cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining the Paracrine Effects of Exosomes in Cardiovascular Disease and Repair

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for almost a third of deaths.[1][1] Although advances in research and cardiac care have increased survival, there is still a need to develop new strategies for prevention, intervention, and palliation, given the continued
A Dean's Perspective on Entrepreneurship in the University

Abstract A university and a school of medicine serve four major functions: (1) education of learners, (2) creation of new knowledge, (3) transfer of new knowledge or innovation into a product or business (entrepreneurship), and (4) service to the community. This chapter will focus on the perspective of the role of a Dean at a medical school at promoting innovation and the subsequent creation and development of a product through established models to create a business or entrepreneurship.
Quantifiers in Adyghe

After presenting some basic genetic, historical and typological information about Adyghe this chapter outlines the quantification patterns it expresses. It illustrates various semantic types of quantifiers, such as generalized existential, generalized universal, proportional, definite and partitive which are defined in the Quantifier Questionnaire in Chapter 1. It partitions the expression of the semantic types into morpho-syntactic classes: Adverbial type quantifiers and Nominal (or Determiner) type quantifiers. For the various semantic and morpho-syntactic types of quantifiers it also distinguishes syntactically simple and syntactically complex quantifiers, as well as issues of distributivity and scope interaction, classifiers and measure expressions, and existential constructions. The chapter describes structural properties of determiners and quantified noun phrases in Adyghe, both in terms of internal structure (morphological or syntactic) and distribution.
Alliance Competence: From Conceptualization to Implementation, with Implications for the Alliance Manager

Many companies face the challenge of competing on the global stage, and alliances have been touted as one approach to gain competitive advantage. Over the last 20 years, the number of alliances has grown almost exponentially, but the rate of failure still holds at about 60 percent. A command-and-control approach will not work in today’s world, yet to managers whose traditional way of doing business resists collaboration, an alliance mindset does not come naturally. This chapter examines why managers haven’t gotten better at alliance management. We are interested in understanding why some firms are more successful at alliance management and which skills result in a higher rate of success. The construct of alliance competence is explored and its various elements defined. Also articulated are different strategies a firm might employ to develop these skills and capabilities in its alliance managers, including organizational structures and processes. Alliances are about people, so we emphasize the interpersonal dynamics of alliance competence.
A New Trace Ferrous Metal Detection Reagent

Since the early 1970s there has been substantial use of the 8-hydroxyquinoline test for determining whether a person has handled a weapon [1]. This test, now generally referred to as the TMDT test [2], involves spraying the hands of a person suspected of handling a weapon with a 0.2% solution of 8-hydroxyquinoline in isopropanol and observing the sprayed area with ultraviolet light. If a person has handled a weapon to the extent that oxidized ferrous ion is transferred to the hands, a dark area is noted in those areas of contact. Often a pattern of the object handled will be apparent. A positive reaction must be recorded by photography, however, and attendant complications exist in the ultraviolet fluorescent photography which must be employed [3].
Electroacoustic tomography system using ultra-short electric filed excitation source induced acoustic signals

Application of an ultra-short, high-intensive electric field has been gaining momentum to many advanced clinical techniques for treating deep-seated tumors based on the electroporation technique. Real-time monitoring is essential for such high impact clinical techniques. Real-time monitoring of electroporation-based medical interventions could be based on the electroacoustic tomography, where the electric field applied for the electroporation process leads to induce acoustic signals based on the flow of electrical current inside the target tissue and then the effects of rising temperature on acoustic pressure. A µs-to-ns high-voltage electric-pulse excitation source is connected to two electrodes separated by a distance of 200µm, where mounted into the conductive media to simulate tissue. An unfocused ultrasound transducer with a central frequency of 500 kHz is used to acquire real-time acoustic signals induced by the electric field. Various conductive media were studied using this pulsed excitation source to induce corresponding acoustic signals, forming two-dimensional tomography images. Results indicate the feasibility of the enhancing the electroacoustic tomography system that used the high-voltage, ultra-short pulsed excitation source for clinical processes as an imaging guidance to real-time, in situ monitoring for the electroporation-based techniques.
2982 Discrepancies Between Author- and Industry-Reported Disclosures of Financial Relationships in Gynecologic Research

Study Objective To investigate the concordance between author disclosures of financial and commercial interests and the data available on reported industry transactions present in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments database (OPD). Design Data was collected from an abstract booklet for a 2018 gynecologic annual meeting, including information on author specialty, number of abstracts published, and the number and nature of the listed disclosures. This was compared to data available for each author in the OPD in 2017, which included the amount and nature of all industry payments. Setting Retrospective observational study. Patients or Participants All authors with abstracts published in a 2018 gynecologic annual meeting abstract booklet. Interventions N/A. Measurements and Main Results A total of 544 authors were identified in the abstract booklet. Of these authors, 515 (94.7%) had no disclosures listed while 29 (5.3%) had one or more disclosure listed. Of the 515 authors without any disclosures, 219 (42.5%) had industry payments recorded in the OPD. A majority (1690/2514, 67.2%) of the industry payments were categorized as “Food and Beverage” payments. Of 16 authors with multiple abstracts and at least one disclosure listed, 12 (75.0%) had discordance in reported disclosures between their own abstracts. In total, 244 (44.8%) authors were found to have industry relationships in the OPD, comprising over 2.2 million dollars of industry payments with a median payment of $76.46 (IQR $22.52-$179.85). Conclusion Many authors at a major gynecologic annual meeting did not correctly disclose some or all of their industry relationships, and those that did often failed to correctly disclose those relationships across their presented work. A majority of payments, however, were related to food and beverage transactions and the median payment overall remained low.
Can the Emergency Surgery Score (ESS) predict outcomes in emergency general surgery patients with missing data elements? A nationwide analysis.

