cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Creation of a comprehensive training and career development approach to increase the number of neurosurgeons supported by National Institutes of Health funding

OBJECTIVE To increase the number of independent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded neurosurgeons and to enhance neurosurgery research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) developed two national comprehensive programs (R25 [established 2009] for residents/fellows and K12 [2013] for early-career neurosurgical faculty) in consultation with neurosurgical leaders and academic departments to support in-training and early-career neurosurgeons. The authors assessed the effectiveness of these NINDS-initiated programs to increase the number of independent NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists and grow NIH neurosurgery research funding. METHODS NIH funding data for faculty and clinical department funding were derived from the NIH, academic departments, and Blue Ridge Institute of Medical Research databases from 2006 to 2019. RESULTS Between 2009 and 2019, the NINDS R25 funded 87 neurosurgical residents. Fifty-three (61%) have completed the award and training, and 39 (74%) are in academic practice. Compared to neurosurgeons who did not receive R25 funding, R25 awardees were twice as successful (64% vs 31%) in obtaining K-series awards and received the K-series award in a significantly shorter period of time after training (25.2 ± 10.1 months vs 53.9 ± 23.0 months; p < 0.004). Between 2013 and 2019, the NINDS K12 has supported 19 neurosurgeons. Thirteen (68%) have finished their K12 support and all (100%) have applied for federal funding. Eleven (85%) have obtained major individual NIH grant support. Since the establishment of these two programs, the number of unique neurosurgeons supported by either individual (R01 or DP-series) or collaborative (U- or P-series) NIH grants increased from 36 to 82 (a 2.3-fold increase). Overall, NIH funding to clinical neurological surgery departments between 2006 and 2019 increased from $66.9 million to $157.3 million (a 2.2-fold increase). CONCLUSIONS Targeted research education and career development programs initiated by the NINDS led to a rapid and dramatic increase in the number of NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists and total NIH neurosurgery department funding.
Statistical Overfitting and Backtest Performance

In field of mathematical finance, a “backtest” is the usage of historical market data to assess the performance of a proposed trading strategy. It is a relatively simple matter for a present-day computer system to explore thousands, millions or even billions of variations of a proposed strategy, and pick the best performing variant as the “optimal” strategy “in sample” (i.e., on the input dataset). Unfortunately, such an “optimal” strategy often performs very poorly “out of sample” (i.e., on another dataset), because the parameters of the invest strategy have been overfit to the in-sample data, a situation known as “backtest overfitting” [Bailey2014a]. While the mathematics of backtest overfitting has been examined in several recent theoretical studies, here we pursue a more tangible analysis of this problem, in the form of an online simulator tool. Given a input random walk time series, the tool develops an “optimal” variant of a simple strategy by exhaustively exploring all integer parameter values among a handful of parameters. That “optimal” strategy is overfit, since by definition a random walk is unpredictable. Then the tool tests the resulting “optimal” strategy on a second random walk time series. In most runs using our online tool, the “optimal” strategy derived from the first time series performs poorly on the second time series, demonstrating how hard it is not to overfit a backtest. We offer this online tool to facilitate further research in this area.
PLAC1 affects cell to cell communication by interacting with the desmosome complex.

Abstract Introduction X-linked PLAC1 is highly expressed in placenta during embryogenesis, and when ablated in mice, causes aberrant placental cell layer organization. It is also highly expressed in many types of cancer cell-lines. Although it has been shown that it promotes AKT phosphorylation in cancer cells, the exact mechanism by which it influences placental layer differentiation is unclear. Methods To investigate the mechanism of action of PLAC1 we did cell fractionation and immunoprecipitation of the protein and Mass Spectrometry analysis to identify its interaction partners. The associated proteins were directly tested for interactions by co-transfection with PLAC1 and immunoprecipitation. Mutations in the ZP-N domain of PLAC1 were introduced to assess its involvement in the interactions. Results We provide evidence that Desmoglein-2 (DSG2), a component of the membrane-associated desmosomal complex, directly interacts with PLAC1. Mutations of cysteines in ZP-N domain disrupt the interaction between PLAC1 and DSG-2. Discussion Because desmosomes are responsible for establishing lateral cell-cell junctions, we suggest that direct interaction with the lateral junction protein complex may be implicated in the PLAC1 effects on cell-cell interactions, and thereby on the layer structure of the placenta.
No Cell Left Behind: Automated Physics-Based Tracking of Every Cell in a Dense and Growing Colony

