cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Convergence of the Markov Chain Distributed Particle Filter (MCDPF)

The Markov Chain Distributed Particle Filter (MCDPF) is an algorithm for the nodes in a sensor network to cooperatively run a particle filter, based on each sensor making updates to a local particle set using only local measurements, and then having particles exchanged between neighboring sensors based on a Markov chain on the network. This paper extends previously-known almost sure convergence results for the MCDPF to prove that the MCDPF convergences to the optimal filter in mean square as the number of particles and the number of Markov chain steps both go to infinity. The convergence proof derives an explicit error bound, showing that the convergence is inverse square-root in both parameters. A numerical example is provided to support the theoretical result.
Evaluation of the expression of a male-specific antigen on cells of equine blastocysts

This experiment was designed (1) to determine if H-Y antigen is expressed on the cell surface of pre-implantation equine blastocyst stage embryos, (2) if so, to identify differences in expression on inner cell mass (ICM) verses trophectoderm cells and (3) to evaluate whether the detection of this glycoprotein would aid in the identification of equine embryonic sex. A total of 33 blastocyst stage horse embryos were collected 6-7 days post-ovulation by trans-cervical flush and were immediately evaluated for the presence of H-Y antigen. Additionally, 17 embryos, collected at similar stages and cultured for 72 h, were similarly evaluated. Embryos were recovered and evaluated by use of a dissecting microscope and then washed for 5 min in phosphate buffered saline supplemented with 1 g/l glucose, 36 mg/l pyruvate, 1% antibiotic-antimycotic and 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) (PBS-2). Embryos were placed in the primary antibody medium and cultured for 60 min. The primary antibody medium consisted of monoclonal antibodies to H-Y antigen (previously determined to have male-specific activity) dilute 1/5 (v/v) with PBS-2 (without FCS, PBS-1). Following an additional wash, embryos were cultured in PBS-1 containing 1/10 (v/v) fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated goat anti-mouse or rabbit antimouse IgM Fc specific antiserum. Embryos were evaluated at 200-400 x to identify cell specific fluorescence of either trophectoderm or ICM cells. Following evaluation, embryonic sex was independently verified with karyotypes to identify sex chromosomes. Of the 50 embryos evaluated, 29 were evaluated as non-fluorescent and 21 fluorescent. Expression of H-Y antigen was detected on both trophectoderm and ICM cell types in those embryos classified as fluorescent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Predictive Regression with Order-P Autoregressive Predictor

Studies of predictive regressions analyze the case where yt is predicted by xt-1 with xt being first-order autoregressive, AR(1). Under some conditions, the OLS- estimated predictive coefficient is known to be biased. We analyze a predictive model where yt is predicted by xt-1, xt-2,... xt-p with xt being autoregressive of order p, AR(p) with p > 1. We develop a generalized augmented regression method that produces a reduced-bias point estimate of the predictive coefficients and derive an appropriate hypothesis testing procedure. We apply our method to the prediction of quarterly stock returns by dividend yield, which is apparently AR(2). Using our method results in the AR(2) predictor series having insignificant effect, although under OLS, or the commonly assumed AR(1) structure, the predictive model is significant. We also generalize our method to the case of multiple AR(p) predictors.
Polychromatic Speckle Reduction in Laser Pico-Projectors Using Stationary Dual Hadamard Diffusers

Speckle from coherent light sources continues to be a limiting factor in the design and manufacturing of laser projectors. Utilizing diffractive diffusers has been an effective method for reducing monochromatic speckle contrast. Color laser projection devices require the use of red, green, and blue laser sources therefore; using a monochromatic diffractive diffuser may not be optimal for color speckle contrast reduction. A new static dual-diffuser system utilizing Hadamard matrices has been designed to reduce full color speckle. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the new Hadamard diffusers in reducing speckle using three separate RGB laser diodes. A simulation of the Hadamard diffusers is conducted to determine the optimum spacing between the two diffusers for polychromatic speckle reduction. Experimental measured results are presented using the optimal spacing of Hadamard diffusers for RGB color speckle reduction showing 60% reduction in contrast
Application of the S2∞ and C∞ point groups for the prediction of polymer chirality

Polymer chirality assignment is achieved with the first chemical applications of the S2∞ and C∞ molecular point groups to infinite cyclic polymers, obviating the usual dependence on translational symmetry operations.
The Agitated Psychotic Patient: Guidelines to Ensure Staff and Patient Safety:

Abstract Patient-perpetrated violence is a serious problem that affects large numbers of nursing and healthcare staff. Incidents of assaultive behavior can lead to patient and staff injury, loss of productivity, and increased stress and burnout among healthcare professionals. The use of restraints for aggressive or assaultive behavior is governed by guidelines of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Guidelines for dealing with the acutely agitated patient have recently been published by an expert consensus panel. All three sources agree that the use of nonphysical forms of behavior management (e.g., verbal intervention or show of force) is the appropriate first-line strategy. If medication is required, the current recommendation is the use of oral forms rather than intramuscular (IM) preparations, such as haloperidol and lorazepam, which have been the standard of care for many years. The primary disadvantages of injectables are the potential for injury and trauma to the patient, which is of special relevance for patients with paranoia, confusion, or previous assaults. Recent results suggest that oral formulations of atypical antipsychotics (e.g., risperidone) in combination with oral benzodiazepines (e.g., lorazepam) are as effective as similar IM treatments (e.g., haloperidol) in reducing psychotic agitation. Although additional large-scale studies are needed, early findings suggest that these oral formulations offer a less traumatic form of treatment than conventional IM drugs. For patients who will not accept oral medication, IM formulations of newer drugs are under investigation. These drugs (e.g., olanzapine, ziprasidone) may offer lower risk of side effects compared with older medications like haloperidol. (J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc [2002]. 8, S2-S8.)
The dark side of image marketing

Today's tourism marketing is heavily focused on conveying a positive image to prospective consumer segments. Doing so is fully consistent with traditional marketing practices that attempt to develop the product, price it, promote it, and distribute it in a manner most likely to convey the most positive image attributes possible.
Efficient Distributed Topology Control in 3-Dimensional Wireless Networks

Distributed topology control mechanisms for 3-dimensional settings are of considerable interest for automated network configuration in diverse applications including structural monitoring networks and underwater networks. The 3-D CBTC technique proposed by Bahramgiri et al. [7] has a complexity of O (d 3 log d), where d represents the average number of neighbors per node. We present two efficient alternatives. The first is a heuristic based on 2-D orthographic projections that provides excellent performance in practice, but is theoretically not guaranteed to produce a connected network. The second is a more rigorous approach based on spherical Delaunay triangulation (SDT). Both have significantly better running times that scale as O (d log d). Our simulation results indicate that network topologies generated based on the SDT algorithm have substantially lower average node degree and average transmission power level compared to the original network for random deployments.
Regulation of Tissue-Specific and Extracellular Matrix-Related Genes by a Class I Histone Deacetylase

Class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) repress transcription by deacetylating histones and have been shown to play crucial roles in mouse, Xenopus, zebrafish, and C. elegans development. To identify the molecular networks regulated by a class I HDAC in a multicellular organism, we carried out a global gene expression profiling study using C. elegans embryos, and identified tissue-specific and extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes as major HDA-1 targets. Ectopic expression of HDA-1 or C. elegans cystatin, an HDA-1 target identified from the microarray, significantly perturbed mammalian cell invasion. Similarly, RNAi depletion or overexpression of human HDAC-1 also affected cell migration. These findings suggest that HDA-1/HDAC-1 may play a critical, evolutionarily conserved role in regulating the extracellular microenvironment. Because human HDACs are targets for cancer therapy, these findings have significant implications in cancer treatment.
Analysis of alpha-2 adrenergic agonist effects on the delayed nonmatch-to-sample performance of aged rhesus monkeys.

Abstract The administration of alpha-2 adrenergic agonists to aged monkeys has been shown to ameliorate their cognitive deficits on the delayed response (DR) task, a test of spatial working memory (3,5). The present experiment tested whether the alpha-2 agonists, clonidine and guanfacine, would also improve working memory for object feature recognition, as tested by the delayed nonmatch-to-sample (DNMS) task. Five aged monkeys were trained on DNMS and were found to have mild performance deficits comparable to those reported previously for monkeys of similar age (32). However, during the subsequent two years of drug testing, the animals' baseline performance steadily improved, and conditions had to be made progressively more difficult to produce errors in performance. Clonidine and guanfacine significantly altered the DNMS performance of the aged monkeys, but drug-induced improvement was not as robust for DNMS as it was for DR. Clonidine produced a triphasic dose/response curve: Impairment was observed at both very low and high doses, while modest improvement was seen in the middle dose range (average maximal improvement of 21 ± 2.4%). Although improvement could occasionally be replicated for some doses, the clonidine dose/response curves were remarkably inconsistent in the middle dose range. Similarly, doses of guanfacine which had previously produced optimal improvement on the DR task, produced only small but significant improvement in DNMS performance (average improvement of 11 ± 3% for the 0.00011–0.000011 mg/kg dose range). By the end of the drug study, three monkeys were performing well (70–75% correct) with lists of 20 objects and over 400 sec delays, and one monkey performed better than 85% correct with lists of 40 objects and over 800 sec delays. Given the high level of performance of the aged monkeys on the DNMS task, it is unclear whether the weak improvement produced by alpha-2 agonists on the DNMS as compared to the DR task is due to ceiling effects, or rather results from alpha-2 adrenergic mechanisms being more important for spatial working memory than memory for object features. Future experiments utilizing a more difficult object working memory task will be necessary to resolve this issue.
The Way Biomedical Research Is Organized Has Dramatically Changed Over the Past Half-Century: Are the Changes for the Better?

