cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Validation of LensHooke® X1 PRO and Computer-Assisted Semen Analyzer Compared with Laboratory-Based Manual Semen Analysis.

PURPOSE: To compare two automated semen quality analysis systems (LensHooke® X1 PRO [X1 PRO]) and IVOS CASA) for accuracy, precision and agreement with laboratory-based manual semen analysis (MSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semen samples (n=31) were obtained from normozoospermic healthy male volunteers and infertile men with a minimum abstinence period between 2-3 days. After complete liquefaction, 101 seminal aliquots were prepared and tested according to WHO 5th Edition (2010) guidelines. The results obtained by X1 PRO and IVOS CASA were compared with that of MSA. Additionally, 10 samples were used to evaluate the intra- and inter-rater agreement for X1 PRO and MSA. RESULTS: The semen parameters (sperm concentration, total, and progressive motility) showed strong correlation and agreement for both automated semen analyzers and MSA (Spearman's rank correlation ≥0.92, p 0.91) and intra-rater (kappa >0.92) agreement for X1 PRO compared with MSA. CONCLUSIONS: Both automated semen analyzers demonstrated a high level of concordance and their performance was comparable with MSA analysis. Furthermore, high-levels of inter-and intra-rater reliability for semen analysis indicate that the new X1 PRO can be used in a clinical laboratory to offer accurate and quick test results.
Association of inflammatory disease and long-term outcomes among young adults with myocardial infarction: the Mass General Brigham YOUNG-MI Registry.

Aims Autoimmune systemic inflammatory diseases (SIDs) are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease, particularly myocardial infarction (MI). However, there are limited data on the prevalence and effects of SID among adults who experience an MI at a young age. We sought to determine the prevalence and prognostic implications of SID among adults who experienced an MI at a young age. Methods and results The YOUNG-MI registry is a retrospective cohort study from two large academic centres, which includes patients who experienced a first MI at 50 years of age or younger. SID was ascertained through physician review of the electronic medical record (EMR). Incidence of death was ascertained through the EMR and national databases. The cohort consisted of 2097 individuals, with 53 (2.5%) possessing a diagnosis of SID. Patients with SID were more likely to be female (36% vs. 19%, P = 0.004) and have hypertension (62% vs. 46%, P = 0.025). Over a median follow-up of 11.2 years, patients with SID experienced an higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with either the full cohort of non-SID patients [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.07-3.57), P = 0.030], or a matched cohort based on age, gender, and CV risk factors [HR = 2.68, 95% CI (1.18-6.07), P = 0.018]. Conclusions Among patients who experienced a first MI at a young age, 2.5% had evidence of SID, and these individuals had higher rates of long-term all-cause mortality. Our findings suggest that the presence of SID is associated with worse long-term survival after premature MI.
Shared pretenses for collective inaction: the economic growth imperative, COVID-19, and climate change

This paper examines how the economic growth imperative not only drives climate change and created the conditions for the development and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic but is also the context for ...
CHAPTER III – Projective and Direct Limits

In this chapter some abstract and topological extensions of Kolmogorov's existence theorem as projective limits of probability spaces are presented. This treatment also includes Prokhorov's theorem. In the abstract case, direct limits intervene, and a relevant part of the latter theory and a related projective limit characterization are presented. A brief account of these limits with conditional probabilities and vector measures is also discussed. Applications to entropy and information theory with extended sketches are included as complements and problems.
Flow Through Porous Media and Fluid-Particle Hydrodynamics

Two important factors affecting the economics of water filtration are effectiveness of particle removal and hydrodynamic resistance to flow. These factors are in turn closely associated with the mechanics of pore flow. Particle removal is in large part governed by the interaction of various physical and chemical forces, such as Brownian motion, gravity settling and colloid chemical attraction and repulsion, with hydrodynamic forces in the heighborhood of the collecting surfaces. The hydrodynamic resistance of deep filter beds results from the integrated action of hydrodynamic stresses on the stationary bed matrix. In fact, much about both aspects of deep bed filtration can be understood using theoretical models which focus on the detailed flow of water-borne particles around a single characteristic bed grain.
Optic Nerve: Optical Coherence Tomography

The Stratus OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) is the predominant time-domain OCT in clinical use at the time of this writing. A variety of scan patterns (radial or circular) can be acquired with this device to image the area of interest. The “Fast Optic Disc” pattern is used to analyze the optic nerve head. The “Fast Optic Disc” pattern consists of six evenly spaced radial lines centered on the ONH (see Fig. 5.4a). Each of the six lines is made of 128 A-scans (vertically scanned sampling points), crossing an area of 4.0 mm in length, and the total scan time is 1.92 s.
Bioremediation Potential of Terrestrial Fuel Spills

