cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hypocretin (orexin) activation and synaptic innervation of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system.

Hypocretin has been identified as a regulator of metabolic and endocrine systems. Several brain regions involved in the central regulation of autonomic and endocrine processes or attention are targets of extensive hypocretin projections. The most dense arborization of hypocretin axons in the brainstem was detected in the locus coeruleus (LC). Multiple labeling immunocytochemistry revealed a massive synaptic innervation of catecholaminergic LC cells by hypocretin axon terminals in rats and monkeys. In both species, all tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive cells in the LC examined by electron microscopy were found to receive asymmetrical (excitatory) synaptic contacts from multiple axons containing hypocretin. In parallel electrophysiological studies with slices of rat brain, all LC cells showed excitatory responses to the hypocretin-2 peptide. Hypocretin-2 uniformly increased the frequency of action potentials in these cells, even in the presence of tetrodotoxin, indicating that receptors responding to hypocretin were expressed in LC neurons. Two mechanisms for the increased firing rate appeared to be a reduction in the slow component of the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) and a modest depolarization. Catecholamine systems in other parts of the brain, including those found in the medulla, zona incerta, substantia nigra or olfactory bulb, received significantly less hypocretin input. Comparative analysis of lateral hypothalamic input to the LC revealed that hypocretin-containing axon terminals were substantially more abundant than those containing melanin-concentrating hormone. The present results provide evidence for direct action of hypothalamic hypocretin cells on the LC noradrenergic system in rats and monkeys. Our observations suggest a signaling pathway via which signals acting on the lateral hypothalamus may influence the activity of the LC and thereby a variety of CNSfunctions related to noradrenergic innervation, including vigilance, attention, learning, and memory. Thus, the hypocretin innervation of the LC may serve to focus cognitive processes to compliment hypocretin-mediated activation of autonomic centers already described.
Comparison of in vitro and in vivo inhibition potencies of fluvoxamine toward CYP2C19.

A previous study suggested that fluvoxamine inhibition potency toward CYP1A2 is 10 times greater in vivo than in vitro. The present study was designed to determine whether the same gap exists for CYP2C19, another isozyme inhibited by fluvoxamine. In vitro studies examined the effect of nonspecific binding on the determination of inhibition constant (K(i)) values of fluvoxamine toward CYP2C19 in human liver microsomes and in a cDNA-expressed microsomal (Supersomes) system using (S)-mephenytoin as a CYP2C19 probe. K(i) values based on total added fluvoxamine concentration (K(i,total)) and unbound fluvoxamine concentration (K(i,ub)) were calculated, and interindividual variability in K(i) values was examined in six nonfatty livers. K(i,total) values varied with microsomal protein concentration, whereas the corresponding K(i,ub) values were within a narrow range (70-80 nM). In vivo inhibition constants (K(i)iv) were obtained from a study of the disposition of a single oral dose (100 mg) of the CYP2C19 probe (S)-mephenytoin in 12 healthy volunteers receiving fluvoxamine at 0, 37.5, 62.6, and 87.5 mg/day to steady state. In this population, the ratio of (S)-4-hydroxy-mephenytoin formation clearances (uninhibited/inhibited) was positively correlated with fluvoxamine average steady-state concentration with an intercept of 0.85 (r(2) = 0.88, p < 0.001). The mean (+/-S.D.) values of K(i)iv based on total and unbound plasma concentrations were 13.5 +/- 5.6 and 1.9 +/- 1.1 nM, respectively. Comparison of in vitro and in vivo K(i) values, based on unbound fluvoxamine concentrations, suggests that fluvoxamine inhibition potency is roughly 40 times greater in vivo than in vitro.
Uterine serous carcinoma. A morphologically diverse neoplasm with unifying clinicopathologic features.

This study compares the clinicopathologic features of 13 pure uterine papillary serous carcinomas (UPSC) with 19 tumors consisting of UPSC admixed with other types of endometrial carcinoma and nine UPSC associated with endometrial polyps. The mean patient age, frequency of preoperative clinical unde
DEVELOPMENT OF OXIDATIVE METABOLISM IN THE INTESTINE

Fatty acids (FA) are the preferred substrate of adult small intestine. We have measured enzymes controlling FA oxidation (palmityl-CoA synthetase and palmitylcarnitine transferase) and FA oxidation itself during development of the rat and bovine intestine. Cytochrome oxidase activity of calf intestinal homogenates was twice that of the fetus, indicating a postnatal increase in mitochondrial number. Oxidation of palmitic and capric acid by bovine intestine increased from 2 to lOnm/mg/hr by three weeks of age and decreased to less than lnm/mg/hr in the adult. Acetate oxidation by bovine intestine showed a similar developmental profile. Acetyl-CoA synthetase, palmityl-CoA synthetase and palmitylcarnitine transferase showed postnatal increases in activity. Developmental increases in FA oxidation were also observed with isolated rat intestinal mitochondria. Activity increased until 10 days of age, then declined until day 18, and again increased. Palmityl-CoA synthetase activity of rat intestinal mitochondria remained high throughout development whereas microsomal activity was low until day 18 when it increased markedly. Palmitylcarnitine transferase activity of rat intestinal mitochondria increased from 0.5 to 2.8 nm/mg/min by 10 days of age and then showed a decline to adult levels. These changes in FA oxidation may be important for functional maturation of the intestine and also reflect the importance of FA as substrates in the intestine.
Survey of seismic fragilities used in PRA studies of nuclear power plants

