cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-temperature low-cycle fatigue of Alloy 800H

Abstract Low-cycle fatigue tests have been carried out on Alloy 800H in the temperature range 22–760 °C with either diametral strain measurement with conversion to axial strain or direct axial strain measurement. The axial strain was cycled between equal positive and negative values in the range of 2–0.3%. The number of cycles to failure as a function of the plastic strain range deviated from the Coffin–Manson Law at the lower strain ranges. At one temperature where tests were interrupted for intermittent SEM examination of the specimen surfaces, cracks were detected very early in the test. Determination of crack propagation rates by measurement of striation widths on the fracture surfaces allowed comparison of these rates with Δ J values for the stress–strain hysteresis loops.
Recent advances in in-vehicle embedded systems

The number of computer based functions embedded in vehicles has increased significantly in the past two decades. An in-vehicle embedded electronic architecture is a complex distributed system; the development of which is a cooperative work involving different manufacturers and suppliers. There are several key demands in the development process, such as safety requirements, real-time assessment, schedulability, composability, etc. Intensive research is being conducted to address these issues. This paper reviews recent technology advances in relevant aspects and covers a range of topics highlighted above.
A canonical simplifier for trigonometric expressions in the kinematic equation

Abstract We present a new canonical simplifier for a class of trigonometric expressions that occur in the kinematic equation. The expressions consist of rational numbers and the function symbols +, -, *, /, sin, and cos. Variables are not allowed and the arguments of sin and cos are limited to rational multiples of π. We present an efficient algorithm which computes a simple normal form in the real domain, in contrast to the known methods which either produce unnecessarily complicated normal forms or are inefficient due to large integer arithmetic. The simplifier has successfully been applied in the field of robot kinematics.
Abnormal prothrombin in the vitamin K-deficient rat

Vitamin K is required for the post-translational formation of gamma-carboxyglutamyl residues in the vitamin K-dependent plasma clotting factors. Interference with vitamin K action results in the appearance of undercarboxylated, "abnormal," forms of prothrombin in bovine and human plasma, but the extent of this response in the rat has been controversial. Development of amidolytic and immunochemical assays for rat prothrombin have now shown that plasma from vitamin K-deficient or Warfarin-treated rats contains a non-BaSO4 adsorbable (undercarboxylated) pool of prothrombin that is equivalent to between 5 and 10% of the normal plasma prothrombin concentration.
Innovation within IBM (and WebSphere) development through university collaborations

Historically over the years, IBM has supported a wide array of university relations programs, at the corporate, business unit/product division and local (geographical) levels. These programs have been used to support a variety of objectives that include: product innovation, testing, proof-of-concepts and showcases; talent development and recruiting; sales opportunities; corporate citizenship and visibility; and others. An effective application of these university relations resources and programs occurs within the Chief Technology Offices (CTOs) of several IBM Software Group (SWG) product divisions. A notable example is WebSphere CTO, and specifically its Emerging Technology Institute (ETI), which defines the new products, new features, new technologies etc. for the IBM WebSphere product portfolio. It maintains a pair of regional university relations centers, the Centers for Advanced Studies (CAS), located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (US) and Toronto (Canada), which are also co-located at two of WebSphere's largest product development sites. These centers work directly with the local universities in support of product innovation and (student) talent development and recruitment, and are part of a larger network of some 26 such centers located around the world. This talk will provide an overview of the various IBM corporate university relations programs that are managed by the Global University Programs (GUP) team. These include the IBM Shared University Relations (SUR) program, the IBM Faculty Awards and Innovation Awards programs, the IBM PhD Fellowship program, the Open Collaborative Research (OCR) program and many others. It will also provide an overview of other special programs within IBM that support educational and research institutions, including the Academic Initiative, the Systems and Technology Group (STG) University Alliances, Corporate Citizen and Corporate Affairs (CCCA) and many others. An overview of the CAS program, together with the structure of IBM university relations world wide from country to country, will be provided. It will presented in a context that demonstrates how the 26 CAS programs and numerous local country university relations teams leverage these programs to maintain a strong partnership with local academia, while driving innovation within IBM products and services development. This talk will conclude with an outstanding example of how RTP CAS, IBM university relations and IBM hardware development partnered with a local university to develop a revolutionary cloud computing solution, the Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) developed at NC State University in Raleigh NC.
The bioavailability in man of marketed brands of chlorpropamide.

A specific TLC assay procedure has been used to compare the bioavailability of three brands of chlorpropamide, Diabetasi, Diabinese, and Prodiaben. Serum concentrations of drug were determined at various times after administration of single oral doses to normal volunteers in a crossover study. Prodiaben gave significantly lower serum levels than the other two brands during the first 24 h after dosing.
A study of the dependence of the human erythrocyte glucose transport system on membrane sulfhydryl groups.

