cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Arginine deprivation and immune suppression in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a critical unsolved question; and although recent studies have demonstrated a strong association between altered brain immune responses and disease progression, the mechanistic cause of neuronal dysfunction and death is unknown. We have previously described the unique CVN-AD mouse model of AD, in which immune-mediated nitric oxide is lowered to mimic human levels, resulting in a mouse model that demonstrates the cardinal features of AD, including amyloid deposition, hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau, behavioral changes, and age-dependent hippocampal neuronal loss. Using this mouse model, we studied longitudinal changes in brain immunity in relation to neuronal loss and, contrary to the predominant view that AD pathology is driven by proinflammatory factors, we find that the pathology in CVN-AD mice is driven by local immune suppression. Areas of hippocampal neuronal death are associated with the presence of immunosuppressive CD11c+ microglia and extracellular arginase, resulting in arginine catabolism and reduced levels of total brain arginine. Pharmacologic disruption of the arginine utilization pathway by an inhibitor of arginase and ornithine decarboxylase protected the mice from AD-like pathology and significantly decreased CD11c expression. Our findings strongly implicate local immune-mediated amino acid catabolism as a novel and potentially critical mechanism mediating the age-dependent and regional loss of neurons in humans with AD.
Prerelease Exposure to Methyl Eugenol Increases the Mating Competitiveness of Sterile Males of the Oriental Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a Hawaiian Orchard

ABSTRACT Males of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), are strongly attracted to methyl eugenol (ME), and recent work demonstrated that ingestion of this chemical enhances male mating success, apparently owing its role as a precursor in the synthesis of the male sex pheromone. The current study expanded upon earlier laboratory and field-cage experiments by assessing whether prerelease exposure to ME increased the mating competitiveness of mass-reared, sterile males in Hawaiian orchards. Releases of sterile males from a pupal color-based sexing strain were made weekly in two fruit orchards over 8 mo, with the sterile males at one site given ME for 24 h before release (treated) and the sterile males at the other site given no ME before release (control). Fruits were collected periodically during the study period, and eggs were dissected and incubated to score hatch rate. At both sites, releases of sterile males increased the proportion of unhatched eggs well above prerelease levels, but the...
Toward a VA Women's Health Research Agenda: Setting Evidence‐based Priorities to Improve the Health and Health Care of Women Veterans

The expansion of women in the military is reshaping the veteran population, with women now constituting the fastest growing segment of eligible VA health care users. In recognition of the changing demographics and special health care needs of women, the VA Office of Research & Development recently sponsored the first national VA Women's Health Research Agenda-setting conference to map research priorities to the needs of women veterans and position VA as a national leader in Women's Health Research. This paper summarizes the process and outcomes of this effort, outlining VA's research priorities for biomedical, clinical, rehabilitation, and health services research.
VLSI implementation of a reduced symmetric fuzzy singleton set

A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) has been proposed and implemented in many control systems to deliver smooth and more reliable outputs than the traditional control systems. In most of the existing VLSI FLC chips, the architectures are based on general purpose microcontroller structure tailored to fuzzy logic implementation. The drawbacks in these types of FLC VLSI chips are low speed, high cost, and long design time. Moreover, an expensive development system is also needed to program a general purpose microcontroller for a specific fuzzy logic control system. In order to alleviate the drawbacks in existing VLSI fuzzy logic circuits, a reduced symmetric fuzzy singleton set (RSFSS) is proposed in this paper. The proposed RSFSS system can handle three input variables, nine rules for each input variable, and produces two output values. Each rule is based on a symmetric triangular membership function. The triangular membership functions of each state variable are defined symmetrically with respect to the centroid of the universe of discourse. Since the hardware complexity is greatly reduced, the entire FLC based on the RSFS structure can be implemented on a VLSI chip with a dimension of 2.22 mm X 2.22 mm.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Wavelength or length measurement by reversible fringe counting.

Optical and electronic means have been devised and tested for reversible counting of fringes from a corner-cube or Michelson interferometer. Counting rates of 1000/sec have been achieved but do not represent the attainable limit.
Nanosphere natural lithography surface texturing as anti-reflective layer on SiC photodiodes

Natural lithography with 100-nm-diameter SiO2 spheres followed by inductively coupled plasma etching was used to texture the surface of 4H-SiC for a wide-spectrum large-acceptance-angle anti-reflective layer. The surface showed low normal-incidence reflectance of < 5% over a wide spectrum from 250 nm to 550 nm. Photodiodes fabricated from the surface-textured SiC showed broader spectral and angular responsivity than SiC photodiodes with SiO2 antireflective coating. The textured SiC photodiodes showed peak responsivity of 116 mA/W, large angle of acceptance angle (< 2% decrease in responsivity at 50 o incident angle) and low dark current at 10V.
Electromagnetic properties of dark matter: Dipole moments and charge form factor

