cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Laser Capsulorrhaphy for Multidirectional Instability of the Shoulder An Outcomes Study and Proposed Classification System

BackgroundClinical data on the efficacy of laser capsulorrhaphy for the treatment of multidirectional instability of the shoulder are limited.HypothesisThe diagnosis of multidirectional instability includes a spectrum of pathologic symptoms that warrants subclassification; laser capsulorrhaphy alone is not uniformly effective for all subtypes.Study DesignRetrospective review of prospectively collected data.MethodsTwenty-five shoulders in 21 patients were treated with laser capsulorrhaphy for multidirectional instability. Functional outcomes at a mean duration of 32 months' follow-up (range, 24 to 48 months) were recorded.ResultsInstability recurred in 60% of patients with congenital multidirectional instability, 17% of patients with acquired multidirectional instability, and 33% of patients with posttraumatic multidirectional instability (overall recurrence rate, 40%). Generalized ligamentous laxity was a risk factor for recurrence. Patient satisfaction rates were 40%, 83%, and 22% for the congenital, acq...
Public education projects in skin cancer. The evolution of skin cancer prevention education for children at a comprehensive cancer center.

Background. Skin cancer affects more Americans than any other type of cancer. Children are prime targets for prevention education, because sun overexposure in early childhood may affect the development of skin cancer later in life. Preventive behaviors adopted early in life may be less resistant to change than those acquired in adulthood. Thus, there is a need to educate children at an early age about sun overexposure. Methods. This article describes the evolution of skin cancer prevention research at the Arizona Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Research focusing on children is highlighted. Results. From its roots in the Arizona Sun Awareness Project, an informal public skin cancer education program, skin cancer prevention research at the Arizona Cancer Center has produced two developmentally appropriate, age-based curricula aimed at teaching children about the benefits and dangers of the sun. The elementary school curriculum, Sunny Days, Healthy Ways, has undergone two tests of feasibility and is the intervention used in a large, randomized, experimental trial. The preschool curriculum, Be Sun Safe, has been tested in a randomizeid trial and was found to have a positive effect on preschoolers' knowledge and comprehension of sun safety. Conclusions. Educating children about skin cancer may be an important way of decreasing the incidence of skin cancer. Although informal skin cancer prevention education can be helpful, educational programs preferably should be research based and evaluated for effectiveness before public distribution. The Arizona Cancer Center experience can serve as a model for other programs
Can theophylline prevent the development of renal dysfunction in neonates with severe asphyxia

Can theophylline prevent the development of renal dysfunction in neonates with severe asphyxia?
Runtime optimization of vector operations on large scale SMP clusters

“Vector” style communication operations transfer multiple disjoint memory regions within one logical step. These operations are widely used in applications, they do improve application performance, and their behavior has been studied and optimized using different implementation techniques across a large variety of systems. In this paper we present a methodology for the selection of the best performing implementation of a vector operation from multiple alternative implementations. Our approach is designed to work for systems with wide SMP nodes where we believe that most published studies fail to correctly predict performance. Due to the emergence of multi-core processors we believe that techniques similar to ours will be incorporated for performance reasons in communication libraries or language runtimes. The methodology relies on the exploration of the application space and a classification of the regions within this space where a particular implementation method performs best. We use micro-benchmarks to measure the performance of an implementation for a given point in the application space and then compose profiles that compare the performance of two given implementations. These profiles capture an empirical upper bound for the performance degradation of a given protocol under heavy node load. At runtime, the application selects the implementation according to these performance profiles. Our approach provides performance portability and using our dynamic multi-protocol selection we have been able to improve the performance of a NAS Parallel Benchmarks workload by 22% on an IBM large scale cluster. Very positive results have also been obtained on large scale InfiniBand and Cray XT systems. This work indicates that perhaps the most important factor for application performance on wide SMP systems is the successful management of load on the Network Interface Cards.
Kinetic modeling and analysis of a vesicle system for immunosensor development

Abstract A novel mechanism is presented for immunosensor development that uses an immunological competition reaction in a vesicle system. This system consists of a suspension of reconstituted vesicles, channel agonist, protein linker to block the channels, voltage sensitive dye and analyte to be detected. In the proposed mechanism analyte serves a catalytic role as individual analytes competitively displace multiple channel linkers through association with one channel, dissociation and new associations with other channels. When one channel opens on a vesicle a permanent Nernst potential develops for that vesicle leading to fluorescence of voltage sensitive dyes. The time constant of the redistribution from linker-channel form to analyte-channel form is 0·92/ k 4 ( k 4 is the off-rate constant for the analyte-channel association) in the region of analyte concentrations less than 10 −9 M. Kinetic analyses show that several factors, including concentration of analyte or linker, number of channels per vesicle, on-rate or off-rate constant of the linker-channel and on-rate constant of analyte-channel complexes have significant effects on the minimum signal response time.
Risk of Large-for-Gestational-Age Newborns in Women With Gestational Diabetes by Race and Ethnicity and Body Mass Index Categories

