cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Central Nervous System Myelin

In the first edition of the Handbook of Neurochemistry, Mokrasch1 reviewed the biochemical literature on myelin through 1967. In the intervening 15 years, hundreds of research articles and numerous reviews about myelin have been published, encouraged both by the growth of neuroscience and the development of several methods for detailed analysis of membrane proteins and lipids. Although much new biochemical information is available, our basic concepts of the morphological structure2,3 and principal function4 of myelin have changed little since 1967. The concept that the multilamellar myelin membrane is produced by the oligodendroglial cell is well accepted, although the molecular events involved in the proliferation of oligodendroglial cells and the mechanics of wrapping of a single oligodendroglial plasma membrane around multiple axons are an enigma to neurobiologists. The role of myelin in the establishment of saltatory conduction is still thought to be its primary function. However, the details of how this conduction is established and how it is reestablished in remyelinating systems continue to be active areas of investigation,5,6 particularly with regard to the relationship between axonal ion channels and glial membrane. This chapter emphasizes advances in the biochemistry of myelin over the past 15 years. Review articles are cited extensively where appropriate to minimize redundancy.
Methods to estimate the polarized distribution of surface antigens in cultured epithelial cells.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the methods employed to transfect and express foreign genes into epithelial cells. It also determines the polarized surface expression of both endogenous and exogenous plasma membrane proteins. The polarized distribution of surface proteins between the apical and the basolateral surfaces of epithelial cells is the basis of their vectorial function. Retroviral promoters, specifically Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeats (LTR) have resulted in high levels of expression of exogenous plasma membrane proteins. The neomycin-resistance marker coupled with selection with G418 has been very useful for the selection of stable transfectants. Polarity can be expressed as a ratio between the amounts of a given molecule in apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains. An important consideration in the analysis of this ratio is the fact that the area of the apical domain is usually a fraction of the area of the basolateral domain. It is important to express polarity as a density ratio—that is, a ratio between the amounts of the molecule per unit surface area in each surface domain. Various methods to estimate the surface polarity of a molecule in expressed epithelial cells include isotopic uptake or binding, electrophysiologic procedures, postsection colloidal gold immunocytochernistry, and EM immunocytochemistry.
Hemodynamic consequences of sequential atrioventricular pacing. Subjects with normal hearts.

Abstract The hemodynamic sequelae of sequential atrioventricular pacing were compared to those of atrial and ventricular pacing and analyzed. The results clearly demonstrate that aberrant ventricular depolarization per se is of relatively minor hemodynamic import but that sequential atrial and ventricular activity is essential for optimal ventricular function even in the normal subject.
Pharmacological profiling of the TRPV3 channel in recombinant and native assays

Background and Purpose Transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 3 (TRPV3) is implicated in nociception and certain skin conditions. As such, it is an attractive target for pharmaceutical research. Understanding of endogenous TRPV3 function and pharmacology remains elusive as selective compounds and native preparations utilizing higher throughput methodologies are lacking. In this study, we developed medium‐throughput recombinant and native cellular assays to assess the detailed pharmacological profile of human, rat and mouse TRPV3 channels. Experimental Approach Medium‐throughput cellular assays were developed using a Ca2+‐sensitive dye and a fluorescent imaging plate reader. Human and rat TRPV3 pharmacology was examined in recombinant cell lines, while the mouse 308 keratinocyte cell line was used to assess endogenous TRPV3 activity. Key Results A recombinant rat TRPV3 cellular assay was successfully developed after solving a discrepancy in the published rat TRPV3 protein sequence. A medium‐throughput, native, mouse TRPV3 keratinocyte assay was also developed and confirmed using genetic approaches. Whereas the recombinant human and rat TRPV3 assays exhibited similar agonist and antagonist profiles, the native mouse assay showed important differences, namely, TRPV3 activity was detected only in the presence of potentiator or during agonist synergy. Furthermore, the native assay was more sensitive to block by some antagonists. Conclusions and Implications Our findings demonstrate similarities but also notable differences in TRPV3 pharmacology between recombinant and native systems. These findings offer insights into TRPV3 function and these assays should aid further research towards developing TRPV3 therapies. Linked Articles This article is part of a themed section on the pharmacology of TRP channels. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2014.171.issue‐10
Boundary filter design for biorthogonal filter banks

In order for filter banks to be able to process finite length input signals, appropriate modifications must be made to either the input signal (via signal extension techniques) or to the filter bank itself (boundary filters). This paper shows how to choose appropriate boundary filters for the analysis portion of any filter bank. The boundary filters can be chosen to satisfy any number of criteria, such as frequency selectivity or number of vanishing moments, and are only required to be linearly independent of the original filter bank filters. The synthesis filter bank is found by calculating the dual of the analysis bank, which is the same as finding the inverse. This results in a biorthogonal, perfect reconstruction filter bank.
Infrared Observation on the Eclipsed Moon

