cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The determination of nicotine in biological fluids at picogram levels by selected ion recording.

Using a combined gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric-selected ion recording technique it has been possible to achieve detection, identification, and quantitation of nicotine in biological fluids in amounts as low as 25 pg. Employing the deuterated variant nicotine-5′,5′-d2 both as an internal standard and as a carrier in an inverse isotope dilution method, an accurate, sensitive, and specific method for picogram level quantitation of nicotine is obtained. Careful precautions were necessary to prevent positive “blank” values at low levels due to extraneous nicotine, which were found to arise both from the solvents used in the extractions and from airborne sources.
Prolactin responses to acute clomipramine and haloperidol of male schizophrenic patients in a drug-free state and after treatment with clozapine or with olanzapine.

Abstract Atypical neuroleptics share a common feature, showing higher affinity for 5-HT2 receptors than for D2 dopamine receptors, but show considerable differences in their clinical and pharmacological properties. In clinical doses, they occupy serotonergic receptors near saturation, but show considerable differences regarding the D2 receptor occupancies, with clozapine showing the lowest degree of occupation. We assessed serotonergic and dopaminergic receptor responsivities in two groups of male schizophrenic patients, one treated with the atypical neuroleptic clozapine (14 patients, doses 200–600 mg/d) and the other treated with olanzapine (11 patients, doses 10–30 mg/d). We measured the prolactin responses to the acute administration of a serotonergic drug, clomipramine, and a dopaminergic one, haloperidol. Tests were first performed in the drug-free state, and were repeated after the patients had been treated with stable doses of either drug for six weeks. Clomipramine administration induced significant increases of prolactin in the drug-free state. These responses were eliminated after treatment of the patients with either drug, thereby indicating a high 5-HT receptor occupancy by both clozapine and olanzapine. The prolactin responses to haloperidol were not altered after treatment with clozapine, but were significantly reduced after the olanzapine treatment. The baseline prolactin levels were not influenced by clozapine treatment, and were moderately but significantly increased after treatment with olanzapine. The results indicate that there is a difference between the two drugs in their capacity to block dopamine receptors at the hypothalamus–pituitary level, and match the results obtained by SPECT receptor binding studies for striatal dopamine receptors.
Posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein: mimic of distal common bile duct at sonography

Previous investigators have noted that the common bile duct may appear to merge with the portal vein on sagittal sonograms, mimicking a venous structure. The posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein courses adjacent to the distal part of the common bile duct within the pancreatic head. A prospective study was performed to assess the sonographic appearance of the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein.The study included 50 consecutive subjects in whom the pancreatic head was well seen. Anatomic characteristics of the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein were noted with gray-scale, duplex Doppler, and color Doppler sonography. The site of insertion of the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein into the portal vein was noted.The posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein was visualized in all 50 cases. Although it usually (82% of cases) inserted into the posterior aspect of the portal vein, the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal vein inserted into the anterior aspect of the portal ve...
Isotope composition of sulphate in acid mine drainage as measure of bacterial oxidation

The formation of acid waters by oxidation of pyrite-bearing ore deposits, mine tailing piles, and coal measures is a complex biogeochemical process and is a serious environmental problem. We have studied the oxygen and sulphur isotope geochemistry of sulphides, sulphur, sulphate and water in the field and in experiments to identify sources of oxygen and reaction mechanisms of sulphate formation. Here we report that the oxygen isotope composition of sulphate in acid mine drainage shows a large variation due to differing proportions of atmospheric- and water-derived oxygen from both chemical and bacterially-mediated oxidation. 18O-enrichment of sulphate results from pyrite oxidation facilitated by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans in aerated environments. Oxygen isotope analysis may therefore be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of abatement programmes designed to inhibit bacterial oxidation. Sulphur isotopes show no significant fractionation between pyrite and sulphate, indicating the quantitative insignificance of intermediate oxidation states of sulphur under acid conditions.
Calcium and vitamin D requirements for optimal bone mass during adolescence.

Purpose of review There remains very strong interest in the calcium and vitamin D requirements of adolescents related to bone health. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released new dietary guidelines in late 2010 for these nutrients. These guidelines were primarily based on literature published in 2009 and earlier and emphasized the role of vitamin D combined with calcium in optimizing bone health. A series of research studies published in 2010 and 2011, mostly not included in the IOM report, have further addressed these issues. Recent findings These most recently published data are generally consistent with the IOM report and earlier data in supporting calcium intakes of 1300 mg/day and vitamin D intakes of 600 IU/day for adolescents. However, there is some suggestion that a slightly higher Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D might be considered at some future time. Summary New dietary guidelines and recent research support increased vitamin D intakes compared with previous recommendations, but not very high doses. Further studies are needed related to high-dose vitamin D intake.
Urethral Reconstruction in Patients With Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction

Purpose: There is limited literature examining urethral reconstruction in patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction. We describe our experience of urethral reconstruction in men with concurrent neurogenic bladder.Materials and Methods: A prospectively maintained database of all urethral reconstruction procedures performed by 1 surgeon was analyzed for patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction. Patient characteristics including the etiology of neurogenic bladder, urethral pathology, urethral reconstructive technique, complications and recurrences were evaluated.Results: A total of 23 patients were included in the analysis. Urethral pathology included erosions (10), strictures (7), diverticula (3), urethrocutaneous fistulas (2), and a combination of diverticular and stricture disease (1). Median length of the urethral pathology was 5.0 cm (range 2.0 to 10.0). Overall urethral reconstruction was successful in 16 of 23 patients (69.6%) at a mean followup of 24.7 months (range 2 to 79). Success rates dif...
The association of alcohol consumption and hypertension

Abstract A review of the literature on the association of alcohol consumption and hypertension shows increasing attention to this topic. The diversity in the nature of the populations studied leads to problems in comparisons across studies, and the differences in the measurement of alcohol consumption and the variety of research designs have led to problems in ascertaining the true relationship between levels of alcohol consumption and blood pressure. An historical review shows an increasing tendency for the assertion of a positive relationship, although the question of threshold effects and the physiological mechanism underlying the association remain unclear. Recent studies have shown the existence of a relationship in well-controlled studies of cohorts of workers, and numerous confounding factors have been adjusted for in the analyses. However, many questions remain in asserting a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and elevated blood pressure in general populations, given the relative dearth of findings for the female population as well as for various other subgroups.
Large-eddy simulations of the effects of hilly terrain on the convective boundary layer

Large-eddy simulations of the convective boundary layer are compared over hilly versus flat surfaces. Moderate values for the height and horizontal spacing of the hills were selected. Thermally-direct hill-valley circulations are induced by the uneven terrain, accounting for a significant fraction of the resolved energy in the boundary-layer eddies. The probability of upward eddy motion reaches up to 70% over the hilltops and down to 15% over the valleys. Above-average values of both subgrid scale turbulent kinetic energy and upward eddy heat transport are found above the higher terrain. Horizontal spectra of vertical motion are strongly biased toward the horizontal scales of the terrain. Vertical profiles of atmospheric variables obtained by horizontal averaging, however, exhibit no significant differences between hilly and flat terrain simulations.
Isolating top-k dense regions with filtration of sparse background

The classical notion of clustering is to induce an equivalence class partition on a set of points, each class, being a homogeneous group, is called a cluster. Since it is an equivalence class partition, a point must belong to one and exactly one cluster. However in many applications, data distributions are such that only a subset of the points tends to flock under some distinct clusters while others go random. The present paper introduces an algorithm to find an optimal subset of points (ideally filtering out the random ones) with sufficient grouping tendency. It builds the neighborhood population around every point and picks up top k dense regions with possible reshuffling of points in post-processing. Performance of the algorithm is evaluated with applications onto real and simulated data. Comparative analysis on different quality indices with some other state-of-the-art algorithms establishes effectiveness of the approach.
"I knew they clicked when i saw them with their friends": identifying your silent web visitors on social media

An increasing fraction of users access content on the web from social media. Endorsements by microbloggers and public figures you connect with gradually replaces the curation originally in the hand of traditional media sources. One expects a social media provider to possess a unique ability to analyze audience and trends since they collect not only information about what you actively share, but also about what you silently watch. Your behavior in the latter seems safe from observations outside your online service provider, for privacy but also commercial reasons.In this paper, we show that supposing that your passive web visits are anonymous to your host is a fragile assumption, or alternatively that third parties -- content publishers or providers serving ads onto them -- can efficiently reconciliate visitors with their social media identities. What is remarkable in this technique is that it need no support from the social media provider, it seamlessly applies to visitors who \emph{never} post or endorse content, and a visitor's public identity become known after a few clicks. This method combines properties of the public follower graph with posting behaviors and recent time-based inference, making it difficult to evade without drastic or time-wasting measures. It potentially offers researchers working on traffic datasets a new view into who access content or through which channels.
Synchrotron X-ray scattering studies of rare earth metals

Abstract In recent years, synchrotron-based X-ray scattering studies of the rare earth metals have significantly enhanced our understanding of their structural, magnetic, and electronic properties. In this paper we review the results of high q-resolution X-ray magnetic scattering studies of the rare earth metals, focusing in particular on holmium. The observation of lock-in behavior and the discovery of additional charge scattering (arising from lattice modulations) have led to a new model of the magnetic structure of rare earth metals, based on the concept of “spin-slips”. More recently, studies have begun of the polarization and resonance properties of the X-ray magnetic cross-section. By measuring the degree of linear polarization, the orbital and spin contributions to the X-ray magnetic cross-section in holmium may be identified. When the incident X-ray energy is tuned through the LIII absorption edge, a 50-fold resonant enhancement of the magnetic scattering and resonant second-, third-, and fourth-order harmonics are observed. This remarkable behavior may be explained on the basis of electric multipole transitions to 4f and 5d states, with the sensitivity to magnetization arising from exchange effects.
Lobar intracerebral hemorrhage model in pigs: rapid edema development in perihematomal white matter.

