cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Silsesquioxanes as synthetic platforms. II. Epoxy-functionalized inorganic-organic hybrid species

Abstract The vinyl cubic polyhedral silsesquioxanes (vinylSiO1.5)8 and [(vinylMe2SiO)SiO1.5]8 were epoxidized using ten equivalents of m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) per cube. The [(vinylMe2SiO)SiO1.5]8 compound converts, quantitatively, to the octaepoxide, [(epoxyMe2SiO)SiO1.5]8 as demonstrated by 1H, 13C, and 29Si solution NMR, chemical and mass spectral analysis. The (vinylSiO1.5)8 cube was likewise fully epoxidized as determined by NMR; however, efforts to isolate it always led to intractable gels. Partial epoxidation was achieved using only three equivalents of m-CPBA. The partially epoxidized compound, when characterized by Cl mass spectra, chemical analysis and NMR, was shown to have an average of two epoxy groups per cube. Both polyepoxides readily polymerized in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts or on reaction with simple amines, which suggests their potential as coupling agents in the synthesis of novel inorganic-organic hybrids.
Optimum design of thin wall structures under variable amplitude fatigue loading

Abstract This paper presents a method for considering fatigue life requirements in the optimal design of thin wall structures under variable amplitude load histories. The basic concept is to use the load histories combined with the stresses of the structure and the material fatigue properties to calculate the fatigue life during the optimisation process. The life requirement is considered as a side constraint and the structure weight as the objective function. The elements required for teh stress and the fatigue life calculations are discussed. Some test cases to demonstrate the efficiency of the method are presented.
Poster: Performing Cloud Computation on a Parallel File System

The MapReduce (MR) framework is a programming environment that facilitates rapid parallel design of applications that process big data. While born in the Cloud arena, numerous other areas are now attempting to utilize it for their big data due to the speed of development. However, for HPC researchers and many others who already utilize centralized storage, MR marks a paradigm shift toward co-located storage and computation resources. In this work I attempt to reach the best of both worlds by exploring how to utilize MR on a network-attached parallel file system. This work is nearly complete and has unearthed key issues I've subsequently overcome to achieved desired high throughput. In my poster I describe many of these issues, demonstrate improvements possible with different architectural schemas, and provide reliability and fault-tolerance considerations for this novel combination of Cloud computation and HPC storage.
Complex resistivity signatures of ethanol biodegradation in porous media

Abstract Numerous adverse effects are associated with the accidental release of ethanol (EtOH) and its persistence in the subsurface. Geophysical techniques may permit non-invasive, real time monitoring of microbial degradation of hydrocarbon. We performed complex resistivity (CR) measurements in conjunction with geochemical data analysis on three microbial-stimulated and two control columns to investigate changes in electrical properties during EtOH biodegradation processes in porous media. A Debye Decomposition approach was applied to determine the chargeability (m), normalized chargeability (mn) and time constant (τ) of the polarization magnitude and relaxation length scale as a function of time. The CR responses showed a clear distinction between the bioaugmented and control columns in terms of real (σ′) and imaginary (σ″) conductivity, phase (ϕ) and apparent formation factor (Fapp). Unlike the control columns, a substantial decrease in σ′ and increase in Fapp occurred at an early time (within 4 days) of the experiment for all three bioaugmented columns. The observed decrease in σ′ is opposite to previous studies on hydrocarbon biodegradation. These columns also exhibited increases in ϕ (up to ~ 9 mrad) and σ″ (up to two order of magnitude higher) 5 weeks after microbial inoculation. Variations in m and mn were consistent with temporal changes in ϕ and σ″ responses, respectively. Temporal geochemical changes and high resolution scanning electron microscopy imaging corroborated the CR findings, thus indicating the sensitivity of CR measurements to EtOH biodegradation processes. Our results offer insight into the potential application of CR measurements for long-term monitoring of biogeochemical and mineralogical changes during intrinsic and induced EtOH biodegradation in the subsurface.
Effects of High Pressure on Glass: a Possible Piezometer for the 100-Kilobar Region

THE measurement of pressures of the order of 10,000–200,000 bars and upward on uniaxial pressure transmitting devices is a formidable problem. At present, inter-laboratory comparison of results obtained at ultra-high pressures is not satisfactory. The availability of a convenient pressure calibration substance that is useful over a wide temperature-range, and the agreement on a satisfactory scale of pressure based on this calibration substance, are imperative for future work.
Cellulosic Biomass Pretreatment and Sugar Yields as a Function of Biomass Particle Size

