cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of serum anti-survivin antibody levels between benign and malignant lung tumor

Objective To compare the serum anti-survivin antibody levels between benign and malignant lung tumor,thus to provide evidence for using anti-survivin antibody as an indicator in non-small cell lung cancer.Methods ELISA was used to measure the level of anti-survivin antibody in healthy population(control group,n=60),benign lung tumor patients(benign lung tumor group,n=60) and non-small cell lung cancer patients(non-small cell lung cancer group,n=60). Results The anti-surviving antibody did not express 11.7%(7/60) in the control group and almost no expression 20.0%(12/60) in the benign lung tumor group,with no significant difference between the two groups(P＞0.05).In the non-small cell lung cancer group,the anti-survivin antibody expressed in 41 patients,which was significantly higher than those in the benign lung tumor group(x2=38.352,P＜0.01).Conclusion Anti-survivin antibody does not express in the healthy population and the benign lung tumor patients,whereas shows high expression in non-small cell lung cancer.This finding indicates that anti-survivin antibody can provide important evidence for non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis,and can be used as an indicator for non-small lung cancer screening. Key words: Anti-survivin antibody; non-small lung cancer; Survivin; Squamous carcinoma; Adenocarcinoma; Lung benign pathological change
The ups and downs of relating nondrug reward activation to substance use risk in adolescents.

A wealth of epidemiological and cohort research, together with a healthy dose of anecdote, has characterized late adolescence and emerging adulthood as a time of increased substance use and other risky behaviors. This review will address whether differences between adolescents or between adolescents and other age groups in dopaminergic mesolimbic recruitment by (nondrug) rewards inferred from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) could partially explain morbidity and mortality from risky-behavior-related causes in adolescents. Recent findings do not suggest a definitive directionality with regard to whether increased vs decreased mesolimbic responsiveness to nondrug rewards correlates with real-world risk-taking. Inconsistent relationships between reward activation and real-world risky behavior in these reports reflect in part methodological differences as well as conceptual differences between populations in terms of whether tepid mesolimbic recruitment by rewards is a marker of psychiatric health. There are several potential reasons why the directionality of relationships between reward-elicited brain activation and substance use risk (specifically) might differ. These factors include differences between adolescents in histories/exposure of substance use, motivation for substance use, the component of the instrumental behavior being studied, and the cognitive demands of the incentive tasks. Systematic manipulation of these discrepant study factors might offer a way forward to clarify how motivational neurocircuit function relates to addiction risk in adolescents.
Percolation of Estimates for $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$∂¯ by the Method of Alternating Projections

The method of alternating projections is used to examine how regularity of operators associated to the $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ -Neumann problem percolates up the $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ -complex. The approach revolves around operator identities—rather than estimates—that hold on any Lipschitz domain in $${{\mathbb {C}}}^n$$ , not necessarily bounded or pseudoconvex. We show that a geometric rate of convergence in von Neumann’s alternating projection algorithm, applied to two basic projection operators, is equivalent to $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ having closed range. This implies that compactness of the $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ -Neumann operator percolates up the $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ -complex whenever $${{\bar{\partial }}}$$ has closed range at the corresponding form levels.
Neurologic Features with Pathogenic Copy Number Variants

Investigators from Children’s Hospital at Westmead, University of Sydney, performed a retrospective review (2006-2012) of the diagnostic yield of array comparative genomic hybridization among 555 children with diverse neurologic phenotypes in whom a genetic etiology was suspected.
Voice Stress in Muscle and Bone: Parasite or Symbiont?

Today, in the United States, stressors abound. Familial, professional, religious, and social obligations, compounded by demanding digital interactions, can feel overwhelming to many. The average Am...
Vanishing-spreading dichotomy in a two-species chemotaxis competition system with a free boundary.

Predicting the evolution of expanding population is critical to control biological threats such as invasive species and virus explosion. In this paper, we consider a two species chemotaxis system of parabolic-parabolic-elliptic type with Lotka-Volterra type competition terms and a free boundary. Such a model with a free boundary describes the spreading of new or invasive species subject to the influence of some chemical substances in an environment with a free boundary representing the spreading front. We first find conditions on the parameters which guarantee the global existence and boundedness of classical solutions with nonnegative initial functions. Next, we investigate vanishing-spreading dichotomy scenarios for positive solutions. It is shown that the vanishing-spreading dichotomy in the generalized sense always occurs; that the vanishing spreading dichotomy in the strong sense occurs when the competition between two species is weak-weak competition; and that the vanishing spreading dichotomy in the weak sense occurs when the competition between two species is weak-strong competition.
Impact of risk factors on in‐hospital mortality for octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery

BACKGROUND Octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery have higher mortality than their younger counterparts. OBJECTIVES To determine if various risk factors have the same effect on mortality in octogenarians as in younger patients. METHODS The National Inpatient Sample data set from 2004 to 2014 was queried to select patients aged 65 years and older who underwent either coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), valvular heart surgery (VHS), or both (CABG + VHS) within 10 days of hospital admission. The patients were divided into two groups 65-79 years and 80 years and greater. Hospital mortality, patient demographics, comorbidities, and type of hospital admission was evaluated and compared using χ2 and multivariable logistic regressions. RESULTS About 397,713 patients were identified including 86,345 (21.7%) aged 80 and above. Octogenarians had higher in-hospital mortality for all procedures: CABG (4.94% vs. 2.39%, p < .001), VHS (5.49% vs. 4.08%, p < .001), and CABG + VHS (7.59% vs. 5.95%, p < .001), and this relationship persisted when gender, race, comorbidities, and type of hospital admission were controlled for: CABG (odds ratio [OR] = 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.62-1.81); VHS (OR = 1.18; 95% CI 1.11-1.27); and CABH + VHS (OR = 1.17; 95%CI 1.10-1.26). Female gender, renal, or heart failure, nonelective admission, and CABG + VHS were associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality. Octogenarians had higher rates of these factors (p < .001). The effect size of renal and heart failure and type of surgery was smaller for octogenarians. CONCLUSIONS Octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery have higher rates of nonelective admissions, renal and heart failure, and female gender, which are most strongly associated with in-hospital mortality. Differing effect sizes suggest that certain risk factors, such as renal and heart failure, contribute more to mortality in younger patients.
Discussion of “How Does Culture Impinge Upon Managers’ Demeanor of Earnings Management? Evidence From Cross-Country Analysis”

We provide a framework that builds upon the findings of Chaney, Lodh and Nandy (2021) for future research to examine the mechanism through which national culture is related to earnings management. ...
Social Justice Dialogue Powers Diversity and Innovation in Electronic Media

For media organizations, the clarion call for more diversity in newsrooms to report and cover the complexities of racial inequality and unrest in the nation dates back more than 50 years. The Kerne...
Adaptive Ankle Exoskeleton Control: Validation Across Diverse Walking Conditions

Ankle exoskeletons hold potential to augment human walking ability, yet their use in free-living environments has been limited by the absence of practical and effective control strategies that can appropriately adapt to variable terrain. To address this challenge, we derived a novel analytical ankle joint moment estimation model using custom wearable sensors and developed an exoskeleton control scheme to adapt assistance proportional to the biological plantar-flexor moment in real-time for unimpaired individuals and individuals with disabilities who are able to ambulate independently. We validated the controller during level, 5° incline and decline walking, each at multiple speeds; stair ascent; stair descent; and 90° turning (88 ± 3% average accuracy, R = 0.96 ± 0.01 average correlation coefficient). This study demonstrates the ability of the controller to accurately adapt assistance in unimpaired individuals across a wide variety of walking conditions without the need for walking condition classification or real-time assessment of muscle activity. Clinical feasibility testing in four individuals with cerebral palsy suggests that this control method holds promise for incline and stair walking in individuals with mild-to-severe impairment. This ankle-moment-adaptive control system can be used to prescribe ankle exoskeleton assistance that adapts in real-time across the tested conditions.
His bundle lead implantation for leadless pacemaker pacing-induced cardiomyopathy in persistent left superior vena cava.

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) poses technical challenges to implantation of transvenous cardiac implantable electronic devices. His bundle pacing is a physiologic pacing strategy to avoid or treat pacing induced cardiomyopathy. We report a case of His bundle lead implantation in a patient with PLSVC, absent right SVC, and pacing-induced cardiomyopathy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Mammalian Digit Tip Regeneration: Moving from Phenomenon to Molecular Mechanism

In this review, we present the current state of knowledge surrounding mammalian digit tip regeneration. We discuss the origin and formation of the blastema, a structure integral to digit tip regeneration, as well as recent insights driven by single-cell RNA sequencing into the molecular markers and cellular composition of the blastema. The digit tip is a composite of many different tissue types and we address what is known about the role of these separate tissues in regeneration of the whole digit tip. Specifically, we discuss the most extensively studied tissues in the digit tip: bone, nail epithelium, and peripheral nerves. We also address how known molecular pathways in limb development can inform research into digit tip regeneration. Overall, the mouse digit tip is an excellent model of complex mammalian regeneration that can provide insight into inducing regeneration in human tissues.
Preoperative narcotic utilization: accuracy of patient self-reporting and its association with postoperative narcotic consumption

