cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Design Strategy for Collaborative Decision Making in a Distributed Environment

In most instances it is necessary to partition a product realization process into a set of design activities. Design decisions are an important type of design activity. In order to ensure that information flows among different design activities are achieved without difficulty, uniform representation of the information is necessary. A design activity template and a solution template are presented in this paper to support the information flow in a design process. Activity template provides an option to describe the design problem so that engineers know exactly what kind of design decision is preferable. Solution template provides an option to describe the design solution. The paper also introduces an approach to manage and deliver design freedom from one engineering team to the other. In mechanical design, it is essential to give engineers a feasible design space so that they can choose the design solutions that best satisfy the design problem. A chip design example is used to illustrate the different concepts presented in this paper for collaborative decision making.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
DOW Radar Observations of Wind Farms

The growth of the wind industry in recent years has motivated investigation into wind farm interference with the operation of the nationwide Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) network. Observations of a wind farm were taken with a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) during the DOW Radar Observations at Purdue Study (DROPS), a largely studentled field program that took place in the fall of 2009. The DOW sampled clear-air weather and precipitation at locations within 5 km of the Benton County, Indiana, wind farm to determine the wind turbines' effect on Doppler velocity and ref lectivity data. These data were analyzed and compared with data from the Indianapolis WSR-88D (KIND) and a local television station (WLFI) radar. In precipitation, the DOW data show velocity couplets that have the appearance of isolated tornadic vortices. Under clear-air sampling, significant multipath scattering is evident, but no velocity couplets would meet the DOW-equivalent tornado detection algorithm criteria. Broader impact...
Anticipating an Easier Day: Effects of Adult Day Services on Daily Cortisol and Stress

Purpose of the Study: F amily caregivers experience high levels of stress that place them at risk for poor health outcomes. We explore whether an intervention which lowers caregivers’ daily exposure to stressors, adult day services (ADS), leads to improved regulation of the stress hormone, cortisol, which has implications for health and well-being. Design and Methods: P articipants (N = 158) were family caregivers of individuals with dementia (IWD) who were using ADS. Eligibility included: the IWD had a dementia diagnosis, IWD used ADS at least twice a week, and IWD and caregiver lived in the same household. A within-subject treatment design was used to compare caregivers’ diurnal cortisol responses on days they received the intervention (ADS use by the IWD) and days they did not. Participants completed daily interviews over eight consecutive days and provided five saliva samples on each of those days. Primary outcomes were salivary cortisol awakening response (CAR) and cortisol area under the curve with respect to ground (AUC-G). Results: Caregi vers with a “burned-out” or flattened CAR, and associated low AUC-G on non-ADS days displayed a more normative CAR and AUC-G response on ADS days. Restored cortisol regulation was also observed on ADS days among caregivers with the highest CAR and AUC-G levels on non-ADS days. Implications: R esults indicate that ADS use improves caregivers’ cortisol regulation, which could enhance long-term health outcomes. Effects may be due to caregivers’ anticipation of an easier day when the IWD attends ADS.
On using network attached disks as shared memory

Recent advances in storage technology have enabled systems like Storage Area Networks, where disks are attached directly to the network, rather than being under the control of a single process. In such an environment there is no a priori bound on the number of processes that may access the network attached disks, and so uniform implementations are desirable, that is, implementations that do not rely on the number of processes. We investigate how to use network attached disks, where some disks may crash, as a shared communication medium. To do so, we model disk blocks as Multi-Writer Multi-Reader (MWMR) shared memory registers that may fail by crashing. We study whether a finite number of such fail-prone registers can be used to uniformly implement various types of fail-flee target registers: wait-free atomic, atomic, and wait-free sequentially consistent. For each of these types, we determine the implementability of Multi-Writer Multi-Reader registers, Multi-Writer Single-Reader registers (MWSR), Single-Writer Multi-Reader registers (SWMR) and Single-Writer Single-Reader registers (SWSR). For example, we show that there is no uniform atomic implementation of a MWMR register using finitely many base registers, even if the implementation need not be wait-free. On the positive side we show that with infinitely many base registers then all types of registers can be implemented. This opens the question of how to translate uniform shared memory protocols that use MWMR registers to use network attached disks.
Testing spreadsheet accuracy theory

Electronic spreadsheets are used extensively to support financial analysis and problem solving processes; however, research has revealed that experienced professionals and students make many errors when developing spreadsheets. Practitioners recognize the importance of accuracy and have published many techniques for improving the accuracy of their spreadsheets. Their prescriptions and results of research are consistent and together these works form the basis for spreadsheet accuracy theory. Three propositions describe how the three constructs influence spreadsheet accuracy in a laboratory experiment. The results of this study indicate that the Spreadsheet Accuracy Theory developed three aids that significantly improve development of accurate spreadsheets.
Translating next-generation sequencing from clinical trials to clinical practice for the treatment of advanced cancers

