cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The phase boundary of a dilute two-dimensional Ising system

Abstract We develop an effective medium theory that gives a good description of the recently measured phase boundary of the dilute antiferromagnet Rb2CopMg1−pF4.
Three-Dimensional Elasticity Solution for Sandwich Plates With Orthotropic Phases : The Positive Discriminant Case

A three-dimensional elasticity solution for rectangular sandwich plates exists only under restrictive assumptions on the orthotropic material constants of the constitutive phases (i.e., face sheets and core). In particular, only for negative or zero discriminant of the cubic characteristic equation, which is formed from these constants (case of three real roots). The purpose of the present paper is to present the corresponding solution for the more challenging case of positive discriminant, in which two of the roots are complex conjugates.
A simple method for the analysis of trans fatty acid with GC–MS and AT™-Silar-90 capillary column

Abstract The study was aimed to evaluate a simplified gas chromatography method based on the AOAC method 996.06 to analyze the trans fat content in food samples. The gas chromatograph was equipped with mass spectrometer and Alltech AT ™ -Silar-90 capillary column. Ten kinds of the trans fatty acid standard were separated completely from the cis standard and the chemical composition of the peaks was verified by using the mass spectrum. Under the optimized conditions, the recovery rate for triheptadecanoin was 99.0%, the correlation coefficients of trans fatty acid calibration curve was 0.9998 or higher. It demonstrated that the methylation and hexane extraction procedures used in this method was effective and the result was consistent. The major fatty acids found in the shortening sample were 16:0, 18:0, trans -18:1, cis -18:1, cis -18:2, and cis -18:3. The total trans fat content in the sample was 283.6 ± 18.2 mg/g. The current method was more convenient. It is adequate for the routine analysis of trans fat content in food products with low free fatty acid content.
Approximation algorithms for array partitioning problems

We study the problem of optimally partitioning a two-dimensional array of elements by cutting each coordinate axis into p (respectively, q) intervals, resulting in p × q rectangular regions. This problem arises in several applications in databases, parallel computation, and image processing. Our main contribution are new approximation algorithms for these NP-complete problems that improve significantly over previously known bounds. The algorithms are fast and simple, work for a variety of measures of partitioning quality, generalize to dimensions d > 2, and achieve almost optimal approximation ratios. We also extend previous NP-completeness results for this class of problems.
Crystal structures of the monofunctional chorismate mutase from Bacillus subtilis and its complex with a transition state analog

Abstract We have solved the structure of a chorismate mutase (chorismate pyruvatemutase, EC 5.4.99.5), the 1.9-A crystal structure of the monofunctional enzyme from Bacillus subtilis. The structure determination process was an unusual one, involving 12 monomers of the enzyme in the asymmetric unit. This structure was solved by the multiple isomorphous replacement method with partial structure phase combination and molecular averaging. The final model, which includes 1380 residues and 522 water molecules in an asymmetric unit, has been refined at 1.9 A and the current crystallographic R value is 0.201. The B. subtilis chorismate mutase is a homotrimer, with beta-sheets from each monomer packing to form the core of a pseudo-alpha beta-barrel with helices on the outside of the trimer. In addition, the active sites have been located by using data from a complex with an endo-oxabicyclic inhibitor that mimics the transition state of the reaction. The structure of this complex has been refined to 2.2 A with a current R value of 0.182 for a model that includes 1388 residues, 12 inhibitor molecules, and 530 water molecules in the asymmetric unit. In each trimer, three equivalent active sites are located at the interfaces of two adjacent subunits.
Body Mass Index and the Risk of All-Cause Mortality Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background—Several prospective studies have evaluated the association between body mass index (BMI) and death risk among patients with diabetes mellitus; however, the results have been inconsistent. Methods and Results—We performed a prospective cohort study of 19 478 black and 15 354 white patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association of different levels of BMI stratification with all-cause mortality. During a mean follow-up of 8.7 years, 4042 deaths were identified. The multivariable-adjusted (age, sex, smoking, income, and type of insurance) hazard ratios for all-cause mortality associated with BMI levels (18.5–22.9, 23–24.9, 25–29.9, 30–34.9 [reference group], 35–39.9, and ≥40 kg/m2) at baseline were 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80–2.49), 1.74 (95% CI, 1.46–2.07), 1.23 (95% CI, 1.08–1.41), 1.00, 1.19 (95% CI, 1.03–1.39), and 1.23 (95% CI, 1.05–1.43) for blacks and 1.70 (95% CI, 1.42–2.04), 1.51 (95% CI, 1.27–1.80), 1.0...
Interior-point methods for nonconvex nonlinear programming: Orderings and higher-order methods

The paper extends prior work by the authors on loqo, an interior point algorithm for nonconvex nonlinear programming. The specific topics covered include primal versus dual orderings and higher order methods, which attempt to use each factorization of the Hessian matrix more than once to improve computational efficiency. Results show that unlike linear and convex quadratic programming, higher order corrections to the central trajectory are not useful for nonconvex nonlinear programming, but that a variant of Mehrotra’s predictor-corrector algorithm can definitely improve performance.
Hybridization reveals the evolving genomic architecture of speciation.

