cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Binding of an analog of the simian virus 40 T antigen to wild-type and mutant viral replication origins☆

Abstract DNAase footprint analyses of purified AD2 + D2 (D2) T protein binding to simian virus 40 origin region fragments revealed a series of four specific interactions with contiguous sequences constituting a 120 base-pair block, in keeping with previous DNAase protection results reported by others. Protection was observed to extend from a 30 base-pair strong affinity site located on the early side of the replication origin (site 1) to two adjacent lower affinity sites, including the origin of replication (site 2) and a 11 to 13 base-pair site between site 1 and the beginning of the T/t coding sequence (site 1′). A fourth site (site 3) was noted abutting the late border of site 2. Binding to site 1 was associated with enhanced D2T binding to sites 2 and 1′. Thus, binding to these sites is co-operative and/or the sequences which constitute site 1 affect the conformation of the sites 1′ and 2 sequences such that they now serve as sites of more efficient D2T binding. In addition, while deletion of all of site 2 and its substitution by late viral sequences ablated processive T binding to sequences abutting site 1 on its late side, various site 2 deletions comprising up to approximately 40% of that sequence did not affect binding to that site to a major degree. Therefore, binding to the replication origin is a sequence-specific event, but there may be multiple strong protein contact sites within that sequence.
Antioxidants and the prevention of hormonally regulated cancer

Abstract Epidemiological studies provide convincing evidence that a diet rich in antioxidant-containing foods, mostly fruits and vegetables, is associated with a lower incidence of most cancers, but results on hormonally regulated cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer, are inconsistent. Although studies in animals and cell cultures affirm the cancer preventive potential of single and/or combined antioxidant supplements, most intervention trials using supplementation with single or multiple antioxidant nutrients, given at relatively high doses, have not shown a consistent effect in reducing cancer risk. Intervention with a vitamin E supplementation reduced the risk of colorectal adenomas and prostate cancer and selenium supplementation reduced the incidence of total cancer, prostate, lung and colorectal cancer. Differences between the sexes in the reduction of cancer risk following antioxidant supplementation are partly due to differences in baseline values, metabolism and hormonal regulation. Among ...
Antiestrogen binding sites in microsomal fractions of malignant and nonmalignant human breast tissues.

Antiestrogen binding sites (AEBS) were measured in microsomal fractions of 102 malignant breast tumors and 24 nonmalignant breast tissues. The number of AEBS was determined by Scatchard analysis. The cytosol contents of estrogen and progesterone receptors were also analyzed in these tissues. Overall, 50% of the malignant tumors and 33% of the nonmalignant normal breast tissues had detectable contents of AEBS. No correlation was observed between cytosol estrogen receptor (ER) content and microsomal AEBS in the tumors. Detailed data analysis in patients at Stage IV disease revealed that 60% of estrogen receptor positive tumors had no detectable microsomal AEBS contents whereas in the remaining 40% tumors, high affinity AEBS were observed. On the other hand, AEBS were also detected in 35% of ER-poor tumors. Antiestrogen binding sites were higher in tumors obtained from premenopausal women than in those of postmenopausal women. The incidence of AEBS-positive tumors or AEBS concentration was not influenced by either the patients' obesity or their disease stage.
Lack of Access in Healthcare Delivery: A Model for Using Dental Hygienists in a Cost Effective Manner to Help Address the Oral Healthcare Problem

The healthcare delivery of the United States is confronted with many issues and problems. In an attempt to deal with them, the country has been engaged in a process of healthcare reform. Unfortunately, this reform has largely focused on who is going to pay, what is going to be covered, and how all of the constituencies are hopefully going to be satisfied. What have been largely unaddressed are new delivery paradigms or how the care will be distributed to the underserved. The authors attempt to seek solutions to these last two areas of concern. They spell out how the expansion of the scope of practice for dental hygienists will allow them to bridge the gaps in service and to help deliver dental coverage and elements of systemic healthcare to underserved populations. Finally, the authors provide the steps and mechanisms of how the scope of practice can be expanded. Policy and educational requirements are considered.
State preparation and excited electronic and vibrational behavior in hemes.

The temporally overlapping, ultrafast electronic and vibrational dynamics of a model five-coordinate, high-spin heme in a nominally isotropic solvent environment has been studied for the first time with three complementary ultrafast techniques: transient absorption, time-resolved resonance Raman Stokes, and time-resolved resonance Raman anti-Stokes spectroscopies. Vibrational dynamics associated with an evolving ground-state species dominate the observations. Excitation into the blue side of the Soret band led to very rapid S2 → S1 decay (sub-100 fs), followed by somewhat slower (800 fs) S1 → S0* nonradiative decay. The initial vibrationally excited, non-Boltzmann S0* state was modeled as shifted to lower energy by 300 cm-1 and broadened by 20%. On a ∼10 ps time scale, the S0* state evolved into its room-temperature, thermal distribution S0 profile largely through VER. Anti-Stokes signals disappear very rapidly, indicating that the vibrational energy redistributes internally in about 1−3 ps from the init...
Noise analysis and image denoising for DEI