A bioremediation treatment that consisted of liming, fertilization, and tilling was evaluated on the laboratory scale for its effectiveness in cleaning up a sand, a loam, and a clay loam contaminated at 50 to 135 mg g of soil−1 by gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, diesel oil, or bunker C. Experimental variables included incubation temperatures of 17, 27, and 37°C; no treatment; bioremediation treatment; and poisoned evaporation controls. Hydrocarbon residues were determined by quantitative gas chromatography or, in the case of bunker C, by residual weight determination. Four-point depletion curves were obtained for the described experimental variables. In all cases, the disappearance of hydrocarbons was maximal at 27°C and in response to bioremediation treatment. Poisoned evaporation controls underestimated the true biodegradation contribution, but nevertheless, they showed that biodegradation makes only a modest contribution to gasoline disappearance from soil. Bunker C was found to be structurally recalcitrant, with close to 80% persisting after 1 year of incubation. The three medium distillates, jet fuel, heating oil, and diesel oil, increased in persistence in the listed order but responded well to bioremediation treatment under all test conditions. With bioremediation treatment, it should be possible to reduce hydrocarbons to insignificant levels in contaminated soils within one growing season.
Analysis of Ultra-wideband Impulse Radio Over Multimode Fiber Ranging System

Ultra-wideband impulse radio (UWB-IR)-based systems are well known for their inherent capability to provide accurate ranging [1–3]. Remote positioning of such systems using Radio over MultiMode Fiber (RoMMF) technology is advantageous, for it provides a cost-effective way of system deployment by the consolidation of head-end equipment. In this chapter, we describe the details of a system model for evaluating the performance of a ranging system employing UWB-IR over multimode fiber. As the system uses low data rate digital communication to obtain range information, its quality can be studied using Bit Error Ratio (BER). This model combines wireless and radio over fiber sections of the system to predict system performance in terms of BER.
PLANT MACROFOSSIL METHODS AND STUDIES | Surface Samples, Taphonomy, Representation

Plant macrofossils preserved in lake sediments may be used to reconstruct past vegetational communities of the lake and surrounding uplands. However, the relationships between vegetation and macrofossils are complex. Deposition of individual macrofossil taxa is affected by such factors as annual production of the macrofossil, annual loss of the macrofossil, dispersal distance from source plants, basin characteristics, and sample location within the lake. Study of plant macrofossils in surface sediment samples, and comparison with vegetation surveys, provide the data necessary to make qualitative, if not quantitative, estimates of past vegetational community composition based on macrofossils. Such studies are the only means of discovering biases within macrofossil assemblages that result from taphonomic processes and individual species characteristics.
Learning for semantic parsing and natural language generation using statistical machine translation techniques

One of the main goals of natural language processing (NLP) is to build automated systems that can understand and generate human lanugages. This goal has so far remained elusive. Existing hand-crafted systems can provide in-depth analysis of domain sub-languages, but are often notoriously fragile and costly to build. Existing machine-learned systems are considerably more robust, but are limited to relatively shallow NLP tasks. In this thesis, we present novel statistical methods for robust natural language understanding and generation. We focus on two important sub-tasks, semantic parsing and tactical generation. The key idea is that both tasks can be treated as the translation between natural languages and formal meaning representation languages, and therefore, can be performed using state-of-the-art statistical machine translation techniques. Specifically, we use a technique called synchronous parsing, which has been extensively used in syntax-based machine translation, as the unifying framework for semantic parsing and tactical generation. The parsing and generation algorithms learn all of their linguistic knowledge from annotated corpora, and can handle natural-language sentences that are conceptually complex. A nice feature of our algorithms is that the semantic parsers and tactical generators share the same learned synchronous grammars. Moreover, charts are used as the unifying language-processing architecture for efficient parsing and generation. Therefore, the generators are said to be the inverse of the parsers, an elegant property that has been widely advocated. Furthermore, we show that our parsers and generators can handle formal meaning representation languages containing logical variables, including predicate logic. Our basic semantic parsing algorithm is called WASP. Most of the other parsing and generation algorithms presented in this thesis are extensions of WASP or its inverse. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our parsing and generation algorithms by performing experiments in two real-world, restricted domains. Experimental results show that our algorithms are more robust and accurate than the currently best systems that require similar supervision. Our work is also the first attempt to use the same automatically-learned grammar for both parsing and generation. Unlike previous systems that require manually-constructed grammars and lexicons, our systems require much less knowledge engineering and can be easily ported to other languages and domains.
Title Keyword Selection and Use for Optimum Document Retrieval

Abstract Well-chosen keywords in titles are significant in enabling optimal document retrieval. Title keyword searches employing the natural language of the researcher augment controlled vocabulary searches. Authors and researchers interested in a particular topic share a vocabulary that contains keywords useful in database searching. It is important for authors to incorporate such keywords in their titles. Both author and researcher will benefit if titles facilitate electronic access. Librarians can assist in educating authors on the benefits of using distinctive and selective keywords in titles by making guidelines available.
Bovine-Associated Mucoprotein: I. Distribution Among Adult and Fetal Bovine Tissues and Body Fluids

