cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incidence of nonunion after isolated arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis.

Purpose To determine the incidence of nonunion after isolated arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis. Methods Electronic databases and relevant peer-reviewed sources, including OvidSP/Medline (http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com) and Google, were systematically searched for the terms "arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis" AND "nonunion". Additionally, we manually searched common American, British, and European orthopaedic and podiatric scientific literature for relevant articles. Studies were eligible for inclusion only if they included the following: isolated ankle arthrodesis, greater than 20 ankles, minimum mean follow-up of 12-months, a 2-portal anterior arthroscopic approach, fixation with 2 or 3 large-diameter cannulated cancellous screws, and the nonunion rate with no restriction on cause. Results After considering all the potentially eligible articles, 7 (25.9%) met the inclusion criteria. A total of 244 patients (244 ankles)—148 (60.7%) male and 96 (39.3%) female patients, with a weighted mean age of 49.2 years—were included. For those studies that specified the exact follow-up, the weighted mean was 24.1 months. A total of 21 nonunions (8.6%) were reported, with 14 (66.7%) being symptomatic and requiring further intervention. Conclusions The results of this systematic review reveal an acceptable incidence of nonunion of 8.6%. However it is important to recognize that of these nonunions, 66.7% were symptomatic. This supports the belief that regardless of approach, nonunion of an ankle arthrodesis is problematic. In light of this finding, additional prospective studies are warranted to compare directly the incidence of nonunion between open, minimum incision, and arthroscopic approaches with a variety of fixation constructs. Level of Evidence Level IV, systematic review of level IV studies.
Zinc-α2-glycoprotein expression as a marker of differentiation in human oral tumors

Abstract Zinc-α 2 -glycoprotein (Znα 2 gp) is a soluble major histocompatibility complex homolog widespread in body fluids and in glandular epithelia; the authors recently demonstrated its presence in stratified epithelia. Znα 2 gp has been associated with tumor differentiation in breast cancers and other carcinomas. We compare here its gene expression in histopathologically graded oral squamous cell carcinomas and in their perilesional normals. Znα 2 gp levels are higher in the controls than in the tumors, and higher in well-differentiated tumors than in poorly differentiated ones. Markers of oral epithelial maturation (keratin K13 and involucrin) are less simply related to tumor histology.
Diffraction and inverse diffraction for distorted lattices

ABSTRACT Theory is developed to describe diffraction, in the weak scattering regime, from finite distorted lattices.Correlations between lattice distortions are modeled using an imposed correlation field. The validityof the imposed correlation field is examined. Expressions for the intensity, and the circularly averagedintensity, diffracted from an ensemble of distorted lattices are derived. Calculated diffraction patterns are used to examine the relationship between diffraction and the kind and degree of disorder in a specimen. Implications of this work for inverse problems in x-ray crystallography are discussed.Keywords: diffraction, disorder, distorted lattices, crystallography 1. INTRODUCTION X-ray crystallography is a technique for imaging molecules using the intensities of x-rays diffracted bya crystalline specimen. The diffraction is weak and the specimen is crystalline (periodic), so that therecorded data are samples of the intensity of the Fourier transform of the electron density of a singlemolecule. The sampled intensity is referred to as "Bragg intensity" or "Bragg reflections" .
Natural Experiment in Deviant Peer Exposure and Youth Recidivism

Little empirical data exist addressing potential iatrogenic effects of placing youth in juvenile justice settings. We took advantage of a natural experiment in one state where juvenile offenders are evaluated in either residential settings characterized by high-density contact with delinquent youth or community settings with naturally varying contact with delinquent peers. Higher rates of subsequent recidivism were found among first-time offenders when evaluation occurred in residential (N = 1,255) as opposed to community settings (N = 752). This finding was replicated in a subset (N = 634 per group) matched using propensity scores for five predictors of recidivism. Findings are interpreted in light of a deviancy training process occurring in residential juvenile justice settings.
Air pollution in a convective boundary layer

Abstract Detailed profiles of the concentration and the concentration flux for pollutants released continuously from a point source near the ground are presented. Although there are no observational data of the concentration flux and the covariance of temperature and concentration, the distributions of concentration and eddy diffusivity derived from this study are in good agreement with those of laboratory experiments. This study also shows that the covariance of temperature and concentration is important in producing a countergradient concentration flux in a convective boundary layer.
Light scattering on random dielectric layers

Scattering of light by a random stack of dielectric layers represents a one-dimensional scattering problem, where the scattered field is a three-dimensional vector field. We investigate the dependence of the scattering properties (band gaps and Anderson localization) on the wavelength, strength of randomness and relative angle of the incident wave. There is a characteristic angular dependence of Anderson localization for wavelengths close to the thickness of the layers. In particular, the localization length varies non-monotonously with the angle. In contrast to Anderson localization, absorptive layers do not have this characteristic angular dependence.
Interobserver variation in the histopathological assessment of Helicobacter pylori gastritis

