cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Strategies to alleviate original antigenic sin responses to influenza viruses

Original antigenic sin is a phenomenon wherein sequential exposure to closely related influenza virus variants reduces antibody (Ab) response to novel antigenic determinants in the second strain and, consequently, impairs the development of immune memory. This could pose a risk to the development of immune memory in persons previously infected with or vaccinated against influenza. Here, we explored strategies to overcome original antigenic sin responses in mice sequentially exposed to two closely related hemagglutinin 1 neuraminidase 1 (H1N1) influenza strains A/PR/8/34 and A/FM/1/47. We found that dendritic cell–activating adjuvants [Bordetella pertussis toxin (PT) or CpG ODN or a squalene-based oil-in-water nanoemulsion (NE)], upon administration during the second viral exposure, completely protected mice from a lethal challenge and enhanced neutralizing-Ab titers against the second virus. Interestingly, PT and NE adjuvants when administered during the first immunization even prevented original antigenic sin in subsequent immunization without any adjuvants. As an alternative to using adjuvants, we also found that repeated immunization with the second viral strain relieved the effects of original antigenic sin. Taken together, our studies provide at least three ways of overcoming original antigenic sin.
An Investigation of the Effects of Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Achievement, Self-Efficacy, and Test Anxiety

Reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) is a cooperative learning strategy which capitalizes on the benefit students receive from preparing to tutor one another. In these experiments we investigated the effects of RPT on the academic achievement, academic self-efficacy, and test anxiety of undergraduate students. Undergraduate education majors enrolled in either human growth and development or educational psychology participated in the study. Students developed a series of test questions, used these questions to quiz each other prior to unit examinations, and provided corrective feedback to the questions. Statistically significant findings were inconsistent across the experiments. In short, RPT appears to have, at best, inconsistent effects on achievement, test anxiety, and academic self-efficacy.
A revised look: EPA rulemaking processes

Scholars have not analyzed the decision-making processes (i.e., administrative rulemaking) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in great detail since the 1990s. Therefore, this paper uses original interview data to examine a contemporary case, the EPA’s Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule, to offer an up to date perspective on how the agency produces rules. This paper argues that, at the very least, the EPA’s Climate Change Division, part of the Office of Air and Radiation is a quintessential example of effective outreach across all of the stages of administrative rulemaking. The findings from these interviews suggest that understanding the process the EPA uses to produce environmental regulations is particularly relevant for practitioners, politicians, and scholars. Therefore, we suggest that scholars should use this research as a baseline for future scholarship about the rulemaking processes of the EPA.
Glycogen repletion and exercise endurance in rats adapted to a high fat diet

It is well accepted that exercise endurance is directly related to the amount of carbohydrate stored in muscle and that a low carbohydrate diet reduces glycogen storage and exercise performance. However, more recent evidence has shown that when the organism adapts to a high fat diet endurance is not hindered. The present study was designed to test that claim and to further determine if animals adapted to a high fat diet could recover from exhausting exercise and exercise again in spite of carbohydrate deprivation. Fat-adapted (3 to 4 weeks, 78% fat, 1% carbohydrates) rats (FAT) ran (28 m/min, 10% grade) as long as carbohydrate-fed (69% carbohydrates) animals (CHO) (115 v 109 minutes, respectively) in spite of lower pre-exercise glycogen levels in red vastus muscle (36 v 54 mumols/g) and liver (164 v 313 mumols/g) in the FAT group. Following 72 hours of recovery on the FAT diet, glycogen in muscle had replenished to 42 mumols/g (v 52 for CHO) and liver glycogen to 238 mumols/g (v 335 for CHO). The animals were run to exhaustion a second time and run times were again similar (122 v 132 minutes FAT v CHO). When diets were switched after run 1, FAT-adapted animals, which received carbohydrates for 72 hours, restored muscle and liver glycogen (48 and 343 mumols/g, respectively) and then ran longer (144 minutes) than CHO-adapted animals (104 minutes) that ate fat for 72 hours and that had reduced glycogen repletion. We conclude that, in contrast to the classic CHO loading studies in humans that involved acute (72 hours) fat feedings and subsequently reduced endurance, rats adapted to a high fat diet do not have a decrease in endurance capacity even after recovery from previous exhausting work bouts. Part of this adaptation may involve the increased storage and utilization of intramuscular triglycerides (TG) as observed in the present experiment.
The Development of Glyoxysomes in Peanut Cotyledons and Maize Scutella

The development of glyoxysomes during germination has been studied in isolated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cotyledons and in maize (Zea mays L.) scutella. In peanut cotyledons isocitratase, malate synthetase, and protein associated with the glyoxysomal fraction increase simultaneously from the 3rd to the 8th day of incubation. In scutella of germinating maize seeds the specific activities of isocitratase, malate synthetase, and catalase associated with the glyoxysomes rise until the 4th day of germination and then decline while the total amount of protein present in the fraction stays constant during the first 5 days. If the peanut cotyledons are cultured in 2% glucose, the development of isocitratase and malate synthetase is severely inhibited, but the level of the glyoxysomal protein is not measurably affected.
A Program Transformation for Faster Goal-Directed Search

