cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What was learned: studies by the consortium for research in ECT (CORE) 1997-2011.

Objective To review the findings of the four-hospital collaborative studies of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in unipolar depressed patients known as CORE between 1997 and 2011. Unipolar depressed patients were treated with bilateral ECT, and on remission were randomly assigned to a fixed schedule continuation ECT or to combined lithium and nortriptyline for 6 months. A second study compared three electrode placements in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. Method Nineteen published reports were reviewed. The findings are compared with those of a parallel multi-hospital study of ECT led by a Columbia University Collaboration (CUC) team that studied right unilateral ECT in a similar population with similar inclusion/exclusion and remission criteria. Successful ECT was followed by placebo, nortriptyline alone, or combined lithium, and nortriptyline. Results Relapse rates after remission were similar with fixed schedule ECT as with medications. Predictors of outcome (psychosis, suicide risk, polarity, melancholia, atypical depression, age) and technical aspects (electrode placement, seizure threshold, speed of response) are discussed, Conclusion The findings offer criteria to optimize the selection of patients, the technique, and outcome of ECT for unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. Continuation ECT is an effective alternative to continuation treatment with lithium and nortriptyline. Bilateral electrode placement is more efficient than alternative placements. ECT relieves both bipolar and unipolar depression.
An Experimentally Convenient Preparation of Highly Substituted Pyridines

Abstract A four step sequence is described for the conversion of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids into highly substituted pyridines.
FeZnO-Based Resistive Switching Devices

Resistive switching characteristics in Fe-doped ZnO (FeZnO) are investigated. In the Ag/FeZnO/Pt structure, the ratio of the high-resistance state (HRS) over the low-resistance state (LRS) is 3.8 × 102. For this single oxide layer (SL)-based device, it is found that the dominant conduction mechanisms are Poole–Frenkel emission in the HRS and Ohmic behavior in the LRS, respectively. To improve the switching performance, a MgO–FeZnO bilayer (BL) is used to form an Ag/FeZnO/MgO/Pt structure, which shows a much higher HRS/LRS ratio (~106) than the SL counterpart. The FeZnO/MgO BL structure also significantly reduces dispersion of the operating parameters including current density in the HRS and the SET voltages, attributed mainly to suppression of oxygen vacancies and oxygen ions in the MgO layer of the BL structure.
The effect of feminist identity level on gender prejudice toward artists' illustrations

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of one developmental variable, feminist identity level, on quality ratings of work attributed to either a man or a woman. Previous studies suggest that women may more favorably evaluate the quality of work attributed to men than women, although differing methodologies and task variables have produced varying results. In this study, women from a college-level Human Sexuality class were requested to judge watercolor slides of illustrations purportedly prepared for textbook consideration. Subjects evaluated the illustrations for technical competence, artist creativity and talent, suitability for a Human Sexuality text, overall quality, and prediction of future success for the artist. Women from each of four developmental levels of feminist identity served as subjects. Results revealed significantly different judgments when illustrations were attributed to a male versus female artist, particularly for women in the early stages of feminist identity development. Women at more advanced developmental positions were less likely to differentially evaluate the merit of the work based on gender. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Regulatory Proteins Alter Nucleotide Binding to Acto-Myosin of Sliding Filaments in Motility Assays

The sliding speed of unregulated thin filaments in motility assays is only about half that of the unloaded shortening velocity of muscle fibers. The addition of regulatory proteins, troponin and tropomyosin, is known to increase the sliding speed of thin filaments in the in vitro motility assay. To learn if this effect is related to the rate of MgADP dissociation from the acto-S1 cross-bridge head, the effects of regulatory proteins on nucleotide binding and release in motility assays were measured in the presence and absence of regulatory proteins. The apparent affinity of acto-heavy meromyosin (acto-HMM) for MgATP was reduced by the presence of regulatory proteins. Similarly, the regulatory proteins increase the concentration of MgADP required to inhibit sliding. These results suggest that regulatory proteins either accelerate the rate of MgADP release from acto-HMM-MgADP or slow its binding to acto-HMM. The reduction of temperature also altered the relationship between thin filament sliding speed and the regulatory proteins. At lower temperatures, the regulatory proteins lost their ability to increase thin filament sliding speed above that of unregulated thin filaments. It is hypothesized that structural changes in the actin portion of the acto-myosin interface are induced by regulatory protein binding to actin.
Novel blends made of ionic naphthalene thermotropic polymer and poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Abstract Novel blends made of ionic naphthalene thermotropic polymer (NTP) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) have been prepared by melt mixing. Homogeneous blends were formed when a small amount (5 wt%) of ionic NTP was blended with PET; but, phase separation occurred at a higher composition of the ionic NTP (10 wt%). Both the stiffness and the strength are enhanced in all the blends studied as compared with PET. A remarkable increase in ductility and toughness is noted during necking in these blends. Enhancement in tensile properties and good homogeneity of the blends at low composition (5 wt%) are attributed to ion–dipole interactions between the ionic groups of the ionic NTP and the dipolar units of the PET. It is suggested that ionic NTP chains not only act as reinforcer in the homogeneous blends, but also serve as a nucleating agent to increase crystallinity and as a good stress transfer agent to ease an inhomogeneous deformation process during necking of the PET matrix under tensile stress.
SimBA: A Discrete Event Simulator for Performance Prediction of Volunteer Computing Projects

