cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract IA-011: Translation to clinical trials: Are we shooting the right arrows at the target?

Dependent on the stage of the cancer, 25-40% of patients require curative or palliative radiotherapy as part of their primary care treatment. The DNA Damage response (DDR) pathways have been a major area of interest for drug development as tumors often harbor mutations in the DDR pathways. The development of new DDR inhibitors offers wide-ranging opportunities to combine DDR inhibition with radiation therapy. Emerging evidence also supports the use of DDR inhibitors to promote immune stimulatory effects of radiation therapy by further activating the DNA sensing cGAS-STING pathway. DDR inhibitors in combination with RT have been shown to alter PDL-1 expression and have also been linked to modulating cytokine expression to alter the tumor microenvironment. This should be considered in the context of over 300 clinical trials ongoing which are combining immunotherapy with radiotherapy and important clinical studies of this combination therapy which have been published in patients with lung cancer. Significant progress is being made in understanding new drug-radiotherapy combinations and advancing them towards the clinic. Citation Format: Ricky A. Sharma. Translation to clinical trials: Are we shooting the right arrows at the target? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine; 2021 Mar 2-3. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(8_Suppl):Abstract nr IA-011.
Spinal Dorsal Rami Injection and Radiofrequency Neurolysis for Low Back Pain Caused by Osteoporosis-Induced Thoracolumbar Vertebral Compression Fractures.

Objective Low back pain caused by osteoporosisinduced thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures is a common debilitating disorder. The aims of this study were to determine the accuracy and efficacy of spinal dorsal ramus injection and radiofrequency neurolysis for pain reduction in patients with this condition. Methods This study was a retrospective chart review of 46 patients with low back pain caused by osteoporosis-induced thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures. All patients had been treated with spinal dorsal ramus injection with mixed Sensorcaine (Fresenius Kabi, USA) and Depo-Medrol (Pfizer, USA). In some patients further treatment with radiofrequency neurolysis had been required after the initial injection wore off. Results Out of a total of 46 patients, 45 (97.7%) had ≥ 50% reduction in low back pain immediately after injection. After the initial injection wore off, 18 patients remained pain free and 27 required radiofrequency neurolysis. The follow-up period ranged from 60 to 1,440 days (mean 335 days). The intensity of low back pain decreased from 7.09 ± 0.84 (numerical pain scale of 0-10) before treatment to 1.39 ± 1.51 immediately after the injection, and to 0.96 ± 1.36 at the last office visit. Conclusion Spinal dorsal ramus injection and radiofrequency neurolysis are effective and accurate therapies for low back pain caused by osteoporosis-induced thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures.
Improved Low-Glucose Predictive Alerts Based on Sustained Hypoglycemia: Model Development and Validation Study.

Background: Predictive alerts for impending hypoglycemic events enable persons with type 1 diabetes to take preventive actions and avoid serious consequences. Objective: This study aimed to develop a prediction model for hypoglycemic events with a low false alert rate, high sensitivity and specificity, and good generalizability to new patients and time periods. Methods: Performance improvement by focusing on sustained hypoglycemic events, defined as glucose values less than 70 mg/dL for at least 15 minutes, was explored. Two different modeling approaches were considered: (1) a classification-based method to directly predict sustained hypoglycemic events, and (2) a regression-based prediction of glucose at multiple time points in the prediction horizon and subsequent inference of sustained hypoglycemia. To address the generalizability and robustness of the model, two different validation mechanisms were considered: (1) patient-based validation (model performance was evaluated on new patients), and (2) time-based validation (model performance was evaluated on new time periods). Results: This study utilized data from 110 patients over 30-90 days comprising 1.6 million continuous glucose monitoring values under normal living conditions. The model accurately predicted sustained events with >97% sensitivity and specificity for both 30- and 60-minute prediction horizons. The false alert rate was kept to <25%. The results were consistent across patient- and time-based validation strategies. Conclusions: Providing alerts focused on sustained events instead of all hypoglycemic events reduces the false alert rate and improves sensitivity and specificity. It also results in models that have better generalizability to new patients and time periods.
The Clinical Outcome of Non-Diagnostic Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) Studies (P3.5-030)

