cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment for Hospitalized Patients With Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia

[95% CI, 0.63-0.78] for albuminuria and RR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.640.86] for stroke after excluding the ACCORD trial). In addition, we reject the notion of needing to prespecify a primary outcome for these meta-analyses. We aimed to understand the effects of blood pressure lowering on all patientrelevant outcomes that have been reported. Even though adverse events were too disparate to pool, we stated in the discussion that “the risk of adverse events associated with [blood pressure] BP-lowering treatments needs to be considered. This requires individualized assessment of the likely absolute benefits and risks with shared decision making between patients and clinicians.” Drs Li and Tang state that “this meta-analysis was based solely on 1 database, which may not be sufficient and has the potential to compromise the validity of results.” However, a key inclusion criterion was the need for trials to have at least 1000 patient-years of follow-up in each group. Although they are correct in noting that MEDLINE may not include citations for all randomized clinical trials, it is unlikely that trials of at least 2000 patient-years in size would have been missed. However, despite the low likelihood of missing relevant trials, we supplemented our search of MEDLINE with the results of a previous meta-analysis 2 for which a search of MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Collaboration was conducted. In addition, we conducted a hand search of all previous meta-analyses and trials. Therefore, we view our search strategy as having provided a comprehensive search of the relevant literature.
Automation and Ethics

Should we trust automation? Can automation cause harm to individuals and to society? Can individuals apply automation to harm other individuals? The answers are yes; hence, ethical issues are deeply associated with automation. The purpose of this chapter is to provide some ethical background and guidance to automation professionals and students. Governmental action and economic factors are increasingly resulting in more global interactions and competition for jobs requiring lower-end skills as well as those that are higher-end endeavors such as research. Moreover, as the Internet continually eliminates geographic boundaries, the concept of doing business within a single country is giving way to companies and organizations focusing on serving and competing in international frameworks and a global marketplace. Coupled with the superfluous nature of an Internet-driven social culture, the globally-distributed digitalization of work, services and products, and the reorganization of work processes across many organizations have resulted in ethically challenging questions that are not just economically, or socially sensitive, but also highly culturally sensitive. Like the shifting of commodity manufacturing jobs in the late 1900s, standardization of information technology and engineering jobs have also accelerated the prospect of services and jobs more easily moved across the globe, thereby driving a need for innovation in design, and in the creation of higher-skill jobs. In this chapter, we review the fundamental concepts of ethics as it relates to automation, and then focus on the impacts of automation and their significance in both education and research.
Regulation of Metabolism in Working Muscle in Vivo II. CONCENTRATIONS OF ADENINE NUCLEOTIDES, ARGININE PHOSPHATE, AND INORGANIC PHOSPHATE IN INSECT FLIGHT MUSCLE DURING FLIGHT

Abstract The concentrations of adenosine mono-, di-, and triphosphates, arginine phosphate, and inorganic phosphate in flight muscle of the blowfly, Phormia regina, were measured concurrently after periods of flight ranging from 5 sec to 1 hour. At the onset of contraction, the concentrations of ATP and arginine-P decreased, whereas those of ADP, Pi, and especially AMP, increased. The pattern of changes in these phosphates is in accord with the postulated mechanism of glycolytic regulation at the phosphofructokinase step. Possible oscillatory responses induced by the initiation of active contraction in vivo are suggested.
LOCAL STRESSES NEAR DEEP SURFACE FLAWS UNDER CYLINDRICAL BENDING FIELDS

A series of tests was performed using the stress freezing and slicing technique of photoelasticity in order to obtain the stress fields near points of maximum flaw penetration and where the crack border intersects the tensile surface of the plate for naturally grown surface flaws under fields of remote cylindrical bending. Geometrics investigated ranged over crack depth to crack length ratios of approximately 0.13 to 0.55 and over crack depth to plate thickness ratios of approximately 0.27 to 0.79. Results were compared with several approximate theories on the basis of graphs of normalized maximum in-plane shear stress versus normalized distance from the crack tip and stress intensity factor in order to assess the validity of the several field theories. A numerical technique for data conditioning was employed from which the stress intensity factors were computed and compared with theoretical values.
Radar prediction of absolute rain fade distributions for Earth-satellite paths and general methods for extrapolation of fade statistics to other locations

Two distinct prediction methods are described. The first deals with a technique for establishing absolute fade statistics at a given site using a sampled radar data base. The second is a method for extrapolating absolute fade statistics from one location to another given simultaneously measured fade and rain-rate statistics at the former. Both methods employ similar conditional fade statistic concepts and use long term rain-rate distributious. The radar-predicted levels showed good agreement in probabilities associated with the cumulative fade distribution when compared to directly measured levels of the COMSTAR beacon at 28.56 GHz for the Wallops Island, VA, radar facility, Probability deviations ranging from 2 to 19 percent with an average of 11 percent were obtained upon comparing measured and predicted levels at given attenuations. The extrapolation method was tested employing the Wallops Island measured rain-rate statistics and fade distributious at 28.56 GHz. The method was also tested at 19.04 GHz using measured results for Austin, TX. The extrapolation of fade distributions to other locations at 28 GHz showed very good agreement with measured data at three sites located in the continental temperate region (average probability deviations of 11.5, 9, and 17 percent) and respectable agreement atone site in a wet subtropical region (30 percent deviation). At 19.04GHz,extrapolated levels were generally not as good as at 28 GHz (41, 28, 7, and 27 percent), although they were still quite respectable.
Electronic Expression of IK1 in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Cardiocytes Reveals Atrial vs Ventricular Specific Properties

Cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hIPSC-CMs) provide a promising platform for understanding human cardiac pathology and physiology. HIPSC-CMs differentiate into a mixed population of cells composed of ventricular, atrial, and nodal cell types; cellular phenotype is generally distinguished by morphology of the action potential (APs). However, in hIPSC-CMs a very small inward rectifying potassium channel (IK1) relative to native cardiac cells causes a depolarized membrane potential which contributes to inconsistent AP properties and misidentification of cellular phenotype.We used Electronic expression of IK1 via dynamic clamp to restore the AP and resting membrane potential back to a physiological levels. This allowed for improved discrimination of atrial and ventricular cells based on AP morphology. Using standard patch clamp techniques, we compared the inward sodium currents (INa) of cells with atrial and ventricular AP morphologies. INa current densities in cells with atrial like APs were larger than ventricular-like APs (at −30 mV, in pA/pF: −71.22 ± 6.96 (n=5) vs. −46.25 ±5.03 (n=14), p < 0.05). Analysis of steady-state inactivation parameters of INa showed that cells with an atrial like AP had a more negative steady-state inactivation (V1/2: −81.84 ± 2.75 (n=5) vs. −74.72 ±0.8 (n=14), p<0.05). Cells with atrial APs had a larger Kv1.5-like component at +50 mV than ventricular APs (in pA/pF: 3.71 ± 0.55 (n=5) vs 1.00 ± 0.10 (n=16),P<0.05) but similar peak currents: (6.89 ± 0.50 (n=5) vs. 6.58 ± 0.67 (n=14),P=N.S). IK1 current density was more than 3x smaller in cells with atrial-like APs at −120 mV (in pA/pF: −0.71 ± 0.08 (n=5) vs. −3.45 ± 0.61 (n=14), p<0.05). These data suggest that differential AP morphology in hIPSC-CM has a similar electrophysiological basis to native cells.
24-hour esophageal pH monitoring before and after medical therapy for reflux esophagitis.

Medical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease often results in improvement of symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine if improvement in symptoms and endoscopic appearance after treatment was associated with a reduction in reflux, as measured with 24-hr pH recordings. Twenty patients with severe chronic reflux esophagitis participated in an eight-week double-blind trial of medical therapy with metoclopramide and cimetidine versus placebo and cimetidine. Significant symptom score improvement was noted in 11 patients. Eleven patients also had improvement in the endoscopic appearance of the esophageal mucosa, and eight of these patients had significant symptom improvement. Initial 24-hr pH recordings were abnormal in all patients, evidenced by an esophageal pH<4 during 20% of the study period. Improvement in 24-hr results was noted in only five patients—three with clinical and endoscopic improvement, and two with no improvement. In conclusion, there was no relationship between clinical improvement and the results of 24-hr pH recordings. Successful symptom relief and endoscopie healing of esophagitis during medical treatment may occur despite persistent reflux of gastric contents.
Oxygen uptake in green iguana (Iguana iguana) injected with bacteria

Abstract 1. 1.|Green iguanas (I. iguana) were maintained at a constant body temperature of 35.5°C and injected with either saline or a dose of bacteria which had been previously shown to induce a fever by 3 h post-injection. 2. 2.|There were no significant differences in the oxygen uptake between the lizards injected with saline and bacteria. 3. 3.|We conclude that green iguanas do not increase their internal heat production as an effector response to the raised thermoregulatory “set-point” that occurs during fever.
The Academic Analysis of the 2008 Financial Crisis: Round 1

Academics responded to the challenges posed by the 2008 financial crisis with a flurry of studies. This collection of articles is just the academic community's first look into it. The articles begin with an examination at the last national housing price crash: the great depression of the 1930s. This is followed by articles looking at the current mortgage market and how it behaved. Did modern innovations reflect or add to the downturn? The next set of papers examines how non-financial firms were impacted by the crash. To what degree did credit worthy firms nevertheless find themselves without access to capital? The papers then end with a look into how the banking sector itself fared throughout this period. The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com., Oxford University Press.
Hyperinflation in periodic and quasiperiodic chains.

