cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reciprocal connections between the zona incerta and the pretectum and superior colliculus of the cat

Abstract The goal of the present experiments was to examine the relationships of the zona incerta with two structures associated with visuomotor behavior, the superior colliculus and pretectum. The experiments were carried out in the cat, a species commonly used in studies of visuomotor integration, and utilized wheat germ agglutinin–horseradish peroxidase and biocytin as retrograde and anterograde neuronal tracers. Retrograde axonal transport demonstrated that most cells in the ventral subdivision of the zona incerta project to the superior colliculus. Anterograde tracers demonstrated that the incertotectal terminal field is most dense in the intermediate gray layer, which is the primary source of the descending pathway from the superior colliculus to brainstem gaze centers. Further experiments showed that scattered cells within the intermediate gray layer give rise to a reciprocal pathway that terminates in both the dorsal and ventral subdivisions of the zona incerta. The distribution of both labeled incertotectal cells and tectoincertal terminals extends dorsolateral to the zona incerta proper, between the reticular thalamic nucleus and the external medullary lamina. Electron microscopic examination of labeled tectoincertal terminals demonstrated that they contain mainly spherical vesicles and have slightly asymmetric to symmetric synaptic densities. Labeled terminals were observed contacting labeled cells in the zona incerta, suggesting that the reciprocal pathway may be monosynaptic. The zona incerta is also reciprocally interconnected with the pretectum. The anterior pretectal nucleus provides a dense projection to the ventral part of the zona incerta and receives a sparse reciprocal projection. The posterior pretectal nucleus and nucleus of the optic tract may also project to the zona incerta. The pretectoincertal fibers form terminals that contain primarily spherical vesicles and make distinctly asymmetric synaptic contacts. In summary, these results indicate that the deep layers of the superior colliculus, which are important for controlling saccades, are the target of a projection from the ventral subdivision of the zona incerta. Like the substantia nigra, the zona incerta may play a permissive role in the tectal initiation of saccadic eye movements. The incertotectal terminal field in the cat is less dense than that observed previously in the rat, suggesting species differences in the development of this pathway. An additional finding of this study is that one of the main sources of input to these incertotectal cells is the anterior pretectal nucleus. This pretectal–incertal–tectal pathway is likely to play a role in the guidance of tectally initiated saccades by somatosensory stimuli.
Assessment of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measures of bone health in pediatric chronic kidney disease.

Background Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) techniques are limited in childhood chronic kidney disease (CKD) by the confounding effect of short stature and opposing parathyroid hormone effects on trabecular and cortical bone. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) is not subject to these limitations.
Generation of Optimal Fire-Line for Fighting Wildland Fires Using Genetic Algorithms

Every year all over the world, wildfires do extensive damages to the human lives, properties and natural resources. National Interagency Fire Center data provides a detailed description of the severe damages caused by the wildfires every year. Forest Fire Decision Support Systems (FFDSS) have been developed all over the world during the last thirty years with the purpose of fire detection, fire behavior prediction, and risk assessment. But optimized wildland fire containment strategies are largely lacking in these FFDSS. In this paper, decision making strategies have been formulated for wildland fire suppression so that the total burned area and hence the damage is minimized. This goal is achieved by the application of optimization tools such as the Genetic Algorithms (GA). For a given number of resources, the GA will determine their best utilization strategy so that the total area burnt is minimized. For generating optimal strategies for resource utilization, the Genetic Algorithm uses an advanced fire propagation model that predicts the propagation of wildland fires under given environmental conditions and topography. The fire-fighting strategy considered in this paper is fireline generation. Using the Genetic Algorithm, the optimal fireline is built that minimizes the area of land burned. GA also provides the proper locations of the attacking crews so that the fireline is built before the fire escapes. Using these intelligent decision making strategies, the damage caused due to a forest fire can be minimized significantly.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Insensitivity to the spatial repellent action of transfluthrin in Aedes aegypti: a heritable trait associated with decreased insecticide susceptibility.

Background New vector control paradigms expanding the use of spatial repellents are promising, but there are many gaps in our knowledge about how repellents work and how their long-term use might affect vector populations over time. Reported here are findings from a series of in vitro studies that investigated the plasticity and heritability of spatial repellent (SR) behaviors in Aedes aegypti exposed to airborne transfluthrin, including results that indicate a possible link between repellent insensitivity and insecticide resistance.
Implications of hypercalcemia with respect to diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer

This study had two objectives. The first was to determine if hypercalcemia presents as an isolated finding in patients with lung cancer prior to the development of abnormalities on chest radiography. The second was to correlate the presence of hypercalcemia with survival after surgical therapy. A review of clinical material over a seven-year period yielded 67 patients with diagnoses of hypercalcemia and lung cancer. No patient presented with surgically curable lung cancer associated with hypercalcemia. A review of the literature disclosed only four cases in which a putative cure occurred in the presence of hypercalcemia. Review of the clinical material and the literature revealed no instance in which hypercalcemia per se led to the diagnosis of clinically occult lung cancer. Hypercalcemia was almost always associated with large tumor masses. Median survival after the discovery of hypercalcemia complicating carcinoma of the lung was one month.
Analysis of free zone electrophoresis of fixed erythrocytes performed in microgravity