Bovine-associated mucoprotein (BAMP), solubilized with water from the delipidated membranes of bovine milk fat globules, is not restricted to fat globules or to the alveolar epithelial cells from which they are formed. BAMP also has a widespread distribution on other bovine glandular epithelial cells and on undifferentiated cells in lymphoid germinal centers and in several fetal tissues. Free BAMP is present in bovine colostrum, milk, other secretory fluids, and in fetal serum but is absent from adult and colostrum-deprived calf sera. In bronchoalveolar fluids, BAMP is preferentially found in the mucusrich fraction. BAMP is antigenically distinct from all adult serum proteins, free secretory component, β2-microglobulin, lactoferrin, α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, and five different caseins. BAMP as a free protein constitutes one-sixth of the total amount of BAMP present in milk. The BAMP-related component of fetal serum lacks antigenic determinants present on the BAMP of milk as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and partial blocking of immunofluorescence. The fetal component is not fetuin or α1-fetoprotein. These data suggest that BAMP may be useful in studies of the membranes of proliferating or differentiating epithelial cells.
American environmental fiction: 1782–1847

This useful study is framed by what its author deems an important turning point in green American letters, a transition from environmental fiction to nonfiction nature writing as the dominant mode....
Perioperative management of antiplatelet therapy

Worldwide, cardiovascular events represent the major cause of morbidity and mortality. A key role in the pathogenesis of these events is played by platelets. Interventional procedures, with placement of coronary and vascular stents, often represent the preferred therapeutic strategy. Antiplatelet medications are considered first-line therapy in preventing cardiovascular thrombotic events. A wide array of antiplatelet agents is available, each with different pharmacological properties. When patients on antiplatelet agents present for surgery, the perioperative team must design an optimal strategy to manage antiplatelet medications. Each patient is stratified according to risk of developing a cardiovascular thrombotic event and inherent risk of surgical bleeding. After risk stratification analysis, various therapeutic pathways include continuing or discontinuing all antiplatelet agents or maintaining one antiplatelet agent and discontinuing the other. This review focuses on the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties of both older and novel antiplatelet drugs, and reviews current literature and guidelines addressing options for perioperative antiplatelet management.
Proteolytic cleavage during chemotherapy-induced apoptosis

Treatment with anticancer drugs sets into motion a morphologically and biochemically distinct type of cell death called apoptosis. Recent genetic and biochemical studies have suggested that proteases play a prominent role in the active phase of apoptotic cell death. Ongoing studies are aimed at identifying the proteases involved, the substrates that are cleaved, and the means by which the proteolytic process is regulated in nonapoptotic and apoptotic cells. The possibility that these findings will suggest new approaches to treating cancer and other diseases is discussed.
Systemic arterial embolism in patients with mitral stenosis and minimal dyspnea

Fourteen patients with mitral stenosis and systemic emboli, but with little or no dyspnea, are reported. At surgery all were found to have significant mitral obstruction, and 11 had valve areas estimated to be less than 1 cm.2. One patient died following surgery. Of the 13 survivors, none has had recurrent emboli during an average follow-up period of 43 months. Four of 6 with preoperative dyspnea have noted relief of this symptom. Although the mode of clinical presentation may differ, the natural history of the syndrome appears to be similar to that of classic mitral stenosis. Reasons for the lack of dyspnea are not clear. Consideration is given to failure of patients to interpret symptoms properly and to the effect of low cardiac output on atrial pressure, dyspnea and embolism. Emphasis has been placed on the severity of disability following systemic embolism, the tendency to recurrence, and the dividends expected from early surgery.
Covalent Virus Layer for Mass-Based Biosensing

M13 virus particles were covalently attached to a planar gold-coated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) through reaction with a self-assembled monolayer of N-hydroxysuccinimide thioctic ester, followed by incorporation of the blocking agent bovine serum albumin. This immobilization chemistry produced a phage multilayer having a coverage equivalent to ≈6.5 close-packed monolayers of the virus. The properties of this “covalent virus surface” or CVS for the mass-based detection of a 148.2 kDa antibody were then evaluated in a phosphate buffer using a flow injection analysis system. The mass of the CVS increased with exposure to an antibody (p-Ab) known to bind the phage particles with high affinity. Bound p-Ab was removed by washing with 0.5 M HCl thereby regenerating the sensor surface. A calibration plot for p-Ab binding was constructed by repetitively exposing the surface to p-Ab at concentrations between 6.6 and 200 nM and HCl rinsing after each exposure. The mass−concentration relationship was linear wit...
Mechanisms of oral sensation

