cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A comparison of subjective and objective conjunctival hyperaemia grading with AOS® Anterior software.

Clinical relevance: This study evaluates a commercially available conjunctival hyperaemia grading system, providing validation of an important tool for ocular surface research and clinical trials.Background: Bulbar conjunctival hyperaemia is a sign of ocular surface inflammation, and proper measurement is essential to clinical care and trials. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and repeatability of an objective grading system in comparison with subjective grading.Methods: This study was a retrospective, randomised analysis of 300 bulbar conjunctival images that were collected at an academic institution. The images used were de-identified and collected from the Keratograph K5 and Haag-Streit slitlamp. Six investigators graded the images with either a 0.1 or 0.5 unit scaling using a 0-4 Efron grading scale. Three of the investigators also imported the images into the AOS ® Anterior software and graded them objectively. All measurement techniques were assessed for repeatability and comparability to each other.Results: Mean hyperaemia with the objective system (1.1 ± 0.7) was significantly less than the subjective grading (2.0 ± 0.8) (P < 0.001). Both inter- and intra-subject repeatability of the objective system (0.15) was better than the subjective methods (1.70).Conclusion: The results showed excellent repeatability of the AOS ® Anterior objective conjunctival hyperaemia grading software, although they were not found to be interchangeable with subjective scores. This system has value in monitoring levels of hyperaemia in contact lens wearers and patients in clinical care and research trials.
Comparison of Minute Smears of Lipstick by Microspectrophotometry and Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy

Minute lipstick smears are sometimes found as evidence on clothing, eigarette butts, bedding, and miscellaneous crime scene surfaces. Traditional techniques, such as visible-absorption spectroscopy, and paper and thin-layer chromatography, are not always suitable for comparison of the trace amounts of lipstick which usually occur in actual casework. Microspectrophotometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were evaluated for comparison of minute lipstick samples. Microspectrophotometry proved very promising in differentiating lipstick samples of nearly the same color but with minor shade differences. Backscattered electron imaging followed by X-ray microanalysis was used as an additional method for discrimination purposes. Both of these techniques can rapidly analyze microscopic samples of lipstick.
An Evaluation Framework for Reputation Management Systems

Reputation management (RM) is employed in distributed and peer-to-peer networks to help users compute a measure of trust in other users based on initial belief, observed behavior, and run-time feedback. These trust values influence how, or with whom, a user will interact. Existing literature on RM focuses primarily on algorithm development, not comparative analysis. To remedy this, we propose an evaluation framework based on the trace-simulator paradigm. Trace file generation emulates a variety of network configurations, and particular attention is given to modeling malicious user behavior. Simulation is trace-based and incremental trust calculation techniques are developed to allow experimentation with networks of substantial size. The described framework is available as open source so that researchers can evaluate the effectiveness of other reputation management techniques and/or extend functionality. This chapter reports on our framework’s design decisions. Our goal being to build a generalpurpose simulator, we have the opportunity to characterize the breadth of existing RM systems. Further, we demonstrate our tool using two reputation algorithms (EigenTrust and a modified TNA-SL) under varied network conditions. Our analysis permits us to make claims about the algorithms’ comparative merits. We conclude that such systems, assuming their distribution is secure, are highly effective at managing trust, even against adversarial collectives.
A Data Storage Method Based on Multilevel Mapping Index in Wireless Sensor Networks

Limited response time and energy are important metrics in the wireless sensor networks, and coexistence of ad hoc queries and periodical queries is also very important. This paper proposes a data storage method based on multi-level mapping index, and integrates responding time constraints of periodical queries and ad hoc query. It divides the whole network into levels, builds data index in every level, as the same time considers multi-attributes, and adopts different data storage methods in different levels. The experiments express that this multilevel mapping index data storage method can save a great deal of energy and satisfy the response time, and support the mixed query types.
The role of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in corneal allograft rejection.

Purpose Immunologic rejection constitutes a major barrier to the success of allogeneic corneal transplants, but the specific mediators and mechanisms of graft rejection are poorly understood. Several studies have implicated cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses, typically associated with CD8(+) T cells, in promoting corneal graft rejection. This study sought to test the hypothesis that CTLs are essential in promoting corneal graft rejection. Methods BALB/c donor corneas were grafted orthotopically onto C57BL/6, perforin knockout, or CD8(+) T-cell knockout mice. The tempo and incidence of graft rejection were observed for each group. In separate experiments, donor-specific CTL and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses were tested at the time of graft rejection by a standard chromium release assay and an ear swelling assay, respectively. Results Perforin knockout and CD8(+) T-cell knockout mice were as effective as wild-type C57BL/6 control mice in rejecting BALB/c donor corneas. Furthermore, animals in all three groups were found to develop robust donor-specific DTH, not CTL, responses at the time of graft rejection. Histopathologically, the rejected corneas from all three groups contained a predominantly mononuclear cellular infiltrate. Conclusions This study rejects the hypothesis that CD8(+) CTLs are essential in promoting corneal graft rejection and instead further implicates donor-specific DTH reactions as the relevant immune response during graft failure.
Text Messaging Support for Urban Adolescents and Young Adults Using Injectable Contraception: Outcomes of the DepoText Pilot Trial

