cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The interactions of polarographic measurements of oxygen tension and histological grade in human glioma.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to investigate the implications of hypoxia and histological grade for survival in patients with gliomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS Tissue oxygen tension was measured intraoperatively using an Eppendorf pO 2 Histograph. Survival was calculated from the date of the Eppendorf study to the date of last follow-up. Univariate analysis was performed stratifying patients by patient gender, type of anesthesia used, histological grade, extent of surgery, and patient age. Lastly univariate analysis was performed on the cohort after dichotomizing the median pO 2 at 2.0 mmHg, 5.1 mmHg, and 10.0 mmHg. RESULTS From March of 1996 to June of 1999, 25 patients were entered into this prospective trial. Two patients were excluded from analysis because polarographic measurements included normal brain tissue as well as tumor. Thus for analysis we included 13 patients with high grade gliomas (HGG) and 10 with low grade gliomas (LGG). The median tumor oxygen pressure for the entire cohort was 5.1 mmHg. Higher grade (P = 0.0012) was prognostic for poorer survival. Patients were then stratified into groups with a median tumor oxygen tensions either above or below 2.0 mmHg, 5.1 mmHg, and 10.0 mmHg; there was no significant difference found in overall survival. CONCLUSIONS Although histological grade was prognostic for survival, hypoxia, represented as the median tumor oxygen tension, was not a significant independent prognostic indicator of survival in this small and heterogeneous series of patients.
Pulmonary effects of ultrafine coal fly ash inhaled by guinea pigs

Guinea pigs were exposed to ultrafine coal fly ash produced in a laboratory furnace. The average mass median aerodynamic diameter and the average mass concentration of Illinois no. 6 fly ash produced in all exposure conditions were 0.21 p.m and 5.8 mg/m3, respectively. In guinea pigs exposed to Illinois no. 6 fly ash, total lung capacity (TLC), vital capacity (VC), and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLco) were significantly reduced below the control values immediately, 2 h, and 8 h postexposure. The diffusing capacity was still 10% below the control 96 h after exposure. The total sulfate in the Illinois no. 6 fly ash as determined using ion chromatography is 1105 ± 120 μg/m3. Animals exposed to the Montana lignite fly ash at comparable concentration and particle size did not show alteration in diffusing capacity. The data suggest that part of the sulfate present in the fly ash of Illinois no. 6 could be in the form of sulfuric acid and is responsible for the adverse effects observed in the expose...
Inhibition of oxidative flavor changes in meat by α-tocopherol in combination with sodium tripolyphosphate

The effects of α-tocopherol at 0.03%, sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) at 0.3%, alone and in combination, and STP alone at 0.5% on hexanal and sensory attributes of refrigerated cooked ground turkey or pork, with and without salt (1% NaCl), were studied. For turkey, a combination of α-tocopherol with 0.3% STP was nearly as effective as 0.5% STP. Turkey and meaty flavor of samples from these 2 treatments did not decline; hexanal content and staleness scores remained low throughout storage. Slick mouthfeel and metallic aftertaste were less for turkey with the antioxidant combination than with 0.5% STP. In pork, STP alone at 0.3% adequately prevented oxidative flavor changes. α-Tocopherol, when used with STP, provided no additional effect.
Antral lavage using the Luma transilluminaton wire and vortex irrigator--a safe and effective advance in treating pediatric sinusitis.

Introduction While the treatment of pediatric sinusitis can be controversial, there is evidence that performing antral lavage in combination with adenoidectomy can improve treatment outcomes. We present an “over the wire” technique using new technology that can improve accuracy and reliability when performing antral lavage. Methods The LUMA fiberoptic light wire (Acclarent Inc.) and Vortex sinus irrigation catheter (Acclarent Inc.) were used to perform antral lavage as an adjunct in the treatment of pediatric sinusitis. Discussion We found this method to have multiple advantages over other techniques of lavage. These advantages include: 1) confirmation of position in the maxillary sinus by transillumination, 2) improvement of the safety and accuracy of the lavage, 3) ability to balloon dilate the natural ostium and ethmoid infundibulum or to obtain cultures at the time of lavage if clinically warranted or indicated by CT evidence, 4) avoidance of radiation from the use of fluoroscopy associated with other balloon sinuplasty equipment and techniques, and 5) no alteration of normal anatomy. Conclusion We found this technique to give the surgeon a reliable, safe, versatile, and efficacious alternative before consideration of more invasive procedures in the pediatric population with chronic sinusitis.
Wernicke’s Area Revisited: Parallel Streams and Word Processing

