cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mixed digital/analog VLSI array architectures for image processing

This paper presents the design of a mixed digital/analog array to implement several signal processing algorithms used in coordinate rotation for image processing. The advantages of hybrid arrays in which the processor element can be either analog or digital depending on a specific computing requirement are discussed. The interfaces between processor elements of different types are considered and several circuits are designed for this task. The proposed mixed array architecture is shown to possess strong potential in other high-performance computing applications.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Complex Dosing Schedules for Continuous Intrathecal Baclofen Infusion

The objective of the present study was to understand the clinical reasons for changes from simple continuous to complex (flex) dosing for tone reduction in individuals receiving intrathecal baclofen. Methodology was a retrospective chart review study of 164 individuals (95 male, 69 female) at a multi-specialty children's hospital who were followed for at least 1 year for intrathecal baclofen management. Eighty-two persons were in the simple continuous only group and 82 also were on complex schedules at least once during the follow-up period. Mean age at most recent follow-up was 18 years and 0 months (median, 15 years and 8 months; standard deviation, 8 years and 0 months; range, 6-45). The top three clinical reasons for switching dosing method were to (1) optimize intrathecal baclofen effect, (2) treat predictable daily tone variation, and (3) manage signs and symptoms of intrathecal baclofen withdrawal or underdelivery. In both groups, 90% of individuals had cerebral palsy, and mean baseline leg Ashworth scores were the same in both groups (mean, 3.7; standard deviation, 0.7). Mean total daily dose at chart review was higher in complex dosing (429.3 vs 211.9 μg/day), as was mean follow-up time (4.8 vs 3.9 years). Case examples are presented.
CD105 (Endoglin) Is Highly Overexpressed in a Subset of Cases of Acute Myeloid Leukemias

Objectives: To assess CD105 (endoglin) expression in 119 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 13 control cases using immunohistochemistry. Methods: CD105 expression was assessed retrospectively by using immunohistochemistry in bone marrow specimens. Results: CD105 was strongly and diffusely positive in all 9 (100%) AMLs with t(15;17)(q24.1;q21.2), 2 (100%) AMLs with t(8;21)(q22;q22), 1 (100%) AML with t(6;9)(p23;q34), 7 (28%) of 25 AMLs with myelodysplasia-related changes, 1 (33%) of 3 therapy-related AMLs, 3 (16%) of 19 AMLs unclassifiable, 1 (14%) of 7 AMLs with inv(16)(p13.1q22), and 5 (11%) of 45 AMLs not otherwise specified. Uninvolved bone marrow in these cases showed no CD105 expression by erythroid precursors, megakaryocytes, or endothelial or stromal cells. Two of 13 control bone marrow specimens showed partial CD105 positivity in myeloid cells. In 21 strongly CD105+ AML cases tested for the IDH2 mutation, 9 (42%) were mutated (P = .004). Conclusions: These data suggest that CD105 could be a therapeutic target in a subset of patients with AML.
One-dimensional ventsel-freidlin theory and its analogue for singular perturbations of degenerate diffusions

We make some remarks about deriving the large deviations estimates for the Ventsel-Freidlin perturbed system and adapt these methods to derive similar results for singular perturbations of degenerate one-dimensional diffusions where β and ω are independent Brownian motions. This corresponds to a singular perturbation of the degenerate second-order operator
The Concept of Disappearance in Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis

ABSTRACT Although it is set in April of 2000, Cosmopolis is Don DeLillo's first post-9/11 novel. DeLillo presents the novel's protagonist, Eric Packer, as a kind of third Twin Tower, a monolithic symbol of global economic hegemony. The commentaries on 9/11 by Jean Baudrillard and Paul Virilio suggest a theoretical context for understanding the manner in which DeLillo portrays Eric's psychological collapse and the collapse of the World Trade Center as eerie analogues of one another, both indicating suicidal tendencies in the heart of homo technologicus.
Economic Reform: Is it Hurting the Poor? A Country Specific Study

This paper analyses how and why the welfare of the poor in Sudan has changed during the reform period of 1980s. The analysis indicates that the period was not only one of abysmal economic performance, but also revealed considerable deterioration on all poverty dimensions, incidence, intensity and degree of inequality among the poor. Though external shocks and civil war played a role in Sudan's socioeconomic crisis, the analysis also indicates that the 1980s economic reform was flawed as well. The sectors targeted by the reform failed to tap the impulses for equitable economic growth. An alternative broader-based reform favouring traditional agriculture and processing of its products would have reduced poverty without compromising between growth-oriented policies and social equity.© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantitative Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Data in Serial Assessment of Krabbe Disease

