cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evolutionary conservation of the polyproline II conformation surrounding intrinsically disordered phosphorylation sites.

Intrinsically disordered (ID) proteins function in the absence of a unique stable structure and appear to challenge the classic structure-function paradigm. The extent to which ID proteins take advantage of subtle conformational biases to perform functions, and whether signals for such mechanism can be identified in proteome-wide studies is not well understood. Of particular interest is the polyproline II (PII) conformation, suggested to be highly populated in unfolded proteins. We experimentally determine a complete calorimetric propensity scale for the PII conformation. Projection of the scale into representative eukaryotic proteomes reveals significant PII bias in regions coding for ID proteins. Importantly, enrichment of PII in ID proteins, or protein segments, is also captured by other PII scales, indicating that this enrichment is robustly encoded and universally detectable regardless of the method of PII propensity determination. Gene ontology (GO) terms obtained using our PII scale and other scales demonstrate a consensus for molecular functions performed by high PII proteins across the proteome. Perhaps the most striking result of the GO analysis is conserved enrichment (P < 10−8) of phosphorylation sites in high PII regions found by all PII scales. Subsequent conformational analysis reveals a phosphorylation-dependent modulation of PII, suggestive of a conserved “tunability” within these regions. In summary, the application of an experimentally determined polyproline II (PII) propensity scale to proteome-wide sequence analysis and gene ontology reveals an enrichment of PII bias near disordered phosphorylation sites that is conserved throughout eukaryotes.
Oral bioavailability of the novel cannabinoid CB1 antagonist AM6527: effects on food-reinforced behavior and comparisons with AM4113.

Drugs that interfere with cannabinoid CB1 transmission suppress food-motivated behaviors, and may be clinically useful as appetite suppressants. Several CB1 receptor inverse agonists, such as rimonabant and AM251, as well as the CB1 receptor neutral antagonist, AM4113, have been assessed for their effects on food-motivated behavior. One important criterion for establishing if a drug may be useful clinically is the determination of its oral bioavailability. The present studies compared the effects of AM4113 and a novel CB1 antagonist, AM6527, on the suppression of food-reinforced behavior following intraperitoneal (IP) and oral administration. AM4113 and AM6527 both suppressed lever pressing after IP injections. The ED50 for the effect on FR5 responding was 0.78 mg/kg for IP AM4113, and 0.5763 mg/kg for IP AM6527. AM6527 also was effective after oral administration (ED50 = 1.49 mg/kg), however, AM 4113 was ineffective up to oral doses of 32.0 mg/kg. AM 4113 may be very useful as a research tool, but its lack of oral activity suggests that this drug might not be effective if orally administered in humans. In contrast, AM 6527 is an orally active CB1 antagonist, which may be useful for clinical research on the appetite suppressant effects of CB1 antagonists.
Effects of Forest Management on Soil C and N Storage: Meta Analysis

Abstract The effects of forest management on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are important to understand not only because these are often master variables determining soil fertility but also because of the role of soils as a source or sink for C on a global scale. This paper reviews the literature on forest management effects on soil C and N and reports the results of a meta analysis of these data. The meta analysis showed that forest harvesting, on average, had little or no effect on soil C and N. Significant effects of harvest type and species were noted, with sawlog harvesting causing increases (+18%) in soil C and N and whole-tree harvesting causing decreases (−6%). The positive effect of sawlog harvesting appeared to be restricted to coniferous species. Fire resulted in no significant overall effects of fire on either C or N (when categories were combined); but there was a significant effect of time since fire, with an increase in both soil C and N after 10 years (compared to controls). Significant differences among fire treatments were found, with the counterintuitive result of lower soil C following prescribed fire and higher soil C following wildfire. The latter is attributed to the sequestration of charcoal and recalcitrant, hydrophobic organic matter and to the effects of naturally invading, post-fire, N-fixing vegetation. Both fertilization and N-fixing vegetation caused marked overall increases in soil C and N.
High gradient accelerators for linear light sources

Ultra-high gradient radio frequency linacs powered by relativistic klystrons appear to be able to provide compact sources of radiation at XUV and soft x-ray wavelengths with a duration of 1 picosecond or less. This paper provides a tutorial review of the physics applicable to scaling the present experience of the accelerator community to the regime applicable to compact linear light sources.
The "novela corta" as "comedia": Lope's "Las fortunas de Diana"

The tendency of literary genres to overlap and blur formal differences characterizes many Golden Age works. Without confusing their separate aims, playwrights and novelists shared many stylistic and structural principles. Although such interaction encouraged creativity, abuse of its limits proved to be self-defeating. The latter can be observed in the general weakness of the novela corta during the period 1615–1640; the former in the originality of Lope's short fiction.
On substructuring algorithms and solution techniques for the numerical approximation of partial differential equations

