cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Asian Perspective on Gender Differences in In-Hospital and Long-Term Outcome of Cardiac Mortality and Ischemic Stroke after Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Abstract Objectives Gender differences historically exist in cardiovascular disease, with women experiencing higher rates of major adverse cardiovascular events. We investigated these trends in a contemporary Asian cohort, examining the impact of gender differences on cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Materials and Methods We analysed 3971 consecutive patients who underwent primary PCI for STEMI retrospectively. The primary outcome was cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke in-hospital, at one year and on longer-term follow up (median follow up 3.62 years, interquartile range 1.03–6.03 years). Results There were 580 (14.6%) female patients and 3391 (85.4%) male patients. Female patients were older and had higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, previous strokes, and chronic kidney disease. Cardiac mortality was higher in female patients during in-hospital (15.5% vs. 6.2%), 1-year (17.4% vs. 7.0%) and longer term follow up (19.9% vs. 8.1%, log-rank test: p Conclusions Females were at higher risk of in-hospital and long-term cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke after PPCI for STEMI. Future studies are warranted to investigate the role of aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors and follow-up to improve outcomes in the females with STEMI.
The Neuronal Strategy for Inflammation

Severe sepsis, a leading cause of death in hospitalized patients, is one of the most dramatic examples of the pathological potential of inflammation. Since inflammation contributes to multiple clinical scenarios, it may not be surprising that diverse infectious and inflammatory disorders converge in the pathogenesis of severe sepsis. The physiological regulation of the immune responses by the nervous system represents effective anti-inflammatory mechanisms that can be exploited against inflammatory disorders. Recent studies indicate that acetylcholine, the principal cholinergic neurotransmitter, also functions as an immune cytokine that prevents macrophage activation through a 'nicotinic anti-inflammatory pathway'. Nicotine is more efficient than acetylcholine at inhibiting the NF-kappaB pathway and attenuating the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from macrophages through a mechanism dependent on the alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7n AChR). Treatment with nicotinic agonists attenuated systemic inflammation and improved survival in experimental sepsis in a clinically relevant time frame. Nicotine has already been used in clinical trials, but its clinical potential is limited by its collateral toxicity. Similar to the development of selective agonists for adrenergic receptors, selective nicotinic agonists for the alpha7nAChR may represent a promising pharmacological strategy against infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Exact 2-D scattering from a slot in a ground plane backed by a semielliptical cavity and covered with a multilayer isorefractive diaphragm

[1] A semielliptical channel flush-mounted under a metal plane and slotted along the interfocal distance of its cross section is separated from the half-space above by a multilayer diaphragm. The cavity, the diaphragm, and the half-space are all isorefractive to each other. Both the cavity and the multilayer diaphragm are filled with materials isorefractive to the medium in the half-space above. This is a two-dimensional geometry where the source is invariant with respect to the axial variable. The resulting electromagnetic boundary-value problem is solved exactly in terms of Mathieu functions, when the excitation source is either a plane wave or a line source. For plane wave incidence, the polarization is with either the electric or the magnetic field parallel to the axis of the structure and the direction of incidence is arbitrary in a plane perpendicular to the axis. For line source excitation, the polarization is with either the electric or the magnetic field parallel to the axis of the structure and the source is arbitrarily located. Numerical results are also provided.
Adequate (Non)Provocation and Heat of Passion as Excuse not Justification

For a number of reasons, including the complicated psychological makeup of reactive homicide, the heat of passion defense has remained subject to various points of confusion. One persistent issue of disagreement has been the justificatory versus excusatory nature of the defense. In this Article, I highlight and categorize a series of varied American homicide cases in which the applicability of heat of passion was supported although adequate provocation (or significant provocation by the victim) was absent. The cases are organized to illustrate how, per the common law framing of the defense, in instances in which there is no actual provocation, or the provocation is not sourced to the victim, heat of passion may nevertheless apply. The rationale is that the emotional disturbance that interferes with one’s rationality and self-control arises as an effect of the genuine belief that one has been seriously wronged, a perspective that can only be characterized as an excuse. In addition, I discuss how the rationale that the defense is a partial justification fails even in most situations in which the killer has really been seriously provoked by the victim. Finally, I clarify discrete psychological components of heat of passion homicide, and discuss how scholarly and judicial blurring of these forms of mental functioning may contribute to the longstanding confusion as to the nature of the defense. In sum, this Article contributes further evidence as to why it is correct to view heat of passion as a partial excuse. This paper was the lead article in a Symposium published by the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform on "The Nature, Structure, and Function of Heat of Passion/Provocation as a Criminal Defense." Several leading criminal law scholars provided Essays in Response, including Marcia Baron (Indiana U.), Gabriel "Jack" Chin (U. Arizona), Stephen Morse, (U. Penn.), Samuel Pillsbury (Loyola, L.A.), Robert Weisberg (Stanford), and Peter Weston (U. Michigan). In addition, Kyron Huigens (Cardozo) wrote an introduction to the symposium and provided critical commentary on these works. Finally, I contributed a detailed Reply to all commentators, titled "On Passion's Potential to Undermine Rationality: A Reply," which may be downloaded at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1534680.
A filtration of spectra arising from families of subgroups of symmetric groups

