cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CN-10SHOULD CARBOXYPEPTIDASE BE USED MORE OFTEN SINCE ITS FDA APPROVAL? - A CASE OF SUCCESSFUL METHOTREXATE TOXICITY RESCUE IN A PATIENT WITH NEUROLYMPHOMATOSIS.

BACKGROUND: High-dose methotrexate (HDMTX)-induced nephrotoxicity is rare and can be prevented with hydration, urine alkalinization, and leucovorin. When hemodialysis is used, rebound in MTX concentrations can occur after stopping dialysis. Carboxypeptidase metabolizes MTX to inactive metabolites and provides an alternative route of elimination, resulting in >98% decrease in MTX concentrations. METHODS: A 62 year-old woman with a history of Mullerian cancer, previously treated with resection and chemotherapy, presented with confusion, leg weakness, and incontinence. MRI of neuraxis revealed leptomeningeal enhancement in the cervicothoracic cord and cauda equina and T2/FLAIR hyperintensity in the cerebral hemispheric sulci. PET-CT showed FDG avidity in the thoracic cord, cauda equina, and right abdominal wall. CSF flow cytometry revealed abnormal mature B cells, concerning for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The presumptive diagnosis was neurolymphomatosis. Dexamethasone and spinal irradiation were initiated. Biopsy of the FDG-avid abdominal nodule was considered but it disappeared on repeat imaging. Cycle 1 of HDMTX and rituximab was complicated by pancytopenia. One month later, the patient re-presented with confusion and required a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for acute communicating hydrocephalus. During cycle 2 of HDMTX, she developed acute kidney injury, transaminitis, and worsening mentation, concerning for MTX toxicity. MTX level 21 hours after administration was 410 micromol/L. Hemodialysis and administration of carboxypeptidase resulted in marked improvement of MTX levels, hepatorenal function, and clinical status. CONCLUSIONS: This is an unusual case of neurolymphomatosis in an immunocompromised patient with previous Mullerian cancer. The etiology of MTX toxicity remains unclear although concomitant UTI and sepsis in our patient was likely contributory. Prompt use of carboxypeptidase eliminated MTX and prevented severe hepatic and hematologic toxicity. Carboxypeptidase is now FDA-approved and should be considered in patients with MTX toxicity who do not respond to standard rescue protocols. Use can be cost-limited as treatment of an average patient may exceed $100,000.
Effects of a brief, comprehensive, yoga-based program on quality of life and biometric measures in an employee population: a pilot study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether a comprehensive, yoga-based wellness program could positively affect multiple markers of health and wellness in an employee population. Design: Self-selected employees who enrolled in a new wellness class were invited to participate in a yoga-based wellness program. Participants met six days per week (Monday through Saturday) at 5:10 AM. Sessions lasted for at least one hour, and the program was six weeks long. Each session consisted of power yoga interwoven with philosophical concepts and instruction about the benefits of mindfulness, breath, and meditation. Certain classes each week incorporated large and small group sharing,journalwriting,andmindfuleatingexercises.Mainoutcome measures were biometric measures (height, weight, blood pressure, flexibility, body fat) and quality-of-life measures (physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being). Results: Fifty-nine employees were invited to join the program; 50 consented to participate, of which 37 (74%) attended more than 90% of classes. Participant age ranged from 24 to 76 years. Statistically significant improvements were observed in weight (4.84 5.24 kg; P .001), diastolic blood pressure (2.66 8.31 mm/Hg; P .03), flexibility score (relative change 11% 20.92; P .001), body fat percentage (1.94 2.68; P .001), and overall quality of life (linear analog self-assessment [LASA] score 3.73 8.11; P .03). Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that a yoga-based, comprehensive wellness program is both feasible and efficacious in creating positive, short-term improvements in multiple domains of health and wellness for a population of employees.
The Effects of Proposition 209 on California: Higher Education, Public Employment, and Contracting

In 1996, Californians overwhelmingly approved Proposition 209 that prohibited all state agencies from using anyone’s race, ethnicity, or gender to discriminate against them or give them preference in university admissions, public employment, or competition for a state contract. Those who opposed Proposition 209 predicted that ending racial or gender favoritism would result in sharp declines in black and Hispanic college enrollments, setbacks for women in public employment, reduced funds for cancer detection centers and domestic violence shelters, or other alarmingly negative effects. This article compares such dire predictions with documentary evidence provided by the State Personnel Board, the Department of Finance, the University of California (UC), and California State University (CSU). It relies on data concerning admissions, retention, and graduation of undergraduates from the CSU system and the UC and reviews faculty hiring patterns within both systems. Other tables compare the numbers of white, black, Hispanic, males and females employed in a variety of California state agencies in 1997, after Proposition 209 was approved, and then in 2006, nine years later. These statistics document the progress made towards social justice under Proposition 209 and may encourage voters in other states who want to assure that preferential treatment (regardless of whatever else it may euphemistically Acad. Quest. (2008) 21:296–318 DOI 10.1007/s12129-008-9072-8
Phase II study of esorubicin (4′-deozydoxorubicin) in advanced epithelial carcinoma of the ovary: A Gynecologic Oncology Group study