Krabbe disease is a rare autosomal recessive pediatric white matter (WM) disorder that is due to deficiency of a specific enzyme, beta-galactocerebrosidase. This report reviews our experience with use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in serial assessment of WM changes in Krabbe disease following stem cell transplantation. DTI appears to be a sensitive means to monitor effects of stem cell transplantation on WM development in Krabbe disease. The group of early transplantation infants was clearly distinguishable from the group of late transplantation infants based on anisotropy measurements. Good correlation also was seen between neurodevelopmental scores and anisotropy measurements. The work described here in Krabbe disease may serve as a model for application of DTI to other therapies in various WM disorders such as multiple sclerosis and dysmyelinating disorders of childhood.
Application of a model of human decision making for human/computer communication

When a human and computer perform similar tasks in parallel, it is important that an effective line of communication exist between the two entities. Since overt communication may add to the human's workload, an implicit method of communication is suggested in which the computer has a model of human performance on which to base actions. A two-stage model of human performance is employed in an experimental situation in which both a human and a computer act as decision makers. Results indicate that the implementation of a model significantly improves the human's performance and the overall system performance, without degrading the computer's performance. Research into additional experimental and real-world situations is suggested.
John Robinson and the Lure of Separatism in Pre-Revolutionary England

On the fIfth day of August in 1603, the mayor of Norwich and “a great multitude of people” crowded into Saint Andrew's parish church to hear John Robinson preach an afternoon sermon celebrating the third anniversary of James I's deliverance from the Gowrie Plot. In the congregation were two of Bishop John Jegon's lay informers, Michaell Peade and Frances Dawes. As Robinson began, the two informants turned a critical ear, intent on sifting the sermon for hints of the kind of ecclesiastical radicalism that establishment prelates recently had found so exasperatingly disruptive to the ministerial machinery. They had good cause for concern since the young Robinson, fresh from Cambridge University where a generation earlier the new wave of religious dissent had first flourished, was now in Norwich seeking a license from Jegon to preach in his diocese.
Group detection in mobility traces

In a number of network scenarios (including military settings), mobile nodes are clustered into groups, with nodes within the same group exhibiting significant correlation in their movements. Mobility models for such networks should reflect this group structure. In this paper, we consider the problem of identifying the number of groups, and the membership of mobile nodes within groups, from a trace of mobile nodes. We present two clustering algorithms to determine the number of groups and their identities: k-means chain and spectral clustering. Different from traditional k-means clustering, k-means chain identifies the number of groups in a dynamic graph, using a chaining process to keep track of group trajectories over the entire trace. The second approach uses spectral clustering, which uses similarities between node pairs to cluster nodes into groups. We show that the number of groups and node membership can be accurately extracted from traces, particularly when the number of groups is small.
Rules, reasons and routines: Legislative roles in parliamentary democracies

Parliamentary roles, the behavioural patterns or routines that legislators adopt, can be viewed as strategies for the employment of scarce resources toward specific goals. This article argues that parliamentary behaviour can be understood against the background of four typical and largely hierarchically ordered objectives that parliamentarians have: reselection, re‐election, party office, and legislative office. Legislative roles describe the ways in which parliamentarians harness their scarce resources in order to reach their goals. These strategies are in turn affected by the institutional rules under which parliamentarians operate. The article examines the specific legislator objectives under parliamentary government and discusses the roles that describe the various ways in which they pursue these goals.
A Unified Process for Neurological Disease

The perennial promise of human disease genetics is the delivery of etiology-based therapies. This rests on the notion that identifying disease-causing mutations will provide a basis for determining the molecular networks that constitute the disease process—an understanding that is critical for the development of such therapies. On page [506][1] of this issue, Novarino et al. ( 1 ) perform what is perhaps the most complete genetic analysis of the neurological disorder hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), and deliver on part of this promise by creating an “HSPome,” a plausible network of proteins involved in this disease. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1247363
A contemporary review of the factors involved in complete dentures. Part II: Stability

Dentists must base their technique on an understanding of the biologic aspects of the relationship between the denture base and supporting tissues. Those tissues must be able to tolerate functional stresses without promoting patient discomfort and should be recorded in such a manner that these areas provide complete denture support. Anatomic regions that satisfy the requirements for providing primary support should make positive contact with the denture base under functional loading. Those that are less resistant to long-term changes or are unable to tolerate stress should be relieved of excessive contact with the denture base. Selection of those regions that should provide primary and secondary support depends on the anatomic variations unique to each patient.
A functional nuclear localization sequence in the C. elegans TRPV channel OCR-2.

