cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acantholytic dermatosis localized to the vulvocrural area

This report describes 6 women with acantholytic lesions localized to the vulvocrural area. Clinically, multiple papules or solitary papules or plaques were situated on the labia majora or adjacent skin. None of the patients had similar abnormalities elsewhere on the body or family histories of similar eruptions. Two patients had concurrent candidal vaginitis. Microscopic findings consisted of acantholytic dyskeratosis resembling that observed in Darier's disease or acantholysis with minimal dyskeratosis similar to that seen in Hailey-Hailey disease. In one patient, acantholytic dyskeratosis with a cup-like configuration resembled the microscopic appearance of warty dyskeratoma. Immunofluorescence microscopy was negative in one patient. Solitary lesions were cured by local excision, but the papular eruption of one patient was recalcitrant to therapy. The literature contains descriptions of eight additional women with comparable lesions. Acantholytic reactions localized to the vulvocrural area are not apparently rare and need to be distinguished from other acantholytic dermatoses that can affect this anatomic site.
Negative ion drift and diffusion in a TPC near 1 bar

Abstract Drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion measurements are reported for a Negative Ion TPC (NITPC) operating with Helium + CS 2 gas mixtures at total pressures from 160 to 700 torr. Longitudinal diffusion at the thermal-limit was observed for drift fields up to at least 700 V/cm in all gas mixtures tested. The results are of particular interest in connection with mechanical simplification of the DRIFT direction-sensitive Dark Matter search, and for high energy physics experiments in which a low- Z , low density, gaseous tracking detector with no appreciable Lorentz drift is needed for operation in very high magnetic fields.
From Shelf to Spotlight: Rediscovering Modernist Books From Eastern Europe at The New York Public Library

This essay contextualizes the overall development of eastern European resources at the Library, highlighting some of the personalities who have contributed to building this internationally significant research resource. The development of the Baltic, east‐central European, and southern Slavic collections of The New York Public Library has been a neglected area of the Library's history. Reciprocity with institutions in the Slavic and Eastern European homelands played a vital part in the growth of the Library's holdings of materials in their languages until the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Library materials were acquired through local dealers, as gifts, and on international exchanges, as well as through personal visits to the region by library staff. Modernist books were an important part of these acquisition efforts. This article was originally published by The New York Public Library in S. A. Mansbach, with Wojciech Jan Siemaszkiewicz, Graphic Modernism: From the Baltic to the Balkans, 1910‐1935, pp. 52‐6...
The Interactions of Aqueous Solutions of Chlorine with Citric Acid. A Source of Mutagens. (A Preliminary Report)

Abstract Citric acid, an additive to an important acrylamide based polymeric flocculant, was found to react with an aqueous solution of chlorine to give several chlorinated propanones, di- and trichloroacetic acid, chloroform, and a number of as yet unidentified chlorine containing compounds. Formation of these alledged carcinogens and mutagens also takes place by treating diluted aqueous solutions of frozen orange juice concentrate with such chlorine solutions. The formation and ratios of the detected chlorinated compounds is pH-dependent. A tentative scheme which could account for these findings is presented.
NUMERICAL SINGULARITY ANALYSIS

Abstract A numerical scheme is presented for classifying the different static bifurcation behaviors exhibited by a nonlinear system in its remaining parameter space. This numerical technique differs from previously published schemes in that the application of singularity theory is done numerically and requires no explicit differentiations of the system in question. It also does not require the reduction of the mathematical model to a scalar equation. The utility of this multivariable scheme will be demonstrated through an application to a seven PDE tubular packed-bed reactor model.
Solubility of Azelaic Acid in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

In this study, the solubility of azelaic acid in supercritical carbon dioxide has been measured at 313.15 K and 333.15 K over a pressure range of 10 MPa to 30 MPa. A flow-type, dynamic apparatus wa...
Testosterone and prolactin stimulation ofmitochondrial aconitase in pig prostate epithelial cells

Abstract Objectives . The function of the prostate gland in many animals, including humans, is to accumulate andsecrete large quantities of citrate. This function derives from the metabolic characteristics of the prostate secretory epithelial cells. These cells possess a uniquely limiting mitochondrial aconitase (m-aconitase) that minimizes citrate oxidation and thus permits citrate to accumulate. Unfortunately, the characteristics of prostate m-aconitase and its manner of regulation have not been established. The hormones testosterone and prolactin, however, are significantly involved in regulating prostate citrate production. Thus it is reasonable to hypothesize that these hormones may be involved in the regulation of both m-aconitase and citrate oxidation. Methods . Using freshly prepared pig prostate epithelial cells, we attempted to determine the effects oftestosterone and prolactin treatment on the level of m-aconitase enzyme, on the level of m-aconitase activity, and on citrate utilization. The epithelial cells were incubated for 3 hours with either testosterone (10 −9 M), prolactin (1 μg/mL), or vehicle (control). Results . Both hormone applications caused a marked increase in the level of m-aconitase. In contrast, neitherhormone had any effect on the m-aconitase level of pig seminal vesicle cells, which are also citrate-producing cells. Moreover, neither hormone had any effect on pyruvate dehydrogenase E1a. These findings suggest that testosterone and prolactin regulation of prostate m-aconitase is a highly specific effect. Along with the increase in the level of m-aconitase enzyme, both hormones also increased m-aconitase activity and prostate-cell utilization of citrate. Conclusions . These studies demonstrate that testosterone and prolactin can regulate m-aconitase and subsequent citrate oxidation of specific prostate epithelial cells. This unique aconitase relationship is not observed in other mammalian cells.
Postoutbreak Disinfection of Mobile Equipment

