cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Safety of Expectant Management for Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction: A Systematic Review.

Surgical training has long been to “never let the sun set on a bowel obstruction” without an operation to rule out and/or treat compromised bowel. However, advances in diagnostics have called into question the appropriate timing of non-emergent operations and expectant management is increasingly used. We performed a systematic review to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of expectant management for adhesive small bowel obstruction (aSBO) compared to early, non-emergent operation. We queried PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for studies (1990–present) comparing early, non-emergent operations and expectant management for aSBO (PROSPERO #CRD42017057676). Of 4873 studies, 29 cohort studies were included for full-text review. Four studies directly compared early surgery with expectant management, but none excluded patients who underwent emergent operations from those having early non-emergent surgery, precluding a direct comparison of the two treatment types of interest. When aggregated, the rate of bowel resection was 29% in patients undergoing early operation vs. 10% in those undergoing expectant management. The rate of successful, non-operative management in the expectant group was 58%. There was a 1.3-day difference in LOS favoring expectant management (LOS 9.7 vs. 8.4 days), and the rate of death was 2% in both groups. Despite the shift towards expectant management of aSBO, no published studies have yet compared early, non-emergent operation and expectant management. A major limitation in evaluating the outcomes of these approaches using existing studies is confounding by indication related to including patients with emergent indications for surgery on admission in the early operative group. A future study, randomizing patients to early non-emergent surgery or expectant management, should inform the comparative safety and value of these approaches.
Zeolite acidity strongly influences hydrogen peroxide activation and oxygenate selectivity in the partial oxidation of methane over M,Fe-MFI (M: Ga, Al, B) zeolites

The partial oxidation of methane to oxygenates, primarily formic acid, over a series of Fe-MFI zeolites with different trivalent framework atoms is reported. Numerous characterization techniques were used to confirm the crystallinity, composition, textural properties, and iron coordination in these solid catalysts. Ammonia temperature-programmed desorption along with in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of pyridine were used to probe the acidity strength of these samples. These catalysts were then studied in the partial oxidation of methane using H2O2 as the oxidant at mild conditions. The two key findings from this work are that higher iron loadings than reported previously can still result in active catalysts and that the presence of strong acidity is key to H2O2 activation and controls the product selectivity, favouring formic acid over methanol. The most active catalysts have TON values of 159 and 165.
Newer Technologies for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus

Medical innovations have impacted health care in the twenty-first century, and the adoption of technology into day-to-day patient care has been profound in the field of ophthalmology. The subspecialty of pediatric ophthalmology is no exception. The pediatric eye is critical and time sensitive as the visual development occurs in the first 8 years of life and hence early diagnosis and appropriate management of ocular disease in childhood is critical and has life-long consequences. In this chapter we will discuss the medical innovations that have impacted the subspecialty of pediatric ophthalmology in a major way, and we will discuss this under innovations in screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
A single dose polyanhydride-based nanovaccine against paratuberculosis infection.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis) causes Johne’s disease in ruminants and is characterized by chronic gastroenteritis leading to heavy economic losses to the dairy industry worldwide. The currently available vaccine (inactivated bacterin in oil base) is not effective in preventing pathogen shedding and is rarely used to control Johne’s disease in dairy herds. To develop a better vaccine that can prevent the spread of Johne’s disease, we utilized polyanhydride nanoparticles (PAN) to encapsulate mycobacterial antigens composed of whole cell lysate (PAN-Lysate) and culture filtrate (PAN-Cf) of M. paratuberculosis. These nanoparticle-based vaccines (i.e., nanovaccines) were well tolerated in mice causing no inflammatory lesions at the site of injection. Immunological assays demonstrated a substantial increase in the levels of antigen-specific T cell responses post-vaccination in the PAN-Cf vaccinated group as indicated by high percentages of triple cytokine (IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α) producing CD8+ T cells. Following challenge, animals vaccinated with PAN-Cf continued to produce significant levels of double (IFN-γ, TNF-α) and single cytokine (IFN-γ) secreting CD8+ T cells compared with animals vaccinated with an inactivated vaccine. A significant reduction in bacterial load was observed in multiple organs of animals vaccinated with PAN-Cf, which is a clear indication of protection. Overall, the use of polyanhydride nanovaccines resulted in development of protective and sustained immunity against Johne’s disease, an approach that could be applied to counter other intracellular pathogens.
The Relation Between Classroom Behaviors and the Writing Skills of Urban Third-Grade Students

Although several decades of research has highlighted the contribution of classroom behaviors to students’ mathematics and reading performance, this relation with regard to writing performance has b...
Analyzing injury severity of rear-end crashes involving large trucks using a mixed logit model: A case study in North Carolina