Auditory word-form recognition was originally proposed by Wernicke to occur within left superior temporal gyrus (STG), later further specified to be in posterior STG. To account for clinical observations (specifically paraphasia), Wernicke proposed his sensory speech center was also essential for correcting output from frontal speech-motor regions. Recent work, in contrast, has established a role for anterior STG, part of the auditory ventral stream, in the recognition of species-specific vocalizations in nonhuman primates and word-form recognition in humans. Recent work also suggests monitoring self-produced speech and motor control are associated with posterior STG, part of the auditory dorsal stream. Working without quantitative methods or evidence of sensory cortex’ hierarchical organization, Wernicke co-localized functions that today appear dissociable. “Wernicke’s area” thus may be better construed as two cortical modules, an auditory word-form area (AWFA) in the auditory ventral stream and an “inner speech area” in the auditory dorsal stream.
Relationship of Animal Preference to Botanical Composition of Irrigated Pastures

Summary Botanical composition of herbage selected by rumen-fistulated heifers was related to botanical composition of two irrigated-pasture mixtures. More selective grazing was demonstrated on the tall fescue—Kentucky bluegrass pastures than on the orchardgrass—Kentucky bluegrass pastures. Differences were attributed to the lower palatability of tall fescue. Botanical composition of the pastures studied was not highly correlated to the botanical composition of the forage selected by the animal. It is suggested that management factors may influence the relative palatability of different pasture species and these changes in palatability may be readily measured by animal sampling.
The Passion of Franz Boas

The reputation of Franz Boas as a scientist declined in the decades after his death in 1942, but his reputation as a champion of human rights and an opponent of racism remained intact. More recently, however, some writers have questioned the sincerity, the results, and the political implications of his anthropology and his work against racism and ethnocentrism. Others have been critical of his relations with colleagues and students such as Ella Deloria and Zora Neale Hurston. In this essay I discuss some of these claims and present a more positive view. Franz Boas was passionately and consistently concerned about human rights and individual liberty, freedom of inquiry and speech, equality of opportunity, and the defeat of prejudice and chauvinism. He struggled for a lifetime to advance a science that would serve humanity, and he was as much of a humanitarian in private as he was in public. [Boas, political struggles, human relations]
Collision strengths for innershell excitation of Li-like ions from the 1s22s and 1s22p levels to the 1s2l3l' levels

Abstract Collision strengths, collision rates, transition energies, and electric-dipole radiative line strengths have been calculated for innershell excitation from the 1s22s and 1s22p levels to all levels of the 1s2l3l′ configurations in Li-like ions with nuclear charge number Z in the range 6 ⩽ Z ⩽ 74. The collision strengths, which are obtained using a Coulomb-Born-exchange method, are expressed in a convenient form in terms of the scaled hydrogenic ion collision strengths Z 2 Ω H and Z 2 Ω H e . Results for innershell excitation to the levels of the 1s2l2l′ configurations considered in earlier work are also expressed in this form. The calculations include configuration mixing, parentage mixing, and intermediate coupling effects.
Glucose transporters at the blood-nerve barrier are associated with perineurial cells and endoneurial microvessels

Abstract The blood-nerve barrier consists of continuous layers of cells linked by tight junctions and includes the endothelial cells which line the endoneurial capillaries and the perineurial cells which surround fascicles of nerve fibers. A facilitated transport carrier protein allows d -glucose to penetrate the barrier. To determine the specific cellular location of the transport system, an antiserum to a synthetic peptide corresponding to the car☐ylterminus of the glucose transporter protein was used for light and electron immunocytochemical analyses. Glucose transporters were abundant both in endoneurial capillaries and the perineurial sheath. In perineurium, transporters were located in the plasma membranes and cytoplasm of the perineurial cells. Approximately two-thirds of the transporters associated with perineurial cells were localized in the plasma membranes. Perineurial cells are thus similar to cerebral endothelial cells in that they lack a large intracellular pool of transporters which might be sensitive to hormonal regulation. The presence of hexose carriers in perineurium suggests that glucose transport from epineurium to endoneurium may play a significant role in the metabolism of peripheral nerve fibers. These results support the concept that the blood-nerve barrier serves as an important nutrient delivery system.
Bacterial analysis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: An inter-laboratory comparison

Bacterial analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry has been demonstrated in numerous laboratories, and a few attempts have been made to compare results from different laboratories on the same organism. It has been difficult to understand the causes behind the observed differences between laboratories when different instruments, matrices, solvents, etc. are used. In order to establish this technique as a useful tool for bacterial identification, additional efforts in standardizing the methods by which MALDI mass spectra are obtained and comparisons of spectra from different instruments with different operators are needed. Presented here is an extension of our previous single-laboratory reproducibility study with three different laboratories in a controlled experiment with aliquots of the same bacterial culture, matrix stock solution, and calibrant standards. Using automated spectral collection of whole-cell bacteria and automated data processing and analysis algorithms, fingerprints from three different laboratories were constructed and compared. Nine of the ions appeared reproducibly within all three laboratories, with additional unique ions observed within each of the laboratories. An initial evaluation of the ability to use a fingerprint generated within one laboratory for bacterial identification of a sample from another laboratory is presented, and strategies for improving identification rates between laboratories is discussed.
Cost Analysis of Mandibular Distraction versus Tracheostomy in Neonates with Pierre Robin Sequence

