cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Developmental dynamics of stem starch accumulation in Sorghum bicolor.

Sweet sorghums were identified that accumulate up to ~9% of their total stem dry weight as starch. Starch accumulated preferentially in stem pith parenchyma in close proximity to vascular bundles. Stem starch accumulated slowly between floral initiation and anthesis and more rapidly between anthesis and 43 days post-anthesis before declining in parallel with tiller outgrowth. Genes involved in stem starch metabolism were identified through phylogenetic approaches and RNA-seq analysis of Della stem gene expression during the starch accumulation phase of development. Genes differentially expressed in stems were identified that are involved in starch biosynthesis (i.e., AGPase SS/LS, starch synthases, starch-branching enzymes), degradation (i.e., glucan-water dikinase, β-amylase, disproportionating enzyme, alpha-glucan phosphorylase) and amyloplast sugar transport (glucose-6-P translocator). Transcripts encoding AGPase SS and LS subunits with plastid localization were differentially induced during stem starch accumulation indicating that ADP-glucose for starch biosynthesis is primarily generated in stem plastids. Cytosolic heteroglucan metabolism may play a role in stem sucrose/starch accumulation because genes encoding cytosolic forms of the disproportionating enzyme and alpha-glucan phosphorylase were induced in parallel with stem sucrose/starch accumulation. Information on the stem starch pathway obtained in this study will be useful for engineering sorghum stems with elevated starch thereby improving forage quality and the efficiency of biomass conversion to biofuels and bio-products.
Prevalence and short-term outcomes of venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients with hematologic malignancies: A nationwide analysis.

e18728Background: Patients with hematologic malignancies are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and its complications. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of VTE and its i...
Robust Classification using Robust Feature Augmentation.

Existing deep neural networks, say for image classification, have been shown to be vulnerable to adversarial images that can cause a DNN misclassification, without any perceptible change to an image. In this work, we propose shock absorbing robust features such as binarization, e.g., rounding, and group extraction, e.g., color or shape, to augment the classification pipeline, resulting in more robust classifiers. Experimentally, we show that augmenting ML models with these techniques leads to improved overall robustness on adversarial inputs as well as significant improvements in training time. On the MNIST dataset, we achieved 14x speedup in training time to obtain 90% adversarial accuracy com-pared to the state-of-the-art adversarial training method of Madry et al., as well as retained higher adversarial accuracy over a broader range of attacks. We also find robustness improvements on traffic sign classification using robust feature augmentation. Finally, we give theoretical insights for why one can expect robust feature augmentation to reduce adversarial input space
MicroRNAs expression in acute promyelocitic leukemia upon ATRA treatment

3251 MicroRNAs are small non-protein coding RNAs of 19 to 25 nucleotides that regulates gene expression targeting messenger RNAs (mRNA) in a sequence specific manner inducing translational repression or mRNA degradation depending on the degree of complementarity between miRNAs and their targets . For the few microRNAs whose function is known, they play important roles in development, differentiation, metabolism, cell growth and death in animals and plants. Recently microRNAs have been described to be involved in the regulation of mice hematopoiesis and to be disregulated in chronic lymphocytic leukemias and other lymphoproliferative disorders of B origin. However little is known about miRNAs are regulated and their role in myelopoiesis. Acute Promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia, which results from the translocation of the promyelocytic gene (PML) gene in the chromosme 15 and the retinoic acid receptotr alpha gene ( RARa) in chromosome 17. . This traslocation creates a novel oncogenic fusion protein which induces maturation arrest at the promyelocytic stage of granulocytic diffrentiation Pharmacological dosis of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) reverse the dominant negative effect of the oncogenic protein fusion PML-RARa and induce differentiation of APL cells in vitro and in vivo . Indeed this is one of the best studied cell models of differentiation. In the present study, we analyze the microRNAs expression in APL cell lines upon ATRA treatment using microRNAs microarrays. Among the up-regulated microRNAs upon ATRA treatment, three microRNAs are predicted to target the same gene, which is a recently discover hematopoietic transcription factor involved in myeloid differentiation. Furthermore we identified and validated several other microRNA targets, which are genes activated by ATRA and involved in retinoic acid signaling. Thus, ATRA simultaneously induced retinoic acid signaling genes and modulate their expression throught a microRNA based mechanism.
An Experimentalist’s View of Control Analysis

In Responding to the invitation to comment on some aspects of the symposium, I will attempt no evaluation of the internal logic or mathematical merits of the various mathematical treatments that have been discussed. Those and other characteristics of these treatments have been discussed by other participants. Rather, I will focus my comments mainly on two questions that Dr. Cornish-Bowden asked me to consider, and which he posed in his introductory presentation (see Chapter 1): (a) what characteristics should a theory have if it is to be useful to experimentalists and (b) are the main treatments that have been discussed here — those of Kacser and Burns (see especially Chapters 3, 17, 20 and 25), Heinrich and Rapoport (Chapter 28), and Savageau (Chapters 4 and 5) — valuable to experimental metabolic biochemists?
A preliminary report on the effect of gabapentin pretreatment on periprocedural pain during in-office posterior nasal nerve cryoablation.