Abstract In recent years, seismic PRA studies have been performed on a large number of nuclear power plants in the USA. This paper presents a summary of a survey on fragility databases and the range of evaluated fragility values of various equipment categories based on past PRAs. The survey includes the use of experience data, the interpretations of available test data, and the quantification of uncertainties. The surveyed fragility databases are limited to data available in the public domain such as NUREG reports, conference proceedings and other publicly available reports. The extent of the availability of data as well as limitations are studied and tabulated for various equipment categories. The survey of the fragility values in past PRA studies includes not only the best estimate values, but also the dominant failure modes and the estimated uncertainty levels for each equipment category. The engineering judgments employed in estimating the uncertainty in the fragility values are also studied. This paper provides a perspective on the seismic fragility evaluation procedures for equipment in order to clearly identify the engineering analysis and judgment used in past seismic PRA studies.
Detection of human papillomavirus in squamous intraepithelial lesions by consensus and type-specific polymerase chain reaction

Abstract Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify human papillomavirus (HPV) in 216 cervical biopsy specimens from women referred to the gynecological out-patient unit for colposcopy because of an abnormal smear. HPV DNA was screened using type-specific primers for HPV6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 (TS-PCR) as well as a consensus primer located in the El region of the HPV genome (C-PCR). TS-PCR specificity was validated by Southern blot analysis. Low-grade (SIL 1) and high-grade (SIL 2) squamous intraepithelial lesions were found in 165 biopsies. HPV 16 detection was better with PCR than Southern blot, particularly for SIL 1 and SIL 2. The fact that 10% of HPV 16 (all SIL 2) were not detected by C-PCR indicates that both PCR techniques should be performed. C-PCR also detects uncharacterized HPV types (8.6% prevalence in our results), mainly in SIL 1 and SIL 2. HPV 16, the most frequently isolated type (prevalence 21%), was associated with SIL 2 in 83% of cases. A low HPV prevalence was found in specimens without dysplastic cells. These results suggest that PCR may be an important tool for identifying women at risk for developing dysplasia or cervical cancer.
Trisomy 21 and early brain development

Trisomy for human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) results in Down syndrome (DS). The finished human genome sequence provides a thorough catalog of the genetic elements whose altered dosage perturbs development and function in DS. However, understanding how small alterations in the steady state transcript levels for <2% of human genes can disrupt development and function of essentially every cell presents a more complicated problem. Mouse models that recapitulate specific aspects of DS have been used to identify changes in brain morphogenesis and function. Here we provide a few examples of how trisomy for specific genes affects the development of the cortex and cerebellum to illustrate how gene dosage effects might contribute to divergence between the trisomic and euploid brains.
The effects of green tea polyphenols on drug metabolism

Introduction: Tea, made from the dried leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis Theaceae, is a very popular beverage consumed worldwide. Recently, green tea extract-based dietary supplements have also been widely consumed for the acclaimed beneficial health effects, such as weight reduction. Although tea consumption is considered to be innocuous, the potential interactions between tea polyphenols and drugs have been demonstrated in studies in vitro and in vivo. Areas covered: This article reviews the current literature on the chemistry and biotransformation of tea constituents, mainly catechins from green tea. The article also provides a review of their effects on the absorption, efflux, metabolism and elimination of different drugs. Expert opinion: Tea catechins may bind to certain drugs to affect their absorption and bioactivities. Tea catechins may inhibit the activities of drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters or affect the expression of these proteins, either upregulation or downregulation. Al...
Analysis and simulation of low light level image sensors

A multitude of scientific, medical, and defense applications require imaging at low light level. Examples include: live-cell fluorescence microscopy, wavefront sensing for adaptive optics, and night vision. To address these applications low light level sensors need to have low noise, high quantum efficiency, low lag, high MTF, high frame rates, and low power. Over the past 50 years a variety of techniques have been developed to analyze and compare these technologies. The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical method for estimating limiting resolution of low light level sensors and cameras. We present a communication theory based model that is designed to enable rapid evaluation of low light level sensors and aid in the understanding of how these systems operate. This model can be applied to electron multiplied CCDs, electron bombarded CMOS sensors, and hybrid CCD/CMOS sensors. In addition we also describe a device physics based low light level camera simulator. We compare our model to the camera simulator and show that the model can be used to accurately predict camera performance. In addition the computational complexity of our model is 1/150 of a complete low light level camera simulator.
STEREOTACTIC RADIOSURGERY OF THE POSTOPERATIVE RESECTION CAVITY FOR BRAIN METASTASES

Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze results of adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) targeted at resection cavities of brain metastases without whole-brain irradiation (WBI). Methods and Materials Patients who underwent SRS to the tumor bed, deferring WBI after resection of a brain metastasis, were retrospectively identified. Results Seventy-two patients with 76 cavities treated from 1998 to 2006 met inclusion criteria. The SRS was delivered to a median marginal dose of 18.6 Gy (range, 15–30 Gy) targeting an average tumor volume of 9.8 cm 3 (range, 0.1–66.8 cm 3 ). With a median follow-up of 8.1 months (range, 0.1–80.5 months), 65 patients had follow-up imaging assessable for control analyses. Actuarial local control rates at 6 and 12 months were 88% and 79%, respectively. On univariate analysis, increasing values of conformality indices were the only treatment variables that correlated significantly with improved local control; local control was 100% for the least conformal quartile compared with 63% for the remaining quartiles. Target volume, dose, and number of sessions were not statistically significant. Conclusions In this retrospective series, SRS administered to the resection cavity of brain metastases resulted in a 79% local control rate at 12 months. This value compares favorably with historic results with observation alone (54%) and postoperative WBI (80–90%). Given the improved local control seen with less conformal plans, we recommend inclusion of a 2-mm margin around the resection cavity when using this technique.
Respiratory electromyographic estimates of ventilatory functions in piglets

Abstract The best electromyographic (EMG) predictors of respiratory drive (P 100 ), tidal volume (V t ) and ventillation (V e ) were determined from diaphragmatic (DI) and posterior criocoarytenoid (PCA) EMG measures in 8–48 day-old, anesthetized piglets. Progressive hypercapnia was employed to obtain a wide range of muscle activity. A custom-designed, microcomputer-based system was employed to measure the duration, peak amplitude, rate of rise (initial slope) as well as the summed total and initial (first 100 ms) EMG activity from the the DI and the PCA. For each respiratory function, the following combinations of EMG measures were identified as significant predictors using refression analyses: (1) for P 100 , DI amplitude, PCA initial area and PCA rate of rise; (2) for V t , DI amplitude, PCA duration and DI duration; (3) for V e , DI amplitude, DI initial area, PCA initial area, PCA rate of rise, PCA duration, DI area and DI rate of rise. Thus, whereas the traditionally employed measure of DI amplitude is an important correlate of P 100 , V t or V e , a complete estimate of these respiratory functions requires the inclusion of initial EMG measures and duration.
Post-Discharge Monitoring of High-Risk Newborns: Who Gets Early Intervention? 1193

Provision of post-discharge support to families of very low birthweight(VLBW) infants is a critical part of discharge planning. Traditionally, the adequacy of services such as early intervention (EI) programs has been monitored via routine follow-up at tertiary centers. However, changes in the organization of health care have made such consultative followup increasingly less possible. This study presents preliminary results on an alternative approach to monitoring post-discharge care among VLBW infants.
PHYSICAL AND MICROBIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PORK LOINS IN MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGES

Bone-in pork loins (n = 45) were selected from a commercial facility, subjected to one of three gas flush packaging treatments: NC: 75% N2, 25% CO2; ONC1: 45% 02, 35% N2, 20% CO2; ONC2: 66% O2, 9% N2, 25% CO2, and stored for 7, 14 or 21 days at 0±2C. After storage, treatment and storage effects on visual evaluations, storage characteristics, microbial analysis and retail display characteristics were determined. The ONC1 and ONC2treated loins had less discoloration after 21 days than NC treated loins, and NC treated chops had the least desirable retail display characteristics (P < 0.05). Fewer (P < 0.05) lactic acid producing bacteria (day 21) were found on NC treated loins, resulting in chops with a shorter retail shelf-life. These results indicate that higher oxygen levels (45 and 66%) are necessary for the modified atmosphere storage of fresh pork loins for 21 days.
Enhancing Arthur Andersen business ethics vignettes: Group discussions using cooperative/collaborative learning techniques

Arthur Anderson & Co. has made a significant contribution to assist and encourage the teaching of business ethics. They provided assistance initially through workshops and curriculum materials; currently they are using campus coordinators to disseminate information and materials. The curriculum materials can be used by the instructor to assist students in practicing their moral reasoning skills and cover four academic areas: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and Management. These materials include business ethics video vignettes, suggestions on presentation methods, guidelines for implementing a stakeholders' analysis approach to ethical reasoning, and possible discussion questions. The vignettes present ethical dilemmas that persons may encounter in entry level positions. We have used the vignettes, the accompanying discussion questions, and the suggested stakeholder analysis in class presentations. This paper presents a discussion of the basic concepts associated with cooperative learning, an example of the implementation of cooperative learning techniques using the Arthur Andersen Accounting Ethics Vignettes, and empirical results of the influence of these particular group discussions on the students' ethical responses. We did not attempt to measure whether the individuals' moral levels changed, but whether the group discussions stimulated any changes in the students attitudes toward the particular ethical dilemma they viewed.
Accelerating multimedia with enhanced microprocessors

