cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential in vivo potential of endothelial progenitor cells from human umbilical cord blood and adult peripheral blood to form functional long-lasting vessels

Tissue engineering requires formation of a de novo stable vascular network. Because of their ability to proliferate, differentiate into endothelial cells, and form new vessels, blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are attractive source of cells for use in engineering blood vessels. However, the durability and function of EPC-derived vessels implanted in vivo are unclear. To this end, we directly compared formation and functions of tissue-engineered blood vessels generated by peripheral blood– and umbilical cord blood–derived EPCs in a model of in vivo vasculogenesis. We found that adult peripheral blood EPCs form blood vessels that are unstable and regress within 3 weeks. In contrast, umbilical cord blood EPCs form normal-functioning blood vessels that last for more than 4 months. These vessels exhibit normal blood flow, perm-selectivity to macromolecules, and induction of leukocyte-endothelial interactions in response to cytokine activation similar to normal vessels. Thus, umbilical cord blood EPCs hold great therapeutic potential, and their use should be pursued for vascular engineering.
Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation

Patients with respiratory distress and respiratory failure presenting to the emergency department provide a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Developing technologies in noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) have improved the ability to administer significant respiratory support to these patients. Research and protocols for NIPPV are expanding in adult medicine but are only slowly increasing in pediatrics. NIPPV has successfully been used for obstructive sleep apnea, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and neuromuscular disorders in both acute and chronic settings. Early administration of this support may benefit patients presenting to emergency departments by improving oxygenation, ventilation, and muscle fatigue; avoiding short- and long-term complications of invasive mechanical ventilation; and improving patient outcomes.
Metabolism of C4 and linkage analysis in a kindred with hereditary incomplete C4 deficiency

We studied a kindred in which C4 deficiency had been discovered. Unlike families with total absence of C4, in this kindred C4 deficiency was found to be incomplete, autosomal dominant, not caused by null alleles, and not associated with a high incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus. The deficient state was caused by hyposynthesis of C4, not by hypercatabolism. The locus for incomplete C4 deficiency was not closely linked to the major histocompatibility complex. The abnormal autosomal dominant allele is, apparently, rare, and how it causes decreased synthesis of C4 is unknown.
Secondary Kill of Adult Male German Cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) Via Cannibalism of Nymphs Fed Toxic Baits

Five commercially available bait formulations were evaluated for primary kill of 1st-and 2nd-instar German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), and secondary kill of adult male German cockroaches via cannibalism of bait-fed nymphs. Chlorpyrifos and fipronil baits killed 1stand 2nd-instar cockroaches significantly faster than hydramethylnon, boric acid, or abamectin baits. Secondary kill was observed for all baits tested. Adults that consumed bait-treated nymphs had significantly higher mortality than those fed untreated nymphs. The LT 50 values calculated for secondary kill of adult male cockroaches were 1.84 d for adults consuming fipronil-fed nymphs, 6.69 d for hydramethylnon-fed nymphs, 7.21 d for boric acid-fed nymphs, 7.94 d for abamectin-fed nymphs, and 8.48 d for chlorpyrifos-fed nymphs. Adult LT 50 values for boric acid, abamectin, and chlorpyrifos were not significantly different. Because secondary kill was observed for all bait formulations tested, it is possible that the importance of toxicant transmission via cannibalism has been underestimated in laboratory and field evaluations.
Photonic and plasmonic crystal based enhancement of solar cells — Theory of overcoming the Lambertian limit

Abstract We develop a new conformal nc-Si solar cell architecture that has a periodic plasmonic back-reflector of tapered nano-pillars. Using rigorous scattering matrix simulations, we show that the optimized solar architecture has absorption that can exceed the classical 4n 2 limit, or the Lambertian limit of absorption by a randomly roughened back-reflector, for common thicknesses of the nc-Si absorber layer upto 1500 nm in thickness. The optimized solar architecture has pitch between 500 and 900 nm and tapered pillar heights of ~ 200 nm. The conformal solar cell geometry minimizes the reflection loss at the top surface. The enhancement over the classical limit is provided by light concentration and waveguide modes or diffraction resonances within the absorber layer. Nc-Si cells of 1000 nm thickness may generate short circuit currents in excess of 32 mA/cm 2 , where the enhancement is more than 60% relative to a flat silver back-reflector. Sources of losses in solar cells and are identified.
Bridge to Lung Transplantation with Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for End-Stage Lung Disease: A Single Center Experience

