cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Erythrocyte adaptive metabolic reprogramming under physiological and pathological hypoxia.

Purpose of review The erythrocyte is the most abundant cell type in our body, acting as both a carrier/deliverer and sensor of oxygen (O2). Erythrocyte O2 delivery capacity is finely regulated by sophisticated metabolic control. In recent years, unbiased and robust human metabolomics screening and mouse genetic studies have advanced erythroid research revealing the differential role of erythrocyte hypoxic metabolic reprogramming in normal individuals at high altitudes and patients facing hypoxia, such as sickle cell disease (SCD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Here we summarize recent progress and highlight potential therapeutic possibilities. Recent findings Initial studies showed that elevated soluble CD73 (sCD73, converts AMP to adenosine) results in increased circulating adenosine that activates the A2B adenosine receptor (ADORA2B). Signaling through this axis is co-operatively strengthened by erythrocyte-specific synthesis of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). Ultimately, these mechanisms promote the generation of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-BPG), an erythrocyte-specific allosteric modulator that decreases haemoglobin--O2-binding affinity, and thus, induces deoxygenated sickle Hb (deoxyHbS), deoxyHbS polymerization, sickling, chronic inflammation and tissue damage in SCD. Similar to SCD, plasma adenosine and erythrocyte S1P are elevated in humans ascending to high altitude. At high altitude, these two metabolites are beneficial to induce erythrocyte metabolic reprogramming and the synthesis of 2,3-BPG, and thus, increase O2 delivery to counteract hypoxic tissue damage. Follow-up studies showed that erythrocyte equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (eENT1) is a key purinergic cellular component controlling plasma adenosine in humans at high altitude and mice under hypoxia and underlies the quicker and higher elevation of plasma adenosine upon re-ascent because of prior hypoxia-induced degradation of eENT1. More recent studies demonstrated the beneficial role of erythrocyte ADORA2B-mediated 2,3-BPG production in CKD. Summary Taken together, these findings revealed the differential role of erythrocyte hypoxic metabolic reprogramming in normal humans at high altitude and patients with CKD vs. SCD patients and immediately suggest differential and precision therapies to counteract hypoxia among these groups.
On polynomial functions from Z n 1 ×Z n 2 × l×Z n r to Z m

Abstract The well-known concept of a polynomial function (mod m ) has been generalized to polynomial functions from Z n to Z m , and a number of results have been obtained in (Chen, 1995). In the present paper, we further define the concept of polynomial functions from Z n 1 × Z n 2 × … × Z n r to Z m , and generalize the results of (Chen, 1995). We give a canonical representation and the counting formula for such polynomial functions. Then we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition on n 1 , n 2 , …, n r and m for all functions from Z n 1 × Z n 2 × … × Z n r to Z m to be polynomial functions. Further, we give an answer to the following problem: How to determine whether a given function from Z n 1 × Z n 2 × … × Z n r to Z m is a polynomial function, and how to obtain a polynomial to represent a polynomial function from Z n 1 × Z n 2 × … × Z n r to Z m ?
Early development of the skin microbiome: therapeutic opportunities

As human skin hosts a diverse microbiota in health and disease, there is an emerging consensus that dysregulated interactions between host and microbiome may contribute to chronic inflammatory disease of the skin. Neonatal skin is a unique habitat, structurally similar to the adult but with a different profile of metabolic substrates, environmental stressors, and immune activity. The surface is colonized within moments of birth with a bias toward maternal strains. Initial colonists are outcompeted as environmental exposures increase and host skin matures. Nonetheless, early life microbial acquisitions may have long-lasting effects on health through modulation of host immunity and competitive interactions between bacteria. Microbial ecology and its influence on health have been of interest to dermatologists for >50 years, and an explosion of recent interest in the microbiome has prompted ongoing investigations of several microbial therapeutics for dermatological disease. In this review, we consider how recent insight into the host and microbial factors driving development of the skin microbiome in early life offers new opportunities for therapeutic intervention. IMPACT: Advancement in understanding molecular mechanisms of bacterial competition opens new avenues of investigation into dermatological disease. Primary development of the skin microbiome is determined by immunological features of the cutaneous habitat. Understanding coordinated microbial and immunological development in the pediatric patient requires a multidisciplinary synthesis of primary literature.
Dermatologic Adverse Effects of Anticancer Therapy II: Cytotoxic Agents

This chapter explores cytotoxic therapies and various dermatologic adverse effects (DAEs) from their use. Medications featured here provide an overview of indications for each drug class as well as profiles of their potential mucocutaneous reactions. For each anticancer agent, a clinical summary is provided, offering an a overview of incidence, natural course, clinical features, and management of its dermatologic adverse effects. This chapter is designed to assist practitioners in anticipating the dermatologic manifestations of these anticancer therapies and managing any complications should they arise.
Students, Suffrage, and Political Change: The College Equal Suffrage League and Campus Campaigns for Women’s Right to Vote, 1905–1920

