cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The clinical rationale for S-phase radiosensitization in human tumors

Abstract Nonhypoxic cell radiosensitizers, principally the halogenated pyrimidines and hydroxyurea, have been studied in the laboratory and clinical setting for more than 30 years. Early clinical experience in the 1960s and 1970s with the thymidine analogs 5-bromodeoxyuridine (IUdR) and 5-iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) was disappointing because normal tissue toxicity eliminated any potential for therapeutic gain. Inadequate delivery systems for intravenous and intraarterial infusions also contributed to the decline of this strategy. More recently, laboratory investigations have revealed further information regarding the mechanism of IUdR/BUdR radiosensitization. This knowledge provided a rationale for the sequence and timing of drug and radiation exposure, which could be both effective and tolerable. Advancing technology also provided safer infusion devices, and a resurgence in clinical trials combining IUdR or BUdR and radiation resulted. Current laboratory studies are now providing data on tumor cell kinetics, which is being applied to ongoing clinical trials. Fluoropyrimidines, principally 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), were also used in early clinical trials and unlike IUdR/BUdR were found to have significant activity as single agents against a variety of tumor types. The clinical integration of 5-FU and radiation occurred more slowly, but recent trials have demonstrated a therapeutic gain. Improved rates of local control and survival with combined 5-FU and radiation versus radiation alone have now been demonstrated in patients with rectal, esophageal, and anal carcinomas. However, the mechanism of interaction between the fluoropyrimidines and radiation remains uncertain and continues to be investigated with the hope of improved clinical outcome. As the cellular pathways influenced by the halogenated pyrimidines have been defined, the potential for biochemical modulation of these agents has been recognized. Leucovorin, the most commonly applied modulator, has been shown to enhance the activity of 5-FU in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma. These studies serve as an example for current trials that use biochemical modulators of IUdR, BUdR, and 5-FU as radiosensitizers. Hydroxyurea, currently used in the treatment of chronic leukemia, has also been considered a radiosensitizer. As with IUdR/BUdR, the clinical trials have often been inconclusive and interest in this radiosensitizer has waned. A poor understanding of the mechanism of action and tumor cell/normal tissue kinetics may be responsible for the lack of overall success with this strategy. Current investigations of cell kinetics in humans and potential mechanisms of hydroxyurea action could provide information critical to future trials of hydroxyurea radiosensitization.
Suspected appendicitis in children: diagnostic importance of normal abdominopelvic CT findings with nonvisualized appendix.

Purpose: To determine whether lack of visualization of the appendix on otherwise normal abdominopelvic computed tomographic (CT) images can help exclude appendicitis in the pediatric population. Materials and Methods: The study was institutional review board approved and HIPAA compliant. One thousand one hundred thirty-nine children suspected of having appendicitis were referred for CT examination between July 2002 and December 2006. Exclusion criteria included CT diagnosis of appendicitis or other cause of symptoms and lack of clinical follow-up. Consensus review was performed by two pediatric radiologists to determine normal examinations, leaving a final study group (nonvisualized appendix) of 156 patients (mean age, 9.6 years; boys, 7.2 years; girls, 10.2 years) and a control group (visualized appendix) of 421 patients (mean age, 11.0 years; boys, 9.8 years; girls, 11.2 years). In the control group, there were 168 subjects with a partially visualized (PV) appendix and 253 with a fully visualized (FV) a...
A rotational light curve for the Kuiper belt object 1997 CV29

Abstract We present R- and V-band rotational light curves for classical Kuiper belt object 1997 CV29. The imaging data was obtained from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) archive located at the Canadian Astronomical Data Center (CADC). The data consist of one nights observations of a series of 42, 8 minute exposures in R band followed by 33, 8 minute exposures in V band acquired on the following night. Using relative photometry we determined a highly significant variation in the brightness of 1997 CV29. Using phase-dispersion-minimization we find 8.0, 11.2, and 15.8 hrs to be the most likely, periods of rotation and we argue that the ∼16 hr period is the most likely based on our limited observing window. The phased light curve has a peak-to-peak range of Δm≳0.4±0.1 mag suggesting an axial ratio of a/b≳1.45.
Chemical Modification and Metal Binding Studies of Datura innoxia

The esterification of carboxylate functionalities present in the cell walls of Datura innoxia results in a decrease in metal uptake by as much as 40%, depending on the metal studied. These findings suggest that carboxylate groups are important in metal ion adsorption to this biomaterial. Base hydrolysis of the native plant material resulted in a slight increase in metal ion uptake for Cu2+ and Sr2+ and a decrease in uptake for Cd2+. These results are attributed to the hydrolysis of esters native to the plant material, which increases the carboxylate content but also results in conformational changes in the macromolecules that comprise the cell fragments. Both the esterified product and the hydrolyzed material were examined via infrared spectroscopy. A peak occuring at 1735 cm-1 (attributed to the carbonyl stretch) confirmed the esterification process. The infrared spectra of the hydrolyzed samples indicate further ionization of carboxylate groups or hydrolysis of esters native to D. innoxia.
Degradation of Chloroacetanilide Herbicides: The Prevalence of Sulfonic and Oxanilic Acid Metabolites in Iowa Groundwaters and Surface Waters