Current control strategies for avian influenza virus, exotic Newcastle disease, and other highly contagious poultry diseases include surveillance, quarantine, depopulation, disposal, and decontamination. Skid steer loaders and other mobile equipment are extensively used during depopulation and disposal. Movement of contaminated equipment has been implicated in the spread of disease in previous outbreaks. One approach to equipment decontamination is to power wash the equipment, treat with a liquid disinfectant, change any removable filters, and let it sit idle for several days. In this project, multiple disinfectant strategies were individually evaluated for their effectiveness at inactivating Newcastle disease virus (NDV) on mechanical equipment seeded with the virus. A small gasoline engine was used to simulate typical mechanical equipment. A high titer of LaSota strain, NDV was applied and dried onto a series of metal coupons. The coupons were then placed on both interior and exterior surfaces of the engine. Liquid disinfectants that had been effective in the laboratory were not as effective at disinfecting the engine under field conditions. Indirect thermal fog showed a decrease in overall virus titer or strength. Direct thermal fog was more effective than liquid spray application or indirect thermal fog application.
A numerical study of mixing enhancement in supersonic reacting flow fields

Work has been underway for a number of years at the NASA Langley Research Center to develop a supersonic combustion ramjet or scramjet that is capable of propelling a vehicle at hypersonic speeds in the atmosphere or beyond. A recent part of that research has been directed toward the optimization of the scramjet combustor, and in particular the efficiency of fuel-air mixing and reaction in the engine. A supersonic, spatially developing and reacting mixing layer serves as an excellent physical model for the mixing and reaction processes that take place in a scramjet combustor, This paper describes a study of fuel-air mixing and reaction in a supersonic mixing layer and discusses several techniques that were applied for enhancing the mixing processes and the overall combustion efficiency in the layer. Based on the results of this study, an alternate fuel injector configuration was computationally designed, and that configuration significantly increased the amount of fuel-air mixing and combustion over a given combustor length that was achieved.
Temperature variation of the Lorenz ratio for high-purity gallium between 1.4 and 4.2 K

The electrical and thermal resistivity (ρ andW, respectively) of a large (1 cm diam) single crystal of high-purity gallium, oriented along theC axis, have been measured as a function of temperature over the range of 1.4–4.2K. Both ρ andWT can be fitted to the same power law with an exponent close to three. As a consequence, the temperature-dependent part of the Lorenz ratio has a relatively constant value of about 0.4×10−8V2·K−2 for the entire range. Qualitative explanation for this is attempted in terms of the possible scattering mechanisms involved.
The traffic in heads: bodies, borders and the articulation of regional histories

This article is about stories of chiefs’ and childrens’ heads that circulate in and out of southern Africa. It argues that rather than trivialising or exoticising African experiences, stories about heads that cross political and conceptual boundaries, and how long they stay there, and whose spirit is aggrieved — and where it is aggrieved — while the heads are gone, reveal the physicality with which colonial and postcolonial violence has been experienced by Africans. Considered alongside stories of other travelling body parts such as Saartje Bartman's remains or organ transplants, stories of chiefs’ and childrens’ heads can link the history of cosmology with that of politics. Official demands for the return of some body parts, and unofficial acquiescence to the loss of other body parts, remind us of the various ways that the contradictions of colonial and postcolonial regimes have been experienced and articulated. The variety of head stories cannot be forged into a neat historical narrative, however; they ...
Changes in Hospital Nurse Work Environments and Nurse Job Outcomes: An Analysis of Panel Data

