cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Contribution of Niche-Derived Factors to the Regulation of Cancer Cells

In normal adult tissues, paracrine signals that derive from the stem cell niche, or microenvironment, play an important role in regulating the critical balance between activity and quiescence of stem cells. Similarly, evidence has emerged to support the hypothesis that signals derived from the microenvironment regulate cancer cells in an analogous manner. We recently reported that in basal cell carcinoma of the skin and in diverse other solid tumors, fibroblasts that comprise the tumor cell niche are, indeed, molecularly distinct from those that comprise the normal stroma. In particular, we found evidence suggesting that expression of secreted BMP antagonists by tumor-associated stromal cells may promote self-renewal of tumor stem cells in vivo. This chapter describes methods for identifying and evaluating the molecular signals that derive from fibroblasts in human tumors.
Utilization of electroanatomical mapping in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis

A 60-year-old woman presented for an atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Her pre-ablation workup included an electrocardiogram (EKG) and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). The EKG ( Panel A ) was notable for AF, right bundle branch block, and low voltage. TTE ( Panel B ) revealed increased left ventricular wall thickness …
Dissolved and particulate phosphorus distributions and elemental stoichiometry throughout the Chukchi Sea

Abstract As a major gateway from the Pacific to the open Arctic Ocean, biogeochemical transformations of nutrients in the Chukchi Sea are important for understanding the Arctic ecosystem as a whole. This study examines the biogeochemical cycling of the macronutrient phosphorus (P) relative to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in the eastern Chukchi Sea during the ICESCAPE mission. Sea ice and water column dissolved and particulate P samples were collected during summer expeditions in 2010 ( n =543) and 2011 ( n =553). Nearly all forms of P were higher in Pacific Winter Waters (PWW), indicating the potential importance of PWW to Chukchi Sea nutrient pools. Annual means of P concentrations in all its forms in the offshore waters throughout the Chukchi Sea were also consistently higher (TP 2010 =1.56±0.61 µM, TP 2011 =1.67±0.68 µM) relative to waters inshore and within the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC), suggesting coastal inputs were relatively minor during our sampling. Rather, biological modification of P pools dominated, with 30–40% of the total dissolved P pool (TDP) and nearly 50% of the total particulate P pool (TPP) comprised of organic P. Nutrient analyses of first year sea ice suggest that sea ice melt contains highly variable P concentrations that span an order of magnitude depending on particulate matter content. As such, sea ice melt may contribute significant nutrients to summer waters on a transient basis. Low N:P ratios (
Hypokalemia: Physiological A bnormalities During Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Abstract Measurements of intracellular and extracellular potassium, osmolality, and blood pressures were made prior to, during, and following cardiopulmonary bypass. The results of this investigation show: (1) Intracellular and extracellular serum K + levels in the red blood cells have no direct relationship until intracellular levels are depleted severely. (2) Administration of K + into the extracorporeal circuit results in improved vascular tone with increases in both arterial and venous pressures which will remain stable when intracellular and plasma levels are normalized. (3) The mechanism of depletion of K + probably does not operate on an ionic basis alone but is possibly linked to organic phosphate metabolism. (4) Restoration of normal blood pH following correction of hypokalemia may be due to the ingress of K + to the cell and displacement of abnormally high H + , which had been entering the cell as K + was depleted. During cardiopulmonary bypass the volume of urine excreted has no relationship to the total amount of K + excreted and therefore is not an index of total body loss; however, the measurement of intraerythrocyte levels is a guide to total body loss of K + .
Basic Research in Biomass Production: Scientific Opportunities and Organizational Challenges

Discussions on biomass production (the yield of plant dry matter) appear to have two separate elements, although both have much in common. These elements are primary food production, and the formation of biomass as a potential source of energy and basic chemicals. Most biomass is derived from the carbon dioxide fixed from the air during photosynthesis; and only about 5 to 10 per cent comes from minerals and nitrogen taken up from the soil. The biomass is largely determined by the gross photosynthetic CO2 assimilation minus the losses by respiration. Crop yields, about which I am mostly concerned, are therefore the edible portion of biomass production.
Comparison of whole genome sequencing to restriction endonuclease analysis and gel diffusion precipitin-based serotyping of Pasteurella multocida:

