cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variation in COVID-19 characteristics, treatment and outcomes in Michigan: an observational study in 32 hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To describe patient characteristics, symptoms, patterns of care and outcomes for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Michigan. DESIGN: Multicentre retrospective cohort study. SETTING: 32 acute care hospitals in the state of Michigan. PARTICIPANTS: Patients discharged (16 March-11 May 2020) with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were identified. Trained abstractors collected demographic information on all patients and detailed clinical data on a subset of COVID-19-positive patients. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Patient characteristics, treatment and outcomes including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mortality and venous thromboembolism within and across hospitals. RESULTS: Demographic-only data from 1593 COVID-19-positive and 1259 persons under investigation discharges were collected. Among 1024 cases with detailed data, the median age was 63 years; median body mass index was 30.6; and 51.4% were black. Cough, fever and shortness of breath were the top symptoms. 37.2% reported a known COVID-19 contact; 7.0% were healthcare workers; and 16.1% presented from congregated living facilities.During hospitalisation, 232 (22.7%) patients were treated in an intensive care unit (ICU); 558 (54.9%) in a 'cohorted' unit; 161 (15.7%) received mechanical ventilation; and 90 (8.8%) received high-flow nasal cannula. ICU patients more often received hydroxychloroquine (66% vs 46%), corticosteroids (34% vs 18%) and antibiotic therapy (92% vs 71%) than general ward patients (p<0.05 for all). Overall, 219 (21.4%) patients died, with in-hospital mortality ranging from 7.9% to 45.7% across hospitals. 73% received at least one COVID-19-specific treatment, ranging from 32% to 96% across sites.Across 14 hospitals, the proportion of patients admitted directly to an ICU ranged from 0% to 43.8%; mechanical ventilation on admission from 0% to 12.8%; mortality from 7.9% to 45.7%. Use of at least one COVID-19-specific therapy varied from 32% to 96.3% across sites. CONCLUSIONS: During the early days of the Michigan outbreak of COVID-19, patient characteristics, treatment and outcomes varied widely within and across hospitals.
Full-field hemocytometry. Forty years of progress seen through Clinical and Laboratory Hematology and the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology

The extraordinary advances in clinical hematology, biology, and oncology in the last decades would not have been possible without discovering how to identify and count the cells circulating in the blood. For centuries, scientists have used slides, counting chambers (hemocytometers), and diluting and staining solutions for this task. Then, automated hemocytometry began. This science, now linked to the daily routine of laboratory hematology, has completed an overwhelming path over a few decades. Our laboratories today operate with versatile multiparameter systems, ranging from complex single-channel instruments to bulky continuous flow machines. In terms of clinical information obtained from a simple routine blood test, the full exploitation of their potential depends on the operators' imagination and courage. A comprehensive review of the scientific publications that have accompanied the development of hemocytometry from the 1950s to today would require entire volumes. More than seven hundred contributions that authors worldwide have published in Clinical and Laboratory Haematology until 2007 and then the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology are summarized. Such journals have represented and hopefully will continue to represent the privileged place of welcome for future scientific research in hemocytometry. Improved technologies, attention to quality, new reagents and electronics, information technology, and scientist talent ensure a more profound and deeper knowledge of cell properties: current laboratory devices measure and count even minor immature or pathological cell subpopulations. Full-field hemocytometry includes the analysis of nonhematic fluids, digital adds to the microscope, and the development of effective point-of-care devices.
Least Squares Monte Carlo and Pathwise Optimization for Merchant Energy Production

We study merchant energy production modeled as a compound switching and timing option. The resulting Markov decision process is intractable. Least squares Monte Carlo combined with information relaxation and duality is a state-of-the-art reinforcement learning methodology to obtain operating policies and optimality gaps for related models. Pathwise optimization is a competing technique developed for optimal stopping settings, in which it typically provides superior results compared to this approach, albeit with a larger computational effort. We apply these procedures to merchant energy production. Employing pathwise optimization requires methodological extensions. We use principal component analysis and block coordinate descent in novel ways to respectively precondition and solve the ensuing ill-conditioned and large scale linear program, which even a cutting-edge commercial solver is unable to handle directly. Both techniques yield near optimal operating policies on realistic ethanol production instances. However, at the cost of both considerably longer run times and greater memory usage, pathwise optimization leads to substantially tighter dual bounds compared to least squares Monte Carlo, even when specified in a simple fashion, complementing it in this case. Thus, it plays a critical role in obtaining small optimality gaps. Our numerical observations on the magnitudes of these bound improvements differ from what is currently known. This research has potential relevance for other commodity merchant operations contexts and motivates additional algorithmic work in the area of pathwise optimization.
Hidden Integrality and Semi-random Robustness of SDP Relaxation for Sub-Gaussian Mixture Model

