cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutant SOD1G93A triggers mitochondrial fragmentation in spinal cord motor neurons: Neuroprotection by SIRT3 and PGC-1α

Mutations in the Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD1) gene cause an inherited form of ALS with upper and lower motor neuron loss. The mechanism underlying mutant SOD1-mediated motor neuron degeneration remains unclear. While defects in mitochondrial dynamics contribute to neurodegeneration, including ALS, previous reports remain conflicted. Here, we report an improved technique to isolate, transfect, and culture rat spinal cord motor neurons. Using this improved system, we demonstrate that mutant SOD1G93A triggers a significant decrease in mitochondrial length and an accumulation of round fragmented mitochondria. The increase of fragmented mitochondria coincides with an arrest in both anterograde and retrograde axonal transport and increased cell death. In addition, mutant SOD1G93A induces a reduction in neurite length and branching that is accompanied with an abnormal accumulation of round mitochondria in growth cones. Furthermore, restoration of the mitochondrial fission and fusion balance by dominant-negative dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) expression rescues the mutant SOD1G93A-induced defects in mitochondrial morphology, dynamics, and cell viability. Interestingly, both SIRT3 and PGC-1α protect against mitochondrial fragmentation and neuronal cell death by mutant SOD1G93A. This data suggests that impairment in mitochondrial dynamics participates in ALS and restoring this defect might provide protection against mutant SOD1G93A-induced neuronal injury.
Drop oscillations under simple shear in a highly viscoelastic matrix

Recent two-dimensional numerical simulations and experiments have shown that, when a drop undergoes shear in a viscoelastic matrix liquid, the deformation can undergo an overshoot. I implement a volume-of-fluid algorithm with a paraboloid reconstruction of the interface for the calculation of the surface tension force for three-dimensional direct numerical simulations for a Newtonian drop in an Oldroyd-B liquid near criticalities. Weissenberg numbers up to 1 at viscosity ratio 1 and retardation parameter 0.5 are examined. Critical capillary numbers rise with the Weissenberg number. Just below criticality, drop deformation begins to undergo an overshoot when the Weissenberg number is sufficiently high. The overshoot becomes more pronounced, and at higher matrix Weissenberg numbers, such as 0.8, drop deformation undergoes novel oscillations before settling to a stationary shape. Breakup simulations are also described.
Distribution of kappa opioid receptor-like immunoreactivity in guinea pig hippocampal formation

Abstract The guinea pig hippocampal formation contains components of a functional kappa opioid system: prodynorphin-derived peptides and at least two distinct kappa receptor subtypes, kappa1 (k1) and kappa2 (k2) receptors1,2. By autoradiography, k1 binding sites are present predominantly in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, while k2 binding appears moderately dense throughout the guinea pig hippocampual formation. However, precise localization of hippocampal kappa receptors has not been reported, although such a high-resolution localization is important to better understand hippocampal opioid systems. The purpose of the present study was to determine the ultrastructural localization of hippocampal kappa opioid receptors. To this end, we developed and characterized a novel antiserum against a peptide fragment of a cloned kappa receptor, and determined the light and electron microscopic localization of this kappa receptor-like immunoreactivity in guinea pig brain sections.
Determination of arsenic and antimony in biological materials by solvent extraction and neutron activation

Arsenic and antimony in digested biological samples can be extracted with pyrrolidinecarbodithioate at pH 1 into chloroform and stripped with nitric acid for neutron-activation analysis (NAA). The extraction method eliminates interferences from matrix species, including Br and Na, making the accurate determination of low levels of As and Sb in biological materials feasible. The detection limits under the experimental conditions used are 0.005 and 0.006 mug/g for arsenic and antimony, respectively. A comparison of the results obtained for As and Sb in NBS biological standards by this method and by non-destructive instrumental neutron-activation analysis (INAA) is also given.
Herpes simplex virus entry receptor nectin-1 is widely expressed in the murine eye

Purpose. Nectin-1 belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily, mediates cell-cell adhesion in cadherin-based adherens junctions, and acts as a receptor for herpes simplex virus (HSV). The goals of th...
Electronic density of states of group-IV semiconductors: A cluster-Bethe lattice approach for realistic Hamiltonians

Abstract We have extended the cluster-Bethe lattice method to study realistic tight-binding Hamiltonians. The numerical solution of the transfer matrix in the Bethe lattice is very stable and requires about 50 steps of our iterative procedure to reach convergency. We apply this method to study the density of states of group-IV semiconductors (C, Si, Ge) using a five-parameter sp3 Hamiltonian, which takes into account all possible interactions between sp3 hybrids in nearest-neighbor atoms. Our results show clearly that the main features of the density of states are due to short-range order. Clusters of about 30 atoms reproduce very well the crystalline density of states. Based on our results we propose a model for the density of states in the gap region of an amorphous semiconductor.
A microscopic view of medical care and its costs.