A hyperinflation rule is found for one-dimensional systems with different periodicity or quasiperiodicity determined by a parameter $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Physical systems described by transfer matrices are analyzed and the hyperinflation rule is shown to give rise to self-similarity in the space spanned by parameters of the system and $\ensuremath{\alpha}$.
LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF HIV ANTIBODY AND ANTIGEN IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Thirteen infants of IV drug-addicted mothers with cord blood positive for HIV antibody were studied at 1-3 mo. Intervals for 3-16 mos. Thus far, 3 manifest HIV infection; 4 passive transfer of HIV antibody; and 6 indeterminate. Also studied were 2 HIV congenitally infected children (2 1/2 & 3 1/2 yrs.) and 9 adults. We sought to determine the significance of antibodies reactive, with various, HIV structural proteins. Serum/plasma (sample/cutoff [S/CO]); 2) Western blot; and 3) competitive enzyme immunoassay using HIV recombinant antigens (ENV/CORE)(titer). Antigen was determined by the Abbott HIV antigen test. Soon after birth, the results of all infant antibody tests closely paralleled those of the mothers. In infants with passive tranfer, the EIA(S/CO), ENV and CORE titers decreased in parallel, with the time of disappearance proportionate to the levels at birth. Infants with HIV infection manifested symptoms within the first few mos. (3-7) of life, and had lower EIA(S/CO), ENV and CORE titers than adults with HIV infection. While EIA(S/CO) and ENV titers remained stable during the study period in both infants and adults, there was loss of detectable antibody to CORE proteins, earlier in infants than adults; and this was generally associated with detection of antigen in both. Infants with HIV infection had lower CORE titers (x5.1) than adults with HIV infection (x4868), but comparable to adults with AIDS (x7.1) Clinical decline in infants and adults consistently paralleled reduction of CORE antibody titer and the concommitant detection of antigen.
Vegetative Compatibility and Pathogenicity of Verticillium dahliae from Spearmint and Peppermint

The vegetative compatibility of 128 isolates of Verticillium dahliae from spearmint and peppermint in the western and midwestern United States was determined. Nit mutants were used to assign isolates to vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs). All isolates were assigned to VCG 2B except for one assigned to VCG 2A and two assigned to VCG 4A. VCG 2 isolates were found in all commercial mint growing regions, while the two VCG 4A isolates originated from southern Idaho. Pathogenicity assays on mint were performed using isolates from mint and other hosts, and pathogenicity assays were conducted on the potato cultivar Russet Norkotah using mint and potato isolates. Isolates originating from mint were significantly more aggressive on mint than were other host isolates, indicating that mint isolates were host-adapted. VCG 4A isolates from mint and potatoes were significantly more aggressive on potato than VCG 4B potato isolates and VCG 2B mint isolates. We speculate that the low VCG diversity of mint isolates may be due to the introduction of a single aggressive strain into Washington State mint fields via infected rhizomes.
A generalised quasi-likelihood estimation

Abstract In this paper, a ‘generalised’ quasi-likelihood estimation for a semi-parametric model with a dependent structure is developed incorporating the knowledge of skewness and kurtosis. This is a generalisation of a similar idea proposed for independent observations by Godambe and Thompson (1989, J. Statist. Plann. Inference, 22, 137–172). The ‘generalised’ quasi-score function is constructed on the basis of non-orthogonal estimating functions invoking the method of Durairajan (1992, J. Statist. Plann. Inference, 33, 381–384). A few applications of the theory are given.
Hemodynamic effects of intravenous prenalterol in severe heart failure

Abstract Nine patients with chronic severe low output heart failure (radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction 17 ± 5 percent [mean ± standard deviation], left ventricular filling pressure 26 ± 6 mm Hg, cardiac index 1.9 ± 0.4 liters/min per m2, left ventricular stroke work index 18 ± 6 g-m/m2) from various causes were treated with intravenous prenalterol (a new catecholamine-like inotropic agent) in doses of 1, 4 and 8 mg. Significant hemodynamic improvement occurred as measured by increased left ventricular ejection fraction (to 26 ± 4 percent), decreased left ventricular filling pressure (to 21 ± 8 mm Hg) and increased cardiac index (to 2.4 ± 0.6 liters/min per m2) and left ventricular stroke work index (to 25 ± 8 g-m/m2). Significant increases in heart rate (from 87 ± 18 to 91 ± 18 beats/min) and mean systemic arterial pressure (from 87 ± 8 to 92 ± 7 mm Hg) also occurred. Peak hemodynamic response occurred at various doses. Significant adverse effects associated with prenalterol consisted of increased ventricular ectopic beats in two patients and asymptomatic ventricular tachycardia in two patients. Thus, intravenous prenalterol produces hemodynamic improvement in patients with a chronic severe low output state but may be associated with increased ventricular ectopic activity.
RNA structural motifs that entail hydrogen bonds involving sugar–phosphate backbone atoms of RNA