We consider the problem of estimating the discrete clustering structures under the Sub-Gaussian Mixture Model. Our main results establish a hidden integrality property of a semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation for this problem: while the optimal solution to the SDP is not integer-valued in general, its estimation error can be upper bounded by that of an idealized integer program. The error of the integer program, and hence that of the SDP, are further shown to decay exponentially in the signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, we show that the SDP relaxation is robust under the semi-random setting in which an adversary can modify the data generated from the mixture model. In particular, we generalize the hidden integrality property to the semi-random model and thereby show that SDP achieves the optimal error bound in this setting. These results together highlight the "global-to-local" mechanism that drives the performance of the SDP relaxation. To the best of our knowledge, our result is the first exponentially decaying error bound for convex relaxations of mixture models. A corollary of our results shows that in certain regimes the SDP solutions are in fact integral and exact. More generally, our results establish sufficient conditions for the SDP to correctly recover the cluster memberships of $(1-\delta)$ fraction of the points for any $\delta\in(0,1)$. As a special case, we show that under the $d$-dimensional Stochastic Ball Model, SDP achieves non-trivial (sometimes exact) recovery when the center separation is as small as $\sqrt{1/d}$, which improves upon previous exact recovery results that require constant separation.
RETALIATE: learning winning policies in first-person shooter games

In this paper we present RETALIATE, an online reinforcement learning algorithm for developing winning policies in team first-person shooter games. RETALIATE has three crucial characteristics: (1) individual BOT behavior is fixed although not known in advance, therefore individual BOTS work as "plugins", (2) RETALIATE models the problem of learning team tactics through a simple state formulation, (3) discount rates commonly used in Q-Iearning are not used. As a result of these characteristics, the application of the Q-learning algorithm results in the rapid exploration towards a winning policy against an opponent team. In our empirical evaluation we demonstrate that RETALIATE adapts well when the environment changes.
Informing library research with focus groups

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate alternative strategies to enhance participant interaction in library focus groups. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive alternatives strategies are suggested as techniques to enhance participant interaction in library focus groups. Findings – There are no findings as such, rather this is a paper which suggests different approaches than have hitherto be tried in library focus groups. Originality/value – There has not been a similar article or set of proposed alternative strategies on this subject in so far as library focus groups are concerned.
Helium Storage at High Density and Discharge at High Flow Rates

The Air Force Weapons Laboratory requires bulk storage and discharge of cryogenic helium at densities approaching 0.2 × 103 kg/m3 (12.5 lb/ft3) and pulsed flow rates of several kg/s—conditions significantly in excess of previous applications. By comparison, the Apollo Lunar Module Helium Storage System has a fill density of 0.13 × 103 kg/m3 (8.1 lb/ft3) and a discharge rate of 0.04 kg/sec (0.09 lb/sec) [1]. In order to demonstrate the practical feasibility of a system meeting these requirements, the NBS Cryogenics Division was asked to design, build, and demonstrate a system to: (1) store helium in a dewar at a density approaching 0.2 × 103kg/m3 with a pressure less than 10.3 MPa; (2) discharge helium in pulses of 2 sec or more and at a flow rate of at least 1.0 kg/sec at greater than 3.5 MPa pressure.
Patient perspectives on once-weekly fluoxetine.

Background: Continuation therapy is recommended for 4 to 9 months following remission of symptoms of major depressive disorder. Long-term maintenance therapy is recommended for patients with severe, recurrent symptoms. However, most patients do not complete an adequate course of therapy. We investigated patient perceptions of antidepressant dosing to determine whether weekly dosing could provide an additional tool to help more patients remain compliant with antidepressant treatment. Method: Physicians were asked to complete an anonymous patient profile for 7 patients currently receiving antidepressant treatment and to give those patients a questionnaire that the patients could submit anonymously. In addition, clinically depressed patients in the United States and in France were surveyed by telephone. Results: Patients surveyed by questionnaire agreed most strongly with statements indicating that they would like their doctor to involve them in the choice of antidepressant medication, that they did not want others to know they were taking antidepressant medication, and that they disliked the idea of taking daily medication. Patients in the telephone survey agreed most strongly with statements indicating that they considered once-weekly dosing more convenient than daily dosing, that they believed taking 1 pill a week would make them feel less dependent on pills, and that they perceived more advantages than disadvantages in taking I pill a week. Conclusion: Weekly antidepressant treatment may provide an effective tool in helping patients with depression. Positive patient perceptions of weekly dosing suggest that some patients may remain on continuation or maintenance therapy longer when they have the option of weekly dosing.
NK cells and CD8+ T cells cooperate to improve therapeutic responses in melanoma treated with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and CTLA-4 blockade

