cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cellular and Biochemical Changes in the Aging Mouse Immune System

My perspective is different from that of Dr. Weksler. I see age-related loss of responsiveness as a cardinal feature of immunosenescence, one that puts elderly people at risk of infection and perhaps neoplasia. It is possible that age-associated increases in the activity of some kinds of immune cells, which Dr. Weksler has emphasized, contribute to this decline in protective immunity, although this hypothesis needs a good deal of further investigation. I do not see autoimmunity as a major threat to the elderly or an important component of immunosenescence, although the jury is still out on this, and clearly investigators of autoreactivity have the potential for teaching us a lot about how the aged immune system works. Thus in my view one of the most pressing challenges for immunogerontologists is to figure out why the immune system generates fewer antibodies to specific antigens, fewer cytotoxic T cell effectors, and less protection against potential infections and pathologic agents in elderly humans and old mice. I will call this deficiency of function, and I think that some of the cross-wiring that Dr. Weksler and others have pointed out may give us a way of exploring it anew. I am not convinced by arguments to date that have suggested an important pathological implication for autoimmunity. Some autoimmune phenomena are demonstrated in elderly mice and humans, but their pathological implications are still mysterious; more work needs to be done to understand the implications for health and disease. The cellular and molecular basis for the agerelated decline in immune responsiveness can be enumerated in several ways. First, there is an agerelated change in T cell subsets. Figure I shows that there is an age-associated accumulation of memory (Pgp-lhi) T'cells. There is a decrease with age in the number of virgin T lymphocytes resulting in a relatively greater proportion of memory as com-
Airborne observations of SO2, HCl, and O3 in the stratospheric plume of the Pinatubo Volcano in July 1991

A high-resolution IR spectrometer aboard the NASA Electra aircraft to measure the total column amount of SO2, O3, and HCl above the aircraft while flying over the Caribbean three weeks after the June 15 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. South of 20 deg N latitude columns of SO2 were observed ranging from 2.0-3.7 x 10 exp 16 molecules/sq cm. In addition, the column amount of HCl averaged 1.5 x 10 exp 15 molecules/sq cm in the region of the plume. This represents a small increase in HCl above the amount, estimated from the previous measurements, that would have been presented had there been no volcanic eruption, but the increase is substantially less than that seen following the 1982 eruptions of El Chichon.
Oligomeric fluorescent labels for DNA.

In an effort to find fluorescent labels that have large Stokes shifts and increased emission intensity, a strategy for fluorescence labeling of DNA was explored in which multiple individual fluorophores are incorporated at adjacent positions at the end of a DNA probe. To encourage close interactions, hydrocarbon and heterocycle fluorophores were substituted at C-1 of deoxyribose, replacing the DNA base. The C-glycosides studied contained the well-known fluorophores terphenyl, pyrene, and terthiophene. For comparison, a commercial fluorescein−dU nucleotide was examined. Oligomeric labels containing up to five fluorophores were tested. Interestingly, all four dyes behaved differently on multiple substitution. Fluorescein displayed strong self-quenching properties, with the quantum yield dropping severalfold with each additional substitution and with a constant, small Stokes shift. In contrast, pyrene showed increases in quantum yield on addition of more than one fluorophore and yielded efficient long-wavele...
Enzymatic liberation of myogenic cells from adult rat muscle

Five different proteolytic enzymes, trypsin, pronase, collagenase, papain and ficin, were tested for their ability to liberate mononucleated myogenic cells from adult rat muscle. Fragments of leg and thigh muscle from 350–400 gm rats were incubated with enzyme for one hour and mononucleated cells were separated from the partially digested fragments by centrifugation. Myogenic capacity of the isolated cells was tested in culture using procedures known to support differentiation of embryonic rat muscle. Although all the enzymes released viable cells from the muscle, myogenesis in vitro was obtained only from cells liberated by trypsin or pronase. The other three enzymes released fibroblasts, macrophages and fat cells but no presumptive myoblasts. Light and electron microscopic examination of the digested muscle revealed that the enzymatic release of myogenic cells is dependent upon removal of the basement lamina surrounding the fibers. Trypsin and pronase dissolve the basement lamina, whereas collagenase, papain or ficin do not. These findings demonstrate that a population of myogenic stem cells exists in fully mature, non-regenerating adult muscle. The frequency of these cells and the conditions required for their release suggest that they are identical with the muscle satellite cells.
The timely token protocol

The token protocols in fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) and modified FDDI (FDDI-M) support synchronous and asynchronous traffic. However, FDDI suffers from a token-lateness problem, and FDDI-M may starve asynchronous traffic. To remove these two weaknesses, we propose the timely token protocol. The main feature of this protocol is the addition of information to the token so that each station may determine the reason of an early token arrival. Using this information, each station limits its asynchronous transmission to ensure that the token is not late at subsequent stations. In addition, we present a synchronous allocation scheme for this protocol. Finally, a comparison is made against FDDI and FDDI-M.
The effects of individual or group guidelines on the calibration accuracy and achievement of high school biology students