The growing number of high-resolution crystal structures of large RNA molecules provides much information for understanding the principles of structural organization of these complex molecules. Several in-depth analyses of nucleobase-centered RNA structural motifs and backbone conformations have been published based on this information, including a systematic classification of base pairs by Leontis and Westhof. However, hydrogen bonds involving sugar–phosphate backbone atoms of RNA have not been analyzed systematically until recently, although such hydrogen bonds appear to be common both in local and tertiary interactions. Here we review some backbone structural motifs discussed in the literature and analyze a set of eight high-resolution multi-domain RNA structures. The analyzed RNAs are highly structured: among 5372 nucleotides in this set, 89% are involved in at least one “long-range” RNA–RNA hydrogen bond, i.e., hydrogen bonds between atoms in the same residue or sequential residues are ignored. These long-range hydrogen bonds frequently use backbone atoms as hydrogen bond acceptors, i.e., OP1, OP2, O2′, O3′, O4′, or O5′, or as a donor (2′OH). A surprisingly large number of such hydrogen bonds are found, considering that neither single-stranded nor double-stranded regions will contain such hydrogen bonds unless additional interactions with other residues exist. Among 8327 long-range hydrogen bonds found in this set of structures, 2811, or about one-third, are hydrogen bonds entailing RNA backbone atoms; they involve 39% of all nucleotides in the structures. The majority of them (2111) are hydrogen bonds entailing ribose hydroxyl groups, which can be used either as a donor or an acceptor; they constitute 25% of all hydrogen bonds and involve 31% of all nucleotides. The phosphate oxygens OP1 or OP2 are used as hydrogen bond acceptors in 12% of all nucleotides, and the ribose ring oxygen O4′ and phosphodiester oxygens O3′ and O5′ are used in 4%, 4%, and 1% of all nucleotides, respectively. Distributions of geometric parameters and some examples of such hydrogen bonds are presented in this report. A novel motif involving backbone hydrogen bonds, the ribose–phosphate zipper, is also identified.
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of saphenous vein graft stenosis: long-term follow-up.

Abstract Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was used to treat 101 patients with saphenous vein bypass graft stenosis at a mean of 50.1 months (range 2 to 196) after coronary artery bypass surgery. The patients presented between March 1981 and April 1987. A total of 107 saphenous vein grafts were dilated at 117 sites. The primary success rate was 91.8%. The incidence of cardiac complications was 7.1%. There were no cardiac complications in 53 patients with grafts implanted 36 months (Group 2) had a 12.5% incidence rate of myocardial infarction, a 4% incidence rate of emergent bypass surgery and a 4% incidence rate of death for an overall cardiac complication rate of 14.9% (p Follow-up was obtained at a mean of 16.8 ± 13.9 months (range 1 to 54) in 87 patients (97% of successful cases). Repeat coronary angiography was performed in 49 patients and revealed restenosis in 30 patients (61.2%), with no difference in recurrence rates for proximal, mid or distal graft sites. Clinical recurrence (defined as recurrence of symptoms, myocardial infarction, repeat angioplasty, surgery or death) was 33.1% for Group 1 patients and 64.1% for Group 2 patients (p The complication and recurrence rates of saphenous vein graft angiography are significantly higher when performed for late (>36 months) vein graft failure. All therapeutic options should be carefully examined before proceeding with angioplasty for saphenous vein graft stenosis in this type of patient.
Natural instability of free shear layers

Under controlled small-amplitude excitation, an initially laminar free shear layer experiences maximum growth rate at a Strouhal number St(theta) of 0.017 (consistent with theory) and maximum growth at St(theta) = 0.011, while the natural instability frequency St(theta-n) (of an unexcited shear layer) is found to have an intermediate value. Investigations in both axisymmetric and plane shear layers in a number of independent facilities reveal that the St(theta-n) value falls in the range 0.0125-0.0155, depending on the exit boundary-layer fluctuation level and the spanwise radius of curvature. The St(theta-n) value decreases with increasing jet diameter or exit boundary-layer fluctuation level, but is not a direct function of the exit momentum thickness Reynolds number. For a given facility, the instability details are found to be independent of whether the entrainment at the lip is parallel to the stream or orthogonal (due to the addition of an end plate). The steamwise evolutions of the amplitudes at the fundamental frequency and its harmonics and subharmonics are unique functions of the downstream distance nondimensionalized by the exit momentum thickness, but their details remain functions of the flow geometry (i.e., axisymmetric or plane).
Frontiers of anticoagulation therapy for atrial fibrillation.

Summary In the management of atrial fibrillation (AF), stroke prevention has been proved to play a pivotal role in addition to therapy for concomitant diseases. And, hitherto, anticoagulation by warfarin has been the only effective choice that is known to decrease the stroke rate with ∼70% risk reduction. Although the evidence has been rigid, there are many barriers not to make warfarin therapy pervasive. However, the principle of “KISS (keep it short and simple)” seems to alter our situations. Changing the complex pharmacology with warfarin into the simple pharmacology with new anticoagulants would lead us to a new paradigm, where the old book is now rewritten by a new language.
Alcohol modulates cytokine secretion and synthesis in human fetus: an in vivo and in vitro study.

