cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analytic Reviews : The Diagnosis of Brain Death in the Adult Patient

The biological tenet upon which brain death is founded is absolute. The brain's inability to undergo cellular divi sion ensures that once individual neurons die they can not be replaced. Extrapolating this to the total brain, once the entire brain is dead no recovery can occur, and the patient's family can be guaranteed of that fact. The clinician, therefore, is faced primarily with a diagnostic challenge in determining that brain death is indeed pres ent. The components, procedures, and limitations of that diagnostic process in the adult patient are the sub jects of this discussion.
Platinum model studies for palladium-catalyzed oxidative functionalization of C-H bonds

The synthesis of (CN)PtII(acac) complexes (CN = benzo[h]quinoline, 8-methylquinoline) and their oxidation with PhI(OAc)2 are reported as a model system for palladium-catalyzed C−H bond functionalization. Dimeric PtIII−PtIII complexes containing a bridging acetate ligand are obtained in HOAc, and monomeric PtIV complexes incorporating alkoxide and acetate ligands are obtained in MeOH, EtOH, and iPrOH. The implications of these results for the mechanism of analogous Pd-catalyzed reactions is discussed.
Methylcholanthrene causes increased thymocyte apoptosis

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), methylcholanthrene (MCA), is a well studied carcinogen and a teratogen. MCA and other PAH cause immune suppression of B cell and T cell responses in mice and MCA had been reported to induce thymus atrophy. Here we show that MCA treatment causes thymus atrophy in adrenalectomized mice and in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice which differ in aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) expression. This indicates that MCA-mediated thymus atrophy is mediated, at least in part, by glucocorticoid hormone receptor- and aryl hydrocarbon receptor-independent mechanisms. Assay of thymocytes, both in situ and ex vivo, demonstrate that MCA induces thymocyte apoptosis. Apoptotic thymocytes can be found within or adjacent to thymic Mphi, suggesting rapid phagocytosis. Mice that are deficient in tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor-1 or p53, or that overexpress bcl-2 are susceptible to MCA-mediated thymus atrophy.
Tunneling and sterically induced ring puckering in a substituted [8]annulene anion radical.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies have revealed that the steric interaction between the methyl hydrogens on a tert-butoxy substituent and the cyclooctatetraene (COT) ring system sterica...
Entrapment of iron nanoparticles in calcium alginate beads for groundwater remediation applications.

Zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) have been successfully entrapped in biopolymer, calcium (Ca)alginate beads. The study has demonstrated the potential use of this technique in environmental remediation using nitrate as a model contaminant. Ca-alginate beads show promise as an entrapment medium for nZVI for possible use in groundwater remediation. Based on scanning electron microscopy images it can be inferred that the alginate gel cluster acts as a bridge that binds the nZVI particles together. Kinetic experiments with 100, 60, and 20 mg NO3 − -N L −1 indicate that 50–73% nitrate-N removal was achieved with entrapped nZVI as compared to 55–73% with bare nZVI over a 2-h period. The controls ran simultaneously show little NO3 − -N removal. Statistical analysis indicates that there was no significant difference between the reaction rates of bare and entrapped nZVI. The authors have shown for the first time that nZVI can be effectively entrapped in Ca-alginate beads and no significant decrease in the reactivity of nZVI toward the model contaminant (nitrate here) was observed after the entrapment.
Clinical path coordinator: Pulling it all together

Institutions across the country are using different approaches to restructuring health care delivery systems. At lehigh Valley Hospital collaborative practice was instituted to ensure the achievement of patient outcomes within appropriate time frames and with efficient use of resources. The role of the clinical path coordinator emerged from the collaborative practice model developed to manage the care of the patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The step-by-step process for selecting, orienting, and implementting the role of the coordinator is discussed. Since the implementation of the coordinator role, patient satisfaction has been positive, length of stay and cost have decreased, and quality of care has improved for these patients.
Can interval appendectomy be justified following conservative treatment of perforated acute appendicitis

Background There continues to be controversy about the necessity of interval appendectomy for delayed presentation of acute appendicitis. While recent studies suggest that the risk of recurrent disease is small, the risk of interval appendectomy is also small and does provide histologic identification and usually definitive treatment of the right lower quadrant inflammatory process. Methods A retrospective analysis of medical records gathered from 2002 to 2007 at a major teaching hospital of 986 adult patients over the age of 13 with appendicitis were analyzed. Forty-six patients (5%) were found to have right lower quadrant abscess or phlegmon, and were managed with intravenous antibiotics. Some patients also underwent percutaneous drainage. These patients were then readmitted 6 to 26 wk later for an elective laparoscopic interval appendectomy. Results There were 19 males and 27 females with an average age of 43 y. Ninety-four percent of the appendectomies were completed laparoscopically; 16% of patients were found to have a normal or obliterated appendix on pathologic evaluation and likely did not benefit from interval appendectomy. On the other hand, 84% of patients had persistent acute appendicitis, chronic appendicitis, evidence of inflammatory bowel disease, or neoplasm identified, and likely benefited from surgical appendectomy. Conclusions Interval appendectomy provides diagnostic and therapeutic benefit to patients who present with a right lower quadrant abdominal inflammatory focus, and should be carefully considered in all adult patients.
The Total Compressibility Condition and Resolution of Local Nonlinearities in an Implicit Black-Oil Model with Capillary Effects

