cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Survival Benefit of Guideline-Concordant Postoperative Radiation for Local Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Postoperative radiation therapy (RT) for early-stage Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) decreases the risk of locoregional recurrence and improve overall survival. However, concordance with RT guidelines is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS The National Cancer Database was queried for stage I/II MCC patients receiving surgical intervention from 2006-2017. The cohort was stratified by patients who had and did not have indication(s) for adjuvant RT of the primary tumor site based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. We captured the use of RT, patient demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, and clinical characteristics. Logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier method, and propensity score weighted Cox proportional hazards model examined associations and survival benefits of RT. RESULTS 2,330 stage I/II MCC patients underwent surgical intervention. 1,858 (79.7%) met National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria for RT of the primary tumor site, of which 1,062 (57.2%) received RT. 472 (20.3%) did not meet criteria for RT, of which 203 (43.0%) received RT. Five-year overall survival advantage was identified for patients who received RT when it was indicated (P < 0.003). There was no evidence of overall survival advantage when patients received guideline-discordant RT (P = 0.478). CONCLUSIONS Surgical resection with adjuvant RT of the primary tumor site has an overall survival benefit for local MCC when patients meet criteria for RT. This study found a group who received guideline-discordant RT with no survival advantage. Further investigation is warranted to identify the socio-demographic and oncologic reasons for guideline discordance in the treatment of MCC for both under- and over-treatment.
The Art and Rhetoric of Letter Writing: Preserving Rhetorical Strategies Throughout Time

This essay offers an overview of how the art and rhetoric of letter writing has evolved from the classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods, and through the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries by examining each period for features that demonstrate its importance. This essay examines how some of the rhetorical techniques and strategies of letter writing from these periods have helped guide writers throughout time. Although some of the purposes of letter writing changed throughout the centuries, rhetorical strategies and techniques found in various manuals, ranging from persuasion to eloquence, are still implemented in writing instruction today.
Improved Staining of Extracellular Polymer for Electron Microscopy: Examination of Azotobacter, Zoogloea, Leuconostoc, and Bacillus

Phase contrast, ultraviolet microscopy, and freeze-etching were used to determine the amount of exocellular polymer surrounding unfixed cells of four genera of bacteria: Azotobacter vinelandii, Zoogloea ramigera, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and an acid-tolerant, floc-forming Bacillus species. Thin-sectional electron microscopy was employed to measure the effectiveness of a modified ruthenium red staining method. The results obtained with this modification of ruthenium red staining technique were compared to results obtained when previously proposed ruthenium red methods of fixation were employed. The results of these relations were then compared to the amounts of exocellular material as determined with phase-contrast microscopy, ultraviolet microscopy, and freeze-etching. The data obtained indicate that improved fixation of exocellular polymer is achieved when cells are pretreated with ruthenium red as described herein. In addition, the modified methods also reveal cytological detail not apparent when other methods of ruthenium fixation are employed.
>Did anybody know his name? Coverage of Steven Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa by the New York Times and the Washington Post 1969–1977

(1980). >Did anybody know his name? Coverage of Steven Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa by the New York Times and the Washington Post 1969–1977. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 29-49.
Social cognitive theory of social referencing.

Effective functioning rests, in part, on the ability to predict the likely effects of different events and actions and to regulate one’s behavior accordingly. Without such anticipatory capabilities, people would be forced to act blindly in ways that often are fruitless, if not injurious. Information about the outcomes likely to flow from different events and actions is conveyed by environmental predictors. One can be informed about what to expect by the distinctive features of places, persons, and things, by social signals in the words, affective expressions, and actions of others, and by functional rules that codify observed regularities.
What do Students Want?: Expectations and Undergraduate Persistence

At the descriptive and theoretical levels, surprisingly little attention has been given to students' expectancies when they enter college. Using data from a longitudinal study, this article describ...
Influence of warning label signal words on perceived hazard level

This experiment investigated the influence of warnings, signal words, and a signal icon on perceived hazard of consumer products. Under the guise of a marketing research study, 135 people (high school students, college students, and participants from a shopping mall) rated product labels on six dimensions, including how hazardous they perceived the products to be. A total of 16 labels from actual household products were used: 9 carried the experimental conditions, and 7 were filler product labels that never carried a warning. Five conditions presented the signal words NOTE, CAUTION, WARNING, DANGER, and LETHAL together with a brief warning message. In another two conditions, a signal icon (exclamation point surrounded by a triangle) was presented together with the terms DANGER and LETHAL. In the final two conditions, one lacked a signal word but retained the warning message, and the other lacked both the warning message and the signal word. Results showed that the presence of a signal word increased perceived product hazard compared with its absence. Significant differences were noted between extreme terms (e.g., NOTE and DANGER) but not between terms usually recommended in warning design guidelines (e.g., CAUTION and WARNING). The signal icon showed no significant effect on hazard perception. Implications of the results and the value of the methodology for future warnings investigations are discussed.
rTP: a candidate telomere protein that is associated with DNA replication.

