cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NIACIN REDUCES OXIDIZED PHOSPHOLIPIDS ON APOLIPOPROTEIN-B-100 (OXPL/APOB) CONTAINING LIPOPROTEINS

Oxidized phospholipids (OxPL), present on OxLDL and Lp(a), are mediators of inflammation and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and are particularly enriched in vulnerable lesions. OxPL/apoB is an established biomarker that predicts anatomical CVD and events. Among lipoproteins, OxPL are primarily carried
Coronary sinus catheterization technique for studying coronary blood flow and myocardial metabolism in vivo.

SummaryCoronary sinus catheterization technique has been developed in intact dogs in order to study coronary blood flow and myocardial metabolism, and to evaluate the safety and practicality of a similar procedure in man. The pathological findings, among 30 autopsies following the procedure, have been discussed.The authors are very much indebted to Drs. S. S. Kety, C. F. Schmidt, and E. J. Bing for their help and advice, and to W. P. McShane, E. C. Johnson, Miss Alice Willis, Miss Sarah Bederman, and Mrs. Pauline Wilson for skillful technical assistance.
Neurologic complications of Hodgkin's disease. Choroid plexus involvement.

Involvement of the choroid plexus by lymphoma (Hodgkin) is a hitherto undescribed complication. We report herein the case of a 49-year-old man who developed, shortly before death, neurologic symptoms seemingly related to extensive involvement of chroid plexus and surrounding ventricular structures by lymphoma (Hodgkin's). There was also multifocal involvement of cranial nerves and spinal canal contents.
Grain Boundary Engineering in Ordered Ni3Al for Improving Ductility

Several techniques of grain boundary engineering for improving ductility in polycrystalline Ni3Al are discussed with the plausible mechanism. Single crystals of Ni3Al are ductile at room temperature, but polycrstalline Ni3Al fails intergranularly with little elongation. The grain boundaries are also embrittled by environmental moisture. The weakness of the boundaries is attributed to the presence of crack-like microcavities at the boundaries. Microalloying with B closes up the microcavities by enhancing relaxation of Ni and Al atoms, thereby improving ductility. In directionally solidified Ni3Al containing low-angle boundaries, large ductility has been reported. Polycrystalline N?3AI produced by recrystallization of rolled single crystals contains a large fraction of Σ3 boundaries and exhibits large ductility. Due to good matching, the low-angle and Σ3 grain boundaries do not contain microcavities and consequently are strong.
Operative treatment of an unresectable tumor of the left ventricle

A 17-year-old girl presented with an enlarged cardiac silhouette on routine chest roentgenogram. After clinical evaluation, echocardiography, and pericardiocentesis failed to provide a diagnosis, exploratory thoracotomy and biopsy revealed an unresectable left ventricular fibroma. The tumor continued to enlarge and began causing ventricular arrhythmia. Therefore, she underwent cardiac transplantation 2 years after the initial diagnosis was made. She is now alive and well 18 months following transplantation.
Allopurinol reduces the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in the elderly: a study of Medicare claims

Previous observational studies that have examined the association of allopurinol with myocardial infarction (MI) have provided contradictory results. One study showed that allopurinol reduced the risk, while another study showed an increased risk with allopurinol. Therefore, our objective was to assess whether allopurinol use is associated with a reduction in the risk of MI in the elderly. We used the 2006–2012 5 % random sample of Medicare beneficiaries to study the association of new allopurinol initiation and the risk of incident MI in a cohort study. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models adjusted for age, gender, race, and Charlson index, in addition to various cardio-protective medications (beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, diuretics, statins). We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). Sensitivity analyses adjusted for coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and smoking. Of the 29,298 episodes of incident allopurinol use, 1544 were associated with incident MI (5.3 % episodes). Allopurinol use was associated with reduced hazards of MI, with a HR of 0.85 (95 % CI, 0.77 to 0.95). Compared to no allopurinol use, longer durations of allopurinol use were associated with a lower HR of MI: 1–180 days, 0.98 (95 % CI, 0.84 to 1.14); 181 days to 2 years, 0.83 (95 % CI, 0.72 to 0.95); and >2 years, 0.70 (95 % CI, 0.56 to 0.88). Other factors associated with a higher hazard of MI were: age 75 to <85 years and ≥85 years, male gender, higher Charlson index score, and the use of an ACE inhibitor. Adjustment for CAD risk factors confirmed these findings. Incident allopurinol use was associated with a reduction in the risk of incident MI in the elderly. Longer durations of allopurinol use reduced the risk of incident MI incrementally. Future studies should assess the underlying mechanisms for MI prevention and assess the risk-benefit ratio for allopurinol use.
Understanding and predicting the orientation of heteroleptic phosphors in organic light-emitting materials(Conference Presentation)

