cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The interrelationship between ethnicity and obesity on obstetric outcomes

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the interrelationship between ethnicity and obesity on obstetric outcomes. Study design This was a retrospective study examining the interaction between ethnicity and obesity for obstetric outcomes. Statistical methods included univariate and multivariate regression models. Results In this study population of 22,658 women, 2150 (9.4%) were obese (body mass index [BMI] >29). Obesity increased the rate of cesarean delivery, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and macrosomia in each ethnic group. When compared with obese white women, higher rates of cesarean delivery were noted in obese African American (odds ratio [OR] 1.50, P P P P P Conclusion Obesity increases the risk of cesarean delivery, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and macrosomia, but this effect varies among different ethnicities. The biometrics of different ethnicities and associated obstetric outcomes needs further exploration.
Thermodynamics of body-centered cubic iron-molybdenum-nitrogen solid solutions

Abstract The temperature variation of the solubility of nitrogen at atmospheric pressure in a series of Fe-Mo b.c.c. solid solutions containing 3, 4 and 5 at.% Mo has been measured in the temperature range 933–1645 K. Deviations from simple regular mixing behavior are seen at high temperatures. Measurements of the elastic properties of these solutions at high temperatures indicate that the deviations are not due to elastic effects in the ‘solvent matrix’ lattice. A model involving dual site occupancy in the ternary system is discussed and shown to be consistent with the measured data.
Three methods for determining the swelling of silicone rubber

A solvent swelling method is often a convenient means of characterizing the structure of a polymeric network, if the appropriate solvent-polymer interaction parameters are known. Three such methods for measuring the solvent dilative action on silica-filled, silicone rubber networks have been investigated. First, the quantity by weight of solvent sorbed by the rubber was determined by measuring the weight gain of a rubber specimen at equilibrium swelling. Second, the increase in volume of the rubber specimen was determined by optical and electronic instruments. Third, the volume of solvent taken up by the rubber specimen was measured directly by a simple apparatus which was designed by the author. The effective crosslink densities were calculated by using appropriate interaction parameters. These density values were then compared for the three techniques.
Neomycin and carbodiimide crosslinking as an alternative to glutaraldehyde for enhanced durability of bioprosthetic heart valves

Glutaraldehyde cross-linked porcine aortic valves, referred to as bioprosthetic heart valves (BHVs), are often used in heart valve replacements. Glutaraldehyde does not stabilize glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and they are lost during preparation, in vivo implantation, cyclic fatigue, and storage. We report that binding of neomycin, a hyaluronidase inhibitor, to the tissues with carbodiimide cross-linking improves GAG retention without reducing collagen and elastin stability. It also led to improved biomechanical properties. Neomycin carbodiimide cross-linking did not significantly reduce calcification in a rat subdermal implantation model when they were stored in formaldehyde after cross-linking. Removal of formaldehyde storage significantly reduced calcification.
Myeloproliferative disorder by TKO.

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell , Viatour et al. (2008) delete all three members of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene family in hematopoietic stem cells, resulting in a myeloproliferative disorder. The disease was cell autonomous and resulted from alterations in the primitive hematopoietic cells.
Analyzing multi-phase searching algorithms

This paper presents a family of multi-phase searching algorithms that can enrich the discussion of searching algorithms in courses like CS13 Algorithms or CS7 Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis. These algorithms exhibit a natural but subtle relationship between the sequential search and binary search algorithms. They are non-trivial algorithms, yet they are easy to understand. Their complexity analysis is accessible, making use of differential calculus, Lagrange multipliers and base-2 logarithms. They have many practical applications and they appeal to students.
Organization and transcription of genes important in Anabaena heterocyst differentiation

Summary The structural genes for nitrogenase and nitrogenase reductase have been cloned from Anabaena and physically mapped. The map differs from that of Klebsiella in several ways, including the insertion of 11 kbp between nifK and nifD in Anabaena. One nif RNA transcript has been studied in detail and shown to originate from a site in the Anabaena chromosome which lacks good correspondence with a typical prokaryotic strong promoter, suggesting the possibility of a need for positive activation. The nifH message is unstable or repressed or both under aerobic conditions. This feature is sufficient to account for the need for heterocyst differentiation in order for Anabaena to fix nitrogen aerobically. Structural genes for glutamine synthetase and the large subunit of RuBP carboxylase were also cloned, mapped and used to study transcription. In each case, the level of messenger RNA following nitrogenase induction is consistent with regulation of these genes at the level of transcription.
Staphylococcus aureus infections among children receiving a solid organ transplant: clinical features, epidemiology, and antimicrobial susceptibility