Abstract : At the time of the present document, the most extensive mapping of the lunar surface in the far infrared has been accomplished during the 19 December 1964 eclipse. The present report is confined to a brief description of these measurements and presents several examples of the various methods used for analyzing the data. The thermal contours obtained from one of the scan programs obtained during totality are displayed. Some of the general characteristics of the anomalies noted are presented. (Author)
Reinforcement learning in high-diameter, continuous environments

Many important real-world robotic tasks have high diameter, that is, their solution requires a large number of primitive actions by the robot. For example, they may require navigating to distant locations using primitive motor control commands. In addition, modern robots are endowed with rich, high-dimensional sensory systems, providing measurements of a continuous environment. Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown promise as a method for automatic learning of robot behavior, but current methods work best on low-diameter, low-dimensional tasks. Because of this problem, the success of RL on real-world tasks still depends on human analysis of the robot, environment, and task to provide a useful set of perceptual features and an appropriate decomposition of the task into subtasks. This thesis presents Self-Organizing Distinctive-state Abstraction (SODA) as a solution to this problem. Using SODA a robot with little prior knowledge of its sensorimotor system, environment, and task can automatically reduce the effective diameter of its tasks. First it uses a self-organizing feature map to learn higher level perceptual features while exploring using primitive, local actions. Then, using the learned features as input, it learns a set of high-level actions that carry the robot between perceptually distinctive states in the environment. Experiments in two robot navigation environments demonstrate that SODA learns useful features and high-level actions, that using these new actions dramatically speeds up learning for high-diameter navigation tasks, and that the method scales to large (building-sized) robot environments. These experiments demonstrate SODAs effectiveness as a generic learning agent for mobile robot navigation, pointing the way toward developmental robots that learn to understand themselves and their environments through experience in the world, reducing the need for human engineering for each new robotic application.
Allostery mediates ligand binding to WWOX tumor suppressor via a conformational switch

While being devoid of the ability to recognize ligands itself, the WW2 domain is believed to aid ligand binding to the WW1 domain in the context of a WW1-WW2 tandem module of WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) tumor suppressor. In an effort to test the generality of this hypothesis, we have undertaken here a detailed biophysical analysis of the binding of WW domains of WWOX alone and in the context of the WW1-WW2 tandem module to an array of putative proline-proline-x-tyrosine (PPXY) ligands. Our data show that while the WW1 domain of WWOX binds to all ligands in a physiologically relevant manner, the WW2 domain does not. Moreover, ligand binding to the WW1 domain in the context of the WW1-WW2 tandem module is two-to-three-fold stronger than when treated alone. We also provide evidence that the WW domains within the WW1-WW2 tandem module physically associate so as to adopt a fixed spatial orientation relative to each other. Of particular note is the observation that the physical association of the WW2 domain with WW1 blocks access to ligands. Consequently, ligand binding to the WW1 domain not only results in the displacement of the WW2 lid but also disrupts the physical association of WW domains in the liganded conformation. Taken together, our study underscores a key role of allosteric communication in the ability of the WW2 orphan domain to chaperone physiological action of the WW1 domain within the context of the WW1-WW2 tandem module of WWOX.
Migraine Trigger Site Surgery is All Placebo

Background Over the last decade surgical treatments for migraine involving proposed trigger sites have been described and popularized by plastic surgeons in particular. Various related techniques aim to free up “trigger sites” by removal of small facial muscles or “decompressing” small facial nerves. Discussion The basis for migraine trigger site surgery is without merit. There is one positive placebo controlled study with many limitations. Natural history and placebo mechanisms explain the outcomes from migraine surgery. The American Headache Society recommends that the migraine surgery not be performed outside of a clinical trial. Conclusion Migraine trigger site surgery should not be performed.
Exercise training increases GLUT-4 protein in rat adipose cells

The relative abundance and subcellular distribution of the GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 glucose transporter isoforms were determined in basal and insulin-stimulated adipose cells from wheel cage exercise-trai...
Chemotactic attraction of Lumbricus terrestris coelomocytes to foreign tissue.

