cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Osteoarthritis: Another Component of Metabolic Syndrome?

Osteoarthritis (OA) has become a major public health problem not only because of its increasing prevalence worldwide but also because of its frequent association with cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. There is growing evidence that OA is not simply a disease related to aging or mechanical stress of joints but rather a "metabolic disorder" in which various interrelated lipid, metabolic, and humoral mediators contribute to the initiation and progression of the disease process. Indeed, OA has been linked not only to obesity but also to other cardiovascular risk factors, namely, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance.
Nonverbal cues in computer‐mediated communication, and the effect of chronemics on relational communication

Computer‐mediated communication (CMC) has been described as lacking nonverbal cues, which affects the nature of interpersonal interaction via the medium. Yet much CMC conveys nonverbal cues in terms of chronemics, or time‐related messages. Different uses of time signals in electronic mail were hypothesized to affect interpersonal perceptions of CMC senders and respondents. An experiment altered the time stamps in replicated e‐mail messages in order to assess two time variations: (a) the time of day a message was sent and (b) the time lag until a reply was received. Results revealed significant interactions among these variables, and the task‐orientation or socioemotional orientation of the verbal messages, which affected perceptions of communicators’ intimacy/liking or dominance/submissiveness. Findings extend recent theories regarding social attributions and the adaptation of social cues in CMC behavior.
A System of Rearing Dairy Calves with Limited Use of Milk

In 1907, experiments were begun here relative to methods of rearing calves under conditions where milk and its products were either unavailable or uneconomical to use. The results of studies made from 1907 to 1909 have been published by Savage and Tailby (1). The work described by these authors included studies of various proprietary calf meals and of dried milk products as substitutes for skim milk. In continuation of the work begun in 1907 the studies here reported describe results obtained with a system of feeding which does not involve the use of milk or its products after the first few weeks of age. The need of such a system in dairy practice is for the dairyman who sells his product as market milk and has no skim milk for calf rearing; for the use of whole milk is too expensive to be practicable in most herds. The problem is by no means a new one. Both American and foreign literature are full of accounts of studies bearing on it. As a result of these studies many partial or complete substitutes for milk have been proposed and a large number of proprietary preparations are on the market. Some of them are enjoying a considerable use in practice, but there evidently still remains much to be desired from the standpoint of satisfactory growth and of freedom from digestive disturbances. In an endeavor to overcome these limitations, an investigation of the problem has been in progress by the authors since 1919. It has involved experiments with laboratory animals and certain chemical studies of various feeding stuffs, as well as growth and metabolism studies with calves. The latter work has been confined largely to rations formulated at this station, although a few trials of proprietary calf meals have been made. In an endeavor to avoid as much as possible the digestive troubles frequently
Locally disordered conformer of the hamster prion protein: a crucial intermediate to PrPSc?

A crucial step for transformation of the normal cellular isoform of the prion protein (PrPC) to the infectious prion protein (PrPSc) is thought to entail a previously uncharacterized intermediate conformer, PrP*, which interacts with a template PrPSc molecule in the conversion process. By carrying out 15N−1H two-dimensional NMR measurements under variable pressure on Syrian hamster prion protein rPrP(90−231), we found a metastable conformer of PrPC coexisting at a population of ∼1% at pH 5.2 and 30 °C, in which helices B and C are preferentially disordered. While the identity is still unproven, this observed metastable conformer is most logically PrP* or a closely related precursor. The structural characteristics of this metastable conformer are consistent with available immunological and pathological information about the prion protein.
Formation of organic chlorine in activated sludge effluents

Abstract Bench scale activated sludge reactors with a solids retention time of 9 days were operated at all combinations of two levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and feed type (pH 6 and 8; DO 1 and 7 mg 1 −1 ; simple and complex feed). Long-term composite samples were collected and adjusted to neutral pH and equal concentrations of alkalinity and ammonia nitrogen. They were then breakpoint chlorinated with NaO 36 Cl in order to determine how much chlorine was incorporated into the organic matter. The amounts ranged from 0.019 to 0.067 mg atomic chlorine incorporated per mg soluble organic carbon. Analysis of variance revealed that the DO concentration was the only independent variable to have a significant effect upon the amount of chlorine incorporated, with reactors operated at high DO levels generally producing effluent organics which were less susceptible to adding chlorine.
Automatic identification of IASLC-defined mediastinal lymph node stations on CT scans using multi-atlas organ segmentation

Station-labeling of mediastinal lymph nodes is typically performed to identify the location of enlarged nodes for cancer staging. Stations are usually assigned in clinical radiology practice manually by qualitative visual assessment on CT scans, which is time consuming and highly variable. In this paper, we developed a method that automatically recognizes the lymph node stations in thoracic CT scans based on the anatomical organs in the mediastinum. First, the trachea, lungs, and spines are automatically segmented to locate the mediastinum region. Then, eight more anatomical organs are simultaneously identified by multi-atlas segmentation. Finally, with the segmentation of those anatomical organs, we convert the text definitions of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) lymph node map into patient-specific color-coded CT image maps. Thus, a lymph node station is automatically assigned to each lymph node. We applied this system to CT scans of 86 patients with 336 mediastinal lymph nodes measuring equal or greater than 10 mm. 84.8% of mediastinal lymph nodes were correctly mapped to their stations.
Tour of the moon

