cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Induction of cytotoxic effector activity in the HL-60 promyelocytic cell line by incubation with phorbol myristate acetate: a model system of human spontaneous monocyte-mediated cytotoxicity.

Abstract In an attempt to develop a constant and reproducible in vitro system for a detailed analysis of cytotoxic effector mechanisms of nonimmune mononuclear phagocytes, the HL-60 promyelocytic cell line was studied for its cytotoxic action on chicken erythrocyte target cells. HL-60 cells cultured in complete medium were found to be noncytotoxic for chicken erythrocytes in an 18-hr 51Cr-release assay. These cells have been shown to acquire several characteristics of mature macrophages upon incubation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and when PMA was included in the medium during the assay, the HL-60 cells became strongly cytotoxic to the target cells in the absence of exogenous antibody, lectin, or serum complement. Freshly isolated peripheral blood monocytes also became cytotoxic in the presence of PMA, whereas peripheral blood lymphocytes and the U937 histiocytic cell line did not. Detectable target lysis was observed between 4 and 8 hr after HL-60 stimulation with PMA, and HL-60 cells prestimulated with PMA for 24 hr retained their cytotoxic activity following washing and assay in PMA-free medium. Cytotoxic HL-60 cells developed after exposure to 10−6 to 10−9M PMA, and significant target cell lysis occurred at effector:target cell ratios as low as 0.5:1. The PMA-induced HL-60-mediated cytotoxic response was markedly inhibited by blockers of protein synthesis, inhibition of microfilament function, and depletion of cellular Superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, cytotoxicity of HL-60 cells for chicken erythrocyte targets was modulated by the direct addition of certain simple saccharides to the assay in a fashion similar to that observed with spontaneously cytotoxic mononuclear cells from several vertebrate and invertebrate species. Thus, the cytolytic effector function induced in HL-60 cells by incubation with PMA presents a useful model for the study of cellular cytotoxic mechanisms as well as the mechanisms utilized by nonimmune cells in the recognition of non-self.
In appropriate electrical countershocks by an automated external defibrillator

A 79-year-old man who was in normal sinus rhythm with a palpable pulse was inappropriately shocked twice by a fully automated external defibrillator. The second shock resulted in ventricular tachycardia. The device then countershocked a third time, restoring normal sinus rhythm. The problem occurred primarily because the rescuers did not follow the device's instructions warning against applying the device in analysis mode to a patient with a palpable pulse, and they attempted to analyze the rhythm in a moving vehicle. Motion artifact and T waves that were relatively tall compared with the QRS amplitude were misinterpreted as ventricular fibrillation by the device. This example of inappropriate countershocks delivered by rescuers using a fully automated device illustrates the importance of proper training and continuing education.
Diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for discrete-ordinates problems

Abstract The diffusion-synthetic acceleration (DSA) method is an iterative procedure for obtaining numerical solutions of discrete-ordinates problems. The DSA method is operationally more complicated than the standard source-iteration (SI) method, but if encoded properly it converges much more rapidly, especially for problems with diffusion-like regions. In this article we describe the basic ideas behind the DSA method and give a (roughly chronological) review of its long development. We conclude with a discussion which covers additional topics, including some remaining open problems and the status of current efforts aimed at solving these problems.
New negative resist design with novel photo-base generator

An alternate negative tone resist is investigated for advanced lithography. Unlike conventional negative tone development (NTD) resists developed with organic solvent, this negative resist use TMAH as its developer. Thermal acid generator (TAG) and photo base generator (PBG) are proposed for this resist. PBG decomposes and generates alkali at the exposed area and neutralizes the acid from TAG. Hence, positive resist can produce negative tone image (NTI), and gain better optical contrast than positive tone imaging. The new negative resist reported in this paper also shows better resolution than conventional negative resist. Several optimization studies are also reported. In addition, major limitations on further improving resist resolution are also pointed out in this paper. The solution proposed has been proven workable from experimental results. This opens the possibility to combine better optical contrast from NTI, high resist resolution from positive resist resin, and better development contrast from TMAH solution.
A microscopic model for calculations of chemical processes in aqueous solutions

Abstract A new microscopic model for calculations of chemical processes in aqueous solutions is presented. The model, referred to here as the “surface constrained soft sphere dipoles” (SCSSD) model avoids the problems of the continuum models by explicitly including the solvent molecules. Each solvent molecule is represented as a point dipole attached to the center of a soft sphere. The solvation energy is evaluated by minimizing the solute-solvent energy with respect to the orientations and positions of those dipoles while constraining the surface dipoles to have the orientations and positions of the bulk solvent. The model is demonstrated by calculating the energetic of charge separation in aqueous solution and evaluating the corresponding dielectric constant. The SCSSD model can be used for quantitative studies of ionic reactions in solutions. This is demonstrated by calculation of the potential surface for the dissociation of formic acid in aqueous solution.
Obesity and risk of biochemical failure for patients receiving salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy.

