cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of vertical ground motion on the response of structures isolated with friction pendulum isolators

Structures isolated with friction pendulum isolators have their instantaneous stiffness and friction force dependent on vertical load. As such they are affected by vertical ground motion. This paper presents a study to investigate the vertical earthquake effects on the base shear force and isolator displacement in structures equipped with friction pendulum isolators and with or without added viscous damping devices in the isolation system. Analyses are carried out for a simple rigid structure and results are presented for values of the ratio of the base shear and isolator displacement calculated with the effect of the vertical ground motion and divided by the same quantity when the vertical ground motion effect is disregarded. The effects of two-component horizontal ground motion are also studied. The results may be used to modify the equivalent lateral force method of ASCE 7 for seismic isolated structures in order to account for the vertical earthquake effects.
Itemset size-sensitive interestingness measures for association rule mining and link prediction

Association rule learning is a data mining technique that can capture relationships between pairs of entities in different domains. The goal of this research is to discover factors from data that can improve the precision, recall, and accuracy of association rules found using interestingness measures and frequent itemset mining. Such factors can be calibrated using validation data and applied to rank candidate rules in domain-dependent tasks such as link existence prediction. In addition, I use interestingness measures themselves as numerical features to improve link existence prediction. The focus of this dissertation is on developing and testing an analytical framework for association rule interestingness measures, to make them sensitive to the relative size of itemsets. I survey existing interestingness measures and then introduce adaptive parametric models for normalizing and optimizing these measures, based on the size of itemsets containing a candidate pair of co-occurring entities. The central thesis of this work is that in certain domains, the link strength between entities is related to the rarity of their shared memberships (i.e., the size of itemsets in which they co-occur), and that a data-driven approach can capture such properties by normalizing the quantitative measures used to rank associations. To test this hypothesis under different levels of variability in itemset size, I develop several test bed domains, each containing an association rule mining task and a link existence prediction task. The definitions of itemset membership and link existence in each domain depend on its local semantics. My primary goals are: to capture quantitative aspects of these local semantics in normalization factors for association rule interestingness measures; to represent these factors as quantitative features for link existence prediction, to apply them to significantly improve precision and recall in several real-world domains; and to build an experimental framework for measuring this improvement, using information theory and classification-based validation.
IMPACT OF PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE AND RACE ON OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIAC ARREST

Peripheral Vascular Disease(PVD) is an independent predictor of elevated risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and death. However, no prior studies have looked into the impact of PVD on outcomes of patients with cardiac arrest. The aim of this study was to assess that if presence of PVD was an
Joint transmit-receive beamspace design for colocated MIMO radar in the presence of deliberate jammers

In this paper, we study the problem of joint transmit-receive beamspace design for colocated multiple-input-multiple-output radar with the goal of eliminating the influence of interfering sources and powerful jammer signals. An iterative joint transmit-receive beamspace design method utilizing semidefinite relaxation based convex optimization subject to uniform transmit power constraint is proposed. The capability of the proposed algorithm to perform a trade-off between the signal-to-interference-plus-jammer-plus-noise-ratio and the desired beampattern is illustrated via simulation results.
INTRINSIC FACTORS REGULATING GLOMERULOTUBULAR BALANCE

Publisher Summary This chapter describes glomerulotubular balance (GTB) as the constancy of fractional reabsorption in the proximal tubule when the filtered load is varied. This is distinguished from autoregulation which refers to constancy of renal blood flow and glomerular filtration during changes in systemic arterial pressure, and from tubuloglomerular feedback, which describes a mechanism wherein changes in delivery of filtrate to the macula densa produces directionally opposite changes in single nephron glomerular filtration rate. There are a number of different factors that contribute to the maintenance of GTB. The chapter discusses the contribution of intraluminal constituents to the maintenance of proportionality between tubular flow rate and reabsorption. The intraluminal factors participating in GTB in superficial tubules is relatively complete, however, studies have yet to systematically examine the possibility of a relationship in tubular flow rate and net fluid reabsorption in the juxtamedullary proximal tubule.
A Prototype Expert Database System for Programming Classical Music

This paper describes the design an implementation of a prototype expert database system for programming classical music, as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of using an expert database system approach to solve programming decisions. The paper describes the process of acquiring and representing expert knowledge; the development, testing, and implementation of the prototype; and the lessons learned during the course of developing the system.
Polysulfide Speciation and Electrolyte Interactions in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries with in Situ Infrared Spectroelectrochemistry

Understanding redox mechanisms as well as interactions between redox species and electrolyte is critical for rational design of electrolyte/cathode systems for Li–S batteries. Here, we demonstrate in situ FT-IR with attenuated total reflection (ATR) to monitor both polysulfide (PS) speciation (Sx2–, 2 ≤ x ≤ 8) and triflate anion (electrolyte) coordination state while simultaneously discharging/charging a full battery coin cell. We report the concentration of various PS species as a function of voltage during cell discharge. In addition, we found that molecular-level changes occurred in the electrolyte salt anion in response to PS speciation. During discharge, PS dissolution increases total solute concentration, inducing anion interactions between low coordination state complexes—ion pairs and free ions—to form aggregate complexes. Under fast cyclic voltammetry sweep, less progressive formation of all PSs, due to diffusion limitations, resulted in a higher concentration of aggregates and PSs even upon comp...
Lack of clearly defined role for anti-programmed death-(ligand) 1 therapy in epidermal growth factor receptor mutated non-small cell lung cancer.