Purpose Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been reported as a successful treatment strategy for patients with refractory, albeit reversible lung disease. Its use as a bridge to transplantation (BTT) for patients with irreversible lung disease is less well described. We report our institutional experience with ECMO as a bridge to transplant. Methods and Materials All patients with end stage lung disease who were placed on VV ECMO as BTT between 2009 and 2012 were identified. Underlying disease, indication for ECMO support, time from intubation to cannulation for ECMO, duration of support and outcomes were analyzed. Results During that time period, 28 patients were placed on ECMO as BTT. Underlying disease included restrictive lung disease (n=22), obstructive lung disease (n=5) and pulmonary hypertension (n=1). The median interval from intubation to initiation of ECMO was four days (range 0-15 days). The median duration of support was 12 days (range 1-155 days). Thirteen patients received lung transplants and fifteen patients died. Of the thirteen patients who were successfully BTT, seven patients survived to discharge, three remain in the hospital and three died. Conclusions The prognosis of patients with end stage lung disease is poor. Despite longer support times than previously reported series, our experience demonstrates the efficacy of ECMO as a bridge to transplant.
Incorporation of an Intramolecular Hydrogen-bonding Motif in the Side-Chain of 4-Aminoquinolines Enhances Activity against Drug-Resistant P. falciparum

Previous data showing that several chloroquine analogues containing an intramolecular hydrogen-bonding motif were potent against multidrug-resistant P. falciparum led to the exploration of the importance of this motif. A series of 116 compounds containing four different alkyl linkers and various aromatic substitutions with hydrogen bond accepting capability was synthesized. The series showed broad potency against the drug-resistant W2 strain of P. falciparum. In particular, a novel series containing variations of the alpha-aminocresol motif gave eight compounds with IC50 values more potent than 5 nM against the W2 strain. Such simple modifications, significantly altering the pKa and sterics of the basic side chain in chloroquine analogues, may prove to be part of a strategy for overcoming the problem of worldwide resistance to affordable antimalarial drugs.
Scale aspects of heat transport in the diamond anvil cell, in spectroscopic modeling, and in Earth's mantle: Implications for secular cooling

Abstract Examining length and time scales reveals ruinous problems in diverse determinations of thermal conductivity (k) involving the diamond anvil cell (DAC). (1) Conditions in laboratory experiments are optically thick (diffusive) for low-frequency phonons, but optically thin (ballistic) for high-frequency photons. Because speeds of photons are about ×105 those of phonons, ballistic photons transport heat over the short length and time scales of pulse-heating measurements in the DAC intended to measure phonons. Ballistic transport was confirmed by conducting pulse-heating experiments under various conditions. Not accounting for this time-dependent effect produces fallacious values for the lattice contribution to k. (2) In DAC optical spectroscopy, strong refraction was misinterpreted as sample absorption and its affect on path length went unnoticed, resulting in invalid calculations of the radiative diffusive component of k. Better estimates of lower mantle k are summarized. Scaling aspects point to the controls exerted by radiative transfer early in Earth's history and the importance of mantle layers to Earth's present thermal state. Diffusion of radiation is fast, making retention of primordial heat improbable: thus today's Earth is in quasi-steady-state, wherein its emitted heat is derived solely from current radiogenic contents.
Nanocomposite particles containing semiconductor and magnetic nanocrystals: fabrication and characterization

In this paper several approaches to fabricate semiconductor magnetic nanocomposite are reported. Several thiol- and amino- silane cross linked molecules were used to couple and embed CdSe and Fe3O4 nanoparticles into silica particles. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized by optical spectroscopies, transmission electron microscopy, electron paramagnetic spectroscopy and fluorescence optical microscopy. The new developed nanocomposite particles posses the advantage of being both magnetic and luminescent. The chemical functionality rich surface of these new nanoparticles could enable their application in bioassays, cell separation and drug delivery.
Theory of microwave interactions in ceramic materials: the phenomenon of thermal runaway

A theory of the phenomenon of thermal runaway in ceramic materials undergoing microwave heating is presented on the basis of a simple temperature-time equation. The non-linear evolution inherent in the equation is shown to arise naturally from physical arguments and it is shown how the parameters of the theory may be calculated from the microscopic absorption processes and information about the material under consideration. The theory is applied to experimental observations reported on several different materials and shown to be in good agreement with the data.
Merits and Metrics in Journal Publishing.

The essay presents the author's personal views and reflections regarding the status and trends of applied linguistics scholarship as of the Winter of 2010, drawing on his experiences as the editor of the issue and journal. An overview of the history of "The Modern Language Journal" is given. Discussion is offered commenting on the editorial policies and procedures used by the journal. Conclusions are given highlighting existing problems and suggesting possible changes for improvement.
Preoperative Pain Catastrophizing Predicts Pain Outcome after Knee Arthroplasty

