cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Personalized Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Which Drug for Which Patient?

The elucidation of the molecular alterations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the development of molecularly targeted agents have permanently shifted NSCLC therapy to a personalized approach. In the metastatic setting, the addition of the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody, bevacizumab, to chemotherapy improves overall survival. The oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, gefitinib and erlotinib, prolong progression-free survival in patients selected for the presence of an EGFR activating mutation. The monoclonal antibody to EGFR, cetuximab, improves survival in patients with metastatic NSCLC, and the inhibitor of the echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) fusion protein, crizotinib, has resulted in an unprecedented overall survival advantage in patients harboring the EML4-ALK translocation. In the adjuvant setting, gefitinib has not been shown to improve patient survival outcomes; however, there are several ongoing clinical trials in the adjuvant setting evaluating the role of erlotinib, bevacizumab, and the MAGE-A3 and MUC1 vaccines. The realm of personalized lung cancer therapy also includes the study of chemotherapy selected on the basis of the pharmacogenetic profile of a patient's tumor. Several ongoing clinical trials in both the metastatic and adjuvant settings are studying the excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) protein, the ribonucleotide reductase subunit 1 (RRM1) protein, thymidylate synthase, and BRCA1 as predictors of chemotherapy response. This review will outline the current state of the art of personalized NSCLC therapy.
High-Specific-Power Capacitors

Energy density is not the only metric for capacitors. In high pulse repetition rate modulators and other types of power conditioning systems, the reactive power (kVAR) is often the factor driving the physical size of capacitors. The specific power (kVAR/cm3) capability of a capacitor depends on many factors, including frequency, voltage, waveform, duty cycle, ambient temperature, and available cooling. The design of capacitors for high specific power requirements will be described. Designs using high-temperature polymer films as dielectrics and metallized electrodes will be compared to designs using common dielectrics such as polypropylene and both metallized and discrete foil electrodes.
Circulating TGF-β1 as a reliable biomarker for chronic kidney disease progression in the African-American population

Progressive renal fibrosis is common to all chronic kidney diseases (CKD). Suthanthiran and colleagues identified a positive association between transforming growth factor-β1 and several risk factors for CKD progression in African Americans but not in whites. This study offers a possible explanation for the higher prevalence of end-stage renal disease in African Americans and highlights the need for a better therapeutic strategy for this population.
Novel graphical environment for virtual and real-world operations of tracked mobile manipulators

A simulation, animation, visualization and interactive control (SAVIC) environment has been developed for the design and operation of an integrated mobile manipulator system. This unique system possesses the abilities for (1) multi-sensor simulation, (2) kinematics and locomotion animation, (3) dynamic motion and manipulation animation, (4) transformation between real and virtual modes within the same graphics system, (5) ease in exchanging software modules and hardware devices between real and virtual world operations, and (6) interfacing with a real robotic system. This paper describes a working system and illustrates the concepts by presenting the simulation, animation and control methodologies for a unique mobile robot with articulated tracks, a manipulator, and sensory modules.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Low Electronic States of Simple Heteropolar Diatomic Molecules. I. General Survey

The three lowest energy states of molecules ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{M}}_{2}$, and MH are here deemed more or less analogous and labeled $N$, $T$, $V$; these are respectively of the types $^{1}\ensuremath{\Sigma}^{+}$, $^{3}\ensuremath{\Sigma}^{+}$, $^{1}\ensuremath{\Sigma}^{+}$. States $N$, $T$ and $V$ must exist also in all other uni-univalent molecules, e.g., ${\mathrm{X}}_{2}$, XY, HX, AgX, MX (M = alkali metal atom, X or Y = halogen atom). The characteristics of the states $N$, $T$, $V$ (polarity, ionicness, etc.) are surveyed. Only in ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ is state $T$ yet known empirically; $N$ is the normal state always; $V$ is to be identified with a state known from band spectra in the case of most molecules of the types above named. In molecules containing one halogen atom, there should be an additional low energy group of states (types $^{3}\mathrm{II}$, $^{1}\mathrm{II}$), here labeled the $Q$ group. Various points connected with the approximation of polar diatomic molecule wave functions using atomic orbitals, and using molecular orbitals, are discussed. Difficulties and arbitrariness inherent in the definition of polarity and ionicness are examined.
Narratives of Somatizing and Non somatizing Patients in a Primary Care Setting

Somatizing patients, who comprise approximately 20 percent of the primary care population, often present physicians with recurrent but confusing combinations of symptoms without organic explanation...
The challenges of verification and validation of automated planning systems (keynote)