A goal-directed search attempts to reveal only relevant information needed to establish reachability (or unreachability) of the goal from the initial state of the program. The further apart the goal is from the initial state, the harder it can get to establish what is relevant. This paper addresses this concern in the context of programs with assertions that may be nested deeply inside its call graph---thus, far away interprocedurally from main. We present a source-to-source transformation on programs that lifts all assertions in the input program to the entry procedure of the output program, thus, revealing more information about the assertions close to the entry of the program. The transformation is easy to implement and applies to sequential as well as concurrent programs. We empirically validate using multiple goal-directed verifiers that applying this transformation before invoking the verifier results in significant speedups, sometimes up to an order of magnitude.
Dissolved organic carbon on Georges Bank

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in sea water from Georges Bank was measured by a high temperature combustion/direct injection (HTC/DI) technique during the spring bloom period in April 1993. Concentrations in surface waters (72–85 μM) and deep waters (54–56 μM) were similar to DOC concentrations measured in the oligotrophic north-west Atlantic Ocean by a number of other investigators by various techniques. Although surface values for Chl-a concentrations ranged from 2 to 5 μg l−1, NO3− ranged from 3 to 9 μM and particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 10μM, DOC concentrations only varied by <18‰ DOC was slightly higher (∼5 μM) in the highly productive central bank region than in surrounding stratified surface waters. Relatively constant stable carbon isotopes (DO13C = −22.0 ± 0.5 could not be used to identify a source for these small variations. Slight decreases of DOC (5–12μM) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) (0.5–1.0 μM) in filtered sea water kept in the dark was observed over six months, suggesting the presence of a small, labile pool of dissolved organic matter in addition to a large, more refractory reservoir of DOC (∼70 μM) during the spring bloom period on Georges Bank.
Clinical utility of blood cultures drawn from indwelling central venous catheters in hospitalized patients with cancer.

In hospitalized hematology–oncology patients, culture of blood drawn through a central catheter or peripheral vein has excellent negative predictive value. Culture of blood drawn through an indwell...
Initial Patient Experience With Positive-Contrast MRI Markers for Low-Dose-Rate Prostate Brachytherapy

score, PSA, prostate volume, ADT, EBRT, rectal D2cc, rectal 1cc, rectal V100, rectal V75, rectal V50, and rectal V25. Results: Median follow up for all patients was 48 months. Results of rectal toxicity is shown in the graph below. As seen, scores in the bowel summary, bowel function, and bowel bother were significantly worse at the 2 week mark. These returned to within 5 points by the 3 month mark and within 2-3 points thereafter. Cumulative incidence of clinically significant rectal bleeding at any follow up was 10.3%. Incidence of clinically significant bother from this rectal bleeding was 14.5%. Prevalence of rectal bleeding at time of last follow up was 3.4% with 5.2% bothered by this. The only factor that predicted for rectal bleeding and being bothered by this rectal bleeding was receiving EBRT prior to the PB (p5.016 and .039, respectively). Conclusions: Patients treated with PB using Cs-131 have a significant amount of rectal toxicity, including both bother and function toxicity, immediately after the procedure, though this returns to normal by 3 months. There is no significant long term rectal toxicity of note. This is the largest series that evaluates rectal bleeding and its effect on quality of life. Though present, this is seldom a major problem, with the only predictor being having higher risk disease that requires preoperative EBRT.
Episodic drug treatment in the management of paroxysmal arrhythmias

The use of maintenance medication in the treatment of episodic cardiac arrhythmia is often complicated by problems of patient compliance with therapy and adverse side effects. Furthermore, repeated hospitalizations and cardioversions are both costly and inconvenient. A method of intermittent drug therapy is described in which antiarrhythmic medication is taken only at the onset of an episode of arrhythmia. This approach was effective in terminating both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias in 24 of 32 patients and obviated the need for hospitalization and further treatment. In cases in which maintenance therapy was required because of the frequent occurrence of arrhythmia, periodic drug therapy was still of value in the treatment of breakthrough episodes. The use of intermittent drug therapy is a safe and effective approach to the management of episodic cardiac arrhythmia and, in addition, results in significant financial saving.
Thermal radiation from metal surfaces

The thermal radiation from metals is calculated by including the Holstein processes of phonon-assisted and surface-assisted scattering in the free-electron model. This approach provides a fairly accurate description of the experimentally measured total emissivity of good conductors in terms of the dc resistivity and the radius of the free-electron sphere. These calculations do not support the Foote and Davisson–Weeks-type equations which have been used previously.
Milnor fiber complexes for the exceptional Shephard groups