Three lignocellulosic pretreatment techniques (ammonia fiber expansion, dilute acid and ionic liquid) are compared with respect to saccharification efficiency, particle size and biomass composition. In particular, the effects of switchgrass particle size (32–200) on each pretreatment regime are examined. Physical properties of untreated and pretreated samples are characterized using crystallinity, surface accessibility measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. At every particle size tested, ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment results in greater cell wall disruption, reduced crystallinity, increased accessible surface area, and higher saccharification efficiencies compared with dilute acid and AFEX pretreatments. The advantages of using IL pretreatment are greatest at larger particle sizes (>75 µm).
Clinical and angiographic variables affecting the progression of coronary artery disease as determined by quantitative angiography

To assess by serial quantitative angiography, the significance of clinical and angiographic variables that affect the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). Progression of disease by sequential angiography is unpredictable and the role of clinical risk factors controversial. Various intervention trials have demonstrated less progression and even regression in hyperlipidemic patients. Correlates of progression have included a younger age, unstable angina, and greater involvement of the coronary arteries, with few studies looking at angiographic features of individual lesions. Serial angiograms on 74 patients were analyzed by computer assisted quantitative angiography using absolute measurements. A total of 99 diseased segments were analyzed for progression defined as an absolute reduction of 20% in luminal cross-sectional area. A preliminary correlation coefficient was calculated for each of the clinical and angiographic variables to detect any association with progression, and the odds ratio determined.
Quantum coherence between two atoms beyond Q=10(15).

We place two atoms in quantum superposition states and observe coherent phase evolution for $3.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{15}$ cycles. Correlation signals from the two atoms yield information about their relative phase even after the probe radiation has decohered. This technique allowed a frequency comparison of two $^{27}\mathrm{Al}^{+}$ ions with fractional uncertainty ${3.7}_{\ensuremath{-}0.8}^{+1.0}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}/\sqrt{\ensuremath{\tau}/\mathrm{s}}$. Two measures of the $Q$ factor are reported: The $Q$ factor derived from quantum coherence is ${3.4}_{\ensuremath{-}1.1}^{+2.4}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{16}$, and the spectroscopic $Q$ factor for a Ramsey time of 3 s is $6.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{15}$. We demonstrate a method to detect the individual quantum states of two ${\mathrm{Al}}^{+}$ ions in a ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}{\mathrm{Al}}^{+}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}{\mathrm{Al}}^{+}$ linear ion chain without spatially resolving the ions.
XXYY syndrome discovered on routine physical examination

The XXYY syndrome, an uncommon disorder of chromosome number, was discovered on routine physical examination of a 20-year-old patient. Despite numerous earlier contacts with physicians, including several visits during adolescence, insufficient consideration had been given to his apparent abnormalities. This case is presented to review the syndrome and to emphasize the importance of careful evaluation of pubertal development during the routine physical examination of an adolescent.
Pleural Infection Caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus, Formerly CDC Group DF-2

An 80-year-old man with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia developed pneumonia and empyema due to Capnocytophaga canimorsus (formerly CDC group DF-2). No growth was detected in blood cultures, but the organism was identified from cultures of pleural fluid. The infection responded well to antibiotics and drainage via a chest tube. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a clinical isolate of C. canimorsus from a pulmonary source. The absence of concurrent bacteremia raises the possibility that the lower respiratory tract can be the site of primary infection with this organism.
Cloud-Chamber Observations of the Heavy Charged Unstable Particles in Cosmic Rays

In a series of pictures taken with a multiplate cloud chamber, we have observed a number of charged unstable particles considerably heavier than $\ensuremath{\pi}$-mesons, of which some decay at rest ($S$ particles) and some decay in flight (${V}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ particles). In each case the charged decay product is a particle of mesonic mass. From our results, which are not yet completely conclusive, it appears that most of the observed events can be explained by the two-body decay of a single kind of particle. The evidence concerning the mass of this particle, its mean life, and the nature of the neutral decay product is discussed. Our observations are compared with those of other experiments.
Scenario 1: A Patient with Hospital-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia—Introduction to Clinical Trial Design Issues

A prototypical patient is presented to introduce important design issues for clinical trials of antibacterials in the treatment of hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
Synchrotron radiation studies of nuclear-resonant scattering in the presence of strong electronic charge scattering.