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is being applied in oncology care to identify specific molecular aberrations of patient's tumors. The use of NGS now allows for sequencing entire human genomes within a reasonable cost and practical time frames for treatment decision making. Further delineation of epigenetics, transcriptomics, metagenomics and NGS at the level of circulating tumor DNA reveal ever increasing complexity to understand these interactions and the roles they play in cancer. With the improvement in understanding the study of proteomics, it has become clear that NGS has room for innovation to someday include sequencing of proteins. Early embarkation of NGS incorporated into clinical trials has begun. Here, we review the feasibility and practicality of translating NGS from clinical trials to clinical practice.
On the Fingerprint-based position algorithm enhanced by Round Trip Time measurement in Radio Access System

This paper presents a new algorithm of Fingerprint-based position enhanced by Round Trip Time (RTT) measurement in Radio Access System. By confining the matching points to the area defined by RTT position, the location accuracy is improved. Some key influence factors of the algorithm are also discussed, and the simulation results are presented in a scenario of METIS TC2.
Electron microscope in situ annealing study of voids induced by irradiation in aluminum

Abstract The shrinkage of irradiation-induced voids in 8001 aluminum alloy and pure aluminum (Cominco Grade 69) was investigated by annealing thin-foil specimens in a high-vacuum electron microscope. The general shrinkage characteristics of both materials were quite similar, but the shrinkage curves for individual voids showed considerable variation. Most of the voids exhibited an initial high rate of shrinkage. Both effects may reflect the influence of unresolvable local vacancy sinks.
Analysis of control performance for stability robustness of power systems

This paper presents a novel approach to analyze stability robustness of controls in power systems over a range of operating conditions. The controls considered include exciters, power system stabilizers, and governors. The analytical basis for the approach is presented. The robustness framework for power systems is formulated. Numerical results for a sample test system are obtained and compared with those obtained by conventional techniques. >
Effects of Ethanol Consumption on Enriched Natural Killer Cells from C57BL/6 Mice

Ethanol (20% w/v) given to female, C57BL/6 mice in their drinking water was previously shown to suppress natural killer (NK) cell cytolytic activity in a mixed splenocyte population. The present study was designed to examine the hypothesis that ethanol consumption independently results in inhibition of NK cell cytolytic activity. Mice were given 20% w/v ethanol in the drinking water for 2 weeks, and splenic NK cells were enriched up to 88% based on surface expression of NK1.1. Cytolytic activity of these freshly enriched NK cells from ethanol-consuming mice against YAC-1 lymphoma cells was inhibited an average of 41% relative to water-drinking controls. Cytolytic activity of enriched NK cells from ethanol-consuming mice was stimulated to levels equal to control water-drinking mice after 16- to 18-hr incubation in 1000 units/ml recombinant interleukin 2. These data indicate that in vitro cytolytic activity of NK cells from ethanol-consuming mice is inhibited in the absence of other modulatory leukocytes.
Restoration relevance of recent National Fire Plan treatments in forests of the western United States

The US National Fire Plan (NFP) is among the largest forest-restoration initiatives worldwide, removing wild-land fuels on about 11 million hectares and costing over $6 billion. We evaluated the extent to which areas treated under the NFP – from 2004 to 2008, in forest ecosystems outside the wildland–urban interface in 11 western states (“West”) – were predicted to need restoration, due to disruption of fire regimes and expected fuels buildup. Fuel-reduction treatments were implemented on about 1% of the West's forested areas. Forty-three percent of the treated area was predicted to have high-restoration need – almost twice as much as expected, given the distribution of these forests. However, an equal amount was in mixed- or uncertain-need forests, and 14% occurred in low-need forests, suggesting that managers need additional information on fire-regime disruptions in some forest ecosystems to help prioritize restoration activities. Only one-quarter of the West's forested area shows strong evidence of uncharacteristic fuels buildup, which is often emphasized as the primary cause of current wildfire problems, potentially directing attention away from other important drivers such as climate change and an expanding wildland–urban interface.
Vortex Generation in Two Intracranial Aneurysms

Three-dimensional numerical simulations, using the sharp-interface immersed boundary method, are carried out to investigate the effect of aneurysm shape on the hemodynamics of intracranial aneurysm. In our previous work [1] only a single geometry of an aneurysm was tested, but here two three-dimensional geometries are tested by reconstruction from three-dimensional rotational angiography of a human subject [2]. The results support our previous hypothesis [1], i.e., when the vortex formation time scale at the parent artery is smaller than the transportation time scale across the aneurysm neck, the flow aneurysm dome is dominated by a dynamic, unsteady vortex formation.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Functional debugging of systems-on-chip

