cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Paraquat2+/H+ exchange in isolated renal brush-border membrane vesicles

The mechanism(s) by which paraquat (1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium), a divalent organic cation (OC) and proximal tubule nephrotoxicant, crosses renal cell membranes is unclear. The structurally-related monovalent OC, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), crosses the renal brush border via OC/H+ exchange using the same pathway by which tetraethylammonium (TEA) is transported. We examined whether paraquat shares the TEA(MPP+)/H+ exchanger by examining 14C-paraquat transport in rabbit renal BBMV. Compared to a pH equilibrium condition (pH 7.5in:7.50), an H-gradient (pH 6in:7.50) stimulated the 5 s and 60 s s uptakes of 230 μM paraquat by 51% and 108%, respectively, and this stimulation was blocked by both 20 mM unlabeled paraquat and TEA. Pre-loading BBMV with 2 mM unlabeled TEA (under conditions of pH equilibrium) stimulated by 3-fold the 60 s uptake of 120 μM paraquat and by 5 min produced a transient intravesicular accumulation of paraquat that exceeded equilibrium (2 h) uptake by 45%. The presence of 200 μM paraquat in the extravesicular solution competitively inhibited H-gradient-stimulated transport of 14C-TEA in renal BBMV, increasing the apparent Kt for TEA transport from 169 μM to 379 μM, without significantly influencing the Jmax (16.0 vs. 15.4 nmol mg−1 min−1). The calculated Ki for paraquat (presumably equal to its Kt for transport) after transport was between 160 and 220 μM (depending upon the method of estimation). Significantly, the Kt for MPP+/H exchange is 12 μM, suggesting that the affinity of the exchanger is profoundly influenced by the presence on paraquat of a second positive charge. We conclude that renal transport of paraquat involves the OC/H+ exchanger of proximal cell luminal membranes and that this pathway may play a role in the renal secretion of polyvalent organic cations.
Angiotensin II receptor binding sites in the ventral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are reduced by interruption of the medial forebrain bundle.

Abstract Many techniques have been utilized to discern the localization of angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors to specific cellular components (glia, neuronal cell bodies and nerve terminals) in the brain. In the present study, we used lesioning techniques to localize Ang II receptors to cellular components in the rat forebrain. In the first experiment, axons ascending to the hypothalamus and forebrain from neurons in the brainstem were destroyed by unilaterally cutting the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). In the second experiment, a single injection of the neurotoxin, ibotenic acid, was injected unilaterally into the ventral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTV) to destroy neuronal cell bodies, thus determining if Ang II receptors are present on neuronal cell bodies. In both experiments, the animals were sacrificed after two weeks recovery and the brains processed for in vitro receptor autoradiography using 125 I -sar 1 ,ile 8 Ang II ( 125 I -SI Ang II). Unilateral knife-cut lesions of the MFB caused a significant reduction in 125 I -SI Ang II binding in the BSTV (30±6%) and the piriform cortex (PC; 26±4%) ipsilateral to the knife cut. Unilateral injection of the neurotoxin into the BSTV failed to alter 125 I -SI Ang II binding in this nucleus. These experiments suggest that at least a subpopulation of Ang II receptors in the BSTV and PC are located on terminals of neurons that have their cell bodies in the brainstem and their axons in the MFB.
Quantifying the Role of Adverse Events in the Mortality Difference between First and Second-Generation Antipsychotics in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis

Background: Observational studies have reported higher mortality among older adults treated with first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) versus second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). A few studies examined risk for medical events, including stroke, ventricular arrhythmia, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and hip fracture. Objectives: 1) Review robust epidemiologic evidence comparing mortality and medical event risk between FGAs and SGAs in older adults; 2) Quantify how much these medical events explain the observed mortality difference between FGAs and SGAs.
Competitive 1,2- and 1,6-cycloadditions of dichloroketene to bullvalene

Abstract Dichloroketene cycloadds to bullvalene to give an unusual 1,6-cycloadduct. The mechanism of this reaction is probed by means of suitable control experiments.
Chronic inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy associated with alopecia universalis

We report a patient with concurrent chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and alopecia universalis. A dramatic improvement in strength accompanied the administration of prednisone, although no regrowth of hair was noted. CIDP and alopecia universalis are two relatively rare autoimmune disorders. The simultaneous occurrence of these disorders suggests a common pathogenetic mechanism, including the possibility of shared antigens between peripheral nerve myelin and the hair follicle.
Point: release of an endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor and RhoA/Rho kinase-mediated calcium sensitization of smooth muscle cell contraction are/are not the main effectors for full and sustained hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.