The ability to modulate gene expression in response to sensory experience is critical to the normal development and function of the nervous system. Calcium is a key activator of the signal transduction cascades that mediate the process of translating a cellular stimulus into transcriptional changes. With the recent discovery that the mammalian Cav1.2 calcium channel can be cleaved, enter the nucleus and act as a transcription factor to control neuronal gene expression, a more direct role for the calcium channels themselves in regulating transcription has begun to be appreciated. Here we report the identification of a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) in the C. elegans transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) cation channel OCR-2. TRPV channels have previously been implicated in transcriptional regulation of neuronal genes in the nematode, although the precise mechanism remains unclear. We show that the NLS in OCR-2 is functional, being able to direct nuclear accumulation of a synthetic cargo protein as well as the carboxy-terminal cytosolic tail of OCR-2 where it is endogenously found. Furthermore, we discovered that a carboxy-terminal portion of the full-length channel can localize to the nucleus of neuronal cells. These results suggest that the OCR-2 TRPV cation channel may have a direct nuclear function in neuronal cells that was not previously appreciated.
Chapter 10: Deciding Whether to Complement a Systematic Review of Medical Tests with Decision Modeling

Limited by what is reported in the literature, most systematic reviews of medical tests focus on “test accuracy” (or better, test performance), rather than on the impact of testing on patient outcomes. The link between testing, test results and patient outcomes is typically complex: even when testing has high accuracy, there is no guarantee that physicians will act according to test results, that patients will follow their orders, or that the intervention will yield a beneficial endpoint. Therefore, test performance is typically not sufficient for assessing the usefulness of medical tests. Modeling (in the form of decision or economic analysis) is a natural framework for linking test performance data to clinical outcomes. We propose that (some) modeling should be considered to facilitate the interpretation of summary test performance measures by connecting testing and patient outcomes. We discuss a simple algorithm for helping systematic reviewers think through this possibility, and illustrate it by means of an example.
SU-E-T-499: A Geant4/TOPAS Monte Carlo System for Validating Proton Therapy Treatment Plan Calculations at Mayo Clinic

Purpose: To build a Geant4‐based Monte Carlo (MC) dose verification system for proton therapy with a scanning nozzle. This system will be used routinely at the upcoming Mayo Clinic proton center for both research and verification of pencil beam dose calculations. Methods: Geant4 is a well‐verified MC toolkit that is applied extensively in many branches of physics, including medical physics. We implemented our dose verification system using TOPAS, a proton MC package that facilitates the use of Geant4. The system consists of: scripts that read in data from DICOM files and create TOPAS input parameter files; TOPAS geometry extensions to accommodate our scanning nozzle, and TOPAS code additions to input ‘parameterized’ phase space data for beam spots at the nozzle exit. Typically, a phase space file containing source events for a grid of beam spots covering the scanning area at the nozzle exit is about 500 Gb. To reduce the size of this file down to ∼30 Mb, we fit MC‐generated beam spot position and direction distributions to extract Twiss parameters. The beam energy distributions are fitted with skewed Gaussians. The phase space is then represented by a set of skewed Gaussian and Twiss parameters for each beam spot in the grid. Results: Using our MC dose calculation system, we show MC and pencil beam comparisons for: (1) water phantom, (2) prostate and (3) head and neck cases. Good agreement is obtained. To reach 2% statistical error on the MC dose calculations, a tumor 200 cm3 in volume would require around 1×107 protons. On a 100‐node cluster, such a calculation takes ∼1 hour to complete. Conclusion: A TOPAS‐based dose verification system for proton treatment plans has been built at Mayo Clinic. The typical computation time per plan is expected to be a few hours on a dedicated cluster. This work is supported by a grant from Varian Medical Systems.
Inelastic neutron scattering study of the hydration of tricalcium silicate

Inelastic neutron scattering is applied for the first time to monitor directly the concentration of calcium hydroxide formed during the hydration of tricalcium silicate. Results taken between 10 and 40 °C show that the onset of calcium hydroxide formation is delayed at lower temperatures but that the final quantity formed appears to be converging to a temperature-independent value. At 20°C, the 28 day value is 1.3 moles per mole of tricalcium silicate. Combining these results with previous measurements of the free water index made using quasielastic neutron scattering reveals that the hydrogen content of the C–S–H gel decreases significantly at increased curing temperature.
The Relationship between Motor Skill Proficiency and Body Mass Index in Preschool Children.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and body mass index (BMI) in preschool children. Thirty-eight children ages 4–6 years had their BMI calculated and were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2; Henderson, Sugden, & Barnett, 2007). These data were analyzed in two ways. The correlation between BMI and MABC-2 percentile ranks was calculated. Next, the groups were subdivided based on BMI status (high, M = 85.5; medium, M = 49.8; low, M = 10.8), and compared using t tests to determine if differences existed in MABC-2 percentile ranks. No significant relationship existed between MABC-2 and BMI percentile ranks (r = -.237). However, significant differences in MABC-2 percentile ranks existed between high and low (p = .042), and high and medium (p = .043) groups. These results suggest that preschool children classified as overweight or obese may have lower motor proficiency than their normal weight and under weight peers. Thi...
Effect of temperature on ultrasonic properties of the calcaneus in situ.

