cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Elastic Buckling of Arches under Symmetrical Loading

Critical loads and the corresponding reactions, maximum moments, and crown deflections of two-hinged and fixed, parabolic and circular arches of constant cross section subjected either to a vertical concentrated load at the crown or a vertical load uniformly distributed along the arch axis are tabulated for a wide range of rise/span ratios. It is shown that the critical loads and the corresponding horizontal reactions for antisymmetrical (sidesway) modes are rather insensitive to the prebuckling displacements while the opposite is true for the symmetrical models. The antisymmetrical mode corresponds to a bifurcation type instability while the symmetrical mode corresponds to a snap-through type of buckling. The data are analyzed and simplified methods for estimating the critical loads and the critical horizontal reactions, or both, are suggested for antisymmetrical buckling. In addition to the solutions described previously, accurate values of the critical loads and horizontal reactions are reported for antisymmetrical buckling of two-hinged and fixed, parabolic and catenary arches subjected to loadings which cause pure axial compression and no prebuckling displacements.
Incentives in the Financial Crisis of Our Time

Abstract This article traces the incentives that infected every part of the chain of relationships that constitute the Originate-To-Distribute (OTD) Model of mortgage production. At every step, the OTD Model introduced incentive conflicts that were absent or largely ameliorated in the old Originate-To-Hold (OTH) Model. The article shows how these incentive conflicts helped to create the bubble in housing prices in the United States that started to deflate in 2007 and that led to the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Further, the article emphasizes the moral dimension of the setting of incentives, which has been largely neglected in economic thought, and which was surely ignored in the establishment and use of the OTD Model. The article argues that setting incentives and acting upon the incentives set by others both have a moral dimension that is generally neglected, but one that should have a central role in economic policy generally and in the financial crisis particularly.
Marine outboard and personal watercraft engine gaseous emissions, and particulate emission test procedure development

The U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board have adopted standards to reduce emissions from recreational marine vessels. Existing regulations focus on reducing hydrocarbons. There are no regulations on particulate emissions; particulate is expected to be reduced as a side benefit of hydrocarbon control. The goal of this study was to develop a sampling methodology to measure partic late emissions from marine outboard and personal watercraft engines. Eight marine engines of various engine technologies and power output were tested. Emissions measured in this program included hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen. Particulate emissions will be presented in a follow-up paper.
RESIDENTIAL INJURIES IN U.S. CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Objectives.Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for U.S. children, but little research exists on injury in the home environment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the rate and severity of and trends in unintentional residential injury for U.S. children <20 years for 1993–1999.Methods.Data on emergency department (ED) visits were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Rates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using SUDAAN. Chi-square analysis was used to test for differences among proportions. Time trends were analyzed using linear regression.Results.Residential injuries accounted for an average of 4.01 million (95% CI 3.50 million, 4.56 million) ED visits each year for U.S. children, representing 39% of unintentional injury ED visits. There were an average of 531,000 (95% CI 456,000, 606,000) visits with moderate-to-severe injuries, resulting in 73,680 (95% CI 59,715, 87,645) hospital admissions annually. The rate of residentia...
Absorption measurements of doped thin film InP for solar cell modeling

The first direct transmission measurement of above bandedge absorption coefficients in InP are reported. A novel technique for fabricating high-quality single crystal InP thin films is used to fabricate the thin films for transmission measurements. Two InP thin films were fabricated in this manner, one with a doping concentration of 1.4*10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/ and the other with a doping concentration of 32*10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/. Absorption coefficients were obtained from transmission measurements made on these two films, and were used to calculate the cell performance and quantum efficiency of an InP solar cell. These results were then compared with similar calculations made on the same cell using absorption coefficients for undoped InP, which are commonly used due to the lack of absorption coefficient data for doped InP. Model calculations with the directly measured absorption coefficients resulted in a cell efficiency which was significantly different from the efficiency of the cell with undoped InP absorption coefficients. This demonstrates that correct absorption coefficients are necessary to accurately model InP devices which utilize highly doped regions. >
Extensive Ozonation of C60: Degradation or Polymerization?

