cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SOBREVIVÊNCIA APÓS INDUÇÃO À TRIPLOIDIA EM Anomalocardia brasiliana (VENERIDAE) POR TRATAMENTO QUÍMICO, HIPOTÔNICO E TÉRMICO

A poliploidia e uma alternativa para melhorar o desempenho zootecnico e e amplamente empregada na aquicultura mundial. No Brasil, o emprego de tecnicas na escala comercial limita-se a uma especie exotica de ostra Crassostrea gigas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a sobrevivencia apos aplicacao de protocolos de inducao a triploidia em Anomalocardia brasiliana atraves de agentes quimicos, como Citocalasina B (CB) e 6 - Dimetilaminopurina (6-DMAP), e metodos fisicos, por choque termico frio e choque hiposmotico. A inducao a triploidia por CB foi realizada a 1 mg. L-1, enquanto que a 6-Dimetilaminopurina a 450 µmol.L-1. As inducoes por choque termico frio foram realizadas a 2, 5 e 7°C, e as inducoes por choque hiposmotico a 12‰ de salinidade. As inducoes quimicas a triploidia apresentaram baixa sobrevivencia larval apos as primeiras 24 horas, diferentemente dos tratamentos fisicos, estes obtiveram mais de 90% de sobrevivencia, assim como o tratamento controle. Estes resultados demonstram que os tratamentos fisicos neste periodo sao menos agressivos aos ovos e larvas. Porem novos estudos deverao ser realizados, a fim de aprimorar os protocolos para obtencao de poliploides para especie.
PERFORMING MIRACLES: THE NATALICIA OF PAULINUS OF NOLA AS POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT

Paulinus of Nola might not be very widely read today, even among professional classicists, but he remains the most popular Latin poet in his adopted hometown. At the Christian basilica complex in Cimitile, near Nola, where Paulinus founded a community for ascetic devotees of the cult of St. Felix in the late fourth century, his poetry is still recited publicly on a number of festive days each year. On a recent visit to Cimitile, I found myself in the audience at one of these narrazioni, which had been organized as a prelude to the Festa dei Gigli, held annually in Paulinus’ honor on June 22. For a group of local residents, gathered around the tomb of Felix in the basilica uetus, an actor read passages from an Italian translation of Paulinus’ carmina, which were then subjected to theological exposition by the Vicar General of the Diocese of Nola. Even now, therefore, Paulinus’ poems, with their straightforward diction and everyday subject matter, are seen as an appropriate vehicle for inspiring religious devotion in the lay community. It is not difficult to imagine a similar scene at Cimitile when Paulinus himself was leading the festivities, 1600 years ago. Still, this modern recitation raises questions about how the Natalicia—that is, the series of poems he composed for Felix's feast day each January 14—were performed in their original context. Presumably, Paulinus would have delivered the Natalicia on his own, without the assistance of actors—but would he have recited all 858 verses of Natalicium 13 (for example), or would he only have presented excerpts? Would the readings have been supplemented by any commentary—theological, or even literary?
Imagen y grafía: Una lectura de los documentales «Donde» y «La ciudad perdida» de Eduardo Lalo

This essay is an analysis of two video productions by Puerto Rican writer Eduardo Lalo (1960),Donde and La ciudad perdida and how they represent the global city or global cities of the PuertoRican archipelago. If in Donde there is an autobiographical element, where we look at the impossibilitiesof return, in La ciudad perdida Lalo honors the diverse cityscapes of San Juan. Videometrajea term coined by Lalo reveals a complex way of looking. In both productions, the writerâ€™s exile,the "insilio" (internal exile) join together with the ruins of the global present to write in a creativefashion, diverse and intimate geographies of the cityscape.
The effects of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency during development on oxidative fatty acid degradation during maturity in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Metabolic conditions during brain development may have long-term consequences on brain metabolism, thereby influencing the risk of neurodegenerative disease in later life. To ascertain the long-term consequences of omega-3 (ω3) fatty acid deficiency during brain development on oxidative fatty acid degradation in the brain and the development of Alzheimer-like pathology, wild-type (WT) female mice were fed diets that were either replete or deficient in ω3 fatty acids for 5 weeks. These females were then mated with hemizygous 5xFAD male transgenic (TG) mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, and the progeny were continued on diets that were either ω3-replete or ω3-deficient. When the progeny were 6 months of age, they received radiolabeled arachidonic acid (ARA) by intracerebroventricular injection. Five days after these injections, the brains were harvested and oxidative degradation of the radiolabeled ARA was characterized. Among the progeny of female mice on an ω3-replete diet, TG progeny had lower PSD-95 expression and higher oxidative ARA degradation than WT progeny. Progeny on an ω3-deficient diet, however, had no significant differences in PSD-95 expression between TG and WT mice, or in the extent of ARA degradation. In TG mice, an ω3-deficient diet reduced oxidative ARA degradation to a greater extent than in WT mice. The reductions in oxidative ARA degradation occurred even if the progeny of female mice on an ω3-deficient diet resumed an ω3-replete diet immediately on weaning. These results demonstrate that dietary ω3 fatty acid deficiency during development can cause long-term changes in the expression of a synaptic marker and long-term reductions in the rate of ARA degradation in the WT brain, which are not completely alleviated by an ω3-replete diet after weaning. The elimination of differences between TG and WT mice by an ω3-deficient diet suggests that mechanisms regulating PSD-95 expression and the oxidative degradation of ARA are related and that the timing of dietary ω3 intake during development may influence Alzheimer's disease-related pathological changes later in life.
The Value Orientations of Minority and Non-Minority Small Business Owners