An implicit black-oil model with capillary effects is studied. Various primary unknowns which include one of the phase pressures are considered, and qualitative and quantitative consequences of a choice are discussed. In particular, a total compressibility condition is defined and a local nonlinear problem is studied. A numerical method to solve the local problem is discussed.
Reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by providing caloric information: how Black adolescents alter their purchases and whether the effects persist.

Objectives. We examined the ways in which adolescents altered the type and size of their purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), together with whether the effects persisted after removing caloric information signs in stores.Methods. We used a case-crossover design with 6 stores located in low-income Black neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2012 to 2013. The intervention used 1 of 4 randomly posted signs with caloric information: absolute calories, number of teaspoons of sugar, and number of minutes of running or miles of walking necessary to burn off a beverage. We collected data for 4516 purchases by Black adolescents, including both baseline and postintervention periods with no signs posted.Results. We found that providing caloric information significantly reduced the number of total beverage calories purchased, the likelihood of buying an SSB, and the likelihood of buying an SSB greater than 16 ounces (P < .05). After removing the signs, the quantity, volume, and number of calories from ...
Multidimensional phase problems

Uniqueness properties of phase problems in three or more dimensions are investigated. It is shown that an N-dimensional image is overdetermined by its continuous Fourier amplitude. A sampling of the Fourier amplitude, with a density approximately 22−N times the Nyquist density, is derived that is sufficient to uniquely determine an N-dimensional image. Both continuous and discrete images are considered. Practical implications for phase retrieval in multidimensional imaging, particularly in crystallography where the amplitude data are undersampled, are described. Simulations of phase retrieval for two- and three-dimensional images illustrate the practical implications of the theoretical results.
Annotation: implications of violence between intimate partners for child psychologists and psychiatrists

Violence between adult intimate partners has increasingly attracted the concern of the general public (Hunt & Kitzinger, 1996), medical professionals (Skolnick, 1995), and mental health practitioners who treat adults (Danielson, Moffitt, Caspi & Silva, in press). Yet, it may seem surprising to find an article about adult partner violence in a journal focused on children. We prepared this article because research suggests that adult partner violence has some important consequences for the health and well-being of children. We present four reasons why practitioners who treat children and adolescents should be knowledgeable about adult partner violence:(1) Partner violence is not confined to adults; it is a feature of adolescents' earliest intimate experiences.(2) The strongest developmental risk factor for adult partner violence is childhood conduct problems.(3) Young children are adversely affected by witnessing violence between the adults in their homes.(4) Adult partners who are violent toward each other are also at increased risk of abusing their children.Abbreviations: CTS: Conflict Tactics Scale.
Light scattering and photocrosslinking in the calf lens crystallins gamma-II, III and IV.

The calf lens proteins gamma-II, -III and -IV crystallin have been photolyzed in pH 7·5 phosphate buffer solution at 25°C. The photolysis light source was either a xenon arc lamp/monochromator system set to pass 290±5 nm or a nitrogen laser operating at 337·1 nm. Photolysis experiments at 337·1 nm were done both in the presence and absence of added t·0×10−4 m N-formylkynurenine (NFK). In addition, 1×10−5 m riboflavin was added as a photosensitizer in a few of the experiments. All solutions were 1·0 mg ml−1 protein, and 1·0 ml of solution was irradiated for periods ranging from 10 min to 3 hr. During the 337·1 nm irradiations, the turbidity of the protein solutions was continuously monitored using a He−Ne laser at 632·8 nm. Progress of the 290 nm irradiations was monitored by observing the loss of tryptophan fluorescence for each of the gamma crystallin proteins. The rate of growth of light scattering, upon 337·1 nm irradiation, was greatest for gamma-IV. Addition of NFK caused the rates of growth of UV-induced light scattering of all three gamma crystallins to increase significantly. These rates were in the order: gamma-IV≫ gamma-III>gamma-II. Following UV exposure, the protein solutions were analyzed using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE. Irradiated gamma crystallin solutions showed increased optical density throughout the visible region, resulting from solution turbidity. SDS-PAGE gels from unirradiated controls showed a single band at molecular weight 20 000, while gels from UV-irradiated samples showed loss of material at 20K and growth of bands at 40K, 60K, and at very high molecular weight, indicative of photocrosslinking.
Using the reactive scope model to understand why stress physiology predicts survival during starvation in Galápagos marine iguanas