We thank the authors who contributed thoughtful editorials to this journal in response to our phase II study evaluating pembrolizumab in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)+, tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) naive patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Specifically, the comments by Tay et al ., Casaluce and Gridelli, and Ward and Morgensztern, were insightful and perceptive both with respect to the interpretation of our study and the more general topic of anti-PD-(L)1 therapy in EGFR-mutant NSCLC (1-3). There are a number of issues raised by these editorials that we would like to further emphasize in this correspondence.
Diagnosis and monitoring of pulmonary fibrosis using ultrasound multiple scattering, an in vivo rodent study

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) affects 200,000 patients in the U.S. IPF is responsible for changes in the micro-architecture of the parenchyma, such as thickening of the alveolar walls, which reduces compliance and elasticity. In this study, it is proposed to verify the hypothesis that changes in the micro-architecture of the lung parenchyma can be characterized by exploiting multiple scattering of the ultrasound waves by the lung parenchyma. Ultrasound propagation in a highly scattering regime follows a diffusion process, which can be characterized using the Diffusion Constant. We hypothesize that in a fibrotic lung, the thickening of the alveolar wall reduces the amount of air (compared to a healthy lung), thereby minimizing the scattering events. Pulmonary fibrosis is created in Sprague-Dawley rats by instilling bleomycin into the airway. The rats are studied in groups of n = 6 (3 male and 3 female) 2, 3, and 4 weeks after bleomycin administration. This allowed us to provide a range of severity of pulmonary fibrosis for assessment. Using a 128-element linear array transducer operating at 7.8 MHz, in vivo experimental data are obtained from Sprague-Dawley rats, and the Diffusion Constant is calculated. Right after the ultrasound measurement, the rats are euthanized, and computed tomography scans are performed to validate the degree of fibrosis created. Significant differences (p < 0.05) in the D values between control and fibrotic rats showcase the potential of this parameter for diagnosis and monitoring of IPF.
VIEW: an incremental approach to verify evolving workflows

Business processes (workflows) are typically the compositions of services (activities and tasks) and play a key role in every enterprise. Business processes need to be changed to react quickly and adequately to internal and external events. Moreover, each business process is required to satisfy certain desirable properties such as soundness, consistency, or some user-defined linear temporal logic (LTL) constraints. This paper focuses on the verification of evolving processes: given a business process, a change operation, and a set of LTL constraints, check whether all execution sequences of the evolved process satisfy all the given constraints. We propose a technique to incrementally check and verify the constraints of evolving business processes. Furthermore, we develop VIEW, a framework to model, change, and VerIfy Evolving Workflows and conduct a study to evaluate the effect of workflow characteristics on the performance of verification approaches. Experiments reveal several interesting factors concerning performance and scalability.
Interrupted Speech in Luke-Acts

Although past scholarly attention has centered on the interruptions of Acts, the Gospel of Luke and Acts each include several instances of interrupted speech. While some interruptions by external events function simply to increase the drama of a scene (e.g., Luke 9:34; 22:47, 60; 24:36; Acts 10:44), I argue that Luke also deploys interruption as a powerful literary and rhetorical device. By setting Luke’s use of interruption alongside the use of interruption in other ancient Greek narratives, I demonstrate the unique form of Lukan interruption, which focuses on the effect of a speaker’s message on the hearers. From Jesus’s interruption by his hearers in the Nazareth synagogue in Luke 4 to Paul’s interruption by Festus in Acts 26, Luke portrays Jesus and his followers as being interrupted frequently by emotional audiences (Luke 4:28; 11:27; Acts 4:1; 7:54, 57; 13:48; 22:22; 24:25; and 26:24). The emotional and often violent character of these interruptions serves to underscore the powerful impact of early Christian preaching about the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus and about the subsequent availability of salvation to all nations.
Living with a smoker, health risk behaviors, and adiposity: an analysis with middle-aged and older women