Melanoma is one of the few types of cancer with an increasing annual incidence. While a number of immunotherapies for melanoma have been associated with significant clinical benefit, including high-dose IL-2 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blockade, clinical response to either of these single agents has been limited to 11-20% of treated patients. Therefore, in this study, we sought to test the hypothesis that the combination of IL-2 and CTLA-4 blockade could mediate a more profound therapeutic response. Here, B6 mice were challenged with poorly immunogenic B16 melanoma on day 0, and treated with CTLA-4 blocking antibody (100 μg/mouse) on days 3, 6, and 9, and IL-2 (100,000 units) twice daily on days 4–8, or both. A highly significant synergistic effect that delayed tumor growth and prolonged survival was demonstrated with the combination immunotherapy compared to either monotherapy alone. The therapeutic effect of combination immunotherapy was dependent on both CD8+ T and NK cells and co-depletion of these subsets (but not either one alone) abrogated the therapeutic effect. CTLA-4 blockade increased immune cell infiltration (including CD8+ T cells and NK cells) in the tumor and IL-2 reduced the proportion of highly differentiated/exhausted tumor-infiltrating NK cells. These results have implications for the design of clinical trials in patients with metastatic melanoma and provide new insights into how the immune system may be mediating anti-tumor activity with combination IL-2 and CTLA-4 blockade in melanoma.
Hues in control? (massively parallel computers)

A methodology for the description and analysis of massively parallel computers is presented. Massively parallel structures are modeled with a data path graph, a precedence graph, and a control structure. The control structure, specified with colored Petri nets, employs nomenclature that provides the concise representation of thousands of Petri places and transitions. >
Solar simulators at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The large JPL solar simulation systems are unique in their ability to furnish well collimated light over large areas with good uniformity and high efficiency/intensity. These systems furnish simulated solar irradiance to 10-ft (3-m) and 25-ft (7.6-m) space simulation chambers. The discussion is divided into two parts. In the first part (Sec. II) the existing facilities are described and some potential improvements discussed. In the second part (Sec. III) some results of a high-intensity lamp development program are presented.
Loss of β-carotene 15,15'-oxygenase in developing mouse tissues alters esterification of retinol, cholesterol and diacylglycerols.

Abstract We provide novel insights into the function(s) of β-carotene-15,15′-oxygenase (CMOI) during embryogenesis. By performing in vivo and in vitro experiments, we showed that CMOI influences not only lecithin:retinol acyltransferase but also acyl CoA:retinol acyltransferase reaction in the developing tissues at mid-gestation. In addition, LC/MS lipidomics analysis of the CMOI −/− embryos showed reduced levels of four phosphatidylcholine and three phosphatidylethanolamine acyl chain species, and of eight triacylglycerol species with four or more unsaturations and fifty-two or more carbons in the acyl chains. Cholesteryl esters of arachidonate, palmitate, linoleate, and DHA were also reduced to less than 30% of control. Analysis of the fatty acyl CoA species ruled out a loss in fatty acyl CoA synthetase capability. Comparison of acyl species suggested significantly decreased 18:2, 18:3, 20:1, 20:4, or 22:6 acyl chains within the above lipids in CMOI-null embryos. Furthermore, LCAT, ACAT1 and DGAT2 mRNA levels were also downregulated in CMOI −/− embryos. These data strongly support the notion that, in addition to cleaving β-carotene to generate retinoids, CMOI serves an additional function(s) in retinoid and lipid metabolism and point to its role in the formation of specific lipids, possibly for use in nervous system tissue.
Radical Reactions with Double Memory of Chirality (2MOC) for the Enantiospecific Synthesis of Adjacent Stereogenic Quaternary Centers in Solution: Cleavage and Bonding Faster than Radical Rotation

The solution photochemistry of bis(phenylpyrrolidinonyl)ketones (R,R)-1b and (S,S)-1b exhibited a remarkably high memory of chirality. Stereospecific decarbonylation to products (R,R)-3b and (S,S)-3b, respectively, occurred with an ee of ca. 80%. The reaction is thought to occur along the single state manifold by sequential Norrish type-I alpha-cleavage, decarbonylation, and radical-radical combination in a time scale that is comparable to that required for the radical intermediate to expose its other enantiotopic face by rotation about an axis perpendicular to that of the p orbital (ca. 3-7 ps). The absolute configuration of a key intermediate and that of ketone (R,R)-1b were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and the ee values of the photochemical products with the help of chiral shift reagent (+)-Eu(tfc)(3) and chiral LC-MS/MS. On the basis of the ee and de values at 25 degrees C, it could be determined that ca. 70% of the bond forming events occur with double memory of chirality, ca. 21% occur after rotation of one radical to form the meso product (R,S)-3b, and only 9% occur after double rotation to form the opposite enantiomer. This report represents the first example of a doubly enantiospecific Norrish type-I and decarbonylation reaction in solution and illustrates potentially efficient ways to obtain compounds with adjacent stereogenic quaternary centers.
Cultural Conflict and the Feminine Role: An Experimental Study

(1945). Cultural Conflict and the Feminine Role: An Experimental Study. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 177-194.
Organizational Dispute Resolution Systems: a Complementarities Model