In this paper we describe the isolation and characterization of rTP, thereplicationTelomereProtein, formerly known as the telomere protein homolog. The rTP was initially identified because of its homology to the gene for theOxytricha telomere-binding protein α-subunit. The protein encoded by the rTP gene has extensive amino acid sequence identity to the DNA-binding domain of the telomere-binding proteins from bothEuplotes crassus andOxytricha nova. We have now identified the protein encoded by the rTP gene and have shown that it differs from the telomere-binding protein in its abundance, solubility and intracellular location. To learn more about the function of rTP, we determined when during theEuplotes life cycle the gene is transcribed. The transcript was detectable only in nonstarved vegetative cells and during the final stages of macronuclear development. Since the peak transcript level coincided with the rounds of replication that take place toward the end of macronuclear development, it appeared that rTP might be involved in DNA replication. Immunolocalization experiments provided support for this hypothesis as antibodies to rTP specifically stain the replication bands. Replication bands are the sites of DNA replication inEuplotes macronuclei. Our results suggest that rTP may be a new telomere replication factor.
Asian Variability in Performance Rating Modesty and Leniency Bias

Western managers typically rate their performance higher than their bosses, peers, or subordinates do; research on Asian managers, however, has been both sparse and conflicting. In examining data from six Asian countries, Japanese managers were found to rate themselves lower than others in their organization do. This “modesty bias,” however, varies considerably among Asian countries; in other countries, including India and China, self-inflation was more comparable to typical Western findings. Findings lend initial support to the ability of national collectivism to explain differences in modesty and leniency bias when institutional collectivism is distinguished from in-group collectivism using data from the GLOBE Project (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). Theoretical basis for modesty bias, and implications for Asian and American expatriates are discussed.
RIPPLES AND TRICKLES: IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND POLICY ANALYSIS IN ASIA

Advocacy of impact assessment has exceeded documentation of the un- even influence of impact assessment information on policy analysis. Start- ing with a simple distinction between pluralist and hierarchical policy systems, an analysis is presented of relations between impact assessment and policy processes in Asia, with special emphasis on the Philippines. Conclusions are drawn about the political significance of impact assessment information in different policy contexts.
Histidinuria : defective transport of histidine

A-7-year-old boy was found to have histidinuria without histidinemia. Low concentrations of histidine in plasma were consistent with impaired intestinal and renal tubular absorption of histidine. The patient was developmentally delayed and had some minor anomalies. Only 4 other patients in 3 families have been reported. Each had abnormality of the central nervous system. All were male.
Some results on robust detection for known signals and additive unknown-mean amplitude-bounded noise

A randomized decision rule is derived and proved to be the saddlepoint solution of the robust detection problem for known signals in independent, unknown-mean, amplitude-bounded noise. The saddlepoint solution ?0 uses an equally-likely, mixed strategy to choose one of N Bayesian, single-threshold decision rules ?i 0, i = 1,...., N obtained previously by Morris [4]. These decision rules are also all optimal against the maximin (least favorable), nonrandomized, noise probability density f0, where f0 is a picket-fence function with N pickets on its domain. The pair (?0, f0) are shown to satisfy the saddlepoint condition for probability of error, i.e., Pe(?0, f) ? Pe(?0, f0) ? Pe(?, f0), Vf, V? for this problem. The decision rule ?0 is shown also to be an equalizer rule, i.e., Pe(?0, f)= Pe(?0, f0), Vf, with 4-1 ? Pe(?0, f0) = 2-1 (1-N-1) ? 2-1, N ? 2. We conclude that nature can force the communicator to use an optimal randomized decision rule that generates large probability of error and does not improve when less pernicious conditions prevail.
THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FLOWERING OF DODDER AND THE FLOWERING OF SOME LONG AND SHORT DAY PLANTS

Experiments were conducted to determine the interrelationship between the flowering of Cuscuta campestris Yuncker, a species of the parasitic angiosperm dodder, and the flowering of the short-day plants Xanthium pennsylvanicurn and Glycine max var. Biloxi and the long-day plants Matricaria parthenoides and Hyosclcamus niger. It was found that dodder flowered only onthe host plants which were themselves flowering. The flowering pattern of the host plant appeared to be unaffected by the parasitism of dodder. When non-flowering dodder was introduced to soybean plants which were under noninductive photoperiods, neither dodder nor soybean flowered; but when the soybean plants were then completely defoliated, the dodder on 7 of 9 host plants began to flower. This result indicated the possibility that under noninductive photoperiods the leaves of the host plant produced a substance which inhibited the flowering of the dodder. Other experiments involved the use of soybean plants which had been linked together with bridges of living dodder. One member of each soybean pair was kept on inductive short photoperiods while the other member was kept on noninductive long photoperiods. No transmission of a flowering hormone from the induced member of each pair through the dodder bridges to the noninduced member of the pair could be demonstrated. The results, instead, support the concept that a flowering-hormone inhibitor is translocated from the noninduced soybean partner to the induced soybean partner via the dodder bridges since the induced partners show a definitelY weaker flowering pattern than corresponding photo-induced control plants.
Combustion of Carbon in an Air Stream

