cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antiarrhythmic Agents in Older Patients

The treatment of ventricular arrhythmias in the elderly population is a challenging problem. Elderly patients are more predisposed to arrhythmias, are less responsive to antiarrhythmic agents, and are more susceptible to the adverse effects of antiarrhythmic agents. Results from recent trials have altered the general approach to management of ventricular arrhythmias.
A Theorem on the Formal Multiplication of Trigonometric Series

The classical theorem of Riemann asserts that if the two-way infinite sequence of numbers c n tends to 0 as n→± ∞, then the series $$ \sum\limits_{{ - \infty }}^{{ + \infty }} {{c_{n}}{e^{{inx}}}} $$ (S) integrated termwise twice has sum $$F(x) = \tfrac{1}{2}{c_0}{x^2} - \sum\limits_{ - \infty }^{ + \infty } {'{c_n}{n^{ - 2}}{e^{inx}}} $$ which is smooth at each x, that is $$ \frac{{F\left( {x + h} \right) + F\left( {x - h} \right) - 2F\left(x \right)}}{h} \to 0\left( {h \to 0} \right) $$ (1.1) (1.1) As a matter of fact, the last relation holds uniformly in x.
Superoxide dismutase: pharmacological developments and applications.

Publisher Summary The concept of oxidant-antioxidant balance seems to be emerging in the free radical field. The remarkable ubiquity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) among aerobic organisms is accompanied by an equally remarkable constancy of activity. A number of lines of evidence suggest that the steady state free radical concentration in a healthy cell must be very low, but not zero. This chapter briefly reviews and updates the essentials of superoxide and the superoxide dismutases, placing most of the emphasis on the more recent developments. It is clear that after two decades of intensive investigation into the biological roles of superoxide and the superoxide dismutases, we are far from a complete understanding. SOD has proven to be an invaluable tool in these investigations, and the tool is being honed to provide greater discrimination by delineation and alteration of its pharmacokinetic proper ties. This knowledge may also contribute to the eventual success of SOD as a human therapeutic agent.
Spastin joins LDs and peroxisomes in the interorganelle contact ballet

Lipid droplets (LDs) store energy-rich fatty acids (FAs), but to harvest them, LDs donate FAs to peroxisomes for oxidation. In this issue, Chang et al. (2019. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201902061) identify M1 Spastin as an LD-peroxisome tether that interacts with ESCRT-III components to facilitate lipid exchange between these two organelles.
Discovery of a novel long noncoding RNA overlapping the LCK gene that regulates prostate cancer cell growth

Virtually all patients with metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) will relapse and develop lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as critical regulatory elements of many cellular biological processes, and may serve as therapeutic targets for combating PCa progression. Here, we have discovered in a high-throughput RNAi screen a novel lncRNA in PCa, and assessed the oncogenic effects of this lncRNA. Rapid amplification of cDNA ends and sequencing was utilized to identify a previously unannotated lncRNA lying within exon six and the 3’UTR of the lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (LCK) gene. The levels of HULLK in the presence or absence of hormone and/or enzalutamide or coregulator inhibitors were measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR). The determination of HULLK transcription and localization were characterized by strand-specific qPCR and cellular fractionation followed by qPCR, respectively. The correlation between HULLK expression and prostate cancer Gleason score was analyzed by droplet digital PCR. CyQuant assays were conducted to evaluate the effects of knocking down HULLK with shRNAs or overexpressing HULLK on cell growth. In this study, a previously unannotated lncRNA lying within exon six and 3’UTR of the LCK gene was dramatically upregulated by androgen in a dose-dependent manner, and the anti-androgen enzalutamide completely blocked this hormone-induced increase. Therefore, we labeled this lncRNA “HULLK” for Hormone-Upregulated lncRNA within LCK. Binding sites for two AR coregulators p300 and Brd4 reside near the HULLK transcriptional start site (TSS), and inhibitors of these coregulators downregulated HULLK. HULLK is transcribed from the sense strand of DNA, and predominantly localizes to the cytoplasm. HULLK transcripts are not only expressed in prostate cancer cell lines, but also prostate cancer patient tissue. Remarkably, there was a significant positive correlation between HULLK expression and high-grade PCa in multiple cohorts. shRNAs targeting HULLK significantly decreased PCa cell growth. Moreover, cells overexpressing HULLK were hypersensitive to androgen stimulation. HULLK is a novel lncRNA situated within the LCK gene that may serve as an oncogene in PCa. Our data enhances our understanding of lncRNA biology and may assist in the development of additional biomarkers or more effective therapeutic targets for advanced PCa.
Evaluation of the artificial sweetener sucralose as a sanitary wastewater tracer in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA

Abstract Narragansett Bay is an urban estuary that historically has been impacted by long-term discharge of sanitary wastewater (WW) effluents. High-density water sampling was conducted in Narragansett Bay, RI, USA, in an effort to understand the distribution and behavior of sucralose, an artificial sweetener that has shown utility as a sanitary wastewater tracer. Water samples were collected at sixty-seven sites and analyzed for sucralose, whose performance was compared to other tracers present in wastewater effluents. Concentrations of sucralose were much higher than the other tracers measured, carbamazepine and caffeine, ranging from 18 to 3180 ng/L and corresponded well with salinity (r2 = 0.88), demonstrating conservative behavior throughout the Bay. Mapped interpolation data using an empirical bayesian kriging model clearly show the spatial trends of WW and how estuarine processes influence dilution and dispersion throughout the Bay. These findings provide further evidence of the efficacy of sucralose as a wastewater tracer in large urban estuaries where continuous high-volume discharge of WW occur.
Advanced Cancer Patients' Changes in Accurate Prognostic Understanding and Their Psychological Well-Being

Abstract Context Clinicians often worry that patients' recognition of the terminal nature of their illness may impair psychological well-being. Objectives To determine if such recognition was associated with decrements to psychological well-being that persisted over time. Methods About 87 patients with advanced cancer, with an oncologist-expected life expectancy of less than six months, were assessed before and after an oncology visit to discuss cancer restaging scan results and again at follow-up (median time between assessments, approximately six weeks). Prognostic understanding (PU) was assessed at previsit and postvisit, and a change score was computed. Psychological well-being was assessed at pre, post, and follow-up, and two change scores were computed (post minus pre; follow-up minus post). Results Changes toward more accurate PU was associated with a corresponding initial decline in psychological well-being (r = −0.33; P Conclusion Improved PU may be associated with initial decrements in psychological well-being, followed by patients rebounding to baseline levels. Concerns about lasting psychological harm may not need to be a deterrent to having prognostic discussions with patients.
The recent report by Liu and Zhang Claiming “No support for the adaptive hypothesis of lagging-strand encoding in bacterial genomes” is factually incorrect

Abstract In their manuscript1 entitled “No support for the adaptive hypothesis of lagging-strand encoding in bacterial genomes”, Liu and Zhang attempt to refute the findings of our 2018 Nature Communications paper2. Here, we demonstrate that multiple key claims made by Liu and Zhang are factually incorrect, and that their overall conclusions, including the title of their paper, are invalid. We show that multiple existing controls already preclude the null hypothesis proposed by Liu and Zhang. We also show that the authors falsely claim that we did not publish key data, when in fact, these data were presented in our manuscript. Similarly, we point out that the authors falsely claim that we made comparisons and logical arguments we never made. Furthermore, the authors claim that they reanalyzed our data when in fact they did not. Therefore, they could not, by definition, have identified errors in our data. Our reanalysis of the Liu and Zhang data reveals that the main problem is that the authors simply do not understand the meaning of the term “inversion”. This caused them to misjudge the limitations of both their own inversion detection technique and ours. In fact, we find that the Liu and Zhang method cannot, specifically, identify inversions. Lastly, we provide new empirical evidence demonstrating further that our method works properly as described in our original manuscript. We conclude that Liu and Zhang’s manuscript has no rational basis, and that our original hypothesis meets the criteria for acceptance based on their own standards.
Contents, vehicles, and complex data analysis in neuroscience

The notion of representation in neuroscience has largely been predicated on localizing the components of computational processes that explain cognitive function. On this view, which I call “algorithmic homuncularism,” individual, spatially and temporally distinct parts of the brain serve as vehicles for distinct contents, and the causal relationships between them implement the transformations specified by an algorithm. This view has a widespread influence in philosophy and cognitive neuroscience, and has recently been ably articulated and defended by Shea (2018). Still, I am skeptical about algorithmic homuncularism, and I argue against it by focusing on recent methods for complex data analysis in systems neuroscience. I claim that analyses such as principle components analysis and linear discriminant analysis prevent individuating vehicles as algorithmic homuncularism recommends. Rather, each individual part contributes to a global state space, trajectories of which vary with important task parameters. I argue that, while homuncularism is false, this view still supports a kind of “vehicle realism,” and I apply this view to debates about the explanatory role of representation.
A Complication of Pneumothorax and Pneumomediastinum in a Non-Intubated Patient With COVID-19: A Case Report

COVID-19 disease can lead to multiple complications such as severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), coagulopathy, renal failure, cardiac and neurological complications. We describe a case of a patient who developed pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum in the setting of COVID-19 without having ARDS or requiring mechanical ventilation. Our patient developed sudden onset of shortness of breath and desaturation. Chest X-ray and CT chest revealed pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum. Though pneumothorax in pulmonary infection is most likely associated with increased airway pressure in acute respiratory distress syndrome and positive pressure mechanical ventilation. Pneumothorax is a life-threatening complication and if diagnosed early it can reduce mortality. In patients with COVID-19 infection, sudden clinical worsening with shortness of breath and desaturation should prompt the clinician to look for potentially treatable causes such as pneumothorax.
Optimal bilinear control of a reparable multi-state system

