cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of bladder and cloacal exstrophies in New York State, 1983-1999.

BACKGROUND: Bladder exstrophy (BE) and cloacal exstrophy (CE) are rare birth defects that have been reported to occur in 1:30,000–50,000 and 1:200,000–400,000 live births. Disagreement exists as to whether they comprise two distinct disorders or are part of a spectrum. We examined epidemiologic trends and risk factors for BE and CE in a large population-based dataset. METHODS: Potential cases were identified in the New York State (NYS) Congenital Malformations Registry. When nonspecific codes for CE were reported, narrative descriptions were reviewed for classification. Birth certificate data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Poisson regression was used to calculate crude (PR) and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: In NYS from 1983 through 1999, 95 BE cases and 29 CE cases were identified for a live-birth prevalence of 2.1 and 0.6 per 100,000 live births. BE showed a statistically significant downward linear trend by year. Factors associated with BE included summer conception (vs. winter, aPR 2.46, CI 1.19–5.10), white, non-Hispanic maternal race/ethnicity (vs. black non-Hispanic, aPR 3.20, CI 1.20–8.52), and male sex (female vs. male, aPR 0.53, CI 0.33–0.87). Factors associated with CE included preterm low birth weight birth (aPR 14.55, CI 5.28–40.07), multiple birth (aPR 6.68, CI 1.19–23.27), non-New York City residence (aPR 3.27, CI 1.04–10.22), and female sex (aPR 2.57, CI 1.00–6.64). Infant mortality was greater in the CE group. CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiology suggests different risk factor patterns for BE and CE. Classification of BE and CE is difficult due to the nonspecific coding. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 79:781–787, 2007. 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Calorimetry and radiation damage

Abstract The rationale for scintillator based calorimetry at the SSC and its operation are briefly discussed. The SSC radiation dose and its effect on calorimeter operation are examined. Data from Co 60 and e beam tests are used to set the scale of these effects.
The lactose synthetase particles of lactating bovine mammary gland. Characteristics of the particles.

1. The conditions that promoted the solubilization of particulate lactose synthetase were effective for solubilizing the thiamine pyrophosphatase of the Golgi apparatus but differed from those effective for beta-glucuronidase or acid phosphatase of lysosomes. 2. Lactose synthetase-containing particles did not bind Mg(2+) or Cs(+) ions, suggesting that they are not related to endoplasmic reticulum membranes. 3. Intact lactose synthetase and thiamine pyrophosphatase particles banded isopycnically at a density of 1.143 in a sucrose gradient. The dissociated ;A' sub-unit of lactose synthetase, UDP-galactose hydrolase, p-nitrophenyl phosphate acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and phosphodiesterase I were associated with particles of a broad density range from 1.12 to 1.20. Lysosomal enzymes beta-glucuronidase, arylsulphatase and beta-glycerophosphate acid phosphatase were associated with particles of density 1.20, 1.175 and 1.15 respectively. 4. Rate-zonal sedimentation studies indicated that lactose synthetase particles have S(20,w) values exceeding 24000s, corresponding to spherical particles of diameter exceeding 5.4x10(-5)cm. 5. Electron micrographs of lactose synthetase particles purified over 20-fold revealed small spherical bodies (0.1-0.5mu) resembling lysosomes, the smaller of which were attached to membranes, and larger heterogeneous spherical or oval bodies (0.7-1.8mu) resembling lipofuscin secretory granules. 6. The relationship between lactose synthetase particles and the Golgi origin of secretion granules is discussed.
Childhood Abuse and Criminal Behavior Testing a General Strain Theory Model

This article draws on general strain theory (GST) to develop and test a model of the childhood abuse-crime relationship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health),(1) we find that early childhood physical and sexual abuse are robust predictors of offending in adolescence, for the full sample and in equations disaggregated by gender. GST is partially supported in that the effects of childhood physical abuse on offending for both females and males are mediated by an index of depression symptoms, whereas the effect of sexual abuse among females appears to be mediated largely by closeness to mother. The effect of childhood sexual abuse among males, however, is more robust than among females and it persists despite controls for low self-control, ties to delinquent peers, school attachment, and closeness to mother. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
A proposed mechanism for squeaking of ceramic-on-ceramic hips

Ceramic-on-ceramic (COC) bearings for hip arthroplasty have shown low wear rates and low biological reactivity of wear particles. However, a clinical complication receiving increased attention is the phenomenon of squeaking in COC hips and its importance in terms of clinical performance of the bearings. The recent literature presents a wide spectrum of factors claimed to be the cause of squeaking of ceramic hips, and a clear determination of the factors leading to squeaking has been elusive. The current study documents that the ceramic ball-in-socket bearing couple alone, without any metal devices incorporated, can be made to vibrate at an audible frequency when articulated. Consideration of the geometry of current generation ceramic-on-ceramic hip bearings leads to an hypothesis of a rolling/sliding mechanism causing vibration and squeaking. The derived relationship appears to accurately model the frequencies of the noise from hip bearings. Laboratory tests using accelerometers support the predicted relationship between bearing friction and femoral head motion, providing evidence that the proposed roll/slide mechanism reflects the type of motion that occurs during flexion of a modern COC hip device.
Combinatorial Grouping of Edges using Geometric Consistency in a Lagrangian Framework