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have made tremendous progress in recent years. The internal quantum efficiency was continuously improved and is nowadays close to the ideal value of unity in state-of-the-art OLEDs. However, still only a small fraction of the internally generated power can be used for lighting aspects as most of the light is captured inside the device due to low outcoupling factors of typically 25%. One promising approach to increase this limiting factor is using an anisotropic orientation of the dye molecules. In particular, horizontal orientation of transition dipole vectors (TDV) of the emitting species is a powerful tool to improve the efficiency of OLEDs. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms for emitter orientation of heteroleptic phosphors, we compared the anisotropy factor of emissive guest/host systems prepared by thermal evaporation using different Ir-complexes incorporating coumarin and phenylpyridin based ligands. These molecules exhibit similar high permanent dipole moments and electrostatic surface potentials but differ in their molecular structure. Interestingly, only molecules with both aromatic and aliphatic ligands show non-isotropic distributions of their TDVs when co-deposited with a matrix material. From these findings we conclude that molecular orientation of heteroleptic Ir-complexes occurs instantaneously at the surface of the growing film and is driven by chemical interactions with the surrounding media, i.e. the vacuum and the aromatic matrix side. Furthermore, it is possible to predict the anisotropy factor for arbitrary molecular orientation with a mathematical model taking into account the geometrical distribution of the TDV on the molecules.
Disposition Decisions for Psychiatric Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department

Disposition decisions of psychiatric patients in the emergency department are challenging in hospitals without rapid access to psychiatric professionals. There is a movement towards more outpatient management of psychiatric patients in response to inpatient bed shortages and more appropriate use of resources. If there were a good modality of risk assessment for suicidal patients, then it would be possible that the ER physician could discharge more patients home following evaluation. These options would allow for better throughout and less cost incurred by the patient and healthcare system. Currently, the severity of psychiatric illness (SPI) and crisis triage rating scale (CTRS) are not reliable modalities of risk stratifying psychiatric patients. More research and training are needed on developing quick, reliable ways to stratify these patients thereby not only improving disposition time but also improving care. Patients with new or worsening psychosis or mood disorder must have a thorough psychiatric exam performed. In addition, information from collateral sources should be collected when determining disposition. This article reviews the thought process and risk stratification modalities that should be considered when determining disposition selection in emergency rooms without readily available psychiatric services. Although the SPI rating scale and the CTRS provide some guidance in this decision, ER providers should also consider psychosocial factors, collateral information, and judgment.
Judge discourse moves that enact and endanger procedural justice

In this article we identify discourse moves in small claims court that have the potential to affect procedural justice – the sense that a litigant has been treated fairly and respectfully. We focus...
History of Breast Cancer Increases 90-Day Pulmonary Embolism Rates and Reimbursements After Total Hip Arthroplasty: A National Matched-Pair Analysis.

BACKGROUND Rates of total hip arthroplasty (THA) are projected to increase in the coming decades. Multiple studies have focused on identifying risk factors for adverse events after joint arthroplasty, and recent attention has been directed toward cancer. Very limited data have been published examining the effects of history of malignancy on outcomes after THA. With a concomitant increase in breast cancer diagnosis and treatments in recent years, it is expected that orthopedic surgeons will likely see more breast cancer survivors in clinic. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a personal history of breast cancer on 90-day outcomes after THA. METHODS We conducted a retrospective case-control study of the entire Medicare records. The endpoints of this study included length of stay, medical complications, surgical complications, and costs (examined here as reimbursements). Patients were matched by age and gender in order to decrease confounding. A 1:1 matching was performed. RESULTS After age and demographics matching, our findings demonstrated that patients with a history of breast cancer have increased rates of pulmonary embolism (0.59% vs 0.45%, P = .003), increased use of chest computed tomography (1.72% vs 1.18%, P < .001), and higher mean 90-day reimbursements (mean $15,432 vs mean $14,701, P = .011) in the 90 days following surgery. Other medical and surgical complications were equally distributed in both cohorts. CONCLUSION Surgeons should be aware of the increased rate of pulmonary embolism and have a more aggressive thromboprophylaxis protocol in these patients.
Green criminology in the United States

As a discipline, criminology has neglected the crimes of the powerful and the laws and regulations that define, sanction and control these offences. Despite exceptions to this observation, research on crimes of the powerful remains underdeveloped, especially in relation to the level of harm caused by, and the extensive legal and social control apparatus directed towards these offences (Friedrichs 2004). More important to the current discussion, articles examining environmental crimes are virtually non-existent (Lynch, McGurrin and Fenwick 2004). In particular, American criminologists have done a dismal job investigating environmental crimes, laws and social control mechanisms, and have paid even less attention to the sub-field of environmental crimes studies called green criminology. Indeed, at this point in time, green criminology has received greater attention from criminologists in other countries, even though the idea was first proposed by an American criminologist.
A polysomnographic comparison of veterans with combat-related PTSD, depressed men, and non-ill controls

