cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coronary lesions at increased risk.

Abstract An acute ischemic complication will develop in approximately 7% of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. In more than half of these patients, thrombus, dissection, or both can be identified angiographically as the underlying cause of abrupt closure; in the remaining cases, an indeterminate morphology is observed. Predictors of dissection-mediated closure include degenerated vein graft, de novo stenosis, proximal tortuosity, high lesion grade, eccentricity, longer lesion length, and angulation. Thrombus-mediated closure is most apt to occur in degenerated vein grafts, lesions related to a recent myocardial infarction, and lesions that contain thrombus before angioplasty. However, the ability of these parameters to predict risk in an individual patient is rather weak. Angioscopy has revealed that the presence of yellow plaque confers a heightened risk of major complications. Lesions that contain areas of calcium adjacent to areas of soft plaque have been identified by intravascular ultrasound as a powerful predictor of major dissection. These sensitive new imaging techniques may eventually permit the targeting of more specific therapies to the underlying cause of closure.
Development of asymmetric hollow fibers from polyimides for air separation

Abstract We have developed 6FDA/6FDAM polyimide hollow fibers with a selectivity of 6.7 for O 2 /N 2 and a permeance of 8.3×10 −6 cc(STP)/cm 2 -sec-cmHg. The dense layer thickness was about 1000−1900 A. These hollow fibers were dry-jet wet-spun from a 42% low IV (intrinsic viscosity)6FDA/6FDAM polyimide/N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP)/propionic acid (PA) (57/43) dope using methanol as a coagulant and 80/20 NMP/H 2 O as a bore fluid. The hollow fiber must be coated with a silicone elastomer. The fiber diameter was about 215 μm with a wall thickness about 25−30 μm. SEM observation showed that the dense layer was located at the outer surface, while the region near the inner surface had an interconnceted open-cell structure. The total void percentage in this fiber was about 60%. The calculated Hildebrand parameter for this study was about 2.3 to 2.99 (cal/cm 3 ) 0.5 between the NMP:PA solvent complex and the polyimide. The first T g for our 6FDA/6FDAM polyimide hollow fiber was much lower than the T g of its bulk, or second T g .
208Pb(p, α)205Tl reaction at 16.475 MeV

The (p, α) reaction was studied on a208Pb target at 16.475 MeV. Nineteen states were observed in205Tl, up to 3.6 MeV in excitation. Angular distributions were obtained for five strong proton-hole transitions, and DWBA fits made to determinelj values. Results are compared with previous206Pb(t, α)205Tl,206Pb(d,3He)205Tl,205Tl(p, p′), and205Tl(n, n′) work.
Prostate Volume Measured Preoperatively Predicts for Organ-Confined Disease in Men with Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

OBJECTIVES Imaging-measured prostate volumes are different between patients with confined and extraprostatic prostate cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the prostate volume measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) was of incremental predictive value for organ-confined prostate cancer after considering preoperative prostate-specific antigen level, biopsy Gleason score, and clinical stage. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 1071 and 1201 consecutive patients who had undergone MRI or TRUS prostate volume measurement from 1983 to 2003. We controlled for other factors such as biopsy-derived Gleason score, preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen level, and clinical stage. Two statistical models, one incorporating MRI data and one TRUS data, were developed to predict for organ-confined prostate cancer. The models were subjected to bootstrapping by resampling 200 times to reduce bias when estimating the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS In both statistical models, preoperative prostate-specific antigen (P <0.001), biopsy Gleason score (P <0.001), and clinical stage (P <0.001) were significant predictors for organ-confined prostate cancer. The MRI volume (P <0.001) and TRUS volume (P <0.001) were incremental predictors in their respective models. However, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve increase was 1% and 2% for TRUS and MRI, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The preoperative volume of the prostate measured by either MRI or TRUS can be used to predict for organ-confined prostate cancer. However, the value of adding the prostate volume as a variable on its own to the prediction model is limited.
Immunochemical comparison of prekeratin and alcoholic hyalin intermediate filaments

Abstract Alcoholic hyalin is an hepatocellular aggregate composed of filaments apparently related to the prekeratin intermediate filament subclass. The relationship between these two filament preparations was determined immunochemically using guinea pig antisera derived against alcoholic hyalin, prekeratin, and major prekeratin polypeptides. Immunocrossreactivities were determined using sensitive solid-phase enzyme-immunoassays. These assays indicated that antisera derived against a given filament preparation reacted 10–1000 times better with that preparation than with the other system. The nature of crossreactive meterial was determined using antisera derived against the larger prekeratin polypeptides (Mr 61,000 and 51,000). When tested against these two antisera, alcoholic hyalin appeared to react better with the serum derived against the larger prekeratin component. Moreover, anti-alcoholic hyalin antiserum bound four to five times better to the 61,000 dalton component than to the 51,000 dalton polypeptide in the enzyme-immunoassay. Our results indicate that antigenic determinants related to prekeratin can be detected in alcoholic hyalin, but that these determinants are present in relatively low concentrations in purified alcoholic hyalin. In addition, it appears that the relative concentrations of prekeratin components in alcoholic hyalin do not reflect those in purified prekeratin.
Role of the Inducer in the Induced Synthesis of β-Galactosidase in Escherichia coli

