cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antiviral activity of an adenosine deaminase inhibitor: decreased replication of herpes simplex virus.

A unique seven-membered heterocyclic-ring inhibitor of adenosine deaminase was studied. One preparation of the compound inhibited replication of herpes simplex virus in the absence of adenine arabinoside. In this capacity, the minimal inhibitory concentration of deaminase inhibitor for herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), with 50% reduction of plaque-forming units as the end point, was 37.7 tg/ml. This activity compared favorably with the inhibitory activity of ara-hypoxanthine (34.1 /g/ml). Another preparation of deaminase inhibitor lacked antiviral activity. On the other hand, the adenosine deaminase inhibitor was active at a concentration of 0.009 gg/ml as a potentiator of the inhibition of HSV-1 I by adenine arabinoside. The potentiation of adenine arabinoside by deaminase inhibitor is about 4,000 times more potent than the activity of the direct inhibitory effect on HSV-1. The nature of the possible contaminant of the preparation in question is unknown. Coformycin, another inhibitor of adenosine deaminase, had no antiviral activity in the absence of adenine arabinoside.
Flt-3 ligand and sequential FL/interleukin-2 in patients with metastatic renal carcinoma: clinical and biologic activity.

Flt3 (fms-like tyrosine kinase 3) ligand, a cytokine that stimulates increases in the number of dendritic cells (DC) in vivo, has been shown to have antitumor activity in murine models via an immune-mediated mechanism. Therefore, we examined the clinical activity of this cytokine in patients with an immunologic-responsive cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Flt3 ligand (25 μg/kg subcutaneous) was administered daily for the first 14 days of a 28-day cycle. Although the treatment was well tolerated and was confirmed to induce expansion of lineage (Lin) - /HLA-DR + /CD11c + myeloid DC and Lin - /HLA-DR + /CD123 + plasmacytoid DC, no clinical activity was observed. Reasoning that DC expanded by Flt3 ligand might potentiate the clinical activity of low-dose interleukin-2, a second study was conducted of sequential administration of 25 μg/kg of Flt3 ligand daily for 7 days was followed by 11 x 10 6 IU of subcutaneous interleukin-2 for 4 consecutive days x 4 weeks. In this study, increased numbers of circulating DC were again observed, which was followed by increased numbers of activated T cells, confirming a biologic effect of each cytokine. However, toxicity and clinical efficacy were similar to what has been seen with low-dose interleukin-2 alone, with two minor responses observed. These results demonstrate that Flt3 ligand, although capable of inducing expansion of circulating myeloid and plasmacytoid DC in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, lacks significant clinical activity at the doses and schedules examined.
Numerical Prediction of Shock-Boundary Layer Interaction between a Pair of Fins in Hypersonic Flow

Shock-boundary layer interaction was numerically simulated via steady-state Reynoldsaveraged Navier-Stokes numerical methods. The simulations emulated the Kussoy and Horstman experimental test case involving a pair of fins mounted on a flat plate in a Mach 8.3 hypersonic flow. Qualitative numerical results revealed typical aerodynamic flow structures, such as propagating shock trains, growth, separation and reattachment of the boundary layer and aerodynamic heating. Quantitative comparisons with experiment show fair to very good predictions of pressure, and fair to poor predictions of heat flux. Sensitivities to turbulence modeling and grid resolution were also demonstrated.
Of mice and men: modeling cardiovascular complexity in diabetes. Focus on "Mitochondrial inefficiencies and anoxic ATP hydrolysis capacities in diabetic rat heart".

the numbers are grim. According to the American Diabetes Association, in the United States, ∼29 million individuals have diabetes and an additional 86 million are prediabetic. In 2010, diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of ∼70,000 deaths and a contributing factor to an additional >230,
Prospects for quarkonia production studies in U + U collisions

Collisions of deformed uranium nuclei provide a unique opportunity to study the spatial dependence of charmonium in-medium effects. By selecting the orientations of the colliding nuclei, different path lengths through the nuclear medium could be selected within the same experimental environment. In addition, higher energy densities can be achieved in U + U collisions relative to Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we investigate the prospects for charmonium studies with U + U collisions. We discuss the effects of shadowing and nuclear absorption on the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ yield. We introduce a new observable which could help distinguish between different types of $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ interactions in hot and dense matter.
Arteriovenous Fistula: The Backstory of the Birth of Cardiovascular Surgery

