cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Architecture of Clinical Computing Systems

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the fundamentals of the clinical computing system architectures commonly used, which hasn't changed substantially since the late 1980s, when data exchange between systems became more common and standards to permit this exchange were increasingly used. The simplest clinical computing system architecture is a single system, with a single database in which all data are shared between applications such as patient registration, laboratory, radiology, and others. Medical centers combine data and application functionality from many separate computer systems, some of which may be used by a large number of those involved in patient care, while others may be used by a small number of people specializing in some aspect of care. Instead of sharing a common database, many or all of these smaller applications have their own. To save the cost of reentering information into each system, and to share data that each system contains, data are exchanged through connections called interfaces. For this reason, this model is referred to as interfaced systems. The growth in the number and skill of software vendors has lead to specialization and an explosion of computing options for medical centers to consider and interface standards have become more widely accepted, as have network standards. Finally, the web has revolutionized clinical computing and many clinical computing applications are now based on the web.
Abstract Interpretation in the Operational Semantics Hierarchy

We systematically apply the principles of Cousot-Cousot-style abstract interpretation (a.i.) to the hierarchy of operational semantics definitions - flowchart, big-step, and small-step semantics. For each semantics format we examine the principles of safety and liveness interpretations, first-order and second-order analyses, and termination properties. Application of a.i. to data-flow analysis, model checking, closure analysis, and concurrency theory are demonstrated. Our primary contributions are separating the concerns of safety, termination, and efficiency of representation and showing how a.i. principles apply uniformly to the various levels of the operational semantics hierarchy and their applications.
From Lear to Leviathan: On States of Nature and Social Contracts in Shakespeare's Politics

Philosophers have been more ready to incorporate insights from the dramas of William Shakespeare than political theorists, who have focused more of their energies on ancient Greek tragedy. I argue that Shakespeare’s plays are a valuable and necessary resource for a political theory open to imaginative literature, by focusing specifically on King Lear and reading it against Hobbes’s Leviathan. I argue that Shakespeare tragically depicts the same process – the recreation of sovereignty out of a state of nature and emergent social contract – that Hobbes argues for normatively. Shakespeare’s play shows what is required of us psychologically and even emotionally in carrying out the Hobbesian process of disassembling hierarchical feudalism and constructing a modern political rationalism. will be provided by author.
EFFECTS OF SUPERVISORS' UPWARD EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS ON EMPLOYEES: TESTING MULTILEVEL MEDIATION ROLE OF EMPOWERMENT

This study empirically examined the proposition that supervisors' exchange relationships with their own supervisors (i.e., LLX) influence their subordinates' work related outcomes through three mechanisms: (1) motivating the team and its members, captured by team and individual empowerment, (2) providing leader-member relationship norms, and (3) facilitating the relationships between leader-member exchange (i.e., LMX) and individual outcomes. Analyses of multi-source and lagged data from 104 team supervisors and 577 subordinates showed that team and individual empowerment sequentially mediated the positive effect of LLX on subordinates' job satisfaction and job performance. Further, LMX mediated the positive effect of LLX on individual empowerment. It was also found that the indirect relationships of LMX with job satisfaction and job performance via individual empowerment were stronger when LLX was higher. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.
Oral History, Community, and Work in the American West Jessie L. Embry, Editor. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2013.

Oral History, Community, and Work in the American West Jessie L. Embry, Editor. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2013.In Oral History, Community, and Work in the American West, editor Jessie L. Embry has assembled eighteen authors to share their experiences working on oral history projects. Throughout the essay collection, each author comments on oral history's unique utility for the study of the American West and, in doing so, revisits some well-trod arguments. In particular, several authors focus on oral history's ability to fill gaps when textual sources are unavailable or misleading and on oral history's tradition of giving voice to people who are often ignored in mainstream historical texts. However, instead of seeming redundant, attention to the logistic, emotional, and political process of doing oral history produces an engaging narrative and provides satisfying insight into the interactive, communal process of writing oral history.Embry divides the book into three sections. The first section provides a retrospective look at careers spent working in oral history. She describes her experiences at the Redd Center for Western Studies, pointing out the fundamental importance of existing personal ties and the establishment of trust for a successful oral history project. Barbara Allen Bogart compares two oral history projects-her dissertation research into the homesteader past of Fort Rock, Oregon and a project on mining in Evanston, Wyoming-that bookend her oral history career. Laurie Mercier documents her experiences recording women's oral histories in Montana, demonstrating that much can be gleaned from studying the silences in oral history interviews.Section Two includes a series of oral history projects that fill gaps in Western historiography-telling the complex and varied stories of women and minority groups in the twentieth-century West. William Bauer, Jose Alamillo, Clay tee White, and Skott Brandon Vigil document labor in California and the Southwest. Bauer, Alamillo, and Vigil interview Native American and Flispanic farm laborers to document their continued sense of family and community in the face of alienating labor practices. White chronicles the overlooked experiences of African American workers in postwar Las Vegas. Joanne Goodwin, Sandra Mathews, John Sillito, Sarah Langsdon, Marci Farr, and Melanie Newport uncover the untold stories of women's lives in the West. Georgia Wier records the experiences of Japanese families in 1940s Colorado, adding complexity to the story of Japanese dislocation and internment during World War Two. …
Similar neural mechanisms for emotion-induced memory impairment and enhancement

