cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of placental cytomegalovirus infection by immunocytochemistry

Summary Six placentae of cases with documented, symptomatic intrauterine CMV infection were studied by single and double staining immunocytochemistry. Staining for CMV immediate early antigen detected infected cells in five placentae, even though three had appeared normal on routine histology. Double staining immunocytochemistry for both CMV immediate early antigen and Factor VIII demonstrated that many but not all infected cells were of endothelial origin. Macrophages, including Hofbauer cells, stained by a monoclonal antibody to the CD68 antigen were not found to be infected. This study shows, that immunocytochemistry for CMV immediate early antigen is more sensitive and specific for the detection of placental CMV infection than routine histopathology. Double staining immunocytochemistry is helpful for the characterization of infected cells and opens the door to more detailed study of placental infection.
Influence of ferroelectric polarization on the equilibrium stoichiometry of lithium niobate (0001) surfaces.

We present a first-principles density functional theory study predicting the relative thermodynamic stability of ferroelectric lithium niobate (${\mathrm{LiNbO}}_{3}$) (0001) surfaces of different stoichiometry. We predict that the equilibrium stoichiometries are different for the positively and negatively polarized ${\mathrm{LiNbO}}_{3}$ surfaces under the same conditions. Based on the modern theory of polarization, we demonstrate how a simple ionic model can be used to calculate surface charges for ferroelectric surfaces with intrinsic polar stacking. It is found that surface charge passivation by ions is thermodynamically favored over passivation by mobile carriers in a wide range of chemical potentials.
Viewpoint: pancakes and medical statistics.

Abstract Everyone is willing to expend considerable effort seeking authenticity; for example, the author sometimes travels over 100 miles to eat authentic and delicious homemade pancakes in a small-town restaurant. In the same way, physicians seek authenticity of care, which is another way of saying they seek the truest knowledge available when treating their patients. Because there are so many possible causes of many patients’ complaints, physicians invoke the statistical theory behind the chief complaint (e.g., Which test for the complaint has the highest value?). In a world where medicine must be practiced with attention to resources and cost and where the answer must be reached in the fewest steps, evidence-based medicine (EBM) has risen to prominence. But how do clinicians ensure that the EBM literature is giving them the truest available knowledge? The author observes that clinicians and others have trusted the peer-review system to safeguard them against errors in the clinical literature. But he contends that errors are getting through at an increasing rate, and that physicians cannot automatically trust the peer-review process. Instead, they must become judges of experimental design, statistics, and analysis and assume the responsibilities that they had hoped the peer-review system would bear for them. He speculates about the reasons that peer review is no longer sufficiently ensuring authenticity in the literature. And to alleviate this problem, he recommends that current approaches to educating physicians about experimental design and statistics be augmented by making a beginning knowledge of statistics a requirement for entry into medical school.
Collision and Collusion: The Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe 1989-1998

Collision and Collusion: The Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe 1989-1998. Janine R. Wedel. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. xvii. 286 pp., maps, figures, notes, selected bibliography, index.
Genetic variance of six agronomic characters in three lentil (Lens culinaris Medic) crosses

Three lentil (Lens culinaris Medic) crosses (cross 1 = ‘Chilean’ × PI 297784; cross 2 = ‘Tekoa’ × PI 212611; cross 3 = ‘Precoz’ × PI 212611) were advanced in a hierarchal design from the F2 generation to the F5 generation and tested in replicated field experiments. The purpose was to estimate the genotypic variances and covariances for several characters and to partition these into components due to additive, dominance, and additive × additive variances. Additive genetic variance was the major component of variance in cross 2 for all characters, except plant height and seed weight. Unexpectedly, estimates of dominance variance appeared to be high in crosses 1 and 3. Estimates of the additive × additive component seemed very small in all three populations. The dominance variance component estimates were consistently high for plant height in the three crosses and for seed weight in crosses 2 and 3. Where parental means were close, additive variance estimates were often low and in many cases negative. The unexpected high ratio of dominance variance to additive variance indicated that dominance variance was important in the crosses we studied.
Board composition and nonprofit conduct: Evidence from hospitals

Abstract This study uses data from hospitals to test the hypothesis that management representation on nonprofit boards leads to “excessive” CEO pay, defined as compensation that exceeds the level predicted by a market wage model. We document a relatively small, but statistically significant, positive association between CEO pay and “insider” boards that include the CEO and other employees as members. Additional tests confirm that this result is not driven by endogenous board structure and that excess pay is greater in the absence of competition from for-profit hospitals. We then examine whether management board representation is associated with larger underlying agency concerns that lead to reduced donations. Our tests do not support this hypothesis but do, however, reveal a negative correlation between donations and physician representation on the board – suggesting a potential conflict between the interests of donors and non-employee physicians. Our overall evidence provides empirical support for modeling nonprofit organizations as consisting of competing stakeholders.
Reconstruction of heterogeneous materials via stochastic optimization of limited-angle X-ray tomographic projections

