cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lymphomatoid Papulosis: A T-Cell Dyscrasia with a Propensity To Transform into Malignant Lymphoma

Objective: To describe the diagnostic difficulties, response to therapy, and clinical features of lymphomatoid papulosis and the cumulative frequency of transformation to lymphoma. Design: Case ser...
Surface Electromagnetic Wave at a Tilted Uniaxial Bicrystalline Interface

The propagation of a surface electromagnetic wave at the interface of identical uniaxial dielectric half-spaces with a relative twist in their orientation about an axis perpendicular to the interface is formulated as a boundary value problem, the direction of propagation being along the bisector of the relative twist angle and both optic axes being tilted to the interface. Only positive uniaxiality supports surface-wave propagation. When the optic axes in both half-spaces are tilted relative to the interface, the range of the relative twist angle which supports surface waves diminishes and eventually disappears at some maximum value of the tilt angle which depends on the degree of uniaxiality. At optical frequencies and with relatively large degree of uniaxiality, the surface waves are localized within 10's to 100's of nm of the interface.
Changes of Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon and Nitrogen with Cover Crops and Irrigation in a Tomato Field

ABSTRACT In order to understand how soil microbial biomass was influenced by incorporated residues of summer cover crops and by water regimes, soil microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) were investigated in tomato field plots in which three leguminous and a non-leguminous cover crop had been grown and incorporated into the soil. The cover crops were sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L., cv ‘Tropic Sun’), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp, cv ‘Iron clay’), velvetbean (Mucuna deeringiana (Bort) Merr.), and sorghum sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor × S. bicolor var. sudanense (Piper) Stapf) vs. a fallow (bare soil). The tomato crop was irrigated at four different rates, i.e., irrigation initiated only when the water tension had reached −5, −10, −20, or −30 kPa, respectively. The results showed that sorghum sudangrass, cowpea, sunn hemp, and velvetbean increased microbial biomass C by 68.9%, 89.8%, 116.8%, and 137.7%, and microbial N by 58.3%, 100.0%, 297.3%, and 261.3%, respectively. A legume cover crop, cowpea...
Calibration of focusing steps and image rotation of electron microscopes

Reflection electron microscopy (REM) is used to calibrate the focusing steps and rotation of electron microscopes. The calibration of focusing steps is done by the direct measurement of the shift on in-focus positions in the REM micrographs. Rotations between the diffraction patterns and images are calibrated in the usual way. By using the REM geometry, the reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns and REM images have no rotation symmetry, thus eliminating the 180° uncertainty.
CENTER-OF-MASS LOCALIZATION IN SELF-BOUND MANY-BODY SYSTEMS.

Abstract The problem of self-localization in bound many-body systems is examined, with emphasis on the attempt to calculate density distributions relative to the center-of-mass and thereby examine properties of the surface. Such distributions ϱ (r) can be formally calculated in several ways; in terms of off-diagonal matrix elements of the ordinary density, in terms of new field amplitudes with non-local commutation relations, or in terms of diagonal elements of the ordinary density evaluated in states of an extended (translational symmetry-broken) Hamiltonian. The first two methods appear rather intractable for practical calculations, whereas the third formulation allows a simple exact solution for oscillator forces and is capable of extension to other interactions of interest. In view of the use to which oscillator states have been put in nuclear shell model calculations, we note here some of the difficulties inherent in an oscillator model calculation of the density ϱ (r) for large nuclei.
Long-term safety and efficacy of renin-angiotensin blockade in atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis.

The activation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system caused by renal ischaemia in atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) may be responsible for serious cardiovascular and renal consequences. The aim of the study was to assess the long-term safety, tolerability and outcomes of the use of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEis) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in patients with ARAS. Thirty-six patients with angiographically defined ARAS (managed either with revascularization or only with medical treatment) were prospectively assessed for the safety, tolerability and outcomes of the use of ACEis or ARBs. The mean period of follow-up was 88.9 ± 37.8 months. A statistically significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was recorded over time (P < 0.001). While estimated glomerular filtration rate remained almost stable during the study period (0.816), nuclear EDTA-GFR showed a significant reduction over time (P = 0.03). Mean time from diagnosis/intervention to end-stage renal disease for the cohort of 36 patients was 165.38 ± 13.62 months. Mean overall patient survival was 135.36 ± 15.25 months, with fourteen deaths (38.8%) occurring during the observational period. ACEi/ARB therapy was discontinued transiently in only 4 subjects. The use of ACEis/ARBs is safe and effective in patients with ARAS independently of any parameters.
Organization structure and the effectiveness of public agencies

There is little consensus about the impact of various organization structures on organization effectiveness. The most notable characteristic of empirical research on the purposes of this assessment is to develop some under-standing of the reasons structure/effectiveness research continues to disappoint. The more important barriers to research progress include: (1) a continued reliance on “blackbox empiricism;” (2) underspecified models ; (3) measurement discontinuities ; (4) sampling complexities; (5) conceptual problems pertaining to aggregation; and (6) basic methodological and statistical errors. In addition to reviewing these problems, this study presents a propositional inventory of structure/effectiveness research and assesses the evidence that has accumulated. Special attention is given to problems involved in the application of findings in a public sector setting. Finally, it is argued that a current primitive state-of-the-art is such that the best approach to applied structure/effectiveness resea...
Outpatient echocardiography as a predictor of perioperative cardiac morbidity after peripheral vascular surgical procedures.