Psychologic status is associated with poor outcome after knee arthroplasty yet little is known about which specific psychologic disorders or pain-related beliefs contribute to poor outcome. To enhance the therapeutic effect of a psychologic intervention, the specific disorders or pain-related beliefs that contributed to poor outcome should be identified. We therefore determined whether specific psychologic disorders (ie, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder) or health-related beliefs (ie, self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, fear of movement) are associated with poor outcome after knee arthroplasty. We conducted a cohort study of 140 patients undergoing knee arthroplasty at two hospitals. Patients completed a series of psychologic measures, provided various sociodemographic data, and were followed for 6 months. Patients were dichotomized to groups with either a favorable or a poor outcome using WOMAC pain and function scores and evidence-based approaches. After adjusting for confounding variables, we found pain catastrophizing was the only consistent psychologic predictor of poor WOMAC pain outcome. No psychologic predictors were associated consistently with poor WOMAC function outcome. An intervention focusing on pain catastrophizing seems to have potential for improving pain outcome in patients prone to catastrophizing pain.
Effects of sample size on accuracy of species distribution models

Abstract Given increasing access to large amounts of biodiversity information, a powerful capability is that of modeling ecological niches and predicting geographic distributions. Because, sampling species’ distributions is costly, we explored sample size needs for accurate modeling for three predictive modeling methods via re-sampling of data for well-sampled species, and developed curves of model improvement with increasing sample size. In general, under a coarse surrogate model, and machine-learning methods, average success rate at predicting occurrence of a species at a location, or accuracy, was 90% of maximum within ten sample points, and was near maximal at 50 data points. However, a fine surrogate model and logistic regression model had significantly lower rates of increase in accuracy with increasing sample size, reaching similar maximum accuracy at 100 data points. The choice of environmental variables also produced unpredictable effects on accuracy over the range of sample sizes on the logistic regression method, while the machine-learning method had robust performance throughout. Examining correlates of model performance across species, extent of geographic distribution was the only significant ecological factor.
NORTH DAKOTA GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT: ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

Gravel roads account for a large portion of the total 5.1 million km (3.2 million mi) of rural roads in the United States. These roads support the movement of farm families, rural residents, school buses, mail carriers, tourists, and agricultural commodities. In recent years, these roads have been affected by several trends. First, agricultural states are experiencing population shifts from farming areas to urbanized centers as farm sizes continue to grow, further reducing population densities and traffic levels. Second, some states such as North Dakota are experiencing a shortage in quality gravel supplies. Third, more rural road users perceive a lower level of service on gravel roads and demand better services, specifically more paved roads. Finally, the reduction in transportation budgets limits the number of gravel road kilometers that can be properly maintained. Several research efforts that examined alternative approaches to reduce gravel road maintenance costs are summarized here. These strategies may generally be classified into (a) modifying gravel road surface for high traffic roads (i.e., paving or using chemical additives), (b) reducing maintenance on gravel roads with lower traffic volumes, and (c) closing unneeded gravel roads. These options require careful economic and legal analysis before they would be implemented. The results of a case study that investigated the feasibility of paving gravel roads with various traffic levels and a brief overview of a survey of chemical soil additives in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming are reported.
Bayesian modeling for genetic association in case-control studies: accounting for unknown population substructure:

A two-stage parametric Bayesian method is proposed to examine the association between a candidate gene and the occurrence of a disease after accounting for population substructure. This procedure, implemented via a Markov chain Monte Carlo numerical integration technique, first estimates the posterior probability of different unknown population substructures and then integrates this information into a disease-gene association model through the technique of Bayesian model averaging. The model relaxes certain assumptions of previous analyses and provides a unified computational framework to obtain an estimate of the log odds ratio parameter corresponding to the genetic factor after allowing for the allele frequencies to vary across subpopulations. The uncertainty in estimating the population substructure is taken into account while providing credible intervals for parameters in the disease-gene association model. Simulations on unmatched case-control studies that mimic an admixed Argentinean population are ...
The roles states play: a Meadian interactionist approach

Constructivist scholars have largely limited their view of how state action is socially constructed to the concepts of norms and identity. As for individuals, however, role-playing is also a core aspect of state activity. I demonstrate the potential of this concept for constructivists on the basis of a reconsideration of the roles states play in international politics — drawing on symbolic interactionism and in particular the thought of G.H. Mead. From a Meadian perspective, roles are sets of appropriate behaviours, not bundles of fixed duties; they emerge in interaction and give the actor a sense of its structure and the scope of possible action. Roles are thus the necessary social vehicle for action in its meaning-creating, identity-affirming sense. Using the illustration of the Suez Crisis of 1956, I develop a ‘Meadian interactionist’ conceptual approach that builds on previous attempts to harness the potential of the role concept in International Relations (IR) and sharpens constructivist understandings of the links between role, identity, norms, and action in IR.
Explaining suspects' resistance and disrespect toward police

