cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimal Medical Therapy as First-Line Therapy for Chronic Coronary Syndromes: Lessons from COURAGE, BARI 2D, FAME 2, and ISCHEMIA

The chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) include patients with a classic history of angina pectoris in the presence of either risk factors for or known atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Randomized, controlled trials conducted in the optimal medical therapy (OMT) era have convincingly demonstrated that adherence to the outdated paradigm focused on treatment of obstructive coronary disease with initial revascularization fails to reduce death or myocardial infarction and inconsistently reduces angina symptoms. Rather, OMT reduces events and improves symptoms and should be considered first-line treatment for patients with CCS.
Astrocyte response to nanoscale topography on anodized alumina surfaces

The Astrocytes are one of the most important and abundant resident glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They play a critical role in the foreign body response, by participating in the formation of the glial scar sunouncling implants. As part of the effort to minimize the foreign body response, biomaterials strategies einployiug engineered surfaces topographies are being explored. In this context, we have investigated the response of astrocytes to surface topography of alumiua, a material used in CNS applications. Specifically, astrocytes were seeded oil alumina surfaces with nanopores 20 nm and 100 nm in diameter, respectively. Pore-free alumina surfaces were also used as control surfaces. One day (24 h) after seeding, a calcein propidiuin iodide live/dead stain was used to examine the adhesion and viability of the seeded astrocytes. The results indicate that the astrocytes attach readily and exhibit greater viability on the 20 nm porous surface as compared to the control and surfaces with larger (100 nm) pore size. Further tests are being earned out to characterize the effect of the surfaces on the reactivity and metabolism of astrocytes through GFAP, proliferation and ATP release studies.
Distinct functions for IFT140 and IFT20 in opsin transport

In the vertebrate retina, light is detected by the outer segments of photoreceptor rods and cones, which are highly modified cilia. Like other cilia, outer segments have no protein synthetic capacity and depend on proteins made in the cell body for their formation and maintenance. The mechanism of transport into the outer segment is not fully understood but intraflagellar transport (IFT) is thought to be a major mechanism for moving protein from the cell body into the cilium. In the case of photoreceptor cells, the high density of receptors and the disk turnover that occurs daily necessitates much higher rates of transport than would be required in other cilia. In this work, we show that the IFT complex A protein IFT140 is required for development and maintenance of outer segments. In earlier work we found that acute deletion of Ift20 caused opsin to accumulate at the Golgi complex. In this work, we find that acute deletion of Ift140 does not cause opsin to accumulate at the Golgi complex but rather it accumulates in the plasma membrane of the inner segments. This work is a strong support of a model of opsin transport where IFT20 is involved in the movement from the Golgi complex to the base of the cilium. Then, once at the base, the opsin is carried through the connecting cilium by an IFT complex that includes IFT140. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Open surgical partial nephrectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma

We aimed to determine the ability of partial nephrectomy to prevent end-stage renal disease and tumor recurrence or progression in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Retrospectively, eight patients undergoing partial nephrectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma were identified and their medical records reviewed. All patients had imperative indications for nephron sparing, and diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma not adequately amenable to endoscopic management. Although three patients suffered acute tubular necrosis, only one required postoperative hemodialysis. During the follow-up period 25% (2/8) developed end-stage renal disease, including the one patient who had received postoperative hemodialysis. Recurrences occurred in five of seven patients with adequate oncological surveillance. Recurrences were successfully treated endoscopically in 80% (4/5) patients, and one patient had metastases. Of the eight patients, four have died. Death occurred 4 months, 1 year, 1.2 years and 3.5 years after partial nephrectomy. Of these patients, one succumbed to metastatic disease; the exact cause of death is unknown in the other three, but there was no documentation of metastatic cancer. The mean duration of follow up in the remaining four patients, all without evidence of metastatic urothelial cancer, is 71 months (range 22-108 months). In summary, partial nephrectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma in patients with imperative indications averts end-stage renal disease in most patients, and appears to be associated with acceptable disease-specific survival. Partial nephrectomy is a sparingly used option in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma refractory to endoscopic management who have imperative indications for nephron sparing.
Resolution versus Search: Two Strategies for SAT

The paper compares two popular strategies for solving propositional satisfiability, i>backtracking search and i>resolution, and analyzes the complexity of a directional resolution algorithm (DR) as a function of the “width” (i>wa) of the problem"s graph. Our empirical evaluation confirms theoretical prediction, showing that on low-i>wa problems DR is very efficient, greatly outperforming the backtracking-based Davis–Putnam–Logemann–Loveland procedure (DP). We also emphasize the knowledge-compilation properties of DR and extend it to a tree-clustering algorithm that facilitates query answering. Finally, we propose two hybrid algorithms that combine the advantages of both DR and DP. These algorithms use control parameters that bound the complexity of resolution and allow time/space trade-offs that can be adjusted to the problem structure and to the user"s computational resources. Empirical studies demonstrate the advantages of such hybrid schemes.
Diabetes and Cancer: The Problem of Reverse Causality and Missing Links