OBJECTIVE:To compare the prevalence of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) newborns across categories of body mass index (BMI) in five racial and ethnic groups.METHODS:This cohort study examined 7,468 women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who delivered a live newborn between 1995 and 2006 at Ka
Microbore Liquid Chromatography for Pediatric and Neonatal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicology: Clinical Analysis of Chloramphenicol

Abstract Microbore liquid chromatographic assay of chloramphenicol was developed, using 5 uL samples and reversed-phase liquid chromatographic analysis with a C-18, 20% carbon load column. For protein precipitation, serum samples were mixed with 20 uL of methanolic internal standard solutions. After centrifugation, 0.5 uL aliquots were injected for analysis. Two procedures were evaluated: procedure A-column = C-18, 3 um, carbon load of 10%, mobile phase = acetate/acetonitrile/tetrahydrofuran (85:15:1.5), flow rate = 80 uL/min, temperature = 50°C; procedure B-column = C-18, 5 um, carbon load of 20%, mobile phase = acetate/ acetonitrile(8:2), and flow rate = 60 uL/min. Procedure B was chosen for clinical efficacy study. The retention volumes of chloramphenicol and internal standard were 360 and 840 uL respectively. Calibration curve was linear between 3 to 40 mg/L. And day-to-day coefficient of variation was 6.8%. Correlation study with an established clinical liquid chromatographic assay for 20 patient sam...
Nonprotein amino acid composition of flatpea ( Lathyrus sylvestris L.) as affected by ethephon seed treatments and seedling fertilization

Use of flatpea (Lathyrus sylvestris L.) as a forage is limited because of nonuniform seed germination and the potentially toxic effects of 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (A2bu), a nonprotein amino acid found in seeds and vegetative tissues. The effects of ethephon (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) on seed germination, amino acid leachates of seeds, and amino acid composition (particularly A2bu) of seedlings were investigated. Germination of flatpea seeds, imbibed for 16 h in 0, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 mg/L ethephon, did not differ, but amino acid leachates tended to increase up to 200 mg/L ethephon and then decline at higher concentrations. The major amino acid constituents in leachates were A2bu, 4-aminobutyric acid (Abu), and homoserine (Hse). Dry matter accumulation of seedlings grown from ethephon-treated seeds was reduced for second cuttings grown from ethephon-treated seeds and high nitrogen grown plants. During regrowth, free amino acid accumulation was most pronounced in leaves of plants supplied with high nitrogen. The most abundant free amino acids in flatpea tissues were the same as those in seed leachates, but concentration and relative abundance varied with nitrogen level, plant part, and ethephon treatment. Results suggest that ethephon seed treatments can have persistent effects on the growth and amino acid composition of flatpea seedlings grown under different nitrogen regimes.
Prolactin and growth hormone levels in different inbred strains of mice: patterns in association with estrous cycle, time of day, and perphenazine stimulation.

These experiments were designed to compare prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) secretion in strains of mice with varying incidences of mammary tumors. In addition to the basal levels, PRL concentrations were compared after stimulation with perphenazine. Although pituitary concentrations of PRL and pituitary and serum concentrations of GH appeared to be generally higher in strains with high incidence of mammary tumors, basal PRL levels in single decapitate serum samples seemed to have little correlation with the incidence of mammary tumors in different strains. However, PRL concentrations in sera after perphenazine injection followed a pattern characteristic of the mammary tumor incidence rate of the strain: C3H/St and CBA/St—the two high—incidence strains—had lower levels of PRL; C57BL/St and BALB/cST—the two low—incidence strains−had higher levels; and DBA/2St—the medium—incidence strain—had an intermediate level. PRL contents of the pituitary glands were depleted virtually equally in all strains exc...
Plasmodium falciparum: loss of knobs on the infected erythrocyte surface after long-term cultivation.

After long-term in vitro cultivation in human erythrocytes, variants of three strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum no longer produce the “knob” alterations on the host erythrocyte surface. The time in continuous culture before knobs failed to appear ranged from 18 months for the Gambian strain FCR-4 to 33 months for the Vietnamese strain FCR-1. The loss of knobs is correlated with the inability to concentrate trophozoites, schizonts, and segmenters from these variant lines by the use of gelatin-containing media. This is the first report of a change in Plasmodium falciparum or its host cell as a consequence of long-term culture.
RNA structure probing dash seq

RNA constitutes the central conduit for information storage, conveyance, and manipulation in biological systems (1, 2). RNAs encode their critical information at two levels. First, the primary sequence directs protein synthesis and contains simple cis-acting elements that bind regulatory factors and other RNAs. Second, most RNAs fold to create complex base-paired and higher order structures with intrinsic regulatory functions. Until recently, it has been difficult or impossible to interrogate the structures of most RNAs, especially in complex biological environments. Ongoing advances in nucleotide-resolution RNA structure probing have made possible increasingly rigorous and quantitative analyses (3), and recent large-scale and whole-genome studies have revealed or better defined rules for how RNA structure regulates translation initiation, protein folding, splicing, and access to protein binding sites (4–6). The clear power of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to transform nucleic acid-based analyses (7, 8) has motivated significant efforts (a scientific dash) to meld chemical and enzymatic probing experiments with NGS readouts (termed seq experiments). The melding of RNA structure probing experiments with NGS readout is a potential marriage made in transcriptome heaven. Two papers in PNAS (9, 10) illustrate important progress toward this highly sought goal.
Efficient schemes for broadcasting popular videos

