cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improvement Waktu Pelayanan Pasien Bagian Ultrasonografi dengan Metode Lean di Rsup Prof Dr. R.d Kandou

Patient care process for the ultrasound section starting from the registration of patients and will be conducted further examination schedule patient and the patient will perform an ultrasound process according a predetermined time. Based on the observations made, in the process of scheduling a patient to wait long to turn the examination, this is because the number of patients that a lot of time and service time, so the capacity of patient care on average per day is 8 people with the time of service with service time 47 minutes / people . By using Lean with VALSAT (value stream mapping analysis tools) to identify waste that does not provide added value (non-value added activity), the type of waste that often occurs is waiting and overproduction. Furthermore, the fishbone diagram sought the cause of waste that is then given to the proposal in the form of recommendations to the party responsible for such repairs SOP and supervision at each ultrasound process. Based on the minimization of waste the time of patient care becomes 31.28 minutes / person. By the time the patient care capacity increased to 11 people / day.
The Impact of Bronchial Thermoplasty on Asthma-Related Quality of Life and Controller Medication Use.

Background Despite an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of asthma, severe asthma sufferers continue to experience a poor quality of life (QOL). Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) utilizes thermal energy to reduce airway smooth muscle. In industry-sponsored trials, BT improves QOL and reduces severe exacerbations; however, the impact of BT on asthma-related QOL and medication use in non-industry-sponsored trials is less clear. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the impact of BT on asthma QOL measures (mini-AQLQ) and asthma controller medication use during the year following treatment with BT. Methods We performed a prospective study of the impact of BT in 25 patients with severe persistent asthma. Our primary outcome was change in asthma-related QOL score (mini-AQLQ) 1 year after BT treatment. Our secondary outcome was change in asthma medication use 1 year after BT. Results BT led to an improvement in mini-AQLQ score from a baseline of 3.6 ± 0.3 before therapy to 5.6 ± 0.3 1 year after the final BT procedure. Overall, 88% percent of patients showed a clinically significant improvement in mini-AQLQ at 1 year. Patients treated with BT showed a reduction in the use of montelukast and omalizumab 1 year after BT. Conclusion In patients with severe persistent asthma and low asthma-related QOL scores, BT leads to an improvement in asthma-related QOL and a decrease in asthma medication use when measured 1 year after the final BT treatment.
What Safety Events Are Reported For Ambulatory Care? Analysis of Incident Reports from a Patient Safety Organization.

Introduction Health care staff document patient safety events using incident reporting systems, which are compiled within Patient Safety Organization databases. Researchers sought to describe the patterns and characteristics of incident reporting behaviors for ambulatory care from in-situ reporting systems from the United States. Methods The team analyzed safety reports in ambulatory settings collected from a Patient Safety Organization comprising 400 hospital members in 10 states, from May 2012 to October 2018. All events involving moderate harm, severe harm, and death were included, as well as subsamples of events with missing harm, no harm, and mild harm. The team deductively coded incident types and if patient or caregiver challenges were involved. A multivariate logistic regression was conducted to identify predictors of higher harm (severe harm and death) among safety events reported. Results Of 2,701 events, there were 51 deaths, 159 severe harm events, 1,180 moderate harm, 926 mild harm, 384 no harm, and 1 unknown. Most were from outpatient subspecialty care, while 5.2% were from home/community, and 2.1% were from primary care. Medication-related events were most common (45.3%). In multivariate analysis, diagnostic errors (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 11.5), patient/caregiver challenges (aOR 2.2), and events in the home/community (aOR 2.0) and in psychiatric settings (aOR 5.0) were associated with higher harm. Conclusion Outpatient reporting systems are limited for primary care and home/community settings, but ambulatory care systems report more harmful events related to diagnosis and patient and caregiver challenges. Improved standardization of reporting, focus on diagnosis, and novel approaches of safety reporting that engage patients will be necessary to improve capture of preventable events affecting patients and to develop system-level solutions.
Conflicts of Interest: The Healthcare Administrators’ Role in Supporting Clinical Ethical Decisions Utilizing the Weber and Army-Baylor 7-Step Methods of Analysis

Healthcare organizations employ or enter into contractual working relationships with various medical providers. Healthcare administrators can have a significant impact on the ability of providers t...
Interference Effects and Correlations Probing the Hadronization Process at LEP

Hadronization is studied starting with the clean diquarks system from Z decays. Color string effects are demonstrated by new observations of charge ordering. Analysis of the charged multiplicity in the ratio of the cumulative to factorial moments shows oscillations. They are not indicative of NNLLA as thought before. \(\Lambda \bar \Lambda\) and \(p\bar p\) correlate tightly, whereas \(\Lambda \bar p\) and \(\bar \Lambda p\) have a flatter rapidity distribution. Identical \(\Lambda \Lambda\) pairs at \(\Delta Q\) < 2 GeV are suppressed, as expected from Fermi-Dirac statistics. The spin analysis is consistent but the source size small. Pions close in phase space show clear Bose-Einstein correlations.
Field Manager for Water Resource Utilization

