cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resonance Raman, Infrared, and Normal Coordinate Analysis of Free-Base Tetraphenylbacteriochlorin: A Model for Bacteriopheophytins

Resonance Raman (RR) and FT-IR spectra are reported for free-base tetraphenylbacteriochlorin and its pyrrole-15N4, β-D8, meso-13C4, and phenyl-D20 isotopomers. A normal mode analysis is carried out in order to assign observed RR and IR modes, using a NiTPP-based force field, with bond-distance scaling of force constants and the introduction of long-range interaction constants. The modes correlate well with those of NiTPP, once due allowance is made for direct effects of pyrrole ring reduction: inequivalent Cβ−Cβ and Cα−Cβ bonds and extra Cβ−H bending modes. Although the Cα−Cm and Cα−N bonds of the 16-membered inner ring are not strictly equivalent, there is little tendency for mode localization with respect to these bonds. The absence of a central metal lowers the frequencies of Cα−Cm stretching and pyrrole translational modes. The RR enhancement pattern is quite different than for porphyrins. Totally symmetric modes dominate spectra in resonance with the Qx band, due to a larger transition moment than i...
Synergistic combination of clinical and imaging features predicts abnormal imaging patterns of pulmonary infections

We designed and tested a novel hybrid statistical model that accepts radiologic image features and clinical variables, and integrates this information in order to automatically predict abnormalities in chest computed-tomography (CT) scans and identify potentially important infectious disease biomarkers. In 200 patients, 160 with various pulmonary infections and 40 healthy controls, we extracted 34 clinical variables from laboratory tests and 25 textural features from CT images. From the CT scans, pleural effusion (PE), linear opacity (or thickening) (LT), tree-in-bud (TIB), pulmonary nodules, ground glass opacity (GGO), and consolidation abnormality patterns were analyzed and predicted through clinical, textural (imaging), or combined attributes. The presence and severity of each abnormality pattern was validated by visual analysis of the CT scans. The proposed biomarker identification system included two important steps: (i) a coarse identification of an abnormal imaging pattern by adaptively selected features (AmRMR), and (ii) a fine selection of the most important features from the previous step, and assigning them as biomarkers, depending on the prediction accuracy. Selected biomarkers were used to classify normal and abnormal patterns by using a boosted decision tree (BDT) classifier. For all abnormal imaging patterns, an average prediction accuracy of 76.15% was obtained. Experimental results demonstrated that our proposed biomarker identification approach is promising and may advance the data processing in clinical pulmonary infection research and diagnostic techniques.
Experiences using SPARK in an undergraduate CS course

This paper describes experiences garnered while teaching a course on high integrity software using SPARK to a mix of junior and senior level undergraduates. The paper describes the impact of pre-requisites, course layout and execution, and lessons learned by students and the instructor. The course used the SPARK toolset provide by Praxis High Integrity Systems, and the Gnat Programming System (GPS) provided by AdaCore Technologies (ACT) under the Ada Academic Initiative Program. Details about using these tools is integrated through out the paper.
Successful treatment of severe hepatitis C-associated pulmonary vasculitis in a liver transplant recipient

BACKGROUND We report the clinical course of a patient who developed fever, hypoxia, and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates two and a half years after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. The patient had a history of hepatitis C-associated vasculitis manifested by purpuric skin rashes, renal abnormalities, and elevated cryoglobulins, and was receiving interferon-alpha at the time of presentation. RESULTS The results of bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage were unrevealing, and open lung biopsy revealed active small vessel vasculitis. The patient responded dramatically to plasmapheresis and the addition of high-dose corticosteroids with resolution of hypoxia, pulmonary infiltrates, and glomerulonephritis. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of the successful treatment of hepatitis C-associated pulmonary vasculitis after OLT. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that hepatitis C-associated pulmonary vasculitis should be included in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with fever, hypoxia, and pulmonary infiltrates after OLT for hepatitis C. Treatment with plasmapheresis and high-dose corticosteroids may be effective in patients with this disorder.
Gender differences in dependency, separation, object relations and pathological eating behavior and attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in eating behaviors and attitudes and the related constructs of dependency, separation, object relations, and eating disorder behavior. One hundred and forty-one undergraduate students were recruited from introductory psychology courses and completed measures of the forementioned constructs. Females had significantly higher scores on the Eating Attitude Test and Eating Self-Efficacy Scale. For males, the Eating Self-Efficacy Scale was also positively correlated with measures of Alienation and Social Incompetence, and the Eating Attitude Test was positively correlated with the Separation Individuation Process Inventory. For females, the Eating Questionnaire Revised was significantly correlated with the Interpersonal Dependency Inventory, the Eating Attitude Test, and Insecure Attachment and Egocentricity scales. There was also a significant positive correlation between the Eating Attitude Test and the Insecure Attachment and Egocentricity scales for females. These findings suggest that certain personality variables differentially are related to pathological eating behaviors and attitudes between gender.
Interannual Variability of the Antarctic Ozone Hole in a GCM. Part II: A Comparison of Unforced and QBO-Induced Variability