From 1905–1920, American college and university students carried on active and understudied campaigns to gain legitimacy and support for women’s suffrage at institutions of higher education across the United States. The primary organization responsible for initiating and directing campus activism was the College Equal Suffrage League (CESL), formed in 1900 by Massachusetts teachers Maud Wood Park and Inez Haynes Gillmore to recruit more upper- and middle-class, well-educated, students and alumni to the women’s rights movement. Exploring the records of state and national suffragists, women’s organizations, and academic institutions associated with the CESL shows that the league’s campaigns helped to reinvigorate the suffrage cause at an important moment in the early twentieth century by using educational tactics as powerful tools to cultivate a scholarly voice for the campaign, appeal to the upper classes, and fit within the contexts of higher education and larger movement for progressive reform. In addition to influencing the suffrage cause, campus organizing for equal voting rights changed the culture of female political activism and higher education by ushering a younger generation of articulate and well-trained activists into the women’s rights campaign and starting in a trend of organized youth mobilization for women’s rights at colleges and universities.
Allgemeine Methodik multidimensionaler Datenanalyse

Den Untersuchungsgegenstand in diesem Kapitel bildet die Beschreibung der allgemeinen Methodik einer multidimensionalen Datenanalyse. Diese Erorterung erweist sich an dieser Stelle als dringend geboten, um zum einen das exemplarische Anwendungsgebiet des ‘Data Warehouse’ und ‘Online Analytical Processing’ wieder zu verlassen. Zum anderen ist ein allgemeines und grundlegendes Verstandnis der multidimensionalen Datenanalyse fur die Reflexion des aktuellen Forschungsstandes notwendig, die in dem nachfolgenden Teil vorgenommen wird.
Knowledge-Rich Morphological Priors for Bayesian Language Models

We present a morphology-aware nonparametric Bayesian model of language whose prior distribution uses manually constructed finitestate transducers to capture the word formation processes of particular languages. This relaxes the word independence assumption and enables sharing of statistical strength across, for example, stems or inflectional paradigms in different contexts. Our model can be used in virtually any scenario where multinomial distributions over words would be used. We obtain state-of-the-art results in language modeling, word alignment, and unsupervised morphological disambiguation for a variety of morphologically rich languages.
Development of a Reliable Measure for Determining Nitrate Exposure for Use in Epidemiological Studies

Regardless of dose or matrix, 24-h urinary nitrate reliably accounts for 50 to 60% of daily nitrate ingestion, except in those individuals who are immune stimulated and endogenously synthesize nitrate and those who are achlorhydric and lose a further 23% of dietary nitrate to bacterial metabolism in the stomach. For epidemiological studies the most reliable method of determining the nitrate exposure of a population is by the analysis of 24-h urine samples from healthy volunteers. Unhealthy volunteers should not be recruited.
Schrödinger's Cat Is Out of the Hat

In 1935, Erwin SchrA¶dinger suggested his famous gedanken experiment of the cat that is simultaneously "dead" and "alive" inside its box until the box is opened. But as Tesche explains in her Perspective, such a macroscopic manifestation of quantum mechanics has remained elusive until recently. The experiments by van der Wal et al. are an important step toward demonstrating that quantum mechanics can describe macroscopic phenomena. The approach may be exploited in quantum computing and quantum cryptography.
Extracellular matrix: forum introduction.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is now appreciated as a key regulator of cell and tissue behavior. Support for this notion has been derived from correlative studies demonstrating large changes in the composition and distribution of extracellular matrix components during tissue development, differentiation and in response to hormone/growth factor/cytokine influences. In addition, a variety of functional studies demonstrate ECM-dependent cellular responses in vitro while genetic approaches clearly demonstrate critical requirements for genes encoding ECM components or modifiers of ECM, e.g., metalloproteases, in a wide variety of processes in vivo.
Who Lobbies Whom? Electoral Systems and Organized Interests' Choice of Bureaucrats vs. Politicians in Japan

How do interest groups choose across different venues of lobbying to influence policy? Why do some interest groups lobby politicians and others lobby bureaucrats? In contrast to the existing approaches that view lobbying as one-sided action by organized interest in an effort to influence a policy, we theorize lobbying as an organized interests' effort to form and enforce a contract with policy-makers, politicians or bureaucrats. We argue that organizational structures of interest groups substantially affect their choice of lobbying strategies because they are associated with different ability to monitor and enforce contracts with policy-makers and punish them when they fail. Specifically, we demonstrate that whether organizational structures are centralized or decentralized accounts for a good part of the variations in their decisions to lobby politicians versus bureaucrats even after controlling for organization resources, issue areas, and sectors. The types of electoral system such as majoritarian and proportional, we further argue, affect the effectiveness of various instruments of monitoring and punishment (votes, political funds, and candidate endorsement) and hence interest groups' choice to lobby politicians or bureaucrats. We test these arguments with the case of a major democracy which recently went through an electoral reform from SNTV to MMM system without major partisan change, Japan. We use a unique longitudinal survey data on lobbying which spans two decades (1980, 1994, 2003), covers around 250 organized interest groups that encompasses various sectors and issue areas. The results lend strong support to our organizational structure argument and the effect of electoral reform on interest groups' choice of lobbying tactics.
Legionella in the Environment: Persistence, Evolution, and Pathogenicity

