cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recovery from COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: the potential role of an intensive care unit recovery clinic: a case report.

In this case report, we describe the trajectory of recovery of a young, healthy patient diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the potential role of intensive care unit recovery or follow-up clinics for patients surviving acute hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019. Our patient was a 27-year-old Caucasian woman with a past medical history of asthma transferred from a community hospital to our medical intensive care unit for acute hypoxic respiratory failure due to bilateral pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation (ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fraction of inspired oxygen, 180). On day 2 of her intensive care unit admission, reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction confirmed coronavirus disease 2019. Her clinical status gradually improved, and she was extubated on intensive care unit day 5. She had a negative test result for coronavirus disease 2019 twice with repeated reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction before being discharged to home after 10 days in the intensive care unit. Two weeks after intensive care unit discharge, the patient returned to our outpatient intensive care unit recovery clinic. At follow-up, the patient endorsed significant fatigue and exhaustion with difficulty walking, minor issues with sleep disruption, and periods of memory loss. She scored 10/12 on the short performance physical battery, indicating good physical function. She did not have signs of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder through self-report questionnaires. Clinically, she was considered at low risk of developing post–intensive care syndrome, but she required follow-up services to assist in navigating the healthcare system, addressing remaining symptoms, and promoting return to her pre–coronavirus disease 2019 societal role. We present this case report to suggest that patients surviving coronavirus disease 2019 with subsequent development of acute respiratory distress syndrome will require more intense intensive care unit recovery follow-up. Patients with a higher degree of acute illness who also have pre-existing comorbidities and those of older age who survive mechanical ventilation for coronavirus disease 2019 will require substantial post–intensive care unit care to mitigate and treat post–intensive care syndrome, promote reintegration into the community, and improve quality of life.
Opioid Antagonist Effects on Self-Injury in Adults with Mental Retardation: Response Form and Location as Determinants of Medication Effects.

The opioid antagonist naltrexone was administered to 8 adults with severe or profound mental retardation and extensive histories of self-injurious behavior. Five-minute behavioral samples were observed randomly out of every hour from 8 a.m. through 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, for four 2-week phases (baseline, placebo, 50 mg, and 100 mg). During naltrexone administration, there were fewer days with frequent head-banging and self-biting, whereas there were more days on which blows to the head or self-biting were infrequent. Self-injurious participants slept 1.38 hours less per night during baseline, which was unaffected by naltrexone.
Development of radiopharmaceuticals for PET renography

Renography is a standard clinical diagnostic test frequently used to evaluate renal function in patients with suspected renal disorders. It is conducted by dynamic planar imaging using technetium-99m renal agents. Although renography in the current form provides adequate results for certain clinical applications, the planar imaging used in renography restricts its ability in providing accurate quantitative data and detailed pathophysiologic information. These drawbacks limit the possible use of renography in the early detection and monitoring of many renal diseases. The technical limitations of renography associated with the use of planar imaging can be eliminated by using positron emission tomography (PET). In this regard, several potential PET renal agents were developed, which are all listed in this review article. PET renography could provide the potential to diagnose renal diseases early and quickly implement appropriate preventive and/or treatment strategies to improve patient care and reduce the incidence of kidney failure. Synopsis: Application of positron emission tomography (PET) for renography would significantly increase its clinical value by providing both accurate quantitative data and higher resolution tomographic images compared to the currently used planar imaging. In this regard, several potential PET renal agents were developed, which are all listed in this review article.
Finding a Maximum Compatible Tree for a Bounded Number of Trees with Bounded Degree Is Solvable in Polynomial Time

In this paper, we consider the problem of computing a maximum compatible tree for k rooted trees when the maximum degree of all trees is bounded. We show that the problem can be solved in O(22kdnk) time, where n is the number of taxa in each tree, and every node in every tree has at most d children. Hence, a maximum compatible tree for k unrooted trees can be found in in O(22kdnk+1) time.
Non‐Inferiority Trial

Noninferiority trials employ a selected active-control treatment, the effect of which has been established in historical placebo-controlled trials. The active control serves as a comparator for evaluating the effect of an experimental treatment. A placebo arm may be either present in or absent from the noninferiority trial, depending on whether use of the placebo arm is feasible. In contrast with showing superiority, it is much more challenging to design a “show noninferiority” trial. The notion of noninferiority is extremely difficult to define, and a threshold termed “noninferiority margin” must be determined to define the noninferiority hypothesis for testing. The margin determination depends on many key factors: the objective of the noninferiority trial, critical assumptions pertaining to the ability of a trial to distinguish between an effective and an ineffective treatments, and the applicability of the historical estimate of the active control's effect to the noninferiority trial when the placebo cannot be used, and so forth. This article is intended to pinpoint the factors critically needing consideration for the viability of using a noninferiority trial to evaluate the effect of an experimental treatment. Keywords: Placebo controlled; active controlled; noninferiority margin; misclassification; measurement error; medication noncompliance; superiority margin
A bootstrapping approach for identifying stakeholders in public-comment corpora