OBJECT Little is known about the accuracy of reporting of preoperative narcotic utilization in spinal surgery. As such, the purpose of this study is to compare postoperative narcotic consumption between preoperative narcotic utilizers who do and do not accurately self-report preoperative utilization. METHODS Patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, minimally invasive lumbar discectomy, or minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion procedures between 2013 and 2014 were prospectively identified. The accuracy of self-reporting preoperative narcotic consumption was determined utilizing the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program. Total inpatient narcotic consumption during postoperative Days 0 and 1 was compared according to the demographics and preoperative narcotic reporting accuracy. Similarly, the proportion of patients who continued to be dependent on narcotic medications at each postoperative visit was compared according to the demographics and preoperative narcoti...
Biochemical Pathways Research

All life on the planet is based on a set of basic biochemical reactions that provide energy transformation, biosynthesis, metabolism, and catabolism in cells. A unique feature of biochemistry is that chemical reactions are catalyzed by enzymes, which are chemistry-specific in their action. Conceptually, enzymes and the biomolecules on which they act are arranged in pathways of sequential biochemical reactions. Biochemical pathway research has been a major force in the development of the principles of biomedicine and has greatly impacted medical knowledge and practice. In recent years, engineering disciplines like biomedical engineering have set their sights on elucidation and manipulation of cells as a strategy to making advances in biomedical research and medicine. However, in large part, these early efforts have been divorced of longstanding knowledge and scientific principles that are the fruits of biochemical pathway research. Improved progress in cell and tissue engineering in the future will require recognition that the failure to incorporate biochemical pathway concepts and knowledge in biomedical engineering pursuits is a severely limiting oversight. Such a paradigmatic shift in intellectual framework and approach will not be without significant challenges, but the certain gains in biological knowledge and effective medical applications more than outweigh such reservations. Keywords: biochemical pathway; biomedical engineering; biological engineering; enzyme; chemical reactions; stem cell; biomedicine; p53; guanine nucleotide; tissue engineering; cell engineering
Smoothing the Bumpy Road to Antiarrhythmic Drug Development.

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” 1 Frank A. Clark The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is predicted to increase exponentially over the coming decades,2 which will have important implications for patients’ health, quality of life, and the global economy. The Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management (AFFIRM) trial found that pharmacological rate-control strategies are equivalent to rhythm control for reduction of mortality in AF.3 However, it is widely believed that these results reflect the limited efficacy and significant adverse event profile of current antiarrhythmic drugs. Indeed, retrospective substudies of the AFFIRM data demonstrated improved mortality in patients who remained in sinus rhythm during treatment.4 More importantly, these patients have reduced symptoms and a better quality of life. Article see p 2203 The development of safe and effective antiarrhythmic drugs is therefore an important goal for both individual patients and for public health. Unfortunately, we have had limited success in bringing new antiarrhythmic drugs to market, and many that have been approved have significant safety liabilities limiting their general applicability. These obstacles have led many pharmaceutical companies to abandon drug development for AF. To streamline the enterprise and allay concerns, robust preclinical research is necessary to identify concepts and drug candidates that have a high chance of success. The article by Aguilar et al5 is the report of such an effort. A significant drawback of current atrial antiarrhythmics such as flecainide, dofetilide, ibutilide, and sotalol is the risk of ventricular proarrhythmia. Therefore, to make pharmacological rhythm control an attractive therapeutic strategy, the development of drugs that do not affect ventricular electrophysiology is of prime importance. Atrial selectivity is a term used to describe drugs that have increased electrophysiological effects in the atria over the ventricles. This is in …
Sujeito e realidade em Schelling e a crítica de Heidegger

Este trabalho busca elucidar em que medida as criticas que Heidegger faz ao idealismo no paragrafo 43 de Ser e tempo sao aplicaveis ao Schelling maduro. Com este intento, apresentaremos o pensamento de Schelling em relacao as criticas mencionadas acima, dando especial atencao ao modo como ele se insere no idealismo alemao.
Lack of efficacy of a food-frequency questionnaire in assessing dietary macronutrient intakes in subjects consuming diets of known composition