The grouping of edges into long meaningful curves is a goal of perceptual grouping. The typical approach involves a first stage of salience computation based on some pairwise affinity measure, followed by a second stage of linking salient edges into long curves. We argue that the two stages cannot be separated because the curve hypothesis each edge is representing must be explicitly represented to avoid "cross-talk" among various groupings. We also advocate reasoning directly with subpixel edges which does not rely on a Euclidean lattice of pre-determined positions, orientations, and curve labels. Specifically, we propose that a discrete combination of edges represent a curve hypothesis and that a first-order curvature variation can effectively measure consistency among edges making up this curve hypothesis. These combinations are constructed by forming viable edge pairs, then triplets, and finally quadruplets. This results in a hierarchical organization of an edge map into grouped quadruplets, triplets, pairs, and singleton edges with associated measures of curvature variation, curvature, tangents, and position, which we expect can be used for linking into longer curve segments as well as for mid-level vision tasks such as tracking and stereo.
Hybridization and partial cDNA sequence analyses of bovine lung angiotensin I-converting enzyme.

The mRNA encoding angiotensin I-converting enzyme, a zinc-metallo dipeptidyl carboxyhydrolase, has been identified in extracts prepared from bovine lung tissue. Bovine lung poly(A) + mRNAs were subjected to electrophoresis and northern blot hybridization analysis using a radiolabeled synthetic 24-deoxy-oligonucleotide probe complementary to eight codons for amino acids at the active-site of the enzyme (Harris, R.B. & Wilson, I.B., J. Biol. Chem. 260, 2208–2211, 1985). This amino acid sequence contains the catalytic glutamic acid residue. A single RNA species (4 kb) was detected which is 1 kb larger than predicted from the molecular weight of the enzyme. The excess nucleic acid composition may be due to leader and/or trailer sequences or the RNA may encode a high molecular weight precursor form of the enzyme. We have cloned an Eco R1-HindIII digest fragment (1400 bp) of the duplex cDNA derived from the bovine lung converting enzyme poly(A) + mRNA and also Bal31 deletion fragments generated from the 1400 bp clone. Several of the Bal31 clones contain the active-site sequence codons of the enzyme and the complete cDNA sequence of one of these (72 bp) has been determined. We found the amino acid sequence at the active site to be -Phe-Thr-Glu-Leu-Ala-Asn-Ser-, containing the catalytic Glu residue. This sequence is identical with the sequence that we previously determined by manual Edman degradation analysis of the appropriate active-site peptide except that we now find Asn instead of Asp. We have sequenced 670 bp of the 1400 bp clone but have not yet overlapped the active-site sequence. The deoxyoligonucleotide probe directed against the active-site of lung converting enzyme also hybridizes with a poly(A) + mRNA from bovine atrial tissue, a tissue that does not contain converting enzyme. The atrial mRNA we have detected very probably is the mRNA that encodes atrial peptide convertase, a metallo dipeptidyl carboxyhydrolase that is involved in processing the atrial natriuretic peptides (Harris, R.B. & Wilson, I.B., Peptides 6, 393–396, 1985). The atrial enzyme appears to share active-site homology with the converting enzyme.
Power islands: a high-level synthesis technique for reducing spurious switching activity and leakage

This work introduces a high-level synthesis (HLS) methodology that eliminates the spurious switching activity (SSA) and the leakage in a great portion of the resulting circuit through the use of power islands. A power island is a cluster of logic whose power can be controlled independent from the rest of the circuit, and hence can be completely powered down when all of the logic contained within it is idling. By powering down an island: (1) the spurious switching that results from the broadcast to idle components is silenced and (2) the power consumption due to leakage in inactive components are eliminated. Our experiments conducted on several synthesis benchmarks using a transistor-level simulator showed an average reduction of 11% in total power consumption due to the power islands without introducing any overhead. We can project that in future technologies, when leakage becomes a more dominant component of the overall power, significantly more savings can be gained from design with power islands
Microfabricated platform for studying stem cell fates.