SimBA (Simulator of BOINC Applications) is a discrete event simulator that models the main functions of BOINC, which is a well-known framework used in Volunteer Computing (VC) projects. SimBA simulates the generation and distribution of tasks that are executed in a highly volatile, heterogeneous, and distributed environment as well as the collection and validation of completed tasks. To understand the strengths and weaknesses of BOINC under distinct scenarios, project designers want to study and quantify project performance without negatively affecting people in the VC community. Although this is not possible on production systems, it is possible using SimBA, which is capable of testing a wide range of hypotheses in a short period of time. Our experience to date indicates that SimBA is a reliable tool for performance prediction of VC projects. Preliminary results show that SimBA's predictions of Predictor@ Home performance are within approximately 5% of the performance reported by this BOINC project.
Early prenatal sonographic appearance of rare thoraco‐abdominal eventration

Fetal ventral wall malformations may be diagnosed prenatally with ultrasound. These include omphalocele, gastroschisis, or even thoracic defects with or without ectopia cordis. It is important whenever such a defect is found to carefully define the full extent of the lesion prior to parental counselling. Described and illustrated here is the prenatal diagnosis with real-time ultrasound at 17 weeks gestation of a rare thoraco-abdominal ventral wall defect including omphalocele, bifid sternum, diaphragmatic aplasia, and pericardial aplasia with incomplete ectopia cordis. The technique is described and the importance of the complete, accurate delineation of anatomic malformations is emphasized.
Prediction of immiscibility boundaries of multi-component silicate glasses

The principle and method which have previously been used to estimate the immiscibility boundary of a ternary silicate system are also applicable to the estimation of the immiscibility boundaries of quaternary and higher order multi-component silicate glasses. The method is based upon the regular mixing equations derived for quaternary and multi-component silicate systems and the superposition principle of the immiscibility boundary. As an example, the Li2ONa2OK2OSiO2 system is used to demonstrate the success of the estimation method. Expressions for higher order multi-component silicate glasses are also shown. A polynomial expression is obtained for the master curve of the normalized immiscibility boundary to facilitate the immiscibility temperature estimation.
Activation of Protein Phosphatase 1 by a Small Molecule Designed to Bind to the Enzyme's Regulatory Site

The activity of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), a serine-threonine phosphatase that participates ubiquitously in cellular signaling, is controlled by a wide variety of regulatory proteins that interact with PP1 at an allosteric regulatory site that recognizes a "loose" consensus sequence (usually designated as RVXF) found in all such regulatory proteins. Peptides containing the regulatory consensus sequence have been found to recapitulate the binding and PP1 activity modulation of the regulatory proteins, suggesting that it might be possible to design small-molecule surrogates that activate PP1 rather than inhibiting it. This prospect constitutes a largely unexplored way of controlling signaling pathways that could be functionally complementary to the much more extensively explored stratagem of kinase inhibition. Based on these principles, we have designed a microcystin analog that activates PP1.
An enhanced scheduling algorithm using a recursive critical path approach with task duplication

Efficient scheduling of a parallel program represented by a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) onto a distributed system involves a tradeoff between the schedule length and inter-processor communications. In this paper we present an efficient scheduling algorithm that builds upon our preliminary Recursive Critical Path Approach (RCPA) resulting in significant improvements in performance metrics (i.e., processor requirement, inter-processor communication, and schedule length). Extensive simulations on random DAGs show that 35% of the clusters generated by our approach are inter-processor communication free as opposed to 0% of a top leading advanced technique (i.e., the LG Algorithm). Furthermore, the average number of processors used is 27% less than that of LG, while the schedule lengths are 5% better than LG and 21% better than our former approach.
Linear systems analysis of the relationship between firing of deep cerebellar neurons and the classically conditioned nictitating membrane response in rabbits

The correlation of the activity of neurons in the interposed and dentate nuclei of the cerebellum with conditioned movements of the nictitating membrane was investigated using linear systems analysis. The activity of single deep cerebellar nuclear cells was assumed to be the input to a linear system that produced nictitating membrane movement. Data were initially analyzed with a causal model to assess the degree to which past neural activity predicted the conditioned response. 55 of 165 cells had correlation coefficients of 0.50 or greater between the model's moment-to-moment output and the actual output, with two interpositus cells having correlation coefficients of greater than 0.90. Double-sided impulse responses indicated that afference from the face and efference copy probably affect deep cerebellar neural activity. Nonlinearities were also found in the relationship between neuronal activity and conditioned movement. It was concluded that cerebellar deep nuclear firing is highly correlated with future nictitating membrane movements but that the firing-movement relationship contains noncausal and nonlinear components.
PERCS, DECS, AND OTHER MANDATORY CONVERTIBLES