Background Staphylococcus aureus is among the most common causes of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) in the United States. Patients who have received a solid organ transplant (SOT) represent a unique population for the acquisition of HAIs, given their preoperative organ failure, immunosuppression, and need for invasive procedures. However, limited literature is published on S. aureus infections among children with SOT. We describe the epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility, and clinical features of S. aureus infections among pediatric SOT recipients. Design An ongoing prospective S. aureus surveillance database from 2001 to 2012 was searched for infections in patients with a history of SOT at Texas Children's Hospital. Medical records and antibiotic susceptibility profiles were reviewed; specific attention was applied to the time since transplantation to infection. Results Out of the total of 696 transplants performed during the study period, 38 pediatric SOT recipients developed 41 S. aureus infections; the highest incidence of infection was among heart recipients. Overall, the most common infectious diagnoses were skin-and-soft-tissue infections (66.1%), followed by bacteremia (15.3%). Among isolates in SOT patients, 47.5%, 16.9%, and 6.7% were resistant to methicillin, clindamycin, or mupirocin, respectively. Three infections (7.3%) occurred in the early post-transplant period ( 6 months). In 10 cases (16.9%), S. aureus infection was associated with graft rejection during the same admission. Conclusions S. aureus represents an important cause of morbidity in pediatric SOT recipients. While the majority of infections occurred late after transplant (>6 months), those acquired in the early post-transplant period were more often invasive and caused by MSSA in our hospital. Physicians caring for SOT recipients should be aware of the risks posed by this pathogen and the potential concomitant morbidity including graft rejection.
Enhancing the Reliability of MLC NAND Flash Memory Systems by Read Channel Optimization

NAND flash memory is not only the ubiquitous storage medium in consumer applications but has also started to appear in enterprise storage systems as well. MLC and TLC flash technology made it possible to store multiple bits in the same silicon area as SLC, thus reducing the cost per amount of data stored. However, at current sub-20nm technology nodes, MLC flash devices fail to provide the levels of raw reliability, mainly cycling endurance, that are required by typical enterprise applications. Advanced signal processing and coding schemes are needed to improve the flash bit error rate and thus elevate the device reliability to the desired level. In this article, we report on the use of adaptive voltage thresholds and cell-to-cell interference cancellation in the read operation of NAND flash devices. We discuss how the optimal read voltage thresholds can be determined and assess the benefit of cancelling cell-to-cell interference in terms of cycling endurance, data retention, and resilience to read disturb.
9. Dysregulated diurnal cortisol pattern and increased glucocorticoid resistance among pre-menopausal women with major depressive disorder

Women are approximately twice as likely to experience depression compared to men and are at significantly greater risk for developing comorbid physical health conditions, including diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases, and cardiovascular disease, suggesting a possible common mechanism for the psychological and physical health risks seen in depression. We examined one biological pathway that may underlie these effects by investigating the extent to which HPA axis activity was dysregulated in 26 women with current major depression and 23 age- and BMI-matched psychiatrically healthy women. Salivary cortisol samples were collected at wakening, 30 min later, and at bedtime over three consecutive days. Depressed women exhibited flatter diurnal cortisol slopes compared to non-depressed women (F2 = 5.52, p = .004). To investigate whether these differences could be attributed to differences in glucocorticoid feedback sensitivity, saliva samples were also collected on a fourth consecutive day after participants self-administered dexamethasone. Analyses revealed that depressed women exhibited a dampened response to dexamethasone compared to non-depressed women (F1 = 6.04, p = .015). These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that depression is associated with altered HPA axis regulation, but extend this work by showing that reduced hypothalamic and pituitary sensitivity to negative feedback from glucocorticoids is one mechanism that may explain this effect. Altered glucocorticoid sensitivity may play a role in promoting depression as well as the physical health complications that frequently co-occur with this serious psychiatric disorder.
Cloud-chamber observations of the new unstable cosmic-ray particles

Thirty-four "forked tracks" similar to two previously reported by Rochester and Butler have been observed in 11,000 cloud-chamber photographs of cosmic-ray penetrating showers, confirming their conclusion that new unstable neutral and charged particles exist. The lifetime of the neutral particles is found to be about 3×10^-10 sec., and some information as to the nature of the decay products is given.
What Kind of Resource Is Language and Why Does It Matter for German Studies

I first considered the question posed in the title of this paper in conj unction with a DAAD-sponsored symposium at Michigan State University, entitled "Engaged Learning: Best Practices to Invigorate German Literary and Cultural Studies.77 As I revisit the question a year later, I return to the three lenses I used to situate my earlier views, but find each endowed with additional focus. The first and local lens has been sharpened by a repositioning of my comments as an applied linguist in a journal whose readership is primarily made up of schol ars in German Studies. That relocation also creates a new, virtual dialogue with the proposals by Katherine Arens, who lays out an intellectually persua sive case for a genre-oriented incorporation of the Standards project into a reconfigured higher education foreign language agenda, The second lens, which considered professional dynamics, has been refined through the call for deep reforms expressed in the MLA Report released earlier this year, "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World.771 Almost concurrently, probing questions were also posed within the "language teaching77 community, particularly whether "communicative competence77 can continue to function as the preferred goal for language teaching and learn ing in higher education (Byrnes, "Interrogating77). Finally, under the widest angle, the language profession's educative role and its responsibility to be pub licly accountable, foreign language departments will have to find ways of assessing student learning in their respective programs (Byrnes, "Outcomes77). To me that amounts to answering this question: how did the program simul taneously lead to students7 language learning and to their learning of literary cultural content and how would we know the quality and extent of that learning through diverse forms of assessment? These developments heighten the stakes and urgency for a response to the question guiding this essay I propose that the answer will be found by addressing, at an even more fundamental level than has been customary, the relationships among and between language, literature, and culture. Ulti mately, that means addressing the relationship between language as a social semiotic system that engenders the human capacity to make meaning in liter ally unlimited socially construed contexts of situation within an overall
Parameter Estimation of the Human Ankle in the Transverse Plane During the Initiation of a Turn

