cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Raman spectroscopy based on a single-crystal sapphire fiber.

We demonstrate the advantages of using a single-crystal sapphire fiber to perform Raman spectroscopy over using a standard glass fiber. The narrow Raman peaks and the low background signal of a single-crystal sapphire fiber allow for the detection of weaker Raman signals or Raman signals much closer to the incident laser wavelength than with a standard glass fiber, which has a strong broadband Raman spectrum of its own. The Raman spectra of calcite, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and aqueous sodium carbonate solution were collected using a 50 cm long, 200 μmdiameter sapphire fiber, and then they were compared with the results using a 50 cm long, 100 μm diameter glass fiber. The Raman spectrum of each tested material becomes indistinguishable due to the background Raman signal of the glass fiber but can easily be seen using the sapphire fiber, which has only a few narrow Raman peaks of its own.
Porcelain adherence vs force to failure for palladium-gallium alloys: a critique of metal-ceramic bond testing.

Abstract Objectives : The purpose of this study was to characterize the metal–ceramic bond of four commercial Pd–Ga alloys by two separate tests: porcelain adherence and bond failure force. A Pd–Ag alloy was the control. A secondary goal was to investigate a possible correlation between the percent porcelain retained and bond failure forces. Methods : For adherence testing, five cast plates of each alloy were air abraded and oxidized. The porcelain was applied on a circular area in the center of each plate and fractured using constant-strain flexure. The area fraction of adherent porcelain (%) was calculated via a standardized spectrometric technique. Bond failure forces were measured in three-point bending using bar specimens. The modulus of elasticity of the five alloys was also measured. No attempt was made to calculate bond strength since the residual thermal stresses at the interfacial region were unknown. Data were compared via ANOVA and the Tukey multiple range test ( p Results : All failures occurred at the porcelain termination sites with no tensile fracture of the porcelain. Two Pd–Ga alloys exhibited porcelain adherence comparable with previously studied Pd–Cu–Ga alloys. There was no correlation between the porcelain adherence and the force to failure ( r 2 =0.0159). Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found among the moduli of elasticity of the five alloys. Significance : The new Pd–Ga alloys have been commercially introduced with little information on the quality of the bond with porcelain. The use of two different means for assessing the metal–ceramic bond provides information on the relationship of data using different experimental techniques.
Age-related effects of vagotonic atropine on cardiovagal baroreflex gain

Impaired neural transduction of barosensory vessel stretch into vagal outflow is a primary determinant of reduced cardiovagal baroreflex gain with human aging. We set out to determine whether age-related reductions in this neural component of the baroreflex might be offset by enhancing the central integration/efferent responsiveness of the neural arc. Low vagotonic doses of atropine were employed to enhance central neural outflow and peripheral sinus node effects. Baroreflex gain and its neural and mechanical components were pharmacologically assessed before and after intravenous vagotonic atropine in 16 older and 14 young healthy subjects. Vagotonic atropine increased cardiovagal baroreflex gain (∼30%) and its neural component (∼20%) in older but not young individuals. Moreover, the atropine-induced increases in integrated gain and in its neural component were inversely related to baseline levels. Thus, age-related neural deficits in the baroreflex arc appear to play a determining role in reduced cardiovagal baroreflex gain with age and the compromised neural baroreflex function can be acutely improved by a single pharmacologic intervention.
CREB involvement in the regulation of striatal prodynorphin by nicotine

The transcription factor cAMP response element binding (CREB) protein plays a pivotal role in drug-dependent neuronal plasticity. CREB phosphorylation at Ser133 is enhanced by drugs of abuse, including nicotine. Dynorphin (Dyn) contributes to the addictive process and its precursor gene prodynorphin (PD) is regulated by CREB. PD mRNA and Dyn synthesis were enhanced in the striatum following acute nicotine, suggesting genomic regulation. These studies investigated PD transcription in mice acutely treated with nicotine, determined the role of CREB, and characterized the receptors involved. Acute nicotine increased adenylyl cyclase activity, cAMP, and pCREB Ser133 levels in striatum and enhanced CREB binding to CRE elements (DynCREs) of the PD promoter, preferentially DynCRE3. DynCRE3 binding was dose dependent with 1 mg of nicotine giving a maximal response. Additionally, DynCRE binding was time dependent, rising by 15 min, reaching a maximum at 1 h, and returning to control by 3 h, a temporal pattern similar to that of cAMP and pCREB. Supershift experiments showed that CREB and pCREB Ser133 were the major contributors to DynCRE3 binding complex. The nAChR antagonist mecamylamine and the dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist SCH 23390 prevented the nicotine-induced increase of pCREB and nuclear protein binding to DynCRE3. Our findings suggest that nicotine regulates PD expression in striatum at the transcriptional level and CREB is involved. Dopamine D1 receptor stimulation by nAChR-released dopamine appears to be an underlying mechanism. Altered Dyn synthesis might be relevant for the behavioral actions of nicotine and especially its aversive properties.
Thymic maturation determines γδ T cell function, but not their antigen specificities