From their beginnings in 1988, mandatory convertibles such as PERCS and DECS have grown to account for as much as 25% of a convertible market that experienced new issuance of $20 billion in 1996. Mandatory convertibles usually pay a higher dividend than the company's common stock (generally for a three-year period) and then require the holders to convert into common stock under terms that provide limited appreciation until conversion. This article examines the rationale for mandatory convertibles from the point of view of issuers as well as investors. Like conventional convertibles securities, mandatory convertibles reduce the costs of the information asymmetry problem that confronts equity issuers. But, to a greater degree than ordinary convertibles, mandatory convertibles provide a solution to the financial restructuring problem faced by highly leveraged (and, in some cases, troubled) companies. They also enable growth companies to signal confidence about their future, particularly by including features such as guaranteed appreciation. The last section of the article discusses the valuation of three varieties of mandatory convertibles: PERCS, DECS, and mandatory convertibles with a value guarantee. The valuation method builds on the insight that each of these securities can be decomposed into three basic components: (1) the underlying common stock; (2) the fixed-income cash flow promised investors; and (3) the option on the company's stock embedded in the security.
A Statistical Likelihood Based Knock Controller

Abstract Recent advances in knock control suggest that stochastic controllers can deliver significantly improved regulatory response while achieving similar transient responses relative to conventional deterministic strategies. The new controllers have used the Cumulative Summation (CumSum) of knock events to determine when control actions need to be taken, and a lookup table based on run length to determine the magnitudes of these actions. In this paper a different stochastic approach is used where the likelihood ratio of the observed knock events is used both to determine when control actions are necessary and the magnitude of these actions. The likelihood-based approach is arguably easier to tune, and its performance, like the CumSum controller, is significantly better than traditional deterministic strategies.
Failure Stress and Apparent Elastic Modulus of Diesel Particulate Filter Ceramics

Three established mechanical test specimen geometries and test methods used to evaluate mechanical properties of brittle materials are adapted to the diesel particulate filter (DPF) architecture to evaluate failure initiation stress and apparent elastic modulus of the ceramics comprising DPFs. The three custom-designed test coupons are harvested out of DPFs to promote a particular combination of orientation of crack initiation and crack plane. The testing of the DPF biaxial flexure disk produces a radial tensile stress and a crack plane parallel with the DPF's longitudinal axis. The testing of the DPF sectored flexural specimen produces axial tension at the DPF's OD and a crack plane perpendicular to the DPF's longitudinal axis. The testing of the DPF o-ring specimen produces hoop tension at the DPF's original outer diameter (OD) and at the inner diameter of the test coupon, and a crack plane parallel to the DPF's longitudinal axis. The testing of these mechanical test coupons also enables the determination of an apparent elastic modulus of the DPF ceramic material. Results consistently show that the apparent elastic modulus of the DPF ceramics is much less (e.g., up to an order of magnitude less) than apparent elastic modulus estimated using sonic- or resonance-basedmore » test methods. These specimen geometries, produced stress states, and modes of consequential crack initiation are discussed in context to the DPF's symmetry along with the assessments of each specimen's ease of fabrication, testing, failure stress determination, ultimate viability, and prospects for test standardization. Lastly, an explanation is offered for why the apparent elastic modulus measured with these three mechanical test coupons is relatively low and why their low values are more accurate for predicting thermomechanical stresses in DPFs.« less
Hypothalamic/pituitary function following high-dose conformal radiotherapy to the base of skull: demonstration of a dose-effect relationship using dose-volume histogram analysis.