Here's the scenario: It's early evening and I am sitting home quietly watching reruns of Law & Order . My pager goes off with a message from the emergency department. They want a telephone consultation about a 4-year-old child with gross hematuria. I reluctantly refocus my attention on the clinical case and get the key facts. The resident explains that the child was well until earlier that afternoon when he first noted discolored urine. On examination, the boy looks well, has a normal blood pressure, and is edema-free. I ask what the microscopic examination of the urine revealed, and the resident says that he saw several red blood cell casts. I then advise him to obtain a serum chemistry profile, a C3 level, and a urine sample to quantitate protein excretion and arrange for follow-up in the next few days. Is this accurate? Of course not. As anyone who gets within an arm's length of a urine specimen on a regular basis knows, no one ever looks at a sample under the microscope. We can perform an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, messenger-RNA recovery, and mass spectroscopy on urine. But no one—I repeat, no one—examines urine sediment. There are many reasons; it is hard to keep microscopes clean, microscopes disappear from hospital units, there is an epidemic of poor visual acuity, and regulatory agencies will not authorize the procedure because they are certain that physicians cannot perform the microscopic assessment of the urine properly. So, how does the scenario usually end? I suggest to the resident that he or she obtain a serum chemistry profile, C3 level, an antistreptolysin O and possibly an antinuclear antibody titer, obtain urine samples for microbiologic culture and to quantitate … Address correspondence to Howard Trachtman, MD, Schneider Children's Hospital, Division of Nephrology, 269-01 76th Ave, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. E-mail: trachtma{at}lij.edu
Endoscopic sinus surgery in patients receiving anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy.

BackgroundEndoscopic Sinus Surgery (ESS) has not been studied in patients receiving anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. Classifing this procedure into a bleeding risk category needs to be done t...
PROPERTIES OF THE PO-208 (0+, T=22) DOUBLE ISOBARIC ANALOG STATE

Pion double charge exchange has been used to populate the double isobaric analog state (DIAS) in $^{208}\mathrm{Po}$ with use of the doubly magic target $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$. The DIAS was found at an excitation energy of 32.46\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.17 MeV with a width of 0.85\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.40 MeV. The excitation energy of the DIAS can be used along with the energy of the isobaric analog state to determine separately the linear and the quadratic terms of the isobaric multiplet mass equation. The resulting linear and quadratic terms are b=-31.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3.7 MeV and c=0.33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.09 MeV, respectively.
Targeting hedgehog in cancer stem cells: how a paradigm shift can improve treatment response

The integration of developmental biology and cancer therapeutics has revolutionized the understanding of tumor proliferation. Cell-signaling pathways first recognized for their importance in embryogenesis have begun to inspire the scientific community to investigate new avenues in cancer initiation and growth. Other ground-breaking discoveries provided evidence for a revisit to the theory of cancer stem cells, which has long-term implications for the efficient and lasting elimination of cancer. This paradigm shift involves a change from viewing the malignant tumor as a perpetually mutating mass of clonogenic cells to seeing it as an organ mistakenly created by mutations that disrupt cell-signaling pathways in stem cells. As researchers find more evidence of the essential involvement of these signaling pathways in cancer formation and maintenance, the link between tumorigenesis and aberrant stem cell activation can be more clearly drawn. One such pathway is the hedgehog (Hh)-signaling pathway, which is imp...
Fairing cubic B-spline curves

Abstract Algorithms are presented for locally fairing a B-spline curve in order to produce a pleasant curvature plot. The methods are based on inversions of the knot insertion algorithm for B-spline curves.
Cell Phones Transform a Science Methods Course.

Abstract A science methods instructor intentionally encouraged cell phone use for class work to discover how cell phones can be used as research tools to enhance the content and engage the students. The anecdotal evidence suggested that students who used their smartphones as research tools experienced the science content and pedagogical information associated with the course in a more thoughtful and reflective way than their classmates, providing additional opportunities for metacognition.
Excited-state energy flow in covalently linked multiporphyrin arrays: The essential contribution of energy transfer between nonadjacent chromophores

A series of multiporphyrin arrays has been studied to probe the contribution of energy transfer between second-neighbor ("nonadjacent") porphyrins and to determine the rate of energy transfer between identical porphyrins at adjacent sites. The arrays, organized in linear or branched architectures, contain up to 21 constituents, domains of 2-5 zinc porphyrins, and a single energy trap. The study has involved iterative cycles of molecular design, synthesis, determination of rates via transient absorption spectroscopy, and kinetic analysis. A rate constant of (30 ′ 10 ps) - 1 is deduced for bidirectional energy transfer between adjacent zinc porphyrins joined by a diphenylethyne linker. The value is (50 ′ 10 ps) - 1 when the porphyrin-linker internal rotation is hindered by o,o'-methyl groups on one aryl ring of the linker. Rates of nonadjacent energy transfers are typically only 5-10-fold less than the rates of adjacent transfers. Thus, the nonadjacent pathway has a significant impact on the overall rate of energy flow to the trap, even in architectures as small as triads. These findings provide information that will be essential for the rational design of multichromophore arrays whose function is to transfer excitation energy efficiently over large distances to a trap site.
Orbital Resonances in the Solar Nebula: Strengths and Weaknesses

