cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Statistics of high-level scene context.

Context is critical to our ability to recognize environments and to search for objects within them: contextual associations have been shown to modulate reaction time and object recognition accuracy, as well as influence the distribution of eye movements and patterns of brain activations. However, we have not yet systematically quantified the relationships between objects and their scene environments. Here I seek to fill this gap by providing descriptive statistics of object-scene relationships. A total of 48,167 objects were hand-labeled in 3499 scenes using the LabelMe tool (Russell, Torralba, Muphy & Freeman, 2008). From these data, I computed a variety of descriptive statistics at three different levels of analysis: the ensemble statistics that describe the density and spatial distribution of unnamed “things” in the scene; the bag of words level where scenes are described by the list of objects contained within them; and the structural level where the spatial distribution and relationships between the objects are measured. The utility of each level of description for scene categorization was assessed through the use of linear classifiers, and the plausibility of each level for modeling human rapid scene categorization is discussed. Ensemble statistics were found to be the most informative (per feature), and also best explained human patterns of categorization errors. Although a bag of words classifier had similar performance to human observers, it had a markedly different pattern of errors. Some objects are more useful than others, and ceiling classification performance could be achieved using only the 64 most informative objects. As object location tends not to vary as a function of category, structural information provided little additional information. Additionally, these data provide valuable information on natural scene redundancy that can be exploited for machine vision, and can help researchers in visual cognition design new data-driven experiments.
Probabilistic Protein Function Prediction from Heterogeneous Genome-Wide Data

Dramatic improvements in high throughput sequencing technologies have led to a staggering growth in the number of predicted genes. However, a large fraction of these newly discovered genes do not have a functional assignment. Fortunately, a variety of novel high-throughput genome-wide functional screening technologies provide important clues that shed light on gene function. The integration of heterogeneous data to predict protein function has been shown to improve the accuracy of automated gene annotation systems. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a probabilistic approach for protein function prediction that integrates protein-protein interaction (PPI) data, gene expression data, protein motif information, mutant phenotype data, and protein localization data. First, functional linkage graphs are constructed from PPI data and gene expression data, in which an edge between nodes (proteins) represents evidence for functional similarity. The assumption here is that graph neighbors are more likely to share protein function, compared to proteins that are not neighbors. The functional linkage graph model is then used in concert with protein domain, mutant phenotype and protein localization data to produce a functional prediction. Our method is applied to the functional prediction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes, using Gene Ontology (GO) terms as the basis of our annotation. In a cross validation study we show that the integrated model increases recall by 18%, compared to using PPI data alone at the 50% precision. We also show that the integrated predictor is significantly better than each individual predictor. However, the observed improvement vs. PPI depends on both the new source of data and the functional category to be predicted. Surprisingly, in some contexts integration hurts overall prediction accuracy. Lastly, we provide a comprehensive assignment of putative GO terms to 463 proteins that currently have no assigned function.
Mechanism of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon oxidation on copper chromite

Abstract Infrared spectroscopic, gravimetric, and kinetic techniques have been used to study the oxidation of CO and hydrocarbons on a copper chromite catalyst. Carbon monoxide adsorbs concurrently on exposed lattice copper atoms to form CuCO and on lattice oxygen atoms to form groups. The source of the oxygen required to form the unidentate carbonate groups is the catalyst, not the gas phase. In the absence of air, the carbonyl group reacts with oxygen from the catalyst to produce CO2. In the presence of air, the oxidation reaction via the carbonyl group becomes important at temperatures above 80 °C and that via the decomposition of the carbonate groups above 200 °C. When hydrocarbons adsorb above 130 °C they are transformed to unidentate carbonate groups and liberate water vapor. As with CO, above 200 °C these carbonate groups decompose to give gaseous CO2. For the carbonyl decomposition path, the reaction is first order in CO, and pseudo-zero order in O2. The amount of CO2 produced by the oxidation reaction does not inhibit the rate.
Late potentials on signal-averaged electrocardiograms and patency of the infarct-related artery in survivors of acute myocardial infarction.