Abstract Coelomocytes of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris , respond by directional migration in vitro to bacterial and foreign tissue attractants. The two species of bacteria tested, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Aeromonas hydrophila , attract coelomocytes in direct proportion to bacterial concentrations. Body wall tissues from the earthworms Eisenia foetida and Pheretima sp. and from the arthropod Tenebrio molitor attract Lumbricus coelomocytes in inverse ratio to phylogenetic relatedness. Lumbricus body wall tissue appears to contain a migration inhibitor since the addition of such tissue to chemotactant chambers containing Eisenia tissue results in decreased coelomocyte migration when compared to Eisenia tissue alone. The chemotactic activity of Eisenia tissue and the inhibitor activity of Lumbricus tissue are both destroyed by boiling. In addition, the Eisenia chemotactant is dialyzable and of
Small-scale yielding interfacial crack-tip fields

By idealizing the crack surroundings as an isotropic elastic perfectly-plastic material with tensile yield strength σ bonded to a rigid or isotropic elastic substrate, the small-scale yielding (SSY) plane strain asymptotic lields for “elastically” traction-free interfacial cracks are numerically calculated. The resulting fields are described in terms of slip-line theory and elastic potentials. The oscillatory asymptotic elastic field behavior does not persist deep within the plastic zone. However, some loadings produce cusp-like boundaries separating various crack-lip sectors within the near-tip fields, coupling the stress state to the radial distance, r, in non-conventional quasi-constant-slate sectors. When the SSY interfacial load-phase angle, defined as ζ0 = ∠ K + ɛ ln [K/σ2v cosh2 (πɛ)] (where ∠ K is the phase angle of the complex tractionfree stress intensity factor K, and ɛ is the bi-material constant) is negative, inelastic sectors generally surround the crack tip in the plastically deformable medium, simultaneously producing normal and shear interfacial tractions as large as 3.29σ and σ/√3, respectively. For ζ0 > 0, the fields usually contain an elastic crack-face sector which typically spans at least 45, a centered-fan sector, as well as various conslantand quasi-constant-state sectors, generally leading to less severe interfacial traction and strain conditions than for ζ0 < 0. From the individual fields found at various discrete values of ζ0, the near-tip fields are qualitatively characterised over the entire admissible range of ζ0. At distances from the crack tip much less than the characteristic plastic zone dimension in the adjacent “yielding” domain, the logarithmically singular asymptotic stress field in the “elastic” domain is accurately described by the solution of a halfspace subject to a uniform stress parallel to its boundary and to step function discontinuities in normal and shear surface tractions at the crack tip.
Investigation of diamond deposition by chemical vapor transport with hydrogen

The carbon-hydrogen chemical vapor transport system was examined in accordance with a four-stage transport model. A result of this examination is that graphite co-deposition could be avoided when diamond is deposited from gas solutions under-saturated with respect to diamond. Actual deposition experiments showed that this unusual requirement can be fulfilled but only for the condition that the transport distance between the carbon source and the substrate surface is short. In such a case diamond can be deposited equally from super-saturated as well as from under-saturated gas solutions. On the basis of thermodynamic considerations a possible explanation of this unusual phenomenon is given. It is shown that there is a possibility of deposition of diamond from both super-saturated as well as under-saturated gas solutions but only on the condition that they are in a non-equilibrium state generally called the activated state. A model of the diamond deposition process consisting of two steps is proposed. In the first step diamond and graphite are deposited simultaneously. The most important carbon deposition reaction is C2H2(g) + 2 H(g) C(diamond graphite) + CH(g). The amount of co-deposited graphite is not a direct function of the saturation state of the gas phase. In the second step graphite is etched according to the most probable reaction C(graphite) + 4 H(g) CH4(g). Atomic hydrogen in a super-equilibrium concentration is necessary not only to etch graphite but also to precipitate and graphite. 1.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Bridging the Panj: Forging a Peacebuilding Livelihoods Strategy on the Afghan-Tajik Border:

This article explores strategies to address food security and livelihood threats faced by poor families in the Afghan-Tajik border region of Central Asia. Costly barriers include not only isolation and inadequate infrastructure, but also corrupt security agents, drug-related conflicts and regional rivalry. Development actors working towards improved economic circulation in the region to reduce hunger vulnerability find that success depends as much on confronting local-level security and empowerment issues as building bridges and brokering bilateral agreements.
Gathering crowds: mapping the post-human social body

As a digital artist, I seek to create experiential works that engage participants in an infinite feedback loop of interaction and discovery. My goal is to create works that exist in a perpetual state of transformation and becoming. I am interested in the rhythm and music of everyday activities such as walking and driving—compositions that have no beginning, ending, inside or outside. Such movements, when captured and visualized, provide a portrait of the social body that reflects our understanding of Self and Other.
Nutrition in low-birth-weight infants. II. Repeated intravenous injections of fat emulsion.