Background and Purpose The mechanisms underlying brain injury from intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are complex and poorly understood. To comprehensively examine pathophysiological and pathochemical alterations after ICH and to examine the effects of hematoma removal on these processes, we developed a physiologically controlled, reproducible, large-animal model of ICH in pigs (weight, 6 to 8 kg). Methods We produced lobar hematomas by pressure-controlled infusions of 1.7 mL of autologous blood into the right frontal hemispheric white matter over 15 minutes. We froze brains in situ at 1, 3, 5, and 8 hours after hematoma induction and cut coronal sections for hematoma assessment, morphological brain examination, and immunohistochemical and water content determinations. Results At 1 hour after blood infusion, “translucent” white matter areas were present directly adjacent to the hematoma. These markedly edematous regions had a greater than 10% increase in water content (>85%) compared with the contralateral white matter (73%), and this increased water content persisted through 8 hours. In addition, these areas were strongly immunoreactive for serum proteins. Intravascular Evans blue dye failed to penetrate into the brain tissue at all time points, demonstrating that this serum protein accumulation and edema development were not due to increased blood-brain barrier permeability. Conclusions Experimental lobar ICH in pigs models a prominent pathological feature of human ICH, ie, early perihematomal edema. Our findings suggest that serum proteins, originating from the hematoma, accumulate in adjacent white matter and result in rapid and prolonged edema after ICH. This interstitial edema likely corresponds to the low densities on CT scans and the hyperintensities on T2-weighted MR images that surround intracerebral hematomas acutely after human ICH.
Status of Permanent Cardiac Replacement for End-Stage Congestive Heart Failure

Permanent replacement of the heart in patients with end-stage congestive heart failure has long been sought after as the most definitive solution to an ever-growing problem. While cardiac transplantation is an effective therapy for many patients with end-stage congestive heart failure, this potential has been limited by the donor organ shortage and other limitations of long-term survival inherent in cardiac transplantation. While research anddevelopment of the total artificial heart continues to be of considerable interest, present-day mechanical circulatory support most commonly involves the use of left ventricular assist devices as a bridge to transplantation. Pneumatic and electromechanical pumps are now commonly employed in modern transplant practices with excellent hemodynamic function. The TCI HeartMate left ventricular assist device is now approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical implantation, with excellent preliminary results. Advances in the area of temporary and extended mechanical circulatory support are crucial to the ultimate development of a totally implantable artificial heart.
The statistical war on equality: Visions of American virtuosity in The Bell Curve

This essay uses Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell Curve to examine the sedimented history of probability in America. By creating a moral cartography for the nation, the model reinforces ethnic hierarchy and difference. Three socio‐graphic dynamics define this spatial rhetoric. The first creates an idealized middle to valorize sameness and normalcy, creating a universal standard of judgement. The second uses variable formation and standard deviation to manufacture the basis for difference and ranking. The third relies upon a temporal subjectivity to reinforce ethnic competition through specific progressive trajectories. The essay concludes with suggestions for a counter discourse that resists the probabilistic mandate.
Unexpected expansion of tRNA substrate recognition by the yeast m1G9 methyltransferase Trm10

N-1 Methylation of the nearly invariant purine residue found at position 9 of tRNA is a nucleotide modification found in multiple tRNA species throughout Eukarya and Archaea. First discovered in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the tRNA methyltransferase Trm10 is a highly conserved protein both necessary and sufficient to catalyze all known instances of m1G9 modification in yeast. Although there are 19 unique tRNA species that contain a G at position 9 in yeast, and whose fully modified sequence is known, only 9 of these tRNA species are modified with m1G9 in wild-type cells. The elements that allow Trm10 to distinguish between structurally similar tRNA species are not known, and sequences that are shared between all substrate or all nonsubstrate tRNAs have not been identified. Here, we demonstrate that the in vitro methylation activity of yeast Trm10 is not sufficient to explain the observed pattern of modification in vivo, as additional tRNA species are substrates for Trm10 m1G9 methyltransferase activity. Similarly, overexpression of Trm10 in yeast yields m1G9 containing tRNA species that are ordinarily unmodified in vivo. Thus, yeast Trm10 has a significantly broader tRNA substrate specificity than is suggested by the observed pattern of modification in wild-type yeast. These results may shed light onto the suggested involvement of Trm10 in other pathways in other organisms, particularly in higher eukaryotes that contain up to three different genes with sequence similarity to the single TRM10 gene in yeast, and where these other enzymes have been implicated in pathways beyond tRNA processing.
Abstract 5371: Drug repositioning with a bioinformatics platform that integrates the TCGA, cMap and CCLE

