cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Promoting healthy eating and ensuring adequate weight gain in pregnant adolescents: issues and strategies.

A US health survey showed that 8.7% of women aged 16-19 living below the poverty level had iron deficiency anemia compared to 3.6% of women living above the poverty level. Seven strategies for improving the nutritional health of pregnant adolescents were examined. 1) Increase access and utilization of prenatal care. In one assessment only 26% of teenagers aged 15-19 years had received prenatal care by the end of the first trimester compared with 73% and 84% of women aged 20-24 years and 24-29 years respectively. 2) Redirect the content of prenatal care. A 1988 report of the Public Health Service Expert Panel on the content of prenatal care presented the three basic components of prenatal care: early and continuing risk assessment; health promotion; and medical psychosocial interventions and follow-up. Significantly lower percentages of low birth weight were found for women who had received advice on proper weight gain vitamin use breast feeding and avoidance of alcohol. 3) Determine whether WIC meets the programmatic needs of pregnant teenagers. In 1992 there were 92942 (11.9%) adolescents 17 years of age or younger out of 781029 pregnant women participating in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC). The Adolescent WIC Participation Study to be completed by October 1997 will assess their needs. 4) Understand the determinants of eating and weight gain. A review of published studies of pregnant adolescents found that nutrients consumed consistently in amounts substantially lower than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) were vitamins B6 D and E folate iron zinc and magnesium. 5) Identify and address barriers to behavior change. Many pregnant women who eat poorly engage in high-risk behaviors. 6) Develop and evaluate developmentally and culturally appropriate nutrition education intervention programs (youth involvement; integration of cultural linguistic and social factors; multiple influences of eating behaviors; and respect for personal integrity). 7) Reduce risk with population-wide approaches for improving the nutritional health of all adolescent females with particular emphasis on iron deficiency.
Enzyme immunoassay for hepatitis b and its comparison to other methods

A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay for the qualitative detection of hepatitis B surface antigenemia is presented and the results compared to the counter-immunoelectrophoresis and radioimmunoassay methods for detection of the same antigen. The enzyme-antibody conjugate was prepared from horseradish peroxidase coupled with antibodies to three sub-types of hepatitis B virus. Polystyrene plastic tubes were used as the solid-phase support. The results of the enzyme immunoassay compare favorably with radioimmunoassay and exceed counterimmunoelectrophoresis in sensitivity.
Location, location, location: targeting the endothelium

With regard to real estate, it is said, location is everything. Location may prove to be almost as important with respect to the delivery and application of novel, especially macromolecular, therapeutic agents. Specifically targeted delivery should enhance efficacy while at the same time reducing
The ideological significance of discursive form: A response to Solomon and Perkins

In responding to Solomon and Perkins, this article begins by noting that a significant change in rhetorical scholarship results from recognizing that speeches are not the only discursive forms that produce effect. It then examines the ideological significance of forms to illuminate the potential of feminist studies in order to identify elements of language that are ostensibly as neutral and opaque as discursive forms. The article contends that recognizing discursive form as active rather than passive gives full measure to its power and to the power of those who see through the conventions and deconstruct them. It also contends that recognizing the ideological significance of form has political as well as critical consequences. Furthermore, it shows that acknowledging the ideological qualities of form juxtaposes theory with analysis, history with subjectivity, and language with practice. The article concludes by noting that the potential for bringing about such juxtapositions in our field remains untapped.
Predictors of Recurrent Febrile Seizures: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives: To define the risk and identify predictors of single and multiple recurrent febrile seizures. Methods: Children (n=428) with first febrile seizures were prospectively identified and followed for 2 or more years. Parents were interviewed soon after their children's first febrile seizure and were called every 3 months to ascertain recurrent febrile seizures. Medical records of first and recurrent seizures were reviewed for additional information. Results: A total of 136 children (31.8%) experienced recurrent seizures: 73(17.1%) had only 1 recurrence, 38(8.9%) had 2 recurrences, and 25(5.8%) had 3 or more recurrences. Young age at onset, a history of febrile seizures in a first-degree relative, low degree of fever while in the emergency department, and a brief duration between the onset of fever and the initial seizure were strong independent predictors of recurrent febrile seizures. With these 4 factors combined, it is possible to define groups of children having very high and very low probabilities of having any recurrences (>70% vs 60% vs Conclusions: In children who have had a first febrile seizure, recurrences are common. The risk for 1 or more recurrences can be meaningfully predicted at the time of the initial febrile seizure with a combination of the 4 factors identified in this study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151:371-378
Investigation of Consolidation-Induced Solute Transport. II: Experimental and Numerical Results