. Gustafson, A., Kjellmer, I., Olegard, R. and Victorin, L. (Department of Paediatrics, Children's Hospital, and of Medicine I, Sahlgren's Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden). Nutrition in low-birth-weight infants. II. Repeated intravenous injections of fat emulsion. Acta Paediat Scand, 63: 177, 1974.–The elimination of an exogenous fat emulsion from the blood stream after repeated intravenous injections was investigated in two groups of low-birth-weight infants: 11 appropriate-for-date (AFD) pre-term babies and 8 light-for-date (LFD) pre- and full-term infants. During a period with six injections hourly of 0.15 g fat/kg 'b.w. the total lipids of plasma increased only moderately in the AFD group, from 264 to 351 mg/100 ml, while in the LFD group a progressive rise of total lipids occurred from 244 to 466 mg/100 ml. The plasma turbidity increased correspondingly more in the LFD than in the AFD group. In 5 LFD babies, where a progressive accumulation of total lipids occurred with each injection of fat emulsion, heparin was given intravenously after eight fat injections. The plasma was rapidly cleared of fat although fat injections were continued. It is concluded that AFD infants are able to hydrolyse fat emulsions given at an hourly rate of 0.15 g/kg b.w., while this amount of fat to LFD babies will cause an accumulation of plasma lipds unless heparin is supplied simultaneously.
Electrocardiographic analysis of ectopic atrial activity obscured by ventricular repolarization: P wave isolation using an automatic 62-lead QRST subtraction algorithm.

62-Lead QRST Subtraction Algorithm. Introduction: Atrial activity on the surface ECG during premature beats and supraventricular arrhythmias frequently is obscured by the superimposed QRST complex of the previous cardiac cycle. This study examines the performance of a newly developed automatic QRST subtraction algorithm to isolate ectopic P waves from the preceding T-U wave. Methods and Results: The 62-lead ECG recordings were obtained during (1) sinus rhythm and programmed right atrial stimulation in 12 patients (group A); and (2) sinus rhythm and atrial premature beats, atrial tachycardia, or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in 5 patients (group B). Pacing in group A patients was conducted at a slow drive cycle length to generate an ectopic P wave not obscured by the previous QRST complex and by delivering single premature extrastimuli at progressively shorter coupling intervals to produce an ectopic P wave obscured by the upsloping (early T-U wave), peak (middle T-U wave), and downsloping component of the T-U wave (late T-U wave). All ectopic P waves in group B patients were concealed by the preceding T-U wave. Automatic QRST subtraction was attained using an adaptive template constructed from averaged QRST complexes (mean 83 ± 25 complexes) obtained during sinus rhythm (groups A and B) or atrial overdrive pacing (group A). P wave integral maps subsequently were computed, visually compared, and mathematically correlated. A high correspondence in spatial map pattern was observed between integral maps of “nonobscured” and previously “obscured” paced P waves obtained in group A patients (mean r = 0.88 ± 0.07) as well as between integral maps of two to three previously obscured P waves with the same atrial arrhythmia morphology obtained in group B patients (mean r = 0.94 ± 0.05). Improved morphologic P wave replication in group A patients was acquired when concealment occurred in the early (mean r = 0.90 ± 0.08) or late part of the T-U wave (mean r = 0.90 ± 0.06) as opposed to the middle T-U wave (mean r = 0.85 ± 0.07) (P = NS and P < 0.05 for early vs middle and late vs middle T-U wave, respectively). Conclusion: This novel automatic 62-lead QRST subtraction algorithm enables discrete isolation of T-U wave obscured ectopic atrial activity on the surface ECG while retaining the intricate spatial detail in P wave morphology. Future clinical application of the algorithm may enable improved ECG localization of focal triggers of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, atrial tachycardia, and the atrial insertion of accessory pathways.
Advantages of velocity-based scaling for distant 3D manipulation

Immersive virtual environments (VEs) have the potential to offer rich three-dimensional interaction to users. In many instances, however, 3D interaction tasks are difficult due to both the imprecision of tracking devices and the inability of users to achieve and maintain precise hand positions in 3D space. One way to improve upon existing interaction techniques is to dynamically change the sensitivity of the interaction technique based on user input. Previous research has applied this principle to virtual hand-based manipulation techniques; when the user slows down the movement of her physical hand, the virtual hand slows down even more to allow precise manipulation. In this study we extend the prior research by applying the velocity-based scaling principle to HOMER, an existing at-a-distance manipulation technique based on ray-casting. The scaled HOMER technique offers the user the freedom to accomplish both long- and short-distance manipulation tasks with higher levels of precision without compromising speed. We present results from a user study that shows that the addition of scaling to HOMER significantly improves user performance on 3D manipulation tasks.
An Empirical Study of American and Japanese Approaches to Quality Management in the United States

The results of personal observations of on‐site visits to ten manufacturing firms are presented. Several important differences between traditional American firms, non‐traditional American firms, and Japanese firms operating in the United States are noted with regard to quality management. Interviews with managers in these firms illustrate various degrees of concern for quality and its improvement. The most important findings are: (1) the Japanese and nontraditional American managers' commitment to quality and use of quality as a strategic tool to improve market shares, productivity and profit; (2) the use of pure financial measures to evaluate managers by the traditional American firms versus the Japanese and non‐traditional American firms which add quality performance to financial measure before evaluating employee performance.
Decadal variability in North Atlantic phytoplankton blooms

