cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Female schizophrenia patients have prepulse inhibition deficits.

Background: Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle shows sexual dimorphism: women have lower levels of PPI than do men, and have menstrual cycle shifts in PPI. Many studies report PPI deficits in male schizophrenia patients; one recent report identified PPI deficits in male but not female patients. This study was designed to determine whether female schizophrenia patients have lower levels of PPI than normal females. Methods: Twenty-five female schizophrenia patients, and 26 normal females were tested in a startle paradigm using 115 dB startle pulses and prepulses of 8 and 16 dB above a 70 dB background, with 30 and 120 msec prepulse intervals. Results: Female patients had significantly less PPI compared with normal females, particularly when 16 dB prepulses were utilized. Patients also exhibited a nonsignificant trend towards lower levels of habituation compared to normal subjects. Conclusions: Under the present paradigmatic and subject acquisition conditions, female schizophrenia patients had PPI deficits compared to normal females.
Teenage Black Girls and Violence: Coming of Age in an Urban Environment

Abstract Exposure to violence and fear of violence in relation to hopefulness and anger were investigated for 30 teenage Black girls 14 to 19 years of age. Information from focus groups was included to provide a context for the empirical data. Results indicated that overall the girls were hopeful, with a mean score of 135 (SD = 18.2) out of a possible score of 168. Correlation and regression procedures revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between hopefulness and exposure to violence. No significant relationship was found between anger and hopefulness. Fear of violence was positively related to exposure to violence but did not appear related to anger or hopefulness. The findings were mixed and did not capture the kind of hopelessness and anger which often appear in the literature describing children growing up in urban environments. Through the use of focus groups the teenage girls provided contextual information which seemed to indicate that many of them shared the values of mainstre...
Fluorescent Modification of Adenosine 3',5'-Monophosphate: Spectroscopic Properties and Activity in Enzyme Systems

The synthesis of a highly fluorescent analog of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, namely, 1,N(6)-ethenoadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, has provided a powerful probe for systems involving adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate. The potential utility of this analog is indicated by its long fluorescent lifetime, detectability at low concentration, and relatively long wavelength of excitation (300 nanometers). In protein kinase systems it is a highly acceptable substitute for adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate.
Faith Development in Graduating Christian College Seniors

This qualitative study involved conducting semistructured interviews with 12 students attending a Christian liberal arts college. The study sought to identify how students’ Christian faith changes over the course of time they are attending college. The factors identified as potentially influencing changes in faith within students attending a Christian liberal arts college include: relationships with mentors and peers, gender differences, and active searching by the student. Results of this study found several areas that influenced the participants’ development of faith while attending college. Three main themes were found to be the most salient aspects of the participants’ development of faith: (a) discovering self and an authentic connection with self, (b) discovering others and an authentic connection with others, and (c) discovering God and an authentic connection with God. Several applications of the results of this research are discussed, including implications for churches as well as universities.
Optimization of QCD perturbation theory: Results for Re+e− at fourth order

Abstract Physical quantities in QCD are independent of renormalization scheme (RS), but that exact invariance is spoiled by truncations of the perturbation series. “Optimization” corresponds to making the perturbative approximant, at any given order, locally invariant under small RS changes. A solution of the resulting optimization equations is presented. It allows an efficient algorithm for finding the optimized result. Example results for R e + e − = 3 ∑ q i 2 ( 1 + R ) to fourth order (NNNLO) are given that show nice convergence, even down to arbitrarily low energies. The Q = 0 “freezing” behavior, R = 0.3 ± 0.3 , found at third order is confirmed and made more precise; R = 0.2 ± 0.1 . Low-energy results in the MS ¯ scheme, by contrast, show the typical pathologies of a non-convergent asymptotic series.
Guzmán de Alfarache in light of San Antonio de Padua: Another look at Alemán's cosmovisión

Mateo Aleman's Guzman de Alfarache is a strikingly complex work, and it is not surprising that critics have offered a wide range of interpretations. Major theses accounting for what the novel expre...
Simulation of the lo-ld Phase Boundary in DSPC/DOPC/Cholesterol Ternary Mixtures Using Pairwise Interactions

Recently, a number of ternary phase diagrams of lipid mixtures have been constructed using various experimental techniques with a common goal of understanding the nature of lipid domains. An accurate experimental phase diagram can provide rich thermodynamic information and can also be used to extract molecular interactions using computer simulation. In this study, the liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered (l(o)-l(d)) phase boundary of DSPC/DOPC/Cholesterol ternary mixtures is simulated in a lattice model using pairwise interactions. The block composition distribution (BCD) technique was used to locate accurately the compositions of coexisting phases and thermodynamics tie-lines in the two-phase region, and the Binder ratio method was used to determine the phase boundary in the critical region. In simulations performed along a thermodynamic tie-line, the BCD method correctly samples the compositions as well as the relative amounts of coexisting phases, which is in excellent agreement with the lever rule. A "best-fit" phase boundary was obtained that has a top boundary closely resembling the experimental boundary. However, the width of the simulated two-phase region is significantly wider than the experimental one. The results show that pairwise interactions alone are not sufficient to describe the complexity of molecular interactions in the ternary lipid mixtures; more complex forms of interactions, possibly multibody interaction or domain interfacial energy, should be included in the simulation.
Particle-associated microorganisms in stormwater runoff

