cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Subacute treatment of carprofen facilitate splenocardiac resolution deficit in cardiac injury.

Inflammation-limiting nonsteroidal pain relievers magnify myocardial infarction (MI) incidences and increase re-admission events in heart failure (HF) patients. However, the molecular and cellular mechanism of this provocative adverse effect is unclear. Our goal was to determine whether carprofen (CAP) impedes splenic leukocyte-directed acute inflammation-resolving response in cardiac injury. After subacute CAP treatment, mice were subjected to permanent coronary ligation maintaining MI- and naive-controls. Spleen and left ventricle (LV) leukocytes were quantitated using flow cytometry pre- and 24 h post-MI. The inflammation resolution mediators were quantified using mass spectrometry while splenocardiac apoptosis and leukocyte phagocytosis were measured by immunofluorescence and ImageStream, respectively. Subacute CAP treatment promoted strain and cardiac dysfunction before MI and coronary occlusion showed signs of acute HF in CAP and MI-controls. Subacute CAP-injected mice had pre-activated splenic neutrophils, an over activated "don't eat me" signal (CD47) with reduced total Mϕs (F4/80+ ) and reparative Mϕs (F4/80/Ly6Clo /CD206) compared with control in LV and spleen. Post-MI, CAP pre-activated neutrophils (Ly6G+ ) were intensified and reduced reparative neutrophils (Ly6G+ /CD206+ ) and Mϕs (F4/80/Ly6Clo ) in LV was indicative of non-resolving inflammation compared with MI-control. Subacute CAP treatment deferred neutrophil phagocytosis functions in the spleen and LV and was more evident post-MI compared with MI-control. CAP pre-activated splenic neutrophils that tailored the Mϕ phagocytosis thereby increased splenocardiac leukocyte death. CAP over amplified COX-1 and COX-2 compared with MI-control and failed to limit prostaglandins and thromboxane in post-MI setting. Further, CAP reduced cardiac-protective epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and over amplified pyrogenic inflammatory cytokines and reduced reparative cytokines, thereby non-resolving inflammation.
Replication of Resting State-Task Network Correspondence and Novel Findings on Brain Network Activation During Task fMRI in the Human Connectome Project Study

There have been many recent reports highlighting a crisis in replication and reliability of research in psychology, neuroscience, and neuroimaging. After a series of reports uncovered various methodological problems with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research, considerable attention has been given to principles and practices to improve reproducibility of neuroimaging findings, including promotion of openness, transparency, and data sharing. However, much less attention has been given to use of open access neuroimaging datasets to conduct replication studies. A major barrier to reproducing neuroimaging studies is their high cost, in money and labor, and utilizing such datasets is an obvious solution for breaking down this barrier. The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is an open access dataset consisting of extensive neurological, behavioral, and genetics assessments and neuroimaging data from over 1,100 individuals. In the present study, findings supporting the replication of a highly cited neuroimaging study that showed correspondence between resting state and task brain networks, and novel findings on activation of brain networks during task performance that arose with this exercise are presented as a demonstration of use of the HCP for replication studies.
The Truly Advantaged: Examining the Effects of Privileged Places on Educational Attainment

Inspired by William J. Wilson’s The Truly Disadvantaged, hundreds of studies have focused on the detrimental effects of disadvantaged neighborhoods. Consequently, far less is known about the contex...
Disputes, debates, dialogue, and dodgers

At the beginning of 2018, Neurology underwent a redesign, including an overhaul of the Disputes & Debates section, formerly known as WriteClick. In addition to the more descriptive section name, rapid online correspondence found a more intuitive location on the website and the Editors' choice issue section became more robust, with an in-depth Editors' commentary for each article discussion. We now seek continued growth of participation from readers and authors.
Simple Laboratory Test Utilization Interventions to Reduce Inappropriate Specialty Coagulation Testing