Abstract It is well recognized that alcohol passes through the placenta and affects the fetal immune system. The underlying mechanism accounting for immune suppression is not clear. Cytokines are recognized as the principal mediators of a variety of immunologic and pathophysiologic events. The study was designed to examine whether alcohol use during pregnancy affects cytokine synthesis and secretion in the human fetus. Fetal (cord blood) and mother's blood were used for the study. Studies were conducted in vivo and in vitro. For the in vivo study, cytokine levels were measured in cord blood in mothers who drank moderate to heavy (chronic) amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. For the in vitro study, cord blood was obtained from mothers who were drug-free throughout pregnancy. Lymphocytes were isolated and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; Escherichia coli , 26:B6). The capacity of lymphocytes to synthesize cytokines was examined in the presence of 20, 50, and 100 mM alcohol. Among the cytokines examined were the tumor necrosis factor (TNF α) and interleukins (IL-1 α and β and IL-6). The selection of cytokines was based on their presumptive role in the pathophysiology of alcoholism. Cytokines were measured by using a specific immunoassay. When data obtained from moderate alcohol users were compared with those obtained from nonusers, no significant differences were observed in any of the cytokines examined ( p >0.05). In chronic alcohol users, levels for all cytokines increased significantly ( p
Lipoxins and aspirin-triggered 15-epi-lipoxins are endogenous components of antiinflammation: Emergence of the counterregulatory side

Eicosanoids are known to play important roles in cell-cell communications and as intracellular signals that are critical components of multi-cellular responses such as acute inflammation and reperfusion injury. Recent findings have given rise to several new concepts that are reviewed here regarding the generation of eicosanoids and their impact in inflammation. Lipoxins (LX) are trihydroxytetraene-containing eicosanoids that can be generated within the vascular lumen during platelet-leukocyte interactions and at mucosal surfaces via leukocyte-epithelial cell interactions. During these cell-cell interactions, transcellular biosynthetic pathways are used as major LX biosynthetic routes, and thus, in humans, LX are formed in vivo during multi-cellular responses such as inflammation, atherosclerosis, and in asthma. This branch of the eicosanoid cascade generates specific tetraene-containing products that serve as stop signals, in that they regulate key steps in leukocyte trafficking and prevent leukocyte-mediated acute tissue injury. Of interest here are recent results indicating that aspirin's mechanism of action also involves the triggering of novel carbon 15 epimers of LX or 15-epi-LX that mimic the bioactions of native LX. Here, an overview of these recent developments is presented, with a focus on the cellular and molecular interactions of these novel antiinflammatory lipid mediators.
On the nature of ultraharmonic oscillations in yielding systems

Abstract This paper deals with the existence and stability of ultraharmonic oscillations in yielding systems. A first-order approximate solution for the steady-state ultraharmonic response of a one-dimensional system is presented, and the general formulation is applied to the analysis of the third-order ultraharmonic oscillation of a system with a linear work-hardening law. It is found that a type of stable bounded ultraharmonic resonance exists for this system and the nature of this response behavior is discussed in some detail.
Metal-deficient copper-zinc superoxide dismutases

Abstract The simultaneous addition of copper and zinc ions directly to bovine apo-superoxide dismutase at pH 5.0 leads to the formation of electrophoretically distinct metal-deficient enzymes in addition to the native enzyme. The EDTA-insensitive metal ion incorporation and the enzymatic activity has been studied at various ratios of added metal ions. The simultaneous addition of metal ions was carried out with either equimolar copper and zinc or with zinc maintained at 1.1 per active site. The addition of equimolar copper and zinc results in the incorporation of the metal ions in a one-to-one ratio; however, at low ratios of metal ions per active site not all of the metal ions added are incorporated and the yield of reconstituted metal-deficient enzyme and native enzyme is low. On the other hand, the maintenance of zinc at 1.1 per active site results not only in the incorporation of zinc at about one per active site but also in the incorporation of all the added copper, a result not seen in the addition of equimolar metal ions except at ratios of greater than 0.5 per active site. Furthermore, there is an increase in the formation of a metal-deficient species as well as native enzyme at the low ratios of copper. The formation of electrophoretically distinct metal-deficient dismutases in the reconstitution of apodismutase by direct addition of metal ions to nondenatured enzyme may account for previous observations of lower yields of native proteins using these types of procedures. The nature and enzymatic activity of the metal-deficient proteins is discussed.
Optimum design of structures with multiple constraints

Automated design of large aerospace structures requires efficient optimization algorithms because of a large number of design variables and design constraints. Most of the difficulties associated with large structural design are solution convergence and computer resources requirements. Practical aerospace structures generally involve limitations on gage sizes, displacements, stresses, and frequencies. The objective of this study was to determine what techniques are reliable and efficient for optimization of a complex design problem. The study examined the relative numerical performance of various optimization methods as candidates for a hybrid algorithm using optimality criteria and mathematical programming methods. Several optimization programs were used to design trussand wing-type structures, and the iteration history for each technique is presented. The computer programs using the method of feasible directions and a modified Newton's method of unconstrained minimization were the most reliable mathematical programming methods.
The effect of chelation on the selective transport of alkaline earth metal ions in asymmetric cellulose acetate hyperfiltration membranes. II