γδ T cells contribute uniquely to host immune defense, but how they do so remains unclear. Recent work suggests that thymic selection does little to constrain γδ T cell antigen specificities, but instead determines their effector fate. When triggered through the T cell receptor, ligand-experienced cells make IFNγ, whereas ligand-naive γδ T cells produce IL-17, a major initiator of inflammation. These advances warrant a fresh look at how γδ T cells may function in the immune system.
The Psychological Impact on Police Officers of Being First Responders to Completed Suicides

When a suicide is completed, police officers are often among the first responders. Little attention has been paid to the emotional and psychological impact on the police officer in this specific situation. This study examines the effects encounters with completed suicides have on the emotional and psychological well-being of the police officer. This is a qualitative study, which intends to bring alive the feelings, thoughts, actions, choices, and challenges of police officers who have encountered completed suicides as imparted through participants' stories. Interviews were done with eight police officers. In addition, interviews were done with a coroner, a police chaplain, and a police psychologist to add some unique perspectives to the police officers’ experiences of encountering completed suicides. Interviews were done in a semi-structured, focused format involving an ongoing fine-tuning of questions. The overarching finding reveals the central role played by police culture in shaping how police officers come to perceive this experience, and how they subsequently choose to mediate it. This study identifies ten strategies police officers use to mediate this experience, and discusses the possible psychological consequences of employing each strategy.
Structure of GaSb digitally doped with Mn

Abstract : Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (XSTM) and density functional theory have been used to characterize the structure of GaSb digitally doped with Mn. The Mn dopants are found in both isolated substitutional form as well as in large clusters of zinc-blende MnSb commensurate with the surrounding GaSb matrix. Theoretical calculations predict that these two forms of Mn in the digitally doped layers will have a very different appearance in XSTM images. Substitutional Mn enhances the local density of states near the surface, thus appearing higher in a filled-state image. In contrast, MnSb clusters induce substantial structural relaxation at the {110} surface, and therefore appear as localized depressed regions with negligible perturbation of the surrounding GaSb.
MicroRNA-206: the skeletal muscle-specific myomiR

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing. A small number of striated muscle-specific miRNAs have been identified and shown to have an important role in myogenesis, embryonic muscle growth and cardiac function and hypertrophy. One of these myomiRs (myo = muscle + miR = miRNA), miR-206, is unique in that it is only expressed in skeletal muscle. The purpose of this review is to discuss what is currently known about miR-206 and its function in myogenesis as well as propose potential new roles for miR-206 in skeletal muscle biology. The review is also intended to serve as a comprehensive resource for miR-206 with the hope of encouraging further research on the role of miR-206 in skeletal muscle.
Photoreduction of ethyl phenylglyoxylate

Abstract In the presence of electron donors, ethyl phenylglyoxylate generally forms adducts as the result of cross-coupling between the radical pai after a proton transfer. Quenching rate constants of triplet methyl phenylglyoxylate by hydrogen and electron donors were measured. Electron donors quench the excited state more than three orders of magnitude more rapidly than hydrogen donors. Quantum yields of the starting material's disappearance were shown to be very different in the reaction with a hydrogen donor to that with an electron donor. Photoreduction by dithiane (dithiolane) situated intramolecularly was also studied. © 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved
A Tridentate-Bridged Ruthenium-Rhodium Complex as a Stereochemically Defined Light-Absorber-Electron-Acceptor Dyad.

The complex [(tpy)Ru(tpp)RhCl3](PF6)2 (tpy = 2,2‘,6‘,2‘‘-terpyridine and tpp = 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine) has been prepared and its spectroscopic, electrochemical, and photophysical properties investigated. This complex couples a ruthenium light absorber to a rhodium electron acceptor to create the first tpp-bridged light-absorber−electron-acceptor dyad. This study illustrates the applicability of this (tpy)RuII(μ-tpp) chromophore in the construction of photochemical molecular devices. This system is of interest since the tpp ligand has been shown to provide stereochemically defined polymetallic complexes with reasonably long-lived metal to ligand charge transfer excited states. The complex [(tpy)Ru(tpp)RhCl3](PF6)2 displays a Ru→tpp CT transition centered at 516 nm that is the lowest lying electronic transition. The electrochemistry of [(tpy)Ru(tpp)RhCl3](PF6)2 shows a RuII/III couple at 1.60 V vs Ag/AgCl, an irreversible RhIII/I reduction at −0.23 V and, a tpp0/- couple at −0.60 V. This illust...
Clinical experience with lisinopril in congestive heart failure. Focus on the older patient.