Objective: To identify risk factors for diagnostic EMU studies after initial nondiagnostic evaluation and evaluate the probability of confirmed diagnosis on repeat EMU admissions. Background: EMU studies can rectify incorrect diagnoses of epilepsy, saving the patient and healthcare facilities the cost of unnecessary antiepileptic therapy and redirecting patients to pursue the appropriate treatment after establishing the correct diagnosis. Design/Methods: In this retrospective study, consecutive EMU admissions were analyzed between 2011–2014 and only patients with non-diagnostic studies were included. Clinical characteristics were recorded such as age, gender, diagnosis, length of admission, time to EMU admission since presentation, number of subsequent EMU admissions, number of spell types, pretest suspicion of non-epileptic events (NEE), MRI brain and interictal EEG findings, comorbid relevant medical and psychiatric history, and anticonvulsant regimen. Descriptive and non-parametric statistical analysis was used. Results: In the four year span, 202 patients had a non-diagnostic EMU study. Of these, 52 (25.7%) had a second or third EMU admission, and of those, 31 (15.2%) had continued unconfirmed diagnosis, 12 (5.9%) had a confirmed epilepsy (CE) diagnosis, and 9 (4.5%) had a confirmed non-epileptic (C-NE) diagnosis. A median length of stay of 2 days for CE was observed vs. 3 days for either C-NE or unknown diagnosis (p=0.0042). Pretest suspicion of NEE was associated with C-NE diagnosis on re-admission (78%, vs. CE, 25%, and unknown, 29%, p=0.023). Male gender was associated with receiving either an unknown or CE diagnosis on readmission (p=0.026). Conclusions: Approximately 40% of those referred for a repeat EMU evaluation after an initial non-diagnostic study were ultimately given a confirmed diagnosis. Low clinical suspicion of epilepsy is a statistically significant predictor for confirmed NEE on re-admission. Patients who will ultimately have a confirmed diagnosis of epilepsy on re-admission are likely to be diagnosed within the first two days of study. Disclosure: Dr. Amin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cios has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gupta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Palettas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Peng has nothing to disclose.
The Circular Dichroism of Carbohydrates

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy in the analysis of carbohydrates. The CD spectroscopy measures the difference in absorption between left- and right-circularly polarized light by an asymmetric molecule. The spectrum results from the interaction among neighboring groups, and is thus extremely sensitive to the conformation of a molecule. Commercial instrumentation measures the CD of electronic absorption bands in the range of 1000 to 190 nm. Nucleic acids and proteins both have absorption bands in this region, and CD has been used extensively to study these molecules. Most sugars are transparent in this region and so they have been relatively neglected. However, the diverse biological activities of sugars undoubtedly depend on their conformations. Thus, improvements in CD instrumentation for the short-wavelength region have stimulated interest in using this powerful technique for investigating the stereochemistry of sugar monomers, the configuration of intersaccharide linkages, the secondary structure of the polymers, and the interaction of sugars with themselves and with other biological molecules. This chapter details the ways in which modern CD instrumentation has been used to solve structural problems involving sugars. The discussion is limited to substituted and unsubstituted pyranoses and does not cover complexes that can be formed with various chromophores.
Profiles of Selected Photographic Film and Digital Companies

The use of silver halide photography en masse arguably began in the late 1800s, when the equipment and materials required to make pictures became more accessible and common. Film photography had its largest number of users at the end of the 20th century. Around the year 2000, digital photography began to seriously displace film as the primary technology used to make pictures. At the end of the 20th century, there were fewer than 20 companies world-wide that produced sensitized film and paper products, while according to a 2000 issue of PMA magazine, the estimated number of companies selling digital cameras and related models was more than 270. The proliferation of companies involved with digital technology is challenging to monitor because it is so dynamic, with changes almost monthly. Companies that produced film cameras now make digital-imaging equipment; companies that did not exist in 1993 dominate the market, while computer companies are making cameras.
Mammalian pigment genetics.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the aspects of mammalian pigment genetics such as various associated biochemical, physiological, or even behavioral features that represent pleiotropic manifestations of color genes. Genetic studies of mammalian melanin pigmentation are an area of general interest because of the many different color phenotypes at various levels of organization that are amenable to analysis. Melanin pigmentation in mammals depends upon the synthesis of dark or yellow granules by specialized cells. The chapter discusses the experimental and biochemical aspects of gene action at the agouti locus. Studies of the pleiotropic effects of spotting factors, as well as of the interactions between spotting and other color genes, lead to the general conclusion that white spotting is often symptomatic of a more deep-seated genetic disturbance of development or function. The mouse hair-bulb melanocyte resembles the human hair-bulb melanocyte rather than the mouse retinal pigment cell. The pathway from the colorless precursor, tyrosine, to the dark, insoluble melanin polymer is well reviewed on numerous occasions. The copper-containing oxidase with dual specificity, tyrosinase, catalyzes the oxidation of tyrosine to 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine(dopa) and of dopa to dopa quinone. In attempts to clarify the physiological genetics of mammalian melanin pigmentation, a number of techniques for assaying melanogenic activity are employed in the comparison of various color genotypes within different species of laboratory mammals.
The contributions od Dr. Salvador Reguant to the dissemination of the principles of stratigraphic classification and nomenclature

A look at the curriculum vitae and the long list of publications of Salvador Reguant cannot fail to astonish us for the diversity of his interests and for the intensity and breath of his activities. His publications cover both geologic and religious themes, contribute to the spreading of general scientific information, and often deal with the teaching of the earth sciences. His contributions to geology range from the interpretation of the history of our planet and of the origin and evolution of its continents and oceans, to the most detailed studies of small intervals of the stratigraphic succession and of the fossils which they contain. Three subjects of study evidently favored by Salvador have been the stratigraphy of the Tertiary, particularly of the Paleogene of northeastern Spain (Catalunya, the Ebro Basin, and the Pre-Pyrenees), the paleontology of the briozoans, and the concepts, mutual relationships and terminology of biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy.
Studies on conformational changes in Na,K-ATPase labeled with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein.

