cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis of neuroblastoma by qualitative and quantitative determination of catecholamine metabolites in urine.

Neuroblastoma, one of the most common solid malignant tumors of childhood, has been frequently confused with other malignancies as well as nonneoplastic diseases. The observation that neural crest tumors resulted in excretion of elevated quantities of the catecholamines and their by-products opened the way for development of biochemical techniques for their detection. Vanillylmandelic acid, metanephrines, homovanillic acid, and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylethyleneglycol excretions of 180 normal children were compared with those of 62 subjects suffering from illnesses commonly confused with neuroblastoma as well as 41 patients with neural crest lesions. A simple, bedside chemical technique for detecting a neuroblastoma resulted in no false positive and 91% reliability among those patients with this tumor. Although quantitative assay for 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol appeared to offer the greatest reliability for biochemical diagnosis of neuroblastoma, broad application of the screening test might significantly improve the ease of detection and differential diagnosis of neuroblastoma.
Differential Regulation of Human, Antigen-specific Th1 and Th2 Responses by the B-7 Homologues, CD80 and CD86

A selectivity of B7.1 (CD80) for promoting Th1 responses and B7.2 (CD86) for promoting Th2 responses in the murine system has recently been suggested. The present study explores this hypothesis, using human PBMCs and antigen-specific Th1 and Th2 clones. Proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ragweed-allergic, tetanus toxoid-immunized individuals were downregulated by treatment with anti-CD86 in ragweed- and tetanus toxoid-driven cultures (% Inhibition = 55 ± 4 and 61 ± 12, respectively; P < 0.03 relative to untreated cultures). Gene expression in PBMCs for interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and interferon γ (IFNγ), assessed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, was also downregulated by treatment with anti-CD86 in both the ragweed- and tetanus toxoid-driven systems. Neither independent efficacy nor synergy with anti-CD86 was apparent with anti-CD80 treatment; two different anti-CD80 blocking antibodies yielded identical results. Conversely, antigen-specific Th1 and...
Crystal structure of KsgA, a universally conserved rRNA adenine dimethyltransferase in Escherichia coli.

Abstract The bacterial enzyme KsgA catalyzes the transfer of a total of four methyl groups from S-adenosyl- l -methionine (S-AdoMet) to two adjacent adenosine bases in 16 S rRNA. This enzyme and the resulting modified adenosine bases appear to be conserved in all species of eubacteria, eukaryotes, and archaebacteria, and in eukaryotic organelles. Bacterial resistance to the aminoglycoside antibiotic kasugamycin involves inactivation of KsgA and resulting loss of the dimethylations, with modest consequences to the overall fitness of the organism. In contrast, the yeast ortholog, Dim1, is essential. In yeast, and presumably in other eukaryotes, the enzyme performs a vital role in pre-rRNA processing in addition to its methylating activity. Another ortholog has been discovered recently, h-mtTFB in human mitochondria, which has a second function; this enzyme is a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial transcription factor. The KsgA enzymes are homologous to another family of RNA methyltransferases, the Erm enzymes, which methylate a single adenosine base in 23 S rRNA and confer resistance to the MLS-B group of antibiotics. Despite their sequence similarity, the two enzyme families have strikingly different levels of regulation that remain to be elucidated. We have crystallized KsgA from Escherichia coli and solved its structure to a resolution of 2.1 A. The structure bears a strong similarity to the crystal structure of ErmC′ from Bacillus stearothermophilus and a lesser similarity to sc-mtTFB, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae version of h-mtTFB. Comparison of the three crystal structures and further study of the KsgA protein will provide insight into this interesting group of enzymes.
Adiposity measures predict olfactory processing speed in older adult carriers of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele

Objective The current study investigated the relationship between adiposity and P3 latency.
Microstructure coarsening during static annealing of 60Sn40Pb solder joints: I stereology

The phase size distributions (PSDs) of the Sn, Pb, and the combined Pb and Sn phases, and the shape factor δ were determined for as-reflowed 60Sn40Pb solder joints and following their annealing at 50°C to 150°C. The PSDs in all cases had a positive skew which was approximated by a log-normal function. The PSDs were time invariant and were in accord with the Bitti and Nunzio model for phase coarsening. The shape factor, δ, decreased with the mean of the combined Pb and Sn phase size, and with temperature. Whether or not δ affects the PSDs is not clear.
Child Psychiatric Diagnosis by Computer Algorithm: Theoretical Issues and Empirical Tests

A series of developments in psychiatry have led to the increasing use of computer algorithms to produce psychiatric diagnoses from coded interviews and other materials. This article reviews the contributors to this trend, alternative approaches to these scoring systems, the published literature on the adequacy of diagnoses so generated, and new empirical findings from a study of diagnoses of children. The empirical evidence suggests that DSM-III-R diagnoses that incorporate population norm-referenced measures of diagnostic certainty are more valid than the currently standard method of scoring the DISC and DISC-P diagnostic interviews.
Synaptic tagging — who's it?