Biomedical research in today's universities is usually carried out by groups consisting of a leader and 5–20 or so trainees. This is in sharp contrast with past generations, when research was usually done by individuals or small partnerships of two or three who thought up their own ideas and carried them out themselves. Group leaders today spend their time in an office, on a wide variety of administrative tasks, and have little or no time left for work at the bench. I recommend that leaders try to change the system by forming smaller groups and insisting on reserving their own time at the bench. I suggest that trainees, before beginning their research, look for laboratories where groups are small and independent, with leaders engaged actively in research.
Aptitude from an information-processing perspective

For some years now I have been wrestling with the question of aptitude from within an information-processing perspective. In this article I will briefly outline the approach I take, examine how apt...
Calyptolana hancocki, a new genus and species of marine isopod (Cirolanidae) from Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, with a synopsis of Cirolanidae known from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico

ABSTRACT Calyptolanahancocki, new genus, new species, is figured and described, and its affinities to other genera discussed. The zoogeography of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico cirolanid fauna is briefly discussed. A synopsis of Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico cirolanids is given along with keys to the cirolanid-related families, and to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico cirolanid genera.
7-Spiroindanyl Derivatives of Naltrexone and Oxymorphone as Selective Ligands for δ Opioid Receptors

A series consisting of spiroindanyl (5−7), benzospiroindanyl (8−10), and spiroperinaphthyl (11) derivatives of naltrexone and oxymorphone were synthesized in order to investigate the role of an orthogonal-oriented “address” for δ opioid receptors. All of the ligands exhibited a preference for δ receptors in vitro. The 7-benzospiroindanyl derivative 8 (BSINTX) was the most selective δ opioid receptor antagonist in vitro. In mice BSINTX antagonized the δ1- selective agonist, [d-Pen2,d-Pen5]enkephalin without significantly affecting the antinociceptive potency of δ2, μ, and κ agonists. The results of this study are consistent with an orthogonally-oriented address favoring δ1 activity.
A modest protocol.

O n September 27, 1978, the director of a major government research institute called for an extraordinary experiment. Arthur C. Upton, head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), approved a clinical trial for the controversial anti-cancer drug, Laetrile. The uninformed reader might well interpret this decision as a routine health policy judgment based upon the usual clinical criteria for testing potential anti-tumor agents. Some background is necessary to correct this misapprehension and thus assure a proper appreciation of the broadened perspectives that have encouraged NCI to move beyond the limits of traditional medical research.
Structural determinants of ion permeation in CRAC channels

CRAC channels generate Ca 2+ signals critical for the activation of immune cells and exhibit an intriguing pore profile distinguished by extremely high Ca 2+ selectivity, low Cs + permeability, and small unitary conductance. To identify the ion conduction pathway and gain insight into the structural bases of these permeation characteristics, we introduced cysteine residues in the CRAC channel pore subunit, Orai1, and probed their accessibility to various thiol-reactive reagents. Our results indicate that the architecture of the ion conduction pathway is characterized by a flexible outer vestibule formed by the TM1-TM2 loop, which leads to a narrow pore flanked by residues of a helical TM1 segment. Residues in TM3, and specifically, E190, a residue considered important for ion selectivity, are not close to the pore. Moreover, the outer vestibule does not significantly contribute to ion selectivity, implying that Ca 2+ selectivity is conferred mainly by E106. The ion conduction pathway is sufficiently narrow along much of its length to permit stable coordination of Cd 2+ by several TM1 residues, which likely explains the slow flux of ions within the restrained geometry of the pore. These results provide a structural framework to understand the unique permeation properties of CRAC channels.
Changes in Neural Circuitry Regulating Response-Reversal Learning and Arc-Mediated Consolidation of Learning in Rats with Methamphetamine-Induced Partial Monoamine Loss

Methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity results in long-lasting depletions of monoamines and changes in basal ganglia function. We previously reported that rats with METH-induced neurotoxicity no longer engage dorsomedial striatum during a response-reversal learning task, as their performance is insensitive to acute disruption of dorsomedial striatal function by local infusion of an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist or an antisense oligonucleotide against the activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated (Arc) gene. However, METH-pretreated rats perform the task as well as controls. Therefore, we hypothesized that the neural circuitry involved in the learning had changed in METH-pretreated rats. To test this hypothesis, rats were pretreated with a neurotoxic regimen of METH or with saline. After 3–5 weeks, rats were trained on the reversal-learning task and in situ hybridization for Arc was performed. A significant correlation between Arc expression and performance on the task was found in nucleus accumbens shell of METH-, but not saline-, pretreated rats. Consistent with the idea that the correlation between Arc expression in a brain region and behavioral performance implicates that brain region in the learning, infusion of an antisense oligonucleotide against Arc into the shell impaired consolidation of reversal learning in METH-, but not saline-, pretreated rats. These findings provide novel evidence suggesting that METH-induced neurotoxicity leads to a shift from dorsal to ventral striatal involvement in the reversal-learning task. Such reorganization of neural circuitry underlying learning and memory processes may contribute to impaired cognitive function in individuals with METH-induced neurotoxicity or others with striatal dopamine loss, such as patients with Parkinson's disease.
Coexistence of superfluid and rigid moments of inertia in 76,78Kr

Abstract High spin states in 76,78 Kr were populated via the 63 Cu( 16 O,n2p) 76 Kr and 64 Ni( 18 O,4n) 78 Kr reactions at 69 MeV and γγ coincidence data were collected. New band crossings and quasi-particle alignments are discussed. Moments of inertia of bands built on intrinsic excitations are found to be exceptionally constant with spin and equal to the rigid-body value, indicating strong suppression of coherent pairing correlations. The coexistence of such bands with bands of reduced, superfluid moments of inertia suggests the appearance of a new phenomenon: phase coexistence.
A comparison of costs for abdominal, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted sacral colpopexy

The aim of this study was to compare the short-term estimated hospital costs and charges for open, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted sacral colpopexy. The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in costs and charges. Fifteen comparable cases were reviewed for demographics, surgical information, and estimated hospital charges and costs and then compared with analysis of variance. There were no differences in demographics and surgical variables among the three groups. For estimated hospital charges, minimally invasive sacral colpopexy was most expensive; open was the least expensive approach. The estimated direct costs were significantly higher for robot-assisted compared with open sacral colpopexy, but not different between robot-assisted and laparoscopic sacral colpopexy. Robot-assisted sacral colpopexy produces the highest estimated hospital charges and is more expensive than open sacral colpopexy. The least expensive surgical approach from the hospital costs perspective is open abdominal sacral colpopexy.
Branching Ratios in Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Discussion of the problem of measuring branching ratios or transition probabilities using the technique of photoelectron spectroscopy in terms of the angular distribution of the ejected photoelectrons. Equations are developed that can be used in conjunction with any type of electron-energy analyzer to correct for any discrimination in the analyzer caused by electrons of varying angular distribution. Results are presented for the branching ratios of the A super 2 pi sub u and B super 2 sigma sub u (+) states of CO2(+) produced by 584 A and obtained by a variety of electron-energy analyzers.
Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Young Children

Although acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common pediatric problems, the debate over treatment, especially in young children, continues. The 2004 Guideline on treatment of AOM stated that observation without antimicrobial therapy was an option for selected children 6−24 months of age with AOM. Two recent randomized trials sought to determine the necessity of antimicrobial treatment in young children; both studies found modest, statistically significant, positive effects of treatment. However, these studies provoked a flurry of discussion in the literature and the issue remains unsettled. That prevention is preferable to treatment is not controversial. Eliminating or modifying risk factors and use of vaccines, both bacterial and viral, may help decrease the number of AOM episodes. The discussion on treatment of AOM in young children must also take into account side effects of treatment and effect of treatment on possible long-lasting sequelae of AOM, such as developmental outcomes.
Condylar cartilage in the muscular dystrophic mouse

Abstract The adaptability of condylar cartilage has been demonstrated previously after experimentally created functional alteration. This study was undertaken to examine the morphology of condylar cartilage in animals affected with a progressive muscular disease. Muscular dystrophic male mice (genotype: dy/dy, dy/ + x dy/ +, Jackson Laboratory, Maine) and corresponding unaffected control mice were decapitated at ages 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks, and their heads processed for histology. The cellular morphology of the condylar cartilage in the youngest age group was similar in dystophic and control mice: the cartilage was a hypertrophic type. At ages 6 and 9 weeks, the maturational progression toward the nonhypertrophic form was observed in the dystrophic and control groups, the latter having flatter condylar heads. Differences were still evident at age 12 weeks. These observations were supported by measurements of the ratios of the mean cartilage thickness to condylar width (c/w), mean condylar height to width (h/w), and mean cartilage thickness to condylar height (c/h). This study supports the hypothesis that the adaptive nature of condylar cartilage may be regulated by the force levels to which the condyle is subjected.
Association between non-enzymatic glycation, resorption, and microdamage in human tibial cortices

