these two receptors.
DESIGN METHOD OF DICHROIC FILTER USING COLOR APPEARANCE MODEL IN LCD PROJECTION SYSTEMS

A new design method using a color appearance model is proposed for the dichroic filters in LCD projection systems. The dichroic filters used for color separation/composition play a dominant role in the performance of color reproduction so that its spectral transmittance should be designed to have optimized color performance. In the proposed method, a reproducible color gamut in the 3-D color space is used as a performance index, and we find the optimal half-power wavelengths of dichroic filters, which are applicable to the development of LCD projection TV systems. Considering diverse viewing conditions with moderate ambient light, the design parameters are optimized by maximizing the volume of the color gamut in an apparent color space for each condition. Here, the RLAB color space developed by Fairchild is used as a color appearance model and the white balancing method is applied to restore the designated color temperature of peak white. The optimal wavelengths are compared with the design based on the CIELAB color space without considering nonstandard viewing conditions, and both results do not show as much difference as expected due to the white balance. © 1998 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.
BRAIDING MATRICES OF CONFORMAL BLOCKS AND COSET MODELS

We explain, from the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation, the coincidence of the braiding matrices of conformal field theories having current algebras with face Boltzmann weights (at infinite spectral parameter) of the corresponding generalized Toda system (GTS). A vertex-height correspondence is introduced in the WZW theory. Braiding matrices of coset models are found to factorize into those of the WZW theories and, as an example, we evaluate those of the Ising model.
An experts learning approach to mobile service offloading

Mobile devices are more and more often called on to perform services which require too much computation power and battery energy. If delay is an important consideration, offloading to the cloud may be too slow and a better approach is to offload to a resource-rich machine in the proximity of the device. This paper develops a new approach to this problem in which the machines are viewed as a collection of experts — but experts that are coupled in space and in time: the current action at a given machine affects the future state of the given machine and of other machines to which the given machine is connected. At any time, given the state and unknown dynamics of the system, the experts available at that time should cooperatively pick the best available actions. Within this framework, we propose online learning algorithms that results in substantial savings in energy consumption.
Extramedullary hematopoiesis causing paraparesis in congenital cyanotic heart disease

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EH) is a compensatory mechanism for tissue hypoxia, usually due to chronic anemia, and typically occurs in the spleen, lymph nodes, or liver. Paraparesis from EH in the spinal canal is uncommon, although recognized, with over 80 cases reported, most frequently in patients with β-thalassemia or myelofibrosis. Other predisposing conditions include polycythemia, Paget's disease, hemosiderosis, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, or other anemic states (e.g., sideroblastic, sickle cell, hemolytic, pyruvate kinase deficiency). The cerebral parenchyma, meninges, and skull diploe are rare sites. Spinal involvement by EH due to cyanotic heart disease has been reported once previously.1 Presented here is a patient with congenital heart disease and spinal cord compression by EH who recovered function with aggressive treatment. Case report. This 26-year-old man was born with a hypoplastic right ventricle and tricuspid atresia. A childhood stroke produced mental retardation and right hemiparesis. Before age 22 years, he could run with minimal right …
Generalized zero-variance solutions and intelligent random numbers

It is shown that a zero-variance solution exists for any linear Monte Carlo problem and that this solution can be obtained by sampling the random numbers proportional to the expected score subsequently produced by using these random numbers in the random walk.
Failure of perfusion with oxygenated Krebs‐Ringer solution to preserve the eccrine function of the vascular endothelium in bone

An ex vivo canine tibia preparation was perfused at a constant rate with aerated (95% O2-5% CO2) Krebs-Ringer solution for 24 h. Bolus injections of norepinephrine (0.125-0.5 micrograms) were given and then acetylcholine (5 x 10(-5) M) was used to stimulate endothelial production of smooth muscle relaxing factors. Following 1 h of perfusion the addition of acetylcholine resulted in significant attenuation of the response to norepinephrine (p < 0.001). After 4 h perfusion acetylcholine did not attenuate the norepinephrine response, but addition of L-arginine (the precursor of endothelial-derived relaxing factor) resulted in significant attenuation in the presence of acetylcholine (p < 0.005). At 6, 12, and 24 h the acetylcholine did not attenuate the norepinephrine response. It is concluded that normothermic, continuous perfusion with oxygenated Krebs-Ringer solution results in normal endothelial eccrine activity up to 1 h. Following this period there is substrate depletion but endothelial eccrine function can be demonstrated for up to 4 h. At 6 h this function cannot be demonstrated, suggesting degradation of the functional integrity of the endothelium.
THE MEANING OF ALCOHOL USE IN EARLY ADOLESCENTS

