cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient specific 3D tissue mimicking gels

According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), patient specific modeling (PSM) is gaining attention from research groups because of its improvements in medical diagnosis and that it can predict what therapies and surgical procedures are needed for individual patients. Patient specific modeling takes a patient's CT or MRI data and develops it into a computational patient specific model. One important aspect of designing medical devices that utilize microwave and electromagnetic fields is the in vitro testing stage where a gel that mimic the human tissues is used. Currently, generic tissue mimicking gels have been used for testing medical devices and not PSM gels.
An information-theoretic approach to incorporating prior information in binomial sampling

The incorporation of prior information about θ, where θ is the success probability in a binomial sampling model, is an essential feature of Bayesian statistics. Methodology based on information-theoretic concepts is introduced which (a) quantifies the amount of information provided by the sample data relative to that provided by the prior distribution and (b) allows for a ranking of prior distributions with respect to conservativeness, where conservatism refers to restraint of extraneous information about θ which is embedded in any prior distribution. In effect, the most conservative prior distribution from a specified class (each member o f which carries the available prior information about θ) is that prior distribution within the class over which the likelihood function has the greatest average domination. The most conservative prior distributions from five different families of prior distributions over the interval (0,1) including the beta distribution are determined and compared for three situations:...
Letter From Tripathi et al Regarding Article, “Perioperative Dexmedetomidine Improves Outcomes of Cardiac Surgery”

In a recent issue of Circulation , Ji and colleagues1 report improved morbidity and mortality with perioperative use of dexmedetomidine in cardiac surgery. We commend the authors for exploring the benefits of dexmedetomidine on outcomes despite drug cost. The mortality benefits at in-hospital, 30-day, and 1-year points are notable. Although outcomes were risk adjusted, the patients who received dexmedetomidine had significantly shorter cardiopulmonary bypass duration (181.8 vs 199.8 minutes) and lower incidence of intra-aortic balloon pump requirement (6.87% vs 14.13%). The multivariate model assessing delirium did not include cardiopulmonary bypass duration, yet longer durations are associated with an increase in postoperative delirium.2 Furthermore, the multivariate model assessing mortality did not …
Min-Max Regret Robust Optimization Approach on Interval Data Uncertainty

This paper presents a three-stage optimization algorithm for solving two-stage deviation robust decision making problems under uncertainty. The structure of the first-stage problem is a mixed integer linear program and the structure of the second-stage problem is a linear program. Each uncertain model parameter can independently take its value from a real compact interval with unknown probability distribution. The algorithm coordinates three mathematical programming formulations to iteratively solve the overall problem. This paper provides the application of the algorithm on the robust facility location problem and a counterexample illustrating the insufficiency of the solution obtained by considering only a finite number of scenarios generated by the endpoints of all intervals.
The Distribution and Life History of Axymyia furcata McAtee (Diptera: Axymyiidae), a Wood Inhabiting, Semi-Aquatic Fly

Abstract. Axymyia furcata McAtee (Diptera: Axymyiidae) is a xylophilic, semiaquatic fly from eastern North America. As part of a comprehensive study of the fly's distribution, life history, and phylogeography, we surveyed populations of A. furcata in the eastern United States and Canada. Collecting and rearing methods are described, and use of the niche modeling software, DIVA GIS, to locate regions with potentially suitable habitat is presented. Based on historical records and our recent survey, A. furcata is confirmed to occur from southern Ontario and Quebec, across the northern tier of states from Minnesota to Maine, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia and South Carolina. Our survey resulted in several new state records and demonstrated that A. furcata, a fly once considered quite rare, can be abundant (> 200 individuals in a single log) in suitable habitats. Larvae and pupae are most abundant in wet and partially submerged logs in small streams and seeps. Axymyia furcata has four lar...
MEAN TESTING : II. COMPARISON OF SEVERAL ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES

Abstract The purpose of this article is to compare six procedures for comparing the estimated mean of data drawn from a lognormal distribution to a long-term average occupational exposure limit (LTA OEL): the standard t-test, the American Industrial Hygiene Association's (AIHA's) mean test, the modified Cox mean test, Rappaport and Selvin's mean test, Lyles and Kupper's mean test, and Land's mean test (a procedure based on Land's exact confidence intervals). In principle, all of these procedures, with one exception, can be used as either an employer's test or an inspector's test. Computer simulation was used to determine (1) the actual confidence level for each procedure for the situation where exposures are lognormally distributed and the true mean equals an LTA OEL, and (2) the power of each procedure when the true mean is different from the LTA OEL. Land's mean test consistently provided confidence levels near the nominal confidence level for all sample sizes and geometric standard deviations (GSDs) ev...
Isolated lung perfusion with doxorubicin reduces cardiac and host toxicities associated with systemic administration.