Abstract Purpose: A variety of preoperative provocative tests have been used to define the risk of cardiac morbidity and mortality after peripheral vascular procedures, including dipyridamole myocardial scintigraphy and dobutamine stress echocardiography. Although highly sensitive, these tests are time-consuming and associated with significant expense. We investigated outpatient echocardiography as a less resource-intensive means of assessing cardiac risk with operation. Methods: Over a 2-year period 250 consecutive patients underwent outpatient transthoracic echocardiography before elective peripheral vascular operation was performed. The accuracy of the Goldman, Detsky, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status Classification clinical indexes of cardiac risk were assessed with regard to the development of cardiac complications such as unstable angina, myocardial infarction, life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, severe congestive heart failure, and cardiogenic shock. The accuracy of echocardiographically determined left ventricular ejection fraction was determined at threshold values between 20% and 60%. Results: Perioperative cardiac events developed in 23 (9.2%) of the patients, and nine (3.6%) of the patients died as a result of these complications. Clinical indexes lacked sensitivity in the preoperative prediction of cardiac complications. Receiver operating curve analysis defined a left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 50% as an appropriate threshold for defining patients at high risk, with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 81% in the identification of patients who had cardiac morbidity. The positive predictive value was 27%, and the negative predictive value was 97%. The economic impact of outpatient echocardiography was well below that of dipyridamole myocardial scintigraphy or dobutamine stress echocardiography. Conclusions: Outpatient echocardiography appears to offer a cost-efficient compromise between clinical criteria alone and provocative cardiac testing such as dipyridamole myocardial scintigraphy and dobutamine stress echocardiography in the preoperative screening of patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgical procedures. (J VASC SURG 1995;22:671-9.)
Testing for antibody to HIV in newborn blood samples collected on paper.

We recently reported that the seroprevalence of HIV infection in childbearing women can be estimated efficiently by testing the samples of blood collected from newborns for routine neonatal metabolic screening tests (N Engl J Med 1988; 318:525-530). The methodologic innovations of this approach are (1) the use of the newborn's blood as the surrogate for the mother's HIV infection status, (2) the use of the existing newborn screening system to carry out the seroprevalence survey, and (3) the modification of HIV antibody assays for testing the microvolumes of blood that can be eluted from the papercollected blood specimens. Maternal IgG antibodies readily cross the placenta and are present in the newborn's blood at approximately the same concentration as in the mother's serum. Therefore, the newborn's antibody status serves as a surrogate measure of maternal status with regard to HIV. Blood specimens are collected from all newborns for routine metabolic screening procedures before discharge from the hospital nursery, usually at two to seven days of age. Blood is obtained from the baby by heelstick and is absorbed and allowed to dry onto the standard specimen collection paper (Schleicher & Schuell #903) used throughout the United States for newborn screening. For practical purposes, newborn screening programs will be able to spare only a 4-inch punch from the paper. A 14inch disk of paper is saturated with 10-12 VpL of blood which represents about 5 VLL of plasma from a newborn. Analysis of batches of individually blinded specimens from different categories of hospitals yielded sociodemographic information and at the same time protected anonymity of the mothers and the babies.
Identification of an Rta responsive promoter involved in driving γHV68 v-cyclin expression during virus replication

Among the distinguishing characteristics of members of the gamma-2 herpesvirus family is the expression of a mammalian D-type cyclin homolog, termed v-cyclin. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (gammaHV68) is a gamma2-herpesvirus that can infect inbred and outbred strains of mice, providing a genetic system for the study of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis. Disruption of the v-cyclin gene of gammaHV68 results in a virus that establishes latency in infected mice to wild-type levels, but is severely attenuated for virus reactivation [van Dyk, L.F., Virgin IV, H.W., Speck, S.H., 2000. J. Virol. 74:7451-7461]. Transcriptional regulation of the gammaHV68 v-cyclin has not been defined. We report here the initial characterization of the v-cyclin transcript expressed in permissive murine fibroblasts. Based on 5' mapping of the v-cyclin transcript, we identified a promoter that is involved in driving v-cyclin expression during virus replication. In addition, we determined that the promoter is responsive to the major viral lytic transactivator, Rta, encoded by orf 50. Using reporter plasmids we have analyzed both basal and Rta-induced v-cyclin promoter activity, initially identifying two regions of the v-cyclin promoter important for both basal and Rta-induced activity. Notably, only one of these regions could be shown to confer Rta responsiveness on a reporter construct containing the hsp70 TATA box. The importance of this region in regulating v-cyclin expression during virus replication was confirmed by introducing these mutations into the context of the viral genome and assessing v-cyclin expression following infection of permissive murine fibroblasts in tissue culture. In addition, we show that mutations that severely cripple Rta-induction of v-cyclin expression did not adversely impact virus reactivation from splenocytes recovered from latently infected mice, indicating that alternatively regulated v-cyclin gene expression is required for virus reactivation.
A direct numerical procedure for the Cauchy problem for the heat equation