Platforms that allow parallel, quantitative analysis of single cells will be integral to realizing the potential of postgenomic biology. In stem cell biology, the study of clonal stem cells in multiwell formats is currently both inefficient and time-consuming. Thus, to investigate low-frequency events of interest, large sample sizes must be interrogated. We report a simple, versatile, and efficient micropatterned arraying system conducive to the culture and dynamic monitoring of stem cell proliferation. This platform enables: 1) parallel, automated, long-term (∼days to weeks), live-cell microscopy of single cells in culture; 2) tracking of individual cell fates over time (proliferation, apoptosis); and 3) correlation of differentiated progeny with founder clones. To achieve these goals, we used microfabrication techniques to create an array of ∼10,000 microwells on a glass coverslip. The dimensions of the wells are tunable, ranging from 20 to >500 μm in diameter and 10–500 μm in height. The microarray can be coated with adhesive proteins and is integrated into a culture chamber that permits rapid (∼min), addressable monitoring of each well using a standard programmable microscope stage. All cells share the same media (including paracrine survival signals), as opposed to cells in multiwell formats. The incorporation of a coverslip as a substrate also renders the platform compatible with conventional, high-magnification light and fluorescent microscopy. We validated this approach by analyzing the proliferation dynamics of a heterogeneous adult rat neural stem cell population. Using this platform, one can further interrogate the response of distinct stem cell subpopulations to microenvironmental cues (mitogens, cell–cell interactions, and cell–extracellular matrix interactions) that govern their behavior. In the future, the platform may also be adapted for the study of other cell types by tailoring the surface coatings, microwell dimensions, and culture environment, thereby enabling parallel investigation of many distinct cellular responses. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Regulated endocytosis of NCC

the thiazide-sensitive Na+-Cl− cotransporter (NCC) in the aldosterone-sensitive distal convoluted tubule (DCT) is responsible for the reabsorption of as much as 10% of filtered Na+-Cl− ([13][1]). Notably, this may be a significant overestimate of the quantitative contribution of NCC to renal Na
A Spreadsheet Simulation Of The Monty Hall Problem

The “Monty Hall” problem or “Three Door” problem—where a person chooses one of three doors in hope of winning a valuable prize but is subsequently offered the choice of changing his or her selection—is a well known and often discussed probability problem. In this paper, the structure, history, and ultimate solution of the Monty Hall problem are discussed. The problem solution is modeled with a spreadsheet simulation that evaluates the frequencies of the possible outcomes (win or lose) under the two choices or strategies available: switch to the unopened door or do not switch. A Law of Large Numbers approach is also used to graphically demonstrate the long run outcome of adopting one the two available strategies. As is known, the optimal strategy is to switch to the unopened door; the spreadsheet model illustrates why this strategy is optimal. A complete discussion of the spreadsheet logic is included. Pedagogical approaches and applications of the spreadsheet simulation approach are also discussed.
String storage and searching for data base applications: Implementation on the INDY backend kernel

User and hardware cost trends dictate that data base systems should provide more complete functionality, simplicity of use, and reliability by increasing the amount of hardware present in the system. These goals are accomplished with a simple hardware arrangement within a one-dimensional cellular storage system called INDY. The INDY backend kernel is intended as a powerful tool for implementing all data models. The INDY cellular storage array is intended to provide functionality that is difficult to implement efficiently using a conventional hardware arrangement. It allows a simple implementation of improved data independence at high speeds. INDY simultaneously satisfies the time windows of future hardware technologies and user requirements.The importance of strings as a mechanism for defining abstract data types for data base languages is discussed in more detail in another paper. In that paper, a language called STRING is introduced which allows names of data objects to be semantically defined as variable-length strings and compared based on string pattern membership. This paper is concerned with the implementation of string storage and searching required by the STRING language. Implementation of higher level structures and searching requirements (such as sets, rows, tables and hierarchies) on the INDY kernel is treated elsewhere.
Overruled by Home Rule: Why the New Jersey Legislature's Latest Attempt to End the Waste, Corruption, and Inequality Created by Municipal Fragmentation Will Fail

A century's worth of policy experts, government commissions, and reform-minded politicians have concluded that New Jersey has too many towns. They have filled the state's archives with reports documenting the costs of fragmentation in the Garden State: the inability to address regional problems, the inequalities created by residential segregation, and the inefficiencies of operating so many local services. But while New Jersey has 566 municipalities - the most per capita of any state - only nine sets of towns have considered merging since 1952 and only one pair, Pahaquarry and Hardwick, has actually consolidated into a single unit. It is far easier, these experts have learned, to create new towns than it is to eliminate them. In early 2007, the New Jersey State Legislature created the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission to address the problem. Modeled on the federal military base closure commissions, the Local Unit Commission was established to review New Jersey's 566 municipalities and recommend which ones should consolidate, which ones should share municipal services with neighbors, and which ones should continue as they are. It was an improvement over the older procedure for consolidation, which was cumbersome and bureaucratic. But if the goal was to recreate the success of the military base closure commissions, which shut down over 500 military sites from 1989 to 2005, then the New Jersey legislature failed. This Article reviews the failings of the bill and argues that state must find a more effective way to address the problems of municipal fragmentation.
Cellular Protein Transport