Concerning emotion's influence on memory, the psychologist Henri Pieron observed that “a violent emotion may reinforce memory, and give rise to indelible associations” (1). Our common experience (typically with emotions less intense) also tells us that emotional events tend to be well remembered, and extensive scientific evidence confirms anecdotal observations that emotional arousal can strengthen memory. In the past decade, neuroscience has witnessed a compelling convergence of evidence from human and animal subject studies regarding the neurobiology of emotion-enhanced memory. Key among the neurobiological players so far identified are endogenous stress hormones (in particular, the adrenergic hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine) and an almond-sized structure deep in the medial temporal lobe called the amygdala. The evidence suggests that endogenous stress hormones, released by emotionally arousing events, feed back directly or indirectly to the amygdala to amplify long-term memory storage of the events that induced their release (2). When it comes to memory, however, emotion is a double-edged sword. It may enhance or impair memory, depending on many factors. Even different aspects of a single emotional experience may be retained very well by the memory, or seemingly lost from it entirely. The amnestic potential of emotional arousal has received less attention from neurobiologists than has its memory-enhancing potential. Into this relative void comes a new report by Strange et al. (3) in this issue of PNAS, which combines in a single tour de force psychological, pharmacological, and neuropsychological evidence to implicate, in emotion-induced amnesia, mechanisms similar to those involved with emotion-induced memory enhancement. Strange et al. began by establishing an experimental procedure producing both memory-enhancing and -impairing effects reasonably attributable to emotional arousal. Subjects viewed brief …
Seroconcordant sexual partnerings of HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men.

Objectives: To describe the sexual behaviors of HIV-positive men with their seroconcordant partners and to determine the factors associated with unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in these sexual partnerings. Methods: The data were drawn from the baseline assessment of a randomized controlled intervention study of 1168 HIV-positive men who have sex with men recruited from mainstream gay venues, AIDS service organizations, and public/commercial sex environments. Results: Of the 1168 men, 596 engaged in sexual experiences with other HIV-positive men, and 371 of the 596 (62%) practised UAI with their seroconcordant partners. Those who engaged in UAI expressed less self-evaluation with regard to their unsafe sexual practices, had higher levels of hedonism associated with unsafe sex, and were more likely both to inject recreation drugs and use methamphetamine in particular. Furthermore, these participants expressed less concern with regard to HIV re-infection, infection with other sexually transmitted infections, and the transmission of pathogens causing opportunistic infections. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that at least three sets of factors predispose HIV-positive men to engage in unsafe anal sexual behaviors with their concordant partners: a decreased belief that infection with other pathogens or re-infection with HIV present health problems; less evaluation of sexual activities and behaviors; more hedonistic expectations of sex and higher levels of sexual compulsivity, as well as recreational drug use with and without sex.
FISH diagnosis of the common 57-kb deletion in CTNS causing cystinosis.

Cystinosis is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in CTNS. The most prevalent CTNS mutation, a 57-kb deletion, occurs in ~60% of patients in the United States and northern Europe and removes exons 1–9, most of exon 10, the CTNS promoter region, and all of an adjacent gene of unknown function called CARKL. CTNS codes for the lysosomal cystine transporter, whose absence leads to intracellular cystine accumulation, widespread cellular destruction, renal Fanconi syndrome in infancy, renal glomerular failure in later childhood, and other systemic complications. Because treatment with oral cysteamine can prevent or delay these complications significantly, early and accurate diagnosis is critical. This study describes the generation of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes for the 57-kb deletion in CTNS, enabling cytogenetics laboratories to test for this common mutation. The probes would also be able to detect a less frequent 11.7-kb deletion. A blinded study was performed using multiplex PCR analysis as the gold standard to determine the presence or absence of the 57-kb deletion. The FISH probes, evaluated on 12 lymphoblastoid cell lines from singly deleted, doubly deleted, and nondeleted patients, made the correct diagnosis in every case. This appears to be the first FISH-based diagnostic method described for any lysosomal storage disorder. It can assist in the antenatal and perinatal diagnosis of cystinosis and promote earlier salutary therapy with cysteamine.
Chronic cough due to gastroesophageal reflux disease: efficacy of antireflux surgery.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can be overlooked as the cause of chronic cough (CC) when typical gastrointestinal symptoms are absent or minimal. We analyzed the outcomes of Nissen fundoplication (NF) for patients who failed medical therapy for CC attributable only to GERD (G-CC). We performed a prospective outcome evaluation of 21 consecutive patients with G-CC undergoing NF from 1997 to 2000 at a tertiary care university hospital. Twenty-one patients without prior antireflux surgeries had G-CC diagnosed by a clinical profile and 24-h pH monitoring showing a cough-reflux correlation. Respiratory symptoms alone were present in 53% of patients. NF was performed when G-CC persisted despite intensive medical therapy, including an antireflux diet. Preoperatively, all patients underwent 24-h pH monitoring, esophageal manometry, barium swallow, gastric emptying study, bronchoscopy, and upper endoscopy. NF was utilized in all cases, laparoscopically in 18. Before and after surgery, patients graded their cough severity using the Adverse Cough Outcome Survey (ACOS). Quality of life was measured using the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Postoperatively, 18 patients (86%) reported an improvement of their cough. G-CC considerably improved in 16/21 patients (76%), with complete resolution in 13 patients (62%). Mild to moderate improvement was found in 2 patients (10%). Patient-reported cough severity (ACOS) and quality of life (SIP) both significantly improved early (6–12 weeks) postoperatively and persisted during the long-term (1 year) follow-up. The average hospital length of stay was 1.78±0.2 (1–4) days for the laparoscopic (n=18) and 6.3±1.2 (4–8) days for the open surgery (n=3) groups. Twenty-four-hour esophageal pH monitoring is a valuable tool for preoperative cough—reflux correlation. Antireflux surgery is effective in carefully selected patients whose refractory CC is attributable only to GERD. NF controls the severity of cough while improving the quality of life. Outcomes are further enhanced using laparoscopic procedures with shorter hospital stays.
A comparative study of brown adipose tissue oxidative metabolism among temperature-acclimated spermophilus lateralis, spermophilus tereticaudus and Amnospermophilus leucurus.

