cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In-line and compact QWIP for reference signal detection with Quantum Cascade lasers at 4.6μm

By implementing quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) as passive optical elements, we present a novel approach to obtain a reference signal needed in gas spectroscopy systems based on reflection and transmission properties of these photodetectors.
Heterogeneous dopamine populations project to specific subregions of the primate amygdala

Amygdala dysfunction has been reported among patients with various psychiatric disorders, and dopamine is critical to the amygdala's ability to mediate fear conditioning. Recent work indicates that the midbrain dopaminergic neurons have heterogeneous receptor and membrane channel profiles, as well as differential physiologic responses to discrete stimuli. To begin understanding how dopamine affects amygdala physiology and pathology in higher primates, we mapped the inputs from the midbrain dopaminergic neurons to various amygdala nuclei in the monkey using retrograde and anterograde tracing techniques, and single and double immunofluorescence histochemistry for tracer and tyrosine hydroxylase, a dopamine marker. Our results show that the primate amygdala as a whole receives broad input, mostly from the dorsal tier of the substantia nigra, pars compacta, and the A8-retrorubral field. Input from the A10-ventral tegmental area, while present, was less prominent. These results differ from data in the rat, where the midline A10-ventral tegmental area is a major source of dopamine to the amygdala “mesolimbic” pathway. Both the “amygdala proper” and the “extended amygdala” receive the majority of their input from the dorsal tier of the substantia nigra and A8-retrorubral field, but the extended amygdala receives additional modest input from the ventral tier. In addition, the “extended amygdala” structures have a denser input than the “amygdala proper,” with the exception of the lateral core of the central nucleus, which receives no input. Our anterograde studies confirm these findings, and revealed fine, diffuse terminal fibers in the amygdala proper, but a denser network of fibers in the extended amygdala outside the lateral core of the central nucleus. These results indicate that the entire extent of the dorsal tier beyond the A10-ventral tegmental area may regulate the amygdala in primates, and subsequently serve as a source of dysfunction in primate psychopathology.
Goal specificity: A proxy measure for improvements in environmental outcomes in collaborative governance

Collaborative governance critics continually call for evidence to support its prevalent use. As is often the case in environmental policy, environmental outcomes occur at a rate incompatible with political agendas. In addition, a multitude of possibly confounding variables makes it difficult to correlate collaborative governance processes with environmental outcomes. The findings of this study offer empirical evidence that collaborative processes have a measurable, beneficial effect on environmental outcomes. Through the use of a unique paired-waterbody design, our dataset reduced the potential for confounding variables to impact our environmental outcome measurements. The results of a path analysis indicate that the output of setting specific pollutant reduction goals is significantly related to watershed partnerships' level of attainment of their environmental improvement goals. The action of setting specific goals (e.g. percentage of load reductions in pollutant levels) is fostered by sustained participation from partnership members throughout the lifecycle of the collaborative. In addition, this study demonstrates the utility of logic modeling for environmental planning and management, and suggests that the process of setting specific pollutant reduction goals is a useful proxy measure for reporting progress towards improvements in environmental outcomes when long-term environmental data are not available.
Effect of Light Quality on Egg production of Caged Turkey Hens

Abstract Large White turkey breeders hens were exposed to blue, green, or red light or incandescent light throughout a 20-week egg laying period. All light sources were equalized on the basis of quantum irradiation at 3.0 × 1014 photons/cm2/sec and applied for 16 hr daily. Data were recorded for body weights, feed intake, and egg production. Body weight, feed intake, and total egg production were not significantly different among the light treatments. It was concluded that exposure of breeder turkey hens to lights of different spectral characteristics, but equalized in photon output, resulted in similar reproductive performances.
Preservice teachers' views of inclusive science teaching as shaped by images of teaching, learning, and knowledge

This was a descriptive study of preservice elementary teachers' understandings of and approaches to inclusive science teaching. This study was situated in an elementary science methods course that used a variety of teaching methods to focus on issues related to inclusive science teaching. Data sources included student written work and audiotapes of classroom discussions related to inclusion. Through our interpretive analysis we identified the preservice teachers' positivist views of knowledge, learning, and teaching as one of the most prominent tools through which they understood and reacted to ideas of teaching science to diverse student populations. The impact of this view on preservice teachers' interpretations of science teaching methods presented in the course as well as on their own teaching efforts is described. Finally, suggestions of how to help preservice elementary teachers recognize and build upon student diversity through science instruction are discussed. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed83:131–150, 1999.
Tissue injury and hypoxia promote malignant progression of prostate cancer by inducing CXCL13 expression in tumor myofibroblasts