In order to better rehabilitate lower limb amputees, prostheses need to provide torsional control in the transverse plane to facilitate turning. When designing prostheses, it is helpful to create mechanical models of biological behavior. This paper presented a model of transverse plane ankle function during turn initiation, the first step of a multi-step turning sequence. Motion capture data was collected from ten subjects performing left turns. Four states of stance phase were chosen based on distinct events in the power curve. Passive elements were chosen to model the ankle in each state for turn initiation. The ankle was observed to act as a quadratic torsional spring and a linear torsional damper in State 1 and as linear torsional springs in States 2–4. Damping was found only in State 4 where it was modeled as a linear torsional damper. Turn initiation stiffness coefficients were similar to straight walking in State 1 and 2, but differed in States 3 and 4. This indicates that the turn begins in the middle of stance phase when viewed in terms of transverse plane ankle function. The results of this study should assist with the mechanical design and control of a biomimetic torsional prosthesis by suggesting a finite state control system and by providing the stiffness and damping coefficients to be controlled.
A continuum model for the propagation of discrete phase-change fronts in porous media in the presence of coupled heat flow, fluid flow and species transport processes

Abstract In this paper we derive the equations governing the transport of energy and mass in a porous medium saturated by a multiphase multi-constituent fluid mixture under conditions that yield steep continuous moving fronts and abrupt discontinuous moving phase-change interfaces. In these equations the volume fractions of each phase, the potentials, such as, the temperature, pressure and concentration, and the corresponding fluxes, are permitted to jump in value across the phase-change interfaces. As an example of application of the derived continuum model, we specialize the theory to the problem of propagation of melting/freezing interfaces in a salt-water saturated porous medium for a coupled process governed by heat flow, fluid flow and species transport.
Iron core formation in horse spleen ferritin: magnetic susceptibility, pH, and compositional studies.

Abstract Horse spleen ferritin (HoSF) reconstituted with small iron cores ranging in size from 8 to 500 iron atoms was studied by magnetic susceptibility and pH measurements to determine when the added Fe 3+ begins to aggregate and form antiferromagnetically coupled clusters and also to determine the hydrolytic state of the iron at low iron loading. The Evans NMR magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that at iron loadings as low as 8 Fe 3+ /HoSF, at least half of the added iron atoms were involved in antiferromagnetic exchange interactions and the other half were present as isolated iron atoms with S = 5 2 . As the core size increased to about 24 iron atoms, the antiferromagnetic exchange interactions among the iron atoms increased until reaching the limiting value of 3.8 Bohr magnetons per iron atom, the value present in holo HoSF. HoSF containing eight or more Fe 3+ to which eight Fe 2+ were added showed that the Fe 2+ ions were at sites remote from the Fe 3+ and that the resulting HoSF consisted of individual, noninteracting Fe 2+ and the partially aggregated Fe 3+ . pH measurements for core reduction showed that Fe(OH) 3 was initially present at all iron loadings but that in the absence of iron chelators the reduced iron core is partially hydrolyzed. Proton induced x-ray emission spectroscopy showed that Cl − is transported into the iron core during reduction, forming a stable chlorohydroxy Fe(II) mineral phase.
A new design flow to evaluate high-speed SerDes link performance with re-driver

Due to non-LTI behaviour of re-driver, simulation methodology and model format are still working in progress for continuous improvement on accuracy and efficiency to perform statistical analysis such as BER for high-speed serial IO links. In this paper, a measurement based methodology is proposed and introduced to provide a flow and methodology to evaluate re-driver link performance. The methodology is based on re-driver assessment board to obtain reference channel through measurement by meeting industry IO specifications. Channel Quality Comparison (CQC) is then introduced and used to evaluate risk level of the proposed design topology by benchmarking to the reference channels. Design engineers can use the flow and methodology introduced in this paper to evaluate link performance for their proposed topology in addition to using simulation. A design example on test platform for USB3 is reported to demonstrate the usage with measurement results.
Study on Thermal Simulation of a New Al-Mg-Si-Cu Alloy

