cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hyperlipidemia Promotes Osteoclastic Potential of Bone Marrow Cells Ex Vivo

Objectives— Osteoporosis is associated epidemiologically with atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia. We previously found that atherogenic lipids regulate bone formation. To determine whether hyperlipidemia also affects bone resorption, we compared osteoclastogenesis in marrow preosteoclasts derived from hyperlipidemic versus control mice. Methods— Nonadherent marrow cells from low-density lipoprotein receptor−/− (LDLR−/−)and C57BL/6J mice were cultured with M-CSF and ligand for receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB (RANKL). Functional osteoclastic activity, measured as number of resorption pits, was significantly greater in 12-month-old LDLR−/−. Similar results were obtained in 5- and 10-month-old LDLR−/− versus C57BL/6J mice on a high-fat diet. Osteoclastic differentiation, indicated by tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, was significantly greater in the 12-month-old LDLR−/−, and there was a trend toward increased TRAP activity in LDLR−/− on a high-fat diet, at ages 5 and 10 months. Osteoclastic parameters correlated with total serum lipoproteins with a possible threshold effect. Osteoporotic human cortical bone stained positive for lipids in the perivascular space of Haversian canals by oil red O. The presence of lipid hydroperoxides was detected in bone marrow from hyperlipidemic mice. Conclusions— Hyperlipidemia may contribute to osteoporosis via increased osteoclastic bone resorption.
Equilibria and kinetics of mass transport between crystal facets: a comparison of two models

Abstract The principle of detailed balance is used to evaluate equilibrium between a crystal facet and a transport medium, and transition state theory is then used to evaluate the kinetics of transport between two facets of a particle of nonequilibrium shape. For each of two test geometries undergoing volume-conserved shape changes, the transition state model predicts the same trajectories for detachment/attachment-limited transport as does a continuum model based on the crystalline formulation (Carter et al., Acta metall. mater., 1995, 43, 4309). Both models agree that reported rates of decay of {100} steps in LiF surfaces are not limited by diffusion, and transition state theory shows that detachment is rate limiting. The geometry of the LiF study is like that of particle compacts in that facet edges provide sites for nucleation of monolayer ledges at which attachment or detachment can occur; the two models should both be useful in interpreting sintering studies.
The Erwinia amylovora PhoPQ system is involved in resistance to antimicrobial peptide and suppresses gene expression of two novel type III secretion systems

The PhoPQ system is a pleiotropic two-component signal transduction system that controls many pathogenic properties in several mammalian and plant pathogens. Three different cues have been demonstrated to activate the PhoPQ system including a mild acidic pH, antimicrobial peptides, and low Mg(2+). In this study, our results showed that phoPQ mutants were more resistant to strong acidic conditions (pH 4.5 or 5) than that of the wild-type (WT) strain, suggesting that this system in Erwinia amylovora may negatively regulate acid resistance gene expression. Furthermore, the PhoPQ system negatively regulated gene expression of two novel type III secretion systems in E. amylovora. These results are in contrast to those reported for the PhoPQ system in Salmonella and Xanthomonas, where it positively regulates type III secretion system and acid resistance. In addition, survival of phoPQ mutants was about 10-fold lower than that of WT when treated with cecropin A at pH 5.5, suggesting that the PhoPQ system renders the pathogen more resistant to cecropin A.
Synthesis and vitro antibacterial activity of hygromycin a analogs modified at the C4′ aryl position

Abstract A variety of hygromycin A analogs are described which contain modifications of or replacements for the natural sugar. Antibacterial activities against Serpulina (Treponema) hyodysenteriae , an important animal health pathogen, are reported and indicate that small lipophilic C 4′ substituents serve as useful sugar surrogates in the hygromycin A class.
A multimedia and liberal arts approach to a first course in programming and its crossover potential for computer science and the arts (abstract only)

Attracting computer science students in a liberal arts setting serves to enhance the background and breadth of the class of professional programmers. There is a segment of the student population that is talented and artistic, but may not be aware of the interplay between computer science and the arts or computer science and mathematics and the sciences. Students are acculturated in a visual, interactive, and interdisciplinary world. This BOF will provide a platform for a discussion on how multimedia can be integrated in beginning level computing courses. Discussions will focus on attributes of conventional and unconventional first languages and explore a liberal arts approach to integrate disciplines both scientific and artistic. We envision discussions relevant to (a) mathematicians visualizing processes using multimedia and algorithms, (b) physicists using game programming to explore physical and virtual worlds, (c) computer scientists and behavioral scientists collaborating on responsive systems, (d) musicians, artists, and computer scientists creating computational art. The audience is expected to consist of faculty looking at nontraditional approaches to a first course in programming. Faculty with an aim to attract students to computer science studies will find this discussion useful. Those who feel their curriculum to be too narrowly focused and wish to broaden their curriculum to include the humanities and interdisciplinary approaches to computer science will find like-minded peers to communicate with.
Wireless GPS System for Module-level Fiber Quality Mapping: System Improvement and Field Testing