The delayed nuclear-resonant Bragg scattering of synchrotron radiation at a strong allowed charge scattering peak in \ensuremath{\alpha}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}^{57}$${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ has been observed. The detailed time dependence has been measured and successfully interpreted theoretically. This result demonstrates that it is no longer necessary to extinguish crystallographically the normal charge scattering in synchrotron radiation studies of nuclear-resonant scattering.
Influence of Pasteurization of Milk on Protein Breakdown in Cheddar Cheese During Aging

Abstract Cheddar cheese was made from pasteurized (63°C for 30min) and raw milk. The extent and characteristics of proteolysis were monitored during 6 mo of aging. Pasteurization decreased the rate of production of 12% TCA-soluble nitrogen during cheese aging. The breakdown of β-casein and the high molecular weight proteolytic products of α s -caseins that comigrated with β-casein (as measured by SDS-PAGE) was slower in cheese made from pasteurized milk. The total amount of water-soluble peptides measured by HPLC at wavelengths of 214nm and 280nm was similar in cheeses made from pasteurized and raw milk. However, there was a higher ratio of water-soluble hydrophobic to hydrophilic peptides in Cheddar cheese made from pasteurized milk. Thus, milk pasteurization prior to Cheddar cheese manufacture influenced both the extent and characteristics of proteolysis during Cheddar cheese aging. Milk pasteurization caused heat-induced interaction of whey proteins with casein and resulted in retention of additional whey protein in the cheese beyond that normal amount which is soluble in the aqueous phase of the cheese. The presence of heat denatured whey protein in cheese may influence the accessibility of caseins to proteases during cheese aging and cause differences in proteolysis during aging. These differences may be one factor that contributes to differences in flavor development in Cheddar cheese made from pasteurized and raw milk.
THE SPECIFIC HEAT OF A FERMI GAS AT LOW TEMPERATURE: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE lnT BEHAVIOR

At finite temperature, a Fermi gas can have states that simultaneously hold a particle and a hole with a finite probability. This gives rise to a new set of diagrams that are absent at zero temperature. The so called "anomalous" diagram is just one of the new diagrams. We have already studied the contribution of these new diagrams to the thermodynamic potential (Phys. Lett.A224, 127 (1996)). Here we continue that work and calculate their effect on the specific heat. We will also calculate the finite temperature contribution of the ring diagrams. We conclude that the ln T behavior of the specific heat due to exchange gets canceled by the new contribution of the new diagrams, and that screening is not essential to resolve this anomaly.
Relative Bioavailability of Chlorthalidone in Humans: Adverse Influence of Polyethylene Glycol

The bioavailability of two commercial preparations of chlorthalidone was studied in healthy male subjects. Reference solutions/suspensions for the two products were chlorthalidone dissolved in a solution of water-polyethylene glycol and a solution/suspension of chlorthalidone. Bioavailability of the chlorthalidone in water-polyethylene glycol solution was significantly reduced in comparison to one of the commercial preparations, and trends in the data suggested that it was less well absorbed than either the chlorthalidone in water solution/suspension or the other commercial preparation of chlorthalidone. These data, together with previous reports indicating that polyethylene glycol may retard the absorption of some drugs in vitro, suggest that this compound should not be used to aid dissolution of drug in a reference standard for bioavailability investigations.
Do New Drugs Save Lives

To the Editors:—Dean Baker and Adriane Fugh-Berman have published a critique of a study I performed in 2007 entitled “Why has longevity increased more in some states than in others?”1. One of the conclusions I drew from that study was that medical innovation accounts for a substantial portion of recent increases in U.S. life expectancy. Baker and Fugh-Berman claim that my study was subject to a number of major methodological flaws. Many of their claims pertain to the role of infant mortality; the definition of drug vintage; the issue of age adjustment; and the appropriateness of controlling for AIDS, obesity, and smoking in the analysis of longevity.
Intravascular ultrasound observations of atherosclerotic lesion formation and restenosis in patients with diabetes mellitus

Coronary artery disease is more aggressive in diabetic patients than in nondiabetics; they have more diffuse disease, higher mortality rates and worse clinical outcomes after coronary interventions. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) produces transmural tomographic images of the coronary arteries in vivo. Recent IVUS studies have provided new insights into the mechanisms of stenosis formation and restenosis in both nondiabetic and diabetic patients. Arterial remodeling is defined as a change in arterial area. During atherogenesis, an increase in arterial area usually accompanies plaque accumulation to delay lumen compromise. Stenosis formation is related to: (a) the rate of plaque accumulation versus the rate of positive remodeling; and (b) the limits and ultimate failure of positive remodeling. However, there is a marked variability in remodeling. IVUS studies have suggested that remodeling may be impaired in some diabetic patients during atherogenesis. Following non-stent catheter-based interventions, seri...
TU-D-332-03: Quantifying Magnetic Moments of Small Spherical Objects in MRI Images