The impact of the oxidizing agent ozone (O3) on the structure of the most common spherical allotrope of carbon, buckminsterfullerene (C60) is studied. Past studies measured ozonation of C60 over short periods of time. In this study, we establish that C60 is completely degraded, not polymerized, during ozonation. The techniques, laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry, UV/Vis absorbance spectroscopy, and FT-Raman are used to study the molecular degradation of the spherical allotrope C60 by O3.
Preconditioning of Saddle Point Systems by Substructuring and a Penalty Approach

The focus of this paper is a penalty-based strategy for preconditioning elliptic saddle point systems. As the starting point, we consider the regularization approach of Axelsson in which a related linear system, differing only in the (2,2) block of the coefficient matrix, is introduced. By choosing this block to be negative definite, the dual unknowns of the related system can be eliminated resulting in a positive definite primal Schur complement. Rather than solving the Schur complement system exactly, an approximate solution is obtained using a preconditioner. The approximate primal solution together with the recovered dual solution then define the preconditioned residual for the original system. The approach can be applied to a variety of different saddle point problems. Although the preconditioner itself is symmetric and indefinite, all the eigenvalues of the preconditioned system are real and positive if certain conditions hold. Stronger conditions also ensure that the eigenvalues are bounded independently of mesh parameters. An interesting feature of the approach is that conjugate gradients can be used as the iterative solution method rather than GMRES. The effectiveness of the overall strategy hinges on the preconditioner for the primal Schur complement. Interestingly, the primary condition ensuring real and positive eigenvalues is satisfied automatically in certain instances if a Balancing Domain Decomposition by Constraints (BDDC) preconditioner is used. Following an overview of BDDC, we show how its constraints can be chosen to ensure insensitivity to parameter choices in the (2,2) block for problems with a divergence constraint. Examples for different saddle point problems are presented and comparisons made with other approaches.
Cross-Skill Training Plan Generation for Accounts in Application Management Service (AMS)

This paper presents our latest work on assisting AMS (application management service) clients or accounts to generate effective cross-skill training plans. Specifically, we aim to answer the following two questions: "Whom to train?" and "What to train?", both of which are very critical to training plan generation. To achieve this goal, we first analyze a given account's service request data and identify a set of candidate categories (which indicate skills) for each account consultant to be trained upon, then we measure the following three important metrics: the importance of each such category, consultant's resource utilization, and the temporal correlation between such category and the categories that the consultant can already handle. Finally, we present all measurements to the account team allowing it to generate very flexible cross-skill training plans based on various goals. So far, we have applied this tool to a couple of real AMS accounts, and have received some initial yet encouraging feedback.
Sensor-based organizational design and engineering

We propose a sensor-based organizational design and engineering approach that combines behavioral sensor data with other sources of information such as e-mail, surveys, and performance data in order to design interventions aimed at improving organizational outcomes. The proposed system combines sensor measurements, pattern recognition algorithms, simulation and optimization techniques, social network analysis, and feedback mechanisms that aim at continuously monitoring and improving individual and group performance. We describe the system's general specifications and discuss several studies that we conducted in different organizations using the sociometric badge experimental sensing platform. We have deployed such system under naturalistic settings in more than ten organizations up to this date. We show that it is possible to automatically capture group dynamics, and analyze the relationship between organizational behaviors and both subjective and objective outcomes (such as job satisfaction, quality of group interaction, stress, productivity, and group performance). We propose the use of static and dynamic simulation models of group behavior captured by sensors, in order to optimize group configurations that maximize individual and group outcomes, both in terms of job quality characteristics and organizational performance. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Abstract 2824: Evaluation of Ibuprofen loaded solid lipid nanoparticles and its combination regimens for pancreatic cancer chemoprevention

The objective of the present study was to establish the individual and combined chemopreventive potential of a widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen (IBU), encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) for the chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer. The synergistic effect of combination of IBU with sulforaphane (SFN) was also evaluated. Cell viability studies were conducted followed by colony formation and NF-κB DNA binding assays. The IC50 concentration of free IBU in human pancreatic cancer cells Panc-1 and MIA PaCa-2 were 1.25mM and 1.26 mM, respectively. SLN optimization study of IBU revealed stearic acid (1:2 drug to lipid ratio) formulated with Poloxamer 188 to be the most efficacious in cell viability study. Upon encapsulation in SLNs, IC50 concentration of IBU-SLN was 113.8 μM and 122.6 μM for Panc-1 and MIA PACa-2 cells respectively, reflecting a 10-fold reduction compared to free IBU. Combinations of low doses of free IBU (250 μM) and SFN (5 μM) reduced cell viability by ∼55% (P Citation Format: Arvind Thakkar, Sushma Chenreddy, Jeffrey Wang, Sunil Prabhu. Evaluation of Ibuprofen loaded solid lipid nanoparticles and its combination regimens for pancreatic cancer chemoprevention. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2824. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2824
Impact of older age on the efficacy of newer adjuvant therapies in >12,500 patients (pts) with stage II/III colon cancer: Findings from the ACCENT Database