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and pattern of hypopituitarism from hypothalamic (HT) and pituitary gland (PG) damage following high-dose conformal fractionated proton–photon beam radiotherapy (PPRT) to the base of skull (BOS) region in adults. The relationship between dose, volume, and PG function is explored. Methods and Materials: Between May 1982 to October 1997, 107 adults with non-PG and non-HT neoplasms (predominantly chordoma and chondrosarcomas) of the BOS were treated with PPRT after subtotal resection(s). The median age was 41.2 years (range, 17–75) with 58 males and 49 females. Median prescribed target dose was 68.4 cobalt gray equivalent (CGE) (range, 55.8–79 CGE) at 1.80–1.92 CGE per fraction per day (where CGE = proton Gy × 1.1). The HT and PG were outlined on planning CT scans to allow dose–volume histograms (DVH) analysis. All patients had baseline and follow-up clinical testing of anterior and posterior pituitary function including biochemical assessment of thyroid, adrenal, and gonadal function, and prolactin secretion. Results: The 10-year actuarial overall survival rate was 87%, with median endocrine follow-up time of 5.5 years, thus the majority of patients were available for long-term follow-up. Five-year actuarial rates of endocrinopathy were as follows: 72% for hyperprolactinemia, 30% for hypothyroidism, 29% for hypogonadism, and 19% for hypoadrenalism. The respective 10-year endocrinopathy rates were 84%, 63%, 36%, and 28%. No patient developed diabetes insipidus (vasopressin deficiency). Growth hormone deficiency was not routinely followed in this study. Minimum target dose (Dmin) to the PG was found to be predictive of endocrinopathy: patients receiving 50 CGE or greater at Dmin to the PG experiencing a higher incidence and severity (defined as the number of endocrinopathies occurring per patient) of endocrine dysfunction. Dmax of 70 CGE or greater to the PG and Dmax of 50 CGE or greater to the HT were also predictive of higher rates of endocrine dysfunction. Conclusion: Radiation-induced damage to the HT & PG occurs frequently after high-dose PPRT to the BOS and is manifested by anterior pituitary gland dysfunction. Hyperprolactinemia was detected in the majority of patients. Posterior pituitary dysfunction, represented by vasopressin activity with diabetes insipidus, was not observed in this dose range. Limiting the dose to the HT and PG when feasible should reduce the risk of developing clinical hypopituitarism.
A Descriptive Review of Florida's Environmental Education Grants Programs

A statewide environmental education (EE) grants program operated in Florida from 1990 to 2003. Interviews of grant recipients were undertaken to explore and describe the contributions of these funded projects to EE in the state. This report of the descriptive review presents and summarizes findings from these interviews. Grant funds increased the diversity of EE programs available to citizens, increased the diversity of agencies and organizations engaged in providing EE programs, and enabled those already involved in EE to undertake more extensive projects. This article describes the process of the review and suggests recommendations that may help strengthen other grant–funded programs.
Indium and tin oxide nanowires by vapor-liquid-solid growth technique

Regular three-dimensional (3-D) arrays of crystalline SnO2-In2O3 nanowires were produced on m-sapphire using a gold catalyst-assisted vapor-liquid-solid growth process. The growth characteristics at multiple growth conditions were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) to evaluate the functional dependence of nanowire structure and composition on growth parameters such as temperature and source composition. The results indicate that nanowires of mixed composition are not possible from the catalytic clusters; rather, a mixture of indium and tin oxide wires are formed in the range of conditions investigated here.
Stochastic aspects of turbulent combustion processes

Abstract Methods of using stochastic simulations to treat nonlinear interactions in turbulent combustion processes are described — emphasizing the use of statistical time-series techniques to analyze the turbulence—radiation interactions of nonpremixed flames. Three aspects of the problem are considered, as follows: the statistics of scalar properties in turbulent flames, the formulation of algorithms to stimulate flame radiation based on flame statistics, and evaluation of the methodology using recent measurements for nonluminous flames. It is shown that the process becomes tractable through the laminar flamelet approximation whereby all scalar properties are taken to be solely functions of a conserved scalar like the mixture fraction. Thus, the simulations are designed to generate realizations of mixtures fractions along radiations path with the radiation properties of each realization found using a narrow-bond radiation model. An autoregressive process that reproduces probability density functions and spatial and temporal correlations of mixture fraction was found to yield reasonably good predictions of the statistical properties of spectral radiation intensities measured for turbulent carbon monoxide and hydrogen jet flames burning in still air. Although the approach appears to be promising, additional development is needed in order to treat some of the unique statistical features of turbulence that are not encountered during conventional use of statistical time-series techniques.
High-resolution manometry patterns of lower esophageal sphincter complex in symptomatic post-fundoplication patients.

Introduction There has been an increase in the number of patients seeking treatment after an anti-reflux surgical procedure. The objective of this study is to describe high-resolution manometry (HRM) topography as it relates to the post-fundoplication anatomy.
TRPC3 Mediates Hyperexcitability and Epileptiform Activity in Immature Cortex and Experimental Cortical Dysplasia