[1] The interannual to decadal variability in the timing and magnitude of the North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom is examined using a combination of satellite data and output from an ocean biogeochemistry general circulation model. The timing of the bloom as estimated from satellite chlorophyll data is used as a novel metric for validating the model's skill. Maps of bloom timing reveal that the subtropical bloom begins in winter and progresses northward starting in May in subpolar regions. A transition zone, which experiences substantial interannual variability in bloom timing, separates the two regions. Time series of the modeled decadal (1959-2004) variability in bloom timing show no long-term trend toward earlier or delayed blooms in any of the three regions considered here. However, the timing of the subpolar bloom does show distinct decadal-scale periodicity, which is found to be correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. The mechanism underpinning the relationship is identified as anomalous wind-driven mixing conditions associated with the NAO. In positive NAO phases, stronger westerly winds result in deeper mixed layers, delaying the start of the subpolar spring bloom by 2-3 weeks. The subpolar region also expands during positive phases, pushing the transition zone further south in the central North Atlantic. The magnitude of the bloom is found to be only weakly dependent on bloom timing, but is more strongly correlated with mixed layer depth. The extensive interannual variability in the timing of the bloom, particularly in the transition region, is expected to strongly impact the availability of food to higher trophic levels.
Proximity problems on moving points

A kinetic data structure for the maintenance of a multidimensional range search tree is introduced. This structure is used as a building block to obtain kinetic data structures for two classical geometric proximity problems in arbitrary dlmensions: the first structure maintains the closest pair of a set of continuously moving points, and is provably efficient. The second structure maintains a spanning tree of the moving points whose cost remains within some prescribed factor of the minimum spanning tree.
A simple magic-echo sequence for second-moment measurements

Abstract A relatively simple pulse sequence that generates magic echoes for dipolar solids in the rigid-lattice limit is presented. The proton lineshapes from the magic echoes obtained using polycrystalline TiH1.98 yield second moments in excellent agreement with calculations based upon the Van Vleck expressions.
The frequency of extramembranous placement of intrauterine pressure catheters.

Objective: To determine, and confirm, the frequency of extramembranous placement of intrauterine pressure catheters.Methods: It is estimated that 15% of all deliveries in the United States (600,000 deliveries/year) receive intrauterine pressure catheters (IUPCs). This study quantifies the frequency of inadvertently placing IUPCs between the chorioamnionic membranes and the myometrium. An attempt was made to aspirate amniotic fluid during placement. If amniotic fluid was obtained, the catheter was considered to be within the amniotic cavity. If amniotic fluid was not obtained but the catheter appeared to be clinically working (possibly extramembranous), normal clinical management was continued until just before the catheter was removed. At that time, 2 mL of indigo carmine was injected. The chorioamnionic membrane was examined to confirm the location of dye (intraamnionic vs extramembranous).Results: Approximately 40 Koala (Clinical Innovations, Inc.) and 40 Intran Plus catheters (Utah Medical Products, Inc.) were placed. In 70% of all first insertions, amniotic fluid was not obtained. When multiple attempts (2-5) were made, amniotic fluid was obtained. There was no statistically significant difference between IUPC brands. Dye confirmed extramembraneous placement.Conclusions: IUPCs are frequently (inadvertently) placed extramembraneous. Upon first insertion it is possible that as many as 30% of IUPCs do not go into the amniotic space. If fluid is not obtained upon placement, a different location should be tried since if amniotic fluid is visualized in the catheter the percentage of intraamnionic placement increases. Adverse results of artefactual waveforms, placental perforation, and abruption with or without amnioinfusion can occur when IUPCs are placed extramembraneous.
A variational Bayesian framework for group feature selection

In many machine learning and pattern analysis applications, grouping of features during model development and the selection of a small number of relevant groups can be useful to improve the interpretability of the learned parameters. Although this problem has been receiving a significant amount of attention lately, most of the approaches require the manual tuning of one or more hyper-parameters. In order to overcome this drawback, this work presents a novel hierarchical Bayesian formulation of a generalized linear model and estimates the posterior distribution of the parameters and hyper-parameters of the model within a completely Bayesian paradigm based on variational inference. All the required computations are analytically tractable. The performance and applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated on synthetic and real world examples.
Cardiotoxicity and cardioprotection during chemotherapy