The gel diffusion precipitin test (GDPT) and restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) have commonly been used in the serotyping and genotyping of Pasteurella multocida. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis has become the gold standard for other organisms, offering higher resolution than previously available methods. We compared WGS to REA and GDPT on 163 isolates of P. multocida to determine if WGS produced more precise results. The isolates used represented the 16 reference serovars, isolates with REA profiles matching an attenuated fowl cholera vaccine strain, and isolates from 10 different animal species. Isolates originated from across the United States and from Chile. Identical REA profiles clustered together in the phylogenetic tree. REA profiles that differed by only a few bands had fewer SNP differences than REA profiles with more differences, as expected. The GDPT results were diverse but it was common to see a single serovar show up repeatedly within clusters. Several errors were found when examining the REA profiles. WGS was able to confirm these errors and compensate for the subjectivity in analysis of REA. Also, results of WGS and SNP analysis correlated more closely with the epidemiologic data than GDPT. In silico results were also compared to a lipopolysaccharide rapid multiplex PCR test. From the data produced in our study, WGS and SNP analysis was superior to REA and GDPT and highlighted some of the issues with the older tests.
Avoidance of Severe Ovarian Hyperstimulation with IVM Treatment

In vitro maturation (IVM) of immature oocytes is the only advanced reproductive technology with which all forms of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome can be avoided. This is because of its ability to avoid activating VEGF-mediated processes while still enabling pregnancy. Many other treatments developed to prevent or to attenuate severe OHSS also play off the VEGF system, but less effectively than IVM. IVM is also unique in preventing mild OHSS, which reduces the burden on patients requiring advanced reproductive technologies. An understanding of why IVM is effective also informs the IVF practitioner of how to utilize IVM techniques to avoid severe OHSS in settings where other older approaches are unlikely to work. This provides the practitioner with an alternative to cycle cancellation.
Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding

Background: One in five women bleed so heavily during their periods that they have to put their normal lives on hold just to deal with the heavy blood flow! Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) has an adverse effect on the quality of life of many women. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB) is defined as abnormal uterine bleeding in the absence of organic disease. Keywords: Dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB), Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB)
Particle emission from open quantum systems

In this work, we discuss connections between different theoretical physics communities and their works, all related to systems that act as sources of particles such as photons, phonons, or electrons. Our interest is to understand how a low-dimensional quantum system driven by coherent fields, e.g. a two-level system, Jaynes-Cummings system, or photon pair source driven by a laser pulse, emits photons into a waveguide. Of particular relevance to solid-state sources is that we provide a way to include dissipation into the formalism for temporal-mode quantum optics. We will discuss the connections between temporal-mode quantum optics, scattering matrices, quantum stochastic calculus, continuous matrix product states and operators, and very traditional quantum optical concepts such as the Mandel photon counting formula and the Lindblad form of the quantum-optical master equation. We close with an example of how our formalism relates to single-photon sources with dephasing.
Forest vegetation across the tropical Pacific: A biogeographically complex region with many analogous environments

The tropical realm of the Pacific contains many islands with closely similar (analogous) environmental settings. Due to the `filter effect' of the ocean, these are occupied by historically different species assemblages. This results in a unique biogeographic complexity not found in any of the continental tropical regions. The paper presents a hierarchical approach to the study of vegetation in analogous environments with data illustrated by a series of diagrams. It begins with differentiating island types and climatic zones. Then it focuses on Pacific-wide biomes, thereafter on island landscape profiles, and finally, on stand-level profiles as a method to compare forest structure and composition among islands in analogous environments at the scale of releves. The conclusions emphasize the urgent need for intensifying conservation-oriented research and capacity building in all island countries of the Pacific (not only Hawaii) to protect their indigenous biodiversities for sustainable uses and the health of their ecosystems. Attention is also drawn to the scientific advantage of using the Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) Network, since it connects the island areas across biogeographic boundaries in form of an experimental design. This design refers to analogous island environments filled with different sets of biodiversities, which follow a trend of impoverishment with indigenous founder species from west to east.
Perceptual Aspects of the Reading Process and Its Development

An acceptable definition of reading would necessarily be broad enough to include many processes: perceiving, comprehending, remembering, and even making inferences. These cognitive processes would be accompanied by other processes which might be said to serve them such as orienting the head, fixating and moving the eyes, and articulating subvocally. Learning to read, therefore, involves more than perceptual learning. Nevertheless, perception is propaedeutic to any other process involved in reading. The information on the printed page must be extracted; it is embodied in the printed stimulus and can only be picked up by perceptual processes. These processes vary tremendously in efficiency: in skill of discrimination; in the way the page is scanned; in the size of the unit extracted; and in flexibility of attention. Perceptual learning takes place in improving these skills and will thus be stressed. Since reading requires extraction of information from visual displays, visual perception will be considered primarily, but phonologic aspects of words and larger speech units must be related to corresponding visual units and will be considered briefly.
Perforation of the innominate vein: complication of a Swan-Ganz catheter.

