cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Model for reaction‐assisted polymer dissolution in LIGA

A new chemically-oriented mathematical model for the development step of the LIGA process is presented. The key assumption is that the developer can react with the polymeric resist material in order to increase the solubility of the latter, thereby partially overcoming the need to reduce the polymer size. The ease with which this reaction takes place is assumed to be determined by the number of side chain scissions that occur during the x-ray exposure phase of the process. The dynamics of the dissolution process are simulated by solving the reaction-diffusion equations for this three-component, two-phase system, the three species being the unreacted and reacted polymers and the solvent. The mass fluxes are described by the multicomponent diffusion (Stefan-Maxwell) equations, and the chemical potentials are assumed to be given by the Flory-Huggins theory. Sample calculations are used to determine the dependence of the dissolution rate on key system parameters such as the reaction rate constant, polymer size, solid-phase diffusivity, and Flory-Huggins interaction parameters. A simple photochemistry model is used to relate the reaction rate constant and the polymer size to the absorbed x-ray dose. The resulting formula for the dissolution rate as a function of dose and temperature is ?t to an extensive experimental data base in order to evaluate a set of unknown global parameters. The results suggest that reaction-assisted dissolution is very important at low doses and low temperatures, the solubility of the unreacted polymer being too small for it to be dissolved at an appreciable rate. However, at high doses or at higher temperatures, the solubility is such that the reaction is no longer needed, and dissolution can take place via the conventional route. These results provide an explanation for the observed dependences of both the dissolution rate and its activation energy on the absorbed dose.
The effect of robot-assisted locomotor training on walking speed

This study was to quantify the effects of Lokomat training on ambulation capacity of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), and to examine the potential assistance of anti-spasticity medication on training. Twenty-nine SCI subjects with spastic hypertonia at their ankle participated in a 12-session Lokomat training regimen, with half receiving Lokomat only (LOKO) and half receiving Lokomat combined with tizanidine (LOKO+TIZ). Walking capacity was evaluated in terms of the 10-meter walking (10MW) speed—a major clinical evaluation of SCI rehabilitation—four times (at the baseline, 1-, 2- and 4-weeks after training). Growth Mixture Model (GMM) was used to classify the walking speed into recovery patterns. Two latent classes were found for each treatment group, corresponding to low speed and high speed. Walking speed increased with training for high-walking-capacity subjects in the LOKO group, and for both high- and low-capacity subjects in the LOKO+TIZ group. Improvement magnitude between pre- and post-test varied among latent classes. Within each class, the baseline measure had a significant effect on walking speed improvement. This study shows that the Lokomat training improves walking speed for patients with SCI, and anti-spasticity medication, such as tizanidine, can improve the efficacy of Lokomat training, particularly for patients with low walking capacity.
Recent Changes in Enterprise Management and Marketing Practices in Romania

Discusses the Romanian reforms of 1967 and 1978 which went virtually unnoticed, with particular emphasis on the latter date. Highlights recent managerial decentralization measures in Romania indicating marketing implications. Uses official and first‐hand sources in drawing the article conclusions, looking also at Romania's environment. Further investigates marketing and marketing mix implications and looks further at price, promotion and distribution. Concludes and evaluates by assessing economic reforms in eastern Europe in general and in Romania in particular. Additionally, the central plan was national control of economic activities and centralized planning reliance.
Rapid vacuolar sequestration: the horseweed glyphosate resistance mechanism

BACKGROUND: Glyphosate-resistant (GR) weed species are now found with increasing frequency and threaten the critically important GR weed management system. RESULTS: The reported 31P NMR experiments on glyphosate-sensitive (S) and glyphosate-resistant (R) horseweed, Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq., show significantly more accumulation of glyphosate within the R biotype vacuole. CONCLUSIONS: Selective sequestration of glyphosate into the vacuole confers the observed horseweed resistance to glyphosate. This observation represents the first clear evidence for the glyphosate resistance mechanism in C. canadensis. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry
Relationship of caregiver and family functioning to participation outcomes after postacute rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury: a multicenter investigation.

Abstract Sander AM, Maestas KL, Sherer M, Malec JF, Nakase-Richardson R. Relationship of caregiver and family functioning to participation outcomes after postacute rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury: a multicenter investigation. Objective To investigate the contribution of caregiver emotional functioning and family functioning to participation outcomes after postacute rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Three postacute comprehensive-integrated postacute rehabilitation programs associated with National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research–funded TBI Model Systems Centers. Participants Persons with medically documented TBI (N=136; 57% with severe TBI, 12% moderate, 31% mild), primarily men and 69% white. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Community Integration Questionnaire and Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART). Results After accounting for age, education, sex, and race/ethnicity, there was a significant interaction between caregiver emotional functioning and time since injury for CHART Occupation and Social Integration Scale scores. Better emotional functioning in caregivers was associated with greater occupation and social integration outcomes for persons who entered the postacute rehabilitation program within 6 months of injury, but not for those >6 months postinjury. There was no relationship of family functioning to participation outcomes, and no interaction between family functioning and time since injury. Conclusions Caregiver distress should be accounted for in studies investigating the effectiveness of postacute rehabilitation after TBI. Screening of caregivers early during postacute rehabilitation can target those who need assistance to improve their support of the person with TBI.
Fast and Accurate Solutions for Meldner's Realistic Single-Particle Hamiltonian

