cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Traction esophageal diverticulum: a rare cause of gastro-intestinal bleeding

Esophageal diverticula are uncommon lesions that are usually classified according to their location (cervical, thoracic, or epiphrenic), or underlying pathogenesis (pulsion or traction), and their morphology (true or false).The majority of esophageal diverticula are acquired lesions that occur predominantly in elderly adults. Pulsion, or false, diverticula are the most commonly encountered type of esophageal diverticula noticed at the level of cricopharyngeus muscle, occur as a localized outpouchings that lacks a muscular coat, and as such their wall is formed entirely by mucosa and submucosa. True, or traction, esophageal diverticulum (TED) is seen in the middle one third of the thoracic esophagus in a peribronchial location, occurs secondary to mediastinal inflammatory lesions such as tuberculosis or histoplasmosis. The resultant desmoplastic reaction in the paraesophageal tissue causes full thickness pinching on the esophageal wall, producing a conical, broad-mouthed true diverticulum. They often project to the right side because subcarinal lymph nodes in this area are closely associated with the right anterior wall of the esophagus. TED usually presents with symptoms such as dysphagia, postural regurgitation, belching, retrosternal pain, heartburn, and epigastric pain. As in patients with pharyngoesophageal (Zenker’s) diverticula, pulmonary symptoms are often present but underestimated in TED patients. These symptoms range from mild nocturnal cough to life-threatening massive aspiration. In this particular report we describe a rare case of TED presenting as a symptomatic upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Diagnostic evaluation of TED includes chest X-ray, barium esophagogram and manometry. A significant proportion of lower esophageal diverticula are associated with motility disorders. Management of TED include treating the underlying cause sometimes a surgical resection of diverticulum along with esophageal myotomy is necessitated in symptomatic patients.
A graphene field effect transistor for high temperature sensing applications

As power density keeps increasing tremendously in emerging VLSI nanotechnology, the sensing and monitoring of die temperature is vital, implying the need for high performance materials compatible with current CMOS technology. Graphene is a promising material for sensor applications due to its planar geometry and high electrical and thermal conductivity. In this work, we have explored the feasibility of a thin oxide graphene field effect transistor (G-FET) as a temperature sensor. The resistivity of the device has been calculated using the semi-classical transport equations considering the scattering mechanisms by substrate polar phonons and intrinsic phonons. The generated self-heating in graphene-silicon dioxide interface, silicon dioxide layer and back-gated silicon wafer has been also considered to extract the saturation velocity of graphene at high electric field and high temperature. We have found that the resistivity of GFET is highly sensitive to high ambient temperature variation. The calculated temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of G-FET at high temperatures (~600oC) is three times higher than room temperature exhibiting the highly sensitive resistance to high temperature variation. The resistance shows third order dependence on the ambient temperature in the range of 0 to 600oC and the TCR at high temperatures has been demonstrated a high dependence on the drain-source voltage ranging from &#1049459; &#1051976; &#1049459;&#1049458;&#1051455;&#1051447;&#1049088; &#1048582; &#1048579;&#1051501; to &#1049461;&#1049060;&#1049459;&#1049463; &#1051976; &#1049459;&#1049458;&#1051455;&#1051447;&#1049088; &#1048582;&#1048579; &#1051501; for the voltage spanning from 5V to 1V while that of low temperature is relatively unalterable.
Pressure Antagonism of Barbiturate Anesthesia

The losses of righting reflex produced by various doses of phenobarbital in mice at 1 atm O2 versus 1 atm O2 plus 102 atm He were determined. The resulting dose-response curve at pressure gave an ED50 that was 64 per cent larger than the ED50 at 1 atm. This increment is essentially the same as that found for gaseous anesthetics under similar test conditions. The quantitative similarity of the results of pressure reversals of barbiturate and inhalational anesthetics suggests that the mechanisms or sites of action of these agents are similar. However, the dose-response curve at 103 atm was steeper than that at 1 atm. This raises an alternative possibility that anesthetics and pressure bear no mechanistic relationship to each other, but rather that pressure produces a generalized central nervous system stimulation that would antagonize any depressant effect.
Protective effects of 5-iodo-6-amino-1,2-benzopyrone, an inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase against peroxynitrite-induced glial damage and stroke development

Peroxynitrite triggers DNA single-strand breakage, which activates the nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase (PARS). Activation of PARS depletes its substrate, NAD+, slowing the rate of glycolysis, electron transport, and ATP formation, resulting in cell necrosis. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of PARS with the novel, potent PARS inhibitor 5-iodo-6-amino-1,2-benzopyrone (INH2BP) protects against peroxynitrite-induced cell death (as measured by measurement of mitochondrial respiration and release of lactate dehydrogenase) in C6 glioma cells in vitro, and in a murine stroke model in vivo. Inhibition of PARS with INH2BP may represent a novel approach for the experimental therapy of stroke.
Quantitative analysis of the EEG in the intracarotid amobarbital procedure. I. Amplitude analysis

