cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sequence requirements for cytochrome P-450IID1 catalytic activity. A single amino acid change (Ile380 Phe) specifically decreases Vmax of the enzyme for bufuralol but not debrisoquine hydroxylation.

Abstract A cDNA coding for an allelic variant of rat IID1, designated IID1v, was isolated that produced a P-450 having a 10-fold lower catalytic activity toward the substrate bufuralol when expressed in COS-1 cells (Matsunaga, E., Zanger, U. M., Hardwick, J. P., Gelboin, H. V., Meyer, U. A., and Gonzalez, F. J. (1989) Biochemistry, 28, 7349-7355). IID1 and IID1v cDNA-deduced proteins differed in sequence by 4 amino acid residues. IID1 has Val, Phe, Arg, and Leu while IID1v has Ile, Leu, Gln, and Phe at amino acid positions 123, 124, 173, and 380, respectively. Chimeric cDNAs between IID1 and IID1v were constructed and expressed in hepatoma cells using vaccinia virus. A chimera having the Phe (IID1v) at amino acid 380, with the remaining 3 variant amino acid residues of IID1, was found to have a 17-fold decrease in Vmax and a 2 to 3-fold decrease in Km for (+)-bufuralol 1'-hydroxylation when compared to a converse chimera having Ile (IID1) in a background of IID1v sequence. Although this enzyme lacked significant bufuralol metabolism, it was able to carry out debrisoquine 4-hydroxylation. In contrast, the chimera having Ile (IID1) at position 380 was lacking in debrisoquine 4-hydroxylation. Type I difference spectra analysis revealed that both forms could bind debrisoquine with similar spectral dissociation constants. These data demonstrate that the single amino acid substitution Ile380----Phe differentially decreases the catalytic activity of IID1 toward bufuralol but not debrisoquine.
Adherence to national guidelines for antiemesis prophylaxis in patients undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting (N/V) during chemotherapy can have profound clinical and economic consequences. Effective antiemetic agents are available for prophylaxis, but barriers may prevent their use. For this population-based study, the authors assessed the rates of antiemetic prophylaxis use, and predictors of such use, among patients who were receiving platinum-based chemotherapy for lung cancer between 2001 and 2007. METHODS: The authors searched the Texas Cancer Registry–Medicare-linked database for individuals aged >65 years who received platinum-based chemotherapy within 12 months after a first diagnosis of lung cancer from 2001 to 2007; and all patients had continuous Medicare Part A and Part B coverage for the same period. Adherence to recommended regimens for N/V prophylaxis (established by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network) was scored as a binary variable (adherent vs nonadherent) and was calculated as the percentages of treated patients receiving each recommended agent within 1 day of beginning chemotherapy. Logistic regression with stepwise selection was used to examine whether patient characteristics influenced adherence. RESULTS: Of 4566 selected patients, adherence rates for the receipt of serotonin antagonists (eg, ondansetron) with dexamethasone were 60% to 90% regardless of whether the chemotherapy agent was considered moderately or highly emetogenic. The receipt of substance-P antagonists was much less common (<10%) during any period. On multivariate logistic regression modeling, variables that predicted adherence were older age, white race, higher median income, and concurrent radiation therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Recommended use of antiemetics for prophylaxis, especially substance-P antagonists, during chemotherapy for lung cancer is suboptimal. Factors that were correlated with adherence suggest socioeconomic barriers in the community. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.
Pan1p, yeast eps15, functions as a multivalent adaptor that coordinates protein-protein interactions essential for endocytosis.

A genetic screen for factors required for endocytosis in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae previously identified PAN1. Pan1p is a homologue of the mammalian protein eps15, which has been implicated in endocytosis by virtue of its association with the plasma membrane clathrin adaptor complex AP-2. Pan1p contains two eps15 homology (EH) domains, a protein–protein interaction motif also present in other proteins that function in membrane trafficking. To address the role of Pan1p and EH domains in endocytosis, a yeast two-hybrid screen was performed using the EH domain–containing region of Pan1p. This screen identified yAP180A, one of two yeast homologues of a class of clathrin assembly proteins (AP180) that exhibit in vitro clathrin cage assembly activity. In vitro binding studies using GST fusion proteins and yeast extracts defined distinct binding sites on yAP180A for Pan1p and clathrin. yAP180 proteins and Pan1p, like actin, localize to peripheral patches along the plasma membrane. Mammalian synaptojanin, a phosphatidylinositol polyphosphate-5-phosphatase, also has been implicated in endocytosis recently, and three synaptojanin-like genes have been identified in yeast. We observed genetic interactions between the yeast SJL1 gene and PAN1, which suggest a role for phosphoinositide metabolites in Pan1p function. Together with other studies, these findings suggest that Pan1p coordinates regulatory interactions between proteins required for both endocytosis and actin-cytoskeleton organization; these proteins include the yAP180 proteins, clathrin, the ubiquitin–protein ligase Rsp5p, End3p, and synaptojanin. We suggest that Pan1p (and by extension eps15) serves as a multivalent adaptor around which dynamic interactions between structural and regulatory components of the endocytic pathway converge.
Analysis of Host Range Restriction Determinants in the Rabbit Model: Comparison of Homologous and Heterologous Rotavirus Infections