Lisinopril, a long acting, non-sulfhydryl-containing angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, produces an increase in exercise capacity and an improvement in symptoms when administered in a dose of 5 to 20 mg/day to patients with congestive heart failure. There is an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction, and the effectiveness of the drug is not diminished by impairment of renal function (serum creatinine > 71.6 mg/dl). Lisinopril is just as effective in older (> 65 years of age) patients as in younger patients and is well tolerated among patients of all age groups.
An efficient algorithm for multiple simultaneous broadcasts in the hypercube

Stamoulis, G.D. and J.N. Tsitsiklis, An efficient algorithm for multiple simultaneous broadcasts in the hypercube, Information Processing Letters 46 (1993) 219-224. We analyze the following problem: Each of K nodes of the d-cube wishes (at the same time) to broadcast a packet to all hypercube nodes. We present a simple distributed algorithm for performing this task efficiently for any value of K and for any K-tuple of broadcasting nodes, and some variations of this algorithm that apply to special cases. In particular, we obtain an easily implementable algorithm for the multinode broadcast task (K = 2d), which comes within a factor of 2 from the optimal.
Arrhythmias in Heart Failure

Heart failure patients are predisposed to develop tachyarrhythmias and their course complicates the management of the heart failure syndrome. Supraventricular arrhythmias can exacerbate the heart failure symptoms by decreasing the effective cardiac output and their control require pharmacological, electrical or catheter-based intervention. In the setting of atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation, anticoagulation becomes paramount in order to prevent systemic or cerebral embolism. Patients with systolic heart failure are at high risk for developing ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators are used for primary or secondary prevention in this setting, while anti-arrhythmic drugs and catheter-based intervention are used to control the frequency and severity of the ventricular arrhythmias. In addition, heart failure patients can develop sinus node dysfunction or various degrees of supraventricular or intraventricular conduction delays, which will worsen the cardiac output by worsening the ventricular filling and contraction. In this setting, dual chamber pacing or cardiac resynchronization therapy will be used to alleviate the conduction delays. The present work will comprehensively review in detail the diagnostic and treatment of each type of arrhythmia in patients with heart failure.
Biological constraints revisited: A critique

Four types of supporting evidence for inferences of biological constraints on conditioning are evaluated: (1) unexpected failures to condition (discriminative leverpress avoidance); (2) rapid or one-trial learning (taste-aversion studies); (3) crossover learning effects (the Garcia-Koelling effect); and (4) unique predictions from biological constraint-based frameworks. According to a current logic model of scientific explanation and prediction, none of these types of evidence is adequately compelling for inferences of biological constraints. The core problem identified is that negative evidence not attributable to an identified causal factor in terms of E/C (experimental/control) design outcome has been used to both reject general-process learning laws and compel inferences of biological constraints. A design solution using a blocking E/C conditioning paradigm is presented.
Energy and mass distributions of sputtered particles

Abstract For surfaces exposed to the plasma of a magnetic-confinement thermonuclear fusion device, it is expected that sputtering will not only determine useful materials lifetimes, but will also result in the introduction of plasma impurities, thereby limiting the performance of the device. Even in present devices however, only a relatively small proportion of the eroded material is actually found in the plasma. Consequently, plasma transport processes play an extremely important role in determining plasma impurity levels. The efficiency of these transport processes depends on the kinetic energy and charge state (11,220) angle of emission (12) and possibly on the molecular structure of the sputtered materials (11). It is the purpose of this review to summarize the current data base with regard to the kinetic energy and mass distribution of the sputtered atoms and molecules. Although there is a relative abundance of data f d r high energy (> 1 keV) sputtering by Ar + , Kr + and Xe + , there is extremely little data for low energy H + , D + , He + or even Ne + ; i.e. there is almost no data in the region of greatest interest. Some general trends can be inferred from the heavier ion data, but only with a limited degree of confidence. The reason for this limited confidence is explained and an evaluation is made of the extent to which different properties of the sputtered material are expected to affect plasma impurity levels.
Hair loss in an adolescent.

HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS A 13-year-old girl presents to the nurse practitioner in the School Based Health Center with a complaint of ‘‘losing her hair’’ in patches on her scalp. The patient reports that she recently noticed two areas of hair on her scalp that were getting thinner. When she told her mother that her hair was coming out in the shower, her mother told her that it is normal to lose a certain amount of hair every day. The patient is worried that the hair loss might show and may not be normal. She reports that the areas are not painful and denies pulling or twisting her hair around her fingers.
Selected results from combustion research at the Lewis Research Center

Combustion research at Lewis is organized to provide a balanced program responsive to national needs and the gas turbine industry. The results of this research is a technology base that assists the gas turbine engine manufacturers in developing new and improved combustion systems for advanced civil and military engines with significant improvements in performance, durability, fuel flexibility and control of exhaust emissions. Research efforts consist of fundamentals and modeling, and applied component and combustor research.
Comparison of procedures used to induce offensive attack in mice.