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) overlaps major depression (MD) clinically, but differs with respect to treatment response and some biological markers. Sleep disturbances represent core features of PTSD and are also common in MD. Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) has been postulated to be involved in the pathophysiology of PTSD, and REM abnormalities occur in MD. Twenty-five patients with combat-related PTSD, 16 men with a principal diagnosis of MD, and 10 asymptomatic male controls were compared by polysomnography (PSG) under medication and substance-free conditions. Data were obtained from recordings made after an accommodation night. One subject from each group was excluded for significant apnea or limb movements. Sleep efficiency was decreased in the PTSD group compared to the MD and control groups. REM density was comparably increased in PTSD and MD groups, while the amount of REM sleep was reduced in PTSD compared to MD groups. These sleep measures were not significantly associated with co-morbid depression, substance-use disorder histories, or subclinical sleep apnea or limb movements within the PTSD group. These findings support sleep maintenance being impaired in chronic PTSD patients. Increased REM density in PTSD patients was replicated and was comparable to increases in the MD group. Divergence of REM time between these clinical groups suggests the possibility of different underlying mechanisms.
Radiation Therapy for Sarcomas

The use of radiation therapy for the management of sarcomas is time honored; however, newer advances in the field and understanding of its limitations and problems have changed the application considerably. This chapter discusses some of these changes and then addresses certain specific bone and soft tissue tumors.
4,7-Dichloro-quinoline.

The two mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C9H5Cl2N, are both essentially planar (r.m.s. deviations for all non-H atoms = 0.014 and 0.026 A). There are no close C—H⋯Cl contacts.
AACSB Learning Goals: One-Minute Guest Speakers Help To ―Close-the-Loop‖

A key activity in any assurance of learning process is to identify learning deficiencies and then to develop and implement tools and strategies to correct the deficiencies. The activity is often referred to as ―closing-the-loop.‖ This paper describes a process whereby the College of Business’s Board of Advisors is engaged in a series of short videos. On the videos they talk about the College’s learning goals and the importance of the goals to the business community. The inventory of short videos is made available to all faculty who can insert them into their presentation software to help close the loop. The development and use of the videos is described. Additional benefits of the videos that go beyond closing the loop are also discussed.
The Framing of Teenage Health Care: Organizations, Culture, and Control

Adolescent health is one of the most polemical healthissues that has swept the United States in recentyears. This study is about documenting the process ofa project on teenage sex, drug, and alcohol abuse ina small rural California town. It illustrates adynamic set of concerns that impinge on health issues:development and underdevelopment, experts and laypeople, young and old, in a context of thetransformation of a rural economy to a prison-basedindustry. It is also about covert forms of control,pacification, burnout, and teenagers caught in thecrossfire between bureaucratic institutions andcontradictory messages about adolescent health as theycorrespond to changing conditions betweeninstitutional power holders.
Effect of Depth of Sedation in Older Patients Undergoing Hip Fracture Repair on Postoperative Delirium: The STRIDE Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Postoperative delirium is the most common complication following major surgery in older patients. Intraoperative sedation levels are a possible modifiable risk factor for postoperative delirium. Objective To determine whether limiting sedation levels during spinal anesthesia reduces incident delirium overall. Design, Setting, and Participants This double-blind randomized clinical trial (A Strategy to Reduce the Incidence of Postoperative Delirum in Elderly Patients [STRIDE]) was conducted from November 18, 2011, to May 19, 2016, at a single academic medical center and included a consecutive sample of older patients (≥65 years) who were undergoing nonelective hip fracture repair with spinal anesthesia and propofol sedation. Patients were excluded for preoperative delirium or severe dementia. Of 538 hip fractures screened, 225 patients (41.8%) were eligible, 10 (1.9%) declined participation, 15 (2.8%) became ineligible between the time of consent and surgery, and 200 (37.2%) were randomized. The follow-up included postoperative days 1 to 5 or until hospital discharge. Interventions Heavier (modified observer’s assessment of sedation score of 0-2) or lighter (observer’s assessment of sedation score of 3-5) propofol sedation levels intraoperatively. Main Outcomes and Measures Delirium on postoperative days 1 to 5 or until hospital discharge determined via consensus panel using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision) criteria. The incidence of delirium was compared between intervention groups with and without stratification by the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Results Of 200 participants, the mean (SD) age was 82 (8) years, 146 (73%) were women, 194 (97%) were white, and the mean (SD) CCI was 1.5 (1.8). One hundred participants each were randomized to receive lighter sedation levels or heavier sedation levels. A good separation of intraoperative sedation levels was confirmed by multiple indices. The overall incident delirium risk was 36.5% (n = 73) and 39% (n = 39) vs 34% (n = 34) in heavier and lighter sedation groups, respectively ( P = .46). Intention-to-treat analyses indicated no statistically significant difference between groups in the risk of incident delirium (log-rank test χ 2 , 0.46; P = .46). However, in a prespecified subgroup analysis, when stratified by CCI, sedation levels did effect the delirium risk ( P for interaction = .04); in low comorbid states (CCI = 0), heavier vs lighter sedation levels doubled the risk of delirium (hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1- 4.9). The level of sedation did not affect delirium risk with a CCI of more than 0. Conclusions and Relevance In the primary analysis, limiting the level of sedation provided no significant benefit in reducing incident delirium. However, in a prespecified subgroup analysis, lighter sedation levels benefitted reducing postoperative delirium for persons with a CCI of 0. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT00590707
Clinical Outcomes Associated With Allogeneic Red Blood Cell Transfusions in Spinal Surgery: A Systematic Review