Several epidemiology studies have observed that there is a higher than expected association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, because no plausible mechanistic link exists between high glucose levels and carcinogenesis, additional risk factors are likely involved. Evaluating these epidemiologic data has been confounded by difficulty in identifying appropriate control populations and in replicating the demographics and risk found in previous studies. Furthermore, a significant subset of patients developed DM up to 2 years before the detection of cancer, suggesting that the glucose intolerance in these patients is a paraneoplastic syndrome linked to factors released from the tumor rather than typical type 1 or type 2 DM. Indeed, DM is a major co-morbidity of PDAC and is often reversed following resection of the cancer and a major part of the pancreas, while in other cases, pancreatic resection leads to DM. Finally, the DM may be associated with previous acute pancreatitis and/or subclinical chronic pancreatitis, so that the diagnosis of pancreatitis is often missed. The pancreatitis factor is important since the link between pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer is well established and a close temporal link between pancreatitis and diabetes in known. In these cases the primary epidemiology association is between DM and pancreatitis rather, and secondarily, there is a mechanistic association between pancreatitis and PDAC. To date, though, pancreatitis and pancreatogenic DM (Type 3c) has not been adequately assessed in a major epidemiology study. These observations indicate that glucose intolerance is non-specific, that PDAC can cause DM, and that pancreatitis may be an important missing link between DM and PDAC. Thus, new carefully controlled studies are needed to better understand the underlying cause of the association of PDAC with DM.
Observations of seasonal and diurnal glacier velocities at Mount Rainier, Washington, using terrestrial radar interferometry

Abstract. We present surface velocity maps derived from repeat terrestrial radar interferometry (TRI) measurements and use these time series to examine seasonal and diurnal dynamics of alpine glaciers at Mount Rainier, Washington. We show that the Nisqually and Emmons glaciers have small slope-parallel velocities near the summit ( 10 km range can be used to investigate spatial and temporal variability of alpine glacier dynamics over large areas, including hazardous and inaccessible areas.
Exploring Women's Participation in a U.S. Microcredit Program

Purpose: The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore and describe women's participation in a U.S. microcredit program in the Pacific Northwest and to examine the relationship between the participants’ businesses and their health. Design and Methodology: In 2006, an ethnographic study was conducted with a microcredit organization in the Pacific Northwest using the following methods: (a) 10 audiotaped, semistructured interviews with clientele; (b) observation of microcredit groups four times a month for 6 months; (c) conversations with organization executive directors; and (d) review of organizational documents. The participants were women 32 to 64 years of age who had received one or more loans from the microcredit organization. Findings: Four broad themes emerged from the data: (a) Microcredit: The introduction; (b) Microcredit: The place; (c) Stereotypes; and (d) Health. Despite the challenges associated with participation, all of the study participants were enthusiastic about the advantages of microcredit and would recommend it to others. Conclusions: Many international microcredit organizations have incorporated health care and health education into their programs and have reported successful economic and social outcomes for women. In the United States (US), reports are varied, and there is a lack of literature that explores the economic and health link that is addressed in some international microcredit literature. The findings from this study might be used to initiate discussions around conjoint health education programs and microcredit as a health intervention. Clinical Relevance: Nurses, as a trusted presence in the community, are in a position to partner with microcredit organizations to improve the health of clientele.
The prevalence and natural history of gallstones in spinal cord injured patients.

Abstract Background: Individuals with a spinal cord injury are at increased risk for the development of gallstones. Because these patients cannot reliably manifest classic symptoms of biliary colic, they may be more likely to present with advanced biliary complications than patients with intact abdominal innervation. The natural history of gallstones in spinal cord injured patients has not been described. Study Design: All spinal cord injured patients seen at the Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 1997 were included in the study. For each patient, the presence or absence of gallstones had been determined previously through screening abdominal ultrasonographic evaluations. Pertinent demographic information was obtained from medical records and patient interviews. Patients with gallstones were followed until death, cholecystectomy, or the conclusion of the study, and the annual incidence of biliary complications and patients requiring a cholecystectomy were determined. The prevalence of gallstones was established by studying the subset of patients seen at the Seattle Spinal Cord Injury Unit from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1997. Results: Among the spinal cord injured patients, 31% either had gallstones or had undergone a cholecystectomy at some point after their injury. Increasing age, female gender, and greater severity of injury were risk factors for the formation of gallstones. Over the first 5 years after the diagnosis of gallstones, the annual incidence of cholecystectomy or biliary complications was 6.3% and 2.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Spinal cord injured patients are at increased risk for the development of gallstones. Patients with gallstones are at an increased risk for the development of biliary complications compared with neurologically intact patients, but the magnitude of this risk does not warrant prophylactic cholecystectomy.
Sex-Relevance of Content and Influenceability Sistrunk and McDavid Revisited