A planetesimal moving in the Solar Nebula experiences an aero- dynamic drag which causes its orbit to circularize and shrink. However, resonant perturbations from a protoplanet interior to the planetesimal's orbit ran counteract both the orbital decay and the damping of the eccentricity: the planetesimal can be captured into an orbital resonance and its eccentricity pumped up to a modestly high equilibrium value. Thus, orbital resonances constitute (partial) barriers to the delivery of planetesimals into the feeding zone of the protoplanet. We have established the characteristics of the phenomenon of resonance capture by gas drag in the circular restricted three-body approximation. We have determined the strengths of the equilibrium resonant orbits with respect to impulsive velocity perturbations. We conclude that planetesimals captured in orbital resonances are quite vulnerable to being dislocated from these orbits by mutual planetesimal interactions, but that the resonances are effective in slowing down the rate of orbital decay of planetesimals. Only very small bodies, less or approx. equal to 100 m, are able to reach a approx. 1 mass of the earth protoplanet without being slowed down by resonances.
The study of human nails as an intake monitor for arsenic using neutron activation analysis

Arsenic is toxic to humans with the lethal dose being approximately 1 mg/kg/day. At much lower long-term exposures, arsenic is hypothesized to increase the risk of certain cancers. We have developed an irradiation position for the neutron activation analysis (NAA) of nail specimens for arsenic, in support of a case-control study involving New Hampshire residents consuming well water above the EPA Safe Drinking Water Standard of 0.050 ppm. Arsenic is bound to nail keratin through sulfhydryl groups proportional to intake providing a convenient means of integrating arsenic intake in population-based studies. Our objective was to develop the necessary facilities and procedures by which relatively small samples (i.e. 20 to 100 mg) could be accurately analyzed for arsenic, so that affordable nutritional epidemiology investigations, requiring large numbers of samples (>1000 in this case), could be undertaken. A high-flux reflector position, with minimal axial variation throughout the fuel cycle, suitable for pneumatic-tube irradiations, was characterized by measurement of the neutron flux distribution (thermal and epithermal) within the irradiation capsule over time. Results from application of the method to a case-control study of basal and squamous cell skin cancer will be presented.
Characterization of the Staphylococcus aureus rRNA Methyltransferase Encoded by orfX, the Gene Containing the Staphylococcal Chromosome Cassette mec (SCCmec) Insertion Site.

The gene orfX is conserved among all staphylococci, and its complete sequence is maintained upon insertion of the staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec) genomic island, containing the gene encoding resistance to β-lactam antibiotics (mecA), into its C terminus. The function of OrfX has not been determined. We show that OrfX was constitutively produced during growth, that orfX could be inactivated without altering bacterial growth, and that insertion of SCCmec did not alter gene expression. We solved the crystal structure of OrfX at 1.7 Å and found that it belongs to the S-adenosyl-l-methionine (AdoMet)-dependent α/β-knot superfamily of SPOUT methyltransferases (MTases), with a high structural homology to YbeA, the gene product of the Escherichia coli 70 S ribosomal MTase RlmH. MTase activity was confirmed by demonstrating the OrfX-dependent methylation of the Staphylococcus aureus 70 S ribosome. When OrfX was crystallized in the presence of its AdoMet substrate, we found that each monomer of the homodimeric structure bound AdoMet in its active site. Solution studies using isothermal titration calorimetry confirmed that each monomer bound AdoMet but with different binding affinities (Kd = 52 ± 0.4 and 606 ± 2 μm). In addition, the structure shows that the AdoMet-binding pocket, formed by a deep trefoil knot, contains a bound phosphate molecule, which is the likely nucleotide methylation site. This study represents the first characterization of a staphylococcal ribosomal MTase and provides the first crystal structure of a member of the α/β-knot superfamily of SPOUT MTases in the RlmH or COG1576 family with bound AdoMet.
SU‐GG‐T‐114: 4D Planning From Multi Phase 3D Dose Distribution and Linear Transformation On a Single Phase Plan

Purpose: To reconstruct a 4D dose distribution from the planned dose based on one phase of a 4D‐CT image and compare with results from 4D dose reconstructed from multiple phases and phantom measurements. Method and Materials: A treatment plan was developed for a set of CTimages from a single phase of a respiratory motion phantom using ADAC pinnacle TPS. The single phase reconstructed dynamic dose distribution to a coronal pane was obtained for several tumor trajectories by applying a linear transformation on the optimized dose from pinnacle. This was then compared to the dynamic dose distribution obtained by considering a weighted sum of dose distributions from plans based on eight phases of the tumor cycle. Measurements using radiochromic films were made following plan delivery on a LINAC to validate our results. Results: Using gamma index analysis, the number of pixels exceeding a gamma index of 1 was 7% and 0% for the measured versus single phase, and the single versus multi‐phase reconstructed dynamic dose respectively. This was based on a dose difference tolerance of 5% and DTA tolerance of 5mm. The effects of phase dependent weighting versus equal weighting were in general negligible on the dose distribution for the trajectories studied. Using dose difference tolerance of 3% and a DTA tolerance of 4mm, the comparison yielded 0.5%, 0.72% and 1.72% as the percentage of pixels exceeding the gamma index of 1 for sinusoidal tumor motion amplitudes of 1cm, 1.5cm and 2cm respectively. Conclusion: There was close agreement between the two methods of reconstruction and with measurements. Recreating the dynamic dose distribution from the static dose distribution from a single CTimage set can be an efficient way of accurately accounting for relative motion in a static or dynamic dose delivery and can be useful in pre‐treatment verification analysis.
Diagrammatic derivation of T 1 for solid H 2