Study Design:Systematic review.Objectives:The objectives of this systematic review were to report the available clinical evidence on patient outcomes associated with perioperative allogeneic red bl...
The Prelude to the Elections: Power-sharing and the Failure of the Multiethnic Project

In this chapter I describe how the effort by the international administration to achieve their twin objectives of keeping Kosova within Serbia and building a society based on civic nationalism in a multiethnic non-sovereign entity in Kosova came to nothing and failed. Instead of a multiethnic, individualistic, democratic, and open society, the UNMIK created a democratic, but a segregated, society. The main reason for this failure is the opposition of the ethnies led by the indigenous elites to the project. Throughout the process of the UNMIK-led institutional-building, the Serbs and the Albanians were guided in their actions by their respective security syntheses. Their fixed, common collective obsession is with each other, as the other represents the unchanging deadly security threat in their security syntheses.
Biblical Literalism Influences Perceptions of History as a Scientific Discipline

Recent work on religious conservatives frequently finds biblical literalism to have a negative influence on individuals’ attitudes toward science. We present a science-related issue for which bibli...
Modern Day Care of Patients With Single Ventricle Heart Disease: Late Complications of Fontan Palliation

The majority of individuals who have undergone Fontan palliation are surviving into adulthood, yet complications are common. This review will focus on late complications—cardiac and extra-cardiac—which may present insidiously. Recent meta-analysis of patients after Fontan operation suggests that over 80% will survive 20 years beyond surgery. This group is at risk for structural complications, arrhythmias, vascular complications, and heart failure. Not all forms of Fontan failure are the same, and categorization into separate entities such as failure with preserved versus reduced function may help guide therapies. Pulmonary vasodilators in particular may be useful to improve hemodynamics. Novel therapies aimed at lymphatic complications are emerging and promising. Late hepatic complications including ascites and liver cancer may be seen, and scoring systems may identify patients at higher risk. Individuals who have undergone a Fontan surgery face challenges as they age which include both cardiac and non-cardiac systems.
Patient preferences for visualization of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes data

Objective The study sought to design symptom reports of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes data that are understandable and meaningful to end users. Materials and methods We completed a 2-phase iterative design and evaluation process. In phase I, we developed symptom reports and refined them according to expert input. End users then completed a survey containing demographics, a measure of health literacy, and items to assess visualization preferences and comprehension of reports. We then collected participants' perspectives on reports through semistructured interviews and modified them accordingly. In phase II, refined reports were evaluated in a survey that included demographics, validated measures of health and graph literacy, and items to assess preferences and comprehension of reports. Surveys were administered using a think-aloud protocol. Results Fifty-five English- and Spanish-speaking end users, 89.1% of whom had limited health literacy, participated. In phase I, experts recommended improvements and 20 end users evaluated reports. From the feedback received, we added emojis, changed date and font formats, and simplified the y-axis scale of reports. In phase II, 35 end users evaluated refined designs, of whom 94.3% preferred reports with emojis, the favorite being a bar graph combined with emojis, which also promoted comprehension. In both phases, participants literally interpreted reports and provided suggestions for future visualizations. Conclusions A bar graph combined with emojis was participants' preferred format and the one that promoted comprehension. Target end users must be included in visualization design to identify literal interpretations of images and ensure final products are meaningful.
A Rare Presentation of Ameloblastic Carcinoma of the Sinus Cavity and Skull Base.

Ameloblastic carcinoma (AC) is an exceedingly rare odontogenic cancer about which there is limited information in the literature. We present a case of AC originating in the sinus cavity and extending to the skull base in a patient in the first trimester of pregnancy. Diagnostic work up was complicated by this pregnancy, which delayed radiation exposure with imaging. Once scans were obtained, diagnosis was further complicated by the radiographic similarities between possible lung metastases and previously undiagnosed sarcoid nodules. After thorough work up to rule out metastatic disease, the patient was successfully treated with primary surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemoradiation. The patient remained disease free at one year after therapy. This case demonstrates the importance of thorough work up in the diagnosis of AC, and is an opportunity to review the literature and discuss therapeutic methods to treat this rare, aggressive neoplasm.
Levelized Cost Analysis of Medium Voltage DC Fast Charging Station