Purpose: The goal of this research is to develop a novel method for quantifying relative magnetic moment of any small object appearing in MRI images. This method may be useful in evaluating the magnetic characteristics of localized microbleeds in the brain or nanoparticles of contrast agents. We have successfully developed a 2D version applied only to long narrow cylindrical objects [1–2]. A key feature of this method is in the extraction of the desired information from MRI data without any a priori information. Method and Materials: The complex signal from a spherical object in a concentric spherical region is given in [3]. The signal contains three unknowns: effective proton density, volume of the object, and magnetic moment. The center of the object can be determined by minimizing the aggregate signal from the spherical region. The magnetic moment can be derived from the composite complex signals of three concentric spheres. Whether the object is paramagnetic or diamagnetic (relative to water) can be determined from the imaginary part of the complex signal. Both the thermal noise and the discrete voxels were included in simulations and were studied by the error propagation method. Results: The center of the spherical object was determined within 0.3 voxel from its true center. With a proper choice of the echo time, the magnetic moment of the object can be determined within 5% of the actual magnetic moment. This result has been confirmed by both simulations and error propagation analysis. Conclusion: Our preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of the new method that can be used to accurately quantify the magnetic moment of a voxel wide object such as microbleeds or implanted nanoparticles without any a priori information.
Towards continuous policy-driven demand response in data centers

Demand response (DR) is a technique for balancing electricity supply and demand by regulating power consumption instead of generation. DR is a key technology for emerging smart electric grids that aim to increase grid efficiency, while incorporating significant amounts of clean renewable energy sources. In today's grid, DR is a rare event that only occurs when actual peak demands exceed the expected peak. In contrast, smart electric grids incentivize consumers to engage in continuous policy-driven DR to 1) optimize power consumption for time-of-use pricing and 2) deal with power variations from non-dispatchable renewable energy sources. While data centers are well-positioned to exploit DR, applications must cope with significant, frequent, and unpredictable changes in available power by regulating their energy footprint.The problem is challenging since data centers often use distributed storage systems that co-locate computation and storage, and serve as a foundation for a variety of stateful distributed applications. As a result, existing approaches that deactivate servers as power decreases do not translate well to DR, since important application-level state may become completely unavailable. In this paper, we propose a DR-compatible storage system that uses staggered node blinking patterns combined with a balanced data layout and popularity-based replication to optimize I/O throughput, data availability, and energy-efficiency as power varies. Initial simulation results show the promise of our approach, which increases I/O throughput by at least 25% compared to an activation approach when adjusting to real-world wind and price fluctuations.
THE INFLUENCE OF TEST TITLE ON TEST RESPONSE

This study was designed to determine the extent to which responses to test items of the type frequently found in personality inventories would be influenced by the title associated with the test. The basic hypothesis was that subjects respond to the test title by developing a particular response set which will be reflected in the individual responses. An instrument was constructed and administered to eight treatment groups. Each administration differed primarily in the title each group's tests bore. The dependent variables were measures of the tendency to lie, respond defensively, answer carefully, and complete questions. Subjects tended to lie and respond more defensively to titled tests than to a test having no title and administered under nonthreatening conditions. All other comparisons were not statistically significant.
The neurocognitive bases of human multimodal food perception: Consciousness

This review explores how we become aware of the (integrated) flavor of food. In recent years, progress has been made understanding the neural correlates of consciousness. Experimental and computational data have been largely based on the visual system. Contemporary neurobiological frameworks of consciousness are reviewed, concluding that neural reverberation among forward- and back-projecting neural ensembles across brain areas is a common theme. In an attempt to extrapolate these concepts to the oral-sensory and olfactory systems involved with multimodal flavor perception, the integration of the sensory information of which into a flavor gestalt has been reviewed elsewhere (Verhagen, J.V., Engelen, L., 2006. The neurocognitive bases of human multimodal food perception: Sensory integration. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 30(5): 613_650), I reconceptualize the flavor-sensory system by integrating it into a larger neural system termed the Homeostatic Interoceptive System (HIS). This system consists of an oral (taste, oral touch, etc.) and non-oral part (non oral-thermosensation, pain, etc.) which are anatomically and functionally highly similar. Consistent with this new concept and with a large volume of experimental data, I propose that awareness of intraoral food is related to the concomitant reverberant self-sustained activation of a coalition of neuronal subsets in agranular insula and orbitofrontal cortex (affect, hedonics) and agranular insula and perirhinal cortex (food identity), as well as the amygdala (affect and identity) in humans. I further discuss the functional anatomy in relation essential nodes. These formulations are by necessity to some extent speculative.
The Stability Region of the Delay in Pareto Opportunistic Networks