The foundation for the celebrated operation on patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in 1938 was the work on arteriovenous fistula (AVF) during the preceding half century. Galen and Osler wrote about it, and AVF was a major interest of leading surgeons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as William Halsted, Rudolph Matas, Mont Reid, and Emile Holman. Nearly all AVFs of the era developed because of penetrating injury to major vessels. Survivors suffered gradual debilitation and faced death from gangrene or rupture. Development of an operation with a reasonable chance for success came only after the development of the cornerstones of modern surgery: suture, needles, anesthesia, and antiseptic and aseptic surgery. The only durable solution was quadruple ligation, ligation of both the vein and artery above and below the site of the fistula, and a technically demanding operation that risked ischemia and gangrene. Techniques pioneered by Alexis Carrel and Bernard Bertheim allowed strategies of early vascular reconstruction that reestablished normal circulation. Seeing patients with AVF with heart failure, Halsted recognized PDA as a naturally occurring AVF. Other surgeons proposed that ligation of PDA would be lifesaving. The struggles to understand and devise operative strategies to deal with AVF were the first steps toward the spectacular advances in cardiovascular surgery that followed.
Uptaking Race: Genre, MSG, and Chinese Dinner

Scientific research demonstrates that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is neither solely found in Chinese food nor a cause for health panics. Nonetheless, such a narrative still persists in the public sphere. I conduct a rhetorical analysis of the original debate on MSG to illuminate how the process of genre uptake – the process of information selection and translation from medical discussion to popular news – facilitated this prejudiced understanding. In the original debate about MSG’s effects, doctors trivialized this issue via satire that was based on latent stereotypes of Chinese identity. Although performed as insider humor, these responses were sufficiently aligned to genre expectations so as to appear to outside readers as unquestionable medical fact. As this knowledge was taken up and disseminated in the public sphere, the markers of humor disappeared, but the prejudicial views remained. This case demonstrates how the process of genre uptake can perpetuate prejudiced ideological narratives even in the absence of overt discrimination.
Your Personal Librarian: Connecting First-Year Students to the Library at Reed College

Think back to your first year of college. How did you feel? Eager? Excited? Maybe also fearful, anxious about fitting in, making friends, or being successful? First-year students have a lot on their minds. It can be challenging to help them forge a meaningful connection with the library. Amidst the internal cacophony generated by the transition to college and the slew of departments and services competing for their attention when they arrive on campus, they may not realize that the library is here to help, too. The Reed College Library has had a Personal Librarian program for our first-year students since the 2011 academic year.1 We started our program after realizing that we were having a difficult time connecting with first-year students, for many of the reasons listed above. We were also inspired to start our program after realizing that our liaison model, in which each academic department at Reed is assigned a specific librarian as their subject liaison, might not be reaching students who had yet to declare a major. Finally, like many academic libraries, we were often facing slow traffic at our reference desk and were curious to explore alternative service models.
An unusual case of abdominal pains.

A 55-year-old African American man presented to the emergency room with 3 days of new-onset right-sided flank and abdominal pains. His abdominal pains were dull in nature, constant, moderate in severity (approximately 6 out of 10) and radiated to his back and right flank regions. There were no aggravating factors but the patient reported temporary relief with over-the-counter acetaminophen. The pains were associated with mild nausea and vomiting but he denied diarrhoea, constipation, weight loss, fevers or other associated symptoms. His only known medical history was hypertension, controlled with lisinopril. Surgical, social and family history were unremarkable. Other than abdominal pains, a complete review of systems was negative. His blood pressure was 117/78 mm Hg and his pulse was 82 bpm. His physical examination revealed right flank and right lower quadrant abdominal …
Chromatin Study in Situ: I — Image Analysis

In all physico-chemical and functional characterization of isolated chromatin, there is of course a large degree of artifact introduced during the isolation process. In this respect abundant evidence exists in the literature that the structural and functional properties of native chromatin are modified by physical alterations introduced during chromatin preparation (1,2,3). In order to bypass such limitations, one approach has been to analyze the geometry and densitometric textures of the nuclear images produced by differential staining of chromatin-DNA in situ (such as by a Feulgen reaction). For a detailed account of the most recent findings during image analysis on the study of chromatin during cell cycle, visus transformation and cell proliferation, the readers should refer to recent publications (4–7). Here we intend only to outline a critical overview of the state of the art with advantages and limitations.
Analytical Ultracentrifugation Analysis of the Self-Association of κ-Bungarotoxin

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the analytical ultracentrifugation analysis of the self-association of κ–bungarotoxin. κ-bungarotoxin is physiologically active in the 200 to 400 nM range, expressed as monomer concentration. The chapter presents the sedimentation equilibrium profile obtained for both α- and κ-bungarotoxin. The sedimentation data for α-bungarotoxin is exactly superimposable on a theoretical curve for a single noninteracting species, thus, indicating that α-bungarotoxin exists strictly in the monomeric state at these concentrations. When the molecular weight parameter is unconstrained in the data analysis, an experimentally determined molecular weight of 7562 is determined. This agrees favorably with an actual molecular weight of 7984. The data for κ-bungarotoxin falls part way between two theoretical curves, one for a single noninteracting species and another for the completely associated dimer.
Diffusion and Geographical Equilibrium in Voter Turnout in the United States: 1920-2008

Social conformity can spread social norms and behaviors through a society. This research examines such a process geographically for conformity with the norm that good citizens should vote, which in turn affects voter turnout. A mathematical model for this process is developed, and predictions are tested with qualitative and quantitative spatial analyses of state-level voter turnout in American presidential elections from 1920 to 2008. Results show that the diffusion of conformist behavior over time has led to a geographical equilibrium in state-level voter turnout, confirming the model.
American medical association policy-the individual mandate and individual responsibility.