This study evaluated the relation between patency of the infarct-related artery and the presence of late potentials on the signal-averaged electrocardiogram (ECG) in 124 consecutive patients (98 men, 26 women; mean age 59 years) with acute myocardial infarction receiving thrombolytic therapy, acute percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or standard care. All patients were studied by coronary angiography, measurement of ejection fraction and signal-averaged ECG. The infarct-related artery was closed in 51 patients and open in 73. Among patients with no prior myocardial infarction undergoing early attempted reperfusion therapy, a patent artery was associated with a decreased incidence of late potentials (20% versus 71%; no significant difference in ejection fraction). In the 48 patients receiving thrombolytic agents within 4 h of symptom onset, the incidence of late potentials was 24% and 83% among patients with an open or closed artery, respectively (p These data imply that reperfusion of an infarct-related artery has a beneficial effect on the electrophysiologic substrate for serious ventricular arrhythmias that is independent of change in left ventricular ejection fraction as an index of infarct size. These findings might explain, in part, the low late mortality rate in survivors of myocardial infarction with documented reperfusion of the infarct-related artery.
Importance of adult food sources to host searching of the larval parasitoid Microplitis croceipes

Abstract We conducted field experiments to determine the effects of food availability and parasitoid hunger on the searching behavior of Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Braconidae; Hymenoptera) in small corn and soybean plots. In both corn and soybean plots where food was not available, females which were well-fed prior to release parasitized more hosts than unfed females. Well-fed females spent more time hovering and less time searching undamaged leaves than did unfed females. Because hovering time is an indicator of active host searching, the better parasitization rate by well-fed females can be explained by the greater proportion of time spent in active host searching. These results suggest that the lack or shortage of food sources in the field reduces the parasitoid′s effectiveness. We also found that in a corn plot without food, unfed females more often superparasitized hosts than did well-fed females. However, when food (honey) was provided in a plot, most unfed females found and fed on honey soon after release. After feeding, they quickly began a hovering search, primarily around damaged plants, apparently in search of host larvae. More time was spent hovering by unfed females than by well-fed females in a corn plot with food. In the case of a soybean plot with food, unfed females parasitized more hosts than did well-fed females. These behaviors suggest that feeding experience of females in the field may facilitate their host searching around plants with food. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that it is possible to manipulate the parasitoids′ hunger state as a tool for parasitoid release programs.
A Comparison of Listeners' Musical Cognition Using a Continuous Response Assessment

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which listeners can discern if melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic parameters and pairings of these parameters are abstracted from the ongoing flow of a musical event. Students in Grades 3, 6, 9, and 12(N = 114) listened three times to 12 prerecorded, four-phrase songs and moved the pointer of a Continuous Response Digital Interface dial to indicate whether they considered the second, third, and fourth phrase of each song to be the same as, similar to, or different from the songs initial phrase. In the significant grade-by-phrase-type interaction, students in Grades 3, 6, and 9 identified phrases predetermined as being the same as a song's initial phrase a greater percentage of time than they did similar or different phrases; students in Grade 12 identified different phrases more often than they identified phrases that were the same as or similar to the initial phrase.
Upper gastrointestinal injuries related to perioperative transesophageal echocardiography: index case, literature review, classification proposal, and call for a registry.

between 60 to 80 mmHg and pump flows of 3 to 4 L/min. After uneventful separation from cardiopulmonary bypass, TEE revealed normal function of the prosthetic mitral valve, normal ventricular function, and no aortic dissection. She was transferred to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit where she was extubated 10 hours postoperatively. On postoperative day 1, she complained of severe pain on deep breathing. Radiograph of the chest revealed a left-sided loculated pleural effusion. Thirty-six hours after admission to the intensive care unit, new persistent dark brown drainage was noted in the left pleural drain. The amylase level measured in the pleural effusion was 10 times normal. An urgent gastrograffin swallow revealed a large perforation in the esophageal wall about 5 cm above the gastroesophageal junction with extravasation to the left mediastinum and the left pleural space. Urgent thoracotomy revealed a 3-cm linear perforation beginning 5 cm above the gastroesophageal junction. Primary repair with intercostal muscle flap transposition was performed after local debridement. The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery. There was no extravasation of the contrast medium in a gastrograffin swallow done 4 days later. Total parenteral nutrition was maintained until an adequate oral liquid diet was successfully introduced. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day 21. DISCUSSION TEE is an invaluable intraoperative diagnostic tool which is relatively safe and noninvasive. The incidence of TEE-related complications after cardiac surgery is 0.01% to 0.04%. 5,6 In a recent series, early presentation of TEE-related GI complications was 0.38%; however, the overall incidence was considerably higher with addition of late-presenting cases. 7 The majority of
Acoustic Asymptotic Inversion And AVO

Prestack asymptotic linearized acoustic inversion, like other forms of prestack depth migration, produces image volumes exhibiting AVO variation which may be indicative of hydrocarbon accumulations. A careful analysis a seismic line from the offshore Gulf of Mexico suggests that the prestack acoustic inversion volume may be more consistent with the physics underlying AVO analysis than are other possible input data volumes, yielding more consistent predictions of gradient and intercept across a wider range of angles.
Therapeutic efficacy and safety of oral propafenone for atrial fibrillation.