Chemotherapy drugs have been reported to cause cardiac side effects including cardiomyopathy, ischemia, arrhythmias, and myocardial necrosis. Most important in terms of daily practice is anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy. The bisdioxopiperazine compound, dexrazoxane (ICRF-187, ADR-529), has been shown to prevent this cumulative side effect of the anthracyclines. Recent randomized trials performed in breast cancer and in pediatric sarcoma patients have demonstrated the efficacy of this approach, which permits the administration of anthracyclines to greater cumulative doses and thus leads to a substantial reduction in the incidence of decreased left-ventricular ejection fraction or congestive heart failure. Response rates were not significantly different with the use of dexrazoxane in these trials. The risk ratio for a cardiac event was decreased by two to threefold in randomized breast studies involving more than 700 women. Paclitaxel also has been reported to cause arrhythmias and possibly ischemia. In a large data base, National Cancer Institute investigators found a 0.29% incidence of grade 4 or 5 cardiac toxicities, including heart block, ventricular tachycardia, and ischemic events. Other important chemotherapy-related cardiac toxicities discussed include fluorouracil-induced angina and arrhythmias, interleukin-4 induced-cardiomyopathy, and cardiotoxicity associated with autologous bone marrow transplantation procedures.
Long-term follow-up of patients after transcatheter direct current ablation of the atrioventricular junction.

Abstract The long-term follow-up study (41 ± 23 months) of 47 patients undergoing direct current ablation because of drug-resistant supraventricular arrhythmias is reported. Significant early complications occurred in four patients and included hypotension, pericarditis, nonsustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and one sudden death. In 42 patients (86%), complete atrioventricular (AV) block was initially achieved. During the follow-up period, AV conduction resumed in 2 of these 42 patients. Of the seven patients in whom ablation was unsuccessful, two developed late complete AV block and three had symptomatic improvement. An improved activity level was reported among 83% of the patients with successful ablation. Health care utilization manifest as the number of hospital admissions per year before and after ablation decreased significantly after ablation (2.4 ± 2.0 versus 0.3 ± 9.5, p Transcatheter direct current ablation is an effective treatment in patients with drug-resistant supraventricular tachycardia, providing a beneficial long-term outcome including an improved quality of life and a decrease in health care utilization. Because of the small but significant risk of severe complications, this procedure should be reserved for patients with supraventricular arrhythmias who do not respond to conventional drug treatment.
Signal Transmission along Retinal Rods and the Origin of the Electroretinographic a -Wave

WHEN light is absorbed in the outer segment at one end of a vertebrate retinal rod or cone, sensory signals quickly reach its other end where its synapse with the visual system lies. Because rods and cones resemble short neurones in structure, it is thought that these signals travel as membrane polarization induced by light-activated current generators in the outer segments. Indeed, the membrane potentials of some rods and cones do increase in light1–3, but it is not clear whether the effect is primary and not the result of synaptic feedback from deeper retinal neurones. Attempts to show that the outer segments are sources of membrane current by analysing the a-wave and PIII components of the electroretinogram4 with intraretinal microelectrodes have not yielded consistent results, however5–8. We have therefore studied the spatial distribution of membrane current of the rods of the rat retina by an improved method using arrays of extracellular microelectrodes inserted in the receptor layer under direct vision by infrared microscopy.
Upper bounds of wavelet spectra on the class of discrete Lipschitzian signals

ABSTRACT Application of fast discrete orthogonal transforms with various basis functions for data compression and efficientsignal coding occupies a special place in the evolution of spectral representations. This has become more apparentwith the development of different wavelet and wavelet-packet transforms. Two basic compression procedures, knownas zonal and threshold coding, are commonly being applied to the spectral vector. The optimal zonal coding methodprovides a minimum error of reconstruction for certain compression ratio. In order to determine optimal zonal codingmethod for the chosen transform one has to obtain the estimates of its spectra on a given class of signals. This taskwas considered in [1] on a general class of input vectors for classical discrete orthogonal transforms, includingFourier, Hartley, cosine, sine, as well as Walsh and Haar transforms. In this paper we expand those results on variouswavelet transforms by evaluating the upper bounds of their spectra. These estimates allow not only to a priori selectthe wavelet coefficient packets that have minimum input in signal reconstruction, but also to compute the maximummean-square errors of reconstruction for a particular compression ratio and to analyze efficacy of different waveletsbased on that criterion.KEYWORDS : orthogonal transform, compression, optimal zonal coding, wavelets
General thermal analysis of parallel-flow flat-plate solar collector absorbers

Abstract Improved equations are formulated for the transfer of heat in flat-plate solar collector absorbers, including a shape factor accounting for details of flow duct designs, and developing heat transport in the ducts. Approximate, analytical solutions are obtained in terms of perturbation series, which are applicable to practical collectors with lengths much greater than the distance between flow ducts. The primary result of the analysis is a universal-type design equation, or chart, which determines the collector efficiency factor for any duct design, heat transfer development, or other absorber-plate parameter. Collector performance is stated in terms of an effectiveness/number-of-transfer-unit relationship. Ease of use and utility of the design chart is illustrated by examples.
Screening for personality disorders.