Even though the term "stress" is widely used, a precise definition is notoriously difficult. Notwithstanding this difficulty, stress continues to be an important concept in biology because it attempts to describe how animals cope with environmental change under emergency conditions. Without a precise definition, however, it becomes nearly impossible to make testable a priori predictions about how physiological and hormonal systems will respond to emergency conditions and what the ultimate impact on the animal will be. The reactive scope model is a recent attempt to formulate testable predictions. This model provides a physiological basis to explain why corticosterone negative feedback, but not baseline corticosterone concentrations, corticosterone responses to acute stress, or the interrenal capacity to secrete corticosterone, is correlated with survival during famine conditions in Galapagos marine iguanas. Reactive scope thus provides a foundation for interpreting and predicting physiological stress responses.
Near memory data structure rearrangement

As CPU core counts continue to increase, the gap between compute power and available memory bandwidth has widened. A larger and deeper cache hierarchy benefits locality-friendly computation, but offers limited improvement to irregular, data intensive applications. In this work we explore a novel approach to accelerating these applications through in-memory data restructuring. Unlike other proposed processing-in-memory architectures, the rearrangement hardware performs data reduction, not compute offload. Using a custom FPGA emulator, we quantitatively evaluate performance and energy benefits of near-memory hardware structures that dynamically restructure in-memory data to cache-friendly layout, minimizing wasted memory bandwidth. Our results on representative irregular benchmarks using the Micron Hybrid Memory Cube memory model show speedup, bandwidth savings, and energy reduction. We present an API for the near-memory accelerator and describe the interaction between the CPU and the rearrangement hardware with application examples. The merits of an SRAM vs. a DRAM scratchpad buffer for rearranged data are explored.
Spin relaxation of solid 3He on the melting curve

The time dependence of the magnetization of solid 3He formed in a Pomeranchuk cell at high fields (B = 2.45 and 3.34 T) and low temperatures (T < 10 mK) in a pulsed compression is studied. A relaxation rate faster than that for either the liquid or solid is observed. Below the A2 superfluid transition, a still faster rate is seen provided that the rate of growth of solid is less than a critical value.
NADPH-dependent and -independent loss of cytochrome P-450 in control and phenobarbital-induced rat hepatic microsomes incubated with carbon tetrachloride.

Carbon tetrachloride-mediated loss of cytochrome P-450 has been compared in hepatic microsomes from untreated and phenobarbital-treated rats. At concentrations of carbon tetrachloride greater than 2.5 mM, a direct effect (i.e., NADPH- independent) on cytochrome P-450 was observed. This apparently arose from the "solvent" properties of carbon tetrachloride as this effect could be duplicated with the physically similar alkyl halide 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane. NADPH-dependent loss of cytochrome P-450 occurred at lower concentrations with maximal response occurring at 2.5-5.0 mM. Residual cytochrome P-450 at these concentrations was similar in untreated and phenobarbital-treated microsomes. Mixed-function oxidase activities in phenobarbital-treated microsomes were reduced to levels below those of uninduced controls. The 52-kDa polypeptide(s) in untreated microsomes and that specifically induced in phenobarbital-treated microsomes were susceptible to NADPH-dependent carbon tetrachloride incubation. These data suggest that the susceptibility of specific forms of cytochrome P-450 to carbon tetrachloride can be duplicated in in vitro incubation. Furthermore, data on the direct action of carbon tetrachloride suggest that this route of damage must be taken into consideration when concentrations of carbon tetrachloride of 2.5 mM or greater are used in in vitro incubation systems.
Effects of some analgesics and antidepressants on the (Na+ + K + )-adenosine triphosphatase from cortices of brain and kidney

Abstract The effects of benzomorphans, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and chlorpromazine on the microsomal (Na + + K + )-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) from beef cerebral cortex were studied. As a comparison, the interaction of these drugs with the corresponding enzyme from kidney cortex was also investigated. In addition to chlorpromazine, the benzomorphans and the tricyclic antidepressants inhibited the brain enzyme considerably, whereas the MAO inhibitors had little effect. The (Na + + K + )-ATPase from kidney was not affected by the benzomorphans or MAO inhibitors, but its activity diminished in the presence of the tricyclic antidepressants and chlorpromazine.
ON TOLERATING AUTOMATA

Suitable ways of putting tolerance structures onto automata are sought. Inertial tolerance on the state set is discussed, but for black box automata an observed or even inertial tolerance on the output set is thought to be more appropriate. Tolerance inductions and coinductions are used to tolerate the remaining two sets in each case. A general definition of a tolerance automaton is suggested and the morphisms of the category defined. The particular case of an (M‐R) automaton is considered and required to yield a stable tolerance structure. Some illustrative examples are given.
Dimensions of Privacy

A factor analytic study proceeded in two phases to determine types of privacy. In Phase I 96 items were collected, administered to 166 people, and factor analyzed. For Phase II items were retained,...
Ovarian cancer surgical resectability: Relative impact of disease, patient status, and surgeon

