cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In situ characterization of the biological performance of a Francis turbine retrofitted with a modular guide vane

Abstract There are two strategies to lower overall project costs to an extent that will make many potential sustainable hydropower sites economically viable: (1) design standardized/modular components; (2) use advanced tools to reduce environmental evaluation costs. In this study an autonomous sensor device (Sensor Fish) was used to study a Francis turbine retrofitted with a modular guide vane. The median nadir pressures measured were 74.7, 66.6, and 56.6 kPaA for 90-, 190-, and 380-kW operating conditions respectively. These nadir pressures were compared to other Francis turbines studied using Sensor Fish and were found to be within the same range. The proportion of Sensor Fish releases with severe acceleration events (acceleration ≥ 95G) was also investigated. The proportion ranged from 73 to 80% (runner region), 50 to 64% (guide vane region), and 9 to 28% (draft tube region), which was within the range of the other turbines used for comparison. The Sensor Fish testing that was conducted at Hurley Dam demonstrates that the modular guide vane that was retrofitted to the existing Francis turbine is potentially a suitable replacement that can provide biological performance similar to the guide vane used with other existing Francis turbines, but with the benefit of reduced fabrication costs.
The Effect of Peer-Assisted Mathematics Learning Opportunities in First Grade Classrooms: What Works for Whom?.

To investigate whether child × instruction effects contribute to mathematics gains in first grade, we conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial with 454 (205 treatment; 249 control) students ...
Normal Functioning and the Treatment/Enhancement Distinction: An Opportunity Based Assessment

As genome mapping technology uncovers the roots of pathologic and physiologic human functioning, important questions are brought to the fore concerning our conceptualization of ideas such as disease, treatment, and enhancement. In 1985, Norman Daniels proposed a normal-functioning model that expands John Rawls' theory of justice to obligate the provision of health care based on the constraints disease places on individual opportunity, but also limits the commitment of the medical establishment by focusing on states that represent deviations from normal human function. While some argue that the boundaries of medical institutions' commitment to provide services within a normal-functioning model are arbitrary, the degree to which these concerns truly threaten the framework is often exaggerated in special cases put forward in the literature. Furthermore, the normal-functioning model provides a comprehensive basis for agreement in discussions of medicine's commitment to the demands of social justice where resources are limited and avoids the dangerous overextension of the healthcare system and medicalization to which more expansive models are exposed.
Interdistrict Apportionment of Flood Control Costs

The engineer is often faced with the problem of apportioning the cost of a project to benefiting users. These users may be individuals, corporations, political entities such as cities, counties, sa...
The role of expectations for liking and other positive Affiliative outcomes in the get-acquainted process that occurs over Computer-mediated video communication.

People often develop expectations prior to meeting someone for the first time. These pre-interaction expectations, which include how much they will like the other and how much they will enjoy the interaction, have likely increased because of information easily obtained about others through social media. What is not well understood is whether these expectations prior to a first meeting are associated with interpersonal evaluations formed during the get-acquainted interaction. In this study, pre-interaction expectations were collected from both members of 71 dyads. Then, after the dyads interacted through a structured self-disclosure task conducted over Skype, their reactions were assessed again. Several findings of the study have implications for people meeting for the first time, including over visual forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Findings included that pre-interaction expectations were associated with reactions after the interaction, a visual greeting with another before learning information about the other did not moderate the effect of that information on liking and other affiliative outcomes, and participants underestimated how much they were liked after the interaction. The implications of the findings are important because people are increasingly becoming acquainted through visual forms of CMC, which has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The epidermal growth factor receptor axis and kidney fibrosis.

Purpose of review The aim of this study was to summarize recent findings about the role of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in acute kidney injury and in progression of chronic kidney injury. Recent findings There is increasing evidence that EGFR activation occurs as a response to either ischemic or toxic kidney injury and EGFR signalling plays an important role in recovery of epithelial integrity. However, with incomplete recovery or in conditions predisposing to progressive glomerular and tubulointerstitial injury, aberrant persistent EGFR signalling is a causal mediator of progressive fibrotic injury. New studies have implicated activation of HIPPO/YAP signalling as a component of EGFR's actions in the kidney. There is also new evidence for sex disparities in kidney EGFR expression and activation after injury, with a male predominance that is mediated by androgens. Summary There is increasing evidence for an important role for EGFR signalling in mediation of kidney injury, raising the possibility that interruption of the signalling cascade could limit progression of development of progressive kidney fibrosis.
Intermediate-term outcomes of heart transplantation for cardiac amyloidosis in the current era.

