cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Early Acute Ischemic Stroke Management for Pharmacists.

Approximately 795 000 people in the United States experience stroke annually, with 610 000 initial and 185 000 recurrent events.1 The majority of these events (87%) are ischemic in nature.1 Stroke ranks fifth among all causes of death in the United States, although rates of mortality due to stroke have decreased overall by 2.3% between 2005 and 2015.1 Given the aging population of the United States, it is likely that the incidence of stroke will continue to rise. The management of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) continues to evolve, with the recent publication of several trials evaluating fibrinolytic, interventional, and medical management of critically ill patients presenting with occlusions of the cerebral vasculature. Recently published American Heart Association and American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) guidelines on the early management of these patients have provided updated recommendations for a variety of pharmacotherapeutic interventions for the treatment of AIS.2 The primary focus of this article will be the early pharmacologic management of patients presenting with AIS. Pharmacists should be aware of medical and surgical interventions available to patients presenting with AIS to effectively manage and monitor therapy.
Use of Cervical Disk Arthroplasty to Treat Noncontiguous Cervical Disk Herniations

Background Cervical disk arthroplasty is now a widely accepted alternative to anterior cervical interbody fusion, which is known to reduce normal cervical motion and increase the incidence of adjacent segment disease. Although multiple studies report the use of cervical disk arthroplasty to treat multilevel cervical disease, this is the first report in the literature detailing the placement of multiple, noncontiguous artificial disks. Case Description We describe a 41-year-old male who presented with myelopathy and left upper extremity radiculopathy resulting from 2 cervical disk herniations separated by a normal intervening level. He underwent an anterior cervical diskectomy and placement of an artificial disk prosthesis at cervical (C) 4-5 and C6-7 while leaving C5-6 intact. Conclusions This approach serves to preserve cervical motion, spinal stability, and lordosis across all 3 levels, thus demonstrating that it is a viable alternative to a multilevel anterior cervical interbody fusion.
Weakening the avoidance bug: The impact of personality traits in ad avoidance on social networking sites

Social network advertising continues to be a prevalent advertising strategy for brands. With the cluttered ad environment, consumers may adopt varying strategies (e.g. ad avoidance) to prevent ad e...
Electoral Reckonings: Press Criticism of Presidential Campaign Coverage, 2000-2016

The cyclical nature of presidential elections provides regular opportunities for journalists to reflect on patterns in election coverage. This study presents a textual analysis of press criticism o...
Development and use of clinical practice guidelines on venous thromboembolism

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common disorder associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. It may be encountered by clinicians in virtually all medical specialties and healthcare settings. A large number of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on VTE have been published in recent years to support clinicians in delivering high-quality care for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of VTE. Essential elements of CPGs include a guideline panel composed of content experts from multiple disciplines, methodologists, and representatives from key affected groups; a systematic review of evidence; consideration of patient subgroups and patient values and preferences; management of conflicts of interest; an explanation of the relationship between alternative care options and health outcomes; and rating of the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. These elements enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of CPGs and set them apart from other types of clinical guidance documents. The objectives of this narrative review are to summarize methods used to develop CPGs and to provide guidance to end-users on how to interpret recommendations and apply them in clinical practice. While much of the content of this review applies to CPGs in general, irrespective of disease focus, a number of examples specific to VTE are included.
Clinical analysis of 96 patients with hypotonia cerebral palsy and their blood tandem mass spectrometry index

Objective To explore the correlations of biochemical factors as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level with amino acid metabolism level in the blood, levels of intestinal immunoglobulin A (IgA)+complement factor 3 (C3), feeding intolerance and fatiguability in children with hypotonia cerebral palsy. Methods Ninety-six children with hypotonia cerebral palsy,admitted to our hospital from January 2009 to January 2012,were chosen in our study; questionnaire was used to understand the clinical symptoms of the children; the blood ammonia level,hepatic function and IgA+C3 level were obtained from routine blood chemistry testing, and amino acid metabolism was detected by blood tandem mass spectrometry; the correlations of GABA level with amino acid metabolism level in the blood, levels of IgA+C3, feeding intolerance and fatiguability were statistically analyzed. Results In all the 96 children with hypotonia cerebral palsy,63 (65.63％) had low arginine; 52 had both decreased arginine and elevated blood ammonia levels, enjoying negative correlation (r=-0.776,P=0.000); 42 had decreased arginine and reduced levels of IgA+C3 enjoying positive correlation (r=0.351,P=0.000); both decreased arginine level and feeding intolerance were noted in 47 with positive correlation (r=0.372,P=0.000).In these 96 children,30 (31.25％) had carnitine metabolism abnormality,including decreased propionyl carnitine/free carnitine or propionyl carnitine/acetylcarnitine levels in 21 (21.88％),increased hydroxyl palmitoyl carnitine/hydroxyl Palm enoyl carnitine level in 9 (9.37％),and decreased cysteine content in 3 (3.12％). Conclusion Metabolic abnormalities of arginine,carnitine and cysteine are noted in children with hypotonia cerebral palsy; a lot of exercise will consume arginine,carnitine and cysteine,which causes fatigue; children with low blood arginine content might also have increased blood ammonia level,reduced IgA+C3 level,trends of vomiting,susceptibility to infection and feeding difficulties,and therefore,children's mental state,immune function and exercise tolerance ability are affected. Key words: Cerebral palsy; Hypotonia; Arginine; Ammonia; Immunity
Overutilization of Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheters in the Hospital Setting