Abstract A 71-year-old woman underwent placement of a Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter after induction of general anesthesia for a triple-vessel coronary bypass procedure. The surgery was uneventful; however, the patient was in profound shock upon arrival in the cardiac intensive care unit. After a short delay, caused in part by the measurement of high “wedge” pressures, she was returned to the operating room where a laceration of the right innominate vein was repaired. Resuscitation was unsuccessful and death ensued in the operating room. Percutaneous pulmonary artery catheterization is very worthwhile in the management of patients with complicated problems; however, we should be more cautious in considering the risks involved when selecting patients for this procedure.
QACHE: Query Caching in Location-Based Services

Many emerging applications of location-based services continuously monitor a set of moving objects and answer queries pertaining to their locations. Query processing in such services is critical to ensure high performance of the system. Observing that one predominant cost in query processing is the frequent accesses to the database, in this paper we describe how to reduce the number of moving object to database server round-trips by caching query information on the application server tier. We propose a novel-caching framework, named QACHE, which stores and organizes spatially-relevant queries for selected moving objects. QACHE leverages the spatial indices and other algorithms in the database server for organizing and refreshing relevant cache entries within a configurable area of interest, referred to as the cache-footprint, around a moving object. QACHE contains appropriate refresh policies and prefetching algorithms for efficient cache-based evaluation of queries on moving objects. In experiments comparing QACHE to other proposed mechanisms, QACHE achieves a significant reduction (from 63% to $99%) in database roundtrips thereby improving the throughput of an LBS system.
Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies to a Calcium-activated Protease

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a study in which monoclonal antibodies were produced to a Ca++-activated neutral protease (CAF) from muscle located in the ζ disc of skeletal muscle. This enzyme is present in two forms, one requiring higher levels of Ca++ than the other. These two forms migrate together in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gels but have different mobilities in non-denaturing gels; they are also immunologically related as evidenced by cross-reactivity with rabbit antibodies. The rabbit antibodies were produced using SDS-gel-purified enzyme whereas the monoclonal antibodies could be made using a less pure enzyme permitting the use of a non-denatured protein. In this study, BALB/c mice were injected with 1 mg protein , the spleen cells were fused with NS1 cells, and selection was done with HAT media. The hybridomas were assayed for antibody production with the Elisa test using crude enzyme as the immobilized antigen. Cells that were positive were 2X cloned by limiting dilution and again tested. To be certain that positive clones were producing antibody specific for CAF, the clones were tested by a method in which crude CAF was run in an SDS gel; the protein from the gel was transferred to activated paper; and strips of this paper were incubated in monoclonal supernate, washed, and then treated with I-sheep anti-mouse Igs. The strips were autoradiographed and the clones that showed specific binding to CAF were retained.
Physicians’ Dietary Knowledge, Attitudes, and Counseling Practices: The Experience of a Single Health Care Center at Changing the Landscape for Dietary Education

Morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease can be significantly modified through lifestyle interventions, yet there is little emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle in medical education. Improving nutrition education for future physicians would likely lead to improved preparedness to counsel patients on lifestyle interventions. An online anonymous survey of medical residents, cardiology fellows, and faculty in Internal Medicine and Cardiology was conducted at New York University Langone Health assessing basic nutritional knowledge, self-reported attitudes and practices. A total of 248 physicians responded (26.7% response rate). Nutrition knowledge was fair, but few (13.5%) felt adequately trained to discuss nutrition with patients. A majority (78.4%) agreed that additional training in nutrition would allow them to provide better clinical care. Based on survey responses, a dedicated continuing medical education (CME) conference was developed to improve knowledge and lifestyle counseling skills of healthcare providers. In postconference evaluations, attendees reported improved knowledge of evidence-based lifestyle interventions. Most noted that they would prescribe a Mediterranean or plant-based diet and would make changes to their practice based on the conference. An annual CME conference on diet and lifestyle can effectively help interested providers overcome barriers to lifestyle change in clinical practice through improved nutrition knowledge.
Sensory dysphagia: A case series and proposed classification of an under recognized swallowing disorder.