Background Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) has been historically noted with poor outcomes after heart transplant (HTx). However, strict patient selection, appropriate multi-organ transplant, and aggressive post-transplant therapy can result in favorable outcomes. We present the experience in the largest single-center cohort of CA patients post-HTx in the recent era. Methods Between January 2010 and December 2018, 51 CA patients underwent HTx-13 light-chain amyloidosis (AL) and 38 transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), 49 were included. Endpoints included 3-year survival, freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and freedom from non-fatal major adverse cardiac events (NF-MACE). Results Overall 3-year survival was 81.6% (69.2% for AL and 86% for ATTR) and was comparable to survival for patients transplanted for non-amyloid restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) in the same period (89%, p = .46). Three-year freedom from CAV (84% vs. 89%, p = .98), NF-MACE (82% vs. 83%, p = .96), and any-treated rejection (95% vs. 89%, p = .54) were also comparable in both groups. No recurrence in amyloid was noted in endomyocardial biopsies. Six patients (46%) with AL amyloidosis underwent autologous stem cell transplant 1-year post-HTx, and two patients (8%) with variant ATTR-CA underwent combined heart-liver transplant due to cardiac cirrhosis. Conclusion In the current era, both AL and ATTR cardiac amyloidosis patients have acceptable outcomes after heart transplantation.
Chapter 8 – Colloidal quantum dots of III–V semiconductors1

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with the preparation, characterization, spectroscopy, and applications of QDs of III-V semiconductors produced via colloidal chemistry. Quantum dots of the III-V semiconductors InP, GaP, GalnP2, InAs, and GaAs can be prepared by nonaqueous colloidal chemical synthesis at temperatures ranging from about 250 to 400° depending on the specific compound and the desired QD size. The QD size for the synthesis can range from about 20 to 100 Â, and the size distribution around the mean diameter can be typically from about 5% to 10%. The synthesis requires capping the quantum dots with a stabilizing molecular species, such as, for example, trioctylphosphine oxide, to control the QD size and the size distribution. The best colloidal III-V QDs synthesized to date are InP QDs; treatment with HF results in the elimination of deep surface traps and produces band edge emission with very high quantum yields. The color of these dots ranges from deep red to green, corresponding to a size range of 60 to 26 Â, respectively. Structure in the absorption and emission spectra reflects the existence of quantized energy levels in the QDs.
Effect of switching glatiramer acetate formulation from 20 mg daily to 40 mg three times weekly on immune function in multiple sclerosis.

Background Many RRMS patients who had been treated for over 20 years with GA 20 mg/ml daily (GA20) switched to 40 mg/ml three times-a-week (GA40) to reduce injection-related adverse events. Although GA40 is as effective as GA20 in reducing annualized relapse rate and MRI activity, it remains unknown how switching to GA40 from GA20 affects the development of pathogenic and regulatory immune cells. Objective To investigate the difference in immunological parameters in response to GA20 and GA40 treatments. Methods We analyzed five pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-23, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-α), and three anti-inflammatory/regulatory cytokines (IL-10, IL-13, and IL-27) in serum. In addition, we analyzed six cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-17A, GM-CSF, IL-10, IL-6, and IL-27) in cultured PBMC supernatants. The development of Th1, Th17, Foxp3 Tregs, M1-like, and M2-like macrophages were examined by flow cytometry. Samples were analyzed before and 12 months post switching to GA40 or GA20. Results Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were comparable between the GA40 and GA20 groups. Development of Th1, Th17, M1-like macrophages, M2-like macrophages, and Foxp3 Tregs was also comparable between the two groups. Conclusions The immunological parameters measured in RRMS patients treated with GA40 three times weekly are largely comparable to those given daily GA20 treatment.
How Best to do Prison Population Data Reallocation, i.e., How Best to Mitigate Prison Gerrymandering?

We review the legal and practical complexities in doing prisoner population data reallocation and discuss differences in the practices in different states and jurisdictions. We emphasize that there are two key complications. (1) how to handle prison populations that do not have an in-state past address, and (2) potential legal differences between how prison populations are to be treated for state legislative (or local) redistricting as opposed to congressional redistricting. We propose a best practices rule.
Status of the National Ignition Facility integrated computer control system

