cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Clinical Course of Cervical Carcinomain SituDiagnosed during Pregnancy

Abstract Objective. The objective was to determine the frequency with which regression or progression of disease without treatment occurred in women diagnosed with squamous cell cervical carcinoma in situ (CIS) during pregnancy. Methods. A retrospective chart review of all women evaluated at the University of Iowa Colposcopy Clinic diagnosed with CIS during pregnancy from 1987 through 1992 was used. Thirty-four women were evaluated during pregnancy, of which 26 also had postpartum evaluation. All pathology reports of initial cytology and biopsies, as well as colposcopic impressions, were reviewed and compared to the same evaluations postpartum. Results. Of the 26 women evaluated both antepartum and postpartum, only 1 was treated (cone biopsy) during pregnancy. She had disease suspicious for microinvasion. She was disease free postpartum. Of the remaining 25, 20 (80%) had persistent disease, 2 (8%) had either missed disease or progressive disease postpartum, and 3 (12%) resolved without treatment at postpartum evaluation. No statistical significance was found between route of delivery and persistence ( P = 0.34). No statistical significance was found between smoking and persistence of disease ( P = 1.0). In 46% of women the initial cytology was CIN I or II, and the initial colposcopic impression was found to underestimate the severity of the disease in 35% of cases. Two women were found to have invasive disease postpartum. Conclusions. There is a high persistence rate of CIS complicating pregnancy. Given the relatively high rate of underestimation of disease severity by both cytology and colposcopic impression, the use of routine biopsy at the time of colposcopy is recommended. Invasive disease may be encountered on postpartum evaluation.
Yield Estimation from Surface-wave Amplitudes

Surface-wave amplitudes from explosion sources show less variation for a given event than body wave amplitudes, so it is natural to expect that yield estimates derived from surface waves will be more accurate than yield estimates derived from body waves. However, yield estimation from surface waves is complicated by the presence of tectonic strain release, which acts like one or more earthquake sources superimposed on top of the explosion. Moment-tensor inversion can be used to remove the tectonic component of the surface waves, however moment-tensor inversion for shallow sources is inherently non-unique so the explosion isotropic moment cannot be determined with the necessary accuracy by this means. Explosions on an island or near a mountain slope can exhibit anomalous surface waves similar to those caused by tectonic strain release. These complications cause yield estimates derived from surface waves to be less accurate than yield estimates from body waves recorded on a well-calibrated network with good coverage. Surface-wave amplitudes can be expressed as a surface-wave magnitudeM .which is defined as the logarithm of the amplitude plus a distance correction, or as a path corrected spectral magnitude, logMowhich is derived from the surface-wave spectrum. We derive relations forM s vs. yield and log Mo vs. yield for a large data set and estimate the accuracy of these estimates.
Optical performance of bimetallic mirrors under thermal environment

Evaluation of the optical performances of bimetallic mirrors with various substrate shapes was conducted using the finite element analysis program, SDRC-IDEAS. In these analyses, two different plating materials, nickel and aluminum were considered for an aluminum and a beryllium mirror substrate. Thermal environment used in this study is a unit thermal soak. Surface errors, individual aberration terms, such as piston, tilts, focus and other aberrations were obtained by the program PCFRINGE. It was found that the optical performances of bimetallic mirrors depend on the polating material, plating thickness, and the mirror substrate shapes materials. The optimum plating thickness combinations were determined based on plating material and mirror substrate with temperature difference. The results were compared with the optical surface errors and the corrected surface errors. The results indicate that there does not exist a definitive common rule for the optimum, but a detailed analysis such as presented herein is generally needed to design bimetallic mirrors in a thermal environment.
The Keck Cosmic Web Imager

We are designing the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) as a new facility instrument for the Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO). KCWI is based on the Cosmic Web Imager (CWI), an instrument that has recently had first light at the Hale Telescope. KCWI is a wide-field integral-field spectrograph (IFS) optimized for precision sky limited spectroscopy of low surface brightness phenomena. KCWI will feature high throughput, and flexibility in field of view (FOV), spatial sampling, bandpass, and spectral resolution. KCWI will provide full wavelength coverage (0.35 to 1.05 μm) using optimized blue and red channels. KCWI will provide a unique and complementary capability at WMKO (optical band integral field spectroscopy) that is directly connected to one of the Observatory's strategic goals (faint object, high precision spectroscopy), at a modest cost and on a competitive time scale, made possible by its simple concept and the prior demonstration of CWI.
Formation of Air Stable Graphene p-n-p Junctions Using an Amine-Containing Polymer Coating

