cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of age and weight on the response to formalin inactivated, alum-adjuvanted hepatitis A vaccine in healthy adults.

Formalin-inactivated, alum-adsorbed, hepatitis A vaccine was evaluated in 100 healthy adults who were stratified at enrollment into two age groups: 18–39 years: n=50; 40–65 years: n=50. All individuals received vaccine at 25 U of viral antigen. After stratification, both groups were randomized to receive either vaccination at 0 and 24 weeks or vaccination at 0, 2 and 24 weeks. Subjects were bled for serology at 0, 2, 4, 24, 28 weeks and 1 year. The seroconversion rate and geometric mean titer (GMT=mIU ml−1) after one dose of vaccine was lower for older subjects [second week: 40 years: 522 (23%) (GMT: 6.1); fourth week: 40 years: 1623 (70%) (GMT: 14.3)]. After a second dose at 2 weeks the seroresponse improved so that there were no longer differences between age groups [24 weeks: 40: 2223 (96%) (GMT: 106.1)]. A third dose at 24 weeks resulted in a 20–40-fold increase in GMT in both age groups. As a separate evaluation height, weight, skin fold thickness, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed by logistic regression for their ability to predict serologic response. Serologic response was significantly associated with lower weight (P=0.032) and BMI (P=0.024) but not with height or skin fold thickness. Hepatitis A vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse experiences. Adults older than 40 years appear to respond less well than younger adults to a single dose of 25 U of hepatitis A vaccine but equally well after two doses of vaccine. The slower antibody response to hepatitis A vaccine in overweight individuals was not attributable to skin adipose tissue.
Pharmacokinetics of lodamide in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Renal Impairment

The pharmacokinetic characteristics of iodamide, a contrast agent for excretion urography, were studied in seven normal subjects and in 15 patients with various degrees of renal impairment. Two different formulations were administered, namely, a 65% solution (iodamide 300) by slow intravenous injection and a 24% solution by slow intravenous (drip) infusion. Both preparations of iodamide exhibited characteristics of an open two-compartment model. In both normal subjects and patients, the contrast agent was excreted almost exlusively in urine. In normal subjects, the pharmacokinetic parameters of both formulations were similar, with a distribution half-life (1/2alpha) of about 3 minutes and a disposition half-life (t1/2beta) of about 69 minutes. An average of 84 per cent of the dose was excreted in urine within 4 hours after administration of iodamide with net renal tubular secretion of about 38 per cent. The binding of iodamide to plasma proteins was negligible, and the extent of biotransformation of iodamide was minimal. In patients with renal impairment, the disposition half-life (t1/2beta) of iodamide ranged from 4.1 to 16.4 hours. Other changes in pharmacokinetic parameters were also seen in patients with renal impairment.
Photoinduced intracluster electron transfer reactions of captured intermediates in gas-phase SN2 reactions

We describe a series of experiments designed to establish the location of the charge-transfer excited states implied by the double minimum potential energy surface for the gas phase SN2 ion molecule reactions. Two distinguishable species, corresponding to the entrance and exit channel ion dipole complexes, are isolated in an ionized free jet. These complexes are interrogated by photodetachment spectroscopy in addition to the photoexcitation and collisional activation induced fragmentation patterns. Charged transfer excited states are evident in the X- × CH4-nYn (n ≥ 2) species in which dissociative intra-cluster electron transfer yields XY- product ions while the SN2 reaction appears to be driven upon photoexcitation of the 1-•CH3I complex.
Pontages pour les reconstructions carotidiennes difficile : une expérience de 17 ans

Les pontages carotidiens (PC) peuvent etre une alternative viable a l'endarteriectomie (EC) ou au stenting (SC) carotidiens pour les revascularisations carotidiennes complexes. Ce travail retrospectif est une revue de l'experience des PC a l'UCLA sur 17 ans pour les reconstructions carotidiennes. Les interventions carotidiennes effectuees entre 1988 et 2005 ont comporte 41 PC chez 39 patients employant le polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, n = 31) ou une veine grande saphene inversee (Veine, n = 10). Les donnees perioperatoires et le suivi a long terme de chaque substitut ont ete statistiquement compares. Il n'y avait aucune difference significative dans la demographie, les facteurs de risque, les indications operatoires, les complications, ou les deces a 30 jours. Il y a eu un AVC postoperatoire dans chaque groupe, soit un taux global d'AVC de 4,9% (PTFE 3,2%, Veine 10%). Il y a eu une occlusion asymptomatique et il y avait deux restenoses serrees dans le groupe PTFE contre une occlusion asymptomatique et une restenose serree dans le groupe Veine. La permeabilite primaire globale etait de 90% et la permeabilite primaire assistee de 97% pour le groupe PTFE (suivi moyen 50 mois), tandis que la permeabilite primaire etait de 80% (suivi moyen 30 mois) dans le groupe Veine. Le PC est une technique sure et efficace avec d'excellents resultats a long terme pour les reconstructions carotidiennes complexes quand l'EC ou le SC peuvent etre contre-indiques.
Acute non-cytopathic bovine viral diarrhea virus infection induces pronounced type I interferon response in pregnant cows and fetuses

