cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Autoimmunity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Clinical and experimental evidence

Over the past few decades, neutrophils and macrophages had co-occupied center stage as the critical innate immune cells underlying the pathobiology of cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung parenchymal destruction (i.e., emphysema). While chronic exposure to smoke facilitates the recruitment of innate immune cells into the lung, a clear role for adaptive immunity in emphysema has emerged. Evidence from human studies specifically point to a role for recruitment and activation of pathogenic lymphocytes and lung antigen-presenting cells in emphysema; similarly, animal models have confirmed a significant role for autoimumnity in progressive smoke-induced emphysema. Increased numbers of activated antigen-presenting cells, Th1 and Th17 cells, have been associated with smoke-induced lung inflammation and production of the canonical cytokines of these cells, IFN-γ and IL-17, correlates with disease severity. These exciting new breakthroughs could open new avenues for developing effective new therapies for smoke-induced emphysema.
Aspirin as a quantitative acetylating reagent for the fatty acid oxygenase that forms prostaglandins

Abstract A selective acetylation of the prostaglandin-forming fatty acid oxygenase (part of the prostaglandin “synthetase” system) occurs with 100 μM concentrations of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). The amount of acetylation, measured by counting the [ 3 H]acetyl-protein formed, was proportional to the amount of active, functional oxygenase in a sample. When samples were aged to allow spontaneous inactivation of the oxygenase, the amount of acetylation was proportional to the remaining measurable activity rather than the initial amount of oxygenase protein in the sample. Diethyl dithiocarbamate inhibited the oxygenase activity, but did not interfere with the subsequent acetylation by aspirin. Indomethacin, on the other hand, appeared to inactivate the oxygenase in a manner that interfered only partially with the action of aspirin as an acetylating reagent. The amount of acetylation appeared to be dependent upon the amount of native, undenatured enzyme. The results suggest that the acetylation may be dependent upon an essential functional group or conformation of groups in the catalytic peptide chain(s) that can be destroyed during spontaneous inactivation of the oxygenase, and altered by indomethacin.
A knowledge based approach to automate forging design

This paper describes a method and a system to automate the design of forging geometries. The method is derived from the principles and the actual practices of forging design used by experienced forging designers. Due to the diversity of the knowledge and problem solving techniques required for forging design, a combination of knowledge-based and algorithmic techniques was employed to implement the AFD (automated forging design) system. Given a set of design specifications, that is, machined part geometry, processing conditions, and special design considerations, the AFD system designs the forging section geometry automatically. Initial results from AFD show that it can be a powerful tool for designing geometries for the rib-web type of forgings.
Pitfalls in simulation-based evaluation of forecast monitoring schemes

Abstract To evaluate the performance of a forecast monitoring scheme, forecasters have traditionally used a simulation-based estimator of some characteristic of the associated run length distribution. The most frequently cited performance measures are the average run length and the probability that the run length does not exceed a user-specified cutoff point. However, there is disagreement about the definition of run length that is appropriate in the context of forecasting. In this note we present the precise relationships between conflicting formulations both of the average run length and of the probability distribution function for the run length. The practical significance of each of these relationships is discussed. These results bear directly on the way in which simulation experiments should be designed and executed to compare alternative monitoring schemes.
Short-term changes in feeding and digestion by the copepod Calanus pacificus

The planktonic marine copepodCalanus pacificus exhibits an enhanced feeding rate, or hunger response, when exposed to food following short periods of starvation. In a scries of laboratory experiments with copepods collected from the main basin of Puget Sound, Washington, during 1982 and 1984, we measured maximum ingestion rate, assimilation efficiency, and digestive enzyme activity to determine the time scales over which the feeding behavior ofC. pacificus responds to increases in food. These laboratory results were then compared to field studies of diel fluctuations in digestive enzymes and gut fluorescence ofC. pacificus in Dabod Bay, a fjord of Puget Sound, during September, 1980, and the closely relatedC. marshallae off the Washington coast, in August, 1981. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the hunger response ofC. pacificus lasts approximately 6 h before ingestion rate returns to a steady state level of about one-half maximum. On the order of 12h of starvation were required to induce the maximum ingestion rate of the hunger response. Digestive enzyme activities did not change over these time scales. Assimilation efficiency peaked within a few hours of the onset of feeding, with low initial rates possibly related to the period of starvation prior to feeding. These results were consistent with diel patterns observed in the field. The hunger response ofC. pacificus appears to be controlled by processes within the gut, and our results are discussed in relation to recent studies of the digestive processes of calanoid copepods.
Ethical Reasons and Political Commitments