Background We compared the validity of a semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire in assessing intakes of macronutrients (absolute amounts and percentages of energy) by 19 subjects fed natural-food diets of known composition. In small subsets (n = 5 or 6), we also tested 3-d diet records. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of food-frequency questionnaires and diet records in subjects fed natural-food diets of known composition. Design Each subject consumed 3 different diets for >/=6 wk and self-reported his or her food intake by using a food-frequency questionnaire and a diet record. The diets varied in their chemically analyzed contents of fat (15-35% energy), saturated fat (5-14%), monounsaturated fat (5-14.5%), polyunsaturated fat (2.5-10.5%), carbohydrate (49-68%), and cholesterol (108-348 mg/d). Results The food-frequency questionnaire significantly underestimated fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and protein intakes and significantly overestimated carbohydrate intake with the high-fat diet. The percentage of energy from fat was significantly underestimated for the high-fat diet and significantly overestimated for the very-low-fat diet. Estimates from the food-frequency questionnaire differed significantly from actual intakes for fat (absolute and percentage), saturated fat (absolute and percentage), monounsaturated fat (absolute and percentage), and protein (percentage) in the high-fat diet and for polyunsaturated fat (absolute and percentage), saturated fat (percentage), fiber (absolute), and cholesterol (daily absolute; in mg/d) in the lower-fat diet. Estimates from the diet records better agreed with actual intakes than did estimates from the food-frequency questionnaire except for monounsaturated fat (absolute and percentage) in the high-fat diet and polyunsaturated fat (percentage) in the lower-fat diet and the very-low-fat diet. Conclusion Our data indicated that the food-frequency questionnaire did not provide reliable estimates of absolute amounts of dietary fats or cholesterol.
Philosophy as Problem-Solving.

Dan Wikler's paper describes how a philosophy department can contribute centrally to a problem-solving program. The course's success has been outstanding, and the approach is exemplary.
The regulation of RNA metabolism in suspended and reattached anchorage-dependent 3T6 fibroblasts.

Suspending anchorage-depent fibroblasts in methocel results in marked reduction in a number of macromolecular metabolic processes. These are restored when cells make contact with a solid substrate and are allowed to spread. The response of 3T6 cells to suspension culture and their recovery upon reattachment has been extensively studied. (Benecke et al., '78; Farmer et al., '78). In these cells, message production and its turnover rate both drop abruptly when cells are suspended, while protein synthesis declines very slowly but extensively. Recovery of protein synthesis in 3T6 cells only requires surface contact and not cell spreading and proceeds rapidly, reaching control values within a few hours. The recovery of messenger RNA production in spread cells is much slower, and commences about 18 hours after cells are replated. The present report extends the studies on RNA regulation in suspended and reattached 3T6 fibroblasts. All RNA synthesis systems respond to cell suspension. Production of small nuclear RNA species is shown to behave very similarly to the production of messenger RNA, suggesting these may be coordinately regulated. Ribosomal precursor RNA synthesis ceases promptly upon cell suspension and recovers only slowly after reattachment. The control of ribosome formation appears independent of the regulation of protein synthesis in this system. The products of polymerase III including transfer RNA, 5S RNA, and species K and L are all regulated together and show a distinct pattern of behavior unlike that of any other RNA species. Their formation is rapidly inhibited at the beginning of suspension, but then recovers to the level of control cells, even during continued suspension culture. This unusual property of polymerase III RNA species is quite different from the behavior of the small nuclear (snRNA) RNA species, which strengthens the previous suggestion that these two classes of RNA molecules are formed by different mechanisms and regulated independently.
Investigation of female house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) by males in relation to the presence and absence of anogenital odors from dominant or subordinate males

Females in promiscuous species (e.g. house mice; Mus musculus domesticus) may mate with multiple males, which can negatively influence the reproductive success of males because of the risk of sperm competition or injury due to male-male competition. Thus, selection should favor those that can discern not only if a female has recently been in contact with another male (potential risk of sperm competition), but whether the other male with which the female had been in contact is dominant (potential risk of injury) or subordinate to the investigating male.After establishing the dominance ranks of pairs of males, we determined each male’s preferred (P) and non-preferred (NP) female (Trial 1). In Trial 2, one of the females of the pair (P or NP) was treated with the anogenital odor of the male’s opponent, and we tested if the proportion of time males spent investigating their initially P and NP females was altered by the presence or absence (treated or untreated) of their opponent’s odor.In Trial 2, contrary to...
Correlation between changes in metabolite concentrations and rate of ion transport following glucose addition to Escherichia coli B.

Abstract Washed, starved preparations of Escherichia coli B metabolize glucose with concomitant uptake of K + and O 2 and extrusion of H + . Abrupt changes in the rates of these processes are correlated with apparent sequential shifting in time of the control sites of aerobic glycolysis from the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-3-phosphoglyceric phosphokinase couple to phosphofructokinase to hexikinase. It is suggested that the principal inhibitors of phosphofructokinase activity are citrate and ATP. The rate of K + uptake is neither a function of the rate of glucose dissimilation nor of the concentration of ATP in these short-term experiments, and the energy available for the active transport of ions appears to vary as the intracellular chemical environment changes.
Image‐guided ultrafast laser scalpel for precise and minimally invasive surgery