The histopathologic detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy specimens is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of H pylori infection. However, few studies have addressed the pathologists' reliability to detect the organism and to assess the degree of the related inflammatory changes. The objectives of this study were to determine the degree of agreement among the findings of four gastrointestinal pathologists in the semiquantitative evaluation of H pylori infection and gastritis. Three slides from specified areas of the stomach of 99 patients with and without H pylori infection were stained with the triple stain, coded, and examined independently by four pathologists. For each specimen, a visual analogue scale graded from 0 (absent/normal) to 5 (maximal intensity) was used to score (1) H pylori (2) neutrophils, and (3) atrophy. Data were analyzed using kappa-statistics. The kappa-coefficient for the detection of H pylori (present vs absent) was approximately .9 (excellent); for the intensity of infection, it was considerably lower on the 6-point scale (approximately .61) and improved slightly on an amalgamated 4-point scale (approximately .71). The agreement on presence or absence of neutrophils was excellent (kappa = .8) in antral biopsies and good (kappa = .67) in corpus biopsies. The kappa for the semiquantitative scoring of neutrophils was poor on the 6-point scale (approximately .43) and fair on the amalgamated scale (approximately .54). The interobserver agreement was the poorest in the evaluation of atrophy (presence, absence, categories, or group categories) with kappa coefficients varying from .08 and .29. This group of pathologists had a high level of concordance on the diagnosis of H pylori infection in any particular patient and a high index in the assessment of the intensity of infection. The agreement was less in the semiquantitative evaluation of active inflammation. When the evaluation concerned a loosely defined feature, such as atrophy, there was essentially no agreement among the pathologists. This study suggests the need for further assessments of pathologists' ability to provide reproducible diagnoses. These results also indicate that more stringent criteria for the diagnosis of "soft" histopathologic features (such as atrophy) are urgently needed.
Septate endophyte colonization and host responses of grasses and forbs native to a tallgrass prairie

Native tallgrass prairies support distinct dark septate endophyte (DSE) communities exemplified by Periconia macrospinosa and Microdochium sp. that were recently identified as common root symbionts in this system. Since these DSE fungi were repeatedly isolated from grasses and forbs, we aimed to test their abilities to colonize different hosts. One Microdochium and three Periconia strains were screened for colonization and growth responses using five native grasses and six forbs in an in vitro system. Previously published data for an additional grass (Andropogon gerardii) were included and reanalyzed. Presence of indicative inter- and intracellular structures (melanized hyphae, microsclerotia, and chlamydospores) demonstrated that all plant species were colonized by the DSE isolates albeit to varying degrees. Microscopic observations suggested that, compared to forbs, grasses were colonized to a greater degree in vitro. Host biomass responses varied among the host species. In broad comparisons, more grass species than forbs tended to respond positively to colonization, whereas more forb species tended to be non-responsive. Based on the suspected differences in the levels of colonization, we predicted that tallgrass prairie grasses would support greater DSE colonization than forbs in the field. A survey of field-collected roots from 15 native species supported this hypothesis. Our study supports the “broad host range” of DSE fungi, although the differences in the rates of colonization in the laboratory and in the field suggest a greater compatibility between grasses and DSE fungi. Furthermore, host responses to DSE range from mutualism to parasitism, suggesting a genotype-level interplay between the fungi and their hosts that determines the outcome of this symbiosis.
A home network controller for providing broadband access to residential subscribers

As new broadband networks and multimedia services emerge, users are increasingly likely to access information remotely from their homes. The authors present a cost-effective method for connecting multimedia terminals in a residence to the external broadband network, so as to support multiple simultaneous user sessions. At the heart of the proposed design is a home network controller that terminates the external broadband network upon its entry into a home, and enables media distribution within the home by employing existing networking technologies, such as coaxial cable for real-time multimedia delivery to television sets, and Ethernet for data communication to home computers. >
A Dynamic Data Grid Replication Strategy to Minimize the Data Missed

The data availability in a data grid system is complicated by node failure, data catalog error and an unreliable network. To improve the job response time and data availability, data is typically replicated in large scale data-massive applications. However, the dynamic behavior of a Grid user makes it difficult to determine where and how to make data replications to meet the system availability goal. Some strategies for data replication have previously been proposed, but they assumed unlimited storage for replicas. In this paper, we present two new metrics to measure the system data availability. We then model the system availability problem assuming limited replica storage and transfer this to a classic optimal problem. We present four strategies for limited replica storage that maximize the data availability by minimizing the data missed rate (MinDmr), based on a file weight and prediction function. Our simulation on the OptorSim shows our MinDmr algorithm achieves better performance overall than others in term of data availability. Results indicate the performance of MinDmr is always better than others with varying prediction functions, job schedulers and file access patterns, as far as the data missing rate is concerned.
Psychometric properties of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in patients with shoulder pain.