Background Posterior nasal nerve (PNN) cryoablation is a novel surgical technique to address allergic and nonallergic rhinitis. Periprocedural pain has been reported after PNN cryoablation and there are no standardized protocols for optimal in-office local anesthesia. This study sought to evaluate the effect of gabapentin on patient discomfort following in-office PNN cryoablation. Methods Multi-institutional prospective analysis of patients undergoing in-office PNN cryoablation for allergic or nonallergic rhinitis between March 2018 and April 2019. Patients received local anesthesia with or without 600 mg oral gabapentin 1 hour preprocedure. Rhinitis diagnosis, demographics, and baseline disease-specific quality of life (mini-Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire [RQLQ] and Total Nasal Symptom Score [TNSS]) were recorded. Patient discomfort was measured by the pain visual analogue scale (VAS) posttreatment and rated 0 to 10 on an ordinal scale. Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon 2-sample tests were used to evaluate differences between the 2 groups. Results A total of 26 patients were enrolled (gabapentin n = 15, control = 11). Baseline TNSS scores in the gabapentin vs control group were median [25th percentile to 75th percentile]) 10 (7.5 to 11.0) and 9 (6.0 to 10.0) (p = 0.35). Baseline Mini-RQLQ scores in gabapentin vs control groups were 3.21 (2.0 to 4.0) and 2.92 (2.78 to 4.35) (p = 0.51). The median VAS pain scores at 5, 20, and 30 minutes in the gabapentin vs control group were 0.0 (0.0 to 2.0) vs 3.0 (1.0 to 4.0), 2.0 (0.0 to 3.0) vs 8.0 (6.0 to 10.0), and 1.0 (0.0 to 1.0) vs 5.0 (4.0 to 6.0) (p = 0.02, p = 0.0043, and p = 0.003, respectively). Conclusion Preprocedure gabapentin significantly reduces immediate and delayed postprocedural patient discomfort following PNN cryoablation.
Matrix Profile XX: Finding and Visualizing Time Series Motifs of All Lengths using the Matrix Profile

Many time series analytic tasks can be reduced to discovering and then reasoning about conserved structures, or time series motifs. Recently, the Matrix Profile has emerged as the state-of-the-art for finding time series motifs, allowing the community to efficiently find time series motifs in large datasets. The matrix profile reduced time series motif discovery to a process requiring a single parameter, the length of time series motifs we expect (or wish) to find. In many cases this is a reasonable limitation as the user may utilize out-of-band information or domain knowledge to set this parameter. However, in truly exploratory data mining, a poor choice of this parameter can result in failing to find unexpected and exploitable regularities in the data. In this work, we introduce the Pan Matrix Profile, a new data structure which contains the nearest neighbor information for all subsequences of all lengths. This data structure allows the first truly parameter-free motif discovery algorithm in the literature. The sheer volume of information produced by our representation may be overwhelming; thus, we also introduce a novel visualization tool called the motif-heatmap which allows the users to discover and reason about repeated structures at a glance. We demonstrate our ideas on a diverse set of domains including seismology, bioinformatics, transportation and biology.
Cities treated as things: imagining post-fossil cities. A friendly rejoinder to Hajer and Versteeg and Wachsmuth

Cities have become a central focus for questions of sustainability futures. Most discussion has to do with their activities and how they are governed and the strategies to reduce their environmenta...
Patient Satisfaction and Clinical Efficacy of an Advanced Practice Provider Stone Prevention Clinic

AbstractIntroduction:The benefits of a multidisciplinary stone prevention clinic are well established. However, the outcomes of advanced practice provider integration into this model have not been ...
12.07 – Intensive Quenching

The chapter discusses different applications of intensive quenching (IQ) techniques to actual steel products and test samples provided by parts manufacturers. Two intensive water-quenching methods are considered: an IQ-3 technique, also known as direct convection cooling, and an IQ-2 technique, a two- or three-step quenching process that cools parts first under a nucleate boiling heat-transfer mode and then by convection. IQ process demonstrations were conducted for a variety of steel products, including automotive and off-highway equipment parts (coil springs, kingpins, torsion bars, ball studs, gears, etc.), fasteners of different types, and tool products (punches, dies, die components, etc.). For intensive quenching of steel parts, different IQ systems were used. These systems are installed at the Center for Intensive Quenching in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as at three commercial heat-treating shops and one captive heat-treating shop. The chapter summarizes test data obtained during the last several years and presented in numerous papers at different heat-treating conferences and forums.
Fluorescence-guided surgery for primary and metastatic bone tumors in orthotopic nude mouse models