A free fluid zone electrophoresis experiment was performed in the microgravity environment of Space Shuttle flight STS-3 (March 1983). The experiment was designed to confirm observations made on the Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975 and to test the effect of high red blood cell (RBC) concentration on free fluid electrophoresis. Photographic documentation of cell zone progression in one-hour separations of mixtures of formaldehyde-fixed human and rabbit erythrocytes, which were subjected to a field of approximately 13 V/cm in low ionic strength buffer, was analyzed. One of two columns contained 2 x 10 to the 8th RBC/ml; (low concentration), and the other contained 1 x 10 to the 9th RBC/ml (high concentration). The observed and calculated leading edge displacements of the RBC in the two columns were in agreement, indicating the absence of unexpected effects of the reduced gravity environment. Post-flight analyses of the contents of the columns was not possible, and additional microgravity experiments are needed to evaluate the role of particle-particle interactions in concentrated suspensions undergoing electrophoresis.
A data grid for imaging-based clinical trials

Clinical trials play a crucial role in testing new drugs or devices in modern medicine. Medical imaging has also become an important tool in clinical trials because images provide a unique and fast diagnosis with visual observation and quantitative assessment. A typical imaging-based clinical trial consists of: 1) A well-defined rigorous clinical trial protocol, 2) a radiology core that has a quality control mechanism, a biostatistics component, and a server for storing and distributing data and analysis results; and 3) many field sites that generate and send image studies to the radiology core. As the number of clinical trials increases, it becomes a challenge for a radiology core servicing multiple trials to have a server robust enough to administrate and quickly distribute information to participating radiologists/clinicians worldwide. The Data Grid can satisfy the aforementioned requirements of imaging based clinical trials. In this paper, we present a Data Grid architecture for imaging-based clinical trials. A Data Grid prototype has been implemented in the Image Processing and Informatics (IPI) Laboratory at the University of Southern California to test and evaluate performance in storing trial images and analysis results for a clinical trial. The implementation methodology and evaluation protocol of the Data Grid are presented.
Microcirculatory hematocrit and blood flow

Direct measurements from many laboratories indicate that the oxygen tension in skeletal muscle is significantly less than in the large veins draining these tissues. Harris (1986) has proposed that because of the parallel anatomic arrangement of large arterioles and venules in skeletal muscle, a counter-current exchange between these vessels can occur. He theorized that diffusion of O 2 between arteriole and venule would lower the P o 2 in the blood as it enters capillaries and result in a decreased tissue P O 2 and an increase in large vein P O 2 . Calculations (Appendix) show that the amount of O 2 transferred between arteriole and venule is inadequate to account for this difference in P O 2 between tissue and veins due to the small surface area that is involved. It is well documented that the microcirculatory hematocrit ranges between 20 and 50% of that in the supply vessels. The reduced hematocrit lowers the oxygen content in these vessels and results in a low oxygen tension in the surrounding tissue. True arteriovenous shunts are not present in most skeletal muscles, but 15–20% of the microvessels represent thoroughfare or preferential flow channels. It is suggested that these vessels contain a greater than normal hematocrit to account for a conservation of red cell mass across the microcirculation. Furthermore, it is shown that the hematocrit in the preferential flow channels is an inverse function of the flow rate for any level of the microcirculatory hematocrit. The increased hematocrit raises the flow resistance in these vessels which reduces flow further and represents a positive feedback condition which may contribute to the intermittent and uneven flow patterns which are present within the microcirculation. The increased hematocrit in the preferential flow channels serves as a means of transferring red cells with a high O 2 content between arterioles and venules which raises the venous oxygen tension above that found in the tissues. This mechanism represents a more plausible explanation for the high venous oxygen tension and the low tissue oxygen tension than the counter-current diffusion hypothesis.
Electrical characteristics of the mammalian distal tubule: Comparison of Ling-Gerard and macroelectrodes.