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses transportation of cellular proteins. Proteins that are found in the cytosol, such as hemoglobin, ferritin, and many enzymes, are apparently released directly into the soluble phase. In cells secreting protein, some of the ribosomes occur free in the cytosol, either singly or clustered in polysomes; other ribosomes are bound to the outer surface of membranous channels. The first step in assembly of the ribosomal apparatus for synthesis of a protein is attachment of a small (40 S) ribosome subunit to an initiation signal near the 5’-phosphate end of a messenger RNA molecule. Binding of the appropriate transfer RNA charged with amino acid then occurs, followed by attachment of a 60 S ribosomal subunit. The bound ribosomes detach from the membrane after completion of a protein chain, dissociate into subunits, and then enter a common pool of free subunits that then can recycle. The protein migrates first along the narrow cisternum to a region devoid of ribosomes, termed the agranular endoplasmic reticulum. It is then conducted to the Golgi apparatus, which appears to be almost universally involved in the processing of secretory proteins. Proteins intended for secretion or transport to intracellular organelles must undergo several transitions before arrival at their destination. After leaving the polysomal-template complex, they transit the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, fold into their native configuration, form intramolecular disulfide bonds, incorporate carbohydrate groups in the case of glycoproteins, migrate through the cytoplasm and egress through the cell membrane in the case of secreted proteins.
Examining the Nature of Scaffolding in an Early Literacy Intervention

In this study, we used Reading Recovery as the context to examine the relationship between three types of contingent teaching (temporal, instructional, and domain contingency) and student outcomes in a one-to-one literacy tutoring setting. We first created a National Teacher Effectiveness Index for all Reading Recovery teachers in the country and then used that index to identify two distinct groups of teachers from an existing data repository of 38 Reading Recovery teachers in training: those whose students had either lower average gain scores at the end of the school year (n = 6) or higher average gain scores (n = 4). We coded 1,199 teacher and student moves when they interacted at difficulty while reading a new book with teacher support. Results from hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed no significant differences for instructional contingency (the amount of information provided at difficulty), no main effects, and a nonsignificant interaction. Nor did we find statistically significant differences between the two groups of teachers for temporal contingency (the frequency of help). Dramatic differences existed, however, for domain contingency (what the teachers focused on when providing help). Specifically, teachers of students with higher outcomes had 8.3 greater odds of prompting students to use sources of information that they were neglecting while trying to decode a word. These findings provide needed information about the processes of scaffolding and have important implications not only for reading instruction and intervention but also for the ways in which scaffolding is studied.
A molecular dynamics study of the effect of carbon tetrachloride on enzyme structure and dynamics: subtilisin

Developing enzymes that are functional in highly concentrated halocarbon solutions, such as carbon tetrachloride, may prove useful in the development of new strategies for environmental remediation and monitoring of pollutant plumes, as well as in developing 'green' processes. Doing so will require gaining an understanding of the underlying structural and dynamic effects on enzymes induced by such solvents. Herein we report a 714 ps molecular dynamics simulation of the enzyme subtilisin Carlsberg and its waters of crystallization in a periodic box of carbon tetrachloride. The crystal structure from aqueous solution was used as the starting structure for our simulation using the AMBER program and forcefield. The calculated time-averaged structure is similar to the aqueous X-ray structure except for significant differences in loop (or turn) regions, resulting in many extra intra-protein hydrogen bonding interactions. Since carbon tetrachloride is a non-polar solvent and cannot interact strongly with the protein and water molecules, the water molecules stay very close to the protein surface throughout the simulation. The mobility of most of the waters was therefore very low. A few water molecules underwent significant lateral motion during the simulation, but never wandered far from the protein surface. Waters were either hydrogen bonded to protein polar groups, other water and/or counterions. Some of the surface waters participated in the formation of water-mediated hydrogen bonding networks. The increase in total number of intra-protein hydrogen bonds and the formation of water-mediated hydrogen bonding networks in carbon tetrachloride is consistent with the generally observed increase in thermostability and reduced flexibility of proteins in non-aqueous solutions. Several possible carbon tetrachloride binding sites on the protein surface are predicted.
Creating and optimizing interfaces for electric-field and photon-induced charge transfer.