ObjectiveTo evaluate costs associated with surgical treatment for neonates with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS).Study DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Cent...
A1C Versus Glucose Testing: A Comparison

Diabetes was originally identified by the presence of glucose in the urine. Almost 2,500 years ago it was noticed that ants were attracted to the urine of some individuals. In the 18th and 19th centuries the sweet taste of urine was used for diagnosis before chemical methods became available to detect sugars in the urine. Tests to measure glucose in the blood were developed over 100 years ago, and hyperglycemia subsequently became the sole criterion recommended for the diagnosis of diabetes. Initial diagnostic criteria relied on the response to an oral glucose challenge, while later measurement of blood glucose in an individual who was fasting also became acceptable. The most widely accepted glucose-based criteria for diagnosis are fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ≥126 mg/dL or a 2-h plasma glucose ≥200 mg/dL during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) on more than one occasion (1,2). In a patient with classic symptoms of diabetes, a single random plasma glucose ≥200 mg/dL is considered diagnostic (1). Before 2010 virtually all diabetes societies recommended blood glucose analysis as the exclusive method to diagnose diabetes. Notwithstanding these guidelines, over the last few years many physicians have been using hemoglobin A1C to screen for and diagnose diabetes (3). Although considered the “gold standard” for diagnosis, measurement of glucose in the blood is subject to several limitations, many of which are not widely appreciated. Measurement of A1C for diagnosis is appealing but has some inherent limitations. These issues have become the focus of considerable attention with the recent publication of the Report of the International Expert Committee that recommended the use of A1C for diagnosis of diabetes (4), a position that has been endorsed (at the time of writing) by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) (1), the Endocrine Society, and in a more limited fashion by …
Vulnerability to fat-stigma in women's everyday relationships.

Abstract Obesity is understood as a major medical and public health challenge, but the stigma attached to it also creates extraordinary suffering. The pervasiveness of morally negative views toward the overweight and obese, such as laziness and lack of self-control, are undeniable in mainstream U.S. society, situated both institutionally (such as health care barriers or media stereotypes) and interpersonally (such as the negative comments of others). To test basic pathways related to the etiology of women’s vulnerability to feeling “fat-stigma” in interpersonal relationships, we present a study conducted between August and November 2009 that combines social network, anthropometric, body image, and interview data for 112 women aged 18–45 years, living in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., and linked follow-up interviews with 823 of their social ties. Based on the proposition that some social network characteristics should amplify the personal experience of stigma, and others should ameliorate it, we ask: what relationship qualities make women more sensitive to the judgments of others about their weight? We find that what others say about women has only a very limited influence on how women judge others’ negative views of their weight once actual body size is taken into account, but that women are more influenced by the opinions of those they are closer to and interact with more often. Ultimately, the degree to which women perceive themselves to be judged by others regarding their weight is not well explained by the actual opinions of people in their networks, either known or unknown to them. The assumption that social network norms exert considerable influence on people’s stigma experiences needs to be carefully evaluated, at least in the domain of overweight and obesity.
A Prospective Study of Influenza Vaccination and a Comparison of Immunologic Parameters in Children and Adults with Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (DiGeorge Syndrome/Velocardiofacial Syndrome)

Prior to the advent of cardiac bypass, most children with congenital cardiac anomalies and chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome died. With improved technology, there is now a wave of young adults with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome requiring clinical care. Fifteen young children and 20 adults with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion had flow cytometry, functional T cell analyses, and functional B cell analyses to characterize their immune system. Subjects were vaccinated with the annual inactivated influenza vaccine, and responses were evaluated by hemagglutination inhibition titer assessment. The pattern of T cell subset abnormalities was markedly different between pediatric and adult patients. In spite of the cellular deficits observed in adults, titers produced after influenza vaccine administration were largely intact. We conclude that disruption to T cell production appears to have secondary consequences for T cell differentiation and B cell function although the clinical impact remains to be determined.
Determination of the course of brainstem catecholamine fibers mediating amphetamine anorexia.