Water samples were collected from 88 municipal wells throughout Iowa during the summer and were collected monthly at 12 stream sites in eastern Iowa from March to December 1996 to study the occurrence of the sulfonic and oxanilic metabolites of acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor. The sulfonic and oxanilic metabolites were present in almost 75% of the groundwater samples and were generally present from 3 to 45 times more frequently than their parent compounds. In groundwater, the median value of the summed concentrations of acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor was less than 0.05 μg/L, and the median value of the summed concentrations of the six metabolites was 1.2 μg/L. All surface water samples contained at least one detectable metabolite compound. Individual metabolites were detected from 2 to over 100 times more frequently than the parent compounds. In surface water, the median value of the summed concentrations of the three parent compounds was 0.13 μg/L, and the median value of the summed concentr...
Shift operators and bilinear system theory

By using shift operators on linear spaces a theory of bilinear systems is presented. A restricted backward shift realization (RBSR) of a Volterra series input-output map is introduced. The RBSR is used to solve the bilinear realization problem. The RBSR is used to develop a theory of minimality for bilinear systems. Minimal bilinear systems are shown to be equivalent. The RBSR is used to develop a theory of reachability and observability for bilinear systems. An algorithm that computes the minimal bilinear realization of a Volterra series input-output map is given.
Removal of phospho-head groups of membrane lipids immobilizes voltage sensors of K + channels

A fundamental question about the gating mechanism of voltage-activated K+ (Kv) channels is how five positively charged voltage-sensing residues1,2 in the fourth transmembrane segment are energetically stabilized, because they operate in a low-dielectric cell membrane. The simplest solution would be to pair them with negative charges3. However, too few negatively charged channel residues are positioned for such a role4,5. Recent studies suggest that some of the channel’s positively charged residues are exposed to cell membrane phospholipids and interact with their head groups5,6,7,8,9. A key question nevertheless remains: is the phospho-head of membrane lipids necessary for the proper function of the voltage sensor itself? Here we show that a given type of Kv channel may interact with several species of phospholipid and that enzymatic removal of their phospho-head creates an insuperable energy barrier for the positively charged voltage sensor to move through the initial gating step(s), thus immobilizing it, and also raises the energy barrier for the downstream step(s).
Calorimetric measurements of the half life of plutonium-240

Abstract This report describes calorimetric homogeneity and half-life measurements made as part of the collaborative measurement of the 240 Pu half life by different laboratories. The specific power of 240 Pu was equal to 7081.56 ± 1.80 μ W/g 240 Pu and the half life to 6552.4 ± 1.7 years, the quoted uncertainties being estimated standard deviations. Systematic uncertainties due to power measurements are less than 0.35 μW/g and 0.33 years, respectively.
Patient and staff acceptance of robotic technology in occupational therapy: A pilot study

While the majority of applications of robotics in the field of rehabilitation focus on the development of smart aids for people without upper extremity function, there is also potential for the robot as a therapy "aide." We designed, built, and pilot-tested hardware and software that used a robot to provide muscle reeducation movement patterns after stroke. This is a report on a field trial, in which 11 occupational therapists used the system with 22 patients; each patient averaged 2.2 sessions. Based on information contained in the system database, a log, patient interviews, and therapist questionnaires, we evaluated safety, system utility, and patient and therapist acceptance. The results suggest that robotic treatment is safe and accepted (if not welcomed) by patients. The therapists expressed a qualified acceptance, suggesting several modifications to increase utility. The potential for the application of robotics in rehabilitation therapy is discussed in light of these findings.
Flavor preference: effects of ingestion-contingent intravenous saline or glucose.

Abstract In Experiment 1, hungry rats with intravenous cannulae were fed a non-nutritive sweetened coffee solution on 5 occasions. Shortly after each such drinking period, one group was infused with 5–10 ml of 10% glucose solution; a second group was similarly infused with 0.9% saline solution and a third group was not infused at all. In a subsequent preference test between sweetened coffee and saccharin solution, the saline group had a reduced preference for coffee relative to the other two groups, which did not differ significantly between themselves. Experiment 2 was a replication in which a number of procedural details were changed. The results were similar to those of Experiment 1.
VIP mRNA EXPRESSION IN THE GUT AFTER IRRADIATION INJURY. • 722