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of DepoText, a text messaging reminder system designed to improve moderately long-acting reversible contraception appointment attendance among young urban adolescent girls and young adult women using Depo-Provera. Methods Female patients aged 13–21 years willing to be randomized, using Depo-Provera, and owning a cell phone with text messaging were recruited from an urban academic practice in a community with high rates of unplanned pregnancy for this institutional review board–approved randomized controlled pilot trial. Participants completed a baseline Web-based survey and were followed for three injection cycles. Intervention participants received welcome, appointment, and healthy self-management messages using the Compliance for Life short messaging system platform over each injection cycle. Compliance for Life recorded outgoing and incoming communications, and patients were tracked for clinical behaviors. The log-transformed number of days between scheduled appointment and injection was analyzed using linear regression. Results Recruitment data show 95% eligibility and 91% enrollment rates with maximum enrollment completion in 3 months. Most were African-American and resided in low-income, single-parent, and mother-headed households. Most participants had cell phone plans that included unlimited text messaging and Internet access and completed all three Depo-Provera cycles. Intervention participants returned closer to their scheduled appointments than their control peers for the first visit ( Β = −.75; 95% confidence interval, −1.4 to .06; p = .03) but not for the second and third visits. Conclusions The DepoText intervention is acceptable, feasible, and shows short-term preliminary efficacy for improving clinic attendance for moderately long-acting reversible contraception appointments. Additional research exploring the cost and longitudinal prevention effectiveness is warranted.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 and the Trials of John D. Lee: An Account

Called the darkest deed of the nineteenth century, the brutal 1857 murder of 120 men, women, and children at a place in southern Utah called Mountain Meadows remains one of the most controversial events in the history of the American West. Although only one man, John D. Lee, ever faced prosecution (for what probably stands as one of the four largest mass killings of civilians in United States history), many other Mormons ordered, planned, or participated in the massacre of wagon loads of Arkansas emigrants as they headed through southwestern Utah on their way to California. Special controversy surrounds the role in the 1857 events of one man, Brigham Young, the fiery prophet of the Church of Latter-day Saints who led his embattled people to the promised land in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. What exactly Brigham Young knew, and when he knew it, are questions that historians still debate.
Essential oil of Anemopsis californica.

The constituents of the hydrodistilled essential oil from the roots and rhizomes of Anemopsis californica have been examined. Thymol was identified from the phenolic fraction of the oil. Gas chromatography on Hyprose SP-80 followed by collection of effluent fractions and comparison of their IR spectra with those of pure samples confirmed the presence of methyleugenol as the major constituent. A third constituent of the oil was found to be piperitone. Methyleugenol (approximately 55 percent v/v of the oil), thymol (13 percent), and piperitone (5 percent) together make up approximately 74 percent of the oil. A fourth constituent, tentatively identified as an aromatic unsaturated ether, and other constituents are being investigated.
Symmetrizing Smoothing Filters

We study a general class of nonlinear and shift-varying smoothing filters that operate based on averaging. This important class of filters includes many well-known examples such as the bilateral filter, nonlocal means, general adaptive moving average filters, and more. (Many linear filters such as linear minimum mean-squared error smoothing filters, Savitzky--Golay filters, smoothing splines, and wavelet smoothers can be considered special cases.) They are frequently used in both signal and image processing as they are elegant, computationally simple, and high performing. The operators that implement such filters, however, are not symmetric in general. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a provably stable method for symmetrizing the smoothing operators. Specifically, we propose a novel approximation of smoothing operators by symmetric doubly stochastic matrices and show that this approximation is stable and accurate, even more so in higher dimensions. We demonstrate that there are several im...
Accurate and inexpensive performance monitoring for variability-aware systems

Designing reliable integrated systems has become a major challenge with shrinking geometries, increasing fault rates and devices which age substantially in their usage life. The proposed research is motivated by the observation that many of the in-field failures are delay failures and several variability signatures are also delay-related. The origins of temporal delay fluctuations include manufacturing variability, voltage/temperature changes, negative or positive bias temperature instability-related Vth degradation, etc. Since the actual delay changes depend on process variations as well as workload, on-chip monitoring may be the best way of predicting them. There is a need to monitor circuit performance during manufacturing as well as at runtime to predict achievable performance and warn against impending failures. Adaptive mechanisms in hardware and/or software can optimize the trade-off between errors, energy and performance based on the feedback from runtime circuit performance monitors. This paper presents approaches for automated synthesis of design-dependent performance monitors. These monitors can be used to predict impending delay failures relatively inexpensively. For low-overhead monitoring, we propose multiple design-dependent ring oscillators (DDROs) as smart canary structures which can reliably predict achievable chip frequency but with margins for local variations. Early silicon results indicate that DDROs can reduce delay monitoring error by 35% compared to conventional ring oscillators. To further improve the prediction (albeit at a higher overhead), we propose in-situ slack monitors (SlackProbe) which can match local variations as well at overheads much smaller than monitoring all sequential elements. SlackProbe reduces the number of monitors required by over 15X with 5% additional delay margin in several commercial processor benchmarks. Finally, we show an example of software testbed that demonstrates a variability-aware system that utilizes the hardware monitors and operates with both hardware and software adaptation.
Monoclonal Antibodies to Benzodiazepines