Thirty-seven subjects underwent bilateral internal carotid artery injections of amobarbital prior to surgery for intractable epilepsy. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of these patients was continuously monitored during these 74 procedures and was later subjected to quantitative analysis. Topographic mapping of these data suggested that the areas of inactivation were largely restricted to the anterior 2/3 of the hemisphere injected, corresponding to the vascular distributions of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries. Graphical representation of the data demonstrated that delta and theta band activity peaked in the first 2 min post injection and decreased gradually thereafter, becoming stable at around 12 min post injection. Examination of the alpha, beta 1, and beta 2 bands suggested that activity increased and decreased more gradually than that for delta and theta, with perhaps a longer latency. Although EEG changes were most prominent in the anterior 2/3 of the inactivated hemisphere, similar (though smaller) changes were also observed in both ipsilateral and contralateral zones thought to be outside of the vascular distribution of the internal carotid artery.
Bound NAD+ in glucose 6-phosphate cycloaldolase of Acer pseudoplatanus

Abstract In the absence of added NAD+, d -glucose 6-phosphate cycloaldolase from Acer pseudoplatanus L. cells and rat testes retains 74 to 100% of the activity obtained with added NAD+. NADP+ at or above 1 mM inhibits both enzymes. Prolonged dialysis of Acer cycloaldolase against ethylenediamine tetraacetate or reversible destruction of its sulfhydryl groups by tetrathionate reduces the NAD+-independent activity to about 65% of the value in the presence of NAD+. Addition of 1 mM NAD+ restores the activity to 100%.
Erythropoietin and Iron

SUMMARY The US blood supply is the safest it has ever been, due to evolution of a combination of donor education, donor screening, and new laboratory assays. Currently, the most significant risk of mortality from blood transfusion is administrative error resulting in an ABO mismatch between blood unit and transfusion recipient, with hemolysis (one in 60,000) and death (one in 600,000). Knowledge gained regarding the relationship between erythropoietin, iron, and erythropoiesis suggests that under conditions of maximal stimulation of red blood cell precursors, iron restricted erythropoiesis occurs. The emergence of safer iron preparations makes the administration of intravenous iron a possible solution to the problem of iron restricted erythropoiesis. The value of this approach has been best demonstrated in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis. Clinical trials are needed to establish the value of parenteral iron supplementation in other clinical settings employing erythropoietin therapy.
Dissections of a tetrahedron

Abstract A formula for the maximum number of cells formed by planes that dissect a tetrahedron through its edges is established in four ways: by recursion, by a computation using Euler's formula V − E + F − C = 1, as a special case of a general partition formula due to S. Roberts, and as a consequence of a formula of Steiner's on the partition of space by families of parallel planes.
Radiometric Calibration Of Fourier Transform Semiconductor Photoluminescence

The radiometic calibration of a Fourier transform spectrometer has been carried out with relation to semiconductor photoluminescence. The technique employed made use of a calibrated source of spectral irradiance and a diffuse reflector of known spectral reflectance. To obtain the instrumental calibration from 700 meV to 1500 meV (5600 to 12000 cm-1), the luminescent material was replaced by the illuminated diffuser and its spectrum was measured. An example is given of the photoluminescence of a silicon film grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with in situa ion beam doping (IBD) of Ask+-ions. The spectra before and after the application of the radiometric correction are compared over the range 740 to 1160 meV.
Sonographic diagnosis and follow-up of abdominal neuroblastoma.

Intraabdominal neuroblastomas were evaluated by sonography in 30 children, 18 of whom underwent 2–5 studies, for a total of 63 examinations. All tumors had a variable and inhomogeneous echo pattern, but the level of echogenicity and changes in echo texture with therapy were of no value in predicting the course of disease. Sonography was limited in delineating the extent of tumor and in following response to therapy. Total resolution of abdominal disease could not always be accurately diagnosed with sonography. Computed tomography is recommended to evaluate further those children in whom abdominal disease is thought to have resolved, since heavily calcified, residual neuroblastoma may be mistaken for bowel gas on sonography.
Activation of the α2β1 integrin-mediated malignant phenotype on type I collagen in pancreatic cancer cells by shifts in the concentrations of extracellular Mg2+ and Ca2+