Abstract For the Cauchy problem, u t = u xx , 0 x t ⩽ T , u (0, t ) = f ( t ), 0 t ⩽ T , u x (0, t ) = g ( t ), 0 t ⩽ T , a direct numerical procedure involving the elementary solution of υ t = υ xx , 0 x , 0 t ⩽ T , υ x (0, t ) = g ( t ), 0 t ⩽ T , υ ( x , 0) = 0, 0 x and a Taylor's series computed from f ( t ) − υ (0, t ) is studied. Continuous dependence better than any power of logarithmic is obtained. Some numerical results are presented.
Inflammation in Acne Vulgaris: Leukocyte Attraction and Cytotoxicity by Comedonal Material

The chemoattraction of comedonal material for leukocytes was evaluated. Material from open comedones attracted mononculear leukocytes but did not attract polymorphonuclear leukocytes. At higher concentrations, comedonal material was cytotoxic for leukocytes of both types. Of the comedonal components tested, free fatty acids produced the greatest cytotoxicity. The attraction and killing of leukocytes by comedonal components may be the mechanisms for the initiation or the enhancement (or both) of inflammation in acne vulgaris.
Spontaneous hemorrhage in previously ischemic (pale) cerebral infarcts.

Abstract Spontaneous bleeding into a pale cerebral infarct is documented in 2 patients. Neither patient had received anticoagulants or was hypertensive. The development of the hemorrhage was associated with neurological worsening. Initial CT scans showed a hypodense lesion in an arterial distribution representing infarction; subsequent CT scans showed multiple areas of hemorrhage within the hypodense lesion. The size of the hemorrhages and their location in gray and white matter differ from the pattern of hemorrhagic infarction and primary intracerebral hemorrhage as visualized on CT scan and autopsy.
A Two-Layer Framework for Piecewise Linear Manifold-Based Head Pose Estimation

Fine-grain head pose estimation from imagery is an essential operation for many human-centered systems, including pose independent face recognition and human-computer interaction (HCI) systems. It is only recently that estimation systems have evolved past coarse level classification of pose and concentrated on fine-grain estimation. In particular, the state of the art of such systems consists of nonlinear manifold embedding techniques that capture the intrinsic relationship of a pose varying face dataset. The success of these solutions can be attributed to the acknowledgment that image variation corresponding to pose change is nonlinear in nature. Yet, the algorithms are limited by the complexity of embedding functions that describe the relationship. We present a pose estimation framework that seeks to describe the global nonlinear relationship in terms of localized linear functions. A two layer system (coarse/fine) is formulated on the assumptions that coarse pose estimation can be performed adequately using supervised linear methods, and fine pose estimation can be achieved using linear regressive functions if the scope of the pose manifold is limited. A pose estimation system is implemented utilizing simple linear subspace methods and oriented Gabor and phase congruency features. The framework is tested using widely accepted pose-varying face databases (FacePix(30) and Pointing'04) and shown to perform fine head pose estimation with competitive accuracy when compared with state of the art nonlinear manifold methods.
A Single ClpS Monomer Is Sufficient to Direct the Activity of the ClpA Hexamer

ClpS is an adaptor protein that interacts with ClpA and promotes degradation of proteins with N-end rule degradation motifs (N-degrons) by ClpAP while blocking degradation of substrates with other motifs. Although monomeric ClpS forms a 1:1 complex with an isolated N-domain of ClpA, only one molecule of ClpS binds with high affinity to ClpA hexamers (ClpA6). One or two additional molecules per hexamer bind with lower affinity. Tightly bound ClpS dissociates slowly from ClpA6 with a t½ of ∼3 min at 37 °C. Maximum activation of degradation of the N-end rule substrate, LR-GFPVenus, occurs with a single ClpS bound per ClpA6; one ClpS is also sufficient to inhibit degradation of proteins without N-degrons. ClpS competitively inhibits degradation of unfolded substrates that interact with ClpA N-domains and is a non-competitive inhibitor with substrates that depend on internal binding sites in ClpA. ClpS inhibition of substrate binding is dependent on the order of addition. When added first, ClpS blocks binding of both high and low affinity substrates; however, when substrates first form committed complexes with ClpA6, ClpS cannot displace them or block their degradation by ClpP. We propose that the first molecule of ClpS binds to the N-domain and to an additional functional binding site, sterically blocking binding of non-N-end rule substrates as well as additional ClpS molecules to ClpA6. Limiting ClpS-mediated substrate delivery to one per ClpA6 avoids congestion at the axial channel and allows facile transfer of proteins to the unfolding and translocation apparatus.
Using a Flexible Fault-Tolerant Cache to Improve Reliability for Ultra Low Voltage Operation

