cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emergency radiology eponyms: part 1-Pott's puffy tumor to Kerley B lines.

An eponym is a name based on the name of a person, frequently as a means to honor him/her, and it can be used to concisely communicate or summarize a complex abnormality or injury. However, inappropriate use of an eponym may lead to potentially dangerous miscommunication. Moreover, an eponym may honor the incorrect person or a person who falls into disrepute. Despite their limitations, eponyms are still widespread in medicine. Many commonly used eponyms applied to extremity fractures should be familiar to most emergency radiologists and have been previously reported. Yet, a number of non-extremity eponyms can be encountered in an emergency radiology practice as well. This other group of eponyms encompasses a spectrum of traumatic and non-traumatic pathology. In this first part of a two-part series, the authors discuss a number of non-extremity emergency radiology eponyms, including relevant clinical and imaging features, as well biographical information of the eponyms’ namesakes.
Increased Milk Levels of Transforming Growth Factor-α, β1, and β2 During Escherichia coli-Induced Mastitis

Among the gram-negative bacteria that cause mastitis, Escherichia coli are the most prevalent. The innate immune system provides initial protection against E. coli infection by detecting the presence of the foreign pathogens and by mounting an inflammatory response, the latter of which is mediated by cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Although changes in these cytokines during mastitis have been well-described, it is believed that other mediators moderate mammary gland inflammatory responses as well. The growth factors/cytokines transforming growth factor (TGF)-α, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 are all expressed in the mammary gland and have been implicated in regulating mammary gland development. In other tissues, these growth factors/cytokines have been shown to moderate inflammation. The objective of the current study was to determine whether TGF-α, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 milk concentrations were altered during the course of E. coli-induced mastitis. The contralateral quarters of 11 midlactating Holstein cows were challenged with either saline or 72 cfu of E. coli, and milk samples were collected. Basal milk levels of TGF-α, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 were 98.81 ± 22.69 pg/mL, 3.35 ± 0.49 ng/mL, and 22.36 ± 3.78 ng/mL, respectively. Analysis of whey samples derived from E. coli-infected quarters revealed an increase in milk levels of TGF-α within 16 h of challenge, and these increases persisted for an additional 56 h. Elevated TGF-β1 and TGF-β2 milk concentrations were detected in E. coli-infected quarters 32 h after challenge, and these elevations were sustained throughout the study. Because TGF-α, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 have been implicated in mediating inflammatory processes, their induction during mastitis is consistent with a role for these molecules in mediating mammary gland host innate immune responses to infection.
Africa Project Graduate Student Reports

Taking part in the APSA workshop in Dakar was an enriching experience for my understanding of comparative politics. My research is focused on Latin America and my experience with African politics before the workshop was limited. Even if I would not dare call myself an expert in Africa after just one month in Senegal, I would like to discuss a difference and a similarity between these regions that I found surprising. The workshop reminded me of the title of Wim Wender's movie Far Away, So Close .
Timing is everything: early degradation of abscission layer is associated with increased seed shattering in U.S. weedy rice

Seed shattering, or shedding, is an important fitness trait for wild and weedy grasses. U.S. weedy rice (Oryza sativa) is a highly shattering weed, thought to have evolved from non-shattering cultivated ancestors. All U.S. weedy rice individuals examined to date contain a mutation in the sh4 locus associated with loss of shattering during rice domestication. Weedy individuals also share the shattering trait with wild rice, but not the ancestral shattering mutation at sh4; thus, how weedy rice reacquired the shattering phenotype is unknown. To establish the morphological basis of the parallel evolution of seed shattering in weedy rice and wild, we examined the abscission layer at the flower-pedicel junction in weedy individuals in comparison with wild and cultivated relatives. Consistent with previous work, shattering wild rice individuals possess clear, defined abscission layers at flowering, whereas non-shattering cultivated rice individuals do not. Shattering weedy rice from two separately evolved populations in the U.S. (SH and BHA) show patterns of abscission layer formation and degradation distinct from wild rice. Prior to flowering, the abscission layer has formed in all weedy individuals and by flowering it is already degrading. In contrast, wild O. rufipogon abscission layers have been shown not to degrade until after flowering has occurred. Seed shattering in weedy rice involves the formation and degradation of an abscission layer in the flower-pedicel junction, as in wild Oryza, but is a developmentally different process from shattering in wild rice. Weedy rice abscission layers appear to break down earlier than wild abscission layers. The timing of weedy abscission layer degradation suggests that unidentified regulatory genes may play a critical role in the reacquisition of shattering in weedy rice, and sheds light on the morphological basis of parallel evolution for shattering in weedy and wild rice.
Neoadjuvant treatment for resectable cancer of the esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