Herein we present a quantitative noise analysis of diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), an x-ray imaging method that produces absorption and refraction images, with inherent immunity to wide-angle scatter. DEI can be used for planar imaging or computed tomography. DEI produces excellent images, but requires an x-ray source of very high power; therefore, it has principally been confined to synchrotron studies. Clinical systems currently under development using conventional x-ray sources will be photon-limited. Therefore, it is important that the noise properties of DEI be understood. We derive mathematical expressions for the noise statistics of DEI images, and show that the original formulation of DEI, given by Chapman, et al, is the maximum-likelihood solution of the image-estimation problem for the case of Poisson noise. However, we find that the standard DEI solution is only unbiased under particular conditions, which must be obeyed if good results are to be achieved. We also present the results of applying various noise-reduction filters, which we found to be very effective in reducing noise variance while introducing little bias.
Hitting the Reset Button on Education Student Reports on Going to College

Students with intellectual disabilities are taking the lead conducting participatory action research (PAR) to chronicle their college experience as part of a national college access initiative. This research currently involves college students with intellectual disabilities documenting their experiences using multimedia tools. These data are then shared via a digital storytelling website, VoiceThread. This article presents an overview of PAR, digital storytelling, and the methodology used to implement PAR with students with intellectual disabilities. Themes from the students’ work highlight their impressions of college, their adjustment to new expectations and responsibilities, and their recommendations to improve this experience. The researcher’s findings and conclusions about facilitating research with young adults with intellectual disabilities are described.
A 4.8–6.8GHz phase-locked loop with power optimized design methodology for dividers

A 4.8-6.8GHz phase-locked loop (PLL) with a power optimized multi-modulus divider (MMD) for wireless and radar applications is presented in this paper. Based on the timing delay analysis and the self-oscillation frequency of the divider cells, the power consumption of the divide-by-two circuit (DTC) and divide-by-2/3 cells can be optimized, and thus minimum power consumption for divider chain can be achieved. To extend the frequency tuning range of the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) without significant phase noise degradation, PMOS switches are used to reverse bias the parasitic diode. The proposed PLL achieves a measured tuning range of 34% and measured phase noise of -86dBc/Hz@10kHz offset and -114dBc/Hz@1MHz offset with a center frequency of 6.56GHz, and it consumes 64mW from a 2.0V supply voltage. The PLL system for a radar transceiver is implemented in a 0.13μm SiGe technology with a core area of 1.35×0.65mm2.
Effects of inbreeding and selection in a closed holstein-friesian herd.

Abstract The effects of mild inbreeding and selection were measured in the Iowa State University Holstein herd. Inbreeding of all animals born in the herd from 1930 through 1964 ranged from zero to 47% and averaged 10.2. Selections were made primarily on an index based on the milk fat production and type of the individual and its close relatives. Intra-sire partial regressions and standard errors of production on inbreeding, holding the dam's production constant, were −23 ± 11 and −.78 ± .36 kg for milk and milk fat, respectively. Inbreeding appeared to have little effect on the percentage of milk fat. Type score and percentage of white coloration were essentially unaffected by increased inbreeding. Analyses of weight and body measurements both showed a detrimental effect of inbreeding, but the reduction of weight and measurements due to inbreeding decreased with increasing age. This may be due, in part, to the indirect selection of larger cows that tend to have lower coefficients of inbreeding. Genetic gain through the selection of parents was estimated to be 0.52 and 0.54% of the mean yield for milk and milk fat, respectively. About 80% of this gain came from the selection of dams of sires.
Five-channel surface-normal wavelength division demultiplexer using substrate guided waves in conjunction with polymer-based Littrow hologram

In this paper, we report on a 5-channel wavelength division demultiplexer (WDDM) using substrate-guided waves in conjunction with a polymer-based Littrow hologram operating at 700, 710, 720, 730, and 740 nm, respectively. An average cross talk of -40 dB between adjacent channels is measured. The diffraction efficiencies of 69%, 78%, 83%, 77%, and 69% are both experimentally and theoretically confirmed for the five-channel WDDM device. Further study aiming at reducing the wavelength channel separation to 1 nm is also provided for future work. A device length of 6.4 cm corresponding to a propagation distance of 9.05 cm is required to achieve such a goal.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
High-temperature rupture of microstructurally unstable 304 stainless steel under uniaxial and triaxial stress states