A human watching a video of closely-packed cells can generally identify every individual cell, regardless of density and noise, but most currently-available cell-tracking software cannot. This is because the human brain automatically builds a physical model of the scene as it progresses, allowing it to readily distinguish cells from noise and not be unduly confused by overlapping cells. Here we introduce software that uses physical rules to create a simulation of the activity in a cell video, synchronizing itself with the video as the activity progresses. Because our simulation includes every individual cell, we are trivially able to track all cell movement, growth, and divisions. Our method is also particularly robust to noise without requiring any substantial image processing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method by tracking the motion and lineage tree of a densely-packed colony of cells that grows from 4 to more than 200 individuals
Machine learning to advance the prediction, prevention and treatment of eating disorders

Machine learning approaches are just emerging in eating disorders research. Promising early results suggest that such approaches may be a particularly promising and fruitful future direction. However, there are several challenges related to the nature of eating disorders in building robust, reliable and clinically meaningful prediction models. This article aims to provide a brief introduction to machine learning and to discuss several such challenges, including issues of sample size, measurement, imbalanced data and bias; I also provide concrete steps and recommendations for each of these issues. Finally, I outline key outstanding questions and directions for future research in building, testing and implementing machine learning models to advance our prediction, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders.
Local Repair of Neural Networks Using Optimization

In this paper, we propose a framework to repair a pre-trained feed-forward neural network (NN) to satisfy a set of properties. We formulate the properties as a set of predicates that impose constraints on the output of NN over the target input domain. We define the NN repair problem as a Mixed Integer Quadratic Program (MIQP) to adjust the weights of a single layer subject to the given predicates while minimizing the original loss function over the original training domain. We demonstrate the application of our framework in bounding an affine transformation, correcting an erroneous NN in classification, and bounding the inputs of a NN controller.
Staphylococcal Food Poisoning

This chapter focuses predominantly on staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), another toxin-mediated illness. SFP, also known as staphylococcal gastroenteritis, is not an infection but is a foodborne intoxication caused by one or more staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). It appears to have been initially reported in 1894 as a family outbreak due to undercooked meat from a sick cow that became contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococci are often divided into coagulasepositive staphylococci and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), on the basis of coagulase production or the presence of a coagulase gene. Staphylococcal osmotolerance is problematic for food safety since blocked growth of competing bacteria can result in a more likely overgrowth of S. aureus. Staphylococci are ubiquitous in air, dust, sewage, water, milk, and many foods and on food equipment, environmental surfaces, humans, and animals. SE production is affected by temperature, pH, and osmotic conditions and is also regulated at the molecular level. The oligonucleotideoligosaccharide- binding fold containing a β-barrel structure capped with an α-helix comprises much of one domain and is present in other toxins including cholera toxin, pertussis toxin, and Shiga toxin. Recent studies demonstrated that staphylococcal pathogenicity island (SaPI) is mobilized by staphylococcal bacteriophages and endogenous prophages, suggesting that SE genes might be transferred horizontally. The identification of novel toxins and improved methods of detection have also indicated that SE production is much more widespread than originally thought and includes species of staphylococci other than S. aureus.
Reply to Benson’s comments in “On the Potentialities of Middle Range Theory”

Benson raised several crucial issues regarding the application of middle range theory in organizational behavior and theory, which address statements I made in my paper “Middle Range Theories: Clusters of Clusters of Organizational Phenomenon.” I wish to comment on the points he raised and further clarify my position regarding the conceptualization and operationalization of middle range theory in the study of organization.
Sampling graphs with a prescribed joint degree distribution using Markov chains

One of the most influential results in network analysis is that many natural networks exhibit a power-law or log-normal degree distribution. This has inspired numerous generative models that match this property. However, more recent work has shown that while these generative models do have the right degree distribution, they are not good models for real life networks due to their differences on other important metrics like conductance. We believe this is, in part, because many of these real-world networks have very different joint degree distributions, i.e. the probability that a randomly selected edge will be between nodes of degree k and l. Assortativity is a sufficient statistic of the joint degree distribution, and it has been previously noted that social networks tend to be assortative, while biological and technological networks tend to be disassortative. We suggest that the joint degree distribution of graphs is an interesting avenue of study for further research into network structure. We provide a simple greedy algorithm for constructing simple graphs from a given joint degree distribution, and a Monte Carlo Markov Chain method for sampling them. We also show that the state space of simple graphs with a fixed degree distribution is connected via endpoint switches. We empirically evaluate the mixing time of this Markov Chain by using experiments based on the autocorrelation of each edge.
Personal Denial Of Service (PDOS) Attacks: A Discussion and Exploration of a New Category of Cyber Crime