Abstract The symmetry group of a regular real polytope is a finite Coxeter group. The intersection of the unit sphere with the reflecting hyperplanes of the corresponding Coxeter arrangement induces a simplicial triangulation of the sphere, called the Coxeter complex. A Shephard group G is the symmetry group of a regular complex polytope. Orlik has shown that there can be associated to G a real simplicial complex which possesses many properties analogous to the Coxeter complex. Let f 1 be the G -invariant polynomial of minimal positive degree, and let F = f 1 −1 (1) be its Milnor fiber. Orlik showed that there is a complex Γ which is an equivariant strong deformation retract of F , is G -stable, is stratified by the associated reflection arrangement, and satisfies specific cell-counting formulas. His proof is existential; it does not give an explicit method of constructing the complex, though Orlik and Solomon did explicitly construct complexes for one infinite family of Shephard groups. Here we describe the construction of complexes for the remaining 15 “exceptional” Shephard groups.
The Andersen thermostat in molecular dynamics

We carry out a mathematical study of the Andersen thermostat [1], which is a frequently used tool in molecular dynamics. After reformulating the continuous- and discrete-time Andersen dynamics, we prove that in both cases the Andersen dynamics is uniformly ergodic. A detailed numerical analysis is presented, establishing the rate of convergence of most commonly used numerical algorithms for the Andersen thermostat. Transport properties such as the diffusion constant are also investigated. It is proved for the Lorentz gas model where there is intrinsic diffusion that the diffusion coefficient calculated using the Andersen thermostat converges to the true diffusion coefficient in the limit of vanishing collision frequency in the Andersen thermostat. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Diffraction of X-Rays by Liquid Argon

The x-ray diffraction pattern of liquid argon has been obtained with crystal-reflected $\mathrm{Mo}K\ensuremath{\alpha}$ radiation. Argon gas under a gauge pressure of 50 lb. per sq. in. was cooled to 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K in a thin-walled Pyrex glass capillary of 1.7 mm diameter and under these conditions, the argon became liquid. An evacuated camera of 9.53 cm radius was so constructed that the film could be placed outside the vacuum, with entrance and exit windows of aluminum. Exposures of 140 hours were required to give patterns of satisfactory density. Microphotometer records of the films showed three peaks; a very strong peak at $\frac{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}=0.154$, a medium peak at $\frac{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}=0.280$ and a weak peak at $\frac{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}=0.415$. No convincing evidence of another peak could be found beyond this and up to $\frac{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}=1.20$. A Fourier analysis of our diffraction pattern results in an atomic distribution curve [$4\ensuremath{\pi}{r}^{2}\ensuremath{\rho}(r) \mathrm{vs}. r$] showing approximately 7 atoms at 3.90A and 5 atoms at about 5.05A. A third broad peak occurs at over 7A. This indicates that the distribution of atoms in liquid argon does not follow closely that in crystalline argon, since in the crystal there are 12 nearest neighbors.
Gas-phase vibrational spectra of glyoxylic acid and its gem diol monohydrate. Implications for atmospheric chemistry

The interconversion of aldehydes and ketones to geminal diols in the presence of water impacts the role of oxidized organics in the atmosphere. While this equilibrium has been noted in condensed phases, we provide experimental evidence of it in the gas-phase. Glyoxylic acid and its geminal diol counterpart are observed in the gas-phase and their fundamental vibrational spectra were assigned and analyzed for the effects of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The IR spectra are used to probe the differences in their structures and hydrogen bonding tendencies.
Nonparametric frontier analysis with multiple constituencies

We introduce a methodology for generalizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to incorporate the role and impact of constituencies in the classification of the model's attributes. Constituencies determine whether entities' attributes in a DEA study are treated as desirable or undesirable. This extension of DEA is the basis for a methodology to answer questions that arise such as: Which constituencies find what entities efficient? Which entities are in the efficient frontier for a specified constituency? and What benchmarking prescriptions apply to inefficient entities for a given constituency? Constituencies allow new applications for DEA analyses of public projects to determine their impact on voters and marketing studies where a product defined by multiple attributes is analysed with respect to diverse markets, are two examples of the type of application for the new methodology. We introduce a DEA LP especially formulated for this new framework with many desirable properties. The new methodology is motivated and validated with a cost–benefit analysis application for a public project.
Central nervous system effects of prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: sensing the signal through the noise

Rationale Women are increasingly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy, with potential implications for neurodevelopment. Whether prenatal SSRI exposure has an effect on neurodevelopment and behavior in the offspring is an important area of investigation.
Genetics of Dairy Goats: A Review

Abstract The literature on genetics of dairy goats was reviewed to point out not only world wide research but also the need for research in the United States to achieve the goal of uniform national genetic evaluations similar to those now available for dairy cattle. The number of breeds studied and the variety of research are remarkable. The numbers of animals and records involved in most studies, however, suggest large sampling variances of estimates.
Modern and ancient continental hypsometries