Background Although sensory feedback is a vital regulator of deglutition, it is not comprehensively considered in the standard dysphagia evaluation. Difficulty swallowing secondary to sensory loss may be termed "sensory dysphagia" and may account for cases receiving diagnoses of exclusion, like functional or idiopathic dysphagia. Methods and results Three cases of idiopathic dysphagia were suspected to have sensory dysphagia. The patients had (1) effortful swallowing, (2) globus sensation, and (3) aspiration. Endoscopic sensory mapping revealed laryngopharyngeal sensory loss. Despite normal laryngeal motor function during voluntary maneuvers, laryngeal closure was incomplete during swallowing. The causes of sensory loss were identified: cranial neuropathy from Chiari malformation, immune-mediated neuronopathy, and nerve damage from prior traumatic intubation. Conclusions Sensory loss may cause dysphagia without primary motor dysfunction. Sensory dysphagia should be classified as a distinct form of swallowing motility disorder to improve diagnosis. Increasing awareness and developing appropriate assessment tools may advance dysphagia care.
Linguistic Sexism in Peer-Reviewed Research Influences Recall But Not Perceptions.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) prohibits bias in academic writing. One bias regarding gender is male firstness (i.e., the persistent placement of masculine terms before feminine ones). A recent content analysis found that a male-firstness bias exists in peer-reviewed social science journals. Using a sample of faculty members and graduate students (n = 754), we sought to examine the potential effects of male firstness in academic writing. Participants were randomly assigned to read the results of a bogus research article that demonstrated female firstness or male firstness; we also manipulated the topic of the article to be neutral, feminine, or masculine. Participants then responded to measures assessing perceptions and recall. The order of gendered terms and results seemed to influence readers’ recall of information but not their perceptions of the writing. Given these effects, researchers should strive to be conscious of male firstness when writing.
The 'Deep Freeze' in the Lower Federal Court Confirmation Process

The history, impact and future of the judicial confirmation process is examined in the context of legislative "holds" and delay tactics in the Senate.
Trace formulas for Schrödinger operators on star graphs

We derive trace formulas of the Buslaev–Faddeev type for quantum star graphs. One of the new ingredients is high energy asymptotics of the perturbation determinant.
A pediatric case of NF1 and moyamoya syndrome: Neuropsychological evaluation pre- and post-EDAS.

Studies have shown that a subset of patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) experience associated vascular conditions, with moyamoya syndrome one of the most common comorbidities. While NF1 an...
Sustainability policy paradox: coping with changing environmental priorities in municipal waste management

The impacts of climate change are apparent, but the US federal government continues to deny climate science, deregulate, and obstruct international environmental consensus. Municipal governments ar...
Excluding the fork and antifork

Abstract The fork is the tree obtained from the claw K 1 , 3 by subdividing one of its edges once, and the antifork is its complement graph. We give a complete description of all graphs that do not contain the fork or antifork as induced subgraphs.
The formation of isolated ultradiffuse galaxies in romulus25

We use the Romulus25 cosmological simulation volume to identify the largest-ever simulated sample of field ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). At z=0, we find that isolated UDGs have average star formation rates, colors, and virial masses for their stellar masses and environment. Although they tend to have slightly elevated HI masses, UDGs are consistent with the general isolated dwarf galaxy population and make up ~20% of all field galaxies with 10$^7$ 1. Mergers are no more common in UDG than non-UDG progenitors, but mergers that create UDGs tend to happen earlier, produce a temporary boost in spin, and cause star formation to migrate to the outskirts of galaxies, resulting in lower central star formation rates. The centers of the galaxies fade as their central stellar populations age, but their global star formation rates are maintained through bursts of star formation at larger radii. This formation channel is unique relative to other proposals for UDG formation in isolated galaxies, or for UDGs in groups and clusters, demonstrating that UDGs can potentially be formed through multiple mechanisms.
An assessment of trends in the frequency and duration of Karenia brevis red tide blooms on the South Texas coast (western Gulf of Mexico).

Limited data coverage on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in some regions makes assessment of long-term trends difficult, and also impedes understanding of bloom ecology. Here, observations reported in a local newspaper were combined with cell count and environmental data from resource management agencies to assess trends in Karenia brevis "red tide" frequency and duration in the Nueces Estuary (Texas) and adjacent coastal waters, and to determine relationships with environmental factors. Based on these analyses, the Coastal Bend region of the Texas coast has experienced a significant increase in the frequency of red tide blooms since the mid-1990s. Salinity was positively correlated with red tide occurrence in the Nueces Estuary, and a documented long-term increase in salinity of the Nueces Estuary may be a major factor in the long-term increase in bloom frequency. This suggests that freshwater inflow management efforts in Texas should consider impacts on red tide habitat suitability (i.e., salinity regime) in downstream estuaries. Natural climate variability such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, which is strongly related to rainfall and salinity in Central and South Texas, was also an influential predictor of red tide presence/absence. Though no significant change in the duration of blooms was detected, there was a negative correlation between duration and temperature. Specifically, summer-like temperatures were not favorable to K. brevis bloom development. The relationships found here between red tide frequency/duration and environmental drivers present a new avenue of research that will aid in refining monitoring and forecasting efforts for red tides on the Texas coast and elsewhere. Findings also highlight the importance of factors (i.e., salinity, temperature) that are likely to be altered in the future due to both population growth in coastal watersheds and anthropogenic climate change.
Comparison of the Energy and Economic Balance of Crop Production