Let FFn be a family of subgroups of EnX which is closed under taking subgroups and conjugates. Such a family has a classifying space, BYFn, and we showed in an earlier paper that a cormpatible choice of TFn for each n gives a simplicial monoid JJn BTF,, which group completes to an infinite loop space. In this paper we define a filtration of the associated spectrum whose filtration quotients, given an extra condition on the families, can be identified in terms of the classifying spaces of the families of subgroups that were chosen. This gives a way to go from group theoretic data about the families to homotopy theoretic information about the associated spectrum. We calculate two examples. The first is related to elementary abelian p-groups, and the second gives a new expression for the desuspension of Sp""' (SO)/Spm--I (SO) as a suspension spectrum.
Political Ethics and Public Style in the Early Career of Jersey Cityâ€™s Frank Hague

This essay charts the political rise of Frank Hague, Jersey City's infamous mayor from 1917-1947. Although most historical attention focuses on his long tenure as mayor, Hague's pre-mayoral career provides an instructive example of how urban politicians used public spectacle, the media, ethnic identity, and middle class mores to redefine American urban politics. Before becoming mayor, Hague crafted a public persona that appealed to both middle-class and working-class ethnic voters by reinventing himself as a Progressive while still retaining the showmanship and personal appeals of machine politics. Hague straddled two distinct political traditions, presenting himself simultaneously as a "pol," rooted in the historical mores of the "Horseshoe" (his home neighborhood), as well as a good government advocate, appealing to Jersey City's native-born middle classâ€”focusing on clean water, public safety, and personal responsibility. In doing so, Hague provided a template for ethnic reform mayors who followed, from Fiorello LaGuardia and Richard Daley to Rudolph Giuliani and Ed Rendell.
Reacceleration of Galactic Cosmic Rays: Secondary Electron Capture Isotopes Measured by the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer

Isotopes that decay only by electron capture decay preferentially at the lower cosmic-ray energies. Data from the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer on ACE show energy dependence in the abundances of these isotopes. We discuss these results and their application to reacceleration of galactic cosmic rays in the interstellar medium.
Latex Test for Quantitative Determination of Escherichia coli Antibody

A latex agglutination test was developed for assay of anti-Escherichia coli antisera. The test is simple, specific, sensitive, and reproducible.
ClaDia: a fuzzy classifier system for disease diagnosis

The paper describes ClaDia, a learning classifier system applied to the Wisconsin breast cancer data set, using a fuzzy representation of the rules, a median based fuzzy combination rule, and separate subpopulations for each class. The system achieves a classification rate of over 90%, for many sets of system parameter values.
Mechanisms of calpain mediated proteolysis of voltage gated sodium channel α‐subunits following in vitro dynamic stretch injury

Although enhanced calpain activity is well documented after traumatic brain injury (TBI), the pathways targeting specific substrate proteolysis are less defined. Our past work demonstrated that calpain cleaves voltage gated sodium channel (NaCh) α-subunits in an in vitro TBI model. In this study, we investigated the pathways leading to NaCh cleavage utilizing our previously characterized in vitro TBI model, and determined the location of calpain activation within neuronal regions following stretch injury to micropatterned cultures. Calpain specific breakdown products of α-spectrin appeared within axonal, dendritic, and somatic regions 6 h after injury, concurrent with the appearance of NaCh α-subunit proteolysis in both whole cell or enriched axonal preparations. Direct pharmacological activation of either NMDA receptors (NMDArs) or NaChs resulted in NaCh proteolysis. Likewise, a chronic (6 h) dual inhibition of NMDArs/NaChs but not L-type voltage gated calcium channels significantly reduced NaCh proteolysis 6 h after mechanical injury. Interestingly, an early, transient (30 min) inhibition of NMDArs alone significantly reduced NaCh proteolysis. Although a chronic inhibition of calpain significantly reduced proteolysis, a transient inhibition of calpain immediately after injury failed to significantly attenuate NaCh proteolysis. These data suggest that both NMDArs and NaChs are key contributors to calpain activation after mechanical injury, and that a larger temporal window of sustained calpain activation needs consideration in developing effective treatments for TBI.
Neuronal avalanches and criticality: A dynamical model for homeostasis

The dynamics of microelectrode local field potentials from cortical slice cultures shows critical behavior. A desirable feature of criticality is that information transmission is optimal in this state. We explore a biologically plausible neural net model that can dynamically converge on criticality and that can return to criticality if perturbed away from it. Our model assumes the presence of a preferred target firing rate, with dynamical adjustments of internodal connection strengths to approach this firing rate. We suggest that mechanisms for maintaining firing rate homeostasis may also maintain a neural system at criticality.
Oughts and ends