Abstract Propafenone, a class 1C antiarrhythmic drug, was developed in Europe in 1970. After 7 years of clinical trials, it was marketed commercially there. The favorable European data have been corroborated in United States clinical trials, which began in 1980. Propafenone has been shown to be an effective agent for suppressing ventricular arrhythmias and preventing recurrence during long-term therapy. 1–3 It has been reported to be of use in patients with supraventricular tachycardia, especially in those with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. 4,5 It has been suggested that propafenone may have a role in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). 6,7 To date, data concerning the efficacy and safety of propafenone for patients experiencing chronic and sustained AF have not been examined. We report our clinical experience of the long-term therapeutic efficacy and safety of propafenone in converting AF and maintaining normal sinus rhythm in such a patient population.
Metrics for target recognition

There are two basic unknowns in ATR: (i) target types, and (ii) parametric representations of their occurrence (such as pose, location, thermal profile etc). This paper addresses the question: what metrics can be used : (i) for optimization in parameter space, and (ii) for analyzing target recognition performance? Most remote sensors are partial observers, i.e. they project a three-dimensional scene on to some finite one- or two-dimensional observation lattice which is a sampling of the focal plane (video, IR) or the slant plane (SAR). Due to the loss of information in projective transformations, multiple scene representations can map to the same sensor output. The conditional mean estimator or any other point-valued estimator is therefore, not always appropriate. For ATR, set-valued estimators are more suitable. We present a minimum mean error criterion which results in an equivalence class of parametric solutions corresponding to the same observed image. How to quantify target shapes in studying their detectability and identifiability? In the statistical theory of shapes, researchers have defined shape metrics to quantify the difference in target shapes. Shapes are represented by landmarks, modulo rigid rotation, rigid translation and scale, and a metric on the resulting manifold is called shape metric. In remote sensing situations, however, the available knowledge is restricted to the images rather than three-dimensional shapes. Hence, the original shape metric needs adjustment to account for the capabilities/limitations of the sensor and confusion of the noisy environment. We propose a function to quantify the separation in target shapes/attributes as viewed through the remote sensors. As our intuition suggests, this function provides a measure of the target recognizability/detectability.
A pragmatic system for shared persistent objects

This paper describes a system for sharing information in the form of objects among users of the Smalltalk-80 programming environment. The system, called Coral3, is pragmatic in that it was developed to meet the needs of specific applications. This paper describes the expectations for the system, presents factors influencing the design, outlines the implementation of Coral3, and raises questions about object-oriented database systems in general.
Hemodilution therapy for lacunar stroke: Treatment results in 10 consecutive cases.

Because precipitous neurological deterioration occurred during blood pressure reduction in a seminal case of lacunar infarction, nine subsequent patients with acute partial or evolving lacunar deficits were treated with hemodilution and blood pressure nonintervention to test the hypothesis that lacunar infarction represents perfusion failure. Isovolemic hemodilution was performed using hetastarch with target hematocrit of 30-33. Pretreatment brain computed tomography, carotid ultrasound, and echocardiography were normal. Nine patients recovered normal neurological function, and two regained complete functional independence in close temporal correlation with hemodilution and within 7 days of symptom onset. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain demonstrated appropriate single white matter lesions in nine cases. No specific risk factor combination could be identified. No patient has had recurrent stroke in follow-up from 18 to 36 months. Response to hemodilution suggests the possibility of a hemodynamic pathophysiology. Successful treatment requires (a) blood pressure nonintervention and (b) hemodilution prior to severe clinical deterioration. A controlled trial seems indicated.
Acquired tolerance to homografts produced by homologous spleen cell injection in adult mice.

Acquired Tolerance to Homografts produced by Homologous Spleen Cell Injection in Adult Mice
Differential regulation of pregnancy associated plasma protein-A in human coronary artery endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells.

Background Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), a metalloproteinase that serves to modulate local insulin-like growth factor (IGF) action, is upregulated in atherosclerotic plaque. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms underlying this elevated PAPP-A.
Alternans of Loud Midsystolic Clicks: A Unique Finding in Massive Pericardial Effusion

In a patient with massive pericardial effusion, alternating loud midsystolic clicks were recorded in association with prominent electrical alternans. Both disappeared after removal of pericardial fluid. Possible extracardiac or mitral origin of the clicks is discussed and their close relation to electrical alternans is considered as supportive evidence of pendular movement of the heart in cases of pericardial effusion.
Fragrance material review on laevo-carveol

A toxicologic and dermatologic review of laevo-carveol when used as a fragrance ingredient is presented.
Low-voltage transient bipolar effect induced by dynamic floating-body charging in scaled PD/SOI MOSFETs