This study investigated: (a) the association between living with a smoker and weight-related health risk behaviors, and (b) the role of these behaviors in indirectly linking living with a smoker to general and central adiposity. Participants were 83,492 women (age M = 63.5, SD = 7.36) from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. In logistic regression analyses at baseline, living with a smoker was associated with increased odds of no exercise (29%), no walking (33%), high dietary fat (62%), and low fruit and vegetable consumption (43%). Using structural equation modeling, bootstrap confidence intervals confirmed a significant indirect effect from living with a smoker to adiposity through health risk behaviors at baseline and prospectively across 3 and 8 years. Health risk behaviors fully explained the living with a smoker–adiposity relationship. These findings integrate clustering and contagion theoretical perspectives on health behaviors and contribute to understanding a novel pathway to adiposity.
Development of a separation framework for effects-based targeted and non-targeted toxicological screening of water and wastewater

Abstract An environmental water sample fractionation framework was developed based on effects-directed analysis (EDA) to detect known and unknown compounds of concern in different waters. Secondary effluent from a wastewater treatment plant was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed framework for characterizing estrogenic compounds in the effluent. The effluent was spiked with known estrogenic compounds to validate the framework in a targeted approach and an unspiked sample was also investigated in a non-targeted approach. The framework separated compounds based on polarity and adsorption using liquid-liquid extraction followed by solid phase extraction. The targeted and non-targeted effluents generated six fractions each, which were assessed for estrogenic activity using an in vitro bioassay (yeast estrogen screen - YES). Three out of the six fractions in each case, along with the raw effluent, showed estrogen equivalent concentrations (EEQs) ranging between 1.0 and 3.0 μg/L. Directed by the assay results, these estrogenic fractions were further analyzed using liquid- and gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry for compound identification. The developed separation framework coupled with a bioassay aided in identification of both known and unknown compounds producing estrogenic effects in the water sample. The approach of fractionation followed by concentration helped isolate and elevate contaminant levels without necessarily concentrating potential matrix effects that could cause interfering cytotoxicity and inhibition in the bioassay. The targeted analysis showed consistency between predicted and observed results, while the non-targeted analysis revealed the presence of three estrogenic compounds in the unspiked effluent: di-isobutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate and benzophenone, that were confirmed with standards. The study mainly aimed at development and validation of a simple yet effective EDA framework with low cost techniques for water and wastewater toxicity screening and evaluation, and the results suggested that the developed framework could be used as a screening tool for isolating and identifying unknown compounds in a complex water sample.
Social Norms: Are Sexually Aggressive Men More Likely to Misperceive Other Men’s Sexual Desires and Behavior?

Separate lines of research show that men overestimate the extent of male peers' sexual activity, and independently, that sexually aggressive men believe that other men approve of coercive behavior. This study examined the intersection of these lines of inquiry, testing whether the degree of male participants' misperception of other men's sexual behavior differs as a function of perpetrator status. In a national sample, we presented heterosexually active men (n=497) with sexual scenarios varying in sexual acts, partner types, and circumstances. Results showed that participants significantly overestimated the typicality of all types of sexual situations for other men. Participants also misjudged the desirability of scenarios consistent with a traditional masculinity sexual script to other men; these scenarios reflected an adversarial perspective on relationships and an impersonal approach to sexuality - a known risk factor for sexual aggression. Further, sexually aggressive men overestimated the desirability of these traditional masculinity scenarios to a greater extent than non-aggressive peers. Findings suggest that interventions that provide accurate knowledge about social norms, or "typical" sexual desires and behaviors among other men, may reduce pressure to live up to perceived but perhaps inaccurate masculine ideals, as well as reduce social norm-related risks for sexually aggressive behavior.
Transcending the Profession: Psychiatric Patients' Experiences of Trust in Clinicians

Classical medical sociological theory argues patients trust doctors in part because they are professionals. Yet in the past half-century, medicine has seen a crisis of trust as well as fundamental changes to the nature of professionalism. To probe the relationship between professionalism and trust today, we analyzed interviews with 50 psychiatric patients receiving care in diverse clinical settings. We found patients experience trust when they perceive clinicians transcending the formal bounds of professionalism. Patients find clinicians to be trustworthy when clinicians pursue connections to their patients beyond organizational strictures, cross boundaries of professional jurisdiction to provide holistic care, and embrace the limits of their professional knowledge. This dynamic of trust in professionals who transcend the profession highlights novel dimensions of contemporary professionalism, and it makes sense of a seeming contradiction in which patients have high trust in individual clinicians but low trust in institutions.
Non-genetic factors that influence methamphetamine intake in a genetic model of differential methamphetamine consumption