Abstract Background The Emergency Surgery Score (ESS) is an accurate mortality risk calculator for emergency general surgery (EGS). We sought to assess whether ESS can accurately predict 30-day morbidity, mortality, and requirement for postoperative Intensive Care Unit (ICU) care in patients with missing data variables. Methods All EGS patients with one or more missing ESS variables in the 2007–2015 ACS-NSQIP database were included. ESS was calculated assuming that a missing variable is normal (i.e. no additional ESS points). The correlation between ESS and morbidity, mortality, and postoperative ICU level of care was assessed using the c-statistics methodology. Results Out of a total of 4,456,809 patients, 359,849 were EGS, and of those 256,278 (71.2%) patients had at least one ESS variable missing. ESS correlated extremely well with mortality (c-statistic = 0.94) and postoperative requirement of ICU care (c-statistic = 0.91) and well with morbidity (c-statistic = 0.77). Conclusion ESS performs well in predicting outcomes in EGS patients even when one or more data elements are missing and remains a useful bedside tool for counseling EGS patients and for benchmarking the quality of EGS care.
Targeting Inflammation in Diabetic Kidney Disease: Is There a Role for Pentoxifylline?

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the most common cause of ESKD in the United States and worldwide. Current treatment for DKD includes strict glycemic control and normalization of BP with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockade. Although RAAS blockers slow progression of disease, they do not generally prevent ESKD and none of the studies with these agents in DKD included patients who were nonproteinuric, which make up an increasingly large percentage of patients with diabetes now seen in clinical practice. Recent studies with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have shown beneficial renal effects, and the benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors likely extend to patients who are nonproteinuric. However, there remains a need to develop new therapies for DKD, particularly in those patients with advanced disease. A role of chronic low-grade inflammation in microvascular complications in patients with diabetes has now been widely accepted. Large clinical trials are being carried out with experimental agents such as bardoxolone and selonsertib that target inflammation and oxidative stress. The Food and Drug Administration–approved, nonspecific phosphodiesterase inhibitor pentoxifylline (PTX) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects in both animal and human studies by inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines. Small randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses indicate that PTX may have therapeutic benefits in DKD, raising the possibility that a clinically available drug may be able to be repurposed to treat this disease. A large, multicenter, randomized clinical trial to determine whether this agent can decrease time to ESKD or death is currently being conducted, but results will not be available for several years. At this time, the combination of RAAS blockade plus SGLT2 inhibition is considered standard of care for DKD, but it may be reasonable for clinicians to consider addition of PTX in patients whose disease continues to progress despite optimization of current standard-of-care therapies.
Fc-engineered anti-CD33 monoclonal antibody potentiates cytotoxicity of membrane-bound interleukin-21 expanded natural killer cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

Abstract Background Qualitative and quantitative defects in natural killer (NK) cells have been noted in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), providing rationale for infusion of donor-derived NK cells. We previously showed that decitabine enhances expression of NKG2D ligands in AML with additive cytotoxicity when NK cells and Fc (fragment crystallizable region)-engineered CD33 monoclonal antibody (CD33mAb) was used. We conducted a phase 1 study evaluating decitabine and haploidentical NK cells in relapsed AML. Using patient samples from this study, we evaluated whether ex vivo donor-derived expanded NK cells with or without CD33mAb was effective in decitabine-treated AML. Methods Bone marrow aspirates were collected from patients at pre- and post-NK cell infusion. NK cells from healthy donors were expanded for 14 days using irradiated K562 feeder cells displaying membrane-bound IL-21 (mbIL-21). Patient samples were used to test in vitro activity of mbIL-21 NK cells ± CD33m Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and AML patient derived xenograft (PDX) mice were developed to test in vivo activity. Results Upon incubation with primary AML blasts, mbIL-21 NK cells showed variable donor-dependent intra-cellular interferon-γ production, which increased with CD33mAb-coated AML. ADCC assays revealed mbIL-21 NK cells effectively lysed primary AML blasts with higher activity on CD33mAb-coated AML. Importantly, CD33mAb-dependent enhanced cytotoxicity by mbIL-21 NK cells was maintained in AML cells from patients even 24 days post-decitabine treatment. In vivo infusion of mbIL-21 NK cells in AML PDX mice, treated with CD33mAb, reduced the tumor burden. Discussion These data show the therapeutic utility of mbIL-21 NK cells that can be further potentiated by addition of CD33mAb in AML.
Workers’ remittances and financial development: the case of South Asia

