cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the spin exchange interactions of ferromagnetic CdVO3 in terms of first principles and qualitative electronic structure calculations

Abstract First principles spin-polarized electronic band structure calculations were carried out for three ordered spin states of CdVO 3 , and the strengths of its corner- and edge-sharing spin exchange interactions were estimated. To gain insight into why CdVO 3 exhibits ferromagnetism while CaV 2 O 5 does not despite their apparent structural similarity, the spin exchange interactions of CdVO 3 and CaV 2 O 5 were compared in terms of spin dimer analysis using extended Huckel tight binding calculations, and the local geometries of their V 4+ ions were examined.
Intrinsic and artifactual pH buffering in chloroplast thylakoids

Abstract After an increase in pH of the suspension medium, a pH gradient across the membrane of chloroplast thylakoids stored at pH ⩾ 6.5 is often maintained for several minutes. The intrinsic hydrogen ion buffering capacity of the thylakoid membranes between pH 6.5 and 8.5 is about 40 neq/mg chlorophyll, but can be artificially inflated by penetration of the external buffer into the thylakoid vesicle. A ΔpH imposed across the thylakoid membrane by an acid/base transition cannot be estimated accurately by the fluorescent probe 9-aminoacridine, especially with osmotically shrunken thylakoids in which 9-aminoacridine appears to become bound or adsorbed to the membrane. This interaction may be related to the existence of the previously demonstrated special pool of slowly equilibrating, “sequestered” protons.
Cortical Bone Mineral Density in Patients with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency

BACKGROUND Prior studies reveal that bone mineral density (BMD) in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is mostly in the osteopaenic range and is associated with lifetime glucocorticoid dose. The forearm, a measure of cortical bone density, has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate BMD at various sites, including the forearm, and the factors associated with low BMD in CAH patients. METHODS Eighty CAH adults (47 classic, 33 nonclassic) underwent dual-energy-x-ray absorptiometry and laboratory and clinical evaluation. BMD Z-scores at the AP spine, total hip, femoral neck, forearm and whole body were examined in relation to phenotype, body mass index, current glucocorticoid dose, average 5-year glucocorticoid dose, vitamin D, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS). RESULTS Reduced BMD (T-score <-1 at hip, spine, or forearm) was present in 52% and was more common in classic than nonclassic patients (P = 0·005), with the greatest difference observed at the forearm (P = 0·01). Patients with classic compared to nonclassic CAH, had higher 17-hydroxyprogesterone (P = 0·005), lower DHEAS (P = 0·0002) and higher non-traumatic fracture rate (P = 0·0005). In a multivariate analysis after adjusting for age, gender, height standard deviation, phenotype and cumulative glucocorticoid exposure, higher DHEAS was independently associated with higher BMD at the spine, radius and whole body. CONCLUSION Classic CAH patients have lower BMD than nonclassic patients, with the most affected area being the forearm. This first study of forearm BMD in CAH patients suggests that low DHEAS may be associated with weak cortical bone independent of glucocorticoid exposure.
Helium-uranium dating of corals from Middle Pleistocene Barbados reef tracts

Abstract By He-U dating of corals from elevated Pleistocene reef tracts on Barbados, we have extended back to the Middle Pleistocene the high sea stand chronology previously deduced by Th 230 -U dating. Six samples from the first major reef tract complex older than the 200,000-yr complex gave ages of 350,000 ± 25,000 yr B.P. Two corals from the crest of Second High Cliff, an unusually large escarpment occurring approximately midway in the terrace sequence, gave concordant ages of 480,000 and 500,000 yr. Unrecrystallized corals from older reefs gave ages ranging back to 650,000 yr. The results date episodes of high sea stands at 350,000 and 500,000 yr B.P.
Academic differences among male and female candidates applying for obstetrics and gynecology residency: the experience of one program.

Objective The purpose of this study was to identify academic differences between male and female candidates applying to our obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) residency. Methods We reviewed the Electronic Residency Application Service applications of candidates applying to our residency program from 2005 to 2009. Academic qualifications of male and female candidates were compared using the Fisher exact and Student t tests. Results Of 2263 applicants, 1710 (75.6%) were women. Compared with male candidates, female candidates in the United States were more likely to have earned honors in OBGYN (51.3% vs 41.2%, p = 0.02) and internal medicine clerkships (27.6% vs 19.1%, p = 0.03). There was a nonsignificant trend toward more female membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha. There were no differences in United States Medical Licensing Exam scores based on gender. Conclusions Although no difference in United States Medical Licensing Exam scores were observed, female applicants performed better in select clerkships during medical school than their male counterparts. This difference in clerkship grades may contribute to the low proportion of male residents in OBGYN, although the overall low proportion of male applicants is likely an important factor as well.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies

Barring few exceptions, allied health professionals, engineers, manufacturers of assistive technologies (ATs), and consumer product manufacturers have developed few technologies for individuals with cognitive impairments (CIs). In 2004, the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) recognized the need to support research in this emergent field. They funded the first Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies (RERC-ACT). The RERC-ACT has since designed and evaluated existing and emerging technologies through rigorous research, improving upon existing AT devices, and creating new technologies for individuals with CIs. The RERC-ACT has contributed to the development and testing of AT products that assist persons with CIs to actively engage in tasks of daily living at home, school, work, and in the community. This article highlights the RERC-ACT's engineering development and research projects and discusses how current research may impact the quality of life for an aging population.
Variation in maturity-at-age and size in three populations of American plaice

American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) is a flatfish species that has a wide distribution throughout the North Atlantic. Variability in age and size at maturity was examined for cohorts of American plaice from the early 1960s to early 1990s for the three main stocks off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Large changes in age and size at maturity have occurred among cohorts since the 1960s, with males and females of all three stocks maturing at an earlier age and smaller size in the latter part of the time period. Maturation was most closely related to total population abundance over the life of a cohort, with cohorts maturing at an earlier age and smaller size when population size was low. Cohorts which experienced higher temperatures appeared to mature earlier and smaller as did cohorts which experienced increased juvenile growth and increased adult mortality.
Policy and Management Hazards along the Upper Texas Coast

Coastlines are some of the most populated and rapidly expanding areas of the United States. Here, people seek employment, build residences and facilitate urban growth. However, most people do not fully realize all of the risks associated with living along a coast. Relative sea-level rise, erosion, and severe storms continuously alter the landscape. Anthropogenic interventions designed to slow these natural processes often foster decline at a greater rate. Building residences and other permanent structures further exacerbates the problem. Along the Upper Texas coast, public policy intended to protect and make life more viable is actually creating “moral hazards” and escalating the financial burdens on government. This article identifies several public policies at the local, state and federal levels of government that are working at cross purposes by allowing risky investment decisions that put people’s livelihoods in jeopardy. The authors conclude that a different, more sustainable set of policy options is required and offer several recommendations for consideration.
Resource Allocation Policies for Personalization in Content Delivery Sites

One of the distinctive features of sites on the Internet is their ability to gather enormous amounts of information about their visitors and to use this information to enhance a visitor's experience by providing personalized information or recommendations. In providing personalized services, a website is typically faced with the following trade-off: When serving a visitor's request, it can deliver an optimally personalized version of the content to the visitor, possibly with a long delay because of the computational effort needed, or it can deliver a suboptimal version of the content more quickly. This problem becomes more complex when several requests are waiting for information from a server. The website then needs to trade off the benefit from providing more personalized content to each user with the negative externalities associated with higher waiting costs for all other visitors that have requests pending. We examine several deterministic resource allocation policies in such personalization contexts. We identify an optimal policy for the above problem when requests to be scheduled are batched, and show that the policy can be very efficiently implemented in practice. We provide an experimental approach to determine optimal batch lengths, and demonstrate that it performs favorably when compared with viable queueing approaches.
Girls' Education: The Power of Policy Discourse.

Girls’ education has been a focus of international development policy for several decades. The discursive framing of international organizations’ policy initiatives relating to girls’ education, however, limits the potential for discussing complex gender issues that affect the possibilities for gender equity. Because discourse shapes our understanding of reality, the emphases and omissions of policy language can affect our understanding of complex issues such as the challenges of girls’ education in international development. Using feminist critical policy discourse analysis, this study analyzes 300 policy documents, published between 1995 and 2008, that represent the ‘public face’ of 14 organizations active in the field of international development education. We examine three types of discursive arguments given in the documents for educating girls: justice arguments, utility arguments, and empowerment arguments. We show that the robustness of ‘gender’, and related concepts such as equity and equality as ...
Female Offspring of Alcoholic Individuals: Recent Findings on Alcoholism and Psychopathology Risks: Symposium Presented at the Research Society on Alcoholism, 2004, Vancouver Aruna Gogineni, Chair