The effects of chelation on the transport of calcium and magnesium, both separately and in a variety of admixtures, in a controlled series of asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes were characterized. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)tetraacetic acid (EGTA) were used as chelating agents for the alkaline earth metal ions. Asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes annealed at 70°, 75°, and 85°C were studied. Chelation of each of these alkaline earth metals ions in aqueous solutions at pH 6, by either EDTA or EGTA, significantly increased the overall hyperfiltration rejections of these metals by all the membranes studied. The increase in rejection varied montonically with the fraction of metal ion complexed. The higher rejection of metal chelates, compared to the rejection of unbound metal ions, was considered to be the result of the significantly larger size of the chelated species. Calculations suggested that selective (or competitive) chelation took place at pH 6 in a mixture of calcium and magnesium ions in the presence of a stoichiometrically limiting amount of chelating agent. Calcium successfully competed for most of the available chelating agent in equimolar aqueous solutions of chelating agent, calcium, and magnesium. The calcium rejection was explained primarily in terms of the effects of chelation per se on the effective size of the formed complex even in feeds comprised of these ternary solute mixtures. The complexation reaction between magnesium and EGTA is, however, so unfavorable at pH 6 that the Mg2+ ion remains uncomplexed even in the presence of an equivalent amount of EGTA. The observed increased rejection of magnesium ions, therefore, in ternary systems was explained by electroneutrality criteria and by solute–membrane interactions involving the various calcium species and the membranes.
A protocol to estimate the release of anthropogenic hydrocarbons from contaminated soils

An operational protocol, appropriate for a tier 1 or tier 2 type relative risk evaluation of a site that has polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) or petroleum hydrocarbon impacted soils, was developed to estimate the fraction of anthropogenic hydrophobic hydrocarbons that will be released rapidly from such soils. The development of this protocol used over 400 datasets from 40 different field samples to establish and verify the operational protocol. The datasets resulted from four-month kinetic desorption studies of these field samples. Based on the chemicals evaluated, the protocol has greatest application to two, three, and four ring-PAH and to diesel range aliphatic hydrocarbons. The protocol is a simple batch desorption analysis that uses established methods and is conducted for 7 d. The protocol results were verified with specific correlation relationships (r2 = 0.81 to 0.96) to estimate the rapidly releasing fraction (F value) that is obtained in a full, four-month chemical release evaluation.
Rheology of copolymers containing carbon black

The rheological response of random copolymers of styrene and butyl methacrylate containing carbon black simulates the behavior of toner in the electrophotographic process. Both the relative viscosity and the dependence of viscosity on shear rate were increased by raising the temperature and raising the concentration and surface area of carbon black. For high concentrations and surface areas of carbon black and at elevated temperatures, a well-defined yield stress varied from 2.5 × 102 to 1.6 × 104 Pa, depending on the concentration and nature of the carbon black but independent of the type of polymer and temperature, implying the formation of a carbon black network. Plasticization by carbon black was favored at low surface area and concentration of carbon black and at elevated temperatures.
Synaptonemal complexes in a tetraploid mouse spermatocyte

Summary Quadrivalents, represented by unique synaptonemal complex configurations, together with normal bivalents are observed for the first time in a mammalian tetraploid pachytene spermatocyte prepared by microspreading. The chromosomal axes (lateral elements) clearly demonstrate the switching of partners in the quadrivalents as predicted from classical cytogenetic theory. Tetraploid formation, possibly by nuclear fusion, must have occurred prior to meiotic prophase.
Neural regulation of product discharge from the hedonic glands of the red‐spotted newt, Notopthalmus viridescens

The mechanism whereby secretory product is extruded from the lumina of hedonic glands in the red-spotted newt has been investigated and the chemical nature of that product has been examined. The ultrastructure of the myoepithelium has been studied. Endings of unmyelinated axons, containing both clear and dense-cored synaptic vesicles, were seen to lie between the myoepithelium and the secretory epithelium, occasionally touching on the myoepithelial cells. Mean luminal diameters of hedonic glands in explants incubated in solutions of acetyl choline decreased by 58% of control values while those of explants incubated in solutions of epinephrine remained the same. Preincubation in the muscarinic blocking agent atropine sulfate, but not in nicotinic blocking agent d-tubocurarine chloride, prevented the cholinergic response. Two PAS (+) bands were present in polyacrylamide gels prepared from secretions discharged by hedonic glands after treatment of male newts in breeding conformation with pilocarpine HCL and also in gels from skin samples containing mucous glands, but were absent from hedonic secretions of laboratory conditioned males. A smaller but similar band from hedonic glands of breeding females correlated with one of the two. Since hedonic glands, but not mucous glands, from breeding newts of both sexes incorporated 35SO4 into their product, bands from hedonic glands could be distinguished from those of mucous glands in gels. It is concluded that the product of hedonic glands is a sulfated mucin that is discharged in response to cholinergic stimulation of muscarinic receptors in myoepithelial cells.
Penetrating Ulceration of the Infrarenal Aorta: Case Reports of an Embolic and an Asymptomatic Lesion