A synaptic tag transiently marks a synapse after activation in a way that allows the local recognition of transcriptional products to effect an enduring change in transmission efficiency. The idea of the synaptic tag as a single molecule might be misguided; instead, a process such as activation of local translation or cytoskeletal reorganization could mark a synapse. A change of this nature might be modulated directly or indirectly by transcriptional products that, for example, modulate translational activity, mRNA stability or protein degradation, or are ensconced in a cytoskeletal configuration, and thereby lead to long-term changes in synaptic strength.
Drag Model for Free Molecule Flow

A new drag model for convex surfaces engaged in free molecule flow has been developed under the condition of surface adsorption equilibrium using the hard cube model of atom scattering and the surface fractional coverage involved in gas adsorption. The new differential surface element drag and lift equations are only valid when the mass ratio of gas molecule to surface molecule is less than unity
A note on the MST heuristic for bounded edge-length Steiner trees with minimum number of Steiner points

We give a tight analysis of the MST heuristic recently introduced by G.-H. Lin and G. Xue for approximating the Steiner tree with minimum number of Steiner points and bounded edge-lengths. The approximation factor of the heuristic is shown to be one less than the MST number of the underlying space, defined as the maximum possible degree of a minimum-degree MST spanning points from the space. In particular, on instances drawn from the rectilinear (respectively Euclidean) plane, the MST heuristic is shown to have tight approximation factors of 3, respectively 4.
A prospective study of psychosocial correlates of physical activity for ethnic minority women

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify comlates of physical activity for sedentary. ethnic minority women and determine if these comlatcs were modified by an intervention. One hundred twenty-five women panicipated in a randomized. controlled trial of a walking program. The intervention was designed to alter social learning-based correlates through telephone counseling and mailings. Walking and correlates were assessed at baseline, 8-week post-test. and 5-month follow-up. Both intervention and control groups increased walking and decreased in respons of perceived barriers, self-efficacy. and enjoyment from baseline to post-test. and baseline to follow-up. Social support increased over time, with intervention participants reporting greater increases. Change in self-efficacy from baseline to follow-up was associated with increases in walking. The results provide some evidence that self-efficacy correlated with walking for participants. but 3 of 4 correlates were not positively influenced by the i...
Etiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Septic Arthritis, Osteitis, and Osteomyelitis in Foals

Septic arthritis and osteomyelitis is a serious complication of septicemia in foals. Within a given joint, the disease can involve the synovial membrane, the epiphysis, the physis, the metaphysis, and/or the small cuboidal bones of the tarsus or carpus. Early identification and early institution of an aggressive therapeutic protocol can result in a successful outcome. Concurrent systemic illness, type of septic arthritis, multiple joint involvement, pathogenicity of the organism, presence of osteomyelitis, and expected use of the foal are factors that can help formulate a prognosis.
Derivative-controlled magnetic amplifiers

THE CIRCUIT shown in Fig. 1 is of a low-level fast-response magnetic amplifier, as developed for such low-level signals as are provided by thermocouples, strain gauges, etc. Rectifiers are not included in the input circuit, thus eliminating the restriction which they impose on the minimum signal voltage. Low drift, fast response, and high gain are obtained by the use of a combination of delayed positive voltage-current and negative current-voltage feedback. The delayed negative feedback current-voltage from a resistive load is added to the signal voltage in the control circuit of the first stage so that it amplifies the average increments of signal voltage per half cycle of power supply voltage. The positive voltage-current feedback is adjusted to just compensate for rectifier leakage and eddy current losses in the second stage. The function of the second stage is to amplify and sum the output voltage of the first stage.
Seed yield of soybeans with daytime or continuous elevation of carbon dioxide under field conditions