Three groups of male mice (n = 6 per group) were tested in a study of the effects of repeated exposure to an intruder, dangled opponents, and isolation on territorial aggression (offense). Daily home-cage tests with intruders produced significantly more offensive behavior than either of the other procedures commonly used to induce this type of attack in mice.
Approximate solutions of the Liouville equation. IV. The two-body additive approximation

The two-body additive approximation on the time-dependent Liouville distribution, first introduced in part I of this series, is put into the conventional form of a self-contained kinetic equation for the doublet distribution. From this point of view the approximation consists in truncating the BBGKY chain by expressing the triplet distribution as a functional of lower distributions at the same value of the time variable. To accomplish this, it is necessary to study two associated purely spatial integral equations. The doublet kinetic equation can then be written in terms of solutions of these integral equations and comparison with conventional methods of truncating the BBGKY chain can then be made. For the purpose of comparison a method of truncating the chain based on the Kirkwood superposition approximation is introduced and discussed briefly. The momentum structure of the resulting doublet kinetic equation is similar, but the nonlocality in space of our truncation introduces distinct differences in the spatial structure. The inconsistency between conventional truncations and the exact initial conditions used for the calculation of time-dependent correlation functions is pointed out. This inconsistency is not shared by the two-body additive approximation.
INCREASED INCIDENCE OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA AFTER PEAKS OF SUNSPOT ACTIVITY

The age-adjusted incidence-rate for malignant melanoma in the State of Connecticut has risen from 1.1 per 100 000 individuals in 1935 to 6.2 per 100 000 individuals in 1975. Superimposed on a steady rise in incidence are 3-5 year periods in which the rate of increase in incidence rises. These periods have a cycle of 8-11 years and follow times of maximum sunspot activity.
Myoglobinemia and endurance exercise: A study of twenty-five participants in a triathlon competition

Twenty-five athletes competing in a triathlon, an endurance competition, were studied to determine the relationship of sustained muscle exertion with myoglobinemia and clinical rhabdomyolysis. Of 24 athletes who completed the event, each individual demonstrated a dramatic rise and fall in serum myoglobin over a 24 hour period, with an average peak level of 842 ng/ml. While all subjects exhibited symptoms of myalgia after exertion, none required hospitalization. A significant correlation was demonstrated with average serum myoglobin and finishing time (P less than 0.0125) and postexercise temperature (P less than 0.05). Appropriate training of individuals, whether athletes or military recruits, appears to be an important factor in reducing myoglobinemia. Exercise-induced myoglobinemia appears to be dependent on intensity of athletic performance, measured as a function of time, distance, and activity performed. The athletes who finished first had the highest levels of myoglobinemia.
Memory Access Scheduling Schemes for Systems with Multi-Core Processors

On systems with multi-core processors, the memory access scheduling scheme plays an important role not only in utilizing the limited memory bandwidth but also in balancing the program execution on all cores. In this study, we propose a scheme, called ME-LREQ, which considers the utilization of both processor cores and memory subsystem. It takes into consideration both the long-term and short-term gains of serving a memory request by prioritizing requests hitting on the row buffers and from the cores that can utilize memory more efficiently and have fewer pending requests. We have also thoroughly evaluated a set of memory scheduling schemes that differentiate and prioritize requests from different cores. Our simulation results show that for memory-intensive, multiprogramming workloads, the new policy improves the overall performance by 10.7% on average and up to 17.7% on a four-core processor, when compared with scheme that serves row buffers hit memory requests first and allows memory reads bypassing writes; and by up to 9.2% (6.4% on average) when compared with the scheme that serves requests from the core with the fewest pending requests first.
Characterization of the Human Skeletal Muscle Proteome by One-dimensional Gel Electrophoresis and HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

Changes in protein abundance in skeletal muscle are central to a large number of metabolic and other disorders, including, and perhaps most commonly, insulin resistance. Proteomics analysis of human muscle is an important approach for gaining insight into the biochemical basis for normal and pathophysiological conditions. However, to date, the number of proteins identified by this approach has been limited, with 107 different proteins being the maximum reported so far. Using a combination of one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, we identified 954 different proteins in human vastus lateralis muscle obtained from three healthy, nonobese subjects. In addition to a large number of isoforms of contractile proteins, we detected all proteins involved in the major pathways of glucose and lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle. Mitochondrial proteins accounted for 22% of all proteins identified, including 55 subunits of the respiratory complexes I-V. Moreover, a number of enzymes involved in endocrine and metabolic signaling pathways as well as calcium homeostasis were identified. These results provide the most comprehensive characterization of the human skeletal muscle proteome to date. These data hold promise for future global assessment of quantitative changes in the muscle proteome of patients affected by disorders involving skeletal muscle.
RADIATION THERAPY FOR CHLOROMA (GRANULOCYTIC SARCOMA)