SUMMARY The rate at which genomes diverge during speciation is unknown, as are the physical dynamics of the process. Here, we compare full genomesequences of 32 butterflies, representing five species from a hybridizing Heliconius butterfly community, to examine genome-wide patterns of introgression and infer how divergence evolves during the speciation process. Our analyses reveal that initial divergence is restricted to a small fraction of the genome, largely clustered around known wing-patterning genes. Over time, divergence evolves rapidly, due primarily to the origin of new divergent regions. Furthermore, divergent genomic regions display signatures of both selection and adaptive introgression, demonstrating the link between microevolutionary processes acting within species and the origin of species across macroevolutionary timescales. Our results provide a uniquely comprehensive portrait of the evolving species boundary due to the role that hybridization plays in reducing the background accumulation of divergence at neutral sites.
Aminophylline fails to improve the outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation from prolonged ventricular fibrillation: A placebo-controlled, randomized, blinded experimental study☆

Abstract Objectives . The purpose of this study was to evaluate systematically the effects of the adenosine antagonist aminophylline on resuscitation outcome In a canine model of postcardioversion nonperfusing rhythm. Background . Theoretic considerations and experimental studies indicate that myocardial adenosine accumulation during prologged ventricular fibrillation might play a significant role in postcardioversion asystole and electromechanical dissociation. A recent uncontrolled clinical trial has suggested that the adenosine antagonist aminophylline might improve the outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation from refractory bradyasystolic cardiac arrest. Methods . Two placebo-controlled, randomized, blinded experimental studies were performed. In protocol 1 (20 dogs), ventricular fibrillation was induced and maintained for 7.5 min. Sixty seconds before cardioversion, dogs received 1 mg of epinephrine followed by 250 mg of aminophylline or placebo. In protocol 2 (20 dogs), dogs were cardioverted to electromechanical dissociation after 5 min of unsupported ventricular fibrillation. Sixty seconds later, all dogs received 1 mg of epinephrine followed by 250 mg of aminophylline or placebo. In both experiments, resuscitation efforts were continued until return of spontaneous circulation, or up to 30 min. The primary end point was survival to 1 h. Results . In protocol 1, 4 of 10 dogs survived in the aminophylline group, whereas 7 of 10 dogs survived in the placebo group, a nonsignificant trend toward unfavorable outcome from aminophylline. Pretreatment with aminophylline increased the number of cardioversion applications required to terminate ventricular fibrillation. In protocol 2, 5 of 10 and 6 of 10 dogs survived in the aminophylline and placebo groups, respectively. Conclusions . The results of this study suggest that aminophylline fails to improve the outcome of resuscitation from prolonged ventricular fibrillation. It does not reverse established electronic-chemical dissection and may in fact increase the number of cardioversion applications required to terminate ventricular fibrillation. The rationale for conducting clinical trials with aminophylline during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is questionable.
Structure and Function of the Plasma Membrane : A biochemical perspective.

The paucimolecular unit membrane model of the structure of the plasma membrane is critically reviewed in relation to current knowledge of the chemical and enzymatic composition of isolated plasma membranes, the properties of phospholipids, the chemistry of fixation for electron microscopy, the conformation of membrane proteins, the nature of the lipid-protein bonds in membranes, and possible mechanisms of transmembrane transport and membrane biosynthesis. It is concluded that the classical models, although not disproven, are not well supported by, and are difficult to reconcile with, the data now available. On the other hand, although a model based on lipoprotein subunits is, from a biochemical perspective, an attractive alternative, it too is far from proven. Many of the questions may be resolved by studies of membrane function and membrane biosynthesis rather than by a direct attack on membrane structure.
An atom probe field ion microscope study of boron decorated boundaries in Ni3Al

Ni/sub 3/Al based alloys have recently come into prominence because of their potential for high temperature applications. However, the stoichiometric binary Ni/sub 3/Al intermetallic material is inherently brittle and therefore difficult to fabricate. Boron additions to substoichiometric (<25% aluminum) alloys substantially improve the ductility and alter the fracture mode to a transgranular failure. The reasons that boron has such a dramatic effect on the failure mode is currently under widespread investigation by a variety of techniques. Atom probe field ion microscopy (APFIM) is an excellent technique for studying the microstructure and chemistry in these materials -2). While Auger spectroscopy (AES) can analyze boundaries which can be made to fail intergranularly, the APFIM has the advantage that it can analyze all boundaries, including the ductile ones. Additionally, APFIM can quantify the chemistry of local areas, such as boundaries, for all elements. In this paper, the degree of boron segregation to 3 types of boundaries, - an antiphase boundary (APB), a twin boundary, and a high angle grain boundary, - will be presented.
Domain Decomposition Algorithms and Computational Fluid Dynamics

