cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-level expression of human liver monoamine oxidase B in Pichia pastoris.

Abstract The high-level heterologous expression, purification, and characterization of the mitochondrial outer membrane enzyme human liver monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) using the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris expression system are described. A 2-L culture of P. pastoris expresses ∼1700 U of MAO B activity, with the recombinant enzyme associated tightly with the membrane fraction of the cell lysate. By a modification of the published procedure for purification of bovine liver MAO B [Salach, J. I. (1979) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 192, 128–137], recombinant human liver MAO B is purified in a 34% yield (∼200 mg from 2 L of cell culture). The isolated enzyme exhibits an M r of ∼60,000 on SDS–PAGE and 59,474 from electrospray mass spectrometry measurements, which is in good agreement with the mass predicted from the gene sequence and inclusion of the covalent FAD. One mole of covalent FAD per mole of MAO B is present in the purified enzyme and is bound by an 8α- S -cysteinyl 397 linkage, as identified by electrospray mass spectrometry of the isolated tryptic/chymotryptic flavin peptide. Recombinant human liver MAO B and bovine liver MAO B are shown to be acetylated at the seryl residues at their respective amino termini. The benzylamine oxidase activity of recombinant MAO B ranges from 3.0 to 3.4 U/mg and steady-state kinetic parameters for this enzyme preparation compare well with those published for the bovine liver enzyme: k cat = 600 min −1 , K m (benzylamine) = 0.50 mM, and K m (O 2 ) = 0.33 mM. Kinetic isotope effect parameters using [α,α- 2 H 2 ]benzylamine are also similar to those found for the bovine enzyme. Recombinant MAO B exhibits a D k cat = 4.7, a D [ k cat / K m (benzylamine)] = 4.5, and a D [ k cat / K m (O 2 )] = 1.0. In contrast to bovine liver MAO B, no evidence was found for the presence of any anionic flavin radical either by UV–vis or by EPR spectroscopy in the resting form of the enzyme. These data demonstrate the successful heterologous expression of a functional, membrane-bound MAO B, which will permit a number of mutagenesis studies as structural and mechanistic probes not previously possible.
Type II Strain Layer Superlattices (SLS's) grown on GaAs Substrates

We report on type-II SLS's photodiodes grown on GaAs. The GaSb buffer was grown using a novel interfacial- misfit-approach, which relieves the strain though 90 misfit dislocations. The dark-current, quantum-efficiency and detectivity were measured.
Preparing Students for the Agribusiness Work Environment

Preparing students to transition from the classroom to the workplace is a matter of considerable importance. The author draws upon eleven years of experience as the vice president of a farmer-owned marketing cooperative and upon two years experience in the classroom to design a classroom teaching technique which is similar in nature to the agribusiness work environment. Methods of classroom implementation and grading are discussed.
Antisera to synthetic peptides of bovine rhodopsin: Use as site-specific probes of disc membrane changes in retinal dystrophic dogs

Based on the amino acid sequence of bovine rhodopsin, five peptides corresponding to the carboxyl terminus and one loop region have been synthesized. Rabbit antisera to these peptides recognize rhodopsin in whole bovine and dog retinas. Antisera were used to detect differences in specific regions of rhodopsin in dystrophic vs normal dog retinas. As detected on both "dot blots" and Western blots, rhodopsin from retinas of dystrophic dogs has a reduced reaction with antisera to peptides, Rhod-4 and Rhod-10 (# 341-348 and 232-239, respectively). Since these sites on rhodopsin are possible binding sites for transducin and rhodopsin kinase, an alteration in these regions would have profound effects in the dystrophic state.
Nonlinear Landau-Zener tunneling

A self-interacting two-level system depending on an external parameter is investigated. The most striking feature exhibited in this system is the presence of a nonzero tunneling probability in the adiabatic limit for large enough interaction strength. Possible experimental observation of this breakdown of adiabaticity using a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical potential is suggested.
Doping profiling with scanning surface harmonic microscopy

The scanning surface harmonic microscope in which a microwave signal is applied across a tip-sample gap is sensitive to the capacitance/voltage characteristics of semiconductor samples. Its ability to distinguish among a wide range of dopant concentrations with high lateral resolution allow applications as a dopant profiler. Lateral dimensions of electronic features and the ultimate resolution limit of this technique are discussed using atomic resolution data and sizes of domain boundaries on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and using depletion regions on doping gratings similar to real device structures. The technological applicability of the instrument has been tested on polished surfaces of trench capacitor arrays.
Kinetics of Dehydration and Isomerization of Prostaglandins E1 and E2