Abstract A 2 × 2 factorial design was employed in a quasi-experiment to investigate the effects of guidelines in group or individual settings on the calibration accuracy and achievement of 82 high school biology students. Significant main effects indicated that calibration practice with guidelines and practice in group settings increased prediction and postdiction accuracy. A significant interaction showed that students who practiced calibration in groups using guidelines showed the greatest accuracy in their predictions and postdictions. Students in the guidelines condition and in the group setting condition had significantly higher achievement scores. The findings of this study suggest that the use of guidelines and group settings can promote calibration accuracy and achievement in high school biology courses.
Vulnerability for drug use among Latino adolescents

In this study we developed separate risk and protective factor indices to examine vulnerability to drug use among Latino high school students. Survey data were collected from 516 Latino 9th and 10th grade youth in the Los Angeles area. Frequency and quantity of use data were collected for cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, cocaine, and other illicit drugs. Few gender differences emerged in prevalence of drug use and about 25% were already involved in heavy drug use. Seventeen variables were examined for inclusion in a risk factor index (RFI) or protective factor index (PFI). Bivariate, multivariate, and structural equation models (SEM) were employed in the analysis of data. All of the variables except for one were more risk-inducing than protective for these Latino youth. However, as a group, the PFI predicted several types of drug use for boys and girls, and moderated the adverse effects of the RFI. At a high level of risk, a high level of protection was associated with reduced use for some types of drugs. In the SEM, vulnerability to drug use as indicated by the RFI and PFI was strongly associated with drug use for both boys and girls and more strongly related to drug use than the RFI or PFI alone. These results have exciting implications for intervention. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
IP3-and cAMP-induced responses in isolated olfactory receptor neurons from the channel catfish

Olfactory receptor neurons enzymatically dissociated from channel catfish olfactory epithelium were depolarized transiently following dialysis of IP3 or cAMP (added to the patch pipette) into the cytoplasm. Voltage and current responses to IP3 were blocked by ruthenium red, a blocker of an IP3-gated Ca(2+)-release channel in sarcoplasmic reticulum. In contrast, the responses to cAMP were not blocked by extracellularly applied ruthenium red, nor by L-cis-diltiazem or amiloride and two of its derivatives. The current elicited by cytoplasmic IP3 in neurons under voltage clamp displayed a voltage dependence different from that of the cAMP response which showed marked outward rectification. A sustained depolarization was caused by increased cytoplasmic IP3 or cAMP when the buffering capacity for Ca2+ of the pipette solution was increased, when extracellular Ca2+ was removed or after addition of 20-200 nM charybdotoxin to the bathing solution, indicating that the repolarization was caused by an increase in [Cai] that opened Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels. The results suggest that different conductances modulated by either IP3 or cAMP are involved in mediating olfactory transduction in catfish olfactory receptor neurons and that Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels contribute to the termination of the IP3 and cAMP responses.
Oral mercurial diuretics: mercumatilin in the treatment of congestive heart failure.

Abstract Oral mercumatilin (Cumertilin) satisfactorily controlled congestive heart failure in twenty-two of twenty-five patients without evidence of intolerance or toxicity. Three patients exhibiting unstable or rapidly progressive congestive failure were not benefited.
Evaluation of the early response in fMRI in individual subjects using short stimulus duration.

Optical imaging studies have provided evidence of an initial increase in deoxyhemoglobin following the onset of neuronal stimulation/activation and demonstrated that this initial increase could be spatially more specific to the site of neuronal activity. These studies also raised the possibility of improving the specificity of fMRI by selective mapping of this early response. Previous MR studies reported the observation of this early response but were limited in scope and not in full agreement. This paper presents a more extensive study that (a) demonstrates the initial signal decrease in individual subjects and (b) examines its dependence on stimulus duration and subject. Binocular visual stimulation experiments were performed on 14 subjects using echo-planar imaging (EPI) with high temporal resolution. An initial signal decrease was consistently observed in regions that were more localized than those displaying the delayed positive response. In agreement with previous fMRI and optical imaging findings, the maximum signal decrease was 1–2% and occurred at approximately 2 s after the onset of the stimulus, depending on the subject. For stimulus longer than 3.0 s, the temporal dynamics and the amount of signal change of the early response was essentially independent of the stimulus duration, while the delayed response and the post-stimulus undershoot increased both in terms of magnitude and rise time as the duration of the stimulus increased; this observation is concordant with the recent optical imaging study.
Preliminary Studies on Mass Rearing of the Tobacco Hornworm

An estimated 20,000 pupae of the tobacco hornworm, Protoparce sexta (Johannson), were produced in one lot in 1962 at Oxford, N. C. Moths were allowed to oviposit on tobacco growing in a 1/4-acre field cage. Fifth-instar larvae were collected from the cage and placed on cut tobacco plants suspended on racks above specially designed rearing tables. Mature fifth-instar larvae crawled off the plants onto the table and into a box at one end containing a mixture of sand and sawdust, where they pupated.
On a problem of Massey