Cancer In silico Drug Discovery Tools (CIDD) is a drug discovery platform that enables researchers to generate hypotheses for the following three general problems: 1) to determine if clinical phenotypes or gene mutations for a cancer are functional, inducing unique gene expression alterations, 2) to find candidate drugs to treat, or repress, these expression changes, and 3) to identify cell lines that resemble the tumors being studied for subsequent in vitro experimentation. CIDD integrates clinical and experimental data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Connectivity Map (cMap) and the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) to perform in silico drug discovery experiments. CIDD generates gene expression signatures representative of the phenotypes or mutations being studied, characterizes the signatures using MSigDB, identifies candidate drugs to repress these signatures using data from the cMap, and finds optimal cell lines for in vitro drug testing using experimental data from the CCLE. The primary results of a CIDD execution are a biologically interpretable candidate drug list and a list of cell lines for subsequent drug experimentation. We applied CIDD for the identification of candidate drugs to treat BRAF V600E colorectal cancer (CRC). CIDD identified EGFR and proteasome inhibitors as candidate drugs, while proposing 7 large intestine cell lines from the CCLE for potential in vitro testing. CIDD is a command-line based tool written in Python and depends on R. We have developed a companion Python-based data management utility, tcga_util, which provides automated downloading and querying of TCGA data from the command-line, which we feel will be of substantial and independent interest to researchers wishing to use data from the TCGA. CIDD and tcga_util are available for download at http://scheet.org/software. Citation Format: Francis A. San Lucas, Jerry Fowler, Scott Kopetz, Eduardo Vilar, Paul Scheet. Drug repositioning with a bioinformatics platform that integrates the TCGA, cMap and CCLE. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5371. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5371
Feeding ecology, food availability and ranging patterns of wild hamadryas baboons at Filoha.

Most hamadryas baboons rely on Acacia species for subsistence in their semidesert habitats. Unlike other hamadryas sites, palm forests at Filoha in Awash National Park, Ethiopia, pr
Assay for phospholipase A activity of snake venom with asolectin as substrate

Abstract A reliable, rapid, and relatively inexpensive assay for phospholipase A activity in Naja naj venom is described. Asolectin, a mixture of soybean phospholipids, is used as the substrate instead of the more expensive, natural substrate l -α-lecithin. Phospholipase A activity of snake venom, monitored by hydroxamate formation, obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics and is proportional to time and to venom concentration. The pH profile of activity shows a broad plateau from pH 7.0 to 9.5 and a shoulder between pH 5 and 6.
Fiber in-line polarization rotator

In a polarimetric fiber sensor, the birefringent fiber in the sensor coil Is spliced to a compensating length of fiber whose principal axes have been rotated 90° with respect to those of the sensor fiber to minimize noise.1 This paper presents a method for the in-line transfer of power from one principal axis to the other in a short segment of birefringent fiber.
Heat treatment effect of the Ni foam current collector in lithium ion batteries

Abstract Current collectors are typically electrochemically inactive in lithium ion batteries. However, they might affect the whole cell performance once they are thermally treated during battery assembly procedure. The goal of this study is to investigate the heat treatment effect of Ni foam current collectors on the electrochemical performance in lithium ion batteries. Ni foams were thermally treated at different temperatures in air, and they were characterized in terms of morphology, structure and electrochemical performance in a half cell. SEM images showed that Ni foam surface became coarse with an increase of the heating temperature. Thermally treated Ni foams below 200 °C had negligible capacity of about 0.025 mAh, but above 300 °C showed certain capacity up to 3.13 mAh at 30th cycles due to the oxide layer formed by the thermal oxidation of the Ni foam. The results demonstrate that the thermal treatment of Ni foam current collector promotes the gradual oxidation on the Ni foam surface with nonnegligible capacity contribution.
Plant Biotechnology Transfer to Developing Countries

Abstract The literature on the transfer of plant biotechnology to developing countries still concentrates on the potential of biotechnology and the underpinning philosophies of various programs. Recent estimates of actual field experiments of transgenic plants indicate that only 2% of the global total have taken place in developing countries, mostly in Latin America. However, the largest field trials to date, which exceeded 200 hectares, have been attempted in China.
Fine-Scale Genetic Structure Arises during Range Expansion of an Invasive Gecko