In spite of adolescents' knowledge about health damaging effects of alcohol, they continue to initiate alcohol use at high rates. This study was designed to investigate early adolescents' expectations of positive and negative effects from alcohol use on four domains in their life: physical health, social lifer functional ability and self concept. It was hypothesized that early adolescents would view the effects of alcohol on their physical health differently than its effects on their social life, function, and self concept. 593 ethnically diverse adolescents attending a middle school completed the study protocol (X=13yrs;S.D.=.94). 51% of sample was female. Subjects did not judge the potential effects of alcohol equally across the four domains (p . Alcohol was perceived as being most likely to have a negative effect on physical health and least likely to have a negative effect on one's social life. Positive effects of alcohol use were viewed as most likely in the social arena. The degree to which adolescents made differential judgements across life domains varied as a function of drinking status? drinking experience was associated with greater differentiation (p<.001). The effects of drinking on social life were most strongly associated with intentions of drinking in the next year (p<.001). Adolescents who intended to initiate drinking in the next year endorsed alcohol as most likely to have a positive effect on their self concept. Results suggest the need to focus on domains other than physical health in the development of programs for early adolescents in decisions regarding alcohol use.
BF types and the mode of inheritance of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) has been found to be highly associated with a rare allele of the complement protein, properdin factor B (BF). Assuming that there is a susceptibility gene for IDDM tightly linked to the genetic locus forBF and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), the distribution of BF types in more than 1100 North American IDDM patients strongly argues for the rejection of dominant, epistatic, and overdominant modes of inheritance. Other evidence suggesting complex modes of inheritance for IDDM is reviewed and it is concluded that our observations and published data are consistent with the idea of susceptibility to IDDM being inherited as a simple autosomal recessive trait. — C4 and C2 types, also linked toBF and theMHC, were investigated too. C4 Fs0 was found to be increased in association with BF F1, while C4 f0S and C2 B were each found to occur twice as frequently as in a control population and will be of value in defining haplotypes associated with susceptibility to IDDM.
Molecular cloning and expression analysis of peroxidase genes from wheat.

A PCR-based screening approach was used to isolate genomic clones from wheat encoding peroxidase isozymes. Three complete genes (pox1, pox2 and pox4) and one truncated gene (pox3) were characterized. The nucleotide sequences predicted mature proteins of 31 kDa, in which all the highly conserved motifs of secreted plant peroxidases were preserved. The coding regions showed 73–83% DNA sequence identity, with the highest level of similarity noted for the tandemly oriented pox2 and pox3. Expression of respective pox genes in various tissues of wheat was assessed by the RT-PCR technique, which showed that all four genes are active. The primary pox1 mRNA was spliced to remove three introns, whereas processing of the other pox transcripts involved only two intervening sequences. Splicing occurred at consensus GU/AG splice sites except for the first introns of pox1, pox2 and pox4 transcripts, where processing took place at unusual GC donor sites. The RNA analysis suggested that the pox1, pox2 and pox4 genes are predominantly expressed in roots. Lower levels of expression were found for pox4 and pox3 in leaves. Infection of wheat by the powdery mildew fungus selectively induced expression of pox2 in leaves.
Pharmacologic treatment of chronic pediatric hypertension.

Improved recognition of the relationship between childhood and adult blood pressures and identification of end-organ damage in children, adolescents, and young adults with hypertension has led to increased focus by pediatricians and general practitioners on the detection, evaluation, and treatment of hypertension. Notably, detection, evaluation, and treatment of pediatric hypertension has increased significantly since the first Task Force Report on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents in 1977 with advances in both nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic treatments. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (e.g. captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, ramipril) and calcium channel antagonists (e.g. nifedipine, amlodipine, felodipine, isradipine) are the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive medications in children due to their low adverse-effect profiles. Diuretics (e.g. thiazide diuretics, loop diuretics, and potassium-sparing diuretics) are usually reserved as adjunct therapy. Newer agents, such as angiotensin receptor antagonists (e.g. irbesartan), are currently being studied in children and adolescents. These agents may be an option in children with chronic cough secondary to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. β-Adrenoreceptor antagonists (e.g. propranolol, atenolol, metoprolol, and labetalol), α-adrenoreceptor antagonists, α-adrenoreceptor agonists, direct vasodilators, peripheral adrenoreceptor neuron agonists, and combination products are less commonly used in pediatric patients because of adverse events but may be an option in children unresponsive to calcium channel blockers, angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers.
Differential sensitivity of major types of opioid binding sites to U.V. irradiation.