While the AMA has generally favored individual choice over government mandate, its policies have long noted the importance of individual responsibility to obtain health insurance and the significant role this plays in making universal health care coverage achievable.
The Supermajority Requirement

The evidence is clear that the private sector can do just about anything more efficiently than the government. Municipal solid waste disposal costs 61% to 71% more when done by government.1 Another study found that contracting out waste collection to the private sector saved between 22% and 30%.2 It takes 68% more federal government employees to remove 21% as much railroad track as private sector employees over the same period of time and under similar conditions.3
Best Linear Prediction: An Operational Example

Best linear prediction seems well suited to the problem of predicting breeding values and ranking parents in forest tree breeding. In theory, BLP is relatively simple, however, the application of BLP theory to real life situations will generate a number of problems in need of specific solutions. Some of the problems may be somewhat theoretical (for example, obtaining good estimates of the necessary second moments), while others may be more practical (writing a computer program to build the necessary matrices). This chapter will outline our application of BLP for predicting parental breeding values from half-sib progeny test data in a large slash pine breeding program. We discuss a number of specific problems that were encountered, and our attempts to solve these problems. Much of this chapter is adapted from White and Hodge (1988).
Zero-Padded FDM-FDCP: Real-Time Signal Processing for Underwater Channels

We present an extension of the FDM-FDCP waveform and demonstrate the performance of this waveform in underwater acoustic channels in the presence of AWGN. In this extension, we simply replace the frequency-domain cyclic prefix with guard bands, analogous to zero-padded OFDM. We argue and provide empirical evidence for that this approach in fact improves performance. FDM-FDCP is designed to operate in low-delay, high-Doppler environments; we discuss maximum delay spread that our waveform can tolerate. All modulation and demodulation operations used in this work are accomplished in O(N N) time complexity, implying that FDM-FDCP is suitable for real-time signal processing in underwater channels.
Multilevel techniques for compression and reduction of scientific data—the univariate case

We present a multilevel technique for the compression and reduction of univariate data and give an optimal complexity algorithm for its implementation. A hierarchical scheme offers the flexibility to produce multiple levels of partial decompression of the data so that each user can work with a reduced representation that requires minimal storage whilst achieving the required level of tolerance. The algorithm is applied to the case of turbulence modelling in which the datasets are traditionally not only extremely large but inherently non-smooth and, as such, rather resistant to compression. We decompress the data for a range of relative errors, carry out the usual analysis procedures for turbulent data, and compare the results of the analysis on the reduced datasets to the results that would be obtained on the full dataset. The results obtained demonstrate the promise of multilevel compression techniques for the reduction of data arising from large scale simulations of complex phenomena such as turbulence modelling.
Analysis and Design of Wideband I/Q CMOS 100–200 Gb/s Modulators

This paper presents the analysis and design of wideband I/Q CMOS modulators and transmitters. Non-idealities and performance limitations of Cartesian transmitter and modulator systems are discussed, and circuit design techniques and analyses are shown. A DC-60 GHz I/Q modulator/transmitter chip in 45-nm SOI CMOS is presented as a critical building block for next-generation multi-standard and high-capacity wireless backhaul links. The modulator consists of a wideband quadrature signal generator, wideband buffers, and two current-combined DC-100 GHz low-noise double-balanced mixers driven in quadrature. The 1.4 mm2 modulator chip achieves 60 dB of dynamic range in a 1-GHz bandwidth, with an OP1dB of ~ −10 dBm, thus enabling spectrally efficient high-order modulation schemes such as 256-QAM. The I/Q modulator achieves 200 Gb/s in 16-QAM (50 Gbaud/s) while consuming 200 mW, resulting in record 1-pJ/bit modulation efficiency. In addition to backhaul links, the modulator is an attractive and cost-effective alternative to short-range optical links for data center interconnects (DCI) and for chip-to-chip communications.
Comparing the reward value of cigarettes and food during tobacco abstinence and nonabstinence