The authors have previously demonstrated that alpha(2)beta(1) integrin-mediated pancreatic cancer cell adhesion to Type I collagen is Mg(2+)-dependent, inhibited by Ca(2+), and that this integrin, purified from cell lysates using Type I-collagen-sepharose in Mg(2+), can be eluted with Ca(2+). In the present study, the authors examined the divalent cation-dependency of alpha(2)beta(1) integrin-mediated pancreatic cancer cell adhesion, migration and proliferation on Type I collagen, an extracellular matrix protein shown to be highly up-regulated, and to promote the malignant phenotype in vitro and in vivo. The results indicate that cells attach to Type I collagen maximally when Mg(2+) is greater than 1 mM, and that addition of increasing concentrations of Ca(2+) reduces this adhesion. These effects are reversible, in that previous cell attachment in Mg(2+) can be reversed by adding Ca(2+), and vice versa. They also demonstrate that pancreatic cancer cells migrate and proliferate on Type I collagen in Mg(2+) alone, but maximally when Mg(2+) is present at concentrations that promote maximal cell adhesion and Ca(2+) is present at concentrations less than Mg(2+). Cell adhesion and proliferation assays, as well as affinity chromatography on Type I collagen using anti-integrin function-blocking monoclonal antibodies indicate that the effects of these divalent cation shifts are mediated specifically by the alpha(2)beta(1) integrin. As pancreatic juice contains over 1,200-fold more Mg(2+) than Ca(2+) and solid tumors are characterized by increased magnesium load, these data indicate that such pathophysiological divalent cation shifts could be involved in the activation of the alpha(2)beta(1) integrin-mediated malignant phenotype on Type I collagen in the pancreatic cancer.
Getting a handle on protein prenylation.

Protein prenylation plays a key role in the localization and function of many proteins, but the number and identities of prenylated proteins are unknown. A new study uses a multidisciplinary approach to provide a broad yet detailed snapshot of prenylation within the mammalian proteome.
“Because We Like To”: Young Children’s Experiences Hiding in Their Home Environment

This qualitative study of 3-to-5-year-old children’s hiding places and experiences is framed around the importance of recognizing children as active agents in creating their own culture and places in the world. Through the use of interactive data collection strategies collected at school and in children’s homes, including book discussions, representation activities, place tours, and interviews with children and parents, this research found that young children have many kinds of hiding places that serve various purposes in their lives. Children’s most common hiding places were in closets, under blankets, under beds, and behind couches. Children engaged in hiding alone and as a social activity. Through hiding, children gained control and constructed their own rules in their home environments. Hiding places also offered children a sense of comfort and security and provided a space for play and creativity. Early childhood educators need consider the significance of children’s hiding places and activities as they construct their own sense of place and identity.
Grammaticality judgments of an extended optional infinitive grammar: Evidence from English-speaking children with specific language impairment.

This study reports on the outcomes of an investigation designed to evaluate competing accounts of the nature of the grammatical limitations of children with specific language impairment (SLI) with ...
Disrupted Adaptive Routing: Gossip-Based Routing in Delay-Tolerant Networks

One of the main challenges for Delay-Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocols is to limit network transmissions while achieving a high degree of network coverage. Recently there has been much effort on probabilistic forwarding using a gossip-based approach to reduce the network transmissions in MANETs. We apply a gossip-based approach to DTNs and show that it exhibits a phase transition property for delivery ratio: for some values of gossip probabilities and packet lifetimes the delivery ratio is very low and hardly any nodes receive the packet, for the remaining gossip probabilities and packet lifetimes, the delivery ratio is at its highest and a large fraction of the nodes receive the packet. The phase transition thresholds correspond to minimum network transmissions while providing the highest possible delivery ratio. We present Disrupted Adaptive Routing (DAR), a gossip-based DTN routing protocol, that exploits this phase transition property and develops an adaptive algorithm to compute gossip probabilities based on the phase transition thresholds in random networks. Furthermore, we augment DAR with a mechanism that trades off a small packet metadata with the summary vector exchange of the epidemic protocol, thereby reducing the network transmissions even more. We present experimental results that show that DAR outperforms the traditional epidemic routing protocol by 76% in terms of network transmissions while providing 27% improved delivery ratio and 18% lower average packet delay.
Helping Preservice Teachers Learn to Use Teacher Effectiveness Research

Ross and Kyle provide teacher educators with a way of presenting and discussing teacher effectiveness research in the context of the teacher education curric ulum. The authors argue that it is im perative that preservice teachers de velop an ability to use and reflect on conflicting research findings. The read ing research and direct instruction studies serve as paradigmatic cases.
Training Pediatric Residents in Evidence-Based Ethics: An Exploratory Clinical Trial ♦ 161