The field manager of a water resource must stay current with changes in water supply, water uses, and water quality. Today’s demands on the water supply in the San Joaquin Valley exceed the available supply which must be managed to meet the demands of all interests to the greatest extent possible. To accomplish this, methods of forecasting the supply must be refined. Waste of the resource must be eliminated by managing available storage or developing new storage methods. The importance of all uses must be recognized by all interests. Management philosophy will have to develop this. The nation’s energy crises demand the utilization of this source of energy. The recreational needs of the country have to be expanded and the food production capacity of the nation is dependent on available water. Good management of water resources includes all the needs of the nation’s people.
Generating Random Graphs Efficiently

We consider the algorithmic complexity of generating labeled (directed and undirected) graphs under various distributions. We describe three natural optimality criteria for graph generating algorithms, and show algorithms that are optimal for many distributions.
Abstract #5377: Evaluation of G-quadruplex structures that stabilize the human PDGFR-beta promoter region as therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with a dismal five-year survival of only 4%. This high mortality rate can be attributed to the lack of existing efficacious treatments for surgically unresectable tumors, specifically caused by an advanced stage of invasiveness at the time of diagnosis. PDGFR-beta has been implicated in the pathogenesis and angiogenesis of many tumor types, making it an attractive chemotherapeutic target. The receptor\#8217;s kinase activity initiates tumor invasion. In particular, phosphorylation of Muc1 by PDGFR-beta has been shown to increase pancreatic tumor invasiveness. Our research program focuses on the characterization, by molecular cloning, of the human PDGFR-beta promoter to understand and ascertain mechanisms that control its expression, and the evaluation of targeting the promoter for novel therapeutics. Promoter deletion experiments emphasized the crucial importance of the proximal highly GC-rich region (-165 to -139) on the human PDGFR-beta for basal promoter activity. This region consists of seven runs of at least two consecutive guanines separated by one or more bases. CD, DMS footprinting, and Taq polymerase assay showed that the G-rich strand in this region forms a mixture of parallel/antiparallel G-quadruplex structures that involve a series of runs of four guanines. Interestingly, the middle runs of guanines in the GC-rich region form the more stable G-quadruplex structures, as confirmed by CD and DMS footprinting. FRET-based screening of over 400 compounds (10 micromolar) with the full-length G-quadruplex-forming region identified 29 putative interactive agents. Of these, only three compounds that did not interact with another oncogenic G-quadruplex were selected to move forward. These agents were then confirmed to interact with the PDGFR-beta promoter by CD, and lead agents are being examined in vitro. We have screened a series of six pancreatic cancer cell lines for PDGFR-beta expression. Both high-expressing (BxPc3) and low-expressing (Panc1) cell lines were chosen for further study. shRNA plasmids were selected for both lines on the basis of maximum knockdown of target mRNA, as determined by real time PCR; stable knockouts are being examined to determine the biological effect of PDGFR-beta in pancreatic cancer cells. The compounds that stabilize G-quadruplex formation are being tested in BxPc3 and Panc1 control and PDGFR-beta knockout cells for cytotoxicity and to confirm target specificity and downregulation. This data has highlighted potential lead compounds targeting PDGFR-beta to enhance the chemotherapeutic treatment options for pancreatic cancer. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 5377.
Dominant grains network and behavior of sand–silt mixtures: stress–strain modeling

SUMMARY Stress–strain modeling of sand–silt mixtures is important in the analysis and design of earth structures. In this paper, we develop a stress–strain model that can predict the behavior of sand–silt mixtures with any amount of fines content. This model is based on a micromechanics approach, which involves mean-field assumptions. For the mixtures with low amount of fines, the mechanical behavior is dominated by sand grains network. On the other hand, for the mixtures with high amount of fines, the mechanical behavior is dominated by silt grains network. Using this concept of dominant grains network, the behavior of mixtures with any amount of fines can be predicted from knowing the behavior of sand and silt, alone. We also modeled the critical state friction angle, critical state void ratio, and elastic stiffness for the mixtures as a function of fines content. The applicability of this developed stress–strain model is shown by comparing the simulated and measured results for two different types of sand–silt mixtures with full range of fines content. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Estimating Production Risk and Inefficiency Simultaneously: An Application to Cotton Cropping Systems

By using a stochastic frontier framework, the mutual effect of input use on production risk and inefficiency is investigated. Disentangling this mutual effect proves important for empirical reasons, at least when applied to west Tennessee cotton systems grown after various cover crops. The most striking result is that the stochastic frontier model, when compared with a typical Just-Pope model, reorders the relative riskiness of cover-crop regimes associated with the cotton systems.
Uric Acid-Induced Adipocyte Dysfunction Is Attenuated by HO-1 Upregulation: Potential Role of Antioxidant Therapy to Target Obesity