The main limitation of both the rabbit and mouse models of rotavirus infection is that human rotavirus (HRV) strains do not replicate efficiently in either animal. The identification of individual genes necessary for conferring replication competence in a heterologous host is important to an understanding of the host range restriction of rotavirus infections. We recently reported the identification of the P type of the spike protein VP4 of four lapine rotavirus strains as being P[14]. To determine whether VP4 is involved in host range restriction in rabbits, we evaluated infection in rotavirus antibody-free rabbits inoculated orally with two P[14] HRVs, PA169 (G6) and HAL1166 (G8), and with several other HRV strains and animal rotavirus strains of different P and G types. We also evaluated whether the parental rhesus rotavirus (RRV) (P5B[3], G3) and the derived RRV-HRV reassortant candidate vaccine strains RRV x D (G1), RRV x DS-1 (G2), and RRV x ST3 (G4) would productively infect rabbits. Based on virus shedding, limited replication was observed with the P[14] HRV strains and with the SA11 Cl3 (P[2], G3) and SA11 4F (P6[1], G3) animal rotavirus strains, compared to the homologous ALA strain (P[14], G3). However, even limited infection provided complete protection from rotavirus infection when rabbits were challenged orally 28 days postinoculation (DPI) with 10(3) 50% infective doses of ALA rabbit rotavirus. Other HRVs did not productively infect rabbits and provided no significant protection from challenge, in spite of occasional seroconversion. Simian RRV replicated as efficiently as lapine ALA rotavirus in rabbits and provided complete protection from ALA challenge. Live attenuated RRV reassortant vaccine strains resulted in no, limited, or productive infection of rabbits, but all rabbits were completely protected from heterotypic ALA challenge. The altered replication efficiency of the reassortants in rabbits suggests a role for VP7 in host range restriction. Also, our results suggest that VP4 may be involved in, but is not exclusively responsible for, host range restriction in the rabbit model. The replication efficiency of rotavirus in rabbits also is not controlled by the product of gene 5 (NSP1) alone, since a reassortant rotavirus with ALA gene 5 and all other genes from SA11 was more severely replication restricted than either parental rotavirus strain.
Topological complexity and the dynamics of coarsening.

Coarsening or Ostwald ripening occurs in a vast array of two-phase systems. Coarsening results in a decrease in the interfacial area per unit volume and a concomitant increase in the size scale of the interfacial morphology. Much is known about the coarsening process in two-phase mixtures consisting of a polydisperse array of spherical particles1,2. In contrast, in many two-phase mixtures, such as those found in two-phase polymers3, ceramics4, dendritic solid–liquid mixtures5,6 and order–disorder transformations7, the interfaces are both interconnected and have a spatially varying mean curvature. Here we show that the morphological evolution of these topologically complex systems during coarsening can be quantified by measuring the probability of finding a patch of interface with a given curvature tensor. We find that the morphological evolution is described by the flow of probability density in this curvature space that is induced by the coarsening process. The hallmark of our approach is a close coupling between experiment and theory; we use the experimentally measured three-dimensional microstructure as an input to a phase-field calculation that then determines the flow in curvature space. The methodology is general, and applicable to many systems undergoing coarsening, regardless of their topology.
Geographic Deaggregation of Seismic Hazard in the United States

The seismic hazard calculations for the 1996 national seismic hazard maps have been geographically deaggregated to assist in the understanding of the relative contributions of sources. These deaggregations are exhibited as maps with vertical bars whose heights are proportional to the contribution that each geographical cell makes to the ground-motion exceedance hazard. Bar colors correspond to average source magnitudes. We also extend the deaggregation analysis reported in Harmsen et al. (1999) to the western conterminous United States. In contrast to the central and eastern United States (CEUS); the influence of specific faults or characteristic events can be clearly identified. Geographic deaggregation for 0.2-sec and 1.0-sec pseudo spectral acceleration (SA) is performed for 10% probability of exceedance (PE) in 50 yr (475-yr mean return period) and 2% PE in 50 yr (2475-yr mean return period) for four western U.S. cities, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle, and for three central and eastern U.S. cities, Atlanta, Boston, and Saint Louis. In general, as the PE is lowered, the sources of hazard closer to the site dominate. Larger, more distant earthquakes contribute more significantly to hazard for 1.0-sec SA than for 0.2-sec SA. Additional maps of geographically deaggregated seismic hazard are available on the Internet for 120 cities in the conterminous United States ( ) for 1-sec SA and for 0.2-sec SA with a 2% PE in 50 yr. Examination of these maps of hazard contributions enables the investigator to determine the distance and azimuth to predominant sources, and their magnitudes. This information can be used to generate scenario earthquakes and corresponding time histories for seismic design and retrofit. Where fault density is lower than deaggregation cell dimensions, we can identify specific faults that contribute significantly to the seismic hazard at a given site. Detailed fault information enables investigators to include rupture information such as source directivity, radiation pattern, and basin-edge effects into their scenario earthquakes used in engineering analyses.
Reduction of the products of periodate oxidation of carbohydrates. VII. the constitution of glycogen.