The integrodifferential equation obtained by Meldner is reduced to two coupled differential equations which are solved by using Buck's algorithm in about one hundreth of the time previously necessary. This powerful method for finding self-consistent solutions allows extensive searches on the model parameters and should make it possible to perform realistic calculations for deformed heavy nuclei. Preliminary results show improved agreement with the experimental radii of $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ and $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$.
Psychiatric symptoms in preschool children with PDD and clinic and comparison samples.

Objective: This study describes and compares the severity of DSM-IV symptoms in preschool children with diagnosed pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), clinic controls, and two community-based samples. Method: Parents (/and teachers) completed the early child inventory-4 (ECI-4), a DSM-IV-referenced rating scale for four samples: PDD (n = 172/160) and nonPDD psychiatric clinic referrals (n = 135/101) and youngsters in regular (n = 507/407) and special (n = 64/140) early childhood programs. Children ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old. Results: With the exception of conduct problems, the PDD group generally received higher symptom severity ratings than the regular early childhood group, but the pattern of differences compared with the other two groups often varied by type of symptom and informant. Teachers rated the PDD and nonPDD clinic groups as having equally severe ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Teachers rated the PDD group as having more severe anxiety and depression symptoms than parents. The Asperger group was rated by both informants as more oppositional than the autism and PDDNOS subgroups. Teachers rated males in the regular early childhood sample as having more severe ADHD and aggressive symptoms than females, but this was not the case for the PDD sample. Conclusion: Preschoolers with PDD exhibit more severe DSM-IV psychiatric symptoms than children in regular and special early childhood programs, and to some extent nonPDD psychiatric referrals. The concept of comorbidity warrants further exploration, as does informant-specific syndromes as validators of diagnostic constructs.
Diazepam effects on hypothalamically elicited drinking and eating.

Abstract Rats injected with diazepam exhibited a gradual emergence of drinking elicited by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (ESLH), and the drug was found to reduce thresholds for stimulation-bound eating but not for drinking. The failure of the tranquilizer to facilitate elicited water intake during early stimulation experience presented no support for the hypothesis that ESLH induces an emotionality that blocks the initial display of primary drives evoked by the stimulation. In addition, the specificity of the diazepam threshold effect suggests that the drug influence cannot be interpreted as a general disinhibition of elicited responding through attenuation of the hypothesized emotionality state.
Agrarian Reform in Historical Perspective Revisited

IntroductionPrograms of agrarian reform have continued to be used either to bring about change or sometimes to slow it down, depending on whether such programs were introduced after a major upheaval in society or as a preventive against it. Economic development and modernization have been used as justifications for introducing reform programs, on the assumption that reform facilitates these processes, but the actual contribution of reform to development and modernization is not obvious nor easily measured because of the variety of approaches utilized in evaluating the effects. Furthermore, only the rudiments of a theory of agrarian reform have been formulated in the literature. To a large extent, agrarian reform programs have been pragmatically oriented, aimed at short-term political goals, or viewed as problem-solving mechanisms in the day-to-day affairs of the state. One may go farther by suggesting that reform programs have often been used to inhibit change. In that role reform serves as a pacifier, and only minimum change would be brought about—just enough to avoid an upheaval or to stabilize the relations between reformers and potential beneficiaries. By the time such a weakness, if it may be considered that, has been discovered, another potion of reform would be introduced to keep the lid on the dormant restlessness of its potential beneficiaries.
An alternative semiactive control method for sport utility vehicles

Many investigators have predicted that the performance gains attainable with a semiactive suspension are comparable with those possible with a fully active suspension. To achieve this, one of the crucial factors is the method by which the damper is controlled. This study is an investigation, through simulation, into the eVectiveness of a number of basic control strategies in controlling vehicle dynamics, particularly roll. In addition, this study examines the eVect of changing the vehicle mass on the eVectiveness of selected semiactive control policies. The model represents a sport utility vehicle (SUV ), a class of vehicles that regularly sees widely varying vehicle weight and exhibits undesirable levels of vehicle roll. In this study, a four-degree-of-freedom vehicle roll plane model is subjected to a variety of road- and driver-induced inputs, and the vehicle response with diVerent semiactive control policies is characterized. The semiactive control policies investigated are tuned and modied such that the best possible performance with each is attained, and then they are compared. In addition, the eVect of variations in vehicle weight on the performance of each semiactive control method is investigated. In this investigation, two basic skyhook control strategies are investigated, and two modied strategies are proposed. It is found that the performance achievable with each of the di Verent control strategies is heavily dependent on the properties of the controllable damper. The properties that were particularly important were the upper and lower levels of force that the controllable damper was able to apply. The controllable dampers were tuned for each control system, and the results indicate that a velocity-based skyhook control policy, in conjunction with force control, is most eVective at controlling both road-induced vibration and driver-induced roll. Furthermore, the results show that such a control policy is relatively insensitive to variations in vehicle weight.
What is the appropriate outcome for studies of treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest? ☆