X-ray tomography has provided a non-destructive means for microstructure characterization in three and four dimensions. A stochastic procedure to accurately reconstruct material microstructure from limited-angle X-ray tomographic projections is presented and its utility is demonstrated by reconstructing a variety of distinct heterogeneous materials and elucidating the information content of different projection data sets. A small number of projections (e.g. 20–40) are necessary for accurate reconstructions via the stochastic procedure, indicating its high efficiency in using limited structural information.
Major histocompatibility complex class II polymorphisms in Macaca mulatta: factors influencing comprehensive genotyping of Macaca mulatta (Mamu)-DQA1 alleles by PCR-RFLP in archival samples

In the last 5 years, HLA class II genotyping methods have been adapted for genotyping of class II loci in rhesus macaques. Since previously published typing protocols were used on samples that were collected and stored under ideal conditions, it was of interest to determine if these methods were adequate for genotyping a large collection of archival samples from which DNA had been isolated and stored under various conditions. Established macaque DQA1 typing protocols were modified to optimize the typing procedure and enhance the ability to successfully genotype DNA from samples that were of poor quality and/or quantity. Long-term storage of whole-blood buffy coats or stored DNA extracted from whole-blood buffy coats did not affect typing success; however, amplification and typing of DNA extracted from archival samples of plasma were difficult and resulted in a low success rate. This suggests that amplification and DQA1-genotyping of archival samples is possible with a modified protocol, but is influenced by the age and source of the sample, and to a lesser extent, the method used to extract DNA from sample substrates.
An ethical analysis of deception in advertising

This paper examines several issues regarding deception in advertising. Some generally accepted definitions are considered and found to be inadequate. An alternative definition is proposed for legal/regulatory purposes and is related to a suggested definition of the term deception as it is used in everyday language. Based upon these definitions, suggestions are offered for detecting and regulating deception in advertising. This paper additionally considers the grounds for the generally held but largely unquestioned assumption that deceptive advertising is unethical. It is argued that deceptive advertising can be shown to be morally objectionable, on the weak assumption that it is prima facie wrong to harm others. Finally, the implications of this analysis with respect to current regulation of deceptive advertising by the FTC are considered.
Diverse effects of sphingosine on calcium mobilization and influx in differentiated HL-60 cells

Abstract Sphingosine induces a biphasic increase in cytosolic-free Ca 2+ ([Ca 2+ ] i ) with an initial peak followed by a sustained increase in HL-60 cells differentiated into neutrophil-like cells. The initial peak is not affected by the presence of ethylene glycol bis (β-aminoethyl ether) N, N, N′, N-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) in the buffer and appears to be dependent on conversion of sphingosine to sphingosine -1-phosphate (S1P) by sphingosine kinase, since it is blocked by the presence of N, N-dimethylsphingosine (DMS), which, like sphingosine, causes a sustained increase itself. The sustained increase that is elicited by sphingosine or DMS is abolished by the presence of EGTA in the buffer. The sustained sphingosine-induced Ca 2+ influx does not appear due to Ca 2+ influx through store-operated Ca 2+ (SOC) channels, since the influx is not inhibited by SKF 96365, nor is it augmented by loperamide. In addition, sphingosine and DMS attenuate the Ca 2+ influx through SOC channels that occurs after depletion of intracellular stores by ATP or thapsigargin. Both the initial peak and the sustained increase in [Ca 2+ ] i elicited by sphingosine can be blocked by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-elicited activation of protein kinase C. Thus, in HL-60 cells sphingosine causes a mobilization of Ca 2+ from intracellular Ca 2+ stores, which requires conversion to S1P, while both sphingosine and DMS elicit a Ca 2+ influx through an undefined Ca 2+ channel and cause a blockade of SOC channels.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-modulated DSC study of three mouthguard materials.

Abstract Objectives Employ differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC) to investigate thermal transformations in three mouthguard materials and provide insight into their previously investigated energy absorption. Methods Samples (13–21 mg) were obtained from (a) conventional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), (b) Pro-form™, another EVA polymer, and (c) PolyShok™, an EVA polymer containing polyurethane. Conventional DSC ( n = 5) was first performed from −80 to 150 °C at a heating rate of 10 °C/min to determine the temperature range for structural transformations. Subsequently, TMDSC ( n = 5) was performed from −20 to 150 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C/min. Onset and peak temperatures were compared using ANOVA and the Tukey–Kramer HSD test. Other samples were coated with a gold–palladium film and examined with an SEM. Results DSC and TMDSC curves were similar for both conventional EVA and Pro-form™, showing two endothermic peaks suggestive of melting processes, with crystallization after the higher-temperature peak. Evidence for crystallization and the second endothermic peak were much less prominent for PolyShok™, which had no peaks associated with the polyurethane constituent. The onset of the lower-temperature endothermic transformation is near body temperature. No glass transitions were observed in the materials. SEM examination revealed different surface morphology and possible cushioning effect for PolyShok™, compared to Pro-form™ and EVA. Significance The difference in thermal behavior for PolyShok™ is tentatively attributed to disruption of EVA crystal formation, which may contribute to its superior impact resistance. The lower-temperature endothermic peak suggests that impact testing of these materials should be performed at 37 °C.
Panniculitis Associated With Severe a1-Antitrypsin Deficiency: Treatment and Review of the Literature