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of consolidation-induced solute transport. Diffusion and large strain consolidation tests were performed on composite specimens of kaolinite clay consisting of an upper uncontaminated layer and a lower layer contaminated with potassium bromide. Experimental measurements of effluent concentration, solute mass outflow, and final concentration profiles were obtained for a variety of initial, boundary, and loading conditions, including unload/reload. Numerical simulations were conducted using a computational model in which solute transport occurs by advection, dispersion, and sorption and is consistent with temporal and spatial variations of porosity and seepage velocity in the consolidating layer. Large strains were taken into account as well as variation of effective diffusion coefficient with porosity and nonlinear nonequilibrium sorption effects. The numerical simulations are in good to excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. Results indicate that, depending on conditions, diffusion and consolidation-induced advection can make important contributions to solute transport and mass outflow. Thus, both mechanisms should be considered for transport analyses involving soft contaminated clays undergoing large volume change. Results also indicate that nonequilibrium sorption effects were not significant for the materials and test conditions used in this study.
Derivatives in Bankruptcy: Some Lessons from Lehman Brothers

When it filed for bankruptcy, Lehman Brothers had nearly one million derivative contracts outstanding. This article tells the story of some of those contracts, and the lessons that can be drawn from their fate. Lehman’s counterparties faced a dangerous choice after its Chapter 11 filing: terminate their contracts early—and potentially face large termination payments—or await the uncertain judgment of a bankruptcy court. In adjudicating the cases of those counterparties who chose the latter option, the court overseeing Lehman’s bankruptcy has answered some questions about what happens to derivatives in bankruptcy, while leaving others unresolved. As derivatives, particularly swaps, are central to structured finance, Lehman’s story should be of interest to any structured finance practitioner.
Local structure of dopants in compensated and singly-doped amorphous silicon

Abstract The distance between dopants and H in compensated and singly-doped a-Si has been determined using NMR spin echo double resonance. We find that there is a non-random local configuration around the dopants in these materials. In the compensated samples, 40% of the B atoms have a P in the first neighbor shell, much higher than the random value of 8% and indicative of dopant clustering. In addition, the H is not directly bonded to these dopants. This implies that the H has a higher chemical affinity for Si than for B and P in compensated a-Si. For singly-doped a-Si, the H-dopant structure is similar for the P-doped samples but different for the B-doped material, where approximately 40% of the B atoms have an H in the first neighbor shell at 1.6A. This is to be contrasted with the P-doped samples which have no H at this short distance.
Antigenic analysis of polioviruses by kinetic studies of serum neutralization.

Abstract Kinetic studies of the serum neutralization of polioviruses show that each strain can be uniquely specified by its homologous antiserum. Heterologous strains are neutralized more slowly than is the homologous strain. Late antisera are somewhat less specific than early antisera. The antigenic character is highly stable for this virus. Strains of virus isolated from the same general area, i.e., the United States, within the same year appear to be more similar antigenically than are others. For one strain studied in detail, there was no evidence for its natural recurrence among many strains isolated several years after the prototype strain. The serological specificity of a strain is independent of the culture system in which the strain is propagated. The studies are equally applicable to all three poliovirus types.
The American Experience With Desmopressin

Conclusive evidence of a polyuric etiology from a failure of vasopressin elevation led to a new pharmacologic approach to the treatment of childhood nocturnal enuresis. Desmopressin acetate, a vasopressin analogue, has been used successfully since 1978 to treat this condition. Desmopressin's efficacy at doses of 5 to 40 μg has been demonstrated in Europe and the United States. Similarly, its safety has been established, and it is a first-line choice for physicians worldwide.
Technological evolution and competitive response

This paper focuses and extends some emerging views on technological evolution and competition. First, that over the evolution of many product-market segments there is a generalizable pattern, a shift from the investment characteristics of product technology to those of process technology as the primary focus of competition. Eventually, market price falls below production costs, not because firms face U-shaped cost curves, but because of shifts in demand to the innovative form of the product. To this framework is added a hypothesis on the evolving risk structure of rival investments. The interaction of required and realized returns then provides a stopping rule for technologically-driven competition which is different from the static case. Because technological change within a segment is non-controllable but predictable the production functions and organization structures of participating firms must change in generalizable ways which can be used to predict industry structure. For the competing organization, these changes require particular kinds of decisions which are particularly suited to the level of the organization's strategic management.
Chemical vapor deposition coatings in fluidized bed reactors