Purpose Obesity has been proposed as an independent risk factor for patients undergoing surgery or radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer. Using body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity, we tested its role as a risk factor for patients receiving salvage RT after prostatectomy. Methods and Materials Rates of subsequent biochemical relapse were examined in 90 patients who underwent salvage RT between 1984 and 2004 for biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy. Median follow-up was 3.7 years. The BMI was tested as a continuous and categorical variable (stratified as 2 ). Univariate and multivariate proportional hazards regression analyses were performed for clinical, pathologic, and treatment factors associated with time to relapse after salvage RT. Results There were 40 biochemical failures after salvage RT with a median time to failure of 1.2 years. The BMI was not associated with adverse clinical, pathologic, or treatment factors. On multivariate analysis, obesity was independently significant (hazard ratio [HR], 1.2; p = 0.01), along with RT dose (HR, 0.7; p = 0.003) and pre-RT prostate-specific antigen level (HR, 1.2; p = 0.0003). Conclusions This study is weakly suggestive that obesity may be a risk factor for salvage RT patients. Whether this results from greater biologic aggressiveness or technical inadequacies cannot be answered by this study. Given the very high failure rate observed for severely obese patients, we propose that technical difficulties with RT are at play. This hypothesis is supported by the RT literature and could be prospectively investigated. Techniques that optimize targeting, especially in obese patients, perhaps seem warranted at this time.
Flash photolysis studies of carbenes and their impact on the skell-woodworth rules

Abstract The technique of flash photolysis has recently been applied to the study of carbene reaction kinetics and mechanisms. We review the impact of these studies on the Skell-Woodworth rules.
Prostaglandin synthesis in rabbit graafian follicles in vitro. Effect of luteinizing hormone and cyclic AMP.

Abstract We have demonstrated the capacity of isolated follicles from estrous rabbits to synthesize prostaglandins in vitro and to respond to gonadotropins added to the incubation medium with an increased accumulation of these lipids. The increase in both prostaglandins became apparent only after 5 hours of incubation. The effect was specific for hormones with LH activity and the threshold dose of LH appeared to be 0.005 μg/ml. In addition, we have shown that cyclic AMP (0.02 M) added to the incubation medium also increased prostaglandin in this in vitro system and appears to be a likely mediator of this action of LH.
Molecular cloning and expression of phospholipase C epsilon 1 in zebrafish.

Abstract Phospholipase C (PLC) is a key enzyme that generates inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP 3 ) and diacylglycerol (DAG), two second messengers in signal transduction. Phospholipase Ce (PLCE1) is a unique member of the PLC family in that it carries both RasGEF and Ras-associating (RA) domains and may serve as an activator and an effector of small GTPases. Recently, mutations in PLCE1 have been associated with early-onset nephrotic syndrome. We have identified the zebrafish ortholog of PLCE1 and characterized its expression pattern in zebrafish embryos by in situ hybridization. Zebrafish plce1 gene encodes a protein of 2248 amino acids that shares 56% identity with mammalian PLCe. During zebrafish embryonic development, plce1 is expressed in a dynamic pattern in a variety of organs, such as brain, muscle, liver, and pronephric glomeruli. Our results suggest that zebrafish may be used as a model organism to address the function of PLCe during the development of these organs.
NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS FROM CORN–SOYBEAN SYSTEMS IN THE MIDWEST

Soil N2O emissions from three corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] systems in central Iowa were measured from the spring of 2003 through February 2005. The three managements systems evaluated were full-width tillage (fall chisel plow, spring disk), no-till, and no-till with a rye (Secale cereale L. ‘Rymin’) winter cover crop. Four replicate plots of each treatment were established within each crop of the rotation and both crops were present in each of the two growing seasons. Nitrous oxide fluxes were measured weekly during the periods of April through October, biweekly during March and November, and monthly in December, January, and February. Two polyvinyl chloride rings (30-cm diameter) were installed in each plot (in and between plant rows) and were used to support soil chambers during the gas flux measurements. Flux measurements were performed by placing vented chambers on the rings and collecting gas samples 0, 15, 30, and 45 min following chamber deployment. Nitrous oxide fluxes were computed from the change in N2O concentration with time, after accounting for diffusional constraints. We observed no significant tillage or cover crop effects on N2O flux in either year. In 2003 mean N2O fluxes were 2.7, 2.2, and 2.3 kg N2O-N ha 21 yr 21 from the soybean plots under chisel plow, no-till, and no-till 1 cover crop, respectively. Emissions from the chisel plow, no-till, and no-till 1 cover crop plots planted to corn averaged 10.2, 7.9, and 7.6 kg N2O-N ha 21 yr 21 , respectively. In 2004 fluxes from both crops were higher than in 2003, but fluxes did not differ among the management systems. Fluxes from the corn plots were significantly higher than from the soybean plots in both years. Comparison of our results with estimates calculated using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default emission factor of 0.0125 indicate that the estimated fluxes underestimate measured emissions by a factor of 3 at our sites.
Mediating two worlds : cinematic encounters in the Americas

This text examines how Latin America continues to be viewed and recreated by North American and European film-makers, from Raoul Walsh and John Sturges, to Sergei Eisenstein, Luis Bunuel and Werner Herzog. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the rich and complex development of Latin American cinema and television. It brings together specially commissioned essays from scholars in Latin America, North America and Europe to open up and explore the cultures of the Americas.
The effect of solvent flow and solvent concentration on gallstone dissolution in vitro.