Abstract Simulations were performed with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies GCM including a prescribed quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), applied at a constant maximum value, and a physically realistic parameterization of the heterogeneous chemistry responsible for severe polar ozone loss. While the QBO is primarily a stratospheric phenomenon, in this model the QBO modulates the amount and propagation of planetary wave energy in the troposphere as well as in the stratosphere. Dynamical activity is greater in the easterly than in the unforced case, while westerly years are dynamically more quiescent. By altering zonal winds and potential vorticity, the QBO forcing changes the refraction of planetary waves beginning in midwinter, causing the lower-stratospheric zonal average temperatures at Southern Hemisphere high latitudes to be ∼3–5 K warmer in the easterly phase than in the westerly during the late winter and early spring. Ozone loss varies nonlinearly with temperature, due to the sharp threshold fo...
The Ultraviolet and X-ray View of the Demise of Nova V1974 Cygni

We present new data on the variations of the ultraviolet nitrogen lines during the late, optically thin stages of the outburst of V1974 Cygni. These show that, ~500 days after discovery, the ejecta reached maximum ionization and then started to recombine, coincident with the X-ray turnoff observed with ROSAT. We derive densities for the ejecta at this stage and use these to discuss the development of the ejecta. The decline with time of the UV emission lines, especially He II λ1640, shows that the ejecta must have a linear velocity structure. This agrees with models for the ejection by an explosion and models that we have previously published for the line profiles. We then model the variations of the X-rays from this nova. We show that the ROSAT rise can be modeled by assuming a constant-luminosity central source, at approximately the Eddington limit for a massive white dwarf and an effective temperature of ~4 × 105 K, using only a decreasing X-ray optical depth within the ejecta, as previously noted by Krautter et al. This model can be generalized to explain the absence of X-ray emission during the early outburst stages of any nova. Last, we show that the final decline in the X-rays requires a substantial decrease in both the luminosity and temperature of the central star, in agreement with expectations for thermonuclear burnout on the surface of the white dwarf.
Toward a possible solution to the cosmic coincidence problem

We suggest a paradigm that might allow for a nonanthropic solution to the cosmic coincidence problem of why the density of vacuum energy and matter are nearly equal today. The fact that the half life of uranium 238 is near to the age of the solar system is not considered a coincidence since there are many nuclides with a wide range of half lives implying that there is likely to be some nuclide with a half life near to any given time scale. Likewise it may be that the vacuum field energy causing the universal acceleration today is just one of a large ensemble of scalar field energies, which have dominated the Universe in the past and then faded away. Predictions of the idea include the following: the current density of vacuum energy is decreasing, the ratio of vacuum pressure to vacuum density, w, is changing and not equal to $\ensuremath{-}1,$ there were likely periods of vacuum domination and acceleration in the past and may be additional periods in the future, and the eventual sum of all scalar field vacuum densities may be zero.
Changes in progressive ratio responding for intravenous cocaine throughout the reproductive process in female rats.

Operant responding on a progressive ratio (PR) schedule for intravenous cocaine as well as sucrose reinforcement was examined in female rats throughout the reproductive process. Self-administration sessions began before mating, and continued throughout pregnancy and until lactational Day 8; following parturition, litters were present with dams during operant sessions. Physiological changes associated with the reproductive process dramatically altered PR responding for cocaine, while PR responding for sucrose was relatively stable throughout pregnancy and lactation. Female animals exhibited the highest number of responses/session for cocaine during estrus and the 1st trimester of pregnancy and the lowest responding near parturition, with levels only partially recovering during lactation. Dams self-administering cocaine exhibited notably different patterns of maternal behavior in the operant chambers than dams responding for sucrose. Thus, cocaine's reinforcing efficacy may be influenced by (a) the changing physiological profile associated with the reproductive process and (b) competition from the reinforcing properties of offspring during lactation. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 35: 136–145, 1999
Progressive ultrastructural damage and thickening of the basement membrane of the retinal pigment epithelium in spontaneously diabetic BB rats.

Ultrastructural examination of the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium was performedin spontaneously diabetic BB rats and non-diabetic littermate controls at various time points dunring the course of diabetes. Four types of progressive changes occur in diabetic rats: (1) There is a progressive thickening of the basal laminae of the retinal pigment epithelium and the retinal capillaries. (2) In addition to this thickening, there is a progressive, often focal, thickening of the rest of Bruch's membrane, and by 111/2 months it contains numerous randomly oriented collagen fibrils. (3) There are progressive ultrastructural changes in retinal pigment epithelial cells consisting of marked dilation of the basal infoldings, the formation of large vacuoles and cell swelling. (4) Rare degenerative changes were noted in retinal capillary pericytes. Since non-diabetic littermates do not show comparable changes, it is likely that they are diabetes-related, suggesting that progressive damage to the retinal pigment epithelium may occur during the course of diabetes.
HIGH-RESOLUTION ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF THE AMYLOID FIBRIL