Substructuring methods are in common use in structural mechanics problems where typically the associated linear systems of algebraic equations are positive definite. Here these methods are extended to problems which lead to nonpositive definite, nonsymmetric matrices. The extension is based on an algorithm which carries out the block Gauss elimination procedure without the need for interchanges even when a pivot matrix is singular. Examples are provided wherein the method is used in connection with finite element solutions of the stationary Stokes equations and the Helmholtz equation, and dual methods for second-order elliptic equations.
A Statistical Variance Components Framework for Mapping Imprinted Quantitative Trait Locus in Experimental Crosses

Current methods for mapping imprinted quantitative trait locus (iQTL) with inbred line crosses assume fixed QTL effects. When an iQTL segregates in experimental line crosses, combining different line crosses with similar genetic background can improve the accuracy of iQTLs inference. In this article, we develop a general interval-based statistical variance components framework to map iQTLs underlying complex traits by combining different backcross line crosses. We propose a new iQTL variance partition method based on the nature of marker alleles shared identical-by-decent (IBD) in inbred lines. Maternal effect is adjusted when testing imprinting. Efficient estimation methods with the maximum likelihood and the restricted maximum likelihood are derived and compared. Statistical properties of the proposed mapping strategy are evaluated through extensive simulations under different sampling designs. An extension to multiple QTL analysis is given. The proposed method will greatly facilitate genetic dissection of imprinted complex traits in inbred line crosses.
Liberal Education in the Age of the Unthinkable

Ours is an age of unexpected and rapid change that challenges our traditional paradigm of liberal education in America. In his book The Age of the Unthinkable, Joshua Cooper Ramo argues that we now...
Rhythms in a diurnal brain

The neural mechanisms governing circadian rhythms generate patterns of behavior and physiology that are very different in diurnal and nocturnal species. Here we review data bearing on the issue of where and how in the brain these differences might be generated. Molecular data from several species now confirm that the central circadian clock, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), is coupled to the light – dark cycle in the same manner in nocturnal and diurnal species, indicating that the fundamental differences arise from mechanisms coupling the clock to effector systems. Major differences in this coupling become apparent only when one steps beyond the SCN to look at brain regions that directly or indirectly receive input from it. This review focuses on our work on brain regions and cell populations to which the SCN projects in the diurnal species Arvicanthis niloticus (Nile grass rats). We have found rhythms in the numbers of cells containing cFos, or PER1, in a number of these regions, and the pa...
A role for natural killer T cells and CD1d molecules in counteracting suppression of hematopoiesis in mice induced by infection with murine cytomegalovirus.

Objective Infection of immunocompromised patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV), such as that occurring in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, is a serious clinical problem. CMV infection has been reported to suppress hematopoiesis. In immunocompetent hosts CMV is controlled initially by the innate immune system, with CD1d molecules and natural killer T (NKT) cells playing a role in the antiviral immune response in several model systems. We hypothesized that CD1d and NKT cells are involved in protection of the hematopoietic modulating effects of CMV, and that adoptive transfer of NKT cells would protect against these infection-induced effects. Methods To address our hypothesis, we used a murine CMV (MCMV) infection model in CD1d −/− , Jα18 −/− , and wild-type (WT) control mice of two different genetic strains each. Results Infection with MCMV was associated with significant suppression of absolute numbers and cell cycling status of myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GM, BFU-E, CFU-GEMM) in the marrow and spleen, especially in CD1d −/− (lack both CD1d and NKT cells), and Jα18 −/− (express CD1d but lack NKT cells) mice. Adoptive transfer of NKT cells into WT and Jα18 −/− mice shortly before infection with MCMV counteracted myelosuppression. Conclusions The results implicate NKT cells, and also likely CD1d, in protection of progenitor cells from MCMV-induced suppression and suggest that NKT cells may be of value in an adoptive transfer setting to treat CMV-induced perturbations of hematopoiesis in immunocompromised individuals. However, further studies are required to better understand the full consequences of adoptive transfer in these settings.
Arundo donax—Source of musical reeds and industrial cellulose

Arundo donax has played an important role in the culture of the western world through its influence on the development of music. Reeds for woodwind musical instruments are still made from the culms, and no satisfactory substitutes have been developed. This grass has also been used as a source of cellulose for rayon and considered as a source of paper pulp.
Structural and Biochemical Identity of Retinal Rod Outer Segment Membrane Guanylate Cyclase