Abstract The rates of individual steps in the reaction cycle of dog kidney Na,K-ATPase labeled with iodoacetamidofluorescein (IAF) were measured using the fluorescence stopped-flow technique. The maximal rate of the fluorescence quenching accompanying ATP hydrolysis at 20 degrees C in the presence of K+ is 66.3 s-1, while the turnover rate in the same conditions is 15.5 s-1. The rate without K+ is slightly lower. Unexpectedly, at very high ionic strength, K+ accelerates the rate 2-fold. The fluorescence change appears to be associated with the E1P----E2P transition. The results are consistent with the classical Albers-Post scheme but do not support recent criticisms that E1P is kinetically incompetent in the presence of Na+ plus K+. As expected, in the absence of ATP the rate of E2(K)----E1Na was very slow (0.2 s-1) but was greatly accelerated by ATP (maximal rate 15.9 s-1) with low affinity (K0.5 = 196 microM). It was concluded that E2(K)----E1 is the slowest step of the cycle, even at nonlimiting ATP concentrations. The rate of E1K----E2(K) for both IAF- and fluorescein 5'-isothiocyanate-labeled enzyme was stimulated by K+ acting with low affinity, but not at all by ATP at 5 microM. Whereas the maximal rate with IAF-enzyme (271 s-1) was similar to previous work, the K+ affinity was significantly higher. Fluorescence signals accompanying hydrolysis of acetyl phosphate with both IAF- and fluorescein 5'-isothiocyanate-labeled enzyme have similar rates, 5.25 s-1 and 4.06 s-1, respectively. A species difference was observed between dog and pig kidney Na,K-ATPase in that both enzymes are labeled with IAF but only in dog enzyme were conformational transitions associated with fluorescence changes. Therefore, the IAF-labeled dog kidney enzyme is the preparation of choice for measuring fluorescence changes accompanying ATP hydrolysis.
Social and political components of economic performance for the 1960s: A note on Adelman and Morris' ‘society, politics and economic development’

Abstract The influence of a given sociopolitical setting on the subsequent economic performance of the LDCs is examined. For this purpose, non-economic indicators developed by Adelman and Morris and two indices of economic activity, per capita gross national product and per capita energy consumption, are used. Component and regression analysis show that in the short run, a given sociopolitical setting significantly affects subsequent economic activity. The results enable a broadening of some of Adelman and Morris' findings.
R. V. Pole Memorial Lecture: The Hubble space telescope

Nothing in astronomy so captures the imagination as the large-scale nature and history of the universe. Therein lies the greatest potential of the Hubble space telescope (HST)–·to see ancient events. With the launch of NASA’s HST, astronomers will be able to measure stars and quasi-stellar objects 50 times fainter than the 200-in. Hale telescope atop Palomar Mountain. The HST will be capable of recording exquisite images of all kinds of astronomical objects with unparalleled sharpness.
Abstract 2789: Iron chelation inhibits mTOR activity in cancer cells

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a critical role in regulating cell proliferation and survival through sensing environmental cues. mTOR functions as at least two complexes (mTORC1/2). In cancer cells, mTOR activity is often deregulated. Intracellular iron levels are higher in cancer cells than in normal cells mainly due to the increased requirement of iron for proliferation. Thus, cancer cells are more sensitive to iron chelation than normal cells. Iron chelators have been used as traditional treatment for iron overload diseases. Recent studies have shown that iron chelators possess potent anticancer activity. However, the underlying mechanism is not well understood. In this study, we found that ciclopirox olamine (CPX), an iron chelator and off-patent antifungal drug, inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell death in human head and neck cancer cells (PCI-13 and FaDu), breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231), human rhabdomyosarcoma (Rh30), and skin squamous cell carcinoma (SRB-M7) cells. Similar results were observed using Dp44mT, another iron chelator. Concurrently, CPX and Dp44mT inhibited mTORC1 signaling in the cells. This is evidenced by the findings that treatment with the iron chelators inhibited phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1, two best known effector molecules of mTORC1, which could be blocked by addition of ferrous sulfate, but not cuprous sulfate. At the same time, the addition of ferrous sulfate prevented cancer cell death. The findings suggest that the inhibitory effect of CPX or Dp44mT on mTORC1 function was attributed to selective chelation of iron in the cells. Mechanistically, chelation of iron did not activate protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), but induced raptor (S792) phosphorylation and disrupted mTORC1 integrity. Of note, the effect of iron chelation on mTORC2 was cell line dependent. Further research may enhance our understanding the role of iron in the regulation of mTOR signaling. Citation Format: Chaowei Shang, Hongyu Zhou, Shile Huang. Iron chelation inhibits mTOR activity in cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2789. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2789
Automatic measurement of speech recognition performance: a comparison of six speaker-dependent recognition devices☆