Specimens of 304 stainless steel were tested to failure under two different stress states, uniaxial tension using smooth bar specimens and triaxial tension using notched bar specimens. The tests were conducted at a temperature that gives rise to carbide particle growth which, in turn, leads to microstructural softening. Rupture times are compared for uniaxial and triaxial stress states with respect to multiaxial stress parameters that are directly related to physical mechanisms. The success of the parameters is judged according to how well the rupture times of notched specimens can be predicted using the rupture data for specimens under uniaxial tension. The data indicate that the rupture time is not governed by deformation processes, despite evidence for substantial softening by particle coarsening. The results further suggest that the creep rupture process is dominated by cavitation that is coupled with localized shear deformation along the inclined grain boundaries.
LTQ-iQuant: A freely available software pipeline for automated and accurate protein quantification of isobaric tagged peptide data from LTQ instruments

Pulsed Q dissociation enables combining LTQ ion trap instruments with isobaric peptide tagging. Unfortunately, this combination lacks a technique which accurately reports protein abundance ratios and is implemented in a freely available, flexible software pipeline. We developed and implemented a technique assigning collective reporter ion intensity-based weights to each peptide abundance ratio and calculating a protein's weighted average abundance ratio and p-value. Using an iTRAQ-labeled standard mixture, we compared our technique's performance to the commercial software MASCOT, finding that it performed better than MASCOT's nonweighted averaging and median peptide ratio techniques, and equal to its weighted averaging technique. We also compared performance of the LTQ-Orbitrap plus our technique to 4800 MALDI TOF/TOF plus Protein Pilot, by analyzing an iTRAQ-labeled stem cell lysate. We found highly correlated protein abundance ratios, indicating that the LTQ-Orbitrap plus our technique yields results comparable to the current standard. We implemented our technique in a freely available, automated software pipeline, called LTQ-iQuant, which is mzXML-compatible; supports iTRAQ 4-plex and 8-plex LTQ data; and can be modified for and have weights trained to a user's LTQ and other isobaric peptide tagging methods. LTQ-iQuant should make LTQ instruments and isobaric peptide tagging accessible to more proteomic researchers.
Temperature dependence of current–voltage characteristics of gold–strontium titanate thin film Schottky diode

Abstract Gold–strontium titanate (Au–STO) Schottky diode is fabricated using pulsed laser deposition technique. The current–voltage characteristics of the device show non-linear behavior. The junction parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height, and series resistance are calculated using Cheung and Norde's methods. The effect of temperature on diode parameters is studied in details. It is observed that the barrier height varies almost linearly with temperature and the values increase from 0.39 to 0.72 eV in temperature range 150–300 K. The ideality factor decreases from 18 to 3 with increase in temperature from 150 to 300 K. High ideality factor suggests formation of non-ideal Schottky junction between gold and STO.
Sodium tracer diffusion in glasses of the type (CaO·Al2O3)x(2 SiO2)1−x

Abstract Tracer diffusion coefficients of the radioactive isotope Na-22 were measured in glasses of the type (CaO·Al2O3)x(2 SiO2)1−x to study the diffusion of sodium as a function of glass composition, x, temperature and initial water content. The diffusion of Na-22 in glasses diffusion-annealed in dry air can always be well described by a single tracer diffusion coefficient, but sometimes not in samples annealed in common air. It was found that the sodium tracer diffusion coefficient decreases by about six orders of magnitude when the glass composition x changes from 0 to 0.75 at 800 °C. The temperature dependence of the diffusion of sodium seems to decrease as the silica content increases. Variations of the initial water content in some of the glasses investigated did not very significantly influence the rate of the tracer diffusion of sodium.
Regret in auctions: theory and evidence

The sealed-bid first-price auction of a single object in the case of independent privately-known values is the simplest auction setting and understanding it is important for understanding more complex mechanisms. But bidders bid above the risk-neutral Nash equilibrium theory prediction. The reasons for this “over bidding” remain an unsolved puzzle. Several explanations have been offered, including risk aversion, social comparisons, and learning. We present a new explanation based on regret and a model that explains not only the observed over bidding in sealed-bid first-price auctions, but also behavior in several other settings that is inconsistent with risk aversion.
A FINITE DIFFERENCE/FINITE ELEMENT APPROACH TO DYNAMIC SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION MODELLING

Abstract In the recent past, much effort has been devoted to developing techniques for analysis and design of buried structures that are subjected to stress transients generated by earthquakes or by surface disturbances such as conventional or nuclear explosions. The analysis technique that is proposed here is based on a combined Finite Difference/Finite Element (FD/FE) approach. The Finite Difference technique is well suited for analyzing wave propagation in continuous media with nonlinear constitutive properties and large strain deformations; the Finite Element method is an obvious choice for analyzing the structure. In this approach, two existing computer programs were modified and merged to create the FD/FE program; using central differences in the time domain, the Finite Difference code calculates, in each cycle, the soil stresses and velocities, as well as the displacements of the soil grid points that are on the soil-structure boundary. The displacements of the current time step are passed to the Finite Element code for calculation of the soil-structure nodal forces corresponding to the deformed structures' stress state. The nodal forces are passed back to the Finite Difference code for calculations in the next time step. This approach combines the best features of the Finite Difference and Finite Element techniques to provide the analyst with the capability to model the complete effects of soil-structure interaction, including material and geometric nonlinearities. The method and its computer implementation are briefly described and the results of two example analyses are presented.
FK506 reduces the severity of cutaneous hypersensitivity in rats with a spinal cord contusion