Abstract This research investigated the effects of blending and chemical addition before analysis of the concentration of microorganisms in stormwater runoff from a single summer storm to determine whether clumped or particle-associated organisms play a significant role. The standard membrane filtration method was used to enumerate the microorganisms. All organisms, except for Escherichia coli, showed an increase in the measured concentration after blending samples at 22,000 rpm with or without the chemical mixture. Other than fecal streptococci, the organism concentrations decreased with the addition of the Camper's solution in both blended and unblended samples before analyses. There was a statistically significant interaction between the effects of Camper's solution and the effects of blending for all the organisms tested, except for total coliform. Blending did not alter the mean particle size significantly. The results show no correlation between increased total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal streptococcus concentrations and the mean particle size.
Abnormal N400 Responses But Intact Differential Hemispheric Processing of Ambiguity in Schizophrenia

Disordered thinking in schizophrenia may be a consequence of the selection of conceptual associates of dominant meanings of ambiguous words despite contextual information suggesting subordinate meanings are more appropriate. Previous work using short sentences showed a large N400 event-related potential to subordinate meaning associates and a behavioral semantic bias, but results were variable. The current experiment used word pairs to simplify the procedure and to less tax memory maintenance. Furthermore, hemispheric responses were compared, as evidence suggests the left hemisphere may select dominant meanings, while the right hemisphere may keep all possible meanings active. Subjects indicated whether two words (CUE, TARGET) were related. The CUE, presented for 1 second, could be an ambiguous or an unambiguous noun, and the TARGET, presented 1.25 seconds after the onset of the CUE, was a dominant or subordinate associate, or a related or an unrelated word, respectively. The N400-effect was calculated from difference waveforms over 400-600 msec. Groups (23 schizophrenia, 25 matched controls) showed significantly different N400-effects to the words (group x word, p =.04). Controls showed a graded response, with dominant < subordinate < unrelated. Schizophrenia patients showed the largest N400-effect to subordinate associates, with less activity to dominant meaning associates and unrelated words. Both groups showed a right hemisphere distribution to unrelated words and substantial left hemisphere activation to subordinate associates (word x hemisphere, p <.001). These data support a semantic bias in schizophrenia. They also demonstrate a special role of the right hemisphere in maintaining broad homograph meaning hierarchies. This hemispheric specialization appears to be intact in schizophrenia.
Glaucoma diagnosis by mapping macula with Fourier domain optical coherence tomography

A new image segmentation method was developed to detect macular retinal sub-layers boundary on newly-developed Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FD-OCT) with macular grid scan pattern. The segmentation results were used to create thickness map of macular ganglion cell complex (GCC), which contains the ganglion cell dendrites, cell bodies and axons. Overall average and several pattern analysis parameters were defined on the GCC thickness map and compared for the diagnosis of glaucoma. Intraclass correlation (ICC) is used to compare the reproducibility of the parameters. Area under receiving operative characteristic curve (AROC) was calculated to compare the diagnostic power. The result is also compared to the output of clinical time-domain OCT (TD-OCT). We found that GCC based parameters had good repeatability and comparable diagnostic power with circumpapillary nerve fiber layer (cpNFL) thickness. Parameters based on pattern analysis can increase the diagnostic power of GCC macular mapping.
An essential role for p120-catenin in Src- and Rac1-mediated anchorage-independent cell growth.

p120-catenin regulates epithelial cadherin stability and has been suggested to function as a tumor suppressor. In this study, we used anchorage-independent growth (AIG), a classical in vitro tumorigenicity assay, to examine the role of p120 in a different context, namely oncogene-mediated tumorigenesis. Surprisingly, p120 ablation by short hairpin RNA completely blocked AIG induced by both Rac1 and Src. This role for p120 was traced to its activity in suppression of the RhoA–ROCK pathway, which appears to be essential for AIG. Remarkably, the AIG block associated with p120 ablation was completely reversed by inhibition of the downstream RhoA effector ROCK. Harvey-Ras (H-Ras)–induced AIG was also dependent on suppression of the ROCK cascade but was p120 independent because its action on the pathway occurred downstream of p120. The data suggest that p120 modulates oncogenic signaling pathways important for AIG. Although H-Ras bypasses p120, a unifying theme for all three oncogenes is the requirement to suppress ROCK, which may act as a gatekeeper for the transition to anchorage independence.
A Qualitative Look at the Perceived Strengths of Male Batterers: Implications for Intervention Programs