Some studies of responses of plants to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (EC) added CO2 only in the daytime, while others supplied CO2 continuously. I tested whether these two methods of EC treatments produced differences in the seed yield of soybeans. Tests were conducted for four growing seasons, using open top chambers, with soybeans rooted in the ground in field plots. One third of the chambers were flushed with air at the current ambient [CO2] (AC), one third had [CO2] 350 µmol mol−1 above ambient during the daytime (ECd), while one third had [CO2] 350 µmol mol−1 above ambient for 24 h per day (ECdn). ECdn increased seed yield by an average of 62 % over the four years compared with the AC treatment, while ECd increased seed yield by 34 %. Higher seed yield for ECdn compared with ECd occurred each year. In comparing years, the relative yield disadvantage of ECd decreased with increasing overall seed yield. On days with high water vapor pressure deficits, soybean canopies with ECd had smaller midday extinction coefficients for photosynthetically active radiation than canopies with ECdn, because of a more vertical leaf orientation. Hence the seed yield of soybean at EC varied depending on whether EC was also provided at night, with much greater yield stimulation for ECdn than for ECd in some years.
Activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 improves recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a prolonged pathological response involving chronic inflammation, microglial activation, and astroglial scar formation that ultimately results in the development of a large cavity at the site of the lesion, the loss of gray matter/neurons, and persistent functional deficits.1,2 Inflammation, including the activation of resident microglial cells, plays an important role in this “secondary injury.”3–5 Microglia may have either neurotoxic or neurorestorative properties, although the preponderance of evidence suggests that they contribute to secondary injury and neuronal cell death.6 – 8 Products known to be produced by microglia, such as nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species, and various proinflammatory cytokines (eg, tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]) have been shown to directly induce neuronal death in vitro and in vivo.9 –16 Inhibition of microglial activation has been shown to have neuroprotective properties after SCI.17,18 Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are G-protein–coupled receptors that modulate glutamatergic activity. Within the central nervous system (CNS), these receptors have been studied largely in neurons, although they are also found in glia.19,20 mGluRs have been identified on microglia,21–23 but their roles in neuroinflammation have received limited attention. Taylor and colleagues22,23 have reported modulatory effects by group II and III receptors in opposite directions in vitro, but such data are hard to reconcile with in vivo studies showing virtually identical neuroprotective profiles after activation of these receptors.24 –29 Recently, we reported that microglia express functional mGluR5 receptors.30 Activation of these receptors results in significant suppression of microglial activity in vitro, including reductions in production of proinflammatory mediators and microglial-induced neurotoxicity. These functions are dependent on the mGluR5 receptor, because knock-out of the receptor or pharmacological inhibition reverses the effects of agonist treatment. In this article, we show that treatment with the selective mGluR5 agonist (RS)-2-chloro-5-hydroxyphenyl-glycine (CHPG) reduces lesion size and improves neurological recovery after SCI in adult rats. These effects may be mediated, in part, through modulation of microglial-associated inflammation. We find that microglia in the rat spinal cord express mGluR5, and that mGluR5 activation negatively regulates the release of microglial-associated inflammatory factors and related neurotoxicity.
Empirical methods for fine-grained opinion extraction from text

Opinions are everywhere. The op/ed pages of newspapers, political blogs, and consumer websites like epinions.com are just some examples of the textual opinions available to readers. And there are many consumers who are interested in following these opinions—intelligence analysts who track the opinions of foreign countries, public relation firms who want to ensure positive opinions for their clients, pollsters who want to know the public's opinions about politicians, and companies who want to know customers' opinions about their products. The problem faced by all of these consumers of opinion is that there is such a wealth of text to process that it is hard to read it all. Central to processing the opinions in these text will be solving two specific problems—identifying expressions of opinion, and identifying their hierarchical structure. We demonstrate solutions involving empirical natural language processing techniques. Although empirical, data-driven methods such as these have become the norm in natural language processing, little work has been done in analyzing their impact on the reproducibility, efficiency, and effectiveness of research. We address two specific problems in this area. We introduce a lightweight computational workflow system to improve the reproducibility and efficiency of machine learning and natural language processing experiments. And we investigate the process of feature generation, setting out desiderata for an ideal process and exploring the effectiveness of several alternatives. Both are investigated in the context of the natural language learning tasks set out earlier.
Road Crossings as Barriers to Small-Stream Fish Movement

Abstract We used mark–recapture techniques to examine the effects of four types of road crossings on fish movement during spring base flows and summer low flows in small streams of the Ouachita Mountains, west-central Arkansas. We assessed movement for 21 fish species in seven families through culvert, slab, open-box, and ford crossings and through natural reaches. We detected no seasonal or directional bias in fish movement through any crossing type or the natural reaches. Overall fish movement was an order of magnitude lower through culverts than through other crossings or natural reaches, except no movement was detected through the slab crossing. In contrast, open-box and ford crossings showed little difference from natural reaches in overall movement of fishes. Numbers of species that traversed crossings and movement within three of four dominant fish families (Centrarchidae, Cyprinidae, and Fundulidae) also were reduced at culverts relative to ford and open-box crossings and natural reaches. In sprin...
Fast timing measurements of gamma-ray events in liquid xenon

We have used newly developed metal-channel photomultipliers (PMTs) from Hamamatsu Photonics to detect the fast scintillation light from liquid xenon. The PMTs are designed to operate within the liquid and to efficiently detect the 175 nm Xe light. Their small transit time spread makes them ideal for fast timing applications. To evaluate the timing characteristics of a liquid xenon detector, we tested a gridded ionization chamber equipped with two such PMTs. Both PMTs observe the same interaction and share the detected scintillation light about equally. At zero field the measured timing resolution is 565 ps FWHM for 122 keV from /sup 57/Co and 227 ps FWHM for 662 keV from /sup 137/Cs. For electric fields up to 4 kV/cm drift field the timing resolution remained constant. This timing resolution opens the possibility of a time-of-flight (ToF) measurement between two LXe detectors separated by a distance of 10-20 cm, which is of great interest for background reduction in a Compton telescope for /spl gamma/-ray astrophysics.
The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II: Development, factor structure, and psychometrics.