A previously discussed diagrammatic technique is used to obtain equations for the nuclear spin self-energy in solid ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ and thus formulas are obtained for ${T}_{1}$ and other nuclear spin relaxation times in that system. These formulas are equivalent to those obtained by Ebner and Myles using the Blume-Hubbard formalism. It is thus shown that the diagrammatic technique, the Blume-Hubbard technique, and other, standard techniques yield identical results in lowest order. The fact that these more complicated techniques yield standard results for cases of exponential relaxation is an important check on these formalisms. The resulting relaxation times are then evaluated using previously calculated rotational-angular-momentum correlation functions and the results are compared with experiment and with the results of Ebner and Myles.
Which of the cardiac natriuretic peptides is most effective for the treatment of congestive heart failure, renal failure and cancer?

SUMMARY 1 Cardiac natriuretic peptides consist of a family of six peptide hormones that are synthesised by three separate genes and then stored as three separate prohormones (i.e. 126 amino acid atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), 108 amino acid B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and 103 amino acid C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) prohormones). The ANP prohormone contains four peptide hormones: long-acting natriuretic peptide (LANP), vessel dilator, kaliuretic peptide and ANP. 2 Currently, the only natriuretic peptide available commercially to treat congestive heart failure (CHF) is BNP (Nesiritide/Natrecor; SCIOS, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), which causes a small increase in the urine volume of 90 38 mL/h compared with 67 27 mL/h and no significant natriuresis, but has beneficial haemodynamic effects in acute CHF individuals. These haemodynamic effects probably contribute to the side-effects of BNP in patients with acute CHF with a 27% incidence of hypotension and possibly to 22% worsening of renal function, defined as an increase in serum creatinine of 0.5 mg/dL, associated with a worse prognosis. A review of clinical trials suggests a twofold increased risk of death at 30 days post-nesiritide treatment, a finding that needs further investigation. 3 The best of the natriuretic peptides for treating chronic CHF is the vessel dilator, which increases urinary flow up to 13-fold and sodium excretion up to fourfold, without the previously mentioned side-effects. The natriuretic and diuretic effects of vessel dilators last 6 h, which would allow them to be used on a four times per day basis in treating chronic CHF. 4 Atrial natriuretic peptide does not cause significant improvement in acute renal failure (ARF) in humans. The only natriuretic peptide that significantly improves ARF is the vessel dilator. Even when ARF has been established for 2 days before treatment in an ischaemic ARF animal model, vessel dilator decreases serum creatinine from 8.2 0.5 to 0.98 0.12 mg/dL in 6 days. At day 6 of ARF, mortality decreases to 14% (from 88%) without the vessel dilator. After 6 days of treatment with the vessel dilator, the proximal and distal tubules regenerate. 5 In cancer, vessel dilator, LANP, kaliuretic peptide and ANP at 1 mmol/L, decrease up to 97% of human breast, pancreatic and prostate adenocarcinoma cells, as well as small cell and squamous cell lung cancer cells within 24 h. In vivo, vessel dilator, LANP and kaliuretic peptide completely stop the growth of human pancreatic adenocarcinomas in athymic mice and decrease their tumour volume by 49, 28 and 11%, respectively in 1 week.
Experimental and modeling study of pinewood char gasification with CO2

Abstract The objective of this study is to measure apparent rate parameters for pinewood char gasification with CO 2 using large particles with relevance to practical gasifiers. The novel features of this work include: (1) char gasification for CO 2 recycling, which is studied less in the past than char gasification in other environments, (2) independent measurements involving gravimetric analyses and product gas composition gas chromatography, (3) detailed uncertainty analyses of both methods to report resulting uncertainties in kinetic rate constants, and (4) investigation of the char structure development and its role in gasification. A fixed-bed reactor providing a slip-velocity of 0.12 m/s gasifier and control of the bed temperature to within ±10 K at 1000–1170 K is used. A low-ash ( Ψ increases from 0 to 16.5 with increases in the gasification temperature. Measurements of BET surface area show significant increase with char conversion. The results of this study show that the apparent gasification rate parameters for relatively large particles of practical relevance are comparable to those obtained from laboratory studies with much smaller particles.
Retention, HIV risk, and illicit drug use during treatment: Methadone dose and visit frequency