As one of the most frequently occurring crashes, rear-end crashes often result in injuries and property damage, especially when large trucks are involved. To investigate the contributing factors an...
Abstract 5339: Paradoxical androgen receptor regulation by small molecule enantiomers

Small molecules that target the androgen receptor (AR) are the mainstay of therapy for lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), but they ultimately lead to resistance and progression to terminal disease. While individual resistance-associated AR mutations have been identified, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we report a new class of AR-targeting compounds derived from the anti-androgen BMS-641988 (N-((3aR,4R,5R,7R,7aS)-2-(4-cyano-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,3-dioxooctahydro-1H-4,7-epoxyisoindol-5-yl)ethanesulfonamide) that reveal unexpected biological behavior: as expected, the C-5 (R)-enantiomers are antagonists, however the corresponding (S)-enantiomers, including the previously unknown C-5 (S)-enantiomer of BMS-641988 itself, are potent agonists of AR, with ED50 values comparable to dihydrotestosterone and R1881. A series of in vitro assays that interrogate different steps of AR functionality–including AR binding via fluorescence polarization, nuclear translocation and hyperspeckling via live cell confocal microscopy, ARE-luciferase, and RT qPCR arrays–confirm that the (R)-enantiomers are potent antagonists of AR in multiple cell lines, including AR T877A mutation-expressing LNCaP and AR overexpressing VCaP. While these cells are virtually resistant to BMS-641988, two of the novel derivatives, (R)-USC-1702 and (R)-USC-1707, inhibited their growth with IC50 values in the lower nM range. Importantly, these compounds do not produce the toxic metabolite that led to the clinical failure of BMS-641988. This is the first documented evidence of small molecule enantiomer pairs showing opposite functional effects while targeting AR. This new AR regulation duality augments our understanding of AR function and may have implications for anti-androgen drug development. Citation Format: Katherin Patsch, Chao Liu, Boris Kashemirov, Harish Sura, Grzegorz Zapotoczny, Yuanye Sun, Pavan P. Shah, Jonathan E. Katz, Sujatha Chilakala, Ah Young Joo, Nolan Ung, Maya Aljehani, Ren X. Sun, David B. Agus, Daniel Ruderman, Charles E. McKenna. Paradoxical androgen receptor regulation by small molecule enantiomers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5339.
Modeling root system growth around obstacles

State-of-the-Art models of Root System Architecture (RSA) do not allow simulating root growth around rigid obstacles. Yet, the presence of obstacles can be highly disruptive to the root system. We grew wheat seedlings in sealed petri dishes without obstacle and in custom 3D-printed rhizoboxes containing obstacles. Time-lapse photography was used to reconstruct the wheat root morphology network. We used the reconstructed wheat root network without obstacle to calibrate an RSA model implemented in the R-SWMS software. The root network with obstacles allowed calibrating the parameters of a new function that models the influence of rigid obstacles on wheat root growth. Experimental results show that the presence of a rigid obstacle does not affect the growth rate of the wheat root axes, but that it does influence the root trajectory after the main axis has passed the obstacle. The growth recovery time, i.e. the time for the main root axis to recover its geotropism-driven growth, is proportional to the time during which the main axis grows along the obstacle. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons between experimental and numerical results show that the proposed model successfully simulates wheat RSA growth around obstacles. Our results suggest that wheat roots follow patterns that could inspire the design of adaptive engineering flow networks.
First and Second Graders Successfully Reason About Ratios With Both Dot Arrays and Arabic Numerals

Children struggle with exact, symbolic ratio reasoning, but prior research demonstrates children show surprising intuition when making approximate, nonsymbolic ratio judgments. In the current experiment, eighty-five 6- to 8-year-old children made approximate ratio judgments with dot arrays and numerals. Children were adept at approximate ratio reasoning in both formats and improved with age. Children who engaged in the nonsymbolic task first performed better on the symbolic task compared to children tested in the reverse order, suggesting that nonsymbolic ratio reasoning may function as a scaffold for symbolic ratio reasoning. Nonsymbolic ratio reasoning mediated the relation between children's numerosity comparison performance and symbolic mathematics performance in the domain of probabilities, but numerosity comparison performance explained significant unique variance in general numeration skills.
Playing by the Informal Rules: Why the Chinese Regime Remains Stable despite Rising Protests