IN THE PAST decade, significant advances have been made in understanding how genetic and environmental factors contribute to alcoholism and other psychopathology among children of alcoholic individuals. Potential biopsychosocial markers of risk (e.g., low level of response to alcohol, behavioral undercontrol, and family functioning variables) have been identified and indicate that both individual and environmental variables are highly relevant. Despite these advances, studies have predominantly focused on examining outcomes among sons of alcoholic individuals, with the consequence that relatively little is known about the risk for alcoholism and other psychopathology among daughters. Effective prevention and treatment strategies are predicated upon further knowledge of these risks among daughters as well as sons. This symposium will present recent findings using family, prospective, and cross-sectional research to elucidate the biopsychosocial correlates and the moderators of risk for alcoholism and other psychopathology among daughters from developmental trajectories spanning the periods of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This symposium begins with a presentation by John Kramer in which high-risk daughters’ and sons’ alcohol and drug involvement are compared with respect to their predictors, drawn from demographic, familial, and personal domains. Next, Serena King focuses on the correlates of disinhibited behavior in males and females from adoptive and biological families, with an emphasis on parental alcoholism, genetic versus environmental influences, and differences between genders. This talk is followed by a presentation by Kristina Jackson, who examines the predictors of alcohol use disorders among young adults from high-risk and control families, including such factors as family history, negative affect, behavioral undercontrol, and childhood stressors. Finally, Aruna Gogineni addresses the familial predictors of adult daughters’ alcohol problems and depression, focusing on the effects of maternal versus paternal alcoholism as well as family density of pathology.
A Multi-Camera System for Real-Time Pose Estimation

This paper presents a multi-camera system that performs face detection and pose estimation in real-time and may be used for intelligent computing within a visual sensor network for surveillance or humancomputer interaction. The system consists of a Scene View Camera (SVC), which operates at a fixed zoom level, and an Object View Camera (OVC), which continuously adjusts its zoom level to match objects of interest. The SVC is set to survey the whole filed of view. Once a region has been identified by the SVC as a potential object of interest, e.g. a face, the OVC zooms in to locate specific features. In this system, face candidate regions are selected based on skin color and face detection is accomplished using a Support Vector Machine classifier. The locations of the eyes and mouth are detected inside the face region using neural network feature detectors. Pose estimation is performed based on a geometrical model, where the head is modeled as a spherical object that rotates upon the vertical axis. The triangle formed by the mouth and eyes defines a vertical plane that intersects the head sphere. By projecting the eyes-mouth triangle onto a two dimensional viewing plane, equations were obtained that describe the change in its angles as the yaw pose angle increases. These equations are then combined and used for efficient pose estimation. The system achieves real-time performance for live video input. Testing results assessing system performance are presented for both still images and video.
Simple system for controlling dissolved oxygen concentration in laboratory fermentors

A simple system for the control of oxygen transfer in laboratory fermentation units has been devised. This system employs pure oxygen to elevate the driving force for oxygen transfer. In addition, the aeration is controlled in a closed loop manner in order to minimize total exit flow of the gas from the fermentor. Fermentation study using Bacillus stearothermophilus grown on n-dodecane at 55°C illustrates excellent carbon recovery as well as the ease of controlling oxygen transfer.
Age of menarche in Oaxaca, Mexico, schoolgirls, with comparative data for other areas of Mexico

SummaryStatus quo menarcheal information was collected for a mixed urban colonia and rural sample of 315 girls in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Comparative status quo data for girls from four major urban centres in Mexico and for a rural sample were also analysed. Median age at menarche (estimated by probit analysis) for Oaxaca girls was 14·27±0·20 years, about 0·5 year later than that for the rural sample from Tampico-Altamira, Tamaulipas (13·79±0·20 years), and approximately 1·5 years later than that for girls from the four urban centres in Mexico (12·55±0·10, 12·61±0·08, 12·75±0·10, 12·76±0·07 years). The timing of menarche in Oaxaca girls is similar to that for rural Mayans in Guatemala. Ages at menarche for urban Mexican girls are somewhat lower than those for girls of North-west European ancestry and of North American girls of European ancestry.
Assessing outcomes of a gerontology certificate program

A follow‐up study of alumni of a gerontology certificate program was designed to answer the following questions: (1) What were the outcomes for alumni, and were successful graduates differentiable by characteristics distinguishing them at entry into the program? (2) What were the subjective expectations of the alumni and do they perceive that the outcomes have met their expectations? (3) If the data indicate that outcomes are attributed to the program, by what means does it transform the student? Through skills and knowledge conveyed, links with employers, or the credential conferred? (4) Do curricular changes make a difference in influencing the process elucidated above? The results indicate that a substantial minority of graduates never worked in the field of aging, while a majority was not recently working in the field. Neither age, gender, degree held, prior work experience, previous educational experience, nor matriculation in a concurrent degree program differentiated those who eventually entered th...
The Emergence of Color Cognition from Color Perception

Reporting isomorphism between the perception and cognition of color, this article speculates upon how the two might interrelate and how that relation might be constrained. A pilot study of color perception revealed differences in the perception of color by sex and by eye color of subject. In the present study, we examine results of a triadic sorting task of color terms, finding that for the nine most salient terms in the subjects' color cognitions, the sortings of men and women varied significantly along two of the meaning dimensions revealed in the perceptual experiment. Differences were also found in the cognitions of blue-eyed and brown-eyed persons for the same nine terms. We argue that the cognition of color may be governed by two kinds of constraint: one that limits the level of abstractness the perceptual forms can evince, and one (based on connectedness) that governs the mapping of perceptual structures into their cognitive expressions in any language and culture.
Carbon footprint and ammonia emissions of California beef production systems