• Panniculitis associated with homozygous severe α 1 -antitrypsin deficiency was documented in three women hospitalized for painful cutaneous and subcutaneous ulcerations (severe panniculitis with spontaneous ulceration and drainage of clear or serosanguineous fluid). None had a history of trauma or infection. One patient responded rapidly and completely to treatment with dapsone. One patient, who had more extensive disease, failed to respond to prednisone plus dapsone; infusions of α 1 -proteinase inhibitor concentrate led to resolution of her panniculitis. One patient who had severe and extensive panniculitis and pleural effusions failed to respond to corticosteroids but did well when both dapsone and infusions of α 1 -proteinase inhibitor concentrate were added to her treatment program. ( Arch Dermatol 1987;123:1655-1661)
Validation of the cytosensor for in vitro cytotoxicity studies.

Abstract The Cytosensor™ microphysiometer was used to continuously monitor perturbations in metabolic rates of the human liver cell line ATCC-CCL-13 when exposed to each of 10 drugs. The effects of exposure to one concentration for 24 hr or to sequential increasing concentrations for 4 hr, and recovery after drug removal, were compared. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) and ethanol were used to establish the assay protocols and determine reversibility of drug effect. All drugs produced concentration-and time-dependent reduction in acidification rate following 24 hr exposure, which may be due to decreased number of viable cells and/or lowered metabolic rates of the live cells. The degree of irreversible inhibition of acidification rate was used as an index of cell death and the IC50 values for the 10 drugs were comparable to those produced in the same cell line by a fluorescence assay using Calcein AM stain (r = 0.991), that fluoresces only in live cells, as well as the [3H]thymidine uptake assay (r = 0.976). There was also excellent correlation (r = 0.958) between IC50 values of 24 hr exposure obtained from the Cytosensor with the 10 drugs and their published human lethal blood concentrations. An advantage of this new methodology over other in vitro assays is that it allows the determination of time points at which reversible change becomes irreversible.
Bandwidth-expandable erbium-doped fiber optical amplifiers

A narrowband optical amplifier but bandwidth-expandable is demonstrated. Future amplifier-based sub-system can be constructed to perform non-linear dispersion compensation and to flatten gain while the input level changes in a DWDM optical networking system. The amplifier is designed to inherently provide two networking features: narrowband accessibility and bandwidth scalability. For a 100 GHz- spaced DWDM application, each amplifier can process 4 channels in an array structure. The crosstalk between each amplifier is better than 58 dB. The capability to flatten gain and improve the transient response is experimentally demonstrated.
Maintenance of children's rehearsal strategies: Effects of amount of training and strategy form

Abstract Fifty third- and fourth-grade children, assigned to groups varying in Amount (1 or 2 sessions) and Type (cumulative-cluster or cluster) of strategy training or to a control condition, participated in three free recall sessions, two training sessions with blocked lists of common words and a maintenance session with a 50-states list blocked by geographical regions. During strategy training and maintenance, the cumulative-cluster groups recalled more than the cluster and control groups. Amount of training significantly influenced degree of strategy maintenance, but only in the cumulative-cluster strategy. Strategy form was highly correlated with recall in the cumulative-cluster condition, while total study time (effort) was related to recall only in conditions where strategy instructions were not given. The form of the strategy during training predicted transfer form and recall. 100% of the children who received extended training and demonstrated good strategy form during acquisition sessions successfully transferred the strategy to the geography task.
Bank Relationships and the Value Relevance of the Income Statement: Evidence from Income‐Statement Conservatism

: This study examines the effects of a firm's debt financing decision on the informativeness of the income statement. This study specifically examines the association between a firm's bank dependence and the value relevance of the income statement by investigating the income-statement conservatism of firms with bank loans. Focusing on relatively small businesses, this study finds that income-statement conservatism, measured as timely loss recognition, is increasing in a firm's bank dependence. This study also finds that the value relevance of the income statement is increasing in a firm's bank dependence. The findings of this paper suggest that the usefulness of the income statement varies with a firm's bank dependence, indicating that the value relevance of the income statement is a function of a firm's debt financing decision. The findings further suggest that bank relationships affect the value relevance of the income statement through their influence on income-statement conservatism.
Fostering Resiliency in Underserved Youth Through Physical Activity