Objectives The naming convention in coagulation may cause confusion in electronic ordering systems, leading to inappropriate test orders. We implemented test utilization efforts and studied utilization before and after interventions for two specialty coagulation assays. Methods Two interventions were implemented: test names were changed from factor assay to activity, and residents reviewed all factor V and X requests. A retrospective review of factor V and X activity orders was performed for the period 1 year before and after interventions. Results After interventions, factor V and X activity orders decreased by approximately 40%. Resulted tests decreased by 53.8% and 47.8%, corresponding to reductions of $2,493.05 and $1,867.80 per year in laboratory charges for factor V and factor X activity, respectively. Abnormal factor V activity results increased from 45% to 59%. Factor V activity orders from outpatient clinics decreased by 21.6%. Conclusions Simple interventions can reduce inappropriate specialty coagulation test orders and unnecessary costs.
Withaferin A ameliorates ovarian cancer-induced cachexia and proinflammatory signaling.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths amongst women in the United States. Cachexia is the primary cause of death in approximately 30% of cancer patients, and is often evidenced in ovarian cancer patients. We tested the steroidal lactone Withaferin A to examine if it could ameliorate ovarian cancer-induced cachexia. Six-week-old severely immunodeficient female mice were xenografted with the ovarian cancer cell line A2780 followed by treatment with Withaferin A or vehicle. Changes in functional grip strength were assessed on a weekly basis. Postmortem, H&E staining was performed on skeletal muscle sections and immunofluorescent immunohistochemistry was performed on skeletal muscle and tumor sections. The levels of NF-κB-related proinflammatory cytokines were assessed in the xenografted tumors and in resident host skeletal muscle. Xenografting of the A2780 cell line resulted in a significant rate of mortality, which was attenuated by a therapeutic dosage of Withaferin A. Mice that received vehicle treatment following xenografting exhibited functional muscle decline over the course of the study. The therapeutic dosage Withaferin A treatment attenuated this reduction in grip strength, whereas the supratherapeutic dosage of Withaferin A was found to be toxic/lethal and demonstrated a further decline in functional muscle strength and an increased rate of mortality on par with vehicle treatment. At a histological level, the vehicle treated tumor-bearing mice exhibited a profound reduction in myofibrillar cross-sectional area compared to the vehicle treated tumor-free control group. The atrophic changes induced by the xenografted tumor were significantly ameliorated by treatment with Withaferin A. The combination of functional muscle weakening and induction of myofibrillar atrophy corroborate a cachectic phenotype, which was functionally rescued by Withaferin A. Further, treatment completely abolished the slow-to-fast myofiber type conversion observed in the settings of cancer-induced cachexia. In both host resident skeletal muscle and the xenografted tumors, we report an increase in NF-κB-related proinflammatory cytokines that was reversed by Withaferin A treatment. Finally, we demonstrated that Withaferin A significantly downregulates cytosolic and nuclear levels of phospho-p65, the active canonical NF-κB transcription factor, in xenografted tumors. Cumulatively, our results demonstrate a previously overlooked role of Withaferin A in a xenograft model of ovarian cancer. We propose mechanisms by which Withaferin A reduces NF-κB-dependent pro-inflammatory cytokine production leading to an attenuation of the cachectic phenotype in an i.p. xenograft model of ovarian cancer.
Examining the Association between Severity of Child Neglect and Quality of Parenting

Child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment (CM) in the U.S. and is consistently associated with negative outcomes for children. Although some research suggests that differences in parenting exist across the spectrum of maltreatment severity, little is known about whether and how severity of neglect relates to observed parenting quality. The present study tested whether mothers who engage in documented, higher severity neglect of their children would display less warm, affiliative parenting, and more harsh, controlling parenting while interacting with their preschool child, than less severely neglectful mothers, and non-CM mothers. A sample of 121 mother-preschooler dyads [low severity neglect (n = 29), high severity neglect (n = 40), and non-CM (n = 52)] participated, and parenting behaviors were coded during a joint laboratory challenge task. This study explored associations between severity of child neglect perpetration through coding of child protective services case records; and quality of observed parenting, using observational, micro-social coding of parenting behaviors. Regression analyses showed that high severity neglecting mothers displayed significantly less warm, affiliative parenting than lower severity neglecting and non-CM mothers, and more harsh, controlling parenting relative to their non-CM peers. Further, there were no differences between low severity neglect and non-CM mothers in the amount of warm, affiliative parenting observed. These findings advance our understanding of child neglect by revealing important differences in quality of observed parenting across the spectrum of neglect severity. Implications for conceptualizing child neglect and targeted intervention strategies are discussed.
Abstract 14192: Breakfast Consumption is Associated With Weight Loss During an Intensive Lifestyle Intervention for Adults With Overweight/Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: Results From the Look AHEAD Trial

Background: Breakfast skipping is linked to obesity and related cardiometabolic outcomes in observational studies, but the association between breakfast eating and weight loss is not well-establish...
More Numbers, Less Problems: Analysts’ Use of Tax-Related XBRL Data for ETR Forecasting

This study examines the relation between the volume of tax-related reported numbers in firms’ financial statements and analysts’ effective tax rate (ETR) forecast errors and dispersion. I quantify the volume of tax-related numbers in the entirety of the financial statements, including Item 8 and the notes to the financial statements, by using newly available tax-related XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) tagged numbers. I provide evidence that the amount of tax-related numbers in the Form 10-K is negatively associated with analysts’ ETR forecast errors and dispersion, consistent with analysts effectively processing and interpreting an increasing volume of reported tax information. I also find that firm disclosure choice of standard versus non-standard tax information affects the way analysts are able to accurately use this information. Additionally, my results suggest that the volume of specific categories of tax-related XBRL tags is directly related to a non-GAAP metric known as the ETR exclusion, and that the categories of XBRL data provide tax detail beyond what is currently available in commercial databases. Finally, I present evidence that the tax-related XBRL numbers are incrementally beneficial to analysts when the firm has a complex tax rate. My findings provide valuable insights and context for a new measure that can capture the impact of tax-related disclosure choices.
Budget Time: A Gender-Based Negotiation Simulation