Background: There is an increasing need to train physicians to make sophisticated ethical decisions based on a critical assessment of patient prognosis. Physicians often have an overly pessimistic view of the outcome of premature infants and a limited ability to evaluate neonatal and follow-up studies. Purpose: We assessed whether a brief educational intervention would increase housestaff knowledge, ethical sophistication, and epidemiologic skills needed to address treatment decisions for marginally viable newborns. Hypotheses: A brief educational intervention for pediatric housestaff prior to their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) rotation will: a) augment their knowledge base as assessed by the number of housestaff who substantially overestimate rates of death and cerebral palsy among extremely premature infants; b) augment the ethical sophistication of housestaff as assessed by the number of specific ethical issues considered in recommending whether to provide intensive care to marginally viable infants; and c) augment the epidemiologic skills of housestaff as assessed by the methodologic criteria used to evaluate the quality of follow-up studies. Methods: A clinical trial involving 64 pediatric housestaff was performed with alternating control and intervention housestaff rotations in the NICU. A 45-60 min discussion involving neonatal case studies and literature review was provided to intervention housestaff before their Parkland NICU rotation. Intervention and control groups were evaluated at the end of their rotation, using an 8-item questionnaire scored by two faculty members blinded to treatment group. Results: Intervention housestaff were less likely than controls to substantially overestimate mortality (23% vs 55%) and morbidity (46% vs 74%) for extremely premature infants in our center;(p<0.05). Intervention housestaff tended to cite more methodologic criteria to evaluate follow-up studies than did controls; (p=0.052). The intervention did not increase the range of ethical criteria considered in treatment recommendations for marginally viable infants. Cerebral palsy rates (as compared to those reported in the methodologically strongest follow-up studies) were substantially overestimated by a high percentage of both intervention and control housestaff (70% vs 87%); (p=0.123). Conclusions: Our intervention had limited success. A more intensive intervention may be required to have a large impact on housestaff skills in addressing difficult ethical issues for marginally viable infants.
Daily surface UV exposure and its relationship to surface pollutant measurements.

Abstract For the past 30 years, the stratospheric ozone layer has decreased in the Northern Hemisphere. The main effect of this ozone decrease was an expected increase in the UV radiation at the Earth’s surface, but there has been no clear evidence of an increasing urban trend in surface UV. This study shows that specific air pollutants can reduce the increased surface levels of UV radiation and offers an explanation for why the expected surface UV increases have not been observed, especially in urban regions. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) UV monitoring site at the University of California at Riverside combined with air pollution data from a site operated by the California Air Resources Board in Rubidoux, CA, provided the basis of this study. The 1997 South Coast Ozone Study (SCOS-97) provided three key ingredients: black carbon, PM10 concentrations, and collocated radiometric measurements. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite data were used to provide the stratospheric ozo...
Use of the tapered double-cantilever beam geometry for fracture toughness measurements and its application to the quantification of self-healing:

The successful invention of self-healing polymer composites a decade ago necessitated a methodology to quantify the ability of the material to heal and recover structural properties following damage. Healing efficiency was defined as the ratio of healed to virgin fracture toughness, η = KIChealed/KICvirgin. Early work took advantage of the crack length independence offered by a tapered double-cantilever beam (TDCB) fracture geometry to simplify calculation of healing efficiency to the ratio of healed to virgin critical loads, η = PChealed/PCvirgin. The current work investigates the application of the TDCB geometry and three common geometries utilized in the broader fracture literature (the compact tension (CT), single-edge notch bend (SENB), and single-edge notch tension (SENT) geometries) to the measurement of healing efficiency. While the TDCB geometry simplifies the calculation of healing efficiency because the crack lengths do not need to be accounted for, it is shown that if the virgin and healed cra...
Development of gastrointestinal mucosal barrier. I. The effect of age on intestinal permeability to macromolecules.

Development of Gastrointestinal Mucosal Barrier. I. The Effect of Age on Intestinal Permeability to Macromolecules
The even-skipped locus is contained in a 16-kb chromatin domain.

The even-skipped (eve) gene of Drosophila melanogaster is a crucial member of the pair-rule class of segmentation genes. We report here the characterization of a 16-kb region sufficient for all known aspects of eve expression and the rescue of an eve null mutation. We began by examining 45 kb surrounding the eve coding sequence for DNaseI hypersensitive sites and other transcription units. We find that the previously identified eve regulatory elements, those for early stripes 2, 3, and 7 and the late element, do not generate prominent hypersensitive sites. However, strong, constitutive DNaseI hypersensitive sites flank a 16-kb region, within which one developmentally regulated site is found at the eve promoter region. P-element transformation of this 16-kb domain into eve mutants rescues them to adult viability. This 16-kb domain contains regulatory elements for all known features of eve expression: the seven major blastoderm stripes, minor stripe expression during germ band extension, and later expression in the lateral mesodermal muscle precursor cells, in the central nervous system, adjacent to the invaginating proctodeum, and in a ring around the anal pad. We have begun a preliminary dissection of the 16-kb domain into its constituent regulatory elements. Other major findings include the following: (1) There is a second element for late stripe expression adjacent to the traditional late element. (2) A stripe element 3' of the gene interacts with the late element to give rise to the minor stripes seen in the even-numbered parasegments. (3) Expression in the proctodeum and anal pad is driven by sequences both 5' and 3' of the gene. (4) Expression in different sites in the central nervous system is driven by separable elements widely dispersed throughout 8 kb 3' of the gene.
Specific protection of cyclophosphamide-immunosuppressed mice by vaccination withLegionella pneumophila

