cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regulation of the phosphorylase activating pathway in intact cardiac and skeletal muscle.

Abstract Regulation of the phosphorylase activating pathway in striated muscles may take place at several sites. In heart there appear to be at least two receptor sites for adenyl cyclase activation: one for epinephrine, which was blocked by β-adrenergic blocking agents, and one sensitive to glucagon. The catalytic activity of phosphorylase kinase is probably dependent upon the availability of free intracellular calcium ion. After removal of calcium from the perfusion medium of rat hearts, epinephrine caused cyclic AMP formation, but not b to a transformation. Excess calcium produced b to a conversion in the absence of epinephrine. Small doses of this amine produced activation of kinase in intact dog hearts without b to a conversion again suggesting a requirement for an additional factor in the control of kinase activity. Regulation of phosphorylase activation by calcium is also suggested by the experiments of Drummond et al. (10) in which electrical stimulation of skeletal muscle produced rapid formation of phosphorylase a without either an increase in the concentration of cyclic AMP or activation of phosphorylase kinase. Thus the release of intracellular calcium ion by a drug, hormone, or consequent to the depolarization of the muscle fiber membrane, may provide a second mechanism of regulation of the activation of the phosphorylase system. The effectiveness of phosphorylase a in catalyzing glycogenolysis may be subject to further regulation in intact heart muscle. Maximal formation of phosphorylase a by epinephrine caused no net decrease in glycogen in intact dog heart as long as the concentration of high energy phosphate compounds and inorganic phosphate did not vary from controls. On the other hand, anoxia was a potent and rapid stimulus for glycogenolysis in the presence of rapid hydrolysis of high energy phosphates. Thus, under certain conditions glycogenolysis may be regulated by alterations in muscle metabolites. Intracellular compartmentalization may also play a role in the regulation of the system. Phosphorylation of the two phosphoproteins, phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase a, appears to involve separate pools of muscle ATP. The experiments discussed in this paper suggest that the phosphorylase activating pathway can be stimulated and controlled at several points. This conclusion is in agreement with the experiments and hypotheses on the regulation of glycolysis in muscle presented by Helmreich and Cori in an earlier volume of this series of symposia (11).
Effects of tobacco smoke and some of its constituents on growth and flowering of Lemna gibba G3

Abstract Investigations with Lemna gibba G3 were carried out in 1 3 strength Hutner's and M-medium containing 1% sucrose. Plants were exposed to standard puffs of tobacco smoke, water-soluble extract of tobacco smoke condensate (TSC), enriched polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon fraction (PAH) of tobacco smoke, dimethylnitrosamine, benzo(a)anthracene (BaA) and methyl benzo(a)pyrene. The tobacco smoke puffs inhibited the growth and flowering of these plants. One 35 ml puff per 125 ml flask containing 60 ml of medium considerably reduced the multiplication rate. Five puffs of 35 ml each of smoke caused complete cessation of the growth and the plants died within 48 h. Flowering also declined when plants were exposed to tobacco smoke. Dimethylnitrosamine and methyl benzo(a)pyrene proved toxic to both growth and flowering. However, TSC, PAH and BaA had a marked effect on flowering but relatively little influence on the multiplication rate. When these components were incorporated in the nutrient medium, the inhibiting effect on flowering was noticeable even when the multiplication rate was normal. At higher concentrations (20 ppm) of these components the plants were very unhealthy and daughter fronds became smaller.
The ‘Own Children’ fertility estimation procedure: A reappraisal

The Full Birth History has become the dominant source of estimates of fertility levels and trends for countries lacking complete birth registration. An alternative, the ‘Own Children’ method, derives fertility estimates from household age distributions, but is now rarely used, partly because of concerns about its accuracy. We compared the estimates from these two procedures by applying them to 56 recent Demographic and Health Surveys. On average, ‘Own Children’ estimates of recent total fertility rates are 3 per cent lower than birth-history estimates. Much of this difference stems from selection bias in the collection of birth histories: women with more children are more likely to be interviewed. We conclude that full birth histories overestimate total fertility, and that the ‘Own Children’ method gives estimates of total fertility that may better reflect overall national fertility. We recommend the routine application of the ‘Own Children’ method to census and household survey data to estimate fertility...
Histologic types and prognosis of cancers of the uterine cervix

Cancer of the cervix is a model for the successful management of an adult cancer. With the widespread utilization of the Papanicolau smear, and the automation of cytoanalysis, cancer of the cervix has been transformed from a dreaded disease detected in advanced stages to one which is most frequently, particularly in this country, seen as a non-invasive or microinvasive malignancy. The value of early detection by means of simple, accurate and inexpensive screening procedures is evident in the change in stage distribution over the decades in major university and cancer centers. The increasing percentage of Stages 0 and 1A patients in proportion to the whole population of cervical cancer patients has accentuated the interest in the entire process of malignant transformation. Although the pathologist has long been concerned with the dysplastic process as a precursor for malignancy, it is in this site more than any other that the clinician has fine tuned his clinical awareness and judgement as to cellular changes that predict or indeed are precursors for malignancy. The task of the pathologist is to distinguish atypical proliferation which is en route to carcinoma in situ from benign states due to non-carcinogenic causes. Christopherson analyses the stages of initial pathogenesis from metaplasia to dysplasia to carcinoma in
A breeding method for accelerated development of cold chipping clones in potato