We provide a formal framework for studying broadcasting schemes and design a family of schemes for broadcasting popular videos, the greedy disk-conserving broadcasting (GDB) family. We analyze the resource requirements for GDB, i.e.. the number of server broadcast channels, the client storage space, and the client I/O bandwidth required by GDB. Our analysis shows that all of our proposed broadcasting schemes are within a small factor of the optimal scheme in terms of the server bandwidth requiremerit. Furthermore, GDB exhibits a tradeoff between any two of the three resources. We compare our scheme with a recently proposed broadcasting scheme, skyscraper broadcasting (SB). With GDB, we can reduce the client storage space by as much as 50% or the number of server channels by as much as 30% at the cost of a small additional increase in the amount of client I/O bandwidth. If we require the client I/O bandwidth of GDB to be identical to that of SB, GDB needs only 70% of the client storage space required by SB or one less server channel than SB does. In addition, we show that with small client I/O bandwidth, the resource requirements of GDB are close to the minimum achievable by any disk-conserving broadcasting scheme.
Waking up HSCs: a new role for E-selectin

Two anatomical niches for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been reported in the bone marrow, but a distinct function for each of these niches has remained unclear. A new role in stem cell proliferation has now been identified for the adhesion molecule E-selectin expressed by bone marrow endothelial cells at the vascular niche (pages 1651-1657).
The production of ion conics by oblique double layers

Magnetized test ions are subjected to acceleration through a numerically simulated oblique double layer in order to determine whether they emerge with velocity vectors aligned with or oblique to the ambient magnetic field. A criterion for oblique alignment, depending on the double-layer parameters and on the external magnetization, is obtained. When it is applied to observed and theoretical auroral double layers, this criterion predicts that accelerated heavy ions will be substantially less magnetic field aligned than will accelerated hydrogen ions, thus suggesting auroral double layers as a source of high-energy ion conics. Test particle simulations are also used to investigate the perpendicular heating of ions at low altitudes by the electric fields associated with moving auroral arcs. The rapid motion of small-scale structures in the arcs is suggested as a source of low-energy conical ion distributions, and the slow drifts of the entire arc forms are inferred to heat ionospheric ions.
P3-07-06: Prognostic Utility of Upfront Nodal Staging Prior to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: The UAB Experience.

Purpose: Controversy exists regarding the prognostic utility of upfront lymph node staging in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This retrospective study explores whether upfront verses outback nodal staging influenced locoregional control and survival endpoints. Methods: Between 1999 and 2005 one hundred and fifteen patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy at UAB were identified. Patient, tumor, and treatment variables were recorded. Timing of nodal assessment was based on either surgeon preference or stipulated upfront per several clinical protocols. Survival was measured using the Kaplan Meier statistics. Univariate and multivariate analyses of covariates associated with local-regional control (LRC), progressionfree (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were performed. Results: Mean age was 49 years and mean follow-up was 5.8 years. Stage distribution was as follows: 40 IIA, 34 IIB, 26 IIIA, 10 IIIB, and 5 IIIC. Definitive surgery included breast conservation in 49 patients, total mastectomy in 21 and modified radical mastectomy in 44. Seventy-two patients had upfront nodal sampling before neoadjuvant therapy, 36 by fine needle assessment and the remainder by sentinel node biopsy. Forty-three patients had their nodal assessment following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Of those with upfront nodal staging: forty nine patients had a positive nodal result and 23 had negative findings. In those that were sampled at the time of definitive surgery: 21 had positive results, 21 had a negative result, and 1 patient did not have any nodes in the specimen. One hundred five patients had post-operative radiation therapy. Overall there was no difference in LRC, PFS or OS outcomes between patients that had an upfront nodal staging procedure and those that had their nodes sampled at the time of definitive surgery. Patients achieving pCR had a non-significant trend towards improved overall survival (p=0.12). Final pathologic T, N and group stage were statistically significant in determining the progression free, p=0.003, 0.011, 0.005 and overall survival, p=0.02, 0.037, and 0.009. Lymphovascular space invasion was associated with progression free survival on univariate analysis, p=0.0179, but not multivariate analysis. Other covariates including age, biologic subtype, grade, type of chemotherapy, use of radiation therapy, radiation volume, time to complete radiation therapy, and use of hormonal therapy did not affect outcomes. Discussion: Upfront as compared with outback lymph node staging did not influence locoregional control or survival endpoints. Final pathologic stage and not initial clinical stage remains the most important prognostic factor associated with survival. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-07-06.
WE-E-BRE-10: Level of Breast Cancer Stem Cell Correlated with Tumor Radioresistence: An Indication for Individualized Breast Cancer Therapy Adapted to Cancer Stem Cell Fractions