The new Al-Mg-Si-Cu aluminum alloy has been developed for application in cold and hot extrusion and forging. Its nominal composition is 1.37%Mg、0.85%Si、0.82%Cu、0.11%Cr and 0.15%V. In this paper, The hot deformation behaviors of the new Al-Mg-Si-Cu aluminum alloy were studied by means of compression deformation tests on MMS-200 multifunctional materials simulation machine at strain rates ranged between 0.1~0.5s-1 and deformation temperature between 350~550°C. The laws of the flow stress dependent both on thedeformation temperature and strain rates were discovered, and then the relationship between the first peak-stress σp and strain rates was obtained through one-dimensional linear regression.
Divergent Learning and the Failed Politics of Soviet Economic Reform

Attempts at economic reform in the late Gorbachev years suffered from a critical lack of consensus among top leaders on the desired direction of change. As the crisis worsened, top leaders did not band together but instead fell back upon their underlying organizational interests, adopting new economic programs largely to promote their own political constituencies. This article critiques the “collective learning” literature that has been applied widely to explain the Gorbachev reforms, and it suggests a typology to account for its strengths and weaknesses in both foreign and domestic policy settings. In examining the politics of the late Soviet economic crisis, it proposes a model of divergent (rather than collective) learning and suggests the new concept of “borrowing” to explain the instrumental use of foreign economic models by rival Soviet politicians.
Several New Line Search Methods and Their Convergence

In this paper, we propose several new line search rules for solving unconstrained minimization problems. These new line search rules can extend the accepted scope of step sizes to a wider extent than the corresponding original ones and give an adequate initial step size at each iteration. It is proved that the resulting line search algorithms have global convergence under some mild conditions. It is also proved that the search direction plays an important role in line search methods and that the step size approaches mainly guarantee global convergence in general cases. The convergence rate of these methods is also investigated. Some numerical results show that these new line search algorithms are effective in practical computation.
Dissociation of Object and Spatial Processing Domains in Primate Prefrontal Cortex

Areas and pathways subserving object and spatial vision are segregated in the visual system. Experiments show that the primate prefrontal cortex is similarly segregated into object and spatial domains. Neurons that code information related to stimulus identity are dissociable, both by function and region, from those that code information related to stimulus location. These findings indicate that the prefrontal cortex contains separate processing mechanisms for remembering "what" and "where" an object is.
Crystal structure of a charge engineered human lysozyme having enhanced bactericidal activity.

Human lysozyme is a key component of the innate immune system, and recombinant forms of the enzyme represent promising leads in the search for therapeutic agents able to treat drug-resistant infections. The wild type protein, however, fails to participate effectively in clearance of certain infections due to inherent functional limitations. For example, wild type lysozymes are subject to electrostatic sequestration and inactivation by anionic biopolymers in the infected airway. A charge engineered variant of human lysozyme has recently been shown to possess improved antibacterial activity in the presence of disease associated inhibitory molecules. Here, the 2.04 A crystal structure of this variant is presented along with an analysis that provides molecular level insights into the origins of the protein's enhanced performance. The charge engineered variant's two mutated amino acids exhibit stabilizing interactions with adjacent native residues, and from a global perspective, the mutations cause no gross structural perturbations or loss of stability. Importantly, the two substitutions dramatically expand the negative electrostatic potential that, in the wild type enzyme, is restricted to a small region near the catalytic residues. The net result is a reduction in the overall strength of the engineered enzyme's electrostatic potential field, and it appears that the specific nature of this remodeled field underlies the variant's reduced susceptibility to inhibition by anionic biopolymers.
First-principles calculations of pure elements: Equations of state and elastic stiffness constants

Abstract Using the projector-augmented wave method within the generalized gradient approximation, a systematic first-principles calculation for energy vs. volume (E–V) equations of state (EOS’s) and single crystal elastic stiffness constants (cij’s) has been performed for 76 pure elemental solids with face-centered-cubic (fcc), body-centered-cubic (bcc), and hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) crystal structures, wherein the cij’s are determined by an efficient strain–stress method, and the EOS’s are fitted by a 4-parameter Birch–Murnaghan equation upon the first-principles E–V data points. Based on the predicted EOS’s and cij’s, the phase transition pressures between bcc, fcc, and hcp structures, as well as the structural stabilities and the polycrystalline aggregate properties including bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (G), B/G ratio, and anisotropy ratio have been analyzed for pure elements and compared with available experimental data. The present systematic studies of pure elements provide not only the EOS’s and cij’s but also the benchmarks of first-principles calculations.
Effects of epidermal/dermal separation methods and ester chain configuration on the bioconversion of a homologous series of methotrexate dialkyl esters in dermal and epidermal homogenates of hairless mouse skin

Abstract A comparison has been made regarding various methods of hairless mouse skin dermal/epidermal separation techniques using criteria such as soluble protein yield and rate of hydrolysis per unit soluble protein, as well as effectiveness of separation, in which histological techniques were employed. Also compared were the relative esterase activities of dermal and epidermal layers, in which the dermis exhibited higher activity. A homologous series of methotrexate dialkyl esters were studied as to their pseudo-first order degradation in homogenates of dermis and epidermis of hairless mouse skin. A logarithmic relationship between pseudo-first order rate constant and alkyl chain length was observed for both dermal and epidermal homogenates. The degree of bioconversion of the diesters was also studied and the enzymatic reaction failed to proceed beyond the level of the monoalkyl esters. Examination of the selectivity for the formation of α- and γ-monoalkyi products revealed that γ-monoester appeared to predominate over α-monoester in the case of the branched-chain dialkyl ester.
Collision-induced dissociation of lanthanide oxide ions in quadrupole ion traps: effects of bond strength and mass