This work addresses an optimal bilinear control design representing the corrective maintenance for a reparable multi-state system. The primary interest is to optimise the availability of the system...
Performance Scaling in Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion Experiments

We present experimental results from the first systematic study of performance scaling with drive parameters for a magnetoinertial fusion concept. In magnetized liner inertial fusion experiments, the burn-averaged ion temperature doubles to 3.1 keV and the primary deuterium-deuterium neutron yield increases by more than an order of magnitude to 1.1×10^{13} (2 kJ deuterium-tritium equivalent) through a simultaneous increase in the applied magnetic field (from 10.4 to 15.9 T), laser preheat energy (from 0.46 to 1.2 kJ), and current coupling (from 16 to 20 MA). Individual parametric scans of the initial magnetic field and laser preheat energy show the expected trends, demonstrating the importance of magnetic insulation and the impact of the Nernst effect for this concept. A drive-current scan shows that present experiments operate close to the point where implosion stability is a limiting factor in performance, demonstrating the need to raise fuel pressure as drive current is increased. Simulations that capture these experimental trends indicate that another order of magnitude increase in yield on the Z facility is possible with additional increases of input parameters.
Pediatric tracheostomy care updates.

Purpose of review The aim of this review is to provide an update on the management of pediatric tracheostomies. Recent findings Recent literature has focused on optimization of care for children with tracheostomies including prevention and management of skin breakdown, timing of tracheostomy tube changes, the role of multidisciplinary and team-based approaches to education and management of tracheostomy patients, ideal timing of surveillance endoscopy, and the emerging role of telemedicine in the care of tracheostomy patients. Summary A focus on quality improvement and a systematic, team-based approach to care has the potential to improve the quality of care for pediatric tracheostomy patients.
World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future

This article marks the thirty-seventh year of including statistical information on World Christianity and mission in the International Bulletin of Mission Research. This year it includes details on...
A novel large animal model of smoke inhalation-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is multifactorial and can result from sepsis, trauma, or pneumonia, amongst other primary pathologies. It is one of the major causes of death in critically ill patients with a reported mortality rate up to 45%. The present study focuses on the development of a large animal model of smoke inhalation-induced ARDS in an effort to provide the scientific community with a reliable, reproducible large animal model of isolated toxic inhalation injury-induced ARDS. Animals (n = 21) were exposed to smoke under general anesthesia for 1 to 2 h (median smoke exposure = 0.5 to 1 L of oak wood smoke) after the ultrasound-guided placement of carotid, pulmonary, and femoral artery catheters. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), vital signs, and ventilator parameters were monitored throughout the procedure. Chest x-ray, carotid, femoral and pulmonary artery blood samples were collected before, during, and after smoke exposure. Animals were euthanized and lung tissue collected for analysis 48 h after smoke inhalation. Animals developed ARDS 48 h after smoke inhalation as reflected by a decrease in SpO2 by approximately 31%, PaO2/FiO2 ratio by approximately 208 (50%), and development of bilateral, diffuse infiltrates on chest x-ray. Study animals also demonstrated a significant increase in IL-6 level, lung tissue injury score and wet/dry ratio, as well as changes in other arterial blood gas (ABG) parameters. This study reports, for the first time, a novel large animal model of isolated smoke inhalation-induced ARDS without confounding variables such as cutaneous burn injury. Use of this unique model may be of benefit in studying the pathophysiology of inhalation injury or for development of novel therapeutics.
Caring for Non-English-Speaking Patients and Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.

“Hi there, my name is Dr Rabinowitz,” I stated, my voice muted as it traveled across the multiple layers of my personal protective equipment. I squinted as I introduced myself, a gesture of “hello” hardly visible beneath the surgical mask, respirator, and semitransparent eye shield I donned. For a few weeks now, I worked as a pediatric resident physician in a busy metropolitan emergency department. In an effort to maintain normalcy in my rapport-building during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, I standardized such a paired auditory and visual greeting in each of my patient encounters. Yet, as I stood before this mother and son dyad, I sensed that more than just a physical barrier lay between us. “No entiendo,” my patient’s mother remarked, “I do not understand.” She seemed afraid. I watched a few small tears roll down her cheek, ricocheting off of her facial covering and onto the floor below. Almost instinctively, I returned to the room’s entryway and slid open the glass door to create an …
Trends in sustainable biobased packaging materials: a mini review

Abstract Petroleum-based polymers have served the packaging industry in numerous ways as films, pouches, rigid containers, foamed containers, and other components for food, medical, and other packaging applications. However, growing concerns about environmental impact, awareness of greenhouse gas emission and their adverse effects, increased oil prices, and disposal and landfill issues are forcing researchers and the industry to develop sustainable packaging. Biobased materials, those derived from biological sources rather than petroleum sources, are ideally suited to meet these new sustainability requirements. Although biobased materials such as paper have been used for packaging extensively, packaging with increased functionality and performance is needed. Therefore, the movement toward sustainable packaging will include both improving current biobased packaging and development of new biobased materials such as biopolymers. The aim of this mini review was to offer a summary of the current state of biobased packaging as well as provide insight into current and future trends of sustainable paper- and bioplastic-based materials for packaging industry.
To which degree do Software Startups focus on Sustainability in their planning work

