cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thoracic spine disc degeneration, translation, and angular motion: An analysis using thoracic spine kinematic MRI (kMRI).

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate disc degeneration and kinematic changes in translation and angular motion of the thoracic spine using kinematic MRI (kMRI). 105 thoracic spine kMRI were analyzed from T4-5 to T11-12 using MRAnalyzer3. Translational and angular motion were evaluated in neutral, flexion, and extension positions. Thoracic disc height and disc degeneration grading were measured in the neutral position. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients were used to analyze agreement among three observers. The Friedman’s test was used to analyze the difference in disc height, disc degeneration, translational motion, and angular motion. The Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used for post-hoc analysis with a Bonferroni correction. A p-value of 0.00625 was used to establish a statistically significant difference. Analysis using the Friedman’s test revealed that translational motion, disc height, and disc degeneration were significantly different from T4-5 to T11-12 (p
Colombian Children in War Films: Operación E and Alias María

Two contemporary co-produced films, Operacion E (Miguel Courtois, 2012) and Alias Maria (Jose Luis Rugeles, 2015), touch on events that took place in Colombia in recent history and in which the FAR...
Sulfolobus acidocaldarius microvesicles are naturally occurring nanoparticles with unusual stability against various environmental stressors

Abstract Microvesicles secreted from the thermoacidophilic archaeon S. acidocaldarius (Sa-MVs) contain a membrane made exclusively of tetraether lipids and covered by S-layer proteins. In this study, as the start point to exploit Sa-MVs for biotechnology applications, we used dynamic light scattering, laser Doppler electrophoresis, and cryo-transmission electron microscopy to characterize Sa-MVs and tested their stabilities against various environmental stressors. We found that Sa-MVs have long term (>4.5 months) stability when stored at room temperature. Under the cell's growth conditions (75 °C and pH 2.6), the average size of Sa-MVs is ∼180 nm, which remains unchanged in the temperature range examined (25–80 °C). When the pH was increased from 2.6 to 7.2, Sa-MVs decrease their size by ∼40 nm, which probably came from the protein dependent events, rather than conformational changes of tetraether lipid headgroups. The isoelectric point for Sa-MVs in 1 mM KCl is 3.0 while that for liposomes reconstituted from Sa-MV lipids (LUVMV) is below 2.0. Sa-MVs are stable against autoclaving at neutral pH in terms of size and shape. At pH 2.6, autoclaving changes Sa-MVs from a spherical to an irregular shape, although particle size changes little, while diester liposomes cannot sustain multiple cycles of autoclaving displaying a dramatic increase in size probably due to aggregation. Compared to liposomes made of diesters or the tetraether lipids from the polar lipid fraction E (PLFE) of S. acidocaldarius, Sa-MVs and LUVMV exhibit unusual resistance against the surfactant Triton X-100. These results set the foundation for future functional and biophysical studies of Sa-MVs.
Evidentialism in action

Sometimes it is practically beneficial to believe what is epistemically unwarranted. Philosophers have taken these cases to raise the question are there practical reasons for belief? Evidentialists argue that there cannot be any such reasons. Putative practical reasons for belief are not reasons for belief, but (to use a distinction from Pamela Hieronymi) reasons to manage our beliefs in a particular way. Pragmatists are not convinced. They accept that some (or perhaps all) reasons for belief are practical. The debate, it is widely thought, is at an impasse. But this debate fails to address what is puzzling and interesting about the cases. By focusing on reasons for belief, the debate completely overlooks the role of action in relation to belief. We should be talking about the reasons for actions that shape our beliefs, which I will call belief management. I argue for three related theses: (1) the interesting cases that motivate the debate are about belief management; (2) Evidentialism is irrelevant to belief management; (3) agents have practical reasons to manage their beliefs with the aim of forming true beliefs. These reasons are categorical in nature and result in the tension of conflict cases.
Reports of atypical shoulder pain and dysfunction following inactivated influenza vaccine, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 2010–2017

Abstract Background Vaccines administered into or too close to underlying joint structures have the potential to cause shoulder injuries. Limited data exist on the epidemiology of such events. Objective To describe case reports of atypical shoulder pain and dysfunction following injection of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV). Methods We searched the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database from July 2010 to June 2017 for reports of atypical shoulder pain and dysfunction following IIV. When identifying reports, we made no assumptions about true incident injury or causality with respect to vaccination. Pain had to begin 7 days to differentiate from self-limited local reactions. We conducted descriptive analysis. Results We identified 1220 reports that met our case definition (2.0% of all IIV reports, range 1.5%-2.5% across influenza seasons). Median age was 52 years (range 16–94) and most patients (82.6%) were female. Shoulder pain (44.1%), injected limb mobility decreased (40.8%), joint range of motion decreased (21.2%), rotator cuff syndrome (9.2%), and bursitis (9.0%) were frequently reported. In 86.6% of reports, signs and symptoms had not resolved by the time of report submission. In reports that included descriptions suggesting contributing factors (n = 266), vaccination given “too high” on the arm was cited in 81.2%. Nearly half (n = 605, 49.6%) of reports described a healthcare provider evaluation. Treatments included non-narcotic analgesics, physical therapy, and corticosteroid injection. Vaccinations were most commonly administered in a pharmacy or retail store (41.0%) or doctor’s office or hospital (31.6%). Conclusions Reports of atypical shoulder pain and dysfunction following IIV were uncommon, considering the amount of IIV use, and stable across influenza seasons. While specific etiology of cases is unknown, improperly administered vaccine, which is preventable, might be a factor. Prevention strategies include education, training, and adherence to best practices for vaccine administration.
Sequential Targeting in Crosslinking Nanotheranostics for Tackling the Multibarriers of Brain Tumors