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), currently under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is a stadium-sized facility containing a 192-beam, 1.8-megajoule, 500-terawatt, ultraviolet laser system together with a 10-meter diameter target chamber with room for nearly 100 experimental diagnostics. When completed, NIF will be the world's largest and most energetic laser experimental system, providing an international center to study inertial confinement fusion and the physics of matter at extreme energy densities and pressures. NIF's 192 energetic laser beams will compress fusion targets to conditions required for thermonuclear burn, liberating more energy than required to initiate the fusion reactions. Laser hardware is modularized into line replaceable units such as deformable mirrors, amplifiers, and multi-function sensor packages that are operated by the integrated computer control system (ICCS). ICCS is a layered architecture of 300 front-end processors attached to nearly 60,000 control points and coordinated by supervisor subsystems in the main control room. The functional subsystems beam control including automatic beam alignment and wavefront correction, laser pulse generation and pre-amplification, diagnostics, pulse power, and timing-implement automated shot control, archive data, and support the actions of fourteen operators at graphic consoles. Object-oriented software development uses a mixed language environment of Ada (for functional controls) and Java (for user interface and database backend). The ICCS distributed software framework uses CORBA to communicate between languages and processors. ICCS software is approximately 3/4 complete with over 750 thousand source lines of code having undergone off-line verification tests and deployed to the facility. NIF has entered the first phases of its laser commissioning program. NIF has now demonstrated the highest energy 1/spl omega/, 2/spl omega/, and 3/spl omega/ beamlines in the world. NIF's target experimental systems are also being installed in preparation for experiments to begin in late 2003. This talk will provide a detailed look at the status of the control system.
Hydrogen Embrittlement Testing of a Zirconium Based Alloy

Nuclear fuel rods in power reactors are typically clad with zirconium based alloys. These materials undergo corrosion and consequent hydriding during reactor operation. Due to limited storage space in the utilities’ spent fuel pool for used and discharged fuel, many of the utilities are implementing dry cask storage. There is a concern that the relatively high temperature drying process for dry storage coupled with the nascent hydrides and internal gas pressures, may promote radial hydride reorientation that is favorably oriented to promote clad cracking clad breach during storage, transport and handling. Samples were charged with 200 and 800 wppm gaseous hydrogen and subjected to a radial hydride growth treatment at three stresses. These samples were characterized and tested using a simple ring compression test. Ductile to brittle transition temperatures were determined for these samples.
Physiologic Effects of a Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Antagonist in Normal Women

Because of their unique ability to cause pituitary desensitization [1], agonist analogs of GnRH have been used successfully to block gonadotropin output in the therapy of hormone sensitive tumors [2, 3] and other sex-steroid dependent diseases such as endometriosis [4] and uterine leiomyoma [5], as well as in precocious puberty [6], However, the complexity of action of these agonist analogs limits their use as physiologic probes. Additionally, the initial agonist phase prior to desensitization is not optimal for therapeutic uses in certain settings [2, 3]. Pure antagonists to the action of GnRH have now been developed which block the effect of GnRH on gonadotropin release in pituitary cell cultures [7], perifused pituitary cell columns [8] and intact animals [7, 9, 10]. These GnRH antagonists have been shown to compete with GnRH for receptor binding [11–15], but to stimulate receptor internalization at a slower rate than GnRH or its super-agonist analogs and to be processed differently [8, 16, 17].
The Theory of Enterprise Liability and Common Law StrictLiability

The proposed Restatement Third, Torts: General Principles takes the position that there is no general conception of strict liability, only special instances of such liability. This paper argues that there is indeed a general conception of strict liability, namely, enterprise liability, and that enterprise liability is a conception of responsibility for harm done equal to and competitive with the fault principle. Enterprise liability emerges early in the 1900's and expands in influence throughout most of the twentieth century. At the very moment when fault theorists like Ames and Jeremiah Smith were proclaiming the triumph of the fault principle in the common law of torts, enterprise liability burst full-blown on the legal landscape, with the enactment of the first Worker's Compensation Acts. These Acts, as Jeremiah Smith saw, were "founded largely upon a theory inconsistent with the common law of torts." That theory - the theory of enterprise liability - went on to spread throughout the tort law of accidents, reshaping preexisting forms of strict and vicarious liability and blossoming in the products liability regime inaugurated by Section 402A of the Second Restatement. Enterprise liability played an important role in tort accident law throughout the twentieth century, expanding the domain of strict liability relative to negligence and increasing the strictness with which certain doctrines (such as res ipsa loquitur) were interpreted. Even during the current renaissance of negligence liability, enterprise liability continues to exert a powerful subterranean influence on the way negligence doctrine is formulated in such disparate areas as medical malpractice, special relationships and duty. The proposed Restatement, Third's portrayal of strict liability as a set of isolated exceptions to a general regime of fault liability is thus untrue to the history and theory of the tort law of accidents as it has come down to us at the start of this century. More disturbingly, this slighting of enterprise liability and celebration of fault liability covertly contributes to its own realization. By writing enterprise liability out of our law and treating all instances of strict liability as special cases with particular histories and peculiar rationales, the proposed Restatement, Third fosters the triumph of negligence over strict liability, a triumph it purports merely to find.
Modeling of exchange constants and electronic structure of manganese ferrite (MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/)

In this paper we study about the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the manganese ferrite (MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/). Electronic calculations of exchange constants and the calculated total energies of assumed magnetic structures are substituted into the Heisenberg model.
Procedure for the Preparation of Milligram Quantities of Adenovirus Messenger Ribonucleic Acid