Summary A coating technique based on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) is described. To coat an article, we load the coating material as a powder in an FBR and fluidize it using an inert gas. The system is heated to operating temperature, and vapors of HBr are mixed with the fluidizing gas. The sample to be coated is suspended on top of the bed or immersed into the bed. The reaction of the HBr with the powder in the bed produces halide species of the coating material that can deposit a coating on the substrate by a disproportionation or reduction reaction. Using this technique, we deposited titanium, silicon, zinc, TiN and Si 3 N 4 coatings on substrates such as copper, steel, silica and graphite.
Regulation of intestinal mucosa guanylate cyclase by hemin, heme and protoporphyrin IX

Abstract Mg 2+ -dependent activity of intestinal brush border guanylate cyclase was stimulated 4–5-fold by 50–100 μM hemin. Higher concentrations were inhibitory. In the presence of 25% dimethyl sulfoxide, which stimulated activity 9-times, 50 μM hemin further increased activity 1.7-fold. However, when activity was stimulated 32-fold by the Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin, or 26-fold by Lubrol PX, hemin produced only concentration-dependent inhibition. The first type of activation was more sensitive to hemin than the second. Reduction of hemin by dithiothreitol eliminated stimulation of basal activity, while inhibition of Lubrol PX-stimulated activity remained. Protoporphyrin IX also had no effect on basal activity, however, it inhibited enterotoxin- and Lubrol PX-stimulated activities similarly, but only to half the extent of hemin. Substitution of Mn 2+ for Mg 2+ elevated basal activity 15-fold, and this Mn 2+ -dependent activity was inhibited by hemin. Mn 2+ -dependent activity was stimulated (43%) by enterotoxin, however, the stimulated activity was more sensitive to hemin inhibition than the basal Mn 2+ -dependent activity and both inhibition curves were congruent above 50 μM hemin. Hemin inhibition of Lubrol PX-stimulated activity was much less with Mn 2+ than with Mg 2+ . These results were interpreted as suggesting two sites of hemin inhibition; on an inhibitory regulator and on the enzyme. We also found that the secretory effect of enterotoxin in the suckling mouse bioassay was reduced 56% by the oral administration of hemin.
Ureter segmentation in CT urography (CTU) by COMPASS with multiscale Hessian enhancement

We are developing an automated method for the segmentation of ureters in CTU, referred to as COmbined Modelguided Path-finding Analysis and Segmentation System (COMPASS). Ureter segmentation is a critical component for computer-aided detection of ureter cancer. A challenge for ureter segmentation is inconsistent opacification of the region of interest, which makes it difficult to be distinguished from other tissue in the surrounding area. COMPASS consists of four stages: (1) region finding and adaptive thresholding, (2) segmentation accuracy analysis, (3) potential backtracking and branching, and (4) edge profile extraction and feature analysis. In this study, we evaluated a new method in which CTU images were pre-processed with 3D multiscale Hessian filtering that enhances tubular structures. Our goal is to compare the performance of COMPASS with and without multiscale Hessian enhancement. With IRB approval, 79 cases with 124 ureters and 10 cases with 18 ureters were collected retrospectively from patient files as training and test sets, respectively. On average, the ureters spanned 289 CT slices (range: 115-405, median: 302). The segmentation performance was quantitatively assessed as the percentage of length of each ureter that was successfully tracked relative to manually tracking. COMPASS alone segmented, on average, 99.16% and 98.74% of each ureter in the training and test sets, respectively. COMPASS with Hessian enhancement segmented, on average, 97.89% and 99.63% of each ureter in the training and test sets, respectively. Although the difference did not reach statistical significance in this small test set, Hessian-enhanced tracking shows promise for overcoming certain types of difficult cases.
Alan Trounson, CIRM’s departed president: surprises, optimism, malaise.

Overseeing eight-digit cash allotments and making decisions that could radically impact the direction of stem cell science were some of the tough tasks expected of Alan Trounson during his 6.5 years as President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a position he stepped down from last May.
Deeper Look At Total Internal Reflection And Some Of Its Implications

In the present paper, we will first present a boundary-type solution for total internal reflection at an interface between two nonabsorbing media, in which the instantaneous, time varying and time averaged radiant fluxes have been determined at all points in the two media. Solutions for the s and p polarizations were found for which the instantaneous tangential E and H components and the normal components of the radiant flux were continuous in crossing the interface. From these radiant fluxes, it was possible to derive equations for the flow lines, to determine the instantaneous radiant fluxes along these flow lines, and to see how the methods of propagation differed in the two media and for the two polarizations. These ideas have also been extended to long wavelength reflection at ocean-air interfaces, and similar phenomena appear there.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Reporting of Estimated GFR in the Primary Care Clinic