Mission planning is central to space mission operations, and has benefited from advances in model-based planning software. A model is a description of the objects, actions, constraints and preferences that the planner reasons over to generate plans. Developing, verifying and validating a planning model is, however, a difficult task. Mission planning constraints and preferences arise from many sources, including simulators and engineering specification documents. As mission constraints evolve, planning domain modelers must add and update model constraints efficiently using the available source data, catching errors quickly, and correcting the model. The consequences of erroneous models are very high, especially in the space operations environment. We first describe the space operations environment, particularly the role of the mission planning system. We then describe model-based planning, and briefly review the current state of the practice in designing model-based mission planning tools and the challenges facing model developers. We then describe an Interactive Model Development Environment (IMDE) approach to developing mission planning systems. This approach integrates modeling and simulation environments to reduce model editing time, generate simulations automatically to evaluate plans, and identify modeling errors automatically by evaluating simulation output. The IMDE approach was tested on a small subset of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) flight software to demonstrate how to develop the LADEE mission planning system.
Complex Langevin simulations of non-Abelian integrals

We apply complex Langevin techniques to calculate averages with a nonpositive ``probability.'' Some integrals inspired by the flux calculations in SU(2) lattice gauge theory are successfully simulated.
Effects of Hydrostatic Pressure on Proton and Deuteron Magnetic Resonance of Water in Natural Rock and Artificial Porous Media

Abstract The effect of pressure on the NMR longitudinal relaxation of D 2 O and H 2 O confined to the interstices of natural and artificial porous media is reported. Magnetization decays of fluid protons in natural porous media are known to be dominated by interactions between water molecules and the surface of the solid matrix. These decays are characterized by broad distributions of relaxation times. In some materials there is no pressure dependence of the proton relaxation time distribution, while in other materials minor effects are noted. The NMR relaxation of deuterium in D 2 O is dominated by intramolecular effects. Assuming that the enhancement of relaxation at the surface is relatively independent of surface composition, one can estimate a surface-to-pore-volume ratio. The NMR S/V is more useful than that measured by conventional methods. The pressure dependence of D 2 O relaxation in porous media follows that of the bulk liquid.
Best linear unbiased prediction of host-range of the facultative parasite Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. salsolae, a potential biological control agent of Russian thistle.

Russian thistle or tumbleweed (Salsola tragus L.) is an introduced invasive weed in N. America. It is widely distributed in the US and is a target of biological control efforts. The fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. in Penz. f. sp. salsolae (CGS) is a facultative parasite under evaluation for classical biological control of this weed. Host-range tests were conducted with CGS in quarantine to determine whether the fungus is safe to release in N. America. Ninetytwo accessions were analyzed from 19 families: Aizoaceae, Alliaceae, Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Cactaceae, Campanulaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Cupressaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Phytolaccaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Sarcobataceae, and Solanaceae and 10 tribes within the Chenopodiaceae: Atripliceae, Beteae, Camphorosmeae, Chenopodieae, Corispermeae, Halopepideae, Polycnemeae, Salicornieae, Salsoleae, and Suaedeae. These included 62 genera and 120 species. To facilitate interpretation of results, disease reaction data were combined with a relationship matrix derived from internal transcribed spacer DNA sequences and analyzed with mixed model equations to produce Best Linear Unbiased Predictors (BLUPs) for each species. Twenty-nine species (30 accessions) from seven closely-related Chenopodiaceae tribes had significant levels of disease severity as indicated by BLUPs, compared to six species determined to be susceptible with least squares means estimates. The 29 susceptible species were: 1 from Atripliceae, 4 from Camphorosmeae, 1 from Halopepideae, 2 from Polycnemeae, 6 from Salicornieae, 8 from Salsolae, and 7 from Suaedeae. Most species in the genus Salsola, which are all introduced and weedy, were very susceptible and damaged by CGS. Statistical comparisons and contrasts of BLUPs indicated that these Salsola species were significantly more susceptible than non-target species, including 15 species from relatives in the closely-related genera Bassia (=Kochia), Nitrophila, Salicornia, Sarcocornia, and Suaeda. Of the 29 susceptible species, 10 native or commercially important species in N. America were identified as needing additional tests to determine the extent of any damage caused by infection.
Fast Light in a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

Wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier offers tunable slow and fast light. We simulate a simple link with a fast light device. Power penalty and fractional advance are calculated and causality is examined
Surfing the Noosphere

When I was an undergraduate student in physics at the University of Akron, I had a job as a page at the univer-sity library. Since I had served as a page at the Firestone branch of the Akron Public Library located across from the main gate of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, my campus position was both familiar and invigorating. In the summer when things went slack, we had time to inventory and reorganize the stacks. It was in the base-ment stacks that I found leather-bound volumes of the 15th and 16th centuries—books that I am sure now reside in special climate-controlled vaults. With leather under my ﬁngernails I examined shelf after shelf. On the last pages of volumes that bound London newsweeklies were tabulations of the deaths in the city that year. The num-bers, as I remember them now, were in the thousands; they probably included only tradesmen and nobility. They were fascinating as real and immediate connections to a remote past.
Human pathogenic microsporidia detection in agricultural samples: method development and assessment

