cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adequacy of endoscopic biopsy specimens for disaccharidase assays.

Intestinal mucosa from 40 patients obtained by fiber-endoscopic biopsy was assayed for disaccharidases to determine suitability of this tissue for assay. The combined specimens from each patient provided 4.7–38.7 mg of tissue, adequate in all instances for duplicate determinations of protein, lactase, sucrase, and maltase. Tissue remained for assays of palatinase in 39 instances, trehalase and cellobiase in 37, and alkaline phosphatase in 22 cases. Twenty-four subjects had normal lactose tolerance tests and normal sucrase/lactase ratios. Thirteen patients with abnormal oral lactose tolerance tests were identified as having a primary low lactase activity on the basis of elevated sucrase/lactase ratios. This ratio was most helpful in making the diagnosis of a primary low lactase, since the mucosal specimens were not obtained from comparable areas. Tissue from three subjects with an abnormally low maltase was unsuitable for diagnosis. Endoscopic biopsy of mucosa appears to be satisfactory for disaccharidase assays in most instances.
Infection‐induced antibodies against the major outer membrane protein of Campylobacter jejuni mainly recognize conformational epitopes

The major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of Campylobacter jejuni is an abundant surface protein with a pore-forming function and may be a potential candidate for vaccine development. Despite the fact that MOMP is immunogenic and the recombinant MOMP (rMOMP) can be readily produced in Escherichia coli, the nature of the antibody response to MOMP during in vivo infection is not well understood. In this study, various methods involving detergent replacement and liposome reconstitution were used to refold rMOMP, and antibody responses to MOMP elicited in Campylobacter-colonized chickens were evaluated using sera from chickens either naturally or experimentally infected by C. jejuni. The results demonstrated that proteoliposomes restored the reactivity of rMOMP to rabbit antibodies elicited by native MOMP, indicating the recovery of native MOMP conformation by this refolding method. Importantly, sera from naturally or experimentally infected chickens reacted weakly with denatured rMOMP, but strongly with rMOMP reconstituted in proteoliposome, suggesting that the chicken antibody response to MOMP is predominantly directed against conformational epitopes. These observations provide direct evidence for conformation-dependent humoral responses to MOMP induced by Campylobacter infection, demonstrate that C. jejuni MOMP is immunogenic in its natural host and suggest that proteoliposomes may be potentially used for the evaluation of rMOMP-based vaccines.
Data mining for selective visualization of large spatial datasets

Data mining is the process of extracting implicit, valuable, and interesting information from large sets of data. Visualization is the process of visually exploring data for pattern and trend analysis, and it is a common method of browsing spatial datasets to look for patterns. However the growing volume of spatial datasets make it difficult for humans to browse such datasets in their entirety, and data mining algorithms are needed to filter out large uninteresting parts of spatial datasets. We construct a web-based visualization software package for observing the summarization of spatial patterns and temporal trends. We also present data mining algorithms for filtering out vast parts of datasets for spatial outlier patterns. The algorithms were implemented and tested with a real-world set of Minneapolis-St. Paul (Twin Cities) traffic data.
Real-time characterization of film growth on transparent substrates by rotating-compensator multichannel ellipsometry

A multichannel spectroscopic ellipsometer in the fixed-polarizer-sample-rotating-compensator-fixed-analyzer (PSC(R)A) configuration has been developed and applied for real-time characterization of the nucleation and growth of thin films on transparent substrates. This rotating-compensator design overcomes the major disadvantages of the multichannel ellipsometer in the rotating-polarizer-sample-fixed-analyzer (P(R)SA) configuration while retaining its high speed and precision for the characterization of thin-film processes in real time. The advantages of the PSC(R)A configuration include (i) its high accuracy and precision for the detection of low-ellipticity polarization states that are generated upon reflection of linearly polarized light from transparent film-substrate systems, and (ii) the ability to characterize depolarization of the reflected light, an effect that leads to errors in ellipticity when measured with the P(R)SA configuration. A comparison of the index of refraction spectra for a glass substrate obtained in the real-time PSC(R)A mode in 2.5 s and in the ex situ fixed-polarizer-fixed-compensator-sample-rotating-analyzer (PCSA(R)) mode in ~10 min show excellent agreement, with a standard deviation between the two data sets of 8 x 10(-4), computed over the photon energy range from 1.5 to 3.5 eV. First, we describe the PSC(R)A ellipsometer calibration procedures developed specifically for transparent substrates. In addition, we describe the application of the multichannel PSC(R)A instrument for a study of thin-film diamond nucleation and growth on glass in a low-temperature microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.
Diagnosis of parametric path delay faults