4010 Background: Prior studies suggested that older and younger pts with colon cancer receive similar benefit from IV fluoropyrimidine (FU) adjuvant (adj) therapy (rx). Combination and/or oral FU rx are increasingly given as adj rx. We sought to determine the impact of pts age <70 v ≥70 yrs on colon cancer recurrence and mortality from adj rx with these newer options. Methods: We used data from 10,499 pts <70 yrs and 2,170 pts ≥70 yrs in 6 phase III adj rx trials comparing IV FU to combinations with irinotecan, oxaliplatin or oral FU (capecitabine and UFT/LV) in stage II/III colon cancer from the ACCENT database. Endpoints were overall survival (OS; time to death), disease-free survival (DFS; time to recurrence or death), and time to recurrence (TTR; censoring at last follow-up). Cox models were stratified by age and adjusted for gender and stage; interaction testing was used to explore the differential benefit by age. Results: Approximately 75% of pts had stage III disease (74% age<70, 77% age≥70). OS, D...
Effect of physiological ADP concentrations on contraction of single skinned fibers from rabbit fast and slow muscles

To directly assess the possible role of ADP in muscle fatigue, we have studied the effect of physiological MgADP levels on maximum Ca(2+)-activated isometric force and unloaded shortening velocity (Vus) of single skinned fiber segments from rabbit fast-twitch (psoas) and slow-twitch (soleus) muscles. MgADP concentration was changed in a controlled and well-buffered manner by varying creatine (Cr) in solutions, which also contained MgATP, phosphocreatine (PCr), and creatine kinase (CK). To quantify ADP as a function of Cr added, we determined the apparent equilibrium constant (K') of CK for the conditions of our experiments (pH 7.1, 3 mM Mg2+, 12 degrees C): K' = (sigma [Cr]. sigma [ATP])/(sigma [PCr]. sigma [ADP]) = 260 +/- 3 (SE). In this manner, ADP was altered essentially as occurs during stimulation in vivo but without the concomitant changes in pH and P(i), which affect force and Vus. As ADP (and Cr) was increased, force and Vus decreased in both fiber types; at the highest ADP level used, 200 microM, normalized force was 96.6 +/- 1.7% for psoas (n = 6) and 93.7 +/- 2.8% for soleus (n = 6), and Vus was 80.4 +/- 2.4% for psoas and 91.3 +/- 7.7% for soleus. Diffusion-reaction calculations indicated that radial gradients of metabolite concentrations within fibers could not explain the small effects of ADP on fiber mechanics, and experiments verified that metabolite levels were well buffered within fibers by the CK reaction. Exogenous CK was added to bathing solutions at 290 U/ml, threefold above that necessary to maintain Vus independent of CK concentration; in the absence of PCr and exogenous CK, at least a fourfold increased MgATP was necessary to maintain Vus at the control level. Adenylate kinase activity was not detectable; thus myofibrillar adenosine-triphosphatase and exogenous CK activities were the major determinants of nucleotide levels within activated cells. Cr alone (in absence of PCr and exogenous CK) also decreased force and Vus, presumably by a nonspecific mechanism. Over the physiological range, altered ADP had little or no effect on force or Vus in well-buffered conditions. It is therefore likely that other factors decrease force and Vus during muscular fatigue.
Strategies for Staff Recognition

The Director's Forum series is written and edited by Robert J. Weber and Scott M. Mark and is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health sy...
Long-Term Retention of Plausible vs Bizarre Paired Associates as a Function of Cued Recall

Past research has shown that bizarre imagery facilitates long-term recall of noun pairs. An experiment was executed to investigate the effects of bizarreness when more pronounced delays were used. Undergraduate subjects were shown 30 plausible and 30 bizarre scenes, asked to rate the pictures on their own image scale, and were then given an unexpected recall test 1 or 2 wk. later. Analysis indicated that bizarre images aided recall only under the 2-wk. delay. We have suggested that interference over time may be less with bizarre images, especially when an incidental learning paradigm is employed.
Installation of Torpedo Anchors: Numerical Modeling

Torpedo anchors are used as foundations for mooring deep-water offshore facilities, including risers and floating structures. They are cone-tipped cylindrical steel pipes ballasted with concrete an...
Population Genomics of Parallel Adaptation in Threespine Stickleback using Sequenced RAD Tags

