cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using capillary electrophoresis to separate trivalent f-elements based on their speciation when complexed with simple organic ligands

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a useful method for rapid separations of metal cations. Under ideal conditions, CE can provide complete separation of the trivalent lanthanides in less than 10 min. Simple organic ligands must be included in the electrolyte matrix to achieve good resolution between the cations. In this paper, we demonstrate how to use complexation constants from the literature to design separation protocols for the trivalent f-elements.
Mosquito management: Ecological approaches

This article discusses organism use for management of mosquitoes included are considerations of the introduction and/or manipulation of plants, animals, and microorganisms into breeding habitats in which they act to make conditions less suitable for mosquito production. The importance of foresight and careful planning is stressed with regard to developing mosquito management strategies
Statistical significance of DNA sequence symmetries.

SOME regions of DNA involved in regulatory or catalytic interactions with proteins have sites with twofold rotation symmetry in the primary nucleotide sequence1–3. It would be worthwhile to determine whether certain of these symmetries occur so rarely by chance that they probably have a function, for example, as recognition sites for symmetric protein complexes. Likewise, it would be useful to be able to dismiss other apparent symmetries as probable statistical accidents of no functional importance. The following quantitative method can be used to evaluate the statistical significance of hyphenated (that is, incomplete) symmetries, where a more intuitive approach may be misleading. Since the probability of random occurrence of a given subsequence increases in almost direct proportion to the length of the sequence considered, a rigorous approach will become increasingly important in the evaluation of the significance of subsequence anomalies occurring in the much longer DNA sequences that will be determined in the future.
An Automatic Oscillograph

AS A RESULT of the new e ra of extensive interconnection of large power systems and of t he high speed operation of switches and circuit breakers, problems have arisen that only an oscillograph can solve; further an oscillograph for such applications must have characteristics that are not found in those designed for more general usage.
Cast epoxy-based microfluidic systems and their application in biotechnology

Abstract This paper reports the development of epoxy microcasting technologies for the fabrication of plastic microfluidic platforms. Two new techniques one involving embedding active silicon devices in plastic microsystems using a polymer flip chip process and another involving surface micromachining to build active components like actuators for use in applications like pumping are discussed and explained. Application devices were fabricated for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and capillary electrophoresis (CE).
Corrupt rhetoric: President ford and the Mayaguez affair

Examining President Ford's public announcements concerning the capture and recapture of the Mayaguez in May of 1975, as compared to international law, American constitutional law, and the unstated communication rule that each should use words as commonly defined, the author concludes that President Ford lied about the Mayaguez. This misleading of the public was expanded by the administration's refusal to allow “solution by discourse” (diplomacy) a chance to work, yet talking as though they had, then making false claims of authority for taking the subsequent military action. The author concludes that all of these deceptions corrupted the discourse surrounding the Mayaguez affair, leading the public to applaud a policy it might otherwise have deplored.
Laser flash photolysis and inactivation of carboxypeptidase A.

— Laser photolysis of CPA at 265 nm photoionizes 3 to 4 Trp residues per molecule inactivated, leading to e-aq and the disulfide bridge electron adduct. The electron adduct is formed by an internal process and is not involved in the activity loss. Based on this work and published photochemical and pulse radiolysis studies on CPA it is proposed that photolysis of a key Trp residue, possibly Trp 73 adjacent to zinc ligand Glu 72, mediates release of the zinc ion and consequent loss of peptidase activity.
Battleshock — The Chemical Dimension

SUMMARY: The emphasis in discussions of the impact of chemical warfare (CW) on our military forces has usually been on the lethal or severely disabling effects. Unless personnel have had sufficient and repeated practice in the use of defensive equipment and techuiqnes, the greatest part of the effect may be from partial decre­ ment of performance in all the troops rather than from severe incapacity in those directly injured by the agents. The use of chemicals to disable or reduce the effectiveness of an enemy is not a new concept. During the Peloponnesian Wars in ancient Greece, pots of boiling pitch and sulphur were placed upwind of beseiged cities so that the noxious fumes would overcome the resistance of the defenders within the cities. Later, the so-called Greek fire was used which on contact with water would ignite and set ships on fire. In a sense, gunpowder is a use of chemicals in warfare, but the term chemical warfare (CW) is usually restricted to the use of lethal or disabling gases and vapours which began in World War I (WWI) with the use of chlorine by the German Army. Some countries include the use of riot control agents ("tear gas") under the heading of chemical warfare. If one accepts the position (the United States of America does not), then CW began with the French Army's earlier use of tear gas against German ·soldiers in trenches in WWI. When the Germans first used chlorine against the Allies, it was fortunate for the Allies that the German General Staff had not realized how great the impact of chemical weapons on unprepared troops would be. Consequently they were unprepared to exploit fully the break produced in the lines and what could have been a disastrous outcome for the Allies was averted.
How statistics can mislead.