Background. For patients with malignant neoplasms metastalic to lung, systemic chemotherapy in doses high enough to achieve significant survival improvement is often limited by host toxicity. Isolated single-lung perfusion offers the advantage of delivering high-dose organ-specific chemotherapy while minimizing systemic toxicity. We compared the cardiac and systemic toxicities associated with intravenous administration versus isolated single-lung perfusion with doxorubicin. Methods. Thirty-three male Fischer 344 rats weighing 275 to 300 g were randomized into three groups: normal control rats (n = 11), intravenous doxorubicin (7 mg/kg) (n = 11), and isolated left lung perfusion with 320 μg doxorubicin/mL (n = 11). Animals undergoing isolated single-lung perfusion were anesthetized with pentobarbital, intubated, and ventilated, and then had left thoracotomy with cannulation of the pulmonary artery and a pulmonary venotomy; pulmonary artery and vein were clamped proximally. Animals were perfused for 10 minutes at a rate of 0.5 mL/min, followed by a 5 minute rinse with buffered hespan solution. Arteriotomy and venotomy were repaired and circulation was restored. Daily weights were recorded. On day 24, cardiac output was determined in all groups by injection of radiolabeled chromium 51 microspheres. Results. Animals treated with 7 mg/kg intravenous doxonibicin had a significant weight loss as compared with those treated with isolated lung perfusion (209.2 ± 29.9 g versus 302.3 ± 10.1 g; p −1 · 100 g body weight −1 ) and heart weights (0.56 ± 0.04 versus 0.88 ± 0.09 g) were reduced in the intravenously treated group as compared with the group treated with isolated single-lung perfusion. In addition, severe hematologic toxicities are associated with intravenous doxorubicin administration. Conclusions. Intravenous administration of doxorubicin is associated with severe host toxicities, which include weight loss, decreased cardiac function, and hematologic toxicity. Isolated lung perfusion with high-dose doxorubicin is well tolerated and is associated with minimal host toxicity.
Progressing encephalomyelopathy with muscular atrophy, induced by aluminum powder.

Abstract The injection of aluminum powder into the cerebrospinal fluid of adult rabbits induced a slowly progressing encephalomyelopathy characterized at first by alteration of posture and then by myoclonic jerks and muscle weakness. N Neurofibrillary degeneration was the hallmark of the disease and involved most of the gray areas. Giant axonal swellings were also numerous, particularly in the proximal axonal segment of neurons of the anterior horns. In the anterior horns the number of neurons with neurofibrillary degeneration decreased with time, while the images of neuronophagia increased in number in the rabbits killed in the second and third month after aluminum injection. In these animals there were also pathologic changes in the peripheral nerves and muscles. The peripheral nerve showed wallerian-like degeneration. Furthermore, in some a animals, the presence of nodal axonal swellings and of paranodal myelin retraction were expression also of a distal axonopathy. Neurogenic muscular atrophy appeared in animals sacrificed in the second and third month after injection.
FFT-Accelerated Analysis of Scattering From Complex Dielectrics Embedded in Uniaxial Layered Media

An efficient integral-equation method is presented for the analysis of electromagnetic scattering from arbitrarily shaped 3-D dielectric objects embedded in a single layer of a uniaxial planar-layered medium. The proposed method employs a mixed-potential volume electric-field integral equation (VEFIE) that permits the object of interest to be dispersive, anisotropic, inhomogeneous, and of arbitrary shape. The VEFIE is solved by an iterative frequency-domain method-of-moments procedure. The object is discretized by tetrahedral elements, and the procedure is accelerated by the adaptive integral method, which reduces the computational costs by enclosing the tetrahedral mesh with an auxiliary regular grid and performing anterpolation (mesh to grid), propagation (grid to grid), interpolation (grid to mesh), and near-zone correction (mesh to mesh) steps. The computationally dominant propagation step of the method is accelerated by decomposing the Green's functions into convolution and correlation terms in the stratification direction and using 3-D fast Fourier transforms to multiply the resulting propagation matrices with the necessary vectors. If the object of interest is meshed using N tetrahedra that are of a single length scale, then the setup time, memory requirement, and the iterative matrix-solution time (per iteration) of the proposed method scale as O(N), O(N), and O(NlogN), respectively. Numerical results validate the method's accuracy and efficiency for various problems relevant to geophysical exploration.
Effect of Surfactant Tail-Length Asymmetry on the Formation of Mixed Surfactant Vesicles

A fundamental understanding of vesicle formation and stability in mixed surfactant systems is important for the description of their phase behavior, for the application of vesicles as encapsulating devices, and for the elucidation of cholesterol gallstone formation in bile. With this in mind, we have utilized our recently developed molecular-thermodynamic theory to study the formation of vesicles in mixtures containing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium alkyl sulfates of various tail lengths. The theory accounts for the essential free-energy contributions to the free energy of vesiculation, gves, with particular emphasis on their relative importance and interplay in the process of vesicle formation. We found that mixed surfactant vesicles can be stabilized energetically in highly asymmetric surfactant mixtures, such as those consisting of CTAB and sodium pentyl sulfate (SPS). These vesicles are characterized by small sizes and a narrow size distribution. In contrast, in mixtures consisting o...
Effect of Rifampin and Rifabutin on the Pharmacokinetics of Lersivirine and Effect of Lersivirine on the Pharmacokinetics of Rifabutin and 25-O-Desacetyl-Rifabutin in Healthy Subjects