The development of potato cultivars having acceptable chipping quality after cold storage is important because it reduces costs to growers while ensuring continuity of supply to processors throughout the year. Over 5100 single-hill progenies were planted to select for cold chippers. A breeding procedure for selecting and evaluating these progenies for cold chipping ability was used, and 38 desirable genotypes were identified. These selections were increased in the second clonal generation and evaluated for yield, specific gravity, and seven chipping treatments of varying storage duration/temperature/reconditioning duration and were compared to standard chipping cultivars Atlantic, Monona, Norchip, and Snowden. Twenty-two selections yielded ≥ Norchip the highest yielding cultivar, while 15 selections had a specific gravity ≥ Atlantic, the highest specific gravity cultivar. Snowden was the best chipping cultivar overall and some selections were not significantly different than Snowden. Overall, nine selections combined high yield and specific gravity with the ability to produce attractive chips from 4° C. Single-hill selection for cold chipping could potentially save four years in the breeding process by the identification of good parents, the recycling of good parental cross combinations, and the evaluation of progeny for chipping earlier in the breeding program.
Calculating Higher Derivatives of Inverses

(2000). Calculating Higher Derivatives of Inverses. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 107, No. 8, pp. 738-741.
On toric codes and multivariate Vandermonde matrices

Toric codes are a class of m-dimensional cyclic codes introduced recently by Hansen (Coding theory, cryptography and related areas (Guanajuato, 1998), pp 132–142, Springer, Berlin, 2000; Appl Algebra Eng Commun Comput 13:289–300, 2002), and studied in Joyner (Appl Algebra Eng Commun Comput 15:63–79, 2004) and Little and Schenck (SIAM Discrete Math, 2007). They may be defined as evaluation codes obtained from monomials corresponding to integer lattice points in an integral convex polytope $$P \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^m$$. As such, they are in a sense a natural extension of Reed–Solomon codes. Several articles cited above use intersection theory on toric varieties to derive bounds on the minimum distance of some toric codes. In this paper, we will provide a more elementary approach that applies equally well to many toric codes for all $$m \ge 2$$. Our methods are based on a sort of multivariate generalization of Vandermonde determinants that has also been used in the study of multivariate polynomial interpolation. We use these Vandermonde determinants to determine the minimum distance of toric codes from simplices and rectangular polytopes. We also prove a general result showing that if there is a unimodular integer affine transformation taking one polytope P 1 to a second polytope P 2, then the corresponding toric codes are monomially equivalent (hence have the same parameters). We use this to begin a classification of two-dimensional cyclic toric codes with small dimension.
American Sociology in Chaos: Differentiation without Integration

American sociology is a chaotic discipline. There is disagreement on foundational issues that give disciplines coherence. For example, sociologist disagree on the appropriateness of a scientific orientation, the role of activism and ideology in inquiry, the best methodologies to employ, the primacy of microversus macro-levels of analysis, the most important topics to study, and many other contentious issues. The recent call for a “public sociology” in which four wings of the discipline—policy (applied), professional (scientific), critical (ideological), and public (civic engagement) sociologies—are to be integrated is less of a remedy for what troubles sociology than an admission that we are a discipline divided (Burawoy, 2005). Among the social sciences, economics is the most coherent, with the other social sciences revealing varying degrees of incoherence or chaos. Sociology is probably the least integrated of the social sciences, although cultural anthropology has increasingly become much like sociology. In this paper, my goal is to offer an explanation for how sociology came to it present state and what, if anything, can be done to integrate the discipline. Let me begin by outlining what makes a discipline coherent.
The state of deoxyribonucleic acid in the cell nucleus.

Abstract When isolated chicken erythrocyte nuclei are suspended in solutions containing anionic detergents or high concentrations of salt, the nuclei are disrupted and the contents pass into the surrounding medium, giving rise to clear, extremely viscous mixtures. The DNA in such mixtures can be sedimented at low centrifugal fields and is retained on filter paper. The incorporation into such mixtures of agents capable of disrupting hydrogen bonds, metal ligands, or disulfide bonds or of overcoming ion-ion interactionsor interactions between hydrophobic groups, does not render the DNA nonsedimentable and filtrable. Treatment with a variety of proteolytic enzymes is likewise ineffective in this respect. Shearing forces, or treatment with deoxyribonuclease, however, rapidly alter the DNA in such a manner that it is no longer possible to filter it or to sediment it at low centrifugal fields. These results are most readily explained by assuming that the DNA, as it exists in the isolated nuclei, has a much higher molecular weight than is generally assumed.
Further studies on the action of alkali metal hydroxides on cotton