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection occurs in the cattle population worldwide. Non-cytopathic (ncp) BVDV strains cause transient infection (TI) or persistent infection (PI) depending on the host's immune status. Immunocompetent adult animals and fetuses in late gestation resolve the infection. Fetal infection in early gestation results in PI with chronic viremia and life-long viral shedding, ensuring virus perpetuation in the population. Eighteen pregnant heifers, divided into three groups, were intranasally inoculated with ncp BVDV2 virus early (day 75) and late (day 175) in gestation, or kept BVDV-naive. Fetuses were retrieved on day 190. Antiviral activity in blood of dams and fetuses, maternal expression of interferon (IFN) stimulated gene 15 kDa (ISG15), virological and serological status of heifers and fetuses, and fetal growth were studied. A pronounced antiviral activity in blood of heifers and TI fetuses during acute BVDV infection was accompanied by drastic up-regulation of ISG15 mRNA in maternal blood. Only one PI fetus expressed low IFN response 115 days post inoculation despite high BVDV antigen and RNA levels. PI fetuses presented with growth retardation. Infection of pregnant heifers with ncp BVDV2 early in gestation adversely affects fetal development and antiviral responses, despite protective immune responses in the dam.
Selected Predictors of Responsible Environmental Behavior: An Analysis

Abstract In this study, we examined the relative contribution of eight variables in predicting responsible environmental behavior. Scores on a validated behavior instrument served as the criterion. High and low behavior groups selected from 171 respondents were compared using members of midwestern Sierra Clubs and Elderhostel programs as subjects. Multilinear regression analyses were used to determine the performance of each predictor variable and to ascertain the most parsimonious set of variables that predicts environmental behavior. Seven of eight variables were found to be statistically significant. They were: (1) level of environmental sensitivity, (2) perceived knowledge of environmental action strategies, (3) perceived skill in using environmental action strategies, (4) psychological sex role classification, (5) individual locus of control, (6) group locus of control, and (7) attitude toward pollution. The one nonsignificant variable was (8) belief in technology. Stepwise regression showed that the...
Developmental Changes of Amino Acids in Ovine Fetal Fluids

We recently reported an unusual abundance of arginine (4-6 mM) in porcine allantoic fluid during early gestation. However, it is not known whether such high concentrations of arginine are unique for porcine allantoic fluid or whether they represent an important physiological phenomenon for mammals. The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that arginine is also the most abundant amino acid in ovine allantoic fluid. Allantoic and amniotic fluids, as well as fetal and maternal plasma samples, were obtained from ewes between Days 30 and 140 of gestation. Glycine was the most abundant amino acid in maternal uterine arterial plasma, representing approximately 25% of total alpha-amino acids. Alanine, glutamine, glycine, plus serine contributed approximately 50% of total alpha-amino acids in fetal plasma. Fetal:maternal plasma ratios for amino acids varied greatly, being less than 1 for glutamate during late gestation, 1.5-3 for most amino acids throughout gestation, and greater than 10 for serine during late gestation. Marked changes were observed in amino acid concentrations in amniotic and allantoic fluids associated with conceptus development. Concentrations of alanine, citrulline, and glutamine in allantoic fluid increased by 20-, 34-, and 18-fold, respectively, between Days 30 and 60 of gestation and were 24.7, 9.7, and 23.5 mM, respectively, on Day 60 of gestation (compared with 0.8 mM arginine). Remarkably, alanine, citrulline, plus glutamine accounted for approximately 80% of total alpha-amino acids in allantoic fluid during early gestation. Serine (16.5 mM) contributed approximately 60% of total alpha-amino acids in allantoic fluid on Day 140 of gestation. These novel findings of the unusual abundance of traditionally classified nonessential amino acids in allantoic fluid raise important questions regarding their roles in ovine conceptus development.
Immunoreactive growth hormone-releasing hormone in rat leukocytes.