South Asia is one of the top remittance recipient regions in the world. Remittances constitute a significant portion of GDP and have helped South Asian countries to minimize a shortage of foreign reserves. Remittances have been an important source of income for many families in the region too. Despite the significant role of remittances at the local as well as national level, the impact of remittances on financial development has not been adequately studied in the case of South Asia. This paper utilizes a panel cointegration approach to examine the impact of worker remittances on financial sector development in the top remittance recipient countries in South Asia. We find evidence of a long-run relationship between remittances and financial development. Our test results show support for a positive and significant impact of remittances on financial development. The Pooled Mean Group tests suggest that a 1% point increase in remittances increases the credit to the private sector by greater than 1% points. The positive and significant impact of remittances on financial development is robust. The results support the existence of bidirectional causality between remittances and financial development in the long run.
Emotional Development: The View From Between

It is an honor to be able to engage Ezequiel Di Paolo’s and David Sander’s reflections on relational conceptions of emotional development. In this reply, I elaborate on the role of emotion in the o...
Reduced-order modeling of plasma ionization due to multifluid, collisional-radiative effects

Collisional rate calculations which account for relative multifluid streaming were implemented in a collisional-radiative model that is applicable for a generalized set of atomic elements. The rate modifications for multifluid streaming were derived in two recent studies for electron-impact excitation, de-excitation, ionization, and recombination [H. P. Le and J.-L. Cambier, Phys. Plasmas 22, 093512 (2015); 23, 063505 (2016)]. This study follows from the previous studies by extending the derivations to radiative recombination. However, the memory intensive aspect of expanding the collisional rate tabulations to temperature and multifluid effects can become a numerical obstacle for large-scale plasma simulations. The main objective of this study is to explore reduced-order modeling approaches for collisional-radiative systems that may adopt collisional rate accounting for multifluid streaming. The ionization test case simulated in this work uses the quasi-steady-state solution and two Boltzmann grouping approaches, one of which is the ionic excitation concept and the other being a relatively finer selection of Boltzmann groups. The reduced-order models captured the general trend of the detailed model, providing a foundation from which to improve or perform coupled plasma simulations in the future.
Nursing Student-Led Health Education for Sixth Graders on Chicago's South Side.

IntroductionPartnerships between schools of nursing and grade schools providing health education to youth are shown to be advantageous. Using Community Based Service Learning for nursing students a...
Adaptive Self-interference Cancellation with a Lossless N-Tap Transversal Filter

Simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) architectures must continually improve receiver isolation techniques to support more demanding frequency agile and instantaneous RF bandwidth requirements. To ensure adequate lifetime and STAR performance, leakage signals above receive saturation levels must be suppressed to protect sensitive front end components. A commonly used technique to suppress leakage signals, known as selfinterference cancellation (SIC), can provide a sufficient level of analog isolation for full duplex operation. The adaptive self-interference canceller developed in this paper utilizes a novel transversal filter approach that passively replicates the strongly distorted transmitted signal, coupled at the receiver, for true time delay cancellation. Conventional transversal filter implementations introduce significant divider, combiner, and attenuator losses between each tap, severely limiting the synthesizable order of the multiple-path leakage channel, which effectively degrades the cancellation performance. To avoid these fixed losses, the novel transversal filter prototype incorporates a lineup of tunable coupler pairs transversely through delay lines as a theoretically lossless alternative to set amplitude and phase weighting coefficients at each tap. Minimizing transversal filter loss lessens the required coupling factor and improves insertion and power efficiency loss penalties at receive and transmit paths respectively. The loss improvements of the SIC architecture define the maximum interference power that can be cancelled. Therefore, to maximize the dynamic range of a STAR system, the SIC architecture should utilize a matching filter that balances loss, noise, and distortion. We propose a technique that provides a completely passive method to cancel strongly coupled signals up to 25 dBc below the transmitted power. The work outlines an avenue to substitute loss driven amplitude and phase weighting components with tunable reflective discontinuities, see equation (1) for a 2-tap filter expression, which can be extended to N-taps by cascading N-1 tunable coupler pairs. Analysis of the novel lossless transversal filter architecture has shown a cancellation performance of 30 dB across a125 MHz bandwidth centered at 2.4 GHz.
Correction: genetic algorithm learning as a robust approach to RNA editing site site prediction

After the publication of [1], we were alerted to an error in our data. The error was an one-off miscalculation in the extraction of position information for our set of true negatives. Our data set should have used randomly selected non-edited cytosines (C) as true negatives, but the data generation phase resulted in a set of nucleotides that were each one nucleotide downstream of known, unedited cytosines. The consequences of this error are reflected in changes to our results, although the general conclusions presented in our original publication remain largely unchanged.
Concerning phyltetralin : Synthesis of lignan aryltetralin isomers