This paper advances a reductive semantics for ‘ought’ and a naturalistic theory of normativity. It gives a unified analysis of predictive, instrumental, and categorical uses of ‘ought’: the predictive ‘ought’ is basic, and is interpreted in terms of probability. Instrumental ‘oughts’ are analyzed as predictive ‘oughts’ occurring under an ‘in order that’ modifer (the end-relational theory). The theory is then extended to categorical uses of ‘ought’: it is argued that they are special rhetorical uses of the instrumental ‘ought’. Plausible conversational principles explain how this end-relational ‘ought’ can perform the expressive functions of the moral ‘ought’. The notion of an ‘ought-simpliciter’ is also discussed.
The Electrode as Organolithium Reagent: Catalyst-Free Covalent Attachment of Electrochemically Active Species to an Azide-Terminated Glassy Carbon Electrode Surface

The reaction of a lithium acetylide–ethylenediamine complex with azide-terminated glassy carbon surfaces affords 1,2,3-triazolyllithium surface groups that are active toward covalent C–C coupling reactions, including salt metathesis with an aliphatic halide and nucleophilic addition at an aldehyde. Surface ferrocenyl groups were introduced by reaction with (6-iodohexyl)ferrocene; the voltammetry of electrode samples shows narrow, symmetric peaks indicating uniform attachment. X-ray photoelectron and reflectance infrared spectroscopic data provide further support for the surface-attached products. Formation of the 1,2,3-triazolyllithium linkage requires neither a catalyst nor a strained alkyne. Coverages obtained by this route are similar to those obtained by the more common Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide coupling (CuAAC) of ethynylferrocene with surface azides. Preconditioning of the glassy carbon disk electrodes at ambient temperature under nitrogen affords coverages comparable to those reported with preco...
Plasma Homovanillic Acid Concentration and the Severity of Schizophrenic Illness

Concentrations of plasma homovanillic acid before treatment were highly correlated with global severity of illness in schizophrenic patients, both before and after treatment. In contrast, a fixed dose of haloperidol did not affect those concentrations. Thus, in patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, plasma homovanillic acid may reflect the severity of illness, but not be influenced by short-term pharmacological perturbations by neuroleptics.
An observation on Gauss elimination

Abstract It is proved in the paper that if the transpose of a matrix A is diagonally dominant and nonsingular, then Gauss elimination can be performed without pivoting.
The age of the Amazon's breath

The inorganic carbon carried in rivers of the Amazon basin seems to originate largely from the decomposition of young plant material — a finding that improves our understanding of the role of rivers in the carbon cycle. Rivers and their surrounding environments have received little attention in studies addressing regional carbon budgets and global climate change. But recent evidence suggests that Amazonian rivers outgas a significant amount of carbon dioxide. An extensive geochemical survey of rivers in the Amazon basin now finds that the dominant source of carbon dioxide is the respiration of organic matter that is less than five years old, probably originating from near-stream vegetation. Although most of the organic matter transported by these rivers is tens to thousands of years old, it is this small rapidly cycling pool of organic matter that is responsible for the large carbon dioxide fluxes from the rivers to the atmosphere in the humid tropics.
FROM TWO MESONS AND (V-A) WEAK CURRENTS TO THE STANDARD MODEL OF QUARK AND LEPTON INTERACTIONS

This retrospective paper traces the conceptual evolution of two theories in which the author was involved—the two-meson theory (with H A Bethe) in 1947 and the universal (V-A) theory of weak interactions (with E C G Sudarshan) in 1957—into the present-day standard model of particle interactions. Part 1 is entitled ‘From the pion to QCD and pseudo-Goldstone bosons” and Part 2 “From the muon and neutrino to QFD and chiral anomalies’.
Hippocampal and subicular efferents and afferents of the perirhinal, postrhinal, and entorhinal cortices of the rat

Available evidence suggests there is functional differentiation among hippocampal and parahippocampal subregions and along the dorsoventral (septotemporal) axis of the hippocampus. The aim of this study was to characterize and compare the efferent and afferent connections of perirhinal areas 35 and 36, postrhinal cortex, and the lateral and medial entorhinal areas (LEA and MEA) with dorsal and ventral components of the hippocampal formation (dentate gyrus, hippocampus cornu ammonis fields, and subiculum) as well as the presubiculum, and the parasubiculum. The entorhinal connections were also characterized with respect to the LEA and MEA dentate gyrus-projecting bands. In general, the entorhinal connections with the hippocampal formation are much stronger than the perirhinal and postrhinal connections. The entorhinal cortex projects strongly to all components of the hippocampal formation, whereas the perirhinal and postrhinal cortices project weakly and only to CA1 and the subiculum. In addition, the postrhinal cortex preferentially targets the dorsal CA1 and subiculum, whereas the perirhinal cortex targets ventral subiculum. Similarly, the perirhinal cortex receives more input from ventral hippocampal formation structures and the postrhinal cortex receives more input from dorsal hippocampal structures. The LEA and the MEA medial band are more strongly interconnected with ventral hippocampal structures, whereas the MEA lateral band is more interconnected with dorsal hippocampal structures. With regard to the presubiculum and parasubiculum, the postrhinal cortex and the MEA lateral band receive stronger input from the dorsal presubiculum and caudal parasubiculum. In contrast, the LEA and MEA medial bands receive stronger input from the ventral presubiculum and rostral parasubiculum.
In vitro cAMP, aldosterone and cortisol responses of adult human adrenocortical tissue to ACTH and human growth hormone.