Political commitments to resist oppression play a central role in the moral lives of many people. Such commitments are also a source of ethical reasons. They influence and organize ethical beliefs, emotions and reasons in an ongoing way. Political commitments to address oppression often contain a concern for the dignity and well-being of others and the objects of political commitments often have value, according to ideal moral theories, such as Kantian and utilitarian theory. However, ideal moral theories do not fully explain the ethical reasons political commitments engender. First, ideal moral theories do not explain the normative priority that agents give to politically committed ethical reasons. Their profound effect on a politically committed agent’s ethical deliberation and choice and the precedence they are given over other ends cannot be wholly understood through the moral obligations within ideal theories. Second, although politically committed reasons are valuable in ideal theory for the benefits they bring to others, they are not fungible with other reasons ideal theory would regard as having equal ethical value. A person might substitute another beneficial humanitarian aim for that to which she is politically committed and nevertheless regard herself as having done a morally wrong thing for failing or betraying her commitment. Politically committed ethical reasons are also motivated and informed by the social location of agents and their relationship to structures of oppression. Although there are universal ethical reasons to oppose oppression, this means that some of a person’s actual ethical reasons will be irreducibly particular.
Clinical application of a method to correct angle ANB for geometric effects

Angle ANB does not provide an adequate assessment of the skeletal discrepancy between the jaws in the sagittal plane. Attempts have been made to avoid the fallacies with the introduction of quadrilateral and Wits analyses. Based on the Wits appraisal of zero, Hussels and Nanda (1984) were able to evaluate and eliminate four geometric factors that affect angle ANB. These four factors are (1) anteroposterior position of point N in relation to points A and B, (2) inclination of the occlusal plane, (3) dental height (a linear measurement between point A and B), and (4) distance between points N and B. The authors derived a mathematic formula to evaluate the influence of all four parameters in terms of angle ANB. This formula reflects the skeletal relationship of a patient when points A and B are on a perpendicular plane in relation to the occlusal plane (Wits = 0 mm). The authors define this to be a Class I skeletal relationship. A comparison of the measured ANB angle with the calculated angle ANB gives a better perspective of the skeletal discrepancy. If the measured angle ANB is larger than the calculated angle, the discrepancy is Class II. On the other hand, if the measured angle ANB is smaller than the calculated angle, the skeletal relation is Class III. This method of assessing the skeletal sagittal position of the jaws in relation to each other was applied to 508 patients. The authors showed that the geometric influence of the four factors indeed conceals the true skeletal relations when angle ANB is used without any correction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Activation of Phosphoinositide Breakdown and Elevation of Intracellular Calcium in a Rat RBL-2H3 Mast Cell Line by Adenosine Analogs: Involvement of A3-Adenosine Receptors?

A variety of adenosine analogs activate phosphoinositide breakdown in a rat RBL-2H3 mast cell line. It is presumed that an A(3)-adenosine receptor is involved, since the phosphoinositide response is insensitive to xanthines. However, the very potent A(3)- receptor agonist 2-chloro-N(6)-iodobenzyl-N-methylcarboxamidoadenosine (2-CI-IBMECA) with an EC(50) of 4.1 µM is about twofold less potent (and less efficacious) than N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) with an EC(50) of 2.1 µM. The other agents consisting of N(6)-p-aminophenylethyladenosine (APNEA), N(6)-iodobenzylMECA (IB-MECA), N(6)-R- phenylisopropyladenosine (R-PIA), 2-chloroadenosine, N(6)-benzyladenosine, N(6)- cyclohexyladenosine (CHA), N(6)-cyclohexylNECA (CHNECA), 2-(p- carboxyethylphenyl-ethylaminoNECA (CGS 21680), 1,3-dibutylxanthine 7-riboside-5'-N-methylcarboxamide (DBXRM), adenosine, and 8-bromoadenosine are all nearly equipotent with EC(50) values of 5.5-13.9 µM. The rank order of potencies of the analogs in causing an elevation of intracellular calcium is quite different. The potent A(3) receptor agonists 2-CI-IBMECA and IB-MECA with EC(50) values of 0.07 and 0.11 µM, respectively, are about fourfold more potent than N(6)-cyclohexylNECA and about 15-fold more potent than NECA. The other analogs are comparable or somewhat less potent than NECA, some are less efficacious, and 8-bromoadenosine is inactive. The results suggest that stimulation of phosphoinositide breakdown by adenosine analogs in RBL-2H3 cells as measured by IP(1) accumulation is not predictive of IP(3)-mediated elevations of intracellular calcium. Rank order of potency for the calcium response is consonant with intermediacy of A(3)-adenosine receptors, while the former, as measured by [(3)H]IP(1)-formation, probably reflects contributions from both an A(3)-mediated response and some other mechanism. Combinations of subthreshold concentrations of 2-CI-IBMECA with either the A(1)-selective agonist CHA or the A(2A)-selective agonist CGS 21680 caused a marked stimulation of phosphoinositide breakdown, providing further evidence for dual mechanisms. The selective A(3)-adenosine receptor antagonist 3,6-dichloro-2'-(isopropyloxy)-4'-methylflavone (MRS 1067) inhibits 2-CI-IBMECA- and NECA-elicited elevation of calcium levels, and had differential effects on phosphoinositide breakdown, blocking [(3)H]IP(3) accumulation and either blocking (NECA) or having no effect (2-CI-IBMECA) on [(3)H]IP(1) accumulation.
Fabrication of adaptive microbolometers