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced in 2015, explicitly mention entrepreneurship as the vanguard of achieving a more sustainable society. Since software startups, with their high degree of innovation and impact, are archetypical entrepreneurial ventures, we wish to empirically investigate to which degree software startups focus on sustainability in their planning work.We will conduct this study using dynamic business plans entered by software startups in the entrepreneurial management system (EMS), Entreprenerdy, which is a planning and business development tool used by more than 30,000 entrepreneurial ventures from more than 120 countries to develop their business plans. By analyzing data from the Entreprenerdy EMS, we will investigate in which phases of the entrepreneurial process software startups have their sustainability foci. Due to the anonymous nature of the data and its large volume, the methods most suitable for this investigation are text data mining and Latent Dirichlet Allocation. This is a proposal for future research that we may conduct with these qualitative, exploratory methods.
Analyzing first flowering event data using survival models with space and time-varying covariates†

First flowering events in cherry trees are believed to be closely related to temperature patterns during the winter and spring months. Earlier works have incorporated the idea of temperature thresholds, defining chill and heat functions based on these thresholds. However, selection of the thresholds is often arbitrary and shared across species and locations. We propose a survival model with spatially and temporally varying covariates having functional forms representing chill and heat accumulation leading up to first flowering events. Thresholds are chosen utlizing the ranked probability scores, selecting the threshold pair that minimizes the difference between the predicted and observed cumulative probability curves. We first apply the model using temporally varying covariates to analyze 29 years of flowering data for four cherry species (Cerasus spp.) grown in Hachioji, Japan. This allows us to investigate whether relationship with temperature may vary between earlier and later flowering species. Next, the model is applied to 52 years of flowering data for 45 Cerasus spachiana × C. speciosa trees grown across Japan's Honshu Island using spatially and temporally varying covariates and spatial random effects. By exploring flowering dates across locations, we can explore how the relationship between temperature and first flowering events varies through space. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Conversations in Competitive Advantage: A Bibliographic Analysis of the Major Research Streams and Their Influence on the Field

One of the central questions in strategic management involves competitive advantage. However, a variety of theoretical approaches are used in studying competitive advantage, a variety of issues with theory application and testing persist, and uncertainty exists regarding the future and direction for strategy as a discipline. Therefore, the purpose of this working paper is to examine the major research conversations in the context. Through doing so, we seek to clarify the conversations surrounding this central topic and to determine the influence of these conversations on the larger field of strategy. Our preliminary results indicate that one of the challenges the field is facing may be that we are not having a small set of central, directed conversations, but a large set of numerous, somewhat fractured, conversations. Specifically, through our factor analysis of the citation patterns of articles in the Strategic Management Journal between 2004 and 2009, we identify 12 distinct conversations surrounding competitive advantage. We examine these conversations, discuss their apparent impact on the field of strategic management, and develop some suggested directions for future research towards clarification, resolution, and convergence.
Localized chronic iron deposition within non-reperfused myocardial infarctions

Background Chronic iron deposition is known to occur within reperfused hemorrhagic myocardial infarctions (MIs), and could be a source of prolonged inflammatory activity within MI territories. However, whether the stagnant blood downstream to the permanent occlusion (i.e. in territories of non-reperfused MI) could lead to chronic iron deposition is unknown. In this study, using a controlled canine model, we investigated whether chronic iron deposition could occur in non-reperfused MIs using T2* CMR and validated our findings with standard histological methods.
High Performance Table-Based Algorithm for Pipelined CRC Calculation

In this paper, we present a fast cyclic redun- dancy check (CRC) algorithm that performs CRC compu- tation for an arbitrary length of message in parallel. For a given message with any length, the algorithm first chunks the message into blocks, each of which has a fixed size equal to the degree of the generator polynomial. Then it computes CRC for the chunked blocks in parallel using lookup tables, and the results are combined together with XOR operations. In the traditional implementation, it is the feedback that makes pipelining problematic. In the proposed algorithm, we solve this problem by taking advantage of CRC's properties and pipelining the feedback loop. The short pipeline latency of our algorithm enables a faster clock frequency than previous approaches, and it also allows easy scaling of the parallelism while only slightly affecting timing. We build a Verilog implementation our pipelined CRC. The simulation results show that our approach is faster and more space- efficient than previous CRC implementations; with 256 bits input each clock cycle, our approach achieves about 36% throughput improvement with about 12% area reduction. Index Terms—Keywords: CRC, lookup table, pipelining
A case study on U.S. government military standard development