Legionellae; Historical Perspective and Public Health Issues The Transmission and Ecology of Legionellae The Life Cycle of Legionellae Within Their Protozoan Host Cells Detection and Disinfection of Legionellae Keywords: disinfection of legionellae; legionella; pathogens, bacterial
Stress Distribution in Castellated Beams

A method of analysis for stress in castellated beams and beams with web openings is developed in this paper using finite difference, theory of elasticity solutions for both pure moment and pure shear loadings. An experimental program to evaluate the theory of elasticity solutions was conducted using nine full-sized test members. Three types of castellated beams fabricated from 18WF45 rolled beams are selected for comparison of stress distribution and magnitude because these three members include two different slopes of web openings and no increment plates and a member with an increment plate. In addition, the method most commonly used at present for analysis of castellated beams—the Vierendeel analysis—is compared with both the theory of elasticity solutions and the experimental data.
Maturation of Calcium Transport in the Rat Small and Large Intestine

Using an in vivo perfusion technique we compared transport of calcium in segments of the proximal (duodenum + jejunum) and distal (ileum) small intestine and in the cecum + colon of suckling (2-week old), weanling (3-week-old) and adolescent (6-week-old) rats. The concentration of calcium (Ca) in the isotonic sodium chloride solution perfused through the intestinal segments was either below (0.4 and 1.4 mmoles/1) or above (3.2 mmoles/1) serum ionized calcium. In the suckling rat, in all three intestinal segments, the relationship between transport rate (mumoles/hr per g wet weight) and luminal Ca concentration was linear. Net secretion occurred when luminal Ca concentration was below serum ionized Ca, and net absorption at 3.2 mmoles/l luminal Ca. In the weanling rats the relationship between luminal Ca concentration and transport rate was curvilinear for all segments. In the adolescent rats the relationship was curvilinear in the proximal segment and linear in the distal segment and in the cecum + colon. Rates of transport in segments of the suckling rats were several fold greater than corresponding rates in the adolescent rats. The change in the relationship between transport rate and luminal Ca suggested that the mode of transport of Ca changes at the time of weaning from mainly a passive mechanism in the suckling period to mainly a carrier mediated mechanism in the adolescent rats.
Adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride on differently pretreated non-woven cotton substrates

The adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC), a cationic surfactant commonly employed as an antimicrobial agent, on greige, alkaline scoured, and bleached non-woven cotton fabrics was investigated at varying surfactant concentrations using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Results show greige cotton non-wovens adsorb roughly three times the ADBAC in aqueous solution than bleached cotton and 1.5 times more than scoured cotton non-wovens. At a constant ADBAC concentration of 0.625 g/l, the rate of surfactant adsorption approached equilibrium after 35 minutes in all fabrics studied. Increasing surfactant concentration increased the total mass of ADBAC exhausted onto the cotton fabrics at equilibrium. Adsorption of ADBAC on cotton fabrics can be attributed to bulk entrapment, dispersion forces, and hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. Polyester fiber was blended with greige and bleached cotton fibers to further elucidate the adsorption of ADBAC. A linear decrease in the amount of s...
Improvement of the Spectroscopic Constants of the PF(A3Π) State and Assignment of the PF(A–X) Transition Dipole Function

High-resolution laser-excitation spectra were acquired for the v'=3-7 levels of the PF(A(3)Pi(0,1,2)<--X(3)Sigma(-)) transition from PF(X(3)Sigma(-)) molecules generated in a discharge flow reactor. These results were combined with lower resolution excitation spectra for the v'=8-11 levels and with existing high-resolution data in the literature for v'=0 and 1 to assign improved spectroscopic constants for PF(A(3)Pi(0,1,2)). The abnormal vibrational energy level spacings for all spin components of the PF(A(3)Pi) state are evidence for a homogeneous interaction with another (3)Pi state. The Lambda-doublet separation in the PF((3)Pi(0)) substate increases with vibrational level, which is taken as evidence for interaction with the PF(b(1)Sigma(+)) state. Laser-induced fluorescence spectra from individual v'=0-5 levels were used to obtain vibrational band intensities of the A-X transition. The strong dependence of the transition dipole on the r-centroid is consistent with the reduction in the radiative lifetimes with increasing v' level. The similarity between the isovalent PF(A(3)Pi) and SO(A(3)Pi) states is noted and the bond dissociation energy of PF(X(3)Sigma(-)) is discussed. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.
Ultrastructure of sensilla on the distal antennal segment of adult Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) (Hemiftera : Lygaeidae)