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) rates are measured for a suite of lanthanide (plus yttrium) monoxide ions stored in a quadrupole ion trap. Yttrium, neodymium, and gadolinium oxides, having the same nominal dissociation energy (D0 ≈ 735 kJ mol −1 ) but different masses, provide an empirical correction of −1.2 s −1 amu −1 for the measured CID rates. The CID rate correction enables the correlation of bond dissociation energy with CID rate, allowing quantitative determinations of bond dissociation energies for lanthanide metal monoxide ions. For bond dissociation energies in the range of 567–849 kJ mol −1 , mass corrected rates range from 50 to 120 s −1 . The calibration sensitivity is equivalent to 5 kJ mol −1 s −1 , and the measurement precision is ∼25 kJ mol −1 . Bond energy determinations are found to agree with the average values reported for lanthanide
Characterization and performance of new MiniSTR loci for typing degraded samples

Abstract Forensic DNA analysts often perform short tandem repeat (STR) typing on highly degraded biological material and then turn to mitochondrial DNA testing if many or all of the STRs fail. The commercially available kits for multiplex amplification of the 13 CODIS (FBI's COmbined DNA Index System) STR loci usually exhibit allele or locus-dropout for larger sized loci with degraded DNA or samples containing PCR inhibitors. By moving PCR primers closer to the STR repeat region, we have demonstrated that it is possible to obtain fully concordant results to the commercial kits while improving successful analysis of degraded DNA with smaller PCR products or “miniSTRs.” However, many of the CODIS core loci have large allele ranges (e.g., D21S11 and FGA) that make it impossible to create small PCR products. We have examined a battery of new candidate STR loci that can be made less than 100 bp in size (in many cases), and would therefore be helpful in testing highly degraded DNA samples. A set of six non-CODIS markers has been characterized and published, and the performance of these markers on degraded materials such as aged bloodstains and shed hairs has been examined. Here we report on the status of 10 additional miniSTR markers unlinked from the CODIS STR markers.
Usability: Lessons Learned … and Yet to Be Learned

The philosopher of science J. W. Grove (1989) once wrote, “There is, of course, nothing strange or scandalous about divisions of opinion among scientists. This is a condition for scientific progress” (p. 133). Over the past 30 years, usability, both as a practice and as an emerging science, has had its share of controversies. It has inherited some from its early roots in experimental psychology, measurement, and statistics. Others have emerged as the field of usability has matured and extended into user-centered design and user experience. In many ways, a field of inquiry is shaped by its controversies. This article reviews some of the persistent controversies in the field of usability, starting with their history, then assessing their current status from the perspective of a pragmatic practitioner. Put another way: Over the past three decades, what are some of the key lessons we have learned, and what remains to be learned? Some of the key lessons learned are:• When discussing usability, it is important ...
Behavioral Components of Social Competence in Females.

This study examined behavioral components used by peers to judge heterosocial competence in females. Thirty-five female undergraduates participated in two interactions with a naive male partner. Judges provided global ratings for female subjects on attractiveness, skill, anxiety, guidance, listening, and smoothness of response. Behavioral counts of smiles, gestures, self-manipulations, talk time, and gaze were also obtained from the videotapes of the interactions. Although many specific behaviors correlated with judgments of social competency, talk time and gaze best predicted social competency in women. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.
Endoscopic endonasal surgery of the sphenoid sinus: Extended approaches

Recent advances in surgical instrumentation and endoscopic techniques have allowed surgeons improved endonasal access to the sinonasal tract and skull base. In this report, we discuss our experience with the various endoscopic endonasal approaches to the sphenoid sinus and their role in addressing both intrinsic and extrinsic sphenoid sinus pathologies.
EUS-guided photodynamic therapy of the pancreas: a pilot study

Abstract Background Photodynamic therapy of pancreatic cancer by using percutaneously placed light catheters has been reported. The feasibility and safety of EUS-guided photodynamic therapy of the pancreas was studied in a porcine model. Methods After injection of porfimer sodium, a 19-gauge needle was inserted into the pancreas, the liver, the spleen, and the kidney under EUS guidance. A small diameter quartz optical fiber was passed through the EUS needle and used to illuminate the tissue with laser light. The tissue response to photodynamic therapy was examined. Results Localized tissue necrosis was achieved in all organs, without significant complication. There was no significant difference in inflammation induced by photodynamic therapy within the various organs. Conclusions EUS-guided photodynamic therapy is a safe and simple technique that can induce small areas of focal tissue ablation within the liver, the pancreas, the kidney, and the spleen, and potentially could be used to treat a variety of benign and malignant conditions.
Affinity electrophoresis with monoclonal antibodies