Abstract Mintken PE, Cleland JA, Whitman JM, George SZ. Psychometric properties of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in patients with shoulder pain. Objective To investigate the reliability and validity of 2 commonly used measures of pain related fear in patients with shoulder pain. Design A preplanned secondary analysis of a prospective single-arm trial involving a repeated-measures design. Setting Outpatient physical therapy clinics. Participants Patients (N=80) with a primary report of shoulder pain. Intervention All patients completed the outcome measures at baseline and at follow-up. Main Outcome Measures Patients completed a modified Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), the 11-item version of Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-11), and the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) at baseline and at a 48-hour follow-up. Patients were dichotomized as improved or stable at follow-up based on the Global Rating of Change. Results Factor analysis indicated 3 stable factors for the FABQ and 1 stable factor for the TSK-11. Shoulder specific scoring for the FABQ and TSK-11 were used in subsequent analyses. Test-retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was substantial for the FABQ and the TSK-11. The FABQ correlated significantly with SPADI pain and disability scores, while the TSK-11 correlated significantly only with SPADI pain scores. The shoulder-specific FABQ–W (work beliefs subscale) was a better than chance predictor of missing days of work during the 48-hour study period. Conclusions The modified FABQ and TSK-11 may be appropriate for use in patients with shoulder pain. Shoulder-specific scoring of these measures resulted in substantial test-retest reliability, and the FABQ correlated with the SPADI for pain and disability. The FABQ also showed potential for prediction of short-term work loss in this sample. Pain-related fear may be an important variable in patients with shoulder pain and merits future consideration in longitudinal studies.
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. By John J. Mearsheimer. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001. 448p. $27.95 cloth

Theories of political realism have lost their luster in recent years: Both the classical variant and structural realist adjustments are, it has been argued, deeply flawed. An oversimplified view of what motivates states, an unwillingness to recognize the part domestic political arrangements and ideas play, and an insufficient appreciation of institutional constraints and of networks of economic interdependence undermine, it is said, the theory's foundations. Moreover, many doubts have been raised about its predictive power.
Solitary fibrous tumor of the orbit

The differential diagnosis of discrete, intraconal orbital tumors includes a number of mesenchymal lesions, including hemangiopericytoma, fibrous histiocytoma, schwannoma, neurofibroma and some sarcomas. Solitary fibrous tumor is an uncommon neoplasm, first described in the pleura, that can be confused with these tumors. We report a case of a solitary fibrous tumor in the orbit. The histologic ‘patternless’ pattern and the immunochemical findings of uniform CD34 positivity should allow correct diagnosis of this lesion.
Hypertriglyceridemia, Atherogenic Dyslipidemia, and the Metabolic Syndrome

The importance of high serum cholesterol, especially a high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, as a risk factor for coronary artery disease is well established. Likewise, efficacy for decreasing risk for coronary artery disease by LDL-lowering therapy has recently been documented through clinical trials. However, many high-risk patients manifest elevated serum triglyceride levels, and the role of hypertriglyceridemia in causation of coronary artery disease remains to be elucidated. Nonetheless, there is growing evidence that hypertriglyceridemia is a marker for increased risk for coronary artery disease; in fact, it can serve as a marker for several atherogenic factors. These factors include increased concentrations of atherogenic triglyceride-rich lipoproteins; the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype, or lipid triad; and the metabolic syndrome. The lipid triad consists of elevated serum triglycerides, small LDL particles, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The metabolic syndrome includes the coexistence of the lipid triad, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance (plus glucose intolerance), and a prothrombotic state. Many previous studies indicate that hypertriglyceridemia is strongly associated with all of these atherogenic factors. The clinical approach to treatment of patients with hypertriglyceridemia thus requires a broad-based strategy that includes reduction of atherogenic triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, reversal of the lipid triad, and favorable modification of the metabolic syndrome. The development of therapeutic regimens to effect these changes poses a challenge for future research on the problem of hypertriglyceridemia.
β‐Cryptoxanthin suppresses the growth of immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells and non‐small‐cell lung cancer cells and up‐regulates retinoic acid receptor β expression