X-Ray diagrams revealed that the conversion of the lattice structure from cellulose I to cellulose II is substantially complete in cotton treated at 0°C with LiOH, NaOH, or KOH of approximately 5N concentration. With concentrations less than 5N, there were marked differences in the ability of these reagents to cause lattice conversions in cotton. Below a minimum concentration which is dependent on both the alkali and the treatment temperature, conversion from cellulose I to cellulose II cannot take place in cotton irrespective of the swelling caused by the reagent. We suggest that extensive swelling by one of these alkalis is not sufficient by itself to cause conversion from cellulose 1 to cellulose II and that the concentration of the alkali is of prime importance. There was no direct relation between the swelling induced in cotton by treatment with LiCH, NaOH, or KOH at 0°C and the sorption ratio of the resulting product. Also, although treatment with 5N KOH caused less swelling than that obtained with either 5N NaOH or LiOH, KOH reduced the level-off degree of polymerization (LODP) of cotton most, indicating the importance of the size of alkali cation in reducing crystallite length. In additional experiments, cotton was treated at 21°C with a solution of 4.7N NaOH to which boric acid had been added. Although the swelling of the cotton was little affected, the addition of the boric acid caused the sorption ratio of the product to decrease, whereas the LODP increased. Also conversion of the lattice structure from cellulose I to cellulose II was inhibited.
Diatom-diatom collisions: jz-conserving coupled states calculations for para-H2 + para-H2 scattering

The first calculations of diatom-diatom collision cross sections using the jz-conserving coupled states approximation are reported. Results are given at 806.6 cm−1 and are compared with the accurate close coupling results of Green and the effective potential results of Rabitz for the transitions 0,0 → 0, 0, 0, 0 → 2, 0 and 0, 0 → 2, 2. The jz CCS method is found to be quantitative for these transtitions, with a level of accuracy the same as that found by McGuire and Kouri for the He + H2 system. This is true even for the 0, 0 → 2, 2 transition, which is dominated by the long range quadrupole-quadrupole interaction. These preliminary results indicate that the jz CCS method works as well for diatom-diatom collisions as for atom-molecule systems. Additional topics currently under study are indicated.
Effect of Training for Trust in Putting Performance of Skilled Golfers: A Randomized Controlled Trial:

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of trust education and training on putting performance of skilled golfers using a randomized control design and vision occlusion goggles in a controlled putting environment. Subjects were 46 skilled golfers, randomly assigned to 2 groups – training and control. Following group assignment both groups received a 90-min trust education session in order to fully understand the skill for self-report measures used throughout the study. All golfers completed baseline testing consisting of 18 putts on a GL Technologies Putting Challenge, Ultimate Edition system, outfitted with a custom putting analysis system, on one of two randomly determined difficulty levels under two alternating condition orders (visual knowledge of results (KR) vs. no visual KR) that were also randomly determined. Putting measures included outcome and self-report measures (tempo, target, and trust) following each putt, and the Flow State Scale (FSS) following completion of their putting perfo...
Creating common ground: developing interdisciplinary teams for substance abuse personnel

In an era of shrinking resources, priority setting has become increasingly important. Biomedical and psychosocial advances are fostering new innovations. In this climate of seemingly limitless possibilities, the challenge for health professionals is to respond effectively and cost-efficiently to a multi-problem patient population. The need for professionals to work in concert is imperative if we, as a profession, are to provide optimal care in a rapidly changing health care system. Most of us have been introduced to the team approach by circumstance rather than by formal training. The tendency is, therefore, to learn entirely by experience, rather than profiting from accumulated knowledge or principle. The Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England took a more sophisticated approach which involved the development of a formal curriculum that included academic and experimental components. The essential components of effective teams are presented, with an emphasis on team building strategies and app...
Molecular cloning and characterization of an intracellular chloride channel in the proximal tubule cell line, LLC-PK1.

CLC5 is an intracellular chloride channel of unknown function, expressed in the renal proximal tubule. The subcellular localization and function of CLC5 were investigated in the LLC-PK1 porcine proximal tubule cell line. We cloned a cDNA for the porcine CLC5 ortholog (pCLC5) that is predicted to encode an 83-kDa protein with 97% amino acid sequence identity to rat and human CLC5. By immunofluorescence, pCLC5 was localized to early endosomes of the apical membrane fluid-phase endocytotic pathway and to the Golgi complex. Xenopus oocytes injected with pCLC5 cRNA exhibited outwardly rectifying whole cell currents with a relative conductance profile (nitrate ≫ Cl− ≈ Br− > I− > acetate > gluconate) different from that of control oocytes. Acidification of the extracellular medium reversibly inhibited this outward current with a pK a of 6.0 and a Hill coefficient of 1. Overexpression of CLC5 in LLC-PK1 cells resulted in morphological changes, including loss of cell-cell contacts and the appearance of multiple prominent vesicles. These findings are consistent with a potential role for CLC5 in the acidification of membrane compartments of both the endocytic and the exocytic pathway and suggest that its function may be important for normal intercellular adhesion and vesicular trafficking.
Castor Meal in Dairy Rations