The ability of an organism, or an organ therein, to respond appropriately to episodes of hypoxia is a key evolutionary determinant. In mammalian lungs, the response to acute hypoxia involves constriction of the intrapulmonary arteries (IPA) in the hypoxic region of the lung. This response, termed
Magnetic structure refinement with neutron powder diffraction data using GSAS: A tutorial

Neutron diffraction provides a direct probe for the ordering of spins from unpaired electrons in materials with magnetic properties. The ordering of the spins can be modeled in many cases by adding spin directions to standard crystallographic models. This requires, however, that crystallographic space groups be extended by addition of a “color” attribute to symmetry operations, which determines if the operation maintains or flips the direction of a magnetic spin. Rietveld analysis provides a mechanism for fitting magnetic structure models to powder diffraction data. The general structure and analysis system (GSAS) software suite is commonly used for Rietveld analysis and includes the ability to compute magnetic scattering. Different approaches are commonly used within GSAS to create models that include magnetism. Three equivalent but different approaches are presented to provide a tutorial on how magnetic scattering data may be modeled using differing treatment of symmetry. Also discussed is how magnetic models may be visualized. The commands used to run the GSAS programs are summarized within, but are shown in great detail in supplementary web pages.
Progressive collapse of a two-story reinforced concrete frame with embedded smart aggregates

This paper reports the experimental and analytical results of a two-story reinforced concrete frame instrumented with innovative piezoceramic-based smart aggregates (SAs) and subjected to a monotonic lateral load up to failure. A finite element model of the frame is developed and analyzed using a computer program called Open system for earthquake engineering simulation (OpenSees). The finite element analysis (FEA) is used to predict the load–deformation curve as well as the development of plastic hinges in the frame. The load–deformation curve predicted from FEA matched well with the experimental results. The sequence of development of plastic hinges in the frame is also studied from the FEA results. The locations of the plastic hinges, as obtained from the analysis, were similar to those observed during the experiment. An SA-based approach is also proposed to evaluate the health status of the concrete frame and identify the development of plastic hinges during the loading procedure. The results of the FEA are used to validate the SA-based approach for detecting the locations and occurrence of the plastic hinges leading to the progressive collapse of the frame. The locations and sequential development of the plastic hinges obtained from the SA-based approach corresponds well with the FEA results. The proposed SA-based approach, thus validated using FEA and experimental results, has a great potential to be applied in the health monitoring of large-scale civil infrastructures.
Lack of Insight in Psychotic and Affective Disorders: A Review of Empirical Studies

In patients with psychotic or affective disorders, lack of insight is often a vexing clinical problem. However, it has infrequently been subjected to formal study. We have reviewed clinical psychiatric studies on insight in psychotic and affective disorders, selecting those that evaluated insight for each patient and presented the data in some quantitative fashion. Almost all studies focused on schizophrenia, with little research present on affective disorders. Definitions of insight varied among studies, as did diagnostic methods and other measures. Despite these limitations, several conclusions emerged. First, insight is not a unitary entity but has several dimensions, such as insight into symptoms and insight into need for treatment. Second, although insight may be poorer in patients with more-severe psychopathology, it does not always improve when psychopathological symptoms do. Third, insight is associated with medication compliance, prognosis, voluntary versus involuntary admission, and cultural concepts of disease. Fourth, insight into illness, need for treatment, or delusions may respond to cognitive and psychoeducational methods of treatment. To augment these findings, we suggest further avenues of research on insight.
Modeling Exposure-Biomarker Relationships: Applications of Linear and Nonlinear Toxicokinetics

Establishing and characterizing exposure-biomarker relationships represent important steps to understanding how exposure to a harmful environmental toxin ultimately leads to disease in human populations. Here, we present a statistical model to characterize a nonlinear exposure-biomarker relationship and use occupational benzene exposures to illustrate the application. We also attempt to estimate the range of linear metabolism of benzene by fitting our model to data from a recent study of biomarkers (benzene-oxide-albumin adducts) measured in a population of Chinese workers exposed to benzene. Estimating the parameters of interest is difficult due to within and between subject variability in exposure and biomarker levels and because of exposure measurement error.
CHEMICAL MECHANISM OF THE ZR + O2 ZRO2 COMBUSTION SYNTHESIS REACTION

The oxidation of Zr particles under a combustion regime is investigated by discussing separately the macrokinetic aspects (Fourier's law of heat transfer) and the microkinetic aspects (the kinetic laws describing chemical and phase transformations of a solid particle). A very simple model with a single reaction step and two different mechanisms (and different laws) is assumed to describe the microkinetics, while filtration of the gaseous reagent through the porous sample is neglected. The microkinetic variables (conversion degree and temperature) are then identified with the corresponding global variables, and the set of macrokinetic equations is finally solved by numerical methods. The approach is used to investigate how the chemical mechanism is affected by process parameters such as oxygen partial pressure, size of the reacting particles, and dilution degree. It is shown that experimental determinations (such as wave speed, thermal and composition profiles, and their dependence on process parameters) c...
Physical retrievals of over-ocean rain rate from multichannel microwave imagery. Part I: Theoretical characteristics of normalized polarization and scattering indices