Next-generation sequencing technology provides novel opportunities for gathering genome-scale sequence data in natural populations, laying the empirical foundation for the evolving field of population genomics. Here we conducted a genome scan of nucleotide diversity and differentiation in natural populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used Illumina-sequenced RAD tags to identify and type over 45,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each of 100 individuals from two oceanic and three freshwater populations. Overall estimates of genetic diversity and differentiation among populations confirm the biogeographic hypothesis that large panmictic oceanic populations have repeatedly given rise to phenotypically divergent freshwater populations. Genomic regions exhibiting signatures of both balancing and divergent selection were remarkably consistent across multiple, independently derived populations, indicating that replicate parallel phenotypic evolution in stickleback may be occurring through extensive, parallel genetic evolution at a genome-wide scale. Some of these genomic regions co-localize with previously identified QTL for stickleback phenotypic variation identified using laboratory mapping crosses. In addition, we have identified several novel regions showing parallel differentiation across independent populations. Annotation of these regions revealed numerous genes that are candidates for stickleback phenotypic evolution and will form the basis of future genetic analyses in this and other organisms. This study represents the first high-density SNP–based genome scan of genetic diversity and differentiation for populations of threespine stickleback in the wild. These data illustrate the complementary nature of laboratory crosses and population genomic scans by confirming the adaptive significance of previously identified genomic regions, elucidating the particular evolutionary and demographic history of such regions in natural populations, and identifying new genomic regions and candidate genes of evolutionary significance.
Strategies, styles, and structures of small product innovative firms in high and low technology industries

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify, compare, and contrast the strategic, managerial, and organizational contexts associated with product innovation among small firms in high and low technology industries. Results based on data collected from eighty-one firms indicate that, relative to low tech product innovators, high tech product innovators are more concerned with building market share, have more proactive competitive postures, are more inclined to take business-related risks, have more organic organization structures, rely to a greater extent on external financing, and are more concerned with creating a positive product image. Within the high and low tech subgroups, strategic profiles (gestalts) were developed to explore the various forms in which product innovators implement their strategies.
DNA-DNA hybridization on membrane filters: A convenient method using formamide

Abstract A modified method for hybridization of labeled DNA to filter-bound DNA is described. After annealing in formamide-containing solutions and washing with such solutions good hybridization efficiency and very low background values were obtained. It is not necessary to pretreat the filters with any polymer.
The gain of function of p53 cancer mutant in promoting mammary tumorigenesis

Tumor suppressor p53 is critical for suppressing all types of human cancers, including breast cancer. The p53 gene is somatically mutated in over half of all human cancers. The majority of the p53 mutations are missense mutations, leading to the expression of the full-length p53 mutants. Several hotspot mutations, including R175H, are frequently detected in human breast cancer. P53 cancer mutants not only lose tumor suppression activity but, more problematically, also gain new oncogenic activities. Despite correlation of the expression of p53 cancer mutants and the poor prognosis of human breast cancer patients, the roles of p53 cancer mutants in promoting breast cancer remain unclear. We used the humanized p53 cancer mutant knock-in (R175H) mice and mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-Wnt-1 transgenic (mWnt-1) mice to specifically address the gain of function of R175H in promoting breast cancer. Although both R175H/R175HmWnt-1(R175HmWnt-1) and p53(-/-)mWnt-1 mice died from mammary tumor at the same kinetics, which was much earlier than mWnt-1 mice, most of the R175HmWnt-1 mice developed multiple mammary tumors per mouse, whereas p53(-/-)mWnt-1 and mWnt-1 mice mostly developed one tumor per mouse. The multiple mammary tumors arose in the same R175HmWnt-1 mouse exhibited different histological characters. Moreover, R175H gain-of-function mutant expands the mammary epithelial stem cells (MESCs) that give rise to the mammary tumors. As ATM suppresses the expansion of MESCs, the inactivation of ATM by R175H in mammary epithelial cells (MECs) could contribute to the expansion of MESCs in R175HmWnt-1 mice. These findings provide the basis for R175H to promote the initiation of breast cancer by expanding MESCs.
Thymosin α1 does not promote growth or oncogenic transformation

Thymosin alpha 1 (T alpha 1) is an immune modulatory peptide which has been evaluated in a variety of clinical trials. Although no in vivo adverse effects, including enhancement of tumor growth, have been noted, in vitro studies suggesting a role for T alpha 1 in cell growth have been reported. The studies presented in this report evaluated both exogenously added T alpha 1 and endogenously expressed T alpha 1 as factors which could either promote growth of tumor cells or induce transformation. No effect of exogenous T alpha 1 on cell growth was found. NIH-3T3 cells transfected with cDNA for the precursor ProThymosin alpha (Pro T alpha) expressed elevated levels of authentic T alpha 1 but did not demonstrate either enhanced proliferation in liquid culture or transformation as defined by the loss of contact inhibition or anchorage independent growth in soft agar. Thus these studies argue against the hypothesis that T alpha 1 is either an intracellular or extracellular growth promoter.
Regional Diversity in Environmental Attitudes, Knowledge, and Policy: The Kentucky River Authority