The article deals with the connection between energy and economic indicators of crop production in the Czech Republic. Herein, a procedure for the determination of energy inputs and outputs from production based on soil-climatic conditions is outlined. For basic arable crops, other possibilities using the production in the energy sector as well as in relation to soil-climatic conditions are evaluated. The article reviews the production and economic parameters of crop production for potential energy use, such as natural production, energy production, electricity and operational profit. The maximum production parameters are achieved by sugar beet and, consequently, maize for silage. Other energy-efficient crops are alfalfa and clover, but with technological problems in processing of existing biogas technologies. The relationship of production results with production conditions shows that energy use of crops is more appropriate in marginal areas, as the margins for energy purposes are approximately constant, while for food purposes in marginal areas, it decreases. The different economic characteristics of crops for food purposes are mainly because of higher quality production in lower areas, which is reflected in the price of production.
The effects of visual biofeedback and visual biofeedback scale size on single limb balance.

Abstract Background Controlling postural sway relies on the assessment and integration of external sensory stimuli by the central nervous system. When there is a loss of one or more of the sensory stimuli, there is often a decrease in balance performance. Visual biofeedback (VBF) has become a popular method to improve balance because of the supplementation to natural visual information with visual cues of the center of pressure. It is also possible to improve balance even further by increasing the scale of VBF. The aim of this investigation was to determine the effects of VBF and increasing VBF scale on single-limb balance in healthy adults. Methods Twenty healthy young adults were recruited. Participants underwent 24, 20-s single limb balance trials on both the right and the left leg. These trials were collected under 4 conditions: 1) eyes-open (EO) with no VBF, 2) EO with 1:1 scale VBF, 3) EO with 2:1 scale VBF, 4) EO with 5:1 scale VBF. Force plate outcomes included resultant, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral Sway. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed and a Bonferonni post-hoc test was used to determine the effects of VBF and VBF scale size on balance. Results Differences were noted in AP Sway and Resultant Sway when VBF was present and the scale size was increased (p Conclusion Providing VBF decreases Sway in single-limb stance for young healthy adults, especially when the scale was increased beyond 1:1 VBF. These results may be clinically applicable for balance rehabilitation and training.
MOSES™ Technology for Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate: A Prospective Double-Blind Randomized Control Trial. Reply.

Purpose:Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate has proven to be efficacious and safe for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. New laser technologies, such as the MOSES™ pulse laser sys...
Focus groups from home: Conducting virtual focus groups during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

In spring 2020, two librarians at Penn State-Abington transitioned a series of planned focus groups online after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person sessions. Despite the added challenges of coordinating online groups, we found that the virtual format was effective and offered advantages over in-person groups. Online focus groups eliminate the need for moderators to coordinate the logistics of reserving rooms, ordering food, and purchasing and setting up external recording equipment. Studies show that subjects experience lower “participation burden” for online groups. Virtual groups also enable researchers to reach and attract populations that are geographically dispersed, less mobile, and more demographically diverse. In this article we will discuss our experience conducting virtual focus groups, best practices for conducting online focus groups, and information we learned that will help improve our spaces and services.
A Sequential Predictive Power Design for a COVID Vaccine Trial

Medical investigations for therapeutics and vaccines for combating a pandemic such as COVID-19, call for flexible and adaptive trial designs that are capable of producing robust results amidst unce...
Boki: Stateful Serverless Computing with Shared Logs

Boki is a new serverless runtime that exports a shared log API to serverless functions. Boki shared logs enable stateful serverless applications to manage their state with durability, consistency, and fault tolerance. Boki shared logs achieve high throughput and low latency. The key enabler is the metalog, a novel mechanism that allows Boki to address ordering, consistency and fault tolerance independently. The metalog orders shared log records with high throughput and it provides read consistency while allowing service providers to optimize the write and read path of the shared log in different ways. To demonstrate the value of shared logs for stateful serverless applications, we build Boki support libraries that implement fault-tolerant workflows, durable object storage, and message queues. Our evaluation shows that shared logs can speed up important serverless workloads by up to 4.7x.
Temporal and spatial concepts in child language: conventional and configurational.