Beef production is a recognized source of greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH 3 ) emis- sions; however, little information exists on the net emissions from beef production systems. A partial life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using the Inte- grated Farm System Model (IFSM) to estimate GHG and NH 3 emissions from representative beef production systems in California. The IFSM is a process-level farm model that simulates crop growth, feed production and use, animal growth, and the return of manure nutrients back to the land to predict the environmental impacts and economics of production systems. Ammonia emis- sions are determined by summing the emissions from animal housing facilities, manure storage, fi eld applied manure, and direct deposits of manure on pasture and rangeland. All important sources and sinks of methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide are predicted from pri- mary and secondary emission sources. Primary sources include enteric fermentation, manure, cropland used in feed production, and fuel combustion. Secondary emis- sions occur during the production of resources used on the farm, which include fuel, electricity, machinery, fer- tilizer, and purchased animals. The carbon footprint is the net exchange of all GHG in carbon dioxide equiva- lent (CO 2 e) units per kg of HCW produced. Simulated beef production systems included cow-calf, stocker, and feedlot phases for the traditional British beef breeds and calf ranch and feedlot phases for Holstein steers. An evaluation of differing production management strate- gies resulted in ammonia emissions ranging from 98 ± 13 to 141 ± 27 g/kg HCW and carbon footprints of 10.7 ± 1.4 to 22.6 ± 2.0 kg CO 2 e/kg HCW. Within the British beef production cycle, the cow-calf phase was respon- sible for 69 to 72% of total GHG emissions with 17 to 27% from feedlot sources. Holstein steers that entered the beef production system as a by-product of dairy production had the lowest carbon footprint because the emissions associated with their mothers were primarily attributed to milk rather than meat production. For the Holstein system, the feedlot phase was responsible for 91% of the total GHG emission, while the calf-ranch phase was responsible for 7% with the remaining 2% from transportation. This simulation study provides baseline emissions data for California beef production systems and indicates where mitigation strategies can be most effective in reducing emissions.
Research on Conflict Theory: Analytic Approaches and Areas of Application

Research on conflict theory, that is, studies of conflict or war using formal reasoning or mathematical approaches, is cross-classified by eight analytic approaches and eight areas of application. ...
Purification of a pyrogen‐free human growth hormone antagonist

Human growth hormone (hGH) is a polypeptide with 191 amino acids and a molecular mass of 22 kilodaltons. With the aid of computer molecular simulation, an hGH analog was created by altering an hGH gene to reflect the change of one amino acid (glycine [G] 120 to arginine [R]) within the third alpha-helix of the hGH molecule. This hGH analog, named hGHG120R, was found to be an hGH antagonist. It may have important implications in treating human conditions in which hGH levels are abnormally high, as found in type I diabetics. Several hundred milligrams of purified hGHG120R were needed to determine the biological activity of the antagonist in animal models. A multistep downstream process was developed to purify hGHG120R from cultured mouse L cells transfected with the hGHG120R gene. The process consisted of cell clarification, salt precipitation, membrane ultrafiltration, reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, phase separation, and lyophiliation. This work discusses the rationale for the design of the process and experimental results on the purification of hGHG120R using the process. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
An automatic micropipette fluid dispenser

An automatic device for repeated dispensation of a precisely controlled amount of fluid is described. The device employs a repeating micropipette powered by an electric motor geared to a rack-and-pinion drive. In our particular application, thirsty rats work for 0.2-ml shots of water delivered to a metal spout connected to a drinkometer circuit. This arrangement permits the recording of both volumetric intake and the number of licks directed at the spout.
Regulation of Insulin, Epidermal Growth Factor, and Transforming Growth Factor-α Levels by Growth Factor-Degrading Enzymes

The mechanisms by which growth factors are degraded and the role this process plays in the regulation of cell growth are not well understood. Insulin degradation is believed to be mediated by a specific metalloprotease, insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE). We have previously shown that IDE can also degrade transforming growth factor-α (TGFα), but not epidermal growth factor (EGF), in vitro. This selectivity was surprising, since TGFα and EGF are structurally similar and bind to the same receptor with comparable affinities. Using a spectrum of protease inhibitors, we have now analyzed the degradation of TGFα, EGF, and insulin by human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The results suggest that bacitracin-sensitive metalloproteases are involved in the degradation of TGFα and EGF as well as insulin, and that the degradation of TGFα, but not EGF, is mediated in part by IDE. Inhibiting the activity of these metalloproteases decreased growth factor depletion, suggesting that these enzymes play an important role in the control of...
Measuring parallel fiber length in the rat cerebellum.

