cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lipid peroxidation and α-tocopherol content in α-tocopherol-supplemented thylakoid membranes during UV-B exposure

Abstract Spinach thylakoid membranes were supplied with exogenous α -tocopherol to determine if elevated α -tocopherol levels would protect lipids from degradation induced by UV-B radiation exposure. During the thylakoid isolation procedure, exogenous α -tocopherol was added to a volume of thylakoids resulting in an approximately 6-fold increase above endogenous α -tocopherol concentrations. The normal (thylakoids with unamended tocopherol levels) and high α -tocopherol membranes were then irradiated for 180 min at 25°C with either 1.8 kJ m −2 h −1 of biologically effective UV-B (UV-B BE ) radiation or 350 μ mol m −2 s −1 of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). A volume of thylakoids kept in the dark served as a DARK control. Lipid peroxidation and α -tocopherol content were measured on a chlorophyll basis at 0, 90 and 180 min of radiation exposure. In normal thylakoids, both UV-B and PAR increased lipid peroxidation over time with PAR inducing more lipid damage than UV-B at 90 and 180 min. Lipid peroxidation did not increase above DARK control levels during the exposure period for either the UV-B- or PAR-exposed thylakoids in the high α -tocopherol treatments. Although α -tocopherol levels were not altered by either UV-B or PAR in the normal thylakoids, they declined similarly for both radiation treatments at 90 and 180 min of exposure in the high tocopherol membranes. These data indicate that elevated levels of α -tocopherol conferred antioxidant protection to UV-B- and PAR-exposed thylakoid membrane lipids but at the cost of significant α -tocopherol degradation over time.
Automated identification of biomedical article type using support Vector machines

Authors of short papers such as letters or editorials often express complementary opinions, and sometimes contradictory ones, on related work in previously published articles. The MEDLINE® citations for such short papers are required to list bibliographic data on these "commented on" articles in a "CON" field. The challenge is to automatically identify the CON articles referred to by the author of the short paper (called "Comment-in" or CIN paper). Our approach is to use support vector machines (SVM) to first classify a paper as either a CIN or a regular full-length article (which is exempt from this requirement), and then to extract from the CIN paper the bibliographic data of the CON articles. A solution to the first part of the problem, identifying CIN articles, is addressed here. We implement and compare the performance of two types of SVM, one with a linear kernel function and the other with a radial basis kernel function (RBF). Input feature vectors for the SVMs are created by combining four types of features based on statistics of words in the article title, words that suggest the article type (letter, correspondence, editorial), size of body text, and cue phrases. Experiments conducted on a set of online biomedical articles show that the SVM with a linear kernel function yields a significantly lower false negative error rate than the one with an RBF. Our experiments also show that the SVM with a linear kernel function achieves a significantly higher level of accuracy, and lower false positive and false negative error rates by using input feature vectors created by combining all four types of features rather than any single type.
TRIAGE AND INITIAL EVALUATION OF THE ORAL FACIAL EMERGENCY

The modern emergency department (ED) sees a significant number of patients every day with problems related to the face and oral cavity. Common reasons for presentation to the ED include trauma, pain, dysphagia, dyspnea, swelling, or rash. The causes of such complaints include blunt, penetrating, and thermal trauma; infections; drug reactions; and neurologic, dermatologic, and other systemic diseases. The orofacial condition can be the sole complaint or a facet of a multisystem presentation, such as in trauma or systemic disease conditions. Crucial to appropriate triage of these patients is attention to the clinically apparent threats to airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs) and appreciation of the need for re-evaluation for evidence of evolving compromise of the ABCs.
Raman study of defects in a GaAs buffer layer grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy

Raman scattering measurements on high-resistivity layers of GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperature are presented. Several defect-related features are ob-served, including two peaks attributed to quasi-localized vibrational modes of point de-fects, one with a frequency of 223 cm−1 similar to a mode previously observed in elec-tron-irradiated GaAs, and the other with a frequency of 47 cm−1 similar to a mode observed in ion-implanted GaAs. We suggest that these are due to arsenic interstitials and gallium vacancies, respectively. We also observe peaks at 200 and 258 cm−1, which we believe may be due to vibrational modes in small clusters of arsenic. The 223 cm−1 mode is the only defect-related mode still observed after a 10-min annealing treatment at 600° C, although it is significantly broader and has different symmetry from the 223 cm−1 mode in the unannealed material. This indicates that the 223 cm−1 mode in the annealed material is due, at least in part, to a defect other than the arsenic interstitial.
Strategies for Modelling Nonlinear Time‐Series Relationships*

Building models of nonlinear relationships are inherently more difficult than linear ones There are more possibilities, many more parameters and thus more mistakes can be made. It is suggested that a strategy be applied when attempting such modelling involving testing for linearity, considering just a few model types of parsimonious form and then performing post-sample evaluation of the resulting models compared to a linear one. The strategy proposed is a ‘simple-to-general’ one and the application of a heteroskedasticity correction is not recommended
Semiconductor Nanocrystals Functionalized with Antimony Telluride Zintl Ions for Nanostructured Thermoelectrics