Given curiosity’s fundamental role in motivation, learning, and well-being, we sought to refine the measurement of trait curiosity with an improved version of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI; [Kashdan, T. B., Rose, P., & Fincham, F. D. (2004). Curiosity and exploration: Facilitating positive subjective experiences and personal growth opportunities. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82, 291–305]). A preliminary pool of 36 items was administered to 311 undergraduate students, who also completed measures of emotion, emotion regulation, personality, and well-being. Factor analyses indicated a two-factor model—motivation to seek out knowledge and new experiences (Stretching; five items) and a willingness to embrace the novel, uncertain, and unpredictable nature of everyday life (Embracing; five items). In two additional samples (ns = 150 and 119), we cross-validated this factor structure and provided initial evidence for construct validity. This includes positive correlations with personal growth, openness to experience, autonomy, purpose in life, self-acceptance, psychological flexibility, positive affect, and positive social relations, among others. Applying item response theory (IRT) to these samples (n = 578), we showed that the items have good discrimination and a desirable breadth of difficulty. The item information functions and test information function were centered near zero, indicating that the scale assesses the mid-range of the latent curiosity trait most reliably. The findings thus far provide good evidence for the psychometric properties of the 10-item CEI-II.
A factorial analysis of police pursuit driving decisions: A research note

Police pursuit driving has become an important public policy concern and topic of research during the past few years. The present study reports the attitudes of police officers and supervisors from four different agencies concerning the continuation of a pursuit. Using logistic regression, it is reported that the most influential factor on the officers' opinions is the offense for which the suspect is wanted. This one factor is more than twice as important as the environmental factors such as chase area, traffic conditions and weather.
Susceptibility-weighted imaging for differential diagnosis of cerebral vascular pathology: a pictorial review

Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a high-spatial resolution, three-dimensional, gradient-echo (GRE) magnetic resonance (MR) technique. This fully velocity-compensated pulse sequence utilizes the magnetic susceptibility differences of various tissues or substances, such as blood products, iron, and calcification. By postprocessing the magnitude images using a phase mask, it emphasizes the magnetic properties of different susceptibility effects. Generated minimal intensity projection (minIP) images can further demonstrate tortuous vasculature and the continuity of vessels or abnormalities across slices. SWI has been used to improve the diagnosis of neurological trauma, brain neoplasm, neurodegenerative disorders, and cerebrovascular disease because of its ability to demonstrate microbleeds and conspicuity of the veins and other sources with susceptibility effects. We have used SWI to identify cerebrovascular lesions which may be obscured on other MR sequences to aid in the differential diagnosis. We present a review with selected cases to demonstrate the usefulness of this new neuroimaging technique in improving the diagnosis of cerebral vascular pathology.
Adaptive blind channel identification

We present an adaptive blind channel equalizer, which is implemented by an adaptive blind channel estimator followed by a Viterbi detector. The adaptive blind channel estimator is realized by a temporal neural network which is globally convergent to the FIR channel response without any training signals. The adaptive blind channel estimator only requires either twice oversampling the received signals or signals from two antennas. Simulation shows that the adaptive blind channel equalizer without training signals performs equally well, if not better than, the decision feedback equalizer with training signals.
PHARMACOKINETIC PARAMETERS AND MILK CONCENTRATIONS OF KETOPROFEN AFTER ADMINISTRATION AS A SINGLE INTRAVENOUS BOLUS DOSE TO LACTATING GOATS

Six clinically normal lactating does were administered ketoprofen (2.2 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.)). Blood and milk samples were collected prior to and for 24 h after drug administration. Drug concentrations in serum and milk were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Pharmacokinetic parameters from each goat were combined to obtain mean estimates (mean +/- SD) of half-life of elimination (t1/2beta) of 0.32 +/- 0.14 h, systemic clearance (Cl) of 0.74 +/- 0.12 L/kg x h, and volume of distribution at steady state (V(ss)) of 0.23 +/- 0.051 L/kg. In milk, ketoprofen was unmeasurable by the method employed (level of detection 25 ng/mL) for all samples.
Cultivating Engaged Leadership Through a Learning Collaborative: Lessons From Primary Care Renewal in Oregon Safety Net Clinics