Ultrafast laser microsurgery will be the preferred laser scalpel of surgeons in the future as they enable the most precise cutting tool. Towards enabling its clinical use, we are developing flexible fiber‐coupled, MEMS‐based microscopes with nonlinear imaging.
Preventing Early Child Maltreatment: Implications from a Longitudinal Study of Maternal Abuse History, Substance Use Problems, and Offspring Victimization

In the interest of improving child maltreatment prevention science, this longitudinal, community based study of 499 mothers and their infants tested the hypothesis that mothers’ childhood history of maltreatment would predict maternal substance use problems, which in turn would predict offspring victimization. Mothers (35% White/non-Latina, 34% Black/non-Latina, 23% Latina, 7% other) were recruited and interviewed during pregnancy, and child protective services records were reviewed for the presence of the participants’ target infants between birth and age 26 months. Mediating pathways were examined through structural equation modeling and tested using the products of the coefficients approach. The mediated pathway from maternal history of sexual abuse to substance use problems to offspring victimization was significant (standardized mediated path [ab] = .07, 95% CI [.02, .14]; effect size = .26), as was the mediated pathway from maternal history of physical abuse to substance use problems to offspring victimization (standardized mediated path [ab] = .05, 95% CI [.01, .11]; effect size = .19). There was no significant mediated pathway from maternal history of neglect. Findings are discussed in terms of specific implications for child maltreatment prevention, including the importance of assessment and early intervention for maternal history of maltreatment and substance use problems, targeting women with maltreatment histories for substance use services, and integrating child welfare and parenting programs with substance use treatment.
Lessons from a Volvocacean jackpot

Mud collections made from a small reservoir in southern China while pursuing a rare Volvocacean, Platydorina caudata, produced an unusual wealth of other Volvocaceae but no Platydorina. Nine different Volvocacean lineages were obtained, identified by morphology, physiological traits, and nuclear rRNA transcribed spacer sequence comparisons. They probably represented progeny of zygotes formed upstream and washed into the inlet of the reservoir. Similar reservoir sites have increased in abundance in recent years worldwide, which invites further collecting.
Graph Partitioning-Based Coordination Methods for Large-Scale Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Problems

This paper presents an algorithmic framework that expedites the overall convergence of multidisciplinary design optimization problems through a three-step process: partitioning, reordering and coordination. Calculations of any complexity, as well as coupling information are represented by digraphs with weighted nodes and edges. A partition algorithm divides the MDO problems into multilevel nested clusters of calculations with minimal loss of information while maintaining balanced loads among assigned CPU nodes. The feedback loops within the clusters are further minimized by a reordering algorithm. A new multilevel hybrid multidisciplinary design feasible and individual design feasible coordination method is presented that allows a dynamic MDO architecture based on the computational cost and coupling strength. In addition, this paper describes a real-time visualization for MDO problems with weighted design structure matrix and graph representation. The results of a scalable multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization problem are presented.
Recruitment and retention of community-dwelling, aging women in nursing studies.

BACKGROUND Despite recent attention to women's lack of participation in health research, little nursing literature documents or describes recruitment and retention issues related to an increasingly large segment of the population, aging women who dwell in the community. OBJECTIVES An analysis of a subset of published nursing research was conducted to identify: (a) demographics of samples that included community-dwelling, aging women; (b) recruitment and retention issues; and (c) the frequency and completeness with which each of these areas is reported. METHOD An electronic database search was conducted for reports of funded nursing research that included women aged 65 and older that were published in a subset of English-language nursing journals between 1994 and June 1999. Research reports in which community-dwelling women were recruited for participation were selected for analysis (N = 50). RESULTS Racial composition of the sample was included in 66% of reports; educational and employment status in 68% and 48%, respectively; and marital status in 64%. The majority of participants was White and married. It was impossible to determine the racial and marital status of the remainder of participants because of incomplete or ambiguous reporting. Recruitment and retention issues were addressed in only 23% of relevant reports, but specific recommendations can be derived from these reports to help other researchers. CONCLUSION It is imperative for nurse researchers to include more information in research reports about their samples of community-dwelling, aging women and their successes and failures with recruitment and retention. This will help future researchers to study the population and will link nursing research to the larger social context of women's lives.
Silasesquioxanes as ligands in inorganic and organometallic chemistry

Abstract Silasesquioxanes are an interesting class of ligands for both main group and transition-metal elements. A variety of coordination environments can be supported by silasesquioxane ligands, and it is now possible to prepare metallasilsesquioxanes containing practically any stable element from Groups 1015. This article surveys the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity of silasesquioxane ligands. Structure, bonding and structural dynamics of both silasesquioxanes and metallasilasesquioxanes are also discussed. The chemistry of silasesquioxanes and metallasilasesquioxanes can provide important insights into the chemistry of silica and silica-supported transition-metal catalysts. The uniqueness of silasesquioxanes as models for silica is discussed and several systems which provide molecular-level insights into the surface chemistry of silica and silica-supported catalysts are discussed.
IMPACT OF CORONARY CALCIFICATION ON ONE–YEAR OUTCOMES AFTER PCI IN STEMI AND NSTEMI: POOLED ANALYSIS FROM HORIZONS AND ACUITY TRIALS