With improvements in wide-band gap power electronics technology, it is becoming feasible for a DC fast charging station to connect directly to the distribution primary medium voltage (MV) service. This paper provides a comparative levelized cost analysis of a novel MV DC fast charger to commercial 480V DC fast charger technology. The advantages of the MV DC fast charger include a higher efficiency, a considerable reduction in weight and volume, and savings in eliminating the step-down transformer. In order to compare the operational cost of these DC charger options, the impact on system losses and peak demand are quantified through quasi-static time-series distribution feeder simulation. Based on this, the levelized cost of energy is estimated for two ownership models: utility-owned (DC as a service) and customer-owned. The results indicate that the utility-owned MV DC fast charger has the lowest levelized cost of energy based on the example feeder system analyzed.
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATION OF A DISK SUBJECTED TO LENSE-THIRRING PRECESSION

When matter orbits around a central mass obliquely with respect to the mass's spin axis, the Lense-Thirring effect causes it to precess at a rate declining sharply with radius. Ever since the work of Bardeen & Petterson, it has been expected that when a fluid fills an orbiting disk, the orbital angular momentum at small radii should then align with the mass's spin. Nearly all previous work has studied this alignment under the assumption that a phenomenological "viscosity" isotropically degrades fluid shears in accretion disks, even though it is now understood that internal stress in flat disks is due to anisotropic MHD turbulence. In this paper we report a pair of matched simulations, one in MHD and one in pure (non-viscous) HD in order to clarify the specific mechanisms of alignment. As in the previous work, we find that disk warps induce radial flows that mix angular momentum of different orientation; however, we also show that the speeds of these flows are generically transonic and are only very weakly influenced by internal stresses other than pressure. In particular, MHD turbulence does not act in a manner consistent with an isotropic viscosity. When MHD effects are present, the disk aligns, first at small radii and then at large; alignment is only partial in the HD case. We identify the specific angular momentum transport mechanisms causing alignment and show how MHD effects permit them to operate more efficiently. Last, we relate the speed at which an alignment front propagates outward (in the MHD case) to the rate at which Lense-Thirring torques deliver angular momentum at smaller radii.
Golf: Injuries and Treatment

Golf is a sport that can be played by athletes of all ages, both males and females, and by various income earners. There have been various articles and book chapters looking at injuries in general and specific to golf. Most golf injuries are related to overuse syndromes, but can result from poor swing mechanics, poor core stability and strength, improper warm-up, and striking foreign objects. Injuries can be acute or chronic. When caring for golfers, it is important to understand the golf swing, swing biomechanics, and injuries both general and specific to golfers. In this chapter, we will review the swing and discuss a variety of injuries that can occur as well as the respective management of each injury.
Front Contribution instead of Back Propagation.

Deep Learning's outstanding track record across several domains has stemmed from the use of error backpropagation (BP). Several studies, however, have shown that it is impossible to execute BP in a real brain. Also, BP still serves as an important and unsolved bottleneck for memory usage and speed. We propose a simple, novel algorithm, the Front-Contribution algorithm, as a compact alternative to BP. The contributions of all weights with respect to the final layer weights are calculated before training commences and all the contributions are appended to weights of the final layer, i.e., the effective final layer weights are a non-linear function of themselves. Our algorithm then essentially collapses the network, precluding the necessity for weight updation of all weights not in the final layer. This reduction in parameters results in lower memory usage and higher training speed. We show that our algorithm produces the exact same output as BP, in contrast to several recently proposed algorithms approximating BP. Our preliminary experiments demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. Our work provides a foundation to effectively utilize these presently under-explored "front contributions", and serves to inspire the next generation of training algorithms.
Anesthetic Management for Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery in Adolescents with Obesity

The incidence of obesity has increased dramatically in recent years and includes a large proportion of children and adolescents. Additionally, children and adolescents with excessive weight are predisposed to metabolic derangement and possibly early death due to long-standing comorbid disease. Recently, laparoscopic bariatric surgery has provided an option for obtaining a healthy weight in carefully selected patients who have failed to lose weight by conventional means. For anesthesiologists and surgeons caring for these individuals, many important challenges occur during the perioperative phase of care. In this chapter, we review key concepts relative to bariatric anesthesia in the adolescent patient.
Influence of shear heating on microstructurally defined plate boundary shear zones

Abstract In plate-boundary scale ductile shear zones defined by microstructural weakening, shear heating may lead to a temperature increase over 5 m.y. of up to 80 °C just below the brittle ductile transition, up to 120 °C just below the Moho, and to thermal boundary zones tens of km wide on either side of the shear zone. Where rock strength is highest, shear zones are narrow (∼1 km), and thermal gradients within the shear zone itself are low, so there is no tendency for increased localization. Heating results in thermal weakening, but this is partly offset by grain growth related to the decrease in stress. In shear zones of the order of 10 km width, shear stress, strain rate, and hence heat generation are lower, and thermal gradients are insufficient to cause additional strain localization. Temperature increases in the mid-crust are of the order of 10 °C, insufficient to cause partial melting or an increase in metamorphic grade. In the upper mantle, shear zones may be 50 km or more wide, and the temperature increase is less than 20 °C in 5 m.y., but temperature differences between center and margin may enhance the strain rate at the center by up to 18%.
Isolation and amino acid sequences of tropoelastin peptides.