I read with interest the study by Bleich et al. on reducing purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages in low-income Black adolescents using caloric information.1 The study is relevant, well designed, and has an intriguing hypothesis—that labeling food with “exercise equivalents” is more effective at curbing consumption than using absolute calorie counts. However, the article is misleading because of several problems with the statistical analysis and interpretation. First, the overall effect size is exaggerated because of a needless emphasis on odds ratios. Odds ratios distort effects when the outcome is common, as is the case here.2–4 Compared with no intervention, providing any caloric information reduced the odds of purchasing a sugar-sweetened beverage by 44%. But this corresponds to just a 5% reduction in risk (Table 1; adjusted risk ratio [ARR] = 0.95); in absolute terms, sales of sugar sweetened beverages dropped from 93.3% to 88.6%. The article’s focus on odds ratios is misleading to readers as evidenced by media reports that wrongly stated: “Calorie-related information caused sales to drop by 40 percent.”5 TABLE 1— Absolute Percentages, Odds Ratios, and Risk Ratios for the Purchase of SSBs by Caloric Condition: A Store-Based Intervention to Reduce SSB Consumption Among Low-Income Black Adolescents, Baltimore, MD, April–October, 2010 Second, the data provide no evidence that the three caloric conditions differ; yet the article implies otherwise, stating that exercise equivalents were “particularly effective.” In fact, the conditions differ only negligibly when effects are presented as risk ratios or absolute percentages (Table 1); the ARRs were 0.96, 0.96, and 0.94 for absolute calorie, relative calorie, and exercise equivalents, respectively. The authors highlight the fact that only the exercise message was significantly different from no intervention (P ≤ .05), but this provides no proof that the exercise message was superior to the other conditions.6 In fact, the conditions do not differ significantly from one another. Although the authors acknowledge the latter point, their take-home message remains ambiguous. Indeed, media reports erroneously concluded: “Warning labels that explain how much exercise is needed to run off the calories in junk food are far more effective than traditional counts, researchers say.”5 And “ ‘Exercise labels’ beat out calorie counts in steering consumers away from junk food.”7 Finally, the authors have analyzed their data incorrectly. The study is a cluster-randomized crossover trial, but the authors have failed to account for the clustering in their analyses. Individuals are correlated by store, which means that the effective sample size may be lower than 1600 and the P values underestimated.8,9 The authors should reanalyze their data accounting for the clustering within stores or should perform a store-level analysis.
Isolated gonadotropin deficiency in boys: Clinical characteristics and growth

Analysis of the clinical findings and growth in 20 boys with isolated gonadotropin deficiency revealed a heterogeneous group of physical abnormalities. Ten of these patients were hyposmic or anosmic (Kallmann syndrome). Abnormalities found in our patients included undescended testes, gynecomastia, and ocular or skeletal anomalies. Regardless of the presence of hyposmia, patients without testicular enlargement (less than 2 cm3), had serum luteinizing hormone (LH) responses to luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LRF) that were the same as in prepubertal boys. By contrast, five boys with testicular enlargement (greater than 2 cm3), some of whom had hyposmia, had a greater serum LH response to LRF than did prepubertal boys. Adrenarche was moderately delayed; although all boys initially had normal serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, four boys eventually developed elevated serum levels. Bone ages were delayed compared with chronologic age in boys who had the condition after 15 years of age. The rate of linear growth was normal, and final adult heights were normal with testosterone therapy, although linear growth continued longer in these boys than in boys with normal pubertal progression. Although none of the patients was obese at the time of diagnosis, three patients developed obesity after initiation of testosterone therapy.
Semiempirical formulas for the color-hyperfine mass splitting in hadrons

We slightly modify a semiempirical formula of Song for the color-hyperfine mass splitting in mesons and generalize the formula to baryons. We compare the results of these formulas with experiment and extrapolate them to obtain predictions of the masses of as-yet-undiscovered hadrons.
Excitation of 56Co by two-particle transfer reactions

Abstract The reactions 54Fe(3He, p)56Co and 58Ni(d, α)56Co have been investigated at energies of 12.0 and 7.0 MeV, respectively. Ground-state Q-values of 7.408±0.015 MeV for the (3He, p) and 6.506±0.010 MeV for the (d, α) reactions were measured. Angular distributions for eight of the (3He, p) transitions were measured and analysed using the DWBA in order to extract L-values. The level scheme of 56Co is discussed in terms of these results. The analogue of the 56Fe ground state was identified, and a reduced Coulomb energy ΔEC = 8.949±0.025 MeV was extracted.
Identification of a calcium- and phospholipid-dependent phorbol ester binding activity in the soluble fraction of mouse tissues

A soluble cytosolic protein which specifically and with high affinity binds tumor promoting phorbol ester tumor promoters was found in mouse tissues Calcium and phosphatidyl serine had to be included in the binding assay to obtain maximal binding activity by the soluble receptor. Soluble binding activity levels paralleled the levels of membrane associated binding activity with the soluble activity accounting for 27% to 80% of the total. Except the calcium and phospholipid requirement, no difference was found between the soluble and membrane associated receptors, suggesting that they are the same protein which can move between the soluble cytosol and cell membranes.
Effect of Speededness on Test Performance of Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Examinees