The ultrastructural organization of the fibrous component of amyloid has been analyzed by means of high resolution electron microscopy of negatively stained isolated amyloid fibrils and of positively stained amyloid fibrils in thin tissue sections. It was found that a number of subunits could be resolved according to their dimensions. The following structural organization is proposed. The amyloid fibril, the fibrous component of amyloid as seen in electron microscopy of thin tissue sections, consists of a number of filaments aggregated side-by-side. These amyloid filaments are approximately 75–80 A in diameter and consist of five (or less likely six) subunits (amyloid protofibrils) which are arranged parallel to each other, longitudinal or slightly oblique to the long axis of the filament. The filament has often seemed to disperse into several longitudinal rows. The amyloid protofibril is about 25–35 A wide and appears to consist of two or three subunit strands helically arranged with a 35–50-A repeat (or, less likely, is composed of globular subunits aggregated end-to-end). These amyloid subprotofibrillar strands measure approximately 10–15 A in diameter.
The water table: the shifting foundation of life on land.

Hyperarid, arid, and semi-arid lands represent over a third of the Earth’s land surface, and are home to over 38 % of the increasing world population. Freshwater is a limiting resource on these lands, and withdrawal of groundwater substantially exceeds recharge. Withdrawals of groundwater for expanding agricultural and domestic use severely limit water availability for groundwater dependent ecosystems. We examine here, with emphasis on quantitative data, case histories of groundwater withdrawals at widely differing scales, on three continents, that range from the impact of a few wells, to the outcomes of total appropriation of flow in a major river system. The case histories provide a glimpse of the immense challenge of replacing groundwater resources once they are severely depleted, and put into sharp focus the question whether the magnitude of the current and future human, economic, and environmental consequences and costs of present practices of groundwater exploitation are adequately recognized.
Providing Economic Information in an Increasingly Difficult Policy Environment

This article addresses the question of why the public provision of objective, nonpartisan policy information has become increasingly conflicted and difficult. The nature of a public-policy information system is first described. An examination of the changing mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides a perspective on the challenges one faces today in providing information and advice for policymakers in agriculture, food, natural resource use, and the environment. Then an attempt is made to identify the many forces influencing today's difficult policy environment. The conclusion presents lessons from experience or principles that need to be observed if a public agency is to be a success over time in providing objective information for policy decisions. The profession's stake in this matter is discussed.
Mutations altering the mitochondrial-cytoplasmic distribution of Mod5p implicate the actin cytoskeleton and mRNA 3' ends and/or protein synthesis in mitochondrial delivery.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae MOD5 gene encodes proteins that function in three subcellular locations: mitochondria, the cytoplasm, and nuclei (M. Boguta, L.A. Hunter, W.-C. Shen, E. C. Gillman, N. C. Martin, and A. K. Hopper, Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:2298-2306, 1994; E. C. Gillman, L. B. Slusher, N. C. Martin, and A. K. Hopper, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:2382-2390, 1991). A mutant allele of MOD5 encoding a protein (Mod5p-I,KR6) located predominantly in mitochondria was constructed. Mutants defective in delivering Mod5p-I,KR6 to mitochondria were sought by selecting cells with increased cytosolic activity of this protein. Twenty-five mutants defining four complementation groups, mdp1, mdp2, mdp3, and mdp4, were found. They are unable to respire at 34 degrees C or to grow on glucose medium at 38 degrees C. Cell fractionation studies showed that mdp1, mdp2, and mdp3 mutants have an altered mitochondrial-cytoplasmic distribution of Mod5p. mdp2 can be suppressed by ACT1, the actin-encoding gene. The actin cytoskeleton organization is also aberrant in mdp2 cells. MDP2 is the same as VRP1 (S. F. H. Donnelly, M. J. Picklington, D. Pallotta, and E. Orr, Mol. Microbiol. 10:585-596, 1993). MDP3 is identical to PAN1, which encodes a protein that interacts with mRNA 3' ends and affects initiation of protein synthesis (A. B. Sachs and J. A. Deardoff, Cell 70:961-973, 1992). These results implicate the actin cytoskeleton and mRNA 3' ends and/or protein synthesis as being as important for protein distribution in S. cerevisiae as they are for distribution of cytosolic proteins in higher eukaryotes. This provides the potential to apply genetic and molecular approaches to study gene products and mechanisms involved in this type of protein distribution. The selection strategy also offers a new approach for identifying gene products involved in the distribution of proteins to their subscellular destinations.
Epiregulin Is Not Essential for Development of Intestinal Tumors but Is Required for Protection from Intestinal Damage