An ultrathin layer of a polymer containing simple aliphatic amine groups, polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE), is deposited on a back-gated field effect graphene device to form graphene p–n–p junctions. Characteristic I–V curves indicate the superposition of two separate Dirac points, which confirms an energy separation of neutrality points within the complementary regions. This is a simple approach for making graphene p–n–p junctions without a need for multiple lithography steps or electrostatic gates and, unlike, the destructive techniques such as substitutional doping or covalent functionalization, it induces a minor defect, if any, as there is no discernible D peak in the Raman spectra of the graphene films after creating junctions and degradation in the charge carrier mobilities of the graphene devices. This method can be easily processed from dilute solutions in environmentally-friendly solvents such as water or methoxyethanol and does not suffer any change upon exposure to air or heating at temperatures below 100 °C.
Electron microscopic studies of the digestive tract and absorption from the gut lumen of a feather star, oligometra serripinna (Echinodermata)

The gut of a crinoid echinoderm is described for the first time by transmission electron microscopy. The gut comprises a short esophagus, a relatively long intestine and a short rectum. From the luminal side to the coelomic side, the layers of the gut wall are an inner epithelium, an epineural plexus (much reduced or absent in the intestine and rectum), haemal fluid, smooth muscles mixed with a hyponeural plexus, and a visceral peritoneum. The inner epithelium of the esophagus consists of numerous flagellated enterocytes and some mucous cells containing abundant mucous granules. The luminal surface of the esophagus, but not that of the other gut regions, is covered by a conspicuous cuticle. The inner epithelium of the intestine consists of some exocrine cells, presumably exporting digestive enzymes to the gut lumen, and numerous vesicular enterocytes that are flagellated and contain a few apical mucous granules. The inner epithelium of the rectum is made up entirely of vesicular enterocytes most of which lack a flagellum. The uptake of macromolecules from the gut lumen was demonstrated by feeding the feather stars food mixed with ferritin. By 4 h after feeding, ferritin was identified in presumed secondary lysosomes within the enterocytes of the esophagus and within the vesicular enterocytes of the intestine and rectum. The functional implications of the new fine structural results are discussed.
Image analysis software for the detection of preneoplastic and early neoplastic lesions.

Preneoplastic lesions are usually small, and often appear as foci of atypical cells that blend into the surrounding normal tissue without producing a detectable tumor mass. Since these lesions seldom provide adequate tissue for biochemical studies, their detection often depends upon subtle distinctions in cytologic features. Image analysis permits pathologists to obtain quantitative measurements on cytologic and histologic preparations, so that visual impressions can be augmented by quantitative morphometry. Preneoplastic lesions have well-described morphometric features relating to nuclear area, texture, or shape. It is now feasible for every pathology department to capture images of pathologic material with equipment costing less than the price of a microscope. Captured image files can be analyzed using commercial software or software developed in several U.S. government agencies and made freely available to the public. Image analysis has been shown to improve the detection of preneoplastic cells. Recent improvements in the resolution of captured images, in the algorithms that measure preneoplastic descriptors, and in the ease and speed of transmission of images between laboratories, should increase our ability to detect and treat preneoplastic lesions.
Cytosine neutral molecules and cation-radicals in the gas-phase

Abstract Gas-phase cytosine molecules and cation–radicals represent a complex system of several nearly isoenergetic tautomers within each group. Computational methods differ in ordering the relative enthalpies of neutral cytosine tautomers. At our highest level of theory, CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations find an enol form, anti -2-hydroxy-4-aminopyrimidine ( 2 ), to be the most stable neutral tautomer in the gas-phase, followed by its rotamer, syn -2-hydroxy-4-aminopyrimidine ( 3 ), the canonical oxo-form, 4-amino-1,2-dihydropyrimidin-2( 1H )-one ( 1 ), imino-forms, 2-oxo-4-iminodihydro( 1H , 3H )pyrimidine ( 4 and 5 ), and another oxo-form, 4-amino-dihydropyrimidin-2( 3H )-one ( 6 ). Other tautomers, such as anti-anti , syn-syn and syn-anti -2-hydroxy-4-iminodihydro( 3H , 4H )pyrimidines ( 7 – 9 ), are less stable. The adiabatic ionization energies of the major cytosine tautomers have been calculated to be 8.71, 8.64, 8.62, 8.58, 8.64, and 8.31 eV for 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 , respectively. Cytosine cation–radicals show very close relative energies that increase in the order of 6 + (most stable) 2 + ≈ 3 + 4 + ≈ 7 + ≈ 1 + 5 + . In addition, distonic ions having radical centers at C-5 ( 10 + ) and C-6 ( 11 + are found as low-energy isomers of 1 + – 7 + . Metastable cytosine cation–radicals undergo ring-cleavage dissociations by eliminations of CO (major) and HN C O (minor). The energetics of these and other higher-energy dissociations, including the pertinent transition states, have been established by high-level ab initio and density functional theory calculations and plausible mechanisms have been proposed. Collisional neutralization of cytosine cation–radicals with trimethylamine and dimethyldisulfide as electron donors forms stable molecules that are detected as cation–radicals following collisional reionization. The dissociations observed upon neutralization–reionization mainly include ring-cleavages followed by loss of N C O, HN C O, and formation of C 2 H 3 N, C 2 H 2 N, and CO neutral fragments that are assigned to ion dissociations following reionization.
New evidence related to reactions of aminated silane coupling agents with carbon dioxide