The energy efficiency of heat engines could be improved by the partial recovery of waste heat using thermoelectric (TE) generators. We show the possibility of designing nanostructured TE materials using colloidal inorganic nanocrystals functionalized with molecular antimony telluride complexes belonging to the family of Zintl ions. The unique advantage of using Zintl ions as the nanocrystal surface ligands is the possibility to convert them into crystalline metal chalcogenides, thus linking individual nanobuilding blocks into a macroscopic assembly of electronically coupled functional modules. This approach allows preserving the benefits of nanostructuring and quantum confinement while enabling facile charge transport through the interparticle boundaries. A developed methodology was applied for solution-based fabrication of nanostructured n- and p-type Bi2−xSbxTe3 alloys with tunable composition and PbTe−Sb2Te3 nanocomposites with controlled grain size. Characterization of the TE properties of these mater...
Edge Linking by Ellipsoidal Clustering

This paper discusses a method for edge linking using an ellipsoidal clustering technique. The ellipsoidal clustering technique assumes that each data point is an ellipsoid with a mean and covariance matrix and generates a decision tree which partitions the sample ellipsoids into clusters. The problem of edge linking can be visualized as a clustering process. By assuming the properties of each edge pixel to be components of the data vector, pixels having similar properties are clustered together and pixels in the same cluster are linked together. The edge data is obtained using the facet model based edge detector and the calculation of the property vectors and the covariance matrices of the edge pixels is also computed from the facet edge detector output. The performance of the clustering algorithm is evaluated by computing the average clustering error and the relationships between the clustering threshold, the noise level and the clustering error are outlined.
Hereditary influence on the normal personality using the MMPI. II. Prospective assortative mating.

Ninety-seven married couples were ascertained from a group of 4000 ninth grade students who had taken the MMPI while in the Minneapolis public school system in 1947. These test scores allowed for personality evaluation before the time of mate selection. Comparisons of the couples' scores were therefore prospective measures of the degree of assortative mating. Correlations on the scales of the test revealed positive assortative mating for scales 6-Pa and 7-Pt and to a lesser extent for 8-Sc. An excess of significant scale intercorrelations was found. An analysis of the mating frequencies of the psychologically informative one-high-point and one-low-point codes indicated random mating for all one-point code classes.
Is there a Change of Wave-length on Reflection of X-rays from Crystals?

A. H. COMPTON (Phys. Rev., 21, 207) has recently shown that there is a change of wave-length when X-rays are scattered by an amorphous substance. If reflection of X-rays from crystals is a special case of scattering it would seem that there might be also a change of wave-length on reflection. Assuming such a wave-length change, we have for reflection from a single plane of atoms
Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor β‐subunit is coded for by the cDNA clone α4

Acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) with high affinity for nicotine but no affinity for α-bungarotoxin, which have been purified from rat and chicken brains by immuno-affinity chromatography, consist of two types of subunits, α and β [1,2]. The β-subunits form the ACh binding sites [3]. Putative nicotinic AChR subunit cDNAs α3 and α4 have been identified by screening cDNA libraries prepared from rat PC12 cells and rat brain with cDNA probes encoding the mouse muscle AChR α-subunit. Here we determine the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the rat brain AChR β-subunit by protein microsequencing to be the same as amino acid residues 27–43 of the protein which could be coded by α4. Further, we present evidence consistent with a subunit stoichiometry of α3β2 for this neuronal nicotinic AChR.
Penser l’aménagement de la diversité ethnoculturelle au Québec : Mythes, limites et possibles de l’interculturalisme

Bien que plusieurs au Quebec n’aient de cesse de vanter les vertus de l’interculturalisme comme modele offrant une vision plus genereuse et respectueuse des revendications identitaires et des groupes ethnoculturels minoritaires, l’idee qu’ils en ont perpetue l’hegemonie socioculturelle de la majorite eurodescendante et reste en deca de ce qui serait necessaire pour renouveler la democratie et poser les bases d’une citoyennete large et ouverte. L’article propose, a partir d’un examen critique des principaux corpus conceptuels qui alimentent le discours interculturaliste, les lineaments theoriques et normatifs d’une conception de rechange qui puisse inspirer un mouvement de refondation de la philosophie sociale restrictive qui preside actuellement a l’amenagement de la diversite ethnoculturelle au Quebec.
Film-splitting flows in forward roll coating

A model based on the lubrication approximation is put forward for the general case of asymmetric forward roll coating of Newtonian liquids. Two more-rigorous theories are developed, one based on asymptotic expansions for small ratios of gap-to-roll diameter (H0/R), the second on Galerkin/finite-element solutions of the full Navier–Stokes equations over the relevant flow domain. The lubrication model is useful only as an approximation at high capillary numbers . The asymptotic analysis is accurate when H0/R 0.1. The ratio of the film thicknesses on the two rolls is predicted to equal the speed ratio to the 0.65 power, which is confirmed experimentally. The Galerkin/finite-element solutions give full details of the steady two-dimensional free-surface flows including complex recirculation patterns in the film-splitting region, and show how the film-splitting stagnation line becomes a static contact line in the limit as one roll surface becomes stationary.
Kinetics of NO and CO in Lean, Premixed Hydrocarbon-Air Flames