Abstract Solutions of bile acids alone, bile acids in combination with lecithin and heparin, and heparin alone were evaluated as cholesterol gallstone solvents in flowing and stagnant systems. Flowing solutions of cholic acid and deoxycholic acid were substantially more effective solvents than stagnant solutions of the same concentration. Higher bile-acids concentrations increased the rate of dissolution. Heparin had no effect either alone or in combination with cholic acid. Lecithin did not enhance the rate of dissolution produced by cholic acid. In the flowing system, 150 m M cholic acid was equally as effective as 150 m M deoxycholic acid or 200 m M cholic acid.
Stimulated rotational Raman scattering in nitrogen in long air paths

We studied the growth from amplified spontaneous emission of stimulated Raman scattering in air using a 20-cm-diameter, linearly polarized, 1053-nm laser beam propagating over a 20–150-in air path. For 2.5-nsec square pulses we found about 1% conversion on the S(8) and S(10) rotational Raman lines of nitrogen at an intensity–length product of 12 TW/cm, which implies a small-signal gain coefficient of 2.5 cm/TW. For 1-nsec square pulses, 1% conversion requires an intensity–length product of about 16 TW/cm. The beam quality deteriorates severely above Raman threshold.
Role of the E-cadherin/alpha-catenin complex in modulating cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesive properties of invasive colon carcinoma cells

Background: The clinical behavior of colorectal cancer depends on its ability to invade and metastasize. Metastatic cells must dissociate from other cells and invade through basement membrane and stroma. Cell-cell adhesion in epithelial cells is mediated by the cell surface protein E-cadherin in association with α- and β-catenin, which link E-cadherin to the cytoskeleton. Decreased cell-cell adhesion and increased motility on laminin have been correlated with more poorly differentiated and aggressive carcinomas.
The effects of copper sulfate on geosmin biosynthesis by Streptomyces tendae, Streptomyces albidoflavus, and Penicillium expansum

Geosmin is produced by several phototrophic and heterotrophic taxa. This secondary metabolite can impart an earthy taste and odor to water resources. To reduce algal populations and associated biosynthesis of geosmin, copper sulfate and other copper-containing algicides are often applied to aquatic systems. Cultures of the bacterium Streptomyces tendae and the fungus Penicillium expansum grown on increasing concentrations of copper sulfate accumulated more biomass than untreated controls, indicating that these heterotrophic cultures were not markedly susceptible to this algicide. Cultures of Streptomyces albidoflavus treated with increasing concentrations of copper sulfate accumulated less biomass than untreated controls. However, copper-treated mycelium of each taxa investigated contained greater concentrations of geosmin than untreated controls. In addition, there was not a significant interaction between in the amount of biomass or geosmin accumulated by cells exposed to 0 and 0.5 mg l −1 copper sulfate over increasing dosages of zinc sulfate. If field populations exhibit similar responses, application of copper sulfate to aquatic systems may contribute to geosmin biosynthesis by certain taxa.
Modeling of Highly Flexible Structures

Introduction R ECENT rapid development in aerospace explorationhas stimulated extensive use and studies of highly  exible structures (HFSs). i 4 Figure 1 shows a representative load-de ection curve of HFS systems. It can have local buckling, snap-through,bifurcation, self-locking, snap-back, etc. Low-frequency vibration modes of HFSs are usually localized vibration modes, and hence local buckling is more likely to happen to HFSs. Local buckling results in signi cant load increase at some local areas, and hence plastic deformation may occur well before the entire structure collapses. For HFSs the design load can be chosen to be greater than the local buckling load, and hence the residual strength (the strength beyond the local buckling load) can be taken into account in the design. Snap-through happens when the load passes a limit point, and it causes serious dynamic effects. Hence, the load corresponding to the snap-through is often assumed to be the collapse load of an on-earth structure. However, if a structure can sustain the dynamic loadscausedby the snap-through,the structurecan be designedwith a design load greater than the snap-through load. In this situation the dynamic effects caused by snap-through need to be carefully analyzed to ensure safety. Unfortunately dynamics of HFSs are essentially nonlinear because of high  exibility, and modal interactions caused by geometric nonlinearitieswould be the main cause of their complicated nonlinear dynamic responses,which is always a challenging problem. Moreover, multiple possible solution paths coexist around a bifurcationpoint of a load-de ection curve. To ensure structural safety, all of these possible solution paths need to be traced, which is a dif cult numerical problem. Some nonlinear behaviors of HFSs can be used to design large space structures. For example, the self-lockingphenomenoncan be used to design jointless deployable structures.3 However, to push the design load beyond the local buckling load or even the snapthrough point, it requires advances in modeling large deformations and complex stress states of HFSs, more ef cient computational methods, and large static and dynamic tests to validate numerical simulations.Moreover, it is a new challenge to structural engineers to design large deployable/in atableHFSs that can be packaged in a small volume for a space shuttle to carry and can be easily deployed or constructed in space. Here we present some considerations and solutions to the modeling and design of HFSs based on the development and use of an in-house nonlinear  nite element code.
The Mill on the Sewer: Wilhelm Raabe's Pfister's Mill and the Present Relevance of Past Literature