Late after adenovirus 2 infection (18 hr), nearly all newly synthesized polysomal messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is viral specified. Large amounts of adenovirus mRNA have been purified by utilizing membrane filtration at high ionic strength. With this procedure, molecules that contain polyadenylic acid [poly (A)] tracts are bound selectively, and ribosomal RNA can be separated from the viral mRNA which contains poly(A). Polysomal RNA synthesized 18 hr after infection was labeled in the presence of 0.02 mug of actinomycin D per ml and extracted at pH 9.0. This RNA annealed 40% to 3 mug of adenovirus 2 deoxyribonucleic acid; the RNA selected by membrane filtration bound 80% under the same conditions. The RNA eluted from membrane filters was 80 to 90% greater than 18S and contained species migrating as 31, 27, and 24S. Binding of polysomal RNA to individual membrane filters was linear, using as much as 300 mug of RNA per membrane. A 1.1-mg amount of viral RNA was prepared from 17.7 mg of polysomal RNA that had been purified by extraction at pH 9.0.
Organic quantum chemistry—XIV : A theoretical study of the molecular structure and electronic spectrum of octalene (bicyclo[6.6.0]tetradecaheptaene)

Abstract The title compound has been studied by the Pariser-Parr method with regards to ground state geometry and electronic spectrum. It is predicted the molecule will exist in a non-planar conformation with alternating long and short bonds (similar to two tub-like cyclooctatetraenes fused together), and the expected electronic spectrum was calculated. Long wavelength absorption should cause the compound to be colored, probably yellow.
An experimental and modeling investigation of aluminum-based alloys and nanocomposites processed by ultrasonic cavitation processing

Abstract Some recent studies are showing that the microstructure and mechanical properties of manufactured components can be significantly improved when ceramic nanoparticles are used as reinforcement to form a metal-matrix-nano-composite (MMNC). During the fabrication of MMNCs, ultrasonic cavitation processing plays an important role in refining microstructure, dispersing nanoparticles and breaking up clusters of nanoparticles. In the present study, aluminum A356 alloy and Al 2 O 3 /SiC nanoparticles are used as the matrix alloy and the reinforcements, respectively. Nanoparticles are injected into the molten alloy and dispersed by ultrasonic cavitation and acoustic streaming. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the cast nanocomposites have been investigated in detail.
Usage of and support for information centers: an exploratory survey

An exploratory survey of ICs (information centers) is described. On-site interviews were conducted to determine the current status of the information centers as well as their future direction. A semi-structured questionnaire containing 114 questions was administered to individuals in 20 corporations using personal interviews. The authors report the findings of the study regarding four topics: the nature of the user community, the initial and current attitudes regarding the formation of ICs, the organizational impacts of the ICs, and issues of major concern for ICs. A brief comparison of the findings with other empirical studies is given. >
Problems in academic motivation research and advantages and disadvantages of their solutions.

In this article, problems in current academic motivation research and their solutions are discussed. From a theoretical standpoint, it is argued that the field suffers from a lack of comprehensive models that are capable of capturing the full dynamics underlying observed behaviors. Different theoretical orientations among researchers often result in a rather arbitrary inclusion or exclusion of variables which leads to the misspecification of models. A lack of discriminant validity among motivational constructs exacerbates the problem. Furthermore, the issue of motivational influences on specific phases of information-processing and their interaction with different types of knowledge has largely been neglected. From a measurement perspective, heavy reliance on self-reporting questionnaires is once again criticized. It is argued that such practice overlooks motivational fluctuation both over time and across domains, assuming a greater degree of generalization of academic motivation without empirical support. Several solutions are suggested for each problem and their advantages and disadvantages are considered.
The Gnostic Syndrome: Anorexia nervosa

SUMMARY ‘The Gnostic Syndrome’ discusses anorexia nervosa in terms of its poetics and in the context of a developmental object-relations theory. One case is used to illustrate the problems of therapy and the antecedents of the anorexia in childhood and adolescence. The paper forms an investigation into pre-moral states and the interaction of anorexia with character structure.
Graphene hydrate: theoretical prediction of a new insulating form of graphene

Using first-principles calculations, we show that the formation of carbohydrates directly from carbon and water is energetically favored when graphene is subjected to an unequal chemical environment across the two sides, with a difference in the chemical potential of protons and hydroxyl groups. The resultant carbohydrate structure is two-dimensional (2D), with the hydrogen atoms exclusively attached on one side of the graphene and the hydroxyl groups on the other side, the latter forming a herringbone reconstruction that optimizes hydrogen bonding. We show that graphene undergoes a metal-insulator transition upon hydration that is readily detectable from the significant shift in the vibration spectrum. The hydrate form of graphene offers new applications for graphene in electronics, either deposited on a substrate or in solution. S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/NJP/12/125012/ mmedia
FcγRIIa is a target for modulation by TNFα in human neutrophils