Recent findings of an inverse association between beta-cryptoxanthin and lung cancer risk in several observational epidemiologic studies suggest that beta-cryptoxanthin could potentially act as a chemopreventive agent against lung cancer. However, the biological activity of beta-cryptoxanthin and molecular mechanism(s) by which beta-cryptoxanthin affects lung tumourigenesis have not been studied. In the present study, we found that beta-cryptoxanthin inhibited the growth of A549 cells, a non-small-cell lung cancer cell line and BEAS-2B cells, an immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell line in a dose-dependent manner. beta-Cryptoxanthin suppressed the protein levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin E, up-regulated the cell cycle inhibitor p21, increased the number of lung cancer cells in the G1/G0 phase and decreased those in the S phase of the cell cycle. Consistent with inhibition of the lung cancer cell growth, beta-cryptoxanthin induced the mRNA levels of retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta) in BEAS-2B cells, although this effect was less pronounced in A549 cells. Furthermore, beta-cryptoxanthin transactivated RAR-mediated transcription activity of the retinoic acid response element. These findings suggest a mechanism of anti-proliferative action of beta-cryptoxanthin and indicate that beta-cryptoxanthin may be a promising chemopreventive agent against lung cancer.
Uptake and Release of Neurotransmitters

The availability of clonal cell lines for norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin transporters allows the characterization of drug interactions with transporter recognition sites using radioligands, as well as the characterization of drug effects on selective transporter-mediated uptake and release of substrate. In addition to clonal cell lines, synaptosomes prepared from specific brain regions can be used to conduct these studies without interference by endogenous transporters or binding proteins that are present in other tissues. This unit presents protocols for uptake and release of tritiated substrates using intact cells (either detached or in suspension) or synaptosomes. An HPLC procedure for electrochemical detection of nonradiolabeled substrates is also provided. Time-dependent release can also be measured in assays involving real-time sampling.
A dual-input nonlinear system analysis of autonomic modulation of heart rate

Linear analyses of fluctuations in heart rate and other hemodynamic variables have been used to elucidate cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms. The role of nonlinear contributions to fluctuations in hemodynamic variables has not been fully explored. This paper presents a nonlinear system analysis of the effect of fluctuations in instantaneous lung volume (ILV) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) on heart rate (HR) fluctuations. To successfully employ a nonlinear analysis based on the Laguerre expansion technique (LET), we introduce an efficient procedure for broadening the spectral content of the ILV and ABP inputs to the model by adding white noise. Results from computer simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of broadening the spectral band of input signals to obtain consistent and stable kernel estimates with the use of the LET. Without broadening the band of the ILV and ABP inputs, the LET did not provide stable kernel estimates. Moreover, we extend the LET to the case of multiple inputs in order to accommodate the analysis of the combined effect of ILV and ABP effect on heart rate. Analyses of data based on the second-order Volterra-Wiener model reveal an important contribution of the second-order kernels to the description of the effect of lung volume and arterial blood pressure on heart rate. Furthermore, physiological effects of the autonomic blocking agents propranolol and atropine on changes in the first- and second-order kernels are also discussed.
Electromyographic Activity of Back Musculature During Williams' Flexion Exercises

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the pattern and magnitude of electromyographic activity recorded from paraspinal musculature at four different vertebral levels while subjects performed six Williams' flexion exercises with anterior and posterior pelvic tilt. Bipolar surface electrodes were placed on the right sides, at C5, T6, L3, and S1, of eight men and eight women. Integrated electromyographic activity was analyzed at the end of range of each exercise. A significant (P less than .05) interaction effect was found between exercises and types of tilt at each vertebral level. The difference in electromyographic activity between the two pelvic positions was most evident in the lumbar and sacral areas, where electromyographic activity recorded for anterior tilt was greater than for posterior tilt. The results support the following conclusions: 1) pelvic tilt, curl up, knees to chest, and hamstring stretch performed with posterior tilt minimize the electromyographic activity in the lumbar and sacral regions that occurs in conjunction with lengthening of these muscles during posterior pelvic tilt, 2) use of the standing exercises and anterior tilt positions should be avoided if minimizing electromyographic activity in the lumbar and sacral regions is desired, and 3) the electromyographic activity of each of the four different vertebral levels responded independently of every other level during performance of Williams' flexion exercises.
General Data Adjustment

In many situations, researchers are confronted with data distributions that display substantial irregularity due to sample sizes being small or responses being concentrated at preferred values. Or a data set may be coded using groupings different from those the researcher would prefer. In such cases, data may need to be smoothed (graduated) or regrouped before they can be used. Regrouping is also needed when data sets with different interval categories are to be merged, and when categories need to be expanded, as from 5-year to 1-year intervals.
Hippocampal Place Fields: A Neural Code for Episodic Memory?