Neuronal hyperexcitability plays an important role in epileptogenesis. Conditions of low extracellular calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg) can induce hyperexcitability and epileptiform activity with unclear mechanisms. Transient receptor potential canonical type 3 (TRPC3) channels play a pivotal role in neuronal excitability and are activated in low-Ca and/or low-Mg conditions to depolarize neurons. TRPC3 staining was highly enriched in immature, but very weak in mature, control cortex, whereas it was strong in dysplastic cortex at all ages. Depolarization and susceptibility to epileptiform activity increased with decreasing Ca and Mg. Combinations of low Ca and low Mg induced larger depolarization in pyramidal neurons and greater susceptibility to epileptiform activity in immature and dysplastic cortex than in mature and control cortex, respectively. Intracellular application of anti-TRPC3 antibody to block TRPC3 channels and bath application of the selective TRPC3 inhibitor Pyr3 greatly diminished depolarization in immature control and both immature and mature dysplastic cortex with strong TRPC3 expression. Epileptiform activity was initiated in low Ca and low Mg when synaptic activity was blocked, and Pyr3 completely suppressed this activity. In conclusion, TRPC3 primarily mediates low Ca- and low Mg-induced depolarization and epileptiform activity, and the enhanced expression of TRPC3 could make dysplastic and immature cortex more hyperexcitable and more susceptible to epileptiform activity.
Mandated Disciplinary Counseling on Campus: Problems and Possibilities

Because of increased student misconduct in academic institutions, counselors have had to use traditional voluntary counseling models with involuntary disciplinary clients. The authors propose a policy position that would preclude mandated treatment and instead place an emphasis on counseling readiness programming for disciplinary referrals. A stages of behavioral change model is offered as a tool to articulate when counseling can be effective with students entangled in disciplinary procedures.
Bayesian Forecasting of Economic Time Series

A model is suggested to forecast economic time series. This model incorporates some innovative ideas of Harrison and Stevens [20] for building into the forecasting process important external shocks to the systems. Thus the occurrence of possibly significant real-world events may cause a fundamental change in the time series in question. The Jeffreys-Savage (JS) Bayesian theory of hypothesis testing is used to test the hypothesis that a particular event has been such as to free the series from its immediate past behavior. When the event frees the series in this way, then we model the sequence of observations following such an event (until the next such event) as an exchangeable sequence. In the simplest case of 0-1 valued data, such as in recording the ups and downs of the value of a particular commodity or stock, our alternative hypothesis is a P6lya process, and the null hypothesis is a simple random walk (unit roots model) with p = .50. Any exchangeable sequence is strictly stationary, and the observations in the P6lya process are positively correlated, which can give rise to "explosive" behavior of the series at isolated time points. We then use the JS theory to predict future observations by taking a weighted average of the optimal predictions for each model, with weights given by the posterior probabilities of the hypotheses. Results of simulation studies are presented which compare the predictive performance of the fully Bayesian method based upon the JS theory with those based upon the "p-value" or pre-test method. The de Finetti method for scoring predictions is used to assess their empirical performance. A theoretical methodology, which extends the "evaluation game" of Hill [28,37], is developed for comparing predictors.
Experimental Studies on Flexure Pivot Tilting Pad Gas Bearings With Pad Radial Compliance

This paper presents experimental studies on imbalance responses of a rotor supported by two flexure pivot tilting pad gas bearings with radial compliance. The radial compliance was aimed to accommodate large rotor centrifugal growth inherent with high speed operation. Frequency-dependent rotordynamic force coefficients calculated from developed software were used to predict critical speeds and onset speed of instability and compared with experimental results. Two results show very good agreement.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Control of a Ruling Engine by a Modulated Interferometer

This paper describes a system of interferometric control as applied to the smaller ruling engine of the Mount Wilson Observatory. The usual mechanism intermittently advances the grating carriage with a spacing closely approximating an integral number of fringes of green Hg198 light. A Michelson interferometer monitors this motion. The interferometer is modulated by deflecting the compensating plate electromagnetically, thus correcting for barometric pressure changes and also causing the fringe pattern to oscillate with a small amplitude at 60 cps. The oscillating fringe pattern is scanned by a phototube and is reproduced on a monitoring cathode-ray tube; any decentering of the nth fringe is detected by synchronous demodulation and is converted to a stored electrical charge. During each spacing operation, a differential correction proportional to the stored error signal is introduced into the mechanism. Corrections average about 1 centifringe (2.5 × 10−7 cm). The system is relatively simple and ensures a very high order of precision in spacing, with extremely straight grooves.
Functionalization of Nanoscale Diamond Powder: Fluoro-, Alkyl-, Amino-, and Amino Acid-Nanodiamond Derivatives

The reaction of nanoscale diamond (ND) powder with an elemental fluorine/hydrogen mixture at temperatures varying from 150 to 470 °C resulted in the high degree of ND surface fluorination yielding a fluoro-nanodiamond with up to 8.6 at. % fluorine content. The fluoro-nanodiamond was used as a precursor for preparation of the series of functionalized nanodiamonds by subsequent reactions with alkyllithium reagents, diamines, and amino acids. The fluoro-nanodiamond and corresponding alkyl-, amino-, and amino acid-nanodiamond derivatives were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermal gravimetry-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) measurements. In comparison with the pristine nanodiamond, all functionalized nanodiamonds show an improved solubility in polar organic solvents, e.g., alcohols and THF, and a reduced particle agglomeration. The developed method...
A Catholic Salvation Army: David Goldstein, Pioneer Lay Evangelist