A brief review of the data relating the glucose transport system and other membrane functions of red cells to surface sulfhydryl groups is presented. The effect of a variety of sulfhydryl reagents on glucose efflux rates from loaded red cells was studied. Neither iodoacetate nor iodoacetamide at 5mm inhibited efflux. Several maleimide derivatives and disulfides inhibited efflux in 0.7 to 2.0mm concentrations. Organomercury compounds, on the other hand, were active in the 0.07 to 0.1mm range. These data suggest that, if sulfhydryl groups are important in the glucose efflux process, they are not equally accessible to the above reagents; and that the primary effect of these reagents may be on structural elements near membrane sulfhydryl groups.
Gas-Ionization Sampling Calorimeters

Main features of gas-ionization sampling calorimeters are outlined and compared with acrylic scintillator wave-length shifter calorimeters. Calorimetry by track counting using Geiger and limited streamer modes is discussed.
Development of theoretical approaches to the control of a water-treatment system

Abstract The Advanced Life Support/NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (ALS/NSCORT) focuses on research and development of technologies to support human habitation during space missions. This research was done as part of an effort to maintain crewmembers’ water supply in a closed life-support system. The water subsystem was the primary focus of this study because water is one of the most expensive and important resources for human survival. This paper focuses on the application of previously-developed methodologies for controlling a water-treatment system. The water-treatment and usage model was set up based on the Baseline Value and Assumptions Document (BVAD) published by NASA. The conditions, or “states”, of the system are captured hourly in the model. Control policies are defined in terms of treatment efficiencies. One control policy is to be used for the system at the beginning of each hour. A simulation is developed to study the impact of different control policies to this model. The Markov Decision Process (MDP) is used to aid the decision of choosing a policy to be used. In order for the MDP to pick the best policy, a state-space exploration technique, the Controlled Random Walk, is used for state-space exploration. This technique, together with re-initialization of initial system conditions, allow the system to visit a larger portion of the state space compared to some other techniques. In order to describe the state transitions, transition-probability matrices need to be computed. A probability-convergence technique is developed to minimize bias while computing these matrices. This technique is based on the Kullback–Leibler divergence measure, but modified for this application. A test case is constructed to assess the performance of best policies. Three scenarios with different levels of fluctuation, or disturbances, of water-consumption and treatment efficiencies are introduced in the test case. Results show that the best policies outperformed cases where fixed policies, as well as random policies, are used in all three scenarios.
Reperfusion strategies in the management of extremity vascular injury with ischaemia

Background: Extremity injury with ischaemia is the most common pattern of vascular trauma and is a challenge for surgeons who must make decisions about the timing and mechanism of limb reperfusion. In modern military conflicts, effective use of limb tourniquets and rapid transport of the injured have increased the number of casualties who reach a medical service with potentially survivable vascular trauma. This report provides a review of extremity ischaemia and reperfusion following vascular trauma. Methods: A review was undertaken of extremity vascular injury with ischaemia, including a focus on adjuncts aimed at reducing reperfusion injury and improving neuromuscular recovery and limb salvage. Results: Findings from basic and clinical research support the need to restore perfusion to an ischaemic limb as soon as possible in order to achieve optimal neuromuscular recovery. Large-animal studies demonstrate that haemorrhagic shock worsens the impact of ischaemia on the neuromuscular structures of the limb and reduces the ischaemic threshold to as little as 1 h. Surgical adjuncts such as vascular shunts, fasciotomy, regional limb cooling and ischaemic conditioning may reduce the severity of ischaemic injury. Medical therapies have also been described including hypertonic saline, statins and ethyl pyruvate, which reduce the inflammatory response following limb reperfusion. Conclusion: Contemporary translational research refutes a casual approach to extremity vascular injury with ischaemia, instead emphasizing expedited reperfusion. Surgical and medical adjuncts exist to expedite reperfusion and mitigate reperfusion injury. Additional research and development of these adjuncts is necessary to improve quality or functional limb salvage after vascular trauma. Copyright © 2011 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fructose levels in sex accessory organs of mature golden hamsters.

Sex accessory organs of the hamster contain fructose. The levels of fructose in the seminal vesicles are comparable to those in the anterior and ventral lobes of the prostate glands. Five days after castration the concentration of this sugar was lower in the seminal vesicles than in the prostate glands. Testosterone (20 mg/kg X4) administration was more effective in maintaining prostate fructose levels in the castrate hamster than it was in the seminal vesicles under similar conditions. (Endocrinology 77: 1147, 1965)
Longitudinal correlates of health care-seeking behaviors among HIV-seropositive injection drug users: how can we intervene to improve health care utilization?