ABSTRACT Lersivirine is a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) with a unique resistance profile exhibiting potent antiviral activity against wild-type HIV and several clinically relevant NNRTI-resistant strains. Lersivirine, a weak inducer of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme CYP3A4, is metabolized by CYP3A4 and UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2B7 (UGT2B7). Two open, randomized, two-way (study 1; study A5271008) or three-way (study 2; study A5271043) crossover phase I studies were carried out under steady-state conditions in healthy subjects. Study 1 ( n = 17) investigated the effect of oral rifampin on the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of lersivirine. Study 2 ( n = 18) investigated the effect of oral rifabutin on the PKs of lersivirine and the effect of lersivirine on the PKs of rifabutin and its active metabolite, 25- O -desacetyl-rifabutin. Coadministration with rifampin decreased the profile of the lersivirine area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to 24 h postdose (AUC 24 ), maximum plasma concentration ( C max ), and plasma concentration observed at 24 h postdose ( C 24 ) by 85% (90% confidence interval [CI], 83, 87), 83% (90% CI, 79, 85), and 92% (90% CI, 89, 94), respectively, versus the values for lersivirine alone. Coadministration with rifabutin decreased the lersivirine AUC 24 , C max , and C 24 by 34% (90% CI, 29, 39), 25% (90% CI, 16, 33), and 58% (90% CI, 52, 64), respectively, compared with the values for lersivirine alone. Neither the rifabutin concentration profile nor overall exposure was affected following coadministration with lersivirine. Lersivirine and rifabutin reduced the 25- O -desacetyl-rifabutin AUC 24 by 27% (90% CI, 21, 32) and C max by 27% (90% CI, 19, 34). Lersivirine should not be coadministered with rifampin, which is a potent inducer of CYP3A4, UGT2B7, and P-glycoprotein activity and thus substantially lowers lersivirine exposure. No dose adjustment of rifabutin is necessary in the presence of lersivirine; an upward dose adjustment of lersivirine may be warranted when it is coadministered with rifabutin.
Quasilinear Elliptic Systems

The quasilinear elliptic system $$\sum\limits_{l{\text{ = 1}}}^n {\frac{\partial }{{\partial x_l }}\left\{ {\sum\limits_{j = 1}^N {\sum\limits_{m = 1}^n {C_{ij}^{lm} [x,U]\frac{{\partial U^j }}{{\partial x_m }} + B_i^l [x,U]} } } \right\} + F_i [x,U] = 0} $$
Role of caffeic glucoside esters in defense-repair processing of trees II: Synthesis of 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-ethyl 3-α-L-rhamnopyranosylβ-D-glucopyranoside

The reference compound (9), with a partial structure of acteoside, was synthesized to elucidate the relation between structural features and the precipitation or solubility of the oxidation products of acteoside: 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-ethyl 3-O-(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (9). The glycosyl acceptor 2-O-benzoyl-3-O-(2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-4,6-O-benzylidene-α-D-glucopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate (7) was prepared from allyl 2-O-benzoyl-3-O-(2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-4,6-O-benzylidene-α-D-glucopyranoside (4) via isomerization of the allyl group with an iridium complex to the 1-propenyl group and its hydrolysis with HgCl2lHgO, followed by treatment with CCl3CN and DBU in a 65.5% overall yield. The glycosyl acceptor 3,4-diacetoxyphenethyl alcohol (16) was prepared from homoveratric acid via demethylation with 57% HI and its acetylation with Ac2O and 85% H3PO4, followed by selective reduction of the carboxyl group to the alcohol with a borane-tetrahydrofurane complex in a 61% overall yield. The glycosylation of7 with16 in dichloromethane promoted by BF3-Et2O gave a 74.3% yield of8. Hydrolysis of8 with 90% CF3COOH gave the debenzylidenated product, which was treated with NaOMe to afford a 32% overall yield of the desired compound9. This compound9 was identical with the natural specimen.
Predictors of pathologic stage in prostatic carcinoma. The role of neovascularity.

Background. Prostate adenocarcinoma is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in older men. However, the histologic prevalence far exceeds clinically manifest disease. Increased screening has resulted in the detection of a large number of carcinomas of unknown malignant potential. The authors investigated tumor angiogenesis to predict pathologic stage in prostatic tumors. Angiogenesis in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), a putative premalignant lesion, also was investigated. Methods. Immunohistochemistry was used to highlight the tumor vasculature. Vessels were quantified using computerized image analysis. A minimum of five randomly selected microscopic fields were measured from each tumor. To investigate PIN, the authors measured vessels per millimeter of gland perimeter, compared with benign glands in the same patient. Results. Vessel density (vessels per millimeter squared [vv/mm2]) correlated with pathologic stage. The mean vessel density of organ-confined tumors was 80.2 vv/mm' (95% confidence interval [CI], 71.4-91.0), compared with 110.4 vv/mmz (95% CI, 97.9-122.8) for tumors with capsular penetration or positive lymph nodes. Logistic regression analysis and modeling showed vessel density superior to histologic grade and preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in distinguishing organ-confined tumors from those having extracapsular extension or pelvic lymph node metastasis. PIN in acini and ductules had increased microvascularity relative to benign epithelium in 18 of 25 tumors (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Neovascularity has been demonstrated to be a prerequisite for tumor progression. These data
Employee Health and Infection Control