In 1976, Massey introduced a method to compute the confidence interval for the frame error rate of a coded communications system based on the simulation of just a few frame errors [1]. He commented that his approach did not apply to bit error rate confidence intervals, because bit errors are not independent in a coded system. In this paper, we show how to overcome the limitation Massey recognized, and present a method to compute a confidence interval of the bit error rate of a coded communications system from a simulation of bit and frame error events. The proposed interval may be easily computed from the first and second sample moments of the number of bits errors per frame.
Magnetic field signatures of substorms on high-latitude field lines in the nighttime magnetosphere

Two types of magnetic field changes are repeatedly observed in the high latitude nightside magnetosphere in association with magnetic substorms. One type is characterized by sudden decrease in the field strength, accompanied by an abrupt perturbation in the field declination angle. These changes are attributed to field aligned-sheet currents flowing on the high latitude boundary of an expanding plasma sheet following substorms. Single sheets of field-aligned currents on this boundary tend to flow toward the earth in the morning quadrant and away in the evening. Multiple sheets of current may also occur, with the direction of the high latitude sheet generally being the same as for a single sheet. A second type of field change is a decrease in field inclination during substorms. This is regarded as a manifestation of the changing field configuration during substorms and can be described in terms of azimuthal currents.
Band profiles of reacting acido-basic compounds with water-methanol eluents at different SWpHs and ionic strengths in reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

Abstract Overloaded band profiles of aniline (25 μ L injection of a 30.5 mM solution) eluted with a methanol-aqueous buffer solution (30/70, v/v) were recorded at the exit of a 150 mm × 4.6 mm column packed with 3.5 μ m XBridge-C18porous particles. The pH W S of the mobile phase was adjusted with phosphate ( pH W S ∼ 2.7 and pH W S ∼ 7.5 ) or acetate buffers ( pH W S ∼ 5.3 ) of different concentrations (11, 56, and 278 mM). The elution times and profiles of the bands observed at low ionic strength were succesfully accounted for using the extended Debye–Huckel theory to estimate the activity coefficients of the ions in the bulk phase and a simple non-competitive Langmuir adsorption model, the adsorption of pure aniline or pure anilinium onto XBridge-C18 being described by a Langmuir isotherm. The band profiles were calculated using this adsorption model and the equilibrium-dispersive model of chromatography. The calculated and the experimental band profiles are in excellent agreement at all buffer pH and ionic strength. This demonstrates that the elution times and the band profiles are controlled by the chromatographic dilution process and by the reaction of aniline with the buffer solution.
Survival and growth in adrenalectomized rats treated with 21-methyl-substituted steroids.

Two new C22 steroids, 21-methyl-9α-fluoroprednisolone and 21-methyl-6α,9α-difluoroprednisolone, and their respective C21 parent compounds are shown to possess life-maintaining activity in adrenalectomized young rats. These C21 steroids promote less growth than the parent compounds, probably because the former do not induce sodium retention. All steroids, in adequate dosage, cause thymus involution and adrenal a trophy, but lack androgenic activity. Attention is drawn to the masking action of certain steroid administering vehicles on survival tests and to the seeming unreliability of the thymus-involution assay for assessing or predicting anti-inflammatory activity of steroids.
Use of tobacco retailer inspections to reduce tobacco sales to youth: do inspections increase retailer compliance?

Public health efforts to prevent tobacco use among young people have typically attempted to change individual behaviour. More recently, it has become evident that macro-level behaviour change strategies which impact on the wider social environment are more effective in changing behaviour. In most states, retailer compliance laws restrict the sale and distribution of tobacco products to minor consumers. Indiana's Tobacco Retailer Inspection Program (TRIP), a state government programme, was established to put environmental controls in place by restricting youth access to tobacco products. TRIP involved conducting random, unannounced tobacco retailer outlet inspections, with violators being fined, and compliant retailers rewarded. This study examines the associations among retailer inspections, retailer compliance and access to tobacco by youthful consumers. Inspection data from 2001 to 2003 were analysed using chi-square statistics and analysis of variance. Findings indicate that randomly selected retail outlet inspections are associated with increased sales restrictions to youth. The researchers conclude that strong tobacco sales regulations and enforcement will reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to minors.
Clinical and genetic investigation in autosomal dominant limb‐girdle muscular dystrophy

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy is a syndrome of progressive myopathic weakness affecting shoulder and hip girdle and proximal arm and leg muscles. The disease occurs either sporadically or inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Autosomal dominant inheritance is rare. We report a large family with apparent autosomal dominant inheritance. Sixteen members were affected with a disease characterized by proximal weakness, leg greater than arm, onset in the third decade, elevated CK and CK MB levels, and myopathic EMGs and muscle biopsies. Linkage analysis revealed no conclusive linkage.
Agent-based modeling of deforestation in southern Yucatán, Mexico, and reforestation in the Midwest United States