Objective: To identify modifiable factors associated with health care utilization by HIV-negative seropositive injection drug users (IDUs). Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data from 966 participants in a randomized controlled trial of a behavioral intervention designed to address medical care, adherence, and risk reduction. The outcomes of this study were usual place for care (clinic vs. emergency room) and frequency of primary care visits. Results: Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that increase in "importance of HIV care scale" score (odds ratio [OR] = 2.99; P < 0.001), empowerment (OR = 3.53; P < 0.001), utilization of case management (OR = 3.07; P = 0.007), and having a stable residence (OR = 2.63; P = 0.008) were significantly associated with participants being "clinic users." Increase in importance of HIV care scale score (OR = 5.65; P = 0.01) increased empowerment (OR = 2.42; P = 0.005), taking greater control of one's health (OR = 2.17; P = 0.001), having health insurance (OR = 2.58; P = 0.003), utilization of case management (OR = 3.14; P = 0.027), and CD4 count ≥200 cells/mm 3 (OR = 2.09; P = 0.007) were significantly associated with reporting 2 or more primary HIV care visits in the past 6 months. Conclusions: Future interventions for this population may be strengthened by addressing the importance of HIV primary care; empowering participants with respect to the health care system; and promoting linkages to case management, health insurance, and local housing programs.
Studies on osteoporosis VII. Effect of 17 beta-hydroxy-4-estren-3-one 17-decanoate on experimental osteoporosis.

Abstract Total body neutron activation analysis was employed to measure total calcium in C3H/St(Ha) female mice. Ninety-nine percent of total body calcium is in bone and loss of calcium was used as an index of osteoporosis. Heparin (500 U/kg B.I.D.) treatment for three months resulted in significant osteoporosis. 17β-Hydroxy-4-estren-3-one 17-de-canoate 1.5 mg/kg or 4 mg/kg twice monthly prevented this heparin accelerated osteoporosis. The results suggest that 17β-hydroxy-4-estren-3-one 17-decanoate may be capable of preventing bone loss and partially increasing bone mass in patients exposed to osteoporosis inducing regimens.
Long-term Function and Quality of Life After Esophageal Resection for Cancer and Barrett's

Esophagectomy is the treatment of choice for cancer or high-grade dysplasia. Although the patients frequently experience symptoms postoperatively, their quality of life is most often comparable to that of a control population. This article provides details of post-esophagectomy symptomatology and examines how quality of life can be measured in these patients.
A FOURTH-ORDER ACCURATE SCHEME FOR SOLVING ONE-DIMENSIONAL HIGHLY NONLINEAR STANDING WAVE EQUATION IN DIFFERENT THERMOVISCOUS FLUIDS

Combination of a fourth-order Pade compact finite difference discretization in space and a fourth- order Runge-Kutta time stepping scheme is shown to yield an effective method for solving highly nonlinear standing waves in a thermoviscous medium. This accurate and fast-solver numerical scheme can predict the pressure, particle velocity, and density along the standing wave resonator filled with a thermoviscous fluid from linear to strongly nonlinear levels of the excitation amplitude. The stability analysis is performed to determine the stability region of the scheme. Beside the fourth- order accuracy in both time and space, another advantage of the given numerical scheme is that no additional attenuation is required to get numerical stability. As it is well known, the results show that the pressure and particle velocity waveforms for highly nonlinear waves are significantly different from that of the linear waves, in both time and space. For highly nonlinear waves, the results also indicate the presence of a wavefront that travels along the resonator with very high pressure and velocity gradients. Two gases, air and CO2, are considered. It is observed that the slopes of the traveling velocity and pressure gradients are higher for CO2 than those for air. For highly nonlinear waves, the results also indicate the higher asymmetry in pressure for CO2 than that for air.
Turning Silence into Speech and Action: Prison Activism and the Pedagogy of Empowered Citizenship

Based on almost 50 years of combined experience as prison activists and prison teachers, the authors offer three case studies of prison activism and pedagogy in action. The first case study, by Hartnett, details the “artistry of agency” as enacted in poetry workshops in prison and in public poetry events, thus illustrating artistic communication. The second, by Wood, examines how friendship becomes political in the epistolary communication between free and imprisoned correspondents, thus addressing interpersonal communication. The third, by McCann, addresses web-based communication as a tool for advocacy for condemned prisoner/activists on Texas’s death row, and hence political communication. Taken as a whole, the three case studies celebrate different communication strategies as avenues of enlightenment and empowerment while offering powerful arguments for abolishing the prison–industrial complex.
Wnt signaling: relevance to β-cell biology and diabetes

Interest in the importance of Wnt signaling in diabetes has risen after identification of the transcription factor TCF7L2, a component of this pathway, as a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Here, we review emerging new evidence that Wnt signaling influences endocrine pancreas development and modulates mature β-cell functions including insulin secretion, survival and proliferation. Alterations in Wnt signaling might also impact other metabolic tissues involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes, with TCF7L2 proposed to modulate adipogenesis and regulate GLP-1 production. Together, these studies point towards a role for Wnt signaling in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, highlighting the importance of further investigation of this pathway to develop new therapies for this disease.
Predictions for eclipses of Nereid by Neptune