Summary Background A good outcome following out-of-hospital medical care for cardiac arrest is survival to hospital discharge. Because a large number of patients are required to detect a minimum clinically important difference in survival, an intermediate outcome such as hospital admittance is commonly used. For an intermediate outcome to be a useful surrogate, the survival rate conditional on achieving the intermediate outcome should not depend upon the field treatment. If so, an advantage of the intermediate outcome may be a smaller sample size. However, recent trials demonstrate that survival conditional on admittance may depend upon the field treatment. Even if the resources are available to power a study for survival, is survival the right outcome? For example, no increase in survival and a large increase in admittance could be considered a bad result, as it represents a substantial waste of resources. Similarly no increase in mortality and a decrease in admittance should be considered a good result, as it represents a substantial cost savings without any sacrifice of life. Both admittance and survival are important outcomes and need to be considered jointly, that is, as a bivariate outcome. Methods Cost-effectiveness concepts are used to distinguish between a good and bad (bivariate) outcome. Simulations are conducted to compare the impact of the univariate and the bivariate outcomes in a variety of trial scenarios. A table of sample sizes is computed for the bivariate outcome across a range of trial scenarios. Results The bivariate outcome outperforms both univariate outcomes for most alternatives. The required sample size for the joint outcome of admittance and survival may be substantially, over 50%, less than that for the survival outcome alone. Conclusion Use of the bivariate outcome could provide more informed decision making about resuscitation strategies and at less cost then the current gold standard of hospital survival.
A Model for Radial Flow Turbine Performance in Highly Unsteady Flows

This work was focused on the development of models for turbomachinery unsteady performance that could capture the significant aspects of fluid inertia effects, and thus provide insight into performance in highly unsteady flows. The application chosen for this approach was the turbine from a pulse-turbocharged diesel engine turbocharger, where the flow unsteadiness in on the order of the mean flow. The Euler Equation with Source Terms (EEST) technique was employed, with the rotor modeled in the relative reference frame. The results of this approach showed the ability to accurately predict the dynamics of a twin-entry turbine operating in an on-engine environment. In general, the modeling approach is valid for any compression or expansion system where the reduced frequency is high enough to suggest that unsteadiness is important, while at the same time low enough that that viscous effects may be quasi-steady. Possible applications would be predictions for aircraft engine compressions systems with unsteady inlet distortions, start up transients in a broad class of turbomachines, and any radial flow systems operating with significant inlet or exit volute generated distortions.Copyright © 2001 by ASME
The surface-enhanced Raman spectrum of N-methylpyridinium ion on a silver electrode

Abstract The SER spectrum is reported for N-methylpyridinium iodide, an organic cation with no unshared electron pair available for interaction with the electrode. Both Raman- and infrared-active bands are observed with small frequency shifts. No SERS is observed for N-methylpyridinium chloride until trace amounts of iodide are added to the solution.
EFFICIENT PARALLEL ALGORITHMS FOR TEMPLATE MATCHING

The parallel complexity of template matching has been well studied. In this paper we present more work-efficient algorithms than the existing ones. Our algorithms are based on FFT primitives. We consider the following models of computing: PRAM and the hypercube.
Topography of glycoproteins in the chick synaptosomal plasma membrane

Abstract Chick brain synaptosomes or synaptic subfractions were treated with neuraminidase (EC 3.2.1.18) and/or galactose oxidase (EC 1.1.3.9) preparations in which proteolytic activity was inhibited with phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride followed, after washing, by reductive incorporation of sodium boro[3H]hydride to identify galactose residues exposed on the synaptosomal external surface. Control experiments to demonstrate restriction of labeling to the external surface involved comparing the radioactivity in synaptoplasmic, soluble polypeptides isolated after labeling with labeled, isolated synaptoplasm and examining incorporation into fractions incubated without enzymes. Intactness of the synaptic plasma membrane after labeling was shown by trypsin digestion studies. Polypeptides were separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels and were detected by a liquid scintillation counting procedure. Eleven major radioactive peaks were found after galactose oxidase treatment and reduction of isolated synaptic membranes. When intact synaptosomes were labeled, the same components were detected. When isolated synaptic membranes or intact synaptosomes were treated with neuraminidase before galactose oxidase treatment, three additional components were labeled. These results suggest that (a) chick synaptic membranes have a complex mixture of glycoproteins, (b) all major chick synaptic membrane glycoproteins labeled by galactose oxidase have most or all carbohydrate groups exposed at the exterior surface of the synaptosome, (c) all major, externally-disposed polypeptides of these synaptic membranes are glycoproteins.
Fungal and Atopic Sensitization are Low among Farmers in the Agricultural Health Study

Prevalence of fungal sensitization and atopy was lower among farmers than the US population. Fungal sensitization was related to growing specific agricultural commodities.
Fitting Molecular Electrostatic Potentials from Quantum Mechanical Calculations.