Abstract The kinetics of NO formation and CO conversion in lean, premixed, hydrocarbon-air flames is discussed in terms of the elementary reactions involved. With the assumption of constant temperature and equilibrium O and OH concentrations, it is shown that simple, analytic solutions for NO and CO as a function of time may be derived. The importance of low temperature in controlling the NO rate is emphasized. Under conditions appropriate to a gas turbine combustor, the results indicate that for an inlet temperature below 600°K and equivalence ratio below 0.6 there should be 0.1-1 sec available for quenching the NO formation by mixing in air. The CO should be essentially all converted to C02 in 5 msec or less in practical cases.
Abiotic soil factors influencing the deleterious effect of atrazine on ungerminated conidia of Cochliobolus sativus.

Abstract To determine why viability of conidia of Cochliobolus sativus declines in some soils treated with atrazine and not in others, the influence of soil organic matter, texture and pH on the lethal effect of atrazine was examined. Viability of conidia on Boyer sandy loam (SL) (−1 kPa matric potential) containing 25μg atrazine g −1 was 7% after 3 weeks, as compared with 99% in the control. Decreasing the organic carbon of Boyer SL from 0.73 to 0.02% by H 2 O 2 digestion, or to 0.04% by NaOH extraction, nullified the lethal effect of atrazine. The addition of 4mg humic acid g −1 to NaOH-extracted Boyer SL containing atrazine partially restored the lethal effect. Increasing the pH of Boyer SL from 5.2 to 7.5 nullified the lethal effect of atrazine. Viability of conidia on Spinks SL (pH 6.6) containing atrazine remained at 99% after 3 weeks. The addition of 4mg humic acid g −1 from Boyer SL to atrarine-treated Spinks SL reduced viability to 86%. Viability of conidia in atrazine-treated acidified Spinks SL (pH 5.4) was 65%. The response of conidia to atrazine in soils supplemented with 4% bentonite clay, or in separated sand or silt and clay fractions of soils was not affected except when the soil pH was altered. Thus, a low pH and the presence of humic acid increased the toxicity of atrazine to conidia of C. sativus .
Intravenous low-dose erythromycin administration for infants with feeding intolerance.

Background: This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of low-dose intravenous erythromycin (EM) administration in infants with feeding intolerance. Methods: The subjects were 26 infants who would not accept enteral feeding within 5 days after birth. Fourteen infants (gestational age: 30.6 ′ 5.4 weeks and birthweight: 1466 ′ 825 g) were given EM intravenously at a dose of 1 mg/kg, three times daily (EM group). Doses were increased to 2 mg/kg in five infants who showed a poor response. Twelve infants (gestational age: 30.5 ′ 5.0 weeks and birthweight: 1317 ′ 672 g) were observed without EM administration (non-EM group). Blood concentrations of EM at 2 h after administration were measured on 8 (′ 2) days after the start of EM administration in the EM group. Results: Digestive perturbations and intestinal gasless and/or atonic shadows on X-ray findings markedly improved in the EM group soon after the treatment. Comparing the EM group and non-EM group, the postnatal ages at the start of successful enteral feeding were 9.1 ′ 3.2 days and 14.0 ′ 4.1 days, respectively (P < 0.01). The postnatal ages at feeding of 100 mL/kg per day were 15.2 ′ 4.0 days and 23.4 ′ 6.2 days, respectively (P < 0.01). The blood EM concentrations of 1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg were 0.29 ′ 0.28 μg/mL and 0.57 ′ 0.20 μg/mL, respectively (P < 0.05). No adverse effect on cardiac status or in blood examinations was observed in any infant in the EM group. Conclusion: These results suggest that intravenous low-dose EM administration is a useful and safe treatment of feeding intolerance in infants including extremely low-birthweight infants.
The diffusion of dissolved silica in dilute aqueous solution

Abstract The diffusion coefficient of dissolved silica at 25.5 ± .5° C was determined as a function of concentration using a non-steady-state method whereby agar-gelled solutions containing dissolved silica from 0.09 to 1.50 mM ( pH = 5.5) were placed in contact with distilled water in glass cells. Diffusion coefficients were obtained by measuring the dissolved silica content of the distilled water after a given length of time. The measured diffusion coefficients decreased as a function of increasing dissolved silica concentration, which is thought to reflect an increase in dimeric silica according to the equilibrium: 2 Si ( OH ) 4 = Si 2 O ( OH ) 6 + H 2 O . The tracer diffusion coefficients for Si(OH) 4 and Si 2 O(OH) 6 and an association constant for the above reaction were determined by fitting the following equation to the experimental data: D obs = αD monomer + (1 − α ) D dimer where α is the fraction of total dissolved silica which is Si(OH) 4 . The best fit yielded tracer D 's for Si(OH) 4 and Si 2 O(OH) 6 of 2.2 and 1.0 (in units of 10 −5 cm 2 sec −1 ), respectively, and an association constant of 330.
Health locus of control beliefs of healthy children, children with a chronic physical illness, and their mothers