Abstract 1. 1. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) oxidative enzyme activities levels, mass and protein content were determined for control and heat- and cold-acclimated Spermophilus lateralis, Spermophilus tereticaudus and Amnospermophilus leucurus. 2. 2. S. lateralis and S. tereticaudus respond to prolonged temperature stress by undergoing compensatory changes in oxidative enzyme levels that may facilitate greater nonshivering thermogenesis in the cold and increased chemical thermosuppresion in the heat. 3. 3. S. tereticaudus and A. leucurus , but not S. lateralis , showed significant changed in BAT mass. 4. 4. S. tereticaudus and S. lateralis , but not A. leucurus , showed significant changes in protein per g BAT. 5. 5. The similarity of BAT enzymatic responses between S. lateralis and S. tereticaudus and dissimilarity of the BAT response of A. leucurus suggest an intrinsic physiological difference between hibernators and non-hibernators rather than between desert and mountain species.
Cystogenesis and elongated primary cilia in Tsc1-deficient distal convoluted tubules

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multiorgan hamartomatous disease caused by loss of function mutations of either the TSC1 or TSC2 genes. Neurological symptoms of TSC predominate in younger patients, but renal pathologies are a serious aspect of the disease in older children and adults. To study TSC pathogenesis in the kidney, we inactivated the mouse Tsc1 gene in the distal convoluted tubules (DCT). At young ages, Tsc1 conditional knockout (CKO) mice have enlarged kidneys and mild cystogenesis with increased mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTORC)1 but decreased mTORC2 signaling. Treatment with the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin reduces kidney size and cystogenesis. Rapamycin withdrawal led to massive cystogenesis involving both distal as well as proximal tubules. To assess the contribution of decreased mTORC2 signaling in kidney pathogenesis, we also generated Rictor CKO mice. These animals did not have any detectable kidney pathology. Finally, we examined primary cilia in the DCT. Cilia were longer in Tsc1 CKO mice, and rapamycin treatment returned cilia length to normal. Rictor CKO mice had normal cilia in the DCT. Overall, our findings suggest that loss of the Tsc1 gene in the DCT is sufficient for renal cystogenesis. This cytogenesis appears to be mTORC1 but not mTORC2 dependent. Intriguingly, the mechanism may be cell autonomous as well as non-cell autonomous and possibly involves the length and function of primary cilia.
The generation of omnidirectional circularly polarized far field by a pair of orthogonally oriented vee dipoles

A theoretical investigation of a pair of orthogonally oriented vee dipoles is reported. It is found that it can produce an omnidirectional circularly polarized far-field if the dimensions of the antenna are chosen properly. >
A local version of the Larmor clock

Abstract Buttiker's analysis of the Larmor clock is extended to the local situation in which a uniform transverse magnetic field is confined to an arbitrary part of a barrier. The resulting local characteristic electron-barrier interaction times for transmission and reflection are complex quantities whose real and imaginary parts are measurable, at least in principle. Analytic expressions for the local interaction times of a rectangular barrier are derived and their properties investigated. The effects of a multiple image potential are examined numerically. Quite apart from the question of local interaction times, it is shown that in the tunnelling regime the transverse magnetic field produces significant precession only when it extends to within a decay length κ−1 of either edge of a rectangular barrier.
How Do Capital Markets Influence Product Market Competition

This article is the written version of the author's keynotepresentation to the inaugural International IndustrialOrganization Conference held in Boston on April 4–5, 2003.It summarizes selectively a literature on the interaction betweenthe capital and product markets at the nexus of industrialorganization and corporate finance, and develops two key insights.First, capital market constraints on an individual firm aredetermined at the level of the industry and depend on productmarket competition. Second, capital markets constrain the productstrategy of firms and thereby influence product market performance.
Economic and Outcomes Aspects of Venous Thromboembolic Disease.