Abstract Background One strategy proposed to alleviate nursing shortages is the promotion of organizational efforts that will improve nurse recruitment and retention. Cross-sectional studies have shown that the quality of the nurse work environment is associated with nurse outcomes related to retention, but there have been very few longitudinal studies undertaken to examine this relationship. Objectives To demonstrate how rates of burnout, intention to leave, and job dissatisfaction changed in a panel of hospitals over time, and to explore whether these outcomes were associated with changes in nurse work environments. Methods A retrospective, two-stage panel design was chosen for this study. Survey data collected from large random samples of registered nurses employed in Pennsylvania hospitals in 1999 and 2006 were used to derive hospital-level rates of burnout, intention to leave current position, and job dissatisfaction, and to classify the quality of nurses' work environments at both points in time. A two-period difference model was used to estimate the dependence of changes in rates of nurse burnout, intention to leave, and job dissatisfaction on changes in nurse work environments between 1999 and 2006 in 137 hospitals, accounting for concurrent changes in nurse staffing levels. Results In general, nurse outcomes improved between 1999 and 2006, with fewer nurses reporting burnout, intention to leave, and job dissatisfaction in 2006 as compared to 1999. Our difference models showed that improvements in work environment had a strong negative association with changes in rates of burnout ( β =−6.42%, p β =−4.10%, p β =−8.00%, p Conclusions Improvements in nurse work environments over time are associated with lower rates of nurse burnout, intention to leave current position, and job dissatisfaction.
Formulating informative, data-based priors for failure probability estimation in reliability analysis

Abstract Priors play an important role in the use of Bayesian methods in risk analysis, and using all available information to formulate an informative prior can lead to more accurate posterior inferences. This paper examines the practical implications of using five different methods for formulating an informative prior for a failure probability based on past data. These methods are the method of moments, maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, maximum entropy estimation, starting from a non-informative ‘pre-prior’, and fitting a prior based on confidence/credible interval matching. The priors resulting from the use of these different methods are compared qualitatively, and the posteriors are compared quantitatively based on a number of different scenarios of observed data used to update the priors. The results show that the amount of information assumed in the prior makes a critical difference in the accuracy of the posterior inferences. For situations in which the data used to formulate the informative prior is an accurate reflection of the data that is later observed, the ML approach yields the minimum variance posterior. However, the maximum entropy approach is more robust to differences between the data used to formulate the prior and the observed data because it maximizes the uncertainty in the prior subject to the constraints imposed by the past data.
THE PRODUCTION OF ERYTHROCYTE AUTOANTIBODIES IN CHIMPANZEES.

Young adult chimpanzees immunized with human blood products produced circulating antibodies which reacted with human red cells of a certain proportion of chimpanzees. In addition, agglutinins were formed which reacted with the animals' own erythrocytes. That these agglutinins were true autoantibodies was demonstrated by: (a) their ability to sensitize the animals' own erythrocytes at 37°C both in vivo and in intro; (b) the iso-specificity which they displayed toward other chimpanzee red cells; and (c) the fact that they belonged to the γG-class of immunoglobulins. Complement appeared to be bound to the in vivo sensitized cells but no evidence of increased cell destruction was observed. It seemed most likely that these autoagglutinins were produced as a result of active immunization with closely related antigens.
Production of hepatitis B virus by a differentiated human hepatoma cell line after transfection with cloned circular HBV DNA

Closed-circular HBV DNA was introduced into cells of the established human hepatoma culture HepG2. The culture medium of one of 40 single-cell clones contained HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), core-related antigens (HBc/eAg), and HBV DNA sequences. HBV DNA and DNA polymerase activity were detected in particles resembling both nucleocapsids and complete virions (Dane particles). Intracellular integrated and extrachromosomal HBV DNA sequences were detected. Relaxed-circular and single-stranded forms of viral DNA were identified as likely replicative intermediates of the HBV genome. In conclusion, in vitro production of Dane-like particles by transformed human hepatocytes has been achieved. This model should be valuable as a cell culture system for studying virus replication and virus-host cell interactions.
Late Pleistocene and Holocene meltwater events in the western Arctic Ocean

Accelerator mass spectrometer 14 C dated stable isotope data from Neogloboquadrina pachyerma in cores raised from the Mendeleyev Ridge and slope provide evidence for significant influx of meltwater to the western Arctic Ocean during the early part of marine oxygen isotope stage 1 (OIS 1) and during several intervals within OIS 3. The strongest OIS 3 meltwater event occurred before ca. 45 ka (conventional radiocarbon age) and was probably related to the deglaciation at the beginning of OIS 3. Major meltwater input to the western Arctic Ocean during the last deglaciation coincides closely with the maximum rate of global sea-level rise as determined from the Barbados sea-level record, demonstrating a strong link between the global record and changes in the central Arctic Ocean. OIS 2, which includes the last glacial maximum, is very condensed or absent in the cores. Abundance and δ 13 C values for N. pachyderma in the middle part of OIS 3 are similar to modern values, indicating high productivity and seasonal ice-free areas along the Arctic margin at that time. These records indicate that the Arctic Ocean was a source of heat and moisture to the northern polar atmosphere during parts of OIS 3.
New concepts in transthoracic defibrillation