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the appropriate utilization of peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) placement in patients in an urban hospital setting. We performed a retrospective review of a prospective database created for quality assurance purposes of all patients who had a PICC request placed on Friday afternoon–Sunday between January and June 2019. Data collected included demographic information, pertinent medical history, and procedural details (incidence of PICC placement and the reason for PICC cancellation). The most common reasons for PICC consultation was “long-term intravenous (IV) antibiotics” (51.3%) and “poor IV access” (39.5%). On retrospective chart review, only 51/76 (67%) patients underwent subsequent PICC placement in the days following request placement. Of the 1/3 patients in whom a PICC was not subsequently placed, 64% were deemed nonindicated, and an additional 28% were contraindicated. In these patients, the reason for PICC consultation was most commonly “poor IV access.” There appears to be an overutilization of PICCs in our hospital setting; indications for PICCs should be carefully reviewed as these lines pose a risk of morbidity to patients who may not need them.
Building Cultural Bridges Between China and India

Employing one of the established theories from cross-cultural psychology and sociology, first it is shown that both China and India are collectivist cultures. Then the Chinese and Indian worldviews...
Charles L Christian: model physician scientist and mentor.

Dr Charles L Christian arrived in New York City in 1953, having grown up in Wichita, Kansas, and graduating from medical school at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. In New York, Dr Christian embarked on training in internal medicine at Columbia’s Presbyterian Hospital where he met an individual who would shape the course of his career, Dr Charles Ragan, a founder of the Arthritis Foundation. Dr Christian, or Chuck as he was usually called, went on to shape the developing field of rheumatology, advancing understanding of our most complex diseases as an investigator, master clinician, mentor and academic leader. During an era when the cellular and humoral features of the immune system were just coming into focus, Chuck performed laboratory experiments with precision and creativity to achieve new understanding of three significant diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and vasculitis. Review of his publications from the 1950s and 1960s provides a window into a time when figures were hand drawn and papers often had a single author. While the tools of technology that we rely on today were not available to Chuck, his insights have had a sustained impact on how we understand and treat autoimmune rheumatic diseases (table 1). His talents and his dedication to patients, colleagues, science and medicine supported a lifetime of remarkable contributions. View this table: Table 1 Charles L Christian, MD: major scientific contributions Dr Christian’s research addressing immunologic mechanisms in RA was inspired by Dr Ragan, who with Dr Harry M. Rose can be credited with the discovery of rheumatoid factor. Dr Ragan was Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons at the time Chuck joined their faculty as a young physician. In 1957, in a paper published with Dr Ragan, and in a single-author study published in Journal …
Sinusoidal Flow: A Fast Invertible Autoregressive Flow

Normalising flows offer a flexible way of modelling continuous probability distributions. We consider expressiveness, fast inversion and exact Jacobian determinant as three desirable properties a normalising flow should possess. However, few flow models have been able to strike a good balance among all these properties. Realising that the integral of a convex sum of sinusoidal functions squared leads to a bijective residual transformation, we propose Sinusoidal Flow, a new type of normalising flows that inherits the expressive power and triangular Jacobian from fully autoregressive flows while guaranteed by Banach fixed-point theorem to remain fast invertible and thereby obviate the need for sequential inversion typically required in fully autoregressive flows. Experiments show that our Sinusoidal Flow is not only able to model complex distributions, but can also be reliably inverted to generate realistic-looking samples even with many layers of transformations stacked.
NEWTONIAN SUPERTASKS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In two recent papers Perez Laraudogoitia has described a variety of supertasks involving elastic collisions in Newtonian systems containing a denumerably infinite set of particles. He maintains that these various supertasks give examples of systems in which energy is not conserved, particles at rest begin to move spontaneously, particles disappear from a system, and particles are created ex nihilo. An analysis of these supertasks suggests that they involve systems that do not satisfy the mathematical conditions required of Newtonian systems at the time the supertask is due to be completed, or else they rely on the application of the time-reversal transformation to states which are not well-defined. Consequently, it is unjustified to conclude that the paradoxical results are arising from within the framework of Newtonian mechanics. In the last part of this article, we discuss various aspects of the physics of these supertasks.
Some Thoughts on Purchasing Paperback Books for Small College Libraries

Abstract The practice of purchasing paperback books for small college libraries has slowly gained favor over the last fifteen years. Once the key factors of price, availability, and shelf life are examined, it becomes clear that budget-conscious collection development librarians should adopt the practice if they have not already.
Isolation, sequencing, and mutagenesis of the nifF gene encoding flavodoxin from Azotobacter vinelandii