Epiregulin, an epidermal growth factor family member, acts as a local signal mediator and shows dual biological activity, stimulating the proliferation of fibroblasts, hepatocytes, smooth muscle cells, and keratinocytes while inhibiting the growth of several tumor-derived epithelial cell lines. The epiregulin gene (Ereg) is located on mouse chromosome 5 adjacent to three other epidermal growth factor family members, epigen, amphiregulin, and betacellulin. Gene targeting was used to insert a lacZ reporter into the mouse Ereg locus and to ablate its function. Although epiregulin is broadly expressed and regulated both spatially and temporally, Ereg null mice show no overt developmental defects, reproductive abnormalities, or altered liver regeneration. Additionally, in contrast to previous hypotheses, Ereg deficiency does not alter intestinal cancer susceptibility, as assayed in the ApcMin model, despite showing robust expression in developing tumors. However, Ereg null mice are highly susceptible to cancer-predisposing intestinal damage caused by oral administration of dextran sulfate sodium.
Building Evaluation Capacity in Local Programs for Multisite Nutrition Education Interventions

From 2004-2008, capacity to conduct program evaluation was built among the Network for a Healthy California's 48 largest local partners. Capacity building was done within a framework of Empowerment Evaluation and Utility-Focused evaluation. Tools included: a Scope of Work template, a handbook, a compendium of surveys, an evaluation plan and report template, data entry and analysis templates, teleconferences, workshops, and technical assistance. Over time, more programs completed an evaluation, used a more rigorous design, and reported statistically significant results. Acting as an evaluation guide, rather than a funder, Network staff built rapport with local programs that annually undertake new evaluations.
A new, disjunct, diplopod genus from Espirito Santo, Brasil (Polydesmida: Chelodesmidae)

O nome generico e o epiteto especifico novos - Cryptosolenomeris macrogon - sao propostos para um diplopodo quelodesmoide de grande porte, o qual foi coletado em Linhares, estado do Espirito Santo, Brasil. Ele e caracterizado em especial pelos gonotelopoditos alongados sem torcao e recurvados no apice para transformar-se em um escudo caliciforme que oculta o solenomero; o tipico processo pre-femoral dos quelodesmoides parece ser ou, pouco desenvolvido ou, presente numa posicao disjunta. Nao sao descritos generos de parentesco proximo na fauna brasileira ja conhecida.
Radiative Properties of Anisotropic Microrough Silicon Surfaces

** † Recent studies have shown that the topography of some chemically etched microrough silicon surfaces is non-Gaussian and may be strongly anisotropic. However, the effect of anisotropy on the out-of-plane bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) and the surface emittance has not been fully understood. The present work employs the Monte Carlo ray-tracing method to predict the radiative properties by using the topographic data measured from an atomic force microscope. The predicted in-plane BRDFs agree well with experiments using a three-axis automatic scatterometer. The calculated results demonstrate that dramatic differences exist in the two-dimensional BRDFs for surfaces with different microfacet slope distributions and a relative error of as large as 3% exists in the predicted emittance of the anisotropic surface if a Gaussian distribution is assumed. This research will not only facilitate the fundamental understanding of the radiative properties of rough surfaces, but also benefit the semiconductor manufacturing industry in terms of accurate radiometric temperature measurements during the rapid thermal processing.
Innovations in pharmacologic therapies

Objectives: To describe the mechanism of action of four new neurotransmitters that may play a role in pain modulation and to review the clinical implications of these new classes of analgesics. Data sources: Research studies, proceedings, abstracts, and book chapters pertaining to new pharmacologic therapies for pain relief. Conclusions: Recent advances in our understanding of neurotransmitter and receptor physiology have provided new directions for the development and testing of analgesic compounds. NMDA antagonists and calcium channel blockers warrant investigations in humans. Additional human studies are needed of α 2 adrenergic agonists and GABA agonists. Implications for nursing practice: Knowledge of new novel classes of analgesics is important as further investigative studies will take place to determine which types of pain problems are most effectively treated by these classes of drugs.
Innovation, Research, and Development

The frequency of innovations is a matter of great importance to a technological society. The rate at which innovations are adopted has a great effect on the economic position, defense posture, and general well-being of a modern nation. If that rate is too slow, the nation falls behind in international competition, its products and processes become obsolete, growth slows down, and jobs are lost. If it is too fast, the population cannot adjust to the rapid changes, industry finds it hard to recover investments from previous innovations, and confusion makes long-range planning impossible. A great deal of effort has therefore been expended on trying to understand the frequency of innovation and its relation to economic trends.
Use assessment to develop service-learning reflection course materials

The Reflection Rubric proposed by Barbara Olds is used to re-examine the reflection course materials developed previously for three common types of service-learning design project. The Reflection Rubric is based on the Reflective Judgment Model developed by Patrick M King and Karen Strohm Kitchener, and it can be used to assess and document the development of a student from an uncritical thinker to a Reflective Thinker-someone with "fully differentiated abstract categories who can see the problematic nature of controversies". The purpose of the reflection materials is for students to examine the societal aspects of engineering and technology by examining the larger issues behind the needs to which the service-learning projects are responding, and to explore the professional and ethical responsibilities of an engineer by focusing on doing the work of an engineer responsibly and well, whether in the workplace or in community service.
Soundbite identification using reference and automatic transcripts of broadcast news speech