Abstract A neutral dark matter particle may possess an electric dipole moment (EDM) or a magnetic dipole moment (MDM), so that its scattering with nuclei is governed by electromagnetic interactions. If the moments are associated with relevant operators of dimension-5, they may be detectable in direct search experiments. We calculate complete expressions of the scattering cross sections and the recoil energy spectra for dark matter with these attributes. We also provide useful formulae pertinent to dark matter that interacts via an electric charge form factor (CFF) which is related to the charge radius defined by an effective dimension-6 operator. We show that a 7 GeV dark matter particle with an EDM, MDM or CFF easily reproduces the CoGeNT excess while remaining consistent with null searches.
Robust, Efficient Upwind Finite-Difference Traveltime Calculations In 3-D

Current industry interest in 3D prestack Kirchhoff depth migration has provided an impetus for much recent research on methods to perform the necessary traveltime calculations to construct the kinematic component of the migration operator. Robust approaches are mandated since velocity models are usually complicated when depth migration is necessary. The generally enormous size of the depth migration problem, especially in 3D, dictates that an effcient traveltime algorithm must also be employed. While the traditional method for computing traveltimes involves ray tracing, alternatively, traveltimes may be computed by directly solving the nonlinear 3D eikonal equation (see Cerveny and Hron, 1980 for background). When the objective is to fill a 3D volume with traveltimes, the direct approach offers advantages of robustness and efficiency over the ray tracing approaches, especially when velocity fields are complex. I present a robust, efficient and stable extension to 3D of the well-known 2D method of van Trier and Symes (199 1). It performs well on the high-contrast, complex velocity models encountered by today’s 3D depth migration applications. My implementation fully vectorizes at the inner-loop level and fully parallelizes at the outer-loop level on the CRAY Y-MP, thus making it ideal for this machine, where it runs at over 180 Mflops per CPU.
BAD Enables Ceramide to Signal Apoptosis via Ras and Raf-1

Prior investigations document that proliferative signaling cascades, under some circumstances, initiate apoptosis, although mechanisms that dictate the final outcome are largely unknown. In COS-7 cells, ceramide signals Raf-1 activation through Ras (Zhang, Y., Yao, B., Delikat, S., Bayoumy, S., Lin, X. H., Basu, S., McGinley, M., Chan-Hui, P. Y., Lichenstein, H., and Kolesnick, R. (1997) Cell 89, 63-72), but not apoptosis. However, expression of small amounts of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, BAD, conferred ceramide-induced apoptosis onto COS-7 cells. Ceramide signaled apoptosis in BAD-expressing cells by a pathway involving sequentially kinase suppressor of Ras (KSR)/ceramide-activated protein kinase, Ras, c-Raf-1, and MEK1. Downstream, this pathway linked to BAD dephosphorylation at serine 136 by prolonged inactivation of Akt/PKB. Further, mutation of BAD at serine 136 abrogated ceramide signaling of apoptosis. The present study indicates that when ceramide signals through the Ras/Raf cascade, the availability of a single target, BAD, may dictate an apoptotic outcome.
Can the creep curves for different loading ages diverge

Abstract When creep recovery is predicted by the principle of superposition from the unit creep curves for various loading ages, both Branson's law (ACI 209/II) and the double power law give non-monotonic recovery curves. This has been criticized by some as thermodynamically inadmissible. Using an age-dependent Maxwell chain model, it is shown, however, that this phenomenon is thermodynamicall admissible. Creep recovery, though, is not accurately predicted by the principle of superposition, and the result should rather be interpreted as the admissibility of a divergence of creep curves for different loading ages, which is indeed observed in many measurements. Such divergence can be modeled by Maxwell chains but not by Kelvin chains, so the latter imply an arbitrary, unjustified limitation. The same is characteristic of the “improved Dischinger formulation” (recently adopted from DIN for the new C.E.B. Model Code), which represents a special case of Kelvin chain. This is a further reason why the separation of reversible (delayed elastic) creep component is an arbitrary assumption lacking thermodynamic justification. For aging creep only Maxwell chain rheologic models should be used. Other related shortcomings of “improved Dischinger formulations” are also summarized.
Fragmentation of isomeric intrastrand crosslink lesions of DNA in an ion-trap mass spectrometer

The collision-induced dissociation pathways of isomeric cytosine-guanine and cytosine-adenine intrastrand crosslink-containing dinucleoside monophosphates were investigated with the stable isotope-labeled compounds to gain insights into the effects of chemical structure on the fragmentation pathways of these DNA modifications. A Dimroth-like rearrangement, which was reported for protonated 2′-deoxycytidine and involved the switching of the exocyclic N4 with the ring N3 nitrogen atom, was also observed for the cytosine component in the protonated ions of C[5–8]G, C[5–2]A, and C[5–8]A, but not C[5-N2]G or C[5-N6]A. In these two sets of crosslinks, the C5 of cytosine is covalently bonded with its neighboring purine base via a carbon atom on the aromatic ring and an exocyclic nitrogen atom, respectively. On the contrary, the rearrangement could occur for the deprotonated ions of C[5-N2]G, C[5-N6]A, and unmodified cytosine, but not C[5–8]G, C[5–2]A, or C[5–8]A. In addition, ammonia could be lost more readily from C[5-N2]G and C[5-N6]A than from C[5–8]G, C[5–2]A, and C[5–8]A. The results from the present study afforded important guidance for the application of mass spectrometry for the structure elucidation of other intrastrand/interstrand crosslink lesions.
Recent Results on Optical Scintillation in the Presence of Beam Wander