This article presents a gender-based negotiation simulation designed to make participants aware of gender-based stereotypes and their effect on negotiation outcomes. In this simulation, the current research on gender issues is animated via three role sheets: (a) Vice president (VP), (b) advantaged department head, and (c) disadvantaged department head. While the VP role is the same for everyone, the participants who play the role of department head are unaware that there are two versions of that role. Participants playing either of the department head roles negotiate one-on-one with their VP for an increase in next year’s budget. The participants are purposefully not made aware that the exercise is based on gender issues; thus, both males and females may play any role. Significantly different negotiation results are recorded at the end of the exercise, learning objectives are revealed, and an excellent platform for exploring numerous gender-based issues is in place. The benefits for participants include (a) an enhanced and sophisticated awareness of gender issues in negotiation and (b) prescriptions for mitigating disparate outcomes that are often a function of gender.
The ubiquity of nuclear fission reactors throughout time and space

Abstract The evidence for a natural uranium fission reactor in Oklo, Gabon (Africa) begs the question as to whether this was the only one to have ever occurred on earth or elsewhere. Modern nuclear terminology classifies uranium as highly enriched uranium when the U235 content exceeds 20% which is shown comparable to projecting back ca 4.5e9 yr for terrestrial uranium isotopic abundances. At that time, the natural uranium content of the earth would have been classified as highly enriched uranium. With one verified natural criticality event, more events are postulated both on earth and throughout our galaxy. The latter effect should result in some background contribution to gamma ray burst events placing nuclear reactors as a potentially ubiquitous natural phenomenon.
Computer Vision Aided Beam Tracking in A Real-World Millimeter Wave Deployment

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) communications require beamforming to acquire adequate receive signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). To find the optimal beam, current beam management solutions perform beam training over a large number of beams in pre-defined codebooks. The beam training overhead increases the access latency and can become infeasible for high-mobility applications. To reduce or even eliminate this beam training overhead, we propose to utilize the visual data, captured for example by cameras at the base stations, to guide the beam tracking/refining process. We propose a machine learning (ML) framework, based on an encoder-decoder architecture, that can predict the future beams using the previously obtained visual sensing information. Our proposed approach is evaluated on a large-scale real-world dataset, where it achieves an accuracy of $64.47\%$ (and a normalized receive power of $97.66\%$) in predicting the future beam. This is achieved while requiring less than $1\%$ of the beam training overhead of a corresponding baseline solution that uses a sequence of previous beams to predict the future one. This high performance and low overhead obtained on the real-world dataset demonstrate the potential of the proposed vision-aided beam tracking approach in real-world applications.
Inferenzen bei Ungewißheit in Expertensystemen

Eine empirische Untersuchung zum Problem der Kompatibilitat menschlicher Inferenz bei Ungewisheit mit modellgegebener Inferenz nach verschiedenen Ungewisheitsmodellen wird dargestellt. Inkompatibilitaten konnen einerseits auf kognitive “biases”, andererseits auf kontingente und folglich modifizierbare Modellannahmen zuruckgehen. Implikationen fur den Einsatz in Expertensystemen werden angesprochen.
Neutrality in Nutrition Science: Perspectives for Effective Public-Private Partnerships

The multi-disciplinary nature of nutrition science creates an opportunity to engage diverse partners from various scientific fields and institutions, including private industry. However, the variet...
Frequency, Orthographic Regularity, and Lexical Status in Letter and Word Perception1

Publisher Summary This chapter assessed the role of orthographic structure in the perceptual recognition and the judgment of letter strings. Lexical status, word frequency, bigram frequency, log bigram frequency, and regularity of letter sequencing are varied across a series of seven experiments. Six-letter words and their anagrams are used as test stimuli in a target search task. Words are recognized well than their corresponding equally well-structured anagrams, but word frequency has small and inconsistent effects. Orthographically regular anagrams are recognized better than irregular anagrams, whereas log bigram frequency does not have an effect. The results provide evidence for lexical status, regularity of letter sequencing, and frequency of letter sequencing as important dimensions in the psychologically real description of orthographic structure.
Sulfate-activating enzymes of Penicillium chrysogenum. The ATP sulfurylase.adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate complex does not serve as a substrate for adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate kinase.

Abstract At a noninhibitory steady state concentration of adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS), increasing the concentration of Penicillium chrysogenum ATP sulfurylase drives the rate of the APS kinase-catalyzed reaction toward zero. The result indicates that the ATP sulfurylase.APS complex does not serve as a substrate for APS kinase, i.e. there is no "substrate channeling" of APS between the two sulfate-activating enzymes. APS kinase had no effect on the [S]0.5 values, nH values, or maximum isotope trapping in the single turnover of ATP sulfurylase-bound [35S]APS. Equimolar APS kinase (+/- MgATP or APS) also had no effect on the rate constants for the inactivation of ATP sulfurylase by phenylglyoxal, diethylpyrocarbonate, or N-ethylmaleimide. Similarly, ATP sulfurylase (+/- ligands) had no effect on the inactivation of equimolar APS kinase by trinitrobenzene sulfonate, diethylpyrocarbonate, or heat. (The last promotes the dissociation of dimeric APS kinase to inactive monomers.) ATP sulfurylase also had no effect on the reassociation of APS kinase subunits at low temperature. The cumulative results suggest that the two sulfate activating enzymes do not associate to form a "3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate synthetase" complex.
Churg–Strauss Syndrome

