cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exploring the influence of granular iron additives on 1,1,1-trichloroethane reduction.

Bimetallic reductants are frequently more reactive toward organohalides than unamended iron and can also alter product distributions, yet a molecular-level explanation for these phenomena remains elusive. In this study, surface characterization of six iron-based bimetallic reductants (Au/Fe, Co/Fe, Cu/Fe, Ni/Fe, Pd/Fe, and Pt/Fe) revealed that displacement plating produced a non-uniform overlayer of metallic additive on iron. Batch studies demonstrated that not all additives enhanced rates of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) reduction nor was there any clear periodic trend in the observed reactivity (Ni/Fe ≈ Pd/Fe > Cu/Fe > Co/Fe > Au/Fe ≈ Fe > Pt/Fe). Pseudo-first-order rate constants for 1,1,1-TCA reduction (kobs values) did, however, correlate closely with the solubility of atomic hydrogen within each additive. This suggests absorbed atomic hydrogen, rather than galvanic corrosion, is responsible for the enhanced reactivity of bimetallic reductants. In addition, all additives shifted product distribut...
The rationale for combination therapy

The use of combination lipid-altering therapy for dyslipidemia is becoming increasingly important for effective management of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). In accordance with the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, the primary target of therapy is lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Studies have demonstrated the benefit of LDL cholesterol reduction in decreasing CHD event rates and all-cause mortality. However, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol remains a significant predictor of CHD events. In addition, lipid-lowering therapy targeting aberrant lipoprotein subclass and triglyceride levels afford additional benefit for patients with mixed dyslipidemias. Aggressive lipid-altering therapy often requires the use of combination therapy involving statins in conjunction with niacin, fibric-acid derivatives, or bile acid resins or intestinal inhibitors of active cholesterol transport. This article reviews the rationale for the use of combination therapy in the treatment of dyslipidemia, highlighting management strategies.
Intestinal alkaline phosphatase in patients with liver disease.

Electrophoretic separation of the different isoenzymes of alkaline phosphatase was done, using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In some patients with liver disease, two isoenzymes of alkaline phosphatase were detected—one corresponding to liver and the other, to intestinal fraction. In 17 of 51 patients with nutritional cirrhosis and in 6 of 14 with chronic active hepatitis, the intestinal band was observed in their fasting sera. Intestinal isoenzyme was not found, however, in the fasting sera of 23 patients with viral hepatitis, 16 with metastatic disease to the liver, 11 with obstructive jaundice or 33 healthy volunteers. The presence of intestinal isoenzyme was not dependent on the value of total serum phosphatase activity.
Validation of a Digital Data Acquisition and Analysis System in a Cardiovascular Toxicology Laboratory

The procedure used to validate a vendor-supplied computerized data acquisition and analysis system in a cardiovascular toxicology laboratory is described. This system is used to collect and analyze raw signals from cardiovascular studies performed in chronically instrumented, conscious experimental animals. Definitions of raw and derived data as they apply to studies performed according to Good Laboratory Practice Regulations were developed. The data acquisition function of the system and the algorithms that compute derived parameters were validated through the creation of validation data sets from instrumented animals subjected to drug infusions. Computer-generated parameter values were compared statistically against manually generated values to verify the accuracy and precision of the system. The time averaging function of the system was validated by comparing beat-by-beat values against 1- and 10-min running averages from the same experiment. The system was successfully validated for the analysis of ca...
Conformational studies of two isomeric ring-expanded purine nucleosides and their 5'-mono- and -diphosphate derivatives.

The nucleosides Ia and IIa exist in syn and anti conformations, respectively, both in solid state and solution. Compound Ia undergoes significant conformational change, accompanied by increased population of the anti conformer, upon conversion to the corresponding 5′-mono- and-diphosphate derivatives, whereas conformation of IIa remains reasonably constant between nucleoside and nucleotides. While Ia possessed the C2′-endoC3′-exo geometry, IIa had the opposite C2′-exo-C3′-endo conformation. The C5′ of the two nucleosides bore axial and equatorial conformations, respectively.
Eruptive history and geochronology of Mount Mazama and the Crater Lake region, Oregon