We develop here a new method to fit the molecular electrostatic potentials obtained in quantum mechanical calculations to a set of classical electrostatic multipoles, usually point charges located at atomic positions. We define an object function of fitting as an integration of the difference of electrostatic potentials in the entire 3-dimensional physical space. The object function is thus rotationally invariant with respect to the molecular orientation and varies smoothly with respect to molecular geometric fluctuations. Compared with commonly employed methods such as the Merz−Singh−Kollman and CHELPG schemes, this new method, while possessing comparable accuracy, shows greatly improved numerical stability with respect to the molecular positions and geometries. The method can be used in the fitting of electrostatic potentials for the molecular mechanics force fields and also can be applied to the calculation of electrostatic polarizabilites of molecular or atomic systems.
Fusion-supported decentralized nuclear energy system

A decentralized nuclear energy system is proposed comprising mass-produced pressurized water reactors in the size range 10 to 300 MW (thermal), to be used for the production of process heat, space heat, and electricity in applications where petroleum and natural gas are presently used. Special attention is given to maximizing the refueling interval with no interim batch shuffling in order to minimize fuel transport, reactor downtime, and opportunity for fissile diversion. These objectives demand a substantial fissile enrichment (7 to 15%). The preferred fissile fuel is U-233, which offers an order of magnitude savings in ore requirements (compared with U-235 fuel), and whose higher conversion ratio in thermal reactors serves to extend the period of useful reactivity and relieve demand on the fissile breeding plants (compared with Pu-239 fuel). Application of the neutral-beam-driven tokamak fusion-neutron source to a U-233 breeding pilot plant is examined. This scheme can be extended in part to a decentralized fusion energy system, wherein remotely located large fusion reactors supply excess tritium to a distributed system of relatively small nonbreeding D-T reactors.
EARLY POSTTRANSPLANT CHANGES IN CIRCULATING ENDOTHELIAL MICROPARTICLES IN PATIENTS WITH KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION

Abstract Background Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are membrane vesicles shed from endothelial cell in response to injury, activation or apoptosis. Kidney transplantation (KTx) is the treatment of choice for patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD). The aim of this study was to analyze changes in EMP and serum creatinine (SCr) in patients following KTx. Methods Blood was periodically collected from patients before (pre-KTx) and after KTx for two months. EMPs were identified as CD31 + /CD42b − microparticles and quantified by fluorescence-activated cell scanning. Results This study included 213 KTx, 14 kidney/pancreas (KPTx) recipients and 60 healthy donors prior to donation. The recipients were divided into 5 groups based on the cause of ESKD. No differences in the quantity of circulating EMP were seen in the pre-KPTx or KTx recipient sera and healthy donor sera. Patients with ESKD secondary to diabetes mellitus, obstructive/inherited kidney disease and autoimmune disease had a decrease in both circulating EMP and SCr by day 60 after KTx. Conclusion Reduction in both circulating EMP and SCr was seen after kidney KTx in patients with selective ESKD.
Activity quantitation in SPECT: a study of prereconstruction Metz filtering and use of the scatter degradation factor.

A study of activity quantitation with prereconstruction Metz filtering and use of the scatter degradation factor (SDF) to numerically correct for scatter was conducted. The ratio of the count rate per unit activity for source locations within a 30×23‐cm water‐filled tub phantom to the count rate per unit activity for Tc‐99m point sources of known activity imaged in air was used to judge the accuracy of activity determination. The investigation was conducted for certain locations within the tub when it was uniformly filled with Tc‐99m activity, and for the same locations at the center of 5, 4, 3, and 2‐cm diam, hot spheres imaged in a cold background. The source locations were the center, and one‐fourth, one‐half, and three‐fourths the major axis. Various methods of combining the conjugate views for use with prereconstruction attenuation correction (arithmetic and geometric mean), and extent to which the Metz filter followed the inverse filter before rolling off to suppress noise were investigated. Without Metz filtering, attenuation correction was performed using a transmission curve that included buildup. With Metz filtering, the good‐geometry attenuation coefficient was used and the combined views were scaled by the SDF calculated for the average body thickness. Depending on the size of the sphere and the extent to which the inverse filter was followed, Metz filtering combined with use of the SDF improved the accuracy of activity quantitation.
qEEG Monitoring of Alzheimer's Disease Treatment: A Preliminary Report of Three Case Studies