The transition of biphasic waveforms from ICDs to external defibrillators constitutes a significant technological advances for transthoracic defibrillation. Impedance compensation has enabled the delivery of defibrillating current adapted to each patient and each shock in the same patient. Optimally designed biphasic waveforms have been shown clinically to have greater efficacy in the termination of VF when compared with monophasic waveforms, and because peak current delivery is less, these waveforms are likely to be less injurious to myocardial function. Advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of fibrillation and defibrillation have identified the electrophysiologic events that initiate and sustain VF and the effects of defibrillation shocks on those events. Definition of the role of VEP and postshock excitation has clarified the mechanisms by which shocks can either fail or succeed. The ability of the second phase of optimal biphasic waveform shocks to exploit recruited sodium channels in negatively polarized areas and thus induce rapid propagation of postshock excitation assures uniform depolarization and prevention of re-entry. This appears to be the major mechanism of greater efficacy of biphasic waveforms. It seems certain that continuing investigation of virtual electrodes will enhance our understanding of defibrillation and optimal waveforms. At the same time, much more needs to be known regarding translation of these experimental observations to mechanisms of defibrillation in human hearts with long-standing underlying structural heart disease, which often arises of multiple factors. This represents a major challenge in defibrillation research.
Technological Advances in Pediatric Cataract Surgery

Purpose: Managing pediatric cataracts is often challenging. It is technically difficult to perform surgery in these small complaint eyes and there is higher prevalence of postoperative complications. The outcomes of surgery depend on technique and technology. The purpose of this study is to review the current literature on technological advances in pediatric cataract surgery.Methods: Review of literature on management of pediatric cataract surgery.Results: The advent of vitrectomy machines and intraocular lenses (IOLs) has revolutionized pediatric cataract surgery. “Vitrectorhexis” has become a good alternative to manual capsulorhexis. Primary management of posterior capsule and limited anterior vitrectomy has reduced the incidence of visual axis opacification. Primary IOL implantation is becoming a standard of care in the youngest children. Single piece Acrysof® is preferred for in-the-bag implantation and 3-piece Acrysof® for sulcus implantation. Newer IOLs are being evaluated in pediatric eyes. Precise...
Testing models of cerebellar ataxia via dynamic simulation

Patients with damage to the cerebellum make reaching movements that are uncoordinated or “ataxic.” One prevailing hypothesis is that the cerebellum functions as an internal model for planning movements, and that damage to the cerebellum results in movements that do not properly account for arm dynamics. An exoskeleton robot was used to record multi-joint reaching movements. Subsequently, joint-torque trajectories were calculated and a gradient descent algorithm found optimal, patient-specific perturbations to actual limb dynamics predicted to reduce directional reaching errors by an average of 41%, elucidating a promising form of robotic intervention and adding support to the internal model hypothesis.
Aligning information security investments with a firm's risk tolerance

Technology continually places greater demands on a firm to maintain, process, and communicate information. The security of this information, with respect to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, is important to the firm. More often then not the department charged with the securing of the information has different strategic goals then the firm. Because the way success of information security investments is measured compared to the way investments that the rest of the firm makes is different, it is difficult for a firm to decide how much to invest in information security. This paper proposes a way to measure information security investments potential by calculating how the investment affects the firm's level or risk averseness. This gives management a better idea of how information security investments will affect the bottom line the by trying to determine the ROI of such an investment. This paper concludes with a discussion on the limitations of this risk tolerance model.
Computation of the material indicator function near the contact line (in Tryggvason's method)

This note describes a simple and robust procedure for the accurate computation of values of the indicator function along and near the solid material boundary that is in contact with the evolving interface, as is common in crystal growth on a substrate (solidification and vapor/liquid-phase epitaxy).
A cross-correlation based signal detector with two-step down-converter robust to finite image rejection

A spectrum sensing technique based on cross-correlation that can be applied to cognitive radios for detection of weak signals is described. It is known that by cross-correlating the outputs of two signal paths, which have independent noise and correlated signals, the sensitivity of the detector can be enhanced. An analog approach to cross-correlation is employed, which avoids the requirement for high dynamic range analog-to-digital converters and digital FFT cores. Each signal path uses an integrated receiver to down-convert the desired portion of the spectrum to baseband for correlation. The use of two-step image-reject down-converters is proposed to alleviate flicker noise and DC offset related degradation that arises in direct-conversion receivers. The impact of finite image rejection in the receivers is addressed and a solution based on offset local oscillator frequencies is proposed. The effectiveness of the approach is validated through simulation.
Observations on the simultaneous estimation of exchangeable sodium, potassium and chloride in human subjects using an ion exchange technic