Electrical characteristics of the mammalian distal tubule: Comparison of Ling-Gerard and macroelectrodes. Studies were performed to 1) systematically compare Ling-Gerard microelectrodes and electrodes with large tips (3 to 5 µ; O.D.) in the measurement of the transepithelial potential difference (PD) in the mammalian distal tubule and 2) to examine the sign and magnitude of the transepithelial PD along the length of the distal tubule. Recordings made with the tips of both types of electrodes placed together in the same tubule segment demonstrated no difference in transepithelial PD. Rapid influx of tubular fluid into the macroelectrode, however, was found to depolarize the tubular membrane, as recorded by both types of electrodes simultaneously. Technical critera were therefore established to prevent rapid influx of fluid and efflux of potassium chloride, filling the electrode, in the use of exploring electrodes with large tips. The sign of the transepithelial PD in early distal tubule was found to be negative and averaged -17.7 ± 9.4 (mean ± SEM) in Sprague-Dawley rats and approximately -12mV in Wistar-Munich rats. The site of puncture was identified by dye transit time rate, microdissection, and cell morphology. The transepithelial PD increased along the length of the distal tubule and averaged -41.9 ± 8.5 in the last portion accessible to examination. Caracteristiques electriques du tube distal des mammiferes: Comparaison des electrodes Ling-Gerard et des macro-electrodes. Des experiences ont ete realisees pour 1) faire une comparaison systematique des electrodes Ling-Gerard et des electrodes a large extremite (diametre exterieur, 3 a 5 µ) pour la mesure du potentiel trans-epithelial du tube distal et 2) etudier le signe et la valeur de la difference de potentiel trans-epithelial de long du tube distal. Les enregistrements obtenus alors que les deux types d'electrodes sont placees ensemble dans le meme segment tubulaire ne montrent pas de difference du potentiel trans-epithelial. L'entree rapide de liquide tubulaire dans la macro-electrode determine une depolarisation de la membrane tubulaire qui est enrigistree simultanement par les deux types d'electrodes. Des criteres techniques ont ainsi ete definis pour empecher l'entree rapide de liquide ou la sorti rapide de KCl. Le signe de la difference de potentiel trans-epithelial dans le tube distal precoce est negatif et la valeur moyenne obtenue est -17,7 ± 9,4 (moyenne et erreur type) chez les rats Sprague-Dawley. Chez les Wistar-Munich elle est approximativement de -12mV. Le lieu de ponction a ete identifie par le temps de transit d'un colorant, la microdissection et la morphologie cellulaire. La difference de potentiel trans-epitheliale augmente le long du tube distal pour atteindre une valeur moyenne de -41,9 ± 8,5 dans la derniere portion accessible de ce segment.
Animal models of atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting over 10% of human (sic) children, and it is the most common cause of occupational disability in adults. Atopic dermatitis also is seen commonly in companion animals, especially in dogs, in which its prevalence has been estimated to be about 10% of the canine population. Numerous similarities exist between canine AD and its human counterpart, suggesting the possibility that canine AD could be used as a model for the human disease. Dogs have been used in the past as model for human allergic diseases. The most popular model has been the Basenji–Greyhound, which develops a recurrent, nonseasonal, pruritic dermatitis and asthma. Skin lesions include lichenified plaques and inflammatory papules and nodules. These dogs also display airway hyper-reactivity, with changes in pulmonary mechanics similar to those of symptomatic, human asthma, and they exhibit a variety of immunologic abnormalities analogous to the human disease. Cats also have been reported to develop AD, but our understanding of the condition in this species currently is limited. Certain similarities appear to exist between feline and human AD; however, the feline condition has some peculiar clinical features, and for this reason it will be described separately. Finally, AD recently has been described in laboratory animals, notably the NC/ Nga mouse, which is thought by some authors to be a promising animal model for AD. The purpose of this article is to review the latest information available on AD in companion animals and in mice and describe how these spontaneously arising diseases might serve as models to improve our understanding of human AD.
A Thermal Stabilizer for LiPF6-Based Electrolytes of Li-Ion Cells

We report that tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphite (TTFP), in which the oxidization number of phosphor is three (III), can effectively improve thermal stability of LiPF 6 -based electrolytes of Li-ion cells. Effect of TTFP on the performance of Li/graphite, Li/cathode, and Li-ion cells is estimated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling. Results show that TTFP is electrochemically stable in Li-ion chemistry. We also found that TTFP can prevent propylene carbonate (PC) decomposition and graphite exfoliation in Li/graphite half-cell. We propose a mechanism of TTFP protecting LiPF 6 and discuss the effect of TTFP on cell performance.
MARS Benthic Rover: In-situ rapid proto-testing on the Monterey Accelerated Research System

The Benthic Rover is an autonomous, bottom-crawling vehicle being developed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to conduct long-term deep-ocean ecological research. In 2009 MBARI researchers deployed the Rover on the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) cabled observatory for component and operational testing. MARS is located near-shore in the Monterey Bay near Monterey, CA, at a depth of approximately 900 meters, providing the power reliability and network accessibility similar to an on-shore laboratory. By enabling immediate feedback and the ability to quickly re-program control software and re-configure mission scripts, MARS facilitates a kind of “in-situ rapid proto-testing”. MBARI researchers were able to run numerous experimental procedures and analyze results in a relatively short timeframe, converging on desired operational profiles quickly and at very low cost. This paper will cover recent development work on the Benthic Rover with emphasis on the deployment and testing on MARS.
Randomized phase II trial of the anti-angiogenic potential of doxorubicin and docetaxel; primary chemotherapy as Biomarker Discovery Laboratory.