Neptune will eclipse its satellite Nereid (Neptune II) on 2007 April 27 from 00 to 06 h UT and on 2008 April 21 from 12 to 17 h UT, with uncertainties of about 3 h; and a third eclipse may occur on 2009 April 17. These events offer unique opportunities for astrometric and geophysical measurement.
Cryogenic EBSD reveals structure of directionally solidified ice–polymer composite

Abstract Despite considerable research efforts on directionally solidified or freeze-cast materials in recent years, little fundamental knowledge has been gained that links model with experiment. In this contribution, the cryogenic characterization of directionally solidified polymer solutions illustrates, how powerful cryo-scanning electron microscopy combined with electron backscatter diffraction is for the structural characterization of ice–polymer composite materials. Under controlled sublimation, the freeze-cast polymer scaffold structure is revealed and imaged with secondary electrons. Electron backscatter diffraction fabric analysis shows that the ice crystals, which template the polymer scaffold and create the lamellar structure, have a-axes oriented parallel to the direction of solidification and the c-axes perpendicular to it. These results indicate the great potential of both cryo-scanning electron microscopy and cryo-electron backscatter diffraction in gaining fundamental knowledge of structure–property–processing correlations.
Colugo: The Flying Lemur of South-East Asia

N. Lim 2007. Colugo: The Flying Lemur of South-East Asia. Draco Publishing, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 80 pp. ISBN 981005-6454-6, price (paper), $25.20. The persistent decline in educational opportunities and funding for descriptive organismal research, including the demise of mammalogy courses at many North American institutions, has been well documented (Greene 2005). In tropical regions, where most species are poorly known if described at all, a few scientists have sustained the flow of natural history data by training corps of parataxonomists to document tropical biodiversity (Basset et al. 2004). Unbeknownst to many Western readers of technical journals, however, biological institutions in tropical countries have been training students in natural history and publishing their research for local consumption. While conducting field research in Malaysian Borneo for my dissertation, I whiled away many an hour waiting for immigration and research permits by perusing the natural history books in Kota Kinabalu's 2 bookstores. Reprints of colonial memoirs accounted for a substantial portion of volumes on sale, but during my 3 field seasons I witnessed substantial growth in the number of biological monographs and technical-popular hybrids …
Effect of dietary nickel on growth, urease activity, blood parameters and tissue mineral concentrations in the neonatal pig.

Day-old pigs were individually fed a low nickel (0.16 ppm) liquid milk-based diet supplemented with either 0, 5 or 25 ppm nickel on a dry matter basis for a 21-day period. At the end of the liquid feeding period, five pigs per treatment were killed, and the remaining five were fed a dried skim milk-based diet (0.12 ppm nickel) with similar levels of added nickel for an additional 28 days. Dietary nickel did not affect animal gain, liver cholesterol, serum protein concentrations or bacterial urease activity in the gastrointestinal tract. The addition of 5 ppm nickel to the basal dry diet reduced ammonia concentrations in the cecum by 33%. Pigs receiving the high level of nickel had decreased serum alkaline phosphatase and increased serum glucose at 49 days, compared to controls. Animals receiving 5 ppm nickel had higher liver iron and zinc concentrations than controls at 21 days but not at 49 days. Control pigs had lower kidney and lung nickel concentrations than animals receiving 5 ppm nickel at 21 days but not at 49 days. Increasing dietary nickel from 5 to 25 ppm re sulted in increased concentrations of nickel in serum, kidney, lung, spleen and muscle. These results suggest that 0.12-0.16 ppm nickel is adequate for growth of neonatal pigs fed milk-based diets. However, additional nickel may improve the iron and zinc status of the young pig. J. Nutr. 114: 845-853, 1984.
Des-γ-carboxy (abnormal) prothrombin and hepatocellular carcinoma: A critical review

Des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP) appears to be a useful tumor marker for the evaluation of patients with HCC. DCP is produced by the malignant hepatocyte and appears to result from an acquired posttranslational defect in the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase system. DCP production is independent of vitamin K deficiency, although pharmacological doses of vitamin K can transiently suppress DCP production in some tumors. DCP levels greater than 0.1 AU/ml (100 ng/ml) on ELISA are highly suggestive of HCC or tumor recurrence. Normalization of DCP levels correlates well with successful tumor resection and appears to be an excellent marker of tumor activity. Plasma DCP does not correlate with AFP levels. However, when used together, DCP and AFP assays increase the sensitivity to HCC in more than 85% of patients. The specificity of the DCP assay appears to be superior to that of AFP; fewer than 5% of patients with nonmalignant liver disorders have DCP levels in excess of 100 ng/ml. In patients with medium to large HCC, DCP levels do correlate with tumor size. In tumors of less than 3 cm, DCP levels are increased in only 20% of patients. However, the diagnostic threshold for the DCP assay may be improved by newer assays that can detect partially carboxylated DCP species not measured by the monoclonal antibody-based ELISA.
A framework for performance based logistics: A system of systems approach