Caches are known to consume a large part of total microprocessor power. Traditionally, voltage scaling has been used to reduce both dynamic and leakage power in caches. However, aggressive voltage reduction causes process-variation--induced failures in cache SRAM arrays, which compromise cache reliability. In this article, we propose FFT-Cache, a flexible fault-tolerant cache that uses a flexible defect map to configure its architecture to achieve significant reduction in energy consumption through aggressive voltage scaling while maintaining high error reliability. FFT-Cache uses a portion of faulty cache blocks as redundancy—using block-level or line-level replication within or between sets—to tolerate other faulty caches lines and blocks. Our configuration algorithm categorizes the cache lines based on degree of conflict between their blocks to reduce the granularity of redundancy replacement. FFT-Cache thereby sacrifices a minimal number of cache lines to avoid impacting performance while tolerating the maximum amount of defects. Our experimental results on a processor executing SPEC2K benchmarks demonstrate that the operational voltage of both L1/L2 caches can be reduced down to 375 mV, which achieves up to 80p reduction in the dynamic power and up to 48p reduction in the leakage power. This comes with only a small performance loss (
Electrochemical performance of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 prepared by improved solid state method as cathode in hybrid supercapacitor

Abstract The electrochemical performance of a hybrid asymmetric supercapacitor with activated carbon (AC) as anode and a lithium-ion intercalated compound LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 as cathode was studied. By using metal acetate precursors as starting materials in solid state reaction method, pure LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 was formed at low temperature. The role of precursors on the formation of material at low temperature and short period of time is presented. XRD confirms the cubic spinel structure (space group, Fd3m) and SEM shows the particles of size around 1 μm. The effect of the modified solid state reaction route on the structural and electrochemical properties was investigated. The fabricated hybrid supercapacitor, AC/LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 in a non-aqueous electrolyte 1.0 M LiPF6/EC-DMC exhibits a sloping voltage profile from 1.0 to 3.0 V and delivers a specific energy of ca. 56 Wh kg−1. Moreover, it exhibits excellent cycling performance with less than 5% capacity loss over 1000 cycles.
Surface Antigen Changes during Normal Neutrophilic Development: A Critical Review☆

Neutrophil surface molecules function in part as biological sensors. Surface antigens undergo several changes during neutrophilic maturation to accommodate the cell's function. Surface antigens may appear with neutrophilic maturation, such as CD16b, CD35, and CD10; disappear with maturation, such as CD49d and CD64; be maintained during maturation, such as CD32, CD59, and CD82; or disappear with maturation but reappear after neutrophilic extravasation, such as CD49b. This article reviews the alterations in surface antigen expression during normal neutrophilic granulopoiesis.
Child and family correlates of toddlers' emotional and behavioral responses to a mishap

Cette etude a evalue les contributions uniques et collectives du langage de l'etat interne, du comportement externalisant et du discours maternel sur les emotions a la prediction de a la reaction (des jeunes enfants) liee a l'empathie. Les reactions de culpabilite basees sur l'empathie de 47 jeunes enfants (27 garcons) ont ete observees en reponse au desarroi qu'ils pensaient avoir cree. De plus, les meres ont rendu compte du langage de l'etat interne, du comportement externalisant et de la culpabilite basee sur l'empathie. Lors d'une observation separee, les meres ont discute les expressions emotionnelles avec leurs enfants et la signification fonctionnelle de leur discours emotionnel a ete consideree. Les resultats ont revele que l'abilite de langage de l'etat interne des jeunes enfants etait liee de maniere positive a leurs tentatives de comprehension de l'etat affectif de quelqu'un d'autre et aux compte-rendus maternels des reactions de compassion de leurs enfants. Il y avait aussi un lien inverse imprevu entre le comportement externalisant et le niveau d'excitation. Du point de vue des mesures parentales, les explications maternelles d'emotions etaient liees de maniere positive aux tentatives des enfants de comprehension de l'etat affectif de quelqu'un d'autre alors que les directives des meres pour que les enfants etiquetent les emotions etaient positivement liees a l'inquietude emotionnelle pour les autres exprimees par les enfants. Les implications de ces resultats pour la comprehension de l'empathie et du developpement de la culpabilite chez les jeunes enfants sont discutees.
Structure of glasses in the systems Mg2SiO4Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4Fe2SiO4, Mg2SiO4CaMgSiO4, and Mn2SiO4CaMnSiO4