Critically ill patients clearly face an increased risk for developing venous thromboembolic disease (VTE). Upon admission, all critical care patients should be immediately assessed for and prescribed VTE prophylaxis as it can significantly reduce VTE occurrence, its potential sequelae,and costs associated with VTE treatment. The financial burden associated with VTE is substantial. Longer ICU and hospital lengths of stay, pharmacy costs, and further outpatient management all contribute considerably to the economic burden of disease. The importance of this healthcare issue should motivate hospital administrators and physicians to systematically initiate thromboprophylaxis in all ICU patients.
A new look at Fresnel field computation using the Jacobi-Bessel series

Many useful applications exist for the efficient computation of Fresnel and near zone fields of large antennas. Even small antennas in beam waveguide systems must be evaluated in the Fresnel zone. Far zone fields computed from measured near zone measurements can be verified by both the measurement and the computation of the Fresnel zone fields. The authors start with the premise that the far field has been computed by a Jacobi-Bessel series. These results are used then to determine the higher order terms of a Barrar-Kay 1/R^{p} expansion of the fields. The leading term of the 1/R^{p} series is the far zone field. Classically, the higher order terms are found by repetitive differentiation, a laborious and often inaccurate procedure particularly since the 1/R^{P} series is slowly convergent-as D^{2}/R ( D is the diameter of antenna source). The approach of the authors via the Jacobi-Bessel 1/R^{P} series determines the higher order terms by simple algebraic recursion. The only restriction on the method is that it be used within the range of validity of the Fresnel small angle (FSA) approximation. However, since the Fresnel approximation is a second order approximation in terms of ( D/R ), the range of validity is quite large. This is demonstrated in detail. The method is applicable to reflector as well as aperture field sources.
Excessive serum levels of A and H substances in a patient with gastric carcinoma.

An elderly female patient with gastric carcinoma was found to have excessive amounts of both A and H activity in her serum. Serum A activity actually neutralized anti-A typing reagents. Immunofluorescence demonstrated both A and H in the cytoplasm of tumor cells thereby suggesting that the tumor was at least in part responsible for the elevated serum levels of blood group substances.
Contribution of haemolysis to jaundice in Sephardic Jewish glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient neonates

We determined the contribution of haemolysis to the development of hyperbilirubinaemia in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficient neonates and G-6-PD normal controls. Blood carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb), sampled on the third day of life, was measured by gas chromatography, corrected for inhaled carbon monoxide (COHbC), and expressed as a percentage of total haemoglobin concentration (Hb). Serum bilirubin was tested as clinically necessary. 37 non-jaundiced (peak serum total bilirubin (PSTB) or = 257 mumol/l) G-6-PD-deficient neonates were compared to 31 non-jaundiced and 24 jaundiced controls with comparable PSTB values, respectively. COHbC values for the entire G-6-PD deficient group were higher than in the controls (0.75 +/- 0.17% v 0.62 +/- 0.19%, P 0.05) but did in the controls (r = 0.58, P < 0.001). COHbC values were increased to a similar extent in the G-6-PD-deficient, non-jaundiced (0.72 +/- 0.16%), the G-6-PD-deficient, jaundiced (0.80 +/- 0.19%) and the control, jaundiced (0.75 +/- 0.18%) subgroups, compared to the control, non-jaundiced subgroup (0.53 +/- 0.13%) (P < 0.05). Although present in G-6-PD deficient neonates, increased haemolysis was not directly related to the PSTB.
On solutions of some unsteady flows over a continuous, moving, porous flat surface

Abstract A singular perturbation solution for hydromagnetic boundary-layer flow over a continuously moving surface with large suction is obtained and compared with its exact solution. Also, the solutions are obtained for finite and large values of t (time) and for various asymptotic cases. Flow of this type represents a new class of boundary-layer problems, with solutions substantially different from those for boundary-layer flow on a flat surface of finite length. Surprisingly, the inner solution of the problem is valid even in the outer region, and the effect of magnetic field on the flow field is almost negligible. Furthermore, it is shown that a straightforward perturbation expansion valid for all t (time) and y (space coordinate), for small suction, is not possible because of the infinite condition On y.
Effects of diet and exercise training on thermogenesis in adult female rats

The effects of a cafeteria diet on body weight gain, food intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the thermic effect of food (TEF) were compared in female Charles River albino rats that were either sedentary or exercise-trained. The food intakes of the exercise-trained rats on the cafeteria diet were increased to the same degree as those of the sedentary rats, however, they gained less body weight and body fat than sedentary controls. The exercise training increased RMR independent of diet, but differentially increased TEF in rats given the cafeteria diet. Conversely, sedentary rats on the cafeteria diet had significantly lower RMR, but their TEF were not different from control animals on lab chow. Thus, in addition to the direct cost of the exercise, training increased thermogenesis (RMR and TEF) which also helped prevent the dietary obesity which normally occurs with cafeteria diets.
Oral mucosal ulceration in systemic lupus erythematosus