Abstract The sensilla on the distal antennal segment of adult Oncopeltus fasciatus were studied with the scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The result has been an elucidation of the ultrastructure of 7 morphologically distinct sensory organs. These include smooth, grooved, and two-chambered pegs, symmetrical and asymmetrical hairs, a pit-peg, and a tactile bristle. Pore tubules are described in the tactile bristle and the uninnervated channel of the two-chambered peg. Dendritic protrusions which extend into the fluid channels of the symmetrical hair have also been identified. A more complete knowledge of insect sensory organs has resulted from the morphological considerations presented in this paper. Heretofore pore tubules have only been described in olfactory sensilla, and few olfactory organs have been shown to possess pores containing dendrites.
Mathematica: A critical appraisal

Mathematica looks to be an extremely powerful computer environment for accomplishing the kinds of mathematical tasks of interest to readers of this journal. This review gives an indication of its scope and several examples. Mathematica also includes an effective programming language, and it is likely that Mathematica packages will be written that are of general interest to our readers. We therefore also announce that we shall act as an informational clearinghouse for Mathematica packages relevant to economics and management science.
The 20% rule: a simple, instantaneous radioactivity measurement defines cure and allows elimination of frozen sections and hormone assays during parathyroidectomy.

Abstract Background: Although primary hyperparathyroidism is a physiologic disease, surgeons rely on anatomical characteristics (gross and histologic) to determine appropriate operative decisions. After the development of radioguided parathyroidectomy, we hypothesized that the amount of radioactivity contained within resected tissue would be the only information needed to establish the nature of the tissue and to determine a cure for the disease. Methods: A total of 1290 tissue specimens were obtained from 345 patients who had sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism. Ex-vivo radioactivity, in counts per second, was measured in parathyroid and other tissues within 3.5 hours of sestamibi injection. Background radioactivity was measured after tissue excision, and ratios were calculated. Results: Lymph nodes, normal parathyroids, and fat never contained more than 2.2% of background radioactivity, whereas thyroid and hyperplastic parathyroids contained 5.5% and 7.5%, respectively, and never more than 16%. In contrast, adenomas contained 59% ±9% of background radioactivity ( P Conclusions: Radioactive ratios are an instantaneous measure of metabolic activity, thereby determining parathyroid function. Any excised tissue containing more than 20% of background radioactivity in a patient with a positive sestamibi scan result is a solitary parathyroid adenoma. This alleviates the need to identify other glands, obtain frozen sections, or measure serum parathyroid hormone levels intraoperatively. (Surgery 1999;126:1023-9.)
On the development of a frequency-lowering system that enhances place-of-articulation perception

Frequency lowering is a form of signal processing designed to deliver high-frequency speech cues to the residual hearing region of a listener with a high-frequency hearing loss. While this processing technique has been shown to improve the intelligibility of fricative and affricate consonants, perception of place of articulation has remained a challenge for hearing-impaired listeners, especially when the bandwidth of the speech signal is reduced during the frequency-lowering processing. This paper describes a modified vocoder-based frequency-lowering system similar to one reported by Posen et al. (1993), with the goal of improving place-of-articulation perception by enhancing the spectral differences of fricative consonants. In this system, frequency lowering is conditional; it suppresses the processing whenever the high-frequency portion (>400Hz) of the speech signal is a periodic signal. In addition, the system separates non-sonorant consonants into three classes based on the spectral information (slope and peak location) of fricative consonants. Results from a group of normal-hearing listeners with our modified system show improved perception of frication and affrication features, as well as place-of-articulation distinction, without degrading the perception of nasals and semivowels compared to low-pass filtering and Posen et al.'s system.
An improved outer bound for the multiterminal source-coding problem

We prove a new outer bound on the rate-distortion region for the multiterminal source-coding problem. This bound subsumes the best known bound in the literature and improves upon it strictly in some cases. The improved bound enables us to obtain a new, conclusive result for the binary-erasure instance of the "CEO problem." The bound recovers many of the converse results that have been established for special cases of the problem, including the recent one for the Gaussian version of the CEO problem
Rapid MR elastography using selective excitations.