Abstract Periodate oxidation of glycogen yields glycogen polyaldehyde which, upon reduction either with hydrogen and a palladium catalyst or with sodium borohydride, gives glycogen polyalcohol. Hydrolysis of the polyalcohol, obtained from glycogen samples of different origin, affords glycerol, erythritol, glycolic aldehyde, and glucose. Determination of the molar ratio of glycerol to erythritol which was approximately 1:10 provides a new route for the end-group assay of glycogen. The result by this new technique is in good agreement with those from periodate and methylation studies. The amount of glucose stable to periodate oxidation in various specimens of glycogen polyaldehyde and the corresponding polyalcohols was 0.6-0.7% of the parent glycogen. It is suggested that this glucose arises from d -glucose residues in the glycogen molecule that are linked so that they are immune to periodate cleavage. This observation appears to require a modification of the hitherto accepted structure of glycogen.
Learning the relevance of parking information in VANETs

The use of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) has been applied to many applications involving information dissemination. Many of such applications are limited by the communication limitations of a VANET, such as limited transmission range and bandwidth. This imposes a necessity for evaluating the relevance of information. This paper proposes the use of machine learning for finding relevance of information for a parking information dissemination system. The proposed method uses the learned relevance for aiding vehicles in decision making by finding the probability that a given parking location will be available at the time of arrival. The method was evaluated through simulations and the results show that the proposed method is successful at learning the relevance of parking reports, which resulted in lower parking discovery times for vehicles.
A-model and generalized Chern–Simons theory

Abstract The relation between open topological strings and Chern–Simons theory was discovered by Witten. He proved that A -model on T ∗ M where M is a three-dimensional manifold is equivalent to Chern–Simons theory on M and that A -model on arbitrary Calabi–Yau 3-fold is related to Chern–Simons theory with instanton corrections. In present Letter we discuss multidimensional generalization of these results.
Covalently Linked Tandem Lesions in DNA

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generate a type of DNA damage called tandem lesions, two adjacent nucleotides both modified. A subcategory of tandem lesions consists of adjacent nucleotides linked by a covalent bond. Covalently linked tandem lesions generate highly characteristic liquid chromotography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) elution profiles. We have used this property to comprehensively survey X-irradiated DNA for covalently linked tandem lesions. A total of 15 tandem lesions were detected in DNA irradiated in deoxygenated aqueous solution, five tandem lesions were detected in DNA that was irradiated in oxygenated solution.
Gynecologic care after hematopoietic cell transplantation: a call to action to include gynecologists in the transplant team.

Gynecologic care after hematopoietic cell transplantation: a call to action to include gynecologists in the transplant team
Landscape as a continuum: an examination of the urban landscape structures and dynamics of Indianapolis City, 1991-2000, by using satellite images

The majority of the vast literature on remote sensing of urban landscapes has adopted a 'hard classification' approach, in which each image pixel is assigned a single land use and land cover category. Owing to the nature of urban landscapes, the confusion between land use and land cover definitions and the constraints of widely applied medium spatial resolution satellite images, high classification accuracy has been difficult to achieve with the conventional 'hard' classifiers. The prevalence of the mixed pixel problem in urban landscapes indicates a crucial need for an alternative approach to urban analyses. Identification, description and quantification, rather than classification, may provide a better understanding of the compositions and processes of heterogeneous landscapes such as urban areas. This study applied the Vegetation-Impervious Surface-Soil (V-I-S) model for characterizing urban landscapes and analysing their dynamics in Indianapolis, USA, between 1991 and 2000. To extract these landscape components from three dates of Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM/ETM+) images in 1991 1995 and 2000, we used the technique of linear spectral mixture analysis (LSMA). These components were further classified into urban thematic classes, and used for analysis of the landscape patterns and dynamics. The results indicate that LSMA provides a suitable technique for detecting and mapping urban materials and V-I-S component surfaces in repetitive and consistent ways, and for solving the spectral mixing of medium spatial resolution satellite imagery. The reconciliation between the V-I-S model with LSMA for Landsat imagery allowed this continuum landscape model to be an alternative, effective approach to characterizing and quantifying the spatial and temporal changes of the urban landscape compositions in Indianapolis from 1991 to 2000. It is suggested that the model developed in this study offers a more realistic and robust representation of the true nature of urban landscapes, as compared with the conventional method based on 'hard classification' of satellite imagery. The general applicability of this continuum model, especially its spectral, spatial and temporal variability, is discussed.
Application of Continuous Indentation Technique in Thermal Power Plant