Abstract In the present study, we evaluated whether mononuclear leukocytes could synthesize and secrete growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) in vitro. By using RNA slot-blot analysis, we detected maximum basal levels of specific GHRH mRNA in the cytoplasm of rat leukocytes after an 8 h in vitro incubation. Northern gel analysis demonstrated that the specific GHRH RNA was polyadenylated and had a molecular mass of approximately 0.8 kDa. Further studies using antibody affinity chromatography followed by size separation on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns showed two peaks of immunoreactive (ir) material, a large molecular weight species, and a smaller molecular weight species at approximately 5 kDa. The smaller molecular weight irGHRH appeared to be de novo synthesized since it could be radiolabeled with tritiated amino acids. Both molecular species were detectable in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with specific antibodies made to the first 23 amino acids as well as specific antibody obtained commercially made to the entire molecule (1–43). Although the larger molecular weight form appeared to be the more predominant, only the lower molecular weight form could block the binding of 125 I-hGHRH to pituitary cells. Most importantly, the lower molecular weight leukocyte-derived GHRH stimulated an increase in the level of GH RNA in the pituitary. We conclude that lymphocytes produce an irGHRH that is similar to hypothalamic GHRH in terms of bioactivity, antigenicity, and molecular weight. The findings demonstrate a potential regulatory loop between the immune and neuroendocrine tissues.
Capture of a vortex by a pinning site in superfluid 4He

Abstract A method is outlined for calculating the motion of vortex filaments in the presence of pinning sites. Results are presented on how a free vortex can be captured by a pinning site.
The hemodynamic response of the lower extremities to exercise

Summary After moderate exercise the normal arterial circulation is able to maintain ankle blood pressure with only a transient decrease in digit blood flow. If exercise is made more severe by increasing the strength of contraction, arterial inflow is impeded, resulting in ischemia. The extent of arterial inflow impedance is directly related to the strength of contraction and the pressure in the nutrient artery supplying the muscle. The resulting ischemia is sufficient to result in a marked decrease in resistance and an increase in vascular capacitance to the degree that mean pressure falls and distal foot flow is shunted to the muscle. Except for the amount of exercise involved, these hemodynamic changes are identical to those seen in patients with obstructive arterial disease.
Routine Intraoperative Frozen Section Analysis of Bronchial Margins Is of Limited Utility in Lung Cancer Resection

Background Residual disease at the bronchial margin after resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) adversely affects survival. To ensure an R0 resection, thoracic surgeons commonly use intraoperative frozen section analysis of the bronchial margin. We hypothesize that frozen section of the bronchial margin is rarely positive and seldom changes intraoperative management. Methods Our institutional Society of Thoracic Surgery database was queried for all patients undergoing planned lobectomy for NSCLC from 2009 to 2011. Clinical variables, intraoperative data, and postoperative outcomes were reviewed. Specifically, intraoperative frozen section and final pathology results of all bronchial margins were examined. The frequency that frozen section results affected intraoperative decision making was evaluated. Results A total of 287 lobectomies for NSCLC were performed. Frozen section of the bronchial margin was performed in 270 patients (94.1%). There were 6 (2.2%) true-positive bronchial margins and 1 (0.4%) false-negative margin. In no cases did a positive frozen section lead to a change in operative management; reasons included unable to tolerate further resection (n = 5) and advanced-stage disease (n = 1). Positive margins were more frequent with open techniques (7%) than in video-assisted thoracoscopic operations (0.05%; p Conclusions Frozen section analysis of the bronchial margin rarely yields a positive result and infrequently changes intraoperative management in patients undergoing NSCLC resection. These data support selective use of intraoperative frozen section of bronchial margins during lobectomy for NSCLC.
Feasibility of perceptual-motor training for Headstart children: an empirical test.

Difference scores on the Bender-Gestalt for 4 Headstart children given experience in visual-motor activities suggested improvement over performance of controls without such experience although for another group of 7 pairs the comparison was nonsignificant.
Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals signatures of glassy dynamics in the energy landscape of ubiquitin

The conformational energy landscape of a protein out of equilibrium is poorly understood. We use single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy to measure the kinetics of unfolding of the protein ubiquitin under a constant force. We discover a surprisingly broad distribution of unfolding rates that follows a power law with no characteristic mean. The structural fluctuations that give rise to this distribution reveal the architecture of the protein’s energy landscape. Following models of glassy dynamics, this complex kinetics implies large fluctuations in the energies of the folded protein, characterized by an exponential distribution with a width of 5–10kBT. Our results predict the existence of a ‘glass transition’ force below which the folded conformations interconvert between local minima on multiple timescales. These techniques offer a new tool to further test statistical energy landscape theories experimentally.
A Political Legacy of the British Empire: Power and the Parliamentary System in Post-colonial India and Ceylon

India and Ceylon, nations that attained independence from Britain in 1947 and 1948, respectively, both adopted variants of the Westminster model of government, which concentrates power in an execut...
Histone deacetylase activity is required to recruit RNA polymerase II to the promoters of selected interferon-stimulated early response genes.