The nature of the product of the reaction between an aminated silane and carbon dioxide was re-examined with the aid of simple model compounds, several amines, and several aminosilanes. Since the reaction products previously proposed include the amine bicarbonate and a carbamate derived from the amine, ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbamate were studied as models for the anions. Carbon dioxide adducts of neat model amines were prepared and studied. Results from a variety of techniques are summarized. Among the most useful was Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of fluorolube mulls. FTIR spectra were distinctive and assignments characteristic of the two species were extracted from the spectral data. Comparisons of these assignments with the products of the reaction between carbon dioxide and various amines were made. The results indicate that alkylammonium carbamates are the principal product. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra in D2O indicated much dissociation and were not helpful i...
THE FRONTIER REMIX

In The Deaths of Hintsa: Postapartheid South Africa and the Shape of Recurring Pasts, Premesh Lalu claims to offer a critique of apartheid's colonial past. Emblematic of this colonial past is the 1835 killing and mutilation of the Xhosa king Hintsa. Lalu uses this violent event to argue against the evidence provided by the colonial archives. He argues that the killing of Hintsa was not an empirical fact but a product of the colonial imagination. The review argues that although the critique of apartheid's colonial past is timely, the book is not about Hintsa and does not therefore offer an alternative narrative of the death of the Xhosa king.
Organizational Structures of Elder Abuse Reporting Systems

The purpose of this study is to understand the evolution, structure, and processes of statewide administrative structures of elder abuse reporting and response systems. This inquiry examines the background of elder abuse reporting in the United States. Specifically, it reviews the philosophical foundations of the policies that undergird the mechanisms and administration of elder abuse reporting systems. The study also examines the available descriptive data on service-delivery models across states to further describe the characteristics of the system; what type of entities form the elder abuse reporting system? Is the information-gathering network of the system centralized or decentralized? Does service delivery employ public-private partnership and involvement of multidisciplinary teams of service providers, and how are these characteristics distributed across states? Finally, the manuscript explores the implications of the organizational configurations of the Adult Protective Services (APS) on the effic...
How ISO/IEC 17799 can be used for base lining information assurance among entities using data mining for defense, homeland security, commercial, and other civilian/commercial domains

One goal of database mining is to draw unique and valid perspectives from multiple data sources. Insights that are fashioned from closely-held data stores are likely to possess a high degree of reliability. The degree of information assurance comes into question, however, when external databases are accessed, combined and analyzed to form new perspectives. ISO/IEC 17799, Information technology-Security techniques-Code of practice for information security management, can be used to establish a higher level of information assurance among disparate entities using data mining in the defense, homeland security, commercial and other civilian/commercial domains. Organizations that meet ISO/IEC information security standards have identified and assessed risks, threats and vulnerabilities and have taken significant proactive steps to meet their unique security requirements. The ISO standards address twelve domains: risk assessment and treatment, security policy, organization of information security, asset management, human resources security, physical and environmental security, communications and operations management, access control, information systems acquisition, development and maintenance, information security incident management and business continuity management and compliance. Analysts can be relatively confident that if organizations are ISO 17799 compliant, a high degree of information assurance is likely to be a characteristic of the data sets being used. The reverse may be true. Extracting, fusing and drawing conclusions based upon databases with a low degree of information assurance may be wrought with all of the hazards that come from knowingly using bad data to make decisions. Using ISO/IEC 17799 as a baseline for information assurance can help mitigate these risks.
Using Fish Communities to Assess Streams in Romania: Initial Development of an Index of Biotic Integrity *

Multimetric biotic indices increasingly are used to complement physicochemical data in assessments of stream quality. We initiated development of multimetric indices, based on fish communities, to assess biotic integrity of streams in two physiographic regions of central Romania. Unlike previous efforts to develop such indices for European streams, our metrics and scoring criteria were selected largely on the basis of empirical relations in the regions of interest. We categorised 54 fish species with respect to ten natural-history attributes, then used this information to compute 32 candidate metrics of five types (taxonomic, tolerance, abundance, reproductive, and feeding) for each of 35 sites. We assessed the utility of candidate metrics for detecting anthropogenic impact based on three criteria: (a) range of values taken, (b) relation to a site-quality index (SQI), which incorporated information on hydrologic alteration, channel alteration, land-use intensity, and water chemistry, and (c) metric redundancy. We chose seven metrics from each region to include in preliminary multimetric indices (PMIs). Both PMIs included taxonomic, tolerance, and feeding metrics, but only two metrics were common to both PMIs. Although we could not validate our PMIs, their strong association with the SQI in each region suggests that such indices would be valuable tools for assessing stream quality and could provide more comprehensive assessments than the traditional approaches based solely on water chemistry.
Dielectric Changes of Electroluminescent Phosphor During Illumination