Using the latest laser altimetry and image data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, this virtual tour visits 10 sites of interest on the moon, from the permanently shadowed floor of Shackleton to the central peak of Tycho and the tire tracks of the astronauts at the landing site of Apollo 17.
Object-oriented simulation using model builder

Model Builder/sup TM/ is a modular, hierarchical, and object oriented modeling and simulation environment for complex systems. Model Builder combines visual interactive simulation with multi-abstraction modeling, extensible semantics, and direct object manipulation, for providing intuitive modeling capabilities.
The joint estimation of differential delay, Doppler, and phase (Corresp.)

In radio and sonar applications it sometimes happens that narrow-band signals, originated from a remote source and observed at a pair of receivers, differ by unknown differential phase and Doppler shift in addition to the differential delay corresponding to the range difference. The correspondence presents the joint maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the differential delay, Doppler, and phase and examines their accuracy by deriving the Cramer-Rao bound. It is shown that the joint ML estimators are the values of the delay and Doppler that maximize the magnitude of a generalized ambiguity function analogous to the one used in radar. It is also shown that for long observation time and high enough signal-to-noise ratio there is no degradation in the accuracy of the time-delay estimator due to the additional phase and Doppler uncertainty and that the differential Doppler is uncorrelated with the differential delay and phase estimators.
Migraine in women with chronic pelvic pain with and without endometriosis.

Objective To examine the prevalence of migraine in women with chronic pelvic pain with and without endometriosis. Design Prospective study of headache, pelvic pain, and quality of life before laparoscopic surgery for pelvic pain. Endometriosis was diagnosed pathologically. Headaches were classified as migraine or non-migraine using International Headache Society criteria. Setting Clinical research hospital. Patient(s) 108 women in a clinical trial for chronic pelvic pain (NCT00001848). Intervention(s) Laparoscopy to diagnose endometriosis, assessment by neurologist to assess headaches. Main Outcome Measure(s) Prevalence of migraine and other headaches in women with chronic pelvic pain with or without endometriosis. Headache frequency, severity and relationship to pelvic pain and endometriosis. Result(s) Lifetime prevalence of definite or possible migraine was 67% of women with chronic pelvic pain. An additional 8% met criteria for possible migraine. Migraine was no more likely in women with endometriosis than those without. Women with the most severe headaches had a lower quality of life compared with those with pelvic pain alone. Conclusion(s) Migraine headache is common in women with chronic pelvic pain, regardless of endometriosis, and contributes to disability in those with both conditions. The strong association suggests a common pathophysiology.
Benchmarking Laboratory Quality

Proficiency testing is the oldest form of laboratory benchmarking. Today, laboratory managers can compare local laboratory quality to industry averages in many domains. This review discusses practical aspects of benchmarking laboratory quality—when benchmarking is a good idea, common misunderstandings about what benchmarking can tell us, and examples of quality benchmarks that are widely used in the clinical laboratory industry.
A digitally controlled oscillator in a 90 nm digital CMOS process for mobile phones

We propose and demonstrate the first RF digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) for cellular mobile phones. The DCO is part of a single-chip quad-band fully compliant GSM transceiver realized in a 90 nm digital CMOS process. Wide and precise linear frequency tuning is achieved through digital control of a large array of standard n-poly/n-well MOSCAP devices that operate in flat regions of their C- V curves. The varactors are partitioned into binary-weighted and unit-weighted banks that are sequentially activated during frequency locking and tracking. The finest varactor step size is 12 kHz at the 1.6-2.0 GHz high-band output. To attenuate the quantization noise to below the natural oscillator phase noise, the varactors undergo high-speed second-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ dithering. We analyze the effect of the /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ dithering on the phase noise and show that it can be made sufficiently small. The measured phase noise at 20 MHz offset in the GSM900 band is -165 dBc/Hz and shows no degradation due to the /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ dithering. The 3.6 GHz DCO core consumes 18.0 mA from a 1.4 V supply and has a very wide tuning range of 900 MHz to support the quad-band operation.
Male Germline Stem Cells: From Mice to Men

The production of functional male gametes is dependent on the continuous activity of germline stem cells. The availability of a transplantation assay system to unequivocally identify male germline stem cells has allowed their in vitro culture, cryopreservation, and genetic modification. Moreover, the system has enabled the identification of conditions and factors involved in stem cell self-renewal, the foundation of spermatogenesis, and the production of spermatozoa. The increased knowledge about these cells is also of great potential practical value, for example, for the possible cryopreservation of stem cells from boys undergoing treatment for cancer to safeguard their germ line.
Employing interpersonal influence to promote multivitamin use.