The purpose of this research was to study the temporal and spatial systems of child language. Configurational time/space refers to the location of events/objects relative to referent events/objects (e.g., before/after or across/along) and conventional time/space refers to the specification of cycles/directions and the measurement of duration/distance (e.g., winter/fall or North/South). The research was designed to determine how configurational and conventional notions of time and space emerge in the child's language. The average age of the children in the cross-sectional design was: 3;9, 6;7, and 8;7. The children received a comprehension test that required them to match a sentence with a picture. In general, configurational contrasts were easier to comprehend than conventional contrasts, and, within the configurational problems, location requiring a single referent was easier than location requiring multiple referents. There was no overall difference between temporal and spatial dimensions. The role of conceptual development was discussed within the context of a comparison between first and second language acquisition.
A Semi-supervised Topic-Driven Approach for Clustering Textual Answers to Survey Questions

We propose an algorithm to effectively cluster a specific type of text documents: textual responses gathered through a survey system. Due to the peculiar features exhibited in such responses (e.g., short in length, rich in outliers, and diverse in categories), traditional unsupervised and semi-supervised clustering* techniques are challenged to achieve satisfactory performance as demanded by a survey task. We address this issue by proposing a semi-supervised, topic-driven approach. It first employs an unsupervised algorithm to generate a preliminary clustering schema for all the answers to a question. A human expert then uses this schema to identify the major topics in these answers. Finally, a topic-driven clustering algorithm is adopted to obtain an improved clustering schema. We evaluated this approach using five questions in a survey we recently conducted in the U.S. The results demonstrate that this approach can lead to significant improvement in clustering quality.
Modular Reasoning in Object-Oriented Programming

Difficulties in reasoning about functional correctness and relational properties of object-oriented programs are reviewed. An approach using auxiliary state is briefly described, with emphasis on the author's work. Some near term challenges are sketched.
Studies on beta-glucuronidase: I. Activities in human endometrium

Abstract Endometrial biopsies (suction curette) were obtained from thirty-six different women at various stages of the normal menstrual cycle. These specimens were assayed for glucuronidase activity. An increase in the activity of this enzyme with the passage of time following the first day of menses was detected during the first two thirds of the menstrual cycle. The endometrial glucuronidase declined in the last interval of the cycle. Considerable variation was noted and could be explained in part by the character of the clinical material studied. The presence or absence of progestational endometrium seemed to play a role of little importance.
'Donkeys of the University': Organizational Culture and its Impact on South African Women Administrators

This article examines workplace experiences of six senior womenadministrators in South African institutions of higher education.Given that women have historically been under-represented andcontinue to be under-represented in the higher education sector,it is important to gain insights into their experiences and toinform the process of creating institutional environments thatare supportive of their professional endeavors.
Performance Limits and Stiffness Control of Multifingered Hands

This paper investigates the fundamental performance limitations of robot hands in terms of their ability to modulate the stiffness and the center of compliance (CC) of a grasped object. We consider the operation of a Cartesian object stiffness controller in two stages. First, object position is determined from joint measurements. Sliding, rolling, and uncertainty in the initial grasp pose can produce errors in the object location calculated from these joint angles. Since the controller produces restoring forces proportional to the calculated object position, these errors can lead to inaccuracy in the commanded forces. Errors in object position estimation can also cause difficulties in the second stage of the controller operation, force generation, which we analyze in terms of the grasp kinematics errors. In practical terms, the lower limit to attainable stiffness may be set by friction in the robot hand, which increases “effective stiffness” until the frictional forces are exceeded. One upper bound to object stiffness is finger tip compliance. Maximum stiffness is also related to the geometry of the grasp configuration: due to controller stability limits, the maximum usable stiffness decreases as the CC is moved away from the fingers, and increases as the object width increases. These results are experimentally confirmed in a precision assembly task with a two-fingered robot hand.
Energy Basis for Collision Severity

This paper presents an objective technique for estimating the severity of automobile collisions. The vehicle damage and the dynamic force-deflection characteristics of the vehicle structure are used to estimate the energy absorbed in plastic deformation of the vehicle. The energy can then be expressed as an "equivalent barrier speed" (EBS). Data are presented relating residual crush and impact speed for full frontal barrier tests to provide the basis for a simple model of the force-deflection characteristics of the vehicle front structure. The results of this model are compared with test data to indicate the types of damage patterns for which the model appears valid.
Accountability and global governance: The view from paternalism

A standard view is that global governance institutions require strong accountability mechanisms to perform effectively and legitimately. Yet these institutions are much better at preaching than practicing accountability. A standard explanation for this gap references interests. For various reasons, institutions and their creators would rather be less than more accountable, and they are quite content to live with the hypocrisy. This article points to an alternative possibility: the public interest. An article of faith is that modern governance should be staffed by relatively autonomous experts who use their specialized knowledge for the greater good; accordingly, they cannot be accountable to those who are affected by their decisions. Too much democracy, therefore, can be a source of dysfunction. Yet expert authority's virtues also can become vices; namely, insulation from those affected by their decisions can also be a source of dysfunction, most closely associated with the “iron cage.” Although the possibility that expertise is both a virtue (effectiveness) and a vice (dysfunction) is well known in the literature on domestic governance, it has been neglected in discussions of global governance. Indeed, the dangers of, and dysfunctions associated with the iron cage might be greater in global governance than in domestic governance precisely because of the absence of institutional checks that often are produced by a preexisting social contract between the rulers and the ruled. I probe this possibility in the area of humanitarian governance.
Resolving Contrasting Regional Rainfall Responses to El Niño over Tropical Africa