In this paper, the fabrication of microbolometers with electronically controllable responsivity is presented. The first generation devices are built in a standard polysilicon-based micromachining process with HF etch-release and demonstrated with a responsivity that can be tuned over a factor of 50. The responsivity is controlled by applying a voltage between the microbolometer and the substrate. The resulting electrostatic force causes a small portion of the support beam to contact the substrate, which thermally shorts the device at that point. The thermal contact points are defined using curved support beams with residual-stress from a Cr/Au metallization. The lowest portion of the beams contacts the substrate, and the curvature protects the device from full “snap-down,” which might induce stiction. The fabrication of the second generation microbolometers based on VO x and silicon nitride materials with a polyimide etch-release is also described. The thermal contact points for these devices are defined by beam mechanics rather than by beam curvature induced by stress, and they actuate at 17 volts. The test array has a fill-factor of 91% for a pixel period of 140μm limited by our photolithography equipment.
Effect of transient coronary occlusion on coronary blood flow autoregulation, vasodilator reserve and response to adenosine in the dog.

Abstract Myocardial ischemia of short duration (15 to 20 min) produces myocardial “stunning” during reperfusion. The vasoregulatory and contractile status of reperfuscd myocardium during normal and reduced perfusion pressures is of interest in the treatment of patients with unstable angina. In the present study the effects of 15 min of reversible ischemic injury on several aspects of coronary vasoregulation were assessed with use of pressure-flow curves in anesthetized open chest dogs. The left anterior descending coronary artery was cannulated and perfused with arterial blood with use of a servo-controlled roller pump. The autoregulatory gain and an adenosine dose-response curve for coronary flow before and after ischemia and reperfusion were obtained. The maximal autoregulatory gain values in the pressure range of 140 to 60 mm Hg were not significantly different before and after ischemia and reperfusion (0.41 ± 0.08 vs. 0.5 ± 0.06, p > 0.1). The adenosine dose-response curve was significantly shifted to the right after reperfusion; however, coronary blood flows during maximal adenosine vasodilation over a large range of perfusion pressures (140 to 60 mm Hg) were significantly greater after ischemia and reperfusion. The pressure-dependent decrease in segment shortening (sonomicrometry) over the coronary pressure range of 160 to 30 mm Hg was similar in myocardium before and after stunning. Contractile function in the stunned myocardium at normal (100 mm Hg) and low (40 mm Hg) coronary perfusion pressures was similarly and significantly enhanced by the administration of adenosine. It is concluded that 1) coronary autoregulation is unchanged after brief ischemia and reperfusion; 2) although maximal coronary vascular conductance assessed with adenosine is greater after ischemia, the coronary circulation shows a demised coronary sensitivity to exogenous adenosine; 3) the relation of contractile function to coronary pressure before and after stunning is unchanged; and 4) enhancement of function in stunned myocardium by vasodilation with adenosine occurs at low and normal perfusion pressures.
Mutant yeast on drugs.

Analyzing drug-treated and mutant yeast cells with the new tools of genomics enables the identification of drug targets and should improve the odds of developing useful therapeutics ( ).
Evaporative water loss in birds—I. Characteristics of the open flow method of determination, and their relation to estimates of thermoregulatory ability

Abstract 1. 1. Virtually all of our knowledgeof avian evaporative water loss is based on open flow determinations, and several generalizations concerned with water loss are based on insufficient information because of limitations in this technique. 2. 2. Some characteristics of the open flow system as they relate to measurement of avian evaporative water loss are examined, and a new formula for predicting relative humidity in the respiratory chamber is presented and tested. 3. 3. Air flow rate (and the resultant humidity in the chamber) influences the effectiveness of evaporative cooling in open flow determinations. Higher air flow rates (lower humidities) permit many avain species to dissipate all of their metabolic heat through evaporative cooling. 4. 4. A wide variety of birds were capable of maintaining their body temperatures below environmental temperatures of 44°–46°C for periods ranging from 1 to 4 hr through evaporative cooling.
What is dark energy

It seems that the rate of expansion of the Universe is accelerating, driven by the so-called dark energy. Is Einstein's cosmological constant behind it? There might be a way to find out.
Fractional flow reserve-guided percutaneous coronary intervention is not a valid concept.