Twenty-six patients with advanced, measurable epithelial carcinoma of the ovary were treated with 76 courses of esorubicin at doses ranging from 20–30 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. All patients are evaluable for toxicity and response. All patients had received prior therapy including radiation therapy in 9, non-anthracycline chemotherapy in 25, and surgery in 25. All patients were GOG performance status 0, 1 or 2. Two partial responses were seen. Severe (grade 3 or 4) leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia were seen in 13, 1 and 4 patients, respectively. Moderate gastrointestinal toxicity was also noted. Alopecia and mucositis were rare. Phlebitis was not seen. Neither clinical congestive cardiomyopathy nor decrement in left ventricular ejection fraction was observed. We conclude that using this dose and schedule of esorubicin as second-line chemotherapy in ovarian epithelial neoplasms lacks significant activity and is associated with moderate toxicity.
Muscle structure influences utrophin expression in mdx mice.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe muscle wasting disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. To examine the influence of muscle structure on the pathogenesis of DMD we generated mdx4cv:desmin double knockout (dko) mice. The dko male mice died of apparent cardiorespiratory failure at a median age of 76 days compared to 609 days for the desmin−/− mice. An ∼2.5 fold increase in utrophin expression in the dko skeletal muscles prevented necrosis in ∼91% of 1a, 2a and 2d/x fiber-types. In contrast, utrophin expression was reduced in the extrasynaptic sarcolemma of the dko fast 2b fibers leading to increased membrane fragility and dystrophic pathology. Despite lacking extrasynaptic utrophin, the dko fast 2b fibers were less dystrophic than the mdx4cv fast 2b fibers suggesting utrophin-independent mechanisms were also contributing to the reduced dystrophic pathology. We found no overt change in the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells when comparing the wild-type, desmin−/−, mdx4cv and dko gastrocnemius muscles injured with notexin. Utrophin could form costameric striations with α-sarcomeric actin in the dko to maintain the integrity of the membrane, but the lack of restoration of the NODS (nNOS, α-dystrobrevin 1 and 2, α1-syntrophin) complex and desmin coincided with profound changes to the sarcomere alignment in the diaphragm, deposition of collagen between the myofibers, and impaired diaphragm function. We conclude that the dko mice may provide new insights into the structural mechanisms that influence endogenous utrophin expression that are pertinent for developing a therapy for DMD.
Structural alterations in the tunica albuginea of the penis: impact of Peyronie's disease, ageing and impotence

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether changes in the structure of the tunica albuginea influence the development of erectile dysfunction. PATIENTS AND METHODS Biopsy specimens taken from the tunica of 64 patients (both potent and impotent) with and without Peyronie's disease were evaluated. Tissue samples were stained and examined under light and electron microscopy, and the concentration of elastic fibres present in each was measured using computerized image analysis. RESULTS The concentration of elastic fibres was lower in impotent than in potent patients (P = 0.0365) and was also significantly less in patients with Peyronie's disease. Furthermore, the concentration of elastic fibres decreased with age. Electron and light microscopy revealed the presence of distinct alterations in the tunica albuginea in impotent patients and patients with Peyronie's disease that might interfere with function. CONCLUSION The decrease in elastic fibre concentration and changes in microscopic features may contribute to erectile dysfunction by impairing the veno-occlusive function of the tunica albuginea.
Effective mass approximation for excitons

Abstract The effective mass approximation for degenerate electronic energy bands is applied to the interaction of electrons and holes in an insulator. It is shown that bound exciton states result from this treatment. The exciton Hamiltonian is of the form derived previously for impurity-state problems. The criterion for the validity of the effective mass approximation is that the lowest state be bound with an energy
Characterization of ultrathin films by laser-induced sub-picosecond photoacoustics with coherent extreme ultraviolet detection

Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterizing thin films. In this paper we demonstrate a new photoacoustic technique that allows us to precisely characterize the mechanical properties of ultrathin films. We focus an ultrafast laser onto a nano-patterned thin film sample, launching both surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and longitudinal acoustic waves (LAWs). Coherent extreme ultraviolet pulses are then used to probe the propagation dynamics of both the SAWs and LAWs. The resulting photoacoustic signal on both short (picosecond) and long (nanosecond) time scales yields important information. In the first 100ps, a fast oscillation followed by an echo signal corresponds to LAWs traveling inside the nanostructures and the thin film, from which the LAW velocities in the two materials can be extracted. On longer time-scales, SAW oscillations are observed. By combining the measured SAW frequency with the wavelength (determined by the nanostructure period) the SAW velocity can be accurately determined, even for very short wavelength surface acoustic waves with very small penetration depths. Using this technique, the elastic properties, including the Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio for the thin film, can be obtained in a single measurement, this technique can be extended to sub-10nm thin films.
Continuous Spatial Process Models for Spatial Extreme Values