Abstract This experiment was to investigate commercial ricin detoxified castor meal for lactating dairy cattle and to evaluate the possible transfer of castor toxins and hydroxy fatty acids to milk. Percents of 10 and 20 castor meal and .5% added castor oil were fed with 10% cottonseed meal and .5% cottonseed oil controls. Transfers of ricinine, ricin, hydroxy fatty acids, and antigens were at or below detection limits. Milk from cows on long-term castor meal and castor oil intake was apparently not injurious when fed to calves and rats. No residue accumulation in muscle was observed, and no abnormal conditions were associated with feeding castor meal to the cows during 14 mo.
Radiographs in Clinical Periodontal Trials

Fifty-eight patients were selected from an ongoing study of periodontal therapy at The University of Michigan. Pre-and post-treatment series of full mouth radiographs obtained by conventional paralleling long cone technique were available. Mesial and distal radiographic bone height was scored using the technique developed by Bjorn et al. A total of 1416 teeth were scored from the itial radiographs, and subsequently at one, two, three, and four years after the treatment. Radiographic bone height scores were compared with level of attachment and pocket depth scores for the same teeth at the same time. Statistical significance and correlation coefficients were derived using computer analysis of the data. The data were analyzed using three different data groupings: individual teeth, patient means, and half-mouth treatment methods. High positive correlations were found between initial measurements of radiographic bone height and attachment level as well as pocket depth. The correlations between changes in measurements of radiographic bone height and attachment level after treatment were markedly lower but are statistically significant. A highly significant correlation between radiographic bone heights and measurements of attachment level also appeared in follow-up data one to four years after treatment. The method of data grouping resulted in different correlation coefficients. Highest correlations were found if the data were pooled for patients. Lowest correlations were found if the data for individual teeth were analyzed. When the data were combined to produce patient scores, sample variation is reduced and correlations increase in magnitude. The generally high correlations between radiographic bone height and attachment level scores before and after treatment tend to confirm the fact that radiographic assessment of alveolar bone height using the method of Bjorn et al. can provide fairly accurate assessment of interproximal periodontal support.
Neural processing of semantic networks

Summary form only given, as follows. A dynamically reconfigurable architecture for parallel processing of semantic networks is described. The proposed architecture is made up of a network of Boolean McCulloch-Pitts neuron-like cells, each dedicated to one vertex of a semantic network and its associated edges. By partitioning each cell and integrating the neural-like network into several functional blocks, a highly regularly structured reconfigurable processing unit is achievable. Such a processing unit is capable of storing symbolic assertions and performing parallel search and deduction within its collection of knowledge. Potentially this architecture can be realized by the VLSI technology, and the design approach also exploits an application for on-chip expert systems. >
Stable cell fate changes in marrow cells induced by lung-derived microvesicles

Background: Interest has been generated in the capacity of cellular-derived microvesicles to alter the fate of different target cells. Lung, liver, heart and brain-derived vesicles can alter the genetic phenotype of murine marrow cells; however, the stability of such changes and the mechanism of these changes remain unclear. In the present work, we show that lung-derived microvesicles (LDMV) alter the transcriptome and proteome of target marrow cells initially by mRNA and regulator(s) of transcription transfer, but that long term phenotype change is due solely to transfer of a transcriptional regulator with target cell. Methods/results: In vivo studies: Whole bone marrow cells (WBM) were co-cultured with LDMV (both isolated from male C57BL/6 mice) or cultured alone (control). One week later, cultured WBM was transplanted into lethally-irradiated female C57BL/6 mice. Recipient mice were sacrificed 6 weeks later and WBM, spleens and livers were examined for the presence of lung-specific gene expression, including surfactants A, B, C and D, aquaporin-5, and clara cell specific protein, via real-time RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was also performed on lungs to determine the number of transplanted marrowderived (Y chromosome+) type II pneumocytes (prosurfactant C+). Mice transplanted with LDMV cocultured WBM expressed pulmonary epithelial cell genes in the cells of their bone marrow, livers and spleens and over fivefold more transplanted marrow-derived Y+/prosurfactant C+cells could be found in their lungs (vs. control mice). In vitro studies: WBM (from mice or rats) was cultured with or without LDMV (from mice or rats) for 1 week then washed and cultured alone. WBM was harvested at 2-week intervals for real-time RT-PCR analysis, using species-specific surfactant primers, and for Western Blot analysis. Proteomic and microRNA microarray analyses were also performed on cells. LDMV co-cultured WBM maintained expression of pulmonary epithelial cell genes and proteins for up to 12 weeks in culture. Surfactant produced at later time points was specific only to the species of the marrow cell in culture indicating de novo mRNA transcription. These findings, in addition to the altered protein and microRNA profiles of LDMV co-cultured WBM, support a stable transcriptional mechanism for these changes. Conclusions: These data indicate that microvesicle alteration of cell fate is robust and long-term and represents an important new aspect of cellular biology. Keywords: bone marrow cells; lung; microvesicles; bone marrow transplant; transcription factor (Published: 16 April 2012) Citation: Journal of Extracellular Vesicles 2012, 1 : 18163 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/jev.v1i0.18163
Infectivity Studies of a New Baculovirus Isolate for the Control of the Diamondback Moth (Plutellidae: Lepidoptera)