Hospital employees are at risk for exposure to a variety of communicable diseases, which they may transmit to patients and other workers. The employee health service plays a critical role in an effective infection control program. In this article, we outline the major responsibilities of the employee health service and summarize key current recommendations for management of exposures.
Alternatives for understanding qualitative features that dominate particle-particle correlations in heavy-ion reactions of ~=50 MeV/nucleon

We use trajectory calculations to analyze small-angle particle-particle correlations for three typical situations: [sup 40]Ar+[sup 197]Au ([ital E]/[ital A]=60 MeV)[r arrow][sup 2]H-[sup 2]H pairs and [sup 1]H-[sup 1]H pairs, [sup 20]Ne+[sup 59]Cu ([ital E]/[ital A]=30 MeV)[r arrow][ital n]-[ital n] pairs. For the [sup 2]H-[sup 2]H pairs our analysis of the gentle featureless anticorrelations suggests that the major driving force is Coulomb repulsion after a range of average time delays from [approx]5[times]10[sup [minus]21] s for the [sup 2]H pairs of lower energy to [approx]10[sup [minus]22] s for the [sup 2]H pairs of higher energy. Simulations are used to illustrate the separate dominance of source size and lifetime in the space-time extent of the emitter. For lifetimes [le]10[sup [minus]22] s the emitter size dominates; for longer lifetimes the time delays become predominant. The peaks at [approx]20 MeV/[ital c] in the correlation functions for [sup 1]H-[sup 1]H pairs can be accounted for by diproton ejection which decays into protons with a [ital Q] value of [approx]0.35 MeV and a decay width of [approx]1 MeV (or a meanlife of 6[times]10[sup [minus]22] s). The positive correlations between neutron pairs can be accounted for by dineutron ejection which decays into neutrons with a near zero [italmore » Q] value and a decay width of [approx]0.25 MeV (or a meanlife of [approx]2[times]10[sup [minus]21] s). If these diproton and dineutron clusters do indeed have a metastable existence, then one should reexamine the notion that their associated small-angle correlations reflect the space-time extent of the emission source.« less
Transforming disruptive technology into sustainable technology: understanding the front-end design of an online program at a brick-and-mortar university

Abstract This article examines design processes that a team of instructional technology faculty and administrators experienced related to an online instructional technology graduate program at a large Midwestern university. This qualitative development research pays close attention to the five-year front-end program design. As participant observers, the first three authors reviewed faculty and administrator interviews, design meeting observations, and program related documents. The analysis relied on activity systems to showcase the disruptive nature of online education at a brick-and-mortar university and how faculty and administrators acted as entrepreneurial leaders. The implications from this study suggest that online education can bring disruptive influences to traditional university programs, but once faculty and administrators embrace the new opportunities and address uncertainties that online programs can bring to the sociohistorical context of their institution they are more likely to design and develop a successful program.
BK virus and carcinoma of the prostate, kidney and bladder.

Sir, We read the recent study by Newton et al (2005) with great interest. Presently, we offer a few thoughts on what their results suggest about the role of BK virus in cancer. First, haemorrhagic cystitis and BK nephropathy in transplant patients are the principal disease entities for which BK virus has been implicated (Hirsch, 2005). We ask, how do the antibody titers of the cancer patients and controls compare to transplant patients diagnosed with BK nephropathy or haemorrhagic cystitis? It would be informative to know whether antibody titers in patients with active BK nephropathy are within the range reported for patients with carcinoma. Similarly, how do antibody titers in BK nephropathy patients change with treatment and resolution of BK infection? Perhaps antibody titers decline following resolution of the active BK infection to levels comparable to those reported by Newton et al (2005). Consider a cancer patient with a history of prior BK infection whose antibody titers were previously high, but now have declined. In such an instance, BK virus may be implicated in carcinogenesis, although the antibody titers at the time of this study have returned to the range of normal individuals. Certainly, a study documenting how antibody titers in patients with BK nephropathy change over time would be enlightening. Infection with polyomavirus (PV) may both disrupt the function of tumour-suppressor proteins p53 and pRb (Reich and Levine, 1982; DeCaprio et al, 1988; Bollag et al, 1989; Dyson et al, 1990; Harris et al, 1998; Pipas and Levine, 2001). As the PV infection is cleared, the ability of the cell to respond appropriately to DNA damage may remain impaired. The cells are then transformed, although the active phase of infection has resolved. We suggest, based on this ‘hit-and-run' mechanism, that the absence of elevated titers does not exclude a role for BK virus in carcinogenesis. Nonetheless, the ‘hit-and-run' mechanism is difficult to defend experimentally. How does one find evidence for an infection that has resolved? We anticipate that this may become an area of active research in the near future. Finally, Weinreb et al (2006) identified a population of patients with PV-infected ‘decoy' cells seen on urine cytologic analysis. The incidence of bladder carcinoma in this population was significantly higher than in patients receiving urine cytologic analysis but lacking any such infected cells. Their data suggests an association of PV infection with bladder carcinoma. Did any patients in Dr Newton's study have urine cytologic analyses revealing such ‘decoy' cells? Is there any correlation between the presence of such virally infected cells and antibody titers? The detection of ‘decoy' cells may be more closely associated with carcinoma than antibody titers.
EMS system performance: The use of cardiac arrest timelines