Abstract Objectives. Currently, we are unable to predict which patients are most likely to undergo successful debulking of ovarian cancer. We investigated the impact of clinical and surgical-pathologic factors at the time of initial exploration on the ability to achieve optimal cytoreduction. Methods. All consecutive patients with IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer operated at Mayo Clinic between 1994 and 1998 were included. The following pre- and intraoperative factors were included as dichotomous variables: age, ASA, CA125, ascites volume, carcinomatosis, diaphragm and mesentery involvement, and tendency of the operating surgeon (defined by the performance of radical procedures in more vs. less than 50% of patients operated). Pearson χ 2 test and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results. ASA, ascites, carcinomatosis, diaphragmatic tumor, mesentery involvement, and surgeon tendency all significantly correlated with residual disease (RD) in univariate analysis. However, only ASA, carcinomatosis and surgeon were independently associated with optimal RD. The subset of patients having ASA 3 or 4 and carcinomatosis comprised a high-risk group with just 46% achieving optimal RD overall. Even within this high-risk group, the rate of optimal cytoreduction ranged from 67% to 42% dependent upon surgeon tendency to employ radical procedures. Conclusions. High-risk factors such as patient condition and extent of disease impact the ability to achieve optimal RD. However, this is greatly influenced by surgical effort. Models to predict optimal surgical outcomes based only on tumor and patient characteristics will be highly practice-dependent: thus, their utility in selecting patient for non-traditional primary approach to ovarian cancer must be looked at cautiously.
A high connectivity metal–organic framework with exceptional hydrogen and methane uptake capacities

A 6,8-connected 3-dimensional metal–organic framework (2) of the tph topology was constructed from a new aromatic-rich, tetraphenylmethane-derived octa-carboxylate bridging ligand and trizinc cluster secondary building units (SBUs), and exhibited exceptionally high hydrogen (58 mg g−1 and 39 g L−1 at 52 bar and 77 K) and methane (276 mg g−1 and 189 g L−1 at 80 bar and 298 K) uptake capacities. 2 has the highest hydrogen uptake at 298 K among all of the MOFs that have been examined to date. The gravimetric and volumetric methane uptake capacities for 2 are the highest among thousands of MOFs that have been evaluated. We attribute the exceptionally high gas uptake capacities of 2 to the highly branched, aromatic-rich nature of the bridging ligand, optimal pore size, and the open metal sites in the trizinc SBUs in a stable high-connectivity MOF.
American Cardiology: The History of a Specialty and Its College

This history of cardiology in America moves from its invention in the early 20th century, to its more recent transformation into one of medicine's most significant fields. It considers both the discoveries and innovations in cardiology, and the socio-economic forces that led to the professionalization of the field. It shows how, after 1945, factors such as the prevalence of heart disease, liberal government research funding, technological innovations, and the growing availability of health insurance shaped cardiology into a major academic and clinical discipline. The author also discusses the implications of the US government's desire to reduce public spending on health care, while still encouraging the growth of managed care.
English Language Learners' Discourse Strategies in Science Instruction

Abstract This study focuses on the characteristics of discourse between Latino immigrant children and their teacher during science instruction. Peer interaction was analyzed to identify the use and importance of the native language (L1) for the development of content knowledge during group collaboration. In addition, the interaction between teacher and children was analyzed to determine the importance of the adult's use of the L1 in providing instructional support to make science and literacy meaningful for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Classroom observations over the course of 1 year focused on how a Spanish-English bilingual teacher approached the demands of science inquiry in an urban fourth-grade classroom in northern California. The analysis centers on a discourse analysis of the students' conversations while they participated in and completed a science activity. In their conversations, children employed different discourse strategies to accomplish their communicative goals during t...
Mechanistic study of the stereoselective polymerization of D, L-lactide using indium(III) halides

We report the results of a comprehensive investigation of the recently discovered stereoselective and controlled polymerization of racemic lactide (d,l-LA) using an initiator prepared in situ from indium(III) chloride (InCl3), benzyl alcohol (BnOH), and triethylamine (NEt3). Linear relationships between number-average molecular weight (Mn) and both monomer to alcohol concentration ratio and monomer conversion are consistent with a well-controlled polymerization. Studies on polymerization kinetics show the process to be first-order in [InCl3]0 and zero-order in both [BnOH]0 and [NEt3]0. The rate of d,l-LA conversion is also dependent on the indium(III) halide (i.e., t1/2(InCl3) ≈ 43 min versus t1/2(InBr3) ≈ 7.5 h, 21 °C, CD2Cl2, [d,l-LA]0/[BnOH]0 ≈ 100, [d,l-LA]0 = 0.84 M, [InX3]0/[BnOH]0 = 1) and lactide stereoisomer (i.e., kobsd,l-LA ≈ kobsmeso-LA > kobsl-LA). A model system that polymerizes d,l-LA with the same high degree of stereoselectivity was developed using 3-diethylamino-1-propanol (deapH) in lie...
A model for C-14 tracer evaporative rate analysis (ERA)