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to persistent pain as well as motor dysfunction, both of which lack effective therapeutics. The immunosuppressant FK506 (tacrolimus) has been shown to improve behavioral outcome following SCI in rats. Just prior to a mid-thoracic spinal cord contusion injury, rats were injected with either vehicle or FK506 and treatment was continued through the duration of the experiment. Vehicle-treated rats developed significant and long-lasting hind paw hypersensitivity to innocuous mechanical stimulation, noxious heat and cooling stimuli. In contrast, FK506 treatment reduced the duration of both mechanical and cold hypersensitivity. Neither treated groups demonstrated an improvement in locomotor function. Thus, some SCI-induced pain is mediated by an FK506-sensitive mechanism. The data also suggest that motor and sensory dysfunctions resulting from SCI are mediated by distinct mechanisms, requiring the use of multiple therapeutic interventions.
Tumor Signaling to the Bone Marrow Changes the Phenotype of Monocytes and Pulmonary Macrophages during Urethane-Induced Primary Lung Tumorigenesis in A/J Mice

Little is known about how the composition of stromal cells within the lung cancer microenvironment varies during tumor progression. We examined by immunohistochemistry each of six different stromal cell populations during the development of chemically induced primary lung cancer in mice. Blood vessels were seen even in microscopic lesions, and their numbers increased with tumor size. Neutrophils infiltrated the alveoli of tumor-bearing lungs and within the periphery of macroscopic adenomas and adenocarcinomas. The numbers of peritumoral lymphocytes and macrophages increased during oncogeny, but quantitative changes in mast cells and fibroblasts were not evident. Because macrophage depletion reduces tumor growth and these cells are thus important to tumorigenesis, we also investigated their phenotype. Pulmonary macrophages expressed arginase I (subtype M2) but not inducible nitric-oxide synthase in lungs with premalignant lesions, whereas macrophages in carcinoma-bearing lungs expressed inducible nitric-oxide synthase (subtype M1) but not arginase I. Local pulmonary stimuli did not seem responsible for this shift in macrophage activation state because monocytes still residing within the bone marrow adopted these expression patterns before entering the circulation, presumably in response to tumor-derived signals. These biochemical markers of macrophage activation states would have diagnostic and/or therapeutic value if analogous systemic shifts occur in humans.
Fatigue of beta titanium alloy at 20, 482 and 648 °C

Fatigue life of fibrous metal matrix composites is limited by the distribution of fibre strengths, the fibre-matrix interfacial strength, and the fatigue resistance of the matrix. The aim of this work is to provide fatigue results for a beta titanium alloy over a range of temperatures and stresses that can be used as input for predicting fatigue life of a titanium matrix composite. Stress controlled tests having fatigue ratios between -1 and -0.2 were conducted on a limited number of samples machined from unreinforced laminated Ti-15Mo-3A1-2.7Nb-0.2Si (TIMETAL®21S) sheets to represent as closely as possible the in situ matrix material. Stress control was used to enable quantification of strain ratcheting for tensile mean stresses and a fast loading rate was used to minimize time-dependent (creep) deformation. Stress amplitude-life data at 20, 482 and 648 °C for fully reversed loading are well fit by a power law. Normalizing the stress amplitude with respect to the power law coefficient appears to account for the temperature dependence of the S-N curves. As the tests had large strains and lives were in the low-cycle fatigue range, strain range at the half-life was also correlated to life. For tensile mean stress cycling at 482 and 648 °C, the rate of strain ratcheting per cycle increased to failure; shakedown was not observed.
Assessment of pharmacological treatment of myocardial infarction by phosphorus-31 NMR with surface coils

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements with small surface coils have been used to observe phosphorus metabolism of perfused hearts within localized regions. The method allows for direct, noninvasive, sequential assessment of the altered regional metabolism resulting from myocardial infarction and its response to drug treatment, which cannot be observed by conventional techniques.
Diagnosis of septic joint in an immunosuppressed patient by twenty-four hour delayed imaging with Tc-99m HMPAO labeled white blood cell scan.