In this paper we discuss some recent results concerning beam wander-induced scintillation of a Gaussian-beam wave along a horizontal path with constant C 2 n and also from ground to space, the latter based on the Hufnagle-Valley model for C 2 n . We consider cases of tracked beams and untracked beams, both of which involve a certain amount of beam wander. Theoretical models of scintillation and corresponding probability density function (pdf) models are compared with simulation data over a broad range of beam diameters. We include both collimated and focused beams. For the uplink from ground to space path, we also examine some fade statistics.
Effect of External K, NH4, Na, Ca, Mg, and H Ions on the Cell Transmembrane Electropotential of Avena Coleoptile

A number of studies have shown that an electropotential difference, PD, of about 100 mv (interior negative), is present across plant cell membranes (2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 21), similar to that across animal cell membranes. Thus, if minerals move through cell membranes as ions, they are subject not only to concentration gradients but also to electrical fields. For precise evaluation of the energy relationships in ion accumulation and active ion transport by cells the electropotential gradient as well as the chemical gradient must be known (4, 5). Active ion transport, requiring metabolic energy, is defined as transport against the electrochemical activity gradient (4, 5). Cases are known in which ion accumulation takes place without the expenditure of metabolic energy (5, 18). The use of the Nernst equation in elucidating the fundamental relationships of electropotential differences to ionic concentration gradients across plant cell membranes has been discussed recently in detail by Dainty (5) and by Briggs, Hope, and Robertson (4). The results of similar studies of animal cells (12, 16, 19) and of giant cells of algae (2, 11, 13, 21) show that the resting electropotentials have an approximate quantitative relationship to the concentration gradient at equilibrium of the ions K+, Na+, and Cl-. This relationship is more closely approached when consideration is given to the relative permeability coefficients of these ions as in Goldman's modification (9) of the Nernst equation. This suggests that the resting potential is diffusional in origin, that it may be primarily a function of the relatively few more rapidly permeating ions, and that K+, in particular, may have a predominant effect. Previous reports have shown that oat, corn, and pea seedling tissue cells, exhibit a transmembrane PD which is influenced by external K+ concentration in the direction predicted by the Nernst equation (8). However, the effect on these plant cell PD's of ions other than K+ has not been evaluated. The present report deals with a limited survey of the effect on PD of manipulating the ion concentration gradients by altering the external concentration. This paper gives details of the results mentioned in an earlier brief report (10).
Practical numerical analysis of a crack near a weld subjected to primary loading and hydrogen embrittlement

Abstract Structural failures by fracture in oil and petroleum industries can have severe consequences both in terms of loss of life and of economics. Material fabrication processes, such as welding and rolling, and plant environment, such as corrosive surroundings, lead to brittle fractures of oil and petroleum industry structures. Structures, such as pressure vessels, are constantly exposed to hydrogen in the presence of high pressure and moderate temperature. This leads to hydrogen embrittlement. Also, exposure to high pressure and temperature over time by itself ages the material, and leads to temper embrittlement. Hydrogen and temper embrittlements are the primary causes for brittle fracture. In this paper, the most common type of this complex interaction, namely that of the residual stresses in a welded thick wall pressure vessel subject to primary loading and exposed to an atmosphere that contains hydrogen at elevated temperature, is discussed and analyzed. A real case of a crack in a welded pressure vessel under high hydrogen partial pressure and moderate temperature is selected as a reference structure. A strategy that involves both modeling and use of data from previous experiments is established that can help in assessing the service life of such a structure that contains residual stress from processing, is cracked, and is exposed to a corrosive atmosphere.
Effects of triazine herbicides on organophosphate insecticide toxicity in Hyalella azteca.