Background: There is no general agreement on the effect of neoadjuvant treatment for esophageal cancer on patient survival. Methods: A meta-analysis was performed to determine the effect of preoperative treatment on survival of patients with resectable esophageal cancer and the effect of preoperative treatment on patient mortality. A standard variance-based method was used to derive summary estimates of the absolute difference in both 2-year survival and treatment-related mortality. Results: Eleven randomized trials involving 2311 patients were analyzed. Preoperative chemotherapy improved 2-year survival compared with surgery alone: the absolute difference was 4.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], .3%–8.5%). Marginal evidence of heterogeneity was eliminated by restricting attention to the four most recent studies, which increased the estimate to 6.3% (95% CI, 1.8%–10.7%). For combined chemoradiotherapy, the increase was 6.4% (nonsignificant; 95% CI, −1.2%–14.0%). Treatment-related mortality increased by 1.7% with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (95% CI, −.9%—4.3%) and by 3.4% with chemoradiotherapy (95% CI, −.1%–7.3%), compared with surgery alone. Conclusions: There seems to be a modest survival advantage for patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery, as compared with surgery alone. There is an apparent increase in treatment-related mortality, mainly for patients who receive neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma in type 2 progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis

Background BSEP disease results from mutations in ABCB11, which encodes the bile salt export pump (BSEP). BSEP disease is associated with an increased risk of hepatobiliary cancer.
Chronic life stress, acute stress events, and substance availability in relapse

This study evaluated additive and interactive models of the effects of acute stressful life events, chronic life stressors, and immediate substance availability on substance use following alcohol and drug treatment. One hundred and two veterans meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol, cannabis, or stimulant dependence at treatment entry completed quarterly interviews for one year. Severe chronic stressors and substance availability predicted an increased risk of initiating substance use posttreatment (OR = 5.18 and 3.18, respectively). However, the chronic stressors and immediate substance availability were associated with less protracted substance use (F (2, 67) =17.30, p < 0.001). Substance availability also predicted fewer total drinks consumed. In contrast to chronic stressors, recent stressful life events were not predictive of posttreatment substance initiation or severity. None of the interactions between stress and substance availability were significant. These findings support a model where chronic s...
Cellular autophagy: surrender, avoidance and subversion by microorganisms

Intracellular bacteria and viruses must survive the vigorous antimicrobial responses of their hosts to replicate successfully. The cellular process of autophagy — in which compartments bound by double membranes engulf portions of the cytosol and then mature to degrade their cytoplasmic contents — is likely to be one such host-cell response. Several lines of evidence show that both bacteria and viruses are vulnerable to autophagic destruction and that successful pathogens have evolved strategies to avoid autophagy, or to actively subvert its components, to promote their own replication. The molecular mechanisms of the avoidance and subversion of autophagy by microorganisms will be the subject of much future research, not only to study their roles in the replication of these microorganisms, but also because they will provide — as bacteria and viruses so often have — unique tools to study the cellular process itself.
An attempt to evaluate the steroidogenic activity of synthetic adrenocorticotropic peptides: the circulation method.

Apparent differences between the time curves (as determined by a method designated as the circulation method) of corticosterone concentration in the adrenal venous blood in hypophysectomized rats followed by the administration of natural ACTH and synthetic adrenocorticotropic peptides were demonstrated. When the areas under the curves obtained for 2 or 3 different doses of various adrenocorticotropic preparations were assumed as the responses, parallel dose-response regression lines were obtained for all the peptides tested. The relative potencies computed form this dose-response relationship somewhat differed from those by the established methods. It is suggested that the circulation method may be useful in evaluating the adrenal-stimulating potency of various preparations for therapeutic purposes.
Long‐term measurement of muscle function in the dog hindlimb using a new apparatus

The objective of this study was to develop an apparatus for reliable, reproducible, and minimally invasive measurements of long-term, myoneural function. Twenty conditioned dogs were anesthetized and placed supine with one hindlimb secured in a boot apparatus. The hindpaw was attached to a force transducer that was connected to a recorder for continuous monitoring of torque. Muscles within the anterolateral compartment were stimulated by percutaneous electrodes over the peroneal nerve near the fibular head. This elicited isometric dorsiflexion of the hindpaw. Twitch and tetanic torques correlated positively with dog weight whereas other skeletal-muscle function parameters (time to peak tension, one-half relaxation time, and endurance) were independent of dog weight. Muscle function results were consistent with an overall compartmental composition of 30% Type I and 70% Type II fibers. Repetitive testing of twitch and tetanic torques in the dog legs yielded coefficients of variance of 3–4% (intraday) and 7% (interday). Thus, about onehalf of the interday variability may be accounted for by diet, exercise, and other physiological conditions that change daily. The apparatus was also used to detect myoneural degeneration following tourniquet ischemia. The results indicate that this procedure for evaluating muscle function yields reliable and quantitative results noninvasively, and thus allows long-term testing of muscle function in normal and diseased hindlimbs of dogs.
Archaeal populations in biological soil crusts from arid lands in North America

