cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pathogenesis and latency of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1): an ophthalmologist's view of the eye as a model for the study of the virus-host relationship.

The current overview presents HSV-1 pathogenicity and latency from the point of view of a practicing ophthalmologist. It begins with the premise that “man is the measure of all things.” The devastation wrought by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in the human eye is both significant and widespread. HSV-1 is the leading infectious cause of corneal blindness in the industrialized world, and there are over 300,000 cases of herpetic eye infection annually in the United States (1). Our goal in ophthalmology is to reduce and ultimately prevent the visual loss due to herpes simplex eye infections.
Is repeated treatment with a 5-fluorouracil-based regimen useful in colorectal cancer?

Salvage treatment with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with or without leucovorin may induce responses in patients with advanced colorectal cancer whose disease progresses after adjuvant therapy with the same drugs. Similarly, restarting a regimen containing 5-FU can be beneficial in patients with advanced disease who had previously responded to the therapy or experienced disease stabilization but whose treatment was interrupted. Administering 5-FU by continuous intravenous (i.v.) infusion may result in a tumor response after disease progression on bolus 5-FU i.v. injection. Adding the platinum compound oxaliplatin to 5-FU and leucovorin may provide synergistic antineoplastic activity, even in patients with disease refractory to 5-FU. Chronomodulation of therapy decreases toxicity and increases dose intensity, response rate, and possibly survival time in some studies. Hepatic arterial infusion of chemotherapeutic agents is not routinely recommended in patients who have metastases limited to the liver and whose disease has failed to respond to prior 5-FU because of the associated costs and complications and the lack of data supporting the use of this approach after disease progression on i.v. 5-FU. A multicenter phase III trial has been completed in which patients whose colorectal cancer had progressed after first-line treatment with 5-FU were randomized to receive irinotecan 300 to 350 mg/m2 every 3 weeks or infusional 5-FU with or without leucovorin (Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 17:256A, 1998 [abstr 984]). The 5-FU was administered according to investigator choice as a 24-hour, 48-hour, or continuous infusion. The results of this trial, which have been submitted for publication, should help to clarify the relative value of re-treatment with a 5-FU-containing regimen versus use of irinotecan in patients with disease progression after first-line 5-FU.
Sexual Harassment NDAs: Privacy, Complicity, and the Paradox of Blackmail

Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement focused public attention on both sexual predation and the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that help it to persist. NDAs help repeat perpetrators avoid detection and punishment, increasing the risk of harm to future victims. At the same time, NDAs are thought to have benefits. They protect informational privacy interests of both perpetrators and victims, facilitate dispute settlement, and provide victims with larger settlement awards. This article offers moral arguments against the supposed virtues of NDAs. Guilty perpetrators are not entitled to informational privacy about their wrongs. It might be thought that NDAs protect perpetrators from excessive social punishment in ways comparable to felony expungement statutes. But this analogy is not persuasive. The privacy interests of people who are falsely accused of wrongdoing are somewhat stronger. But NDAs are an excessively broad way to protect this interest. While victims have an interest in not being identified, this does not justify taking money in exchange for keeping the perpetrator’s secret. Victims who agree not to disclose in exchange for money differ from victims who remain silent without payment because the former are complicit in the harassers’ wrongdoing and because they sometimes offer to violate a moral duty in exchange for payment. In advancing these claims, I draw on theories about the immorality of blackmail, which seek to explain why it is sometimes wrong to offer silence in exchange for payment. I also provide reasons to doubt that NDAs are important for facilitating dispute resolution and guaranteeing adequate victim compensation.
Performance Standards vs. Design Standards: Facilitating a Shift toward Best Practices

Performance standards are typically viewed as a preferable regulatory approach to design standards. Presidential administrations and offices have consistently instructed regulatory agencies to favor performance standards when feasible. Nevertheless, research shows that in many instances, agencies opt for design standards even when performance standards would likely lead to better outcomes. Following a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of performance standards, we lay out some general principles for agencies when considering alternative regulatory approaches. These principles are intended to help agencies determine whether performance standards are preferable to design standards given the particular aspects of any regulatory issue, and to help agencies avoid potential pitfalls when crafting performance standards. We then present two case studies of recent actions by regulatory agencies — the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration — that demonstrate how to shift from design standards to performance standards.
NOx Adsorption and Optical Detection in Rare Earth Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Acid gases (e.g., NOx and SOx), commonly found in complex chemical and petrochemical streams, require material development for their selective adsorption and removal. Here, we report the NOx adsorption properties in a family of rare earth (RE) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials. Fundamental understanding of the structure-property relationship of NOx adsorption in the RE-DOBDC materials platform was sought via a combined experimental and molecular modeling study. No structural change was noted following humid NOx exposure. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations indicated that H2O has a stronger affinity to bind with the metal center than NO2, while NO2 preferentially binds with the DOBDC ligands. Further modeling results indicate no change in binding energy across the RE elements investigated. Also, stabilization of the NO2 and H2O molecules following adsorption was noted, predicted to be due to hydrogen bonding between the framework ligands and the molecules and nanoconfinement within the MOF structure. This interaction also caused distinct changes in emission spectra, identified experimentally. Calculations indicated that this is due to the adsorption of NO2 molecules onto the DOBDC ligand altering the electronic transitions and the resulting photoluminescent properties, a feature that has potential applications in future sensing technologies.
Transforaminal Endoscopic Approach for Lumbar Extraforaminal Synovial Cysts: Technical Note.