An investigation was made to determine the combustion rate of C operating at a surface temperature between 1000 and 3000 deg K in a stream of air. Relatively general forms of the surface reaction rate equations were used in the analysis, with the boundary layer equations simplified by letting Le = Pr = 1, so that the effect of the chemical kinetics could be elucidated. The results of the analysis can be used to make rapid engineering estimates of mass loss rate for a wide range of flight conditions. The accuracy of these estimates is limited primarily by the accuracy of the reaction rate parameters used rather than by the approximations used in the boundary layer equations, except when the combustion rate is controlled solely by diffusion and convection. Specific calculations, involving the graphical solution of two algebraic equations, were made at various stations on a blunted slender body for a flight Mach number of 15 and an altitude of 100,000 feet: The ablation rate for porous carbon approached the diffusion controlled value at the stagnation point for nose radii greater than 1 centimeter, but was found to be between the two limiting cases of reaction rate controlled and diffusionmore » controlled at a distance of 400 centimeters downstream of the stagnation point. The ablation rate for non-porous carbon, however, was reaction rate controlled for every station and geometry considered. (auth)« less
Cross- Cultural Research State of the Art

Cross-cultural research is essential to separate universal processes of aging from culture-specific processes and to understand how culture influences aging. However, there has been little cross-cultural research in social gerontology. The few existing studies support the following theories: (1) Status of the aged tends to decline with modernization. (2) Social activity tends to decline with aging. (3) There is little or no association between life satisfaction and aging. (4) Maintaining social activity tends to maintain life satisfaction. Cross-cultural research could be improved by more comparable measures, more representative samples, more theoretical relevance, and more multivariate analysis. Secondary analysis of existing data and the addition of a few questions to planned surveys are two low-cost ways of increasing cross-cultural research.
The crystal structure of the calcium-bound con-G[Q6A] peptide reveals a novel metal-dependent helical trimer

The ability to form and control both secondary structure and oligomerization in short peptides has proven to be challenging owing to the structural instability of such peptides. The conantokin peptides are a family of γ-carboxyglutamic acid containing peptides produced in the venoms of predatory sea snails of the Conus family. They are examples of short peptides that form stable helical structures, especially in the presence of divalent cations. Both monomeric and dimeric conantokin peptides have been identified and represent a new mechanism of helix association, “the metallozipper motif” that is devoid of a hydrophobic interface between monomers. In the present study, a parallel/antiparallel three-helix bundle was identified and its crystal structure determined at high resolution. The three helices are almost perfectly parallel and represent a novel helix–helix association. The trimer interface is dominated by metal chelation between the three helices, and contains no interfacial hydrophobic interactions. It is now possible to produce stable monomeric, dimeric, or trimeric metallozippers depending on the peptide sequence and metal ion. Such structures have important applications in protein design.
Speciation in the Rana pipiens Complex

The long held view that leopard frogs ( Rana pipiens complex) are a single widely distributed species is not correct. Five sibling species are currently recognizable. These findings have important implications on the use of leopard frogs in experimental research.
Biomechanical comparison of two stabilization techniques of the atlantoaxial joints: transarticular screw fixation versus screw and rod fixation.

Objective To compare the biomechanical stability imparted to the C1 and C2 vertebrae by either transarticular screw fixation (TSF) or screw and rod fixation (SRF) techniques in a cadaver model. Methods Ten fresh ligamentous human cervical spine specimens were harvested from cadavers. The specimens were tested sequentially in the intact state, after injury and stabilization (unilateral left side and bilateral), and after fatiguing to 5000 cycles (0.5 Hz) at +/-1.0 N.m of flexion and extension. The specimens were stabilized by use of TSF in 5 spines or SRF in the other 5 spines. The data were converted to angular displacements, and the stabilized cases were compared with intact states for evaluating the efficacies of the two techniques in stabilizing the C1-C2 segments. Results In the TSF group, the unilateral fixation using one screw imparted a significant stability in only the axial rotation mode. The unilateral procedure in the SRF group was effective in stabilization in all modes except in extension. The bilateral procedure in both of the groups was effective across the C1-C2 segment. However, the SRF group afforded higher stability than the corresponding TSF group in the flexion and extension modes. The degree of stability did not change after fatigue compared with the prefatigue data. Conclusion In general, a surgeon should undertake a bilateral fixation to achieve sufficient stability across the atlantoaxial complex, and either technique will provide satisfactory results, although the SRF technique may be better in the flexion and extension modes. One should use the SRF procedure while trying to achieve stability with a unilateral system.
Ovarian Cancer Hormonal and Environmental Risk Effect

To understand the influence of hormonal and environmental factors on the risk of ovarian cancer, it is important to remember the established risk factors and postulated mechanisms that lead to the development of ovarian cancer. Several risk factors have been identified as increasing the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer, including low pariety, infertility, early age of menarche, and late age of menopause. This article discusses the different hypotheses and focuses on hormonal and environmental risk factors, as well the chemoprevention of epithelial ovarian cancer.
A solid base for assaying protein kinase activity.