Prostate cancer (PC) is a slowly progressing malignancy that often responds to androgen ablation or chemotherapy by becoming more aggressive, acquiring a neuroendocrine phenotype, and undergoing metastatic spread. We found that B lymphocytes recruited into regressing androgen-deprived tumors by C-X-C motif chemokine 13 (CXCL13), a chemokine whose expression correlates with clinical severity, play an important role in malignant progression and metastatic dissemination of PC. We now describe how androgen ablation induces CXCL13 expression. In both allografted and spontaneous mouse PC, CXCL13 is expressed by tumor-associated myofibroblasts that are activated on androgen ablation through a hypoxia-dependent mechanism. The same cells produce CXCL13 after chemotherapy. Myofibroblast activation and CXCL13 expression also occur in the normal prostate after androgen deprivation, and CXCL13 is expressed by myofibroblasts in human PC. Hypoxia activates hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and induces autocrine TGF-β signaling that promotes myofibroblast activation and CXCL13 induction. In addition to TGF-β receptor kinase inhibitors, myofibroblast activation and CXCL13 induction are blocked by phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. Both inhibitor types and myofibroblast immunodepletion block the emergence of castration-resistant PC in the transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) model of spontaneous metastatic PC with neuroendocrine differentiation.
REALISTIC JOB PREVIEWS: CAN A PROCEDURE TO REDUCE TURNOVER ALSO INFLUENCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ABILITIES AND PERFORMANCE?

The impact of realistic job previews (RJP's) as a moderator of the ability-performance relationship is evaluated. First, the research evidence from experimental studies in business, education, and hospital organizations indicates that RJP's have no impact on either the level of job performance or the ability-performance relationship. The primary reason for this is that the RJP concerns the matching of human needs to organizational climate, and thus is designed to influence job satisfaction and voluntary turnover rather than job performance. Second, the potential impact of RJP's on the ability-performance relationship is the subject of speculation.
The flotation rates of fine spherical particles under Brownian and convective motion

Abstract The flotation of spherical colloidal particles by small spherical bubbles is considered. The model accounts for the effects of buoyancy motion, Brownian motion, van der Waals attractive forces, and hydrodynamic interactions. Conditions are such that the fluid has negligible inertia. The suspension is sufficiently dilute that the analysis is restricted to pairwise bubble–particle interactions. The quasi-steady formulation of the Fokker–Planck equation for the pair-distribution function is simplified for negligible transversal diffusion and solved numerically. Allowance is made for bubbles with freely mobile or totally immobile interfaces. For size ratios of the captured particle to capturing bubble of 0.1 and higher, and for bubble Peclet numbers greater than approximately 105, convective capture dominates. For these conditions, the collision efficiencies calculated through the more complete Fokker–Planck formulation are in good agreement with those predicted by a particle trajectory analysis, both for free and rigid interfaces. For more extreme size ratios of 0.01 and lower, and bubble Peclet numbers less than approximately 105, capture is dominated by diffusion of the small particles within the convective flow field created by the rising bubble; however, it is found that the classical mass-transport formula is not entirely accurate, due to the effects of finite particle size and hydrodynamic interactions when the particles are large enough for boundary-layer mass transfer with high Peclet number to be dominant. A minimum flotation efficiency is observed for a given collecting bubble size, while, for a fixed suspended particle diameter, it is always more effective to utilize smaller bubbles. Bubbles with a rigid interface exhibit lower collection efficiencies than those with mobile interfaces, especially in the regime of convective capture. In all instances, the simple additivity approximation for diffusive and convective capture is shown to overpredict the collision efficiencies, in some cases by up to two-fold.
IN VITRO EFFECT OF GLUCAN ON MOUSE HEMOPOIETIC COMMITTED PROGENITOR CELLS

Abstract In vitro methylcellulose clonal cell culture assays of granulopoietic and erythropoietic colonies were used to study the primary effect of glucan on the hematopoietic stem cells. Addition of glucan to the cultures inhibits the formation of colony-forming units-erythrocytic (CFU-E), enhances the production of burst forming units-erythrocytic (BFU-E) and has no effect on colony-forming unit-culture (CFU-C). These results indicate that glucan has a direct effect on late and early erythroid precursor cells.
"Active" refuges can inhibit the evolution of resistance in insects towards transgenic insect-resistant plants

Negative cross-resistance (NCR) toxins that hitherto have not been thought to have practical uses may indeed be useful in the management of resistance alleles. Practical applications of NCR for pest management have been limited (i) by the scarcity of high toxicity NCR toxins among pesticides, (ii) by the lack of systematic methodologies to discover and develop such toxins, as well as (iii) by the lack of deployment tactics that would make NCR attractive. Here we present the concept that NCR toxins can improve the effectiveness of refuges in delaying the evolution of resistance by herbivorous insect pests to transgenic host plants containing insecticidal toxins. In our concept, NCR toxins are deployed in the refuge, and thus are physically separated from the transgenic plants containing the primary plant-protectant gene (PPPG) encoding an insecticidal toxin. Our models show: (i) that use of NCR toxins in the refuge dramatically delays the increase in the frequency of resistance alleles in the insect population; and (ii) that NCR toxins that are only moderately effective in killing insects resistant to the PPPG can greatly improve the durability of transgenic insecticidal toxins. Moderately toxic NCR toxins are more effective in minimizing resistance development in the field when they are deployed in the refuge than when they are pyramided with the PPPG. We explore the potential strengths and weaknesses of deploying NCR toxins in refuges.
Epilepsy surgery in the setting of periventricular leukomalacia and focal cortical dysplasia