A new approach was devised to obtain the mean length of parallel fibers in Golgi sections of the rat cerebellum. This method was based on the principle that within a given region of the cerebellum the mean length of parallel fibers should be inversely proportional to the likelihood of spotting the ends of parallel fibers. An experimental protocol was designed based on the statistical relationship between the mean fiber length and the number of the ends of parallel fibers for a given total length of parallel fibers examined. Our methodology was simple and could have advantages over other existing methods.
Evolution and biogeography of native Hawaiian Hylaeus bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

The only bees native to the Hawaiian Islands form a single clade of 60 species in the genus Hylaeus. The group is understudied and relatively poorly known. A data set consisting of 1201 base pairs of the mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase I and II and tRNALeucine, and 14 morphological characters was used to construct a phylogenetic tree for 48 of the 60 known species. Genetic variation was high, including amino acid changes, and a number of species showed evidence of heteroplasmy. Tree support was low due to high levels of homoplasy. Biogeographical analysis using DIVA indicates that early radiation took place on the island of Hawaii. This places an upper age limit of only 0.4–0.7 Myr for the group, an unusually short time for such a large radiation. Moreover, it is an unusual biogeographical pattern among the Hawaiian biota. � The Willi Hennig Society 2006.
Generalized electron beam matching in the free-electron laser

Three matching schemes are presented for Gaussian profile electron beams in free-electron lasers (FELs). The three different classes of matching or symmetry conditions are (1) electron beams with separate betatron matching in each plane, (2) those with aspect ratio matching, and (3) cross-matched beams. The new schemes are distinct generalizations of well-known betatron matching and include ribbon profiles. The corresponding effective energy distributions and their Fourier transforms are obtained in analytical form. An analytical kernel produces the key Fredholm integral equation that solves the initial value problem. >
Visualization methods for statistical analysis of microarray clusters.

Background The most common method of identifying groups of functionally related genes in microarray data is to apply a clustering algorithm. However, it is impossible to determine which clustering algorithm is most appropriate to apply, and it is difficult to verify the results of any algorithm due to the lack of a gold-standard. Appropriate data visualization tools can aid this analysis process, but existing visualization methods do not specifically address this issue.
Detection of 'hot spots' in HTS coils and test samples with acoustic emission signals

In this paper we report results of two series of experiments, one performed on a double-pancake coil wound with Bi2223/Ag tape and the other on coated YBCO samples to demonstrate that an acoustic emission (AE) technique is a promising diagnostic tool to detect the presence of a "hot spot" in HTS devices. The AE technique may be used as complement to standard voltage technique to facilitate early detection of the presence of a "hot spot" in HTS devices and thus help to protect the HTS devices from permanent damage.
How do Runaway Adolescents and their Parents Perceive the Family?Measurement Invariance in the Family Functioning Scale

Abstract Exploring perceptual discrepancies and how they affect family life may be particularly relevant when household dynamics have broken down to the point that a child runs away or is forced to leave the home. This study explored the sources of differences between parents’ and youths’ reports of family functioning and, more generally, illustrates how to perform confirmatory factor analysis methods to purge error due to measurement invariance. Basic concepts and methods that are often needed in social work research are described. Creating uni-dimensional and configurable invariant subscales resulted in improved significance for the Conflict subscale over traditional methods. All other subscales remained significantly different between parents and youths at all levels of invariance. Findings highlight the caution required in using any scale to measure the same construct for two different populations, such as parents and children.
The microRNA-200 family: small molecules with novel roles in cancer development, progression and therapy

// Brock Humphries 1, 2 , Chengfeng Yang 1, 2, 3 1 Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA 2 Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA 3 Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA Correspondence to: Chengfeng Yang, e-mail: yangcf@msu.edu Keywords: microRNA, miR-200, cancer initiation, cancer metastasis, cancer therapeutic target Received: November 14, 2014 Accepted: January 06, 2015 Published: January 30, 2015 ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large family of small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate protein-coding gene expression post-transcriptionally via base pairing between the 5′ seed region of a miRNA and the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of a messenger RNA (mRNA). Recent evidence has supported the critical role that miRNAs play in many diseases including cancer. The miR-200 family consisting of 5 members (miR-200a, -200b, -200c, -141, -429) is an emerging miRNA family that has been shown to play crucial roles in cancer initiation and metastasis, and potentially be important for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. While miR-200s were found to be critically involved in the metastatic colonization to the lungs in mouse mammary xenograft tumor models, a large number of studies demonstrated their strong suppressive effects on cell transformation, cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, tumor growth and metastasis. This review aims to discuss research findings about the role of the miR-200 family in cancer initiation, each step of cancer metastatic cascade, cancer diagnosis and treatment. A comprehensive summary of currently validated miR-200 targets is also presented. It is concluded that miR-200 family may serve as novel targets for the therapy of multiple types of cancer.
Compound Relationships between Firms

In this article, the authors introduce the idea of a compound relationship; that is, for many pairs of firms, the overall relationship between the two firms is composed of multiple simple relations...
The metabolism of trifluorothymidine by cells of the rabbit cornea.