Objective Lumbar facet cysts are commonly seen in degenerative lumbar conditions causing stenosis and radiculopathy. Extraforaminal lumbar facet cysts are a rare entity and present a surgical challenge because of their location. Transforaminal endoscopic spine surgery is an emerging technique in spine surgery but has never been described as a treatment option for lumbar radiculopathy in the setting of extraforaminal lumbar facet cyst. Methods A technique for the transforaminal endoscopic treatment of an extraforaminal lumbar facet cyst is presented in 2 patients. We retrospectively reviewed 321 cases of patients who underwent transforaminal endoscopic surgery in a 4-year period with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Results A series of 2 patients who underwent transforaminal endoscopic foraminotomy and cyst resection procedures for extraforaminal lumbar facet cysts between 2014 and 2017 is presented: A 51-year-old woman with a right L4-5 extraforaminal cyst improved from a preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) of 7 and Oswestry disability index (ODI) of 26 to a 1-year postoperative VAS score of 2 and ODI of 4; and a 71-year-old woman with a left L5-S1 extraforaminal cyst improved from a preoperative VAS of 7 and ODI of 30 to a 1-year postoperative VAS score of 2 and ODI of 6. Conclusions Transforaminal endoscopic surgery for a lumbar radiculopathy in the setting of an extraforaminal lumbar facet cyst is presented as a unique minimally invasive approach for the treatment of extraforaminal lumbar facet cyst that avoids facet resection and fusion.
Real-Time Optimization of Anti-Reflective Coatings for CIGS Solar Cells

A new method combining in-situ real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry and optical modeling to optimize the thickness of an anti-reflective (AR) coating for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells is described and applied directly to fabricate devices. The model is based on transfer matrix theory with input from the accurate measurement of complex dielectric function spectra and thickness of each layer in the solar cell by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The AR coating thickness is optimized in real time to optically enhance device performance with varying thickness and properties of the constituent layers. Among the parameters studied, we notably demonstrate how changes in thickness of the CIGS absorber layer, buffer layers, and transparent contact layer of higher performance solar cells affect the optimized AR coating thickness. An increase in the device performance of up to 6% with the optimized AR layer is demonstrated, emphasizing the importance of designing the AR coating based on the properties of the device structure.
A macroscopic model that connects the molar excess entropy of a supercooled liquid near its glass transition temperature to its viscosity.

For a deeply supercooled liquid near its glass transition temperature, we suggest a possible way to connect the temperature dependence of its molar excess entropy to that of its viscosity by constructing a macroscopic model, where the deeply supercooled liquid is assumed to be a mixture of solid-like and liquid-like micro regions. In this model, we assume that the mole fraction x of the liquid-like micro regions tends to zero as the temperature T of the liquid is decreased and extrapolated to a temperature Tg*, which we assume to be below but close to the lowest glass transition temperature Tg attainable with the slowest possible cooling rate for the liquid. Without referring to any specific microscopic nature of the solid-like and liquid-like micro regions, we also assume that near Tg, the molar enthalpy of the solid-like micro regions is lower than that of the liquid-like micro regions. We then show that the temperature dependence of x is directly related to that of the molar excess entropy. Close to Tg...
Limits on Far-ultraviolet Emission from Warm Gas in Clusters of Galaxies with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope

We have searched the far-UV spectra of five clusters of galaxies observed with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) for emission in the resonance lines of O VI λλ1032, 1038 and C IV λλ1548, 1551. We do not detect significant emission from either species in any of the spectra. Lieu et al. have recently proposed a warm [(5-10) × 105 K] component to the intracluster medium (ICM) to explain excess 0.065-0.245 keV flux present in EUVE and ROSAT observations of the Virgo cluster. If the surface brightness of this warm component follows that of the hot, X-ray-emitting gas (i.e., is centrally condensed), then our upper limit to the O VI surface brightness in M87 is inconsistent with the presence of substantial 5 × 105 K gas in the center of the Virgo cluster. This inconsistency may be alleviated if the central gas temperature is 7.5 × 105 K. HUT limits on the O VI surface brightness of the four other clusters can provide important constraints on models of their ICM.
Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Barrett’s Esophagus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has gastrointestinal implications as it is associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Less certain is an independent association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus. A systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed. Inclusion criteria were observational studies (retrospective and case–control) assessing the association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus in adult subjects. Data from the included studies were extracted and used to calculate the pooled odds ratio of OSA with 95% confidence interval (CI) between patients with Barrett’s esophagus and those without, using a random-effects model. Altogether six studies involving 2333 subjects met the inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis found a significantly increased risk of OSA, high risk of OSA, and patient-reported OSA symptoms among patients with Barrett’s esophagus versus those without Barrett’s esophagus, with a pooled odds ratio (OR) of 2.19 (95% CI 1.53–3.15). A subgroup analysis for cases of definite OSA (formally diagnosed via polysomnography) and Barrett’s esophagus (n = 2 studies) also demonstrated significant association (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.39–4.84). A significantly increased risk of OSA among patients with Barrett’s esophagus was demonstrated in this meta-analysis. Further investigation is warranted to determine the pathophysiology and clinical implications of this association.
Silver Nanowire Back Electrode Stabilized with Graphene Oxide Encapsulation for Inverted Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells with Longer Lifetime

Semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) have garnered strong interest for building integrated photovoltaics (PV) and wearable electronics. Although seen as an appealing low-cost PV technology...
A Case of Osmotic Demyelination Syndrome in a Chronic Alcoholic With Moderate Hyponatremia

Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) is a clinical syndrome seen following aggressive correction of severe hyponatremia. Chronic alcohol use, malnutrition, and electrolyte derangement are additional risk factors promoting the demyelination in ODS. A 49-year-old female with a history of untreated mood disorder, hypertension, alcohol, and tobacco abuse presented to the emergency department (ED) with a three-month history of generalized body weakness. She also had a history of recurrent falls, difficulty walking, inadequate food and water intake, progressively worsening jaundice, and confusion which started about the same time. Her vital signs were normal; some of the significant physical examination findings were: sclera icterus, abdominal distension, bilateral pedal edema, hand tremors, rotary nystagmus, paraparesis, 1+ bilateral knee jerk, and absent bilateral ankle jerk. She had moderate hyponatremia, mild hypokalemia, deranged liver function test with a cholestatic pattern and transaminitis, hypoalbuminemia, elevated ammonia, lipase, in keeping with alcoholic liver disease and acute pancreatitis. In the ED, she received a normal saline infusion, and her serum sodium rose by just 6 mmol/L within the first 24 hours. She had drainage of her ascitic fluid and treatment with thiamine, folic acid, prednisone, lactulose, rifaximin, furosemide, spironolactone, and Ceftriaxone with improvement in clinical and laboratory abnormalities. Her lower extremity weakness persisted despite physical therapy, prompting neurologic evaluation. MRI of the lumbar spine showed an old compression fracture and lumbar spinal stenosis, while MRI brain findings were consistent with Osmotic demyelination. At the time of discharge to a rehabilitation facility, her serum sodium was 132 mmol/L, but her leg weakness persisted. Although rare, ODS can occur in the setting of moderate hyponatremia if there are additional risk factors that lower the threshold for demyelination.
Subgroup discovery in non-inferiority trials

Approaches and guidelines for performing subgroup analysis to assess heterogeneity of treatment effect in clinical trials have been the topic of numerous papers in the statistical and clinical literature, but have been discussed predominantly in the context of conventional superiority trials. Concerns about treatment heterogeneity are the same if not greater in non-inferiority (NI) trials, especially since overall similarity between two treatment arms in a successful NI trial could be due to the existence of qualitative interactions that are more likely when comparing two active therapies. Even in unsuccessful NI trials, subgroup analyses can yield important insights about the potential reasons for failure to demonstrate non-inferiority of the experimental therapy. Recent NI trials have performed a priori subgroup analyses using standard statistical tests for interaction, but there is increasing interest in more flexible machine learning approaches for post-hoc subgroup discovery. The performance and practical application of such methods in NI trials have not been systematically explored, however. We considered the Virtual Twin method for the NI setting, an algorithm for subgroup identification that combines random forest with classification and regression trees, and conducted extensive simulation studies to examine its performance under different NI trial conditions and to devise decision rules for selecting the final subgroups. We illustrate the utility of the method with data from a NI trial that was conducted to compare two acupuncture treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Co(x)Ni(4-x)Sb(12-y)Sn(y) Ternary Skutterudites: Processing and Thermoelectric Properties

Skutterudites have proven to be a useful thermoelectric system as a result of their high figure of merit, favorable mechanical properties, and good thermal stability. Binary skutterudites have received the majority of interest in recent years, as a result of successful double and triple filling schemes. Ternary skutterudites, such as Ni4Sb7Sn5, also demonstrate good thermoelectric performance, with high power factor and low thermal conductivity. Ternary skutterudites, as contrasted to binary systems, provide more possibility for tuning electronic structure as substitutions can be studied on three elements. The Co(x)Ni(4-x)Sb(12-y)Sn(y) system has been investigated as both a p- and n-type thermoelectric material, stable up to 200 C. The system is processed through a combination of solidification, mechanical alloying, and hot pressing steps. Rietveld structure refinement has revealed an interesting occupancy of Sn on both the 24g Wyckoff position with Sb as well as the 2a position as a rattler. In addition to thermoelectric properties, detailed processing routes have been investigated on the system.
Birth temperature followed by a visual critical period determines cooperative group membership.