Peptide chips enable quantitative analysis of protein kinase activity and should facilitate the search for novel classes of protein kinase inhibitors.
Density measurements of styrene solutions in supercritical CO2

Densities of styrene solutions of a wide concentration range from (0.65 to 29.9) mol % in supercritical CO2 have been measured isothermally at (40, 50, 60, and 70) °C at pressures to 34.47 MPa by a...
Trimethyltin Stimulates Protein Kinase C Translocation Through Receptor-Mediated Phospholipase C Activation in PC12 Cells

Abstract: Trimethyltin (TMT) is a potent neurotoxic compound that initiates a delayed neuronal cell death. Previously we have shown that TMT-induced cytotoxicity is associated with protein kinase C (PKC) translocation and activation. The present study investigates the mechanism underlying TMT-stimulated PKC translocation in PC12 cells. TMT exposure led to a rapid increase in intracellular levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), a product of phospholipase C (PLC). This was significantly decreased by pretreating cells with antagonists to either the cholinergic muscarinic receptor (atropine) or the glutamatergic metabotropic receptor [(+)-α-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine; (+)-MCPG]. Furthermore, the rise in IP3 level was blocked by pretreating cells with a PLC inhibitor (U-73122) or by a combination of atropine and (+)-MCPG. This pretreatment also significantly decreased TMT-stimulated PKC translocation, indicating that TMT-mediated PKC translocation was related to PLC activation, presumably through formation of diacylglycerol, an endogenous activator of PKC and product of PLC. It is interesting that atropine and (+)-MCPG did not provide protection against TMT-induced cytotoxicity in these cells. However, these data suggest that TMT causes the release of cellular constituents that activate G protein-coupled receptors, ultimately leading to PKC translocation.
Characteristics and applications of quasi-shear-horizontal acoustic waves

Abstract It is shown that a wave which is nearly polarized in the shear horizontal (SH) direction can exist in thin plates of arbitrary piezoelectric materials. The wave is actually a Lamb wave (the A1 Lamb wave mode) in which all three components of particle displacement are present. The shear horizontal component, however, becomes dominant if the ratio h λ (h = plate thickness, λ = acoustic wavelength) becomes less than about 0.5. Attractive properties of this quasi-SH wave include: (a) phase velocity nearly constant for all values of h λ ; (b) ability to propagate in contact with a liquid medium; and (c) very high value of K2, the electromechanical coupling coefficient. These properties make the wave attractive for use in a variety of sensor and signal processing applications. Experimental measurements of the phase velocity and coupling coefficient of the mode are found to be in fair agreement with theoretical calculations. An example of sensor applications is illustrated by using the wave to measure conductivity of liquids (aqueous KCl solution). The frequency of a 12 MHz quasi-SH mode oscillator fabricated on a 0.48 λ thick Z-X lithium niobate plate is found to vary by more than 80 kHz for a variation in KCl concentration from 0 to 0.15%.
CONTINUOUS NEGATIVE CHEST WALL PRESSURE (CNP) THERAPY IN OLDER CHILDREN

CNP provides an effective means of improving arterial oxygenation in spontaneously breathing patients. To date, this has been used mainly in infants with severe respiratory distress syndrome. Our purpose is to describe the application of CNP in older children with diffuse bilateral alveolar disease. An Emerson tank respirator was modified to apply continuous negative pressure of -5 to -18 cm H2O to chest wall and lower parts of the body in 4 patients, 5 to 10 years of age with severe P. carinii pneumonitis (PCP). Each patient had respiratory rate >70 per minute, PaO2 of 16 mm Hg. Of the 4 patients, 2 recovered completely after 6 and 15.5 days of CNP therapy. Remaining 2, after 96 hours of improvement, developed progressive hypoxia and died. This is in contrast to 100% mortality in 5 other patients with severe PCP who were treated with volume-controlled positive pressure respirator. We conclude that CNP provides an effective means of improving arterial oxygenation in older children as well, reduces duration of exposure to high oxygen concentration and avoids use of endotracheal intubation.
Connecting Writing and Speaking with Linguistically Diverse Teacher Education Students.

