cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analog Model for Gaze-Evoked Nystagmus

A relatively simple model of the fast eye movement (saccadic) system has been developed and simulated on an analog computer. The model is capable of producing normal saccadic eye movements and has several provisions which permit the simulation of clinical signs of gaze-evoked nystagmus. According to the model, gaze-evoked nystagmus may result from various abnormalities in the neuronal pool responsible for integration of the pulse of high frequency fiing which initiates each saccade. Simulation of these inferred neuronal deficits produced subtle differences in saccadic behavior as well as gaze-evoked nystagmus. These differences occurred both in the nystagmus-free range of gaze angles and after the nystagmus appeared. The subtlety of the deficits and the sparsity of studies of gaze-evoked nystagmus using modem oculographic recording techniques, probably explains why such saccadic behavior has not been previously noted. If one, or more than one, of these simulated mechanisms is, in fact, an accurate model of the actual physiological deficit, future studies of such patients should reveal the corresponding abnormal saccadic behavior.
A Strategic Three-Year Plan to Teach Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Group Skills

How do we teach the complicated, multilayered skills of group work? These skills contain exponentially more variables to track than individual therapy training, and yet most graduate programs spend only a fraction of time on groups, giving the majority of class time to individual therapy. Such real-time constraints and the ever-present problem of potential dual role issues in mental health training programs, where we are attempting to teach skills as well as personal awareness, combine to thwart future group leaders. However, given the enormous power of groups run well, doctoral training programs could consider layering the teaching of these skills over a few years. These skills could be identified as they occur in other courses; for instance, all classes are groups themselves. If over an amount of time classes strategically cover experiential, pedagogical, observational, and supervisory skills, students will be on their way to expertise in group skills.
IMPROVEMENT IN EJECTION FRACTION PREDICTS SURVIVAL FOLLOWING CARDIAC RESYNCHRONIZATION THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH BOTH LEFT BUNDLE AND NON-LEFT BUNDLE BRANCH BLOCK MORPHOLOGIES

The vast majority of patients included in studies looking at the effect of reverse ventricular remodeling on survival following cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have had a left bundle branch block (LBBB). Whether reverse remodeling predicts improved long term survival in patients with a non-
Pijin and shifting language ideologies in urban Solomon Islands

Through the analysis of the various language ideologies that have shaped the sociolinguistic history of Pijin, the lingua franca of Solomon Islands, this article attempts to shed light on the peculiar complexity of the postcolonial linguistic situations where more prestigious and less prestigious languages coexist in the same sociological niche. These ideologies are: reciprocal multilingualism, hierarchical multilingualism, linguistic pragmatism, and linguistic nationalism. Specifically, the article focuses on the development and coalescence of linguistic ideologies that lead Pijin speakers to shift perceptions of Pijin—in a context of urban identity construction that acts as a force of its own. In the case of Pijin, linguistic legitimacy seems to be lagging behind social legitimacy. We show that the development of new ideologies can lead to the re-evaluation of the meaning of symbolic domination of one language (in this case English) over another one (Pijin), without necessarily challenging this symbolic domination. (Language ideology, youth, urbanization, pidgins and creoles, Solomon Islands)*
Nonstandard analysis and constructivism

The purpose of this paper is to investigate some problems of using finite (or *finite) computational arguments and of the nonstandard notion of an infinitesimal. We will begin by looking at the canonical example illustrating the distinction between classical and constructive analysis, the Intermediate Value Theorem.
Reliability analysis of power grids with cyber vulnerability in SCADA system

As information and communication networks are highly interconnected with the power grid, cyber security of the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system has become a critical issue in the power system. By intruding into the SCADA system via the remote access points, the attackers are able to eavesdrop critical data and reconfigure devices to trip the system breakers. The cyber attacks are able to impact the reliability of the power system through the SCADA system. In this paper, six cyber attack scenarios in the SCADA system are considered. A Bayesian attack graph model is used to evaluate the probabilities of successful cyber attacks on the SCADA system, which will result in breaker trips. A forced outage rate (FOR) model is proposed considering the frequencies of successful attacks on the generators and transmission lines. With increased FOR values resulted from the cyber attacks, the loss of load probabilities (LOLP) in reliability test system 79 (RTS79) are estimated. The results of the simulations demonstrate that the power system becomes less reliable as the frequency of successful attacks increases.
Beta decay in science and medicine

Radioisotopes that decay via beta emission are widely used in science and medicine, particularly in the field of oncology. PET imaging, which exploits the basic mechanism of beta plus decay or positron emission, is becoming increasingly important in cancer diagnosis, follow-up evaluation, and radiation therapy planning. Beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals are finding wider applications in cancer treatment, such as radioimmunotherapy and bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical therapy. Beta-emitting radioisotopes have also been extensively used in vascular brachytherapy and other brachytherapy applications. Many radioisotopes that undergo beta decay yield excited daughter nuclei, which produce gamma rays that are useful for both brachytherapy and teletherapy. This review briefly describes some of the history, basic physics, and common applications of representative beta emitters in basic science and clinical oncology.
Socioeconomic Status and Resuscitation Preferences in the Elderly