The nifF gene encoding flavodoxin from Azotobacter vinelandii OP was cloned and its DNA sequence determined. It is located adjacent to, or possibly within, the major nif cluster and it is preceded by nif-specific regulatory elements. Southern hybridization analysis revealed that there is only a single copy of the nifF gene on the A. vinelandii OP genome. Mutant strains were constructed which have an insertion mutation or an insertion and a deletion mutation within the nifF gene coding sequence. These mutant strains are capable of diazotrophic growth, indicating that flavodoxin is not the unique physiological electron donor to nitrogenase. The results of nifF-lacZYA gene fusion experiments and Northern hybridization analyses indicated that the nifF gene is both transcribed and translated under nitrogen fixing and non-nitrogen fixing conditions. However, under nitrogen fixing conditions a substantial increase in both nifF synthesis and in accumulation of an approximately 800-base pair nifF-encoding mRNA species was observed. Furthermore, strains mutated within the nifF gene have only 70% of the wild type in vivo nitrogenase activity as determined by whole cell acetylene reduction assays. These data demonstrate that the nifF-encoded flavodoxin of A. vinelandii OP, although not essential for nitrogen fixation, is required for maximum in vivo nitrogenase activity.
Endothelial cell contraction increases Candida adherence to exposed extracellular matrix.

Bovine vascular endothelial cells treated with EDTA, urea, or thrombin underwent a marked, reversible contraction resulting in exposure of the subendothelial extracellular matrix (ECM). Candida yeasts adhered more to contracted monolayers than to confluent monolayers (P less than 0.01) by preferentially adhering to the ECM. Two strains of Candida albicans and one strain of Candida tropicalis bound avidly to exposed ECM, but Pseudomonas aeruginosa did not. However, treatment of endothelium with forskolin, which induces cell shape changes without exposure of the ECM, did not cause an increase in adherence. Images
Effects of Anaerobiosis on Chlorophyll Fluorescence Yield in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) Leaf Discs

When spinach (Spinacia oleracea) leaf discs were incubated in a dark anaerobic environment, the chlorophyll fluorescence yield was much increased relative to the aerobic control. Occasionally, the fluorescence yield of the darkened anaerobic samples approached 80% of the maximum fluorescence. The anaerobic incubation period also induced in a leaf disc the capacity to exhibit a low light-mediated chlorophyll fluorescence induction phenomenon. This involved a rapid and slow increase in fluorescence yield, followed by a slow quenching. This could be induced by light levels as low as 400 [mu]W m-2. The anaerobic-dependent increase in chlorophyll fluorescence yield could be relaxed by either far-red light, O2, or a saturating pulse of white light. It was concluded that the anaerobic-dependent increase in chlorophyll fluorescence yield was due to a dark reduction of the plastoquinone pool and its relaxation by reoxidation. Darkened isolated chloroplasts did not exhibit a fluorescence yield increase under anaerobic conditions. Fluorescence slowly increased only when dithiothreitol or dithionite was added.
BioV Suite – a collection of programs for the study of transport protein evolution

The Bio-V Suite is a collection of Python scripts designed specifically for bioinformatic research regarding transport protein evolution. The Bio-V Suite contains nine powerful programs for Unix-based environments, each of which can be run as a standalone tool or be accessed in a programmatic manner. These programs and their functions are as follows. The transmembrane alpha-helical statistical prediction tool (TMStats) generates topological statistics for transport proteins. The Global Sequence Alignment Tool (GSAT) performs shuffle-based binary alignments and is fully scalable. It can cross-compare two FASTA files or individual sequences. Protocol1 performs remote PSI-Blast searches and filters redundant/similar sequences and annotates them. Protocol2 finds homologues between FASTA lists and generates graphical reports. The Targeted Smith-Waterman Search (TSSearch) uses a rapid search algorithm to find distant homologues in FASTA files in a heuristic manner. SSearch is the exhaustive version of TSSearch. Genome-Blast (GBlast) will identify potential transport proteins in any genome/proteome file or find similar transport protein homologues between two different genomes/proteomes before generating a graphical report. AncientRep (AR) will find putative transmembrane repeat units using a list of homologues. DefineFamily (DF) will generate a FASTA list to represent an entire Transporter Classification family. These nine programs are tabulated with descriptions of their capabilities in Table 1. [Table: see text].
The Role of Leadership in Higher Education Diversity Initiatives

The role of college and university presidents and chief executive officers is paramount in any change initiative. The matter becomes increasingly vital when the issues of diversity and multiculturalism are factored into the equation. American society continues to become increasingly more diverse. Institutions of higher learning must be willing to change and adapt in order to prepare students for the future work force. This change process is contingent upon the leadership of the institutions. The values, ethics, and processes involved become prominent issues for the leader in higher education.
The Landscape of Enchantment: Redaction in a Theory of Ethnicity