Previous studies of conformity as a function of the sex-relevance of task content were criticized for not including appropriate control conditions. Experiment I used the original Sistrunk and McDavid questionnaire and obtained results suggesting that knowledge differences might have produced the effects they ascribed to conformity. In Experiment 2 a contemporary questionnaire was devised to assess the degree of conformity with a design that controlled for knowledge differences. Persons (266 males and 285 females) responded to statements that were either accompanied by a fictitious majority response or not. There was no overall sex difference in degree of conformity to the majority response. Rather, influence varied with item content: Males were influenced more with feminine, females more with masculine content. However, moderating content effects were relatively small compared with the majority influence across all content. Knowledge control conditions were suggested for studies of content effects in soci...
Pennsylvanian and Early Permian Paleogeography, Southern Colorado Plateau and Vicinity

Abstract Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian sedimentary rocks of the southern Colorado Plateau have been the subject of much controversy concerning their correlation and origin. Correlation of rock sequences and major unconformities from the fossiliferous basins onto the adjacent shelves, where relatively unfossiliferous rocks were deposited, has provided a new interpretation in terms of regional stratigraphy and depositional analysis. The Supai Group was deposited in the Grand Canyon Embayment adjacent to the Cordilleran Geosyncline. Sediments of Morrowan, Atokan, Virgilian and Wolfcampian ages were deposited in a variety of offshore marine and shoreline environments. A persistent southwest-to-northeast-trending unstable area, herein named the Sedona Arch, confined all Supai sediments, except Virgilian, to the Grand Canyon and western Mogollon Rim regions; the other strata are truncated beneath the sub-Virgilian unconformity or undergo significant facies change across the arch. The Naco Group of Desmoinesian, Missourian, and Virgilian age was deposited on the Mogollon Shelf adjacent to the Pedregosa Basin. Except for Virgilian strata, these dominantly marine rocks are also truncated beneath the sub-Virgilian unconformity across the Sedona Arch. Thus the bulk of Supai and Naco rocks are not as closely related as most previous workers had thought. Mostly marine rocks of the Molas Formation and Hermosa Group were deposited in the Paradox Basin. The northwest-to-southeast-trending Kaibab Arch provided the barrier between these rocks and the Supai and Naco to the south. Except for several transitional units, the Supai, Naco, and Hermosa Groups were deposited in distinctly separate basins and the units do not generally intertongue. The Wolfcampian Esplanade and Cedar Mesa Sandstones and Halgaito Formation form a distinct eastward-thinning wedge of rocks west of the Sedona Arch. These high-energy marine shoreline and supratidal units grade westward into thick marine carbonate sequences of the Cordilleran Geosyncline. A widespread redbed sequence comprising the Hermit and Organ Rock Formations was deposited across the entire study area. The continental and possibly tidal deposits represent a sharp change in depositional regime from the underlying and overlying sandstone deposits. The youngest sequence of deposition studied consists of sandstone, redbed, evaporite, and carbonate rocks of the Schnebly Hill Formation and DeChelly Sandstone. These units are centered around the Holbrook Basin and represent a complex of shallow marine, high- and low-energy shoreline, eolian, and sabkha depositional environments. This depositional sequence was confined to an area east of Grand Canyon and south of the San Juan River by the Sedona and Kaibab Arches. Both formations grade upward or intertongue with the overlying Coconino Sandstone and related rocks.
Recent progress in lasers on silicon

Silicon lasers have long been a goal for semiconductor scientists, and a number of important breakthroughs in the past decade have focused attention on silicon as a photonic platform. Here we review the most recent progress in this field, including low-threshold silicon Raman lasers with racetrack ring resonator cavities, the first germanium-on-silicon lasers operating at room temperature, and hybrid silicon microring and microdisk lasers. The fundamentals of carrier transition physics in crystalline silicon are discussed briefly. The basics of several important approaches for creating lasers on silicon are explained, and the challenges and opportunities associated with these approaches are discussed. Silicon lasers have long been a goal for semiconductor scientists. This Progress Article reviews the most recent developments in this field, including silicon Raman lasers, the first germanium-on-silicon lasers operating at room temperature, and hybrid silicon microring and microdisk lasers. Challenges and opportunities for the present approaches are also discussed.
On radial motion of electrons in a standing wave linac

Abstract Radial motion in a standing wave electron linac is discussed qualitatively and numerical results for selected cases are presented.
Television and Internet Differences by Design Rendering Liveness, Presence, and Lived Space

The designers and programmers of internet settings may indicate that images and events are distributed in real time and as they happen, the technologies are alive, and that the form is unique, but television and internet sites employ similar narratives about liveness, intimacy, and spatial entrances. Internet renderings of liveness suggest that representations are unmediated because images and texts are presented at the same time as the viewer is watching. This makes the various mediated and constructed aspects of the technologies, including the continuation of normative beliefs about gender, race, and sexuality, easier to ignore. Considering how television structures the viewer, historical and critical writings about television liveness, and narratives about internet liveness, and applying this literature to webcams and other internet settings, indicates that these internet renderings are a part of ongoing cultural conventions and provides methods to resist the more stereotyped aspects of these represent...
Solvable cases of the Bogoliubov equations of superconductivity