The degradation of prostaglandins E1 and E2 was studied at 60° at a pH range of 1–10. A consecutive first-order reaction appeared to be operative above pH 4 for the dehydration and rearrangement reactions. Below pH 3 the dehydration appeared to be first order with respect to hydrogen-ion concentration. The rate of dehydration of E2 was two to three times faster than that of E1 under the same conditions over a pH range of 4–10. The rearrangement of E1 and E2 proceeded at approximately the same rate at pH 10. The rate of E2 rearrangement progressively exceeded that of E1 with a decrease in pH such that at pH 6, E2 rearranged at a rate 15 times that of E1. These data suggested that the cis-Δ5 double bond participated actively in the rearrangement reaction of E2, and was responsible for the greater reactivity of this molecule compared to E1.
A Virtualization Architecture for In-Depth Kernel Isolation

Recent advances in virtualization technologies have sparked a renewed interest in the use of kernel and process virtualization as a security mechanism to enforce resource isolation and management. Unfortunately, virtualization solutions incur performance overhead. The magnitude of this overhead is directly proportional to the extend of virtualization they offer: full virtualization incurs an additional indirection layer to interface with the ever increasing hardware devices.In this paper, we propose a hypervisor-assisted, micro-kernel architecture which aims to provide in-depth resource isolation without the performance penalty of full virtualization. To that end, we extend the hypervisor capabilities with a lightweight VMM which enforces "identity context'' to all assigned devices for each of the hosted kernels. Furthermore, we separate the control from the data plane for all hardware devices using data memory mapping and modifications of the native device drivers to divert control flow via the hypervisor. Our approach is layered, accommodating a wide-range of devices from legacy to experimental devices capable to provide native, in-silicon context separation.
The relationship of hospital characteristics and the results of peer review in six large states.

To determine which characteristics of hospitals may be related to a higher quality of care, the association of hospital characteristics with the outcomes of medical record review by state Peer Review Organizations (PROs) was studied. The two data sources were: 1) the AHA 1986 Annual Survey of Hospitals and 2) reviews completed between July 1987 through June 1988 from six large PROs. For each hospital the percentage of cases that failed physician review (the confirmed problem rate) was computed. Hospital characteristics evaluated included financial status, ownership, medical training, technological sophistication, and size. The following characteristics were significantly associated with a lower confirmed problem rate: a higher occupancy rate, greater payroll expenses per bed, a higher proportion of physicians who were board-certified specialists, greater technological sophistication, a higher number of beds, a higher proportion of nurses who were registered, and membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals. Public hospitals had higher problems rates than private not-for-profit hospitals. All characteristics significantly related to higher confirmed problem rates were also related to higher adjusted mortality rates in a previous study of 3,100 U.S. hospitals. The results suggest that hospital resources, including financial status, training of medical personnel, and availability of sophisticated equipment, are related to the quality of care provided by the hospital.
Breaking Through the Bars: Exploring the Experiences of Addicted Incarcerated Parents Whose Children Are Cared for by Relatives

Researchers conducted a series of open-ended semistructured interviews with 25 incarcerated men and women who received substance abuse treatment while their children were being cared for by relativ...
Synthesis and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor binding properties of bridged and fused ring analogues of epibatidine.

Epibatidine analogues 3–5, possessing the pyridine ring fused to the 2,3 position of the 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring, and analogue 8a, possessing a benzene ring fused to the 5,6 position, were synthesized by procedures involving key steps of trapping 2,3-pyridyne, 3,4-pyridyne, and benzyne with tert-butyl 1H-pyrrole-1-carboxylate. Two epibatidine analogues, 6 and 7, which have the 2′-chloropyridine ring bridged to the 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring via a methylene group, were synthesized, where the key step was an intramolecular reductive palladium-catalyzed Heck-type coupling. Even though the conformationally restricted epibatidine analogues, 3–7, and the benzo analogue 8a possess nAChR pharmacophore features thought to be needed for α4β2 binding, they all showed low affinity for nAChRs relative to epibatidine. These studies provide new information concerning the pharmacophore for nAChRs and suggest that nitrogen lone-pair directionality and steric factors may be important. Interestingly, N-methylep...
Compromise-resilient anti-jamming communication in wireless sensor networks

Jamming is a kind of Denial-of-Service attack in which an adversary purposefully emits radio frequency signals to corrupt the wireless transmissions among normal nodes. Although some research has been conducted on countering jamming attacks, few works consider jamming attacks launched by insiders, where an attacker first compromises some legitimate sensor nodes to acquire the common cryptographic information of the sensor network and then jams the network through those compromised nodes. In this paper, we address the insider jamming problem in wireless sensor networks. In our proposed solutions, the physical communication channel of a sensor network is determined by the group key shared by all the sensor nodes. When insider jamming happens, the network will generate a new group key to be shared only by the non-compromised nodes. After that, the insider jammers are revoked and will not be able to predict the future communication channels used by the non-compromised nodes. Specifically, we propose two compromise-resilient anti-jamming schemes: the split-pairing scheme which deals with a single insider jammer, and the key-tree-based scheme which copes with multiple colluding insider jammers. We implement and evaluate the proposed solutions using Mica2 Motes. Experimental results show that our solutions have low recovery latency and low communication overhead, and hence they are suitable for resource constrained sensor networks.
Mineralization of Sparsely Water-Soluble Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Water Table Fluctuation Zone