Genetic and non-genetic factors influence substance use disorders. Our previous work in genetic mouse models focused on genetic factors that influence methamphetamine (MA) intake. The current research examined several non-genetic factors for their potential influence on this trait. We examined the impact on MA intake of several non-genetic factors, including MA access schedule, prior forced MA exposure, concomitant ethanol (EtOH) access, and gamma-aminobutyric acid type B (GABAB) receptor activation. Selectively bred MA high drinking (MAHDR) and low drinking (MALDR) mice participated in this research. MAHDR, but not MALDR, mice increased MA intake when given intermittent access, compared with continuous access, with a water choice under both schedules. MA intake was not altered by previous exposure to forced MA consumption. Male MAHDR mice given simultaneous access to MA, EtOH, and an EtOH+MA mixture exhibited a strong preference for MA over EtOH and EtOH+MA; MA intake was not affected by EtOH in female MAHDR mice. When independent MAHDR groups were given access to MA, EtOH, or EtOH+MA vs. water in each case, MA intake was reduced in the water vs. EtOH+MA group, compared with the water vs. MA group. The GABAB receptor agonist R(+)-baclofen (BAC) not only reduced MA intake but also reduced water intake and locomotor activity in MAHDR mice. There was a residual effect of BAC, such that MA intake was increased after termination of BAC treatment. These findings demonstrate that voluntary MA intake in MAHDR mice is influenced by non-genetic factors related to MA access schedule and co-morbid EtOH exposure.
Steric-Free Bioorthogonal Labeling of Acetylation Substrates Based on a Fluorine-Thiol Displacement Reaction (FTDR)

We have developed a novel bioorthogonal reaction that can selectively displace fluorine substitutions alpha to amide bonds. This fluorine-thiol displacement reaction (FTDR) allows for fluorinated cofactors or precursors to be utilized as chemical reporters; hijacking acetyltransferase mediated acetylation both in vitro and in live cells, which cannot be achieved with azide- or alkyne- based chemical reporters. The fluoroacetamide labels can be further converted to biotin or fluorophore tags using FTDR, enabling the general detection and imaging of acetyl substrates. This strategy may lead to a steric-free labeling platform for substrate proteins, expanding our chemical toolbox for functional annotation of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in a systematic manner.
A core-scale study of polymer retention in carbonates at different wettability and residual oil conditions

Abstract As an effective technique to improve oil recovery, polymer flooding has been successfully used worldwide in many fields. The retention of polymer in reservoir increases the project cost, retards polymer transport, and thus delays the incremental oil response. Therefore, low polymer retention is crucial for a successful polymer-flooding project. Accurate quantification of this parameter is accordingly essential. Polymer retention is often evaluated in the absence of oil, which is not representative of the polymer-flooded oil regions in the reservoir. There is also a lack of consensus on the wettability impact on retention in the literature. In this work, the polymer retention in carbonates is investigated at varied wettability conditions, in the presence of oil as well as in the absence of oil. A sulfonated polyacrylamide polymer is evaluated in this study, and representative reservoir fluids and core samples are used in the experiments. The results demonstrate that the studied polymer exhibits relatively low retention in the carbonate cores, ranging from 20.9 to 60.8 μg/g-rock. The inaccessible pore volume (IPV) ranges from 9.0 to 12.0% pore volume (PV). These results demonstrate a potential of this polymer for carbonate reservoir applications. More importantly, the results indicate that the polymer retention is reduced more than 50% in the presence of residual oil. In other words, the presence of oil in actual reservoir condition has a positive side in terms of polymer consumption. Accordingly, it is a factor that must be either simulated or accounted for. On the other hand, the results suggest that the wettability impact on polymer retention is small compared to the presence of oil. Furthermore, both residual oil and wettability have insignificant impact on polymer IPV. In summary, the polymer retention results from single phase displacement experiments tend to be more conservative. When using these retention estimates for designing a polymer flooding project, their conservative nature should be kept in mind or factored in.
Nested cross-validation with ensemble feature selection and classification model for high-dimensional biological data

In recent years, application of feature selection methods in biological datasets has greatly increased. By using feature selection techniques, a subset of relevant informative features is obtained ...
Like Daughter, Like Grandson: Queering Post-Traumatic Memory:

Queer and trauma theory both concern internal experiences that challenge normative social frameworks. Considering the roles of queerness within trauma and memory studies opens interpretive pathways...
A direct spectropolarimetric assay of arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase.

Abstract Arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase (API) catalyzes the reversible isomerization of Ribulose 5-phosphate (Ru5P) to Arabinose 5-Phosphate (Ar5P) for the production of 3-deoxy-2-octulosonic acid 8-phosphate (KDO), a component of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of gram-negative bacteria. API is an attractive target for therapeutic development against gram-negative bacterial pathogens. The current assay method of API activity utilizes a general reaction for keto sugar determination in a secondary, 3-h color development reaction with 25 N sulfuric acid which poses hazard to both personnel and instrumentation. We therefore aimed to develop a more user friendly assay of the enzyme. Since Ru5P absorbs in the UV region and contains at least 2 chiral centers, it can be expected to display circular dichroism (CD). A wavelength scan revealed indeed Ru5P displays a pronounced negative ellipticity of 30,560 mDeg M−1cm−1 at 279 nm in Tris buffer pH 9.1 but Ar5P does not have any CD. API enzymatic reactions were monitored directly and continuously in real time by following the disappearance of CD from the Ru5P substrate, or by the appearance of CD from Ar5P substrate. The CD signal at this wavelength was not affected by absorption of the enzyme protein or of small molecules, or turbidity of the solution. Common additives in protein and enzyme reaction mixtures such as detergents, metals, and 5% dimethylsulfoxide did not interfere with the CD signal. Assay reactions of 1–3 min consistently yielded reproducible results. Introduction of accessories in a spectropolarimeter will easily adapt this assay to high throughput format for screening thousands of small molecules as inhibitor candidates of API.
How volunteering with extension 4-H youth development contributes to public value