Elderly subjects (N = 166) of varying socioeconomic backgrounds from two sites were given identical resuscitation information and were studied to determine the relationship between socioeconomic status and resuscitation preferences. Resuscitation preferences varied among the four hypothetical scenarios. Univariate analyses revealed that those who were older, male, non-Caucasian, less educated, and had less income desired more cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the scenarios. Multivanate analysis limited significant variables to age, gender, race, and level of education. Thus there appears to be a strong relationship between socioeconomic status and desire for CPR. Future research should evaluate whether the sociodemographic variables represent proxy variables for underlying life values that may influence resuscitation preferences. Implications for CPR decision making and health policy are discussed.
Magic-angle spinning and polarization transfer in proton-enhanced NMR

Abstract High-speed spinning at the magic angle can significantly modify the rate of polarization transfer from abundant to rare spins in proton-enhanced NMR experiments on solids, if the spinning speed is greater than or comparable to the static dipole-dipole interaction among abundant spins in the rotating frame. In adamantane, this fact can be strikingly demonstrated experimentally. When the spinning speed is much less than dipolar coupling among abundant spins, the effect of spinning on polarization transfer is not dramatic, regardless of the nature of the static dipolar coupling between rare and abundant spins. A semiquantitative theoretical analysis is presented which describes the principal features of these phenomena in terms of the amplitude and frequency modulation of the dipolar interactions between and among the two spin systems. This analysis of the effect of coherent motion (spinning) on polarization transfer also provides some qualitative insight into how incoherent random molecular motion affects transfer in cross-polarization experiments.
Flow-mediated vasodilation predicts the presence and extent of coronary artery disease assessed by stress thallium imaging.

Background Endothelial function can be measured by flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery and has been associated with cardiac risk factors (RF) and angiographically defined coronary artery disease (CAD). Stress single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging is commonly used to study patients with CAD. We sought to study the relationship between endothelial dysfunction by FMD and stress thallium SPECT to detect CAD.
Radical energies and the regiochemistry of addition to heme groups. Methylperoxy and nitrite radical additions to the heme of horseradish peroxidase.

The heme of hemoproteins, as exemplified by horseradish peroxidase (HRP), can undergo additions at the meso carbons and/or vinyl groups of the electrophilic or radical species generated in the catalytic oxidation of halides, pseudohalides, carboxylic acids, aryl and alkyl hydrazines, and other substrates. The determinants of the regiospecificity of these reactions, however, are unclear. We report here modification of the heme of HRP by autocatalytically generated, low-energy NO2• and CH3OO• radicals. The NO2• radical adds regioselectively to the 4- over the 2-vinyl group but does not add to the meso positions. Reaction of HRP with tert-BuOOH does not lead to heme modification; however, reaction with the F152M mutant, in which the heme vinyls are more sterically accessible, results in conversion of the heme 2-vinyl into a 1-hydroxy-2-(methylperoxy)ethyl group [−CH(OH)CH2OOCH3]. [18O]-labeling studies indicate that the hydroxyl group in this adduct derives from water and the methylperoxide oxygens from O2. ...
Methods and Complications of Anterior Exposure of the Thoracic and Lumbar Spine

Objective To review the methods and complications of exposing the anterior aspects of the thoracic and lumbosacral spine. Data Sources PubMed (journals database of the National Library of Medicine), text books, the University HealthSystem Consortium Clinical Process Improvement Benchmarking Project, a newspaper, and the US government Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Study Selection Descriptions of morbidity and mortality specifically related to anterior spine exposure depicted in both case reports and clinical series were used. Data Extraction Mortality data from clinical series with more than 30 cases were tabulated. Morbidity incidences were described. Data Synthesis The frequency of anterior exposure of the spine for structural operations is steadily increasing. Both thoracic and lumbosacral anterior spine operations are associated with exposure-related complication rates of 10% to 50%. Pulmonary complications are frequent after thoracic exposures. Chylothorax is the most common of several rarer chest-exposure complications. Vascular complications, particularly arterial thrombosis ( Conclusions The exposure portions of anterior spine operations result in numerous complications. There are fewer reported complications with endoscopic exposures of the anterior spine than with open exposures, although endoscopic exposures have been used for less complicated cases. In comparable cases, neither exposure nor results of endoscopic operations have proven better than operations done through minilaparotomy incisions. Perioperative cooperation between exposing and spine surgeons is necessary to enhance results in anterior spine operations.
Naphthalene- and Perylene-Based Linkers for the Stabilization of Hairpin Triplexes