Phosphor powder was incorporated in a thin film of plasticized polyvinyl chloride. The dielectric constant and loss of the film was measured at 1000 cps under various intensities of illumination and at different applied voltages. White light from a tungsten lamp was used for some experiments, while others were done with monochromatic light of different wavelengths from a mercury arc.The results of these experiments show a very substantial variation of dielectric constant under illumination. Further, the magnitude of the change of dielectric constant depends critically on the value of the voltage applied during the tests. There is a maximum effect at about 4046A, while the sensitivity falls off noticeably at 3650A and 4358A.
On a class of singular perturbation problems

occurs in the theory of small transverse deflections of stretched thin elastic plates. Here U(X, y) is the deflection of the midplane of the plate, Au = u,, + uyy , and differentiation is indicated by subscripts. In the situation of interest, X is assumed large; it depends on the tension in the plate, the plate thickness, and certain material constants. A second example concerns the system of differential equations for the stress function ~(x, y) and the transverse deflection ru(x, y) of the shallow hyperbolic paraboloidal shell. This system can be reduced to the form
Comparison of the reactions induced by psilocybin and LSD-25 in man.

1. The reaction induced by oral administration of 57 to 114 mcgm/kg of 0-Phosphoryl-4-hydroxy-N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) has been compared with that induced by a placebo and LSD-25 (1.0 to 1.5 mcgm/kg) in 9 subjects. 2. Both LSD and psilocybin caused elevations in body temperature, pulse and respiratory rates, and systolic blood pressure. Threshold for elicitation of the kneejerk was decreased by both drugs. 3. After both drugs, abnormal mental states characterized by feelings of strangeness, difficulty in thinking, anxiety, altered sensory perception (particularly visual), elementary and true visual hallucinations, and alterations of body image were reported by the subjects. 4. The effects of psilocybin did not persist as long as those of LSD. 5. LSD is 100 to 150 times as potent as psilocybin.
An investigation of the interaction of potassium ions with poly(dimethylsiloxane)

The interactions of potassium ions with α, ω-hydroxy-terminated and α, ω-trimethylsilyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxanes) (PDMS) have been investigated. After mixing with potassium hydroxide followed by partial extraction, the α, ω-hydroxy-terminated PDMS samples gave elastomeric materials which are thought to result from aggregation of terminal potassium silanolate ion pairs. Uniaxial tensile testing of these materials was carried out at 298 K. The α, ω-trimethylsilyl-terminated PDMS, when mixed with potassium hydroxide, however, gave completely soluble material following identical solvent extraction procedures.
Monitoring of Qualifications and Employment in Austria: an empirical approach based on the labour force survey

The empirical approach referred to in this article describes the relationship between education and training (ET) supply and employment in Austria; the use of the new ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) fields of study variable makes this approach applicable abroad. The purpose is to explore a system that produces timely information on how the specialised and layered supply of initial vocational education and training (VET) is reflected in employment structures. This is done by ‘screening’ potential risks and opportunities related to ET specialisations, and by comparing a set of indicators across the whole ET supply (from simple occupations to higher education). The approach is based on theory of ‘constructivist’ knowledge management, and its intent is to provide input for reflection and learning among stakeholders regarding the empirical relationship between ET supply and demand. Consequently, the results do not aspire to offer ‘hard evidence’, but should instead draw attention to ...
Sexual precocity in a 5-year-old boy with interstitial-cell tumor of the testis.

THERE have been previously recorded only 9 cases of sexual precocity due to the hormonal effects of an interstitial-cell tumor of the testis. The pertinent literature has been reviewed by Cook et at. (1). The following case is reported in order to aid in the characterization of the clinical and endocrinologic features of this unusual syndrome. N. R., a white male child, was first seen at the age of 5 years on September 4, 1950. He had been born on June 7, 1945. He was the product of a first pregnancy and weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces, and measured 2½ inches in length at birth. Early pediatric development was not remarkable. In 1949 during his fourth year, his general body growth was noted to be rapid and in January 1950 the mother noted a few pubic hairs developing. Since that time until September 1950 when he was first admitted to our clinic, there was progressive and rapid genital development, frequent acneform eruption about the face and shoulders, and a marked change in his voice. His health had otherwis...
Voltage-independent Sodium-binding Events Reported by the 4B-4C Loop in the Human Glutamate Transporter Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 3