In the past several years, domain decomposition has been a very popular topic, partly because of the poten tial of parallelization. Although numerous theories and algorithms have been developed for model elliptic problems, they are only recently starting to be tested on realistic applications. This paper investigates the applica tion of some of these methods to two model problems in computational fluid dynamics: two-dimensional con vection-diffusion problems and the incompressible driven cavity flow problem. Our approach is the con struction and analysis of efficient preconditioners for the interface operator to be used in the iterative solution of the interface solution. For the convection-diffusion problems, we discuss the effect of the convection term and its discretization on the performance of some of the preconditioners. For the driven cavity problem, we dis cuss the effectiveness of a class of boundary probe preconditioners.
Impact of product recall announcements on retailers׳ financial value

Abstract The increase in the number of high-profile product recalls in recent years highlights the issue of ensuring product safety in global supply chains. Although the financial effect of a product recall announcement has been previously investigated from the perspective of manufacturers, it has not been investigated for retailers. Because retailers are the interface between consumers and the upstream supply chain, they play an important role as the first link in the reverse supply chain. Building upon attribution theory, signaling theory and prospect theory, we develop hypotheses about the way that investors view various attributes of a retailer׳s recall announcement and test them using event study methodology and hierarchical regression analysis of objective, archival data. The results support the hypotheses that a product recall announcement has a financial impact on retailers that is more negative for a private label product, a refund remediation strategy and for causes that are potentially more hazardous.
Nature and function of the structural phospholipids of an arbovirus

Abstract Semliki Forest virus, a group A arbovirus, contains a number of structural phospholipids, most of which are hydrolyzed by treatment with purified phospholipase C from Clostridium perfringens . The enzyme treatment does not alter the density at which the virus sediments to equilibrium in sucrose gradients. The infectivity of the virus is preserved despite hydrolysis of more then 60% of its phospholipids by limited enzyme treatment at 37 °C. Longer enzyme treatment at 37 °C results in a marked decrease in infectivity but little additional phospholipid hydrolysis. When phospholipase C treatment was arrested by EDTA after 45% of the phospholipid had been hydrolysed, and the virus was then incubated for an additional 30 minutes at 37 °C, inactivation of the virus also occurred. Inactivation of the virus by the enzyme at 37 °C appeared to be associated with release from the virion of its structural proteins. Thus, the results suggest that phospholipids, while not necessary for viral infectivity, do stabilize the structure of the virus.
Collective unsupervised data mining for heterogeneous wireless integrated network sensor arrays

Wireless integrated sensor networks involve information processing over large wired and wireless networks with limited bandwidth. Moreover, the computing capabilities of sensing devices are usually limited because of design restrictions, limited power supply, and other mission specific requirements. Analyzing data sets collected over such sensor networks usually requires downloading voluminous data sets to a central site. This fundamentally impairs the scalability and the overall response time of the application. In a mission critical applications, data analysis in such networks must deliver results within a certain time frame and often slower response completely defeats the purpose of analyzing sensor data. This paper presents a framework for collective data analysis from distributed heterogeneous data that calls for a fundamentally different perspective. This approach analyzes data in a distributed fashion without downloading everything to a central site. We examine several of the unsupervised Collective Data Mining algorithms for performing tasks associated with this extraction of useful information from sensor arrays. We further present a manner in which these algorithms may be incorporated into the knowledge extraction process from the sensor networks, and also propose an architecture geared towards the use of these algorithms.
An extrapolation technique for predicting the RCS characteristics of large objects using the genetic algorithm and Prony's method

A novel extrapolation technique, which utilizes the genetic algorithm (GA) to “fit” the scattering characteristics of an object, is presented in this paper. We demonstrate, via several numerical examples, that it is possible to project forward the frequency characteristics of a scatterer in the asymptotic region where the direct computation of these characteristics is typically very time consuming and expensive. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 28: 410–414, 2001.
A general inhibition kinetics model for ethanol production using a novel carbon source: sodium gluconate

In this study, sodium gluconate was applied as a novel carbon source for the fuel ethanol production using an engineered Escherichia coli strain KO11 in batch fermentations. Ethanol and acetic acid were produced as two major products as well as small amount of lactic acid during the fermentation. Compared to the conventional carbon source glucose, the bioconversion of sodium gluconate possessed two distinct advantages: faster utilization rate of sodium gluconate (1.66 g/L per h) compared to glucose (0.996 g/L per h) and no requirement for pH control during fermentation. A general inhibition model including both substrate and products inhibitory effects was proposed, which adequately simulated batch fermentation kinetics at various concentrations of sodium gluconate. All of the products showed inhibitory effects on cell growth. The order of the inhibitory strength of all products and substrate was for the first time clarified in this study. Acetic acid was the most inhibitory product mitigating the cell growth, followed by ethanol and lactic acid. Sodium gluconate stimulated cell growth when its concentration was below 16 g/L, while it inhibited the cell growth when the concentration was above this concentration. It completely inhibited the cell growth when the concentration was 325 g/L. The high value of both the coefficient of determination (R2) and the adjusted R2 verified the good fit of the model. This paper provides key insights into further engineering these strains to improve ethanol production.
Metastatic patterns of choroidal melanoma.