The acute in vitro effects of ACTH and HGH in human adrenals were examined. HGH acts synergistically with ACTH in augmenting adrenal aldosterone output. This effect is not due to cAMP alterations in response to HGH. HGH slightly depresses the human adrenal cortisol response to ACTH.
Recognition confusions among quantifiers

Subjects listened to a story containing sentences with five different quantifiers (all, many, some, a few, and none). They were then given a recognition test in which for each sentence they were asked to rate all the quantifiers as to how certain they were that each had appeared in the sentence. The degree of confusion between any two quantifiers (measured by both mean certainty ratings and first choice frequencies) declined monotonically with the separation of the two terms in a linear order. The confusion pattern was identical regardless of whether subjects were given intentional or incidental learning instructions. Successive interval scaling and the Luce biased choice model were both used to derive unidimensional scales of quantifier values that accurately described the obtained confusion matrix. A semantic feature model was also able to provide a fairly good overall account of the data, except that it had difficulty explaining the high frequency of confusions between all and many. The results raise the possibility that a major component of the memory trace for quantifiers is an essentially analog representation of magnitude.
Individual valuation, market valuation, and the preference reversal phenomenon

Abstract This article reports experiments dealing with individual subject valuation and preference over prospect pairs that are known to generate systematic intransitivities in choice behavior termed “preference reversals”. The authors examine whether alternative procedures to those previously employed for eliciting individual limit selling prices over prospects alters the incidence or dollar magnitude of preference reversals. It is found that when individual limit selling prices over prospects are elicited in a repetitive, second-price sealed Vickrey (1961) auction market framework, rather than under the traditional single response Becker, DeGroot, and Marshak (1964) procedure, that the dollar magnitude of preference reversals declines significantly. Initially, when opening Vickrey auction limit selling prices are combined with individual subject choices over prospects, previous results like those of Grether and Plott (1979) are obtained. When ending Vickrey auction limit selling prices are combined with individual subject choices over prospects, the dollar magnitude of reversals declines significantly. These results imply that markets can be efficient and yield market clearing prices under a given arrangement of property rights even if the behavior of some individuals is inconsistent with expected utility theory.
Perceived locus of control, expectancy, and choice reaction time

Prior to each of 200 stimulus presentations in a two-choice reaction time (RT) paradigm, subjects made a stimulus prediction and then estimated their prediction confidence by verbalizing a number from 50 to 100. The probability of a correct stimulus prediction was experimenter controlled at.70 for a competent condition and at.30 for an incompetent condition. Half of the subjects in each condition were internals (N= 12) and half were externals, as defined by Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale. An external locus of control and an incompetent task competency were additive in increasing independence among three expectancy indexes: stimulus prediction, prediction confidence, and choice RT. Specifically, for prediction-competent internals, the dependency among prediction outcome, confidence, and RT was exactly as hypothesized from expectancy theory; that is, RT was markedly faster to correctly predicted than to incorrectly predicted stimuli, RT to correctly predicted stimuli decreased as confidence in the prediction increased, and RT to incorrectly predicted stimuli increased as confidence for the predicted (nonpresented) stimulus increased. In contrast, neither prediction outcome nor prediction confidence significantly influenced the RT of prediction-incompetent externals.
Metal-Controlled Assembly of Near-Infrared-Emitting Pentanuclear Lanthanide β-Diketone Clusters

Metal-controlled assembly results in a series of lanthanide clusters with the formula of Ln5(DBM)10(OH)5·n(solvent) (DBM = dibenzoylmethanido; Ln = Nd (1), Gd (2), Er (3), and Yb (4); solvent = CH3CN or toluene). These pentanuclear clusters with square-pyramidal core structures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. Clusters 1, 3, and 4 show typical near-infrared (NIR) luminescence upon excitation at 350 nm, which represents the first examples of pentanuclear lanthanide clusters with sensitized NIR emission.
A ratiometric fluorescent sensor for Zn2+ based on internal charge transfer (ICT)

A ratiometric fluorescent chemosensor 5 was designed and synthesized based on internal charge transfer (ICT). The indicator absorbs and emits light in the visible wavelength range. In acetonitrile, blue shifts in fluorescent emission upon zinc binding are due to the formation of a 1:2 metal/ligand complex, which induced a fluorescent emission at 616 nm at the expense of the fluorescent emission at 672 nm.
One-Year Outcomes of the SAVE Study: Sirolimus as a Therapeutic Approach for UVEitis.