Volunteers add public value to the communities where they live and work leading to changes in community conditions. This study assessed volunteers’ beliefs about perceived public value in the Exten...
AURORA: A Unified fRamework fOR Anomaly detection on multivariate time series.

The ability to accurately and consistently discover anomalies in time series is important in many applications. Fields such as finance (fraud detection), information security (intrusion detection), healthcare, and others all benefit from anomaly detection. Intuitively, anomalies in time series are time points or sequences of time points that deviate from normal behavior characterized by periodic oscillations and long-term trends. For example, the typical activity on e-commerce websites exhibits weekly periodicity and grows steadily before holidays. Similarly, domestic usage of electricity exhibits daily and weekly oscillations combined with long-term season-dependent trends. How can we accurately detect anomalies in such domains while simultaneously learning a model for normal behavior? We propose a robust offline unsupervised framework for anomaly detection in seasonal multivariate time series, called AURORA. A key innovation in our framework is a general background behavior model that unifies periodicity and long-term trends. To this end, we leverage a Ramanujan periodic dictionary and a spline-based dictionary to capture both seasonal and trend patterns. We conduct experiments on both synthetic and real-world datasets and demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. AURORA has significant advantages over existing models for anomaly detection, including high accuracy (AUC of up to 0.98), interpretability of recovered normal behavior ( $$100\%$$ accuracy in period detection), and the ability to detect both point and contextual anomalies. In addition, AURORA is orders of magnitude faster than baselines.
A protein microarray-based in vitro transglutaminase assay platform for epitope mapping and peptide discovery: implication for transglutaminase-mediated immunodominant determination

Transglutaminases (TGs) are a family of crosslinking enzymes catalyzing the formation of intra- and inter-molecular glutamine-lysine isopeptide bonds in a calcium dependent manner. Activation of transglutaminases is pathogenically associated with severe human diseases including neurodegenerations, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune diseases. Although continuous efforts determining the enzymes substrate preference have been witnessed, a high-throughput assay platform with the omic efficiency is still missing for the global identification of substrate-specific TG modification sites. In this study we report a protein microarray-based in vitro TG assay platform for rapid and large-scale (up to 30000 reactions per chip) determination of the glutamine (Q)-bearing TG modification motifs. With this platform we identified the Q16 in superoxide dismutase 1 and Q109 in alpha-synuclein as the primary modification sites for tissue transglutaminase (TG2), the most ubiquitous member of the enzyme family. Of particular interest, we found a close match between the modification motifs and published vaccine epitope sequences in alpha-synuclein, implying an essential and intrinsic role transglutaminase might play in the determination of immunodominant epitopes. Our data collectively suggest the glutamine and its follow-up five residues on the C terminal of a protein compose a minimal determinant motif for TG2 modification and the TG2 modification motifs determined by our platform could finally correspond to the substrates immunodominant epitope sequences in antigen processing. To screen for site-specific interfering peptides and assist gene editing-based protein engineering, we optimized through onchip amino-acid scanning the TG2 modification motif QQIV in the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin and obtained 14 variants with significantly higher TG2 reactivity that might serve as the competitive inhibitor peptides and 1 with lower reactivity. We further confirmed this optimization approach with 12-mer peptides, the longest ones that could be synthesized on the chip. Taken together, our synthetic transglutaminase assay platform might be able to deliver a precise epitope blueprint for immunotherapeutic targeting and provide proof-of-concept and directional studies for TG-based peptide discovery and protein design.
Pre-target oscillatory brain activity and the attentional blink

Reporting the second of two targets within a stream of distracting words during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) is impaired when the targets are separated by a single distractor word, a deficit in temporal attention that has been referred to as the attentional blink (AB). Recent conceptual and empirical work has pointed to pre-target brain states as potential mediators of the AB effect. The current study examined differences in pre-target electrophysiology between correctly and incorrectly reported trials, considering amplitude and phase measures of alpha oscillations as well as the steady-state visual evoked potential (ssVEP) evoked by the RSVP stream. For incorrectly reported trials, relatively lower alpha-band power and greater ssVEP inter-trial phase locking were observed during extended time periods preceding presentation of the first target. These results suggest that facilitated processing of the pre-target distracter stream indexed by reduced alpha and heightened phase locking characterizes a dynamic brain state that predicts lower accuracy in terms of reporting the second target under strict temporal constraints. Findings align with hypotheses in which the AB effect is attributed to neurocognitive factors such as fluctuations in pre-target attention or to cognitive strategies applied at the trial level.
Studies in steroid metabolism: XVIII. Evidence for the conversion in vitro of [4-14C]testosterone to 17β-hydroxy-[4-14C]5α-androst-1-en-3-one by human prostate