Microwave rain rate retrieval algorithms have most often been formulated in terms of the raw brightness temperatures observed by one or more channels of a satellite radiometer. Taken individually, single-channel brightness temperatures generally represent a near-arbitrary combination of positive contributions due to liquid water emission and negative contributions due to scattering by ice and/or visibility of the radiometrically cold ocean surface. Unfortunately, for a given rain rate, emission by liquid water below the freezing level and scattering by ice particles above the freezing level are rather loosely coupled in both a physical and statistical sense. Furthermore, microwave brightness temperatures may vary significantly (∼30–70 K) in response to geophysical parameters other than liquid water and precipitation. Because of these complications, physical algorithms which attempt to directly invert observed brightness temperatures have typically relied on the iterative adjustment of detailed microphysical profiles or cloud models, guided by explicit forward microwave radiative transfer calculations.
A Foot Risk Classification System to Predict Diabetic Amputation in Pima Indians

OBJECTIVE To quantify the contribution of various risk factors to the risk of amputation in diabetic patients and to develop a foot risk scoring system based on clinical data. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A population case-control study was undertaken. Eligible subjects were 1) 25-85 years of age, 2) diabetic, 3) 50% or more Pima or Tohono O9odham Indian, 4) lived in the Gila River Indian Community, and 5) had had at least one National Institutes of Health research examination. Case patients had had an incident lower extremity amputation between 1983 and 1992; control subjects had no amputation by 1992. Medical records were reviewed to determine risk conditions and health status before the pivotal event that led to the amputation. RESULTS Sixty-one people with amputations were identified and compared with 183 control subjects. Men were more likely to suffer amputation than women (odds ratio [OR] 6.5, 95% CI 2.6–15), and people with diabetic eye, renal, or cardiovascular disease were more likely to undergo amputation than those without (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.7–12). The risk of amputation was almost equally associated with these foot risk factors: peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, bony deformities, and a history of foot ulcers. After controlling for demographic differences and diabetes severity, the ORs for amputation with one foot risk factor was 2.1 (95% CI 1.4–3.3), with two risk factors, 4.5 (95% CI 2.9–6.9), and with three or four risk factors, 9.7 (95% CI 6.3–14.8). CONCLUSIONS Male Sex, end-organ complications of eye, heart, and kidney, and poor glucose control were associated with a higher amputation rate. Peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, deformity, and a prior ulcer were similarly equally associated with an increased risk of lower extremity amputation.
Gonadal regulation of LH secretion in prepubertal bull calves.

In the present study we examined the influence of castration and exogenous estradiol on pulsatile LH release during the transition from infancy to the prepubertal period of development. Bull calves were assigned to treatments (N = 5 treatment) at 6 weeks of age. Treatments consisted of intact controls, castrates and castrates receiving estradiol implants. Plasma LH response was monitored over 8 hr periods at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 weeks of age. Castration alone did not alter LH concentrations, compared to controls until 10 weeks of age. At 10, 11 and 13 weeks, mean LH concentration and the number of LH pulses/8 hr period were greater (P<.05) in castrates than in controls. In castrates with estradiol implants, mean LH concentration and the number of LH pulses/8 hr period were suppressed at all ages compared to controls and castrate treatments. These results indicate that LH release is not inhibited by gonadal factors from 6 to 9 weeks of age in bull calf. However, estradiol negative feedback on LH secretion is evident during this same developmental period.
The natural reference wavenumber for parabolic approximations in ocean acoustics

Abstract A natural definition of the reference wavenumber k 0 that appears in almost all underwater sound formulations based on a parabolic approximation emerges from Rayleigh's principle for progressive waves: the integrals over the depth of the kinetic- and potential-energy densities are equal. A formulation using this definition conforms to and refines Fitzgerald's suggestion that when the field is a sum of guided modes, the selected k 0 should be a weighted average of the wavenumbers for the excited modes.
Metal-insulator transition in random superconducting networks.

The nature of the eigenstates and the effects on the superconducting-to-normal phase boundary in a two-dimensional random superconducting network are examined by finite-size scaling transfer-matrix calculations within the mean-field Ginzburg-Landau theory of second-order phase transitions. Results for a site-diluted square lattice are presented and a rich structure in the mobility-edge trajectory is obtained. The critical exponent for the slope of the critical field on ($p\ensuremath{-}{p}_{c}$) is calculated and compared with previous estimates.
Budget boosts overall research but cuts NOAA and USGS funds

Science in general, and physical sciences in particular, show growth far above projected inflation in President Ronald Reagan's fiscal 1984 budget proposal. Total funding requested for all federal research and development, including facilities, is $47 billion, up 17.2% over fiscal 1983, jumping hurdles over the 5% projected inflation rate. Defense R&D is slated to soar 29% to $30.3 billion, while non-defense R&D would rise 0.4% to $16.7 billion. Table 1 shows the proposed research and development budgets by major departments and agencies.
Effect of surface passivation of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor

The effect of SiN passivation of the surface of AlGaN/GaN transistors is reported. Current deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements were performed on the device before and after the passivation by a SiN film. The DLTS spectra from these measurements showed the existence of the same electron trap on the surface of the device. The DLTS spectrum obtained from the measurement of the passivated device showed a significantly lower peak for this trap. The discrepancy in the DLTS peak amplitude is explained by the effect of the passivation on the surface traps and underlines the surface nature of the major defect noticed in the device.
Conformational changes induced by the transforming amino acid substitution in the transmembrane domain of the neu oncogene-encoded p185 protein.

Theneu oncogene is frequently found in certain types of human carcinomas and has been shown to be activated in animal models by nitrosourea-induced mutation. The activating mutation in theneu oncogene results in the substitution of a glutamic acid for a valine at position 664 in the transmembrane domain of the encoded protein product of 185 kda (designated p185), which, on the basis of homology studies, is presumed to be a receptor for an as yet unidentified growth factor. It has been proposed that activating amino acid substitutions in this region of p185 lead to a conformational change in the protein which causes signal transduction via an increase in tyrosine kinase activity in the absence of any external signal. Using conformational energy analysis, we have determined the preferred three-dimensional structures for the transmembrane decapeptide (residues 658–667) of the p185 protein with valine and glutamic acid at the critical position 664. The results indicate that the global minimum energy conformation of the decapeptide from the normal protein with Val at position 664 is an α-helix with a sharp bend (CD* conformation at residues 664 and 665) in this region, whereas the global minimum conformation for the decapeptide from the mutant transforming protein with Glu at position 664 assumes an all α-helical configuration. Furthermore, the second highest energy conformation for the decapeptide from the normal protein is identical to the global minimum energy conformation for the decapeptide from the transforming protein, providing a possible explanation why overexpression of the normal protein also has a transforming effect. These results suggest there may be a normal and a transforming conformation for theneu-encoded p185 proteins which may explain their differences in transforming activity.
The Relationship Between Clinician Sex, Ethnicity, Sexual Identity and Secondary Traumatic Stress

This study, conducted with community mental health clinicians at two sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, explored the relationship between clinician secondary traumatic stress and the clinician's sex, ethnicity, and sexual identity. Thirty-six clinicians at two community mental health sites were administered the Professional Quality of Life-Revision 3 (ProQOL - CSF-R-III; 1995–2002). While research has indicated that women, ethnic minorities, and sexual minorities may be more susceptible to stress reactions, the present study did not find significant differences in secondary traumatic stress scores or levels. While recent research has indicated that female providers are at an increased risk for compassion fatigue in particular, the researchers did not find significant relationships between variables examined and scores or construct levels on the ProQOL - CSF-R-III. Implications of this research point to a need for increased research to affirm that sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation do not put clinici...
The anxious amygdala: CREB signaling and predisposition to anxiety and alcoholism

The amygdala is believed to play a key role in assigning emotional significance to specific sensory input, and conditions such as anxiety, autism, stress, and phobias are thought to be linked to its abnormal function. Growing evidence has also implicated the amygdala in mediation of the stress-dampening properties of alcohol. In this issue of the JCI, Pandey and colleagues identify a central amygdaloid signaling pathway involved in anxiety-like and alcohol-drinking behaviors in rats. They report that decreased phosphorylation of cAMP responsive element–binding protein (CREB) resulted in decreased neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression in the central amygdala of alcohol-preferring rats, causing high anxiety-like behavior. Alcohol intake by these animals was shown to increase PKA-dependent CREB phosphorylation and thereby NPY expression, subsequently ameliorating anxiety-like behavior. These provocative data suggest that a CREB-dependent neuromechanism underlies high anxiety-like and excessive alcohol-drinking behavior.
Monitoring Space Shuttle air quality using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory electronic nose

A miniature electronic nose (ENose) has been designed and built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and was designed to detect, identify, and quantify ten common contaminants and relative humidity changes. The sensing array includes 32 sensing films made from polymer carbon-black composites. Event identification and quantification were done using the Levenberg-Marquart nonlinear least squares method. After successful ground training, this ENose was used in a demonstration experiment aboard STS-95 (October-November, 1998), in which the ENose was operated continuously for six days and recorded the sensors' response to the air in the mid-deck. Air samples were collected daily and analyzed independently after the flight. Changes in shuttle-cabin humidity were detected and quantified by the JPL ENose; neither the ENose nor the air samples detected any of the contaminants on the target list. The device is microgravity insensitive.
Hyperon resonances in coupled channels and Crystal Ball data