The three major types of opioid binding sites exhibited differential sensitivity to inactivation by ultraviolet irradiation. The order of sensitivity was delta > mu > kappa. Two separate rates of inactivation by U.V. light were observed for each type, an initial fast rate and a secondary slow rate. Addition of EDTA or EGTA to the buffer medium decreased only the initial fast rate of inactivation. The photosensitive tryptophan and tyrosine moieties have been shown to be photolyzed in a two step manner in a number of protein systems. It is suggested that the differential sensitivity of the multiple opioid binding sites may reflect either differing amino acid composition or differences in tertiary structure.
Dismount feature extraction from circular synthetic aperture radar data

Recently, the use of micro-Doppler radar signatures for classification has become an area of focus, in particular for the case of dynamic targets where many components are interacting over time. One specific target of interest is the dismount. Dismount detection, feature extraction, and classification offers some unique challenges. For instance, humans have small radar cross-sections and slow range-rates making discrimination from clutter difficult. Extracted features may be utilized to distinguish dismounts from other objects, however. In this paper, range-Doppler radar data collected from an airborne circular synthetic aperture radar is analyzed to determine extractable dismount characteristics. The results are compared against high signal-to-clutter ratio results.1 2
Host receptor sites involved in the attachment of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Bdellovibrio stolpii

A filtration attachment assay was used to characterize the reactions by which bdellovibrios recognize and attach to susceptible prey bacteria. Kinetics were measured for attachment to the smooth parent and 6 lipopolysaccharide-deficient strains of Salmonella typhimurium LT2. For Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109D, receptor specificity was located partially in the lipopolysaccharide core of the prey and was expressed in the irreversible phase of attachment. Inhibition data supported the involvement in receptor activity of core sugars. Comparisons of attachment to Escherichia coli K12 wild-type and Omp mutants showed that major outer membrane proteins play no role in the recognition of prey by B. bacteriovorus. For Bdellovibrio stolpii, attachment specificity differed as the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core and O-side chain of the prey were found to not be involved in the recognition reaction. Loss of receptor activity was associated with a loss of porins 1a and 1b from the outer membrane.
Photoalignment of monodisperse glassy-nematic oligofluorenes

The photoalignment of a series of monodisperse glassy-nematic oligofluorenes was investigated on coumarin-containing polymer films in the parallel regime. The orientational order parameter of a spin-cast oligofluorene film, S OF , was found to decrease with an increasing oligofluorene length because of the increasing demand on Y d S d , the product of coumarin dimers' concentration and orientation order parameter. In addition, an increased annealing temperature demanded by a longer oligofluorene caused an orientational relaxation of coumarin dimers to a greater extent. Nonetheless, under favorable conditions S OF values of penta, hepta-, and nonafluorenes are comparable to those achieved on rubbed polyimide films.
Functional airway obstruction mimicking tongue angioedema.

Background Functional causes of upper airway obstruction have focused primarily on psychogenic stridor associated with paradoxical vocal cord dysfunction. Angioedema can involve upper airway structures and be life-threatening. Case Report We report a 12-year-old female with upper airway obstruction from posterior tongue swelling which was determined to be a conversion reaction. Methods & Results A lateral neck film revealed severe tongue swelling. Examination revealed a calm, cooperative patient in no distress but exhibiting inspiratory and expiratory stridor. A computed tomography scan revealed soft tissue fullness at the base of the tongue without associated lymphadenopathy. Laboratory evaluation was normal. With anesthetic induction in the operating room, there was complete relaxation of the upper airway with no evidence of tongue swelling, mass, or other abnormality. Following tongue biopsy, she had no reoccurrence of the tongue mass. Conclusion This case represents a childhood conversion reaction of functional airway obstruction where tongue manipulation simulated tongue swelling radiographically consistent with angioedema.
The Relationship between Energy Taxation and Business Environmental Protection Expenditures in the European Union