Abstract Primary and metastatic bone cancer are recalcitrant diseases. This present chapter reviews approaches to precision of fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) to resect primary and metastatic bone tumors. In order to develop a mouse model for FGS of osteosarcoma, 143B human osteosarcoma or bone metastatic PC-3 prostate cancer cells expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) or red fluorescent protein (RFP) were injected into the intramedullary cavity of the tibia in nude mice. The fluorescent area of residual tumors after FGS was 100 times smaller than after bright-light surgery (BLS). The FGS-treated mice had a significantly higher disease-free survival (DFS) rate than the BLS-treated. In addition, successful FGS was performed on bone metastatic prostate cancer in mouse models using anti-carcinoembryonic antibodies conjugated to DyLight 650 to label the tumor.
Intergenerational transmission of childhood trauma? Testing cellular aging in mothers exposed to sexual abuse and their children.

Abstract Background Exposure to maltreatment in childhood can lead to increased risk for poor health outcomes in adulthood. Child maltreatment and later poor health may be linked by premature biological aging. We tested whether childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was associated with telomere length (TL) in adult females. We further tested the hypothesis of intergenerational transmission of CSA-related effects by measuring TL in both CSA-exposed and non-exposed mothers and their children. Methods Participants were a subset of females and their children in a prospective-longitudinal cohort study of sexually abused females and a demographically comparable control group from the same Washington, D.C. area. TL was measured using qPCR in both leukocyte and buccal samples from females (N = 108, mean age 36.3 years) and buccal samples from their children (N = 124, mean age 10.5 years). Multilevel models were used to test associations between CSA-exposure and TL measured in leukocytes and buccal tissue in females and to test the intergenerational effect of maternal-CSA exposure on age-adjusted TL in their children. Results CSA-exposure was not associated with TL in adult females. Maternal TL and biological sex were significant predictors of child TL such that longer maternal TL predicted longer TL in children, and female children had longer TL than male children. However, maternal-CSA exposure did not predict TL in children. Discussion CSA-exposure was not associated with TL in this cohort of middle-aged females, nor was there evidence for an intergenerational effect of maternal-CSA exposure on child TL. This finding is in line with some previous results on CSA and adult TL. Previous significant results associating child maltreatment with shorter TL may be capturing a population of individuals exposed to either multiple types of maltreatment compared to controls with no childhood adversity, or maltreatment in childhood with concurrent TL measurements.
Associations between parents' number talk and management language with young children

Abstract Evidence from a growing body of observational and experimental studies indicates that parent math talk is a key input supporting early mathematical thinking. Very little research, however, has been dedicated to understanding parenting or family correlates of math talk. In the present study, we examined relations between parents' number talk and their management language (i.e., the extent to which parents were controlling versus autonomy granting). Management language is predictive of children's executive functioning and, thereby, may also be relevant to math learning. During semi-structured play interactions with their young children (n = 49), parents who engaged in more number talk also used more autonomy supportive management language than did parents who engaged in less number talk, and this association was strongest once controlling for children's number talk. Our findings also provided preliminary evidence of variations in this association by parent education level: number talk and management language were more strongly associated for parents with less than a 4-year college degree than for those with a bachelor's degree or higher.
Letter by Seitz and Beurtheret Regarding Article, “Causes of Death and Influencing Factors in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Competing Risk Analysis From the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulant Therapy Study”

Marijon and colleagues1 studied the different causes of death in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in a very interesting post hoc analysis of the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulant Therapy (RE-LY) trial. They showed in a contemporary anticoagulated AF population that the majority of deaths were not related to stroke but to cardiac deaths (9.8% versus 37.4%), more specifically sudden cardiac death and progressive heart failure (HF). From their analyses HF emerged as the strongest independent predictor …
Cariogenic and oral health taxa in the oral cavity among children and adults: A scoping review.

Abstract Objective To review published oral microbiome studies and create a comprehensive list of bacterial species found in saliva and dental plaque among healthy children and adults associated with presence of carious lesions and caries-free state (oral health). Design This review followed PRISMA‐ScR guidelines. We searched published studies querying PUBMED and EMBASE using the following keywords: (plaque OR saliva) AND caries AND (next generation sequencing OR checkerboard OR 16s rRNA or qPCR). Studies were limited to human studies published in English between January 1, 2010 and June 24, 2020 that included > 10 caries-active and > 10 caries-free participants, and assessed the entire bacterial community. Results Our search strategy identified 298 articles. After exclusion criteria, 22 articles remained; we considered 2 studies that examined saliva and plaque as separate studies, for a total of 24 studies. Species associated with caries or oral health varied widely among studies reviewed, with notable differences by age and biologic sample type. No bacterial species was associated with caries in all studies. Streptococcus mutans was found more frequently among those with caries (14/24 (58.3 %)) and Fusobacterium periodonticum was found more frequently among those that were caries-free (5/24 (20.8 %)). Conclusion No bacterial species was associated with caries or oral health across all studies supporting multiple pathways to cariogenesis. However, the variation may be due to sampling at different time points during caries development, varying methods of specimen sampling, storage, sequencing or analysis or differences in host factors such as age.
Application of IEEE-370 for PCIe Interconnect Test with 2X-Thru De-embedding