Controls on coastal hypsometries of modern continents and oceanic islands may be used to estimate palaeo-continental area-elevation distributions. The most important controls on coastal hypsometry are landmass area and coastal gradient, increases in which result in steeper area-elevation distributions. Thus, any change in sea level will flood or expose a smaller fractional area of continents which are large or have steep coastal gradients than of those which are small or have gentle coastal gradients. Coastal gradients are dictated primarily by the tectonic setting and age of continental margins. While active and transform margins generally have steep coasts, mean coastal gradients for passive margins decrease exponentially with increasing margin age. Consequently, continents comprised mostly of mature passive margins are generally more ‘floodable’. These observations are applicable to a variety of palaeo-eustatic problems. Hypsometries corrected for changes in landmass area reduce variance in flooding records between different Palaeozoic continents by more than 50%. Assuming minimum-variance superimposition of flooding curves for different Palaeozoic continents permits identification of possible hypsometric anomalies. Calculated Palaeozoic sea level maxima are between +200m and +400m with respect to present sea level, substantially lower than previous estimates to +600 m. Modelling evolution of coastal hypsometries due to changes in length and age of passive margins suggests that hypsometry varies cyclically in response to continental rifting and collision. Coastal hypsometries are steepest during rifting events and decrease by a factor of two to three as passive margins age. Coastal hypsometries in a ‘sutured’ world are steeper than those of a 9rifted9 world due to increased continent size and decreased passive margin length. Thus, sea level highstands associated with times of continent dispersal may result in part from the enhanced ‘floodability’ of rifted continents.
Time-resolved fluorescence studies on protoporphyrin IX-apohorseradish peroxidase

The hemin moiety of horseradish peroxidase (donor: hydrogygen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.7) was removed and the apoprotein reconstituted with the fluorescent protoporphyrin IX. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence properties of the HRP(desFe) adduct were examined; the multifrequency phase and modulation method was utilized for lifetime and dynamic polarization studies. The emission spectrum of HRP(desFe) had maxima at 633 and 696 nm. The lifetime of this emission was characterized by a single exponential decay of 16.87 ns at 22°C. Debye rotational relaxation times for HRP(desFe) were determined using both static (Perrin plot) and dynamic (differential phase and modulation fluorometry) methods; these two approaches gave values of 96 and 86 ns, respectively. A spherical protein of HRP's molecular weight and partial specific volume would be expected to have a Debye rotational relaxation time, at 22°C, in the range of 50 to 60 ns, depending upon the extent of hydration. Hence our results indicate that HRP(desFe) is asymmetric; the global rotational relaxation times observed are consistent with those of a prolate ellipsoid with an axial ratio of 3:1.
Determination of the Intrinsic Site Seeing for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

A long term program to quantify the intrinsic site seeing at McDonald Observatory, using two differential image motion monitors (DIMMs) has been initiated on Mt. Fowlkes where the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is located. Raw DIMM data are corrected to the zenith and to a uniform 10msec integration time. Nightly median seeing measurements (FWHM) along with the max/min range are presented for 186 nights over the 13 month period between July 2001 and July 2002. A definite seasonal effect is present in the dataset with the median seeing in the spring-summer-fall months (0.93±0.18 arcsec) being significantly better than the winter months (1.24±0.33 arcsec). The measured seeing was better than 0.70 arcsec about 9% of the time. Since DIMM units were operated at ground level these data are not quite lower limits to the site seeing performance. Even so, the seeing of this West Texas continental site at 6,650ft (2,027m) elevation in the Davis Mountains is superior to what has been assumed in the past, based on less direct seeing measurements. Future plans are described for moving a DIMM telescope to a tower mounted, semi-automated observatory to sample the site seeing at an elevation above the ground similar to the HET mirror.
Constraints on the Formation of Sedimentary Dolomite

The experimental replacement of calcite and aragonite by dolomite under a variety of conditions indicates that dolomitization can take place in marine and lacustrine environments under two conditions: (i) low dissolved sulfate concentrations and (ii) insubstantial contemporaneous silica diagenesis. Common sites for dolomite formation are areas where the dissolved sulfate concentration is reduced by microbial sulfate reduction, through the mixing of seawater with large amounts of fresh water, or where low-sulfate alkaline lacustrine environments prevail. Even under these conditions, dolomite formation may be inhibited by the concurrent transformation of opal-A (amorphous silica) to opal-CT (disordered cristobalite and tridymite), whereas the subsequent transformation of opal-CT to quartz favors the formation of dolomite.
Adhesion between molecules and calcium oxalate crystals: critical interactions in kidney stone formation.