The mineralization potential of sparsely water-soluble polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) within a highly diesel-contaminated water table fluctuation zone (WTFZ) was investigated using core-scale column microcosms. Experimental conditions mimicked overall seasonal changes in water and oxygen content at the site. During the first aerobic winter, PAH mineralization rates in the freshly contaminated soil were fastest for contaminant [{sup 14}C]-naphthalene which was the least hydrophobic and most water-soluble. Lowering the water table nearly doubled the mineralization rates of all [{sup 14}C]PAHs studied. During the oxygen-poor summer, all mineralization rates were insignificant and failed to respond to water table changes. Neither a return to water-saturated aerobic (winter) conditions nor lowering the water table under aerobic conditions induced detectable mineralization of [{sup 14}C]-naphthalene, but lowering the water table did markedly hasten the still slow mineralization of [{sup 14}C]phenanthrene and [{sup 14}C]anthracene. The time-dependent mineralization behavior and its response to water table fluctuations were explicable in terms of microbial responses to the changing oxygen content and depleting mineral nutrients.
Effect of Symptom Clusters on Quality of Life in Patients with Heart Failure

Purpose Heart failure (HF) is a progressive, symptomatic illness with reports suggesting that pts. experience 2 to 9 symptoms. Symptom clusters (SCs) are symptoms that co-occur, are related, and influence outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine 9 prevalent symptoms of HF, identify SCs, and examine the effects on quality of life (QOL). Methods and Materials This study was conducted at a health sciences center with a HF/HTx Program. We studied 117 HF pts. (age=56; 62% male; 50% AA) and examined prevalence and severity of 9 symptoms: anxiety, depression, dyspnea, fatigue, pain, swelling, daytime sleepiness, cognitive dysfunction, and GI disturbances. Instruments were valid and reliable and had acceptable psychometric properties. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample, co-morbidities, and symptoms. Principle components analysis (PCA) was used to extract related symptoms, aggregate components, and calculate SC scores. Multiple regression was used to examine effects of SCs on QOL. Results Approx. 51% of pts. were NYHA Class III/IV and had an EF of 25%. Over half (62%) had an ICD and 9% were receiving IV inotropes. The most prevalent symptoms included: dyspnea in the past 2 weeks (100%), decreased hunger (95%), decreased appetite (85%), daytime sleepiness (54%), fatigue (73%), swelling (73%), and pain (62%). Least frequently occurring included depression (21%). Three SCs were extracted in a PCA: Sickness Behavior (anxiety, depression, daytime sleepiness, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue), Discomforts (dyspnea, edema, pain), and GI Disturbamces (appetite/hunger). Sickness Behavior was the only predictor (β=-0.635; p= Conclusions Sickness Behaviors had a significant negative effect on QOL and suggests that incorporating an evaluation of each of these symptoms may facilitate identification and treatment of symptoms having an additive and detrimental impact on QOL. Future studies to examine the stability of the cluster are warranted.
Energy budgets and feeding rates of Coryphaenoides acrolepis and C. armatus

This study develops energy budgets and estimates feeding rates for two macrourid fishes, Coryphaenoidesacrolepis, dominant in the bathyal eastern North Pacific, and the abyssal cosmopolitan species, Coryphaenoidesarmatus. Daily energy expenditure by C. acrolepis was nearly twice that of C. armatus. C. acrolepis allocated nearly equal amounts of energy to metabolism and growth. Once sexual maturity was reached reproduction became the dominant energetic cost. Either these costs are necessary to retain adequate numbers of eggs and larvae on the continental slopes, or this fish does not reproduce on an annual basis and the calculated costs are an overestimate. C. armatus allocated relatively more energy to metabolism than growth. It may be semelparous, and this strategy would be of great energetic savings in its food-poor but stable environment. Individual daily ration for C. acrolepis decreased from 0.31% to 0.07% of body weight (BW) and for C. armatus from 0.12% to 0.02% BW with increasing fish length. These rates are substantially lower than those for fishes living in cold waters on the continental shelves. The population feeding rates for C. acrolepis ranged from 0.8 to 15 kg km–2 day–1 and for C. armatus from 5 to 2,800 g km–2 day–1. The scavenging behaviour of C. acrolepis was used to investigate the role of carrion as a food supply to the deep-sea benthos. It was estimated that the carrion eaten by C. acrolepis is equivalent to 0.04 mg C m–2 day–1 or only 0.2–0.4% of the average small particulate flux. Carrion consumption is important for scavengers like C. acrolepis, but it is not an important component of the carbon flux into the deep-sea benthic environment.
Versatility of analytical capabilities of laser scanning cytometry (LSC)