Cooperative behavior often arises when a common exploitable resource is generated. Cooperation can provide equitable distribution and protection from raiding of a common resource such as processed food. Under crowded conditions in liquid food, Drosophila larvae adopt synchronized feeding behavior which provides a fitness benefit. A key for this synchronized feeding behavior is the visually guided alignment of a 1–2 s locomotion stride between adjacent larvae in a feeding cluster. The locomotion stride is thought to be set by embryonic incubation temperature. This raises a question as to whether sib larvae will only cluster efficiently if they hatch at the same temperature. To test this, larvae were first collected and incubated in outdoor conditions. Morning hatched lower temperature larvae move slower than their afternoon higher temperature sibs. Both temperature types synchronize but tend to exclude the other type of larvae from their clusters. In addition, fitness, as measured by adult wing size, is highest when larvae cluster with their own temperature type. Thus, the temperature at which an egg is laid sets a type of behavioral stamp or password which locks in membership for later cooperative feeding.
Using place-based characteristics to inform FDA tobacco sales inspections: results from a multilevel propensity score model.

Background Conducting routine inspections for compliance with age-of-sale laws is essential to reducing underage access to tobacco. We seek to develop a multilevel propensity score model (PSM) to predict retail violation of sales to minors (RVSM). Methods The Food and Drug Administration compliance check of tobacco retailers with minor-involved inspections from 2015 to 2019 (n=683 741) was linked with multilevel data for demographics and policies. Generalised estimating equation was used to develop the PSM using 2015–2016 data to predict the 2017 RVSM. The prediction accuracy of the PSM was validated by contrasting PSM deciles against 2018–2019 actual violation data. Results In 2017, 44.3% of 26 150 zip codes with ≥1 tobacco retailer had 0 FDA underage sales inspections, 11.0% had 1 inspection, 13.5% had 2–3, 15.3% had 4–9, and 15.9% had 10 or more. The likelihood of having an RVSM in 2017 was higher in zip codes with a lower number of inspections (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.988, 95% CI (0.987 to 0.990)) and penalties (aOR=0.97, 95% CI (0.95 to 0.99)) and a higher number of violations (aOR=1.07, 95% CI (1.06 to 1.08)) in the previous 2 years. Urbanicity, socioeconomic status, smoking prevalence and tobacco control policies at multilevels also predicted retail violations. Prediction accuracy was validated with zip codes with the highest 10% of the PSM 3.4 times more likely to have retail violations in 2019 than zip codes in the bottom decile. Conclusion The multilevel PSM predicts the RVSM with a good rank order of retail violations. The model-based approach can be used to identify hot spots of retail violations and improve the sampling plan for future inspections.
Pseudomonas alliivorans sp. nov., a plant-pathogenic bacterium isolated from onion foliage in Georgia, USA

Abstract This study provides a taxonomic characterization of three bacterial strains isolated from onion seedlings in Georgia USA. Yellow-colored colonies were isolated, and a diffusible fluorescent pigment was visible under ultraviolet light on King’s medium B. Preliminary analysis of the basic phenotype tests and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated the onion strains were closely related to Pseudomonas viridiflava with the highest similarity to P. viridiflava DSM 6694T (99.6%). The phylogenomic analyses based on whole genome sequences showed that the onion strains formed a separate monophyletic clade from other species with P. viridiflava as the closest neighbor. When the onion strains and the P. viridiflava type strain were compared, the average nucleotide identity values were 91.6%. Additionally, the digital DNA–DNA hybridization values of the onion strains were 45.8% or less when compared to the type strains of their close relatives, including P. viridiflava. In addition, biochemical, physiological features, and cellular fatty acid compositions were determined for a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. The results supported that the three onion strains represented a novel Pseudomonas species. We propose a new species as Pseudomonas alliivorans sp. nov., with 20GA0068T (=LMG 32210T = CFBP 8885T) as the type strain. The DNA G+C content of the strain 20GA0068T is 59.14 mol%.
The Idea of the Museum: Philosophical, Artistic and Political Questions

A collection of 15 essays addressing the nature and purpose, in today's society, of the museum. The contributors see the museum as a cultural force in itself - exhibiting general characteristics of human understanding and values.
The sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. Localization of free energy transfer to discrete steps of the reaction cycle.

