cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evolution and Localization of Postictal Blood Flow Changes in Partial Seizures Demonstrated by SPECT: Use of Quantitative Difference Images

Abstract Ictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a sensitive means of seizure localization in partial epilepsy. The purpose of this study is to enhance the diagnostic yield of postictal SPECT for epilepsy and to overcome the difficulties in its conventional interpretation. We developed a method for coregistration, normalization, and subtraction of interictal from ictal SPECT to reveal positive difference images (and ictal from interictal to reveal negative difference images) of cerebral blood flow (CBF) during seizures. This method also allows quantification of regions of greatest percent increase and decrease, normalized to seizure duration. We studied 12 patients who had confirmed epileptogenic regions by surgery and pathology (seven temporal, five extratemporal). In all 12 patients, with either early (during ictus) or late injection (after seizure termination), the difference images showed increases or decreases respectively in blood flow consistent with the epileptogenic region. We highlight the localizing value of the negative difference change in perfusion (state of hypoperfusion) that persists for up to 100 seconds after seizure termination and corresponds to the epileptogenic region. Application of this technique for the quantification of perfusion changes during seizure or immediately after seizure cessation enhances the diagnostic yield of SPECT in both temporal and extratemporal epilepsy.
An Overview of Anemia in Children

Anemia is the most common hematologic disorder found in pediatrics. Anemia may be either acute or chronic. Classification of anemia is based on physiology as well as morphology of the red blood cell and allows for precise diagnosis of the type of anemia and its underlying cause.Anemia is most commonly classified by the size, shape, and color of the red blood cell. Correct diagnosis can usually be established with a thorough history and physical and a few simple laboratory tests. Nurses can play an important role in the early detection, prevention, and treatment of all types of anemias found in children if they possess a current and complete knowledge of the disease process and its treatment.
Evidence for Relative Radius of Gyration as the Criterion for Selective Diffusion Behavior of Polymer Brushes

When exposed to a dilute solution of free species, the polymer brush functions as a selective barrier to diffusion. Experiments with linear polymer chains and dendrimers of various sizes demonstrated that the selection criterion is relative size, i.e., radius of the free species (radius of gyration for linear chains and simple radius for dendrimers) relative to the radius of gyration of the chains composing the brush. This suggests that linear chains do not necessarily assume extended conformations as they diffuse into a brush but have conformations similar to those of nanoscale spherical inclusions.
The impact of initial particle size on the fragmentation of cellulose by the cellulase of thermomonospora fusca

This paper explores the impact of initial particle size on the rate and extent of cellulose fragmentation. Microcrystalline cellulose Avicel PH 102 was sieved with a set of US standard sieves to obtain six monodisperse, particle size ranges. Three of these size ranges (74 μm < x < 105 μm, 46 μm < x 63 μm < x 46 μm) were made into 5% suspensions and hydrolyzed with 0·1 and 0·25 mg ml−1Thermomonospora fusca crude cellulase. Samples were removed very 20 min during hydrolysis and analyzed for reducing sugar, free enzyme and particle size distribution. The results showed that initial particle size had no impact on the rate and extent of reducing sugar production or on enzyme binding. However, the rate and extent of cellulose fragmentation was strongly affected by initial particle size. The change in the volume fraction distribution with time was also influenced by initial particle size, with larger particles giving rise to a bimodal distribution and smaller particles to a skewed distribution. The changes in the volume fraction distributions with time suggested fragmentation to be the dominant reaction for larger particles and erosion to be the dominant reaction for smaller particles. These experiments show that fragmentation is not the rate limiting step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.
Distributed Learning: Data, Metacognition, and Educational Implications

A major decision that must be made during study pertains to the distribution, or the scheduling, of study. In this paper, we review the literature on the benefits of spacing, or spreading one's study sessions relatively far apart in time, as compared to massing, where study is crammed into one long session without breaks. The results from laboratory research provide strong evidence for this pervasive “spacing effect,” especially for long-term retention. The metacognitive literature on spacing, however, suggests that massing is the preferred strategy, particularly in young children. Reasons for why this is so are discussed as well as a few recommendations regarding how spacing strategies might be encouraged in real-world learning. While further research and applicability questions remain, the two fields—education and cognitive science—have made huge progress in recent years, resulting in promising new learning developments.
Strategic Issue Analysis: NGT + Decision Analysis for Resolving Strategic Issues

This article discusses how nominal group technique (NGT) can be combined with a decision analysis (DA) technique-simple multi-attribute utility-to assist decision makers in dealing with strategic issues. The authors identify a stepwise means of guiding such complex, "messy" issues through multiple levels so that organization-level alternatives can be considered without sacrificing unit-specific needs. A detailed case study is presented in which an organization consisting of many independently functioning divisions and subdivisions used NGT + DA along with group decision methodology to devise and choose from among alternatives for an integrated computer system. The organization was able to achieve consensus as to the system adopted, and informal and survey feedback from participants indicates their satisfaction with the process. The authors conclude that NGT + DA is relatively easy and inexpensive to use and transparent to the user, and call for research to assess its relative strengths compared to other c...
Novel multiwavelength emitter for WDM transmission utilizing broadband quantum-dash laser diode

We demonstrate a novel idea of potentially-compact and cost-effective multiwavelength emitter using a single broadband semiconductor quantum-dash laser device coupled with an arrayed waveguide grating structure, that is suitable for wavelength-division-multiplexing transmission.
Left ventricular diastolic function and exercise capacity in community-dwelling adults ≥65 years of age without heart failure.