Abstract The importance of suspects' resistance toward police officers has almost always been described in terms of its influence on police behavior. Given the centrality of citizens' resistance in the literature on police behavior, it is surprising that so little attention has been focused on explaining suspects' resistance independent of its influence on police behavior. This research examined the factors influencing multiple measures of suspects' resistance using systematic observation data collected in 1977 from twenty-four departments in three metropolitan areas. The findings show that non-White suspects were more likely to be noncompliant toward White officers but were not more likely to show more aggressive forms of resistance (e.g., verbal aggression, physical aggression, or disrespect). In addition, female suspects were more likely to be disrespectful toward officers compared to male suspects. The relevance of these findings for future research is discussed.
Four Queries Concerning the Metaphysics of Early Human Embryogenesis

In this essay, I attempt to provide answers to the following four queries concerning the metaphysics of early human embryogenesis. (1) Following its first cellular fission, is it coherent to claim that one and only one of two "blastomeric" twins of a human zygote is identical with that zygote? (2) Following the fusion of two human pre-embryos, is it coherent to claim that one and only one pre-fusion pre-embryo is identical with that postfusion pre-embryo? (3) Does a live human being come into existence only when its brain comes into existence? (4) At implantation, does a pre-embryo become a mere part of its mother? I argue that either if things have quidditative properties or if criterialism is false, then queries (1) and (2) can be answered in the affirmative; that in light of recent developments in theories of human death and in light of a more "functional" theory of brains, query (3) can be answered in the negative; and that plausible mereological principles require a negative answer to query (4).
Glutathione is involved in the early cadmium cytotoxic response in human lung carcinoma cells.

Abstract Depletion of cellular glutathione (GSH) has been shown to sensitize A549-T27 human tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of Cd 2+ . In this study the temporal and quantitative relationships between reduced cellular GSH levels and cadmium cytotoxic response in these cells were further investigated. Exposure of A549-T27 cells to 10 mM buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) for 8 h decreased their GSH level by 65%. This GSH level remained relatively constant for 8 h in the presence or absence of BSO, but recovered to 83% of the normal cellular level 24 h after removal of BSO. Exposure to 5 μM Cd 2+ for 8 h did not significantly change cellular GSH levels. Pretreatment of the A549-T27 cells with 10 mM BSO for 8 h and subsequent exposure of the cells to Cd 2+ for 10 days, with or without concurrent treatment of 10 mM BSO during the first 8 h of Cd 2+ exposure, resulted in disappearance of the 5 μM Cd 2+ threshold for cytotoxic response and reduction of the LC 50 from 31 μM Cd 2+ to 21 μM. Similar results were obtained when BSO pretreated cells were exposed to Cd 2+ for 8 h. The threshold for cytotoxic response of 10 μM Cd 2+ disappeared and the LC 50 was reduced from 60 μM to 29 μM Cd 2+ (with concurrent BSO treatment) and 30 μM (BSO pretreatment only). The results show that GSH plays an important role in early cellular protective responses to Cd 2+ .
Solving the containment problem for figurative language

Knowledge bases for natural language processing systems which can support the interpretation of figurative language input must reflect certain pragmatic considerations in their representations. Among these are salience, prototypicality and epitomization. Confusion of these three terms in the literature impedes a clear understanding of their effect and the requirements for their possible implementation. An exploration of their differences and interrelationships is presented with an eye toward solving the “containment problem” for figurative language. The notions of a “holistic approach” and “disjoint clustering” are introduced. Implications for machine translation are briefly discussed.
Stem cell therapy for central nervous system demyelinating disease

Recent advances in cell-based therapies for demyelinating central nervous system diseases have demonstrated the ability to restore damaged neuronal architecture and function. Demyelinated axons in patients with multiple sclerosis can spontaneously remyelinate over time; however, the rate and extent at which remyelination occurs is inadequate for complete recovery. Previous attempts aimed at regenerating myelin-forming cells have been successful but limited by the multifocal nature of the lesions and the inability to produce large numbers of myelin-producing cells in culture. Stem cell-based therapy can overcome these limitations to some extent and may prove useful in the future treatment of demyelinating diseases.
SYNTHESIS OF ALKYL AND ARYL 1-PROPENYL ETHER MONOMERS: A NEW APPROACH

A new, convenient synthesis of alkyl and aryl 1-propenyl ether monomers in good to excellent yields has been developed. Alkyl and aryl allyl ethers can be smoothly isomerized to the desired 1-propenyl ethers by refluxing in a basic ethanolic solution containing pentacarbonyliron as a catalyst. A simplified two-step, one-pot procedure has also been developed which consists of combining an alcohol with allyl bromide in the presence of base and then adding pentacarbonyliron to isomerize the in-situ generated allyl ether to directly give the 1-propenyl ether. Good yields of alkyl 1-propenyl ethers were obtained using this process. Factors affecting the isomerization reaction were investigated and a mechanism was proposed.
Pressure and Temperature Dependence of Growth and Morphology of Escherichia coli: Experiments and Stochastic Model