Abstract The microscope-based cytofluorometer laser scanning cytometer (LSC) combines many attributes of flow- and image-cytometry. Laser-excited fluorescence emitted from individual cells is measured at multiple wavelengths, rapidly, with high sensitivity and accuracy. In this review the following analytical capabilities of LSC are discussed: (a) analysis of hyperchromicity of nuclear DNA to identify cell types that differ in chromatin condensation, mitotic or apoptotic cells; (b) topographic distribution of fluorescence within the cell, e.g., cytoplasm vs . nucleus, nucleoplasm vs . nucleolus, translocation of regulatory molecules such as NF-κB, p53, Bax; (c) analysis of micronuclei in mutagenicity assays; (d) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH); (e) morphometry and enumeration of nucleoli; (f) analysis of progeny of individual cells in clonogenicity assay; (g) cell immunophenotyping; (h) relocation of the measured cell for visual examination, imaging or sequential analysis using different immunochemical or cytochemical stains, or genetic probes; (i) analysis of in situ enzyme kinetics and other time resolved processes; (j) analysis of tissue section architecture. Other advantages and limitations of LSC are discussed and compared with flow cytometry.
Discovery of Raltegravir, a Potent, Selective Orally Bioavailable HIV-Integrase Inhibitor for the Treatment of HIV-AIDS Infection

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) integrase is one of the three virally encoded enzymes required for replication and therefore a rational target for chemotherapeutic intervention in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. We report here the discovery of Raltegravir, the first HIV-integrase inhibitor approved by FDA for the treatment of HIV infection. It derives from the evolution of 5,6-dihydroxypyrimidine-4-carboxamides and N-methyl-4-hydroxypyrimidinone-carboxamides, which exhibited potent inhibition of the HIV-integrase catalyzed strand transfer process. Structural modifications on these molecules were made in order to maximize potency as HIV-integrase inhibitors against the wild type virus, a selection of mutants, and optimize the selectivity, pharmacokinetic, and metabolic profiles in preclinical species. The good profile of Raltegravir has enabled its progression toward the end of phase III clinical trials for the treatment of HIV-1 infection and culminated with the FDA approval as the first HIV-integrase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
What do we know about hearing protector comfort

The purpose of the present article is to review comfort studies on hearing protector devices. Comfort is probably the most important dimension for long-term worker acceptance and effective wear of hearing protectors in noise. A short digression has been made to introduce comfort work from the textile and clothing industries where models of comfort have been attempted and comfort research is much more sophisticated. Finally, presented are some recent efforts by NIOSH to examine issues of hearing protector comfort in greater detail. These efforts include a field study of a semi-custom earplug hearing protector.
Biventricular assist device placement and immunosuppression as therapy for necrotizing eosinophilic myocarditis

Background A previously healthy 47-year-old woman presented reporting nausea, anorexia and light-headedness of 2 weeks' duration, and three episodes of syncope. She also had pleuritic chest pain and rapidly declining cardiac function. The only reported medical history was urinary tract infection and an ankle fracture sustained 5 months before presentation. She was receiving no medication other than estrogen patches for menopause and did not smoke or use illicit drugs. Investigations Electrocardiography, chest radiography, echocardiography, measurement of creatinine phosphokinase and troponin T, coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy. Diagnosis Necrotizing eosinophilic myocarditis. Management Biventricular assist device implantation, methylprednisolone, prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil.
Notes on the Feynman integral, II

In the setting of Cameron and Storvick's recent theory, our main result establishes the existence of the analytic Feynman integral for functions on v-dimensional Wiener space of the form F(X) = exp {− ∝ab (A(s) X(s), X(s)) ds}. Here X is a Rv-valued continuous function on [a, b] such that X(a) = 0 and {A(s): a ⩽ s ⩽ b} is a commutative family of real, symmetric, positive definite matrices such that the square roots of the eigenvalues are functions of bounded variation on [a, b]. We obtain the existence theorem just referred to without having to construct special spaces, quadratic forms, etc., to fit the particular problem of interest.
Delight the Customer: A Predictive Model for Repeat Purchase Behavior

The literature on customer delight identifies three major issues. First, the research purporting to measure consumer delight measures neither delight nor its opposite, disgust. Instead, it generally measures satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Second, the literature agrees that models of satisfaction/dissatisfaction are not appropriate for examining delight/disgust. Third, a theoretical model linking delight/disgust with repurchase behavior has not yet been developed. The model outlined in this article links delight and disgust with repurchase behavior and provides a format for dealing with the first two issues.
Global Information Technology Architectures

Changes in the environment of international business and advances in information technologies have limited the usefulness of existing information systems paradigms. Consequently, there is a paucity of both conceptual and empirical research focusing on information technology systems in a global context. In response, the overall goal of this paper is to develop a uniquely broad perspective on global information systems by establishing the concept of a global information technology architecture. Although the concept of an information technology architecture has existed for some time now, this study is among the first to move beyond anecdotes to embrace statistical testing and validation of a finite number of architectural types that may serve as a surrogate for capturing overall information technology capabilities. It is hoped that a parsimonious, architectural modeling of international information technology capabilities can serve as a map to guide and document the information systems decisions for globally competing organizations.
Bi-directional safety analysis of product lines