Geologic mapping, K-Ar, and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age determinations, supplemented by paleomagnetic measurements and geochemical data, are used to quantify the Quaternary volcanic history of the Crater Lake region in order to define processes and conditions that led to voluminous explosive eruptions. The Cascade arc volcano known as Mount Mazama collapsed during its climactic eruption of ∼50 km 3 of mainly rhyodacitic magma ∼7700 yr ago to form Crater Lake caldera. The Mazama edifice was constructed on a Pleistocene silicic lava field, amidst monogenetic and shield volcanoes ranging from basalt to andesite similar to parental magmas for Mount Mazama. Between 420 ka and 35 ka, Mazama produced medium-K andesite and dacite in 2:1 proportion. The edifice was built in many episodes; some of the more voluminous occurred approximately coeval with volcanic pulses in the surrounding region, and some were possibly related to deglaciation following marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 12, 10, 8, 6, 5.2, and 2. Magmas as evolved as dacite erupted many times, commonly associated with or following voluminous andesite effusion. Establishment of the climactic magma chamber was under way when the first preclimactic rhyodacites vented ca. 27 ka. The silicic melt volume then grew incrementally at an average rate of 2.5 km 3 k.y. −1 for nearly 20 k.y. The climactic eruption exhausted the rhyodacitic magma and brought up crystal-rich andesitic magma, mafic cumulate mush, and wall-rock granodiorite. Postcaldera volcanism produced 4 km 3 of andesite during the first 200–500 yr after collapse, followed at ca. 4800 yr B.P. by 0.07 km 3 of rhyodacite. The average eruption rate for all Mazama products was ∼0.4 km 3 k.y. −1 , but major edifice construction episodes had rates of ∼0.8 km 3 k.y. −1 . The long-term eruption rate for regional monogenetic and shield volcanoes was d∼0.07 km 3 k.y. −1 , but only ∼0.02 km 3 k.y. −1 when the two major shields are excluded. Plutonic xenoliths and evidence for crystallization differentiation imply that the amount of magma intruded beneath Mount Mazama is several times that which has been erupted. The eruptive and intrusive history reflects competition between (1) crystallization driven by degassing and hydrothermal cooling and (2) thermal input from a regional magma flux focused at Mazama. Before ca. 30 ka, relatively small volumes of nonerupted derivative magma crystallized to form a composite pluton because the upper crust had not been heated sufficiently to sustain voluminous convecting crystal-poor melt. Subsequently, and perhaps not coincidentally, during MIS 2, a large volume of eruptible silicic magma accumulated in the climactic chamber, probably because of heating associated with mantle input to the roots of the system as suggested by eruption of unusually primitive magnesian basaltic andesite and tholeiite west of Mazama.
Up-regulation of ATP Binding Cassette Transporter A1 Expression by Very Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor and Apolipoprotein E Receptor 2

Activation of very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (apoER2) results in either pro- or anti-atherogenic effects depending on the ligand. Using reelin and apoE as ligands, we studied the impact of VLDLR- and apoER2-mediated signaling on the expression of ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and cholesterol efflux using RAW264.7 cells. Treatment of these mouse macrophages with reelin or human apoE3 significantly increased ABCA1 mRNA and protein levels, and apoAI-mediated cholesterol efflux. In addition, both reelin and apoE3 significantly increased phosphorylated disabled-1 (Dab1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase Cζ (PKCζ), and specificity protein 1 (Sp1). This reelin- or apoER2-mediated up-regulation of ABCA1 expression was suppressed by 1) knockdown of Dab1, VLDLR, and apoER2 with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), 2) inhibition of PI3K and PKC with kinase inhibitors, 3) overexpression of kinase-dead PKCζ, and 4) inhibition of Sp1 DNA binding with mithramycin A. Activation of the Dab1-PI3K signaling pathway has been implicated in VLDLR- and apoER2-mediated cellular functions, whereas the PI3K-PKCζ-Sp1 signaling cascade has been implicated in the regulation of ABCA1 expression induced by apoE/apoB-carrying lipoproteins. Taken together, these data support a model in which activation of VLDLR and apoER2 by reelin and apoE induces ABCA1 expression and cholesterol efflux via a Dab1-PI3K-PKCζ-Sp1 signaling cascade.
Estimating the Cohesive Zone Model Parameters of Carbon Nanotube–Polymer Interface for Machining Simulations

The failure mechanisms encountered during the machining of carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer composites are primarily governed by the strength of the CNT–polymer interface. Therefore, the interface should be explicitly modeled in microstructure-level machining simulations for these composites. One way of effectively capturing the behavior of this interface is by the use of a cohesive zone model (CZM) that is characterized by two parameters, viz., interfacial strength and interfacial fracture energy. The objective of this study is to estimate these two CZM parameters of the interface using an inverse iterative finite element (FE) approach. A microstructure-level 3D FE model for nanoindentation simulation has been developed where the composite microstructure is modeled using three distinct phases, viz., the CNT, the polymer, and the interface. The unknown CZM parameters of the interface are then determined by minimizing the root mean square (RMS) error between the simulated and the experimental nanoindentation load–displacement curves for a 2 wt. % CNT–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite sample at room temperature and quasi-static strain state of up to 0.04 s � 1 , and then validated using the 1 wt. % and 4 wt. % CNT–PVA composites. The results indicate that for well-dispersed and aligned CNT–PVA composites, the CZM parameters of the interface are independent of the CNT loading in the weight fraction range of 1–4%. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4024941]
Pressure crushing of a rigid-perfectly plastic tube

Etude d'un tube rigide ― parfaitement plastique en effondrement. Application au cylindre en beton renforce, en composite a matrice metallique, en epoxyde renforce fibre, etc.
An optimal consignment stock production and replenishment policy with controllable lead time

This paper considers a single-vendor and single-buyer production system in which the lead-time is controllable with an extra investment under a long-term agreement between the two trading partners. The vendor produces at a finite rate, ships the outputs in lots of equal size within a production cycle, and delays those shipments for a certain period when the buyer’s inventory approaches the capacity limits. Therefore, the arrival of these shipments does not lead to an increase in the buyer’s inventory. Meanwhile, the buyer holds the payment until the complete consumption of the products. The holding cost consists of a storage component and a financial component. A joint EOQ/EPQ model is then established under cases where the buyer’s unit storage holding cost might be greater or less than that of the vendor to jointly determine the number of shipments, the size of each shipment, the number of delayed shipments, and the lead time that minimise the yearly joint total expected cost (JTEC) of the system. An eff...
Effects of acoustic manipulation on the real-time inflectional processing of children with specific language impairment.