Published research on delay fault testing has largely focused on generating test vector pairs (called delay fault tests) to detect delay faults in a circuit. Little attention has been paid to the diagnosability of delay faults-in the quest for generating tests which can simultaneously detect a delay fault on many paths, one loses the ability to determine which paths caused a chip failure. Since fabrication process perturbations contribute to the occurrence of delay faults, one would also like to determine the likely fabrication process parameter values given that a chip has failed for a set of delay fault tests. We present a framework to detect which parts of the circuit are likely to have caused a chip failure for a set of delay fault tests, and to find the associated fabrication process parameter deviations from their nominal values. This diagnosis is done by using a path sensitization mechanism to find the path delay conditions for which the chip exhibits a delay fault for a subset of the applied tests, followed by a statistical analysis to locate the likely fabrication process parameter value combinations and the parts of the circuit which are likely to have caused the failure. We present results of experiments performed an some ISCAS'89 benchmark circuits, and also relate the slack of a path segment to its probability of contributing to the circuit failure.
A dynamic location management scheme for next-generation multitier PCS systems

Global wireless networks enable mobile users to communicate regardless of their locations. One of the most important issues is location management in a highly dynamic environment because mobile users may roam between different wireless systems, network operators, and geographical regions. A location-tracking mechanism is introduced that consists of intersystem location updates and intersystem paging. Intersystem update is implemented by using the concept of boundary location area, which is determined by a dynamic location update policy in which the velocity and the quality of service are taken into account on a per-user basis. Also, intersystem paging is based on the concept of a boundary location register, which is used to maintain the records of mobile users crossing the boundary of systems. This mechanism not only reduces location-tracking costs, but also significantly decreases call-loss rates and average-paging delays. The performance evaluation of the proposed schemes is provided to demonstrate their effectiveness in multitier personal communication systems.
Preferential Edge Habitat Colonization by a Specialist Weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Understanding the behavioral basis of dispersal and colonization is critical in biological control systems, where success of a natural enemy depends in part on its ability to find and move to new host patches. We studied behavior of the specialist weevil Rhinoncomimus latipes Korotyaev, a biological control agent of mile-a-minute weed, Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross, by releasing weevils at the forest edge and monitoring their colonization of potted host plants arrayed along the edge, out into the open field, and into the forest. Both distance from the release cage and habitat where plants were located affected colonization, with more than twice as many weevils found on plants at 2 m than at 6 or 14 m; at 14 m, 6-8 times as many weevils colonized plants along the forest edge compared with plants in the open field or within the forest. In a second experiment, weevils that were released in an open field 12 m from the forest edge initially flew in all directions, but again ultimately colonized more plants at the edge than out in the open field. This species may be adapted to seek host plants at the forest edge, because P. perfoliata generally is found in riparian corridors in its native range and along forest edges in North America. Results suggest that R. latipes will move successfully to new P. perfoliata patches along wooded edges, but may not readily locate isolated patches in the open or those embedded in forests.
Peptide conformational analysis using the TRIPOS force field

To explain observed electron transfer rates between the terminal aromatic moieties in the arylsubstituted alanine dimer 1, a conformational analysis of the dipeptide was performed using a standard molecular mechanics force field. The resulting low-energy conformers could conveniently be grouped into two families with an average energy difference of ca. 2 kcal mol−1 and populations of 64% and 30%, respectively. These results correlate well with the 78:22 ratio of the two experimentally distinguishable decay processes for the radical anion of 1. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
An AHP analysis of quality in AI and DSS journals

Abstract Over the years, a number of researchers have assessed the quality of information systems (IS) journals. Most of these studies have assessed general IS journals, but few have specifically examined journals that focus on decision-making support systems. Furthermore, even though there are many factors that measure journal quality, very few gauges have been used in the previous evaluations. Recently, the authors reported a study that utilized the analytical hierarchy process to evaluate 20 top decision-making support system journals. This paper extends the earlier work by providing separate ratings for artificial intelligence and decision support system journals. Initially, the article reviews the criteria and AHP methodology to evaluate decision-making support system journal quality. Next, there is an updated discussion of the data collection process and the resulting multiple criteria evaluation. The paper concludes with a summary of the evaluation and the implications for information systems theory and practice.
A model of incomplete adaptation to a severely shifted frequency-to-electrode mapping by cochlear implant users.