Penetrating aortic ulceration is uncommon in the infrarenal aorta. We describe a patient with a penetrating infrarenal aortic ulcer manifesting as blue toe syndrome, and a second patient with a similar lesion identified as an incidental finding. These two patients were treated for penetrating infrarenal aortic ulceration within the past 9 months at two university-affiliated hospitals, a regional Veterans Administration Medical Center, and a County Medical Center. Both lesions demonstrated aneurysm changes with varying degrees of mural thrombus. The lesion filled with fresh thrombus proved labile, with embolization manifesting as blue toe syndrome. We support the aggressive treatment of aneurysmal penetrating aortic ulcer with aortic graft replacement to eliminate the potential for distal embolization and to obviate the risk of rupture and death.
Experimental Evaluation of Geometric Accuracy and Stability of the Image Orthicon for Astronomical Applications

Image orthicon in high precision astronomical camera, evaluating geometric accuracy and stability by distortion measurement
Space-Time Cube Representation of Stream Bank Evolution Mapped by Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is utilized to monitor bank erosion along a stream that has incised through historic millpond (legacy) sediment. A processing workflow is developed to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) of the bank's surface from the TLS point cloud data. Differencing of the DTMs reveals that the majority of sediment loss stems from the legacy sediment layer. The DTM time series is stacked into a voxel model to form a space-time cube (STC). The STC provides a compact representation of the bank's spatiotemporal evolution captured by the TLS scans. The continuous STC extends this approach by generating a voxel model with equal temporal resolution directly from the point cloud data. Novel visualizations are extracted from the STCs to explore patterns in surface evolution. Results show that erosion is highly variable in space and time, with large-scale erosion being episodic due to bank failure within legacy sediment.
Thresholds, informality, and partitions of compliance

This paper aims to establish and explore the links between two threads in the public finance literature. One is the use of tax thresholds to partition taxpayers into those who are liable to pay tax and those who are not. The other is the notion of 'informality' as a central challenge for tax design and implementation. Several insights emerge. First, the results make clear that the term 'informal' as used in the literature is imprecise and can consequently be very misleading: the models reveal a range of compliant and non-compliant behaviors with very different welfare and rev- enue implications. Second, the various forms of behavior considered suggest optimal thresholds generally higher than would otherwise be the case, with quite complicated implications for the associated patterns of (non)-compliance. Third, when (as is real- istic) firms and individuals face multiple tax and non-tax obligations, the setting of optimal thresholds is considerably more complex.
Hydraulic Resistance versus Flow Depth in Everglades Hardwood Halos

The variation of the Manning roughness with flow depth in two hardwood-dominated vegetation halos that surround water-delivery structures in Everglades National Park was investigated. The results show that the hydraulic resistance of the halos decreases approximately linearly with increasing flow depth. For flow depths less than 15–20 cm, the hydraulic resistance is similarly high in both the halo and the downstream marsh vegetation, however, as the flow depth increases the hydraulic resistance in the halo decreases to below that in the downstream marsh. As a consequence, for increased stages at the delivery structure, the halo vegetation will become less restrictive relative to the marsh vegetation in controlling water deliveries.
Molecular evolution of human immunoglobulins

Abstract In their structural variation immunoglobulins simulate within one species the phylogenetic diversity of other proteins among many species. The homologous elements of immunoglobulin structure comprise two classes of light and five classes of heavy chains, one pair of light and one of heavy being joined covalently into a symmetrical non-hybrid tetrapolypeptide. Each chain is divided into a variable or V region and a constant or C region, and each region is believed to be encoded by a separate gene. The V region is further differentiated into subgroups and idiotypes, and the C region into classes, subclasses and allotypes. Sequence analysis of the classes, subclasses, and subgroups indicates that all diverged early in evolution from a common ancestral gene coding for about 110 residues. Most allotypes reflect point mutations in Man and the higher primates, but it is unknown if the numerous varied idiotypes reflect evolutionary gene expansion or somatic hypermutation or recombination. During evolution the acquisition of an almost infinite variety of specific antibody functions by immunoglobulins has been dependent on gene expansion through duplication and mutation leading to molecular variation of the V region and amplification of the number of C regions. Differentiation of biological function has been facilitated by non-specific interactions of homologous regions and by polymerization.
Digital frequency-domain FLIM

We present a mathematical model and physical implementation for a digital frequency domain FLIM system which provides lifetime resolution comparable to TCSPC methods. We present data on cells and on molecules diffusing in solution.
HIV DNA is heavily uracilated, which protects it from autointegration

Human immune cells infected by HIV naturally contain high uracil content, and HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) does not distinguish between dUTP and dTTP. Many DNA viruses and retroviruses encode a dUTPase or uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG) to counteract uracil incorporation. However, although HIV virions are thought to contain cellular UNG2, replication of HIV produced in cells lacking UNG activity does not appear to be impaired. Here we show that HIV reverse transcripts generated in primary human immune cells are heavily uracilated (>500 uracils per 10 kb HIV genome). We find that HIV DNA uracilation, rather than being dangerous, may promote the early phase of the viral life cycle. Shortly after reverse transcription, the ends of the HIV DNA are activated by the viral integrase (IN) in preparation for chromosomal insertion. However, the activated ends can attack the viral DNA itself in a suicidal side pathway, called autointegration. We find here that uracilation of target DNA inhibits the strand transfer of HIV DNA ends by IN, thereby inhibiting autointegration and facilitating chromosomal integration and viral replication. When uracilation is increased by incubating uracil-poor cells in the presence of increasing concentrations of dUTP or by infecting with virus that contains the cytosine deaminase APOBEC3G (A3G), the proportion of reverse transcripts that undergo suicidal autointegration decreases. Thus, HIV tolerates, or even benefits from, nonmutagenic uracil incorporation during reverse transcription in human immune cells.
Learning and adaptation in the management of waterfowl harvests