Of all the vasculitides, Churg–Strauss Syndrome (CSS) is one of the least common. Though regarded as an ANCA-associated vasculitis, serologies may be negative in a high proportion of patients. As a systemic disorder, disease presentation may be highly variable. Here we discuss two challenging cases of CSS.
Hopfield energy of the random neural network

Hopfield's seminal work on energy functions for neural networks and other early work has drawn much attention to neural heuristics for combinatorial optimization. These heuristics are often very time consuming, because of the need for randomization or Monte Carlo simulation during the search for solutions. The random neural network (RNN) model has the nice property of being analytically solvable, and therefore computationally fast, so that any application of the model is based on obtaining solutions to a simple system of fixed-point equations. In this paper we first introduce the binary random network model and show that it has a Hopfield energy which it minimizes and which can be used for optimization problems. We illustrate this by the search for heuristic solutions to the minimum node covering problem (MCP) for graphs, which we also then proceed to solve using the full RNN. We then turn to a definition of Hopfield energy for the RNN model, and prove that it is minimized at each fixed-point iteration used in solving the RNN model's equations. This is again illustrated in relation to the MCP. >
Why Advertising Does Not Cause Smoking Initiation

Several charges have been leveled against advertising as the cause of smoking initiation among both young people and adults, but an examination of the relevant literature indicates that advertising is not the cause of smoking initiation. The present study is an examination of the role of advertising in the consumer decision making process generally, and specifically with regard to decisions about smoking.
Teaching children with autism to respond to conversation partners' interest

Successful conversation requires that the speaker's behavior is sensitive to nonvocal listener responses. We observed children with autism spectrum disorder during conversation probes in which a listener periodically displayed nonvocal cues that she was uninterested in the conversation. We used behavioral skills training to teach conversation skills. First, we taught participants to tact nonvocal listener behavior (interested or uninterested), but this was insufficient to improve responding aimed at regaining listener interest. Participants were then taught to ask a question (Experiments 1 and 2) or change the topic (Experiment 2) when the listener was uninterested. Responding persisted over time and with changes in the stimulus conditions. The behavior change was also deemed socially valid by blind observers. In Experiment 3, participants learned to shift to the other trained response when exposed to extinction. This study illustrates a set of procedures for bringing speaker behavior under control of nonvocal listener cues.
Corrigendum to “Continuous unital dilations of completely positive semigroups” [J. Funct. Anal. 269 (4) (2015) 998–1027]

Abstract In the article [1] , I proved the existence of a unital strong dilation for every CP0-semigroup acting on a von Neumann algebra with separable predual. The proof used, without mention, a nontrivial equivalence between two continuity types for completely positive semigroups. The purpose of this corrigendum is to provide the citation that closes the gap.
Optimal Decision Control for Robot with Series Compliance and Bounded Inputs

Position control of a manipulator involves the practical problem of solving the correct inputs to apply to the actuators order to follow a specified trajectory. This paper presents a robotic control scheme that accounts for a realistic model of the arm. This model includes the non-linearities inherent to the arm, the interaction between the drive motor and the arm coupled by harmonic drives and the possible saturation of the actuators. In the control scheme presented, the system is decomposed into two subsystems: the robot subsystem and the drive subsystem. A nonlinear control procedure is used to decouple the outputs of the arm subsystem. The decoupling control is designed so that the output of the robot follows the desired trajectory. The desired motor positions and velocities are obtained through the solution of the interaction equation, between the two subsystems. In order to control the actuators a pointwise optimal control is used. this control law minimizes, at each time, the error between the desired state velocity vector and the actual state vector of the motor subsystem.
College students from families of divorce: keys to their resilience

College students from divorce families are noted for resilience to adjustment problems yet vulnerability to distress. We studied the impact of parental divorce and two personality characteristics (social responsibility and other-direction) on college students' adjustment problems and distress. Participants (N=197) were 105 college students with divorced parents and 92 whose parental marriages were intact. The personality characteristics were measured with the Social Responsibility Scale and the Other-Direction subscale of the Personal Behavior Inventory. Adjustment problems and distress were measured with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Analyses indicated that all three predictor variables (parental divorce, social responsibility, and other-direction) were significantly associated with adjustment problems and distress. Parental divorce, however, was also related to higher social responsibility and lower other-direction, and this combination of personality characteristics was shown to reduce the relationship of divorce to adjustment problems but not to experienced distress. Results are discussed in the context of response to the social demands of college life.
Errors as a result of metal in the near environment when using an electromagnetic locator with freehand three-dimensional echocardiography.