Mice are highly resistant to infection byLegionella pneumophila compared with guinea pigs. In the present study injection of mice with moderate doses of cyclophosphamide before and at the time of challenge injection with viable legionellae made the animals much more susceptible to these organisms. The doses of cycloplosphamide used for the short time suppressed the mice in terms of their ability to form antibody and develop cellular immunity toLegionella antigens as measured by the splenic blastogenic assay. Vaccination of mice with a sublethal dose ofLegionella (106 organisms) or with 107 killed bacteria in complete Freund's adjuvant protected the cyclophosphamide-treated mice from infection with liveLegionella. It seems apparent that a vaccine prepared from live organisms or killed bacteria in adjuvant may be protective for immunosuppressed mice.
Half-metallic hole-doped Mn/Si trilayers

Metallic trilayers are successfully used to fabricate spintronic devices. To pursue an analogue of layer-structured spintronic materials, we demonstrate that it is possible to obtain attractive magnetic properties in hole-doped Mn/Si trilayers. We found that by forming a trilayer structure, with Mn-occupying interstitial sites, and by introducing a layer of holes in between, the sample can be a half-metal. This new finding should open a viable route to grow Si-based half-metallic spintronic materials because doping Mn at interstitial sites significantly reduces the formation-energy barrier as compared with the transition metal element occupying substitutional sites. An argument is also presented that a finite width of an Mn layer may not destroy the half-metallic property.
A Critical Test of the Waist-to-Hip-Ratio Hypothesis of Female Physical Attractiveness:

Recent research has led to increasingly sophisticated conjectures as to the roles that genetic heritage, prior experience, and environmental context play in the production and maintenance of complex behaviors. The field of evolutionary psychology was born of such conjectures (Stanley, 1895) and now serves as a niche for a growing number of researchers (Buss, 1995; Kenrick, 1994). One of the more provocative lines of experimental research to emerge from this alembic derives from the linkage of evolutionary theories of human mate selection with definitions of physical attractiveness based on somatic characteristics that simultaneously signal attractiveness and predict reproductive potential (Buss, 1989). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) has been purportedly demonstrated to be a robust example of just such an invariant perceptual cue (e.g., Henss, 1995; Singh, 1993a). Here, we report that judgments of attractiveness and fecundity can be either unrelated or related, positively or negatively, to the WHR depending ...
Laplacian fields of bell-type electrostatic painting systems

A Laplacian model (i.e excluding the space charge effect) for a bell-type electrostatic painting system has been developed using the charge-simulation technique. The study involved the evaluation of the electric field in the space between the bell and the paint target as well as at their surfaces. An investigation was also conducted to determine the variations that occur to the electrical parameters when: (1) the bell-to-target spacing is changed; and (2) the size of the target is varied. Finally, results are reported for incorporating the charge-simulation model in a routine that predicts the paint-droplet trajectories from the bell to the target. The results of the developed model predict that the field-dependent droplet charging mechanisms, which are required to ensure strong electrical forces on the droplets, will be insensitive to the size of the workpiece and the spacing between the bell and the target. However, the magnitude of the fields at the workpiece, which account for the enhanced deposition in electrostatic painting, are shown to be highly dependent on these parameters. >
Microwaves for medical imaging: Some possible pathways for an accelerated progress towards clinical practice

The talk will start from a brief review of the physical basis of microwave imaging for medical diagnostics and of the challenges that have to be faced in this technology, to present three areas which are possibly the most promising ones for a fruitful application of microwave imaging in the medical arena. The first one is the monitoring of brain injuries, which is a topic of increasing importance for its impact on the European health system in the ageing society. In particular, it will be discussed how microwave imaging can play a role both in the detection of the diseases in the early stage and in their clinical follow-up, by filling the gap between current diagnostic modalities and the need of continuous monitoring at the patient's bed. The second one is the potential of enhancing the capabilities of microwave imaging by means of contrast agents. Indeed, while contrast enhancement is a common practice to improve performances in medical imaging, it presents even some remarkable and specific advantages in microwave imaging, provided suitable contrast agents are adopted. Third, and not last, the intrinsically dual nature of microwaves, which are not only a diagnostic tool, but also a therapeutic means (hyperthermia, thermo-ablation), makes them a suitable candidate to address the emerging paradigm of theranostics, wherein the imaging capability provide the basis for truly patient specific treatments.
The quest for a new dimension of system integration

Summary form only given. While innovation in manufacturing continues to push the envelope of CMOS device scaling toward the physical limit, at the meantime, system integration has found an alternative path to delay the limitation by using silicon-interposer based design with through-silicon-via (TSV) or true 3-D IC die stacking to cram more devices within the same chip pacakge. These solutions enable tight integration of heterogeneous processes, miniaturize the overall footprint of a sub-system, and provide shorter interconncet with higher bandwidth, thereby improving both the power and performance. In this talk, I will describe the evolutionary endeavor to the realization of 3-D IC. I will then discuss the latest Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) technology offered by TSMC and the test vehicle implementation with wide I/O DRAM, followed by my view of the prospect of true 3-D die stacking.
Tuning sensitivity to IL-4 and IL-13: differential expression of IL-4Rα, IL-13Rα1, and γc regulates relative cytokine sensitivity