The ability to map the profit made across a cotton field would enable producers to see in detail where money is being made or lost on their farm. This ability would further enable them to implement precise field management practices to ensure that they receive the highest return possible and do not waste materials and other inputs throughout the field. Investigators at Texas A&M have developed a wireless-GPS system that tracks where a module of cotton comes from within a field. This system is a necessary component in mapping fiber quality, which is a major determiner of price and thus profit. Three current drawbacks to the wireless-GPS system are that (1) a person must manually trigger the system to send wireless communications when a field machine dumps, (2) multiple field machines of the same type (e.g., two cotton pickers) cannot be used simultaneously on the same system within the same field, and (3) no software is available to automatically produce fiber-quality maps after the data are downloaded from the gin. An automatic communication-triggering system is the problem to be addressed in this work. Sensors are being added to a harvester to automatically indicate when the machine is dumping a basket load of cotton so that wireless messages can be sent from the harvester to subsequent field machines without human intervention. Linking data collected with this system together with classing information will enable producers to create fiber-quality maps, and linking fiber-quality maps with yield maps will enable them to create profit maps.
Identification of the molecular components of a Tigriopus californicus (Crustacea, Copepoda) circadian clock

Copepods of the genus Tigriopus have been proposed as marine models for investigations of environmental perturbation. One rapidly increasing anthropogenic stressor for intertidal organisms is light pollution. Given the sensitivity of circadian rhythms to exogenous light, the genes/proteins of a Tigriopus circadian pacemaker represent a potential system for investigating the influences of artificial light sources on circadian behavior in an intertidal species. Here, the molecular components of a putative Tigriopus californicus circadian clock were identified using publicly accessible transcriptome data; the recently deduced circadian proteins of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus were used as a reference. Transcripts encoding homologs of all commonly recognized ancestral arthropod core clock proteins were identified (i.e. CLOCK, CRYPTOCHROME 2, CYCLE, PERIOD and TIMELESS), as were ones encoding proteins likely to modulate the core clock (i.e. CASEIN KINASE II, CLOCKWORK ORANGE, DOUBLETIME, PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 1, PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 2A, SHAGGY, SUPERNUMERARY LIMBS and VRILLE) or to act as inputs to it (i.e. CRYPTOCHROME 1). PAR DOMAIN PROTEIN 1 was the only circadian-associated protein not identified in Tigriopus; it appears absent in Calanus too. These data represent just the third full set of molecular components for a crustacean circadian pacemaker (Daphnia pulex and C. finmarchicus previously), and only the second obtained from transcribed sequences (C. finmarchicus previously). Given Tigriopus' proposed status as a model for investigating the influences of anthropogenic stressors in the marine environment, these data provide the first suite of gene/protein targets for understanding how light pollution may influence circadian physiology and behavior in an intertidal organism.
Biexponential apparent diffusion coefficient parametrization in adult vs newborn brain

Abstract The decay of brain water signal with b-factor in adult and newborn brains has been measured over an extended b-factor range. Measurements of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) decay curves were made at 16 b-factors from 100 to 5000 s/mm2 along three orthogonal directions using a line scan diffusion imaging (LSDI) sequence to acquire data from 0.09 ml voxels in a mid-brain axial slice. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) in cortical gray (CG) and white matter in the internal capsule (IC) were selected for ADC decay curve analyses using a biexponential fitting model over this extended b-factor range. Measures of the fast and slow ADC component amplitudes and the traces of the fast and slow diffusion coefficients were obtained from CG and IC ROIs in both adults and newborns. The ADC decay curves from the newborn brain regions were found to have a significantly higher fraction of the fast diffusion ADC component than corresponding regions in the adult brain. The results demonstrate that post-natal brain development has a profound affect on the biexponential parameters which characterize the decay of water signal over an extended b-factor range in both gray and white matter.
Computed Tomography for Diagnosis of Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous (PHPV)

Leucocoric eyes with persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV) were studied by computed tomography (CT). Maximum information was derived from use of an intravenous contrast agent and repetition of the scanning in the lateral decubitus position. Eight diagnostically helpful radiologic findings were noted, some for the first time. (1) Radiodense retrolental soft tissue can be demonstrated along Cloquet's canal. (2) The retrolental tissue enhances after administration of intravenous iodine-containing contrast material. (3) Congenital nonattachment of the retina is demonstrable by CT. (4) There may be localized or generalized increased radiodensity of the vitreous body. However, some minimally affected cases have vitreous chambers with normal attenuation values, and CT evidence for PHPV may be lacking in such patients. (5) There may also be layered, high density fluid (blood) in the retrohyaloid space, which shifts location in the lateral decubitus position. Thus far, this finding appears to be unique to PHPV, but computed scanning of other neonatal ocular conditions will be necessary before concluding it is pathognomonic. (6) There is absence of ocular and intraorbital calcification. (7) Abnormalities in configuration of the eyeball, including microphthalmos, can be demonstrated. (8) Retrobulbar tissues and other orbital structures appear normal, and the optic nerves appear normal or minimally reduced in size.
Lecture I: Psychology