The intermeeting time, i.e., the time between two consecutive contacts between a pair of nodes, plays a fundamental role in the delay of messages in opportunistic networks. A desirable property of message delay is that its expectation is finite, so that the performance of the system can be predicted. Unfortunately, when intermeeting times feature a Pareto distribution, this property does not always hold. In this paper, assuming heterogeneous mobility and Pareto intermeeting times, we provide a detailed analysis of the conditions for the expectation of message delay to be finite (i.e., to converge) when social-oblivious or social-aware forwarding schemes are used. More specifically, we consider different classes of social-oblivious and social-aware schemes, based on the number of hops allowed and the number of copies generated. Our main finding is that, in terms of convergence, allowing more than two hops may provide advantages only in the social-aware case. At the same time, we show that using a multi-copy scheme can in general improve the convergence of the expected delay. We also compare social-oblivious and social-aware strategies from the convergence standpoint and we prove that, depending on the mobility scenario considered, social-aware schemes may achieve convergence while social-oblivious cannot, and vice versa. Finally, we apply the derived convergence conditions to three popular contact data sets available in the literature (Cambridge, Infocom, and RollerNet), assessing the convergence of each class of forwarding protocols in these three cases.
A targeted/non-targeted screening method for perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and sulfonates in whole fish using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and MSe

A new method for measuring perfluoroalkyl contaminants (PFCs) in biological matrices has been developed. An ultra-high pressure liquid chromatograph equipped with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UPLC-QToF) was optimized using a continuous precursor/product ion monitoring mode. Unlike traditional targeted studies that isolate precursor/product ion pairs, the current method alternates between two ionization energy channels to continuously capture standard electrospray ionization (low energy) and collision induced dissociation (high energy) spectra. The result is the indiscriminant acquisition of paired low and high energy spectra for all constituents eluting from the chromatographic system. This technique was evaluated for the routine analysis of perfluoroalkyl species. Using this technique, linear perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (C4 to C14) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (C4, C6, C8 and C10) exhibited a linear range spanning over three orders of magnitude and were detectable at levels less than 1 pg on column with a root mean squared signal to noise ratio of 5 to 20. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and National Institutes of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1946 were used to evaluate matrix effects and the accuracy of this method when applied to a whole fish extract. The current method was also evaluated as a diagnostic tool to identify unknown PFCs using experimental fragmentation patterns, mass defect filtering and Kendrick plots.
The volume common to two congruent circular cones whose axes intersect symmetrically

The axes of two congruent right circular cones intersect at a point equidistant from the cones' vertices. We derive a formula for the volume of the set of points common to the interiors of both cones. Some of the work was done on the symbol manipulator MACSYMA.
Classification of vehicles using nonlinear dynamics and array processing

The analysis of vehicle signals with methods derived from the theory of nonlinear dynamics is a potential tool to classify different vehicles. The nonlinear dynamical methodologies provide alternate system information that the linear analysis tools have ignored. In order to observe the nonlinear dynamic phenomena more clearly, and estimate system invariants more robustly, we exploit the maximum power blind beamforming algorithm as a signal enhancement and noise reduction method when locations of a source and sensors are unknown. The dynamical behavior of an acoustic vehicle signal is studied with the use of correlation dimension D2 and Lyapunov exponents. To characterize the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the acoustic vehicle signal, Taken's embedded theory is used to form an attractor in phase space based on a single observed time series. The time series is obtained from the coherently enhanced output of a blind beamforming array. Then the Grassberger- Procaccia algorithm and Sano-Sawada method are exploited to compute the correlation dimension and Lyapunov exponents. In this paper, we also propose some efficient computational methods for evaluating these system invariants. Experimental classification results show that the maximum power blind beamforming processing improves the estimation of the invariants of the nonlinear dynamic system. Preliminary results show that the nonlinear dynamics is useful for classification applications.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Transistion from laminar to turbulent flow in pipes

In pipeline design, for which one needs a means of ascertaining whether the flow will be laminar or turbulent, the Reynolds number is the criterion for Newtonian fluids. The principal purpose of this study was to formulate a more general criterion to characterize the flow regime and to test this form in application to non-Newtonian fluids. Intuitive physical arguments suggested the use of a local stability parameter which is a function of the ratio of input energy to energy dissipation for an element of fluid. If the parameter is applied to a Newtonian fluid in laminar pipe flow, one finds that it has a maximum value of 0.385 times the critical Reynolds number, or 808. As the criterion is presumed to be general, it is inferred that the value of 808 defines the boundary between stable laminar and stable turbulent pipe flow for all fluids. The inference has been varified for several pseudoplastic fluids.
The rate of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and evaporative water loss in Dipodomys panamintinus.