To assess the dependence of calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) on foot temperature, a series of acoustic measurements were made in five cadaver feet in situ (all soft tissues retained) over a temperature range of 25 °C to 40 °C in steps of 5 °C. An implanted probe was used to measured temperature directly in the calcaneus itself. Ultrasound velocity decreased linearly with increasing temperature, with a mean thermal coefficient of −2.2 m/s/°C. In contrast, broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) increased with temperature with a mean thermal coefficient of +0.75 dB/MHz/°C. We argue that the temperature trends in velocity are likely to be due to the influence of fat, present in the bone marrow and in the soft tissues, which has a negative thermal coefficient for acoustic velocity. The attenuation trends may arise, in part, from greater scattering losses inside the cancellous bone due to an increased acoustic impedance mismatch between trabeculae and fatty marrow at higher temperatures. These considerations suggest that the greatest temperature effects may be expected in patients with a high proportion of fat within the measured volume and/or low calcaneal bone density. Given the magnitude of the thermal coefficients observed, the clinical impact of temperature-related QUS errors is likely to be modest for diagnostic purposes but of greater significance in follow-up studies.
The use of cholecystokinin as an adjunctive treatment for toxin ingestion.

Study Objective: To determine if pharmacologic trapping of ingested toxins in the stomach using cholecystokinin (CCK) in addition to activated charcoal (AC) decreases the absorption of ingested toxins. Methods: We performed a two‐phase study that was prospective, randomized, blinded, and placebo‐controlled, using a subtoxic acetaminophen (APAP) animal model. Eight adult beagle dogs were studied to detect a 20% decrease in 4h APAP levels with a power of 80%. A control arm using APAP at 100 mg/kg without AC or CCK was first performed. APAP levels were drawn at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 8, and 24h. This was repeated in a CCK dose finding phase using a 60‐min CCK infusion (4 vs. 8 pmol/kg/min) starting at 30 min post‐APAP ingestion. Once the optimal CCK dose was established, animals in the treatment phase received AC and a 1h infusion of CCK (vs. placebo). The efficacy of CCK when started at 30 and 60 min post‐APAP ingestion was tested. Results: In the dose finding arm 8 pmol/kg/min was well tolerated and also reduc...
Minimally invasive surgery in pediatric cancer patients.

Background: The specific use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in pediatric cancer patients is limited. We evaluated the 5-year experience at a single institution with MIS in children with malignancies.
MO-D-BRB-06: JUNIOR INVESTIGATOR WINNER - Fast and Accurate Patient Specific Collision Detection for Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: To develop a fast and generalizable method which can identify all possible hardware collisions specific to a given patient setup before treatment planning.Methods: An anthropomorphic phantom placed in a typical breast setup using a wingboard was simulated on a CT scanner and the phantom body contour, table, and gantry geometry were made into polygon meshes using 3D modeling software. In the treatment room, a limited physical search of the collision positive zones was performed using the positioned phantom. A software tool that incorporated a generalized hierarchical bounding box (HBB) collision detection algorithm was developed and used to virtually map out the entire collision space by transforming the positions of the polygonal geometry over a given parameter range. Results: The geometry containing 47K polygons was mapped over a space of 6480 states with an average transform/collision check of 5.5ms, for a total time of 35.6s on a 3.14GHz dual core computer with 4GB memory. The computed collision space, using receiver operating curve analysis had an accuracy of 96.35%, and a positive predictive value of 91.2%. Conclusions: This work demonstrates a framework that can provide a fast and accurate map of the collision free space specific to any patient setup. Differences in physical and simulated collision space is attributed to inaccuracies of the geometrical models used. Future work includes improving the efficiency of the algorithm, enhancing the geometrical models and increasing the dimensions of the search.
The multiple roles of Purkinje cells in sensori-motor calibration: to predict, teach and command

Neurophysiological recordings in the cerebellar cortex of awake-behaving animals are revolutionizing the way we think about the role of Purkinje cells in sensori-motor calibration. Early theorists suggested that if a movement became miscalibrated, Purkinje cell output would be changed to adjust the motor command and restore good performance. The finding that Purkinje cell activity changed in many sensori-motor calibration tasks was taken as strong support for this hypothesis. Based on more recent data, however, it has been suggested that changes in Purkinje cell activity do not contribute to the motor command directly; instead, they are used either as a teaching signal, or to predict the altered kinematics of the movement after calibration has taken place. I will argue that these roles are not mutually exclusive, and that Purkinje cells may contribute to command generation, teaching, and prediction at different times during sensori-motor calibration.
Histological Appearance of Naturally Occurring Canine Physeal Fractures