Purpose This study reports the findings of an investigation designed to examine the effects of acoustic enhancement on the processing of low-phonetic-substance inflections (e.g., 3rd-person singular -s, possessive -s) versus a high-phonetic-substance inflection (e.g., present progressive -ing) by children with specific language impairment (SLI) in a word recognition, reaction time (RT) processing task. The effects of acoustic enhancement on the processing of the same morphemes as well as an additional morpheme (comparative -er) were examined in an offline grammaticality judgment task. The grammatical function of 1 of the higher-phonetic-substance inflections, -ing, was presumed to be hypothesized relatively early by children; the function of the other, -er, was presumed to be hypothesized relatively late. Method Sixteen children with SLI (ageM = 9 years;0 months) and 16 chronological age (CA; ageM = 8;11) children participated. For both tasks, children listened to sentences containing the target morphemes...
Decay characteristics for differential equations without linear terms

Abstract The asymptotic stability of isolated critical points of differential systems without linear terms is related to the signum of the type numbers introduced by Coleman. This leads to asymptotic estimates for solutions of a class of differential equations with homogeneous first approximation.
Computing With Words With the Ontological Self-Organizing Map

This paper addresses the computing-with-words paradigm by presenting an ontological self-organizing map (OSOM), which produces visualization and summarization information about datasets composed of words, namely, ontological data. The specific data that are used in this paper are the Gene Ontology (GO) annotations of genes and gene products. The OSOM is an extension of the SOM, which was initially developed by Kohonen. We adapt the SOM by integrating ontology-based similarity measures and relational-clustering distance measures. We also develop a novel prototype update. We present results on two datasets composed of GO annotations of genes and gene products. An OSOM-based summarization, which produces the term-based summarizations of the trained OSOM network, is also demonstrated. The results show that the OSOM-based visualization method correctly shows the cluster tendency of the genes and gene products and that the summarization provides useful information about the mapped groups of genes and gene products.
COMPETING INSTITUTIONS IN NATIONAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION: THE CROATIAN CASE

National identity traits are not “fixed,” and an ethnic group may emphasize distinct traits at different stages of national identity construction. This study examines the case of Croatia, where religion was stressed in an earlier phase of identity construction while language has become the principal group-distinguishing feature in the most recent period. It is argued that language was chosen primarily by secular elites with a goal not only of distinguishing between “us” and “them,” but also in order to secure a privileged status within their own group.
Case Report: Thorn-Induced Phialophora parasitica Arthritis Treated Successfully with Synovectomy and Ketoconazole

A 30-year-old woman developed chronic arthritis of the left ankle 4 months after a penetrating injury due to a pyracantha thorn. Phialophora parasitica was isolated from synovial tissue and fluid and later from the plant that caused the injury. She was treated with synovectomy followed by oral ketoconazole for 6 months. Fourteen months after completion of therapy, she remains well.
Calculation of crystalline modulus of syndiotactic polystyrene using molecular modelling

Abstract Mechanical properties of semicrystalline polymers are determined mainly by the proportion of crystalline phase and its ordered microstructure. Owing to its inherent planar zigzag backbone conformation, syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) is expected to have a crystalline modulus exceeding that of many polymers, and with potential applications as a low-cost, high-performance material. Molecular modelling has been used to simulate the deformation behaviour of a perfect sPS crystal lattice with the molecular chains oriented parallel to the applied stress, thus deriving the tensile modulus. Intrachain interactions including bond stretching and bending, are found to be the primary forces influencing tensile modulus, whereas the interchain van der Waals contribution is not significant. The calculated crystal modulus for sPS is comparable with the literature value utilizing X-ray diffraction.
Design Criteria for Local Euler Preconditioning

Euler preconditioning has remarkable benefits in removing stiffness, making systems of equations behave as a scalar equation, preserving accuracy, and decoupling the Euler equations. Design criteria for optimal Euler preconditioning are discussed that retain the basic preconditioning benefits and remove the causes of instabilities due to the use of preconditioning. New families of 1D and 2D optimal Euler preconditioners are presented that may satisfy the design criteria in an optimal way. In particular, focusing on resolution of the stability problem associated with stagnation points, a stagnation preconditioner and a suboptimal Van Leer?Lee?Roe preconditioner are studied. These preconditioners are less sensitive to flow-angle variation across cells and/or produce a closer-to-orthogonal eigenvector system.
Target Support for Inertial Confinement Fusion