A detection method was developed and assessed for the sensitive recovery of microsporidia from livestock fecal and manure-impacted environmental samples. Sensitive recovery of microsporidia was achieved when samples were subjected to 1) purification by sucrose floatation, 2) DNA extraction using the Qiagen QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit, 3) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis using generic primers for microsporidia, and 4) DNA sequence analysis to identify which microsporidia were present in each sample. Livestock fecal and wastewater samples were inoculated with 1,000 and 100 Encephalitozoon intestinalis spores/g or ml of feces or wastewater. For cattle wastewater, ten of ten replicates were positive by PCR at concentrations of 1,000 spores/ml, and two of ten replicates were positive at concentrations of 100 spores/ml. For swine wastewater, ten of ten replicates were positive at concentrations of 1,000 spores/ml, and four of ten replicates were positive at concentrations of 100 spores/ml. For cattle feces, three of ten replicates were positive at the concentration of 1,000 spores/g. Several environmental samples were screened using this method, with two of 34 samples positive for human pathogenic microsporidia. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Encephalitozoon cuniculi detection in swine feces and wastewater.
Ultrastructural observations on rabbit, hamster and mouse eggs following electrical stimulation in vitro

The fine structural changes were studied in the plasma membrane, cortical granules (CGs) and meiotic spindle of rabbit, hamster and mouse eggs in response to electrical stimulation. Eggs were collected 16 to 18 hours after HCG injection, and freed from the cumulus oophorus. They were stimulated in vitro by delivering a single monophasic square wave pulse of 150 V for 1 msec. Stimulated and unstimulated eggs were fixed for fine structural observations 1, 30 and 60 minutes after stimulation. Within one minute of stimulation the microvilli of rabbit eggs were long, branching and had bulbous ends. Umbonate protrusions were also present on their surface. By 30 minutes after stimulation the rabbit eggs lacked microvilli and the perivitelline space was filled with detached vesicles. Degenerating changes were readily noticeable in the microvilli of hamster eggs by 60 minutes. Changes were not noted in the microvilli of stimulated mouse eggs. There were markedly fewer CGs in the hamster and mouse, but not rabbit, eggs by 30 minutes after stimulation, and nearly all of them disappeared in the mouse and hamster eggs by 60 minutes. The density of the CGs in the rabbit was not altered. The meiotic spindle of hamster eggs dissipated within one minute of stimulation, however, the microtubules reappeared by 60 minutes after stimulation. Rotation of the meiotic spindle occurred in the mouse and hamster eggs by 30 minutes after stimulation. In some of the mouse eggs the spindle migrated to the center and the chromosomes were in telophase.
Neighborhoods and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior

Understanding the determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior is important given its links to the differential risk of teen pregnancy, childbearing, and sexually transmitted infections. This article tests a contextual model that emphasizes the concentration of neighborhood disadvantage in shaping racial/ethnic disparities in sexual risk behavior. We focus on two risk behaviors that are prevalent among Black and Hispanic youth: the initiation of sexual activity in adolescence and the number of sex partners. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 6,985; 48 % female; 57 % non-Hispanic White) evidence indicates that neighborhood disadvantage—measured by concentrated poverty, unemployment rates, and the proportion of female-headed households—partially explains Black and Hispanic disparities from Whites in the odds of adolescent sexual debut, although the prevalence of female-headed households in neighborhoods appears to be the main driver in this domain. Likewise, accounting for neighborhood disadvantage reduces the Black-White and Hispanic-White disparity in the number of sexual partners, although less so relative to sexual debut. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
The role of temperature on impact properties of Kevlar/fiberglass composite laminates

Abstract This paper demonstrates results of an experimental study on Kevlar/fiberglass composite laminates subjected to impact loading at variable temperatures. The effect of temperature on maximum energy, elastic energy, maximum deflection, maximum impact force, ductility, and compression after impact was studied at several low velocity impact energy levels (8, 15 and 25 J). The temperatures considered were in the range of −50 to 120 °C. Results indicated that impact performance of these composites was affected over the range of temperature considered. Testing at ambient temperature is not fully sufficient and therefore additional testing must be performed for full understanding of composite laminate properties.
Is high hypnotic suggestibility necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention

Hypnotic suggestibility is a trait-like, individual difference variable reflecting the general tendency to respond to hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions. Research with standardized measures of hypnotic suggestibility has demonstrated that there are substantial individual differences in this variable. Higher suggestibility has been found to be associated with greater relief from hypnotic pain interventions. Although individuals in the high suggestibility range show the strongest response to hypnotic analgesia, people of medium suggestibility, who represent approximately one third of the population, also have been found to obtain significant relief from hypnosis. Thus, high hypnotic suggestibility is not necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention. However, the available evidence does not support the efficacy of hypnotic pain interventions for people who fall in the low hypnotic suggestibility range. However, some studies suggest that these individuals may benefit from imaginative analgesia suggestions, or suggestions for pain reduction that are delivered while the person is not in hypnosis.
Correlation of speed and temperature in the solar wind

[1] We show that the well-known correlation between solar wind speed and temperature can be understood as a consequence of an elementary symmetry of the solar wind transport equations. Under a reasonably wide range of circumstances, even when including nonadiabatic turbulence effects, the solutions of the transport equations may depend only upon the ratio r/U of distance to solar wind speed. Applied to the temperature equation, the familiar correlation emerges immediately. For a turbulence model of heating, this property is obtained in regions where the Alfven speed is much smaller than the flow speed, where pickup ions are negligible, and where the flow is locally a spherical, constant-speed expansion. These fundamental properties, illustrated here using analysis of ACE data, clarify why the correlation is reduced in ensembles that include highly nonspherical effects such as CMEs.
Clinical and morphologic features of acute, subacute and chronic cor pulmonale (pulmonary heart disease).