Boster, Kotowski, Andrews, and Serota (2011) proposed that superdiffusers are well connected, persuasive, and a maven in a content area. They proposed that superdiffusers, if recruited, could promote the adoption of health practices. In this article a model of this process is presented, and an intervention designed to test the efficacy of this influence strategy is introduced. Specifically, superdiffusers were recruited to persuade their peers to take a daily multivitamin. Evidence was found consistent with the intervention's effectiveness.
The globalization of tobacco use: 21 challenges for the 21st century.

The globalization of tobacco began more than 500 years ago, but the public health response to the death, disease, and economic disruption that it has caused is fewer than 50 years old. In this report, the authors briefly trace the history of tobacco use and commerce as it moved from the Americas in the late 15th century and then eastward. They then discuss the wide range of issues that must be addressed, and the equally wide range of expertise that is needed if the global health community is to be successful in reducing, and eventually eliminating, the rising tide of tobacco use, particularly in the low- and middle-income nations that are the target of the multinational tobacco industry. CA Cancer J Clin 2010;60:50–61. © 2010 American Cancer Society, Inc.
The synthesis and cytotoxic activity of 1,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy-L-arabino- and -L-lyxo-hexopyranose

Abstract Methyl 2,6-dideoxy-α- L -arabino-hexopyranoside (6) was prepared from L -rhamnose in five steps. Hydrolysis of6 with 50% aqueous acetic acid gave 2,6-dideoxy- L -arabino-hexopyranose. Treatment of 3,4-di-O-acetyl- L -rhamnal with acetic acid in the presence of acetic anhydride and 2% sulfuric acid afforded 1,2,3-tri-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy- L -arabino-hexopyranose in 65% yield. Selective benzoylation and subsequent mesylation of 6 afforded methyl 3-O-benzoyl-2,6-dideoxy-4-O-mesyl-α- L -arabino-hexopyranoside, which was treated with sodium benzoate and sodium azide in hexamethylphosphoric triamide to give the corresponding 3,4-dibenzoyl 9 and 4-azido 11 analogs. Hydrogenation and N-acetylation of 11 afforded the 4-acetamido derivative 12. Deprotection of 9 and 12 gave 2,6-dideoxy- L -lyxo-hexopyranose and 4-acetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy- L -lyxo-hexopyranose, which were characterized as their peracetates. The free and corresponding peracetylated derivatives were assayed for their ability to inhibit the growth of P388 leukemia cells in culture. Although the free sugars did not inhibit the replication of these tumor cells under the conditions employed, their peracetylated derivatives demonstrated significant activity.
Bleomycin Pulmonary Toxicity

Bleomycin, a new antitumor antibiotic with known pulmonary toxic properties, was administered to a patient with disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma. At a relatively low total dose (180 mg) the patient developed diffuse interstitial pneumonitis and died of respiratory failure. Massive corticosteroid therapy had no beneficial effect Tumor regression and interstitial pneumonitis and fibrosis were documented at autopsy. Light microscopic and immunofluorescence studies of lung tissue suggest that similar to busulfan and hexamethonium, lung injury was most likely due to direct toxicity rather than true drug hypersensitivity.
Phase composition changes due to coherency strains in a Ni-24 at.% V alloy

Theoretical analysis have been made recently concerning the effects of coherency strains on phase equilibria. While there have been attempts to test these theories experimentally via analytical electron microscopy the measured composition changes due to elastic stress were difficult to deconvolute from the experimental errors. Here, the authors report preliminary results to determine phase compositions through high-temperature lattice parameter measurements. After arc-melting 99.99% pure Ni and 99.9% pure V to produce an alloy ingot, fine-grained ribbon of Ni-24 at.% V was made by the chill block melt-spinning method.
Open-standard development environment for IBM System z9 host firmware

When the PL8 64-bit GNU compiler collection front end was introduced with the IBM z990 system, it laid the foundation to move toward an open-standard development environment for the i390 layer of IBM System zTM host firmware. However, when the z990 system was developed, the proprietary project development library system and the table of contents object file format for i390 code were still being used. With the IBM System z9TM, we have moved to a fully open-standard development environment. This paper describes the steps we took to get there, to improve code performance, development efficiency, and regression testing, and to develop base functionality for important System z9 features such as enhanced driver maintenance. We also discuss plans to further enhance the development environment for future systems.
The effects of systemic glucose concentration on brain metabolism following repeated brain ischemia