Our interest in the brain benzodiazepine receptor (BZDR) is derived from both the social and neurobiological importance of the benzodiazepines (BZDs). The benzodiazepines (like diazepam or Valium) are the most widely prescribed drugs (Fig. 11.1). Several thousand metric tons of BZDs are consumed in the United States every year (1). The BZDs are used for their anxiolytic, antiepileptic, and muscle-relaxing properties. Their psychotropic effects are due to the existence of benzodiazepine receptors in the neuronal surface membranes which have very high affinity (with K d in the nanomolar range) and specificity for benzodiazepines (2, 3). The benzodiazepine receptor is part of a protein complex that includes the GABAa receptor (GABAR), the chloride channel, and a receptor for barbiturates (4–10). Benzodiazepines potentiate the effect of GABA on opening the chloride channel by increasing the total CI- current flowing through the channel (11–15). This mechanism explains the powerful effects of these drugs since GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain [up to 40% of the brain synapses use GABA as a neurotransmitter (16)]. Therefore, benzodiazepines displace the balance between inhibitory and excitatory synapses towards the former. This effect is the base for their anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, and muscle-relaxing properties (the muscle relaxation is due to an effect on the CNS and not to a direct effect on the muscle).
Leading the New Majorities

When a political party wrests control of either house of Congress from the other, expectations for change are usually high and that was certainly the case in January 2007 when Democrats took majorities in both chambers for the first time in 12 years. What did the new majorities—and specifically their leaders—promise? To what extent have they delivered? And how do the experiences of the new majorities during their first nine months conform with or raise questions about our theories of Congress? This is perforce an interim report but, even so, it can perhaps shed some light on our theories as well as provide a first assessment of the new majorities and their leaders. In addition to the references cited here, this paper is based on interviews, observation and news accounts.
Biomechanics of Heading a Soccer Ball: Implications for Player Safety

To better understand the risk and safety of heading a soccer ball, the author created a set of simple mathematical models based upon Newton's second law of motion to describe the physics of heading. These models describe the player, the ball, the flight of the ball before impact, the motion of the head and ball during impact, and the effects of all of these upon the intensity and the duration of acceleration of the head. The calculated head accelerations were compared to those during presumably safe daily activities of jumping, dancing, and head nodding and also were related to established criteria for serious head injury from the motor vehicle crash literature. The results suggest heading is usually safe but occasionally dangerous, depending on key characteristics of both the player and the ball. Safety is greatly improved when players head the ball with greater effective body mass, which is determined by a player"s size, strength, and technique. Smaller youth players, because of their lesser body mass, are more at risk of potentially dangerous headers than are adults, even when using current youth size balls. Lower ball inflation pressure reduces risk of dangerous head accelerations. Lower pressure balls also have greater "touch" and "playability", measured in terms of contact time and contact area between foot and ball during a kick. Focus on teaching proper technique, the re-design of age-appropriate balls for young players with reduced weight and inflation pressure, and avoidance of head contact with fast, rising balls kicked at close range can substantially reduce risk of subtle brain injury in players who head soccer balls.
Characterization and Structure of Mussel Adhesive Proteins

Many marine animals such as mussels and barnacles are able to anchor themselves to surfaces through the use of proteinaceous adhesives, which have the unique ability to form strong bonds in a wet environment. With eventual goal of developing wet-surface adhesives, we have carried out gene sequencing studies, using three species of mussel, in order to learn what structural characteristics give these proteins their special properties. Two classes of protein are revealed. Both are characterized by containing about 20% each of lysine and of tyrosine (or DOPA). However, the proteins from Mytilus edulis and Mytilus californianus consist primarily of tandem repeats of variations of the proline-rich decapeptide sequence, AKPSYPPTYK, while the protein from Geukensia demissa is rich in glycine and glutamine and is comprised of 11- and 13-residue variants, e.g., GKPTITYDAGYK, GQQKQTGYDTGYK and GGVQKTGYSAGYK. We propose that the repeat domains have definite folded structures, if not in solution, at least in the condensed (crosslinked) state that gives them their distinctive properties. In this respect, the mussel proteins may resemble collagen, which has both secondary structure and adhesive properties.
Electronic and collisional sputtering of rare-gas solids