Rapid MR elastography (MRE) techniques using spatially-selective excitations to reduce acquisition times to a few seconds or less were devised and tested. The techniques included reduced field of view (rFOV) MRE and 1D MRE (beam MRE) using 2D spatially selective RF excitations for gradient-echo (GRE) applications and intersecting 90° and 180° slice-selective excitations for spin-echo (SE) applications. It was shown that scan times could be reduced by a factor of 8 using rFOV MRE, and by 64 using beam MRE, while still obtaining stiffness estimates comparable to full-FOV MRE. Results were shown in gel phantom experiments as well as in the case of a preserved postmortem breast tissue specimen with a stiff lesion. These methods can be used to more rapidly interrogate regions of interest (ROIs) in tissue to quickly obtain information about the viscoelastic properties of that tissue. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Photofragmentation approaches for the detection of polyatomic molecules

We review three photofragmentation detection approaches, describing the detection of (1) vapor-phase mercuric chloride by photofragment emission, (2) vapor-phase nitro-containing compounds by photofragmentation-ionization, and (3) surface-bound organophosphonate compounds by photofragmentation-laser-induced fluorescence.
Differential localization of SAP102 and PSD-95 is revealed in hippocampal spines using super-resolution light microscopy.

Synapse-associated protein 102 (SAP102) and postsynaptic density 95 (PSD-95) are two major cytoskeleton proteins in the postsynaptic density (PSD). Both of them belong to the membrane-associated gu...
The management of chronic neck pain – A retrospective survey of the patient journey using in-depth semi-structured interviews

Summary This study aims to contribute to evidence that can be used to establish a care pathway for the management of chronic neck pain across primary and secondary care. It defines the patient journey for people with chronic neck pain across a local health community, identifies components of that journey that complicate the management of chronic neck pain and identifies components that assist the management of chronic neck pain. The study explores the experiences of patients from a specified locality who suffer with chronic neck pain. The manner in which treatments have been offered, their effectiveness, the feelings patients have about these experiences and processes, and time lines are investigated. Data are taken from 10 transcribed taped interviews using a randomly selected cohort of participants from a larger convenience sample. This study suggests that the use of simple analgesics and physiotherapy in the earlier acute phases of neck pain should remain, but that acupuncture and specialist review of analgesics should be available in primary care. Orthopaedics does not appear to offer any benefits, but more complicated cases may require management from secondary care pain clinics. Further studies are required in order to investigate the validity of the proposed pathway.
Pattern morphology in the elastic sewing machine

Abstract We present results from a numerical investigation of the coiling patterns obtained when a slender elastic rod is deployed onto a moving substrate. The Discrete Elastic Rods method is employed to explore the parameter space, construct phase diagrams, identify their phase boundaries and characterize the pattern morphology. The various length scales of the patterns are primarily set by the gravity-bending length and depend only logarithmically on the deployment height. The curvature near the contact point, together with the dimensionless speed mismatch between deployment and the belt, dictate the characteristics of the patterns. The phase boundaries are found to be independent of both the gravito-bending length and the deployment height, as long as the latter is above a threshold value. We also evaluate the relative importance of twist and curvature strains, which confirms that bending has a dominant role.
Properties of Films Made from CO2-Precipitated Casein

Tensile properties, water vapor permeabilities, and water solubilities were determined for casein films plasticized with glycerol. The casein was precipitated from milk that was sparged with carbon dioxide (CO2). The films were compared to those made from commercial calcium caseinate. Glycerol was added to plasticize the films. At 20% (w/w) glycerol content, CO2−casein films were >50% stronger than the calcium caseinate films. They were significantly stiffer than the caseinate films and were approximately as elastic. The water vapor permeabilities were ∼20% less than those of the calcium caseinate films. CO2−casein films were only 7% soluble in water compared to 100% solubility for the calcium caseinate films. The differences in properties of the films indicate structural dissimilarities. Keywords: Films; edible films; casein; tensile properties; water vapor permeability; carbon dioxide; water solubility
Immunolabeling reveals cellular localization of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR2B in neurosecretory cells but not astrocytes of the rat magnocellular nuclei.

Previous studies suggest that activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors facilitates phasic firing and spike clustering displayed by magnocellular neuroendocrine cells (MNCs) of the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Osmotic stimulation produces similar activity patterns which, in turn, can lead to enhanced release of vasopressin and oxytocin from MNCs. Our laboratory has shown that dehydration regulates the expression of the NMDA receptor subunits, NR1 and NR2B, in the SON and PVN, suggesting their involvement in osmoregulation. In the present study, we examined the cellular localization of NR2B, one of the glutamate-binding subunits of the NMDA receptor, with an NR2B-specific antibody. Using double-label immunohistochemistry and three different detection methods with metallic, peroxidase, and fluorescence markers, it was found that both vasopressin and oxytocin-producing MNC populations synthesize NR2B. The incidence of NR2B colocalization with vasopressin-neurophysin in the SON and lateral magnocellular PVN (PVL) was 0.95 and 0.91, respectively. For oxytocin-neurophysin, the corresponding values were 0.97 and 0.95, respectively. Furthermore, the extent of colocalization in MNCs of the SON, PVL, retrochiasmatic SON, and accessory neurosecretory nuclei was similar. Astrocytes associated with the SON, and identified with antibodies targeting glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or vimentin, were not colabeled with NR2B. Our results demonstrate that NR2B protein is expressed by almost all MNCs and that it is equally prevalent in vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic populations of various magnocellular neuroendocrine nuclei supporting a role of NMDA receptors in MNC-mediated neurosecretory processes. Although NR2B may form part of functional NMDA receptors on MNCs, it is probably not present on astrocytes associated with nearby MNCs.
Adaptation to extreme stress: post-traumatic stress disorder, neuropeptide Y and metabolic syndrome