A 64-year-old male with a history of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for lymphoma 10 months earlier presented for evaluation of bacteremia. The white blood cell count was 4,400 cells/microliter with 76% neutrophils. A tagged white blood cell scan was performed to localize the infection. Images obtained 4 hours postinjection of radiolabeled leukocytes displayed no focus of infection, but delayed 24-hour images demonstrated the interval development of markedly increased activity in the left shoulder. Arthrocentesis yielded purulent fluid. We hypothesize that delayed leukocyte migration in this immunosuppressed patient might have accounted for the significant disparity between the standard and delayed scans.
Efficiency of t-Test and Hotelling's T 2-Test After Box-Cox Transformation

Early investigations of the effects of non-normality indicated that skewness has a greater effect on the distribution of t-statistic than does kurtosis. When the distribution is skewed, the actual p-values can be larger than the values calculated from the t-tables. Transformation of data to normality has shown good results in the case of univariate t-test. In order to reduce the effect of skewness of the distribution on normal-based t-test, one can transform the data and perform the t-test on the transformed scale. This method is not only a remedy for satisfying the distributional assumption, but it also turns out that one can achieve greater efficiency of the test. We investigate the efficiency of tests after a Box-Cox transformation. In particular, we consider the one sample test of location and study the gains in efficiency for one-sample t-test following a Box-Cox transformation. Under some conditions, we prove that the asymptotic relative efficiency of transformed t-test and Hotelling's T 2-test of m...
The Role of Order in Pyroelectricity of Pvf2

Abstract A series of studies of the pyroelectric effect in polyvinylidene fluoride indicates that reversible changes in the amount of order in the polymer films plays an important role in the pyroelectric effect. Experiments were conducted which showed that only one-half to two-thirds of the total pyroelectric effect can be accounted for on the basis of the usual primary and secondary effects. This observation led to the hypothesis that reversible changes with temperature of the crystallinity of the semicrystalline polymer might account for the rest. This hypothesis predicted that the crystallinity of the polymer should depend on the magnitude of an applied electric field. Experiments have been conducted in which this effect was observed.
Pure subgroups of LCA groups

This paper originated with our interest in the open question “If every pure subgroup of an LCA group G is closed, must G be discrete ?” that was raised by Armacost. The answer was surprisingly easy, but led to some interesting questions. We attempted to characterise those LCA groups that contain a proper pure dense subgroup, and found that every non-discrete torsion-free LCA group contains a proper pure dense subgroup; so does every non-discrete infinite self-dual torsion LCA group. We also give a necessary and sufficient condition for a torsion LCA group to contain a proper pure dense subgroup.
Liquid-liquid equilibria for oleic acid-water mixtures at elevated temperatures and pressures

Abstract Liquid-liquid equilibrium compositions have been measured for the oleic acid-water system at temperatures from approximately 522 K to 589 K at pressures which averaged about 6 bar above the three-phase equilibrium pressure. The system has been found to exhibit Type II fluid phase behavior and exhibits an upper critical end point at approximately 590 K and 108 bar.
Sagittal craniostenosis: Fetal head constraint as one possible cause

THE SAGITTAL SUTURE is the most commonly involved suture among all patients with craniostenosis, occurring with an estimated incidence of 0.4 per 1,000 live births? Premature closure of the sagittal suture is usually a sporadic congenital anomaly of unknown etiology in an otherwise normal child. We recently evaluated such an infant, whose mother had noted descent of her abdominal silhouette two to three months before delivery. She had the sensation that the fetal head had become "wedged" in her pelvis, and had severe symptoms of lower pelvic pressure and discomfort that caused marked difficulties in ambulation during the last six weeks of gestation. Her obstetrician noted a lower than expected fundal height throughout pregnancy, in the presence of normal fetal size and activity. This unusual prenatal history caused us to question whether head constraint in late fetal life could be one causative factor in the genesis of sagittal craniostenosis. This report sets forth the findings relative to possible prenatal head constraint in 16 instances-of congenital sagittal craniostenosis.
Studies on the glucono-delta-lactonase of Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Abstract The first stage of the oxidative metabolism of d -glucose by Pseudomonas fluorescens is the conversion of d -glucopyranose into d -glucono-δ-lactone. This lactone is hydrolysed to gluconic acid by an enzyme found in the soluble fraction of cell-free extracts of the bacterium. the lactonase has been purified a hundredfold and some of its properties determined. It is completely specific for d -glucono-δ-lactone and its apparent ability to hydrolyse d -glucono-γ-lactone is due to the spontaneous interconversion of teh γ- and δ-lactones, followed by the enzymic hydrolysis of the latter. The apparent spontaenous hydrolysis of the γ-lactone below pH 7 follows a similar course. In the course of ths work the mechanism of the interconversion of glucono-γ-lactone, glucono-δ-lactone and gluconate in the pH range of 4–8 has been determined.
Fast failure mode identification for ductile structural system reliability

Abstract This paper presents a method for fast plastic hinge imposition and system collapse mode identification in large ductile framed structures. The proposed method follows the general scheme of the truncated enumeration method, but makes use of the statistical correlations between different member limit states to impose groups of hinges at each selection level instead of one plastic hinge at a time as used in the previous studies, thus making the search for significant failure modes very rapid. This results in an efficient and accurate method for system reliability estimation. The proposed method is illustrated with the help of numerical examples.
Analysis of cardiac arrhythmias during dobutamine pharmacologic stress testing in nuclear cardiology as related to the presence or absence of baseline arrhythmias.