Planar perylene- and naphthalene-based diimide linkers can be employed to tether the Watson-Crick and the Hoogsteen strands of a DNA triplex, thus providing conjugates capable of targeting single-stranded nucleic acids with the formation of hairpin triplexes. The planar linkers are designed to bridge the terminal base triplet of the three-stranded complex and provide base-stacking interactions with all three residues. Sixteen complexes have been prepared, eight with each linker, half with RNA (R) targets and half with DNA (D) targets. The conjugate sequences are composed of two strands of DNA, two of 2‘-O-methyl RNA (M), or one of each. In comparison to similar complexes formed with a hexa(ethylene glycol) linker, the planar linkers enhance the TM values for the complexes by as much as 28 °C with ΔG values indicating as much as 12.3 kcal/mol of stabilization relative to the simple glycol linker. All sixteen complexes have been characterized by TM measurements and ΔG determinations. That π-stacking interac...
Fabrication of immunosensor microwell arrays from gold compact discs for detection of cancer biomarker proteins.

A simple method is reported to fabricate gold arrays featuring microwells surrounding 8-electrodes from gold compact discs (CDs) for less than $0.2 per chip. Integration of these disposable gold CD array chips with microfluidics provided inexpensive immunoarrays that were used to measure a cancer biomarker protein quickly at high sensitivity. The gold CD sensor arrays were fabricated using thermal transfer of laserjet toner from a computer-printed pattern followed by selective chemical etching. Sensor elements had an electrochemically addressable surface area of 0.42 mm2 with RSD <2%. For a proof-of-concept application, the arrays were integrated into a simple microfluidic device for electrochemical detection of cancer biomarker interleukin-6 (IL-6) in diluted serum. Capture antibodies of IL-6 were chemically linked onto the electrode arrays and a sandwich immunoassay protocol was developed. A biotinylated detection antibody with polymerized horseradish peroxidase labels was used for signal amplification. The detection limit of IL-6 in diluted serum was remarkably low at 10 fg mL−1 (385 aM) with a linear response with log of IL-6 concentration from 10 to 1300 fg mL−1. These easily fabricated, ultrasensitive, microfluidic immunosensors should be readily adapted for sensitive detection of multiple biomarkers for cancer diagnostics.
Locus of User-Initiated Control in Virtual Environments: Influences on Cybersickness

Cybersickness is a pervasive and deleterious effect of human-virtual environment interaction. This paper applies motion-sickness adaptation theory to cybersickness in virtual environments to determine if the degree of user-initiated control can suppress sickness. It is suggested that if users are allowed some level of control over their movement within a virtual environment, cybersickness will not be as severe as that resulting from an enviornment in which users must follow a predetermined (i.e., scripted) path of movement. While past motion-sickness studies have examined control versus no control, the present study focuses on modifying the level of user-initiated control such that it matches the needs of the task characteristics while minimizing sickness. The degree of user sickness was tested under passive, active, and active-passive control scenarios. As measured by the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, the active (i.e., complete control) condition reduced the severity of the symptoms experienced as compared to the passive (i.e., no control) condition, but did not do so as completely as the active-passive (i.e., coupled control) condition. The implication is that the level of user-initiated control can be manipulated to modify the deleterious effects of human-virtual environment interaction.
Fractionation and preliminary characterization of a low molecular weight bovine hepatic inhibitor of DNA synthesis in regenerating rat liver.

Abstract A heterogenous low molecular weight inhibitor of DNA synthesis in regenerating rat liver has been further fractionated by silica gel chromatography. The material is shown to contain a subfraction which stimulates isotope uptake in regenerating rat liver in vivo, as well as a strongly inhibitory subfraction which inhibits DNA synthesis up to 95%. The inhibitor fraction is effective both in vivo and in isolated rat liver nuclei from regenerating rat liver, whereas the stimulatory fraction is effective only in vivo. Other measurements of interest indicate that the unfractionated inhibitor preparation is not hepatotoxic, nor does it depress isotope uptake by the liver. These attributes are consistent with, but do not prove, the presence of a hepatic chalone.
Workplace Changes Associated with a Reduction in Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Office Workers

The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with reductions observed in musculoskeletal symptoms when office workers were moved to a new building. A questionnaire including items regarding symptoms and aspects of the work environment was administered to 577 office workers before and after they were moved from nine buildings to a single new facility in 1992. Employees working in two reference buildings, where they remained throughout the study period, were also surveyed. Two musculoskeletal outcomes, hand/arm and neck/shoulder/back, were selected for study. In matched multivariate analyses, the reduction in hand/arm symptoms from 1992 to 1993 was associated with improved satisfaction with the physical workstation (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0); the reduction in neck/shoulder/back symptoms was associated with improved chair comfort (OR = 1.8), fewer housekeeping responsibilities (OR = 3.6), female gender (OR = 1.8), and low pay range (OR = 1.7). Longitudinal results suggested that changes in workstations resulted in decreased symptoms. Results of this investigation might be used to develop workplace changes that result in reductions of musculoskeletal disorders.
Effect of ramp-treatment on the cyclic stress-strain curve of “small grained” copper