We report an infant who had successful epilepsy surgery for intractable infantile spasms in the setting of bilateral periventricular leukomalacia and remote germinal matrix hemorrhage. Although MRI gave evidence of a diffuse cerebral insult and EEG showed hypsarrhythmia, focal epileptogenicity was suggested by previous partial seizures with onset over the right temporoparietal-occipital region and PET hypometabolism in that same area. Right temporoparietal and lateral occipital resection at 15 months resulted in seizure freedom and dramatic developmental progress at 1-year follow-up. Histopathologic examination of resected tissue showed cortical dysplasia, possibly due to the same insult that also resulted in the bilateral periventricular leukomalacia. From an etiologic perspective, this is one of very few reported cases strongly implicating acquired focal cortical dysplasia in response to a prenatal insult. From a clinical perspective, the case illustrates that the spectrum of potential surgical candidacy in infants may be broader than usually suspected.
Effects of two retention interval components on performance differences between study-test and anticipation methods in paired-associate learning

Given that the retention interval consists of two qualitatively different and operationally distinguishable components, both separate and joint effects of them were necessary to assess their relative dominance in controlling both significant and nonsignificant performance differences between anticipation and study (reinforcement)-test methods; thus illuminating results thought inconsistent for about two decades. Three paired-associate learning experiments, with a total of 167 university students, were conducted with both massed (no intercycle or Type I interval) and spaced (30 sec Type 1 intervals) practice within each experiment. Both significantly and nonsignificantly superior performance resulted for the study-test method vis-a-vis the anticipation method with massed practice without practice. Findings support the retention interval hypothesis (Izawa, 1972) which is further strengthened when augmented with the capacity to account for the absolute performance differences between methods.
Surface chemical analysis of Avcothane and Biomer by Fourier transform IR internal reflection spectroscopy.

During the solvent casting process, one side of the polymer film is exposed to air while the other side is in contact with a substrate, used as a mold. We have studied the effect of this difference in exposure during casting on the chemical composition of two types of segmented polyurethane,5 Biomer1 and Avcothane,2 by using Fourier transform IR internal reflection spectroscopy. Also, a depth-composition profile was obtained by placing a thin barrier film between the reflection plate and the polymer film. In Avcothane, the air side, which is the blood-contact side, contains a greater amount of the soft segment than the substrate side, and this is more pronounced in the layer closer to the surface. The anisotropy in composition is more drastic when the silicone content is compared. In a layer about 1.5 μ thick, one can detect a greater amount of silicone in the substrate side than in the air side. However, when one averages the concentration in a layer of about 0.8 μ, the trend is reversed; i.e., the greater amount of silicone is now present in the air side than in the substrate side. In Biomer films, the anisotropy in chemical composition is less pronounced. Only a modest increase in the relative content of the soft segment/hard segment is observed in the air side when a depth-composition profile is obtained.
The clinical and biochemical spectrum of hereditary amyloidosis

Familial amyloidosis, once described as a puzzling and highly unusual form of polyneuropathy, is now recognized to be a collection of familial diseases with usually autosomal-dominant inheritance and widespread ethnic distribution. Familial amyloidosis occurs throughout the world and encompasses an extremely broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. In some families, progressive peripheral neuropathy dominates the illness, while in others, renal failure, ocular amyloid deposits, cardiac decompensation, or intracranial hemorrhage is the most significant clinical feature. The Portuguese (type I) and the Iowa (type III) neuropathies characteristically begin with lower limb involvement, while in the Indiana (type II) form, upper limb neuropathy is seen first; in the Japanese families with familial amyloid polyneuropathy, symptoms first become evident around age 40, whereas in the Texas family, onset is in the seventh decade. The prognosis for the different families is highly variable. Current classification of the familial amyloid polyneuropathy syndromes is based on their characteristic clinical presentations, but ongoing biochemical identification of the protein composition of amyloid substance in each form will make a more rational nosology feasible in the near future. To date, no therapy has been shown to arrest or reverse the progressive accumulation of amyloid deposits in most forms of familial amyloidosis. Familial Mediterranean fever is a major exception, and the incidence of amyloidosis associated with this disease has been dramatically reduced by the widespread prophylactic use of colchicine. Technology currently available permits the reliable identification of asymptomatic relatives at risk for developing amyloid neuropathy as well as the prenatal identification of carriers of the mutant transthyretin gene. These strategies can be used in genetic counseling aimed at reducing the continued propagation of the mutant gene.
Bradykinin and thromboxane A2 reciprocally interact to synergistically stimulate cardiac spinal afferents during myocardial ischemia.