When PCIe 5.0 CEM connector testing result came out differently depending on the 2X-Thru de-embedding tools, we performed the tool accuracy test adopting the IEEE 370 specification and the framework. The key to success in this test was to ensure that the actual values of DUT (Device Under Test) were known and the qualities of data in use were good. Hence, we utilized PCIe 5.0 CEM connector and fixture model data for the direct comprehension in the compliance test and 370 plugand-play module data which provided the DUT direct measurement data. Best utilizing the metrics and criteria defined in 370 specification, four different states of art 2X-Thru de-embedding tools were tested, and the test results are summarized.
Horticultural evaluation of zein-based bioplastic containers

Environmental problems caused by petroleum-based plastics have led to interest in alternatives made from biodegradable polymers (bioplastics), but little effort has been made to evaluate horticultural containers made from these materials. Containers were fabricated from polymers of the corn (Zea mays L.) protein, zein. My first objective was to determine the longevity of zein-based containers under conditions typical of horticultural production. Zein containers of two wall thicknesses were filled with either a peat-based, soilless potting substrate or coarse perlite, and they were irrigated every 2 or 4 days. After 10 weeks, weight loss of containers was determined as a measure of their degradation. Containers filled with the peat-based soilless substrate lost nearly twice as much weight as containers filled with perlite, and irrigation every 4 days led to greater weight loss than irrigation every 2 days. In another experiment, to simulate the potential practice of installing plants in the landscape without container removal, bioplastic containers of two sidewall thicknesses were filled with the soilless potting substrate and planted in either drained or saturated field soil, and the two substrates were either sterilized (autoclaved) or nonsterilized. After 12 weeks, containers in drained soils had greater weight loss than containers in saturated soils regardless of substrate sterilization treatment. My second objective was to test the hypothesis that biodegradation of zein-based containers provides nitrogen (N) that promotes growth of geranium (Pelargonium ×hortorum L.H. Bail.). Zein containers provided root zones up to 298 and 277 mg·kg NH4-N and NO3-N, respectively. Unlike plants in conventional plastic containers, leaves of geraniums in zein containers remained dark green when produced without fertilization. Electrical conductivity (EC) and pH of substrate in zein containers increased above ranges recommended for many horticultural crops, and NO2, which can be toxic to plants, was
Electrostatic Potentials Developed by ATS-5

Investigation of the properties of low-energy particles measured on board ATS-5 show that the synchronous spacecraft can charge to −12.000 V in eclipse, and several hundred volts in sunlight. Differential charging can produce local fields of several thousands of volts per meter in the near vicinity of the spacecraft surface. Time constants for charging can be less than a second to tens of minutes.
Thermo-mechanical evaluation of embedded optical interconnects on board

As data rates on backplanes, boards and packages rise, optical interconnections are viewed as a potential technology solution for low power, small footprint, and high speed systems. Some of the challenges with optical interconnect design and development are the introduction of new materials and processes, the increasing bandwidth and decreasing loss requirements, and the need for reducing cost without compromising reliability. The objective of this paper is to understand the thermo-mechanical issues and reliability of optical polymer interconnects for very short-haul backplane, and board/package-level chip-to-chip interconnections. Through finite-element modeling of an embedded photodetector in a waveguide and through reliability experiments, various issues such as contact pad peel stresses, core misalignment, spectral absorption, refractive index stability and thermal stability are examined.
Investigation of gait characteristics in glaucoma patients with a shoe-integrated sensing system

Many studies have reported that older adults with glaucoma experience mobility issues due to gait difficulties. These include walking slowly and bumping into obstacles, which increase the risk of falls in glaucoma patients. In this paper, we design and develop a shoe-integrated sensing system as well as signal processing and machine learning algorithms to objectively quantify gait patterns in glaucoma patients. The sensor platform was utilized in a randomized clinical trial involving 9 glaucoma patients and 10 age-matched healthy participants performing a series of gait tests. Sensor signals are collected wirelessly and processed on a local computer. With the captured data, we develop data analysis techniques to make a comparison between gait characteristics in older adults with or without glaucoma. Our results demonstrate that the proposed system achieved an accuracy of more than 90% in distinguishing gait patterns of those with glaucoma from healthy individuals for various gait analysis tests.
Improved Antihyaluronidase Test Applicable to the Microtitration Technique

The incorporation of India ink into the substrate solution in a standard antihyaluronidase test has facilitated the reading of end points in the standard tube dilution test and has made possible an antihyaluronidase microtiter test.
Information distribution aspects of design methodology