Only Mark Solms even indirectly approached this issue. His novel approach to dreaming and its alleged loss following brain damage is useful despite both methodological shortcoming and theoretical errors. Solms cannot know, from questionnaire responses, what his subjects experienced during their sleep and, even if he performed sleep lab studies, which he did not, he should be more cautious in accepting the conclusion that dreaming (as against the recall thereof) absolutely ceased after stroke. In my opinion, even these limited and flawed data fail to support psychoanalytic theory to which Solms is married and I am divorced. The continuity position of John Antrobus and Michael Schredl strike me as reasonable but misguided in that they ignore the discontinuity on which my theory depends. I am very disappointed in my peers for their failure to respond to my appeal for the formal analysis of conscious states. It would appear that there is little enthusiasm for psychology among brain scientists.
Characterization of interactions of nitric oxide with human hemoglobin A by infrared spectroscopy.

Abstract Infrared spectra permit direct measurements of cysteine thiols as well as nitric oxide bound to heme iron in human hemoglobin A nitrosyl. A single symmetric N-O stretch band of nitric oxide hound to Fe 2+ is detected amid strong water and protein hands in the Hb 14 N 16 O minus Hb 15 N 16 O difference spectrum. Nitric oxide accepts electron density from metal in bent-end-on Fe 2+ - 14 N - 16 O (ν NO =1616.5 cm −1 ) and donates electron density to metal in linear Fe 3+ - 14 N - 16 O (ν NO = 1925 cm −1 ). S-H stretch hands reveal that changes in protein conformation occur at α-104, β-93, and β-112 cysteines upon conversion of deoxyHb to HbNO but that no reactions of thiols with NO occur. Furthermore, no infrared hand for S-nitrosothiol is detected. Changes in amide I spectra reflect NO binding induced changes in protein secondary structure.
Reimbursement in Molecular Pathology: Bringing Genomic Medicine to Patients

In 2008, the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP)2 Economic Affairs Committee (EAC), under the leadership of the late Dr. Jeffrey Kant, embarked on a project to design new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for identification and billing of molecular pathology services. At that time, payers were confronted with a dizzying array of highly technical method-based CPT codes that described the various steps used in performing molecular assays. Examples included “83890 isolation or extraction, each nucleic acid type (i.e., DNA or RNA)”; “83898 amplification, target, each nucleic acid sequence”; “83904 mutation identification by sequencing, single segment, each segment”; and “83912 interpretation and report.” Laboratories “stacked” these codes on claim forms along with numerals that specified the number of times each step was performed. Payers could only guess at what the particular test was or why it was performed. Use of the CPT stacking codes was not uniform, and there was no way to ensure that tests were properly coded. Moreover, if more than one test was performed on a sample, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) were unable to allocate CPT codes between tests. Finally, this coding structure left open the possibility that reimbursement rates for individual steps could influence assay design. Despite their shortcomings, the stacking codes had a powerful redeeming feature. Molecular pathology was characterized by both rapid growth and continual technological change. The stacking code format offered great flexibility and an ability to readily accommodate new tests and assay designs, benefitting patients and helping to advance the field. The AMP EAC's efforts culminated in production of a whitepaper that proposed an innovative approach to coding molecular pathology procedures in genetics, oncology, and histocompatibility. This document was submitted to the American Medical Association (AMA) CPT Editorial Panel for consideration (1). In response, the AMA convened a workgroup “to propose solutions …
AP-S Turnstile - Invoking heaviside in defense of Newton's third law

This paper presents the comments on the statement of MIT physicist Frank Wilczek that the Newton's law is not universally true as it fails for magnetic forces between charged particles. The paper also presents comments made by Joey Bray on Arun Bhattacharyya's derivation where Bhattacharyya noted that Newton's third law violates causality primarily because of propagation delays for time-varying fields. The response of Bhattacharyya to Bray was also presented in this paper
Modeling and parameter identification of the human respiratory system

The human respiratory response to breathing an excess of carbon dioxide gas is modeled on physiological grounds as an almost linear second-order system. The parameters corresponding to the gains, time constants, threshold, and noise powers are identified by both least squares and maximum likelihood methods. The purpose is both to find the site of action of drugs and to gain understanding of this part of the respiratory control system. It is concluded that the maximum likelihood method is necessary in cases where the noise is not white and when unbiased estimates of the gains and variances are essential, such as in drug studies and in some physiological modeling.
Carbon nanomaterials for high- performance supercapacitors