In the present study, a computational model of phoneme identification was applied to data from a previous study, wherein cochlear implant (CI) users’ adaption to a severely shifted frequency allocation map was assessed regularly over 3 months of continual use. This map provided more input filters below 1 kHz, but at the expense of introducing a downwards frequency shift of up to one octave in relation to the CI subjects’ clinical maps. At the end of the 3-month study period, it was unclear whether subjects’ asymptotic speech recognition performance represented a complete or partial adaptation. To clarify the matter, the computational model was applied to the CI subjects’ vowel identification data in order to estimate the degree of adaptation, and to predict performance levels with complete adaptation to the frequency shift. Two model parameters were used to quantify this adaptation; one representing the listener’s ability to shift their internal representation of how vowels should sound, and the other representing the listener’s uncertainty in consistently recalling these representations. Two of the three CI users could shift their internal representations towards the new stimulation pattern within 1 week, whereas one could not do so completely even after 3 months. Subjects’ uncertainty for recalling these representations increased substantially with the frequency-shifted map. Although this uncertainty decreased after 3 months, it remained much larger than subjects’ uncertainty with their clinically assigned maps. This result suggests that subjects could not completely remap their phoneme labels, stored in long-term memory, towards the frequency-shifted vowels. The model also predicted that even with complete adaptation, the frequency-shifted map would not have resulted in improved speech understanding. Hence, the model presented here can be used to assess adaptation, and the anticipated gains in speech perception expected from changing a given CI device parameter.
Human exposure to indoor residential cyfluthrin residues during a structured activity program

Estimations of absorbed daily dosage (ADD) of chemicals following contact with treated surfaces may be required for risk assessment and risk management. Measurements of ADD based upon biomonitoring are a more reliable data than estimates of ADD from environmental measurements since they require fewer default assumptions. Study participants performed a structured activity program (SAP) 24-h after an application of Tempo s 20 WP (cyfluthrin; 3-(2,2-dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethyl-cyclopropanecarboxylic acid cyano(4-fluoro-3-phenoxy-phenyl)-methyl ester) on a medium pile, plush nylon carpet. Measurements of total cyfluthrin residue and transferable cyfluthrin residue (cotton cloth and CDFA roller; personal sock and short dosimetry) were made at 3, 7, 12, 23, 47.5, and 407.5 h. Totalcyfluthrin residue extracted from (Soxhlet extraction) carpet was 11.1 72.7mg/cm 2 1h prior to the SAP. Transferable cyfluthrin residue obtained through analysis of cotton cloths rolled with a weighted 30-pound cylinder was 0.11mg/cm 2 . Cyfluthrin residues from socks and shorts were 0.7470.23 and 0.1570.03mg/cm 2 , respectively. Urine was collected at 12-h intervals during a 72-h period following the SAP and was analyzed for the cyfluthrin biomarker, 4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid (FPBA). The mean cyfluthrin equivalents excreted were 8.475.7mg/person (yielding an absorbed dosage of 0.10mg/kg; n ¼ 7). The elimination half-life was 1675 h. All predicted ADDs based upon environmentalmeasurements overestimated the ADDs measured by urinary excretion.
A Disrupting Darkness: Youth Resistance as Racial Wisdom.

This article considers what resistance accomplishes for a peer group of young women of color attending an urban high school in 2001, and from a perspective 10 years later in 2011. Their resistance is deeply racial yet troubles categorical race, nurtures new solidarities through old ethnicities, and sustains a network with important material value for its members over the years. I call such resistance, rooted in a deep racial epistemology rather than the surface structure of race, a disrupting darkness.
Improved survival in patients with acute myocarditis using external pulsatile mechanical ventricular assistance.

Abstract Background: Acute myocarditis remains a disease with a variable clinical course, from full ventricular recovery to complete heart failure; to date, few cases have been reported that describe the efficacy of temporary mechanical ventricular assistance for its treatment. Methods We evaluated the voluntary world registry with the use of an external pulsatile ventricular assist device (the ABIOMED BVS 5000 [BVS]) for acute myocarditis to determine the impact of mechanical ventricular assistance on outcome. Variables analyzed included patient demographics, serum chemistries, and overall hemodynamics prior to BVS, while on BVS support, and after BVS explanation. Postoperative parameters included re-operation, bleeding, respiratory failure, renal failure, and infections, neurologic, or embolic events. Results Eighteen patients in the ABIOMED world registry underwent BVS implantation for myocarditis; 11 (61.1%) had complete pre-operative and hemodynamic data for analysis. Patients were supported for 13.2 ± 17.0 days, after which time 7 (63.6%) patients survived to explanation of the device and 2 (18.2%) underwent transplantation. Elevated admission serum chemistries (blood ureanitrogen [BUN], creatinine, transaminases) and hemodynamics (central venous pressure [CVP], mean pulmonary arterial pressure [PAP], pulmonary capillary wedge pressure [PCW], cardiac index [CI], all normalized during the period of device support. Estimated ejection fractions in the 7 explanted patients ranged between 50 to 60% at routine evaluation 3 years after device removal. Conclusions Temporary mechanical ventricular assistance represents an efficacious therapy for acute myocarditis in patients with hemodynamic decompensation despite maximal medical therapy. Failure to achieve full ventricular recovery while on device support still allows for other surgical alternatives, including implantation of a long-term implantable ventricular assist device, or cardiac transplantation.
Acyclic circuit partitioning for path delay fault emulation