Abstract A simple model has been derived and tested for the C-14 tracer evaporative rate analysis (ERA) method. It allows the accurate determination of the evaporative rate coefficient of the C-14 tracer “detector” in the presence of variable evaporation rates of the detector solvent and variable “background” counting rates. The evaporation rate coefficient should be the most fundamental parameter available in this analysis method and, therefore, its measurements with the proposed model should allow the most direct correlations to be made with the system properties of interest such as surface “cleanliness”.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Is Prevalent Among Patients with Gastrointestinal Diseases

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is reported to be higher among patients with irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease; however, demographic predictors and reasons for utilization for all GI conditions are less clear. To determine prevalence, predictors, and reasons for CAM use among all patients attending a gastrointestinal (GI) clinic in a single academic center. Adults attending outpatient GI clinics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center completed a questionnaire to assess CAM utilization as well as perceived benefits, harms, and costs of CAM therapy. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare statistical differences between CAM and non-CAM users. Survey questionnaires were completed by 269 patients. Prevalence of CAM use was 44 % (95 % CI 38–50). Users were more likely to be female (81 vs. 56 %, p < 0.01) and dissatisfied with conventional treatment (22 vs. 8 %, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in age, race, education, income, GI diagnosis, and duration of symptoms between the two groups. Users reported “wish to feel generally better” as main reason for utilization, and a majority of patients (62 %) experienced improved GI symptoms. Among patients who did not discuss CAM with their physicians (30 %), they cited physician failure to ask about CAM as the major reason (82 %). CAM is prevalent among patients attending a GI clinic, particularly among women and those who are dissatisfied with conventional therapies and “wish to feel better.” Greater awareness and understanding of CAM among GI physicians is necessary.
Crystal structure of extracellular human BAFF, a TNF family member that stimulates B lymphocytes

B cell activating factor (BAFF), a ligand belonging to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, plays a critical role in regulating survival and activation of peripheral B cell populations and has been associated with autoimmune disease. BAFF is known to interact with three receptors, BCMA, TACI and BAFF-R, that have distant similarities with other receptors of the TNF family. We have determined the crystal structure of the TNF-homologous domain of BAFF at 2.8 A resolution. The structure reveals significant differences when compared to other TNF family members, including an unusually long D-E loop that participates in the formation of a deep, concave and negatively charged region in the putative receptor binding site. The BAFF structure was further used to generate a homology model of APRIL, a closely related TNF family ligand that also binds to BCMA and TACI, but not BAFF-R. Analysis of the putative receptor binding sites of BAFF and APRIL suggests that differences in the D-E loop structure and electrostatic surface potentials may be important for determining binding specificities for BCMA, TACI and BAFF-R.
Incorporating social anxiety into a model of college problem drinking: replication and extension.

Although research has found an association between social anxiety and alcohol use in noncollege samples, results have been mixed for college samples. College students face many novel social situations in which they may drink to reduce social anxiety. In the current study, the authors tested a model of college problem drinking, incorporating social anxiety and related psychosocial variables among 228 undergraduate volunteers. According to structural equation modeling (SEM) results, social anxiety was unrelated to alcohol use and was negatively related to drinking consequences. Perceived drinking norms mediated the social anxiety–alcohol use relation and was the variable most strongly associated with problem drinking. College students appear to be unique with respect to drinking and social anxiety. Although the notion of social anxiety alone as a risk factor for problem drinking was unsupported, additional research is necessary to determine whether there is a subset of socially anxious students who have high drinking norms and are in need of intervention.
Partial Protection of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-Infected Rhesus Monkeys against Superinfection with a Heterologous SIV Isolate

Although there is increasing evidence that individuals already infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can be infected with a heterologous strain of the virus, the extent of protection against superinfection conferred by the first infection and the biologic consequences of superinfection are not well understood. We explored these questions in the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/rhesus monkey model of HIV-1/AIDS. We infected cohorts of rhesus monkeys with either SIVmac251 or SIVsmE660 and then exposed animals to the reciprocal virus through intrarectal inoculations. Employing a quantitative real-time PCR assay, we determined the replication kinetics of the two strains of virus for 20 weeks. We found that primary infection with a replication-competent virus did not protect against acquisition of infection by a heterologous virus but did confer relative control of the superinfecting virus. In animals that became superinfected, there was a reduction in peak replication and rapid control of the second virus. The relative susceptibility to superinfection was not correlated with CD4 + T-cell count, CD4 + memory T-cell subsets, cytokine production by virus-specific CD8 + or CD4 + cells, or neutralizing antibodies at the time of exposure to the second virus. Although there were transient increases in viral loads of the primary virus and a modest decline in CD4 + T-cell counts after superinfection, there was no evidence of disease acceleration. These findings indicate that an immunodeficiency virus infection confers partial protection against a second immunodeficiency virus infection, but this protection may be mediated by mechanisms other than classical adaptive immune responses.
Frequency of Bilateral Hypertrophic Olivary Degeneration in a Large Retrospective Cohort