INDUCED (adaptive) enzyme formation in microorganisms has been the subject of numerous studies1. Although a great deal is known about the kinetics of the biochemical processes involved, the precise role of the inducer remains enigmatic.
Absorption and circular dichroism spectra of chloroplast membrane fragments from spinach, barley and a barley mutant at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature

Abstract The absorption and CD spectra of chloroplast fragments from spinach, barley and a barley mutant (chlorophyll b-minus) were studied at temperatures of 23°C and −196°C. The CD spectrum of wild type barley and spinach at −196°C showed troughs at 640, 653, 676 and 695 nm and a maximum at 667 nm. The CD spectrum of the barley mutant at −196°C consisted of a large trough at 684 nm, a small trough at 695 nm and a positive peak at 670 nm. A new feature observed at −196°C but not at 23°C is the trough at 640 nm. This 640 nm CD signal is missing in the CD spectrum of the barley mutant. It is attributable to the light-harvesting chlorophyll a b protein which appears to be missing in the mutant. Another new feature, the trough at 695 nm, was observed in the CD spectra of spinach, barley and the barley mutant at −196°C. The 695 nm trough appears to be sensitive to detergents and it may be due to a labile chlorophyll a·protein complex. Possible interpretations of these data are discussed.
Surface property modification of ceramics by ion beams

The surface mechanical and chemical properties of ion implanted ceramics reflect changes in the microstructure produced by the bombarding ions. Metastable solid solutions which contain large concentrations of lattice defects have been produced in Al2O3, SiC, and TiB2. Such structures exhibit a higher micro-indentation hardness, fracture toughness, and wear resistance than unimplanted materials. Amorphous surfaces have been formed on Al2O3 and SiC crystals by low temperature, high fluence, or certain ion species implantation. These surfaces have a lower hardness but higher toughness than unimplanted crystals.
Learning photographic global tonal adjustment with a database of input / output image pairs

Adjusting photographs to obtain compelling renditions requires skill and time. Even contrast and brightness adjustments are challenging because they require taking into account the image content. Photographers are also known for having different retouching preferences. As the result of this complexity, rule-based, one-size-fits-all automatic techniques often fail. This problem can greatly benefit from supervised machine learning but the lack of training data has impeded work in this area. Our first contribution is the creation of a high-quality reference dataset. We collected 5,000 photos, manually annotated them, and hired 5 trained photographers to retouch each picture. The result is a collection of 5 sets of 5,000 example input-output pairs that enable supervised learning. We first use this dataset to predict a user's adjustment from a large training set. We then show that our dataset and features enable the accurate adjustment personalization using a carefully chosen set of training photos. Finally, we introduce difference learning: this method models and predicts difference between users. It frees the user from using predetermined photos for training. We show that difference learning enables accurate prediction using only a handful of examples.
Effects of semantic cues on mathematical modeling: Evidence from word-problem solving and equation construction tasks

Mathematical solutions to textbook word problems are correlated with semantic relations between the objects described in the problem texts. In particular, division problems usually involve functionally related objects (e.g., tulips—vases) and rarely involve categorically related objects (e.g., tulips—daisies). We examined whether middle school, high school, and college students use object relations when they solve division word problems (WP) or perform the less familiar task of representing verbal statements with algebraic equations (EQ). Both tasks involved multiplicative comparison statements with either categorically or functionally related objects (e.g., “four times as manycupcakes [commuters] asbrownies [automobiles]”). Object relations affected the frequency of correct solutions in the WP task but not in the EQ task. In the latter task, object relations did affect the structure of nonalgebraic equation errors. We argue that students use object relations as “semantic cues” when they engage in the sense-making activity of mathematical modeling
Large solutions to semi-linear elliptic systems with variable exponents

Abstract We consider the elliptic system Δ u = u a v b , Δ v = u c v d where the exponents are non-negative spherically symmetric functions. We study positive solutions on balls of finite and infinite radius R which satisfy lim | x | → R ⁡ u ( x ) = lim | x | → R ⁡ v ( x ) = ∞ . We give conditions on the exponents that either ensure existence or nonexistence of these large solutions.
Sex and age differences in hyperthermia response to ether anesthesia in weanling rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions

Entwohnte junge weibliche Ratten mit ventromedialen hypothalamischen Lasionen zeigten keine Hyperthermie, wie sie bei geschlechtsreifen weiblichen Ratten bei Athernarkose beobachtet wird. In mannlichen entwohnten, jungen Ratten mit Lasionen war jedoch eine signifikante Hyperthermie nachweisbar, welche in beiden Geschlechtern von der Futtermenge und dem Ausmass der hypothalamischen Fettsucht unabhangig war. Lasionen im ventromedialen Hypothalamus der weiblichen jungen Ratte scheinen einen zentralen Mechanismus zu beeinflussen, welcher es ihnen nicht ermoglicht, auf Athernarkose mit Hyperthermie zu reagieren.
BigSpatial-2013 workshop report: 2nd ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Analytics for Big Geospatial Data (BigSpatial-2013): Nov 5, 2013, Orlando, Florida, USA

Big data is emerging as an important area of research for data science researchers and scientists. This area has also seen significant interest from the industry and federal agencies alike, as evidenced by the recent White House initiative on "Big data research and development." Within the realm of big data, spatial and spatiotemporal data is one of fastest growing types of data. With advances in remote sensors, sensor networks, and the proliferation of location sensing devices in daily life activities and common business practices, the generation of disparate, dynamic, and geographically distributed spatiotemporal data has exploded in recent years. In addition, significant progress in ground, air- and space-borne sensor technologies has led to an unprecedented access to earth science data for scientists from different disciplines, interested in studying the complementary nature of different parameters. Today, analyzing this massive data poses a several challenge to the researchers.
Salivary apyrase activity of some old world phlebotomine sand flies

Abstract Salivary gland homogenates of three Old World phlebotomine sand flies ( Phlebotomus papatasi, P. argentipes and P. perniciosus ) contained abundant ATPase and ADPase activities, indicating the presence of an apyrase activity. These activities had an optimum pH around 8.0 and were activated by Ca 2+ but not Mg 2+ . Both hydrolytic activities and salivary protein content were significantly reduced after the female sand fly took a blood meal indicating a secretory fate for the enzymic activities and salivary gland contents during the feeding process. In contrast to the above mentioned species, the salivary apyrase activity of P. colabaensis is much less abundant. Salivary gland homogenates of P. papatasi, P. argentipes and P. perniciosus inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation of citrated rabbit platelet rich plasma. It is suggested that salivary apyrase activity, as in some other blood-sucking arthropods, helps the blood-feeding process by preventing host platelet aggregation.
A simplified method for the in vitro calibration of electromagnetic flowmeters.

A simple and reproducible gravity flow technique for the in vitro calibration of electromagnetic flow probes (EMFP) has been developed. The flow probe is mounted in a chamber instead of on an excised vessel and allows saline to flow directly past the contacts. Utilizing the calibrations determined by this technique, a comparison was made between cardiac outputs determined by indicator-dilution methods and the EMFP. There was good correlation ( r =0·95) between flows determined by the two methods with low and normal outputs, but was less satisfactory ( r =0·87) when high outputs were compared.
USING THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASSESSMENT DATA FOR DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES

This study investigated the performance of 38 learning disabled and 16 emotionally impaired children and youth on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised, Wide Range Achievement Test--Revised, and Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test--Revised. The ages of the children ranged from 8.4 to 16.7 years (M = 12.4, SD = 3.6). The findings suggest that discriminate functional analysis may be useful in the differential diagnosis process. Implications for clinicians are discussed.
How did you get so thin? The effect of attribution on perceptions of underweight females

This study applied attribution theory to determine how responsible women are viewed as being for their weight and to gain a better understanding of how underweight females are perceived. Additionally, the impact of having been teased for being underweight on perceptions and responsibility ratings was explored. Participants (515 undergraduates: 285 women and 230 men) were shown a photograph of an objectively underweight woman in one of three randomly assigned conditions: thinness attributed to an eating disorder, illness, or heredity. An underweight female was perceived as most responsible for her weight and ascribed more negative characteristics when she was described as having an eating disorder than when her weight was attributed to heredity or illness. Weight-related teasing histories were unrelated to perceptions of underweight women. However, underweight women may be at risk for being stereotyped (e.g., depressed, undereating) even when it is known that their weight is related to heredity.
The Importance of Trust in Government for Public Administration: The Case of Zoning

Many scholars argue that citizens with higher levels of political trust are more likely to grant bureaucratic discretion to public administrators than citizens with lower levels of trust. Trust, therefore, can relieve the tension between managerial flexibility and political accountability in the modern administrative state. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence showing that trust is actually associated with citizens’ willingness to cede policy-making power to government. This article tests theories about political trust and citizen competence using the case of zoning. Trust in local government is found to be an important predictor of support for zoning, but trust in state government and trust in national government have no effect. These findings suggest that trust affects policy choice and helps determine how much power citizens grant to local administrators.
Effects of acute temperature and thermal acclimation on aquatic and terrestrial locomotor performance of the three-lined salamander, Eurycea guttolineata