Currently, batterer intervention programs tend to focus on education and confrontation, with outcomes being less than promising. Limitations of current interventions have encouraged development of alternative treatment forms aimed at ending relationship violence. An emerging trend in the fields of social work and positive psychology is to build on strengths and competencies of offenders. The purpose of this qualitative study was to introduce an alternative position within the treatment field by identifying self-disclosed strengths of men who had been charged with a domestic violence offense and who were being evaluated for a voluntary batterer diversion program. A content analysis revealed competencies useful for helping men be accountable and end violence against their partners through redirecting negative behavior and identifying resources and strengths.
Dissolved Organic Carbon Reference Material Program

Analytical chemistry benefits from uniformly applied and readily accessible reference materials to assess the accuracy of experimental results. Without assessment, experimental findings are best considered with a healthy dose of skepticism. For several chemical analyses, reference materials are available commercially Amino acids, for example, are biochemical analytes for which standard materials are readily available from commercial vendors. There are many environmental analyses, however, for which reference materials are not available. One such measurement had been that of organic carbon dissolved in natural waters.
Markov processes for the prediction of aircraft noise effects on sleep.

Background. Aircraft noise disturbs sleep and impairs recuperation. Authorities plan to expand Frankfurt airport. Objective. To quantitatively assess the effects of a traffic curfew (11 PM to 5 AM) at Frankfurt Airport on sleep structure. Design. Experimental sleep study; polysomnography for 13 consecutive nights. Setting. Sleep laboratory. Subjects. 128 healthy subjects, mean age (SD) 38 (13) years, range 19 to 65, 59% female. Intervention. Exposure to aircraft noise via loudspeakers. Measurements. A 6-state Markov state transition sleep model was used to simulate 3 noise scenarios with first-order Monte Carlo simulations: 1) 2005 traffic at Frankfurt Airport, 2) as simulation 1 but flights between 11 PM and 5 AM cancelled, and 3) as simulation 2, with flights between 11 PM and 5 AM from simulation 1 rescheduled to periods before 11 PM and after 5 AM. Probabilities for transitions between sleep stages were estimated with autoregressive multinomial logistic regression. Results. Compared to a night without...
Changes in T-cell receptor VB repertoire in aplastic anemia: effects of different immunosuppressive regimens

We studied the degree and the pattern of skewing of the variable region of beta-chain (VB) T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in aplastic anemia (AA) at initial presentation and after immunosuppression using a high-resolution analysis of the TCR VB complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3). Age-matched healthy individuals and multitransfused patients with non-immune-mediated hematologic diseases were used as controls. In newly diagnosed AA, the average frequency of CDR3 size distribution deviation indicative of oligoclonal T-cell proliferation was increased (44% +/- 33% vs 9% +/- 9%; P =.0001); AA patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR2 and those with expanded paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clones showed more skewed VB repertoires. Nonrandom oligoclonal patterns were found for VB6, VB14-16, VB21, VB23, and VB24 subfamilies in more than 50%, and for VB15, VB21, and VB24 in more than 70% of AA patients with HLA-DR2. Patients received immunosuppression with antithymocyte globulin (ATG)/cyclosporine (CsA) or cyclophosphamide (CTX) with CsA in combination, and their VB repertoire was reanalyzed after treatment. Whereas no significant change in the degree of VB skewing in patients who had received ATG was seen, patients treated with CTX showed a much higher extent of oligoclonality within all VB families, consistent with a profound and long-lasting contraction of the T-cell repertoire. VB analysis did not correlate with the lymphocyte count prior to lymphocytotoxic therapy; however, after therapy the degree of VB skewing was highly reflective of the decrease in lymphocyte numbers, suggesting iatrogenic gaps in the VB repertoire rather than the emergence of clonal dominance. Our data indicate that multiple specific clones mediate the immune process in AA.
Materials needs for compact fusion reactors

Abstract The economic prospects for magnetic fusion energy can be dramatically improved if for the same total power output the fusion neutron first-wall (FW) loading and the system power density can be increased by factors of 3–5 and 10–30, respectively. A number of “compact” fusion reactor embodiments have been proposed, all of which would operate with increased FW loadings, would use thin (0.5–0.7 m) blankets, and would confine quasi-steady-state plasma with resistive, water-cooled copper or aluminum coils. Increased system power density (5–15 MWt/m 3 versus 0.3–0.5 MW/m 3 ), considerably reduced physical size of the fusion power core (FPC), and appreciably reduced economic leverage exerted by the FPC and associated physics result. The unique materials requirements anticipated for these compact reactors are outlined relative to similar needs for the mainline approaches. Surprisingly, no single materials need that is unique to the compact systems is identified; crucial uncertainties for the compact approaches must also be addressed by the mainline approaches, particularly for in-vacuum components (FWs, limiters, divertors, etc.).
Computerized anesthesia delivery provides some benefit to less anxious children.