Abstract Experimental results for the kinetic energy spectra of atoms ejected from rare gas solids as a result of electronic excitation are reviewed and analyzed in terms of the ejection processes and energy states involved. These analyses are aided by classical dynamics simulations of the motion of atoms and dimers in the surface region of the solid. The results indicate that an important process is the ejection of an excited dimer with small kinetic energy, followed by its radiative decay and the subsequent repulsion of the two atoms. For incident He+ on Xe we explore the contribution to sputtering from both the electronic and nuclear energies deposited in the solid.
FEM1A is a candidate gene for polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age, and is characterized by infertility, hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. There is evidence for a PCOS gene localized to chromosome 19p13.3. The FEMIA gene maps to chromosome 19p13.3 and is highly expressed in skeletal muscle. FEMIA is a homolog of fem-1, a sex-determination gene of Caenorhabditis elegans that controls masculinization. In a pilot study of Caucasian PCOS patients from our local clinic, we found that one of these five patients exhibited a heterozygous germline missense mutation in FEM1A, designated FEM1A*H500Y. This mutation alters an amino acid conserved from human to C. elegans, and was not found in any of 198 control chromosomes. This missense allele was not found in any of a separate group of 30 PCOS patients from a different regional/ethnic background. Immunostaining of mouse ovary demonstrated that the mouse homolog of FEM1A is expressed in androgen-producing ...
Continuing the Cultural Competency Journey Through Exploration of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Skills with Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing Students: An Exemplar

Numerous training and education programs have evolved to address culturally competent health care delivery. This article describes an exemplar educational approach used to teach cultural competency to beginning graduate psychiatric mental health nursing students. Using interactive strategies delivered within the 4 phases of the curriculum, the approach has been shown to facilitate students' ongoing journey to cultural competence. Building on baccalaureate nursing competencies, the course addresses attitudes, knowledge, skills, and cultural humility to strengthen cultural self-assessment, cross-cultural clinical practice expertise, and the use of culturally appropriate research for graduate students.
Route to ponderomotive entanglement of light via optically trapped mirrors

The radiation pressure of two laser beams detuned from resonance in an optical cavity can create a stable optical trap for a mechanical oscillation mode of a movable cavity mirror. Here it is shown that such a configuration entangles the output light fields via interaction with a mirror that is suspended as a pendulum. The degree of entanglement is quantified spectrally using the logarithmic negativity, and related to the available optical restoring force. Entanglement survives in the experimentally accessible regime of gram-scale masses subject to thermal noise at room temperature.
Influences of a supermarket intervention on the food choices of parents and their children

The Nutrition for a Lifetime System (NLS) is a public access, interactive information system that was located in a supermarket and designed to help shoppers alter their purchases to meet National Cancer Institute (NCI) guidelines. This study investigated the influence of the NLS on parents' food choices, and assessed how changes in parental food choices and preferences affected their children. During the intervention phase, experimental participants (parents only) received nutrition education and feedback. Participants were 24 families, parents and their children ages 10 to 13 years, who were recruited from the larger sample of 77 NLS participant families. The results showed that parents and children reported making similar changes that followed NCI guidelines. This was most evident for increases in the consumption of fruit. These results provide evidence of the impact of a parent-based intervention on their children's food choices. Future interventions should enhance the components of an overall program directed toward children and other family members.
Structural Response Optimization of a Light-Weight Composite Blast Containment Vessel

This paper proposes an optimization technique for increasing the structural integrity of a light-weight composite blast containment vessel. The vessel is cylindrical with two hemispherical ends. It has a steel liner that is internally reinforced with throttles and gusset plates and wrapped with a basalt-plastic composite. A computationally-efficient finite element model of the blast containment vessel was proposed and verified in an earlier work. The parameters of the vessel are incorporated within an iterative optimization procedure to decrease the peak strains within the vessel, which are caused by internal blast loading due to an explosive charge placed at the center of the vessel. The results of the proposed procedure are validated for different initial guesses of the design variables.
In situ U–Pb dating of micro-baddeleyite by secondary ion mass spectrometry

Abstract We introduce a technique for U–Pb dating of baddeleyite using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in situ analysis of ng-mass crystals that cannot be efficiently extracted by conventional mineral separation techniques. Average 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages for Precambrian baddeleyite crystals are within 206 Pb/ 238 U ratios are corrected for instrumental fractionation calibrated through linear regression in a Pb/U relative sensitivity vs. UO 2 + /U + calibration plot. Calibration is performed on separated baddeleyite crystals (∼ 100–200 μm in maximum dimension) mounted in random crystallographic orientation. 206 Pb/ 238 U ages for baddeleyite from Duluth gabbro (FC4b) and Kovdor are accurate within 1–2% when averaging 15–30 individual spot analyses and relative sensitivities calibrated on Phalaborwa baddeleyite. The relative difference of 206 Pb/ 238 U between large crystals and micro-baddeleyite from FC4b is within ∼ 1%. Comparison between silicate glass and baddeleyite, as well as replicate analysis of the same grains in different orientations relative to the incidence direction of the primary beam support previous evidence for bias in Pb/U sensitivity in baddeleyite due to variable crystal orientations. We successfully utilized oxygen flooding and a UO 2 + /U + -based calibration to significantly reduce orientation dependent bias.
Roles for the Troponin Tail Domain in Thin Filament Assembly and Regulation A DELETIONAL STUDY OF CARDIAC TROPONIN T