Abstract Background. Intravenous dobutamine is an acceptable pharmacologic stress agent for evaluation of myocardial ischemia, but it has the undesirable side effect of precipitating cardiac arrhythmias. All patients are susceptible to the arrhythmogenic potential of dobutamine. However, the presence of a baseline arrhythmia creates additional concern about proceeding with a pharmacologic dobutamine stress test. The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac arrhythmias during dobutamine stress as they relate to the presence or absence of baseline arrhythmias in patients undergoing radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging. Methods and Results. Data from 486 consecutive dobutamine stress tests in nuclear cardiology were reviewed retrospectively. Baseline and stress electrocardiographic monitoring and 12-lead electrocardiograms were used for classification of arrhythmias. For patients without baseline arrhythmias, the estimated probability of having nonsustained ventricular tachycardia with dobutamine stress was 4.0% (16 of 403), as compared with 15.7% (13 of 83) for patients with baseline arrhythmias (p 0.05). Conclusions. The probability of having nonsustained ventricular tachycardia with dobutamine stress testing was significantly greater in patients who had baseline arrhythmias than in those who had no arrhythmias at baseline. Although termination of the study because of ventricular tachycardia was not statistically significant between these two groups, patients with baseline cardiac arrhythmias should be considered at higher risk for the development of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia during dobutamine stress testing than patients who have no baseline arrhythmia.
7.87 eV Laser Desorption Postionization Mass Spectrometry of Adsorbed and Covalently Bound Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Methacrylate

Bisphenol A diglycidyl methacrylate (Bis-GMA) was adsorbed onto or covalently bound to a porous silicon oxide surface. Laser desorption 10.5 eV postionization mass spectrometry (LDPI-MS) was previously demonstrated for surface analysis of adsorbed and surface bound Bis-GMA, but signal to noise levels were low and ion fragmentation was extensive. 7.87 eV postionization using the fluorine laser was demonstrated here for Bis-GMA. However, signal levels remained low for LDPI-MS of Bis-GMA as its ionization potential (IP) was only ∼7.8 eV, near threshold for single photon ionization by the 7.87 eV fluorine laser. It is known that aromatic tagging of molecular analytes can lower the overall IP of the tagged molecular complex, allowing 7.87 eV single photon ionization. Therefore, Bis-GMA was also derivatized with several tags whose IPs were either below or above 7.87 eV: the tag with an IP below 7.87 eV enhanced single photon ionization while the tags with higher IPs did not. However, signal intensities were enhanced by resonant laser desorption for two of the derivatized Bis-GMAs. Intact ions of Bis-GMA and its derivatives were generally observed by 7.87 eV LDPI-MS, consistent with the formation of ions with relatively little internal energy upon threshold single photon ionization.
Pial synangiosis for moyamoya syndrome in children with sickle cell anemia: a comprehensive review of reported cases

Object Pediatric patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) carry a significant risk of developing moyamoya syndrome (MMS) and brain ischemia. The authors sought to review the safety and efficacy of pial synangiosis in the treatment of MMS in children with SCA by performing a comprehensive review of all previously reported cases in the literature. Methods The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiographic records in 17 pediatric patients with SCA treated at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York (MSCHONY) who developed radiological evidence of MMS and underwent pial synangiosis between 1996 and 2012. The authors then added any additional reported cases of pial synangiosis for this population in the literature for a combined analysis of clinical and radiographic outcomes. Results The combined data consisted of 48 pial synangiosis procedures performed in 30 patients. Of these, 27 patients (90%) presented with seizure, stroke, or transient ischemic attack, whereas 3 (10%) were referre...
Awareness of Technology in an Elementary School Environment

This paper describes the results of a program for enhancing technology awareness of 73 students and 35 teachers in an elementary school environment using a program designed for students' exploration of careers and enhanced self-esteem. Analysis indicated that teachers increased their knowledge of technology
Effects of exogenous estradiol‐17β on early growth and gonadal development of diploid and triploid female rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss)

Triploidy is a viable condition in teleosts. However, in many salmonids, the triploid condition in the female results in sterility as gametogenesis appears to be disrupted. Although the underlying mechanisms regulating the gonadal development of teleosts have not been clearly elucidated, the reversal of phenotypic sex by the administration of the appropriate exogenous steroid during early development supports the argument that gonadal steroids play a pivotal role in sexual differentiation and subsequent gonad development in these fish. To determine whether the failure of normal ovarian development in triploid female rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is due to an absence or reduction of endogenous sex steroids, ovarian morphology was compared between diploid and triploid juvenile rainbow trout treated with exogenous estradiol-17β (E2). The ovaries of both untreated and E2 treated diploid fish, at 145 days post-fertilization, contained synchronously developing oocytes in the perinucleolar stage, whereas ovaries from untreated and estradiol-treated triploid fish of the same age were considerably smaller and devoid of developing oocytes. No differences in the ovaries of triploid untreated fish and triploid fish treated with E2 were observed. It is reported that exposure to exogenous E2 during the period of gonadal differentiation is not sufficient to induce oocyte development in triploid rainbow trout. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Linearising nonlinear recursions in polynomial time