With the publication of Catholic Revivalism in 1978, Jay P. Dolan transferred the scholarly discussion of nineteenth-century American revivalism to a larger arena. He not only unveiled the Catholic counterpart of a phenomenon hitherto considered exclusively Protestant, but he also demonstrated that potentially fruitful comparisons might be drawn between the Protestant and the Catholic revival experiences. Although twentieth-century evangelism still awaits an inclusive ecumenical treatment along the lines pursued by Dolan, some promising subjects for initial forays into this field have surfaced. This essay focuses upon one minor character in the epic story of American Catholic evangelism, David Goldstein (1870–1958), a convert from Judaism and socialism and a pioneer lay Catholic street lecturer between the world wars.
Differential detection of Bartonella species and strains in cat scratch disease diagnostics by polymerase chain reaction amplification of 16S ribosomal RNA gene.

Cat scratch disease (CSD) has been difficult to diagnose in animals because of the protracted clinical course of infection and the quiescent phases when the microbial culprit lies dormant. The causative agent in CSD appears to be multiple species and strains of Bartonella. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for amplification of highly variable regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence, a very sensitive species- and strain-specific assay for CSD-causing Bartonella species was developed. PCR prim- ers were designed to specifically amplify the 16S rRNA gene ofBartonella species but not of other microbial pathogens. This initial PCR was multiplexed with a universal primer set, based on conserved sequence regions in the 16S rRNA gene, that provides a 162-bp fragment in all species tested. Subsequently, 3 distinct nested PCR primer sets enabled the individual amplification and specific detection ofBartonella henselae type I, B. henselae type II, and B. clarridgeae. Thus, this 2-step PCR procedure enabled the sensitive detection and identification of these species and the B. henselae genotype by exploiting minor sequences differences. Verifi- cation of these results were demonstrated with both sequencing and ligase chain reaction techniques. The diagnostic usefulness of this CSD test has been demonstrated by the analysis of specimens from control and infected cats. The diagnosis was confirmed and the specificB. henselae strain was correctly identified in peripheral blood specimens obtained from control and strain-specific CSD-infected cats. Such an accurate and sensitive diagnostic tool for the detection and identification of CSD causative agents should be a useful for the medical, veterinary, and scientific communities.
El informe contra idolorum cultores del obispado de Yucatán

One of the main concerns of Church and State alike was the Fact that all their efforts had not been enough to extirpate “idolatry”. Duran, Landa, Mendieta, Sahagun and others bitterly about this, as well as Acosta and Arriaga from Peru. In the mid 1560´s religious like De la Serna and Balsalobre state that little hade changed and that the Indians continued with the ancient practices of their forefathers. The majority of religious shred the idea that the only remedy was to use a hard-handed approach, and here we examine the role of punishment, the autos de fe and the Inquisitons. The work of Sanchez de Aguilar is an excellent source of information regarding the extirpation of “idolatry”, as well as the bitter dispute regarding the exclusive right of the bishop to judge and punish idolatry. In his ten fundaments and two conclusions the author examines and justifies this right and finishes by proposing sixteen remedies for putting an end to “idolatry”.
Studies on the Initialization and Simulation of a Mature Hurricane Using a Variational Bogus Data Assimilation Scheme

A bogus data assimilation (BDA) scheme is presented and used to generate the initial structure of a tropical cyclone for hurricane prediction. It was tested on Hurricane Felix (1995) in the Atlantic Ocean during its mature stage. The Pennsylvania State University‐National Center for Atmospheric Research nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model version 5 was used for both the data assimilation and prediction. It was found that a dynamically and physically consistent initial condition describing the dynamic and thermodynamic structure of a hurricane vortex can be generated by fitting the forecast model to a specified bogus surface low based on a few observed and estimated parameters. Through forecast model constraint, BDA is able to recover many of the structural features of a mature hurricane including a warm-core vortex with winds swirling in and out of the vortex center in the lower and upper troposphere, respectively; the eyewall; the saturated ascent around the eye and descent or weak ascent in the eye; and the spiral cloud bands and rainbands. Satellite and radar data, if available, can be incorporated into the BDA procedure. It was shown that satellite-derived water vapor winds have an added value for BDA—they can generate a more realistic initial vortex. As a result of BDA using both a bogus surface low and satellite water vapor wind data, dramatic improvements occurred in the hurricane prediction of Felix. First of all, the initial fields of model variables describing the BDA initial vortex are well adapted to the forecast model. Second, the intensity forecast was greatly improved. The mean error of the central sea level pressure during the entire 72-h forecast period reduced from 25.9 hPa without BDA to less than 2.1 hPa with BDA. Third, the model captured the structures of the storm reasonably well. In particular, the model reproduced the ring of maximum winds, the eye, the eyewall, and the spiral cloud bands. Finally, improvement in the track prediction was also observed. The 24-, 48-, and 72-h forecast track errors with BDA were 76, 76, and 84 km, respectively, compared to the track errors of 93, 170, and 193 km without BDA.
Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and infertility: emerging problems in the era of highly active antiretrovirals