This study describes a new baculovirus isolate recovered from infected larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), and identified as a multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (MNPV). The plaque purified isolate designated as PxMNPVCL3 was found to be pathogenic to P. xylostella, Heliothis virescens (F.), Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), H. subflexa (Guenee), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), and S. frugiperda (J. E. Smith) larvae in decreasing order of susceptibility. The LC 50 for diamondback moth, the most susceptible, was 6 occlusion bodies (OB) /cm 2 , whereas the most resistant species, namely S. frugiperda, was 577 OB/cm 2 . PxMNPVCL3 was more pathogenic to diamondback moth by 3-4 log cycles as compared with 2 broad-spectrum baculoviruses, namely Autographa californica (alfalfa looper) MNPV and Anagrapha falcifera (celery looper) MNPV. The 3 baculoviruses were compared with each other and characterized by restriction endonuclease (REN) analysis, hybridization, and neutralization tests. Fragmentation profiles generated by REN showed that the 3 baculoviruses shared some fragments in common. Hybridization studies employing digoxigenin labeled PxMNPVCL3 DNA as a probe revealed the close but distinct relationship of these 3 viruses. Neutralization tests confirmed the hybridization studies, namely that the 3 viruses although genetically similar are distinguishable from each other.
Utilization and Yield of Chest Computed Tomographic Angiography Associated with Low Positive D-dimer Levels

, Abstract—Background: It is unclear to what degree broadly applied D-dimer testing combined with a low threshold for imaging with even minimally positive results may be contributing to the utilization of chest computed tomographic angiography (CTA). Study Objectives: To determine what proportion of chest CTAs for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) were performed in the setting of minimally elevated D-dimer levels, and to determine the prevalence of PE in those patients when stratified by clinical risk. Methods: Retrospective chart review of all patients who had chest CTA for the evaluation of suspected PE during the years 2002–2006 in a suburban community teaching hospital emergency department. Results: There were 1136 eligible patient visits, of which 353 (31.1%) were found to haveD-dimerlevelsinthelowpositiverange(0.5–0.99mg/mL). Of these 353 patients, 9 (2.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9–4.2%) were diagnosed with PE. There were also 109 patients (9.6%) who had normal D-dimer levels (<0.5 mg/mL). Two of these 109 (1.8%; 95% CI 0–4.2%) were diagnosed with PE. When stratified by the Pulmonary Embolism Ruleout Criteria, 99 of 353 patients with low positive D-dimer levels (28.0%; 95% CI 23.4–32.7%), and 14 of 109 with normal D-dimer levels (12.8%; 95% CI 6.6–19.1%) were classified as low risk, none of whom had PE. Conclusions: Nearly one-third of all chest CTAs were done for patients with minimally elevated D-dimer levels, and another 9.6% for patients with normal D-dimer levels with very low yield. Further research to define clinical criteria identifying patients with minimal risk of PE despite low positive D-dimer
5s 2 5p 4 –5s5p 5 transitions in Cs iv, Ba v, and La vi

The 5s25p4–5s5p5 transitions of Cs iv, Ba v, and La vi were observed with a sliding spark discharge and a 10.7-m normal-incidence spectrograph. The region of observation was 539–1282 A. The energy parameters derived from least-squares fits to the experimental levels are compared with Hartree–Fock (HF) calculations. The fitted/HF ratios for the 5s25p4 configurations of the ions Te i–La vi are compared with the fitted/HF ratios for the 4s24p4 configurations of the ions Se i–Mo ix.
CHANGES IN CDP-DIGLYCERIDE:INOSITOL TRANSFERASE ACTIVITY DURING RABBIT LUNG DEVELOPMENT

SUMMARY: During fetal and neonatal development the specific activity of the enzyme, CDP diglyceride:inositol transferase in rabbit lung tissue increased 8- to 9-fold from day 17 of gestation to adulthood. This developmental increase in enzyme activity was not specific for lung tissue since a similar increase was also observed in liver tissue. The properties of CDP-diglyceride:inositol transferase in microsomes prepared from either fetal or adult rabbit lung tissue appeared to be the same. The increase in CDP-diglyceride:inositol transferase activity in rabbit lung tissue during development appeared to be reflective of synthesis of new enzyme rather than activation of pre-existing enzyme. SPECULATION: CDP-diglyceride:inositol transferase activity in fetal rabbit lung tissue increases at a stage in development when the phosphatidylinositol content of lung surfactant is decreasing. In the presence of CMP, CDP-diglyceride:inositoI transferase catalyzes the synthesis of CDP-diglyceride from phosphatidylinositol. We speculate that the increased CDP-diglyceride:inositol transferase activity, in conjunction with elevated intracellular CMP levels resulting from accelerated phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, provides a pool of CDP-diglyceride for phosphatidylglycerol biosynthesis during the latter stages of fetal lung maturation.
Solutions for the indeterminate term occurring in infinite multipole cubic lattice sums