Growing protests in non-democratic countries are often seen as signals of regime decline. China, however, has remained stable amid surging protests. Playing by the Informal Rules highlights the importance of informal norms in structuring state-protester interactions, mitigating conflict, and explaining regime resilience. Drawing on a nationwide dataset of protest and multi-sited ethnographic research, this book presents a bird's-eye view of Chinese contentious politics and illustrates the uneven application of informal norms across regions, social groups, and time. Through examinations of protests and their distinct implications for regime stability, Li offers a novel theoretical framework suitable for monitoring the trajectory of political contention in China and beyond. Overall, this study sheds new light on political mobilization and authoritarian resilience and provides fresh perspectives on power, rules, legitimacy, and resistance in modern societies.
COVID-19 Trial Graph: A Linked Graph for COVID-19 Clinical Trials.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical trials are an essential part of the effort to find safe and effective prevention and treatment for COVID-19. Given the rapid growth of COVID-19 clinical trials, there is an urgent need for a better clinical trial information retrieval that supports searching by specifying criteria including both eligibility criteria and structured trial information. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We built a linked graph for registered COVID-19 clinical trials: the COVID-19 Trial Graph, to facilitate retrieval of clinical trials. Natural language processing (NLP) tools were leveraged to extract and normalize the clinical trial information from both their eligibility criteria free texts and structured information from ClinicalTrials.gov. We linked the extracted data using the COVID-19 Trial Graph and imported it to a graph database, which supports both query and visualization. We evaluated trial graph using case queries and graph embedding. RESULTS: The graph currently (as of 10-05-2020) contains 3,392 registered COVID-19 clinical trials, with 17,480 nodes and 65,236 relationships. Manual evaluation of case queries found high-precision and recall scores on retrieving relevant clinical trials searching from both eligibility criteria and trial-structured information. We observed clustering in clinical trials via graph embedding, which also showed superiority over the baseline (0.8704 vs. 0.8199) in evaluating whether a trial can complete its recruitment successfully. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 Trial Graph is a novel representation of clinical trials that allows diverse search queries and provides a graph-based visualization of COVID-19 clinical trials. High-dimensional vectors mapped by graph embedding for clinical trials would be potentially beneficial for many downstream applications, such as trial end recruitment status prediction, and trial similarity comparison. Our methodology also is generalizable to other clinical trials, such as cancer clinical trials.
Improving Parallelism in System Level Models by Assessing PDES Performance

For effective embedded system design, transaction level modeling (TLM) must explicitly expose any available parallelism in the application. Traditional TLM in SystemC utilizes channels for communication and synchronization between concurrent modules, whereas modern TLM-2.0 emphasizes address-accurate communication via explicit interconnect and memories. In both modeling styles, the choice of synchronization mechanisms has a significant impact on the available parallelism in the model which can be exploited by parallel discrete event simulation (PDES). In this work, we propose and analyze a set of non-invasive standard-compliant modeling techniques to increase parallelism in IEEE SystemC TLM-1 and TLM-2.0 models. We measure the performance of aggressive out-of-order PDES in the Recoding Infrastructure for SystemC (RISC) and analyze the parallelism in the models. Our case study on six modeling styles of a state-of-art deep neural network (DNN), namely the GoogLeNet image classification algorithm, demonstrates the impact of varying synchronization mechanisms with simulator run time reduced by 38% compared to a synchronous parallel reference model on a 16-core host machine. Our study also suggests that increased parallel simulation performance indicates better models with higher amounts of parallelism exposed.
Study of the “Erythraeidae, R.O.M. No.8” of Ewing, 1937

In 1937, Dr. H.E. Ewing described briefly a larval mite embedded in Cretaceous amber from Cedar Lake, Manitoba (Canada). He stated that “Eventually it may be possible to place this specimen to genus, but at present our knowledge of the larval forms of the Erythraeidae is not sufficient.”
Tutorial: object-oriented programming with visual basic .Net

This tutorial presents a detailed tour of the object-oriented programming features found in Visual Basic.NET (VB.NET). Previous versions of VB were promoted as being object-oriented, but lacked several key features found in other modern object-oriented languages. VB.NET represents a major overhaul of the VB language, especially in the area of object-orientation. The tutorial starts with a discussion of developing structures. Structures are like lightweight classes in VB.NET because they can contain methods. Structures differ from classes because they cannot be inherited. The discussion then moves to developing stand-alone classes, covering topics such as developing constructor methods, instance methods, and shared methods. Next we discuss how inheritance is implemented in VB.NET, with several examples of the different forms of inheritance (construction, generalization, specialization, etc.) The tutorial then talks about implementing abstract classes and interfaces in VB.NET. Several advanced topics are discussed in the next section, including examples of design patterns and refactoring. Other topics discussed in this section include object serialization and reflection. Features of other object-oriented languages not found in VB.NET, such as multiple inheritance, are also discussed.
Biomarkers in Atrial Fibrillation, Ventricular Arrhythmias, and Sudden Cardiac Death