We propose a hierarchical modeling approach for explaining a collection of point-referenced extreme values. In particular, annual maxima over space and time are assumed to follow generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions, with parameters μ, σ, and ξ specified in the latent stage to reflect underlying spatio-temporal structure. The novelty here is that we relax the conditionally independence assumption in the first stage of the hierarchial model, an assumption which has been adopted in previous work. This assumption implies that realizations of the the surface of spatial maxima will be everywhere discontinuous. For many phenomena including, e.g., temperature and precipitation, this behavior is inappropriate. Instead, we offer a spatial process model for extreme values that provides mean square continuous realizations, where the behavior of the surface is driven by the spatial dependence which is unexplained under the latent spatio-temporal specification for the GEV parameters. In this sense, the first stage smoothing is viewed as fine scale or short range smoothing while the larger scale smoothing will be captured in the second stage of the modeling. In addition, as would be desired, we are able to implement spatial interpolation for extreme values based on this model. A simulation study and a study on actual annual maximum rainfall for a region in South Africa are used to illustrate the performance of the model.
Incidence, Aggressiveness and In Planta Interactions of Botrytis cinerea and other Filamentous Fungi Quiescent in Grape Berries and Dormant Buds in Central Washington State

Recovery of quiescent filamentous fungi from non-symptomatic grape berries and dormant buds demonstrated dominance of Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Ulocladium and other dematiaceous hyphomycetes. Up to 78% of berries contained fungi prior to harvest. Botrytis cinerea was recovered from 0.2 to 0.5% of surface-disinfested berries just subsequent to fruit set, and 1.6-4.8% of surface-disinfested, over-wintered dormant buds. In laboratory inoculations of mature grape berries with strains of Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Ulocladium and Botrytis, only the latter was aggressive in rotting berry fruits. Inoculations with B. cinerea alone and in combination with strains of Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium and Ulocladium recovered from grape demonstrated that prior occupation of wound sites by the latter fungi resulted in reduced lesion size compared to inoculation with B. cinerea alone.
Developing monitoring techniques for the invasive goldspotted oak borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in California.

The goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an invasive species that has colonized oak woodlands in southern California. To better define its seasonal flight activity, assist with forest and integrated pest management activities, and define the current distribution in California, an effective monitoring technique for A. auroguttatus is necessary. We assessed the efficacy of two colors of flight-intercept prism traps, the placement of these traps at three heights, and several commercially available lures [Manuka oil, Phoebe oil, and a green leaf volatile, (3Z)-hexenol] for monitoring the flight of adult A. auroguttatus. Landing rates and the densities of D-shaped emergence holes of A. auroguttatus adults were assessed on the lower stems of coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia Nee, of varying size and crown health classes. Purple flight-intercept prism traps placed at heights of 3 m and 4.5 m caught significantly more female A. auroguttatus than green prism traps. In one experiment, males also responded at a significantly higher level to purple than to green prism traps placed at 3 m height. The addition of commercially available lures significantly enhanced male, but not female, A. auroguttatus trap catch when compared with unbaited control traps. There were no differences among male flight responses to the three lures. A. auroguttatus landing rates and emergence hole densities were significantly greater on the largest-diameter trees (>76.2 cm diameter at breast height) and on trees with severe crown thinning or complete crown collapse. The annual increment in emergence hole densities was also significantly greater on trees with severe crown thinning or complete crown collapse. In three trapping studies over multiple years in southern California, the adult flight period began as early as mid-May, peaked in mid-June to early July, and ended in early- to mid-September. To demonstrate the efficacy of the detection method for A. auroguttatus (unbaited purple traps at 3 m height), a delimitation survey conducted from 2009 to 2012 confirmed that the species was only present in San Diego Co., but that the distribution was expanding northward.
A theoretical consideration of leadership and total quality management

Abstract The importance of leadership practices has often been emphasized by writers in the area which has become known as total quality management. Despite such consideration, little has been espoused regarding the theoretical mechanisms by which leadership and total quality management are related. This paper provides a focus on such theoretical issues with the hope of stimulating more systematic research efforts. Emphasis is placed on the mutual influence of leadership and organizational culture on the development of TQM policies and behaviors.
Characterization and analysis of vertical coupling impact on receiver performance in high speed serial interface

As data rate increases, crosstalk becomes a significant source of high jitter. Although many techniques have been investigated to reduce crosstalk, it is not possible to fully eliminate coupling. In particular, near-end coupling between transmitter (TX) to receiver (RX) occurs at the interface of chip and PCB is one of the main sources of crosstalk. This TX to RX coupling is detrimental compared to other TX to TX or RX to TX coupling since the aggressor TX swing is large and the victim RX signal has slow edge. Thus, RX jitter is sensitive to coupling noise from TX. Therefore, it is important to investigate crosstalk impact on receiver performance on the system level including transmitter, receiver, package and PCB. In this paper, the impact of transmitter to receiver crosstalk induced at package balls and PCB vias is characterized using the internal eye-monitoring circuits. Critical factors causing this near-end crosstalk are identified and analyzed.
The primary structure of rat ribosomal protein S7.