Previous studies indicate that amphibians lack the ability to acclimate locomotor performance to different temperatures after metamorphosis. I evaluated thermal effects on aquatic and terrestrial locomotion in adults of the semi-aquatic salamander Eurycea guttolineata. Burst speed exhibited thermal dependence which paralleled that for tail-beat or stride frequency. Aquatic speed was significantly greater at 8°C acclimation than at 18°C acclimation, whereas terrestrial speed was not affected by thermal acclimation. Burst speed exhibited significant short-term repeatability. My data indicate that this species makes compensatory adjustments in locomotor performance in cool aquatic habitats, which may be related to seasonal reproductive activities.
The preservational fidelity of evenness in molluscan death assemblages

Abstract The richness (number of species) and evenness (uniformity of species abundances) of death assemblages can differ from corresponding living communities due to processes such as between-habitat transport, environmental condensation, and differential taphonomic destruction. Analysis of 132 single-census live-dead comparisons of benthic molluscs from a variety of soft-bottom marine settings indicates that on average evenness does not differ greatly between live and dead assemblages, regardless of the particular depositional setting or grain size of associated sediment. However, individual death assemblages can deviate quite substantially from their corresponding living assemblages, especially if processed using a fine mesh. In addition, death assemblages collected using sieves with 2 mm mesh or coarser showed consistently and significantly greater evenness than corresponding living assemblages. These results are encouraging for broad-scale assessments of evenness in the fossil record based on the com...
Sequential chemical oxidation and aerobic biodegradation of equivalent carbon number-based hydrocarbon fractions in jet fuel.

Remediation of petroleum mixtures is complicated by the differing environmental degradabilities of hundreds of individual hydrocarbons in the mixtures. By grouping the individual hydrocarbons into a few fractions based on equivalent carbon number (EC), the present study examined the chemical and biological degradation of the fractions. With or without prechemical oxidation (25 days) by three oxidants (KMnO4, H2O2, MgO2), sterile and live microcosms were constituted with aquifer samples for aerobic biodegradation (134 days) of JP-4 jet fuel. Eighty-seven hydrocarbons were recovered and grouped into nine EC fractions. The apparent removal and actual transformation rate constants were estimated for both chemical and biological degradations. The data show that prechemical oxidations facilitated removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) (up to 80%) within shorter times (<50 days) than biological alone. KMnO4 and H2O2 were better oxidants in terms of mass reduction in shorter times yet to some extent inhibi...
Networked sensors: armor for the future force

The U.S. Army has embarked on an important campaign to field a lighter, more agile force, capable of being deployed in a fraction of the time currently required. The survivability of this force will depend more heavily on the use of integrated command and control capabilities with unsurpassed situational understanding for all levels of command. Arrays of small, low cost sensors will play a key role in detecting, locating, tracking, and identifying targets, particularly in areas where the terrain or other circumstances prevent traditional high performance sensors from providing critical information. Individual sensor types will provide modest performance but with a wide range of sensing modalities. When deployed in large numbers, the data fused from multiple sensing modalities will provide a detailed view of the battlespace over a wide area. A critical element necessary to deploy unattended ground sensor technology is the underlying communications and networking infrastructure. Communication networks will constitute the major challenge to making unattended ground sensors networks practical.
Poisson sampling: A sampling strategy for concurrently establishing freedom from disease and estimating population characteristics

Surveys of animal populations are often designed to either demonstrate freedom from disease or to estimate parameters that describe the population, such as disease prevalence, proportion of vaccinated animals, or average animal weight and value. Targeted surveillance is a sampling approach where animals are selected for testing based on the presence of characteristics that indicate a higher probability of disease. This approach can substantially reduce the sample size that is required to demonstrate freedom from disease, but inferences about other population parameters are generally not possible because the sample design often lacks the properties required for making inferences in a traditional survey sample. Determining which animals to sample can also be difficult when either more than one characteristic exists or the characteristic is a continuous attribute, such as age or weight. Poisson sampling is an unequal probability sampling design that can provide efficiencies similar to targeted surveillance while allowing inferences for other population parameters. The adaptation of Poisson sampling to animal surveys is described. A simulation study, based on sampling a flock of sheep, is used to demonstrate the reductions in sample size that are possible with Poisson sampling. The study showed that the sample size required for a flock-level sensitivity of 0.95 when using Poisson sampling was less than half that required when using simple random sampling. The performance of estimators for prevalence of scrapie and distribution of genotypes are also compared.
Informal Faculty-Student Contact and Commuter College Freshmen.