Abstract Background Some addiction theories propose that nicotine dependence is characterized by an imbalance between motivation for cigarettes compared to non-drug rewards. This imbalance may become increasingly polarized during abstinence, which further potentiates smoking. The present study evaluated motivation for cigarettes and food during abstinence and nonabstinence in daily smokers. This study modified a previously validated cue-reactivity procedure to include food as a cue condition, thereby allowing the comparison of cigarettes to food and neutral cues. The Choice Behavior Under Cued Conditions (CBUCC) procedure, in which participants are presented with cues and spend money in order to gain immediate access to that cue, generates multiple variables to evaluate motivational factors and drug use behaviors including reward value, craving, seeking, choice time, and consumption. Methods Fifty daily cigarette smokers underwent two CBUCC sessions under overnight abstinent and nonabstinent conditions. Results As an index of reward value, participants spent more money to access cigarettes than food or water and more for food relative to water. Abstinence increased the reward value of cigarettes but did not significantly affect the reward value of food or water. Participants also demonstrated cue-specific craving for cigarettes and food, although overall cigarette craving was greater than food craving. Conclusions This study indicated that motivation was greater for cigarettes than food. Abstinence increased motivation for cigarettes but had little impact on motivation for food. This suggests that heavy smokers do not reallocate motivational resources towards cigarettes during abstinence; rather, motivational processes for food remain constant from nonabstinent to abstinent sessions.
A 3-D Subnanometer Vibrometry System Based on Optical Coherence Tomography

A 3-D subnanometer vibrometry system based on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is proposed in this work to measure the vector motion of a sample as well as the structure, which cannot be achieved by a current OCT based vibrometry system that measure 1-D vibrations only.
Practical Management of Dystonia

The diagnosis of dystonic movements is based on the phenomenologic characteristics of the movements themselves. Therefore to evaluate and manage the patient, it is important to be cognizant of the varied clinical appearances; to classify the type of dystonia according to age at onset and distribution of the movements; to determine its etiology; to treat with specific therapy if available; and to reduce the symptoms, if therapy is not available. These steps are the focus of this article.
Flexion and Standing Extension in the Articulations of Alpacas (Lama pacos) and Llamas (Lama glama)

approved: Stacy Semevolos ObjectiveTo determine the average flexion and standing extension measurements for each limb articulation of alpacas and llamas and determine if there was any significant difference between the species’ measurements. AnimalsAlpacas (n=6) and llamas (n=6) of the Oregon State University teaching herd. MethodsEach articulation was measured four times in standing extension and in maximal passive flexion. Measurements were taken by two individuals, taking two measurements of each articulation. ResultsAverage measurements for the shoulder, elbow, carpus, metacarpophalangeal, hip, stifle, hock, and metatarsophalangeal articulations in maximal flexion and standing extension were obtained. Flexion measurements showed no significant difference between the two species. In standing extension, the elbow (p=0.0313) and the hock (p=0.0214) showed a significant difference between the alpaca and the llama measurements. The rest of the articulations were found to have no significant difference. ConclusionExcept for when dealing with the elbow and the hock in extension, the angle of a limb articulation can be considered the same for alpacas and llamas in flexion and extension. This has important relevance for veterinary surgeons when assessing joint mobility, conformation, and appropriate angles for arthrodesis. Expansion upon this research by radiography or CT of joints would be beneficial.
Supporting Those Holding the Thin Blue Line: Using Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for Law Enforcement Families

Law enforcement officers have one of the most dangerous and demanding careers in the United States (Price in JAMA 35:113–123, 2017). Challenges such as shiftwork, hypervigilance, and anti-police rhetoric can lead to burnout and trauma responses (e.g. Neylan et al., in JAMA 27:1493–1508, 2010). These stressful trials do not only impact the officer, but also their spouses and families (e.g. Alexander & Walker in JAMA 10:131–138 1994; as reported by Bibbins (in:Resse (ed) Psychological Services for Law Enforcement, US Government Printing Office, 1986). Unfortunately, there are minimal suggestions for use of a systemic psychotherapy approach involving the entire family. This article discusses challenges officers and their families frequently face and proposes the use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for law enforcement families. This article also provides suggestions for altering interventions to increase sensitivity for families and an example dialogue.
Earnings Management to Minimize Superfund Clean‐up and Transaction Costs*

We investigate whether firms identified as potentially responsible parties (PRPs) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (more commonly known as Superfund) appear to manipulate earnings to minimize their exposure to Superfund clean-up and transaction costs. We analyze the discretionary accrual behavior of 612 PRPs from 1981 to 1995 and increase the power of our tests by identifying those PRPs with the most incentive to manage earnings during PRP identification years. The results provide robust evidence consistent with the hypothesis that these PRPs use income-reducing discretionary accruals during PRP identification years in an attempt to minimize Superfund clean-up and transaction costs. We also consider whether PRPs' incentives to manage earnings change in response to a change in the EPA regulatory regime and find modest evidence consistent with our conjecture.
Student mental health and clinical education: exploring the DCE experience