A stakeholder is an individual, group, organization, or community that has an interest or stake in a consensus-building process. The goal of stakeholder identification is identifying stakeholder mentions in natural language text. We present novel work in using a bootstrapping approach for the identification of stakeholders in public comment corpora. We refine the definition of a stakeholder by categorizing stakeholders into 2 distinct stakeholder types and experiment with automatically identifying one of these two types: instances where the author identifies him/herself as a member of a particular group. An existing bootstrapping information extraction algorithm is combined individually with 3 distinct extraction pattern templates. Results show that this stakeholder group can be learned in a minimally supervised bootstrapping framework using 2 of the 3 extraction pattern templates. An experimental analysis explores the challenges in applying the third extraction pattern template to this problem. Results on all 3 extraction pattern templates provide insight on the unique and novel challenge of identifying stakeholders.
Failure analysis and materials characterization of hip implants

This research focused on the microstructural characterization and failure analysis of hip implant components. The main hip components analyzed were the femoral heads and the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) liners. Previous research has shown that hip implants tend to fail by the PE liners due to adhesive and abrasive wear, delamination, and third body particles (metals, ceramics, and PE). The methods and procedures for analyzing the said failures consisted of non-destructive and destructive evaluations. Non-destructive evaluations included of techniques such as visual characterization and dye penetrant inspection (DPI)–which displayed macroscopic surface details and presented initial clues as to the extent and causes of the failures. The use of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) produced transmittance spectra for the PE liners to indicate the bonds and their associated wavelength energies. The destructive evaluations included metallography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These techniques revealed the microstructural characteristics of the metallic components and focused on microscopic cracks and abrasions from areas of delamination and adhesion in the samples. After further studies and analyses on the failed implants, the information and data shall be given to the collaborating orthopaedic surgery group in hopes of altering new components to ensure increased implant lifetimes and less needed revision surgeries for hip replacement patients.
An Empirical Assessment of Models of the Value Premium

Recent models of the value premium typically endogenously link B/M to rmspecic attributes. The value rms earn higher subsequent returns because these
Temporal changes in the Cerberus region of Mars: Mariner 9 and Viking comparisons

Mariner 9 images of the Cerberus dark region of Mars obtained in 1972 are compared with Viking Orbiter 1 images obtained in 1978 to investigate temporal changes in the appearance of the region. Changes in the outline of the albedo feature in the six years between observations are found which resulted in an increase in total area by about 1.2%, with a shift in the boundary of the southwestern region by as much as 90 km. Darkening of many areas of Cerberus is also observed, resulting in the development of a more uniform dark tone and accompanied by the disappearance of dark filamentary markings observed in 1972. Although neither streaks associated with craters and knobs are found to vary in mean length, a change in the mean orientation of bright streaks is observed. These changes are explained by eolian redistribution and the removal of bright material during major dust storms.
Continuous versus discrete information processing modeling accumulation of partial information.

David Meyer and colleagues have recently developed a new technique for examining the time course of information processing. The technique is a variant of the response signal procedure: On some trials subjects are presented with a signal that requires them to respond, whereas on other trials they respond normally. These two types of trials are randomly intermixed so subjects are unable to anticipate which kind of trial is to be presented next. For data analysis, it is assumed that on the signal trials observed reaction times are a probability mixture of regular responses and guesses based on partial information. The accuracy of guesses based on partial information can be determined by using the data from the regular trials and a simple race model to remove the contribution of fastfinishing regular trials from signal trial data. This analysis shows that the accuracy of guesses is relatively low and is either approximately constant or grows slowly over the time course of retrieval. Meyer and colleagues have argued that this pattern of results rules out most continuous models of information processing. But the analyses presented in this article show that this pattern is consistent with several stochastic reaction time models': the simple random walk, the runs, and the continuous diffusion models. The diffusion model is assessed with data from a new experiment using the studytest recognition memory procedure. Fitting the diffusion model to the data from regular trials fixes all parameters of the model except one (the signal encoding and decision parameter). With this one free parameter, the model predicts the observed guessing accuracy. In summary, results obtained from Meyer et al?s (1988) new technique give important qualitative support to some stochastic models and impressive quantitative support to the continuous diffusion model.
The Demand Driven Acquisitions Pilot Project by the Orbis Cascade Alliance: An Interview with Members of the Demand Driven Acquisitions Implementation Team