We have investigated the growth of Escherichia coli, a mesophilic bacterium, as a function of pressure (P) and temperature (T). Escherichia coli can grow and divide in a wide range of pressure (1–400 atm) and temperature (23–40°C). For T > 30°C, the doubling time of E. coli increases exponentially with pressure and exhibits a departure from exponential behavior at pressures between 250 and 400 atm for all the temperatures studied in our experiments. The sharp change in doubling time is followed by a sharp change in phenotypic transition of E. coli at high pressures where bacterial cells switch to an elongating cell type. We propose a model that this phenotypic change in bacteria at high pressures is an irreversible stochastic process, whereas the switching probability to elongating cell type increases with increasing pressure. The model fits well the experimental data. We discuss our experimental results in the light of structural and thus functional changes in proteins and membranes.
Type-safe linking and modular assembly language

Linking is a low-level task that is usually vaguely specified, if at all, by language definitions. However, the security of web browsers and other extensible systems depends crucially upon a set of checks that must be performed at link time. Building upon the simple, but elegant ideas of Cardelli, and module constructs from high-level languages, we present a formal model of typed object files and a set of inference rules that are sufficient to guarantee that type safety is preserved by the linking process.Whereas Cardelli's link calculus is built on top of the simply-typed lambda calculus, our object files are based upon typed assembly language so that we may model important low-level implementation issues. Furthermore, unlike Cardelli, we provide support for abstract types and higher-order type constructors-features critical for building extensible systems or modern programming languages such as ML.
Risk Factors for Surgical-Wound Infection Following Cardiac Surgery

Abstract In a prospective study of 1,009 adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, we determined the association between a variety of preoperative and operative parameters and the risk of postoperative sternal- or mediastinal-wound infection. Of the parameters reflecting nutritional state, only one, reduced level of albumin in serum, was significantly associated with sternal- or mediastinal-wound infection by univariate analysis. The final multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that four variables were significant (P less than .05) independent predictors of sternal- or mediastinal-wound infection: obesity (relative odds = 3.8; 95% confidence limits = 1.9-7.5), diabetes mellitus (relative odds = 2.6; 95% confidence limits = 1.4-4.8), length of hospital stay before surgery greater than five days (relative odds = 2.0; 95% confidence limits = 1.2-3.5), and current cigarette smoking (relative odds = 1.8; 95% confidence limits = 1.1-3.1). Of these variables, perhaps only smoking will lend itself routinely to attempts at intervention.
In transition: academic e-book reading in an institution without e-books

Purpose – This paper aims to report the results of a study that examined the ways in which graduate-level library and information science students make use of e-books and e-readers at an institution that does not offer e-books through its library. The paper can be used as a case study in the adoption of emerging technology. Design/methodology/approach – The study used three research methods – a survey, focus groups and interviews – to investigate library and information science students’ reading habits and preferences. Findings – The findings suggest that despite the barriers of access and usability, the students have generally incorporated e-books into their academic routines. The results also suggest the factors that contribute to reader preferences for e-book technology. Research limitations/implications – The study sample was limited to one academic institution without e-book collection. Originality/value – The article presents one of the very few studies that examine e-book reading of an academic pop...
Automated tracking and modeling of microtubule dynamics

The method of microtubule tracking and dynamics analysis, presented here, improves upon the current means of manual and automated quantification of microtubule behavior. Key contributions are increasing accuracy and data volume, eliminating user bias and providing advanced analysis tools for the discovery of temporal patterns in cellular processes. By tracking the entire length of each resolvable microtubule, as opposed to only the tip, it is possible to boost dynamics studies with positional information that is virtually impossible to collect manually. We demonstrate the method on the analysis of a microtubule dataset, which was manually tracked and analyzed in the study of /spl beta/III-tubulin isoform. Our results show that automated recognition of temporal patterns in cellular processes offers a highly promising potential.
Aqueous CdPbS quantum dots for near-infrared imaging.

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting nanocrystals that have photoluminescent (PL) properties brighter than fluorescent molecules and do not photo-bleach, ideal for in?vivo imaging of diseased tissues or monitoring of biological processes. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent light within the window of 700?1000?nm, which is separated from the major absorption peaks of hemoglobin and water, has the potential to be detected several millimeters under the surface with minimal interference from tissue autofluorescence. Here we report the synthesis and bioimaging demonstration of a new NIR QDs system, namely, CdPbS, made by an aqueous approach with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as the capping molecule. The aqueous-synthesized, MPA-capped CdPbS QDs exhibited an NIR emission in the range of 800?950?nm with xi???0.3, where xi denotes the initial Pb molar fraction during the synthesis. Optimal PL performance of the CdPbS QDs occurred at xi?=?0.7, which was about 4?nm in size as determined by transmission electron microscopy, had a rock salt structure and a quantum yield of 12%. Imaging of CdPbS QDs was tested in membrane staining and transfection studies. Cells transfected with CdPbS QDs were shown to be visible underneath a slab of chicken muscle tissue of up to 0.7?mm in thickness without the use of multiple-photon microscopy.
Estimating causal effects in trials involving multitreatment arms subject to non-compliance: A Bayesian framework