Irradiation injury produces an enteritis with hisologic changes in the mucosa and submucosa of the small bowel. VIP is an important vasoactive peptide produced by submucosal neurons which may play a role in gut injury. In addition, it is known that VIP and nitric oxide synthase are co-localized in submucosal neurons. In order to further define the role of VIP in a model of gut injury, we used Northern blots and in situ hybridization to study VIP mRNA expression after gut irradiation and after pretreatment with pharmacologic agents known to affect the inflammatory response.
The Effects of Board Structure on Media Companies’ Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective

This article examined the effects of board structure of American media companies on their performance from a stakeholder perspective. Results showed that both the level of board interlocks and the ...
Catalytic transformations of methyl oleate and biodiesel over mesoporous gallium–niobium oxides

Abstract The catalytic transformations of methyl oleate and a commercial sample of biodiesel over novel, mesoporous, gallium–niobium mixed oxides possessing both acidic and redox activities are compared with the corresponding results from acidic zeolites (H–Y, H–beta and H–ZSM-5) and SAPO-11. The products from the reaction included branched alkyl esters of FAMEs, and their double bond and cis/trans isomers. In the case of products from reactions over Ga–Nb oxides, dehydrogenated, diolefinic products (mainly, linoleates, and linolinates) were also observed. When traces of water were present (> 100 ppm) in the biodiesel, hydrolysis of the FAME to fatty acids was also observed. Dimerisation of the FAME molecules also occurred to some extent. Both the niobium content and the surface acidity of the mesoporous Ga–Nb mixed oxides influenced their catalytic activity and selectivity. The selectivity for skeletal isomerisation of the linear FAMEs over the mesoporous Ga–Nb oxides is comparable, if not better, than those observed over the aluminosilicate and silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieves.
Revolutionary Deists: Early America's Rational Infidels. By Kerry Walters. (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011. Pp. 279. $20.00.)

Inside the American Revolution there was, as John Adams succinctly put it, a struggle for “the hearts and minds” of the American people. Sprawling over nearly a century, the combat included leading...
Free Radicals in Dicarboxylic Acids: An E.S.R. Study of Radical Conversions in γ-irradiated Single Crystals of Glutaric Acid and Glutaric-2,2,4,4-d4 Acid

SummaryThe γ-radiation-induced free radicals in single crystals of glutaric acid and glutaric-2,2,4,4-d4 acid were studied in the temperature range 77–300 K by e.s.r. techniques. At 77 K the decarboxylation radical and the anion are stabilized. At higher temperatures the decarboxylation radical is found to be converted into a hydrogen abstraction radical with an activation energy of 6·3 ± 0·5 kcal/mole for the non-deuterated crystal. This radical is stable at room temperature. The anion seems to be converted to an unidentified intermediate radical which in turn is converted to the σ-acyl radical. An analysis of the g-value anisotropy and of the 13C hyperfine splitting variation for this radical in the deuterated crystal is consistent with the assigned radical structure. By heat treatment the σ-acyl radical is converted to another form of the hydrogen abstraction radical with an activation energy of 9·6 ± 0·6 kcal/mole in the deuterated crystal. U.V.-light (λ = 254 nm) transforms one of the room temperatur...
The role of psychiatry in the sentencing process

The input of psychiatry into the sentencing process has varied with the degree of discretion afforded sentencing decisionmakers. The greater the discretion accorded judges and parole boards, the more influential psychiatry has been in determining the duration of criminal sentences. Psychiatry played but a minor role during the first century of our Republic, when relatively determinate sentencing was the order of the day. It has assumed an important place during our second century as relatively indeterminate sentencing, with its manifold variations, became the primary mechanism of sentencing throughout the United States. As we begin our third century, the situation remains uncertain: we are witnessing a vocal reaction against the excesses of discretion, disparity, and indeterminancy; there is a call for the return to relatively fixed, certain and equal sentences. It is not clear, at this time, how far back the pendulum will swing, although it seems likely that there will be some retrenching. Already several state legislatures have significantly reduced the discretion of the parole boards and other releasing authority. The United States Congress and other legislatures currently have before them bills which would curtail the degree of discretion currently exercised by sentencing judges as well. The continued role of psychiatry in the sentencing process is thus extremely uncertain. What seems clear is that it will not remain what it has been: its significance will almost surely be diminished; its role will certainly be altered. We are at a watershed in the history of psychiatry in the sentencing process. Now is the time to do some hard thinking about the appropriate relationship between the science of the mind and the moral enterprise of fitting the punishment to the crime and/or the criminal.
Complete stability region characterization for PI-AQM

This paper describes a method for finding the stability regions of the PI and PIP controllers for TCP AQM with delays. The method is applied on several representative examples, showing that stable controllers can exhibit widely different performance. Thus, the results highlight the importance of optimizing the design of PI AQM. Furthermore, the paper shows that the previously proposed PIP controller can be unstable in the presence of delays even for the control parameters given in the literature.
Positions of Birds' Nests in Hedges