Abstract Since systemic glucose concentration is an important determinant of ischemic brain metabolism in neonates, we sought to determine if the systemic glucose concentration influences brain metabolic alterations following repeated partial ischemia. A group of hyperglycemic pigles (n = 12) were compared to a group of modestly hypoglycemic piglets (n = 12) using in vivo2H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to simultaneously measure cerebral blood flow and phosphorylated metabolites before, during and 30 min after two 10-min episodes of ischemia (i.e. Recovery 1 and 2). For both groups, β-ATP levels at Recovery 1 and 2 were lower than Control (91 ± 11and83 ± 15% of Control, respectively for both groups combined, P = 0.002 vs Control). Inorganic phosphorus was elevated in hyperglycemic piglets at Recovery 1 and 2 (117 ± 15and118 ± 10% of Control). In contrast, in modestly hypoglycemic piglets inorganic phosphorus progressively rose from Recovery 1 (131 ± 24% of Control) to Recovery 2 (149 ± 37% of Control), and differed from the hyperglycemic group (P = 0.02). These changes did not correlate with post-ischemic cerebral blood flow, cerebral O2 delivery or cerebral glucose delivery. In both groups phosphocreatine and intracellular pH returned to Control values during Recovery 1 and 2. The progressive increase in inorganic phosphorus post-ischemia in hypoglycemic piglets suggests that modest hypoglycemia during and following repeated partial ischemia adversely affects immediate brain metabolic recovery.
Do Baseball Players Regress toward the Mean

Abstract Baseball performances are an imperfect measure of baseball abilities, and consequently exaggerate differences in abilities. Predictions of relative batting averages and earned run averages can be improved substantially by using correlation coefficients estimated from earlier seasons to shrink performances toward the mean.
From black holes to glueballs: The QCD3 tensor glueball at strong coupling

Abstract A strong coupling calculation of glueball masses based on the duality between supergravity and Yang-Mills theory is presented. Earlier work is extended to non-zero spin. Fluctuations in the gravitational metric lead to the 2 ++ state on the leading Pomeron trajectory with a mass relation: m (0 ++ ) m (2 ++ ) m (1 −+ ). Contrary to expectation, the mass of our new 0 ++ state ( m 2 = 5.4573) associated with the graviton is smaller than the mass of the 0 ++ state ( m 2 = 11.588) from the dilaton, which in fact is exactly degenerate with the tensor 2 ++ .
Clinical characteristics of essential voice tremor: A study of 34 cases

Objectives/Hypothesis: To describe and characterize essential voice tremor, including signs, symptoms, and severity, and its relation to other manifestations of essential tremor. Description of aspects of treatment is a secondary goal. Study Design: Descriptive clinical cohort study. Methods: Thirty-four patients with essential voice tremor were identified over 40 months. Historical information regarding duration, family history, ethanol effect, arm tremor, and prior diagnosis was collected and examination was performed. Laryngeal and pharyngeal signs were graded using the Vocal Tremor Scoring System (VTSS); arm tremor was scored using the Washington Heights Inwood Genetic Study of Essential Tremor Rating Scale (WHIGET). Patients rated vocal disability using the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Information regarding treatment was collected both historically and prospectively. Results: Ninety-three percent of patients were female. Voice tremor typically began in the seventh decade (62.9 ± 15.0 years), and had been present for a mean of 6.7 ± 13.4 years at the time of presentation. Tremor was present in a first-degree relative in 13 patients (38.2%); nine (26.5%) reported a beneficial effect of ethanol. Only 11 (32.3%) were aware of an arm tremor. Seven patients (20.6%) had been correctly diagnosed prior to evaluation; 16 (47.1%) were undiagnosed, and 10 (29.4%) had been misdiagnosed as spasmodic dysphonia. Clinical features were scored as follows: VTSS = 7.7 ± 3.3, range 1 to 14; WHIGET = 8.5 ± 7.5, range 0 to 31; VHI = 71 ± 28, range 2 to 115. VTSS did not correlate with WHIGET, but did correlate with VHI. Only 56% of treated patients found botulinum toxin helpful. Conclusions: Essential voice tremor appears to affect more women than men. One third to one half of affected individuals have a family history of tremor. About one half of cases occur with upper extremity tremor no more severe than that seen in similarly aged normal individuals, contrary to what has been thought to date. Essential voice tremor is probably more common than is generally suspected, and many cases appear to be undiagnosed many years after onset or are misdiagnosed, most often as spasmodic dysphonia. The key feature is kinetic laryngeal tremor which usually extends beyond the larynx to involve the phonatory apparatus globally. Botulinum toxin may be helpful, but benefit is typically incomplete and not universal. Prolonged postinjection breathiness is the most common barrier to useful treatment. Laryngoscope, 2010
Expression of a developmentally-regulated neuron-specific isoform of the neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) gene

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant disorder in which affected individuals develop benign and malignant tumors as well as non-tumor-related abnormalities, such as seizures and learning disabilities. Here, we report an NF1 isoform arising from the alternative splicing of exon 9a with predominant central nervous system (CNS) expression. Exon 9a expression is enriched in neurons of the forebrain, specifically septum, striatum, cortex, hippocampus and olfactory bulb with significantly less expression in brainstem, cerebellum and spinal cord. This pattern of NF1 exon 9a expression correlates with the postnatal maturation of these neurons and suggests a role for NF1 in neuronal differentiation.
MicroRNA-137 promoter methylation is associated with poorer overall survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