A formal framework for the adaptive management of waterfowl harvests was adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995. The process admits competing models of waterfowl population dynamics and harvest impacts, and relies on model averaging to compute optimal strategies for regulating harvest. Model weights, reflecting the relative ability of the alternative models to predict changes in population size, are used in the model averaging and are updated each year based on a comparison of model predictions and observations of population size. Since its inception the adaptive harvest program has focused principally on mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), which constitute a large portion of the U.S. waterfowl harvest. Four competing models, derived from a combination of two survival and two reproductive hypotheses, were originally assigned equal weights. In the last year of available information (2007), model weights favored the weakly density-dependent reproductive hypothesis over the strongly density-dependent one, and the additive mortality hypothesis over the compensatory one. The change in model weights led to a more conservative harvesting policy than what was in effect in the early years of the program. Adaptive harvest management has been successful in many ways, but nonetheless has exposed the difficulties in defining management objectives, in predicting and regulating harvests, and in coping with the tradeoffs inherent in managing multiple waterfowl stocks exposed to a common harvest. The key challenge now facing managers is whether adaptive harvest management as an institution can be sufficiently adaptive, and whether the knowledge and experience gained from the process can be reflected in higher-level policy decisions.
A spatial Hausman test

Abstract Often, authors report materially different OLS and spatial error model estimates. However, under the null of correct specification, these estimates should be similar. We propose a spatial Hausman test and conduct a Monte Carlo experiment to examine its performance.
Repolarization Reserve Evolves Dynamically During the Cardiac Action Potential: Effects of Transient Outward Currents on Early Afterdepolarizations

Background— Transient outward K currents (Ito) have been reported both to suppress and to facilitate early afterdepolarizations (EADs) when repolarization reserve is reduced. Here, we used the dynamic clamp technique to analyze how Ito accounts for these paradoxical effects on EADs by influencing the dynamic evolution of repolarization reserve during the action potential. Methods and Results— Isolated patch-clamped rabbit ventricular myocytes were exposed to either oxidative stress (H2O2) or hypokalemia to induce bradycardia-dependent EADs at a long pacing cycle length of 6 s, when native rabbit Ito is substantial. EADs disappeared when the pacing cycle length was shortened to 1 s, when Ito becomes negligible because of incomplete recovery from inactivation. During 6-s pacing cycle length, EADs were blocked by the Ito blocker 4-aminopyridine, but reappeared when a virtual current with appropriate Ito-like properties was reintroduced using the dynamic clamp (n=141 trials). During 1-s pacing cycle length in the absence of 4-aminopyridine, adding a virtual Ito-like current (n=1113 trials) caused EADs to reappear over a wide range of Ito conductance (0.005–0.15 nS/pF), particularly when inactivation kinetics were slow (τinact≥20 ms) and the pedestal (noninactivating component) was small (<25% of peak Ito). Faster inactivation or larger pedestals tended to suppress EADs. Conclusions— Repolarization reserve evolves dynamically during the cardiac action potential. Whereas sufficiently large Ito can suppress EADs, a wide range of intermediate Ito properties can promote EADs by influencing the temporal evolution of other currents affecting late repolarization reserve. These findings raise caution in targeting Ito as an antiarrhythmic strategy.
Neurospora lactase. I. Properties of lactase preparations from a lactose utilizing and a lactose non-utilizing strain.

Abstract Mutant strains of Neurospora which utilize lactose poorly as a carbon source are all found to form an enzyme with β- d -galactosidase activity. Purification and properties of β- d -galactosidase from a normal strain of Neurospora is described, and these properties are then compared with the properties of the β- d -galactosidase of a mutant strain which cannot utilize lactose as a carbon source. No differences between the two enzyme preparations were observed.
Anti-AIDS agents 49. Synthesis, anti-HIV, and anti-fusion activities of IC9564 analogues based on betulinic acid

The betulinic acid derivative IC9564 inhibits human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 entry. Among a series of IC9564 derivatives, 5 and 20 were the most promising compounds against HIV infection with EC(50) values of 0.33 and 0.46 microM, respectively. Both compounds inhibited syncytium formation with EC(50) values of 0.40 and 0.33 microM, respectively. The comparable EC(50) values in the two assays suggested that these compounds are fusion inhibitors. The structure-activity relationship data also indicated that a double bond in IC9564 can be eliminated and the statine moiety can be replaced with L-leucine while retaining anti-HIV activity.