Purpose: There is a potential link between the clinical education phase of a physical therapist’s education and increased incidence of student mental health challenges. The Director of Clinical Education (DCE) has a complex role in supporting students and clinical sites during clinical education experiences (CEEs.) The purposes of this study were to explore DCE’s experiences and perceptions with supporting students with mental health challenges during CEEs. Methods: Two-hundred-twenty DCEs from accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy programs were invited to participate in an electronic survey. Survey questions included demographics, institutional and curricular characteristics, and current perceptions/experiences with student mental health challenges. DCEs (n = 106; 48.2%) responded and were included in the analyses. Analyses included descriptive statistics, simple frequencies, and binary logistic regression. Incident coding processes analyzed responses of open-ended questions. Results: Seventy-four percent of respondents indicated awareness of a student(s) experiencing a mental health concern during a full-time clinical experience in the past 3 years. Regression analyses showed that length of terminal clinical experience, out-of-state placement, cohort size, and availability of online/video counseling were related to prevalence of DCE’s experience. Forty-six percent of DCEs indicated feeling prepared to deal with these issues, while 35% were ‘unsure’. DCEs indicated experience, training, and workload support as contributors to successfully supporting students. Conclusion: Results contribute to the emerging understanding of the prevalence of student mental health challenges in physical therapist education from the DCE’s perspective. Our findings suggest that institutional and curricular characteristics are potential contributors to the prevalence of this issue. We recommend training and institutional support for the DCE in these situations.
Perspectives on Scales, Contexts, and Directionality of Collaborations in and Around Virtual Worlds and Video Games

Interpersonal collaborations play a key role in video games and virtual worlds. Yet historically, research regarding games and virtual worlds in CSCL has focused on the smaller, more localized aspects of collaboration within games and virtual worlds. In this chapter, our goal is to broaden the ways in which we conceptualize the possibilities of CSCL in video games and virtual worlds. We argue for broadly and imaginatively expanding the scales, contexts, and directionality of collaborative learning, considering each area in turn and providing vignettes of research that break traditional bounds in considering what collaboration is, where it takes place, and how to study it in video games and virtual worlds. In the discussion, we turn to next steps for CSCL in addressing issues of scale, access, and methods that capture the richness and diversity of computer-supported collaborative learning in video games and virtual worlds.
The photobiology of stomatal movements.

Stomata, from the Greek for mouth, are pores in the epidermis of aerial organs of plants. In the broadest sense, stomata are to leaves what membranes are to cells; that is, they help maintain a closed organization of the organ while allowing a selective interchange between the plant and its environment. Stomata are a crucial adaptation to terrestrial habitats. Plants living in dry land have developed an impermeable cuticle that helps prevent excessive water loss. This cuticle, however, is also impermeable to carbon dioxide (CO2), which is required for photosynthesis. In the absence of differential permeability to water and CO2, stomata provide temporal control over the diffusion of these essential gases. The stomata open at times of high photosynthetic activity and abundant water and close when water is limiting or photosynthesis is not occurring, such as at night.
BIM Guidelines Inform Facilities Management Databases: A Case Study over Time

A building information model (BIM) contains data that can be accessed and exported for other uses during the lifetime of the building especially for facilities management (FM) and operations. Working under the guidance of well-designed BIM guidelines to insure completeness and compatibility with FM software, architects and contractors can deliver an information rich data model that is valuable to the client. Large owners such as universities often provide these detailed guidelines and deliverable requirements to their building teams. Investigation of the University of Southern California (USC) Facilities Management Service’s (FMS) website showed a detailed plan including standards, file names, parameter lists, and other requirements of BIM data, which were specifically designated for facilities management use, as deliverables on new construction projects. Three critical details were also unearthed in the reading of these documents: Revit was the default BIM software; COBie was adapted to help meet facilities management goals; and EcoDomus provided a display of the collected data viewed through Navisworks. Published accounts about the Cinema Arts Complex developed with and under these guidelines reported positive results. Further examination with new projects underway reveal the rapidly changing relational database landscape evident in the new USC “Project Record Revit Requirement Execution Plan (PRxP)”.
Inventions and Official Secrecy: A History of Secret Patents in the United Kingdom

Secrets will always be a factor in the political life of any society, and it could be argued that none enjoy secrets, particularly Official Secrets, quite so much as the English. Inventions and Official Secrecy traces the little known history of UK legislation which permits the British Government to make Official Secrets of certain technical ideas submitted as patent applications, and thereby prohibit their publication. The story begins in the mid-nineteenth century, and introduces a number of interesting inventors, politicians, and civil servants, including Sir William Armstrong, Marconi, the Wright Brothers, Leo Szilard, Sir Barnes Wallis, Sir Christopher Cockerell, the Earl of Derby, Sir Harold Wilson, and the now forgotten civil servant Mr Clode, Solicitor to the War Office in the 1860s; it ends, as the thirty year rule demands, in the 1960s.
Abstract T P370: Blood Transfusions in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease Normalize Cerebral Blood Flow While Maintaining Constant Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism

Background: Chronic blood transfusions (Tx) reduces stroke risk in pediatric sickle cell disease (SCD). Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is elevated in SCD, likely representing a compensatory mechanism to maintain cerebral oxygen metabolism (CMRO2) in the setting of reduced arterial oxygen content (CaO2) from chronic anemia. When exhausted compensatory mechanisms are unable to meet oxygen demands, stroke ensues. We measured MR-derived CBF and oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) pre- and post-Tx, hypothesizing that Tx ‘resets’ the CBF baseline by increasing CaO2 via increased hemoglobin (Hb), while maintaining cerebral oxygen delivery and metabolism. Methods: SCD children on chronic Tx were enrolled in a prospective, observational MRI study. MR-CBF and MR-OEF were acquired before and 2 hours after exchange Tx. MR-CBF and MR-OEF were measured using pseudocontinuous arterial spin labelling and a novel asymmetric spin echo sequence, respectively. CaO2 =1.35 x [Hb] x SaO2. CMRO2 = CaO2 x CBF x OEF. Results: Two SCD chil...
From sources to biomarkers: A hierarchical Bayesian approach for human exposure modeling

This paper investigates, from sources to biomarkers, the pathways of human exposure to arsenic. We use a multi-scale (individual level, county level) hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) that has explicit stages for pollutant sources, global and local environmental levels, personal exposures, and biomarkers. By analyzing these stages simultaneously, we provide an analysis of exposure pathways from the sources of toxic substances in the environment to biomarker levels observed in individuals. The complexity of our approach, in terms of levels of hierarchy, variety of (misaligned) data sources, and computational requirements, illustrates what is possible using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. Our HBM draws on individual-specific measurements from the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) Phase I, supplemented by arsenic-concentration measurements in topsoil and stream sediments. We focus on arsenic and its air, soil, water, and food pathways of exposure for individuals in the US Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin).
Case report 514

This 72-year-old man, was admitted to the Rhode Island Hospital with the chief complaint of systemic weakness. He had been seen by his private physician approximately three months earlier for similar problems. The physical examination on this admission was noteworthy for enlargement and deformity of both upper extremities and the presence of several firm, non-tender nodules involving both forearms and hands, the right half of the mandible, the right postauricular area, and the right side of the posterior neck. The right upper extremity was far more involved than the left. The patient reported that those lesions were present since his
Developmentally specific effects of the DNA cross-linking agent mitomycin C on phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression in vivo: correlation with changes in chromatin structure within the promoter region of the gene.

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that genotoxic chemical carcinogens have strong preferential effects on expression of certain inducible genes at nonovertly toxic doses in vivo. The effects of the DNA cross-linking agent and chemotherapy drug, mitomycin C (MMC), on expression of the developmental and hormone-regulated gene, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), were examined in chick embryo liver in vivo as a function of development and were compared with changes in the chromatin structure of the PEPCK gene promoter. The liver PEPCK gene was fully hormone inducible as early as 8 days of embryonic development but was refractory to MMC until after day 10. This onset of responsiveness to MMC was correlated with qualitative changes in the pattern of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) within the PEPCK promoter. There was also a gradual decrease and then a complete loss of both hormone inducibility and MMC responsiveness between 14 and 17 days of development that was correlated with a quantitative change in the overall DNase sensitivity of the liver PEPCK gene promoter over this period. These results suggest that carcinogen sensitivity of the PEPCK gene is related to its ability to respond to its normal induction signals and that chromatin structure may play a central role in these effects. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 12: 325–337, 1998
Early monumentality in North America: another comparative perspective for Africa

This article briefly considers early monumental constructions in North America, including Mesoamerica, presenting similarities and differences with the African examples in this special issue. Comparing monumentality in Africa with another major world area expands the potential types of archaeologically visible processes involved in building monumental or quasi-monumental structures, while still recognising their different material and historical trajectories. Such comparison reveals the great variety of types of monumental constructions and of the theoretical approaches that are being engaged to investigate them. What the selected examples of early North American monumentality discussed here have in common, which can be of value for African archaeologists, is attention to building as a form of social practice, rather than to the design forms or functions of built structures, or the intentions of their makers.
Microdomain Scale Organization and Scattering Patterns of Associating Polymer Melts