The growth of the Internet has created a corresponding growth in Internet-based crimes and online misbehavior, particularly among younger computer-savvy people who learned the technical skills necessary for such activities throughout their entire lives. We define a new category of cyber crime called a Personal Denial of Service attack (PDOS). A PDOS is a cyber crime in which an individual deliberately prevents the access of an individual or small group to online services such as email or banking. Due to the nature of a PDOS, these acts can be overlooked by law enforcement and organizations that operate Internet infrastructure such as universities. We analyze a PDOS attack in the context of the Routine Activities Theory of criminal justice. We also surveyed university students to ascertain their attitudes towards online account breaches as related to a PDOS attack. Our motivation for this work is twofold: to stress the need for cyber ethics education at the university level, and to illustrate how a previously uncategorized type of cyber crime is easily perpetrated in such an environment.
A Versatile Simple Capture Assay for Assessing the Structural Integrity of MHC Multimer Reagents (TECH1P.859)

MHC multimers including tetramers and pentamers provide a powerful way to visualize antigen specific T cell responses in both experimental and clinical immune assays. The multimers can be acquired commercially, from the NIH, or assembled in the laboratory for measuring immune responses to commonly-studied or novel-hypothetical antigens. The multimer reagents can be expensive and time consuming to acquire and in many cases are uncontrolled reagents as robust positive control T cells used to assess the reagents functionally may not be available. This is particularly problematic when using MHC multimers to investigate less well-defined T cell responses, such as those characterized by low T cell frequencies or by specificity to hypothetical antigens relevant to cancer, infection, or autoimmune disease. These problems are magnified when studying irreplaceable clinical trial samples where having confidence that reagents are biochemically intact is critical. To address this problem, we have devised a versatile, flow cytometry-based, capture assay to probe the structural integrity of MHC multimer reagents. In principle, the idea is to immobilize on a bead antibody specific for conformational determinants expressed on a properly folded MHC molecule. The particle becomes labeled and can be visualized and quantified by flow cytometry when a fluorescently tagged tetramer is adsorbed to the particulate upon binding to the antibody.
Copyright and Sovereign Immunity

As a member of the academic community who pays attention to copyright developments, I often find myself torn between competing interests. Copyright owners can and should generate income from others who want to use their property. However, this is at odds with certain limited, free uses of copyrighted material - generally uses that are perceived to offer a societal benefit such as education. The increasing role and value of copyrighted content in modern society serves to enhance this conflict.Yet another copyright conflict, primarily involving the academic community, is catching the eye of Congress as work progresses on the Intellectual Property Protection Restoration Act of 2003. This Act would require states to waive their sovereign immunity from liability for copyright infringement as a condition of being able to collect damages for infringements of their copyrights.
Methotrexate, Rituximab, Temozolomide (MRT) Induction Therapy for Elderly Patients with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL) (IN10-1.002)

OBJECTIVE: We here report on the tolerability and efficacy of induction therapy with methotrexate (MTX), temozolomide (TMZ) and rituximab (RTX) in a series of 18 PCNSL patients age 60 and above. BACKGROUND: Treatment of PCNSL in elderly patients has not been well established and management can be challenging due to limited tolerance of chemotherapy and worse disease prognosis. DESIGN/METHODS: From 2007-2012, 18 PCNSL patients age ≥ 60 years received MRT induction. Median age at diagnosis was 69 (60-83). Induction therapy consisted of high-dose MTX at 3.5-8 g/m2 (days 1, 15), RTX at 375 mg/m2 (days 3, 10, 17, 24) and TMZ at 150 mg/m2 (days 7-11) of each 28-day cycle. MTX was given every 2 weeks until complete response (CR), RTX weekly for a total of 6 doses, and TMZ monthly until CR. Monthly MRI was used to assess response. Consolidation included two additional MTX cycles, followed by monthly maintenance MTX with or without TMZ, or autologous stem cell transplantation. RESULTS: CR was achieved in 14/18 (78%) patients at a median of 4 months. 3/18 patients achieved partial response (PR). One patient had early progressive disease (PD) and died 11 months after treatment onset. At a median follow-up of 15.5 months from treatment initiation, 10/18 patients remain in CR, 2/18 patients continue to receive induction MRT, 5/18 developed relapse or progressive disease. One patient in CR died from complications unrelated to PCNSL. Median PFS has not been reached. MRT induction was well tolerated; significant toxicities included reversible grade 3 transaminitis (3/18), reversible grade 1-2 serum creatinine elevation (6/18), and ≥ grade 3 hematologic toxicity (3/18). CONCLUSIONS: In elderly patients with newly diagnosed PCNSL, MRT induction is well tolerated and associated with a high response rate. Our experience suggests that this regimen is safe and effective in this patient population. Disclosure: Dr. Forst has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chi has received research support from Pfizer Inc. Dr. Dietrich has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gerstner has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jones has nothing to disclose. Dr. Byrne has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hochberg has nothing to disclose. Dr. Plotkin has received research support from Pfizer. Dr. Batchelor has received personal compensation for activities with Merck & Co., Inc., Roche Diagnostics, Kirin Pharmaceuticals, Up To Date, Inc., Robert Michael Educational Institute, LLC, Educational Concepts Group, Oakstone Medical Publishing, American Society of Hematology, Champions Biotechnology, and Advance Medical. Dr. Batchelor has received research support from Pfizer, Inc., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Millenium.
HUMAN HEPATOCUPREIN. ISOLATION OF A COPPER PROTEIN FROM THE SUBCELLULAR SOLUBLE FRACTION OF ADULT HUMAN LIVER.