Little is known about the impact of coronary calcification on outcomes after PCI for pts presenting in the setting of acute coronary syndromes (UA–NSTEMI or STEMI). Data from 6,855 pts presenting with UA–NSTEMI or STEMI and treated by PCI were pooled from 2 pivotal randomized controlled trials
Synthesis of homogeneous alloy metal nanoparticles in silica aerogels

Abstract Homogeneous alloy nanoparticles of the noble metals gold and silver were formed in silica aerogels. In our synthesis procedure, silica aquogels were first prepared with a standard base-catalyzed route, washed several times with distilled water, and then bathed in an aqueous solution with a total metal ion concentration of 3 × 10 −4 M. Formaldehyde (0.5 M) was then added as a reducing agent, with NaOH, in a typical concentration of 1–2 mM, employed to control the velocity of reduction. After reduction, the gels were washed, and then dried supercritically (from CO 2 ) to yield aerogels. The optical absorption of the gels exhibits a single plasmon peak that shifts linearly to higher wavelengths when the Au mole ratio is increased. These results indicate that bimetallic nanoparticles are formed, and that the metals are homogeneously alloyed. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the diameter of the metal nanoparticles depends on the molar ratio of metals used in the bathing solution of the aquogel precursor, and ranges from a minimum of ∼20 nm (100% Au sample) to a maximum of 70–80 nm (25 at.% Au). Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis confirms that the nanoparticles are bimetallic, with a mean mole ratio within 15% of the bathing solution.
A concise history of the ups and downs of simulation

The history of the Winter Simulation Conference provides insight into the working environment and intellectual and managerial attitudes during the formative period of simulation software development. It also suggests a basis for comparison with current practices. This history provides a spring-board from which to extrapolate a few predictions for simulation capabilities of the future.
Experimental Verification of an MR Damper Controlled Highway Bridge

There exists a current need in our nation to address the deteriorating integrity of our infrastructure. Highway bridges in particular are continuously approaching or exceeding their design life and are increasingly being classified as structurally deficient. The service life of highway bridges can be extended through the innovative application of structural control to reduce the peak stress in the critical elements of the bridge due to heavy truck traffic. A promising class of controllable hardware, the Magneto-Rheological (MR) damper, is proposed to reduce the dynamic response of bridges and extend the service life. The inherent stability, robust performance, and low power requirements of MR dampers make them an attractive type of controllable hardware for highway bridges. In this paper the large-scale real-time experimental verification of a typical highway bridge excited by a crossing truck and controlled with MR dampers using hybrid testing at the Lehigh University Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) facility is described. Preliminary simulation results indicate that peak and dynamic responses can be effectively reduced to increase the fatigue life of the structure. Initial experimental tests validate the simulations and indicate the potential of using MR dampers to reduce traffic induced vibration of bridge structures.
Use of a short A/T-rich cassette for enhanced expression of cloned genes in Escherichia coli.

A short (43-bp) A/T-rich stretch of DNA located in The intergenic region between thebaiA2 andbaiF genes fromEubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and inserted in front of the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequences of three inefficiently-expressedEubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708 genes cloned inEschcrichia coli plasmids. Insertion of this A/T-rich cassette increased gene expression in all cases tested. Deletion of part of the A/T-rich region from abaiF clone in pUC19 resulted in decreased gene expression. Synthesis of specific mRNA was increased with addition of the A/T-rich cassette to constructs containing thebaiC gene from Eubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708, but mRNA synthesis was not significantly changed in cells containing plasmid constructs with thebaiF andbaiG genes. Enhanced translation resulting from a decrease in mRNA secondary structure in the ribosome binding site region is discussed as a possible reason for increased gene expression with the A/T-rich cassette.
Expert system that aids reactor-operations personnel in the event of a severe accident

The Nuclear Engineering Department of the University of Tennessee is developing a prototype expert system to advise the operations personnel of a Nuclear power facility in the event of a severe accident. The development of the prototype, called SAIM (Severe Accident Information Advisor) is in a lisp environment using the expert system shell PC Plus by Texas Instruments. This is a rule based system using confidence factors and fuzzy logic to account for uncertainties. Verification of the system will be based on results of Severe Accident research and data from the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident. The SAIM prototype is being developed to achieve three goals. It is designed to 1) monitor a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) facility for any indications of a severe accident (SA), 2) identify the mechanisms causing the SA, and 3) monitor the progression of the accident and alert operations personnel to any change in the severity of the accident. This paper includes a brief discussion of the Three Mile Island accident scenario which serves as background for developing the SAIM prototype. This paper also addresses the benefits of utilizing an expert system in this domain and then focuses on the design strategy used to accomplish the desired goals.
Lung Cancer in HIV-Positive Patients