The amino acid sequence of the rat 40S ribosomal subunit protein S7 was deduced from the sequence of nucleotides in two recombinant cDNAs and confirmed from the amino acid sequence of a cyanogen bromide peptide obtained from the protein. Ribosomal protein S7 has 194 amino acids and has a molecular mass of 22113. Hybridization of the cDNA to digest of nuclear DNA suggests that there are 14–16 copies of the S7 gene. The mRNA for the protein is about 725 nucleotides in length. Rat S7 is homologous with Xenopus laevis S8. The protein contains a possible internal duplication of 10 residues.
Structural and mechanical properties of TaZrN films: Experimental and ab initio studies

This paper reports on the growth and characterization of the structural and mechanical properties of tantalum zirconium nitride films and the subsequent simulation of these properties using an ab initio calculation based on density functional theory (DFT) within the generalized gradient approximation. The films were deposited by reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering and their physical and chemical properties were studied by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and nanoindentation. XRD revealed that these films formed a solid solution and that the lattice constant decreased linearly with Ta content. RBS provided the elemental composition of the films. Nanoindentation was used to evaluate the hardness and the elastic modulus. The hardness was found to have high values for a Ta∕(Ta+Zr) of 30% and 100%. The elastic modulus was found to increase monotonically with Ta content. The intrinsic elastic constants were calculated using DFT and the results were compared to the experime...
A robotic 3-D motion simulator for enhanced accuracy in CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop a respiratory motion simulator and evaluate its accuracy. The simulator is intended for use in the CyberKnife radiosurgery suite for phantom treatments, dose verifications, and future technical developments. CyberKnife is a radiation treatment system that incorporates a robotic arm to precisely position a linear accelerator. For enhanced accuracy in the treatments of a tumor in an internal organ that is subject to a patient's respiratory motion, the CyberKnife robot must be commanded to move the radiation beam in real-time to compensate for such motion. The motion simulator described in this study was specifically developed to serve the CyberKnife technical requirements for better treatment accuracies. The motion simulator consists of two platforms that may be programmed independently to reproduce different three-dimensional (3-D) respiratory motions at both the skin over the patient's abdomen and at the internal tumor site. The simulator meets the spatial restrictions of the CyberKnife suite with a position accuracy better than ±0.1 mm.
Characterization of database access skew in a transaction processing environment

The knowledge of access skew (non-uniform access) in each database relation is useful for both workload management (buffer pool allocation, transaction routing, etc.), as well as capacity planning for changing workload mix. However, it is a challenging problem to characterize the access skew of a real database workload in a simple manner that can easily be used to compute the buffer hit probability under the LRU replacement policy. A concise way to characterize the access skew is proposed by assuming that the large number of data pages may be logically grouped into a small number of partitions such that the frequency of accessing each page within a partition can be treated as equal. Based on this approach, a recursive binary partitioning algorithm is presented that can infer the access skew from the buffer hit probabilities for a subset of the buffer sizes. This avoids explicit estimation of individual access frequencies for the large number of database pages. The method is validated of its ability to predict buffer hit from the skew characterization using production database traces.
Light beams and radiation patterns in random media

The purpose of this paper is to apply a numerical technique in solving problems involving light beams in a random medium. The technique starts by generating numerically sample media with prescribed statistical properties. Rays are then traced in these sample media and the ray statistics are compiled. These statistics are utilized to find the mean square displacement and distribution of a beam. Problems on beam broadening and distortion of radiation patterns are considered. Fluctations in wave amplitude and phase are also investigated. When possible, the numerical results are compared with the analytical results and experimental results. It seems that the numerical technique has a potential to solve a great variety of problems. This is because it does not have severe restrictive conditions as those imposed on the analytic formulation. For example the technique is equally applicable when the irregularities are anisotropic, or when the background medium is inhomogeneous, or when the background is anistropic, or when there exist background wind. Some of these are discussed.
Tunable diode laser measurements of the band strength and collision halfwidths of nitric oxide

Abstract The strength of the fundamental absorption band of nitric oxide at 5.3 μm and collision halfwidths of nitric oxide lines broadened by nitrogen, argon, and combustion gases were measured in absorption cell, flat flame and shock tube experiments using a tunable diode laser. Room temperature absorption measurements were made in an absorption cell filled with NO/N2 or NO/Ar mixtures or with probe-extracted combustion gases. High temperature (to 2500 K) absorption measurements were performed for NO in N2 and NO in Ar using a shock tube, and for NO in combustion gases using a flat flame burner. Absorption measurements were made on lines from 1860–1925 cm−1, ( Ω= 1 2 and 3 2 ,P( 5 2 -R ( 29 2 )) resulting in a band strength of 123±8 cm-2 atm−1 at 273.2 K. Collision halfwidth dependencies for each broadening species were examined as a function of rotational quantum number and temperature.
Dichotomous pattern of coronary atherosclerosis 1 to 9 years after transplantation: Insights from systematic intravascular ultrasound imaging

Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent and distribution of coronary atherosclerosis after transplantation. Background. Transplant coronary artery disease is an important cause of death after cardiac transplantation. Unlike coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound is a sensitive tool for detection and quantitation of this disease. Methods. We performed intravascular ultrasound imaging in 132 (106 men, 50 ± 10 years) patients, 1 to 9 years after transplantation using a 30-MHz ultrasound catheter. Results. All three coronary arteries were visualized in 49, two in 62 and one in 21 patients. Of the 1,188 coronary artery segments, 706 were imaged (74% proximal, 64% mid- and 40% distal). At least one site with atherosclerosis (intimal thickness ≥ 0.5 mm) was found in 83% of patients. Atherosclerosis was noted in 64% of proximal, 43% of mid- and 26% of distal segments. Disease was diffuse in 48% and focal in 52%, circumferential in 66% and noncircumferential in 34%. Focal atherosclerosis was more common in proximal (59%) than mid- (48%) and distal segments (27%) (p = 0.001). Noncircumferential plaques were more common in the proximal (42%) than mid- (28%) and distal segments (12%) (p = 0.001). This pattern of focal and noncircumferential disease proximally, diffuse and circumferential disease distally, was observed irrespective of the time from transplantation. Conclusions. Atherosclerosis was detected in more than 90% of patients, with proximal segments most frequently involved. Diffuse and circumferential atherosclerosis was more common in mid- and distal segments. However, focal and noncircumferential involvement was more frequent proximally, a similar pattern to native atherosclerosis. These findings suggest that transplant coronary artery disease has a dual etiology based on the dichotomous pattern of atherosclerosis seen by intravascular ultrasound.
Electronic Packaging Materials for Extreme, Low Temperature, Fatigue Environments

Electronic packaging technology has been developed to withstand extreme temperature fatigue conditions from - 120°C to + 85°C for over 1500 cycles. This temperature regime and number of thermal cycles exceeds typical military standard (MIL-STD) testing from - 55°C to + 125°C and approximately 100 cycles. Chip-on-board (COB) packaging was selected since it reduces mass (up to 98% savings) and increases functionality on a smaller surface area (as low as 40%) compared to standard surface mount packaging technology (SMT). Material combinations of different encapsulants, die attaches, and substrates for bare silicon die with 1 mil Au wire bonds were designed and continuously monitored in situ during thermal cycling. This paper will describe experimental and modeling results of surviving material combinations and key failures that occurred at various temperatures and cycle counts.
Impact of Childhood Inguinal Hernia Repair in Adulthood: 50 Years of Follow-Up

Background Short-term follow-up of pediatric inguinal herniorrhaphies has yielded low morbidity and recurrence rates. Nonetheless, the impact of childhood inguinal herniorrhaphy on the adulthood risk for repeat groin operation, chronic groin pain, and infertility has not been established. Study Design A survey was mailed to all patients who underwent a primary inguinal hernia repair as a child at our institution from 1956 to 1960. The survey inquired about repeat groin operation, chronic groin pain, and fertility status. Demographic and operative information from respondents was obtained from medical record review. Results Of 332 eligible patients, 213 (66%) responded to the survey, accounting for 252 inguinal herniorrhaphies (174 unilateral, 33 bilateral, and 6 sequential contralateral). All hernias were indirect, more common on the right (right, 49%; left, 25%; bilateral, 26%), with males predominating (91%). History of premature birth was present in 5 (2%) patients. High ligation of the hernia sac was performed in 90% of the repairs. Hydrocelectomy was performed in 25 (13%) and orchidopexy in 37 (19%) patients. With a median follow-up of 49 years (range 47.2 to 52.1 years), a total of 21 (8.4%) repeat and 13 (6%) contralateral groin operations were observed. Chronic groin pain and a medical diagnosis of infertility were reported by 7 (3%) and 10 (5%) patients, respectively. Conclusions Childhood inguinal hernia repairs do not appear to decrease or increase the risk of inguinal hernia development in adulthood. Parents and children undergoing a childhood inguinal hernia repair should be informed that although the risk for a true indirect hernia recurrence is low, the risk of repeat groin operation (8.4%) and chronic groin pain (3%) remain present in adulthood.
Holographic superconductors with various condensates