My object in this article is to examine an "ethnic mobility" notion that became prominent in sociological and historical literature clustering around Beyond the Melting Pot in 1963. In that book Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who were to become the deans of the sociology of American ethnic groups, first tentatively pursued a theoretical argument that ethnic groups (in New York City, at least) had by the 1960s become "interest groups" that assert distinctive claims against American institutions. "Interests," "mobility," and, importantly, "success" are terms in which sociologists, historians, and anthropologists have posed related notions of ethnicity. All, however, are part of an analytical problem, not its solution, because such scholarly conceptions of ethnicity bear complex, but un-noted, relationships to indigenous ethnic discourses. Our work on ethnicity in the 1980s is still shaped by our arguments for and against such models, and analysts who lose sight of a cultural perspective that an anthropology of ethnicity affords stay on a treadmill of debate using terms not our own. My strategy is to treat the terms of these theoretical debates not as arguments to be joined but as data for a cultural analysis. It is such ethnic discourses that I wish to be able to represent in their cultural "realities" as they are constructed from different perspectives. My theory focuses on communication, a social, intersubjective and intertextual, culturally constituted process. To recover an anthropology of ethnicity in the United States, we need to encompass all its forms and their relations; the analytical move required is to locate scholarly discourses on ethnicity in their relations with indigenous discourses. These discourses can then be seen as above all moral and not the morally neutral but authoritative calculations with which scholarly rhetorics seek to encompass them. Scholarly tales are drawn, I will argue, from "the natives' " tales and in part derive their power from resonances with them. Like indigenous tales, social theories set critical terms of social life. But their authority rests primarily on their alterations of the natives' stories and their removal of the stories to new institutional quarters. My argument will be that Beyond the Melting Pot appropriated and transformed by redaction the American success story myth. But what Glazer and Moynihan did not note is that the success story is a tale of profound moral ambiguity, that is, it resembles more than a logical scheme of social transformation, a tricks
Atomic Force Microscopic Imaging and Velocity Measurement of Monoatomic Terrace Motion on the (111) Cu Surface during Electrodeposition

Stable monoatomic terraces on the (111) Cu surface were imaged by atomic force microscopy during electrodeposition. The terraces originate at screw dislocations and conform to a faceted geometry which reflects the symmetry of the (111) Cu surface. The step velocity was computed from the shift in apparent terrace widths produced as the tip passes the growth center.
Structural Analysis of Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) Fibers and Films Using Polarized Raman Spectroscopy

The evolution of the morphology of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) samples subjected to different processing conditions was studied using polarized Raman spectroscopy. Three films (amorphous...
Tumoricidal interactions of hyperthermia with carboplatin, cisplatin and etoposide.

Abstract Interactions of hyperthermia with carboplatin, cisplatin and etoposide were investigated in vitro in JM, a human, T cell, lymphoblastic cell line. Thermal enhancement ratios (TER) for carboplatin killing increased with temperature (2.3 at 40.5°C, 3.2 at 41.8°C) and were similar to those for cisplatin killing (2.6 at 40.5°C, 3.6 at 41.8°C). In a separate experiment, cytotoxicity was additive when carboplatin and cisplatin were given simultaneously at 37°C and at 41.8°C. Etoposide, which synergizes with platinum agents, did not have supra-additive cytotoxic interactions with hyperthermia. The data presented are relevant to the conduct of clinical hyperthermia trials.
Clone size distributions of mutations induced by ethyl methanesulfonate in bacteriophage T4

Size distributions of mutant clones can reveal important aspects of the mutation process. Previously published data on mutant clones induced by ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) in bacteriophage T4 generated a distribution that was essentially flat, implying a mutagenic mechanism involving only rare mispairing by reacted bases. Here, methods for estimating the spontaneous component of such a distribution are used to generate a corrected distribution. The corrected distribution is strongly peaked, implying frequent (but not obligatory) mispairing. Frequent mispairing is in accord with current views of the fates of DNA lesions believed to mediate EMS-induced mutagenesis.
Consequences of completeness in nuclear spectroscopy

The technique of average resonance neutron capture can lead to the disclosure of sets of nuclear levels known to be complete for certain spin, parity, and excitation-energy ranges. This perceived completeness contains hitherto unrecognized consequences which are shown to present a powerful new tool for nuclear structure studies.
Polarization-sensitive imaging of an ensemble of modes

We describe polarization-sensitive measurements of the modal content using wide-field optical low-coherence interferometry. This polarization-sensitive cross-correlation (C2) imaging technique is well suited for characterizing the impact of polarization on the amplification dynamics in high-power fiber lasers.
Reliable and secure body fall detection algorithm in a wireless mesh network