We combine mixed-methods research with integrated agent-based modeling to understand land change and economic decision making in the United States and Mexico. This work demonstrates how sustainability science benefits from combining integrated agent-based modeling (which blends methods from the social, ecological, and information sciences) and mixed-methods research (which interleaves multiple approaches ranging from qualitative field research to quantitative laboratory experiments and interpretation of remotely sensed imagery). We test assumptions of utility-maximizing behavior in household-level landscape management in south-central Indiana, linking parcel data, land cover derived from aerial photography, and findings from laboratory experiments. We examine the role of uncertainty and limited information, preferences, differential demographic attributes, and past experience and future time horizons. We also use evolutionary programming to represent bounded rationality in agriculturalist households in the southern Yucatan of Mexico. This approach captures realistic rule of thumb strategies while identifying social and environmental factors in a manner similar to econometric models. These case studies highlight the role of computational models of decision making in land-change contexts and advance our understanding of decision making in general.
Efficacy of acute treatment for geriatric depression.

The antidepressant literature for depression in late life tends to be interpreted as saying that certain antidepressant medications--e.g, nortriptyline, doxepin, fluoxetine--have fewer and milder side effects than others, whereas overall efficacy is equivalent (Plotkin et al., 1987; Rush, 1993; Salzman et al., 1995; Schneider, 1994). Further examination of this literature, however, suggests that both efficacy and side effect rates for any particular medication vary among trials, and often depend on the medications being compared, the use of placebo, the dose, and the design of the trial. In this report we review selected clinical trials, and summarize and discuss a previously published meta-analysis. Treatment recommendations from the 1991 NIH Consensus Development Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Late Life and from the Agency for Health Care Policy Research are discussed. Directions for future research are suggested. Both antidepressant medications and brief structured psychotherapies have efficacy in the acute treatment of elderly depressed outpatients with major unipolar, nondelusional depression. Effective treatment for depression involves consideration of the type and severity of illness, adequate prescribing, patient education, and regular patient monitoring for compliance, symptom change, side effects, and intercurrent medical disorders, which may complicate antidepressant therapy.
Inhibition of angiogenesis and suppression of colorectal cancer metastatic to the liver using the Sleeping Beauty Transposon System

Metastatic colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, with disease progression and metastatic spread being closely associated with angiogenesis. We investigated whether an antiangiogenic gene transfer approach using the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon system could be used to inhibit growth of colorectal tumors metastatic to the liver. Liver CT26 tumor-bearing mice were hydrodynamically injected with different doses of a plasmid containing a transposon encoding an angiostatin-endostatin fusion gene (Statin AE) along with varying amounts of SB transposase-encoding plasmid. Animals that were injected with a low dose (10 μg) of Statin AE transposon plasmid showed a significant decrease in tumor formation only when co-injected with SB transposase-encoding plasmid, while for animals injected with a higher dose (25 μg) of Statin AE transposon, co-injection of SB transposase-encoding plasmid did not significantly affect tumor load. For animals injected with 10 μg Statin AE transposon plasmid, the number of tumor nodules was inversely proportional to the amount of co-injected SB plasmid. Suppression of metastases was further evident in histological analyses, in which untreated animals showed higher levels of tumor cell proliferation and tumor vascularization than animals treated with low dose transposon plasmid. These results demonstrate that hepatic colorectal metastases can be reduced using antiangiogenic transposons, and provide evidence for the importance of the transposition process in mediating suppression of these tumors.
PRESENT EFFECTS OF PAST WILDFIRES ON LEAF LITTER BREAKDOWN IN STREAM ECOSYSTEMS

ABSTRACT. We investigated the present effects from a 10-year-old wildfire on leaf litter breakdown rates in 3 head-water streams in central Idaho. These systems experienced a massive debris flow one year after the fire. Based on soil instability and burn patterns, we identified 3 stream conditions; unburned, burned only, and burned/scoured. We placed leaf bags containing willow leaves (Salix sp.) in each stream type and removed bags at various time intervals until all bags were collected 100 days after their introduction. Leaf material was dried and weighed, and decay rate coefficients were calculated. Macroinvertebrates colonizing the bags were enumerated and identified, and selected taxa were placed into trophic groups. We found that the unburned stream had the fastest leaf litter breakdown rate, the lowest level of incident light reaching the stream, and the largest amount of benthic organic matter. The burned/scoured stream was nearly opposite in all respects. Numbers of 2 detritivore invertebrate tax...
Optimal Decision Rules Under Uncertainty in Linear and Quadratic Models