As product-line engineering becomes more widespread, more safety-critical software product lines are being built. This paper describes a structured method for performing safety analysis on a software product line, building on standard product-line assets: product-line requirements, architecture, and scenarios. The safety-analysis method is bi-directional in that it combines a forward analysis (from failure modes to effects) with a backward analysis (from hazards to contributing causes). Safety-analysis results are converted to XML files to allow automated consistency checking between the forward and backward analysis results and to support reuse of the safety-analysis results throughout the product line. The paper demonstrates and evaluates the method on a safety-critical product-line subsystem, the Door Control System. Results show that the bi-directional safety-analysis method found both missing and incorrect software safety requirements. Some of the new safety requirements affected all the systems in the product line while others affected only some of the systems in the product line. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can handle the challenges to safety analysis posed by variations within a product line.
Marx and the origin of dialectical materialism1

Dialectical materialism was born in 1857, when Marx returned to studying Hegel. In opposition to Hegel, Marx adopted a realist epistemology. Abandoning the pragmatist ambiguities of his Economic‐Philosophical Manuscripts, he became a materialist in the traditional sense of that word. Influenced by Hegel, Marx simultaneously attempted a dialectical proof for the labor theory of value. Abandoning his positivist critique in The Holy Family, he started using dialectic to discover beneath appearances an otherwise inaccessible reality. But his dialectic was incompatible with his materialism. The identification of reality with Praxis, rejected at the level of philosophical statement, was retained at the level of economic argument. Turning Hegel upside down proved harder than Marx thought.
Lessons learned in the multistate fungal infection outbreak in the United States.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The recent outbreak of fungal meningitis related to contaminated methylprednisolone acetate injections represents an important cause of morbidity and continues to be a significant public health problem in the United States. RECENT FINDINGS As of August 2013, there have been 749 cases and 63 deaths in 20 states associated with epidemic fungal meningitis, most of these because of Exserohilum rostratum. Clinical experience in managing these cases has grown dramatically in the last several months; most patients require at least 6 months of antifungal therapy for complicated disease. Most patients are treated with voriconazole, with or without liposomal amphotericin B, for central nervous system and paraspinal complications of the disease. For disease involving the sacroiliac and peripheral joints, voriconazole alone has been preferred. MRI spine imaging has identified several cases of asymptomatic disease, suggesting an aggressive diagnostic approach to exposed asymptomatic patients. Mortality remains low (<10%), but morbidity relating to persistent symptoms and treatment-associated toxicity is high. SUMMARY The ongoing fungal meningitis epidemic demonstrates an important achievement for the public health community. Important questions remain relating to the diagnosis, management, and long-term outcomes of these patients. Important research questions pertaining to specific risks influencing disease manifestations remain unanswered.
Collaborative tele-directing

The Tele-Direction interface allows a physically remote and geographically distributed audience to collaboratively control a shared remote resource. It features contextualized user-driven goal setting and voting, an economy, and chat. In this paper we discuss the design considerations that led to this interface and describe our initial implementation.
Amenity‐Based Housing Affordability Indexes

The recent slump notwithstanding, substantial increases in house prices in many parts of the United States have served to highlight housing affordability for moderate-income households, especially in high-cost, supply-constrained coastal cities such as Boston. In this article, we develop a new measure of area affordability that characterizes the supply of housing that is affordable to different households in different locations of a metropolitan region. Key to our approach is the explicit recognition that the price/rent of a dwelling is affected by its location. Hence, we develop an affordability methodology that accounts for job accessibility, school quality and safety. This allows us to produce a menu of town-level indexes of adjusted housing affordability. The adjustments are based on obtaining implicit prices of these amenities from a hedonic price equation. We thus use data from a wide variety of sources to rank 141 towns in the greater Boston metropolitan area based on their adjusted affordability. Taking households earning 80% of area median income as an example, we find that consideration of town-level amenities leads to major changes relative to a typical assessment of affordability.
Synchronization in multimedia data retrieval

Synchronization of multiple medium streams in real time has been recognized as one of the most important requirements for multimedia applications based on broadband high-speed networks. This article presents a complete synchronization scheme for distributed multimedia information systems. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Consequences of ornithine decarboxylase inactivation by alpha-difluoromethylornithine and 5-fluorouracil on the growth of rabbit fibroblasts.