Kidney stones are crystal aggregates, most commonly containing calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystals as the primary constituent. Notably, in vitro studies have suggested that anionic molecules or macromolecules with substantial anionic functionality (e.g., carboxylate) play an important role in crystal aggregation and crystal attachment to renal epithelial cells. Furthermore, kidney stones contain measurable amounts of carboxylate-rich proteins that may serve as adhesives and promote aggregation of COM crystals. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of adhesion forces between tip-immobilized molecules and the COM (100) surface in aqueous media, described herein, reveal the effect of functional groups on adhesion and support an important role for the carboxylate group in processes responsible for kidney stone formation, specifically macromolecule-mediated adhesion of COM crystals to cells and crystal aggregation. The presence of poly(aspartic acid) during force measurements results in a reduction in the adhesion force measured for carboxylate-modified tips, consistent with the blocking of binding sites on the COM (100) surface by the carboxylate-rich polymer. This competitive binding behavior mimics the known reduction in attachment of COM crystals to renal epithelial cells in the presence of carboxylate-rich urinary macromolecules. These results suggest a feasible methodology for identifying the most important crystal surface-macromolecule combinations related to stone formation.
Microsampling in graphite cup capacitively coupled microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy

Abstract A capacitively coupled microwave plasma, with a graphite cup for sample containment, operating at 1.0 kW was used for atomic emission spectroscopy. The system took advantage of the plasma heating of the electrode to vaporize the sample. Detection limits (3σ) ranging between 10 and 210 pg, were obtained for Ag, Ba, Cd, Cu, Ga, Ge, In, Li, Mg, Mn, Rb and Zn with a precision better than 12%. A N2/He plasma gas mixture was used. The cup temperature increased with power and with molar fraction of N2. However, the excitation temperature of the plasma decreased with increasing power.
Training and treatment costs in a community mental health center

Defining and allocating training costs among CMHC programs is troublesome but necessary. A method for doing this is offered, demonstrating that services by some students approximate the costs of their training. A CMHC may require subsidies to train others.
Asymptotic methods for modeling biological processes

The technique of matched asymptotic expansions is discussed as a means for derivation of uniformly valid functions describing population processes. Use of the technique is then illustrated through quantitative description of a rate-temperature model, development of a functional model relating survival to attack density in bark beetles, and finally for derivation of a generalized competition function. It is concluded that the technique has potentially wide application for development of descriptive models in population ecology.
AACDS: A database for personal genome interpretation

Incorporation of diverse data sources adds value to genomic studies, especially for annotation and categorization of personal genome variants. The database for Association-Adjusted Consensus Deleterious Scheme (AACDS) and its web application deliver a novel approach to assess genetic variations based on their putative functionality. The database is built upon integrated knowledge of variant data, with the aim of relating clinical phenotypes to predictions of variant deleteriousness. The simple but interrelated queries classify each variant into an 8-level category. The categories can be ranked, enabling straight-forward interpretation of relative likelihood of functionality. The ranking thus facilitates improved efficiency in prioritizing further detailed evaluation of key variants within a personal genome. The AACDS database covers over 68 million missense variants in approximately 18,000 human genes. Given a list of genetic variants, the retrieval of the AACDS category, along with known clinical data can be performed through an intuitive search platform. Availability: The AACDS web application is publicly available at http://cig.gatech.edu/tools .
Connecting functional brain imaging and Parallel Distributed Processing

Functional neuroimaging and Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) theory, both introduced to cognitive science in the 1980s, led to influential research programmes that have proceeded in parallel with little mutual influence. The PDP approach advanced specific claims about the nature of neural representations that, perhaps surprisingly, have gone largely untested in functional brain imaging. One reason may be the widespread use of univariate statistical methods for analysing brain imaging data, which typically rely on assumptions that render them unable to detect distributed representations of the kind that PDP predicts. More recent multivariate methods for image analysis may be better suited to detecting such representations. In the current article, we consider why univariate methods have been insufficient to test PDP’s representational claims, articulate some of the properties that neural representations ought to have if the PDP view is valid and then survey the recent neuroimaging literature for evidence that neural representations do or do not have these properties. The survey establishes that the PDP view of distributed representations has considerable evidential support. This analysis underscores the importance of understanding how the assumptions underlying methods for analysing functional imaging data constrain the kinds of questions that can be addressed. We then consider the implications for our developing understanding of the neural bases of cognition and for the design of future brain imaging studies.
Christian Conversion in Late Ming China: Niccolo Longobardo and Shandong

Using letters written by the Italian Jesuit missionary Niccolo Longobardo, this article explores in depth the encounter between the Christian mission and different strata of early seventeenth century Chinese society in Shangdong province. It follows Longobardo’s evangelical activities among Ming feudatory princes, Muslim mullahs, Confucian literati and leaders of secret popular religious sects. By using Jesuit records and Chinese documents of the late Ming, this article tries to analyse the attractions of Christianity for different segments of late Ming society, one that experienced a profound social, political and economic crisis. Both, the reasons for conversions and arguments against Christianity are presented in the specific social context of early seventeenth century Chinese society.
Isolated Splenic Metastasis from Rectal Carcinoma: A Rare Occurrence