The replacement of nonlinear recursions with equivalent linear recursions is a potentially useful query optimization strategy, since it permits the use of efficient algorithms for the evaluation of linear logic programs. We show that a member of a certain class of bilinear recursions is linearizable in a strong sense if and only if a specific partial proof tree derived from this recursion is contained in a bounded number of partial proof trees generated by the recursion. Further, while each such test of containment between proof trees involves an exponential number of conjunctive-query containment tests, we present syntactic conditions on the recursion that are necessary and sufficient for the containment and verifiable in polynomial time.
Analyses of Ludwigia alternifolia L. for Fatty Acids

Selected extracts of the roots of Ludwigia alternifolia L. were examined for fatty acid content. GLC of methyl esters of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids provided qualitative as well as quantitative analyses. No unusual fatty acids were identified that might attribute antitumor activity to these extracts or be responsible for the demonstrated antimicrobial activity of L. alternifolia L.
Inventory Monitoring for Estimating Impact of Insects on Seed Production in a Douglas-Fir Seed Orchard in Western Oregon

Impact of various factors on seed production was examined in a Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seed orchard in western Oregon during 1984. Cones were examined monthly between April and September for mortality or evidence of insect damage. Loss of immature cones began early in the growing season and had a substantial impact on seed production. A newly discovered cone-feeding weevil, Lepesoma lecontei (Casey), caused a large proportion of this mortality. Unexplained cone mortality (possibly frost damage), undeveloped seed, Douglas-fir cone gall midge ( Contarinia oregonensis Foote), and Douglas-fir seed chalcid ( Megastigmus spermotrophus (Wachtl)) were other major causes of seed loss. Crown elevation was important for an accurate estimate of the importance of some seed-loss factors. An inventory monitoring system for Douglas-fir seed production based on early monitoring of immature cones, identifying specific seed loss factors, stratified crown sampling, and an adequate sample size, is suggested.
Vacuum-ultraviolet circular dichroism of chondroitins and their complexes with poly(L-arginine)

The vacuum-ultraviolet circular dichroism (VUCD) of chondroitin and chontroitin-6-sulfate has been measured to 160 nm for films and to 170 nm for D2O solutions. The pD-dependent dichroic behavior of these glycosaminoglycans in D2O is similar above 200 nm and is in agreement with previous studies. Near 190 nm, the CD band sign is also dependent on pD. VUCD spectra were recorded for films and solutions of poly(L-arginine). In trifluoroethanol the polypeptide is α-helical, while in D2O it exists as a random coil. The well-characterized coil–helix transition of poly(L-arginine) during complexation with chondroitin-6-sulfate was observed by VUCD, including the previously inaccessible entire π π* band. By construction of difference spectra it was also possible to monitor the VUCD of the polysaccharide component during complexation.
Vocabulary input through extensive reading: A comparison of words found in children's narrative and expository reading materials

The role of extensive reading in building vocabulary continues to receive considerable attention in first and second language research and pedagogy. This study analyses the lexical differences between narrative and expository reading materials used in upper-elementary education (10- and 11-year-old children), and explores how these differences could affect children's potential vocabulary acquisition through reading. Results of a computerized analysis of nearly 1.5 million word tokens reveals marked differences between 28 narrative and 28 expository children's books in terms of overall token distribution and individual type repetitions at all levels of vocabulary analysed in the study (i.e. general high frequency words, academic high frequency words, and specialized words). Further exploration of the lexical data indicates high numbers of register-specific words at all levels of vocabulary, particularly at the more specialized levels where the potential for protracted vocabulary growth is the greatest. A subsequent discussion addresses qualitative differences in the characteristics of these exclusive narrative and expository types. These lexical findings are used to assess claims of Wide Reading and Free Reading relative to children's acquisition of vocabulary through extensive reading, especially the default claims of 'incidental' word acquisition through repetitive encounters with unknown words while reading large volumes of material for pleasure.
Comparison of association methods for dense marker data.

While data sets based on dense genome scans are becoming increasingly common, there are many theoretical questions that remain unanswered. How can a large number of markers in high linkage disequilibrium (LD) and rare disease variants be simulated efficiently? How should markers in high LD be analyzed: individually or jointly? Are there fast and simple methods to adjust for correlation of tests? What is the power penalty for conservative Bonferroni adjustments? Assuming that association scans are adequately powered, we attempt to answer these questions. Performance of single-point and multipoint tests, and their hybrids, is investigated using two simulation designs. The first simulation design uses theoretically derived LD patterns. The second design uses LD patterns based on real data. For the theoretical simulations we used polychoric correlation as a measure of LD to facilitate simulation of markers in LD and rare disease variants. Based on the simulation results of the two studies, we conclude that statistical tests assuming only additive genotype effects (i.e. Armitage and especially multipoint T2) should be used cautiously due to their suboptimal power in certain settings. A false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted combination of tests for additive, dominant and recessive effects had close to optimal power. However, the common genotypic χ2 test performed adequately and could be used in lieu of the FDR combination. While some hybrid methods yield (sometimes spectacularly) higher power they are computationally intensive. We also propose an “exact” method to adjust for multiple testing, which yields nominally higher power than the Bonferroni correction. Genet. Epidemiol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Isomerization of OH-Isoprene Adducts and Hydroxyalkoxy Isoprene Radicals