Abstract Various cyclic mechanical tests have been used in order to elucidate the effects of ramp-loading, as mechanical pretreatment, on the cyclic response of “small-grained” copper. The grain size of this copper is not small in an absolute sense, but small in relation to that of other copper samples we have studied. This “small” grain size is associated with a particular texture which is significant here. Two parameters definitive of ramp-loading—peak stress and number of cycles during the ramp—have been used as the main experimental variables. The results have been analyzed in relation to transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reports of the structures published elsewhere. In studying the cyclic stress-strain curve (CSSC) of ramp-treated small-grained copper it is found that the well-defined matrix structure inherited from the efficient cyclic hardening characteristic of ramp-treatment promotes higher stress and lower cyclic hardening values in the CSSC of ramp-loaded specimens, at low strain amplitudes, than those obtained in the CSSC of conventionally tested samples. At intermediate strain amplitudes, pronounced strain localization is promoted in ramp-treated copper for a very uniform and homogeneous evolution, from grain to grain, of the developed matrix into primary slip dislocation structure, i.e. persistent slip band (PSB) and wall structure. However, plateau-like behavior was not observed. The observation of early PSB nucleation in some grains, in association with a weak but noticeable 〈111〉-〈100〉 hard texture in the ramp-treated specimens, showed that the variations in PSB nucleation stress from grain to grain were not totally suppressed, and therefore plateau-like behavior in the CSSC was inhibited. Comparison of the results presented here with those of Z. Wang and C. Laird, Mater. Sci. Eng., 100 (1988) 57, whod did report a plateau, suggests that the observation of a plateau in the CSSC of polycrystals may be very sensitive to small differences in material structure and experimental procedure.
Green tribology: principles, research areas and challenges.

In this introductory paper for the Theme Issue on green tribology, we discuss the concept of green tribology and its relation to other areas of tribology as well as other green disciplines, namely,...
Propagation of Action Potentials and the Structure of the Nexus in Cardiac Muscle

The hypothesis that the nexus is a specialized structure allowing current flow between cell interiors is corroborated by concomitant structural changes of the nexus and changes of electrical coupling between cells due to soaking in solutions of abnormal tonicity. Fusiform frog atrial fibers are interconnected by nexuses. The nexuses, desmosomes, and regions of myofibrillar attachment of this muscle are not associated in a manner similar to intercalated discs of guinea pig cardiac muscle. Indeed, nexuses occur wherever cell membranes are closely apposed. Action potentials of frog atrial bundles detected extracellularly across a sucrose gap change from monophasic to diphasic when the gap is shunted by a resistor. This indicates that action potentials are transmitted across the gap when sufficient excitatory current is allowed to flow across the gap. When the sucrose solution in the gap is made hypertonic, propagation past the gap is blocked and the resistance between the cells in the gap increases. Electron micrographs demonstrate that the nexuses of frog atrium and guinea pig ventricle are ruptured by hypertonic solutions.
Cytokine regulation of pulmonary fibrosis in scleroderma

Pulmonary fibrosis occurs in up to 70% of scleroderma patients and progresses to cause severe restrictive lung disease in about 15% of patients. The mechanisms that cause pulmonary fibrosis in scleroderma remain incompletely understood. Increased amounts of mRNA or protein for multiple profibrotic cytokines and chemokines have been identified in lung tissue or broncholveolar lavage samples from scleroderma patients, when compared to healthy controls. These cytokines include transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), oncostatin M (OSM), monocyte chemotactic factor-1 and pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine (PARC). Potential cellular sources of these profibrotic cytokines and chemokines in scleroderma lung disease include alternatively activated macrophages, activated CD8+ T cells, eosinophils, mast cells, epithelial cells and fibroblasts themselves. This review summarizes the literature on involvement of cytokines and chemokines in the development of pulmonary fibrosis in scleroderma.
Weakly Nonlinear Instability of an Annular Liquid Sheet Subjected to Unequal Inner and Outer Gas Streams

Instability and breakup of annular liquid sheet are encountered in fuel injectors used in gas turbine engines. A weakly nonlinear stability analysis has been carried out for annular liquid fuel sheet subjected to unequal inner and outer gas velocities by a perturbation expansion technique with the initial amplitude of the disturbance as the perturbation parameter. The liquid sheet is considered to move at a uniform axial velocity and is subjected to inner and outer gas streams of differing axial velocities. The breakup length is calculated, and the effect of the various flow parameters is investigated. It is found that the breakup length is reduced by an increase in the liquid velocity and the gas velocities. The inner air stream is more effective in disintegrating the sheet than the outer air stream.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
'Reductive ozonolysis' via a new fragmentation of carbonyl oxides