Article Title and Bibliographic Information Computerized anesthesia delivery system vs traditional syringe: comparing pain and pain-related behavior in children. Versloot J, Veerkamp JS, Hoogstraten J. Eur J Oral Sci 2005;113(6):488-93. Level of Evidence 1b Purpose/Question To compare the behavioral reaction of children who receive local anesthesia with a traditional syringe with the behavioral reaction of children who receive local anesthesia with a computerized device (Wand), and to differentiate between the reactions of highly anxious children with those of low anxiety. Source of Funding Information not available Type of Study/Design Randomized controlled trial
Correcting Author, Title and Multiple-Term Index Entries in Mechanized Bibliography Preparation.

An operational, comprehensive, economical method for changing and correcting author(s), title and multiple-term index entries in a computerized bibliographic system is presented. The technique was developed in producing the bibliographic preparation and maintenance system for the East African Agricultural Bibliographic Project at West Virginia University. The problems encountered in the production of a 10,000 entry bibliography using records variable in length up to 7,200 characters are discussed and the method is described as it is embodied in the system master file update program. Data modification is performed at three file structure levels with equal ease: record, entry and singular character string. The operations of SEARCH, DELETE, REPLACE, INSERT and ADD are described. The record formats and sequencing schemes are also discussed as well as the limitations of the method as it was applied. The reduced cost of file creation and maintenance resulted in a financially feasible mechanized bibliography which met planned specifications. Noting that the techniques involved have universal application in computerized bibliography preparation, it is concluded that this new tool is applicable to similar projects concerning other subject materials in the biological and social sciences.
A novel multi-server remote user authentication scheme using self-certified public keys for mobile clients

With the widespread promotion in e-commerce, the number of service servers providing Internet applications to the users is usually more than one and hence secure authentication protocols for multi-server environment are required. On the other hand, people may obtain their service by using the mobile devices in ubiquitous computing environment. Considering the mobile devices with limited energy resources and computing capability, the design of the secure authentication scheme suitable for mobile clients is a nontrivial challenge. In 2008, Tseng et al. proposed a pairing-based user authentication scheme for mobile clients with limited computing capability. They claimed that their scheme can be well applied to the remote user authentication scheme for multi-server environment. However, Tseng et al.'s scheme cannot provide mutual authentication and session key agreement. In this paper, we will show that Tseng et al.'s scheme cannot withstand an insider attack, offline dictionary attack and malicious server attack. Hence, we present a novel pairing-based remote user authentication for multi-server environment. The proposed scheme first provides a more secure key distribution based on self-certified public keys (SCPKs) among the service servers. The proposed scheme can achieve mutual authentication and session key agreement. To withstand an offline dictionary attack due to mobile devices security breach, the proposed scheme enhances the password change phase with the help of the registration server. Security analysis shows that our scheme can withstand various possible attacks resulting from the multi-server environment. Performance analysis and function comparisons demonstrate that the proposed scheme is well suited for mobile clients.
Control of nonlinear systems using polynomial ARMA models

Most of the advanced nonlinear control algorithms require a model of the system to be controlled. Unfortunately, most of the processes in the chemical industry are nonlinear, and fundamental models describing them are lacking. Thus there is a need for the identification and control of nonlinear systems through available inputoutput data. In this article, we briefly introduce the input-output model used (polynomial ARMA models), and analyze its stability and invertibility. This paves the way to the development of a nonlinear-model-predictive controller. Implementation issues such as modeling of disturbance, state and parameter estimation are discussed. The theory presented is illustrated through examples.
The incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction in general vascular surgery

Abstract In a 1-year period all patients undergoing general vascular surgery (491 patients, 534 procedures) underwent monitoring by creatine phosphokinase isoenzymes and electrocardiograms (ECG) to detect perioperative myocardial infarction. Only those patients with severe symptomatic coronary artery disease (31 patients, 5.8%) characterized by unstable angina pectoris, uncontrolled arrhythmia, or severe congestive heart failure had any testing for coronary artery disease beyond history, physical examination, and ECG. Only three patients (0.5%) had prophylactic coronary artery bypass performed before general vascular procedures. Twenty-one (3.9%) myocardial infarctions (five asymptomatic, detected by enzymes only, and 16 symptomatic, four of which were fatal) were associated with the 534 procedures (aorta 105, carotid 87, infrainguinal bypass 207, extraanatomic 51, other 84). Eight noncardiac perioperative deaths occurred. All operative deaths (12 of 534, 2.2%) including all four fatal myocardial infarctions occurred associated with surgery on an urgent or emergency basis (12 of 249 procedures, urgent/emergent operative mortality rate 4.8%). No operative deaths and no fatal myocardial infarctions associated with the 285 elective procedures occurred. Nine of the 17 nonfatal myocardial infarctions (53%) also occurred after urgent/emergent procedures. The rate of perioperative myocardial infarctions (eight of 285, 2.8%) after elective surgery in this patient series is no different from that reported by multiple recent authors advocating widespread screening for and prophylactic treatment of coronary artery disease before general vascular surgery. Our experience confirms the therapeutic approach that expensive and invasive coronary screening programs in patients to undergo vascular operations should be limited to carefully selected patients with severely symptomatic coronary disease. (J Vasc Surg 1991;15:52–61.)
Effects of cytochalasin B and vinblastine on the release of acetylcholine from a sympathetic ganglion.