Purposes: The presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in a solid tumor could result in poor tumor control probability. The purposes are to study CSC radiosensitivity parameters α and β and their correlation to CSC levels to understand the underlying radioresistance mechanisms and enable individualized treatment design. Methods: Four established breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, T47D, MDA-MB-231, and SUM159PT) were irradiated in vitro using single radiation doses of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 Gy. The fractions of CSCs in each cell lines were determined using cancer stem cell markers. Mammosphere assays were also performed to better estimate the number of CSCs and represent the CSC repopulation in a human solid tumor. The measured cell surviving fractions were fitted using the Linear-quadratic (LQ) model with independent fitting parameters: α_TC, β_TC (TCs), α_CSC, β_CSC (CSCs), and fs (the percentage of CSCs in each sample). Results: The measured fs increased following the irradiation by MCF-7 (0.1%), T47D (0.9%), MDA-MB-231 (1.18%) and SUM159T (2.46%), while decreasing surviving curve slopes were observed, indicating greater radioresistance, in the opposite order. The fitting yielded the radiosensitive parameters for the MCF-7: α_TC=0.1±0.2Gy−1, β_TC= 0.08 ±0.14Gy−2, α_CSC=0.04±0.07Gy−1, β_CSC =0.02±0.3Gy−2; for the SUM159PT, α_TC=0.08±0.25 Gy−1, β_TC=0.02±0.02Gy−2, α_CSC=0.04±0.18Gy−1, β_CSC =0.004±0.24Gy−2. In the mammosphere assay, where fs were higher than the corresponding cell line assays, there was almost no shoulder found in the surviving curves (more radioresistant in mammosphere assays) yielding β_CSC of approximately 0. Conclusion: Breast cancer stem cells were more radioresistant characterized by smaller α and β values compared to differentiated breast cancer cells. Percentage of breast cancer stem cells strongly correlated to overall tumor radioresistance. This observation suggested the feasibility of individualized radiotherapy prescription based on the fractions of cancer stem cells found in biopsy.
The interaction of cyanocobalamin and some of its analogs with manganese(II) and gadolinium(III)

Abstract The influence of the paramagnetic ions Mn 2+ and Gd 3+ on the proton-decoupled 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of three cyanocobalamin-monocarboxylic acids has been observed. The paramagnetic ions bind preferentially to the free carboxylate groups and cause the broadening of specific carbon resonances adjacent to these groups. These specific line-broadening effects have been used to assign the carbonyl carbons of the a-, f-, and g-acetamide side chains and have allowed us to confirm and/or correct the assignments of several carbon resonances that were assigned tentatively before.
Two spherical calibration satellites

The orbital parameters and physical characteristics of two radar calibration spheres of 16-inch and 20-inch diameter launched and constructed by the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory are given for the information of workers interested in space radar and optical sensor calibration and atmospheric density studies.
Experimental results of a tire-burst controller for AHS

Abstract This paper investigates the problem of tire burst, and how to mitigate its adverse effects in an AHS environment. The problem is approached by first modeling the tire burst. A feed-forward controller is designed, based on inverting the nonlinear tire-burst dynamics for controlling the car after the tire burst. The feed-forward term is approximated by the output of a second-order filter. The approximation also provides a way to characterize the feed-forward term for different road curvature and different tires (front/rear, left/right). Two different tire blow-out detection algorithms are discussed. This is followed by the experimental phase. Open-loop experiments were conducted to verify the tire-burst model. Closed-loop tests were then carried out to validate the automatic lane-following performance after a tire burst. The results have shown that the burst controller enables the car to follow the lane, even after a front tire blow-out.
Rapamycin causes activation of protein phosphatase-2A1 and nuclear translocation of PCNA in CD4+ T cells

Rapamycin is a powerful immunosuppressant that causes cell cycle arrest in T cells and several other cell types. Despite its important clinical role, the mechanism of action of rapamycin is not fully understood. Here, we show that rapamycin causes the activation of protein phosphatase-2A1 which forms a complex with proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in a CD4+ T cell line. Rapamycin also induces PCNA translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, an effect which is antagonized by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of type 2A protein phosphatases. These findings provide evidence for the existence of a signal transduction pathway that links a rapamycin-activated type 2A protein phosphatase to the control of DNA synthesis, DNA repair, cell cycle, and cell death via PCNA.
Efficient packaging of readthrough RNA in ALV: implications for oncogene transduction

Readthrough viral transcripts are present at relatively high levels in cells infected with avian leukosis virus. It has been proposed that they can function as intermediates in the transduction of proto-oncogenes by retroviruses. It is shown here, by the analysis of viruses containing a mutation in the AAUAAA polyadenylation signal, that readthrough RNAs have the requisite properties to function as transduction intermediates: readthrough RNAs were polyadenylated and packaged as efficiently as normal viral RNA, RNAs nearly 11.2 kilobases (3.5 kilobases larger than wild-type avian leukosis virus genomes) were present in virions of the mutant virus, and virus particles containing both readthrough and normal genomes were most likely infectious.
Voltammetric studies of the organic association of copper and lead in two canadian inlets