Purpose: Primary chemotherapy provides an ideal opportunity to correlate potential non-invasive surrogate markers of angiogenesis with tumor microvessel density (MVD) and response. Patients and methods: Patients with newly diagnosed stages II or III breast cancer were treated with sequential doxorubicin 75 mg/M2 q2 wks × 3 and docetaxel 40 mg/M2 weekly × 6; treatment order was randomly assigned. Potential serologic and imaging markers of angiogenesis were obtained pre-treatment, at crossover and completion of chemotherapy. Non-invasive biomarkers were correlated with MVD and pathologic response. Results: From June 1999 to October 2002, 70 patients were entered. Median pretreatment tumor diameter was 6.0 cm with clinically involved axillary nodes in 33 (47%) patients; 20% had inflammatory disease. Clinical response rate was 91%, including 46% clinical complete responses. Pathologic complete response (pCR) was confirmed in 9 (12.8%) patients. Baseline MVD did not correlate with clinical or pathologic response. Serologic markers were obtained in all patients; basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was lower at baseline and increased during treatment in patients with a pCR but did not correlate with MVD. Color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) was completed in 47 patients; no parameter reliably correlated with MVD or response. Positron emission tomography (PET) with [F-18]-fluoro-deoxyglucose, [O-15]-water and [C-11]-carbon monoxide were completed in 19 patients; uptake of all tracers decreased during treatment in virtually all patients. Conclusion: Sequential doxorubicin and docetaxel is generally well tolerated and highly active. Serum angiogenic factors and imaging parameters frequently varied throughout treatment but did not correlate with MVD or consistently predict response.
Passivity-based controllers for a class of hybrid systems with applications to mechanical systems interacting with their environment

Motivated by applications of systems interacting with their environments, we study the design of passivity-based controllers for a class of hybrid systems. Classical and hybrid-specific notions of passivity along with detectability and solution conditions are linked to asymptotic stability. These results are used to design passivity-based controllers following classical passivity theory. An application, pertaining to a point mass physically interacting with the environment, illustrates the definitions and the results obtained throughout this work.
Molecular Cloning and Regulation of a Mineral Phosphate Solubilizing Gene from Erwinia Herbicola

At levels less than 1mM of soluble orthophosphate (Pi) E. herbicola solubilizes dicalcium phosphate (DCP) or hydroxyapatite (HAP) in the external culture media. E. coli is capable of solubilizing dicalcium phosphate but not hydroxyapatite. The mineral phosphate solubilizing (MPS) trait is induced (repressed) by low (high) levels of exogenous Pi. A cosmid library of E. herbicola genomic DNA was constructed in E. coli. Screening for the MPS trait resulted in the isolation of a recombinant clone that showed inducible/repressible hydroxapatite solubilization at a level comparable with E. herbicola. We propose that these genes play a role in bacterial phosphate starvation metabolism.
Angular spectrum and coherent imaging

The predicted sharp cutoff of the transfer function of a coherent imaging system is not seen experimentally. The experiment suggests that this is due to the neglect of the diffraction, caused by the finite lens, of the individual plane-wave components of the angular spectrum of the object wave. It is shown that this omission is equivalent to dropping a quadratic phase term in the description of the image obtained with the Fresnel–Kirchhoff diffraction formula.
NEW IMAGING TECHNIQUES IN ENDOVASCULAR SURGERY

Although endovascular stent grafts were proposed 3 decades ago, 9 the concept has only recently been applied successfully to the human aorta. 25 As stent graft technology has evolved, it places unique demands on preoperative imaging modalities, especially when applied to repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). 5,6,8,11,24 Unlike graft selection for conventional AAA repair, stent graft, or endograft, dimensions must be chosen before the procedure, without direct visualization of the vessel. For a typical bifurcated graft, many measurements are necessary, including the length and diameter of the proximal neck, the length and diameter of the distal cuffs, and the length from the lowest renal artery to the end of the two graft limbs (Fig. 1). Measurements for an endovascular tube graft in the abdominal or thoracic aorta are only slightly less complex. The consequences of small errors in graft sizing are also quite different from open repair. If the endograft diameter is even 1 mm too small or if the length of the seal zone is inadequate, sealing between the endograft and the vessel wall may be insufficient. Typically, a 15-mm length is needed for an adequate seal zone at the proximal and distal ends of an endograft. A desired endograft diameter is usually 1 to 3 mm longer than the lumen. Lack of proper sealing results in blood flow around the endograft and into the aneurysm sac—often described as an endoleak or perigraft flow—which has been associated with aneurysm rupture in some cases. Poor graft sizing can also lead to insecure attachment of the stent graft to the vessel, which can lead to graft migration. Conversely, choosing an overly large endograft diameter can lead to crimping or folding of the excess material, which may also contribute to endoleak. Long-term implications of severe oversizing are unknown but may contribute to aortic enlargement. Endografts that are too short or too long may similarly create attachment problems, endoleaks, graft kinking, or occlusion of important branch vessels. Thus, appropriate sizing and placement of endoluminal grafts require a preprocedure imaging system that can determine the lengths and diameters of tortuous vessels with a high degree of accuracy. This produces a need for imaging techniques that have not been required for conventional surgery.
You don't know me, but I know you: the illusion of asymmetric insight.