The time data used to analyze the significance of time-to-treatment intervals on times from sudden cardiac arrest vary by definition of time and individual system design, making it difficult to compare these data and to extrapolate findings from one study to another to achieve generalizable conclusions. A model is proposed to describe the time-to-treatment/time-to-patient response intervals sought by most researchers to evaluate quality of care and system performance. It pprovides a mechanism for incorporating system design elements into the cardiac arrest timeline proposed by the Utstein Conference. The present model is composed to generic patient management intervals (classes of intervals common to all systems) that are composed of component intervals (intervals particular to each system) that describe the system's conduct of an emergency medical services call, which, in turn, are constructed of data (activity) points unique to each system. Because each system defines its own data points, the present model permits rigorous definition and analysis of the time date produced by all systems. Each system thereby constructs reliable component intervals, producing a system-specific, real-time depiction of the events related to a cardiac arrest call. Because all systems share the same generic patient management intervals, the resulting cardiac arrest time-line can be compared with those from other systems to assess system performance. The goal of the present model is to facilitate further the standardization of cardiac arrest data acquisition and reporting and evaluation of emergency medical services system performance.
Motion information in iconic memory.

Abstract Motion perception was investigated in two experiments using Sperling's partial report procedure. In Experiment 1, subjects were presented with 8 moving squares; at array offset an arrow cued subjects to locate all squares moving in the direction of the arrow. The partial report was found to be superior to the whole report and this was taken as evidence for the existence, in iconic memory, of information about the direction of motion. The second experiment revealed only a minor decay in this superiority with the indicator delayed up to 1 sec. The importance of optical transformations in vision was stressed and it was argued that information processing models need pay greater attention to them.
Structural Studies on Terebinthone from Schinus terebinthefolius

A new triterpene, terebinthone, has been isolated from the berries of Schinus terebinthefolius (Radd.). Analyses indicate the formula C30H46O3. Spectral evidence indicates that the compound is a diketone with one group in the C-3 position and the second in a highly hindered position. Reduction and hydrogenation studies supported these findings. Ozonolysis produced acetaldehyde showing that the single double bond is in the side chain as an ethylidene group. The third oxygen of terebinthone is believed to be in a cyclic ether ring.
Molecular characterization of Wilms tumor from a resource-constrained region of sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan African children have an increased incidence of Wilms' tumor (WT) and experience alarmingly poor outcomes. Although these outcomes are largely due to inadequate therapy, we hypothesized that WT from this region exhibits features of biological aggressiveness that may warrant broader implementation of high-risk therapeutic protocols. We evaluated 15 Kenyan WT (KWT) for features of aggressive disease (blastemal predominance and Ki67/cellular proliferation) and treatment resistance (anaplasia and p53 immunopositivity). To explore the additional biological features of KWT, we determined the mutational status of the CTNNB1/β-catenin and WT1 genes and performed immunostaining for markers of Wnt pathway activation (β-catenin) and nephronic progenitor cell self-renewal (WT1, CITED1 and SIX2). We characterized the proteome of KWT using imaging mass spectrometry (IMS). The results were compared to histology- and age-matched North American WT (NAWT) controls. For patients with KWT, blastemal predominance was noted in 53.3% and anaplasia in 13%. We detected increased loss to follow-up (p = 0.028), disease relapse (p = 0.044), mortality (p = 0.001) and nuclear unrest (p = 0.001) in patients with KWT compared to controls. KWT and NAWT showed similar Ki67/cellular proliferation. We detected an increased proportion of epithelial nuclear β-catenin in KWT (p = 0.013). All 15 KWT specimens were found to harbor wild-type CTNNB1/β-catenin, and one contained a WT1 nonsense mutation. WT1 was detected by immunostaining in 100% of KWT, CITED1 in 80% and SIX2 in 80%. IMS revealed a molecular signature unique to KWT that was distinct from NAWT. The African WT specimens appear to express markers of adverse clinical behavior and treatment resistance and may require alternative therapies or implementation of high-risk treatment protocols.
Laser interferometry-based characterization of surfaces by data-dependent systems