Summary form only given. Acyclic partitioning of VLSI circuits is studied under area/delay, 1-0 size and communication constraints. In this paper, we define the path-delay-fault emulation problem which adds a new constraint, viz. path count constraint, to partitioning problem. We present two algorithms to solve the problem. The first algorithm decomposes a circuit into entirely-fanout-free cones (EFFC), and clusters them into partitions. The second one finds an intermediate partitioning solution with the partitioning algorithm ignoring path count constraint. Later, it applies the first algorithm to the partitions which violate the path count constraint. We implemented the first algorithm and measured its efficiency in terms of the number of resulting partitions, cut-cost, and time cost for ISCAS85 benchmarks.
Crystallographic alignment of high-density gallium nitride nanowire arrays

Single-crystalline, one-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures are considered to be one of the critical building blocks for nanoscale optoelectronics1. Elucidation of the vapour–liquid–solid growth mechanism2 has already enabled precise control over nanowire position and size1,3,4,5,6,7,8, yet to date, no reports have demonstrated the ability to choose from different crystallographic growth directions of a nanowire array. Control over the nanowire growth direction is extremely desirable, in that anisotropic parameters such as thermal and electrical conductivity, index of refraction, piezoelectric polarization, and bandgap may be used to tune the physical properties of nanowires made from a given material. Here we demonstrate the use of metal–organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) and appropriate substrate selection to control the crystallographic growth directions of high-density arrays of gallium nitride nanowires with distinct geometric and physical properties. Epitaxial growth of wurtzite gallium nitride on (100) γ-LiAlO2 and (111) MgO single-crystal substrates resulted in the selective growth of nanowires in the orthogonal [110] and [001] directions, exhibiting triangular and hexagonal cross-sections and drastically different optical emission. The MOCVD process is entirely compatible with the current GaN thin-film technology, which would lead to easy scale-up and device integration.
The Retinal Proteome in Experimental Diabetic Retinopathy Up-regulation of Crystallins and Reversal by Systemic and Periocular Insulin

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working age persons. Targeted studies have uncovered several components of the pathophysiology of the disease without unveiling the basic mechanisms. This study describes the use of complementary proteomic and genomic discovery methods that revealed that the proteins of the crystallin superfamily are increased dramatically in early diabetic retinopathy. Orthogonal methods confirmed that the amplitude of the up-regulation is greater than other changes described so far in diabetic retinopathy. A detailed time course study during diabetes showed differential up-regulation of the different isoforms of the crystallins superfamily. α- and β-crystallins were regulated primarily at the translation level, whereas γ-crystallins were also regulated transcriptionally. We also demonstrated cell-specific patterns of expression of the different crystallins in normal and diabetic rat retinas. In addition, systemic and periocular insulin treatments restored retinal crystallin protein expression during diabetes, indicating effects of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt activity. Altogether this work shows the importance of proteomics discovery methods coupled with targeted approaches to unveil new disease mechanistic details and therapeutic targets.
Self-change processes, self-efficacy and self-concept in relapse and maintenance of cessation of smoking.

The study compared 38 maintainers and 24 relapsers who had quit smoking on their own. The results suggest that successful self-changers relied more on inner-directed, experiential processes of change, while the relapsers relied more on environmental change processes. Successful changers experienced markedly higher levels of self-efficacy, while relapsers reported least confidence in coping with situations that evoke negative emotions. The maintainers experience high congruence between their basic self-concepts and their concepts of self as non-smokers. The relapsers see themselves as more anxious, dependent, and helpless in their role as smokers. The results are discussed in terms of how greater reliance on experiential processes of self-change can lead to more successful attempts at cessation of smoking than reliance on environmental processes of change.
Dynamics of Copper Deposition onto Silicon by Galvanic Displacement

Copper was deposited onto silicon rotating-disk electrodes in 3.0 M HF to determine the effects of boundary-layer mass transfer and surface reaction kinetics on Cu deposition rates. For all solution compositions tested ([CuSO 4 ] = 0.0010 - 0.020 M, [HF] = 3.0 M), the Cu deposition rate was proportional to the concentration of Cu 2+ and was under mixed diffusion and surface kinetic control. HF was used to dissolve oxidized Si, and a stoichiometry of one Cu atom deposited for each Si atom that is oxidized and dissolved was deduced from a combination of UV-visible spectroscopy and mass change experiments. These results indicate that Si dissolves as Si 2+ , not Si 4+ , as is commonly assumed for galvanic displacement. Mixed-potential theory was used to further analyze the reaction mechanism, and deposition rates and open-circuit potential values predicted from this method agreed well with experimental results during the initial stages of Cu deposition. Deposition rates decreased abruptly when film thicknesses exceeded 150 nm, and optical microscopy revealed buckling in these Cu films. This buckling occurred in response to compressive stresses in the films and decreased deposition rates by partially detaching Cu films from the Si substrate.
The Abscisic Acid Content of Citrus with Special Reference to Lemon