Cardiac arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation are important causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although they usually occur in the setting of structural heart disease, these arrhythmias can be the primary manifestation of subclinical cardiovascular disease and have deleterious consequences including stroke, heart failure, and death. Investigational efforts have focused on developing risk stratification algorithms and diagnostic methods to identify patients who are most likely to sustain cardiac arrhythmias and benefit from early pharmacologic and interventional therapies. This review highlights important clinical and translational studies that identify potential biological markers to predict the onset of cardiac arrhythmias and their complications. Particular focus is placed on mechanisms involving the neurohormonal system, inflammation, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and metabolic pathways.
Stress response syndromes

The signs and symptoms of response to a stressful life event are expressed in two predominant phases: the intrusive state, characterized by unbidden ideas and feelings and even compulsive actions, and the denial state, characterized by emotional numbing and constriction of ideation. In this review of stress-response syndromes, I will outline those phases, discuss the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) diagnoses for stressresponse disorders, and consider the mutual etiologic effects of stressful life events, psychiatric disorders, and preexisting conflicts or functional deficits. Guidelines for brief dynamic psychotherapy for patients who need more than transient support are presented.
A Case of the Isolation of the Language Function

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a case of the isolation of the language function. It discusses the Alzheimer's and Pick's diseases because of their relevance to the case presented. Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease, although pathologically distinct, resemble each other in their clinical manifestations, and the criteria to separate these diseases on the basis of clinical or neuroradiological features are considered impossible or extremely difficult. Anxiety, depression, restlessness, sleep disorders, and hallucinations comprise some of the initial symptoms. In the early stages, the serious defect concerns memory, particularly memory for recent events, but eventually, all intellectual functions are affected. The impairment of intellectual functions becomes the dominant feature of the clinical picture and might be accompanied by loss of spontaneity and indolence or by purposeless hyperactivity. Several investigations have been carried out to determine whether genetic factors play a role in Alzheimer's and Pick's diseases. Diagnosis on the basis of clinical features in both diseases is difficult.
The Native American Family Circle: Roots of Resiliency

SUMMARY This paper examines the structure, values, and identity of Native families. It discusses the history and context of Native Americans and offers specific practice principles and interventions for enhancing one's work with Native people.
Equilibrium and stability of axisymmetric drops on a conical substrate under gravity

Motivated by recent investigations of toroidal tissue clusters that are observed to climb conical obstacles after self-assembly [Nurse et al., “A model of force generation in a three-dimensional toroidal cluster of cells,” J. Appl. Mech. 79, 051013 (2012)], we study a related problem of the determination of the equilibrium and stability of axisymmetric drops on a conical substrate in the presence of gravity. A variational principle is used to characterize equilibrium shapes that minimize surface energy and gravitational potential energy subject to a volume constraint, and the resulting Euler equation is solved numerically using an angle/arclength formulation. The resulting equilibria satisfy a Laplace-Young boundary condition that specifies the contact angle at the three-phase trijunction. The vertical position of the equilibrium drops on the cone is found to vary significantly with the dimensionless Bond number that represents the ratio of gravitational and capillary forces; a global force balance is used to examine the conditions that affect the drop positions. In particular, depending on the contact angle and the cone half-angle, we find that the vertical position of the drop can either increase (“the drop climbs the cone”) or decrease due to a nominal increase in the gravitational force. Most of the equilibria correspond to upward-facing cones and are analogous to sessile drops resting on a planar surface; however, we also find equilibria that correspond to downward facing cones that are instead analogous to pendant drops suspended vertically from a planar surface. The linear stability of the drops is determined by solving the eigenvalue problem associated with the second variation of the energy functional. The drops with positive Bond number are generally found to be unstable to non-axisymmetric perturbations that promote a tilting of the drop. Additional points of marginal stability are found that correspond to limit points of the axisymmetric base state. Drops that are far from the tip are subject to azimuthal instabilities with higher mode numbers that are analogous to the Rayleigh instability of a cylindrical interface. We have also found a range of completely stable solutions that correspond to small contact angles and cone half-angles.
Older Workers Face More Serious Consequences from Workplace Injuries

Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states - California, Washington, and Wisconsin - suggests that older workers are more likely than their younger counterparts to have permanent disabilities as a result of those injuries. This is true even though older workers have fewer workplace accidents. In addition, older workers suffer larger wage losses over the first few years after injury, they have lower replacement rates from workers' compensation benefits, and they experience more injury-related days of non-employment.
Where It Hurts: 2014 Year in Review