Abstract Businesses are often subject to energy taxes that impose a charge on greenhouse gas emissions. Theoretically, energy taxes should motivate business spending on emissions abatement up to the point that, at the margin, the cost of reducing emissions equals the amount of the tax that is avoided. We use European Union (EU) data from 2001 to 2008 to test the hypothesized positive relationship between energy taxes and business spending on abatement initiatives for the protection of ambient air and climate. We find that while overall business spending and business investment expenditures are positively related to energy tax rates, current period expenditures are not related to energy tax rates. Supplemental analyses indicate that the imposition of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2005 affected these relationships. In the pre-ETS period, energy taxes were not related to overall business spending or to current period expenditures, but there was a significant positive relationship between energy taxes and investment expenditures. After the ETS was introduced, there was a significant positive relationship between energy tax rates and both overall business spending and business current period abatement expenditures, but the relationship between business investment spending and energy tax rates was not significant. Our results indicate that energy taxes are effective in motivating business spending on emissions abatement. However, the nature of the effect varies across investment spending and current period expenditures. As both long-term and current initiatives are necessary to meet abatement goals, policymakers should be aware of these differences.
Use of pictures to facilitate nutrition education for low-income African American women.

Dietary patterns among low-income African Americans are associated with high cancer incidence and mortality. Dietary fiber consumption, especially from fruits and vegetables sources, is low in this population, and intakes of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt are high. Consequently, there is a need for effective nutrition education programs for this population. But changing eating behaviors is difficult in any population, and 2 problems that make change especially difficult for this group: (1) strong cultural support for existing dietary behaviors, as well as resistance to change to unfamiliar foods; and (2) varied literacy skills, which can restrict people’s ability to use recipes and written guidelines for food purchases and preparation. These problems were addressed through the extensive use of pictures in a nutrition education program intended to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income African American women living in public housing in Washington, DC. The pictures depicted fruits and vegetables as African American food, and they were also used to reduce dependence on written recipes and guidelines.
A Safety-First Approach to Memory Models

Recent efforts to standardize concurrency semantics for programming languages require programmers to explicitly annotate all memory accesses that can participate in a data race ("unsafe" accesses). This requirement allows the compiler and hardware to aggressively optimize unannotated accesses, which are assumed to be data-race-free ("safe" accesses), while still preserving the intuitive thread interleaving semantics known as sequential consistency (SC). However, unannotated data races are easy for programmers to accidentally introduce and difficult to detect, and thus the safety and correctness of programs can be significantly compromised. The authors argue instead for a safety-first approach, whereby the compiler and hardware treat every memory access as potentially unsafe unless it is proven otherwise. In this way, SC semantics is guaranteed for all programs, whether data-race-free or not. The authors show that the performance and design cost of this approach is insignificant in practice, because the majority of accesses can be proven safe through a simple static or dynamic analysis, and memory ordering constraints can be ignored for such accesses without violating SC. Together with their earlier work on an efficient SC-preserving compiler, their SC hardware provides end-to-end SC semantics at the language level with low overhead.
Shaker and Shal mediate transient calcium-independent potassium current in a Drosophila flight motoneuron.

Ionic currents underlie the firing patterns, excitability, and synaptic integration of neurons. Despite complete sequence information in multiple species, our knowledge about ion channel function in central neurons remains incomplete. This study analyzes the potassium currents of an identified Drosophila flight motoneuron, MN5, in situ. MN5 exhibits four different potassium currents, two fast-activating transient ones and two sustained ones, one of each is calcium activated. Pharmacological and genetic manipulations unravel the specific contributions of Shaker and Shal to the calcium independent transient A-type potassium currents. α-dendrotoxin (Shaker specific) and phrixotoxin-2 (Shal specific) block different portions of the transient calcium independent A-type potassium current. Following targeted expression of a Shaker dominant negative transgene in MN5, the remaining A-type potassium current is α-dendrotoxin insensitive. In Shal RNAi knock down the remaining A-type potassium current is phrixotoxin-2 insensitive. Additionally, barium blocks calcium-activated potassium currents but also a large portion of phrixotoxin-2-sensitive A-type currents. Targeted knock down of Shaker or Shal channels each cause identical reduction in total potassium current amplitude as acute application of α-dendrotoxin or phrixotoxin-2, respectively. This shows that the knock downs do not cause upregulation of potassium channels underlying other A-type channels during development. Immunocytochemistry and targeted expression of modified GFP-tagged Shaker channels with intact targeting sequence in MN5 indicate predominant axonal localization. These data can now be used to investigate the roles of Shaker and Shal for motoneuron intrinsic properties, synaptic integration, and spiking output during behavior by targeted genetic manipulations.
A remotely accessible network processor-based router for network experimentation