In the process of surface recovery using interferometric methods, a mixture of artifacts, noise, and errors affect the phase map stage of the process. Based on a methodology called data dependent systems (DDS), a stochastic approach is developed which discerns the phase signal from noisy data points and uses it to reconstruct a clean phase map. Such a phase map is then easily converted to a height distribution. Stepwise, the procedure first identifies the presence of discontinuities, then applies an adaptive thresholding criteria to return an outlier free set of residuals, and finally uses them to reconstruct a clean phase map. The methodology is robust and can handle very complex phase maps. It reduces reliance on complicated and expensive experimental setups and replaces them with relatively inexpensive but reliable computation. Phase unwrapping is shown to be accomplished in a natural way, but the method also provides other benefits such as diagnostic identification of surface defects and other trouble spots.
Splines under tension in integral transfer problems

Splines under tension are used to develop an interpolatory representation of integral radiation operators. A quantitative measure of the stability of this representation is derived and approximated in terms of local grid lengths and the tension parameter. Cubic splines (zero tension parameter) are shown to be approximately stable when the ratio of successive grid lengths lies within a specific range. Scaling procedures for determining the tension constant from the structure of the grids and the characteristics of the problem are discussed, and the utility of these procedures is illustrated by application to the formation of resonance lines in two-dimensional media with exponential height variation of opacity.
Evaporation rates of volatile liquids in a laminar flow system: Part I. Pure liquids

Normal pentane and isopentane were evaporated into nitrogen in laminar, concurrent flow in a rectangular channel. Composition profiles within the gas phase were measured, and the evaporation rates were compared with theoretical predictions with satisfactory agreement. The interfacial mole fraction of the evaporating species in the gas phase ranged as high as 0.74. A solution is reported for the Leveque problem under high flux conditions.
Tridymite-like Structure in Silica Glass

THE nature of the atomic arrangements in glassy solids has been described in several ways. In one model1, a portion of the material is pictured as being composed of small regions of crystalline-like order bonded together in essentially random orientations. In another model2, the material is depicted as a random network in which only a few of the shortest interatomic distances correspond throughout the sample to those present in a crystalline phase. Both models picture the glass as a continuous network and differ only in the degree of local atomic ordering.
Effects of fenoldopam, a dopamine D-1 agonist, and clevidipine, a calcium channel antagonist, in acute renal failure in anesthetized rats.

The present studies were conducted to: a) comparatively evaluate the effects of clevidipine, a new dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, and fenoldopam, a dopamine (D-1) receptor agonist on basal renal function, and b) to determine the efficacy of these agents in protecting renal function in an experimental model of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced acute renal failure in rats. Infusions of either clevidipine or fenoldopam (5.0 nmol/kg−1 min−1 i.v. for 60 min) produced significant increases in urine flow (UV), urinary sodium excretion (UNaV), and fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) in inactin anesthetized rats. Unlike clevidipine, fenoldopam also produced significant increases in renal blood flow (RBF) and urinary potassium excretion (UKV). In a separate series, unilateral renal failure was induced in anesthetized rats by occluding the left renal artery for 40 min followed by reperfusion. In this model, there was a 70–75% reduction in the GFR that was paradoxically associated with several fold increases ...
Cellular effects of gastric electrical stimulation on antral smooth muscle cells in rats.

The cellular effects of gastric electrical stimulation (GES), which has recently been introduced as a potential therapy for the treatment of gastroparesis and obesity, were investigated in rat antr...
Raman spectroscopy of the emersed Ag | alcohol electrochemical interface

Abstract Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize the molecular structure and orientation of the solvent in electrochemical interfaces at Ag electrodes emersed from methanol and 1-propanol electrolyte solutions. The vibrational behavior of the solvent in the emersed interfaces is compared with that existing in situ as probed by surface enhanced Raman scattering as a function of electrode potential. Changes in peak frequency shifts and relative intensities as a function of potential are maintained upon emersion of the electrode from the alcohol electrolyte solution. These observations suggest that both solvent orientation and bonding environment at the Ag surface remain unperturbed by the emersion process. Additionally, the solvent behavior upon emersion is compared at rough and smooth Ag surfaces. The similarity in the spectra from these two types of surfaces as a function of potential suggests that surface enhanced Raman scattering can provide information about the average interfacial solvent molecules in electrochemical systems.
Time-of-flight photoconductivity in a-Si:H

Abstract We report measurements of the trapping rates of carriers at charged and neutral dangling bonds in a-Si:H, using time-of-flight photoconductivity. The temperature dependence of the trapping rate is also measured from 150K to 340K.
Protein-Mediated DNA loop formation and breakdown in a fluctuating environment

Living cells provide a fluctuating, out-of-equilibrium environment in which genes must coordinate cellular function. DNA looping, which is a common means of regulating transcription, is very much a stochastic process; the loops arise from the thermal motion of the DNA and other fluctuations of the cellular environment. We present single-molecule measurements of DNA loop formation and breakdown when an artificial fluctuating force, applied to mimic a fluctuating cellular environment, is imposed on the DNA. We show that loop formation is greatly enhanced in the presence of noise of only a fraction of k_{B}T, yet find that hypothetical regulatory schemes that employ mechanical tension in the DNA-as a sensitive switch to control transcription-can be surprisingly robust due to a fortuitous cancellation of noise effects.
Children's Compensations for Poorly Automated Reading Skills