Sensory nerves that supply mechanoreceptors in the mucosal lining of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx provide the substrate for a variety of sensations. They are essential for the perception of complex or composite sensory experiences including oral kinesthesia and oral stereognosis. Relevant to the concerns of the oral health care delivery specialist they also contribute to initiation of reflexes and coordination and timing of patterned motor behaviors. The response of oral mechanoreceptors to natural stimuli is determined to a large degree by morphological factors such as the nature of the relationship between nerve ending and certain cellular specializations, their distribution in the mucosa, the diameter of their primary afferent nerve fibers, and the central distribution of these fibers in the brainstem. Because of morphological similarities to certain cutaneous mechanoreceptors, the mucosal lining may be considered as an internal continuation of the large “receptor sheet” for localization and detection of mechanical stimuli. In some regions of the oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal mucosa, this analogy is appropriate whereas in others, existing data suggest a different role consistent with regionally specific demands (i.e., initiation of protective reflexes).
Economic Feasibility of Variable-Rate Nitrogen Application Utilizing Site-Specific Management Zones

Variable-rate technology (VRT) has been developed to variably apply crop inputs to manage in-field variability. Although growers have begun to adopt VRT, its profitability is uncertain in N management. The objective of this study was to assess the economics of uniform vs. variable-rate N fertilizer application under two N application scenarios (farmer vs. custom applications). On-farm studies were conducted on two continuous corn (Zea mays L.) fields in northeastern Colorado under furrow and center-pivot irrigation during the 2000 and 2001 growing seasons. The N management strategies were uniform, grid-based, site-specific management zone-constant yield goal (SSMZ-CYG) and site-specific management zone-variable yield goal (SSMZ-VYG). Profit and loss software was used to analyze the economics of each N management strategy and determine which N strategy was most profitable. Results from three site-years consistently indicated that less total N fertilizer (6-46%) was used with the SSMZ-VYG N management strategy when compared with uniform N management. Net returns from the SSMZ-VYG N management strategy were $18.21 to $29.57 ha -1 more than uniform N management. Results of this study suggest variable-rate N application utilizing site-specific management zones are more economically feasible than conventional uniform N application.
The Invention of Creativity: The Emergence of a Discourse

Creativity is increasingly cited as the key to social and economic change in the twenty-first century. It is also a very modern concept—making its first appearance as an English noun in 1875. This essay investigates the cultural construction of creativity in the context of the history of ideas. It understands creativity not as an innate human instinct or ability, but as an idea that emerges out of specific historical moments, shaped by the discourses of politics, science, commerce, and nation. It shifts the ground of analysis away from the naturalised models that have traditionally dominated the field of creative practice research, in order to highlight the historicity of a concept that is more commonly deemed to be without history.
An empirical study of narrative imagery in implicit and explicit contexts

This study investigates if imagery is an inherent construct to narrative by playing a role in storytelling and comprehension. Visualization activities consist of ones that depend on pictures or physical objects and those do not depend on extraneous visual artifacts. The understandings of both types of visualization will contribute to their application and integration. In light of rapid development of technology and drastic increase of multimedia representations in social communication, applying storytelling approach to system design is increasingly relevant to many researchers who are eager to bring visual thinking to the classroom, alternative to applying physical visual artifacts. In this study, we looked into the cognitive process evoked in the comprehension of narrative and its similarity to imagery as an individual cognition. We transformed a course into conversational narrative and participants were randomly assigned into three sections, two were in narrative text and one was in expository text. Sections 1 and 2 were in narrative text, but only participants from section 1 were prompt for image creation before writing essays. Section 3 was in expository text and participants were also prompt for image creation before writing essays. The independent samples t-test was used to compare the mean scores of three groups on creativity score and word total across the sections. Our study found that narrative was able to activate the imagery world of the participants without giving them further instructions explicitly suggesting so. The implicit imagery context created by reading narratives had a stronger impact on creativity than that of explicit imagery creation context that did not involve of narrative comprehension. The study suggests that narrative innately provides some sort of control to its user cognitively and can be integrated with other types of media in design.
Effect of ionic strength on electrically evoked membrane tether force: an optical tweezers study

We have investigated the effect of ionic strength on electrically evoked membrane tether force using optical tweezers. Membrane tethers from cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) and human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells exhibited mechanical response to applied voltage stimuli over a wide frequency range. The electrically evoked variations in the tether force were probed by an optically-trapped microsphere, the image of which was projected on a quadrant photodiode for dynamic measurement of its displacements. Compared to normal saline (140mM NaCl), low ionic-strength solution (10mM NaCl) blocked the electrically evoked tether force for both OHCs and HEK cells. As the Debye length for membrane bilayer was estimated to increase from approximately 0.75nm to 1.88nm, the internal repulsive pressure of the membrane tethers rose consequently, resulting in the enlargement in the equilibrium tether diameter and the decrease in the tether force.
Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in the long-term-care setting