Abstract We have measured polarized micro-Raman spectra for twelve orthosilicate glasses containing varying proportions of Ca2+, Fe2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+, and one FeOSiO2 composition slightly enriched in silica relative to fayalite. We have also obtained selected area electron diffraction data for glasses having the compositions of forsterite (Mg2SiO4), fayalite (Fe2SiO4), and tephroite (Mn2SiO4). Our Raman data indicate that: (1) CaMg olivine glasses all have similar structures consisting of isolated SiO4 tetrahedra with subordinate short-chain polymers; (2) addition of Ca2+ causes reduction in the effective SiO vibrational force constants; (3) in the absence of iron, a proportion of manganese occurs in tetrahedral MnO4 complexes which are not network formers; (4) silicon-oxygen bonds are shorter in glasses than in the isocompositional crystals; (5) significant polymerization occurs in fayalite-bearing glasses. The diffraction results for forsterite glass show evidence for cryptocrystalline periclase regions no larger than 40 A, probably resulting from a melt free oxygen fraction which cannot be quenched to glass. Fayalite and tephroite glass diffraction patterns show no such evidence for a free oxygen fraction. Therefore, it is proposed that the high degree of polymerization of fayalite-bearing glass results from network-forming Fe2+ ions.
Basilar artery migraine. Case report.

✓ The case of a 40-year-old woman with a 24-year history of basilar artery migraine is described. She was admitted to the hospital after suffering a large cerebellar infarction causing hydrocephalus and deep stupor during an attack of migraine. She recovered after ventricular shunting and removal of the infarct.
A simple clinical staging system that predicts progression to AIDS using CD4 count, oral thrush, and night sweats.

Objective: To develop a simple clinical staging system based on CD4 count and clinical variables that predicts progression to AIDS in HIV-infected non-AIDS patients. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: A primary care outpatient clinic for HIV-infected patients at a VA Medical Center. Patients: One hundred seventy-six HIV-infected non-AIDS patients seen at the Houston VA Special Medicine Clinic between January 1986 and December 1990 and followed for a mean of 22 months. Fifty-four patients (31%) progressed to AIDS during follow-up. Measurements: The medical records were reviewed, and data corresponding to the initial (baseline) clinic visit and subsequent sixmonth visits were extracted. Main results: “Predictive” baseline variables (i.e., those associated with progression to AIDS) were first identified and then examined in Cox proportional hazards modeling. In the final model, CD4 category, oral thrush, and night sweats made significant independent contributions. A three-stage prognostic system was constructed by assigning points to the three variables: CD4>500 cells/mm3=0; 500≥CD4≥200=1; CD4<200=2; presence of oral thrush=1; presence of night sweats=1. Stages were assigned as follows: stage I=0 points, stage II=1−2 points, and stage III=3−4 points. The proportions of patients who progressed to AIDS were: stage I, 6/39 (15%); stage II, 31/106 (29%); and stage III, 17/31 (55%). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that simple, clinically sensible prognostic staging systems that predict progression to AIDS can be constructed using CD4 count and clinical variables.
Using Flashcard Drill Methods and Self-Graphing Procedures to Improve the Reading Performance of English Language Learners

The increasing numbers of English language learners who are enrolled in schools across the nation, combined with the escalating academic demands placed on all students, warrant the evaluation of instructional strategies designed to improve English language learners’ reading performance. In this study, the authors used a multiple baseline design across individuals to examine the effects of an intervention that combined (a) a vocabulary folding-in technique and (b) self-graphing procedures on the reading performance of 3 third-grade Spanish-speaking English language learners. Curriculum-based measurement oral reading fluency and reading comprehension probes were implemented to monitor the students’ reading progress. Results indicated that the combined intervention improved the participants’ reading performance as measured by vocabulary sight words, reading fluency, and reading comprehension tasks. Implications of this research, including how school psychologists can use interventions such as these to serve ...
Evolutionary Game Dynamics with Non-Uniform Interaction Rates

The classical setting of evolutionary game theory, the replicator equation, assumes uniform interaction rates. The rate at which individuals meet and interact is independent of their strategies. Here we extend this framework by allowing the interaction rates to depend on the strategies. This extension leads to non-linear fitness functions. We show that a strict Nash equilibrium remains uninvadable for non-uniform interaction rates, but the conditions for evolutionary stability need to be modified. We analyze all games between two strategies. If the two strategies coexist or exclude each other, then the evolutionary dynamics do not change qualitatively, only the location of the equilibrium point changes. If, however, one strategy dominates the other in the classical setting, then the introduction of non-uniform interaction rates can lead to a pair of interior equilibria. For the Prisoner's Dilemma, non-uniform interaction rates allow the coexistence between cooperators and defectors. For the snowdrift game, non-uniform interaction rates change the equilibrium frequency of cooperators.
A data envelopment analysis-based approach for data preprocessing