The increasing diversity of students and the pedagogical issues that such differences bring to the classroom is a challenge for early childhood teacher education programs today. In the early childhood education classroom, culturally and linguistically diverse teachers are sought after, yet these same diverse teacher candidates find it difficult to negotiate academic writing in English. This qualitative study of the writing processes of 26 linguistically diverse teacher candidates in an early childhood program of a public community college in spring 2007 attempts to provide strategies and elicit information to facilitate academic writing in this population. Two discussion methodologies, Symposium and Freewrite/Case Story, were used as a prelude to the academic essay in two education classes, with positive results. One class served as a control without the intervention. Data sources included essays, surveys, interviews, and observations.
Using composite measures in police cynicism research: an application of canonical factor regression

In this paper, a “new” analytical strategy, the canonical factor regression method (CFRM) is introduced as a tool for constructing indices and measuring reliabilities of those indices from items derived from Niederhoffer's police cynicism index. Data for the project were derived from the survey responses of 574 Illinois police chiefs. Analysis of the data in the present project suggests that CFRM is a useful tool for constructing composite indices. CFRM allowed us to provide a more powerful test of hypothesized relationships between dimensions of cynicism and theoretically salient predictor variables than has previously been possible.
Modeling demand response and economic impact of advanced and smart metering

Advanced metering constitutes an essential component of communications between electricity suppliers and consumers. It may be possible to augment demand response by coupling Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) with advanced implementations in homes. In this paper, we quantify the economic impact of such advanced implementations and show that these technologies promise to add value for both major stakeholders—electricity suppliers and the consumers. In particular, we present a comparative study by evaluating the adoption of Basic-AMI versus one that incorporates automation devices enabling communication and control. We present a linear programming modeling framework to capture demand response behavior while reflecting regulatory policies to ensure lower critical peak prices. Based on this framework, we present a case study for the state of Ohio, although the general nature of the analysis is applicable to other states as well. Our results show that dynamic pricing coupled with AMI—in particular, its advanced implementations—provides significant incentives to the utility, regulatory commission and the consumer.
Quantization in the large

A model theory is constructed that exhibits quantization on a cosmic scale. A holistic rationale for the theory is discussed. The theory incorporates a fundamental length, of cosmic size, and preserves the weak, geometrical equivalence principle. The momentum operator is an integral, nonlocal, naturally contravariant operator, in contrast to the usual quantum case. In the limit of high quantum numbers the theory reduces to classical physics, giving rise to a world which is quantized both on the microscopic and cosmic scale, each of which passes over to the usual macroscopic, continuous, classical, world in the highn limit. The theory is applied to two experimental situations, absorption lines in high-z quasars and elliptical rings around normal galaxies, with suggestive but not definitive results.
Intra-oral cone radiation therapy for selected carcinomas of the oral cavity

A study of 101 patients with early carcinomas of the oral cavity, T1 and T2, treated by external cobalt 60 beam and/or intra-oral cone (IOC) radiation therapy between 1964 through 1980 was made. The two year disease-free survival rate, including surgical salvage, was 88% and the local control rate was 85%. The incidence of radiation complications, i.e. soft tissue ulceration and/or osteoradionecrosis, was 14% and varied with various tumor sites and radiation doses delivered. The present review shows that local control and radiation complications are closely related to radiation doses and varies with different tumor sites of the oral cavity. Radiation therapy dosages expressed in terms of TDF values for these lesions are herein recommended. With proper selections of lesions arising from the oral cavity, combined external beam and IOC radiation therapy has been found extremely efficacious in achieving good local tumor control and high survival rates with excellent cosmetic and functional results and minimum radiation sequelae.
Children's and adults' visuospatial memory : The game concentration

Concentration, a very popular memory game, requires players to maintain a large amount of visuospatial information. Game performance was investigated in a controlled way with 80 5- to 10-year-old children and 32 adults. In overall performance, 5- to 10-year-old children did not differ, but adults outperformed them. Several indicators were derived on strategic behavior and visuospatial memory aspects in the game. Compared with younger children, 10-year-olds and adults were more efficient in information gathering, but they also showed a higher rate of information loss in the course of the game. Surprisingly, 5-year-olds had the lowest rate of spatial errors. Overall, the results contradict the anecdotal evidence of young children as experts in visuospatial memory. Implications for assumptions about age-dependent internal representations of visuospatial material are discussed.
Differential effects of alcohol and alcohol expectancy on risk-taking during simulated driving.