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) has been reported to have strong correlation with exercise capacity. However, this relationship has not been studied extensively in community-dwelling older adults. Data on pulse and tissue Doppler echocardiographic estimates of resting early (E) and atrial (A) transmitral peak inflow and early (Em) mitral annular velocities, and six-minute walk test were obtained from 89 community-dwelling older adults (mean age, 74; range, 65 -93 years; 54% women), without a history of heart failure. Overall, 47% had cardiovascular morbidity and 60% had normal diastolic function (E/A 0.75 -1.5 and E/Em 1.5 and E/Em ≥10) LVDD respectively. Those with LVDD were older (77 versus 73 years; p=0.001) and tended to have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity (58% versus 40%; p=0.083). LVDD negatively correlated with six-minute walk distance (1013 versus 1128 feet; R=−0.25; p=0.017). This association remained significant despite adjustment for cardiovascular morbidity (R=−0.35; p=0.048), but lost significance when adjusted for age (R=−0.32; p=0.105), both age and cardiovascular morbidity (R=−0.38; p=0.161), and additional adjustment for sex, race, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure (R=−0.44; p=0.365). In conclusion, most community-dwelling older adults without heart failure had normal left ventricular diastolic function or grade-I LVDD. Although LVDD was associated with decreased performance on a six-minute walk test, that association was no longer evident after adjustment for age, body mass index and cardiovascular morbidity.
Nonlinear oscillations of a harmonically excited composite structure

Abstract An experimental study was conducted of the nonlinear forced response of an internally-resonant composite structure to primary resonant excitations. Coupling between the directly excited and indirectly excited modes of vibration of the structure leads to nonlinear periodic, periodically modulated, and chaotically modulated responses. Some of the observed nonlinear responses are nonplanar due to interaction between flexural and torsional modes of vibration. Experimental results are presented and compared with those obtained in earlier studies of a metallic structure having a similar form.
PRESENCE OF IMMUNOREACTIVE CORTICOTROPIN-RELEASING FACTOR IN RAT TESTIS

We attempted to demonstrate the presence of immunoreactive (ir) CRF in rat testis by RIA, and by an immunocytochemical technique. The RIA was performed on 27,000 × g supernatants of phosphate buffer extracts of adult rat testes, and revealed a high concentration of irCRF (51 – 74 ng/g testis), with a clear parallelism to the standard curve prepared with synthetic rat CRF. In contrast, the peripheral blood level of irCRF was extremely low (<0.05 ng/ml). Immunocytochemical studies of irCRF revealed strong specific staining in the Leydig cells and germ cells in normal adult rat testis. Epididymal spermatozoa also stained positive. Testicular irCRF fluctuated significantly with age. The levels (mean ± SD) assayed in 10, 20, 60 and 90-day-old rats were 41.6 ± 4.7, 8.7 + 0.2, 55.5 ± 3.3 and 71.3 ± 3.4 ng/g testis, respectively (P<0.01). The level was drastically reduced after abdominal translocation of a testis (9.6 ± 1.3 ng/g testis), and after hypophysectomy (16.7 ± 1.6 ng/g testis) in adult rats. However, ne...
The study of a rDNA replicator in Saccharomyces

We have previously demonstrated that the loss of Rcp-CEN3, a centromeric plasmid containing yeast rDNA autonomously replicating sequences (ARS) is as high as around 50% per generation for most yeast strains. In this study we have attempted to elucidate mechanisms underlying the high mitotic instability of Rcp-CEN3. For this purpose a tandem duplication of a rDNA ARS was constructed in Rcp-CEN3. The new plasmid having two ARSs possesses a markedly higher mitotic stability as compared to a monoARS Rcp-CEN3. The mitotic stability of this centromere-containing plasmid which has two replicators corresponds to the calculated value for the mitotic stability of two monoARS plasmids Rcp-CEN3 in given cells. Genetic analysis has demonstrated that both plasmids having one or two ARSs are maintained in the single copy state. These results demonstrate that the mitotic instability of centromeric plasmid Rcp-CEN3 carrying a rDNA ARS is associated with the absence of stringent control of replication from the rDNA ARS. A possible mechanism of replication of the chromosomal rDNA repeats in yeast is discussed in the light of this data.
Optimal designs for two-stage genome-wide association studies.