Abstract Although performance data are often freely cited by vendors of speech recognition devices, the conditions under which these data were collected are seldom specified in sufficient detail to permit comparisons among different systems. To directly compare the performance of six commercially available speech recognition devices, we developed a computer-controlled testing system and a set of standard tests. We carried out these tests to assess the performance of speech recognition devices sold by Texas Instruments, Votan, Dragon, IBM, Interstate, and NEC. The results demonstrate several reliable performance differences among these systems. In general, however, performance differences among these devices are quite small and are reduced by appropriate training. Our results also indicate that the effects of training on performance of a speech recognition device are much greater for difficult vocabularies than they are for discriminable vocabularies. Finally, an examination of the results for recognition of the speech produced by one talker in the testing database suggests that user-specific difficulties in recognition performance may, in some cases, result from interactions among the application vocabulary, the user's speech, and the algorithm of a recognition device.
Triaxial ellipsoid dimensions and poles of asteroids from AO observations at the Keck-II telescope

Abstract Five main belt asteroids, 2 Pallas, 129 Antigone, 409 Aspasia, 532 Herculina, and 704 Interamnia were imaged with the adaptive optics system on the 10 m Keck-II telescope in the near infrared on one night, August 16, 2006. The three axis dimensions and rotational poles were determined for Pallas, Antigone, Aspasia, and Interamnia, from their changing apparent sizes and shapes as measured with parametric blind deconvolution. The rotational pole found for Interamnia is much different from all previous work, including our own at Lick Observatory the previous month. Although images of Herculina were obtained at only two rotational phases, its rotation appears to be opposite to that predicted from the lightcurve inversion model of M. Kaasalainen, J. Torppa, and J. Piironen [2002. Icarus 159, 369–395]. A search for satellites was made in all of the asteroid images, with negative results, but three trailing stars around Herculina (200 km diameter), down to 8.9 magnitudes fainter and between 1 and 115 asteroid radii (100 to 11,500 km) from the asteroid, establishes an upper limit of 3.3 km for any object with the same albedo near Herculina.
The economics of (very) primitive societies

Abstract Most current biological work on social species depends on Hamiltonian altruism for the integration of the society. Undoubtedly, such altruism is important in some social species, but by no means all. This essay revives the older view in which the social structure depended very heavily simply on niches in which a social group could outcompete individuals. Cooperation is necessary to competitive survival and non-cooperative genes are selected out by non-survival of the entire nest that contains them. Game theory is used to analyze different degrees of cooperation.
Promoting Outcome Achievement in Child Welfare: Predictors of Evidence-Informed Practice

The use of data and evidence to inform practice in child welfare is the subject of increased discussion in the literature as well as in agencies striving to achieve child safety, permanency, and well-being. Survey data was collected from workers and supervisors in private agencies providing out-of-home care case management and residential treatment services to children and youth across three states. Hierarchical linear modeling tested the role of goal-oriented teamwork and supervisory practice involving the use of data to assess practice effectiveness in predicting evidence-informed practice. The partially mediated relationship showed that a more goal-oriented approach combined with supervisory practice led to increased use of evidence-informed practice. Implications for promoting evidence-informed practice in child welfare are discussed.
Selective growth of normal adult human urothelial cells in serum-free medium

A serum-free medium (HMRI-2) has been developed for the outgrowth and subculture of epithelial cells from normal adult human ureter and bladder. Medium HMRI-2 consists of Ham’s MCDB 152 with double the amounts of the essential amino acids in Stock 1, low Ca2+ (0.06 mM) and is supplemented with epithelial growth factor, 5 ng/ml; transferrin, 5 μg/ml; insulin, 5 μg/ml; ethanolamine and phosphoethanolamine, 0.1 mM each; hydrocortisone, 2.8×10−6 M; and bovine pituitary extract, 126 μg protein/ml. The cultured cells showed ultrastructural markers of epithelial cells (prekeratin fibers, tonofilaments, surface microvilli with glycocalyx), exhibited ABO antigens, and had a normal human diploid karyotype. Primary cultures could be subcultured and also cryopreserved in HMRI-2 in liquid nitrogen. Cells in mass cultures showed a population doubling time of 40.5±4.5 h and had a maximum in vitro life span of 20 to 25 population doublings. It was observed that primary outgrowths, secondary cultures, and even cryopreserved cells all retained the capacity to respond to high Ca2+ and serum by differentiation and desquamation. This study has resulted in the availability of easily obtainable serum-free epithelial cultures from normal adult human ureter and bladder. The useful in vitro life span of these cultures may be important in future studies of carcinogenesis.
Signaling to gene expression: calcium, calcineurin and NFAT.