The Salter-Harris classification system is widely used to describe the anatomical appearance of and predict the prognosis for physeal fractures in canine clinical patients. Salter and Harris classified experimentally induced physeal fractures on radiographic and histological appearance, however, the good prognosis afforded Salter-Harris type I and II fractures in experimental animals has been questioned for the canine patient. Twelve naturally occurring physeal fractures from five traumatized dogs, who were euthanatized at the request of their owners, and one resected femoral head were examined histologically. Ten of the 13 physeal fractures disrupted the cells in the proliferative zone. The histological appearance of growth plate disruption in the injured animal correlates more closely with the clinical observations of growth retardation than the experimental observation of continued growth after fracture through the hypertrophic zone. The results of this study indicated that considerable damage to the physeal cartilage occurred during the traumatic incident in most of these clinical animal patients.
Shifts in Rhizoplane Communities of Aquatic Plants after Cadmium Exposure

In this study we present the comparative molecular analysis of bacterial communities of the aquatic plant Lemna minor from a contaminated site (RCP) and from a laboratory culture (EPA), as well as each of these with the addition of cadmium. Plants were identified as L. minor by analysis of the rpl16 chloroplast region. Comparative bacterial community studies were based on the analyses of 16S rRNA clone libraries, each containing about 100 clones from the root surfaces of plants. Bacterial communities were compared at three phylogenetic levels of resolution. At the level of bacterial divisions, differences in diversity index scores between treatments, with and without cadmium within the same plant type (EPA or RCP), were small, indicating that cadmium had little effect. When we compared genera within the most dominant group, the beta-proteobacteria, differences between unamended and cadmium-amended libraries were much larger. Bacterial diversity increased upon cadmium addition for both EPA and RCP libraries. Analyses of diversity at the phylotype level showed parallel shifts to more even communities upon cadmium addition; that is, percentage changes in diversity indices due to cadmium addition were the same for either plant type, indicating that contamination history might be independent of disturbance-induced diversity shifts. At finer phylogenetic levels of resolution, the effects of cadmium addition on bacterial communities were very noticeable. This study is a first step in understanding the role of aquatic plant-associated microbial communities in phytoremediation of heavy metals.
Rethinking Interventions to Improve Surrogate Decision Making in Intensive Care Units

Many aspects of care for critically ill patients that were once managed exclusively by physicians are now collaboratively managed by clinicians from several disciplines.1-3 However, most of the responsibility remains with physicians to help surrogate decision makers deliberate about goals of care for patients with advanced critical illness. This is rational if decision making is conceptualized as a purely cognitive process requiring only physicians’ technical biomedical knowledge. However, this narrow conceptualization is at odds with the reality that surrogate decision making is also an emotional and moral endeavor. Moreover, the simple goal of ensuring timely, consistent communication in intensive care units (ICUs) is an organizational challenge. When conceptualized in this way, the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration is clear—no single individual has sufficient skills and time to attend to the diverse challenges that surrogates face in ICUs. In this article, I present a multidimensional framework of the barriers to high quality surrogate decision making in ICUs and present 5 ways that clinical nurses could be more explicitly incorporated into interventions to improve surrogate decision making in ICUs.
Opposite Regulation of CD36 Ubiquitination by Fatty Acids and Insulin: EFFECTS ON FATTY ACID UPTAKE*

FAT/CD36 is a membrane scavenger receptor that facilitates long chain fatty acid uptake by muscle. Acute increases in membrane CD36 and fatty acid uptake have been reported in response to insulin and contraction. In this study we have explored protein ubiquitination as one potential mechanism for the regulation of CD36 level. CD36 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) or HEK 293 cells was found to be polyubiquitinated via a process involving both lysines 48 and 63 of ubiquitin. Using CHO cells expressing the insulin receptor (CHO/hIR) and CD36, it is shown that addition of insulin (100 nm, 10 and 30 min) significantly reduced CD36 ubiquitination. In contrast, ubiquitination was strongly enhanced by fatty acids (200 μm palmitate or oleate, 2 h). Similarly, endogenous CD36 in C2C12 myotubes was ubiquitinated, and this was enhanced by oleic acid treatment, which also reduced total CD36 protein in cell lysates. Insulin reduced CD36 ubiquitination, increased CD36 protein, and inhibited the opposite effects of fatty acids on both parameters. These changes were paralleled by changes in fatty acid uptake, which could be blocked by the CD36 inhibitor sulfosuccinimidyl oleate. Mutation of the two lysine residues in the carboxyl-terminal tail of CD36 markedly attenuated ubiquitination of the protein expressed in CHO cells and was associated with increased CD36 level and enhanced oleate uptake and incorporation into triglycerides. In conclusion, fatty acids and insulin induce opposite alterations in CD36 ubiquitination, modulating CD36 level and fatty acid uptake. Altered CD36 turnover may contribute to abnormal fatty acid uptake in the insulin-resistant muscle.
The Lengthening Shadow: The Story of Related Rates

The Fluxionary or Differential and Integral Calculus has within these few years become almost entirely a science of symbols and mere algebraic formulae, with scarcely any illustration or practical application. Clothed as it is in a transcendental dress, the ordinary student is afraid to approach it; and even many of those whose resources allow them to repair to the Universities do not appear to derive all the advantages which might be expected from the study of this interesting branch of mathematical science.
The Reputations of Doctoral Training Programs in Special Education