Performance Based Logistics (PBL) represents a highly successful supply chain strategy. This success comes from PBLs ability to strategically align cross-functional and inter-organizational processes of multiple firms, customers, and bill payers. This is accomplished through use of multi-year contracts, performance metrics, and incentive structures that converts the year-to-year cost streams associated with the spare and repair of the traditional return on sales, return to specification, approach to post-production support, into cost avoidance pools to be harvested under a return on investment, reliability improvement post-production support strategy. Academic research into PBL is just emerging, and is very promising. As an emerging research area there is no overall, definitive framework that succinctly describes the essence of PBL, and lays a foundation that guides an overall PBL research agenda. This paper uses a system of systems (SoS) approach, informed by a grounded theory analysis, to inductively derive such a framework. The investigation involved an extensive review of both academic and practitioner literature dealing with PBL, a review of Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports pertaining to PBL, involvement in PBL conferences and workshops, and 60+ recorded and transcribed interviews with practitioners actively engaged in managing the sustainment of complex and high cost systems. This research presents an overall framework that encapsulates and guide PBL research and practice.
Expression of Modified Human Cytochrome P450 2E1 in Escherichia coli, Purification, and Spectral and Catalytic Properties

Abstract Human cytochrome P450 (P450) 2E1 is of interest because of its role in the oxidation of numerous drugs and carcinogens. The purification of the protein from human liver is difficult, and we report the development of a system for relatively high-level expression in Escherichia coli . A cDNA was prepared from liver cDNA by polymerase chain reaction methods and several variants with modified 5′-termini were constructed. Analysis of seven of these indicated that the highest levels of expression were found when the first 21 codons of the native sequence were deleted and the Trp immediately following the resulting N-terminal Met was changed to Ala (GCT). Levels of 40-nmol membrane-bound P450 2E1 (liter culture) −1 mere routinely recovered. The recombinant P450 2E1 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from the bacterial membranes in two ion-exchange steps in >80% yield. Ferric P450 2E1 was isolated in a mixed spin state. The enzyme was active in chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation; the addition of human liver cytochrome b 5 lowered the K m for the substrate and increased V max . N-Terminal amino acid sequence analysis yielded the expected first 21 residues. The expression system should facilitate the availability of human P450 2E1 and antibodies for studies of the enzyme.
Experiments in Democratic Education: Dewey's Lab School and Korczak's Children's Republic

For democracy to thrive, students increasingly need to participate in democratic education. During the first half of the twentieth century, two education reformers individually developed, refined, and implemented two different forms of democratic education. In this article, the author describes the purpose of public schooling and how John Dewey and Janusz Korczak implemented social studies within the Laboratory School and the Children's Republic, respectively.
Optimization of Consumer Acceptability and Sensory Characteristics for Marinated Broiler Breast Meat

In the present study, the effects of marination on the quality of poultry breast meat deboned at various times postmortem (PM) were investigated. One of the specific goals was to optimize the processing conditions between deboning time, tumbling duration, and poultry breast meat tenderness, with the objective of developing specific rec- ommendations on processing practices adopted by the poultry industry. Broiler breast (Pectoralis major) muscles deboned at 0.25, 1.5, 3, 6, and 24 h PM were vacuum tumbled with 20% solution added containing 1% salt and 0.45% sodium tripolyphosphate for either 15 or 30 min. Meat quality measurements including marination uptake, retention, cooking loss, instrumental texture, sensory descriptive analysis, and consumer acceptance were performed. Results indicated that acceptable tenderness was achieved for marinated treatments deboned at 3 h or later PM. Fillets deboned at shorter PM were rated tough by consumers. Marination duration had very little effect on the quality of the meat processed.
Calcium Channel Antagonist Isradipine Attenuates Cocaine-Induced Motor Activity in Rats: Correlation with Brain Monoamine Levelsa.