The efficacy of therapeutics for brain tumors is seriously hampered by multiple barriers to drug delivery, including severe destabilizing effects in the blood circulation, the blood-brain barrier/blood-brain tumor barrier (BBB/BBTB), and limited tumor uptake. Here, a sequential targeting in crosslinking (STICK) nanodelivery strategy is presented to circumvent these important physiological barriers to improve drug delivery to brain tumors. STICK nanoparticles (STICK-NPs) can sequentially target BBB/BBTB and brain tumor cells with surface maltobionic acid (MA) and 4-carboxyphenylboronic acid (CBA), respectively, and simultaneously enhance nanoparticle stability with pH-responsive crosslinkages formed by MA and CBA in situ. STICK-NPs exhibit prolonged circulation time (17-fold higher area under curve) than the free agent, allowing increased opportunities to transpass the BBB/BBTB via glucose-transporter-mediated transcytosis by MA. The tumor acidic environment then triggers the transformation of the STICK-NPs into smaller nanoparticles and reveals a secondary CBA targeting moiety for deep tumor penetration and enhanced uptake in tumor cells. STICK-NPs significantly inhibit tumor growth and prolong the survival time with limited toxicity in mice with aggressive and chemoresistant diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. This formulation tackles multiple physiological barriers on-demand with a simple and smart STICK design. Therefore, these features allow STICK-NPs to unleash the potential of brain tumor therapeutics to improve their treatment efficacy.
Low enriched nuclear thermal propulsion neutronic, thermal hydraulic, and system design space analysis

Abstract Nuclear thermal propulsion is the high thrust, high specific impulse rocket engine technology of choice for future missions to Mars and beyond. Current designs are focusing on low enriched uranium fuel systems to reduce development costs and regulatory concerns. These designs require careful examination to identify an engine that is able to satisfy NASA’s requirements. Previous work has focused on low enriched, but for limited cases of fuel options and without a fully integrated computational framework and assumed boundary conditions. The current study relies on and extends previous publicly available NASA studies by accounting for UN fuel embedded in Molybdenum and Molybdenum-Tungsten matrices. Integrated system framework that considers various engine’s components was developed. The performance of the engine is evaluated using T/H analysis of all the major components, such as the reactor-core, pumps, turbines, and pipes. Neutronic calculations are performed using the Serpent code, in which both the neutron and gamma transport were enabled to provide accurate spatial power distributions. The results show that using an integrated system analyses approach yields a systematic assessment and identifies an ideal design space for future higher fidelity analysis to achieve mission needs set by NASA.
Five New Isomers with Half-Lives between 10-6 and 10-1 Second

Isomers with half-lives greater than approximately 5 \ensuremath{\mu}sec were sought between the 180-cps, 1-\ensuremath{\mu}sec x-ray pulses of a 22-Mev betatron. The following new activities were observed: Excitation functions and cross sections for the production of the above isomers are also given for some cases. The properties of all the isomers investigated are summarizes in this paper. Additional results include improved values for half-lives and gamma-ray energies, plus some measurements on production thresholds, excitation functions, and cross sections for the isomers listed in a previous paper.
Lurking Challenges to the ACA Tax Credit Regulations

King v. Burwell focused on whether Treasury regulations properly extended Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to health care policies on federally established exchanges. The Supreme Court’s decision in that case put an end to that particular controversy. However, Treasury regulations under Section 36B present problems beyond those at issue in King. As this essay shows, the Treasury has extended credits to potentially millions of individuals plainly not covered by the statutory language. Consequently, further rounds of litigation may arise.
Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute to Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse? : Investigating Tunnel Vision in the Emergency Room