Due to the exponential growth of both design complexity and the number of gates per pin, functional debugging has emerged as a critical step in the development of a system-on-chip. We introduce a novel debugging approach for programmable systems-on-chip. The new method leverages the advantages of the two complementary functional execution approaches, emulation and simulation. We have developed a set of tools, transparent to both the design and debugging process, which enables the user to run long test sequences in emulation, and upon error detection, roll-back to an arbitrary instance in execution time, and switch over to simulation based debugging for full design visibility and controllability. The efficacy of the approach is dependent on the method for transferring the computation from one execution domain to another. To enable effective transfer of the computation state, we have identified a set of optimization tasks, established their computation complexity, and developed an efficient suite of optimization algorithms.
Getting to solutions

A story is told of a farmer and his cow that were walking down a country road and were hit by a car. The farmer sued the driver, and eventually the case wound up in court. The defense attorney asked the farmer “Did you or did you not tell my client that you were just fine right after the accident?” The farmer replied “Well, my cow and I were walking down the road…” The defense attorney interrupted and asked the judge to direct the farmer to give a simple yes or no answer.
Mass-resolved energy dependence of the ionization of H2 by Hc* (21,3S)

Abstract Relative cross sections for production of H 2 1 , ???, ??? and ??? were measured in crossed supersonic beams over the collision energy range 0.5–3.3 kcal/mole. The results are compared with a hybrid model invoking traditional dynamical assumption for the ???/??? branching ratio, with reasonably good agreement obtained.
Intrinsically damped multilayered (stacked) Nb/Al-AlNx/Nb superconducting tunnel junctions

Abstract Single and stacked Nb/Al-AlNx/Nb superconducting tunnel junctions with both hysteretic (underdamped) and non-hysteretic (overdamped) current-voltage relationships have been produced utilizing reactively sputtered aluminum nitride tunnel barriers. Standard multilayer deposition and lithographic processing techniques, compatible with existing Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb fabrication techniques, are used in fabrication. The degree of damping in the junctions is controlled through the deposition parameters. Critical current dependence on applied magnetic field indicates that the overdamped junctions have a distributed Josephson coupling and are not simple microshorts. The shorter deposition time to grow reactively sputtered AlNx barriers makes this system a promising alternative to fabricate stacked Josephson junctions.
Out of the wastebasket.

Excerpt Tuesday Been examining the great waterfall. It is the finest thing on the estate, I think. The new creature calls it Niagara Falls—why, I am sure I do not know. Says itlookslike Niagara Fal...
Ablative techniques for hepatocellular carcinoma.

The optimal management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is resection, but this is feasible in only a minority of patients for a variety of reasons, including metastatic disease, major vascular invasion, end-stage liver disease, and poor hepatic reserve. Inoperable patients may be candidates for ablative procedures that may eradicate tumor while minimizing the loss of functioning hepatic tissue that is inevitable with surgical resection. Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), hepatic arterial chemoembolization, cryoablation, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and microwave coagulation offer the potential of local tumor control and sometimes achieve long-term disease-free survival. This review will discuss the indications, anticipated benefits, and limitations of current ablative techniques and place these procedures in proper perspective as options for patients with HCC.
Design and simulation of the distributed loop computer network (DLCN)

The primary goals of this paper are two-fold: 1) to present the design and hardware implementation of the interface transmitter for the Distributed Loop Computer Network (DLCN), using a novel shift-register insertion message transmission mechanism, and 2) to discuss simulation results comparing DLCN with Pierce and Newhall loops, which verify earlier claims as to DLCN's superior performance.
Cervical spine fractures with major associated trauma.

A detailed review of 88 consecutive patients placed in skeletal tong traction for cervical fractures by the University of Louisville Neurosurgical Service during a 5-year period from July 1, 1979, through June 30, 1984, was carried out. Of this group, 60% of the patients had a major associated injury consisting of major facial and skull fractures, cerebral contusions or intracerebral blood clots, cardiac or pulmonary contusions, major thoracic injuries including rib fractures and hemo- or pneumothoraces, intra-abdominal injuries, and major extremity fractures. An additional 24% of the patients had minor associated injuries, including facial or scalp lacerations, general body lacerations, or abrasions and cerebral concussions. Only 16% of patients with cervical fractures had no evidence of any other associated injury. Acute cervical spine fractures require prompt assessment and resuscitation by personnel from multiple specialties, usually available only in major trauma centers where experienced personnel capable of handling diverse injuries are always present. Language: en
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND EXPERIENCE ON THE USE OF LOGICAL SYMBOLS