Cocaine is a widely abused psychomotor stimulant which acts in the central nervous system (CNS) by blocking the reuptake site. It has been estimated that between 30-60million people have abused cocaine in the United States. Unfortunately, an effective therapy for cocaine abuse is not available. The calcium channel antagonists (CCAs) are commonly used in the therapy of various cardiovascular diseases and are under investigation due to their potential in modulating calcium-dependent neurotransmitter release. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute effect of isradipine on cocaine-induced locomotor and stereotypic activity and correlate the changes in dopamine, serotonin and their metabolites-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA)-levels in the rat brain. Animals were pretreated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with vehicle or CCAs. After 30 minutes they were administered cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p.). During this period, motor and stereotypic activity was monitored. In a separate experiment, animals were dosed as described above and were sacrificed by decapitation after the 30-minute treatment period. The nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus were dissected and analyzed for monoamines using a high-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD). Isradipine (5mg/kg, i.p.) inhibited cocaine-induced locomotor and stereotypic activity by 49% and 36%, respectively, as compared to controls. In the nucleus accumbens cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) increased extracellular dopamine and serotonin levels by 28% and 73%, respectively, as compared to controls. Isradipine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) pretreatment decreased cocaine-induced extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens by 8% while decreasing serotonin levels by 9%. Cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) produced increased levels of both extracellular dopamine and serotonin (9% and 4%, respectively) in the caudate nucleus. Isradipine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) pretreatment decreased cocaine (20 mg/kg i.p.)-induced extracellular dopamine and serotonin levels in the caudate nucleus by 18% and 8%, respectively. These experiments suggest that a central mechanism may be involved in attenuation of cocaine-induced motor behaviors by isradipine.
Molecular and genetic epidemiology of cancer in low- and medium-income countries.

Abstract Background Genetic and molecular factors can play an important role in an individual’s cancer susceptibility and response to carcinogen exposure. Cancer susceptibility and response to carcinogen exposure can be either through inheritance of high penetrance but rare germline mutations that constitute heritable cancer syndromes, or it can be inherited as common genetic variations or polymorphisms that are associated with low to moderate risk for development of cancer. These polymorphisms can interact with environmental exposures and can influence an individual’s cancer risk through multiple pathways, including affecting the rate of metabolism of carcinogens or the immune response to these toxins. Thus, these genetic polymorphisms can account for some of the geographical differences seen in cancer prevalence between different populations. Objectives This review explores the role of molecular epidemiology in the field of cancer prevention and control in low- and medium-income countries. Findings Using data from Human Genome Project and HapMap Project, genome-wide association studies have been able to identify multiple susceptibility loci for different cancers. The field of genetic and molecular epidemiology has been further revolutionized by the discovery of newer, faster, and more efficient DNA-sequencing technologies including next-generation sequencing. Conclusions The new DNA-sequencing technologies can play an important role in planning and implementation of cancer prevention and screening strategies. More research is needed in this area, especially in investigating new biomarkers and measuring gene-environment interactions.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Protects Mice From Lethal Stroke

Abstract Stroke is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. The ideal therapeutic approach would minimize cell death and regenerate brain tissue. In order to investigate some questions that are related to such an approach, we have generated a mouse model in which we induce a stroke using the middle cerebral artery occlusion method. After 2 h occlusion followed by reperfusion, 99% of mice died within 8 days of stroke. Total bone marrow cell transplantation by intravenous injection revealed an optimal timing of cell transfer in two doses on days 1 (same day of surgery) and 2 after surgery. Moreover, intravenous injection of Sca1+ bone marrow cells (enriched in hematopoietic stem cells) showed a dose–response effect on survival. Surviving mice also had no signs of apparent paralysis or weakness. Tracking analysis using donor stem cells expressing LacZ revealed only few donor cells in the brain. We conclude that hematopoietic stem cell-rich Sca1+ bone marrow cell transplantation after stroke protects the brain of a sizeable portion of mice subjected to stroke and alleviate remarkably the resulting neurological morbidity in surviving mice.
Blocking Chemokine Responsive to γ–2/Interferon (IFN)-γ Inducible Protein and Monokine Induced by IFN-γ Activity In Vivo Reduces the Pathogenetic but not the Antiviral Potential of Hepatitis B Virus–specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

Using transgenic mice that replicate hepatitis B virus (HBV) at high levels in the liver as recipients of HBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), we showed that the chemokines responsive to γ–2/IFN-γ inducible protein ([Crg2]IP-10) and monokine induced by interferon-γ (Mig) are rapidly and strongly induced in the liver after CTL transfer. The transferred CTLs produce neither chemokine; rather, they activate (via the secretion of IFN-γ) hepatocytes and nonparenchymal cells of the liver to produce (Crg2)IP-10 and Mig. Importantly, blocking these chemokines in vivo reduces the recruitment of host-derived lymphomononuclear cells into the liver and the severity of the liver disease without affecting the IFN-γ–dependent antiviral potential of the CTLs. The finding that neutralization of these chemokines is associated with maintenance of antiviral effects but diminished tissue damage may be significant for the development of immunotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of chronic HBV infection.
Where have all the engineers gone? (engineering education)

It is pointed out that engineering enrollments have moved up and down like a roller coaster for the last 20 years. The author examines the causes of shifts in engineering enrollments using several regression models. He finds that enrollments are very sensitive to comparative starting salaries, but not to shifts in national averages of math SAT scores or a variable that measures freshman interest in science. Along the way, he discovers that despite huge increases in engineering graduates and shifts in the structure of the US economy, engineering starting salaries remained high and the market for engineering graduates good. >
A method that combines inductive learning with exemplar-based learning

