cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ontological Personal Healthcare Using Medical Standards

According to The Center for Managing Chronic Diseases [1], 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases. Chronic diseases generally do not come with a cure, which require long-term supervision, monitoring, and various treatments that necessitate coordination among medical professionals. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) may help improve such process and be able to facilitate diverse clinical decision-making processes. In an attempt to achieve improved and evidence based care, we propose to make the connection between patients and clinicians using relevant standards. In the approach, patients collect relevant medical data periodically using personalized mobile healthcare system (PMHS) and share the data with clinical institutions to be compliant with the meaningful use of medical records. The collected medical data and measurement results are analyzed and the analysis result may be used to come up with personalized recommendations for preventing healthy people to become chronic disease patient. The ontology focuses on organizing measurement results semantically. For semantic use of the collected medical records, we have used Protege-OWL for building ontology and used SPARQL query to retrieve meaningful information from the patient-provided medical data.
Environmental Simulation Research for an Aging Society

American society is rapidly aging. In 1987, persons 65 years or older numbered 29.8 million; that represents about 1 in every 8 Americans and is larger than the total population of Canada in 1986 (25.3 million). Since 1900, the percentage of Americans at least 65 years old has tripled (4.1% in 1900 to 12.3% in 1987), and the number has increased over nine times (from 3.1 million to 29.8 million). The older population is expected to continue to grow in the future. This growth will slow during the 1990s because of the relatively small number of babies born during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The most rapid increase is expected between the years 2010 and 2030 when the “baby-boom” generation reaches age 65. By the year 2000, persons at least 65 years old are expected to represent 13% of the population, and this percentage may climb to 21.8% by 2030 (AARP, 1988).
Horror Vacui, Amor Infiniti

We now arrive at one of the most beautiful applications of mathematics to art—a study of the various possibilities of filling the plane with infinite repetitions of a single artistic design. Such infinite patterns have captured the imagination of artists and craftsmen since the earliest recorded time and have provided the framework for the exquisite abstract art of the Moslems. It is in these designs that the interplay between geometry and art reaches its supreme level.
Swine model for translational research of invasive intracranial monitoring.

Focal cortical epilepsy is currently most effectively studied in humans. However, improvement in cortical monitoring and investigational device development is limited by lack of an animal model mimicking human acute focal cortical epileptiform activity under epilepsy surgery conditions. Therefore, we assessed the swine model for translational epilepsy research. Swine were used due to their cost effectiveness, convoluted cortex, and comparative anatomy similar to humans. Focal subcortical injection of benzyl-penicillin produced clinical seizures correlating with epileptiform activity demonstrating temporal and spatial progression. Swine were evaluated under 5 different anesthesia regimens. Of the 5 regimens, conditions similar to human intraoperative anesthesia, including continuous fentanyl with low dose isoflorane, was the most effective for eliciting complex, epileptiform activity after benzyl-penicillin injection. The most complex epileptiform activity (spikes, and high frequency activity) was then repeated reliably in 9 animals, utilizing 14 swine total. There were 20.1 ± 10.8 (95% CI: 11.8–28.4) epileptiform events with greater than 3.5 hertz activity occurring per animal. Average duration of each event was 46.3 ± 15.6 (95% CI: 44.0 to 48.6) seconds, ranging from 20 to 100 seconds. In conclusion, the acute swine model of focal cortical epilepsy surgery provides an animal model mimicking human surgical conditions with a large brain, gyrated cortex, and is relatively cheap among animal models. Therefore, we feel this model provides a valuable, reliable, and novel platform for translational studies of implantable hardware for intracranial monitoring.
Searching for Lorentz Violation in the Ground State of Hydrogen

In summary, we find that by using a general framework we are able to analyze proposed tests of CPT in hydrogen and antihydrogen. We find that in addition to testing CPT, these experiments will also test Lorentz symmetry. Our analysis shows that in comparisons of 1S–2S transitions in hydrogen and antihydrogen, control of the spin mixing at the 1S and 2S levels is an essential feature in designing an effective test of CPT and Lorentz symmetry. We also find that high-resolution radio frequency experiments in hydrogen or antihydrogen offer the possibility of new and precise tests of CPT and Lorentz symmetry. One very recent experiment using a double-resonance technique in a hydrogen maser has obtained a new CPT and Lorentz bound at the level of 10−27 for electrons and protons.
RATIONALLY INJECTIVE MODULES

In this work we introduce the concept of rationally injective module, which is a proper generalization of (essentially)-injective modules. Several properties and characterizations have been given. In part of this work, we find sufficient conditions for a direct sum of two rationally extending modules to be rationally extending. Finally we generalize some known results.
Finite Element Analysis of Metal Deck Shear Diaphragms