Anthropologists have increasingly used the term public anthropology to refer to a model of research and practice dedicated to bringing anthropological knowledge into public discourse to affect tangible social change (Low 2011). The increased visibility of what is variously referred to as public, engaged, activist, action, or applied anthropology challenges anthropologists to circulate their insights more widely and effectively in the public sphere. The question, however, is not merely whether anthropologists should participate in the public sphere but also how anthropologists should intervene. In this article, I examine the interventions that anthropologists made in debates on the Ebola epidemic, state violence and civil discourse, and the need for cultural change in the face of climate change. Using these cases as a theoretical point of departure, I question what would happen if we imagined our work as a practice of freedom, an act of imagination, a tool for transforming an unequal world? What if we did the work of anthropology as though our lives and the lives of others depended on it? [public anthropology, Ebola, Israel-Palestine, Ferguson, climate change, year in review]
Line-Of-Sight Steering And Stabilization

This article discusses various methods for steering the line-of-sight of an optical system based on controlling a subsystem or a single optical element. The applicability of some of the methods for line-of-sight stabilization is discussed.
Some remarks on the origin of seismic anisotropy in the D” layer

Physical mechanisms of seismic anisotropy in the D” layer are examined based on seismological and mineral physics observations. The results of body-wave seismology on the fine structure of the D” layer and of mineral physics studies on the elastic constants and the lattice preferred orientation in lower mantle minerals as well as the shape preferred orientation of melt pockets are taken into account. Evidence of large but depth (pressure)-dependent elastic anisotropy of lower mantle minerals, particularly (Mg,Fe)O, and of tilted shape preferred orientation of sheared partial melts is summarized. It is shown that both shape preferred orientation of partial melts (or iron-rich secondary phases) and lattice preferred orientation of minerals with well-documented slip systems are difficult to reconcile with seismological observations. However, lattice preferred orientation of highly anisotropic mineral, (Mg,Fe)O, is consistent with most of the seismic observations if the dominant glide plane under the D” layer conditions is 100 rather than 110 as observed at lower pressures. Such a change in glide plane in MgO (or (Mg,Fe)O) is likely to occur as a result of pressure-induced change in elastic anisotropy and/or in the nature of chemical bonding (and possibly due to high temperatures). Both solid-state and partial melt mechanisms of anisotropy imply that the VSH > VSV (VSV > VSH) polarization anisotropy means horizontal (vertical) flow. In the solid-state mechanism, significant VSH > VSV in the D” layer beneath the circum-Pacific (Alaska and the Caribbean) implies horizontal shear at high stress caused presumably by the collision of subducting materials with the core-mantle boundary. Highly variable anisotropy beneath the central-Pacific can be attributed to solid-state fabrics caused by a complicated three-dimensional flow presumably related to the upwelling of plumes, but anisotropy in this region could also be attributed to the shape preferred orientation of melt pockets the presence of which is suggested by very low average velocities.
Rings of uranus: proposed model is unworkable.

A model of Uranus's rings proposed by Van Flandern (1979) is discussed. According to the proposed model, Uranus's rings are the gaseous tails of unobserved small satellites. The hypothesis raises a number of objections, e.g., a gaseous torus must have a minor diameter of thousands, not tens, of kilometers; very large densities are required to produce the postulated angles of refraction; and making up the mass losses, even with a generous lifetime, would use up quite a large body in a few million years.
How disease advocacy organizations participate in clinical research: a survey of genetic organizations

How disease advocacy organizations participate in clinical research: a survey of genetic organizations
A note on start-up and large amplitude oscillatory shear flow of multimode viscoelastic fluids

Start up of plane Couette flow and large amplitude oscillatory shear flow of single and multimode Maxwell fluids as well as Oldroyd-B fluids have been analyzed by analytical or semi-analytical procedures. The result of our analysis indicates that if a single or a multimode Maxwell fluid has a relaxation time comparable or smaller than the rate of change of force imparted on the fluid, then the fluid response is not singular as Elasticity Number (E → ∞ ). However, if this is not the case, as E → ∞, perturbations of single and multimode Maxwell fluids give rise to highly oscillatory velocity and stress fields. Hence, their behavior is singular in this limit. Moreover, we have observed that transients in velocity and stresses that are caused by propagation of shear waves in Maxwell fluids are damped much more quickly in the presence of faster and faster relaxing modes. In addition, we have shown that the Oldroyd-B model gives rise to results quantitatively similar to multimode Maxwell fluids at times larger than the fastest relaxation time of the multimode Maxwell fluid. This suggests that the effect of fast relaxing modes is equivalent to viscous effects at times larger than the fastest relaxation time of the fluid. Moreover, the analysis of shear wave propagation in multimode Maxwell fluids clearly show that the dynamics of wave propagation are governed by an effective relaxation and viscosity spectra. Finally, no quasi-periodic or chaotic flows were observed as a result of interaction of shear waves in large amplitude oscillatory shear flows for any combination of frequency and amplitudes.
Multicomponent diffusion with chemical reactions and its effect in voltammetry