Background Because serum creatinine is an insensitive measure of kidney dysfunction, guidelines have advocated routine use of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to identify patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with early (stage 3) CKD remain undiagnosed in primary care clinics; therefore, we hypothesized that routine reporting of eGFR in outpatient clinics would improve the recognition and treatment of CKD. Methods A retrospective review of primary care patients was undertaken at the Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, before and after the institution of routine eGFR reporting. We evaluated the achievement of diagnostic and therapeutic treatment goals based on the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative guidelines (documentation of CKD, urinalysis assessment, blood pressure Results Overall, patients with diabetes with early-stage CKD achieved superior treatment rates than similar patients without diabetes. Routine reporting of eGFR improved the documentation and identification of CKD by almost 50%, although absolute improvement was modest. Use of renin-angiotensin system blockers improved minimally, as did blood pressure control. Patients with documented CKD achieved treatment goals more frequently than patients without documented CKD. Conclusion Routine reporting of eGFR alone modestly improved the identification of patients with CKD without a clinically significant effect on care. For Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study calculation of eGFR reporting to effect improvements in CKD care, it will be necessary to pair eGFR reporting with provider education to identify these patients and treat them effectively.
Enhancing the "A-rule" of translesion DNA synthesis: promutagenic DNA synthesis using modified nucleoside triphosphates.

Abasic sites are mutagenic DNA lesions formed as a consequence of inappropriate modifications to the functional groups present on purines and pyrimidines. In this paper we quantify the ability of the high-fidelity bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase to incorporate various promutagenic alkylated nucleotides opposite and beyond this class of non-instructional DNA lesions. Kinetic analyses reveal that modified nucleotides such as N6-methyl-dATP and O6-methyl-dGTP are incorporated opposite an abasic site far more effectively than their unmodified counterparts. The enhanced incorporation is caused by a 10-fold increase in kpol values that correlates with an increase in hydrophobicity as well as changes in the tautomeric form of the nucleobase to resemble adenine. These biophysical features lead to enhanced base-stacking properties that also contribute toward their ability to be easily extended when paired opposite the non-instructional DNA lesion. Surprisingly, misincorporation opposite templating DNA is not enhan...
Reduction of "callbacks" to the ED due to discrepancies in plain radiograph interpretation.

Retrospective and prospective chart review was conducted to study patient callbacks to the emergency department (ED) based on plain radiograph interpretation discrepancies between radiologists and emergency physicians before and after a continuous quality improvement (CQI) intervention. Patients who were called back to the ED because of radiograph interpretation discrepancies were retrospectively studied. These results were reviewed by a CQI team, which recommended greater communication and consultation. A prospective study was then performed. Before quality intervention, 0.7% of the patients were recalled; 0.4% required recall after quality assurance, a reduction of 42.9% (P = .0001). Emergency physicians in this study had a low percentage of patient recall due to discrepancies in radiologic interpretation. CQI further reduced this percentage. The proficiency of emergency physicians interpreting radiographs validates the current practice of emergency physicians rendering treatment based on their interpretations and supports the notion of emergency physicians billing for this service.
The oxidation of Ni3Zr investigated by atom-probe field-ion microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract The oxidation of Ni3Zr at room temperature and 200°C in ≤50 Pa O2 was investigated by atom-probe field-ion microscopy (APFIM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS analysis revealed the preferential oxidation of Zr under the treatment conditions used in this study. The APFIM results indicate a broad, diffuse oxide-metal interface, an O/Zr ratio of ≤;1.5 and extensive diffusion of O into the alloy. Zr surface enrichment upon oxidation was detected by both techniques.
A monopolistic market for information

Abstract We analyze a model where traders buy information from a monopolistic seller, which is subsequently used in a speculative market. In order to overcome the dilution in the value of information due to its leakage through informative prices, the seller of information may prefer to sell noisier versions of the information he actually has. Moreover, to obtain higher profits, it is desirable for the seller to sell different signals to different traders, so that the added noise realizations do not affect equilibrium prices. One way of doing so, which does not require discrimination, is to sell identically distributed personalized signals to each of a large number of traders.
The SMEI real-time data pipeline: from raw CCD frames to photometrically accurate full-sky maps