Reliability evaluation of the welded structure is divided by method concentrating on defect and mechanical property. Thermal power plant facilities are operated in high temperature, high pressure and called for safety guarantee. Three factors are constituted for this. The First is PSI(pre-service inspection) and the second is ISI(in-service inspection) and the third is quantitative analysis in safety. Main steam and hot reheat steam pipes in thermal power plant are frequently making a trouble because of unsuitable quality control under construction. So, the suitable construction and the development of life forecast method is urgent matter. Therefore, the continuous indentation technique is interested in effective test method of pipes in power plant facilities. This strong point of the continuous indentation technique is possibility of super-precision measurement, programmed test analysis, nondestructive stiffness evaluation. This study is focused on the possibility of the continuous indentation technique application in main steam and hot reheat steam pipes for stiffness evaluation in thermal power plant facilities.
Intravenous bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw.

Background: Bisphosphonates have received attention in the dental and medical scientific literature because of spontaneous necrosis of the jaw subsequent to their use. As the population ages, the use of these medications is increasing; the medical benefits seem to outweigh the risk for osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ).Methods: A 71-year-old white male with a history of multiple myeloma, for which he was receiving intravenous (IV) zoledronic acid, presented for routine periodontal maintenance therapy. Intraoral observation revealed a 9 × 4-mm area of exposed bone on the lingual aspect of tooth #31. Initially, the site was treated conservatively with topical 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate application. Over a 12-month period, the area of exposed bone increased in size to 20 × 9 mm and became symptomatic.Results: The osseous necrosis progressed, ultimately resulting in a pathologic fracture of the right posterior mandible that was managed by reduction and stabilization. At 5 months post-surgery, bone exposure pe...
Dobutamine stress echocardiography: Causes and approach to false negative and false positive studies

Summary Dobumitamine stress echocardiography has clinically useful levels of sensitivity and specificity. False negative studies are more common in patients with single vessel disease and those not achieving adequate levels of stress. Adequate stress can be attained in more patients with the use of atropine and aggressive dobutamine infusion protocols. Digital storage and display of baseline and serial stress images assists in the recognition of subtle or atypical manifestations of ischemia. A variety of cardiac conditions can produce baseline wall motion abnormalities in the absence of significant coronary artery disease. These conditions can often be identified before stress testing is performed. Dobutamine-induced wall motion abnormalities may occur in the absence of significant coronary obstruction. Myocardial ischemia remains a potential cause of these false positive studies, particularly when two or more conditions that reduce perfusion reserve are present.
Incorporating beta-turns and a turn mimetic out of context in loop 1 of the WW domain affords cooperatively folded beta-sheets.

To probe the conformational requirements of loop 1 in the Pin1 WW domain, the residues at the i + 2 and i + 3 positions of a β-turn within this loop were replaced by dPro-Gly and Asn-Gly, which are...
The alternative in Eastern Europe at century's start: Brozozowski and Machajski on intellectuals and socialism

It is unfortunate how unfamiliar social theorists and philosophers from Western Europe and even more so North America are with the East European critical intellectual legacy. Debates among leading East European communist intellectuals are usually part of the Western critical repertoire, and occasionally some anarchist contributions might inform Western thinking. But it is relatively rare to find theorists such as Machajski and especially Brzozowski in the bibliographies of Western products, even while the experiences of Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. are becoming the stock of what transforms the critical perspective. This, I believe, is a major handicap for the analysis of socialism, as the issues that are central to the problem of socialism - the relationship between intellectuals and other classes on the one hand, and on the other the relationship between class and nationality - are dealt with in a more sustained manner by East European than by other intellectual cultures. I shall return to this claim in the conclusion of this essay, but it might be an argument difficult to sustain with East Europeans today as the Polish critical legacy pales in the light of the angloamerimania of contemporary Eastern European intellectual culture. One will not find many intellectuals focusing on Machajski and Brzozowski in Poland today. Indeed, Maehajski has never really been much of a part of Polish intellectual culture, given his anti-intellectual and anti-national stance. 2 Brzozowski is periodically fashionable in Polish culture, but at the present he is quite invisible in intellectual life.
Microbial and algal alginate gelation characterized by magnetic resonance

Advanced magnetic resonance (MR) relaxation and diffusion correlation measurements and imaging provide a means to non-invasively monitor gelation for biotechnology applications. In this study, MR is used to characterize physical gelation of three alginates with distinct chemical structures; an algal alginate, which is not O-acetylated but contains poly guluronate (G) blocks, bacterial alginate from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which does not have poly-G blocks, but is O-acetylated at the C2 and/or C3 of the mannuronate residues, and alginate from a P. aeruginosa mutant that lacks O-acetyl groups. The MR data indicate that diffusion-reaction front gelation with Ca(2+) ions generates gels of different bulk homogeneities dependent on the alginate structure. Shorter spin-spin T(2) magnetic relaxation times in the alginate gels that lack O-acetyl groups indicate stronger molecular interaction between the water and biopolymer. The data characterize gel differences over a hierarchy of scales from molecular to system size.
Wigner's function and tunneling