The role of documentation in the design and implementation of complex systems is explored, resulting in suggestions in sharp contrast with current practice. The concept of system structure is studied by examining the meaning of the phrase "connections between modules. It is shown that several system design goals (each suggesting a partial time ordering of the decisions) may be inconsistent. Some properties of programmers are discussed. System documentation, which makes all information accessible to anyone working on the project, is discussed. The thesis that such information "broadcasting is harmful, that it is helpful if most system information is hidden from most programmers, is supported by use of the above mentioned considerations as well as by examples. An information hiding technique of documentation is exhibited in the appendix. IFIP CLASSIFICATION: 3 Language of Oral Presentation; English Statement of Originality: In the opinion of the author the paper contains a number of conclusions which have not been discussed or published elsewhere. No paper similar in scope to this paper is being presented for publication elsewhere. INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION ASPECTS OF DESIGN METHODOLOGY D. L. Parnas Department of Computer Science Carnegie-MelIon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The process of embarking on a weight control program

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of embarking on a weight control program, to understand more about the decision to seek treatment for obesity, a chronic health problem. Obese women were interviewed using field methods. The grounded theory approach was utilized to analyze the data. Loss and isolation were predominant themes and stages through which women progressed before entering treatment. The entering of treatment was viewed as a way of adapting to sex role norms, or what was expected of women by society. Body image concerns‐the loss of attractiveness—was an overriding theme. Physical health played a minor role in this decision to seek treatment for obesity. This investigation generated hypotheses for further study related to the importance of body image versus physical health as a motivator for weight control.
Growth and survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 under acidic conditions.

The effect of pH reduction with acetic (pH 5.2), citric (pH 4.0), lactic (pH 4.7), malic (pH 4.0), mandelic (pH 5.0), or tartaric (pH 4.1) acid on growth and survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in tryptic soy broth with 0.6% yeast extract held at 25, 10, or 4 degrees C for 56 days was determined. Triplicate flasks were prepared for each acid treatment at each temperature. At 25 degrees C, populations increased 2 to 4 log10 CFU/ml in all treatments except that with mandelic acid, whereas no growth occurred at 10 or 4 degrees C in any treatments except the control. However, at all sampling times, higher (P or = 4.0) for up to 56 days, but survival is affected by type of acidulant and temperature.
Polychlorinated biphenyls in salmon and salmon feed: global differences and bioaccumulation

Concentrations of 160 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners or congener groups were determined in approximately 600 farmed Atlantic salmon from around the world and wild (ocean-caught) Pacific salmon from the Northeast Pacific. Concentrations and PCB congener profiles were analyzed to provide insight into the sources and uptake of PCBs in salmon as well as regional differences. Although total PCB concentrations in wild salmon appeared to be correlated to total lipid content, the increased proportion of total lipids in the farmed salmon could not account for the much greater PCB concentrations. We investigated the PCB congener patterns of hundreds of salmon samples using principal component analysis to further illuminate regional and species differences. Three major PCB patterns were observed, in most wild fish (except British Columbia and Oregon chinook), in farmed fish from the Atlantic, and in most farmed fish from the Pacific. The PCB congener profiles of farmed salmon often closely corresponded to a sample of commercial feed purchased in the same region, indicating that the feed is likely to be the major source of PCBs for farmed salmon. In such cases where PCB profiles in fish and feed were similar, a comparison of congener concentrations in fish and the feed showed that the majority of congeners, with some notable exceptions, were bioaccumulative to the same extent, irrespective of physical properties.
Rapid determination of dry layer mass transfer resistance for various pharmaceutical formulations during primary drying using product temperature profiles

Mass transfer resistance of the dry layer during the primary drying phase of a lyophilizaton cycle is probably the most important factor affecting maximum product temperature and drying time. Product resistance parameters should be determined for each formulation because of their dependence of formulation composition and concentration. The purpose of this study was to determine the dry layer mass transfer resistance, using a simple and rapid method, for various pharmaceutical formulations during primary drying in a laboratory dryer, using monitored product temperature profiles. The mathematical tools used for the determination were a primary drying simulation program in conjunction with Powell's optimization algorithm. For each formulation studied, primary drying was performed using a shelf temperature of -15 or -20 degrees C and the chamber pressure controlled at 100 mTorr (0.1 Torr). The product temperature profiles (T(b)) during primary drying were recorded and became the input data for the parameter estimation. The normalized product resistance, R(pN), as a function of the dry layer thickness, l, can be described by: R(pN) = R(0) + A(1)l/(1 + A(2)l), where the constants R(0), A(1) and A(2) are product resistance parameters of water vapor through the dry layer. Even when the parameter A(1) was negative, indicating that product temperature atypically decreased over time, the dry layer product resistance parameters of the various pharmaceutical formulations could be rapidly and successfully determined using the proposed approach. The product resistance equation obtained in this work for 5% marmitol, expressed as R(pN) = 0.0002025 + 20.23l, is similar to that obtained by Pikal [Pikal, M.J., 1985. Use of laboratory data in freeze drying process design: heat and product resistance parameters and the compute simulation of freeze drying. J. Parent. Sci. Technol. 39, 115-138.] using the microbalance method, expressed as R(pN) = 1.40 + 16.0l. The product resistance values obtained for the 3% lactose-LDH formulation are also very close to those obtained by (Milton, N., Pikal, M.J., Roy, M.L., Nail, S.L., 1997. Evaluation of manometric temperature measurement as a method of monitoring product temperature during lyophilization. PDA J. Pharm. Sci. Technol. 51, 7-16.) for 5% lactose using the MTM (manometric temperature measurement) method. With the obtained values of the parameters R(0), A(1), and A(2), simulations can be performed to determine the maximum product temperature and the drying time during primary drying. As such, optimum cycle parameters can be determined to avoid collapse of the product. The proposed approach requires only accurately measured product temperature profiles, easily obtained in a laboratory dryer.
Comparison of finite difference and boundary integral solutions to three-dimensional spontaneous rupture