Posttranslational modification of histones by acetylation, methylation or phosphorylation has emerged as a major mechanism to modify chromatin structure and gene expression. In most cases, transcriptionally active genes display enhanced binding of acetylated histones in their promoters. Activation of histone acetyltransferases or inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) allows chromatin to assume a more open state permitting transcriptional activators to form a preinitiation complex. To our surprise, treatment of cells with the HDAC inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), inhibits selected interferon β (IFNβ)-stimulated immediate early genes that are activated by the transcription factors Stat1 and Stat2. However, IFNβ activation of IRF-1, which requires tyrosine-phosphorylated Stat1 homodimers binding to a γ interferon activation sequence in its promoter is not affected by TSA. Exposure of cells to TSA does not alter tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat1 or Stat2. TSA treatment of cells also does not alter the binding of Stat 1 or Stat2 to the endogenous ISG54 promoter. However, IFNβ-stimulated binding of RNA polymerase II to the ISG54 promoter is prevented by TSA. Interestingly, ectopic expression of IRF9 reverses the inhibitory actions of TSA, suggesting that IRF9 functions to recruit RNA polymerase II to the promoter of interferon-stimulated genes. This particular function of IRF9 requires the activity of histone deacetylases.
Preoperative autologous blood donation by arthritis patients is associated with preoperative anemia and perioperative transfusion.

Background:Preoperative autologous blood donation (PAD) became a common practice in the 1990s in an attempt to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious agents from allogeneic blood. However, a potential risk of PAD is the development of preoperative anemia that may lead, in turn, to an enhanced
Cellular electrophysiologic abnormalities of diseased human ventricular myocardium

Using standard microelectrode techniques, the cellular electrophysiologic features of ventricular myocardium resected from 8 patients with refractory arrhythmias were studied in vitro. Action potentials from damaged myocardium compared with normal myocardium had reduced resting membrane potential, amplitude, and maximal upstroke velocity. Tetrodotoxin, but not verapamil, suppressed 3 action potentials with resting potentials of −60 to −64 mV and V max max
Mortality in Late Tsarist Russia: A Reconnaissance

La mortalite dans les provinces europeennes de l'Empire russe est etudiee, en considerant les variations regionales, ethniques, saisonnieres, urbaines, rurales et demographiques
Is Pelvic Osteotomy Associated with Lower Risk of Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Postpubertal Females with Classic Bladder Exstrophy

Purpose: Bladder exstrophy is a major congenital anomaly involving defects in the genitourinary tract and pelvic musculoskeletal system. It appears intuitive that closure of the pelvic ring using osteotomy would be associated with a decreased risk of pelvic organ prolapse. We investigated whether osteotomy is associated with a decreased risk of pelvic organ prolapse in females with classic bladder exstrophy.Materials and Methods: We searched our institutional review board approved exstrophy database of 1,078 patients and identified 335 females. We excluded patients who were younger than 13 years, had cloacal exstrophy or epispadias and did not have postpubertal imaging for measurement of pubic diastasis available. Our final study population consisted of 67 females. Univariate analysis was performed using t test or rank sum test for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. Logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis.Results: Median patient age was 23 years (range 13 to...
Environmental Research at the Advanced Photon Source

Because of the importance of probing molecular-scale chemical and physical structure of environmental samples in their natural and often hydrated state, synchrotron radiation has been a powerful tool for environmental scientists for decades. Thus, the crucial role that a highly coherent and high-brightness hard X-ray source such as the Advance Photon Source (APS) can play in addressing many of the outstanding questions in molecular environmental science (MES) was recognized even before “first light” at the facility. No single synchrotron-based technique or experimental approach can adequately address the tremendous temporal and spatial heterogeneities of the chemistry, physics, and biology of natural environmental samples. Thus, it is common at the APS that multiple X-ray techniques and experimental systems are employed to investigate environmental samples, often chosen for their ability to focus on solute species, plants, microbes, organics, interfacial species, or solids.
Endocytosis: Curvature to the ENTH Degree

Recent work has shown that the protein epsin 1 induces highly curved lipidic structures when added with clathrin to appropriate lipid mixtures. This property may be a critical factor in the 'curvature stress cycle' of membrane trafficking.
Direct 3D BEM for scattering of elastic waves in a homogeneous anisotropic half-space

A direct 3D time-harmonic boundary element method is applied to determine the elastic response of a cavity of arbitrary shape embedded within a 3D homogeneous triclinic half-space. The boundary integral equations for scattered wave field are used in the boundary element method (BEM). Because of the full-space fundamental solutions in the formulation, the traction-free conditions on the half-space surface must be imposed separately. Numerical testing is performed for a 3D isotropic case in order to obtain the size of the half-space discretization surface that ensures the accuracy of the results. Applications are discussed for scattering of elastic waves by a semispherical canyon. The results show that the anisotropic response strongly depends on the incident wave, the material anisotropy and the location of the observation points.
Help! een patiënt met immunosuppresiva!