Increased uric acid levels have been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. To examine the mechanisms by which this occurs, we hypothesized that an increase in heme oxygenase 1, a potent antioxidant gene, will decrease uric acid levels and adipocyte dysfunction via suppression of ROS and xanthine oxidase (XO) levels. We examined the effect of uric acid on adipogenesis in human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the presence and absence of cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP), an HO-1 inducer, and tin mesoporphyrin (SnMP), an HO activity inhibitor. Uric acid increased adipogenesis by increasing NADPH oxidase expression and elevation in the adipogenesis markers C/EBPα, PPARγ, and Mest, while decreasing small lipid droplets and Wnt10b levels. We treated MSCs with fructose, a fuel source that increases uric acid levels. Our results showed that fructose increased XO expression as compared to the control and concomitant treatment with CoPP significantly decreased XO expression and uric acid levels. These beneficial effects of CoPP were reversed by SnMP, supporting a role for HO activity in mediating these effects. These findings demonstrate that increased levels of HO-1 appear crucial in modulating the phenotype of adipocytes exposed to uric acid and in downregulating XO and NADPH oxidase levels.
“Wandering beneath the Unthinkable”: Organization and Probability in Romanticism and the Nineteenth Century

This article approaches the problem of organizing Romanticism and, with it, the nineteenth century by way of exploring a new type of ontological thinking, introduced by the Romantics, specifically Holderlin, and designated here as “Romantic ontology.” This ontology is defined by the impossibility of capturing the ultimate workings of the world by any given concept, which only allows us an access to certain effects of these ultimate workings. The radical limitations thus established do not inhibit but instead help to advance thought and knowledge and make them succeed where they failed previously, including in developing a better understanding of Romantic and nineteenth-century literature and culture. The nature of thought and knowledge changes, however: the unthinkable and the unknowable are now irreducible at any stage of our thinking and knowledge. As a result, we are irreducibly deprived of certainty, and the recourse to probability becomes an unavoidable aspect of our thinking and knowledge. According...
Segmentation based coding algorithm for low bit-rate video

A new motion compensated predictive coding based on object region segmentation is proposed for image sequence coding at low bit-rates. The motion compensated prediction involves segmentation, motion detection, and motion estimation for moving objects. Segmentation is carried out on the reconstructed images in both the encoder and decoder. This will eliminate the need to transmit the region shape information. Also, motion vector prediction is performed in both the encoder and decoder leading to a significant reduction of overhead for motion information. Motion compensated prediction errors are transformed using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) and the coefficients are quantized and entropy coded as recommended by the CCITT. Computer simulation shows that the proposed coding algorithm significantly reduces the block artifact which is a dominant distortion associated with the conventional block matching algorithms at low bit-rates.
Dr. Humayun chaudhry: a public health policy advocate.

Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry is president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) of the United States. The FSMB, which operates the Federation Credentialing Verification Service (FCVS) and cosponsors the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), was founded in 1912 and is the national not-for-profit organization for the 70 state medical boards of the United States and its territories.
Improved lipid accumulation by morphology engineering of oleaginous fungus Mortierella isabellina.

Oleaginous fungi capable of accumulating a considerableamountoflipidsarepromisingsourcesforlipid- based biofuel production. The specific productivities of filamentous fungi in submerged fermentation are often correlated with morphological forms. However, the relation- ship between morphological development and lipid accumu- lation is not known. In this study, distinct morphological forms of oleaginous fungus Mortierella isabellina including pellets of different sizes, free dispersed mycelia, and broken hyphal fragments were developed by additions of different concentrations of magnesium silicate microparticles. Differ- ent morphological forms led to different levels of lipid accumulation as well as different spatial patterns of lipid distribution within pellets/mycelial aggregates. Significant higher lipid content (0.75g lipid/g cell biomass) and lipid yield (0.18g lipid/g glucose consumed) were achieved in free dispersed mycelia than in pellets. Moreover, extracellular metabolite analysis showed that production of undesirable by-product malate was repressed in free dispersed mycelium form. Unveiling the desired morphological form of M. isabellina for lipid accumulation provided insights into molecular mechanism of lipid biosynthesis linked with morphological development, as well as design and optimiza- tion of bioprocess to produce lipid-based biofuels. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;xxxx: xxx-xxx.
Baseline Caries Risk Assessment Using CAMBRA May Predict Caries Only in High and Extreme Caries Risk Groups

Article Title and Bibliographic Information Baseline caries risk assessment as a predictor of caries incidence. Chaffee BW, Cheng J, Featherstone JD.J Dent 2015;43(5):518-24. Reviewers Marisol Tellez, BDS, MPH, PhD, Vinodh Bhoopathi, BDS, MPH, DScD, Sungwoo Lim, MS, DrPH Purpose/Question To determine, with each increasing category of baseline caries risk as assessed by Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) in a patient, whether a greater or higher number of new decay/restored teeth can be predicted at a subsequent 6-month periodic oral evaluation. Source of Funding National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health (KL2TR000143) Type of Study/Design Retrospective cohort study Level of Evidence Level 2: Limited-quality, patientoriented evidence Strength of Recommendation Grade Not applicable
Sublethal Effects of Chromium on Enzymatic Activities of the African Catfish: Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