Situations are frequently encountered where a mixture of species, each of which is a participant in an electrode reaction, is to be investigated by voltammetry. In the simplest case, the species undergo no chemical reactions so they diffuse independently of one another. However, when reactions occur among the diffusing species, the fluxes of each can be affected. For example, an equilibrium mixture of two rapidly interconverting conformations of a molecule that react at an electrode can produce a diffusion current which differs from the case where interconversion is slow. Because the difference will be enhanced if the diffusion coefficient of one species is much different from that of the other, one can understand why such effects are usually undetectable for conformational changes or isomerizations but can be important for metal ions and their complexes with bulky ligands [I], host-guest interactions with large hosts [2,3], intercalation of probe ions by DNA [4] and inclusion of electroactive solutes in micelles (5-131. In these examples, the reaction is often conducted under pseudo-first-order conditions and corresponds to the conversion of one species to another, e.g., complexed metal ion to free metal ion. Another type of chemical reaction among diffusing species is the exchange reaction (A + B + B + A) in which there is no net change in the concentration of either species due to the reaction. Nevertheless, conditions exist where such reactions can affect the apparent diffusion rate of the species. Electron exchange reactions have played a prominent role in the interpretation of transport in polymer films. The theory has been reviewed recently and refined by Buck [14,15]. Exchange reactions will not be considered in this paper whose purpose instead is to analyze the effect of interconversion reactions among diffusing species in voltammetry and to define those conditions where the effects of such reactions will be important. The conclusions will be discussed and illustrated through reference to published results.
New topical agents for hair growth

The topical agents developed thus far to treat male-pattern baldness have provided encouraging results, but with continued efforts other new, more effective compounds are certain to be developed in the future in this promising new area of dermatologic research.
Boundary surface recovery from skeleton curves and surfaces

Abstract Medial axis transforms, or skeletons, have many applications in computer aided geometric design and analysis. Construction of skeletons is an active area of research. We consider the inverse problem, that of recovering boundary surfaces from given skeleton elements. The skeleton of any 3D object will, in general, consist of curves and surfaces. In this paper, we first outline a method for reconstructing boundary surfaces corresponding to skeletal curves, and then extend the method for reconstruction of boundary surfaces corresponding to skeletal surfaces. Implemented examples for both curves and surfaces are included.
Enhancers of cytosolic cAMP augment depolarization-induced exocytosis from pancreatic B-cells: evidence for effects distal to Ca2+ entry.

We have investigated the effects of cAMP enhancing agents on depolarization-induced membrane capacitance increases (ΔCm in single rat pancreatic B-cells. Concentrations of IBMX, 8-CPT cAMP and forskolin, which enhance cAMP and insulin release, all enhance depolarization-induced ΔCm's seen in response to single voltage-clamp pulses and reduce the depression of ΔCm responses often seen with trains of pulses. These effects often occur in the absence of changes in peak Ca2+ current or the total Ca2+ charge entry during the depolarizing pulse. These data suggest that cAMP modulating maneuvers may directly affect the mechanism of insulin granule mobilization into a readily releasible store or fusion at a discharge site.
Long-term potentiation of the responses to parallel fiber stimulation in mouse cerebellar cortex in vivo.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of parallel fiber–Purkinje cell (PF–PC) synapses in the cerebellum has been suggested to underlie aspects of motor learning. Previous in vitro studies have primarily used low frequency PF stimulation conditioning paradigms to generate either presynaptic PF–PC LTP (4–8 Hz) or postsynaptic PF–PC LTP (1 Hz). Little is known about the conditions that evoke PF–PC LTP in vivo. High frequency stimulation in vivo increases PC responsiveness to peripheral stimuli; however, neither the site of action nor the signaling pathways involved have been examined. Using flavoprotein autofluorescence optical imaging in the FVB mouse in vivo, this report describes that a conditioning stimulation consisting of a high frequency burst of PF stimulation (100 Hz, 15 pulse trains every 3 s for 5 min) evokes a long-term increase in the response to PF stimulation. Following the conditioning stimulation, the response to PF stimulation increases over 20 min to ∼130% above baseline and this potentiation persists for at least 2 h. Field potential recordings of the responses to PF stimulation show that the postsynaptic component is potentiated but the presynaptic, parallel fiber volley is not. Paired-pulse facilitation does not change after the conditioning stimulation, suggesting the potentiation occurs postsynaptically. Blocking non-NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartic acid) ionotropic glutamate receptors with DNQX (6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione disodium salt, 50 μM, bath application) during the conditioning stimulation has no effect on the long-term increase in fluorescence. However, blocking subtype I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGLuR1) with LY367385 (200 μM) during the conditioning stimulation abolishes the long-term increase in fluorescence. Blocking GABAergic neurotransmission is not required to evoke this long-term potentiation. Blocking GABAA receptors reduces but does not eliminate the long-term potentiation. Therefore, this study demonstrates that high frequency PF stimulation generates long-term potentiation of PF–PC synapses in vivo. This novel form of LTP is generated primarily postsynaptically and is mediated by mGluR1 receptors.
Generating Probable Consequences