Abstract Solutions for the accurate evaluation of the indeterminate term occurring in infinite multipole cubic-lattice sums with neutral bases are presented and discussed. The determinate and indeterminate terms of infinite multipole lattice sums are evaluated for the cubic lattice. The contribution of the indeterminate term to the total lattice sum is found to be significant.
Gender and occupational sex-type differences in job outcome factor perceptions

Abstract The existence of gender differences in perceptions of the availability of intrinsic and extrinsic job outcome factors in male-dominated, female-dominated, and sex-neutral occupations was investigated. Also of interest was whether men and women differ in their preferences for the various job outcome factors. Questionnaires containing job descriptions were given to 216 undergraduates (108 males and 108 females). Subjects rated the extent to which they perceived each of nine job outcome factors to be present in each of the occupations and the overall importance each job outcome factor had for them. Results indicated that perceptions of the availability of the job outcome factors differed as a function of subject gender and occupational sex-type. Multivariate analyses of importance ratings of job outcome factors also revealed gender differences.
Neurochemical and Neurobehavioral Effects of Low Lead Exposure on the Developing Brain

Lead is found in small but appreciable quantities in air, soil drinking water and food. Exposure to such amounts of lead does not cause acute lead toxicity, but produces subtle effects, particularly in children. The CDC advocates “safe” or “acceptable” levels of blood lead up to 10 μg/dl, while OSHA declares blood lead levels up to 40 μg/dl as “safe” or “acceptable” in the occupationally exposed. The objective of the study was to see if blood levels considered “safe” can cause changes in the biogenic neurotransmitters in the developing brain which may cause neurobehavioral defects like hyperactivity and other cognitive disorders. Albino Wistar rats were divided into the control and lead-treated groups. The control group was given unleaded water, while the lead-treated group was fed with 50 ppm lead acetate in drinking water. On day 45 the animals were subjected to a passive avoidance test, their blood analysed for ZPP and lead. They were then sacrificed and the neurotransmitters—Norepinephrine (NE) and its metabolite—methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) estimated in the brain areas associated with learning and memory—the frontal cortex, hippocampus and the striatum by HPLC-ECD. Our results showed significant increases in blood lead, NE and MHPG, while ZPP increase was insignificant. The rats showed neurobehavioral abnormalities as assessed by the passive avoidance test. We concluded that low blood levels of lead cannot be considered “safe” or “acceptable” as it causes neurotransmitter alterations. Increased NE turnover is implicated in hyperactivity disorders such as ADHD and Tourette syndrome.
A Simulation Study of Supply Chain Management to Measure the Impact of Information Sharing

It has been found that supply chain collaboration has a significant impact on the ability of an organization to meet customer needs and reduce costs. A key step in supply chain collaboration is sharing information among supply chain partners. In this paper a simulation study is presented to investigate the effectiveness of information sharing. The results show that from the perspectives of end inventory and back-order quantities, distributors and wholesalers gain significantly from information sharing, while not much gain can be realized for retailers.
Polarized light-emitting diode magnification for optimal recipient site creation during hair transplant.

Background. For several years, magnification has been used to separate follicular groupings from donor strips to minimize transection of hair follicles. There has been no discussion regarding the use of magnification to create recipient sites to limit transection of existing hair follicles in recipient zones. Objective. The study was performed to evaluate the role of magnification when creating hundreds or thousands of recipient sites in patients with existing hair. Methods. A 2× magnified polarized light-emitting diode (LED) for graft and recipient site creation (Syris Scientific, Gray, Maine) was used in 75 consecutive male and female patients. A team of four experienced surgical assistants and the author evaluated the device for graft creation, recipient site creation, and insertion of grafts. Results. There was no perceived advantage in creating grafts or placing grafts compared with other magnification devices and traditional methods. There was less eye strain and greater ease in creating recipient sites using polarized magnification compared with traditional surgical lights and no magnification. Conclusion. In an era of medications that slow or stop hair loss, magnification in recipient sites can reduce transection of existing hair follicles in recipient zones, leading to maximum density from a procedure. Further studies are needed to confirm the reduced transection rate of hair follicles and determine the ideal magnification. The use of magnification with LED polarized light in the recipient zone is an important new tool in hair transplant.
On the Scaling of the Critical Solution Temperature of Binary Polymer Blends with Chain Length