Despite growing recognition that misdiagnoses of child abuse can lead to wrongful convictions, little empirical work has examined how the medical community may contribute to these errors. Previous research has documented the existence and content of stereotypes that associate race with child abuse. The current study examines whether emergency medical professionals rely on this stereotype to fill in gaps in ambiguous cases involving Black children, thereby increasing the potential for misdiagnoses of child abuse. Specifically, we tested whether the race-abuse stereotype led participants to attend to more abuse-related details than infection-related details when an infant patient was Black versus White. We also tested whether this heuristic decision-making would be affected by contextual case facts; specifically, we examined whether race bias would be exacerbated or mitigated by a family’s involvement with child protective services (CPS). Results showed that participants did exhibit some biased information processing in response to the experimental manipulations. Even so, the race-abuse stereotype and heuristic decision-making did not cause participants to diagnose a Black infant patient with abuse more often than a White infant patient, regardless of his family’s involvement with CPS. These findings help illuminate how race may lead to different outcomes in cases of potential child abuse, while also demonstrating potential pathways through which racial disparities in misdiagnosis of abuse and subsequent wrongful convictions can be prevented.
Black Women in the United States and Unpaid Collective Work: Theorizing the Community as a Site of Production:

This analysis discusses the lived experiences of Black American women as the basis for a new theoretical framework for understanding women’s unpaid work. Feminist economists have called attention t...
Fact-Checking Skills And Project-Based Learning About Infodemic And Disinformation

ABSTRACT In today's high-information and high-communication society, university students are increasingly involved in autonomous and collaborative learning processes, which require active methodologies to facilitate the integration of social competencies. The objective of this study was to raise awareness of the risks of disinformation and infodemics and to identify the main social competencies and skills related to fact-checking that students should acquire. Based on thematic-experiential classes and through the project-based learning methodology, this teaching experience consisted of lecturing a fake class in the communication degree programme, in which the professor gave a speech to 150 students about coronavirus that contained both hoaxes and true information, thus challenging students to identify false information. The results obtained in this qualitative study are divided into three parts to answer each research question. The first part is focused on identifying the most influential hoaxes about the coronavirus that young people have embraced as reliable information during the 2020 pandemic (RQ1). The second part is dedicated to explaining students’ reactions when they are involved in infodemic contexts. We also point out the main challenge that arose in a period of infodemics (RQ2). In the third part, we propose the main fact-checking skills that students should acquire to tackle disinformation in a period of infodemics (RQ3). Training in these skills appeared to improve job performance and undoubtedly contributed to the personal development of our future graduates.
OpenMem: Hardware/Software Cooperative Management for Mobile Memory System

Hybrid memory systems, comprised of emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) and DRAM, have been proposed to address the growing memory demand of current mobile applications. NVM technologies have higher capacity density, minimal static power consumption, but longer access latency and limited write endurance compared to DRAM. The different characteristics of these two memory classes, however, pose new challenges for memory system design. Ideally, pages shall be placed or migrated between the two types of memories according to the data objects’ access properties. Prior works use the OS for placement and migration in these systems, but at the cost of high software latency incurred by related kernel processes. Hardware approaches can avoid these latencies, however, hardware’s vision is constrained to a short time window of recently memory request, due to the limited on-chip resources.In this work, we propose OpenMem: a hardware-software cooperative approach to address placement and migration within hybrid memory systems, that combines the execution time advantages of pure hardware approaches with the data object properties in a global scope. We emulate OpenMem on an FPGA board with embedded ARM CPU, and run a set of benchmark applications from SPEC 2017 and PARSEC. Experimental results show that OpenMem reduces energy consumption by 44.6% with only a 16% performance degradation compared to an all-DRAM memory system. Further, writes to the NVM are reduced by 14% versus a hardware-only approach, extending the NVM device lifetime.
GN-Transformer: Fusing Sequence and Graph Representation for Improved Code Summarization

As opposed to natural languages, source code understanding is influenced by grammatical relationships between tokens regardless of their identifier name. Graph representations of source code such as Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) can capture relationships between tokens that are not obvious from the source code. We propose a novel method, GN-Transformer to learn end-to-end on a fused sequence and graph modality we call Syntax-Code-Graph (SCG). GN-Transformer expands on Graph Networks (GN) framework using a self-attention mechanism. SCG is the result of the early fusion between a source code snippet and the AST representation. We perform experiments on the structure of SCG, an ablation study on the model design, and the hyper-parameters to conclude that the performance advantage is from the fused representation. The proposed methods achieve state-of-the-art performance in two code summarization datasets and across three automatic code summarization metrics (BLEU, METEOR, ROUGE-L). We further evaluate the human perceived quality of our model and previous work with an expert-user study. Our model outperforms the state-of-the-art in human perceived quality and accuracy.
Disk Drive Mechatronics

Figure D.1 shows the major electromechanical components of a magnetic recording rigid disk drive where the most essential element is the rotating disk which is coated with a thin layer of ferromagnetic material. Attached to the back of the self-acting, gas-lubricated, submicron flying slider bearing is a miniaturized recording transducer which consists basically of an electromagnet with a small gap pointing toward the disk surface. Current applied to the coil will generate fringing magnetic field around the gap which causes the magnetic domains in the recording layer to be permanently magnetized. Relative motion between the transducer and the disk surface transforms the time-domain data into magnetic patterns spatially distributed along concentric tracks, allowing the disk to function as a permanent data storage device. During read-back operations, magnetization in the moving disk surface will cause flux changes in the coil which produce back emf, thereby reversing the recording process and transforming the spatial data back into the time domain.
Parent-Adolescent Communication about Sexual Topics, Cultural Factors, and Latino Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior and Condom Attitudes