BACKGROUND: The overall 5-year survival rate of approximately 60% for head and neck cancer patients has remained essentially unchanged over the past 30 years. MicroRNA-137 (miR-137) plays an essential role in cell-cycle control at the G1/S-phase checkpoint. However, the aberrant miR-137 promoter methylation observed in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) suggests a tumor-specific molecular defect that may contribute to disease progression. METHODS: The goal of this study was to assess, in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue, the association between miR-137 promoter methylation and survival (both overall and disease free) and with prognostic factors including stage, tumor size, lymph node positivity, tumor grade, and surgical tumor margin positivity. RESULTS: The promoter methylation status of miR-137 was ascertained by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and detected in 11 of 67 SCCHN patients (16.4%), with no significant differences according to site (oral cavity, pharynx, larynx). Methylation of the miR-137 promoter was significantly associated with overall survival (hazard ratio, 3.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-13.38) but not with disease-free survival or any of the prognostic factors evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that miR-137 is methylated in tumor tissue from pharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cancers, in addition to oral squamous cell carcinoma, and that miR-137 promoter methylation has potential utility as a prognostic marker for SCCHN. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
Selective gas sensing with a single graphene-on-silicon transistor

The low-frequency 1/f noise in graphene transistors has been studied extensively owing to the proposed graphene applications in analog devices and communication systems [1–5]. The studies were motivated by the fact that the low-frequency noise can be up-converted by device nonlinearity and contribute to the phase noise of the system. Similarly, the sensor sensitivity is often limited by the electronic low-frequency noise. Therefore, noise is usually considered as one of the main limiting factors for the device or overall system operation. However, the electronic noise spectrum itself can be used as a sensing parameter increasing the sensor sensitivity and selectivity. Here, we show that vapors of different chemicals produce distinguishably different effects on the low-frequency noise spectra of the graphene-on-Si transistor. Our study showed that some gases change the electrical resistance of pristine graphene devices without changing their low-frequency noise spectra while other gases modify the noise spectra by inducing Lorentzian components with distinctive features. The characteristic corner frequency f C of the Lorentzian noise bulges in graphene devices is different for different chemicals and varies from f C =10 − 20 Hz for tetrahydrofuran to f C =1300 − 1600 Hz for chloroform. We tested the selected set of chemicals vapors on different graphene device samples and alternated different vapors for the same samples. The obtained results indicate that 1/f noise in combination with other sensing parameters can allow one to achieve the selective gas sensing with a single pristine graphene transistor. Our method of gas sensing with graphene does not require graphene surface functionalization or fabrication of an array of the devices with each tuned to a certain chemical. The observation of the Lorentzian components in the vapor-exposed graphene can also help in developing an accurate theoretical description of the noise mechanism in graphene.
WE-F-16A-03: 3D Printer Application in Proton Therapy: A Novel Method to Deliver Passive-Scattering Proton Beams with a Fixed Range and Modulation for SRS and SRT

Purpose: To present a novel technique to deliver passive-scattering proton beam with fixed range and modulation using a 3D printed patient-specific bolus for proton stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy. Methods: A CIRS head phantom was used to simulate a patient with a small brain lesion. A custom bolus was created in the Eclipse Treatment Planning System (TPS) to compensate for the different water equivalent depths from the patient surface to the target from multiple beam directions. To simulate arc therapy, a plan was created on the initial CT using three passive-scattering proton beams with a fixed range and modulations irradiating from different angles. The DICOM-RT structure file of the bolus was exported from the TPS and converted to STL format for 3D printing. The phantom was rescanned with the printed custom bolus and head cup to verify the dose distribution comparing to the initial plan. EBT3 films were placed in the sagital plane of the target to verify the delivered dose distribution. The relative stopping power of the printing material(ABSplus-P430) was measured using the Zebra multi-plate ion chamber. Results: The relative stopping power of the 3D printing material, ABSplus-P430 was 1.05 which is almost water equivalent. The dose difference between verificationmore » CT and Initial CT is almost negligible. Film measurement also confirmed the accuracy for this new proton delivery technique. Conclusion: Our method using 3D printed range modifiers simplify the treatment delivery of multiple passive-scattering beams in treatment of small lesion in brain. This technique makes delivery of multiple beam more efficient and can be extended to allow arc therapy with proton beams. The ability to create and construct complex patient specific bolus structures provides a new dimension in creating optimized quality treatment plans not only for proton therapy but also for electron and photon therapy.« less
Dynamics of the mitochondrial reticulum in live cells using Fourier imaging correlation spectroscopy and digital video microscopy.