The frequent use of pesticides in agricultural and commercial settings has led some researchers to devote their attention to studying the effects of mixtures of these compounds as they co-occur in the environment. Recent studies have demonstrated the potentiating effects of triazine herbicides, such as atrazine and its analogs, to the toxicity of a variety of organophosphate (OP) insecticides. One such OP insecticide, chlorpyrifos, has been the topic of much concern because of its prevalence in the environment. This study focused on examining the effects of 10 select triazine herbicides at concentrations of 1 μmole/L (approximately 200 μg/L) to chlorpyrifos with Hyalella azteca. The compounds selected include atrazine, three of its degradation products, and six other herbicide active ingredients. Toxicity tests were performed using a two-way analysis of variance matrix design with effect levels determined by way of probit analysis. Atrazine was found to have the greatest acutely lethal effect to H. azteca, followed by its closest degradation product, deethylatrazine. Two of the six atrazine analogs, simazine and cyanazine, also showed significant effects to the insecticide’s toxicity. Synergistic ratios (SRs) were calculated to compare the effect magnitudes for each of the herbicides. The highest ratio obtained was with atrazine (SR = 1.42). A majority of the past studies involving mixtures of triazines and OPs have examined the potentiation effects of active-use triazine herbicides on Chironomus species. However, compared with the acute effects previously obtained for Chironomus species, H. azteca show a higher tolerance to the presence of the triazine herbicides, even at levels often considered as being at the high end of environmentally relevant concentrations. When coupled with past studies from our laboratory, this research helps to provide a better understanding of the toxic effects of herbicide–insecticide interactions.
ACM HotMobile 2013 demo: preserving data privacy through data partitioning in mobile application

A key concern in utilizing external resources for mobile application execution is a potential loss of data privacy. User data needs to be shipped to possibly untrusted remote nodes for execution. We introduce the concept of data partitioning, where in the user can conveniently identify the sensitive parts of the data, which is then prevented from being shipped to untrusted remote servers.
Alcohol consumption among college students: An agent-based computational simulation

An agent-based C++ program was developed to model student drinking. Student-agents interact with each other and are randomly subjected to good or bad drinking experiences, to stories of other students' experiences, and to peer pressure. The program outputs drinking rates as functions of time based on various input parameters. The intent of this project is to simulate alcohol use, eventually adding other drugs, and possibly creating a simulation game for use as an educational tool. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 2009
Blockade of cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase pathway attenuates the natriuresis of NG-monomethyl-l-arginine infusion in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Abstract Previous studies demonstrated that there is increased renal synthesis of cytochrome P-450-dependent arachidonic acid metabolites in the vasculature and tubules of the Okamoto spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). It has also been shown that the natriuretic response of the SHR to N G -monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) infusion is exaggerated compared with that of the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rat. The purpose of this study was to determine the roles of cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase and cyclooxygenase pathways in the natriuresis that is observed with the systemic infusion of a high dose of L-NMMA to inhibit nitric oxide synthesis in the SHR and the Wistar-Kyoto rats. After a control clearance period of 20 minutes groups of adult SHR ( n = 14) were given L-NMMA (15 mg/kg bolus followed by 500 μg/kg/min continuous infusion). In other groups of SHR either ketoconazole (0.5 mg/kg, n = 9) to inhibit the renal activity of cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase pathway or indomethacin (3 mg/kg, n = 7) to inhibit cyclooxygenase activity was administered intravenously 20 minutes before the control clearance period. After the control clearance period L-NMMA was infused as previously described. Infusion of L-NMMA in the control group of SHR resulted in a significant increase in fractional excretion of sodium (FE Na from 1.78% ± 0.24% to 6.90% ± 0.61%). In the ketoconazole-treated group of SHR, L-NMMA infusion resulted in a significant natriuresis (from 2.22% ± 0.58% to 4.70% ± 0.93%); however, the natriuretic response was significantly attenuated compared with that of the control group of SHR that received only L-NMMA (ΔFE Na , 2.47% ± 0.40% vs 5.24% ± 0.55%). Indomethacin administration did not affect the natriuretic response to L-NMMA infusion in the SHR. In conclusion, the natriuretic response to L-NMMA infusion in the SHR is significantly attenuated by administration of ketoconazole but not indomethacin. This result suggests that the natriuretic effect of L-NMMA infusion in the SHR is mediated at least partly by cytochrome P-450 metabolites of the epoxygenase pathway.
Synthesis of oligodeoxyribonucleoside phosphorothioates using Lawesson's Reagent for the Sulfur Transfer Step

2,4-Bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,2,4-dithiadiphosphetane-2,4-disulfide (Lawesson's reagent) efficiently converts the triphosphite intermediate used in the solid-phase synthesis of oligonucleotides into an oligodeoxyribonucleoside phosphorothioate.
Neuroendocrine Tumors: Current Recommendations for Diagnosis and Surgical Management

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms found in diverse locations within the body. These tumors are commonly classified by the primary tumor's location, further subclassified by their differentiation, and finally segregated by their ability to hypersecrete peptides or amines. A number of groups have summarized their recommendations for diagnosis and therapy; however, the rarity of these lesions makes prospective randomized multiinstitutional trials difficult. Thus, these "consensus statements" often remain opinion-based. The authors have collaboratively developed a consensus on the current diagnostic work-up necessary for patients with NETs to help clinicians with this confusing field and followed this with some of the more advanced surgical techniques and considerations that are currently only available in specialty centers to show the evolving management of NETs.
A uniformly valid asymptotic solution of Hart's equations for constant, nonelastic, extensional strain rate