Millions of children and youth in our country live in poverty. And yet despite the overwhelming adversity associated with poverty, many of these youngsters are able to bounce back. The purpose of this article is to describe social and psychological factors that help them defy the risks associated with being poor. We suggest ways in which resiliency can be fostered through school and community programs. Included in this are ways in which physical activity serves as an effective medium for promoting growth and renewed optimism. Guidelines for delivering physical activity programs for increasing resiliency are proposed. In these guidelines are personal requirements necessary for successfully working with underserved children and youth.
Scintillation mechanisms of inorganic materials: From crystal characteristics to scintillation properties

Abstract Finding new inorganic scintillator crystals with better performance for demanding applications, such as high-energy physics, medical imaging, and radiation detection, has been a long-standing challenge. Thanks to an intensive interdisciplinary effort between theoreticians, experimentalists and crystal growers, current scintillator performances are reaching the intrinsic limits imposed by the crystal. However, demand continues for more efficient scintillators with higher light output, better energy resolution and lower cost of production. This article discusses the basic concepts of scintillation in inorganic materials, focusing on how physics can provide pathways to assist in scintillator discovery.
Evaluation of Questions Received by Community Pharmacists

The objective of this study was to examine the role of the community pharmacist in providing medication and health information. The number and types of questions received, the references used in answering clinical questions, and the appropriateness of those responses were determined. A total of 1,133 questions was recorded. From observational data, it was determined that 78% of the questions were administrative and 22% were clinical. Product recommendation questions were the most common clinical questions followed by dosage, indication, and interaction questions. Although references were not used frequently, manufacturer's information was the most common type used. Pharmacists' responses to clinical questions were evaluated by an expert panel on three components of appropriateness with mean scores of 2.7 for accuracy, 2.5 for completeness, and 2.7 for utility (3 = maximum score). Possible reasons for underutilization of the pharmacist as an information source to patients and health professionals are discu...
The adhesion of glow--discharge polymers, Silastic and Parylene to implantable platinum electrodes: results of tensile pull tests after exposure to isotonic sodium chloride.

Abstract Thin organic coatings commonly are used for insulating microelectrodes and electronic packages designed for implant applications. The adherence of these coatings to the underlying substrates is a key parameter in their selection for various devices. Instron pull tests were performed on glow-discharge polymerized monomers, Parylene-N, medical-grade Silastic and various epoxies. The application of a thin coating of glow-discharge polymerized methane under a thicker Parylene-N coating improved the adhesion of the latter to the underlying substrate in isotonic sodium chloride solution and during accelerated testing conditions done by boiling.
Polarized States on the Weyl Algebra

A state σ on the Weyl algebra A(V,Ω) over a real symplectic vector space (V,Ω) is polarized when the vectors v for which the absolute value of σ on the corresponding Weyl generator δv is unity constitute a maximal Ω-integral additive subgroup of V ; such a state is necessarily pure, but has inseparable carrier space and is not regular. We determine fundamental properties of such states: in particular, we decide precisely when the GNS representations associated to a pair of polarized states are unitarily equivalent and decide precisely when a given symplectic automorphism is unitarily implemented in the GNS representation associated to a given polarized state.
Updates in cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the most effective treatments for secondary prevention for patients with heart disease. In particular, exercise training confers a variety of clinical benefits that leads to an increase in functional ability and a decrease in mortality in patients with a variety of cardiac diagnoses. Although they require a long-term commitment, standard training programs are safe and cost-effective. Despite its proven benefit, however, cardiac rehabilitation is underused in the United States.
Recent developments in acoustic holography and imaging

Abstract The ability to “see” with sound is an intriguing concept. Sound waves scattered from an object can carry much the same image information concerning the object as do scattered light waves. Man is not naturally equipped to efficiently data-process this kind of information. He cannot obtain a good mental image of an object simply by listening to scattered sound. However, nature has provided many examples of animals that can do this. Only recently has this fact been fully appreciated. In 1793, the Italian scientist Spallanzani concluded that bats must have some “new sense” that humans are not aware of. It was not until 1920 that the principle of operation of the “new sense” was found to be somewhat similar to that used by the sonar systems developed a few years before, during World War I. By now it is well known that several cetaceans, such as the dolphin, also have excellent capability for navigating and locating food by means of sonic energy.
Columnar water vapor retrievals from multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer data

The Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) measures direct and diffuse irradiances in the visible and near IR spectral range. In addition to characteristics of atmospheric aerosols, MFRSR data also allow retrieval of precipitable water vapor (PWV) column amounts, which are determined from the direct normal irradiances in the 940 nm spectral channel. The HITRAN 2004 spectral database was used in our retrievals to model the water vapor absorption. We present a detailed error analysis describing the influence of uncertainties in instrument calibration and spectral response, as well as those in available spectral databases, on the retrieval results. The results of our PWV retrievals from the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site operated by the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program were compared with correlative standard measurements by Microwave Radiometers (MWRs) and a Global Positioning System (GPS) water vapor sensor, as well as with retrievals from other solar radiometers (AERONET’s CIMEL, AATS-6). Some of these data are routinely available at the SGP’s Central Facility, however, we also used measurements from a wider array of instrumentation deployed at this site during the Water Vapor Intensive Observation Period (WVIOP2000) in September – October 2000. The WVIOP data show better agreement between different solar radiometersmore » or between different microwave radiometers (both groups showing relative biases within 4%) than between these two groups of instruments, with MWRs values being consistently higher (up to 14%) than those from solar instruments. We also demonstrate the feasibility of using MFRSR network data for creation of 2D datasets comparable with the MODIS satellite water vapor product.« less
Photochemistry of natural dissolved organic matter in lake and wetland waters—production of carbon monoxide

Abstract The photochemical formation of carbon monoxide (CO) in various lake and wetland waters was found to be correlated with the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), as well as light absorbance and fluorescence of the waters, suggesting that dissolved organic matter is a major precursor for CO photoproduction. Rates of CO formation also increased nonlinearly with increasing concentration of dissolved iron. For the lake and wetland waters studied, CO production rates were between 13 and 910 nmol 1 −1 h −1 using June solar noon sunlight irradiations. Field experiments in a subtropical pond demonstrated that much of photochemically formed CO in the surface water was effluxed to the atmosphere. Considering the globally-averaged effective sunlight flux, we estimate that photoformation of CO leads to a turnover time of 2–10 yr for DOC in sunlit surface waters.
Quantification of isolated muscle compartment activity in extrinsic finger muscles for potential prosthesis control sites

Prosthetic hands are becoming more advanced and gaining degrees-of-freedom similar to their human counterparts. However, the command interface enabling control of these prostheses needs to be improved for more intuitive functional use. One barrier to using electromyographic (EMG) signals as the command interface is measuring independent muscle control sites in the residual limb. Surface electrodes are commonly used to detect muscle activity in the forearm; however, the measured signals are often comprised of EMG signals from multiple muscles that are close together. This study investigated the suitability of the index and middle finger compartments of the extrinsic muscles as control sites for prostheses using a direct myocontrol interface. Fine-wire intramuscular electrodes were inserted into seven subjects and their ability to achieve isolated activations of each compartment was tested. The results showed five of the six compartments yield signals suitable for independent volitional control. The middle finger compartment of extensor digitorum communis was found to be incapable of isolated contractions and is therefore not recommended as a control site for direct myocontrol prostheses. A cross-correlation threshold was used to verify that simultaneously measured EMG signals were free from crosstalk and were therefore attributed to muscle co-activations.
FACTORS LIMITING PROTEIN SYNTHESIS BY ISOLATED RIBOSOMES.

Abstract The “active” and “inactive” ribosomal systems from peas have been examined with respect to differences between the two systems. Although the two systems differ in their response to varied concentrations of the components of the reaction system, simple adjustment of these concentrations to optimal levels does not bring amino acid incorporation by the “inactive” system up to a level which even approaches that of the “active” system. The ribosomes from the two systems do not seem to differ markedly in stability, and both systems have essentially equal ability to form amini acyl-RNA. However, the two systems differ greatly in their ability to bind amino acyl-RNA to ribosomes, and to transfer amino acid from amino acyl-RNA to ribosomal protein. Experiments with polyuridylate indicate that a lesion in the “inactive” system may be related to the binding of messenger RNA to the ribosome.
Signatures of dynamically polarized nuclear spins in all-electrical lateral spin transport devices

The effect of nuclear spins in Fe/GaAs all-electrical spin-injection devices is investigated. At temperatures below 50 K, strong modifications of the non-local spin signal are found that are characteristic for hyperfine coupling between conduction electrons and dynamically polarized nuclear spins. The perpendicular component of the nuclear Overhauser field depolarizes electron spins near zero in-plane external magnetic field, and can suppress such dephasing when antialigned with the external field, leading to satellite peaks in a Hanle measurement. The features observed agree well with a Monte Carlo simulation of the spin diffusion equation including hyperfine interaction, and are used to study the nuclear spin dynamics and relate it to the spin polarization of injected electrons.
Ab initio calculations of the potential surface for rearrangement of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoromethylenecyclopropane to 1-(difluoromethylene)-2,2-difluorocyclopropane.