Twenty-four deaf, twenty-four hearing culturally deprived (American Indian), and twenty-four middle-class control young adolescents were trained in five daily sessions to identify picture-instances as true or false denotations of symbolic statements of eight logical concepts. Training was non-verbal in that subjects had to construct instances for statements of concepts or write statements for given instances. On the fifth day subjects were administered a paper and pencil test in which they had to identify newly introduced instances as true or false cases of concept statements. Deaf and Indian children manifested a similar performance pattern across concepts which differed notably from that of the control middle-class subjects. With concepts which generated a broad class of logically equivalent but physically distinct instances and with that aspect of a concept which included a broad class of instances, control subjects were superior to deaf and to Indian subjects. In distinction, minimal differences among groups were observed in identification of an instance which came from a class of one or a narrow class. It was concluded that deaf and Indian subjects at the age-level sampled tended to use symbols primarily to depict attributes literally while the controls were better able to apply symbols as they represent classes of instances. The results appear to conform to contemporary theories on the development of representational use of symbols and specify the deleterious influence of long-term experiential deprivation on intellectual development.
Intestinal Disaccharidase and Peroxidase Deficiencies during Eimeria nieschulzi Infections in Rats

SYNOPSIS Experiments were designed to study intestinal pathophysiologic changes associated with coccidial infections in mammalian hosts. Pairs of male Sprague-Dawley rats were killed at various times postinoculation (PI) with 104 or 106 sporulated occysts of Eimeria nieschulzi. The small intestine from each rat was removed, weighed, measured, and divided into thirds. From the middle 11 cm of each third, one cm was fixed for histologic examination. Mucosa was scraped from the remaining 10 cm and was assayed for protein content and for peroxidase, sucrase and trehalase activities. Infection with E. nieschulzi was associated with increased mass of the small bowel. Histologically, crypt depth throughout the small bowel was significantly greater (P≤ 0.005) in infected rats than in non-infected ones on PI days 8 and 16. Villus height did not change drastically during low-dose infections (104 oocysts) and varied during high-dose infections (106 oocysts). As a result of these morphologic changes in the mucosa, crypt/villus ratios were usually significantly greater (P≤ 0.005) in all infected rats throughout the small bowel. In general, increased gut weight and changes in crypt and villus dimensions became evident by PI day 2, were most pronounced at PI day 8, and began to return to control values by PI day 16. Peroxidase, sucrase, and trehalase levels equaled or were slightly higher than in controls on PI day 2, dropped significantly below controls (P≤ 0.05) by PI day 8, and returned to, or exceeded control levels by PI day 16. The intensity of all changes was directly dose-dependent.
Idolization mourning and catastrophe: transfiguring religious fundamentalism†

Religious fundamentalism organizes around a core set of attitudes and dispositions: exile, shame, condemnation, grandiose self-loathing, passivity, moral literalism, idolization, persecution, revenge, and violent messianic transcendence in which an abject self fuses with a vengeful spirit. This paper examines some of the sources that fuel the constellation of this set of positions – which also includes ‘clash of civilizations’ ideologies – in one individual whose way of being is exemplary of the confusion between violence and salvation. The concept of idolization is developed as it is the grounding attitude through which the religious fundamentalist turn of mind inflates. Fundamentalist dispositions undergo modification when the personality begins to soften through the capacity to mourn cumulative losses, violations, and traumatic abandonments. The capacity to mourn disentangles fusion with violent states of self-other linkage. A space then opens through which symbolic representations of tenderness and care enrich the self and take on more constant internal presence than does fascination with cultic ideologies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intricacies in ATP-Dependent Clamp Loading: Variations across Replication Systems

DNA replication requires the coordinated effort of many proteins to create a highly processive biomachine able to replicate entire genomes in a single process. The clamp proteins confer on replisomes this property of processivity but in turn require clamp loaders for their functional assembly onto DNA. A more detailed view of the mechanisms for holoenzyme assembly in replication systems has been obtained from the advent of novel solution experiments and the appearance of low- and high-resolution structures for the clamp loaders.
Large effects of A -site average cation size on the properties of the double perovskites Ba 2 − x Sr x MnReO 6 : A d 5 − d 1 system

${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{x}{\mathrm{MnReO}}_{6}$ $(x=0,$ 0.5, 1, 2) phases with a double-perovskite structure were prepared by solid-state techniques in evacuated sealed silica tubes. ${\mathrm{Mn}}^{2+}$ and ${\mathrm{Re}}^{6+}$ are virtually completely ordered on the B sites. The compounds are ferrimagnetic below 120 K. The maximum saturation moment was obtained for a compound with $x=0.5$ whose tolerance factor is closest to 1. The whole series of compounds, $0.0l~xl~2.0,$ exhibits semiconducting behavior with variable-range hopping type of conduction. ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{MnReO}}_{6}$ has an unusually high coercive field (2.6 T at 5 K) and two transitions in the $M\ensuremath{-}H$ loop. ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{MnReO}}_{6}$ shows large positive magnetoresistance (14% at 80 K, 5 T) below 140 K, while the other compositions studied exhibit negative magnetoresistance in the temperature range measured.
Adapting instruction in search of a significant difference

The theory of learning styles states that people have different approaches to learning and studying 7,8]. Given a specific instruction method or environment, some people will learn more effectively than others due to their individual learning style and the grade distribution of the learning would be bell-shaped, with the majority of the learners appearing in the middle of the distribution curve. Several studies show that there is `No Significant Difference? when technology is applied to instruction 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 23, 25], since either in traditional classrooms or in any of the technological environments, there is only one form of instruction, and usually from one source, yielding the familiar bell shaped grade distribution. This explains the `No Significant Difference? results and indicates that another instruction method needs to be investigated. An approach to achieve `A Significant Difference? is to provide several different instruction methods. This paper describes Arthur, a Web-based instruction system that provides adaptive instruction to achieve `A Significant Difference?.
Group learning for adults with disabilities or chronic disease.