People, it is hypothesized, show an asymmetry in assessing their own interpersonal and intrapersonal knowledge relative to that of their peers. Six studies suggested that people perceive their knowledge of their peers to surpass their peers' knowledge of them. Several of the studies explored sources of this perceived asymmetry, especially the conviction that while observable behaviors (e.g., interpersonal revelations or idiosyncratic word completions) are more revealing of others than self, private thoughts and feelings are more revealing of self than others. Study 2 also found that college roommates believe they know themselves better than their peers know themselves. Study 6 showed that group members display a similar bias-they believe their groups know and understand relevant out-groups better than vice versa. The relevance of such illusions of asymmetric insight for interpersonal interaction and our understanding of "naive realism" is discussed.
ESD damage and solutions in tape head manufacturing

Magnetic tape heads use a multiplicity of highly ESD sensitive read sensors. With 36 or more sensors per head in a magnetic storage tape drive, a loss in a manufacturing environment of 1000 ppm per sensor is very costly. ESD damages caused by manufacturing processes, fixtures, material and faulty testers are investigated and reviewed. A new type of ESD failure is revealed in the study. Solutions are suggested to improve and amend the observed problems.
The stereospecificity at the iron center of the decarbonylation of an ironacetyl complex

Abstract The dinuclear complex [( h 5 -1-CH 3 -3-C 6 H 5 C 5 H 3 )Fe(CO) 2 ] 2 was synthesized by reaction of Fe 2 (CO)9 with 1-methyl-3-phenylcyclopentadiene; it was converted to ( h 5 -1-CH 3 -3-C 6 H 5 C 5 H 3 )Fe(CO) 2 CH 3 by reduction with sodium amalgam and addition of CH 3 l, and thence to ( h 5 -1-CH 3 -3-C 6 H 5 C 5 H 3 )Fe(CO)[P(C 6 H 5 ) 3 ] (COCH 3 ) (I) by reaction with P(C 6 H 5 ) 3 . The acetyl I was separated into two diastereomerically related pairs of enantiomers. Ia and Ib, by a combination of column chromatography on alumina and crystallization from benzene/pentane. The photochemical decarbonylation of Ia and Ib in benzene or THF solution was examined by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. This reaction proceeds with high stereospecificity (>84% retention or inversion) at the iron center to yield ( h 5 -1-CH 3 -3-C 6 H 8 C 5 H 3 )Fe(CO)[P(C 6 H 5 ) 3 ]CH 3 (II), enriched in the diastereomerically related pairs of enantiomers, IIa and IIb, respectively. Since IIa and IIb epimerize under the photolytic conditions of decarbonylation, the actual stereospecificity of the conversion of I to II is higher than 84%, and likely 100%. This is supported by the data from kinetic studies of the decarbonylation of I and the epimerization of II, carried out under identical photolytic conditions. The implications of the foregoing results to the mechanism of the decarbonylation are considered. Also described herein is the synthesis of other complexes with two asymmetric centers of the general formula ( h 5 -cyclopentadienyl)Fe(CO)(L)(COR) and ( h 5 -cyclopentadienyl)Fe(CO)(L)R that contain either an unsymmetrically substituted h 5 -cyclopentadienyl ring or a chiral tertiary phosphine.
Prediction and choice in the Prisoner's Dilemma

This study utilized identical false feedback to subjects in five conditions. In two conditions the subjects played a standard two-choice prisoner's Dilemma game (200 trials); in two conditions the subjects played the standard game modified to include a prediction of Other's behavior on each trial. In each of the above situations, subjects in one condition were told that they were faced with a preset sequence while subjects in the other condition thought they were playing with one of the other subjects present in the experiment. In a fifth condition the feedback was not given any meaning as part of the game task; subjects merely had to predict the appearance of one of two lights on each of the 200 trials. The 100 subjects were assigned randomly to conditions with ten males and ten females in each condition. Analysis of the frequency of cooperative choice in the game indicates that the addition of prediction to the game had no significant main effect on choice behavior. There was a three-factor interaction effect with the description of the feedback and the trial block of the game. Subjects tended to decrease cooperation over trial blocks. The act of prediction reduced this effect for subjects who thought they faced a preset computer sequence but not for those attempting to predict the moves of a human adversary. The use of prediction data in combination with choice data produced four indices of behavior contingent upon expectation of opponent's behavior. These indices were useful in interpreting the higher cooperation of the females as an inability to find or maintain optimal strategies for maximizing their own rewards. An examination of the prediction data alone revealed that a probability matching hypothesis by itself will be inadequate to explain subjects' trial by trial expectations of Other's behavior.
Hypermodern Consumption and Megalomania: Superlatives in commercials

Recent French sociological scholarship suggests the notion of hypermodernity to characterize the contemporary moment. While the meanings of this concept vary, the idea of excess seems central. Informed by this new scholarship, this article analyzes the superlative rhetoric in contemporary televised and internet commercials, and suggests elective affinities between this rhetoric and the various trends characterizing the hypermodern present.
Vertical human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection: involvement of the central nervous system and treatment.

Involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) contributes substantially to morbidity and mortality of vertical infection with the hu man immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1. The clinical spectrum ranges from minor developmental disabilities to severe and progressive encephalopathy. Progression of the disease varies considerably. Both direct viral and indirect host-related pathogenic mechanisms have been proposed. The diagnosis depends on neurological and neurodevelopmental assessments. So far, HIV-1-specific antiviral treatment has shown limited effects on neurological manifestations in symptomatic children. Thus, efforts are needed to improve prevention and treatment of CNS involvement. It is still unclear whether early use of antiretroviral agents is of benefit.
Temperature of the rough lunar surface.

The effect of lunar surface roughness on the lunar surface temperatures is investigated. It is shown that the apparent surface temperature varies significantly according to the observation angle at a given solar elevation. This is due to the surface roughness which is postulated as a level surface interspersed with craters. The temperatures of craters and flat surfaces are obtained analytically. The apparent temperature is the result of the contribution of craters and flat regions whose ratio is derived from earth-based measurements. The results are compared with experimental data.
Random geometric graphs as a model for bounding the endurance of soaring aircraft

Soaring aircraft and birds utilize the energy of atmospheric convection to remain aloft. As this source of energy gains attention as a method for prolonging the flight times of small UAVs, it is necessary to evaluate the conditions under which it is a viable option. The indefinite endurance problem for soaring aircraft is cast in terms of a random geometric graph. Tools developed for the analysis of random graphs are used to bound the relationship between aircraft efficiency and energy abundance in the atmosphere. A theoretical threshold is arrived at, over which indefinite endurance flights may be possible in an unbounded domain. Simulation results are presented that confirm the existence of a threshold which compares favorably to what is predicted by random graph theory. Extensions are made to missions restricted to finite domains as well.
Length, mass, and denaturation of double-stranded RNA molecules compared with DNA

The contour lengths of linear, double-stranded (ds) RNAs from mycovirus PcV and Pseudomonas bacteriophage phi 6 have been measured with samples prepared for the electron microscope from 0.05 to 0.5 M NH4Cl solutions. A linear dependence of contour length on the logarithm of ionic strength was found and compared with that of dsDNA (pBR322, linearized and open-circular forms). Conditions for molecular weight determinations of any natural dsRNA by electron microscopy have been established, and the method has been calibrated with phi 6 dsRNA of known nucleotide sequence. The results imply that dsRNA in 0.20 M NH4Cl solution has a rise per basepair of 0.271 nm, which is shorter than that in the A-conformation (4%) and in the A'-conformation (10%). The thermal behavior of dsRNA in terms of melting temperature and exhibition of fine structure of melting curves was found to be generally similar to that of dsDNA, as expected from the literature. Folding of dsRNA in ethanolic solution was similar to that of dsDNA. However, in contrast to dsDNA, coiled coils could not be induced by ethanol, which is consistent with dsRNA being stiffer than dsDNA. Concerning dsDNA, the results show that a contraction in rise per basepair by 0.1 nm is coupled with an increase in the winding angle between basepairs by 0.47 degrees, as qualitatively predicted by polyelectrolyte theory.
Implantation metastasis alongside an intraperitoneal chemotherapy catheter in ovarian carcinoma

An elderly woman with recurrent ovarian malignancy was treated with intraperitoneal chemotherapy, administered via a subcutaneously buried catheter. She developed the unusual complication of a metastasis along the course of this catheter.
Accuracy of Measured Vancomycin Serum Concentrations in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

OBJECTIVE:TO review information related to the accuracy of vancomycin serum drug concentrations in patients with end-stage renal disease, focusing on available assays and mechanisms of cross-reactivity.DATA SOURCES:Primary and review articles identified from a MEDLINE search (January 1980-June 1999) and through secondary sources.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:All articles identified were evaluated, and all relevant information was included in this review.DATA SYNTHESIS:Falsely elevated vancomycin serum concentrations may occur in patients with renal dysfunction. The underlying mechanism is due to the formation and accumulation of a pseudo-metabolite, the vancomycin crystalline degradation product (CDP). Vancomycin is converted to CDP when exposed to heat, including normal body temperature. Because the molecular structures of CDP and vancomycin are similar, both molecules are detected by polyclonal immunoassay systems used in clinical laboratories. This cross-reactivity leads to falsely elevated serum...
The Development of a Human Tissue Model to Determine the Effect of Plant-Derived Dietary Supplements on Prothrombin Time