The effect of sublethal concentration (0.00, 2.00, 4.00 and 8.00 mg/l) of chromium was determined on the activities of some enzymes (creatine-kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, cholinesterase, gamma glutamyltransferase) in the plasma, liver and kidney of the exposed juvenile African Catfish Clarias gariepinus (length 23.00±0.86 cm and weight 96.97±5.31 g respectively) after the 7 days exposure period. The activity of lactate dehydrogenase was significantly (p 0.05) in plasma and liver and a significant decrease (p 0.05) in plasma, liver and kidney except liver creatine kinase that was significantly decreased. Generally, the activities of the determined enzymes were most significant in the liver than in plasma and kidney. Therefore, sublethal concentrations of chromium have some deleterious effect on the basic activities of enzymes of the plasma, liver and kidney of Clarias gariepinus as revealed in this investigation.
New insights into galaxy structure from galphat– I. Motivation, methodology and benchmarks for Sérsic models

We introduce a new galaxy image decomposition tool, galphat (GALaxy PHotometric ATtributes), which is a front-end application of the Bayesian Inference Engine (bie), a parallel Markov chain Monte Carlo package, to provide full posterior probability distributions and reliable confidence intervals for all model parameters. The bie relies on galphat to compute the likelihood function. galphat generates scale-free cumulative image tables for the desired model family with precise error control. Interpolation of this table yields accurate pixellated images with any centre, scale and inclination angle. galphat then rotates the image by position angle using a Fourier shift theorem, yielding high-speed, accurate likelihood computation. We benchmark this approach using an ensemble of simulated Sersic model galaxies over a wide range of observational conditions: the signal-to-noise ratio S/N, the ratio of galaxy size to the point spread function (PSF) and the image size, and errors in the assumed PSF; and a range of structural parameters: the half-light radius re and the Sersic index n. We characterize the strength of parameter covariance in the Sersic model, which increases with S/N and n, and the results strongly motivate the need for the full posterior probability distribution in galaxy morphology analyses and later inferences. The test results for simulated galaxies successfully demonstrate that, with a careful choice of Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms and fast model image generation, galphat is a powerful analysis tool for reliably inferring morphological parameters from a large ensemble of galaxies over a wide range of different observational conditions.
Supersonic Flows of Dense Gases in Cascade Configurations

We examine the steady, inviscid, supersonic flow of Bethe-Zel'dovich-Thompson (BZT) fluids in two-dimensional cascade configurations. Bethe-Zel'dovich-Thompson fluids are single-phase gases having specific heats so large that the fundamental derivative of gasdynamics is negative over a finite range of pressures and temperatures. The equation of state is the well-known Martin-Hou equation, and the numerical scheme is the explicit predictor-corrector method of MacCormack. Numerical comparisons between BZT fluids and lighter fluids such as steam are presented. It was found that the natural dynamics of BZT fluids can result in significant reductions in the adverse pressure gradients associated with the collision of compression waves with neighboring turbine blades. A numerical example of an entirely isentropic supersonic cascade flow is also presented.
Evaluation of combination vs. sequential cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced breast cancer

Combination chemotherapy has been used in the treatment of acute leukemia, malignant lymphoma, and, more recently, solid tumors. This study was designed to randomize between combination 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) cyclophosphamide, and vincristine sulfate, vs. sequential use of these drugs in patients with breast carcinoma. Forty-six patients received 5-FU 7.5 nig/kg, cyclophosphamide 4 mg/kg daily for 5 days, and vincristine sulfate 0.015 mg/kg on days 1 and 8, repeated monthly. Thirty patients received a single drug in full dose (5-FU 15 mg/kg, cyclophosphamide 8 mg/kg daily for 5 days in monthly course, or vincristine sulfate.02 mg/kg weekly). The design was such that if the patient's tumor failed to respond to the single agent, the subsequent drug was used. In the combination group, 20 (43.5%) had objective responses. The mean survival of the combination group was 8.6 months. Sixteen of the 30 patients (53.3%) receiving sequential therapy responded to one or more of the three drugs. Mean survival of this group was 10.2 months. Evaluation of the drug toxicity between sequential vs. combined therapy revealed three drug-related deaths in the patients treated with 5-fluorouracil alone, with one death in the combination-treated group. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in tumor response or patient survival between patients treated with these three drugs used in sequence or in combination.
Original Articles: Prostate Cancer: Variable Histology of Anastomotic Biopsies With Detectable Prostate Specific Antigen After Radical Prostatectomy