A special adaptation of the finite element method provides a basis for the analysis of shear diaphragms composed of light gage steel panels. The panels, perimeter beams, purlins, and connectors are chosen as the basic elements, and their mechanical properties established. They are then incorporated as parts of an analytical model using matrix methods. The predictions of analysis are compared with experimental results.
Investigation of N-alkylbenzamides by reversed-phased liquid chromatography : III. Correlation of chromatographic parameters with molecular connectivity indices for the C1C5 N-alkylbenzamides

Abstract Molecular connectivity indices were compared with measured and calculated reversed-phase liquid chromatographic retention data for the C 1 C 5 N-alkylbenzamides. Molecular connectivity is a topological index which encodes fundamental structural information about a molecule. The calculated indices are presented as bargraph spectra and in tabular form. The various parameters of the solvophobic theory used to calculate log k ′ w values for the amides were also compared to connectivity data. Highest correlations with k ′ were obtained for connectivity data which describes molecular bulk, branching, and site of branching in the hydrocarbon portion of the molecule.
Utilization of Dietary Precursors for Carnitine Synthesis in Human Adults

Endogenous synthetic pathways are presumed to be sufficient to provide adequate amounts of carnitine to meet the needs of the body. However, circulating carnitine levels of strict vegetarian adults and children, and particularly of infants fed carnitine-free formulas, are significantly lower than normal. Therefore, we investigated loci at which rates of carnitine synthesis may be restricted in human adults. Excess amounts of the carnitine precursors lysine plus methionine, epsilon-N-trimethyllysine or gamma-butyrobetaine were fed as supplements to a low carnitine diet for 10 d. Rate of carnitine synthesis was estimated by changes in carnitine excretion and changes in serum and muscle carnitine levels. Dietary gamma-butyrobetaine dramatically increased carnitine production, epsilon-N-trimethyllysine had a somewhat smaller effect, and lysine plus methionine had even less effect on carnitine synthesis. We conclude that carnitine synthesis is not limited by the activity of gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase. Carnitine synthesis from exogenous epsilon-N-trimethyllysine is limited either by enzymatic processes that lead to the final intermediate, gamma-butyrobetaine, or by the ability of this substrate to enter tissues capable of carrying out these transformations.
Space weather study using combined coronagraphic and in situ observations

Abstract Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) play an important role in space weather studies because of their ability to cause severe geoeffects, such as magnetic storms. Shocks driven by CMEs may also accelerate solar energetic particles. Prediction of the arrival of these CMEs is therefore of crucial importance for space weather applications. After a brief review of the prediction models currently available, a description of an empirical model to predict the 1 AU arrival CMEs is provided. This model was developed using two-point measurements: (i) the initial speeds and onset times of Earth-directed CMEs obtained by white-light coronagraphs, and (ii) the corresponding interplanetary CME speeds and onset times at 1 AU obtained in situ. The measurements yield an empirical relationship between the interplanetary acceleration faced by the CMEs and their initial speeds, which forms the basis of the model. Use of archival data from spacecraft in quadrature is shown to refine the acceleration versus initial speed relationship, and hence the prediction model. A brief discussion on obtaining the 1-AU speed of CMEs from their initial speeds is provided. Possible improvements to the prediction model are also suggested.
PUBLIC TRANSIT AND JOB ACCESS IN CHICAGO

Recent attention has focused on the role of urban mass transportation in relieving unemployment. A detailed analytic study of the degree to which mass transit in Chicago meets the job access needs of social groups experiencing high rates of unemployment was performed. The geographic locations of concentrations of the residences of unemployed persons, and of potential job opportunities, were identified. A computer-coded representation of the public transit system in Chicago was analyzed to determine minimum point-to-point travel times. These were used to estimate the level of service offered to unemployed persons traveling to new work opportunities. The overall quality of public transit in Chicago was then evaluated by comparing travel time data with the locations of jobs and the unemployed. Recommendations for improving the transit system in this regard were then offered.
For the Family: One Teen’s Self-Selected Digital Literacy Practices

As technology becomes a basic necessity in the lives of American families, populations who in the past have not had access to technology, will begin to engage with it as part of their daily functions. Consequently, the way that these families, and especially the children take hold of digital literacies, will depend on their cultural ways of knowing and their economic needs (Browning- Aiken, 2004; De La Pena & Orellana, 2007). In contrast to studies that document the limited access to technology in minority populations because of economic pressures (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004; Kupperman & Fishman, 2002), this paper focuses on one Mexicano teen’s active participation with technology outside of school. It shows how economic need in the family served as the driving force for the purchase and use of the computer.
The Land that Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century

The Land that Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century. William A. Shutkln. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2000.
pH‐Induced conformational changes of membrane‐bound influenza hemagglutinin and its effect on target lipid bilayers

Influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) has served as a paradigm for both pH-dependent and -independent viral membrane fusion. Although large conformational changes were observed by X-ray crystallography when soluble fragments of HA were subjected to fusion-pH conditions, it is not clear whether the same changes occur in membrane-bound HA, what the spatial relationship is between the conformationally changed HA and the target and viral membranes, and in what way HA perturbs the target membrane at low pH. We have taken a spectroscopic approach using an array of recently developed FTIR techniques to address these questions. Difference attenuated total reflection FTIR spectroscopy was employed to reveal reversible and irreversible components of the pH-induced conformational change of the membrane-bound bromelain fragment of HA, BHA. Additional proteolytic fragments of BHA were produced which permitted a tentative assignment of the observed changes to the HA1 and HA2 subunits, respectively. The membrane-bound HA1 subunit undergoes a reversible conformational change, which most likely involves the loss of a small proportion of beta-sheet at low pH. BHA was found to undergo a partially reversible tilting motion relative to the target membrane upon exposure to pH 5, indicating a previously undescribed hinge near the anchoring point to the target membrane. Time-resolved amide H/D exchange experiments revealed a more dynamic (tertiary) structure of membrane-bound BHA and its HA2, but not its HA1, subunit. Finally BHA and, to a lesser degree, HA1 perturbed the lipid bilayer of the target membrane at the interface, as assessed by spectral changes of the lipid ester carbonyl groups. These results are discussed in the context of a complementary study of HA that was bound to viral membranes through its transmembrane peptide (Gray C, Tamm LK, 1997, Protein Sci 6:1993-2006). A distinctive role for the HA1 subunit in the conformational change of HA becomes apparent from these combined studies.
Genetic basis for variation of vaccine response: our studies with rubella vaccine

Congenital rubella syndrome still occurs throughout the world despite an effective vaccine being used in developed countries. Heat and light lability, as well as contraindications in immunocompromised persons, limit the use of the vaccine. An improved, more durable and less reactive rubella vaccine such as a peptide or subunit vaccine would address these unmet needs. We have sought to identify the genetic factors that influence both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. Specifically, we have examined genetic polymorphisms and their associations with variations in the immune response to rubella vaccine. Our previous work with twins has identified substantial heritability with rubella vaccine antibody response. We have since identified human leukocyte antigen associations, with both humoral (class II) and cellular (class I) immunity. Our preliminary work with genetic determinants in cytokines and their receptors have offered tantalising leads as well. Now, having recruited a larger cohort to combine with our previous sample, we lay out in this paper our specific aims for a larger, more comprehensive study of the genetic associations with rubella vaccine response and components of both humoral and cellular immunity.
Scalar mesons and scalar gluonium

We investigate the mixing of scalar mesons (S*, ɛ) with gluonium in the context of a potential model. We calculate the masses of the scalars and the branching ratios to ππ,KK, ηη and ηη′. The model can accomodate the stateG(1.59) and explain its peculiar rates. We also investigate other possibilities for gluonium mass and branching ratios and find that a gluonium state around 1 GeV may explain the unusual branching ratios in the scalar sector.
Modeling the Impact of Rescinding Michigan's Primary and Secondary Seat Belt Laws on Death and Injury from Passenger Vehicle Crashes

Background: Seat belts are the most effective method of decreasing fatal and nonfatal motor vehicle crash injury. Advocacy groups have recently been successful in enacting repeals of mandatory motorcycle helmet laws in several states. In some states, this has prompted renewed efforts aimed at repealing mandatory seat belt laws.Purpose: To evaluate and quantify the potential impact of rescinding seat belt laws on annual crash-related fatalities, nonfatal injuries, and associated economic costs, using Michigan as a model, to inform the national debate.Methods: Proportional injury rates were calculated utilizing police-reported statewide passenger vehicle crash data from 1999 and 2002, where belt use rates approximate estimates associated with repeal of primary and secondary seat belt laws. Proportional rates were applied to the most recent year of crash data (2011) to estimate changes in statewide fatalities and nonfatal injuries. National cost estimates were applied to injury data to calculate associated e...
What the Butler Saw: Lee Daniels's Studies in Biography and History

The movie Lee Daniels’ The Butler is an example of a work that is meant not only to entertain but to convey an important attitude and offer important viewpoints. The movie deals with a deep issue in the history of movies and the history of the country: racial inequality. Three issues are discussed in this article: (a) African Americans in movies, (b) the contradictions of the servant role, and (c) the generational conflict between fathers and sons.
Deficiency in the Nuclear Factor E2-related Factor-2 Transcription Factor Results in Impaired Adipogenesis and Protects against Diet-induced Obesity

Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a cap-n-collar basic leucine zipper (CNC-bZIP) transcription factor that is well established as a master regulator of phase II detoxification and antioxidant gene expression and is strongly expressed in tissues involved in xenobiotic metabolism including liver and kidney. Nrf2 is also abundantly expressed in adipose tissue; however, the exact function of Nrf2 in adipocyte biology is unclear. In the current study we show that targeted knock-out of Nrf2 in mice decreases adipose tissue mass, promotes formation of small adipocytes, and protects against weight gain and obesity otherwise induced by a high fat diet. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts, 3T3-L1 cells, and human subcutaneous preadipocytes, selective deficiency of Nrf2 impairs adipocyte differentiation. Deficiency of Nrf2 also leads to decreased expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), CCAAT enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα), and their downstream targets during adipocyte differentiation. Conversely, activation of Nrf2 in 3T3-L1 cells by stable knockdown of its negative regulator Keap1 enhances and accelerates hormone-induced adipocyte differentiation. Transfection of Nrf2 stimulates Pparγ promoter activity, and stable knockdown of Keap1 enhances PPARγ expression in 3T3-L1 cells. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation studies show that Nrf2 associates with consensus binding sites for Nrf2 in the Pparγ promoter. These findings demonstrate a novel biologic role for Nrf2 beyond its participation in detoxification and antioxidant pathways and place Nrf2 within the limited network of transcription factors that control adipocyte differentiation by regulating expression of PPARγ.
Growth and phosphorus accumulation in tomato cultivars 1

Abstract The distribution patterns of dry matter and P in field‐grown tomato ‘Campbell‐37’, ‘Knox’, and ‘Tipton’, (Lvcopersicon esculentum mill), were determined from 25 days after emergence to harvest. Dry weight accumulation was about the same for the 3 cultivars up to 55 days after plant emergence. From 55 to 75 days, ‘Knox’ accumulated more total plant dry weight than either ‘Tipton’ or ‘Campbell‐37’, largely due to an accelerated fruit accumulation rate during this period. In the 75 to 105 day interval, dry weight accumulation by ‘Knox’ was less than ‘Campbell‐37’ or ‘Tipton’. Fruit accumulation, as indicated by fruit number increase, was during the 45 to 75 day period for ‘Knox’, the 55 to 75 day period for ‘Tipton’, and the 55 to 85 day period for ‘Campbell‐37’. ‘Knox’ and ‘Tipton’ had a faster fruit ripening rate than ‘Campbell‐37’. The total ripe fruit yields, for single and multiple harvests, were 36.7% and 28.6% respectively, higher in ‘Campbell‐37’ than in ‘Knox’. Phosphorus concentration of s...
A practical methodology to measure unbiased gas chromatographic retention factor vs. temperature relationships.

Abstract Compound identification continues to be a major challenge. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is a primary tool used for this purpose, but the GC retention information it provides is underutilized because existing retention databases are experimentally restrictive and unreliable. A methodology called “retention projection” has the potential to overcome these limitations, but it requires the retention factor (k) vs. T relationship of a compound to calculate its retention time. Direct methods of measuring k vs. T relationships from a series of isothermal runs are tedious and time-consuming. Instead, a series of temperature programs can be used to quickly measure the k vs. T relationships, but they are generally not as accurate when measured this way because they are strongly biased by non-ideal behavior of the GC system in each of the runs. In this work, we overcome that problem by using the retention times of 25 n-alkanes to back-calculate the effective temperature profile and hold-up time vs. T profiles produced in each of the six temperature programs. When the profiles were measured this way and taken into account, the k vs. T relationships measured from each of two different GC–MS instruments were nearly as accurate as the ones measured isothermally, showing less than two-fold more error. Furthermore, temperature-programmed retention times calculated in five other laboratories from the new k vs. T relationships had the same distribution of error as when they were calculated from k vs. T relationships measured isothermally. Free software was developed to make the methodology easy to use. The new methodology potentially provides a relatively fast and easy way to measure unbiased k vs. T relationships.
Gene-finding via tandem mass spectrometry

We propose a new gene-finding methodology that combines high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry experiments with a fast computer algorithm to locate coding regions and introns. Proteins are first extracted from cells and digested by enzymes, and then the resulting peptides are separated and analyzed by HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry. We designed an algorithm to find DNA coding sequences, corresponding to open reading frames (ORF), in the genome such that their translated amino acid sequences are optimally correlated with these tandem mass spectra. In this algorithm, we also allow one gap, corresponding to an intron, between two DNA coding sequences, such that their concatenation becomes one coding sequence. Finally, the algorithm assembles these candidate coding sequences and introns into gene structures. Our algorithm was implemented to predict genes on 4 contigs with a total of 123 kbps using two sets of simulated digestion- HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry data of 2523 Caenorhabditis elegans Chromosome IV proteins, digested by trypsin and Asp-N respectively. Among 15 annotated genes in the forward strand, all 98 exons are hit by the predicted no-gap coding sequences, and 60 out of 83 introns are correctly predicted. We also tested gene structure prediction in a contig containing 3 genes. Combining splicing site predictions with predicted coding sequences and introns, we found all 3 gene structures.
Stem Cell Research: A Target Article Collection Part III - Determining Moral Status