It is shown that many solvable special cases of the zero-field, one-dimensional Bogoliubov equations in the WKBJ approximation discovered so far are members of a four-parameter family of solvable pair potentials defined by the differential equation d..delta..(z)/dz = a+b..delta..(z) + c..delta../sup 2/(z), with a, b, and c arbitrary real constants. Furthermore, it is pointed out that any one of these solvable real pair potentials remains solvable after a purely imaginary constant is added to it.
Scientific literacy and discursive identity: A theoretical framework for understanding science learning

In this paper we propose the construct of discursive identity as a way to examine student discourse. We drew from the work of Gee (2001, Review of Research in Education, 25, 99–125) and Nasir and Saxe (2003, Educational Researcher, 32(5), 14–18) to consider the multiple contexts and developmental timescales of student discursive identity development. We argue that theories of scientific literacy need to consider the sociocultural contexts of language use in order to examine fully affiliation and alienation associated with appropriation of scientific discourse. As an illustrative case, we apply discursive identity to series of short exchanges in a fifth-grade classroom of African-American students. The discussion examines potential co-construction of student identity and scientific literacy. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed89:779–802, 2005
Alcoa's Michigan Casting Center runs the business from the bottom up

A manufacturing facility set out to tackle serious production problems and workforce instability. With each level of improvement came an even deeper understanding of other problems and opportunities. Now, five years later, a new operating philosophy, organizational structure, flow of processes, and set of tools enable the hourly associates to run the plant and managers to focus on more strategic issues—and a once-troubled business is now healthy and competitive. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Histopathologic study of variation in severity of retinitis pigmentosa due to the dominant rhodopsin mutation Pro23His.

Abstract PURPOSE: To compare histopathologic findings in an autopsy eye of an 87-year-old woman with retinitis pigmentosa and the rhodopsin mutation Pro23His with findings in an autopsy eye of a 77-year-old female relative (first cousin) with retinitis pigmentosa and the same mutation. DESIGN: Histopathologic study. METHODS: One eye from each patient was prepared for light and electron microscopy within 5 hours after death. Photoreceptor nuclear counts were performed. RESULTS: Photoreceptor degeneration and intraretinal bone spicule pigmentation were evident in both cases. The younger patient had more extensive photoreceptor loss and more intraretinal pigmentation than her older relative. CONCLUSION: A marked variation in the extent of retinal degeneration can be seen in two relatives with retinitis pigmentosa and rhodopsin, Pro23His. This study supports the idea that factors other than the primary gene defect are responsible for the severity of this condition.
Operation of a homogeneous exhaust manifold reactor

The thermal exhaust manifold reactor, used to reduce carbon base emissions in the exhaust of an Otto cycle engine, is a thermally insulated chamber replacing the exhaust manifold on the engine; when fresh air is added upstream of the reactor, homogeneous reactions can oxidize the emissions. The objective of the present work was to systematically investigate reactor operation in order to provide meaningful information for future reactor designs. The unique approach of simulating the spark ignition engine exhaust using a steady flow hot gas generator is implemented to eliminate the effects of the engine operation parameters. The main criterion for reactor design is its effectiveness in promoting self ignition of the mixture of engine exhaust and secondary air. It is demonstrated experimentally that the ignition is thermal in nature, which amplifies the importance of heat loss from and flow patterns within the reactor, and the optimum gas composition for promoting ignition is given. Furthermore, a correlation of these data, in terms of Damkohler's first similarity group, demonstrates the mechanism of stable and efficient reactor operation and establishes the principles of effective fluid mechanic design.
NDI of aircraft fuselage structures using the Dripless Bubbler ultrasonic scanner

A need exists in airline maintenance for a method of producing high quality, easily interpreted images that provides details on the soundness of aircraft fuselage structures. The 'dripless bubbler' technique combines the use of broadband focused-beam ultrasonic immersion transducers with a method of maintaining a contained, bubble-free water pool. The use of the dripless bubbler, when combined with a portable robotic scanner and data acquisition system, produces ultrasonic C-scan and B-scan images for evaluating the extent of corrosion within lap and butt joints and ont he interior of fuselage skins. Also easily identifiable are disbonds in the skin-to-structure adhesive joints and delamination type defects in composite structures. The high image quality is not affected when scanning over surface irregularities; the dripless bubbler can be scanned over button-head rivets and lap splices with minimal change in transducer orientation and no loss of couplant.
High Quality Catalog of Proteotypic Peptides from Human Heart