Abstract Free energy transduction in active transport resembles other protein-catalyzed processes, occurring by an ordered sequence of discrete bond-breaking and bond-making steps. The bonds that affect the transported ion directly are chelation bonds, which after the chemical potential of the bound ion, but not its chemical identity. Available data for the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca pump (admittedly incomplete) suggest that more than 50% of the free energy transfer may be localized to a single step of the reaction cycle.
World-wide web cache consistency

The bandwidth demands of the World Wide Web continue to grow at a hyper-exponential rate. Given this rocketing growth, caching of web objects as a means to reduce network bandwidth consumption is likely to be a necessity in the very near future. Unfortunately, many Web caches do not satisfactorily maintain cache consistency. This paper presents a survey of contemporary cache consistency mechanisms in use on the Internet today and examines recent research in Web cache consistency. Using trace-driven simulation, we show that a weak cache consistency protocol (the one used in the Alex ftp cache) reduces network bandwidth consumption and server load more than either time-to-live fields or an invalidation protocol and can be tuned to return stale data less than 5% of the time.
Cultural perceptions in cancer care among African-American and Caucasian patients.

PURPOSE: This exploratory study examined perceptions and beliefs of African Americans and Caucasians related to cancer care. Understanding belief systems and cultures optimizes cancer treatment and care delivery to ethnic minority individuals. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Focus groups were conducted with 39 African-American and Caucasian cancer patients. Data analysis included whole group analysis with a team of five researchers. RESULTS: Regardless of ethnicity, cancer patients share many of the same emotions and experiences, and want complete information and quality care. Differences were also apparent. African-American participants were more likely to report increased religious behaviors, believe that healthcare providers demonstrate care with simple actions and provision of practical assistance, and use church and community information sources. Caucasian participants were more likely to report spiritual but not overtly religious changes, and depend on healthcare providers for information. CONCLUSION: Understanding how culture colors perceptions, communication and information requirements is critical to providing effective care to ethnically diverse cancer patients. Findings have implications for professionals understanding ways patients seek information, the role of spirituality and religion in care, and ways healthcare providers demonstrate care.
Identifying differentially expressed genes from probe level intensities in longitudinal affymetrix microarray experiments

Identifying differentially expressed genes over different physiological/genetic conditions is fundamental to microarray data analysis. Most of the traditional approaches do not consider the inherent correlation structure of the repeated measurements, and hence tend to give rise to inflated statistical significance of estimated treatment effects. We propose including dependency between time points and probes into a mixed linear model for gene microarray data. The approach can be viewed as an extension to existing linear model based approaches such as ANOVA, Li-Wong's Model and the linear mixed effect model proposed by Chu et al. Model fitting diagnostics demonstrate significant performance improvement for longitudinal probe level data. We illustrate our approach for an aging experiment in a mouse model for quantifying retinal gene expression
The Bad Practice of Best Practice

The term “best practice” means little as it is currently used in the world of collegiate psychotherapy, mental health, wellness, and student development. What evidence is required for something to be a best practice? As far as I can tell it only takes someone to say it is a “best practice.” That is, someone somewhere can do something they thought worked well or someone else can tell them it worked well, and then they can say it is a best practice. In most cases, no empirical research evidence is necessary. The term best practice sure sounds good. How could we not want to do what is “best?” How does one question what is “best?” However, there needs to be a system for checks and balances for such claims. Most of us would assume or believe such a claim had empirical support, consensus or at least represented the conventional wisdom of the field. It seems that many who tout best practices seem to be proud that they are not following mainstream consensus and enjoy the rebel identity of having a unique perspective on the best practice. Maybe it represents “cutting edge” and we must use it to be proactive and not fall behind. The term can give power to a financial or political agenda or even drive an administrator desperate to find a magic bullet to solve mental health problems on their campus. The term has too much power to influence. Many counseling center staff have reported expectations from administrators, who have latched on to claims of best practices made by workshop leaders seeking fame and fortune by promoting their self-identified best practices. What they call “best practices,” however, are often recent claims on the workshop/training circuit without having become proven or well established. They may be great ideas that will stand the test of time and survive scrutiny in the long run, but calling them best practices is premature.
Reliability: reality or the power engineers' last gasp

Power systems reliability in North America has been defined largely (if not entirely) by engineers and in engineering terms. The NERC and the regional reliability councils have traditionally been the writers of the rules and the enforcers of the requirements. Their decisions have been based on increasingly refined engineering rules of thumb that have stressed conservative measures of system security over economic rationality. Does this make sense in a restructured world in which reliability may be relative for different customers and for different suppliers. The paper only begins to scratch the surface of a controversial issue. In the delivery of electric energy, how reliable is reliable enough and who and how should that decision be made? The paper uses as its point of departure the operating rules of the New York and New England Power Pools as well as the market operation rules currently being proposed by NERC committees. It focuses on the interactions between the engineering criteria and market criteria. It attempts to show that virtually all of the standards and rules of thumb that have been and/or are being promulgated in the power industry have significant impacts on the economics of the market impacts that cannot be ignored in the process of restructuring a power market.
Basic apoptotic and necrotic cell death in human liver carcinoma (HepG2) cells induced by synthetic azamacrocycle