Described are certain clinical and morphologic features of one patient with acute , another with subacute , and one with chronic cor pulmonale. All 3 had evidence of severe pulmonary hypertension. The patient with acute cor pulmonale 4 days after coronary bypass for unstable angina pectoris suddenly developed severe breathlessness with cyanosis and had fatal cardiac arrest and necropsy disclosed massive pulmonary embolism. The patient with subacute cor pulmonale had severe right-sided heart failure for 5 weeks and necropsy disclosed microscopic-sized neoplastic pulmonary emboli from a gastric carcinoma without parenchymal pulmonary metastases. The patient with chronic cor pulmonale had evidence of right-sided heart failure for years, the result of primary or idiopathic pulmonary hypertension almost certainly present from birth because the pattern of elastic fibers in the pulmonary trunk was that seen in newborns where the pressure in the pulmonary trunk and ascending aorta are similar. The patient with chronic cor pulmonale had plexiform pulmonary lesions indicative of irreversible pulmonary hypertension. Neither the acute nor the subacute patient had chronic pulmonary vascular changes. All 3 patients had dilated right ventricular cavities and non-dilated left ventricular cavities and only the patient with chronic cor pulmonale had right ventricular hypertrophy.
Web-Centric Framework for Secure and Legally Binding Electronic Transactions in Large-Scale A/E/C Projects

Typical architectureengineeringconstruction (AEC) projects are technically, socially, and economically complex in terms of planning, management, and execution. In order to conduct day-to-day operat...
Neural crest-derived cells isolated from the gut by immunoselection develop neuronal and glial phenotypes when cultured on laminin.

Abstract The neural crest-derived cells that colonize the bowel are different from their predecessors in the premigratory crest. A procedure, which utilized the immunoselection of cells with a magnet, was thus devised to obtain crest-derived precursors from developing gut. Primary antibodies against cell surface antigens, NC-1 in chick, quail, and rat, or antibodies to a 110-kDa laminin binding protein (a-110) in mouse, were used in conjunction with secondary antibodies coupled to magnetic beads. Immediately after immunoselection with NC-1, almost all of the selected cells were NC-1-immunoreactive. Neurons and glia, identified immunocytochemically with antibodies to specific markers, developed preferentially in cultures of immunoselected cells. Some of the phenotypes expressed by neurons arising in vitro were appropriate for the bowel (serotonin- and vasoactive intestinal peptide-immunoreactive); however, catecholaminergic neurons, which are not present in the enteric nervous system, also differentiated in the cultures. Neuronal development, as well as neurite outgrowth, were promoted by laminin. Cells selected with α-110 from the fetal murine bowel preferentially gave rise in vitro to neurons and glia. These data suggest that the population of crest-derived cells that colonizes the gut is multipotent, that development of catecholaminergic neurons in situ is prevented by the intact enteric microenvironment, that laminin is important in the formation of enteric ganglia, and that the 110-kDa laminin binding protein is expressed on the surfaces of the immediate precursors of enteric neurons and glia.
MICU1-dependent Threshold and Cooperativity of Mitochondrial Ca2+ Uptake in the Liver

Recent studies have revealed MCU as the pore forming domain and MICU1 as a critical Ca2+-sensitive regulator of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter. However, the mechanism of the complex Ca2+ dependence of the uniporter activity remains elusive. Our previous studies showed that prolonged down-regulation of MICU1 in HeLa cells causes lower threshold and decreased cooperativity of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. To study the functional significance of the effects of MICU1 we used hepatocytes harvested from the liver of mice exposed to in vivo silencing (4 weeks). Silencing of MICU1 or MCU resulted in >80% decrease in their respective mRNA levels. Silencing of MICU1 caused a leftward-shifted dose response and decreased cooperativity of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake in both permeabilized and intact hepatocytes. By contrast, silencing of MCU resulted in slower Ca2+ uptake in the entire range of Ca2+ concentrations without change in threshold. Mitochondrial respiration and cellular ATP content were unaffected in media containing both glycolytic and mitochondrial fuels in either MICU1 or MCU-deficient hepatocytes. However, silencing of MICU1 caused an augmented loss of ATP when the cells were confined to oxidative metabolism and an enhanced sensitivity to mitochondrial Ca2+ overload and permeabilization. During stimulation with vasopressin, a Ca2+ mobilizing hormone, both MICU1 and MCU-deficient cells displayed an attenuated mitochondrial matrix [Ca2+] increase and stimulation of respiration. Collectively, these results show that keeping the gate of MCU closed by MICU1 at low [Ca2+] is required to maintain healthy mitochondria, and MICU1-mediated control of MCU (cooperativity?) is required to support the propagation of short-lasting calcium spikes and oscillations to the mitochondria and the ensuing physiological stimulation of oxidative metabolism.
A Study of Cygnus OB2: Pointing the Way toward Finding Our Galaxy?s Super-Star Clusters