DURING the autumn and winter of the past three years I have been observing the distribution of birds' nests as regards position in the hedges. In the fields around this village the following facts are noticed. In hedges running north and south (facing east and west), by far the greater number of nests are found to the east of a line through the length of the hedge. In hedges running east and west (facing north and south), very few are on the north side, some in the centre, but most to the south of the line through the length of the hedge. There seems to be a very good reason why this should be the case, but it would not do to state reasons without more evidence. I have not seen this matter noticed in any book or “paper”, and it would be interesting to know how the majority of the nests in other parts of the country are placed. The present is a good time for such observations.
Chemical shift anisotropy in powdered solids studied by 2D FT CP/MAS NMR

Abstract A set of new experiments for obtaining the conventional anisotropy powder patterns utilizes a series of π or 2π pulses synchronized with the rotation of the magic-angle spinner. The experiment is most conveniently performed in a two-dimensional fashion. The new pulse sequences are rather insensitive to imperfections of the pulses. Experimental results are shown for hexamethylbenzene and paradimethoxybenzene.
Quantification of Capillary Flow and Density By Ultra-high Resolution OCT

An ultrahigh-resolution OCT is presented that allows quantifying the capillary flow and density in neurovascular networks in vivo. This technology has been validated by an animal model with chronic cocaine administration.
Adaptations of amphibian arginase. I. Response to dehydration.

Abstract 1. 1. The effect of controlled dehydration on the activities of liver and kidney arginase from several species of amphibians was studied. 2. 2. Controlled desiccation seemed to increase the activity of both kidney and liver arginase in Rana sylvatica. 3. 3. Rana pipiens and Bufo americanus showed an increase in only kidney arginase activity when desiccated. 4. 4. There was no significant increase in either kidney or liver arginase activity when Rana clamitans and Rana septentrionalis were desiccated.
Preparation for Compensatory Forward Stepping in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract King LA, St George RJ, Carlson-Kuhta P, Nutt JG, Horak FB. Preparation for compensatory forward stepping in Parkinson's disease. Objective To characterize preparation for compensatory stepping in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) compared with healthy control subjects, and to determine whether levodopa medication improves preparation or the execution phases of the step. Design Observational study. Setting Outpatient neuroscience laboratory. Participants Nineteen participants with idiopathic PD tested both in the on and off levodopa states and 17 healthy subjects. Intervention Moveable platform with posterior translations of 24cm at 56cm/s. Main Outcome Measures Compensatory steps forward, in response to a backward surface translation (24cm amplitude at 56cm/s), were categorized according to the presence of an anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) before stepping: no APA, single APA, or multiple APAs. The following step parameters were calculated: step latency, step length, center of mass (CoM) average velocity, and CoM displacement at the step initiation. Results Lateral APAs were evident in 57% and 42% of trials for people with PD in the off and on medication states, respectively, compared with only 10% of trials for control subjects. Compared with subjects with PD who did not have APAs, those subjects with PD who did make an APA prior to stepping had significantly later (mean ± SEM, 356±16ms vs 305±8ms) and shorter (mean ± SEM, 251±27mm vs 300±16mm) steps, their CoM was significantly farther forward (185±7mm vs 171±5mm) at foot-off, and they took significantly more steps to regain equilibrium. Levodopa did not affect the preparation or execution phase of compensatory stepping. Poor axial scores and reports of freezing in the United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale were associated with use of 1 or more APAs before compensatory stepping. Conclusions Lateral postural preparation prior to compensatory stepping in subjects with PD was associated with inefficient balance recovery from external perturbations.
Title extraction and generation from OCR'd documents

Extraction of metadata from documents is a tedious and expensive process. In general, documents are manually reviewed for structured data such as title, author, date, organization, etc. The purpose of extraction is to build metadata for documents that can be used when formulating structured queries. In many large document repositories such as the National Library of Medicine (NLM) 1 or university libraries, the extraction task is a daily process that spans decades. Although some automation is used during the extraction process, generally, metadata extraction is a manual task. Aside from the cost and labor time, manual processing is error prone and requires many levels of quality control. Recent advances in extraction technology, as reported at the Message the Understanding Conference (MUC), 2 is comparable with extraction performed by humans. In addition, many organizations use historical data for lookup to improve the quality of extraction. For the large government document repository we are working with, the task involves extraction of several fields from millions of OCR'd and electronic documents. Since this project is time-sensitive, automatic extraction turns out to be the only viable solution. There are more than a dozen fields associated with each document that require extraction. In this paper, we report on the extraction and generation of the title field.
Performance Evaluations and Efficient Sorting

Much of the production in firms takes place over time. This paper seeks to understand the value of interim performance information on long projects. In particular, the model explores the sorting effects of performance evaluations. Conducting an interim performance evaluation increases efficiency by providing the option to end projects with low early returns. The main result: It is efficient to allocate more resources towards the end of a project. This result holds under a variety of scenarios: when the worker has unknown ability, when the outside options vary with output, and even under an agency framework with a risk-averse agent.
Nonlinear measurements on AF-50