Anjana Rao recounts the contributions of two talented and productive postdoctoral fellows who purified and characterized the transcription factor NFAT.
Cholesterol reduction to prevent CAD. What do the data show

Primary prevention of heart disease should be an important goal of every primary care physician. All patients should undergo careful assessment of future risk and should be counseled about lifestyle modification. Patients at high risk can further benefit from cautious use of lipid-lowering drugs, which have been shown to be effective in preventing cardiac events without substantially increasing risk of noncardiac morbidity and mortality.
Transitions: Dilemmas of leadership

The author explores his insights and lessons learned during service as a dean at two business schools.
Evaluation of Kaufman's short forms of the WAIS-R with psychiatric inpatients

The relative performance of Kaufman's (Kaufman, 1990; Kaufman & Ishikuma, 1989) dyad, triad, and tetrad subtest-reduction short forms of the WAIS-R was evaluated for a group of 100 psychiatric inpatients. Kaufman's triad, which consists of Information, Picture Completion, and Digit Span, was judged superior, based on its brief administration time, ease of scoring, reliability, and predictive accuracy. The Kaufman triad also was compared with the Silverstein (1982) and the Reynolds, Willson, and Clark (Reynolds, Willson, & Clark, 1983; Silverstein, 1990b) tetrads and performed just as well as, if not better than, both of these short forms on all of the evaluative criteria.
Gonadal function in mosaic XO/XY or XX/XY Turner's syndrome

The gonadal function in four children with XO/XY or XX/XY mosaicism was studied. All were raised as females. Three patients, one prepubertal, were surgically explored and testicular tissue was noted in all three. Two of three patients of adolescent age had elevated plasma testosterone values. The third adolescent patient had a normal basal excretion of urinary testosterone glucuronide which increased 10-fold following stimulation with human chorionic gonadotropin. Prophylactic gonadectomy in this syndrome is recommended because of the increased incidence of malignant change in dysgenetic gonads. Temporization of castration appears to be unwarranted because if the gonads are to function at all, they are more likely to produce androgens.
Etanercept therapy for immune-mediated cochleovestibular disorders: a multi-center, open-label, pilot study.

Objective Immune-mediated cochleovestibular disorders (IMCVDs) continue to present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Antirheumatic agents, commonly employed for IMCVDs, are associated with variable efficacy and sometimes with serious side effects. The objective of the current study was to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of etanercept therapy for IMCVD. Methods In this open-label prospective pilot study, 23 patients with bilateral IMCVDs or symptoms of bilateral Meniere's disease were treated with etanercept (25 mg twice weekly, by subcutaneous injection) for 24 weeks. All participants showed progressive hearing loss within 3 months prior to the study and responded to prednisone therapy. Hearing improvement was defined as an improvement of sensorineural hearing from baseline, in at least one ear, of 15 dB or more in the pure-tone air conduction thresholds, or an increase of more than 12% in word identification score. When present, vertigo and tinnitus were assessed by frequency and severity of attack and a functional level scale. Limited serial positron emission tomography (PET) of the inner ear region was performed in 5 patients to assess disease activity. Results There were 12 female (52%) and 11 male patients with a mean age of 48 years. Hearing improved in 7 (30%) patients, was unchanged in 13 (57%), and worsened in 3 (13%). Of 21 patients with tinnitus, this symptom improved in 7 (33%), was unchanged in 10 (48%), and worsened in 3 (13%). Of 16 patients with vertigo, 8 (50%) were improved, 7 (47%) unchanged, and 1 (3%) worse at the end of the study. Etanercept was generally well tolerated. PET was positive on one ear of 2 of 5 patients, remained positive with treatment on 1 of these, and was initially positive in 1 deaf ear, becoming negative at followup. Conclusion These prospective pilot data suggest that etanercept therapy is safe among patients with IMCVDs. However, these data do not suggest substantial efficacy of etanercept among patients with IMCVDs in improving hearing loss. There appeared to be stabilization or improvement of hearing in 87% in this group of patients with pretreatment intractable progressive hearing loss. However, the study endpoint of improvement in 70% of patients was not attained. This short-term effect of possible stabilization requires further study. PET scanning was not useful as a tool to evaluate hearing loss in a limited subset of patients.
Poly(2-fluoroadenylic acid). The role of basicity in the stabilization of complementary helices.

Abstract The polymerization of 2-fluoroadenosine 5′-diphosphate by polynucleotide phosphorylase to give high molecular weight poly(2-fluoroadenylic acid), poly(fl2A), is described. Both the single-stranded and double-stranded (acid) forms of poly(fl2A) exhibit strikingly similar ultraviolet and circular dichroism spectra to those of poly(A), and the enzymatic polymerization rates and thermal hyperchromicities of the two polymers are also very similar. However, the pKa of poly(fl2A) for protonation at N-1 is 2.9 compared to 5.9 for poly(A) under similar conditions. Poly(fl2A) forms a triple-stranded helix with poly(U) which has ultraviolet and cd spectra very reminiscent of poly(A) · 2 poly(U), but no conditions could be found which permitted the formation of a double helix. In the Escherichia coli ribosome system poly(fl2A) codes for the synthesis of polylysine, as does poly(A), although the rate and extent of incorporation were less in the former case. The role of basicity of adenine N-1 in these interactions is discussed.
Impaired very low density lipoprotein and triglyceride removal in broad beta disease: comparison with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia.