In some facilities, group learning has been used to teach adults who have various disabilities or chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, cardiac problems, cancer, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury). The following literature review discusses the advantages of group learning, which include peer support, individuals' learning and gaining motivation from each other, reduced feelings of isolation, and opportunities to share problems and goals. It appears likely that greater use of group learning could enhance rehabilitation efforts for adults.
Amyloid beta toxicity dependent upon endothelial cell state.

Abstract Amyloid beta (Aβ), a peptide family produced and deposited in neurons and endothelial cells (EC), is found at subnanomolar concentrations in the plasma of healthy individuals. Simple conformational changes produce a form of Aβ, Aβ42, which creates toxic plaque in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Oxidative stress induced blood brain barrier degeneration has been proposed as a key factor for Aβ42 toxicity, but cannot account for lack of injury from the same peptide in healthy tissues. We hypothesized that cell state mediates Aβ effect. Thus, we examined the viability of aortic EC, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) and epithelial cells (EPI) in different states in the presence of Aβ secreted from transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO). Aβ was more toxic to all cell types when they were subconfluent. Subconfluent EC sprouted and SMC and EPI were inhibited by Aβ. Confluent EC were virtually resistant to Aβ and suppressed Aβ production by Aβ + CHO. Products of subconfluent EC overcame this resistant state, stimulating the production and toxicity of Aβ42. Confluent EC overgrew ∼35% beyond their quiescent state in the presence of Aβ conditioned in media from subconfluent EC. These findings imply that Aβ42 may well be even more cytotoxic to cells in injured or growth states and potentially explain the variable and potent effects of this protein. One may now need to consider tissue and cell state in addition to local concentration of and exposure duration to Aβ. The specific interactions of Aβ and EC in a state-dependent fashion may help understand further the common and divergent forms of vascular and cerebral toxicity of Aβ and the spectrum of AD.
Effect of neonatal hypothyroidism and of thyroxine onl-[14C]leucine incorporation in proteinin vivo and the relationship to ionic levels in the developing brain of the rat

Summary The rate of cerebral protein synthesis in vivo and changes in ionic levels have been investigated in infant rats following thyroid hormone deficiency induced at 1 day of age and after the administration of physiological levels of thyroxine from the 6th day of age. Following the injection of uniformly labelled l -[ 14 C]leucine in proportion to body weight, the rate of disappearance of the label from plasma and cerebral free amino acid pool was depressed in thyroid-deficient animals. The specific activity of cerebral protein-bound leucine expressed as a function of the specific activity of the label in the free amino acid pool was significantly reduced in hypothyroid rats, indicating a decrease in protein synthesis. It was inferred from the changes in cerebral Na + , K + , and Cl-ions in hypothyroid rats that the Na-K pump is altered and the transport of amino acids is adversely affected. Thyroxine therapy reversed the changes in cerebral protein synthesis and ionic concentration. It was concluded that the relationship between thyroid hormone action and brain protein synthesis is partially mediated through the effect of this hormone on ionic distribution and amino acid transport.
Highlights from the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the ASER 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course

The American Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER) 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course offered dedicated learning sessions, oral presentations, and digital exhibits on a broad spectrum of topics in emergency radiology, including traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies, quality, communication, education, and technology. This article highlights the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the meeting (Emerg Radiol 21:431–471, 2014).
HDAC6 regulates mutant SOD1 aggregation through two SMIR motifs and tubulin acetylation

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is a tubulin deacetylase that regulates protein aggregation and turnover. Mutations in Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) linked to familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) make the mutant protein prone to aggregation. However, the role of HDAC6 in mutant SOD1 aggregation and the ALS etiology is unclear. Here we report that HDAC6 knockdown increased mutant SOD1 aggregation in cultured cells. Different from its known role in mediating the degradation of poly-ubiquitinated proteins, HDAC6 selectively interacted with mutant SOD1 via two motifs similar to the SOD1 mutant interaction region (SMIR) that we identified previously in p62/sequestosome 1. Expression of the aggregation-prone mutant SOD1 increased α-tubulin acetylation, and the acetylation-mimicking K40Q α-tubulin mutant promoted mutant SOD1 aggregation. Our results suggest that ALS-linked mutant SOD1 can modulate HDAC6 activity and increase tubulin acetylation, which, in turn, facilitates the microtubule- and retrograde transport-dependent mutant SOD1 aggregation. HDAC6 impairment might be a common feature in various subtypes of ALS.
Synthesis and evaluation of 4-[18F]fluoropropoxy-3-iodobenzylguanidine ([18F]FPOIBG): A novel 18F-labeled analogue of MIBG