Owing to their high energy density and power density, supercapacitors exhibit great potential as high-performance energy sources for advanced technologies. Recently, carbon nanomaterials (especially, carbon nanotubes and graphene) have been widely investigated as effective electrodes in supercapacitors due to their high specific surface area, excellent electrical and mechanical properties. This article summarizes the recent progresses on the development of high-performance supercapacitors based on carbon nanomaterials and provides various rational concepts for materials engineering to improve the device performance for a large variety of potential applications, ranging from consumer electronics through wearable optoelectronics to hybrid electric vehicles.
THE INFLUENCE OF COMPANION HERBS ON EGG DISTRIBUTION OF THE IMPORTED CABBAGEWORM, PIERIS RAPAE (LEPIDOPTERA: PIERIDAE), ON COLLARD PLANTS

The effect of interplanting collards with a mixture of herbs on oviposition of the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), was investigated at Chesterfield Co., Virginia during 1981 and 1982. Analysis of the dispersion indices of the insect using Taylor's power law and Iwao's model revealed that P. rapae eggs were significantly — m (P 1) on collards interplanted with herbs. However, insect counts on control collards conformed to the Poisson distribution (b = 1, P > 0.05). Pieris rapae laid significantly (P < 0.01) more eggs on collards hidden between sage than on collards hidden between other companion plants. Also, P. rapae laid significantly (P < 0.005) more eggs on collards bordered by companion plants than on non-bordered control. These data suggest that companion herbs did not repel P. rapae but instead significantly encouraged colonization of the insect and produced an aggregated distribution.
Risk Models for Predicting Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia

Neutropenia and its complications, including febrile neutropenia, are major dose-limiting toxicities of systemic cancer chemotherapy. A number of studies have attempted to identify risk factors for neutropenia and its consequences to develop predictive models capable of identifying patients at greater risk for such complications and to guide more effective and costeffective applications of the colony-stimulating factors. A systematic review of the literature showed that age, performance status, nutritional status, chemotherapy dose intensity, and low baseline blood cell counts were associated with the risk of severe and febrile neutropenia or reduced chemotherapy dose intensity in multivariate analysis in two or more studies. Similarly, age, diagnosis of leukemia or lymphoma, high temperature or low blood pressure at admission, and i.v. site infection along with low blood cell counts and organ dysfunction were associated with serious medical complications of febrile neutropenia, including bacteremia and death. The available risk model studies, however, had several limitations, including retrospective analyses of small study populations lacking independent validation, frequent missing values, and differences in the predictive factors considered. To overcome the limitations of previous studies, efforts are under way to develop and validate risk models based on large prospective studies in representative populations of patients receiving systemic chemotherapy. The Oncologist 2005;10:427–437
Loop 1 modulates the fidelity of DNA polymerase λ

Differences in the substrate specificity of mammalian family X DNA polymerases are proposed to partly depend on a loop (loop 1) upstream of the polymerase active site. To examine if this is the case in DNA polymerase λ (pol λ), here we characterize a variant of the human polymerase in which nine residues of loop 1 are replaced with four residues from the equivalent position in pol β. Crystal structures of the mutant enzyme bound to gapped DNA with and without a correct dNTP reveal that the change in loop 1 does not affect the overall structure of the protein. Consistent with these structural data, the mutant enzyme has relatively normal catalytic efficiency for correct incorporation, and it efficiently participates in non-homologous end joining of double-strand DNA breaks. However, DNA junctions recovered from end-joining reactions are more diverse than normal, and the mutant enzyme is substantially less accurate than wild-type pol λ in three different biochemical assays. Comparisons of the binary and ternary complex crystal structures of mutant and wild-type pol λ suggest that loop 1 modulates pol λ’s fidelity by controlling dNTP-induced movements of the template strand and the primer-terminal 3′-OH as the enzyme transitions from an inactive to an active conformation.
How Australia Got a VAT

Australia got its goods and services tax – its VAT – in 2000. It enacted GST legislation through ordinary political channels, without external pressure from a multinational organization, without the pressure of an extreme national fiscal crisis and without an unusual exercise of executive authority. And the GST-enacting center-right Liberal National Party government retained control for seven years after the reform. This paper tells the Australian story in four parts: (1) framing the GST as a relatively efficient tax; (2) building a coalition between business and social welfare interest groups; (3) emphasizing efficiency while addressing regressivity in the political and legislative process; and (4) the federalism solution included in the reform, which provided for the transfer of GST revenue to the Australian states and territories.
Civil commitment: An economic perspective

The rules governing the civil commitment of mentally ill persons result from complex legislative and judicial processes. In this article an economic approach to the evaluation of commitment laws is presented. A related economic model is applied to the process by which commitment rules are selected and changed. In the economic approach the benefits and costs of civil commitment are specified and analyzed to determine an optimal number of commitments. A graphical model is used to reinforce the conclusions. The distinction between private and social benefits and costs is used to derive the conclusion that some civil commitment is consistent with the economic principle of optimality. Failures in the political process are shown to generate a need for judicial intervention to correct for possible biases toward overcommitment and an inadequate quality of care. An alternative to the economic evaluation of commitment rules, based on the work of Rawls, is also presented. Language: en
Simulation of Viscoelastic Fluids