The prevalence rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome are on the rise in the United States. Epidemiological surveys suggest that the rates of these medical conditions are especially high among persons with psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A variety of factors are thought to contribute to the risk for metabolic syndrome, including excessive caloric intake, decreased activity and energy expenditure, use of certain medications, stress and genetic influences. Recent research demonstrates that stress, acting through the neuropeptide Y (NPY) and glucocorticoid systems, potentiates the development of obesity and other aspects of metabolic syndrome in mice fed a high caloric, fat and sugar diet. Alterations in the NPY and glucocorticoid systems also impact behavioral adaptation to stress, as indicated by studies in animals and persons exposed to severe, life-threatening or traumatic stress. The following review examines the biology of the NPY and neuroactive steroid systems as physiological links between metabolic syndrome and PTSD, a paradigmatic neuropsychiatric stress disorder. Hopefully, understanding the function of these systems from both a translational and systems biology point of view in relation to stress will enable development of more effective methods for preventing and treating the negative physical and mental health consequences of stress.
Incremental Associations Between Facets of Anxiety Sensitivity and Posttraumatic Stress and Panic Symptoms Among Trauma‐Exposed Adults

The present investigation examined incremental associations between anxiety sensitivity (AS) subfactors (e.g. physical, psychological, and social concerns) and posttraumatic stress and panic symptoms among trauma‐exposed adults. These effects were examined above and beyond other theoretically relevant factors, including negative affectivity and number of types of trauma exposures. The 239 participants were selected from a university‐ and community‐based sample (129 women; mean age = 23.0 years; SD = 9.6, range = 18–65), all of whom endorsed exposure to traumatic life events. The AS psychological concerns and AS physical concerns lower order factors evidenced distinct associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms and panic‐relevant symptoms, respectively. Specifically, the AS psychological concerns facet was significantly incrementally predictive of posttraumatic stress‐relevant avoidance symptoms. The AS physical concerns facet was significantly incrementally predictive of panic‐relevant symptoms, inclu...
Coronary revascularization in a patient with porcelain aorta and calcified great vessels

Calcification of the aorta and great vessels in coronary artery bypass patients remains a challenging dilemma for the surgeon regarding bypass technique, choice of conduit, and available location of proximal anastomotic sites. Internal mammary artery flow may be inadequate, and the risk of systemic emboli from a diseased aorta is substantial. We report a case of a 69-year-old diabetic patient with a porcelain aorta extending into the aortic arch and great vessels who was revascularized using an altered anastomotic technique of right coronary artery endarterectomy for proximal anastomosis of vein grafts. Intraoperative echocardiographic evaluation of the aorta and arch was beneficial in determining extent of calcification.
Dual role of nicotine in addiction and cognition: A review of neuroimaging studies in humans

Substantial evidence demonstrates both nicotine's addiction liability and its cognition-enhancing effects. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying nicotine's impact on brain function and behavior remain incompletely understood. Elucidation of these mechanisms is of high clinical importance and may lead to improved therapeutics for smoking cessation as well as for a number of cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia. Neuroimaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which make it possible to study the actions of nicotine in the human brain in vivo, play an increasingly important role in identifying these dual mechanisms of action. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge and discuss outstanding questions and future directions in human neuroimaging research on nicotine and tobacco. This research spans from receptor-level PET and SPECT studies demonstrating nicotine occupancy at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and upregulation of nAChRs induced by chronic smoking; through nicotine's interactions with the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system believed to mediate nicotine's reinforcing effects leading to dependence; to functional activity and connectivity fMRI studies documenting nicotine's complex behavioral and cognitive effects manifest by its actions on large-scale brain networks engaged both during task performance and at rest. This article is part of the Special Issue Section entitled 'Neuroimaging in Neuropharmacology'.
Equations of state for polyamide-6 and its nanocomposites. 1. Fundamentals and the matrix

The pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) surface of polyamide-6 (PA-6) was determined in the range of temperature T = 300–600 K and pressure P = 0.1–190 MPa. The data were analyzed separately for the molten and the noncrystalline phase using the Simha-Somcynsky (S-S) equation of state (eos) based on the cell-hole theory. At Tg(P) ≤ T ≤ Tm(P), the “solid” state comprises liquid phase with crystals dispersed in it. The PVT behavior of the latter phase was described using Midha-Nanda-Simha-Jain (MNSJ) eos based on the cell theory. The data fitting to these two theories yielded two sets of the Lennard-Jones interaction parameters: e*(S-S) = 34.0 ± 0.3 and e*(MNSJ) = 22.8 ± 0.3 kJ/mol, whereas v*(S-S) = 32.00 ± 0.1 and v*(MNSJ) = 27.9 ± 0.2 mL/mol. The raw PVT data were numerically differentiated to obtain the thermal expansion and compressibility coefficients, α and κ, respectively. At constant P, κ followed the same dependence on both sides of the melting zone near Tm. By contrast, α = α(T) dependencies were dramatically different for the solid and molten phase; at T < Tm, α linearly increased with increasing T, then within the melting zone, its value step-wise decreased, to slowly increase at higher temperatures. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 299–313, 2009
Light-induced FTIR difference spectroscopy of the S2-to-S3 state transition of the oxygen-evolving complex in Photosystem II

We have applied flash-induced FTIR spectroscopy to study structural changes upon the S2-to-S3 state transition of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) in Photosystem II (PSII). We found that several modes in the difference IR spectrum are associated with bond rearrangements induced by the second laser flash. Most of these IR modes are absent in spectra of S2/S1, of the acceptor-side non-heme ion, of Y⋅D/YD and of S3′/S2′ from Ca-depleted PSII preparations. Our results suggest that these IR modes most likely originate from structural changes in the oxygen-evolving complex itself upon the S2-to-S3 state transition in PSII.
Some Triple Sine Series

Abstract Two types of triple sine series are investigated. They are reduced to singular integral equations with kernels involving elliptic functions. Closed form solutions are obtained.
The role of FDG PET in management of neck metastasis from head-and-neck cancer after definitive radiation treatment

Purpose: The role of neck dissection after definitive radiation for head-and-neck cancer is controversial. We select patients for neck dissection based on postradiation therapy (post-RT), computed tomography (CT), and [ 18 F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). We summarize the clinical outcomes of patients treated with this policy to further elucidate the role of FDG PET in decision making for neck dissection after primary radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: Between December 1999 and February 2004, 53 eligible patients were identified. These patients had stage N2A or higher head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma and had complete response of the primary tumor after definitive radiation with or without chemotherapy. PET or computed tomography (CT) scans were performed within 6 months after treatment. Neck dissection was performed in patients with residual lymphadenopathy (identified by clinical examination or CT) and a positive PET scan. Those without residual lymph nodes and a negative PET were observed without neck dissection. For patients with residual lymphadenopathy, but a negative PET scan, neck dissection was performed at the discretion of the attending surgeon and decision of the patient. There was a total of 70 heminecks available for analysis (17 patients had bilateral neck disease). Results: There were 21 heminecks with residual lymphadenopathy identified on CT imaging or clinical examination and negative PET. Of these, 4 had neck dissection and were pathologically negative. The remaining 17 were observed without neck dissection. There was a total of 42 heminecks without residual lymph nodes on post-RT CT imaging or clinical examination with a negative PET. They were also observed without neck dissection. Seven heminecks had a positive PET scan and residual lymphadenopathy. Six of them had neck dissection and 1 had fine-needle aspiration of a residual node; 3 contained residual viable cancer and 4 were pathologically negative. At median follow up of 26 months (range, 12–57 months), no regional failure was identified. The negative predictive value of PET was 100% and positive predictive value was 43%. Conclusion: For patients who have no evidence of residual lymphadenopathy and a negative FDG PET scan 12 weeks after definitive radiation, neck dissection can be safely withheld. Even in cases in which small residual lymphadenopathy was observed, regional recurrences have not occurred when the post-RT PET scan was negative and neck dissection was withheld. For patients with large residual lymphadenopathy (greater than 2.0–3.0 cm in size) but a negative post-RT FDG PET, further studies with longer follow-up are necessary to determine the appropriateness of withholding neck dissection.
Characterizing the hardness and modulus of thin films using a mechanical properties microprobe

A new ultralow load microindentation system has been acquired by the Metals and Ceramics Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The system's spacial resolution and its data acquisition capabilities allow the determination of several mechanical properties from submicrometre volumes of materials, hence the term mechanical properties microprobe. In this paper we demonstrate the ability of such a system to measure the modulus and hardness of an ion-implanted sapphire specimen. The implantation process results in an amorphous surface layer 155 nm thick. The hardness and modulus of the amorphous Al2O3 are 10 GPa and 200 GPa respectively. This represents a 60% reduction in hardness and a 50% reduction in modulus compared with the unimplanted material.
A semi-elliptic analysis for 2-D viscous flows through cascade configurations