Abstract A protein containing 0.3% copper was isolated from the subcellular soluble fraction of adult human liver. This human hepatocuprein is similar to human cerebrocuprein I and erythrocuprein in that it has a similar copper content, a sedimentation coefficient of the order of S 20 = 3S and a green color with a broad absorption maximum of low extinction at about 670 mμ. It is possible that the copper proteins of this type obtained from human liver, brain, and erythrocytes are identical. There is, however, some evidence suggesting that there may be some differences between the soluble copper proteins from the three different tissues.
Analysis of time series

Intelligent data analysis often requires one to extract meaningful conclusions about a complicated system using data from a single sensor. If the system is linear, a wealth of well-established, powerful time-series analysis techniques is available to the analyst. If it is not, the problem is much harder and one must resort to nonlinear dynamics theory in order to infer useful information from the data. IDA problems are often complicated by a simultaneous overabundance and lack of data: reams of information about the voltage output of a power substation, for instance, but no data about other important quantities, such as the temperatures inside the transformers. Data-mining techniques [133] provide some useful ways to deal successfully with the sheer volume of information that constitutes one part of this problem. The second part of the problem is much harder. If the target system is highly complex — say, an electromechanical device whose dynamics is governed by three metal blocks, two springs, a pulley, several magnets, and a battery — but only one of its important properties (e.g., the position of one of the blocks) is sensor-accessible, the data analysis procedure would appear to be fundamentally limited.
The expression of the syn- gene of herpes simplex virus type 1. I. Morphology of infected cells.

Abstract The morphological response of cells infected with fusion-inducing ( syn − ) strains of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has been found to be altered by the presence of the syn + allele. When cells are simultaneously infected with syn + and syn − strains of HSV-1, the morphology of the syn + strain is dominant. However, when syn − -infected cells are superinfected with syn + virus at 2 hr after the initial infection, the morphological response of the syn − genome is expressed. Regardless of the order used in the delayed infection, both virus genotypes are replicated and found in the progeny in approximately equal amounts. The basis for the dominance of the syn − allele in the delayed infection is not known. Although cells infected with syn − virus fuse with uninfected cells or cells infected with syn − virus, they do not fuse with cells infected with syn + virus. This result suggests that the membranes of syn + virus-infected cells are altered in such a way that precludes participation in cell fusion.
Multi-layer volume ray casting on GPU

We present multi-layer volume ray casting that integrates various volume rendering enhancements into a unified framework, including empty-space skipping, volume clipping, embedding opaque and semi-transparent objects, volume editing through constructional solid geometry (CSG) operations, etc. The central idea is to consider all these objects as volume-of-interests(VOIs). Each VOI is assigned a priority number to determine how the overlapped regions are handled. All the information of the VOIs are encoded into a ray-layer buffer through depth peeling combined with layer simplification. Each pixel of a ray-layer buffer contains the information of a set of ray segments, including the starting locations and the material IDs. The multi-layer ray caster then renders (or skips) each ray segment with the proper viewing parameters depending on the material IDs. The ray-layer buffer is also used to estimate the gradients of surfaces between the layers to improve shading.
Apparent size and hue variations of a laser light spot.

Both the apparent size and the apparent hue of a single spot of 6328 A laser light vary with with varying conditions, and with the particular observer. The apparent radius of a spot can vary from zero to several times the objectively-determined radius as the background lighting conditions are changed. The general features of this variation are predictable theoretically. The apparent hue of the center of a laser spot can shift as much as 340 A. Previous theory for the hue shift is shown to be inadequate, but no fully adequate theory is suggested.
Designing a Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility: Key Issues for COP-21

There have been several proposals to include a “climate change displacement coordination facility” in the upcoming UNFCCC agreement, but there has been very little public discussion about what this facility would entail and how it would operate. This briefing note highlights some of the functions that the displacement coordination facility could fulfill, as well as some key questions for negotiators in the lead-up to COP 21 and subsequent talks. The note is not intended to be a proposal for how the facility should operate, nor do the functions highlighted below necessarily reflect what is politically or economically feasible. Rather, the note is intended to outline a broad array of considerations for decision-makers as they contemplate whether and how to proceed with the displacement coordination facility.
#hermandad: Twitter as a Counter-Space for Latina Doctoral Students