Abstract The rate of release of acetylcholine from the in vitro superior cervical ganglion of the rat was measured during periods of electrical stimulation both before and after exposure to a drug. Cytochalasin B inhibited the release of acetylcholine in this preparation. Two stages of inhibition were observed. The first, which reduced the rate of release to 20% of control values, was produced by incubating the ganglion for 60 min in solutions containing cytochalasin B. Half-maximal inhibition was observed at concentrations of 3 × 10−6 M. This stage was not reversed within several hr after cytochalasin B was removed. Uptake of calcium in the first stage was inhibited by cytochalasin B by a small but statistically insignificant amount (13%). The second stage, in which release was further reduced to zero, required both repeated changes of bathing solutions containing cytochalasin B and continual electrical stimulation during the 60 min period of exposure. The second stage was reversed 20–40 min after the drug was removed. It is suggested that the first stage inhibition involves a direct action of cytochalasin B upon the release of acetylcholine from the presynaptic terminal, while the second stage inhibition may be caused by a decrease in the supply of energy to the ganglion. Vinblastine at concentrations of 2.0 × 10−6 and 1.2 × 10-4M was also studied using the same experimental procedure. Vinblastine did not inhibit the electrically stimulated release of acetylcholine.
Software protection with increased complexity and obfuscation

While many software solutions are provided through open source, the question of proprietary interest still remains. When outsourcing parts of a product's software development, there's a risk that the outsourcing partners will become competitors in the future. In this paper we propose an approach to protect proprietary software by increasing its complexity, to prevent reverse engineering. We introduce four Conjectures for protecting our software through obfuscation and explore and provide rationale for why these four Conjectures make logical sense and should be considered for further formal experiments.
A general approach to random coding for multi-terminal networks

We introduce a general framework to derive achievable rate regions based on random coding for any memoryless, single-hop, multi-terminal network. We show that this general inner bound may be obtained from a graph representation that captures the statistical relationship among codewords and allows one to readily obtain the rate bounds under which the error probability vanishes as the block-length goes to infinity. The proposed graph representation naturally leads to an “automatic rate region derivator” which produces achievable rate regions combining classic random coding techniques such as coded timesharing, rate-splitting, superposition coding and binning for the general memoryless network under consideration.
Revisiting accelerator-rich CMPs: challenges and solutions

Heterogeneous Chip Multiprocessors (CMP)s, which combine processor cores with specialized HW accelerators, are one main approach to high-performance low-power computing. While it is promising for few accelerators, the scalability is a major challenge with increasing number of accelerators. Resources including memory, communication fabric and processor turn into bottlenecks and result in accelerator under-utilization and cripple the performance. This paper analyzes the scalability of heterogeneous CMPs with many accelerators and identifies bottlenecks and their impacts on system performance. It introduces an analytical method for scalability/bottleneck analysis that is backed up by a simulation-based performance analysis (using automatically generated virtual platforms). This paper proposes a novel architecture template: Transparent Self-Synchronizing (TSS) accelerators for efficient/scalable realization of streaming applications. TSS achieves the efficiency / scalability through configurable point-to-point connections and self synchronization between HW accelerators and efficient management of accelerator's memory. This article demonstrates the TSS benefits using both analytical and simulation methods. TSS significantly reduces the pressure on the communication fabric, processor load, and memory requirements to improve scalability. Even with increasing number of accelerators, TSS can achieve more than 85% accelerator utilization. In contrast, in ACC-based CMPs the accelerator utilization drops fast; less than 40% with six accelerators or even worse with more accelerators. The scalability benefits of TSS are more pronounced as the number of hardware accelerators increases.
Effects of controlled audio-visual reinforcement on infants' manipulative play in the home.

Abstract Twenty infants, 7–11-months old, were tested in their homes using automated toys programmed to provide audio-visual feedback for a response to one toy but not for a response to the other. All 20 infants manipulated the toy providing audio-visual feedback more continuously and frequently than the toy not providing such feedback. It was concluded that these effects of feedback, heretofore studied mainly in institutional and laboratory situations, can also exrcise a controlling influence on behavior in the more complex and naturalistic circumstances of the home.
Effects of an educational intervention on residents’ knowledge and attitudes toward interactions with pharmaceutical representatives