A minimalistic set of multimedia introductions introduced into PA-RISC microprocessors implements SUID-MIMD parallelism with insignificant changes to the underlying microprocessor. Thus, a software video decoder attains MPEG video and audio decompression and playback at real-time rates of 30 frames per second, on an entry-level workstation. Our general-purpose parallel subword instructions can accelerate a variety of multimedia programs. >
Thermodynamic Properties of Single Ion Channel Formation: Gramicidin

Single molecule fluorescence imaging has been used to unequivocally differentiate between rhodamine-6G labeled gramicidin monomeric subunits and channel-forming dimers. Absolute identification of individual particles was achieved by accounting for both particle diffusion and intensity, with dimer intensity being twice that of the monomers. In accordance with current diffusion models of proteins in bilayer membranes, we observed dimers to diffuse more slowly through the bilayer than the monomers and have reported diffusion coefficients of 1.2 × 10-8 and 3.5 × 10-8 cm2/s for the dimers and monomers, respectively. By correlating the diffusion data with measured fluorescence intensities of the tracked particles, it was possible to determine the distribution of monomers and dimers within the bilayer at various temperatures. The results allow complete characterization of the thermodynamic properties of dimer formation, 2G1 ↔ G2, necessary for channel function. Reported are the temperature-dependent equilibrium ...
Relationship of Distance Run per Week to Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in 8283 Male Runners: The National Runners' Health Study

Background: Official guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine state that every adult should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. Objective: To examine the dose-response relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and vigorous exercise above the recommended minimum levels to assess whether further benefits accrue. Methods: Physician-supplied medical data were compared with reported distance run in a national cross-sectional survey of 8283 male recreational runners. Results: Compared with runners who ran less than 16 km (10 miles) per week, long-distance runners (≥80 km/wk) showed an 85% reduced prevalence of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels that were clinically low ( Conclusions: Our data (1) suggest that substantial health benefits occur at exercise levels that exceed current minimum guidelines and (2) do not exhibit a point of diminishing return to the health benefits of running at any distance less than 80 km/wk. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:191-198
PHOTOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF ASTEROID 4179 TOUTATIS FROM LIGHTCURVES AND A RADAR-DERIVED PHYSICAL MODEL

Abstract Optical lightcurves reported by J. R. Spencer et al. (1995, Icarus 117, 71–89) and a radar-derived shape and spin-state model (R. S. Hudson and S. J. Ostro, 1995, Science 270, 84–86) are used to estimate the Hapke parameters of the Earth-crossing Asteroid 4179 Toutatis. We find a particle single-scattering albedo w = 0.261 ± 0.019, opposition surge width h = 0.036 ± 0.023 and amplitude B 0 = 1.20 ± 0.32, particle phase function asymmetry factor g = −0.29 ± 0.06, and macroscopic roughness parameter θ = 32 ± 8°. The synthetic lightcurves generated with this model provide a good fit (rms residual = 0.12 mag) to the optical data which span phase angles from 0.2° to 121.4°. The addition of optical data in the modeling process results in a slight refinement of the radar-derived estimate of the parameters that describe Toutatis's non-principal-axis spin state. Analysis of the opposition surge width in light of recent radar results supports the hypothesis that a significant fraction of Toutatis's surface is covered by a fine particulate regolith.
Critical Factors to Successful Website Development: Opinions of Website Designers and Developers

This study was conducted to help understand the factors involved in building a successful website. A national survey of professionals in the areas of Web site design and development were contacted. Based on past published writings in the literature eight factors were identified as critical to the success of website functionality. The factors that are consistently posited in the literature are: 1) Entertainment and Visual Appeal, 2) Reliability, 3) Cost Reductions Attained, 4) Back-End Processes Enabled, 5) Personalization, 6) Information Quality, 7) User Empowerment, and 8) Privacy/Security. Study results are based on the analysis of 349 responses and provide support for the research hypotheses.
Organizational Routines and the Causes of War

This study identifies the theoretical linkages by which rigid organizational routines of the military may contribute to the outbreak of war, and examines the analytical problems involved in making such inferences. It is argued that military routines have an impact on the outbreak of war only in combination with other systemic, organizational, bureaucratic, and psychological variables. The failure to recognize the independent role of other variables in inducing rigid adherence to existing military plans, as well as the danger of spurious inferences, results in incomplete explanations and the attribution of excessive causal weight to organizational routines themnselves. Systemic variables determining 'military necessity' are particularly important. The greater the extent to which military necessity influences both the development of contingency plans and their rigid implementation in a crisis, the less the causal weight that can be attributed to the nature of the plans themselves. The less rigid the plans really are in terms of military necessity, the greater their causal importance and that of other variables, Military routines and interests can also contribute to the outbreak of war through their role in the development of military doctrine and war plans. These theoretical linkages are illustrated by an analysis of the military mobilization and war plans for World War I.
Definite Integrals using Orthogonality and Integral Transforms