Twenty-five patients with choroidal melanoma are presented who subsequently developed disseminated disease. Fifteen of 25 patients developed hepatic metastases as the sole initial manifestation of metastatic disease. The median time from enucleation to hepatic metastases was 43 months and the survival from onset of metastatic spread was 7 months.
Nonlinear resonant tunneling in low-dimensional systems in a magnetic field: Energy dispersion

Abstract We study two-dimensional to two-dimensional (2D–2D) tunneling between two electron layers separated by a wide barrier in an in-plane magnetic field B. The electron gases are separately in equilibrium with their chemical potentials displaced by the bias energy V. We show for a general electronic structure that the tunneling current shows a “fish-like” domain shape on the Δ k - V plane where Δ k ∝ B is the B-induced wave number displacement. The domain shape is determined by the Fermi energies and wave numbers. The boundaries between the high-, low-, and zero-current regions are sharp, representing the high differential conductance and are made of a combination of regular, inverted, and shifted energy-dispersion curves. This result is also valid for 2D–1D and 1D–1D tunneling. The observed data for the 2D–2D tunneling currents as well as the differential conductance in GaAs/Al x Ga 1 - x As double quantum wells yield good agreement with the predicted domain shape.
Benefit versus risk in statin treatment.

The Statin Safety Assessment Conference of the National Lipid Association (NLA), reported in this supplement to The American Journal of Cardiology , provides a comprehensive evaluation of old and new experience on adverse events associated with the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins. To place these in context, one can express both the risk of side effects and the benefits for cardiovascular disease in terms of events per person-year of statin treatment. The mortality risk from fatal rhabdomyolysis is approximately 0.3 per 100,000 person-years, and the risks of nonfatal rhabdomyolysis and of putative statin-attributable peripheral neuropathy are approximately 3 and 12 events, respectively, per 100,000 person-years. Reports of acute liver failure and acute or chronic kidney disease give lower rate estimates that, even when corrected for underreporting, are approximately equal to the background rates of these conditions in the general population, lending scant support for statin-attributable etiology. In contrast, the benefit of statin use is to avert several hundred deaths and several hundred cases each of heart and brain infarction per 100,000 person-years in appropriately treated high-risk patients. Although population estimates such as these are useful, they must be translated repeatedly to individual patient-provider encounters, where clinical skill and art must combine with scientific evidence. The continued publication of individual case reports and small randomized trials among groups of patients with potential side effects should be encouraged. Statins should not be used in situations where minimal benefit is expected, as safety data and risk–benefit analysis must be meshed with guidelines that help the clinician decide whom to treat and how aggressively to treat.
Murine xenotropic type C viruses. III. Phenotypic mixing with avian leukosis and sarcoma viruses.

Abstract Phenotypic mixing has been demonstrated between murine and avian type C viruses. Pseudotypes of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) have been obtained which carry envelope determinants derived from xenotropic or ecotropic murine leukemia viruses (MuLV). Mouse sarcoma virus (MSV) pseudotypes have been constructed with envelope characteristics of subgroup C and E avian leukosis viruses. RSV pseudotypes produced with MuLV can infect mammalian cells, and MSV pseudotypes with avian leukosis virus infect chicken cells. The expression of transformation by these sarcoma genomes seems suppressed in certain of the heterologous hosts. Exogenous infection of mammalian cells by RSV(MuLV) results in not only transformation of the heterologous host but also the production of infectious progeny virus. The extent of this virus production appears determined by the ability of the helper virus to replicate in the host cell.
Radiofrequency ablation in multiple accessory pathways and the physiologic implications