Objectives Chloroma (granulocytic sarcoma) is a rare, extramedullary tumor of immature myeloid cells related to acute nonlymphocytic leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. Radiation therapy (RT) is often used in the treatment of chloromas; however, modern studies of RT are lacking. We reviewed our experience to analyze treatment response, disease control, and toxicity associated with RT to develop treatment algorithm recommendations for patients with chloroma. Patients and Methods Thirty-eight patients who underwent treatment for chloromas at our institution between February 1990 and June 2010 were identified and their medical records were reviewed and analyzed. Results The majority of patients that presented with chloroma at the time of initial leukemia diagnosis (78%) have not received RT because it regressed after initial chemotherapy. Yet most patients that relapsed or remained with chloroma after chemotherapy are in the RT cohort (90%). Thirty-three courses of RT were administered to 22 patients. Radiation subsite breakdown was: 39% head and neck, 24% extremity, 9% spine, 9% brain, 6% genitourinary, 6% breast, 3% pelvis, and 3% genitourinary. Median dose was 20 (6–36) Gy. Kaplan-Meier estimates of progression-free survival and overall survival in the RT cohort were 39% and 43%, respectively, at 5 years. At a median follow-up of 11 months since RT, only 1 patient developed progressive disease at the irradiated site and 4 patients developed chloromas at other sites. RT was well tolerated without significant acute or late effects and provided symptom relief in 95% of cases. Conclusions The majority of patients with chloromas were referred for RT when there was extramedullary progression, marrow relapse, or rapid symptom relief required. RT resulted in excellent local disease control and palliation of symptoms without significant toxicity. We recommend irradiating chloromas to at least 20 Gy, and propose 24 Gy in 12 fractions as an appropriate regimen.
Energetics of Sows and Gilts in Gestation Crates in the Cold

Seventy pregnant sows and gilts in gestation crates with unbedded concrete-slat floors and partitions in common (which permitted contact by neighbors) in a closed house with air temperature 10 to 12 degrees C during cold weather were studied for 3 wk. The animals' lower critical temperature and thermoregulatory heat and feed requirements were estimated from measured variables, including ME intake, body weight and its change and body surface temperature, and other calculated values and assumptions. Estimates for a 165-kg sow or gilt in such an environment were: lower critical temperature = 15 degrees C; thermoregulatory heat requirement = 126 to 161 kcal/d per 1 C degree of coldness (higher as pregnancy progresses); and thermoregulatory feed requirement = 42 to 54 g/d per 1 C degree of coldness (assuming 3 kcal ME/g of diet). The sow's lower critical temperature was affected by state of pregnancy; in late pregnancy it was 1.6 to 2.6 C degrees lower than in early pregnancy. These estimates of the pregnant sow's thermoregulatory heat and feed requirements at effective environmental temperatures below the lower critical temperature accord well with those published before. But this estimate of the pregnant sow's lower critical temperature is approximately 5 C degrees lower than several made in laboratory settings on animals held individually, with no opportunity to huddle. The fact that every sow and gilt in this experiment could make mechanical contact with at least one neighbor at all times, and sometimes two, might account for much of the difference in lower critical temperature estimates.
Evaluating poverty–environment dynamics

Developing indicators to more effectively evaluate poverty–environment dynamics and inform policy is an urgent research priority. It is critical that these indicators are used in ways that accurately represent the relationship they are meant to inform. This article evaluates the theory and use of poverty–environment indicators, a relatively new tool developed to aid in the design and evaluation of poverty reduction strategies in the context of environmental change. We argue that while they have great potential, in their current form and use, poverty–environment indicators may contribute to critical misunderstandings of processes on the ground. These issues stem from a problematic and largely unacknowledged process of simplifying particular poverty–environment relationships. This article lays out the problematic character of this simplification process, and suggests how we might address these problems to create more useful understandings of poverty–environment dynamics to inform policy.
A Zero-Voltage-Switching Contour-Based Power Amplifier With Minimal Efficiency Degradation Under Back-Off

A switching power amplifier (PA) architecture that offers up to 13 dB of output power back-off without any drain efficiency degradation is presented. The proposed zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) contour-based PA employs a series class-E PA in conjunction with duty cycle modulation and a proposed tunable impedance transformation network. So-called ZVS conditions that ensure ideally 100% drain efficiency are satisfied not just at peak output power, but over the 13-dB back-off range. Theoretical analyses of losses in the PA and the impedance transformation network are also presented to prove that drain efficiency actually improves with back-off. Measurement results of a 100-MHz PA built using discrete components on an FR4 printed circuit board showing drain efficiency greater than or equal to the peak efficiency (40%) at all output power levels are also presented.
Lithospheric Loading by the Northern Polar Cap on Mars