I contribute to complementarities theory by defining synergies in an organizational dispute resolution system with respect to how components interact. Disputants must be able to use any component for any conflict, and multiple ones to address the same conflict. Drawing on insights from both organizational behavior and industrial relations theories, I present propositions about how complementarities affect individual outcomes, and I conclude with implications for dispute resolution and other complementarities research and practice.
Deformation of the Batestown till of the Lake Michigan lobe, Laurentide ice sheet

Deep, pervasive shear deformation of the bed to high strains (>100) may have been primarily responsible for flow and sediment transport of the Lake Michigan lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet. To test this hypothesis, we sampled at 0.2 m increments a basal till from one advance of the lobe (Batestown till) along vertical profiles and measured fabrics due to both anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and sand-grain preferred orientation. Unlike past fabric studies, interpretations were guided by results of laboratory experiments in which this till was deformed in simple shear to high strains. Fabric strengths indicate that more than half of the till sampled has a <5% probability of having been sheared to moderate strains (7-30). Secular changes in fabric azimuth over the thickness of the till, probably due to changing ice-flow direction as the lobe receded, indicate that the bed accreted with time and that the depth of deformation of the bed did not exceed a few decimeters. Orientations of principal magnetic susceptibilities show that the state of strain was commonly complex, deviating from bed-parallel simple shear. Deformation is inferred to have been focused in shallow, temporally variable patches during till deposition from ice.
Lower bounds on scintillation detector timing performance

Abstract Fundamental method-independent limits on the timing performance of scintillation detectors are useful for identifying regimes in which either present timing methods are nearly optimal or where a considerable performance gain might be realized using better pulse processing techniques. Several types of lower bounds on mean-squared timing error (MSE) performance have been developed and applied to scintillation detectors. The simple Cramer-Rao (CR) bound can be useful in determining the limiting MSE for scintillators having a relatively high rate of photon production such as BaF2 and NaI(Tl); however, it tends to overestimate the achievable performance for scintillators with lower rates such as BGO. For this reason, alternative bounds have been developed using rate-distortion theory [1,2] or by assuming that the conversion of energy to scintillation light must pass through excited states which have exponential lifetime densities [3]. The bounds are functions of the mean scintillation pulse shape, the scintillation intensity, and photodetector characteristics; they are simple to evaluate and can be used to conveniently assess the limiting timing performance of scintillation detectors.
Simple and integrated heuristic algorithms for scheduling tasks with time and resource constraints

We consider the problem of scheduling a set of n tasks in a system having r resources. Each task has an arbitrary, but known, processing time and a deadline, and may request use of a number of resources. A resource can be used either in shared mode or exclusive mode. In this article, we study algorithms used for determining whether or not a set of tasks is schedulable in such a system, and if so, determining a schedule for it. This scheduling problem is known to be NPcomplete and hence we methodically study a set of heuristics that can be used by such an algorithm. Due to the complexity of the problem, simple heuristics do not perform satisfactorily. However, an algorithm that uses combinations of these simple heuristics works very well compared to an optimal algorithm that takes exponential time complexity. For the combination that performs the best, we also determine the scheduling costs as a function of the size of the task set scheduled.
A Quantitative Model for ELDRS and ${\rm H}_{2}$ Degradation Effects in Irradiated Oxides Based on First Principles Calculations

A physics-based TCAD model for enhanced low-dose-rate sensitivity in linear bipolar devices is developed. Quantitative agreement is found with measured data over a wide range of dose rates and H2 concentrations. Analysis of the degradation effects of individual defect types, the implementation of which has been informed by first principles calculations, provides insights into the mechanisms behind enhanced low-dose-rate effects in different hydrogen environments. The effects of initial defect concentration and location and the energetics of the defect-related reactions are explored. Conclusions are drawn about the roles of molecular hydrogen and hydrogenated defects in the radiation response of these devices.
Mapping Water Density to Design New Blockers Against a Viral Proton Channel

The influenza A virus utilizes a membrane-embedded proton channel, M2. Its functions are to acidify the viral interior and trigger the uncoating of its RNA, equilibrate the pH across the Golgi during replication, and allow a fully formed virus to bud from the host cell. One of the two classes of approved anti-influenza drugs contains amphiphilic molecules such as amantadine, that prevent extraviral H+ and water from accessing the pore of M2. Drug-resistant mutations (now pervasive through most of the flu strains) feature a more hydrated pore that destabilizes amantadine binding. We have used molecular dynamics simulations over extended times, reconstructed accurate water density maps, and identified several metastable positions of amantadine in the wild-type protein and its mutants. Using these data we designed new amine-based inhibitors, that fully suppress H+ conduction and viral replication in drug resistant strains.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Attitudes of caregivers, maternal experiences with day care, and children's development