Soundbite identification in broadcast news is important for locating information useful for question answering, mining opinions of a particular person, and enriching speech recognition output with quotation marks. This paper presents a systematic study of this problem under a classification framework, including problem formulation for classification, feature extraction, and the effect of using automatic speech recognition (ASR) output and automatic sentence boundary detection. Our experiments on a Mandarin broadcast news speech corpus show that the three-way classification framework outperforms the binary classification. The entropy-based feature weighting method generally performs better than others. Using ASR output degrades system performance, with more degradation observed from using automatic sentence segmentation than speech recognition errors for this task, especially on the recall rate.
Self-Management and Social Skills Training: A Study with Predelinquent and Delinquent Youths.

In a multiple baseline design across groups study, ten predelinquent and delinquent youths were given behavior modification, social skills, and self-management training. The youths were also required to conduct one behavior modification project on another person and one self-management project. Measures of the youths' behavior included parent and teacher rating scales, court records, and school attendance and grades. Parents, youths, and the referring community agencies also filled out program evaluation questionnaires. The youths demonstrated a decrease in the number of problem behaviors exhibited at home and in school. The results of the consumer evaluations also indicated the program was judged effective. The benefits of a self-management approach to juvenile offenders are discussed.
Program optimization for instruction caches

This paper presents an optimization algorithm for reducing instruction cache misses. The algorithm uses profile information to reposition programs in memory so that a direct-mapped cache behaves much like an optimal cache with full associativity and full knowledge of the future. For best results, the cache should have a mechanism for excluding certain instructions designated by the compiler. This paper first presents a reduced form of the algorithm. This form is shown to produce an optimal miss rate for programs without conditionals and with a tree call graph, assuming basic blocks can be reordered at will. If conditionals are allowed, but there are no loops within conditionals, the algorithm does as well as an optimal cache for the worst case execution of the program consistent with the profile information. Next, the algorithm is extended with heuristics for general programs. The effectiveness of these heuristics are demonstrated with empirical results for a set of 10 programs for various cache sizes. The improvement depends on cache size. For a 512 word cache, miss rates for a direct-mapped instruction cache are halved. For an 8K word cache, miss rates fall by over 75%. Over a wide range of cache sizes the algorithm is as effective as increasing the cache size by a factor of 3 times. For 512 words, the algorithm generates only 32% more misses than an optimal cache. Optimized programs on a direct-mapped cache have lower miss rates than unoptimized programs on set-associative caches of the same size.
Monopoles and instantons on partially compactified D -branes

Motivated by the recent D-brane constructions of world-volume monopoles and instantons, we study the supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory on S{sup 1}{times}R{sup 3+1}, spontaneously broken by a Wilson loop. In addition to the usual N{minus}1 fundamental monopoles, the Nth Bogomol{close_quote}nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield monopole appears from the Kaluza-Klein sector. When all N monopoles are present, net magnetic charge vanishes and the solution can be reinterpreted as a Wilson-loop instanton of unit Pontryagin number. The instanton-multimonopole moduli space is explicitly constructed, and seen to be identical to a Coulomb phase moduli space of a U(1){sup N} gauge theory in 2+1 dimensions related to Kronheimer{close_quote}s gauge theory of SU(N)-type. This extends the results by Intriligator and Seiberg to the finite couplings that, in the infrared limit of Kronheimer{close_quote}s theory, the Coulomb phase parametrizes a centered SU(N) instanton. We also elaborate on the case of restored SU(N) symmetry. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
The Vanishing Marginals, 1824–1980

Recent research on House elections has focused on the decline in marginal districts since the mid-1960s. However, this body of research suffers from two major problems: (1) its exclusive reliance on a limited time frame which calls into question the generalizability and adequacy of its explanations; and (2) its overemphasis on incumbency-oriented explanations. Using aggregate electoral data to examine trends in electoral safety from 1824 to 1980, we find that recent safe-seat percentages are consistent with a long-term trend beginning in 1932, and consistent with an even longer-term upward trend beginning in 1896. Further, although incumbent winners increased their electoral advantage over nonincumbent winners in the post-1896 period, this trend leveled off in the mid-1960s. As such, it appears that the post-1965 increase in electoral safety is a winners', and not an incumbency, advantage. Such findings cast doubt on the adequacy of explanations which focus on post-1965, incumbency-oriented factors.
HIV modulates the expression of ligands important in triggering natural killer cell cytotoxic responses on infected primary T-cell blasts

The ability of natural killer (NK) cells to kill virus-infected cells depends on the presence of ligands for activation receptors on the target cells. We found the presence of few, if any, NKp30 and NK46 ligands on T cell blasts infected with HIV, although NKp44 ligands were found on infected cells. HIV does induce the NKG2D ligands ULBP-1, -2, and -3. These ligands are involved in triggering NK cells to kill autologous HIV-infected cells, because interfering with the interaction between NKG2D, but not NKp46, on NK cells and its ligands on HIV-infected cells drastically reduced the lysis of infected cells. Interfering with the binding of the NK-cell coreceptors NTB-A and 2B4 to their ligands also decreased destruction by NK cells. The coreceptor ligands, NTB-A and CD48, were also found to be down-regulated during the course of HIV infection. Thus, ligands for NK-cell receptors are modulated during the course of HIV infection, which may greatly alter NK cells' ability to kill the infected cells.
Outcomes of percutaneous interventions in transposed hemodialysis fistulas compared with nontransposed fistulas and grafts.