This study examines value orientations of minority and non-minority small business owners and contrasts their perceived similarity with corporate customers. Six categories of organizational values,...
Dynamic Compaction of Ceramic Powders

Dynamic compaction is a powder compaction process that involves a combination of high pressures and high strain rates to densify powder materials. Emphasized in this review paper on dynamic compaction of ceramic powders are pressures obtained by explosive detonations which generate strain rates typically from 103 to 104 s-1and reported pressures from 0.1 GPa to 100 GPa.
Lipid-modulation of membrane insertion and refolding of the apoptotic inhibitor Bcl-xL

Bcl-xL is a member of the Bcl-2 family of apoptotic regulators, responsible for inhibiting the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane, and a promising anti-cancer target. Bcl-xL exists in the following conformations, each believed to play a role in the inhibition of apoptosis: (a) a soluble folded conformation, (b) a membrane-anchored (by its C-terminal α8 helix) form, which retains the same fold as in solution and (c) refolded membrane-inserted conformations, for which no structural data are available. Previous studies established that in the cell Bcl-xL exists in a dynamic equilibrium between soluble and membranous states, however, no direct evidence exists in support of either anchored or inserted conformation of the membranous state in vivo. In this in vitro study, we employed a combination of fluorescence and EPR spectroscopy to characterize structural features of the bilayer-inserted conformation of Bcl-xL and the lipid modulation of its membrane insertion transition. Our results indicate that the core hydrophobic helix α6 inserts into the bilayer without adopting a transmembrane orientation. This insertion disrupts the packing of Bcl-xL and releases the regulatory N-terminal BH4 domain (α1) from the rest of the protein structure. Our data demonstrate that both insertion and refolding of Bcl-xL are modulated by lipid composition, which brings the apparent pKa of insertion to the threshold of physiological pH. We hypothesize that conformational rearrangements associated with the bilayer insertion of Bcl-xL result in its switching to a so-called non-canonical mode of apoptotic inhibition. Presented results suggest that the alteration in lipid composition before and during apoptosis can serve as an additional factor regulating the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane.
Periodic Solutions of Singular Perturbation Problems

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the periodic solutions of singular perturbation problems. The conditions that insure the existence and uniqueness of a periodic solution of the ordinary differential equations are established and have known as periodic solution φ(t), ψ(t) and the real nonnegative parameter∈. The periodic solution of system is constructed as a convergent series using a formal procedure. A formula for periodic solutions of a nonhomogeneous linear system with periodic coefficients is calculated and finds a unique periodic solution of period T° providing that the matrix [Φ(t+T°)-Φ(t)] is nonsingular.
Public health risk analysis for ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure surrounding a petrochemical complex in Curaçao

Antiquated petroleum refining methods may exacerbate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air. There is currently an aging, yet active refinery on the island of Curacao that has been ...
Climate Change: Flowering Time May Be Shifting in Surprising Ways.

Summary A new study examined how flowering phenology has changed over the past three decades along an elevational gradient. These findings indicate that climate change is shifting flowering time in complex ways, even across local spatial gradients.
A review of “The political economy of housing financialization” By Gregory W. Fuller

Gregory Fuller’s ‘Housing Financialization’ is a short and very accessible introduction to the political economy of housing at times when housing is more than ever distributed through private marke...
The Dark Side of Morality – Neural Mechanisms Underpinning Moral Convictions and Support for Violence

People are motivated by shared social values that, when held with moral conviction, can serve as compelling mandates capable of facilitating support for ideological violence. The current study examined this dark side of morality by identifying specific cognitive and neural mechanisms associated with beliefs about the appropriateness of sociopolitical violence, and determining the extent to which the engagement of these mechanisms was predicted by moral convictions. Participants reported their moral convictions about a variety of sociopolitical issues prior to undergoing functional MRI scanning. During scanning, they were asked to evaluate the appropriateness of violent protests that were ostensibly congruent or incongruent with their views about sociopolitical issues. Complementary univariate and multivariate analytical strategies comparing neural responses to congruent and incongruent violence identified neural mechanisms implicated in processing salience and in the encoding of subjective value. As predicted, neuro-hemodynamic response was modulated parametrically by individuals' beliefs about the appropriateness of congruent relative to incongruent sociopolitical violence in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and by moral conviction in ventral striatum. Overall moral conviction was predicted by neural response to congruent relative to incongruent violence in amygdala. Together, these findings indicate that moral conviction about sociopolitical issues serves to increase their subjective value, overriding natural aversion to interpersonal harm.
Pre-operative patient optimization to prevent postoperative pulmonary complications-Insights and roles for the respiratory therapist: A narrative review.