Portland State University collection development librarian Jill Emery talks with members of the Orbis Cascade Alliance demand driven acquisitions implementation team, EBL, and YBP Library Services about their participation in a pilot project to acquire e-books that are accessible to and jointly owned by the thirty-seven member libraries of the Orbis Cascade Alliance.
The tradeoff between price and quality of services in the Philippines

This paper examines the tradeoff that consumers make between price and quality in the demand for health care. The analysis is based on data collected from both households and health care facilities in Cebu, Philippines. The availability of both types of data makes this one of only a handful of demand for health care studies that includes detailed information on both individual characteristics and facility attributes of all relevant alternatives. The developing country setting provides substantial variation in the type of facility chosen, ranging from home delivery aided only by friends and relatives at one extreme to modern private hospitals at the other end of the spectrum. The alternatives vary greatly in quality and price, making this an ideal context for examining the role of these variables in facility choice. The nested logit model specifications that are estimated contain price, travel time, and different combinations of quality measures, including the availability of medical supplies, practitioner training, service availability, facility size and crowdedness, and their interaction with individual characteristics. In addition, the sensitivity of the results to different choice-set definitions is analyzed. In particular, models that use conventional choice-set definitions that are based only on nominal status are compared with models that attempt to classify facilities into relatively homogeneous groups based on price and quality. The estimation results, which correct for the two-stage design of the household survey, indicate that facility crowding and practitioner training are significant determinants of consumer choice. The results also indicate that individual characteristics such as education of the woman interact in important ways with quality in influencing choice. For example, the availability of drugs is a significant determinant of facility choice for women with high levels of education, but not for others. In addition, the results support the hypothesis that price is a significant determinant for poor households, but not for other households. The model is used to conduct policy simulations designed to be informative to public officials interested in the effect of cost recovery schemes on utilization patterns. The simulations indicate that, when public facilities simultaneously increase user fees and the aspects of quality over which policy makers can exercise control in the short-run, the mean probability of using public facilities increases for both poor and non-poor households.
Changes in total fatty acids and individual lipid classes on prolonged storage of wheat flour

Three flours have been monitored for changes in their lipid component during 5 years storage. Changes in total (non-starch) lipid, total fatty acid and of 14 lipid classes are reported. A small but significant loss of polyenoic acid was found which appeared to be related to the rate of lipolysis in the flours. The results are discussed in terms of the changing baking quality of these flours determined by the Flour Milling and Baking Research Association (FMBRA).
Terahertz spectroscopy of three-dimensional photonic band-gap crystals

We have fabricated and built three-dimensional photonic band-gap crystals with band-gap frequencies larger than 500 GHz. We built the crystals by stacking micromachined (110) silicon wafers. The transmission and dispersion characteristics of the structures were measured by an all-electronic terahertz spectroscopy setup. The experimental results were in good agreement with theoretical calculations. To our knowledge, our new crystal has the highest reported photonic band-gap frequency.
Network autocorrelation: A simulation study of a foundational problem in regression and survey research

Social Networks North-Holland Publishing Company NETWORK AUTOCORRELATION: OF A FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEM SURVEY RESEARCH * Malcolm M. DOW Northwestern Unioersity A SIMULATION STUDY IN REGRESSION AND Michael L. BURTON and Douglas R. WHITE University of California, Irvine It is axiomatic to the social sciences, and an essential part of the network perspective, that human performances are intricately linked with their social and enviromental contexts. Researchers in each of the disciplines have rediscovered this in the past decade with respect to a whole host of specific problem areas, under such labels as “context effects”, “index utility”. and “systems analysis”. The earliest mention of the problem with respect to quantitative research occured, to our knowledge, in the debate between the nineteenth century cultural diffusionists and the evolutionists. The latter regarded individual socie- ties as independent instances of uniform causation, and hoped to learn about causation from correlational studies. The former regarded their observations as embedded in an interactive network of historical rela- tionships such as diffusion, migration, conquest, and competition, where the historical, evolutionary and ecological context of each society and the network of interconnectedness between societies plays a major role in multiple causation. In this view, events cannot be regarded as * This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Michael Burton and Douglas White. The two Principal Investigators made major and equal contributions to this paper. We are grateful to Linton Freeman, Patrick Doreian, and Karl Reitz for their critical comments on this paper. ** Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201, U.S.A. *** University of California, Irvine, CA 92717, U.S.A. 0 1982 North-Holland
Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Patients with Known or Suspected Stable Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of complications and death in the United States and other Western countries, and stress myocardial perfusion study is an important component of the clinical evaluation, stratification, and management. This imaging technique is a well-established modality and has been widely used for the past three decades. New quantitative techniques for the assessment of ventricular function using quantitative gated single-photon emission computed tomography in addition to myocardial perfusion will potentially enhance the role of nuclear cardiology in the management of these patients. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the diagnostic and prognostic uses of stress myocardial perfusion imaging using exercise and pharmacological stress in patients with stable coronary artery disease.
Idempotents in symmetric semigroups