Abstract Purpose To compare postpercutaneous intervention outcomes of autogenous venous-transposition arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) versus those of autogenous nontransposed AVFs (nAVFs) and prosthetic arteriovenous grafts (AVGs). Materials and Methods A total of 591 hemodialysis accesses (195 transposed AVFs [tAVFs], 205 nAVFs, 191 AVGs) in 522 patients (278 male; mean age, 57 y; range, 15–91 y) underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and/or mechanical thrombectomy (ie, declotting). Access characteristics, surgical history, percutaneous interventions, postinterventional primary and secondary access patency, and follow-up data were collected. Cox proportional-hazards regression analyses, Fisher exact tests, and χ 2 tests were performed. Results Mean follow-up period was 32 months. Mean access ages at initial percutaneous intervention were 260 days (tAVF), 206 days (nAVF), and 176 days (AVG; P P = .0001). Median PISP durations were 1,076 days (tAVF), 783 days (nAVF), and 750 days (AVG; P = .019). Total interventions needed to maintain PISP were 2.4 (tAVF), 1.3 (nAVF), and 3.2 (AVG) per patient-year ( P P P Conclusions Based on the number of percutaneous interventions needed to maintain PISP, these results confirm the current Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative access preference of nAVFs before tAVFs before AVGs. tAVFs offered superior postinterventional outcomes than AVGs. With additional interventions, tAVFs could even outperform nAVFs in terms of PISP.
Evaluation of symptoms and quality of life in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Abstract Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common histologic condition among older men, which conveys its morbidity through lower urinary tract symptoms and complications, such as acute urinary retention, obstructive uropathy, and urinary tract infections. The mechanisms linking the histologic process and lower urinary tract symptoms remain uncertain; prostatic enlargement and bladder outlet obstruction are involved. However, measurements of prostate size and the severity of bladder outlet obstruction correlate poorly with the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms. The severity of lower urinary tract symptoms associated with BPH can be measured reliably, from the patient’s perspective, with a number of validated questionnaires, including the International Prostate Symptom Score, the Danish Prostate Symptom Score, and the International Continence Society (ICS)male questionnaire. In the clinical setting, these questionnaires can be used (1) to assess the severity of symptoms in men with lower urinary tract symptoms that may be attributable to BPH, based on their age and clinical characteristics; and (2) to follow changes in symptoms over time and with treatment. None of these questionnaires can accurately determine whether a symptomatic patient has underlying bladder outlet obstruction. Additional questionnaires are available to measure the impact of lower urinary tract symptoms on men’s lives, as well as associated phenomena, such as continence and sexual function, which may be affected by BPH and its treatments. Men with a severe burden of lower urinary tract symptoms often have measurable decrements in overall health-related quality of life, which can be ameliorated by treatment.
An alternative combining architecture for large-scale shared-memory multiprocessors

Investigates an alternative combining architecture for removing degradation of the multiprocessor interconnection network due to hot-spot contention, which results in drastically inferior performance. Based on a combining tree, the proposed combining architecture has much lower hardware complexity than the prior combining network and yet can effectively eliminate hot-spot contention. Simulation results confirm that the mean latency of hot-spot requests through the alternative combining architecture is low, provided that the concurrent hot-spot number is reasonably small (say, no more than 8). A fault-tolerant technique for the combining architecture is also addressed to significantly enhance its reliability at a little extra cost. >
Chronic hypoxia upregulates endothelial and inducible NO synthase gene and protein expression in rat lung

The effect of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the lung is controversial. To clarify the regulation of endothelial and inducible NOS (eNOS and iNOS) expression in the chronically hypoxic lung, Northern and Western blot analyses were performed on mRNA and total protein from lungs of rats exposed to 3 wk of hypoxia (10% O2, normobaric) or normoxia. Expression of the mRNA and protein for eNOS was significantly increased (1.6-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively) by hypoxia. Immunohistochemistry with an isoform-specific antibody demonstrated de novo expression of eNOS in the endothelium of resistance vessels in the pulmonary vasculature of the hypoxic rats. eNOS was detected in the endothelium of large vessels in both normoxic and hypoxic rat lungs. The level of mRNA and protein for iNOS was also found to be significantly increased (1.9-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively). In addition to the 4.4-kilobase (kb) iNOS mRNA species, a novel 4.0-kb species was also induced by hypoxia. We conclude that expression of eNOS and iNOS was increased in the lungs of rats subjected to chronic hypoxia, and that there was de novo expression of eNOS protein in the microvascular endothelium.
Flywheel technology and potential benefits for aerospace applications