We create and optimize a structurally well-defined electron donor–acceptor planar heterojunction interface in which electric-field and/or photon-induced charge transfer occurs. Electric-field-induced charge transfer in the dark and exciton dissociation at a pentacene/PCBM interface were probed by in situ thickness-dependent threshold voltage shift measurements in field-effect transistor devices during the formation of the interface. Electric-field-induced charge transfer at the interface in the dark is correlated with development of the pentacene accumulation layer close to PCBM, that is, including interface area, and dielectric relaxation time in PCBM. Further, we demonstrate an in situ test structure that allows probing of both exciton diffusion length and charge transport properties, crucial for optimizing optoelectronic devices. Competition between the optical absorption length and the exciton diffusion length in pentacene governs exciton dissociation at the interface. Charge transfer mechanisms in th...
The National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government, 1937–1941

D URING the 1930s a number of conservative organizations sprang up in opposition to the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Most met with limited success. By 1936 the American Liberty League was largely discredited; the America First Committee failed to halt the drift toward intervention.1 During 1937 and 1938, however, the National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government waged a more successful campaign against the New Deal. The Committee played a prominent part in the defeat of Roosevelt's attempts to enlarge the Supreme Court, reorganize the executive branch of government, and purge the Democratic party of conservatives. This essay will explore the attitudes of the Committee's leaders, techniques they employed, the effectiveness of their campaign, and the response they called forth. The National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government, created in February 1937 to fight the Court-packing proposal, was guided by three men of diverse backgrounds. Frank E. Gannett, publisher of the Rochester Times-Union and owner of the third largest newspaper chain in the country, furnished an indispensable source of revenue and excellent publicity outlets. Amos Pinchot, a socially prominent New York lawyer, had in the past been identified with many liberal causes. Although he voted for Roosevelt in 1932 he soon grew sour on the New Deal. To the NCUCG he brought many years of experience as a political pamphleteer. Edward A. Rumely directed the Committee's daily operations. Formerly a Progressive editor, Rumley had devoted years to perfecting the art of mass persuasion through intensive mailing campaigns.2
Synthesis of Polymerizable Cyclodextrin Derivatives for Use in Adhesion-Promoting Monomer Formulations

The synthesis of the cyclodextrin derivatives reported herein was assisted by extensive literature research together with structure-property relationships derived from three-dimensional molecular modeling. These studies led to the hypothesis that many of the 21 hydroxyl groups on beta-cyclodextrin molecules could be derivatized to form a closely related family of analogous chemical compounds containing both polymerizable groups and hydrophilic ionizable ligand (substrate-binding) groups, each attached via hydrolytically-stable ether-linkages. The vinylbenzylether polymerizable groups should readily homopolymerize and also copolymerize with methacrylates. This could be highly useful for dental applications because substantially all contemporary dental resins and composites are based on methacrylate monomers. Due to hydrophilic ligands and residual hydroxyl groups, these cyclodextrin derivatives should penetrate hydrated layers of dentin and enamel to interact with collagen and tooth mineral. Analyses indicated that the diverse reaction products resulting from the method of synthesis reported herein should comprise a family of copolymerizable molecules that collectively contain about 30 different combinations of vinylbenzyl and hexanoate groups on the various molecules, with up to approximately seven of such groups combined on some of the molecules. Although the hypothesis was supported, and adhesive bonding to dentin is expected to be significantly improved by the use of these polymerizable cyclodextrin derivatives, other efforts are planned for improved synthetic methods to ensure that each of the reaction-product molecules will contain at least one copolymerizable moiety. The long-term objective is to enable stronger and more durable attachments of densely cross-linked polymers to hydrated hydrophilic substrates. Capabilities for bonding of hydrolytically stable polymers to dental and perhaps other hydrous biological tissues could provide widespread benefits.
Distribution and pharmacokinetics of precocene-II in the tick Ornithodoros parkeri (Acari: Argasidae).

Injected [3H] precocene-II spread from the hemocoel of Ornithodoros parkeri (Cooley) ticks to gut, salivary glands, synganglion, ovary, and the remainder of the body (carcass). Analyses at 2, 24, and 48 h after injection of precocene revealed that radioactivity remained at low levels in the synganglia and ovaries of fed-mated and fed-virgin females. Radioactivity increased gradually during 48 h after injection in salivary glands of fed-mated and fed-virgin ticks. It also increased gradually in the gut of fed virgins but not in fedmated females. The carcasses contained the majority of total radioactivity at 2, 24, and 48 h after injection. Most of the radioactivity was found in ether-soluble compounds and only minimal amounts in water-soluble metabolites. Analysis of tick excreta and washings indicate that female O. parkeri excrete injected precocene very slowly; only 6% of total radioactivity was recovered in these samples during the 48 h after injection. Thin-layer chromatographic analyses of ether extracts of salivary glands and carcasses from fed-mated ticks 24 h after injection showed that the majority of the injected [3H] precocene-II was present in unchanged form.
Beneficios de implementar un clúster de bases de datos Oracle en los servicios críticos de las tecnologías de información