OBJECTIVES: This study examined two major methadone treatment factors, visit frequency and methadone dose, posited to be important in reducing intravenous drug use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. METHODS: One hundred fifty opiate-dependent subjects randomly assigned to four groups received 50 or 80 mg of methadone and attended a clinic 2 or 5 days per week. RESULTS: Survival analysis indicated higher dropout rates for groups having five vs two visits per week (Chi2[1]=7.76). Higher proportions of opiate-positive results on urine screens were associated with lower methadone doses (F[1,91]=4.74). CONCLUSIONS: Receiving take-home doses early in treatment enhanced treatment retention. The 50-mg dose combined with five visits per week produced the worst outcome. Fewer visits enhanced retention at 50 mg, but opiate use rates were higher at this dose than they were for either 80-mg group. The HIV infection rate at entry was 9%. No subjects seroconverted during the study. Risk behaviors for a...
Realities of patent pools in the telecommunication sector

Patent pools have been shown to be helpful for competition and consumers in some situations by reducing patent thickets and resolving blocking positions. Pools also have the potential to limit royalty stacking, which is one of the most significant problems in the standardisation system. But this requires that major IPR owners join the pool and offer essential patents at a reasonable royalty level. However, a deeper look into the realities of patent pools in the telecommunication field has shown that only a few of the patent holders for a standard will join a pool leaving many patent holders outside the pool seeking bilateral licensing agreements. Therefore, with limited participation by the patent holders, the thicket is only reduced rather than cleared. Patent pools still have room for improvement in order to make the participation more attractive to the industry and ensure protection to consumers. Also, it is questionable whether pools could de facto fulfill the necessary requirements for their success in, e.g., the ICT sector: a cost effective and fast evaluation system based in the value of the contributed technology, an offer of pool patents in small packages, a defensive clause that involves other standards outside the pool, a lack of an aggressive use of the patents, and the inclusion of not only technically but also commercially essential patents.
A State and Parameter Identification Scheme for Linearly Parameterized Systems

This paper presents an adaptive algorithm to estimate states and unknown parameters simultaneously for nonlinear time invariant systems which depend affinely on the unknown parameters. The system output signals are filtered and re-parameterized into a regression form from which the least squares error scheme is applied to identify the unknown parameters. The states are then estimated by an observer based on the estimated parameters. The major difference between this algorithm and existing adaptive observer algorithms is that the proposed algorithm does not require any special canonical forms or rank conditions. However, an output measurement condition is imposed. The stability and performance limit of this scheme are analyzed. Two examples are then presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.
Angina and Cardiac Care Are There Gender Differences, and If So, Why?

Differences in cardiac care according to gender have now been described for 20 years. As early as 1987, Tobin et al1 reported that 40% of male patients with abnormal exercise radionuclide scans were referred for cardiac catheterization, whereas only 4% of the female patients were referred for future testing. Since then, many investigations have continued to describe a less aggressive management strategy for coronary artery disease (CAD) in women than in men in a variety of settings, but predominantly in patients with acute coronary syndromes.2–11 Article p 490 Women are normally protected against CAD as compared with men until elderly age, but once they experience an acute myocardial infarction (MI), they have poorer outcomes than their male counterparts, particularly if they are younger than 60 years.12,13 It is possible that underrecognition and undertreatment of CAD in its early phase in women is a contributory factor. This may lead to 2 possible scenarios: (1) a more advanced or complicated disease at the time of MI due to lack of preventive treatment, and (2) referral bias due to the fact that only the most severely affected or the most symptomatic women with CAD are eventually diagnosed and treated. Angina pectoris is the most common initial presentation of symptomatic CAD in women and therefore represents, in many cases, the starting point in the sequence of healthcare delivery events that may result in gender-related inequalities. If there is lower utilization of noninvasive diagnostic testing at this initial point of care, it may translate into delayed diagnosis, delayed initiation of therapeutic interventions, and ultimately worse outcomes. Recognition of such underutilization, therefore, would shed light on whether the more advanced level of symptom severity, comorbidity, and often worse outcomes of women at the time of an MI are due to earlier undertreatment or …
Cross-stream migration of bead–spring polymers in nonrectilinear pore flows

Deterministic cross-stream migration of FENE dumbbells, cyclic trimers and bicyclic tetramers in nonhomogeneous, nonrectilinear flows representative of tortuous pores is analyzed. Identifying the crucial feature of misalignment between a tumbling dumbbell and the surrounding streamlines, Brunn (1983) showed that the dumbbell model requires three reflections in the bead–bead hydrodynamic interaction (HI) for lateral migration to occur: lower-order approximations of the HI are insufficient because they lead only to alignment with the flow rather than tumbling. In any orientation the trimer (tetramer) has at least two (three) “bonds” out of alignment with the flow. Radial migration in rotary Couette flow between concentric cylinders occurs in the freely draining limit, and the simplest, first-order HI is sufficient to cause lateral migration in rectilinear tube flow. Flow through a sinusoidally corrugated pore brings a new convective timescale on which the bead–spring entity moves between converging and diverging flow environments. Since this process outpaces the dumbbell's alignment, even a freely draining dumbbell spends most of its time slightly misaligned with the surrounding streamlines, and migrates toward the walls (higher shear). Tumbling occurs on a much longer timescale, with the dumbbell traveling through many wavelengths of the wall corrugations (and fluctuating in orientation) between successive (rapid) end-for-end flips in the shear field. The flipping time seems to scale inversely with the length of the dumbbell. The trimer and tetramer rotate largely as in rectilinear shear, and exhibit somewhat stronger migration for the same bond length. As a simple model of pore entrance effects, net drift in an oscillatory Sampson flow through a thin orifice is also considered.
Concise Review: Tissue-Engineered Vascular Grafts for Cardiac Surgery: Past, Present, and Future