Proteomics research is beginning to expand beyond the more traditional shotgun analysis of protein mixtures to include targeted analyses of specific proteins using mass spectrometry. Integral to the development of a robust assay based on targeted mass spectrometry is prior knowledge of which peptides provide an accurate and sensitive proxy of the originating gene product (i.e., proteotypic peptides). To develop a catalog of “proteotypic peptides” in human heart, TRIzol extracts of left-ventricular tissue from nonfailing and failing human heart explants were optimized for shotgun proteomic analysis using Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT). Ten replicate MudPIT analyses were performed on each tissue sample and resulted in the identification of 30 605 unique peptides with a q-value ≤ 0.01, corresponding to 7138 unique human heart proteins. Experimental observation frequencies were assessed and used to select over 4476 proteotypic peptides for 2558 heart proteins. This human cardiac d...
PTV Experiments of Subcooled Boiling Flow Through a Rectangular Channel

Experiments were carried out to investigate turbulent sub-cooled boiling flow of Novec-2000 [1] refrigerant through a vertical square channel with one heated wall. Channel dimensions were selected to be similar to those encountered on a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) channel flow, with an hydraulic diameter of Dh = 8.2 mm. Flow visualization techniques such as Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) and Shadowgraphy were used to measure time-average axial and normal velocities, axial and normal turbulence intensities, and Reynolds Stresses. Results are reported for hydraulic Reynolds numbers at channel inlet of 4638 , 14513 and 24188 for up to thirteen wall heat fluxes (q″ ) ranging from 0.0 to 64.0 kW/m2 . This work is an attempt to enrich the database already collected on turbulent subcooled boiling flow, with the hope that it will be useful in turbulence modeling efforts.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Talking Back to Frida: Houses of Emotional Mestizaje

“Talking Back to Frida: Houses of Emotional Mestizaje” is, in part, a historical meditation on the silencing of three women, Frida Kahlo, Maria Enriquez, a Mexican woman who was sexually assaulted in 1924, and me. Written in an innovative historical fashion that joins techniques drawn from fiction, journalism, and history, the article attempts to understand specific assaults on women’s voices by drawing readers into the historical worlds of the protagonists. “Talking Back” also seeks to respond to Hans Kellner’s incisive theoretical challenge: how do historians’ personal histories affect their historical choices? The article’s organization depends on my understanding of language, color, and physicality, as the emotional architecture of the Deep Southern and Mexican places tend to both enclose and partially free the protagonists. The essay begins by leading the reader into my own past in the Deep South, a past where German Jewish and Russian Jewish relatives engaged in a cultural battle over form, personal style, and will. Confronting a German Jewish world where only things—never feelings—seemed to matter, I found solace in the friendship of a black servant. That friendship, in turn, helped prompt a particularly empathic historical voice. The southern section is followed by a journey into Frida Kahlo’s Mexican world. In that world, Kahlo’s severe physical pain and solitude construct inner and outer universes. The people who populate these worlds are friends, lovers, husband, and the Mexican poor. Kahlo’s artistic renditions of these people reflect, the article suggests, both the depth of her love for them and a tendency to use them in response to her despair. Finally, “Talking Back” reconstructs the world of Maria Enriquez, a Michoacan peasant woman assaulted in public by her former boyfriend. Abandoned by friend, sister, and Catholic women on the way to church, Enriquez develops a voice laced with generosity, cultural insight, and a rare self–possession.
Abnormalities in Pericytes on Blood Vessels and Endothelial Sprouts in Tumors

Endothelial cells of tumor vessels have well-documented alterations, but it is less clear whether pericytes on these vessels are abnormal or even absent. Here we report that α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and desmin-immunoreactive pericytes were present on >97% of blood vessels viewed by confocal microscopy in 100-μm-thick sections of three different spontaneous or implanted tumors in mice. However, the cells had multiple abnormalities. Unlike pericytes on capillaries in normal pancreatic islets, which had desmin but not α-SMA immunoreactivity, pericytes on capillary-size vessels in insulinomas in RIP-Tag2 transgenic mice expressed both desmin and α-SMA. Furthermore, pericytes in RIP-Tag2 tumors, as well as those in MCa-IV breast carcinomas and Lewis lung carcinomas, had an abnormally loose association with endothelial cells and extended cytoplasmic processes deep into the tumor tissue. α-SMA-positive pericytes also covered 73% of endothelial sprouts in RIP-Tag2 tumors and 92% of sprouts in the other tumors. Indeed, pericyte sleeves were significantly longer than the CD31-immunoreactive endothelial cell sprouts themselves in all three types of tumors. All three tumors also contained α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts that resembled pericytes but were not associated with blood vessels. We conclude that pericytes are present on most tumor vessels but have multiple abnormalities, including altered expression of marker proteins. In contrast to some previous studies, the almost ubiquitous presence of pericytes on tumor vessels found in the present study may be attributed to our use of both desmin and α-SMA as markers and 100-μm-thick tissue sections. The association of pericytes with endothelial sprouts raises the possibility of an involvement in sprout growth or retraction in tumors.
Design of Photonic Crystal Membrane-Reflector-Based VCSELs