Glutamate transporters (excitatory amino acid transporter (EAATs)) are critical for normal excitatory signaling and maintaining subtoxic glutamate concentrations in mammalian central nervous system. Recently, a crystal structure for a homologous transporter in bacteria was reported. Still, little is understood regarding the mechanism of substrate uptake. In transmembrane domain 4, the mammalian EAATs contain a stretch of over 50 amino acids (4B-4C loop) that are absent in the bacterial protein. These residues have been suggested to be located in the large extracellular vestibule seen in the crystal structure. State-dependent trypsin-cleavage sites have been reported in this region, suggesting that the 4B-4C loop undergoes significant conformational changes. Here we employed substituted cysteine accessibility, voltage clamp fluorometry, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer on oocytes expressing mutant EAAT3 transporters to determine the location and functionality of the 4B-4C loop. We find that this loop extends from near the center of the protein and that the majority of the residues are positioned on the outer perimeter of the protein, rather than inside the vestibule. Our fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements demonstrated that these residues do not undergo large scale motions during glutamate uptake. However, our voltage clamp fluorometry studies indicate that these residues report on Na(+) and glutamate binding-induced conformational changes, including a previously un-described voltage-independent component of Na(+) binding to the transporter. The finding that residues far from the glutamate-binding site report on several different types of binding events suggests that the series of small conformational changes that accomplish glutamate uptake extend throughout the transporter structure.
Phytochemical profiling of new and old world Hypericum (St. John's Wort) species

Botanical extracts of Hypericum perforatum L. (common St. John's Wort) are used in the USA and in Europe as a treatment for mild to moderate depression, although controversy surrounds the identity of the active constituent(s). RP-HPLC with photodiode array detection was used to separate and quantify nine compounds of pharmacological interest in extracts from 74 taxa of Hypericum native to the Old and New World. Chemical profiles of these constituents may be used to distinguish extracts of H. perforatum from those of other species of Hypericum, and to indicate species that may be of interest for further phytochemical investigation.
A technique for measuring the mechanical actions of heterogenic (intermuscular) reflexes in the decerebrate cat

Two muscle pullers were used to study the natural mechanical actions of autogenic reflexes, which arise from muscle receptors and feed back to the muscle of origin, and heterogenic reflexes, which feed back to muscles other than the muscle of origin. In the study reported here, the reflexes associated with muscles which act about the ankle joint of the decerebrate cat were investigated. Actions of autogenic pathways were measured by imposing length changes on the muscle and recording the resulting changes in force and EMG (electromyogram). Actions of heterogenic reflexes for pairs of muscles were measured by imposing appropriate combinations of length changes on the muscle of origin and on the muscle receiving the heterogenic reflex. In some cases, length changes were applied in such a way as to mimic normal mechanical coupling to evaluate the physiological importance of the reflexes, while in other cases the tests departed from normal coupling to address questions about mechanisms of reflex action. It was found that several pairs of muscles could be studied in a single experiment so that supraspinal influences on the pattern of spinal reflex connectivity can be conveniently evaluated.
Visualization of mitochondrial DNA replication in individual cells by EdU signal amplification.

Mitochondria are key regulators of cellular energy and mitochondrial biogenesis is an essential component of regulating mitochondria numbers in healthy cells1-3. One approach for monitoring mitochondrial biogenesis is to measure the rate of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication4. We developed a sensitive technique to label newly synthesized mtDNA in individual cells in order to study mtDNA biogenesis. The technique combines the incorporation of 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU)5-7 with a tyramide signal amplification (TSA)8 protocol to visualize mtDNA replication within subcellular compartments of neurons. EdU is superior to other thymidine analogs, such as 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU), because the initial click reaction to label EdU5-7 does not require the harsh acid treatments or enzyme digests that are required for exposing the BrdU epitope. The milder labeling of EdU allows for direct comparison of its incorporation with other cellular markers9-10. The ability to visualize and quantify mtDNA biogenesis provides an essential tool for investigating the mechanisms used to regulate mitochondrial biogenesis and would provide insight into the pathogenesis associated with drug toxicity, aging, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Our technique is applicable to sensory neurons as well as other cell types. The use of this technique to measure mtDNA biogenesis has significant implications in furthering the understanding of both normal cellular physiology as well as impaired disease states.
Low-dose neoadjuvant external beam radiation therapy for soft tissue sarcoma.