Abstract Procedures are described for the simultaneous administration of the short-lived isotopes, Na24, K42, and Br82 to human subjects and the subsequent estimation of their exchangeable electrolyte pools. Apparatus is described which employs ion exchange chromatography and Geiger-Muller monitoring for the separation of radioactive sodium, potassium and anion fractions in serum and urine. The chemical and radiometric errors incurred in the analysis for specific activity of each electrolyte are evaluated statistically. Based on the analysis of duplicate observations, the coefficients of variation for the separate estimations of exchangeable electrolytes are, Na 2.54 per cent, K 3.17 per cent and Cl. 2.45 per cent. Upon measuring exchangeable electrolyte pools in subjects at weekly intervals significant biological variability was observed. Significant differences in plasma and urine specific activities of sodium and potassium were observed 24 hours after a tracer dose of Na24 and K42. Variation in the specific activities of consecutive hourly urine samples obtained after 22 hours were significant and occasionally large (>±10 per cent). Previous reports are reviewed in which excessive variations of plasma and urine specific activities were observed. The role of isotope effects, diet and circulation dynamics in influencing variations of specific activity is discussed. Limited observations on the value for exchangeable potassium determined 72 hours after oral K42 indicate no better agreement with the 48 hour value in the same individual than does the one obtained at 24 hours.
The effect of treatment and its related side effects in patients with severe ocular cicatricial pemphigoid

Abstract Purpose To determine the clinical outcome of patients with ocular-cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP) and the influence of systemic treatment on clinical progression. Design Noncomparative interventional case series. Participants Sixty-one patients with biopsy-proven OCP. Methods Patients with documented disease progression treated with chemotherapy and/or corticosteroids were followed between 1985 and 2000. The parameters evaluated were ocular stage at presentation, visual acuity, ocular complications, disease progression, control of ocular inflammation, and presence of extraocular involvement. Systemic treatment and related side effects were analyzed. Main outcome measures Visual acuity, ocular complications, extraocular involvement, disease progression, clinical outcome, systemic treatment, and related side effects. Results Sixty-one patients (32 female; 29 male) with a mean age of 67 years were studied. Extraocular involvement was present in 50% of patients. Sixty percent of eyes were initially seen with stage III (advanced cicatrizing) disease at first evaluation. Seven percent of involved eyes at first visit and 21% at the end of follow-up were legally blind. The most common ocular complications encountered were dry eye, corneal abnormalities, and glaucoma. Dapsone was the most commonly used drug (51 patients), followed by methotrexate (24 patients), azathioprine (23 patients), and cyclophosphamide (15 patients); prednisone, always given as adjunctive treatment, was used in 17 patients. Control of ocular inflammation (total or partial) was achieved in 90% of patients, but 46% of them needed continuation of systemic treatment to avoid disease recurrences, and 10% progressed despite different drugs used. Two agents were required in 32% of cases to control disease activity. The most common treatment-related side effects were hematologic complications (n = 34) followed by gastrointestinal (n = 17), cardiovascular (n = 15), and urinary complications (n = 11). Dapsone was responsible for the greatest number of side effects (n = 43); methotrexate caused the least trouble (n = 6). Corticosteroid-related complications (n = 34) were mostly cardiovascular and endocrinologic. Conclusions Ocular-cicatricial pemphigoid is an autoimmune disease that, untreated, progresses to conjunctival scarring and blindness; systemic immunosuppression is required to control it. Long-term systemic treatment and more than one drug are frequently necessary to avoid recurrences, exposing elderly patients to a higher risk of drug toxicity. The most frequently encountered treatment-related side effects were anemia, leukopenia, liver toxicity, and hypertension.
Role of ROS and MAPK in TPA-induced ICAM-1 expression in the myeloid ML-1 cell line

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) has been implicated in playing a key role in the mechanism of inflammatory process initiated in response to environmental agents, and during normal hematopoietic cell differentiation. Though induction of ICAM-1 by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in myeloid cells has been reported, the molecular mechanism by which TPA upregulates ICAM-1 expression remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the signaling mechanism associated with TPA-induced ICAM-1 expression in ML-1 cells. Herein, our microarray, flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis indicated that ICAM-1 was constitutively expressed at a low level in ML-1 cells, but its expression was further upregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels in response to TPA. ICAM-1 expression in response to TPA was inhibited by pretreatment with GF109203X [a specific inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC)], or with PD98059 and U0126 (specific inhibitors of MEK), suggesting the importance of PKC, and Erk1/2 signaling cascades in this response. Interestingly, ICAM-1 expression in response to TPA-induced PKC activation was linked to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as pretreatment with NAC (an ROS scavenger) blocked both ErK1/2 activation and ICAM-1 expression induced by TPA. In addition, TPA-induced ICAM-1 expression was blocked by inhibition of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation following pretreatment with BAY11-7085 (a specific inhibitor of NF-κB activation). TPA-induced NF-κB activation was shown by increased degradation of IkB (NF-κB specific inhibitory protein). Together, these observations demonstrated that TPA, a potent activator of PKC, induces ICAM-1 expression via a ROS- and ERK1/2-dependent signaling mechanism in ML-1 cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 100: 1010–1021, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Identification of recurring protein structure microenvironments and discovery of novel functional sites around CYS residues

The emergence of structural genomics presents significant challenges in the annotation of biologically uncharacterized proteins. Unfortunately, our ability to analyze these proteins is restricted by the limited catalog of known molecular functions and their associated 3D motifs.
Optimal work breaks in deterministic and probabilistic repetitive projects