Much of the contemporary attention that has been given to Wilhelm Raabe's Pfisler's Mill (1884) has been owing to its apparently ecological theme of water pollution, but we should be careful not to modernize it too much or lose sight of its location in its own time. Pfister's Mill runs across the grain of the expectations commonly brought to the nineteenth-century German novel. Far from being oblivious to the modern social environment, it is closely patterned on a real event, a crisis of modern industrialization. While Raabe does take an elegiac view of the lost values of the past, he acknowledges the urbanization that has been taking place well before the ruin of the mill and gives an unexpectedly positive evaluation of an optimistically modern spirit in the figures of Emmy Pfister and especially the strangely ironic polluting entrepreneur Asche. Raabe avoids trivial melodrama and sentimentality about the past as well as thoughtless acceptance of industrial development or of the impressive energies it releases in Asche. Interpretations that assume Raabe simply did not understand capitalism fail to grasp the open-ended irony and balance of an internally dissonant novel that questions the reader rather than providing settled doctrine or ideological assurance.
Reengineering Academic Medical Centers: Reengineering Academic Values?.

Academic medicine is entering an era of profound, unsettling change resulting not simply from the drastic transformation of the health care marketplace but more fundamentally from the chronic, growing gap between academic medicine's seemingly insatiable demand for total resources and the supply of resources that society is willing to provide. To examine this problem, the author reviews the major factors that have shaped the development of academic medical centers (AMCs) since World War II and are now the roots of their vulnerability. The first was the major federal investment in university-based programs of science research and education that began in the 1940s; the second was the enactment in the 1960s of the Medicare/Medicaid legislation that established federal responsibility for the support of graduate medical education. After describing important characteristics (e.g., number of faculty, number of students, dollars spent on research) of the growth and accomplishment that resulted from this massive infusion of federal funds over the last few decades, the author discusses several adverse consequences, such as the de-emphasis on education in favor of research and clinical service delivery and the serious disjunction between the internal labor markets of the AMCs and the external labor markets of the real world that AMCs' graduates enter. The author then analyzes the severe challenges being faced by academic medicine in research, education, and clinical practice in the emerging resource-limited environment. Of particular concern are the fate of the clinical investigator and the future of clinical research. The author concludes with a list of four feasible strategic options for AMCs (e.g., "build one's own system") and an extensive list of what he believes AMCs will do to respond to the stresses now upon them (e.g., capitalize on unique strengths rather than trying to compete in all areas). He concludes that it will take courage for AMCs to preserve their core values in the new era, but that this can be done if AMCs craft new adaptive structures that are better attuned to the new environment and not wedded to one that is vanishing.
Kindergarten screens as tools for the early identification of children at risk for remediation or grade retention

This study was designed to compare the capability of three kindergarten screening instruments to correctly predict which children would be recommended for referral to remedial programs or for retention. The instruments used were a screen based on Piagetian theory that was specifically designed for the current study, a published general screening test, and a language-specific screen. The subjects were 95 White, middle-class children approximately 60 months of age at the time of testing. The predictor screens were given prior to kindergarten entry, with the follow-up assessment completed 11 months later as the children neared the end of kindergarten. The teachers who conducted the follow-up testing were blind to the initial results. The Piagetian-based instrument was found to have poor predictive qualities. Both published instruments, the general-purpose kindergarten screen and a language-specific screen, were found to be predictive of teachers' recommendations regarding referral and retention.
The Influence of the Period of Heat on Milk Production

Summary From the data presented here it would appear that: 1.There is a decrease in milk production on the day of breeding and the day following. 2.An apparently compensating increase takes place two days before breeding. 3.Individual cows show very wide differences in their production at this time. 4.Wide variations in behavior may be expected between different heat periods with the same individual.
Cell culture modifies Ca2+ signaling during excitation–contraction coupling in neonate cardiac myocytes