Abstract Background: Quantitative ventriculography by freehand 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography with an acoustic spatial locator has been proven to provide highly accurate reproducible measurements of left ventricular volume, mass, and function. It has been shown to be 2 to 3 times better than conventional 2-dimensional echocardiographic techniques. Although accurate, the acoustic spatial locator uses a spark gap to generate hypersound for locating and is somewhat bulky. The Bird direct current electromagnetic locator (Ascension Technology Corp, Burlington, Vt) is a notable alternative locator for the freehand 3D system because it is small and easily portable. However, conductive metals in the near environment may adversely affect electromagnetic locator accuracy. To determine the feasibility of using the electromagnetic locator in a freehand 3D echocardiographic system in the conventional hospital environment, a series of experiments was carried out assessing the accuracy of such a system under various conditions of exposure to conductive metal. Methods: Using tissue equivalent ellipsoid phantoms of known volumes, we compared volume measurement accuracy of the freehand 3D echocardiographic system equipped with the standard Bird or miniBird electromagnetic locator systems with our freehand acoustic spatial locator 3D echocardiographic system in 3 experiments: (experiment 1) no metal within 30 in (76.2 cm) of the phantoms and electromagnetic locator; (experiment 2) phantoms placed on a standard metal hospital stretcher with conductive metal less than 10 in (25.4 cm) from the phantoms and electromagnetic locator and with the echocardiographic machine greater than 30 in (76.2 cm) from the electromagnetic locator; and (experiment 3) phantoms placed on the same stretcher with conductive metal less than 10 in (25.4 cm) from the phantoms and electromagnetic locator and with the echocardiographic machine in its usual position approximately 10 in (25.4 cm) from the electromagnetic locator. Results: For experiment 1 there was no significant volume error ( P P Conclusion: For quantitative ventriculography by a freehand 3D echocardiographic system, electromagnetic locator systems should not be used if conductive metal is in the near environment ( (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2002;15:731-5.)
Electron beam excitation of the liquid helium surface

Abstract A 25 keV electron beam incident on the surface of liquid helium has been used to excite metastable molecular states in the liquid. The dynamics of the metastables are monitored by detecting the ion pairs created by annihilation at the surface.
Prolongation of QTc interval: relationship with etiology and severity of liver disease, mortality and liver transplantation

Background: A prolonged QTc interval has been reported in patients with liver disease. The objectives of our study were to determine whether a prolonged QTc interval was an independent predictor of mortality in patients with cirrhosis and to examine the effect of liver transplantation (LT) on QTc interval. Patients and methods: We retrospectively studied two cohorts of patients – QTc interval was measured in 409 patients (pre-transplant group), and in 162 patients (transplant group) before and 6 months after LT. QT interval (mean) corrected (QTc) for ventricular rate was read from a 12-lead EKG. Patients with known cardiovascular disease or other risk factors that are known to cause a prolonged QTc interval were excluded. Results: Pre-transplant group. One hundred and sixty-two patients (40%) had a prolonged QTc interval (>440 ms). By binary logistic regression, age (P=0.005), alcoholic cirrhosis (P=0.007) and Child–Pugh scores (P=0.007) were independent predictors of prolonged QTc interval. Sixty-six patients died during a mean follow-up of 8.9 years. Although the Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed a lower survival in patients with a prolonged QTc interval (P=0.03 by log rank test), when survival was adjusted for the Child–Pugh score by Cox regression survival analysis, there were no survival differences in patients with and without prolonged QTc interval. Cox regression analysis showed that the Child–Pugh score (hazard ratio 1.5, CI 1.3–1.6, s<0.001) was the only independent predictor of survival. Transplant group. In this cohort, 91 patients (56%) had prolonged QTc (>440 ms) before LT. Mean QTc improved significantly after LT (429 ± 29 ms vs. 450 ± 39 ms P 440 ms) after LT. Conclusion: A prolonged QTc interval was common in patients with cirrhosis, but its presence had no independent effect on mortality. Prolonged QTc returns to normal values in about half of the patients after LT, suggesting that liver disease plays a role, but may not be the only factor in the pathogenesis of prolonged QTc.
Diurnal variation of phenylpropanolamine anorexia in rats

An examination of the effects of the diurnal cycle on phenylpropanolamine (PPA) anorexia was conducted using two groups of rats, differentiated on the basis of time (Night or Day) of drug injection (0, 10, 20, or 30 mg/kg PPA). The results demonstrate that PPA, over a range of doses, has greater anorectic potency during the dark phase of the diurnal cycle. Moreover, the effect of PPA on water intake was not influenced by the diurnal cycle, suggesting that the diurnal effect was limited to the inhibitory action of PPA on feeding. Other studies are cited which, combined with the present results, suggest that the diurnal cycle may modulate feeding control processes, and that the impact of an anorectic agent such as PPA on feeding behavior may be, in part, a function of the diurnal cycle.
Enhanced polarization in 3He-4He solutions

Abstract It is pointed out that the equilibrium ratio of the nuclear spin polarizations of two 3 He systems in contact is proportional to the ratio of their volume susceptibilities and inversely proportional to the ratio of their densities. Hence the polarization of dilute 3 He- 4 He solutions can be enhanced by 40% or more over the polarization of pure 3 He.
Multimodality therapy for gastroesophageal cancers.