We obtain definite integrals for products of associated Legendre functions with Bessel functions, associated Legendre functions, and Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind using orthogonality and integral transforms.
A model for optimal resource allocation in distributed computing systems

Optimal allocation of redundant resources in distributed computing systems is studied. In this model, a request from a processing site for a resource can be satisfied by any one of the copies. Among the redundant copies of the resources, the least-expensive and the second-least-expensive ones are considered for accessing by each processing site, which is measured in terms of communication cost. This access scheme offers to encompass some of the intrinsically important features, such as graceful degradation and reliability consideration, in the design model. The increase of communication cost due to the failures of resources should be gradual to maintain the system performance. With the present formulation, the goal of the allocation is to minimize the total communication cost incurred. The Lagrangian relaxation and subgradient methods are applied to solve this problem. An efficient algorithm based on these techniques, and computational results, are presented. >
Case for Case Studies in Water Resources Planning and Management Education

Case studies are used infrequently in engineering education, except perhaps as occasional anecdotes or “war stories” told by instructors. Yet there appears to be surging interest in case studies as a pedagogical tool to provide students with active and discovery-based learning experiences. Through case studies, students may actively acquire information, collaborate with others in problem definition, develop an investigation strategy, choose among alternative problem solving approaches, and negotiate or attempt to convince others of their conclusions. The surging interest is understandable when one contrasts these activities with the more traditional “lecture, learn, and test” classroom regimen. Business, law, and medical education have long traditions of using real or simulated case studies to teach students. The Harvard Business School is widely noted for pioneering the case method of instruction Christensen 1986 , and the college now develops approximately 350 cases each year for business courses worldwide. A typical business student may be exposed to as many as 500 cases in an MBA program Bhandari and Erickson 2005 . In the business field, cases are typically real and are presented as dilemmas or puzzles to be solved. Students are given narratives describing an individual, agency, or business with a problem, along with quantitative background information in the form of charts, graphs, and tables. The instructor acts mainly as a facilitator to help students understand the facts of the case, analyze the problem, and present possible solutions. There is seldom a single, “correct” solution; rather, emphasis is placed on the decisionmaking approach and on evaluating the pros and cons of a range of reasonable solutions. Now, engineering instructors may well argue that business is not at all like engineering practice, where analysis and design are founded upon scientific principles and a well-defined knowledge base. Following the business education model, how can an instructor emphasize the human condition and various subjective views in teaching students to calculate energy loss in a pipe? Certainly, lecture and traditional problem-solving exercises have their place in engineering curricula, but the potential benefits of case studies should not be so easily dismissed. For environmental engineering, they might be literally “poo poo-ed,” however! Case studies can stimulate interest in a subject, foster motivation to learn, and help students to understand the relevance of the subject in a larger societal and economic context. Furthermore, case studies can promote deeper learning and development of Bloom 1956 higher-order thinking skills: comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. If case studies are used in group work, as they frequently are, students receive the added benefits of collaborative learning. These skills seems critically important in a field such as water resources planning and management, in which professionals work in multidisciplinary teams
NEAR‐SOURCE GROUND MOTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON FLEXIBLE BUILDINGS

Occurrence of large earthquakes close to cities in California is inevitable. The resulting ground shaking will subject buildings in the near-source region to large, rapid displacement pulses which are not represented in design codes. The simulated Mw7.0 earthquake on a blind-thrust fault used in this study produces peak ground displacement and velocity of 200 cm and 180 cm/sec, respectively. Over an area of several hundred square kilometers in the near-source region, flexible frame and base-isolated buildings would experience severe nonlinear behavior including the possibility of collapse at some locations. The susceptibility of welded connections to fracture significantly increases the collapse potential of steel-frame buildings under strong ground motions of the type resulting from the Mw7.0 simulation. Because collapse of a building depends on many factors which are poorly understood, the results presented here regarding collapse should be interpreted carefully.
Pressure impulses during microsecond laser ablation.

The collapse of laser-induced cavitation bubbles creates acoustic transients within the surrounding medium and also pressure impulses to the ablation target and light-delivery fiber during microsecond laser ablation. The impulses are investigated here with time-resolved flash photography, and they are found to occur whether or not the light-delivery fiber is in contact with the target. We demonstrate that the impulses depend primarily on the energy stored in the cavitation bubble. They are not directly dependent on the mode of light delivery ~contact versus noncontact!, and they are also not directly correlated to the other acoustic transients. The pressure impulses do seem to be associated with the bubble-driven jet formation caused by the bubble collapse. © 1997 Optical Society of America
Retinoic acid prevents virus-induced airway hyperreactivity and M2 receptor dysfunction via anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects.