Abstract A uniformly valid approximate solution of Hart's constitutive equation is presented in this paper for the special case of a constant, nonelastic strain rate tensile test. The method of matched asymptotics is used in the analysis. A principal result is that for sufficiently low temperature or high nonelastic strain rate, the “viscoplastic limit” is a good approximation to the solution of Hart's equations. The combined effect of temperature and strain rate on the behavior of these equations is shown to be characterized by two nondimensional parameters ϵ 1 and ϵ 2 . It is found that with a judicious choice of these parameters, the numerical integration of Hart's equation can be easily carried out. The numerical results validate the viscoplastic approximation. A comparison of numerical results and the analytic solution are presented.
Pain and Depression: An Integrative Review of Neurobiological and Psychological Factors

The comorbidity of pain and depression has been well established in the literature and is associated with a greater burden to the individual and society than either condition alone. The relationship between pain and depression is quite complex and multiple factors must be considered when trying to disentangle the pain-depression link including shared neurobiology, precipitating environmental factors and cognitive influences. This article aims to provide an overview of the leading neurobiological and psychosocial theories that have advanced our understanding of the link between pain and depression. To this end we describe the shared neurobiological mechanisms in the brain thought to explain the overlap and consider psychological processes and how they inform a cognitive behavioral model. The article also provides an overview of the evidence based treatment for comorbid pain and depression.
Leptin-Dependent Control of Glucose Balance and Locomotor Activity by POMC Neurons

Leptin plays a pivotal role in regulation of energy balance. Via unknown central pathways, leptin also affects peripheral glucose homeostasis and locomotor activity. We hypothesized that, specifically, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons mediate those actions. To examine this possibility, we applied Cre-Lox technology to express leptin receptors (ObRb) exclusively in POMC neurons of the morbidly obese, profoundly diabetic, and severely hypoactive leptin receptor-deficient Lepr(db/db) mice. Here, we show that expression of ObRb only in POMC neurons leads to a marked decrease in energy intake and a modest reduction in body weight in Lepr(db/db) mice. Remarkably, blood glucose levels are entirely normalized. This normalization occurs independently of changes in food intake and body weight. In addition, physical activity is greatly increased despite profound obesity. Our results suggest that leptin signaling exclusively in POMC neurons is sufficient to stimulate locomotion and prevent diabetes in the severely hypoactive and hyperglycemic obese Lepr(db/db) mice.
Socioeconomic status of origin and the clinical expression of Schizophrenia

Abstract The concentrated focus on biology during the “decade of the brain” has resulted in decreased attention to the indisputable influence of psychosocial and sociocultural factors in the expression of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the socioeconomic background of the origin and the clinical manifestation of schizophrenia. Parent socioeconomic information and clinical symptom data from 120 (84 men and 36 women) schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients were analyzed. Results suggested that higher parental SES (socioeconomic status) is associated with decreased symptom severity in female patients, but with increased symptom severity and decreased global functioning in male patients. Possible interactions between socioeconomic status and sex of patient are discussed, as well as suggestions for further study.
Flow cytometry in the diagnosis and classification of malignant lymphoma and leukemia

DNA content and light scatter were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) in 103 patients including 43 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), eight patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD), 17 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), ten patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), and 25 patients with chronic lymphoid leukemias. Controls consisted of 42 nonneoplastic specimens obtained from lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, and peripheral blood. Each specimen was analyzed after staining with a hypotonic solution of propidium iodide using nuclei isolated from chicken erythrocytes as an internal standard. The DNA content and light scatter of the human populations was expressed as a ratio between the DNA content (or light scatter) of the human G0--G1 cells and that of the chicken erythrocytes nuclei. The mean DNA ratio for the 42 nonneoplastic samples was 2.58 +/- 0.045 (SD). In these samples the DNA coefficient of variation of the human G0--G1 peak ranged from 1.48--3.28% (mean, 2.33 +/- 0.54%). The FCM data in the NHL was compared to morphologic diagnoses made according to the "working formulation of NHL for clinical usage" recently proposed by a panel of international experts. Eight of 17 (47%) low grade NHL, one of two (50%) mycosis fungoides, ten of 14 (71%) intermediate grade NHL, nine of ten (90%) high grade NHL, nine of 17 (53%) ALL, three of ten (30%) ANLL, and seven of 25 (28%) chronic lymphoid leukemias had abnormal DNA ratios indicative of aneuploidy. In addition, several cases had normal DNA ratios but G0--G1 coefficients of variation outside of the normal range. All cases of HD had normal DNA values except one case with a small percentage of near tetraploid cells. The mean percentage of cells with S-phase DNA content for the low grade NHL (2.2 +/- 0.8%) was significantly lower than that of the intermediate grade NHL (12.1 +/- 4.9%; P less than 0.0001). The mean S-phase value for the intermediate grade NHL was significantly lower than that of the high grade NHL (22.6 +/- 11.1%; P less than 0.001). The three prognostic categories of NHL designated by the new formulation were clearly distinguishable by the FCM data. Light scatter was not particularly useful for distinguishing nonneoplastic from neoplastic populations. The mean light scatter coefficient of variation of the ALL (15.2%) was significantly lower than that of ANLL (20.5%), however (P less than 0.04).
An efficient VLSI implementation of IDEA encryption algorithm using VHDL