Multimodality therapy is the key to the treatment of carcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction. Chemoradiation followed by esophagectomy appears to be the standard therapy at the present time. Selected patients who respond completely to the chemotherapy and radiation are probably the best candidates for esophagectomy. Although extended lymph node dissection is advocated, there are not sufficient data to determine whether the increased morbidity of the procedure is justified by the improvement in outcome for junctional cancers. Early cancers in nonsurgical patients could potentially be treated by endoscopic methods including endoscopic mucosal resection, which permits accurate staging, and photodynamic therapy, which permits treatment of residual premalignant tissue. Palliation of patients with advanced cancers of the gastroesophageal junction is probably best managed with expandable metal stents, although there is some evidence to suggest that thermal methods of palliation may enhance the quality of life in these patients.
Crosstalk between microRNA30a/b/c/d/e-5p and the canonical Wnt pathway: Implications for multiple myeloma therapy

Dysregulation of transcription via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway underlies the pathogenesis of a wide variety of frequent human cancers. These include epithelial carcinomas such as colorectal cancer and hematologic malignancies such as multiple myeloma. Thus, the Wnt/β-catenin in pathway potentially offers an attractive target for cancer therapy. This approach, however, has thus far proved challenging because the pathway plays a number of critical roles in physiologic homeostasis, [corrected] and because drugs that broadly target the pathway have unacceptable side effects. miRNAs function as regulators of gene expression and have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma and other human cancers, offering the promise of novel therapeutic approaches if they can be applied effectively in vivo. Because BCL9 is a critical transcriptional coactivator of β-catenin that is aberrantly expressed in many human cancers but is of low abundance in normal tissues, [corrected] the Wnt/β-catenin/BCL9 complex has emerged as a promising and most likely relatively safe therapeutic target in cancers with dysregulated Wnt/β-catenin activity. This review discusses recent advances in the biology of Wnt inhibitors and the appealing possibility of a functional link between BCL9 and miRNA30a/b/c/d/e-5p that could be exploited for multiple myeloma therapy.
A note on Mr. Hare's “logic of imperatives”

I WISH to call attention to what seems to me an odd feature of Mr. Hare's discussion of the so-called "logic of imperatives." He distinguishes between what he calls phrastics (descriptors, in his Mind article1) and what he calls neustics (dictors in the article). Both are said to be parts of what we should ordinarily call sentences. Phrastics (or as he also calls them "sentence-formulas"), for schematic purposes, are given the form of participial phrases. Neustics, which (so to speak) make sentences of sentenceformulas, are, for schematic purposes, given the forms yes or please-the one for indicatives, the other for imperatives. The classic syllogism, following this analytic scheme, would appear as follows: Phrastic Neustic 1. All men being mortal yes or please 2. Socrates being a man yes or please 3. Socrates being mortal yes or please
Electron transfer reactions catalyzed by vitamin B12 and related compounds: The reduction of dyes and of riboflavin by thiols☆

Abstract The reduction of electron acceptors, such as methylene blue (MB) or ribofiavin, by thiols and other electron donors is catalyzed by traces of vitamin B12 derivatives, e.g., vitamin B12a, cyanocobalamin, and Factor B. The catalytic reaction with thiols as reducing agents is of zero order with respect to MB. Rate determining is the reduction of the cobalamin from the Co(III) to the Co(II) state by the mercaptide ion. Various cobalamin model compounds, e.g., cobalt phthalocyanine or cobalt porphyrins, are also active. Agents which compete with the mercaptide ion for coordination sites on cobalt act as inhibitors. Alkylcobalamins and 5′-deoxyadenosyl(dimethylben-zimidazolyl)cobamide coenzyme show little catalytic activity around pH 4–5 but become active at higher pH due to the cleavage of the Co-C bond by mercaptide ion. Since Co-alkylation occurs in vitamin B12 solutions containing thiols at pH 6–7, strong inhibiting effects are observed on addition of n-alkyl halides to the thiolcobalamin reaction solutions. The extreme sensitivity of the catalytic effects observed suggests that cobalamin derivatives may catalyze in vivo electron transfer reactions at the low physiological concentration level.
Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis—Diagnosis and Treatment

Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is characterized by a heterogeneous group of pathophysiologic entities, of which fibromuscular dysplasia and atherosclerotic RAS (ARAS) are the most common. Whether and which patients should undergo revascularization for ARAS is controversial. The general consensus is that all patients with ARAS should receive intensive medical treatment. The latest randomized clinical trials have increased confusion regarding recommendations for revascularization for ARAS. Although revascularization is not indicated in all patients with ARAS, experts agree that it should be considered in some patients, especially those with unstable angina, unexplained pulmonary edema, and hemodynamically significant ARAS with either worsening renal function or with difficult to control hypertension. A search of the literature was performed using PubMed and entering the search terms renal artery stenosis, atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis, and renal artery stenosis AND hypertension to retrieve the most recent publications on diagnosis and treatment of ARAS. In this review, we analyze the pathways related to hypertension in ARAS, the optimal invasive and noninvasive modalities for evaluating the renal arteries, and the available therapies for ARAS and assess future tools and algorithms that may prove useful in evaluating patients for renal revascularization therapy.
A 1-atm gas cherenkov counter with large phase-space acceptance