Purpose For soft tissue sarcoma, neoadjuvant external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to 50 Gy has the same local control (LC) and overall survival as postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) to 60 Gy, but with increased wound complications. We examined whether low-dose neoadjuvant EBRT would decrease acute toxicity while maintaining LC. Methods and Materials From 1971 to 2008, 1,765 patients with nonmetastatic soft tissue sarcoma were treated with radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. We identified 42 patients treated with low-dose neoadjuvant EBRT (median, 20 Gy; range, 16–26) followed by surgical resection and PORT. PORT included EBRT (25 patients; median, 40 Gy; range, 20–56.2), brachytherapy (13 patients; median, 42 Gy; range, 26–50), and intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) (4 patients; median, 12.5 Gy; range, 8–20). The median total dose was 63.3 Gy (range, 28–78.4). Results Median follow-up was 36 months (range, 4–318). Severe acute wound complications were reported in 15 patients (36%) and correlated to PORT technique (16% EBRT, 69% brachytherapy, 50% IORT, p = 0.004). The 5-year LC was 73% and correlated to PORT technique (68% EBRT, 100% brachytherapy, 50% IORT, p = 0.03) and histology ( p = 0.05), with a trend to improvement if >60 Gy ( p = 0.10). The 5-year overall survival was 65% and correlated to extent of resection ( p p Conclusions Despite using low-dose neoadjuvant EBRT, we report a high rate of severe acute wound complications that was strongly associated with brachytherapy. Modification of the brachytherapy technique may decrease acute toxicity while maintaining excellent local control. Further study must be conducted before recommending broader application.
Synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus: LTP and LTD

Perhaps the most fundamental and remarkable feature of the mammalian central nervous system is its ability to process and store large amounts of information. For many decades it has been postulated that the brain uses Ionglasting modifications of synaptic strength in critical neural circuits to accomplish this feat. One such activitydependent modification is long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus, a sustained increase in synaptic strength that is elicited by brief high frequency stimulation of excitatory afferents. Recent excitement about the phenomenon of LTP has arisen from three major sources. First, compelling evidence from lesion studies in higher primates, including humans, shows that the hippocampus is a critical component of a neural system that is required for the initial storage of certain forms of long-term memory (Squire and Zola-Morgan, 1991). Second, several properties of LTP make it an attractive cellular mechanism for information storage or memory (Bliss and Collingridge, 1993). Like memories, LTP can be generated rapidly and is strengthened with repetition. It exhibits input specificity; that is, LTP occurs only at synapses stimulated by afferent activity but not at adjacent synapses on the same postsynaptic cell. Input specificity presumbably dramatically increases the storage capacity within a neural circuit. Most importantly, LTP is associative; temporally pairing activity in a “weak” input (incapable of generating LTP by itself) with activation of a strong input (capable of eliciting LTP at adjacent synapses on the same postsynaptic cell) results in LTP of the weak input. This associative property, which is reminiscent of classical conditioning, can be considered a cellular analog of associative learning. Third, LTP is readily elicited in in vitro preparations of the hippocampus, and this makes it amenable to rigorous experimental manipulations. There are several different forms of LTP, but the majority of experimental work has focused on the LTP observed in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells. This minireview will provide an update on the cellular mechanisms of LTP and distinguish those mechanisms that are firmly established from those that remain contentious. The evidence connecting LTP to real learning and memory also will be reviewed briefly. The Induction of LTP: NMDA Receptors and Cap+ It is well accepted that the induction of LTP requires activation of postsynaptic N-methyl-o-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors (a subtype of glutamate receptor) during postsynaptic depolarization, which is normally generated by high frequency afferent activity. This results in a rise in CaH concentration ([Ca%],), a necessary trigger for LTP. Figure 1 shows that during normal low frequency synaptic transmission, the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is
Synthesis and characterization of dextran-peptide-methotrexate conjugates for tumor targeting via mediation by matrix metalloproteinase II and matrix metalloproteinase IX.

We designed and synthesized new dextran−peptide−methotrexate conjugates for tumor-targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics via the mediation of matrix metalloproteinase II (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase IX (MMP-9), both being widely known tumor-associated enzymes. A robust and flexible synthesis procedure and process monitoring chromatography assays were developed. The linker chemistry and the backbone charge were optimized to allow high sensitivity of the conjugates toward the targeted enzymes. The optimal conjugate carries Pro-Val-Gly-Leu-Ile-Gly as the peptide linker, and the charge on the dextran backbone is fully neutralized. In the presence of the targeted enzymes, the peptide was cleaved and peptidyl methotrexate was released, with a kcat/Km value of 1.21 × 105 M-1 s-1 for MMP-2 and 3.60 × 103 M-1 s-1 for MMP-9, respectively. Satisfactory stability of the new conjugates was demonstrated in serum containing conditions, suggesting the conjugates can remain intact in systemic circulation. These fi...
An extremely large and facially distorting nasopalatine duct cyst

Abstract An extremely large and disfiguring nonodontogenic cyst of the maxilla has been reported. Diagnosis of a nasopalatine duct cyst was made by means of clinical, roentgenographic, and histopathologic evaluation and interpretation. Because of the size of the cyst, and in order best to conserve both bone and the anterior maxillary dentition, a marsupialization was performed. The source of epithelium for nonodontogenic cysts of the maxilla and the origin of the nasopalatine duct cyst have also been discussed. Investigation and determination of the differential diagnoses of odontogenic and nonodontogenic cysts of the maxilla are important factors in proper treatment, allowing for conservation of dentition and bone structure.
Proposed criteria for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse in adolescents