Interleukin (IL)-4 and -13 are related cytokines sharing functional receptors. IL-4 signals through the type I (IL-4Rα/common γ-chain [γc]) and the type II (IL-4Rα/-13Rα1) IL-4 receptors, whereas IL-13 utilizes only the type II receptor. In this study, we show that mouse bone marrow–derived macrophages and human and mouse monocytes showed a much greater sensitivity to IL-4 than to IL-13. Lack of functional γc made these cells poorly responsive to IL-4, while retaining full responsiveness to IL-13. In mouse peritoneal macrophages, IL-4 potency exceeds that of IL-13, but lack of γc had only a modest effect on IL-4 signaling. In contrast, IL-13 stimulated greater responses than IL-4 in fibroblasts. Using levels of receptor chain expression and known binding affinities, we modeled the assemblage of functional type I and II receptor complexes. The differential expression of IL-4Rα, IL-13Rα1, and γc accounted for the distinct IL-4–IL-13 sensitivities of the various cell types. These findings provide an explanation for IL-13's principal function as an “effector” cytokine and IL-4's principal role as an “immunoregulatory” cytokine.
Correlated charge form factors of p-shell nuclei

Abstract Electron scattering form factors for p-shell nuclei are calculated including short range correlations in a finite well shell model basis. Dependence of the form factor on the strength of the correlations is found to be more important than variations of the well geometry. For Woods-Saxon wells with geometries from optical model results and well depths determined by single particle seeparation energies, the inclusion of correlations improve agreement with experiment.
The effects of the acute administration of phencyclidine hydrochloride (PCP) on the release of corticosterone, growth hormone and prolactin in the rat.

Abstract There is little information on the neuroendocrine effects of PCP. The present study examined the effects of the acute subcutaneous administration of PCP on serum levels of corticosterone, growth hormone and prolactin in the male rat. PCP increased serum levels of corticosterone, decreased serum levels of prolactin and failed to affect growth hormone levels. The results indicate that like other drugs of abuse, PCP alters neuroendocrine function.
Nonlinear model predictive control of a dual-independent variable valve timing engine with electronic throttle control

Significant excursions of engine variables occur during fast transients because of slow actuator responses and system dynamics. This creates adverse effects on dynamic performance and often causes emissions penalties. The challenge is particularly pronounced in engines with an increased number of actuators. In this paper, non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) is introduced to improve the dynamic response of a flexible engine system. NMPC combines advantages of both feed forward and feedback control while considering their constraints. The length of control horizon and prediction horizon are determined to achieve the dead-beat-like optimal control during transients and ensure smooth responses. The NMPC significantly improves the engine torque response and minimizes the excursions of in-cylinder variables under highly transient operation by adjusting each actuator control input simultaneously to achieve the control objectives.
Playground safety and access in Boston neighborhoods

Background Youth physical activity is partly influenced by access to playgrounds and recreational opportunities. Playgrounds in disadvantaged areas may be less safe. Methods Investigators assessed safety at 154 playgrounds in Boston between July 2000 and July 2001. Playgrounds were geocoded and safety scores assigned to census block groups (CBGs). For each of Boston's 591 CBGs, investigators calculated the total number youth and proportions of black residents, adults without a high school degree, and youth living in poverty. Investigators assigned each CBG a safety score, and calculated distance from the CBG centroid to the nearest playground and nearest "safe" playground (top safety quartile). Statistical analyses were completed using SAS PROC GENMOD by October 2002. Results In bivariate analysis, playground safety was inversely associated with total CBG youth population ( p =0.001) and proportions of black residents ( p p =0.003) and residents with no high school degree ( p p =0.013), independent of CBG educational attainment and numbers of youth. The average distance was 417 meters to the nearest playground and 1133 meters to the nearest "safe" playground. Distance to the nearest playground was inversely associated with the proportion of residents with no high school degree ( p p =0.04). Conclusions In Boston, playground safety and access to playgrounds varied according to indicators of small-area socioeconomic and racial/ethnic composition.
In Vitro Immunomodulatory Effects of Ten Commonly Used Herbs on Murine Lymphocytes

Objectives: Physicians are increasingly encountering patients who use herbal products. Some of these products are known to modulate the immune system but their scientific basic is not well established. Because these products can affect the host immune system, they could be beneficial in the treatment of immune-related diseases, or alternatively, they could cause inadvertent side-effects. The purpose of this study was to determine which of these common herbal products modulate lymphocyte proliferation in vitro. Methods: Lymphocyte proliferation assays using concanavalin A (mitogen stimulation) and mixed lymphocyte culture (alloantigen stimulation) were used as in vitro tests to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of 10 commonly used herbal products. Results: Ginger and tea were consistently immunosuppressive while dong quai, milk thistle, and St. John's wort were consistently immunostimulatory in vitro. Ginseng enhanced lymphocyte proliferation only in the mitogen-stimulation assay. The magnitude of t...
Face recognition under variable lighting using harmonic image exemplars