We present a numerical scheme for viscoelastic flow based on a second-order central differencing method recently introduced in the context of incompressible newtonian flow; the incompressibility constraint is treated with the projection method. The result is a simple and efficient scheme that is readily adaptable to a wide class of differential constitutive equations and flow geometries. We implement the new method on Couette?Taylor flow for a fluid governed by the Oldroyd-B constitutive equations. We simulate transient flow in a domain that includes at least eight wavelengths during many hundreds of natural periods. For weak elasticity, a stationary instability leading to Taylor vortices is observed. For a regime of parameters where both inertia and elasticity are important, the instability is oscillatory. In both cases the early stage growth rates are compared to linear stability calculations, showing good agreement. The oscillatory instability is fourfold degenerate and gives rise to two bifurcating branches: an axially traveling wave and a standing wave; only one of these solutions is stable. In the early stages of the instability, there is generally a combination of traveling and standing waves, depending on the initial conditions. As nonlinearities become important, the flow spontaneously breaks into coexisting regions of upward- and downward-going waves. Such flow can persist for long times, until the globally stable traveling wave takes over and a limit cycle is reached.
Follicular bronchitis in the pediatric population

Five patients in a pediatric population were identified with idiopathic follicular bronchitis (IFB) by open lung biopsy and their case records were reviewed. All were tachypneic and had a chronic cough by 6 weeks of age. The physical examination was characterized by diffuse fine crackles in four patients and by coarse rhonchi in one. The chest radiographs in all demonstrated a diffuse interstitial pattern. None had a collagen vascular or an autoimmune disease demonstrable. Response to corticosteroid therapy was minimal. Associated or coincidental esophageal reflux was treated surgically in two. No viral or bacterial agents were isolated in the sputum or the biopsy specimens. Patients have been followed up for 2 to 15 years; the conditions of all patients improved at about 2 to 4 years of age. The older patients have residual mild obstructive lung disease. To our knowledge, this is the first reported series of IFB in the pediatric population.
Challenges in measuring outcomes: Size assessment of an individual cutaneous lesion

W e read with interest the article by Chung et al describing an open-label study evaluating the efficacy of the relatively selective endothelin receptor type A antagonist ambrisenten, particularly with regard to ulcer size as an outcome measure. Chung et al recorded mean maximum diameter of digital ulcers as an outcome measure, and detected a statistically significant difference in the size of treated lesions after 24 weeks. Size is undoubtedly a crucial component of disease severity assessment across a variety of diseases, particularly in the evaluation of an individual lesion. Both proper parameter selection and technique in measuring size are critical, because potentially inaccurate conclusions may be drawn about a given intervention’s efficacy or nonefficacy. Various size parameters have been described in the literature, including maximal diameter, length and width, and area in studies involving a range of disease entities. Trending the size of a lesion becomes important in determining small changes of a lesion over time for clinical trials. The 2 available interrater studies on pressure ulcer diameter yielded mixed results, with 1 study reporting a significant difference between assessors for the diameter assessments and the other study finding no significant difference, although the exact methods are not detailed in either paper. In inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis or cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), the best targeted parameter is area of activity, as determined by the presence of erythema, scale/hypertrophy, and perhaps induration in the case of psoriasis. The distinction between lesion size and active lesion size is critical, particularly in the case of discoid lupus (DLE) lesions, which frequently leave large, irregularly scarred regions. These should not be
Mutant and Wild-type Ras: Co-conspirators in Cancer

Although the functional interplay between mutant and wild-type Ras in driving tumor initiation and growth has been described, a clear picture of the precise ramifications and mechanisms of this association remains elusive, sometimes with conflicting conclusions. A report in this issue of Cancer Discovery tackles this question, which may have important implications for therapeutic strategies to block mutant Ras for cancer treatment.
Sound symbolism effects across languages: Implications for global brand names

Abstract Selecting good brand names for products is a critical step for marketers, and many aspects of a brand name influence brand perceptions. Three experiments investigated the effects of phonetic symbolism (the impact of sound on meaning) on brand name preference, the extent to which these effects generalize to other languages, and the processes that underlie these effects. When choosing brand names, French-, Spanish-, and Chinese-speaking participants who were bilingual in English preferred words in which there was a match between the phonetic symbolism of the words and the product attributes. These results were unaffected by whether participants completed the study in their first or second language, by second-language proficiency, or by whether the Chinese language representations were in logographic or alphabetic form. These findings replicate those of Lowrey and Shrum (2007) and indicate that phonetic symbolism effects for brand name perceptions can generalize across languages, and thus suggest that marketers may be able to embed universal meaning in their brand names.
SmartCamera: a low-cost and intelligent camera management system