Linear models with quadratic objective functions to minimize or maximize have been most widely used in applied decision models under uncertainty. Reasons are several e.g., computational ease, certainty equivalence and linearity of optimal decision rules. Also there exist many situations when the objective function is not quadratic, yet maximizing its expected value leads to a quadratic optimization model. For applications in various management decision problems, three types of models are most useful as follows: A. Decision models under uncertainty, which do not involve inequalities in an essential sense; hence the optimal decision rules are usually analytic. B. Stochastic linear programs, which involve inequalities in an essential sense, before or after the relevant uncertainty is introduced. C. Stochastic control models, which essentially involve dynamic phenomena over time and the information sequence plays a critical role through the stochastic process
A Knowledge Engineering System for MEDAS

This paper introduces a Knowledge Engineering System, the Disorder Toolbox (DT), which assists physicians to build, test, and verify the knowledge base for the Medical Emergency Decision Assistance System (MEDAS). DT is designed using a hypertext/hypermedia system and gives physicians an intelligent and user-friendly tool to streamline the disorder pattern creation process. DT reads the Portable Patient File (PPF) generated by the Intelligent Medical Record Entry (IMR-E) System, and allows the medical expert to enter prior and conditional probabilities, and test the posterior probabilities for disorders during the knowledge creation time. After building the disorder patterns, the physician can load a PPF and produce a differential diagnosis using the multimembership Bayesian inference engine. The process of building the Disorder Toolbox and its use are described. >
Observed Nonmodal Growth of the Pacific–North American Teleconnection Pattern

A linear-stochastic model is applied to the 10-day low-pass streamfunction field at 300, 500, and 850 mb for 40 winter seasons of Northern Hemisphere NCEP‐NCAR reanalysis data. The linear operator is derived from the observed multilevel covariances, allowing for statistical representation of nonlinear processes. While all empirical normal modes of the system are decaying, increase in the streamfunction variance is possible through nonmodal growth. When the evolution of the streamfunction field following the optimal perturbation is predicted, the Pacific‐North American teleconnection pattern (PNA) is found to be the most probable state of the atmosphere. Sixty-eight percent (70%) of positive (negative) PNA events are found to follow high projections onto the leading optimal, suggesting the PNA arises through constructive interference between the decaying modes and may be treated as a linear response to Gaussian white noise stochastic forcing. Implications for PNA timescale and onset mechanisms are also discussed.
Positive cooperativity between the thrombin and bradykinin B2 receptors enhances arachidonic acid release

Bradykinin (BK) or kallikreins activate B2 receptors (R) that couple Gαi and Gαq proteins to release arachidonic acid (AA) and elevate intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Thrombin cleaves t...
Applications of modern control theory to process control

This paper contains a brief description of research on the control of an enzyme reactor at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. One of the objectives of the research is to develop improved design methods for use in the chemical industry in order to increase productivity and efficiency in laboratory, pilot plant, and production facilities. A laboratory bench scale apparatus with a problem environment similar to that found in a commercial pilot plant has been built, and an interdisciplinary team of engineers, chemists, and mathematicians has been organized. This paper describes the project and some of its goals.
Which plan to choose? The determinants of pension system choice for public school teachers

This paper examines a natural experiment in which Washington State teachers were offered the opportunity to choose between enrolling in a traditional defined benefit (DB) plan and a hybrid plan with DB and defined contribution (DC) components. We find plan preference is weakly related to estimates of the relative financial benefits of being in either the DB or hybrid system and strongly related to teacher age. Importantly, we also find that the majority of teachers prefer the hybrid plan, and that teachers opting into the hybrid plan tend to be more effective based on student output measures of teacher productivity. These results suggest that policy shifts toward pension systems that include DC options do not necessarily make teaching a less desirable profession, particularly for the most productive employees.
“Glass Walls” in Academic Accounting? The Role of Gender in Initial Employment Position

This research examines whether gender interacts with quality of doctoral training to influence the likelihood of new accounting faculty candidates obtaining initial employment at institutions with accounting doctoral programs during the period from 1991 to 1997. Using data from Hasselback's Accounting Faculty Directory, we find that female candidates trained at top‐tier and bottom‐tier doctoral programs are equally likely as male candidates to attain appointments at doctoral schools, while female candidates trained at middle‐tier doctoral programs are less likely than their male counterparts to obtain such positions. These results are robust to the use of different external doctoral program rankings to partition our data and, based on several sensitivity tests, our results do not appear to be the result of self‐selection.
Glucoamylase immobilized on acid-hydrolyzed starch graft polyacrylonitrile.