Abstract We count the number of idempotent elements in a certain section of the s symmetric semigroup S n on n letters. As a corollary of our result we have that every maximal principal right ideal of S n contains ∑ i=1 n−1 i n−i−1 ( n−2 i−1 )+( n−1 i ) idempotent elements. Let T r (1 ⩽ r ⩽ n − 1) be the set of all elements of S n of rank less than or equal to r , and let D r denote the set of all elements of S n of rank r . Then T r is a semigroup generated by the idempotent elements of D r . We shall obtain a maximal mutant of T n−1 = S n D n .
Unmasking the mitochondrial KH exchanger: Tetraethylammonium-induced K+-loss

Mitochondria respiring in media containing 80 mM tetraethylammonium ions lose all of their endogenous K+ within 7 minutes. K+-loss is associated with uptake of tetraethylammonium ions. K+ efflux under these conditions is energy-dependent and electroneutral. It is concluded that tetraethylammonium uptake unmasks the endogenous KH exchanger. Considered in relation to the chemiosmotic theory, these results support the existence of a “carrier-brake” mechanism which modulates KH exchange to maintain volume homeostasis in vivo.
Fashion at the museum: successful experiences with student curators

Abstract This paper describes the development of two fashion-centered exhibitions organized by non-museum studies college students in collaboration with a university museum and a community arts center and historic house. The work was the result of a new course, ‘Museum Issues in Historic Clothing and Textiles,’ offered in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors at the University of Georgia. The department holds a large historic clothing and textiles collection, but has limited exhibition space. This paper describes the steps involved in the collaborative project, the active learning process in the classroom, the exact nature and process of the collaboration, and provides information on the final product – the two exhibitions created by the class. The paper aims to encourage similar collaborations between museum and fashion design, or fashion merchandizing programs housing historic clothing and textiles collections.
Recent changes in superfund policy and guidance: Alternative technology

Engineering practices applicable to Superfund sites, as viewed in the context of the institutional policies that guide them are discussed below. Past practice has relied heavily on land disposal of wastes removed from uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The requirements of the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act however, have caused land disposal to be the option of last choice. Indeed, the HWSA's general policy directives have established the overall environmental goal of drastically reducing dependence on land disposal for all forms of hazardous waste. As a result, a new set of waste treatment/disposal priorities has been implemented for Superfund site Remedial Actions. The first priority is reuse or recycling of waste, the second is waste destruction, and the third is waste immobilization. The paper outlines the steps for selecting waste treatment processes for Superfund sites and distinguishes between in situ and mobile technologies.
Convergent expansions and bounded operators in the umbral calculus

On etudie des proprietes analytiques de certaines suites de fonctions speciales appelees suites de Sheffer
Prostate-specific antigen in prostate cancer: A case study in the development of a tumor marker to monitor recurrence and assess response

Abstract The serum marker known as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has established itself as the most important tool for the early detection of prostate cancer. However, more recent data indicate that (post-treatment) PSA and PSA kinetics can be used to predict the outcome of a variety of therapeutic interventions including radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, androgen deprivation, and treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer. PSA recurrence after radiation therapy is now accepted as a harbinger of developing metastatic disease. The American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) consensus definition is the most widely accepted definition of failure after radiation therapy. Rather than using a specific PSA cutoff, three consecutive PSA rises was felt to be a more reliable indicator of biochemical failure. The PSA nadir (the lowest PSA level achieved after therapeutic intervention) also appears to correlate with the likelihood of remaining disease-free. Similarly, a rapid doubling time is a significant predictor of developing distant metastases. The most appropriate definition for biochemical (PSA) failure following radical prostatectomy is usually considered to be a non-zero value. As is the case after radiotherapy, there appears to be a relationship between the rate of rise of the PSA and the risk of distant failure following radical prostatectomy. In patients with metastatic disease, multiple studies appear to indicate that a fall in PSA, however measured, appears to be predictive of improved outcome in prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation. Multiple reports of trials in the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) appear to substantiate the observation that patients who have a greater than 50% decline in PSA have an improved survival. Correlation of PSA declines with other markers of clinical benefit, including clinically significant “subjective” end points such as pain control, have strengthened the argument that a PSA decline can serve as an intermediate endpoint in clinical trials involving HRPC patients. Semin Oncol 29:264-273. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Signalling and Adaptive Learning in an Entry Limit Pricing Game