AbstractLatinas are significantly underrepresented in doctoral programs in U.S. higher education institutions. While pursuing doctoral studies is a challenging experience for anyone, Latina doctoral students are particularly burdened with additional stressors in an academic environment that does not support Latina/o cultural values, such as familismo (familism) and personalismo (personalism). In the absence of a local network of Latina/o faculty and colleagues, Twitter may serve as a counter-space to support Latinas experiencing cultural incongruity and who are looking for ways to advocate for Latina/o communities.
Cytokine-dependent bidirectional connection between impaired social behavior and susceptibility to seizures associated with maternal immune activation in mice

Maternal immune activation (MIA) results in the development of autism in the offspring via hyperactivation of IL-6 signaling. Furthermore, experimental studies showed that the MIA-associated activation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) concurrently with IL-6 increases the rate and the severity of hippocampal kindling in mice, thus, offering an explanation for autism-epilepsy comorbidity. We examined whether epileptic phenotype triggered by prenatal exposure to IL-6 and IL-1β combination is restricted to kindling or whether it is reproducible in another model of epilepsy, whereby spontaneous seizures develop following kainic acid (KA)-induced status epilepticus. We also examined whether in mice prenatally exposed to IL-6 and IL-6+IL-1β, the presence of spontaneous seizures would exacerbate autism-like features. Between days 12 and 16 of pregnancy, C57BL/6J mice received daily injections of IL-6, IL-1β, or IL-6+IL-1β combination. At postnatal day 40, male offspring were examined for the presence of social behavioral deficit, and status epilepticus was induced by intrahippocampal KA injection. After 6weeks of monitoring for spontaneous seizures, sociability was tested again. Both IL-6 and IL-6+IL-1β offspring presented with social behavioral deficit. Prenatal exposure to IL-6 alleviated, while such exposure to IL-6+IL-1β exacerbated, the severity of KA-induced epilepsy. Increased severity of epilepsy in the IL-6+IL-1β mice correlated with the improvement of autism-like behavior. We conclude that complex and not necessarily agonistic relationships exist between epileptic and autism-like phenotypes in an animal model of MIA coupled with KA-induced epilepsy and that the nature of these relationships depends on components of MIA involved.
A new on-line chemical biology data visualization system

To support the nations public sector probe and drug discovery programs, in this paper, we develop a chemical biology data visualization system based on our designed Molecular Libraries Biological Database (MLBD) that tackles the limitations of the primary data repository on PubChem website. We highlight our system's capability of responding to multiple queries simultaneously and providing a direct comparison of their results. Our proposed first-of-its-kind chemical biology data grid (CBDG) can federate a large set of chemical biology databases and visualize the response at a large scale. This facilitates users' analysis and further biclustering task. Moreover, our database can create an extended CDBG whose profile presents AIDs not only related to user query but also related to CID candidates. We show that the extended CDBG has the same query time complexity as the basic CBDG. Finally, we implement the interface with Java Tree-view visualization tool and demonstrate the system.
Cocaine-Induced Chromatin Remodeling Increases Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Transcription in the Rat Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Which Alters the Reinforcing Efficacy of Cocaine

Cocaine self-administration alters patterns of gene expression in the brain that may underlie cocaine-induced neuronal plasticity. In the present study, male Sprague Dawley rats were allowed to self-administer cocaine (0.25 mg/infusion) 2 h/d for 14 d, followed by 7 d of forced abstinence. Compared with yoked saline control rats, cocaine self-administration resulted in increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein levels in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). To examine the functional relevance of this finding, cocaine self-administration maintained under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement was assessed after short hairpin RNA-induced suppression of BDNF expression in the mPFC. Decreased BDNF expression in the mPFC increased the cocaine self-administration breakpoint. Next, the effect of cocaine self-administration on specific BDNF exons was assessed; results revealed selectively increased BDNF exon IV-containing transcripts in the mPFC. Moreover, there were significant cocaine-induced increases in acetylated histone H3 (AcH3) and phospho-cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB) association with BDNF promoter IV. In contrast, there was decreased methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) association with BDNF promoter IV in the mPFC of rats that previously self-administered cocaine. Together, these results indicate that cocaine-induced increases in BDNF promoter IV transcript in the mPFC are driven by increased binding of AcH3 and pCREB as well as decreased MeCP2 binding at this BDNF promoter. Collectively, these results indicate that cocaine self-administration remodels chromatin in the mPFC, resulting in increased expression of BDNF, which appears to represent a compensatory neuroadaptation that reduces the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine.
Evolution of plasmaspheric ions at geosynchronous orbit during times of high geomagnetic activity