Abstract A matched pair of threshold gas Cherenkov counters is described. Each module subtends an angular acceptance nominally 25° by 25° and has an entrance aperture 130 cm wide and 110 cm high. The use of four 60AVP photomultipliers with 20-cm diameter photocathodes permits effective light collection over a gas volume exceeding 10 m 3 per counter. The mean efficiency measured for beam electrons incident with well-defined trajectories is (92.5±0.7)%, while the average efficiency in a recent K e4 + −K π ee + experiment is in the range 66 to 85%, as deduced from two analyses of data samples for which the decay electrons have phase volumes exceeding the nominal acceptances by at least a factor of two.
The Ur-History of Media Space: Walter Benjamin and the Information Industry in Nineteenth-Century Paris

This essay is primarily concerned with Walter Benjamin’s analysis of the newspaper as a media space with reference to privatization of urban space, industrialization of public communication, and mediazation of public space in nineteenth-century Paris. I seek to show how the information industry brought about the fundamental changes in literary practice, intellectual activity, and the formation of a new social subject. I also demonstrate how Benjamin’s rich illustration of the complex dynamics of media space in the nineteenth century largely avoids the shortcomings of oversimplification embedded in the analysis of the bourgeois public sphere. In doing so, I argue Benjamin’s critical analysis that the newspaper provides a systematic framework by which to examine the intersection between the media space and the urban experience in a digital age.
Development and characterization of a microfiltration membrane catalyst containing sulfonated polystyrene grafts

Polymeric catalytic membrane reactors (CMRs) containing sulfonated polystyrene grafts can serve as an alternative to traditional strong acid catalysts such as sulfuric acid and strong acid ion-exchange resins (IERs) for esterification and alkylation reactions. This material offers advantages over conventional catalysts in terms of corrosivity, attrition, pressure drop, mass transfer limitations, and catalyst separation. The membrane reactors are functionalized membranes created by cationic polymerization of styrene in the pores of a porous matrix of polyethersulfone (PES). Sulfonation of the formed polystyrene grafts with sulfuric acid creates easily accessible sulfonic acid groups (∼2 meq/g) for catalysis. Diffusional limitations encountered in ion-exchange resins are minimized because transport through the membrane pore takes place by convection. Consequently, the membrane activation is accomplished with lower concentration acid. The activated membrane shows no loss of functionalized polymer during activation, demonstrating excellent material stability. Finally, the catalytic activity was verified for a simple esterification reaction between acetic acid and ethanol.
Induction of hepatic microsomal calcium uptake by glucocorticoids.

Abstract Hepatic microsomes take up calcium in the presence of ATP and oxalate. In either fed or fasted adrenalectomized rats injections of dexamethasone 18 hours and then again 1 hour prior to sacrifice increased uptake of calcium by microsomes. Injections of estradiol had no similar effect indicating that the stimulation might be specific to glucocorticoids. Injection of Actinomycin D, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, 1 hour prior to dexamethasone administration resulted in a complete block of the stimulation. It is therefore likely that the increased calcium uptake is due to the induction of the microsomal calcium activated ATP-ase. The onset of this effect occurred later than the induction of tyrosine-amino transferase (TAT). The present data, in conjunction with the previous demonstration of glucagon stimulation and insulin inhibition of this system, indicates that microsomes might serve as a modifier of intracellular calcium distribution.
Design and Synthesis of Fast-Degrading Poly(anhydride-esters)

Fast-degrading, salicylate-based poly(anhydride-esters) were designed to degrade and release the active component, salicylic acid (SA), within 1 week. The polymer degradation was enhanced by using shorter or oxygen-containing aliphatic chains. A copolymer of diglycolic acid was also made with a salicylate-based diacid for comparison of polymer properties, including SA release. Both methods resulted in polyanhydrides with molecular weights ranging from 14 500 to 27 800 Da and displayed glass transition temperatures near physiological conditions, namely 33-40 degrees C. the homo- and copolymers completely degraded within one week releasing the chemically incorporated SA.
Overcoming the deleterious effect of hafnium in tungsten–zirconia catalysts: The use of doping and thermal treatments