The development of public policy for the use of natural resources continues to grow in importance. Severe drought conditions in 1988 intensified the efforts of many political leaders to develop policy to address this natural resource issue. This research describes efforts by political leaders to find in the Kentucky River Authority (KRA) a solution to problems of the availability, quantity, and quality of the waters of the Kentucky River Drainage Basin (KRDB) for human use. The data for this study were collected with a telephone survey of 624 residents of 14 central and eastern KRDB counties. This analysis examines regional differences in environmental attitudes, environmental knowledge, and opinions about environmental policy in the context of providing data to those trying to develop and implement public water policy in the Basin. Differences were expected in environmental outlook between residents of the eastern Appalachian region, and the central Bluegrass region of the Basin. Few differences, however...
The early years of the Association of University Teachers of Accounting: 1947–1959

The first organization of accounting academics in the UK, the Association of University Teachers of Accounting, was launched in 1947. Today it is known as the British Accounting Association. The Association was initially an enterprise of teachers in English and Welsh universities. It was founded at a time when impetus was being given to the study of accounting in their universities, and the first full-time accounting chairs were established in Britain. It was also a period in which serious efforts were made to stimulate accounting research. The paper will begin with a discussion of the changing climate in accounting education and research, and is followed by a history of the Association's first 12 years.
Tolerance Limits and Expected Utility Analysis

Virtually all applied work in the economics of uncertainty has used the expected utility framework (Machina). In agricultural economics, expected utility analysis has been applied in many studies involving agricultural production (Anderson), pest management strategies (Musser, Tew, and Epperson), rural bank portfolio behavior (Robison and Barry), and farm policy (Kramer and Pope). These empirical analyses follow one of two general approaches. The first is comparison of expected value and variance of net returns from alternative risky prospects and is usually referred to as meanvariance or EV analysis. The second, stochastic dominance (or efficiency) analysis, involves comparing probability distributions of net returns (or other monetary outcomes) from risky decision alternatives. In both, the underlying probability distribution for net returns is estimated either directly (stochastic efficiency) or implicitly (EV analysis). Risky alternatives are then compared on the basis of the expected utility they generate. In this paper, we determine the degree of confidence, in a probabilistic sense, that can be placed in estimated distribution functions used to estimate expected utility and order risky prospects. Tolerance limits are defined and used to show how an investigator can determine the probability that a specified proportion of the underlying probability density is within a particular range of the sample data. Tolerance limits for the entire distribution are presented for specific sample sizes. These values can be used to measure the statistical confidence one can have in estimated distribution functions for expected utility analysis. In some circumstances, we can be reasonably confident that results based on estimated distribution functions will actually hold for the unknown, underlying population distributions.
Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller With Proportional Plus Integral Sliding Surface

This paper presents an adaptive tracking controller with a proportional and integral switching surface. A new adaptive sliding mode controller based on model reference adaptive state feedback control is proposed to deal with the tracking problem for a class of linear dynamic systems. First, a proportional and integral sliding surface instead of a conventional sliding surface is chosen and then an adaptive sliding mode controller is derived and its stability is proved. It is shown that the stability of the closed-loop system can be guaranteed with the proposed adaptive sliding mode control strategy. The adaptive design is extended to the multiple inputs system. The numerical simulation is investigated to show the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive sliding mode control scheme with proportional plus integral sliding mode action.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Localized infection by Serratia marcescens simulating a conjunctival neoplasm.

Abstract PURPOSE: To report a Serratia marcescens infection that clinically simulated a conjunctival neoplasm. METHOD: Case report. RESULTS: A healthy 80-year-old man without contact lenses presented with a pink–yellow conjunctival mass that resembled a solid neoplasm. Stains and cultures of material that exuded from the mass during surgery revealed S marcescens . Histopathology disclosed an epithelial-lined cyst with macrophages containing S marcescens . CONCLUSION: Although S marcescens usually affects the eye as a keratoconjunctivitis in patients with contact lenses, it can also present as a mass simulating a neoplasm in a patient who does not wear contact lenses.
Automorphism–invariant measures on ℵ0-categorical structures without the independence property

We address the classification of the possible finitely-additive probability measures on the Boolean algebra of definable subsets of M which are invariant under the natural action of Aut(M) . This pursuit requires a generalization of Shelah's forking formulas [8] to “essentially measure zero” sets and an application of Myer's “rank diagram” [5] of the Boolean algebra under consideration. The classification is completed for a large class of ℵ 0 -categorical structures without the independence property including those which are stable.
Exergy-based index for assessing the building sustainability

Abstract Over the past decade, efforts have been made in developing the Sustainable Building (SB) assessment tools which enable all stakeholders to be aware of the consequences of various design choices and to assess the building performance. Currently, a large variety of existing SB tools, approaches, rating systems, indices and methods of assessment are available and used in the construction industry. Despite usefulness of existing assessment methods in contributing towards a more sustainable building, some limitations have led towards a scientifically-based SB assessment tool. This paper proposes an exergy-based definition of a sustainable building, the calculation method of a new Exergy-based Index of building Sustainability (ExSI), and the rating scale. Finally, the results from five case studies are presented.
An essential role for HLA-DM in antigen presentation by class II major histocompatibility molecules.