Archaea are common and abundant members of biological soil crust communities across large-scale biogeographic provinces of arid North America. Regardless of microbial community development, archaeal populations averaged 2 ! 10 7 16S rRNA gene copies per gram of soil, representing around 5% of the prokaryotic (total calculated bacterial and archaeal) numbers assessed by quantitative-PCR. In contrast, archaeal diversity, determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting and clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes, was very restricted. Only six different phylotypes (all Crenarchaea) were detected, three of which were very dominant. Some phylotypes were widespread, while others were typical of Southern desert areas.
A Systolic Array For Efficient Execution Of The Radon And Inverse Radon Transforms

The Systolic Processor with a Reconfigurable Interconnection Network of Transputers (SPRINT) [1] is a sixty-four-element multiprocessor developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to evaluate systolic algorithms and architectures experimentally. The processors are interconnected in a reconfigurable network which can emulate networks such as the two-dimensional mesh, the triangular mesh, the tree, and the shuffle-exchange network. New systolic algorithms and architectures are described which perform the Radon transform [8] and inverse Radon transform with efficiency arbitrarily close to 100%. High efficiency is possible with any connected network topology, even with low communication bandwidth. The results of the algorithms executed on the SPRINT compare closely with theory.
Frequency Equations for the In-Plane Vibration of Circular Annular Disks

This paper deals with the in-plane vibration of circular annular disks under combinations of different boundary conditions at the inner and outer edges. The in-plane free vibration of an elastic and isotropic disk is studied on the basis of the two-dimensional linear plane stress theory of elasticity. The exact solution of the in-plane equation of equilibrium of annular disk is attainable, in terms of Bessel functions, for uniform boundary conditions. The frequency equations for different modes can be obtained from the general solutions by applying the appropriate boundary conditions at the inner and outer edges. The presented frequency equations provide the frequency parameters for the required number of modes for a wide range of radius ratios and Poisson's ratios of annular disks under clamped, free, or flexible boundary conditions. Simplified forms of frequency equations are presented for solid disks and axisymmetric modes of annular disks. Frequency parameters are computed and compared with those available in literature. The frequency equations can be used as a reference to assess the accuracy of approximate methods.
Oral History as a Teaching Tool.

About a month ago I went to a regional meeting of the American Historical Association at a place called Immaculata College which is in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The topic of this meeting was improving the teaching of college history. College historians, college teachers of history, are at least from where I sit very uptight about the teaching of the discipline. Enrollments are shrinking. Survey courses are being abolished. Historians are in oversupply. There is a considerable amount of anxiety in the historical community which has bred a long-overdue re-examination of teaching in the discipline. My job there was to talk about oral history as a teaching tool, and I was on a panel with several other people who were speaking on the topic of regional history in the classroom---local history in the classroom. I tried to explain to my audience some of the fundamentals, as I see them, of using and doing oral history in the classroom. I tried to express the importance of planning and preparation, the importance for example of choosing a manageable topic for students to do, a problem which becomes perhaps even more difficult to resolve in the city than in a rural area simply because in the city you're confronted with so much material rather than so little that
Stress and the van hove singularities of hole magnetoplasmons

Abstract The hole magnetoplasmon dispersion of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is calculated in the presence of uniaxial stress using a time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation which becomes exact in the limit of large Landau level separations. We find that the stress affects both the magnitude of cyclotron resonance positions shifted by hole-hole interactions and the sharpness of the Van Hove singularities present in the density of states of hole magnetoplasmons. Both results are consequences of strong heavy and light hole mixing, and differ from the case of an electron gas, where cyclotron resonance position shifts are forbidden by Kohn's theorem. The dependence of the singularities on the applied uniaxial stress should provide a test of our theory.
Photosynthetic reaction center transients, P435 and P424, in Chromatium D.

Abstract 1. The correlation of kinetic, saturation and potentiometric evidence shows that P 435 is a spectral component of the same reaction center as P883 in Chromatium D. 2. There is only one cytochrome oxidizing reaction center P883/P 435 , since the spectrum of P 435 is the same independent of which cytochrome (C 553 or C 555 ) is oxidized and the P 435 reduction kinetics correlate with the oxidation kinetics of either cytochrome, depending upon which is being oxidized. 3. The oxidation half-time of P883/P 435 is less than 50 nsec. 4. The E m of P883/P 435 is +486 mV and that of its primary electron acceptor is −134 mV. 5. P 424 is observable only when the primary electron acceptor, X, is in the reduced state prior to the flash: (A) at room temperature in chromatophores between −318 and −145 mV and (B) at 77°K over the same potential range (first laser flash) or at higher potentials (subsequent laser flashes) under conditions in which the first laser flash permanently reduces X. 6. P424, P883/P 435 , cytochrome C 553 and cytochrome C 555 are all associated with Thornber's subchromatophore Fraction A, but not Fraction B. 7. The rise half-time of P 424 in chromatophores is 50 nsec at room temperature and 200 nsec at 77°K. Its recovery half-time is 2.2 to 2.4 μsec at both temperatures in chromatophores or 16 msec in whole cells at 77°K. 8. P 424 might represent either an oxidation of bacteriochlorophyll spectrally modified by the presence of reduced primary electron acceptor or a light-induced reduction state of bacteriochlorophyll. 9. Thermodynamically, it is possible that this new species might be a link in the direct reduction of NAD + .
I OWE IT ALL TO ME Candidates' Investments in Their Own Campaigns