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies require genotyping hundreds of thousands of markers on thousands of subjects, and are expensive at current genotyping costs. To conserve resources, many GWA studies are adopting a staged design in which a proportion of the available samples are genotyped on all markers in stage 1, and a proportion of these markers are genotyped on the remaining samples in stage 2. We describe a strategy for designing cost-effective two-stage GWA studies. Our strategy preserves much of the power of the corresponding one-stage design and minimizes the genotyping cost of the study while allowing for differences in per genotyping cost between stages 1 and 2. We show that the ratio of stage 2 to stage 1 per genotype cost can strongly influence both the optimal design and the genotyping cost of the study. Increasing the stage 2 per genotype cost shifts more of the genotyping and study cost to stage 1, and increases the cost of the study. This higher cost can be partially mitigated by adopting a design with reduced power while preserving the false positive rate or by increasing the false positive rate while preserving power. For example, reducing the power preserved in the two-stage design from 99 to 95% that of the one-stage design decreases the two-stage study cost by ∼15%. Alternatively, the same cost savings can be had by relaxing the false positive rate by 2.5-fold, for example from 1/300,000 to 2.5/300,000, while retaining the same power. Genet. Epidemiol. 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Raman spectroscopy of polymorphic orthophosphates containing sodium and lanthanide elements

Mixed orthophosphates (Na3Lnx(PO4)y) containing sodium and lanthanide elements have been prepared by several synthetic methods and have been characterized by Raman spectroscopy at both ambient and elevated temperatures, X-ray diffraction, and neutron activation analysis. The elements from La to Gd have been observed to form compounds with the stoichiometry Na3Ln(PO4)2, which exhibit only one type of symmetry. Yttrium and the elements from Tb to Lu form compounds with the stoichiometries Na3Ln(PO4)2 and Na3Ln2(PO4)3. Each compound occurs in several crystal symmetries. One of these, designated as phase γ, appears to be a new phase.
Design of a Reliable Distributed Secure Database System

We propose to develop a design for a reliable distributed relational database management system to safeguard sensitive information. Each day, increasingly more highly sophisticated computer attacks are occurring in the information storage systems of financial institutions, eCommerce businesses, universities, hospitals and government agencies. We urgently need to develop a secure and dependable way to safeguard our information repositories and storage systems. In this research, we propose to develop a highly robust, dependable and secure relational database management system to prevent sensitive information from being lost, stolen or corrupted. The basic idea is to i) include a (k, n) threshold-based secret sharing scheme (k ≤ n) to provide privacy and durability in order to prevent sensitive information from being lost or stolen, ii) incorporate an efficient distributed database management design to enhance system performance and minimize interfered accesses contentions, and iii) integrate private information storage (PIS) schemes to reduce communication overhead and improve robustness of the system.
Solubilization of a stereospecific opiate-macromolecular complex from rat brain

A [3H]etorphine-macromolecular complex has been solubilized from rat brain synaptosomal fraction by extraction with the nonionic detergent Brij 36T. Stereospecificity of binding to this solubilized complex was demonstrated by the finding that radioactivity in the complex was virtually eliminated when binding had occurred in the presence of excess levorphanol, an active narcotic analgesic, while it was unaffected by its inactive enantiomorph dextrorphan. Bound radioactivity was dissociated by proteolytic enzymes, sulfhydryl reagents, and heat, suggesting the presence of protein. The bound solubilized macromolecular moiety may be the opiate receptor.
Feedback control of two-time-scale nonlinear systems

This article concerns a class of two-time-scale single-input single-output nonlinear systems. For such systems, combination of singular perturbation and geometric methods is employed to synthesize well-conditioned static state feedback laws that induce a well-characterized input-output behaviour and guarantee stability of the closed-loop system. The developed control laws are applied to two nonlinear chemical processes with time-scale multiplicity and their performance is evaluated through simulations.
The determination of efficient record segmentations and blocking factors for shared data files

It is generally believed that 80 percent of all retrieval from a commercial database is directed at only 20 percent of the stored data items. By partitioning data items into primary and secondary record segments, storing them in physically separate files, and judiciously allocating available buffer space to the two files, it is possible to significantly reduce the average cost of information retrieval from a shared database. An analytic model, based upon knowledge of data item lengths, data access costs, and user retrieval patterns, is developed to assist an analyst with this assignment problem. A computationally tractable design algorithm is presented and results of its application are described.
Assessing the Magnitude and Costs of Intraoperative Inefficiencies Attributable to Surgical Instrument Trays