Recent molecular cloning reports show that there are at least three membrane guanylate cyclases in vertebrate retina: (1) atrial natriuretic factor receptor guanylate cyclase (ANF-RGC), (2) C-type natriuretic peptide receptor guanylate cyclase (CNP-RGC), and (3) "retinal guanylate cyclase" (RetGC). The specific cellular localization of the first two cyclases is unknown, but RetGC is apparently localized in photoreceptor cells, suggesting that it participates in visual transduction. With the overall objective of identifying the guanylate cyclase that is linked to phototransduction, we compared the structural and regulatory properties of the biochemically characterized 112 kDa bovine rod outer segment membrane guanylate cyclase (ROS-GC) with those of RetGC, ANF-RGC and CNP-RGC. The N-terminal and two internal peptide sequences of purified ROS-GC had about 90% similarity with the corresponding sequences of the RetGC; the sequence identity with natriuretic peptide receptor cyclases was about 30%. A 19 amino acid long sequence from a tryptic peptide of ROS-GC had no corresponding sequence in the other three cyclases. ROS-GC was inhibited by ATP but ANF-RGC and CNP-RGC were activated by ATP in the presence of the respective peptide hormones. These results suggest that ROS-GC represents a new subtype of the membrane guanylate cyclase family that is structurally and biochemically distinct from the other retinal cyclases.
Markov models for application behavior analysis

Given the pervasive nature of malicious mobile code (viruses, worms, etc.), developing statistical/structural models of application execution is of considerable importance in the domain of cyber security. This work describes the inference of Markov models based on system call sequences realized by Windows XP applications: discrete-parameter Markov chains for the sequential nature of the system calls, and continuous-parameter Markov chains for the inter-arrival times between system calls. Both types of Markov chains are inferred using benign application data, and thus serve as models of benign application behavior. The goal is to classify new, unobserved system call sequences essentially as "self" or "non-self" based on the amount of deviation such sequences exhibit from the inferred models. The techniques of inference and classification can be applied to cyber security by detecting anomalous application behavior, exhibited by either malicious mobile code or unvetted benign applications.
Architecture tradeoffs in high-density microstimulators for retinal prosthesis

Electrical stimulation of the retinal layer inside the eye has been identified as a form of visual prosthesis to restore lost vision in blind patients affected by retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, through several studies and experiments. While initial clinical experiments using retinal prosthesis have resulted in visual perception in humans, psychophysical tests and simulations suggest that a high-density retinal prosthesis is required to restore vision to a level of reading and mobility. In the implanted prosthetic device, the microstimulator is functionally the closest to the tissue, delivering the electrical stimulation. Choosing the suitable architecture of the microstimulator requires the knowledge of the available choices and the tradeoffs associated with each of them. This paper presents the different architectures of microstimulator for high-density retinal prosthesis considering both the biomedical and circuit perspectives. The choices for the key aspects of the microstimulator-location of the chip in the eye, electrode configuration, method of stimulation, demultiplexing, stimulation sequence, and communication protocol-are discussed along with the associated tradeoffs for each of them. One of the architectures is used in a prototype microstimulator for an implantable epi-retinal prosthetic device to be used in clinical trials. The chip consists of 60 independently programmable output drivers for delivering electrical stimulus and digital controller for managing run-time and configuration data. The circuit details of the chip fabricated in 1.2-/spl mu/m CMOS technology and its measurement results are presented.
Near-neutral drag coefficients over open-ocean waves

Reanalysis of open-ocean eddy-correlation drag coefficients observed at Argus Island Tower near Bermuda indicates that near-neutral drag coefficients decrease with increasing mean horizontal wind velocity when the dominant (spectral peak) ocean wave phase velocity is much greater than the mean wind velocity. Near-neutral drag coefficients attain constant values when the dominant wave phase velocity approaches mean wind velocity, and increase again when mean wind velocity is greater than or equal to dominant wave phase velocity.
Cycle structure of automorphisms of finite cyclic groups

Abstract Given an automorphism ψ of a finite cyclic group C and a natural number, n , a criterion is given to determine whether or not ψ has a cycle of length m . Further, a number-theoretic formula, involving the Euler -function is given, to determine the exact number of such cycles. Some further group properties of such automorphisms are also discussed.
Structural and absorption studies of the thermochromic transition in poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Abstract We present initial data from x-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) absorption, and infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy measurements made during thermal cycling of unoriented, solution cast, poly(3-hexylthiophene) films. The x-ray studies clearly indicate that a bulk structural order-disorder transition occurs concurrently with the known thermochromic transition. In particular, we characterize and describe the physical changes which occur during this very broad, and somewhat unusual, transformation at temperatures from 100°C to 180°C. From the x-ray data it appears that this transition is completely reversible. However, the transition exhibits marked thermal hysteresis. In addition, careful analysis of the UV-VIS and IR absorption data clearly identify irreversible processes. The significance of these results, with reference to the specific electronic properties of the polymer backbone, will be discussed.
Orbital stability constraints on the nature of planetary systems

A fully self-consistent, N-body computer code is used to study conditions under which model planetary systems, each consisting of a star and two 'planetary' companions, become orbitally unstable as a result of gravitational interactions between the companions. A formula describing a necessary condition for orbital stability is given. It is found that giant gaseous protoplanets of the type postulated by Cameron (1978) to be precursors of the present-day solar system planets could have stable orbits for at least 10,000 years, the time required for significant core formation in a typical giant gaseous protoplanet.
Effect of thyrotropin on the release of iodide from the thyroid.