A continuous stirred reactor fed maltose as substrate was used to show that acid hydrolyzed starch-g-polyacry-lonitrile and other polysaccharide graft copolymers can bind and retain significant quantities of active glucoamy-lase. Glucose productivities up to 2.7 g/g carrier/h were observed with the immobilized glucoamylase, and half-lives up to 1800 h were indicative of activity longevity. Factors influencing the immobilized enzyme activity and first-order decay rate included temperature, pH, and carrier composition. In all cases, maltose was converted quantitatively to glucose with no evidence of reversion product formation.
Transformation Toughening Simulated at Different Length Scales

The microscopic mechanism of “transformation toughening” is thought to be the stress reduction at a crack tip resulting from a displacive phase transformation induced by the stress field of a crack under external loading. Whether transformation toughening or “transformation embrittlement” is the result depends on many different characteristics of the displacive transformation, as well as the geometry of the stress field of the crack. Since both crack and displacive transformation dynamics are sufficiently rapid to be suitably simulated in a molecular dynamics scheme we have explored this approach with the ordered intermetallic NiAl, employing Embedded Atom Method (EAM) potentials. These potentials, in turn, have allowed the construction of a Ginzburg-Landau strain free energy functional (with all the material dependent parameters determined from molecular dynamics simulations) which may then be used to carry out Monte-Carlo simulations of the crack-transformation zone interaction on a substantially larger spatial scale. The simulations reported here show the complex microstructure involving self-accommodating martensite variants which result from the stress induced martensitic transformation near a crack tip in NiAl, and also measure the resulting reduction of stress intensity factor due to the transformation. It is concluded that current continuum mechanics models of transformation toughening need to be substantially revised if they are to adequately model the size, shape and microstructure of the transformation zone and produce accurate predictions of transformation toughening.
Microwave Oven Signal Modelling

The microwave oven (MWO) is a commonly available appliance that does not transmit data but still radiates signals in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. The MWO thus acts as an unintentional interferer for IEEE 802.11 Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication signals. An analytic model of the MWO signal is developed and studied in this paper. The model's efficacy is studied via simulation and experimental emulation.
Pressures required to move gas through the native airway in the presence of a fenestrated vs a nonfenestrated tracheostomy tube.

Subject It is occasionally desirable for patients with a tracheostomy tube to breathe through their native airway. We hypothesized that capped tracheostomy tubes with cuffs deflated would create substantial additional resistance to airflow without fenestration but would provide minimal resistance to airflow when the tube had a fenestration. Methods Two tracheal models were tested simulating a large (26 mm) and an average (18 mm) trachea. Tests were carried out with fenestrated and nonfenestrated tracheostomy tubes of sizes ranging from No. 4 to No. 10. Negative pressure inspiration was simulated using suction. Results With a large trachea or small tubes, the suction required to generate flows of 40 L/min or greater remained less than 5 cm H 2 O with or without a fenestration. However, with an average-sized trachea and no fenestration, the pressure required to generate flows of 40 L/min or greater exceeded 5 cm H 2 O and with No. 8 or No. 10 tubes exceeded 20 cm H 2 O. A fenestration routinely reduced the required pressure to less than 5 cm H 2 O. Conclusion The effort required to move gas across the native airway in the absence of a fenestration may be substantial. If a patient is to breathe through a native airway, a fenestrated tube should be used unless the tracheostomy tube is a No. 4.
Development of a class of distributed termination detection algorithms

Accessing and updating information in a self organizing data structure in a distributed environment requires execution of various distributed algorithms. Design of such algorithms is often facilitated by the use of a distributed termination detection algorithm superimposed on top of another distributed algorithm. The problem of distributed termination detection is considered, and message counting is introduced as an effective technique in designing such algorithms. A class of efficient algorithms, based on the idea of message counting, for this problem is presented. After termination has occurred, it is detected within a small number of message communications. These algorithms do not require the FIFO (first in, first out) property for the communication lines. Assumptions regarding the connectivity of the processes are simple. The algorithms are incrementally developed, i.e. a succession of algorithms leading to the final algorithms is presented. >
Association of nicotine addiction and nicotine's actions with separate cingulate cortex functional circuits.

Context Understanding the mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction to develop more effective treatment is a public health priority. Research consistently shows that nicotine transiently improves multiple cognitive functions. However, using nicotine replacement to treat nicotine addiction yields generally inconsistent results. Although this dichotomy is well known, the reasons are unclear. Imaging studies showed that nicotine challenges almost always involve the cingulate cortex, suggesting that this locus may be a key region associated with nicotine addiction and its treatment. Objective To identify cingulate functional circuits that are associated with the severity of nicotine addiction and study how nicotine affects them by means of region-specific resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Design Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Setting Outpatient clinics. Participants Nineteen healthy smokers. Intervention Single-dose (21- or 35-mg) nicotine patch. Main Outcome Measures Correlation of nicotine addiction severity and cingulate resting-state functional connectivity, and effects of short-term nicotine administration on connectivity strength. Results Clearly separated pathways that correlated with nicotine addiction vs nicotine’s action were found. The severity of nicotine addiction was associated with the strength of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)–striatal circuits, which were not modified by nicotine patch administration. In contrast, short-term nicotine administration enhanced cingulate-neocortical functional connectivity patterns, which may play a role in nicotine's cognition-enhancing properties. Conclusions Resting-state dACC-striatum functional connectivity may serve as a circuit-level biomarker for nicotine addiction, and the development of new therapeutic agents aiming to enhance the dACC-striatum functional pathways may be effective for nicotine addiction treatment.
Mechanisms by which pharmacologic agents may contribute to fatigue.