The presence of isolated splenic metastasis in rectal carcinoma is uncommon and usually presents as an asymptomatic mass, noted incidentally on imaging. Splenectomy is usually performed with the goal of curing metastatic disease. It is unclear if adjuvant chemotherapy affords any benefit, and the prognosis is unknown. The case of a young woman is reported, in whom an isolated metastatic lesion in the spleen was discovered 9 months after adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III rectal adenocarcinoma. The patient has remained disease-free for nearly 5 years following splenectomy and chemotherapy. To our knowledge, this is the fourth reported case in the English literature of an isolated splenic metastatic lesion from rectal cancer. We discuss the unique presentation, the importance of post-treatment surveillance, and the implementation of multi-modality treatment strategies in this young patient.
A general approach to the shape of failure rate and MRL functions

Failure rate and mean residual life are two important characteristics for studying reliability of products. In literature, some work studied the shape of failure rate function based on the knowledge of the associated probability density function; some other work investigated the shape of mean residual life function based on the shape of the associated failure rate function separately for continuous case and discrete case. In this article, a general approach is developed which can be applied to the aforementioned studies. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004
Chronic iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) causes no changes in the rat brain phencyclidine (PCP) receptor

Abstract Chronic IDPN treatment leads to a persistent stereotypic and dyskinetic behavioral syndrome which is reminiscent of that caused by PCP in mammals. Since the neuropharmacological profile of the two syndromes are very similar, the status of the PCP binding site was studied in rats who were suffering from the IDPN-induced syndrome. The characteristics of the receptor were not altered in either the striata or the hippocampi of the animals. These results suggest that the development of chronic streotypies is not intimately linked to any perturbation of the PCP binding site in rat brain.
Identification of coke precursors in heptane reforming with a multioutlet fixed-bed reactor and a novel vibrational microbalance

Abstract This work aims to determine the major coke precursors in n -heptane reforming over a commercial Pt–Re/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. We employ both a multioutlet fixed-bed reactor and a new microbalance that measures coke-on-catalyst by monitoring the natural vibrational frequency of a tapered element that is pinned at one end and has catalyst at its free end. This microbalance does not have the gas bypass problem common to conventional gravimetric microbalances. We show that five-carbon ringed naphthenes (C5N) are the only reforming reaction participant species lump whose concentration rises whenever the rate of catalyst activity loss increases in response to changes in temperature, pressure, or space velocity. A more quantitative treatment shows that the C5N concentration profile along the fixed-bed reactor tracks both the coke profile and the profile of a measure of the local catalyst deactivation rate. Further detailed microbalance studies with different hydrocarbon feeds show that the coking rate is first order in C5N and is almost independent of toluene concentration. The C5N formed in n -heptane reforming quantitatively accounts for most of the coke produced. All experiments pointed to C5N as the major coke precursor in n -heptane reforming.
Neutron-proton radius differences and isovector deformations from π+ and π− inelastic scattering from 18O

Abstract π+ and π− elastic and inelastic scattering from 18O have been measured at T(π)=164 MeV. Consistent with the results at 230 MeV, it is found that the ratio σ(π − ) σ(π + ) for the 21+ state is 1.86(16), while for the 31− state it is 0.89(6). These results are interpreted as indicating differences in neutron and proton deformations characterizing the 21+ transition and partial neutron blocking for the 31− transition. Optical model analysis of elastic scattering leads to the conclusion that 〈r n 2 〉 1 2 −〈r p 2 〉 1 2 =0.03(3) fm .
Privatization and the Working Conditions of Health Care Support Staff

Abstract Using an assisted survey approach, we compare health care service employees' perceptions of work between public and privatized health care settings. Results indicate that laundry, maintena...
Erasing Core Boundaries for Robust and Configurable Performance

Single-thread performance, reliability and power efficiency are critical design challenges of future multicore systems. Although point solutions have been proposed to address these issues, a more fundamental change to the fabric of multicore systems is necessary to seamlessly combat these challenges. Towards this end, this paper proposes Core Genesis, a dynamically adaptive multiprocessor fabric that blurs out individual core boundaries, and encourages resource sharing across cores for performance, fault tolerance and customized processing. Further, as a manifestation of this vision, the paper provides details of a unified performance-reliability solution that can assemble variable-width processors from a network of potentially broken) pipeline stage-level resources. This design relies on interconnection flexibility, micro architectural innovations, and compiler directed instruction steering, to merge pipeline resources for high single-thread performance. The same flexibility enables it to route around broken components, achieving sub-core level defect isolation. Together, the resulting fabric consists of a pool of pipeline stage-level resources that can be fluidly allocated for accelerating single-thread performance, throughput computing, or tolerating failures.
Migration of a fractured inferior vena cava filter strut to the right ventricle of the heart: a case report