The evolution of the plasmasphere, the region of relatively dense cold plasma surrounding the Earth, is strongly dependent on magnetospheric activity. Here we report on plasmaspheric evolution as observed at geosynchronous orbit in association with magnetopause crossings and storm sudden commencements (SSCs). The occurrence frequency distributions at geosynchronous orbit of both magnetopause-associated and SSC-associated plasmaspheric ions is peaked near 1400 LT, with an overall range from 1000 LT to beyond 1800 LT. This is greatly skewed from the average plasmaspheric distribution at 6.6 RE, which peaks closer to 1800 LT. The evolution of SSC-associated plasmaspheric ions is tracked using a superposed epoch analysis: lower-activity SSCs produce minor changes from the pre-SSC local time distribution; after geomagnetically-effective SSCs, the ions appear almost immediately at earlier local times, spanning the late morning to dusk local time sector for hours. These observations are consistent with (1) a push of plasmaspheric material inward over the spacecraft due to magnetospheric compression and (2) the prompt penetration of a convection electric field.
A REVIEW OF THE BASIC CHEMISTRY AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRIVALENT f-ELEMENTS SEPARATIONS

ABSTRACT Among the most difficult of separations of metal ions are the intra- and intergroup separation of Ianthanides and trivalent actinides. Yet environmental concerns related to radioactivity, and new high-tech developments which have increased the demand for pure lanthanides have combined to foster a greater need for effective procedures to attain these separations. The most recent review which concentrated on this problem is now nearly 20 years old. While the methods developed over the preceeding 50-60 years of research are still in use, new understanding and some promising new methods are currently under development. The present manuscript is partly a tutorial of the basic chemical principles leading to successful separations, and partly a review of the results of the past 10-12 years on the separation of trivalent lanthanides and actinides, both intra-, and intergroup.
Response of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria Clone with Aplastic Anemia to Rituximab

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is caused by expansion of a hematopoietic stem cell clone with an acquired somatic mutation in the PIG-A gene. This mutation aborts the synthesis and expression of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor proteins CD55 and CD59 on the surface of blood cells, thereby making them more susceptible to complement-mediated damage. A spectrum of disorders occurs in PNH ranging from hemolytic anemia and thrombosis to myelodysplasia, aplastic anemia and, myeloid leukemias. Aplastic anemia is one of the most serious and life-threatening complications of PNH, and a PNH clone is found in almost a third of the cases of aplastic anemia. While allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and T cell immune suppression are effective treatments for aplastic anemia in PNH, these therapies have significant limitations. We report here the first case, to our knowledge, of PNH associated with aplastic anemia treated with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab, which was associated with a significant reduction in the size of the PNH clone and recovery of hematopoiesis. We suggest that this less toxic therapy may have a significant role to play in treatment of PNH associated with aplastic anemia.
Novel multimodality treatment sequencing for extrahepatic (mid and distal) cholangiocarcinoma.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation has demonstrated significant advantages in the management of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. A similar tumor in a nearby anatomical location is extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, which has proven to be largely unresponsive to current forms of therapy. Neoadjuvant therapy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma has been combined with surgical resection and/or liver transplantation with a 25–33 % complete pathological response rate. We propose a wider application of neoadjuvant chemoradiation for patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma and present our rationale for this form of treatment sequencing.
17β-Estradiol's salutary effects on splenic dendritic cell functions following trauma–hemorrhage are mediated via estrogen receptor-α

Abstract Although 17β-estradiol administration following trauma–hemorrhage attenuates Kupffer cell, splenic and peritoneal macrophage functions, it remains unknown whether 17β-estradiol has any salutary effects on splenic dendritic cell (DC) functions and if so, whether such effects are mediated via the estrogen receptors (ER). We hypothesized that 17β-estradiol administration following trauma–hemorrhage has salutary effects on splenic DC functions. Male C3H/HeN (6–8 weeks) mice were randomly assigned to sham operation or trauma–hemorrhage. Trauma–hemorrhage was induced by midline laparotomy and ∼90 min of hemorrhagic shock (blood pressure [BP] 35 mmHg), followed by fluid resuscitation (4× the shed blood volume in the form of Ringer's lactate). Estrogen receptor (ER)-α agonist propyl pyrazole triol (PPT; 5 μg/kg), ER-β agonist diarylpropionitrile (DPN; 5 μg/kg), 17β-estradiol (50 μg/kg), or vehicle (10% DMSO) was injected subcutaneously during resuscitation. Two hours later, the mice were sacrificed, splenic DCs were isolated and the changes in their apoptosis, co-stimulating factors and MHC class II expression, ability to produce cytokines, and antigen presentation capacity were measured. Apoptosis of splenic DC increased following trauma–hemorrhage; however, 17β-estradiol administration after trauma–hemorrhage normalized the rate of apoptosis. Moreover, splenic DC cytokines production, co-stimulating factors and MHC class II expression, and antigen presentation capacity were significantly decreased following trauma–hemorrhage; however, 17β-estradiol as well as PPT also prevented these depressions. In contrast, DPN did not attenuate splenic DC functions following trauma–hemorrhage. Since PPT administration following trauma–hemorrhage was more effective in normalizing splenic DC functions than DPN, the salutary effects of 17β-estradiol on splenic DC functions are mediated predominantly via ER-α.
Injury severity scoring: a comparison of early clinical versus discharge diagnosis.