We extend earlier treatments of holographic superconductors by studying cases where operators of different dimension condense in both 2+1 and 3+1 superconductors. We also compute a correlation length. We find surprising regularities in quantities such as {omega}{sub g}/T{sub c} where {omega}{sub g} is the gap in the frequency dependent conductivity. In special cases, new bound states arise corresponding to vector normal modes of the dual near-extremal black holes.
Assessing the WTO agreements on China's telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization

Abstract By drawing on new institutional economics, this paper contends that the “rules-of-law” specified by the World Trade Organization (WTO), as an exogenous institution for the member states, will theoretically influence its members’ domestic telecommunications regulatory institutions, but that the actual effects will be different and will depend on the institutional endowments of host countries and their institutional stances. Empirically, this paper examines the impact of China's prospective membership status in the WTO on its telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization and explores the institutional barriers preventing China from fully implementing the WTO Agreements in this sector.
Determination of relative age using growth increments of scales as a minimally invasive method in the tropical freshwater Apteronotus leptorhynchus

This study describes a method for the determination of relative age in a tropical teleost, the brown ghost knifefish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. This method is based on identification of the maximum number of scale circuli, which is thought to be associated with the oldest scales, and thus to be the most indicative of the age of a given fish. Relative age can be inferred by relating differences in maximum circulus counts to the average rate of circulus addition, which was estimated at 34 circuli per year in adult fish through oxytetracycline marking. This method shows high inter-investigator reliability and has a limited effect on fish because of the low number of scales required in order to determine the maximum number of circuli with a sufficiently high confidence level. Analysis of the frequency distribution of the circulus counts revealed periodic patterns that are similar among fish, presumably reflecting the environmental life history of the individuals. Regression analysis and comparison of addition rates showed that scale circulus counts and otolith ring counts are equivalent approaches for age estimation, but scale analysis is superior because of its limited invasiveness and the lower demand in terms of technical skills and expensive instrumentation.
The Atg8 and Atg12 ubiquitin‐like conjugation systems in macroautophagy

As a lysosomal/vacuolar degradative pathway that is conserved in eukaryotic organisms, autophagy mediates the turnover of long-lived proteins and excess or aberrant organelles. The main characteristic of autophagy is the formation of a double-membrane vesicle, the autophagosome, which envelops part of the cytoplasm and delivers it to the lysosome/vacuole for breakdown and eventual recycling of the degradation products. Among the approximately 30 autophagy-related (Atg) genes identified so far, there are two ubiquitin-like proteins, Atg12 and Atg8. Analogous to ubiquitination, Atg12 is conjugated to Atg5 by Atg7—an E1-like protein—and Atg10—an E2-like protein. Similarly, Atg7 and Atg3 are the respective E1-like and E2-like proteins that mediate the conjugation of Atg8 to phosphatidylethanolamine. Both Atg12–Atg5 and Atg8 localize to the developing autophagosome. The Atg12–Atg5 conjugate facilitates the lipidation of Atg8 and directs its correct subcellular localization. Atg8–phosphatidylethanolamine is probably a scaffold protein that supports membrane expansion and the amount present correlates with the size of autophagosomes.
Trophic agents that prevent neuronal apoptosis activate calpain and down‐regulate CaMKIV

CaMKIV is enriched in neuronal nuclei and mediates Ca2+-dependent survival via transcription factor phosphorylation. Cultured cerebellar granule neurons were used to examine whether distinct modes of Ca2+ signaling differentially modulate CaMKIV expression and function. For long-term survival, these neurons require 25 mm KCl or NMDA, which stimulates Ca2+ entry through voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels or NMDA receptors (NRs). Lower levels of Ca2+ entry through NRs support survival of a neuronal subpopulation grown in 5 mm KCl media. Several effects were demonstrated: (i) sustained exposure to 25 mm KCl or 140 µm NMDA produced CaMKIV down-regulation, compared to 5 mm KCl cultures; (ii) CaMKIV down-regulation was attenuated by nifedipine, APV and CaM kinase inhibitors, indicating that it is Ca2+ dependent and reversible; (iii) down-regulation was both selective for nuclear substrates and calpain-mediated; (iv) proteolysis was exacerbated by leptomycin B, a nuclear export inhibitor. Although CaMKIV proteolysis by trophic agents seems paradoxical in light of evidence supporting its critical role in survival, the CaMKIV/CREB signal transduction pathway was preserved, as assessed by CaM kinase-mediated CREB phosphorylation, and the ability of CaM kinase inhibitors to interfere with KCl-mediated survival. We hypothesize that limited calpain-mediated proteolysis of CaMKIV is a negative feedback response to the sustained activation of a Ca2+ and CaMKIV signaling pathway by these agents.
Behavioural accident avoidance science: understanding response in collision incipient conditions