Abstract This account describes the development of methodologies for ‘reductive’ ozonolysis, the direct ozonolytic conversion of alkenes into carbonyl groups without the intermediacy of 1,2,4-trioxolanes (ozonides). Ozonolysis of alkenes in the presence of DMSO produces a mixture of aldehyde and ozonide. The combination of DMSO and Et3N results in improved yields of carbonyls but still leaves unacceptable levels of residual ozonides; similar results are obtained using secondary or tertiary amines in the absence of DMSO. The influence of amines is believed to result from conversion to the corresponding N-oxides; ozonolysis in the presence of amine N-oxides efficiently suppresses ozonide formation, generating high yields of aldehydes. The reactions with amine oxides are hypothesized to involve an unprecedented trapping of carbonyl oxides to generate a zwitterionic adduct, which fragments to produce the desired carbonyl group, an amine, and 1O2.
Fatigue crack growth rates in alpha titanium: Faceted vs. striation growth

Cyclic and dwell fatigue crack growth (FCG) rates were measured in single-phase Ti–7Al (wt.%) directly from fractured samples. A quantitative method using stereo pairs was used to eliminate the uncertainty associated with these measurements on two-dimensional projections of the three-dimensional fracture features. The results show that FCG rates increased by up to two orders of magnitude under dwell fatigue loading conditions when propagating by the faceted mechanism compared to the classical striation growth mechanism.
Distributed bandwidth allocation for resilient packet ring networks

The Resilient Packet Ring (RPR), defined under IEEE 802.17, has been proposed as a high-speed backbone technology for metropolitan area networks. RPR is introduced to mitigate the underutilization and unfairness problems associated with the current technologies, SONET and Ethernet, respectively. The key performance objectives of RPR are to achieve high bandwidth utilization, optimum spatial reuse on the dual rings, and fairness. The challenge is to design an algorithm that can react dynamically to the traffic flows in achieving these objectives. The RPR fairness algorithm is comparatively simple, but it poses some critical limitations that require further investigation and remedy. One of the major problems is that the amount of bandwidth allocated by the algorithm oscillates severely under unbalanced traffic scenarios. These oscillations are barrier to achieving spatial reuse and high bandwidth utilization. DVSR was another algorithm proposed to solve the fairness issue with no oscillation at the steady state, but at the expense of a high computational complexity O(NlogN), where N is the number of nodes in the ring. In this paper, we propose the Distributed Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) algorithm to allocate bandwidth fairly to RPR nodes with a very low computational complexity O(1) that will converge to the exact max-min fairness in a few round trip times with no oscillation at the steady state.
Cross-flow membrane microfiltration of a bacteriol fermentation broth

Although cross-flow membrane filtration is a very attractive option for harvesting cells and recovering enzymes from cell homogenates, the process is not without its problems. Foremost of these is the deposit of dissolved and suspended solutes onto the membrane surface during operation. The formation of these dense and sometimes compressive sublayers (often called cakes) offers additional resistance to axial and permeate flows and often affects the retention characteristics of the process. In view of the complex nature of the sublayer formation process and its sensitivity to cross-flow velocity, this investigation was undertaken to determine the main factors responsible for the decline in performance during the harvesting of B. polymyxa broth by membrane microfiltration. System parameters varied include axial flow rate, concentration of cells, proteins and other components in the feed, membrane materials (ceramic, polypropylene, and stainless steel), and cleaning methods. To help explain the observed results, a new mass transport model-the solids flux model-based on the assumptions that back migration of particles from the sublayer or membrane surface is negligible and that particles that reach the solid-solution interface attach (stick) completely, is tested. Using a variety of diagnostic methods, magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitate is formed during steam sterilization of the medium and is implicated as the major foulant in this study.
Prognosis of children surviving with the aid of mechanical ventilation in the newborn period