Background The preoperative period has gained recognition as a crucial time to identify and manage preoperative medical conditions for preventing perioperative complications. Consequently, preoperative clinics have now become an essential component of perioperative care at many large hospitals. As the prevalence of preoperative clinics continues to grow, and the field of perioperative medicine progresses, respiratory therapists (RTs) will inevitably find a growing role to participate in preoperative patient optimization to mitigate pulmonary complications. Methods Keyword searches on perioperative pulmonary complications were conducted on the Medline database via PubMed and identified over 2000 candidate articles for review. Articles were included if they were English only and resulted with one or more of the following search terms; pulmonary complications, postoperative complications, postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), prehabilitation, incentive spirometry, smoking cessation, noninvasive ventilation. Preference was given for meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and systematic reviews. Publications within the past two decades were given additional preference toward final inclusion. The authors discussed eligible articles in group meetings over the span of multiple years to assess relevance and quality of data for narrowing eligible articles to the final selection of publications for the review. Findings The following narrative review examines preoperative optimization strategies to prevent PPCs and highlight areas where RTs may play a key role. After examining challenges in defining PPCs, the review examines key risk models available to predict PPCs and their implications for subsequent discussion on preventive measures that RTs may assist with in a multidisciplinary team. Conclusion RTs can reduce the health care burden of PPCs by assisting fellow perioperative clinicians in providing respiratory care for patients with premorbid conditions. While much of our review focused on pre-existing pulmonary pathologies and both the pharmacological and nonpharmacological optimization of these pathologies, there are other factors contributing to PPCs deserving future exploration.
Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain

Grouped together due to their correlation with chronic widespread pain, fibromyalgia and myofascial pain remain difficult pain disorders to both identify and treat. The diagnostic process has undergone recent progression due to improved understanding of the underlying disease processes. Both diagnoses can cause significant pain and disability and are often misunderstood by many providers who frequently rely on pain providers for accurate diagnosis and guidance in treatment.
Guaranteed Fixed-Confidence Best Arm Identification in Multi-Armed Bandits: Simple Sequential Elimination Algorithms.

We consider the problem of finding, through adaptive sampling, which of $n$ options (arms) has the largest mean. Our objective is to determine a rule which identifies the best arm with a fixed minimum confidence using as few observations as possible, i.e. this is a fixed-confidence (FC) best arm identification (BAI) in multi-armed bandits. We study such problems under the Bayesian setting with both Bernoulli and Gaussian arms. We propose to use the classical "vector at a time" (VT) rule, which samples each remaining arm once in each round. We show how VT can be implemented and analyzed in our Bayesian setting and be improved by early elimination. Our analysis show that these algorithms guarantee an optimal strategy under the prior. We also propose and analyze a variant of the classical "play the winner" (PW) algorithm. Numerical results show that these rules compare favorably with state-of-art algorithms.
Tensor Field Segmentation Using Region Based Active Contour Model

Tensor fields (matrix valued data sets) have recently attracted increased attention in the fields of image processing, computer vision, visualization and medical imaging. Tensor field segmentation is an important problem in tensor field analysis and has not been addressed adequately in the past. In this paper, we present an effective region-based active contour model for tensor field segmentation and show its application to diffusion tensor magnetic resonance images (MRI) as well as for the texture segmentation problem in computer vision. Specifically, we present a variational principle for an active contour using the Euclidean difference of tensors as a discriminant. The variational formulation is valid for piecewise smooth regions, however, for the sake of simplicity of exposition, we present the piecewise constant region model in detail. This variational principle is a generalization of the region-based active contour to matrix valued functions. It naturally leads to a curve evolution equation for tensor field segmentation, which is subsequently expressed in a level set framework and solved numerically. Synthetic and real data experiments involving the segmentation of diffusion tensor MRI as well as structure tensors obtained from real texture data are shown to depict the performance of the proposed model.
High surface area a-alumina. I.