A study was conducted to examine some of the factors that influence peoples' generation of likely consequences associated with a major hypothetical life event, involving the loss of the function of one of one's own limbs. The design included four limbs involving two inclusion relations, thumb-hand and foot-leg, and two viewpoints involving consequences for one-self or for others. The results indicated that subjects generate more numerous consequences for primary than for secondary consequences, more for short-term consequences than for medium- or long-term ones, more for an inclusive limb than for an included limb (e.g., hand vs thumb), and more pertaining to one-self than to others. Individual differences in the generation of consequences were not associated with prior experience involving functional loss of the limbs tested or with general differences in academic performance. The results permit inference about some of the mental processes that accompany consequence generation.
Fill factor improvement using microlens arrays

Optoelectronic devices often make use of detectors or spatial light modulators. These components frequently are integrated with other electronics or devices that limit their fill factor on the substrate to less than unity. A frequently quoted approach to overcoming the fill factor problem is to use microlens arrays in conjunction with the components to increase the fill factor to near unity. However, the effect of the field angle over which the devices must operate is often not considered. In this paper we present results of geometric and physical optic analyses of microlens arrays in conjunction with detectors and modulators. Design equations for the microlens arrays are derived, the effect of field angle is quantified, and expected fill factor improvement is presented. Examples of possible systems applications are also considered.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
How Parole Officers Use Records

Participant observation and interview methods were used to study the record-keeping behavior of parole officers employed in urban branch offices of a state parole agency. The data show that routine career contingencies reward parole officers for underreporting deviant behavior. Ceteris paribus , parole officers will ignore most of the crimes, incidents, and violations they observe in their caseloads. The exceptions to this rule are situations where the parole officer realizes some beneift from reporting an incident. These benefits relate generally to the control of parolees and to the satisfaction of informal bureaucratic demands. Ordinarily, the parole officer will report an incident and thereby create a record, only when he can use that record to enhance his work environment. These findings have implications for the validity of parole records, and more important, for the functional theory of parole bureaucracies.
Increase in type I adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase during isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy

Abstract The amount of type I and type II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase present in the rat heart was determined at various times during isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Wistar rats were injected twice daily with isoproterenol (5 mg/kg, s.c.) for 2, 5 or 10 days. Cardiac weight increased gradually over the 10-day period of drug administration, and by day 10, heart weight was 156% of control. Following the cessation of isoproterenol administration, the cardiac weight regressed toward the control value by day 15. An increase in the specific activity of type I protein kinase to 197% of control occurred by day 10. The specific activity of type II protein kinase did not change significantly during either the hypertrophy or regression stage. The increase in the specific activity of type I protein kinase during a chemically-induced trophic response of the heart may indicate that type I cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase plays a regulatory function in this process.
Characteristics of Elderly Participants in Three Types of Leisure Groups

145 participants in three types of programs for elderly persons were compared on leisure activities, attitudes toward leisure, social contacts, morale, and demographic variables. The results of discriminant function analyses indicate that older adults participating in RSVP (n = 30), recreation programs (n = 45), and nutrition programs (n = 70) differed in significant ways. Volunteers were highly active, service-oriented people who had fewer social contacts and placed less value on social activities. Recreation group members were sociable, fairly active people with stable living arrangements, who valued friendship and social contacts. Nutrition group members also valued social contacts, but they were much less active, experienced more difficulties with transportation and sensory-motor problems, and appeared to have somewhat lower morale. The patterns observed in the three programs were quite distinct. Development of future programs for elderly persons can be guided by avoiding duplication of service among ...
Geographical competition between regional economies: The case of Spain