The nonlinear optical properties of N,N-diphenyl-7-[2-(4- pyridinyl) ethenyl]-9,9-di-n-decylfluoren-2-amine [AF- 50] have been investigated. The nonlinear absorption of a saturated solution of this material in acetone was investigated with 430 femtosecond pulses at 790 nm. From these results, the two-photon absorption cross-section was determined to be 25 X 10-50 cm4sec/photon molecule. This number is in agreement (within a factor of 2) with theoretical calculations. Nonlinear absorption and optical limiting measurements were also made using a Nd:YAG pumped dye laser with 4.3 ns pulses at 694 nm. These results suggest inherent differences in the performance of two-photon absorbing materials in these two different geometries.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
St. Louis Initiative for Integrated Care Excellence (SLI(2)CE): integrated-collaborative care on a large scale model

The primary care health setting is in crisis. Increasing demand for services, with dwindling numbers of providers, has resulted in decreased access and decreased satisfaction for both patients and providers. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of primary care visits are for behavioral and mental health concerns rather than issues of a purely medical etiology. Integrated-collaborative models of health care delivery offer possible solutions to this crisis. The purpose of this article is to review the existing data available after 2 years of the St. Louis Initiative for Integrated Care Excellence; an example of integrated-collaborative care on a large scale model within a regional Veterans Affairs Health Care System. There is clear evidence that the SLI(2)CE initiative rather dramatically increased access to health care, and modified primary care practitioners' willingness to address mental health issues within the primary care setting. In addition, data suggests strong fidelity to a model of integrated-collaborative care which has been successful in the past. Integrated-collaborative care offers unique advantages to the traditional view and practice of medical care. Through careful implementation and practice, success is possible on a large scale model.
A new upper-bounding technique for a primitive relay channel based on channel simulation

We consider the following primitive relay channel. A source X wants to send information to a destination Y with the help of a relay Z. The link from Z to Y is assumed to be lossless with rate R0. It is shown that destination Y's capability in simulating relay Z's observations, a function of the channel, is fundamentally linked to Z's capability in utilizing the full rate of the ZY link. A general upper bound based on combining channel simulation and the blowing-up lemma is presented. In several cases, e.g. stochastistically degraded, we show that the rate CXY + R0 is not achievable, where CXY is the capacity of the XY link. This method reveals an interesting relationship between channel simulation theory and characterizing the relay channel's capacity.
Constraints on brane-localized gravity

In this paper we explore some general aspects of the embeddings associated with brane-localized gravity. In particular we show that the consistency of such embeddings can require (or impose) very specific relations between all the involved bulk and brane matter source parameters. We specifically explore the embeddings of 3-branes with non-zero spatial 3-curvature k into 5-dimensional spacetime bulks, and show that for such embeddings, a 5-dimensional bulk cosmological constant is not able to produce the exponential suppression of the geometry thought necessary to localize gravity to the brane.
Output Feedback Control of the Nonlinear Aeroelastic Response of a Slender Wing

This paper presents the design of optimal constant gain output feedback based controllers for a nonlinear aeroelastic system. Controllers are designed for flutter suppression as well as gust-load alleviation. This controller architecture is one of the simplest, using direct feedback of the sensor outputs, but its performance is highly dependent on sensor selection and placement. Also, optimal design of such controllers require an accurate knowledge of the expected disturbance mode and gust spectrum. This paper presents results pertaining to the performance of SOF controllers for aeroelastic control (linear and nonlinear) and compares it to that of LQR and LQG controllers. Controllers are designed for various sensor placement. The gain and phase margins of the various controllers are also presented to understand the robustness characteristics. For optimal sensor placement and with knowledge of the disturbance, the constant gain output feedback controller performance and robustness was found to be equivalent to that of linear quadratic regulator and linear quadratic Gaussian controllers for the example considered. These controllers were also shown to be very easy to alter and combine with other controllers/filters for better overall system response.
Lean Business Model and Implementation of a Geriatric Fracture Center

Geriatric hip fracture is a common event associated with high costs of care and often with suboptimal outcomes for the patients. Ideally, a new care model to manage geriatric hip fractures would address both quality and safety of patient care as well as the need for reduced costs of care. The geriatric fracture center model of care is one such model reported to improve both outcomes and quality of care. It is a lean business model applied to medicine. This article describes basic lean business concepts applied to geriatric fracture care and information needed to successfully implement a geriatric fracture center. It is written to assist physicians and surgeons in their efforts to implement an improved care model for their patients.
Wet Microburst Activity over the Southeastern United States: Implications for Forecasting