Abstract We construct Wigner's functions of a system with the potential— 1 2 ω 2 q 2 to exhibit and resolve some paradoxical features present in this description. Among others, we show that tunneling at negative energies arises through real trajectories associated with positive energies, in contradistinction of the usual WKB picture where this effect comes about by using complex trajectories of the correct energy. We resolve this puzzle by showing (a) that the initial data of this quantal description already contain “wrong” energy regions, (b) the interference phenomenon of WKB wave functions which provides the main contribution to Wigner's function in the semiclassical domain becomes strongly non-local in the presence of a separatrix, which not only allows, but necessitates the presence of these “wrong” classical trajectories in the present description.
Body image assessment and treatment in controlled studies of eating disorders

Objective This literature review examined the extent to which body image has been assessed and treated in eating disorder treatment programs and the effectiveness of different treatments for body image change. Method: Published reports of experimentally controlled clinical trials were examined for the use of measures and interventions that concerned body image. Results: About one third of psychotherapy studies assessed and treated body image. Cognitive behavioral eating disorder programs for bulimia nervosa result in modest body image improvement. Pharmacotherapy seems to be less effective than CBT, though few pharmacotherapy studies assessed body image. Although cognitive restructuring is widely used, behavioral interventions and self-monitoring that target body image have not been reported by most eating disorder programs. Little information is available on body image methods in anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. Discussion: Given the importance of body image for the development and recovery from eating disorders, more systematic body image work should be incorporated into current treatment. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Recent progress in the use of induced pluripotent stem cells in vascular regeneration.

The pressing need for patient-specific regenerative therapies is closer, more so now than ever before, to being fulfilled due to the exponentially growing fields of human induced pluripotent stem c...
Ultrafiltered milk reduces bitterness in reduced-fat Cheddar cheese made with an exopolysaccharide-producing culture.

Abstract The objectives were to reduce bitterness in reduced-fat Cheddar cheese made with an exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing culture and study relationships among ultra-filtration (UF), residual chymosin activity (RCA), and cheese bitterness. In previous studies, EPS-producing cultures improved the textural, melting, and viscoelastic properties of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese. However, the EPS-positive cheese developed bitterness after 2 to 3 mo of ripening due to increased RCA. We hypothesized that the reduced amount of chymosin needed to coagulate UF milk might result in reduced RCA and bitterness in cheese. Reduced-fat Cheddar cheeses were manufactured with EPS-producing and nonproducing cultures using skim milk or UF milk (1.2×) adjusted to a casein:fat ratio of 1.35. The EPS-producing culture increased moisture and RCA in reduced-fat Cheddar cheese. Lower RCA was found in cheese made from UF milk compared with that in cheese made from control milk. Ultrafiltration at a low concentration rate (1.2×) produced EPS-positive, reduced-fat cheese with similar RCA to that in the EPS-negative cheese. Slower proteolysis was observed in UF cheeses compared with non-UF cheeses. Panelists reported that UF EPS-positive cheese was less bitter than EPS-positive cheese made from control milk. This study showed that UF at a low concentration factor (1.2×) could successfully reduce bitterness in cheese containing a high moisture level. Because this technology reduced the RCA level (per g of protein) to a level similar to that in the control cheeses, the contribution of chymosin to cheese proteolysis would be similar in both cheeses.
Recursive filter estimation for feedforward noise cancellation with acoustic coupling

The basic principle of feedforward noise cancellation for broadband active noise reduction is based on the availability of a reliable measurement of the noise source. Reliability is compromised in case the noise measurement is acoustically coupled to the actual active noise cancellation (ANC), as stability and performance of the feedforward compensation becomes ambiguous. This paper presents a framework to recursively estimate a feedforward filter in the presence of acoustic coupling, addressing both stability and performance of the active feedforward noise cancellation algorithm. The framework is based on fractional model representations in which a feedforward filter is parameterized by coprime factorization. Conditions on the parameterization of the coprime factorization formulated by the existence of a stable perturbation enables stability in the presence of acoustic coupling. In addition, the paper shows how the stable perturbation can be estimated on-line via a recursive least-squares estimation of a generalized FIR filter to improve the performance of the feedforward filter for ANC.
Update in rheumatology—focus on hydroxychloroquine