In surgical repair for heart or vascular disease, it is often necessary to implant conduits or correct tissue defects. The most commonly used graft materials to date are (a) artificial grafts; (b) autologous tissues, such as pericardium and saphenous vein; (c) allografts; and (d) xenografts. However, none of these four options offer growth potential, and all are associated with varying levels of thrombogenicity and susceptibility to infection. The lack of growth potential of these four options is particularly important in pediatric cardiac surgery, where patients will often outgrow their vascular grafts and require additional operations. Thus, developing a material with sufficient durability and growth potential that will function as the child grows older will eliminate the need for reoperation and significantly reduce morbidity and mortality of some types of congenital heart defects. Vascular tissue engineering is a relatively new field that has undergone enormous growth over the last decade. The goal of vascular tissue engineering is to produce neovessels and neo-organ tissue from autologous cells using a biodegradable polymer as a scaffold. The most important advantage of tissue-engineered implants is that these tissues can grow, remodel, rebuild, and respond to injury. Once the seeded autologous cells have deposited an extracellular matrix and the original scaffold is biodegraded, the tissue resembles and behaves as native tissue. When tissue-engineered vascular grafts are eventually put to use in the clinical arena, the quality of life in patients after surgery will be drastically improved.
A gnathodont lineage of Mississippian conodonts

Representatives of the disjunct element conodont genus Gnathodus described from lower Mississippian strata (Kinderhookian and Osagean Series) in the Midcontinent of North America illustrate a phylogenetic association composed of ten species. The lineage of G. delicatus — G. punctatus - G. semiglaber, of late Kinderhookian to early Osagean age, has been documented previously. Three distinct forms, G. cf. bilineatus, G. anfetexanus, and G. bulbosus, descended from G. semiglaber in early Osagean time. The latter two continued as parallel lineages; G. bulbosus - G. pseudosemiglaber and G. antetexanus - G. taxanus. In addition, two dead-end lineages, represented by G. typicus and G. cuneiformis, were separately derived from G. antetexanus. Comparison with gnathodont faunas described from Great Britain, Europe, and Australia indicates worldwide distribution of this lineage. The apparent homotaxis of Gnathodus illustrates the value that has been placed on conodonts as tools for regional and intercontinental correlation.
"The street will drive you crazy": why homeless psychotic women in the institutional circuit in the United States often say no to offers of help.

Many people who struggle with psychotic disorder often refuse offers of help, including housing, extended by mental health services. This article uses the ethnographic method to examine the reasons for such refusal among women who are homeless and psychiatrically ill in the institutional circuit in an urban area of Chicago. It concludes that such refusals arise not only from a lack of insight but also from the local culture’s ascription of meaning to being “crazy.” These data suggest that offers of help—specifically, diagnosis-dependent housing—to those on the street may be more successful when explicit psychiatric diagnosis is downplayed.
A VUV Photoionization Study of the Combustion-Relevant Reaction of the Phenyl Radical (C6H5) with Propylene (C3H6) in a High Temperature Chemical Reactor

We studied the reaction of phenyl radicals (C6H5) with propylene (C3H6) exploiting a high temperature chemical reactor under combustion-like conditions (300 Torr, 1200–1500 K). The reaction products were probed in a supersonic beam by utilizing tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation from the Advanced Light Source and recording the photoionization efficiency (PIE) curves at mass-to-charge ratios of m/z = 118 (C9H10+) and m/z = 104 (C8H8+). Our results suggest that the methyl and atomic hydrogen losses are the two major reaction pathways with branching ratios of 86 ± 10% and 14 ± 10%. The isomer distributions were probed by fitting the recorded PIE curves with a linear combination of the PIE curves of the individual C9H10 and C8H8 isomers. Styrene (C6H5C2H3) was found to be the exclusive product contributing to m/z = 104 (C8H8+), whereas 3-phenylpropene, cis-1-phenylpropene, and 2-phenylpropene with branching ratios of 96 ± 4%, 3 ± 3%, and 1 ± 1% could account for the signal at m/z = 118 (C9H10+). Altho...
Host modulation of adherence of oral bacteria: the effect of human neutrophil myeloperoxidase on the attachment of Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii to saliva-coated hydroxyapatite.