In an experimental investigation of Milgrom and Roberts' (1992) model, play consistently converges to a unique equilibrium, providing evidence of sophisticated strategic behavior that the theory predicts. Play starts with monopolists at their myopic maxima, followed by an attempt to pool, and then (if no pooling equilibrium exists) separation, suggesting myopia rather than a forward-looking process. When both pure-strategy equilibria and separating equilibria exist, equilibrium selection is a function of the past history of play. An adaptive learning model characterizes the major features of the data and provides predictions of intermediate-term behavior that is otherwise lacking in the theory.
Electron Spin Resonance on Carbon Nanotubes-Polymer Composites

Electron spin resonance investigations on styrene-polyisoprene-polystyr- ene block copolymer loaded with various amounts of multiwalled carbon nanotubes are reported. The temperature dependence of resonance line parameters in the range 290-425 K was analyzed. It was proved that the main resonance line represents a bottleneck of localized and delocalized electrons residing on carbon nanotubes. The temperature dependence of the g-factor and double integral of resonance spectra con- firmed this interpretation. The temperature dependence of the resonance linewidth of composites containing various concentrations of nanotubes was explained by the ther-
Thermodynamic study of (anthracene + benzo[a]pyrene) solid mixtures

Abstract To characterize better the thermodynamic behavior of a binary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixture, thermochemical and vapor pressure experiments were used to examine the phase behavior of the {anthracene (1) + benzo[a]pyrene (2)} system. A solid–liquid phase diagram was mapped for the mixture. A eutectic point occurs at x1 = 0.26. The eutectic mixture is an amorphous solid that lacks organized crystal structure and melts between T = (414 and 420) K. For mixtures that contain 0.10
An Improved Cryopreservation Method for a Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Line

Embryonic stem (ES) cell lines including the C57BL/6 genetic background are central to projects such as the Knock-Out Mouse Project, North American Conditional Mouse Mutagenesis Program, and European Conditional Mouse Mutagenesis Program, which seek to create thousands of mutant mouse strains using ES cells for the production of human disease models in biomedical research. Crucial to the success of these programs is the ability to efficiently cryopreserve these mutant cell lines for storage and transport. Although the ability to successfully cryopreserve mouse ES cells is often assumed to be adequate, the percent post-thaw recovery of viable cells varies greatly among genetic backgrounds and individual cell lines within a genetic background. Therefore, there is a need to improve the efficiency and reduce the variability of current mouse ES cell cryopreservation methods. To address this need, we employed the principles of fundamental cryobiology to improve the cryopreservation protocol of a C57BL/6 mouse ES cell line by characterizing the membrane permeability characteristics and osmotic tolerance limits. These values were used to predict optimal cooling rates, warming rates, and type of cryoprotectant, which were then verified experimentally. The resulting protocol, generated through this hypothesis-driven approach, resulted in a 2-fold increase in percent post-thaw recovery of membrane-intact ES cells as compared to the standard freezing protocol, as measured by propidium iodide exclusion. Additionally, our fundamental cryobiological approach to improving cryopreservation protocols provides a model system by which additional cryopreservation protocols may be improved in future research for both mouse and human ES cell lines.
Effects of specific emotions on subjective judgment, driving performance, and perceived workload

The aim of this paper was to explore effects of specific emotions on subjective judgment, driving performance, and perceived workload. The traditional driving behavior research has focused on cognitive aspects such as attention, judgment, and decision making. Psychological findings have indicated that affective states also play a critical role in a user's rational, functional, and intelligent behaviors. Most applied emotion research has concentrated on simple valence and arousal dimensions. However, recent findings have indicated that different emotions may have different impacts, even though they belong to the same valence or arousal. To identify more specific affective effects, seventy undergraduate participants drove in a vehicle simulator under three different road conditions, with one of the following induced affective states: anger, fear, happiness, or neutral. We measured their subjective judgment of driving confidence, risk perception, and safety level after affect induction; four types of driving errors: Lane Keeping, Traffic Rules, Aggressive Driving, and Collision while driving; and the electronic NASA-TLX after driving. Induced anger clearly showed negative effects on subjective safety level and led to degraded driving performance compared to neutral and fear. Happiness also showed degraded driving performance compared to neutral and fear. Fear did not have any significant effect on subjective judgment, driving performance, or perceived workload. RESULTS suggest that we may need to take emotions and affect into account to construct a naturalistic and generic driving behavior model. To this end, a specific-affect approach is needed, beyond the sheer valence and arousal dimensions. Given that workload results are similar across affective states, examining affective effects may also require a different approach than just the perceived workload framework. The present work is expected to guide emotion detection research and help develop an emotion regulation model and adaptive interfaces for drivers.
Comparative studies of predation among feral, commercially-purchased, and laboratory-reared predators