Introduction Radioiodinated meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), a norepinephrine transporter (NET) substrate, has been extensively used as an imaging agent to study the pathophysiology of the heart and for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. The goal of this study was to develop an 18F-labeled analogue of MIBG that like MIBG itself could be synthesized in a single radiochemical step. Towards this end, we designed 4-fluoropropoxy-3-iodobenzylguanidine (FPOIBG).
Integration of intradisciplinary quality assessment into a multidisciplinary approach.

One challenge for the QA professsional in healthcare today is initiating, coordinating, and facilitating QA programs that cross traditional departmental and discipline barriers and bring together multidisciplinary teams. When looking at healthcare from a customer's perspective, the QA professional must not isolate what nursing does for the patient, what the medical staff does for the patient, what pharmacy does for the patient, and so on. The imperative, instead, is to evaluate the healthcare as it truly is perceived and delivered—as a team effort. This article presents one method that uses the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' 10-step model to create an effective multidisciplinary QA program.
No evidence from multichannel reflection data for a crustal magma chamber in the MARK area on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

THE role of crustal magma chambers in the construction of oceanic crust along the slowly spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is still highly disputed1. Some investigators have argued for small, short-lived crustal magma bodies2, whereas others have postulated the presence of permanent reservoirs centred between ridge offsets, which expand and contract in response to a fluctuating magma supply3. Thermal modelling4,5, detailed seismic refraction experiments at several different locations along the MAR6–9, and micro-earthquake10,11 and teleseismic-source mechanism studies12 preclude the existence of large, steady-state magma chambers under the entire MAR rift valley; however, smaller, localized crustal magma bodies could be present, at least intermittently. Here we use multichannel seismic reflection profiles to look for evidence of a crustal magma chamber along the MAR south of the Kane fracture zone, in one of the most magmatically robust and hydro-thermally active areas presently known along the MAR. Although some subbasement reflectors are imaged, we do not see a shallow, large-amplitude, intracrustal reflector that might be associated with a crustal magma body. If a crustal magma chamber was associated with the most recent volcanic episode along this part of the MAR, our results suggest that it was extremely short-lived.
Preoperative and intraoperative electrophysiologic assessment of brachial plexus injuries

Preoperative and intraoperative electrophysiologic studies complement one another and complement information obtained from clinical and imaging studies in brachial plexus injury. The information provided by electrodiagnostic studies helps to better define the number, location, and severity of plexus lesions. In addition, establishing the presence or absence of nerve root continuity and early regeneration through postganglionic lesions helps to direct surgical therapy.
Z-Phe-Ala-diazomethylketone (PADK) Disrupts and Remodels Early Oligomer States of the Alzheimer Disease Aβ42 Protein

The oligomerization of the amyloid-β protein (Aβ) is an important event in Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. Developing small molecules that disrupt formation of early oligomeric states of Aβ and thereby reduce the effective amount of toxic oligomers is a promising therapeutic strategy for AD. Here, mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry were used to investigate the effects of a small molecule, Z-Phe-Ala-diazomethylketone (PADK), on the Aβ42 form of the protein. The mass spectrum of a mixture of PADK and Aβ42 clearly shows that PADK binds directly to Aβ42 monomers and small oligomers. Ion mobility results indicate that PADK not only inhibits the formation of Aβ42 dodecamers, but also removes preformed Aβ42 dodecamers from the solution. Electron microscopy images show that PADK inhibits Aβ42 fibril formation in the solution. These results are consistent with a previous study that found that PADK has protective effects in an AD transgenic mouse model. The study of PADK and Aβ42 provides an example of small molecule therapeutic development for AD and other amyloid diseases.
Rapid, sensitive, microscale determination of phosphate in water and soil.