Falls in elderly is one of the most serious causes of severe injury and lack in immediate medical help makes these injuries life threatening. An automatic fall detection system, presented in this research, will help reduce the arrival time of medical attention, reduce the mortality rate and in turn promote independent living. This research finds its primary application in the nursing homes and hospitals which account for highest elderly fall as compared to homes. In this research, body falls are detected with the help of a small wearable embedded device. The proposed design aims at distinguishing between a real fall and Activities of Daily Life (ADL). The device is a programmable wrist watch with an in-built accelerometer sensor and microcontroller circuitry. On detection of fall, the watch sends a signal to the neighboring receptor node watch, worn by nurses and alerts them of a fallen patient. The display on these watches notifies as to which patient fell. Signal transmission and reception between these devices is via wireless communication, where every patient watch acts as a sensor node forwarding the signal to the nearest neighboring node.
Wanted: Collaborative intelligence

Abstract Although the original vision for artificial intelligence was the simulation of (implicitly human) intelligence, research has gradually shifted to autonomous systems that compete with people. The resultant popular attitude toward artificial intelligence, we argue here, is by turns disdain, grudging acceptance, and fear. That attitude not only limits our work's potential, but also imperils its support. This paper proposes a constructive alternative: the development of collaborative intelligence. As envisioned here, a collaborative intelligence does not require encyclopedic command and need not be limited to a single problem. The necessary components of a collaborative intelligence are nearly at hand, and the key issues readily identified. As a first step, this paper proposes three challenging but accessible problems that would both change the public perception of artificial intelligence and spur substantive research to advance our science.
Did Southern Africa and North America Drift Independently during the Precambrian

THE pattern of continental drift and seafloor spreading since the Jurassic is well established, and there is now some interest in investigating pre-Mesozoic drift1,2 using palaeomagnetism. Comparison of pole paths from different continental plates over the same intervals of geological time to see whether they can be superimposed indicates whether during these intervals the two plates were contiguous3. Because the Precambrian occupies over 80% of geological time, palaeomagnetism is important in deciding whether continental drift has been a catastrophic or a uniformitarian event in Earth history. This communication describes an attempt to reconcile the presently defined Precambrian pole paths for Southern Africa and North America in terms of the computer fit of the continents around the Atlantic16.
Phosphorylated intermediates of two Ca++-ATPases in membrane preparations from lens epithelial cells.

By incubating preparations enriched in membranes from lens epithelial cells with [γ32P]-ATP and Ca++ at 0°C for 15 seconds followed by SDS-PAGE analysis, it was possible to demonstrate a Ca++-dependent [32P]-phosphate incorporation in two polypeptides with Mr 105,000 and 140,000. Treatment of phosphorylated preparations with 0.06 N hydroxylamine at pH 5.4 and 25°C removed the label from both polypeptides indicating that the phosphate was attached to the proteins by an anhydride linkage characteristic of the phosphorylated intermediates of the ATPases. Membrane preparations from sarcoplasmic reticulum and red blood cell studied under the same conditions showed a Ca++-dependent [32P]-phosphate incorporation into polypeptides with Mr 105,000 and 138,000, respectively, corresponding to the phosphorylated intermediates of the Ca++-ATPases present in these preparations. The results suggest the presence of two Ca++-ATPases in lens epithelial cells which, in terms of Mr, appear to be similar to those present if t...
The response of German cockroaches to toxic baits: strain differences and the effects of selection pressure

Strain differences in the response of German cockroaches to toxic baits and their potential to evolve resistance to them was evaluated in choice tests. Percentage bait consumption (amount of bait consumed divided by total food consumed) was used to estimate relative attractancy/repellency of the baits. One strain apparently had low level resistance to abamectin, but no evidence of resistance was found in other strains tested with either Roach Ender or a gel bait (abamectin-based baits). Incipient behavioral resistance occurred in two strains selected for three generations with Roach Ender; a stronger response in a strain selected with the gel bait is attributed to the development of behavioral resistance. Baygon bait was highly repellent. Low level resistance to propoxur caused a large decrease in mortality compared with susceptible strains. Strong behavioral resistance developed in strains selected with Stapleton's Magnetic Roach Food.
Evidence for a Proton Core

The observed transverse-momentum distribution of high-mass muon pairs is explained by a proton core of valence quarks of rms radius 0.20 +- 0.03 F. Large-angle, high-energy proton-proton elastic scattering independently determines the core radius to be 0.23 +- 0.03 F.
The Problem of Error Rate Inflation in Covariance Structure Models

This paper addresses the problem of error rate inflation when conducting a sequence of model modifications. The problem is identified as increasing the probability of a Type II error. It is argued that the most effective way of controlling the inflation of the Type II error in the covariance structure modeling context is to choose modifications that have maximum power. Further, it is argued that methodology based on expected parameter change allows researchers to modify models in accordance with substantive considerations as well as minimize the inflation of the Type II error rate.
Phospholipase A2 modulation of cyclic GMP metabolism: Characteristics of guanylate cyclase activation