Abstract Anodic stripping voltammetry and gel filtration chromatography were used to examine the speciation and organic complexation of copper and lead in seawater. The extent of metal complexation in biologically different water types, the molecular weight ranges of the dissolved organic matter involved in metal-organic associations, and the metal uptake kinetics of these naturally occurring organic species were examined. Analyses of samples from Saanich and Narrows inlets, British Columbia, suggest organic complexation throughout the water column, including anoxic waters of Saanich Inlet. Several fractions of organic material from sedimentary interstitial water in the molecular weight range 500–10,000 were found to complex copper and lead, the concentration of complexing ligands decreasing with depth in the core. Rates of uptake of metals by organic material are slow, of the order of tens of minutes or longer.
Real-time transmission of digital video

Differential Vector Quantization (DVQ) is a variable-length lossy compression technique for digital video. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used to develop entropy-biased codebooks which yield substantial data compression without entropy coding and are very robust with respect to transmission channel errors. Huffman coding is a variable-length lossless compression technique where data with a high probability of occurrence is represented with short codewords, while data with lower probability of occurrence is assigned longer codewords. We discuss how these codebooks can be used to realize variable bit-rate coders for the DVQ case and also we address Huffman coding in its extreme effect when data is highly predictable and differential coding can be applied. Two methods are presented for variable bit-rate coding using two different approaches. In the first method, we use DVQ algorithm and both the encoder and the decoder have multiple codebooks of different sizes. In the second, we address the issues of real-time transmission using Huffman coding. The algorithm is based on differential pulse code modulation (DPCM), but additionally utilizes a non-uniform and multi-level Huffman coder to reduce the data rate substantially below that achievable with conventional DPCM. We compare the performance of these two approaches under conditions of error-free and error-prone channels. Our results show that one coding technique is resistant to channel errors than the other, and yields no visible degradation in picture quality at moderate compression rate.
Chloroplast mRNA 3' end maturation is biochemically distinct from prokaryotic mRNA processing.

We have characterized a chloroplast processing activity that catalyzes the conversion of the plastid cytochrome b6/f subunit IV (pet D) mRNA 3′ end precursor to the mature RNA possessing a 3′ inverted repeat (IR). In a chloroplast soluble protein extract, the activity requires Mg2+ or Mn2+, but not K+. In the absence of Mg2+, the pet D 3′ IR-RNA product does not accumulate, and UV-crosslinking indicates that the 3′ IR-RNA precursor binds several new proteins in addition to those previously characterized as part of the 3′ IR-RNA: protein complex in vitro. In contrast, high concentrations of Zn2+ or Cu2+ suppress protein binding and inhibit the processing reaction. The purified exoribonuclease polynucleotide phosphorylase (E.C.2.7.7.8) is not efficient in processing the pet D 3′ IR-RNA precursor, whereas Escherichia coli ribonuclease II rapidly processes the pet D IR-RNA precursor to a product of a size similar to that of the mature 3′ IR-RNA, but also rapidly degrades the mature RNA in the absence of chloroplast extract. We therefore conclude that the maturation of the pet D mRNA in vitro requires specific chloroplast enzymes which process the mRNA 3′ end precursor in the absence of efficient transcription termination. The chloroplast enzyme activities are biochemically distinct from their bacterial counterparts. We also note that specific chloroplast components may be required to stabilize the mature pet D mRNA 3′ end against further exonucleolytic degradation.
Effect of various sulfide stringer populations on the ductility of hot-rolled CMn steels

Abstract The effect of sulfide inclusions on anisotropy of axisymmetric and plane-strain fracture strain was investigated in three 0.1% C, 1.0% Mn steels containing 0.004, 0.021, or 0.028% S. The effect of the sulfide inclusions on axisymmetric and plane-strain fracture strain correlated with the projected area of inclusions per unit volume, A r , or the mean local area fraction of inclusions on a plane perpendicular to the tensile direction regardless of tensile direction: transverse or through thickness. The magnitude of A r was orientation dependent and was directly proportional to the volume fraction of inclusions and inversely proportional to the inclusion dimension parallel to the tensile direction. Dirichlet cell tessellation procedures were used to calculate local area fractions of inclusions, nearest-neighbor distances, and near-neighbors distances on longitudinal, transverse, and through-thickness planes. The mean local area fraction of inclusions was orientation dependent and was significantly larger than the total area fraction. The mean nearest-neighbor and near-neighbors distances were also dependent on orientation. The near-neighbors distances were incorporated into a simple anisotropic model of ductile fracture which gave good agreement with the observed fracture strains for both transverse and through-thickness specimens.
Long-range charge transfer in periodic DNA through polaron diffusion