Purpose. Pharmacologic treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who reside in long-term-care (LTC) facilities is discussed. Summary. The recognition of AD can be problematic in patients residing in LTC who do not have a preexisting diagnosis of dementia. Residents in LTC facilities generally have fewer day-to-day cognitive demands, and, thus, nursing staff or caregivers may not recognize cognitive deficits until the disease is more advanced. The current therapeutic options for the treatment of AD are the cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and the N -methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist memantine. The ChEIs rivastigmine and galantamine are currently approved for the treatment of mild-to-moderate AD, and memantine is approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD. The ChEI donepezil is presently approved for the treatment of mild, moderate, and severe AD in the United States. Two placebo-controlled trials in nursing-home patients receiving donepezil have been published. In both studies, donepezil appeared to be safe and effective for the treatment of AD in patients residing in LTC facilities. Data from an open-label study suggest that rivastigmine treatment might also provide benefits in nursing-home patients with moderate-to-severe AD. Another study demonstrated that treatment with galantamine might delay the need for transfer from an assisted-living facility to a nursing home. The effectiveness and safety of memantine have been assessed in a subgroup of patients with severe AD residing in LTC facilities. There were no major differences in safety and tolerability between the active treatment group and placebo. The relative and clinical importance of the cognitive, functional, and behavioral changes observed in LTC patients treated with ChEIs and memantine remain to be identified. Conclusion. Pharmacologic treatment should be recommended for most patients with AD who reside in LTC facilities.
Biotechnology and medicine of the future.

The practice of biology and medicine has been revolutionized during the past ten years by the advent of three biotechnologies—recombinant DNA techniques, the monoclonal antibody technology, and the development of microchemical instrumentation, machines that permit the rapid and effective synthesis and sequence analysis of proteins and genes. In this article, these powerful biotechnologies will be discussed, with particular emphasis on microchemical instrumentation, a major focus of my efforts for the past 15 years. I will also discuss two fundamental problems in modern medicine that are being explored in my laboratory using these techniques—genetic engineering of the nervous system and the mapping and sequencing of the human genome. ( JAMA 1988;259:1837-1844)
Computational design of a test article to investigate 2-D surface excrescences on a swept laminar-flow wing

The construction of a spanwise-invariant swept-wing test article designed to facilitate the inclusion of a range of two-dimensional (2-D) step and gap excrescences in flight via an internal articulation mechanism has been completed. Using a finite-element Navier-Stokes solution and a spectrally accurate boundary-layer solver, coupled with stability analyses, the model has been designed to be subcritical to all instabilities except the crossflow instability. The model can be safely flown in a flight experiment, and be mounted in the Klebanoff-Saric Wind Tunnel at Texas A&M University. The model can be tested at multiple angles of attack (pressure gradients), as well as multiple Reynolds numbers, including unit Reynolds numbers typical of transports. Stability behaviour of the test article was designed to be conducive to a thorough examination of the interaction between an inherent crossflow instability and the shear layer created by the step and gap excrescences. The computations and experiments will together provide data and correlations complementing the previous studies of 2-D excrescences on an unswept flat plate and wedges subject to favourable pressure gradients by The Northrop Grumman Corporation. The current paper focuses on the design and stability analyses of the smooth-wing test article, that is, without excrescences present, as a baseline configuration.
Visualization of Oxytocin Release that Mediates Paired Pulse Facilitation in Hypothalamic Pathways to Brainstem Autonomic Neurons

Recent work has shown that oxytocin is involved in more than lactation and uterine contraction. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) contains neuroendocrine neurons that control the release of hormones, including vasopressin and oxytocin. Other populations of PVN neurons do not release hormones, but rather project to and release neurotransmitters onto other neurons in the CNS involved in fluid retention, thermoregulation, sexual behavior and responses to stress. Activation of oxytocin receptors can be cardioprotective and reduces the adverse cardiovascular consequences of anxiety and stress, yet how oxytocin can affect heart rate and cardiac function is unknown. While anatomical work has shown the presence of peptides, including oxytocin, in the projections from the PVN to parasympathetic nuclei, electrophysiological studies to date have only demonstrated release of glutamate and activation of fast ligand gated receptors in these pathways. In this study, using rats, we directly show, using sniffer CHO cells that express oxytocin receptors and the Ca2+ indicator R-GECO, that optogenetic activation of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) expressing PVN fibers in the brainstem activates oxytocin receptors in the dorsomotor nucleus of the vagus (DMNV). We also demonstrate that while a single photoactivation of PVN terminals only activates glutamatergic receptors in brainstem cardiac vagal neurons (CVNs), neurons that dominate the neural control of heart rate, both the paired pulse facilitation, and sustained enhancement of glutamate release in this pathway is mediated by activation of oxytocin receptors. Our results provide direct evidence that a pathway from the PVN likely releases oxytocin and enhances short-term plasticity of this critical autonomic connection.
A FIELD EXPERIMENT TESTING SUPERVISORY ROLE CLARIFICATION