A 23 year old woman presented with sudden onset retrosternal chest pain following an attempt to move a heavy object from her vehicle. Multiple fractured struts of an inferior vena cava filter were identified in the distal right and left pulmonary artery branches, and in the free wall of the right ventricle. A small pericardial effusion was noted. Because of the depth of penetration into the right ventricle, it was perceived not to be amenable to endovascular retrieval. Over several days of observation, she continued to have progressive retrosternal and left shoulder pain. She underwent exploratory sternotomy and extraction of a strut that was partially protruding from the right ventricle and abrading the diaphragmatic pericardium. The patient recovered quite well and was discharged on the third postoperative day.
Illusions about Persons

Farah and Heberlein's (2007) clear and deeply interesting paper identifies a persistent problem in the literatures of philosophical ethics and bioethics—the resistance of the concept of person to a...
NADPH oxidase activation in pancreatic cancer cells is mediated through Akt-dependent up-regulation of p22phox.

We recently showed that Nox4 NADPH oxidase is highly expressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and that it is activated by growth factors and plays a pro-survival, anti-apoptotic role. Here we investigate the mechanisms through which insulin-like growth factor I and serum (FBS) activate NADPH oxidase in pancreatic cancer (PaCa) cells. We show that in PaCa cells, NADPH oxidase is composed of Nox4 and p22phox catalytic subunits, which are both required for NADPH oxidase activity. Insulin-like growth factor I and FBS activate NADPH oxidase through transcriptional up-regulation of p22phox. This involves activation of the transcription factor NF-κB mediated by Akt kinase. Up-regulation of p22phox by the growth factors results in increased Nox4-p22phox complex formation and activation of NADPH oxidase. This mechanism is different from that for receptor-induced activation of phagocytic NADPH oxidase, which is mediated by phosphorylation of its regulatory subunits. Up-regulation of p22phox represents a novel pro-survival mechanism through which growth factors and Akt inhibit apoptosis in PaCa cells.
Characterization of the luminescence from low energy He+/Xe and He+/Kr reactions

Abstract The luminescence spectra produced by the reactions of 100 eV helium ions with xenon and krypton gas are reported and analyzed. In this paper spectral classifications have been made for the XeII and KrII transitions which produce radiation in the wavelength interval, 50–130 nm, and emission cross sections have been determined. Radiative transitions in the 130–890 nm interval have been treated similarly, and the results are available upon request. An important feature of the present work is that the experimental configuration utilized permits the excited products to radiate in the absence of significant perturbation from collisions or from electric or magnetic fields.
Between-sex differences are often averaging artifacts

The central problem in Geary's theory is how differences are conceptualized. Recent research has shown that between-sex differences on certain tasks are a consequence of averaging within sex differences. A mixture distribution models between-sex differences on several tasks well and does not appear congenial to a sexual-selection perspective.
An empirical examination of the role of attributions in psychological entitlement and its outcomes

Psychological entitlement refers to the phenomenon in which individuals consistently believe that they deserve preferential rewards and treatment, often with little consideration of actual qualities or performance levels. This study examines the influence of psychological entitlement on workplace outcomes, using attribution theory to explain its effects. Results suggested that entitlement perceptions are positively associated with self-serving attribution styles and that diminished need for cognition mediates this relationship. Self-serving attribution styles, in turn, were associated with reduced job satisfaction and increased levels of conflict with supervisors. A direct positive relationship between psychological entitlement and turnover intent was also observed. Overall, results suggest that an attributional perspective is useful in explaining and understanding the influence of entitlement perceptions on workplace outcomes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Flow Structure and Pressure Fluctuations of Turbulent Boundary Layers with Sparse Roughness

Measurements of the mean flow and turbulent statistics were made in a 2D flat plate turbulent boundary layer over a fetch of hemispherical roughness elements using Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV). These measurements, along with previous LDV measurements of flow over fetches of circular cylinders, were examined to study the effect of sparse roughness on the slope and intercept value of the semi logarithmic portion of the boundary layer. Various methods for estimating the friction velocity were explored. Rough wall surface pressure spectra were measured for the hemispherical roughness case. The dependency of measurement position on the pressure spectra was examined. A technique using two pressure transducers was used successfully to mitigate unwanted noise.
Small Heat Shock Proteins Protect Electron Transport in Chloroplasts and Mitochondria During Stress