ABSTRACTProgressive elevation of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) level after radical prostatectomy for adenocarcinoma is generally considered as irrefutable evidence of recurrent tumor. We assessed the results of 62 biopsies of the vesicourethral anastomosis in 41 men who had 3 or more consecutive PSA levels of 0.4 ng./ml. or greater after radical prostatectomy and no evidence of metastatic disease. The median PSA at the time of the first biopsy was 2.2 ng./ml. (range 0.4 to 50). Histological confirmation of recurrent cancer was established after 1 biopsy procedure in 39% of the patients and after 1 or more biopsy procedures in 59%. Biopsy was positive in 78% of 23 patients with an abnormal digital rectal examination, 40% of 5 with an abnormal transrectal ultrasound only, and 23% of 13 with a normal digital rectal examination and ultrasound. Among the patients with and without biopsy proved tumor recurrence there were no significant differences between the pathological stage or histological grade of t...
The impact of socially projected group composition on behavior in a commons dilemma: A self-attention perspective

Socially projected group compositions, based on subjects’ expectancies about the behavior of others and the number of subjects taking part on the resource use task, were indexed using Mullen’s Additive Other-Total Ratio (Mullen, 1987) and used to predict harvesting behavior in a commons dilemma. One-hundred forty-three males took part in a resource use task in groups ranging in size from two to six members. Just prior to harvesting trials, subjects indicated the number of those taking part that they expected to overharvest and to underharvest, and indicated to which of these groups they had assigned themselves. Results indicated that harvesting behavior varied as a function of the number of others expected to behave differently from self, and conformed to patterns predicted by Self-Attention Theory. With increases in the number of others expected to underharvest, indexing an increase in self-attention, subjects who indicated they would overharvest become more conservative in resource use. However, subjects who indicated they would underharvest did not significantly decrease harvest size with increases in the number of others expected to overharvest. These subjects were already harvesting at an optimal or sub-optimal rate, and therefore had no need to reduce the size of their harvests to match their behavior to standards stressing conservatism in resource use.
Central role of T lymphocytes in specific recognition of tumor antigens in 51Cr-leukocyte adherence inhibition.

Abstract Tumor-associated specificity of the 51 Cr-leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) assay in the differential diagnosis of cancer was achieved by using highly purified T-lymphocyte subpopulations. Leukocyte separation was performed in two stages. This involved the use of sheep erythrocytes treated with aminoethylisothiouronium bromide (E AET -rosetting technique) for the isolation of T lymphocytes, followed by Percoll gradient in the separation of monocytes. The purification steps provided 94% yield with a viability of 98%, 93% cellular enrichment of T cells, 85% of B cells, and 92% monocytes. The reactivity of isolated T, B, and monocyte subpopulations confirmed the central role of T lymphocytes in the recognition of specific cancer-associated antigens. In the 51 Cr-LAI reaction 28–78% inhibition of T-lymphocyte adherence was observed upon exposure to homologous tumor antigen, whereas B lymphocytes and PMN cells did not respond. T lymphocytes from subjects with benign breast diseases or from healthy subjects showed no LAI response to breast cancer antigen. Further evidence for the central role of T lymphocytes was obtained in the indirect LAI test when a soluble leukocyte adherence inhibition factor (LAIF) was produced only by incubating sensitized T lymphocytes with homologous tumor antigen. Monocytes of healthy subjects as well as of patients with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and mesothelioma showed a nonspecific LAI response to several unrelated tumor antigens.
On distance sets of large sets of integer points

Distance sets of large sets of integer points are studied in dimensions at least 5. To any e > 0 a positive integer Q ɛ is constructed with the following property; If A is any set of integer points of upper density at least e, then all large multiples of Q ɛ 2 occur as squares of distances between the points of the set A.
Competitive collisional activation in vibrational energy transfer with cyclopropane-1t1-2,2d2. A three-channel system