Abstract The known resonance parameters of the Λ and Σ hyperons were determined almost entirely from energy-dependent partial-wave analyses of K ¯ N scattering data. Some of these analyses attempted to obtain a consistent set of parameters for reactions involving different final states ( K ¯ N , πΛ , πΣ ), but unitarity was not enforced and various features (e.g., backgrounds) were not treated consistently. Now that K − p → neutrals data are beginning to be published by the Crystal Ball Collaboration, it is timely to take a fresh look at the strangeness −1 hyperons. First results are presented for a new unitary, multichannel description of several K ¯ N reactions.
Emotion: The Perception of Bodily Change

Imagine yourself, for a moment, in any situation which you find stressful, for example, waiting in the dentist’s office or anticipating an important interview. With little thought you will probably be able to name the bodily changes that you usually notice in yourself in these types of situations: tense stomach, sweaty palms, general restlessness, pounding heart, and so on. We have found that adults are not only able to tell us their general responses, but also name their primary physiological response to real-life stress (Stern & Higgins, 1969).
Endocrine and Metabolic Symptoms of Cancer and Its Treatment

Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS), a potentially life-threatening complication for patients with cancer, has been subclassified into either laboratory TLS or clinical TLS. Laboratory TLS is characterized by the rapid development of two or more of the following abnormalities – hyperuricemia, hyperkalemia, hyperphospatemia, hypocalcemia, and azotemia – which occur in cancer patients most often 28–72 h after the initiation of chemotherapy or radiation; however, spontaneous cases have been reported [1]. Clinical manifestations of TLS include renal failure (glomerular filtration rate ≤60 ml/min) and organ damage leading to cardiac arrhythmias or seizures. Predisposing factors for TLS include neoplasms with high growth rates, patients with a large tumor size or burden, high white blood cell count (>50,000/mm3), cancers highly sensitive to chemotherapy or radiation, and patients with extensive bone marrow involvement [2]. Comorbidities that increase the risk for developing TLS include elevated uric acid level prior to treatment, preexisting renal insufficiency, obstructive uropathy, and advanced age [2]. Patients with hematological malignancies including high-grade lymphomas (i.e., Burkitt’s lymphoma) and acute or chronic leukemias are more likely to have complications of TLS. In adults with solid tumors, TLS is a rare complication in chemosensitive tumors including bulky small cell lung cancer and metastatic germ cell carcinoma. In children, TLS is more frequently associated with malignancies that have an increased proliferative fraction, large tumor burden, widely metastatic disease, or increased sensitivity to chemotherapy.
Eight Frameworks for Regulation

The Frameworks used to guide analysis and the decisions made regarding proposed health and safety regulations are inextricably linked. For example, if an agency is required by law to ban any substance shown to be a carcinogen, little or nothing is gained by an elaborate analysis of the economic and other implications of alternative decisions. The decision framework establishes priorities among issues and changes the way both regulators and nongovernmental decision makers view health and safety issues. Choosing a decision framework and using it consistently is perhaps the most important device for influencing the billions of decisions governing health and safety that are outside the control of federal regulators. Failure to appreciate the importance of the decision framework is the root of much of the criticism of social regulation. Legislation such as the Toxic Substances Control Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and the Consumer Product Safety Act requires analysis of benefits, costs, and risks in formulating a regulation1. Unfortunately, subject areas such as carcinogenicity lack a firm scientific foundation for an analysis for those areas having a scientific foundation. Legislation such as the Delaney Clause is highly specific in requiring a ban2, but occasionally this action is so counter to public desires that the agency is condemned for carrying out the legislation, for example, for banning saccharin.
Influence of membrane viscosity on capsule dynamics in shear flow

Most previous numerical studies on capsule dynamics in shear flow have ignored the role of membrane viscosity. Here we present a numerical method for large deformation of capsules using a Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic model for the membrane. After introducing the model and the related numerical implementation, we present a comprehensive analysis of the influence of the membrane viscosity on buckling, deformation and dynamics. We observe that the membrane viscosity leads to buckling in the range of shear rate in which no buckling is observed for capsules with purely elastic membrane. For moderate to large shear rates, the wrinkles on the capsule surface appear in the same range of the membrane viscosity that was reported earlier for artificial capsules and red blood cells based on experimental measurements. In order to obtain stable shapes, it is necessary to introduce the bending stiffness. It is observed that the range of the bending stiffness required is also in the same range as that reported for the red blood cells, but considerably higher than that estimated for artificial capsules. Using the stable shapes obtained in the presence of bending stiffness, we analyse the influence of membrane viscosity on deformation, inclination and tank-treading frequency of initially spherical capsules. Membrane viscosity is observed to reduce the capsule deformation, and introduce a damped oscillation in time-dependent deformation and inclination. The time-averaged inclination angle shows a non-monotonic trend with an initial decrease reaching a minimum and a subsequent increase with increasing membrane viscosity. A similar non-monotonic trend is also observed in the tank-treading frequency. We then consider the influence of the membrane viscosity on the unsteady dynamics of an initially oblate capsule. The dynamics is observed to change from a swinging motion to a tumbling motion with increasing membrane viscosity. Further, a transient dynamics is also observed in which a capsule starts with one type of dynamics, but settles with a different dynamics over a long time.
Advances in the treatment of interstitial cystitis.