For over a half of a century, neuroscientists speculated about the neurophysiological mechanisms that support hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. About 35 years ago, O’Keefe and Dostrovsky (1971) published a report that ultimately resulted in a paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1970) in this field. Their report showed that hippocampal pyramidal neurons selectively discharge as animals traverse a circumscribed location within its environment. This was an astounding finding not only because of the surprising clarity of the neural signal from a brain structure thought to be involved in complex forms of learning and memory, but the methodology represented by this finding launched the field into a new direction that was filled with exciting new possibilities. The ability to monitor a single neuron’s activity in freely behaving animals could allow scientists to \see" for the first time learning and memory \on-line." Very soon afterwards it was revealed that the localized firing (or place field) of these \place cells" reflected not only the external sensory conditions but also the behavioral or movement state of the animal. That is, properties of an animal’s movement (e.g. speed) induce changes in place fields, providing clear evidence that space per se is not the sole determinant of place cell discharge. These findings gave rise to the highly influential and strong hypothesis that the hippocampus generates a spatial cognitive map that incorporates not only the sensory qualities of an environment but also the spatial relationship among these features, and information that is relevant to an animal’s behavior at different locations (O’Keefe and Nadel, 1978).
Enhancing a Pathway-Genome Database (PGDB) to capture subcellular localization of metabolites and enzymes: the nucleotide-sugar biosynthetic pathways of Populus trichocarpa

Understanding how cellular metabolism works and is regulated requires that the underlying biochemical pathways be adequately represented and integrated with large metabolomic data sets to establish a robust network model. Genetically engineering energy crops to be less recalcitrant to saccharification requires detailed knowledge of plant polysaccharide structures and a thorough understanding of the metabolic pathways involved in forming and regulating cell-wall synthesis. Nucleotide-sugars are building blocks for synthesis of cell wall polysaccharides. The biosynthesis of nucleotide-sugars is catalyzed by a multitude of enzymes that reside in different subcellular organelles, and precise representation of these pathways requires accurate capture of this biological compartmentalization. The lack of simple localization cues in genomic sequence data and annotations however leads to missing compartmentalization information for eukaryotes in automatically generated databases, such as the Pathway-Genome Databases (PGDBs) of the SRI Pathway Tools software that drives much biochemical knowledge representation on the internet. In this report, we provide an informal mechanism using the existing Pathway Tools framework to integrate protein and metabolite sub-cellular localization data with the existing representation of the nucleotide-sugar metabolic pathways in a prototype PGDB for Populus trichocarpa. The enhanced pathway representations have been successfully used to map SNP abundance data to individual nucleotide-sugar biosynthetic genes in the PGDB. The manually curated pathway representations are more conducive to the construction of a computational platform that will allow the simulation of natural and engineered nucleotide-sugar precursor fluxes into specific recalcitrant polysaccharide(s). Database URL: The curated Populus PGDB is available in the BESC public portal at http://cricket.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/beocyc_ home.cgi and the nucleotide-sugar biosynthetic pathways can be directly accessed at http://cricket.ornl. gov:1555/PTR/new-image?object=SUGAR-NUCLEOTIDES.
Optical imaging in galagos reveals parietal–frontal circuits underlying motor behavior

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of monkeys and prosimian galagos contains a number of subregions where complex, behaviorally meaningful movements, such as reaching, grasping, and body defense, can be evoked by electrical stimulation with long trains of electrical pulses through microelectrodes. Shorter trains of pulses evoke no or simple movements. One possibility for the difference in effectiveness of intracortical microstimulation is that long trains activate much larger regions of the brain. Here, we show that long-train stimulation of PPC does not activate widespread regions of frontal motor and premotor cortex but instead, produces focal, somatotopically appropriate activations of frontal motor and premotor cortex. Shorter stimulation trains activate the same frontal foci but less strongly, showing that longer stimulus trains do not produce less specification. Because the activated sites in frontal cortex correspond to the locations of direct parietal–frontal anatomical connections from the stimulated PPC subregions, the results show the usefulness of optical imaging in conjunction with electrical stimulation in showing functional pathways between nodes in behavior-specific cortical networks. Thus, long-train stimulation is effective in evoking ethologically relevant sequences of movements by activating nodes in a cortical network for a behaviorally relevant period rather than spreading activation in a nonspecific manner.
The role of multisensory feedback in haptic surface perception

In performing most everyday tasks, we use information from several different sensory modalities, yet our understanding of how these inputs are integrated is limited. The present study investigated the role of multisensory feedback in the perception of surface roughness, specifically focusing on whether the threshold for distinguishing the roughness of two virtual surfaces was different under visual + haptic conditions, as compared to visual-only or haptic-only conditions. Haptic stimuli were presented via the PHANToM; visual stimuli were presented via computer monitor. The virtual surfaces were sinusoidal gratings that varied in spatial period across trials. Overall, results suggested that threshold was determined by haptic input at low surface amplitudes, and by visual input at high surface amplitudes. At intermediate amplitude values, it appeared that observers were combining information across modalities to produce a percept in the combined condition that was better than that obtained under either single modality condition.
Agonist Action of Adenosine Triphosphates at the Human P2Y1 Receptor