IN antigen-presenting cells, class II molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) bind peptides derived from endo-cytosed proteins1. In certain B-lymphoblastoid cell mutants, MHC class II molecule–peptide complex formation is impaired, resulting in deficient antigen-presenting function2. MHC deletion mutants with this defect map the responsible gene(s) to the class II region of the MHC3–5. Here we report that multiple independent mutants with the class II presentation defect harbour lesions in HLA-DMB, an MHC-linked gene encoding a class II-like β-chain6,7. Expression of DMB complementary DNA in mutants lacking DMB messenger RNA restores the wild-type phenotype. These results establish HLA-DM as a critical regulatory molecule in class II-restricted antigen presentation and suggest that it functions at an intracellular site to promote class II molecule–peptide association.
The effects of medetomidine on cardiac function in normal cats measured by radionuclide ventriculography

SUMMARY To assess the effects of medetomidine, an α 2 -adrenoceptor agonist, on cardiac function, radionuclide ventriculograms (RNV) were performed in 7 normal anesthetised cats before and after im administration of the drug. Ejection fraction (EF), peak ventricular ejection rate (PVER), peak ventricular filling rate (PVFR), time to peak ejection (TPE) and time to peak filling (TPF) were determined. Medetomidine caused significant reductions in EF (baseline 55.0 ± 10.8%, post medetomidine 43.3 ± 10.7%), PVER (baseline 4.38 ± 0.83 EDV/s, post medetomidine 3.28 ± 0.73 EDV/s) and PVFR (baseline 4.46 ± 1.42 EDV/s, post medetomidine 3.05 ± 1.27 EDV/s). There was also a significant decrease in heart rate following medetomidine administration (baseline 115 ± 27.2 bpm, post medetomidine 100 ± 21.2 bpm). The TPE and TPF did not change significantly following medetomidine. The observed decrease in cardiac function may have been caused by a drug-induced increase in systemic vascular resistance, and the bradycardia due to central nervous system depression.
Nd and Sr isotopic study of crustal and mantle inclusions from the Sierra Nevada and implications for batholith petrogenesis

Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr systematics have been examined for eight upper-mantle and lower-crustal xenoliths, the xenolith-bearing trachyandesite, and the granodiorite intruded by the trachyandesite in the Sierra Nevada batholith. Isotopic heterogeneity is shown by the xenoliths with 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ranging from 0.51169 to 0.51306, and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ranging from 0.7031 to 0.7333. These ranges are similar to those of the plutonic rocks of the batholith. This similarity suggests that the xenoliths, believed to be representative of mantle and crustal reservoirs, may approximate the diverse source regions from which the varied granitic rocks of the batholith were derived and that the Sr-Nd isotopic correlation seen in granitic rocks may not be due to simple mixing of two end-member components. The subgranitic crust in this part of the Sierra Nevada apparently consists of metamorphosed sedimentary and igneous rocks which are highly variable isotopically. The mantle beneath the Sierra Nevada is also isotopically heterogeneous both vertically and laterally.
Instruments to assess the quality of health information on the World Wide Web: what can our patients actually use?

Summary Objective: To find and assess quality-rating instruments that can be used by health care consumers to assess websites displaying health information. Data sources: Searches of PubMed, the World Wide Web (using five different search engines), reference tracing from identified articles, and a review of the of the American Medical Informatics Association's annual symposium proceedings. Review methods: Sources were examined for availability, number of elements, objectivity, and readability. Results: A total of 273 distinct instruments were found and analyzed. Of these, 80 (29%) made evaluation criteria publicly available and 24 (8.7%) had 10 or fewer elements (items that a user has to assess to evaluate a website). Seven instruments consisted of elements that could all be evaluated objectively. Of these seven, one instrument consisted entirely of criteria with acceptable interobserver reliability (kappa ≥ 0.6); another instrument met readability standards. Conclusions: There are many quality-rating instruments, but few are likely to be practically usable by the intended audience.
High resolution sedimentary records of heavy metals from the Santa Monica and San Pedro Basins, California☆

Abstract Box cores collected from the Santa Monica and San Pedro Basins during 1986 and 1987 were analysed for organic carbon, 210 Pb and more than 20 major and minor elements. Downcore variations in the profiles of Pb, Zn, and Cr largely reflect anthropogenic inputs, whereas profiles of Fe and Co are strongly modified by diagenesis in near-surface sediments. Both of these factors appear to influence the downcore distribution of Cu. The cores show pronounced subsurface maximum in Pb, Zn, and Cr which, based on 210 Pb dating, correspond to about 1970. Of the most likely anthropogenic sources of these metals, the time-series of emissions from the JWPCP wastewater treatment plant is most in accord with the sedimentary records. The high correlation between organic carbon and Pb, Zn, and Cr in the cores is consistent with the presence of particulate matter of sewage origin. Thus post-1970 improvements in wastewater treatment are reflected in the near-surface decreases in heavy metals.
Learning the Relative Importance of Objects from Tagged Images for Retrieval and Cross-Modal Search