This study examined the separate and combined effects of alcohol (0.0 or 0.5 g/kg) and alcohol expectancies (none or 2-3 standard drinks) on risk-taking using a simulated-driving lane choice task. In this task, risk-taking was operationalized as choosing a cone-defined lane with a higher relative probability of hitting a cone. When alcohol was received but not expected, the probability of a risky lane choice increased compared with when alcohol was neither expected nor received. However, when subjects both expected and received alcohol, the probability of a risky lane choice was significantly decreased compared with when alcohol was neither expected nor received. These findings suggest that the knowledge of dose received can differentially influence the pharmacological effect of alcohol on decision-making.
The Challenge and Promise of Glycomics

Glycomics is a broad and emerging scientific discipline focused on defining the structures and functional roles of glycans in biological systems. The staggering complexity of the glycome, minimally defined as the repertoire of glycans expressed in a cell or organism, has resulted in many challenges that must be overcome; these are being addressed by new advances in mass spectrometry as well as by the expansion of genetic and cell biology studies. Conversely, identifying the specific glycan recognition determinants of glycan-binding proteins by employing the new technology of glycan microarrays is providing insights into how glycans function in recognition and signaling within an organism and with microbes and pathogens. The promises of a more complete knowledge of glycomes are immense in that glycan modifications of intracellular and extracellular proteins have critical functions in almost all biological pathways.
Understanding the Jahn–Teller distortions for the divacancy and the vacancy–group-V-atom pair in silicon

Abstract The Jahn–Teller (JT) distortions of the divacancy and the vacancy–group-V-atom pair in silicon are treated within a simple one-electron molecular orbital model associated with the dangling orbitals surrounding each vacancy. Properly instrumented, it predicts not only the correct sense of the distortion for the different charge states of the defects, but also provides a quantitative estimate of the magnitude of the JT distortions and the barriers for reorientation of each.
An effective intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring scheme for aneurysm clipping and spinal fusion surgeries

Somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEPs) have been widely used for intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). Currently at least 200‐300 trials are required to generate a readable SSEP signal. This study introduces a novel approach that yields accurate detection results of the SSEP signal yet with a significantly reduced number of trials, resulting in an effectual monitoring process. The analysis was performed on data recorded in seven patients undergoing surgery, where the posterior tibial nerve was stimulated and the SSEP response was recorded from scalp electroencephalography using two bipolar electrodes, C3-C4 and CZ-FZ. The proposed approach employs an innovative, simple yet effective algorithm based on a patient-specific Gaussian template to detect the SSEP using only 30 trials. The time latencies of the P37 and N45 peaks are detected along with the peak-to-peak amplitudes. The time latencies are detected with a mean accuracy greater than 95%. Also, the P37 and N45 peak latencies and the peak-to-peak amplitude were found to be consistent throughout the surgical procedure within the 10% and 50% acceptable clinical limits, respectively. The results obtained support the assertion that the algorithm is capable of detecting SSEPs with high accuracy and consistency throughout the entire surgical procedure using only 30 trials. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)
Cost-Effectiveness of Prolonged Exposure Therapy Versus Pharmacotherapy and Treatment Choice in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (the Optimizing PTSD Treatment Trial): A Doubly Randomized Preference Trial

Objective Cost-effectiveness of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may depend on type of treatment (eg, pharmacotherapy vs psychotherapy) and patient choice of treatment. We examined the cost-effectiveness of treatment with prolonged exposure therapy versus pharmacotherapy with sertraline, overall treatment preference, preference for choosing prolonged exposure therapy, and preference for choosing pharmacotherapy with sertraline from the US societal perspective. Method Two hundred patients aged 18 to 65 years with PTSD diagnosis based on DSM-IV criteria enrolled in a doubly randomized preference trial. Patients were randomized to receive their treatment of choice (n = 97) or to be randomly assigned treatment (n = 103). In the choice arm, patients chose either prolonged exposure therapy (n = 61) or pharmacotherapy with sertraline (n = 36). In the no-choice arm, patients were randomized to either prolonged exposure therapy (n = 48) or pharmacotherapy with sertraline (n = 55). The total costs, including direct medical costs, direct nonmedical costs, and indirect costs, were estimated in 2012 US dollars; and total quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) was assessed using the EuroQoL Questionnaire-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) instrument in a 12-month period. This study was conducted from July 2004 to January 2009. Results Relative to pharmacotherapy with sertraline, prolonged exposure therapy was less costly (-$262; 95% CI, -$5,068 to $4,946) and produced more QALYs (0.056; 95% CI, 0.014 to 0.100) when treatment was assigned, with 93.2% probability of being cost-effective at $100,000/QALY. Independently, giving a choice of treatment also yielded lower cost (-$1,826; 95% CI, -$4,634 to $749) and more QALYs (0.010; 95% CI, -0.019 to 0.044) over no choice of treatment, with 87.0% probability of cost-effectiveness at $100,000/QALY. Conclusions Giving PTSD patients a choice of treatment appears to be cost-effective. When choice is not possible, prolonged exposure therapy may provide a cost-effective option over pharmacotherapy with sertraline. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00127673.
Changing practices of commemoration in neurology: comparing Charcot's 1925 and 1993 centennials.

Analyse de deux anniversaires en la memoire de Jean-Martin Charcot, fondateur de la neurologie qui montre comment et pourquoi les attitudes changent envers le passe lors de ces commemorations et quelles sont les objectifs et les motivations de telles reunions.
Delivery on demand--a new era of gene therapy?