Abstract: Malignancies account for more than a third of all deaths in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. Although acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related mortality is decreasing with the introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy, the incidence of lung cancer in patients with HIV remains high. Lung cancer has now become the leading cause of mortality among the nonacquired immunodeficiency syndrome defining malignancies. Within the HIV population, the incidence of lung cancer is estimated to be approximately 2 to 4 times that of the general population. Often these patients present with advanced disease (stage III or IV) at a younger age and have an inferior overall survival, when compared with non-HIV patients. Development of lung cancer in patients with HIV has been linked to various factors including immunosuppression, CD4 count, viral load, and smoking. This article reviews the impact of HIV on the incidence, risk factors, clinical presentation, and treatment of lung cancer.
Coupled resonators employing phase-conjugating and ordinary mirrors

We calculate the oscillation conditions and the eigenfrequencies for phase-conjugating-resonator-normal-resonator coupled optical systems. With an eye toward applications to interferometry, we choose specific examples for which it is shown that the conditions for oscillation and the eigenfrequencies depend on the normal-resonator path length. The examples include both linear displacement and rotation sensing (Sagnac) resonant interferometers. Our results suggest that if the distortion-correcting and self-aligning properties of the phase-conjugating resonator are retained in the more complicated system, then these hybrid resonators may offer some advantages over their conventional counterparts.
Macrophages May Activate or Destroy T Cells with Which They Form Antigen- or Coreceptor-Mediated Cellular Conjugates

The formation of antigen- or mitogen-mediated cellular conjugates with T cells enables macrophages to trigger in T cells costimulatory signals and to facilitate T cell clonal expansion and differentiation. The present study describes T cell death as an alternative consequence of T cell interaction with macrophages. Macrophages initiate the deletion of T cells which they target for conjugate formation through CD4 coreceptors. After suboptimal engagement, the TCR mediates a deletion program. Optimal TCR stimulation induces a rescue program which overrides the deletion program induced by suboptimal antigen receptor ligation or by coreceptor engagement. Evidence is presented suggesting that receptor clustering favors the transmission of activation signals, whereas ligation of nonclustered receptors facilitates T cell deletion.
Ophthalmic manifestations of systemic neoplasia: a review and report of 11 cases.

This paper describes 11 patients who presented over the last six years because of an ophthalmic problem related to either a known or unknown systemic neoplasm. Summary A review of recent literature has been given, along with the histories of 11 patients with systemic neoplasia and ophthalmic manifestations. It is hoped that an increased awareness of such problems, by both the ophthalmologist and physician, and a useful scheme of classification, may improve patient management. A review of the more recent literature on systemic neoplasms which affect the ocular and periocular structures is given, and a classification of ophthalmic manifestations of systemic neoplasia is suggested.
Justice, Health, and Healthcare

Healthcare (including public health) is special because it protects normal functioning, which in turn protects the range of opportunities open to individuals. I extend this account in two ways. First, since the distribution of goods other than healthcare affect population health and its distribution, I claim that Rawls's principles of justice describe a fair distribution of the social determinants of health, giving a partial account of when health inequalities are unjust. Second, I supplement a principled account of justice for health and healthcare with an account of fair process for setting limits of rationing care. This account is provided by three conditions that comprise "accountability for reasonableness."
Design Considerations for Motors Used in Adjustable-Speed Drives

In adjustable-speed drives the constraints imposed on the motor at its electrical and mechanical port are not fixed but subject to change. It is found that the counterelectromotive force developed by the motor is uniquely defined by the specified load power, efficiency of the mechanical transmission, source voltage, and resistance of the energized circuit. In this respect ac motors fed by inverters behave like dc motors, because the dc source does not "see" the motor reactances. Relations are derived for the various machines and inverter types. With the EMF determined, the main design problem becomes the selection of its constitutive factors. The involved trade-offs are examined for the extreme cases of drives requring maximum torque at top speed and at stalling.
Ginkgo biloba prevents transient global ischemia-induced delayed hippocampal neuronal death through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanism.