The agonist selectivity for adenosine di- and triphosphates was determined for the human P2Y1 receptor stably expressed in human 1321N1 astrocytoma cells and was studied under conditions in which nucleotide metabolism was both minimized and assessed. Cells were grown at low density on glass coverslips, encased in a flow-through chamber, and continuously superfused with medium, and Ca2+ responses to nucleotides were quantified. Superfusion with high performance liquid chromatographically purified ADP, ATP, 2-methylthio-ADP, and 2-methylthio-ATP resulted in rapid Ca2+ responses, with EC50 values of 10 +/- 5, 304 +/- 51, 2 +/- 1, and 116 +/- 50 nM, respectively. Similar peak responses were observed with maximal concentrations of these four agonists and with the hydrolysis-resistant adenine nucleoside triphosphate adenosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate). No conversion of [3H]ATP to [3H]ADP occurred under these conditions. Similar full agonist activities of ATP, 2-methylthio-ATP, and ADP were observed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which natively express the P2Y1 receptor. In contrast to these results, Leon et al. [FEBS Lett 403:26-30 (1997)] and Hechler et al. [Mol Pharmacol 53:727-733 (1998)] recently reported that, whereas ADP and 2-methylthio-ADP were agonists, ATP and 2-methylthio-ATP were weak antagonists in studies of the human P2Y1 receptor expressed in human Jurkat cells. To assess whether differences in the degree of receptor reserve might explain this discrepancy of results, P2Y1 receptor-expressing 1321N1 cells were incubated for 24 hr with adenosine-5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate), with the goal of down-regulating the level of functional receptors. Pretreatment with adenosine-5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) resulted in a 10-fold rightward shift in the concentration-effect curve for ADP; in contrast, the agonist activity of ATP was completely abolished. Taken together, our results indicate that adenosine di- and triphosphates are agonists at the human P2Y1 receptor. However, the intrinsic efficacy of ATP is less than that of ADP, and the capacity of ATP to activate second messenger responses through this receptor apparently depends on the degree of P2Y1 receptor reserve.
Paleoenvironments of Early Theropods, Chinle Formation (Late Triassic), Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Abstract Three localities in the Chinle Formation (Late Triassic), Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO), Arizona, provide insights into the paleoenvironments frequented by primitive North American theropods. At the Dinosaur Wash locality, an undetermined theropod is preserved in paleosols that indicate a transition from wet to dry conditions on the floodplain. Coelophysis bauri remains from the Dinosaur Hill locality are preserved in a filled channel scour. The paleosols at this locality contain carbonate nodules intimately associated with Fe and Mn oxides, indicative of alternating alkaline/acidic conditions around roots in response to a semi-arid climate with strong seasonal precipitation. At the Dinosaur Hollow locality, Chindesaurus bryansmalli is preserved in a setting similar to those encountered at Dinosaur Hill. The paleosols exhibit vertic features, such as pseudoanticlines, and are indicative of water-deficit periods during the year. The most complete theropod remains at PEFO are predominantly ...
An Approximate Test for Comparing Heteroscedastic Regression Models

Abstract This article addresses the problem of testing whether the vectors of regression coefficients are equal for two independent regression models when the error variances are unequal. The usual Chow statistic, appropriate when equality of variances can be assumed, is modified by replacing the pooled residual variance in the denominator with a weighted average of the residual variances from each data set. The weights are functions of the mean of the eigenvalues of W = X′ 1 X 1(X′ 1 X 1 + X′ 2 X 2)-1. Both numerator and denominator are then approximated by scalar multiples of chi-squared distributions. The parameters of these approximated distributions are chosen to equate their first two moments to those of the exact distribution. The resulting approximation for the modified Chow statistic, C*, is an F distribution with degrees of freedom that depend on the two sample sizes, the number of regressor variables, the average eigenvalue of W, and the true ratio of error variances. Since the latter is unknow...
CD18-independent mechanism of neutrophil emigration in the rabbit lung after ischemia-reperfusion

Background. Reperfusion of ischemic lung causes an inflammatory pulmonary vascular injury characterized by increased vascular permeability and migration of inflammatory cells into the alveoli. Migration of neutrophils into the alveolus during reperfusion after 24 hours of unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion has been shown to be in part dependent on the CD18 adhesion molecule on the cell surface. The current study investigated whether reperfusion lung injury after a 1-hour period of complete lung ischemia was CD18 dependent. Methods. Eighteen rabbits were assigned to one of three groups. Groups 1 and 2 were subjected to one hour of in situ right hilar occlusion followed by 2 hours of reperfusion. Group 3 was subjected to identical surgical dissection but the right hilum was never occluded. Group 1 rabbits received saline solution (1 mL/kg) before hilar occlusion and group 2 rabbits, monoclonal antibody 60.3, a blocking antibody for the CD18 adhesion molecule on the neutrophil surface (2 mg/kg). In 3 of the antibody-treated rabbits, flow cytometry was performed on blood neutrophils before and after administration of the antibody and 120 minutes after reperfusion. Results. The rabbits in groups 1 and 2 had significantly increased alveolar neutrophil infiltrate and increased pulmonary vascular resistance compared with the rabbits in group 3. However, there was no significant difference between group 1 (saline solution treated) and group 2 (antibody treated). Antibody treatment did not block migration of neutrophils into the alveoli. Flow cytometry of circulating neutrophils demonstrated that CD18 was upregulated after reperfusion and that CD18 was fully blocked after antibody treatment for the duration of the study. Conclusions. We conclude that a 1-hour period of warm ischemia followed by reperfusion results in upregulation of CD18 but that emigration of the neutrophils into the alveoli is not CD18 dependent in this injury.
A new routing protocol for the reconfigurable wireless networks