Abstract Recent experimental evidence shows that the π orbitals along the stacking of base pairs can facilitate the long-range charge transfer in DNA [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120 (1998) 12950; Chem. Biol. 6 (1999) 85; Nature 382 (1996) 731]. Proton motion in the base pair hydrogen bonds has also been found to affect the transfer rate. To explain this behavior we propose a model considering interactions of doped charges with hydrogen bonds and vibrations in DNA. The charge trapped by either protons or vibrations can cause structural distortions leading to polaron formation. By further considering polaron diffusion in DNA we find that the charge transfer rate derived from the diffusion coefficient is in good agreement with the experimental results in poly(A)–poly(T) DNA ( k o ∼10 10 s −1 ) [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126 (2004) 1125].
Fatal Work-Related Injuries in the Agriculture Production Sector Among Youth in the United States, 1992–2002

Abstract Youth working on farms face unique risks that are not present for many other young workers, including machinery, large animals, electrical hazards, chemical hazards and excessive noise. This research identified the number and rate of occupational fatalities for youth working in the agriculture production industry, which is most closely affiliated with farming, for the years 1992–2002. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), was the database used for the analysis. There were 310 work-related deaths to youth less than 20 years of age from 1992 through 2002 in the agriculture production sector. This compares to 1,958 total fatalities for all workers less than 20 years of age for the same time period. The number of agricultural production fatalities to youth has shown a general downward trend over this time period. The rates were higher for young workers in agriculture production than for young workers in all industries by a factor of 3.6. ...
Monoclonal antibody identification of infiltrating mononuclear leukocytes in lupus nephritis

Monoclonal antibody identification of infiltrating mononuclear leukocytes in lupus nephritis (LN). Populations of mononuclear inflammatory cells infiltrating the renal interstitium in LN were studied by means of an avidin–biotin immunoperoxidase technique applied to cryostat sections of 26 renal biopsies (3 WHO class IIb; 4 class III; 8 class IV; 4 class V; 4 class III and V; and 3 class IV and V). The majority of interstitial leukocytes were T cells (mean 65.7 ± 14.1). The number of cells reactive with OKT 8 (47.3 ± 11.0) exceeded the number of OKT 4 positive cells (32.5 ± 11.3) in 22 of 26 biopsies. Cells reactive with antimonocyte antibodies OKM 1 and OKM 5 (6.7 ± 5.9 and 7.9 ± 5.9, respectively) and B lymphocytes (OKB 2 3.9 ± 3.5) were a minor component of the interstitial infiltrates. Monocytes were the predominant cell type among stained cells in glomerular tufts and crescents. Tissue T 4 /T 8 ratios varied widely (range 0.31 to 1.81), and were less than 1 in 22 of 26 patients. There was no correlation between tissue T 4 /T 8 ratios and simultaneous peripheral blood T 4 /T 8 ratios. Using stepwise multivariate linear regression, tissue T 4 /T 8 ratio was found to correlate highly with renal histologic activity (P 4 /T 8 ratio in LN was significantly lower than that of other glomerular and interstitial diseases studied (P
On some recent approaches to structural optimization

A tutorial survey of some recent approaches to structural optimization is given. Emphasis is placed on recent work which extends classical energy principles. Consideration is also given to the Pontryagin Maximum Principle and an application to structural problems. Consideration is given to both the static and dynamic behavior of structures.
Associations of objectively and subjectively measured sleep quality with subsequent cognitive decline in older community-dwelling men: The MrOS sleep study

STUDY OBJECTIVES To examine associations of objectively and subjectively measured sleep with subsequent cognitive decline. DESIGN A population-based longitudinal study. SETTING Six centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Participants were 2,822 cognitively intact community-dwelling older men (mean age 76.0 ± 5.3 y) followed over 3.4 ± 0.5 y. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS OBJECTIVELY MEASURED SLEEP PREDICTORS FROM WRIST ACTIGRAPHY: total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), wake after sleep onset (WASO), number of long wake episodes (LWEP). Self-reported sleep predictors: sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]), TST. Clinically significant cognitive decline: five-point decline on the Modified Mini-Mental State examination (3MS), change score for the Trails B test time in the worse decile. Associations of sleep predictors and cognitive decline were examined with logistic regression and linear mixed models. After multivariable adjustment, higher levels of WASO and LWEP and lower SE were associated with an 1.4 to 1.5-fold increase in odds of clinically significant decline (odds ratio 95% confidence interval) Trails B test: SE < 70% versus SE ≥ 70%: 1.53 (1.07, 2.18); WASO ≥ 90 min versus WASO < 90 min: 1.47 (1.09, 1.98); eight or more LWEP versus fewer than eight: 1.38 (1.02, 1.86). 3MS: eight or more LWEP versus fewer than eight: 1.36 (1.09, 1.71), with modest relationships to linear change in cognition over time. PSQI was related to decline in Trails B performance (3 sec/y per standard deviation increase). CONCLUSIONS Among older community-dwelling men, reduced sleep efficiency, greater nighttime wakefulness, greater number of long wake episodes, and poor self-reported sleep quality were associated with subsequent cognitive decline.
A Study of Partial Coherence and Its Application to the Collimation of Pulsed Multimode Laser Radiation