General Atomics (GA) plays an important industrial support role for the US Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program in the area of target technology. This includes three major activities: target fabrication support, target handling systems development, and target chamber design. The work includes target fabrication for existing ICF experiments, target and target system development for future experiments, and target research and target chamber design for experiments on future machines, such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF).
Film Cooling Effectiveness Predictions for Short Holes Fed by a Narrow Plenum

This study evaluates the ability of available turbulence models in the commercial software FLUENT to predict film cooling effectiveness for a single row of short (L / D = 2.91). film cooling holes fed by a narrow plenum (H / D = 1). The results are compared to experimental data obtained by the present investigators. The study concentrates on the near-hole region for the geometry being studied experimentally by the present investigators. The results of the study indicate that the use of wall functions to predict film cooling effectiveness in the near-hole region is inappropriate due to the boundary layer separation in that region. Also, the ability of the Reynolds Stress turbulence model to better predict spanwise spreading of the jet indicates the need for anisotropic turbulnce model capabilities to better predict film cooling effectiveness.Copyright © 1999 by ASME
Interactive statistical analysis of complex mantle flows with the web

Up to now, all of the figures in mantle convection literature have been presented in a static manner, where the fields at one scale are shown on a printed page . This is no longer possible with the spatial resolution increasing at an ever rising clip and the appearance of the issue of multi-scale structures. Because of the onslaught of data-flooding and the growing complexity of strongly time-varying physical fields from compressible mantle convection, such as the adiabaticity, and other thermo dynamical heating functions, we can no longer afford to display and look at the results in the same static way as in a book. We have developed a new approach for interrogating data coming out from numerical simulations. This is based on an interactive two-dimensional map which is used over the WEB with a client-server paradigm. We have applied this to investigate mantle convection flows in both two-and three-dimensional situations. The distributions of thermal anomalies found are no longer Gaussian but sometimes have long tails, especially near the edges of plume heads. The same is also found for the distribution of mechanical heating, which can be quite skewed. Our experiences with this new interactive mode of data-query have shown both the educational and scientific importance of using the world wide web media to quiz handily the data taken from large-scale numerical simulations.
Coping After the Fall: The Mental Health of Former Members of the Rajneeshpuram Commune

The effects of new religious movements on the mental health of their members are not well understood. In particular, the psychological aftereffects following disaffiliation are controversial. This study examined the psychological well-being of former members of the Rajneeshpuram commune, who relocated after the community disbanded. A mail survey was returned by 231 former Rajneeshpuram residents and 53 university alumni. Respondents reported a range of present involvement with the Rajneeshee movement. Despite numerous life changes, the Rajneeshees showed few signs of psychological distress as measured by depression (via the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; Radloff, 1987) and as measured by anxiety and somatization (via the Symptoms Checklist; Derogatis, Lipman, & Covi, 1973). The Rajneeshee life style and belief system are posited as enhancing residents' coping abilities.
Ionic Transport in Polymer Electrolytes: The Essential Role of Associated Ionic Species

Polymer electrolytes based on poly(bis(methoxyethoxyethoxy)phosphazene) (MEEP) exhibit some of the highest room temperature ionic conductivities reported in a single-phase system. The mechanism of ionic transport in polymer electrolytes, particularly the nature of the charge-carrying species, has been poorly understood at the molecular level. Vibrational spectroscopy is used to determine the nature and relative amounts of ionic species present in MEEP−LiCF3SO3 as a function of salt concentration. The composition corresponding to the conductivity maximum is completely dominated by neutral cation−anion contact ion pairs and the triple anion species, {Li(CF3SO3)2}-. Furthermore, the conductivity changes only slightly at higher salt concentrations where triple cations dominate. These data require a dissociation−reassociation mechanism of ion transport in which dynamic equilibrium is established between the various ionically associated species by exchange of individual Li+ and CF3SO3- ions. The individual ions...
CYP2E1 enhances ethanol-induced lipid accumulation but impairs autophaghy in HepG2 E47 cells