An increased significance of the parasitic bipolar transistor (BJT) in scaled floating-body partially depleted SOI MOSFETs under transient conditions is described. The transient parasitic BJT effect is analyzed using both simulations and high-speed pulse measurements of pass transistors in a sub-0.25 /spl mu/m SOI technology. The transient BJT current can be significant even at low drain-source voltages, well below the device breakdown voltage, and does not scale with technology. Our analysis shows that it can be problematic in digital circuit operation, possibly causing write disturbs in SRAMs and decreased retention times for DRAMs. Proper device/circuit design, suggested by our analysis, can however control the problems.
Physical Condition, Sex, and Age-Class of Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) in Forested and Open Habitats of West Virginia, USA

Nonforested habitats such as open fields and pastures have been considered unsuitable for desiccation-prone woodland salamanders such as the Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus). Recent research has suggested that Plethodon cinereus may not only disperse across but also reside within open habitats including fields, meadows, and pastures. However, presence and high densities of P. cinereus within agriculturally disturbed habitats may be misleading if these populations exhibit atypical demographic characteristics or decreased physical condition relative to forest populations. We surveyed artificial cover boards from 2004-2005 to compare physical condition, sex ratios, and age-class structure of P. cinereus among woodland, woodland-meadow edge, silvopasture, and meadow sites in the central Appalachian Mountains of southern West Virginia. Physical condition of salamanders was not significantly different among the four habitats. Furthermore, adult sex ratios of P. cinereus typically were not significantly different from 1 : 1 and were similar between forested and non-forested sites, although populations within silvopastures were biased towards females. However, adult salamanders were significantly more abundant than juveniles in all habitat types, with differences most pronounced within meadow habitats. Our study indicates that relatively small, non-forested habitats such as silvopastures and meadows may not adversely affect the overall physical condition or sex ratios of Plethodon cinereus. However, the paucity of juveniles within disturbed meadows indicates that these agriculturally modified habitats may negatively impact reproduction or that immature salamanders are at a physiological or competitive disadvantage in comparison to adults, particularly when surface cover is limited.
Vibration Welding of Continuous-Fiber Thermoplastic Matrix Composites:

In this paper, we discuss vibration welding of continuous-fiberreinforced thermoplastic matrix composites. Several parameters affecting the lap shear strength of vibration-welded joints of glass and carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene and polyamide-6 matrix composites have been experimentally investigated. These parameters were clamping pressure, vibration time, vibration direction, and holding time. Weld strength at elevated temperatures was also investigated. The results showed that the combination of clamping pressure and vibration time had a significant effect on the lap shear strength. Holding time also influenced lap shear strength, but the effect of vibration direction was not significant. In addition to lap shear specimens, ring specimens were designed and tested to determine the crosstension strength of these composites under tensile stress normal to the weld plane.
Phlebosclerotic colitis: A case report and review of the literature

Phlebosclerotic colitis (PC) is a rare but potentially life-threatening disease. The initial presentation may include non-specific symptoms, such as vomiting, constipation and abdominal pain; however, intestinal stenosis, gangrene and perforation may occur without appropriate management. The present report describes the case of a 56-year-old male with abdominal pain and constipation. Imaging studies revealed thread-like calcifications involving almost the entire colon, which had markedly progressed over a three-year period, and changes consistent with colonic ischemia. Angiography revealed decreased blood flow in the mesenteric veins. The patient underwent emergent subtotal colectomy, and pathological examination revealed gangrene of the colon and calcifications of the mesenteric veins. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. In conclusion, PC is a potentially life-threatening condition that may be diagnosed by the presence of serpentine calcifications on imaging studies. Management depends on the severity of the disease, ranging from close follow-up to prompt surgical intervention.
Automatically Discovering Talented Musicians with Acoustic Analysis of YouTube Videos

Online video presents a great opportunity for up-and-coming singers and artists to be visible to a worldwide audience. However, the sheer quantity of video makes it difficult to discover promising musicians. We present a novel algorithm to automatically identify talented musicians using machine learning and acoustic analysis on a large set of "home singing" videos. We describe how candidate musician videos are identified and ranked by singing quality. To this end, we present new audio features specifically designed to directly capture singing quality. We evaluate these vis-a-vis a large set of generic audio features and demonstrate that the proposed features have good predictive performance. We also show that this algorithm performs well when videos are normalized for production quality.
Membrane Purification of an Antisense Oligonucleotide