Abstract Regenerating corneal epithelial cells and conjunctival cells which repopulate the cornea after removal of the epithelium by scraping were found to phosphorylate trifluorothymidine. Under the conditions of these experiments, 22% of the total thymidine taken up by the epithelial cells was incorporated into DNA while about 3% of the trifluorothymidine taken up was incorporated into DNA. Radioactive thymidine was incorporated into DNA at 1·01±0·2 pmol/hr/μgDNA under the conditions reported here while trifluorothymidine was incorporated at about 0·4 pmol/hr/μgDNA. Thymidine was incorporated into acid soluble fractions of the regenerating cells at 3·6±0·2 pmol/hr/μgDNA. Chromatographic analysis identified 31·8±3·9% of the acid soluble radioactivity as thymidine, 0·3±0·2% as thymidine 5′-monophosphate and 68·6±4·8% as thymidine 5′-triphosphate. Trifluorothymidine was taken up at about 1·2 pmol/hr/μgDNA. Acid soluble fractions contained 12·8±6·5% trifluorothymidine, 20·6±2·0% trifluorothymidine 5′-monophosphate and 66·1±3·1% trifluorothymidine 5′-triphosphate. Uridine was incorporated into the acid soluble nucleotide pools of regenerating corneal cells at a rate of 4·7±0·7 pmol/hr/μgDNA. Uridine-5′-triphosphate comprised 47·6±2.6% of the radioactive uridine pool; less than 1·2% of the total uridine taken up was isolated in DNA fractions. The data clearly indicate that corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells which are not infected with herpes virus can anabolise trifluorothymidine. This anabolism establishes a mechanism by which trifluorothymidine can elicit cytotoxicity.
L∞ Voronoi Diagrams and Applications to VLSI Layout and Manufacturing

In this paper we address the L ∞ Voronoi diagram of polygonal objects and present applications in VLSI layout and manufacturing. We show that in L ∞ the Voronoi diagram of segments consists only of straight line segments and is thus much simpler to compute than its Euclidean counterpart. Moreover, it has a natural interpretation. In applications where Euclidean precision is not particularly important the L ∞ Voronoi diagram can provide a better alternative. Using the L ∞ Voronoi diagram of polygons we address the problem of calculating the critical area for shorts in a VLSI layout. The critical area computation is the main computational problem in VLSI yield prediction.
Improvement in the Reflux Symptom Index Following Surgery for Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction

Summary Objectives Gastroesophageal reflux may contribute to the development of cricopharyngeal dysfunction and Zenker's diverticulum. Common dictum suggests that if upper esophageal sphincter tone is reduced through cricopharyngeal myotomy, symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux may worsen. We hypothesized that patients who undergo myotomy should show decreased dysphagia symptoms with concurrent worsening of reflux symptomatology and that these changes would be greater in those patients undergoing complete versus partial myotomy. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed for patients who underwent endoscopic or open cricopharyngeal myotomy, with or without Zenker's diverticulectomy. Preoperative and postoperative reflux symptomatology was subjectively measured with the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), and dysphagia symptomatology was measured with the Eating Assessment Tool 10 (EAT-10). Patients who underwent partial myotomy via endoscopic stapling of Zenker's diverticulum were compared with patients who underwent complete myotomy (either endoscopic laser-assisted or via an open transcervical approach). The patients were further subdivided into three groups for data analysis: endoscopic staple diverticulotomy, laser cricopharyngeal myotomy, and open approach. Results A total of 41 patient charts were reviewed. Of these 41 patients, 17 underwent endoscopic stapler-assisted diverticulotomy, 4 underwent endosopic laser-assisted cricopharyngeal myotomy, and 20 underwent open transcervical cricopharyngeal myotomy, with diverticulectomy as indicated. Mean pre- and postoperative RSIs were 21.8 and 8.9, respectively ( P P Conclusions Patients' reflux symptoms significantly improved after cricopharyngeal myotomy, with significant improvement in dysphagia symptoms. Concern for worsening of reflux symptoms following surgery does not appear to be clinically common.
Protyrosinase and Polar-Nonpolar Cations and Anions.∗