Developing standards normally arises out of a perceived need for commonality to obtain interoperability, cost savings, or logistics benefits. The multiplexed data bus concept was a perceived need by the digital engineering community but considered a high risk by management. A lack of understanding for those outside the engineering field induced this risk element. We had to educate and “sell” the concept first to them. We highlighted all the benefits to them, the flexibility, the plug-and-play capability, the reduced logistics, and cost savings. All this did not sway them until they were in a bind, then weight savings was the acceptance criteria. Even though important, weight savings was not the only benefit. Creating new standards requires persistence, compromise, and time to develop. Salesmanship is as important as engineering competence. Demonstrations and proof of concept are critical. And finally, it was found that the best standards are those where the government works hand in hand with the applicable industry to get everyone's buy in.
Geodesic Matting: A Framework for Fast Interactive Image and Video Segmentation and Matting

An interactive framework for soft segmentation and matting of natural images and videos is presented in this paper. The proposed technique is based on the optimal, linear time, computation of weighted geodesic distances to user-provided scribbles, from which the whole data is automatically segmented. The weights are based on spatial and/or temporal gradients, considering the statistics of the pixels scribbled by the user, without explicit optical flow or any advanced and often computationally expensive feature detectors. These could be naturally added to the proposed framework as well if desired, in the form of weights in the geodesic distances. An automatic localized refinement step follows this fast segmentation in order to further improve the results and accurately compute the corresponding matte function. Additional constraints into the distance definition permit to efficiently handle occlusions such as people or objects crossing each other in a video sequence. The presentation of the framework is complemented with numerous and diverse examples, including extraction of moving foreground from dynamic background in video, natural and 3D medical images, and comparisons with the recent literature.
Synthesis of dual‐functional copolymer with orthogonally photosensitive groups

A dual-functional copolymer, poly(4-styrenesulfonyl azide-co-t-butyl-methacrylate), with built-in photoacid labile and photocrosslinkable components was designed and synthesized by radical copolymerization. The mixture of copolymer and photoacid generators was spin coated on aminosilane treated Si wafers and polycarbonate (PC). When exposed to 365 nm UV light, photoacids were generated, which decomposed the acid labile groups, t-butyl- ester, to carboxylic acid in the exposed region, leading to drastic change of wettability from hydrophobic to hydrophilic after devel- oping the film in an aqueous base solution. The patterned polymer film could be subsequently photoimmobilized on the substrate under 254 nm deep UV exposure through CAH insertion via exited azide groups. 1 H-NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectra con- firmed the synthesis of the copolymer, and the photodecomposi- tion and photografting reactions occurred orthogonally at 365 and 254 nm, respectively, without interfering each other. On the pat- terned surfaces, including a hexagonal dot array and a gradient line array, we demonstrated selective wetting in the 365 nm exposed regions. On the gradient line array, we showed an inter- esting ratchet wetting pattern. Finally, we showed that the copoly- mer could be used to modify the wettability of PC while maintaining its high optical quality. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 1215-1222
Generation of Referring Expression with an Individual Imprint

A major outcome of the last Shared Tasks for Referring Expressions Generation was that each human prefers distinct properties, syntax and lexical units for building referring expressions. One of the reasons for this seems to be that entities might be identified faster since the conversation partner has already some knowledge about how his conversation partner builds referring expressions. Therefore, artificial referring expressions should provide such individual preferences as well so that they become human like. With this contribution to the shared task, we follow this idea again. For the development set, we got a very good DICE score of 0.88 for the furniture domain and of 0.79 for the people domain.
Particle-based simulation: An algorithmic perspective

This article reviews some of the latest advances of the algorithmic aspects of particle-based methods for the simulation of both solid-state devices and biological systems. After a brief historical introduction, a discussion will be offered about the recent evolution of numerical methods used by both Full-Band Ensemble Monte Carlo (EMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) algorithms. A discussion of some relevant applications of both simulative approaches is accompanied by a critical analysis of the main limitations of the methods. Several needed improvements are discussed as well, and the potential of the algorithms for modeling systems of higher complexity.
Dissolution of comminuted magnesium oxide as affected by the density of dislocations introduced by various comminution methods

Abstract Commercial refractory grade magnesium oxide (MgO) was comminuted with a steel ball mill, ouck mill, roll mill and pulverizer. The dissolution of the comminuted powders in hydrochloric acid solution was measured and correlated with the dislocation densities in the powder as measured by X-ray powder diffractometry. It was found that the rates of dissolution of the powders were directly related to the dislocation densities introduced by the comminution. The ball-milled powder exhibited the highest dissolution rates and largest dislocation densities. The damage introduced by comminution could be removed by heat treatment at 1400° C. Dislocation densities in comminuted MgO were also found to be much larger than those in similarly comminuted quartz, as expected based on the differences in the plastic deformation behavior of these two materials.
Investigating the Teaching Concerns of Engineering Educators