In 182 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), oral mucosal ulceration occurred in 47 patients (26%), was usually painless (82%), and most often involved the hard palate (89%). Oral ulceration was associated with an increase in overall clinical activity, although this was not accompanied by significant changes in the levels or titers of C3, anti-DNA antibodies, and anti-nuclear antibodies. Necrotizing vasculitis was not observed. Microscopic changes were similar to the skin lesions of SLE and immunoglobulin and complement were found in both the basement membrane and blood vessel walls.
Candoshi and Cocamilla Swiddens in Eastern Peru

Candoshi sharply defined crop zonation and other farming practices are examined and compared with neighboring dissimilar Cocamilla practices and patterns. The comparison indicates that the Candoshi swiddens are probably more typical of aboriginal swiddens in the region than are the Cocamilla swiddens. Candoshi gardens may better be understood as a sophisticated response to microenvironmental conditions, specific plant needs, and equatorial rainfall patterns than as replicas of the tropical forest.
Optimized inquiry mechanisms for Bluetooth devices

In this paper, we propose a simple and practical scheme for optimization the inquiry process in Bluetooth standards in order to achieve fast, reliable and controlled responses. We show how the inquiry process is related to clock setting in Bluetooth devices and how clock optimization could be used to shorten the inquiry process time. Theoretical analysis and simulation results shows the efficiency of the proposed optimized scheme. We also develop a traffic transportation application, i.e. speed measurement, as an example of many applications where this scheme could benefit. Results show how the proposed optimized scheme outperforms in comparison with others.
Abnormal serum growth hormone responses in genetically potential-diabetic male patients with normal oral glucose tolerance: evidence for an insulin-like action of growth hormone in vivo.

Serum growth hormone, immunoreactive insulin, plasma fatty free acids and blood sugar were measured during oral glucose, cortisone primed oral glucose and intravenous glucose tolerance tets and during intravenous tolbutamide test in 25 normal and 24 potential diabetic (offspring of two diabetic parents) males, closely matched for weight and age. Only potential diabetics with normal blood sugar levels during the oral, cortisone-primed and intravenous glucose tolerance tests were selected for study.-Mean serum, growth hormone concentrations were significantly higher in the potential diabetic group at one or more intervals in each of the tests. The potential diabetic group showed a paradoxical rise in growth hormone during the first 60 min of the oral glucose tolerance test and to a less marked degree in the cortisone-primed oral glucose tolerance test.-Serum insulin was significantly reduced in these potential diabetics (who had been selected for their normal carbohydrate tolerance) during the oral, cortisone-primed and intravenous glucose tolerance test but not during the tolbutamide test. The presence of normal blood sugar responses and reduced insulin levels suggested increased sensitivity to endogenous insulin in the potential diabetic group, despite elevations in serum growth hormone.-Abnormal growth hormone responses occurred in 50% of the potential-diabetic group and an abnormal response in one test was usually associated with abnormal responses in each of the other types of tests.-When the potentialdiabetics were subdivided into those with (‘responders’) and those without (‘non-responders’) an abnormal growth hormone response, it was the ‘responders’ who as a group showed increased sensitivity to endogenous insulin. Thus the abnormal growth hormone responses observed appeared to be associated with acute insulin-like effects, rather than the more usual diabetogenic action of growth hormone.
Computer design of open pit slope and design of reinforcement for planar failure

ABSTRACT This paper describes a computer program for design of open pit slopes under variable degrees of water saturation, and its reinforcement for planar failure conditions. Relationships between the static and dynamic slope factor of safety, the potential failure angle and the optimum angle of the reinforcing elements to the horizontal for conditions before and after the installation of reinforcements are analyzed. Solution to the design of passive (or untightened) and active (or tightened) reinforcement for static and dynamic conditions of the open pit slopes are addressed. Based on the slope conditions and tensile strengths of the reinforcing materials, design specifications such as: diameter, length, number, and spacings between the reinforcing elements are given as design charts.
Enhanced purification of fetal liver hematopoietic stem cells using SLAM family receptors