This scientific article provides a general knowledge about the infrastructure of a clustering Oracle databases, which highlights the primary benefits for companies that offer critical services within the information technology (IT) realm, via a justifi ed investment. For a better understanding, the makeup of this technology will be explained. Various research examples and implementations will also be illustrated, on-premises and off -premises, by the students of the university. It should be noted that this research will be focused on the Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) and Oracle Flex Cluster. The fi nal subject is a new feature that provides the Oracle database, which references 12c version technology, with the current date being the same date this article was written.
Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on Economics of networked systems

The emergence of the Internet as a global platform for computation and communication has sparked the development and deployment of many large-scale networked systems. Often, these systems involve multiple stakeholders with divergent or even competing interests. Unmitigated selfish behavior in these systems can lead to high inefficiency or even complete collapse. Research interest in the application of economic and game-theoretic principles to the design and analysis of networked systems has grown in recent years. The NetEcon Workshop promotes multi-disciplinary work and discussion about the role of incentives in communication and computation. It has evolved over the past five years, subsuming several other workshops that covered various aspects of strategic computation, including P2PEcon, Incentive-Based Computing (IBC), and Practive and theory of Incentives in Networked Systems (PINS). Information about NetEcon'06 and NetEcon'07, both of which were co-located with the ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce (ACM EC), can be found at http://www.cs.duke.edu/nicl/netecon06/ and http://netecon-ibc.si.umich.edu/, respectively. This year, we are delighted to have NetEcon'08 co-located with the ACM SIGCOMM Conference. We received 33 submissions and accepted 18. The Program-Committee members and external reviewers did an excellent job, and we take this opportunity to thank them, the Sigcomm'08 organizers, and the NetEcon Steering Committee.
General Considerations in the Surgical Treatment of Pituitary Tumors

In 1886, Marie1 suggested a relationship between acromegaly and pituitary tumors. By 1893, Caton and Paul2 reported an attempt at removal of a growth hormone (GH)-producing tumor via craniotomy and middle fossa approach. In 1905, Krause3 suggested an approach through the anterior cranial fossa, and in 1906, Sir Victor Horsley4 reported on 10 cases approached via the middle fossa. The techniques were crude and visibility poor; alternative routes were sought. The first extracranial transsphenoidal procedure was probably that by Schloffer5 in 1907, although Giordano6 had suggested a transsinus approach in 1897. Cushing7 began using a transsphenoidal approach in 1909, and thereafter performed over 200 cases via this route. Until then, the operation involved considerable dissection of the frontal sinus, nose, ethmoids, and sphenoids and was very disfiguring. In 1910, Halstead8 performed surgery through a transoronasal route with an incision through the mucosa above the upper teeth, utilizing the submucosal techniques of Kocher.9 In 1910, Oscar Hirsch10 did the first of 413 transsphenoidal procedures,1112 and introduced Harvey Cushing to the procedure. Cushing’s reputation attracted many patients, and within several years he had performed over 100 cases.13
Early life experiences have complex and long-lasting effects on behavior.

Some animal behaviors, such as escape and courtship, are often genetically determined. However, many behaviors are heavily influenced by learning and experience. In particular, early life experiences can have a lasting impact on adult behavior. This developmental plasticity acts as a means of fine-tuning an animal’s behavior to its local environment. For example, the social environment during early development has a strong effect on social behavior throughout life in humans and other animals (1, 2). In addition to variation in social environments, animals may be exposed to different ecological environments during development, and these too can drive divergence in behavior. For example, exposure to sensory cues from predators can elicit a long-lasting increase in antipredatory behavior (3⇓–5). Although both social and ecological factors can act early in development, their impacts on adult behavior have typically been studied in isolation. In PNAS, Fischer et al. (6) explore how social environment and perceived predation threat during early development act together to influence adult social behavior. Remarkably, they find that these two factors interact nonadditively to drive divergent behavioral phenotypes. The effect of the early social environment on adult behavior depends on the perceived predation threat during development, and vice versa. Neolamprologus pulcher is a cooperatively breeding species of cichlid fish, meaning that offspring are cared for by their parents as well as additional “helpers” (Fig. 1 A ). In the wild, each group consists of a dominant breeding pair and as many as 30 nonbreeding subordinates who, in addition to caring for the young, also help maintain and defend the group’s territory (7). Previous work showed that rearing N. pulcher in more complex social environments leads to increased social behavioral competence in the adults, making them better at territory defense, social integration, and conflict resolution (8⇓–10). … [↵][1]1Email: carlson.bruce{at}wustl.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Lincoln in Indiana

Every modern Abraham Lincoln biographer faces three challenges when writing a new book about our sixteenth president: telling a story that has not already been well told, presenting an honest exami...
Masculinity under attack: melodramatic resistance to women in combat

Although women in both Iraq and Afghanistan have taken part in ground combat and although restrictions have been lifted officially, there remains a strong resistance to the policy that now allows w...
Long-Term Protection of the Last Judgment Mosaic in Prague