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to explore how learning collaboratives cultivate leadership skills that are essential for implementing patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). METHODS We conducted an ethnographic evaluation of a payor-incentivized PCMH implementation in Oregon safety net clinics, known as Primary Care Renewal. Analyses primarily drew on in-depth interviews with organizational leaders who were involved in the initiative. We solicited perspectives on the history, barriers, facilitators, and other noteworthy factors related to the implementation of PCMH. We reviewed and summarized transcripts and created and applied a coding dictionary to identify emergent leadership themes. We reviewed field notes from clinic site visits and observations of learning collaborative activities for additional information on the role of engaged leadership. RESULTS Interview data suggested that organizations followed a similar, sequential process of Primary Care Renewal implementation having 2 phases—inspiration and implementation—and that leaders needed and learned different leadership skills in each phase. Leaders reported that collaborative learning opportunities were critical for developing engaged leadership skills during the inspiration phase of transformation. Facilitative and modeling aspects of engaged leadership were most important for codesigning a vision and plan for change. Adaptive leadership skills became more important during the implementation phase, when specific operational and management skills were needed to foster standardization and spread of the Primary Care Renewal initiative throughout participating clinics. CONCLUSIONS The PCMH has received much attention as a way to reorganize and potentially improve primary care. Documenting steps and stages for cultivating leaders with the vision and skills to transform their organizations into PCMHs may offer a useful roadmap to other organizations considering a similar transformation.
Pharmacokinetics of Aztreonam and Imipenem in Critically Ill Patients with Pneumonia

Study Objective. To evaluate the pharmacokinetic profiles of aztreonam and imipenem in critically ill trauma patients with pneumonia. Methods. Trauma patients in intensive care units who were intubated within 3 days of hospital admission were eligible for the study. Patients with the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia were consecutively randomized to receive either aztreonam plus vancomycin or imipenem-cilastatin. Serial blood samples were taken and sputum was collected to determine aztreonam and imipenem concentrations after 2–3 days and 7–8 days of therapy. Pharmacokinetics of both agents were estimated and compared with estimates from healthy volunteers. Results. Twenty patients were enrolled in the study, 10 patients received imipenem-cilastatin, and 10 received aztreonam plus vancomycin. Steady-state volume of distribution (Vss) for aztreonam at 2–3 days and 7–8 days was significantly greater in patients than in historical controls, whereas the Vss for imipenem was greater at 2–3 days. The β-half-life for aztreonam at both sampling periods was significantly greater in patients than in controls. No significant changes in pharmacokinetics occurred over time for either antibiotic. Sputum concentrations of aztreonam and imipenem were highly variable when sampled 2 hours after the infusion. Conclusion. Larger volumes of distribution were observed for both aztreonam and imipenem in trauma patients than in volunteers, suggesting that standard initial dosages of the antibiotics may result in lower concentrations in these critically ill patients. Both antibiotics penetrated into the sputum of most patients; however, the degree of penetration was highly variable in relation to serum concentrations.
Weak effect of climate variability on coexistence in a sagebrush steppe community

Climate variability, which is expected to increase in the future, can promote coexistence through a mechanism called the storage effect. Currently, we have little understanding of how the importance of the storage effect varies among ecosystems. We tested for the three conditions of the storage effect in a sagebrush steppe plant community in Idaho (USA) by combining long-term observational data with statistical models. The four sagebrush steppe species that we studied satisfied the first two conditions of the storage effect: a long-lived life stage and species-specific responses to the environment. But the critical third condition, environment-competition covariance, was very weak in this community. While the direction of the covariance was consistent with a stabilizing effect of variability (stronger competition in more favorable years), its magnitude was small, reflecting low temporal variability in both competition and species responses to the environment. Consistent with this result, simulations of species population growth rates when rare showed that climate variability had no consistent stabilizing effect on coexistence. This case study provides an important reminder that species-specific responses to the environment are not sufficient for coexistence via the storage effect. Instead, the magnitude of temporal variability in species performance also plays an important role. Comparison of our results with those from a similar study in Kansas mixed prairie suggests that temporal variability in species performance may reflect both the strength of environmental variability as well as life history strategies.
Sweetening responses of potato tubers of different maturity to conventional and non-conventional storage temperature regimes

Abstract Low storage temperatures stimulate the accumulation of glucose and fructose (sweetening) in potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers, resulting in unacceptably dark processed products during frying. Information on how tubers respond to unorthodox storage temperature regimes is lacking, especially for the relatively new frozen-processing cultivars, ‘Umatilla Russet’ and ‘Ranger Russet’. Such knowledge could greatly facilitate the ability to manage immature, over-mature, or otherwise stressed potatoes. This study characterizes the sweetening responses of ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘Ranger Russet’ and ‘Umatilla Russet’ tubers of different maturity, over a range of conditioning and holding storage temperatures. Tubers from early- and late-planted crops were wound-healed (12 °C) for 17 d after harvest (DAH), conditioned for a month (17–48 DAH) at 4.5, 6.7, or 9 °C, and subsequently stored (48–230 DAH) at 4.5, 6.7 or 9 °C (nine temperature regimes) for an additional 182 d before reconditioning at 16 °C for 21 d. Reconditioning hastens catabolism of reducing sugars and restoration of processing quality. On average, tubers from the early planting had lower rates of respiration during wound-healing and emerged from dormancy sooner than those planted later, indicating relative immaturity of the latter. The early-planted crop of ‘Ranger Russet’ was more sensitive to low temperature sweetening than the late-planted crop, reflecting a tendency of tubers to become over-mature and reinforcing the benefit of a ‘green’ harvest for this cultivar. All cultivars sweetened rapidly when conditioned at 4.5 °C. Conditioning at 6.7 and 9 °C, however, decreased the extent of low temperature sweetening during subsequent storage at 4.5 °C through most of the storage season, expanding the options for managing potatoes with lower than normal temperature later in storage. The processing quality of ‘Ranger Russet’ was maintained for 230 d with higher conditioning/holding temperature regimes. Reducing sugar concentrations in cold-sweetened ‘Ranger Russet’ and ‘Russet Burbank’ tubers decreased more than in ‘Umatilla Russet’ tubers in response to reconditioning at 16 °C. Following an interval of wound-healing, the use of combinations of non-conventional conditioning and holding temperatures that do not stimulate excessive sweetening broadens the management options for storing potatoes for the frozen-processing industry.
Amniotic fluid embolism: Analysis of the national registry