Data security is an important issue in computer networks and cryptographic algorithms are essential parts in network security. So far, International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA) is very secure. In this paper, we present a VLSI implementation of the IDEA block cipher using VHDL using AMI 0.5 process technology standard cells. We have optimized the modulus multiplier and exploited the temporal parallelism available in the IDEA algorithm. In our implementation, the subkeys are generated internally once the original key is fetched. This key is retained unless a new key is used for encryption. This implementation does not employ an additional RAM to store the subkeys. Our chip contains the same eight units, and each unit can execute one round of the algorithm. Using pipelined design, eight rounds of the algorithm are executed in parallel in a chip. Our implementation operating at 10 MHz achieves a throughput of greater than 700 Mbps, which is several times higher than previous implementations. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Fall Meeting Virtual Options: Expanded Access to Fall Meeting Content

This year, AGU will offer more ways than ever before to interact with Fall Meeting authors, attendees, and content through an initiative to use technology to extend the Fall Meeting experience beyond the walls of the Moscone Center.
A replica technique for wordline and sense control in low-power SRAM's

With the migration toward low supply voltages in low-power SRAM designs, threshold and supply voltage fluctuations will begin to have larger impacts on the speed and power specifications of SRAM's. We present techniques based on replica circuits which minimize the effect of operating conditions' variability on the speed and power. Replica memory cells and bitlines are used to create a reference signal whose delay tracks that of the bitlines. This signal is used to generate the sense clock with minimal slack time and control wordline pulsewidths to limit bitline swings. We implemented the circuits for two variants of the technique, one using bitline capacitance ratioing in a 1.2-/spl mu/m 8-kbyte SRAM, and the other using cell current ratioing in a 0.35-/spl mu/m 2-kbyte SRAM. Both the RAM's were measured to operate over a wide range of supply voltages, with the latter dissipating 3.6 mW at 150 MHz at 1 V and 5.2 /spl mu/W at 980 kHz at 0.4 V.
The Effects of Ventilation and Preburn Time on Water Mist Extinguishing of Diesel Fuel Pool Fires

The goal of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory Fire Fighting and Prevention Program is to reduce the number of fires and fire-related injuries in the mining industry. As part of this effort, water mist is being evaluated for the suppression of underground mine fires, such as fires in diesel fuel storage areas. In this study a series of large-scale fire tests was conducted to investigate the effects of ventilation and preburn time on water mist extinguishing of three diesel fuel pool fires with heat release rates of 230 kW, 1, and 3MW. The experiments were conducted in a simulated underground coal mine diesel fuel storage area under three ventilation conditions: no ventilation, natural ventilation, and forced ventilation and with two preburn times for the no ventilation condition: 30 s and 1 min. Without ventilation the 230kW fire was the most difficult to extinguish; with natural ventilation the 1MW fire took the longest time to extinguish; and...
A cellular automata representation for assembly simulation and sequence generation

Cellular automata are used to represent physical objects and their interactions for the purpose of planning the assembly process of several parts. Cells assume a vector value, made up of a material/void indicator, a set of cell boundary edge states, and an indicator of the allowable motion direction of the cell. Sets of rules that recognize parts and deduce allowable motions are described. An algorithm to generate allowable disassembly sequences is developed. An implementation is used to study the performance of the rules and algorithm. An example sequence generations is presented.
The chain build‐up procedure in computing the structures of biologically active polypeptides and proteins

The chain-buildup method is presented for sampling the low energy conformations of polypeptides and enzyme-substrate complexes. This method circumvents the multiple minimum problem. It is shown that the method can compute structures in agreement with experiment.
Local and large-scale climate forcing of Puget Sound oceanographic properties on seasonal to interdecadal timescales

The influence of climate on Puget Sound oceanographic properties is investigated on seasonal to interannual timescales using continuous profile data at 16 stations from 1993 to 2002 and records of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) from 1951 to 2002. Principal components analyses of profile data identify indices representing 42% ,5 8 %, and 56% of the total variability at depth-station combinations for temperature, salinity, and density, respectively, and 22% for water column stratification. Variability in the leading pattern of Puget Sound water temperature and salinity profiles is well correlated with local surface air temperatures and freshwater inflows to Puget Sound from major river basins, respectively. SST and SSS anomalies are informative proxies for the leading patterns of variations in Puget Sound temperature and salinity profiles. Using this longer time history of observations, we find that SST and SSS anomalies also have significant correlations with Aleutian
SNPGenie: estimating evolutionary parameters to detect natural selection using pooled next-generation sequencing data