The predatory activities of commercially-purchased adult Hippodamia convergens Guerin-Meneville and two laboratory-reared strains of adult Geocoris punctipes (Say) were compared with their feral counterparts. In single prey choice feeding tests, commercially-purchased and feral H. convergens were provided copious amounts of silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring adults or eggs of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders). Commercially-purchased H. convergens devoured more pink bollworm eggs and at a faster rate than the feral H. convergens. In contrast, feral H. convergens consumed more adult whiteflies and at a faster rate than commercial H. convergens. In multiple feeding choice tests, two distinctly different laboratory-reared strains and feral G. punctipes were provided a cotton leaf disk containing copious amounts of silverleaf whitefly eggs, nymphs, and adults. Virtually no predation was observed on whitefly eggs, but both laboratory strains of G. punctipes fed on more whitefly nymphs and adults than the feral G. punctipes. Moreover, both of the laboratory strains had a significantly faster feeding rate on adult whiteflies and spent significantly less time feeding on plant tissue than the feral strain. These results suggest that the augmentative biological control candidates retained their ability to prey on these selected prey items, even after being displaced from their overwintering site (H. convergens) or being reared in captivity (G. punctipes) for over 40 generations.
Comprehension and Imitation of Syntax Following Early Hemisphere Damage

Twenty-five children with early left (LL = 16) or right (RL = 9) hemisphere damage and 25 age-matched controls were tested on their comprehension and imitation of complex coordinate, passive, and relative clause structures using a matched experimental design. The predominant deficit exhibited by left-injured children was one of significantly impaired imitation coupled with relatively preserved comprehension. For RL subjects the deficit was less pronounced in either comprehension or imitation. Manipulation of surface and configurational features of sentence structure revealed task differences in the pattern of correct performance; however, error strategies observed across the two methodologies were shown to converge in a number of critical ways, as well as to replicate those previously obtained with adult aphasics. The results are interpreted as consistent with an early and continuous left hemisphere specialization for expressive syntax.
The detection, significance, and rationale for control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract MRSA is gaining a foothold in almost every health care facility in the U.S. It presents us with a formidable opponent, but it should and can be controlled if vigorous control measures are initiated promptly when the organism is detected.
Mathematical Modeling of Pulsation Dampeners in Fluid Power Systems

This paper presents a new method for computer-aided modeling and analyzing of pulsation dampeners used in fluid power systems for vibration reduction. The pulsation dampeners are widely used in various fluid power systems to reduce vibration induced by power pumps. The vibration induced by power pumps in fluid systems may be severe enough to cause the damage of components in pipelines if a pulsation dampener is not installed. However, the current methods used in industries for the design and analysis of the dampeners are manually experience-orientated procedures. They are not adaptable to new technologies. The new modeling method will efficiently automate and improve the current modeling and analysis procedure of various pulsation dampeners with a minimum user effort. The proposed method is a result of utilizing the analogy between electrical circuits and hydraulic circuits. In the new method, a spherical pulsation dampener can be equivalent to a lumped hydraulic circuit installed in a distributed fluid pipeline system. The new method has been developed from the authors’ previous work of an impedance-based model in which only the effect of capacitance and inductance was considered without fluid resistance. In reality, the influence of fluid resistance is significant. This paper will take fluid resistance into considerations and form a resistance-impedance-based model.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Soil change, soil survey, and natural resources decision making: a blueprint for action

Land managers and policymakers need information about soil change caused by anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic factors to predict the effects of management on soil function, compare alternatives, and make decisions. Current knowledge of how soils change is not well synthesized and existing soil surveys include only limited information on the dynamic nature of soils. Providing information about causes and attributes of soil change and the effects of soil change on soil function over the human time scale (centuries, decades, or less) should be a primary objective of 21st century soil survey. Soil change is temporal variation in soil across various time scales at a specific location. Attributes of change include state variables (dynamic soil properties), reversibility, drivers, trends, rates, and pathways and functional interpretations include resistance, resilience, and early warning indicators. Iterative elements of the blueprint for action described in this article are: (i) identify user needs; (ii) conduct interdisciplinary research and long-term studies; (iii) develop an organizing framework that relates data, processes, and soil function; (iv) select and prioritize soil change data and information requirements; (v) develop procedures for data collection and interpretation; and (vi) design an integrated soil-ecosystem-management information system. Selection of dynamic soil properties, soil change attributes, and functional interpretations to be included in future soil surveys should be based on analyses comparing the benefits of meeting user needs to the costs of data acquisition and delivery. Implementation of the blueprint requires increased collaboration among National Cooperative Soil Survey partners and other research disciplines.
Management update of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis and the use of cefdinir.