In this paper, we show how the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model might be useful to screen training data so a subset of examples that satisfy monotonicity property can be identified. Using real-world health care and software engineering data, managerial monotonicity assumption, and artificial neural network (ANN) as a forecasting model, we illustrate that DEA-based data screening of training data improves forecasting accuracy of an ANN.
Depletion of E-cadherin disrupts establishment but not maintenance of cell junctions in Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells

E-cadherin forms calcium-dependent homophilic intercellular adhesions between epithelial cells. These contacts regulate multiple aspects of cell behavior, including the organization of intercellular tight junctions (TJs). To distinguish between the roles of E-cadherin in formation versus maintenance of junctions, Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells were depleted of E-cadherin by RNA interference. Surprisingly, reducing E-cadherin expression had little effect on the protein levels or localization of adherens junction (AJ) or TJ markers. The cells underwent morphological changes, as the normally flat apical surface swelled into a dome. However, apical–basal polarity was not compromised, transmembrane resistance was normal, and zonula occludin protein 1 dynamics at the TJs were unchanged. Additionally, an E-cadherin/Cadherin-6 double knockdown also failed to disrupt established TJs, although β-catenin was lost from the cell cortex. Nevertheless, cells depleted of E-cadherin failed to properly reestablish cell polarity after junction disassembly. Recovery of cell–cell adhesion, transepithelial resistance, and the localization of TJ and AJ markers were all delayed. In contrast, depletion of α-catenin caused long-term disruption of junctions. These results indicate that E-cadherin and Cadherin-6 function as a scaffold for the construction of polarized structures, and they become largely dispensable in mature junctions, whereas α-catenin is essential for the maintenance of functional junctions.
Hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna Jacq.) extract exhibits atropine-sensitive activity in a cultured cardiomyocyte assay

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) plant extract is used as a herbal alternative medicine for the prevention and treatment of various cardiovascular diseases. Recently, it was shown that hawthorn extract preparations caused negative chronotropic effects in a cultured neonatal murine cardiomyocyte assay, independent of beta-adrenergic receptor blockade. The aim of this study was to further characterize the effect of hawthorn extract to decrease the contraction rate of cultured cardiomyocytes. To test the hypothesis that hawthorn is acting via muscarinic receptors, the effect of hawthorn extract on atrial versus ventricular cardiomyocytes in culture was evaluated. As would be expected for activation of muscarinic receptors, hawthorn extract had a greater effect in atrial cells. Atrial and/or ventricular cardiomyocytes were then treated with hawthorn extract in the presence of atropine or himbacine. Changes in the contraction rate of cultured cardiomyocytes revealed that both muscarinic antagonists significantly attenuated the negative chronotropic activity of hawthorn extract. Using quinuclidinyl benzilate, l-[benzylic-4,4′-3H] ([3H]-QNB) as a radioligand antagonist, the effect of a partially purified hawthorn extract fraction to inhibit muscarinic receptor binding was quantified. Hawthorn extract fraction 3 dose-dependently inhibited [3H]-QNB binding to mouse heart membranes. Taken together, these findings suggest that decreased contraction frequency by hawthorn extracts in neonatal murine cardiomyocytes may be mediated via muscarinic receptor activation.
Long-Term Mortality of 306,868 Patients with Multi-Vessel Coronary Artery Disease: CABG versus PCI

Background: Several randomized controlled trials (RCT) have reported no difference in long-term mortality between coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The purpose of this pooled observational analysis was to compare recent retrospective studies examining long -term survival of patients with multi vessel coronary artery disease undergoing CABG and PCI. Methodology: We searched Medline for observational studies comparing longterm (>1 year) survival between CABG and PCI for the treatment of multi -vessel coronary artery disease over the past 10 years. Results:Eight studies met inclusion criteria. A total of 306,868 patients (155,502 CABG;
Optimality of single-carrier zero-padded block transmissions

We consider the class of linear precoded (LP) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. We first show that single-carrier zero-padded transmissions, termed ZP-only, can be viewed as a special case of LP-OFDM. By resorting to the pair-wise error probability analysis, we establish the optimality of ZP-only among the LP-OFDM class in terms of its performance in random frequency-selective channels. It is shown that ZP-only enjoys maximum diversity and coding gains. We also consider various decoding options for ZP-only, and compare them in terms of performance and complexity.
Avoiding memory contention on tightly coupled multiprocessors

We propose a novel method of scheduling memory access on a non blocking interconnection network that provides only one-to-one communication. Conflicts at the switches can be avoided if the accesses are scheduled so that no two processors attempt to access the same memory at the same time. We show how such a scheduling problem can be mapped to an edge coloring problem for a directed graph and present algorithms for solving that problem. We give examples of the application of the algorithm and present simulation results. >
A preliminary report on the effects of long-term exposure of LiOH on pure nickel