Previous studies suggest that brainstem catecholamine (CA) fibers which mediate amphetamine (AMPH)-induced anorexia ascend through the midlateral medial forebrain bundle and perifornical region and terminate in the perifornical hypothalamic region (PFH) at the level of the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus43. Through studies of wire-knife cuts (KCs) placed in the lower brainstem, the present paper further delineates the course of fibers mediating AMPH feeding suppression, as they ascend through the medullary, pontine and midbrain tegmentum. The results indicate that the crucial CA fibers ascend through the ventrolateral medulla just dorsal to the nucleus of the seventh cranial nerve, 1.1–1.9 mm lateral to midline. In their rostral course, these fibers apparently maintain a relatively straight position in the ventral pons and then enter the ventrolateral midbrain just dorsal to the medial lemniscus, between 0.7 and 1.1 mm lateral to midline. These medullary fibers, possibly originating from the norepinephrine/epinephrine-containing ventrolateral cell group (A1/C1), then appear to join additional fibers from the scattered dopamine-containing neurons positioned in the caudal midbrain (A8 CA cell group). Together, these dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine systems are believed to ascend into the medial aspect of the medial forebrain bundle on their way to the PFH at the level of the ventromedial nucleus.
Significance of Enzyme Activities in Soil Nitrogen Mineralization

This study was undertaken to assess the relationship between nitrogen (N) mineralization in soils treated with eight lime application rates, with four field replications, and the activities of six amidohydrolases involved in N cycling and four glycosidases involved in carbon (C) cycling in soils. Nitrogen mineralization was studied at 20 or 30 °C for 20 weeks, and with the exception of N‐aceyl‐β‐D‐glucosaminidase (NAGase; EC 3.2.1.30) activity, which was assayed at both temperatures, the enzyme activities were assayed at 30 °C at their optimal pH values. Results showed that among the eight enzyme activities studied, NAGase activity was the most significantly correlated with the cumulative amounts of N mineralized in 32 soil samples at 20 °C (r = 0.87***) and at 30 °C (r = 0.95***). The cumulative amounts of N mineralized at 30 °C were also significantly correlated with arylamidase and L‐aspartase activities, with r values of 0.61*** and 0.52**, respectively. Because NAGase activity is involved in both...
Direct tracking from compressive imagers: A proof of concept

The compressive sensing paradigm holds promise for more cost-effective imaging outside of the visible range, particularly in infrared wavelengths. However, the process of reconstructing compressively sensed images remains computationally expensive. The proof-of-concept tracker described here uses a particle filter with a likelihood update based on a “smashed filter” which estimates correlation directly, avoiding the reconstruction step. This approach leads to increased noise in correlation estimates, but by implementing the track-before-detect concept in the particle filter, tracker convergence may still be achieved with reasonable sensing rates. The tracker has been successfully tested on sequences of moving cars in the PETS2000 dataset.
Lack of correlation between Sendai virus P/C mRNA structure and its utilization of two AUG start sites from alternate reading frames: Implications for viral bicistronic mRNAs

The polycistronic P/C mRNA of Sendai virus encodes five proteins (C', P, C, Y1, and Y2) each of which initiates from a distinct start site. Two major proteins, P and C, are expressed in approximately equimolar amounts from two consecutive AUGs in overlapping reading frames. To better understand the mechanism of expression of the C protein from a downstream AUG, site-directed mutants of the P/C mRNA were created and expressed in COS1 cells. The secondary structure of the mRNA was examined to determine whether the mRNA structure played any role in the synthesis of the C protein. Our results ruled out any significant involvement of the 5' UTR, sequence contexts, secondary structure, distance between the start sites, and sequences downstream to the C-AUG. However, they are consistent with the concept that the synthesis of the C protein is primarily dependent on the orientation of its reading frame, i.e., +1 in relation to the upstream P reading frame. The downstream reading frame was translated poorly when it occurred in +2 orientation in relation to the upstream reading frame. Interestingly, all the known functional bicistronic mRNAs with overlapping reading frames from cytoplasmic RNA viruses have their downstream reading frame in +1 orientation relative to the upstream frame. We propose that the evolutionary conservation of the downstream reading frame in +1 orientation in these bicistronic mRNAs is important for its efficient translation.
Apparent induction of mutants and enhancement of conidial formation by fungicides in Alternaria mali.

Of approximately 120.000 homokaryotic conidia ofAlternaria mali exposed to 6 fungicides, 22 variants were induced. Six were induced by zineb, 5 by maneb, 4 by nabam, 3 by ferbam, 2 by thiram, and 2 by captan. Colonies of the variants could be distinguished by growth rate, colony characteristics, and conidial production on 5 different media: Sabouraud's, cornmeal, potato dextrose, Czapek's and male extract agars. The homokaryotic organisms did not adapt to any of the fungicides after 10 generations. When exposed to fungicide decomposition products conidial germination was greatly reduced; conidial production, however, was greatly enhanced.
Rabies virus entry at the neuromuscular junction in nerve-muscle cocultures.