Background Efficiency in the operating room has become a topic of great interest. This study aimed to quantify the percent use of instruments among common instrument trays across 4 busy surgical services: Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, Bariatric Surgery, and Neurosurgery. We further aimed to calculate the costs associated with tray and instrument sterilization, as well as the implications of missing or damaged instruments. Study Design This was a single-site, observational study conducted on the surgical instrumentation at a large academic medical center in Chicago. Data were collected through direct observation by a trained investigator. Operating room instrument use and labor time required for cleaning and repacking instrument trays in central sterile processing (CSP) were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression. Institutional data on volume and expenses were gathered from hospital leadership. Results Forty-nine procedures and 237 individual trays were observed. Average instrument (±SD)use rates were 13.0% for Otolaryngology (±4.2%), 15.5% for Plastic Surgery (±2.9%), 18.2% for Bariatric Surgery (±5.0%), and 21.9% for Neurosurgery (±1.7%). An increasing number of instruments per tray was associated with decreased use and increased instrument error rate. Using recorded labor time, the cost of cleaning and repackaging an individual instrument was calculated to be $0.10. Adding in CSP operating expenses and instrument depreciation per use, total processing cost per instrument increases to $0.51 or more. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that the percent use of instruments across surgical specialties and multiple tray types is low. Attention to tray composition may result in immediate and significant cost savings.
Rural banking markets and holding company entry

Abstract This paper studies the process of multibank holding company entry into rural banking markets. A logit analysis indicates holding companies tend to be attracted to larger, growing, relatively less concentrated markets. These results can be used to assess the degree of potential competition in particular rural markets. A forecast of entry between 1981 and 1983 indicates that recent financial deregulation and the agricultural recession have not yet had a significant impact upon the process of entry. Since many rural markets appear to be unattractive, this raises an issue concerning the availability of convenient and modern financial services in rural areas.
Parameters Affecting Thermo-Meohanical Cracking in Coated Media Due to High-Speed Friction Load

This investigation considers the thermo-mechanical effects of an asperity traversing at a high speed over a semi-infinite medium with a thin, hard coated surface. The general analytical solution of the temperature field and the thermal stress state are obtained and expressed in Fourier transform space. The analysis emphasizes the heating effect of the friction force, which leads to the initiation of the thermo-mechanical cracking or “heat-checking,” in the coating layer, the substrate, or their interface. For hard coated layers, the initiation of a crack will occur either in the coating layer, the substrate or the interface depending on the relative properties of the coating and the substrate and their bonding strength.
Experimental and theoretical values of the ultrasonic properties of dispersions: effect of particle state and size distribution

Abstract Experimental and theoretical data are presented on the ultrasonic properties of polydisperse oil-in-water dispersions. Both emulsions (containing liquid oil droplets) and suspensions (containing crystallized oil particles) have been studied. The suspensions were prepared by crystallizing octadecane droplets in the emulsion. Then, by using a supercooling effect, measurements were obtained at 20°C with either liquid or solid particles. The particle concentrations were 5 and 4.3% v/v for the emulsions and suspensions, respectively, and the particles had diameters in the range 0.2–30 μm. Measurements were made of ultrasonic velocity and attenuation in the frequency range 5–96 MHz. The results are compared with theoretical predictions using a first-order multiple scattering formalism, including polydispersity in particle size. There are dramatic effects, both theoretically and experimentally, upon freezing the particles, mainly due to the presence of resonances in the suspension. In this system the largest particles in the distribution are those most likely to be undergoing resonance. Thus the ultrasonic properties are highly dependent on the detailed particle size distribution.
Particle size distributions and heavy metals emissions from guayule fireplace logs

Abstract A study of smoke and heavy metals produced during controlled burning of guayule fireplace logs is presented. An Arapahoe smoke chamber was used to generate and deposit smoke on filters for mass determinations using a modified version of the standard method given in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D-4100. Heavy metals analyses on the smoke phase were carried out by emission spectroscopy. Particle size distributions by cascade impactor analyses are presented for flaming, smoldering, and combined flaming/smoldering combustion conditions. Except for chromium, if present in the hexavalent state, the analysis revealed no unusually toxic constituents in the smoke particulates or in the condensable liquid phase. The data are indicative of the results that could be obtained during actual use of a guayule fireplace log.
Nontraumatic Acute Intraparenchymal Hemorrhage: Algorithm for Workup and Differential Diagnosis

Nontraumaticspontaneousintracerebralhemorrhage(ICH) accounts for 8%-15% of all strokes 1 and has a poor prognosis, with a mortality rate of almost 50% within the first month and 80% rate of dependency at 6 months from onset. 2 The high rate of early neurologic deterioration after ICH is thought to be related to active bleeding that may occur for hours after symptom onset. Prompt neuroimaging is therefore critical, and it has been shown that patients with symptomatic ICH that undergo earlier neuroimaging are more likely to demonstrate hematoma expansion on subsequent imaging. 3,4 Identification of patients who are more likely to have hematoma expansion is an active area of research, and there are many ongoing therapeutic trials targeting this specifi cp atient population at risk, including Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage (ATACH-II), The Spot Sign for Predicting and Treating ICH Growth Study (STOP-IT), and “Spot Sign” Selection of Intracerebral Hemorrhage to Guide Hemostatic Therapy (SPOTLIGHT). In this article, we review the different imaging modalities and provide an algorithm (Fig. 1) for the workup of patients presenting with nontraumatic intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH). A differential diagnosis of etiologies and imaging manifestations of primary vs secondary IPH has also been presented.
Partitioning PDE Computations: Methods and Performance Evaluation