Inhibitory M2 muscarinic receptors on airway parasympathetic nerves normally limit acetylcholine release. Viral infections decrease M2 receptor function, increasing vagally mediated bronchoconstric...
Energizing the engineering environment

A description is given of the program of Honeywell Bull Incorporated to revitalize its engineering environment. The program has four components: technical education, technical ladder, a lean management organization, and career development. Following a brief description of these components, the authors focus on implementation strategies and tactics, including how to anticipate and overcome organizational resistance. >
The FoSOD A Measurement Tool for Reconceptualizing the Role of Denial in Child Molesters

Denial is a major obstacle that stands in the way of successfully treating child molesters. This article describes the FoSOD (an acronym for Facets of Sexual Offender Denial), a psychometrically sound measure of the multifaceted construct of denial. Evidence is provided to support and clarify existing denial taxonomies, with the identification of six distinct facets of denial pertaining to the sexual offense itself (including victim harm), extent of behavior, intent, perceived victim desire, planning, and risk of relapse (including sexually deviant preferences). Results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the FoSOD and its subscales for measuring denial in child molesters. Results also suggest how each of the measured facets of denial in contrast with related measures can be used to monitor treatment progress and to better understand the child molester. The FoSOD captures child molesters' attitudes toward their offense and their commitment to changing sexually abusive behavior patterns.
Hardware support of JPEG

Image formats specified by the joint photographic expert group (JPEG) are preferred for images with high colour content. Along with graphic interchange format (GIF) images, JPEG is the most commonly used image format on the Internet and JPEG is the de facto still image format for digital cameras. All major digital camera manufacturers use JPEG as its exclusive or primary still image format. Most JPEG processing occurs in software programs like Microsoft Paint and Adobe Photoshop. Relatively few hardware solutions exist for processing JPEG images. This paper presents a comprehensive literature survey of hardware solutions for JPEG images. Wherever possible, different JPEG formats and accompanying hardware are presented and compared to illustrate various advantages/disadvantages. The performance of hardware and software for JPEG is compared and an overview of commercial hardware for JPEG is also provided
THE MOUSE INTESTINAL MICROFLORA WITH EMPHASIS ON THE STRICT ANAEROBES

The various components of the intestinal microflora in the mouse become established according to a definite time sequence; the strict anaerobes are the last groups of bacteria to reach their maximum population levels, 14–16 days after birth. The multiplication of these strict anaerobes in the mouse intestine seems to depend upon the prior multiplication of other bacterial species, and coincides with the ingestion of food other than maternal milk. These two conditioning factors may correspond to the establishment of a suitably reduced Eh potential and to the provision of certain metabolites. Once established, the strict anaerobes constitute by far the largest percentage of the total intestinal microflora; most of them are associated in a viable form with the mucosa. In normal animals they persist at very high levels throughout the life span. However, their populations can be drastically reduced by dietary manipulation of the animal, by administration of vancomycin, or by certain disease processes of the intestine. The strict anaerobic bacteria seem to play an important, and perhaps essential role in the maintenance of the anatomic structures and physiological functions of the intestine. They also seem to hold in check several species of intestinal bacteria, in particular the coliform bacilli.
How social cues shape task coordination and communication

To design computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) systems that effectively support remote collaboration, designers need a better understanding of how people collaborate face-to-face and the mechanisms that they use to coordinate their actions. While research in CSCW has studied how specific social cues might facilitate collaboration in specific tasks, such as the role of gestures in video instruction, less is known about how a range of communicative cues might facilitate activities across many collaborative settings. In this paper, we model the predictive relationships between facial, gestural, and vocal cues and collaborative outcomes in three different tasks, drawing conclusions on how each cue might contribute to these outcomes in a given task and how such relationships generalize across tasks. The resulting models provide a quantitative understanding of the relative importance of each type of social cue in predicting collaborative outcomes, as well as a more thorough understanding of how the role of each social cue changes across tasks. Additionally, our results provide confirmation and illumination of prior findings in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication research.
Instruction recycling on a multiple-path processor

Processors that can simultaneously execute multiple paths of execution will only exacerbate the fetch bandwidth problem already plaguing conventional processors. On a multiple-path processor which speculatively executes less likely paths of hard-to-predict branches, the work done along a speculative path is normally discarded if that path is found to be incorrect. Instead, it can be beneficial to keep these instruction traces stored in the processor for possible future use. This paper introduces instruction recycling, where previously decoded instructions from recently executed paths are injected back into the rename stage. This increases the supply of instructions to the execution pipeline and decreases fetch latency. In addition, if the operands have not changed for a recycled instruction, the instruction can bypass the issue and execution stages, benefiting from instruction reuse. Instruction recycling and reuse are examined for a simultaneous multithreading architecture with multiple path execution. It is shown to increase performance by 7% for single-program workloads and by 12% on multiple-program workloads.
Atmospheric oxygen level affects growth trajectory, cardiopulmonary allometry and metabolic rate in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).