We propose a new routing protocol, the Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP), for the reconfigurable wireless networks, a large scale, highly mobile ad-hoc networking environment. The novelty of the ZRP protocol is that it is applicable to large flat-routed networks. Furthermore, through the use of the zone radius parameter, the scheme exhibits the adjustable hybrid behavior of proactive and reactive routing schemes. We evaluate the performance of the protocol, showing the reduction in the number of control messages, as compared with other reactive schemes, such as flooding.
Effect of Attitude toward Warm-Ups on Motor Performance

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude of college women toward warm-ups, and to relate this attitude to the effect of a warm-up period on performance in an obstacle race. An attitude inventory was constructed, refined, and then administered to 86 subjects. The attitude inventory scores indicated whether the subjects had a more favorable or less favorable attitude toward warm-ups. An obstacle race was administered without a warm-up period and with a 3-min. warm-up period. Results indicated that the subjects with a more favorable attitude toward warm-ups performed significantly better when warm-ups preceded the obstacle race, while those subjects with a less favorable attitude did not improve significantly when warm-ups were given.
Distributed Line Search for Multiagent Convex Optimization

This note considers multiagent systems seeking to optimize a convex aggregate function. We assume that the gradient of this function is distributed, meaning that each agent can compute its corresponding partial derivative with information about its neighbors and itself only. In such scenarios, the discrete-time implementation of the gradient descent method poses the basic challenge of determining appropriate agent stepsizes that guarantee the monotonic evolution of the objective function. We provide a distributed algorithmic solution to this problem based on the aggregation of agent stepsizes via adaptive convex combinations. Simulations illustrate our results.
Thyroprotein and Fat in Laying Diets

Abstract CONFLICTING conclusions concerning the effect of thyroprotein (iodinated casein) upon the reproductive performance of chickens have been reported by different investigators. Rhode Island Red and White Leghorn females of all ages responded to thyroprotein administration by greater egg production according to Turner, Kempster, Hall and Reineke (1945): Turner, Kempster and Hall (1946); Turner and Kempster (1948); and Turner (1948). Negative results were reported by Hoffmann and Wheeler (1948), Hutt and Gowe (1948) and Godfrey (1949). Turner (1948) observed no effect of estrogens and androgens upon egg production of White Plymouth Rock pullets. Administration of thyroprotein and dianisylhexene in combination was equally effective as administration of thyroprotein alone. Berg and Bearse (1951) reported a highly significant decrease in egg production and lowered body weights of White Leghorn pullets fed 15 grams of thyroprotein per 100 pounds of feed. According to Savage, Turner, Kempster and Hogan (1952), thyroprotein had no effect on . . .
A Comparison of the Rate of Combination of Sulfur with Rubber and the Rate of Vulcanization

Abstract The following general conclusions can be drawn from these experiments: 1—The low combined sulfur at correct cure which is, in general, characteristic of fast curing compounds is due both to the stiffening or polymerizing action of the accelerator and to the fact that fast curing compounds suffer less heat degradation during the cure. Some accelerators have a greater physical stiffening or polymerizing effect than others, that being the only way one can account for the difference in the rate of sulfur combination between Vulcanol and mercaptobenzothiazole, since Vulcanol which causes the combination of sulfur at a lower rate causes physical vulcanization or stiffening of the rubber at a higher rate. 2—The differences in the combined sulfur required to produce correct cure between one accelerator and another are not large as compared to the differences which result from changing the percentage of any given accelerator. 3—Accelerators differ among themselves in the benzol absorption which they impar...
Gender Differences in Knee Kinematics After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs 200,000 times per year in the United States. About half of these patients opt for ACL reconstruction (ACLr), while the other half choose non-surgical, conservative treatment. ACLr has been found to result in altered kinematics, namely external tibial rotation and knee adduction, during downhill running1. ACLr also contributes to alterations in muscle activity after surgery. Leg muscles of the affected limb are weakened and contract in different muscle activation patterns when compared to healthy, uninjured patients2.© 2013 ASME
The Effect of Spin Dependent Scattering from Impurities on Giant Magnetoresistance and Thermal Conductivity in Fe/Cr Multilayers