Abstract High surface area (HSA) α-aluminas have now been produced from both ground (G) and unground (U) diaspore. The porosities of these (HSA) α-aluminas were determined using nitrogen adsorption at 77 K and mercury porosimetry. Volumetric and calorimetric studies of CO, CO2, and C2H4 adsorption at 300 K were performed to examine the surface properties of these (HSA) α-aluminas as well as a commercial low surface area (LSA) α-alumina so that comparisons could be made. A pore size distribution with a maximum at a radius of around 60Awas observed with both HSA samples, but the unground sample possessed only a small quantity of mesopores ( (HSA) α-Al2O3(U) > (HSA) α-Al2O3(G) ⩾ γ- and η-Al2O3.
Hospital Nurse Practice Environments and Outcomes for Surgical Oncology Patients

Objective. To examine the effect of nursing practice environments on outcomes of hospitalized cancer patients undergoing surgery. Data Sources. Secondary analysis of cancer registry, inpatient claims, administrative and nurse survey data collected in Pennsylvania for 1998–1999. Study Design. Nurse staffing (patient to nurse ratio), educational preparation (proportion of nurses holding at least a bachelor's degree), and the practice environment (Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index) were calculated from a survey of nurses and aggregated to the hospital level. Logistic regression models predicted the odds of 30-day mortality, complications, and failure to rescue (death following a complication). Principal Findings. Unadjusted death, complication, and failure to rescue rates were 3.4, 35.7, and 9.3 percent, respectively. Nurse staffing and educational preparation of registered nurses were significantly associated with patient outcomes. After adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics, patients in hospitals with poor nurse practice environments had significantly increased odds of death (odds ratio, 1.37; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.07–1.76) and of failure to rescue (odds ratio, 1.48; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.07–2.03). Receipt of care in National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers significantly decreased the odds of death, which can be explained partly by better nurse practice environments. Conclusions. This study is one of the first to examine the predictive validity of the National Quality Forum's endorsed measure of the nurse practice environment. Improvements in the quality of nurse practice environments could reduce adverse outcomes for hospitalized surgical oncology patients.
Structure and evolution of genes encoding polyubiquitin and ubiquitin- like proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia

The Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia ubiquitin gene family consists of 14 members that can be divided into three types of ubiquitin genes; polyubiquitin genes, ubiquitin-like genes and ubiquitin extension genes. The isolation and characterization of eight ubiquitin sequences, consisting of four polyubiquitin genes and four ubiquitin-like genes, are described here, and their relationships to each other and to previously identified Arabidopsis ubiquitin genes were analyzed. The polyubiquitin genes, UBQ3, UBQ10, UBQ11 and UBQ14, contain tandem repeats of the 228-bp ubiquitin coding region. Together with a previously described polyubiquitin gene, UBQ4, they differ in synonymous substitutions, number of ubiquitin coding regions, number and nature of nonubiquitin C-terminal amino acid(s) and chromosomal location, dividing into two subtypes; the UBQ3/UBQ4 and UBQ10/UBQ11/UBQ14 subtypes. Ubiquitin-like genes, UBQ7, UBQ8, UBQ9 and UBQ12, also contain tandem repeats of the ubiquitin coding region, but at least one repeat per gene encodes a protein with amino acid substitutions. Nucleotide comparisons, Ks value determinations and neighbor-joining analyses were employed to determine intra- and intergenic relationships. In general, the rate of synonymous substitution is too high to discern related repeats. Specific exceptions provide insight into gene relationships. The observed nucleotide relationships are consistent with previously described models involving gene duplications followed by both unequal crossing-over and gene conversion events.
Instrumentation for steady-state and dynamic fluorescence and absorbance studies in supercritical media

We describe and characterize a new instrument for the measurement of: (1) steady-state excitation, emission, and absorbance spectra; (2) fluorescence lifetimes; and (3) phase-resolved fluorescence spectra in supercritical fluid media. Time resolution is on the order 10-20 ps, spectral resolution is 1 nm from 225-700 nm, and pressure and temperature can be controlled accurately and safely from 1 to 300 ± 0.7 atm and 273.2 to 373.2 ± 0.1 K, respectively. The instrument shows great promise for the elucidation of complex solvation processes occurring in supercritical fluid media.
On least absolute values estimation

The resistance of least absolute values (L1) estimators to outliers and their robustness to heavy-tailed distributions make these estimators useful alternatives to the usual least squares estimators. The recent development of efficient algorithms for L1 estimation in linear models has permitted their use in practical data analysis. Although in general the L1 estimators are not unique, there are a number of properties they all share. The set of all L1 estimators for a given model and data set can be characterized as the convex hull of some extreme estimators. Properties of the extreme estimators and of the L1-estimate set are considered.
Relaxation of higher vibrational states in diatomic gases

A general and computationally efficient approach evaluating the transition probabilities for the V-T exchange, involving highly excited levels and the transitions of delta-v of more than 1, in diatomic gases is presented. The role of the repulsive part of the intermolecular potential on the transition probability is also investigated. Examples of numerical results are given for number of transitions in nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the ground electronic states. The approach can be used for interactions involving diatomic molecular ions.
Information sharing with the Oracle database

Database systems have been designed to manage business critical information and make this information accessible on request to connected clients. There is, however, an ever-increasing need to share relevant information actively with disconnected clients and/or external systems, e.g., to propagate and/or automatically react to relevant information as soon as it becomes available.Leveraging the existing database infrastructure, Oracle created a solution to this problem. The solution is state of the art in terms of functionality and operational characteristics. This Oracle technology is widely used and supports many highly visible applications.
The effects on Schild regressions of antagonist removal from the receptor compartment by a saturable process