Previous research has shown that quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) can monitor treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This study investigated the ability of a qEEG measure based on EEG variance, combined with a delayed recognition memory task, to measure treatment effects on patients with AD. Three AD patients with very mild AD (CDR-0.5, FAST stage 3) were monitored with task specific EEG at multiple time points before and after medication treatment. Patients had their EEG recorded while performing a recognition memory task. A measure of (normalized) variance was applied to the EEG data. To the extent possible, the subjects received this treatment monitoring multiple times. These patients were monitored a total of 14 times, which yielded 11 measurements of qEEG change during the course of treatment. The direction of change in patients' qEEG values agreed with patients' medication treatment on 10 out of 11 occasions, p < 0.006 (binomial test) and was more accurate than monitoring with the relative theta power, p < 0.05. The results of this monitoring also showed that the qEEG measure accurately reflected treatment in a dose dependent manner. These results were independent of the specific medication monitored; Galantamine, Memantine, Nicotine, and Rivastigmine. In conclusion, this qEEG method may be useful for measuring AD treatment responses.
Microfluidic Heat Exchangers for High Power Density GaN on SiC

The high power densities targeted for GaN HEMT on SiC technology can dramatically increase the performance of radar systems. The increasing power will require improved heat removal technologies associated with conduction and convection. Here we explore combined cooling technologies based on SiC substrate and SiC or Cu microstructures, which improve the thermal performance of high power devices.
The ethnic problems of contemporary Kazakhstan

(1995). The ethnic problems of contemporary Kazakhstan. Central Asian Survey: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 243-264.
Creatine Phosphate, Not ATP, Is Required for 3′ End Cleavage of Mammalian Pre-mRNA in Vitro

The poly(A) tail of a mammalian mRNA is generated by endonucleolytic cleavage and poly(A) addition. Previous studies conducted with nuclear extracts suggested an ATP requirement for the cleavage step. We have reexamined the cofactor requirement, initially with the SV40 late pre-mRNA, which requires for cleavage four protein factors, cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor, cleavage stimulation factor, cleavage factor I, and cleavage factor II. Using highly purified preparations of these factors, which lacked detectable creatine phosphokinase and ATPase activities, creatine phosphate (CP) was, surprisingly, found to be sufficient to promote efficient cleavage. Although other phosphate compounds substituted poorly or not at all for CP, another phosphoguanidine, arginine phosphate, was fully functional. Notably, ATP was neither necessary nor sufficient, and could in fact inhibit the reaction. Treatment of the purified factors with hexokinase plus glucose (to deplete any contaminating ATP) was without effect, as was addition of EDTA. Using32P-labeled CP, we found that neither hydrolysis of CP nor phosphate transfer from CP occurred during the cleavage reaction. CP also allowed cleavage of the adenovirus 2 L3 pre-mRNA. However, in this case, ATP both enhanced the reaction and influenced the precise site of cleavage, perhaps reflecting the requirement of poly(A) polymerase for cleavage of this RNA. These results indicate that ATP is not essential for 3′ pre-mRNA cleavage and that CP or a related compound can function as a necessary cofactor.
Thermal adaptation of thermosensing and negative thermotaxis in Dictyostelium.

Abstract The degree of orientation of the pseudoplasmodia of Dictyostelium discoideum on different temperature gradients has been measured as a function of the temperature of growth and development. Pseudoplasmodia migrate toward the cooler side of a temperature gradient at mid-gradient temperatures >2 °C below the growth/development temperature, and toward the warmer side of the gradient at higher mid-gradient temperatures. The zero-transition between positive and negative thermotaxis occurs at 20.5 °C for pseudoplasmodia on 0.22 °C/cm gradients and at 20 °C on 0.11 °C/cm gradients when the amoebae are grown and pseudoplasmodia permitted to develop at 23.5 °C. The zero-transition is dependent on the temperature of growth and development, being 14.5, 17, 20.5, and 23.5 °C for growth/development temperatures of 16, 18, 23.5, and 27.5 °C respectively. The period of greatest thermal adaptation occurs during the last 5 h of pseudoplasmodium development (when pseudoplasmodia are formed from tight aggregates). As a resuit of the discovery of negative thermotaxis, three thermosensors are postulated for Dictyostelium —one sensor regulating thermal adaptation, and a minimum of two sensors to explain both positive and negative thermotaxis.
Cytokines IL-1α, IL-6, and GM-CSF constitutively secreted by oral squamous carcinoma induce down-regulation of CD80 costimulatory molecule expression: restoration by interferon γ