To assess primary care resident and faculty knowledge and attitudes concerning interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical representatives (PRs) and to measure changes in residents' knowledge and attitudes after an educational intervention, we conducted preintervention and postintervention surveys with a causal-comparative group in a university-based primary care residency program. All primary care internal medicine and internal medicine-pediatrics residents and faculty were given the voluntary survey. In general, residents and faculty demonstrated similar responses for the preintervention survey. Differences between faculty and resident opinions were seen in two areas. Faculty were more likely than residents to believe that PRs sometimes use unethical marketing practices (p < .05) and that the amount of contact with PRs in the outpatient clinic is excessive (p < .01). The postintervention survey of residents demonstrated significant differences between the control and intervention groups for three attitude scales. After the intervention, residents showed an increased belief that PRs may use unethical marketing practices (p < .01), that marketing gifts with no patient benefit may be inappropriate (p=.05), and that other physicians' prescribing patterns could be negatively influenced through the acceptance of gifts (p < .05). A brief educational intervention can change resident attitudes concerning physician interactions with PRs.
Leptin-receptor-expressing mesenchymal stromal cells represent the main source of bone formed by adult bone marrow

Studies of the identity and physiological function of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been hampered by a lack of markers that permit both prospective identification and fate mapping in vivo. We found that Leptin Receptor (LepR) is a marker that highly enriches bone marrow MSCs. Approximately 0.3% of bone marrow cells were LepR(+), 10% of which were CFU-Fs, accounting for 94% of bone marrow CFU-Fs. LepR(+) cells formed bone, cartilage, and adipocytes in culture and upon transplantation in vivo. LepR(+) cells were Scf-GFP(+), Cxcl12-DsRed(high), and Nestin-GFP(low), markers which also highly enriched CFU-Fs, but negative for Nestin-CreER and NG2-CreER, markers which were unlikely to be found in CFU-Fs. Fate-mapping showed that LepR(+) cells arose postnatally and gave rise to most bone and adipocytes formed in adult bone marrow, including bone regenerated after irradiation or fracture. LepR(+) cells were quiescent, but they proliferated after injury. Therefore, LepR(+) cells are the major source of bone and adipocytes in adult bone marrow.
AN ADRENAL CORTEX EXTRACT: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL USE

The adrenal or suprarenal gland consists of cortex and medulla, which are embryologically of separate origin, yet are found in intimate relationship in the warm-blooded animals. It has been found that complete removal of these glands is always fatal. Accessory tissue, which may prevent death, is often present in laboratory animals such as the rat, but is quite rare in normal cats and dogs. The cortex is the portion of the complex necessary for life and is responsible for most, if not all, of the symptoms occurring after adrenal removal, since complete demedullation of one gland and removal of the other fails to produce symptoms of adrenal insufficiency.
Polymerase chain reaction-based deletion screening of bleomycin induced 6-thioguanine-resistant mutants in Chinese hamster ovary cells: the effects of an inhibitor and a mimic of superoxide dismutase.

Abstract Bleomycin-induced 6-thioguanine-resistant mutants pretreated with or without TRIEN (triethylene-tetramine), a superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibitor, or TEMPOL (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl), an SOD mimic, were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based deletion screening in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) clone K1-BH4 and its derivative AS52 cells. As we proposed earlier, TRIEN would decrease and TEMPOL would increase the intracellular level of hydroxyl radical leading to a higher and lower recovery of deletion mutants. We found that the proportion of the deletion mutants induced by bleomycin at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) locus in K1-BH4 cells was 45.5% ( 25 55 ). The proportion of deletion HPRT− mutants induced by bleomycin pretreated with TRIEN was 31.0% ( 9 29 ) and with TEMPOL was 50.0% ( 14 28 ). The proportion of deletion mutants induced by bleomycin on the xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (gpt) gene in AS52 cells was 61.0% ( 36 59 ). The proportion of deletion GPT− mutants induced by bleomycin pretreated with TRIEN was 56.8% ( 21 37 ) and with TEMPOL was 61.4% ( 27 44 ). The trend of the change of the proportion of bleomycin-induced deletion mutants as affected by TRIEN and by TEMPOL provides molecular evidence for the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in bleomycin mutagenesis in mammalian cells, in which deletion is a major type of induced mutation.
Preferential sulfoxidation of the methionine residues of glycophorin A

Abstract Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to monitor the preferential sulfoxidation of the two methionine residues (8 and 81) of glycophorin A. In urea Met-8 is readily oxidized. However, Met-81 can only be oxidized in trifluoroacetic acid containing hydrogen peroxide. Our results also give some insight into the reagent accessibility of different portions of the protein molecule and the general stability of this glycoprotein.
An unusual syncytia-inducing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 primary isolate from the central nervous system that is restricted to CXCR4, replicates efficiently in macrophages, and induces neuronal apoptosis