Abstract We report detailed studies of the dynamics of the mitochondrial reticulum in live cells using two independent experimental techniques: Fourier imaging correlation spectroscopy and digital video fluorescence microscopy. When both methods are used to study the same system, it is possible to directly compare measurements of preaveraged statistical dynamical quantities with their microscopic counterparts. This approach allows the underlying mechanism of the observed rates to be determined. Our results indicate that the dynamics of the reticulum structure is composed of two independent contributions, each important on very different time and length scales. During short time intervals (1–15sec), local regions of the reticulum primarily undergo constrained thermally activated motion. During long time intervals (>15sec), local regions of the reticulum undergo long-range "jump" motions that are associated with the action of cytoskeletal filaments. Although the frequency of the jumps depend on the physiological state of the cells, the average jump distance (∼0.8 μ m) is unaffected by metabolic activity. During short time intervals, the dynamics appear to be spatially heterogeneous, whereas the cumulative effect of the infrequent jumps leads to the appearance of diffusive motion in the limit of long time intervals.
Towards the Discovery of Diseases Related by Genes Using Vertex Similarity Measures

Discovering the relationships of gene to gene, gene to its related diseases, and diseases implicated in common genes is important. However, traditional biological methods can be expensive. Here, we show that the diseases implicated in common genes and the genes related to a multiple-gene disease can be inferred by the vertex similarity measures, a type of method to find the similar vertices in a network based on its structure. The relationship among diseases and the relationship among genes are modeled as two biological networks: human disease network and disease gene network. We apply the vertex similarity among the vertices in the human disease network to infer the diseases implicated in common genes. By similar manner, we utilize vertex similarity measures on the disease gene network to infer the genes related to a common multiple-gene disease. Experimental results demonstrate the potential of vertex similarity as an inexpensive approach to infer the possible links between genes and between diseases. We also develop a system to visualize and get a better understanding about the relationships among diseases and genes.
Effects of Environmental and Metallurgical Conditions on the Passive and Localized Dissolution of Ti-0.15%Pd

Abstract The effects of chloride (Cl−) concentration, fluoride (F−) concentration, pH, temperature, and weldments on the corrosion behavior of Ti-0.15%Pd (Ti Grade 7, UNS R52400) were examined. It ...
Controlling the size and the activity of Fe particles for synthesis of carbon nanotubes

Abstract The properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are controlled by their structure and morphology. Therefore, their selective synthesis, using catalytic chemical vapor deposition, requires precise control of a number of parameters including the size and activity of the catalyst nanoparticles. Previously, an environmental scanning transmission electron microscope (ESTEM) has been used to demonstrate that electron beam-induced decomposition (EBID) of Fe containing precursor molecules can be used to selectively deposit Fe catalyst nanoparticles that are active for CNT growth. We have extended these in situ ESTEM observations to further our understanding of the EBID parameters, such as deposition time, and substrate temperature, that control the size and placement of Fe catalyst particles for two precursors, namely diiron nonacarbonyl (Fe 2 (CO) 9 ) and ferrocene (Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 ). We found that the diameter of deposited particles increased with increasing deposition time. Electron energy-loss spectra, collected during deposition, show the incorporation of C in the Fe particles. The C content decreased as the substrate temperature was increased and was negligible at 100 °C for Fe 2 (CO) 9 . However, C and Fe were co-deposited at all temperatures (up to 450 °C) when Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 was used as an iron source. After deposition, the substrate was heated to the CNT growth temperature in flowing hydrogen to remove the co-deposited C, which was an important step to activate the deposited Fe catalyst for the growth using acetylene. Our measurements revealed that the Fe nanoparticles fabricated from Fe 2 (CO) 9 had higher activity for CNT growth compared to the ones fabricated using Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 . We also found that the co-deposited carbon could not be removed by heating in hydrogen in the case of Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 . The particles deposited from Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 at 300 °C to 450 °C formed a core–shell structure with Fe surrounded by graphitic carbon. We speculate that the reduced activity for Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2 is due to the C content in the deposit.
Identification of an Unusual MYB-type Transcription Factor That Binds to Promoter of H-Protein of Glycine Decarboxylase

Expression of the H-protein of the mitochondrial glycine decarboxylase (GDC) complex is controlled at the transcriptional level in a light-dependent and tissue-specific manner. We have identified a protein binding site, HPP-1, within the region of the gdcH promoter that appears to control expression of this gene. Gel shift experiments suggested that the HPP-1 site contains a core DNA sequence of the hexameric palindrome, AATATT. An Arabidopsis cDNA coding for a DNA binding protein, HPPBF-1, was cloned that binds to this same HPP-1 site and has a binding requirement for the same AATATT core sequence. HPPBF-1 belongs to a small class of DNA binding factors that includes the initiator binding proteins, IBPl and BPF-1, as well as the telomeric proteins RTBPl and AtTRP1. These factors are unusual in that they contain a single C-terminal MYB-type DNA binding motif. This binding motif contains the same LKDKW DNA interaction region noted in other MYB factors. RNA blot analysis suggested that the mRNA for HPPBF-1 is present in all organs at varying levels.
The content validity of the PRCA‐24 as a measure of communication apprehension across communication contexts

Research reported by Porter (1981) and Parks (1980) has raised significant reservations concerning the content validity of the items on the early versions of the PRCA. The present study investigated the content validity of the most recent version of the instrument, PRCA‐24. The results of this research indicate that the scores generated by the new instrument are relatively independent of the context‐based content of the items employed and are capable of substantially predicting apprehension in a context not represented directly in the items on the new form.
Role and regulation of activation of caspases in cisplatin-induced injury to renal tubular epithelial cells.