Abstract OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the clinical course and investigated possible pathophysiologic mechanisms amniotic fluid embolism. STUDY DESIGN: We carried out a retrospective review of medical records. Forty-six charts were analyzed for 121 separate clinical variables. RESULTS: Amniotic fluid embolism occurred during labor in 70% of the women, after vaginal delivery in 11%, and during cesarean section after delivery of the infant in 19%. No correlation was seen with prolonged labor or oxytocin use. A significant relation was seen between amniotic fluid embolism and male fetal sex. Forty-one percent of patients gave a history of allergy or atopy. Maternal mortality was 61%, with neurologically intact survival seen in 15% of women. Of fetuses in utero at the time of the ovent, only 39% survived. Clinical and hemodynamic manifestations were similar to those manifest in anaphytaxis and septic shock. CONCLUSIONS: Intact maternal or fetal survival with amniotic fluid embolism is rare. The striking similarities between clinical and hemodynamic findings in amniotic fluid embolism and both anaphylaxis and septic shock suggest a common pathophysiologic mechanism for all these conditions. Thus the term amniotic fluid embolism appears to be a misnomer.
Demographic, Social and Clinical Correlates of Raynaud Phenomenon

Our study has identified the demographic, social and clinical correlates of primary Raynaud phenomenon (RP) from a case-control study involving 235 subjects who were identified from a population-based prevalence survey of RP. All potential cases and a sampling of probable non-cases, identified by a screening questionnaire, were invited to a medical clinic for diagnostic testing and assignment of case or control status. Odds ratios (OR) for risk indicators for primary RP were estimated using multiple logistic regression to obtain 95% confidence intervals. The regression yielded statistically significant (p less than 0.05) positive associations for sex (OR = 3.0 for females versus males), self-reported alcohol use (OR = 1.1) and diastolic blood pressure (OR = 1.2) in those on antihypertensive medication. A significant (p = less than 0.01, OR = 0.4) negative association was found for Quetelet index (a measure of obesity). Near-significant or suggestive but non-significant negative associations were found between RP and marital status (p = 0.05, OR = 2.5), increased years of education and, for those on antihypertensive medication, higher systolic blood pressure (both p = 0.07).
Chemical and biological structure and transport of a cool filament associated with a jet-eddy system off northern California in July 1986 (OPTOMA21)

The distributions of nutrient, pigment, bio-optical, and physical variables were mapped in a jet-eddy system off Point Reyes and Point Arena, California, from July 7 to 19, 1986, in order to describe the 3D variability of the filament and its relation to the nutrient and phytoplankton distributions offshore, to examine the interaction between the filament and coastal water, and to estimate the transport of nutrients and phytoplankton by the jet system. Several cool filaments were distinguishable at distances of more than 35-50 km from the coast in satellite imagery during this period. The juxtaposition of these features as well as the presence of an offshore anticyclone and a cyclone south of the filament anchored to the coast at Point Arena led to complex patterns in all variables, aided by the apparent alongshore variability in the source of upwelled water. This structure has implications for the fluxes of organic material in the region and is probably significant in organizing the interactions among different trophic levels within the system.
Angiotensin II and bradykinin: interactions between two centrally active peptides