We introduce an approach to image retrieval and auto-tagging that leverages the implicit information about object importance conveyed by the list of keyword tags a person supplies for an image. We propose an unsupervised learning procedure based on Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis that discovers the relationship between how humans tag images (e.g., the order in which words are mentioned) and the relative importance of objects and their layout in the scene. Using this discovered connection, we show how to boost accuracy for novel queries, such that the search results better preserve the aspects a human may find most worth mentioning. We evaluate our approach on three datasets using either keyword tags or natural language descriptions, and quantify results with both ground truth parameters as well as direct tests with human subjects. Our results show clear improvements over approaches that either rely on image features alone, or that use words and image features but ignore the implied importance cues. Overall, our work provides a novel way to incorporate high-level human perception of scenes into visual representations for enhanced image search.
Soft drink advertising and consumption in the United States 1984–2007

In recent years, the carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry has come in for a lot of criticism from consumer advocacy and special interest groups for producing and marketing a product that is considered one of the causes of obesity. Critics point to advertising as one of the major contributing factors for increased CSD consumption, particularly among children and teens. Surprisingly, there has been no empirical research done in this area to answer this controversial question. The current study is a first of its kind to use an ordinary least squares regression procedure to investigate the link between annual advertising expenditures and consumption for carbonated soft drinks sold in the United States from 1984 to 2007.
Establishment and Modification of Food and Taste Preferences: Effects of Experience

Summary Restricting an animal's diet early in life to a single food or flavor serves to enhance the preference value of that substance later in life. A primacy effect is most clearly found in precocial species, such as the domestic chicken; results for late maturing species is less certain. As for changes in food preferences, a chief concern is with the relationship between the kinds of cues involved in the aversive conditioning of food preferences. A theory of stimulus relevance indicates the likelihood of gustatory-olfactory cues becoming aversively conditioned to gastrointestinal discomfort, and auditory-visual cues to pain from electric shock. This suggests that learned associations—at least for the rat—are facilitated by a naturally occurring compatibility between exteroceptive events, such as color and shock, and between other events (e.g., flavor and gastrointestinal pain) functioning interoceptively. Furthermore, those associations between irrelevant events may be mediated by associations between ...
32-anode photomultiplier for high-speed, high-sensitivity fluorescence spectrum detection

Summary form only given. Recent developments in bio-aerosol detection have demonstrated the ability to record single-shot fluorescence spectra (from 250-700 nm) from single particles (as small as 1.8 /spl mu/m in diameter) flowing through a well-defined sampling volume. We report on a 32-anode photomultiplier capable of recording single-shot fluorescence spectra at repetition in excess of 1.4 k particles per second, while maintaining single photon sensitivity.
Serum Folate and Risk for Coronary Heart Disease: Results from a Cohort of US Adults

Abstract PURPOSE: To assess the role of serum folate in the risk for coronary heart disease in a national cohort of US adults. METHODS: Data from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (N = 1921) were used to determine whether a low serum folate concentration was associated with an increased risk for incident coronary heart disease (N = 284). The Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, race, education, serum cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: The association between folate and risk for coronary heart disease differed by age group (p = 0.03). Among persons aged 35–55 years, the relative risk for heart disease was 2.4 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1–5.2) for persons in the lowest quartile (⩽ 9.9 nmol/L) when compared with those in the highest quartile (⩾ 21.8 nmol/L). However, among persons ⩾ 55 years the relative risk was 0.5 (95% CI, 0.3–0.8) for comparisons of the lowest versus highest quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: If the age differences in the risk for heart disease are confirmed, randomized clinical trials assessing the role of folic acid for the prevention of heart disease may need to include young adults in order to demonstrate benefits related to folate supplementation.
An approach to automating the verification of compact parallel coordination programs. I.