The regulation and function of autophagy and lipid metabolism have recently been reported to be reciprocally related. Macroautophagy mediates the breakdown of lipids stored in lipid droplets. An inhibition of autophagy leads to the development of a fatty liver. We evaluated the ability of CYP2E1 to modulate the effects of ethanol on lipid accumulation and autophagy in vitro. The E47 HepG2 cell which expresses CYP2E1 was treated with ethanol at 50, 100 and 150mM for 4 or 5days. Ethanol-induced lipid accumulation and an increase of triglycerides (TG) in E47 cells to a greater extent than in control C34 cells which do not express CYP2E1. In contrast, autophagy (LC3 II/LC3 I ratio) was significantly induced by ethanol in C34 cells to a greater extent than in E47 cells. P62 was significantly increased in E47 cells after ethanol treatment. Thus, there is a reciprocal relationship between the effects of ethanol on lipid accumulation and autophagy in the CYP2E1-expressing cells. Inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyladenine (3MA), increased lipid accumulation and TG levels in C34 cells which display elevated autophagy, but enhanced lipid accumulation and TG level to a lesser extent in E47 cells which displayed lower autophagy. Ethanol induced CYP2E1 activity and oxidative stress in E47 cells compared with C34 cells. These experiments suggest that the expression of CYP2E1 may impair autophagy formation which contributes to lipid accumulation in the liver. We hypothesize that CYP2E1-induced oxidative stress promotes the accumulation of lipid droplets by ethanol and this may be responsible for the suppression of autophagy in the liver.
Association between exercise capacity and left ventricular geometry in overweight patients with mild systemic hypertension.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relation between left ventricular (LV) geometry and exercise capacity in unmedicated, hypertensive patients. Analysis of the data revealed peak oxygen consumption (ml kg −1 min −1 ) for concentric hypertrophy (corrected mean ± SE 23.5 ± 1.2) was significantly less (F = 3.68, p
Airway obstruction due to epiglottic lymphangiectasis: a case report

Summary Airway obstruction caused by the epiglottis was seen in a 4-month-old boy. Biopsy showed multiple dilated lymphatic vessels, and spontaneous resolution occurred over a period of one year. The possible causes for lymphangiectasis of the epiglottis are discussed.
Developmental levels: Their therapeutic implications for analytic group psychotherapy

This article describes the author's method of individual and group psychoanalytic psychotherapy which she employed before the question of developmental levels had become a therapeutic issue. It points out that several levels of development were suggested both before and after Kohutians described their new way of perceiving and treating narcissistic and borderline patients. It then examines in detail the orally and anally regressed levels of development which Freud had called to our attention in the twenties and which Bergler treated in the forties, and points out the consequent changes in the author's original method. This is followed by a description of the way Stolorow and Lachman characterized narcissistic and borderline cases and their new way of treating them. The degree to which this approach influenced the author's method follows. Finally there is an explanation of how GST adds a new structurechanging and boundary-opening/closing way of helping these patients develop a more adequate personal organization.
Scale and Translation Invariant Collaborative Filtering Systems

Collaborative filtering systems are prediction algorithms over sparse data sets of user preferences. We modify a wide range of state-of-the-art collaborative filtering systems to make them scale and translation invariant and generally improve their accuracy without increasing their computational cost. Using the EachMovie and the Jester data sets, we show that learning-free constant time scale and translation invariant schemes outperforms other learning-free constant time schemes by at least 3% and perform as well as expensive memory-based schemes (within 4%). Over the Jester data set, we show that a scale and translation invariant Eigentaste algorithm outperforms Eigentaste 2.0 by 20%. These results suggest that scale and translation invariance is a desirable property.
EScholarship at the University of California: a case study in sustainable innovation for open access

This paper describes the history of the University of California eScholarship program, a joint effort of the University of California Libraries in collaboration with the California Digital Library. It discusses the context that gave rise to the creation of the eScholarship Repository, the logistical issues involved in setting up a multi‐campus persistent repository for scholarly output, and future issues to be addressed in developing experimental reconfigurations of the components of scholarly communication in collaboration with communities of scholars.
Cluster Phenomena and the Displacive to Order-Disorder Crossover

Renormalization-Group methods are used to calculate the critical distribution functions for large groups of ordering coordinates in two- and three-dimensional systems undergoing structural phase transitions. In two dimensions the distribution function shows clear evidence of well-defined clusters of precursor order, and cluster walls: The asymptotic collective behavior is always that of an order-disorder rather than a displacive system. In three dimensions the order-disorder component of the asympototic behavior is markedly weaker.
The functions of internet use and their social and psychological consequences.

Although the Internet has spawned significant changes in communication and interpersonal behavior, the data concerning the social and psychological effects of its use are equivocal. Drawing on the uses and gratifications model of communications media, it was hypothesized that the social and psychological effects of Internet use depend primarily on the user's reasons and goals for using the technology. That is, the Internet's social and psychological effects depend upon the functions it serves for users. A theoretical model involving the functions of Internet use, dimensions of social integration, and dimensions of psychological well-being was examined. In study 1, participants indicated the primary reasons for which they use the Internet. Principle components analyses indicated that these reasons fell under two empirically robust dimensions accounting for about half of the total variance in Internet use. These dimensions, or functions, were labeled Socio-Affective Regulation (SAR) and Goods-and-Informatio...
Histórias contadas e seu papel na formação do ser humano

MANGUEL, Alberto. A cidade das palavras: as historias que contamos para saber quem somos. Sao Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2008. 152 p. ISBN: 8535912975.
THE USE OF Δ5-PREGNENOLONE IN VARIOUS CLINICAL DISORDERS

THE clinical effectiveness of cortisone and pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in rheumatoid arthritis and allied collagen diseases has stimulated the investigation of more easily derived steroids in these conditions. The possibility exists that certain steroids, even though not themselves hormonally active, may be converted in the human organism to materials which are useful in the treatment of the aforementioned diseases. With this in mind we have administered the steroid, Δ5-pregnenolone (17-ethyl-Δ5-androstene-3β-ol-20-one), to a group of 59 patients Δ5-Pregnenolone, hereinafter simply designated pregnenolone, is the 3-hydroxy analogue of progesterone, and can be obtained during the oxidative preparation of the latter hormone (1, 2, 3). It was first prepared chemically by Butenandt (4) in 1934, and was obtained by extraction from hog testes in 1943 by Ruzicka (5), and in 1948 by Kuizenga (6). Despite its relatively early synthesis, data regarding its action have accumulated slowly. They have...
The EF-hand calcium-binding protein calmyrin inhibits the transcriptional and DNA-binding activity of Pax3.