Early events in rabies virus entry into neurons were investigated in chick spinal cord-muscle cocultures. Rabies virus (CVS strain) was adsorbed to the surface of cells in the cold. At times up to 10 min of warming to 37 degrees C, virus was most intensely localized to dense swellings on the myotube surface. Texas Red-labeled alpha-bungarotoxin, which binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, colocalized precisely with virus at the densities identifying these regions as neuromuscular junctions. Rabies virus also colocalized in the junctions with synapsin I, a marker for synaptic vesicles. The endosome tracers Lucifer Yellow, Texan Red-dextran, and rhodamine-wheat germ agglutinin were added to the cultures at the end of the virus adsorption period and the cultures were warmed. At 10 min, rabies virus and tracers colocalized at neuromuscular junctions and nerve terminals. At 30 min, rabies virus and tracers showed more intense fluorescence over nerve fibers and nerve cell bodies. At 60 min, nerve terminals, nerve fibers, and nerve cell bodies showed intense fluorescence and colocalization for rabies virus and tracers. LysoTracker Red, a marker for acidic compartments, colocalized with rabies virus at nerve-muscle contacts. These findings show that in nerve-muscle cocultures, the neuromuscular junction is the major site of entry into neurons. Colocalization of virus and endosome tracers within nerve terminals indicates that virus resides in an early endosome compartment, some of which are acidified. The progressive increase of virus and tracers in nerve fibers and nerve cell bodies over time is consistent with retrograde transport of endocytosed virus from the motor nerve terminal.
The EGFR Polymorphism rs884419 is Associated With Freedom From Recurrence in Patients With Resected Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Prognostic biomarkers are needed to optimize treatment decisions for prostate cancer. Single nucleotide polymorphisms participate in the individual genetic background modulating risk and clinical outcomes of cancer. We tested whether EGFR polymorphisms are associated with prostate cancer clinical outcomes.Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 212 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy from 1997 to 1999. Resected prostatic tissues were genotyped with allele specific probes for 9 haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms, which were located in intronic, exonic and flanking regions of linkage disequilibrium in the EGFR gene. Correlations between alleles, and recurrence and survival data were investigated using univariate and multivariate genetic analysis models.Results: There was a statistically significant association between the single nucleotide polymorphism rs884419 and prostate cancer recurrence, as defined in the study b...
Water quality of potential reference lakes in the Arkansas Valley and Ouachita Mountain ecoregions, Arkansas

This report describes a study to identify reference lakes in two lake classifications common to parts of two level III ecoregions in western Arkansas—the Arkansas Valley and Ouachita Mountains. Fifty-two lakes were considered. A screening process that relied on land-use data was followed by reconnaissance water-quality sampling, and two lakes from each ecoregion were selected for intensive water-quality sampling. Our data suggest that Spring Lake is a suitable reference lake for the Arkansas Valley and that Hot Springs Lake is a suitable reference lake for the Ouachita Mountains. Concentrations for five nutrient constituents—orthophosphorus, total phosphorus, total kjeldahl nitrogen, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon—were lower at Spring Lake on all nine sampling occasions and transparency measurements at Spring Lake were significantly deeper than measurements at Cove Lake. For the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion, water quality at Hot Springs Lake slightly exceeded that of Lake Winona. The most apparent water-quality differences for the two lakes were related to transparency and total organic carbon concentrations, which were deeper and lower at Hot Springs Lake, respectively. Our results indicate that when nutrient concentrations are low, transparency may be more valuable for differentiating between lake water quality than chemical constituents that have been useful for distinguishing between water-quality conditions in mesotrophic and eutrophic settings. For example, in this oligotrophic setting, concentrations for chlorophyll a can be less than 5 μg/L and diurnal variability that is typically associated with dissolved oxygen in more productive settings was not evident.
New Congressional Climate Change Task Force Calls on President to Use Administrative Authority

Spurred by U.S. congressional inaction on climate change and by President Barack Obama's comments on the topic in his 21 January inaugural address, several Democratic members of Congress announced at a Capitol Hill briefing the formation of a bicameral task force on climate change. In addition, they have called on the president to use his administrative authority to deal with the issue.
Biological Realism and Social Constructivism

In this paper we attempt to reconcile two important, current intellectual traditions: Darwinism and social constructionism. We believe that these two schools have important points of contact that have been obscured because each school has feared that the other wanted to put it out of business. We try to show that both traditions have much to of offer psychology, a discipline that has often been too individualistic, too concerned with the private and the subjective. The spirit of American pragmatism can be found in both camps; like the social constructivists, pragmatists focused on social transaction rather than internal happening, and like the Darwinian they were rooted in functionalism and the biological.
A review of sexually transmitted diseases for the psychiatric practitioner

Abstract Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis are a significant concern in patients with mental illnesses. In 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published recommendations for the treatment of STDs. Patients with gonococcal infections should be treated with a single-dose of ceftriaxone. In addition, patients with gonorrhea should be treated with a single dose of azithromycin for suspected chlamydial infections. In each of the four stages of syphilis, the CDC recommends treatment with penicillin, with differences in the frequency and duration of the regimen. In patients who are positive for infection with Trichomonas vaginalis, the CDC recommends a single dose of metronidazole. Patients with bacterial vaginosis should also be treated with metronidazole, but for a period of 7 days. Because some patients with mental illness may not have adequate access to regular medical care, the psychiatric clinician needs to have knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of the more common STDs that are likely to infect their patients.
Clinical experience with a simple algorithm for plerixafor utilization in autologous stem cell mobilization