Abstract The thermodynamic properties of wet-microburst-producing days, as observed during the 1986 MIST (MIcroburst and Severe Thunderstorm) field project, conducted in northern Alabama, have been examined and are shown to exhibit common characteristics. The parent storms and environment for this microburst type are substantially different than those documented over the High Plains in that the cloud bases are warmer, the subcloud layer is shallower, the radar reflectivities are greater, and the thermal environment is more moist and stable. Analyses of the rawinsonde data, launched in the morning and afternoon, show that low-level moisture is present and is capped by a midlevel dry layer. This midlevel dry air is generally advected from the northwest, where a large area of dry air exists over the central United States. In addition, it appears to be possible to differentiate between microburst days and thunderstorm days producing no wet microbursts by plotting the vertical profile of the equivalent potenti...
Theoretical investigations of energy harvesting efficiency from structural vibrations using piezoelectric and electromagnetic oscillators.

Conversion of ambient vibrational energy into electric power has been the impetus of much modern research. The traditional analysis has focused on absolute electrical power output from the harvesting devices and efficiency defined as the convertibility of an infinite resource of vibration excitation into power. This perspective has limited extensibility when applying resonant harvesters to host resonant structures when the inertial influence of the harvester is more significant. Instead, this work pursues a fundamental understanding of the coupled dynamics of a main mass-spring-damper system to which an electromagnetic or piezoelectric mass-spring-damper is attached. The governing equations are derived, a metric of efficiency is presented, and analysis is undertaken. It is found that electromagnetic energy harvesting efficiency and maximum power output is limited by the strength of the coupling such that no split system resonances are induced for a given mass ratio. For piezoelectric harvesters, only the coupling strength and certain design requirements dictate maximum power and efficiency achievable. Since the harvesting circuitry must “follow” the split resonances as the piezoelectric harvesters become more massive, the optimum design of piezoelectric harvesters appears to be more involved than for electromagnetic devices.
Radiative lifetime of excitons in ZnO nanocrystals: The dead-layer effect

We theoretically investigate exciton states of colloidal nearly spherical ZnO nanocrystals with diameters from $2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}\phantom{\rule{0.5em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.5em}{0ex}}6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$. The sizes of considered ZnO nanocrystals are chosen to be slightly larger than the exciton Bohr radius of bulk ZnO. A number of characteristic features of excitons are revealed in this intermediate quantum confinement regime. The exciton center of mass is found to be prolate along the $c$ axis of wurtzite ZnO and squeezed to the center of the ZnO nanocrystal, thus forming a dead layer near the nanocrystal surface. The thickness of the exciton dead layer is found to increase with the nanocrystal size reaching the value of about $1.6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ for the nanocrystal with diameter of $6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$. Based on our calculations we proposed an analytical approximation for the exciton radiative-lifetime dependence on radius $R$ in ZnO nanocrystal written as ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{0}∕[1+{(R∕{R}_{0})}^{3}]$ with ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{0}=73.4\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ps}$ and ${R}_{0}=2.55\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$. Presented results and proposed analytical approximation can be used for interpretation of experimental data, and optimization of ZnO quantum dot structures for optoelectronic applications.
Equilibrium Morphology of Face-Centered Cubic Gold Nanoparticles >3 nm and the Shape Changes Induced by Temperature

Many of the unique properties of metallic nanoparticles are determined not only by their finite size but also by their shape, defined by the crystallographic orientation of the surface facets. These surfaces (and therefore the nanoparticles themselves) may differ in a number of ways, including surface atom densities, electronic structure, bonding, chemical reactivities, and thermodynamic properties. In the case of gold, it is known that the melting temperature of nanoparticles strongly depends on the crystal size and that the shape may alter considerably (and yet somewhat unpredictably) during annealing. In this work we use first principle calculations and a thermodynamic model to investigate the morphology of gold nanoparticles in the range 3-100 nm. The results predict that the equilibrium shape of gold nanoparticles is a modified truncated octahedron and that the (size-dependent) melting of such particles is preceded by a significant change in the nanoparticle’s morphology.
Combined delivery of neurotrophin-3 and NMDA receptors 2D subunit strengthens synaptic transmission in contused and staggered double hemisected spinal cord of neonatal rat