The compensatory-encoding model (CEM) postulates that readers whose decoding of words or verbal working memory capacities is inefficient can compensate so that literal comprehension of text is not deleteriously affected. However, the use of compensations may draw cognitive resources away from higher level reading activities such as comprehension monitoring. The model was tested in 3rd graders who were recorded as they read aloud texts containing embedded anomalies. Literal comprehension was assessed. The efficiency of the decoding of words, the semantic encoding of words, and verbal working memory were measured. Consistent with the model, inefficient readers compensated by pausing, looking back, rereading, and sounding out words more often than efficient readers but had literal comprehension scores as good as those of efficient readers.
A comparison of approximate methods for the analytical determination of profiles for disk cams with roller followers

This paper gives a comparison of two approximate analytical methods for determining disk cam profiles. The procedures are highly accurate for obtaining points on a cam with cylindrical followers. For both analytical procedures, the coordinates of the center of the follower are required at small increments of the cam angle. Both procedures can be easily programmed and depend only on the follower coordinates and not the follower type. A procedure for approximating the radius of curvature is also given.
Profiling identifies precursor suspects: notch family again!

Newborn neurons in the adult dentate gyrus pass through several distinct precursor and progenitor classes prior to differentiation. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell , Lugert et al. (2010) characterized their strikingly different proliferative behaviors after neurogenic stimuli or aging.
Optimum receivers for pattern recognition problems with nonoverlapping target and background noise

Optimum receivers for pattern recognition with nonoverlapping target and background noise are designed based on binary Bayesian hypothesis testing with unknown parameters. We overview the design of optimum receiver to detect a noisy target with unknown illumination in nonoverlapping colored background noise. Both white and colored noise are considered to model the additive noise on the target. We show that the solution for the optimum receiver, when the additive noise is white, consists of three terms. The first corresponds to the energy of the input signal that is defined as the lexicographically ordered samples of the input image within the window of the reference, the second is the square of the correlation between the input signal and the energy-normalized reference; and the third corresponds to the energy of the whitened input signal. When the additive noise is colored, the third term is the same, however, the first two terms change such that the information in the correlation matrix of the additive noise is utilized to process the input signal. We discuss two special cases: when the additive noise is zero and when the background noise is zero. We show that when the additive noise is zero, the optimum receiver is independent of the background noise statistics. For the special case of zero background noise, the optimum receiver reduces to a matched filter that estimates the illumination of the target.
Intuitive Conceptions of Dead Agents' Minds: The Natural Foundations of Afterlife Beliefs as Phenomenological Boundary

Little is known about how the minds of dead agents are represented. In the current experiment, individuals with different types of explicit afterlife beliefs were asked in an implicit interview task whether various mental state types, as well as pure biological imperatives, continue after death. The results suggest that, regardless of one's explicit reports about personal consciousness after death, those who believe in some form of life after death (and, to a certain extent, even those who do not) implicitly represent dead agents' minds in the same way: psychobiological and perceptual states cease while emotional, desire, and epistemic states continue. The findings are interpreted according to simulation constraints — because it is epistemologically impossible to know what it is like to be dead, individuals will be most likely to attribute to dead agents those types of mental states that they cannot imagine being without. Such a model argues that it is natural to believe in life after death and social transmission serves principally to conceptually enrich (or degrade) intuitive conceptions of the afterlife.
Stress matters revisited: A boundary change experiment

Breen and Clifton (Stress matters: Effects of anticipated lexical stress on silent reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 2011, 64, 153-170) argued that readers' eye movements during silent reading are influenced by the stress patterns of words. This claim was supported by the observation that syntactic reanalysis that required concurrent metrical reanalysis (e.g., a change from the noun form of abstract to the verb form) resulted in longer reading times than syntactic reanalysis that did not require metrical reanalysis (e.g., a change from the noun form of report to the verb form). However, the data contained a puzzle: The disruption appeared on the critical word (abstract, report) itself, although the material that forced the part of speech change did not appear until the next region. Breen and Clifton argued that parafoveal preview of the disambiguating material triggered the revision and that the eyes did not move on until a fully specified lexical representation of the critical word was achieved. The present experiment used a boundary change paradigm in which parafoveal preview of the disambiguating region was prevented. Once again, an interaction was observed: Syntactic reanalysis resulted in particularly long reading times when it also required metrical reanalysis. However, now the interaction did not appear on the critical word, but only following the disambiguating region. This pattern of results supports Breen and Clifton's claim that readers form an implicit metrical representation of text during silent reading.
Masticatory Myofascial Pain: An Explanatory Model of Regional Muscle Pain Syndromes