A sol-gel coating was used in the long-term protection of the 14th Century mosaic situated above the gates of St. Vitus cathedral, in the center of Prague Castle. The choice of a sol-gel coating is the result of a research effort involving both on-site testing in Prague and accelerated ageing of various polymers and sol-gel materials in the laboratory. The coating selected for treatment of the entire 13 m × 10 m mosaic is a multi-layer system in which an organic-inorganic sol-gel layer is placed between the glass substrate and a fluoropolymer coating. This coating combination performed very well in an accelerated weathering chamber as well as during onsite testing. Since the top layer is scheduled to be removed and re-applied periodically, it is hoped that this concept will allow long term protection to the largest outdoors mosaic north of the Alps. On-site application of the coatings on the entire mosaic started in 1998 and will be completed in 2000.
Steroidogenic capacity in the adrenal cortex and its regulation.

Studies over the past decade have clearly established the role of steroid hormones as important regulators of eukaryotic gene expression. These steroid hormones are produced in a limited number of tissues (primarily the adrenal cortex and the gonads) which themselves serve as target tissues for peptide hormones produced in the anterior pituitary (i. e. ACTH which acts on the adrenal cortex) (Table 1). This review will focus its attention on the biosynthesis of steroid hormones in the adrenal cortex, the pathways being shown in Fig. 1 which lead to the production of glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and the C19 adrenal androgens which are precursors of the sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen. As will be seen from Table 1, steroidogenesis in the adrenal cortex is more complex than in the testis and ovary because of the presence of adrenal specific steroid hydroxylases. We will see that steroidogenesis in the adrenal cortex involves both the regulation of the availability of the initial substrate (cholesterol) and also the regulation of the levels of the steroidogenic enzymes themselves. While this review will focus primarily on this latter aspect of regulation of steroidogenesis, the general details of both levels of regulation and their interaction will be presented.
Primary Care Medical Practices: Are Community Health Care Providers Ready for Disasters?

OBJECTIVE This study seeks to determine the capacity of community primary care practices to meet the needs of patients during public health emergencies and to identify the barriers and resources necessary to participate in a coordinated response with public safety agencies. METHODS The self-administered web-based survey was distributed in January 2014 via e-mail to primary care providers in Pennsylvania using the listservs of several professional societies. RESULTS A total of 179 primary care providers participated in the survey. In total, 38% had practice continuity of operations plan in place and 26% reported that they had a plan for patient surge in the outpatient setting. Thirty percent reported that they were registered on the state Health Alert Network and 41% said they were able to communicate with patients during disasters. Only 8% of providers reported that they believed that their patients with special health care needs were prepared for a disaster, although over two-thirds of responding practices felt they could assist these patients with disaster preparedness. Providers indicated that more information regarding government agency plans and community resources, patient education materials, and more time to devote to counseling during patient encounters would improve their ability to prepare their patients with special health care needs for disasters. Providers also reported that they would benefit from partnerships to help the practice during emergencies and communications technology to reach large numbers of patients quickly. CONCLUSIONS Community-based primary care practices can be useful partners during public health emergencies. Efforts to promote continuity of operations planning, improved coordination with government and community partners, as well as preparedness for patients with special health care needs, would augment their capabilities and contribute to community resilience. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:128-132).
A systematic review of vascular closure devices for femoral artery puncture sites.

Abstract Objective The aim of this review was to provide an up-to-date summarization of available Food and Drug Administration-approved vascular closure devices (VCDs) and to analyze current evidence comparing individual devices with one another and with manual compression (MC). The review includes indications for use, advantages and disadvantages, safety and efficacy, and outcomes. Methods A review of literature available on VCDs was conducted using PubMed and MEDLINE. Only clinical trials published within the last 10 years evaluating the efficacy of different VCDs with access obtained through common femoral artery or vein were included. All literature included in this review was published in English and used human participants. Results The search strategy yielded 34 relevant articles. These studies included procedures ranging from diagnostic catheterizations to percutaneous endovascular aneurysm repair. There is considerable heterogeneity in the studies, with a wide variety of definitions and different outcome measures. The review demonstrated that VCDs provided improvement in the patients' comfort and satisfaction as well as in the time to hemostasis and ambulation. Most studies are underpowered to show differences, but even after meta-analysis or Cochrane review, complication rates as well as safety and efficacy between devices and MC remained comparable. Conclusions VCDs have shown marked improvement in patients' comfort and satisfaction as well as in time to hemostasis and ambulation after percutaneous vascular procedures. According to multiple small randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and a Cochrane review, complication rates, safety and efficacy, and outcomes remain comparable between VCDs and MC (12% for VCDs vs 13% for MC). VCDs have a low incidence of major complications and high success rates, which provides convenience for the practitioner and facilitates turnover of patients. VCDs have a risk of infectious (0.6% with VCDs vs 0.2% with MC) and thrombotic complications (0.3% with VCDs vs none with MC) that is small but may be increased compared with MC. It is important to balance the goals of comfort of the patient, resources of the staff, and early ambulation against periprocedural and anatomic risk factors (ie, individualize use of VCDs to specific clinical scenarios). Users must be familiar with a device and its limitations to safely and effectively achieve hemostasis after femoral artery puncture.
Perspectives for Future Development