Abstract We consider modeling, predicting and evaluating the performance of methods for solving PDEs in parallel architectures. We have developed a method for coarse grain partitioning of computations for parallel architectures and we apply it to three PDE applications: (a) Cholesky factorization, (b) spline collocation, and (c) an application complete from processing text input to plotting the PDE solution. Our partitioning method is oriented to minimizing interprocessor communication and we review some ‘uniform’ architectures and models of their communication. We apply this method to the three applications implemented on the FLEX/32 multicomputer. We review the architecture of the FLEX/32 and the results of applying the partitioning method to computation running on the FLEX/32. We observe that the FLEX/32 does not have any communication bottleneck and probably will not suffer substantial communication performance degradation if the processor speeds are increased by a factor of 10. Our partitioning method works reasonably well even here where communication costs are negligigble. The coarse grain structure of two of these applications is not highly parallel and we observe speedups of about k /2 for k processors. The other application is highly parallel and we observe optimal speedups for any number of processors as the problem size increases.
From Superatomic Au25(SR)18− to Superatomic M@Au24(SR)18q Core−Shell Clusters

Au{sub 25}(SR){sub 18}{sup -} belongs to a new type of superatom that features an icosahedral Au{sub 13} core-shell structure and a protective layer of six RS(Au-SR){sub 2} motifs. This superatom has a magic number of 8 free electrons that fully fill the 1s and 1p levels of the electron-shell model. By applying this superatom concept to the core-substitution chemistry of Au{sub 25}(SR){sub 18}{sup -}, we first scanned the periodic table for the potential core atom M by applying a simple rule derived from the 8-electron count and then optimized the selected candidates by density functional theory calculations to create many series of M{at}Au{sub 24}(SR){sub 18}{sup q} core-shell nanoclusters. We found that 16 elements from groups 1, 2, and 10-14 of the periodic table can maintain both electronic and geometric structures of the original Au{sub 25}(SR){sub 18}{sup -} magic cluster, indicating that the electron-counting rule based on the superatom concept is powerful in predicting viable M{at}Au{sub 24}(SR){sub 18}{sup q} clusters. Our work opens up a promising area for experimental exploration.
Reversion of a mutation affecting the molecular weight of HGPRT: intragenic suppression and localization of X-linked genes.

RJK39 is a clone of Chinese hamster cells carrying a mutation which inactivates hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) and reduces the apparent molecular weight of the enzyme. Using mutagens, we have isolated subclones of RJK39 which will grow in the counterselective HAT medium. Some continue to be HGPRT-deficient and survived the selection because they are resistant to aminopterin. In all but one of the HGPRT-positive revenants, the molecular weight of the enzyme returned to the wild-type value. However, the phenotypes of several of those strains indicate they produce altered forms of HGPRT, and one can conclude that second-site mutations must be able to cause intragenic suppression of the original mutation in RJK39. One of the revertants is pseudotetraploid and functionally heterozygous at the HGPRT locus. Segregation studies with that clone localized the genes for HGPRT, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and phosphoglycerate kinase to the short arm of the Chinese hamster X chromosome.
Efficacy of a checklist as part of a physical medicine and rehabilitation clerkship to teach medical students musculoskeletal physical examination skills: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a checklist as part of a physical medicine clerkship to teach medical students physical examination maneuvers. DESIGN This is a prospective study performed on fourth year medical students enrolled in a 2-wk mandatory clerkship of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. At the start and end of the rotation, the participating students were tested by performing 20 physical examination maneuvers on an investigator who was both the standardized patient and the evaluator. At the end of the rotation, the students also completed a survey. Data were analyzed using the Bernoulli trial model, with the percentage of students who performed the maneuver correctly on the pretest as the a priori probability. A full Bonferroni correction was applied. RESULTS The authors enrolled 141 of the 176 fourth year medical students; 121 completed testing. At prerotation, approximately 35% of the physical examination maneuvers were performed correctly; at postrotation, 82%. For 19 of 20 maneuvers, the improvement was statistically significant at P < 0.01. The survey results indicated that the students felt that they had limited exposure to musculoskeletal examination skills at prerotation, that this rotation helped them achieve competency in performing the maneuvers, and that this would improve their future patient care irrespective of field of choice. CONCLUSIONS Considering the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the anticipated rise in the future, the authors strongly recommend teaching musculoskeletal physical examination maneuvers in medical school, which can be accomplished via a mandatory physical medicine and rehabilitation rotation. The authors conclude that checklists as part of this rotation can effectively help in teaching physical examination skills to medical students.
Asymptotic properties of sieve bootstrap prediction intervals for FARIMA processes