The spontaneously propagating shear crack on a frictional interface has proven to be a useful idealization of a natural earthquake. The corresponding boundary value problems are nonlinear and usually require computationally intensive numerical methods for their solution. Assessing the convergence and accuracy of the numerical methods is challenging, as we lack appropriate analytical solutions for comparison. As a complement to other methods of assessment, we compare solutions obtained by two independent numerical methods, a finite difference method and a boundary integral (BI) method. The finite difference implementation, called DFM, uses a traction-at-split-node formulation of the fault discontinuity. The BI implementation employs spectral representation of the stress transfer functional. The three-dimensional (3-D) test problem involves spontaneous rupture spreading on a planar interface governed by linear slip-weakening friction that essentially defines a cohesive law. To get a priori understanding of the spatial resolution that would be required in this and similar problems, we review and combine some simple estimates of the cohesive zone sizes which correspond quite well to the sizes observed in simulations. We have assessed agreement between the methods in terms of the RMS differences in rupture time, final slip, and peak slip rate and related these to median and minimum measures of the cohesive zone resolution observed in the numerical solutions. The BI and DFM methods give virtually indistinguishable solutions to the 3-D spontaneous rupture test problem when their grid spacing Δx is small enough so that the solutions adequately resolve the cohesive zone, with at least three points for BI and at least five node points for DFM. Furthermore, grid-dependent differences in the results, for each of the two methods taken separately, decay as a power law in Δx, with the same convergence rate for each method, the calculations apparently converging to a common, grid interval invariant solution. This result provides strong evidence for the accuracy of both methods. In addition, the specific solution presented here, by virtue of being demonstrably grid-independent and consistent between two very different numerical methods, may prove useful for testing new numerical methods for spontaneous rupture problems.
Effect of Drying on Phosphorus Distribution in Poultry Manure

Abstract Laboratory drying may alter manure phosphorus (P) distribution. The effects of freeze, air (22°C), and oven (65°C) drying on sequentially fractioned poultry manure P were examined. Higher drying temperatures resulted in lower percentage of dry matter. Increased H2O‐ and decreased sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)‐extractable P with drying provided evidence that drying increases poultry manure P solubility. Labile fractions were predominantly inorganic P (Pi), whereas sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) fractions had significant amounts of organic P (Po). Drying altered H2O‐ and NaHCO3‐extractable Pi but had no consistent effect on Po in these fractions. This work suggests that variations due to drying should be taken into consideration when evaluating manures for P availability or when comparing data in which different drying methods have been utilized.
Purification and Characterization of Mouse Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Mouse bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells were isolated with the use of a variety of phenotypic markers. These cells can proliferate and differentiate with approximately unit efficiency into myelomonocytic cells, B cells, or T cells. Thirty of these cells are sufficient to save 50 percent of lethally irradiated mice, and to reconstitute all blood cell types in the survivors.
The international convergence of inflation rates during fixed and floating exchange rate regimes

Abstract According to the assets approach to the balance of payments/exchange rate, under a fixed exchange rate regime, inflation must grow at the same rate in each of the participating countries, at least in the long run. The model implies that reserve currency inflation causes world inflation. The mechanism by which inflation is transmitted when currencies are allowed to float is more complex. The long run international convergence of inflation is studied using modern time series techniques on post-war data from the G-7 countries. The evidence on the convergence of inflation during the fixed regime portion of the sample is strong and consistent with the notion of reserve currency causality, i.e. from the US to the rest of the world. The evidence of convergence over the floating portion of the sample is also quite strong, but no single currency can be characterized as the common underlying source of world inflation implying the inflation rates are endogenous.
Higher activity of recombinant bovine deoxyhypusine synthase vs. human deoxyhypusine synthase