Myocardial ischemia is a complex process leading to the simultaneous release of a number of mediators, including thromboxane A2 (TxA2) and bradykinin (BK), that activate cardiac spinal afferents. T...
Spatial Segregation of Adaptation and Predictive Sensitization in Retinal Ganglion Cells

Sensory systems change their sensitivity based on recent stimuli to adjust their response range to the range of inputs and to predict future sensory input. Here, we report the presence of retinal ganglion cells that have antagonistic plasticity, showing central adaptation and peripheral sensitization. Ganglion cell responses were captured by a spatiotemporal model with independently adapting excitatory and inhibitory subunits, and sensitization requires GABAergic inhibition. Using a simple theory of signal detection, we show that the sensitizing surround conforms to an optimal inference model that continually updates the prior signal probability. This indicates that small receptive field regions have dual functionality--to adapt to the local range of signals but sensitize based upon the probability of the presence of that signal. Within this framework, we show that sensitization predicts the location of a nearby object, revealing prediction as a functional role for adapting inhibition in the nervous system.
Variation Among Student Chapters of The Wildlife Society

Student Chapters of The Wildlife Society serve the parent organization as a source of new members while promoting professional development among aspiring wildlife biologists. However, little is known about the operation of the Student Chapters across North America. I conducted an online survey between March and May 2006 to learn about variation among chapters and to define successful chapters with a quantifiable, objective parameter (e.g., the active members or budgets). I sent chapter advisors and student officers the online survey via e-mail. Of 92 Student Chapters known to the parent Society in 2005, 66 active and one inactive chapters responded. Activities, sizes, and budgets varied greatly among chapters. Additionally, perceived values of membership by survey participants matched the parent Society's goals. No clear definition of a successful chapter (e.g., those with the most money or members) emerged, but chapters faced some evident problems including apathy from students and advisors as well as a lack of support from the parent Society. Based upon the survey, I recommend Student Chapters have strong projects and activities as well as consider collaborating with other professional organizations. I recommend the parent Society continue to expand student programs and incorporate students into the Society.
Emerging approaches for the syntheses of bicyclic imidazo[1,2-x]-heterocycles

Imidazo-[1,2-x]heterocycles are versatile building blocks for use in both a ‘drug hunters’ quest to discover new leads and a chemical biologists search for effective molecular tools in ‘cell perturbation’ studies. At the front end of the drug discovery flow chart, the last 5–10 years have witnessed the discovery of new high-throughput methodologies which very quickly have enabled access to virtual libraries of these chemo-types in the realm of 107 derivatives. Interestingly, these often neglected cores in patent cooperation treaty (PCT) applications appear in several highly effective marketed drugs, completing the medicinal chemists search for clinical success. Such rigid chemo-types, all containing a bridgehead nitrogen atom, are thus poised for an ever increasing impact on the discovery and development of new molecular therapeutics. The following mini-review will briefly cover therapeutic utility, chemical methodologies and automation developed to enable preparation of arrays of these chemo-types in a high-throughput manner. Synthetic emphasis is placed on a 3-component-3-center isocyanide based multi-component reaction (IMCR), which spans solution, solid phase, flourous and microwave assisted organic synthesis.
Quality of Early Care and Childhood Trauma: A Prospective Study of Developmental Pathways to Dissociation

Kihlstrom (2005) has recently called attention to the need for prospective longitudinal studies of dissociation. The present study assesses quality of early care and childhood trauma as predictors of dissociation in a sample of 56 low-income young adults followed from infancy to age 19. Dissociation was assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale; quality of early care was assessed by observer ratings of mother-infant interaction at home and in the laboratory; and childhood trauma was indexed by state-documented maltreatment, self-report, and interviewer ratings of participants' narratives. Regression analysis indicated that dissociation in young adulthood was significantly predicted by observed lack of parental responsiveness in infancy, while childhood verbal abuse was the only type of trauma that added to the prediction of dissociation. Implications are discussed in the context of previous prospective work also pointing to the important contribution of parental emotional unresponsiveness in the development of dissociation.
Anelasticity and the Apollo 12 LP lunar seismogram

Abstract Further refined arguments are given to support the author's low-Q regolith layer model as deduced from the Apollo 12 LP seismogram. It is also shown this model can yield the same response envelope as does a high-Q model based' upon the diffusion equation that has been suggested by Latham et al.
Determination of elements in SRM soil 2709a by neutron activation analysis

A combination of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and prompt gamma-ray activation analysis (PGAA) was used to value assign 35 elements in SRM soil 2709a (San Joaquin Soil). INAA with counting of short-lived radioisotopes was used for determination of Al, Au, Ca, Dy, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ti, and V. Elements determined by INAA with counting of intermediate and long-lived radioisotopes included As, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Yb, Zn, and Zr. Thermal neutron PGAA was used for the determination of H, B, Si, K, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cd and Gd. Expanded uncertainties were determined for all values reported.
Radar Reflectivity Factor Calculations in Numerical Cloud Models Using Bulk Parameterization of Precipitation