Although adult mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been purified to near homogeneity, it remains impossible to achieve this with fetal HSCs. Adult HSC purity recently has been enhanced using the SLAM family receptors CD150, CD244, and CD48. These markers are expressed at different stages of the hematopoiesis hierarchy, making it possible to highly purify adult HSCs as CD150+CD48–CD244– cells. We found that SLAM family receptors exhibited a similar expression pattern in fetal liver. Fetal liver HSCs were CD150+CD48–CD244–, and the vast majority of colony-forming progenitors were CD48+CD244–CD150– or CD48+CD244+CD150–, just as in adult bone marrow. SLAM family markers enhanced the purification of fetal liver HSCs. Whereas 1 (11%) of every 8.9 ThylowSca-1+lineage–Mac-1+ fetal liver cells gave long-term multilineage reconstitution in irradiated mice, 1 (18%) of every 5.7 CD150+CD48–CD41– cells and 1 (37%) of every 2.7 CD150+CD48–Sca-1+lineage–Mac-1+ fetal liver cells gave long-term multilineage reconstitution. These data emphasize the robustness with which SLAM family markers distinguish progenitors at different stages of the hematopoiesis hierarchy and enhance the purification of definitive HSCs from diverse contexts. Nonetheless, CD150, CD244, and CD48 are not pan-stem cell markers, as they were not detectably expressed by stem cells in the fetal or adult nervous system.
Item-level tagging sees more tags: Analyzing the performance of EPC Gen-2 protocol in large-scale RFID systems

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) system is a highly sought-after technology prominently used in the automation, logistics, and supply-chain industries. EPC Gen-2 is the current standard RFID air-interface protocol in the industry. Underlying this standard is the Q-adaptive MAC protocol, which is used to identify and read the tags, by stochastically arranging them over time. The Q-adaptive protocol's performance is sensitive to the number of tags placed under the vicinity of the reader. With the current era of ‘item-level tagging’ witnessing an increased number of tags in a given area; mathematically understanding the performance of the protocol in these large-scale RFID systems becomes essential. Recent works have established the importance of the Q-adaptive protocol, by analyzing its performance with the help of Markov-chain models. However, these analyses suffer from the common ‘state-space explosion’ problem, as the state-space increases quadratically with an increasing number of participating tags. Hence it is essential to come up with a scalable analysis, whose computation model is insensitive to the number of tags. To this end, in this paper, we propose a scalable bound-based solution to study the delay performance of Q-adaptive protocol. We derive the delay bound by exploiting the fact that, in the large number of tags regime, the Q-adaptive protocol rapidly reaches to theoretical maximum performance and stays reasonably close in that optimal region for most of the time. Our extensive simulation results validate our bound-based solution with reasonable accuracy.
High Precision Wide-Field Sensing with Individual Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond

We demonstrate a microscopy technique for precision sensing across a wide field of view with high spatial precision through pulsed electron spin resonance of nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond.
Microscopic two-baryon dynamics and the (p, π) reaction

A theory of the (p, π) reaction is presented within the framework of the isobar-doorway model. The theory makes formal contact with both one-nucleon and two-nucleon models of the reaction mechanism, but avoids many of the consistency problems or approximations made in practical calculations within the latter two models. The present calculations for 12C(p, π+)13Cg.s at 200 MeV, which include the main features of the theory except non-local delta propagation, are presented for testing model sensitivities and checking approximations, as well as comparison to data.
Nerve growth factor accelerates wound healing in diabetic mice

We have previously shown that the expression of collagenase mRNA and activity are suppressed in fibroblasts derived from postburn hypertrophic scar. Although it is known that differential synthesis of collagen and collagenase in postburn hypertrophic scar is one of the main reasons for the excessive accumulation of collagen, it is not clear why the expression of collagenase in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts is suppressed relative to that in normal fibroblasts. In this study, we hypothesized that dermal fibroblasts from deeper layers of skin, which normally migrate toward the wound site, have a different capacity to express key extracellular matrix proteins such as collagenase and types I and III procollagen. To test this hypothesis, we established four different pairs of hypertrophic and site-matched normal cell strains from four different patients with postburn hypertrophic scarring. In another set of experiments, ten different cell strains from two normal human skin samples that were horizontally sectioned into five different layers (layers 1-5 correspond to upper to deeper layers, respectively) were established in culture. Cells at the same passages were harvested, total RNA was extracted, and Northern analysis was conducted to determine the level of collagenase and types I and III procollagen mRNA expression in each cell strain. The results of Northern blot analysis showed two transcripts each for the pro alpha1(I) collagen chain (5.8 and 4.8 kb) and for the pro alpha1(III) collagen chain (5.4 and 4.8 kb) in all cell strains examined. The intensity of the pro alpha1(I) chain of type I procollagen mRNA varied, ranging from 50.8 to 137.1 and 44.4 to 131.5 densitometry units among either normal or hypertrophic scar cells examined, respectively. Similarly, the relative quantity of type III procollagen transcript also varied, ranging from 10.4 to 91.1 and 28.7 to 116.1 among normal and hypertrophic scar cells, respectively. When five different skin layers from each tissue sample were evaluated for functional cell heterogeneity, the results showed a marked variation in expression of mRNA for type I and III procollagen. Although the level of collagenase mRNA also varied among different cell strains examined, the expression of collagenase mRNA was lower in fibroblasts derived from deeper layers of each skin sample. In conclusion, cells from different layers of normal skin samples are heterogeneous in their constitutive expression of some key extracellular matrix components such as collagenase and types I and III procollagen.
A method for the sequential colorimetric determination of serum triglycerides and cholesterol