Scales to measure health locus of control beliefs have been developed for both adults and children to assess the degree to which individuals believe their health to be the result of self-actions, the actions of "powerful" adults in their environment, or random events or fate. We have investigated how these locus of control beliefs differ at different ages and in relation to different illness experiences. Health locus of control beliefs vary consistently according to age and illness experience. Beliefs in the control of their health by chance and by powerful others are stated to be significantly stronger by younger than by older children, by children with certain chronic physical illnesses than by healthy children, and by parents of children with certain chronic physical illnesses than by parents of healthy children. The developmental trend suggested here confirms previously reported data regarding locus of control beliefs in children. The differences among children with and without a chronic physical illness, and especially among their parents, suggest that learning occurs from the experiences related to illness, resulting in an increased external orientation in locus of control beliefs. Health care professionals should be aware of the tendency for young children and for children with a chronic illness and their families to rely heavily on providers, perhaps to the detriment of their learning effective skills for independent health-related decision making.
Polyarylmethines; synthesis and physical properties

Abstract Polyarylmethines are predicted theoretically to exhibit low bandgaps. Though few syntheses have been reported, there is no practical evidence for the low bandgaps, because all materials reported till now proofed to be doped. We report a new synthetic way yielding soluble, doped polymers or oligomers which can be examinated by UV - VIS - IR - spectroscopy. Our experiments show that doped polyarylmethines in solution are very sensitive to the pH and that doping and undoping shows some similarities to polyaniline
Impact of outcomes monitoring on innovation and risk in liver transplantation.

Key Points 1. The reporting of liver transplant center outcomes is required by the final rule of the Department of Health and Human Services. The reported patient and graft survival outcomes are risk-adjusted for specific donor and recipient factors, and the observed survival is compared to the expected survival. Both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network flag programs for corrective action when the observed survival is significantly less than the expected survival. Both agencies can take action up to the closure of a center. In the last 5 years, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network has not taken an adverse action that required the closure of a liver transplant center because of outcomes. 2. Center survey data suggest that centers may try to select donors and recipients to minimize poor outcomes. This strategy may not be effective if centers stop accepting donors or recipients according to factors that are included in the risk adjustment model. For example, limiting recipients to those less than 65 years old may improve the observed outcomes, but the expected outcomes will also improve because a recipient 65 years or older is included in the model's risk adjustment. 3. For factors such as cardiovascular risk that are not included in the model, it may be reasonable to exclude patients in an attempt to improve the observed outcomes without affecting the expected outcomes. Other examples of these types of factors are smoking, nutritional status, and donor liver biopsy findings. 4. Currently, there is no exemption for patients undergoing experimental protocols. Down-staging for hepatocellular carcinoma, transplantation for human immunodeficiency virus–positive recipients, and the use of left lobe grafts with inflow modification are relatively recent areas of innovation in liver transplantation. Because innovation is frequently associated with a learning curve and, therefore, poor outcomes, the inclusion of patients in innovative protocols potentially could lead to centers being subjected to an adverse action by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Active consideration is being given to the exclusion of patients in innovative protocols from center-specific outcomes. Liver Transpl, 2012. © 2012 AASLD.
Normal production of human chorionic gonadotropin in perimenopausal and menopausal women and after oophorectomy.

Background: The normal pituitary production of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) alongside luteinizing hormone, and its presence in women after bilateral oophorectomy, during perimenopause and menopause, as measured in serum and urine, has been known for 30 years and is described in numerous publications. Last year our group discussed this finding in a correspondence to the editor in the March 15th issue of New England Journal of Medicine, yet the misinterpretation of low-level hCG in these women seems to have increased in magnitude. Methods: This is an outcomes study of 36 cases of menopausal hCG referred to the USA hCG Reference Service over a 1-year period, from March 2007 to March 2008. Results: Eight cases occurred in women after oophorectomy, 28 were women in menopause/perimenopause. Surgery was postponed in 5 (14%) of 36 cases, and in 3 cases (8%), chemotherapy was unnecessarily administered. In 2 cases, computed tomography scans were cancelled. The average hCG detected was 10 ± 7.2 IU/L in cases receiving an oophorectomy and 9.8 ± 6.7 in perimenopause and 11 ± 6.2 IU/L in menopause cases. Conclusions: Low-level hCG production in woman in physiologic perimenopause, in menopause, or in women with prior bilateral oophorectomy is a normal biologic and biochemical phenomenon. Management protocols in all fields need to be changed to accept pituitary hCG as normal and recognize the clinical maneuvers that will secure the diagnosis. Understanding this physiology will avoid needless delays in necessary therapies such as organ transplant procedures and will limit the misadventure of prescribing unnecessary cancer treatments.
The use of I131 red cell plasma ratio as a measure of thyroid function.