Abstract Striated muscle contraction is regulated by Ca2+ binding to troponin, which has a globular domain and an elongated tail attributable to the NH2-terminal portion of the bovine cardiac troponin T (TnT) subunit. Truncation of the bovine cardiac troponin tail was investigated using recombinant TnT fragments and subunits TnI and TnC. Progressive truncation of the troponin tail caused progressively weaker binding of troponin-tropomyosin to actin and of troponin to actin-tropomyosin. A sharp drop-off in affinity occurred with NH2-terminal deletion of 119 rather than 94 residues. Deletion of 94 residues had no effect on Ca2+-activation of the myosin subfragment 1-thin filament MgATPase rate and did not eliminate cooperative effects of Ca2+ binding. Troponin tail peptide TnT1–153 strongly promoted tropomyosin binding to actin in the absence of TnI or TnC. The results show that the anchoring function of the troponin tail involves interactions with actin as well as with tropomyosin and has comparable importance in the presence or absence of Ca2+. Residues 95–153 are particularly important for anchoring, and residues 95–119 are crucial for function or local folding. Because striated muscle regulation involves switching among the conformational states of the thin filament, regulatory significance for the troponin tail may arise from its prominent contribution to the protein-protein interactions within these conformations.
Pathways of Dysregulation in Renal Cell Carcinoma: Rational Approaches to Development of Novel Treatment

Recent developments have involved a series of novel agents that produce clinical benefit in patients with advanced clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The molecular characteristics of RCC, pathways involved in growth and progression, and development of targeted therapeutic approaches have become the focus of many investigators in the past decade. A variety of genetic abnormalities, molecular markers and drugs that target these markers or alter the genetic expression of certain regulatory proteins, have been identified and might have clinical significance for prognosis and treatment. However, specific markers associated with RCC and further development of novel single or combination targeted therapies is now required. An understanding of the complicated and unique biologic behavior of RCC and its various histologic subtypes is crucial for the continued development of novel and targeted therapies.
Spatial context learning survives interference from working memory load.

The human visual system is constantly confronted with an overwhelming amount of information, only a subset of which can be processed in complete detail. Attention and implicit learning are two important mechanisms that optimize vision. This study addresses the relationship between these two mechanisms. Specifically we ask: Is implicit learning of spatial context affected by the amount of working memory load devoted to an irrelevant task? We tested observers in visual search tasks where search displays occasionally repeated. Observers became faster searching repeated displays than unrepeated ones, showing contextual cueing. We found that the size of contextual cueing was unaffected by whether observers learned repeated displays under unitary attention or when their attention was divided using working memory manipulations. These results held when working memory was loaded by colors, dot patterns, individual dot locations, or multiple potential targets. We conclude that spatial context learning is robust to interference from manipulations that limit the availability of attention and working memory.
P3.001 Patterns of Recent Alcohol and Marijuana Use as Predictors of Condom Use, Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections During 18-Months of Follow-Up Among African-American Female Adolescents

Background Few, if any, studies have differentiated patterns of alcohol and marijuana use as predictors of sexual risk among adolescents. The objective was to compare recent use of alcohol and marijuana (A+M), alcohol only (AO) and marijuana only (MO) as predictors of condom use, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during 18 months of follow-up among African-American female adolescents. Methods The analytic sample included 213 African-American females (14–20 years) assigned to the control arm of an HIV prevention trial. Participants completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews at baseline and every 6 months for 18 months. At each assessment, a pregnancy test was conducted and specimens were collected and assayed for Trichomonas vaginalis , Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae using DNA amplification. Generalized estimating equations compared proportion condom-protected sex acts in the past 3 months, pregnancy and STI acquisition during follow-up among participants who in the 90 days prior to baseline assessment reported using A+M, AO and MO but no other illegal substances. Multivariable models controlled for group differences at baseline and corresponding baseline measure of the outcome. Results Of 182 (85%) participants with follow-up data, 43% (n = 79) reported recent use of A+M, 39% (n = 71) AO and 17% (n = 32) MO. No group differences in retention or proportion condom-protected sex acts during follow-up were observed. There were no significant differences in STI acquisition or pregnancy among MO and AO users. Relative to AO users, A+M users were more likely to become pregnant (AOR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.2, 5.3). Relative to MO users, A+M users were more likely to acquire an STI (AOR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.0, 6.2) and become pregnant (AOR: 3.7, 95% CI: 1.1, 12.3). Conclusion STI/HIV and pregnancy prevention programmes serving African-American female adolescents may benefit by intensifying services for recent A+M users and addressing the role of substance use on sexual risk.
Approaches to the Modelling of the Hydrodynamic Properties of Rigid Biomacromolecules: Some Quantitative Comparisons