The presence of multiple accessory pathways was noted in 24 of 210 consecutive patients (12 males and 12 females aged 15 to 77 years [mean +/- SD 43 +/- 16]) with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome who underwent electrophysiologic study and radiofrequency ablation. Six had 3 and 18 had 2 accessory pathways. There were 25 manifest and 29 concealed accessory pathways. The location of the accessory pathways was in the left free wall in 22, the right free wall in 17, the left posterior portion of the ventricular septum in 8, the right posterior portion of the ventricular septum in 6, and the midseptum in 1. The success rate of accessory pathway ablation and the fluoroscopic time in these 24 patients with multiple accessory pathways were 89% and 78 +/- 66 minutes, respectively, whereas they were 98% (p < 0.01) and 36 +/- 37 minutes (p = 0.01) in the 186 patients with a single accessory pathway. The mean applications, the power level of the radiofrequency current and the application duration in these 24 patients were 21 +/- 22, 30 +/- 3 W, and 27 +/- 10 seconds, respectively. In the 186 patients with a single accessory pathway, they were 9 +/- 12 applications (p = 0.02), 30 +/- 4 W (p = NS) and 26 +/- 9 seconds (p = NS), respectively. Seventeen of the 24 patients had a follow-up electrophysiologic study 89 +/- 40 days after ablation, and 2 (12%) had resumption of a right and left accessory pathway conduction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An Approximate Model for Wave Propagation in Rectangular Rods and Their Geometric Limits

An approximate model for wave propagation in rods of rectangular cross section was developed that is based on neglecting the dependence of the shear stresses and the longitudinal displacement on on...
Second Life simulation as a strategy to enhance decision-making in diabetes care: a case study

Aims and objectives The case study evaluated the Second Life perceived usability and the decision-making of insulin administration via situational awareness at two different simulation freezes during Second Life simulation. Background Due to safety issues stemming from nursing knowledge deficits of insulin administration, the use of simulation via practice in a virtual immersive environment, Second Life was evaluated in a case study of practicing nurses. Design This case study used a single convenience group, post-test design. Methods Perceived usability was evaluated using the System Usability Scale. Evaluation of decision-making was evaluated via Situational Awareness Score at two simulation freezes in the Second Life simulation with practicing nurses (n = 12). Results Nurses with more years of practice reported difficulty in using Second Life. As age increased, the total Situational Awareness Score decreased. Day shift nurses were more likely to obtain a High Situational Awareness Score. Conclusions Although usability was nearly obtained, virtual immersive environments for nurses has promise to provide practice in aiding clinical decision-making. Relevance to clinical practice Finding a new platform to allow all nurses to practice difficult clinical decisions is key. A virtual immersive environment, like Second Life, can provide simulation for nurses to practice making such difficult decisions.
Scalable aggregation on multicore processors

In data-intensive and multi-threaded programming, the performance bottleneck has shifted from I/O bandwidth to main memory bandwidth. The availability, size, and other properties of on-chip cache strongly influence performance. A key question is whether to allow different threads to work independently, or whether to coordinate the shared workload among the threads. The independent approach avoids synchronization overhead, but requires resources proportional to the number of threads and thus is not scalable. On the other hand, the shared method suffers from coordination overhead and potential contention.In this paper, we aim to provide a solution to performing in-memory parallel aggregation on the Intel Nehalem architecture. We consider several previously proposed techniques that were evaluated on other architectures, including a hybrid independent/shared method and a method that clones data items automatically when contention is detected. We also propose two algorithms: partition-and-aggregate and PLAT. The PLAT and hybrid methods perform best overall, utilizing the computational power of multiple threads without needing memory proportional to the number of threads, and avoiding much of the coordination overhead and contention apparent in the shared table method.
Force-Velocity Relation for Actin-Polymerization-Driven Motility from Brownian Dynamics Simulations

We report numerical simulation results for the force-velocity relation for actin-polymerization-driven motility. We use Brownian dynamics to solve a physically consistent formulation of the dendritic nucleation model with semiflexible filaments that self-assemble and push a disk. We find that at small loads, the disk speed is independent of load, whereas at high loads, the speed decreases and vanishes at a characteristic stall pressure. Our results demonstrate that at small loads, the velocity is controlled by the reaction rates, whereas at high loads the stall pressure is determined by the mechanical properties of the branched actin network. The behavior is consistent with experiments and with our recently proposed self-diffusiophoretic mechanism for actin-polymerization-driven motility. New in vitro experiments to measure the force-velocity relation are proposed.
Learning: the good, the bad, and the fly.

Olfactory memories can be very good—your mother’s baking—or very bad—your father’s cooking. We go through life forming these different associations with the smells we encounter. But what makes one association pleasant and another repulsive? Work in deep areas of the Drosophila brain has revealed the beginnings of an answer, as reported in this issue of Neuron by Owald et al. (2015).
Asymmetric pairing of realistic mass quarks and color neutrality in the Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model of QCD