We investigated whether administration of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and NMDA-2D-expressing units, found previously to enhance transmission in neonatal rat spinal cord, strengthens synaptic connections in the injured neonatal cord. We employed electrophysiological methods to evaluate the strength of synaptic transmission to individual motoneurons in the contusion and staggered double hemisection spinal cord injury (SCI) models. SCI at caudal thoracic levels (T11-T12) was carried out at postnatal day 2 (P2). Plugs containing NT-3- secreting fibroblasts and NR2D-expressing HSV-1 amplicons (HSVnr2d) were implanted above the lesion. Control animals were treated with an amplicon-expressing beta-galactosidase (HSVlac). After 8-10 days of treatment, the rats were sacrificed and spinal cords were removed for intracellular recording. Untreated contused cords preserved a fraction of white matter and weak monosynaptic responses were observed through the injury region. However, no synaptic connections were observed in control cords receiving double hemisection injury. Combined treatment with NT-3 and HSVnr2d strengthened monosynaptic connections in contused cords and induced the appearance of weak but functional multisynaptic connections in double hemisected cords. In contrast, treatment with either NT-3 or HSVnr2d alone failed to induce appearance of synaptic responses through the hemisected region. These results suggest that chronic treatment with NT-3 secreting fibroblasts combined with facilitated function of NMDA receptors by HSVnr2d treatment strengthens connections that survive incomplete SCI and therefore that such combined treatment might facilitate recovery of function following SCI.
Development of ultrasonically marked needle for ultrasonically guided biopsy

It has been shown that the chances of having complications during biopsy is greatly reduced when the procedure is guided by ultrasound. However, because of the specular nature of echoes reflected by the needle, the needle tip is sometimes difficult to visualize on the ultrasound image. A number of methods have been studied to aid in the localization of the needle tip. Among them is a method by I. Cikes and B. Breyer (1984) which used a PZT crystal mounted on a catheter tip as either a passive ultrasound receiver or an active ultrasound transmitter to mark the position of the catheter tip in echocardiographically guided cardiac catheterization. This method was investigated experimentally using a piezoelectric polymer, PVDF, to mark the position of the tip of the biopsy needle. The advantage of PVDF over PZT is that it is thin, flexible, and wideband. PVDF-mounted needles have been fabricated and ultrasonically evaluated in water bath and in tissue-mimicking phantoms. Results are reported to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and to elucidate design considerations that need to be addressed to make the device a useful clinical tool. >
The Persistence of Hepatitis A IgM Antibody After Acute Clinical Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A IgM antibody (IgM anti-HAV), detected by commercially available solid-phase radioimmunoassay, is an accepted marker of acute viral hepatitis A infection. However, persistence of this serological marker far beyond the acute illness and immediate convalescent period has been reported. To determine the persistence of IgM anti-HAV following clinically manifest acute hepatitis A infection, 59 patients with this diagnosis were followed prospectively until this marker disappeared or persisted for greater than 60 days. Timed from the onset of jaundice, IgM anti-HAV persisted for less than 30 to greater than 420 days; most patients became seronegative by 120 days. These findings suggest that some patients may become seronegative early in the disease course while others (13.5%) remain positive for prolonged periods greater than 200 days. Awareness of this marked variability is important in the interpretation of IgM anti-HAV as a serologic marker of recent hepatitis A infection.
Impact of flow control windows in TCP on fractal scaling of traffic exiting from a server pool

We provide an analytical and network-systematic framework to characterize the self-similar, fractal scaling phenomenon which is believed to be ubiquitously present in modern high speed data network traffic. We show that the self-similar network traffic is due mainly to the use of closed-loop flow control at the transport layers, such as the use of the classes of protocols from the TCP family. For in-depth investigation on the subject, we inject synthetically generated application-level traffic which is completely short-range traffic, into a very simple network simulated with NS2.0, and examine the influence of different parameters of a TCP algorithm on a variety of different fractal scaling behaviors observed at the packet-level traffic traversing a link in the simulated network. We provide a very simple - but intuitive - mathematical explanation of the observed phenomenon using the shot-noise processes. Specifically, different kernel filters of the shot-noise are constructed to model the behavior of the window process cwnd in different stages of the congestion avoidance algorithms employed in a TCP algorithm. With the use of exponential-law shot-noise process, for example, we indicate that the cwnd process in the slow start phase results in a unique scaling behavior from RTT to a finer time scale, having a scaling slope of /spl gamma/ = 2. From RTT to a coarse time-scale, the more conventional fractal scaling behavior with the Hurst parameter less than 1.0 is observed; we compare this with the rectangular-Pareto shot noise process.
Investigation of electron heat conduction in laser produced exponential plasma density profiles

In laser produced plasmas, the exponential electron density profiles makes modeling electron heat conduction difficult due to the variation in the electron mean free path. As a result, most radiation hydrodynamic simulations implement a flux limited diffusion model which applies a fractional multiplier to the Spitzer conductivity. While comparisons with experimental observations have provided guidance on the value of the flux limiter for various experimental configurations, there is always uncertainty especially when modeling new types of targets. In the work here, Collective Thomson scattering measurements of the spatial and temporal electron temperature profile resulting from a on micron laser incident on a preformed exponential density profile is presented. The spatial measurements straddle the critical surface for the 1ω light observe both heat conduction into the over-dense and under-dense regions of the plasma. These measurements provide a proof-of-principle approach to performing well diagnosed experiments that can validate Fokker-Planck or analytic heat conduction models. The development of such models should provide a first principles approach to modeling heat conduction in radiation hydrodynamic codes replacing the current ad hoc method.
Modelling the change in colour of potassium sorbate powder during heating