The teaching concerns of engineering educators offer one lens for thinking about how to support engineering educators' efforts to improve their teaching. In this study, we collected narrative accounts of teaching consultations between engineering educators and an instructional consultant. Transcripts of these accounts were coded for individual teaching concerns, which were then interpreted from the perspective of existing models and also aggregated into themes. We discuss our findings by using them to highlight ways in which engineering educators are already thinking effectively, to suggest how the adoption of innovation and professional problem-solving can serve as promising frameworks for thinking about teaching activity, and to suggest that additional research on engineering teaching take advantage of distributed cognition models to truly understand how our students are taught.
Some computer applications in political science

TO SOME, "POLITICAL SCIENCE" IS A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS. They regard politics as an art which defies systematic study and, hence, offers no basis for a "science." Others contend, as I do, that human behavior is subject to systematic study, explanation, and prediction-and this includes man's political behavior. While the attitude of the professional student of politics toward this issue may still reveal his attitude toward the computer as a useful or even "legitimate" tool in his research, the argument over the "behavioral approach" in political science is fast becoming irrelevant to computer applications in political research. Not only is the computer becoming a "conventional" research tool in patently humanistic studies like literature,1 music,2 and art,s but it is also winning favor as a useful aid to hard-nosed professional politicians-witness the conference held in Chicago last spring on data processing for Republican party workers.4 Exactly how have computers been used in political science? The version of this paper to be published in the FJCC Proceedings seeks to answer this question by reviewing actual computer applications in three methodological categories: data analysis, information processing, and simulation. In this abbreviated version, I will select for review only the use of computers in information processing, the application most likely to be of interest to readers of Computers and the Humanities. In contrast to "data analysis," where input to the computer is in numerical form, "information processing" utilizes the computer capabilities for accepting natural language text as input. This is an important feature of the computer for political scientists, whose material often resists easy quantification. Consequently, we find a considerable amount of research being done with the
No. 2 fuel oil decreases embryonic survival of great black-backed gulls

The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is widespread in the northern hemisphere, breeding south to Britain and Ireland on the European side of the Atlantic and to Long Island in the United States where populations have increased markedly during the last 50 years. With growing exploitation of oil/resources resources, seabird populations are being increasingly threatened by accidental oiling of individuals and the subsequent contamination of their eggs and young. It is generally agreed that gulls and terns, which spend much of their time airborne, are less vulnerable to oil pollution than alcids and seaducks. Nevertheless, oiled great black-backed gulls were sighted after the Argo Merchant spill off Nantucket Island in December 1976, demonstrating that this species of gull can be affected by surface oil. In this paper results are reported of two concurrent studies in which eggs of the great black-backed gull were externally contaminated with No. 2 fuel oil.
Partially Opened Triple Helix is the Biologically Active Conformation of 1→3-β-Glucans that Induces Pulmonary Inflammation in Rats

1 M 3- g -Glucans produce pulmonary inflammation in rats and are commonly found in indoor air dust samples. Conformation is an important factor determining the biological activity of 1 M 3- g -glucans. The partially opened triple-helix conformation induced by NaOH treatment and the annealed triple-helix conformation have been identified by fluorescence resonance energy transfer spectroscopy in our previous study. The objective of this study was to examine the role of these conformations of 1 M 3- g -glucans in the induction of pulmonary inflammation in rats. A partially opened triple-helix conformation of the known inflammatory 1 M 3- g -glucan zymosan was prepared by treating zymosan with NaOH followed by neutralization and dialysis. The annealed triple-helix conformation was prepared by allowing the partially opened triple-helix conformation to anneal for 9 d at room temperature. Rats were exposed to fresh or annealed NaOH-treated zymosan via intratracheal instillation. The results show that the zymosan...
Simian Virus 40-Based Replication of Catalytically Inactive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase Mutants in Nonpermissive T Cells and Monocyte-Derived Macrophages

Integrase function is required for retroviral replication in most instances. Although certain permissive T-cell lines support human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in the absence of functional integrase, most cell lines and primary human cells are nonpermissive for integrase mutant growth. Since unintegrated retroviral DNA is lost from cells following cell division, we investigated whether incorporating a functional origin of DNA replication into integrase mutant HIV-1 might overcome the block to efficient gene expression and replication in nonpermissive T-cell lines and primary cells. Whereas the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) origin (oriP) did little to augment expression from an integrase mutant reporter virus in EBV nuclear antigen 1-expressing cells, simian virus 40 (SV40) oriT dramatically enhanced integrase mutant infectivity in T-antigen (Tag)-expressing cells. Incorporating oriT into the nef position of a full-length, integrase-defective virus strain yielded efficient replication in Tag-expressing nonpermissive Jurkat T cells without reversion to an integration-competent genotype. Adding Tag to integrase mutant-oriT viruses yielded 11.3-kb SV40-HIV chimeras that replicated in Jurkat cells and primary monocyte-derived macrophages. Real-time quantitative PCR analyses of Jurkat cell infections revealed that amplified copies of unintegrated DNA likely contributed to SV40-HIV integrase mutant replication. SV40-based HIV-1 integrase mutant replication in otherwise nonpermissive cells suggests alternative approaches to standard integrase-mediated retroviral gene transfer strategies.
Azithromycin Reduces Gastroesophageal Reflux and Aspiration in Lung Transplant Recipients