In heart, the excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) mechanism changes during development. Primary cell culture has been used to study Ca(2+) signaling in newborn (NB) rat heart. In this work, the effects of cell culture on the action potential (AP) and ECC Ca(2+) signaling during development were investigated. Specifically, AP, Ca(2+) currents (I(Ca)), and ryanodine receptor (RyR) properties (i.e. density, distribution, and contribution to Ca(2+) transients and Ca(2+) sparks) were defined in cultured myocytes (CM) from 0-day-old NB rat at different times in culture (1-4 days). Compared with acutely dissociated myocytes (ADM) from NB of equivalent ages (1-4 days), CM showed lower RyR density (50% at 1 day, 25% at 4 days), but larger RyR contribution to the Ca(2+) transient (25% at 1 day, 57% at 4 days). Additionally, Ca(2+) sparks were larger, longer, wider, and more frequent in CM than in ADM. RyR cellular distribution also showed different arrangement. While in CM, RyRs were located peripherally, in ADM of equivalent ages a sarcomeric arrangement was predominant. Finally, CM showed a two-fold increase in sarcolemmal Ca(2+) entry during the AP. These results indicated that primary culture is a feasible model to study Ca(2+) signaling in heart; however, it does not precisely reproduce what occurs in ECC during development.
Negative Droplets from Positive Electrospray

Image charge detection has been used to measure the charge and velocity of individual electrosprayed water droplets. With a positive bias on the electrospray needle the majority of the droplets are, as expected, positively charged. However, a small fraction, surprisingly, carry a negative charge. Plausible explanations for the presence of the negatively charged droplets are discussed. In particular, we consider the possibility of the negatively charged droplets resulting from a bipolar fission process where the incorporation of a small negatively charged droplet between two larger positively charged progeny lowers the energy barrier for symmetric fission.
Biological Activity of Staphylococcin 462: Bacteriocin from Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcin 462 is a proteinaceous inhibitor produced by Staphylococcus aureus strain 462. In broth cultures, susceptible S. aureus strain 140 and 19 respond to treatment with the bacteriocin by stopping growth and cell division. Examination of macromolecular synthesis by measuring the incorporation of radioactive precursors revealed that S. aureus 140 stops synthesizing protein immediately. After exposure to staphylococcin 462, the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid is quickly inhibited also, but not as completely. Treatment of S. aureus 140 with the inhibitor causes a rapid drop in cellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate level to about 60% of control levels. Of the 70 strains of gram-positive bacteria tested for susceptibility to staphylococcin 462, 24 (34%), distributed among 7 genera, were susceptible.
Effect of atrial pacing on intracoronary thromboxane production in coronary artery disease

The effect of atrial pacing on intracoronary thromboxane production was investigated in 35 patients with stable (n = 19) or unstable (n = 16) angina. Arterial and coronary sinus thromboxane B2, the stable metabolite of thromboxane A2, myocardial lactate extraction and thermodilution coronary sinus flow were measured before, during and immediately after atrial pacing until the onset of angina. Pacing did not significantly increase coronary sinus thromboxane B2(rest, 233 ± 107 pg/ml; pacing, 249 ± 154 pg/ml; postpacing, 330 ± 309 pg/ml) (mean ± standard deviation) despite a moderate increase in arterial thromboxane B2(rest, 270 ± 170 pg/ ml; pacing, 387 ± 364 pg/ml; postpacing, 446 ± 420 pg/ ml) (all changes probability [p] These data suggest that: 1) pacing-induced angina is usually not associated with substantial intracoronary thromboxane A2production; 2) in a minority of patients who develop intracoronary thromboxane A2production, the amount is small and does not produce significant coronary vasoconstriction.
Enhancing clinical concept extraction with distributional semantics

Extracting concepts (such as drugs, symptoms, and diagnoses) from clinical narratives constitutes a basic enabling technology to unlock the knowledge within and support more advanced reasoning applications such as diagnosis explanation, disease progression modeling, and intelligent analysis of the effectiveness of treatment. The recent release of annotated training sets of de-identified clinical narratives has contributed to the development and refinement of concept extraction methods. However, as the annotation process is labor-intensive, training data are necessarily limited in the concepts and concept patterns covered, which impacts the performance of supervised machine learning applications trained with these data. This paper proposes an approach to minimize this limitation by combining supervised machine learning with empirical learning of semantic relatedness from the distribution of the relevant words in additional unannotated text. The approach uses a sequential discriminative classifier (Conditional Random Fields) to extract the mentions of medical problems, treatments and tests from clinical narratives. It takes advantage of all Medline abstracts indexed as being of the publication type ''clinical trials'' to estimate the relatedness between words in the i2b2/VA training and testing corpora. In addition to the traditional features such as dictionary matching, pattern matching and part-of-speech tags, we also used as a feature words that appear in similar contexts to the word in question (that is, words that have a similar vector representation measured with the commonly used cosine metric, where vector representations are derived using methods of distributional semantics). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort exploring the use of distributional semantics, the semantics derived empirically from unannotated text often using vector space models, for a sequence classification task such as concept extraction. Therefore, we first experimented with different sliding window models and found the model with parameters that led to best performance in a preliminary sequence labeling task. The evaluation of this approach, performed against the i2b2/VA concept extraction corpus, showed that incorporating features based on the distribution of words across a large unannotated corpus significantly aids concept extraction. Compared to a supervised-only approach as a baseline, the micro-averaged F-score for exact match increased from 80.3% to 82.3% and the micro-averaged F-score based on inexact match increased from 89.7% to 91.3%. These improvements are highly significant according to the bootstrap resampling method and also considering the performance of other systems. Thus, distributional semantic features significantly improve the performance of concept extraction from clinical narratives by taking advantage of word distribution information obtained from unannotated data.
Bone age, mineral density, and fatigue damage.