Abstract A brief but valid self-report measure to screen for personality disorders (PDs) would be a valuable tool in making decisions about further assessment and in planning optimal treatments. In psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples, we compared the validity of three screening measures: the PD scales from the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, a self-report version of the Iowa Personality Disorder Screen, and the selfdirectedness scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory. Despite their different theoretical origins, the screeners were highly correlated in a range from .71 to .77. As a result, the use of multiple screeners was not a significant improvement over any individual screener, and no single screener stood out as clearly superior to the others. Each performed modestly in predicting the presence of any PD diagnosis in both the psychiatric and nonpsychiatric groups. Performance was best when predicting a more severe PD diagnosis in the psychiatric sample. The results also highlight the p...
Comparative advantages of the u.s. farm-raised catfish industry: a cross-regional analysis

Policy analysis matrices are developed and used to derive domestic resource cost coefficients for different catfish farm production regions in the United States. The results show that U.S. catfish producers were losing their comparative advantage positions during the study period considered. An import tariff improves the industry's comparative advantage position, but may not increase its market profitability. Higher efficiency in feed usage, and higher market prices paid to producers through promotional efforts are essential to the U.S. catfish industry.
Nanotube devices for digital profiling of cancer biomarkers and circulating tumor cells

We present our results on development of handheld point of care nanotube devices for digital profiling of cancer biomarkers and circulating tumor cells. A scalable nano-manufacturing technique was utilized to develop devices out of transparent thin films of nanotubes. Generation 1 wafers yielded 60 devices per wafer. Generation 2 wafers yielded 240 devices per wafer. Using PASE functionalization of nanotube device arrays, we investigated the detection of cancer biomarkers such as molecular EpCAM and EpCAM in cancer cells. Results suggest detection of 1 ng/ml of EpCAM using nanotube FET devices. Simple and reliable detection of specific versus non-specific interactions of EpCAM in CTCs with 95% confidence intervals were obtained. These devices have high potential as handheld systems for cancer biomarker testing and CTCs in clinic.
The distribution of mass in the planetary system and solar nebula

A model ‘solar nebula’ is constructed by adding the solar complement of light elements to each planet, using recent models of planetary compositions. Uncertainties in this approach are estimated. The computed surface density varies approximately asr −3/2. Mercury, Mars and the asteroid belt are anomalously low in mass, but processes exist which would preferentially remove matter from these regions. Planetary masses and compositions are generally consistent with a monotonic density distribution in the primordial solar nebula.
Nonlinear Effects in the Collapse of a Nearly Spherical Cavity in a Liquid

Abstract : A linearized perturbation theory was developed some time ago for the analysis of the growth of distortions in a nearly spherical cavity collapsing in a liquid. Since the distortions grow as the cavity collapses, it is of importance to determine the validity of the linearized approximation. The study gives a numerical solution of the exact nonlinear equations for the growth of a distortion. Two kinds of distortions are studied in detail: Case A is essentially a prolate ellipsoid; Case B is essentially an oblique ellipsoid. Both cases have initial large deformations from the spherical shape. The numerical solution shows that the linearized perturbation approximation remains surprisingly accurate through most of the cavity collapse. The principal effect of the nonlinear calculation is in the coupling of the various distortion modes.
Planar optical waveguide sensor of ammonia

We describe a novel sensor of ammonia based on a planar optical waveguide made of a thin film of polymer polyimide doped with indicator dye bromocresol purple. The film of dye-doped polyimide demonstrated reversible increase of absorption with a peak near 600 nm in response to presence of ammonia in ambient air. Coupling of input and output optic fibers with the waveguide was done by means of coupling prisms or coupling grooves. The latter configuration has the advantage of low cost, less sensitivity to temperature variation, and the possibility of coupling from both sides of the waveguide. Special experimental setup was built to test the sensor. It included test gas chamber with sealed optic fiber feed-throughs, gas filling line, laser source, photodetector, and signal processing hardware and software. The sensor was capable of detecting 100 ppm of ammonia in air within 8 seconds. Further increase of sensitivity can be achieved by adding more dye dopant to the polymer, increase of the length of the waveguide, and suppression of noise. Overexposure of the sensor to more than 5000 ppm of ammonia led to the saturation of the polymer film and, as a result, significant decrease of sensitivity and increase of the response time. The sensor can be used as low cost component of a distributed optical network of chemical sensors for monitoring presence of hazardous industrial pollutants in air.
HER-2 gene amplification in human breast cancer without concurrent HER-2 over-expression