This article provides the first step toward a fuller understanding of candidates' contributions and loans to their own campaigns by developing a set of measures of this activity and describing cand...
KINETICS OF THE FNO + HO2 REACTION

Abstract The reaction between FNO and HO 2 constitutes the propagation step in a chain reaction converting H 2 and F 2 into HF. Time resolved UV spectroscopy reveals that NO forms simultaneously with HO 2 disappearance indicating that the formation of HF + NO + O 2 is the major product channel. The measured rate constant for this reaction is k 4 = (2.7 −1/3 +2.8 ) × 10 −13 e 742±190 )/ T cm 3 s −1 over the temperature range 223–327 K and at a total pressure of 550–700 Torr. Analogous experiments indicate that the FNO + CH 3 O 2 reaction proceeds with a rate constant k −14 cm 3 s −1 at 295 K.
Perceptions of denial among pregnant and parenting chemically dependent women enrolled in treatment.

This study combined both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to examine the perceptions of denial in a sample of pregnant and parenting chemically dependent women enrolled in treatment. Interview data revealed that the women in the study had no trouble recognizing denial as a negative influence on the recovery process and were highly critical of denial behaviors displayed by other women in treatment. Learning opportunities, such as special focus groups (e.g., denial recognition, anger management), were identified by participants as the most helpful strategies utilized by treatment staff in dealing with issues of denial. Perceptions of denial were compared across selected demographic and psycho-social variables. No significant differences emerged, with one exception: women who reported recent histories of physical or sexual abuse were more likely to report positive feelings while in denial, such as feeling “normal” and “in control,” than women who denied recent abuse histories.
Optical Properties of Silver Bromide

The optical properties of silver bromide at room temperature have been determined in the energy range of 3–16 eV by means of reflectivity measurements. In the near-ultraviolet region (uv), the four absorption peaks reported by Okamoto were observed at 3.96, 4.40, 5.46, and 6.20 eV. The high-energy side of the largest peak at 6.20 eV decreased approximately 40% of its maximum before yielding to the vacuum-ultraviolet (vuv) spectrum consisting of well-defined peaks at 8.05, 10.1, and 12.3 eV. The reflectivity decreased quite rapidly for photon energies greater than 13.0 eV. A Kramers–Kronig analysis was employed to calculate the phase shift on reflection and the resulting optical constants. Vacuum-ultraviolet spectra of R, α, n, κ, ∊1, ∊2, and Im(1/∊) of silver bromide are given for the first time. Details of these measurements and calculations and discussion of alternative band-theoretical interpretations of the observed structure are given.
“Is heat hot?” Inducing conceptual change by integrating everyday and scientific perspectives on thermal phenomena

Abstract An account of conceptual change within the domain of thermal physics is described. In particular, the difficulties of inducing an ontological change in students' concept of heat is examined. While the overall goal of this research is to document microgenetically the process of conceptual change that takes place as students learn thermal physics, this paper describes the specific role of metaconceptual teaching. It is argued that metaconceptual teaching that addresses the fact that students and scientists may use the same terms for different conceptual referents and that scientific conceptions can account for everyday ones, helps to effect the targeted ontological changes. The pedagogical success of integrating the scientific and the everyday view is consistent with young adolescents' difficulties with a relativistic epistemology in which scientific and everyday views are presented as valid alternatives.
Binary Multiagent Coordination Optimization with application to formation control design

In this paper, a novel binary swarm optimization algorithm, called Binary Multiagent Coordination Optimization (BMCO) algorithm, is proposed by introducing a communication topology for the particles in the algorithm and using recently developed multiagent consensus protocols from control theory. Due to the consensus term embedded into the update formula for the velocity, the BMCO algorithm shows a faster convergence rate than the standard Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO). We use eight benchmark functions to test the performance of the standard BPSO, BMCO, and a variation of BPSO called Novel BPSO (NBPSO). The optimal values and convergence rates of these three algorithms are provided and compared. From the numerical results, we can conclude that the performance of the BMCO algorithm is superior to that of BPSO and NBPSO. Next, as an application, we use the proposed algorithm to solve a topology optimization problem for an observer-based multiagent formation control design. In the existing literature, the topologies for positions and velocities of multiple agents are always assumed to be the same. However, in our proposed formation control protocol, these two topologies are not necessarily the same, not even all connected. To this extent, designing optimal heterogeneous topologies for the formation control protocol under the tradeoff between communication cost and operation time can be formulated as a binary optimization problem. Finally, A numerical illustration is provided by comparing the three binary algorithms to solve the topology optimization problem for multiagent formation control, and the BMCO algorithm shows the best result compared with BPSO and NBPSO.
Developmental patterns and specificities of alkaline phosphatase in the embryonic chick limb.