PARENT-ADOLESCENT COMMUNICATION ABOUT SEXUAL TOPICS, CULTURAL FACTORS, AND LATINO ADOLESCENTS’ SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND CONDOM ATTITUDES By Efren A. Velazquez, B.A. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Major Director: Rosalie Corona, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Department of Psychology This study examined whether cultural values and gender moderate the association between mother-adolescent communication about sex and adolescents’ sexual behavior/intention to engage in sex and condom use attitudes. One hundred and fifty Latino adolescents completed an anonymous survey that measured sexual health outcomes, mother-child communication, and cultural factors. In bivariate analyses, adolescents with a higher sense of familismo had a more positive attitude towards using condoms and more acculturated Latino adolescents were less likely to speak to their mothers about pre-coital or coital sexual topics. Females spoke more about sex with their mother, compared to males. Traditional gender roles moderated the relation between mother-adolescent communication about sex and condom use attitudes. Acculturation, familismo nor gender significantly moderated the relationship between communication about sex and sexual health outcomes. Further research should explore whether certain cultural factors influence parents to talk to their adolescent about specific topics related to sex.
Enhanced Ethernet for the Data Center

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Ethernet protocols, both classic versions and more recent updates targeted for data center applications. Ethernet includes a large family of frame-based networking protocols that operate over different types of media at different data rates. Many modifications have been proposed to enhance the robustness of the protocol for metropolitan area network (MAN) and data center applications. Ethernet data packets are organized into several types of standard frame formats. The most commonly used is the Ethernet Version 2, or Ethernet II, frame. This frame is used directly by Internet Protocol, which constitutes the vast majority of applications for Ethernet in current systems. Auto-negotiation is the process that enables two devices to share a link segment, communicate necessary information with one another in order to interoperate, and take maximum advantage of their abilities.
Location of genes for motility and chemotaxis on the Escherichia coli genetic map

In Escherichia coli, the following genes are involved in motility and chemotaxis. The H gene is the structural gene for flagellin. Mutation in the mot gene results in paralysis of the flagella, and mutation in the fla genes leads to an absence of flagella. The cheA, cheB, and cheC genes are required for chemotaxis. The chromosomal location of these genes has now been determined. The majority are clustered in a small region around uvrC, between his and aroD, in the order his-cheC-H-uvrC-mot-cheA-cheB-aroD. The fla genes are located in the same region, and also between trp and gal. The results indicate that many of the genes are homologous to those which have been studied in Salmonella typhimurium.
A Linear-Time Algorithm for the 1-Mismatch Problem

For sequence alignments (which can be viewed simply as rectangular arrays of characters), a frequent need is to identify regions, each consisting of a run of consecutive columns, that have some particular property. The 1-mismatch problem is to locate all maximal regions in a given alignment for which there exists a (not necessarily unique) “center” sequence such that inside the region alignment rows are within Hamming distance 1 from the center. We first describe some properties of these regions and their centers, and then use these properties to construct an algorithm that for a dxn alignment runs in time θ(nd) and extra space θ(d) (beyond that needed for the storage of the alignment itself).
Synergism in binary mixtures of surfactants: III. Betaine-containing systems

Systems investigated were C12H25N+(CH2C6H5)(CH3)CH2COO− (C12BMG)C12H25(OC2H4)8OH, C12BMGC12H25N+(CH3)3Br−, C12BMGC12H25SO3−Na+(C12SO3Na), and C10H21N+(CH2C6H5)(CH3)CH2CH2SO3 C12SO3Na. Using nonideal solution theory, the molecular interaction parameters for mixed monolayer and mixed micelle formation, βσ and βM, respectively, were determined for these systems. The C12BMG interaction with the second surfactant increased in the order: nonionic < cationic ⪡ anionic. The interaction with the anionic increased with decrease in the pH of the solution. At pH ⪕ 4, a precipitate, C12BMGH+ · C12SO3− appeared. The sulfobetaine showed considerably weaker interaction with C12SO3Na. The C12BMGC12SO3Na system showed synergism in mixed monolayer and mixed micelle formation. Calculated values for the molar ratios of the two surfactants over which synergism should exist in these two respects and for the surface properties of the mixture at its points of maximum synergism agreed well with the experimental values.
Observations of Giant Pulses from Pulsar PSR B1937+21