Colour change of potassium sorbate caused by heating was statistically modelled to examine its potential as a time–temperature process indicator. A full factorial design with five levels of heating time (t) and temperature (T) was used. L, a and b values were measured by a HunterLab colorimeter, and second-order polynomial models were developed. Heating significantly reduced L and increased b values, causing the potassium sorbate powder to turn dark yellow, possibly because of non-enzymatic browning reactions. Statistically significant models with good fit were developed for L and b, and their response surfaces were generated. This potassium sorbate-based system may be a suitable indicator for high-temperature heating processes such as dry heat sterilizers or baking ovens.
Factors influencing GAP-43 gene expression in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells

We have studied factors controlling message levels for the neuronal growth- and plasticity-associated protein, GAP-43. Following exposure of PC12 cells to various effectors, cytoplasmic RNA was isolated and analyzed by Northern transfer and autoradiography using a GAP-43 cDNA probe. Induction by NGF is apparent after 3 hr exposure and reaches maximal levels at 24 hr. Beyond 24 hr, levels remain constant in the continued presence of NGF. Induction is insensitive to variations in culture conditions, such as plating density or substrate, which influence NGF-induced neurite outgrowth. Other inducers, in order of decreasing efficacy, are FGF, dBcAMP, TPA, K+, and EGF. Insulin and retinoic acid are ineffective. Dexamethasone partially inhibited basal expression as well as induction by NGF, FGF, dBcAMP, and TPA. The methyltransferase inhibitor 5'-S-(2-methyl-propyl)adenosine completely inhibited induction by NGF, FGF, and dBcAMP. Inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide partially decreased induction by NGF, FGF, and TPA but slightly enhanced dBcAMP induction. Complete down-regulation of protein kinase C by chronic TPA treatment completely eliminated the TPA response but slightly enhanced induction by NGF. These findings and the results of additivity experiments in which cells were stimulated with various combinations of NGF, dBcAMP and TPA suggest that NGF induction of GAP-43 RNA (1) does not involve activation of protein kinase C but (2) may be mediated partially via activation of protein kinase A.
Treatment of Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive Early Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia With Daily Doses of Interferon Alpha and Low-Dose Cytarabine

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of the combination of interferon alpha (IFN-α) and daily low-dose cytarabine (ara-C) in the treatment of patients with early chronic-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (within 1 year of diagnosis). Improving the degree of hematologic and cytogenetic response in patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive CML may improve prognosis. Both IFN-α and ara-C induce cytogenetic responses as single-agent therapy in CML. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred forty patients with Ph-positive early chronic-phase CML received subcutaneous injections of IFN-α 5 megaunits/m2 daily and ara-C 10 mg daily. Their median age was 46 years; 53% had good-risk disease, 33% had intermediate-risk disease, and 14% had poor-risk disease. Their results were compared with those of patients receiving IFN-α with or without intermittent ara-C (7 days/mo). RESULTS: A complete hematologic response (CHR) was achieved in 92% of patients. A cytogenetic response was seen in 74%: it was major in 50% (P...
Daphnia magna mortality when exposed to titanium dioxide and fullerene (C60) nanoparticles

Nanoparticles (1-100 nm) comprise the latest technological advances designed to do everything from absorb environmental toxins to deliver drugs to a target organ. Recently, however, they have come under scrutiny for the potential to cause environmental damage. Because compounds in this miniature size range have chemical properties that differ from those of their larger counterparts, nanoparticles deserve special attention. Our main objective was to assess the potential impact that nanoparticles may have on release into aquatic environments. We prepared titanium dioxide (TiO2) and fullerene (C60) nanoparticles by filtration in tetrahydrofuran or by sonication. Daphnia magna were exposed to the four solutions using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 48-h acute toxicity tests. Images of the particle solutions were recorded using transmission-electron microscopy, and the median lethal concentration, lowest-observable-effect concentration, and no-observable-effect concentration were determined. Exposure to filtered C60 and filtered TiO2 caused an increase in mortality with an increase in concentration, whereas fullerenes show higher levels of toxicity at lower concentrations. Exposure to the sonicated solutions caused varied mortality. Understanding the potential impacts of nanoparticles will help to identify the most appropriate nanotechnology to preserve the aquatic environment while advancing medical and environmental technology.
Oscillation and sequential behavior caused by opens in the routing in digital CMOS circuits

Shorts and opens are the most common types of catastrophic defects in today's CMOS ICs. In this paper, we show that an open in the interconnect wiring of a digital CMOS circuit, which permanently disconnects inputs of logic gates from their driver, can cause oscillation or sequential behavior. We present supporting experimental data collected by creating an interconnect open in a manufactured chip. We also show that the conditions for oscillation and sequential behavior are likely to occur in many interconnect opens.