Abstract Pax3 is a member of the paired class homeodomain family of transcription factors and has been demonstrated to be an early marker in myogenic differentiation. To gain a better understanding of how protein–protein interactions regulate Pax3 transcriptional activity, we performed a yeast two-hybrid analysis to identify proteins that interact with Pax3. Screening of two cDNA libraries isolated nine independent clones that contained the complete encoding sequence of the EF-hand calcium-binding protein calmyrin. In this report, we demonstrate that calmyrin specifically interacts with Pax3 in vitro. In addition, we demonstrate that the interaction between Pax3 and calmyrin is mediated by the region of the Pax3 paired domain that is involved in making DNA contacts and the Pax3 octapeptide domain and its surrounding amino acid sequences. We also demonstrate that endogenous Pax3 and calmyrin are co-expressed in undifferentiated primary myoblasts and that calmyrin expression levels increase in the nucleus upon myogenic differentiation. Finally, we demonstrate that co-expression of calmyrin with Pax3 inhibits the transcriptional activity of Pax3 by inhibiting Pax3 from binding to its recognition DNA sequences. These results therefore suggest potential ways in which calcium, through its regulation of the EF-hand calcium-binding protein calmyrin, can alter the DNA-binding activity and subsequent transcriptional activity of Pax3.
A polynomial construction of perfect codes

Abstract Starting with a single-error-correcting extended perfect binary systematic code of length S, one can construct a single-error-correcting extended perfect binary systematic code of length S2S by polynomial manipulations.
Transmural characteristics of atrial fibrillation in canine models of structural and electrical atrial remodeling assessed by simultaneous epicardial and endocardial mapping.

Background Epicardial mapping has shown that atrial substrate may play a role in the characteristics of the resulting atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it is not known whether these differences also occur in 3 dimensions. Objective This study sought to examine the 3-dimensional characteristics of AF by simultaneously analyzing AF on the epicardial and endocardial surfaces. Methods Dogs were divided into 5 groups: congestive heart failure (CHF), rapid atrial pacing (RAP), mitral regurgitation (MR), control, and methylcholine. A noncontact mapping catheter (Ensite 3000 [Endocardial Solutions, Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota]) was placed in the left atrium (LA), and electrode plaques (240 unipoles) were placed over the epicardial surface. Several AF episodes of at least 30 s were recorded, and isopotential videos of activation and isochronal maps were constructed. In addition, each pair of matched electrograms were cross-correlated (XC) and analyzed with a fast Fourier transform (FFT). Results The RAP model was the only one with an AF mechanism of multiple wavelets in every dog on both surfaces. In addition, when individual signals were compared, the RAP model had the least amount of similarities between the recording surfaces, whereas the CHF model had the most as it had a higher percentage of signals with XC coefficients >0.8 and a higher percentage of signals with similar dominant frequencies (30 ± 35% vs. 12 ± 13% and 66 ± 30% vs. 26 ± 10%, P Conclusion Although the RAP model had similar AF mechanisms in 3 dimensions, this did not correlate to transmural similarities. Focal mechanisms of AF may have a more uniform wavefront of activation, whereas models with mechanisms of multiple wavelets may have more 3-dimensional properties.
The United States Chiropractic Workforce: An alternative or complement to primary care?

In the United States (US) a shortage of primary care physicians has become evident. Other health care providers such as chiropractors might help address some of the nation’s primary care needs simply by being located in areas of lesser primary care resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of the chiropractic workforce across the country and compare it to that of primary care physicians. We used nationally representative data to estimate the per 100,000 capita supply of chiropractors and primary care physicians according to the 306 predefined Hospital Referral Regions. Multiple variable Poisson regression was used to examine the influence of population characteristics on the supply of both practitioner-types. According to these data, there are 74,623 US chiropractors and the per capita supply of chiropractors varies more than 10-fold across the nation. Chiropractors practice in areas with greater supply of primary care physicians (Pearson’s correlation 0.17, p-value < 0.001) and appear to be more responsive to market conditions (i.e. more heavily influenced by population characteristics) in regards to practice location than primary care physicians. These findings suggest that chiropractors practice in areas of greater primary care physician supply. Therefore chiropractors may be functioning in more complementary roles to primary care as opposed to an alternative point of access.
ORGANIZED LABOR AND AMERICAN LAW: FROM FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION TO COMPULSORY UNIONISM