Objective To review the effects of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in terms of its associated comorbid conditions and the side effects of antiretroviral treatment on fertility. Design PubMed computer search to identify relevant articles. Setting Research institution. Patient(s) None. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) None. Result(s) Biological alterations in reproductive physiology may account for subfertility in patients infected with HIV. Psychosocial factors in patients with HIV infection may affect their reproductive desires and outcomes. Antiretroviral medications may have direct toxicity on gametes and embryos. Available evidence indicates that fertility treatments can be a safe option for couples with HIV-discordant infection status, although the potential risk of viral transmission cannot be completely eliminated. Conclusion(s) Because their potential reproductive desires are increasingly becoming a concern in the health care of young HIV-infected patients, additional data are needed to address the effect of HIV and its treatments on their fertility and reproductive outcomes.
HSulf-1 Inhibits Angiogenesis and Tumorigenesis In vivo

We previously identified HSulf-1 as a down-regulated gene in several tumor types including ovarian, breast, and hepatocellular carcinomas. Loss of HSulf-1, which selectively removes 6- O -sulfate from heparan sulfate, up-regulates heparin-binding growth factor signaling and confers resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Here we report that HSulf-1 expression in MDA-MB-468 breast carcinoma clonal lines leads to reduced proliferation in vitro and reduced tumor burden in athymic nude mice in vivo . Additionally, xenografts derived from HSulf-1–expressing stable clones of carcinoma cells showed reduced vessel density, marked necrosis, and apoptosis, indicative of inhibition of angiogenesis. Consistent with this observation, HSulf-1–expressing clonal lines showed reduced staining with the endothelial marker CD31 in Matrigel plug assay, indicating that HSulf-1 expression inhibits angiogenesis. More importantly, HSulf-1 expression in the xenografts was associated with a reduced ability of vascular endothelial cell heparan sulfate to participate in a complex with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) and its receptor tyrosine kinase FGF receptor 1c. In vitro , short hairpin RNA–mediated down-regulation of HSulf-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) resulted in an increased proliferation mediated by heparan sulfate–dependent FGF-2, hepatocyte growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF 165 ) but not by heparan sulfate–independent VEGF 121 . HSulf-1 down-regulation also enhanced downstream signaling through the extracellular signal–regulated kinase pathway compared with untreated cells. Consistent with the role of heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan sulfation in VEGF-mediated signaling, treatment of HUVEC cells with chlorate, which inhibits heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan sulfation and therefore mimics HSulf-1 overexpression, led to an attenuated VEGF-mediated signaling. Collectively, these observations provide the first evidence of a novel mechanism by which HSulf-1 modulates the function of heparan sulfate binding VEGF 165 in proliferation and angiogenesis. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(12): 6025-32)
Phaseless planar near field measurements for scanned beams: difficulties, a hybrid solution and measured results

It is one of the main objectives of this paper to revisit the implementation of phaseless algorithms applicable to both non-scanned and scanned beam antennas. There are generally two techniques in the literature, interferometric and iterative methods. In general, the phase functional has a very strong nonlinear dependency on the amplitude data and the domain of optimization is typically full of local minima. This makes the functional which is going to be minimized pretty non-convex. This means that the probability of stagnation in a local minimum from a starting point is really high. Consequently, one deals with a tough optimization problem, for which the initial guess plays a critical role. In this paper we first show that the complexity of the optimization can be increased significantly whenever the AUT has a scanned beam. Second we introduce the utilization of a global optimization for finding the best initial guess to mitigate this problem. Differential evolutionary algorithm has been chosen due to its superior performances. The implementation of the method to the UCLA bi-polar near-field facility is presented as a support to the applicability of the method for scanned beams.
The Evolving Role of Computed Tomographic Angiography for Lower Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage.