A 'bread pan' capsule has been designed which allows large numbers of tensile specimens to be simultaneously exposed to molten LiOH, its vapor, and vacuum. Capsules and specimens fabricated from the pure nickel alloy Ni-200 were annealed for 401 hours and 2500 hours at 775 K. Examination of the exposed materials revealed that little outward damage in terms of visible attack, weight change, or loss of room temperature tensile properties occurred. In particular, the mechanical behavior of hydroxide-contaminated alloy was essentially identical to that receiving a simple thermal exposure in vacuum. Examination of the microstructures revealed that LiOH did produce some nonuniform, shallow intergranular corrosion in NI-200; however, the extent of the damage was insufficient to produce weakening or embrittlement.
Remanence changes of magnetic tapes and disks stressed in zero and reverse fields

To estimate the extent to which a recording tape signal can be reduced during replay we have devised a rapid, sensitive, and simple testing technique. The method uses a Hall probe to measure the field profile after applying a localized stress to the center of a uniformly magnetized sample. We believe that this loss occurs when the pigment anisotropy is lowered by stressing particles, which have nonzero magnetostriction, in the presence of a demagnetizing field. The latter originates from particle interaction fields (H I ), self-demagnetizing fields from short magnetized segments, and fields from oppositely magnetized adjacent regions. The first effect is observed by stressing a uniformly magnetized sample in its remanent state; the second two are associated with frequency-dependent losses and can be simulated by applying stress with the sample located in a reverse field after initial saturation. Results indicate that H I is anisotropic and depends on the average angle between the magnetizing field and the long particle axis. When a reverse field is applied during stress, the maximum loss occurs at the coercive field where the loss is greater than the interaction field loss. All stress-induced losses vary logarithmically with the number of stress cycles, and scale with the magnitude of the applied stress and the absolute value of the saturation magnetostriction.
Design of vast DOF artificial muscle actuators with a cellular array structure and its application to a five-fingered robotic hand

This paper presents a cellular actuator design for a robotic hand. Although the motions of robotic hands are complex, a design of cellular actuator segmentation can be simplified by extracting the features of given postures and using them to design and control the actuator. A method of using captured hand posture data to design the actuator segmentation is proposed. Data from the eight most frequently used hand grips in a daily living, as defined in the sollerman hand function test, is used in this design. The gathered joint angle data is transformed into actuator displacement data and used to generate a segmentation design of the actuator. For segmentation design, feature extraction method, called non-negative matrix factorization with constraints is proposed. The actuator system has 12 SMA actuators each with eight segments, resulting in 96 configurable segments before the coupled segmentation design is applied. The coupling segmentation design effectively groups the segments into clusters which are simultaneously controlled. The segmentation design reduces 96 separately controlled segments to 8, while maintaining the ability to accomplish all desired postures. A robotic hand with five fingers, designed and fabricated using the FDM process, is driven with this actuator system, and eight hand postures are reproduced with the robotic hand
Children Who were Very Low Birthweight: Cognitive Abilities and Classroom Behavior at Five Years of Age

Sixty-two children who were born very low birthweight (VLBW; < 1,500 grams) in 1976 are now reaching school age, and their ability to meet the demands of school can be evaluated. These children, enrolled in regular classrooms, were matched by race and sex to full-term classmates at 5 years of age. Measures of cognitive abilities and visual motor integration were administered and teachers rated their classroom behavior. VLBW children scored significantly lower on measures of visual perceptual and visual motor function. Teachers rated VLBW children as having significantly more problems including attending to tasks, following directions, and being passive. These data suggest the need for early intervention programs. Furthermore, these data underscore the need for longitudinal follow-up into the elementary school years.
Thriving in community

In the final part of this series on student thriving, Laurie Schreiner describes how students who thrive turn outward and engage with the world through healthy interpersonal relationships and service to their communities.
Damage of Articular Cartilage due to Mechanical Fatigue and Collagenase Action

Damage to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of articular cartilage is detrimental to its functional load-bearing properties. Cartilage ECM can be damaged chemically by enzymatic cleavage or mechanically either due to impact loads or long term fatigue loads at physiological levels. There is strong evidence that chronic long term loads in conjunction with chemical weakening can lead to osteoarthritic degeneration of cartilage [1, 2].Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Decreased lung tumorigenesis in mice genetically deficient in cytosolic phospholipase A2.