The concentrations of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) soluble and TCA-prccipitablc iodine in the arterial and thyroid venous plasma of the pcntobarbitalanesthetizcd dog were measured serially before and after the systemic administration of thyrotropin. When the glandular iodine had been labelled by administration of I131 2 to G days earlier, the injection of thyrotropin resulted in a prompt release not only of FBI131 but also of iodide127 from the gland, and there was a loss from the gland of appreciable quantities of iodide127 as well. The release of iodide which was detectable within 30 minutes after TSH injection, was enhanced by the administration of perchlorate. Since thyrotropin had little effect on the thyroidal accumulation of plasma iodide under these conditions, the inorganic iodide released from the gland was not iodide newlyentered from the plasma, but arose from an iodine-containing precursor within the gland. A prompt stimulatory effect of TSH upon an intraglandular deiodination process appears t...
The differential effects of prenatal stress in rats on the acoustic startle reflex under baseline conditions and in response to anxiogenic drugs.

Rationale: The prenatal stress syndrome (PS) is characterized by exaggerated behavioral and physiological responses to stressful stimuli and anxiogenic agents. Objectives: To characterize the behavioral effects of PS on the acoustic startle reflex (ASR) and to determine the possible role of PS-induced alterations in noradrenergic control of ASR by determining the effects of the α2-adrenoceptor antagonists, yohimbine, idazoxan, and RS79948–197. Methods: PS was induced by exposing pregnant dams to a mild stressor of handling and saline injection (0.1 ml, s.c.) from gestational days 14 to 21. Control dams were left undisturbed throughout pregnancy. Using adult male offspring, all ASR studies consisted of either a 30- or 60-min testing period containing 60 or 120 acoustic startle stimuli trials (95 dB, 50 ms noise burst) at a fixed intertrial interval of 30 s after a 5-min acclimation period. For drug studies, a 3-day repeated measures design was implemented. Results: With the exception of the response to the first startle stimulus on the first day of testing, there were no significant differences in baseline ASR between control and PS offspring. Low doses of yohimbine, idazoxan, and RS79948–197 were anxiogenic in the ASR test in both control and PS offspring. PS offspring were less responsive to higher doses of yohimbine (5 mg/kg) and idazoxan (8 mg/kg) but did not differ from control in their responses to any dose of RS79948–197. Conclusions: Anxiogenic effects of yohimbine, idazoxan, and RS79978–197, likely mediated via α2-adrenoceptor blockade, are similar in control and PS rats. Differences between control and PS rats occurred in the response to higher doses of yohimbine and idazoxan. Non-specific effects of these drugs, such as actions at 5HT1A receptors, may cause their behavioral profile to be altered by PS, and to differ from the highly selective RS79948–197.
Comparison of the Hopfield neural network versus optimal control theory for the data association portion of the multitarget tracking problem

Considerably attention has been focused lately on using neural networks to optimize the solution to data association. A neural network has been shown to provide a good approximation to the joint probabilistic data association method. This paper will detail the method in which a Hopfield neural network can be used for data association in the multitarget tracking problem. In addition, a comparable optimal control theory solution will be presented. Both the Hopfield Neural Network and the optimal control theory approach were shown to provide adequate results in optimizing the data association portion of the multitarget tracking problem with neither method proving to be superior. In execution time, the optimal control theory approach is the preferred method. The purpose of this paper is not to state that optimal control theory is superior to the Hopfield Neural Network is solving constrained optimization problems. Optimal control theory cannot be used in cases where all goals are weighted equally, since no one goal can be viewed as a constraint. In conclusion, in certain data association problems, the optimal control theory approach in comparison with the Hopfield Neural Network is shown to be significantly more efficient with the same measure of accuracy.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Quantification of myocardial perfusion MRI using radial data acquisition: comparison of Ktrans from dual-bolus and T1 estimation methods

Introduction Myocardial perfusion MRI is a useful modality to detect myocardial ischemia. Quantitative perfusion estimates require an accurate arterial input function (AIF). Recently, a method for estimating T1 and thus gadolinium concentration from a radial k-space perfusion sequence was proposed [1]. The method created four sub-images with differing effective saturation recovery times (eSRTs) from 96 ray acquisitions to estimate T1. No measures of truth were used to evaluate the method in vivo. In this work, we employ a similar technique for obtaining T1 estimates and compare to perfusion estimates from a dual-bolus method, a current standard for quantifying myocardial perfusion [2].
Course Materials—Syllabus and Textbooks

Course materials such as the syllabus and textbook set the tone for a course. Therefore, careful planning must go into developing a syllabus and choosing a textbook. An effective syllabus can increase the number of successful students and decrease the number of problems that arise throughout a course by communicating the instructor's expectations for students in the course. A syllabus usually includes standard information like the logistics of when, where, and who; a well-written syllabus also answers questions like what and why. Student learning correlates more with the textbook than the instructor; consequently, choosing a textbook is an important aspect of teaching a course. The most critical component to consider is whether or not the textbook supports the course objectives. This paper covers these aspects, as well as provides guidelines to assist in developing a syllabus and choosing a textbook.
Evaporative heat loss in the California sea lion and harbor seal.