We previously characterized the expression of CD80 in different murine head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) clones derived following tumor progression in the absence of T cell-mediated immunity in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. We found that HNSCCs that did not express CD80 grew as progressors, while those that expressed CD80 were regressors when grown in immune-competent animals. In the present study, we characterized expression of a repertoire of immunoregulatory cytokines in these HNSCC lines, and found that HNSCCs that express cytokines IL-1 alpha, IL-6, and GM-CSF do not express CD80, suggesting the hypothesis that these cytokines may down-modulate expression of CD80. Cytokine-conditioned medium from progressor HNSCC and recombinant IL-1 alpha, IL-6, and GM-CSF caused a reduction of CD80 expression in regressor HNSCCs without affecting proliferation. Conversely, the decrease in CD80 expression in progressor HNSCCs could be restored by IFN-gamma, a known inducer of CD80 expression. These data strongly suggest that high levels of cytokines IL-1 alpha, IL-6, and GM-CSF expressed by tumor cells can down-regulate CD80 expression in HNSCC, and that IFN-gamma can independently stimulate expression. These data provide evidence for a novel mechanism of cytokine-mediated down-modulation of CD80 during malignant progression of HNSCC that can be restored by IFN-gamma.
Unraveling protein-protein interactions in clathrin assemblies via atomic force spectroscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM), single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), and single particle force spectroscopy (SPFS) are used to characterize intermolecular interactions and domain structures of clathrin triskelia and clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). The latter are involved in receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) and other trafficking pathways. Here, we subject individual triskelia, bovine-brain CCVs, and reconstituted clathrin-AP180 coats to AFM-SMFS and AFM-SPFS pulling experiments and apply novel analytics to extract force-extension relations from very large data sets. The spectroscopic fingerprints of these samples differ markedly, providing important new information about the mechanism of CCV uncoating. For individual triskelia, SMFS reveals a series of events associated with heavy chain alpha-helix hairpin unfolding, as well as cooperative unraveling of several hairpin domains. SPFS of clathrin assemblies exposes weaker clathrin-clathrin interactions that are indicative of inter-leg association essential for RME and intracellular trafficking. Clathrin-AP180 coats are energetically easier to unravel than the coats of CCVs, with a non-trivial dependence on force-loading rate.
Forgiveness and chronic low back pain: a preliminary study examining the relationship of forgiveness to pain, anger, and psychological distress.

Clinical observations suggest that many patients with chronic pain have difficulty forgiving persons they perceive as having unjustly offended them in some way. By using a sample of 61 patients with chronic low back pain, this study sought to determine the reliability and variability of forgiveness assessments in patients and to examine the relationship of forgiveness to pain, anger, and psychological distress. Standardized measures were used to assess patients’ current levels of forgiveness, forgiveness self-efficacy, pain, anger, and psychological distress. Results showed that forgiveness-related constructs can be reliably assessed in patients with persistent pain, and that patients vary considerably along dimensions of forgiveness. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that patients who had higher scores on forgiveness-related variables reported lower levels of pain, anger, and psychological distress. Additional analyses indicated that state anger largely mediated the association between forgiveness and psychological distress, as well as some of the associations between forgiveness and pain. These findings indicate that forgiveness can be reliably assessed in patients with persistent pain, and that a relationship appears to exist between forgiveness and important aspects of living with persistent pain.
STATUS OF EUALUS PUSIOLUS IN THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF EUALUS (DECAPODA: HIPPOLYTIDAE)

Abstract The presence of Eualus pusiolus (Kroyer, 1841) in the northeastern Pacific is confirmed, and a new species that has often been confused with E. pusiolus is described and illustrated. Eualus butleri, n. sp., is found inside hexactinellid sponges and is distinguished by an elongated basal article of the antennular peduncle that exceeds the stylocerite, slender pereopods, and pronounced sexual dimorphism, with males larger than females and bearing enlarged third maxillipeds. A key to all known northeastern Pacific species of Eualus is included.
INFLUENCE OF THIOUREA ON PLASMA PROTEINS AND ORGAN WEIGHTS IN THE RAT12

HYPOPHYSECTOMY in the rat is followed by a rise in serum globulin concentration and a decrease in serum albumin whereas thyroi-dectomy is followed by a rise in serum globulin but the albumin concentration remains unchanged. (Levin and Leathern, 1942; Levin 1943). Administration of thyroxine to the hypophysectoroized rat prevents the rise in serum globulin without preventing the decrease in serum albumin thus indicating a relationship between thyroid function and serum globulin concentration (Levin and Leathern, 1942). Since it is well established that thiourea will induce hypertrophy of the thyroid and is thought to prevent the formation of thyroid hormone (MacKenzie and MacKenzie, 1943; Astwood, Sullivan, Bissell and Tyslowitz, 1943; Astwood, 1943; Keston, Goldsmith, Gordon and Charipper, 1944; Franklin, Lerner and Chaikoff, 1944), it appeared of interest to determine whether feeding thiourea would result in blood protein changes similar to those induced by thyroid-ectomy.
Evaluation of Two‐Phase Relative Permeability and Capillary Pressure Relations for Unstable Displacements in a Pore Network