This paper employs quantum chemical methods to investigate gaps in our understanding of the fates of radical intermediates in the OH-initiated degradation of isoprene. We employ two density functional theory (DFT) approaches: the well-known B3LYP functional and the recently constructed MPW1K functional. The Complete Basis Set method CBS-QB3 is used selectively to verify certain DFT results. The paper focuses on the configuration of the isoprene-OH adducts with the hydroxyl radical bound to carbons 1 or 4 of isoprene and the fate of the δ-hydroxyalkoxy radicals produced from these adducts. The chemically activated isoprene-OH adducts undergo prompt E/Z isomerization in competition with quenching. This reaction allows formation of the δ-hydroxyalkoxy radicals possessing the (Z) configuration, enabling a fast 1,5 H-shift reaction to dominate the fate of these radicals. The (E) isomer of the δ-hydroxyalkoxy radical that cannot undergo a 1,5 H-shift is predicted to react exclusively with O2. The (E) isomer of...
Development of a two-joint robotic fish for real-world exploration

Research on biomimetic robotic fish has been undertaken for more than a decade. Various robotic fish prototypes have been developed around the world. Although considerable research efforts have been devoted to understanding the underlying mechanism of fish swimming and construction of fish-like swimming machines, robotic fish have largely remained laboratory curiosities. This paper presents a robotic fish that is designed for application in real-world scenarios. The robotic fish adopts a rigid torpedo-shaped body for the housing of power, electronics, and payload. A compact parallel four-bar mechanism is designed for propulsion and maneuvering. Based on the kinematic analysis of the tail mechanism, the motion control algorithm of joints is presented. The swimming performance of the robotic fish is investigated experimentally. The swimming speed of the robotic fish can reach 1.36 m/s. The turning radius is 1.75 m. Powered by the onboard battery, the robotic fish can operate for up to 20 h. Moreover, the advantages of the biomimetic propulsion approach are shown by comparing the power efficiency and turning performance of the robotic fish with that of a screw-propelled underwater vehicle. The application of the robotic fish in a real-world probe experiment is also presented. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Quaternization enhances the transgene expression efficacy of aminoglycoside-derived polymers

The objective of the present study was to synthesize and investigate the transgene expression efficacy of quaternized derivatives of aminoglycoside polymers in different cancer cell lines. A series of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) derivatives of aminoglycoside polymers (GTMAC-AM polymers), containing varying degrees of quaternization (13-45%), were synthesized. The structures and properties of GTMAC-AM polymers were investigated using FT-IR and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Physicochemical factors that influence transgene expression efficacy including DNA binding, hydrodynamic size, zeta potential and cytotoxicity, were determined. Formation of polymer-plasmid DNA complexes was also visualized using atomic force microscopy. GTMAC-AM polymers demonstrated higher transgene expression efficacies compared to their parent polymers, 25 kDa poly(ethyleneimine), as well as Lipofectamine-3000. Our results indicate that quaternization enhances the transgene expression efficacy and reduces the cytotoxicity of aminoglycoside-derived polymers, making it an attractive strategy for nucleic acid delivery with these new materials.
Creating Community on the Margins: The Successful Black Female Academician

The experiences of a Black Female academic, working at a Predominately White Institution (PWI), is explored in this work. The author suggests that Black women have been historically marginalized within most PWI’s and historically this has been viewed in a negative light. Here it is suggested that Black women in academe view this position as one of power which can be used to propel them towards the goals of tenure and promotion. This work uses Black Feminist Theory to examine these experiences and to provide a proper context for analysis.
Cystatins in human tear fluid.

The activities of cysteine proteinases which include several lysosomal cathepsins are controlled by naturally occuring inhibitory proteins termed cystatins. Cystatins occur both intracellularly and extracellularly in various tissue fluids including tears. Tears were collected by the Schirmer paper strip method from healthy volunteers who had no history or signs of external ocular disease. The tear components were extracted from the filter papers, and used to determine the apparent free cystatin activity and cystatin levels of tears, and for immunoblots. Tears were also collected using capillary tubes for the measurements of cystatins. By titrating papain, a cysteine proteinase, of known specific activity with tear fluid, relatively high levels of apparent free cystatin activity were demonstrated in tears: 28.8±3.47 (S.E.M.) pmols papain inhibited per mg tear protein (n=9). The concentrations of cystatins in tear samples were measured by an indirect enzymelinked iummunosorbent assay (ELISA) using antibodie...