Summary1. The ratio of red cell space for inorganic iodine to that of plasma was found to be about 0.5, in both in vitroc and in vivo studies. 2. The initial red cell-plasma ratio was the same in hyperthyroid, euthyroid, and hypothyroid patients immediately after the oral administration of a test dose of I131. 3. The ratio dropped as the inorganic iodine test dose was incorporated into larger molecules by the thyroid and returned to the blood stream. 4. The drop in red cell-plasma ratio was due to the relative impermeability of the red cell to large iodine-containing molecules. 5. The rate of drop of the red cell-plasma ratio is an expression of thyroid activity.
Discovering the mercantile city in South Asia: the example of early nineteenth-century Calcutta

Abstract After examining the various geographical models of land use for the colonial port cities of Asia and the mercantile cities of North America, this paper argues that Bowden's mercantile triangle model has much to offer our understanding of the European part of Asian port cities. The model is applied to Calcutta and found to have considerable predictive value. Nevertheless, the Calcutta example suggests that the colonial state played a more important role in land use decisions than Bowden allows, and that the retail and hotel districts were considerably smaller than in North American cities. Furthermore, Bowden's ideas about a «city of the mind», based on London, influencing the naming and layout of colonial cities have little or no relevance to Calcutta.
Tissue type characterization using photoacoustic power spectrum, a feasibility study

The development of technologies capable of non-invasive characterization of tissue has the potential to significantly improve diagnostic and therapeutic medical interventions. In this study we investigated the feasibility of a noninvasive photoacoustic (PA) approach for characterizing biological tissues. The measurement was performed in the transmission mode with a wideband hydrophone while a tunable Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser was used for illumination. The power spectrum of photoacoustic signal induced by a pulsed laser light from tissue was analyzed and features were extracted to study their correlation with tissue biomechanical properties. For a controlled study, tissue mimicking gelatin phantoms with different densities and equivalent optical absorptions were used as targets. The correlation between gelatin concentration of such phantoms and their mechanical properties were validated independently with a dynamic mechanical analyzer capable of calculating complex loss and storage moduli between two compression plates. It was shown that PA spectrums were shifted towards higher frequencies by increasing gelatin concentration. In order to quantify this effect, signal energy in two intervals of low and high frequency ranges were calculated. Gelatin concentration was correlated with PA energy in high frequency range with R 2 =0.94. Subsequently, PA signals generated from freshly resected human thyroid specimens were measured and analyzed in a similar fashion. We found that in aggregate, malignant thyroid tissue contains approximately 1.6 times lower energy in the high frequency range in comparison to normal thyroid tissue (p<0.01). This ratio increased with increasing illumination wavelength from 700 nm to 900nm. In summary, this study demonstrated the feasibility of using photoacoustic technique for characterizing tissue on the basis of viscoelastic properties of the tissue.
A point mutation in beta2-microglobulin results in loss of epitope expression.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health-Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) grant (S06 GM48135). Abstract: A common tool in studying the structure and function of major histocompatibility complex: (MHC) class I is the generation and analysis of β2-microglobulin (β2m) mutations. β2m has been shown to affect proper class I antigen presentation at the level of structural functionality. Many studies characterizing β2m function in class I presentation have used antibody-based assays. Monitoring the effect of β2m mutation on antibody epitope expression, therefore, is essential in being able to truly characterize the impact of a mutant interaction between β2m and class I. Here we describe a mutant β2m molecule, β2m #32, that in association with class I loses reactivity with the human β2m-specific monoclonal antibody, BBM.1. However, the BBM.1 epitope remains intact when β2m #32 is free from class I association.
Agonist-stimulated glycerophospholipid acyl turnover in alveolar macrophages

Abstract The inflammatory compounds β-glucan, a particulate agonist, and tannin, a soluble agonist, are present in cotton dust and, when inhaled, cause massive arachidonic acid release from alveolar macrophages. Earlier work had shown that these agonists exhibit different effects on arachidonate liberation and release, and that only tannin inhibits the uptake and incorporation of exogenous arachidonic acid, suggesting inhibition of reacylation. Here we have used the time-dependent incorporation of 18 O from H 2 18 O-containing media into glycerophospholipid acyl groups as an indicator of acyl turnover in resting and agonist-treated rabbit alveolar macrophages. Highest turnover rates were seen in phosphatidylinositol (∼30% per hour) and in choline phospholipids (10–20% per hour). Both β-glucan and tannin stimulated acyl turnover, especially arachidonic acid turnover, in these and other lipid classes by a factor of 2 or more. We conclude that neither agonist promotes arachidonic acid accumulation in and release from alveolar macrophages by inhibiting reacylation.
High dose intravenous immunoglobulin in atopic dermatitis and hyper-IgE syndrome.