Role and regulation of activation of caspases in cisplatin-induced injury to renal tubular epithelial cells. Background Cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity to renal tubular epithelial cells are not well understood. Although caspases play a critical role in the execution of the cell death pathway, their specific role in toxic injury to renal tubular epithelial cells has not been elucidated previously. Methods The role of caspases in cisplatin-induced injury was determined using caspase inhibitors and p35 transfected LLC-PK1 cells. The Akt/PKB phosphorylation pathway was studied for the regulation of caspase activation in these cells. Results The activation of initiator caspases-8, -9 and -2, and executioner caspase-3 began after eight hours of cisplatin treatment, thereafter markedly increased in a time (8 to 24 hours) and dose-dependent manner (0 to 200 μmol/L). Proinflammatory caspase-1 did not show cisplatin-induced activation. Inhibition of caspase-3 by over expressing cowpox virus p35 protein or alternatively by the peptide inhibitor DEVD-CHO provided marked protection against cell death and partial protection against DNA damage. We then examined the role of the Akt/PKB phosphorylation pathway in regulation of cisplatin-induced caspase activation. There was a marked induction of Akt/PKB phosphorylation in a time (0 to 8 hours) and dose-dependent (0 to 200 μmol/L) manner during the course of cisplatin injury. Cisplatin-induced Akt/PKB activation was associated with Bad phosphorylation, suggesting induction of a cell survival signal mediated by the Bcl-2 family member, Bad. Wortmannin or LY294002, two structurally dissimilar inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase (PI-3 kinase), abolished both cisplatin-induced Akt phosphorylation and Bad phosphorylation, and promoted cisplatin-induced early and accelerated activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, but not of caspase-8 and caspase-1, indicating that inhibition of the Akt/PKB phosphorylation pathway enhances the mitochondrial-dependent activation of caspases. The impact of enhanced activation of caspases by wortmannin or LY294002 was reflected on accelerated cisplatin-induced cell death. Conclusions These studies demonstrate differential activation and role of caspases in cisplatin injury, and provide the first evidence of cisplatin-induced induction of the Akt/PKB phosphorylation pathway, inhibition of which enhances activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9.
The families and democracy project

The Families and Democracy Project moves family therapists and other professionals into the community via a critique of traditional provider/consumer models of family services, a set of principles about the civic engagement of families in partnership with professionals, and a set of public practices for working on community problems. We describe the Families and Democracy model and three specific projects. We distinguish the model from traditional hierarchical and collaborative models of working with families. And we discuss lessons we have learned, and our plans to take this work to its next developmental stage.
R2-BEAN: R2 indicator based evolutionary algorithm for noisy multiobjective optimization

This paper proposes and evaluates an indicator-based and noise-aware dominance operator for evolutionary algorithms to solve the multiobjective optimization problems (MOPs) that contain noise in their objective functions. The proposed operator, U R2 -dominance operator is designed with (1) a quality indicator, called R2 indicator, which quantifies the goodness of a given solution candidate (individual) and (2) a non-parametric (i.e., distribution-free) statistical significance test called the Mann-Whitney U-test. The U R2 -dominance operator takes samples of given two individuals in the objective space, calculates the R2 indicator value for each sample, estimates the impacts of noise on the R2 values with a U-test, and determines which individual is statistically superior/inferior. Experimental results show that it operates reliably in noisy MOPs and outperforms existing noise-aware dominance operators particularly when many outliers exist under asymmetric noise distributions.
The England of Marx and Mill as Reflected in Fiction

The economic distress and the new concern with social problems in England in the 1840's, which underlay the reformulations of political economy in that decade, had also an extensive and significant reflection in imaginative literature. While the novel with a thesis, even a social thesis, was nothing new, it was only in the forties that English literature began to deal on a major scale with the social problems raised by the industrial revolution. One can sense in the novels of this decade an increased urgency and pressure, a more daring and direct attack. This emphasis is so marked that one critic has attempted a correlation between literature and socialism, and has sought to find in the novels of Dickens the same type of social observation and emotional reaction that prompted the analyses of Karl Marx. While such a thesis goes too far and is almost certainly invalid, one can nevertheless find in these novels a historical meaning of a different sort, more complex, but also more interesting and suggestive to the historian.
Medical student dreams about medical school: The unconscious developmental process of becoming a physician