1. A theoretical model of the effects of a saturable removal mechanism for an antagonist diffusing into the receptor compartment of a tissue is used to calculate expected deviations in Schild regressions. 2. At concentrations of antagonist which do not saturate the removal mechanism, there can be a deficit of antagonist in the receptor compartment as compared to the concentration of antagonist bathing the tissue. This results in a shift to the right of the Schild regression and a corresponding underestimation of antagonist potency. The model predicts that as the concentration of antagonist exceeds the Km for removal (saturation of the removal process), this concentration deficit is eliminated, resulting in a proportionate increase in antagonist concentration at the receptor and a concomitant increase in receptor antagonism. This results in a steepening of the Schild regression; the slope in the region of saturation is greater than one. 3. Experimental evidence in support of this model was found in studies of the antagonism of responses to bethanechol by atropine in rabbit ileum; this species is known to have an atropinesterase capable of hydrolyzing atropine. The Schild regression for atropine was curvilinear with an overall slope of 1.42 (1.34–1.5) and pKB = 8.5 (8.36–8.8); in the ileum from guinea pigs, a species which does not possess this enzyme, the Schild regression for atropine was linear, had a slope not significantly different from unity (1.1; 0.95–1.2) and a pKb of 9.0 (8.9–9.2). 4. The slope of the regression in rabbit ileum was corrected to unity by the addition of an excess concentration of methylbutyrate, an alternate substrate for atropinesterase. 5. Experimental factors such as rate of permeation of drug into the receptor compartment, avidity of removal, the effects of unstirred layers and geometrical configuration of tissues are discussed with reference to the expected verisimilitude of the predictions of the model to experimental results.
Markov Model of Terrain for Evaluation of Ground Proximity Warning System Thresholds

Astatistical model ofterrainwasdevelopedtoestimatetheprobabilityofacontrolled eightintoterrainaccident followingaground proximitywarningsystem(GPWS)alert. The terrain model wasderived froman actual terrain database and used to create a Markov chain simulation. With this simulation the probability of terrain impact was computed as a function of terrain type and aircraft trajectory proele. Contours of collision probability were then generated and plotted against current alerting thresholds, illustrating how threshold placement maps into safety. Example results for the GPWS excessive descent rate alerting mode are provided. Following a warning and the subsequent pilot reaction delay and pull-up maneuver, the probability of collision with relatively e at terrain is less than 1 £ 10i 8 for high descent rates. In steep, rapidly changing terrain, the probability of collision following an alert increases to more than 0.01. A simple modie cation of alerting thresholds would not resolve this problem because of a resulting higher rate of nuisance alarms, as shown quantitatively by a performance tradeoff curve. Potential performance improvements through decreased response time or increased maneuvering load factor are also quantie ed.
Biological variation of prostate specific antigen levels in serum: an evaluation of day-to-day physiological fluctuations in a well-defined cohort of 24 patients.

AbstractPurpose: We evaluated the daily biological variation of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) concentrations to determine the critical difference required between 2 consecutive PSA measurements that would indicate a significant elevation.Materials and Methods: A total of 24 men, grouped according to clinical diagnosis and PSA, underwent phlebotomy for 10 consecutive weekdays. Duplicate serum samples were measured using 3 separate lots of Tandem-E [dagger] and IMx [double dagger] PSA assays. The biological variation was calculated and the 2 PSA assay systems were compared. The critical difference was examined to determine the percent elevation necessary to indicate (with 95% confidence) that PSA had increased beyond that would be expected from biological and analytical variation.[dagger] Hybritech, Inc., San Diego, California.[double dagger] Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois.Results: The biological variation, defined in terms of percent coefficient of variation, had a log-normal distributi...
Creating space: an antigen-independent, CpG-induced peripheral expansion of naive and memory T lymphocytes in a full T-cell compartment.

Many of the mechanisms that govern T-cell homeostasis remain obscure. Here we report that repeated administration of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides containing unmethylated cytosine-guanine motifs (CpG-ODN) into mice induces a systemic antigen-independent expansion of naive and memory T cells in a full T-cell compartment. Expansion of T cells was observed on both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets and was produced not by inducing the proliferation of the cells but by preventing their death. The antiapoptotic effects of CpG-ODN on T cells were observed against activation-induced death and growth factor withdrawal–mediated death. The ability of CpG-ODN to protect T cells from these forms of death was associated with the up-regulation of antiapoptotic gene products including c-FLIP, bcl-xL, and, to some extent, bcl-2. The effect of CpG-ODN on naive and memory T cells required the expression of CD28 and was not dependent on the presence of B lymphocytes, suggesting that other antigen-presenting cells that respond to CpG-ODN, such as dendritic cells, may provide antiapoptotic signals to T cells in an antigen-independent but CD28/B7-dependent fashion. The present findings suggest that CpG-ODN can disrupt normal T-cell homeostasis not by acting as a mitogen but by preventing T-cell death that normally takes place as a mechanism to maintain steady-state levels of T cells. These findings support a potential means to expeditiously replenish and maintain the peripheral lymphocyte population after severe immunodepletion such as that which occurs in HIV-infected individuals and individuals undergoing cytoablative therapies.
Developing an acceptability assessment of preventive dental treatments.