We discuss observations of giant pulses from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21 at 430 MHz, with a baseband sampling system at Arecibo (Shrauner et al., these proceedings) and coherent dedispersion techniques. About one pulse or interpulse per hundred thousand is stronger than 100 times the mean flux density, and the giant pulse strengths follow a power law distribution somewhat shallower than that of the Crab giant pulses. The individual giant pulses appear consistent with impulses shorter than a few microseconds, convolved with an exponential due to interstellar scattering. They are systematically delayed with respect to the average emission, and many are nearly 100% circularly polarized.
Deep and stable interferometric nulling of broadband light with implications for observing planets around nearby stars

The number of indirectly detected planetary systems around nearby stars has grown tremendously since their initial discovery five years ago1. But the direct observation of light reflected from these systems remains a formidable task, because of the high contrast ratios between them and their parent stars, and because of the tiny angular separations. Theoretically2, these difficulties can be overcome by using a dual-aperture stellar interferometer in which the starlight is cancelled, or ‘nulled’, by broadband destructive interference, leaving the planet's light visible. Although the basic requirement of equal and oppositely directed electric fields is easy to state, an experimental demonstration of deep broadband nulling has been lacking, owing to difficulties engendered by the needs for extreme symmetry and stability, and low dispersion in the optical system. Here we report the deep (10-4) and stable nulling of broadband (18% bandwidth) thermal light. These results validate the physical principles underlying future planet-searching interferometers, and our laboratory instrument will serve as a prototype for the nulling instrument to be implemented on the Keck interferometer in 2001.
Multivariate Time Series

Many time series arising in practice are best considered as components of some vector-valued (multivariate) time series {X t } whose specification includes not only the serial dependence of each component series {X tj } but also the interdependence between different component series {X ti } and {X tj }. From a second order point of view a stationary multivariate time series is determined by its mean vector, μ = E X, and its covariance matrices Γ(h) = E(X t +h Xt′) — μμ′, h = 0, ± 1,.... Most of the basic theory of univariate time series extends in a natural way to multivariate series but new problems arise. In this chapter we show how the techniques developed earlier for univariate series are extended to the multivariate case. Estimation of the basic quantities μ and Γ(·) is considered in Section 11.2. In Section 11.3 we introduce multivariate ARMA processes and develop analogues of some of the univariate results in Chapter 3. The prediction of stationary multivariate processes, and in particular of ARMA processes, is treated in Section 11.4 by means of a multivariate generalization of the innovations algorithm used in Chapter 5. This algorithm is then applied in Section 11.5 to simplify the calculation of the Gaussian likelihood of the observations {X 1, X 2,..., X n } of a multivariate ARMA process. Estimation of parameters using maximum likelihood and (for autoregressive models) the Yule—Walker equations is also considered. In Section 11.6 we discuss the cross spectral density of a bivariate stationary process {X t } and its interpretation in terms of the spectral representation of {X t }. (The spectral representation is discussed in more detail in Section 11.8.) The bivariate periodogram and its asymptotic properties are examined in Section 11.7 and Theorem 11.7.1 gives the asymptotic joint distribution for a linear process of the periodogram matrices at frequencies λ 1, λ 2,..., λ m ∈ (0, π). Smoothing of the periodogram is used to estimate the cross-spectrum and hence the cross-amplitude spectrum, phase spectrum and squared coherency for which approximate confidence intervals are given. The chapter ends with an introduction to the spectral representation of an m-variate stationary process and multivariate linear filtering.
On Representation of Source Reliability in Weight of Evidence

Developers of artificial intelligence-based systems have made frequent use of likelihood ratios. Those ratios have been used to represent the uncertainty associated with events and hypotheses on rules in expert systems and they have been used to establish rankings of resulting diagnoses in other systems. This paper discusses the representation of source reliability through those likelihood ratios, for use in artificial intelligence systems, such as expert systems, influence diagrams and other systems that employ a Bayesian-based approach to the representation of uncertainty to assess the weight of evidence.
Genitalia in Children's Drawings: An Association With Sexual Abuse

Many sexual abuse victims have been observed to draw genitalia on human figures. To test the hypothesis that sexually abused children draw genitalia on human figures more often than do nonabused children, drawings from 57 children, 3 through 7 years of age, who were referred to child protective services as alleged sexual abuse victims, were compared with drawings from an age-, sex-, race-, and socioeconomically matched group of 55 nonabused children receiving well-child care in medical settings. A standardized procedure to obtain drawings was followed by a structured interview to collect demographic, past medical, and developmental information. Five evaluators unaware of the children's backgrounds independently examined drawings for the presence or absence of five body parts; there was 94% agreement for all body parts and 93% agreement for genitalia. Eight children were excluded from the analysis because they only scribbled (n = 5) or because evaluators could not agree on whether genitalia were present in their drawings (n = 3). Ten percent (5/52) of the alleged sexual abuse victims and 2% (1/52) of the comparison children drew genitalia (P = .10, one-tailed Fisher exact test). The estimated relative risk was 5.4; that is, alleged sexual abuse victims were 5.4 times more likely to draw genitalia than were comparison children. Children known to have been sexually abused were 6.8 times more likely to draw genitalia than were comparison children (P = .07, one-tailed Fisher exact test).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effects of aging on baroreflex regulation of sympathetic activity in humans

Arterial baroreflexes contribute importantly to blood pressure regulation through their influence on parasympathetic outflow to the sinus node and sympathetic outflow to the peripheral circulation....
Design, synthesis, and biological activity of a novel non-cisplatin-type platinum-acridine pharmacophore.