We propose a new approach for face recognition under arbitrary illumination conditions, which requires only one training image per subject (if there is no pose variation) and no 3D shape information. Our method is based on the result of Basri and Jacobs (2001), which demonstrated that the set of images of a convex Lambertian object obtained under a wide variety of lighting conditions can be approximated accurately by a low-dimensional linear subspace. In this paper, we show that we can recover basis images spanning this space from just one image taken under arbitrary illumination conditions. First, using a bootstrap set consisting of 3D face models, we compute a statistical model for each basis image. During training, given a novel face image under arbitrary illumination, we recover a set of images for this face. We prove that these images are the set of basis images with maximum probability. During testing, we recognize the face for which there exists a weighted combination of basis images that is the closest to the test face image. We provide a series of experiments that achieve high recognition rates, under a wide range of illumination conditions, including multiple sources of illumination. Our method achieves comparable levels of accuracy with methods that have much more onerous training data requirements.
A Direct Visual and Motor Neural Interface Demonstration in a Rat

Developments of the past decades have shown it is possible to decode and extract control signals directly from the brain for use in neuromotor prosthetics. Currently, there is a push towards developing closed loop interface systems. Here we describe our early results in a rat model of a sensory/motor neurophysiological feedback control system. Traditional operant conditioning techniques historically train an animal to increase or decrease the occurrence of a behavior in response to a stimulus using various types of reinforcement. Here we demonstrate a rat performing an operant conditioning task with the modification that the rat's behavioral output and stimulus input are accessed via direct electrical connections with the brain. Our preliminary results here show a rat successfully trained to modulate the firing rates of its motor cortex in response to intra-cortical microstimulation of the visual cortex.
The effects of emphasizing computational thinking in an introductory programming course

In many introductory programming courses, the surface features of the programming language can distract and intimidate students so much that they fail to concentrate on what is really the ldquobrainyrdquo task: solving the problem conceptually. To counter this, we devised a form of structured pseudocode, designed to highlight and facilitate algorithmic construction so that the complexities of the programming language can be deferred until proficiency in design has been reached. Students taught with this experimental approach are not introduced to the language itself, or the compiler, until the last few weeks of the semester. A controlled experiment comparing this approach with a traditional language-based pedagogy has revealed that by the end of the course, studentspsila programming skills, even on language-specific tasks, is every bit as strong as students taught traditionally, and that their comfort level with modularity (writing functions) is increased. Additionally, we found that students appear to strongly prefer such an approach, citing mostly emotive benefits, and that these effects may be particularly strong among women.
Special Lake Types

Certain of the vast number of lakes distributed over the surface of the Earth have special limnological characteristics. Bog lakes in the northern latitudes, reservoirs, anthropogenically acidified lakes in Scandinavia and eastern North America and below strip-mining operations, meromictic lakes, playa lakes in arid regions, and alpine lakes, provide examples of a diversity of exceptional conditions that add to the fascination and enjoyment of limnological studies. We suggest you explore as many of these diverse habitats in your local area as possible. A discussion of several examples follows.
Probing the Active Site Loop Motif of Murine Ferrochelatase by Random Mutagenesis

Ferrochelatase catalyzes the terminal step of the heme biosynthetic pathway by inserting ferrous iron into protoporphyrin IX. A conserved loop motif was shown to form part of the active site and contact the bound porphyrin by molecular dynamics calculations and structural analysis. We applied a random mutagenesis approach and steady-state kinetic analysis to assess the role of the loop motif in murine ferrochelatase function, particularly with respect to porphyrin interaction. Functional substitutions in the 10 consecutive loop positions Gln248–Leu257 were identified by genetic complementation in Escherichia coli strain Δvis. Lys250, Val251, Pro253, Val254, and Pro255 tolerated a variety of replacements including single substitutions and contained low informational content. Gln248, Ser249, Gly252, Trp256, and Leu257 possessed high informational content, since permissible replacements were limited and only observed in multiply substituted mutants. Selected active loop variants exhibited kcat values comparable with or higher than that of wild-type murine ferrochelatase. The Km values for porphyrin increased, except for the single mutant V251L. Other than a moderate increase observed in the triple mutant S249A/K250Q/V251C, the Km values for Fe2+ were lowered. The kcat/Km for porphyrin remained largely unchanged, with the exception of a 10-fold reduction in the triple mutant K250M/V251L/W256Y. The kcat/Km for Fe2+ was improved. Molecular modeling of these active loop variants indicated that loop mutations resulted in alterations of the active site architecture. However, despite the plasticity of the loop primary structure, the relative spatial positioning of the loop in the active site appeared to be maintained in functional variants, supporting a role for the loop in ferrochelatase function.
Processes of Political Socialization A Communication Mediation Approach to Youth Civic Engagement