This paper is a report on a collection of almost four hundred dreams of medical students and postgraduate trainees with the manifest content about medical training. It is a unique dream collection from a defined population that experiences a developmental sequence of observable, reality events. The reality events appear in the manifest content of the dreams along with their symbolic alterations. The dreams are used as a psychodynamic database. The data may illustrate which reality experiences seem psychologically formative, their emotional developmental sequences and their specific emotional content. This is a pilot project exploring whether dream material collected from a discrete task group might give information about a group's emotional adaptation. The dreams seem to show an unconscious developmental process in response to medical training and becoming a physician that unfolds in overlapping stages as trainees learn to master skills and tolerate care-giving responsibility for human life. A progressive, unconscious hero-healer fantasy seems to form. It becomes elaborated in masochistic and then sadistic fantasies. These fantasies are evoked by, and used as a defense against, inevitable but painful anxieties of emotional adaptation to medical education experiences.
Alpha-Blockade Therapy for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: from a Nonselective to a More Selective Alpha1A-Adrenergic Antagonist

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is very common in older men, causing symptoms that can markedly impair quality of life. Surgical treatment, typically transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), is highly effective but can be costly and is associated with the risk for significant morbidity. Medical treatments for BPH are targeted toward reducing bladder outlet obstruction either by androgen blockade to reduce prostatic volume or alpha-adrenergic blockade to relax the smooth muscle tone of the prostate. In recent years, understanding of the sympathetic innervation of the prostate has improved. This has been paralleled by the development of alpha-adrenergic blocking agents, from nonselective alpha-antagonists, to selective alpha1-antagonists, to the more selective alpha1A-antagonists. It is anticipated that more specific agents will optimize the therapeutic effectiveness of alpha-adrenergic blockade in the prostate while reducing the side effects associated with alpha-adrenergic blockade in other areas of the body, such as the vascular system. This article reviews the evolution of alpha-blockade therapy in management of BPH, focusing on tamsulosin, an agent targeted toward the alpha1A-adrenoceptor that predominates in the prostate. Clinical trials in Europe and the United States have provided evidence that tamsulosin is effective at doses of 0.4 and 0.8 mg/day. At both doses, tamsulosin is associated with significant improvements in the American Urological Association symptom score and the mean and peak urinary flow rates as compared with placebo. This once-daily alpha1A-adrenergic antagonist is well-tolerated, with a minimal potential for the side effects associated with alphas-blocker therapy.
Efficient root-finding algorithm with application to list decoding of algebraic-geometric codes

A list decoding for an error-correcting code is a decoding algorithm that generates a list of codewords within a Hamming distance t from the received vector, where t can be greater than the error-correction bound. In previous work by M. Shokrollahi and H. Wasserman (see ibid., vol.45, p.432-7, March 1999) a list-decoding procedure for Reed-Solomon codes was generalized to algebraic-geometric codes. Recent work by V. Guruswami and M. Sudan (see ibid., vol.45, p.1757-67, Sept. 1999) gives improved list decodings for Reed-Solomon codes and algebraic-geometric codes that work for all rates and have many applications. However, these list-decoding algorithms are rather complicated. R. Roth and G. Ruckenstein (see ibid., vol.46, p.246-57, Jan. 2000) proposed an efficient implementation of the list decoding of Reed-Solomon codes. In this correspondence, extending Roth and Ruckenstein's fast algorithm for finding roots of univariate polynomials over polynomial rings, i.e., the reconstruct algorithm, we present an efficient algorithm for finding the roots of univariate polynomials over function fields. Based on the extended algorithm, we give an efficient list-decoding algorithm for algebraic-geometric codes.
Secondary eyewall formation in two idealized, full-physics modeled hurricanes

[1] Prevailing hypotheses for secondary eyewall formation are examined using data sets from two high-resolution mesoscale numerical model simulations of the long-time evolution of an idealized hurricane vortex in a quiescent tropical environment with constant background rotation. The modeled hurricanes each undergo a secondary eyewall cycle, casting doubt on a number of other authors' hypotheses for secondary eyewall formation due to idealizations present in the simulation formulations. A new hypothesis for secondary eyewall formation is proposed here and is shown to be supported by these high-resolution numerical simulations. The hypothesis requires the existence of a region with moderate horizontal strain deformation and a sufficient low-level radial potential vorticity gradient associated with the primary swirling flow, moist convective potential, and a wind-moisture feedback process at the air-sea interface to form the secondary eyewall. The crux of the formation process is the generation of a finite-amplitude lower-tropospheric cyclonic jet outside the primary eyewall with a jet width on the order of a local effective beta scale determined by the mean low-level radial potential vorticity gradient and the root-mean square eddy velocity. This jet is hypothesized to be generated by the anisotropic upscale cascade and axisymmetrization of convectively generated vorticity anomalies through horizontal shear turbulence and sheared vortex Rossby waves as well as by the convergence of system-scale cyclonic vorticity by the low-level radial inflow associated with the increased convection. Possible application to the problem of forecasting secondary eyewall events is briefly considered.
Efficient Use of Dynamically tagged Directories Through Compiler Analysis

Dynamiically tagged directories have been recently proposed as a memory-efficient mechanism for maintaining cache coherence in large-scale shared-memory multiprocessors. In order to efficiently use these directories, the number of pointer operations must be minimized and pointers should be allocated as late as possible. If pointers are allocated too early, frequent pointer overflow will occur, which in turn may cause cache thrashing.