We investigate the effects of realistic quark masses and local color neutrality on quark pairing in the three-flavor Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. While prior studies have indicated the presence of light flavor quark (2SC) or symmetric color-flavor-locked (CFL) pairing at low temperatures, we find that in the absence of a local color neutrality constraint the inclusion of the Polyakov loop gives rise to phases in which all quark colors and flavors pair, but with unequal magnitudes. We study this asymmetric color-flavor-locked (ACFL) phase, which can exist even for equal mass quarks, identifying its location in the phase diagram, the order of the associated phase transitions, and its symmetry breaking pattern, which proves to be the intersection of the symmetry groups of the 2SC and CFL phases. We also investigate the effects of the strange quark mass on this new phase and the QCD phase diagram generally. Finally, we analyze the effect of a local color neutrality constraint on these phases of asymmetric pairing. We observe that for massless quarks the neutrality constraint renders the 2SC phase energetically unfavorable, eliminating it at low temperatures, and giving rise to the previously proposed low temperature critical point, with associated continuity between the hadronic and ACFL phases. For realistic strange quark masses, however, the neutrality constraint shrinks the 2SC region of the phase diagram, but does not eliminate it, at $T=0$.
Sarcoidosis associated with neuromyelitis optica

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune disorder diagnosed by an elongated spinal cord lesion associated with unilateral or bilateral optic neuritis and anti-aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibodies in the serum. It is triggered by or associated with several autoimmune diseases, but not with sarcoidosis. It responds to immunomodulators better than to steroid treatment. Sarcoidosis is an autoimmune disorder which manifests as non-caseating granulomas, usually in the lung parenchyma, but also in other tissues, including the brain. The involvement of the central nervous system in neurosarcoidosis differs considerably from that in neuromyelitis optica and the association of these two diseases concurrently in the same patient is unusual.
Changes in Disulfide and Sulfhydryl Contents and Electrophoretic Patterns of Extruded Wheat Flour Proteins

ABSTRACT Twin-screw extrusion of wheat flour and the effects on the flour proteins were studied using flour samples containing 9, 20, and 30% protein. Vital gluten containing 70% protein was used to achieve the flour protein levels. The three flour samples were extruded with a twin-screw extruder at a combination of processing parameters (exit die temperatures of 120, 140, and 160°C, and screw speeds of 240, 320, and 400 rpm). Increasing extruder exit die temperatures resulted in increased sulfhydryl content of the 9 and 20% protein content flour samples, but appeared to have little or no effect on the 30% protein content flour sample. Similarly, disulfide content decreased, albeit disproportionately, following the same trend. Both sulfhydryl and disulfide contents of extruded samples were lower than those of the nonextruded samples and could imply denaturation of protein, aggregation through intermolecular disulfide bonds, or oxidation during extrusion processing. Total cysteine content of extruded sampl...
Plan Optimization and Dose Evaluation in Brachytherapy.

Today's imaging and computer, technology has made significant advances in brachytherapy optimization and evaluation possible. Optimization may be of source strength or of source position (or both). An objective function of achieved versus desired doses is minimized, a global minimum being associated with an analytic solution and a local minimum with an iterative solution. Optimization of source strengths is shown useful in planning low-dose-rate-brachytherapy either of cervical cancer, using a remote afterloader with pneumatically loaded cesium 137 sources, or of recurrent endometrial cancer, using a vaginal cylinder and iridium 192 seeds in ribbons. Source position optimization, on the other hand, is exemplified by permanent percutaneous implants for prostate cancer or by temporary stereotactic implants, for brain tumors with iodine 125 sources of low and high strength, respectively. Evaluation of the true minimum peripheral dose generally requires, that three-dimensional images be available. Dose-volume histograms serve to describe both dose uniformity within the treatment volume and the extent to which normal tissues are being irradiated. With respect to the future, deconvolution and simulated annealing techniques are being explored for brachytherapy optimization, and we may expect greater emphasis on the biologically effective dose in brachytherapy evaluation.
Enabling Green IT through Energy-Aware Software

Software behavior can significantly affect computer energy efficiency in everything from small devices up to servers in data centers. However, there are multiple techniques that software developers can use to reduce the energy consumption of drivers and applications.
A self-healing smart syntactic foam under multiple impacts

In this study, a shape memory polymer (SMP) based syntactic foam and the foam cored sandwich structures were developed for the purpose of repeatedly self-healing impact damage. The foam was made of shape memory polystyrene, glass microballoon, and multi-walled carbon nanotube. The foam cored composite sandwich plates were prepared per the vacuum assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM) technology. A stress-controlled programming was coupled with the curing process of the sandwich plates for shape fixity. The foam was characterized per TEM, DSC, and flat-wise compression test. The sandwich panels were subjected to seven rounds of impact-healing cycles. C-scan and SEM were used to characterize the impact damage and healing efficiency. The impact response was characterized per the load and energy traces. The impact damaged and healed sandwich specimens were then tested using the compression after impact (CAI) tests to evaluate their residual load carrying capacity. The test results show that the impact damage can be healed under multiple impacts and the impact tolerance and residual strength can be recovered. It is also found that coupling the programming with sandwich curing is an effective way of making the foam smart.
A critique of the ACOEM statement on mold: undisclosed conflicts of interest in the creation of an "evidence-based" statement.