Abstract Activation of neutrophils by the interaction of immune complexes with Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) is amplified in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)-primed cells, whereas interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been reported to suppress cytokine-mediated neutrophil activation. We examined whether the expression and function of FcγR in human neutrophils is modulated by TNFα and IL-10 in vitro, and whether FcγRIIa expression is altered following treatment with the TNFα inhibitor infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in vivo. TNFα treatment induced upregulation of expression and function of the major activating Fc receptor, FcγRIIa, in neutrophils from healthy donors. Unexpectedly, treatment with IL-10 led to gain of FcγRIIa function in TNFα-primed neutrophils. In neutrophils from RA patients initiating infliximab therapy and followed longitudinally through consecutive treatments, FcγRIIa protein decreased during the course of TNFα blockade, indicating that FcγRIIa is a target of TNFα modulation in human neutrophils in vivo.
Design of precompensator for decoupling problem

For a class of linear time-invariant multivariable systems which cannot be decoupled by state-variable feedback, but which are invertible, an algorithm for designing a precompensating dynamic system is proposed which results in a new system that can be decoupled by state-variable feedback.
College Students and Gambling: Do Student Athletes Really Gamble More?

AbstractA large amount of scholarship has focused on the historical prevalence of gambling, in general, and within the world of sport. In the early part of the 21st century, sport gambling behaviors on college campuses came under scrutiny. The NCAA now has gambling programs designed to educate student athletes on the dangers and illegality of sports gambling, but prevailing concerns regarding sport-related gambling are still evident. The purpose of this research was to identify the differences in gambling behaviors of student athletes and non-athletes in an urban university setting. A survey was developed and distributed to a sample of college students and student athletes regarding their gambling-related behaviors. Survey sample consisted of college students present in a priori identified classes on the day of data collection. Data were collected at a public, state university in the high plains region of the US with an urban-serving mission. Contrary to the previous literature, statistical analyses indic...
RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION WITHIN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA: Foci, Approaches, and Challenges

This article reviews the state of research on international migration within sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the international migration systems that have emerged on the subcontinent, especially in Southern and Western Africa, as well as issues pertaining to gender and migration and to migrants' incorporation in host societies. Special attention is given to conflict-induced migration and to implications of international migration for health, with a particular emphasis on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Despite the large volume and diversity of international migration in the subcontinent, the literature on the subject remains scarce and disconnected from the body of international migration research in other settings. The review identifies causes of this mismatch and discusses ways to mainstream the subcontinent's migration problematique.
Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care: An Opportunity for Generalists

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health concern affecting nearly 26 million Americans.1 However, unlike other chronic conditions with a similarly large prevalence in the US (e.g., hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and despite the association between CKD and morbidity and mortality, CKD has been largely under-recognized and not aggressively treated by primary care providers (PCP).2,3 In a landmark paper in 2004, Go et al. demonstrated a strong graded association between worsening kidney function and risk of hospitalizations, cardiovascular events, and death.4 More recent studies have corroborated these findings5 and also linked CKD to increased rates of disability,6,7 poorer quality of life,6 greater cognitive decline,8 and an increased number of infections.9 Importantly, there is now strong evidence that medical therapies can alter the course of disease.10 Providers can slow progression of CKD to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with good blood pressure control (particularly among those with macroalbuminuria),11 tighter glycemic control,12 decreased albuminuria through the use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB),13 and by limiting the use of nephrotoxic medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents.14 Emerging therapies such as daily administration of oral sodium bicarbonate also show promise.15 Less strong evidence suggests that providers can also modify the high morality rate associated with CKD via similar mechanisms, including blood pressure control and use of ACEI/ARBs and HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors for cardiovascular risk reduction.13,16
Encephalitogenicity of myelin basic protein exon-2 peptide in mice

Immunization with a synthetic peptide with an amino acid sequence corresponding to mouse myelin basic protein exon-2 induced mild experimental allergic encephalitis (EAE) in B10.RIII mice, very mild disease in SJL/J mice and no disease in (SJL x PL)F1 hybrid mice. In contrast, adoptive transfer of an exon-2 peptide-specific T cell line from SJL mice induced severe relapsing EAE in syngeneic recipients. The T cell line was specific for exon-2 peptide and did not cross-react appreciably with an MBP preparation consisting of the 18.5 and 14-kDa isoforms. mRNA for exon-2 containing isoforms could be demonstrated in the spinal cord of SJL/J and B10.RIII mice by amplification using exon-2 and exon-4 oligonucleotide primers. On a relative basis, the level of exon-2 cDNA was lower than that of exon-1 cDNA in the same spinal cord preparations from both strains of mice.
Delayed institution of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is associated with increased mortality rate and prolonged hospital stay