Objectives: Early childhood caries (ECC) is very prevalent among young Hispanic children. ECC is amenable to a variety of preventive procedures, yet many Hispanic families underutilize dental services. Acceptability research may assist in health care planning and resource allocation by identifying patient preferences among efficacious treatments with the goal of improving their utilization. The purposes of this study were (a) to develop a culturally competent acceptability assessment instrument, directed toward the caregivers of young Hispanic children, for five preventive dental treatments for ECC and (b) to test the instrument's reliability and validity. Methods: An instrument of five standard treatments known to prevent ECC was developed, translated, reviewed by focus groups, and pilot tested, then tested for reliability. The instrument included illustrated cards, brief video clips, and samples of the treatments and was culturally appropriate for low-income Hispanic caregivers. In addition to determining the acceptability of the five treatments individually, the treatments were also presented as paired comparisons. Results: Focus groups and debriefing interviews following the pilot tests established that the instrument has good face validity. The illustrated cards, product samples, and video demonstrations of the five treatments resulted in an instrument possessing good content validity. The instrument has good to excellent test–retest reliability, with identical time 1–time 2 responses for each of the five treatments 92 percent of the time (range 87 to 97 percent), and the same treatment of the paired comparisons preferred 75 percent of the time (range 61 to 90 percent). Conclusions: The acceptability instrument described is reliable and valid and may be useful in program planning efforts to identify and increase the utilization of preferred ECC preventive treatments for target populations.
Meandering Right Pulmonary Vein Simulating the Scimitar Syndrome

A 51-year-old woman presented with clinical and chest x-ray film findings simulating partial anomalous pulmonary venous return below the diaphragm (scimitar syndrome). Angiography, however, revealed the scimitar vein turned cephalad at the diaphragm and drained into the left side of the left atrium. It is postulated that the abnormal left atrial drainage is via persistent thebesian veins.
Nd-doped fiber laser

A tunable laser operating near 944 nm is important for micro LIDAR systems. The high power laser would consist of a tunable (and possibly Q-switched) low power fiber laser, the output of which would be amplified using a double clad fiber amplifier. A model of a Nd doped laser using a Gaussian beam approximation for both the propagating pump and the laser mode has been developed. The threshold power and output power for various parameters such as pump absorption and reflectivity have been calculated. The spectral width (linewidth) of a fiber laser under CW operation has been calculated. The laser linewidth varies inversely as the square of the fiber length and inversely as the output power. Shorter pulse width and higher peak power is obtained using a small fiber core under Q-switched operation.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Electron microscopy of endothelial cells in culture; II: Scanning electron microscopy and ototo impregnation method

A method is described whereby endothelial cells are treated with several cycles of osmium and thiocarbohydrazide then critical point dried. Cells grown on Formvar-coated gold grids can be examined directly by transmission electron microscopy, cells grown on glass strips are mounted on stubs for scanning electron microscopy and are scanned without further coating with gold or palladium.
Shifting Transversals: Trans Women's Move from Spirit Mediumship to Beauty Work in Mandalay

ABSTRACTLong active as spirit mediums, trans women have become increasingly important players in the beauty business in Mandalay, Burma, as elsewhere in Southeast Asia. I ask what affinities we might discern in these two roles of spirit medium and beautician such that trans women should be thought especially suited to take them on. The boundary-crossing implicit in both turns on self-fashioning, a process which connects humans to spirits and/or ordinary individuals to the prestigiously modern.
The stimulation of capillary endothelial cell migration by aqueous humor.

Abstract We have developed a quantitative in vitro assay of aqueous humor based on capillary endothelial cell migration. Bovine adrenal capillary endothelial cells are plated onto glass coverslips that have previously been coated with colloidal gold and incubated for 18 hr. During this time, cells that migrate sweep up the gold and leave a bare track that serves as a record of their movement. When the coverslips are projected by phase microscopy onto a television screen, the tracks can be traced and their areas are measured by a Zeiss MOP-3 digital image analyzer. V-2 carcinoma was implanted onto the iris of each eye of 15 NZ white rabbits and 200 μl of aqueous humor was aspirated from the anterior chamber. The aqueous humor was added to nonconditioned culture medium (DME with 10% calf serum) in concentrations of 6.25, 25, 50, and 100 μl. The tracks of 100 cells were traced for each concentration. The aqueous humor from these tumor-bearing animals stimulated capillary endothelial cell migration in a statistically significant, dose-dependent fashion. Aqueous humor from the eyes of 10 control rabbits (5 sham operated and 5 with heat killed, washed tumor implants) did not stimulate capillary endothelial cell migration at any concentration. This in vitro quantitative capillary endothelial cell migration assay of aqueous humor might improve the clinical diagnosis of intraocular tumors, guide subsequent treatment regimens, and identify those patients at a high risk of developing malignant eye tumors.
Public diplomacy as symbolic interactions: A case study of Asian tsunami relief campaigns