Abstract Alkaline phosphatase is present in the early chick limb bud and in major components of the older bud, but the developmental patterns of the enzyme are distinctive for each tissue. The entire bud has high activity during early phases of growth but, as histological differentiation begins, it decreases sharply. Activity of the enzyme from muscle falls until day 11 as the rate of cell proliferation subsides; it shows a phase of accelerated activity, however, during days 12–16, which may be associated with changes in the rate of carbohydrate accumulation. In the integument, activity of the enzyme rises during early stages of feather growth, but after day 12 it decreases precipitously during regression of the pulp. Bone phosphatase, which has the highest activity, increases continuously in activity during development, paralleling the progress of calcification. Limb phosphatases were tested for substrate specificity on β-G1-P, G-1-P, G-6-P, 6-PG, F-P, PEP, AMP, ATP, NAD, and NADP. All substrates having free phosphate groups were dephosphorylated, but the phosphodiester linkage of NAD was not attacked. Relative to activity with the reference substrate, β-G1-P, muscle and integumentary enzymes had high activities with most glycolytic intermediates and AMP and ATP, whereas the activity of bone phosphatase was relatively much lower. Treatment with detergents or with several procedures extensively used for extracting phosphatases of adult mammals did not cause significant solubilization of phosphatase from any limb tissue. However, the enzymes of muscle and integument were liberated with butanol, and further purified to 95-fold. It was not possible to achieve much solubilization of bone phosphatase, and the nature of the particle to which it is bound is unknown. Electrophoretic analysis indicates that heterogeneity exists not only between the phosphatases of bone and soft tissues, but also within each of the soft tissues. The bone enzyme is characterized by a single band at the origin and several anodic smears, whereas the identical patterns of muscle and integumentary enzymes show eight zones of activity. Each zone is capable of dephosphorylating identical substrates, suggesting that the multiple bands of a single tissue may be isozymes of alkaline phosphatase.
Genealogy and Jurisprudence: Nietzsche, Nihilism, and the Social Scientification of Law

In Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche presents a history of metaphysics that can also be read as a history of jurisprudence. Nietzsche shows how—via Platonism, Christendom, Kantianism, and utilitarianism—the “real” or “true” world of ideals gives way to an “apparent” phenomenal world that is itself ultimately brought into question. This article shows how 20th-century legal thought, broadly construed, also moves away from “ideals” of law toward an understanding of law as observable social phenomena. It suggests that the move to the “apparent” world in legal thought raises questions similar to those raised by Nietzsche's work: Does sociological law point to a nihilistic destruction of the legal tradition or to a joyous possibility of overcoming that tradition?
Unparsing expressions with prefix and postfix operators

Unparsing is the problem of transforming an internal representation of a program into an external, concrete syntax. In conjunction with prettyprinting, it is useful for generating readable programs from internal representations. If the target language uses prefix and postfix operators, the problem is nontrivial. This paper shows how to unparse expressions using a simple, bottom-up tree walk, which keeps track of the least tightly binding operator not enclosed by parentheses. During the tree walk, this operator is compared with the operator of the parent expression, and parentheses are inserted based on the precedence, associativity, and fixity (infix, prefix, or postfix) of the two operators. The paper is a literate program. It includes code for the unparser and for its inverse parser, both of which can handle operators of dynamically chosen precedence and associativity. Supporting such operators is useful for languages like ML, in which programmers may assign precedence and associativity to their own functions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The middle molecule hypothesis in perspective.

The middle molecule (MM) hypothesis states that molecules in the molecular weight range of 500 to 2000 daltons/molecule accumulate in uremia and are one cause of peripheral neuropathy. Evidence for and against this hypothesis is reviewed and evaluated. The course of events in the core of early hemodialysis patients who developed neuropathy provides important support for the hypothesis. Failure of early peritoneal dialysis patients to develop neuropathy suggested that the peritoneum is more permeable to MM's than early hemodialysis membranes, a fact that was later confirmed by appropriate investigations. Several investigators have demonstrated that MM's actually do accumulate in uremia and disappear rapidly following a renal transplant, which suggests a high clearance by the human kidney. Retrospective and prospective studies have demonstrated a protective effect of residual renal function against MM intoxication. Our prospective studies to produce MM intoxication are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses delineated. Similarly, the invstigations of others that are cited as evidence against the MM hypothesis are reviewed. It is the opinion of the authors that the weight of evidence supports the validity of the MM hypothesis; but that final proof still is lacking. A protocol for more definitive studies is discussed.
Fusion of the tetanus toxin C fragment binding domain and Bcl-xL for protection of peripheral nerve neurons.