Abstract 1. 1. Total evaporative heat loss was measured in four California Sea Lions and one Harbor Seal at air temperatures between 13 and 30°C. The total heat loss was partitioned into respiratory and cutaneous components. 2. 2. Thermal polypnea was not observed to occur in any of the animals and respiratory evaporative heat loss was estimated to represent less than 3 per cent of the heat production when the animals were hyperthermic in a hot environment (31°C). 3. 3. Active sweating was noted on the bare skin of the flippers of the sea lions but not on the haired surface of the torso. The total cutaneous evaporative heat loss accounted for approximately 16 per cent of the heat produced by metabolism, in a hot environment. 4. 4. It was concluded that evaporative heat loss mechanisms were relatively ineffective in California Sea Lions and in the Harbor Seal also.
An exploratory model of the impact of rapid climate change on the world food situation

A simple, globally aggregated, stochastic-stimulation model was constructed to examine the effects of rapid climatic change on agriculture and the human population. The model calculates population size and the production, consumption and storage of grain under different climate scenarios over a 20-year projection time. In most scenarios, either an optimistic baseline annual increase of agricultural output of 1.7% or a more pessimistic appraisal of 0.9% was used. The rate of natural increase of the human population exclusive of excess hunger-related deaths was set at 1.7% per year and climatic changes with both negative and positive impacts on agriculture were assessed. Analysis of the model suggests that the number of hunger-related deaths could double (with reference to an estimated 200 million deaths in the past two decades) if grain production keeps pace with population growth but climatic conditions are unfavourable. If the rate of increase in grain production is about half that of population growth, the number of hunger-related deaths could increase about fivefold (over past levels); the impact of climatic change is relatively small under this imbalance. Even favourable climatic changes that enhance agricultural production may not prevent a fourfold increase in deaths (over past levels) under scenarios where population growth outpaces production by about 0.8% per annum. These results may foreshadow a fundamental change where, for the first time, absolute global food deficits compound inequities in food production and distribution in causing famine. The model also highlights the effectiveness of reducing population growth rates as a strategy for minimizing the impact of global climate change and maintaining food supplies for everyone.
A Model for stress generation and relief in oxide — Metal systems during a temperature change

When an oxidized metal is cooled from a high temperature, stresses are produced at the metal-scale interface, owing to the difference in thermal expansion rates of the oxide and metal. Such stresses become time- and temperature-dependent if the scale or underlying metal creeps as cooling occurs. A model is presented which describes thermally induced stresses in the scale and accounts for partial stress relaxation by creep of the metal substrate and/ or the scale. The expected stresses are a function of the material parameters: thermal expansion coefficients, elastic modulii, and creep rates of both metal and scale. To illustrate a range of behaviors, we have presented example calculations for three Cr2O3 forming metals, Ni-30Cr, pure Cr, and MA-754. The effect of stress relaxation during thermal cycling was also examined briefly. In these examples, creep of the Cr2O3 scale was not expected to be important.
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Antiperspirant Preparations Using Frog Membrane and Radioactive Tracer Techniques

Abstract Astringents have been shown to increase the rate of iodide ion penetration of frog membrane, using radioiodine as a tracer. The increase is proportional to the amount and effectiveness of the astringent. Commercial antiperspirant preparations (liquid and cream) were tested by comparing their relative effect on the penetration of iodide ion when applied side by side on frog skin. Liquid preparations were compared with liquids, and cream preparations were compared with creams. A group of fifteen commercial and research preparations were evaluated by the method described.
Perceptual Grouping and High-Order Cognitive Ability

High-order cognitive functions require the integration of information across functionally related modules. This relationship suggests that cognitive ability is related to the efficiency and processing speed of basic integrative function. In order to examine individual differences for this relationship, we compared standardized tests of intelligence to visual perceptual grouping abilities, which represents a basic process of integration. Sixty participants discriminated perceived grouping of dot patterns based upon similarity in luminance. Psychophysical measurements were made of the functional limits and processing speed of grouping. We assessed cognitive abilities with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) and found that measures of grouping efficiency as well as speed varied considerably across subjects, indicating substantial individual differences at this relatively early level of visual processing. Faster grouping speed was associated with higher scores on all WASI subtests, whereas g...
Neurotrophins, synaptic plasticity and dementia.