SUMMARYObjectives: To review the current clinical status of masticatory myofascial pain [MMP].Findings: Masticatory myofascial pain is a regional muscle pain disorder that is consistent with regional muscle pain disorders in other parts of the body. It is characterized by localized muscle tenderness in taut bands of skeletal muscles with associated regional and referred pain. The affected muscles may also display an increased fatigability, stiffness, subjective weakness, pain in movement, and slight restricted range of motion that is unrelated to joint restriction. Understanding these factors that contribute to the development and progression of MMP can help to validate an explanatory model for etiology and treatment of MMP. This model includes peripheral mechanisms from local repetitive biomechanical strain leading to the onset of early cases of MMP while central mechanisms associated with systemic and psychosocial factors lead to increased chronicity of MMP. Management of the syndrome naturally follows ...
Design of a Hyperstable Protein by Rational Consideration of Unfolded State Interactions

Stabilization of proteins is a long-sought objective. Targeting the unfolded state interactions of a protein is not a method used for this purpose, although many proteins are known to contain such interactions. The N-terminal domain of ribosomal protein L9 (NTL9) has a lysine residue at position 12, which makes strong non-native interactions in the unfolded state. Substitution of a d-alanine for G34 in NTL9 is known to stabilize the protein by reducing the entropy of the unfolded state. Here we combine these two mutations to design a hyperstable protein. The structure of the variant is the same as that of wild-type as judged by 2D NMR. The variant is hyperstable as judged by denaturation experiments, where complete thermal unfolding of the protein does not occur in native buffer.
An assessment of recent water vapor continuum measurements upon longwave and shortwave radiative transfer

[1] Recent measurements of the water vapor continuum have been combined to form an empirical continuum termed the BPS continuum model. This covers the 800 to 7500 cm−1 spectral region for the self continuum and most of the major absorbing spectral regions between 240 and 7300 cm−1 for the foreign continuum. Longwave (i.e., absorption/emission of terrestrial radiation between 1 and 3000 cm−1) and shortwave (i.e., using solar radiation as a source and considering atmospheric absorption between 1000 and 17000 cm−1) line by line (LBL) radiative transfer calculations have been performed for clear-sky conditions in three standard test atmospheres using line data from the HITRAN database. This has allowed BPS to be compared to the commonly used CKD and MT CKD continuum models, in addition to conducting a more detailed investigation of the separate roles of the self and foreign continua than previously provided in the literature. Using uncertainties obtained from multiple experimental studies it has been possible to estimate the upper and lower limits of the effects due to the continuum in many spectral regions. The outgoing longwave radiation in a midlatitude-summer (MLS) atmosphere calculated by all three continuum models agree to within 0.6 Wm−2 with a ±1.1 Wm−2 estimated uncertainty. The corresponding values for surface downwelling radiation are 1.3 Wm−2 ± 2.5 Wm−2. For shortwave absorption, the different models agree within 1.0%, with an estimated uncertainty of ±1.7%. However, the three models differ in the amount by which the self and foreign continua contribute to shortwave absorption.
Content and Intensity of Fears in Middle Childhood Among Rural and Urban Boys and Girls

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine gender, grade, and rural/urban differences in content and intensity of self-reported fears of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls (N = 650). The Children's Fear Survey Schedule (Ryall & Dietiker, 1979) was used to determine the content and intensity of children's fears, and a three-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that girls were more fearful than boys, rural children were more fearful than urban children, and fourth- and fifth-grade children were more fearful than sixth-grade children. These differences were the result of greater intensity of fears; content of fears appeared to be relatively comparable across groups.
Dopaminergic modulation of sensory responses of striatal neurons: single unit studies.

Abstract The extracellular single unit responses of striatal neurons to repetitive stimulation of the sciatic nerve were recorded in the urethane anesthetized rat. Changes in the magnitude of these responses after pharmacological manipulation of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission were evaluated. While the intravenous administration of 0.25 mg/kg i.v. amphetamine (AMPH) had no significant effect on baseline firing rates as compared to saline controls, the magnitudes of excitatory and inhibitory evoked single unit responses were significantly decreased by 68% by AMPH. Further, this reduction in response magnitude produce by AMPH was completely blocked by pretreatment with 0.5 mg/kg i.v. haloperidol or by intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions. This indicates that the observed effect is mediated by dopamine located in nerve terminals within the striatum. These results suggest that DA functions to modulate the responsiveness of striatal neurons to afferent signals.
Thermal properties of chemically synthesized polyaniline (EB) powder

Abstract Thermal characteristics of chemically synthesized polyaniline (EB) powder have been investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), modulated DSC (MDSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), FTIR spectra, solid MS spectrum, and solubility tests. The exothermic peak measured both in conventional DSC and MDSC was a non-reversing chemical cross-linking reaction and was further confirmed by wide angle X-ray, FTIR, and solubility tests. Two glass transitions ( T g ), ∼70°C and ∼250°C, in polyaniline (EB) powder, were observed for the first time using MDSC during the process of heat treatment. These results clearly demonstrate that the morphology of polyaniline (EB) powder is changed by thermal treatment in the range of 185–350°C.