Road traffic accidents are the single greatest cause of fatality in the workplace and the primary cause of all accidental death in the US to the age of 78. However, behavioural analysis of response in the final seconds and milliseconds before collision has been a most difficult proposition since the quantitative recording of such events has largely been beyond cost feasibility for road transportation. Here, a new and innovative research strategy is reported that permits just such a form of investigation to be conducted in a safe and effective manner. Specifically, a linked simulation environment has been constructed in which drivers are physically located in two adjacent, full-vehicle simulators acting within a shared single virtual driving world. As reported here for the first time, this innovative technology creates situations that provide avoidance responses paralleling those observed in real-world conditions. Within this shared virtual world 46 participants (25 female, 21 male) were tested who met in two ambiguous traffic situations: an intersection and a hill scenario. At the intersection the two drivers approached each other at an angle of 135 degrees and buildings placed at the intersection blocked the view of both drivers from early detection of the opposing vehicle. The second condition represented a 'wrong' way conflict. Each driver proceeded along a three-lane highway from opposite directions. A hill impeded the oncoming view of each driver who only saw the conflicting vehicle briefly as it crested the brow of the hill. Driver avoidance responses of steering wheel, brake, and accelerator activation were recorded to the nearest millisecond. Qualitative results were obtained through a post-experience questionnaire in which participants were asked about their driving habits, simulator experience and their particular response to the experimental events which they had encountered. The results indicated that: (1) situations have been created which provided avoidance responses as they have been recorded in real-world circumstances, (2) the recorded avoidance responses depended directly upon viewing times, and (3) the very short viewing times in this experiment resulted in a single avoidance action, largely represented by a random choice of swerve to either right or left. The present results lead us to posit that in order to be able to design accident avoidance mechanism that respond appropriately in the diverse situations encountered, there is a need to pay particular attention to mutual viewing times for drivers. The general implications for a behavioural science of collision-avoidance are evaluated in light of the present findings.
Patient psychologic preparation for invasive procedures: An integrative review

If the physiologic symptoms of anxiety occur during a critical procedure, the length and difficulty of the procedure may be increased, inaccurate data may be obtained from the procedure, and physical harm may occur as a result. To avoid these negative outcomes, it would be beneficial to reduce the amount of anxiety felt by patients undergoing invasive procedures by psychologically preparing them for the procedure. Fourteen studies were found that examined the effects of different types of preparational treatment on the anxiety levels of patients undergoing procedures in the hospital. Overall, the research studied strongly supports the notion that preprocedural intervention reduces the amount of anxiety felt by the patients. The question remains as to what type of preprocedural preparation works best to reduce anxiety. Because this research applies to any procedure performed in a hospital, it is appropriate to extend the implications to include peripheral angiography. It is essential for vascular nurses to implement some type of psychologic preparation for their patients undergoing vascular procedures to improve their outcome and quality of life after the procedure.
Accumulation and altered localization of telomere-associated protein TRF2 in immortally transformed and tumor-derived human breast cells

We have used cultured human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) and breast tumor-derived lines to gain information on defects that occur during breast cancer progression. HMEC immortalized by a variety of agents (the chemical carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene, oncogenes c-myc and ZNF217, and/or dominant negative p53 genetic suppressor element GSE22) displayed marked upregulation (10-15 fold) of the telomere-binding protein, TRF2. Upregulation of TRF2 protein was apparently due to differences in post-transcriptional regulation, as mRNA levels remained comparable in finite lifespan and immortal HMEC. TRF2 protein was not upregulated by the oncogenic agents alone in the absence of immortalization, nor by expression of exogenously introduced hTERT genes. We found TRF2 levels to be at least twofold higher than in control cells in 11/15 breast tumor cell lines, suggesting that elevated TRF2 levels are a frequent occurrence during the transformation of breast tumor cells in vivo. The dispersed distribution of TRF2 throughout the nuclei in some immortalized and tumor-derived cells indicated that not all the TRF2 was associated with telomeres in these cells. The process responsible for accumulation of TRF2 in immortalized HMEC and breast tumor-derived cell lines may promote tumorigenesis by contributing to the cells' ability to maintain an indefinite lifespan.
Modeling the risk for a new invasive forest disease in the United States: An evaluation of five environmental niche models

Abstract Efforts to model the potential habitat and risk for spread of invasive diseases such as Sudden Oak Death (SOD) are important for disease regulation and management. However, spatially referenced risk models using identical data can have differing results, making decision-making based on the mapped results problematic. We examined the results from five spatial risk models generated from common input parameters, and investigated model agreement for mapping risk for the causal pathogen for SOD, Phytophthora ramorum across the conterminous United States. We examined five models: Expert-driven Rule-based, Logistic Regression, Classification and Regression Trees, Genetic Algorithms, and Support Vector Machines. All models were consistent in their prediction of some SOD risk in coastal California, Oregon and Washington states, and in the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and in an east–west oriented band including eastern Oklahoma, central Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, northern Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, parts of central North Carolina, and eastern Virginia, Delaware and Maryland states. The SVM model was the most accurate model, and had several advantages over the other models. Although theoretical in nature, this paper presents results that have practical, applied value for managers and regulators of this disease, and discusses common challenges in modeling invasive species niches over large scales.
Zero servers with zero broadcasts