Classical coherence theory as presented by Wolf with the modification proposed by Neugebauer is used to describe mathematically and experimentally the collimation and focusing of the time-averaged intensity of pulsed multimode laser radiation. Measurements of the double-slit Fraunhofer pattern and the near and far zone intensity patterns were made on two pulsed ruby lasers by both still and streak photography to examine the spatial coherence and the collimation of the beam. Our result showed that the time-averaged collimation and focusing characteristics of the beam can be treated as the superposition of noncoupled spatially coherent modes.
The cycle space of a 3-connected Hamiltonian graph

Abstract S. Locke proved that the cycle space of a 3-connected nonhamiltonian graph with minimum degree at least d has a basis consisting of cycles of length at least 2 d −1. In this paper, we prove a similar result for a large class of hamiltonian graphs. We also prove a generalization of a result of I. Hartman.
Polywater preparation and silicone grease

Abstract The liquid which appeared in glass microcapillaries during experiments to make polywater was shown by mass spectrometry to contain silicone stopcock grease. With an apparatus which eliminated oil, grease, and the possibility of capillary contamination by film creep, attempts to make polywater were unsuccessful. One attempt with heavy water was also unsuccessful.
Kidney zinc-thionein regulation of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase inhibition by lead

Abstract This study was undertaken to evaluate the ability of kidney Zn-thionein to regulate Zn availability to the Zn-dependent enzyme, δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), and mediate the effect of Pb on this enzyme. Male CD rats were pretreated with 200 μmol Zn/kg, sc, 48 and 24 h prior to assay of renal ALAD, which resulted in activation of renal ALAD and increased the resistance of this enzyme to inhibition by Pb in vitro. To determine the mechanism for this resistance, binding patterns of Zn and Pb in kidney cytosol were assessed. Rats were pretreated with Zn 48 and 24 h prior to injection of 203Pb (170 μCi/kg, ip). Kidneys were removed 4 h later and cytosol was fractionated on a Sephadex G-75 gel filtration column. Both 203Pb and Zn coeluted with the Zn-thionein fraction. Zn-thionein-I and -II, purified previously by DEAE anion-exchange chromatography, bound 203Pb in vitro. In another experiment, addition of purified Zn-thionein to reaction mixtures increased activity of purified bovine liver ALAD twofold and reversed inhibition of ALAD by Pb. Addition of apo-thionein to reaction mixtures partially prevented the inhibition of purified ALAD by Pb, indicating the biological significance of 203Pb chelation. Gel filtration of ALAD assay incubates containing 65Zn-thionein demonstrated that Zn is transferred from Zn-thionein to ALAD. Gel filtration of incubates containing 203Pb demonstrated that the presence of Zn-thionein alters the cytosolic binding pattern of Pb, with less bound to ALAD and more bound to Zn-thionein. The results demonstrate a dual function for Zn-thionein in mediating Pb inhibition of ALAD by a mechanism involving both donation of Zn to this Zn-requiring enzyme and chelation of Pb. These results also suggest that Zn-thionein may serve to regulate ALAD activity in vivo and mediate the inhibition of this enzyme by Pb.
Hydrograph Analysis in a Fractured Rock Terrane

A typical watershed near Oak Ridge, Tennessee is underlaid by a stormflow zone, which approximately corresponds with the root zone of vegetation, and by a ground-water zone. Analysis of the streamflow hydrograph and water-level hydrographs during the nongrowing season shows that discharge from the stormflow zone constitutes nearly all streamflow after the end of overland runoff but that discharge from the ground-water zone is dominant after about 8-10 d (days) of recession. Simple equations that express the relationship between streamflow recession and storage depletion can be used to calculate average values of specific yield, transmissivity, and hydraulic conductivity in both the stormflow and ground-water zones. The calculated values are reasonable and are nearly the same as those obtained by other methods.
Sensory innervation of mandibular teeth by the nerve to the mylohyoid: Implications in local anesthesia

Traditionally, the nerve to the mylohyoid has been considered a motor nerve. However, dissection and clinical studies have challenged this dogma implicating the nerve to the mylohyoid as a nerve of accessory sensory innervation to mandibular teeth. Within the infratemporal fossa, the nerve to the mylohyoid branches from the inferior alveolar nerve and may be anesthetized with an inferior alveolar nerve block. However, because of the variability in location of branching and the potential barriers formed by both the pterygomandibular fascia and the sphenomandibular ligament, the nerve to the mylohyoid may escape anesthesia in an inferior alveolar nerve block. This may prevent profound local anesthesia of the mandibular teeth and may account, at least in part, for the high failure rate of the inferior alveolar nerve block. Alternative local anesthesia procedures may be employed to ensure adequate anesthesia of the nerve to the mylohyoid is achieved. This review provides a background of anatomical and clinical research of the nerve to the mylohyoid and outlines techniques suggested for providing a neural blockade of the nerve to the mylohyoid.
Pleistocene equatorial Pacific dynamics inferred from the zonal asymmetry in sedimentary nitrogen isotopes