An intervention designed to clarify individual roles was tested experimentally on the business service division of a major university. Following a pre-test which identified role stress as a significant problem in the organization, top managers clarified their respective departmental roles in meeting organizational objectives. This was followed by a post-test (Time 2) survey of workers’stressors and symptoms. Supervisors were then trained in the method of clarifying subordinate roles using a dyadic exchange process. Workers were randomly assigned to either participate in a thorough role clarification discussion with their supervisors or join a wait-list control group. Based on a follow-up (Time 3) questionnaire, the intervention appeared to reduce role ambiguity and supervisor dissatisfaction. There were no effects on other aspects of subjective strain, physical symptoms, or time lost due to illness. Role conflict decreased in both the experimental and control groups. We discuss the implications of these findings for systemic efforts to reduce employee stress.
Experimental evaluation of a modular scintillation camera for SPECT

A modular scintillation camera has been constructed for use in a ring-type single photon tomograph for nuclear medicine. Its performance has been characterized, and experiments with coupling the x and y maximum-likelihood position estimators and varying the sampling of the scintillation light are described. Average spectral resolution in the x direction is equivalent to a 3.6-mm FWHM (full width at half-maximum) Gaussian. In the y direction the response function averages 3.6 mm FWHM. RMS (root mean square) linearity is 0.9 mm in x and 1.1 mm in y. Potential for improving resolution by increasing the sampling density in x has been demonstrated, but a two-dimensional position estimator would be required to maintain acceptable linearity. It is concluded that with the exception of reduced resolution within 6-9 mm of the edge, the camera performance is within design specifications. >
Nonenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Alcohols via Enantioselective Acylation: Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies

Because of the ubiquity of the secondary carbinol subunit, the development of new methods for its enantioselective synthesis remains an important ongoing challenge. In this report, we describe the first nonenzymatic method for the dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of secondary alcohols (specifically, aryl alkyl carbinols) through enantioselective acylation, and we substantially expand the scope of this approach, vis-a-vis enzymatic reactions. Simply combining an effective process for the kinetic resolution of alcohols with an active catalyst for the racemization of alcohols did not lead to DKR, due to the incompatibility of the ruthenium-based racemization catalyst with the acylating agent (Ac_2O) used in the kinetic resolution. A mechanistic investigation revealed that the ruthenium catalyst is deactivated through the formation of a stable ruthenium–acetate complex; this deleterious pathway was circumvented through the appropriate choice of acylating agent (an acyl carbonate). Mechanistic studies of this new process point to reversible N-acylation of the nucleophilic catalyst, acyl transfer from the catalyst to the alcohol as the rate-determining step, and carbonate anion serving as the Bronsted base in that acyl-transfer step.
Comparison of indirect radiation dose estimates with directly measured radiation dose for patients and operators during complex endovascular procedures

Background A great deal of attention has been directed at the necessity and potential for deleterious outcomes as a result of radiation exposure during diagnostic evaluations and interventional procedures. We embarked on this study in an attempt to accurately determine the amount of radiation exposure given to patients undergoing complex endovascular aortic repair. These measured doses were then correlated with radiation dose estimates provided by the imaging equipment manufacturers that are typically used for documentation and analysis of radiation-induced risk. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing endovascular thoracoabdominal aneurysm (eTAAA) repair were prospectively studied with respect to radiation dose. Indirect parameters as cumulative air kerma (CAK), kerma area product (KAP), and fluoroscopy time (FT) were recorded concurrently with direct measurements of dose (peak skin dose [PSD]) and radiation exposure patterns using radiochromatic film placed in the back of the patient during the procedure. Simultaneously, operator exposure was determined using high-sensitivity electronic dosimeters. Correlation between the indirect and direct parameters was calculated. The observed radiation exposure pattern was reproduced in phantoms with over 200 dosimeters located in mock organs, and effective dose has been calculated in an in vitro study. Scatter plots were used to evaluate the relationship between continuous variables and Pearson coefficients. Results eTAAA repair was performed in 54 patients over 5 months, of which 47 had the repair limited to the thoracoabdominal segment. Clinical follow-up was complete in 98% of the patients. No patients had evidence of radiation-induced skin injury. CAK exceeded 15 Gy in 3 patients (the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations [JCAHO] threshold for sentinel events); however, the direct measurements were well below 15 Gy in all patients. PSD was measured by quantifying the exposure of the radiochromatic film. PSD correlated weakly with FT but better with CAK and KAP ( r = 0.55, 0.80, and 0.76, respectively). The following formula provides the best estimate of actual PSD=0.677 + 0.257 CAK. The average effective dose was 119.68 mSv (for type II or III eTAAA) and 76.46 mSv (type IV eTAAA). The operator effective dose averaged 0.17 mSv/case and correlated best with the KAP ( r = 0.82, P Conclusion FT cannot be used to estimate PSD, and CAK and KAP represent poor surrogate markers for JCAHO-defined sentinel events. Even when directly measured PSDs were used, there was a poor correlation with clinical event (no skin injuries with an average PSD >2 Gy). The effective radiation dose of an eTAAA is equivalent to two preoperative computed tomography scans. The maximal operator exposure is 50 mSv/year, thus, a single operator could perform up to 294 eTAAA procedures annually before reaching the recommended maximum operator dose.
Measuring Response Empathy: The Development of a Multicomponent Rating Scale