To better understand the association between different components of bone quality, we investigated the relationship among in vivo generated non-enzymatic glycation, resorption, and microdamage. The results showed negative correlation between advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and resorption independent of age highlighting the interaction between these parameters that may lead to bone fragility. Changes in the quality of bone material contribute significantly to bone fragility. In order to establish a better understanding of the interaction of the different components of bone quality and their influence on bone fragility, we investigated the relationship between non-enzymatic glycation, resorption, and microdamage generated in vivo in cortical bone using bone specimens from the same donors. Total fluorescent advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) were measured in 96 human cortical bone samples from 83 donors. Resorption pit density, average resorption pit area, and percent resorption area were quantified in samples from 48 common donors with AGE measurements. Linear microcrack density and diffuse damage were measured in 21 common donors with AGE and resorption measurements. Correlation analyses were performed between all measured variables to establish the relationships among them and their variation with age. We found that average resorption pit area and percent resorption area decreased with increasing AGEs independently of age. Resorption pit density and percent resorption area demonstrated negative age-adjusted correlation with diffuse damage. Furthermore, average resorption pit area, resorption pit density, and percent resorption area were found to decrease significantly with age. The current study demonstrated the in vivo interrelationship between the organic constituents, remodeling, and damage formation in cortical bone. In addition to the age-related reduction in resorption, there is a negative correlation between AGEs and resorption independent of age. This inverse relationship indicates that AGEs alter the resorption process and/or accumulate in the tissue as a result of reduced resorption and may lead to bone fragility by adversely affecting fracture resistance through altered bone matrix properties.
Intrahousehold allocation of energy intake among children under five years and their parents in rural Bangladesh

Data collected during 1977-78 in 4 villages in Matlab Thana Bangladesh on 207 children under 5 years of age and their 145 mothers and 123 fathers were used to investigate the hypothesis that when daily energy intake is adjusted for energy expenditure energy needs are met and no age or gender bias will be evident in intrahousehold energy allocation. During the 12-month study period data were collected every 2 months on 24-hour dietary energy intake and physical activity. Womens energy intake ranged from 75% to 88% of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) recommended intake even though their physical activity levels frequent pregnancies and long lactation periods increased their energy needs. Mens energy intake ranged from 89% to 114% of the FAO/WHO standard. Among weaned children energy consumption unadjusted for energy expenditure provided 86-108% of the recommended energy intake by weight. The finding that fathers generally met their energy requirements is assumed to reflect their role as producers of the familys food supply. Feeding men during periods of peak agricultural labor demand even at the expense of lower intakes for their wives and children may be perceived as essential to the households survival. Agricultural and income generation programs to increase total energy availability to households family planning services to diminish the burden of childbearing and enhanced educational opportunities for women all have the potential to help mothers meet their energy needs.
Kinetics of phase ordering in uniaxial and biaxial nematic films.

The phase ordering process following a quench to both the uniaxial and biaxial nematic phases of a quasi-two-dimensional nematic liquid crystal is investigated numerically. The time dependences of the correlation function, structure factor, energy density, and number densities of topological defects are computed. It is found that the correlation function and the structure factor apparently collapse on to scaling curves over a wide range of times. The correlation length ${\mathit{L}}_{\mathrm{cor}}$(t) is found to grow as a power law in the time since the quench t, with a growth exponent of ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{cor}}$=0.407\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.005. The growth exponents of the characteristic length scales obtained from the energy length (${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{en}}$) and the defect number densities (${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{def}}$), however, are found to differ from ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{cor}}$. The discrepancy between ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{cor}}$ and ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}_{\mathrm{def}}$ indicates a violation of dynamical scaling, a violation that is not apparent from our data for the correlation function alone. The observation that all the measured growth exponents are smaller than 0.5 (i.e., the value expected from dimensional analysis) is addressed in terms of properties of point defects in two dimensions, and the annihilation process of an isolated defect pair in a uniaxial nematic phase is investigated. Following the quench to the biaxial nematic phase, there are four topologically distinct defect species present in the system, the populations of which are studied in detail. It is found that only two types of defects are observed in large numbers at late times, and a mechansim for the selection of the prevailing defect species is proposed.
Basic fibroblast growth factor selectively amplifies the functional state of neurons producing neuropeptide Y but not somatostatin in cultures of fetal brain cells: evidence for a cooperative interaction with insulin-like growth factor-I

The role of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in regulating the functional state of neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons in the brain was investigated, using aggregate cultures, derived from 17-day-old fetal rat cortex maintained for 16 days in serum-free medium, as a model. The criterion for the functional state was NPY production in response to a 24-h exposure to forskolin + phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (For + PMA). bFGF (0.1 nM) induced a approximately 2-fold increase in NPY production under basal conditions as well as after For + PMA (p < 0.001 vs control). To address the possibility that bFGF may interact with other growth factors, we assessed the effect of bFGF in the presence of long R3-insulin-like growth factor-I (l-IGF-I; 1 nM) and found that NPY production in response to For + PMA was even greater than with bFGF alone (2-fold; p < 0.001); even though l-IGF-I by itself was ineffective; suggesting that bFGF is the driving force of this amplification. To assess the selectivity of this process, we e...
Photoreaction of indole-containing mycotoxins to fluorescent products