UNLABELLED New applications of next-generation sequencing technologies use pools of DNA from multiple individuals to estimate population genetic parameters. However, no publicly available tools exist to analyse single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling results directly for evolutionary parameters important in detecting natural selection, including nucleotide diversity and gene diversity. We have developed SNPGenie to fill this gap. The user submits a FASTA reference sequence(s), a Gene Transfer Format (.GTF) file with CDS information and a SNP report(s) in an increasing selection of formats. The program estimates nucleotide diversity, distance from the reference and gene diversity. Sites are flagged for multiple overlapping reading frames, and are categorized by polymorphism type: nonsynonymous, synonymous, or ambiguous. The results allow single nucleotide, single codon, sliding window, whole gene and whole genome/population analyses that aid in the detection of positive and purifying natural selection in the source population. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION SNPGenie version 1.2 is a Perl program with no additional dependencies. It is free, open-source, and available for download at https://github.com/hugheslab/snpgenie. CONTACT nelsoncw@email.sc.edu or austin@biol.sc.edu SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
LONG‐TERM TRENDS IN CRIMES OF VIOLENCE (COMMENT ON COONEY, 2003)

Empirical and theoretical issues posed by Mark Cooney's (2003) analysis of long-term trends in crimes of violence are discussed.
Combined Insomnia and Poor CPAP Compliance A Case Study and Discussion

This report describes the case of Samuel, a Caucasian man in his early sixties who self-referred to a behavioral insomnia clinic at a university medical center. Samuel had recently been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and had been prescribed continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) therapy for this condition. At the time he presented for treatment, he was non-compliant with his CPAP prescription and maintained that the physician who diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea was mistaken. His presenting complaint to the insomnia clinic was a 25-year history of difficulty initiating sleep, which he believed was the sole cause of his problem with daytime sleepiness. In addition to his obstructive sleep apnea, Samuel was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and psychophysiological insomnia. The treatments selected were a motivational enhancement treatment for CPAP compliance and a cognitive-behavioral intervention for insomnia. Treatments were presented in a combined, sequential fashion. At treatment follow-u...
Dextran production as a possible virulence factor in streptococcal endocarditis.

SummaryThe hypothesis that dextran production from sucrose by Streptococcus sanguis contributes to the infectivity of this organism in the development of bacterial endocarditis was tested in a rabbit model of experimental endocarditis using a dextran producing strain and an ultraviolet induced dextran-negative mutant. Sucrose grown dextran producing organisms were more infective than organisms grown in broth solutions without sucrose, whereas sucrose did not increase the infectivity of the dextran negative mutant. Dextran production appears to be a virulence factor in the production of streptococcal endocarditis.
STUDY OF ANEMIA IN ADOLESCENT SCHOOL GIRLS OF BHOPAL

Background: Iron-deficiency anemia is the most common form of malnutrition, early intervention during adolescence (girls) can prevent high morbidity and mortality of these future mothers. Objectives: To study prevalence & factors contributing to anaemia among adolescent school girls. Material and Methods: Area or region addressed – Iron deficiency anemia in adolescent girls. Present study was conducted among 317 adolescent (10-19Yrs) government schoolgirls of Bhopal city from June2005-July2006. Three study groups were selected from three different girls’ school by random sampling method. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS. Result & Conclusion: Overall prevalence was 58.4% among adolescent schoolgirls. Prevalence of anemia was dependent on the knowledge about prevention of anemia, literacy level, food habits, birth order & also frequency of Iron rich source viz. green leafy vegetable & non vegetarian diet. While there was no significant relation of anemia with duration of menstrual flow but there was significant (P<0.05) difference in number of anaemic cases with age at menarche i.e. with higher age at menarche; there was more chances of anemia. Level of anemia was higher (p<0.05) in early adolescent (10 -13 Years) age group (81%) as compared to middle (58.3%) and late adolescent (17-19 years) age group girls (48.7%).
Genotype × environment interactions in selected loblolly and slash pine plantations in the Southeastern United States

Few studies have quantified the combined effects of silvicultural treatments and genetic improvement on unit area production of full-sib family blocks of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and slash pine (P. elliottii Engelm. var. elliotttii). Efficient operational deployment of genetic materials requires an understanding of possible site and silvicultural treatment interactions to maximize yield potential. We examined genotype (family) by environmental interactions (GE) through age 5 years using a factorial experiment consisting of silvicultural treatment intensity (operational versus intensive),planting density (1334 versus 2990 trees ha � 1 ) and families (seven elite full-sib loblolly and sixelite full-sib slash pine families). In January of 2000, randomized complete block, split-plot experiments were installed at two locations for each species in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. Five years after planting, both loblolly and slash pine demonstrated significant interactions among several factors: genotypelocation (p < 0.028 and p < 0.016, respectively), genotypesilvicultural treatment intensity (p < 0.055 and p < 0.059), and silvicultural treatment intensitydensity (p < 0.002 and p < 0.001) for basal area (BA) and standing stem volume (VOL). Genoty- pesilvicultural treatment interactions were positive, with the best overall performing families responding the greatest to intensive treatment. There were changes in slash pine family rankings between locations, which were partly explained by reductions in growth associated with a combination of fusiform rust infection (Cronartium quercum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme) and wind damage from the 2004 hurricane season. No three-way interactions, which included family, were evident and all genetic sources were stable across the contrasting planting densities. At age 5, loblolly pine outperformed slash pine (p < 0.0001), especially under the intensive silvicultural intensity. While loblolly performance was similar whether deployed in mixtures or pure family blocks, slash pine tended to be more productive in intimate mixtures than when grown in pure family blocks (p = 0.0754 for aboveground biomass). # 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Cloning and Comparison of fliC Genes and Identification of Glycosylation in the Flagellin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa a-Type Strains