AbstractThe evolution of El Nino can be separated into two phases—namely, growth and mature—depending on whether the regional sea surface temperature has adjusted to the tropospheric warming in the remote tropics (tropical regions away from the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean). The western Sahel’s main rainy season (July–September) is shown to be affected by the growth phase of El Nino through (i) a lack of neighboring North Atlantic sea surface warming, (ii) an absence of an atmospheric column water vapor anomaly over the North Atlantic and western Sahel, and (iii) higher atmospheric vertical stability over the western Sahel, resulting in the suppression of mean seasonal rainfall as well as number of wet days. In contrast, the short rainy season (October–December) of tropical eastern Africa is impacted by the mature phase of El Nino through (i) neighboring Indian Ocean sea surface warming, (ii) positive column water vapor anomalies over the Indian Ocean and tropical eastern Africa, and (iii) h...
Shepherding a flock of different fleece: a historical and social analysis of the unique attributes of the African American pastoral caregiver.

Scholars researching and writing on the roles of pastor-caregivers in predominantly black congregations have done so using models originally designed to examine the roles of pastor-caregivers in predominantly white churches. This study offers a new model based on the historical development and present reality of black churches that more closely matches the historical and present roles of the black pastor, who can trace his or her roots back to African spiritual traditions.
Impact of Malaria Vector Control Interventions at the Beginning of a Malaria Elimination Stage in a Dominant Area of Anopheles anthropophagus, Hubei Province, China

Abstract: Three towns with similar socio-ecological characteristics, malaria morbidities, and populations were selected for this study to explore economic and effective malaria control measures.The sources of infection were controlled in each town. Impregnated mosquito nets with 2.5% deltamethrin (15 mg/m2) combined with residual spraying of 5% cypermethrin (25 mg/m2) was implemented in cattle and pig pens, as well as in crowded sites in Chenji, whereas the mosquito nets were treated with 2.5% deltamethrin only in Guanqiao Town. All the control measures implemented in Fengling (control town) were the same as those implemented in the towns of Chenji and Guanqiao, except for mosquito elimination control. Results were evaluated and compared based on pathogens and entomology. The densities of Anopheles anthropophagus mosquitoes in houses, outside houses (man bait), as well as in cattle pens and pig pens were reduced by 100%, 71.96%, 94.01%, and 67.42%, respectively at all 4 sites in Chenji Town, whereas the ...
Regulated intramembrane proteolysis of the virulence activator TcpP in Vibrio cholerae is initiated by the tail-specific protease (Tsp).

Vibrio cholerae uses a multiprotein transcriptional regulatory cascade to control expression of virulence factors cholera toxin and toxin-co-regulated pilus. Two proteins in this cascade are ToxR and TcpP - unusual membrane-localized transcription factors with relatively undefined periplasmic domains and transcription activator cytoplasmic domains. TcpP and ToxR function with each other and two other membrane-localized proteins, TcpH and ToxS, to activate transcription of toxT, encoding the direct activator of toxin and pilus genes. Under some conditions, TcpP is degraded in a two-step proteolytic pathway known as regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP), thereby inactivating the cascade. The second step in this proteolytic pathway involves the zinc metalloprotease YaeL; V. cholerae cells lacking YaeL accumulate a truncated yet active form of TcpP termed TcpP*. We hypothesized that a protease acting prior to YaeL degrades TcpP to TcpP*, which is the substrate of YaeL. In this study, we demonstrate that a C-terminal protease called Tsp degrades TcpP to form TcpP*, which is then acted upon by YaeL. We present evidence that TcpH and Tsp serve to protect full-length TcpP from spurious proteolysis by YaeL. Cleavage by Tsp occurs in the periplasmic domain of TcpP and requires residues TcpPA172 and TcpPI174 for wild-type activity.
Parathyroid extract effects on phosphorus metabolism in Rana pipiens.