Het aantal patienten met immuunsuppressieve therapie neemt toe. Terwijl ik enkele jaren geleden sporadisch een vraag over deze medicatie kreeg, komt nu met de regelmaat van de klok een vraag binnen. Dat weerspiegelt zich ook in het aantal vragen dat een tandarts stelt. Zijn drie patienten wil ik u voorleggen.
Addressing the Needs of Adult Children of Divorce in Premarital Counseling: Research-Based Guidelines for Practice:

Because of high divorce rates during the past several decades, a significant number of clients seeking premarital counseling are entering marriage in the context of having experienced parental divorce. Existing research indicates that adult children of divorce are at an elevated risk for divorce and marital distress. In this literature review article, the authors present recommendations for premarital counselors who work with couples in which one or both partners have experienced parental divorce. The authors base their recommendations on the existing literature that examines the attitudes and experiences of adult children of divorce.
From noncommutative spacetimes to Lorentz symmetry violation

The current article provides a brief review on noncommutative spacetimes in light of Lorentz invariance violation and especially on how these models are linked to the Lorentz- violating Standard-Model Extension. By embedding a general noncommutative spacetime with a constant background tensor into the Standard-Model Extension, a couple of implications are drawn on Lorentz violation in such models.
Relaxation treatment of hypertension: Do home relaxation tapes enhance treatment outcome?

This study evaluated the extent to which home relaxation tapes augment the effects of live relaxation training in the treatment of essential hypertension. Forty-eight hypertensives were randomly assigned to three conditions: live progressive relaxation training with or without home relaxation tapes, or a waiting list. Both relaxation groups showed significantly greater posttreatment and follow-up reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure than controls, but did not differ from each other. These data support the use of relaxation for hypertension but reveal no added benefit in providing hypertensives with relaxation tapes to supplement home practice.
The World System of Cities: Relations Between International Financial Metropolises and South American Cities

An ecological conceptualization of the uwrld system of cities is proposed based both on an extension of the ecological rationale for a national system of cities and on insights from uorld-system theory and research. The core concepts are divided into five categories: (1) the key function, (2) hierarchy and dominance-the vertical dimension, (3) specialization-the horizontal dimension, (4) interaction, and (5) dynamics. As a test of selected ideas, the dominance of core international financial metropolises over peripheral South American cities is examined; the measure is the international bank headquarters-branch office link. The hypotheses of ecological dominance were confirmed. The core metropolises dominate the peripheral metropolises of South America, and within the core the upper level metropolises exert greater dominance than the lower level metropolises. The national metropolises of South America are the key intermediaries with international metropolises, but the former have few links among themselves. The world system of cities based on finance seems to be organized independently of national or world regional boundaries. The global expansion of multinational corporations since 1950 has created a network of international economic transactions within and between businesses such as industrial firms, banks, commodity firms, and trading companies. Ecologists argue that these intercommunity transactions are controlled and coordinated by organizations which are concentrated in metropolises; therefore, urban ecological inquiry about the system of cities should include the world scale. The system of cities in the United States, however, has been the focus of ecologists; they have neglected the world system of cities (Wilson). The purpose of this paper is to extend the ecological framework for examining the system of cities to the world scale.
Mitochondrial DNA evidence for late Pleistocene population expansion of the white catfish, Ameiurus catus

Abstract Employing distance-based, maximum likelihood-based, and Bayesian coalescent methodologies and utilizing mitochondrial control region sequence data, the present study reports the importance of Pleistocene glacial epochs on the demographic expansion of the white catfish, Ameiurus catus . White catfish are endemic to the southeastern region of the United States, the region that had never glaciated during the Pleistocene epoch; however, compared to the present day meandering river patterns, the region did exhibit braided river patterns during the late Quaternary. The present study revealed the existence of two distinct matrilineal lineages of white catfish, southeast Gulf coast (SEGC) and southeast Atlantic coastal plains (SEACP), which are estimated to have diverged from their common ancestor approximately 0.71 (0.37–1.1) million years ago. Consistent with the results of the mismatch distribution and site frequency spectrum based summary statistics such as Fu's F, the Bayesian skyline plot (BSP) has also showed evidence for population expansion. The BSP showed two phase growth: a static phase until 0.2 million years, followed by a sudden population expansion thereafter, which is the time that coincides with the late Quaternary epoch. The changing patterns in drainage systems in response to the Quaternary climate change might have had a significant impact on the demographic expansion of white catfish.
Maintaining System Stability: Contributions to Peacekeeping Operations

This article examines the ways and degrees to which nation-states participate in and financially support United Nations peacekeeping operations (UN PKOs). The authors contend that UN PKOs are impure public goods whose provision conforms to expectations from public goods theory that deals with the provision of impure public goods and club goods, and much less to the hegemonic stability variant of the public goods approach. Conceptual arguments are followed by an examination of general patterns of UN PKOs, personnel and financial contributions to them, and the U.S. role in them. The authors conclude that the post-cold war period has seen a notable increase in the volume of provision of peacekeeping and in the quantity and diversity of contributors and beneficiaries. They recognize the difficulties posed by recent U.S. nonpayments and suggest the possibility of adjustments that will reestablish the financial basis that continuing substantial provision will require.
Effectiveness research and implications for study design: sample size and statistical power