Azithromycin (AZI) is a macrolide antibiotic that improves lung function in lung transplant recipients (LTx). Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic rejection after LTx. Macrolide antibiotics may affect GER by modifying esophageal and gastric motility. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of AZI on GER and gastric aspiration after LTx. Acid and weakly acidic GER was measured with 24-h pH-impedance monitoring in 47 LTx patients (12 patients “on” AZI). Gastric aspiration was assessed in a separate group of 30 LTx patients before and after AZI by measurements of pepsin and bile acid in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Patients “on” AZI had a significant lower total number of reflux events [41 (30–61) vs. 22.5 (7–37.5)], number of acid reflux events [24 (16–41) vs. 8 (4–18)], esophageal acid exposure [2.9% (0.7–7.3) vs. 0.2% (0.1–2.0)], bolus exposure [0.73% (0.5–1.4) vs. 0.21% (0.12–0.92)], and proximal extent of reflux [14 (9–24) vs. 5 (2–7)]. AZI reduced the concentration of bile acids in BALF without affecting levels of pepsin. LTx patients “on” AZI have less GER and bile acids aspiration. This effect might be due to enhanced esophageal motility and accelerated gastric emptying.
Influence of crystalloid and colloid replacement solutions on hemodynamic variables during acute normovolemic hemodilution.

Abstract Study objective To determine whether, in maintaining normovolemia during acute normovolemic hemodilution, replacement fluid choice influences intraoperative hemodynamic variables. Design Prospective, randomized, single-blinded study. Setting Operating room of a tertiary-care university hospital. Patients 40 adult, ASA physical status I, II, and III patients scheduled for acute normovolemic hemodilution during radical prostatectomy. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned to four replacement fluid groups to receive 1) Ringer's lactate, 2) 5% albumin, 3) 6% dextran 70, or 4) 6% hetastarch. A standardized general anesthetic was used, and patients underwent moderate hemodilution to a target hemoglobin of 9 gm/dL. Measurements Hemodynamic variables were recorded using standard monitors, 5-lead electrocardiography, radial arterial catheter, and pulmonary artery catheter. Red blood cell loss for the entire hospitalization was calculated. Main results Demographic and clinical outcome data were similar among the groups. During acute normovolemic hemodilution, heart rate and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure were unchanged from baseline in all groups, but patients receiving Ringer's lactate or albumin had greater declines in mean arterial pressure at the end of acute normovolemic hemodilution. Cardiac and oxygen consumption indexes were stable during acute normovolemic hemodilution, but oxygen extraction increased. Conclusions During hemodilution, anesthetized patients maintain whole body oxygenation by increasing oxygen extraction. The administration of hetastarch or dextran as the replacement fluid during acute normovolemic hemodilution is associated with a more stable mean arterial pressure, but overall acute normovolemic hemodilution is well tolerated irrespective of the replacement fluid used.
On extremal factors of the de Bruijn graph

Abstract An outstanding problem in combinatorial theory is to determine the maximum number of vertex-disjoint cycles in the n-th order de Bruijn graph Gn. A related problem is to determine the minimum number of vertices which, if removed from Gn, will leave a graph with no cycles. Both problems are discussed and it is shown that for n ≤ 8 the same number is attained for both. Further results indicate that the same is likely to be true for all values of n.
Transfer of rovibrational energies in hydrogen plasma–carbon surface interactions

Abstract We present state-of-the-art molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of high-density plasma-bombardment of carbon, mimicking plasma–wall interactions at the fusion reactor first wall. Bare and hydrogenated amorphous carbon surfaces with temperatures in the range of 300–800 K are bombarded by a distribution of neutral hydrogen molecules representing well-defined center-of-mass and rovibrational temperatures. The MD simulations are benchmarked against experiments in which a heated carbon surface is irradiated with hydrogen molecules from a plasma source. Comparisons between simulations and experiment are presented for the rovibrational distributions upon reflection and the rotational and vibrational accommodation coefficients.
Diluent effects in the extraction of selected metallic cations by bis(hexoxy-ethyl) phosphoric acid