OBJECTIVE: Apoptosis has been shown to play an important role in motor neuron (MN) degeneration in both neurodegenerative disease and peripheral neuropathy. Bcl-xL, an antiapoptotic protein, is down-regulated in these etiologies [corrected] The carboxyl-terminal domain of the tetanus toxin heavy chain (Hc) has high affinity for axon terminal binding and uptake into motor and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. We report the development of a fusion protein between Hc and Bcl-xL to enhance uptake of Bcl-xL by MNs as a strategy for inhibiting peripheral neuronal apoptosis. METHODS: The genes for Hc, Bcl-xL, and green fluorescent protein were cloned into an Escherichia coli expression system in 2 different arrangements. Fusion proteins were purified through chromatography. Cultured E15 rat spinal cord MNs and DRG cells were used to demonstrate neuron-specific uptake and retrograde transport of the fusion proteins mediated by Hc. Finally, glutamate-induced apoptosis was used as an in vitro model to measure the antiapoptotic effects of the fusion proteins. RESULTS: Bcl-xL fusion proteins were found to bind specifically and undergo uptake into cultured rat spinal MNs. The fusion proteins were also taken up by DRG axonal terminals and transported back to the cell bodies in Campenot compartmentalized chambers (Tyler Research Corp., Edmonton, Canada). Finally, fusion protein application improved cell survival and decreased apoptosis in glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity of the SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. CONCLUSION: Hc can be applied as a universal carrier for therapeutic cargo delivery specifically to MNs or DRGs. The fusion proteins between Bcl-xL and Hc constructed in this study might bear applications to the treatment of MN disease, neuropathy, or nerve injury through nerve or intramuscular injection.
Optimisation of process parameters and residual stress analysis of transmission laser microjoining of glass and silicon

A three–dimensional transient simulation for thermal and thermal stress analysis of transmission laser microjoining of dissimilar materials is performed. The laser beam moving at a velocity passes through the transparent glass (Gl), gets absorbed by the absorbing silicon (Si), and eventually softens/melts the Gl to form the bond. A good comparison is observed between the computational and experimental bond widths. Through computational optimisation of process parameters, it is observed that at a laser velocity of 30 mm/min with an initial dwell time of about four seconds good bonding was obtained with increasing bond widths. Acceleration is added which results in a uniform bond width. Subsequently, room temperature residual stress profiles of the microjoint are calculated. Stress profiles on both the Gl and Si surfaces show similar trend. At room temperature both the surfaces show low stresses which do not cross the tensile or the compressive strengths of the respective materials.
Aerosol chemistry in Minnesota and Wisconsin and its relation to rainfall chemistry

Abstract Chemical characteristics of aerosol and rainfall samples collected at five sites in Minnesota and one site in west-central Wisconsin during the summer of 1982 were generally similar with respect to the relative proportions of major constituents. The most abundant species measured in the aerosol was sulfate, occurring predominantly in the fine fraction (
DNA Microsatellite Loci and Genetic Structure of Red Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract Five polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed from genomic DNA of red snapper Lutjanus campechanus and used to evaluate genetic variation among 194 red snapper sampled from three locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico and one location off the northern Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. From 5 to 13 alleles were observed per locus, and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.143 to 0.779. No significant departures from expectations of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found at any locus either within samples or when samples were pooled across localities. Locus-by-locus tests of allele-frequency homogeneity over the four localities were nonsignificant. Weir and Cockerham's θ at each locus ranged from −0.003 to 0.012, and Statkin's R ST at each locus ranged from −0.014 to 0.008. None of the estimates of θ and R ST differed significantly from zero, and magnitudes of θ and R ST did not appear to vary with geographic distance between localities. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that red...
Delineation of inundated area and vegetation along the Amazon floodplain with the SIR-C synthetic aperture radar

Floodplain inundation and vegetation along the Negro and Amazon rivers near Manaus, Brazil were accurately delineated using multi-frequency, polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the April and October 1994 SIR-C missions. A decision-tree model was used to formulate rules for a supervised classification into five categories: water, clearing (pasture), aquatic macrophyte (floating meadow), nonflooded forest, and flooded forest. Classified images were produced and tested within three days of SIR-C data acquisition. Both C-band (5.7 cm) and L-band (24 cm) wavelengths were necessary to distinguish the cover types. HH polarization was most useful for distinguishing flooded from nonflooded vegetation (C-HH for macrophyte versus pasture, and L-HH for flooded versus nonflooded forest), and cross-polarized L-band data provided the best separation between woody and nonwoody vegetation. Between the April and October missions, the Amazon River level fell about 3.6 m and the portion of the study area covered by flooded forest decreased from 23% to 12%. This study demonstrates the ability of multifrequency SAR to quantify in near realtime the extent of inundation on forested floodplains, and its potential application for timely monitoring of flood events. >
Socioeconomic Stratification and Multidimensional Health Trajectories: Evidence of Convergence in Later Old Age