This case study conceptualizes public diplomacy as a symbolic interactionist process, in which nations actively participate in constructing and negotiating meanings of symbols and performing actions based on the meanings. The international relief efforts for the Asian tsunami are used as a case to examine the conceptualization.
Quantum efficiency of Photosystem II in relation to ‘energy’-dependent quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence

The balance between light-dependent reactions and electron-consuming reactions in intact sunflower leaves was varied by changing the incident light-flux at constant intercellular CO2 concentration. Measurements of fluorescence quenching were compared to measurements of the rate and apparent quantum yield of whole-chain electron transport at a number of steady-state conditions. The steady-state quantum yield declined with increasing light intensity, falling at the highest intensity to approx. 40% of the maximum value observed in low light. The coefficient for photochemical quenching, qQ, was near 1 in low light and only declined to 0.7 at the highest light, indicating that there was very little feedback from accumulation of reduced electron carriers. On the other hand, there was a large increase in qE, the coefficient for ‘energy’-dependent quenching, as the quantum yield fell. We found that these changes in the steady-state quantum yield, Φs, could be related to the changes in fluorescence quenching by an empirical equation, Φs = qQ(0.32 − 0.17 qE) which accounted for variation in Φs resulting from light saturation or changes in CO2 concentration. We develop a hypothesis that Photosystem (PS) II centers may be converted to an altered state (possibly mediated by the chloroplast ΔpH) which has very little variable fluorescence and a lowered photochemical yield. We develop a kinetic explanation for the properties of the altered form of PS II, and we propose that this mechanism (indicated by qE) functions together with the accumulation of reduced QA (indicated by qQ) to regulate the rate of net photochemistry by PS II when — with increasing light or decreasing CO2 — the potential rate of net photochemistry exceeds that for carbon metabolism. The latter mechanism apparently permits down-regulation of PS II to occur without strong accumulation of reduced QA, except during transients or under the most extreme conditions.
Polarization angle affects energy of plasmonic features in Fano resonant regular lattices

Plasmonic nanoparticles in ordered lattices exhibit spectral features supported by Fano resonant coupling between dipole and/or quadrupole oscillations and constructively interfering diffracted modes. This work showed that the angle at which incident resonant irradiation was polarized relative to the axes of a rectangular 655 × 649 nm2 lattice of 264 nm diameter gold nanospheres predictably modulated the energy of plasmonic spectral features. Measured peak wavelengths varied sinusoidally as polarization angle was rotated 360°. Quadrupole and dipole lattice resonance oscillations were phase shifted by 90°, consistent with theory. Experimental wavelengths were within 12 nanometers (1.8%) of wavelengths simulated for the lattice using a coupled dipole/quadrupole approximation.
BRAIN CANNABINOID SYSTEMS AS TARGETS FOR THE THERAPY OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

Unprecedented developments in cannabinoid research within the past decade include discovery of a brain (CB1) and peripheral (CB2) receptor; endogenous ligands, anandamide, and 2-arachidonylglycerol; cannabinoid drug-induced partial and inverse agonism at CB1 receptors, antagonism of NMDA receptors and glutamate, and antioxidant activity; and preferential CB1 receptor localization in areas subserving spasticity, pain, abnormal involuntary movements, seizures, and amnesia. These endogenous structures and chemicals and mechanisms are potentially new pathophysiologic substrates, and targets for novel cannabinoid treatments, of several neurological disorders.
Administration of Cyclophosphamide Changes the Immune Profile of Tumor-bearing Mice

Cyclophosphamide (CTX) is often used to create a "window" for more effective therapeutic tumor vaccination. According to a commonly applied protocol, we injected 2 mg CTX intraperitoneally to mice with small (2 to 3 mm diameter) or large (5 to 7 mm, and in one experiment 8 to 10 mm diameter) subcutaneously growing tumors from the SW1 clone of the K1735 melanoma, euthanized the mice 4 days later and studied the composition of lymphoid cells by flow cytometry in both spleens and tumors. Administration of CTX increased the percentage of CD3, CD4, and CD8 cells with the increase in tumors being significantly greater than in spleens, and it also increased the percentage of B cells in spleens and tumors. Furthermore, CTX dramatically increased the frequency of tumor-infiltrating CD4 and CD8 cells containing interferon gamma, of cells expressing NK1.1, and of cells expressing the dendritic cell markers CD11c, CD80, and CD86, with the greatest increases seen among tumor-infiltrating lymphoid cells (TIL) from mice with small tumors. Although CTX decreased the percentage of TIL that expressed CD4 or CD8 together with CD25 and FoxP3 and were therefore considered to be regulatory T cells, it increased the frequency of TIL that stained for Gr1/CD11b, a marker for myeloid-derived suppressor cells. We conclude that the administration of CTX can favorably impact several cell populations that are involved in tumor rejection. However, since CTX has a limited effect on TIL from tumors larger than a few millimeter in diameter and in view of an increased percentage of myeloid-derived suppressor cells among TIL from mice given CTX there is a need for more effective ways to improve tumor vaccination.
Assembly of cross-linked multi-walled carbon nanotube mats