Recent years have brought dramatic advances in the clinician’s ability to offer effective pharmacotherapy to patients who have interstitial cystitis. Medical treatments have been developed and applied to reduce the interstitial cystitis symptoms of pelvic pain and urinary urgency/frequency, and to address underlying causes of the disorder. In addition, advances in the understanding of the natural history of interstitial cystitis have revealed that it is insidiously progressive and the classical definition – rare, severe and difficult to treat – is in fact the relatively uncommon, advanced stage of a disorder that affects most individuals in a mild-to-moderate and readily treatable form. This recognition has led to the identification of large numbers of previously unsuspected cases of interstitial cystitis, and the successful treatment of many individuals in the early stages of interstitial cystitis when it is far more responsive to therapy. A heparinoid-based multimodal medical regimen can effectively con...
FFT applications to plane-polar near-field antenna measurements

The four-point bivariate Lagrange interpolation algorithm was applied to near-field antenna data measured in a plane-polar facility. The results were sufficiently accurate to permit the use of the FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithm to calculate the far-field patterns of the antenna. Good agreement was obtained between the far-field patterns as calculated by the Jacobi-Bessel and the FFT algorithms. The significant advantage in using the FFT is in the calculation of the principal plane cuts, which may be made very quickly. Also, the application of the FFT algorithm directly to the near-field data was used to perform surface holographic diagnosis of a reflector antenna. The effects due to the focusing of the emergent beam from the reflector, as well as the effects of the information in the wide-angle regions, are shown. The use of the plane-polar near-field antenna test range has therefore been expanded to include these useful FFT applications. >
An improved solution procedure for creep problems

A new simpler solution procedure is presented for the finite element analysis of creep problems. The creep strains are eliminated as computation variables. At each time step, a system is solved for the stresses and velocities alone.
Apoptotic and autophagic responses to Bcl-2 inhibition and photodamage

Among the cellular responses to photodamage initiated by photodynamic therapy (PDT) are autophagy and apoptosis. While autophagy is a reversible process that can be both a survival and a death pathway, apoptosis is irreversible, leading only to cell death. In this study, we followed the fate of mouse leukemia L1210 cells after photodamage to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) using a porphycene photosensitizer, where Bcl-2 was among the PDT targets. In wild-type cells, we observed a rapid wave of autophagy, presumed to represent the recycling of some damaged organelles, followed by apoptosis. Using shRNA technology, we created a Bax knockdown line (L1210/Bax(-)). In the latter cell line, we found a marked decrease in apoptosis after photodamage or pharmacologic inactivation of Bcl-2 function, but this did not affect PDT efficacy. Loss of viability was associated with a highly-vacuolated morphology consistent with autophagic cell death. Previous studies indicated pro-survival attributes of autophagy after low-dose PDT, suggesting that autophagy may be responsible for the 'shoulder' on the dose-response curve. It appears that attempts at extensive recycling of damaged organelles are associated with cell death, and that this phenomenon is amplified when apoptosis is suppressed.
A distributed information system study

This paper is a discussion of a methodology, a distributable information system model, and an experiment used to identify potential problems for supporting such a system. The experimental model was designed and implemented in an evolutionary manner for the purpose of studying the feasibility of a system with the postulated attributes. Incentives for distribution and design of the study introduce the two main topics--the study model itself and the implementation of the study model. Results of the study provide insights into such factors in distributed information system structural design as intercomponent communication, system control, and recovery philosophy.
Methods of InSAR atmosphere correction for volcano activity monitoring

When a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) signal propagates through the atmosphere on its path to and from the sensor, it is inevitably affected by atmospheric effects. In particular, the applicability and accuracy of Interferometric SAR (InSAR) techniques for volcano monitoring is limited by atmospheric path delays. Therefore, atmospheric correction of interferograms is required to improve the performance of InSAR for detecting volcanic activity, especially in order to advance its ability to detect subtle pre-eruptive changes in deformation dynamics. In this paper, we focus on InSAR tropospheric mitigation methods and their performance in volcano deformation monitoring. Our study areas include Okmok volcano and Unimak Island located in the eastern Aleutians, AK. We explore two methods to mitigate atmospheric artifacts, namely the numerical weather model simulation and the atmospheric filtering using Persistent Scatterer processing. We investigate the capability of the proposed methods, and investigate their limitations and advantages when applied to determine volcanic processes.
Mobile Device Security Using Transient Authentication