It should be obvious to the reader of the earlier chapters in this volume that the interactions between survey research and social information processing or, more generally, cognitive psychology have just begun. To date, most of the discussions have dealt with the potentials for Improvement in survey methods using cognitive psychological insights and, conversely, the potentials for more realistic development and testing of cognitive theories using survey methods. In this final chapter we summarize what we think will be the future developments as well as some priorities for research.
Moral Autonomy, Censorship, and the Enlightened Community

In light of the wave of attacks on constitutional freedoms and rights in the 1980s, it is perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on the arguments offered in support of broad discretion granted to local school boards in determining the contents of school libary shelves. Students, especially those in secondary school, are guaranteed constitutional rights; those rights, however, are balanced against the competing interests of a community in general or a school board in particular. In this article we will examine this balance as it has been struck in the courts and we will argue that a more enlightened conception of community interest would involve narrower discretion in school board and community actions
A New Approach to Rural Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Two Rural Electric Cooperatives

Rural firms face many obstacles to success, including logistical problems and reduced federal funding.The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for the economic development of small rural businesses built around a cooperative model using rural electric cooperatives as the lead institution for stimulating economic development. The significance of rural electric cooperatives is discussed. These cooperatives act as the center around which rural networks are created.The elements of the rural entrepreneurship model include a sense of community and networking, dynamic sponsorship based upon competitive pressures, knowledge and technology transfer, leveraging entrepreneurs' capabilities and skills, and facilitating access to capital.Two case studies of rural communities that used the electric cooperative as the catalyst for their entrepreneurial development are provided.The implications of each study are discussed.(AKP)
Copper Selenides as High-Efficiency Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Designing high-efficiency water oxidation catalysts from earth-abundant resources has attracted significant attention in the last couple of years owing to the potential application of this technology in several energy conversion devices. Among the transition metals, copper is one of the cheapest earth-abundant nonprecious element which can enhance electrocatalytic activity due to heavily occupied d-orbitals. In this article we have shown electrocatalytic activity of copper selenide for the first time for water oxidation reaction. The copper selenide phases were synthesized by direct electrodeposition on electrodes, as well as by hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. Structure and morphology characterization through powder X-ray diffraction, Raman, X-photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron microscopy revealed that all the synthesized phases were pure crystalline copper selenide of composition Cu2Se and comprising nanostructured granular morphology. Electrocatalytic performance for w...
How Much Does Physical Attractiveness Matter for Blacks? Linking Skin Color, Physical Attractiveness, and Black Status Attainment

The accumulated evidence suggests that lighter-complected blacks are more successful in our society than their darker-complected counterparts. Prior research also documents a correlation between physical attractiveness and socio-economic status attainment. The current study bridges the literatures on colorism and physical attraction and examines the complex relationship between skin color, physical attractiveness, gender, on the one hand, and three indicators of status attainment (educational attainment, hourly wage and job quality), on the other, for black young adults. Controls include family SES, family structure, parent–child relationships, and other covariates. Analysis was conducted in STATA and via structural equation modeling using MPlus software. The analysis shows that lighter-skinned young blacks attain a higher educational level, receive higher wages and enjoy better-quality jobs than their darker skinned co-ethnics. Moreover, the results show that more physically attractive young blacks, especially women, are advantaged in terms of educational attainment, wages, and job quality than their less physically attractive counterparts. These findings suggest that, among blacks, the skin color stratification coincides with that based on physical attractiveness to a large degree, with the implication being that the skin tone is a predictor of both physical attractiveness and social status for black men and women.
The international expansion of family firms: The moderating role of internal financial slack and external capital availability

The prudential use of external financial capital and the desire to maintain internal slack reflect unique characteristics of family firms that focus on preserving socioemotional wealth. This study extends previous findings by demonstrating that external capital availability and internal slack can either provide the financial support for family firms to remain committed to socioemotional wealth or to motivate those firms to engage in foreign expansion. The results from a sample of 640 firms based in 19 different countries during the period of 2008 to 2012 suggest that there is less probability of family firms expanding into foreign countries when the home country’s capital availability is high, when the host country’s capital availability is low, or when the internal financial slack is high. The research also explores interactions between external capital availability and internal financial slack. The theoretical model and empirical tests contribute to understanding of family firms’ internationalization, and they provide a strong catalyst for future research on family firms.