Intelligent camera management systems were developed to automatically record meetings for videoconferencing. These systems provided many benefits, such as reducing the production cost and conveniently documenting events. However, automatically recorded videos in general were not visually engaging. This paper presents a novel approach that intelligently controls camera shots and angles to improve the visual interest. We use 3D infrared images captured by a Kinect sensor to recognize active speakers and their positions in a meeting. A movable camera, constructed by placing a wireless PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera on top of a motorized rail, can automatically move its position to frame an active speaker in the center of the screen. Without interrupting the meeting, a speaker can seamlessly switch video sources through gesture-based commands. We have summarized and implemented a set of heuristic rules to simulate a human director. These rules can be visually edited through a graphical user interface. The customization of a virtual director makes our system applicable in various scenarios. We conducted a user study, and the evaluation results justified the quality of an automated video.
Nanoscale Orientation Effects on Carrier Transport in a Low-Band-Gap Polymer

We show that due to a substrate-induced orientation of the local morphology of thin supported conjugated polymer films of poly[4,8-bis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-...
Lectures on Regulatory and Competition Policy

This volume, the IEA reprints revised versions of twelve lectures in three areas where Dr. Stelzer is acknowledged as an expert - competition policy, regulation, and energy and environmental policy. He discusses the role of competition policy and the form it should take; the proper place of regulation in competitive and monopolised markets; and the content of energy and environmental policies. The essays contain many positive proposals for extending the reach of competitive markets and they comprehensively refute come major economic fallacies. This is a stimulating collection of ideas from one of the foremost economic commentators of the day.
Lifestyle and pregnancy loss in a contemporary cohort of women recruited before conception: The LIFE Study.

Objective To estimate pregnancy loss incidence in a contemporary cohort of couples whose lifestyles were measured during sensitive windows of reproduction to identify factors associated with pregnancy loss for the continual refinement of preconception guidance. Design Prospective cohort with preconception enrollment. Setting Sixteen counties in Michigan and Texas. Patient(s) Three hundred forty-four couples with a singleton pregnancy followed daily through 7 postconception weeks of gestation. Intervention(s) None. Couples daily recorded use of cigarettes, caffeinated and alcoholic beverages, and multivitamins. Women used fertility monitors for ovulation detection and digital pregnancy tests. Pregnancy loss was denoted by conversion to a negative pregnancy test, onset of menses, or clinical confirmation depending upon gestation. Using proportional hazards regression and accounting for right censoring, we estimated adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (aHR, 95% CI) for couples' lifestyles (cigarette smoking, alcoholic and caffeinated drinks, multivitamins) during three sensitive windows: preconception, early pregnancy, and periconception. Main Outcome Measure(s) Incidence and risk factors for pregnancy loss. Result(s) Ninety-eight of 344 (28%) women with a singleton pregnancy experienced an observed pregnancy loss. In the preconception window, loss was associated with female age ≥35 years (1.96, 1.13–3.38) accounting for couples' ages, women's and men's consumption of >2 daily caffeinated beverages (1.74, 1.07–2.81; and 1.73, 1.10–2.72, respectively), and women's vitamin adherence (0.45, 0.25–0.80). The findings were similar for lifestyle during the early pregnancy and periconception windows. Conclusion(s) Couples' preconception lifestyle factors were associated with pregnancy loss, although women's multivitamin adherence dramatically reduced risk. The findings support continual refinement and implementation of preconception guidance.
“I was my war; my war was I”: Vera Brittain, autobiography and university fiction during the Great War

Applying the critical lenses of feminism, autographical theory and literary analysis, this essay performs a triple reading of Vera Brittain’s multi-genre writings about gender, war,and university education. Focusing specifically on The Dark Tide (1923), Testament of Youth (1933) and The Women of Oxford (1960), the essay argues that Brittain (de)constructs competing views of academic work and war work in order to reveal and critique competing definitions of women’s duty in wartime. Over the course of her life and writings, Brittain’s attitudes toward academe changed from euphoric feminist possibility to anti-spinsterish paranoia. Ultimately, Brittain was unable to reconcile these conflicting perspectives and instead chose a new, modern path in pacifism. Looking at a diverse body of her work reveals how much gender, education and the war impacted on Brittain’s perceptions of her self, her work and her writing.
Listeria Bacteremia and Peritonitis Associated with a Peritoneovenous Shunt: Successful Treatment with Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim

Syndrome. A 76-year-old white male with Laennec's cirrhosis who had had a Levine peritoneovenous shunt inserted for ascites refractory to medical management nine months before admission. He had been well until one week prior to admission, when he developed dyspnea on exertion, ascites, peripheral edema, and fever. Diuretics and cephalexin were prescribed by his physician, but his condition deteriorated and he was admitted to the hospital. Physical examination revealed an acutely and chronically ill, icteric white male. His temperature was 38.5 C, rales were detected at both lung bases, and ascites was evident. The peripheral leukocyte count was 10,200 with 81% neutrophils and 3% band forms. The total bilirubin was 2.1 mg/dl, blood-urea nitrogen was 106 mg/dl, and creatinine was 2.8 mg/dl. Diagnosis. Two sets of blood samples drawn on admission subsequently yielded Listeria monocytogenes. A paracentesis performed two days after admission yielded cloudy fluid with a leukocyte count of 6,150 with 84% neutrophils. The protein was 4.9 g/dl, and the glucose was 51 mg/dl. Listeria organisms were cultured from the peritoneal fluid, although a gram stain was negative. In vitro testing of the isolate by broth-dilution assay for suceptibility to a 20:1 combination of SMZ/ TMP yielded an MIC of 0.6 pig of SMZ/ml and 0.03 pig of TMP/ml and an MBC of 1.2 ,.g of SMZ/ml and 0.06 tig of TMP/ml. A lumbar puncture yielded clear acellular CSF with normal protein and glucose values and no growth on culture. Since the patient claimed a history of severe urticarial reaction to penicillin, therapy was instituted with 160 mg of TMP and 800 mg of SMZ iv every 12 hr. The patient's fever promptly defervesced, and blood samples drawn 18 hr after starting therapy were negative. The nonfunctioning peritoneovenous shunt was removed 13 days after therapy was started; both peritoneal fluid and the peritoneal end of the prosthesis were sterile at the time of surgery. Oral therapy with 320 mg of TMP and 1,600 mg of SMZ every 12 hr was substituted on the 18th hospital day and was continued for four additional days. The patient was discharged on the
HOW STREAMWISE ROLLS AND STREAKS SELF-SUSTAIN IN A SHEAR FLOW: PART 2

This article is a follow-up on our contribution, under a similar title, to the monograph on "Self-Sustain ing Mechanisms of Wall Turbulence" (R. Panton, Ed. Computational Mechanics Publications, 1997). Here, we present further evidence of the validity and relevance of the self-sustaining process that we have demonstrated in earlier publications. In particular, we show exact steady state solutions, calculated using our understanding of the self-sustaining process, that are strikingly similar to the coherent structures observed in the near-wall region of turbulent shear flows. We take this opportunity to further relate our approach to other studies and to answer some criticisms advanced by others in the cited monograph.
A role for a background sodium current in spontaneous action potentials and secretion from rat lactotrophs

We have used the perforated-patch variation of whole cell patch-clamp techniques, measurements of cytosolic calcium with use of fura 2, and secretion measurements with use of the reverse-hemolytic plaque assay to address the role of depolarizing background currents in maintaining spontaneous action potentials and spontaneous secretion from rat lactotrophs in primary culture. Replacement of bath sodium with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane or N-methyl-D-glucamine caused a dramatic hyperpolarization of the cells, a cessation of spontaneous action potentials, and an increase in input resistance of cells. Tetrodotoxin had no effect on spontaneous action potentials, and removal of bath calcium stopped spiking but did not hyperpolarize the cells. The hyperpolarization in response to removal of bath sodium was associated with a decrease in cytosolic calcium levels. Finally, removal of bath sodium caused a decrease in spontaneous secretion of prolactin from lactotrophs. These data suggest that a background sodium current is essential to drive the membrane to threshold for firing spontaneous calcium-dependent action potentials in lactotrophs. This, in turn, results in elevated intracellular calcium, which supports spontaneous secretion of prolactin from these cells.
Protein identification and immunoassay evaluation of a panel of biomarkers discovered through proteomic profiling for the detection of ovarian cancer

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 1063 In a previously reported multi-center study, we analyzed serum protein profiles of 503 samples from women with ovarian cancer or benign pelvic masses, and from healthy controls using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF/MS). Three biomarkers at mass charge ratios (m/z) of 28kD, 12.8kD, and 3272D were discovered and independently validated for their ability to detect early stage ovarian cancer from healthy controls and their complementary value to the existing tumor marker CA125. To facilitate further evaluation, we have since identified the protein identities of these markers to be (1) apolipoprotein A1 (m/z 28kD, down-regulated in cancer), (2) a truncated form of transthyretin (m/z 12.8kD, down-regulated in cancer), and (3) a cleavage fragment of inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4 (m/z 3272, up-regulated in cancer). With protein identification, we were able to further evaluate two of the markers using commercially available immunoassays on archived serum samples from healthy women (n=41) and patients with ovarian (n=41), breast (n=20), colon (n=20), and prostate (n=20) cancers collected at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. As shown in the figure, serum levels of apolipoprotein A1 and transthyretin were both down-regulated among the patients with late stage ovarian cancer compared to the healthy controls (P < 0.002, 0.0002, and 0.00001, respectively). The mean serum apolipoprotein A1 level among the healthy controls was not significantly different from that of patients with breast or colorectal cancer (P = 0.844, 0.330, respectively) and only marginally different from that of patients with prostate cancer (P < 0.05). The mean serum transthryetin level was down-regulated among patients with colorectal cancer (P < 0.01) albeit to a lesser degree than that in patients with ovarian cancer. There were no significant differences in mean serum transthyretin levels between the healthy controls and patients with breast or prostate cancer (P = 0.929, 0.547, respectively). It needs to be noted that the transthyretin immunoassay was not specific to the particular truncated form that we had identified. However, in a separate analysis, we were able to show that several transthyretin variants as well as the relative proportions among them were also informative for the detection of early stage ovarian cancer. The current results demonstrated a fairly high level of site specificity of two of the identified biomarkers for ovarian cancer. ![Figure][1] [1]: pending:yes
USE OF MODEL EXPERIMENTS IN SOLVING QUESTIONS OF NAVIGATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ENTRANCE OF ST. ANNA BAY, CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