Abstract 1. The rates of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production and evaporative water loss in relation to five different temperatures were determined for Dipodomys panamintinus with the animals in a non-post-absorptive state to more closely approximate natural conditions. 2. The rates of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production were inversely correlated with ambient temperatures below the zone of thermal neutrality. 3. Evaporative water loss decreased directly with temperature. 4. The calculated respiratory quotient value of 0·975 for animals with free access to food was much higher than the generally assumed value of 0·82 for post-absorptive animals.
mTORC1 Signaling Can Regulate Growth Factor Activation of p44/42 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases through Protein Phosphatase 2A

The mTORC1 complex (mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-raptor) is modulated by mitogen-activated protein (p44/42 MAP) kinases (p44/42) through phosphorylation and inactivation of the tuberous sclerosis complex. However, a role for mTORC1 signaling in modulating activation of p44/42 has not been reported. We show that in two cancer cell lines regulation of the p44/42 MAPKs is mTORC1-dependent. In Rh1 cells rapamycin inhibited insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I)-stimulated phosphorylation of Thr202 but not Tyr204 and suppressed activation of p44/42 kinase activity. Down-regulation of raptor, which inhibits mTORC1 signaling, had a similar effect to rapamycin in blocking IGF-I-stimulated Tyr204 phosphorylation. Rapamycin did not block maximal phosphorylation of Tyr204 but retarded the rate of dephosphorylation of Tyr204 following IGF-I stimulation. IGF-I stimulation of MEK1 phosphorylation (Ser217/221) was not inhibited by rapamycin. Higher concentrations of rapamycin (≥100 ng/ml) were required to inhibit epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced phosphorylation of p44/42 (Thr202). Rapamycin-induced inhibition of p44/42 (Thr202) phosphorylation by IGF-I was reversed by low concentrations of okadaic acid, suggesting involvement of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Both IGF-I and EGF caused dissociation of PP2A catalytic subunit (PP2Ac) from p42. Whereas low concentrations of rapamycin (1 ng/ml) inhibited dissociation of PP2Ac after IGF-I stimulation, it required higher concentrations (≥100 ng/ml) to block EGF-induced dissociation, consistent with the ability for rapamycin to attenuate growth factor-induced activation of p44/42. The effect of rapamycin on IGF-I or insulin activation of p44/42 was recapitulated by amino acid deprivation. Rapamycin effects altering the kinetics of p44/42 phosphorylation were completely abrogated in Rh1mTORrr cells that express a rapamycin-resistant mTOR, whereas the effects of amino acid deprivation were similar in Rh1 and Rh1mTORrr cells. These results indicate complex regulation of p44/42 by phosphatases downstream of mTORC1. This suggests a model in which mTORC1 modulates the phosphorylation of Thr202 on p44/42 MAPKs through direct or indirect regulation of PP2Ac.
Cortisol circadian rhythm alterations in psychotic major depression

Background Increased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is well described in psychotic depression with an emphasis on 24-hour, urinary free cortisol levels or dexamethasone suppression tests. There are limited data on cortisol levels during specific times of the day. Methods Patients with depression with (PMD) and without (NPMD) psychosis and healthy control subjects were studied using rating scales of depression and psychosis and measures of HPA activity, including overnight cortisol and adrenocorticotropin levels. We used analysis of variance to determine group differences and regression analyses to assess contributions of specific measures to cortisol levels. Results PMDs had higher cortisol during the evening hours than did NPMDs or control subjects, who did not differ from one another. Regression analyses suggest that depression and the combination of depressive and psychotic symptoms were important contributors to variance in evening cortisol. Conclusions PMD is associated with increased cortisol levels during the quiescent hours. Enhanced cortisol activity, particularly a higher nadir, was related to depression severity and the interaction of depressive and psychotic symptoms. This increase suggests a defect in the action of the circadian timing system and HPA axis, creating a hormonal milieu similarly seen in early Cushing's syndrome and potentially an (im)balance of mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptor activity.
Nonperturbative approach to the electron--muon mass ratio in gauge theories

A pole approximation to the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the fermion self-energy parts is proposed to investigate the consequences of dynamical symmetry breaking on the pattern of lepton mass generation in gauge theories. This approach finesses known difficulties, encountered by Georgi and Glashow, in attempts to calculate perturbatively the electron-muon mass ratio in theories with elementary Higgs fields. Its self-consistency would imply, via an eigenvalue equation, the existence of ultraheavy gauge bosons.
Parsing C/C++ Code without Pre-processing

It is difficult to develop style-preserving source-to-source transformation engines for C and C++. The main reason is not the complexity of those languages, but the use of the C pre-processor ( cpp ), especially ifdefs and macros. This has for example hindered the development of refactoring tools for C and C++. In this paper we propose to combine multiple techniques and heuristics to parse C/C++ source files as-is, while still having only a few modifications to the original grammars of C and C++. We rely on the fact that in most C and C++ software, programmers follow a limited number of conventions on the use of cpp which makes it possible to disambiguate different situations by just looking at the context, names, or indentation of cpp constructs. We have implemented a parser, Yacfe, based on these techniques and evaluated it on 16 large open source projects. Yacfe can on average parse 96% of those projects correctly. As a side effect, we also found mistakes in code that was not compiled because it was protected by particular ifdefs, but that was still analyzed by Yacfe. Using Yacfe on new projects may require adapting some of our techniques. We found that as conventions and idioms are shared by many projects, the adaptation time is on average less than 2 hours for a new project.
ULNAR NERVE ENTRAPMENT IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: A CASE REPORT.