The removal rate of apoprotein-B (apo B) in very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) was decreased in individuals with broad beta disease when compared with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia. Following the injection of 125I-VLDL isolated from individuals with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia, both VLDL apo B fractional catabolic rate (0.058 ± 0.029 hr−1) and VLDL apo-B turnover rate (0.300 ± 0.070 mg/kg/hr) were lower in broad beta disease than in endogenous hypertriglyceridemia (fractional catabolic rate 0.112 ± 0.046, p < .05; turnover rate 0.640 ± 0.199, p < .005) despite equivalent plasma concentrations of VLDL-apo-B. Furthermore, conversion of VLDL apo-B to LDL was impaired in broad beta disease relative to endogenous hypertriglyceridemia. Differences in the kinetics of lipoprotein lipase-related triglyceride removal during a maximal heparin infusion were also demonstrated between these two disorders. These differences suggest an abnormality in the interaction of lipoprotein lipase with the lipoproteins of unusual composition in broad beta disease. This is further supported by the normalization of lipoprotein composition in broad beta disease by estrogen therapy, with a simultaneous change in the kinetics of lipoprotein lipase-related triglycerid removal towards those seen in endogenous hypertriglyceridemia.
Applications of the Barnes Objective Analysis Scheme. Part I: Effects of Undersampling, Wave Position, and Station Randomness

Abstract An empirical approach is employed to investigate the accuracy of the Barnes successive corrections objective analysis scheme for discrete samples obtained from a simple sinusoidal function in a two-dimensional domain. Mean absolute error at grid points (MAEG) is the accuracy statistic, and uniform sampling arrays define achievable accuracy. Analysis accuracy as a function of number of samples per wavelength is considered for three arrays of different uniform density. Weight function scale-length parameter (α, the denominator in the exponential Gaussian weight function) is varied over a range of values, and an error-minimizing α is found to exist in each case. The value of this α depends on the number of correction passes being performed, on the density of observations, and for marginally sampled waves, on the phase relationship of the underlying function to the observations. Using a pseudorandomizing process to displace station locations away from uniformity by increasing amounts, it is found tha...
Antineoplastic Effect of 1,25-Dihydroxy-16-ene-23-yne-Vitamin D3 Analogue in Transgenic Mice With Retinoblastoma

Objective: To evaluate the in vivo efficacy and clinical toxic effects of the 1,25-dihydroxy-16-ene-23-yne-vitamin D3analogue in β-luteinizing hormone-Tag(LHβ-Tag) transgenic mice with heritable retinoblastoma. Methods: Forty-two mice (8-10 weeks old), randomly assigned to experimental (n=21) or control (n=21) groups, received intraperitoneal injections of 0.05 μg of 1,25-dihydroxy-16-ene-23-yne-D3in 0.5-mL mineral oil vehicle (experimental group) or 0.5 mL of mineral oil vehicle (control group) for 5 weeks. One experimental and 3 control animals died of injection-related trauma. Eyes were enucleated 1 week after treatment and were examined histologically in a masked fashion. Results: All experimental and control animals showed evidence of tumor. The tumors in the experimental mice showed a significantly smaller cross-sectional area (0.88±0.08 mm2) compared with that in the control mice (1.12 ±0.12 mm2) (P=.02). All mice completed the treatment and showed no clinical evidence of toxic effects. Conclusions: Tumors in transgenic mice with retinoblastoma treated with 1,25(OH)2-16-ene-23-yne-D3showed a 21% smaller cross-sectional area compared with that in the control mice, without producing clinically apparent toxic effects. This compound may be useful as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of retinoblastoma.
Recent Diversity Research at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI): 1992-1996,

Abstract This article presents three major recent research streams currently pursued at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI). The first involves equal opportunity climate research, which covers the development, use, and organizational correlates of the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey (MEOCS) and its variations. The second covers intercultural training research, which focuses on internal and external evaluations of DEOMI's equal opportunity training programs. The third entails research in military discipline: models of causative factors and the military justice process; and research on disparate discipline rates for African Americans and whites, sources of disparity, and possible solutions. This article ends with a discussion of future directions and implications for the military for these three areas of research.
The oxidation behavior of an aligned Co-TaC eutectic alloy

The oxidation behavior of the directionally aligned eutectic alloy, TaC-Co50B, has been examined between 600 and 1155°C. Parabolic oxidation behavior, isotropic in nature, is found to 800°C. Above 800°C, the oxidation behavior is no longer either parabolic or isotropic. The interaction between the Co matrix alloy and the TaC fibers adjacent to the oxidizing interface is reported as a function of temperature in oxidation.
Role of bacterial lipopolysaccharide and lymphokine in the regulation of macrophage activation: correlates between secretion of plasminogen activator and tumor lysis.