A screening process has been developed to evaluate four dietary supplements for their potential to affect coagulation through the extrinsic pathway in human tissue. An established analytical method was used to determine prothrombin time (PT) using a clinical laboratory fibrometer.1,2 Dong quai, Korean ginseng, cat's claw, and ginger were studied. Extracts of plant material were made by mixing the native material in synthetic plasma at room temperature for 1.0 hour. Plasma was simulated by preparation of 6% bovine albumen, phosphate buffered at pH 7.3, with the ionic strength controlled using common physiologic salts. Concentrations of the extract were prepared by varying the amount of material extracted with a given volume of synthetic plasma. Initially, a volume study was conducted to determine the extent to which an aliquot of human plasma could be diluted before changing the PT. Ten microliters of the appropriate extract were added to an aliquot of pooled human plasma collected from male volunteers bet...
Tamoxifen as the first successful targeted therapy in cancer: the gift that kept on giving

*Department of Oncology & Pharmacology, Georgetown – Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, 3970 Reservoir Rd NW, Washington, DC 20057, USA; Tel.: +1 202 687 2897; Fax: +1 202 687 6402; vcj2@georgetown.edu
Concepts of sensitivity and specificity in the evaluation of emergency medical services.

Abstract The concept of sensitivity, in relating service to need, refers to a measure of the proportion of the individuals requiring a given service who actually receive it. Specificity, on the other hand, refers to a measure of the proportion of individuals who do not require a given service and who indeed do not receive it, in spite of the fact that they may be in the system in which the service is available. These concepts are applied to the sequence of services in emergency medical care systems.
Comparative assessment of performance and genome dependence among phylogenetic profiling methods

The rapidly increasing speed with which genome sequence data can be generated will be accompanied by an exponential increase in the number of sequenced eukaryotes. With the increasing number of sequenced eukaryotic genomes comes a need for bioinformatic techniques to aid in functional annotation. Ideally, genome context based techniques such as proximity, fusion, and phylogenetic profiling, which have been so successful in prokaryotes, could be utilized in eukaryotes. Here we explore the application of phylogenetic profiling, a method that exploits the evolutionary co-occurrence of genes in the assignment of functional linkages, to eukaryotic genomes. In order to evaluate the performance of phylogenetic profiling in eukaryotes, we assessed the relative performance of commonly used profile construction techniques and genome compositions in predicting functional linkages in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. When predicting linkages in E. coli with a prokaryotic profile, the use of continuous values constructed from transformed BLAST bit-scores performed better than profiles composed of discretized E-values; the use of discretized E-values resulted in more accurate linkages when using S. cerevisiae as the query organism. Extending this analysis by incorporating several eukaryotic genomes in profiles containing a majority of prokaryotes resulted in similar overall accuracy, but with a surprising reduction in pathway diversity among the most significant linkages. Furthermore, the application of phylogenetic profiling using profiles composed of only eukaryotes resulted in the loss of the strong correlation between common KEGG pathway membership and profile similarity score. Profile construction methods, orthology definitions, ontology and domain complexity were explored as possible sources of the poor performance of eukaryotic profiles, but with no improvement in results. Given the current set of completely sequenced eukaryotic organisms, phylogenetic profiling using profiles generated from any of the commonly used techniques was found to yield extremely poor results. These findings imply genome-specific requirements for constructing functionally relevant phylogenetic profiles, and suggest that differences in the evolutionary history between different kingdoms might generally limit the usefulness of phylogenetic profiling in eukaryotes.
An ILP formulation for system-level application mapping on network processor architectures

Current day network processors incorporate several architectural features including symmetric multi-processing (SMP), block multi-threading, and multiple memory elements to support the high performance requirements of networking applications. The paper presents an automated system-level design technique for application development on such architectures. The technique incorporates process transformations and block multi-threading aware data mapping to maximize the worst case throughput of the application. We propose integer linear programming formulations for process allocation and data mapping on SMP and block multi-threading based network processors. The paper presents experimental results that evaluate the technique by implementing representative network processing applications on the Intel IXP 2400 architecture. The results demonstrate that our technique is able to generate high-quality mappings of realistic applications on the target architecture within a short time
The concentration of boron in Precambrian seas

Abstract Measurements have been made of the boron contents of Precambrian illites from relatively unmetamorphosed carbonate rocks. The samples range in age from upper Proterozoic to Archaean. The boron contents are similar to those reported elsewhere for normal-marine illites from post-Precambrian rocks. These data suggest that the boron concentration in sea water has been fairly constant for the past two to three billion years. The results support the view that the oceans have grown throughout geologic time by the accumulation of degassing products of the Earth's crust. The boron method for determining paleosalinities is reviewed, and its limitations are considered. The method is concluded to be valid subject to the following conditions: (1) individual paleosalinities may not be significant within a range of approximately 23 per cent because of uncertainties in the nominal K 2 O content for pure illite; (2) all samples studied should consist of clay fractions in which the illite is predominantly of the 1Md polymorph; and (3) the accurate determination of the amount of illite present, based on %K 2 O, requires that the data be corrected for the presence of K-feldspar.
Event structure and cognitive control.