We have previously reported neuroprotective properties of Ginkgo biloba/EGb 761® (EGb 761) in transient and permanent mouse models of brain ischemia. In a quest to extend our studies on EGB 761 and its constituents further, we used a model of transient global ischemia induced delayed hippocampal neuronal death and inflammation. Mice pretreated with different test drugs for 7 days were subjected to eight-minute bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (tBCCAO) at day 8. After 7 days of reperfusion, mice brains were dissected out for TUNEL assay and immunohistochemistry. In-situ detection of fragmented DNA (TUNEL staining) showed that out of all test drugs, only EGb 761 (13.6% ± 3.2) pretreatment protected neurons in the hippocampus against global ischemia (vs. vehicle, 85.1% ± 9.9; p < 0.05). Immunofluorescence-based studies demonstrated that pretreatment with EGb 761 upregulated the expression levels of heme oxygenase 1 (HO1), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as compared to the vehicle group. In addition, increased number of activated astrocytes and microglia in the vehicle group was observed to be significantly lower in the EGb 761 pretreated group. Together, these results suggest that EGb 761 is a multifunctional neuroprotective agent, and the protection is in part associated with activation of the HO1/Nrf2 pathway, upregulation of VEGF and downregulation of inflammatory mediators such as astrocytes and microglia.
Ultrasonic-Based Fabrication of Bulk Aluminum Matrix Nanocomposite

Lightweight metal matrix nano-composites (MMNCs) (metal matrix with nano-sized ceramic particles) can be of significance for automobile, aerospace and numerous other applications. However, it is extremely difficult to disperse nano-sized ceramic particles uniformly in molten metal for casting. This paper presents a fabrication method for casting of bulk aluminum MMNCs by use of ultrasonic nonlinear effects, namely transient cavitation and acoustic streaming. Nano-sized SiC particles have been dispersed in molten aluminum alloy A356 for casting. Microstructural study was carried out and it validates a good distribution and dispersion of nano-sized SiC in aluminum alloy matrix. Hardness of the as-cast MMNCs have been improved significantly even with a low weight fraction of nano-sized SiC. The ultrasonic fabrication methodology is promising to produce a wide range of other MMNCs.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Truncus arteriosus 5th decade transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiogram features.

Abstract Persistent truncus arteriosus in the 5th decade is a rare entity as the only physical anomaly. Truncus arteriosus consists of a single great arterial trunk with the systemic, pulmonary, and coronary circulation, with no atretic aortic or pulmonary vessel. The complex cardiac anatomy can be delineated with transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography, as is illustrated the case of our patient, who was diagnosed in infancy, at 5 months of age. This is the oldest documented case report of Type 3 truncus arteriosus with balanced biventricular anatomy, whose survival was secondary to an innate severe branch pulmonary artery stenosis. Learning objective: This case report documents the echocardiographic features of a rare congenital cardiac anatomy of truncus arteriosus where survival for the majority is only in infancy but those with pulmonary hypertension can survive to their 4th decade. This is the oldest documented case report of Type 3 truncus arteriosus with balanced biventricular anatomy and one of the eight cases documented survival after 30 years of age. The transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic images are the focused feature in this paper, confirming clearly defined structural anatomy in complex structural congenital heart disease.>
Early-life lead exposure recapitulates the selective loss of parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons and subcortical dopamine system hyperactivity present in schizophrenia.

Environmental factors have been associated with psychiatric disorders and recent epidemiological studies suggest an association between prenatal lead (Pb2+) exposure and schizophrenia (SZ). Pb2+ is a potent antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and converging evidence indicates that NMDAR hypofunction has a key role in the pathophysiology of SZ. The glutamatergic hypothesis of SZ posits that NMDAR hypofunction results in the loss of parvalbumin (PV)-positive GABAergic interneurons (PVGI) in the brain. Loss of PVGI inhibitory control to pyramidal cells alters the excitatory drive to midbrain dopamine neurons increasing subcortical dopaminergic activity. We hypothesized that if Pb2+ exposure in early life is an environmental risk factor for SZ, it should recapitulate the loss of PVGI and reproduce subcortical dopaminergic hyperactivity. We report that on postnatal day 50 (PN50), adolescence rats chronically exposed to Pb2+ from gestation through adolescence exhibit loss of PVGI in SZ-relevant brain regions. PV and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 kDa (GAD67) protein were significantly decreased in Pb2+ exposed rats with no apparent change in calretinin or calbindin protein levels suggesting a selective effect on the PV phenotype of GABAergic interneurons. We also show that Pb2+ animals exhibit a heightened locomotor response to cocaine and express significantly higher levels of dopamine metabolites and D2-dopamine receptors relative to controls indicative of subcortical dopaminergic hyperactivity. Our results show that developmental Pb2+ exposure reproduces specific neuropathology and functional dopamine system changes present in SZ. We propose that exposure to environmental toxins that produce NMDAR hypofunction during critical periods of brain development may contribute significantly to the etiology of mental disorders.