Abstract Vibrational energy transfer has been studied in a reacting system by the method of competitive collisional reaction “spectroscopy.” Cyclopropane-1 t 1 -2,2 d 2 provides a three-channel competitive system which has several advantages relative to conventional absolute rate techniques for the study of collisional transition probabilities. It is found in the range 823–1123 K that both collisional efficiency and the amount of energy transferred from the hot molecule to helium bath gas molecule decline with rise temperature. This is of great importance for high temperature shock tube and laser decomposition systems.
Preventing radiation retinopathy with hyperfractionation.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with the development of radiation retinopathy in a large series of patients with head-and-neck cancer. In particular, we addressed whether the use of hyperfractionated radiation therapy was effective in reducing the risk of retinopathy. Methods and materials One hundred eighty-six patients received a significant dose to the retina as part of curative radiotherapy. Primary sites included: nasopharynx, 46; paranasal sinus, 64; nasal cavity, 69; and palate, 7. Prescription doses varied depending on primary site and histology. Hyperfractionated (twice-daily) radiation was delivered to 42% of the patients in this study, typically at 1.10 to 1.20 Gy per fraction. The remainder were treated once-daily. Retinal doses were determined from computerized dosimetry plans when available. For all other patients, retinal doses were retrospectively calculated using reconstructed off-axis dosimetry taken from contours through the center of the globes. Retinal dose was defined as the minimum dose received by at least 25% of the globe. The median retinal dose was 56.85 Gy. Patients were followed for a median of 7.6 years. Results Thirty-one eyes in 30 patients developed radiation retinopathy, resulting in monocular blindness in 25, bilateral blindness in 1, and decreased visual acuity in 4. The median time to the diagnosis of retinopathy was 2.6 years (range, 11 months to 5.3 years). The actuarial incidence of developing radiation retinopathy was 20% at both 5 and 10 years. The incidence of developing ipsilateral blindness due to retinopathy was 16% at 5 years and 17% at 10 years. Site-specific incidences varied considerably, with ethmoid sinus (9 of 25, 36%), nasal cavity (13 of 69, 19%), and maxillary sinus (6 of 35, 17%) being the most common sites associated with radiation retinopathy. Three of 72 patients (4%) receiving retinal doses less than 50 Gy developed retinopathy. Higher retinal doses resulted in a steady increase in the incidence of retinopathy, with 25 of the 30 cases occurring after 60 Gy or more. Of the patients receiving more than 50 Gy to the retina, hyperfractionation was associated with a significantly lower incidence of radiation retinopathy (37% vs. 13%; p = 0.0037). On multivariate analysis, retinal dose ( p p = 0.0003), age ( p = 0.0365), and prolonged overall treatment time ( p = 0.0213) were significant predictors of radiation retinopathy. Conclusion The incidence of ipsilateral radiation retinopathy after treatment of nasal cavity/paranasal tumors is 20% at 5 and 10 years. Retinal dose and fractionation schedule are the strongest predictors of retinopathy. Hyperfractionated radiotherapy is associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of radiation retinopathy, especially when the retina receives more than 50 Gy.
Photoluminescence enhancement of quantum dots with photonic structures

Photoluminescence (PL) of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) deposited on Si and photonic crystals with packed silica spheres, are investigated with the purpose of establishing enhancement of PL. Quantum dots with size ~2.4nm are introduced into the solution containing silica spheres of ~345nm size. Upon evaporation, QDs are incorporated into the photonic crystals made of close-pack spheres. We found that PL is red- or blue-shifted (from interaction with molecular complexes) with increase of QD-density. The broad PL emission is partly from particle size distribution, but mainly due to the interaction with local molecular complexes with surface quantum size effects. We have also observed enhanced interaction when the emission is close to the photons at the Brillouin zone boundary.
Alteration of the disulfide-coupled folding pathway of BPTI by circular permutation.

The kinetics of disulfide-coupled folding and unfolding of four circularly permuted forms of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) were studied and compared with previously published results for both wild-type BPTI and a cyclized form. Each of the permuted proteins was found to be less stable than either the wild-type or circular proteins, by 3–8 kcal/mole. These stability differences were used to estimate effective concentrations of the chain termini in the native proteins, which were 1 mM for the wild-type protein and 2.5 to 4000 M for the permuted forms. The circular permutations increased the rates of unfolding and caused a variety of effects on the kinetics of refolding. For two of the proteins, the rates of a direct disulfide-formation pathway were dramatically increased, making this process as fast or faster than the competing disulfide rearrangement mechanism that predominates in the folding of the wild-type protein. These two permutations break the covalent connectivity among the β-strands of the native protein, and removal of these constraints appears to facilitate direct formation and reduction of nearby disulfides that are buried in the folded structure. The effects on folding kinetics and mechanism do not appear to be correlated with relative contact order, a measure of overall topological complexity. These observations are consistent with the results of other recent experimental and computational studies suggesting that circular permutation may generally influence folding mechanisms by favoring or disfavoring specific interactions that promote alternative pathways, rather than through effects on the overall topology of the native protein.
An immediate after-backprojection filtering method with blob-shaped window functions for voxel-based iterative reconstruction

Blobs have better resolution-noise performance than voxels because of the overlapping of their rotational symmetric basis functions; however, using blobs is more computationally costly than using voxels due to blob overlap. We propose an immediate after-backprojection filtering method (ABF) with blob-shaped window functions for a voxel-based reconstruction. We compared this method with the general voxel-based method (without filtering), the blob-based method, the voxel-based method with between-iteration filtering (BIF) and with post-filtering (POF), using computer simulations. The reconstruction quality was measured by the contrast recovery coefficient (CRC) versus the background noise. It is shown that the ABF method with blob windows is characterized by less image noise and preserved image contrast in comparison with both the general voxel-based method and the voxel-based method with BIF. When using a standard blob window a = 2.0, alpha = 10.4 and m = 2, the ABF method achieves identical CRC-noise features to the blob-based method with "standard" blobs. In addition, the ABF method can be combined with the POF method to achieve better noise-resolution performance than the general voxel-based POF method. The computational cost of the ABF method is slightly greater than that of the general voxel-based method, but much less than the blob-based method.
Effect of α-difluoromethyl-ornithine on the expression and function of the epidermal growth factor receptor in human breast epithelial cells in culture