Abstract The influence of mammalian parathyroid extract on the distribution of phosphorus in blood, urine, and soft tissues of amphibians has been investigated. Under normal ambient temperature, parathyroid extract induced a significant decrease in plasma phosphorus. The latter, however, was not accompanied by a simultaneous hyperphosphaturia, as reported for mammals, whether studies were made of total inorganic phosphorus in individual urine samples or in 24-hour total urine output; similarly, no change was observed in levels of urinary 32 P excretion. Rather, phosphorus excretion tended to decrease in extract-treated Rana pipiens , and Triturus viridescens v. became significantly hypophosphaturic. Lack of an elevated urine phosphorus in frogs was not due to inward skin transport from environmental water. In vivo and in vitro skin 32 P transfer was not extract-influenced, although it did show temperature dependence. The tendency to hypophosphaturia was associated with a marked increase of in vivo phosphorus incorporation into soft tissues and mitochondria after parathyroid extract addition. It was further found that parathormone effects on the heterothermic amphibian were influenced by the temperature to which the animal was acclimated. In contrast to warm-acclimated frogs, those exposed to cold stress responded to hormone administration with a significant hyperphosphaturia, and simultaneously showed a decreased tissue and mitochondrial accumulation of phosphorus. Normal cold-acclimated frogs differed from normal animals maintained at higher temperature by conservation of phosphate through reduced renal release and increased mitochondrial incorporation. It is clear, therefore, that parathormone reverses these cold-induced modifications of phosphorus metabolism. This may provide a rationale for the previously observed degeneration of amphibian parathyroid glands in winter, the increased sensitivity of cold-acclimated frogs to hormone, and the apparent discrepancy between heterotherms and the homoiothermic mammal with respect to parathormone-induced changes in phosphorus distribution.
A binary algorithm for solving n by n systems of integer equations

Abstract We discuss a “binary” algorithm for solving systems of linear equations with integer coefficients. So-called “binary” algorithms differ from ordinary ones in that there is no roundoff error, but only overflow, and the underlying analysis is p -adic analysis rather than conventional real analysis. The advantages of this algorithm are especially apparent when extremely large numbers are involved and no roundoff error can be tolerated. VLSI implementation of this and other “binary” algorithms is very appealing because of the extreme regularity of the circuits involved.
Absence of signaling into CD4 + cells via C3aR and C5aR enables autoinductive TGF-β1 signaling and induction of Foxp3 + regulatory T cells

Complement provides costimulatory signals to T cells. Medof and colleagues demonstrate that an absence of complement signaling in naive T cells generates an autoinductive loop to drive induced regulatory T cells.
Delayed triggering of the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake by viscoelastic stress transfer

Stress changes in the crust due to an earthquake can hasten the failure of neighbouring faults and induce earthquake sequences in some cases1,2,3,4,5. The 1999 Hector Mine earthquake in southern California (magnitude 7.1) occurred only 20 km from, and 7 years after, the 1992 Landers earthquake (magnitude 7.3). This suggests that the Hector Mine earthquake was triggered in some fashion by the earlier event. But uncertainties in the slip distribution and rock friction properties associated with the Landers earthquake have led to widely varying estimates of both the magnitude and sign of the resulting stress change that would be induced at the location of the Hector Mine hypocentre—with estimates varying from -1.4 bar (ref. 6) to +0.5 bar (ref. 7). More importantly, coseismic stress changes alone cannot satisfactorily explain the delay of 7 years between the two events. Here we present the results of a three-dimensional viscoelastic model that simulates stress transfer from the ductile lower crust and upper mantle to the brittle upper crust in the 7 years following the Landers earthquake. Using viscoelastic parameters that can reproduce the observed horizontal surface deformation following the Landers earthquake, our calculations suggest that lower-crustal or upper-mantle flow can lead to postseismic stress increases of up to 1–2 bar at the location of the Hector Mine hypocentre during this time period, contributing to the eventual occurrence of the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake. These results attest to the importance of considering viscoelastic processes in the assessment of seismic hazard8,9,10,11.
P(4) Affine and Superhamiltonian Formulations of Charged Particle Dynamics

We establish a correspondence between the recently proposedP(4) affine and the standard superhamiltonian descriptions of the electrodynamics of classical charged particles. TheP(4) theory uses a generalized affine connection on the affine frame bundleA(M) over spacetime, and an affine connection is induced on phase space thought of as the vector bundleT*M. On the phase space manifoldT*M this affine structure defines a covariant canonical symplectic form, which, when coupled with the canonical free-particle superhamiltonian, reproduces the Lorentz force law for classical charged particles. Conversely, one may “split” the noncanonical symplectic form onT*M to define an affine connection onA(M) and thus return to theP(4) theory from symplectic geometry. The correspondence also allows a geometrization of superhamiltonian dynamics. Roughly speaking, the symplectic form onT*M is geometrized as anR4-affine connection onA(M), and the superhamiltonian is geometrized as an affine difference function on the local momentum-energy tangent affine spaces.