Abstract This paper describes and compares various methods for calculating radar reflectivity factors in numerical cloud models that use bulk methods to characterize the precipitation processes. Equations sensitive to changes in the parameters of the particle size distributions are favored because they allow simulation of phenomena causing such changes. Marshall-Palmer-type functions are established to represent hailstone size distributions because the previously available distributions lead to implausibly large reflectivity factors. Simplified equations are developed for calculating reflectivity factors for both dry and wet hail. Some examples are given of the use of the various equations in numerical cloud models.
Studying the impact of more complete server information on Web caching

Caching of objects in the World Wide Web is a widely used technique to reduce end-user latencies, network and server load. Currently deployed heuristic-based approaches to caching result in a large number of unnecessary validations, and prior results show potential for better reuse of cached Web content. This work studies a more deterministic approach to caching of Web objects. The idea is to view HTML pages as containers, holding distinct objects with heterogeneous type and change characteristics. Servers compile information about relationships between containers and embedded objects and piggyback it onto existing request/response traffic. Our results indicate that these techniques significantly improve existing cache management strategies.
QRS-T Patterns in Multiple Precordial Leads that May Be Mistaken for Myocardial Infarction II. Right Ventricular Hypertrophy and Dilatation

The electrocardiograms of patients with pathologic evidence of right ventricular hypertrophy and/or dilatation and exclusion of myocardial infarction are presented to bring out certain features likely to be mistaken for myocardial infarction: (1) abnormal qR or QS patterns or cove plane inversion of the T waves in leads from the right precordium; (2) reduction in the amplitude of the initial R wave or replacement by a QS deflection and/or change from an upright to an inverted T wave as the electrode is moved from the V 1 position to the transitional zone; (3) abnormal qrS deflections in leads from the left axilla.
Environmental effects on the tensile properties of two Ni3Si-based alloys

There is considerable potential for structural intermetallic alloys based on the nickel-silicon system. This is due to their good corrosion resistance, reasonable room-temperature ductility, and excellent strength to temperatures of 600 C or more. Several previous studies have been performed on Ni{sub 3}Si as well as Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) based alloys, yielding promising results. However, these alloys have been reported to suffer from environmental embrittlement at room as well as elevated temperatures. The present study was performed to develop a further understanding of such effects. Toward this end, the tensile properties of two Ni{sub 3}Si based alloys were evaluated over a range of temperatures in environments including air, vacuum, and dry oxygen.
Heat Shock Triggers Assembly of tRNA Synthetases into an Active Supercomplex

Heat shock stimulates cellular production of protein folding chaperones. This response is a reaction to, and likely triggered by, protein misfolding and aggregation. Using a proteome-scale mass spectrometry screen for protein aggregation upon heat shock in vivo, we found that many components of the translational apparatus associate into high-molecular weight species. One such component is the ternary yeast multi-tRNA synthetase complex (glutamyl- and methionyl-tRNA synthetases Gus1 and Mes1 with their aminoacylation cofactor Arc1). In vitro, the purified complex self-assembles in response to the same temperature shift. Remarkably, the self-assembled aminoacylation complex retains full activity toward tRNAMet. We found that assembly is directed by the N-terminal glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-like domains that mediate complex formation under non-shock conditions. Furthermore, the isolated N-terminal GST-like domain of Gus1 suffices to induce the assembly, and can be used to precipitate covalently-linked proteins. The phenomenon is conserved in the N-terminal of Gus1 from a thermophilic fungus that self-assembles near its heat shock temperature. Biophysical studies reveal only modest structural secondary structure changes between the monomeric and self-assembled states. These results indicate that this heat-triggered protein assembly is distinguishable from large-scale misfolding and nonspecific aggregation, and suggest a novel mechanism by which cells sense temperature changes.
Third-year medical students' evaluation of hospitalist and nonhospitalist faculty during the inpatient portion of their pediatrics clerkships