PURPOSE To determine the efficacy and safety of repeated intravitreal and subconjunctival administrations of sirolimus in patients with noninfectious uveitis at 1 year in the Sirolimus as a Therapeutic Approach UVEitis (SAVE) Study. METHODS Open-label, prospective, and randomized interventional clinical trial in which 30 patients with noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis were randomized 1:1 to receive sirolimus 352-μg intravitreal or 1320-μg subconjunctival. Sirolimus was administered at days 0, 60, and 120. At month 6, all subjects were allowed to receive sirolimus at intervals greater than or equal to 2 months and until month 12. Changes in vitreous haze (VH), visual acuity (VA), and retinal thickness at month 12 were compared with baseline. RESULTS Of patients with active uveitis at baseline (n = 20), 70% showed greater than or equal to 2 steps reduction of VH at month 12 (P < 0.05), 88% (n = 7) of patients with inactive uveitis at baseline showed either no change or reduction of VH to no haze, 36% (n = 10) of all patients (n = 28) gained greater than or equal to one line of VA, 21% (n = 6) lost greater than or equal to 1 line, and 43% (n = 12) showed no change. At the end of 1 year, no statistical differences in efficacy were found between intravitreal and subconjunctival groups. No serious adverse events were determined to be secondary to sirolimus. CONCLUSIONS Repeated subconjunctival/intravitreal injections of sirolimus appear to be tolerated by patients with noninfectious uveitis over 12 months. Results from the index study suggest that sirolimus may provide benefits to patients with uveitis. Both intravitreal and subconjunctival routes demonstrate similar bioactivity/efficacy. The intravitreal route, however, was better tolerated. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE The SAVE Study illustrates for the first time the application of local formulations of sirolimus in non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and pan-uveitis. Subconjunctival/Intravitreal sirolimus may help to control inflammation while offering better tolerability/safety profiles than systemic therapies, including immunosuppressants and corticosteroids.
Reciprocal fluxes of stream and riparian invertebrates in a coastal California basin with Mediterranean climate

Stream and riparian food webs are connected by reciprocal fluxes of invertebrates, and a growing number of studies demonstrate strong effects of these subsidies on consumers and food webs in both habitats. However, despite its importance in understanding energy flow between these habitats, seasonality of reciprocal subsidies has been examined only in a single temperate system in Japan. We measured input of terrestrial invertebrates and emergence of adult aquatic insects for 14 months in two adjacent streams in a coastal Mediterranean basin in California to assess seasonal patterns, annual fluxes, and local variation. Fluxes of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates fluctuated seasonally and were relatively synchronous, although in the fall of 2004, terrestrial inputs peaked 1–2 months earlier than emergence. Terrestrial inputs were similar in the two streams with annual flux of 7.9–8.6 g dry mass m−2 year−1. Emergence differed between the streams: annual emergence was 7.8 g m−2 year−1 (similar to terrestrial flux) in one reach but 5.3 g m−2 year−1 from the other. The presence of streambed travertine in the reach with lower emergence was the primary difference in habitat between the streams, suggesting that travertine may reduce emergence and alter net reciprocal flux. Comparison of our results with those from Japan suggests that seasonality and net annual flux of reciprocal stream-riparian subsidies vary among biomes due to differences in climate, vegetation, and geography. Our results also indicate that local factors, such as travertine, may cause reciprocal fluxes to vary at finer spatial scales.
Modeling damage evolution in a hybrid ceramic matrix composite under static tensile load

In this investigation, damage evolution in a unidirectional hybrid ceramic composite made from Nicalon and SiC fibers in a Lithium Aluminosilicate (LAS) glass matrix was studied. The static stress-strain response of the composite exhibited a linear response followed by load drop in a progressive manner. Careful experiments were conducted stopping the tests at various strain levels and using replication technique, scanning and optical microscopy to monitor the evolution of damage in these composites. It was observed that the constituents of the composite failed in a sequential manner at increasing strain levels. The matrix cracks were followed by SiC fiber failures near ultimate tensile stress. After that, the load drop was associated with progressive failure of the Nicalon fibers. Identification of these failure modes were critical to the development of a concentric cylinder model representing all three constituent phases to predict the constitutive response of the CMC computationally. The strain-to-failure of the matrix and fibers were used to progressively fail the constituents in the model and the overall experimental constitutive response of the CMC was recovered. A strain based analytical representation was developed relating stiffness loss to applied strain. Based on this formulation, damage evolution and its consequence on tensile stress-strainmore » response was predicted for room temperature behavior of hybrid CMCs. The contribution of the current work is that the proposed strain-damage phenomenological model can capture the damage evolution and the corresponding material response for continuous fiber-reinforced CMCs. The modeling approach shows much promise for the complex damage processes observed in hybrid CMCs.« less
Testing extraction and storage parameters for a fecal hormone method