The sodium alkyl sulfates, which activate protyrosinase,1 yield polar-nonpolar anions, (RSO4). Alkylamine hydrochlorides, however, give polar-nonpolar cations (RNH3.H+), and do not activate protyrosinase.† This distinction may be of value in the search for the kind of chemical group or part of protyrosinase which is involved in its activation.Three similar preparations of protyrosinase were extracted from grasshopper eggs (Melanoplus differentialis) by a method involving trituration, fractional precipitation, and dialysis.1 Activities, measured in a Warburg apparatus, were compared by the reciprocal—multiplied by 1000—of the time in minutes for the first 100 μ1 of oxygen uptake with tyramine hydrochloride as substrate.The ascending limb of curve A (Fig. 1) shows the activation of protyrosinase that occurs in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. With dodecylamine hydrochloride (Curve F, Fig. 1) there seems to be no conversion of protyrosinase into tyrosinase. When solutions of alkyl sulfates and alkylam...
Pain management and the primary care encounter: opportunities for quality improvement.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to create a comprehensive pain management educational toolkit for the primary care physician that offers guidance on current standards of care and quali...
Interest Exportation and Preemption: Madden's Impact on National Banks, the Secondary Credit Market, and P2P Lending

The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC leaves a dangerous precedent standing in the Second Circuit that poses a significant risk to the consumer-credit market writ large. This Note highlights the dangers that the Madden ruling presents and in so doing cautions against the adoption of the ruling by other circuits. Moreover, given the centrality of New York in the financial economy of the United States, it presents strategies for credit originators in the Second Circuit to protect themselves from Madden.
Middle-Class Voters and Progressive Reform: The Conflict of Class and Culture*

The middle-class character of the leadership of American reform movements has been well established. While leaders of the progressive movement in early twentieth-century America also conform to this pattern, the nature of the voting base of support for progressivism has not yet been established. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine whether or not middle-class voters supported progressive candidates at the polls; and secondarily, to test the relative strength of cultural factors (i.e., ethnicity and religion) versus class considerations as determinants of voting behavior in the early twentieth century. The results demonstrate that, at least in the key progressive state of Wisconsin, middle-class voters failed to support progressive candidates in either general or primary elections; to the contrary, they provided the bulwark of support for conservative opponents of reform. Using bi-variate and partial correlational analysis, the paper also shows that ethnocultural factors remained as the most powerful determinant of voter choice among urban voters in general elections, but that class considerations often proved more influential in motivating voters in primary election contests.
Novel Evidence-Based Classification of Cavernous Venous Occlusive Disease

Purpose: The primary aim of our study was to determine whether an evidence-based rationale could categorize cavernous venous occlusive disease into mild, moderate and severe erectile dysfunction.Materials and Methods: A total of 863 patients underwent color duplex Doppler ultrasound from January 2010 to June 2013 performed by a single urologist. We identified a cohort of 75 patients (8.7%) with a diagnosis of cavernous venous occlusive disease based on a unilateral resistive index less than 0.9, and right and left peak systolic velocity 35 cm per second or less after visual sexual stimulation. At a median followup of 13 months patients were evaluated for treatment efficacy.Results: A total of 75 patients with a median age of 60 years (range 19 to 83) and a mean body mass index of 26.3 kg/m2 (range 19.0 to 39.3) satisfied the criteria of cavernous venous occlusive disease. When substratified into tertiles, resistive index cutoffs were obtained, including mild cavernous venous occlusive disease—81.6 to 94.0...
In Vitro Construction of 2D and 3D Simulations of the Murine Hematopoietic Niche

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) undergo multilineage differentiation or self-renewal to maintain normal hematopoiesis and to sustain the size of the HSC pool throughout life. These processes are determined by a complex interplay of molecular signals between HSC and other cellular components such as osteoblasts (OB), stromal cells, endothelial cells, and a number of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Through changes in its physical properties within the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, collagen, which is one of the most critical ECM proteins, can modulate HSC function and maintenance of the competence of the hematopoietic niche (HN). At present, there is no consensus as to how different cellular elements of the niche collaborate and interact to promote HSC self-renewal or differentiation to maintain hematopoiesis. Deciphering these interactions and the impact of mechanical properties of the collagen microstructures within the HN has critical clinical implications in the areas of stem cell homing, engraftment, and maintenance of HSC function. In this chapter, we describe several of the in vitro methodologies for establishing and maintaining HSC in vitro including the isolation of OB, stromal cells, and hematopoietic progenitor cells, as well as the establishment of both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) coculture systems.
Role of nano-goethite in controlling U(VI) sorption-desorption in subsurface soil

Abstract Iron oxide nanoparticles in natural soils and sediments can be nanoporous due to the aggregation of nanoparticles. Nanopores can greatly affect the sorption-desorption as well as reduction-oxidation behavior of U(VI) because of their high internal surface area and nanopore confinement effects. Batch U(VI) sorption-desorption experiments were conducted to understand the role of nano-goethite in controlling U(VI) sorption-desorption behavior in saprolite subsoil from Oak Ridge Field Research Center (ORFRC), Tennessee, a premier field research site for environmental remediation. The subsoil samples from ~ 6.5–8.5 m depth were nearly homogeneous in mineral composition (quartz, illite and smectite) and particle size distribution. The subsoil samples were characterized by a range of dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) extractable Fe(III) oxide content (127–404 μM/g), BET surface area (25–38 m2/g), and nanoporosity (pore size
Diabetes: Blood pressure goals in T2DM - time for a rethink?