An overview of advanced flywheel development for energy storage in aerospace applications is presented. The advantages offered by this emerging technology are reviewed and the major development challenges that need to be addressed are identified. The approach being used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and United States Air Force (USAF) towards developing the technology is presented.
Distribution and habitat use of king rails in the Illinois and Upper Mississippi River valleys

Abstract The migratory population of the king rail (Rallus elegans) has declined dramatically during the past 40 years, emphasizing the need to identify habitat requirements of this species to help guide conservation efforts. To assess distribution and habitat use of king rails along the Illinois and Upper Mississippi valleys, USA, we conducted repeated call-broadcast surveys at 83 locations in 2006 and 114 locations in 2007 distributed among 21 study sites. We detected king rails at 12 survey locations in 2006 and 14 locations in 2007, illustrating the limited distribution of king rails in this region. We found king rails concentrated at Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge, an adjacent private Wetlands Reserve program site, and B. K. Leach Conservation Area, which were located in the Mississippi River floodplain in northeast Missouri. Using Program PRESENCE, we estimated detection probabilities and built models to identify habitat covariates that were important in king rail site occupancy. Habitat c...
Wilson v. Seiter: Less than Meets the Eye

In 1991 the United States Supreme Court revisited the question of the general standards that are required in eighth amendment conditions-of-confinement litigation. In Wilson v. Seiter, the Court declared that, in an eighth amendment case in which an inmate claims that conditions of confinement constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the inmate must show that prison officials had a culpable state of mind -- deliberate indifference -- as a prerequisite to obtaining relief. In so holding, the Court rejected the arguments of both the petitioner and the United States Justice Department, as amicus curiae, that the objective conditions endured by prisoners, rather than the state of mind of prison officials, ought to determine whether indecent prison conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Prognosis in patients achieving ≥10 METS on exercise stress testing: Was SPECT imaging useful?

Background The benefit of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) over exercise ECG stress testing alone is unclear in individuals attaining a workload of ≥10 METS. The purpose of this prospective study is to determine mortality and nonfatal cardiac events in patients at either intermediate pretest risk for CAD or patients with known CAD, achieving ≥10 METS regardless of peak exercise heart rate. The authors previously reported a low prevalence of significant ischemia in this patient cohort.
Exotic and Invasive Aquatic Plants in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands: Distribution and Relation to Watershed Land Use and Plant Richness and Cover

We use data from inundated-area surveys of 58 coastal wetlands spanning a gradient of anthropogenic impacts across all five Laurentian Great Lakes to describe the distribution of nine exotic and invasive taxa of aquatic plants. We found plants that were exotic or have invasive strains to be substantially more prevalent in wetlands in Lakes Erie and Ontario than in Lakes Superior and Huron, with Lake Michigan wetlands intermediate. Najas minor (slender naiad), Butomus umbellatus (flowering rush), and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (European frogbit) were restricted to the lower lakes and rarely dominant. Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian milfoil), Potamogeton crispus (curly pondweed), Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife), Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass), Phragmites australis (common reed), and Typha sp. (cattail) were more widespread and except for P. crispus, often among the dominant taxa. None of the submerged or floating-leaf exotic taxa were associated with altered total plant cover or richness, although M. spicatum, P. crispus, and native Stuckenia pectinatus (sago pondweed) were positively associated with agricultural intensity in the watershed (a surrogate for nutrient loading). Emergent P. australis, L. salicaria, and Typha were more likely to be present and dominant as agricultural intensity increased, and were associated with elevated emergent cover and decreased emergent genera richness. Effects of dominant taxa on plant cover and richness were readily detected using ordinal data from 100 m inundated segments but were harder to discern with data aggregated to the wetland scale. The sum of shoreline-wide abundance scores for four easily identified taxa (S. pectinata, P. australis, Typha, and L. salicaria) is proposed as a rapidly-measured indicator of anthropogenic disturbance across the Great Lakes.
Special quasirandom structure modeling of fluorite-structured oxide solid solutions with aliovalent cation substitutions

The accuracy of the special quasirandom structure (SQS) approach for modeling the structure and energetics of fluorite-structured oxide solid solutions with aliovalent cation substitutions is assessed in an ionic-pair potential study of urania and ceria based systems mixed with trivalent rare-earth ions. Mixing enthalpies for SQS supercells containing 96 and 324 lattice sites were calculated using ionic pair potentials for U0.5La0.5O1.75, U0.5Y0.5O1.75, Ce0.5La0.5O1.75, Ce0.5Y0.5O1.75, and Ce0.5Gd0.5O1.75, which all have stoichiometries of pyrochlores. The SQS results were compared to benchmark values for random substitutional disorder obtained using large supercell models. The calculations show significant improvement of the mixing enthalpy for the larger 324 site SQS, which is attributed to a better description of the structural distortions, as characterized by the radial distribution functions in relaxed systems.
Video Analysis of Accidental Arterial Cannulation With Dynamic Ultrasound Guidance for Central Venous Access