This contribution describes a membrane chromatography purification of a therapeutically useful antisense oligonucleotide (ASO). Sample self-displacement purification conditions were optimized for a 20-mer ASO on a 10-mL bed volume, high-resolution, strong anion-exchange membrane chromatography unit. The scale-up experiments were performed at 177-g scale on a 1-L bed volume unit that resulted in 84.4% yield and 95.0% (analyzed by LC−MS) pure full-length ASO following the membrane chromatography process. The purified ASO was subsequently significantly concentrated and diafiltered into water using a 650-Da MWCO ultrafiltration membrane. This robust, high throughput, membrane-based, anion-exchange chromatographic (AX) method simplifies the process-scale purification of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides by eliminating the need for column packing and packing validation.
Cervicofacial Subcutaneous Air Emphysema after Dental Extraction

A patient was seen by a general practitioner for surgical removal of his third molar. A standard high-speed handpiece was used to remove the tooth. During the procedure, subcutaneous emphysema developed. Later the same day, the patient's swelling increased and his airway was compromised. The patient's condition, the differential diagnosis, etiological factors, and treatment of this condition are all detailed within this clinical report.
ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT AND VACCINE VIRUS : I. THE REACTION OF IRRADIATED SKIN TO VACCINE VIRUS.

Rabbit skin treated for a few minutes with ultra-violet light and then inoculated at once with vaccine virus is less susceptible to the action of the virus than is untreated skin. If 24, 48, or 72 hours elapse between the time of irradiation and inoculation, the treated skin appears to be more susceptible than is untreated skin. Skin repeatedly exposed to ultra-violet light is less susceptible to the action of vaccine virus than is non-irradiated skin.
Supersolid 4He: an overview of past searches and future possibilities

This paper reviews the theoretical and experimental work that has addressed the question of the possibility of Bose-Einstein condensation in solid 4He. Due to its expected superfluid-like properties, this state of matter is called a supersolid. To date, no unambiguous supersolid 4He state has been observed. Potential future extensions of the experiments are discussed.
Workshop on event driven architecture

Recently, analysts and vendors have been promoting event driven architecture as the "next big thing". Simple event-driven processing has been in common use for at least ten years with technology such as message-oriented middleware and, in the past few years, message-driven Enterprise JavaBeans. However, the next big thing to which they refer is the architecture that supports processing complex business events to address real-time business needs. Recognizing the importance of this topic, a one-day workshop was held in conjunction with OOPSLA 06 to address issues related to EDA on Sunday October 22, 2006, at the Oregon Conference Center.The workshop provides a forum in which researchers and practitioners from academia and industry can discuss various aspects of event-driven processing and its relationship to other architecture and programming paradigms, particularly with service-oriented architecture.Topics to include (but are not limited to): definition and classification of events, event modeling, tooling for event processing, methods for developing event driven systems and applications, event processing languages and toolsEvent driven business process management, event processing for business activity management, relationship with service-oriented architecture and other architecture, information delivery services and implementation of 'publish/subscribe' protocols, event pattern detection, implementation issues, potential inhibitors to the adoption of EDA, security and privacy issues in event-based systems and application.The primary expected outcomes of this workshop are: 1. Cross-fertilization between researchers and practitioners in all aspects of event processing; 2. A report on the discussions of the workshop which, based on the quality of the outcome, can be published as a technical paper.
The maternal distribution and placental transfer of cadmium in zinc deficient rats.

Although a transitory maternal zinc deficiency has been shown to result in an increased cadmium-induced fetotoxicity, the results of the present investigation indicated that a maternal zinc deficiency apparently did not affect the placental transfer of cadmium. However, a zinc deficiency did alter the maternal distribution of cadmium. The increased cadmium fetotoxicity associated with a maternal zinc deficiency may be caused by a maternal alteration rather than a direct effect on the fetus. Further study is necessary prior to any definitive statement concerning the effects of a maternal zinc deficiency on cadmium. fetotoxicity.
A potential animal model for studying CF heterozygote advantage: genetic variation in theophylline-inducible colonic chloride currents among inbred strains of mice.

Abstract We have used Ussing chambers to measure chloride secretion by colonic segments (mucosa, muscularis, and serosa) from various inbred strains of mice. We found lower theophylline-induced Cl − secretion in the DBA 2 J than in the C57BL 6 J strain. Their F 1 showed significantly higher levels of Cl − secretion than did the C57BL 6 J parental strain while colonic segments from five recombinant inbred B × D lines ranged between the C57BL 6 J and F 1 values. No major component of the variation appeared to be associated with alleles of the met oncogene region of chromosome 6 or the H-2 region of chromosome 17.
Platelet Activation and the Formation of the Platelet Plug: Deficiency of ADAMTS13 Causes Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

In the circulation, a plasma metalloprotease, ADAMTS13, cleaves von Willebrand factor (vWF) in a shear-dependent manner. This article reviews the role of this cleavage in regulating vWF-platelet interaction and proposes a scheme for understanding how a deficiency of ADAMTS13 results in the development of microthrombi in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
Quasiconcave functions over chains