New optical MK classification spectra have been obtained for 14 OB star candidates identified by Comeron et al. and presumed to be possible members of the Cyg OB2 cluster as recently described by Knodlseder. All 14 candidate OB stars observed are indeed early-type stars, strongly suggesting the remaining 31 candidates by Comeron et al. are also early-type stars. A thorough investigation of the properties of these new candidate members compared with the properties of the Cyg OB2 cluster star has been completed, using traditional as well as newly revised effective temperature scales for O stars. The cooler O star effective temperature scale of Martins et al. gives a very close distance for the cluster (DM = 10.4). However, even using traditional effective temperature scales, Cyg OB2 appears to be slightly closer (DM = 10.8) than previous studies determined (DM = 11.2; Massey & Thompson), when the very young age of the stellar cluster (~2 × 106 yr) is taken into account in fitting the late-O and early-B dwarfs to model isochrones. Of the 14 new OB stars observed for this study, as many as half appear to be significantly older than the previously studied optical cluster, making their membership in Cyg OB2 suspect. So, while some of the newly identified OB stars may represent a more extended halo of the Cyg OB2 cluster, the survey of Comeron et al. also picked up a large fraction of nonmembers. Presently, estimates of the very high mass of this cluster (Mcl ≈ 104 M☉ and over 100 O stars) first made by Knodlseder remain higher than this study can support. Despite this, the recognition of Cyg OB2 as a more massive and extensive star cluster than previously realized using 2MASS images, along with the recently recognized candidate super-star cluster Westerlund 1 only a few kiloparsecs away (Clark & Negueruela), reminds us that we are woefully underinformed about the massive cluster population in our Galaxy. Extrapolations of the locally derived cluster luminosity function indicate that tens to perhaps a hundred of these very massive open clusters (Mcl ≈ 104 M☉, MV ≈ -11) should exist within our galaxy. Radio surveys will not detect these massive clusters if they are more than a few million years old. Our best hope for remedying this shortfall is through deep infrared searches and follow-up near-infrared spectroscopic observations, as were used by Comeron et al. to identify candidate members of the Cyg OB2 association.
Evaluation of Training of Surgery Interns to Perform Brief Alcohol Interventions for Trauma Patients

Background Because nearly half of injured patients admitted to trauma centers misuse alcohol, the American College of Surgeons has required that Level I trauma centers have a mechanism for providing brief bedside counseling interventions (BI) to patients with alcohol problems. We hypothesized that with minimal training, surgical interns could become proficient at performing BI. Study Design First-year surgical interns were trained in an 8-hour BI workshop. A group of first-year medicine interns who were not trained in BI served as the comparison group. BI skills of both groups were assessed before and 5 weeks after this training using simulated interviews with standardized patient actors trained to depict a scenario of a challenging patient with an alcohol problem. Audiotapes of those interviews were rated by trained, blinded coders. Results Before the training, both groups demonstrated similar BI skill levels. Compared with the control group, after training, the surgical interns showed marked improvements in BI skills, including more frequently giving patients feedback on their blood alcohol concentration results (p=0.000), providing guidelines for low-risk drinking (p=0.000), offering patients more than 1 change option (p=0.000), asking permission to discuss drinking (p=0.003), and offering patients hope and encouragement (p=0.003). Conclusions After training, surgery interns effectively demonstrated BI skills when challenged to do so in a standardized patient actor scenario. This model of intern screening and brief intervention training constitutes a viable alternative for trauma centers as they look for options to meet the American College of Surgeons' new requirement to provide BI for trauma patients with alcohol problems. Future research should further evaluate surgical interns' ability to routinely implement these skills in their daily clinical environments.
Seeding strategies for the deposition of high density network of nanoporous Au cluster catalyst on glassy carbon electrodes

Recent developments demonstrated the feasibility of functionalized nanoporous Au (NPG) for application in catalysis. This work employed a variety of seeding strategies aimed at facilitating the synthesis of ultra-high density or nearly continuous cluster network on glassy carbon (GC) surfaces of quality and structure achievable on metal substrates only. The NPG synthetic process involving electrodeposition of AuxAg(1−x) alloy and its subsequent de-alloying was performed on seeds generated by electrodeposition (Cu, Ag) and electroless (Pd, Au) approaches. The outcome of the densification process was assessed by electrochemical characterization and scanning electron microscopy. While some improvement was observed on Cu and Ag seeds, significantly higher nucleation density was obtained on Au-seeded GC surfaces where the deposit featured most typical de-alloying behavior leading to highest surface area evolution. The best overall quality of NPG film manifested by high density networks of overlapping, uniform, and very small clusters nearing structural continuity was achieved on Pd-seeded GC samples.
Laws Requiring Health Plans to Provide Direct Access to Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Use of Cancer Screening by Women