Though most legal and labor historians have depicted an American labor movement that suffered from legal disabilities, American law has never denied organized labor's freedom of association. Quite the contrary, unions have always enjoyed at least some favoritism in the law, and this status provided the essential element to their success and power. But, even during the heyday of union power (1930–47), organized labor never succeeded in gaining all of the privileges that it sought, not enough to stem its current (private-sector) decline back to historically normal levels. This article provides a synoptic overview and reinterpretation of the development of American labor law.
Biphasic Action of Acetylcholine on Ventricular Myocardium

Intracoronary infusions of acetylcholine have demonstrated two actions of this neurohumoral agent on ventricular myocardium: 1) an antagonism to the more forceful contractions evoked by adrenergic stimuli (sympathomimetic drugs or stellate stimulation), and 2) a sympathomimetic or positive inotropic effect (? release of a positive inotropic substance from the myocardium). The increased contractility ("rebound") was observed only after the infusion of acetylcholine was stopped; in the presence of physostigmine the "rebound" was absent. Atropine blocked both the cardio-inhibitory and cardio-excitatory actions of acetylcholine. Failure of hexamethonium and bretylium to block the "rebound" suggests that acetylcholine acts at a peripheral site. The possible catecholamine nature of the agent could not be established by direct analysis of coronary venous blood, by the use of an adrenergic beta receptor blocking agent or by pretreatment of the animals with reserpine; neither drug blocked the "rebound."
Initial clinical experience with frameless optically guided stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy in pediatric patients

Objective The objective of this study is to report our initial experience treating pediatric patients with central nervous system tumors using a frameless, optically guided linear accelerator.
Structural and conformational studies of polyriboadenylic acid in neutral and acid solution

Raman spectra of solutions of polyriboadenylic acid have been studied in the pH range of 7.2–5.2. Bands are identified which are sensitive to the characteristics of poly(rA) in the single-and double-stranded helical forms. Thermal melting profiles were obtained as a function of pH to monitor simultaneously the changes in (1) the phosphodiester backbone, (2) the base-stacking interactions, (3) the perturbation of the PO unit, and (4) the degree of protonation at the N-1 position in the adenine base. The temperature dependence of the intensity ratio of the bands at 725 and 705 cm−1 appears to be sensitive to the noncooperative and the cooperative thermal-melting process for the single-and double-stranded forms of poly(rA), respectively. Concurrently, bands diagnostic of the degree of protonation reveal that the cooperative melting process for the “acid” poly(rA) clearly involves deprotonation. The progressive perturbation of the 1100 cm−1 band with an increasing degree of protonation of poly(rA) is consistent with earlier suggestions regarding a PO-(6)-NH2 interaction in the double-helical form of poly(rA). The stability of the double-helix parallels the degree of protonation over the pH range studied as reflected in the tm values, which increase linearly with decreasing pH.
Solid-Fuel Rocket Motor Efficiency Improvement Scheme

Aluminum-based propellants are commonly used in solid rocket motors (SRM) due to their high energy densities. However, the alumina (Al2O3) particles produced during aluminum propellant combustion present performance issues. These particles flow along the combustion chamber to the nozzle in liquid form causing chemical and mechanical erosive damage. This erosive behavior should be avoided in an SRM because it decreases the ballistic performance. Since particle size and trajectory are believed to influence the impingement and accumulation of alumina droplets, which then affects erosive behavior, it is necessary to accurately predict both the particle size and trajectory. For design purposes, accurate prediction must allow for numerical simulation of particle size and trajectory for economic purposes. Recent work in particle size and trajectory using real time radiography (RTR) and numerical simulation demonstrated predictive capabilities for low solid-to-gas. Another study presented image processing methods to effectively process RTR images for larger particle sizes. Since the cost of experimental testing in is very high, due to high temperature and pressure, research in SRM field is more focused on numerical simulation. However, before simulation result could be used in SRM research CFD model validation is necessary. To provide validation for CFD modelling, a water-air two phase strait channel flow with controlled low temperature and pressure is used. In this chapter, two major parts will be covered, which include the comparison between water-air strait channel experiment and CFD results, and a quantification method for both experimental and CFD results is presented.
Multi-Split-Row Threshold decoding implementations for LDPC codes

The recently introduced Split-Row Threshold algorithm significantly improves the error performance when compared to the non-threshold Split-Row algorithm while requiring a very small increase in hardware complexity. The Multi-Split-Row Threshold decoding algorithm presented in this paper enables further reductions in routing complexity for greater throughput and smaller circuit area implementations. Several Multi-Split-Row Threshold decoder designs have been implemented in 65 nm CMOS and the impact of the different levels of partitioning on error performance, wire interconnect complexity, decoder area, and speed are investigated. The Split-Row-16 Threshold decoder occupies 3.8 mm2, runs at 100 MHz, delivers a throughput of 13.8 Gbps at 15 iterations and is only 0.28 dB and 0.22 dB away from SPA and MinSum Normalized.
Long-Lived Gluinos and Stable Axinos