A microscopic theory of the structure of compressible associating AB regular heteropolymer fluids is proposed based on polymer integral equation methods. The theory is employed to systematically explore, as a function of temperature, the influence of sticky group attractive energy, concentration, degree ofblockiness, and global architecture (telechelic, surfactant, multiblock) on self-assembly and microdomain formation as encoded in small-angle partial scattering structure factors. Characteristic apparent spinodal and order-disorder temperatures are estimated, and strong composition fluctuation effects are always present. The evolution of collective properties derived from scattering profiles such as microdomain period, intermultiplet coherence length, degree of Porodlike scattering, and modification of wide-angle intensity, with polymer structure and thermodynamic state are established. At fixed bare (chemical) driving force, end-functionalized architectures are found to form more ordered microphase-separated fluids than the multiblock analogues. Increasing sequence length also enhances self-assembly even at fixed global sticky group composition. Significant differences between telechelics composed of unimer sticky groups vs minitriblocks are found, with the former displaying many self-assembly features not in accord with classic block copolymer behavior. Semiquantitative comparisons with small-angle X-ray scattering experiments suggest the theory provides a realistic description of self-assembly in ionomer melts, and failure of incompressible random phase approximation approaches for many properties is documented. Predictions for the majority (nonpolar) monomer density fluctuations, and cross-correlations, are obtained. Subtle, but systematic structural changes are induced by the minority group self-assembly process which may be amenable to direct measurement using small-angle neutron scattering and are possibly of mechanical property relevance.
Amlodipine reverses the elevation in [Ca2+]i and the impairment of phagocytosis in PMNLs of NIDDM patients

Amlodipine reverses the elevation in (Ca 2+ )i and the impair- ment of phagocytosis in PMNLs of NIDDM patients. Background. Patients with diabetes mellitus display an el- evation in the basal levels of (Ca 2+ )i of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) and impaired phagocytosis. These de- rangements are due to the hyperglycemia of diabetes. Calcium channel blockers reverse these abnormalities both in in vitro studies and in diabetic rats. These observations suggest that cal- cium channel blockers may be useful in the treatment of pa- tients with uncontrolled diabetes. The present study examined this issue. Methods. A total of 32 normal subjects and 36 patients with uncontrolled noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) were studied with and without treatment with amlodipine both in a cross-sectional and longitudinal design approach. Results. In addition to the elevation in basal levels of (Ca 2+ )i and the impaired phagocytosis, there was also down-regulation of the mRNA of Fc c RIII receptors in the PMNLs of the di- abetic patients. Treatment of the patients with a small dose of amlodipine (5 mg/day) corrected these abnormalities despite persistent hypoglycemia. This beneficial effect of nifedipine was noted as long as the therapy with the drug was maintained. Conclusion. The results show that the elevation in (Ca 2+ )i of the PMNLs is associated with down-regulation of the mRNA of their Fc c RIII receptors, which is at least, in part, responsi- ble for the impaired phagocytosis. These derangements in the metabolism and function of the PMNLs are most likely respon- sible for the increased susceptibility of the diabetic patients to infection. Calcium channel blockers may be a beneficial adjunct therapy in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Available data have shown that the polymorphonu- clear leukocytes (PMNLs) in patients with diabetes mellitus display impaired phagocytosis (1, 2) as well as an
TAS view of XSEDE users and usage

The Technology Audit Service has developed, XDMoD, a resource management tool. This paper utilizes XDMoD and the XDMoD data warehouse that it draws from to provide a broad overview of several aspects of XSEDE users and their usage. Some important trends include: 1) in spite of a large yearly turnover, there is a core of users persisting over many years, 2) user job submission has changed from primarily faculty members to students and postdocs, 3) increases in usage in Molecular Biosciences and Materials Research has outstripped that of other fields of science, 4) the distribution of user external funding is bimodal with one group having a large ratio of external funding to internal XSEDE funding (ie, CPU cycles) and a second group having a small ratio of external to internal (CPU cycle) funding, 5) user job efficiency is also bimodal with a group of presumably new users running mainly small inefficient jobs and another group of users running larger more efficient jobs, 6) finally, based on an analysis of citations of published papers, the scientific impact of XSEDE coupled with the service providers is demonstrated in the statistically significant advantage it provides to the research of its users.
Chicken Skin as a Snack

Abstract Chicken skin is a by-product of some further processing operations. This research was an attempt to use the skin as a crisp snack. The skins of broilers were cured in different solutions, then cooked and examined for color and texture. A taste panel test was also conducted on cooked skins from three of the curing methods. Panelists, generally, liked the cures with the greater amount of sodium chloride as indicated by hedonic scores of 7.3, 6.3, and 5.2 (best score 9.0) respectively, for solutions containing approximately five, three, and one percent sodium chloride. Cooked skin to raw skin yields varied from 23.6 to 25.7% with a chemical analysis of 3.5% moisture, 45% crude protein, and 47% crude fat.
Ultrastructure of cuticle formation in a parasitic nematode, Nematospiroides dubius.