Four experiments were conducted to test different aspects of a “field-friendly” fecal hormone extraction method that utilizes methanol extraction in the field followed by storage on C18 solid-phase extraction cartridges. Fecal samples were collected from geladas (Theropithecus gelada) housed at the Bronx Zoo, and the experiments were conducted in a laboratory setting to ensure maximum control. The experiments were designed to either simulate the conditions to which fecal samples are subjected during fieldwork or improve on an existing protocol. The experiments tested the relationship between fecal hormone metabolite preservation/recovery and: (1) the amount of time a sample is stored at ambient temperature; (2) the number of freeze/thaw cycles a sample undergoes; (3) the effectiveness of different extraction solutions; and (4) the effectiveness of different cartridge washes. For each experiment, samples were assayed by radioimmunoassay for fecal glucocorticoid (GC) and testosterone (T) metabolites. Results for each of the experiments were as follows. First, storage at ambient temperature did not affect hormone levels until 4 weeks of storage, with significant increases for both GC and T metabolites at 4 weeks. Second, hormone levels significantly decreased in samples after two freeze/thaw cycles for GCs and six freeze/thaws cycles for T. Third, for both GCs and T, hormone extraction using various methanol solutions was significantly higher than using 100% ethanol. Finally, using a 20% methanol solution to wash cartridges significantly increased GC levels but had no effect on T levels. These results suggest that, when utilizing C18 cartridges for fecal steroid storage, researchers should consider several methodological options to optimize hormone preservation and recovery from fecal samples. Am. J. Primatol. 72:934–941, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Relative Fuzzy Connectedness among Multiple Objects

The notion of fuzzy connectedness captures the idea of “hanging-togetherness” of image elements in an object by assigning a strength of connectedness to every possible path between every possible pair of image elements. This concept leads to powerful image segmentation algorithms based on dynamic programming whose effectiveness has been demonstrated on thousands of images in a variety of applications. In a previous framework, we introduced the notion of relative fuzzy connectedness for separating a foreground object from a background object. In this framework, an image element c is considered to belong to that among these two objects with respect to whose reference image element c has the higher strength of connectedness. In fuzzy connectedness, a local fuzzy relation called affinity is used on the image domain. This relation was required for theoretical reasons to be of fixed form in the previous framework. In the present paper, we generalize relative connectedness to multiple objects, allowing all objects (of importance) to compete among themselves to grab membership of image elements based on their relative strength of connectedness to reference elements. We also allow affinity to be tailored to the individual objects. We present a theoretical and algorithmic framework and demonstrate that the objects defined are independent of the reference elements chosen as long as they are not in the fuzzy boundary between objects. Examples from medical imaging are presented to illustrate visually the effectiveness of multiple object relative fuzzy connectedness. A quantitative evaluation based on 160 mathematical phantom images demonstrates objectively the effectiveness of relative fuzzy connectedness with object-tailored affinity relation.
Premeditation and happenstance: The social construction of intention, action and knowledge

I have attempted to show that the philosophical problem of action individuation finds its resolution in the analysis of members'in-situ practices of action description and action attribution, and that the differentkinds of description that may be given of any one presumed action make available different features of that action, and thus are loci for the production of different sorts of narrative trajectories. They can thus provide for the accomplishment of systematically different kinds of interactional tasks. For the present purposes I have distinguished two kinds of constructions that can be provided of ‘actions’: those that are ‘outcome’ descriptions (and involve the use of outcome verbs) and are indeterminate as to prior trajectory or intention; and ‘outcome-indeterminate’ performance descriptions that nevertheless can point to a prospective trajectory of possible outcomes but do not deliver them. These two kinds of description have a different logic-in-use, a different socio-logic, and it is this socio-logic that I have attempted to begin exploring. Further, it has become clear how ‘intention,’ ‘knowledge’ and ‘action’ are finely inter-meshed in practical communicative contexts — indeed, they are ‘laminated’ together in ascriptive and accounting practices whereby the ascription, invocation or inference of ‘intention’ will presuppose or implicate a particular ‘action description.’ Put another way, particular ‘action’ attributions or descriptions logically provide for, or presuppose (are logically tied to), specific kinds of attribution of ‘intention’ and ‘knowledge.’ Indeed, the grammar of ‘action’ accounts is a logical grammar of ‘intention,’ ‘knowledge’ and ‘outcome’. What ‘action’ attribution or description is given or used in any particular context then, depends on and projects a particular ‘composite’ or ‘conjuncture’ of these three action paramaters. It is in this sense that one can talk of asocio-logic of action or, looked at in another way, a socio-logic of knowledge-in-context, one that is simultaneously conceptual, normative and practical.
Fatigue and exposure to cigarette smoke