Processes of range expansion are increasingly important in light of current concerns about invasive species and range shifts due to climate change. Theoretical studies suggest that genetic structuring may occur during range expansion. Ephemeral genetic structure can have important evolutionary implications, such as propagating genetic changes along the wave front of expansion, yet few studies have shown evidence of such structure. We tested the hypothesis that genetic structure arises during range expansion in Hemidactylus mabouia, a nocturnal African gecko recently introduced to Florida, USA. Twelve highly variable microsatellite loci were used to screen 418 individuals collected from 43 locations from four sampling sites across Florida, representing a gradient from earlier (∼1990s) to very recent colonization. We found earlier colonized locations had little detectable genetic structure and higher allelic richness than more recently colonized locations. Genetic structuring was pronounced among locations at spatial scales of tens to hundreds of meters near the leading edge of range expansion. Despite the rapid pace of range expansion in this introduced gecko, dispersal is limited among many suitable habitat patches. Fine-scale genetic structure is likely the result of founder effects during colonization of suitable habitat patches. It may be obscured over time and by scale-dependent modes of dispersal. Further studies are needed to determine if such genetic structure affects adaptation and trait evolution in range expansions and range shifts.
Lymphoreticular fragments, the cellular debris of acute lymphosarcoma cell leukemia

Lymphosarcoma cell leukemia cells have a propensity to fragment. In the following case, these fragments were initially interpreted by an electronic cell counter as platelets, thereby obscuring a true thrombocytopenic situation. These fragments may also resemble polychromatophilic red cells thus giving rise to the erroneous impression that a hemolytic process is accompanying this B cell leukemia.
A 7.2mW quadrature GPS receiver in 0.13µm CMOS

New design techniques are needed for ultra-low-power battery-operated CMOS transceivers with ever-shrinking minimum feature sizes and power supply voltages. A fully-integrated low-IF receiver front-end for GPS applications (Fig. 24.8.1) is presented that addresses this challenge. Integrated in 0.13µm CMOS, its key attribute is µ3X lower power than any previous design: The RF front-end, PLL, IF amplifiers and continuous-time (CT) quadrature ΔΣ ADC consume 1mW, 0.2mW, 1mW, and 5mW, respectively. The RF front-end exploits current reuse in a stacked quadrature LNA-mixer-VCO (QLMV) cell [1]. In addition, it employs double-balanced mixers and features a novel gate-modulated VCO topology for quadrature signal generation that provides low phase noise, high quadrature accuracy and low power. A second-order bandpass CT ADC achieves low power using a quadrature feedback architecture with polyphase filters, resistor DACs and continuous-time comparators.
An efficient way to introduce unique restriction endonuclease sites into a baculovirus genome

Recombinant baculoviruses which can be linearized at unique sites with restriction endonucleases can greatly facilitate the construction of other recombinants including baculovirus expression vectors and site-specific mutants. We designed a strategy to introduce unique restriction endonuclease sites at virtually any location in a baculovirus genome. The unique sites were first introduced onto a transfer plasmid which also contained in the vector portion of the plasmid an E. coli lacZ gene and a Sse8387I site, a sequence which is not found in the viral genome. Cotransfection of the transfer plasmid and circular viral DNA generated single-crossover recombinant viruses which could be distinguished as blue plaques in the presence of X-gal, a chromogenic indicator for lacZ. Single-crossover recombinants were purposefully isolated and propagated to generate double-crossover recombinants. Viral DNA isolated from the mixed virus population was digested with Sse8387I to linearize only the single-crossover viral DNA; double-crossover recombinants in the progeny viral population resulting from transfection with the Sse8387I-linearized viral DNA mixture were thus highly enriched, making the task of screening much easier. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, we introduced Bsu36I sites into the orf24 and the vlf-1 regions of Autographa californica multiple-nucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) to generate recombinant viruses vncBsuorf24 and vncBsuvlf1, respectively. Both recombinant viruses were obtained by screening only ten plaques. This method should also be applicable to other kinds of mutations and may be applicable to other double-stranded DNA viruses.
Quantitative analysis of Poisson–Boltzmann implicit solvent in molecular dynamics

A critical issue in the development of implicit solvent models is their quality in realistic simulations of non-trivial systems. In a previous study, we quantitatively compared the reaction field energies of static structures calculated with the Poisson–Boltzmann implicit solvent and the TIP3P explicit solvent and found an overall agreement, though a discrepancy was also observed in the electrostatic potentials of mean force for salt-bridging and hydrogen-bonding dimers (see J. Phys. Chem. B, 2006, 110, 18680). In this study, we are interested in how the implicit solvent performs in molecular dynamics simulations. To guarantee sampling convergence in simulated observables in the explicit solvent, we explored to use a high-temperature constant-volume simulation setting at 450 K but with the water density at 300 K. The relevance of the artificial simulation setting to room-temperature simulations of biomolecules was first investigated by systematic comparisons of the polar and nonpolar solvation free energies of 23 amino acid analogues at 300 K and 450 K, respectively. Assisted by the artificial simulation setting, we found the simulated secondary structure populations agree very well between the implicit and explicit solvents for tested dipeptides and peptides. In addition, the agreement in the populations of hydrophobic contacts is reasonable. However, our analysis also shows that the populations of the salt bridges are too low in the implicit solvent. The low salt-bridge population perhaps results from a combination of the atomic-centered modified van der Waals surface and the small solvent probe radius optimized to best reproduce the polar potential of mean force profiles. In addition, the lower accuracy of the electrostatic forces and the lack of water-bridged minima in the implicit solvents may also contribute to the instability of the salt bridge populations.
State Administration of Drug Courts: Exploring Issues of Authority, Funding, and Legitimacy