The concept of fractional flow reserve (FFR)–guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has gained worldwide acceptance in the cardiology community.1 Hemodynamic assessment with FFR in the cardiac catheterization laboratory is now routinely being performed in intermediate-range coronary arterial stenoses to inform the decision to proceed with PCI.2 The paradigm of the FFR concept holds that clinical benefit of PCI is confined to coronary artery stenoses that restrict blood flow as documented by an abnormal FFR value (<0.75 or 0.80 typically).1 Correct measurement of FFR requires advancing a small wire distal to the stenosis that compares the intracoronary pressure with a proximal reference site under hyperemic conditions, for example, after application of adenosine.3,4 The procedure is invasive and adds cost, procedural time, radiation, contrast, and risk of vascular injury to standard angiography.5,6 To overcome the limitation of an invasive procedure, enormous efforts are being undertaken to assess FFR noninvasively.7 Several clinical studies reported modest to good accuracy of obtaining FFR estimates by computed tomography imaging, whereas other efforts have aimed at combining coronary anatomic information with myocardial perfusion information to simulate the same, seemingly desirable, outcome.8,9 Given the widespread use and large impact on the practice of cardiology, it appears prudent to critically review the evidence for the concept of FFR-guided revascularization. Response by Fearon p 1878 The FFR concept as outlined in the Fractional Flow Reserve Versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation (FAME) study is based on the premise that performing PCI on coronary arterial stenoses causing myocardial ischemia leads to reduced adverse cardiac events, while it is not beneficial to revascularize lesions that do not cause ischemia.10 This premise, however, does not adequately consider the complicated relationship among coronary artherosclerotic disease, coronary arterial blood flow, myocardial ischemia, …
Effect of gestational age on ductus arteriosus response to circulating prostaglandin E2

Premature newborn lambs with a patent ductus arteriosus have higher plasma prostaglandin E 2 concentrations than near-term newborn lambs with a contricted ductus arteriosus. To see whether these concentrations of PGE 2 could produce patency of the ductus arteriosus, we studied eight near-term lambs (with constricted ductuses) delivered by cesarean section, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated. After ductus arteriosus resistance and plasma PGE 2 concentrations had stabilized, a continuous PGE 2 infusion into the superior vena cava was started to determine threshold concentrations needed to dilate the ductus in vivo. By two hours after birth, circulating PGE 2 concentrations in near-term lambs were considerably less then the threshold concentration, and the ductures were constricted. In five premature newborn lambs, significantly lower concentrations of PGE 2 were required to dilate the ductus: threshold and ED 50 concentrations were one sixth and one third, respectively. In these premature lambs during the first two hours after birth, circulating PGE 2 concentrations were twice as high as the calculated in vivo threshold level. Therefore, circulating PGE 2 concentrations probably played a significant role in the patency of the ductus arteriosus in these premature lambs.
Determinants of brand loyalty: self-construal, self-expressive brands, and brand attachment

The purpose of this paper was to explore the relationships among self-construal, self-expressive brands, and brand attachment with an emphasis on understanding the link to brand loyalty in US colle...
Lead and halogens in pollution aerosols and snow from fairbanks, Alaska

Abstract The composition of lead halide pollution aerosol particles was studied in the Fairbanks area during January and February 1965. At this time of year the sun is above the horizon for less than 4 hr and prolonged cold spells (surface air temperature below −40°C) are accompanied by strong (gradients of 20–30°C/100 m) surface inversions which severely restrict the dilution volume for air pollutants. Indeed, these inversions virtually decouple the dense surface air-layer from the overlying air. Accurate quantitative information on the total output of all pollution sources is available because of the isolated location of Fairbanks and the limited, measurable sources of fuel supply. Thus, Fairbanks is a model locality for studying the production, movement, and chemical reactions of air pollutants in what amounts to a simple two-layer atmosphere. Lead was determined by inverse polarography in aerosol particles collected on Millipore filters. Measured values ranged from 6.0 μg of lead/m 3 of air in the city center, near the automobile traffic center, to 0.19 at the University of Alaska campus outside the city. These do not represent maximum values because pollutant-concentrating conditions were relatively mild during the sampling periods. Halogens were determined by neutron activation analysis of material in the aerosols and in ground-lying snows, and two components were revealed, a pollution component derived from automotive ethyl fluid combustion and a low-level natural component. In the pollution aerosol component, the weight ratio chlorine/lead averages close to the ethyl fluid value of 0.34, but bromine/lead is up to four times less than the ethyl fluid value of 0.39. Bromide-chlorine of the pollution in the snows is only 15–30 per cent of the ethyl fluid value and exhibits the lower values further from the city center. These data support the interpretation that lead halide particles, formed initially by combustion of ethyl fluid in gasoline, suffer loss of bromine by oxidation and volatilization. The smaller particles, because of greater surface area per unit mass, may suffer the most extensive bromine loss and may migrate farthest from the city center by virtue of their long atmospheric residence time.
Adaptive optimization in the Jalapeno JVM

Future high-performance virtual machines will improve performance through sophisticated online feedback-directed optimizations. this paper presents the architecture of the Jalapeno Adaptive Optimization System, a system to support leading-edge virtual machine technology and enable ongoing research on online feedback-directed optimizations. We describe the extensible system architecture, based on a federation of threads with asynchronous communication. We present an implementation of the general architecture that supports adaptive multi-level optimization based purely on statistical sampling. We empirically demonstrate that this profiling technique has low overhead and can improve startup and steady-state performance, even without the presence of online feedback-directed optimizations. The paper also describes and evaluates an online feedback-directed inlining optimization based on statistical edge sampling. The system is written completely in Java, applying the described techniques not only to application code and standard libraries, but also to the virtual machine itself.
Planar Thermic Elements for Thermal Control Systems