(4/4)CASSCF and CASPT2 calculations have been performed to understand the reason that addition of a second pair of geminal fluorines to methylenecyclopropane lowers the barrier to rearrangement by 6.7 kcal/mol more than addition of the first pair. Our calculations duplicate this experimental finding by Dolbier and co-workers. Our computational results confirm Dolbier's conjecture, that the non-additive lowering of Ea for the rearrangement of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoromethylenecyclopropane (9) to 1-(difluoromethylene)-2,2-difluorocyclopropane (11) is due to destabilization of 9 by the presence of the vicinal CF2 groups in this fluorocarbon. In the course of exploring the potential energy surface for the rearrangement of 9, we have located a bond-stretch isomer (20) that differs from 9 by inversion of both CF2 groups. The enthalpy of 20 is computed to be 21.9 kcal/mol higher than that of 9, but direct interconversion of these two “bond-stretch invertomers” requires passage over a TS whose enthalpy is calculated to...
Clinical significance of colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis in a pediatric population

The significance of colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis has been well described in adults, and is associated with lymphocytic colitis, untreated celiac disease, and medications, among others. Little is known about the meaning of colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis in the pediatric population; this study examines this finding in a cohort of children. Twenty patients in whom colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis was a prominent feature were identified from 1999 to 2005. Colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis was defined as 20 or more intraepithelial lymphocytes per 100 colonocytes present in at least one colonic mucosal biopsy. Each biopsy was examined for numbers of intraepithelial lymphocytes per 100 surface and crypt colonocytes; various architectural, inflammatory, and metaplastic changes were also noted. When available, concurrent duodenal and/or ileal biopsies were examined. Studied clinical parameters included indications for biopsy, clinical follow-up, final diagnosis, comorbidities, autoimmune serologies, and medications. A total of 121 colonic mucosal biopsies were examined in 20 patients who ranged from 1 to 17 years (mean 10.2 years; 40% male). Common indications for endoscopy included diarrhea and abdominal pain. A mean of 29 (+/-22) intraepithelial lymphocytes per 100 enterocytes were seen. Seven patients had colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis as the only histologic finding. The remaining 13 patients had additional architectural, inflammatory, and metaplastic changes. The mean follow-up period was 14 months (range 1-48 months). Inflammatory bowel disease was diagnosed in 4 of 20 patients and was seen chiefly in biopsies in which colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis was associated with architectural or inflammatory changes. Common disease associations include celiac disease, lymphocytic colitis, and autoimmune enteropathy. Pediatric colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis, in the absence of other histologic findings, is associated with various diseases, including celiac disease, lymphocytic colitis, and autoimmune enteropathy. Colonic intraepithelial lymphocytosis in the presence of other inflammatory changes indicates the possibility of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. These findings are similar to those seen in adults, with the exception of autoimmune enteropathy.
Evaluating estimates of phosphorus maintenance requirement of lactating Holstein cows with different dry matter intakes

Abstract The objective was to evaluate estimates of the inevitable fecal loss component of the P maintenance requirement of lactating Holstein cows consuming differing amounts of a low-P diet. The maintenance requirement for P is the sum of inevitable (e.g., unavoidable) endogenous fecal P plus endogenous urinary P when an animal is fed near its true P requirement (i.e., zero P balance). Urinary excretion of P is normally very low in healthy cattle. Inevitable fecal P is the main part of the total P maintenance requirement; it can be expressed as grams of fecal P/kilogram of dry matter intake (DMI). Twenty-one multiparous lactating Holstein cows (55 to 253±6 d in milk, range±SD; 0 to 171±64 d pregnant) with a wide range of pretrial milk yields (25.3 to 47.3±1.23kg/cow per day) were selected to achieve a range in DMI and assigned to treatment groups of low, medium, and high DMI. To obtain an even greater range in DMI, rations fed to cows in the low and medium treatment groups were restricted to 75 and 50% of their pretrial ad libitum intakes, respectively. Dry matter intakes during the experiment averaged 11.3 (low), 15.3 (medium), and 25.1 (high) kg/cow per d, respectively. All cows were fed the same low-P diet (0.26% P, dry basis) throughout the experiment. Phosphorus balances of cows in all treatments were not different from zero and unaffected by DMI. Average daily total inevitable fecal P excretion was 15.3, 18.2, and 26.3 g/cow for low, medium, and high DMI, respectively. Inevitable fecal P excretion was 1.36, 1.19, and 1.04 g/kg of DMI for low, medium, and high and decreased linearly with increasing DMI. The regression equation to estimate inevitable fecal P excretion across the range of DMI was: (g/d)=[0.85±0.070 (g/d)]×DMI (kg/d)+[5.30±1.224 (g/d)]; (R 2 =0.90). This equation can be used to estimate the inevitable fecal P component of the total P maintenance requirement of lactating Holstein cows.
Tensile Strength and the Mining of Black Holes

There are a number of important thought experiments that involve raising and lowering boxes full of radiation in the vicinity of black hole horizons. This Letter looks at the limitations placed on these thought experiments by the null energy condition, which imposes a fundamental bound on the tensile-strength-to-weight ratio of the materials involved, makes it impossible to build a box near the horizon that is wider than a single wavelength of the Hawking quanta, and puts a severe constraint on the operation of ``space elevators'' near black holes. In particular, it is shown that proposals for mining black holes by lowering boxes near the horizon, collecting some Hawking radiation, and dragging it out to infinity cannot proceed nearly as rapidly as has previously been claimed. As a consequence of this limitation, the boxes and all the moving parts are superfluous and black holes can be destroyed equally rapidly by threading the horizon with strings.
A finite elastostatic analysis of bimaterial interface cracks