Mature eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is the only known protein in eukaryotic cells that contains the unusual amino acid hypusine (Ne-(4-amino-2(R)-hydroxybutyl)lysine). The synthesis of hypusine is essential for the function of eIF5A in eukaryotic cell proliferation and survival. Deoxyhypusine synthase is the first of the two enzymes that catalyzes the maturation of eIF5A. We have subcloned the cDNA encoding bovine and human deoxyhypusine synthase into a pET-11a expression vector, separately. T7-tagged bovine and human deoxyhypusine synthase have been overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity using T7 antibody affinity chromatography. Activities of the enzyme from both human and bovine have been measured by their ability to convert the eIF5A precursor protein to the intermediate, deoxyhypusine form of eIF5A. Our results have shown that bovine deoxyhypusine synthase has considerably higher activity than human deoxyhypusine synthase in catalyzing the synthesis of deoxyhypusine.
A selective review of the first 20 years of instrumental variables models in health-services research and medicine

AbstractBackground:The method of instrumental variables (IV) is useful for estimating causal effects. Intuitively, it exploits exogenous variation in the treatment, sometimes called natural experiments or instruments. This study reviews the literature in health-services research and medical research that applies the method of instrumental variables, documents trends in its use, and offers examples of various types of instruments.Methods:A literature search of the PubMed and EconLit research databases for English-language journal articles published after 1990 yielded a total of 522 original research articles. Citations counts for each article were derived from the Web of Science. A selective review was conducted, with articles prioritized based on number of citations, validity and power of the instrument, and type of instrument.Results:The average annual number of papers in health services research and medical research that apply the method of instrumental variables rose from 1.2 in 1991–1995 to 41.8 in 20...
Reconstitution of respiratory-chain enzyme systems. XVI. The effect of alkali on the succinate oxidase system

Abstract 1. The succinate dehydrogenase protein, as measured by the acid non-extractable flavin, was found to be dissociated from the particulate succinate oxidase (the heart-muscle preparation) by alkali treatment in the absence of succinate and presence of oxygen. The dissociation occurred at the same rate as the inactivation of the succinate oxidase. From the kinetic and the equilibrium results reported in this paper, it was concluded that the original site for binding of the dehydrogenase to the particle was available to link active succinate dehydrogenase during reconstitution of the succinate oxidase system. 2. The inactivation of succinate oxidase during the alkali treatment, in the absence of succinate or any reducing agent, was found to be linear with time. The rate of inactivation varied as the first power of the initial enzyme concentration and the second power of the hydroxyl ion concentration. The temperature dependence of the rate constant, however, was complex. 3. The equilibrium dissociation of the particulate succinate oxidase by alkali in the presence of succinate and absence of oxygen was examined using the acid non-extractable flavin as a measure of succinate dehydrogenase. The per cent of the dehydrogenase dissociated is a linear function of the hydroxyl ion concentration. The equilibrium constant for the dissociation is decreased by increasing the ionic strength and the Van 't Hoff isochore is not linear but exhibits positive curvature. The equilibrium constant for the dissociation determined by the acid non-extractable flavin is practically the same as that estimated by reconstitutive activity.
Determination of adequate moisture content for efficient dry-heat viral inactivation in lyophilized factor VIII by loss on drying and by near infrared spectroscopy.

Abstract A requirement for a minimal threshold level of moisture in order for efficient virus inactivation to occur during dry heat treatment of freeze-dried coagulation factor concentrates is described.Techniques used to determine moisture content during heating were Loss on Drying and Karl Fischer. The Loss on Drying was suspected to have occasional errors as a result of sample preparation being influenced by interference from atmospheric moisture. Therefore, a non-invasive, non-destructive method for determination of residual moisture content using near infrared spectrometry (NIR) was developed for freeze-dried antihaemophilic factor (AHF). Calibration equations were determined againts Loss on Drying and Karl Fischer assay methods and these equations evaluated for the predictive efficiency. Both Loss on Drying and NIR were used to evaluate the effect of moisture content on the efficiency of virus inactivation by dry heat at 80°C. A minimum level of moisture of greater than 0.7%, as determined by Loss on Drying, was necessary for a virus reduction in the magnitude of 4 log10for hepatitis A virus, porcine parvovirus and pseudorabies virus.
CRYOSECTIONING OF EPITHELIAL CELLS GROWN ON PERMEABLE SUPPORTS

Epithelial cells cultured on permeable supports, with nutrient access to the basal cell surface, reach a high degree of differentiation and polarity. Furthermore, cells grown on polycarbonate filters can be readily cross-sectioned for light microscopy. Localization of antigens to the apical or basolateral regions or surfaces of the cell may be accomplished by direct or indirect immunofluorescence techniques performed on frozen sections. We show here by indirect immunofluorescence the localization of apical and basolateral antigens and the tight junction protein ZO-1 on Madin-Darby canine kidney cells grown on Millicell PCF filters and sectioned to 0.5 µm with an ultracryomicrotome. We also show simple methods for obtaining 4-µm cryostat sections of T84 cells grown on Transwell filters, and illustrate by direct fluorescence the internalization of cholera toxin in these cells.
Evidence for the role of solvated metal hydroxide in the hammerhead cleavage mechanism