Abstract New topography data for the northern polar region on Mars, returned by the the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) during the aerobraking hiatus and science phasing orbits, allow characterization of the topography of the present northern polar cap and its environs. Models for loading of an elastic shell by an axisymmetric load approximating the present polar cap geometry indicate that the maximum deflection of the subice basement is in the range 1200 to 400 m for an elastic lithosphere of thickness 40 to 200 km overlain by a cap of pure H 2 O ice. Corresponding model cap volumes increase from 1.5 to 1.8 × 10 6 km 3 , as elastic lithosphere thickness decreases from 200 to 40 km. The presence of sediments in the polar cap increases the depth to basement and resulting cap volume for a given value of elastic lithosphere thickness. One-dimensional heat flow calculations indicate that the temperature at the base of the cap may approach the melting point of cap material if the lithosphere underlying the cap is thin. The basal temperature is 170 K for a 200-km-thick lithosphere overlain by pure ice but is as great as 234 K for a 40-km-thick lithosphere overlain by a cap with a high sediment/ice ratio. Constraints on elastic lithosphere thickness are weak, but geologic mapping and MOLA data suggest that a flexurally derived circumpolar depression filled with sediments is consistent with elastic lithosphere thickness values in the range 60–120 km. Gravity and topography over the whole cap are poorly correlated, possibly due to viscous relaxation of long-wavelength topography, but gravity and topography over the western portion of the main cap are consistent with an elastic lithosphere thickness of 120 km, for a crustal thickness of 50 km. Both MOLA data and geological information suggest a formerly larger northern polar cap. The relationship of time scales for changes in the polar cap volume and extent to time scales for viscous relaxation of topography has important implications for investigations of even present polar cap topography. Viscoelastic calculations show that the Maxwell time for an Earth-like mantle viscosity for Mars (10 21 Pa-s) is 10 5 yr. The Maxwell time scales directly with the martian mantle viscosity so that values as high as 10 7 yr are possible. Time scales for changes in polar cap volume are poorly constrained, but major changes in cap volume over periods of 10 6 –10 8 yr are consistent with current understanding of polar cap processes.
Chloride fluxes in isolated dialyzed barnacle muscle fibers.

Chloride outflux and influx has been studied in single isolated muscle fibers from the giant barnacle under constant internal composition by means of a dialysis perfusion technique. Membrane potential was continually recorded. The chloride outfluxes and influxes were 143 and 144 pmoles/cm2-sec (mean resting potential: 58 mv, temperature: 22°–24°C) with internal and external chloride concentrations of 30 and 541 mM, respectively. The chloride conductance calculated from tracer measurements using constant field assumptions is about fourfold greater than that calculated from published electrical data. Replacing 97% of the external chloride ions by propionate reduces the chloride efflux by 51%. Nitrate ions applied either to the internal or external surface of the membrane slows the chloride efflux. The external pH dependence of the chloride efflux follows the external pH dependence of the membrane conductance, in the range pH 3.9–4.7, increasing with decreasing pH. In the range pH 5–9, the chloride efflux increased with increasing pH, in a manner similar to that observed in frog muscle fibers. The titration curve for internal pH changes in the range 4.0–7.0 was quantitatively much different from that for external pH change, indicating significant asymmetry in the internal and external pH dependence of the chloride efflux.
Steroid metabolites from cholesterol-C14 in a patient with adrenal cancer: effects of metopirone.

The urinary steroid metabolites following the injection of C14-cholesterol before and after the administration of Metopirone to a female patient with an adrenal cancer were isolated and identified. The injected C14-cholesterol was excreted in the urine at a low but constant rate for at least 80 days following the injection of the sterol. The 11-oxygenated steroid disappeared from the urine following the administration of Metopirone; the only corticosteroid metabolites isolated from the urine were those of 11-deoxycortisol. The results of the study indicate that Metopirone inhibited 11-hydroxylation in the cancerous tissue. 6β-Hydroxyandrostenedione was also isolated; this appears to be the first description of its presence in human urine.
Self-Similar Criticality

Cumulative frequency-size distributions associated with many natural phenomena follow a power law. Self-organized criticality (SOC) models have been used to model characteristics associated with these natural systems. As originally proposed, SOC models generate event frequency-size distributions that follow a power law with a single scaling exponent. Natural systems often exhibit power law frequency-size distributions with a range of scaling exponents. We modify the forest fire SOC model to produce a range of scaling exponents. In our model, uniform energy (material) input produces events initiated on a self-similar distribution of critical grid cells. An event occurs when material is added to a critical cell, causing that material and all material in occupied non-diagonal adjacent cells to leave the grid. The scaling exponent of the resulting cumulative frequency-size distribution depends on the fractal dimension of the critical cells. Since events occur on a self-similar distribution of critical cells, we call this model Self-Similar Criticality (SSC). The SSC model may provide a link between fractal geometry in nature and observed power law frequency-size distributions for many natural systems.
Developing Computational Thinking Through Image Making and Constructionist Learning (Abstract Only)