Photochemical reaction of the non-fluorescent mycotoxin cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) to fluorescent products was recently reported. Because CPA contains an indole moiety, believed to contribute to the fluorescence, it was of interest to determine whether the effect might be more generally applicable to indole-containing mycotoxins. Three indole-containing tremorgens (penitrem A, paxilline, verruculogen) that have not previously been reported to be fluorescent were rendered fluorescent by exposure to ultraviolet light in a photoreactor. Naturally fluorescent ergot alkaloids, which also contain an indole-moiety, exhibited a diminished response after exposure. This suggests that the phenomenon may be most useful for detection of indole-containing tremorgens that are non-fluorescent, rather than for the enhancement of materials that are already fluorescent, such as the ergot alkaloids. The extent to which fluorescence enhancement was seen was strongly influenced by the reaction environment, in particular the solvent used and whether cyclodextrins were present. In an HPLC format, placement of the photoreactor post-column allowed for the fluorescence detection of penitrem A, paxilline, and verruculogen. The ability to photoreact indole-containing tremorgens and detect them by fluorescence may open up new avenues for detection of these mycotoxins alone or in combination.
The Historian Banished: Karl Lamprecht in Imperial Germany

No historical controversy has had as great an impact on the German historical profession, not even the debate about Fritz Fischer's book in 1961! or the Historikerstreit,2 as has the Lamprecht-Streit. It occurred at the end of the nineteenth century at a time of increasing interest in social history in Germany and elsewhere, as a result of the rising aware? ness of the problems that accompanied industrialization.3 The controversy resulted in the effective stifling of this incipient interest in social history at German universities. Considering the significance of Lamprecht for the course of German historiography, it is surprising that no major biography of Lamprecht has appeared until now. Indeed, the only biography written about Lamprecht was an unpublished hagiographical one by a student of his.4 Two recent studies that were completed in the past ten years dealt rather narrowly with methodological issues without touching on the broader setting in which these issues were discussed.5 In this examination of "a German academic life," Roger Chickering succeeds in recreating the world in which Lamprecht's work took shape by viewing him as part of the
Preoperative Imaging in Colorectal Liver Metastases: Current Practices

Surgical resection offers the only treatment associated with long-term survival for colorectal cancer (CRC) with hepatic metastasis. Imaging studies are paramount for the identification of potential surgical candidates. Synchronous hepatic disease is identified at presentation in 20–30 % of patients and ultimately, hepatic metastases occur in over 50 % of patients diagnosed with CRC. Computed tomography (CT) has been the imaging standard to identify patients with hepatic metastasis, but the array of preoperative imaging has expanded over the past several years. Currently, ultrasound, CT, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography all play a vital role in the management and treatment of stage IV CRC. In addition, patient characteristics such as steatosis and treatment such as neoadjuvant chemotherapy affect imaging of hepatic metastases. The goal of this review is to discuss the current standing of imaging modalities used in the perioperative care of patients with colorectal liver metastasis.
Designing hardware with dynamic memory abstraction

Recent progress in program analysis has produced tools that are able to compute upper bounds on the use of dynamic memory. This opens up a space for the use of dynamic memory abstraction in high-level synthesis. In this paper, we explain how to design hardware using C programs with malloc() and free(). A compilation process is outlined for transforming C programs with heap operations into a hardware description language. As demonstrated by our experiments, this approach is feasible. Further, automatic parallelization of the generated circuits improves by a factor up to 1.9 in terms of clock frequency and a factor up to 2.7 in terms of clock cycles over the previous work.
Delayed stability and performance of distributed congestion control

Recent research efforts to design better Internet transport protocols combined with scalable Active Queue Management (AQM) have led to significant advances in congestion control. One of the hottest topics in this area is the design of discrete congestion control algorithms that are asymptotically stable under heterogeneous feedback delay and whose control equations do not explicitly depend on the RTTs of end-flows. In this paper, we show that max-min fair congestion control methods with a stable symmetric Jacobian remain stable under arbitrary feedback delay (including heterogeneous directional delays) and that the stability condition of such methods does not involve any of the delays. To demonstrate the practicality of the obtained result, we change the original controller in Kelly's work [14] to become robust under random feedback delay and fixed constants of the control equation. We call the resulting framework Max-min Kelly Control (MKC) and show that it offers smooth sending rate, exponential convergence to efficiency, and fast convergence to fairness, all of which make it appealing for future high-speed networks.
Influence of Syllable Train Length and Performance End Effects on Estimation of Phonation Threshold Pressure