Objective. Accidental arterial cannulation during ultrasound-guided central venous cannulation is rarely reported and should be much less likely with dynamic guidance. Although accidental arterial penetration with the needle may occur periodically without notice and with little harm, actual arterial dilation and line placement may result in serious complications. Methods. This series reports 6 such cases of accidental arterial cannulation and central line insertion under dynamic ultrasound guidance. Results. Two of the arterial cannulations resulted in airway loss, with 1 of these ending in death. The remaining 4 arterial lines led to serious local complications. Ultrasound video analysis of each line placement or postplacement analysis was reviewed, and common pitfalls were extracted. In 3 cases, a central line went directly through the internal jugular vein (IJ) and into the carotid artery. In 1 case, a cordis introducer sheath traveled through the posterior wall of the common femoral vein and into the deep femoral artery branch below. Each patient was hypotensive and hypoxic, making traditional safety checkpoints such as aspiration of bright red blood and pulsatile flow from the syringe hub less reliable in identifying accidental arterial cannulation. All ultrasound-guided cannulations were performed by a standard short-axis approach with high-resolution linear array ultrasound transducers on modern equipment. Conclusions. The short-axis approach, as seen in this series, can provide a false sense of security to the practitioner and allows for potentially dangerous accidental arterial cannulation. In the setting of critically ill patients, it may be prudent to not only visualize the entire path of the needle with the long-axis approach but also confirm correct cannulation by tracing the guide wire in the long axis before line placement.
Factors Influencing Decisions about Upward Social Mobility

(1968). Factors Influencing Decisions about Upward Social Mobility. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 81-91.
INTRA- AND INTERSPECIES VARIATIONS IN GYPIDULID BRACHIOPODS.

Matthew (1926) suggested that evolution normally occurs through intrapopulation variation and believed that if a complete fossil record were available, evolution would usually appear as a continuous succession of minute changes. If this is true, evolutionary trends observed between species in a phylogenetic lineage should exist within species in the lineage. While not denying that "quantum evolution" (Simpson, 1953, p. 389) or punctuated equilibria (Gould, 1971) could occur, this study provides an example of gradualism. Anderson (MS) has examined interpopulation variation of the spondylium in the Lower Devonian brachiopod, Gypidula coeymanensis Schuchert, 1913 and found statistically significant progressive change in spondylium shape over a successive series of three sample populations. This paper examines the same morphologic characteristics, in the next older species of Gypidula found in the Appalachian Basin, the Upper Silurian species, G. prognostica (Maynard, 1913). Morphologic differences between the two species are compared to the previously described intraspecies trend. Both species inhabited the same environmental locus, poorly sorted skeletal sand substrates representing open shelf environments near and above wave base, in transgressive stratigraphic sequences (Anderson and Makurath, in press). Both species lived unattached, oriented with their pedicle beaks down in the substrate. Thickening of the pedicle valve in the beak region weighted the shell and promoted the anterior-up position. The biconvex globose form of both species, along with the weighted pedicle beak, adapted gypidulids to wave agitated environments where substrates occasionally shifted. The shape of the ventral beak (umbo) is functionally important for two reasons. First, the animal rests beak down on the substrate and broadening and flattening of the beak is an adaptation for a more stable orientation. Second, the beak reflects the shape of the spondylium, which is the seat of all muscle attachments in the pedicle valve (Amsden and Biernat, 1965, p. H53 7). Spondylium shape thus controls the size and configuration of the muscles which open and close the valves. Spondylium shape is directly related to shell function and is expected to have minimal random variability because selection should efficiently eliminate inadaptive variants. Two dimensions associated with spondylium shape were thus chosen as variables with which to assess both intraand interspecific variation by means of discriminant function analysis.
Ovipositional Rate, Fecundity, and Longevity of Bathyplectes stenostigma

The fecundity, longevity and daily ovipositional rate of B. stenostigma in H. postica larvae were determined at constant 21.1°C and fluctuating 6.7°/18.3°C temperatures, while a 12:12 h photophase:scotophase was maintained under both regimes. Avg fecundities were not significantly different ( P >0.10) under the 2 temperature regimes. The higher daily ovipositional rate at 21.1°C, as compared with 6.7°/18.3°C, was offset by significantly greater ( P <0.05) longevity at 6.7°/18.3/C; hence, the similar fecundities. The dispersion pattern of the eggs among host larvae under both temperature regimes conformed to the Poisson, or random, distribution in more than 80% of the 195 data sets analyzed. Both the fecundity and ovipositional rate of B. stenostigma are lower than those reported earlier for B. anurus ; the fecundity of B. stenostigma is comparable to that reported for B. curculionis , but the daily ovipositional rate of the latter is greater.