Abstract Proposed criteria for the diagnosis of adolescent alcohol abuse were examined in a large group of juvenile offenders. The criteria successfully identified the adolescents with a preponderance of symptoms across a broad spectrum of alcohol problems and those with higher frequency of alcohol use.
Conceptual Knowledge Acquisition in Biomedicine: A Methodological Review

The use of conceptual knowledge collections or structures within the biomedical domain is pervasive, spanning a variety of applications including controlled terminologies, semantic networks, ontologies, and database schemas. A number of theoretical constructs and practical methods or techniques support the development and evaluation of conceptual knowledge collections. This review will provide an overview of the current state of knowledge concerning conceptual knowledge acquisition, drawing from multiple contributing academic disciplines such as biomedicine, computer science, cognitive science, education, linguistics, semiotics, and psychology. In addition, multiple taxonomic approaches to the description and selection of conceptual knowledge acquisition and evaluation techniques will be proposed in order to partially address the apparent fragmentation of the current literature concerning this domain.
Isometric isomorphisms of Cartan bimodule algebras

Abstract This paper is dedicated to proving a single result: that isometric isomorphisms of Cartan bimodule algebras can be extended to ∗ -isomorphisms of the generated von Neumann algebras. If M is a von Neumann algebra with Cartan subalgebra A , then a (Cartan) bimodule algebra is simple a σ-weakly closed subalgebra S of M which contains A ; S generates M if there is no proper von Neumann subalgebra of M containing S . The key idea is that a theorem of Muhly, Saito, and Solel concerning isomorphisms of maximal subdiagonal algebras can be extended to this much wider class of algebras if we restrict our attention to isometric isomorphisms. Although the algebras are not assumed to be hyperfinite, a finite-dimensional result of Davidson and Power lies at the leart of the proof. What makes the use of finite-dimensional techniques possible is the existence of “sufficiently many” finite subequivalence relations of an arbitrary countable measurable equivalence relation.
A comparative study of handsewn versus stapled gastrojejunal anastomosis in laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Background The two basic techniques available in which to perform the gastrojejunal (GJ) anastomosis during a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGBP) are stapled and handsewn. Few outcomes differences have been noted between the two to recommend one as a superior approach. We present our findings in comparison of the two methods.
Cobalamin inactivation decreases purine and methionine synthesis in cultured lymphoblasts.

Cobalamin (vitamin B12) is required by two enzymes in mammalian cells, specifically methionine synthetase (N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase, EC 2.1.1.13) and methylmalonyl CoA mutase (EC 5.4.99.2). Cobalamin deficiency in humans leads to megaloblastic anemia which is probably secondary to decreased methionine synthetase activity and to subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord which appears to be secondary to decreased methylmalonyl CoA mutase activity. A decrease in methionine synthetase activity should cause 5-methyltetra-hydrofolate to accumulate because this folate is a major storage form of intracellular folate and its production from 5, 10-methylene tetrahydrofo-late is essentially irreversible. in vivo. These were the data that originally formulated the methylfolate trap hypothesis to describe cobalamin deficiency. Trapping intracellular folates as 5-methyltetrahydro-folate should decrease intracellular purine synthesis and thus lead to decreased DNA synthesis and ultimately to megaloblastosis. However, not all of the data concerning B12 deficiency are totally explainable by the folate trap and animal studies only partially support this mechanism.
Spinel disproportionation at high pressure: calorimetric determination of enthalpy of formation of Mg2SnO4 and Co2SnO4 and some implications for silicates

The enthalpies of formation from the oxides of Mg2SnO4 and Co2SnO4 were found by oxide melt solution calorimetry to be +1.13 ± 0.48 kcal/mol and −2.31 ± 0.28 kcal/mol, respectively. Using these data, the slopes, ∂P/∂T, for disproportionation of these spinels to the component oxides at high pressure were calculated to be +30.4 ± 4.2 bar/K for Mg2SnO4 and −10.3 ± 2.4 bar/K for Co2SnO4, in general agreement with the data of Jackson et al. (1974a,b). Using thermochemical data for the formation of olivines, for olivine-spinel transitions and for the transformation of quartz to stishovite, we calculate pressures for the disproportionation of silicate spinels to be in the range 150–200 kbar. Calculated slopes ∂P/∂T for the disproportionation reactions are −10.7, −24.9, −11.2, and +7.6 bar/K for Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Co2SiO4, and Ni2SiO4. The large negative slope calculated for Fe2SiO4 results from a surprisingly large positive slope reported for the olivine-spinel transition in that compound (Akimoto et al., 1969). Further consideration of the systematic trends in the thermodynamics of spinel formation from the oxides suggests that the silicate spinels should have entropies of formation close to zero, resulting in values of ∂P/∂T which are zero or at most only slightly negative. This confirms the conclusion of Jackson, Liebermann, and Ringwood that values of ∂P/∂T for spinel disproportionation are unlikely to be more negative than −10 bar/K and may well be slightly positive. Reaction of spinels to form other post-spinel phases, particularly ilmenite and perovskite, are discussed in terms of available thermochemical data.
The unsaturated fatty acids of the alga chlorella