Pseudomonas aeruginosa a-type strains produce flagellin proteins which vary in molecular weight between strains. To compare the properties of a-type flagellins, the flagellin genes of several Pseudomonas aeruginosa a-type strains, as determined by interaction with specific anti-a monoclonal antibody, were cloned and sequenced. PCR amplification of the a-type flagellin gene fragments from five strains each yielded a 1.02-kb product, indicating that the gene size is not likely to be responsible for the observed molecular weight differences among the a-type strains. The flagellin amino acid sequences of several a-type strains (170018, 5933, 5939, and PAK) were compared, and that of 170018 was compared with that of PAO1, a b-type strain. The former comparisons revealed that a-type strains are similar in amino acid sequence, while the latter comparison revealed differences between 170018 and PAO1. Posttranslational modification was explored for its contribution to the observed differences in molecular weight among the a-type strains. A biotin-hydrazide glycosylation assay was performed on the flagellins of three a-type strains (170018, 5933, and 5939) and one b-type strain (M2), revealing a positive glycosylation reaction for strains 5933 and 5939 and a negative reaction for 170018 and M2. Deglycosylation of the flagellin proteins with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMS) confirmed the glycosylation results. A molecular weight shift was observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis for the TFMS-treated flagellins of 5933 and 5939. These results indicate that the molecular weight discrepancies observed for the a-type flagellins can be attributed, at least in part, to glycosylation of the protein. Anti-a flagellin monoclonal antibody reacted with the TFMS-treated flagellins, suggesting that the glycosyl groups are not a necessary component of the epitope for the human anti-a monoclonal antibody. Comparisons between a-type sequences and a b-type sequence (PAO1) will aid in delineation of the epitope for this monoclonal antibody.
Effects of landscape heterogeneity on the emerging forest disease sudden oak death

Summary 1 Sudden oak death is an emerging forest disease caused by the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum that is invading the west coast of the United States and semi-natural areas in Europe. This disease causes lethal stem infections in oaks (Quercus spp.) and tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), as well as non-lethal foliar infections in a range of other species. 2 We investigated two questions to evaluate the effect of landscape structure on the spread of P. ramorum: (i) does the spatial pattern of forested habitat predict P. ramorum disease severity, and is this relationship scale-dependent; and (ii) what influence does spatial pattern have on the optimal microclimate conditions for P. ramorum reproduction? 3 We mapped the spatial distribution of suitable forest habitat for P. ramorum and established 86 randomly located field plots within a 20-km2 region of northern California. For each plot, we quantified P. ramorum disease severity and measured the abundance of woody species. Disease severity in each plot was examined in relation to the surrounding landscape structure measured for nested landscapes of increasing scale. 4 P. ramorum disease severity was greatest in plots surrounded by a high proportion of contiguous forest, after accounting for plot-level variables of host abundance, elevation, canopy cover and microclimate. The explanatory power of the model increased with increasing scale up to 200 m, but was not significant at scales less than 50 m. 5 High disease severity was associated with lower temperatures in the field than the laboratory-determined optimal range for pathogen reproduction. Variation in microclimate conditions was explained by elevation, not the pattern of host vegetation, indicating that spatially varying disease severity was not a function of microclimate-related edge effects on pathogen growth and survival. 6 Both landscape-scale configuration and local composition of host habitat are related to the severity of this destructive forest disease. Increased disease severity within contiguous woodlands may have a considerable impact on the composition of such woodlands, with cascading effects on the population dynamics of both host and pathogen.
PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG NASSARIID GASTROPODS

Abstract Phylogenetic relationships within the neogastropod family Nassariidae are poorly understood as are relationships between the Nassariidae and other fossil and extant buccinid taxa. The poor resolution of nassariid and buccinoidean relationships is due to: 1) the complex distribution among these gastropods of characters commonly used in classification; 2) a number of Mesozoic and Paleogene genera whose relationships to extant buccinoidean lineages are poorly constrained; and 3) a lack of previous efforts to address these problems on a rigorous, phylogenetic basis. The results of a phylogenetic analysis of nassariid genera did not decisively support the monophyly of the family. The buccinid subfamily Photinae was an extant sister group to the Nassariinae in a phylogenetic analysis of extant taxa and on many cladograms from an analysis combining fossil and extant taxa. In addition, Buccitriton (representing the Paleogene Tritiaria group) was a sister taxon to the Nassariinae in all analyses in which ...