Background. Many states have passed legislation mandating that health plans provide direct access to obstetricians/gynecologists (hereinafter ‘‘ob/gyns’’) for women, limiting the ability of plans to require referrals or otherwise restrict access. One benefit of these laws may be improved preventive screening rates, but no literature has examined the relationship between ob/gyn direct access laws and use of breast cancer and cervical cancer screening. Data and Methods. We use repeated cross-sections of privately insured women age 18–64 (Pap test) and 40–64 (mammography) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 1996–2000, linked to data on the presence of ob/gyn direct access laws by state. Outcome measures are receipt of mammography and receipt of a Pap test within the past 2 years. Regression analyses are used to assess the relationship between the presence of ob/gyn direct access laws and screening, adjusting for a range of individual characteristics, fixed state characteristics, and time trends. Results. We find no statistically significant relationships between the presence of an ob/gyn direct access law and receipt of either mammography or Pap test screening. We explore a range of alternate specifications and find none that yield clear evidence of a relationship. Conclusions. Laws requiring direct access to ob/gyns are not associated with large or consistent measurable impacts on use of cancer screening.
Stereotactic radiotherapy for localized low-grade gliomas in children: Final results of a prospective trial

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) for small, localized, pediatric brain tumors and to determine the patterns of failure. Methods and materials A total of 81 patients were enrolled in an institutional review board–approved prospective Dana-Farber Cancer Institute protocol between 1992 and 1998. Of the 81 patients, 50 had low-grade astrocytoma, 23 had residual or recurrent craniopharyngioma, 4 had posterior fossa ependymoma, and 4 had other histologic types. All patients underwent biopsy for diagnosis, with the exception of patients with neurofibromatosis and radiographic evidence of an optic system tumor. The neurocognitive outcome for all patients was also an endpoint of the study and will be reported separately. This report focused on the patients with low-grade gliomas only. Of the 50 patients, 26 were males and 24 females; the median age was 9 years (range, 2–26 years). The indications for treatment of patients with low-grade gliomas were progression during or after chemotherapy or progression after surgery alone. SRT was delivered using a dedicated 6-MV linear accelerator. Immobilization was accomplished with a removable head-frame. CT and MRI fusion was used for treatment planning. The target volume generally included the preoperative tumor plus a 2-mm margin for the planning target volume. The median collimator size was 47.25 mm (range, 30–60 mm). Three to nine arcs were used to deliver a mean total dose of 52.2 Gy in 1.8-Gy daily fractions. Results With a median follow-up of 6.9 years (range, 0.9–10.2 years), the progression-free survival rate was 82.5% at 5 years and 65% at 8 years. The overall survival was 97.8% at 5 years and 82% at 8 years. Six patients had local progression. Two of the patients with local progression had pathologic progression to anaplastic astrocytoma 3 and 7 years after initial SRT. Five patients, all with optic system/hypothalamic primary tumors, developed central nervous system dissemination 1.0–7.4 years after SRT. One patient developed a presumed radiation-induced primitive neuroectodermal tumor 6 years after initial treatment. Six patients died, three of dissemination, two of progression to higher grade tumors, and one of a secondary radiation-induced tumor. All 6 cases of local progression were within the primary tumor bed at the time of progression and had received the full prescription dose. No marginal failures occurred. Conclusion Stereotactic radiotherapy provides excellent local control for children with small, localized low-grade glial tumors. Marginal failures have not been observed, supporting the use of limited margins to minimize late sequelae using stereotactic immobilization and planning techniques.
On The Practical Stability and Its Application to Nonlinear Control of Surge

This paper first proposes a new control strategy, stabilization on the sense of practical stability, to actively stabilize the axial compression systems regardless their instability modes. Then, the theory of practical stability is applied to analyze the practical stability of the pure surge system which is a compression system without any nonaxisymmetric disturbances that grow into rotating stall. This analysis reveals that the upper limit of the amplitude in which the system surges is determined by the nonlinearity of the compressor characteristic. Thus, a nonlinear controller is designed to control the trajectory of the pure surge system by modifying the nonlinear terms in the expression for the compressor characteristic. Numerical simulation shows that the nonlinear controller can effectively shrink the size of the trajectory of the pure surge system, and therefore stabilize the system in the sense of practical stability.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
Kant and Kierkegaard on Inwardness and Moral Luck