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD) is an uncommon type of transneuronal degeneration. Case reports and case series described in the literature provide a foundation of our current knowledge of HOD. These reports have described HOD most frequently to be unilateral and occurring in association with lesions in the dentato-rubro-olivary pathway. Our purpose was to evaluate the rate of bilateral versus unilateral HOD in a large case series. METHODS A retrospective review was performed to identify patients in which the phrase “hypertrophic olivary degeneration” occurred in the radiology report. A diagnosis of HOD was confirmed on imaging if there was focal hyperintensity on T2-weighted images confined to either or both inferior olivary nuclei. RESULTS A total of 102 patients had findings consistent with HOD. Of these, 76% had findings bilaterally. In 44%, a lesion could not be identified to explain HOD. Bilateral HOD was common in both lesional and nonlesional group, though more common in the nonlesional group. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that HOD is frequently bilateral. In slightly over 50% of patients with HOD, a lesion can be identified. In just under 50% patients with HOD, a lesion could not be identified and in these cases HOD was present bilaterally in the majority.
Alice: An information‐rich autonomous vehicle for high‐speed desert navigation

This paper describes the implementation and testing of Alice, the California Institute of Technology’s entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. Alice utilizes a highly networked control system architecture to provide high performance, autonomous driving in unknown environments. Innovations include a vehicle architecture designed for efficient testing in harsh environments, a highly sensory-driven approach to fuse sensor data into speed maps used by real-time trajectory optimization algorithms, health and contingency management algorithms to manage failures at the component and system level, and a software logging and display environment that enables rapid assessment of performance during testing. The system successfully completed several runs in the National Qualifying Event, but encountered a combination of sensing and control issues in the Grand Challenge Event that led to a critical failure after traversing approximately 8 miles.
Prediction of human sperm penetrating ability using computerized motion parameters

The sperm penetration assay (SPA) is used to assess male fertilizing potential but it is tedious and costly. Computer analysis could replace the need for the SPA in some cases, if computerized sperm motility parameters are highly predictive of SPA performance. The objective of this study was to determine whether computerized motility parameters from fresh semen samples could be used to predict SPA performance. Computer automated semen analysis (CASA; CellSoft, Cryo Resources) was used to quantitate sperm concentration (CONC), percent motility (MOT), curvilinear velocity (VEL), linearity of swimming trajectory (LIN), mean amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH), and beat/cross frequency (B/CF). The SPA was performed using either Biggers, Whitten, and Whittingham's medium (BWW) or TEST-yolk buffer (TYB). Patients were divided into three groups depending on SPA performance: group 1, BWW-treated, 0% versus greater than 0% penetration; group 2, TYB-treated, 0% versus greater than 0% penetration; and group 3, TYB-treated, less than 20% versus less than or equal to 20% penetration. SPA performance was highly correlated with CONC, MOT, VEL, and B/CF. CONC, MOT, VEL, and B/CF were significantly higher for patients who penetrated in the SPA than for those who failed to penetrate. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) successfully classified 76% of all patients treated with TYB (group 2) who penetrated and 86% of nonpenetrators based on their computerized motility parameters. For group 2 DFA predicted that 93 men would penetrate in the SPA with TYB. Of these, 90 (97%) successfully penetrated at least one egg.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Harmonic analysis of aortic pressure pulses in the dog.

Aortic pulse waves were recorded in dogs at the junctions of the left renal artery and the inferior mescntcric artery with the aorta, under normal conditions, after administration of norepincphriue and acetylcholine, and after manual blocking of the femoral arteries. These pulses (343) were subjected to Fourier analysis, and apparent phase velocities and foot-of-the-wave velocities were calculated. The results strongly indicate the presence of reflected waves, and it is shown that foot-of-the- wave velocities provide erroneous information. The arterial system is such that in the arteries per se, the reflected wave is a discrete and definable quantity; its origin can be shown to be an apparent site of reflection located in the peripheral one-third of the thighs of the dog.
Reproductive Ecology of the Island Scrub-Jay

Abstract. We investigated the reproductive ecology of the Island Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma insularis), which is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, California, and is a species of conservation concern. We documented daily nest survival, probability of renesting, annual fledging success, and breeding behavior, and determined how these factors varied in relation to the habitat characteristics of the jays' home ranges. Clutch sizes, feeding rates, and nest attendance were not correlated with chaparral cover or with home-range size. In contrast, nest predation, which accounted for 92% of documented nest failures, was less likely at nests that were more concealed, at nests of breeding pairs with home ranges that were smaller and had a greater proportion of taller vegetation, and at nests that were initiated earlier in the breeding season. Researchers' activity near nests increased the likelihood of predation, although the effect diminished with a nest's age. Despite relatively low nest survival, the high frequency of re...
Hyperbolic Heat Conduction In Pulsed Laser Irradiation Of Tissue