ABSTRACT Handicapped and nonhandicapped fifth-grade students were administered subtests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) under timed and untimed conditions to examine the effect of speededness on the test performance of the two groups. The results of a two-group discriminant analysis suggested that the handicapped group cannot be distinguished from the nonhandicapped group on the basis of completion or noncompletion of 90% of the test items, or on the number of items attempted under timed conditions. Furthermore, the results of analysis of variance procedures provided no evidence that the groups were differentially affected when the amount of speededness was reduced. One possible implication of the findings was that members of some handicapped groups may reasonably be included in the standardized testing situation with other members of their class, rather than be excluded or exempted from the testing experience.
A click chemistry approach to glycomimetics: Michael addition of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-β-d-glucopyranose to 4-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-l-glycero-pent-4-enopyranos-3-ulose – a convenient route to novel 4-deoxy-(1→5)-5-C-thiodisaccharides

Abstract The base catalyzed conjugate Michael addition of the 1-thiosugar, 2,3,4,6-tetra- O -acetyl-β- d -glucopyranose, 1 , to a new highly reactive enone 4-deoxy-1,2- O -isopropylidene- l - glycero -pent-4-enopyranos-3-ulose, 2 , proceeds steroselectively with formation of adduct 3 in 94% yield. Convenient stereoselective reduction of the C-3 keto function of 3 with L-Selectride ® followed by in situ acetylation produces thiodisaccharide 4 in good 82% yield. Cleavage of the 1,2- O -isopropylidene protecting group with p -toluenesulfonic acid in methanol, followed by de-O-acetylation, produced an inseparable anomeric mixture of methyl 4-deoxy-5- C -(β- d -glucopyranosyl)-thio-α/β- l - ribo -pyranoside 5 in 72% overall yield. This approach constitutes a new general two-step click chemistry route to the previously unknown class of 4-deoxy-(1→5)-5- C -thiodisaccharides as stable and biologically important glycomimetics.
Localization of tobacco mosaic virus protein in tobacco leaf cells during the early stages of infection

Abstract Antibodies specific to tobacco mosaic virus were labeled with 125 I and used to localize the site of protein synthesis during the early stages of virus infection by means of radioautography. The development of the methods used is presented in some detail. Counts of silver grains over the nucleus, cytoplasm, and chloroplasts of cells from inoculated leaves were compared with similar counts made on healthy leaves. As early as 5–6 hours after inoculation significantly more label was present in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of cells of inoculated tobacco leaves. The amount of label over the nucleus gradually increased until it was approximately 4 times the control at 48 hours after inoculation. On the other hand, the amount of label over the cytoplasm began a very rapid increase at about 12 hours after inoculation, and by 48 hours it was estimated to be approximately 10 times as heavily labeled as the healthy controls. No association of label was found with the chloroplasts or with specific areas of the cytoplasm.
Coupling of 2D plasmons to nonlocal bulk plasmons

Abstract An explicit closed-form position-space expression for the highly inhomogeneous inverse dielectric response function of a quantum well (QW) of finite width (with a single bound subband state) embedded in a bulk medium having a continuum of extended states is derived here analytically. The resulting position-dependent nonlocal dynamic inverse dielectric function e −1 (z,z′; q || , ω) , given in position representation for the z-direction across the well, depends on the in-plane wave vector q|| and frequency ω as well as on the positional variables z,z′. Spatial inhomogeneity arises from the lack of translational invariance in the z-direction due to the presence of the QW. The frequency poles of e −1 (z,z′; q || , ω) obtained here represent the coupling of nonlocal bulk plasmons with two-dimensional (2D) intrasubband plasmons of the QW. The dispersion relation of the coupled modes is examined. The bulk particle–hole modes damp the collective excitations of the coupled 2D and bulk systems and we estimate the damping rate.
Corrigendum to “Neural correlates of response inhibition in pediatric bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” [Psychiatry Res.: Neuroimaging 181 (2010) 36–43]

In the article it was reported that clinicians were “blind to diagnosis”, however we recently ascertained that they were not. In the sentence “Clinicians who were blind to diagnosis rated all subjects on the YMRS and CDRS” (p. 37, column 2, line 2) the text “who were blind to diagnosis” is incorrect, as the clinicians were not blind to diagnosis. This correction does not affect the data analyses or results interpretation.
Magnetic and optical bistability driven by thermally and photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer in a molecular cobalt-iron prussian blue analogue.