For a great many years model experiments with ships have been carried out in towing tanks in order to ascertain the reactive movements of ships under different wave and current conditions. Such experiments do not only pertain to the stability of the ships but also to forces brought to bear on the hulls of the ships. A recent development in the coastal engineering field includes the use of ship models in questions of navigation.
Effects of Acute Leukemia Chemotherapy to Pituitary,Gonad,Thyroid Hormones

Objective To evaluate the effect of acute leukemia(AL) and combination of chemotherapy on pituitary,gonad and thyroid hormones of children.Methods We measured plasma levels of follicle stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),testosterone(T),E2,PRL,GH,thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH),free triiodothyronine(FT3),free thyroxine(FT4) in 37 acute leukemia children(14 girls and 23 boys) before and after chemotherapy and 20 contrast children.Results The plasma levels of hormones,GH,TSH,FT4 were not significantly different before and after chemotherapy compared to control group(P(0.05)).The plasma level of PRL before chemotherapy was higher than control group(P0.01).The differences between the plasma levels of PRL of boys before and after chemotherapy had significance(P0.01).But the plasma level of FT3 before chemotherapy was lower than contrast group(P0.001)and up to normal after chemotherapy.Conclusions AL itself and the combination of chemotherapy have no evidenced infection on pituitary-gonad axis function and the plasma levels of GH.AL itself may raise the plasma level of PRL while chemotherapy medicine may have restraining infection on secretion of PRL.The combination of chemotherapy has no infection on thyroid function.Therefore the plasma level of FT3 has certain reference value to the estimation of illness state,effect of treatment and prognostic of acute leukaemia children.
Computational Aspects of Linear Programming: Selected Transformations

In this chapter our efforts will be directed towards solving a variety of linear programming problems which do not exactly fit the basic structure of the general problem considered in earlier chapters, i.e., a problem of the form $$\min f\left( x \right) = C'Xs.t.$$ $$AXb,X0.$$ .
Automated synthesis of stochastic computational elements using decision procedures

As integrated circuits move into the sub-10nm range, their reliability decreases due to reduced noise margin, radiation-induced errors and manufacturing variations. Stochastic circuits are inherently fault tolerant. Their instrinsic fault tolerance along with their area and power efficiency have made them competitive candidates for energy-hungry multimedia and pattern recogntion applications. We have proposed a new approach for the synthesis of stochastic circuits. We demonstrate the success of our approach by synthesizing polynomial, tanh and exponentiation functions. Our approach that employs decision procedures to effectively explore the space of linear finite state machines guarantees an upper bound on the maximum error between the synthesized function and its stochastic approximation. Our appraoch has resulted in 1.17 to 1.65 times smaller worst-case error as compared to the previous state-of-the-art.
Role of angiotensin-converting enzyme 1 within the median preoptic nucleus following chronic intermittent hypoxia

Sustained hypertension is an important consequence of obstructive sleep apnea. An animal model of the hypoxemia associated with sleep apnea, chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), produces increased sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and sustained increases in blood pressure. Many mechanisms have been implicated in the hypertension associated with CIH, including the role of ΔFosB within the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO). Also, the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been associated with CIH hypertension. We conducted experiments to determine the possible association of FosB/ΔFosB with a RAS component, angiotensin-converting enzyme 1 (ACE1), within the MnPO following 7 days of CIH. Retrograde tract tracing from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a downstream region of the MnPO, was used to establish a potential pathway for FosB/ΔFosB activation of MnPO ACE1 neurons. After CIH, ACE1 cells with FosB/ΔFosB expression increased colocalization with a retrograde tracer that was injected unilaterally within the PVN. Also, Western blot examination showed ACE1 protein expression increasing within the MnPO following CIH. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays demonstrated an increase in FosB/ΔFosB association with the ACE1 gene within the MnPO following CIH. FosB/ΔFosB may transcriptionally target ACE1 within the MnPO following CIH to affect the downstream PVN region, which may influence SNA and blood pressure.