Most clinical trials have started to incorporate more broadly defined outcome measures, such as health-related quality of life, to complement clinical status measures as well as direct costs and cost-effectiveness analyses. Contrasting a broad range of outcome and cost measures, we analyze the implications for sample sizes and study design using data from prior mental health and primary care studies that span a wide range of practice settings, patient populations, and geographic areas. While meaningful clinical symptomatic differences are often detectable with sample sizes of well under 100 per cell, detecting even large changes in health-related quality of life generally requires several hundred observations per cell. Reasonable precision in cost estimates usually requires sample sizes in the thousands. Very few clinical trials or observational effectiveness studies that incorporate quality of life or cost measures have such sample sizes, resulting in many (unreported) null findings and, due to publication biases favoring significant results, scientific publications that exaggerate true effects. It raises issues for the general direction of clinical trials and effectiveness studies, as well as for how cost and health-related quality of life results based on small studies should be dealt with in publications.
Dual Energy Imaging in Cardiovascular CT: Current Status and Impact on Radiation, Contrast and Accuracy

Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) exploits the continuous energy distribution of x-rays to improve differentiation of tissues beyond what is possible with single-energy CT (SECT). DECT often uses smaller volumes of iodinated contrast agent and lower radiation doses than SECT. Clinical applications of DECT in cardiovascular imaging are emerging and include myocardial perfusion imaging, myocardial infarct and viability imaging, coronary plaque characterization, coronary stent assessment, and myocardial iron quantification. In this review, we discuss the available methods for acquiring and processing DECT data, the current status of DECT in cardiovascular imaging, and its impact on the dose of radiation and contrast agent.
Mixed Multicell Cascaded Multilevel Inverter

Multilevel converters are a very interesting alternative for medium and high power drives. Among these topologies the Multicell group present some advantages due to its modularity and scalability. This paper propose a new topology for Multilevel Multicell Inverters. This inverter is based on a new cell obtained from the the mixture of the two most popular multicell topologies, flying capacitor and cascaded multicell inverter. The new cell provide a high number of output levels, high modularity, low number of components and low losses. The results presented in this paper confirm that this new medium voltage inverter topology is able to reach high quality output voltages, allowing further advances in modulation techniques and other issues.
Report of special committee on geophysical and geological study of continents

The Special Committee on Geophysical and Geological Study of Continents was established because of the Executive Committee's conviction that the cooperative and “simultaneous application of geophysics and geology in an attack upon the major problems of Earth composition and evolution cannot fail to lead to great advances in Earth science”—a restatement of the conviction of all closely in touch with geophysics that the intimate blending of physics and geology will induce as profound a broadening and advance in Earth science as was wrought in chemistry some two decades ago, when physics and chemistry were blended—to the transformation of both. The Committee has accepted the responsibility thus given it to aid in this new wedding of the sciences, with a deep appreciation of the opportunity offered, and with a full enthusiasm for the work to be undertaken. The problems to be attacked are of great magnitude and of great importance, and the successful execution of this attack obviously will call not only for close team-work within the American Geophysical Union but also will call for a broad, cordial, and interesting cooperation with other units of the National Research Council, and especially with its Division of Geology and Geography and the component units thereof.
Molecular Genetic Alteration of Plant Respiration (Silencing and Overexpression of Alternative Oxidase in Transgenic Tobacco)

The alternative oxidase (AOX) of plant mitochondria is encoded by the nuclear gene Aox1. Sense and antisense DNA constructs of Nicotiana tabacum Aox1 were introduced into tobacco, and transgenic plants with both increased and decreased levels of mitochondrial AOX protein were identified. Suspension cells derived from wild-type and transgenic plants were grown in heterotrophic batch culture. Transgenic cells with increased AOX protein had an increased capacity for cyanide-resistant, salicylhydroxamic acid-sensitive respiration compared to wild-type cells, whereas transgenic cells with decreased AOX protein had a decreased capacity for such respiration. Thus, genetic alteration of the level of AOX protein was sufficient to alter the capacity for electron transport through the alternative pathway. Under our standard growth conditions, “antisense” cells with dramatically reduced levels of AOX protein had growth and respiration rates similar to the wild type. However, whereas wild-type cells were able to grow under conditions that severely suppressed cytochrome pathway activity, antisense cells could not survive this treatment. This suggests that a critical function of AOX may be to support respiration when the cytochrome pathway is impaired. The much higher level of AOX protein in “sense” cells compared to the wild type did not appreciably alter the steady-state partitioning of electrons between the cytochrome path and the alternative pathway in vivo, suggesting that this partitioning may be subject to additional regulatory factors.
Introduction to the Special Issue on Consumption Constraints