Abstract A comparison of [4-14C]testosterone transformation products derived from incubations with human prostatic and fetal-liver minces has been made and observed differences in the metabolite patterns are described. Our evidence for the conversion in vitro of [4-14C]testosterone to 17β- hydroxy -[4- 14 C]5α- androst -1- en -3- one on incubation with surgically removed, benign hypertrophic human prostate consists of the following findings: 1. 1. Carrier steroid, prepared by 2 synthetic routes, and the biological metabolite had the same mobilities in the paper-chromatography system ligroin-propylene glycol and gave on paper the same characteristic colors with the alkaline m- dinitrobenzene reagent. 2. 2. The thiosemicarbazone derivatives of both carrier and metabolite in ethanolic solution had absorption maxima at 298 mμ. 3. 3. Column partition chromatography established identical retention volumes for synthetic 17β-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-3-one and for the [4-14C]testosterone transformation product; chromatography of a mixture of carrier and radiometabolite yielded superimposable elution curves. The extract of the prostatic incubate also contained a radioactive component with the paper-chromatographic mobility of 5α-androst-1-ene-3,17-dione. No evidence for the presence of Δ 1 -3- ketones could be found in human-fetal-liver digests of [4-14C]testosterone.
Bedinungssyteme mit Unterbrechungen

Es wird das Warteschlangensystem mit einer Bedienungsstation untersucht, wobei diese Bedienungsstation ihre Arbeit fur eine Pausenzeit von zufalliger Lange unterbrechen kann. Die Bedienungszeitverteilung ist beliebig, der Eingangsprozess ist Poisson oder ein zusammengesetzter Poissonprozess.
A novel NF-κB-regulated site within the human Iγ1 promoter requires p300 for optimal transcriptional activity

Transcriptional activation of germline (GL) promoters occurs through binding of NF-κB to three evolutionarily conserved sites within a CD40 response region in the human and mouse GL Iγ and Ie promoters. Here we identify and characterize a novel NF-κB binding site (κB6) within the human GL Iγ1 promoter that plays an essential role in basal- and CD40-induced transcription. This site is adjacent to identified CREB/activating transcription factor (ATF) sites, present in the Iγ1 but not the Iγ3 promoter, which are important for the amplification of transcription. Our data suggest a cohesive protein complex regulating Iγ1 promoter activity because disruption of any individual NF-κB or CREB/ATF site markedly lowers the overall inducible activity of the promoter. In addition, alteration of helical phasing within the promoter indicates spatial orientation of CREB/ATF and NF-κB, proteins contributes directly to promoter activity. We found that CREB and p50 transactivators, as well as coactivator p300, interact in vivo with the Iγ1 promoter in the presence and absence of CD40 signaling in Ramos and primary B cells. However, the level of CREB and p300 binding differs as a consequence of activation in primary B cells. Furthermore, overexpression of p300, and not a mutant lacking acetyltransferase activity, significantly increases Iγ1 construct-specific transcription. Together these data support a model whereby CREB and multiple NF-κB complexes bind to the Iγ1 promoter and recruit p300. CD40 signals induce p300-dependent changes that result in optimal Iγ1 promoter activity.
Extracorporeal liver support: a continuing challenge

Given that liver failure continues to pose an enormous clinical challenge, the concept of hepatic dialysis has enjoyed significant interest. In particular, many investigations have examined the therapeutic mechanisms and efficacy of artificial albumin dialysis based systems in acute on chronic liver failure, the results of which have been conflicting. Albumin dialysis systems do not appear to significantly decrease serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in severe acute on chronic liver failure. Thus, if these treatments do result in clinical improvement, then other therapeutic mechanisms must be involved.
Avoidance in disordered eating : the roles of overvaluation of weight and shape and repetitive thinking.

ly or concretely) is a better indicator of whether the thoughts serve an avoidant function. Therefore, it is hypothesized that abstract thoughts will be positively associated with experiential avoidance.
Optically Transparent Polycrystalline Al2O3 Produced by Spark Plasma Sintering

The spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique was used to produce mid-infrared (IR) transparent alumina with the desired transmittance. An excellent transmittance of 85% has been obtained in a sample sintered at 1300°C for 5 min. The heating rate, sintering time, and annealing have a significant influence on IR transmittance. The improvement in transmission may be attributed to the progressive elimination of residual porosity when applying a slower heating rate, longer sintering time during SPS, and postsinter annealing. It is suggested that localized residual strain/stress at grain boundaries and oxygen vacancy concentration are other factors influencing the optical properties of the SPS-sintered alumina.
A systematic review for sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with myocardial fibrosis: a CMR LGE study