In this chapter, I review some of the background thinking concerning matters of moral status that I had developed in previous years and that I would now bring to the work of the Human Embryo Research Panel. Two ideas were at the forefront of my thinking. First, that biology usually offers not decisive "events" but only continuous processes of development. Second, in making status determinations we do not so much "identify" a point on a developmental continuum where moral respect should be accorded as "choose" that point. These choices are "balancing decisions" in which the community of moral agents weighs its interests in protecting an entity against the burdens of doing so. After illustrating these two contentions, I consider some of the reasons why thinkers on the "right" and "left" of our bioethics debates have resisted or missed this basic insight.
Determinantal inequalities for positive definite matrices

Abstract We consider the problem of identifying all determinantal inequalities valid on all positive definite matrices. This is fundamentally a combinatorial problem about relations between collections of index sets. We describe some general structure of this problem and give sufficient and necessary conditions that coincide for collections of no more than 3 index sets each.
Molecular basis for prey relocation in viperid snakes

Vertebrate predators use a broad arsenal of behaviors and weaponry for overcoming fractious and potentially dangerous prey. A unique array of predatory strategies occur among snakes, ranging from mechanical modes of constriction and jaw-holding in non-venomous snakes, to a chemical means, venom, for quickly dispatching prey. However, even among venomous snakes, different prey handling strategies are utilized, varying from the strike-and-hold behaviors exhibited by highly toxic elapid snakes to the rapid strike-and-release envenomation seen in viperid snakes. For vipers, this mode of envenomation represents a minimal risk predatory strategy by permitting little contact with or retaliation from prey, but it adds the additional task of relocating envenomated prey which has wandered from the attack site. This task is further confounded by trails of other unstruck conspecific or heterospecific prey. Despite decades of behavioral study, researchers still do not know the molecular mechanism which allows for prey relocation. During behavioral discrimination trials (vomeronasal responsiveness) to euthanized mice injected with size-fractionated venom, Crotalus atrox responded significantly to only one protein peak. Assays for enzymes common in rattlesnake venoms, such as exonuclease, L-amino acid oxidase, metalloproteinase, thrombin-like and kallikrein-like serine proteases and phospholipase A2, showed that vomeronasal responsiveness was not dependent on enzymatic activity. Using mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing, we identified the proteins responsible for envenomated prey discrimination as the non-enzymatic disintegrins crotatroxin 1 and 2. Our results demonstrate a novel and critical biological role for venom disintegrins far beyond their well-established role in disruption of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. These findings reveal the evolutionary significance of free disintegrins in venoms as the molecular mechanism in vipers allowing for effective relocation of envenomated prey. The presence of free disintegrins in turn has led to evolution of a major behavioral adaptation (strike-and-release), characteristic of only rattlesnakes and other vipers, which exploits and refines the efficiency of a pre-existing chemical means of predation and a highly sensitive olfaction system. This system of a predator chemically tagging prey represents a novel trend in the coevolution of predator-prey relationships.
Thermogravimetric determination of starch content in starch-polyethylene blend films

Thermogravimetric analysis as a technique for rapid determination of starch content in LDPE/starch blend films was investigated. The percent weight loss in a specified temperature range, under a constant heating rate, correlated well with the starch content of films in the range of 0–12 wt % starch, as determined by chemical analysis. The method was used to estimate the residual starch content of LDPE/starch films, containing approximately 6.0% starch, exposed under several biotic exposure conditions. Generally 87–88% of the initial starch content was present in the films after different types of environmental exposures.
A study of the role of weeds in corn fields in the epidemiology of corn stunt disease.

Weed populations were regulated in small field plots in 1967 and 1968 in a com field which experienced a high incidence of com stunt during the past several years. In both years leafhopper vectors Graminella nigrifrons Forbes were more abundant in weedy plots than in moderately weedy or weed-free plots (significant in 1968 only). However, disease incidence was higher in the weed-free plots than in the other plots (significant in 1968 only). No significant yield differences were obtained in either year. Brachiaria piatyphylla, goosegrass, and crabgrass appeared to be species of importance in the epidemiology of corn stunt disease in the study area.
Short stature and risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease: Negative findings from the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study

Abstract Objectives.This study sought to examine the relation between body height and incidence of myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, overall mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Background.An association between short stature and increased risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease has been observed in several studies, attracting considerable attention. Methods.We used data from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study, a prospective study of a large random sample of the U.S. population, to examine the association between height and risk of four end points. Results.Baseline data were collected from 1971 to 1975 for 13,031 respondents (5,296 men, 7,735 women), and the average follow-up period was 13 years, through 1987. Height was inversely associated with risk of all four of the end points studied in both men and women. However, after adjustment for age and years of education in Cox proportional hazards analyses, the relation no longer existed. Using the same adjustment procedures, persons in the lowest height quintile had no increase in risk compared with those in the highest category. The findings were consistent for men and women, blacks and whites and different age groups. Conclusions.Data from this study in a national sample do not support the hypothesis of an inverse height-heart disease relation.
Global pollution measured by lead in mid-ocean sediments