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between caregiver attitudes towards parental child-rearing abilities and children's development by examining differences in mothers whose child rearing is held in high versus low esteem by caregivers and their children. One hundred 3- to 5-year-old children from ten different day-care centers and their mothers participated in the study. Children's cognitive, language, and social development were assessed and mothers were interviewed regarding demographic characteristics, their experiences with the day-care center, and their child-rearing and educational values. Results revealed that children of parents perceived as doing a good job were developmentally more advanced on three of six measures. Mothers perceived as doing a poor job of parenting were more likely to be single, less communicative with caregivers, had more traditional child-rearing and educational values, and had more problems with center rules and regulations. As predicted, negative caregiver attitudes towards parents were reflected in the mothers' experiences with day care, child-rearing values, and demographic characteristics, as well as with their children's development.
Axillary recurrence after sentinel node biopsy

Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has evolved as the standard of care in the surgical staging of breast cancer. This technique is accurate for surgical staging of axillary nodal disease. We hypothesized that axillary recurrence after SNB is rare and that SNB may provide regional control in patients with microscopic nodal involvement. With institutional review board approval, SNB was performed with peritumoral injection of 99mTc-labeled sulfur colloid. From 1996 to 2003, 1167 patients were entered into a prospective cancer database after surgical therapy; 916 patients consented to long-term follow-up. Fifty-two patients (5.7%) did not map successfully and were excluded, leading to a study population of 864 patients. The median follow-up was 27.4 months (range, 1–98 months). The median number of sentinel nodes harvested was 2, and 633 (73%) patients had negative sentinel nodes. Thirty (4.7%) of those sentinel node–negative patients underwent completion axillary dissection, whereas 592 (94%) patients were followed up with observation. A total of 231 (27%) had positive sentinel nodes: 158 (68%) of these patients underwent completion axillary dissection, and 73 (32%) were managed with observation alone. Two (.32%) patients who were sentinel node negative had an axillary recurrence; one of these patients had undergone completion axillary dissection. No patient in the observed sentinel node–positive group had an axillary recurrence (odds ratio, .37; P = .725). On the basis of a median follow-up of 27.4 months, axillary recurrence after SNB is extraordinarily rare regardless of nodal involvement, thus indicating that this technique provides an accurate measure of axillary disease and may impart regional control for patients with node-positive disease.
On the interaction of a sound pulse with the shear layer of an axisymmetric jet

The behavior of a sound pulse from a simulated source in a jet is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Both approaches show that in the low and medium frequencies the far field acoustic power exhibits and marked amplification as the flow velocity increases. Experimentally this changes to an attenuation at the higher frequencies which cannot be computed by the numerical model. This amplification is traced to shear noise terms which trigger the instability waves that are inherent within the flow.
Capacity of a Diffusion-Based Molecular Communication System With Channel Memory and Molecular Noise

Molecular Communication (MC) is a communication paradigm based on the exchange of molecules. The implicit biocompatibility and nanoscale feasibility of MC make it a promising communication technology for nanonetworks. This paper provides a closed-form expression for the information capacity of an MC system based on the free diffusion of molecules, which is of primary importance to understand the performance of the MC paradigm. Unlike previous contributions, the provided capacity expression is independent from any coding scheme and takes into account the two main effects of the diffusion channel: the memory and the molecular noise. For this, the diffusion is decomposed into two processes, namely, the Fick's diffusion and the particle location displacement, which are analyzed as a cascade of two separate systems. The Fick's diffusion captures solely the channel memory, while the particle location displacement isolates the molecular noise. The MC capacity expression is obtained by combining the two systems as function of the diffusion coefficient, the temperature, the transmitter-receiver distance, the bandwidth of the transmitted signal, and the average transmitted power. Numerical results show that a few kilobits per second can be reached within a distance range of tenth of micrometer and for an average transmitted power around 1 pW.
Three-dimensional radiation in absorbing-emitting-scattering media using the modified differential approximation

Abstract The modified differential approximation (MDA) first proposed by Olfe and recently extended by Modest is applied to a three-dimensional absorbing-emitting-scattering medium bounded by non-black walls. Numerical techniques are developed to solve for the radiation fields due to wall emission and medium emission. The techniques are evaluated in terms of the computer memory requirement, CPU time and numerical accuracy. For a model problem, the modified differential approximation is compared against the zone method, the P 1 approximation, the P, approximation, S 4 and S 6 . MDA is shown to be superior to the P 1 and P 3 approximations and to compare favorably with S N solutions for all conditions of optical depth.
Perestroika and the Journals

It is fitting to measure Perestroika's impact through the contents of the leading political science association journals. The original Perestroika manifesto railed at the American Political Science Review (APSR), and many subsequent Perestroika protests condemned the skewed contents of the APSR, the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), and the Journal of Politics. Large national and regional associations publish and pay for these journals. The position of Perestroika has been that their contents should represent the many types of research that political scientists are doing, which was not the case when the movement began.
A characterization theorem of multivariate splines in blossoming form

Abstract It is known that polynomials in m variables of total degree n are equivalent to symmetric polynomials in n variables that are linear in each single variable. This principle, called the blossoming principle, has applied to the study of multivariate splines in this paper. For any spline on a simplicial partition Δ, a smoothness condition on its polynomial pieces on any two simplices of Δ which may not be adjacent is given. This smoothness condition presented in blossoming form generalizes the well-known smoothness conditions in B-form.
Synthesis of the sex pheromone of the Japanese beetle