Abstract Fatigue is a common side effect of medications. This review summarizes some of the mechanisms by which drugs may cause fatigue. One major mechanism by which medications can cause fatigue is by central nervous system (CNS) depression. CNS depression can result from decreased excitatory activity, as is commonly seen with some anticholinergic agents, centrally acting α-agonists, and anticonvulsants. CNS depression can also result from increased inhibitory activity within the CNS, as is seen with benzodiazepines and barbiturates, which augment the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid. Opioids also increase inhibitory CNS activity through their interactions with the various subtypes of opioid receptors. Acting outside of the CNS, medications may cause fatigue as a result of either a true or a functional anemia by a number of mechanisms. Bone marrow toxicity, which results in decreased hematopoiesis, is such a mechanism. This is commonly seen with antineoplastics agents, but can also be observed in association with a wide variety of medication classes, including anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and antimicrobial agents. Another way that medications can cause anemia is by increased red blood cell destruction, as is seen with immune hemolytic anemia. Additionally, medications may cause a functional anemia through alteration of the heme group within the hemoglobin molecule, as is seen in methemoglobinemia. Finally, many drugs, including placebos, cause fatigue by unknown mechanisms. In addition to causing fatigue, some medications may be used to help relieve fatigue, although this drug class is limited in number at this point in time.
The Effect of a Nematode Parasite on Feeding and Dung-Burying Behavior of an Ecosystem Engineer

Dung beetles (genus Phanaeus) consume feces in both their larval and adults forms and because of their unique dietary niche, and behaviors associated with the burial of feces, are considered ecosystem engineers. In addition, because these insects subsist on a diet composed exclusively of feces, it is likely they encounter parasitic propagules more frequently than other animals do. Parasites often alter their host's behavior, so we set out to test whether Physocephalus sexalatus (a cosmopolitan nematode parasite of ungulates) does so in ways that affect the dung beetle's role as an ecosystem engineer and/or its predator-prey relationships (transmission of the parasite). Classic tests of anti-predator behavior did not reveal behavioral differences based on the beetles' infection status. However, this parasite did alter the beetles' behaviors in ways that could be critical for its role in fecal processing and therefore ecosystem engineering. Infected beetles exhibited anorexic behavior and consumed only half the amount of feces ingested by similar uninfected beetles. Infected beetles also buried less feces and did so in tunnels that were significantly shorter than those created by uninfected beetles. Fecal burial is naturally beneficial because it aerates the soil, incorporates nitrogenous compounds, and increases the flow of water thereby making soil and pastureland more productive. We showed that the nematode parasite P. sexalatus itself becomes an ecosystem engineer as it modifies the behavior of its already influential intermediate host.
Phenobarbital-induced alterations in phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride synthesis in hepatic endoplasmic reticulum

Biosynthetic pathways of phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride were studied in proliferating hepatic endoplas- mic reticulum of rats pretreated with phenobarbital. Phos- phatidylcholine accounted for the major increment in mem- brane phospholipid. In vitro measurements of hepatic microsomal enzymes which catalyze phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis revealed a significant increase in specific activity of the enzyme governing phos- phatidylcholine synthesis by sequential methylation of phos- phatidylethanolamine. The specific activity of phosphoryl- choline-glyceride transferase, which catalyzes phosphatidyl- choline synthesis from D-1 ,2-diglyceride and CDP-choline, was not altered. Specific activity of diglyceride acyltransferase, which catalyzes triglyceride biosynthesis, was increased to a degree comparable to the increase in specific activity found in the phenobarbital-induced drug-metabolizing enzyme which oxidatively demethylates aminopyrine. In vivo incorporation of methyl-aH from L-methionine- meth~l-~H into microsomal phosphatidylcholine was signif- icantly increased, resulting in an increased meth~l-~H to choline-1 ,2J4C incorporation ratio of more than three times that found in control animals. A comparable increase in this incorporation ratio was noted in serum phospholipids. The in vitro enzyme studies, in agreement with in vivo in- corporation data, indicate that the increase in phosphatidyl- choline content of phenobarbital-induced proliferating endo- plasmic reticulum is related to increased activity of the path- way of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis involving the se- quential methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine.
Cancer: Oncogene brought into the loop

Analysis of the 3D structure of DNA in tumour cells reveals how mutations in the IDH1 gene, and associated changes in methyl groups attached to DNA, elevate the expression of cancer-promoting genes.
Application of Microdialysis in Pharmacokinetic Studies