Over the last decade, programmable Network Processors (NPs) have become widely used in Internet routers and other network components. NPs enable rapid development of complex packet processing functions as well as rapid response to changing requirements. In the network research community, the use of NPs has been limited by the challenges associated with learning to program these devices and with using them for substantial research projects. This paper reports on an extension to the Open Network Laboratory testbed that seeks to reduce these "barriers to entry" by providing a complete and highly configurable NP-based router that users can access remotely and use for network experiments. The base router includes support for IP route lookup and general packet filtering, as well as a flexible queueing sub-system and extensive support for performance monitoring. In addition, it provides a plugin environment that can be used to extend the router's functionality, enabling users to carry out significant network experiments with a relatively modest investment of time and effort. This paper describes our NP router and explains how it can be used. We provide several examples of network experiments that have been implemented using the plugin environment, and provide some baseline performance data to characterize the overall system performance. We also report that these routers have already been used for ten non-trivial projects in an advanced architecture course where most of the students had no prior experience using NPs.
Inference controls for frequency count tables: an update

A synopsis of mathematical problems and results that have been obtained in establishing effective inference controls for frequency-count tables, is presented. This brings up-to-date a related article by L.H. Cox (see CIPHER, p.4-14, 1986). Particular attention is given to inference controls for two-way frequency count tables and generalization for sets of tables and higher dimensions. >
Trends in Hospitalization for the Implantation of Cardioverter-Defibrillators in the United States, 1990–2005

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators were first approved for use in the United States in 1985. Their efficacy in improving the survival of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death has been shown, and the number of patients eligible for ICDs has increased. Using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), hospitalizations for the implantation of ICDs were identified and age- and gender-specific rates and trends in hospitalizations for ICDs during the period from 1990 to 2005 were estimated. From 1990 to 2005, the estimated number of hospitalizations for the implantation of ICDs increased from 5,600 to >108,000 for the total United States population, and the estimated annual rate of hospitalizations for the implantation of ICDs increased 10-fold. The rate of ICD procedures was substantially greater in men than women, and the rate increased significantly with age, although there was no increase in ICD use in patients aged ≥75 years. In conclusion, as the list of clinical indications and insurance coverage for ICD use expand, continued surveillance to monitor trends in the use of ICDs is warranted.
Enforcement of server commitments and system global constraints in SOA-based systems

Under Service oriented architecture (SOA), a system—such as an enterprise—consists of multiple heterogeneous servers (service providers), which may be distributed over a wide area of network, and may be managed under different administrative domains. One of the goals of this work is to enable the system as a whole (i.e., the enterprise) to impose global constraints on the interactive behavior of the various heterogeneous servers.
Commentary: How Far Is Brazil from Africa?:

The article by Keller, Demuth and Yovsi et al. holds a special interest for Brazilian psychology because of the influence of African culture on Brazilian ways of living and identity. It contributes to knowledge, assuming a clear position alongside the qualitative differences and the dialogical co-existence of the dimensions of autonomy and relatedness implicit in intra-individual and inter-individual variability. At the same time, the authors look for similarities, showing that tradition and novelty co-exist and that their manifestation depends on contextual dynamics. The commentary offers an overview of Brazilian historical ethnical formation to emphasize some political aspects of these contextual dynamics. I also comment on some similarities and differences based on a study with Brazilian afro-descendents. Finally, this commentary presents some questions about physical punishment, education as a value, complexity and linearity, translation and betrayal, the concepts of independence and autonomy.
Extended resection and end-to-end anastomosis for aortic coarctation in infants: results of a tailored surgical approach.