ence public policy and policy research. Ron's research over the past 20-plus years has investigated pressing social issues, such as poverty, consumer debt, homelessness, AIDS, disability rights, and spousal abuse. His research has helped fill significant gaps in the marketing literature, which tends to assume abundant (or at least adequate) eco nomic, social, and environmental resources; equal access to marketplace and consumption opportunities; and plentiful choices. Marketing scholars writing in the areas of public policy, macromarketing, social marketing, transformative con sumer research, subsistence markets, and so forth, share Ron's interest in issues pertaining to consumer welfare. These growing bodies of knowledge address how markets and marketing can help solve social problems and/or how markets and marketing play a role in creating social prob lems. This research will only grow in importance as the world struggles to develop an understanding of sustainable business, consumption, and environmental practices and to deal with the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor.
Computers for communication, not calculation: media as a motivation and context for learning

As the skills that constitute literacy evolve to accommodate digital media, computer science education finds itself in a sorry state. While students are more in need of computational skills than ever, computer science suffers dramatically low retention rates and a declining percentage of women and minorities. Studies of the problem point to the overemphasis in computer science classes on abstraction over application, technical details instead of usability, and the stereotypical view of programmers as loners lacking creativity. In spring 2003, Georgia Institute of Technology trialed a new course, Introduction to Media Computation, which teaches programming and computation in the context of media creation and manipulation. Students implement PhotoShop-style filters and digital video special effects, splice sounds, and search Web pages. The course is open only to noncomputer science and nonengineering majors at Georgia Tech, such as liberal arts, management and architecture students. The course is supported through the use of a Web-based collaboration environment where students actively share and discuss their digital creations. The results have been dramatic. 120 students enrolled, 2/3 female, and only three students withdrew. By the end of the semester, the combined withdrawal, failure and D-grade rate had reached 11.5% - compared to 42.9% in the traditional introductory computer science course. 60% of the students who took media computation reported that they would be interested in taking an advanced version of the course; only 6% reported that they would otherwise be interested in taking more computer science. Results of the trial indicate that media computation motivates and engages an audience that is poorly served by traditional computer science courses.
Brief overview of symbolic data and analytic issues

With the advent of contemporary computers, datasets can be massively huge, too large for direct analysis. One of the many approaches to this problem of size is to aggregate the data according to some appropriate scientific question of interest, with the resulting dataset perforce being one with symbolic-valued observations such as lists, intervals, histograms, and the like. Other datasets, small or large, are naturally symbolic in nature. One aim here is to provide a brief nontechnical overview of symbolic data and discuss how they arise. We also provide brief insights into some of the issues that arise in their analyses. These include the need to take into account the internal variations inherent in symbolic data but not present in classical data. Another issue is that, by the nature of the aggregation, resulting datasets can contain “holes” or regions that are not possible; thus, accommodation for these need to be taken into account, when, e.g. seemingly interval data are actually some other form of symbolic data (such as histogram data). Also, we show how other forms of complex data differ from symbolic data; so, e.g. fuzzy data are a different domain than that for symbolic data. Finally, we look at further research needs for the subject. A more technical introduction to symbolic data and available analytic methodology is given by Noirhomme and Brito. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 4: 149–156, 2011 © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
RehAbilitative Knee Orthosis Driven by Electro-Rheological Fluid Based Actuators

This work aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using Electro-Rheological Fluid (ERF) actuators in orthotics, creating a new breed of rehabilitation devices. ERFs are fluids that experience dramatic changes in rheological properties, such as viscosity or yield stress, in the presence of an electric field. Using the electrically controlled rheological properties of ERFs, compact actuators with an ability to supply high resistive torques in a controllable and tunable fashion, have been developed. This study involves the design, fabrication and testing of an ERF based knee orthotic device and the innovative ERF actuators it uses. The knee orthotic is achieved through a standard brace design with a polycentric hinge and gear system. Coupled to this are two Flat-Plate ERF actuators, given that name for their characteristic set of parallel flat plates allowing for actuation of the fluid. A full model describing the field dependant torque output of these actuators is presented along with a full detailed description of the device design. The overall knee orthotic system is designed to resist up to 25.4% of an average human knee’s torque abilities and be controlled in real-time. The goal of this work is to provide a much more efficient means of rehabilitation over the average orthotic, while matching the proficiency of rehabilitation machines, all in a smaller, simpler, and more cost efficient design.
Dynamic response of tetragonal lysozyme crystals to changes in relative humidity: implications for post-growth crystal treatments.