A class of parallel coordination programs for a shared memory asynchronous parallel processor is considered. These programs use the operation Fetch & Add which is the basic primitive for the NYU-Ultracomputer. A correctness proof for the considered programs must be done for arbitrary number N of processing elements since the Ultracomputer design includes thousands of PEs. A reachability set description (RSD) is introduced, in which all reachable states of a program (exponential function of N) are collapsed into a fixed number of metastates. The transitions between these metastates are then specified. By using such notation, it becomes feasible to prove various temporal properties of a parallel program, in particular, the absence of livelock. The concept of a compact parallel program is introduced. Roughly speaking a parallel program executed by N PEs is compact if there exists a boundary T independent of N such that any state of this program is reachable within time T. Compactness may also be understood as the finiteness of the expansion for the strongest invariant in the least fixpoint theory, where such finiteness is uniform over N. A program that builds RSDs for compact parallel programs and examples of proofs generated by this program are discussed.
Painful axillary mass in a middle-aged woman.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION: (Dr. J. McNeil) A 57-yearold African-American woman was seen in the surgery clinic because of a painful left axillary mass that had been present for 6 weeks. During that time, the mass had markedly increased in size and had developed a foul-smelling purulent drainage. A mammogram performed 4 years earlier had been interpreted as normal, and no family history of breast disease existed. The patient’s medical history included hypertension and 10-packyears of tobacco abuse. She denied previous surgery. A review of systems was significant for a 30-pound weight loss over 5 months associated with intermittent fevers, chills, and night sweats. In addition, the patient described chronic fatigue and generalized myalgias. On physical examination, the patient was alert, oriented, and afebrile with stable vital signs. Her examination was significant for a 10 3 12-cm fungating mass located in the lateral aspect of her left breast with extension into the axilla (Fig. 1). The right breast and the remainder of her examination were unremarkable. Laboratory evaluation revealed a white blood cell count of 30,300, a hematocrit of 31.3 and a platelet count of 965,000. The serum chemistries included sodium 127, potassium 3.1, chloride 87, bicarbonate 23, and a calcium increased to 14.2. All renal and liver function tests were within the normal range. The patient was hospitalized for further management, including pain control, intravenous antibiotics, and treatment of the hypercalcemia. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest was obtained (Fig. 2). The left breast mass measured 12 3 12 cm and showed evidence of marked necrosis. Involvement of the underlying musculature as well as adjacent axillary lymphadenopathy appeared to exist. Two cystic areas suggestive of either necrotic lymph nodes or fluid collections were also visualized. Thoracic and abdominal CT imaging studies showed no evidence of distant metastases. Likewise, a bone scan and spine films were negative for definitive bony metastases. The patient underwent ultrasound-guided drainage of 500 ml of serosanguinous fluid, and a core biopsy specimen was obtained. Pathologic examination confirmed a grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. The tumor was estrogen receptor negative, progesterone receptor negative, borderline positive for c-erbB2/HER-2 oncoprotein, and positive for p53 tumor suppressor gene product. The Ki67 proliferation index was 53%. The medical oncology service was consulted, and chemotherapy was initiated with cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin. The patient was subsequently discharged on her eighth hospital day.
Ca2+-Receptor-Mediated Regulation of Parathyroid and Renal Function

ABSTRACT: The recent cloning of an extracellular calcium (Ca 2+ o )-sensing receptor (CaR) from the parathyroid gland and the kidney has provided novel insights into the mechanisms that underlie the direct actions of (Ca 2+ o ) on various cells. The receptor is a member of the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors, activating phospholipase C (PLC) and probably also inhibiting adenylate cyclase in target tissues. In the parathyroid gland it is a key mediator of the inhibition by high (Ca 2+ o ) of parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion and, perhaps, PTH gene expression and parathyroid cellular proliferation. It also appears to represent the major mechanism through which Ca 2+ o stimulates the secretion of calcitonin from the thyroidal C-cells. In the kidney, the CaR directly inhibits tubular reabsorption of calcium and magnesium in the thick ascending limb, and may be responsible for the long-recognized, but poorly understood inhibition of urinary concentrating ability by hypercalcemia. The demonstration that activating and inactivating mutations of the CaR, respectively, are the proximate causes of the inherited hypo- calcemic disorder, autosomal dominant hypocalcemia (ADH) and the hypercalcemic diseases, familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) and neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism (NSHPT), has provided additional strong support for the physiologic importance of the CaR in human mineral ion homeostasis. Therefore, when Ca 2+ o acts through its own G protein-coupled cell surface receptor, it acts as an extracellular first messenger in addition to serving its better recognized role as a key intracellular second messenger.
Hibernomas of the head and neck

Hibernomas are rare tumors derived from brown adipose tissue, a specialized form of fat tissue found in hibernating and nonhi-bernating animals. Only a minority of reported hibernomas have occurred in the head and neck region. This report describes two cases of cervical hibernomas, one of which was preoperatively diagnosed by the use of fine-needle aspiration biopsy. The clinical and pathologic characteristics of this neoplasm are reviewed. In general, hibernomas are slow-growing tumors with inconclusive evidence for the existence of a malignant variant. A review of the literature supports the conclusion that excision, sparing vital structures, appears to be curative.