Host neutrophils, by virtue of their ability to secrete lysosomal enzymes and reduced oxygen metabolites, may play a fundamental role in altering the composition and pathogenic potential of dental plaque by modulating bacterial adherence. The adherence of Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii to salivacoated surfaces is known to be saturable and mediated by proteinaceous fimbriae. In this study, we examined the abhesive effects of the human neutrophil enzyme, myeloperoxidase (MPO), on the adherence of A. viscosus T14V and A. naeslundii ATCC 12104 to saliva-coated hydroxyapatite (SHA) beads. Microorganisms were treated with MPO in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and physiologic concentrations of chloride (forming the MPO-H2O2-Cl- system) and incubated with SHA beads. Treatment of cells with the isolated MPO-H2O2-C1- system reduced the percentage of cells that bound. This abhesive effect was inhibited by sodium azide, exogenous catalase, taurine, and potassium thiocyanate. The three major chromatographic forms of MPO (I, II, and III) were effective in blocking adherence of A. viscosus. We conclude that the MPO-H2O2-Cl- system can interfere with the adherence of A. viscosus and A. naeslundii, and therefore may be important in modulating the microbiai colonization of oral surfaces.
Acceleration of ALA-induced PpIX fluorescence development in the oral mucosa

Background and Objectives: The development of 5aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced tissue fluorescence is optimal 2–4 hours after ALA application. Goal of this work was to develop a means of accelerating oral topical ALAinduced tissue fluorescence. Study Design/Materials and Methods: In 300 hamsters, DMBA (9,10 dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene) cheek pouch carcinogenesis produced dysplasia in 3–5 weeks. Topical application of 20% ALA in Eucerin was followed by localized ultrasound treatment (1, 3.3 MHz) in 150 animals. In 75 animals, ALA was applied in an Oral Pluronic Lecithin Organogel (OPLO—an absorption enhancer) vehicle. Seventy-five animals received only topical ALA in Eucerin. Hamsters were sacrificed and cryosections underwent fluorescence measurements, histological evaluation, 20–180 minutes after ALA application. One-way ANOVA detected independent effects of pathology on laserinduced fluorescence (LIF). Two-way ANOVA tested for independent effect of pathology and of OPLO, ultrasound, and interaction effects. Results: Ultrasound significantly (P < 0.05) accelerated tissue fluorescence development. Conclusions: Low-frequency ultrasound can accelerate ALA-induced fluorescence development. Lasers Surg. Med. 32:185–188, 2003. 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Issues in visualization for the comprehension of parallel programs

Parallel and distributed computers are becoming more widely used. Thus, the comprehension of parallel programs is increasingly important. Understanding parallel programs is more challenging than understanding serial programs because of the issues of concurrency, scale, communications, shared resources, and shared state. In this article, we argue that the use of visualizations and animations of programs can be an invaluable asset to program comprehension. We present example problems and visualizations, showing how graphical displays can assist program understanding. We also describe the Animation Choreographer, a tool that helps programmers better comprehend the temporal characteristics of their programs. >
Middle and Late Career Problems: Causes, Consequences, and Research Needs

This study examined the causes and consequences of career problems associated with the aging of the workforce. Survey findings based on the responses of 600 human resources managers indicated that career plateaus and skills obsolescence problems are attributed to a loss of motivation on the part of mid-career and older workers, to the absence of organizational career management systems, and to rapid changes in job duties. Human resource managers perceived a large gap between existing policies to overcome career problems and needed policies. The implications of these findings are considered for theory development, future research and human resource management policy making.
InGaN MQW green LEDs using p-InGaN and p-InGaN/p-GaN superlattices as p-type layers

High-efficiency "true" green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (λ~550nm) are one of the key elements in realizing high-brightness RGB-based white-lighting systems. Because the InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) in the active regions of green LEDs contain a high indium alloy composition and a corresponding large lattice mismatch, the QW has a reduced material quality and contains large piezoelectric fields induced by the large strain. The piezoelectric field reduces the overlap of the electron-hole wave functions, and so results in reduced internal quantum efficiency in green LEDs. In addition, other effects can strongly impact InGaN materials with high indium content, e.g., detrimental annealing of the MQW active region during the subsequent growth of the p -type hole injection and contact layers. In this study, the optical and structural characteristics of green LEDs employing p -InGaN and p -InGaN/ p -GaN superlattices (SLs) were examined. For the LEDs with a p -In 0.04 Ga 0.96 N:Mg layer grown at 840°C, only a slight decrease in PL intensity was observed compared to similar structures grown without a p -layer. However, pits are observed for p - In 0.04 Ga 0.96 N:Mg layers, which may cause increased reverse current leakage. In order to decrease the reverse leakage current, p -In x Ga 1-x N/ p -GaN SLs were developed. The hole concentration of the p -In x Ga 1-x N/ p -GaN SLs is close to that of p -In 0.04 Ga 0.96 N, and is much higher than that of p -GaN grown at an acceptably low temperature. In addition, pits disappear in optimized p -In x Ga 1-x N/ p -GaN SLs. In order to study the structural and optical characteristics of green LEDs with p -In 0.04 Ga 0.96 N and p -In x Ga 1-x N/ p -GaN SL layers, I-V characterization and electroluminescence measurements were performed and the results will be described in detail.
The Use of Velocity Spectrum For Stacking Receiver Functions and Imaging Upper Mantle Discontinuities