Mobile devices are vulnerable to theft and loss due to their small size and the characteristics of their common usage environment. Since they allow users to work while away from their desk, they are most useful in public locations and while traveling. Unfortunately, this is also where they are most at risk. Existing schemes for securing data either do not protect the device after it is stolen or require bothersome reauthentication. Transient Authentication lifts the burden of authentication from the user by use of a wearable token that constantly attests to the user's presence. When the user departs, the token and device lose contact and the device secures itself. We show how to leverage this authentication framework to secure all the memory and storage locations on a device into which secrets may creep. Our evaluation shows this is done without inconveniencing the user, while imposing a minimal performance overhead
Delayed pressure urticaria

Delayed pressure urticaria (DPU) is a poorly understood syndrome. We describe 17 patients with DPU. Chronic urticaria was present in 94%. All had negative challenges for immediate demographism and cold urticaria. DPU was induced with a pressure challenge on the shoulder of 15 pounds for 15 min. Average onset of pressure lesions after challenge was 6.5. Lesions were painful, not pruritic, peaked at 9 hr, and disappeared by 24 to 48 hr. Fever, chills, and/or arthralgias occurred in 78%. Positive laboratory abnormalities included leukocytosis in 20% and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate in 37.5%. Skin biopsies of lesions showed perivascular round cell infiltrates and negative immunofluorescence. Urticaria responded to antihistamines, but not aspirin, in 100% of patients, while pressure lesions improved with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), but not antihistamines, in 80% of patients. Both urticaria and DPU were controlled with prednisone, which was necessary in 87.5% of patients. A severe nonremitting course was noted in 7%, 40% had a moderate remitting course requiring intermittent prednisone, and 53% had a mild remitting disease requiring no medication or antihistamines and/or NSAID only. We conclude that DPU is more common than previously appreciated and likely involves mediators other than histamine, possibly the prostaglandin system.
Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Mixing Depth over the Northeastern United States during the Summer of 1995

Abstract A study of the temporal and spatial variations of mixing layer height over the Ozone Transport Region of the northeastern United States for the summer of 1995 is presented using meteorological data obtained from the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone-Northeast (NARSTO-NE) 1995 field program. Rawinsonde balloon soundings made every 4 h during 13 ozone episode days during NARSTO-NE provided the principal source of upper-air data, supplemented by virtual temperature profiles from five radio acoustic sounder system sites. Forty-four weather stations provided surface data. Daytime mixing depths were estimated using a profile-intersection technique. The height of the surface inversion was used as a measure of the depth of the turbulent boundary layer at night. For the 13 ozone episode days, the average maximum mixing depth ranged from less than 500 m offshore to greater than 2000 m inland, with most of the increase occurring within the first 100 km of the coastline. The coefficient...
Recursive estimation of time-average variance constants through prewhitening

Abstract The time-average variance constant (TAVC) has been an important component in the study of time series. Many real problems request a fast and recursive way in estimating TAVC. In this paper we apply A R ( 1 ) prewhitening filter to the recursive algorithm by Wu (2009b), so that the memory complexity of order O ( 1 ) is maintained and the accuracy of the estimate is improved. This is justified by both theoretical results and simulation studies.
The Apicoplast and Mitochondrion of Toxoplasma gondii

Publisher Summary The hallmark of a eukaryotic cell is the division of the cell contents into specialized membrane bounded compartments. These organelles provide multiple benefits to the cell, including protecting the rest of the cell from dangerous reaction products, generating gradients that can be exploited for biological processes, and separating potentially interfering pathways. Of the numerous organelles in eukaryotic cells, two provide evidence of endosymbiosis since they contain small genomes and are bounded by double instead of single membranes: the mitochondrion and the chloroplast. Their genomes encode key proteins needed for the specialized function of these organelles, including some components of a separate translation system, and a variable phalanx of other genes. In the origins of these organelles lie new possibilities for intervention in diseases caused byapicomplexan parasites, including birth defects, blindness, and encephalitis due to T. gondii , malaria due to Plasmodium species, and numerous veterinary diseases. The intense interest in the endosymbiont organelles of apicomplexans lies inthe realization that these parasites have not one but two extrachromosomal DNAs, each residing in its own organelle.
Implementation of CMOS Compatible Conductance-Based Micro-Gas-Sensor System

A CMOS compatible micro-gas-sensor system was designed and fabricated in a standard CMOS process through MOSIS (1). The chip was post- processed to create microhotplates using bulk micro- machining techniques. Tin-oxide-sensing films were grown over post-patterned gold sensing electrodes using a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The thermal properties of the microhotplates include a one-millisecond thermal time constant and a 10°C/mW thermal efficiency. The microhotplate operates at temperatures between 20°C and 450°C. Tin- oxide-sensing films were isothermally characterized using different gas molecules and concentrations. This paper describes the fabrication, characterization, and design of interface circuitry of a novel CMOS integrated micro-gas-sensor system. .
Viscous and metallic dampers in a building structure subjected to varying levels of ground motion