Two neuropeptides, bradykinin (BK) and angiotensin II (ANG II), produce an increase in blood pressure when injected into the brain ventricles. This study is an example of central peptide-peptide interaction and was carried out to determine if BK and ANG II share a common mechanism in the brain to control blood pressure and drinking in rats. Prior injection of saralasin [10 micrograms intraventricularly (ivt)] was found to enhance the pressor response to ivt BK (5 micrograms) by 44%. The same dose of saralasin attenuated the pressor response to ivt ANG II (200 ng) by 55%. 50 ng ANG II and 5 micrograms BK given together ivt did not significantly alter blood pressure or urine conductance compared to 50 ng ANG II alone. Drinking to ivt infusions of ANG II (14 ng/min) was significantly attenuated when combined with BK (0.7 micrograms or 2.8 micrograms/min). Pretreatment with 10 micrograms indomethacin ivt diminished the pressor response to 5 micrograms ivt BK. Prostaglandin E2 (1.4 micrograms/min), but not prostaglandin A2, inhibited drinking to 14 ng/min ivt infusions of ANG II. The results suggest that ANG II and BK share an interrelationship with respect to their central actions: ANG II inhibits the BK pressor response and BK acts to inhibit drinking induced by ANG II. Prostaglandins of the E series may mediate these central actions of bradykinins.
Atherosclerosis Successes, Surprises, and Future Challenges

Many expected that the splendid and remarkable success of statins and other preventive measures introduced toward the end of the 20th century would halt the epidemic of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.1 Yet, rather than receding globally, the burden of ischemic cardiovascular conditions has risen to become a top cause of morbidity, loss of useful life years, and mortality worldwide.2 Because developing countries have undergone the epidemiological transition, communicable diseases have receded, and chronic diseases, notably those caused by atherosclerosis and hypertension, have become dominant public health problems, joining the United States and Europe, as discussed in this compendium.3,4 Even with access to the highest technology and most recently available secondary prevention therapies, the burden of recurrent events after acute coronary syndromes remains unacceptable, on the order of 10% to 20% in the first 12 months, despite optimal treatment with contemporary intervention and pharmacological agents.5–7 Thus, on a clinical basis and as a public health challenge, atherosclerosis remains high on the list of global challenges to long and healthy lives. Simultaneously, laboratory research has continued to unravel successive layers of the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and the mechanisms of its clinical complications. These advances have not only deepened our appreciation for the subtlety of atherogenesis but also provided us with many surprises that have challenged numerous previously cherished notions and allowed the development of new therapeutic approaches to combat cardiovascular disease. Hence, the need for a compendium of articles that reviews the current state-of-the-art of atherosclerosis research spanning from a global health perspective to fundamental molecular mechanisms. The editors intend this collection of articles not only to celebrate the successes but also to highlight the emerging challenges to many tenets of belief that have emerged from …
Developing Scales to Measure Consumer Dispositions: A New Approach Based on Predictive Validity

In the decades since publication of Churchill (1979), scale development in marketing has migrated in the direction of shorter scales and much smaller item pools. However, neither a justification for this trend, nor its implications for scale development, has been laid out. This paper focuses on the implications for measurement of consumer dispositions, with skepticism toward advertising serving as the running example. It identifies problematic aspects of the now obsolescent call for large item pools of 100, and clarifies the potential negative effects of pursuing internal consistency or clean factor structure in isolation from considerations of predictive validity. To address these concerns, an alternative procedure for generating and pruning item pools is offered. The core of the new approach is to apply well-accepted tools for scale validation at the level of individual items, thus moving the consideration of predictive validity forward to the item pruning stage.
Habenula responses to potential and actual loss in major depression: preliminary evidence for lateralized dysfunction

The habenula has been implicated in predicting negative events and in responding to unexpected negative outcomes. Animal models of depression have supported the hypothesis that perturbations in habenula activity contribute to the pathophysiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), a psychiatric illness characterized by abnormalities in responding to negative feedback and by pessimism in evaluating the likelihood of future events. No research to date, however, has examined human habenula responses to potential and experienced negative outcomes in MDD. In this study, depressed and healthy control participants performed a probabilistic guessing task for monetary rewards and penalties during high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging of the habenula. In healthy adults, we observed a pattern of habenula activation consistent with its hypothesized role in predicting future losses and responding to suboptimal outcomes. In contrast, in depressed participants the left habenula was not activated significantly during the prediction or experience of monetary penalty. Complementing this group difference, attenuated habenula activation to negative feedback in control participants was associated with levels of shame and rumination. The results of this study suggest that depressed individuals are characterized by dysfunction in a neural system involved in generating expectations and comparing expectations with objective outcomes.
Direct comparison of linear and macrocyclic compound libraries as a source of protein ligands.

There has been much discussion of the potential desirability of macrocyclic molecules for the development of tool compounds and drug leads. But there is little experimental data comparing otherwise equivalent macrocyclic and linear compound libraries as a source of protein ligands. In this Letter, we probe this point in the context of peptoid libraries. Bead-displayed libraries of macrocyclic and linear peptoids containing four variable positions and 0–2 fixed residues, to vary the ring size, were screened against streptavidin and the affinity of every hit for the target was measured. The data show that macrocyclization is advantageous, but only when the ring contains 17 atoms, not 20 or 23 atoms. This technology will be useful for conducting direct comparisons between many different types of chemical libraries to determine their relative utility as a source of protein ligands.
Benefit Structure Analysis: A New Tool for Product Planning:

technologies/models/processes for providing structure for consumer markets. Most of these involved the application of multivariate statistical techniques to problems of product positioning, market segmentation, the new product development process, and determining the order and structure underlying sets of marketing variables. A recent article by Green reviews and critiques many of these efforts.' This article presents another approach to structuring consumer markets: Benefit Structure Analysis. It differs from other methods in several important respects:
Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for Academic Emergency and Disaster Management Degree Programs