[1] There is little agreement among models in predicting the average state of the tropical Pacific when subjected to enhanced greenhouse gas forcing. This uncertainty emphasizes the importance of reconstructing past variability in tropical Pacific climate through episodes of significant and estimable radiative forcing. Thus far, efforts along these lines have concentrated primarily on inferences of sea surface temperature variability from deep-sea sediments. Here we offer a different view of the equatorial Pacific over the past ∼1.2 million years (Myr)—before and after the mid-Pleistocene shift in the structure of ice ages. The zonal gradient in the nitrogen isotopic composition of sediment across the equatorial Pacific reflects nutrient delivery to the surface and, by extension, ocean dynamical properties. Over the last ∼1.2 Myr, the variability of eastern equatorial Pacific nutrient upwelling (inferred from relative nitrate utilization) was highly correlated with local seasonal insolation. By contrast, nitrate utilization was insensitive to the 100,000 year cycle that dominated many other aspects of the Pleistocene ice ages, including greenhouse gas concentrations. A strong linear relationship between relative nitrate utilization and seasonal insolation over the past ∼1 million years suggests a predictable response of one primary determinant of tropical Pacific climate change.
Information frameworks for conceptual engineering design

An information modeling approach is used to gain an understanding of the information and decision content of conceptual engineering design. Information frameworks are presented that attempt to represent the key decisions made during conceptual design. Elements of the frameworks are derived from results from design theory and methodology and decision theory. Using a number of products, the frameworks are demonstrated in simulated design situations. The models provide an explicit, generic and consistent perspective for identifying the information content of conceptual designs.
Crime Trends in Southern and Nonsouthern Cities: A Twenty-Year Perspective

Using annual data from 1951-70, for 467 U.S. cities, this study reexamines the extent to which reported crime offenses between the South and non-South continue to manifest regional differences. Alternative structuralist and normative hypotheses are evaluated with respect to both property and personal crimes. The data generally support a structural interpretation of converging crime trends with some lag among selected person crime categories. The effects of census regions and states are also examined, and here the data tentatively indicate a small but potentially increasing state effect. One of the lingering beliefs about the South as a distinct region concerns its allegedly high crime rates. Crime differentials between the South and the non-South were first noted in a group of early studies by Hoffman (1925), Brearley (1932), and Porterfield (1949), and more recently corroborated by Hackney (1969) and Gastil (1971). Likewise, Reed (1972) has amusingly entitled one of his chapters, "To Live and Die in Dixie"; an obvious clue to his thesis that the traditional pattern of violence in the South has persisted into more modern times. Yet in spite of this evidence, there are compelling reasons for believing that crime differentials between the South and the non-South should be and have been converging over time. The principal basis for this contention lies in the work of Porterfield and Talbert (1954), McKinney and Thompson (1965), and McKinney and Bourque (1971). These investigations argue that rapid social change in the South in recent years has had, and will continue to have the effect of dissolving hitherto existing interregional differences-e.g., crime patterns. Our purpose in this paper, therefore, is to examine in greater detail the timedependent comparisons between the South and non-South in levels of crime. In contrast to previous work whose evidence is inconclusive owing to the cross-sectional nature of their analyses, we instead employ a data set of municipal crime reports extending from 1951-70. Moreover, unlike Hackney (1969) and Gastil (1971), our attention goes beyond concern for differential homicide rates to include variations in most major criminal offenses reported to the FBI. Finally, the analysis attempts to refine our understanding of regional variations by employing a "nested design" of analysis of variance. *Revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, April 1974. The research reported here was supported by funds from the Faculty Research Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Council of Urban Studies Program of the University of North Carolina. I also wish to acknowledge the computer programming assistance provided by Dick Hoskins.
Spatial‐spectral holographic MR interpretation

The fundamental MR imaging equation can be derived from a spatial-spectral holographic wavefront reconstruction formulation similar to that in quantum optics. This spatial-spectral holographic interpretation arises naturally in MR from the inhomogeneous linewidth broadening (1/πT) due to either an imposed set of linear orthogonal gradients fields or from the intrinsic chemical shift/molecular environment of the spin system. In this work, it is shown experimentally that an inhomogeneously broadened NMR absorber can accomplish key holographic characteristics such as storage, recall, time-reversal, and matched filtering of gradient weighted RF pulses in a three-pulse stimulated echo experiment. This interpretation has implications on selective RF pulse design, holographic-based high-resolution microscopy applications, and the use of conjugate imaging for field inhomogeneity corrections using the time-reversed component of the readout. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson 23A: 76–88, 2004
Physical and mechanical behavior of hot rolled HDPE/HA composites

In the present study hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites were synthesized with possible application as orthopedic implants. HDPE was reinforced with HA particles using a novel hot rolling technique that facilitated uniform dispersion and blending of the reinforcements in the matrix. Composites were processed with up to 50 wt.% HA particles. Scanning Electron Microscopy studies confirmed uniform particle distribution of the reinforcement. Mechanical properties of the composites were examined by tensile tests. Increasing volume fraction of reinforcement from 10–50 wt.% resulted in a 150% increase in elastic modulus and 20% increase in tensile strength. Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction studies indicate that the new blending process can be used to synthesize a crystalline, uniformly reinforced composite having chemical affinity between the matrix and reinforcement.