In this Letter we present a novel version of ``long-lived'' gluinos in supersymmetric models with the gluino lightest ordinary supersymmetric particle (LOSP) and the axino lightest supersymmetric particle. Within certain ranges of the axion decay constant ${f}_{a}l1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{10}\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$, the gluino mass bounds are reduced to less than 1000 GeV. The best limits can be obtained by looking for decaying $R$ hadrons in the detector where the gluino decays to a gluon and axino in the calorimeters. Supersymmetry (SUSY) models with a gluino LOSP can occur over a significant region of parameter space in either mirage mediation or general gauge-mediated SUSY breaking models. The gluino LOSP is not constrained by cosmology, but in this scenario the axion or axino may be a good dark matter candidate.
Comparative testing of DNA segmentation algorithms using benchmark simulations

Numerous segmentation methods for the detection of compositionally homogeneous domains within genomic sequences have been proposed. Unfortunately, these methods yield inconsistent results. Here, we present a benchmark consisting of two sets of simulated genomic sequences for testing the performances of segmentation algorithms. Sequences in the first set are composed of fixed-sized homogeneous domains, distinct in their between-domain guanine and cytosine (GC) content variability. The sequences in the second set are composed of a mosaic of many short domains and a few long ones, distinguished by sharp GC content boundaries between neighboring domains. We use these sets to test the performance of seven segmentation algorithms in the literature. Our results show that recursive segmentation algorithms based on the Jensen-Shannon divergence outperform all other algorithms. However, even these algorithms perform poorly in certain instances because of the arbitrary choice of a segmentation-stopping criterion.
Skeletal muscle fibre types and sizes in anorexia nervosa patients

Fibre type composition and fibre areas in skeletal muscle of anorexia patients were studied on biopsies from the m. quadriceps femoris in five male and five females, whose body weight was 2-3.5 SDs less than expected from the normal weight/height relationship. In two of the males, the muscles studies were also made after rehabilitation. A higher than normal percentage of type I fibres was found in the patients (male, 62 +/- 12, female, 69 +/- 7) whereas the percentage of type IIA fibres did not differ from normal individuals (male, 38 +/- 12, female 24 +/- 15). Of note was the observation that no type IIB fibres were found and some patients had an increased occurrence of the normally rare type IIC fibres. All muscle fibres were markedly atrophied with the mean cross-sectional area of type IIA fibres being significantly smaller (male, 26.1 +/- 3.7, female, 21 +/- 10.3, micrometers2 x 10(-2)) than the mean area of type I fibres (male, 34.1 +/- 4.7, female, 35.3 +/- 7.4), micrometers2 x 10(-2)). In the two males studied after rehabilitation (body weight increased 12 and 19 kg), mean fibre area increased by 40%. Our results suggested that a predominant part of the reduction in body weight and lean body mass, seen in adolescent children suffering from anorexia nervosa, could be accounted for by a loss of skeletal muscle mass. In the six subjects where marker enzymes of glycolytic (TPDH, LDH) and mitochondrial pathways (CS, HAD) were assayed, the former were 50% and the latter 10-20% below sedentary controls. Maximal oxygen uptake was only 35 (males) and 29 (females) ml/kg min-1; this contrasted with the physical activity pattern of these patients, yet was in line with their small muscle mass with its low oxidative potential.
Role of the forebrain commissures in bihemispheric mnemonic integration in macaques

A serial probe recognition task was used to examine the interhemispheric exchange of visual data in macaques. Each block of trials began with the memorization of one to six visual target images. The monkeys then had to determine, in tests that followed immediately, whether probe images were or were not members of the learned target set. Previous work with both humans and macaques has shown that the time required for the evaluation of probes generally increases, while response accuracy decreases, as a function of the number of targets, the “memory load”. By testing animals with bisected optic chiasm, it was possible to direct visual information to only one hemisphere at a time, simply by occluding the opposite eye. In this fashion, the quality of intrahemispheric evaluations (in which a monocular probe was a match for a target previously viewed through the same eye) was compared with that of interhemispheric evaluations (in which a probe was a match for a target previously designated through the opposite eye). A key question was whether division of the target list between the hemispheres modified the relationships between reaction time, response accuracy, and memory load. Provided that either the anterior commissure or the splenium of the corpus callosum was intact, interhemispheric processing was only subtly less efficient than intrahemispheric processing. The ability to perform interhemispheric evaluations was selectively and completely disrupted if all forebrain commissural fibers were transected. In this latter split-brain condition, the time required for probe evaluations was, as expected, determined solely by the number of target items memorized by the probed hemisphere. Accuracy, however, was always a function of the total memory load, regardless of the distribution of targets between the hemispheres. This implies, first, that accuracy and latency do not reflect identical mnemonic factors, as frequently held, and second, that in mnemonic processing, the two hemispheres draw upon a unified, shared resource, probably allocated by the intact brainstem.
Estimation of prepractice hydration status of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletes

Abstract Context: To our knowledge, no one has compared the prepractice hydration status of male and female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes or has studied the ef...