Testing for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) in breast cancer is performed by either immunohistochemistry (IHC) or in situ hybridization (ISH). The growth factor receptor-bound protein-7 (GRB7) gene is in close proximity to HER-2 on chromosome 17q11-12 and codes a signal transduction molecule shown to be an independent adverse marker in breast cancer. HER-2 and GRB7 protein expression from 613 frozen breast tumors was determined by Western analysis. HER-2 protein results were confirmed with IHC. Commercial HER-2 FISH was performed on a subset of tumors with multi-probe FISH used to assess the extent of HER-2 gene amplification. mRNA expression was determined by Multi-plex RT-PCR. Seven tumors with GRB7 protein over-expression scored HER-2 FISH amplified but had no HER-2 protein over-expression. Four of the 7 tumors showed elevated GRB7 but not HER-2 mRNA over-expression. The breast cancer cell line HCC3153 did not over-express HER-2 protein but showed HER-2 FISH amplification of a limited segment around the HER-2 gene. Ten breast cancer tumors from the TCGA database had gene copy number increases around HER-2 without HER-2 mRNA or protein over-expression. A subset of human breast cancers that test positive with FISH for HER-2 gene amplification do not over-express HER-2 protein. One mechanism for this discordance is the incomplete amplification of the smallest HER-2 region of chromosome 17q11-12, which includes GRB7. HER-2 gene amplification without protein over-expression is clinically significant because patients with such tumors are unlikely to benefit from HER-2 targeted therapy.
Gastrointestinal bleeding from a Brunner's gland hamartoma: characterization by endoscopy, computed tomography, and endoscopic ultrasound.

Gastrointestinal bleeding from a brunner's gland hamartoma: characterization by endoscopy, computed tomography, and endoscopic ultrasound
Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy as a Probe of In-Plane Polymerization in Monolayer Organic Conducting Films

Several groups have shown that alkanethiol-modified pyrroles can be tethered to a gold surface, but there is often little evidence that, once oxidized, the resulting monolayer film is an organic conducting polymer. Using surface plasma resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, we demonstrate for the first time that, upon electrochemical oxidation, self-assembled alkanethiol−pyrrole films on gold show behavior characteristic of organic conducting polymers: we observe reversible changes in the optical constants of the organic film upon doping/dedoping. Since the optical constants are related to film conductivity, we show that the effective isotropic dielectric constant of the film obtained in the standard SPR data analysis can be interpreted in terms of in-plane and out-of-plane contributions to film conductivity. We find that the in-plane conductivity of oxidized 3-(ω-mercaptoundecyl)pyrrole is smaller, but of the same order of magnitude, than that found for thick films of polypyrrole. Most importantly, we observe re...
Coded aperture devices for viewing extended objects from space

Coded aperture sensors for photons or energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), which incorporate FOV limiters and subdivide the object field into a number of elements which is smaller than the number of detector pixels, are described. A least squares fit to the data is made in reconstructing the object field. To evaluate the optics and reconstruction algorithms, two 'breadboard' sensors have been constructed, one based on a film camera and the other upon a UV-light sensitive microchannel plate detector system. Results obtained thus far show that the concept is viable, and no special difficulties should be encountered in adapting the detector geometries to neutral particle imaging systems. Charged particle deflection plates could be incorporated into the region between the FOV limiter and the aperture, or installed ahead of the limiter.
A comparison of the physical chemical properties of oxidized and reduced alkylated ribonuclease.

Abstract The optical rotatory, sedimentation and viscosity properties of reduced carboxymethylated ribonuclease and oxidized ribonuclease are compared in various solvents. The solution properties of the two molecules are closely similar, suggesting that both performic acid oxidation and reduction-alkylation of the disulphide linkages lead to similar effects on the polypeptide chain configuration. Results are discussed with reference to the role of the disulphide linkages in maintaining the secondary and tertiary structure of the native enzyme.
Following Bud Blogging at the End-of-Life

I show what it’s like to read Bud Goodall’s blog as he writes at the end-of-life. My experience leads me to question what it means to acknowledge death and how blogging is a particular way of narra...
Matrix relaxations in rubber-toughened thermoplastics

In several systems involving a rubber dispersed in a higher modulus polymer, we have found that both the storage modulus are temperatures below the major softening process and the maximum value of the loss modulus are proportional to the square of the volume fraction of the matrix. This agrees with a relationship for foams derived theoretically by Termonia using a finite-difference approach. Similar relationships have been found for the glass transition in polymethyl methacrylate and for crystalline relaxations in polyethylene, polyoxymethylene, and polytetrafluoroethylene which involve large decreases in modulus.
Vapor-liquid equilibria of diethylamine + methanol, diethylamine + acetone and diethylamine + acetonitrile : Predictions of atomistic computer simulations

Histogram-reweighting Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble are used to determine pressure−composition diagrams for diethylamine + methanol, diethylamine + acetone and diethylamine + acetonitrile. Simulations were unable to predict the polyazeotropy found in the diethylamine + methanol mixture at 398 K or the minimum pressure azeotropy found at 348 and 298 K. Simulation predictions of the pressure−composition behavior of diethylamine + acetone and diethylamine + acetonitrile, however, were found to be in close agreement with experiment. Simulations in the isobaric−isothermal ensemble were used to determine the structure of the liquid phase for each of the mixtures described previously and revealed significant association taking place between unlike species.