A soluble molecular analogue of photoresponsive Co/Fe Prussian blues is described within this report. As judged via a variety of spectroscopic, magnetic, and crystallographic methods, electron transfer within the octanuclear complex (below 250 K) converts paramagnetic red crystals into green diamagnetic ones. The color and magnetic changes are associated with the transformation of FeIIILS-CN-CoIIHS units into FeIILS-CN-CoIIILS fragments in manner that is identical to that found for the An[Co(OH2)(6-6m)][Fe(CN)6]m·xH2O (An = alkali metal cation) family of three-dimensional Prussian blues. Moreover, this intramolecular electron transfer can be quantitatively circumvented via rapid thermal quenching and reversed via simple white light irradiation at low temperatures. Remarkably the data suggests that thermally or photoinduced paramagnetic metastable phases are identical and exhibit long relaxation times that approach 10 years at 120 K.
The isolation of undegraded bovine prothrombin and its partial characterization

Abstract A method has been devised for purifying undegraded prothrombin in gram quantities by using diisopropylfluorophosphate to prevent degradation. The extent of degradation could be most conveniently determined by disc electrophoresis which resolved the partially degraded prothrombin from prothrombin. By this technique prothrombin appears to be a single molecular species, whereas the partially degraded prothrombin which retains prothrombin activity is composed of at least four molecular species. The s020,w of 4.6 S and the D020,w of 5.6 · 10−7 cm2/sec determined for the undergraded prothrombin and the sedimentation equilibrium data suggest that the monomer has a molecular weight of 68 000 ± 3000. The concentration dependence of these parameters indicate that the monomer aggregates in steps.
What Couples who Adopt Children from Child Welfare Want Professionals to Know about Supporting Their Marriages

This article provides suggestions for supporting the marriages of couples who adopt children from the child welfare system. These suggestions emerged from qualitative data obtained from 22 spouses in 4 focus groups. Data reveal that couples want professionals to address the impact of adoption on the marital relationship prior to placement of children, to facilitate contact among adoptive couples that focuses on couple relationships in addition to parenting issues after children have been placed, and to actively support the marital relationship in postplacement/ postadoption services even when children's behaviors or needs constitute the presenting problem. Taken together, results indicate that it is appropriate for a broad range of professionals to address the couple relationship throughout the adoption process.
Glass-Coated, Surface-Modified High-Performance Polymer Fibers

High-modulus PPTA and PBZT fibers have been surface-modified by a series of reactions to allow single filaments to be wetted by sodium silicate solutions as well as to exhibit good adhesion to the resulting glass coating. Fiber surfaces have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. PBZT and PPTA fibers showed little or no decrease of their tensile properties as a consequence of the surface-modification. Glass coatings have been applied to single filaments by dip-coating in an aqueous sodium silicate solution followed by air- and vacuumdrying. Coated PPTA and PBZT fibers with shear moduli as high as 5 GPa have been prepared. The compressive strain at failure of PPTA filaments coated with a 0.5 µm thick air-dried coating was raised to 0.6%, compared to 0.4% for uncoated filaments.
Techniques for the laryngology assistant: providing optimal visualization

Many laryngologic procedures require assistant-driven visualization to optimize the surgeon's movements. Expanding technology, such as distal chip and high definition endoscopy improves visualization of the larynx, whereas improved instrumentation, such as malleable needles and fiber-based laser systems allow for novel therapeutic access to laryngeal pathology. Combining these technologies through various approaches may uncouple or couple surgical instrumentation from the laryngoscope, varying the role and expectations of the assistant. This article describes the authors' methods for operationalizing assistant-driven visualization for laryngologic procedures.
Best practices for writing and managing performance requirements: a tutorial

Performance requirements are one of the main drivers of architectural decisions. Because many performance problems have their roots in architectural decisions, and since poor performance is a principal cause of software project risk, it is essential that performance requirements be developed early in the software lifecycle, and that they be clearly formulated. In this tutorial, we shall look at criteria for high-quality performance requirements, including algebraic consistency, measurability, testability, and linkage to business and engineering needs. While focus of this tutorial is on practice, we shall show how the drafting of performance requirements can be aided by performance modeling. We shall show methods for presenting and managing performance requirements that will improve their chances of being accepted by architects, developers, testers, contract negotiators, and purchasers; and of their being successfully implemented and tested.
Helping Build Lives: Career and Life Development of Gifted and Talented Students:

Gifted individuals are capable of or demonstrate superior performance. Career counseling of gifted and talented students must acknowledge the unique career and life development issues that may impact their career planning. Common issues are multipotentiality, early emergence and foreclosure, personality traits, the overemphasis on academics, and the expectations of others. School counselors should consider adjusting the timing, pace, complexity, and intensity of career activities to suit the advanced cognitive levels and/or issues of gifted students.
Microdischarge devices with 10 or 30 μm square silicon cathode cavities: pd scaling and production of the XeO excimer