Quantitative comparisons are made between calculations based on the best currently available predictive theories and experiments on the motions of rigid biomacromolecules and complexes through fluid media. Hydrodynamic properties calculated are translational diffusion coefficient, sedimentation coefficient, intrinsic viscosity, and rotational relaxation time. Structures for which calculations have been done are those representative of urease, polystyrene latex spheres with adsorbed γ‐globulin, aspartate transcarbamylase, and once‐broken rods. Conclusions are that sensitivity to structure in the hydrodynamic properties has the following order: first normal stress coefficient, Ψ1>rotational relaxation time, τ≫intrinsic viscosity, [η]>translational diffusion coefficient, DT∼sedimentation coefficient, S20.w0; and that a model proposed by Abdel‐Khalik and Bird has good predictive capability except for structures which must be modelled by large numbers of subunits.
Canine haptoglobin: a unique haptoglobin subunit arrangement.

Abstract 1. 1. Isolated canine haptoglobin behaved identically to the α 2 β 2 structure typical of human haptoglobin type 1-1 on alkaline polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and on gel filtration. 2. 2. In the presence of urea or sodium dodecyl sulphate canine haptoglobin dissociated into αβ subunits that separated into α and β chains after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol. 3. 3. Compositional analysis identified one less half-cystine in canine α chain when compared to human α 1 chain. 4. 4. These results provide evidence that there is no inter α chain disulphide in canine haptoglobin comparable to the α 1 20-α 1 20 disulphide in human haptoglobin that links the two αβ subunits.
Robust coherent signal-subspace processing for directions-of-arrival estimation of wideband sources

The authors propose a class of robust focusing matrices for the coherent signal-subspace method, a novel approach for the estimation of directions-of-arrival of wideband sources. The new class of focusing matrices has robustness against size variations of focusing sectors obtained by preliminary group angle estimates. To quantify information loss due to source focusing, a new measure, termed 'relative efficiency index', is introduced and its properties are proved. This index is then used to assess statistical sufficiency of the coherently averaged covariance matrix, a data-reduced statistic on which the coherent signal-subspace method is based. Sensitivity issue as well as estimation performance comparisons for various classes of focusing matrices, based on simulations and relative efficiency index, are also presented.
The regulation of calcium and magnesium in the urine during the moulting cycle of Crangon vulgaris (Fabr.)

Abstract Crangon vulgaris (Fabr.) in brackish water (S, 10%; temperature, 10°C) was found to have a urine: haemolymph ratio for magnesium ranging from 1.5: 1 to 5:1. Haemolymph magnesium concentration throughout the moulting cycle was held far below the outer medium, while the urine magnesium was higher than in the medium. Calcium concentration in both haemolymph and urine was always above the medium concentration. The urine: haemolymph ratio for calciums was
Observation of coherent transition radiation.

Coherent transition radiation, generated by the passage of mm-long bunches of electrons through a thin metal foil, has been observed in the far infrared. The intensity was compared to the smaller amount of Cherenkov radiation produced when ${\mathrm{SF}}_{6}$ gas was introduced into the electron path. Wake-field radiation was ruled out by varying the geometry of the metal chamber near the electron beam. The intensity, the polarization, and the spectral and angular distribution of the transition radiation were measured and its coherent nature was identified.
Shared actions of endotoxin and taxol on TNF receptors and TNF release

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exerts profound effects on mammalian hosts in part by inducing macrophages to release tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha); the mechanisms involved are unresolved. The microtubule stabilizer taxol shared two actions of LPS on macrophages: it rapidly decreased TNF-alpha receptors and triggered TNF-alpha release. Both actions of taxol were absent in LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice. In recombinant inbred mice, the genes controlling responses to LPS and to taxol were closely linked. Dexamethasone blocked release of TNF-alpha by both stimuli but did not block the decrease in TNF-alpha receptors. Thus, a protein associated with microtubules may be a cellular target of LPS.
Analysis of triazine and triazole herbicides by gradient-elution supercritical fluid chromatography.