Background High dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory properties that might benefit illnesses with exaggerated IgE responses including atopic dermatitis and hyper-IgE immunodeficiency syndrome. Objective To determine if high-dose IVIG would be of benefit to patients with severe atopic dermatitis and/or hyper-IgE syndrome using serial clinical, pulmonary, and laboratory studies for evaluation. Methods This was an open label study in which we gave patients with hyper-IgE syndrome (n = 1) or severe atopic dermatitis (n = 9) IVIG as a 10% solution (Venoglobulin 1-Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, Los Angeles, CA) at a dose of 2 g/kg every 30 days for seven infusions. Results Therapy was completed in nine of the ten patients. Skin disease improved slightly in six patients, remained unchanged in two patients, and worsened slightly in one patient. The average daily prednisone dosage was 6.8 mg/day prior to treatment and 5.1 mg/day during IVIG therapy ( P = .1250). The three patients with abnormal pulmonary function showed very mild improvement of pulmonary function during treatment, but returned to baseline during follow-up. Flow cytometric studies showed no consistant pattern of change. IgA and IgM levels were unchanged. The mean serum IgE levels went from 3221 ±= 2454 IU/mL (SD) before IVIG to 2944 ±= 2491 IU/mL ( P = .4609) during IVIG and then to 2321 ±= 2229 IU/mL ( P = .1484) during the 6-month follow-up period. In vitro IgE production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) following IL-4 and anti-CD40 stimulation before IVIG was 6.6 ±=3.1 ng/mL (SD) and 4.3 ±= 3.1 ng/mL ( P = .1641) after six IVIG treatments. There were no significant trends in lymphocyte proliferation responses to PHA (phytohemagglutinin), Candida, tetanus, and anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody. Radioallergosorbent (RAST) testing showed no clear changes from positivity to negativity. Conclusion We conclude that IVIG was of no clear clinical benefit in these nine patients and did not significantly decrease IgE levels, IgE synthesis, or other measures of immunologic function.
New Perspectives on Public Service Motivation: Symposium Introduction

As John Locke wrote, “good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided.” The purpose o...
Measurement of Individual Differences in Sensitivity to Appearance

In order to measure individual differences in the use of clothing cues in impression formation, subjects wre shown slides of one model in two outfits. Three types of data were collected; 1) responses on semantic differential scales, 2) subjects' stated conditional probabilities of the likelihood of an individual wearing the particular garments given that the individual pos sessed particular traits (also traits given garments), and 3) the computed Bayesian diag nostic ratios of the likelihood of an individual wearing the garments given the traits (also traits given garments). For each of the three types of data, two measures were constructed: 1) a measure of differential judgments of the stimulus person on the basis of differences in attire, and 2) a measure of the extent to which the subject used the extreme ends of the scales in judg ing a stimulus person on the basis of appearance. For both the semantic differential and diag nostic ratio data, there were positive correlations between the two measures. This was inter preted as suggesting a positive relationship between the tendency to make extreme attribu tions of personality traits on the basis of appearance and the tendency to differentially ascribe traits on the basis of differences in attire. A positive correlation between the measures con structed from the semantic differential data and the computed Bayesian diagnostic ratio of garments given traits was interpreted as suggesting that as subjects respond to the physical appearance of a stimulus person on semantic differential scales, they indicate the extent to which they find particular forms of physical appearance to be differentially characteristic of personality traits.
Comparison of Methods for Determining Cricopharyngeal Intrabolus Pressure in Normal Patients as Possible Indicator for Cricopharyngeal Myotomy

OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare methods for determining intrabolus cricopharyngeal pressure as a possible indicator for cricopharyngeal myotomy.STUDY DESIGN: We determined multiple intrabolus press...
DIFFUSIVE AND FRUSTRATED TRANSLATIONAL MODES OF ADATOM DYNAMICS

We briefly review recent developments in probing diffusion and frustrated translational modes of adatoms on solid surfaces. Helium scattering technique has been successfully employed to measure not only the diffusion but also the parallel vibration. A microscopic theoretical formulation enables us to evaluate the velocity autocorrelations and the dynamic structure factor which characterizes the Helium scattering spectrum. The quasielastic scattering peak in the dynamical structure factor is found to consist of mixed contributions from diffusive and vibrational modes. The vibrational peak indicates a shift and broadening from anharmonic effects and frictional damping. When the frictional coefficient is varied at low temperatures, the diffusion constant crosses over smoothly from multisite jumping regime at low friction via the transition state regime to the high friction overdamped regime.
Stochastic signal detection in nearly- gaussian noise using moment detectors