Plerixafor augments PBSC collection, but the optimal approach for incorporating it into mobilization is uncertain. Forty-nine consecutive patients mobilized with G-CSF alone were analyzed, and a day 4 peripheral blood CD34(+) cell count of 0.015/ml was found to predict for a day 5 apheresis yield of 2 × 10(6) CD34(+) progenitors/kg, our institutional minimum necessary for a single autologous transplant. On the basis of this relationship, a clinical guideline was developed which recommended pre-emptive use of plerixafor if the day 4 peripheral blood CD34(+) cell count was between 0.005 and 0.015/ml. A total of 166 consecutive subjects with lymphoma or plasma cell dyscrasias underwent G-CSF mobilization after adoption of this care pathway, and the mobilization failure rate was only 7% in patients managed per guideline. The median PBSC yield was 6.3 × 10(6) CD34(+) progenitors/kg with G-CSF (day 4 peripheral blood CD34(+) cell > 0.015/ml) and 4.9 × 10(6) CD34(+) progenitors/kg with G-CSF+plerixafor (day 4 peripheral blood CD34(+) cell 0.005-0.015/ml). The median number of days of apheresis was 2 in both groups. This clinical guideline is an effective mobilization algorithm that minimizes mobilization failures, reduces poor apheresis yields, does not require risk factor identification and is simple to implement.
Influence of Vegetation Moisture on Combustion of Pyrolysis Gases in Wildland Fires

Since wildland fires occur in living vegetation, the fuel moisture content must be considered in order to correctly predict the behavior of the fire. One facet of combustion of pyrolysis gases that has not been considered in previous research is the effect of moisture on the combustion process. This effect is investigated by using CHEMKIN software to study an opposed diffusion flame model for three pyrolysis fuels relevant to wildfires. The effect of moisture on flame structure is investigated by varying the mole fraction of water vapor in the fuels, with air as oxidizer. In all cases, the flame extinguishes when the water mole fraction is between 0.55 and 0.65. O2 and H are the only components that exhibit a significant change in concentration under these conditions.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
“When Life Becomes Art” -- on Hemans's “Image in Lava”

Felicia Hemans’s poetry is guided by an aesthetic of acute interestedness, but unlike most sentimental writers, Hemans treats feeling as something with epistemological value. This creates an interesting challenge in “The Image in Lava” since in the poem Hemans takes her sentimental stroll on the seemingly solid ground of natural science. In her rhetorical rendering of the ashen form of a mother and child, which was found during the excavations at Pompeii, Hemans suggests that the mother’s profound feelings yielded a highly romantic phenomenon: artless art. When Hemans rhapsodizes on the indestructible form of mother and child, whose love transcends mundane occurrences like death, her idealizing tendencies reveal an uncanny wisdom. The strange fact is that the forms of the mother and child have defied death. Hemans’s musing suggests an unorthodox theology: the immortal part of the mother and her child is not an interior soul that escaped the body at the moment of decease, but an exterior form that lingers amidst the ashes. By employing the conventions of sentimental literature in her response to a truly startling phenomenon—a human object—she aims to authenticate feelings that have been caricatured as cliches. Sentimental discourse thereby becomes a tool for sounding the depths of feelings and discovering the parameters of humanness.
NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SPREAD OF A VITAL DYE IN THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE

A method has been devised to measure the spread of vital dyes in the skin of mice. Spread is greatly influenced by physiological and pathological changes which add fluid to the tissue or abstract it. Spread is greater in the quiet, living ear than in the ear of an animal just killed. It is equally considerable in the frankly edematous ears of living and dead animals, and not greater in either case than in normal, quiet tissues. During the early stages of edema formation on the other hand, dye spread is notably rapid. It is still greater in the ears of normal animals actively moving about, and is greatest in tissues subjected to very gently intermittent changes in external pressure. The significance of these findings is discussed.
Analysis on Gas Flow Field in Bell-Type Annealing Furnace by Using FLUENT

Because temperature decreases sharply, expansion caused by heat and contraction caused by cold are evident, the air in furnace is disturbed greatly and the zone of negative pressure may appear during bell-type furnace annealing. The zone can cause external air permeating the furnace and make steel coil annealed. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the flow field of protective gas in furnace during cooling, whether the air zone of negative pressure can form, the location of the zone and the methods of eliminating the zone. In addition, splitter plate disturbs the flow of gas and its effect on disturbed air is also analyzed. This paper analyses flow field in bell-type annealing furnace by using FLUENT, whether the zone of negative pressure exists and its location.
Elevated TGFbeta signaling inhibits ocular vascular development.