Summary. Data analysis for randomized trials including multitreatment arms is often complicated by subjects who do not comply with their treatment assignment.We discuss here methods of estimating treatment efficacy for randomized trials involving multitreatment arms subject to non-compliance. One treatment effect of interest in the presence of non-compliance is the complier average causal effect, which is defined as the treatment effect for subjects who would comply regardless of the treatment assigned. Following the idea of principal stratification, we define principal compliance in trials with three treatment arms, extend the complier average causal effect and define causal estimands of interest in this setting. In addition, we discuss structural assumptions that are needed for estimation of causal effects and the identifiability problem that is inherent in this setting from both a Bayesian and a classical statistical perspective. We propose a likelihood-based framework that models potential outcomes in this setting and a Bayes procedure for statistical inference. We compare our method with a method-of-moments approach that was proposed by Cheng and Small in 2006 by using a hypothetical data set, and we further illustrate our approach with an application to a behavioural intervention study.
Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery; the physiologic defect and suggested surgical treatment.

Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is a rare and almost universally fatal form of congenital heart disease. It has usually been assumed that flow in the aberrant artery is from the pulmonary artery toward the myocardium and efforts at surgical correction have been directed at increasing the perfusion pressure or the oxygen content of pulmonary artery blood. Evidence is presented, that flow in the aberrant artery is into the pulmonary artery and that ligation of the vessel at its origin should be carried out before irreversible myocardial damage has occurred.
Potassium Depletion and Cardiac Hypertrophy How Does It Work

For a number of years, many clinicians have believed that potassium depletion should be avoided in the treatment of hypertension, and that potassium supplementation might be advantageous in such patients.1 The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, a diet that is low in sodium and replete with potassium, is now being recommended as a standard lifestyle modification for patients with hypertension or other cardiovascular risk factors.2 Cardiac hypertrophy is a well-known complication of hypertension that is believed to have substantial consequences in afflicted patients.3 However, the interactions between potassium supplementation, blood pressure, and cardiac hypertrophy are still incompletely understood. In this issue of Hypertension , Dr Burnier’s laboratory reports that potassium supplementation ameliorates both renal and cardiac hypertrophy in both 1 and 2 renin-gene mice given deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) and sodium supplementation. Furthermore, these scientists are able to dissociate the effects of potassium supplementation on blood pressure from the effects on organ hypertrophy. Specifically, these authors demonstrated that whereas potassium supplementation did lower blood pressure in the 2-renin gene mice that developed substantial hypertension with DOCA and sodium supplementation, it did not significantly affect blood pressure in the normotensive 1-renin gene mouse that also developed cardiac and …
Wordlength estimation of digital controller synthesis for inkjet printer mechanism

The effect of FWL on the coefficients in implementing digital controllers has been the subject of many recent studies. Especially, this issue is more severe in the low budget consumer electronic products. To save the cost of development, most of the manufacturers applied cheap processors on those kinds of products. Therefore, it is desired to develop an estimation to predict the required word length while designing the controller. In this paper, the authors focus on study on an inkjet printing mechanism and investigate the effect of a controller without a proper word length. The authors develop an algorithm to estimate the required resolution and apply the method to determine the required bits of word length for the controller designed.
Differential high-altitude adaptation and restricted gene flow across a mid-elevation hybrid zone in Andean tit-tyrant flycatchers.

The tropical Andes are a global hotspot of avian diversity that is characterized by dramatic elevational shifts in community composition and a preponderance of recently evolved species. Bird habitats in the Andes span a nearly twofold range of atmospheric pressure that poses challenges for respiration, thermoregulation, water balance and powered flight, but the extent to which physiological constraints limit species' elevational distributions is poorly understood. We report a previously unknown hybrid zone between recently diverged flycatchers (Aves, Tyrannidae) with partially overlapping elevational ranges. The southern Anairetes reguloides has a broad elevational range (0–4200 m), while the northern Anairetes nigrocristatus is restricted to high elevations (>2200 m). We found hybrids in central Peru at elevations between ~3100 and 3800 m, with A. nigrocristatus above this elevation and A. reguloides below. We analysed variation in haematology, heart mass, morphometrics, plumage and one mitochondrial and three nuclear loci across an elevational transect that encompasses the hybrid zone. Phenotypic traits and genetic markers all showed steep clines across the hybrid zone. Haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean cellular haemoglobin concentration and relative heart mass each increased at altitude more strongly in A. reguloides than in A. nigrocristatus. These findings suggest that A. nigrocristatus is more resistant than A. reguloides to high-altitude hypoxic respiratory stress. Considering that the ancestor of the genus is suggested to have been restricted to high elevations, A. reguloides may be secondarily adapted to low altitude. We conclude that differential respiratory specialization on atmospheric pressure combined with competitive exclusion maintains replacement along an elevational contour, despite interbreeding.
Interpolation and Profile Correction (IPC) Method for Shortwave Radiative Transfer in Spectral Intervals of Gaseous Absorption