To assess the reputations of doctoral training programs in special education, questionnaires were distributed to the heads and junior and senior faculty members from the 81 programs nationally that grant the doctoral degree in special education. Respondents were asked to list the five programs with the most distinguished faculties and, separately, the five programs that graduate the best-prepared students. Altogether, 140 responses were received (59% return), nominating 50 different programs on at least one criterion. Responses to the two questions were highly related, and both were related to the number of graduates by program who returned questionnaires. Ranks given by program heads and senior faculties were more closely related to one another than either was to the ranks given by junior faculty.
Development of CMX001 (Brincidofovir) for the treatment of serious diseases or conditions caused by dsDNA viruses

CMX001 (hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir, Brincidofovir) is a broad spectrum, lipid conjugate of cidofovir that is converted intracellularly into the active antiviral, cidofovir diphosphate. The lipid conjugation results in oral bioavailability, higher intracellular concentrations of active drug, lower plasma concentrations of cidofovir and increased antiviral potency against dsDNA viruses.
Vectors of volunteerism: Correlates of volunteer retention, recruitment, and job satisfaction

Volunteers are a rapidly growing segment of the workforce population, contributing both time and resources to the success of many organizations. Utilizing quantitative data from a survey, this study first develops a theoretical model of nonprofit volunteer participation and satisfaction and tests this model through structural equation modeling. The data derive from over 250 volunteers of a nonprofit organization located in a large southwestern urban area. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship of volunteer motivation, organizational communication, and structural barriers with job satisfaction, intent to remain with the organization, and intent to engage in volunteer-initiated recruitment. A slightly modified model derived from the theorized model received support. Motivation predicted satisfaction with organizational communication, which in turn predicted perceived barriers, job satisfaction, commitment, and intentions to recruit others. Implications are examined both for the theory of organizational communication and the recruitment of volunteers for nonprofit organizations.
Quantum transport simulation of the resonant-tunneling diode

The quantum-well resonant-tunneling diode is modeled by calculation of the Wigner distribution function. Boundary conditions applied to the Wigner function model the Ohmic contacts to the device and provide the required dissipative behavior. The Liouville equation is solved to obtain the steady-state response, or integrated to obtain the transient response. The steady-state I-V curves show the expected negative resistance, though the calculated peak-to-valley current ratio is smaller than that obtained from more conventional calculations and is smaller than the better experimental devices at low temperatures. The calculations of the detailed transient response are the first reported for a tunneling device, and resolve the question of the response time of the tunneling current. For a structure with 2.8 nm AlGaAs barriers, the current switches from its peak to its valley value in about 0.2 ps. The response time increases with the thickness of the barriers.
DNA polymerase γ, the mitochondrial replicase

DNA polymerase (pol) gamma is the sole DNA polymerase in animal mitochondria. Biochemical and genetic evidence document a key role for pol gamma in mitochondrial DNA replication, and whereas DNA repair and recombination were thought to be limited or absent in animal mitochondria, both have been demonstrated in recent years. Thus, the mitochondrial replicase is also apparently responsible for the relevant DNA synthetic reactions in these processes. Pol gamma comprises a catalytic core in a heterodimeric complex with an accessory subunit. The two-subunit holoenzyme is an efficient and processive polymerase, which exhibits high fidelity in nucleotide selection and incorporation while proofreading errors with its intrinsic 3' 5' exonuclease. Incorporation of nucleotide analogs followed by proofreading failure leads to mitochondrial toxicity in antiviral therapy, and misincorporation during DNA replication leads to mitochondrial mutagenesis and dysfunction. This review describes our current understanding of pol gamma biochemistry and biology, and it introduces other key proteins that function at the mitochondrial DNA replication fork.
A novel KIT mutation results in piebaldism with progressive depigmentation

Piebaldism is an autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development characterized by white skin (leukoderma) and white hair (poliosis). In general, piebaldism has been distinguished from vitiligo by the presence of lesions from birth, the hyperpigmented macules of depigmented and normal skin, and the static course. We hypothesized that an 8-year-old girl and her mother who had unusual piebaldism of a progressive nature would have a novel mutation of the KIT gene, the gene that is altered in patients with piebaldism, or of the MITF (microphthalmia activating transcription factor) gene, which would be expected to cause type II Waardenburg syndrome, but is associated with a phenotype of progressive depigmentation in mice. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of affected and unaffected family members, and the KIT and MITF genes were sequenced. Genetic analysis of genomic DNA from both the mother and daughter with progressive piebaldism revealed a novel Val620Ala (1859T>C) mutation in the KIT gene, which was not detected in family members without progressive piebaldism or in 52 normal control individuals. This KIT mutation affects the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain and thus predicts a severe phenotype, as was the case in this family. Although other KIT mutations in the vicinity of codon 620 lead to the standard phenotype of static piebaldism, the Val620Ala mutation is novel and may result in a previously undescribed phenotype with melanocyte instability, leading to progressive loss of pigmentation as well as the progressive appearance of the hyperpigmented macules.
The torso receptor tyrosine kinase can activate raf in a ras-independent pathway