Macrophage/microglia cells are the principal targets for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the central nervous system (CNS). Prototype HIV-1 isolates from the CNS are macrophage (M)-tropic, non-syncytia-inducing (NSI), and use CCR5 for entry (R5 strains), but whether syncytia-inducing (SI) CXCR4-using X4 strains might play a role in macrophage/microglia infection and neuronal injury is unknown. To explore the range of features among HIV-1 primary isolates from the CNS, the authors analyzed an HIV-1 strain (TYBE) from cerebrospinal fluid of an individual with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that was unusual because it was SI. Like other CNS isolates, HIV-1/TYBE replicated to high level in primary human macrophages, but, in contrast to CNS prototypes, TYBE used CXCR4 exclusively to infect macrophages. A functional TYBE env clone confirmed the X4 phenotype and displayed a highly charged V3 sequence typical of X4 strains. Supernatant from TYBE-infected primary human macrophages induced apoptosis of neurons. Thus, TYBE represents a novel type of CNS-derived HIV-1 isolate that is CXCR4-restricted yet replicates efficiently in macrophages and induce neuronal injury. These results demonstrate that HIV-1 variants in the CNS may possess a broader range of biological characteristics than generally appreciated, raise the possibility that X4 strains may participate in AIDS neuropathogenesis, and provide a prototype clade B HIV-1 strain that replicates efficiently in primary macrophages through the exclusive use of CXCR4 as a coreceptor.
Alternative pathways for the selection of antigen-specific peripheral T cells

IN the thymus, maturing lymphocytes receive activation signals mediated by the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) that either promote clonal survival (positive selection) or induce apoptosis (negative selection). This balance between life and death is mirrored by the sensitivity of cortical thymocytes to apoptotic death induced by antibodies against the CD3 component of the TCR signal-transduction complex, bacterial superantigens that bind to the TCR β-chain, and corticosteroids1,3. In contrast, mature peripheral T cells are positively activated by anti-CD3 antibody or superantigens and are resistant to steroid-induced death4,5. Here we show that in splenic germinal centres, T cells regain thymocyte-like sensitivity to TCR- and steroid-induced apoptosis and undergo antigen-driven positive and negative selection. T-cell responses elsewhere in the spleen are unaccompanied by programmed cell death. Our observations define a new differentiation pathway for peripheral T cells and suggest that germinal centres induce a lymphocyte phenotype necessary for the maintenance of self-tolerance.
Evaluating bias correction in weighted proportional hazards regression

Often in observational studies of time to an event, the study population is a biased (i.e., unrepresentative) sample of the target population. In the presence of biased samples, it is common to weight subjects by the inverse of their respective selection probabilities. Pan and Schaubel (Can J Stat 36:111–127, 2008) recently proposed inference procedures for an inverse selection probability weighted (ISPW) Cox model, applicable when selection probabilities are not treated as fixed but estimated empirically. The proposed weighting procedure requires auxiliary data to estimate the weights and is computationally more intense than unweighted estimation. The ignorability of sample selection process in terms of parameter estimators and predictions is often of interest, from several perspectives: e.g., to determine if weighting makes a significant difference to the analysis at hand, which would in turn address whether the collection of auxiliary data is required in future studies; to evaluate previous studies which did not correct for selection bias. In this article, we propose methods to quantify the degree of bias corrected by the weighting procedure in the partial likelihood and Breslow-Aalen estimators. Asymptotic properties of the proposed test statistics are derived. The finite-sample significance level and power are evaluated through simulation. The proposed methods are then applied to data from a national organ failure registry to evaluate the bias in a post-kidney transplant survival model.
Oxygen-oxygen bond homolysis in a novel titanium(IV) alkylperoxide complex, Cp2Ti(OOtBu)Cl.

Cp2TiCl2 reacts with NaOOtBu to form the new titanium peroxide complex, Cp2Ti(OOtBu)Cl (1), which has been characterized both in solution and in the solid state. This complex is surprisingly unreactive towards olefins and phosphines, as it does not directly transfer an oxygen atom. Instead, decomposition occurs via initial homolysis of the oxygen−oxygen bond, yielding a tert-butoxyl radical. Decomposition of 1 in the presence of phosphines yields either phosphine oxides (e.g., OPPh3) or phosphinites (e.g., tBuOPEt2), products that result from tBuO• + PR3. O−O bond homolysis is surprising because the Ti(IV) center is d0 and cannot be oxidized, where all previous clear examples of homolytic cleavage of metal peroxide complexes are facilitated by oxidation of the metal center.
A Note on Partial Parallel Classes in Steiner Systems

A partial parallel class of blocks of a Steiner system S(t,k,v) is a collection of pairwise disjoint blocks. The purpose of this note is to show that any S(k,k+1,v) Steiner system, with v?k4+3k3+k2+1, has a partial parallel class containing at least (v?k+1)/(k+2) blocks.
Increased prevalence of cavum septum pellucidum in schizophrenia

A previous report that the presence of a cavum septum pellucidum was significantly more common in schizophrenic patients than in control subjects (DeGreef et al., 1992) stimulated the present study of an independent but similar population of first admission schizophrenic patients. A high prevalence of this developmental anomaly (44.8%) was found in the patients (n = 85), although it could also be detected in 29.8% of similarly aged control subjects (n = 47). This finding was not associated with corpus callosum, ventricular, or temporal lobe size or asymmetries.
Raman spectra of tetramethylammonium–trimethylammonium mixed ion vermiculite clay intercalation compounds