Thermics is a newly emerging control discipline where heat flows are modulated by temperatures. Heat is the only energy medium necessary for control, analogous to other single-medium control disciplines such as electronics, hydraulies, pneumatics or fluidics. Although initially dominated by elements based on vaporization heat tranfser of the heat pipe, a new class of planar thermic logic and control elements has been invented that relies on conduction and convection heat transfer. Three different temperature modulated thermal resistors are presented to explore the various types of modulation possible. The convection type is shown in several variations (amplifier, NOR gate, and diode) to illustrate analog, digital, and nonlinear control elements. Bond Graph models and experimental data are presented on characteristics of these prototype devices.
Comparative evaluation of fibric acid derivatives and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors

Abstract Fibric acid derivatives (fibrates) and β-hydroxy-β-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors are hypolipidaemic agents with contrasting mechanisms of action. Fibrates have multiple effects on capillary and hepatic enzymes involved in fatty acid and triglyceride metabolism. The principal lipid-lowering effect of fibrates appears to be mediated through increased activity of lipoprotein lipase, but other hepatic enzymes are also affected by these drugs. By increasing the activity of lipoprotein lipase, fibrates have a pronounced triglyceride-lowering effect; the response of plasma cholesterol to fibrates, however, varies with the nature of the underlying lipid abnormality. Some elevation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) may occur in hypertriglyceridaemic patients, apparently as a result of reduced non-receptor-mediated clearance of LDL. In hypercholesterolaemic patients, fibrates reduce triglyceride and, to a lesser extent, plasma LDL levels; the reduction in LDL may be related to stimulation of receptor-mediated clearance. Reductase inhibitors are the most potent cholesterol-lowering drugs available and have a clearly defined mode of action. By inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting step in hepatic cholesterol synthesis, these agents induce a compensatory increase in the synthesis and expression of hepatic LDL receptors, resulting in reduction of plasma LDL levels. There is also evidence that reductase inhibitors inhibit the synthesis of LDL and apolipoprotein (apo) B, the principal surface protein in LDL. This inhibitory action may be especially beneficial in patients with combined hyperlipidaemia, in whom there is evidence of overproduction of LDL and apo B. Reductase inhibitors also reduce triglyceride levels, but to a lesser extent than LDL; their triglyceride-lowering efficacy is not as marked as that of fibrates. LDL is regarded as the principal atherogenic lipoprotein and preference may, therefore, be given to reductase inhibitors when contemplating lipid regulation for the prevention of CHD. Fibrates, however, offer advantages in the management of patients with predominant or exclusive hypertriglyceridaemia.
Effects of a Cardiomyopathy-causing Troponin T Mutation on Thin Filament Function and Structure

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is caused by missense or premature truncation mutations in proteins of the cardiac contractile apparatus. Mutant proteins are incorporated into the thin filament or thick filament and eventually produce cardiomyopathy. However, it has been unclear how the several, genetically identified defects in protein structure translate into impaired protein and muscle function. We have studied the basis of FHC caused by premature truncation of the most frequently implicated thin filament target, troponin T. Electron microscope observations showed that the thin filament undergoes normal structural changes in response to Ca(2+) binding. On the other hand, solution studies showed that the mutation alters and destabilizes troponin binding to the thin filament to different extents in different regulatory states, thereby affecting the transitions among states that regulate myosin binding and muscle contraction. Development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can thus be traced to a defect in the primary mechanism controlling cardiac contraction, switching between different conformations of the thin filament.
Leishmania tarentolae: streptomycin and chloramphenicol resistance of promastigotes.

Abstract Stable mutant strains of Leishmania tarentolae promastigotes resistant to chloramphenicol (CAP) were isolated by replica-plating techniques. In addition, cell lines stress-adapted to streptomycin and to high culture temperature (33 C) were obtained. Drug resistance was influenced by temperature, culture media, and plating technique. Inhibition of amino acid incorporation into protein occurs in CAP-resistant cells when exposed to 600 μg CAP/ml but this inhibition was 50–80% lower than that found in wild type sensitive cells. The primary site of CAP action appears to be inhibition of protein synthesis. CAP also adversely affected proline oxidation.
A method for calculating static conditions of a dragline excavation system using dynamic simulation

A technique to numerically obtain the static equilibrium state of a conventionaldragline excavation system is reported, including static pose of the bucket as well as internal loads acting on elements of the excavation system. Equilibrium conditions are generated by numerically integrating the dynamic equations of motion with the hoist and drag rope lengths fixed. It is shown that this method can be greatly accelerated with the application of artificial forces and moments proportional to the velocity of the bodies that comprise the dragline excavation system. The benefits of appending artificial forces and moments are demonstrated on an exemplar conventional dragline excavation system using a complex three-dimensional dynamic simulation model. In this model, the bucket, spreader bar, hoist cluster, and drag cluster are modeled as rigid bodies with 6 degrees of freedom apiece while the drag rope, hoist rope, dump rope, hoist chains, and drag chains are discretized into a finite number of visco-elastic elements. Results generated from the numerical static pose simulation are compared against measured static pose data and agree favorably.
Allocating scarce resources to women candidates: turning context into strategy