AbstractIn 2003, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) published its evidence-based statement, “Adverse Human Health Effects Associated with Molds in the Indoor Environment,” in its Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM). ACOEM's author selection, development, peer review, and publication of its mold position paper involved a series of seemingly biased and ethically dubious decisions and ad hoc methods. The resulting position paper resembled a litigation “defense report” which omitted or inadequately acknowledged research validating the association between mold and buildingrelated symptoms. ACOEM nonetheless released the paper as an “evidence-based” statement and then published it in JOEM without any further changes or conflict disclosure. The Mold Statement has been relied upon by attorneys and expert witnesses representing defendants in mold litigation to disclaim and invalidate individuals', families', and workers' claims of buildingrelated health ef...
Growth of oxygen deficiency-free YVO4 single crystal by top-seeded solution growth technique

Abstract In spite of its excellent properties, yttrium orthovanadate (YVO 4 ) laser host single crystal has not been successfully adopted into high-tech applications because of crystal growth difficulties in connection with oxygen loss. This work is the first to apply a top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) technique to YVO 4 , by which oxygen deficiency-free crystals can be directly grown. Since undesirable non-pentavalent vanadium oxides are continuously forming during the YVO 4 , growth process, the flux media, in addition to the conventional TSSG requirements, must prevent the formation of oxygen deficient yttrium vanadate crystals. From these multiple requirements, lithium metavanadate (LiVO 3 ) was selected as the best solvent for YVO 4 flux growth. LiVO 3 has suitable solubility for YVO 4 , low viscosity, low vaporization without toxicity (in the 1200–1400°C working temperature range), and the oxygen deficient Li-V bronze (γ-LiV 2 O 5 ) can easily form in it, thus preventing oxygen defect formation in the yttrium vanadate crystals. Wanklyn's model and Viting and Timofeeva's calculation data were applied successfully for preliminary selection of the flux material. From the schematic V 2 O 5 -Li 2 O-V 2 O 3 ternary and Y 2 O 3 -V 2 O 5 -Li 2 O-V 2 O 3 quaternary systems, the phase relations of Li-V bronzes and YVO 4 can be resolved much more easily than from the previous simple binary systems. The transparent, macro-defect-free single crystal sample grown by the TSSG technique illustrates the significance of these considerations and the promise of this growth technology for YVO 4 crystals.
The Competency of Pars Plana Vitrectomy Incisions : A Comparative Histologic and Spectrophotometric Analysis

Purpose To compare the relative competency of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) sclerotomies. Design Laboratory investigation. Methods PPV was performed in human cadaveric eyes using 20-gauge (20 G), 23-gauge (23 G), and 25-gauge (25 G) instrumentation. India ink was applied over a sclerotomy site while the intraocular pressure was varied. The presence of India ink particles (IIPs) along incisions was evaluated by histologic analysis. Spectrophotometric absorbance levels of vitreous aspirates were measured. Results PPV was performed in a control eye and two eyes, each using standard 20 G, standard 23 G, perpendicular 25 G, and beveled 25 G instrumentation incisions. IIPs were not detected in the 20 G incisions either on histology or by spectrophotometry. IIPs were detected along the entire incision length in one of two eyes with 23 G sclerotomies and confirmed by spectrophotometry. IIPs were detected along the entire incision length in one of two eyes with 25 G perpendicular sclerotomies and confirmed by spectrophotometry in both eyes. IIPs were noted partially along the length in one of the two beveled 25 G eyes, but not detected in either eye by spectrophotometry. Conclusions During the early postoperative period, sutureless vitrectomy incisions may allow entry of ocular surface fluid. These findings may provide a pathophysiologic mechanism for the reported increased risk of endophthalmitis in small-gauge vitrectomy surgery.
When is a good time to refinance

Abstract Because of inertia and wish effect, businesses hurt their own future by refusing to take advantage of low interest rates. As a business builds up its equity in the capital structure, the firm could refinance to take advantage of leverage financing. Even when the capital structure is unchanged, the firm may wish to refinance because of a low interest rate. But the business may not refinance because of inertia and wish effect. Decision makers have been reluctant to refinance due to high interest rates. Even when the new rate is lower, they wait for an even better rate. They keep the old high rate and do nothing about it, wishing for the good old days of low interest rates. They just do not venture into new opportunities because of the lack of capital. The nation's economy and productivity are hurt. This paper examines refinancing situations of firms and individuals who use long term loans. The paper then develops four decision models for typical refinancing situations considering such factors as old and new interest rates, capital structure in terms of debt/equity ratio, loan amount, transaction cost, expected rate of return from the best opportunity available, expected inflation rate, and possible changes in interest rates in the future. Based on the decision models, a computerized Refinancing Decision System (RDS) has been developed. The paper discusses the functions and uses of the system showing how each of the decision models has been incorporated in the system. The RDS is a good tool in evaluating refinancing decision situations for individual owners of income properties and similar real properties subject to long term mortgage loans and for the managers of firms that hold plants and have expansion plans. The System can be very useful for the general home owners too, if they wish to reduce the monthly payments of their mortgage loan interest.
TURBULENT FLAME STRUCTURE AND SPEED IN SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES

Recent exprimental, observations of flame structure and speed in spark-ignition enginesare discussed. Schlieren photographs, shadowgraphs and laser scattering measurements strongly suggest a highly wrinkled structure for the turbulent flame in such engines. Simultaneous pressure measurements and high-speed motion picture records are used to derive two closely related sets of empirical equations for calculating burning rates. One set suggests an eddy entrainment and laminar burn-out model and the other, a laminar flame stretching and wrinkling model. Tentative correlations relating the parameters in the burning equations to engine geometry and operating variables are derived. Statistical variations in the parameters produce cycle-to-cycle dispersions in the pressure, but correlations for predicting the magnitude of the dispersions have not yet been obtained.
Interferon α selectively affects expression of the human myeloid cell nuclear differentiation antigen in late stage cells in the monocytic but not the granulocytic lineage

The human myeloid cell nuclear differentiation antigen (MNDA) is expressed constitutively in cells of the myeloid lineage, appearing in myeloblast cells in some cases of acute myeloid leukemia and consistently being detected in promyelocyte stage cells as well as in all later stage cells including peripheral blood monocytes and granulocytes. The human myeloid leukemia cell lines, HL-60, U937, and THP-1, express similar levels of immunochemically detectable MNDA. Although, the level of MNDA mRNA in primary monocytes is very low it was up-regulated at 6 h following the addition of interferon alpha. The effect of interferon alpha on the MNDA mRNA is also observed in the cell lines HL-60, U937, and THP-1. The MNDA mRNA level in primary granulocytes was unaffected by addition of interferon alpha and other agents including interferon gamma, endotoxin, poly (I).poly (C), and FMLP. The MNDA mRNA level in the myeloid cell lines was also unaffected by the latter four agents. Induction of differentiation in the myeloid cell lines with phorbol ester induces monocyte differentiation which was accompanied by a decrease in MNDA mRNA level. This reduced level of mRNA could then be elevated with subsequent interferon alpha treatment. The effects of phorbol ester on MNDA mRNA appeared to be associated with induced differentiation since inhibiting cell proliferation did not alter the level of MNDA mRNA and cell cycle variation in MNDA mRNA levels were not observed. The ability of interferon alpha to up-regulate MNDA mRNA in phorbol ester treated myeloid cell lines is consistent with the observations made in primary monocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia

Cognitive impairment has been a central topic in schizophrenia research for nearly a century and the past 30 years has seen an increasing focus on neurocognitive approaches. The vast majority of studies in this enormous research literature have utilized assessment methods borrowed from clinical neuropsychology. Those clinical tools have been useful in documenting clear evidence for this impairment. However, the interpretation of that evidence has remained a challenge because most clinical neuropsychological measures are polyfactorial—requiring the operation of multiple cognitive functions in generating the response that is evaluated and compared with the performance of healthy subjects. This may serve to increase the sensitivity of traditional measures to the presence of many different kinds of impairments but decreases the resolution of these measures at the level of specific cognitive functions linked to specific neural systems. The National Institute of Mental Health funded the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research in Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS) initiative to build consensus among different stake holders in the field on the most promising constructs and potential measures drawn from the basic cognitive neuroscience literature that might serve as sensitive assays of the specific cognitive and neural systems implicated in schizophrenia. The empirical work of the Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia (CNTRACS) consortium followed from the CNTRICS recommendations and involved optimizing measures so that they could be used in the clinic and serve as potential endpoints for treatment development research. We selected several constructs and corresponding measures for the study that ranged from early aspects of visual processing (gain control and visual integration1,2), episodic memory (specifically, relational encoding and retrieval3), and goal maintenance,4 a critical aspect of higher order executive control. Thus, the combination of measures “cover” a widely distributed set of neural systems implicated in the illness. The articles in this theme issue are the first empirical products of the CNTRACS consortium. For each construct of interest, we report on the performance of a large sample of patients with schizophrenia and demographically matched healthy volunteers as well as the psychometric features of the tasks including test-retest reliability. In addition, the relationships among the tasks and the clinical correlates of the tasks are found in the last article in the series.5 As might be expected in a measure development and clinical validation project, there were some surprises along the road from basic cognitive neuroscience laboratory into the clinic with some measures faring better than others. The evidence presented in these articles should allow other investigators to make informed decisions about whether the tools developed by the CNTRACS consortium would be useful in their own work. These measures can be downloaded at no charge from cntrics.ucdavis.edu.