The stereospecific synthesis of the sex pheromone produced by the female Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman), (R,Z)-5-1-decenyl)-dihydro-2(3H)-furanone, is described. The pure syntheticR,Z form is a powerful attractant for males of the species in field bioassays and was competitive in attractiveness with live females, whereas the racemicZ isomer and theS,Z enantiomer were strong inhibitors of male response. The saturated analogs of both enantiomers were also synthesized stereospecifically.
Rule structure in the psychological representation of physical settings

Abstract Three experiments were performed to demonstrate how physical settings may be conceptualized in terms of the behavioral rules associated with them. Subjects participated in similarity rating, recognition memory, and likelihood estimation tasks. In the similarity rating task, overlap in the rules listed in free response protocols for 10 different settings predicted global similarity ratings between pairs of settings. In the recognition memory task, after subjects read a description of a stimulus person behaving in ways prescribed by a setting, distractor behaviors highly typical of a given setting were more effective in eliciting false positive recognitions than were distractors less typical of the setting in question. Finally, subjects were asked to predict the future behavior of a stimulus person on the basis of a behavioral description of past behavior characteristic of a particular setting. Subsequently, these subjects rated future behaviors highly typical of that setting as more probable than behaviors less typical of that setting. Taken together, these data argue that behavioral rules should be viewed as a part of the cognitive representation of physical settings.
Selective Electromagnetic Heating of Tumors in Animals in Deep Hypothermia

A technique for heating tumors with microwave energy has been developed to achieve differential hypothermia in laboratory animals. In the differential hypothermia technique, a temperature difference of about 25/spl deg/C is maintained between the tumor and the body with the tumor being at normal body temperature. While the animal is in this deep differential hypothermic state, chemotherapeutic drugs are administered to treat the tumor. For large tumors, the technique was implemented with S-band equipment and for smaller tumors it was implemented with X-band equipment. Both systems employ a feed or probe designed for use with the particular system. Results are presented that show the applicability of microwave energy in the selective heating of tumors.
Collagen preservation in soft tissue from the Magadan mammoth

discovered in the Magadan district of Siberia [ 1,2] has provided a unique opportunity for histo- logical and biochemical studies of an extinct mammal. After the calf s entombment in permafrost for about 40 000 years [3], tissue from its dorsal abdominal wall still contains some remarkably well preserved structures as judged by scanning and transmission electron microscopy [4,5]. On the basis of our bio- chemical studies we can report that while the most abundant protein material is degraded collagen, undegraded apparently native type I collagen chains are also present. Although previous biochemical studies on remains of mammoths and other extinct species identified degradation products of cy-keratins in mammoth hair [6] and collagen in fossil bone and teeth by amino acid composition analysis, no purified chains of any pro- tein had ever been isolated [7]. Our success in iden- tifying undegraded type I collagen from a small sample of the Magadan calfs soft tissue supports the possibil- ity that, eventually, the amino acid sequence of some mammoth polypeptides will be determined. Com- parison of such genetic information from
Solving planning-graph by compiling it into CSP

Although the deep affinity between Graphplan's backward search, and the process of solving constraint satisfaction problems has been noted earlier, these relations have hither-to been primarily used to adapt CSP search techniques into the backward search phase of Graphplan. This paper describes GP-CSP, a system that does planning by automatically converting Graphplan's planning graph into a CSP encoding, and solving the CSP encoding using standard CSP solvers. Our comprehensive empirical evaluation of GP-CSP demonstrates that it is quite competitive with both standard Graphplan and Blackbox system, which compiles planning graphs into SAT encodings. We discuss the many advantages offered by focusing on CSP encodings rather than SAT encodings, including the fact that by exploiting implicit constraint representations, GP-CSP tends to be less susceptible to memory blow-up associated with methods that compile planning problems into SAT encodings. Our work is inspired by the success of van Beek & Chen's CPLAN system. However, in contrast to CPLAN, which expects hand-coded CSP encodings for individual domains and problems, GP-CSP is able to take domain descriptions in STRIPS (PDDL) representation, and automatically generate the CSP encodings.
Havelok the Dane: A Thirteenth-Century Handbook for Princes