A learning approach that combines inductive learning with exemplar-based learning is described. In the method, a concept is represented by two parts: a generalized abstract description and a set of exemplars (exceptions). Generalized descriptions represent the principles of concepts, whereas exemplars represent the exceptional or rare cases. The method is an alternative for solving the problem of small disjuncts and for representing concepts with imprecise and irregular boundaries. The method for combining inductive learning and exemplar-based learning has been implemented in the flexible concept learning system. Experiments showed that the combined method has comparable performance to that of AQ16 and ASSISTANT in three natural domains. >
Update on Tissue Engineering in Pediatric Urology

Pediatric urology patients often present with congenital or acquired tissue and organ dysfunction that requires surgical reconstruction to recreate the normal genitourinary systems functions. The traditional methods have varying degrees of donor site morbidity or inherent side effects. Tissue engineering is a developing field that aims to replace or regenerate these dysfunctional tissues and organs with cells, biomaterials, or a combination thereof. A tremendous amount of work has been done to these ends in terms of preclinical work, and some clinical trials have resulted. This review highlights the status of these studies in pediatric urology for the use of tissue engineering and reconstruction of the corporal bodies, urethra, and bladder.
Seeded femtosecond supercontinuum in Kr gas

We observe spectral enhancement of femtosecond supercontinua in krypton gas using weak, nJ to μJ, seed pulses with the order of ∼mJ pump pulses resulting in > 3× total energy enhancement and spectral broadening.
Temperature and concentration dependent fibrillogenesis for improved magnetic alignment of collagen gels

Collagen fibrils form the structural basis for a broad range of complex biological tissues and materials. Collagen serves as an ideal natural polymer, formed as gels or matrices, for engineering solutions aimed at the regeneration of tissues following damage or disease. Recapitulation of native tissue hierarchical structure involves the careful consideration of the fibril-microstructure of the target tissue extracellular matrix and the choice of fibrillogenesis conditions that favor spatially-dependent fibril alignment. While magnetic fields non-destructively influence collagen fibrillogenesis and alignment, previous methods have demonstrated only limited control, especially when preparing large volume tissue constructs suitable for implantation. In this study, we investigate the use of temperature-controlled fibrillogenesis over a range of applicable collagen concentrations for improved magnetic alignment of polymerizable collagen-fibril gels. Magnetically aligned collagen gels show that bulk and microscale fibril alignment depend on both polymerization temperature and collagen concentration. The degree of fibril alignment at the microscale increased with decreasing polymerization temperature and collagen concentration. Further, computational simulations suggest that lower polymerization temperatures affect the internal gel temperature distribution and convective fluid velocity, potentially facilitating greater fibril alignment. This work demonstrates improvements in observed fibril anisotropy compared to previous work using similar magnetic field strengths, suggesting that temperature and collagen concentration may be utilized to achieve desired fibril alignment and structural properties. Improved control of collagen-based gel structure may better emulate native tissue structural (alignment) and physical properties, with enhanced potential for repair success in vivo.
Effect of sputtered film of platinum on low platinum loading electrodes on electrode kinetics of oxygen reduction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Abstract Localization of Pt electrocatalyst by sputter deposition of a thin film (500 A) on the front surface of a fuel cell electrode containing a supported electrocatalyst (20% Pt/C, 0.4 mg cm−2 loading) has been known to exhibit higher fuel cell performance as compared to that on the electrode without the sputtered film. This study compares the electrode kinetic parameters, electrochemically active surface areas, activation energies and reaction orders for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the sputtered and unsputtered electrodes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells as functions of temperature and pressure. Comparison of the cell performance at 5 atm and 95°C indicates an almost 4 fold improvement in ORR activity at 0.9 V vs. rhe and a similar 3.6 fold improvement in the exchange current densities. The increment in the electrochemically active surface area was about two fold, thereby indicating that factors beyond a surface area increment were responsible for the observed activity enhancement in the ORR. Evaluation of ORR electrode kinetics as a function of temperature indicated a lower activation energy for ORR on the sputtered electrode, as compared to that on the unsputtered electrode. The reaction orders for ORR were, however, the same for both electrodes and were similar to previously obtained values at the Pt microelectrode/Nafion interface, thereby indicating no change in the rate determining step for ORR. This paper also presents the morphological characterization of the electrode/membrane interface using the SEM/EDAX technique, which clearly signifies the two types of Pt—unsupported and supported.
A Work Transfer Perspective of Propulsion System Performance