Abstract Background/Purpose: Severe meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) is a frequent indication for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Trials of less invasive cardiopulmonary support may result in fewer infants treated with ECMO but could delay institution of ECMO. The authors hypothesized that those infants with severe MAS who are treated with ECMO early will have a lower mortality rate and a shorter hospital course than those who receive delayed ECMO. Methods: A retrospective review of all patients with MAS in the national extracorporeal life support (ELSO) registry for the decade 1989 through 1998 was performed. Data from the ELSO registry were examined for demographics, clinical parameters, and treatment course. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on the time from birth to institution of ECMO: group 1, 0 to 23 hours; group 2, 24 to 96 hours; and group 3, greater than 96 hours. These groups were compared for survival, duration of extracorporeal support, and duration of ventilatory support after ECMO. Statistical relevance was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post-hoc test. Results: A total of 3,235 of 4,002 patients with MAS had complete information on duration of mechanical ventilation. Overall mortality rate was 5.8%. The mortality rate in group 1 (n = 1,266) was 4.8%, group 2 (n = 1,568) 6.0%, and group 3 (n = 401) 7.7%. An increased time to ECMO was associated with a significant increase in mortality rate ( P v 130 ± 2 hours, P =.02) and duration of post-ECMO ventilation (157 ± 17 v 118 ± 3 hours; P v 113 ± 1 hours; P =.001) and longer post-ECMO ventilator courses (137 ± 2 v 114 ± 1 hours; P =.002) than those who did not. Conclusions: Delay in institution of ECMO for MAS results in prolonged ECMO and need for post-ECMO ventilation. Consideration should be given to instituting ECMO earlier in patients with severe MAS. J Pediatr Surg 37:7-10. Copyright © 2002 by W.B. Saunders Company.
Juvenile hormone regulation of Drosophila aging

Background Juvenile hormone (JH) has been demonstrated to control adult lifespan in a number of non-model insects where surgical removal of the corpora allata eliminates the hormone’s source. In contrast, little is known about how juvenile hormone affects adult Drosophila melanogaster. Previous work suggests that insulin signaling may modulate Drosophila aging in part through its impact on juvenile hormone titer, but no data yet address whether reduction of juvenile hormone is sufficient to control Drosophila life span. Here we adapt a genetic approach to knock out the corpora allata in adult Drosophila melanogaster and characterize adult life history phenotypes produced by reduction of juvenile hormone. With this system we test potential explanations for how juvenile hormone modulates aging.
Surfactant-Free, Drug-Quantum-Dot Coloaded Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) Nanoparticles: Towards Multifunctional Nanoparticles

Nanoprecipitation was utilized to synthesize biodegradable and surfactant-free nanoparticles loaded with quantum dots. This protocol also yielded nanoparticles coloaded with both quantum dots and hydrophobic drug (Coenzyme Q10) molecules. Importantly, even though surfactants were not utilized during the nanoprecipitation procedure, these loaded nanoparticles did not aggregate. Dialysis efficiently removed unencapsulated quantum dots from nanoparticle suspensions without altering the physical properties of the quantum-dot-loaded nanoparticles. The resultant purified, quantum-dot-loaded nanoparticles were biocompatible in differentiated PC12 cell cultures, which facilitated their use as nanoparticles in microscopy. In fact, confocal imaging studies showed that purified, quantum-dot-loaded nanoparticles were associated with PC12 cells after one day in vitro. These novel and multifunctional coloaded nanoparticles may prove advantageous in future simultaneous drug delivery and imaging applications.
Host plant resistance for insect control in some important crop plants

Insect pests of cereal crop plants are among the most destructive and devastating factors limiting world food production. Insects often inflict losses of 15 to 50% of the yield of some crops in various parts of the world. Insects also provide infection courts for various pathogens that inflict even greater damage. The nature of these losses is especially tragic for poor farmers in the tropics since the insects consume dry matter already produced using limited resources. Reduction of these losses would enhance the world food supply available to man, even if actual production remains the same, by allotting to man and animals that proportion of production now consumed by insects. Control of insect‐inflicted damage on a world‐wide basis is a very difficult task. Chemical control is effective and readily available in some, but not all, countries. However, chemical control is often unavailable, ineffective, too expensive, and likely to create environmental and safety hazards that make it unsuitable for many par...
A parallel out-of-core algorithm for the time-domain adaptive integral method

A parallel multi-level out-of-core algorithm is presented to mitigate the high memory requirement of the time-domain adaptive integral method. Numerical results demonstrate the performance of the method for large-scale simulations where terabytes of data are transferred to/from a distributed storage system.
Conditioned medium from ras oncogene-transformed nih 3T3 cells induces bone resorption in vitro