Abstract Activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) torso defines the spatial domains of expression of the transcription factors tailless and huckebein . Previous analyses have demonstrated that Rasl (p21 ras ) operates upstream of the D-Raf (Raft) serine/threonine kinase in this signaling pathway. By using a recently developed technique of germline mosaics, we find that D-Raf can be activated by torso in the complete absence of Rasl. This result is supported by analysis of D-Raf activation in the absence of either the exchange factor Son of sevenless (Sos) orthe adaptor protein drk (Grb2), as well as by the phenotype of a D-Raf mutation that abolishes binding of Rasl to D-Raf. Our study provides in vivo evidence that Raf can be activated by an RTK in a Ras-independent pathway.
Prophylaxis of Atrial Fibrillation After Noncardiac Thoracic Surgery

Atrial fibrillation (AF) occurs commonly after noncardiac thoracic surgery, including lobectomy, pneumonectomy and esophagectomy. While not as extensively investigated as AF following cardiac surgery, some strategies for prophylaxis of AF after noncardiac thoracic surgery have been studied. Evidence from prospective, randomized controlled studies supports the use of beta-blockers, diltiazem, amiodarone or magnesium for prevention of AF after pulmonary resection. Limited evidence supports the efficacy of intravenous amiodarone for prevention of AF after esophagectomy. Further study is necessary to determine the safest and most effective methods of prophylaxis of AF after noncardiac thoracic surgery, and to identify patients most likely to benefit from AF prophylaxis.
Malignant schwannoma treated by mohs surgical excision

A 34-year-old white female with a 5-cm malignant schwannoma of the upper thigh underwent complete removal of the tumor by fresh-tissue Mohs surgical excision. The patient refused postoperative radiotherapy, and is without signs of recurrence 5 years after surgery. Mohs surgical excision in the treatment of malignant schwannoma has not to our knowledge been reported previously.
Natural occurrence of four reversible flagellar phases in cultures of Salmonella mikawashima.

Edwards, P. R. (Communicable Disease Center, U.S. Public Health Service, Atlanta, Ga.), R. Sakazaki, and I. Kato. Natural occurrence of four reversible flagellar phases in cultures of Salmonella mikawashima. J. Bacteriol. 84:99–103. 1962—Study of cultures of Salmonella mikawashima isolated from reptiles revealed that single colonies of some strains contained three distinct H phases and that colonies of other cultures contained four such phases. In addition to the usual y and e,n,z15 phases of S. mikawashima, two additional antigens which occurred naturally and which were identical with naturally occurring H antigens of the Arizona group, designated z47 and z50, were recognized. Some cultures were represented by the formula 6,7:y:-e,n,z15:z47, some by 6,7:y:e,n,z15:z50, and some by 6,7:y:e,n,z15:z47:z50. The four H antigens were serologically unrelated, and each could be caused to revert to the others. Spontaneous reversions also were observed. The organisms underwent loss variation, and stable diphasic forms were encountered in which the e,n,z15 phase occurred in conjunction with y, z47, or z50, indicating that the three antigens may be alternative forms of phase 1.
A pipeline for the de novo assembly of the Themira biloba (Sepsidae: Diptera) transcriptome using a multiple k-mer length approach

The Sepsidae family of flies is a model for investigating how sexual selection shapes courtship and sexual dimorphism in a comparative framework. However, like many non-model systems, there are few molecular resources available. Large-scale sequencing and assembly have not been performed in any sepsid, and the lack of a closely related genome makes investigation of gene expression challenging. Our goal was to develop an automated pipeline for de novo transcriptome assembly, and to use that pipeline to assemble and analyze the transcriptome of the sepsid Themira biloba. Our bioinformatics pipeline uses cloud computing services to assemble and analyze the transcriptome with off-site data management, processing, and backup. It uses a multiple k-mer length approach combined with a second meta-assembly to extend transcripts and recover more bases of transcript sequences than standard single k-mer assembly. We used 454 sequencing to generate 1.48 million reads from cDNA generated from embryo, larva, and pupae of T. biloba and assembled a transcriptome consisting of 24,495 contigs. Annotation identified 16,705 transcripts, including those involved in embryogenesis and limb patterning. We assembled transcriptomes from an additional three non-model organisms to demonstrate that our pipeline assembled a higher-quality transcriptome than single k-mer approaches across multiple species. The pipeline we have developed for assembly and analysis increases contig length, recovers unique transcripts, and assembles more base pairs than other methods through the use of a meta-assembly. The T. biloba transcriptome is a critical resource for performing large-scale RNA-Seq investigations of gene expression patterns, and is the first transcriptome sequenced in this Dipteran family.
The Amount of Manganese Required to Prevent Perosis in the Chick