Recent palaeoatmospheric models suggest large-scale fluctuations in ambient oxygen level over the past 550 million years. To better understand how global hypoxia and hyperoxia might have affected the growth and physiology of contemporary vertebrates, we incubated eggs and raised hatchlings of the American alligator. Crocodilians are one of few vertebrate taxa that survived these global changes with distinctly conservative morphology. We maintained animals at 30°C under chronic hypoxia (12% O2), normoxia (21% O2) or hyperoxia (30% O2). At hatching, hypoxic animals were significantly smaller than their normoxic and hyperoxic siblings. Over the course of 3 months, post-hatching growth was fastest under hyperoxia and slowest under hypoxia. Hypoxia, but not hyperoxia, caused distinct scaling of major visceral organs–reduction of liver mass, enlargement of the heart and accelerated growth of lungs. When absorptive and post-absorptive metabolic rates were measured in juvenile alligators, the increase in oxygen consumption rate due to digestion/absorption of food was greatest in hyperoxic alligators and smallest in hypoxic ones. Hyperoxic alligators exhibited the lowest breathing rate and highest oxygen consumption per breath. We suggest that, despite compensatory cardiopulmonary remodelling, growth of hypoxic alligators is constrained by low atmospheric oxygen supply, which may limit their food utilisation capacity. Conversely, the combination of elevated metabolism and low cost of breathing in hyperoxic alligators allows for a greater proportion of metabolised energy to be available for growth. This suggests that growth and metabolic patterns of extinct vertebrates would have been significantly affected by changes in the atmospheric oxygen level.
Bovine adenovirus type 3 internalization is independent of primary receptors of human adenovirus type 5 and porcine adenovirus type 3.

Abstract Usefulness of adenoviral vectors derived from human adenovirus (HAd) type 5 (HAd5) is mainly limited by wide prevalence of preexisting anti-HAd5 immunity as well as non-specific tissue tropism of these vectors. As an alternative, non-human adenoviral vectors including bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAd3) are currently being investigated. Non-prevalence of BAd3 in humans and its ability to evade preexisting HAd immunity are some of the features that make BAd3 a promising vector for human gene delivery. BAd3 appears to have a tissue tropism distinct from that of HAd5 and also the repertoire of cells efficiently transduced by BAd3 is different. We performed antibody-mediated receptor blocking experiments to show that BAd3 internalization was independent of coxsackievirus–adenovirus receptor, the primary determinant of HAd5 tropism, or integrin ανβ3, a secondary molecule involved in HAd5 entry. Using homologous and heterologous knob-mediated competition assays with recombinant knobs of HAd5, porcine adenovirus type 3 (PAd3), or BAd3, we observed that BAd3 internalization was independent of the primary receptors of HAd5 and PAd3. These results provide support for further exploration of BAd3 vectors for designing targeted vectors for human gene therapy.
Synergistic effects of Cox-1 and -2 inhibition on bladder and prostate cancer in vitro.

Abstract Background We hypothesized that combined treatment with cyclooxygenase (Cox)-1 (catechin) and Cox-2 (NS398)–specific inhibitors would reduce cellular proliferation synergistically in genitourinary cancer. Methods Bladder (T24 and TCCSUP) and prostate (DU145, LnCaP, and PC3) cancer cell lines were treated with catechin and NS398 at a dose of 100 μmol/L as single and combined treatments. Viability was measured by MTT assay at 24 and 72 hours. Results Significant synergism of Cox-1 and Cox-2 inhibitors was observed in both bladder cancer lines at both 24 and 72 hours. Synergism of Cox-1 and -2 inhibitors also was noted in the DU145 cells at 72 hours, LnCap cells at 24 hours, and PC3 at both 24 and 72 hours. Conclusions Significant synergistic effects exhibited by the combination of Cox-1 and Cox-2 inhibitors suggest that these could become a highly effective treatment modality for carcinoma of both the bladder and prostate.
Bone-Anchored Rapid Palatal Expansion

Rapid palatal expansion (RPE) can cause significant periodontal consequences. Alternatives to traditional tooth-anchored RPE have been developed in an effort to offset these side effects. Bone-anchored RPE with support from miniscrew implants takes advantages over tooth-anchored RPE, as the expanders are directly attached to the posterior teeth. There are a few variations that can be used in different types of cases. Bone-anchored RPE without surgery can be an alternative to surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion in young adults.
Soluble fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 1 (sFlt1), Endoglin and Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) in Preeclampsia among High Risk Pregnancies