This article describes the development of and psychometric data on a new approach to the measurement of the empathic quality of counselor behavior. The features of this approach are, first, the division of the empathy construct into a set of components tapping different aspects of empathic behavior; second, greater specification of the construct; and third, focus on the empathic qualities of individual counselor responses. An existing measure, the Lister Empathy Scale, provided the basis for the Response Empathy Rating Scale, which consists of eight components: frame, inference, accuracy, here and now, centrality, words, voice, manner, and impact. Good interrater reliability was found for the whole scale, as well as for all but two of the components. Centrality was the "core" component, and factor analysis suggested two underlying factors, Depth Expressiveness and Empathic Exploration. Evidence for validity was found in correlations with client ratings of feeling understood; however, these correlations were strongest when ratings were averaged to form larger units, such as episodes or sessions.
Retrieval of an IV Catheter Fragment From the Pulmonary Artery 11 Years After Embolization

The use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) is occasionally complicated by intravascular fracture and central embolization of the catheter fragment. We present a patient in whom a PICC fragment was retrieved from the pulmonary artery 11 years after embolization following its incidental detection. Despite a history of IV drug abuse and mitral regurgitation, this patient remained asymptomatic and without complications. The catheter fragment was retrieved since the patient was believed to be at risk for endocarditis. This may be the longest duration reported of an embolized catheter fragment that was successfully removed. As the natural history of asymptomatic-retained central venous foreign bodies remains unclear, the decision to remove them should be individualized. In selected cases, these foreign bodies may be retrieved without complications even several years after embolization.
Analysis of a coherent model for a homogeneously broadened bidirectional ring laser

Abstract A linearized stability analysis has been performed for the unidirectional steady states of a model with 15 real equations which includes the dynamics of the polarization. Stability boundaries for the subset of variables responsible for bidirectional instabilities are calculated numerically. The reduction of the stability boundary from this model to that of a model with 7 real equations (derived from the 15 equations by adiabatic elimination of the polarization) for large enough values of γ⊥ is demonstrated. Results from a numerical simulation of the 15 equations with helium-xenon parameters are compared with numerical results from simulations of several models with adiabatic elimination of the polarization for different relaxation rates. The rate of convergence of the spatial harmonic series of the population inversion and thereby the validity of the truncation of the series is found to depend on the ratio of γ ∥ / κ and on the regularity of dynamical pulsations.
Pediatric kidney transplantation literature review 2006

Abstract: This article continues a series of organ-based reviews in this journal of published recent literature for the benefit of the clinician. The author has compiled and commented upon 25 important articles related to pediatric kidney transplantation that were published in major peer-reviewed journals during the calendar year 2006. This review is meant to be comprehensive but not exhaustive.
Estradiol reverses renal injury in Alb/TGF-β1 transgenic mice

Estradiol reverses renal injury in Alb/TGF-β1 transgenic mice. Background Men with chronic renal disease progress more rapidly to renal failure than do women. Tranforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays a central role in promoting progressive renal injury, in part due to transcriptional effects mediated by cooperation between Smad proteins and the transcription factor Sp1. Estrogen negatively regulates Sp1 activity and reverses the stimulatory effects of TGF-β on type IV collagen synthesis and cellular apoptosis in cultured mesangial cells. We hypothesized that the ability of estradiol to reverse the effects of TGF-β underlies gender dimorphism in the progression of chronic renal disease. Methods We studied Alb/TGF-β transgenic mice, which overexpress TGF-β1 and develop proteinuria and progressive glomerulosclerosis. We implanted a sustained-release estradiol pellet or a placebo pellet into control and Alb/TGF-β transgenic mice at 2 weeks of age. Animals were sacrificed at 5 weeks, at which time urine, blood, and renal tissue were obtained for study. Results The sustained-release estradiol pellet achieved a physiologic concentration of estradiol. TGF-β levels were higher in estradiol-treated mice compared to placebo-treated mice. Proteinuria was reduced in estradiol-treated Alb/TGF-β mice compared to placebo-treated transgenic mice. Mesangial expansion and closure of capillary loops with enhanced glomerular deposition of type I collagen, type IV collagen, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-2) was observed in glomeruli of placebo-treated transgenic mice. Estrogen therapy reversed these abnormalities. Conclusion Administration of estradiol to Alb/TGF-β transgenic mice, which overexpress TGF-β, ameliorated progressive renal injury. The ability of estradiol to reverse the pro-fibrotic effects of TGF-β, both in vitro and in vivo, may underlie the sexual dimorphism in renal disease progression observed in humans.
Study of the Cholesterol Umbrella Effect in DPPC and DOPC Bilayers by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The instability of cholesterol clusters in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) lipid bilayers was investigated via atomistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation. Cholesterol clusters in phosphatidylcholine (PC) bilayers are found to be very unstable and to readily disperse into cholesterol monomers. The instability may result from the difficulty for the system to prevent water exposure to cholesterol's aggregated hydrophobic bodies in a cluster. The system responds to artificially arranged cholesterol clusters in several interesting manners: (i) Cholesterol clusters quickly form a “frustum” shape to reduce water penetration through cholesterol headgroups; (ii) Many clusters bury themselves deeper into the bilayer interior, causing local bilayer deformation; (iii) Cholesterol fluctuates rapidly, both laterally and vertically to the bilayer plane, in order to escape from clusters. These fluctuations result in the disintegration of clusters, and in one incidence, a highly unusual flip-flop event of a cholesterol across the DOPC bilayer occurs. Our results show that cholesterols have a strong tendency to avoid forming clusters in lipid bilayers and that the fundamental cholesterol-cholesterol interaction is unfavorable. Furthermore, the radial distribution functions of cholesterol hydroxyl oxygen to various headgroup atoms of PC reveal that the PC headgroups surrounding cholesterol have a clear tendency to reorient and extend toward cholesterol. The range of this “Umbrella Effect” can reach up to 2-3 nm, larger than previously reported.
Metal-affinity electrophoresis of histidine-containing proteins