Alterations in the ocular vasculature are associated with retinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a potent stimulator for normal and abnormal vascular growth has been extensively studied. However, little is known about secreted factors that negatively regulate vascular growth in ocular tissues. We now report that expression of a self-activating TGFβ1 in the ocular lens of transgenic mice results in inhibition of retinal angiogenesis followed by retinal degeneration. Transgenic TGFβ1 can rescue the hyperplasic hyaloid tissue and reverse the corneal deficiency in TGFβ2-null embryos. These results demonstrate that TGFβ signaling modulates development of ocular vasculature and cornea in a dosage-dependent manner and that TGFβ1 can substitute for TGFβ2 in ocular tissues.
Decentralized vehicle routing in a stochastic and dynamic environment with customer impatience

Consider the following scenario: a spatio-temporal stochastic process generates service requests, localized at points in a bounded region on the plane; these service requests are fulfilled when one of a team of mobile agents visits the location of the request. For example, a service request may represent the detection of an event in a sensor network application, which needs to be investigated on site. Once a service request has been generated, it remains active for an amount of time which is itself a random variable, and then expires. The problem we investigate is the following: what is the minimum number of mobile agents needed to ensure that each service request is fulfilled before expiring, with probability at least 1 − e? What strategy should they use to ensure this objective is attained? Formulating the probability of successfully servicing requests before expiration as a performance metric, we derive bounds on the minimum number of agents required to ensure a given performance level, and present decentralized motion coordination algorithms that approximate the optimal strategy.
Repair of incidental contralateral defects found during laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) repair of unilateral groin hernias.

It was interesting to note that the article on cost-utility analysis of treatment options for inguinal hernia did not take into account the repair of bilateral hernias. In a letter published subsequently, a question was raised on predicting the number of hernias that may eventually
The inhibition of steroid-induced sexual behavior by intrahypothalamic actinomycin-D*1

Abstract Lordosis behavior can be elicited in the ovariectomized rat after treatment with estradiol benzoate (EB) and progesterone (P) injections, but the EB must act for an extended period before P can facilitate this behavior. The possibility that this action of EB involves the stimulation of RNA or protein synthesis was tested by implanting actinomycin D (Act-D) directly into the preoptic area, one probable site of estrogen action. A total dose of 0.18 μg Act-D in bilateral cocoa butter pellets significantly inhibited lordosis behavior when implanted 12 hr after the injection of 3 μg. but not 15 μg EB. Implantation of this dose of Act-D subcutaneously, or intrahypothalamically 32 hr after EB injection, was without effect. Act-D placed in the ventromedial hypothalamus also suppressed lordosis, but implants in the caudate nucleus were without effect. At the time of the behavioral tests the animals were in excellent condition as determined by calculation of a health score, and no physical lesions were evident at the site of the implants. However, it was impossible to test the reversibility of this suppression of lordosis behavior since the animals became ill and many died within 1–2 weeks of implantation. The present results are consistent with, but not proof of, the concept that RNA synthesis may be essential for steroidinduced sexual behavior.
Are females who inject drugs at higher risk for HIV infection than males who inject drugs: an international systematic review of high seroprevalence areas.

Objective There are multiple reasons why females who inject drugs may be more likely to become infected with HIV than males who inject drugs. Where this is the case, special HIV prevention programs for females would be needed.
A Novel Protein LZTFL1 Regulates Ciliary Trafficking of the BBSome and Smoothened

Many signaling proteins including G protein-coupled receptors localize to primary cilia, regulating cellular processes including differentiation, proliferation, organogenesis, and tumorigenesis. Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) proteins are involved in maintaining ciliary function by mediating protein trafficking to the cilia. However, the mechanisms governing ciliary trafficking by BBS proteins are not well understood. Here, we show that a novel protein, Leucine-zipper transcription factor-like 1 (LZTFL1), interacts with a BBS protein complex known as the BBSome and regulates ciliary trafficking of this complex. We also show that all BBSome subunits and BBS3 (also known as ARL6) are required for BBSome ciliary entry and that reduction of LZTFL1 restores BBSome trafficking to cilia in BBS3 and BBS5 depleted cells. Finally, we found that BBS proteins and LZTFL1 regulate ciliary trafficking of hedgehog signal transducer, Smoothened. Our findings suggest that LZTFL1 is an important regulator of BBSome ciliary trafficking and hedgehog signaling.
Circulating immune complexes: their detection and potential significance in some hepatobiliary and intestinal diseases.