Despite advances in radiologic localization, lower gastrointestinalhemorrhage (LGIH) remainsa significant causeofmortality, with a rate of 3.9%, which increases with hospitalizationandhemodynamic instability.1 In this issue, Jacovidesand colleagues2 sought to evaluate the implementation of a new evidence-based protocol to incorporate computed tomographic angiography (CTA) prior to visceral angiography (VA) for management of acute LGIH. They retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who underwent VA 4 years before and 4 years after their institution’s protocol change, and had 5 main findings: (1) CTA became used more widely than nuclear scintigraphy after protocol implementation, (2) CTA had improved localization of the LGIH comparedwithnuclear scintigraphy, (3) patients received ahigher contrast volumeafter protocol implementationowing to contrast administration with both CTA and VA, (4) this increase in contrast volumedidnot increase serumcreatinine levels or rate of renal dysfunction, and (5) despite improved localizationof theLGIH,CTAdidnot reduce fluoroscopy time, amount of contrast administered during VA, or the rate of successful embolization. While this study is an important first step,multiple unanswered clinical questions remain regarding the role for CTA in LGIH. First, do abnormal CTA results affect the downstream clinical outcomesofnumberofblood transfusions, rebleeding, or need for further endoscopic or operative intervention? Second,donormalCTAresultsobviate theneed for subsequent interventionandthereforedecrease resourceuseandcost?Third, incenterswhereVAisnotavailable,doesCTAprovidesufficient localization for endoscopic or surgical treatment? The authors do appreciate the logistic burden of nuclear scintigraphy compared with CTA, which is undoubtedly a strong factor as to why CTA is being more widely implemented.With faster time to administer and interpret CTA, patient care can be expedited. However, as a medical community, more work is needed with respect to clinical outcomes, includingcontrast-inducednephropathyandcosts,before routinely using CTA prior to VA.
Sleep Deficiency and Deprivation Leading to Cardiovascular Disease

Sleep plays a vital role in an individual's mental, emotional, and physiological well-being. Not only does sleep deficiency lead to neurological and psychological disorders, but also the literature has explored the adverse effects of sleep deficiency on the cardiovascular system. Decreased quantity and quality of sleep have been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. We explore the literature correlating primary sleep deficiency and deprivation as a cause for cardiovascular disease and cite endothelial dysfunction as a common underlying mechanism.
Integrating formal methods tools to support system design

System engineering requires design and verification at several levels of abstraction-from top-level process descriptions down to gate-level hardware designs. A variety of tools such as specification languages, simulators, model checkers, theorem-provers, and other computer-aided design tools are used for designing and verifying systems. These tools must be integrated to support a continuous design flow. We report on the theoretical and practical aspects of integration and discuss our experience with specific tools.
Microprocessor-controlled automatic clutter-cancellation circuits for microwave systems to sense physiological movements remotely through the rubble

A novel microprocessor-controlled automatic clutter-cancellation subsystem, consisting of a programmable microwave attenuator and a programmable microwave phase shifter controlled by a microprocessor-based control unit, has been developed for a microwave life-detection system (L-band 2 GHz or X-band 10 GHz) which can remotely sense breathing and heartbeat movements of living subjects. This automatic clutter-cancellation subsystem is a drastic improvement over the very slow process of adjusting clutter-cancellation manually in the old microwave system; this is very important for some potential applications, which include locating earthquake- or avalanche-trapped victims through rubble. A series of experiments have been conducted to demonstrate the applicability of this microwave life-detection system. The 2-GHz system performs well for remotely detecting human breathing and heartbeat signals through a pile of rubble of up to about 3 ft. thick. The automatic clutter canceler may also have a potential application in some CW (continuous wave) radars. >
Investigation of chemical changes in uranium oxyfluoride particles using secondary ion mass spectrometry

Understanding how environmental conditions may affect sample composition is critical to the interpretation of laboratory analyses from environmental sampling. We prepared a set of UO2F2 particle samples from the hydrolysis of UF6 and stored these samples in environmental chambers at different temperature, humidity and lighting conditions. The NanoSIMS ion microprobe was used to measure the UF+/U+ secondary ion ratio of individual particles. Monitoring variations in this ratio may provide insights on changes in particle composition over time and in response to environmental exposure. This report presents the baseline measurements carried out on freshly-prepared particle samples to determine the initial amount of fluorine.
The economic effect of using magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance ultrasound fusion biopsy for prostate cancer diagnosis

Prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a maturing imaging modality that has been used to improve detection and staging of prostate cancer. The goal of this review is to evaluate the economic effect of the use of MRI and MRI fusion in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. A literature review was used to identify articles regarding efficacy and cost of MRI and MRI-guided biopsies. There are currently a limited number of studies evaluating cost of incorporating MRI into clinical practice. These studies are primarily models projecting cost estimates based on meta-analyses of the literature. There is considerable variance in the effectiveness of MRI-guided biopsies, both cognitive and fusion, based on user experience, type of MRI (3T vs. 1.5T), use of endorectal coil and type of scoring system for abnormalities such that there is still potential for improvement in accuracy. There is also variability in assumed costs of incorporating MRI into clinical practice. The addition of MRI to the diagnostic algorithm for prostate cancer has caused a shift in how we understand the disease and in what tumors are found on initial and repeat biopsies. Further risk stratification may allow more men to pursue noncurative therapy, which in and of itself is cost-effective in properly selected men. As prostate cancer care comes under increasing scrutiny on a national level, there is pressure on providers to be more accurate in their diagnoses. This in turn can lead to additional testing including Multiparametric MRI, which adds upfront cost. Whether the additional cost of prostate MRI is warranted in detection of prostate cancer is an area of intense research.