ample, is not widely used because it has a relatively high detection limit (0.1 mg L 1 ) and cannot be used for A rapid and sensitive analysis of inorganic and organic phosphorus samples with high concentrations of interfering anions (P) is needed to analyze water and soil extracts at submicromolar concentrations. The proposed method, based on the complexation of without sample pretreatment. The automated ascorbic malachite green with phosphomolybdate under acidic conditions, was acid colorimetric method is extensively used because it adapted to a 96-well microtiter plate format, and was tested for matrix overcomes most of these obstacles. Moreover, many interferences using 15 soils and some common extractants, including automated techniques can save time when they are conwater, KCl, CaCl2, NaOH, and HCl. The accuracy of P determination figured to simultaneously determine several compowas affected when CaCl2 and HCl concentrations were greater than nents in a sample mixture. However, many automated 0.1 M and when NaOH concentration exceeded 0.4 M. Potassium techniques require expensive and dedicated equipment chloride concentration up to 1 M did not interfere with P determina- and a high degree of technical expertise to operate, and tion. The molar absorptivity was 46 841 M 1 cm 1 and the reagent generate large volumes of waste. Considering the short blank absorbance was 0.071 0.003 (n 10). At the 99% confidence holding time for analysis of soluble inorganic P (48 h limit, the method detection limit was calculated to be 0.006 mg P L 1 . Recovery of added inorganic P in different types of soils and extracts for refrigerated samples) and the number of samples ranged between 95 and 112% with an average of 102%. The proposed involved, these constraints put a burden on many labomicroplate method allows P to be determined rapidly in a wide range ratories. of soil types and extracts and requires limited volume (20–200 L). The malachite green (MG) colorimetric procedure The procedure uses limited quantities (40 L) of two stable reagents has also been used to determine P at submicromolar (1 yr), and generates low amounts of hazardous waste. concentrations in water and soil–water extracts (van Veldhoven and Mannaerts, 1987; Ohno and Zibilske, 1991). Both the ascorbic acid (AA; Murphy and Riley,
Differential regulation of intestinal alkaline phosphatase gene expression by Cdx1 and Cdx2.

We have examined the role that the caudal-related homeobox transcription factors Cdx1 and Cdx2 play in activating the enterocyte differentiation marker gene intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP). H...
Nuclear DNA content of some important plant species

Nuclear DNA contents of more than 100 important plant species were measured by flow cytometry of isolated nuclei stained with propidium iodide.Arabidopsis exhibits developmentally regulated multiploidy and has a 2C nuclear DNA content of 0.30 pg (145 Mbp/1C), twice the value usually cited. The 2C value for rice is only about three times that ofArabidopsis. Tomato has a 2C value of about 2.0 pg, larger than commonly cited. This survey identified several horticultural crops in a variety of families with genomes only two or three times as large asArabidopsis; these include several fruit trees (a pricot, cherry, mango, orange, papaya, and peach). The small genome sizes of rice and the horticultural plants should facilitate molecular studies of these crops.
Risk of postoperative hypoxemia in ambulatory orthopedic surgery patients with diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea: a retrospective observational study

It is unclear when it is safe to discharge patients with a diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) after ambulatory surgical procedures due to concern for postoperative respiratory compromise and hypoxemia. Our OSA patients undergoing ambulatory-type orthopedic procedures are monitored overnight in the PACU, thus we reviewed patient records to determine incidence of complications. Two hundred and six charts of patients with preoperative diagnosis of OSA based on ICD-9 codes were reviewed for outcomes including episodes of hypoxemia. Univariate analysis followed by logistic regression and propensity analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors for hypoxemia and association with adverse outcomes. The majority of patients had regional anesthesia (95%). Thirty four percent of patients had hypoxemia in the PACU. Initial risk factors for hypoxemia identified by univariate analysis were BMI ≥ 35, increased age, history of COPD, upper extremity procedure, and use of peripheral nerve block. Independent risk factors identified by logistic regression were history of COPD (OR 3.64 with 95% CI 1.03-12.88) and upper extremity procedure (2.53, 1.36-4.68). After adjustment with propensity scores, adverse events were rare, and unplanned hospital admission after PACU stay was not increased with hypoxemia (11% vs 16%) Episodes of postoperative hypoxemia in OSA patients undergoing ambulatory surgery with regional anesthesia are not associated with increased adverse outcomes or unplanned hospital admission.
NON-AUTONOMY OF HORMONE SECRETION IN PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM

SUMMARY Parathyroid hormone (PTH) was measured by radioimmunoassay in the plasma of twenty patients with surgically proven primary hyperparathyroidism during intravenous infusions of calcium and/or EDTA. All patients studied showed significant increases in plasma PTH during induced hypocalcaemia and significant decreases in plasma PTH during induced hypercalcaemia. The secretion of para thyroid hormone was not autonomous in these patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, regardless of histological type, but varied with induced changes in serum calcium concentration. The presence of immunoreactive hormonal sub-fragments in plasma seems the most likely explanation for the sharp contrast between our data and earlier studies. In spite of the difficulties presented by this complex pattern of hormonal metabolism, the radioimmunoassay for parathyroid hormone is clinically quite useful, particularly in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcaemia.
Remembrance of data passed: a study of disk sanitization practices

Many discarded hard drives contain information that is both confidential and recoverable, as the authors' own experiment shows. The availability of this information is little publicized, but awareness of it will surely spread.
Analysis of progressive damage in thin circular laminates due to static-equivalent impact loads