Responses of 100 undergraduates who scored low on a fatigue scale were compared with the responses of 100 students who scored high. There were no differences between these groups for the number of students who smoked cigarettes and the hours that they were exposed each week to second-hand smoke. Differences between groups pertained to severity of the symptoms that they experienced when they were exposed to cigarette smoke, i.e., the High Fatigue Group reported greater severity for each of the 12 symptoms measured. These data suggest that fatigue may be directly related to sensitivity to an aversive stimulus like smoke.
A multi-domain spectral computation of three-dimensional laminar horseshoe vortex flow using incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

Multidomain spectral methods are presently used to numerically simulate a strut-wall intersection's laminar horseshoe vortex flow through direct solution of the three-dimensional, incompressible, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations. Direct expansion in Chebyshev polynomials and spectral element method spatial discretization of flow dependence are used to achieve high-order accuracy, and minimal dispersion errors. Low and moderate Reynolds number results are presented to illustrate the method application.
Standardization of the 32P-postlabeling assay for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts

A modified method for the 32P-postlabeling assay that permits standardized quantitation for specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts is described. This method has been designed to test the components of the 32P-postlabeling assay for use in the chemically specific detection of individual adducts with the ultimate goal of testing the biological significance of PAH-DNA adducts in humans. The approach relies upon high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), concomitant labeling of 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGp) as an internal standard and thin layer chromatography (TLC), which identifies unmodified nucleotides along with PAH-DNA adducts on the same TLC plate. This method assesses labeling efficiency, detects the presence of unknown inhibitors, assesses the adequacy of digestion (when combined with HPLC) and allows for the development of calibration curves for directly determined molar ratios (adduct:internal standard). Chemically synthesized adduct standards and quantitative 32P-postlabeling data have been corroborated by UV spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and liquid scintillation counting where radiolabeled materials were available. Labeling efficiencies of the PAH-DNA adducts were found to be up to 100-fold less than expected and depended upon both the adduct and adduct levels (lower levels being less efficiently detected). The presence of unmodified nucleotides resulted in a 1.5-fold lower labeling efficiency. Mixtures of selected PAH-DNA adducts did not affect the labeling efficiencies of each other. The data suggest that previous 32P-postlabeling assay studies for PAH-DNA adducts may have underestimated adduct levels due to variations in labeling efficiency.
Average state IQ, state wealth and racial composition as predictors of state health statistics: Partial support for ‘g’ as a fundamental cause of health disparities

This study examined the degree to which differences in average IQ across the 50 states was associated with differences in health statistics independent of differences in wealth, health care expenditures and racial composition. Results show that even after controlling for differences in state wealth and health care expenditures, average IQ had sizeable positive associations with a wide range of positive health indicators, and sizeable negative associations with a wide range of state health problems. Consistent with Gottfredson's (2004) [Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 174−199.] hypotheses, some of the apparent associations between racial composition and health outcomes were accounted for by IQ differences. When IQ was controlled, some of the relationships between racial composition and health outcomes reversed signs suggesting an advantage for minorities. However, even after controlling for average IQ and wealth factors, racial composition continued to be associated with some of the health statistics examined. Overall, the results partially confirmed that g does account for a significant portion of the variance many state health outcomes, but socio-economic factors and racial composition appear to also have important relations with some specific health outcomes.
Illustrated histopathologic classification criteria for selected vasculitis syndromes. American College of Rheumatology Subcommittee on Classification of Vasculitis.

We describe the histopathologic criteria for the diagnosis of 7 selected vasculitis syndromes: polyarteritis nodosa, Churg-Strauss syndrome, Wegener's granulomatosis, hypersensitivity vasculitis, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, giant cell (temporal) arteritis, and Takayasu arteritis. The criteria apply to the stereotypical cases in each category; they were formulated after a review of submitted biopsy material from 278 of the 1,000 patients entered into the American College of Rheumatology Vasculitis Study Registry, and from prior experience with the pathologic diagnosis of vasculitis in 1,079 nonregistry patients.
Reconstitution of the 26S Proteasome Reveals Functional Asymmetries in its Heterohexameric AAA+ Unfoldase

The 26S proteasome is the major protease in eukaryotic cells responsible for selective protein degradation to mediate protein quality control and regulation. However, the detailed mechanisms by which the proteasomal heterohexameric AAA+ unfoldase drives ATP-dependent protein degradation remain poorly understood. Delineating the roles of the six distinct ATPase subunits in substrate processing has been hindered by limitations in working with endogenous proteasomes due to misassembly or lethal degradation defects. We therefore developed a heterologous expression system to produce the unfoldase subcomplex from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Escherichia coli and reconstituted the proteasome in vitro to perform systematic mutational analyses of the individual ATPase subunits. Our studies demonstrate that the six ATPases have distinct functions in degradation, corresponding to their positions in the spiral staircases adopted by their large AAA+ domains in the absence or presence of substrate. ATP hydrolysis in subunits at the top of the staircases is critical for substrate engagement and translocation. Whereas the unfoldase relies on this vertical asymmetry for substrate processing, interaction with the peptidase exhibits a pronounced three-fold symmetry. Only three ATPase subunits, arranged in alternate positions within the unfoldase ring, contain a conserved C-terminal hydrophobic/aromatic/unspecified (HbYX) motif that is critical for both peptidase binding and gate-opening, whereas the C-terminal tails of the interjacent ATPase subunits are dispensable. Our study provides an initial glimpse into the potential importance of the spiral staircase configurations of proteasomal ATPase subunits in substrate processing and highlights how the 26S proteasome may deviate from simpler, homomeric AAA+ proteases.
Event-related potential correlates of analgesia; comparison of fentanyl, acupuncture, and nitrous oxide