The pathogenesis, bacteriology, diagnosis, and antimicrobial treatment of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS) is reviewed. Most cases of ABRS arise as complications of the rhinosinusitis of colds and other acute viral respiratory infections. Nose blowing during colds may be a risk factor for ABRS by propelling bacteria-laden nasal fluid into the sinus cavity. The bacterial causes of ABRS continue to be S pneumoniae. H influenzae, other streptococcal species, M catarrhalis, anaerobes, and S aureus. Clinical diagnosis of ABRS is based on obtaining a history of a cold or influenza-like illness that is no better or worse after ≥7 days. A 10-day course of treatment with an antimicrobial effective against resistant S pneumoniae and H influenzae is recommended. A clinical trial was reviewed in which cefdinir was effective in treating ABRS. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2002;127:S24-S29.)
Optical localization: using fixed point placement to simplify the invariant measure

Optical localization in one-dimensional very long disordered photonic bandgap structures is characterized by the upper Lyapunov exponent of the infinite random matrix product model. This upper (and positive) Lyapunov exponent, or localization factor (inverse localization length), is, at least theoretically, calculable from Furstenberg's formula. This formula not only requires the probability density function for the random variables of the random transfer matrix, but also requires the invariant probability measure of the direction of the vector propagated by the long chain of random matrices. This invariant measure is generally only calculable numerically, and when the transfer matrices are in the usual real basis, or even a plane wave basis, the invariant measure takes no consistent form. However, by using a similarity transformation which moves the fixed points of the bilinear transformation corresponding to the long random matrix product, we can put the random matrix product in the so-called real hyperbolic-canonical basis. The aim of this change of basis is to place the attracting fixed point at the origin and the repelling fixed point at infinity. The invariant measure, as a result, is dramatically simplified, approaching a probability mass function with mass concentrated around the angle zero.
Identification of a 97-kDa heat shock protein from S. franciscanus ovaries with 94% amino acid identity to the S. purpuratus egg surface receptor for sperm.

Abstract To identify species-specific regions of the sea urchin egg surface receptor for sperm, we cloned and sequenced the cDNA fromS. franciscanus(Sf) ovary mRNA that is homologous to theS. purpuratus(Sp) sperm receptor sequence. The Sf cDNA contains an 886-amino-acid open reading frame (ORF) that is 96% identical at the nucleotide level to the Sp sperm receptor sequence over 2.9 kb. In contrast to the published Sp sequence, the Sf sequence does not encode a signal peptide or transmembrane domain. However, like the Sp sperm receptor sequence, the Sf protein has substantial similarity to the 70-kDa heat shock family of proteins and appears to encode a member of a newly identified subfamily of hsp70-related proteins designated hsp110/SSE. A BLAST search using the 5′ end of the published Sp cDNA sequence as a query indicates that a segment of approximately 400 bp, which encodes the putative signal sequence, is 95% identical to Sp mitochondrial DNA. Resequencing of the Sp cDNA clone failed to confirm the presence of the published transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. These results suggest that the published sequence of the Sp egg receptor for sperm may contain errors in the critical regions that were believed to encode an amino-terminal signal sequence, transmembrane domain, and cytoplasmic tail and that the protein products encoded by these cDNAs are highly related to mammalian cytoplasmic hsp110s.
The effect of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I on glucose transport in normal and small for gestational age fetal rats

In a model of asymmetric small for gestational age (SGA) fetal growth retardation, we have previously found that glucose transport is decreased in lung (an organ whose growth is restricted) and unaffected in brain (growth is normal). The SGA model alters a number of physiological and metabolic factors that may decrease glucose transport, thereby causing growth retardation. Specifically, insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations are diminished in SGA fetuses. We hypothesized that the specific modulation by these factors of gene expression of a glucose transporter, Glut-1, is impaired. We performed bilateral uterine arterial ligation in pregnant rats on day 19 of gestation (term = 21.5 days) and obtained fetal brain, lung, and skeletal muscle on day 20. Lung and muscle explants and monolayers of glial cells and type II pneumocytes were cultured in the presence or absence of insulin or IGF-I for 24 h. Glucose uptake and levels of Glut-1 protein and mRNA were similar in brains of SGA and...
A study of the rat ventral prostate gland in tissue culture.