The objective of this review is to survey the recent literature regarding the various applications of microdialysis in pharmacokinetics. Microdialysis is a relatively new technique for sampling tissue extracellular fluid that is gaining popularity in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies, both in experimental animals and humans. The first part of this review discusses various aspects of the technique with regard to its use in pharmacokinetic studies, such as: quantitation of the microdialysis probe relative recovery, interfacing the sampling technique with analytical instrumentation, and consideration of repeated procedures using the microdialysis probe. The remainder of the review is devoted to a survey of the recent literature concerning pharmacokinetic studies that apply the microdialysis sampling technique. While the majority of the pharmacokinetic studies that have utilized microdialysis have been done in the central nervous system, a growing number of applications are being found in a variety of peripheral tissue types, e.g. skin, muscle, adipose, eye, lung, liver, and blood, and these are considered as well. Given the rising interest in this technique, and the ongoing attempts to adapt it to pharmacokinetic studies, it is clear that microdialysis sampling will have an important place in studying drug disposition and metabolism.
Fisher, Julie A., and David J. Silverman Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts: Diplomacy, War, and the Balance of Power in Seventeenth-Century New England and Indian Country Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 190 pp., $27.95, ISBN 978-0-8014-5000-6 Publication Date: May 2014

Ninigret, born around 1600, came to power roughly at the time of the Pequot War in 1636 and died in the autumn of 1676, shortly after the end of King Philip's War. This book argues that Ninigret wa...
Unplanned intensive care unit admission following trauma

Abstract Background The prevalence and outcomes of trauma patients requiring an unplanned return to the intensive care unit (ICU) and those initially admitted to a step-down unit or floor and subsequently upgraded to the ICU, collectively termed unplanned ICU (UP-ICU) admission , are largely unknown. Methods A retrospective review of the trauma registry of a suburban regional trauma center was conducted for adult patients who were admitted between 2007 and 2013, focusing on patients requiring ICU admission. Prehospital or emergency department intubations and patients undergoing surgery immediately after emergency room evaluation were excluded. Results Of 5411 admissions, there were 212 UP-ICU admissions, 541 planned ICU (PL-ICU) admissions, and 4658 that were never admitted to the ICU (NO-ICU). Of the 212 UP-ICU admits, 19.8% were unplanned readmissions to the ICU. Injury Severity Score was significantly different between PL-ICU (16), UP-ICU (13), and NO-ICU (9) admits. UP-ICU patients had significantly more often major (Abbreviated Injury Score ≥ 3) head/neck injury (46.7%) and abdominal injury (9.0%) than the NO-ICU group (22.5%, 3.4%), but significantly less often head/neck (59.5%) and abdominal injuries (17.9%) than PL-ICU patients. Major chest injury in the UP-ICU group (27.8%) occurred at a statistically comparable rate to PL-ICU group (31.6%) but more often than the NO-ICU group (14.7%). UP-ICU patients also significantly more often underwent major neurosurgical (10.4% vs 0.7%), thoracic (0.9% vs 0.1%), and abdominal surgery (8.5% vs 0.4%) than NO-ICU patients. Meanwhile, the PL-ICU group had statistically comparable rates of neurosurgical (6.8%) and thoracic surgical (0.9%) procedures but lower major abdominal surgery rate (2.0%) than the UP-ICU group. UP-ICU admission occurred at a median of 2 days following admission. UP-ICU median hospital LOS (15 days), need for mechanical ventilation (50.9%), and in-hospital mortality (18.4%) were significantly higher than those in the PL-ICU (9 days, 13.9%, 5.4%) and NO-ICU (5 days, 0%, 0.5%) groups. Conclusions UP-ICU admission, although infrequent, was associated with significantly greater hospital length of stay, rate of major abdominal surgery, need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality rates than PL-ICU and NO-ICU admission groups.
Nodular pulmonary light chain deposition disease: an entity associated with Sjögren syndrome or marginal zone lymphoma

Background Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is usually a systemic disorder characterised by non-amyloid monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain deposition in tissues. Localised nodular pulmonary (NP) LCDD is a rare and poorly characterised entity and, owing to the difficulties in diagnosis, limited data are available. Methods We investigated the clinical, radiological and pathological characteristics of a series of six confidently diagnosed cases of NPLCDD. Results There were three men and three women with ages ranging from 33 to 74 years. In all cases there were single or multiple pulmonary nodules, in one case associated with cysts. Two patients had no previous history of a lymphoproliferative or autoimmune disorder, two had Sjogren syndrome (SS) and two had extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma). Lung biopsies led to diagnoses of MALT lymphoma in four patients, including both of those with a previous history of lymphoma and one with SS. In five cases the diagnosis was confirmed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and in one by electron microscopy. There was no evidence of systemic LCDD in any of the cases. Five patients had an indolent course in spite of limited therapeutic intervention while, in the patient who died, the cause of death was related to the spread of the lymphoma and was not due to the pulmonary lesions. Conclusions NPLCDD is an indolent disease, in most cases associated with MALT lymphoma or autoimmune disease.
The Big ETF Charade

1. Brian Jacobsen 1. is chief portfolio strategist for Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC, in Menomonee Falls, WI. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a derivative. It is not regulated as a derivative, but technically, an ETF’s market price is derived from the market price of a basket of