An effective way to reduce the duration and cost of projects with repetitive activities is through the relaxation of resource continuity and the introduction of work breaks at strategic points between repetitive project units. This paper describes the problem and introduces the basic concepts for determining the optimal location and duration of work breaks for both deterministic and probabilistic activity durations. The procedure is described in detail and is applied to an example project with 9 activities with probabilistic durations that repeat over 10 similar work units. The solution employs concepts from the Repetitive Scheduling Method (RSM), the Sequence Step Algorithm (SQS-AL), and is modeled in STROBOSCOPE, an activity-based simulation system. Numerical and graphical results explain the process and the underlying time and cost tradeoffs.
Prognostic value of predischarge dipyridamole technetium 99m sestamibi myocardial tomography in medically treated patients with unstable angina.

Recently developed unstable angina clinical practice guidelines have recommended risk stratification with dipyridamole thallium-201 myocardial imaging in patients at “intermediate” pretest clinical risk who cannot exercise maximally. The prognostic value of predischarge dipyridamole technetium 99m sestamibi (MIBI) tomography has not been assessed in this clinical setting. To this end, 128 medically treated patients with unstable angina at intermediate pretest clinical risk underwent follow-up for 16 ± 11 (mean ± SD) months after predischarge intravenous dipyridamole MIBI tomography. An abnormal MIBI scan result was present in 99 patients (77%), of whom 47 had one or more reversible and 76 had one or more fixed perfusion defects. Cardiac events occurred in 68 (53%) patients after dipyridamole testing: recurrent unstable angina (n = 36), nonfatal acute myocardial infarction (n = 6), or death (n = 26). A cardiac event occurred in 10% of patients with normal MIBI tomography results compared with 69% of those with abnormal results (p < 0.01). Event rates associated with specific perfusion defects were similar (reversible = 68%; fixed = 71%) and were greater than rates in patients without defects (both p < 0.05). Clinical variables associated with increased risk of cardiac events by univariate analysis included a history of congestive heart failure, prior myocardial infarction, and diabetes mellitus (all p < 0.05). Independent multivariable predictors (Cox proportional hazards model) of any cardiac event were an abnormal result of MIBI scan (relative risk [RR] = 4.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5 to 12.0) and a reversible (RR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.9) or a fixed perfusion defect (RR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.6 to 5.4). Two-year cardiac event-free survival was significantly lower in patients with an abnormal MIBI study result (p < 0.0002). We conclude that the use of predischarge dipyridamole MIBI myocardial tomography provides prognostic information in medically treated patients with unstable angina beyond that available with clinical risk assessment alone. This application of dipyridamole MIBI myocardial imaging is consistent with the recommended use of dipyridamole thallium-201 imaging in published unstable angina clinical practice guidelines.
Storm Centering Approach for Flood Predictions from Large Watersheds

AbstractMost storm water numerical models assume that the entire watershed area is covered by the design storm and shall be considered as the tributary area to the design point. Care must be taken when simulating storm runoff generation from a large watershed because the rain storm may only cover a portion of the watershed. Because the area-averaged rainfall depth decays with respect to the storm-cover area, the experience of the larger the watershed, the higher the flood flow is no longer true. In this study, a storm centering technique is developed to identify the conservative size of a storm cell so that the design runoff rate and volume can be maximized among various locations of a storm center. Without any storm water detention in the watershed, the product of a tributary area and area-weighted rainfall depth serves as the indicator of runoff accumulation through the waterway. When taking detention basins into consideration, the effect of flow attenuation is converted into an equivalent tributary are...
New Mechanism Contributing to Drug-Induced Arrhythmia: Rescue of a Misprocessed LQT3 Mutant

Background— The cardiac sodium channel (SCN5A) mutation L1825P has been identified in a patient with drug-induced torsade de pointes precipitated by the IKr blocker cisapride. Although L1825P generates late sodium current typical of SCN5A-linked long-QT syndrome (LQT3) in vitro, the patient reported had a normal QT interval before administration of the drug. To address this discrepancy, we tested the hypothesis that this mutant channel is not processed normally. Methods and Results— CHO cells transfected with L1825P displayed significantly reduced peak INa (209±36 versus 23±3 pA/pF, P<0.05). Confocal imaging and cell-counting studies using epitope-tagged constructs demonstrated that cell surface expression of the mutant was only ≈9% of wild-type. Incubating transfected cells with cisapride partially rescued misprocessing to 30% of wild-type. As a result, “late” sodium current increased with cisapride from 1.2±0.11 to 5.04±0.77 pA/pF (P<0.05). Conclusions— L1825P fails to generate QT prolongation because i...
Mutation of Actin Tyr-53 Alters the Conformations of the DNase I-binding Loop and the Nucleotide-binding Cleft