Affinity electrophoresis was applied to the study of binding of monoclonal antibodies (MoAb's) with their respective antigens. The MoAb's may be either mixed with the antigen in an application well or incorporated into the agarose gel. The first approach is more convenient for studying high affinity MoAb's, while MoAb's with low affinity might be more efficiently studied in the second system. Our conditions for affinity electrophoresis do not imply nor necessitate immobilization of either an antigen or MoAb and are most suitable for studies of MoAb's reacting with antigens of alpha mobility demonstrated in experiments with MoAb's against human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Both AFP-MoAb and AFP-MoAb-AFP complexes were observed during electrophoresis. The identity of these complexes was confirmed by their reaction both with polyclonal antibodies against mouse immunoglobulins and against human AFP. The molecular weight of complexes was determined by gel filtration. Affinity electrophoresis was less convenient for studies of MoAb's reacting with antigens of gamma mobility at pH 8.6. Nevertheless, MoAb's against carcinomembryonic antigen, human IgG and human IgA did bind with their respective antigens under the conditions of affinity electrophoresis. The binding of MoAb's with these antigens during affinity electrophoresis was confirmed by demonstration of mouse immunoglobulins in the precipitates formed by reaction of the studied antigens with polyclonal antibodies. Our results point out the suitability of affinity electrophoresis for studies of MoAb's.
Diagonalization and stability of large-scale singularly perturbed linear system

Abstract In this paper, an alternative approach to the method of asymptotic expansions for the study of a singularly perturbed linear system with multiparameters and multiple time scales is developed. The method consists of developing a linear nonsingular transformation that transforms the original system into a diagonal form. This process of diagonaliation will enable us to investigate the stability and approximation of solution in terms of the solution of the auxiliary system corresponding to the transformed system. Moreover, employing a stretched time-scale transformation the solution of the auxiliary system is approximated with the solution of a boundary layer system of the original system. In general, an auxiliary system provides a natural tool to derive an overall reduced and boundary layer system of the given system.
Intractable vomiting, diarrhea, and orthostatic hypotension in amyloidosis of the peripheral nervous system.

A patient with an unusual case of amyloidosis, involving mainly the autonomic nervous system, is presented. Manifestations of the problem included persistent vomiting, intractable diarrhea, bladder dysfunction, and incapacitating orthostatic hypotension.
Neuroimaging in Animal Seizure Models with 18FDG-PET

Small animal neuroimaging has become increasingly available to researchers, expanding the breadth of questions studied with these methods. Applying these noninvasive techniques to the open questions underlying epileptogenesis is no exception. A major advantage of small animal neuroimaging is its translational appeal. Studies can be well controlled and manipulated, examining the living brain in the animal before, during, and after the disease onset or disease treatment. The results can also be compared to data collected on human patients. Over the past decade, we and others have explored metabolic patterns in animal models of epilepsy to gain insight into the circuitry underlying development of the disease. In this paper, we provide technical details on how metabolic imaging that uses 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (18FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET) is performed and explain the strengths and limitations of these studies. We will also highlight recent advances toward understanding epileptogenesis through small animal imaging.
HSPTX protects against hemorrhagic shock resuscitation-induced tissue injury: An attractive alternative to Ringer's lactate

BACKGROUND Conventional fluid resuscitation with Ringer's lactated (RL) activates neutrophils and causes end-organ damage. We have previously shown that HSPTX, a combination of small volume hypertonic saline (HS) and pentoxifylline (PTX), a phosphodiesterase-inhibitor, downregulates in vitro neutrophil activation and proinflammatory mediator synthesis. Herein, we hypothesized that HSPTX decreases end-organ injury when compared with RL in an animal model of hemorrhagic shock. METHODS Sprague-Dawley rats were bled to a mean arterial pressure of 35 mm Hg for 1 hour. Animals were divided into 3 groups: sham (no shock, no resuscitation, n = 7), RL (32 mL/kg, n = 7), and HSPTX (7.5% NaCl 4 mL/kg + PTX 25 mg/kg; n = 7). Shed blood was infused after fluid resuscitation. Blood pressure was monitored until the end of resuscitation. Animals were sacrificed at 24 hour after resuscitation. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was obtained for white cell count (total and differential) and TNF-alpha and IL-1beta levels were measured by ELISA. Lung and intestinal injury at 24 hour were evaluated by histopathology. Organ damage was graded by a pathologist and a score was created (0 = no injury; 3 = severe). Lung neutrophil infiltration was evaluated by MPO immune staining. RESULTS There were no differences in mean arterial pressure between groups. At 24 hours, BALF leukocyte count was decreased by 30% in HSPTX animals (p < 0.01). TNF-alpha and IL-1beta levels were markedly decreased in HSPTX-resuscitated animals compared with their RL counterparts (p < 0.01). HSPTX-resuscitated animals (lung injury score = 1.0 +/- 0.4) had markedly decreased acute lung injury compared with RL-treated animals (2.5 +/- 0.3) (p < 0.01). RL resuscitation led to a two-fold increase in lung neutrophil infiltration whereas in HSPTX-treated animals, the number of MPO + cells was similar to sham animals (p < 0.001). Intestinal injury was markedly attenuated by HSPTX (1.1 +/- 0.3) compared with RL animals (2.6 +/- 0.4) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS HSPTX, a small volume resuscitation strategy with marked immunomodulatory potential led to a marked decrease in end-organ damage. HSPTX is an attractive alternative to RL in hemorrhagic shock resuscitation.
Unexpected Relationships between Structure and Function in α,β-Peptides: Antimicrobial Foldamers with Heterogeneous Backbones