The sieve bootstrap is a resampling technique that uses autoregressive approximations of order p to model invertible linear time series, where p is allowed to go to infinity with sample size n. The asymptotic properties of sieve bootstrap prediction intervals for stationary invertible linear processes with short memory have been established in the past. In this paper, we extend these results to long memory (FARIMA) processes. We show that under certain regularity conditions the sieve bootstrap provides consistent estimators of the conditional distribution of future values of FARIMA processes, given the observed data.
On the protective mechanisms of nitric oxide in acute pancreatitis

Background—Ectopic protease activation, microcirculatory changes, and leucocyte activation are the main events in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be a key mediator in the normal and inflamed pancreas. Aims—To investigate the targets on which NO exerts its effect in caerulein induced pancreatitis. Methods—Acute pancreatitis was induced in rats which additionally received either the NO synthase substrate, L-arginine; the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside; or the NO synthase inhibitor, N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). At six hours, pancreatic injury (oedema, leucocyte content, ectopic trypsinogen activation) was analysed and pancreatic oxygenation and perfusion were determined. A direct influence of NO on amylase secretion and trypsinogen activation was evaluated separately in vitro. Results—Both NO donors reduced the grade of inflammation. L-NAME increased the severity of inflammation, while decreasing pancreatic tissue oxygenation. Although neither amylase secretion nor intracellular trypsinogen activation in caerulein stimulated pancreatic acini was influenced by either NO donors or inhibitors, both NO donors decreased intrapancreatic trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP) and pancreatic oedema in vivo, and L-NAME increased TAP. Conclusions—NO protects against injury caused by pancreatitis in the intact animal but has no discernible effect on isolated acini. It is likely that in pancreatitis NO acts indirectly via microcirculatory changes, including inhibition of leucocyte activation and preservation of capillary perfusion. Keywords: acute pancreatitis; nitric oxide; microcirculation; leucocytes; pancreatic secretion
Effectiveness of various barrier preparations in preventing and/or ameliorating experimentally produced Toxicodendron dermatitis.

Background: Despite extensive research on hyposensitization and prior application of topical barrier preparations, efforts to prevent Toxicodendron dermatitis have been only minimally successful. Objective: Seven different barrier creams were evaluated for topical protection against experimentally produced Toxicodendron dermatitis in a randomized, double-blind study. Methods: Twenty patients had the seven barrier creams randomly applied to eight test sites (one untreated area as control) on each forearm before application of the Toxicodendron extract. Development of Toxicodendron dermatitis was followed for 8 days, with measurements of erythema, induration, vesiculation, and global severity taken at each site on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 after Toxicodendron application. Results: The barrier creams Stokogard, Hollister Moisture Barrier, and Hydropel significantly reduced the erythema, induration, and global severity of Toxicodendron dermatitis and did not differ from each other. The percent reductions in global dermatitis severity per day of assessment for the seven barriers in order of effectiveness were as follows: Stokogard, 59%; Hollister Moisture Barrier, 52%; Hydropel, 48%; Ivy Shield, 22%; Shield Skin, 13%; Dermofilm, 13%; and Uniderm, −9%. During the 8-day period, a significantly greater number of test sites pretreated with Stokogard, Hollister Moisture Barrier, and Hydropel were free of dermatitis compared with control sites and sites treated with the other four barriers. Conclusion: The results indicate that Stokogard, Hollister Moisture Barrier, and Hydropel are effective in the prevention of Toxicodendron dermatitis.
Affordable environments for 3D collaborative data visualization

The CAVE automatic virtual environment is an immersive stereoscopic projection based virtual reality environment that has become, in many ways, the environment of choice at George Mason University's center for Computational Statistics. We have developed the PlatoCAVE and the MiniCAVE, which are CAVE-like systems oriented toward group interactions. As such, they are particularly suited to collaborative efforts in data analysis and visual data mining. The author discusses design considerations for the construction of these collaborative environments, including one-wall versus four-wall implementations, stereoscopic placement, head tracking, the use of LCD devices, polarized light stereo, and voice control. The description of the assemblage of commercial products into systems is intended not to endorse such products but to give instances of products that could be used.
Herceptin (trastuzumab) therapy during pregnancy: association with reversible anhydramnios.

BACKGROUND:Herceptin (trastuzumab), a new a chemotherapeutic agent, is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein. There is no reported experience with use of this agent during pregnancy and possible effects on the fetus.CASE:A patient with breast cancer w
Nephrotic Syndrome Associated With a Clonal T-Cell Leukemia of Large Granular Lymphocytes With Cytotoxic Function

• A 51-year-old man presented with a T-cell leukemia of large granular lymphocytes and rapidly developed a nephrotic syndrome due to presumptive minimal-change glomerulopathy. The E-rosette+, la+ cells demonstrated cytotoxic activity similar to that of natural killer lymphocytes but lacked other T-subset markers, except that one third of them bore Fc(IgG) receptors. Cytogenetic analysis revealed loss of chromosome 10 and the translocation (1;10)(p11;q11) in all metaphases. Regression of the leukemia after chemotherapy was accompanied by a dramatic resolution of the nephrotic syndrome, suggesting that the activated granular lymphocytes induced the renal lesion. The close association of a clonal T-lymphoproliferative disorder with minimal-change nephrotic syndrome lends further support to current views implicating activated T cells or their products in the pathogenesis of this glomerulopathy. ( Arch Intern Med 1986;146:1827-1829)
The Emergence Principle in Biological Hierarchies