Characteristics of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) modulation of guanylate cyclase were evaluated. Addition of phospholipase A2 from Vipera russelli venom led to a significant increase in the activity of guanylate cyclase in various rat organs. The activation of the enzyme was selective and was only observed in the particulate fractions of tissue homogenate. The soluble guanylate cyclase from all the tissue tested exhibited lack of stimulation. The treatment of membranes with PLA2 resulted in solubilization of cyclase activity. The increase in enzyme by PLA2 was not altered by antioxidants or reducing agents. Addition of calcium ions led to further enhancement in PLA2-dependent increases in cyclic GMP formation. Peak calcium responses were observed in micromolar concentration ranges. These observations suggest a potential role for PLA2 and calcium ions in the hormonal regulation of cyclic GMP metabolism.
Mortality and Length of Stay in Teaching vs Nonteaching Hospitals-Reply

In Reply —Our study found that severity-adjusted odds of death was 19% lower in major teaching hospitals than in nonteaching hospitals. As noted by Dr Blumberg, patients in major teaching hospitals were less likely to be admitted from a SNF. This factor was included as a variable in our severityadjustment models and may have contributed to the higher predicted probability of death in minor teaching and nonteaching hospitals. However, our primary analyses did not exclude patients discharged to SNFs and were, in fact, based on the entire sample of 89 851 patients. Moreover, in analyses limited to patients admitted from home, the adjusted odds of death was 21% lower (95% confidence interval, 2%-35%) in major teaching hospitals. We conducted several secondary analyses to further control for possible differences in discharge practices, such as including patient length of stay as a covariate, examining deaths that occurred 3, 5, 7, 10, or 14 days
Social structure and peer terminology in a black adolescent gang

Studies of the social organization of adolescent groups may not have always taken into account sufficiently the dual reality of the groups in which much of the youths' activities occur. Peer terminology is useful in locating and describing the associational patterns and activities of the youth, but only if the range of possible terms is considerably broadened. It was found in a study of a Harlem street gang that such language may appear ambiguous, but when studied systematically in the interaction between interviewer and members, the misunderstandings become transparent. Peer terminological practices can be used to provide further knowledge of the reality of the social organization of adolescent primary groups. (Peer termninology, primary groups, misunderstanding, interviewing, juvenile delinquency, urban black adolescent language; verbal tags.)
Reducing relative error from the CVBEM by proper treatment of the known boundary conditions

By a proper treatment of the known boundary conditions of a boundary value problem, a complex variable boundary element method (CVBEM) can be used to exactly satisfy the known nodal point boundary values. In this fashion, a numerical model can be developed which generates relative error information along the problem boundary that can be used to reduce the modelling error by either an integrated measure or a maximum relative error measure.
Expansion of a direct shoot organogenesis system in peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) to include US cultivars

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, employing direct shoot organogenesis, allows for mature transgenic plants to be obtained quickly (3–4 mo). In this study, peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars Florida-07, Georgia Green, Georgia Brown, New Mexico Valencia A, and VC-2 were selected to test their shoot induction response for use in future transformation experiments. Two types of cotyledon explants were examined, those that previously had an attached embryo axis upon cotyledon separation (explant A) and those that were embryo axis-free upon separation (explant B). Explants were placed onto a shoot induction medium with N 6-benzyladenine concentrations ranging from 10–80 μM for Florida-07, Georgia Green, and VC-2; 10–20 μM for Georgia Brown; and 10–640 μM for New Mexico Valencia A. Following a 4-wk culture period, explants were visually rated based on a scale of 1–4, where 1 indicated slight greening, but no growth, and 4 indicated greening, adventitious bud formation, as well as small leaf expansion. A difference in shoot induction was observed for the cotyledon explants examined (P > t = t = <0.0001). Additionally, cultivars responded to the culture conditions differently (cultivar × N 6-benzyladenine interaction). Georgia Green on 10 μM N 6-benzyladenine produced the most shoot buds (24.6%) and the highest visual rating (2.1), followed by VC-2 on 10 μM N 6-benzyladenine (22.1%, 1.8), New Mexico Valencia A on 640 μM N 6-benzyladenine (21.4%, 1.8), Georgia Brown on 80 μM N 6-benzyladenine (9.0%, 1.7), and Florida-07 on 40 μM N 6-benzyladenine (7.1%, 1.8). Of the tested varieties, Georgia Green, New Mexico Valencia A, and VC-2 were best suited for future transformation experiments based on their shoot bud production.
Endovascular Management of Type B Aortic Dissection After Attempted Central Venous Catheterization

A 41-year-old woman, status postmastectomy for breast cancer had an attempted 8-F left subclavian vein chemotherapy port placed in her. She developed severe upper back pain radiating to the left shoulder. A computed tomographic scan and angiography revealed catheter placement in the left subclavian artery and a type B aortic dissection. A thoracic stent–graft was used to treat the aortic dissection. While removing the catheter, a covered stent was deployed to seal the arterial puncture and a balloon-expandable stent was placed over a persistent subclavian dissection. This case illustrates an example of the feasibility of endovascular management to treat serious iatrogenic access complications.
The Gap Junction Protein Connexin43 Is Degraded via the Ubiquitin Proteasome Pathway