Objectives. This research sought to e xamine socioeconomic stratification in the joint trajectories of physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning among older Americans and how it differs by age groups. Methods. W e used data from a nationally representative sample of 9,237 Americans age 65 or older from the Health and Retirement Study, who were observed biennially from 1998 to 2010. Joint trajectories of physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning were characterized using a group-based mixture model. We then applied multinomial logistic regression analysis to evaluate their linkages with socioeconomic status and how the linkages differ by age groups. Results. W e identified four distinct patterns of joint changes in physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning over time. Accounting for 29.3%, 23.5%, 24.5%, and 22.6% of the older Americans, respectively, these trajectory patterns characterized groups of individuals experiencing minimal to severe levels of impairment and deterioration. Lower education, income, and net worth were associated with trajectories featuring greater impairment or more rapid deterioration in these functional dimensions. Disparities based on education, however, attenuated in later old age, whereas health benefits associated with higher income and higher net worth persisted into advanced age. Discussion. Distinct patterns of joint trajectories of physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning exist in old age. There were significant socioeconomic differences in the joint trajectories, with education-based inequality in health converging in later old age. Further research identifying strategies to alleviate the disproportionate burden of poor multidimensional health trajectories in lower socioeconomic groups is important.
The role of the state in resource use decision‐making: the case of the Moomba‐Sydney gas pipeline

The development of a 1300 km natural gas pipeline in Australia in late 1976 is used to unravel some of the more important determinants of state action. The analysis highlights the contradictory position of the state in democratic capitalist societies. The separate actions taken by the state in support of the developer, the environmentalists, or to put into effect political ideals reflect a complex set of determinants of the state's behaviour. It is this fact which makes it difficult always to predict the state's response to individual incidents of conflict over resource use. The analysis also illustrates how time and place influenced the action and reaction of the participants in the debate over the location of the pipeline.
Morphological Variation of Plants on the Uprising Islands of Northern Russia

The purpose of our study was to test whether any signifi cant morphological differences exist between island and mainland plant populations of the north European White Sea. Six polymorphic species were studied: Atriplex nudicaulis (Chenopodiaceae), Euphrasia wettsteinii (Orobanchaceae), Achillea millefolium (Asteraceae), Parnassia palustris (Parnassiaceae), Potentilla egedii (Rosaceae) and Rhodiola rosea (Crassulaceae). Based on the multivariate analyses of our data, we found 10 cases where differences between island and mainland populations are best explained by the existence of shortscale evolutionary processes. These results suggest that plant populations on islands of recent origin may display local morphological divergence in a short evolutionary time frame.
An agent in the Aedes aegypti cell line (Peleg) which causes fusion of Aedes albopictus cells

Cell cultures of the Aedes aegypti (Peleg) cell line contain an agent that causes marked syncytium formation of Aedes albopictus cells. A plaque assay was used to measure the growth of the cell fusing agent (CFA) in A. albopictus cultures, and it was found to have a latent period of about 12 hr. It failed to replicate in or cause fusion of BHK, KB or Vero cells. The CFA was sensitive to ether and to deoxycholate and sedimented in a sucrose velocity gradient more slowly than did Sindbis virus. The preliminary evidence suggests that the CFA may be similar to the group B togaviruses.
Parallel simulation of a high-speed wormhole routing network

A flexible simulator has been developed to simulate a two-level metropolitan area network which uses wormhole routing. To accurately model the nature of wormhole routing, the simulator performs discretebyte rather than discrete-packet simulation. Despite the increased computational workload that this implies, it has been possible to create a simulator with acceptable performance by writing it in Maisie, a parallel discrete-event simulation language. The simulator provides an accurate model of an actual high-speed, source-routing, wormhole network (the Myrinet) and is the first such simulator. The paper describes the simulator and reports on the performance of parallel implementations of the simulator on a 24-node IBM SP 2 multicomputer. The parallel implementations yielded reasonable speedups. For instance, on 12 nodes, the conservative algorithm yielded a speed-up of about 6 whereas an optimistic algorithm yielded a speed-up of about 4.
Musings on genome medicine: Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a viral disease transmitted principally by blood, which affects millions of people worldwide. A significant proportion of those affected develop severe liver disease as a result. Only a fraction of patients are responsive to interferon treatment, highlighting the need for further research into genetic factors involved in response to therapy in order to optimize treatment. The only current approach for end-stage disease is liver transplant, which ironically does not cure the condition, and thus poses a clinical dilemma in the face of liver-donor shortage.
On achieving throughput in an input-queued switch