A simple spectrophotometric method for the sequential determination of triglycerides and cholesterol from a single serum sample was developed. In this two-stage procedure, the triglycerides and cholesterol esters are first hydrolysed to glycerol and free cholesterol respectively, with simultaneous scavenging of the liberated free fatty acids, a technique that ensures clarity of the sample. The glycerol is subsequently reacted to result in an intense red chromogen with a peak absorption maximum at 510 nm following a series of enzymic reactions. In the second stage, addition of cholesterol oxidase leads to oxidation of free cholesterol generated from the cholesterol esters in the first stage and the free cholesterol normally present in the sample, yielding in a similar fashion the identical red chromogen whose absorbance is also measured at 510 nm. Results obtained with the proposed method demonstrate good correlation with established individual procedures for triglycerides and cholesterol.
Lyophilized Silk Sponges: A Versatile Biomaterial Platform for Soft Tissue Engineering.

We present a silk biomaterial platform with highly tunable mechanical and degradation properties for engineering and regeneration of soft tissues such as, skin, adipose, and neural tissue, with elasticity properties in the kilopascal range. Lyophilized silk sponges were prepared under different process conditions and the effect of silk molecular weight, concentration and crystallinity on 3D scaffold formation, structural integrity, morphology, mechanical and degradation properties, and cell interactions in vitro and in vivo were studied. Tuning the molecular weight distribution (via degumming time) of silk allowed the formation of stable, highly porous, 3D scaffolds that held form with silk concentrations as low as 0.5% wt/v. Mechanical properties were a function of silk concentration and scaffold degradation was driven by beta-sheet content. Lyophilized silk sponges supported the adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells throughout 3D scaffolds, cell proliferation in vitro, and cell infiltration and scaffold re...
Growth and vacillation cycles of disturbances in southern-hemisphere flows

Abstract The nonlinear interaction of initial single zonal wavenumber small-amplitude waves with Southern Hemisphere zonal flows characteristic of January and May is studied in a multilevel primitive equation spectral model with spherical geometry and viscous dissipation. For January, zonal wavenumber 7 and 10 waves are considered which occlude after a period of 8-10 days of almost exponential growth, with growth rates comparable with linear theory. Thereafter the eddy kinetic energy and wave structures vacillate with large-amplitude variations. Similar vacillations of the maximum mean zonal wind and temperature occur with the vertical shear considerably reduced as the flow becomes increasingly barotropic with the lower layers spinning up to a maximum speed comparable with that at the original jet center. As the waves amplify, their structures and poleward heat fluxes penetrate increasingly into the troposphere so that at the first peak in the vacillation cycle the streamfunction with dominant zonal waven...
HSV-1 therapy of primary tumors reduces the number of metastases in an immune-competent model of metastatic breast cancer

Abstract The HSV-1 1716 mutant virus and similar oncolytic herpesviruses deficient in the γ34.5 neurovirulence gene are able to reduce the growth of tumors in mice. Here we demonstrate that HSV-1 1716 therapy moderately reduced the growth of tumors of the highly malignant, spontaneously metastasizing 4T1 mouse mammary carcinoma model. This moderate effect on 4T1 tumor growth was likely due to poor replication kinetics of HSV-1 1716 in 4T1 cells. Interestingly, HSV-1 therapy of the primary tumor increased the survival time of mice. Coincident with this increase was a reduction in metastases as determined by quantification of the number of metastatic cells in the lungs. HSV-1 therapy of the primary tumor was also able to reduce the establishment of a second challenge of 4T1 tumors. Moreover, infiltrates of both CD4 + and CD8 + T cells were detected in HSV-1 1716-treated tumors. An important role for the T cell infiltrates was confirmed when HSV-1 therapy did not reduce the growth of 4T1 tumors in SCID mice. Collectively, these results demonstrate that an HSV-dependent anti-tumor immune response is required for the reduction in primary 4T1 tumor growth and for the reduction in the establishment of metastases in this tumor model.
Iterative live wire and live snake: new user-steered 3D image segmentation paradigms

During any image segmentation process, two distinct tasks are performed - recognition and delineation. Recognition consists of the searching phase which roughly identifies a particular object of interest among other neighboring structures present in the image. Delineation consists of precisely defining the spatial extent of the object region. Well designed interactive segmentation methods, such as live wire (LW) and snakes, exploit the synergy between the user knowledge (for recognition) and the underlying computer processing done automatically (for delineation). We present in this paper two new methods, referred to as iterative live wire and live snake, for interactive 3D segmentation of medical images. In both methods, the segmentation initiated by the LW or snake method is propagated under user control to subsequent slices by projecting the anchor points. In iterative LW (ILW), the LW segments are iteratively updated in the new slice by selecting the mid points of previous LW segments as new anchor points. In live snake (LS), the snake method is first applied in the new slice for the projected anchor points and ended with an application of ILW. The methods have been evaluated on 30 3D MRI data sets of the breast. The results indicate that, on average, far fewer number of user interventions during segmentation and anchor point specification are needed by using the new methods than by using snakes propagation or live wire. The ILW segmentations are slightly more accurate, with statistical significance (P<0.01), than LS segmentations, and the former are more efficient than the latter (P<0.03), both being more efficient than pure live wire and snake methods.
Psychological Distress of Children and Mothers in Domestic Violence Emergency Shelters