The purpose of this paper is to suggest an approach to uncover the patterns of geographical competition and complementarity in a regional economic system; a model for practical analysis is developed by means of a cointegration econometric modeling framework. It is claimed that this model is a suitable approach to identify the kind of relationships between adjacent regional economies, to undertake exploratory analysis, and to analyze situations with limited information about the nature of regional relationships. The utility of the analysis stems from the absence, in most regional development policy formulation, of explicit consideration of spatial spillovers. The paper is organized as follows. In order to establish the basis for the regional problem to be analyzed, some issues that connect with the spatial interaction of the regions will be presented in Sect. 2. Section 3 is devoted to theoretical considerations of long-term regional evolution and regional competition; and the way in which the error correction mechanism models can be introduced into this context. In Sect. 4, a model for assessing horizontal relationships between adjacent regions is developed using the Engle-Granger procedure. The results of the macroeconomic competition and macroeconomic complementarity between the Spanish regions are presented in Sect. 5; the sixth section evaluates the adopted approach, showing its advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Finally, some concluding comments comprise Sect. 7. 2. Competition and complementarity: The regional problem in context The field of regional competition can be tackled from many different perspectives, and it is necessary to establish a framework to carry out an organized, convenient discussion. The relevant spatial dimension of our analysis is placed at in the level II of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (referred to by the French acronym NUTS) that divides the territory of the European Union into 211 regions. The European Commission uses a spatial classification established by Eurostat on the basis of national administrative
Network-Assisted Mobile Computing with Optimal Uplink Query Processing

Many mobile applications retrieve content from remote servers via user generated queries. Processing these queries is often needed before the desired content can be identified. Processing the request on the mobile devices can quickly sap the limited battery resources. Conversely, processing user queries at remote servers can have slow response times due communication latency incurred during transmission of the potentially large query. We evaluate a network-assisted mobile computing scenario where midnetwork nodes with "leasing&#x201D; capabilities are deployed by a service provider. Leasing computation power can reduce battery usage on the mobile devices and improve response times. However, borrowing processing power from mid-network nodes comes at a leasing cost which must be accounted for when making the decision of where processing should occur. We study the tradeoff between battery usage, processing and transmission latency, and mid-network leasing. We use the dynamic programming framework to solve for the optimal processing policies that suggest the amount of processing to be done at each mid-network node in order to minimize the processing and communication latency and processing costs. Through numerical studies, we examine the properties of the optimal processing policy and the core tradeoffs in such systems.
High-dose 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine therapy for 12 patients with malignant pheochromocytoma

BACKGROUND 131I-Metaiodobenzylguanidine (131I-MIBG) can be used systemically to treat malignant pheochromocytoma. To improve outcome, the authors used higher levels of activity of 131I-MIBG than previously reported. The authors reported the response rates and toxicity levels in patients with malignant pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma who were treated with high-dose 131I-MIBG. METHODS Following debulking surgery and stem cell harvest, 12 patients with malignant pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma were treated with 131I-MIBG. Five had received previous external beam radiation and/or chemotherapy. The median single treatment dose was 800 mCi (37 gigabecquerels; range, 386–866 mCi) or 11.5 mCi/kg (range, 5.6–18.3 mCi/kg). The median cumulative dose was 1015 mCi (range, 386–1690 mCi). RESULTS Three patients had a complete response, two of whom had soft tissue and skeletal metastases. Their median follow-up was 45 months (range, 23–101 months). Seven patients had a partial response (PR), with a median follow-up 43 months (range, 6–47 months). Two patients without a response died with progressive disease (PD) and 2 patients with an initial PR died of PD at 13 and 11 months, respectively. Grade 3 thrombocytopenia occurred after 79% (15 of 19) of treatments had been administered. Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia followed 53% (10 of 19) and 19% (4 of 19) of treatments, respectively. One patient required stem cell infusion, and one developed primary ovarian failure. CONCLUSIONS The single and cumulative doses of 131I-MIBG were approximately 2–3.5 times higher than those used at other centers. Unlike previous reports, two patients with both skeletal and soft tissue metastases had a complete response. Hematologic toxicity was significant but tolerable. High-dose 131I-MIBG may lead to long-term survival in patients with malignant pheochromocytoma. Cancer 2003;98:239–48. © 2003 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11518
Work–Life Balance for Men: Counseling Implications

The authors describe the application of effective counseling interventions in the context of providing counseling to men who experience work–life balance issues. A theoretical framework for understanding work–life balance among men is considered. Treating work–life balance difficulties in session with male clients is presented. Specific types of treatment interventions and strategies are presented.
Copper oxide reduction through vacuum annealing

Abstract The reduction of partially- and fully-oxidized Cu films was carried out by vacuum annealing, and the reduction mechanisms were investigated in situ by XPS. For a partially-oxidized Cu film, CuO was reduced to Cu 2 O around 380 K, and the Cu 2 O concentration decreased with increasing annealing temperature and fell below the XPS detection limit at 673 K. For a fully-oxidized Cu film, CuO started to form Cu 2 O around 473 K, and Cu began to appear at 673 K. The results for a partially-oxidized film are interpreted in terms of oxygen diffusion into bulk Cu rather than oxygen desorption into vacuum.