To our knowledge this represent the first attempt at a formal meta-analysis to demonstrate that SCD is predicted by LGE, not just VT/VF.
The disappearing right to navigational freedom in the exclusive economic zone

Abstract Navigational freedoms have been a central part of the law of the sea for hundreds of years, but significant restrictions have been imposed recently upon these freedoms. Fishing vessels are subject to the most restraints and, to protect their fish catch, must now give notice whenever they travel through the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of another country. Oil tankers, especially those with single hulls are also subject to a variety of restraints, and any ship with a dangerous cargo must conform to international, regional, and national regulations. Ships carrying ultrahazardous nuclear cargoes have been told by many countries to avoid their EEZs, and these ships have in fact picked routes designed to avoid most EEZs. Security concerns have increased dramatically during the past 2 years, and it has become almost commonplace for the major maritime and military powers to assert the right to stop and board merchant vessels to look for suspect cargoes in all parts of the oceans. Even military vessels, which have immunity from seizure, must nonetheless respect the many rules that have been established to protect the marine environment and the security of coastal populations. A new norm of customary international law appears to have emerged that allows coastal states to regulate navigation through their EEZ based on the nature of the ship and its cargo. It appears that it is no longer accurate to say that the freedom of navigation exists in the exclusive economic zone of other countries to the same extent that it exists on the high seas. The balance between navigation and other national interests continues to develop, and navigational freedoms appear to be disappearing during this evolutionary process.
The Unfolded Protein Response: A Multifaceted Regulator of Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism

Elevated levels of circulating lipids are the major cause of cardiovascular disease, but beneficial outcomes might be realized by targeting lipid carriers. Two papers in this issue of Cell Metabolism (So et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2012) demonstrate how modulation of one arm of the unfolded protein response can decrease plasma levels of VLDL particles and their associated lipids.
Heme content of normal and porphyric cultured skin fibroblasts.

Partial deficiencies in enzyme activities of the heme biosynthetic pathway have been demonstrated in cultured skin fibroblasts and other tissues from patients with protoporphyria (PP) and acute intermittent porphyria (AIP). We have quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the heme and free porphyrin content in cultured PP, AIP, VP (variegate porphyria, in which an enzymatic deficiency has not been identified), and normal skin fibroblasts during routine culture conditions in order to assess the overall metabolism of heme in these cells. The total heme concentration was not significantly different between control and porphyric lines; 189±15 pmoles/mg protein (mean±SEM) in controls, 154±17 in PP, 175±20 in AIP, and 181±81 in VP. The hemoprotein difference spectra were similar in all lines. Free porphyrins were not detected in any of the disorders. Despite partial deficiencies in enzyme activities of the heme pathway, porphyric fibroblasts thus maintain normal heme content during routine culture conditions without detectable porphyrin accumulation.
Predictors of Adherence to Statins for Primary Prevention

Statins are potent drugs for reducing cholesterol and cardiovascular disease; however, their effectiveness is significantly compromised by poor adherence. This prospective study was designed to identify potentially modifiable patient factors including medication, disease, and diet beliefs related to statin adherence. Veterans (n = 71) given their first prescription of a statin for primary prevention were interviewed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months regarding medication, disease, and diet beliefs along with self-reported statin adherence. At 6-month follow-up, 55% of the cohort was non-adherent with 10% reporting never having started their statin, 50% reporting misconceptions about the duration of treatment and a median use of <2 months among those who discontinued their statin. Multivariate predictors of non-adherence were expected short treatment duration (OR = 3.6, 1.4–9.4), low perceived risk of myocardial infarction (OR = 3.1, 1.1–8.7), concern about potential harm from statins (OR = 2.5, 1.0–6.3), being Hispanic (OR = 3.9, 1.0–15.2), and younger age (OR = 4.2, 1.1–15.8). Poor adherence to statins was common in this primary prevention population with frequent early discontinuation despite access to low-cost medicines. Patient factors regarding the perception of risk, toxic effects of medication, expected treatment duration, as well as socio-demographic factors, were significant predictors of poor adherence and warrant further exploration.
Adverse Effects with Acyclovir and Meperidine

Excerpt To the editor: We write to share our experience of a patient treated with acyclovir and meperidine with serious consequences. A 54-year-old man with stage IVA Hodgkin's disease in remission...
A dual resonator enhanced asymmetric Mach-Zehnder: Ultrafast passive thresholder for silicon-on-insulator

We propose and simulate a novel integrated thresholder based on nonlinear silicon microring resonators. By interfering the complementary effects of two resonators, the proposed device achieves a sharp threshold with flat one- and zero-levels.
Diffusional spread of iontophoretically injected ions.