Abused mothers and their school-aged children who recently entered domestic violence emergency shelters were assessed by individual interview and psychometric measures. Children had positiveviews of the shelter residence. Mothers and children reported high-quality relationships with eachother. Children came from highly violent homes, and the majority had attempted to intervene in theinteradult violence. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted on child PTSD symptoms, child behavior problems, and maternal depression, anxiety, and anger. Child PTSD symptoms were associated with amount of physical violence. Child behavioral problems were related to mother anxiety andanger. The predictors of maternal emotional distress varied. Depression was associated with sexualabuse, child physical intervention, and quality of mother–child relationship; anxiety was related to witnessing child abuse, child age, and child internalizing behaviors; anger was associated with abuse-related injuries, violence frequency, and child internalizing behaviors. Augmentationof shelter-based interventions for children's trauma, maternal emotional distress, and parenting are discussed.
Intraoperative diagnosis of tanycytic ependymoma: Pitfalls and differential diagnosis

Smear preparations have become increasingly popular in the intraoperative assessment of central nervous system pathology. The cytological features of a histologically proven tanycytic ependymoma are presented with the pitfalls and differential diagnosis. The smear preparation showed a glial neoplasm composed of cells with long, bipolar glial processes and oval to spindle-shaped nuclei resembling those seen in pilocytic astrocytoma smears. The smear characteristics of an ependymoma usually show remarkably uniform round-to-oval nuclei, fluffy glial processes, and a perivascular nuclear-free zone (pseudorosetting). None of these features were present in our case. The accompanying frozen section showed a fascicular spindle-cell tumor that resembled a schwanomma, a commonly reported misinterpretation of the histology of tanycytic ependymomas on frozen sections. Careful attention to the radiological findings, the surgeon's impression, and the intraoperative smear preparation details should allow one to include this uncommon entity in the differential diagnosis of spinal neoplasms.
FE(II) Is the Native Cofactor for Escherichia coli Methionine Aminopeptidase

Divalent metal ions play a critical role in the removal of N-terminal methionine from nascent proteins by methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP). Being an essential enzyme for bacteria, MetAP is an appealing target for the development of novel antibacterial drugs. Although purified enzyme can be activated by several divalent metal ions, the exact metal ion used by MetAP in cells is unknown. Many MetAP inhibitors are highly potent on purified enzyme, but they fail to show significant inhibition of bacterial growth. One possibility for the failure is a disparity of the metal used in activation of purified MetAP and the metal actually used by MetAP inside bacterial cells. Therefore, the challenge is to elucidate the physiologically relevant metal for MetAP and discover MetAP inhibitors that can effectively inhibit cellular MetAP. We have recently discovered MetAP inhibitors with selectivity toward different metalloforms of Escherichia coli MetAP, and with these unique inhibitors, we characterized their inhibition of MetAP enzyme activity in a cellular environment. We observed that only inhibitors that are selective for the Fe(II)-form of MetAP were potent in this assay. Further, we found that only these Fe(II)-form selective inhibitors showed significant inhibition of growth of five E. coli strains and two Bacillus strains. We confirmed their cellular target as MetAP by analysis of N-terminal processed and unprocessed recombinant glutathione S-transferase proteins. Therefore, we conclude that Fe(II) is the likely metal used by MetAP in E. coli and other bacterial cells.
UPPER|[sol]|LOWER BODY GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION DIFFERENCES WITH ADVANCING GESTATION

Glucose levels in arterial blood reaching the fetal upper body are greater than in blood supplying the lower body(J Devlop Physiol 6:431, 1984). Since fetal body proportions change towards term, we evaluated whether distribution of glucose within the fetus changes. 13 sheep were prepared at 103-128 days, with maternal arterial(MA), and fetal carotid(CA), femoral arterial(FA)and umbilical venous(UV)catheters. Studies were done at 110 to 142 days on healthy fetuses(FA>pH 7.301, ≥3 days postop and ≥ 2 days before delivery. Whole blood, simultaneously drawn from all vessels, was analyzed for glucose and O2 content. Glucose was 35% lower in older animals, due to lower MA levels(58.5 ±1.8mg/dl at 110-119 days vs 53.4±0.8 at>130, p FA in all studies. While the absolute CA-FA fell, the % difference between vessels was stable af∼10%. In contrast, there was no change in fetal O2 content in any vessel nor in the CA-FA O2 difference;CA O2 was 6.23±0.32ml/dl(n=12)at 110-119 vs 5.77 0.50 at> 130 days and CA-FA for O2 was 0.90±0.76ml/dl(n=12)at 110-119 vs 1.16±0.62 at 130. We conclude:the proportional distribution of glucose is stable over the third trimester, but changes in UV glucose will alter the absolute CA-FA difference.