We present here the cavity design of distributed-Bragg-reflector-free ultracompact Fano-resonance photonic crystal membrane-reflector vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers on silicon, which consists of a III-V quantum-well active region sandwiched in between two single-layer Si membrane reflectors (MRs). The Si reflectors are designed to have peak reflection band around 1550 nm, with over 300-nm reflection band. The complete laser cavity resonance was determined, with considerations of unique phase and field distribution characteristics associated with these single-layer MRs. The confinement factor of the lasing mode is optimized around 6%, which enables low threshold lasing.
Systematics in the melting behavior of the alkali metals from DAC measurements

Abstract The alkali metals K, Rb and Cs undergo a series of phase transitions that are related to a s-to-d electron transfer. These solid-solid transitions strongly affect the melting behavior in the vicinity of the transitions. An externally-heated diamond-anvil cell was used to measure melting temperatures of the alkali metals, Na, K, Rb and Cs at pressures to 150 kbar. Melting was determined visually by changes of the optical properties of the metals. Pressures were obtained from the known pressure and temperature shifts of the ruby line which can be used for accurate measurements to about 650 K. The melting temperature of sodium rises continuously with pressure. The slopes of the melting curves potassium and rubidium change appreciably at the bcc-fcc transitions at 110 and 90 kbar, respectively. An extremely steep melting curve of cesium is observed after the electronic transition at 42 kbar.
Failure of chronic haloperidol treatment to alter levels of cholecystokinin in the rat brain striatum and olfactory tubercle-nucleus accumbens area

We have studied the effect of chronic haloperidol (HAL) treatment on CCK-8 levels in two rat brain regions. HAL administration using two different protocols, daily injections and infusion with subcutaneously implanted minipumps, did not produce any significant changes in CCK-8 levels in the striatum or olfactory tubercle-nucleus accumbens area.
Higher Diet Quality Is Inversely Associated with Mortality in African-American Women

Background: Diet quality has been inversely associated with overall mortality in white populations, but the evidence in African-American populations is limited. Objective: The goal of the present study was to assess diet quality in relation to all-cause mortality in the Black Women’s Health Study, a follow-up study of African-American women begun in 1995. Methods: Data used in this study were obtained via biennial questionnaires from 1995 to 2011. Based on food-frequency questionnaire data collected in 1995 and 2001, we calculated an index-based diet quality score [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)] and derived dietary patterns (prudent and Western) with the use of factor analysis. We followed 37,001 women who were aged 30–69 y and free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes at baseline for mortality through 2011. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs. Analyses were conducted in 2014. Results: Based on a total of 1678 deaths during 16 y of follow-up, higher DASH scores were associated with reduced all-cause mortality (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.89 for highest vs. lowest quintiles). The DASH components most strongly associated with lower mortality were high intake of whole grains and low intake of red and processed meat. A Western dietary pattern, characterized by high intake of red and processed meat, was associated with increased all-cause mortality rates (HR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.60 for highest vs. lowest quintiles of score); a prudent dietary pattern was not associated with risk. Conclusion: A DASH-style diet high in intake of whole grains and low in consumption of red meat is associated with reduced mortality rates in healthy African-American women.
A simple mathematical model and alternative paradigm for certain chemotherapeutic regimens

A simplified two-compartment model for cell-specific chemotherapy is analysed by reformulating the governing system of differential equations as a Schrodinger equation in time. With the choice of an exponentially decaying function representing the effects of chemotherapy on cycling tumor cells, the potential function V (t) is a Morse-type potential, well known in the quantum mechanical literature; and the solutions are obtainable in terms of confluent hypergeometric functions (or the related Whittaker functions). Because the chemotherapy is administered periodically, the potential V (t) is periodic also, and use is made of existing theory (Floquet theory) as applied to scattering by periodic potentials in the quantum theory of solids. Corresponding to the existence ''forbidden energy bands'' in that context, it appears that there are ''forbidden'' or inappropriate chemotherapeutic regimens also, in the sense that for some combinations of period, dosage, and cell parameters, no real solutions exist for the system of equations describing the time evolution of cancer cells in each compartment. A similar, but less complex phenomenon may occur for simpler mathematical representations of the regimen. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existence of this phenomenon, at least insofar as this model is concerned, and to examine the implications for clinical activities. This new paradigm, if structually stable (in the sense of the phenomenon occurring in more realistic models of chemotherapy) may be of considerable significance in identifying those regimens which are appropriate for effective chemotherapy, by providing a rational basis for such decisions, rather than by ''trial and error'' (see the statement by Skipper [1] at the conclusion of this paper).
Preparation of Tc-99m labeled pyridoxal-amino acid complexes and their evaluation