We establish some lower bounds on the speedup required to achieve throughput for some classes of switching algorithms in a input-queued switch with virtual output queues (VOQs). We use a weak notion of throughput, which will only strengthen the results, since an algorithm that cannot achieve weak throughput cannot achieve stronger notions of throughput. We focus on priority switching algorithms, i.e., algorithms that assign priorities to VOQs and forward packets of high priority first. We show a lower bound on the speedup for two fairly general classes of priority switching algorithms: input priority switching algorithms and output priority switching algorithms. An input priority scheme prioritizes the VOQs based on the state of the input queues, while an output priority scheme prioritizes the VOQs based on their output ports. We first show that, for output priority switching algorithms, a speedup S/spl ges/2 is required to achieve weak throughput. From this, we deduce that both maximal and maximum size matching switching algorithms do not imply weak throughput unless S/spl ges/2. The bound of S/spl ges/2 is tight in all cases above, based on a result in Dai et al. Finally, we show that a speedup S/spl ges/3/2 is required for the class of input priority switching algorithms to achieve weak throughput.
Clinical implications of novel activating EGFR mutations in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma

Background There is a paucity of information about the molecular perturbations involved in MPM tumor formation. We previously reported that EGFR-TK mutations in MPM were predictive of achieving optimal surgical cytoreduction, but the status of EGFR pathway activation potential of these mutations was not known. Here we present the mutant EGFR activating potential and the matured survival data of the EGFR mutant(mut+) relative to wild type EGFR(mut-) mesothelioma.
Effect of Micro Management on Job Satisfaction & Productivity: A Case Study:

There are many different management philosophies. Micro Management is a form that is generally negatively perceived, because of its impact on employee autonomy. There has been little research on th...
Efficient, Physiologically Realistic Lung Airflow Simulations

One of the key challenges for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of human lung airflow is the sheer size and complexity of the complete, multiscale geometry of the bronchopulmonary tree. Since 3-D CFD simulations of the full airway tree are currently intractable, researchers have proposed reduced geometry models in which multiple airway paths are truncated downstream of the first few generations. This paper investigates a recently proposed method for closing the CFD model by application of physiologically correct boundary conditions at truncated outlets. A realistic, reduced geometry model of the lung airway based on CT data has been constructed up to generation 18, including extrathoracic, bronchi, and bronchiole regions. Results indicate that the new method yields reasonable results for pressure drop through the airway, at a small fraction of the cost of fully resolved simulations.
Analysis and design of a high-current, high-voltage accurate power supply for the APS storage ring

There are 81 dipole magnets contained in the storage ring at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). These magnets are connected in series and are energized by only one 12-phase power supply. The eighty-first magnet is located in a temperature-controlled room with an NMR probe to monitor the magnetic field in the magnet and provide a reference signal for correction of the field drift due to aging of the components. The current in the magnets will be held at 497 A. The required current stability of the power supply is /spl plusmn/30 ppm, the current reproducibility is /spl plusmn/50 ppm, and the current ripple is /spl plusmn/400 ppm. The voltage required to maintain such a current in the magnets is about 1700 V. Different schemes for regulating current in the magnets are studied. Pspice software is used to simulate the behavior and the design of such a power supply under different conditions. The pros and cons of each scheme will be given and the proper power and regulating scheme will be selected. >
Development of two-band color-mixing technique for identification of broiler carcass conditions

The development of accurate, rapid, and non-invasive inspection technologies are needed to help poultry processors meet food safety regulations and rising consumer demand while increasing productivity and economic competitiveness. This paper reports on a novel two narrow-band color-mixing technique for identification of broiler chicken carcass conditions. Spectra were collected for samples cut from the breast area of 103 wholesome chicken carcasses, 66 systemically diseased chicken carcasses, and 40 cadaver chicken carcasses using a photodiode array spectrophotometer system. Waveband pairs in the range of 416–715 nm were evaluated for identifying chicken conditions using the two-band color-mixing technique, and the pair of (453 nm, 589 nm) was selected based on color difference index calculations in CIELUV color space. Significant differences in the color characteristics of wholesome, systemically diseased, and cadaver chicken conditions, based on color-mixing using the two selected wavebands, were confirmed by one-way analysis of variance. Decision-tree classification models using the calculated color difference indexes were evaluated first by using the spectral data divided into a validation set and a testing set, and second by 10-fold cross-validation of the entire data set. Classification accuracies achieved for the wholesome, systemically diseased, and cadaver samples were 95.8%, 95.5%, and 100%, respectively, for the validation set; 94.6%, 100%, and 90.6%, respectively, for the testing set; and 98.1%, 97.5%, and 93.9%, respectively, when using 10-fold cross-validation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Internal governance in the community college: Models and quilts

This chapter describes the various approaches to internal shared governance utilized by community colleges, ranging from approaches that intentionally involve different constituents to those evolved from habit, tradition, and precedence.