Background: Differences in circulating concentrations of antiangiogenic factors sFlt1 and soluble endoglin (sEng) and the pro-angiogenic growth factor PlGF are reported to precede the onset of preeclampsia weeks to months in low-risk pregnant women. The objective of this study was to investigate whether similar changes can be detected in pregnant women at highrisk to develop the syndrome. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of the NICHD MFMU trial of aspirin to prevent preeclampsia in high-risk pregnancies. Serum samples were available from 194 women with pre-existing diabetes, 313 with chronic hypertension, 234 with multifetal gestation, and 252 with a history of preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy. Samples collected across pregnancy were analyzed in a blinded fashion for sFlt1, sEng and PlGF. Results: The odds of developing preeclampsia were significantly increased among women with multiple fetuses for each 2fold elevation in sFlt1, sEng and the ratio of angiogenic factors (e.g. OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.46-3.32), and significantly decreased for each 2-fold elevation in circulating PlGF (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.30-0.82) between 7 and 26 weeks’ gestation. Cross-sectional analysis of the angiogenic factors across gestation showed significant differences during the third trimester in women who develop preeclampsia compared with appropriate controls in all high-risk groups. However, when data were examined in relation to the gestational week when preeclampsia was diagnosed only sFlt1 was significantly higher 2 to 5 weeks before the clinical onset of preeclampsia and only in women with previous preeclampsia. Conclusions: The pattern of elevated concentrations of sFlt1 and sEng, and low PlGF in high-risk pregnant subjects who develop preeclampsia is similar to that reported in low-risk pregnant women. However, differences in these factors among high-risk women who do and do not develop preeclampsia are modest, and do not appear to be clinically useful predictors in these high-risk pregnant women.
Acquiring Knowledge from the Web to be used as Selectors for Noun Sense Disambiguation

This paper presents a method of acquiring knowledge from the Web for noun sense disambiguation. Words, called selectors, are acquired which take the place of an instance of a target word in its local context. The selectors serve for the system to essentially learn the areas or concepts of WordNet that the sense of a target word should be a part of. The correct sense is chosen based on a combination of the strength given from similarity and relatedness measures over WordNet and the probability of a selector occurring within the local context. Our method is evaluated using the coarse-grained all-words task from SemEval 2007. Experiments reveal that pathbased similarity measures perform just as well as information content similarity measures within our system. Overall, the results show our system is out-performed only by systems utilizing training data or substantially more annotated data.
Electron paramagnetic resonance analyses of surface radical chemistries of γ‐sterilized orthopedic materials: Implications pointing to cytotoxicity via wear debris–induced inflammation

In this research, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spin-trapping was utilized to determine if surface radical chemistries occur for gamma (γ)-sterilized orthopedic materials—ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and the novel, hybrid, diurethane dimethacrylate (DUDMA)-based RHAKOSS™. The materials' ability to competitively chelate catalytic ferrous ions (Fe2+) or readily reduce ferric ions (Fe3+), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) directly, in facilitating the Fenton reaction (FR), is indicative of cytotoxicity. Validations with a radical scavenger aids to confirm a radical mechanism. In conjunction, materials were thermally annealed and characterized by attenuated total reflectance–Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy in order to explore accelerated oxidative degradation induced by residual radicals evolving from γ-sterilization. Particularly, there was a significant decrease in spin-adduct peak areas obtained from the reduction of H2O2 in the presence of RHAKOSS or UHMWPE, evaluated against their respective controls. Additionally, chelated Fe2+ accelerated the rate of FR. This phenomenon suggests that the materials are not better chelators than the Fe-activating chelator, edta. Neither material had the propensity to readily reduce Fe3+ to the relevant Fe2+, as certified by a nonradical mechanism. Alternatively, the false spin-adduct signal acquired when chelated Fe3+ is employed arises via the nucleophilic addition of water onto the DMPO spin trap. Residual radicals in UHMWPE did not recombine/terminate following thermal annealing in an inert atmosphere. The radicals in RHAKOSS, however, did recombine under mild heating in an oxidizing or inert atmosphere. Both materials displayed quenching of ˙OH; however, for UHMWPE, this mechanism was jointly accountable for its accelerated degradation, evidenced by ATR-FTIR. Quenching of ˙OH by the silica found in RHAKOSS manifested in a competing effect that counterbalanced the observed FR. Implanted RHAKOSS is not likely to promote cytotoxicity and should not degrade, but the damaging effect of γ sterilization on UHMWPE is a serious dilemma confronting its long-term durability and biocompatibility. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2005
Inference of Population Structure and Patterns of Gene Flow in Canine Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis)

abstract: Understanding the genetic variation within a parasitic species is crucial to implementing successful control programs and preventing the dispersal of drug resistance alleles. We examined the population genetics and structure of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) by developing a panel of 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci for this abundant parasite. In total, 192 individual nematodes were opportunistically sampled from 9 geographic regions in the United States and Mexico and genotyped. Population genetic analyses indicate the presence of 4 genetic clusters. The canine heartworm samples used in this study were characterized by low heterozygosity, with eastern and central North America experiencing high levels of reciprocal gene flow. Geographic barriers impede the movement of vectors and infected hosts west of the Rocky Mountains and south of the Central Mexican Plateau. This, combined with corridors of contiguous habitat, could influence the spread of drug resistance alleles.