The discovery of the DNA code touched off an explosion of our knowledge of the molecular basis of human diseases and sparked ideas about treating inherited diseases with genes. Unfortunately, the first widely publicized attempt at gene therapy, in which the β-globin gene was injected into a patient with β-thalassemia, undertaken 20 years ago, failed because it was not based on an understanding of gene regulation. This ill-conceived experiment led to a public backlash and an unwarranted fear, bordering on hysteria, of recombinant-DNA research and its clinical applications. It soon became clear that identifying a gene sequence and a disease-causing . . .
Disruption of the male rat's sexual behaviour induced by social isolation.

Summary Twenty-six of 30 male rats reared in various types of social isolation exhibited aberrant mating and motor tendencies similar to those observed in guinea pigs and monkeys reared alone. Although the affected subjects actively circled and nuzzled the oestrous females, they neither mounted or clasped her properly nor achieved intromissions. Headshaking, leaping, tunnelling and other hyperexcitable responses occurred frequently during the first 7 min of the mating test. Of the several attempts to elicit copulatory responses in the isolated male, only permitting them to live with normal females for at least 3 weeks was found to be somewhat successful. Competing response and ethological hypotheses were related to the results.
My route to arithmetization

I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with Per Lindstrom at the meeting of the Seventh Scandinavian Logic Symposium, held in Uppsala in August 1996. There at lunch one day, Per said he had long been curious about the development of some of the ideas in my paper [1960] on the arithmetization of metamathematics. In particular, I had used the construction of a non-standard definition !* of the set of axioms of P (Peano Arithmetic) to
Increased frequency of restenosis in patients continuing to smoke cigarettes after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Abstract The influence of continued cigarette smoking on restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was retrospectively determined through a study of 160 patients with primary success who underwent follow-up angiography after a mean of 7 ± 7 months. The average number of narrowings at risk for restenosis was 1.7/patient in the 84 patients who continued to smoke (group 1) and 1.9/patient in the 76 patients who stopped smoking at the time of PTCA (group 2) (difference not significant). The 2 patient groups at baseline were similar with respect to gender, frequency of diabetes mellitus, number of pack/year smoking, angina class and number of diseased coronary arteries. The location of the dilated narrowings, the residual luminal diameter stenosis and the transstenotic gradient after the procedure were similar in both groups. The recurrence of angina ≥ class II was the reason for restudy in 43% and 36% of group 1 and group 2 patients, respectively. Restenosis, defined as the presence of ≥50% narrowing at the site of previous successful dilatation at follow-up angiography, was significantly higher in group 1 compared with group 2 patients (55% vs 38%, p = 0.03). Continued smoking was selected as an independent predictor of restenosis by logistic regression analysis. The incidence of coronary artery disease progression (14% vs 10%) was not significantly different between the 2 groups. In conclusion, continued smoking after successful PTCA is associated with an increased risk of restenosis. The higher restenosis rate in smokers emphasizes the need to strengthen educational programs after PTCA.
Finite element analysis estimates of cement microfracture under complete veneer crowns

Abstract Long-term clinical failures of complete veneer crowns are commonly attributed to microleakage of the cement. Excessive stress or fatigue cycling may create cement microfractures and promote microleakage. Two-dimensional (2D) finite element analysis (FEA) was selected to determine stress levels and distributions on dental cements resulting from 10 MPa occlusal loads on single-unit complete artificial veneer crowns during various clinical conditions. Sixteen 2D-FEA computer models were generated for a mandibular first premolar to study the effects of (1) marginal configuration (shoulder for all-ceramic crown versus chamfer for type III gold alloy crown), (2) four types of cement (zinc phosphate, polycarboxylate, glass ionomer, and composite resin), and (3) two thicknesses of cement (25 and 100 μm) for single-cycle loads and fatigue loading. There was almost no difference between a chamfer and shoulder marginal configuration except at the edge of the margin where the chamfer finish lines reached 2 to 8 times greater stresses. There were minimal effects for thickness of cement and marginal configurations. Stresses were slightly less for thicker cement. Fatigue analysis was based on estimated stress versus number of cycle curves for cements and resulted in stresses below the estimated endurance limit. If the average occlusal loading levels were 10 MPa, there did not appear to be a risk of microfracture in dental cement because of mechanical loading.
Broad versus Blanket Consent for Research with Human Biological Samples

The first of two commentaries on “Respecting Donors to Biobank Research,” from the January-February 2013 issue.
Isometric Equivalence of Certain Operators on Banach Spaces

A pair of operators on a Banach space X are isometrically equivalent if they are intertwined by a surjective isometry of X. We investigate the isometric equivalence problem for pairs of operators on specific types of Banach spaces. We study weighted shifts on symmetric sequence spaces, elementary operators acting on an ideal I of Hilbert space operators, and composition operators on the Bloch space. This last case requires an extension of known results about surjective isometries of the Bloch space.
Responses of foliar δ13C, gas exchange and leaf morphology to reduced hydraulic conductivity in Pinus monticola branches