The role of ornithine decarboxylase and polyamines in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is ill-defined. An increase in utie activity of this enzyme concurrent with an increase in poly amine levels may be essential in the process of intraocular cellular proliferation. Therefore, in this study, cultured rabbit fibroblasts were exposed to DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (alpha-DFMO), a mechanism-based irreversible inactivator of ornithine decarboxylase, alone and in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Concentrations of OlmM alpha-DFMO and 0.12 5mM 5-FU decreased rabbit fibroblast cell number by 60% and 65%, respectively, after three days, while with either 5.0mM alpha-DFMO or 0.25mM 5-FU, cell number is decreased by 95%. The effectiveness of inhibitory concentrations of 5-FU and alpha-DFMO together in reducing cell number is additive.
Introduction to Symplectic Field Theory

We sketch in this article a new theory, which we call Symplectic Field Theory or SFT, which provides an approach to Gromov-Witten invariants of symplectic manifolds and their Lagrangian submanifolds in the spirit of topological field theory, and at the same time serves as a rich source of new invariants of contact manifolds and their Legendrian submanifolds. Moreover, we hope that the applications of SFT go far beyond this framework.1
Mink as a predictive model in toxicology

(1992). Mink as a Predictive Model in Toxicology. Drug Metabolism Reviews: Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 559-578.
What to read next?: making personalized book recommendations for K-12 users

Finding books that children/teenagers are interested in these days is a non-trivial task due to the diversity of topics covered in huge volumes of books with varied readability levels. Even though K-12 readers can turn to book recommenders to look for books, the recommended books may not satisfy their personal needs, since they could be beyond/below their readability levels or fail to match their topics of interest. To address these problems, we introduce BReK12, a book recommender that makes personalized suggestions tailored to each K-12 user U based on books available on a social book-marking site that (i) are similar in content to the ones that are known to be of interest to U, (ii) have been bookmarked by users with reading patterns similar to U's, and (iii) can be comprehended by U. BReK12 is an asset to its users, since it suggests books that are appealing to its users and at grade levels that they can cope with, which can increase their reading selection choices and motivate them to read. We have also developed ReLAT, the readability analysis tool employed by BReK12 to determine the grade level of books. ReLAT is novel, compared with existing readability formulas, since it can predict the grade level of a book even if an excerpt of the book is not available. We have conducted empirical studies which have verified the accuracy of ReLAT in predicting the grade level of a book and the effectiveness of BReK12 over existing baseline recommendation systems.
Medicaid managed care for special need populations: Behavioral health as “tracer condition”

Medicaid's embrace of managed care and aggressive purchasing must be employed in a balanced and thoughtful way in serving vulnerable populations.
Effect of initial ziprasidone dose on treatment persistence in schizophrenia.

Abstract Objective To determine the relationship between ziprasidone initial dose and treatment persistence among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Method Adult Medicaid recipients ( N = 1096) diagnosed with schizophrenia who had ziprasidone prescription claims between July 1, 2001 and September 30, 2003, were categorized by initial dose: low (20–60 mg per day, n = 464), medium (61–119 mg per day, n = 320) and high dose (120–160 mg per day, n = 312). Treatment persistence up to 365 days was measured using refill patterns, allowing 15-day gaps between expected refill dates. Multivariate survival analysis explored the simultaneous impact of age, gender, race, previous hospitalization, and concomitant medication usage, in addition to initial dose of ziprasidone. Sensitivity analysis tested the robustness of results with different definitions for persistence and allowable gaps between refills. Results Discontinuation rates across the observation period (maximum, 12 months per individual) were lower for patients initiated with high-dose than low-dose ziprasidone ( P = 0.001). Other factors significantly associated with greater discontinuation of medication were monotherapy (versus combination therapy) and hospitalization within the 6 months prior to the index date of therapy. Black race was associated with greater discontinuation, although this was not consistent across sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Patients with schizophrenia started on high doses of ziprasidone have lower discontinuation rates in a retrospective Medicaid database than patients started on low doses. These results were robust across various sensitivity analyses.
MultiSense: proportional-share for mechanically steerable sensor networks

Steerable sensors, such as pan-tilt-zoom cameras and weather radars, expose programmable actuators to applications, which steer them to dictate the type, quality, and quantity of data they collect. Applications with different goals steer these sensors in different directions. Although being expensive to deploy and maintain, existing steerable sensor networks allow only a single application to control them due to the slow speed of their mechanical actuators. To address the problem, we design MultiSense to enable fine-grained multiplexing by (1) exposing a virtual sensor to each application and (2) optimizing the time to context-switch between virtual sensors and satisfy requests. We implement MultiSense in Xen, a widely used virtualization platform, and explore how well proportional-share scheduling, along with extensions for state restoration, request batching and merging, and anticipatory scheduling, satisfies the unique requirements of steerable sensors. We present experiments for pan-tilt-zoom cameras and weather radars that show MultiSense efficiently isolates the performance of virtual sensors, allowing concurrent applications to satisfy conflicting goals. As one example, we enable a tracking application to photograph an object moving at nearly 3 mph every 23 ft along its trajectory at a distance of 300 ft, while supporting a security application that photographs a fixed point every 3 s.
Student performance in CS1 with distributed pair programming

Pair programming has been shown to provide many pedagogical benefits, particularly for students who are learning to program. One drawback with pair programming is its collocation requirement, which makes it difficult for some students to enjoy these benefits. We report on an experiment with a tool that allows students to pair program from separate locations. Our results indicate that students who experience the increased flexibility of distributed pairing perform as well in their introductory programming course as students who have to physically meet in order to pair. These students are also as confident as the collocated students. We also confirm earlier results reported by others that pair programming results in greater student confidence and increased student performance.
Convergence and application of a modified iteratively regularized Gauss–Newton algorithm