Fifty-five infants who survived respiratory failure in the neonatal period with the aid of assisted ventilation were studied in order to evaluate their long-term prognosis. Over 80 per cent of these infants had normal intelligence and either minimal or no neurologic abnormalities. Only four infants had I.Q. scores of less than 85. The incidence of neurologic and intellectual handicaps was highest in low-birth-weight infants (
Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: technique, complications, and early results.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the safety, surgical efficacy, and advantages of the transforaminal approach for lumbar interbody fusion when combined with pedicle screw fixation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 22 patients (age range, 34-63 yr; mean, 49 yr) with Grade I or II spondylolisthesis who underwent transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. Nineteen patients presented with low back pain and associated radiculopathy, and three presented with low back pain only. Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion was performed at L4-L5 in 8 patients, L5-S1 in 11 patients, L3-L4 and L4-L5 in 2 patients, and L4-L5 and L5-S1 in 1 patient. Periodic follow-up took place 1 to 12 months after surgery (mean, 5.3 mo). Decompression is performed according to clinical circumstances. Pedicle screws are placed, and a discectomy is carried out. The cartilaginous endplates are removed. The interspace is gradually distracted, resulting in lost disc height being regained, and interbody fusion cages are positioned. The pedicle screw-and-rod construct is then compressed, restoring lumbar lordosis. RESULTS: Low back pain completely resolved in 16 patients, moderate relief from pain was achieved in 5 patients, and the pain was unchanged in one patient. Nonneurological complications included intraoperative durotomy in one patient and postoperative wound infection in two. In one patient, postoperative mild L5 motor paresis resolved. One patient had a temporary brachial plexopathy due to intraoperative positioning, and one patient had peripheral polyneuropathy secondary to prolonged intraoperative blood pressure cuff inflation. CONCLUSION: Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is a safe and effective method for achieving circumferential spinal fusion via a single-stage procedure. This procedure is particularly useful in restoring disc space height and lumbar lordosis.
JAK2 exon 14 deletion in patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Background: The JAK2 V617F mutation in exon 14 is the most common mutation in chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs); deletion of the entire exon 14 is rarely detected. In our previous study of .10,000 samples from patients with suspected MPNs tested for JAK2 mutations by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) with direct sequencing, complete deletion of exon 14 (Dexon14) constituted ,1% of JAK2 mutations. This appears to be an alternative splicing mutation, not detectable with DNA-based testing. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the possibility that MPN patients may express the JAK2 Dexon14 at low levels (,15% of total transcript) not routinely detectable by RT-PCR with direct sequencing. Using a sensitive RT-PCR–based fluorescent fragment analysis method to quantify JAK2 Dexon14 mRNA expression relative to wild-type, we tested 61 patients with confirmed MPNs, 183 with suspected MPNs (93 V617F-positive, 90 V617F-negative), and 46 healthy control subjects. The Dexon14 variant was detected in 9 of the 61 (15%) confirmed MPN patients, accounting for 3.96% to 33.85% (mean =12.04%) of total JAK2 transcript. This variant was also detected in 51 of the 183 patients with suspected MPNs (27%), including 20 of the 93 (22%) with V617F (mean [range] expression =5.41% [2.13%–26.22%]) and 31 of the 90 (34%) without V617F (mean [range] expression =3.88% [2.08%–12.22%]). Immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated that patients expressing Dexon14 mRNA expressed a corresponding truncated JAK2 protein. The Dexon14 variant was not detected in the 46 control subjects. Conclusions/Significance: These data suggest that expression of the JAK2 Dexon14 splice variant, leading to a truncated JAK2 protein, is common in patients with MPNs. This alternatively spliced transcript appears to be more frequent in MPN patients without V617F mutation, in whom it might contribute to leukemogenesis. This mutation is missed if DNA rather than RNA is used for testing.
Expression of a dehydrin-like protein in maize seedlings germinated from seed exposed to freezing

Dehydrins are a family of heat-soluble, hydrophilic proteins that share a considerable degree of sequence homology. Their expression has been reported in numerous plant species in response to a multitude of environmental stresses including low temperature, freezing, and desiccation. It has also been established that exposing plant tissues to freezing temperatures generates desiccation stress. We observed differential accumulation of a dehydrin-like protein and corresponding mRNA in three-day-old maize (Zea mays L) seedlings germinated under favorable environmental conditions from seed that had been exposed to freezing temperatures during maturation. This represents the first documented situation in which a dehydrin-like protein differentially accumulates under favorable environmental conditions. We believe that the dehydrin-like protein and corresponding mRNA are synthesized de novo in seedlings that are germinated from seed that have been exposed to freezing in response to desiccation-like stress that persists under favorable environmental conditions resulting from freeze-induced damage sustained by the ungerminated embryo.
Perception of sine-wave analogs of voice onset time stimuli.

It has been argued that perception of stop consonant voicing contrasts is based on auditory mechanisms responsible for the resolution of temporal order. As one source of evidence, category boundaries for nonspeech stimuli whose components vary in relative onset time are reasonably close to the labeling boundary for a labial stop voiced–voiceless continuum. However, voicing boundaries change considerably when the onset frequency of the first formant ( F1) is varied—either directly or as a side effect of a change in F1 transition duration. Stimuli consisted of a midfrequency sinusoid that was initiated 0–50 ms prior to the onset of a low‐frequency sinusoid. Results showed that the labeling boundary for relative onset time increased for longer durations of a low‐frequency tone sweep. This effect is analogous to the F1 transition duration effect with synthetic speech. Further, the discrimination of differences in relative onset time was poorer for stimuli with longer frequency sweeps. However, unlike syntheti...
Examining the impact of the walking school bus with an agent-based model.