Abstract The acid-catalyzed rearrangement of diaryl-dilactones, readily obtained by oxidation of ferulic acid derivatives, is examined as a synthesis route to aryltetralins. Two structures which have been proposed for the lignan, phyltetralin, are shown by synthesis of the two diastereomeric 1-veratryltetralins ( 3A ) and ( 3B ), to be untenable. Conidendrin has been converted to isolariciresinol tetramethyl ether ( 21 ) and comparison of empirical constants and spectra with those reported for phyltetralin strongly suggest that the lignan has the enantiomeric constitution ( 26 ).
Differential developmental requirement and peripheral regulation for dermal Vγ4 and Vγ6 IL-17-producing γδ T cells (IRC8P.479)

Dermal γδ T cells are professional IL-17-producing γδ T cells and play a critical role in skin inflammation. However, their development and peripheral regulation are still largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that dermal γδ T cells developed from fetal thymus and underwent homeostatic proliferation after birth with diversified TCR repertoire, mainly including Vγ4 and Vγ6. Thymus is absolutely required for dermal γδ T cell development. IL-17-producing Vγ6 T cells were bona fide resident in dermis and were reconstituted from fetal thymus while IL-17-producing Vγ4 dermal γδ T cells were mainly from bone marrow, suggesting precursors of dermal Vγ4 T cells may require extrathymic environment for maturation and gaining skin-homing property. In addition, we found that Vγ6 T cells were pathogenic to induce skin inflammation. Mice reconstituted with Vγ6 developed psoriasis-like skin inflammation upon IMQ application whereas Vγ4 T cells were preferentially expanded and the major IL-17 producer in IMQ-treated naive mice. Although IL-23 and IL-1β were capable of driving dermal Vγ4 and Vγ6 T cell proliferation, IL-17 production was mainly from Vγ4 and IL-1 signaling was essential. These studies reveal a differential developmental requirement and peripheral regulation for IL-17-producing dermal Vγ6 and Vγ4 T cells. This work is supported by a grant from the National Psoriasis Foundation.
Analog behavioral models for simulation and synthesis of mixed-signal systems

A behavioral simulator is shown to be an essential part of a performance-driven hierarchical top-down design strategy for analog blocks within mixed-signal integrated systems. It is used to accurately estimate the performance of the system while down-mapping the specifications over the hierarchy, in order to avoid time-consuming design iterations. It is also indispensable for the final bottom-up verification after completion of the design, as well as for testing purposes. The authors describe the set-up of the generic behavioral models for this simulator, which describe the functional behavior of the analog blocks, independent of the internal architecture. In addition to the nominal behavior, the models also include the important second-order effects (nonidealities, noise, distortion . . .) as well as the statistical variations of most parameters. This is then illustrated in detail for the statistical minimum-rank model of a Nyquist-rate A/D converter. System-level applications show the effectiveness and accuracy of this model. >
Eddy Current Heating in Magnetic Refrigerators

Eddy current heating can be a significant source of parasitic heating in low temperature magnetic refrigerators. To study this problem a technique to approximate the heating due to eddy currents has been developed. The eddy current heating, P, is found to be of the form P = (dB/dt)2ГAV/32ρ; where B is the magnetic field, A is the area enclosed by the largest possible current loop, V is the volume of material, ρ is the material’s resistivity, and Г is a geometric factor on the order of or less than 1. This formula is used to estimate the heating within a variety of shapes commonly found in magnetic refrigerators. These shapes include circular, square, and rectangular rods; cylindrical and split cylindrical shells; wire loops; and “coil foil.” One set of components evaluated are different types of thermal radiation shields. This comparison shows that a simple split shield is almost as effective (only 23% more heating) as using a shield, with the same axial thermal conductivity, made of “coil foil.”
The creation of microscopic surface structures by interfacial diffusion of Au and Ag on Ag(110): A XPS and STM study

Abstract Experiments on single crystal Au/Ag alloy surfaces may provide insight into the physical and chemical phenomena that determine the reactivity of complex alloy surfaces such as nanoporous gold or bimetallic nanoparticles. In this study, we report the highly unexpected observation that as soon as interfacial diffusion is feasible (400 K) thin gold films drastically restructure Ag(110) surfaces on the micrometer scale and create regular islands in a pattern which resembles the result of a sputter-etching process; bulk diffusion plays apparently no role during this phenomenon. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) reveals that the deposition of monolayer quantities of gold on the surface creates elongated islands, typically with a length of 1000 nm, a width of ~ 50 nm, and a height of ~ 30 lattice planes. The islands are predominantly elongated along the [1–10] direction and have a mutual distance of about 50 nm. Approximately, one monolayer of gold causes the relocation of ~ 11 ML of material. The islands are thermally unstable as further heating between 450 K and 600 K reduces the island structure significantly. The ‘etching’ of gold into the Ag(110) bulk material and the associated island formation can be rationalized with a simple kinetic model involving the diffusion of surface atoms only, illustrated with Monte Carlo simulations. A kinetic interpretation is also supported by the fact that those structures diminish after further annealing to higher temperatures. The observed large-scale reorganization underlines that even seemingly simple and well-defined surfaces may evolve in complex ways and that massive restructuring of surfaces can occur at temperatures well below the onset of bulk diffusion.
Systems modeling by digital signal processing