The case history of a patient with classical rheumatoid arthritis is presented. Proliferating granulation tissue at the elbow had entrapped and displaced the ulnar nerve. This was corrected surgically with almost complete restoration of nerve function. Neurological involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is briefly reviewed.
Effect of American acculturation on cigarette smoking behavior among six major Asian American subpopulations in California

Purpose To investigate the moderating effect of acculturation and other individual characteristics on smoking behavior and examine the gender-specific prevalence of cigarette smoking among six major Asian American subpopulations in California. Methods Using data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, we examined smoking prevalence among 5,265 Asian American adults, age 18 to 85 years, who reported being from 1 of the 6 major Asian American subpopulations in the California region. Level of U.S. acculturation was measured by five index variables: country of birth, parents' country of birth, languages spoken at home, years lived in the U.S., and frequency of eating tomatoes prepared in a quintessential American fashion. Multinomial logistic regression methods were used to estimate gender-specific rates of current and past cigarette smoking and its determinants. Results After adjusting for possible confounding due to age, education level, marital status, alcohol consumption, health care access, and health insurance status, we found that American acculturation level was negatively correlated with men's current smoking rates but positively correlated with women's current smoking rates. Overall, highly acculturated men and least acculturated women had the lowest current smoking rates. Current cigarette smoking prevalence rates were higher among men of Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino background as compared to California men in general. Rates for men of Japanese, Chinese, and South Asian background were, in contrast, lower. As expected, smoking rates for women in all six subpopulations were lower than that seen among men. Conclusion Tobacco use among Asian Americans is not uniformly low. Some subpopulations have relatively higher rates of use. Most troubling, the process of acculturation to living in the U.S. appears to disadvantage Asian American women. Comprehensive, community-based, culturally-tailored, and language-specific smoking control programs are urgently needed to reduce the high prevalence of cigarette smoking among some subpopulations of Asian American men and reverse the increasing trend of cigarette smoking among Asian American women.
Processing of hemojuvelin requires retrograde trafficking to the Golgi in HepG2 cells

Hemojuvelin (HJV) was recently identified as a critical regulator of iron homeostasis. It is either associated with cell membranes through a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor or released as a soluble form. Membrane-anchored HJV acts as a coreceptor for bone morphogenetic proteins and activates the transcription of hepcidin, a hormone that regulates iron efflux from cells. Soluble HJV antagonizes bone morphogenetic protein signaling and suppresses hepcidin expression. In this study, we examined the trafficking and processing of HJV. Cellular HJV reached the plasma membrane without obtaining complex oligosaccharides, indicating that HJV avoided Golgi processing. Secreted HJV, in contrast, has complex oligosaccharides and can be derived from HJV with high-mannose oligosaccharides at the plasma membrane. Our results support a model in which retrograde trafficking of HJV before cleavage is the predominant processing pathway. Release of HJV requires it to bind to the transmembrane receptor neogenin. Neogenin does not, however, play a role in HJV trafficking to the cell surface, suggesting that it could be involved either in retrograde trafficking of HJV or in cleavage leading to HJV release.
First-Step Mutations for Adaptation at Elevated Temperature Increase Capsid Stability in a Virus

The relationship between mutation, protein stability and protein function plays a central role in molecular evolution. Mutations tend to be destabilizing, including those that would confer novel functions such as host-switching or antibiotic resistance. Elevated temperature may play an important role in preadapting a protein for such novel functions by selecting for stabilizing mutations. In this study, we test the stability change conferred by single mutations that arise in a G4-like bacteriophage adapting to elevated temperature. The vast majority of these mutations map to interfaces between viral coat proteins, suggesting they affect protein-protein interactions. We assess their effects by estimating thermodynamic stability using molecular dynamic simulations and measuring kinetic stability using experimental decay assays. The results indicate that most, though not all, of the observed mutations are stabilizing.
Prevalence and predictors of resistance and aerobic exercise among hypertensive adults in the United States.