The growing realization that neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are crucial in modulating synaptic plasticity has broadened the spectrum of their trophic actions. At the same time, it has become clear that Aβ peptides derived from amyloid precursor protein (APP) have dramatic effects on synaptic transmission before the onset of the neurodegenerative disease. Because neurotrophins and Aβ are responsible for affecting both synaptic and cognitive function, it is likely that their mechanisms of action will be related and might even intersect. This review highlights several recent findings that suggest trophic factors and APP use similar pathways to control neuronal activity.
Permeability to interbubble gas diffusion in liquid foam

Abstract Changes over time in initially sharply bimodal distributions of bubble size in aqueous foam were measured in a more representative manner than heretofore. Results confirm that the permeability to gas transfer between bubbles can exceed that of Fick's law. This supports the importance of micromixing in the interstitial liquid.
Impact of the 80-hour workweek on surgical case exposure within a general surgery residency program.

Objective The objective of this statistical analysis was to test the hypothesis that implementation of the 80-hour workweek restrictions for General Surgery residents at Riverside Methodist Hospital after July 2003 decreased their operative experience relative to surgical residents trained at Riverside before these changes. Design, Setting, Participants Data were collected from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education national database and from Riverside Methodist Hospital's General Surgery Residency records for a sampling of academic years before and after the duty-hour changes in surgical education (July 1, 2003). Current procedural terminology (CPT) surgical procedure codes logged by postgraduate year (PGY) 5 General Surgery residents 15 years before and 5 years after implementation of the 80-hour workweek were compared. The outcome variables “total major cases” and “Chief cases” were compared between 2 study groups defined by the time intervals exclusively before July 2003 (“pre”) and inclusively after July 2003 (“post”). Hospital general surgical case volume for the study intervals was also tallied. Statistical analyses included 1- and 2-sided t-tests, nonparametric tests, and t-tests on a 3-parameter logarithmic transformation of the data. Results Despite an upward trend in total general surgery cases (slope = 25/year, p = 0.005), there was a statistically significant decrease in the operative experience for categorical surgical residents following the 80-hour workweek restrictions. The mean (SD) number of major cases performed by “pre”-restriction residents during their training significantly exceeded that of their “post” cohorts (1395 [326] vs 953 [134], p Conclusions Despite an increase in the total number of major operative cases available, the volume of cases performed by residents has decreased after implementation of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work-hour restrictions. Our data suggest that the impact of the 80-hour workweek has had a detrimental effect on the conventional resident training experience.
How Ethnoraciality Matters Looking inside Ethnoracial “Groups”

The color line is still a central problem in the United States, as Du Bois declared more than a century ago. But economic, demographic, and social trends have subdivided it in ways that Du Bois could not have foreseen, creating tremendous intra-ethnoracial group diversity. A challenge for twenty-first-century scholarship is to make sense of the implications of growing intra-group diversity for the boundaries and meaning of group identity. Meeting this challenge requires treating intra-group diversity not merely as an outcome of various social processes. Intra-group diversity must also be seen as the origin of processes shaping the boundaries and meanings of group identities, as well as intergroup attitudes and relations. Meeting the challenge also necessitates adopting ethnographic and survey research practices that better capture the dynamism of the multiple color lines defining the American ethnoracial landscape and the implication of this dynamism for identity.
Optical diagnostics of diamond CVD plasmas

Chemical vapor deposition of diamond occurs in a dynamic reacting environment which is far from chemical equilibrium. Real time, in situ, non intrusive diagnostics of the reacting gas mixture are needed to develop and test models of the chemical mechanism of diamond growth. We demonstrate the use of laser- induced fluorescence to probe the rotational state distribution in diamond depositing dc-arc-jet plasma to infer the gas temperature which is required to model the chemistry. Compensation for collision dynamics of the laser-excited state plays an important role in the determination of accurate and precise gas temperatures.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Isochronism Studies at IUCF

A non-intercepting, charge sensitive, sampling beam phase probe, similar to the design developed for the 15 MeV injector cyclotron, was recently installed on the moveable south valley probe of the Indiana 200 MeV main stage cyclotron. The probe permits continuous measurement of beam phase from inflection to extraction radius at beam intensities as low as 200 nanoamperes. The measured phase histories obtained show that small deviations from the predictions of our field mapping data are required for isochronous acceleration. The characteristics of the phase probe and the results of the beam phase measurements are discussed.
The site of ammonia excretion in the blowfly larva, Sarcophaga bullata

Abstract 1. 1. Ammonia is excreted by the hindgut of the blowfly larva, Sarcophaga bullata . 2. 2. The Malpighian tubules are not involved in the excretion of ammonia.
Ab initio studies of aromatic‐aromatic and aromatic‐polar interactions in the binding of substrate and inhibitor to dihydrofolate reductase