Varicella is relatively mild in otherwise normal children, in whom new lesions form for a mean of four days after onset and heal 50 percent of their lesions in eight days. New lesions form in most immunocompromised children for longer than five days and those not treated with antiviral drugs have a 28 percent incidence of pneumonitis and a 7 percent mortality rate. Untreated immunocompromised adults with herpes zoster shed virus for longer (7.0 days) than otherwise normal adults (5.3 days). Herpes zoster is much more likely to disseminate cutaneously in immunocompromised than in immunocompetent hosts. Visceral dissemination, which is a rare event in immunocompetent patients, occurred in 8 percent of prospectively followed untreated immunocompromised hosts with herpes zoster. Acyclovir has been found to be superior to vidarabine for treatment of both chickenpox and herpes zoster. Whether or not steroids should be used to treat herpes zoster remains controversial. Concerns about the use of intravenous acyclovir include the side effects of renal and central nervous system dysfunction and the possibility of emergence of resistant viral strains. None of these concerns has proved to be an impediment to successful treatment of immunocompromised patients. The major future challenge is to find an optimal way to treat varicella zoster virus infections with oral formulations of acyclovir or its congeners.
Quantitative medial temporal lobe brain morphology and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in cocaine dependence: a preliminary report

Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that cocaine increases plasma adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) and cortisol. Chronic elevation of plasma cortisol exerts direct toxic effects upon hippocampal neurons and exacerbates hippocampal damage resulting from ischemia and seizures. The authors tested for evidence of hippocampal damage in patients with chronic cocaine dependence. Medial temporal lobe and total brain volumes were quantified using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 27 patients with cocaine dependence and 16 healthy subjects. Basal and ovine corticotropin releasing hormone (oCRH) stimulated ACTH and cortisol levels were also examined in a subset of 8 healthy and 9 cocaine dependent subjects after 21 days of abstinence. No evidence for decreased hippocampal or total brain volume in cocaine dependence was observed. Similarly, basal and oCRH stimulated ACTH and cortisol levels in cocaine dependent patients did not differ from those in healthy subjects.
Methylated polydeoxyribocytidylic acid templates for RNA polymerase

Abstract 1. 1. Previous studies with RNA polymerase have shown that the presence of methylcytosine in polyribocytidylic acid templates causes UMP or AMP to be misincorporated into the product strand. To test whether similar misincorporation can occur with a DNA template, a sample of polydeoxyribocytidylic acid has been methylated and used as a template for the same enzyme. 2. 2. Poly(dC) is much more resistant to alkylation by dimethyl sulfate at room temperature than is poly(rC), presumably because of its high degree of secondary structure. However, 7 % of the cytosine residues were methylated in the 3 position by raising the reaction temperature to 55°. 3. 3. Although this degree of alkylation decreased the overall ability of the polymer to act as template for RNA polymerase, a significant level of misincorporation of UMP and AMP was observed. This error in copying a DNA template with RNA polymerase confirms our earlier observations with RNA templates, and suggests that alkylation of cytosine in DNA may be a mutagenic event.
The characterization of atmospheric spread functions affecting satellite remote sensing of the earth's surface

Abstract A Monte Carlo simulation program has been used to compute the signal contribution of surface elements outside the field of view of a satellite borne sensor in both the visible and infrared spectra for realistic atmospheric models. For azimuthally symmetric reflection the effect of an arbitrary surface albedo pattern can be represented by two spread functions, namely, 1) the ground-satellite spread function, and 2) the ground-ground spread function. Examples of computed spread functions are shown together with their Fourier correspondents, the modulation transfer functions. It has been shown that the central portions of the line spread functions behave as the inverse distance while the point spread functions always possess a region behaving as the inverse square of the radial distance. The median distance is shown to relate to the weighted molecular and aerosol scale height, and for large distances the spread functions become independent of the aerosol loading.
Prenatal and Perinatal Factors Associated with Breast-Feeding Initiation among Inner-City Puerto Rican Women

Abstract Objective To identify factors associated with the initiation of breast-feeding in a predominantly Puerto Rican population living in inner-city Hartford, Conn. Design Retrospective study of 144 Latino women (mean±standard deviation age=26.3±5.7 years) with children at least 1 year old but younger than 6 years old (mean±standard deviation age=3.0±1.2 years) at the time of the survey. Women were recruited from agencies sponsoring health programs for mothers and children. They were interviewed in their homes (69%) or at the Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, Conn (31%). Subjects/setting Low-income Latino women who had at least 1 preschooler at the time of the interview. The women lived in inner-city Hartford, and the overwhelming majority were Puerto Rican and received welfare assistance and food stamps. Seventy-eight percent of the women chose to be interviewed in Spanish; the other 22% were interviewed in English. Statistical analyses Explanatory variables that related to breast-feeding initiation ( P ≤.2) in bivariate χ 2 analyses were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model that was reduced using backward stepwise elimination procedures. Results Multivariate analyses indicated that breast-feeding the previous child, shorter length of maternal residence in the United States, not receiving prenatal bottle-feeding advice, more recent birth, and higher birth weight were positively associated with breast-feeding initiation. A major reason for choosing not to breast-feed was that women felt socially uncomfortable doing it. Applications Breast-feeding initiation was more likely in Latino women who received prenatal breast-feeding counseling and postpartum support. Mothers of low-birth-weight infants and women breast-feeding for the first time may need additional help. These findings can be used by programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children to increase breast-feeding initiation. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998;98:657–663 .
A role for bioactivation and covalent binding within epidermal keratinocytes in sulfonamide-induced cutaneous drug reactions