SYNOPSIS. Evidence indicates that small heat-shock proteins (Hsps) are involved in stress tolerance, but the specific cell components or functions that small Hsps protect or repair are mostly unidentified. We recently showed that the chloroplast small Hsps of higher plants (1) are produced in response to many environmental stresses (e.g., heat, oxidative, and high-light stress); and (2) protect (but do not repair) photosynthetic electron transport in vitro during stress, specifically by in- teracting with the oxygen-evolving-complex proteins of Photosystem II (PSII) with- in the thylakoid lumen. However, in vivo evidence of the importance of these Hsps to photosynthetic stress tolerance is lacking. Here we report positive relationships between chloroplast small Hsp production and PSII thermotolerance in (1) a heat- tolerant genotype of Agrostis palustris (bentgrass) and a heat sensitive genotype which lacks one or more chloroplast small Hsps produced by the tolerant genotype; (2) ecotypes of Chenopodium album (lambs quarters) from the northern vs. south- ern U.S. (New York vs. Georgia); and (3) nine Lycopersicon (tomato) cultivars/ species differing in heat tolerance. These in vivo results are consistent with our previous in vitro observations and indicate that genetic variation in production of the chloroplast small Hsp is an important determinant of photosynthetic and, thereby, whole-plant thermotolerance. Recently, we showed that the mitochondrial small Hsp of plants protects respiratory (specifically Complex I) electron transport in vitro during heat stress, and here we present evidence for previously unidentified small Hsps in mitochondria of mammal (rat) cells which also protect Complex I during heat stress. These results suggest that the mitochondrial small Hsps, like the small chloroplast Hsps, are general stress proteins that contribute significantly to cell and organismal stress tolerance.
Probiotics for Maintaining Remission of Ulcerative Colitis in Adults

Objective:To evaluate evidence for probiotic efficacy for maintaining remission of ulcerative colitis (UC) in adults.Data Sources:A MEDLINE search (1948–November 2009) was conducted using ulcerative colitis and probiotics as terms for identifying pertinent studies. Search limits included English language and humans. Additional information was obtained from bibliographies.Study Selection And Data Extraction:Prospective trials published in English and conducted in adults were included. Two open-label and 3 double-blind randomized trials evaluated probiotic efficacy for maintaining remission of UC. Clinical and surrogate markers for maintaining remission of UC were assessed.Data Synthesis:A relationship between immune response and gastrointestinal microbials appears to be involved in the mechanism of UC. Trial results comparing the probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 to mesalazine have reported equivalent rates of UC relapse. Treatment with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG strain alone or in combination with me...
An 800-MHz embedded DRAM with a concurrent refresh mode

An 800-MHz embedded DRAM macro employs a memory cell utilizing a device from the 90-nm high-performance technology menu; a 2.2-nm gate oxide 1.5 V IO device. A concurrent refresh mode is designed to improve the memory utilization to over 99% for a 64 /spl mu/s data retention time. A concurrent refresh scheduler utilizes up-count and down-count registers to identify at least one array to be refreshed at every clock cycle, emulating a classical distributed refresh mode. A command multiplier employs low frequency phased clock signals to generate the clock, commands, and addresses at rates up to 4/spl times/ that of the tester frequency. The macro integrates masked redundancy allocation logic during at speed multibank test. The hardware results show a 312-MHz random access frequency and 800-MHz multibank frequency at 1.2 V, respectively.
Molecular Modeling in Peptide and Protein Analysis

This article describes the theoretical background and practical applications of classical molecular mechanics (MM) and molecular dynamics (MD). Following a brief historical outline of molecular modeling, the concept of the molecular potential energy function is introduced and the basic algorithms of MM, namely, energy minimization, normal mode analysis, MD, and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, are defined. The advantages of molecular modeling methods — speed of calculations and detailed microscopic insight — are described. The shortcomings — approximate nature and difficulties with conformational sampling — are also analyzed. A number of modern approaches aimed at improving the reliability of computer simulations are briefly presented, including advanced energy optimization methods, treatment of long-range forces, and accelerated conformational exploration. Examples of applications of molecular modeling methods to the study of various aspects of the structure, dynamics, and function of peptides and proteins are presented. A brief exposition of the relationship between molecular modeling and some fundamental experimental techniques, such as X-ray crystallography, neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and fluorescence and vibrational spectroscopies, is provided. Finally, an outline of future directions of modeling studies is suggested.
Ethics in practice: managed care and the changing health care environment: medicine as a profession managed care ethics working group statement

Cost pressures and changes in the health care environment pose ethical challenges and hard choices for patients, physicians, policymakers, and society. In 2000 and 2001, the American College of Physicians, with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Ethics Program, convened a working group of stakeholders--patients, physicians, and managed care representatives, along with medical ethicists--to develop a statement of ethics for managed care. The group explored the impact of a changing health care environment on patient-physician relationships and how to best apply the principles of professionalism in this environment. The statement that emerged offers guidance on preserving the patient-clinician relationship, patient rights and responsibilities, confidentiality and privacy, resource allocation and stewardship, the obligation of health plans to foster an ethical environment for the delivery of care, and the clinician's responsibility to individual patients, the community, and the public health, among other issues.