A numerical method is developed to study the bimaterial interface problem in Neo-Hookean materials under plane stress conditions. Comparison is made with the analytical predictions for the asymptotic field of the problem. The range of dominance of the asymptotic solution at different load levels is established and the amplitudes of the crack-tip asymptotic field are related to the far field loading. The numerical model is extended to analyze the experiments conducted on specimens with an edge crack at the interface between two dissimilar Solithane plates that are characterized by Mooney-Rivlin material behavior.
An improved method for preparing large arrays of bacterial colonies containing plasmids for hybridization: In situ purification and stable binding of DNA on paper filters

Abstract An improved procedure is presented for the binding to filter paper and subsequent purification of DNA from plasmid-containing bacterial colonies. The procedure includes treatments with NaOH, enzymatic digestion, and organic solvent extraction of the filter-bound DNA. This method allows isolation of DNA in a reusable form from thousands of colonies in several hours. Double-labeling experiments with [ 3 H]thymidine and [ 14 C]proline indicated that (i) during purification the DNA:protein ratio is increased several hundredfold; (ii) little or no DNA is lost during the procedure; (iii) the resultant purified DNA is tenaciously bound to the paper. Thus, the final filter-bound DNA allows multiple sequential hybridizations of different probes to one filter.
Combination chemotherapy with carmustine and cisplatin before, during, and after radiotherapy for adult malignant gliomas

Twenty-two patients, aged 16 to 67, who had malignant gliomas after surgical resection were treated with carmustine and cisplatin intravenous infusion before, during, and after radiotherapy. All patients had subtotal or total resection, or biopsy as the initial procedure. Twenty-one patients who had at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy and finished the whole course of radiotherapy were considered to be evaluable for responses. Among them, 5 had glioblastoma multiforme, 16 had anaplastic astrocytoma. The median time to tumor progression was 35 weeks (range 12–130 weeks) and median survival time was 66 weeks (range 10–156 weeks). Early progression occurred more frequently in patients with biopsy only and subtotal resection, and in patients with glioblastoma than in those with anaplastic astrocytoma. This combined modality treatment program was associated with reversible hematologic toxicity which was severe in 2 patients, and with ototoxicity in 1 patient, nephrotoxicity in 2 patients. Combination of carmustine and cisplatin with cranial irradiation for malignant gliomas is moderately toxic and appears to offer no obvious survival advantage compared with radiation therapy plus BCNU alone.
Ablation of AgRP neurons impairs adaption to restricted feeding

While the SCN controls the circadian clock, further evidence suggests the existence of a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) that links behavior to changes in food availability such as during restricted feeding (RF). We found that the activity of AgRP/NPY neurons changed rhythmically during RF suggesting that these neurons are a component of the FEO. We next ablated AgRP/NPY neurons in neonates with diphtheria toxin resulting in the loss of ∼50% of AgRP/NPY neurons. Body weight and food intake were unchanged in adult animals after neonatal ablation, as were the responses to leptin treatment, leptin withdrawal, food deprivation and ghrelin treatment. However, ablated animals showed 30% mortality within 4 days of RF. Moreover, the recovery of body weight and food intake in surviving animals lagged behind controls with an absence of food anticipatory activity even after three days. These findings identify AgRP/NPY neurons as a key cellular component of the food-entrained oscillator.
Predators on Red-winged Blackbird nests in eastern North Dakota

Predation has consistently been identified as the most common cause of nest failure for Red- winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). During May and June, 2000 and 2001, we used infrared-triggered camera systems to identify potential nest predators on artificially relocated Red-winged Blackbird nests in eastern North Dakota. For some of the species observed, these observations represent the first documentation of predation on Red-winged Blackbird nests in the northern Great Plains. SINOPSIS. Depredadores de los nidos de Agelaius phoeniceus en Dakota del Norte La depredacion ha sido identificada consistentemente como la causa mas comun de la perdida de nidos en la especie Agelaius phoeniceus. Durante mayo y junio de 2000 y 2001, utilizamos una camara que se disparaba con rayos infrarojos para identificar los posibles depredadores en nidos del ave en discusion. El estudio se llevoa cabo en Dakota del Norte. Se documentaron un considerable numero de visitantes a los nidos vigilados y depredacion por parte de organismos previamente no descritos para las Grandes Planicies.
Effects of Falconry Harvest on Wild Raptor Populations in the United States: Theoretical Considerations and Management Recommendations