Clamped circular graphite/epoxy plates (25.4, 38.1, and 50.8 mm radii) with an 8-ply quasi-isotropic layup were analyzed for static-equivalent impact loads using the minimum-total-potential-energy method and the von Karman strain-displacement equations. A step-by-step incremental transverse displacement procedure was used to calculate plate load and ply stresses. The ply failure region was calculated using the Tsai-Wu criterion. The corresponding failure modes (splitting and fiber failure) were determined using the maximum stress criteria. The first-failure mode was splitting and initiated first in the bottom ply. The splitting-failure thresholds were relatively low and tended to be lower for larger plates than for small plates. The splitting-damage region in each ply was elongated in its fiber direction; the bottom ply had the largest damage region. The calculated damage region for the 25.4-mm-radius plate agreed with limited static test results from the literature.
The action of various salts on the first stage of the surface precipitation reaction in Arbacia egg protoplasm

1. Methods have been developed for the more or less quantitative study of the surface precipitation reaction as it occurs in Arbacia egg protoplasm. 2. Various salts retard or inhibit the first stage of the reaction. 3. The relative effectiveness of the alkaline cations in retarding or inhibiting the reaction is shown by the following series, NH4 〉Na 〉 K 〉Li. 4. Magnesium has a more powerful retarding action than any of the above-mentioned cations. 5. Although calcium is essential for the reaction, higher concentrations of calcium ion have exactly the same effect as other cations in retarding or inhibiting it. 6. The sulphocyanate ion has a greater effect on the reaction than the chloride ion. 7. Various theoretical possibilities are disscussed. The behavior of the reaction toward cations and anions of neutral salts is similar to that of a basic catalysis in homogeneous systems. It is pointed out that there is good evidence that the effective catalyst of the reaction is a lipase.
Comparison of Minolta colorimeter and machine vision system in measuring colour of irradiated Atlantic salmon.

BACKGROUND: Minolta and machine vision are two different instrumental techniques used for measuring the colour of muscle food products. Between these two techniques, machine vision has many advantages, such as its ability to determine L*, a*, b* values for each pixel of a sample's image and to analyse the entire surface of a food regardless of surface uniformity and colour variation. The objective of this study was to measure the colour of irradiated Atlantic salmon fillets using a hand-held Minolta colorimeter and a machine vision system and to compare their performance. RESULTS: The L*, a*, b* values of Atlantic salmon fillets subjected to different electron beam doses (0, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 kGy) were measured using a Minolta CR-200 Chroma Meter and a machine vision system. For both Minolta and machine vision the L* value increased and the a* and b* values decreased with increasing irradiation dose. However, the machine vision system showed significantly higher readings for L*, a*, b* values than the Minolta colorimeter. Because of this difference, colours that were actually measured by the two instruments were illustrated for visual comparison. Minolta readings resulted in a purplish colour based on average L*, a*, b* values, while machine vision readings resulted in an orange colour, which was expected for Atlantic salmon fillets. CONCLUSION: The Minolta colorimeter and the machine vision system were very close in reading the standard red plate with known L*, a*, b* values. Hence some caution is recommended in reporting colour values measured by Minolta, even when the ‘reference’ tiles are measured correctly. The reason for this discrepancy in colour readings for salmon is not known and needs further investigation. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry
Ionizing irradiation induces acute haematopoietic syndrome and gastrointestinal syndrome independently in mice

Ionizing radiation damages the gastrointestinal system, but the cell types involved in intestinal damage and repair are controversial. Here the authors use bone marrow transplantation models and various irradiation regimes to rule out a role of bone marrow-derived cells in acute gastrointestinal injury and recovery in mice.
Tests for the pole model in exclusive and semi-inclusive decays of the D0-meson

Abstract The pole model for D0-nonleptonic decay implies that the final state has isospin 1 2 . Experimental branching ratios are consistent with this selection rule, but the Dalitz plot for Kππ decay modes will have to show non-uniform structure in order to agree with it.
Handling Language Variations in Open Source Bug Reporting Systems

Natural language plays a critical role in the design, development and maintenance of software systems. For example, bug reporting systems allow users to submit reports describing observed anomalies in free form English. However, the free form aspect makes the detection of duplicate reports a challenge due to the breadth and diversity of language used by individual reporters. Tokenization, stemming and stop word removal are commonly used techniques to normalize and reduce the language space. However, the impact of typographical errors and alternate spellings has not been analyzed in the research literature. Our research indicates that handling language problems during automated bug triage analysis can lead to a boost in performance. We show that the language used in software problem reporting is too specialized to benefit from domain independent spell checkers or lexical databases. Therefore, we present a novel approach using word distance and neighbor word likelihood measures for detecting and resolving language-based issues in open-source software problem reporting. We evaluate our approach using the complete Firefox repository until March 2012. Our results indicate measurable improvements in duplicate detection results, while reducing the language space for most frequently used words by 30%. Moreover, our method is language-agnostic and does not require a pre-built dictionary, thus making it suitable for use in a variety of systems.