The use of lasers for ablation of biological tissues is becoming common place in many medical and surgical applications. However, the complete nature of the ablation mechanism is yet to be understood. Many authors have contributed to the theoretical understanding and modeling of the thermodynamics of ablation process by a laser. Some examples are [LANGERHOLC,1979; VAN GEMERT et al., 1985; ARMON and LAUFER, 1986; MCKENZIE, 1986; PARTOVI et al., 1987; RASTEGAR et al., 1988]. In a previous theoretical work the effect of optical properties on the ablation process has been shown [RASTEGAR et al., 19881)]. The effect of variation of power and exposure time over a constant fluence delivered on the tissue volume removed and the damage incurred on the surrounding tissue is shown in figure 1 [ RASTEGAR et al., 1988a]. This shows that for a given fluence, as power is increased and exposure duration is decreased the change on the volume removed is not significant while the damage to the surrounding tissue is significantly lessened. However these results, and those of the above references, are based on Fourier's law of heat conduction which is valid for relatively low power CW laser irradiation. The interaction of short pulsed high power lasers with tissues manifests a different behavior and application of Fourier's heat conduction law becomes questionable. In particular, in some experimental observations application of pulsed lasers has shown no apparent thermal damage to the surrounding tissue.© (1989) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Opium alkaloids IV. Isolation of isoboldine

The aporphine alkaloid isoboldine has been isolated from opium. It has been identified by NMR and mass spectrometry and by comparison of its infrared spectrum with that of synthetic (±)-isoboldine. ORD measurements have shown that the isolated alkaloid has the absolute configuration corresponding to the ( S )-series. Possible biosynthetic pathways for isoboldine are discussed briefly.
Optimizing radiation pattern and sidelobes in a genetic wire array

This paper presents numerical design models and predicted performance for a parasitic dipole antenna array tile that contains multiple feeds. This tile is designed for end-to-end concatenation with identical tiles to construct a phased array with a large number of feeds. The tile is optimized so that the radiation pattern of each feed is similar to the desired radiation pattern. The tile is simultaneously optimized so that the array exhibits low sidelobe levels for a range of scan angles.
Circuit Modeling of High-Frequency Electrical Conduction in Carbon Nanofibers

We show that the simplest possible circuit model of high-frequency electrical conduction in carbon nanofibers from 0.1 to 50 GHz is a frequency-independent resistor in parallel with a frequency-independent capacitor. The resistance is experimentally determined and represents the total dc resistance of the nanofiber and its contacts with the electrodes. The capacitance is obtained as a free parameter and has not been previously observed. The experimental method utilizes a ground-signal-ground test structure whose two-port scattering parameters (S-parameters) can be described to within plusmn0.5 dB and plusmn2deg using a simple lumped-element circuit model. The nanostructure is placed in the signal path of the test structure, and its equivalent circuit is deduced by determining what additional elements must be added to the test structure circuit model to reproduce the resulting changes in the S-parameters. This methodology is applicable to nanowires and nanotubes.
Induction of cyclooxygenase-2 synthesis by ligation of the macrophage α2-macroglobulin signalling receptor

We have studied the induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in macrophages consequent to ligating the alpha(2)-macroglobulin (alpha(2)M) signalling receptor (alpha(2)MSR) with receptor-recognized forms of alpha(2)M (alpha(2)M*). Macrophage stimulation with alpha(2)M* increased total cellular and nuclear COX-2 two- to threefold. The maximal increase in COX-2 occurred at a ligand concentration of 50-100 pM and after 2 h. Modulation of intracellular Ca(2+) levels or incubation of [35S] methionine-labelled macrophages with actinomycin D, prior to treatment with alpha(2)M*, markedly reduced the induction of total cellular and nuclear COX-2. Protein kinase C (PKC) or phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) inhibition in alpha(2)M*-stimulated macrophages or inhibition of the p21(ras)-dependent mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) signalling pathways also significantly reduced alpha(2)M*-induced total cellular and nuclear COX-2 expression. Thus, COX-2 induction is dependent on cPLA(2) activity, Ca(2+) mobilization, and PKC activity and requires participation of both the p21(ras)-dependent MAPK and PI 3-kinase signalling pathways. COX-2 activation may mediate alpha(2)M*-induced mitogenesis, which we have previously observed in this and other cell types.
Polarization ratio improvement in a spiral element array

A technique is presented for generating high quality circularly polarized radiation from an array of spiral elements by applying a mechanical rotation and a compensating electric phase shift to each element so as to steer the cross-polarized pattern into the grating lobe region. The technique is illustrated by simulations and measurements on a linear four-spiral array.
Proposed high-efficiency diode oscillator