The paper presents an overview of higher education response to the training and educational needs of the emerging field of emergency and disaster management by exploring the deepening associations between FEMA and higher education, the recent lessons of the Katrina hurricane disaster and a general discussion of a “full measure” of the philosophy of higher education in action via the development of emergency and disaster educational programs. As a central fundamentally involved social vehicle and having a critical role in the development of citizens and leaders at all levels of private and government organizations, higher education must rise to the needs and challenges of its responsibility to educate, train, and support the first duty in emergency and disaster response. It's not just about tactics; it's about values through performance.
Lipoprotein Lipase Activity in the Dog Pancreas and Pancreatic Juice.

Summary1. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity was demonstrated in canine pancreatic juice and pancreas. 2. The LPL activity of the pancreatic juice was augmented by stimulation with secretin and pancreozymin, the known hormonal stimulants of exocrine secretion of the pancreas. 3. An inhibitor(s) of the pancreatic LPL activity was suggested by dilution studies in pancreatic juice and in the pancreas. 4. The possible relationship of the pancreatic LPL activity and its inhibitor(s) to the lipemia accompanying acute pancreatitis is discussed.
Impact of the 1994 Northridge earthquake on the utilization and difficulties associated with prescription medications and health aids.

Introduction: The medical impacts of disasters have focused on the injuries, illnesses, and deaths related to the disaster. Little has been written about the impact of disasters on persons who use prescription medications or those medications that require refrigeration, or those who require health aids. The objective of this study was an evaluation of the level of utilization of prescription medications and medications that require refrigeration as well as the use of health aids by the population affected by the disaster. Methods: Following the Northridge earthquake of 1994, a survey of Los Angeles County households was conducted to assess the impact of the earthquake. A total of 1247 households completed the 48 minute telephone interview. As part of the interview, 10 questions assessed the utilization of medications and medical aids by household members and the effects that the earthquake had on those medications and devices. Chi-square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and logistic regression analysis were applied. Results: Of the 1,212 completed interviews, 21% of the households had a family member taking a prescription medication or a medication requiring refrigeration. Associated factors included gender, race, age, household income, level of education, presence of children, and the intensity of the earthquake (by the Modified Mercalli Index). Only 3% of those that reported medication usage noted problems associated with the use of these medications. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents indicated that someone in the household used a health aid (e.g., eyeglasses, hearing aid, etc.). Usage was related to gender, race, age, household income, level of education, presence of children, and the intensity of the shaking associated with the earthquake. Of these, 6.5% reported difficulty with these aids, usually related to loss or breakage. Conclusions: Although the proportions of the population requiring prescription or refrigerated medications and/or for those using health aids in Los Angeles seemingly are small, this translates to 630,000 households in which someone requires medications and 1.2 million households with a requirement for health aids. Thus, there are a huge number of persons at risk for serious medical problems related to these medications and devices that could produce profound medical problems during a disaster. However, during and following a moderate earthquake, it does not seem that the consequences will be great.
Splenic pathology after traumatic injury.

Little is known concerning the pathology of spleens removed for traumatic injury. The authors studied the gross and microscopic features of 44 spleens removed for trauma and received at the Surgical Pathology Division of Parkland Memorial Hospital and 10 normal control spleens from the Medical Examiner's Office, Dallas County, Texas. The mean age of patients undergoing post-traumatic splenectomy was 29.6 years with a male:female ratio of 6:1. The most common procedure done for traumatic splenic rupture was splenectomy (39 of 44 cases); wedge resection or partial splenectomy was done in 5 cases. The mean weight of the spleens was 167 g (181 g in males, 93 g in females, P = .056). Capsular laceration or rupture were noted in 86% of post-trauma spleens, usually involving the superior pole and/or hilum. Subcapsular neutrophilic infiltrates were seen in 7%. Gross evidence of parenchymal hemorrhage was seen in 25%, and microscopic evidence in 68%. Control spleens showed none of these findings. Germinal centers were present in 77% of spleens with germinal center hyperplasia in 55% (including patients 16-59 years old), numerous primary follicles in 45%, mantle zone hyperplasia in 10%, and marginal zone hyperplasia in 41% of patient spleens. Control spleens showed few or none of these findings. No patient spleens had histologic features suggestive of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or other infection, granulomas (other than lipogranulomas), or infarct. The findings suggest that splenic rupture after trauma may be related to prior immunologic stimulation of the spleen, and that spleens removed for trauma are not equivalent to normal controls.