Summary Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine whether the number of syllables collected and performance end effects had a significant effect on phonation threshold pressure (PTP) estimates. Methods Ten adult females with normal voices produced five- and seven-syllable trains of /pi/ at low, modal, and high pitches. The results were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance to determine whether a difference existed in PTP when a five-syllable train was collected versus when a seven-syllable train was collected and whether the typically discarded first and last syllables within a train differed from the middle syllables. Results The results indicated that there was no significant difference in estimated PTP values when calculated from a five-syllable versus a seven-syllable train or between the first, middle, and last syllables within a train. Conclusions Based on these findings, it appears that a five-syllable train provides adequate information from which to estimate PTP values. Furthermore, these findings also suggest that within the five-syllable train, any three adjacent syllables could be used to estimate PTP. These findings are significant in developing a clinically standardized, effective, and efficient method for collecting PTP.
Teaching Behavior Questionnaire: Verifying Factor Structure and Investigating Depressive Symptoms in Catholic Middle and High Schools.

Teaching behavior impacts student psychopathology. This study explored the associations between teaching behavior types and depressive symptoms in students. The Teaching Behavior Questionnaire (TBQ) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were completed by 763 middle and 976 high school students from private Catholic schools. In the middle school sample, a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the four-factor structure of the TBQ previously found in public high schools. As predicted, a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis with the high school sample found that only the Negative Teaching Behavior scale of the TBQ was positively related to CES-D scores, (p < .05). A separate two-level HLM analysis with middle school students found the Instructional Behavior scale was negatively related to CES-D scores (p < .05) and the Organizational Behavior scale was positively related to the CES-D scores (p < .01). Implications of the findings for school personnel are discussed.
Insulin-like growth factor-I promotes resistance of bovine preimplantation embryos to heat shock through actions independent of its anti-apoptotic actions requiring PI3K signaling.

For the bovine preimplantation embryo, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a survival factor that blocks the induction of apoptosis and reduces the decrease in development caused by heat shock. The first objective was to determine the signaling pathways whereby IGF-I acts to increase embryo cell number while inhibiting heat-shock induc- ed apoptosis. Exposure of embryos to heat shock reduced cell number and increased percent apoptosis, but IGF-I increased cell number and blocked induction of apoptosis caused by heat shock. Actions of IGF-I to increase cell number were blocked by treatment with the mitogen activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK) inhibitor PD 98059 whereas the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY 294002 had no effect. Conversely, LY 294002 but not PD 98059 blocked actions of IGF-I to inhibit induction of apoptosis caused by heat shock. The second objective was to determine whether IGF-I blocks effects of heat shock on devel- opment to the blastocyst stage by preventing apopto- sis. Culture of embryos with IGF-I was effective in blocking the reduction in blastocyst development caused by heat shock—this action occurred even in the presence of LY 294002. Addition of another inhibitor of apoptosis, the caspase-3 inhibitor z-DEVD- fmk, did not mimic the protective effects of IGF-I on blastocyst development. Surprisingly, IGF-I was not effective in blocking the reduction in blastocyst development caused by heat shock when cultured with z-DEVD-fmk. In conclusion, the anti-apoptotic actions of IGF-I require PI3K signaling while actions to promote proliferation require MAPKK signaling. More- over, actions of IGF-I to allow heat-shocked embryos to continue development to the blastocyst stage are independent of its anti-apoptotic effects. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 74: 189-196, 2007. 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Long-term surface fuel accumulation in burned and unburned mixed-conifer forests of the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada, CA (USA)

After nearly a century of fire exclusion in many central and southern Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests, dead and down surface fuels have reached high levels without the recurring fires that consume the accumulated organic matter. The effects of prescribed fires used to reduce fuel loads and restore fire have been monitored in Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks for over 30 years. Ten years following prescribed fire treatments in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, mean total fuel loads accumulated to 84 percent of pre-fire levels in ponderosa pine forests, 83 percent in white fir-mixed conifer, and 66 percent in giant sequoia-mixed conifer forests. Thirty-one years after burning, mean fuel load of fine and sound woody fuels increased in ponderosa pine research plots in Yosemite. Most fuel accumulation appeared to occur within the first decade after fire, however the post-fire fuel complex was different than that pre-fire. In areas that have remained unburned, surface fuel accumulation appears to be relatively slow and may indicate that decay rates have approached accumulation rates for the mixed-conifer forest types. This long-term information has important implications for fire management planning, including scheduling fuel hazard reduction and subsequent maintenance treatments.
Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of Self-Assembled Films of PbSe Nanocrystals Treated with 1,2-Ethanedithiol