Abstract The technique of immobilized metal-affinity gel electrophoresis (IMAGE) has been developed and applied to the separation and characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae iso-1-cytochrome c variants containing substituted histidine residues. Polyacrylamide gels for metal-affinity electrophoresis were prepared by copolymerization with Cu(II) N -(4-vinyl)benzyliminodiacetate. Under native conditions, the relative mobilities of native and engineered proteins reflect the number of histidines accessible on the protein surface, due to the specific interaction between Cu(II) and an imidazole nitrogen. The mobilitues of cytochrome c variants containing engineered surface metal-chelating sites are strongly reduced in metal-affinity gels, allowing rapid verification of their unique metal-binding properties. Dissociation constants for complexes formed between Cu(II)-iminodiacetate and histidine-binding sites can be estimated from the relative mobilities measured in a series of gels formed using different concentrations of the metal ion complex.
Another extension of the method of quasilinearization of stochastic initial value problems

In this paper, we extend the method of quasilinearization to stochastic initial value problems
5 -3 -Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in the adrenal cortex of the sodium-restricted pregnant rat.

Summary3βHSD activity was studied in the adrenal cortex of rats under conditions of sodium restriction, pregnancy or both. The enzyme was shown to be active primarily in the region of the transitional zone and outer fasciculata, indicating that these areas of the adrenal cortex, as well as the zona glomerulosa, are involved when aldosterone production is stimulated. Ultrastructural studies confirmed the histochemical evidence of the involvement of the transitional zone but also provided additional information suggesting a difference in the functional capacities of the zona glomerulosa and the transitional zone. The combined stimuli of sodium restriction and pregnancy led to cellular degradation of the zona glomerulosa (2) but caused no pathological changes in the transitional zone. A suggested role for this zone is that of providing transitional or precursor cells for both the zona glomerulosa and the zona fasciculata. This might account for the fact that its physiological capacity appears to be greater t...
Vibrational Circular Dichroism Of Simple Chiral Molecules In The Gas Phase

VIBRATIONAL CIRCULAR DICHROISM OF SIMPLE CHIRAL MOLECULESIN THE GAS PHASET. B. Freedman, K. M. Spencer, C. McCarthy, S. J. Cianciosi, J. E. Baldwin and L. A. NafieDepartment of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244J. A. Moore and J. M. SchwabDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy andPharmacal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907ABSTRACT
SAP modulates B cell functions in a genetic background-dependent manner

Mutations affecting the SLAM-associated protein (SAP) are responsible for the X-linked lympho-proliferative syndrome (XLP), a severe primary immunodeficiency syndrome with disease manifestations that include fatal mononucleosis, B cell lymphoma and dysgammaglobulinemia. It is well accepted that insufficient help by SAP−/− CD4+ T cells, in particular during the germinal center reaction, is a component of dysgammaglobulinemia in XLP patients and SAP−/− animals. It is however not well understood whether in XLP patients and SAP−/− mice B cell functions are affected, even though B cells themselves do not express SAP. Here we report that B cell intrinsic responses to haptenated protein antigens are impaired in SAP−/− mice and in Rag−/− mice into which B cells derived from SAP−/− mice together with wt CD4+ T cells had been transferred. This impaired B cells functions are in part depending on the genetic background of the SAP−/− mouse, which affects B cell homeostasis. Surprisingly, stimulation with an agonistic anti-CD40 causes strong in vivo and in vitro B cell responses in SAP−/− mice. Taken together, the data demonstrate that genetic factors play an important role in the SAP-related B cell functions. The finding that anti-CD40 can in part restore impaired B cell responses in SAP−/− mice, suggests potentially novel therapeutic interventions in subsets of XLP patients.