Background The surgical repair of aortic coarctation in infants has evolved over time. This study evaluates our current approach utilizing extended end-to-end anastomosis without prosthetic material to enlarge all areas of aortic arch hypoplasia. Methods The Michigan Congenital Heart Center database was reviewed for infants who underwent repair of isolated aortic coarctation from January 1, 1990, to January 1, 2000. Results Eighty-three infants underwent surgical repair of isolated coarctation during this decade. Median age at repair was 21 days (range, 2 to 365). Repair was performed through thoracotomy in 72 patients. Because of severe transverse arch hypoplasia, the remaining 11 infants underwent median sternotomy with circulatory arrest. There were 2 deaths: 1 due to pulmonary hypertension in a patient with alveolar capillary dysplasia and 1 late death due to pneumonia in a patient with noncardiac anomalies. Neither patient had residual coarctation. Technique-related complications of bronchial compression, chylothorax, and vocal cord paralysis were noted in 4 patients. Follow-up data were available for 66 patients (80%) with mean follow-up duration of 4.5 years (SD ± 3.1). Reintervention was required in 4 patients (6%). One underwent reoperation after 1 month, and 3 underwent balloon angioplasty within 7 months of initial repair. The remaining 61 patients are asymptomatic, on no antihypertensive medications, and have aortic arch gradients less than 15 mm Hg. One developed subaortic stenosis necessitating resection. Conclusions Tailored surgical repair for aortic coarctation has a low rate (6%) of residual and recurrent coarctation even when performed in infants. Mortality and morbidity are low.
Authoritarian Parochialism: Local Congressional Representation in China*

This article draws on evidence from loosely structured interviews and data from original surveys of 5,130 delegates in township, county and municipal congresses to argue that congressional representation unfolds as authoritarian parochialism in China. It makes three new arguments. First, popularly elected local congresses that once only mechanically stood in for the Chinese mass public, through demographically descriptive and politically symbolic representation, now work as substantively representative institutions. Chinese local congressmen and women view themselves and act as “delegates,” not Burkean trustees or Leninist party agents. Second, this congressional representation is not commonly expressed in the quintessentially legislative activities familiar in other regime types. Rather, it is an extra-legislative variant of pork-barrel politics: parochial activity by delegates to deliver targeted public goods to the geographic constituency. Third, this authoritarian parochialism is due to institutional arrangements and regime priorities, some common to single-party dictatorships and some distinct to Chinese authoritarianism.
FORMULATION AND USE OF FLUORESCENT TRACER COATINGS IN SEDIMENT TRANSPORT STUDIES

SUMMARY Commercially available, daylight and near-ultraviolet fluorescent, colored dyes can be used in long- or short-lived surface coatings on coarse sediments. Such tracer coatings make possible day- or nighttime visual and quantitative determination of river or beach sediment transport. Testing of five commercial coatings led to formulation of two additional coatings. A wide selection of dye colors is available for use in four coating mixtures. All coatings are insoluble in fresh or saline water. Single-application coating thicknesses range between 0.0003 and 0.0024 inches. Still air drying time at room temperature for separated particles varies from 40 seconds to 14 minutes depending on coating mixture used. Volume production of marked particles in the field is possible. Extensive sediment sampling in particle transport studies possibly may be eliminated by measuring visible light emission from coated particles under nearultraviolet excitation. A battery operated, portable photometer was assembled from a light cell, linear amplifier, and metering circuit. Laboratory calibration indicates that 5% differences in areal concentration of marked particles at given sampling locations can be determined. Color coded sizes of fluorescent sand and gravel were used in a test of foreshore sediment transport pattern over a single tidal cycle. Initial trajectory (minimum transport angle) of particles moved by beach drifting is approximately equal to deep water angle of wave approach relative to the shoreline. Angular magnitude of the dispersion zone for each group of particles seems to be a function of particle size and point of introduction on the foreshore. Minimum average transport velocity of particles was 0.42 ft./min under test conditions.
Patterns of Area Sensitivity in Grassland-Nesting Birds