At the pore scale, unstable displacement is often observed for two-fluid systems, depending on the capillary number and fluid viscosity ratio. At the continuum scale, unstable displacement is usually not considered. In this work, relations between nonwetting fluid relative permeabilities ( k rn ), fluid saturations ( S n ), and capillary pressure heads ( h c ) are evaluated to predict average S n values using a continuum-based simulator for displacements in a micromodel. To this end, a series of displacement experiments was conducted using five wetting–nonwetting immiscible fluid pairs in a homogenous pore network. The micromodel was initially saturated with either polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG) or water as a wetting fluid, which was subsequently displaced by a nonwetting fluid (dodecane, hexadecane, or mineral oil) at different flow rates. Nonwetting fluid saturations increased with increasing flow rates for all five fluid pairs. Viscous fingering occurred when PEG was displaced by either dodecane or hexadecane. For the displacements of water, capillary fingers were observed at low capillary numbers. Fitting the experimental S n and h c data with the BrooksCorey relationship indicated that the fitted and computed entry pressure heads, based on pore geometry and fluid properties, compare reasonably well. However, the fitted pore geometry factor values for these displacements are considerably lower than what is expected for displacements in homogeneous, highly uniform, porous systems, demonstrating the impact of unstable displacement. It was shown that a continuum-based multiphase simulator could be used to reasonably estimate the average S n behavior for unstable wetting fluid displacement in a pore network as long as independently fitted h c – S n and k rn – S n relations were used.
Acoustic diversity for improved speech recognition in reverberant environments

We show that even moderate reverberation has a detrimental effect on the audible quality of speech and automatic speech recognition (ASR) accuracy. In the presence of room reverberation, we assess the performance of several important speech enhancement techniques, and show that little improvement is offered. We experimentalIy show that multiple microphones are necessary for complete equalization of the speaker-to-receiver impulse response. Furthermore, if complete equalization is not possible, long reverberation time (RT60) is shown to affect ASR accuracy far more negatively than a low signal-to-reverberation ratio (SRR). Using this knowledge we develop an equalizing strategy that improves ASR accuracy by reducing RT60.
Lessons learned in cross-cultural research of Chinese and North American consumers

Abstract This paper describes lessons learned while conducting a cross-cultural study of information search comparing Chinese and North American consumers. The paper looks at such issues as creating relevant samples in cultures where it is difficult to compare occupations, income levels, educational levels and spending parity. The paper also underscores the need for a full understanding of the differences in the marketing environment that may exist in different cultures and how those differences may affect study results. Ways to alleviate the methodological issues in the specific context of cross-cultural research are suggested.
Left Basilar Systolic Murmur in Retired Racing Greyhounds

Nineteen of 28 (67%) Greyhounds enrolled in the Blood Donor Program at The Veterinary Teaching Hospital, The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), had a left basilar systolic murmur. Ten Greyhounds with murmurs and 9 without murmurs were evaluated to gain knowledge about the pathogenesis of this murmur. Echocardiograms were performed without sedation by means of a GE Vivid 7 Echocardiographic System with a continuous ECG; systolic arterial blood pressure (SABP) was measured with an Ultrasonic Doppler Flow detector model 811-B. The mean peak aortic velocity in the Greyhounds with murmurs (2.15 m/s; range, 1.8-2.2 m/s) was significantly higher than in the Greyhounds without murmurs (1.89 m/s; range, 1.6-2.0 m/s) (P < .001); there were no significant differences between groups for aortic valve or annulus diameter, fractional shortening, pulmonic velocity, SABP, hematocrit, serum protein concentration, or red blood cell counts. In this study, Greyhounds with soft, left basilar systolic murmurs had mildly (but significantly) higher mean peak aortic velocities than similar dogs without murmurs. In the dogs with murmurs (and higher velocities), we could not identify structural abnormalities, such as valvular lesions or other congenital defects. There was no inverse correlation between the systolic murmur and the higher hematocrit and red blood cell counts observed in this breed. This 1-2/6 basilar systolic murmur is common in Greyhounds, and it does not appear to be of any clinical consequence.
On sublayer streaks

Turbulent sublayer streaks are studied with the aid of a simplified theoretical model. In this the nonlinear activity is assumed to be intermittent and to act locally in space during a very short initial time so as to set up the initial conditions for the subsequent linear and inviscid evolution of the resulting three-dimensional flow disturbance. The mean shear flow is taken as a parallel one and a correction for the long-tern effects of viscosity is applied. A model for the initial nonlinear phase is chosen to represent the local Reynolds stresses that would be produced by a patch of local inflectional instability. The streamwise dimension of the resulting eddy is found to grow linearly with time in accordance with the algebraic instability mechanism (Landahl 1980). The associated Reynolds shear stress is expressible in a simple manner in terms of the liftup of the fluid elements and is suggestive of an algebraic-type Reynolds stress model similar to, but not identical to, that of Prandtl's (1925) mixing-length theory.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α is implicated in endoplasmic reticulum stress–induced acute phase response by regulating expression of cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element binding protein H