THE thirteenth-century English romance of Havelok the Dane is unique among the medieval accounts of Havelok's career because it is more than a retelling of Havelok's life. Whereas many romances rework traditional material to offer yet another episodic narration, the English romancer turns to the Havelok story because it offers interesting parallels to the contemporary political situation which he can develop in the course of his narration. Two earlier versions of the story, the account in Gaimar's L'Estoire des Engleis and the Lai d'Haveloc, do present straightforward narrations of Havelok's rise from banished heir to the Danish throne to king of Denmark and England. Havelok the Dane, however, adapts and expands its source material in order to create a portrait of the growth and education of the ideal king. By seeing the correspondences between the world of Havelok and Edward I's England and incorporating them into his version of the Havelok tale, the poet creates a romance which is a mirror of thirteenth-century political life and a portrait of the ideal king delineated from the point of view of the lower classes. This portrait emerges as a warning to the thirteenth-century English monarchy of the needs and the demands of the lower classes. After the Norman Conquest the folk tradition of Havelok flourished in England. Here was a vivid example of the male Cinderella motif, the young orphan deprived of his kingdom and unaware of his regal parentage. When the English romancer came to employ the Havelok tradition, he found a story which had been the subject of frequent poetic reworkings. Before we can properly approach the remarkable portrait of the hero of the English romance, we need to survey the presentation of Havelok in the romance's analogues. Then we will be able to comprehend more fully the uniqueness of the English romancer's reworking of his material. The earliest account of the Havelok story appears in Geffrei Gaimar's L'Estoire des Engleis, an Anglo-Norman chronicle history written between 1135 and 1140. Gaimar was writing an Anglo-Norman translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a sequel to his translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth. In the course of his translating, he moved to Lincolnshire where he became acquainted with the local legends concerning Havelok; unwilling to omit such an interesting story from his history, he placed it shortly after the death of Arthur. During the reign of Arthur's nephew Constantine, two British kings, Adelbert and Edelsie, strengthened their friendship through Adelbert's marriage to Orwain, Edelsie's sister. Adelbert's early death put his daughter Argentille in her uncle's power; in order to obtain Argentille's inheritance, Edelsie married her to Havelok, his lowly cook.'
A multispectrum analysis of the 2ν2 spectral region of H12C14N: intensities, broadening and pressure-shift coefficients

Abstract High-resolution (0.005 cm −1 ) infrared absorption spectra of HCN in the 2ν2 band region near 1411 cm −1 have been recorded at room temperature using the Bruker IFS120HR Fourier transform spectrometer located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Four spectra of high-purity (99.8%) HCN together with three spectra of lean mixtures (∼3%) of HCN in dry air were simultaneously fit using a multispectrum nonlinear least-squares procedure. The analysis yielded room temperature values for absolute intensities, self- and air-broadening coefficients, and self- and air-induced pressure shift coefficients for numerous lines in the 2ν20 band of H12C14N. In addition, intensities, self- and air-broadening coefficients for several lines of the 3ν21−ν21 hot band, as well as intensities for a number of lines in the 2ν20 band of H13C14N, were also determined. Since there are no previous measurements of broadening and shift parameters reported in the 2ν20 band, our results are compared with values recently determined in the ν1 band of H12C14N and with current HITRAN values.
APOPTOSIS IN CAVITATION OF MIDDLE EAR SPACE

Mesenchyme cells surround early ossicles in the developing middle ear, then are replaced by space that is created by what has been described as an expansion of the pharyngeal pouch. Cell death has not been considered important in cavitation of chick middle ear (Jaskoll and Maderson [1978] Anat. Rec., 190:177–200), but an uncharacterized form of cell death has been reported to play a major role in cavitation of mouse middle ear (Jaskoll [1977] PhD thesis, CUNY). We investigated whether this uncharacterized cell death is the non-random form known as apoptosis. We examined the middle ear cavitation process using an in situ immunomarker for apoptosis. CBy RF mice during prenatal days 15–20 and postnatal days 1–3 and chick embryos representing HH stages 33–38 were investigated. Apoptotic cells were marked in mouse postnatal day 1. No indication of apoptosis was present in other prenatal and postnatal days of development included in this study, although morphology showed that cavitation proceeds over several perinatal days in the mouse. Apoptosis was not marked in the chick middle ear. Previously observed cell death in murine middle ear is the non-random form of cell death known as apoptosis. Cell death has not been reported in avian middle ear, and lack of apoptotic marker supports those observations. The limited occurrence of apoptosis in mice and apparent absence of apoptosis in chicks suggest that several mechanisms contribute to cavitation of vertebrate middle ear space. Anat. Rec. 251:286–289, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An update on the use of botulinum toxin therapy in Parkinson's disease.

Botulinum toxin (BoNT) has gained widespread use in a variety of neurological conditions. Parkinson’s disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder manifested by motor and non-motor symptoms that can cause significant disability. BoNT has been used to effectively treat a variety of symptoms related to Parkinson’s disease. This review will examine the current therapeutic indications of BoNT use in the following disorders related to Parkinson’s disease: cervical dystonia, blepharospasm and lid apraxia, focal hand dystonia, foot dystonia, laryngeal dystonia, oromandibular dystonia, camptocormia, hand and jaw tremor, sialorrhea, hyperhidrosis, dysphagia, constipation, and overactive bladder.
Threshold Measurement Procedures in Brief-Tone Audiometry