The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) are objective means of assessing injury. Accepted methodology involves retrospective scoring of injury based on discharge diagnoses. Recently, early clinical scoring, supplemented by review at discharge, has been introduced. A prospective study was instituted to compare these methodologies. Four hundred sixty consecutive victims of blunt trauma were scored using both clinical and retrospective methodologies by independent, blinded observers. Of these, 333 patients had a change in ISS, 174 with a change of greater than four points. The population mean ISS remained unchanged; however, paired values were significantly different (p less than .03). We conclude that either methodology is applicable for studies of large populations of trauma victims. When accurate individual AIS or ISS scoring is required, the clinical method combined with discharge review is most appropriate.
General treatment of spatial light modulator dead-zone effects on optical correlation. II. Mathematical analysis.

We present a general analytical treatment of optical correlation in correlators that use pixellated spatial light modulators with transmissive (or reflective) dead zones in both the input and filter planes. The active areas of the pixels modulate the light intensity while the dead zones transmit (or reflect) all of the light. Our model can predict the changes in the correlation peak and the signal-to-noise ratio with changes in dead zones, calculated in Part I [Appl. Opt. 32, 6527 (1993)] from computer simulations. This model is also a general one: It applies to correlators in which one spatial light modulator contaions only opaque dead zones while the other contains only transmissive dead zones; it also applies to the case in which any one spatial light modulator contains both opaque and transmissive dead zones.
Web-based education in anesthesiology: a critical overview.

Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to discuss the rise of web-based educational resources available to the anesthesiology community. Recent findings Recent developments of particular importance include the growth of ‘Web 2.0’ resources, the development of the concepts of ‘open access’ and ‘information philanthropy’, and the expansion of web-based medical simulation software products. In addition, peer review of online educational resources has now come of age. Summary The worldwide web has made available a large variety of valuable medical information and education resources only dreamed of two decades ago. To a large extent, these developments represent a shift in the focus of medical education resources to emphasize free access to materials and to encourage collaborative development efforts.
Structures of cylindrocyphanes a-f

Five new [7.7]paracyclophanes, cylindrocyclophanes B-F (2-6), have been isolated from three strains of the terrestrial blue-green alga Cylindrospermum licheniforme and their total structure elucidated. The absolute stereochemistry of cylindrocyclophane A (1) has been determined by Mosher's method.
Computing the cumulative distribution function of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic

Abstract We present an algorithm for computing the cumulative distribution function of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test statistic D n in the all-parameters-known case. Birnbaum (1952, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 47, 425–441), gives an n -fold integral for the CDF of the test statistic which yields a function defined in a piecewise fashion, where each piece is a polynomial of degree n . Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the appropriate limits of integration for computing these polynomials. Our algorithm performs the required integrations in a manner that avoids calculating the same integrals repeatedly, resulting in shorter computation time. It can be used to compute the entire CDF or just a portion of the CDF, which is more efficient for finding a critical value or a p -value associated with a hypothesis test. If the entire CDF is computed, it can be stored in memory so that various characteristics of the distribution of the test statistic (e.g., moments) can be calculated. To date, critical tables have been approximated by various techniques including asymptotic approximations, recursive formulas, and Monte Carlo simulation. Our approach yields exact critical values and significance levels. The algorithm has been implemented in a computer algebra system.
Nonprofits as Social Capital and Agents in the Public Policy Process: Toward a New Paradigm:

This article explores a new, universal, and theoretically inclusive approach to understanding the performance and purpose of nonprofit organizations in today’s world. This approach envisions the nonprofit organization as a social capital asset and agent in a specific relationship to the public. This relationship is depicted in a principal-agent paradigm and the performance is in the public policy process. The public policy arena is the nonprofit’s analogy of the firm’s marketplace. Nonprofits do more than fill in for market or government failures. They also regulate, facilitate, assist, and modify markets and play a significant role in every aspect of public policy, that is, from determining party platforms to the implementation of policies. In the public policy process, they have a comparative advantage as agents of citizens and firms.
FURTHER STUDIES ON INSULIN AUGMENTATION CAPACITIES OF VARIOUS SERUM PROTEINS.