On page 278 of this issue, Veron and colleagues at CNRS and at Bordeaux University report their studies of the difficult, complex matter of lead pollution in the uppermost layers of outer deep-water sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is common knowledge that heavy-metal pollution prevails within near-shore ocean sediments, and it might therefore be thought that either positive or conclusive negative evidence for lead pollution in the open oceans should also be readily found in pelagic sediments. But this is not the case: the processes that yield the pollution effects easily observable in coastal sediments also limit these effects from extending into the open oceans. Furthermore, mass-sedimentation rates in deep waters far from shore are so slight that there are serious difficulties in studying the very thin, uppermost, decades-old sediment layers involved, although pollution effects are enhanced by these small sedimentation rates. Such problems made investigators in the past reluctant to search for evidence of lead pollution effects in deep-ocean sediments.
Different Catalytically Competent Arrangements of Arachidonic Acid within the Cyclooxygenase Active Site of Prostaglandin Endoperoxide H Synthase-1 Lead to the Formation of Different Oxygenated Products *

Abstract Arachidonic acid is converted to prostaglandin G2 (PGG2) by the cyclooxygenase activities of prostaglandin endoperoxide H synthases (PGHSs) 1 and 2. The initial, rate-limiting step is abstraction of the 13-proS hydrogen from arachidonate which, for PGG2 formation, is followed by insertion of O2at C-11, cyclization, and a second O 2 insertion at C-15. As an accompaniment to ongoing structural studies designed to determine the orientation of arachidonate in the cyclooxygenase site, we analyzed the products formed from arachidonate by (a) solubilized, partially purified ovine (o) PGHS-1; (b) membrane-associated, recombinant oPGHS-1; and (c) a membrane-associated, recombinant active site mutant (V349L oPGHS-1) and determined kinetic values for formation of each product. Native forms of oPGHS-1 produced primarily PGG2 but also several monohydroxy acids, which, in order of abundance, were 11R-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,12E,14Z-eicosatetraenoic acid (11R-HETE), 15S-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid (15S-HETE), and 15R-HETE. V349L oPGHS-1 formed primarily PGG2, 15S-HETE, and 15R-HETE but only trace amounts of 11R-HETE. With native enzyme, the K m values for PGG2, 11-HETE, and 15-HETE formation were each different (5.5, 12.1, and 19.4 μm, respectively); similarly, theK m values for PGG2 and 15-HETE formation by V349L oPGHS-1 were different (11 and 5 μm, respectively). These results establish that arachidonate can assume at least three catalytically productive arrangements within the cyclooxygenase site of oPGHS-1 leading to PGG2, 11R-HETE, and 15S-HETE and/or 15R-HETE, respectively. IC50 values for inhibition of formation of the individual products by the competitive inhibitor, ibuprofen, were determined and found to be the same for a given enzyme form (i.e. 175 μm for oPGHS-1 and 15 μm for V349L oPGHS-1). These latter results are most simply rationalized by a kinetic model in which arachidonate forms various catalytically competent arrangements only after entering the cyclooxygenase active site.
Double-barrel technique for endovascular exclusion of an aortic arch aneurysm without sternotomy.

Purpose To report the use of commercially available stents and a stent-graft in coaxial orientation to extend the proximal limits of endografting within the aortic arch. Case report A 70-year-old man was found to have an asymptomatic 7-cm saccular aortic arch aneurysm, extending distally from the origin of the left carotid artery and involving the left subclavian artery; there was only 11 mm between the innominate artery orifice and the aneurysm. The patient was deemed to be high risk for open surgical repair due to a history of 2 prior sternotomies and the requirement for hypothermic circulatory arrest. A "double-barrel" stent-graft strategy combining retrograde placement of an innominate stent with thoracic stent-graft implantation into zone 0 was successfully executed. The patient has continued to fare well after 10 months on close follow-up. Conclusion The "double-barrel" stent technique may extend the limits of thoracic endografting by preserving the aortic arch branches while avoiding the need for sternotomy. Using this technique, proximal fixation can be obtained well into the ascending aorta using commercially available devices.
The number of nerve fibers in the limb of the mouse and its relation to regenerative capacity

In regeneration of the salamander limb the nerve must satisfy a quantitative threshold below which regeneration does not occur. The present work explores the reason for the inability of the mammalian limb to regenerate by analyzing the number of nerve fibers available in the wound of the amputated limb. The number expressed per unit area of amputation wound is only 16% of that of the newt, Triturus, a regenerating form. It is known that when the number of fibers in the newt's limb is reduced to about a third or less of the normal number, regrowth does not occur. The results are discussed against the background of published unsuccessful attempts to induce regrowth in the mammal. Finally, the results affirm findings published previously of an evolutionary trend in the vertebrate series of decline in quantity of peripheral innervation which attended elaboration of central nervous mechanisms.
Geographic analysis of health risks of pediatric lead exposure: a golden opportunity to promote healthy neighborhoods.