Two methods for determining brief-tone audiometric thresholds (at 1000 Hz) were investigated to assess the test-retest reliability and variability of each method. The results indicated that both me...
Pool Fires Of Biofuels And Their Blends With Petroleum Diesel

The combustion characteristics of pool fires of biofuels, canola methyl ester (CME), soy methyl ester (SME), and their blends with a petroleum fuel (No. 2 diesel) were studied. The fuels were burned in cups of two sizes (0.042 m and 0.057 m in diameter and 0.038 m height) that simulated convection-dominated small pool fires of liquids. Blends of CME and SME with diesel fuel were tested with biofuel concentrations of 25, 50, and 75% by volume. The mass burn rate, the fuel surface regression rate, the radiation emission from the flames, the flame temperature field, and the emission indices of CO and NOx were recorded. The fuel surface regression rate in both containers was comparable. Both the fuel mass burning rate and surface regression rate varied non-monotonically with the volume concentration of biofuel in the blend. The radiation fraction of heat release and the temperature profiles were similar for all the flames. The CO emission index decreased with the biofuel content in the fuel. The NOx emission ...
Bromocriptine inhibits incorporation of [3H]thymidine into rat pituitary tumor cells

The effects of bromocriptine on GH3 pituitary tumor cell [3H]thymidine incorporation were studied. Cells were grown in the presence of bromocriptine, then exposed to a short-term pulse of [3H]thymidine in serum-free medium containing deoxycytidine (10 microM) to prevent deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) pooling. After 48 h exposure to bromocriptine, basal prolactin (PRL)-secretion during 45 min was inhibited by 50% by 10 microM bromocriptine and thyroid releasing hormone-induced PRL stimulation was suppressed. Incorporation of radiolabelled thymidine into acid-precipitable DNA increased progressively from 15 to 60 min and was abolished by simultaneous incubation with excess unlabelled thymidine (100 microM). Bromocriptine (10 microM) inhibited incorporation of 5-50 microM [3H]thymidine, but this was not reversed by simultaneous incubation with metoclopramide (10 microM). Aminopterin, an inhibitor of endogenous de novo DNA synthesis, stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation twofold and this increased DNA salvage pathway activity was also blocked by bromocriptine. As incorporation of [3H]thymidine into acid-soluble cell nucleotides was also inhibited by bromocriptine, the data suggest that in these cells the drug inhibits thymidine kinase activity, a salvage pathway of DNA synthesis.
Invertebrate habitat use in relation to fetch and plant zonation in northern Lake Huron coastal wetlands

Northern Lake Huron marshes are among the most pristine wetlands in the Great Lakes. Almost 200 invertebrate taxa were collected from eight of these marshes from 1997 through 2001. Our objective was to explore relationships between wave exposure (fetch), plant community zones and invertebrate community composition using exploratory data analysis of invertebrate relative abundance. Effective fetch, an exposure measure which integrates fetch along three directions, ranged from 0.4 to 35.3 km. Invertebrates were collected with dip nets from wet meadow, Typha, and inner and outer Scirpus zones from 3 very protected (fetch 10 km) marshes. Correspondence analyses of invertebrate relative abundance did not plot invertebrate communities of wet meadows along fetch gradients even though 7 of 30 common taxa were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with fetch. After removing wet meadow data, correspondence analyses of data from remaining plant zones plotted marshes ...
Changes in total RNA, polyadenylated RNA, and actin mRNA during meiotic maturation of mouse oocytes.

Abstract The total RNA content of mouse oocytes, as measured by ethidium bromide fluorescence, was found to decrease by 19% during meiotic maturation (ovulated eggs contain 19% less RNA than full-grown oocytes). Consistent with these results, prelabeled stable RNA of full-grown oocytes decreased by about 20% during in vitro maturation. Polyadenylated RNA represented 19% of total prelabeled RNA in full-grown oocytes and 10% in oocytes matured in vitro , confirming previous results on in vivo prepared material. To distinguish between deadenylation and degradation for one mRNA, the amount and state of adenylation of actin mRNA was examined using Northern blots of oocyte RNA probed with a nick-translated β-actin cloned chicken cDNA. The results showed that the amount of actin mRNA remained similar during maturation, but its molecular weight decreased slightly. Experiments in which RNA was treated with oligo(dT) and RNase H demonstrated that the actin mRNA was deadenylated during maturation, when actin synthesis is known to decline. These results indicate that the previously defined loss of bulk RNA and changes in the state of adenylation of mRNA during the first 1 1 2 days of embryogenesis actually begin during the 12 hr of meiotic maturation preceding fertilization.
The role of bone imaging in orthopedic practice

Bone scans fill the void left by anatomical imaging by providing a metabolic assessment of change in local bone turnover associated with many common disorders of the skeleton. Bone scanning is valuable in uncovering skeletal lesions that are obscure, the extent of known lesions, and following their natural evolution. Its high sensitivity and relative ease makes it an extremely useful tool in the diagnosis and management of a wide variety of skeletal disorders.