Abstract The effects of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lymphokine (LK) upon the activation of murine C57BL/6 peritoneal macrophages (MΦ) were studied. Enhancement of the secretion of plasminogen activator (PA) by lymphokine did not require, nor was significantly boosted by LPS. In contrast, lysis of tumor target cells required LPS in addition to lymphokine confirming prior studies (1–3). Once macrophages were induced to secrete PA, LPS suppressed its release but did not directly interfere with fibrinolysis. These findings are consistent with the concept that induction of PA secretion may represent an earlier step in activation than the acquisition of cytolytic potential (4, 5) and that LPS is important both in the regulation of macrophage proteases and mediation of tumor cell lysis (2, 6).
Alloy selection for sulfidation-oxidation resistance in coal gasification environments

A series of iron-nickel-chromium and nickel-chromium alloys were studied for their combined sulfidation-oxidation resistance in simulated coal gasification environments. All alloys contained a minimum of 20 wt pct chromium, and titanium and aluminum in the range 0 to 4 wt pct. Corrosion resistance was evaluated at 1255 K (1800 °F) in both high BTU and low BTU coal gasification atmospheres with 1 vol pct H2S. Titanium at levels greater than 1 wt pct imparted significant sulfidation resistance due to an adherent, solid solution chromium-titanium oxide layer which prevented sulfur penetration. A luminum was less effective in preventing sulfidation since surface scales were not adherent. Of the commercial alloys tested, Nimonic 81, Pyromet 31, IN801, and IN825 exhibited the best overall corrosion resistance. However, further alloy development, tailored to produce solid solution chromiumtitanium oxide scales, may lead to alloys with greater sulfidation-oxidation resistance than those investigated here.
PIC6 Using A Pneumonia-Specific Severity of Illness Model in Assessing Variation in Hospital Length of Stay for Community-Acquired Pneumonia Patients

OBJECTIVE: To assess variations in hospital length of stay for community-acquired pneumonia patients, adjusted for severity of illness using a pneumonia-specific model as described by Fine et al. in the N Engl J Med 1997;336: 243–50. METHODS: All patients admitted to University Hospital, San Antonio, during January-December 1996 with a primary ICD-9CM diagnosis of 486 (pneumonia with no organism specified) were evaluated retrospectively via chart review. Patient demographics data, clinical findings, hospital resource utilization such as length of stay, length of antibiotic therapy, and hospital mortality were collected. Patients were stratified into five risk classes. RESULTS: A total of 187 patients was evaluated. There were (36, 60, 42, 40, 9) patients in risk classes (I, II, III, IV, V). Hospital length of stay for patients in classes (I, II, III, IV, V) were in order LOS£3 days (5, 13, 12, 3, 2), LOS 4–7 days (24, 39, 20, 18, 1), and LOS>7 days (7, 8, 10, 19, 6), respectively. Average length of hospital stay was (6.6, 5.1, 6.2, 8.1, 9.6) days in classes I-V, respectively, Anova p < 0.0026. CONCLUSION: Variations exist in hospital LOS among the five groups. 81% (78 patients in I and II combined) were treated >3 days, and 71% (30 patients in class III) were treated >3 days. These low to moderate risk classes (I, II, III) could be a target for reduced LOS, quality assurance, and cost-effectiveness program. These differences in LOS could be attributed to other unmeasured patient, physician, or hospital related factor and its process of care.
Urban Views: Digital Access to the Joseph Urban Collection at Columbia University

Brander Matthews (1852–1929), author, critic and a professor of English and Dramatic Literature at Columbia University, believed strongly that, to best study theatre, researchers and scholars needed to see and access the makings of the stagecraft itself. Based on personal experience, Matthews realized that the observation of sets, props, costumes, models, sketches, and other ephemera would enable a better understanding and visualization of actual productions. As a result, he set out collecting such objects, as well as puppets, masks, posters, and playbills. In 1911, the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection was officially established at Columbia University.
Gravity With Propagating Pseudoscalar Torsion

Abstract The ECSK torsional theory of gravitation admits a new lagrangian term. The term introduces a propagating torsion potential in a manner which seems more motivated than other similar approaches. Also, unlike approaches involving similar new terms, no new physical constants need be introduced. The long-range effects of the new field are very small.
Mucolytic enzyme systems XIII; effect of compounds on hyaluronidase and its inhibition by human serum.

SummaryModifications in the preparation of the substrate for the measurement of hyaluronidase activity by the viscosity method have been described. Increased sensitivity in the measurement of both the enzyme and its inhibitors has resulted, and spontaneous depolymerization of the substrate on storage has been virtually eliminated. The effect of the use of veronal and phosphate buffers in the substrate solution has been investigated, and the influences of a range of concentrations of magnesium and phosphate ions on both hyaluronidase and its serum inhibitor have been determined.Evidence has been presented to indicate a possible role of sulfhydryl groups in both the enzyme and inhibitor actions. Cysteine and glutathione have been shown to cause a depolymerization of hyaluronic acid.Methionine, cyanide, azide, histamine, benedryl, and toluidine blue have been found to both inactivate the serum inhibitor and inhibit hyaluronidase. Certain implications have been discussed.Adrenocorticotrophic hormone has been ...
Rational consensual procedure: Argumentation or weighted averaging?