The composition dependence of the Raman spectra of the mixed ion vermiculites [(CH3)4N+]1-x [(CH3)3NH+]x-V (V = vermiculite) have been studied in the range 0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1. The torsional mode frequencies exhibit a small shift (ca. 2 cm−1) to lower energy with increasing x and their composition dependence is distinct from that shown by the corresponding modes of Cs1-xRbx-V. These differences are attributed to a variation of the guest-host force constants and in particular to the interactions between the guest ions and the basal oxygens, which depend strongly on the size difference,ΔD, between the guest ion pairs. Using a van der Waals-type force model and the nearest neighbor approximation, the torsional mode frequencies of the pure end-member compounds of the two mixed ion systems discussed above have been successfully accounted for.
Theory of electron emission in high fields from atomically sharp emitters: Validity of the Fowler-Nordheim equation☆

Abstract Field emission from metallic emitters is generally described by the Fowler-Nordheim [F-N] theory, which is based on a planar model of the tip with a classical image correction. Within the free electron model and the WKB approximation, the planar tip model leads to the well-known Fowler-Nordheim equation, which predicts that a plot of log J/F 2 versus 1/F, where J is the current density and F, the field, should be a straight line within the narrow range of field strengths of typical field emission experiments, 3 - 5V/nm. This has been experimentally confirmed for conventional emitters, (i.e., electrolytically etched tips with radii ⪆50 nm). Field emitters fabricated with today's new techniques are much sharper with radii of curvature of the order of nm's or even the size of a single atom. Hence, the local geometry of the tip may become an important factor in the electron emission process. To investigate the effects of the shape and/or size on emission, the authors, in a recent series of papers, studied the dependence of the current-voltage characteristics on the local geometry of pointed emitters. It was found that the calculated results, plotted as log J/V 2 vs. 1/V, do not exhibit the straight line behavior predicted by the Fowler-Nordheim theory. In addition, there is a dramatic increase in the tunneling current for a fixed external bias, V, relative to the Fowler-Nordheim result for a planar model of the tip with the same bias voltage. Using the exact current integral additional results have been obtained exhibiting the effects of emitter curvature on field electron energy distributions and on electron emission in high fields and temperatures. These results continue to differ with the predictions of the Fowler-Nordheim equation for the same emitter models. Therefore, the adequacy of a β-factor in the conventional planar model Fowler-Nordheim equation to account for emitter curvature is examined. It is demonstrated that even a β-modified Fowler-Nordheim equation is not valid when applied to sharp emitters (r t ⪅ 10nm) and will lead to spurious results when extracting information such as work function, field values or emitting area from experimental F-N curves. The explanation for this is discussed, and an approximate analytic expression for the J(V) characteristics of a prototype sharp emitter is derived which exhibits explicitly the dependence of the current density on field, tip geometry andmaterial parameters.
Polymer‐assisted biocatalysis: Unprecedented enzymatic oxidation of fullerene in aqueous medium

Enzymatic complexes, constructed by linear-dendritic copolymers and laccase, are used for the unprecedented one-pot biotransformation of fullerene (C60) into epoxide- and hydroxyl-derivatives under mild and environmentally friendly reaction conditions (45 °C and aqueous medium). The reaction is catalyzed by mediator pairs - N-hydroxy-5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid imide/1-Hydroxybenzotriazole or 2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)/1-Hydroxybenzotriazole used in equimolar amounts. After 24 and 48 h, the biotransformation products C60On, C60(OH)n, C60(H)n(OH)n, and/or C60On(H)m(OH)m range between 50 and 78%, respectively. Their structure is revealed by FTIR, NMR, and mass-spectrometry. The mechanism of the process is discussed and elucidated. The reaction procedure allows the repeated usage of the enzyme/linear-dendritic complex, which retains its catalytic activity after several cycles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012
Improved preparation of Xenopus oocytes for patch-clamp recording.

We report a new technique for improving the efficiency of single-channel recording in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. Conventional methods of oocyte preparation (adequate for two-electrode voltage-clamp) often leave residual adhesions between the vitelline and plasma membranes. As a result, removal of the vitelline membrane for patch-clamp recording produces microscopic damage to the oocyte plasma membrane that interferes with the formation of high-resistance electrical seals. This problem has been alleviated by a three-phase method of oocyte preparation: (1) a strong initial enzymatic digestion using both collagenase and hyaluronidase, immediately followed by (2) exposure to hypertonic media and mechanical defolliculation, (3) pre-shrinkage and selection of only those oocytes displaying clear separation between vitelline and plasma membranes. Following this selection process, oocytes were returned to solutions of normal osmolarity, incubated overnight at 19°C, and then injected with RNA for expression studies. Comparison of oocytes prepared by different methods indicated that use of these three steps significantly improved the success of high-resistance seal formation, without compromising oocyte survivability or the efficiency of channel expression.