Prevalence and predictors of resistance and aerobic exercise among hypertensive adults in the United States
The effect of polymeric matrix mechanical properties on the fiber-matrix interfacial shear strength

Abstract An experimental investigation was conducted into the dependence of fiber-matrix adhesion on the matrix material properties. The carbon fibers used in this study, their surface chemistry and the chemistry of the matrix were kept constant to isolate the matrix effects. Matrix properties were systematically changed by cross-linking the matrix with curing agents of the same functionality but with variable lengths. The level of measured fiber-matrix interfacial shear strength was noted to be dependent on the matrix shear modulus. Micromechanical models of interfacial stress correctly model this dependence.
The IASP definition captures the essence of pain experience

Cunningham has delivered a critique of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain from a very narrow standpoint. The reference to subjectivity and the multidimensional aspects of the definition were reduced to mean nothing more than an ability of “verbal report.” This indefensible straw man position was then demolished and replaced with a “signaling” theory of pain that was only minimally described. Cunningham's argument unfairly presents current medical practice as the enemy, oversimplifies the complexity of treating pain, and too easily dismisses our theoretical understanding of pain expressed through the IASP definition.
Nurses' Perceptions of Using a Pocket PC for Shift Reports and Patient Care

Nurses working in hospitals with paper-based systems often face the challenge of inefficiency in providing quality nursing care. Two areas of inefficiency are shift-to-shift communication among nurses and access to information related to patient care. An integrated IT system, consisting of Pocket PCs and a desktop PC interfaced to a hospitalâ€™s mainframe system, was developed. The goal was to use mobile IT to give nurses easier access to patient information. This paper describes the development of this system and reports the results of a pilot study: a comparison of time spent in taking and giving shift reports before and after the study and nursesâ€™ perceptions of the mobile IT system. Results showed significant difference in taking shift reports and no significant difference in giving shift reports. Nurses stated that quick and easy access to updated patient information in the Pocket PC was very helpful, especially during mainframe downtime.
Radiation therapy as an alternative to surgery in the management of intracranial juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a benign, vascular tumor which typically presents in adolescent males. Although surgical resection is usually recommended for the management of this tumor, external beam radiation therapy has also been advocated in the literature. We report three cases of large juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas with extensive intracranial extension primarily managed with external beam radiation therapy. Although there was not complete resolution of the tumors, there was significant alleviation of symptomatology with no serious side effects from the radiation therapy. Based on these cases, we feel that external beam radiation therapy in the management of extensive juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas with intracranial extension is warranted in certain select cases.
Multi-resource Real-Time Reader/Writer Locks for Multiprocessors

A fine-grained locking protocol permits multiple locks to be held simultaneously by the same task. In the case of real-time multiprocessor systems, prior work on such protocols has considered only mutex constraints. This unacceptably limits concurrency in systems in which some resource accesses are read-only. To remedy this situation, a variant of a recently proposed fine-grained protocol called the real-time nested locking protocol (RNLP) is presented that enables concurrent reads. This variant is shown to have worst-case blocking no worse (and often better) than existing coarse-grained real-time reader/writer locking protocols, while allowing for additional parallelism. Experimental evaluations of the proposed protocol are presented that consider both schedulability (i.e., the ability to validate timing constraints) and implementation-related overheads. These evaluations demonstrate that the RNLP (both the mutex and the proposed reader/writer variant) provides improved schedulability over existing coarse-grained locking protocols, and is practically implementable.
Bioprocess control: Advances and challenges

Most commercial process control tools and techniques used in the chemical process industries are applicable to bioprocesses (e.g. processes that make certain medicines). While bioprocesses include several different unit operations, the focus of most of this paper will be the control of bioreactors (i.e. fermentors) in which a near optimal environment is desired for microorganisms to grow, multiply, and produce a desired product. Bioreactor control provides special challenges due to significant process variability, the complexity of biological systems, the need, in many cases, to operate in a sterile environment, and the relatively few real-time direct measurements available that help define the state of the culture. This has led to some creative solutions as well as the identification of topics where further research and development and vendor software functionality are needed.
Regular and chaotic advection in the flow field of a three-vortex system

The dynamics of a passive particle in a two-dimensional incompressible flow generated by three point vortices advected by their mutual interaction is considered as a periodically forced Hamiltonian system. The geometry of the background vortex flow determines the degree of chaotization of the tracer motion. Two extreme regimes, of strong and weak chaos, are specified and investigated analytically. Mappings are derived for both cases, and the border between the chaotic and regular advection is found by applying the stochasticity criterion. In the case of strong chaos, there exist coherent regular structures around vortices (vortex cores), which correspond to domains with $\mathrm{KAM}$ curves. An expression for the radius of the cores is obtained. The robust nature of vortex cores, demonstrated numerically, is explained. In the near-integrable case of weak chaotization, a separatrix map is used to find the width of the stochastic layer. Numerical simulations reveal a variety of structures in the pattern of advection, such as a hierarchy of island chains and sticky bands around the vortex cores.