We describe the structural, optical, and electrical properties of high-quality films of PbSe nanocrystals fabricated by a layer-by-layer (LbL) dip-coating method that utilizes 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) as an insolubilizing agent. Comparative characterization of nanocrystal films made by spin-coating and by the LbL process shows that EDT quantitatively displaces oleic acid on the PbSe surface, causing a large volume loss that electronically couples the nanocrystals while severely degrading their positional and crystallographic order of the films. Field-effect transistors based on EDT-treated films are moderately conductive and ambipolar in the dark, becoming p-type and 30–60 times more conductive under 300 mW cm−2 broadband illumination. The nanocrystal films oxidize rapidly in air to yield, after short air exposures, highly conductive p-type solids. The LbL process described here is a general strategy for producing uniform, conductive nanocrystal films for applications in optoelectronics and solar energy co...
Image Understanding: A Driving Application for Research in Heterogeneous Parallel Processing

This paper surveys the field of image understanding, or knowledge-based computer vision, from the perspective of a driving application for research into heterogeneous parallel processing. Image understanding is so rich in its diversity of methodologies and so inherently computational intensive that it naturally demands a very heterogeneous mix of parallelism. This paper begins by exploring some of the diversity of potential parallelism in vision, and then considers the implications for both architectural and software issues of heterogeneous parallel processing.
The "Billion Dollar Box" Study of Science Missions to Saturnian Satellites

Cassini/Huygens (C/H) mission investigations verify Saturnian satellites Titan and Enceladus as objects of intense interest to planetary scientists and astrobiologists. Recently NASA commissioned a study of potential relatively low-cost missions to these icy satellites, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with science and engineering teams from prominent universities, FFRDCs, and NASA centers. NASA was interested in determining whether there are scientifically viable missions to Titan or Enceladus within the constraints of a (possibly slightly expanded) New Frontiers mission. The C/H mission's extremely capable instrumentation and thorough investigation of the Saturn system make that a difficult, though not obviously impossible, task. Any such mission must exceed C/H capabilities (in, for instance, imaging coverage or resolution, or range of constituents identifiable) to be scientifically worthwhile. Beginning in October 2006 these teams assessed science objectives for the two destinations and surveyed architectural options for implementing worthwhile subsets of the global lists of science objectives, attempting to find mission concepts both scientifically justifiable and within New Frontiers constraints. These studies were completed in early 2007 and the somewhat surprising results, that there appear to be no such missions, reported to NASA. This presentation gives the results of the studies and examines interesting individual missions.
Nonlinear C-filters for nonstationary signals and deconvolution in impulsive noise

The combination filter or C-filter incorporates both temporal and rank-order information of the input sequence to produce its outputs. It can be used as an equalization filter to restore an original waveform which has been dispersed by a channel, in the presence of additive white Gaussian and impulsive noise. The filter coefficients can be designed by using the LMS (least mean squares) algorithm. This approach is examined and an example is given demonstrating the usefulness of the C-filter. The authors consider a technique which combines both rank-order statistics and FIR (finite impulse response) filtering schemes to deconvolve noisy channel characteristics, and to simultaneously reject the impulse noise. The problem of gain normalization at frequencies other than zero is also addressed; this arises during filtering of nonstationary signals in impulsive noise. It is concluded that the C-filter provides a useful alternative to the FIR filter for applications in inverse filtering and frequency-selective nonstationary signal restoration when the additive noise contains impulsive components and step nonstationarity in signal level. >
Reactive oxygen species in redox cancer therapy

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer cells has been intensively studied for the past two decades. Cancer cells mostly have higher basal ROS levels than their normal counterparts. The induction of ROS has been shown to be associated with cancer development, metastasis, progression, and survival. Various therapeutic approaches targeting intracellular ROS levels have yielded mixed results. As widely accepted dietary supplements, antioxidants demonstrate both ROS scavenging ability and anti-cancer characteristics. However, antioxidants may not always be safe to use since excessive intake of antioxidants could lead to serious health concerns. In this review, we have evaluated the production and scavenging systems of ROS in cells, as well as the beneficial and harmful roles of ROS in cancer cells. We also examine the effect of antioxidants in cancer treatment, the effect of combined treatment of antioxidants with traditional cancer therapies, and the side effects of excessive antioxidant intake.
Inductance at High Frequencies and Its Relation to the Circuit Equations

Inductance is essentially a low-frequency concept. On the other hand, transmission line analysis based on low-frequency circuit equations can be applied to lines and even antennas carrying high-frequency currents, with approximately correct results in many cases. The problem here attacked is that of determining in what manner the term -LdI/dt, representing the self-induced electromotive force, must be modified when low-frequency circuit theory is applied to high-frequency wire circuits. The results indicate that in addition to a change in L, an entirely new term Nd2I/dt2must be introduced. The quantity ω2N, here called radiactance, has units of ohms and is intimately related to the so-called radiation resistance.