We investigated the degradation of the gap junction protein connexin43 in E36 Chinese hamster ovary cells and rat cardiomyocyte-derived BWEM cells. Treatment of E36 cells with the lysosomotropic amine, primaquine, for 16 h doubled the amount of connexin43 detected by immunoblotting and modestly increased the half-life of connexin43 in pulse-chase studies, suggesting that the lysosome played a minor role in connexin43 proteolysis. In contrast, treatment with the proteasomal inhibitor N-acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucinyl-norleucinal led to a 6-fold accumulation of connexin43 and increased the half-life of connexin43 to ~9 h. The role of ubiquitin in connexin43 degradation was examined in an E36-derived mutant, ts20, which contains a thermolabile ubiquitin-activating enzyme, E1. E36 and ts20 cells grown at the permissive temperature contained similar amounts of connexin43 detectable by immunoblotting. Heat treatment dramatically reduced the amount of connexin43 detected in E36 cells, while connexin43 levels in heat-treated ts20 cells did not change. E36 cells that were heat-treated in the presence of N-acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucinyl-norleucinal did not lose their connexin43. Pulse-chase experiments showed the reversibility of the block to connexin43 degradation in ts20 cells that were returned to the permissive temperature. Finally, sequential immunoprecipitation using anti-connexin43 and anti-ubiquitin antibodies demonstrated polyubiquitination of connexin43. These results indicate that ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal proteolysis may be the major mechanism of degradation of connexin43.
Analysis and convergence of the iterative convolution/superposition dose reconstruction technique for multiple treatment beams and tomotherapy.

An iterative convolution/superposition (C/S) algorithm has been created to reconstructdose distributions in patients from exit dose measurements during a radiotherapy treatment. The method is based on an extended phantom which includes the patient CT representation and an electronic portal imaging device(EPID). The patient CT is assumed to be a true and rigid representation of the patient at the time of treatment. The C/S method computes the dose throughout the extended phantom which allows the exit dose to be predicted in the EPID. The process is then reversed to take the exit dose measurement and infer what the dose distribution must have been to produce the measured exit dose. The dose distribution is modeled without knowledge of the incident intensity distribution, and includes the effects of scatter in the computation. The iterative method begins by assuming that the exit primary energy fluence (PEF) is equal to the exit dose, the PEF is then backprojected through the extended phantom and superposed with the dose deposition kernel to determine a new prediction of the exit dose. The ratio of the computed PEF to exit dose is then multiplied by the measured exit doseimage to produce a better representation of the exit PEF. Successive iterations then converge to the exit PEF image that would produce the measured exit doseimage. Once convergence is established, the dose distribution is determined by backprojecting the exit PEF followed by superposition with the dose deposition kernel. The method is used to reconstruct the dose from a simulated dynamic wedge and verified with film. Convergence and termination of the algorithm is then investigated with no noise and in the presence of noise. The method is then expanded to handle multiple treatment beams by separating the representation of the EPID from the patient or phantom representation in the computation process. Investigation of the effects of noise during the process of iterative dosereconstruction is necessary to understand the capabilities of the algorithm using exit doseimages that may contain significant amounts of noise. The capability of the algorithm is evaluated for multiple field treatments to a cube phantom and a prostate patient CT representation in the presence of noise. The method is then used to simulate the dosereconstruction process for tomotherapy using 72 intensity-modulated fan beams. Dosereconstruction is shown to be capable of verifying the dose distributions in patients including multiple beams and dynamic collimation, provided the patient CT is known at the time of treatment.
Screening for BRCA1 Mutations in Patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Basal Phenotype.

Introduction: Most models estimating risk of carrying germline BRCA mutations are based on family history and age of cancer onset. Additional histologic criteria may be useful to identify patients at risk for harboring BRCA1 mutations. BRCA1 positive breast tumors are significantly more often estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and erbB-2 (HER2-neu) negative (“triple negative” (TN)) and are strongly associated with a basal phenotype confirmed by DNA microarray. Basal-like tumors express cytokeratins 5,6, and 14 or 17 by immunohistochemistry (IHC). It is unknown whether testing for BRCA1 mutations in TN basal-like breast cancer patients will identify additional carriers of mutations in this gene.Methods: A retrospective evaluation of patients with triple negative breast cancer seen at Cooper Cancer Center between 2004 and 2006 was performed after IRB approval. IHC was performed to identify the subset of basal-like breast cancers.Results: A total of 89 women were identified as diagnosed with TN breast cancer, while 53 had pathology available for review. 21 patients were identified as basal phenotype, whereas 32 were non-basal. Of the 21 patients who had basal-phenotype tumors, six underwent genetic testing and 3 were found to have a deleterious BRCA1 mutation. Of 32 non-basal patients, 9 patients underwent genetic testing and 2 were found to have a deleterious BRCA1 mutation. There was no difference between basal subtype and BRCA1 postivity [Fisher9s Exact Test p=0.32]. Of note, 1of 5 (20%) patients with basal phenotype had no family history but tested positive for BRCA1 mutation and would have been missed by relying on conventional methods.Conclusion: Although there is a trend towards a higher percentage of TN breast cancer patients with basal subtype having BRCA 1 mutations (50 vs 22%), this was not found to be statistically significant (Fisher9s exact p=0.32). However, this dataset is limited by a small sample size. Only 40% of TN breast cancer patients had a basal phenotype by IHC in this study, while other studies have shown 70- to 85% rate. Ongoing evaluation of patients with basal-like subtype and triple negative tumors should continue to investigate this relationship, especially in light of newer therapeutics that may impact this population. This data also suggests that patients with basal phenotype and triple negative disease should be considered for referral for genetic testing even in the absence of family history. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 4075.
Comments on the character structure and psychodynamic processes of heroin addicts.