Epidemiological investigations suggest that chronic lung inflammation increases lung cancer risk. Pharmacologic and genetic evidence in mouse models indicates that lipid mediators released during pulmonary inflammation enhance lung tumor formation. Cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) catalyzes arachidonic acid (AA) release from membrane phospholipids. AA can then lead to the synthesis of several classes of lipid mediators, including prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis through the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway. We investigated a role for cPLA 2 in mouse lung tumorigenesis by using mice genetically deficient in cPLA 2 . After multiple urethane injections into cPLA 2 null mice and wild-type littermates, the number of lung tumors was determined. cPLA 2 null mice developed 43% fewer tumors (from 16 ± 2 to 9 ± 2 tumors/mouse; P < 0.05) than wild-type littermates. cPLA 2 , COX-1, COX-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E 2 synthase (mPGES), examined by immunohistochemistry, are present in alveolar and bronchiolar epithelia and in alveolar macrophages in lungs from naive mice and tumor-bearing mice. Tumors express higher levels of each of these four enzymes than control lungs, as determined by immunoblotting. No differences were detected in the contents of COX-1, COX-2 and mPGES between wild-type and cPLA 2 null mice. Although the steady-state levels of prostaglandin E 2 and prostaglandin I 2 in lung tissue extracts prepared from wild-type or cPLA 2 (-/-) mice were not significantly different, both prostaglandins markedly increased in tumors from wild-type mice, an increase that was significantly blunted in tumors from cPLA 2 (-/-) mice. These results demonstrate a role for cPLA 2 in mouse lung tumorigenesis that may be mediated by decreased prostaglandin synthesis.
The Relationship Between Soil Arthropods and the Overwinter Survival of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Under Manipulated Snow Cover.

We explored the relationship between the diversity and abundance of the soil arthropod predator community and the overwinter survival of engorged larval Ixodes scapularis Say under variable snow cover in a hardwood forest. We reduced the snow cover over 30 soil core field microcosms, simulating predicted changes in snow pack in the northeastern United States. An additional 29 microcosms were used as references with no snow pack manipulation. Each microcosm contained 15 engorged larval I. scapularis . We expected lower soil temperature without insulating snow cover to reduce tick survival. However, we observed that reduced snow cover had no effect, with 44.2 and 44.7% overwintering successfully in the reference and snow-removal plots, respectively. Increasing taxonomic family richness of arthropod predators and the total number of large (>1 mm) arthropod predators significantly reduced the overwinter survivorship of I. scapularis within the microcosms. Small (<1 mm) arthropod predator abundance had no effect. Our results suggest that forests with complex natural arthropod predator communities show reduced tick survival.
Weed species–area relationships as influenced by tillage

Abstract The relationship between species richness and sample area has been characterized in many natural communities but has rarely been examined in crop–weed communities. We determined the species–area relationship in short-term (≤4 yr) and long-term (>15 yr) moldboard-plowed (MP), chisel-plowed (CP), and no-tillage (NT) fields cropped to corn and in short-term MP, CP, and NT fields cropped to soybean. A total of 10 corn fields and 10 soybean fields were sampled for species richness in 14 nested sample areas that ranged from 0.0625 to 512 m2. The influence of sample area on frequency of species occurrence was also determined. Species richness was greater in long-term NT fields than in tilled or short-term NT fields. The species–area relationship in tilled and short-term NT fields was best described by an exponential function. In contrast, a power function was the best fit for the species–area relationship in long-term NT fields. The functional minimum area required to represent 75% of the total weed spe...
A Case Study of Atmospheric Conditions at 4-19 km over Vandenberg Air Force Base during Passage of a Cyclone

Abstract Continuous observations from a 50-MHz radar of the vertical profiles of winds, refractivity turbulence structure constant (C2n ), turbulent kinetic energy density (σ2t ) up to two orders of magnitude), and hourly standard deviation of the vertical velocity (σw ) are combined with routine rawinsonde ascents and weather observations to study changes in turbulence intensity over Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, during 21–27 July 2001. Early and late in this period the flow aloft was relatively steady and turbulence intensities in the upper troposphere were very low. For about 36 h around 25 July, the flow at midlevels (about 600–150 hPa) was disturbed by the passage of a cutoff cyclonic circulation center. During the low's passage, C2n and σ2t intensities were enhanced by up to about 15 dB. The enhancements of C2n and σ2t are highly correlated with each other, as well as with the vertical shear of the horizontal wind and synoptic-scale relative vorticity. The increased turbulence intensities a...
Integration of PanDA workload management system with Titan supercomputer at OLCF

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) workload management system (WMS) was developed to meet the scale and complexity of LHC distributed computing for the ATLAS experiment. While PanDA currently distributes jobs to more than 100,000 cores at well over 100 Grid sites, the future LHC data taking runs will require more resources than Grid computing can possibly provide. To alleviate these challenges, ATLAS is engaged in an ambitious program to expand the current computing model to include additional resources such as the opportunistic use of supercomputers.We will describe a project aimed at integration of PanDA WMS with Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). The current approach utilizes a modified PanDA pilot framework for job submission to Titan's batch queues and local data management, with light-weight MPI wrappers to run single threaded workloads in parallel on Titan's multicore worker nodes. It also gives PanDA new capability to collect, in real time, information about unused worker nodes on Titan, which allows precise definition of the size and duration of jobs submitted to Titan according to available free resources. This capability significantly reduces PanDA job wait time while improving Titan's utilization efficiency. This implementation was tested with a variety of Monte-Carlo workloads on Titan and is being tested on several other supercomputing platforms.Notice: This manuscript has been authored, by employees of Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The publisher by accepting the manuscript for publication acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.