From a single transient test, we determine all of the transfer function parameters of a test system, such as a filter, a communication channel, or a loudspeaker. The transfer function is obtained from the time-domain test data (recorded input and output) using a digital signal processing technique, specifically the pencil-of-functions technique. The methodology is demonstrated both by a laboratory test case and a simulation example.
Equity Structure of MNE Affiliates and Scope of Their Activities: Distinguishing the Incentive and Control Effects of Ownership

This study examines the effects of an MNE's equity ownership on the scope of its affiliate's activities. We focus on architectural design and engineering (ADE) activities and distinguish them from other activities because ADE capabilities are often core to the MNE's competitiveness. Our empirical analysis, set in the Chinese automobile industry, reveals that the MNE's equity ownership tends to narrow the scope of an affiliate's ADE activities while widening the scope of other knowledge-intensive activities the two parties undertake jointly. The results suggest that equity ownership enables an MNE to control more effectively the scope of its affiliate's ADE activities for better protection against leakage and, at the same time, motivates the MNE to perform a broader spectrum of other knowledge-intensive activities at the affiliate.
Affinitäten und Diskrepanzen zwischen Rainer Maria Rilke und Nicolas Born

Trotz offensichtlicher Gegensatzlichkeiten lassen sich grundlegende Ubereinstimmungen in der Lebenshaltung zwischen Rilke und Born nicht von der Hand weisen, insbesondere was die Rolle der Subjektivitat als politische Aussage im Hinblick auf die sich aus der Einsicht in die wesentliche Unwirklichkeit des Empirischen ergebende Realitatsdefizienz des Ichs anbetrifft. Fur beide Autoren erweisen sich dabei des Grosstadt-Motiv und die hiermit verbundenen ontologischen Aspekte als daseinbestimmende Faktoren. Letztere auseren sich sprachlich und thematisch in einer analogen Erlebnisweise, die in Rilkes Aufzeichnungen ihre klassische Formulierung erhalten hat. In dem Sinne fugt sich Boms Protagonist fast nahtlos in jene Tradition eines metaphysischen ennui ein, wie sie von Rilkes Malte und Sartres Roqentin in La Nausee vertreten wird. Andererseits versagt Borns Alter ego im Unterschied zu dem »Danen« bei dem Versuch, sich zu einer kunstlerischen und folglich auch zu einer existenziellen Anverwandlung der Empirie durchzuringen. In Boms Roman ist also der Rilkesche Asthetisie-rungsimperativ gegenuber den Anspruchen des Akzidentellen angesichts der uberwaltigenden Prasenz der »Megamaschine,« d.h. des rein Materiellen zum Scheitern verurteilt. Im ubrigen bildet Die erdabgewandte Seite der Geschichte unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Solipsismus einen Bestandteil jener zeitgenossischen »Neuen Subjektivitat,« deren Verinnerlichungsdrang gewisse Praktiken aufgreift, die seit der Jahrhundertwende unter anderem in Rilkes Aufzeichnungen ihren paradigmatischen Ausdruck gefunden haben.
Curvature dependent induction of the interdigitated gel phase in DPPC vesicles.

Abstract Ethanol causes biphasic melting behavior in saturated lecithins (Rowe (1983) Biochemistry 22, 3299–3305), a consequence of the formation of the stable interdigitated phase (Simon, S.A. and McIntosh, T.J. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 773, 169–172). The membrane systems studied to date have been large vesicle systems in which the membrane surface can be assumed to be locally planar. An immediate question arises as to whether surfaces of higher curvature interdigitate. To address this question we have prepared DPPC vesicles of varying diameters which we employed to determine the limiting size at which interdigitation occurs using ethanol as the inducer. We find that with decreasing vesicle size the concentration of ethanol necessary for the onset of interdigitation increases. Small isolated vesicles, at inducing concentrations of ethanol, do not stably interdigitate but rupture and coalesce into a viscous gel comprised of interdigitated lipid sheets. As discussed elsewhere (Ahl et al. (1992) Biophys. J. 243a) these sheets can be used as precursors for producing liposomes of large size and high internal volumes useful in drug delivery or modeling applications.
A cytoplasmic symbiont in Ephestia( = Anagasta) kuehniella: Location and morphology

Abstract Numerous mycoplasmalike inclusions were found to be present within cells of the larval and adult testis sheath of wild-type Ephestia kuehniella . These pleomorphic bodies are isolated from the sheath cell cytoplasm in membrane-bound vacuoles. Cytologically, they resemble Mycoplasma hominis and the mycoplasmalike symbiont associated with sterility in Drosophila paulistorum . No sterility or other pathology is noted in infested Ephestia .
Utilization and Antiviral Therapy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: Analysis of Ambulatory Care Visits in the US