We have previously shown that ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) overexpression enhances the transforming effects of HER-2neu and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in normal MCF-10A human breast epithelial cells. Our data suggest that such potentiation may be mediated by activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and, possibly, STAT signalling. To further explore the interaction between the polyamine pathway and EGF/HER-2neu signalling in this system, we inhibited endogenous ODC activity with alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) and assessed the effects of this blockade on the expression of EGF receptors (EGFR) and HER-2neu as well as activation of downstream EGF target genes. We found that DFMO administration to MCF-10A cells increased EGF-R mRNA and protein levels in a dose-response fashion, while HER-2neu expression was not affected. The effect of DFMO was mediated through polyamine depletion since it could be reversed by exogenous putrescine administration. Our results also indicated that the increase in EGFR induced by DFMO was not a non-specific consequence of inhibition of cell proliferation. The upregulated EGFRs were functional since they could be phosphorylated by EGF and they were able to promote phosphorylation of downstream signalling molecules including ERK, STAT-3, and STAT-5. We propose that physiologic levels of ODC activity may be critical for regulation of a yet undefined signalling pathway, whose blockade by DFMO leads to a compensatory increase in functional EGFR.
Mass Spectrometric Analysis of GAP-43/Neuromodulin Reveals the Presence of a Variety of Fatty Acylated Species

GAP-43 (neuromodulin) is a protein kinase C substrate that is abundant in developing and regenerating neurons. Thioester-linked palmitoylation at two cysteines near the GAP-43 N terminus has been implicated in directing membrane binding. Here, we use mass spectrometry to examine the stoichiometry of palmitoylation and the molecular identity of the fatty acid(s) attached to GAP-43 in vivo. GAP-43 expressed in either PC12 or COS-1 cells was acetylated at the N-terminal methionine. Approximately 35% of the N-terminal GAP-43 peptides were also modified by palmitate and/or stearate on Cys residues. Interestingly, a variety of acylated species was detected, in which one of the Cys residues was acylated by either palmitate or stearate, or both Cys residues were acylated by palmitates or stearates or a combination of palmitate and stearate. Depalmitoylation of membrane-bound GAP-43 did not release the protein from the membrane, implying that additional forces function to maintain membrane binding. Indeed, mutation of four basic residues within the N-terminal domain of GAP-43 dramatically reduced membrane localization of GAP-43 without affecting palmitoylation. These data reveal the heterogeneous nature of S-acylation in vivo and illustrate the power of mass spectrometry for identification of key regulatory protein modifications.
Input Control in Agricultural Production Contracts

tion problems there will be distortionary effects on industry output, and returns from production will be distributed in a predictable way. Regardless of the underlying motivation for contract design, the resulting distribution of returns (and risks) is likely to differ from the traditional spot market distribution. Understanding the incentives underlying the design of agricultural production contracts will aid in predicting their influence on the distribution of returns as their usage increases. In addition to its practical importance, the economic analysis of agricultural production contracts provides an opportunity to test contract theory empirically. Over the past twenty years, contract theory, or mechanism design, has burgeoned as an area of theoretical analysis. This growth in the theory has not been matched by an accompanying empirical literature. There has been only a limited amount of empirical work in these areas, primarily on auctions, as well as executive compensation and franchising (cf. Laffont, Ossard and Vuong, Jensen and Murphy, and LaFontaine). Agricultural production contracts provide an opportunity to test whether asymmetric information models have explanatory value. I consider whether such models are sometimes observationally equivalent to other economic models, and what research techniques will aid in distinguishing among explanations. I address these issues in the context of a
Comparative effects of nitroprusside and pinacidil on myocardial blood flow and infarct size in awake dogs with acute myocardial infarction.

The effect of nitroprusside in limiting myocardial infarct was compared with that of pinacidil, a new antihypertensive agent with potent coronary vasodilator properties, in instrumented awake dogs subjected to 4 hr of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and 20 hr of reperfusion. Dogs were randomly assigned to receive intravenous normal saline, nitroprusside, or pinacidil beginning 40 min after the onset of coronary artery occlusion and continuing throughout the occlusion and the first hour of reperfusion. Nitroprusside and pinacidil were titrated to decrease mean aortic pressure by 25 mm Hg; normal saline had no effect on mean aortic pressure. Other systemic hemodynamic variables were not significantly altered by normal saline or nitroprusside, and myocardial blood flow did not change during normal saline infusion in normal and ischemic myocardium. In contrast, nitroprusside increased the blood flow and the endocardial/epicardial flow ratio in ischemic myocardium. This increase in ischemic myocardial blood flow was accompanied by a significant reduction in infarct size (40 +/- 3% of region at risk vs 58 +/- 4% in the normal saline group; p less than .05). Pinacidil increased heart rate, cardiac output, and the peak rate of rise of left ventricular pressure. Furthermore, despite causing a threefold to fourfold increase in normal myocardial blood flow, pinacidil had no effect on either blood flow to ischemic myocardium or infarct size (57 +/- 5%). The data indicate that the marked coronary vasodilator effect of pinacidil does not cause an increase in ischemic blood flow or a reduction in infarct size.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Isolation of Small Starch Granules and Determination of Their Fat Mimic Characteristics