Supplemental energy dissipation devices have been proven in applications worldwide to be an effective means of mitigating seismic hazard. This work offers a comparison of viscous fluid dampers and metallic yielding dampers in a Steel Moment Frame. A computer-simulated building frame model, with and without supplemental energy dissipation devices, is subjected to three levels of ground motion. The simulated building is then fitted with four combinations of metallic yielding dampers, with varying stiffness ratio, and viscous fluid dampers, with 10%, 20%, and 30% of critical damping. One additional combination of dampers is examined with varying ductility ratio to demonstrate its effect on the metallic dampers. Comparison and analysis of the simulation results reveals that the viscous fluid dampers are more flexible in their suitability for a wider range of applications, but that metallic dampers are perhaps more suitable for situations involving large seismic input requiring early energy dissipation. The comparison of the response of the frame with different values of ductility ratio with respect to the metallic dampers reveals that it is the stiffness ratio rather than the ductility ratio that has a greater effect on the performance of the devices under seismic loading.
Effect of tunicamycin on maturation of fetal mouse lung

The mesodermal capsule of the fetal lung plays a role in differentiation of the respiratory region. It has been proposed for other epithelial organs that the mesodermal capsule influences development by modifying the basal lamina or the extended extracellular matrix. The effect could be on deposition or turnover of collagens, proteoglycans, and/or glycoproteins. This study tests the role of glycoproteins in differentiation of respiratory endings by inhibiting their synthesis with the antibiotic tunicamycin (TM). Lungs at 16 and 18 days gestation and 3 days after birth were cultured with TM and examined for morphological and biochemical differences from normal controls. With TM, alveolar regions did not expand properly and formed fewer type I pneumocytes, although type II pneumocytes were unaffected. The epithelium of untreated respiratory regions showed greater incorporation of radioactive mannose than the airways region or mesenchyme. This incorporation was diminished in TM, but the pattern persisted. Comparison with the results obtained with beta-xyloside suggested that differentiation of type I and type II pneumocytes is under separate control.
Viewpoint-Based Legibility Optimization

Much robotics research has focused on intent-expressive (legible) motion. However, algorithms that can autonomously generate legible motion have implicitly made the strong assumption of an omniscient observer, with access to the robot's configuration as it changes across time. In reality, human observers have a particular viewpoint, which biases the way they perceive the motion. In this work, we free robots from this assumption and introduce the notion of an observer with a specific point of view into legibility optimization. In doing so, we account for two factors: (1) depth uncertainty induced by a particular viewpoint, and (2) occlusions along the motion, during which (part of) the robot is hidden behind some object. We propose viewpoint and occlusion models that enable autonomous generation of viewpoint-based legible motions, and show through large-scale user studies that the produced motions are significantly more legible compared to those generated assuming an omniscient observer.
In vitro absorption of serotonin by thrombocytes of rheumatoid arthritic and non-arthritic individuals.

SummaryUnder controlled in vitro conditions (involving equal numbers of human thrombocytes in autologous plasma to which was added an amount of serotonin creatinine sulfate that could be absorbed completely by a few normal specimens in the limited time period allowed), a possibly significant decrease in absorption of serotonin was noted with thrombocytes from patients with non-rheumatoid inflammatory states (p <.02) and with rheumatoid arthritis (p <.05), as compared to individuals with no demonstrable inflammation.
ELECTROPHORESIS OF PROTEINS IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF PARTULA (GASTROPODA).

The evolutionary relationships among species of the genus Partula are complex and by no means well understood (Crampton, 1932; Lundman, 1947; Bailey, 1956). These highly polymorphic land snails inhabit the volcanic islands of the Pacific from the Austral Islands in the southeast to the Marianas in the northwest. Each island group has its own endemic species, and most of the species display an elaborate polymorphism in color and pattern of the shell (Crampton, 1916, 1932; Murray and Clarke, 1966). Although it is relatively small, measuring only 10 miles across at the widest point, the island of Moorea (see map, Murray and Clarke, 1968) in French Polynesia is particularly rich in variation. Crampton (1932) recognized ten species of different degrees of distinctiveness. One of these, Partula suturalis Pfeiffer, is of particular interest. It is widespread, common, highly polymorphic, and related rather closely to several other species on the island. Murray and Clarke (1968) have presented evidence that its relationship with P. aurantia Crampton is particularly complex. Using rank correlation methods they have shown that there are constellations of characters associated with each species, indicating that in some populations the two are distinct. In other populations, however, the breakdown of correlation shows that reproductive isolation between them is incomplete. In an attempt to cast more light on the relationships in what may be called the P. suturalis species group, the electrophoretic mobility of proteins from individuals of the group was studied using the tech-