Platinum−acridine conjugates were prepared from [PtCl2(ethane-1,2-diamine)] and the novel acridinylthioureas MeHNC(S)NMeAcr (6) and MeHNC(S)NMe(CH2CH2)NHAcr (15) by replacing one chloro leaving group in the cisplatin analogue with thiourea sulfur. In HL-60 leukemia cells, IC50 values for 7 (Pt-tethered 6) and 16 (Pt-tethered 15) were 75 and 0.13 μM, respectively. In the ovarian cell lines 2008 and C13*, 16 was active at micromolar concentrations and showed only partial cross-resistance with clinical cisplatin. Possible structure−activity relationships are discussed.
Decomposition techniques for Markov zero-sum games with nested information

Markov zero-sum games arise in applications such as network interdiction, where an informed defender protects a network against attacks. This problem has received significant attention in recent years due to its relevance to military problems and network security. In this paper, we focus on finite games where the attacker knows imperfectly the network state, and formulate this as a Markov game with nested information. By exploiting the nested information structure, we decompose the multistage game into a sequence of one-stage subgames and develop an algorithm that computes the value of the game and the saddle point strategies for the game. This decomposition method computes the value of the game using backward induction as in stochastic dynamic programming, then identifies saddle-point strategies that achieve this value. Using the Markov structure of the game, we show that the value of the game can be computed efficiently in terms of a single value function of an information state at each stage. The resulting single stage optimization problems are much smaller than the original multistage game. We illustrate our results with an example of multistage network interdiction where the attacker may not be able to observe outcomes of the attacks.
Linking improved knowledge management to operational and organizational performance

Abstract This research empirically examines the importance of knowledge management processes to operational and overall organizational performance (OPERF). Specifically, results indicate that a shared interpretation of knowledge among operational personnel mediates how knowledge is disseminated and used to design and implement a unified operational response to that knowledge. Further, results collected in a logistics operations (LO) context support a strong positive relationship between this knowledge management process and operational and organizational performance. Importantly, psychometric measures for organizational performance collected from managerial respondents were strongly correlated with secondary financial data for participating firms obtained from Compustat, thus supporting a link about operational performance and hard organizational performance data.
Effect of growth hormone therapy on severe short stature and skeletal deformities in a patient with combined Turner syndrome and Langer mesomelic dysplasia.

Background: Homozygous mutation of the short stature homeobox-containing gene, SHOX, results in Langer mesomelic dysplasia (LMD). Our case presented with severe short stature and skeletal deformities with Turner syndrome (TS) and a SHOX gene abnormality due to a downstream allele deletion in her normal X chromosome. Medical literature review did not reveal similar cases that were treated with GH therapy. Method: We present an 11-yr-old with combined TS and LMD with severe short stature and skeletal deformities. She was studied for the effect of GH therapy on stature and skeletal deformities. Karyotype testing showed 45,X/46,X,idic(X). Genetic analysis of SHOX gene testing did not detect any exonic mutations. Interestingly, both alleles of the flanking marker DXYS233, a marker downstream of the 3′ end of SHOX coding sequence, were absent with resultant LMD. GH therapy in the mean dose of 0.321 mg/kg/wk was administered for 4 yr (0.287, 0.355, 0.317, and 0.327 mg/kg/week in the first, second, third, and fou...
Renal Artery Stenosis in Heart Failure

Captopril, an oral angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, has proven to be effective in the management of congestive heart failure (CHF).1 Several trials have documented short- and long-term hemodynamic and clinical improvement with captopril therapy, including increased exercise tolerance.2,3 However, captopril may fail to improve or be detrimental to renal function4 in some patients, particularly if accompanied by marked decreases in systemic pressures. Recent reports have described captopril-induced renal insufficiency in patients with bilateral renal artery stenosis or unilateral stenosis in a solitary kidney5 and in renal transplant recipients with hypertension.6 Herein we describe certain findings in 6 of 89 patients with significant CHF seen in a 10-month period in whom a diagnosis of significant renal artery stenosis was made.
Two Cases of Serotonin Syndrome with Venlafaxine and Calcineurin Inhibitors

Serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening condition described in all age groups. The diagnosis is clinically determined by either the Sternbach or the Hunter criteria. These criteria are based on recent serotonergic agent use and physical examination findings, including tremor, hyperreflexia, myoclonus, muscle rigidity, diaphoresis, nystagmus, or hyperthermia. The syndrome is an adverse reaction in which a drug is used alone or in combination with another drug resulting in increased centrally available serotonin. One such drug that has been shown to cause serotonin syndrome is the serotonergic-noradrenergic receptor reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine, which is commonly used for major depressive disorder (MDD). We report in this article serotonin syndrome caused by the combination of venlafaxine with a calcineurin inhibitor in two cases of transplant patients diagnosed with MDD. One patient was immunosuppressed with tacrolimus while the other was immunosuppressed with cyclosporine.
Darkening in black and gas-rich ordinary chondrites: The spectral effects of opaque morphology and distribution

Abstract Darkening of ordinary chondrite surface material by regolith processes such as shock-induced heating may hinder identification of main asteroid belt parent bodies for ordinary chondrites. There are two types of darkened ordinary chondrites, the black chondrites and the gas-rich chondrites. Relative to normal ordinary chondrites, they show reduced reflectance, a modest red continuum slope, and subdued absorption features that can make mineral identification challenging. Both meteorite types are darkened by the dispersion of micron-scale FeNi metal and troilite. The two major morphologies of metal dispersion are 1. (1) a random dispersion of 0.5–5 μm diameter blebs of FeNi metal and troilite throughout the silicates and 2. (2) fine networks of veins up to 5-μm thick. Gas-rich ordinary chondrites acquired their darkening while directly exposed to the space environment on the surface of ordinary chondrite parent bodies. Black chondrites probably represent material that was originally more deeply buried and was shocked, heated, and darkened by major impacts. The implications of these darkening processes are that shock can significantly alter the spectral signature of ordinary chondrite material and that a “mature” ordinary chondrite regolith soil on a large parent body may be spectrally altered.
A high frequency ultrasound aided study of kinetics of drug delivery in tumor models

The in vivo performance of a Fluorescence Molecular Tomography system as a function of pathophysiological parameters that determine the penetration of nonbinding fluorescent nanoparticle was examined through imaging of a series of three tumor models. The pathophysiological parameters examined were, vessel density, interstitial fluid pressure (IFP), and collagen content. Drug delivery and IFP were measured in vivo via fluorescence spectroscopy and a fiber-optic coupled pressure probe. Vessel density and collagen content were determined ex vivo through histochemical analysis. The kinetics of the 40 nm,10000 KDa, fluorescent particles, which were injected into the tail vein of the mice, was monitored by sequential excitation of the tissue on and off the tumor site through employment of sixteen source detector pairs interspersed linearly in reflectance geometry. Each optical fluorescence data set was collected at discrete time intervals in order to monitor drug uptake for a period of 45 minutes. The kinetics of the drug delivery and the average nanoparticle uptake were correlated with the vessel density, interstitial pressure and collagen content. The results of the correlations were verified to be consistent with the published relationship between the three pathophysiological parameters and nanoparticle drug delivery.
Effect of glycosylation on the conformational epitopes of the glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus (New Jersey serotype)

Abstract The conformational epitopes reactive with neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) appear to be clustered at the middle third of the glycoprotein (G) of the New Jersey serotype of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-NJ) and are flanked by two N-linked carbohydrate chains (W. Keil and R. R. Wagner, Virology 170, 392–407, 1989). We report here studies on the effect of glycosylation on the reactivity of VSV-NJ G protein with MAbs directed to conformational epitopes. When VSV-NJ was grown in the presence of tunicamycin, the unglycosylated G protein derived from released virions or immunoprecipitated from pulse-labeled cells was not significantly affected in its reactivity with MAbs directed to epitope IV mapped toward the amino-terminus, nor to the centrally located conformational epitopes VI, VIII, and IX. However, there was a 5- to 15-fold decrease in the reactivity with MAb of epitopes VI, VIII, and IX on unglycosylated G protein either isolated from a ribosome-enriched membrane fraction or immunoprecipitated from whole VSV-infected cells labeled for 15 hr in the presence of tunicamycin. In sharp contrast, epitope V and to a somewhat lesser extent epitope VII exhibited decreased reactivity with their respective MAbs when unglycosylated G protein was isolated from released viral particles or from pulse-labeled cells infected with VSV-NJ in the presence of tunicamycin. Enzymatic removal of preformed carbohydrate chains with N-glycanase had little or no effect on the MAb-reactivity of epitopes V and VII, indicating that the carbohydrate chains per se do not influence the antigenic specificity of VSV-NJ G protein. These data suggest that the formation of N-linked carbohydrate chains influences the structure of the VSV-NJ G protein in such a way that epitopes V and VII are shielded from reactivity with their specific MAbs from an early stage of G-protein processing and to a much lesser extent epitopes VI, VIII, and IX at late stages of intracellular processing. These results are compatible with, but do not prove, the hypothesis that N-linked glycosylation plays a key role in promoting the formation and the stability of the disulfide bonds that determine the epitope-specific conformational integrity of the VSV-NJ glycoprotein.
Multiple resonant scattering in the Compton upscatter model of gamma-ray bursts