Free and conjugated abscisic acid (ABA) in the fruit peel of four species of citrus and their distribution in the various reproductive organs of Citrus limon L. cv. Eureka during ontogeny were determined by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The different citrus species varied in free ABA (3-8 ^g g"1 dry wt.) and conjugated ABA (10-39 ixg g"1 dry wt.). In general, the amount of conjugated ABA was 4-fold that of free ABA. In the lemon flower, the combined style and stigma tissues contained the predominant (>65%) amount of both free and conjugated ABA. During fruit development, free and conjugated ABA of the different tissues showed dynamic changes. In the vesicles, free ABA showed progressive increases with development and reached a high level at maturity whereas the conjugated ABA showed a corresponding decrease with fruit development. Free ABA in the seed increased with fruit development. The content of ABA in citrus fruit was significantly correlated (y = 8 06+ 2-81 In x; r2 = 0-84**) with the weight of the fruit.
Robust PCA based extended target estimation with interference mitigation

A novel approach based on robust principal component analysis (PCA) is proposed in this paper to perform extended target estimation with interference mitigation and learning. Robust PCA can accurately recover the low rank matrix and the sparse matrix from their summation. The data from the estimated target constitutes the low rank matrix while the interference signal contributes to the sparse matrix. From the preliminary results, even with arbitrarily large interference signal, the impulse response or the transfer function of the extended target can be estimated. Thus, the proposed approach can be widely used for anti-interference task in the radar society.
A distributed algorithm using interference pricing for relay interference channels

Relays in cellular systems are sensitive to interference. A good relay design will transmit in a way that avoids excess out-of-cell interference. This article proposes a two-step algorithm for relay design for the relay interference channel, which models a relay-based cellular system. The transmitters and relays are equipped with multiple antennas while the receivers are equipped with a single antenna. In the first step, we propose to apply existing single-hop strategies to design the transmission parameters of the transmitters. In the second step, we propose to modify the interference pricing approach to design the relays. Interference pricing is used to provide the relays with information on how interference impacts the end-to-end achievable rates. A new method is proposed to compute interference prices via an approximation of the end-to-end achievable rate to integrate information about the relationship of the parameters in the two hops to alleviate mismatch between the rates on two hops experienced by the direct application of prior algorithms, which are designed specifically for the single-hop interference channel. Simulations show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the other designs, including the naive approach of applying the single-hop interference pricing strategies on two hops.
Which outcome measures in SLE clinical trials best reflect medical judgment

Objectives To compare two measures of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) response: the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG)-based Composite Lupus Assessment (BICLA) and the Systemic Lupus Responder Index (SRI) against a clinician9s assessment of improvement. Methods Ninety-one lupus patients were identified with two visits at which Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and BILAG had been scored and with active disease (SLEDAI≥6) at the first visit. A physician rated the disease activity at the second visit as clinically significant improvement, no change or worsening. SRI and BICLA were scored both with and without the medication criteria often used in trials to restrict response definitions. Results 68 patients were considered improved, 17 same and 6 worse at follow-up. SRI versus BICLA, performed without considering medication changes, captured physician-rated improvement with 85% vs 76% sensitivity and 74% vs 78% specificity. With medication limits both instruments had 37% sensitivity and 96% specificity for physician-assessed improvement. Seven patients considered improved by the clinician met the BICLA but not the SRI definition of improvement by failing to achieve a four-point improvement in SLEDAI. 13 clinician-rated responders met SRI but not BICLA by improving in less than all organs. Conclusions Shortfalls of SRI and BICLA may be due to BICLA only requiring partial improvement but in all organs versus SRI requiring full improvement in some manifestation(s) and not all organs. SRI and BICLA with medication restrictions are less likely to denote response when the physician disagrees and could provide stringent proof of efficacy in appropriately powered clinical trials.
Simplification by Cooperating Decision Procedures

A method for combining decision procedures for several theories into a single decision procedure for their combination is described, and a simplifier based on this method is discussed. The simplifier finds a normal form for any expression formed from individual variables, the usual Boolean connectives, the equality predicate =, the conditional function if-then-else, the integers, the arithmetic functions and predicates +, -, and ≤, the Lisp functions and predicates car, cdr, cons, and atom, the functions store and select for storing into and selecting from arrays, and uninterpreted function symbols. If the expression is a theorem it is simplified to the constant true, so the simplifier can be used as a decision procedure for the quantifier-free theory containing these functions and predicates. The simplifier is currently used in the Stanford Pascal Verifier.
The impact of exploiting instruction-level parallelism on shared-memory multiprocessors