This article is a post-print copy of the final published article, which has the DOI:10.1177/0887403407305693.
Susceptibility to asthma phenotype in human airway smooth muscle mannose receptor (huASM-MR) transgenic mice

Abstract Rationale We have previously reported that lysosomal hydrolases such as b-hexosaminidase (Hex), via the ASM-MR, promote mitogenesis in the inflamed airways. Studies were conducted to demonstrate the importance of the lysosomal hydrolases and ASM-MR system in the development of airway hyperreactivity. Methods Wild type naive FVB/N mice received aerosolized Hex A (1 mg) or vehicle, either daily or every other day for 2 weeks. Transgenic (Tg) strain was developed by transfection of human ASM-MR linked to SM22 promotor. These Tg (+), Tg (-) littermates or wild type FVB/N mice were ovalbumin sensitized (i.p. injection on day 0, 14 and 21) and challenged for three consecutive days (days 28-30, via aerosol). Lung physiology was non-invasively assessed by methacholine challenge and changes in pulmonary resistance (pause enhancement, Penh) on day 31. Results After Hex treatment, naive wild type mice showed increase in Penh at 25mg/ml methacholine concentration: 790 + 225% of control (Hex) vs. 423 + 124% of control (vehicle), respectively, n=3). Aerosolized yeast mannan, a mannose receptor blocker, inhibited Penh (>75% inhibition, n=3) in ovalbumin-sensitized FVB/N mice. The ovalbumin-sensitized and -challenged huASM-MR Tg (+) mice showed both hypersensitivity and hypereactivity to methacholine compared to Tg (-) littermate controls (n=4, p Conclusions The huASM-MR transgenic mouse model was more susceptible to allergic asthma phenotype than the Tg (-) littermate controls. Airway changes mediated via lysosomal hydrolases and ASM-MR may be important in the development of airway hyperreactivity characteristic of asthma.
Anomalous patterns of mammalian oocyte maturation and fertilization

This report illustrates some of the errors that may occur during in vivo and in vitro maturation and fertilization of mammalian ova, considers the possible mechanisms accounting for their occurrence, and discusses their functional consequences. Included in the description are anomalies of oocyte and follicular development, i.e., multinucleated oocytes, polyovular follicles, and aberrations of zona pellucida formation. Also considered are deviations from the normal process of oocyte maturation such as chromosomal anomalies, development of abnormal nuclear structures (subnuclei), inhibition of polar body formation and aberrations of polar body structure. Anomalies of the process of fertilization such as polyspermia, sperm penetration into polar bodies, and development of multinucleated blastomeres in two-cell embryos are also described.
Effects of haloperidol and probenecid on plasma and CSF dopamine metabolites in the rhesus monkey (Macacca mulatta).

Abstract The metabolites of dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were measured in the plasma and CSF of rhesus monkeys by mass-fragmentography. Probenecid, 25 mg/kg, i.p., caused an accumulation of HVA in plasma and CSF, and those effects were significantly enhanced by 1.0 mg/kg haloperidol. A positive correlation was observed between plasma and CSF concentration of HVA when data from 5 monkeys were pooled. These experiments were performed on animals fasted for 24 hours since this resulted in a drastic reduction of plasma DOPAC and HVA to stable baseline values, without affecting the CSF level of these metabolites.
Purification of precursors of Yb3+-doped YLF crystals by solvent extraction and electrochemical processing

Optical refrigeration by laser irradiation of YLiF 4 :Yb 3+ (YLF:Yb) crystals has been shown to be strongly deteriorated by impurities, which absorb energy at the laser wavelength, and relax non-radiatively, negating cooling produced from anti-Stokes fluorescence. We aim to increase the efficiency of optical refrigeration through materials purification. We start with the purest sources commercially available and process them in a cleanroom environment. Our method proceeds through electrochemical purification, separating out the transition metal impurities by their redox potentials, and can be scaled up to produce the amounts of material needed for crystal growth.
SU-E-T-248: Development of Checklist Enabling Comprehensive Review of Plan Quality and R&V Parameter Fidelity in a Paperless Environment