Abstract The detection of stochastic signals in non- but nearly-Gaussian noise with an unknown probability density function is investigated. The approach here is based on a Gram- Charlier series expansion on the noise pdf and the use of its statistical moments. A case study, which uses the e-contaminated mixture noise model, is presented to investigate some technical issues associated with the Gram-Charlier series including convergence and other irregularities. Examining the receiver operating curves, the proposed detector based on series expansion is found to be less sensitive to model deviations than the Neyman-Pearson optimal detectors.
Flash photolysis study of triphenylimidazole

Abstract Flash excitation of triphenylimidazole in degassed isopropyl alcohol gives rise to a transient assigned as the dihydrophenanthroimidazole, which has a lifetime of 1.5 ms and exhibits absorption peaks at 350 and 550 nm. Variable temperature studies in the range 25 to −80 dgC indicate that the photocyclization occurs throughout this range; however, the lifetime of the dihydrophenanthroimidazole increases by a factor of 10 upon cooling. The dihydrophenanthrene from cis-stilbene in air-saturated isopropyl alcohol has a significantly longer lifetime of about 9 s. The relative insensitivity of the fluorescence yield of triphenylimidazole to solvent changes suggests that the photocyclization via the singlet state is unimolecular, does not involve hydrogen abstraction and does not require oxygen. The low photochemical quantum yield efficiency for conversion to 2-phenyl-9,10-phenathroimidazole is believed to arise from the efficient reversion of the dihydrophenanthroimidazole back to the starting molecule.
Rat glomerular epithelial cells produce and bear factor H on their surface that is up-regulated under complement attack

Rat glomerular epithelial cells produce and bear factor H on their surface that is up-regulated under complement attack. Background Factor H is a potent complement inhibitory molecule that is primarily produced by the liver and appears in plasma as a soluble protein. Yet there is evidence that other cells, including those in the kidney, can produce factor H, and that it can be cell-associated as well as present as a plasma protein. Here we studied factor H in rat glomerular epithelial cells (GEC). Methods A polyclonal antibody to factor H was used to identify factor H protein. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based strategy was utilized to clone the full-length cDNA of GEC factor H. The relative quantity of factor H mRNA was measured by quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR in cultured GEC exposed to complement activation and in the passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) model of membranous nephropathy. Results By immunofluorescence microscopy, factor H protein was present on the plasma membranes of cultured GEC. Based upon Western blot studies, this appeared to be the full-length 150 kD factor H protein. Factor H cDNA cloned from GEC was identical to the newly deposited sequence for rat liver factor H cDNA. In cultured GEC in which complement was activated, factor H mRNA increased over time. Similarly, in the PHN model in which complement was activated on GEC in vivo, factor H mRNA and protein also increased over time. Conclusion Cultured GEC and glomeruli express factor H mRNA and protein. As modeled both in vitro and in vivo in the rat, factor H is up-regulated in membranous nephropathy. This is likely to be a direct response of GEC to complement attack and may represent a protective response of this cell.
Michael Grossberg's Telling Tale: The Social Drama of an Antebellum Custody Case

With A Judgment for Solomon: The D'Hauteville Case and Legal Experience in Antebellum America, Michael Grossberg provides a splendid sequel to his excellent Governing the Hearth: Law and Family in Nineteenth-Century America. Detailing the story of a highly publicized trial, the new book in one sense simply illustrates a point that Grossberg made in his first: During the nineteenth century, the traditional right of a father to have legal control of his children eroded as judges asserted their role as paternalistic arbiters in custody disputes and increasingly granted custody to mothers. But the new book is much more. It marks Grossberg's move from straightforward legal history to an investigation into the complicated link between social and legal change. He is especially interested in the cultural effects of trials that capture the public imagination. For him the d'Hauteville case is a "social drama" in which narrative plays an important role in both the trial and events surrounding it. Finally, Grossberg offers an example of and reflection upon how to tell the story of such trials. Let me say from the outset that people should read the book and read it with care. Reading the book with the care that it deserves has caused me to raise a few questions-some of which will betray my training as a literary critic. But those questions should not distract attention from the primary fact that Grossberg has provided us with a fascinating account.
On Possibilistic and Probabilistic Information Fusion

This article discusses the basic features of information provided in terms of possibilistic uncertainty. It points out the entailment principle, a tool that allows one to infer less specific from a given piece of information. The problem of fusing multiple pieces of possibilistic information is and the basic features of probabilistic information are described. The authors detail a procedure for transforming information between possibilistic and probabilistic representations, and using this to form the basis for a technique for fusing multiple pieces of uncertain information, some of which is possibilistic and some probabilistic. A procedure is provided for addressing the problems that arise when the information to be fused has some conflicts.
A webinar case study by a clinical microbiologist to microbiology and physiology students: an integrative learning experience.