Theoretical convergence results for an iteratively regularized Gauss?Newton (IRGN) algorithm with a Tikhonov regularization term using a seminorm generated by a linear operator are established. The convergence theorem uses an a posteriori stopping rule and a modified source condition, without any restriction on the nonlinearity of the operator. The theoretical results are illustrated by simulations for a one-dimensional version of the exponentially ill-posed optical tomography inverse problem for the diffusion (D) and absorption (?) coefficient spatial distributions. The modified Tikhonov regularization performs the mapping of the minimization variables, which are the coefficients of the spline expansions for D and ?, to physical space. This incorporates the inherently differing scales of these variables in the minimization, and also suggests relative weighting of the regularization terms with respect to each parameter space. The presented modification of the IRGN allows greater flexibility for implementations of IRGN solutions of ill-posed inverse problems in which differing scales in physical space hinder standard IRGN inversions.
Amino acid requirements in children and the elderly population

The factorial approach is used to measure the dietary indispensable amino acid (IAA) requirements in children, although recent measurements based on the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method have begun to generate more direct evidence. Difficulties with the factorial method are that it depends on accurate estimates of the maintenance protein requirement, as well as of protein deposition during growth. Also, a value for the efficiency of utilizing dietary protein for deposition has to be selected, based on published Nitrogen (N) balance studies. In the recent 2007 WHO/FAO/UNU report, the amino acid requirement pattern for infants was taken to be similar to the amino acid composition of breast milk. For pre-school and older children, the factorial method gave values for the scoring pattern of protein that were fairly close to the earlier 1985 WHO/FAO/UNU report for children, since growth progressively became a smaller component of the factorial calculation as age progressed. However, given that there are several assumptions in the derivation of factorial estimates, direct experimental measurements of the amino acid requirement are desirable. The IAAO method, as it is non-invasive, as made it possible to measure the IAA requirements in children. Over the last decade, some of the IAA requirements have been determined by using the IAAO method in healthy school age children; however, the data on IAA requirements in developing country populations are still being conducted. In the elderly, there are not enough data to make a separate recommendation for IAA requirements from that of adults.
Screw Versus Hybrid Constructs for Flexible Thoracic Curves in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective, Randomized Study

Abstract Study Design Prospective, computer-randomized design. Objective Compare screw and hybrid constructs in flexible, thoracic curves for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) in a prospective randomized fashion. Summary of Background The consensus in scientific literature is that all-screw constructs correct AIS better than hooks in the lumbar and in large, stiff thoracic curves. However, debate continues whether all-screw constructs outperform hybrid constructs in small, flexible thoracic AIS. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective, randomized scoliosis study that examines measures of correction and patient satisfaction with the Scoliosis Research Society–30 (SRS-30) questionnaire. Methods A total of 45 enrolled AIS patients with flexible, thoracic curves were given an identification number with an associated computer-generated randomization to the hybrid (n = 22) or screw group (n = 23). The treating surgeon received the randomization 2–3 days before surgery. Data including major Cobb (MC), truncal rotation (TR), rib index (RI), secondary curve (SC), and SRS-30 questionnaire were collected preoperatively and postoperatively at 4 weeks and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Results Thirty-seven patients in the hybrid (n = 18) and screw (n = 19) groups completed the study with a mean follow-up of 26 months (range, 24–49 months). Hybrid versus screw group means for preoperative, postoperative, and final follow-up were: MC 58° ± 8° versus 55° ± 6°, 18° ± 8° versus 15° ± 7°, and 23°± 8° versus 14° ± 6°; TR 14° ± 6° versus 16° ± 4°, 10° ± 5° versus 7° ± 3°, and 11° ± 5° versus 7° ± 4°; RI 3.0° ± 1.2° versus 3.4° ± 1.4°, 2.5° ± 0.7° versus 1.8° ± 0.6°, and 2.5° ± 0.8° versus 2.0° ± 0.5°; SC 35° ± 13° versus 31° ± 8°, 13° ± 11° versus 7° ± 9°, and 13° ± 12° versus 7° ± 7°; and SRS-30 3.9 ± 0.2 versus 3.9 ± 0.2, 4.1 ± 0.4 versus 4.0 ± 0.3, and 4.1 ± 0.3 versus 4.0 ± 0.2. Conclusions Intergroup preoperative and early postoperative values were comparable (p > .05). At final follow-up, owing to loss of correction in the hybrid group, differences in MC (9°; p = .000), RI (0.54; p = .016), and TR (4°; p = .039) correction were statistically significant as SC trended toward significance (6°; p = .052). All-screw constructs outperformed hybrid constructs, especially over time. No differences in SRS-30 scores occurred between groups.
A broadside-edge-coupled vialess balun