It has long been known that the ventral prostate of male rats castrated soon after birth continues to grow and differentiate, and ultimately reaches, for a limited time, a histological condition that is similar to that of a gland in a normal male (Price, 1936). This development includes the enlargement of the acini, the formation of lumina in the acini and the development of the cellular light areas which are typical of cells in the functioning gland. The growth and development of the prostate in the castrated male have been attributed to the stimulation of the gland by adrenal androgen (Howard, 1937, 1938) and experimental evidence supports this contention (Burrill and Greene, 1939,1940). An analysis of the problem by means of prostate transplants indicated that the gland does not self differentiate (Price, 1941).
Time Course for the Modulation of Hepatic Cytochrome P450 after Administration of Ethylbenzene and Its Correlation with Toluene Metabolism

The goal of the present study was to examine the time course for changes in P450 expression and hydrocarbon metabolism after acute treatment with the simple aromatic hydrocarbon ethylbenzene (EB) and to correlate these alterations with the changes observed in alkylbenzene metabolism. Male Holtzman rats were treated with a single intraperitoneal injection of EB, and the effects on specific P450-dependent activities, immunoreactive P450 isozyme levels, and RNA levels were measured at various times after injection. Toluene was used as the test alkylbenzene for examination of the EB-mediated changes on in vitro hydrocarbon metabolism. In untreated rats, toluene was metabolized almost entirely by aliphatic hydroxylation (to benzyl alcohol); however, in EB-treated rats, significant quantities of benzyl alcohol, o-cresol, and p-cresol were produced. Interestingly, 5-10 h after EB treatment, there was a 40% decrease in benzyl alcohol production. By 24 h, rates of benzyl alcohol formation returned to control levels, whereas there was a 7-fold increase in o-cresol and a greater that 50-fold increase in p-cresol production. The changes in the disposition of toluene were then correlated with changes in particular P450 isozymes. Several P450 isozymes were induced after EB administration. P450 2B1/2-dependent testosterone 16 beta-hydroxylation and P450 2B1/2-immunoreactive protein were elevated 30-fold after EB administration, reaching maxima by 24 h and remaining elevated 48 h after exposure. Changes in P450 2B1 and 2B2 RNA preceded those of the proteins. Similar results were observed with P450 1A1. P450 2E1 RNA levels were elevated after a single EB injection. However, the elevation in P450 2E1-dependent activities and immunoreactive protein levels preceded the changes in RNA, suggesting that multiple steps are affected by EB exposure. In contrast to the increases in some isozymes, P450 2C11 protein was rapidly suppressed (within the first 2-10 h) after hydrocarbon exposure, suggestive of a destabilization of the protein. When comparing the changes in P450 isozymes to alterations in toluene metabolism, the immediate suppression in aliphatic hydroxylation of toluene (in the first 5-10 h) was consistent with the decrease in P450 2C11. Subsequent to this effect, P450 2B1/2 and 2E1 were induced, which elevated production of this metabolite to control levels. The increase in the aromatic hydroxylation of toluene to both o, and p-cresol was consistent with the induction of P450s 2B1/2, 2E1, and 1A1.
New roles for PPARs in cholesterol homeostasis.

Abstract Members of the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) subfamily of nuclear hormone receptors regulate lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in response to the binding of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their metabolites. Several recent studies have revealed an unexpected role of PPARs in the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis in macrophages. These findings could account for some of the antiatherogenic effects of PPAR-γ agonists observed in animal models and have implications for novel approaches to the prevention of atherosclerosis in humans.
Interaction of calmodulin and glycogen phosphorylase

We have demonstrated the interaction of 125I-labeled calmodulin with glycogen phosphorylase by four techniques: polyacrylamide gel overlay, sucrose density centrifugation, gel filtration chromatography, and affinity chromatography. Phosphorylase b has more affinity for calmodulin than does phosphorylase a. Under all conditions tested, the presence of calmodulin affects neither the enzymatic activity nor any kinetic characteristics of phosphorylase a or b. We present these results as evidence that while binding between calmodulin and phosphorylase clearly exists, it may not have a physiological role.
RacA, a Bacterial Protein That Anchors Chromosomes to the Cell Poles

Eukaryotic chromosomes are anchored to a spindle apparatus during mitosis, but no such structure is known during chromosome segregation in bacteria. When sister chromosomes are segregated during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, the replication origin regions migrate to opposite poles of the cell. If and how origin regions are fastened at the poles has not been determined. Here we describe a developmental protein, RacA, that acts as a bridge between the origin region and the cell poles. We propose that RacA assembles into an adhesive patch at a centromere-like element near the origin, causing chromosomes to stick at the poles.