Abstract A mixture of substituted triazine and triazole herbicdes is separated on an analytical-scale column by gradient elution using supercritical fluid CO 2 with increasing methanol content and flow-rate. High efficiency and fast analysis times are achieved with complete resolution of all the compounds. The effect of CO 2 flow-rate on the separation has been studied and it is shown that an increase in the overall mobile phase flow-rate by a factor of two reduces the analysis time drastically with no loss in resolution. Also, the effects of the oven temperature and the column outlet pressure on the separation have been studied.
SU-FF-T-277: Measuring High Energy Neutrons at a 230 MeV Proton Therapy Facility

Purpose: Examine neutron field spectrum and angular distributioncharacteristic to medium‐energy (230 MeV) proton accelerator facilities. Measure effectively the high energyneutron component of the radiation field. Method and Materials: Primary shielding walls in modern proton therapy facilities are typically made of an over 7′ thick of ordinary (2.3 g/cm3) concrete. Our analysis demonstrate that behind such a thick wall in forward direction with respect to the proton beam neutrons with energies greater than 8 MeV still contribute considerably to the total dose. High energyneutron contribution in lateral direction is potentially even larger. Traditionally neutron rem‐meters are designed to have their response function match well an appropriate (ICRP 1990, or NCRP‐38) fluence‐to‐dose conversion function over an energy range extending from thermal (0.025 ev) to 10 MeV. We have performed over thirty measurements of the neutrondose equivalent at various locations in and around a state‐of‐the‐art 230 MeV proton therapy facility using the Wide EnergyNeutron Detection Instrument (WENDI) that has a useful energy response in the energy range from thermal to 5 GeV. Results: We have obtained neutron attenuation lengths in forward and lateral directions from our measurements most appropriate for use at 230 MeV proton therapy facilities (PTFs) and compared our results with some previously published values. We have also obtained a new parameterization for neutron attenuation in the maze suitable for modern PTFs. Conclusion: In surveying and area monitoring modern PTFs the neutron detector of choice must be capable of detecting with sufficient efficiency the high energy component of the neutron field to avoid large dose underestimation in an environment where greater than 8 MeV neutrons may have a significant contribution. New maze attenuation parameterization will provide for adequate maze design in these facilities, where previously used attenuation models provided at best for a marginal maze design.
Thermal decomposition of propargyl bromide and the subsequent formation of benzene

Mixtures of 3% C 3 H 3 Br, 3% C 3 H 3 Br + 5% H 2 , and 3% C 3 H 3 Br + 5% D 2 , all three containing neon diluent, were analyzed behind reflected shock waves by time-of-flight mass spectrometry to investigate the role of propargyl radical (C 3 H 3 ) as precursor to benzene formation at high temperatures. The first mixture yields significant concentrations of benzene over the range 1310-1470 K; benzene yield is observed to increase twofold in the second mixture at comparable temperatures. The third mixture reveals a temporal ratio of [HBr]/([DBr] + [Br]) ∼ 1, which is interpreted as evidence of an equal contribution from each of the two initiation reactions: (1) C 3 H 3 Br → c-C 3 H 2 + HBr, where c-C 3 H 2 is singlet cyclopropenylidene; and (2) C 3 H 3 Br → C 3 H 3 + Br. In the first two mixtures, the major products are C 2 H 2 , C 4 H 2 , C 6 H 2 , C 6 H 2 and HBr. A 2% propyne + neon mixture was also studied over the temperature range 1750-2620 K. The reaction profiles for C 3 H 4 , C 2 H 2 , C 4 H 2 , and C 6 H 6 are modeled satisfactorily with a mechanism in which the dominant channel for propyne dissociation produces c-C 3 H 2 + H 2 . Reaction pathways involving c-C 3 H 2 insertion into C-H bonds are presented along with an analysis for the important disproportionation step, c-C 3 H 2 + C 3 H 4 → 2C 3 H 3 . Inclusion of six steps describing the reactions of bromine containing species to the core propyne decomposition mechanism results in satisfactory fits to the C 3 H 3 Br and C 3 H 3 Br + H 2 experiments. It is concluded that benzene production in these mixures is best explained by a sequence of reactions initiated by the dimerization of propargyl radicals
N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl) retinamide induced both differentiation and apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G and U87MG cells.

Abstract N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR) is a synthetic retinoid that has shown biological activity against several malignant tumors and minimal side effects in humans. To explore the mechanisms underlying the chemotherapeutic effects of 4-HPR in glioblastoma, we used two human glioblastoma T98G and U87MG cell lines. In situ methylene blue staining showed the morphological features of astrocytic differentiation in glioblastoma cells following exposure to 1 μM and 2 μM 4-HPR for a short duration (24 h). Astrocytic differentiation was associated with an increase in expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and downregulation of telomerase. Wright staining and ApopTag assay indicated appearance of apoptotic features in glioblastoma cells following exposure to 1 μM and 2 μM 4-HPR for a long duration (72 h). We found that 4-HPR caused apoptosis with activation of caspase-8 and cleavage of Bid to truncated Bid (tBid). Besides, apoptosis was associated with alterations in expression of pro-apoptotic Bax and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins resulting in an increase in Bax:Bcl-2 ratio, mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and Smac, downregulation of selective baculoviral inhibitor-of-apoptosis repeat containing (BIRC) molecules, an increase in intracellular free [Ca2+], and activation of calpain and caspase-3. Taken together, these results strongly suggested that 4-HPR could be used at low doses for induction of both differentiation and apoptosis in human glioblastoma cells.
Catastrophic meltwater discharge down the Hudson Valley: a potential trigger for the Intra-Allerød cold period