Abstract This study was undertaken to determine whether different analgesic treatments result in a common change in the event-related potentials (ERP) elicited during painful dental stimulation. The effects of electrical acupuncture delivered at 2 Hz to LI-4, the opiate fentanyl 0.1 mg i.V., and the inhalation analgesia mixture of 33% nitrous oxide in oxygen were examined in volunteers undergoing painful tooth pulp stimulation. ERPs were recorded at vertex and subjects provided reports of pain intensity. Discriminant function analysis was used to determine which subset of the pain report and ERP variables could best discriminate baseline from treatment conditions without regard to specificity of treatment. Together with pain report, amplitude of the ERP positive deflection at 250 msec was a significant indicator of analgesia across the 3 treatments. Other changes specific to the individual treatments were also observed. Since the 250 msec amplitude measure was not redundant statistically with pain report, the ERP data provided significant new information about analgesia even though pain report was a very sensitive measure. Pain report alone could account for 48% of the variance across treatments while ERP measures alone accounted for 34%.
Three-particle scattering amplitudes from a finite volume formalism

We present a quantization condition for the spectrum of a system composed of three identical bosons in a finite volume with periodic boundary conditions. This condition gives a relation between the finite volume spectrum and infinite volume scattering amplitudes. The quantization condition presented is an integral equation that in general must be solved numerically. However, for systems with an attractive two-body force that supports a two-body bound state, a diboson, and for energies below the diboson breakup, the quantization condition reduces to the well-known L\"uscher formula with exponential corrections in volume that scale with the diboson binding momentum. To accurately determine infinite volume phase shifts, it is necessary to extrapolate the phase shifts obtained from the L\"uscher formula for the boson-diboson system to the infinite volume limit. For energies above the breakup threshold, or for systems with no two-body bound state (with only scattering states and resonances) the L\"uscher formula gets power-law volume corrections and consequently fails to describe the three-particle system. These corrections are nonperturbatively included in the quantization condition presented.
Mechanism of Immune Response During Immunotherapy

Tumor immunology embraces an extensive array of biological phenomena that include interactions between neoplastic cells and the innate and adaptive immune response. Among immune cells, T cells have taken the center stage because they can be easily demonstrated to specifically recognize autologous cancer cells. However, their role is limited and other components of the immune response are likely necessary for the completion of cancer rejection. Metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are malignancies strongly predisposed to regress in response to the systemic administration of high-dose interleukin (IL)-2. Several clinical Studies in extensive cohorts of patients have shown that this treatment can induce complete or partial clinical regressions of metastatic disease in 15 to 20% of patients who receive this treatment. Although IL-2 has direct pluri-potent effects on cells with immune and inflammatory function, it remains unexplained which cell subset is implicated in mediating tumor regression. In a quest to characterize the mechanism of action of IL-2 during the course of immunotherapy, we have investigated the early changes in transcriptional profiles of circulating mononuclear cells and microenvironment of melanoma metastases following high dose IL-2 administration (720,000 IU/kg) by serial sampling of blood cells and tumors in the form of fine needle aspirate (FNA). Furthermore, studies are currently ongoing to characterize the proteomic profiling of RCC patients undergoing the same treatment using protein arrays (manuscript in preparation). The predominant activation of genes related to inflammation and activation of mononuclear phagocytes lead us to further characterize this cell subset in the context of stimulation with a panel of soluble factors potentially present in the circulation and tumor microenvironment.
Building Shared Meaning: Implications of a Relational Approach to Empathy for Teaching Intercultural Communication.

Empathy, associated with many important aspects of communication behavior, is generally held to be difficult, if not impossible, in intercultural encounters. It is argued in this essay that previous definitions of empathy have not been useful for intercultural communication because of (a) an overemphasis on accuracy, (b) an inappropriate focus on affect, and (c) the improper portrayal of empathy as an ability or a skill. A relational view of empathy is advocated for intercultural encounters, with emphasis on a productive rather than a reproductive approach to understanding. Relational empathy de‐emphasizes similarity, concentrating instead on the development of a “third‐culture” between the communicators, thus providing a basis for building shared meaning in the intercultural situation. This view of empathy has several pedagogical benefits for intercultural communication instruction.