The traditional understanding of Kant and Kierkegaard is that their views on the good will and inwardness, respectively, commit them to denying moral luck in an attempt to isolate an omnipotent moral subject from involvement with the external world. This leaves them vulnerable to the criticism that their ethical thought unrealistically insulates morality from anything that happens in the world. On the interpretation offered here, inwardness and the good will are not contrasted with worldly happenings, but are instead a matter of worldly happenings that exhibit a particular temporal structure. Kant and Kierkegaard should not be understood as denying moral luck.
Dynamic elastic properties of coal

Laboratory ultrasonic velocity measurements of different types of coal demonstrate that their dynamic elastic properties depend on coal rank and applied effective pressure. In spite of the growing interest in coal beds as targets for methane production, the high abundance in sedimentary sequences and the strong influence that they have on seismic response, little data are available on the acoustic properties of coal.Velocitiesweremeasuredincoreplugsparallelandperpendicular to lamination surfaces as a function of confining pressure up to 40 MPa in loading and unloading cycles. Pand S-wave velocities and dry bulk and dry shear moduli increaseascoalrankincreases.Thus,bituminouscoalandcannel show lower velocities and moduli than higher ranked coals such as semianthracite and anthracite. The VP-VS relationshipfordrysamplesislinearandcoversarelativelywide rangeofeffectivepressuresandcoalranks.However,thereis a pressure dependence on the elastic properties of coal for confiningpressuresbelow5 MPa.Thispressuresensitivityis relatedtothepresenceofmicrocracks.Finally,thedatashow that coal has an intrinsic anisotropy at confining pressures above 5 MPa, the closing pressure for most of the microcracks. This intrinsic anisotropy at high pressures might be due to fine lamination and preferred orientation of the macerals.
Comparison of Different PCR Tests to Detect Bovine Lentivirus in Cell Culture and Experimentally and Naturally Infected Cattle

Genes targeted Reaction volume DNA Primers dNTPs Taq polymerase MgCl2 Cycles Hot start Misc. env and pol 50 ml 0.5 mg 20 pmol 200 mM 1.25 units 3 mM nested—62 cycles no pol and gag 50 ml 2.0 mg 25 pmol 200 mM 2.5 units 1.5 mM 40 cycles yes 0.01% gelatin 0.1% Triton X-100 pol 100 ml 5,000 cells 10 pmol 200 mM 5 units 1.5 mM 35 cycles yes The bovine lentivirus, also known as the bovine immunodeficiency-like virus (BIV), causes a persistent viral infection in cattle, but at present, it is unknown if it causes clinical disease or clinical immunodeficiency in cattle. Only a single epidemiological study has been reported with BIV, and this study associated a decreased milk yield in cows with BIV.4 In order to test whether BIV causes disease in cattle, a reliable diagnostic test to determine if cattle are infected with BIV is critical. A good diagnostic test should be specific, sensitive, and inexpensive and provide results quickly. However, none of the currently described BIV tests fit all of these categories. Serological tests have been the most commonly used diagnostic tests for BIV. However, loss of antibody to BIV proteins in experimentally infected cattle that are persistently infected with BIV has been reported.3,7,9,10,14 The loss of antibody to the p26 gag antigen, the most important antigen for detection of BIV in western blot tests and in some ELISA tests, can result in an animal considered to be uninfected with this virus even when virus can be demonstrated by both PCR and virus isolation.8,10,15 Virus isolation of BIV from naturally infected cattle remains difficult, with only 3 reported virus isolations.2,11,13 Viral diagnosis by PCR has been shown to be a sensitive diagnostic test in other viral systems, and although 5 PCR tests have been published for the detection of BIV, their sensitivity and specificity have not been compared.5,6,10 The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparison among the currently described PCR tests with standardization of some of the PCR conditions. Three different reports describe a total of 5 different PCR tests (Table 1).5,6,10 For all 5 tests, a total of 39 different templates were used with 0.5 mg of DNA per reaction (Table
Model predictive control of nonlinear systems using piecewise linear models

Abstract We consider the problem of controlling nonlinear systems which are modeled as a set of piecewise linear (PL) or affine systems using a model predictive control (MPC). The paper reviews recent results on the analysis and control of PL systems, which can model a wide range of practically relevant nonlinear systems. Using techniques from the theory of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), we develop a multiple model MPC technique involving a sequence of local state feedback matrices, which minimize an upper bound on the ‘worst-case’ objective function. The resulting problem, which utilizes a single quadratic Lyapunov function and multiple local state-feedback matrices, can be cast as a convex optimization problem involving LMIs. Several extensions of this technique involving approximating the local regions by ellipsoids or polytopes, and their respective advantages and disadvantages, are discussed.
A Numerical Study of Salt Fluxes in Delaware Bay Estuary