Based on prior research conducted at residential colleges and universities, nonclassroom informal faculty-student contact appears to be an element of student socialization. This study extends this line of research to a commuter student population. The extent to which informal contact socializes students by influencing their educational aspiration level in a commuter setting is investigated using a longitudinal data collection with the student as unit of analysis. Ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares techniques are used to analyze the data. Significant interactions between informal faculty-student contact and race were found. White and nonwhite students were sbusequently analyzed separately. The ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression results suggest that informal contact makes a slight but significant contribution to the explanation of freshmen aspirations for whites, but not for nonwhites. The two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis suggests that the assumption that contact influences aspiration may not be valid and, indeed, that aspiration level may cause students to seek to initiate informal contact with faculty.
LYMPHOCYTIC CHORIOMENINGITIS IN THE SYRIAN HAMSTER

The virus of lymphocytic choriomeningitis produces an intense systemic infection in Syrian hamsters with few if any clinical and pathological signs of disease. Specific soluble antigen is demonstrable in the spleen of infected animals until about the 14th day when antisoluble substance antibodies make their appearance. Circulating virus disappears after the 4th week and neutralizing antibodies are present in serum in detectable amounts shortly thereafter; both types of antibody persist for at least several months. The viruses of St. Louis encephalitis and lymphocytic choriomeningitis can be concurrently passed in series in the brains of hamsters. The resultant disease is indistinguishable from that caused by the virus of St. Louis encephalitis alone.
Do non-profit hospitals provide more charity care when faced with a mandatory minimum standard? Evidence from Texas

Abstract Policymakers often question whether not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals provide enough charity care to justify tax advantages. In 1993, Texas enacted legislation requiring NFP hospitals to provide certain community benefits at levels set forth in specific criteria to retain tax-exempt status; this paper focuses on the effect of the legislation’s requirement that NFP hospitals spend a minimum of 4% of net patient revenue on charity care. We also study a modification of the law passed in 1995, which allows the deduction of bad debts expense when calculating net patient revenue. This change effectively lowers required charity care spending, and our study considers whether Texas hospitals responded by reducing charity care spending. We test the Texas laws’ effect on hospital charity care spending using financial data for 1992 through 1997. As anticipated, results show that, on average, NFP hospitals spending below the 4% threshold increased their charity care spending to meet this threshold. Surprisingly, NFP hospitals spending above the threshold experienced a marginally significant decrease in spending. After the 1995 law change, hospitals with higher total margins decreased charity care spending, an unintended consequence of the legislation. Overall, the Texas law changes did not, on average, lead to increased charity care spending by NFP hospitals. While spending increased by NFPs providing too little charity care prior to the law, this group represents less than 20% of our sample. These findings are particularly important given the increase in Texas uninsurance rates during the sample period. Seventeen states have followed Texas’ lead by enacting legislation regarding the charity care spending by NFPs, thus an empirical investigation into the impact of this precedent-setting legislation is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of specific charity care requirements.
Measurement of plasma ibuprofen by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry

A gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the determination of plasma ibuprofen was developed. Plasma samples from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients receiving high-dose ibuprofen therapy were analyzed by GC-MS and the result compared to analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (reference method). Analysis of ibuprofen was sensitive to at least 5 mg/L, and the method was linear to 200 mg/L. Within-run variations of plasma samples were 4.6% (131.7 +/- 6.0 mg/L) and 5.4% (44.4 +/- 2.4 mg/L), respectively. The between-run variation was 9.3% (45.4 +/- 4.2 mg/L) and 7.4% (88.0 +/- 6.5 mg/L). This method is suited for routine clinical use for the monitoring of plasma ibuprofen levels in treatment of CF. It may be particularly applicable in pediatric laboratories, which are likely to possess GC-MS capability.
The Vps/VacJ ABC Transporter Is Required for Intercellular Spread of Shigella flexneri

The Vps/VacJ ABC transporter system is proposed to function in maintaining the lipid asymmetry of the outer membrane. Mutations in vps or vacJ in Shigella flexneri resulted in increased sensitivity to lysis by the detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and the vpsC mutant showed minor differences in its phospholipid profile compared to the wild type. vpsC mutants were unable to form plaques in cultured epithelial cells, but this was not due to a failure to invade, to replicate intracellularly, or to polymerize actin via IcsA for movement within epithelial cells. The addition of the outer membrane phospholipase gene pldA on a multicopy plasmid in a vpsC or vacJ mutant restored its resistance to SDS, suggesting a restoration of lipid asymmetry to the outer membrane. However, the pldA plasmid did not restore the mutant's ability to form plaques in tissue culture cells. Increased PldA levels also failed to restore the mutant's phospholipid profile to that of the wild type. We propose a dual function of the Vps/VacJ ABC transporter system in S. flexneri in both the maintenance of lipid asymmetry in the outer membrane and the intercellular spread of the bacteria between adjacent epithelial cells.
The impact of dose on parotid salivary recovery in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy.