Consider the following scenario: A student is browsing Facebook and sees a strangely compelling image on her friend's page. She follows the "how I made this link" to learn more. She finds herself on a page with a gallery of animations that she browses. Then she sees a "Create" button and clicks it. She skims the instructions and decides that this is not a "standard" graphics program - rather than using a timeline and "tools", it has just a few basic images (e.g., a horizontal blend, a vertical blend, some time-blends) and a few operations that you use to build new images from existing images. She plays a bit. And she finds that she can create some strange and interesting images, but not necessarily the ones she wants to make, and certainly not anything like her friend made. So she looks further. She learns that there are "challenges" that help you learn the system (and, as importantly, that help you consider and master different aspects of computational thinking), and tries to figure out how to make images as seemingly simple as a triangle or a circle using the limited selection of basic images and operations. It's not easy, but she finds it fun to try (and sometimes more fun to fail -- failures also create interesting images). You've just read a sample encounter with the Mathematical Image Synthesis Toolkit, or MIST. MIST is an open-source, Web-based graphics application that takes a constructionist approach in which open experimentation in image making helps students develop skills in computational thinking and deepen their understanding of mathematical functions. MIST is available at http://glimmer.grinnell.edu.
Toward Patient-Specific, Biologically Optimized Radiation Therapy Plans for the Treatment of Glioblastoma

Purpose: To demonstrate a method of generating patient-specific, biologically-guided radiotherapy dose plans and compare them to the standard-of-care protocol. Methods and Materials: We integrated a patient-specific biomathematical model of glioma proliferation, invasion and radiotherapy with a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for intensity-modulated radiation therapy optimization to construct individualized, biologically-guided plans for 11 glioblastoma patients. Patient-individualized, sphericallysymmetric simulations of the standard-of-care and optimized plans were compared in terms of several biological metrics. Results: The integrated model generated spatially non-uniform doses that, when compared to the standard-of-care protocol, resulted in a 67% to 93% decrease in equivalent uniform dose to normal tissue, while the therapeutic ratio, the ratio of tumor equivalent uniform dose to that of normal tissue, increased between 50% to 265%. Applying a novel metric of treatment response (Days Gained) to the patient-individualized simulation results predicted that the optimized plans would have a significant impact on delaying tumor progression, with increases from 21% to 105% for 9 of 11 patients. Conclusions: Patient-individualized simulations using the combination of a biomathematical model with an optimization algorithm for radiation therapy generated biologically-guided doses that decreased normal tissue EUD and increased therapeutic ratio with the potential to improve survival outcomes for treatment of glioblastoma.
Emergence of matched airway and vascular trees from fractal rules

The bronchial, arterial, and venous trees of the lung are complex interwoven structures. Their geometries are created during fetal development through common processes of branching morphogenesis. Insights from fractal geometry suggest that these extensively arborizing trees may be created through simple recursive rules. Mathematical models of Turing have demonstrated how only a few proteins could interact to direct this branching morphogenesis. Development of the airway and vascular trees could, therefore, be considered an example of emergent behavior as complex structures are created from the interaction of only a few processes. However, unlike inanimate emergent structures, the geometries of the airway and vascular trees are highly stereotyped. This review will integrate the concepts of emergence, fractals, and evolution to demonstrate how the complex branching geometries of the airway and vascular trees are ideally suited for gas exchange in the lung. The review will also speculate on how the heterogeneity of blood flow and ventilation created by the vascular and airway trees is overcome through their coordinated construction during fetal development.
Electronic Transport in Individual Carbon Nanotubes and Nanotube Networks by Scanning Probe Microscopy

Progress in electronic devices based on 1D structures such as carbon nanotubes and semiconductor nanowires, as well as nanotube and nanowire networks requires development and understanding of quantitative tools for transport measurements at nanoscale dimensions. Scanning Probe Microscopy techniques provide a powerful set of techniques that allow real space imaging of transport phenomena with ~50-100 nm spatial and ~ 1 mV potential resolution, providing quantitative information on transport behavior within the network and even on the level of an individual nanotube.
Prenatal diagnosis of giant fetal truncal hemangioma by means of 2- and 3-dimensional sonography with magnetic resonance imaging

Hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors that are the most common of all congenital anomalies. They usually involve the skin and the subcutaneous tissue but may also involve skeletal muscles, the liver, bone, or the central nervous system. Approximately 75% of all hemangiomas are present at birth, with 60% occurring in the head and neck region. 1 Almost all of these lesions have no clinical importance and resolve spontaneously during infancy without complications; however, large hemangiomas have been associated with several life-threatening complications, including high-output cardiac failure or platelet trapping with severe consumptive coagulopathy leading to nonimmune hydrops and ultimately intrauterine fetal death. 2 The prenatal diagnosis of hemangiomas can be challenging, and optimal diagnosis is essential to ensure Qptimal antepartum and intrapartum care. We report a pregnancy that was complicated by a giant fetal lymphangiohemangioma covering the right hemitruncus that was diagnosed prenatally by 3-dimensional (3D) Doppler sonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Inferior olive response to passive tactile and visual stimulation with variable interstimulus intervals.