The results of a numerical study of Delaware Bay using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) are presented.The simulations are run over a range of steadyriver inputs and usedM2 andS2tidal components to capture the spring–neap variability. Results provide a description of the spatial and temporal structure of the estuarine exchange flow and the salinity field, as well the along-channel salt flux in the estuary. The alongchannelsaltfluxis decomposedintoanadvectivetermassociatedwith theriverflow,asteadysheardispersion Feassociated with the estuarineexchangeflow, anda tidaloscillatory saltfluxFt. Time seriesofFeandFtshow thatbotharelargerduringneaptidethanduringspring.ThistimevariabilityofFt,whichiscontrarytoexisting scalings, is caused by the lateral flows that bring velocity and salinity out of quadrature and the stronger stratification duringneaptide,whichcausesFttobeenhancedrelativetospringtide.Afitforthesaltintrusion lengthLwithriverdischargeQforanumberofisohalinesisperformed.ThefunctionaldependencesofLwith Q are significantly weaker than Q 21/3 scaling. It is concluded that the response of the salt field with river discharge is due to the dependence of Fe and Ft with Q and the relative importance of Ft to the total upstream salt flux: as river discharge increases, Fe becomes the dominant mechanism. Once Fe dominates, the salt field stiffens because of a reduction of the vertical eddy viscosity with increasing Q.
Why No Backsliding? The European Union's Impact on Democracy and Governance Before and After Accession

This article documents and explains the puzzling lack of backsliding in political reforms among the new postcommunist EU members, even though these countries are no longer subject to the powerful incentives of the EU membership promise. Using a combination of cross-national statistics, expert interviews, and public opinion data, the authors show that the new EU members have experienced at most a slowdown in reforms rather than a genuine backlash. The authors attribute this finding to the fact that the loss of leverage after the countries joined the European Union was balanced by a combination of alternative leverage and linkage mechanisms, including greater dependence on EU aid and trade and greater exposure to the West for both elites and ordinary citizens. For the latter, expanded work and travel opportunities seem to be associated with higher expectations of government performance and greater political involvement, which may be crucial for future governance reform in the region.
Monotonic solution concepts in coevolution

Assume a coevolutionary algorithm capable of storing and utilizing all phenotypes discovered during its operation, for as long as it operates on a problem; that is, assume an algorithm with a monotonically increasing knowledge of the search space. We ask: If such an algorithm were to periodically report, over the course of its operation, the best solution found so far, would the quality of the solution reported by the algorithm improve monotonically over time? To answer this question, we construct a simple preference relation to reason about the goodness of different individual and composite phenotypic behaviors. We then show that whether the solutions reported by the coevolutionary algorithm improve monotonically with respect to this preference relation depends upon the solution concept implemented by the algorithm. We show that the solution concept implemented by the conventional coevolutionary algorithm does not guarantee monotonic improvement; in contrast, the game-theoretic solution concept of Nash equilibrium does guarantee monotonic improvement. Thus, this paper considers 1) whether global and objective metrics of goodness can be applied to coevolutionary problem domains (possibly with open-ended search spaces), and 2) whether coevolutionary algorithms can, in principle, optimize with respect to such metrics and find solutions to games of strategy.
Peroxidation of membrane lipids and oxidative DNA damage by fumonisin B1 in isolated rat liver nuclei

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a contaminant of corn, has been reported to be a hepatocarcinogen in rats. In an attempt to understand its mechanisms of action, a model system of isolated rat liver nuclei was used to determine what effects, if any, FB1 might have on nuclear membrane lipids and DNA. The data suggested that FB1 induced lipid peroxidation concurrently with DNA strand breaks in this in vitro system. Iron and copper had no statistically significant stimulatory effects on these reactions. In addition, the active oxygen scavengers catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), mannitol and sodium azide had no significant inhibitory effects on the FB1-induced DNA strand breaks. However, a small but significant reduction in lipid peroxidation by catalase and mannitol was observed. These results suggested that hydroxyl radicals may be the initiators of the nuclear membrane lipid peroxidation, which results in production of peroxyl radicals. In turn, the peroxyl radicals may be responsible for the DNA strand breaks. An alternative explanation is that the hydroxyl radicals, produced close to the DNA-bound metal ions, may induce direct site-specific strand breaks, which are insensitive to the scavengers of active oxygen.
Rapid expression of the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger in response to cardiac pressure overload

This report identifies a rapid increase in the expression of cardiac Na(+)-Ca2+ exchanger mRNA in response to an acute pressure overload. This enhanced exchanger expression appeared within 1 h after the onset of right ventricular pressure overload in the cat and was sustained during cardiac overloading for at least 4 h. Maintenance of this right ventricular pressure overload for 48 h evoked an increase in the production of exchanger protein. Because of our previous finding that load imposition on the heart initiates cell growth and our hypothesis that this is in response to the enhanced entry of cellular cations, we then examined the effect of Na+ influx into cultured adult cardiac myocytes, or cardiocytes, in terms of early anabolic responses. Pressure overload of the heart and cardiocyte Na+ influx were found to produce a common, rapid result in terms of both enhanced Na(+)-Ca2+ exchanger expression and accelerated synthesis of general and contractile proteins, the hallmarks of cardiac hypertrophy.