Abstract: Between 1995 and 1997, we studied breeding birds in fragments of native tallgrass prairie in southwestern Missouri to determine the effect of habitat fragmentation on grassland bird populations. Data on density and nesting success collected in 13 prairie fragments of various sizes revealed three levels of area sensitivity. The most area-sensitive species, Greater Prairie-Chicken ( Tympanuchus cupido), was absent from small prairie fragments. An intermediate form of area sensitivity was apparent in only one species, Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii), which occurred in lower densities in small than in large prairie fragments. Based on census (i.e., distributional) data, only those two species were area-sensitive (i.e., negatively affected by habitat fragmentation) in southwestern Missouri. A species can be sensitive not only on a distributional level, however, but also by having lower nesting success in small than in large prairie fragments. The Dickcissel ( Spiza americana) was the only species that was area-sensitive on such a demographic level. These data indicate that we cannot rely solely on census data to describe the sensitivity of grassland-nesting species to habitat fragmentation, but that we also need to investigate demographic data (e.g., nesting success). Whereas it has previously been shown that density measures of forest-nesting birds do not reliably reflect nesting success in habitat fragments of various sizes, ours is the first study that describes this pattern for grassland-nesting species.
IN VITRO BINDING OF THE SALMONELLA DUBLIN VIRULENCE PLASMID REGULATORY PROTEIN SPVR TO THE PROMOTER REGIONS OF SPVA AND SPVR

The spv regulon of Salmonella dublin is essential for virulence in mice. SpvR, a LysR-type regulator, induces the expression of the spvABCD operon and its own expression in the stationary phase of bacterial growth and in macrophages. We constructed fusion proteins to the maltose-binding protein (MBP) and a His tag peptide (His) to overcome the insolubility and to facilitate purification of SpvR. We demonstrated that both fusion proteins, MBP-SpvR and His-SpvR, were able to induce spvA expression in vivo. MBP-SpvR was produced as soluble protein, whereas His-SpvR was only marginally present in the soluble cell fraction. Affinity chromatography resulted in at least 95% pure MBP-SpvR protein and in an enrichment of His-SpvR. Gel mobility shift assay revealed that the SpvR fusion proteins were able to bind to 125-and 147-bp DNA fragments of the spvA and spvR promoter regions, respectively. DNase I footprint experiments showed that the fusion proteins protected DNA regions of 54 and 50 bp within the spvA and spvR promoter regions, respectively.
Variable scale edge detection of images

A set of analog CMOS chips has been designed to perform two-dimensional convolutions between images and Gaussian functions. This implementation, which relies on the transient response of a RC plane, differs from neural net-like implementations proposed by C. Koch et al. (1986) which rely on the steady-state response of resistive networks. However, in common with those and other two-dimensional processors, I/O limitations can only be fully addressed with higher levels of integration, e.g. by using the approach developed at MIT. >
Climacturia after Definitive Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Prostate cancer treatment results in several sexually related side effects beyond the well studied erectile dysfunction. Climacturia (leakage of urine during orgasm) has been reported after prostatectomy but studies have been limited by multiple factors. In this study we examine the prevalence, causes and impact on orgasm function of climacturia after definitive treatment of prostate cancer with surgery or radiation.Materials and Methods: A total of 906 anonymous surveys were sent to patients with prostate cancer treated with surgery and/or radiation. Respondents were asked about the presence of urinary leakage, climacturia and various elements related to sexual and orgasmic function. We estimated the prevalence of climacturia, evaluated the differences between those with and without climacturia, and assessed the impact of climacturia on orgasmic function.Results: Overall 412 surveys were returned and available for analysis, and of these respondents 75.2% were sexually active or experiencing orga...
Fabrication of a vertical MRAM device

The fabrication and testing of annular shaped memory elements at the deep submicron scale is presented using combined electron beam and optical lithographic techniques. The device structures were designed for four-point probe measurements of a single ring, two rings in series, or four rings in series. The fabricated rings had a 600 nm outer diameters, 200 nm inner diameter, and consisted of three repeats of a CoFe/Cu/NiFe CPP GMR stack.
A new volume integral equation formulation for analyzing 3-D circuits in inhomogeneous dielectrics exposed to external fields

A new volume integral equation formulation is developed for the full-wave extraction of 3-D circuits, containing arbitrarily shaped lossy conductors with inhomogeneous dielectrics, in the presence of external electromagnetic fields. It exploits all the flexibilities offered by the volume integral formulation traditionally developed for solving wave-related problems, while accommodating a circuit-source based excitation in order to model both the circuit excitation and the ambient environment where the circuit is exposed to. It facilitates circuit parameter extraction at ports located anywhere in the physical structure of a circuit. An excellent agreement of numerical results with reference data validates the proposed formulation.