Background Studies on mostly veterans found the majority of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients were not treated. Little information exists on a broad-based population.
Fetal macrophages are not present in the myometrium of women with labor at term

Objective The basic mechanisms responsible for human parturition remain to be elucidated. The influx of fetal leukocytes into the myometrium has been recently proposed to be a crucial event in the onset of murine parturition. Surfactant protein-A has been implicated in the initiation of labor. In mice, it is thought that surfactant protein-A induces migration and subsequent activation of amniotic fluid macrophages of fetal origin, which then invades the myometrium. The present study was conducted to determine whether fetal macrophages invade the myometrium of women in labor. Study design Placental bed biopsy specimens were obtained from patients in labor who delivered male neonates at term (n = 7). Myometrial sections of postpartum hysterectomy specimens obtained from women who delivered of male neonates (n = 3) were also analyzed. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections were immunostained for CD68 or CD14 (which are markers for macrophages); immunoreactive myometrial macrophages were specifically procured by laser capture microdissection. Sex typing was done by polymerase chain reaction for the amelogenin gene with genomic DNA that was isolated from the macrophages. Chromogenic in situ hybridization with a Y chromosome-specific probe was also performed on paraffin-embedded histologic sections. Results Amelogenin allelotypes of the macrophages were consistent with female alleles in all cases that were tested, indicating a maternal origin. Chromogenic in situ hybridization demonstrated the absence of Y chromosome-positive mononuclear cells in the myometrium in all cases. Conclusion These observations, from a limited number of cases, suggest that migration of fetal macrophages from the amniotic cavity or the chorioamniotic membranes into the myometrium does not occur during human labor. The trafficking of fetal macrophages in labor seems to be different in humans and mice.
Design of subwavelength-size, indium tin oxide (ITO)-clad optical disk cavities with quality-factors exceeding 10 4

Indium tin oxide is used as a top cladding electrode of optical disk resonators with subwavelength size in all dimensions. Calculated quality (Q)-factors exceed 104 in visible wavelengths (650-670nm). The disk aspect ratio is an important parameter to optimize the resonator properties. The Q-factor and threshold material gain based on finite-difference time-domain method are optimized for eight different disk resonator optical modes. Proposed cavity designs are promising for building electrically-pumped, low-threshold nano-lasers at room temperature.
A word’s meaning affects the decision in lexical decision

The influence of an isolated word’s meaning on lexical decision reaction time (RT) was demonstrated through four experiments. Subjects in two experiments made lexical decision judgments, those in a third experiment pronounced the words used in the lexical decision task, and those in a fourth experiment quickly pronounced their first associative response to the words. Differences in lexical access time for the words were measured with the pronunciation task, and differences in meaning were assessed with the association task. Multiple regression analyses of lexical decision RT were conducted using associative RT, pronunciation RT, and other target word properties (printed frequency, length, instance dominance, and number of dictionary meanings) as predictor variables. These analyses revealed a relationship between lexical decision RT and associative RT after the effects of other variables had been partialed out. In addition, word frequency continued to have a significant relationship to lexical decision RT beyond that shared with pronunciation RT and the other variables. The results of these experiments indicate that at least some of the effect of word meaning and word frequency in lexical decision is attributable to a decision stage following lexical access.
Inhibition of metabolic activity in papillary thyroid carcinoma by a somatostatin analogue.

Two patients with widely metastatic papillary thyroid cancer demonstrated progressive growth of diffuse pulmonary lesions. One patient had no apparent response to high doses of 131I and the other hand no 131I uptake. 111In-pentetreotide scans revealed that many of the metastatic lesions expressed somatostatin receptors. The baseline metabolic activity and three-dimensional volume of the lesions were determined by 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). After 3 or 4 months of octreotide (Sandostatin LAR Depot®; Novartis Pharmaceutical, East Hanover, NJ) therapy, repeat FDG-PET scans revealed reductions in tumor volume and decreases in the standard uptake values of FDG. We conclude that octreotide therapy can change the biological activity of metastatic thyroid cancer lesions that exhibit somatostatin receptors.
Customizing Indemnity Contracts and Indexed Cat Bonds for Natural Hazard Risks

This article examines how reinsurance coupled with new financial instruments can expand coverage to areas exposed to catastrophe losses from natural disasters, and demonstrates how reinsurance and the catastrophe‐linked financial instruments can be combined to lower the price of protection from its current level. A simple example illustrates the relative advantages and disadvantages of pure catastrophic bonds and pure indemnity reinsurance in supporting a structure of payments contingent on certain extreme events occurring. The authors suggest ways to combine these two instruments using customized catastrophe indices to expand coverage and reduce the cost of protection. This article states six principles for designing catastrophic risk transfer systems and discusses practical issues for implementation, and then concludes with suggestions for future research.
A large-sample chow test for the linear simultaneous equation

Abstract A simple large-sample Chow test for stability of coefficients in a linear simultaneous equation is proposed. It is shown that the appropriate test statistic may be formed conveniently from particular sums of squared residuals.
Synergistic Effect of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone on Testicular δ-3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase-isomerase: Application of a New Method for the Separation of Testicular Compartments