High content carbon nanotubes mats have been produced to a range of thicknesses and diameters by covalent bonded cross-linking of thiolated multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The Michael addition pathway was used to cross-link benzoquinone to thiol groups attached to the surface of the nanotubes. The mats were characterized by a variety of techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, tensile strength as well as qualitative structural analysis by scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the optimum ratio by weight for cross-linking benzoquinone to thiolated carbon nanotubes was ca. 5:1. This work provided a simple route to the production of mats without high pressure processing or irradiation techniques generally used to produce Buckypaper which can require pressure control chambers, argon and hydrogen ion beams and high temperatures. The mat surface can be further functionalized with nanoparticles to form advanced carbon composite materials.
Comparative Effectiveness of Intensity-Modulated Versus 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy Among Medicare Patients with Stage III Lung Cancer

Introduction The clinical benefit of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) compared to 3D conformal radiation (3D-RT) has not been well established for locally advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Using SEER-Medicare, we identified Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with stage III NSCLC who received potentially curative (≥ 25 fractions) thoracic IMRT or 3D-RT from 2002–2009. Overall survival and number of hospital days within 90 days of radiation were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard and negative binomial regression models, respectively. Propensity score adjustment was used to control for clinical and demographic variables associated with outcomes. Results IMRT comprised an increasing proportion of conformal thoracic radiation for NSCLC, rising from 3.0% in 2002 to 26.8% in 2009. Use of IMRT varied significantly by year of diagnosis, facility type, and geographic region and was more likely to be used among patients receiving chemotherapy or with higher comorbidity scores. Among patients receiving potentially curative treatment, there was no difference in overall survival (propensity adj HR .99, p = 0.83) or number of hospital days in the 90 days following radiation start (propensity adj HR 1.15, p = 0.23). Conclusions When radiation is used to treat locally advanced NSCLC, IMRT is increasingly preferred to 3D-RT. However, among patients receiving potentially curative radiation there was no significant difference in overall survival or time spent hospitalized following treatment.
Electroconvulsive therapy: what the internist needs to know

Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is widely used to treat a number of psychiatric disorders, many physicians are still unfamiliar with the procedure, its indications, and its contraindications. This article is an internist's guide to ECT, with particular focus on how commonly prescribed medications and medical conditions affect ECT.
All-atom numerical studies of self-assembly of zwitterionic peptide amphiphiles

We present an approach to study the self-assembly of organic macromolecules, based on all-atom empirical force field calculations. The approach is applied to self-assemblies of zwitterionic peptide amphiphiles possessing large dipoles in their hydrophilic headgroups. The assembly is built from the bottom up by first optimizing the diad amphiphile, which is then used as a basic unit to subsequently first build quartets, and then 4 × 4 supercells of molecules to be studied in periodic boundary conditions. Explicit water solvent is added to the surface of the periodic structures and molecular dynamics simulations are performed on them. The calculations reveal an interesting structure of the resulting assemblies: the dipoles in the upper parts of the headgroups are aligned in an antiparallel fashion with respect to each other and along one of the periodic axes, while hydrogen bonds in the lower, rigid parts of the headgroups form a parallel beta sheet along the same direction. It is shown that the structure ...
The ERBB4 intracellular domain (4ICD) regulates NRG1-induced gene expression in hippocampal neurons

The NRG1 growth factor and ERBB4 receptor have been identified as leading schizophrenia risk genes. Although NRG1 and ERBB4 have been shown to modulate neuronal functions involved in schizophrenia, including both GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses, the exact molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we investigated ERBB4 intracellular domain, 4ICD, transactivator function in rat hippocampal cultures by inhibiting γ-secretase mediated ERBB4 regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP). NRG1 stimulation resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of hippocampal cells displaying nuclear 4ICD which was abolished in cultures pretreated with the γ-secretase inhibitor compound E (CE). To identify NRG1-4ICD transactivated genes we compared global gene expression profiles of hippocampal cultures stimulated with NRG1 in the absence or presence of CE. In concordance with the contribution of NRG1-ERBB4 signaling to dendritic spine maturation and schizophrenia, global gene expression analysis followed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of the dataset identified NRG1-4ICD regulated genes significantly represented in semaphorin signaling and actin cytoskeletal plasticity and multiple genes with confirmed roles in dendritic spine morphogenesis. Using the power of global gene expression analysis our data provides a proof-of-concept supporting a role for non-canonical NRG1-4ICD signaling in the regulation of gene expression contributing to normal and schizophrenic neuronal function.