The academic literature on women public officials has identified several political contexts which either hinder or advance the inclusion of women. This essay critically examines this literature and creates an empirically tested model of contextual influences on the election of women to state legislatures. The lessons from the literature and this model are used to devise strategies for political actors interested in increasing the presence of women in elective office.
Taxonomic selectivity and continuous variation in mass and background extinctions of marine taxa

Analysis of extinction rates1,2 has gone a long way towards identifying the approximate time and magnitude of major mass-extinction episodes in Earth's history: late Ordovician, late Devonian, late Permian, late Triassic, and late Cretaceous. Here I extend an earlier analysis3 and present patterns of family-level background and mass-extinction rates for ten major marine groups. I show that (1) except for the late Permian event, mass-extinction rates for each taxon were often not higher than many of their 'normal' background rates evincing continuous variation between them; (2) mobile benthic organisms show low mass-extinction rates and low background rates but (3) planktonic and sessile organisms tend to have high mass-extinction and background rates. Thus the mass-extinction events appear qualitatively similar to background extinctions, reflecting more of the same processes, in contrast to a recent proposal4.
Positive Pregnancy Outcomes in Mexican Immigrants: What Can We Learn?

Objective To provide an integrated review of the literature of potential explanations for better than expected pregnancy outcomes in Mexican immigrants, focusing on socioeconomics, social support, desirability of pregnancy, nutrition, substance use, religion, acculturation, and prenatal care. Data Sources Computerized searches of MEDLINE and CINAHL databases, as well as reference lists from published articles on low birth weight and prematurity in immigrants and acculturation in immigrants from January 1989 to December 2002. Search terms were Mexican immigrant women, childbearing, and pregnancy outcome, and only English‐language articles were reviewed. Study Selection Literature was selected from refereed publications in the areas of nursing, medicine, public health, family, and sociology. Data Extraction Data were extracted using keywords pertinent to pregnancy outcome in Mexican immigrants. Data Synthesis Despite having many of the risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes, Mexican immigrants have superior birth outcomes when compared to U.S.‐born women. Social support, familism, healthy diet, limited use of cigarettes and alcohol, and religion may play a role in improved outcomes. The superior outcomes diminish with the process of acculturation as the individual adapts to her new culture. Conclusions Low birth weight and prematurity are public health concerns in the United States. Through further study of the factors that lead to superior birth outcomes among Mexican immigrant women, rates of low birth weight and prematurity in the United States may be reduced.
Continuity and change in infant shyness from 14 to 20 months.

Objective measures of shyness in the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study were obtained in two testing situations: the laboratory and the home. A longitudinal hierarchical model was fitted to the data, allowing estimation of the extent to which genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental influences contributed to continuity and change of the shyness phenotype from 14 to 20 months of age. The sample consisted of 163 monozygotic and 138 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs. Models were fitted to raw data using a maximum-likelihood pedigree approach. Genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental first-order factors, with specific variances, were modeled on each of four shyness ratings assessed in the laboratory and home at 14 and 20 months. Four second-order genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental factors were also modeled. Results indicated that developmental change from 14 to 20 months and situational specificity between the laboratory and the home are mediated largely by shared and unique environmental influences. Genetic variation is largely responsible for both the stability in shyness from 14 to 20 months and the phenotypic correlations observed between the laboratory and the home settings.
Clinicomorphologic markers for predicting behavior and guiding therapy for brain tumors

More specific therapy can be achieved for brain tumors by identifying morphologic markers like primitive neuroectodermal tumor cells that tend to be radioresponsive and spread diffusely through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Utilizing clinical manifestations to suspect and then localize the brain tumor, morphologic markers, that can be appreciated with computerized tomography and cerebral angiography as well as at operation, provide a basis for more aggressive extirpation and the usefulness of radiation and chemotherapy. Metastatic neoplasms possess such markers as tumor hemorrhage and meningeal involvement suggesting specific extraneural sources. In almost half of these patients, cytologic examination of the CSF should help to identify the malignant cells. Although most gliomas do not metastasize either within or outside the central nervous system, the occurrence of primitive neuroectodermal tumor cells (undifferentiated malignant small cells) in about 20% of all glioblastomas implies spread throughout the CSF and some radioresponsiveness. With thorough clinicomorphologic evaluations of all patients with brain tumors in concert with liberal clinical consultations, the aggressive, newer therapeutic modalities can be used more effectively.
Electromagnetic transients due to single pole tripping of a faulted long transmission line