Treatment of diseases with synthetic materials has been an aspiration of mankind since the dawn of human development. In this research, three complex compounds of azamacrocycle (TD1, TD2, and TD3) were synthesized, and experiments were conducted to determine whether their toxicity to human liver carcinoma (HepG2 ) cells is associated with apoptotic and/or necrotic cell death. Cell survival was determined by MTT assay. Apoptosis and necrosis were measured by annexin V FITC/PI assay using the flow cytometry and by propidium iodide (PI) assay using the cellometer vision. HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of azamacrocycles for 48 h. Results from MTT assay indicated that all the three azamacrocycles significantly (p TD1 > TD3. Because TD2 exerted the most cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells, it was used in the subsequent apoptosis and necrosis-related experiments. The flow cytometry assessment showed a strong dose-response relationship with regard to TD2 exposure and annexin V/PI positive cells. PI assay data indicated that TD2 exposure increased the proportion of fluorescence positive cells. Overall, our results indicate that azamacrocycle toxicity to HepG2 cells is associated with apoptotic and necrotic cell death resulting from phosphatidylserine externalization and loss of membrane integrity.
Factors affecting paramagnetic contrast enhancement in synovial fluid: effects of electrolytes, protein concentrations, and temperature on water proton relaxivities from Mn ions and Gd chelated contrast agents.

Summary Introduction Protein and electrolyte concentration of synovial fluid (SF) varies with the type of underlying arthritis. These characteristics can be utilized by magnetic resonance technology to provide a potentially significant diagnostic modality through quantitative assessments of inherent water relaxation rates and their response to contrast agents. Methods We evaluated the effect of a classic " in vitro " contrast agent, the Mn ion, and a common " in vivo " gadolinium based contrast agent, gadopentetate dimeglumine, on the water relaxation times of solutions with biochemical compositions simulating different types of arthritis along with similar studies of SF obtained from patients. Results The results demonstrate how protein and electrolyte concentrations play a significant role in the response of water relaxation to the Mn ion but much less so to chelated gadolinium contrast agents used clinically. Discussion A major challenge remains to develop paramagnetic agents with less toxicity than the Mn ion but with similar properties that can then serve as a tool to determine protein concentrations through imaging and thereby assist in the diagnosis of inflammatory arthrides and evaluation of therapeutic regimens.
Spectroscopic and Electronic Structure Studies of Intermediate X in Ribonucleotide Reductase R2 and Two Variants: A Description of the FeIV-Oxo Bond in the FeIII-O-FeIV Dimer

Spectroscopic and electronic structure studies of the class I Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) intermediate X and three computationally derived model complexes are presented, compared, and evaluated to determine the electronic and geometric structure of the FeIII−FeIV active site of intermediate X. Rapid freeze−quench (RFQ) EPR, absorption, and MCD were used to trap intermediate X in R2 wild-type (WT) and two variants, W48A and Y122F/Y356F. RFQ-EPR spin quantitation was used to determine the relative contributions of intermediate X and radicals present, while RFQ-MCD was used to specifically probe the FeIII/FeIV active site, which displayed three FeIV d−d transitions between 16 700 and 22 600 cm-1, two FeIV d−d spin-flip transitions between 23 500 and 24 300 cm-1, and five oxo to FeIV and FeIII charge transfer (CT) transitions between 25 000 and 32 000 cm-1. The FeIV d−d transitions were perturbed in the two variants, confirming that all three d−d transitions derive from the d-π manifold. F...
Oscillatory acoustic phonon relaxation of excitons in quantum dot molecules

We study electrically tunable self-assembled InAs quantum dot molecules through photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL measurements. For the model we assume quantum dots with cylindrical symmetry, for which the confinement potentials have been modeled as narrow quantum wells in the growth and in-plane directions matched to parabolic potentials. We focus on the hole scattering rates by bulk acoustic phonons, as these rates are the leading contribution for the neutral indirect exciton relaxation rate when the electron localizes primarily on one dot. The hole–phonon scattering structure factor for acoustic phonons is found to contain a phase relationship between the phonon wave and the hole wave function, which can be tuned by an external electric field. The phase relationship leads to interference effects and tunable oscillatory relaxation rates of indirect excitons, in agreement with experiments.
Product mix determination in the presence of alternate process plans and stochastic demand