Seventeen peptides have been isolated from a tryptic digest of soluble elastin by ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Molecular weights range from approximately 1,700 to 10,500. Partial or complete amino acid sequences of the peptides were obtained and provide the first extensive data on the primary sequence of elastin. Several important findings stand out. First, the sequences obtained reveal an elastin primary structure quite distinct from collagen and possessing repeats of a tetrapeptide, Gly-Gly-Val-Pro, a pentapeptide, Pro-Gly-Val-Gly-Val, and a hexapeptide, Pro-Gly-Val-Gly-Val-Ala. Second, several of the peptides contain a partial hydroxylation of proline residues thereby definitely establishing hydroxyproline as a real constituent of the elastin chain.
Rights of Passage: Majority Rule in Congress

The United States government is a government not of rigorously separated powers, but of overlapping and concurrent powers: a government of checked and balanced powers.' What strikes the balance? A few spare words of the Constitution. This is why the efforts of one body of government to alter the long-established understanding of those words are taken so seriously. In a complex structure, small changes in one body's movements can result in systemic shifts. A case in point involves House Rule XXI(5)(c), adopted by the House of Representatives in January 1995.2 Under this rule, no bill proposing to raise federal income taxes "shall be considered as passed" by the House without a three-fifths approving vote.3 This "three-fifths rule" marks the first time in history that the House has purported to alter the number of votes required to make a bill law.
AMPA receptor modulation by cornichon-2 dictated by transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory protein isoform.

Transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) are auxiliary subunits that modulate AMPA receptor trafficking, gating and pharmacology throughout the brain. Why cornichon-2 (CNIH-2), another AMPA receptor-associated protein, modulates AMPA receptor gating and pharmacology in hippocampal neurons but not cerebellar granule neurons remains unresolved. Here, we report that CNIH-2 differentially impacts Type-Ia (γ-2 or γ-3) vs. Type-Ib (γ-4 or γ-8) TARP-containing AMPA receptors. Specifically, with AMPA receptors comprising γ-2, the cerebellar-enriched TARP isoform, CNIH-2 decreases I(KA) /I(Glu) ratio and decreases cyclothiazide efficacy while having minimal impact on recovery from desensitization and deactivation kinetics. By contrast, with AMPA receptors comprising γ-8, the hippocampal-enriched TARP isoform, we find that CNIH-2 slows deactivation kinetics, increases cyclothiazide potency and occludes a novel AMPA receptor kinetic phenomenon, namely resensitization. Additionally, we find that CNIH-2 differentially modulates the glutamate off-kinetics of γ-8-containing, but not γ-2-containing, AMPA receptors in a manner dependent upon the duration of agonist application. Together, these data demonstrate that the modulation of AMPA receptors by CNIH-2 depends upon the TARP isoform composition within the receptor complex.
Genetic Polymorphisms Associated with Hearing Threshold Shift in Subjects during First Encounter with Occupational Impulse Noise.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the most significant occupational health issue worldwide. We conducted a genome-wide association study to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with hearing threshold shift in young males undergoing their first encounter with occupational impulse noise. We report a significant association of SNP rs7598759 (p < 5 x 10-7; p = 0.01 after permutation and correction; Odds Ratio = 12.75) in the gene coding for nucleolin, a multifunctional phosphoprotein involved in the control of senescence and protection against apoptosis. Interestingly, nucleolin has been shown to mediate the anti-apoptotic effect of HSP70, a protein found to prevent ototoxicity and whose polymorphisms have been associated with susceptibility to NIHL. Increase in nucleolin expression has also been associated with the prevention of apoptosis in cells undergoing oxidative stress, a well-known metabolic sequela of noise exposure. To assess the potential role of nucleolin in hearing loss, we tested down-regulation of nucleolin in cochlear sensory cells HEI-OC1 under oxidative stress conditions and report increased sensitivity to cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic drug with ototoxic side effects. Additional SNPs were found with suggestive association (p < 5 x 10-4), of which 7 SNPs were located in genes previously reported to be related to NIHL and 43 of them were observed in 36 other genes previously not reported to be associated with NIHL. Taken together, our GWAS data and in vitro studies reported herein suggest that nucleolin is a potential candidate associated with NIHL in this population.
Frequency-Selective Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer between Photonic Crystal Slabs: A Computational Approach for Arbitrary Geometries and Materials