Introduction: Many believe that a paperless environment leads to enhanced efficiency within medical environment. Unfortunately, Record and verify (R&V) systems may not be flexible enough to provide openness which was available in a paper environment and additional steps are needed to ensure equivalent quality of patient care. Presently Mosaiq, a popular R&V system, supports only Microsoft word document as the standard document type which doesn't support conditional formatting, various formulas etc. However, word does support an embedded Excel object which is powerful enough to handle these requirements. Methods: A number of quality checklist templates specific to nature of the check viz. initial physics (photon/electron) chart/plan check, total body irradiation check, therapist pretreatment check, final physics check etc. have been developed in Excel utilizing simple check box items, numerical and logical formulas and the automatic status change [red=unchecked/out of specification item, green=checked/in specification item, orange=caution etc.], helping to easily identify the problem. Results: The initial physics (photon/electron) chart/plan check template provides a recipe for checking of all parameters which affect the patient's treatment in terms of verification of MDs script, treatment plan and R&V system parameters. Also included are the necessary parameters to ensure beam direction & evaluation of treatment plan based on standard dosimetric indices. The TBI quality check‐list provides an independent verification of all the physics related parameters [e.g. MUs, dose to various OARs, computation of the lead‐sheets to increase the patient's mid‐plane dose uniformity, given dose and appropriate correction due to lung transmission etc.]. Color coded check list items are available to verify the necessary R&V parameters. Computed parameters were within ±0.5% of that of the primary computation. Conclusion: Integration of these templates in our R&V system provides a framework for consistent verification of patient's treatment parameters including treatment plan evaluation prior to initiation of treatment.
Modeling lower mantle anisotropy development in a subducting slab

A model is presented that simulates anisotropy development in a subducting slab from the upper–lower mantle boundary (661 km) to the core–mantle boundary (2891 km). Two phases are considered: orthorhombic MgSiO3-perovskite and cubic magnesiowuestite (Mg,Fe)O. Single crystal elastic properties at mantle conditions are obtained from existing density functional theory calculations and quasiharmonic approximation. It is assumed that deformation is accommodated by slip. A polycrystal plasticity model predicts strong texture development for perovskite and weaker texture for magnesiowuestite. When averaging single crystal elastic properties with the orientation distribution this results for both phases in weak P-wave anisotropy and shear wave splitting in the upper part of the lower mantle but pronounced anisotropy near the core–mantle boundary (up to 4% for Vp and 7% for Vs). The anisotropy pattern is complex and asymmetric and local heterogeneity is expected. These predictions are consistent with seismic observations.
Failure of systemically administered corticosteroids to suppress UVB-induced delayed erythema

The effects of systemic corticosteroids on ultraviolet-induced delayed erythema were observed in a double-blind controlled study. The backs of human volunteers were irradiated with ultraviolet B (UVB) sources, and subsequent response was observed while ingesting prednisone (80 mg by mouth for 3 days) or placebo. Prednisone given 24 hours before, immediately after, 24 hours or 48 hours after exposure did not decrease the redness, edema, or tenderness of the exposed sites.
Communicating requirements using end-user GUI constructions with argumentation

Unsuccessful communication is often at the root of inadequate requirements specification according to C. Potts et al. (1994). This can lead to requirements that do not capture complete stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders can include managers, software engineers, end-users, clients, etc. End-users provide a rich source of information about a system as they will directly interact with the final system. They also tend to have a solid knowledge of the domain including the tasks being automated. Thus, a major goal early in the software engineering process is gathering meaningful requirements from end-users. This paper explores the use of mock end-user graphical interface construction supplemented with textual argumentation as a means of communicating software requirements information to software requirements analysts and providing automated assistance for requirements analysts examining this information.
Predicting Interpersonal Competence and Self-Worth from Adolescent Relationships and Relationship Networks: Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Perspectives.

A two-year longitudinal investigation examined adolescents' (N = 100 girls and 99 boys) perceptions of social support in relationships with mothers, close friends, and romantic partners from Grade 10 (ages 14–16) to Grade 12 (ages 16–18). Adolescents, mothers, and close friends also provided descriptions of the participants' global self-worth and interpersonal competence. Variable-centered and person-centered analyses revealed that perceived social support tends to be similar across relationships and stable over time. Variable-centered analyses indicated that social support in mother-adolescent relationships was uniquely related to adolescent global self-worth; that social support in close friendships was uniquely related to social acceptance, friendship competence, and romantic competence; and that social support in romantic relationships was uniquely related to romantic competence. Person-centered analyses indicated that adolescents who reported high social support in all three relationships had higher self-worth and greater interpersonal competence than those who did not have a romantic relationship and who reported low social support in relationships with mothers and close friends; and that scores for adolescents who had a romantic [End Page 572] relationship but who reported low social support in all three relationships fell in between these two groups. Taken together, variable-centered analyses suggest that different relationships influence different dimensions of competence, but person-centered analyses indicate that a sizable proportion of adolescents have relationships that act in concert with one another.
Near-field 3-D synthetic aperture radar imaging via compressed sensing