Tumor-associated hypercalcemia is due, in part, to enhanced osteoclastic bone resorption induced by soluble factors elaborated from malignant cells. ras transformation of NIH 3T3 cells results in a 50-fold induction of cathepsin L mRNA and secretion of the corresponding protein. Since cathepsin L is an acid proteinase we asked whether conditioned medium from these cells would directly increase calcium release from bone in vitro. We tested conditioned medium obtained after 72 h culture of NIH 3T3 ras-transformed cells (DT) or nontransformed NIH 3T3 cells (3T3) and identical medium not exposed to cells (Ctl). Incubation of either live or dead neonatal mouse calvaria for 48 h in DT-conditioned medium increased calcium release compared to bones incubated with 3T3 medium. In both states the increased calcium release with DT medium was blocked by 0.25 mM E-64, a general cysteine proteinase inhibitor, and 1 microM Z-Phe-Ala-CH2F, a specific inhibitor of cathepsin L activity. Thus, conditioned medium from ras-transformed cells enhances calcium release in both live and dead bone. Since cathepsin L is the major protein secreted by these cells and the effect of DT-conditioned medium is blocked by a specific inhibitor of cathepsin L, these studies suggest that this acid proteinase acts directly on bone mineral to enhance net calcium release.
Implications of late Quaternary mammalian fauna from Lukenya Hill (south-central Kenya) for paleoenvironmental change and faunal extinctions

Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental data for East Africa are derived primarily from montane sources and thus we know little about the changing composition of East African savannas. Four archaeological sites at Lukenya Hill in the savanna of the Athi-Kapiti Plains of Kenya that date to the last 40,000 yr preserve a large mammalian fauna. The prehistoric hunters concentrated on migratory ungulates and virtually ignored the resident inselberg ungulates throughout the occupation. Faunas of the last glacial maximum are dominated by an extinct small alcelaphine antelope. Arid-adapted ungulates are present that are regionally absent historically, and Pelorovis is present as well. The small alcelaphine and arid-adapted ungulates are absent in the Holocene deposits. This suggests that there was an expansion of dry savannas during the last glacial maximum. The last glacial maximum aridity, combined with a lack of pastoral-set fires, would have resulted in a vegetative mosaic distinct from the present. Dry woody growth and dry and/or tall grass, all of which are poor forage for ungulates, would have been common where seasonally moist short grasslands are presently extant. These conditions favored the large-bodied, highly hypsodont species in Africa that became extinct with the onset of wet conditions during the early Holocene.
ENOLATE ALKYLATIONS WITH VINYLPHOSPHONATES

Abstract A remarkable feature of diethyl-1,3-butadiene-phosphonate, unlike the dienephosphonium salts,2,3 is that it undergoes a simple Michael addition with enolates of aldehydes and ketones without the loss of the phosphorus group.4 Whether such a difference in reactivity exists between the two-carbon reagents, vinyltriphenylphosphonium bromide 1 5 and diethyl vinylphosphonate 2 6 is the subject of this investigation.
Education of a Child Neurologist: Epilepsy and Electroencephalography

Epilepsy is one of the most common disorders encountered in pediatric neurology. A well-trained child neurologist should have an understanding of the neurobiological causes of seizures, classification of seizures and epilepsy, etiologic evaluation, and treatment of both seizures and associated comorbid conditions. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important diagnostic test in epilepsy, and child neurologists should be knowledgeable in the physiological basis of EEG and how to identify normal and abnormal patterns in neonates and children.
Long-term variation in a central California pelagic forage assemblage

Abstract A continuous 23 year midwater trawl survey (1990–2012) of the epipelagic forage assemblage off the coast of central California (lat. 36°30′–38°20′ N) is described and analyzed. Twenty taxa occurred in ≥ 10% of the 2037 trawls that were completed at 40 distinct station locations. The dominant taxa sampled by the 9.5 mm mesh net included a suite of young-of-the-year (YOY) groundfish, including rockfish (Sebastes spp.) and Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), two clupeoids (Engraulis mordax and Sardinops sagax), krill (Euphausiacea), cephalopods (Doryteuthis opalescens and Octopus sp.), and a variety of mesopelagic species, i.e., Diaphus theta, Tarltonbeania crenularis, “other” lanternfish (Myctophidae), deep-sea smelts (Bathylagidae), and sergestid shrimp. Annual abundance estimates of the 20 taxa were obtained from analysis of variance models, which included year and station as main effects. Principal components analysis of the abundance estimates revealed that 61% of assemblage variance was explained by the first three components. The first component revealed a strong contrast in the abundance of: (a) YOY groundfish, market squid (D. opalescens), and krill with (b) mesopelagics and clupeoids; the second component was associated with long-term trends in abundance. An evaluation of 10 different published oceanographic data sets and CTD data collected during the survey indicated that seawater properties encountered each year were significantly correlated with abundance patterns, as were annual sea-level anomalies obtained from an analysis of AVISO satellite information. A comparison of our findings with several other recent studies of biological communities occurring in the California Current revealed a consistent structuring of forage assemblages, which we conjecture is primarily attributable to large-scale advection patterns in the California Current ecosystem.
Cutaneous inoculation tuberculosis in a child.