BACKGROUND: Although the data on the impact of hospitalist programs on the inpatient education of medical students during their internal medicine clerkships are favorable, the data is limited on the inpatient educational experience of medical students during their pediatric clerkships. The purpose of this study was to compare the evaluations of hospitalist and nonhospitalist faculty of third-year medical students during their inpatient pediatrics rotations. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of the evaluations of third-year medical student of hospitalist and nonhospitalist faculty during their inpatient pediatrics rotations at Penn State Children's Hospital from July 1999 through September 2000. Using a 4-point scale, students gave an overall evaluation and also rated the hospitalist and nonhospitalist faculty on effectiveness as teachers, effectiveness as pediatricians, and effectiveness as student advocates. Using the same 4-point scale, students rated the following aspects of the rotation: ward rounds, sick newborn care, well newborn care, outpatient clinics, private physician's office, noon conferences, and morning report. RESULTS: A total of 67 students rotated on the pediatric inpatient service during the study period; 35 students rotated with 2 hospitalists, and 32 students rotated with 8 nonhospitalists. All 67 students (100%) submitted an evaluation. The hospitalists received higher scores than nonhospitalists on effectiveness as teachers (3.87 vs. 2.91; P < 0.001), effectiveness as pediatricians (3.94 vs. 3.25; P < .001), effectiveness as student advocates (3.76 vs. 2.97; P < .001), and in the overall evaluation (3.93 vs. 3.06; P < .001). Ward rounds were rated as more beneficial when conducted by hospitalists then when conducted by nonhospitalists (3.15 vs. 2.58; P < .006). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalists were perceived by third-year medical students as providing more effective teaching and more satisfying overall rotations than were nonhospitalists during the inpatient portion of the students' pediatric clerkships. Further studies that examine inpatient systems, particularly as they relate to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of effective communication skills in medical learners, are needed. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2007;2:17–22. © 2007 Society of Hospital Medicine.
Mechanisms of cell death in primary cortical neurons and PC12 cells.

Increasing evidence suggests that the regulation of neuronal cell death is complex. In this study we compared the neurotoxic effects of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), nitric oxide, and thrombin on primary rat cortical cell cultures and the neuronal PC12 cell line. Release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the intracellular accumulation of nucleosomes were used as indicators of necrosis and apoptosis, respectively. There was significant LDH release in both neuronal cell types, however, the pattern of LDH release was variable and agonist-dependent. In response to the nitric oxide generator, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), cortical cells exhibited pronounced LDH release and dramatic morphologic changes, whereas in differentiated PC12 cells, TNFα evoked release of LDH with no associated morphologic changes. Both neuronal cell types, but not undifferentiated PC12 cells, responded to TNFα and thrombin with increased apoptosis. Caspase inhibition, but not antioxidant treatment, reduced nucleosome accumulation in primary cortical cells, but not in differentiated PC12 cells. In the differentiated PC12 cells, caspase inhibition reduced TNFα-mediated LDH release, but not nucleosome accumulation. These data suggest mechanisms involved in neuronal cell death utilize multiple pathways that vary depending on the neurotoxic insult and are also influenced by subtle differences among neuronal cell phenotypes. J. Neurosci. Res. 64:654–660, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Obstetric Considerations in the Management of Pregnancy in Kidney Transplant Recipients

Kidney transplant improves reproductive function; planning for pregnancy is crucial. Prenatal management must address potential fetal complications: preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, low birth weight; as well as maternal: hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, acute rejection or graft loss. The latter depends upon timing after transplant, prepregnancy kidney function, and continuation of immunosuppressive agents at appropriate levels. Graft function is not adversely affected if preconception kidney function was normal. Acute rejection, 9%-14%, must be immediately addressed, with kidney biopsy if necessary. Blood pressure should be meticulously managed; serious morbidity results from poor control. Blood pressures >130/80 mmHg require acceptable antihypertensives: beta-blockers, alpha-methyldopa, hydralazine, and calcium channel blockers. Preeclampsia requires seizure prophylaxis with magnesium sulfate, with expeditious delivery. Screening for urinary tract infections with aggressive treatment and for opportunistic infections that may affect the fetus is essential. Surveillance for fetal anomalies, growth, and antenatal testing is important. Steroids for fetal lung maturity are indicated for preterm delivery. Vaginal birth is preferred, reserving cesarean for obstetrical indications, with pain management similar to normal laboring patients. Surveillance for infection postpartum is warranted. Conflicting information exists regarding safety of breastfeeding with immunosuppressive drugs; immunosuppressive medication must be adjusted to prepregnancy levels and contraception counseling addressed.
Microwave performance of GaN MESFETs

GaN MESFETs have been fabricated with a 0.25 mu m thick channel on a high resistivity GaN layer grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. These devices have a transconductance of 20 mS/mm. For a 0.7 mu m gate length device, the measured f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ were 8 and 17 GHz, respectively.
Dry mechanochemical synthesis of alane from LiH and AlCl3

A mechanochemical process for the synthesis of alane (AlH3) starting from lithium hydride (LiH) and aluminium chloride (AlCl3) at room temperature and the underlying reaction pathway have been studied. In contrast to a conventional process using the same two reactants dissolved in diethyl ether, our approach enables a solvent-free synthesis, thereby directly leading to adduct-free alane. The method described here is quick and efficient, resulting in the quantitative conversion of all aluminium in the starting mixture to alane. Both the intermediate compounds formed during the reaction and the final products have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, solid-state 27Al NMR spectroscopy, and temperature programmed desorption analysis of the as-milled mixtures. We show that excess LiH in the starting mixture (with an optimal ratio of 9LiH : 1AlCl3) is essential for the formation and stability of Al–H bonds, initially in the form of alanates and, eventually, as alane. Further processing of this mixture, gradually adding AlCl3 to reach the ideal 3LiH : 1AlCl3 stoichiometry, appears to restrict the local accumulation of AlCl3 during the ball-milling process, thereby preventing the formation of unstable intermediates that decompose to metallic Al and molecular hydrogen. We also demonstrate that under the milling conditions used, a moderate hydrogen pressure of ca. 300 bar is required to suppress competing reactions that lead to the formation of metallic Al at room temperature. The identification of the reaction intermediates at each stage of the synthesis provides significant insight into the mechanism of this solid-state reaction, which may potentially afford a more rational approach toward the production of AlH3 in a simple solvent-free process.
Combination Propofol/Ketamine is a Safe and Efficient Anesthetic Approach to Anorectal Surgery