SUMMARY In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of receiver function data, it is typical to stack receiver functions calculated from events at similar distances and back azimuths. We have adapted the velocity spectrum stacking (VSS) technique, used extensively in reflection seismology, to the receiver function method in order to stack data with different ray parameters, thereby improving further the signal-to-noise ratio. Perhaps more importantly, by producing the velocity spectrum stacks we take advantage of the differences in the shapes of the moveout curves of converted phases and reverberations to identify and separate the various phases and to infer velocity structure. By comparison of velocity spectrum stacks produced from the observed data at the IRIS/IDA broad-band station at Obninsk, Russia (OBN) with those produced from PREM synthetics we have identified Ps phases from the 400 and 670 km discontinuities. the P-to-S (Ps) converted phase from the 400 km discontinuity observed at OBN is much larger, compared with that of the 670 km discontinuity, than is predicted by PREM. This suggests a higher velocity contrast at 400 km than in PREM. By adapting a bootstrap method to assess the depth and velocity estimates determined by VSS, we find that the Ps phase from the 670 km discontinuity is best imaged with higher than PREM upper mantle P and S velocities and at a depth of 663 ± 3 km. We find no evidence of a 220 km discontinuity beneath OBN in these data.
Proton radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease in the sacrum.

At present, most patients with Hodgkin’s disease are cured, but are at risk of the late effects of treatment, including second malignant disease. 5 In a cohort of more than 1000 patients with Hodgkin’s disease who were given mainly radiotherapy alone or combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the risk of death from causes other than Hodgkin’s disease after 14 years was greater than the risk of death from this disease. 6 To keep radiotherapy-related deaths to a minimum, chemotherapy is now a standard part of many Hodgkin’s disease regimens, and radiotherapy is commonly restricted to smaller volumes (ie, involved-field radiotherapy) and to low doses.
Geometrically Constrained Structure from Motion: Points on Planes

Structure from motion algorithms typically do not use external geometric constraints, e.g., the coplanarity of certain points or known orientations associated with such planes, until a final post-processing stage. In this paper, we show how such geometric constraints can be incorporated early on in the reconstruction process, thereby improving the quality of the estimates. The approaches we study include hallucinating extra point matches in planar regions, computing fundamental matrices directly from homographies, and applying coplanarity and other geometric constraints as part of the final bundle adjustment stage. Our experimental results indicate that the quality of the reconstruction can be significantly improved by the judicious use of geometric constraints.
An approach for dynamic selection of synthesis transformations based on Markov Decision Processes

Modern logic synthesis systems apply a sequence of loosely-related function-preserving transformations to gradually improve the circuit with respect to certain criteria such as area, performance, power, etc. For the quality of a complete synthesis run, the application order of the transformations for the individual steps are critical as they can produce vastly different outcomes. In practice, the transformation sequences is encoded in synthesis scripts which are derived manually based on experience and intuition of the tool developer. These scripts are static in the sense that transformations are applied independently of the result of previous transformations or the current status of the design. Despite the importance of obtaining high quality scripts, there are only a few attempts to optimize them. In this paper, we present a novel method to select transformations dynamically during the synthesis run leveraging the theory of Markov Decision Processes. The decision to select a particular transformation is based on transition probabilities, the history of the applied synthesis steps, and expectations for future steps. We report experimental results obtained from an implementation of the approach using the logic synthesis system ABC.
Level of fatness and size attainment

In a generally low-income group of 4,888 White boys and girls, 740 obese children (above the 85th percentile for the triceps fatfold) stand systematically taller, by 0.64 Z scores, than 840 lean boys and girls (below the 15th percentile for fatness) a difference increasing to 1 S.D. at ages 11–12, suggesting a direct effect of the level of fatness on standing height and a cumulative fatness-related difference in the annual rate of growth.
A novel multi-block selective mapping scheme for PAPR reduction in FBMC/OQAM systems

Filter Bank Multicarrier with Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (FBMC/OQAM) is presently known as a sustainable alternative to Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for signal transmission over multi-path fading channels. Like all multicarrier systems, FBMC/OQAM suffers from high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR). Due to the symbol overlap inherent in the FBMC/OQAM system, the direct application of conventional OFDM PAPR reduction scheme is far from being effective. This paper suggests a novel scheme termed Multi-Blocks Selective Mapping (MB-SLM) whose simulation results show that its performance in terms of PAPR reduction is almost identical to that of OFDM system.
Dimensional assessment of behavioral changes in the cuprizone short-term exposure model for psychosis

Recent clinical studies have suggested a role for immune/inflammatory responses in the pathophysiology of psychosis. However, a mechanistic understanding of this process and its application for drug discovery is underdeveloped. Here we assessed our recently developed cuprizone short-term exposure (CSE) mouse model across behavioral domains targeting neurocognitive and neuroaffective systems. We propose that the CSE model may be useful for understanding the mechanism associating inflammation and psychosis, with applications for drug discovery in that context.
Application of the International Scoring System for Myelodysplasia to M.D. Anderson Patients

To the Editor : In the March 15, 1997 issue of Blood , Greenberg et al[1][1] described a new International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) for evaluating prognosis in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). To determine the effectiveness of the IPSS in patients not used to derive this