All but 11 of the 323 known actin sequences have Tyr at position 53, and the 11 exceptions have the conservative substitution Phe, which raises the following questions. What is the critical role(s) of Tyr-53, and, if it can be replaced by Phe, why has this happened so infrequently? We compared the properties of purified endogenous Dictyostelium actin and mutant constructs with Tyr-53 replaced by Phe, Ala, Glu, Trp, and Leu. The Y53F mutant did not differ significantly from endogenous actin in any of the properties assayed, but the Y53A and Y53E mutants differed substantially; affinity for DNase I was reduced, the rate of nucleotide exchange was increased, the critical concentration for polymerization was increased, filament elongation was inhibited, and polymerized actin was in the form of small oligomers and imperfect filaments. Growth and/or development of cells expressing these actin mutants were also inhibited. The Trp and Leu mutations had lesser but still significant effects on cell phenotype and the biochemical properties of the purified actins. We conclude that either Tyr or Phe is required to maintain the functional conformations of the DNase I-binding loop (D-loop) in both G- and F-actin, and that the conformation of the D-loop affects not only the properties that directly involve the D-loop (binding to DNase I and polymerization) but also allosterically modifies the conformation of the nucleotide-binding cleft, thus increasing the rate of nucleotide exchange. The apparent evolutionary “preference” for Tyr at position 53 may be the result of Tyr allowing dynamic modification of the D-loop conformation by phosphorylation (Baek, K., Liu, X., Ferron, F., Shu, S., Korn, E. D., and Dominguez, R. (2008) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 11748–11753) with effects similar, but not identical, to those of the Ala and Glu mutations.
Ionic α-helical polypeptides toward nonviral gene delivery.

The advent of polymeric materials has significantly promoted the development and rapid growth of various technologies in biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and controlled drug and gene delivery. Water-soluble polypeptides bearing functional side chains and adopting stable secondary structures are a new class of functional polymeric materials of potentially broad applications in medicine and biotechnology. In this article, we summarize our recent effort on the design and synthesis of the water-soluble �� -helical ionic polypeptides originally developed in our laboratory and highlight their applications in cell membrane penetration and nonviral gene/small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery. © 2014 Wiley
A Tony Thomas‐inspired guide to INSPIRE

The SPIRES database was created in the late 1960s to catalogue the high energy physics preprints received by the SLAC Library. In the early 1990s it became the first database on the web and the first website outside of Europe. Although indispensible to the HEP community, its aging software infrastructure is becoming a serious liability. In a joint project involving CERN, DESY, Fermilab and SLAC, a new database, INSPIRE, is being created to replace SPIRES using CERN’s modern, open‐source Invenio database software. INSPIRE will maintain the content and functionality of SPIRES plus many new features. I describe this evolution from the birth of SPIRES to the current day, noting that the career of Tony Thomas spans this timeline.
Ectodermal dysplasia and abnormal thumbs

Two unrelated children, a girl and a boy, with alopecia, anomalous cutaneous pigmentation, abnormal thumbs, and endocrine disorders, including short stature and delayed bone age in one patient and juvenile onset diabetes mellitus in the other, are described. In one instance, the mother and the maternal grandmother had similar abnormalities, although of a less severe nature. Both children had normal nails and no unusual susceptibility to infections. We believe these two patients represent a previously undescribed syndrome of ectodermal dysplasia that may be inherited as an autosomal-dominant trait.
Multichannel reliability assessment in real world WSNs

We study the utility of dynamic frequency agility in real-world wireless sensor networks. Many view such agility as essential to obtaining adequate reliability in industrial environments. We quantify the actual utility by identifying the two facets of connectivity graphs that yield potential benefits called Multichannel Links (MCLs) and Multichannel Triangles (MCTs), study how frequently these occur empirically and determine whether multihop provides a comparable solution without the complexity of switching channels. We examine connectivity graphs of live networks over each 802.15.4 channel and find that MCLs and MCTs are extremely rare in practice. Almost no MCLs are found in any connectivity graph while MCTs occur between 0-200 parts per million (ppm). Furthermore, we show that MCLs are rarely important for routing while each MCT has a singlechannel routing solution. We also find that there are channels that are always good for connectivity and offer comparable routing costs, with respect to transmission count, in comparison to multichannel communication. Thus, the justification for channel agility in industrial environments applies in the absence but not in the presence of multihop routing.
Meeting the graphical needs of the electronic battlefield

Under the sponsorship of Wright Laboratory, Honeywell has been actively involved in the definition of the next generation display processors for military and commercial cockpits. This paper describes the top level architecture and requirements of the resulting Cockpit Display Generator (CDG). The architecture provides the graphical and video processing power needed to drive future high resolution display devices and generate more natural panoramic 3D formats. The CDG will provide multichannel, high performance 2D and 3D graphics, and real-time video manipulation. The architecture is designed for a compact implementation in the PAVE PILLAR environment using high-speed fiber optic networks. The CDG sustains the needs of the Panoramic Cockpit Control and Display System (PCCADS) 2000 cockpit; it can be extensible to higher performance levels in PAVE PACE architectures. >
A Lab Assembled Microcontroller-Based Sensor Module for Continuous Oxygen Measurement in Portable Hypoxia Chambers.