The log of the rate of the chemical step of hammerhead cleavage in Mg 2+ increases linearly with pH between pH 5.7 and 8.9. A slope of approximately 1 indicates that a single deprotonation is required for cleavage. Hammerhead pH-rate profiles with Ca 2+ , Mn 2+ , Co 2+ , and Cd 2+ correlate well with the pK a 's of these ions in water. This relationship between the pK a 's and the pH-rate profile suggests that a metal hydroxide bound to the hammerhead RNA acts as the base in the cleavage mechanism
CH5+: The Infrared Spectrum Observed

Protonated methane, CH5+, has unusual vibrational and rotational behavior because its three nonequivalent equilibrium structures have nearly identical energies and its five protons scramble freely. Although many theoretical papers have been published on the quantum mechanics of the system, a better understanding requires spectral data. A complex, high-resolution infrared spectrum of CH5+ corresponding to the C-H stretching band in the 3.4-micrometer region is reported. Although no detailed assignment of the individual lines was made, comparison with other carbocation spectra strongly suggests that the transitions are due to CH5+.
Weapons systems analysis, part II: Simulation techniques and models

Abstract The simulation techniques, languages or models best suited for a particular simulation study depend upon the characteristics of the system and the programming skill of the individual conducting the study. This paper identifies, defines, evaluates and classifies a spectrum of simulation techniques that are applicable to weapons systems analysis and air defense weaponry.
Luminescent difluoroboron β-diketonate PEG-PLA oxygen nanosensors for tumor imaging.

Surface modification of nanoparticles and biosensors is a dynamic, expanding area of research for targeted delivery in vivo. For more efficient delivery, surfaces are PEGylated to impart stealth properties, long circulation and enable enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) in tumor tissues. Previously, BF2dbm(I)PLA was proven to be a good oxygen nanosensor material for tumor hypoxia imaging in vivo, though particles were applied directly to the tumor and surrounding region. Further surface modification is needed for this dual-emissive oxygen sensitive material for effective intravenous (IV) administration and passive and active delivery to tumors. In this paper an efficient synthesis of a new dual-emissive material BF2dbm(I)PLA-mPEG is presented and in vitro stability studies were conducted. It is found that fabricated nanoparticles are stable for 24 weeks as a suspension, while after 25 weeks the nanoparticles swell and both dye and polymer degradation escalates. Preliminary studies show BF2dbm(I)PLA-mPEG nanoparticle accumulation in a window chamber mammary tumor 24 hours after IV injection into mice (C57Bl/6 strain) enabling tumor oxygen imaging.
Pion interferometry in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Pion correlations are calculated for a recently proposed model of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Ingredients of the model are evaporation of globs of quark-gluon plasma followed by pion scattering in the final state. The model predicts strong correlations between the longitudinal momentum and position of the source. The predicted transverse source size is smaller than preliminary findings from a recent experiment.
Expectancy and Stimulus Generalization in Vigilance.

The influence of signal probability during an auditory pretest on performance on a visual monitoring task was examined in a split-plot factorial analysis of variance. 52 Ss were given an auditory pretask in which white noise was intermittently terminated at either a high (p = .18) or low (p = .02) probability during any 2-sec. interval; then a visual monitoring task was performed in which the signal probability was either high (p = .18) or low (p = .02). Ss who received the high auditory pretask performed reliably better than the low group (p < .01). The within-session decrement varied as a function of the different pretest and task signal probabilities. The results support the expectancy theory of vigilance and suggest the importance of the role of pretask adaptation in the vigilance paradigm.
5: Education and Political Development

Since World War II, national educational systems have expanded rapidly (Coombs, 1968) and have become increasingly structured by centers of political authority. Nation-states have also consolidated their control over more aspects of social life. These two phenomena are related. The consolidation of national political authority extends education throughout society as a means of incorporating its human material in its structure, and politically incorporated educational systems integrate and legitimate political action. This chapter reviews the research literature on these reciprocal effects of education and political developments. Because both political development and educational expansion occur within the context of a particular world system (Cohen, 1970; Wallerstein, 1973), the first section of the review discusses the ways in which this context affects the two processes. The second section considers educational effects on political development, and the third discusses the effects of national political development on education. Most studies of education and political development investigate the interrelations between the educational and political attributes of individuals. Yet both political development and education are institutional properties. We must, then, review research efforts to address the relations among these institutional structures using data on individuals. Because the making of inferences about institutional relations using individual-level data is problematic, there is a great need for more comparative and institutional-level studies.