Current microprocessors incorporate techniques to aggressively exploit instruction-level parallelism (ILP). This paper evaluates the impact of such processors on the performance of shared-memory multiprocessors, both without and with the latency-hiding optimization of software prefetching. Our results show that, while ILP techniques substantially reduce CPU time in multiprocessors, they are less effective in removing memory stall time. Consequently, despite the inherent latency tolerance features of ILP processors, we find memory system performance to be a larger bottleneck and parallel efficiencies to be generally poorer in ILP-based multiprocessors than in previous generation multiprocessors. The main reasons for these deficiencies are insufficient opportunities in the applications to overlap multiple load misses and increased contention for resources in the system. We also find that software prefetching does not change the memory bound nature of most of our applications on our ILP multiprocessor, mainly due to a large number of late prefetches and resource contention. Our results suggest the need for additional latency hiding or reducing techniques for ILP systems, such as software clustering of load misses and producer-initiated communication.
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Antiangiogenic Therapy: What Can Be Expected of Bevacizumab?

There is an urgent need for new therapies to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as progress with current chemotherapy regimens has been limited. The roles of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in promoting tumor angiogenesis, maintaining existing vasculature, and contributing to resistance to traditional therapies, together with its negative prognostic significance in NSCLC, make it an appropriate target for therapy. Bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA), a monoclonal antibody directed against VEGF, has shown promise in treating a number of different cancers. In a recent phase II trial in patients with advanced metastatic NSCLC, the addition of bevacizumab to standard carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy produced a significantly longer time to progression (32.1 versus 18.4 weeks) and greater response rate (31% versus 19% [not significant]) than chemotherapy alone. In the subset of patients with nonsquamous histologies, response rates and survival were further enhanced, with a mean survival time of 17.9 months versus 12.3 months with chemotherapy alone. Bevacizumab was generally well tolerated and did not appear to increase the incidences or severities of the nausea/vomiting, neuropathy, and renal toxicity that are typically associated with carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy. Adverse events in phase I and II studies included hypertension, thrombosis, proteinuria (with occasional nephrotic syndrome), and epistaxis. Serious tumor-related bleeding episodes (hemoptysis/hematemesis) appear to be the main safety concern in patients with NSCLC, with squamous cell histology as a possible risk factor. Further work is needed to identify the best way to use bevacizumab in NSCLC, including use in combination with other biologic agents and in the adjuvant setting.
The Impact of Disease in the American White Pelican in North America

Abstract Records of reported die-offs of the American White Pelican (Pelicanus erythrorhynchos) held by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center from 1978 through 2003 indicate that type C botulism (caused by Clostridium botulinum) was the major cause of mortality. In 1996, over 15,000 birds, including 8,500 American White Pelicans, were estimated to have died from type C botulism at the Salton Sea in California. This was the largest documented die-off of any pelican species and was estimated to represent 15-20% of the western metapopulation. This event was also notable in that it was the first time that fish, specifically Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), were implicated as the source of type C botulinum toxin for birds. Type C botulism has recurred in both North American species of pelicans at the Salton Sea every year since, although the magnitude of mortality is much lower. West Nile virus caused mortality in both adult and immature American White Pelicans, but may have a more signi...
Valleytronics: Could use a break

Electric fields can controllably break the inversion symmetry of bilayer graphene, which can be harnessed to generate pure valley currents.
Toward Effective Water Pipe Tobacco Control Policy in the United States: Synthesis of Federal, State, and Local Policy Texts

Abstract Purpose. Water pipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is growing in popularity among U.S. young adults and is associated with health risks similar to those of cigarette smoking. The purpose of this study is to examine existing tobacco control policies (TCPs) in order to investigate how they engage WTS. Approach. A systematic synthesis of content and legal interactions among federal, state, and local TCP documents. Setting. Pennsylvania, which represents a politically and demographically diverse microcosm of the United States. Participants. No human subjects. Method. Federal and state TCPs were retrieved via public legal repositories. Local policy searches were conducted via county/municipal Web sites, inclusive of 13 localities that had autonomous health departments or existing TCPs based on a National Cancer Institute report. Full-text TCPs were double coded within a grounded theory framework for health policy analysis. Emergent codes were used to compare and contrast policy texts and to examine legal inter...
Exploration of the effects of classroom humidity levels on teachers’ respiratory symptoms