Emergent properties have been described by Mill, Lewes, Broad, Morgan and others, as novel, nonadditive, nonpredictable and nondeducible within a hierarchical context. I have developed a more definitive concept of a hierarchy that can be used to inspect the phenomenon of emergence in a new and detailed manner. A hierarchy is held together by descending constraints and new features can arise when an upper level entity restrains its components in new combinations that are not expected when viewing these components alone. Examples of emergent features are (i) matching anticodons and amino acids by aminoacetyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes appearing early among the first forms of life, (ii) negative feedback in end-product inhibition first occurring in microbes, (iii) memory in animals and (iv) apical cells in plants. Until recently, life was considered only in terms of physics and chemistry, but now it is known to have a third aspect of information that along with the descendant constraints in its hierarchical organization makes emergentism possible within a reductionist’s framework.
Interfacial cracks between piezoelectric and elastic materials under in-plane electric loading

A new experimental technique for accelerated fatigue crack growth tests was recently developed (Du et al., 2001). The technique, which uses piezoelectric actuators, enables application of cyclic loading at frequencies several orders higher than that by mechanical loading. However, the validity of this technique relies on the equivalence between piezoelectric and mechanical loading. In this paper, the behavior of an interfacial crack between a piezoelectric material and an elastic material under in-plane electric loading is studied. The displacement mismatch along a bonded interface due to electric potential loading on the piezoelectric material is modeled by inserting an array of uniformly distributed dislocations along the interface. By means of Fourier transformation methods, the governing equations are converted to an integral equation, which is then converted to a standard Hilbert problem. A closed form solution for stresses, electric field, and electric displacements along the bonded interface is obtained. The results agree very well with those obtained from numerical simulations. The results show that the closed form solution is accurate not only for far field distributions of stresses and electric variables, but also for the asymptotic distributions near the crack tip. The solution also suggests the likelihood of domain switching in the piezoelectric material near the crack tip, a process that may influence the interfacial fracture resistance.
Bovine corneal protein 54K (BCP54) is a homologue of the tumor-associated (class 3) rat aldehyde dehydrogenase (RATALD).

Abstract Amino acid (aa) sequence data from Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease-digested bovine corneal 54-kDa protein (BCP54) fragments were utilized to derive mixed oligodeoxyribonucleotide (oligo) primers complementary to the reverse translation products of these sequences. These degenerate oligo primers were used to prime the amplification of BCP54 sequence from bovine corneal epithelial cell cDNA. The cDNA probe generated by this mixed oligo-primed amplification of cDNA was cloned and dideoxy-sequenced. A search of the GenBank database (version 63.0) revealed extensive sequence similarity to the cDNA encoding tumor-associated rat liver (class 3) aldehyde dehydrogenase (RATALD). Nucleotide (nt) and aa sequence alignment of the BCP54 translation product reveals it is 78% and 84% homologous with RATALD at the nt and aa levels, respectively. Conservation of aa sequence elements common to the aldehyde dehydrogenase family thought to be of structural/functional significance is further substantiated by this analysis. Included in the discussion is the likelihood that gene sharing (genes encoding metabolic enzymes and other stable proteins) may extend to the cornea.
Airplane flight through wind-shear turbulence

An analytical model is developed for the interaction between wind shear and turbulence to improve the database for realistic flight simulator programming. Shear is treated as a spatially nonconstant mean flow, with consideration given to the associated anisotropy which can be a critical factor in landing approaches and take-offs during microburst events. A two-point velocity correlation is defined for anisotropic turbulence and the dynamical implications are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on turbulence conditions and scale lengths during a microburst, when turbulence is nonhomogeneous.
Centre of mass avoidance planner using radius of gyration for Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles

In this paper we presented a planning approach for collision avoidance algorithms in swarms of robots. We used intermediate goal vector formation to avoid congestion of large number of robots trying to maximize their performance measure. We use the RVO2 library which uses the Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles approach for collision avoidance in intelligent swarms. RVO is an excellent collision avoidance algorithm that can successfully solve an intelligent swarm situation. We have tried to improve its applicability and smooth operation in situations with eminent possibility of traffic congestion. With our approach, before finally reaching the intended goal, the robot follows an intermediate local goal to optimize the path of all robots by avoiding the imaginary centre of mass of the swarm agents as well as proceeding to the final goal. The centre of mass avoidance is triggered by the radius of gyration which signifies the current magnitude of congestion. We have also proven that our strategy is generic in nature and scalable to any number of robots. We also prove the computational ease of deploying the planning approach.
The role of hepatocyte RXRα in xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptor-mediated pathways