Abstract PEROSIS has recently been recognized as a deficiency disease affecting the development of bone. Up to the present time it has been observed in several species of domesticated and game fowl but has not been observed in other animals. The most characteristic symptoms of the disease are enlargement of the tibio-metatarsal joint, bending of the distal end of the tibia and the proximal end of the metatarsus, and displacement of the Achilles tendon. Locomotion is impaired and in severe cases the animal is unable to stand. These outward manifestations of injury have given rise to the descriptive terms of “slipped tendon” and “enlarged hock” as names for the deformity. Titus (1932) first proposed the name perosis. The disease is prevalent among rapidly growing chicks confined in battery brooders. Diets high in calcium and phosphorus aggravate the condition according to Wilgus (1931). That the disease is distinct from rickets, in sensu . . .
Inverse dynamic analysis and simulation of a platform type of robot

This article presents an algorithm to solve the inverse dynamics for platform type of manipulators using Newton-Euler equations of motion. We found that the inverse dynamics of the system is governed by thirty-six linear equations. The number of these simultaneous equations can be reduced to six, if a proper sequence is taken. The relationships between the actuating forces and the shape of the structure are analyzed. Based on the algorithm, computer code for simulation was developed. Three cases were studied. As a result, configurations which minimize the actuating forces are suggested. It is also found that the fluctuation of the driving forces is lesser when the path is closer to the center of the base. These results are believed to be useful in the design and control of this type of manipulating devices.
Does the parenchyma mediate the ability of one airway to modulate the contraction of another

If two airways are sufficiently close, the parenchymal distortion forces between them may interfere with their abilities to narrow. This mechanism may act to homogenize airway narrowing throughout the lung. We investigated this in a 2-dimensional computational model of a pair of airways embedded in parenchyma represented as a linear elastic continuum (Fig. 1a). Airway contraction was achieved by imposing an inward radial force on the hole boundaries and calculated using the finite element method. We determined how airway lumen area was affected as a function of the separation distance between their centers when only one airway contracted versus when both airways contracted equally. We found that airway contraction was identical under both conditions until the two airways came within about 2 uncontracted diameters of each other (Fig. 1b) at which point a contracting airway narrowed less if its companion airway also narrowed. We also found that when airways were close they narrowed more than when they were far apart, no doubt due to the reduced parenchymal interdependence forces caused by the hole representing a nearby companion. These model results suggest that airway-parenchymal interdependence will only significantly affect the heterogeneity of airway narrowing if the airways are, on average, within about 2 diameters of each other, provided that the parenchyma behaves like an elastic continuum.
The Assurance of Things Hoped for Coping Behavior of Children with Language Disorders in a Process-Writing Environment

This article describes the experience of first- and second-grade students as they put together the pieces of literacy knowledge necessary for each to discover a writing process that produces readable work. Woven into the description is the unfolding of the author's own understanding of how to help her students make sense of the literacy code.
A branch-and-bound method for the fixed charge transportation problem

In this paper we develop a new conditional penalty for the fixed charge transportation problem. This penalty is stronger than both the Driebeek penalties and the Lagrangean penalties of Cabot and Erenguc. Computational testing shows that the use of these penalties leads to significant reductions in enumeration and solution times for difficult problems in the size range tested. We also study the effect of problem parameters on the difficulty of the problem. The ratio of fixed charges to variable costs, the shape of the problem, arc density in the underlying network and fixed charge arc density are shown to have a significant effect on problem difficulty for problems involving up to 40 origins and 40 destinations.
Increasing use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists for the treatment of localized prostate carcinoma

Background The role of androgen deprivation therapy in prostate carcinoma is controversial in earlier stages of disease. The authors examined the time trends and patterns of use for androgen deprivation in the form of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or orchiectomy, in population-based tumor registries. Methods Data were obtained from the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare database. A total of 100,274 men with prostate carcinoma diagnosed from 1991 through 1999 were selected. The main outcome was the proportion of men who received ≥1 dose of a GnRH agonist in the first 6 months of diagnosis. This was plotted by year and stratified for age, grade, stage as well as primary versus adjuvant usage. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine predictors of GnRH agonist use in the subset of patients with localized cancer. Results There was a consistent increase in GnRH agonist use by year for all ages, stages, and grades. Even in men ≥80 years with localized stage and low-to-moderate grade tumors, primary GnRH agonist use increased over the study period, from 3.7% in 1991 to 30.9% in 1999 (P Conclusions The use of GnRH agonists for prostate carcinoma increased dramatically during the 1990s. This increase occurred across all stages and histologic grades of prostate carcinoma, and was greatest in patients ≥80 years.