This paper presents the design procedure for a new two-level vialess balun configuration. Simple design equations are reported for designing the impedance transforming balun in broadside-edge-coupled configuration. The balun is realized in a six-coupled line two-layer topology with no ground connections and interconnecting vias. The simulated results are validated by full-wave electromagnetic simulation and found to be in good agreement.
Concurrent multiband low-noise amplifiers-theory, design, and applications

The concept of concurrent multiband low-noise-amplifiers (LNAs) is introduced. A systematic way to design concurrent multiband integrated LNAs in general is developed. Applications of concurrent multiband LNAs in concurrent multiband receivers together with receiver architecture are discussed. Experimental results of a dual-band LNA implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology as a demonstration of the concept and theory is presented.
DENTAL MORPHOLOGY AND VARIATION IN MAJUNGASAURUS CRENATISSIMUS (THEROPODA: ABELISAURIDAE) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCAR

ABSTRACT Despite the known diversity of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs, their dental anatomy remains poorly understood. Discoveries of elements preserving in situ dentition of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Malagasy taxon Majungasaurus crenatissimus, coupled with recent progress in morphometric analysis of theropod teeth, provide an opportunity to document dental morphology and quantitatively evaluate positional variation in an abelisaurid dentition. Majungasaurus possesses an unusually static dental formula of 4/17/17 and a relatively even pattern of tooth replacement. The teeth are brachydont, moderately heterodont, and exhibit fairly well-developed interdenticular sulci/caudae. The premaxillary teeth are significantly wider, more elongate, and less curved than those in the maxilla and dentary, whereas the dentary crowns are shorter and more ‘squat’ than those in the upper dentition. Knowledge gained from teeth preserved within jaws demonstrates that isolated crowns recovered from the same deposits...
Fast impulsive reconnection and current sheet intensification due to electron pressure gradients in semi-collisional plasmas

A numerical simulation of forced reconnection and current sheet growth due to inward boundary flows in semi-collisional plasmas is presented, and contrasted with the results of an incompressible resistive MHD simulation in the high-Lundquist-number regime. Due to the presence of electron pressure (or Hall currents) in the generalized Ohm's law, the reconnection dynamics makes an impulsive transition from a slow linear regime to a nonlinear regime characterized by fast reconnection and current sheet intensification at a near-Alfvenic rate. The current sheet spanning Y-points in the early nonlinear regime shrinks and approaches an X-point geometry. The spatial scale of the collisionless parallel electric field is the ion skin depth, and decoupled from the spatial scale of the parallel current which is much narrower and determined by the Lundquist number.
Imaging Mouse Models of Human Cancer

While long-recognized as vital components of cancer research, mouse models largely remained a “black box” until the development of advanced tools for preclinical imaging (Edinger et al. 2002; Van Dyke and Jacks 2002; Hirst and Balmain 2004; Lyons 2005). The dynamics of cancer progression, metastatic spread, and therapeutic response were difficult to study without noninvasive access to real-time information in living animals. Histology and other ex vivo analyses provided some insight into the molecular features of malignancy, but required biopsy and invasive acquisition, or were limited to terminal samples at necropsy. Moreover, such measurements offered only a static snapshot of disease and therapeutic outcome, and did not capture the active nature of malignancy or the dynamic changes associated with treatment. Overcoming these limitations required a set of tools that could probe tumor cells in their native habitat, and track molecular and biochemical changes accompanying tumor growth and regression in real time.
Tumor necrosis factor induces neuroendocrine differentiation in small cell lung cancer cell lines

We studied tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α as a candidate cytokine to promote neuroendocrine cell differentiation in a nitrosamine-hyperoxia hamster lung injury model. Differential screening identifi...
Nutrition Management During Pregnancy: Maple Syrup Urine Disease, Propionic Acidemia, Methylmalonic Acidemia, and Urea Cycle Disorders

In inherited metabolic diseases other than phenylketonuria (PKU), the mother is at risk of metabolic decompensation during periods of catabolism, but the infant does not appear to be at risk of adverse outcomes. Frequent monitoring of plasma amino acids and adjustments in protein and energy intakes are needed throughout pregnancy. The postpartum period is an especially dangerous time for women with intoxication disorders, and they need close monitoring for at least 6 weeks postpartum.
An Industrial Process View of Information Delivery to Support Clinical Decision Making: Implications for Systems Design and Process Measures

Clinical decision making is driven by information in the form of patient data and clinical knowledge. Currently prevalent systems used to store and retrieve this information have high failure rates, which can be traced to well-established system constraints. The authors use an industrial process model of clinical decision making to expose the role of these constraints in increasing variability in the delivery of relevant clinical knowledge and patient data to decision-making clinicians. When combined with nonmodifiable human cognitive and memory constraints, this variability in information delivery is largely responsible for the high variability of decision outcomes. The model also highlights the supply characteristics of information, a view that supports the application of industrial inventory management concepts to clinical decision support. Finally, the clinical decision support literature is examined from a process-improvement perspective with a focus on decision process components related to information retrieval. Considerable knowledge gaps exist related to clinical decision support process measurement and improvement.