The new interpolation and profile correction (IPC) method for radiance/flux calculations in gaseous absorption bands is presented. The IPC method is designed to allow an arbitrary spectral resolution including monochromatic mode. It features a high computational efficiency typical of the correlated-k method, and an accuracy comparable to that of the line-by-line codes. The IPC method may be considered as a variant of the spectral mapping techniques powerfully enhanced by a straightforward correction of the solution for single and multiple scattering.
Chemical Alarm Signals Enhance Survival of Brook Charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) During Encounters with Predatory Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

A diversity of aquatic organisms release chemical alarm signals when attacked or captured by a predator. These alarm signals are thought to warn other conspecifics of danger and, consequently, may benefit receivers by increasing their survival. Here we experimentally investigated the diAerences in behaviour and survival of hatchery-reared juvenile brook charr Salvelinus fontinalis that had been exposed to either brook charr skin extract (experimental treatment) or a control of swordtail skin extract (control treatment). Charr exposed to conspecific skin extract exhibited a significant reduction in movement and/or altered their foraging behaviour in the laboratory when compared with charr exposed to swordtail skin extract. We also exposed charr to either water conditioned by a single brook charr disturbed by a predatory bird model or water conditioned by a single undisturbed brook charr. Charr exposed to disturbance signals reduced activity significantly more than charr exposed to chemical stimuli from undisturbed charr. These results demonstrate the existence of both damagereleased alarm signals and disturbance signals in brook charr. Wild brook charr also responded to damage-released alarm cues under natural conditions. Charr avoided areas of a stream with minnow traps labelled with conspecific alarm cues vs. control cues. During staged encounters with chain pickerel Esox niger in the laboratory, predator-naive charr fry were better able to evade the predator if they were previously warned by an alarm signal, thus suggesting a survival benefit to receivers. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the presence of alarm signals in brook charr has important implications for understanding predator‐prey interactions.
Nonsilicate Stabilization of Hydrogen Peroxide Bleach Solutions

Alkaline solutions of hydrogen peroxide are stabilized by addition of calcium chloride and disodium phosphate. Evidence is given that stabilization may be due to the forma tion of CaHPO4 as precipitate.
DNA polymorphism detector: an automated tool that searches for allelic matches in public databases for discrepancies found in clone or cDNA sequences

Summary: DNA polymorphism detector (DPD) is a new web application developed to help automate the process of cDNA clone validation. DPD identifies and highlights discrepancies between any cDNA clone sequence and its expected reference sequence. To determine if these differences correspond to natural genetic polymorphisms (versus artifacts introduced during clone production or evaluation), DPD uses the discrepancies, along with flanking sequences, to search GenBank for identical matching strings. If matching DNA sequences are found, DPD verifies that they are from the same gene. The application then reports the discrepancy as a polymorphism along with the corresponding GenBank reference information. Availability: DPD is currently hosted by the Harvard Institute of Proteomics at http://www.hip.harvard.edu Contact: carol_chang@hms.harvard.edu
Heat-shock protein-based vaccines for cancer and infectious disease

Almost 60 years ago, the pioneering work of George Klein and others showed that cancers could be made targets for the immune system. Identification of the tumor targets, known as tumor antigens, became a focus in cancer biology that led to the discovery of the immunological properties of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in 1986 by Pramod Srivastava and colleagues. Since then, the use of HSPs in the therapeutics of cancer and infectious disease in several clinical trials has been guided by our understanding of the role and effects of HSPs in adaptive and innate immune responses, investigated primarily in mice. This review will highlight the immunological properties of HSPs as we understand them today and review the clinical work on human cancers. Several Phase I and II clinical trials in different types of cancer that have been completed, as well as ongoing Phase III trials, will be summarized.
Validation of volume and mass assessments for human fetal heart imaging by 4-dimensional spatiotemporal image correlation echocardiography: in vitro balloon model experiments.