The cuticle of fourth larval stage N. dubius consists of a limiting membrane, outer and inner cortices, matrix, and two fibrous layers. The adult cuticle displays a limiting membrane and outer cortex, but the remainder of the cuticle is not subdivided into discrete layers. The limiting membrane is triple-layered, and its filamentous surface coat binds Thorotrast (pH 2.1). Time sequence studies on the genesis of the limiting membrane indicate that it is a plasmalemma transformed from the cuticle-hypodermis membrane. The cortex and matrix of the adult cuticle form by differentiation of hypodermis cytoplasm subjacent to the cuticle-hypodermis membrane. The fiber layers form under the matrix by intrahypodermal secretion. The cuticle is thus intrahypodermal. The cuticle-hypodermis membrane is discontinuous in fourth larval stage and adult worms, and direct communication is established between the cuticle and hypodermis.
Vision-Based Road-Following Using Proportional Navigation

This paper describes a new approach for autonomous road following for an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) using a visual sensor. A road is defined as any continuous, extended, curvilinear feature, which can include city streets, highways, and dirt roads, as well as forest-fire perimeters, shorelines, and fenced borders. To achieve autonomous road-following, this paper utilizes Proportional Navigation as the basis for the guidance law, where visual information is directly fed back into the controller. The tracking target for the Proportional Navigation algorithm is chosen as the position on the edge of the camera frame at which the road flows into the image. Therefore, each frame in the video stream only needs to be searched on the edge of the frame, thereby significantly reducing the computational requirements of the computer vision algorithms. The tracking error defined in the camera reference frame shows that the Proportional Navigation guidance law results in a steady-state error caused by bends and turns in the road, which are perceived as road motion. The guidance algorithm is therefore adjusted using Augmented Proportional Navigation Guidance to account for the perceived road accelerations and to force the steady-state error to zero. The effectiveness of the solution is demonstrated through high-fidelity simulations, and with flight tests using a small autonomous UAV.
Cost-effective design of scale-inhibitor squeeze treatments using a mathematical model

Scale formation and deposition in production facilities is a challenging problem faced by the oil industry. Their deposition leads to operational problems, safety hazards, and an overall decrease in production efficiency. Downhole scale-inhibitor squeeze treatments provide the most common and effective means of preventing the formation of oilfield scale deposits. This paper presents an analysis and design study of field-inhibitor squeeze treatments. A mathematical model was used to simulate inhibitor-squeeze return data from several Saudi Aramco wells. A wide range of sensitivities in squeeze treatments were investigated, including inhibitor concentration, inhibitor volume, overflush size, and shut-in time. An optimization of the squeeze injection parameters was carried out with the numerical simulator. This optimization was based on squeeze performance as well as on economic criteria. The results indicate that the optimized treatment strategy is very well-specific and depends on the water production rates and operational parameters, like the scale-inhibitor concentration and volume and the amount of overflush. Recommendations are made for optimizing (in terms of cost effectiveness) the squeeze-treatment design.
Rhabdomyosarcoma of the spermatic cord.

A case of rhabdomyosarcoma of the spermatic cord is reported with a detailed discussion of the diagnosis and the prognosis of paratesticular rhabdomyosarcomas involving the spermatic cord.
Challenges Facing Families at the End of Life in Three Settings

This study examined the challenges faced by family members at the end of life in different care settings and how those challenges compare across settings. A total of 30 participants, who had a family member die in inpatient hospice, a skilled nursing facility or a community support program were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed. Text was coded using qualitative thematic analysis. Themes were determined by consensus. Twelve challenges were identified across care sites. Two themes emerged in all three settings: bearing witness and the experience of loss. The study findings contribute to our knowledge of family perceptions of care in different settings and raises awareness of the need for further research describing the experiences at the end of life in different settings and the importance of creating and testing interventions for both setting specific needs and universal issues.
An investigation of concurrent validity between two optimism/pessimism questionnaires: The life orientation test-revised and the optimism/pessimism scale

The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the concurrent validity of the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier et al., 1994) and Optimism/Pessimism Scale (OPS) (Dember et al., 1989) by administering each questionnaire to the same group of participants. The 154 participants (84 men and 70 women) were volunteer university students enrolled in physical activity classes at a southeastern university. The questionnaires were counterbalanced to reduce possible bias due to taking one questionnaire before taking the other. Due to recent suggestions concerning scoring mechanisms for the LOT-R (Dember et al., 1989; Hummer, Dember, Melton & Schefft, 1992; Lightsey, 1996; Marshall and Lang, 1990) the instrument was scored to produce a unidimensional score and two subscale scores. The analysis suggested that the LOTR and OPS may not be measuring similar constructs. The results revealed that the LOT-R may be measuring “trait” optimism and pessimism, while the OPS may be measuring “state” optimism and pessimism. It was also suggested that future research investigate racial differences on these constructs.