Resonant Compton scattering, an increasingly popular mechanism for suppressing X-rays and producing gamma rays, must be treated as a multiple-scattering process for conditions thought characteristic of gamma-ray bursts. Photons that multiply scatter with a beamed power-law electron distribution in a uniform magnetic field produce a flat spectrum between the cyclotron frequency and an optical-depth-dependent critical energy; this critical energy ranges between several hundred keV and several MeV. Above this critical energy, the gamma-ray spectrum has a shape determined by the electron distribution and described by a single-scattering model. Only electron distributions that are nearly proportional to the electron momentum are able to simultaneously suppress X-rays and produce a single-scattering spectrum. As the Thomson optical depth approaches unity, photons that experience multiple scatterings often spawn additional photons at a rate that makes the model unphysical.
Effects of wife employment preference on marital adjustment

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between marital adjustment and congruency of couple preference regarding wife employment. Implications for marriage and family therapists are emphasized. Husband, wife, and couple scores were obtained on the Marital Status Inventory and Dyadic Adjustment Scale for eight work pattern categories. The first four (Dual-Career, Dual-Work, Pre-Dual-Career, Traditional Single-Career) were current couple work patterns perceived as desirable by both spouses. The last four categories (Incongruent Dual-Career, Incongruent Dual-Work, Incongruent Pre-Dual-Career, Incongruent Traditional Single-Career) were current couple work patterns that one spouse, in conflict with the other spouse, perceived as undesirable. In addition, number and ages of children and number of wife work hours were analyzed for their effects on marital adjustment in these couples. The results of this study indicate that marital adjustment is negatively influenced only when the wife wants to work in...
Augmentation of Microvascular Nitric Oxide Improves Myocardial Performance Following Global Ischemia

Hearts exposed to global myocardial ischemia associated with cardiac surgery often suffer postischemic endothelial and contractile dysfunction related to antecedent regional or global ischemia. Our studies tested the hypothesis that supplementing blood cardioplegia and reperfusion with the nitric oxide (NO) precursor L-arginine or the NO donor SPM-5185 would preserve endothelial function, reduce infarct size, and reverse postcardioplegia regional contractile dysfunction or global dysfunction. In the first study involving 23 anesthetized dogs undergoing regional ischemia, supplementation of blood cardioplegia with L-arginine: (1) reduced infarct size; (2) improved postischemic regional segmental work and diastolic stiffness; (3) attenuated neutrophil accumulation in the area at risk; and (4) improved postischemic depressed coronary artery endothelial function. The NO synthase inhibitor N-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA) reversed these protective effects. In another experiment involving 18 anesthetized dogs undergoing normothermic global ischemia, hearts treated with blood cardioplegia supplemented with the NO donor SPM-5185 demonstrated better postischemic coronary artery endothelial function, lowered myeloperoxidase activity in the ischemic-reperfused myocardium, and significantly improved global ventricular function in the group receiving high-dose SPM-5185. We conclude that the inclusion of L-arginine or high-dose NO donor SPM-5185 in blood cardioplegia improves postischemic ventricular performance and endothelial function in ischemically injured hearts, possibly by inhibition of neutrophil-mediated damage via the L-arginine-NO pathway.
Integrating Physical Education and Mathematics: A Collaborative Approach to Student Learning

In the public school setting, increased pressure related to academic performance standards and achievement is placed on teachers and administrators each year. As a result, physical education, parti...
Holographic interferometry applied to characterize the dynamic structure of an advanced graphite-epoxy polymer composite structure

Holographic interferometry has been successfully employed to characterize the materials and behavior of diverse types of structures under stress. Such applications of holographic technique offer some of the most effective methods of modal and dynamic analysis available. The technology is non- destructive, real-time, and definitive in allowing the identification of vibrational modes, displacements, and motion geometry. Structures and processed materials can be analyzed with very low amplitude excitation and the resultant data can be used to adjust the accuracy of mathematically derived structural models. Holographic interferometry has offered a powerful tool to aid in the primary engineering and development of advanced complex composite materials. One such material is a graphite-epoxy fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite. This type of material is finding increased use in advanced aerodynamic, automotive, and other highly mobile platforms. Avionic and undersea applications especially, must consider environments where extremes in vibration and mechanical stresses can affect both operation and structural stability. These are ideal requisites for analysis using advanced holographic methods in the initial design and subsequent test of such advanced structures and materials. Specialized variations of holographic technology have also been applied to define dynamic and vibration related structural behavior. This has been particularly useful in characterizing dynamic parameters of advanced components composed of composite materials. Holographic methods are non- destructive, real-time, and definitive in allowing the identification of minute displacements, and motion geometries. Such effects are directly indicative of various types of induced mechanical, thermal, and acoustic structural stress related to hidden structural anomalies and defects. Such information is often crucial to the determination of mechanical configurations and designs as well as operational parameters of structures composed of advanced engineering materials.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.