We demonstrate the possibility of achieving enhanced frequency-selective near-field radiative heat transfer between patterned (photonic-crystal) slabs at designable frequencies and separations, exploiting a general numerical approach for computing heat transfer in arbitrary geometries and materials based on the finite-difference time-domain method. Our simulations reveal a tradeoff between selectivity and near-field enhancement as the slab-slab separation decreases, with the patterned heat transfer eventually reducing to the unpatterned result multiplied by a fill factor (described by a standard proximity approximation). We also find that heat transfer can be further enhanced at selective frequencies when the slabs are brought into a glide-symmetric configuration, a consequence of the degeneracies associated with the nonsymmorphic symmetry group.
Purification and properties of the pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Abstract A 2'-AMP-activated pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been purified to apparent homogeneity and crystallized. The enzyme has a typical flavoprotein absorption spectrum. The spectrum is partially bleached by the anaerobic addition of TPNH and the bleaching is accompanied by increases in longer wave length absorption. Subsequent addition of DPN+ reverses the bleaching. The enzyme catalyzes reduction of dichloroindolphenol and potassium ferricyanide by TPNH and DPNH, and this reduction by DPNH is activated by 2'-AMP. If sedimentation in the analytical ultracentrifuge is monitored with schlieren optics or with a spectrophotometric scanning device measuring flavin absorption, a heterogeneous, aggregated system in the absence and an apparently homogenous system in the presence of 2'-AMP or TPN+ are observed. Incubation of the enzyme at 51° in the presence of TPNH or treatment of the enzyme with acidic ammonium sulfate causes a loss of activity. Addition of FAD, but not flavin mononucleotide, restores activity. The above evidence indicates that the transhydrogenase is a flavoprotein and suggests that the natural cofactor is FAD. The sedimentation velocity experiments indicate that under the conditions of observation the purified enzyme is very large. At a concentration of 8 mg per ml and in the presence of 2'-AMP or TPN+ the transhydrogenase sediments with an s20,w of 33.8. p-Hydroxymercuribenzoate can cause both inhibition and activation of the enzyme and protection against these effects is afforded by substrates. 2'-AMP activates several reactions in which the reducing substrate does not contain a 2'-phosphate group. When TPNH at about 3 x 10-4 m is the reducing substrate there is no activation by 2'-AMP. 2'-AMP enhances the rate of anaerobic reduction of enzyme-bound flavin by DPNH. This effect was observed at high concentrations of enzyme and may reflect the ability of 2'-AMP to disaggregate the enzyme, yet not necessarily reflect the mechanism by which 2'-AMP activates reactions in which only catalytic concentrations of enzyme are present. The enzyme has been tested for its ability to catalyze reduction or oxidation of a large number of physiological, nonpyridine nucleotide substrates. All substrates tested were inactive.
Bacillus subtilis Bacteriophage SP01, SP82, and φe Require Host Lysyl- and Tryptophanyl-tRNA Synthetases for Phage Development

Infection of Bacillus subtilis mutants having temperature-sensitive lysyl- or tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases with bacteriophage SP01, SP82, or phie indicates that both host enzymes are essential for phage development. No apparent modification of the temperature-sensitive phenotype of the mutant host enzymes occurs during phage infection.
The compliance function: an overview

The compliance function consists of efforts organizations undertake to ensure that employees and others associated with the firm do not violate applicable rules, regulations or norms. It is a form of internalized law enforcement which, if it functions effectively, can substitute for much (although not all) of the enforcement activities provided by the state. Together with its close cousins, governance and risk-management, compliance is an essential internal control activity at corporations and other complex organizations. This paper will examine the following topics: the analysis of compliance within a general theory of enforcement; the development of the compliance function; the concept of internal control; the distribution of the compliance function among control personnel; oversight obligations of directors and executives; compliance programs and policies; internal investigations; whistleblowers; criminal enforcement; compliance outside the firm; and business ethics beyond formal compliance.
Promotion of comprehensive and prevention-driven approaches to drug use and unintended pregnancy.

In this response to a research article about the ethical issues related to incentivizing drug-using women to use long-acting forms of contraception the author examines the researchers claims for incentives and their lack of a discussion against these morally and ethically questionable programs using the example of Project Prevention. While the author agrees that it is ethically possible to provide moderate incentives for reversible forms of contraception to drug-using individuals only reversible methods should be recommended as opposed to sterilization procedures. Recommendations for amending incentive programs involve the inclusion of incentive payment contingent on receiving treatment for their substance abuse as well as modest incentives for beginning their trial of long-acting contraception for continued use of reversible forms of contraception and for continued sobriety. The author expresses the need for more research to determine specific incentive amounts that would be sufficient to promote healthy behavior change while protecting womens right to make informed decisions about their bodies.
Computational Chemistry in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