Silicon microplasma devices with square trench cathode cavities having cross sections of (10μm)2 or (30μm)2 and a depth of 200μm have been fabricated and operated successfully in the rare gases and Xe∕O2 mixtures at pressures (300K) up to 1100Torr. The (10μm)2 structures exhibit electrical characteristics that contrast with the behavior of larger devices and may indicate the onset of the breakdown of pd scaling. Also, a distinct minimum in the ignition voltage of 10μm square devices is observed for pd≃0.9Torrcm (p and d are the Ne gas pressure and microcavity cross-sectional dimension, respectively). Strong emission on the 2∑+1→1∑+1 transition of XeO in the green (∼510–560nm) is observed in mixtures of Xe(300–700Torr) and O2(1–10mTorr).
Metabolic disease as a cause of chronic liver disease in children

Summary Metabolic disease is an important cause of chronic liver disease, and recognizing this association is important for guiding prognostication, genetic counselling and therapy. The most important part of the diagnostic process is often the act of considering metabolic liver disease as a possible cause of the symptoms. Chronic liver disease has a number of possible phenotypes, and a range of metabolic diseases can account for these. A logical approach is first to define the phenotype and then to consider pointers that might suggest metabolic disease. These could include family history, the relationship of symptoms to feeding or fasting and possible dietary precipitants. Specific diagnosis will usually depend on selecting laboratory tests in a logical manner, having defined the phenotype and considered the potential metabolic causes. It is important that algorithms for the investigation of common phenotypes are developed locally in collaboration between clinicians and laboratory scientists.
Sharp error bounds for Newton-like methods under weak smoothness assumptions

We provide sufficient convergence conditions as well as sharp error bounds for Newton-like iterations which generalise a wide class of known methods for solving nonlinear equations in Banach space.
On the Coupling Between Stress and Voltage in Lithium Ion Pouch Cells

This paper studies the coupling between stress and open circuit voltage in a commercial lithium-ion pouch cell. This coupling is characterized through measurements of a coupling factor, which is defined as the rate of change in voltage with respect to applied mechanical stress. Based on a simple thermodynamic model, this coupling factor is expected to be related to the expansion characteristics of the pouch cell during charging. The expansion characteristics of the pouch cell are compared with measurements of the coupling factors at different states of charge, and are found to be in agreement with the simple thermodynamic model. This work opens the door for the development of mechanical force sensors based on intercalation materials.
Three Elements of Self-Authorship

This article describes three distinct yet interrelated elements of self-authorship: trusting the internal voice, building an internal foundation, and securing internal commitments. These elements, which emerged from longitudinal interviews with adults in their 30s, offer insights into the complexity and cyclical nature of self-authorship as well as provide guidance for how educators can assist college students in developing their internal voices to meet the challenges of adult life.
Metaphor and Meaning in a Clinical Interview

This study examined the narrative features of20 life histo­ ries gatheredfrom psychiatric patients with the Occupational Perftrmance History Interview. The aim was to identify how narrative features were present in the patient interview responses and to illustrate how such nar­ rative features can be located. we found that the patients organized their interview responses with deep metaphors that served to "emplot, " or give meaning to, the life story. This article illustrates how patients used the deep metaphors to both circumscribe andframe possible solu­ tions to the problems in their lives. Deep metaphors are consistent, recurring images ofa life story that give coher­ ence to, and aid in, the interpretation ofthe events ofthat life. Moreover, we explored how metaphors can be located in patient life histories and their implications for occupa­ tional therapy.
Dose-Response Relationship Between Cigarette Smoking and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Young Women

Background and Purpose— Although cigarette smoking is known to be a risk factor for ischemic stroke, there are few data on the dose-response relationship between smoking and stroke risk in a young ethnically diverse population. Methods— We used data from the Stroke Prevention in Young Women Study, a population-based case-control study of risk factors for ischemic stroke in women aged 15 to 49 years to examine the relationship between cigarette smoking and ischemic stroke. Historical data, including smoking history, was obtained through standardized interviews. Odds ratios (OR) were estimated using logistic regression. Cases (n=466) were women with stroke in the greater Baltimore-Washington area, and controls (n=604) were women free of a stroke history identified by random digit dialing. Results— After multivariable adjustment, the OR comparing current smokers to never smokers was 2.6 (P<0.0001); no difference in stroke risk was observed between former smokers and never smokers. Adjusted OR increased with ...
Optimization of MOS amplifier performance through channel length and inversion level selection

The dependence of MOS amplifier performance on channel length and channel inversion is simulated and discussed. Suggestions are made regarding the optimization of voltage gain, nonlinear distortion and the gain-bandwidth product (GBW) through careful device length and inversion level selection. The midband voltage gain of the common-source amplifier is shown to remain relatively constant when biased for weak inversion operation, with short-channel devices continuing to amplify effectively at very low levels of inversion, allowing for extremely low power circuits. Total harmonic distortion is reduced through decreasing channel length and/or the level of channel inversion. The GBW is optimized through the use of minimum sized transistors biased to operate in the strong inversion region.
Rationale for the Use of Dietary Control in Toxicity Studies—B6C3F1 Mouse