Previous studies indicate that teachers have higher asthma prevalence than other non-industrial worker groups. Schools frequently have trouble maintaining indoor relative humidity (RH) within the optimum range (30–50 %) for reducing allergens and irritants. However, the potential relationship between classroom humidity and teachers’ health has not been explored. Thus, we examined the relationship between classroom humidity levels and respiratory symptoms among North Carolina teachers. Teachers (n = 122) recorded daily symptoms, while data-logging hygrometers recorded classroom RH levels in ten North Carolina schools. We examined effects of indoor humidity on occurrence of symptoms using modified Poisson regression models for correlated binary data. The risk of asthma-like symptoms among teachers with classroom RH >50 % for 5 days was 1.27 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 0.81, 2.00) times the risk among the referent (teachers with classroom RH 30–50 %). The risk of cold/allergy symptoms among teachers with classroom RH >50 % for 5 days was 1.06 (95 % CI 0.82, 1.37) times the risk among the referent. Low RH (<30 %) for 5 days was associated with increased risk of asthma-like [risk ratio (RR) = 1.26 (95 % CI 0.73, 2.17)] and cold/allergy symptoms [RR = 1.11 (95 % CI 0.90, 1.37)]. Our findings suggest that prolonged exposure to high or low classroom RH was associated with modest (but not statistically significant) increases in the risk of respiratory symptoms among teachers.
Regenerative, AlI-or-None, Electrographic Seizures in the Rat Hippocampal Slice in Physiological Magnesium Medium

Previous studies have shown that electrographic seizures (EGSs) can occur spontaneously for several hours in the hippocampal slice in Mg-free medium containing the GABAb agonist baclofen. We report here that similar all-or-none EGSs could be triggered in physiological Mg medium (with or without baclofen) if the EGSs were induced by several stimulus trains, and sometimes transiently exposed to Mg-free medium.
Model comparison for transatlantic ocean glider flight: Student analysis of modern circumnavigation

Oceanic forecast models are imperative to understand the Earth's ocean. Current oceanic forecasts assimilate satellite sea surface height and temperature data along with temperature and salinity profiles from Argo networks of over 3000 drifters. Even though assimilation of these datasets are reliable, they have limitations because areas that provide critical data to ocean forecast models are often under sampled. Autonomous Underwater Gliders (AUGs) can be used as a solution to reduce under sampled regions of the ocean. Over the last decade, AUGs have successfully been used to carry out regional deployments to conduct scientific expeditions throughout the Earth's Ocean. Through the Challenger Glider Mission, coordinated flights covering 128,000 kilometers are planned around the five ocean basins. A range of international institutions and agencies can participate in the mission using interactive tools developed by the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and the education outreach tools of the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI). These interactive tools are programmed to display real time glider data with interactive browser-based access, enabling student participation in global ocean exploration and predictive skill experiments. During the summer of 2015, student research teams participated in the second leg of the South Atlantic Challenger Glider Mission (named RU29). The aim is to show the usefulness of RU29's in situ datasets in ocean forecasting by comparing salinity, temperature, and sea surface current observations to the predictive readings of ocean models (RTOFS, MyOcean) and data generated by the Argo Float program. The students' involvement contributes to the assessment of current scientific and oceanographic models, courtesy of the Challenger Glider Mission.
A Reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin Method Based on a Gas Kinetic Scheme for Compressible Flows on Arbitrary Grids

A reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin (RDG) Method based on a newly developed gas-kinetic scheme is presented for the solution of the compressible Euler and NavierStokes equations on arbitrary grids. The idea behind this approach is to combine the robustness of the gas-kinetic scheme with the accuracy of the DG methods in an effort to develop a more accurate, efficient, and robust method for numerical simulations of compressible flows in a wide range of flow regimes. Unlike the traditional discontinuous Galerkin methods, where a Local Discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) formulation is usually used to discretize the viscous fluxes in the Navier-Stokes equations, our RDG method computes the fluxes based on the time evolution of the Navier-Stokes gas distribution function, which includes the contribution of both convective and dissipative terms. The developed method is used to compute a variety of viscous flow problems on arbitrary grids. The numerical results obtained by this RDG method are extremely promising and encouraging in terms of both accuracy and robustness, indicating its ability and potential to become not just a competitive but simply a superior approach than the current available numerical methods.
A synthetic receptor for asymmetric dimethyl arginine.