A new population-based cohort study in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus has found that systolic blood pressure below the level currently recommended by hypertension guidelines is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events than the present threshold. However, whether blood pressure goals should be lowered remains contentious.
A Case Study of Engaging Hard-to-Reach Participants in the Research Process: Community Advisors on Research Design and Strategies (CARDS)®

Lack of diversity among study participants in clinical research limits progress in eliminating health disparities. The engagement of lay stakeholders, such as patient or community advisory boards (CABs), has the potential to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups by providing a structure for gathering feedback on research plans and materials from this target population. However, many CABs intentionally recruit prominent stakeholders who are connected to or comfortable with research and academia and thus may not accurately represent the perspectives of underrepresented groups who have been labeled hard-to-reach, including racial minorities and low-income or low-literacy populations. We developed a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing and two community centers to deliberately engage hard-to-reach people in two lay advisory groups, the Community Advisors on Research Design and Strategies (CARDS)®. Community center staff recruited the CARDS from center programs, including parenting and childcare programs, women's support groups, food pantries, and senior meal programs. The CARDS model differs from other CABs in its participants, processes, and outcomes. Since 2010, the CARDS have met monthly with nurses and other researchers, helping them understand how research processes and the language, tone, appearance, and organization of research materials can discourage people from enrolling in clinical studies. We have successfully used the CARDS model to bring hard-to-reach populations into the research process and have sustained their participation. The model represents a promising strategy for increasing the diversity of participants in clinical research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Electric field distributions and space charge behavior in nitrobenzene under low frequency alternating voltage

It has been shown that the electric field distribution and, consequently, the space charge distribution, in a liqUid insulant are different under direct and low frequency alternating voltage and that both differ from ideal distribution predictable from geometry. It has been recently shown that in commercial insulating liquids the breakdown is controlled by space charge.2 For lack of more substantial information, however, authors7 have obtained the breakdown field strength at 60 Hz in an insulating liqUid by measuring the breakdown voltage and calculating field from the electrode geometry. It is shown here that even with plane parallel electrodes the field can differ markedly from the ideal case because the electric field in a liqUid insulator is defined by both the electrode geometry and by the space charge dynamics within the fluid.
Profile of cognitive impairment and underlying pathology in multiple system atrophy.

Background The objectives of this study were to elucidate any potential association between α-synuclein pathology and cognitive impairment and to determine the profile of cognitive impairment in multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients. To do this, we analyzed the clinical and pathologic features in autopsy-confirmed MSA patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed medical records, including neuropsychological test data, in 102 patients with autopsy-confirmed MSA in the Mayo Clinic brain bank. The burden of glial cytoplasmic inclusions and neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions were semiquantitatively scored in the limbic regions and middle frontal gyrus. We also assessed concurrent pathologies potentially causing dementia including Alzheimer's disease, hippocampal sclerosis, and cerebrovascular pathology. Results Of 102 patients, 33 (32%) were documented to have cognitive impairment. Those that received objective testing, deficits primarily in processing speed and attention/executive functions were identified, which suggests a frontal-subcortical pattern of dysfunction. Of these 33 patients with cognitive impairment, 8 patients had concurrent pathologies of dementia. MSA patients with cognitive impairment had a greater burden of neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions in the dentate gyrus than patients without cognitive impairment, both including and excluding patients with concurrent pathologies of dementia. Conclusions The cognitive deficits observed in this study were more evident on neuropsychological assessment than with cognitive screens. Based on these findings, we recommend that clinicians consider more in-depth neuropsychological assessments if patients with MSA present with cognitive complaints. Although we did not identify the correlation between cognitive deficits and responsible neuroanatomical regions, a greater burden of neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions in the limbic regions was associated with cognitive impairment in MSA. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Induction and suppression of type I interferon responses by mink enteritis virus in CRFK cells

Mink enteritis virus (MEV) is one of the most important viral pathogens causing serious disease in mink. Type I interferon (IFN) plays a critical role in antiviral innate immunity and, for successful infection, many viruses have evolved evasive strategies against it. Here, we show that MEV infection does not evoke IFN or interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) responses in feline kidney (CRFK) cells, and that MEV suppresses IFN production in both poly I:C-stimulated and untreated cells. In CRFK cells pre-exposure to IFN, show that infection with, and replication of, MEV remain unaffected. This inhibition appears to be mediated by the MEV nonstructural protein (NS1) with its ORI-binding domain playing a major role.