Cutaneous reactions are the most common manifestation of delayed-type hypersensitivity caused by sulfamethoxazole and dapsone. In light of the recognized metabolic and immunologic activity of the skin, we investigated the potential role of normal human epidermal keratinocytes in the development of these reactions. Adult and neonatal normal human epidermal keratinocytes metabolized sulfamethoxazole and dapsone to N-4-hydroxylamine and N-acetyl derivatives in a time-dependent manner. The latter was catalyzed by N-acetyltransferase 1 alone as normal human epidermal keratinocytes did not express mRNA for N-acetyltransferase 2. Investigation of metabolism-dependent toxicity of sulfamethoxazole and dapsone, and subsequent incubation of normal human epidermal keratinocytes with the respective hydroxylamine metabolites, demonstrated that these cells were resistant to the cytotoxic effects of sulfamethoxazole hydroxylamine but not dapsone hydroxylamine. With prior depletion of glutathione, however, normal human epidermal keratinocytes became susceptible to the toxicity of sulfamethoxazole hydroxylamine. Covalent adduct formation by sulfamethoxazole hydroxylamine was detected in normal human epidermal keratinocytes, even in the absence of cell death, and was increased with glutathione depletion. Major protein targets of sulfamethoxazole hydroxylamine were observed in the region of 160, 125, 95, and 57 kDa. Dapsone hydroxylamine also caused covalent adduct formation in normal human epidermal keratinocytes. Together, these observations provide a basis for our hypothesis that normal human epidermal keratinocytes are involved in the initiation and propagation of a cutaneous hypersensitivity response to these drugs.
Regional and technological dualism: A dual‐dual development framework applied to Puerto Rico

A ‘dual‐dual’ framework is proposed which captures the prevailing regional dualism (between rural and urban areas) and technological dualism (between traditional and modern techniques). Six interdependent sectors are specified: 1) urban formal, 2) urban informal, 3) rural non‐farm formal, 4) rural non‐farm informal, 5) rural farm formal, and 6) rural farm informal. The framework is applied to the case of Puerto Rico and its experience with an ‘industrialisation‐first’ development strategy between 1950 and 1970. It is shown that this framework lends itself well to the analysis of such issues as the pattern of employment, migration, and income distribution among regions and sectors.
The disproportionate impact of environmental health threats on children of color

Children receive greater exposures to environmental pollutants present in air, food, and water because they inhale or ingest more air, food, or water on a body-weight basis than adults do. Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to hazardous wastes, dioxin, and air pollution. Existing data demonstrate that children of color are the subgroup of the population most exposed to certain pollutants, including lead, air pollution, and pesticides. Government standards do not take into account children's differential exposures or the cumulative nature of these exposures. Federal regulations fail to protect the most highly exposed and most sensitive subgroups of the population. More often than not this group is children of color.
Clinical factors predicting for prolonged enteral supplementation in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with chemoradiation

Summary Objectives The purpose of this study is to determine the pre-treatment clinical factors associated with prolonged enteral feeding in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with chemoradiation. Materials and methods One hundred and nine patients with stage III–IVB oropharyngeal carcinoma treated with definitive chemoradiation were analyzed. Feeding tube usage was defined as the duration of active usage for nutritional purposes. Results Median follow-up was 4.4 years and median feeding tube usage was 2.5 months. On multivariate analysis, increasing duration of feeding tube usage was associated with narcotic use before treatment (p = 0.04), living alone at the time of treatment (p = 0.04), and larger pre-treatment decrease in body-mass index (p = 0.01). Prolonged feeding tube usage was associated with decreased overall survival (p = 0.06) and disease-free survival (p = 0.02) in univariate analysis. Conclusions By identifying patients at risk for prolonged feeding tube usage, aggressive measures can be attempted to prevent feeding tube dependence.
Induction of functional asplenia: A piece in the splenic puzzle

Abstract Functional asplenia, apparently induced by supradiaphragmatic transposition of the spleen, is described in a child undergoing splenic transposition for Chiari's disease. Diagnosis was suspected when Howell-Jolly bodies and thrombocytosis were observed 17 months after operation in the absence of change in splenic size by chest X-ray confirmation was obtained by total lack of splenic uptake of sulfur colloid tagged with radioactive technetium. Intrasplenic arteriovenous shunting is postulated as the mechanism for loss of splenic function.
Intracellular immunolocalization of adenosine 5′-diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorylase in developing endosperm cells of maize (Zea mays L.)