A semielliptic formulation, termed the interacting parabolized Navier-Stokes (IPNS) formulation, is developed for the analysis of a class of subsonic viscous flows for which streamwise diffusion is negligible but which are significantly influenced by upstream interactions. A two-step alternating-direction-explicit numerical scheme is developed to solve the resulting governing equations efficiently. The quasi-linearization and discretization of the equations are carefully examined so that no artificial viscosity is added externally to the scheme. Various simple channel and cascade flow configurations are examined for several values of Re, thickness ratio and Mach number, in order to establish the applicability of the IPNS model for these flows. With this model, solutions to compressible as well as nearly incompressible flows are obtained without any modification either in the analysis or in the solution procedure.
An Issue for the 1990s: The Efficacy of the Required Master's Degree

By the turn of the century, the societal expectation that teachers should be better educated than the general population will require that teachers have a master's degree. Data showing a modest relationship between the percentage of teachers within a district holding the master's degree and student achievement are presented. The probable effect of state policy requiring teachers to obtain a master's degree on this relationship is discussed. It is recommended that states offer adequate and equitable salary incentives to teachers with a master's degree and that they insti tute policies that allow beginning teachers with a bachelor's degree to receive provisional certifi cation but require a master's degree after a specified number of years for permanent certifica tion.
Volatile complexes of some lanthanides and related elements with fluorinated β-diketones and organophosphorus adducts

Abstract The behavior of lanthanide trifluoroacetylacetonates and hexaf luoroacetyl-acetonates of mixed complexes with tri- n -butylphosphate as the adduct has been studied by thermogravimetric methods. Thermal properties of mixed ligand-adduct complexes containing new fluoroorganophosphorus donors have also been examined. Substantial improvements in volatility and thermal stability of chelates of the lan-thanides with either HTFA or HHFA were obtained by displacing the hydrated water with an organophosphorus donor. The thermal stability and volatility of chelates of uranium(IV), uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) were also determined.
Reducing dynamic compilation overhead by overlapping compilation and execution

An important problem in executing applications in energy-sensitive embedded environments is to tune their behavior based on dynamic variations in energy constraints. One option for achieving this is dynamic compilation /spl sim/ compiling code fragments on the fly to adapt to changing energy demands. While dynamic compilation can be very beneficial in many embedded environments where multiple criteria need to be satisfied during execution, it can also incur a significant performance overhead since compilation takes place at runtime. The goal in this work is to reduce this performance overhead of dynamic compilation by overlapping it with application execution. Specifically, provided that we have available hardware resources to perform dynamic compilation concurrently with application execution, our approach compiles the next code fragment to be executed while we are executing the current code fragment. The experimental results from our implementation indicate significant savings in execution times. Our experimental results also indicate that the proposed strategy performs consistently well under different parameters.
Experimental Validation of a State-Switched Absorber Used to Control Vibrating Continuous Systems

A state-switched absorber (SSA) is a device capable of instantaneously changing its stiffness, thus it can switch between resonance frequencies, increasing its effective bandwidth as compared to classical tuned vibration absorbers for vibration control. Previous numerical work has shown that an optimized SSA outperforms an optimized TVA at controlling vibrations of both a beam and a plate. This paper details the experimental validation of these simulation results. An SSA was realized by employing magneto-rheological elastomers to achieve a stiffness change. The stiffness of these elastomers is a function of the magnetic field put across them. Experiments were conducted on both a cantilever beam and a square plate clamped on all sides. Each system was excited by several two-frequency component excitations. For each forcing combination, several tuning configurations of the SSA were applied and the kinetic energy of the system was found. This observed performance was compared to the performance found through numerical simulations of a system with a similar tuning and excitation configuration. It was found that the observed performance follows closely with results found through numerical simulation.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Phase diagram of dilute polyelectrolytes: Collapse and redissolution by association of counterions and co-ions

Dilute solutions of strongly charged polymer electrolytes undergo, upon addition of multivaltent salt to the solutions, a phase transition from extended to collapsed or bundled conformations. Upon further addition of salt they experience a second transition, a redissolution back into extended conformations. This paper presents a theoretical study of the structure and properties of the phase diagram of these solutions. On the basis of phenomenological observations a schematic phase diagram is constructed that allows a simple and explicit determination of the direction of the tie lines within the coexistence region. The actual shape of the coexistence boundary is determined by means of a model mean free energy functional that explicitly includes the possibility of association of both counterions and co-ions to the electrolytes. It is found that it is possible to redissolve the electrolytes into conformations where the bare charge of the electrolytes is overcompensated by the counterions but, due to the associated co-ions, can have either sign of total effective charge. When co-ion association is possible, the redissolution approximately coincides with the reassociation of the co-ions and counterions in the bulk of the solution.