ABSTRACT Small starch granules from wheat and amaranth were isolated and examined by light microscopy (wheat), scanning electron microscopy (wheat and amaranth), and rapid viscosity (RVA) analysis. The isolated wheat and amaranth starches were incorporated into reduced-fat frozen dessert mixes (2%, w/w) and the frozen desserts were characterized by sensory analysis for smoothness, creaminess, and preference. The results of the sensory analysis suggest that up to 50% of the fat in a frozen dessert may be replaced when substituted by these starches at the 2% level (w/w).
Thermoregulatory responses to preoptic-anterior hypothalamic heating and cooling in the bat, Eptesicus fuscus

The central nervous control of temperature regulation in the bat, Eptesicus fuscus, was evaluated by heating the preoptic-anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) of active, unanaesthetized bats. Because bats are metabolically very variable, change in body temperature was used as the criterion of change in heat balance in response to change in brain temperature and change in wing temperature as an indicator of vasomotor changes.
Metal Accumulation and Health Effects in Raccoons (Procyon lotor) Associated with Coal Fly Ash Exposure

Approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash and water spilled into the Emory River embayment of Watts Bar Reservoir in east Tennessee on Dec 22, 2008. Raccoons were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the spill site (10/y) and unexposed areas (5/y) to determine whether metals and metalloids were accumulating in raccoons and if any negative health effects resulted from exposure to the spilled coal fly ash. Tissues were analyzed from each animal to determine the concentrations of 26 metals/metalloids. Complete blood cell counts (CBC), plasma biochemistry panels, and histopathology of select tissues also were performed. Results were analyzed by year and exposure status. Although significant differences were present in some tissues for some metals/metalloids, only arsenic in hair, iron in muscle, nickel in hair, selenium in hair and muscle, strontium in hair, and vanadium in hair and liver were increased in spill site animals (one or both years) compared with unexposed animals. No clinically important differences were observed between groups regarding CBC or plasma biochemistry analyses. Lesions were observed on histopathology in some tissues, but there was no difference in the prevalence of lesions between spill site and unexposed animals. There does not seem to be any important accumulation of metals/metalloids or negative health effects in raccoons associated with exposure to coal fly ash compared with unexposed animals.
LWI-SVD: low-rank, windowed, incremental singular value decompositions on time-evolving data sets

Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is computationally costly and therefore a naive implementation does not scale to the needs of scenarios where data evolves continuously. While there are various on-line analysis and incremental decomposition techniques, these may not accurately represent the data or may be slow for the needs of many applications. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a Low-rank, Windowed, Incremental SVD (LWI-SVD) algorithm, which (a) leverages efficient and accurate low-rank approximations to speed up incremental SVD updates and (b) uses a window-based approach to aggregate multiple incoming updates (insertions or deletions of rows and columns) and, thus, reduces on- line processing costs. We also present an LWI-SVD with restarts (LWI2-SVD) algorithm which leverages a novel highly efficient partial reconstruction based change detection scheme to support timely refreshing of the decomposition with significant changes in the data and prevent accumulation of errors over time. Experiment results, including comparisons to other state of the art techniques on different data sets and under different parameter settings, confirm that LWI-SVD and LWI2-SVD are both efficient and accurate in maintaining decompositions.
Improved ab initio pair potentials for the interaction between nucleic acid bases and water

Abstract Intermolecular potentials to describe the interaction between nucleic acid bases and water are derived using ab initio calculations with a double-zeta plus one polarization function basis set. More than 2600 interaction energies are computed and fitted to a suitable analytical function. The quality of the fit is assessed by considering the iso-energy contour maps derived from the computed potentials. The potential energy functions are used to investigate the hydration patterns of the nucleic acid bases by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The preferential hydration sites are analyzed and discussed based on the pair correlation functions, running coordination numbers, and probability distribution maps.
Rapidly renatured DNAs of some higher plants.

C0t 0.14 renatured DNAs of four plant species were isolated by hydroxylapatite chromatography and banded in CsCl. One buoyant density class (1.706–1.708 g/cm3) of renatured DNA is present in all species and contains sequences complementary to rRNA. Each species contains one or more additional renatured components, the buoyant densities of which are lower than the 1.706–1.708 g/cm3 components.
Robot mapping with range data

Explores methods by which range-sensor data can be used to generate maps for robot navigation. The authors assume an idealized 2-D environment consisting of flat walls, a point robot, and a perfect range measuring system. The purpose of this idealization is to understand how much effort is to be expended to accomplish the mapping of a region. Several theorems are developed that place limits on the number of robot movements required to completely explore obstacles and boundaries. A mapping procedure is described that works within the limits indicated by these theorems. Results of applying this procedure in a simulated environment are also shown. >