High efficiency oscillator using avalanche square wave diode, considering case of silicon p-i-n diode
Performance implications of failures in large-scale cluster scheduling

As we continue to evolve into large-scale parallel systems, many of them employing hundreds of computing engines to take on mission-critical roles, it is crucial to design those systems anticipating and accommodating the occurrence of failures. Failures become a commonplace feature of such large-scale systems, and one cannot continue to treat them as an exception. Despite the current and increasing importance of failures in these systems, our understanding of the performance impact of these critical issues on parallel computing environments is extremely limited. In this paper we develop a general failure modeling framework based on recent results from large-scale clusters and then we exploit this framework to conduct a detailed performance analysis of the impact of failures on system performance for a wide range of scheduling policies. Our results demonstrate that such failures can have a significant impact on the mean job response time and mean job slowdown under existing scheduling policies that ignore failures. We therefore investigate different scheduling mechanisms and policies to address these performance issues. Our results show that periodic checkpointing of jobs seems to do little to ease this problem. On the other hand, we demonstrate that information about the spatial and temporal correlation of failure occurrences can be very useful in designing a scheduling (job allocation) strategy to enhance system performance, with the former providing the greatest benefits.
Remote Monitoring of the Calibration of a System of Tracking Arrays

Post-test analysis of vehicle tracking data taken from a three-dimensional underwater range requires the splicing together of several pieces of track individually produced by distinct transducer arrays. The location and orientation of the arrays must be known precisely in order to convert locally determined track into a coherent record in the general range coordinate system. The maintenance of calibration of the system is a problem and the paper produces some least square methodology that uses the tracking data itself to monitor it. More specifically, algorithms are developed to estimate array displacement and orientation corrections. Since such corrections must be relative to a specific array, methodology is presented to help identify the more stable arrays.
What if? Conditionals in educational registers

Abstract Many corpus linguistic studies have investigated classification of texts into genres and registers, but relatively few of these studies have looked at linguistic features in educational registers. From a pedagogical perspective it is important to determine whether certain linguistic features behave differently across registers within particular disciplines. The current study investigates conditionals, linguistic features that have extensively been studied in psychology, philosophy and education and can provide useful information on student reasoning and misconceptions. A series of corpus linguistic studies show that conditionals are more frequently used in a discipline like physics, regardless of the language mode (monolog or dialog), educational environment (tutoring or non-tutoring), formality (formal–informal) or interface (human–human, human–computer). Furthermore, evidence was found that students who are more proficient in physics use a higher number of conditionals than less proficient physics students. These findings have consequences for corpus linguistic studies on registers, for general pedagogy, and for physics pedagogy in particular.
Two incidents of venomous snakebite on juvenile blue and Sykes monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni and C. m. albogularis).

Although rarely observed, predation is thought to be an important factor in the evolution of primate life histories and behavior. Here I describe two incidents of snake predation on Cercopithecus mitis guenons from Kenya. The first case involved a juvenile blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) in the Kakamega Forest, which died following a bite by a Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica gabonica). The snake’s attempts to ingest its prey were unsuccessful. In the second incident, a juvenile Sykes monkey (Cercopithecus mitis albogularis) at Gede Ruins National Monument died suddenly after suffering symptoms that are characteristic of bites inflicted by black mambas (Dendroaspis polylepis). In both cases circumstantial evidence suggests that attacks occurred during extended play sessions in dense vegetation on or near the ground. If so, the observations support the hypothesis that play may be a costly activity.
Serum cholesterol and risk of Alzheimer disease: A community-based cohort study

Objectives: To examine the association of serum total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels and subsequent incidence of dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) in a population-based cohort study. Methods: A cohort of cognitively intact persons, aged 65 and older, was randomly selected from Group Health Cooperative (GHC), a large health maintenance organization, and was assessed biennially for dementia. Premorbid levels of TC and HDL were obtained from a computerized clinical laboratory database at GHC. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR, 95% CI) for dementia and AD associated with quartiles of TC and HDL levels. Results: Of the 2,356 eligible participants, 2,141 had at least one serum TC measure prior to the initial enrollment. Using the lowest TC quartiles as the reference group, the HR in the highest TC quartiles was not significantly elevated for dementia (1.16, 0.81 to 1.67) or for AD (1.00, 0.61 to 1.62) after adjusting for age, sex, education, baseline cognition, vascular comorbidities, body mass index, and lipid-lowering agent use. Serum HDL showed a similar lack of significant association with risk of dementia or AD. Models that included the presence of one or more APOE -e4 alleles showed a typical association of e4 with AD risk. This association was not materially modified by inclusion of TC level. Conclusion: The data do not support an association between serum total cholesterol or high density lipoprotein in late life and subsequent risk of dementia or Alzheimer disease (AD). The increased risk of AD with APOE -e4 is probably not mediated by serum total cholesterol levels.