Abstract The product mix problem in the presence of alternate process plans under uncertain demand is formulated as a non-linear programming model. A heuristic solution procedure based on lagrangean relaxation technique is also presented.
Vertical Profiles of Major Organic Geochemical Constituents and Extracellular Enzymatic Activities in Sandy Sediments of Aransas and Copano Bays, TX

Vertical distribution patterns of organic geochemical constituents and the enzymes aminopeptidase and β-glucosidase provide insights about the nature and reactivity of sediment organic matter in the sandy sediments of two shallow “South Texas” estuaries. Sediment total organic carbon (TOC) δ13C values indicated that the organic matter (OM) was derived more from a mixture of seagrass and phytoplankton than from terrigenous OM. Down-core amounts of TOC and total nitrogen (TN) were <0.2% of dry weight, respectively. Enzyme activities were highest near surface and ranged from 25 to 1 μM/h for aminopeptidase as compared to 5 to 0.2 μM/h for glucosidase. In Aransas Bay, aminopeptidase activity correlated with sediment TN content (r s = 0.30) and β-glucosidase with TOC content (r s = 0.27). In Copano Bay, aminopeptidase correlated with TOC, TN, and carbohydrate content (r s = 0.89, 0.90, and 0.83, respectively). Variations of glucosidase activity also related positively to TOC, TN, and total carbohydrate content (r s = 0.68, 0.77, and 0.48, respectively). Overall, enzyme activities in these low OM, sandy sediments resembled those for other benthic marine environments.
Adolescents’ Sociopolitical Values in the Context of Organized Activity Involvement:

Sociopolitical values are hypothesized to form during adolescence, but the developmental and contextual origins of these values have been largely unexplored. A sample of 846 adolescents (Mage = 15....
Nonlinear control algorithms and power system application

Abstract Two distinct approaches to design of nonlinear control systems are discussed in context of stabilization of interconnected power transmission systems. The control problem considered involves manipulation of line impedance through thyristor controlled series capacitor to increase stability of the transmission system in case of a large fault. Since the control signal affects system dynamics multiplicatively, traditional linear control strategies are found not appropriate and nonlinear techniques must be used instead. The first method considered is a self-tuning predictive controller based on bilinear model structure. The algorithm is shown to quickly identify the system dynamics and effectively damp oscillations following a simulated fault. The second method is a neural-network-based hierarchical controller using simplified models of the system and off-line training to classify and interpolate between different operating conditions of the system. Both nonlinear controllers are based on a concept of optimization of a performance criterion and naturally incorporate limits on control signals.
Measuring Families’ Perceptions of Care Across a Health Care System: Preliminary Experience with the Family Assessment of Treatment at End of Life Short Form (FATE-S)

Abstract Context Because the Family Evaluation of Treatment at End of Life (FATE) survey was too long for routine use in the Veterans Administration (VA) health care system to measure quality of care, a shorter instrument was developed. Objectives To evaluate the short version of the FATE survey for use as a nationwide quality measure in the VA health care system. Methods Fifty-one VA medical centers, including acute and long-term care, participated in this nationwide telephone survey. Family members of the patients were eligible if the patients died in a participating facility. One family member per patient was selected from medical records using predefined eligibility criteria and invited to participate. The survey consists of 14 items describing key aspects of the patient's care in his or her last month of life, one global rating, and two open-ended questions for additional comments. Results Interviews were completed with 2827 family members. Overall, the survey showed excellent psychometric characteristics, with good homogeneity (e.g., Cronbach's α=0.84) and strong evidence of discriminant validity. Two survey items have been targeted for quality improvement efforts in multisite collaboratives. Conclusion Surveys of surrogates offer an important source of quality data that can be used to improve the quality of end-of-life care and promote accountability.
PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA IN FATHER AND SON: REPORT OF THE EIGHTH KNOWN AFFECTED KINDRED*

ABSTRACT The occurrence of pheochromocytoma of the left adrenal gland in father and son is described, the eighth kindred with familial pheochromocytoma to be reported. A presentation of the family background and distribution of blood groups within the family is included, with the hope that similar studies on other kindred may make linkage calculations and clarification of the mode of inheritance possible. Further genetic implications of chromaffin-cell tumors are noted, as suggested by the frequent occurrence of pheochyromocytoma with ncurofibromatosis, the predominance of norepinephrine in chromaffin-cell tumors and the recent findings indicating separate cell origins of norepinephrine and epinephrine.
Studies on histone acetylation during thyroxine-induced amphibian metamorphosis.