We introduce order-theoretic generalized concavity. This is the study of those properties of generalized concave functions which require only that some order relations are defined on the domain and the image of the functions. In this work we define and study three classes of generalized order concave functions from chains to chains whose properties are very close to those of the family of quasiconcave functions on R. Purely order-theoretic characterization theorems are provided
Assessment of the muscarinic receptor subtypes involved in pilocarpine-induced seizures in mice

Abstract We have used the pilocarpine-induced seizure model in mice and i.c.v. injection of subtype-specific receptor antagonists to investigate the muscarinic receptor subtype specificity of cholinergically-activated seizures. The rank order potencies of antagonists for inhibition of pilocarpine-induced seizures are atropine = telenzepine > 4-diphenylacetoxy- N -(2-chloroethyl)-piperidine (4-DAMP) > pirenzepine with ID 50 's of 8.6, 12.0, 29.9, and 83.0 nmol/mouse, respectively. The M 3 -specific antagonists hexahydrosila-defenidol and its p -fluoro analog showed no effect on pilocarpine-induced seizures. The M 2 -specific antagonists gallamine and methoctramine cause seizures in mice in the absence of a pilocarpine injection. These seizures could be inhibited by coinjection of methoctramine with the M 1 -specific antagonist, pirenzepine. These data suggest a role of muscarinic M 1 receptors in mediating pilocarpine-induced seizures and a role of the muscarinic M 2 receptors in modulating neuronal activity.
Contraction of extended dislocations at high speeds

It is argued that, at high velocities, extended dislocations become contracted because this can lower their kinetic energies enough to offset the stacking fault energies that determine their extensions. When they are contracted, screw dislocations can cross-glide without the aid of thermal activation. This is consistent with the fact that cross-gliding is more frequent at low temperatures than at high ones. The critical velocity for contraction is about one-third the velocity of shear waves.
Application of Random Effects Models and Other Methods to the Analysis of Multidimensional Quality of Life Data in an AIDS Clinical Trial

Background. Current analytic methods applied to multidimensional health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data do not borrow strength across analyses and do not produce summary estimates of effect. Objectives. To compare a random effects modelling approach for the analysis of multidimensional HRQOL data to the following: (1) separate analyses for each dimension; (2) O'Brien's global test procedure; and (3) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Research Design. Randomized clinical trial comparing 3 treatments (Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole [TS], Dapsone-Trimethoprim [DT], and Clindamycin-Primaquine [CP] for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia [PCP]). Subjects. Patients with PCP enrolled in AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 108. Measures. A 33-item battery assessing 7 dimensions of HRQOL: physical functioning, pain, energy, general health perceptions, disability, pulmonary symptoms, and constitutional symptoms. Results. Analyses focused on changes in score from baseline to Day 7 (n = 145). Separate analyses for each dimension suggested a trend favoring CP versus TS, but using a Bonferroni correction no differences were statistically significant. O'Brien's global procedure for a test of no-treatment effect versus superiority of one treatment yielded P = 0.07. MANOVA did not reveal significant differences among treatment groups. A random effects model using fixed treatment and dimension effects and separate random effects for each person showed a significant overall treatment effect (P = 0.02); changes in scores for CP averaged 10 points greater than for TS. Conclusions. Random-effects models provide a flexible class of models for analyzing multidimensional quality of life data and estimating treatment effects because they borrow strength across dimensions.
CABG Surgery: The Second Time Around

ob Whitney, a 52-year-old construction worker, had been doing well for five years after his coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Then, about two months ago, Mr. Whitney once again began experiencing crushing chest pain. At first, the pain occurred when he climbed stairs or hammered nails. But in the past few weeks he's sometimes been in pain even while relaxing at home. Cardiac catheterization revealed severe narrowing in two of the three greater saphenous vein (GSV) grafts Mr. Whitney had received, as well as progressive coronary artery disease (CAD) distal to the anastomoses of one of the grafts. Medications have failed to control his angina. Now he's scheduled to undergo reoperation. Mr. Whitney's case illustrates a persistent problem with CABG surgery--the grafts frequently become blocked. Consider, for example, surgeons' most common choice of graft, the GSV. Between 12% to 20% of the grafts become occluded within the first year. For the next four to seven years, another 2% to 4% a year fail. After year seven, the annual failure rate roughly doubles, and only 40% to 60% of grafts stay clear for 12 years. In large medical centers, 15% to 20% of CABG procedures are reoperations, many due to primary graft failure. With the number of patients who have undergone CABG on the rise, you'll be seeing more repeat surgeries. And if you work in a med-surg, intensive care, or coronary care unit, chances are you'll encounter more patients like Mr. Whitney. If you understand why GSV grafts fail and what your patient's prospects are for successful reoperation, you'll be better able to provide the care, teaching, and support he needs.
Carbon-based standards for electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