The following is a defense of Jurgen Habermas' argumentational consensual procedure against Keith Lehrer and Carl Wagner's weighted averaging consensual procedure (and, I tentatively claim, against any weighted averaging consensual procedure). The argument is twofold: if Lehrer and Wagner intend, implicity, to replace what is for Habermas the metatheoretical stage of a discussion with the aggregation of judgments of respect, then their procedure fails to make use of all available information and the participants are not committed to the weighted average position on these grounds; if, on the other hand, they do not intend to replace metatheoretical discussion by aggregation, then the conditions under which the discussion could conceivably have come to a halt are such as to provide no support for the claim that it is rational to aggregate, rather than to consider the discussion unresolved until more information is available.
Studies on the in vitro effects of insulin on glycogen synthesis and ultra-structure in isolated rat liver hepatocytes

Abstract Rat liver hepatocytes were isolated by collagenase in vitro perfusion technique and effect of insulin on glycogen synthesis and ultra-structure was studied. Addition of insulin stimulated glycogen synthesis and maintained better cellular structure. Synthesis of glycogen was linear in isolated hepatocytes when incubated with various concentrations of glucose (0–800 mg%) reaching initial levels. Concanavaline A inhibited epinephrine stimulated glycogenolysis but had no effect on glucagon stimulated glycogenolysis. These studies indicate that insulin is required for glycogen synthesis and for maintaining hepatocytes ultrastructure. Furthermore, isolated hepatocytes retain various receptors and that different hormones utilize different receptor sites.
Aspiration efficiency for thin-walled nozzles facing the wind and for very high velocity ratios

Abstract The study of thin-walled aerosol sampling probes facing the wind was originally driven by practical applications (e.g., stack sampling). But more recently it has provided useful scientific insights into the performances of more complicated blunt aerosol samplers. Previous work has been carried out for a relatively narrow range of conditions, especially for R (the ratio of freestream air velocity to probe suction velocity), leading to the widely accepted model of Belyaev and Levin (J. Aerosol Sci. 5 (1974) 325). This model has been shown to predict aspiration efficiencies (for sharp-edged, thin-walled samplers facing the wind) that agree well with experimental data, for R ranging from 0.03 to 11. Recently, there has been renewed interest in studying aspiration for a much wider range of R, driven primarily by the desire for a new generation of particle size-selective blunt samplers, including the need to sample at lower flowrates in order to use lighter sampling pumps for industrial hygiene applications. The study of thin-walled sampling for wider ranges of R, especially in the range above about 10 is the first step towards improved understanding of blunt sampling as it might be applied to practical samplers under such conditions. This is because much of what is currently known about the aspiration of aerosols into blunt samplers derives from what is known about the less complex thin-walled sampler configurations. New experiments have been conducted for thin-walled cylindrical sampling probes for R ranging from 0.5 to 50. The experiments were conducted in a small wind tunnel (cross-section 0.30 m ×0.30 m ) using narrowly graded fused alumina powders to produce aerosols with mass median particle aerodynamic diameters up to 90 μm . The external wind velocity was held constant at 1 m / s , so that Stokes’ number (St) ranged from about 0.05 to 3.7. An extensive, highly repeatable set of experimental results showed that, for R increasing above about 6, the Belyaev and Levin model increasingly overestimated aspiration efficiency compared to what was measured. An improved model for aspiration efficiency of thin walled sampling probes facing the wind is proposed that describes what happens over this much wider range of conditions.
SEPP: SATé-enabled phylogenetic placement.

We address the problem of Phylogenetic Placement, in which the objective is to insert short molecular sequences (called query sequences) into an existing phylogenetic tree and alignment on full-length sequences for the same gene. Phylogenetic placement has the potential to provide information beyond pure "species identification" (i.e., the association of metagenomic reads to existing species), because it can also give information about the evolutionary relationships between these query sequences and to known species. Approaches for phylogenetic placement have been developed that operate in two steps: first, an alignment is estimated for each query sequence to the alignment of the full-length sequences, and then that alignment is used to find the optimal location in the phylogenetic tree for the query sequence. Recent methods of this type include HMMALIGN+EPA, HMMALIGN+pplacer, and PaPaRa+EPA.We report on a study evaluating phylogenetic placement methods on biological and simulated data. This study shows that these methods have extremely good accuracy and computational tractability under conditions where the input contains a highly accurate alignment and tree for the full-length sequences, and the set of full-length sequences is sufficiently small and not too evolutionarily diverse; however, we also show that under other conditions accuracy declines and the computational requirements for memory and time exceed acceptable limits. We present SEPP, a general "boosting" technique to improve the accuracy and/or speed of phylogenetic placement techniques. The key algorithmic aspect of this booster is a dataset decomposition technique in SATe, a method that utilizes an iterative divide-and-conquer technique to co-estimate alignments and trees on large molecular sequence datasets. We show that SATe-boosting improves HMMALIGN+pplacer, placing short sequences more accurately when the set of input sequences has a large evolutionary diameter and produces placements of comparable accuracy in a fraction of the time for easier cases. SEPP software and the datasets used in this study are all available for free at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/phylo/software/sepp/submission.