We used an agent-based model to examine the impact of the walking school bus (WSB) on children’s active travel to school. We identified a synergistic effect of the WSB with other intervention components such as an educational campaign designed to improve attitudes toward active travel to school. Results suggest that to maximize active travel to school, children should arrive on time at “bus stops” to allow faster WSB walking speeds. We also illustrate how an agent-based model can be used to identify the location of routes maximizing the effects of the WSB on active travel. Agent-based models can be used to examine plausible effects of the WSB on active travel to school under various conditions and to identify ways of implementing the WSB that maximize its effectiveness.
Hand-foot syndrome following prolonged infusion of high doses of vinorelbine.

BACKGROUND The authors reviewed the incidence of toxic skin reactions in patients with metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) treated with vinorelbine as a continuous infusion. METHODS A Phase I/II protocol was designed in which vinorelbine was given as an 8-mg intravenous bolus followed by a 96-hour CI of 7-14 mg/m2/day. Sixty patients were enrolled in the study: all had MBC and had received prior chemotherapy, and they had no known dermatologic disorder. RESULTS Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) developed in 4 of the 60 patients. Patient 1 started with vinorelbine at 12 mg/m2/day. She developed typical HFS. In the second course, her dose was decreased to 11 mg/m2/day, but again she experienced HFS. In the third course, dexamethasone was added to the regimen, and no HFS was observed in the remaining six courses. Patient 2 started with a dose of 9 mg/m2/day. She received four courses without complications; but when the vinorelbine dose was escalated to 10 mg/m2/day, HFS developed. Patient 3 started with a vinorelbine dose of 14 mg/m2/day. She developed mucositis during the first two courses and HFS during the third. Patient 4 received vinorelbine at a dose of 13 mg/m2/day and developed significant HFS. All patients had complete dermatologic recovery. No toxic skin reactions were observed in 14 patients receiving vinorelbine doses of <10 mg/m2/day, whereas 4 of 46 treated at 10-14 mg/m2/day developed HFS, suggesting a relationship of dose to HFS occurrence. CONCLUSIONS Longer infusions of vinorelbine are occasionally associated with HFS. The pathophysiology is not completely clear, but a relationship of HFS occurrence to dose is suggested. Steroids were effective as prophylaxis in one patient. Cancer 1998;82:965-9. © 1998 American Cancer Society.
Effects of Foliar Applications of Carbohydrates on the Yield of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) Lint

Various plant growth hormones and bioregulators have been reported to increase the yield of cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. lint when applied foliarly in field tests. However, while positive effects with these compounds were often observed in individual years by us, multiyear results were not significant. Initial results with a commercial formulation, Foliar Triggrr, FT (Westbridge Agricultural Products, San Diego, CA), in which the stated active ingredient was cytokinin, led us to investigate the composition. Over a several year period (1989-1995), application of a succession of sugar-containing fractions to the cotton plants gave consistent small increases but not statistically significant lint yield increases. The composition of the active carbohydrate fraction upon acid hydrolysis was a mixture of mainly xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose. Equal molar mixtures of sugars (man, gal, glc, suc) and iota-, kappa, and lambda-carrageenans (linear sulfated polysaccharides) gave small consistent increases. The commercial application of this lead with carbohydrates may be in the utilization of an economical sugar-processing byproduct.
Transparent grid termination (TGT): theoretical and computational enhancements

The transparent grid termination (TGT) enables computationally efficient finite difference (FD) numeric solutions of Poisson's equation for open boundary problems. The paper describes recent theoretical and computational enhancements that extend and enrich the use of TGT methods. Non-Dirichlet boundary conditions can be accepted to simulate conditions other than open boundaries, such as uniform fields. The use of the symmetry of the buffer region is included to reduce the computational time for the TGT coefficients.
In vivo analysis of cell lineage in vertebrate neurogenesis

Abstract One of the key processes in building the nervous system is the assignment of cell phenotype. Experiments in culture and in some amenable organisms have provided evidence for a wide variety of developmental strategies that generate the diverse phenotypes in the mature nervous system. These range from a strict, autonomous control of cell fate in which the precursors dictate the phenotype(s) of their progeny, to a much looser, conditional scheme in which interactions of the cells with their environment play a major role in their selection of phenotype. A first step towards analyzing the control of cell fate is to define the set of phenotypes to which a single precursor can give rise. Although this goal sounds simple, meeting this challenge has been difficult because many of the key events take place in large, apparently homogeneous populations of cells. To circumvent this problem, recent experimental designs have utilized techniques to make individual cells distinct from one another, making it possible to follow single precursor cells and their progeny unambiguously over time. Either integration of a marker gene by a retrovirus or microinjection of a vital dye with a micropipette render a precursor uniquely identifiable; because these markers are inherited by its descendants at mitosis, such approaches make the family tree of one precursor discernable from the mass of other unlabelled cells. Although none of the techniques is free from flaws, they are generating useful data on cell lineages and movements during neuronal development. The results collected to date suggest that there is no single developmental program that is common to all systems; instead, a blend of different developmental strategies are utilized in different regions of the developing nervous system.
The connectivity sonar: detecting site functionality by structural patterns