In this retrospective study, the authors investigated pediatric blood lead levels (BLLs) at 2 threshold levels in neighborhoods across the US city of Chicago, examining geographic associations with demographic risk factors and housing characteristics, using data from large-scale childhood BLL screening records from 1997 through 2003. They used logistic regression and geostatistical methods to assess disease dynamics and probability of elevated BLLs. The results showed a significant decline of elevated BLLs, with levels measured at ≥ 10 μg/dL decreasing by 74%, compared with a 40% decrease for the lower levels (6-9 μg/dL). The Westside and Southside neighborhoods, with a high concentration of minority populations, had the highest prevalence rates, which were significantly associated with living in pre-1950 housing units. The findings provided insights for lead prevention, implications for lowering the threshold limit, and suggestions for the urgent task of developing healthy neighborhoods.
Providing Health Supervision to Support High-Quality Primary Care: The Time is Now

From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vt The authors are the editors of Bright Futures: Health Supervision Guidelines for Infants, Children and Youth, Third Edition. Address correspondence to Judith S. Shaw, EdD, MPH, RN, University of Vermont College of Medicine, N329 Courtyard at Given, 89 Beaumont Ave, Burlington, Vermont 05405 (e-mail: judith.shaw@uvm.edu).
Regenerative responses in slow- and fast-twitch muscles following moderate contusion spinal cord injury and locomotor training

The aim of this study was to use the rat moderate spinal cord contusion model to investigate the effects of incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) on the muscle regeneration process, comparing regeneration of slow-twitch plantarflexor soleus muscle and fast-twitch dorsiflexor tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. Additionally, we wanted to examine the effect of a week of locomotor training following incomplete SCI on the muscle regeneration process in these muscles and also determine if a week of similar locomotor training is sufficient to initiate muscle regeneration in control, non-injured rats. Thirty-two, adult, female, Sprague–Dawley rats were chosen for the study. Moderate, midthoracic contusion SCIs were produced using a NYU (New York University) impactor in all rats except controls. Animals were randomly assigned to treadmill training or untrained groups. Rats in the treadmill training group were manually treadmill trained starting at 1 week after SCI, for 10 bouts (2 sessions of 20 min of actual stepping) over 5 days and control rats in the training group received similar training. Our results indicate that a muscle regenerative response was initiated only in the slow-twitch soleus muscle in the initial 2 weeks following SCI, the addition of 1 week of locomotor treadmill training led to a significant increase in soleus regenerative process. No significant regenerative process was observed in the fast-twitch TA. Increased muscle regeneration in soleus is suggested by our findings of increased expression of (1) insulin-like growth factor-1, involved in the activation of satellite cells; (2) Pax7, a marker of satellite cell activation; (3) myogenin, a muscle regulatory protein; and (4) embryonic myosin, an indicator of new muscle fiber formation. Locomotor training in control, non-injured animals did not induce similar changes towards the regenerative process.
THE USE OF ABSORPTION CELLS AS A WAVELENGTH REFERENCE FOR PRECISION RADIAL VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS IN THE NEAR-INFRARED

Considerable interest is now focused on the detection of terrestrial mass planets around M dwarfs, and radial velocity surveys with high-resolution spectrographs in the near-infrared (NIR) are expected to be able to discover such planets. We explore the possibility of using commercially available molecular absorption gas cells as a wavelength reference standard for high-resolution fiber-fed spectrographs in the NIR. We consider the relative merits and disadvantages of using such cells compared with thorium-argon emission lamps and conclude that in the astronomical H band, they are a viable method of simultaneous calibration, yielding an acceptable wavelength calibration error for most applications. Four well-characterized and commercially available standard gas cells of H13C14N, 12C2H2, 12CO, and 13CO can together span over 120 nm of the H band, making them suitable for use in astronomical spectrographs. The use of isotopologues of these molecules can increase line densities and wavelength coverage, extending their application to different wavelength regions.
Neuronophagia by Leukocytes in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury

Experimental spinal cord injury was produced in cats by compression trauma. The major histologic features in the first 24 hours following injury included hemorrhagic necrosis, edema, and acute inflammation of gray and white matter. Neutrophilic leukocytes (NL) were apparent in the walls of and adjacent to veins and venules within four hours of injury, but large numbers of NL were not observed in tissue until eight to 24 hours. Acute inflammation was especially prominent in gray matter, and NL frequently surrounded and phagocytized neuronal somata. Large numbers of NL and neuronophagia by leukocytes were evident only in areas of hemorrhage. The role of blood in producing the acute inflammatory response and in generating chemotactic factors responsible for neuronophagia is incompletely understood. Neutrophilic leukocytes, in addition to their response as phagocytes, release histolytic enzymes, reactive species of oxygen, and proinflammatory factors which lead to further tissue necrosis and inflammation.
Awareness of blood pressure among older adults: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Abstract Objectives To measure the degree that elderly persons are knowledgeable about blood pressure (BP) and hypertension in general and are aware of their own BP in particular and to determine the degree that such knowledge and awareness relates to actual BP readings. Design and Setting A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the senior activity centers. Methods A convenience sample of 276 men and women between 60 and 75 years completed two BP measurements, cognitive impairment assessments, a 21-item Awareness of Blood Pressure Questionnaire, motivation for health, and personal information. Findings Individuals indicated much less awareness about their own BP than their self-reported behaviors about their BP would suggest. Of the participants, 74% were aware of their BP, while 90% reported asking about their BP on visits to healthcare providers; 32% of those with isolated systolic hypertension were unaware of their hypertensive status. More than half of the participants had inaccurate knowledge about BP in general and about systolic BP as it related to the aging process. Knowledge of BP and hypertension was higher among people who knew their own BP levels. Conclusions The study revealed that one's awareness of BP does not necessarily reflect one's actual BP status. This finding deserves the attention of older adults and healthcare providers who consider patient awareness as fundamental to behavioral change and BP control.
Product integrals of continuous resolvents: Existence and nonexistence

Let {[I−λA(t)]−1:0≦λ≦Λ, 0≦t≦T} be a family of resolvents of bounded linear m-dissipative operatorsA(t) on a Banach spaceX. Suppose that the map(λ,t,x←[I−λA(t)]−1x is jointly continuous. Then we show it is not necessarily true that for eachx∈X: (1) the product integral limn → ∞ Πi=1n [I - (t/n)A(it/n)]−1x exists, (2) the initial value problemy′(t)=A(t)y(t), y(0)=x has a strong solution.
Analysis of virtual machine system policies

The recent emergence of mandatory access (MAC) enforcement for virtual machine monitors (VMMs) presents an opportunity to enforce a security goal over all its virtual machines (VMs). However, these VMs also have MAC enforcement, so to determine whether the overall system (VM-system) is secure requires an evaluation of whether this combination of MAC policies, as a whole, complies with a given security goal. Previous MAC policy analyses either consider a single policy at a time or do not represent the interaction between different policy layers (VMM and VM). We observe that we can analyze the VMM policy and the labels used for communications between VMs to create an inter-VM flow graph that we use to identify safe, unsafe, and ambiguous VM interactions. A VM with only safe interactions is compliant with the goal, a VM with any unsafe interaction violates the goal. For a VM with ambiguous interactions we analyze its local MAC policy to determine whether it is compliant or not with the goal. We used this observation to develop an analytical model of a VM-system, and evaluate if it is compliant with a security goal. We implemented the model and an evaluation tool in Prolog. We evaluate our implementation by checking whether a VM-system running XSM/Flask policy at the VMM layer and SELinux policies at the VM layer satisfies a given integrity goal. This work is the first step toward developing layered, multi-policy analyses.
The morning commute problem with heterogeneous travellers: the case of continuously distributed parameters

We study the morning commute problem with a heterogeneous travelling population whose early/late arrival penalty parameters are continuously distributed. Following Arnott et al.'s (1988) [Schedule delay and departure time decisions with heterogeneous commuters, Transportation Research Record, 1197, 56–67] model, where the ratio of the value of early schedule delay (VESD) over the value of late schedule delay (VLSD) is assumed to be constant across the population, we first derive the user-optimal travel profiles and the corresponding total travel time (TTT) for a one-to-one network with a single route. We show that although every commuter is better off if the bottleneck capacity is enlarged, commuters with high values of early arrival penalty (EAP) benefit more than those with low values. In addition, the homogeneity assumption overestimates the queuing delay and thus the TTT. Then we extend our analysis to a network with two routes, a freeway and an arterial road (AR) connecting a single origin–destinatio...
Vibration Control With Magnetically Mounted Piezoelectric Actuators

A novel vibration control method utilizing magnetically mounted piezoelectric actuators is described. Piezoelectric actuators are bonded to permanent magnets, which are attached to the surface of a steel cantilever beam through their magnetic attraction. The magnetic-piezoelectric control mounts are an alternative to traditional epoxy attachment methods for piezoelectrics which allows easy in-the-field reconfiguration. In model and laboratory measurements, the beam is driven through base excitation and the resonant shunt and synchronized switching techniques are applied to two magnetic-piezoelectric control mounts to attenuate vibration. The coupled system is discretized using a Galerkin finite element model that incorporates relative axial motion between the beam and the mounts, which is governed by the sticking contact stiffness per unit length of the beam-magnet interface. The control mounts are designed using a magnetic array configuration which increases the attraction force for a given magnet thickness. Results show that the magnetic-piezoelectric control mounts provide attenuation, while also providing the flexibility to easily adjust the actuators along the length of the beam.Copyright © 2008 by ASME