Glacial freshwater discharge to the Atlantic Ocean during de- glaciation may have inhibited oceanic thermohaline circulation, and is often postulated to have driven climatic fluctuations. Yet attributing meltwater-discharge events to particular climate oscil- lations is problematic, because the location, timing, and amount of meltwater discharge are often poorly constrained. We present ev- idence from the Hudson Valley and the northeastern U.S. conti- nental margin that establishes the timing of the catastrophic drain- ing of Glacial Lake Iroquois, which breached the moraine dam at the Narrows in New York City, eroded glacial lake sediments in the Hudson Valley, and deposited large sediment lobes on the New York and New Jersey continental shelf ca. 13,350 yr B.P. Excess 14 C in Cariaco Basin sediments indicates a slowing in thermohaline circulation and heat transport to the North Atlantic at that time, and both marine and terrestrial paleoclimate proxy records around the North Atlantic show a short-lived (,400 yr) cold event (Intra- Allerod cold period) that began ca. 13,350 yr B.P. The meltwater discharge out the Hudson Valley may have played an important role in triggering the Intra-Allerod cold period by diminishing thermohaline circulation.
Characteristics of stored granulocytes collected from donors stimulated with dexamethasone.

Two hours after normal donors were given intravenous dexamethasone, their leukocytes were collected by intermittent flow centrifugation. Neutrophils were tested immediately after collection and following storage at 4 to 6 C for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. Tests included total leukocyte and absolute neutrophil counts, plasma glucose concentrations, the percentage of phagocytic neutrophils, the ability of phagocytes to accumulate particles, can-didacidal activity, bactericidal capacity and chemotaxis. Total leukocyte and absolute neutrophil counts in the stored suspensions were decreased after 48 hours (p = .005). Plasma glucose levels in the suspensions declined at first, then stabilized at 48 hours of storage probably because of loss of cellular integrity. Chemotaxis, candidacidal activity, phagocytosis and dye exclusion showed statistically significant decreases at 24 hours. Chemotaxis deteriorated rapidly, with a mean 63 per cent functional loss at 48 hours. We conclude that treatment of donors with dexamethasone does not extend the storage limits of granulocyte concentrates used for clinical transfusions. Based on these and our previous observations, unless the storage changes should be shown to be reversible, granulocyte concentrates should probably not be stored more than 24 hours before transfusion.
Computerized information systems and public sector productivity

This article examines three competing theoretical perspectives to explain utilization of information technology in the public sector. The multivariate analysis is based upon a survey of 566 state-level managers. Propositions tested include both single and combined influences of representative variables from each of three different research paradigms. The conclusion discusses the implications of the findings toward making improvements in public sector productivity among public managers and for public organizations in general.
Agile Modeling, Agile Software Development, and Extreme Programming: The State of Research

While there are many claims for the successful use of extreme programming (XP) and agile modeling (AM), and the proponents can often be vocal in the extreme regarding their supposed benefits, research evidence supporting proponentsâ€˜ claims is somewhat lacking. Currently, the only research appearing to investigate the phenomena consists of two prominent streams. A small number of case studies and experience reports that generally promote the success of XP in various development environments, and a well-established stream of research into pair programming has generated results that in part support the idea of XP. Research into AM appears to be even more sparse than that for XP. Case studies, comparative analyses, and experience reports comprise the majority of the research in the area, while very few empirical research efforts have been conducted. This article reviews the state of research in XP and AM, and recommends areas that could benefit from further study. Since nearly all empirical XP research relates to pair programming, a closer look into the unstudied XP core practices would be beneficial, although interaction between related core practice areas could confound such efforts. It might also be possible to group related core XP concepts and study the groups individually. Finally, there are those who claim that XP and AM, or even agility in general, are really nothing more than a repackaging of old concepts. This claim needs to be investigated.
Insulin-like Growth Factor Family in Graafian Follicle Development and Function

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family plays an important role in follicle development, dominant follicle growth and steroidogenesis, and follicular atresia. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II is the primary IGF in human ovary, acting as a mediator of gonadotropin action. IGF-II stimulates granulosa steroidogenesis, and its actions, along with those of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), are inhibited by IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-4. At the time of follicle selection, in the estrogen-dominant follicle, granulosa IGF-II synthesis increases dramatically. Simultaneously, in the selected follicle, IGFBP-4, an inhibitor of IGF-II action and abundant within androgen-dominant follicles, is proteolyzed by a specific IGFBP-4 protease, resulting in decreased affinity of IGFBP-4 for IGF-II. The IGFBP-4 protease has recently been identified in human ovary as pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A). In the Graafian follicle, IGF-II bioavailability is increased to act as a mediator of FSH action, by increased synthesis of this peptide and concomitant decrease in an inhibitor of its actions by proteolysis of IGFBP-4.