Abstract The effect of hafnium and aluminum addition to Ni/WO 3 /ZrO 2 was examined as a function of calcination temperature for the isomerization of a 5 wt% cyclohexane in n -hexane feed. Hafnium, a common and difficult to separate impurity in zirconia, was found to decrease catalytic activity, primarily through the generation of monoclinic and cubic phases that are considered inactive for acid-catalyzed reactions. A hafnium induced monoclinic phase is formed at relatively low calcination temperatures and is fundamentally different from the thermodynamically stable monoclinic phase generated at higher temperatures. The addition of aluminum as well as higher calcination temperatures limited the formation of this monoclinic phase resulting in very active catalysts without the use of more expensive, hafnium-free catalyst precursors. Catalysts with tetragonal zirconia contents less than 40 wt% had initial isomerization activities that scaled linearly with tetragonal zirconia content. Catalysts with a tetragonal zirconia contents greater than 40% had initial n -hexane isomerization activities that were unrelated to zirconia morphology; a limitation that was a result of the hydrogenation function. The lack of correlation between zirconia crystal phases and catalytic activity for high tetragonal zirconia content catalysts implies that the measured isomerization activity may better represent the hydrogen spillover rate of nickel and not necessarily the intrinsic acid-catalyzed rate. Improved control over hydrogenation activity would allow for the preparation of more active catalysts.
The Challenge of Economic Democracy: The Case of Sweden:

During a period of economic expansion, under the rule of the Social Democratic Party, Sweden initiated a major series of legislative reforms affecting the workplace. Started in the 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s, these industrial democracy reforms led to greater job security, sought for codetermination, and a greater union and worker participation in work environment issues. In the mid-1970s the Swedish labor movement began to push as well for greater democratization of the'economy, linking shop floor participation to broader participation in the enterprise and the economy. This challenge of economic democracy, specifically in the form of wage-earner funds, has become increasingly important in the proposals which have been influenced both by the economic crisis affecting all Western industrial nations as well as the internal political situation in Sweden. This paper traces the development of economic democracy in the shifting political economic climate and suggests lessons from the Swedish case.
Evidence that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide is a dilator transmitter to some cerebral and extracerebral cranial arteries

Many arteries of the head upon electrical stimulation of the non-adrenergic nerve terminals present in their wall exhibit dilation that is only partially reduced by atropine. The results of three types of experiments are presented that tend to implicate vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) a known vasodilator, as an atropine-resistant dilator transmitter. VIP activity is high in vessels that exhibit neurogenic dilation and low in those that do not. It is released from two arteries that show such dilation upon neurogenic field stimulation and VIP antiserum reduces neurogenic dilation. It is proposed that VIP as well as acetylcholine are released from the innervation of some cranial arteries and together in a number of animals of least are responsible for part of the complex neurogenic dilation witnessed in these vessels. Although substance P is present in nerves found within the wall of cerebral and other cranial blood vessels, it is either ineffective as a dilator in vessels that show a sizeable dilation to electrical stimulation, or else exhibits marked, rapid, persistent tachyphylaxis.
Effects on Varying Intravenous Lipid Emulsions on the Small Bowel Epithelium in a Mouse Model of Parenteral Nutrition

BACKGROUND Injectable fat emulsions (FEs) are a clinically dependable source of essential fatty acids (FA). ω-6 FA is associated with an inflammatory response. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT, ω-3 FA), fish oil, and olive oil are reported to decrease the inflammatory response. However, the effect of these lipids on the gastrointestinal tract has not been well studied. To address this, we used a mouse model of parenteral nutrition (PN) and hypothesized that a decrease in intestinal inflammation would be seen when either fish oil and MCT or olive oil were added. METHODS Three FEs were studied in adult C57BL/6 mice via intravenous cannulation: standard soybean-based FE (SBFE), 80% olive oil -supplemented FE (OOFE), or a combination of a soybean oil, MCT, olive oil, and fish oil emulsion (SMOF). PN was given for 7 days, small bowel mucosa-derived cytokines, animal survival rate, epithelial cell (EC) proliferation and apoptosis rates, intestinal barrier function and mucosal FA composition were analyzed. RESULTS Compared to the SBFE and SMOF groups, the best survival, highest EC proliferation and lowest EC apoptosis rates were observed in the OOFE group; and associated with the lowest levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β expression. Jejunal FA content showed higher levels of eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acid in the SMOF group and the highest arachidonic acid in the OOFE group. CONCLUSION The study showed that PN containing OOFE had beneficial effects to small bowel health and animal survival. Further investigation may help to enhance bowel integrity in patients restricted to PN.
Commissioning the LHCb calorimeters with cosmic rays

We present the commissioning of the LHCb calorimeter system performed out of cosmic ray detection. Cosmic tracks have been used to check out the detector mapping, perform a preliminary time alignment up to a 5 ns precision, compute detector efficiencies and provide trigger for other subdetectors.
Wiggly relativistic strings.

We derive the equations of motion for general strings, i.e. strings with arbitrary relation between tension {tau} and energy per unit length {epsilon}. The renormalization of {tau} and {epsilon} results from averaging out small scale wiggles on the string is obtained in the general case to lowest order in the amount of wiggliness. For Nambu-Goto strings we find deviations from the equation of state {epsilon}{tau} = constant in higher orders. Finally we show that under plausible assumptions wiggliness radically modifies the cosmic gauge string scenario.