The most plausible purpose for bone remodeling is to prevent excessive aging of bone, which can cause osteocyte death and increase susceptibility to fatigue microdamage. The age of any particular volume of bone depends on two factors: the probability of remodeling beginning on the nearest bone surface, which is given by the local activation frequency; and the probability of a particular remodeling event penetrating to a specified distance from the surface. These two probabilities can be combined in a mathematical model. According to the model, within about 40 μm from the surface, the rate of surface remodeling is the main determinant of bone age, but beyond 40 μm, the distance from the surface becomes progressively more important. Beyond 75 μm, the bone is essentially isolated from surface remodeling. Application of the model to subjects with and without vertebral fracture indicated that the proportion of iliac cancellous bone with a mean age greater than 20 years was less than 20% in all the control subjects without fracture, but was more than 20% in about one-third of the patients with fracture. Bone age is a major determinant of the degree of mineralization, so that osteoporotic patients with prolonged bone age should have bone of higher true mineral density. Accordingly, mineral density distribution was determined by scanning electron microscopy with backscattered electron imaging, calibrated in terms of atomic number. In osteoporotic patients, the mean atomic number was lower, the proportion of bone with high values was lower, and the proportion of bone with low values was higher than in control subjects, the opposite of what would be predicted by the bone age model just described. These data, together with our failure, to date, to detect osteocyte death and fatigue microdamage in iliac cancellous bone in patients with osteoporosis, cast doubt on the role of low bone turnover and increased bone age in the pathogenesis of vertebral fracture. Although conclusive data are still lacking, bone age, osteocyte death, and fatigue failure are more likely relevant to the pathogenesis of hip fracture. Nevertheless, enhanced bone conservation as a result of modest therapeutic inhibition of remodeling activation more than offsets the hypothetical risk of increasing bone age.
Stage IV‐S neuroblastoma. Results with definitive therapy

The results of management of 14 patients with Stage IV-S neuroblastoma are reported. The treatment policy, although not consistent over this time span, in general used a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy or infrequently one modality alone. Twelve of 14 (86%) survived more than 6 years. One patient, with a solitary mediastinal primary tumor, died of rapidly progressive disease at three months. The other death occurred in a 4.5-year-old presenting with hepatomegaly at diagnosis followed by skeletal dissemination 2.5 years later. Thirteen of the patients were younger than 1 year of age. Of the 11 patients that received radiotherapy, 4 experienced mild asymptomatic scoliosis or kyphoscoliosis at 3 to 12 years after initial therapy. A review of the literature indicates that spontaneous regression in this tumor is very frequent; therefore, it is recommended that for the common presentation of massive hepatomegaly in an infant, close observation is warranted, unless life threatening complications occur. However, initial therapeutic intervention may be indicated in those patients with life threatening presentations. This data did not substantiate the necessity for complete surgical excision of the primary tumor, as has been suggested by others.
Estimation of annual baseflow at ungauged sites in Indiana USA

Summary This study developed regression models for predicting baseflow and baseflow index (BFI) (baseflow/total streamflow) at ungauged sites by using long-term baseflow data, land use, and watershed physiographic characteristics. Baseflow data were derived from daily streamflow records with a recursive digital filter method for baseflow separation for 22 watersheds in Indiana. Filtered average annual baseflow varies between 150 and 320 mm for the study watersheds. BFI varies between 0.40 to 0.88 with an average of 0.60, suggesting that 60% of long-term streamflow in Indiana is likely supported by ground water discharge and shallow subsurface flow. Three regression equations (one for baseflow and one for BFI) were developed and evaluated in the study watersheds. Results showed that the models reasonably estimate baseflow with relative errors (RE) ranging from 0% to 30%, except in one watershed where the RE was 50% during the validation period. These equations can be used to estimate baseflow and BFI at ungauged sites in Indiana. The present work would have implications for improving the capabilities of simple hydrologic/water quality models, and support planning and management of water resources. The methodology used in this study can be applied in other locations and regions.
The Hardest Straight-in Pool Shot.