Background Hypoxia-based cell culture experiments are routine and essential components of in vitro cancer research. Most laboratories use low-cost portable modular chambers to achieve hypoxic conditions for cell cultures, where the sealed chambers are purged with a gas mixture of preset O2 concentration. Studies are conducted under the assumption that hypoxia remains unaltered throughout the 48 to 72 hour duration of such experiments. Since these chambers lack any sensor or detection system to monitor gas-phase O2, the cell-based data tend to be non-uniform due to the ad hoc nature of the experimental setup. Methodology With the availability of low-cost open-source microcontroller-based electronic project kits, it is now possible for researchers to program these with easy-to-use software, link them to sensors, and place them in basic scientific apparatus to monitor and record experimental parameters. We report here the design and construction of a small-footprint kit for continuous measurement and recording of O2 concentration in modular hypoxia chambers. The low-cost assembly (US$135) consists of an Arduino-based microcontroller, data-logging freeware, and a factory pre-calibrated miniature O2 sensor. A small, intuitive software program was written by the authors to control the data input and output. The basic nature of the kit will enable any student in biology with minimal experience in hobby-electronics to assemble the system and edit the program parameters to suit individual experimental conditions. Results/conclusions We show the kit's utility and stability of data output via a series of hypoxia experiments. The studies also demonstrated the critical need to monitor and adjust gas-phase O2 concentration during hypoxia-based experiments to prevent experimental errors or failure due to partial loss of hypoxia. Thus, incorporating the sensor-microcontroller module to a portable hypoxia chamber provides a researcher a capability that was previously available only to labs with access to sophisticated (and expensive) cell culture incubators.
MALDESI: Fundamentals, Direct Analysis, and MS Imaging

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become one of the most important tools in analytical and bioanalytical fields. One of the areas of research in MS is the development of ambient ionization methods that allow for the analysis of samples with little to no sample preparation. Matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (MALDESI) is a hybrid ionization method combining attributes from matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI). The vast experimental space governing the MALDESI process has been investigated thoroughly, while its applications in direct analysis of biomolecules were explored.
Targeting the Notch Pathway to Prevent Rejection

Immune rejection is mediated by a complex interplay of cellular and humoral mechanisms. Current therapeutic strategies, which rely on global immunosuppression, can result in serious complications and are not completely effective. Notch signaling is a cell-to-cell communication pathway that plays an important role during T cell development and in the regulation of peripheral immune responses. Initial work, performed mainly through gain-of-function approaches, paradoxically identified Notch as an inducer of tolerance; however, recent studies using loss-of-function approaches in mouse models of transplant rejection and graft-versus-host disease have clarified an important role for Notch as a central mediator of T cell alloreactivity. Short-term inhibition of individual Notch ligands in the peritransplant period had long-lasting protective effects. In a vascularized heart allograft model, blockade of Delta-like Notch ligands dampened both cellular and humoral rejection. In this minireview, we summarize current knowledge about the role of Notch signaling during allograft rejection and provide an overarching mechanism through which Notch acts to promote T cell pathogenicity and allograft damage. We propose that targeting elements of the Notch pathway could provide a new therapeutic approach to prevent allograft rejection.
Pain reactivity and field dependence.

48 young males were divided into three groups based on rated intensity of pain experienced during immersion of the hand in cold water. The groups differed significantly in performance on an embedded figures task, a measure of field dependence. High pain reactivity corresponded to field independence; low pain reactivity corresponded to field dependence.
Perceptions about the Police in Drug Control: A Survey of Drug Users in Kunming, China

Illicit use of drugs has received tremendous public attention in China in recent years, but little is known about the effectiveness of the get-tough practices, especially those adopted by the police. Due to the lack of official data, this study explores the effectiveness of drug control as perceived by drug users. Using citizen surveys collected in Yunnan province, this research also analyses citizens' perceptions about what is effective in drug control. Policy implications and future research are discussed.
Clinical Data Management—Technology Trends Survey

This research surveyed the state of computerized clinical data management across 28 companies attending the April 1989 Drug Information Association Clinical Data Management workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It studies clinical trial characteristics, computer systems used, and experience with remote data entry (RDE) and electronic submissions (ENDAs). It also compares 1989 results with previous research done in September 1985. Results: (1) 32% have done RDE, 25% have done an electronic filing, and 14% have done both RDE and ENDA computing; (2) There is no common database software for clinical trials, RDE, or electronic submissions; (3) SAS remains the common analysis software; (4) Clinical hardware systems are equally DEC and IBM; (5) 50% plan to use RDE in the next 6 to 18 months and 39% plan to use electronic submissions in future clinical trials.