Abstract Analysis of the Nernst-Planck equations governing movement of ions subjected to both a concentration gradient and an electric field shows that, under physiological conditions, electrophoresis plays no significant role in the spread of iontophoretically injected ions. Electrophoresis can be neglected in any region in which the specific resistance of the medium is substantially constant and where the electrical potential induced in the medium by the iontophoresis current is small compared to 2RT F , or 50 mV.
Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Stacking Sequence Effect on GLARE 5 FML Plates Subjected to Ballistic Impact

In this study, GLARE 5 (3/2) fiber-metal laminated (FML) plates of dimensions: 152.4 mm × 101.6 mm with various stacking sequences, namely: unidirectional [0°4], cross-ply [0°/90°]s, angle-ply [+45°/−45°]s and quasi-isotropic [0°/±45°/90°], were impacted by a 0.22 caliber bullet-shaped projectile using a high-speed gas gun. A high-speed camera was used to measure the projectile velocity along its ballistic trajectory. The post-impact damage in the specimens was evaluated using both nondestructive and destructive techniques. The nondestructive assessment was conducted using an UltraPAC immersion ultrasound system; whereas for the destructive technique the specimens were cut transversely along the impact center using a diamond blade cutting wheel. The results showed that the induced damage in the specimens changed its shape as the prepreg lay-up orientation was altered. The 3D dynamic nonlinear finite element (FE) software, LS-DYNA, was used to validate the experimental results. Good agreement between experimental and FE results was obtained.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Vegetable and fruit intake after diagnosis and risk of prostate cancer progression

Cruciferous vegetables, tomato sauce and legumes have been associated with reduced risk of incident advanced prostate cancer. In vitro and animal studies suggest these foods may inhibit progression of prostate cancer, but there are limited data in men. Therefore, we prospectively examined whether intake of total vegetables, and specifically cruciferous vegetables, tomato sauce and legumes, after diagnosis reduce risk of prostate cancer progression among 1,560 men diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer and participating in the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor, a United States prostate cancer registry. As a secondary analysis, we also examined other vegetable subgroups, total fruit and subgroups of fruits. The participants were diagnosed primarily at community-based clinics and followed from 2004 to 2009. We assessed vegetable and fruit intake via a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and ascertained prostate cancer outcomes via urologist report and medical records. We observed 134 events of progression (53 biochemical recurrences, 71 secondary treatments likely due to recurrence, 6 bone metastases and 4 prostate cancer deaths) during 3,171 person-years. Men in the fourth quartile of post-diagnostic cruciferous vegetable intake had a statistically significant 59% decreased risk of prostate cancer progression compared to men in the lowest quartile (hazard ratio (HR): 0.41; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.22, 0.76; p-trend: 0.003). No other vegetable or fruit group was statistically significantly associated with risk of prostate cancer progression. In conclusion, cruciferous vegetable intake after diagnosis may reduce risk of prostate cancer progression.
Assessing the risks from 2,3,7,8 TCDD and TCDF in milk packaged in paper

Abstract PCDD and PCDF measurements were made on selected retail milk products, including paper packaged milk samples, covering all known paper carton suppliers in the state of California during 1989. Significant levels of 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF) and 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) were found in the paper packaged milk in all brands investigated except one. All other 2,3,7,8 substituted PCDFs and PCDDs were either not detected or detected at very low levels. Two non 2,3,7,8 substituted TCDFs were consistently detected in the contaminated milk samples. Using the mean concentration of 2,3,7,8 TCDF and TCDD detected and assuming a 480 ml daily consumption of milk for an adult, we estimated that the milk represented an additional 2.3 pg/kg/day of TCDD equivalent exposure based on the California toxic equivalence (CA TE), but only a 0.56 pg/kg/day increase using the International TE (ITE). The lifetime cancer risk was calculated to be 470 10 6 (CA TE) and 80 10 6 (ITE). Monitoring of retail milk products continued during 1990 but 2,3,7,8 TCDD and 2,3,7,8 TCDF were either not detected or detected at very low levels in all products investigated.
Salt marsh submarine groundwater discharge as traced by radium isotopes

Abstract Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) generally occurs through permeable sediments where the hydraulic head of an aquifer is above sea level, and often includes a recirculated seawater component. In order to determine SGD to the Great Sippewissett Marsh, West Falmouth, MA, we measured the activities of four radium isotopes (226Ra, 228Ra, 223Ra, 224Ra) at the marsh inlet in July 1999 and 2001 and compared our data with Ra activities measured at the same location in 1983 and 1985. A radium-based approach for estimating SGD to the marsh yielded a summer average of 3900 m3 day−1. This flux was in good agreement with independent estimates from the literature, which ranged from 600 to 23,000 m3 day−1. Radium activities of the long-lived isotopes (226Ra, 228Ra) were on average more than two times higher in 1999 than during the three other time periods. These results suggest that drought conditions leading to enhanced seawater–sediment interactions may be an important mechanism in delivering certain dissolved substances to coastal waters.