Abstract Nuclear receptors constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR) cross talk and serve as xenobiotic sensors to form a safety net against the toxic effects of harmful substances. Retinoid x receptor α (RXRα) dimerizes with CAR and PXR. In order to analyze the role of RXRα in these xeno-sensor-mediated pathways, hepatocyte RXRα-deficient mice were challenged by CAR and PXR ligands including androstanol, 1,4-bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene (TCPOBOP), and pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile (PCN). We demonstrate that hepatocyte RXRα deficiency prevents TCPOBOP-induced hepatomegaly and morphological changes. We also show that in vivo the cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes including CYP2A5, CYP2B10, CYP3A1, but not CYP2E1 and CYP2D6, are the RXRα target genes. Androstanol, TCPOBOP, and PCN can differentially regulate the expression of these CYP450 genes. In addition, the most active peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPARα) ligand, Wy14,643, also regulates some of the xeno-sensor target genes such as CYP2A5 and CYP2B10 in vivo. Thus, the ligands of different nuclear receptors can regulate common CYP450 genes and hepatocyte RXRα is essential for xenobiotic metabolism in vivo.
Understanding the communication characteristics in HBase: What are the fundamental bottlenecks?

HBase is an open source, distributed, column-oriented Key/Value database. In this paper, we focus on analyzing the performance aspects of HBase. Existing literature on HBase provides high level descriptions of the operations and present overall performance results. We conducted comprehensive experiments and identified different factors contributing to the overall latency of Get and Put operations. Our experimental results reveal that communication time is about 67% and 45% for a 1 KB Get request over 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1 GigE) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE) networks, respectively, for in-memory workloads. Our results show that HBase communication stack and associated operations need to be re-designed for high-performance networks like InfiniBand and its features.
A general diffusion model for analyzing the efficacy of synaptic input to threshold neurons

We describe a general diffusion model for analyzing the efficacy of individual synaptic inputs to threshold neurons. A formal expression is obtained for the system propagator which, when given an arbitrary initial state for the cell, yields the conditional probability distribution for the state at all later times. The propagator for a cell with a finite threshold is written as a series expansion, such that each term in the series depends only on the infinite threshold propagator, which in the diffusion limit reduces to a Gaussian form. This procedure admits a graphical representation in terms of an infinite sequence of diagrams. To connect the theory to experiment, we construct an analytical expression for the primary correlation kernel (PCK) which profiles the change in the instantaneous firing rate produced by a single postsynaptic potential (PSP). Explicit solutions are obtained in the diffusion limit to first order in perturbation theory. Our approximate expression resembles the PCK obtained by computer simulation, with the accuracy depending strongly on the mode of firing. The theory is most accurate when the synaptic input drives the membrane potential to a mean level more than one standard deviation below the firing threshold, making such cells highly sensitive to synchronous synaptic input.
Three-dimensional random XY model: Application to the superfluid transition of 4He in porous media.

We study a three-dimensional classical {ital XY} model with strongly fluctuating, spatially uncorrelated, bond disorder. Finite-size scaling analysis of Monte Carlo simulation data has been used to determine critical exponents. Evidence for a possible shift in exponents from the pure {ital XY} case is found. Connection to recent experiments on the superfluid phase transition of {sup 4}He in porous media is discussed.
Thermochemistry of binary alloys of transition metals: The Me-Sc, Me-Y, and Me-La (Me = Ag,Au) systems

The enthalpies of mixing of the alloys of silver and gold with scandium, yttrium, and lanthanum have been measured by high-temperature reaction calorimetry at 1473 K. The standard enthalpies of formation of nine congruently melting intermetallic compounds in these systems (AgSc, Ag2Sc, AgY, Ag51Yi14, AgLa, Ag51La14, AuSc, AuY, and AuLa) also have been determined. All values are compared with the predictions of the semiempirical model of Miedema and co-workers.[14] A comparison between the data for the liquid alloys and for the intermetallic compounds provides approximate enthalpies and entropies of fusion for the considered compounds.
Symbols, Impossible Numbers, and Geometric Entanglements: British Algebra through the Commentaries on Newton's Universal Arithmetick

Symbols, Impossible Numbers, and Geometric Entanglements is the first history of the development and reception of algebra in early modern England and Scotland. Not primarily a technical history, this book analyses the struggles of a dozen British thinkers to come to terms with early modern algebra, its symbolic style, and negative and imaginary numbers. Professor Pycior uncovers these thinkers as a 'test-group' for the symbolic reasoning that would radically change not only mathematics but also logic, philosophy and language studies. The book furthermore shows how pedagogical and religious concerns shaped the British debate over the relative merits of algebra and geometry. Positioning algebra firmly in the Scientific Revolution and pursue Newton the algebraist, it highlights Newton's role in completing the evolution of algebra from an esoteric subject into a major focus of British mathematics. Other thinkers covered include Oughtred, Harriot, Wallis, Hobbes, Barrow, Berkeley and MacLaurin.