To achieve the vision of networks that work without any supporting infrastructure, we need wireless ad hoc technology to replace the cabling infrastructure, but we also need self-configuring network and application services to replace the server infrastructure. Current solutions perform poorly because they either pick a single host to act as the server or they use network wide broadcasts to implement services. We need wireless ad hoc networks with zero servers and zero broadcasts!Can we use DHTs to build both network- and application-level services with zero servers and zero broadcasts? This paper starts to answer this question. It shows that it is important to remove broadcasts at all levels of the networking stack and describes how to use the Virtual Ring Routing protocol to achieve our vision.
Tensor Invariants and their Gradients

Second-order tensors may be described in terms of shape and orientation. Shape is quantified by tensor invariants, which are fixed with respect to coordinate system changes. This chapter describes an anatomically-motivated method of detecting edges in diffusion tensor fields based on the gradients of invariants. Three particular invariants (the mean, variance, and skewness of the tensor eigenvalues) are described in two ways: first, as the geometric parameters of an intuitive graphical device for representing tensor shape (the eigenvalue wheel), and second, in terms of their physical and anatomical significance in diffusion tensor MRI. Tensor-valued gradients of these invariants lead to an orthonormal basis for describing changes in tensor shape. The spatial gradient of the diffusion tensor field may be projected onto this basis, producing three different measures of edge strength, selective for different kinds of anatomical boundaries. The gradient measures are grounded in standard tensor analysis, and are demonstrated on synthetic data.
Hybrid three-dimensional nanofluidic/microfluidic devices using molecular gates

Abstract Crossed microfluidic channels are fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) monoliths in planes above and below a 6–10 μm thick nanoporous polycarbonate nuclear track-etched (PCTE) membrane to form a three-dimensional hybrid microfluidic and nanofluidic system. The use of commercially available nanoporous membranes allows quick and economical fabrication of nanochannel architectures to provide fluidic communication between microfluidic layers. More importantly, these nanoporous membranes add functionality to the system as gateable interconnects. These nanofluidic interconnects enable control of net fluid flow based on a number of different physical characteristics of the sample stream, the microfluidic channels and the nanochannels, leading to hybrid fluidic architectures of considerable versatility. Because the nanofluidic membrane can have surfaces with excess charge of either polarity, the net flow direction inside the microdevices is principally controlled by two factors: the magnitude of the electrical and physical flow impedance of the nanoporous membrane relative to that of the microchannels and the surface chemical functionalities which determine the polarity of the excess charge in the nanochannels. The nanochannel impedance may be manipulated by varying membrane pore size. Flow control is investigated by monitoring electrokinetic transport of both neutral and negatively charged fluorescent probes, by means of laser-induced fluorescence and fluorescence microscopy, while varying solution and nanochannel properties. When the pore size of the PCTE membrane is small, the impedance is large and the polarity of the nanochannel surface charge determines the overall direction of the net electroosmotic flow. When the combined impedance of the upper and lower microchannels exceeds 30 times the impedance of the nanochannel membrane, the direction of the flow is based on the negative surface charge of the PDMS microchannels.
SUMMARY OF THE WORKSHOP ON ULTRAVIOLET COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION

The discord in the reported observations of cosmic ultraviolet background radiation is evaluated and the various sources of noise that interfere with the detection of diffuse extragalactic emission that may exist are examined. The latter include airglow, zodiacal light, interstellar dust, stars, the galactic corona, galaxies, instrumental noise, and field of view. Brief critical comments are made with respect to past observations.
Utilization of library outreach services by dental school alumni, 1988-1998.

ABSTRACT Background The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry Library outreach service includes the Dental Reference Service, or DRS; Loansome Doc service, Career Opportunity Center, or COC; and the Instructional Resources Library, or IRL. The author reviewed usage of services for 1988–1998 to analyze use by alumni and nonalumni and to determine possible trends. Methods The author reviewed the UMKC School of Dentistry Library outreach service database from 1988–1998 to determine the total number of contacts for all services, numbers of contacts for each service, overall number of items sent and the number of dental health professionals contacting the services. Results The author found that the COC received 55 percent of contacts for the years 1988–1998, while the DRS received 26 percent of the total contacts and the IRL service received 19 percent. The DRS had the highest usage by alumni (80 percent); Loan-some Doc service accounted for 11 percent of the DRS contacts. Total number of items sent in response to all requests was 34,325, of which 22,647 (66 percent) were to alumni. Alumni usage of all outreach services was consistent, ranging from 54 to 63 percent of the total. Conclusions It appears that UMKC School of Dentistry alumni are active information-seekers. Several questions, however, remain, indicating that additional research should be done in the area of dental informatics. Practice Implications Information-seeking behaviors are an important part of the active clinical practice and may become more important as evidenced-based dentistry becomes more prevalent.