By analyzing data from a national panel survey of adolescents (ages 12-17) and their parents conducted around the 2008 general election, this study explores the varied roles communication plays in socializing youth into democratic citizenship. In particular, we propose and test a communication mediation model of youth socialization, in which interdependent communication processes located in the family, schools, media, and peer networks combine to cultivate communication competence, a set of basic communication skills and motives needed for active and informed participation in public life. Analysis of our panel data indicates that participation in deliberative classroom activities and democratic peer norms contribute to civic activism among youth. These peer and school influences, however, are found to be largely indirect, working through informational use of conventional and online news media, and expression and discussion of political ideas outside of classroom and family boundaries. In particular, our f...
ADAMTS13 testing: why bother?

In this issue of Blood , Kremer Hovinga and colleagues demonstrate that a lower level of initial plasma ADAMTS13 activity (< 10%) is associated with higher risk of relapse in patients with TTP. Also, patients with a low plasma ADAMTS13 activity and high-titer inhibitor (≥ 2 BU) appear to have
Controlling privacy in recommender systems

Recommender systems involve an inherent trade-off between accuracy of recommendations and the extent to which users are willing to release information about their preferences. In this paper, we explore a two-tiered notion of privacy where there is a small set of "public" users who are willing to share their preferences openly, and a large set of "private" users who require privacy guarantees. We show theoretically and demonstrate empirically that a moderate number of public users with no access to private user information already suffices for reasonable accuracy. Moreover, we introduce a new privacy concept for gleaning relational information from private users while maintaining a first order deniability. We demonstrate gains from controlled access to private user preferences.
Antigenic relationship between placenta and kidney in humans

Abstract The distribution pattern of antigens common to the human placenta and kidney was studied by Coons' fluorescent antibody technique. The antisera were prepared in rabbits by immunization with placental fractions obtained by differential centrifugation. Four groups of common antigens were identified. Antigens of the heavy particles material resided within the epithelial and mesenchymal basement membranes. Antigens of the mitochondrial and microsomal fractions were present in the cytoplasm of the placental trophoblast and renal proximal tubular epithelium; microsomal antigens also occurred in the visceral glomerular epithelium. Soluble antigens common to the placenta and kidney were demonstrable by immunodiffusion but could not be localized immunohistologically. Thus far attempts to demonstrate circulating antibodies against either the basement membrane or cytoplasmic antigens in the serum of normal gravidas and toxemic patients were unrewarding.
Reversible and repeatable linear local cell force response under large stretches

Large stretching and un-stretching force response of adherent fibroblasts is measured by micromachined mechanical force sensors. The force sensors are composed of a probe and flexible beams. The probe, functionalized by fibronectin, is used to contact the cells. The flexible beams are the sensing element. The sensors are made of single crystal silicon and fabricated by the SCREAM process. The maximum cell stretch reached is ∼50 μm, which is about twice of the cell initial size, and the time delay between two consecutive stretching/un-stretching steps is 75 s unless otherwise stated. We find that the force response of the cells is strongly linear, reversible, and repeatable, with a small stiffening at the initial deformation stage. Force response of single cells measured before and after cytochalasin D treatment suggests that actin filaments take almost all the cell internal forces due to stretch. These findings may shed light on the increasing understanding on the mechanical behavior of cells and provide clues for making new classes of biological materials having uncommon properties.
Participants at your fingertips: Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to increase student–faculty collaborative research.

The literature suggests students gain important skills when directly involved with faculty in research. However, students at smaller institutions are often faced with limited research opportunities and faculty members are faced with limited participant-pools, funding, and space to perform research. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) may provide a solution to many of these problems. MTurk provides an online human participant-pool, along with tools to build experiments, and it allows data to be collected quickly and inexpensively. In this study of narrative fiction and empathy, data was collected using the traditional, laboratory-based approach, and on MTurk using identical measures and protocols. Results indicated MTurk data exhibits comparable reliability, gender and ethnicity composition to data collected in the laboratory. Two important differences emerged: MTurk participants were 10 years older, on average, and they demonstrated higher scores on trait measures of empathy and state measures of involvement...
Middle-range nursing theories are necessary for the advancement of the discipline

This article tries to discuss general aspects on models of nursing knowledge, basic elements for its development and practice. First, it shows the importance of the development of knowledge sustained by the practice and the expression of it by means of four knowledge models: empirical or nursing science, ethical, esthetical or nursing art, and personal. A description of each model of knowledge takes place, beginning with the personal one. Its meaning is showed as something basic for the development of ethical and aesthetical models, as it is a condition sine qua non such models are not totally developed or expressed satisfactorily in practice. It presents the discussion on evolution of epistemological questions toward philosophy and ontology. It tries to progress in the knowledge of the self or essence of what is known, to end with a summary on repercussions of knowledge models inclusion in syntax of nursing discipline.