This paper suggests an approach to analysis of propulsion system performance that focuses entirely on thermodynamic work potential (and loss thereof) as a universal basis for gauging engine performance. This work potential may take a variety of forms, including conventionally known exergy analysis. Emphasis is placed on understanding how work potential initially stored in the chemical bonds of the fuel is manifested as useable work potential in an engine, transferred through a collection of components organized as a propulsion system, and ultimately yields useful thrust work. A model for overall propulsion system efficiency is suggested to facilitate the analysis. Component work transfer functions are introduced as a tool for analyzing work transfer and are used in conjunction with standard methods of block diagram algebra. This analysis reveals the fundamental parameter groupings governing propulsion system thermodynamic performance and makes clear how work is transferred thorough various portions of the engine.
Orthonormal curvature polynomials over a unit circle: basis set derived from curvatures of Zernike polynomials

Zernike polynomials are an orthonormal set of scalar functions over a circular domain, and are commonly used to represent wavefront phase or surface irregularity. In optical testing, slope or curvature of a surface or wavefront is sometimes measured instead, from which the surface or wavefront map is obtained. Previously we derived an orthonormal set of vector polynomials that fit to slope measurement data and yield the surface or wavefront map represented by Zernike polynomials. Here we define a 3-element curvature vector used to represent the second derivatives of a continuous surface, and derive a set of orthonormal curvature basis functions that are written in terms of Zernike polynomials. We call the new curvature functions the C polynomials. Closed form relations for the complete basis set are provided, and we show how to determine Zernike surface coefficients from the curvature data as represented by the C polynomials.
LPP Expression During In Vitro Smooth Muscle Differentiation and Stent-Induced Vascular Injury

Lipoma preferred partner (LPP) has been identified as a protein highly expressed in smooth muscle (SM) tissues. The aim of the present study was to determine mechanisms that regulate LPP expression in an in vitro model of SM cell (SMC) differentiation and in stent-induced pig coronary vessel injury. All trans-retinoic acid treatment of A404 cells induced a strong increase in LPP, as well as SM α-actin, SM myosin heavy chain, and smoothelin mRNA levels, in a Rho kinase (ROK)-dependent manner. Adenovirus mediated overexpression of myocardin in A404 cells significantly increased LPP mRNA expression. Interestingly, inactivation of RhoA with C3-exoenzyme or treatment with ROK inhibitors strongly inhibited myocardin mRNA expression in retinoic acid–treated A404 cells or human iliac vein SMCs. LPP silencing with short interfering RNA significantly decreased SMC migration. LPP expression was also markedly decreased in focal adhesion kinase (FAK)-null cells known to have impaired migration but rescued with inducib...
The limits to our capacity: reflections on resiliency, community engagement, and recovery in 21st-century crises.

Disaster resiliency, as it relates to postdisaster community recovery, is a slippery term that can be misunderstood, if not outright abused. It is difficult to find a universal definition of resiliency that satisfies all of the disciplines that claim ownership of the term and satisfies the 1-definition rule that would measure its impact on individuals, communities, and society. It has been labeled everything from a metaphor to a theory,1 and some authors, although they include acts of nature such as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes in their studies of resiliency, exclude mass violence such as wars and terrorism, epidemics, and pandemics. The world is more complicated as are the ways in which society abuses it. Clearly, there are limits to that resiliency, especially in extreme humangenerated disasters, ready examples being unconventional warfare and terrorism, bioterrorism agents that defy both investigation and control, and major nuclear war for which few possess innate resiliency, physical and emotional, to survive.
Co-translational modification of nascent immunoglobulin heavy and light chains

We have investigated the in vivo co-translational covalent modification of nascent immunoglobulin heavy and light chains. Nascent polypeptides were separated from completed polypeptides by ion-exchange chromatography of solubilized ribosomes on QAE-Sephadex. First, we have demonstrated that MPC 11 nascent heavy chains are quantitatively glycosylated very soon after the asparaginyl acceptor site passes through the membrane into the cisterna of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Nonglycosylated completed heavy chains of various classes cannot be glycosylated after release from the ribosome, due either to rapid intramolecular folding and/or intermolecular assembly, which cause the acceptor site to become unavailable for the glycosylation enzyme. Second, we have shown that the formation of the correct intrachain disulfide loop within the first light chain domain occurs rapidly and quantitatively as soon as the appropriate cysteine residues of the nascent light chain pass through the membrane into the cisterna of the endoplasmic reticulum. The intrachain disulfide loop in the second or constant region domain of the light chain is not formed on nascent chains, because one of the cysteine residues involved in this disulfide bond does not pass through the endoplasmic reticulum membrane prior to chain completion and release from the ribosome. Third, we have demonstrated that some of the initial covalent assembly (formation of interchain disulfide bonds) occurs on nascent heavy chains prior to their release from the ribosome. The results are consistent with the pathway of covalent assembly of the cell line, in that completed light chains are assembled onto nascent heavy chains in MPC 11 cells (IgG2b), where a heavy-light half molecule is the major initial covalent intermediate; and completed heavy chains are assembled onto nascent heavy chains in MOPC 21 cells (IgG1), where a heavy chain dimer is the major initial disulfide linked intermediate.