This paper successfully implements compressed sensing (CS) to a near-field wideband 3-D synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging system. SAR data are measured at a low percentage of random-selected positions on a uniform grid of planar aperture in the stripmap mode. The near-field 3-D range migration algorithm (RMA) is used in combination with the CS principle to reconstruct the 3-D image via l 1 regularized least-square approach. Experiments were performed with Q-band stepped-frequency monostatic stripmap SAR imaging system on a blue foam embedded with eight rubber pads and one copper square chip. The results of the experiments show near-field 3-D image of the specimen under test (SUT) can be reconstructed efficiently from low percentage of the full measurement positions, which largely lessens the data collection load. The reconstructed image was better focused and denoised.
Scintillation of liquid neon from electronic and nuclear recoils

Abstract We have completed measurements of key scintillation properties of liquid neon. We found the nuclear recoil scintillation efficiency to be 0.26 ± 0.03 for 387 keV nuclear recoils. We also measured the time dependence of scintillation light from electronic and nuclear recoils in liquid neon, finding a decay lifetime of 14.9 ± 0.3 μs for the slower component. Pulse shape discrimination was investigated as a means of identifying event type in liquid neon.
Spreading-Hopping Tradeoff in Wideband Ad-hoc Communications

We explore the tradeoff between hopping and spreading in a wideband spread spectrum transmitter-receiver link in an ad-hoc network with multi-user interference. The receiver is assumed to track the user's channel, spreading signature and the overall SINR. Using expressions for the ergodic capacity of the link, we determine the amount of spreading required that maximizes the link capacity. As a comparison we also discuss optimal spreads in centralized architectures where the receiver has interference knowledge. While we find that in general a combination of spreading and hopping may achieve higher throughputs than either pure spreading or pure hopping, we prove that pure hopping and pure spreading are optimal strategies for ad-hoc networks at low SINR and for centralized networks at all SINR, respectively. Numerical results suggest that in an ad-hoc network, spreading is beneficial at high SNR.
Silver-copper oxide based reactive air braze for joining yttria-stabilized zirconia

We investigated a new method of ceramic-to-metal joining, referred to as reactive air brazing, as a potential method of sealing ceramic components in high-temperature electrochemical devices. Sessile drop wetting experiments and joint strength testing were conducted using yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates and CuO–Ag-based air brazes. Results from our studies indicate that the wettability of the braze improves substantially with increasing CuO content, over a compositional range of 1–8 mol% CuO, which is accompanied by an increase in the bend strength of the corresponding brazed YSZ joint. The addition of a small amount of TiO2 (0.5 mol%) to the CuO–Ag braze further improves wettability due to the formation of a titanium zirconate reaction product along the braze/substrate interface. However, with one notable exception, the bend strength of these ternary braze joints remained nearly identical to those measured in comparable binary braze joints. Scanning electron microscopy analysis conducted on the corresponding fracture surfaces indicated that in the binary braze joints, failure occurs primarily at the braze/YSZ interface. Similarly in the case of the ternary, TiO2-doped brazes joint failure occurs predominantly along the interface between the braze filler metal and the underlying titanium zirconate reaction layer.
Left Atrial Abnormality and Ventricular Preelection Period in Hypertension

Correlations between atrial diastolic gallop, electrocardiographic signs of left atrial abnormality, and duration of preejection period of left ventricular systole were investigated in 67 hypertensive patients without cardiac failure and compared with findings in 26 normal subjects. Atrial diastolic gallop and abnormal P waves were simultaneously present in 23 patients and simultaneously absent in 19, and, thus, concordant in 42 of 67 patients. In only two patients was the P wave abnormal in the absence of an atrial diastolic gallop. From this concordance it is inferred that the left atrial electrocardiographic abnormality in hypertension reflects increased atrial contraction, and not simply intra-atrial conduction delays. Preejection period was significantly prolonged in hypertensive patients, and its duration positively correlated with diastolic blood pressure. The prolongation was due to increased Q-I interval, and not to lengthened isovolumic contraction time, and presumably, therefore, does not reflect diminished ventricular contractility in these patients. It was not related to signs of left atrial enlargement.
The use of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy to characterise the differences in research grade instruments

The major question about the newer instruments is "are they more capable than the instruments we have been using for decades"? In looking for a way to examine the utility of commercial instrumentation capable of performing the measurement of stickiness in cotton, a method was required for evaluating the way these instruments performed compared with the research grade spectrometer which was first successfully used to measure stickiness. While all of the instruments had the potential analytical capability of measuring sticky cotton, all would require even more costly hardening to be used in a cotton gin or spinning plant. Regardless, the calibration would need to be transferred to any of these new instruments. While there are existing algorithms to do this, it is imperative to understand the differences between instrument platforms. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) has been used to characterise instrumental differences which will affect performance, stability and reliability. The 2DCOS programs were re-written in Matlab ver. 6.51 to provide a common format with the newer instruments and the special purpose instruments which utilise Matlab for data functions. The instruments used in the complete calibration studies of sticky cotton were evaluated for their instrument function parameters. The possibilities for using 2DCOS for instrument characterisation was explored in concert with available spectral technologies.