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry was utilized to identify a novel small molecule receptor, A2D, for asymmetric dimethyl arginine (aRMe2), which is a post-translational modification (PTM) in proteins. It is known to play a role in a number of diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy, leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer. The receptor exhibits 2.5–7.5-fold selectivity over the isomeric symmetric dimethyl arginine, depending on the surrounding sequence, with binding affinities in the low micromolar range. The affinity and selectivity of A2D for the different methylated states of Arg parallels that of proteins that bind to these PTMs. Characterization of the receptor–PTM complex indicates that cation−π interactions provide the main driving force for binding, loosely mimicking the binding mode found in the recognition of dimethyl arginine by native protein receptors.
Reaction of the Rat Omentum to Injections of Particulate Matter

Summary and ConclusionsThe rat omentum, following the injection of particulate matter of various types, undergoes hypertrophy due to accumulation of histiocytes which are transformed into macrophages. The macrophages collect just beneath the surface and phagocytose the material which enters through and between the mesothelial cells. Secondary collections of macrophages appear about the smaller blood vessels and take up the particles which have traversed the vascular walls. The taches laiteuses increase in size and produce numerous macrophages.With the advent of phagocytic activity the Golgi net increases in size and undergoes fragmentation. The fragments become associated with the ingested granules and apparently aid in bringing about their coalescence into masses which are stored by the cells. The changes found in the Golgi material never occur in cells which do not collect and store particulate matter.
Bifurcation and Control of Cardiac Alternans

Cardiac alternans is a marker of sudden cardiac arrest, the leading cause of death in the United States that kills hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. In the language of nonlinear dynamics, the onset of cardiac alternans is induced by a period-doubling bifurcation. In this work, we explore the bifurcation and control of cardiac alternans in a fiber based on numerical analyses of the seminal amplitude equation derived by Echebarria and Karma. First, we seek the solution of the amplitude equation using a series expansion. Then, detailed numerical bifurcation analyses are carried out to illustrate the spatiotemporal patterns of cardiac alternans. We demonstrate that secondary bifurcations lead to multiple unstable patterns, which impose difficulties in feedback control of alternans. Effects and limitations of feedback control algorithms are explored. The theoretical analyses here help to improve the understanding of the mechanisms of alternans in cardiac tissue.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Expanding the ATRP Toolbox: Methacrylate Polymerization with an Elemental Silver Reducing Agent

The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methacrylates using Ag0 as a reducing agent was carried out. Optimized reaction conditions enabled the controlled preparation of polymethacrylates using elemental silver and a CuBr2/PMDETA catalyst, with polymer dispersity values down to Đ = 1.06. In these reactions, the formation of AgBr was observed as a dark coating on the surface of the silver wire; however, the AgBr coating had minimal effect on polymerization, and the same silver wire could be used in several consecutive reactions without elaborate cleaning. Different polymethacrylates were prepared with good control, and a poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(benzyl methacrylate)-b-poly(ethyl methacrylate)-Br triblock copolymer was prepared with a molecular weight of 32 200 and a dispersity of Đ = 1.07. Additionally, it was shown that silver can act as a supplemental activator in the generation of radicals from ethyl α-bromophenylacetate, with a rate constant of surface activation of ka0app = 9.1 × 10–...
Exploring sexual health among young Black men who have sex with men in New York City

Young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) account for approximately 10% of the total HIV infection in the United States but represent <1% of the population. Few interventions exist that address their unique needs, and those that do adopt a narrow, risk-based framework for prevention. Qualitative data from the Brothers Connect Study were analyzed to explore how a Sexual Health Model (SHM) developed by Robinson et al. (The sexual health model: application of a sexological approach to HIV prevention. Health Educ Res 2002; 17:43-57) could be used as a framework for HIV prevention in YBMSM. Content analysis identified five key themes within SHM: (i) race/ethnicity, including the cultural diversity and unique challenges of YBMSM; (ii) disclosure, as the ongoing process of self-identification rather than a single instance of 'coming out'; (iii) sex, in terms of practices, behaviors and health; (iv) daily challenges, microaggressions and acute instances of discrimination; and (v) the self, resilience and identity. Technology represents a new component for the SHM that may be relevant to YBMSM. YBMSM are in need of comprehensive sexual health programs that go beyond typical HIV frameworks. A tailored SHM could be used for identifying and addressing the specific sexual health needs of YBMSM in research and intervention.
Progress in the adhesive for PE

This paper reviewed the progress in the adhesive for polyethylene and analyzed the reasons of hard adhesive to polyethylene. We put the emphases on the discussion of the adhesive, such as modified acrylic adhesive, PU adhesive, SBS adhesive, pressure-sensitive adhesive, modified EVA adhesive, chlorinated polypropylene adhesive and other adhesives used for PE. We also analyzed the actuality of the adhesive for PE and the direction in future.
Functional Effects of Fetal Malnutrition

Studies around the world are demonstrating that low-birthweight children are significantly overrepresented among the mentally subnormal later in life and also that children from areas where malnutrition is endemic perform less well on tests of intellectual capacity than those more auspiciously circumstanced. Given the corresponding malnutrition of their mothers, the question becomes: Can the vicious circle be broken?