Purpose: A common side effect experienced by head and neck cancer patients after radiation therapy (RT) is impairment of the parotid glands’ ability to produce saliva. Our purpose is to investigate the relationship between radiation dose and saliva changes in the 2 years after treatment. Methods and Materials: The study population includes 142 patients treated with conformal or intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Saliva flow rates from 266 parotid glands are measured before and 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment. Measurements are collected separately from each gland under both stimulated and unstimulated conditions. Bayesian nonlinear hierarchical models were developed and fit to the data. Results: Parotids receiving higher radiation produce less saliva. The largest reduction is at 1–3 months after RT followed by gradual recovery. When mean doses are lower (e.g., 30 Gy), the stimulated saliva does not return to original levels after 2 years. Without stimulation, at 24 months, the predicted saliva is 86% of pretreatment levels for 25 Gy and 40 Gy. We do not find evidence to support that the overproduction of stimulated saliva at 18 and 24 months after low dose in 1 parotid gland is the result of low saliva production from the other parotid gland. Conclusions: Saliva production is affected significantly by radiation, but with doses
Use of probes and amplification techniques for the diagnosis and prognosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infections

The recent development of nucleic acid amplification methodologies has markedly improved our ability to detect very low levels of specific nucleic acids. Amplification techniques have been combined with product detection systems that are designed for high throughput and are automatable. These developments are drastically changing the face of infectious disease diagnostics and changing the character of prognostic indicators in certain diseases. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used extensively for diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infections, and recent developments have indicated that quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR for viral RNA has prognostic value. Self-sustained sequence replication amplification for detection of viral RNA appears comparable to plasma culture for diagnosis of pediatric infections. The ligase chain reaction is still in developmental stages, but holds promise for specific purposes.
Vitamin D receptor alleles do not correlate with bone mineral density in premenopausal Caucasian women from the Southeastern United States

Genetic factors are important in determining peak bone density. Recent studies indicate that polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) may account for much of the genetic contribution to bone density, and VDR genotype may be useful to predict the risk of developing osteoporosis. However, the association between VDR genotype and bone mineral density (BMD) has not been observed in all populations. We determined VDR genotype in 69 healthy premenopausal Caucasion women from the southeastern United States and measured BMD at the lumbar spine (anterior-posterior [AP] and lateral views) and proximal femur. We found no association between VDR genotype and BMD at any site. Our results indicate that in this population, VDR genotype does not predict peak bone density and should not be used to predict the risk of developing osteoporosis.
Signal processing: Opportunities for superconductive circuits

Prime motivators in the evolution of increasingly sophisticated communication and detection systems are the needs for handling ever wider signal bandwidths and higher data processing speeds. These same needs drive the development of electronic device technology. Until recently the superconductive community has been tightly focused on digital devices for high speed computers. The purpose of this paper is to describe opportunities and challenges which exist for both analog and digital devices in a less familiar area, that of wideband signal processing. The function and purpose of analog signal-processing components, including matched filters, correlators and Fourier transformers, will be described and examples of superconductive implementations given. A canonic signal-processing system is then configured using these components in combination with analog/digital converters and digital output circuits to highlight the important issues of dynamic range, accuracy and equivalent computation rate. Superconductive circuits hold promise for processing signals of 10-GHz bandwidth. Signal processing systems, however, can be properly designed and implemented only through a synergistic combination of the talents of device physicists, circuit designers, algorithm architects and system engineers. An immediate challenge to the applied superconductivity community is to begin sharing ideas with these other researchers.
Fourier plane imaging microscopy

We show how the image of an unresolved photonic crystal can be reconstructed using a single Fourier plane (FP) image obtained with a second camera that was added to a traditional compound microscope. We discuss how Fourier plane imaging microscopy is an application of a remarkable property of the obtained FP images: they contain more information about the photonic crystals than the images recorded by the camera commonly placed at the real plane of the microscope. We argue that the experimental results support the hypothesis that surface waves, contributing to enhanced resolution abilities, were optically excited in the studied photonic crystals.
Parents’ perceptions of pharmacists as providers of influenza vaccine to children

Abstract Objective To examine parents' experience with the process of obtaining the influenza vaccine and their perceptions about pharmacists providing influenza vaccination services to their children. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting Wisconsin between November 2011 and April 2012. Participants Children receiving an influenza vaccination from a Unity Health Insurance (UHI)-covered pharmacy between September and December 2011 were identified from pharmacy claims data, and parents of the children were sent a letter requesting their participation in the study. Intervention Online survey. Main outcome measures Parents' experience with the process of obtaining the influenza vaccine and their perceptions about pharmacists providing influenza vaccinations to their children. Results 179 parents received a letter from UHI requesting their participation in the study, and the usable response rate for the study was 48%. Parents' experience with the process of obtaining the influenza vaccine was positive. A majority of parents did not need an appointment (98%) and visited a pharmacy during the hours of 3:05pm to 6:00pm (51%). Approximately 97% of the responding parents felt confident about the pharmacist providing influenza vaccinations to their children. Conclusion Parents appear to be willing to accept pharmacists as an immunization resource for their children.
Effects of first formant onset properties on voicing judgments result from processes not specific to humans.