Loss of the nuclear hormone receptor hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) in hepatocytes results in a complex pleiotropic phenotype that includes a block in hepatocyte differentiation and a severe disruption to liver function. Recent analyses have shown that hepatic gene expression is severely affected by the absence of HNF4α, with expression of 567 genes reduced by ≥2.5-fold (P ≤ 0.05) in Hnf4α−/− fetal livers. Although many of these genes are direct targets, HNF4α has also been shown to regulate expression of other liver transcription factors, and this raises the possibility that the dependence on HNF4α for normal expression of some genes may be indirect. We postulated that the identification of transcription factors whose expression is regulated by HNF4α might reveal roles for HNF4α in controlling hepatic functions that were not previously appreciated. Here we identify cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element binding protein H (CrebH) as a transcription factor whose messenger RNA can be identified in both the embryonic mouse liver and adult mouse liver and whose expression is dependent on HNF4α. Analyses of genomic DNA revealed an HNF4α binding site upstream of the CrebH coding sequence that was occupied by HNF4α in fetal livers and facilitated transcriptional activation of a reporter gene in transient transfection analyses. Although CrebH is highly expressed during hepatogenesis, CrebH−/− mice were viable and healthy and displayed no overt defects in liver formation. However, upon treatment with tunicamycin, which induces an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–stress response, CrebH−/− mice displayed reduced expression of acute phase response proteins. Conclusion: These data implicate HNF4α in having a role in controlling the acute phase response of the liver induced by ER stress by regulating expression of CrebH. (HEPATOLOGY 2008.)
Language-based information erasure

Real computing systems sometimes need to forget sensitive information. This paper explores the specification and semantics of information erasure policies, which impose a strong, end-to-end requirement that information be either erased or made less accessible. Simple lattice-based information flow policies, corresponding to a noninterference requirement, are augmented with the ability to express explicit erasure and declassification policies. Examples are given of applying this expressive policy language to real systems. The paper gives tools for reasoning about policy enforcement either statically or dynamically. Further, the significance of these policies to security is formally explained in terms of trace-based semantic security properties: generalizations of noninterference that accommodate erasure and declassification.
Multiple impacts: A state transition diagram approach

Impact happens when two or more bodies collide, generating very large impulsive forces in a very short period of time during which kinetic energy is first absorbed and then released after some loss. This paper introduces a state transition diagram to model a frictionless multibody collision. Each state describes a different topology of the collision characterized by the set of instantaneously active contacts. A change of state happens when a contact disappears at the end of restitution, or when a disappeared contact reappears as the relative motion of two bodies goes from separation into penetration. Within a state, (normal) impulses are coupled differentially subject to relative stiffnesses at the active contact points and the strain energies stored there. Such coupling may cause restart of compression from restitution during a single impact. Impulses grow along a bounded curve with first-order continuity, and converge during the state transitions. To solve a multibody collision problem with friction and tangential compliance, the above impact model is integrated with a compliant impact model. The paper compares model predictions to a physical experiment for the masse shot, which is a difficult trick in billiards, with a good result.
Banking on Mobiles: Why, How, for Whom?

This paper examines how banks can translate the potential of mobile phones into greater financial access for poor people. Although mobile phone operators have been able to use the mobile phone for mobile remittance and bill payment services in several countries, banks have had little success in using mobile phones as part of a growth or outreach strategy. This paper focuses on smaller banks or microfinance institutions (MFIs) that face a much higher cost of service delivery because of the smaller transaction values they handle and the likely more remote and dispersed location of at least some of their customers. The opportunity seems particularly great for them, but implementation challenges also loom larger because of their small scale. This discussion assumes these banks and MFIs have adequate back office and transaction switching capability and sufficient internal controls, whether managed in-house or outsourced. Without that, mobile banking is not possible because it is fundamentally a front end to a financial institution's information technology system.
Synthesis and Phase Behavior of New Amphiphilic PEG-Based Triblock Copolymers as Gelling Agents for Lamellar Liquid Crystalline Phases

We report the first evidence of the potential of new amphiphilic ABA-triblock copolymers as gelling agents for lamellar liquid crystalline Lα phases. Recently, we described a new type of lamellar hydrogels which are not based on a polymer network swollen in water but are obtained by the addition of small amounts of a nonionic polymer surfactant to the fluid lamellar Lα phase of the dimyristoyl−phosphatidyl−choline(DMPC)/pentanol/water system. In contrast with these previously reported gelling agents which were all AB-diblock copolymers, the novel ABA-triblock copolymers consist of double chain hydrophobic moieties (A) attached to each end of a poly(ethylene glycol) chain (B). The synthesis of these new macromolecules and their gelation properties are described. The comparison of these novel lamellar hydrogels with those based on the AB-diblock copolymers provides direct evidence for the existence of cross-bridging conformations of the ABA-triblock copolymers between adjacent membranes.