Abstract The extraction of Ca 2+ , UO 2 2+ , Am 3+ , Eu 3+ and Tm 3+ from aqueous chloride phases into solutions of (n-C 6 H 13 OCH 2 CH 2 O) 2 PO(OH), HDHoEP, in four different diluents has been studied as a function of concentration of extractant in the organic phase and of hydrogen ion in the aqueous phase. The distribution ratio, K , for each cation in each system has been converted to a derived quantity, K S , by means of the defining equation, at 1·0 F (HCl + NaCl), 22 ± 1°C: K = K S F Ex a F H + b b where F Ex and F H+ are the concentration, in formality units, of extractant and hydrogen ion, respectively, and a and b are, respectively, the extractant dependency and hydrogen dependency of K for the cation considered. The K S values are discussed in terms of the state of aggregation of the extractant, HDHoEP, in the four diluents: n-decanol, methyl iso-butyl ketone (Hexone), benzene, and n-heptane. The extractant is assumed to be monomerric in the first, dimeric in the next two and more highly polymeric (perhaps consisting of dimers, trimers and tetramers) in the last diluent.
Presence of typical neuronal markers in serially cultured cells from adult human brain.

Abstract Typical markers for neurons but not for astroglia have been identified in cells cultured from a sample of normal adult human temporal lobe, which was removed to gain access to a glioma. Cells were grown in medium containing growth factors, including fibroblast growth factor and nerve growth factor. The cells grew slowly (doubling time, 18 days) and have been carried as far as passage 8 over 10 months. Both immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry with redundant antibodies demonstrated the presence of neurofilaments (NF-H, NF-M, NF-L), but not glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was also found. Morphologically, the cultures consisted of a pleiomorphic population of cells with frequent long processes. Cells demonstrating neuronal rather than astroglial markers can be cultured from normal adult human brain.
Solar Spectroscopy with a Cashman Cell

A description is given of a long-focus all-reflecting spectrometer of the Pfund type which has been designed and constructed at the McMath-Hulbert Observatory for initial application to the infra-red solar spectrum. The detectors employed thus far are two Cashman cells that permit the recording of the solar spectrum between 1.0μ and 3.6μ with high resolution. The amplifier was designed and constructed by W. Wilson. Radiation from overlapping orders is effectively eliminated by a pre-dispersing unit. Two plane reflection gratings, ruled 600 lines/mm and 200 lines/mm, are used for the regions 1.0μ–2.5μ and 2.5μ–3.6μ respectively. Observed line separations indicate that approximately 80 percent of the theoretical resolving power has been attained.
Intramitochondrial free calcium in cardiac myocytes in relation to dehydrogenase activation

Objective: The aim was to quantitate intramitochondrial free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]m) in cardiac myocytes under conditions of stimulation previously shown to cause activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase. Methods: [Ca2+]m was monitored in single, isolated rat cardiac myocytes using fluorescence microscopy following the loading of the cells with the fluorescent chelating agent indo-1, in its permeant acetoxymethylester form, and the selective quenching of cytosolic fluorescence with MnCl2. The extent of contraction upon electrical stimulation was also measured. Results: Electrical stimulation at 2 Hz and higher frequency raised [Ca2+]m significantly, and this was potentiated by exposure to isoprenaline. However, isoprenaline had no effect in quiescent cells, in which [Ca2+]m was raised above resting values by partial replacement of Na+ in the medium. The mitochondrial uncoupling agent carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) raised [Ca2+]m in unstimulated cells, but lowered it in cells subjected to electrical stimulation at 2 Hz or more, to partial Na+ replacement, or to the alkaloid veratridine. Conclusions: The values of [Ca2+]m in quiescent myocytes (approximately 100 nmol·litre−1) would be associated with very little activation by Ca2+ of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase, based on determination of K0.5 value of 650 nmol·litre−1 in work with mitochondrial suspensions. By contrast, the values of [Ca2+]m associated with electrical stimulation at 2 Hz or greater in the presence of β adrenergic activation (>500 nmol·litre−1) would be associated with significant dehydrogenase activation. The effect of β adrenergic activation is only seen in the presence of electrical stimulation and probably involves enhancement of systolic transients in cytosol [Ca2+]. Effects of uncoupling agents validate the conclusions on the direction and magnitude of the mitochondrial Ca2+ gradient in situ in living myocytes. Cardiovascular Research 1993; 27 :1840-1844
The flower pot technique of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation.

Abstract This technique of REM sleep deprivation may make data interpretation difficult because it can lack selectivity, and because controls may suppress some REM sleep. To correct these difficulties, EEG recordings were made of rats placed in 4 situations for 96 hours: (1) baseline, (2) on 6.5 cm, or (3) 12.5 cm inverted flowerpots surrounded by water, (4) swimming in 10 cm water for 1 hr per 24 hr. Rats on the 6.5 cm pots had 57% as much REM sleep as baseline with no change in non-REM sleep. Rats on 12.5 cm pots initially had 55% as much REM sleep baseline, but by the fourth day increased to baseline levels. The swimming rats had no reduction in REM or non-REM sleep at any time, and thus seem to be a better control. The smaller the platform relative to the size of the rat, the greater the reduction in REM sleep - but at one point, non-REM sleep is decreased. The combination used here depresses REM sleep by about one half but does not reduce non-REM sleep.