Concerns persist regarding respiratory complications from combination deep intravenous sedation and local anesthesia for prone position anorectal surgery. We examined the safety and efficacy of this approach by using a propofol-based and ketamine-based technique. A retrospective review was conducted on all patients undergoing anorectal surgery. Outcomes (perioperative times, specific complications) were compared with respect to operative position and anesthetic approach. Significance was determined using Student's t-test and chi-squared analysis. Surgery was performed on 448 patients during a three-year period. There was no significant difference in the two anesthetic groups with regard to age and gender. There were 19 anesthesia-related adverse events occurring in the study group (Monitored Anesthesia Care Group): nausea and vomiting (n = 8), airway obstruction necessitating conversion to general anesthesia (n = 2), excessive pain (n = 2), urinary retention (n = 5), and hospital readmission (n = 2). These occurred in <5 percent of those receiving the combination technique (19/407). Although there was no difference in total procedural time, there was a significant difference in total time spent in the operating room (P = 0.001) and in the hospital overall (P = 0.002). Of the patients receiving combination technique anesthesia, only 31 (7 percent) required the use of the postanesthesia care unit. All patients receiving general anesthesia (n = 23) required the postanesthesia care unit. Combination deep intravenous sedation with local anesthesia based on propofol and ketamine is a safe and effective technique for prone-position anorectal surgery. It results in decreased use of the postanesthesia care unit and earlier hospital discharge, reflecting a more efficient use of hospital resources.
Death Imagery and the Experience of Organizational Downsizing Or; is Your Name on Schindler's List?

Experiential realities of downsizing, reductions in force, restructuring, outsourcing, and cognate terms are often at wide variance with their touted and expectedpromises of increased productivity, profit, rationality, realism, efficiency, teamwork, and role interchangeability. Vignettes cited suggest that downsizing is not primarily about economics or business but, instead, myth and ritual. Downsizing is explored as a symbolicform and action, rationalized and masked by euphemism. Downsizing implements devastating planned social change, one that takes the form of sacrifice to purchase organizational life via symbolic death. Downsizing is experienced as a metaphoric Holocaust, one driven by the need to perform sacrifice (a) to separate bad from good parts of oneself and (b) to secure organizational rebirth through the expulsion of death. The link between the popular 1993 movie Schindler's List and organizational themes in the language of the Holocaust is explored and takes us to the heart of the conscious ...
Electroactive polymers: current capabilities and challenges

In the last ten years, new EAP materials have emerged that exhibit large displacement in response to electrical stimulation enabling great potential for the field. To develop efficient and robust EAP material for practical applications efforts are underway to understand the behavior of EAP materials and improved characterization techniques. Further, to enhance the actuation force the basic principles are being studied using comprehensive material science, electro-mechanics analytical tools and improved material processing techniques to gain better understanding of the parameters that control the EAP electro-activation force and deformation. The processes of synthesizing, fabricating, electroding, shaping and handling are being refined to maximize the EAP materials actuation capability and robustness. Methods of reliably characterizing the response of these materials are required to establish database with documented material properties in order to support design engineers considering use of these materials and towards making EAP as actuators of choice. Various configurations of EAP actuators and sensors need to be studied and modeled to produce an arsenal of effective smart EAP driven system. The development of the infrastructure is a multidisciplinary task involving materials science, chemistry, electro-mechanics, computers, electronics, and others. This paper will be a review of the status of the EAP field and the challenges to practical application of EAP materials as actuators.
Unsupervised Locally Embedded Clustering for Automatic High-Dimensional Data Labeling

In most machine learning and pattern recognition problems, the large number of high-dimensional sensory data, such as images and videos, are often labeled manually for training classifiers and modeling features, which is time-consuming and tedious. To automatically execute this process by machine, we present the unsupervised high-dimensional data clustering and automatic labeling algorithms, called locally embedded clustering (LEC): (i) constructing the neighborhood weighted graph with an appropriate distance metric; (ii) tuning the regularization parameter to smooth the approximated manifold; (iii) calculating the unified projection in a closed-form solution for the embedding and dimensionality reduction; (iv) choosing the top or bottom coordinates of the embedded low-dimensional space for data representation; (v) normalizing the low-dimensional representation to have unit length; (vi) clustering and labeling the data via K-means. Experimental results demonstrate that LEC provides better data representation, more efficient dimensionality reduction and better clustering performance than many existing methods.
Optimization of Heavy Ion Focussing Systems with Large Numbers of Magnets