Significant variability in critical study parameters such as tumor incidences and survival, increasing tumor incidence and decreasing survival in common toxicity test models, and agent-induced changes in body weight (BW) and BW distribution all generate concern about the reproducibility, consistency, and equity of chronic toxicity tests used in regulation. These concerns have led to suggestions to control BW in chronic tests by the modulation of dietary intake without inducing malnutrition [dietary control (DC)] thereby minimizing tumor and survival variability both between and within studies. Evaluating the reports of the best controlled set of chronic experiments, the National Toxicology Program bioassay series, from studies initiated from 1981 to 1990, there is an increase in tumor incidence, especially liver tumors, with a consistent increase in BW. The studies are classified as to whether normal or aberrant BW growth curves occur. When the studies with normal growth curves are considered, the variance in the BW at 12 mo on test (BW12) can account for over 50% of the variance in liver tumor incidence. Additional stratification by study type, which alter tumor prevalences, as well as appreciation of housing effects [group housing decreases survival (in male mice) and induces tumors in males and females when compared to individual housing], further increase the strength of the correlations, accounting for up to 90% of the variance seen in tumor incidences. These updated analyses further support the hypothesis that it is the BW variation that is resulting in much of the variability seen in tumor incidences and refine the suggestions for the BW curves used as the desired targets for DC.
An AC → ABC approach to taxol involving B-ring closure at C-1–C-2

Abstract The treatment of keto aldehyde 13 with low-valent Ti results in a stereoselective intramolecular pinacol coupling that produces taxane synthesis intermediate 14.
Impact of Age on Survival of Patients with Ovarian Cancer

In an effort to determine if there are significant differences in outcome between elderly (> or = 65 years of age) and younger (< 65 years of age) women with epithelial ovarian cancer we examined the survival of patients with this malignancy who underwent their initial surgical evaluation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from January 1987-January 1991. The actuarial median overall survival for the 98 younger patients has not been reached but will exceed 4 years, compared to a median survival of 24 months for the 48 elderly patients (P < 0.0001). For individuals with advanced (stages 3-4) disease, excluding patients with tumors of low malignant potential, the median survival for the younger patient population has also not been reached and will exceed 4 years, compared to 21 months for the older population (P < 0.0001). Even in the limited number of patients with local/regional (stages 1-2) ovarian cancer, there was a statistically significant superior survival for the younger group of patients (P < 0.02). With a single exception, all deaths were believed to be due principally to disease progression, rather than to an unrelated comorbid medical event. We conclude that elderly patients with ovarian cancer experience a significantly inferior survival than younger individuals with this malignancy. Evaluation of larger populations will be required to confirm the results of this analysis and to probe for explanations for the striking survival differences we have observed.
Genome size variation in the North American sunfish genus Lepomis (Pisces: Centrarchidae)

Summary Genome sizes (nuclear DNA contents) were documented spectrophotometrically from individuals of each of nine species of the North American centrarchid (sunfish) genus Lepomis. The distributions of DNA values within and among the nine species were essentially normal and continuous, suggesting that changes in DNA quantity in Lepomis are small in amount, involve both gains and losses of DNA, and are cumulative and independent in effect. Significant differences in mean genome size were found between individuals within populations in all nine species and between species. Nested analysis of variance and comparisons of average genome size difference or distance between individuals drawn from different levels of taxonomic organization revealed that the majority of genome size divergence in Lepomis occurs above the hierarchical level of individuals within populations. The Lepomis data when compared to similar data from North American cyprinid fishes appear to suggest that: (i) genome size evolution in these fishes at least follows a continuous rather than a discontinuous mode; (ii) the general predictions of hypothetical models relating genome size variation as a function of organismal position along adaptive continua may be oversimplified, or not applicable to complex, higher eukaryotes; and (iii) changes in genome size in these fishes may be concentrated in speciation episodes.
Quantitative Fit Testing Techniques for Respirators Protecting the Human Respiratory System against Environmental Aerosols

Occupational diseases caused by breathing contaminated air is avoided primarily by engineering control measures that prevent atmospheric contamination. When effective engineering controls are not feasible or while they are being instituted, an appropriate respirator must be used. Respirators can be classified into two types: air-purifying respirators that remove contaminants from the ambient air and atmosphere-supplying respirators that provide air from a source other than the surrounding atmosphere (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1987a). Except for special cases, air-purifying respirators are used most frequently in routine workpractices because they are smaller, more easily maintained, and restrict the wearer’s movements the least. Thus, the focus of this article is on air-purifying respirators.
Northwest District Association News

(1948). Northwest District Association News. The Journal of Health and Physical Education: Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 417-418.
Inducible IL-33 Expression by Mast Cells Is Regulated by a Calcium-Dependent Pathway