In order to meet the need for a good new EPR intensity andg-value standard whose paramagnetic species are carbon-based radicals, several materials were investigated, including coal, fusinite (a coal maceral), and several carbohydrate chars. Of the prototypical standards prepared, a chemically-treated fusinite is recommended as most suitable because of its chemical stability, spin density, EPR signal line shape and line width, microwave power saturation characteristics, availability, and homogeneity. Effects of dilution with KBr, KCl, and polymer are negligible, although the line width is broadened in the presence of paramagnetic gases. Several model standard compounds have been prepared in a polymer matrix to minimize changes in packing density over time.
A statistical linearization approach to optimal nonlinear energy harvesting

In this study, an extension of linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) control theory is used to determine the optimal state feedback controller for a nonlinear energy harvesting system that is driven by a stochastic disturbance. Specifically, the energy harvester is a base-excited single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) resonant oscillator with an electromagnetic transducer embedded between the ground and moving mass. The electromagnetic transducer used to harvest energy from the SDOF oscillator introduces a nonlinear Coulomb friction force into the system, which must be accounted for in the design of the controller. As such, the development of the optimal controller for this system is based on statistical linearization, whereby the Coulomb friction force is replaced by an equivalent linear viscous damping term, which is calculated from the stationary covariance of the closed-loop system. It is shown that the covariance matrix and optimal feedback gain matrix can be computed by implementing an iterative algorithm involving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Simulation results are presented for the SDOF energy harvester in which the performance of the optimal state feedback control law is compared to the performance of the optimal static admittance over a range of disturbance bandwidths.
Flavopiridol treatment of patients aged 70 or older with refractory or relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a feasible and active therapeutic approach

Older chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients have poor outcomes with standard treatments and are underrepresented in clinical trials. We retrospectively reviewed outcomes of refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients in two age categories (≥70 and 0.80). Although overall survival was worse in older patients (median 2.1 vs. 2.4 years, P =0.02); when adjusted for other factors this difference was no longer significant ( P ≥0.10). With the exception of infections (older 29% vs. younger 62%) no significant association with toxicity was observed. These data demonstrate that flavopiridol administration to older chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients is feasible, tolerable, and may have similar efficacy to that in younger patients. Development of treatment approaches including flavopiridol should be considered for these older patients.
Defining protein ensembles with native-state NH exchange: kinetics of interconversion and cooperative units from combined NMR and MS analysis.

Previous studies of native-state peptide hydrogen atom (NH) exchange in turkey ovomucoid third domain (OMTKY3) yielded the thermodynamics and kinetics of unfolding and folding for the 14 slowest-exchanging peptide hydrogen atoms (NHs). Unfolding rate constants and free energies for nine of the NHs are very similar, suggesting that these NHs exchange during a single cooperative unfolding event. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has been used to test this hypothesis. ESI-MS data and MS peak simulations suggest that this hypothesis is incorrect: in spite of the similarity in their unfolding rate constants, only three to five of the nine residues exchange in a cooperative manner. Thus, residues with similar thermodynamics and kinetics of exchange are probably involved in multiple conformational equilibria. Overall, combined NMR and MS analysis of NH exchange provides a rich and complex picture of the ensemble properties of native proteins.
The first-order spectral flow of the odd signature operator on a manifold with boundary

Abstract In this paper we study spectral flow for paths of signature operators associated to analytic paths of flat connections on an odd-dimensional manifold with boundary. We provide a topological method for computing the “first order” spectral flow using cup products.
Can ISPs be profitable without violating “network neutrality”?

At the core of the network neutrality debate we find that ISPs, in particular the last-mile Access Providers (APs), are trying to find new ways to be profitable, despite the fact that their transit traffic has been dramatically increasing, while they continue to charge their customers a flat monthly price. In this paper, we consider a simple model of an AP that serves its users traffic from a number of Content Providers (CPs). The AP can communicate with the CPs through a Transit Provider (TP) or through settlement-free peering. We examine the profitability of the AP under a "baseline" model that is based on current practice, considering the heavy tailed variability in per-user traffic and in the popularity of different CPs. Further, we consider other strategies, such as usage-based pricing for heavy hitters, selective peering with popular CPs, and content caching. Our results indicate that an AP can be profitable without the risk of losing users and without violating "network neutrality", through selective peering with CPs and/or content caching.
Reasoned assumptions and Pareto optimality