Aromatic-aromatic and aromatic-polar interactions are investigated by performing ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations. Binding energies and optimum distances between subsystems are obtained. It is found that the binding energy between two benzene rings is of 3.1 kcal/mol when correlation effects are included, while the serine aromatic complexes energies of binding range from 1.9 to 3.1 kcal/mol.
Ancestress Worship: Huxin Temple and the Literati Community in Late Ming Ningbo

This article examines a lawsuit over a local temple called Huxin Temple as a way to discuss the conflicts caused by Buddhist devotion by women within family-centered rituals in seventeenth-century Ningbo. Since two sisters from the prominent Yuan family had donated their dowries to Huxin Temple during the Southern Song period, the Yuans had patronized the temple, until another prestigious family, the Zhangs, took it over. The article argues that the Yuans needed to shift their focus from the Yuan sisters to Yuan Yong, another ancestor of the Yuans, in order to win the lawsuit. The outcome of the lawsuit also demonstrates that the pious ancestresses vanished from the public discourse and were replaced by the Song loyalist Yuan Yong.
An Automated Kinematic Analysis Tool for Computationally Synthesizing Planar Mechanisms

This paper presents an implementation of kinematic analysis to evaluate planar mechanisms for use in an automated design process. The existing software available for kinematic analysis require the user to manually input the mechanism for analysis. But in order to computationally synthesize planar mechanisms, it is important to automatically define the boundary conditions and adjust the necessary parameters to evaluate the kinematics of the mechanism in consideration. Currently, there are no kinematic analysis tools available that can be integrated with a design generation tool. One of the reasons is the absence of a method which not only solves the kinematics reliably but is also applicable to generalized n-bar mechanisms. The authors have implemented the instant center method for solving velocities, the vector polygon approach for solving accelerations and the dyadic decomposition method for solving positions. This implementation operates on n-bar mechanisms consisting of four-bar loops and one-degree of freedom on revolute (R), prismatic (P) and revolute-prismatic (R-P) joints. The developed method takes advantage of the concepts in object oriented programming as well as a unique representation based on graph-grammar formalism. This paper describes the methodology used for generalizing kinematic analysis for integration with a concept generator along with examples to validate the implementation.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Pericarditis in patients with leukemia.

Abstract 1. 1. Four leukemic patients who developed pericarditis during the course of their illness are reported. Adhesive pericarditis was found at post-mortem examination in two patients with myelogenous leukemia. In the remaining two patients with lymphogenous leukemia, effusion was the major finding. One of the patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia recovered from an episode of pericarditis and survived for eleven months. 2. 2. The electrocardiographic changes in three patients were characterized by tachycardia, low voltage, elevation of ST complexes, and flat to inverted T waves. 3. 3. Peripheral blood leukocyte counts above 100,000 were present in three of the four patients. In the remaining patient, the peripheral blood leukocyte count was consistently below 2,500 per cubic millimeter. 4. 4. It is suggested that pericarditis with cellular infiltration occurs more frequently than usually suspected in leukemic patients and may often contribute to their death.
Spectrum of mutations in RARS-T patients includes TET2 and ASXL1 mutations

While a majority of patients with refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts and thrombocytosis harbor JAK2V617F and rarely MPLW515L, JAK2/MPL-negative cases constitute a diagnostic problem. 23 RARS-T cases were investigated applying immunohistochemical phospho-STAT5, sequencing and SNP-A-based karyotyping. Based on the association of TET2/ASXL1 mutations with MDS/MPN we studied molecular pattern of these genes. Two patients harbored ASXL1 and another 2 TET2 mutations. Phospho-STAT5 activation was present in one mutated TET2 and ASXL1 case. JAK2V617F/MPLW515L mutations were absent in TET2/ASXL1 mutants, indicating that similar clinical phenotype can be produced by various MPN-associated mutations and that additional unifying lesions may be present in RARS-T.
Role of Glutamine in Cancer: Therapeutic and Imaging Implications

Metabolic imaging has great clinical potential in cancer because perturbations of metabolism are common hallmarks of malignant cellular transformation. Novel imaging strategies focused on glutamine could provide a valuable complement to (18)F-FDG PET, because glutamine complements glucose in the metabolic platforms that support tumor growth at the cellular level. Furthermore, recent work has demonstrated that distinct aspects of glutamine metabolism are under the control of oncogenes and tumor suppressors. It is plausible that imaging glutamine metabolism could predict both the presence of specific transforming mutations in the tumor and the sensitivity to therapeutic agents designed to target glutamine use. Here, we review the essential aspects of glutamine metabolism in cancer cells and discuss opportunities for imaging in cancer patients.
Solitonic D-branes and brane annihilation