Abstract This paper presents symmetrical components in the frequency domain for electromagnetic transients during single line to ground faults and single pole tripping conditions. The transmission line sections are represented by two port networks including the line frequency dependent parameters. The generators and transformers are represented by their operational impedances in the frequency domain. The boundary conditions due to single line to ground faults and/or single pole trippings are represented by superposition techniques. The final solution of the currents and voltages is then obtained using numerical Laplace transform inverse methods. The results show the overvoltage conditions on the faulted and unfaulted phases due to a single-pole tripping following a single line to ground fault. Furthermore the paper discusses details of the boundary conditions and the numerical solution.
Communication Technology to Develop Collaborative Skills

Is communication technology effective as an instructional tool in building collaborative skills? This study explores communication technology as an instructional tool in relationship to quality of ...
Recent variability and trends of Antarctic near‐surface temperature

[1] A new monthly 1° × 1° Antarctic near-surface temperature reconstruction for 1960–2005 is presented. The use of numerical model fields to establish spatial relationships between fifteen continuous observational temperature records and the voids to which they are interpolated inherently accounts for the effects of the atmospheric circulation and topography on temperature variability. Employing a fixed observation network ensures that the reconstruction uncertainty remains constant in time. Comparison with independent observations indicates that the reconstruction and two other gridded observational temperature records are useful for evaluating regional near-surface temperature variability and trends throughout Antarctica. The reconstruction has especially good skill at reproducing temperature trends during the warmest months when melt contributes to ice sheet mass loss. The spatial variability of monthly near-surface temperature trends is strongly dependent on the season and time period analyzed. Statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) positive trends occur over most regions and months during 1960–2005. By contrast, 1970–2005 trends are weakly negative overall, consistent with positive trends in the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) during summer and autumn. Subtle near-surface temperature increases during winter from 1970 to 2000 are consistent with tropospheric warming from radiosonde records and a lack of winter SAM trends. Widespread but statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) warming over Antarctica from 1992 to 2005 coincides with a leveling off of upward SAM trends during summer and autumn since the mid-1990s. Weakly significant annual trends (p < 0.10) of about +1 K decade−1 are found at three stations in interior and coastal East Antarctica since 1992. The subtle shift toward warming during the past 15 years raises the question of whether the recent trends are linked more closely to anthropogenic influences or multidecadal variability.
The Gold Standard of Dental Care for the Adult Performance Horse

This article discusses the primary odontogenic problems of the mature performance horse, including wolf teeth; hooks; overbite, overjet, underjet, and wry bite; equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis; infundibular caries; and secondary oral problems. It outlines the author's methods of taking the history, oral examination, and use of diagnostic nerve blocks.
Bile acids XL. methyl 3β, 7β-dihydroxy-5α-cholanate. An example of dehydrogenation with Raney nickel

Abstract The bile acid derived from hydrogenolysis of methyl 6-oxo-3α, 7β-dihydroxy-5α-cholanate-6-ethylenethioketal with Raney nickel has been shown to be 3β, 7β-dihydroxy-5α-cholanic acid (VI). On extended reflux with Raney nickel the original C-3 hydroxyl group is dehydrogenated and the 3-oxo-derivative reduced principally to the equatorial 3β-o1. The positions and configurations of the hydroxyl groups were determined by reduction of the derived monohydroxy mono-oxo derivatives to the known monohydroxy acids. The materials (VI) has been synthesized from 3β-hydroxy-7-oxo-5α-cholanic acid by reduction with sodium and alcohol. Physical properties support the assigned structure.
Synthesis and characterization of technetium-99m-labeled tropanes as dopamine transporter-imaging agents.

In the development of novel Tc-99m-labeled tropane derivatives as dopamine transporter (reuptake site)-imaging agents, a series of neutral and lipophilic complexes containing bis-(aminoethanethiol) as a neutral complexing moiety for a ( 99m Tc)TcO 3+ center core was successfully prepared. Biological evaluation of the Tc-99m-labeled complexes 13-16 as central nervous system (CNS) dopamine transporter-imaging agents was reported. Synthesis of the tropane derivatives was achieved by stepwise reactions adding two aminoethanethiol units. The final free thiol ligands were obtained by deblocking the 4-methoxybenzyl protecting group with Hg(OAc) 2 to obtain trifluoroacetate salts. All of the Tc-99m complexes, with the exception of 16, displayed good initial brain uptake and selective uptake in the striatal area, where dopamine transporters are concentrated. One of the compounds, (2-((2-(((3-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-2-yl)methyl(2-mercaptoethyl)amino)ethyl)amino)ethanethiolato -(3-)-N2,N2',S2,S2')oxo-(1R-(exo-exo))-( 99m Tc)technetium, ( 99m Tc))RODAT-1 (13), displayed the highest initial uptake in rat brain (0.4% at 2 min post iv injection) ; the striatal/cerebellar (ST/CB) ratio reached 2.8 at 60 min after an iv injection. The specific uptake in rat brain can be blocked by pretreating rats with a competing dopamine transporter binding agent, β-CIT (RTI-55, 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ; iv, 1 mg/kg), which reduced the regional brain uptake ratio (ST/CB) to 1.2. In contrast, the specific striatal uptake was not affected by pretreating rats with a noncompeting ligand, haldol (iv, 1 mg/kg). After an iv injection of 9 mCi of ( 99m Tc)TRODAT-1 (13), in vivo images of baboon brain using single-photon emission-computed tomography exhibited excellent localization in striatum (basal ganglia), where dopamine neurons are known to be concentrated. This series of compounds may provide a convenient source of short-lived imaging agents for routine diagnosis of CNS diseases (i.e., Parkinson's disease) in which changes in the dopamine transporter concentration are implicated.
Photochemical reactions of bis(bistrimethylsilylamido)tin(II) with; Hexacarbonylmolybdenum and tungsten