A method is presented for efficiently optimizing heavy ion focussing systems consisting of large numbers of magnets. The method is based on a technique for computing gradients of performance functions in systems where the transfer fuction at each point depends only on the state (trajectory) and control function (magnet strength) at that point. A computer program developed to implement this method is also described. The program can be used to minimize final spot size together with maximum bore radius for systems with both quadrupole and sextupole components. Geometric and chromatic abberations are included, with chromatic ones computed nonperturbatively. The results of some initial studies done for ideal quadrupole systems with large momentum spread (±1.5%) are presented. Also, some results for systems that can simultaneously focus several beams, each with different momentum or charge, are presented.
Extramammary Paget's disease: an annotated review.

AbstractThe incidence, clinical features, histogenesis, and treatment of extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) are reviewed. This unusual skin lesion is associated with an underlying adnexal neoplasm in about 50% of cases. Also, the incidence of distant organ malignancies of EMPD is higher than expected by chance. Even in the absence of a recognizable underlying cancer, EMPD may occasionally produce distant metastases, indicating the malignant potential of this condition. Histochemical, immunohistological, and lectin binding studies demonstrate that the cell of origin of EMPD is the exocrine cell of sweat glands. Although EMPD may arise from ec-crine cells, derivation from apocrine cells appears more common. The treatment of the primary lesion, by wide margin excision, is fraught by a high recurrence rate. Chemosurgery may reduce local relapse of EMPD. The value of adjuvant radiation therapy is unestablished. Chemotherapy has induced remission in 2 cases of advanced EMPD and needs testing in clinical trials.
Fungal endophytes: diversity and functional roles.

Summary 1 Summary All plants in natural ecosystems appear to be symbiotic with fungal endophytes. This highly diverse group of fungi can have profound impacts on plant communities through increasing fitness by conferring abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, increasing biomass and decreasing water consumption, or decreasing fitness by altering resource allocation. Despite more than 100 yr of research resulting in thousands of journal articles, the ecological significance of these fungi remains poorly characterized. Historically, two endophytic groups (clavicipitaceous (C) and nonclavicipitaceous (NC)) have been discriminated based on phylogeny and life history traits. Here, we show that NC-endophytes represent three distinct functional groups based on host colonization and transmission, in planta biodiversity and fitness benefits conferred to hosts. Using this framework, we contrast the life histories, interactions with hosts and potential roles in plant ecophysiology of C- and NC-endophytes, and highlight several key questions for future work in endophyte biology.
High yield aldose–ketose transformation for isolation and facile conversion of biomass sugar to furan

Traditional approaches to producing furfural from C5 biomass sugars have several limitations which include high reaction temperatures/pressures, significant sugar loss to side-reactions, modest furfural yields, and high purification costs. We present a novel method for converting the C5 sugar xylose to furfural at facile conditions in very high yield. In this approach, we isomerize xylose to its ketose isomer in high yield via a simultaneous-isomerization-and-reactive-extraction (SIRE) scheme, concentrate and purify xylulose by back-extraction (BE) into an acid medium, and then rapidly dehydrate the xylulose sugar to furfural at relatively low temperature (∼110 °C) with no additional catalyst. To our knowledge, production of furfural from concentrated xylulose (30 g l−1) has not been reported previously; this is likely due to the difficulty of producing relatively large quantities of high-purity xylulose in a cost-effective manner. Through simple strategies, such as addition of an aprotic solvent to the aqueous medium or in situ extraction of furfural during the dehydration, furfural yields of up to 90% were achieved. The mild process conditions associated with each of the steps in the process (SIRE, BE and dehydration), along with the ability to concentrate the incoming sugar stream and recycle process streams and catalysts, results in minimal chemical and energy inputs and have a significant favorable impact on the overall process economics.
Stoffaustausch in der Schaumschicht von Stickstoff/Methan‐Gemischen

Auf einem Siebboden wurde der Stoffaustausch bei der Rektifikation eines Gemisches von Stickstoff und Methan untersucht. Dabei wurden das Gesamtaustauschverhaltnis (Verstarkungsverhaltnis), der ortliche Stoffaustausch innerhalb der Schaumschicht, die Schaumhohe und die Schaumbildung in Abhangigkeit von der Dampfbelastung und der Flussigkeitszusammensetzung bei verschiedenen Drucken gemessen. Der Gesamtaustausch wird durch das Schaumen verbessert, hangt aber nur wenig von der Schaumhohe ab, da der Stoffaustausch in den oberen Schichten des Schaumes nur noch gering ist. Mit wachsendem Druck steigt das Gesamtaustauschverhaltnis etwas an, wahrend die Schaumhohe abnimmt.