A relatively quick method is described for the separation of large quantities of interstitial tissue and seminiferous tubules of rat testes. This method involves a short treatment of decapsulated testes with collagenase (0.5 mg/g tissue) for 5 min at 34 C, followed by the wet dissection method. This procedure results in the complete separation of interstitial tissue and seminiferous tubules of one testis by one person in 30 min or less. The efficacy of separation of the new method is compared to two other widely used methods: collagenase treatment only and wet dissection only. [125I]Iodo-hCG binding and δ5-3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-isomerase activity were used as markers for Leydig cells and sorbitol dehydrogenase activity was used as a marker enzyme for germ cells. Both the newly described method and the wet dissection method resulted in interstitial tissue free of contaminating germ cells and in seminiferous tubules essentially free of adhering Leydig cells. The advantage of the new method over th...
Cervical spine disease may result in a negative lumbar spinal drainage trial in normal pressure hydrocephalus: case report.

OBJECTIVE: In this case report, we present a patient with normal pressure hydrocephalus in whom a lumbar drainage trial yielded a false-negative result secondary to cervical spondylosis. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: An 80-year-old woman presented with classic symptoms of normal pressure hydrocephalus as well as evidence of cervical myelopathy. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spine showed enlarged ventricles and single-level cervical canal narrowing. INTERVENTION: An initial lumbar drainage trial was performed, which revealed negative results. The patient then underwent cervical decompression and fusion. Despite this procedure, the patient's symptoms continued to worsen. A repeat lumbar drainage trial was performed with positive results. Subsequently, a ventriculoperitoneal shunt was placed, resulting in significant improvement of her symptoms. CONCLUSION: This case report illustrates how altered cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics may impact the accuracy of the lumbar spinal drainage trial in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Optimal resolutions for IR spectroscopy through the OH airglow

The OH airglow emission lines are the dominant source of background emission in the near-IR J and H bandpasses. In principle, these emission lines can be avoided by observing at sufficiently high spectral resolution, rejecting pixels contaminated by OH lines, and rebinning to the desired resolution. Two trade-offs to this approach are non- negligible detector noise per pixel and the added expense of instrumentation with higher resolution. In this contribution, we simulate various observed and desired resolutions as a function of detector noise and target brightness to develop a set of guidelines for the optimal resolution in a variety of observing programs. As a general rule, observing at a 2-pixel resolution of 2000-4000 provides optimal OH rejection for a wide range of detector noise and source signal.
An n-step, 2-variable search algorithm for the component placement problem

The component placement problem is a specialization of the quadratic assignment problem that has been extensively studied for a decade and which is of considerable practical value. Recently, interest in component placement algorithms has risen primarily as a result of increased activity in the field of computer-aided design automation. This paper deals with the methodology of component placement and is based on the results of considerable operational experience. A tutorial presentation of tree search placement algorithms is provided, and an improved placement procedure is described which is demonstrated to be effective in generating near optimal solutions to the component placement problem. These solutions are completely reproducible and are obtained at an acceptable expenditure of computational resources. An additional objective is an assessment of performance of the class of near optimal algorithms. In particular, the question- how close to optimal are the near optimal solutions- is examined.
Food intake and amphetamine anorexia after selective forebrain norepinephrine loss.

Abstract Hyperphagia leading to obesity followed selective electrolytic destruction of the ventral noradrenergic bundle (ventral NAB; the main norepinephrine-containing pathway to the rat hypothalamus). Midbrain injection of 8.0 μg 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA) near this tract, which destroyed all ascending noradrenergic paths to the forebrain, produced a similar result. Male as well as female rats became hyperphagic. Fluorescence histochemistry revealed nearly complete losses of norepinephrine-containing varicosities in almost all known noradrenergically innervated forebrain areas after 6-OH_DA; forebrain assays indicated that norepinephrine levels were lowered to less than 10% of normal. Dopamine was only slightly reduced by the 6-OH-DA while serotonin was unchanged. Pretreatment of 6-OH-DA-injected animals with 50 mg/kg desmethylimipramine, a specific uptake blocker in norepinephrine neurons, blocked the loss of noradrenergic varicosities and prevented overeating. Animals which were injected with 6-OH-DA near the dorsal NAB, sparing the ventral system, did not become hyperphagic. In additional rats, electrolytic lesions or 6-OH-DA in the vicinity of the ventral NAB antagonized amphthamine-induced anorexia. This suggests that in normal animals, the ventral NAB may serve as a substrate for amphthamine in producing appetite loss. These results indicate that the role of forebrain norepinephrine in the control of food intake is predominantly inhibitory.
Changes in Form and Function of Property Rights Institutions under Threatened Resource Scarcity