IL-33 is an IL-1 family cytokine that displays dual functions: a cytokine via its receptor, T1/ST2, or a chromatin-binding factor within the nucleus. Functionally, it promotes Th2-associated immunity by enhancing the activation and survival of several cell types. However, the pathways regulating IL-33 expression are still unclear. Although several cells display constitutive expression of IL-33, we showed previously that mast cells expressed low levels of IL-33 constitutively but that IL-33 was induced upon IgE-mediated activation. This was mediated via a calcium-dependent mechanism. In this study, we define the pathway through which this inducible IL-33 is regulated. Importantly, this pathway does not alter expression in cells with high constitutive IL-33 expression, such as epithelial cells or fibroblasts. Our data show that, upstream of calcium, inhibition of PI3K and Sphk activity decreases inducible IL-33 expression to IgE/Ag activation. Additionally, expression of Sphk1 short hairpin RNA prevents upregulation of IL-33 expression. Downstream of calcium, NFAT activity is necessary and sufficient for inducible IL-33 expression. We also demonstrate calcium-dependent transcription from two regions of the IL-33 gene that contain putative NFAT-binding sites, one upstream of exon 1 and one upstream of the start site. Interestingly, we show that blocking other calcium pathways, including inositol triphosphate receptor, or NF-κB inhibits IgE-driven IL-1β, another IL-1 family cytokine, but it has no influence on inducible IL-33 expression. In summary, our data demonstrate cell-specific differences in the regulation of IL-33 expression and define a pathway critical for the expression of inducible IL-33 by mast cells upon their activation.
Remote visualization and parallelism using existing networks

A method for using existing networks and available parallel channels to provide the needed throughput for remote visualization is proposed. This method keeps the functionalities of the traditional protocol stack but introduces parallelism at all points where bottlenecks can develop. The approach allows the use of existing protocol standards and off-the-shelf hardware to permit new applications that require higher bandwidths. The design tradeoffs in this approach are discussed to develop working architectures needed to solve the animation problems of 5, 10, and 33 frames/s, or 10 Mb every 200 ms, 100 ms, and 30 ms, respectively. >
Combining evidence with a probabilistic framework for answer ranking and answer merging in question answering

Question answering (QA) aims at finding exact answers to a user's question from a large collection of documents. Most QA systems combine information retrieval with extraction techniques to identify a set of likely candidates and then utilize some ranking strategy to generate the final answers. This ranking process can be challenging, as it entails identifying the relevant answers amongst many irrelevant ones. This is more challenging in multi-strategy QA, in which multiple answering agents are used to extract answer candidates. As answer candidates come from different agents with different score distributions, how to merge answer candidates plays an important role in answer ranking. In this paper, we propose a unified probabilistic framework which combines multiple evidence to address challenges in answer ranking and answer merging. The hypotheses of the paper are that: (1) the framework effectively combines multiple evidence for identifying answer relevance and their correlation in answer ranking, (2) the framework supports answer merging on answer candidates returned by multiple extraction techniques, (3) the framework can support list questions as well as factoid questions, (4) the framework can be easily applied to a different QA system, and (5) the framework significantly improves performance of a QA system. An extensive set of experiments was done to support our hypotheses and demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework. All of the work substantially extends the preliminary research in Ko et al. (2007a). A probabilistic framework for answer selection in question answering. In: Proceedings of NAACL/HLT.
Apical systolic eccentricity index: a better marker of right ventricular compromise in pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Systolic eccentricity index (sEI) has been traditionally measured at the papillary muscle (PM) level. However, this measurement does not take into account the remodeling that occurs in the right ventricle (RV) during chronic pulmonary hypertension (cPH). METHODS: Standard echocardiographic data were collected on 50 patients (age 58 + or - 14 years) with known cPH (74 + or - 22 mmHg; range 45-120 mmHg) who had adequate short-axis views at the mitral valve (MV), PM, and apical (AP) levels to measure sEI. All had a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (72 + or - 10%). RESULTS: In a multivariate analysis, the traditional PM level sEI correlated the best with cPH when pulmonary artery systolic pressures (PASP) ranged between 45 and 60 mmHg (r =-0.569, P < 0.001) while AP level sEI was better when all patients were included in the analysis (r =-0.843, P < 0.0001). Not only was AP level sEI the only echo variable helpful in identifying a dilated end diastolic RV area (r =-0.730, P < 0.0001) but also patients with worse RV systolic performance (r = 0.686, P < 0.0001). MV level sEI was not better than PM level sEI. CONCLUSIONS: AP level sEI appears to be superior to traditional PM level sEI measurement as it correlates better with worsening PH severity, RV cavity dilation and RV systolic dysfunction. Further studies are now required to prospectively study how these septal abnormalities in cPH may affect RV as well as LV systolic and diastolic function. (Echocardiography 2010;27:534-538).
Predicting respiratory motion for active canceling during percutaneous needle insertion