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to examine the scaling with chain length of the upper critical solution temperature (Tc) of binary, symmetric blends of polymers. Critical parameters were obtained by histogram reweighting analysis of semigrand canonical ensemble simulations near the critical temperature. For several continuum space polymeric models, it is found that Tc/e scales approximately as either ρc(A + B N) or ρcN/(B-1 + A/ ), where N is chain length, ρc is the density at Tc, e is a chemical mismatch parameter, and A and B are constants that depend on the specific characteristics of the model. Constant A provides a measure of the correction to the Flory−Huggins' prediction Tc ∼ N. The effect of such correction term becomes unimportant for large N, e, and temperature. Excellent agreement is found, however, with the mean-field prediction that χE ∼ 2/N (for all systems studied), where χE is a continuum space, enthalpic “chi” parameter which takes into account the variations of local structur...
Exploiting correlation in stochastic circuit design

Stochastic computing (SC) is a re-emerging computing paradigm which enables ultra-low power and massive parallelism in important applications like real-time image processing. It is characterized by its use of pseudo-random numbers implemented by 0-1 sequences called stochastic numbers (SNs) and interpreted as probabilities. Accuracy is usually assumed to depend on the interacting SNs being highly independent or uncorrelated in a loosely specified way. This paper introduces a new and rigorous SC correlation (SCC) measure for SNs, and shows that, contrary to intuition, correlation can be exploited as a resource in SC design. We propose a general framework for analyzing and designing combinational circuits with correlated inputs, and demonstrate that such circuits can be significantly more efficient and more accurate than traditional SC circuits. We also provide a method of analyzing stochastic sequential circuits, which tend to have inherently correlated state variables and have proven very hard to analyze.
Structure directing role of a tridentate ligand in a two-dimensional Ag(I) network

Abstract The hydrothermal reaction of silver nitrate with 4,4′-dipyridylamine (Hdpa) yields a new Ag(I) two-dimensional network material, [Ag(dpa)]. The structure is constructed from trigonal Ag(I) sites bound to two nitrogen donors from adjacent dpa− ligands and the central deprotonated nitrogen of the dpa− ligand. Crystal data: orthorhombic Cmcm, a=11.0160(8) A, b=11.2683(8) A, c=7.2619(5) A, Z=16, V=901.4(1) A3, Dcalc=2.049 g cm−3, R1=0.0308.
Phylogenetic and expression analysis of sucrose phosphate synthase isozymes in plants.

Summary In plants and microbes, sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) is an important enzyme in sucrose biosynthesis. Several different isozymes of SPS exist in plants. Genomic and EST sequence data from Arabidopsis, rice and maize has been analyzed. This analysis has revealed that the Arabidopsis genome contains four unique SPS genes. The rice databases (Monsanto proprietary, and public databases) contain five unique full-length SPS genes. Using the Monsanto maize EST and genomic sequence databases, we have identified five full length and two partial SPS sequences, bringing the total number of presently known maize SPS genes to at least seven. Phylogenetic analysis of all known SPS sequences revealed several putative evolutionary branches of SPS. We have classified SPS genes into three major groups in higher plants, all with distinct features from the known microbial SPS genes. Furthermore, this analysis suggests evolutionary divergence of monocotyledonous (monocot) and dicotyledonous (dicot) SPS sequences. The evidence suggests that several gene duplication events occurred at various points during evolution, both before and after the monocot/dicot split. It appears that at least one of the major forms of SPS genes may have evolved after the divergence of monocots and dicots. In addition, several more recent gene duplication events may have occurred after maize/rice speciation, giving rise to additional SPS genes in maize. Some of the variants lack one or more of the presently known regulatory sites, implying that this evolutionary divergence may have given rise to enzymes with functional differences. We present evidence from transcript distribution studies using cDNA libraries as well as transcriptional profiling experiments and propose that specific SPS genes have diverse patterns of expression that are sometimes responsive to environmental signals. Our data suggests that higher plant SPS isozymes differ with respect to their patterns of expression and regulation and that our proposed phylogenetic classification reflects specific functional categories for higher plant SPS isozymes.
Copper(II) and oxovanadium(V) complexes of hexaphyrin(1.0.1.0.0.0)

The expanded porphyrin hexaphyrin(1.0.1.0.0.0) coordinates both early and late transition metals; a binuclear in-plane copper(ii) complex and an oxovanadium(v) derivative were prepared and characterized.
Load Characterization Techniques and Overview of Loading Environment in North America

In North America, many design guidelines for track components in shared-use railway infrastructure use historic wheel loads that may not necessarily be representative of those seen on rail networks today. Without a clear understanding of the nature of these loads, it is impossible to evaluate the superstructure adequately to make design improvements. Therefore, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are conducting research to lay the groundwork for an improved and thorough understanding of the loading environment entering the track structure. Wheel impact load detectors (WILDs) have been used in North America for decades to identify defective wheels that could damage the rail infrastructure or result in a rolling stock failure. Information regarding loads obtained from a WILD can be used to identify trends that not only provide a clearer picture of the existing loading environment created by widely varied traffic characteristics but also can be used in future design and maintenance ...
Risk and the City: Bombay, Mumbai, and Other Theoretical Departures