HE purpose of this paper is to elucidate further the composition of the unsaturated fatty acids of the fresh water alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa grown in pure culture in pilot plant quantities. In 1948 Milner (1) had shown the effect of certain environmental conditions on the yield of Chlorella and its lipid content. An excellent discussion of these results and the economic aspects of the problem appeared in 1951 (2) in this journal. Significant to us was the observation that the cell yield increased with increased nitrogen content of nutrient media but that the cells thus obtained had a low content of fatty acid. These however were highly unsaturated as indicated by iodine numbers of over 160. Restriction of nitrogen in the media gave poor yield of C hlorella, but the fatty acid content of the cells increased tenfold to over 60%. Iodine number of the fatty acids dropped to 125. The one sample which we examined was the low-lipid, high-iodine number type. The sample was obtained from Arthur D. Little Inc. Pilot plant studies at the laboratory were apparently aimed at high cell and high protein yields. Milner found that the fatty acids were almost all of C~s and C~s chain length, tte noted that the iodine number of the C~6 fraction indicated at least 17% of triene fatty acids. Polyunsaturated C~6 fatty acids are relatively rare. Heyes and Sborland (3) have re
A digit alignment device for kinematic analysis of the thumb and index finger.

Abstract Kinematic analysis of the digits using optical motion capture systems relies on defining accurate coordinate systems for the individual segments. Limitations of previous digit kinematic protocols include marker placement errors, marker occlusion and superimposition, and skin movement artifact. The purpose of this study was to develop a protocol utilizing a digit alignment device (DAD) and nail marker clusters to overcome these limitations. Ten subjects underwent 10 static calibration trials for validation. The orientation of the thumb distal phalange relative to the index finger distal phalange was described using Euler angles of pitch( x ), yaw( y ′), and roll( z ′′). The digit calibration protocol demonstrated high accuracy (0.5°, 1.9° and 2.2° for x , y ′, z ′′) and precision (1.4°, 2.3° and 3.1° for x , y ′, z ′′). The developed protocol provided convenient identification of transformations that determine anatomically relevant coordinate systems for the distal phalanges of the digits. The potential of utilizing this protocol as a standardized tool for digit kinematics was demonstrated using a dynamic task of precision pinching.
Identification of New World aquatic invertebrate illustrations in The Drake Manuscript

Images of aquatic invertebrates are included in a late 16th-century work, Historie Naturelle des Indes, also known as The Drake Manuscript. While the renderings are often whimsical and exaggerated, they nonetheless appear to be based on direct observations. We sought to identify these aquatic invertebrates and explore their early history. Most were identifiable to species based on the renderings and captions. Images of horseshoe crab were also found in Brief and True Report of the Found Land of Virginia (1590), which contains etchings derived from watercolours by John White. We speculate that renderings of horseshoe crab in The Drake Manuscript may have descended from a lost detailed watercolour by John White in connection with his voyages to Roanoke rather than being based on direct observations. Finally, the freshwater unionoid mussel illustration appears to be the oldest known depiction of mantle lures unique to some species in this taxon.
Health system characteristics and rates of readmission after acute myocardial infarction in the United States.

Background Interventions to reduce early readmissions have focused on patient characteristics and the importance of early follow-up; however, less is known about the characteristics of health systems, including quality, capacity, and intensity, and their influence on readmission rates in the United States. Therefore, we examined the association of hospital patterns of medical care with rates of 30-day readmission. Methods and Results Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for an AMI (n=188 611) between 2008 and 2009 in 1088 hospitals in the United States were included in our cohort. We tested the association between hospital patterns of medical care quality (discharge planning care quality), capacity (hospital size measured as the number of beds, hospital-level Medicare all medical admission rates, supply of primary care physicians and cardiologists), and intensity (measures of care during the last 6 months of life) on CMS risk-adjusted rates of 30-day readmission using Poisson multilevel mixed-effects models adjusting for patient- and hospital-level covariates. There were 38 350 readmissions at 30-days (20.3%) AMI discharges. Controlling for patient characteristics, measures of hospital care associated with higher rates of readmission included higher hospital-level rates for all medical admissions, per capita primary care physicians and cardiologists, and last 6 months of life care intensity measures including increased number of hospital days, number of ICU days, number of physician visits, and 10 or more different physicians seen during the last 6 months of life. Better discharge quality and larger hospitals were associated with lower rates of readmission. Conclusions In addition to quality of care, high 30-day readmission rates are associated with hospital-level measures of capacity and intensity. Efforts to reduce readmission rates may need to address these broader patterns of medical care.