Prediction of bodily motion due to respiration was investigated preparatory to implementation of active compensation for respiration in a robot-assisted system for percutaneous kidney surgery. Data for preliminary testing were recorded from the chest wall of a subject using an optical displacement sensor. The weighted-frequency Fourier linear combiner algorithms an adaptive modeling: algorithm, was used to model and predict respiratory movement. Preliminary results are presented, in which the algorithm is shown to track a 0.86 mm rms respiration signal with 0.11 mm rms error. The general robotic system and compensation scheme are also described.
Stability of frictional heating in plane Couette flow at fixed power input

If the viscosity of a fluid in plane Couette flow decreases exponentially as its temperature increases, the curve of wall speed versus wall stress has two branches, separated by a turning point. Our aim is to demonstrate that the upper branch of this curve is stable to zero wavenumber disturbances in case the power supplied to move the wall is the input variable and is held fixed.
Evolutionary factors in the emergence of the combinatorial germline antibody repertoire.

Although life began on earth approximately 3.5 billion years ago, the combinatorial immune response apparently arose in a “big bang” approximately 450 million years ago, [1–4] coincident with the emergence of jawed vertebrates. Preceding this event was the so-called Cambrian explosion occurring approximately 545 million years ago that resulted in the seemingly rapid appearance of virtually all living forms as represented by the fossil record [5, 6]. However, molecular investigations seeking to calibrate evolutionary clocks and analyze phylogenetic relationships indicate that the explosive phases of evolution implied by the fossil record may have been preceded by extended periods of inconspicuous innovation [5, 6] in possible living organisms thatdid not become part of the currently available fossil record. The necessary elements of the combinatorial immune system, immunoglobulins (Igs), T-cell receptors (TCR), MHC products and recombinase activator genes (RAG) are clearly present in even the most primitive jawed vertebrates, the chondrichthian fishes [7–10] which appeared in evolution approximately 450 million years ago. Definitive evidence for these elements is thus far lacking in agnathan vertebrates and in lower deuterostomes. Nevertheless, many primordial elements upon which the combinatorial system is built may well have preceded the split in evolution between protostomes and deuterostomes and their origins may even extrapolate back to ancient times corresponding to the origin and evolution of bacteria.
Taking It All In? Visual Attention in Microblog Consumption

Microblogging environments such as Twitter present a modality for interacting with information characterized by exposure to information “streams”. In this work, we examine what information in that stream is attended to, and how that attention corresponds to other aspects of microblog consumption and participation. To do this, we measured eye gaze, memory for content, interest ratings, and intended behavior of active Twitter users as they read their tweet steams. Our analyses focus on three sets of alignments: first, whether attention corresponds to other measures of user cognition such as memory (e.g., do people even remember what they attend to?); second, whether attention corresponds to behavior (e.g., are users likely to retweet content that is given the most attention); and third, whether attention corresponds to other attributes of the content and its presentation (e.g., do links attract attention?). We show a positive but imperfect alignment between user attention and other measures of user cognition like memory and interest, and between attention and behaviors like retweeting. To the third alignment, we show that the relationship between attention and attributes of tweets, such as whether it contains a link or is from a friend versus an organization, are complicated and in some cases counterintuitive. We discuss findings in relation to large scale phenomena like information diffusion and also suggest design directions to help maximize user attention in microblog environments
The combination of follicle-stimulating hormone and human menopausal gonadotropin for the induction of multiple follicular maturation for in vitro fertilization.

One hundred fifty-one cycles in 134 consecutive patients were stimulated with 150 IU of human urinary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and 150 IU of human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) on cycle days 3 and 4 and then with 150 IU of hMG daily for the purpose of multiple follicular development for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Seventy-three patients did not have a prior IVF attempt, and 61 patients in 78 cycles had prior IVF attempts at least once with their previous cycles stimulated with the same method and/or hMG and/or FSH. There was an average of three preovulatory oocytes retrieved per laparoscopy and a pregnancy rate of 27% per transfer cycle. The results were equally favorable in "new” and "old” patient cycles. The pregnancy rate increased with the transfer of two or more conceptuses of preovulatory origin. The multiple pregnancy rate, but not the abortion rate, increased with increased numbers of conceptuses transferred.
Queue-proportional rate allocation with per-link information in multihop wireless networks

The backpressure scheduling algorithm for multihop wireless networks is known to be throughput optimal, but it requires each node to maintain per-destination queues. Recently, a clever generalization of processor sharing has been proposed which is also throughput optimal, but which only uses per-link queues. Here, we propose another algorithm, called Queue-Proportional Rate Allocation (QPRA), which also only uses per-link queues and allocates service rates to links in proportion to their queue lengths, and employs the Serve-In-Random-Order queueing discipline within each link. Through fluid limit techniques and using a novel Lyapunov function, we show that the QPRA algorithm achieves the maximum throughput. We demonstrate an advantage of QPRA by showing that, for the so-called primary interference model, it is able to develop a low-complexity scheduling scheme which approximates QPRA and achieves a constant fraction of the maximum throughput region, independent of network size.