We describe our first effort to design antimicrobial α/β-peptides based upon their helical folding behavior. α/β-Peptide 3 (above), designed as a scrambled negative control, exhibited the most favo...
Evidence for 65 km of dextral slip across Owens Valley, California, since 83 Ma

The Golden Bear dike in the Sierra Nevada and the Coso dikes in the Coso Range crop out on opposite sides of Owens Valley, California, and strike roughly perpendicular to it. Neither dike reappears along strike across the valley. New data demonstrate that the dike sets are ca. 83 Ma in age, share nearly identical mineralogy and petrography, and intrude similar wall rocks including distinctive 102 Ma leucogranite. Dike bulk-chemical and Sr and Nd isotope compositions are nearly indistinguishable. These data suggest that the dike sets were originally continuous and were offset dextrally by ∼65 km. This displacement estimate is consistent with other recent estimates of total slip across Owens Valley. If faulting began during the Pliocene, the average slip rate was significantly faster than the current rate. Alternatively, motion could have been episodic and have begun as early as the Late Cretaceous.
Triiodothyronine Stimulation of Nuclear Protein Synthesis

The incorporation of leucine into rat liver protein was studied in vivo in control animals, hypothyroid animals, and hypothyroid animals given 0.1–15 μg triiodothyronine (T3/100 g BW 3–48 h before sacrifice. Cytosol and nuclei were separated by differential centrifugation, and nuclear globulins, histones, and nonhistone proteins were recovered by extraction procedures. When studied 40 min after intravenous administration of 100 μCi [3H]leucine, incorporation of isotope was reduced in cytosol, nuclear globulins, histones, and nonhistone proteins by about 50% in hypothyroid animals in comparison to normal controls. Injection of T3 augmented isotope incorporation within 5 h and restored it to normal by 24 h. The response was not related to alteration in specific activity of the leucine pool. Halfmaximal response occurred at 0.5–1 μg T3/100 g BW. In hypothyroid animals one nuclear globulin of 100,000 mol wt was reduced in concentration, and a second of 79,000 mol wt was increased. These changes were promptly ...
Vanderlinden, Johan, & Vandereycken, Walter (1997). Trauma, Dissociation, and Impulse Dyscontrol in Eating Disorders. Bristol, PA: Brunner/Mazel, xii + 228 Pages, $29.95 (Cloth)

(1999). Vanderlinden, Johan, & Vandereycken, Walter (1997). Trauma, Dissociation, and Impulse Dyscontrol in Eating Disorders. Bristol, PA: Brunner/Mazel, xii + 228 Pages, $29.95 (Cloth) American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis: Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 69-71.
A robust parallel solver for block tridiagonal systems

An iterative method for the solution of nonsymmetric linear systems of equations is described and tested. The method, block symmetric successive over-relaxation with conjugate gradient acceleration (BSSOR), is remarkably robust and when applied to block tridiagonal systems allows parallelism in the computations. BSSOR compares favorably to unpreconditioned conjugate gradient-like algorithms in efficiency, and although generally slower than preconditioned methods it is far more reliable. The concept behind BSSOR can, in general, be applied to sparse linear systems (even if they are singular), sparse nonlinear systems of equations and least squares problems.
Health savings accounts--the ownership society in health care.

The health savings account reflects a philosophical shift in emphasis from collective to individual responsibility for the management and financing of care. Dr. James Robinson explains that HSAs form the core of the emerging “consumer-directed” insurance plans, imposing greater cost sharing on enrollees but permitting broader choices.
The University of Chicago Press and the rise of the “Chicago School of Sociology” 1892–1920

The University of Chicago (UC) Press was a major catalyst in the rise of the University of Chicago's Department of Sociology to preeminence by 1920 in American, indeed international, sociology. The role of the UC Press in this development has been overlooked, even though a majority of books and articles written by Albion Small, W. I Thomas, their cohort, and their students in this period bore the UC Press imprint. Editorial control of theAmerican Journal of Sociology, founded by Small in 1895, was exercised within the UC Department of Sociology due to its publication by the UC Press. The University's support through its scholarly press was vital in establishing nationwide recognition and scholarly authority for “Chicago Sociology” within the fledgling discipline. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A05BB023 00003
AET protection of reproductive capacity of irradiated mice.