We tested the hypothesis that branch hydraulic conductivity partly controls foliar stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) by its influence on stomatal conductance in Pinus monticola Dougl. Notching and phloem-girdling treatments were applied to reduce branch conductivity over the course of a growing season. Notching and phloem girdling reduced leaf-specific conductivity (LSC) by about 30 and 90%, respectively. The 90% reduction in LSC increased foliar δ13C by about 1‰ (P < 0.0001, n = 65), whereas the 30% reduction in LSC had no effect on foliar δ13C (P = 0.90, n = 65). Variation in the δ13C of dark respiration was similar to that of whole-tissues when compared among treatments. These isotopic measurements, in addition to instantaneous gas exchange measurements, suggested only minor adjustments in the ratio of intercellular to atmospheric CO2 partial pressures (ci/ca) in response to experimentally reduced hydraulic conductivity. A strong correlation was observed between stomatal conductance (gs) and photosynthetic demand over a tenfold range in gs. Although ci/ca and δ13C appeared to be relatively homeostatic, current-year leaf area varied linearly as a function of branch hydraulic conductivity (r2 = 0.69, P < 0.0001, n = 18). These results suggest that, for Pinus monticola, adjustment of leaf area is a more important response to reduced branch conductivity than adjustment of ci/ca.
Compositional Study of Copper-Germanium Ohmic Contact to n-GaN

400°C alloying of Ge/Cu/Ge films on modestly doped n-GaN results in linear current-voltage (I-V) behavior over a wide range of relative Ge compositions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Auger depth profiling data suggest that the lowest contact resistivity is due to film compositions near 25 at.% Ge, where the amount of interfacial nonreacted Ge is low. Ohmic contact is likely established by a heavily doped GaN interfacial region influenced by premetallization reactive ion etching (RIE) and later low-temperature alloying, which assists in the formation of donorlike complexes possibly involving GeGa or SiGa. This contact shows exceptionally smooth surface morphology, as revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Projecting (N−1)-cycles to zero on hyperplanes in RN+1

Abstract The projection of a compact oriented submanifold M n−1 ⊂ R n+1 on a hyperplane Pn can fail to bound any region in P. We call this “projecting to zero.” Example: The equatorial S 1 ⊂ S 2 ⊂ R 3 projects to zero in any plane containing the x3-axis. Using currents to make this precise, we show a lipschitz (homology) (n−1)-sphere embedded in a compact, strictly convex hypersurface cannot project to zero on n+1 linearly independent hyperplanes in R n+1 . We also show, using examples, that all the hypotheses in this statement are sharp.
On the KroneckerNachlass

Summaries This article is an account of my unsuccessful efforts to find the Nachlass of Leopold Kronecker (1823–1891), and of my reasons for believing that these papers survived intact until 1945 but then were accidentally destroyed. In the same accident, I believe, the papers of Kurt Hensel (1861–1941) and many other valuable documents were lost.
Extracellular Atp Inhibits the Small-Conductance K Channel on the Apical Membrane of the Cortical Collecting Duct from Mouse Kidney

We have used the patch-clamp technique to study the effects of changing extracellular ATP concentration on the activity of the small-conductance potassium channel (SK) on the apical membrane of the mouse cortical collecting duct. In cell-attached patches, the channel conductance and kinetics were similar to its rat homologue. Addition of ATP to the bathing solution of split-open single cortical collecting ducts inhibited SK activity. The inhibition of the channel by ATP was reversible, concentration dependent (Ki = 64 μM), and could be completely prevented by pretreatment with suramin, a specific purinergic receptor (P2) blocker. Ranking of the inhibitory potency of several nucleotides showed strong inhibition by ATP, UTP, and ATP-γ-S, whereas α, β-Me ATP, and 2-Mes ATP failed to affect channel activity. This nucleotide sensitivity is consistent with P2Y2 purinergic receptors mediating the inhibition of SK by ATP. Single channel analysis further demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of ATP could be elicited through activation of apical receptors. Moreover, the observation that fluoride mimicked the inhibitory action of ATP suggests the activation of G proteins during purinergic receptor stimulation. Channel inhibition by ATP was not affected by blocking phospholipase C and protein kinase C. However, whereas cAMP prevented channel blocking by ATP, blocking protein kinase A failed to abolish the inhibitory effects of ATP. The reduction of K channel activity by ATP could be prevented by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases, and KT5823, an agent that blocks protein kinase G. Moreover, the effect of ATP was mimicked by cGMP and blocked by L-NAME (NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester). We conclude that the inhibitory effect of ATP on the apical K channel is mediated by stimulation of P2Y2 receptors and results from increasing dephosphorylation by enhancing PKG-sensitive phosphatase activity.