Using a webinar format to connect to an off-site clinical microbiologist, we presented an interdisciplinary and interactive case study to undergraduate microbiology and anatomy and physiology students. After an introduction to pathophysiology and microbiology, the clinical microbiologist’s case study provided students with a unique look at real life problems. Our goal was to have students appreciate the interrelationship between microbiology and physiology, and to apply their knowledge of microbiology and physiology to solve the case study. The webinar format facilitated the delivery of the integrative learning experience to multiple classes and the off-site clinical microbiologist simultaneously. Students and faculty in both anatomy and physiology and microbiology undergraduate lectures and laboratory sessions can benefit from this approach.
Again on the Modern Languages in Colleges

A T THE risk of exposing myself to charges of ignorance of modern psychology and of being a general reactionary, I wish to consider in this paper some of the fallacious generalizations about language and language teaching which recur constantly in articles in the Modern Language Journal. It should be realized at the outset, however, that my remarks are not meant as criticisms of any one person's theories or practice, but as criticisms of weaknesses which may perhaps in some cases merely mar a theory or corrupt a method of teaching otherwise irreproachable. A word seldom mentioned in connection with modern language teaching is "learning." Learning in either of two senses: 1) the process of acquiring knowledge by means of conscious effort; 2) the possession of skills and techniques necessary for further acquisition of knowledge and the possession of such knowledge. If teachers of modern languages would examine their own experiences in learning foreign languages, both living and dead, they would soon realize that they have in their memories more first-hand knowledge of problems of language study than they will ever discover by talking with generations of students who, if wise, are never frank, and if frank, are never wise. With lamentably few exceptions, those of our guild who acquired their knowledge of the language they now teach outside of school or before reaching college hold in their own teaching procedures consciously or unconsciously to the method or methods of language teaching they encountered then. Thus we have ardent proponents of the direct method who never learned a language by that method in the classroom themselves, others who use the same method because in elementary and secondary school they acquired an elementary knowledge of a language by it without any painful attendant circumstances. Many are gallantly teaching college students by the translation method; some, in fact, who think that their students are learning by the direct method. The crux of the matter is not how they were taught the language they teach; it is how they acquired a foreign language at that stage in their mental growth corresponding to that of the students whom they are supposedly teaching. There are other methods of language teaching than those suggested in the previous paragraph. They will serve, however, to show how many factors can be ignored in an evaluation of any given method. Experience shows that students who are best able to handle translation from English into a foreign language are sometimes notably deficient in ability to comprehend a
Microcontact printing: a versatile technique for the study of synaptogenic molecules.

During synaptogenesis information exchanged locally between synaptic partners results in precise alignment of morphological and molecular specializations. For example, agrin derived from motoneurons induces localized postsynaptic differentiation at the neuromuscular synapse. Similar information molecules are thought to act at other synapses; however, techniques for directly evaluating synaptogenic activities of such molecules are lacking. Here we use agrin-induced differentiation as a model system to validate a novel approach for characterizing synaptogenic molecules. Proteins are patterned with micron scale resolution on glass coverslips by covalent microcontact printing and these substrates are used for cell culture. Postsynaptic molecules accumulate specifically at sites of contact between muscle cells and patterned agrin: a response which is quantifiable. Our results demonstrate that microcontact printing is applicable to the analysis of cellular response to locally immobilized information molecules.
Computer aided detection of clusters of microcalcifications on full field digital mammograms.

We are developing a computer-aided detection (CAD) system to identify microcalcification clusters (MCCs) automatically on full field digital mammograms (FFDMs). The CAD system includes six stages: preprocessing; image enhancement; segmentation of microcalcification candidates; false positive (FP) reduction for individual microcalcifications; regional clustering; and FP reduction for clustered microcalcifications. At the stage of FP reduction for individual microcalcifications, a truncated sum-of-squares error function was used to improve the efficiency and robustness of the training of an artificial neural network in our CAD system for FFDMs. At the stage of FP reduction for clustered microcalcifications, morphological features and features derived from the artificial neural network outputs were extracted from each cluster. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to select the features. An LDA classifier was then used to differentiate clustered microcalcifications from FPs. A data set of 96 cases with 192 images was collected at the University of Michigan. This data set contained 96 MCCs, of which 28 clusters were proven by biopsy to be malignant and 68 were proven to be benign. The data set was separated into two independent data sets for training and testing of the CAD system in a cross-validation scheme. When one data set was usedmore » to train and validate the convolution neural network (CNN) in our CAD system, the other data set was used to evaluate the detection performance. With the use of a truncated error metric, the training of CNN could be accelerated and the classification performance was improved. The CNN in combination with an LDA classifier could substantially reduce FPs with a small tradeoff in sensitivity. By using the free-response receiver operating characteristic methodology, it was found that our CAD system can achieve a cluster-based sensitivity of 70, 80, and 90 % at 0.21, 0.61, and 1.49 FPs/image, respectively. For case-based performance evaluation, a sensitivity of 70, 80, and 90 % can be achieved at 0.07, 0.17, and 0.65 FPs/image, respectively. We also used a data set of 216 mammograms negative for clustered microcalcifications to further estimate the FP rate of our CAD system. The corresponding FP rates were 0.15, 0.31, and 0.86 FPs/image for cluster-based detection when negative mammograms were used for estimation of FP rates.« less