There are numerous serious environmental issues facing the world. Many of these have anthropogenic sources and are due to the production of materials for the consumer or for national defense and to energy production and consumption, e.g. global warming. For example, four decades of nuclear weapons production at Department of Energy facilities across the United States has resulted in the interim storage of millions of gallons of highly radioactive mixed wastes in hundreds of underground tanks, extensive contamination of the soil and groundwater at thousands of sites and hundreds of buildings that must be decontaminated and decommissioned.1 The single most challenging environmental issue confronting the DOE and perhaps the United States, is the safe and cost-effective management of these wastes. Questions that must be addressed include “What is the physical and chemical form of the wastes in the tanks and in the ground?” ; “How can the radioactive wastes be safely processed?”; and “How can the processed waste be safely stored?”2–4 The answers to these questions are, in general, unknown and the scientific basis required to meet these complex technological issues is not available today.5 In order to address these issues, major new scientific advances are required. An important technique that can be used to solve such complex problems is computational science which often enables the replacement or curtailment of expensive experiments, especially experiments involving radioactive species. Computational science can be used to provide fundamental answers to the questions enumerated above, to provide the conceptual and numerical bridge for the extrapolation of experimental data available for the lanthanides to the actinides and to allow us to reliably extend the experimental data into other regions of parameter space.
Evidence for linelike vortex liquid phase in Tl/sub 2/Ba/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8/ probed using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Summary form only given. To probe the vortex state in Tl/sub 2/Ba/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8/ thin films we used terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in transmission. The decrease of the oscillation frequency from 70 K to 80 K in the time-domain is shown, and the effect of a magnetic field illustrated. A drop of the Josephson plasma resonance (JPR) occurs in the frequency-domain when applying a magnetic field. From the measurements we found that c-axis correlated pancake vortices are preserved across the glass transition, and that pinning is dominated by correlated disorder. We conclude that Tl/sub 2/Ba/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8/ films (/spl gamma/ /spl sim/ 150), at least in the low magnetic field portion of the B-T phase diagram, behave as YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// (/spl gamma/ /spl sim/ 8) and not as Bi/sub 2/Sr/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8+/spl delta// (/spl gamma/ /spl sim/ 500) single crystals, where pancake vortices disintegrate in the liquid phase, despite the closer anisotropy ratios of Bi/sub 2/Sr/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8+/spl delta// and Tl/sub 2/Ba/sub 2/CaCu/sub 2/O/sub 8/.
On Certain Second-Order Effects in the Limit Design of Frames

The second-order effects due to the changes in geometry are investigated for the frames composed of plastic-rigid material. In the case of ideally-plastic material, a criterion is developed to determine whether the quasi-static distortion of the frame proceeds under increasing or decreasing loads. The analysis also shows that when the compressive axial forces are negligible even a slight amount of strain-hardening considerably increases the load necessary for quasi-static deformations.
A proactive wireless self-protection system

Though mobile computing systems constitute the core of the next generation ubiquitous pervasive services, they still have many flaws in their security. This paper describes a novel framework for wireless anomaly based intrusion detection and response system, which is capable of detecting complex malicious attacks. This framework is based on multi-channel online monitoring and analysis of wireless network features with respect to multiple observation time windows. These features are related to Data Link Layer frame behaviors and the mobility of stations. A general purpose wireless self-protection system (WSPS) is presented. WSPS has the following modules: Wireless network probes, Wireless features filtration and generation module, Wireless network flow generator, behavior analysis module, and action module. WSPS self protects against attacks by online monitoring and analyzing anomalies and misuses in the network features, and utilizes the low false alerts of the analysis module. The validation and effectiveness of this framework is carried out by experimenting with more than 20 different types of wireless attacks using Wireless LANs (WLANs). Our experimental results show that our approach can protect from wireless network attacks with average false-positive rate of 2.234%, and average detection rate of 99.13% for all the experimented attacks.
Cardiac myocyte differentiation: the Nkx2.5 and Cripto target genes in P19 clone 6 cells

Genetic evidence has implicated several genes as being critical for the development of cardiomyocytes. Whereas a few of the targets of these genes and the pathways they constitute are known the majority of targets and the interrelationships of the pathways involved still remains largely unknown. The power of high-throughput analytical techniques like microarrays and real-time RT-PCR combined with the ability to selectively silence specific mRNA in model tissue culture systems can begin to fill in these gaps and increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cell commitment and terminal differentiation. We have used microarray analysis and siRNA directed against the cardiac-specific transcription factor Nkx2.5 and one of its targets Cripto in P19 clone 6 (P19Cl6) cells to identify potential targets for these genes. We demonstrate Nkx2.5 affects genes that have been shown to be controlled by the canonical Wnt or TGFβ/BMP signaling pathways. We also show that Cripto can regulate the critical stem cell gene Nanog and two Oct 4-regulated genes: Dppa2 and 4. Cripto also affects the formation of nitric oxide, a small signaling molecule that has been reported to be important for growth and development of cardiac and smooth muscle. It affects the nitric oxide system by regulating genes that control the levels of nitric oxide synthase mRNA concentration as well as the activation and bioavailability of the protein.