When playing pool or billiards, a player often has the opportunity to make a “straight-in” shot, that is, one in which the cue ball, the object ball, and the target (e.g., a pocket) are collinear. ...
Cancer Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles for Anticancer Vaccination and Drug Delivery

Cell-derived nanoparticles have been garnering increased attention due to their ability to mimic many of the natural properties displayed by their source cells. This top-down engineering approach c...
The impact of F.R.N. Nabarro on the LEDS theory of workhardening

Abstract F.R.N. Nabarro has had a profound impact on the development of workhardening theory. Albeit, on account of his opposition to the LEDS/LES theory, that may be recognized as an emerging new paradigm, this has not always been positive. The LEDS/LES paradigm is ultimately based on Taylor’s 1934 workhardening theory. According to it, all plastic deformation of all solids under virtually any conditions, whether or not dislocations play a role in it, produces structures that closely approach minimum free energy, subject to Newton’s third law, i.e. force equilibrium. In due course, the LES/LEDS theory is expected to replace the previous SODS (“self-organizing dislocation structures” approach) that was supported by Nabarro. Namely, in contrast to the SODS approach, the LEDS/LES theory has long since quantitatively accounted for the bulk of all important aspects of crystalline plasticity and their correlated dislocation structures. It is argued that the protracted resistance against paradigm change, as also by Nabarro, is in line with Kuhn’s pertinent discussion in “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”.
Mitogenic factor in human prostate extracts

Extracts of human benign prostatic hyperplasia, well-differentiated prostatic adenocarcinoma, and normal post-pubertal prostate stimulate 3H-thymidine incorporation by resting phase cultures of fetal rat osteoblasts and fibroblasts. The stimulation is concentration dependent and reaches a maximum at twenty-four hours of incubation. Prostatic extracts are also mitogenic in cell cultures of newborn human foreskin fibroblasts and the human cell lines, BUD-8 and DoT. The growth-stimulating factor is both heat and trypsin sensitive indicating that the factor is either a protein or contains a protein moiety. The growth-stimulating activity is not related to prostatic polyamine concentration. Experiments also show the activity is not due to human prostatic acid phosphatase. A prostatic growth factor may explain the growth of fibrous nodules in benign prostatic hyperplasia and the osteoblastic response of bone to prostatic cancer.
A unified analysis of various problems relating to circular holes with edge cracks

Abstract A unified method of analysis is developed for various problems relating to elastic plates containing circular holes with edge cracks. The method is based on the analysis of a unit rectangular region containing a circular hole with edge cracks, where the boundary conditions of the outer edges are suitably adjusted in order to treat various problems including periodic arrays of holes with edge cracks. The method is applied to five problems, and accurate values of the stress intensity factors are obtained. These analytical values of the stress intensity factors are fitted by polynomials which are convenient for practical applications.
Left ventricular hypertrophy: diagnosis, prognosis, and management.

The heart responds in well-defined ways to abnormal loads that are placed on it. The result of this response, cardiac hypertrophy, has been extensively studied in the last decade, and echocardiography has played an increasingly important role. The presence of cardiac hypertrophy is a useful marker of the cardiac response to abnormal load, which has prognostic implications. The purpose of this review is to summarize the clinically relevant advances that have been made in the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy and to relate these to the patient’s prognosis and management. Histologically, cardiac hypertrophy is defined as an increase in the volume of the cardiac my0cytes.l Postnatal heart enlargement is produced largely by increased size of striated muscle and hyperplasia of interstitial cells. At autopsy, left ventricular hypertrophy is typically defined as an increase in the absolute mass of the left ventricle to greater than 200 gm.2 Measurement of left ventricular mass is done after removal of the atria along the plane of the atrioventricular groove, the great vessels just under the aortic and pulmonic valves, and the free wall of the right ventricle in a plane that follows the curve on the interventricular septum.3 Hypertrophy of the ventricles represents remodeling of the heart architecture to normalize wall stress. The particular pattern of hypertrophy is dependent on the type of load that is imposed on the heart4 (Fig. 1). Increased afterload leads to an increase in systolic stress and the addition of sarcomeres in parallel. This results in increased wall thickness with normal or
The role of Akt in the signaling pathway of the glycoprotein Ib-IX-induced platelet activation