Abstract The reaction of pyridoxal (Py) with α-amino acids in the presence of 99m Tc was investigated. Twenty-four 99m Tc-Py-amino acid complexes were prepared and evaluated for hepatobiliary concentration by imaging with a scintillation camera in experimental animals. This resulted in the selection of five new 99m Tc-complexes for radiobioassay studies in mice, in comparison with 99m Tc-Py-glutamate and 131 I-Rose Bengal. These 99m Tc-compounds showed a biodistribution similar to 99m Tc-Py-glutamate and none of them was as good as 131 I-Rose Bengal. However, some of the complexes required a shorter preparation time than 99m Tc-Py-glutamate. 99m Tc-Py-leucine and 99m Tc-Py-phenylalanine prepared with only 15 min and 30 min of autoclaving respectively, gave a relatively fast gall bladder visualization as compared to 99m Tc-Py-glutamate. Their distribution study in mice also indicated relatively fast blood clearance and low soft tissue uptake of the activity than the glutamate complex. In comparative imaging studies, the 99m Tc-Py-amino acid complexes were superior to the commercially available 99m Tc hepatobiliary agents. However, further investigation of 99m Tc-Py-leucine and 99m Tc-Py-phenylalanine in higher animals and humans will be necessary to confirm their clinical utility.
The blue haze of Mars

Martian blue haze properties correlated with interplanetary dust, meteor showers and solar flares
Abundance of Panamanian dry-forest birds along gradients of forest cover at multiple scales

Community structure and species’ abundances may be strongly correlated to patterns of forest cover, although such patterns are poorly known for tropical dry-forest birds, especially for those in Panamanian dry forests. Birds were distance-sampled during point counts in five dry-forest fragments in Panama. Distance from point count to forest edge and forest coverage at three spatial scales (500, 1000 and 2000-m radius) were compared as covariate predictors of the abundance of avian species and guilds. Each covariate was selected in at least two models of species or guild abundance. Abundance patterns were consistent with previously reported habitat associations for only two of seven open-habitat or forest-preferring species that showed forest cover-abundance relationships. Null models best described the abundance of all forest species and the subset of uncommon forest species. Thus many of these species appear insensitive to the forest-cover gradients studied. Total abundance of open-habitat-preferring species increased in dry forests with increasing forest coverage within 500 m, suggesting that the relationship between their abundance and vegetation structure are spatial-scale and habitat dependent. Nectarivores had lower abundance as forest cover within 1000 m increased, supporting previous claims that this group is tolerant of forest edges.
The Use of Drug Metabolism for Prediction of Intestinal Permeability

The Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), based on the aqueous solubility and intestinal permeability of a drug substance, has been widely used to predict the extent of drug absorption during the course of pharmaceutical development. Combined with product dissolution data, this system has gained a prominent role in regulatory process to determine if a drug formulated in an immediate release solid oral dosage form qualifies for waiver of in vivo bioequivalence studies. In parallel, the Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System (BDDCS), using aqueous solubility and drug metabolism, takes on another venue to predict overall drug disposition. It has been suggested that the matrix of drug metabolism in BDDCS can be used to substantiate the classification of permeability by BCS. A total of 51 drugs were compiled in this study to examine the use of drug metabolism for predicting permeability. All compounds were classified as high permeability based on BCS, but only 73% of the compounds were...
Evidence of Dissociative Amnesia in Science and Literature: Culture-Bound Approaches to Trauma in Pope, Poliakoff, Parker, Boynes, and Hudson (2007)

The current culture of traumatic stress studies includes research that identifies the ways in which stress and trauma impair learning and memory in both humans and animals. Yet it also contains health professionals who argue that individuals cannot forget traumatic events. Many accounts present differences among these positions as a legitimate debate despite the substantial forensic, survey, and neurological evidence that both demonstrates the capacity for people to exhibit impaired memory for trauma and highlights specific mechanisms. In a recent article, H. G. Pope, M. B. Poliakoff, M. P. Parker, M. Boynes, and J. I. Hudson (2007) hypothesized that if individuals could forget trauma, the phenomenon would appear in world literature prior to 1800. They conducted a contest to generate submissions of examples and determined that dissociative amnesia is a culture-bound syndrome. Their report fails to provide a thorough account of all submissions and the process through which they were all rejected, offers highly questionable literary analyses, and includes several misrepresentations of the state of the science regarding memory for trauma. This response addresses methodological problems with the contest, explores examples of forgetting trauma from literature written before 1800, examines social and historical aspects of the issue, and summarizes the extensive cognitive and neurological data that Pope et al. did not consider. The present article conceptualizes the premise of the contest and the authors' conclusion as symptomatic of a culture affected by biases that include the denial of trauma and its effects.
Sedimentary Petrology and Depositional Environment of Sandstones of Scow Bay, Indian and Marrowstone Islands, Northwestern Washington: ABSTRACT