The unique anatomical and electrophysiological features of the inferior olive and its importance to cerebellar function have been recognized for decades. However, understanding the exact function of the inferior olive has been limited by the general lack of correlation between its neural activity and specific behavioral states. Electrophysiological studies in animals showed that the inferior olive response to sensory stimuli is generally invariant to stimulus properties but is enhanced by unexpected stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans, we have shown that the inferior olive is activated when subjects performed a task requiring perception of visual stimuli with unpredictable timing (Xu et al. J Neurosci 26(22):5990–5995, 2006, Liu et al. J Neurophysiol 100(3):1557–1561, 2008). In the current study, subjects were scanned while passively perceiving visual and tactile stimuli that were rendered unpredictable by continuously varying interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Sequences of visual stimuli and tactile stimuli to the right hand were presented separately within the same scanning session. In addition to the activation of multiple areas in the cerebellar cortex consistent with previous imaging studies, the results show that both tactile and visual stimulation with variable ISIs were effective in activating the inferior olive. Together with our previous findings, the current results are consistent with the electrophysiological studies in animals and further support the view that the inferior olive and the climbing fiber system primarily convey the temporal information of sensory input regardless of the modality.
The Biochemistry of Memory: A New and Specific Hypothesis.

Recent studies have uncovered a synaptic process with properties required for an intermediate step in memory storage. Calcium rapidly and irreversibly increases the number of receptors for glutamate (a probable neurotransmitter) in forebrain synaptic membranes by activating a proteinase (calpain) that degrades fodrin, a spectrin-like protein. This process provides a means through which physiological activity could produce long-lasting changes in synaptic chemistry and ultrastructure. Since the process is only poorly represented in the brain stem, it is hypothesized to be responsible for those forms of memory localized in the telencephalon.
Review of Guidelines and the Literature in the Treatment of Acute Bronchospasm in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

In 2002, an estimated 11.2 million adults in the United States had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Guidelines for the management of the disease have been published by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and the American Thoracic Society-European Respiratory Society. Several other organizations are in the process of preparing guidelines for COPD, most based on the GOLD report. The most important pharmacologic intervention in COPD is treatment with bronchodilator drugs. This intervention applies not only to stable COPD, but also to exacerbations (flares) of the disease. Prevention strategies have been developed for acute exacerbations, and management strategies include using short-acting β 2 -agonists, systemic corticosteroids, and antibiotics, in both athome and hospital settings.
Modulation of cardiopulmonary depressor reflex in nucleus ambiguus by electroacupuncture: roles of opioids and γ-aminobutyric acid

Stimulation of cardiopulmonary receptors with phenylbiguanide (PBG) elicits depressor cardiovascular reflex responses, including decreases in blood pressure and heart rate mediated in part by the brain stem parasympathetic cardiac neurons in the nucleus ambiguus (NAmb). The present study examined NAmb neurotransmitter mechanisms underlying the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) on the PBG-induced hypotension and bradycardia. We hypothesized that somatic stimulation during EA modulates PBG responses through opioid and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) modulation in the NAmb. Anesthetized and ventilated cats were studied during repeated stimulation with PBG or cardiac vagal afferents while low-frequency EA (2 Hz) was applied at P5–6 acupoints overlying the median nerve for 30 min and NAmb neuronal activity, heart rate, and blood pressure were recorded. Microinjection of kainic acid into the NAmb attenuated the PBG-induced bradycardia from −60 ± 11 to −36 ± 11 beats/min. Likewise, EA reduced the PBG-induced depressor and bradycardia reflex by 52 and 61%, respectively. Cardiac vagal afferent evoked preganglionic cellular activity in the NAmb was reduced by EA for about 60 min. Blockade of opioid or GABAA receptors using naloxone and gabazine reversed the EA-related modulation of the evoked cardiac vagal activity by 73 and 53%, respectively. Similarly, naloxone and gabazine reversed EA modulation of the negative chronotropic responses from −11 ± 5 to −23 ± 6 and −13 ± 4 to −24 ± 3 beats/min, respectively. Thus EA at P5–6 decreases PBG evoked hypotension and bradycardia as well as the NAmb PBG-sensitive preganglionic cardiac vagal outflow through opioid and GABA neurotransmitter systems.