We used recent population data and a deterministic matrix model that accounted for important aspects of raptor population biology to evaluate the likely impact of falconry harvest (including take of different age classes) on wild raptor populations in the United States. The harvest rate at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) ranged from 0.03 to 0.41 for the species examined. At least for peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), harvest rate at MSY was greatest for nestlings and lowest for adults. The quality of demographic data for the species influenced MSY. For most species the state of current knowledge probably underestimates the capacity for allowed harvest because estimates of vital rates, particularly survival, are biased low, because emigration is not distinguished from survival. This is offset somewhat by biases that might overestimate sustainability inherent in MSY-based analyses and deterministic models. Taking these factors into consideration and recognizing the impracticality of monitoring raptor populations to determine actual effects of harvest, we recommend that falconry harvest rates for juvenile raptors in the United States not exceed one-half of the estimated MSY up to a maximum of 5%, depending on species-specific estimates of capacity to sustain harvest. Under this guideline, harvest rates of up to 5% of annual production are supported for northern goshawks (Accipter gentilis), Harris's hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus), peregrine falcons, and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos); lower harvest rates are recommended for other species until better estimates of vital rates confirm greater harvest potential.
Ammonium transport and reaction in contaminated groundwater: Application of isotope tracers and isotope fractionation studies

[1] Ammonium (NH4+) is a major constituent of many contaminated groundwaters, but its movement through aquifers is complex and poorly documented. In this study, processes affecting NH4+ movement in a treated wastewater plume were studied by a combination of techniques including large-scale monitoring of NH4+ distribution; isotopic analyses of coexisting aqueous NH4+, NO3−, N2, and sorbed NH4+; and in situ natural gradient 15NH4+ tracer tests with numerical simulations of 15NH4+, 15NO3−, and 15N2 breakthrough data. Combined results indicate that the main mass of NH4+ was moving downgradient at a rate about 0.25 times the groundwater velocity. Retardation factors and groundwater ages indicate that much of the NH4+ in the plume was recharged early in the history of the wastewater disposal. NO3− and excess N2 gas, which were related to each other by denitrification near the plume source, were moving downgradient more rapidly and were largely unrelated to coexisting NH4+. The δ15N data indicate areas of the plume affected by nitrification (substantial isotope fractionation) and sorption (no isotope fractionation). There was no conclusive evidence for NH4+-consuming reactions (nitrification or anammox) in the anoxic core of the plume. Nitrification occurred along the upper boundary of the plume but was limited by a low rate of transverse dispersive mixing of wastewater NH4+ and O2 from overlying uncontaminated groundwater. Without induced vertical mixing or displacement of plume water with oxic groundwater from upgradient sources, the main mass of NH4+ could reach a discharge area without substantial reaction long after the more mobile wastewater constituents are gone. Multiple approaches including in situ isotopic tracers and fractionation studies provided critical information about processes affecting NH4+ movement and N speciation.
Fingerprinting Communication and Computation on HPC Machines

How do we identify what is actually running on high-performance computing systems? Names of binaries, dynamic libraries loaded, or other elements in a submission to a batch queue can give clues, but binary names can be changed, and libraries provide limited insight and resolution on the code being run. In this paper, we present a method for fingerprinting code running on HPC machines using elements of communication and computation. We then discuss how that fingerprint can be used to determine if the code is consistent with certain other types of codes, what a user usually runs, or what the user requested an allocation to do. In some cases, our techniques enable us to fingerprint HPC codes using runtime MPI data with a high degree of accuracy.
Fast space-varying convolution and its application in stray light reduction

Space-varying convolution often arises in the modeling or restoration of images captured by optical imaging systems. For example, in applications such as microscopy or photography the distortions introduced by lenses typically vary across the field of view, so accurate restoration also requires the use of space-varying convolution. While space-invariant convolution can be efficiently implemented with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), space-varying convolution requires direct implementation of the convolution operation, which can be very computationally expensive when the convolution kernel is large. In this paper, we develop a general approach to the efficient implementation of space-varying convolution through the use of matrix source coding techniques. This method can dramatically reduce computation by approximately factoring the dense space-varying convolution operator into a product of sparse transforms. This approach leads to a tradeoff between the accuracy and speed of the operation that is closely related to the distortion-rate tradeoff that is commonly made in lossy source coding. We apply our method to the problem of stray light reduction for digital photographs, where convolution with a spatially varying stray light point spread function is required. The experimental results show that our algorithm can achieve a dramatic reduction in computation while achieving high accuracy.
New good Hermitian self-dual codes over GF(4)

The purpose of this paper is to construct new Hermitian self-dual codes over GF(4) of lengths 22, 24, 26, and 32 which have the highest known minimum weights. In particular, for length 22, we construct 8 new extremal self-dual [22,11,8] codes over GF(4) which do not have a nontrivial automorphism of odd order. The existence of such codes was left open by Huffman (1991) and the 8 codes are the first examples.