The platelet von Willebrand factor (vWF) receptor, glycoprotein Ib-IX (GPIb-IX), mediates platelet adhesion and induces signaling leading to integrin activation. Phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) is important in GPIb-IX–mediated signaling. PI3K–dependent signaling mechanisms, however, are unclear. We show that GPIb-IX–induced platelet aggregation and stable adhesion under flow were impaired in mouse platelets deficient in PI3K effectors, Akt1 and Akt2, and in human platelets treated with an Akt inhibitor, SH-6. Akt1 and Akt2 play important roles in early GPIb-IX signaling independent of Syk, adenosine diphosphate (ADP), or thromboxane A2 (TXA2), in addition to their recognized roles in ADP- and TXA2–dependent secondary amplification pathways. Knockout of Akt1 or Akt2 diminished platelet spreading on vWF but not on immobilized fibrinogen. Thus, Akt1 and Akt2 are both required only in the GPIb-IX–mediated integrin activation (inside-out signaling). In contrast, PI3K inhibitors abolished platelet spreading on both vWF and fibrinogen, indicating a role for PI3K in integrin outside-in signaling distinct from that in GPIb-IX–mediated inside-out signaling. Furthermore, Akt1- or Akt2-deficiency diminished vWF–induced cGMP elevation, and their inhibitory effects on GPIb-IX–dependent platelet adhesion were reversed by exogenous cGMP. Thus, Akt1 and Akt2 mediate GPIb-IX signaling via the cGMP–dependent signaling pathway.
Evaluation of a fire‐safety training program for preschool children

Children under the age of 5 are 2.5 times more likely to die from fire than any other childhood age group. The work described here is an empirical evaluation of a fire-safety program for preschool children, involving 10 child-care facilities and 443 children ages 3, 4 and 5 years. Children in six centers received an 18-week fire-safety training program called Kid Safe. Children in four other centers were assigned to the delayed-treatment condition and constituted the comparison group. All children were pretested using a comprehensive measure of fire-safety knowledge before the start of the study. The same test was readministered to all children following presentation of the program to the treatment group. At each of the three ages, children in the treatment group showed significantly greater knowledge gains from pretest to post-test than did children in the comparison group. Interestingly, 3-year-olds showed the greatest change of any age group. These findings provide support for the value of training preschool children in fire safety as an important strategy for injury prevention in this age group. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Effects of thermal treatment on biaxially oriented poly(ethylene terephthalate). II. The anisotropic glass temperature

Thermal properties of an anisotropic biaxially oriented Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were determined before and after further deformation of the Mylar film. Film shrinkage in different planar directions was monitored during and following initial heating. After stabilization for three days at 140°C, glass temperatures Tg were determined from the decrease in length of film strips and were found to vary in the different in-plane directions. An increase in anisotropy brought about by additional deformation in the direction of the greatest orientation enhanced the Tg difference from 8 to 16°C. Tg is highest in the direction of greatest orientation.
Successful use of double-lumen, silicone rubber catheters for permanent hemodialysis access.

Repeated, long-term access to the vascular system is a prerequisite for successful extended care of patients with endstage renal disease (ESRD) treated with hemodialysis. Other modern treatment modalities such as plasmapheresis and photopheresis also require vascular access. Native vessel arteriovenous fistulae or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) interposition grafts are the most commonly used forms of permanent vascular access, but both have their limitations [11. In many older patients or patients with several prior vascular accesses, peripheral vessels may be insufficient for the creation of a new access. Interposition grafts are plagued by venous stenosis, thrombosis, and infection. In patients with advanced cardiovascular disease, the shunt effect of these grafts may worsen pre-existing angina or congestive heart failure [2]. Recently, a double-lumen, central venous catheter made of silicone rubber has been developed for use as a vascular access device. This device is particularly useful in patients who have exhausted other vascular access sites or who have severe cardiovascular disease. In this report, we present our extended experience with this new access device in hemodialysis patients.
A Multi-Media Approach to Permitting Mercury Releases from Coal-Fired Power Plants

The current approach taken by many regulators in protecting the environment involves limiting the emission of pollutants to specific media (land, air, and water) through a permit. These “single media” permits do not take into account the mobility of pollutants, such as Hg, once they enter the environment, nor do they provide the regulated community with incentives to adopt pollution prevention practices. This paper explores multi-media permitting to limit coal-fired power plant releases of Hg; a pollutant that poses significant risk to human health and the environment. Power plant Hg emissions are a function of fuel, combustion regime and emission treatment. The approach presented is based on consideration of the Hg concentrations in various power plant emissions and the regulations governing these emissions. Multi-media permit development involves conducting a mass balance for Hg across the facility. Where pollution prevention is not an option, the permit should act to transfer the Hg to the waste stream in which it presents the least risk to human health and ecosystems. Development of cross-program risk based regulations is also stressed.
Selection of a base serum for the preparation of quality control pools containing environmental analytes

Abstract At two laboratories, an analytical method to determine polychlorinated biphenyis (PCBs) in serum was evaluated for its ability to recover in vitro-spiked PCBs from bovine and human serum. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the results obtained for the two matrices at both laboratories. Previously an interlaboratory bias between the laboratories of + 3.3% had been established by using bovine serum; however, with human serum the average interlaboratory bias was -9.5% resulting in a change in absolute bias of approximately 13%. The analytes determined in the base materials before they were in vitro-spiked with PCBs were dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE), PCBs, and serum lipids (i.e., total cholesterol, triglycerides, free cholesterol and phospholipids). The concentration of analytes and lipids was higher in base human serum than in base bovine serum.