We present immuno-electron microscopic evidence to show that ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase (AGP, EC 2.7.7.27) encoded by the Sh2 (shrunken 2) and the Bt2 (brittle 2) genes is localized to amyloplasts in developing endosperm of maize. The three AGP antibodies, including the two maize antisera, each raised against the Sh2encoded large or the Bt2-encoded small subunit and the spinach leaf protein, showed strong immuno-gold signals on developing starch grains in amyloplasts. The maize antibodies, but not the spinach, detected additional cross-reactivity sites to endosperm cell wall. Similar endosperm sections of the sh2-null mutant, lacking the Sh2-encoded subunit, yielded a drastic reduction in immuno signal on both starch grains and cell wall with the Sh2 anti-serum. However, the Bt2 and the spinach antisera showed no detectable difference between the sh2-null and the wild-type genotypes, except that the spinach antisera showed no reactivity to the cell wall in either of the two genotypes. Because the Bt2 epitope was readily detectable on the sh2-null starch grains, we suggest that the Bt2 subunit of this heteromeric enzyme is able to target itself to the organelle. The amyloplastic localization of the AGP protein in our studies is given additional significance by recent molecular data which indicate that full-length cDNA clones of the Sh2 and Bt2 genes show no cleavable transit-peptide signal sequence in their deduced aminoacid sequences. The observed disparity between the molecular and immunocytochemical data described here is discussed in the context of other proteins engaged in intracellular translocation with and without the known signal sequences.
Transmission of external price disturbances and the composition of trade

Abstract This paper focuses on the role of trade composition in the transmission of external price disturbances. It is shown that the effects of an increase in the price of imports on domestic prices and the trade balance crucially depend on the cross price elasticity of demand in the case of final goods and the elasticity of substitution between factors in the case of intermediate goods. In the case of an input such as oil, where the elasticity of substitution between imported and domestic factors of production is less than unity, an increase in its price will give rise to a balance-of-trade deficit but will have ambiguous effects on domestic prices.
Pre-operative irreducible C1-C2 dislocations: intra-operative reduction and posterior fixation. The "always posterior strategy".

According to Menezes’ algorithm, pre-operative dynamic neuroradiological investigation in C1–C2 dislocations (C1C2D) instability is strongly advocated in order to exclude those patients not eligible for posterior fixation and fusion without previous anterior trans-oral decompression. Anterior irreducible compression due to C1C2D instability, it is said, needs trans-oral anterior decompression. We reviewed our experience in order to refute such a paradigm. The study involves 23 patients who were operated on for cranio-vertebral junction (CVJ) instability; all of them had C1C2D of varying degree on x-ray, computerised tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the CVJ. Pre-operatively, irreducible C1C2D was demonstrated only in 3 patients, (2 with Down’s Syndrome, one of them was harbouring os odontoideum, 1 Rheumatoid Arthritis), i.e. 13.04%; the remaining 19 (86.9%) had reducible C1–C2 dislocation. After an unsuccessful traction test conducted in the pre-operative phase under sedation, it was possible to completely reduce the C1C2D (with a combination of axial traction with light extension of the neck on the chest and a light flexion of the head on the neck by using a Mayfield head holder) and proceed to posterior fixation in all the patients under general anaesthesia using a precise “timing sequences fixation technique”. Wiring (C0 and C3 were fixed first being stretched up to approximately 10 lbs, then C2 in order to pull up this vertebra last by forcing approximately 8 lbs) or screw fixation methods were used to achieve fusion along with post-operative external orthosis and neuroradiological assessment of the C1C2D. The instrumentation produced a lever and pulley effect which assisted reduction of the dislocation. At follow up (range 34–55 months-mean 45.33 months) the clinical picture was improved or stable in all patients. Pre-operative irreducibility of the C1C2D should not be an absolute indication for trans-oral decompression. An attempt to reduce the dislocation under general anaesthesia and during posterior fixation should be attempted in Down’s syndrome, os odontoideum and rheumatoid arthritis.
Into the ‘regions of physical and metaphysical chaos’: Maxwell’s scientific metaphysics and natural philosophy of action (agency, determinacy and necessity from theology, moral philosophy and history to mathematics, theory and experiment)

Abstract Maxwell’s writings exhibit an enduring preoccupation with the role of metaphysics in the advancement of science, especially the progress of physics. I examine the question of the distinction and the proper relation between physics and metaphysics and the way in which the question relies on key notions that bring together much of Maxwell’s natural philosophy, theoretical and experimental. Previous discussions of his attention to metaphysics have been confined to specific issues and polemics such as conceptions of matter and the problem of free will. I suggest a unifying pattern based on a generalized philosophical perspective and varying expressions, although never a systematic or articulated philosophical doctrine, but at least a theme of action and active powers, natural and human, intellectual and material, with sources and grounds in theology, moral philosophy and historical argument. While science was developing in the direction of professional specialization and alongside the rise of materialism, Maxwell held on to conservative intellectual outlook, but one that included a rich scientific life and held science as part of a rich intellectual, cultural and material life. His philosophical outlook integrated his science with and captured the new Victorian culture of construction and work, political, economic, artistic and engineering.