Abstract Cutaneous tuberculosis remains a rare entity in the United States. We describe a case of cutaneous tuberculosis in a child. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1999;41:860-2.)
Investigation of the relative cellular permeability of DNA-binding pyrrole-imidazole polyamides.

Pyrrole−imidazole (Py-Im) polyamides are a group of chemicals that are able to bind specifically to DNA sequences in vitro and in mammalian cells. Using a cell based reporter assay, we investigated...
Reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide oscillations in cell-free extracts from beef heart.

Cell-free extracts prepared from beef heart have shown oscillations in the level of reduced pyridine nucleotide when subjected to a temperature transition or greater availability of substrate. The oscillations show characteristics of control by the levels of adenine nucleotides as well as by the rate of substrate entering the glycolytic pathway. Inorganic phosphate does not seem to exert any control on this cyclic process. The responses to the different adenine nucleotides as well as to ATPase and hexo-kinase suggest that the oscillations are controlled by the activity of phosphofructo-kinase and glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase.
SU-FF-J-101: Evaluation of Two Image Registration Systems

Purpose: We compare the performance of image registration algorithms adopted by BrainSCan and Philips Syntegra and give a general guide when using these systems. Method and Materials: BrainLab BrainScan System and Philips Syntegra System apply volume-based automatic rigid image registration algorithms. Philips Syntegra provides Cross Correlation (CC), Local Correlation (LC) and Normalized Mutual Information (NMI) as optimization metrics and BrainScan applies Mutual Information as an optimization metric. These algorithms are compared for: 1) synthesis images, i.e., the images obtained by applying known transformations to a set of original images, 2) phantom images and 3) patient images. Results: For synthesis images, sub-voxel accuracy is achieved. The maximum discrepancies between the registration results of translations and rotations and the known values are less than 0.5 mm and 0.5° for all algorithms. For phantom images, manual registration based on external markers is served as a gold standard to compare with the registration results. The discrepancies are at the order of 2 mm and 2°. For patient images, two radiation oncologists manually registered images independently and compared their results with the results by an automatic image registration system. The discrepancies become much larger due to the complexity of patient setups and density distributions. The capture regions and speeds of these algorithms are compared. Conclusion: The algorithms themselves can reach the accuracy of sub-millimeter in translation and sub-degree in rotation. But for clinical uses, the accuracy is reduced because of many errors introduced by positioning and patient motion. Preprocess is important to avoid being trapped in a narrow capture region. Final visual assessment is essential to guarantee reasonable and desired results.
Extracellular histones zap platelets.

The article by Fuchs et al[1][1] in this issue of Blood demonstrates that histones, possibly released from neutrophils in infection, or necrotic cells, can activate platelets directly, lead to thrombocytopenia in vivo and, importantly (see figure), that this platelet activation can be blocked by
Voyagers move toward Saturn

The launching of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts in the summer of 1977, followed by their encounters with Jupiter and its satellites last March and July, are now major episodes in the history of planetary exploration. For Voyager though, the trip into space is not over—the encounters with Saturn are next in line for exploration.
WE-A-217A-04: Hepatic Function Estimated from HIDA SPECT for Assessment of Liver Response to Radiation Therapy

Purpose: To investigate the dose response of the hepatic extraction fraction derived from HIDA SPECT for assessment of hepatic function in response to radiation therapy (RT). Methods: Eleven patients with intrahepatic cancers were treated by fractionated conformai RT (30–65 Gy), and underwent HIDA SPECT/CT scans before, during and 1 month after the therapy. Voxel‐by‐voxel hepatic extraction fraction (HEF) was estimated from HIDA SPECT by the deconvolution method. The dose distributions were mapped on the HEF images via co‐registration with the treatment planningCT. The liver voxels, excluding gross tumor volumes and vessels, were segregated into subvolumes based upon the accumulated biologically‐ corrected doses at the end of RT for analysis of response of hepatic function to radition. Results: The HEF 1 month after RT decreased compared to pre RT. The averaged regional decreases in the HEF from the 11 patients were correlated linearly with the doses accumulated to the end of RT (R2=0.87). Substantial individual responses of the HEF to doses were observed 1 month after RT. Conclusions: Our study shows dose‐dependent hepatic function changes in local liver regions. There is substantial individual variability in the sensitivity of hepatic function to irradiation. The quantitative HEF images as a measure of spatial hepatic function may be a valuable tool for preserving liver function and avoiding injury after irradiation. The work is supported in part by RO1CA132834.