Both first formant (F1) transition duration and F1 onset frequency have been proposed to be perceptually significant in categorization of voiced and voiceless syllable‐initial stops. Transition duration per se may not, however, explain the fact that, for longer transitions, longer F1 cutback is required in order to perceive a stop as voiceless. Longer transitions result in lower F1 onsets at any duration of cutback greater than zero, and it is possible that the major effect of F1 is determined by its frequency at onset. In this study, F1‐transition duration, onset frequency, and slope were varied across four types of F1 transition in which one of the three variables (onset frequency, duration, slope) was held constant while the other two were allowed to vary. Each of the four F1 types was used in syllables with higher formants appropriate for labial, alveolar, and velar places of articulation. By far, the best predictor of identification of these stimuli by human listeners was F1 onset frequency. F1 durat...
Assembly of the mammalian muscle acetylcholine receptor in transfected COS cells.

We have investigated the mechanisms of assembly and transport to the cell surface of the mouse muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in transiently transfected COS cells. In cells transfected with all four subunit cDNAs, AChR was expressed on the surface with properties resembling those seen in mouse muscle cells (Gu, Y., A. F. Franco, Jr., P.D. Gardner, J. B. Lansman, J. R. Forsayeth, and Z. W. Hall. 1990. Neuron. 5:147-157). When incomplete combinations of AChR subunits were expressed, surface binding of 125I-alpha-bungarotoxin was not detected except in the case of alpha beta gamma which expressed less than 15% of that seen with all four subunits. Immunoprecipitation and sucrose gradient sedimentation experiments showed that in cells expressing pairs of subunits, alpha delta and alpha gamma heterodimers were formed, but alpha beta was not. When three subunits were expressed, alpha delta beta and alpha gamma beta complexes were formed. Variation of the ratios of the four subunit cDNAs used in the transfection mixture showed that surface AChR expression was decreased by high concentrations of delta or gamma cDNAs in a mutually competitive manner. High expression of delta or gamma subunits also each inhibited formation of a heterodimer with alpha and the other subunit. These results are consistent with a defined pathway for AChR assembly in which alpha delta and alpha gamma heterodimers are formed first, followed by association with the beta subunit and with each other to form the complete AChR.
Novel Thermosets from the Cationic Copolymerization of Modified Linseed Oils and Dicyclopentadiene

A series of soft to tough copolymers have been prepared by the cationic copolymerization of the modified linseed oils Dilulin or ML189 with DCPD. Soxhlet extraction and solid-state 13 C NMR spectra indicate that the bulk copolymers consist of a cross-linked oil/DCPD network interpenetrated with certain amounts of soluble components. The Tgs of the resulting Dil/ DCPD and ML189/DCPD copolymers are in the range 15-83 and 8-77°C, respectively, and increase linearly with the increase of the DCPD amount. The room-temperature storage moduli range from 4.43 x 10 6 to 1.52 x 10 9 Pa for the Dil/DCPD copolymers and from 3.72 x 10 6 to 1.44 x 10 9 Pa for the ML189/DCPD copolymers.
Isolation and identification of a proteinase from calf thymus that cleaves poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and histone H1

A proteinase was isolated from calf thymus that degraded pADPRT, histone H1 and alpha-casein in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. In a five-step procedure, a homogenous proteinase was obtained with a subunit structure of 80 and 30 kDa. The amino-acid homology of an internal sequence as well as kinetic and inhibitor assays identified the proteinase as calpain I. It is suggested that even though the general substrate alpha-casein is widely used for the assaying of calpains, more appropriately physiological cellular components (pADPRT and histone H1) specify the thymus proteinase.
Latency Hiding with Optimistic Computations