Abstract The ability of human serum protein to augment the action of crystalline insulin on the epididymal fat pad has been further evaluated. Serum proteins were fractionated by elution from DEAE cellulose and the capacity of individual fractions to augment insulin action determined. The property was found to be present in all fractions, but concentrated to a slightly greater extent in the fastermoving gamma globulins and beta globulins. The augmentation effect has again been found to be deficient in diabetes mellitus.
Carcinoma of deep male urethra.

Abstract Carcinoma of the deep male urethra is a rare disease. Conservative measures yielding dismal outcomes were standard until 1957, with the report of an 80 per cent five-year survival rate after radical surgery. To assess the value of this surgery, we reviewed all cases of carcinoma of the deep male urethra managed at UCLA Medical Center and its affiliated hospitals between 1952 and 1980. Of the patients managed with radical surgery, 1 died of a myocardial infarction between staged surgical procedures, and 5 died of their disease between twelve and fifty-two months postoperatively (mean survival, 26 months). There were 2 long-term disease free survivors, yielding a survival rate of 25 per cent. We have also compiled the results of all major series dealing with deep urethral carcinoma published subsequent to the 1957 report. This review of the literature supports the concept that radical extirpative surgery is mandatory in the management of carcinoma of the deep male urethra.
Optical properties of Mo

The interband optical conductivity of Mo was calculated using a self-consistent relativistic band structure. Including electric dipole matrix elements, the results are in excellent quantitative agreement with experiment in the 1\char21{}6-eV region. The use of nonrelativistic bands and the neglect of the dipole matrix elements each lead to poorer agreement with experiment. The major relativistic effect is the lowering of the s-like bands, not the spin-orbit splitting. k-space searches identified the regions of the Brillouin zone contributing to the three principal structures, which were found to be large volumes of the zone consisting of general points, away from symmetry points or lines.
Teaching Research to MSW Students: Effectiveness of the Team-based Learning Pedagogy

Social work students often have been labeled as research-reluctant. Consequently, it is important to identify effective teaching strategies. One innovative strategy is team-based learning. The effectiveness of team-based learning has not yet been evaluated with a social work research class. As a result, the current study compared the effectiveness of team-based learning with that of other pedagogies. Findings suggest that team-based learning was not more effective than alternate pedagogies in increasing MSW students' intent to incorporate research into practice. Notably, the team-based learning approach was more effective in increasing research self-efficacy. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Diamide insecticides: Global efforts to address insect resistance stewardship challenges

Abstract The diamides are the most recent addition to the limited number of insecticide classes with specific target site activity that are highly efficacious, control a wide pest spectrum, and have a favorable toxicological profile. Currently available diamide insecticides include chlorantraniliprole and flubendiamide, with cyantraniliprole already being sold in some countries as launch progresses. Flubendiamide, the first diamide insecticidal compound, was discovered by Nihon Nohyaku and co-developed with Bayer. Shortly after, DuPont introduced chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole, which are commercialized by DuPont and Syngenta. Thus, collaboration among companies is critical to prevent or delay the evolution of insect resistance since the four companies competitively sell multiple brands from this novel insecticide class worldwide. In addition, due to the value provided by the diamides, growers are rapidly adopting these products at the risk of excluding the use of alternate-chemistry insecticides in resistance management rotation schemes. DuPont commercializes chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole under the technical trade names Rynaxypyr® and Cyazypyr™ and has a major interest in preserving diamide efficacy. Therefore, DuPont is actively engaged, alone and together with the other companies, in multiple insecticide resistance management activities worldwide, which are the focus of this review.
International Capital Mobility Amongst the Major Industrialised Countries: Too Little or Too Much?

This paper examines capital flows among the major industrialized countries with a view to assessing M. Feldstein and C. Horioka's (1980) claim that international capital mobility is limited. It argues that saving-investment correlation tests are inherently flawed, and proposes an alternative methodology for testing the degree of international capital mobility. It finds that capital flows have been excessive in the sense that they are driven by speculative forces rather than by economic fundamentals. Copyright 1995 by Royal Economic Society.
Stimulus-Coupled Secretion of γ-Aminobutyric Acid from Rat Brain Synaptosomes

Synaptosomes treated with radioactive γ-aminobutyric acid can be stimulated to release this substance. The release is maximal within 40 seconds after stimulation and is dependent on calcium. Magnesium and manganese ions, known to block stimulus-secretion coupling processes, depress calcium-dependent release. This release is specific to synaptosomes because microsomal or myelin fractions do not release accumulated γ-aminobutyric acid. The data illustrate a simple in vitro system suitable for analysis of secretion of γ-aminobutyric acid in brain and in addition describe several new aspects of uptake and secretion of this compound at brain nerve endings.
Avoiding Misuse of New Information Technologies: Legal and Societal Considerations:

A variety of new information technologies have emerged that clearly can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing programs. However, the use of technologies such as computer matching or...