This article is a review of recent writings on Bombay including texts in social science, journalism and media criticism. Taking the notion of risk as a central thematic in understanding globalization, the article explores the emergence of the city and of Bombay in particular as a subject of research in the contemporary moment. The review uses the recently published book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by journalist Suketu Mehta, as a point of departure. The article argues that the notion of risk circulating through representations of the city in various media and through the action of residents marks a significant departure from the nation to the city as the canonical subject of representation and for a critical understanding of the project of modernity in the era of globalization.
Decentralized control of unmanned aerial vehicles for multitarget tracking

We design a guidance control method for a fleet of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) tracking multiple targets in a decentralized setting. Our method is based on the theory of decentralized partially observable Markov decision process (Dec-POMDP). Like partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs), it is intractable to solve Dec-POMDPs exactly. So, we extend a POMDP approximation method called nominal belief-state optimization (NBO) to solve Dec-POMDP. We incorporate the cost of communication into the objective function of Dec-POMDP, i.e., we explicitly optimize the communication among the UAVs along with the kinematic-control commands for the UAVs. We measure the performance of our guidance method with the following metrics: 1) average target-location error, and 2) average communication cost. The goal to maximize the performance with respect to each of the above metrics conflict with each other, and we show through empirical study how to trade off between these performance metrics using a scalar parameter.
Perioperative supplemental oxygen to reduce surgical site infection after open fixation of high-risk fractures: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Background Higher concentrations of fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) have been shown to be associated with lower risk for surgical site infection in multiple studies outside the domain of orthopedic surgery. We evaluated the efficacy of high FIO2 administered during the perioperative period to reduce the rate of surgical site infection after open fixation of lower-extremity fractures at high risk of infection. Methods We conducted a randomized controlled, parallel design, double-blind study. Patients sustaining high-energy tibial plateau, tibial pilon, and calcaneus fractures treated in a staged fashion were selected for enrollment because these injuries are associated with high risk of infection. The study population included 222 patients with 235 fractures. Consenting patients were randomized by random number sequence to either the treatment or the control group. Treatment group patients received 80% FIO2 intraoperatively and for 2 hours afterward. Control group patients received 30% FIO2 during the same period. Surgeons, patients, and personnel who performed wound assessments were blinded to group assignment. The primary outcome measure was surgical site infection as defined by the Centers for Disease Control criteria for postoperative wound infection. Results The overall rates of postoperative surgical site infection were 12% (14 of 119 fractures) in the treatment group and 16% (19 of 116 fractures) in the control group (p = 0.31). Multivariate analysis, accounting for risk factors for infection, yielded the closest to a statistically significant reduction in the odds of infection with treatment (odds ratio, 0.54; p = 0.17). No treatment-associated events were observed. Conclusion Use of a high concentration of FIO2 during the perioperative period is safe and shows a trend toward reduction of surgical site infection in patients undergoing open operative fixation of high-energy traumatic lower-extremity fractures. Further study in a larger patient population is indicated. Level of evidence Therapeutic study, level III.
Fixed Resistor-Card Memory

A fixed or read-only memory, consisting of a stack of paper or plastic punched cards, each containing an interconnected array of printed resistors, is discussed. The cards are compatible with conventional keypunches, and information is recorded on each card by the punching of a pattern of holes, each of which severs an appropriate connection. An interconnection method, which involves the injection of molten, low-temperature solder alloy into special channels in the stack, is described. This technique provides all card- to-card interconnections simultaneously. It is shown that the memory can be operated in a content-addressable or associative mode. Experimental results, dealing with resistor silk-screening and card stack construction and operation, are presented.
3-D Posture and Gesture Recognition for Interactivity in Smart Spaces

Automatic perception of human posture and gesture from vision input has an important role in developing intelligent video systems. In this paper, we present a novel gesture recognition approach for human computer interactivity based on marker-less upper body pose tracking in 3-D with multiple cameras. To achieve the robustness and real-time performance required for practical applications, the idea is to break the exponentially large search problem of upper body pose into two steps: first, the 3-D movements of upper body extremities (i.e., head and hands) are tracked. Then using knowledge of upper body model constraints, these extremities movements are used to infer the whole 3-D upper body motion as an inverse kinematics problem. Since the head and hand regions are typically well defined and undergo less occlusion, tracking is more reliable and could enable more robust upper body pose determination. Moreover, by breaking the problem of upper body pose tracking into two steps, the complexity is reduced considerably. Using pose tracking output, the gesture recognition is then done based on longest common subsequence similarity measurement of upper body joint angles dynamics. In our experiment, we provide an extensive validation of the proposed upper body pose tracking from 3-D extremity movement which showed good results with various subjects in different environments. Regarding the gesture recognition based on joint angles dynamics, our experimental evaluation of five subjects doing six upper body gestures with average classification accuracies over 90% indicates the promise and feasibility of the proposed system.