We point out some intriguing analogies between field-theoretic solitons (topological defects) and D-branes. Annihilating soliton-antisoliton pairs can produce stable solitons of lower dimensionality. Solitons that localize massless gauge fields in their world-volume automatically imply the existence of open flux tubes ending on them and closed flux tubes propagating in the bulk. We discuss some aspects of this localization on explicit examples of unstable wall-antiwall systems. The annihilation of these walls can be described in terms of tachyon condensation which renders the world-volume gauge field nondynamical. During this condensation the world-volume gauge fields (open string states) are resonantly excited. These can later decay into closed strings, or get squeezed into a network of flux tubes similar to a network of cosmic strings formed at a cosmological phase transition. Although, as in the D-brane case, perturbatively one can find exact time-dependent solutions, when the energy of the system stays localized in the plane of the original soliton, such solutions are unstable with respect to decay into open and closed string states. Thus, when a pair of such walls annihilates, the energy is carried away (at least) by closed string excitations (``glueballs''), which are the lowest-energy excitations about the bulk vacuum. Suggested analogies can be useful for the understanding of the complicated D-brane dynamics and of the production of topological defects and reheating during brane collision in the early universe.
PTH(1-84) Is Associated With Improved Quality of Life in Hypoparathyroidism Through 5 Years of Therapy

Context: In hypoparathyroidism, quality of life (QOL) is compromised as compared to normal subjects. We previously reported our results showing an association with recombinant human PTH(1–84) therapy in hypoparathyroidism and improvement in QOL measures for 1 year. Objective: We tested the hypothesis that PTH(1–84) therapy in hypoparathyroidism through 5 years would be associated with continued improvement in QOL measures. Design: Sixty-nine hypoparathyroid subjects received open-label PTH(1–84). Before and during therapy, subjects completed the RAND 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey, a measure of health-related QOL covering eight domains of physical and mental health. Results: At baseline, subjects scored significantly lower than the normative reference range in all 8 domains (T-scores −1.4 to −0.9; P < .001 for all). With PTH therapy, intention-to-treat analysis showed significant improvement in the overall score at 2 months that persisted through 5 years (386 ± 19 to 482 ± 25; P < .0001). The me...
Elastic IP and security groups implementation using OpenFlow

This paper presents a reference implementation of an Elastic IP and Security Group service using the OpenFlow protocol. The implementation is the first to present integration of OpenFlow within a virtual machine provisioning engine and an API for enabling such services. In this paper the OpenNebula system is used. The Elastic IP and Security Groups services are similar to the Amazon EC2 services and present a compatible Query API implemented by OpenNebula. The core of the implementation relies on the integration of an OpenFlow controller (NOX) with the EC2 server. Flow rules can be inserted in the OpenFlow controller using the EC2 API. These rules are then used by Open vSwitch bridges on the underlying hypervisor to manage network traffic. The reference implementation presented opens the door for more advanced cloud networking services that leverage principles from software defined networking including virtual private cloud, virtual data center spanning multiple availability zones, as well as seamless migration over wide are networks.
Female rats' self-paced responding for artificial sexual stimulation

Female rats in artificially induced estrus were allowed free access to a goal box situated at one end of a runway. Upon entering the goal-box, the female received manual stimulation consisting of either a perineum “clasp” or an “intromission” (cervical probing). Most females developed a pattern of shuttling in and out of the goal box which closely resembled that seen when female rats self-regulate sexual contacts with male rats. The potential value of this technique for studies of female rat proceptivity is discussed.
Surface-micromachined Fabry-Perot tunable filter for wavelength-division multiplexing systems

Summary form only given. In conclusion we have developed a low-temperature surface micromachining process that can be applied to various substrates such as Si, glass, and GaAs. We have demonstrated a tunable optical filter with a 60 nm tuning range near 1.5 /spl mu/m, and a transmission linewidth of 5 nm. This device might find applications in WDM systems and optical sensing.
Hyperglycemic events in non-intensive care unit patients receiving parenteral nutrition.

Background:Evidence supports the benefits of tight glycemic control in many patient populations. There is no consensus on appropriate targets for blood glucose (BG) values in patients receiving parenteral nutrition (PN). Characterization of the frequency of BG abnormalities is necessary to identify effective strategies to improve glycemic control in this patient population.Methods:Data were retrospectively collected over a 2‐month period from 50 non–intensive care unit (ICU) patients who received PN. Frequencies of abnormal BG (defined as BG outside the range of 2 criteria: 80‐200 mg/dL and 100‐150 mg/dL) were determined. An event of hyperglycemia was defined as the 48‐hour period following a BG value outside of 80‐200 mg/dL. Each event was evaluated for resolution within 48 hours of the triggering BG value.Results:Hyperglycemia (at least 1 BG value >200 mg/dL) occurred in 22 patients (44%). Of the 1738 BG values measured, 8.7% were >200 mg/dL, resulting in 1.4 events of hyperglycemia per patient. The ave...