Abstract Institutions governing the development and use of groundwater on the High Plains changed following the expanded irrigation demand of the 1960s and 1970s. We compared the regulatory systems embodied in the common law standard of reasonableness with the legislatively authorized administrative programs. While the substantive components of the common law standard remained intact in the legislative and administrative programs, the form and function of the institutions changed significantly. Rules replaced discretionary standards in the definition and protection of property rights in groundwater. Administrative organizations replaced judges and courtrooms as the primary forum for defining rights and settling disputes. These changes reflect conscious preferences for increased security at the price of reduced freedom in the exercise of property rights over groundwater.
Low thrust chemical propulsion for orbit transfer of large space structures

For transporting Large Space Structures (LSS) from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO), a variety of low thrust engine cycles have been evaluated for oxygen/hydrogen and oxygen/hydrocarbon propellants. The engine cycles included conventional propellant turbine drives (gas generator, expander, and staged-combustion cycles), turboalternator/electric motor pump drive, and fuel-cell/electric motor pump drive, as well as pressure-fed engines. The thrust chamber cooling limits and the engine cycle limits were established for a range of thrust levels. The candidate engine cycles were analyzed, screened, rated, and two engine cycle/configurations were selected for preliminary engine design. Preliminary engine designs for these two engines were formulated and engine design layouts prepared and parametric engine data generated.
Photoinduced rearrangements of ring-coupled bis(cyclopentadienylrutheniumdicarbonyl) compounds of the form Ru2(CO)4(η5,η5-C5H4LC5H4) (L CHn2-, (CH3)2C-, C2H4- and (CH3)2S-) The molecular structure of [Ru(CO)2][Ru(CO)2Cl](η5,η5:η1-C5H4CH2C5H3)

Abstract Compounds of the general form Ru 2 (CO) 4 ( η 5 , η 5 -C 5 H 4 LC 5 H 4 ), where L  CH 2 -, (CH 3 ) 2 C-, C 2 H 4 - and (CH 3 ) 2 Si-, have been found to undergo photolysis in deuterobenzene or deuterotoluene to give ‘twisted’ ruthenium hydride complexes of the form [Ru(CO) 2 ][Ru(CO) 2 H]( η 5 , η 5 : η 1 -C 5 H 4 LC 5 H 3 ). Reaction of these hydrides with chlorocarbons in the formation of the corresponding chlorides which could be isolated and characterized by IR, 1 H and 13 C NMR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. In the particular case of Ru 2 (CO) 4 [ η 5 , η 5 -C 5 H 4 (CH 3 ) 2 SiC 5 H 4 ] is secondary photochemical reaction occurs with formation of [Ru(CO) 2 ] 2 ( μ - η 5 : η 1 -C 5 H 4 )[ μ -(CH 3 ) 2 Si-( η 5 -C 5 H 4 )] in which in which RuRu and CpSi bonds have broken and new RuCp and RuSi bonds formed. The molecular structure of crystallography: monoclinic, Cc, a = 27.636(5) A , b = 9.058(2) A , c = 14.545(5) A , β = 120.85(3)°, V = 3126(2) A 3 , Z = 8, R(F) = 2.29% .
Potential Differences in Kidney Allograft Outcomes Between Ethnicities When Converting to Sirolimus Base Immunosuppression

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to determine whether ethnicity impacts graft outcomes in kidney transplant patients converted to sirolimus (SRL) and maintained on either calcineurin inhibitors (CI) or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) with steroids. Methods This study analyzed kidney transplants converted to SRL and transplanted between July 1991 and April 2007. Patients were divided into 4 groups: group 1: African-Americans converted to SRL + CI; group 2: non-African-Americans converted to SRL + CI; group 3: African-Americans converted to SRL + MMF; group 4: non-African-Americans converted to SRL + MMF. Results A total of 242 patients was included. Demographics, baseline immunosuppression, and reason for SRL conversion were similar among groups. Patients converted to SRL + CI regimens had significantly higher rates of acute rejection before SRL conversion, but equal rates after conversion. Development of proteinuria was similar across groups. African-American patients converted to SRL + MMF tended to have poorer outcomes compared with African-American patients converted to SRL + CI. Non-African-American patients converted to SRL + MMF tended to have better graft outcomes compared with non-African-American patients converted to SRL + CI. Conclusions African-Americans converted to SRL may benefit from continued CI, whereas non-African-Americans converted to SRL seem to have better outcomes with MMF. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
Catalysis at single-crystal Pt(110) surfaces: Global coupling and standing waves

Recently various types of spatiotemporal concentration patterns have been observed in experimental studies of catalysis on single-crystal surfaces. One of the most interesting phenomena among these is the standing-wave pattern which has been seen in CO+${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$ on Pt(110). A kinetic model involving surface reconstruction has been proposed for this system by Eiswirth, Krischer, and Ertl [Appl. Phys. A 51, 79 (1990)]. Here, we add spatial-coupling terms due both to CO diffusion and to global gas-phase fluctuations and we study the possible wave patterns in this set of reaction-diffusion equations. We argue that the standing waves may be due to a self-induced parametric driving mechanism. Our analytical results as well as our numerical simulations are qualitatively consistent with the experimental findings.