Treatment of female mice with S,2-aminoethylisothioureaDiHBr (AET) before 50 r whole-body x irradiation gave some protection to their reporudctuve capacity when compared to irradiated controls, increasing the length of the reproductive period, the number of litters per female and the number of offspring per female.
Does the declining lethality of gunshot injuries mask a rising epidemic of gun violence in the United States

Recent mass shootings in the U.S. have reignited the important public health debate concerning measures to decrease the epidemic of gun violence. Editorialists and gun lobbyists have criticized the recent focus on gun violence, arguing that gun-related homicide rates have been stable in the last decade. While true, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also demonstrate that although gun-related homicide rates were stable between 2002 and 2011, rates of violent gunshot injuries increased. These seemingly paradoxical trends may reflect the declining lethality of gunshot injuries brought about by surgical advances in the care of the patient with penetrating trauma. Focusing on gun-related homicide rates as a summary statistic of gun violence, rather than total violent gunshot injuries, can therefore misrepresent the rising epidemic of gun violence in the U.S.
Mixed metal bis(μ-oxo) complexes with [CuM(μ-O)2]n+(M = Ni(III) or Pd(II)) cores

Two highly reactive heterodinuclear bis(μ-oxo) complexes were prepared by combining mononuclear peroxo species with reduced metal precursors at −80 °C and were identified by UV-vis, EPR/NMR, and resonance Raman spectroscopy, with corroboration in the case of the CuPd system from density functional calculations.
leatherworkers and love potions

This is a preprint (author's original) version of the article published in American Ethnologist 8(3):512-25. The final version of the article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/ae.1981.8.3.02a00060 (BU login required to view full text). The version made available in Digital Common was supplied by the author.
Multi-strategy learning of search control for partial-order planning

Most research in planning and learning has involved linear, state-based planners. This paper presents SCOPE, a system for learning search-control rules that improve the performance of a partial-order planner. SCOPE integrates explanation-based and inductive learning techniques to acquire control rules for a partial-order planner. Learned rules are in the form of selection heuristics that help the planner choose between competing plan refinements. Specifically, SCOPE learns domain-specific control rules for a version of the UCPOP planning algorithm. The resulting system is shown to produce significant speedup in two different planning domains.
Modeling Propagation and Reverberation Sensitivity to Oceanographic and Seabed Variability

The propagation of bottom and oceanographic variability through to the variability of acoustic transmissions and reverberation is evaluated with a simple adiabatic model interacting with Gaussian distributed uncertainty in a narrow frequency band. Results show that there is significant sensitivity of time series and reverberation uncertainty to different types of environmental uncertainty. For propagation over uncertain bottoms, it is shown that it is that later part of the time series, corresponding to the highest angle energy reflecting most often off the surface and bottom, that is most sensitive to bottom uncertainty. This implies that the larger reverberation contributions from the highest grazing angles with the largest scattering strength is also the most uncertain. Conversely, it is the lowest angle arrivals which are most sensitive to uncertainty in the sound-speed profile. These behaviors are predicted analytically by the theory [K.D. LePage, in "Impact of Littoral Environmental Variability on Acoustic Predictions and Sonar Performance," Kluwer, 2002, pp. 353-360]
Gender Differences Emerging During Adolescence in Heart Rate, QRS Duration, QT Interval and ST Elevation

QRS duration, heart rate, ST elevation and QT interval are the female ECG features with profound and consistent differences from those in male ECG. Sex differences are small in young children until adolescence but are evolving rapidly during adolescence reflecting profound dynamic hemodynamic, anatomic structural and electrophysiological changes and remodeling. QRS duration in adolescent girls is 6 ms shorter and heart rate 5 bpm faster than in adolescent boys and the difference persists through adulthood. A substantial gender difference in ST amplitudes particularly in anterior chest lead V2 emerges during adolescence due to ST amplitude increase in boys. The gender difference remains significant in all age groups of adults although ST amplitudes gradually decrease in men with age. ST elevation levels in African-Americans are higher than those in white men and women, and ST elevation in African-American men is particularly pronounced. Rate-adjusted QT shortens in adolescent boys with only minor change in girls and QT remains shorter in men than in women through adulthood. Neurohormonal factors primarily testosterone appear as likely common mechanisms of gender differences in the evolution of ST elevation and QT. The mechanism for the higher ST amplitudes in African-American than in white women and men remains open.
Pediatric malignancies: update on sarcomas and leukemia development in children

Despite the rarity of malignancies in children, their study has provided important insights into normal cellular growth regulation and into cancer development. Here we present a few vignettes in pediatric leukemia and sarcoma that highlight a number of trends in basic, translational, and clinical research. These include the application of new methodologies for oncogene discovery, new approaches to study oncogenes, the use of genetically engineered models to identify tumor cell-of-origins, and the use of targeted therapeutics against pathways not thought to be mutant in tumor cells. Through the use of such methodologies, an improved understanding of pediatric malignancy is emerging, and is being applied to the care of children with cancer.