Web sites today serve many different functions, such as corporate sites, search engines, e-stores, and so forth. As sites are created for different purposes, their structure and connectivity characteristics vary. However, this research argues that sites of similar role exhibit similar structural patterns, as the functionality of a site naturally induces a typical hyperlinked structure and typical connectivity patterns to and from the rest of the Web. Thus, the functionality of Web sites is reflected in a set of structural and connectivity-based features that form a typical signature. In this paper, we automatically categorize sites into eight distinct functional classes, and highlight several search-engine related applications that could make immediate use of such technology. We purposely limit our categorization algorithms by tapping connectivity and structural data alone, making no use of any content analysis whatsoever. When applying two classification algorithms to a set of 202 sites of the eight defined functional categories, the algorithms correctly classified between 54.5% and 59% of the sites. On some categories, the precision of the classification exceeded 85%. An additional result of this work indicates that the structural signature can be used to detect spam rings and mirror sites, by clustering sites with almost identical signatures.
The role of rat dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in working memory for egocentric responses.

The present experiment studied the effects of quinolinic acid (90 mM) lesions of the medial precentral and anterior cingulate on working memory for egocentric responses. Rats were trained on a delayed match-to-sample task that involved memory for a 90° right or left turn. The results indicated that lesioned rats had significantly decreased scores during the 10 s delay condition compared to presurgery levels. An increase in the delay to 20 s significantly reduced working memory performance in the lesioned rats compared to that of controls. These findings suggest that the rat medial precentral and/or anterior cingulate area play an important role in working memory for egocentric responses.
An Advanced Method to Correlate Scale Models With Distorted Configurations

Functional testing of prototypes is a critical step in the development of many of today's products. Results of functional tests allow for verification of proper performance before a product is introduced into the market. The advent of rapid prototyping technologies offers engineers the potential to dramatically reduce the prototype-test-verify cycle and get products to market quickly. However, dimensional and material property limitations of rapid prototypes often prevent them from being used for functional testing without the use of similitude methods to correlate measured prototype behavior with predicted product behavior. The traditional similarity method (TSM), which is based on the Buckingham II theorem, requires that the dimensionless parameters of the prototype and product systems be identical in order to correlate their states and accurately predict product performance. The requirement of identical dimensionless parameters which is inherent in the TSM is often impossible to realize with the limited properties available from rapid prototyping technologies. In order to overcome this limitation, an empirical similarity method (ESM) has been developed. The general concept of the ESM is introduced along with an implementation procedure. Numerical and experimental examples are presented which demonstrate the feasibility and industrial impact of the ESM in the context of product design.
Light-dependent expression of four cryptic archaeal circadian gene homologs

Circadian rhythms are important biological signals that have been found in almost all major groups of life from bacteria to man, yet it remains unclear if any members of the second major prokaryotic domain of life, the Archaea, also possess a biological clock. To investigate this question, we examined the regulation of four cyanobacterial-like circadian gene homologs present in the genome of the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii. These genes, designated cirA, cirB, cirC, and cirD, display similarity to the KaiC-family of cyanobacterial clock proteins, which act to regulate rhythmic gene expression and to control the timing of cell division. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis was used to examine the expression of each of the four cir genes in response to 12 h light/12 h dark cycles (LD 12:12) during balanced growth in H. volcanii. Our data reveal that there is an approximately two to sixteen-fold increase in cir gene expression when cells are shifted from light to constant darkness and this pattern of gene expression oscillates with the light conditions in a rhythmic manner. Targeted single- and double-gene knockouts in the H. volcanii cir genes results in disruption of light-dependent, rhythmic gene expression, although it does not lead to any significant effect on growth under these conditions. Restoration of light-dependent, rhythmic gene expression was demonstrated by introducing, in trans, a wild-type copy of individual cir genes into knockout strains. These results are noteworthy as this is the first attempt to characterize the transcriptional expression and regulation of the ubiquitous kaiC homologs found among archaeal genomes.
Shape constancy in pictorial representation

When one looks at a picture from an oblique direction, its retinal projection is foreshortened, but this distortion in proximal stimulation is usually not perceived. A correction akin to shape constancy takes place. Experiments are reported that show that this correction can be the result of compensation that takes the slant of the picture plane relative to the line of sight into account. When deceptive cues for the orientation of the picture plane were provided, the perceived shape in the picture conformed to a compensation based on the deceptive cues.