Abstract Irradiation of M(CO)6 (M = Mo. W) and Sn[N(SiMe3)2]2 in hexane with UV light results in carbonyl substitution to form both M(CO)5Sn[N(SiMe3)2]2 and M(CO)4Sn[N(SiMe3)2]2)2 complexes. The M(CO)4L2 species present the first examples in which both cis and trans isomers have been observed upon substitution of bulky divalent main group IV ligands. The highly air-sensitive W(CO)5L and W(CO)4L2 complexes have been isolated.
User Workflow Centered Design: Creating Effective Software User Interface for Complex Interactive Systems

Software systems are often built in a tool-centric fashion, providing hierarchical functional groups simultaneously to a user, and the user needs to find and select the right tools to use based on his/her current task needs. Even though this design approach provides some flexibility for the user, it fails to address the needs of the workflow support. Indeed, when such software is used in complex, dynamic, and stressful working domains, users are often overwhelmed and struggling to find the right functionality and data for their time sensitive tasks. Here, we report our experience of applying the user workflow centered design (UWCD) method for redesigning a tool-centric software system in medical intervention. We elaborate the UWCD process from capturing, documenting, and to modeling user workflow information. The user workflow model is then used to derive a user interface (UI) solution with the goal to “provide the right data and functionality to the right user at the right time”. We show that the new des...
Criteria for static equilibrium in particulate mechanics computations

The underlying physics of granular matter can be clearly solved using particulate mechanics methods, e.g. the discrete element method (DEM) that is inherently discontinuous and heterogeneous. To solve static problems, explicit schemes using dynamic relaxation procedures have been widely employed, in which naturally dynamic material parameters are typically adapted into pure numerical artifacts with the sole purpose of attaining meaningful results. In discrete computations using these explicit schemes, algorithmic calibration is demanded under general conditions in order to achieve quasi-static states. Until now, procedures for algorithmic calibration have remained rather heuristic. This paper presents two criteria, using the concept of homogenized stresses, for evaluating equilibrium in quasi-static applications of particulate mechanics methods. It is shown, by way of numerical examples, that the criteria for static equilibrium can be applied successfully to obtain quasi-static solutions in explicit DEM codes through algorithmic calibrations. A general procedure is proposed herein for carrying out the algorithmic calibration effectively and efficiently.
Colorless Optical Network Unit Based on Silicon Photonic Components for WDM PON

We demonstrate a low-cost colorless optical network unit (ONU) utilizing silicon photonic components for wavelength division multiplexed passive-optical-networks. At the ONU, a waveguide-coupled microring works as a demultiplexer for separating the downstream signal from the centrally distributed continuous-wave (CW) light. The 10-Gb/s downstream signal is received using a waveguide-integrated germanium photodetector while the CW light is further modulated at 5 Gb/s using a silicon microring modulator for upstream signal generation. Error-free transmission over 25-km single mode fiber is achieved with 0.2- and 0.4-dB power penalties for the downstream and upstream signals, respectively. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible silicon photonic technology offers the potential for monolithic integration and mass production.
Endoscopic therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): initial experience with Bard endoscopic suturing system (BESS) and Stretta

Endoscopic therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): initial experience with Bard endoscopic suturing system (BESS) and Stretta
Estimates of early twentieth-century U.S. homicide rates: an econometric forecasting approach.

Bureau of the Census death registration records, as reported in Mortality Statistics, are a primary source for early twentieth-century U.S. homicide statistics. Those data appear to show a massive rise in homicide during the first decade of the century, with a continuing increase through 1933. This increase is quite at variance with the trend away from violence in other industrialized societies. During the first one-third of the century, however, death registration was incomplete; it occurred only in an expanding “registration area” that was composed, in the earlier years, primarily of states with typically low rates of homicide. Further, in the first decade of the century homicides within the registration area often were reported as accidental deaths. As a result, apparent increases in rates of homicide in the United States between 1900 and 1933 may be illusory. I use a two-step process to address these problems. Drawing on internal evidence and commentaries in early volumes of Mortality Statistics, I use GLS regression to estimate the prevalence of undercounts. Then I create a series of GLS models that use registration area data to estimate early twentieth-century national rates. These estimates call into question the extent of homicide change early in the century.