Based on performance on a newly developed biographical personality assessment test and on psychopharmacological and psychiatric observations, character trends of heroin addicts and underlying psych...
Glucose deprivation increases nuclear DNA repair protein Ku and resistance to radiation induced oxidative stress in human cancer cells

Recent studies have indicated that nutrient deprivation particularly glucose may play a major role in tumor cell tolerance to a generally oxidative stress environment in solid tumors. Here, we studied the impact of glucose deprivation on the response of human colon (HT29)0020and prostate (DU145) cancer cells to γ radiation. A significant decrease in intracellular glucose level was observed in glucose deprived cells as measured by bioreductive assay. The survival of HT29 and DU145 were increased by 30 and 100% respectively when these cells were exposed to γ radiation in the absence of glucose compared to that in the presence of glucose. In glucose depleted medium, glutathione (GSH), a free radical scavenger, content remained the same, and showed no correlation with the radiation resistance induced by glucose deprivation. GRP78, a stress response survival protein, was not significantly increased in cells deprived of glucose for 4 hours compared to those cells in glucose. DNA repair protein Ku, which is known to play a major role in cellular resistance to radiation, was significantly increased in glucose deprived cancer cells that showed enhanced radiation resistance. These results have demonstrated, for the first time, that glucose deprivation mediated stress increased the expression of nuclear Ku and resistance to radiation induced oxidative stress in human cancer cells. The additional resistance caused by glucose deprivation in cancer cells has clinical significance since solid tumors are known to have low level of glucose due to diffusion limited blood supply and higher metabolic activity.
Commitment and Turnover in Resort Jobs

Self-reported data were analyzed from 300 non-supervisory resort employees to evaluate whether dealing with customers and a bona fide career interest would significantly increase the predictability...
On robustness of rank tests in life testing

Some two-sample rank tests are considered for a family of life distributions which include the Weibuil, gamma and the exponential, and power for these tests is computed under Lehmann alternatives as well as under gamma and Weibuil shape alternatives. Included in this study are the exponential scores test due to Savage and two new tests which are derived here by considering locally most powerful rank tests (LMPRT) for shape parameters in the gamma and Weibuil. Critical values of the two new tests at nonrandomized significance levels are computed for the combined sample sizes up to 10. The exact power of all three tests are computed for Lehmann-type alternatives, and an extensive Monte Carlo simulation is performed to study power under shape alternatives. The Savage test and the gamma scores test are found to have fairly good power for scalar alternatives in the exponential and Weibuil as well as for shape alternatives in gamma but they behave poorly for shape changes in Weibuil. On the other hand, the Weib...
Are Single Molecular Wires Conducting

Molecular wire candidates inserted into “nonconducting” n -dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayers on Au{111} were probed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and microwave frequency alternating current STM at high tunnel junction impedance (100 gigohms) to assess their electrical properties. The inserted conjugated molecules, which were 4,4′-di(phenylene-ethynylene)benzenethiolate derivatives, formed single molecular wires that extended from the Au{111} substrate to about 7 angstroms above and had very high conductivity as compared with that of the alkanethiolate.
Large-Scale Structures in Bimodal Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Elastomers

Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering are used in conjunction to study structures in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) network having a bimodal distribution of network chain lengths, a type of elastomer of considerable interest because of its unusually good mechanical properties. The scaling regimes for the scattering are compared and contrasted for varying degrees of network swelling. The excess scattering at small angles in the swollen state is associated with large-scale structures, likely high cross-link density clusters with reduced swelling, topologically trapped within the network mesh. These results indicate the presence of supramolecular structures with apparently smooth surfaces even in the non-swollen state for this type of elastomer. Optical microscopy of unimodal and bimodal elastomers having comparable crosslink staining does in fact suggest the presence of smooth surfaced, micron-scale islands of higher cross-link density. Finally, the effects of the molecular weight distribution of the network mesh demonstrate that bimodal networks can have supramolecular structures that are smaller but more random than their unimodal counterparts.