During thyroxine-induced amphibian metamorphosis, changes in the rate of RNA synthesis, histone acetylation, and histone synthesis have been studied. A peak of RNA synthesis was observed after 2 days of hormone treatment. After a return to the basal level a second rise was observed after 7 days of treatment. At both times when RNA synthesis was elevated all fractions of RNA (4S, 6–8S, 18S, and 28S) showed an increased specific activity. Acetylation of histones was observed to have an increased activity on the third and fourth days of thyroxine treatment, followed by a second increase similar to that observed in the study on the rate of RNA synthesis, The fact that the early peak of acetylation followed the initial peak of RNA synthesis is not in keeping with observations in other systems in which stimulation of RNA synthesis has been preceded by increased histone acetylation. Although all histone fractions were labeled with 14C-acetate, changes in specific activity through metamorphosis were associated primarily with the f3 and f2a1 fractions. Furthermore, synthesis of histone during metamorphosis was found to show no significant changes.
Sequential masking during eye fixations in reading

Letters in the center of vision were masked during readers’ eye fixations. Although Experiment 1 suggested that letters are processed sequentially, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the results were due to the fact that letters fixated on fixation n receive preliminary processing on fixation n-1 when they are in parafoveal vision. When no parafoveal information was available, the results indicated that letters are processed in parallel.
Health Implications of Socioeconomic Characteristics, Subjective Social Status, and Perceptions of Inequality: An Empirical Study of China

This study explores how health is associated with socioeconomic status, subjective social status, and perceptions of inequality simultaneously. Two health outcomes (self-reported health and psychological distress) are examined, and the subtlety of their relationships with each of the three dimensions of inequality is probed. Data used come from a nationally representative sample survey conducted in China. Several findings emerge from empirical analyses: (1) Overall, the three dimensions of social inequality are associated with self-reported health and psychological distress net of each other and other control variables; (2) among focal socioeconomic characteristics, income and Chinese Communist Party membership are significantly associated with both health outcomes, education exhibits a robust effect on self-reported health, and rural and migrant statuses are linked to less distress; (3) subjective social status in comparisons with both socially proximal and broad referents is associated with both health outcomes, and the association with downward comparisons is more salient than with upward comparisons; and (4) perceived degree and perceived sources of inequality in society show varying relationships with the two health outcomes. These findings add to our understanding of the multidimensionality and complexity of social inequality in relation to health.
Interval-counting neurons in the anuran auditory midbrain: factors underlying diversity of interval tuning

In anurans, the temporal patterning of sound pulses is the primary information used for differentiating between spectrally similar calls. One class of midbrain neurons, referred to as ‘interval-counting’ cells, appears to be particularly important for discriminating among calls that differ in pulse repetition rate (PRR). These cells only respond after several pulses are presented with appropriate interpulse intervals. Here we show that the range of selectivity and sharpness of interval tuning vary considerably across neurons. Whole-cell recordings revealed that neurons showing temporally summating excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) with little or no inhibition or activity-dependent enhancement of excitation exhibited low-pass or band-pass tuning to slow PRRs. Neurons that showed inhibition and rate-dependent enhancement of excitation, however, were band-pass or high-pass to intermediate or fast PRRs. Surprisingly, across cells, interval tuning based on membrane depolarization and spike rate measures were not significantly correlated. Neurons that lacked inhibition showed the greatest disparities between these two measures of interval tuning. Cells that showed broad membrane potential-based tuning, for example, varied considerably in their spike rate-based tuning; narrow spike rate-based tuning resulted from ‘thresholding’ processes, whereby only the largest depolarizations triggered spikes. The potential constraints associated with generating interval tuning in this manner are discussed.
The Power of Praise--A Strategy for Effective Principals.

What can principals do to motivate teachers? Data were gathered from more than 800 teachers who described what their principals do to influence and empower them. Praise is one of the strategies tha...
Time Urgency and the Type A Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern1

Two experiments were conducted to examine behavioral consequences of a sense of time urgency, which presumably characterizes individuals classified as manifesting a so-called “Type A” coronary-prone behavior pattern. Experiment I indicated that time-urgent Type A Ss were reliably less successful than noncoronary-prone “Type Bs” in performing a task requiring a low rate of response for reinforcement (DRL). Type As were not only unable to delay their responses; they also showed greater evidence of tension and hyperactivity than Type Bs during DRL performance. Experiment II extended these results to the interpersonal domain. Time-urgent Ss became more impatient and irritated than less urgent Ss when both types were systematically slowed down in their efforts to reach a solution on a joint decision-making task. The results were discussed in terms of a conceptualization of the A-B dimension as reflecting differential expectations of and needs for environmental control. Additional evidence was presented in support of this approach. Consideration was also given to possible physiologic mechanisms mediating the relationship between psychological variables such as the Type A pattern and actual occurrence of coronary heart disease.
Angle- and Spectral-Dependent Light Scattering from Plasmonic Nanocups

As optical frequency nanoantennas, reduced-symmetry plasmonic nanoparticles have light-scattering properties that depend strongly on geometry, orientation, and variations in dielectric environment....
Homelessness in the Postindustrial City: Views from London and Philadelphia

While the twin problems of homelessness and squatting are usually associated with the cities of the Third World, this article examines them in the context of Western postindustrial metropolises. It...