Objective. This study was designed to validate a slow-sweep real-time 4-dimensional (4D) spatiotemporal image correlation method for producing quantitatively accurate dynamic fetal heart images using an in vitro pulsatileballoon model and apparatus. Methods. To model fetal heart chambers, asymmetric double-walled finger stalls (tips of surgical latex gloves) were used and attached to a laboratory-designed circuit that allowed calibrated changes in the inner balloon volume as well as an intermediate gel mass interposed between the 2 layers. The water-submerged model was attached to a small-volume pulsatile pump to produce phasic changes in volume within the inner balloon at a fixed rate. A sonography system with 4D spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) capabilities was used for 3-dimensional (3D) and 4D data acquisition. Volume data were analyzed by customized radial summation techniques with 4D data analysis software and compared with known volumes and masses. Results. Fifty-six individual volumes ranging from 2.5 to 10 mL were analyzed. Volume and mass measurements with 4D STIC were highly correlated (R 2 > 0.90). The mean percentage error was better (<6%) for volumes exceeding 4 mL and was as low as 0.3% for 6-mL estimations. Measurements in the diastolic phase were the most accurate, followed by mass estimations equivalent to chamber walls. There was a wider range of percentage error in the lowest volumes tested (2.5 mL), which might have arisen from difficulties in spatial resolution or distortions from within the model apparatus itself. Resolution limitations of 4D technology in combination with extremely small volume targets may explain higher error rates at these small volumes. Conclusions. Four-dimensional STIC is an acceptably accurate method for volume and mass estimations in the ranges comparable with mid- and late-gestation fetal hearts. It is particularly accurate for diastolic estimations, for chamber wall mass measurements, and at volumes of greater than 2.5 mL. This study validates use of 4D STIC technology to overcome the limitations of nongated 3D technology for phasic and quantitative assessments in fetal echocardiography.
Age changes in timing and 24-hour distribution of self-reported sleep.

Objective Aging has been associated with increased nocturnal awakenings, increased napping, earlier bedtimes and wake-up times, and more regular sleep–wake schedules. These patterns have often been ascribed to both psychosocial and medical factors, but nearly all studies to-date have been cross-sectional. Methods The authors present self-reported sleep data from 31 elderly subjects followed over a decade. Results With aging, the number of nightly awakenings and daytime napping increased over time. Exploratory analyses suggested that individuals who lived with another person had earlier bedtimes, later wake-up times, and greater daytime napping. Intervening medical comorbidities also appeared to be associated with increased napping. Conclusion These results confirm previous cross-sectional studies and suggest a complex biopsychosocial matrix for the timing and placement of sleep in elderly persons within the 24-hour day.
The neuropsychiatry of the cerebellum - insights from the clinic.

A central aspect of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome is the dysregulation of affect that occurs when lesions involve the ‘limbic cerebellum’ (vermis and fastigial nucleus). In this case series we describe neuropsychiatric disturbances in adults and children with congenital lesions including cerebellar agenesis, dysplasia, and hypoplasia, and acquired conditions including cerebellar stroke, tumor, cerebellitis, trauma, and neurodegenerative disorders. The behaviors that we witnessed and that were described by patients and families included distractibility and hyperactivity, impulsiveness, disinhibition, anxiety, ritualistic and stereotypical behaviors, illogical thought and lack of empathy, as well as aggression and irritability. Ruminative and obsessive behaviors, dysphoria and depression, tactile defensiveness and sensory overload, apathy, childlike behavior, and inability to appreciate social boundaries and assign ulterior motives were also evident. We grouped these disparate neurobehavioral profiles into five major domains, characterized broadly as disorders of attentional control, emotional control, and social skill set as well as autism spectrum disorders, and psychosis spectrum disorders. Drawing on our dysmetria of thought hypothesis, we conceptualized the symptom complexes within each putative domain as reflecting either exaggeration (overshoot, hypermetria) or diminution (hypotonia, or hypometria) of responses to the internal or external environment. Some patients fluctuated between these two states. We consider the implications of these neurobehavioral observations for the care of patients with ataxia, discuss the broader role of the cerebellum in the pathogenesis of these neuropsychiatric symptoms, and revisit the possibility of using cerebellar stimulation to treat psychiatric disorders by enhancing cerebellar modulation of cognition and emotion.
Patterns of Section 8 Relocation in the Hope VI Program

ABSTRACT:In HUD’s HOPE VI program, deteriorated structures housing some of the poorest families in our society are being demolished and replaced by low-rise, mixed-income developments. Some of the ...
Pharmacotherapy for chronic depression.

This article reviews the current status of the treatment of chronic depression with antidepressant medications. Short and longer term clinical trials that have investigated the efficacy of several classes of antidepressants are summarized. The important outcomes of treatment in these studies, including response category, symptom reduction, and improved psychosocial function, are elaborated. Short-term trials seem reasonably conclusive in establishing the effectiveness of antidepressants for dysthymia and double depression, although rates of remission fall short of 50%.