We introduce a latency hiding mechanism that enables computationally intensive operations to be utilized in real-time interactive environments. In most cases, real-time interactive environments preclude calculations that run slower than real-time. Our approach called optimistic I/O (OIO) schedules anticipated operations in advance so that their results are ready when needed. An associated roll-back scheme enables recovery whenever an unexpected real-time input forces the cancellation of scheduled operations. Optimistic I/O is implemented in a parallel simulation executive and is evaluated by demonstrating (1) feasibility in a virtual environment application and (2) effectiveness in an analytical framework. The feasibility of OIO is demonstrated by integrating a computationally intensive image generation application called the synthetic scene generation model (SSGM) into an interactive environment (SSGM is used by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization researchers to produce phenomenologically correct images for testing missile and satellite sensor systems). Effectiveness is evaluated by analytically examining the impact on the quality of an animation sequence as the probability of user interaction increases. We observe that speculative computing is advantageous in applications that include expensive computations, especially when the polling frequency for user interaction is high with respect to the computational period and the probability of interactions is low. Potential applications of optimistic I/O include: Interactive virtual environments for hardware-in-the-loop testing (e.g., missile tracking sensors); high-fidelity visual simulations for human training; and robotics applications where motor control commands require a significant number of computations, but where the presence or absence of objects in the environment may change which computations are necessary. All these applications share the requirement that a computationally intensive task (such as image generation) must be completed at real time rates in response to external inputs.
Radon-222 from the Island of Hawaii: Deep Soils Are More Important than Lava Fields or Volcanoes

The mean flux of radon-222 atoms from the island of Hawaii is 0.45 atom per square centimeter per second. Lava fields occupy 50 percent of the land area, but their radon flux is only 1 percent of that from deep volcanic soils. The island yields approximately 10 curies of radon-222 per hour to the air surrounding it. The radon-222 contribuition of volcanoes is negligible.
The Role of Science in Social Work The Perennial Debate

• Summary: The age-old debate about the role of science in social work has intensified with the growth of scientific activities and the emergence of philosophically-based criticisms of prevailing scientific paradigms. Issues have included: constructionist challenges to the role of research in validating social work knowledge; divisions over whether there is enough credible scientific knowledge to make a difference in practice; disputes over whether such knowledge can be adequately disseminated and properly utilized; and controversies about the utility of applying research methods (e.g. single-case evaluations) in practice.• Findings: Scientific methods are likely to provide superior knowledge, because they have evolved to become humankind’s most powerful form of enquiry. Enough research-based knowledge does exist to make a difference in practice, and there are means to enable its dissemination and utilization. Moreover, a number of these methods can be productively used in practice.• Applications: Practic...
Cerebral blood flow in hypertensive patients: an initial report of reduced and compensatory blood flow responses during performance of two cognitive tasks.

Abstract —We asked whether the altered cerebral vasculature associated with essential hypertension might dampen or redirect the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) response to cognitive work. Relative rCBF was assessed with [ 15 O]water positron emission tomography during a working memory task, a memory span task, and two perceptual control tasks. Unmedicated hypertensive patients and control subjects differed in rCBF response during both memory tasks. Hypertensives showed relatively diminished rCBF responses in right hemisphere areas combined with compensatory activation of homologous areas in the left cerebral cortex. Essential hypertension appears to selectively influence the circulatory reserve of portions of cerebral cortex and secondarily induce recruitment of other cortical areas to process certain tasks.
Reconstructions of computed-tomography imaging spectrometer image cubes using calculated system matrices

The compound-tomography imaging spectrometer (CTIS) captures a scene's spatial and spectral information without any type of scanning. This capability enables a variety of applications that require spectral imaging of transient events. In this work, we demonstrate a flexible CTIS calibration techniques that allows multiple scene resolutions to be reconstructed from a single detector frame. The technique combines measurements with simulations to determine the transfer matrix of the system. Reconstructions of an experimental scene are performed to demonstrate the flexibility of the approach.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A 3D object classifier for discriminating manufacturing processes

Automated classification of artifacts produced by mechanical computer-aided design (CAD) is a unique research frontier for 3D matching and mesh processing. Unlike general graphical models, mechanical CAD artifacts have a physical realization via a variety of manufacturing processes as well as functional and behavioral attributes. The general problem of how to best correlate low-level shape data with the higher-order manufacturing and mechanical properties remains an open area of research with many practical applications (cost estimation, design archival, variational design and process selection). This paper addresses the problem of manufacturing process discrimination, i.e.,determination of the best (or most likely) manufacturing process from shape feature information. Specifically, we introduce a new curvature-based shape descriptor and show its applicability to manufacturing process discrimination using a publicly available set of artifacts from the National Design Repository. Statistics on surface curvatures are used to construct the curvature-based shape descriptor; and a supervised machine learning classifier, based on support vector machines, is applied to learn a separator for models that are ''prismatic machined'' and ''cast-then-machined''. The authors believe that this work can be the basis for practical new techniques for manufacturing cost estimation, engineering analysis and design archival.
Children's use of television commercials to initiate social interaction in family viewing situations

(1980). Children's use of television commercials to initiate social interaction in family viewing situations. Journal of Broadcasting: Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 149-158.