Recently, a great deal of research has demonstrated that although everyday experience is continuous in nature, it is parsed into separate events. The aim of the present study was to examine whether event structure can influence the effectiveness of cognitive control. Across 5 experiments we varied the structure of events within the AX-CPT by shifting the spatial location of cues and probes on a computer screen. When location shifts were present, a pattern of AX-CPT performance consistent with enhanced cognitive control was found. To test whether the location shift effects were caused by the presence of event boundaries per se, other aspects of the AX-CPT were manipulated, such as the color of cues and probes and the inclusion of a distractor task during the cue-probe delay. Changes in cognitive control were not found under these conditions, suggesting that the location shift effects were specifically related to the formation of separate event models. Together, these results can be accounted for by the Event Horizon Model and a representation-based theory of cognitive control, and suggest that cognitive control can be influenced by the surrounding environmental structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Reading a note, reading a mind: children’s notating skills and understanding of mind

Are children’s understanding of mental states (understanding of mind) related to their notating skills, that is, their ability to produce and read written marks to convey information about objects and number? Fifty-three preschoolers and kindergarteners were presented with a dictation task where they produced some written marks and were later asked to read them back. Understanding of mind was assessed using two tasks. Children’s name-writing and language skills were assessed as covariates. Children’s understanding of their own and other’s mental states was associated with their notating skills. Findings are discussed in light of the reciprocal writer-reader relation: keeping an audience in mind when writing and a writer in mind when reading. This reciprocal relation is central to writing and reading development.
Cellular immunotherapies for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed malignancy, and the second leading cause of cancer-related death, in men in the United States. Most deaths from prostate cancer are due to metastatic disease that no longer responds to androgen deprivation. There have been several advances within the last decade leading to the approval of new agents for treating patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, these agents can have significant side effects, and the average survival benefit from chemotherapy has been modest. Results from several clinical trials have suggested that immune-based therapies may have clinical benefits in patients with prostate cancer with significantly fewer adverse events. These new therapies, however, pose new potential benefits and risks. We review here two cellular immunotherapies furthest in clinical development for prostate cancer, and discuss the potential challenges to the treating oncologist with the possible advent of these new therapies.
Managing QoS for multimedia applications in a differentiated services environment

The overall quality of network connections has a significant impact on the performance of networked applications. Consequently, QoS management for networked multimedia applications over IP is a significant and immediate challenge. While differentiated services (diffserv) provide a sense of resource allocation and QoS, they do not guarantee QoS. This paper presents design, implementation and evaluation of a content-aware bandwidth broker (CABB) that manages QoS of multimedia applications for the diffserv environment. CABB allocates network resources to multimedia flows based on client requirement and the tolerance and adaptability of the application. CABB has been implemented and evaluated using the NS-2 simulator toolkit. Evaluations show that CABB improves network resource allocations and increases overall throughput. The results also show that multimedia flows are better managed and controlled, thereby improving perceived QoS and avoiding possible congestion in core routers.
Effects of dual apodization with cross- correlation on tissue harmonic and pulse inversion harmonic imaging in the presence of phase aberration

Dual apodization with cross-correlation (DAX) is a relatively new beamforming technique which can suppress side lobes and clutter to enhance ultrasound image contrast. However, previous studies have shown that with increasing aberrator strength, contrast enhancements with DAX diminish and DAX becomes more prone to image artifacts. In this paper, we propose integrating DAX with tissue harmonic imaging (THI) or pulse inversion harmonic imaging (PIHI) to overcome their shortcomings and achieve higher image contrast. Compared with conventional imaging, our experimental results showed that DAX with THI allows for synergistic enhancements of image contrast with improvements of more than 231% for a 5-mm pork aberrator and 703% for a 12-mm pork aberrator. With PIHI, improvements of 238% and 890% were observed for the two pork tissue samples. Our results suggest that the complementary contrast enhancement mechanism employed by the proposed method may be useful in improving imaging of technically difficult patients in clinics.
Cooperative and Constrained MIMO Communications in Wireless Ad Hoc/Sensor Networks

In this paper, we investigate the issue of cooperative node selection in MIMO communications for wireless ad hoc/sensor networks, where a source node is surrounded by multiple neighbors and all of them are equipped with a single antenna. Given energy, delay and data rate constraints, a source node dynamically chooses its cooperating nodes from its neighbors to form a virtual MIMO system with the destination node (which is assumed to have multiple antennas), as well as adaptively allocates the power level and adjusts the constellation size for each of the selected cooperative nodes. In order to optimize system performance, we jointly consider the optimization of all these parameters, given the aforementioned system constraints. We assume that the source node either has CSI, or has no CSI. Heuristic algorithms, such as maximal channel gain (MCG) and least channel correlation (LCC) algorithms are proposed in order to exploit available system information and to solve the constrained optimization problem.