The unnamed middle Eocene sandstones of Scow Bay that are well exposed on the beaches of Indian and Marrowstone Islands, northwestern Washington, document a previously unknown local basement high that shed sediment south onto a subsea fan from the San Juan Islands terranes. The sandstones are lithic arenites with a variety of lithic grains, predominantly volcanic and sedimentary (including chert). Rare quartz-plagioclase plutonic and low-grade metamorphic (mainly chlorite-rich) lithic grains are also present. Quartz and plagioclase comprise most of the nonlithic grains. Rare heavy minerals and potassium feldspar are also present. The San Juan Islands terranes were the source area. Paleocurrent directions obtained from flute casts support this interpretation. The sandstones are thin to very thick-bedded with minor shale interbeds and at least two 20 to 30-m (65 to 100-ft) thick shale beds. The sandstone beds are commonly structureless, although dish structures, poorly developed parallel lamination, load casts, and shale rip-up clasts are abundant locally. Soft sediment deformation, including slumps, is locally evident. Amalgamation of thinner sandstone beds into very thick (3-5 m, 10-16 ft) beds is common but often difficult to recognize owing to their structureless nature. The exposure along the east coast of Indian Island reveals at least 11 thinning- and fining-upward sequences. The sandstones were deposited as channel-fill sequences on the midfan region of a subsea fan. The thick shale beds were deposited between active channels. End_of_Article - Last_Page 506------------
Toluene Carbonylation Catalyzed by Mixtures of Water and Trifluoromethanesulfonic Acid

The effect of water in trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (CF3SO3H or triflic acid) on the carbonylation of toluene is reported at room temperature (297 K) and constant CO partial pressure (7.68 MPa=1100 psig). A method has been developed to measure low concentrations of water in triflic acid by 1H NMR. The NMR signal increased in value linearly with increasing mole percent of water in the superacid. The first-order rate constant for toluene conversion decreases with increasing water content of the triflic acid when all other experimental variables are held constant. The triflic acid hemihydrate [(CF3SO3H)2:H2O] is inactive for the carbonylation reaction of toluene.
Initiation of mineralization in bioprosthetic heart valves: studies of alkaline phosphatase activity and its inhibition by AlCl3 or FeCl3 preincubations.

The principal cause of the clinical failure of bioprosthetic heart valves fabricated from glutaraldehyde-pretreated porcine aortic valves is calcification. Other prostheses composed of tissue-derived and polymeric biomaterials also are complicated by deposition of mineral. We have previously demonstrated that: (a) Failure due to calcification of clinical bioprosthetic valves can be simulated by either a large animal circulatory model or subdermal implants in rodents. (b) Calcification of bioprosthetic tissue has complex host, implant, and mechanical determinants. (c) The initial calcification event in the rat subdermal model is the mineral deposition in devitalized cells intrinsic to the bioprosthetic tissue within 48 to 72 h, followed later by collagen mineralization. (d) Initiation of bioprosthetic tissue mineralization, like that of physiological bone formation, has "matrix vesicles" as early nucleation sites. (e) Alkaline phosphatase (AP), an enzyme also associated with matrix vesicles involved in bone mineral nucleation, is present in both fresh and fixed bioprosthetic tissue at sites of initial mineralization. (f) Certain inhibitors of bioprosthetic tissue calcification (e.g., Al3+, Fe3+) are localized to the sites at which alkaline phosphatase is present. On the basis of these results, we hypothesize that alkaline phosphatase is a key element in the pathogenesis of mineralization of bioprosthetic tissue. In the present studies, we focused on the relationship of AP to early events in calcification, and the inhibition of both calcification and AP activity by FeCl3 and AlCl3 preincubations. Subdermal implants of glutaraldehyde pretreated bovine pericardium (GPBP) were done in 3-week-old rats. AP was characterized by enzymatic hydrolysis of paranitrophenyl phosphate (pnpp), and by histochemical studies. Calcification was evaluated chemically (by atomic adsorption spectroscopy) and morphologically (by light microscopy). The results of these studies are as follows: (a) Extractable AP activity is present in fresh but not glutaraldehyde-pretreated bovine pericardial tissue. However, histochemical studies reveal active AP within the intrinsic devitalized cells of GPBP, despite extended glutaraldehyde incubation. (b) Extrinsic AP is rapidly adsorbed following implantation, with peak activity at 72 h (424 +/- 67.2 nm pnpp/mg protein/min enzyme activity [units]), but markedly lesser amounts at 21 days (96.8 +/- 3.9 units). (c) Simultaneously to the AP activity maximum, bulk calcification is initiated, with GPBP calcium levels rising from 1.2 +/- 0.1 (unimplanted) to 2.4 +/- 0.2 micrograms/mg at 72 h, to 55.6 +/- 3.1 micrograms/mg at 21 days, despite a marked decline in AP activity at this later time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
A culture system for nutritional studies of crustaceans

Abstract A design for a culture system for nutritional experiments with crustaceans is described and evaluated. The design is directed toward eliminating any non-nutritional factors that can undesirably influence weight gain and survival. Experiments indicate that locational effects within each system or between systems do not exist. The system design appears to succeed in reducing the high variance that is characteristic of the weight distributions of communally cultured populations of some species of crustaceans. This is the first reported system with a controlled water supply to individual crustaceans and represents a step toward the standardization of methodology associated with nutritional experiments.