The dynamic response of tetragonal lysozyme crystals to dehydration has been characterized in situ using a combination of X-ray topography, high-resolution diffraction line-shape measurements and conventional crystallographic diffraction. For dehydration from 98% relative humidity (r.h.) to above 89%, mosaicity and diffraction resolution show little change and X-ray topographs remain featureless. Lattice constants decrease rapidly but the lattice-constant distribution within the crystal remains very narrow, indicating that water concentration gradients remain very small. Near 88% r.h., the c-axis lattice parameter decreases abruptly, the steady-state mosaicity and diffraction resolution degrade sharply and topographs develop extensive contrast. This transformation exhibits metastability and hysteresis. At fixed r.h. < 88% it is irreversible, but the original order can be almost completely restored by rehydration. These results suggest that this transformation is a first-order structural transition involving an abrupt loss of crystal water. The front between transformed and untransformed regions may propagate inward from the crystal surface and the resulting stresses along the front may degrade mosaicity. Differences in crystal size, shape and initial perfection may produce the observed variations in degradation timescale. Consequently, the success of more general post-growth treatments may often involve identifying procedures that either avoid lattice transitions, minimize disorder created during such transitions or maintain the lattice in an ordered metastable state.
The impact of companion diagnostic device measurement performance on clinical validation of personalized medicine

A key component of personalized medicine is companion diagnostics that measure biomarkers, for example, protein expression, gene amplification or specific mutations. Most of the recent attention concerning molecular cancer diagnostics has been focused on the biomarkers of response to therapy, such as V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in metastatic malignant melanoma. The presence or absence of these markers is directly linked to the response rates of particular targeted therapies with small-molecule kinase inhibitors or antibodies. Therefore, testing for these markers has become a critical step in the target therapy of the aforementioned tumors. The core capability of personalized medicine is the companion diagnostic devices' (CDx) ability to accurately and precisely stratify patients by their likelihood of benefit (or harm) from a particular therapy. There is no reference in the literature discussing the impact of device's measurement performance, for example, analytical accuracy and precision on treatment effects, variances, and sample sizes of clinical trial for the personalized medicine. In this paper, using both analytical and estimation method, we assessed the impact of CDx measurement performance as a function of positive and negative predictive values and imprecision (standard deviation) on treatment effects, variances of clinical outcome, and sample sizes for the clinical trials. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Imaging of Stem Cell Recruitment to Ischemic Infarcts in a Murine Model

Background and Purpose— Neural progenitor cells (NPC) have been reported to aid in the functional recovery from stroke and hold promise as a novel treatment for a variety of neurological diseases. There is a need for imaging tools to study the in vivo migratory behavior of these cells. Methods— C17.2 NPC, stably transfected with firefly luciferase, were serially imaged through intact skull and skin by bioluminescence imaging over 2 to 3 weeks in nu/nu mice with closed-vessel middle cerebral artery infarcts, followed by contralateral intraparenchymal or intraventricular injections of NPC. Results— NPC migrated to the site of infarct from the contraleral parenchyma, crossing the midline at 7 days. In control animals without infarcts, NPC remained at the site of administration. Intraventricular cell administration resulted in a wide distribution of cells, including the site of infarct. Within the infarct area, NPC colabeled with the neuronal marker NeuN and with astroglial marker glial fibrillary acidic prot...
Labour supply and wages among nuclear and extended households: The Surinamese experiment

This article explores labour market behaviour of members of extended and nuclear households in Suriname. Previous analyses have found that co‐operative childcare opportunities within the extended household increase female labour force participation. Such coordination implies correlated participation decisions, which invalidates standard assumptions made in estimating participation with probits and wages with regressions. We employ a GMM estimation, which allows correlation among household members. We find that extended and nuclear household members are not significantly different in participation propensities, but do differ significantly in wages. We argue that greater home production opportunities in extended households dilute labour market effort and hours, reducing earnings.
Tunable millimeter wave band pass filter using electromagnetic crystal sidewalls

Electromagnetic crystal (EMXT) structures are used as the waveguide sidewalls of a Ka-band waveguide cavity. With InP heterobarrier varactors (HBV) embedded, the EMXT structure acts as an electronically tunable surface impedance in place of the normal conducting metal sidewalls. By controlling and varying the sidewall impedance with a dc voltage, the EMXT waveguide propagation constant is varied and the effective electrical length of the cavity changed. The center of the pass band was tuned 31.6 GHz by varying the varactor bias from 0 to 10V. It is demonstrated that the guide width can play a significant role in controlling tuning range. Good agreement between measured and simulated band pass response was obtained.
A case study: agile development in the community laser-induced incandescence modeling environment (CLiiME)

The multidisciplinary requirements of current computational modeling problems preclude the development of scientific software that is maintained and used by selected scientists. The multidisciplinary nature of these efforts requires the development of large scale software projects established with a wide developer and user base in mind. This article describes some of the software-engineering practices adopted in a scientific-software application for a laser-induced incandescence community model. The project uses an Agile and Test-Driven Development approach to implement the infrastructure for the development of a collaborative model that is to be extended, modified, and used by different researchers. We discuss some of the software-engineering practices that can be exploited through the life of a project, starting with its inception when only a hand full of developers are contributing to the project and the mechanism we have put in place in order to allow the natural expansion of the model.