Recent experiments have tested the assumption that a spin-dependent asymmetry in scattering is responsible for the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in Fe/Cr multilayers by introducing additional impurities (with different spin-dependent scattering asymmetries) at the interfaces. This paper presents a theoretical calculation based on a Boltzmann transport equation approach which is appropriate for these new experiments. We find that when impurities (Mn, V) are introduced which have a spin-dependent scattering asymmetry similar to that of Cr in Fe the GMR is not substantially changed. When impurities (Al, Ir) with a spin-dependent scattering asymmetry opposite to that of Cr in Fe are introduced there is a rapid degredation of the GMR. Our results are compared with experiment and good agreement is found provided that the magnitude of the scattering asymmetry in Al is reduced somewhat from low-temperature published values. It is argued that thermal effects could indeed provide such a reduction. We also point out that the thermal conductivity should undergo changes with magnetic field in these structures, since the thermal conductivity also depends upon electron mobility.
CyberKnife high-dose fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery with tumor tracking: An effective non-surgical treatment alternative for single small peripheral lung tumors

18125 Background: We report preliminary outcomes using CyberKnife radiosurgery with tumor tracking to treat small (<4 cm) peripheral inoperable stage I lung cancers and single pulmonary metastases....
304 DOUBLE-BLINDED RANDOMIZED STUDY OF TEMPORARY GASTRIC ELECTRICAL STIMULATION: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE ENDOSTIM STUDY (ENDOSCOPIC STIMULATION TEMPORARILY IMPLANTED MUCOSALLY).

Introduction Permanently implanted gastric electrical stimulation (GES) has been shown to be a successful therapy for many aspects of gastroparesis (GP). Recently, endoscopic temporary GES (GIE, 2005), has been advocated as a method to rapidly determine the possible beneficial effects of this therapy. However, temporary GES (Temp GES) has not been studied in a blinded manner. Patients We studied 58 patients (11 males, 47 females, mean age 46 years) with the symptoms of GP and an underlying diagnosis (idiopathic [ID], n = 38; diabetes mellitus (DM), n = 13; postsurgical [PS], n = 7) in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover study of temp GES as two consecutive 4-day sessions. Methods After baseline assessments of symptoms (including vomiting) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), patients underwent endoscopic placement of Temp GES on day 1 and then had devices turned ON/OFF through day 4, when another assessment was done. Patients were crossed over to OFF/ON days 5 through day 8 when final assessments were performed. Results were compared by t-tests within and between groups and reported as mean ± SE. Results Twenty-eight patients had ON-OFF and 30 patients had OFF-ON; 45 of 58 patients finished all 8 days. When analyzed for all patients ON versus all patients OFF, both vomiting frequency and HRQOL improved significantly (p Conclusions This blinded comparison of temporary endoscopic GES is the first evidence-based study of its effectiveness. Further stratification of results from the EndoSTIM study should provide additional information about which gastroparesis patients may benefit most from temporary GES.
Intervention Effect of Health Education on AIDS Knowledge Among Peasant Employees of Railway Maintenance

Objective To develop health education about AIDS prevention knowledge in peasant employees of railway maintenance,and to appraise the effect of health education. Methods To propagandize AIDS prevention knowledge among the target population by using many kinds of drumbeating forms,and develop health education intervention. Unregistered name questionnaire investigation was conducted before and after intervention. Results Among the 9 questions,8 questions had higher awareness rates after intervention,and showed significant difference (P0.05). The awareness rate of the question about "do you know if a HIV patient could be judged by appearance?" was improved to some extent,but showed no significant difference (P0.05). Conclusions Though developing AIDS health education intervention has achieved very good effects,some knowledge points still need repeated propaganda for further improving the awareness rates.
A da Vinci robot system can make sense for a mature laparoscopic prostatectomy program.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We sought to provide informed recommendations on transitioning from laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) to robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RAP) through a study of the da Vinci robot. METHODS We performed a cost-benefit analysis to determine the impact that purchasing a dollars 1.5 million da Vinci robot with a dollars 112,000 service contract per year and dollars 200 per case of disposables would have on profits of a mature laparoscopic prostatectomy program. RESULTS Seventy-eight cases per year are needed to cover the costs of a purchased robot, while only 20 cases per year are needed if a robot is donated. Once robot costs are covered, increases in caseload lead to increased income. Profit is not feasible at centers performing fewer than 25 cases annually. A donated robot lessens costs and allows reasonable revenue without drastic increases in caseload. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest a high-volume LRP program can convert to RAP and maintain profits; however, the cost of the robot precludes equal income as that with LRP. Purchasing a robot is not fiscally viable in a low-volume program. Given comparable outcomes between LRP and RAP, hospitals need to decide whether market forces or the intangible benefits of robotics outweigh the expenses of obtaining and operating a robot.