In the past several years there has been a great resurgence of interest in the subject of circulating immune complexes (IQ)* by both basic scientists and clinical investigators. This interest has been stimulated by recent advances in the technology of detecting soluble ICs in biologic fluids and is reflected in the large number of recent medical publications relating to this subject (more than 500 in the past 5 yr). It has become apparent that soluble antigen-antibody complexes are present in a wide variety of disease states. For physicians who are not actively engaged in research involving the detection and evaluation of ICs the quality and potential significance of the large number of papers dealing with this subject may not be readily apparent. In many instances the relationship between the presence of ICs and a particular disease process is unknown. In this article evidence that circulating antigen-antibody complexes are capable of mediating pathologic tissue damage is reviewed, the principles of some of the currently used assays to detect the presence of circulating ICs are given, and the potential significance of some of the recently reported studies documenting the presence of soluble ICs in several se-
The correlation between histone modifications and gene expression.

In the nuclei of eukaryotic cells, DNA wraps around the octamer of histone proteins to form the nucleosome, in a structure like ‘beads on a string’, which makes up the basic unit of chromatin. Chromatin further folds into higherlevel structures, loosely or tightly, which helps to determine the accessibility of the DNA. For instance, actively transcribed regions tend to be in looser chromatin structures so that transcription factors and RNA polymerases can access the genes. Chromatin structure can be altered by various post-translational modifications of the N-terminal tail residues of histone proteins. For example, acetylation of a lysine residue can neutralize its positive charge and weaken the binding between the histone and the negatively charged DNA, which exposes the DNA to regulatory proteins. Methylation is another common type of histone modification; for example, the lysine at the fourth position of the H3 histone can be mono-, dior tri-methylated (denoted as H3K4me1, H3K4me2 and H3K4me3, respectively). By examining histone modification patterns at highly conserved noncoding regions in mouse embryonic stem cells, Bernstein et al. found ‘bivalent domains’ of histone modifications (i.e., harboring both the repressive mark H3K27me3 and the active mark H3K4me3) near genes with poised transcription [1]. When embryonic stem cells differentiate into more specialized cells (e.g., neural precursor cells), a subset of the bivalent domains are resolved (i.e., H3K27me3 becomes weaker, while H3K4me3 becomes stronger, and these loci coincide with genes that are actively transcribed in neural precursor cells). Thus, combinations of histone marks are indicative of transcriptional states. Barski et al. mapped 20 histone methylations of lysine and arginine residues in human CD4 T cells using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) [2]. They found that monomethylated H3K27, H3K9, H4K20, H3K79 and H2BK5 were linked to gene activation, while trimethylated H3K27, H3K9 and H3K79 were linked to gene repression. In a later study, the group profiled 39 additional histone modifications in human CD4 T cells [3]. They identified more than 3000 genes that were highly expressed in these cells and the promoters of these genes showed high levels of 17 histone modifications (called a histone modification module). Other studies also investigated the correlation between individual histone marks and gene expression, although not in a quantitative way [4,5].
Altered glutamate receptor function in the cerebellum of the Ppt1-/- mouse, a murine model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) are a family of devastating pediatric neurodegenerative disorders and currently represent the most common form of pediatric-onset neurodegeneration. Infantile NCL (INCL), the most aggressive of these disorders, is caused by mutations in the CLN1 gene that encodes the enzyme palmitoyl protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1). Previous studies have suggested that glutamatergic neurotransmission may be disrupted in INCL, so the present study investigates glutamate receptor function in the Ppt1−/− mouse model of INCL by comparing the sensitivity of cultured wild-type (WT) and Ppt1−/− cerebellar granule cells to glutamate receptor-mediated toxicity. Ppt1−/− neurons were significantly less sensitive to AMPA receptor-mediated toxicity but markedly more vulnerable to NMDA receptor-mediated cell death. Because glutamate receptor function is regulated primarily by the surface expression level of the receptor, the surface level of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits in the cerebella of WT and Ppt1−/− mice was also examined. Western blotting of surface cross-linked cerebellar samples showed a significantly lower surface level of the GluR4 AMPA receptor subunit in Ppt1−/− mice, providing a plausible explanation for the decreased vulnerability of Ppt1−/− cerebellar neurons to AMPA receptor-mediated cell death. The surface expression of the NR1, NR2A, and NR2B NMDA receptor subunits was similar in the cerebella of WT and Ppt1−/− mice, indicating that there is another mechanism behind the increased sensitivity of Ppt1−/− cerebellar granule cells to NMDA toxicity. Our results indicate an AMPA receptor hypofunction and NMDA receptor hyperfunction phenotype in Ppt1−/− neurons and provide new therapeutic targets for INCL. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Know thine enemy: a champion robocup coach agent

In a team-based multiagent system, the ability to construct a model of an opponent team's joint behavior can be useful for determining an agent's expected distribution over future world states, and thus can inform its planning of future actions. This paper presents an approach to team opponent modeling in the context of the RoboCup simulation coach competition. Specifically, it introduces an autonomous coach agent capable of analyzing past games of the current opponent, advising its own team how to play against this opponent, and identifying patterns or weaknesses on the part of the opponent. Our approach is fully implemented and tested within the RoboCup soccer server, and was the champion of the RoboCup 2005 simulation coach competition.