Default and non-monotonic inference rules are not really epistemological statements, but are instead desires or preferences of the agent about, the makeup of its own mental state (episternic or otherwise). The fundamental relation in non-monotonic logic is not so much self-knowledge as self-choire or seIf-determination, and the fundamental justification of the interpretation, and structures involved come from decision theory and economics rather than from logic and epistemology.
Interleukin-6 and Soluble Interleukin-6 Receptor Levels as Markers of Disease Extent and Prognosis in Neuroblastoma

Purpose: To explore the relationships between interleukin-6 (IL-6) and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) levels and disease extent and clinical outcome in childhood neuroblastoma. Experimental Design: Pretreatment peripheral blood (PB; n = 53) and bone marrow ( n = 18) samples from patients with neuroblastoma were assayed by ELISA for IL-6 and sIL-6R. PB values were compared with healthy pediatric controls ( n = 28). Results: PB IL-6 levels were significantly elevated in patients with high-risk disease compared with those with low and intermediate risk disease (23.9 versus 4.3 pg/mL; P P P 18 months, bony metastases, and unfavorable histology. sIL-6R levels were not significantly correlated with disease stage. Patients with detectable PB IL-6 at diagnosis had significantly lower event-free survival rates ( P 4 pg/mL were also associated with a significantly worse event-free survival ( P = 0.016). Conclusion: Elevated PB IL-6 levels correlated with features of high-risk neuroblastoma and poor prognosis in this population. Decreased PB sIL-6R levels correlated with the presence of metastatic disease. Further study of these markers in children with neuroblastoma seems warranted.
Developing practical recommendations for the use of propensity scores: discussion of 'A critical appraisal of propensity score matching in the medical literature between 1996 and 2003' by Peter Austin, Statistics in Medicine.

I first wish to thank Dr Austin for an important paper on the use of propensity score methods in practice. It follows a series of papers by Dr Austin highlighting issues that applied researchers face in using propensity score methods—an area of research that deserves more attention. As Dr Austin shows, there has been considerable misuse and misunderstanding of propensity score methods. Papers such as his are important tools to ensure researchers use propensity scores in the most appropriate ways. In this discussion I focus on two primary topics. First, I fully endorse and elaborate on Dr Austin’s discussion of balance diagnostics of propensity score methods. Second, I discuss his statement regarding the requirement of analyses that account for the paired nature of the data after propensity score matching.
Beginning and End of a Low-Mass Protostar

We present some new results concerning the first and last stages in the formation of a low-mass star before it becomes visible as an optical object. The first stage involves the slow condensation of a molecular cloud core to the brink of gravitational collapse. We give detailed theoretical models of this process under the assumption that the rate of condensation is governed by the slip of neutrals relative to the ions and magnetic fields that help to support a molecular cloud against its self-gravity. The theoretical calculations compare well with the existing observational information. The last stage involves the onset of a stellar wind that helps to clear away the surrounding placenta of gas and dust, thereby making the young stellar object optically visible. We discuss new observational evidence that the emerging wind is largely neutral and atomic in low-mass protostars. We then suggest a simple theoretical mechanism for the generation of such powerful neutral winds.
Incidence and management of bevacizumab-related toxicities in colorectal cancer

Bevacizumab, a recombinant, humanised monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, when used in combination with intravenous 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) improves survival. In a randomised, placebo-controlled Phase III study, the addition of bevacizumab to irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin (IFL) resulted in significant improvement in survival compared with IFL alone, which led to its approval for first-line use in CRC. Bevacizumab also demonstrates improved efficacy in combination with 5-FU/LV over chemotherapy alone when data were pooled from two randomised Phase II studies utilising bevacizumab with 5-FU/leucovorin, and also in a third treatment arm of bevacizumab/5-FU/LV of a randomised Phase III study. More recently, in the second-line setting, bevacizumab in combination with FOLFOX improved survival from 10.8 to 12.9 months in the ECOG 3200 trial. Clinical activity with the addition of bevacizumab to oxaliplatin and either 5-FU or capecitabine-based regimens has also been shown in TREE-2, and activity with the combination of bevacizumab and the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab has been documented in BOND-2. In this study, bevacizumab was generally well-tolerated with no unexpected toxicities when combined with cetuximab. A few toxicities were uniformly encountered in all of the above studies, in particular grade 3 medically-manageable hypertension (3 - 16%). In addition, other toxicities were haemorrhage (2 - 9.3%), gastrointestinal perforation (1.5%), arterial thromboembolism (3.8%), wound healing (1 - 2%) and proteinuria (1 - 2%). As bevacizumab is becoming widely used in general oncology practice, it is important to understand the toxicities which can arise and to develop practice guidelines for their management. This review addresses the toxicities noted in trials using bevacizumab for the treatment of CRC and provides recommendations for toxicity management.