The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) records a photometric white-light response of the interplanetary medium from Earth orbit over most of the sky. We present the techniques required to process the SMEI data in near real time from the raw CCD images to their final assembly into photometrically accurate maps of the sky brightness of Thomson scattered sunlight. Steps in the SMEI data processing include: integration of new data into the SMEI data base; conditioning to remove from the raw CCD images an electronic offset (pedestal) and a temperature-dependent dark current pattern; placement ("indexing") of the CCD images onto a high-resolution sidereal grid using known spacecraft pointing information. During the indexing the bulk of high-energy-particle hits (cosmic rays), space debris inside the field of view, and pixels with a sudden state change ("flipper pixels") are identified. Once the high-resolution grid is produced, it is reformatted to a lower-resolution set of sidereal maps of sky brightness. From these we remove bright stars, background stars, and a zodiacal cloud model (their brightnesses are retained as additional data products). The final maps can be represented in any convenient sky coordinate system, e.g., Sun-centered Hammer-Aitoff or "fisheye" projections. Time series at selected sidereal locations are extracted and processed further to remove aurorae, variable stars and other unwanted signals. These time series of the heliospheric Thomson scattering brightness (with a long-term base removed) are used in 3D tomographic reconstructions.
Evaluation of studies on platelet alpha2 adrenoreceptors in depressive illness

Abstract Discrepant results have been reported from at least ten laboratories regarding the status of platelet alpha2 adrenoreceptors in depressed patients. Using a statistical test to combine those studies which utilized radioligand binding techniques, we find the overall data support an elevation in density of platelet alpha2 adrenoreceptors from drug-free depressed patients (p
The LIM protein, CRP1, is a smooth muscle marker

LIM domains are double zinc-finger motifs found in many proteins that play central roles in cell differentiation. Members of the cysteine-rich protein (CRP) family display two LIM domains and are implicated in muscle development. Here we describe the characterization of one member of this family, CRP1, in the mouse. We have isolated and sequenced murine cDNAs that encode CRP1. We have determined by Northern analysis and in situ hybridization that CRP1 expression is developmentally regulated in the embryonic mouse and displays organ specific regulation in adults. The gene encoding CRP1 is expressed in the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of the dorsal aorta at E9.5, thus illustrating that CRP1 is an early marker for SMC differentiation at that site. As development proceeds, CRP1 transcripts are observed throughout the SMC lineage, with minimal, transient expression detected in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Interestingly, although several markers of mature smooth muscle are already expressed, CRP1 expression in the bladder is not upregulated until the onset of bladder expansion at embryonic day 16.5, at which time its expression becomes very prominent. CRP1 expression persists into adulthood with prominent expression observed in both vascular and visceral smooth muscle. The results reported here define CRP1 as a general marker of smooth muscle lineages.
The Hydrocel: A Product of Three Parents

Where provincial approaches to the ideal hydrogel once prevailed, the co-ordinated effort of several disciplines, e.g., the chemist, physiologist and practitioner, is now the rule. Although slowest to achieve full impact, the contribution of the practitioner now emerges as perhaps the most vital.
Direct investment and industrial concentration

Cross‐national comparison of industrial concentration is considered here in terms of two hypotheses. The ‘technology/market size’ hypothesis [Merhav, 1969] predicts greater concentration in less developed countries than in the larger markets of developed countries. The ‘miniature replica’ hypothesis predicts that, when the degree of foreign ownership is high, industries in less developed countries may be less concentrated than their counterparts in advanced countries. Most cross‐national comparisons of firm size distributions support a predominance of ‘technology/market size’ effects. In this paper, data from the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil and other less developed countries are used to suggest that under certain conditions ‘miniature replica’ effects may prevail.
Activation of phospholipase C in rabbit brain membranes by carbachol in the presence of GTPγS; effects of biological detergents

Abstract Rabbit brain cortical membranes incubated with carbachol in the presence of GTPγS show a marked increase in the degradation of exogenous phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. This activation of phospholipase C is dependent on the presence of deoxycholate and maximal at 0.8–1 mM deoxycholate. There is negligible activation by carbachol alone but in the presence of GTPγS a carbachol effect can be readily demonstrated. Optimal activation of phospholipase C by carbachol was seen at 10 to 100 nM free Ca2+. Washing cortical membranes with hypertonic buffer extracted 60% of the membrane protein yet the carbachol and GTPγS coupling remained intact. Incubation of the membranes with lysophosphatidylcholine, Nonidet P-40, sodium deoxycholate or digitonin at concentrations considerably less than those frequently used to solubilize membrane proteins abolished the carbachol response. Octyl glucoside and sodium cholate also uncoupled receptor regulation of phospholipase C but only at concentrations where solubilization of membrane proteins occurred. Prior exposure of membranes to carbachol did not prevent the uncoupling observed as a result of detergent treatment. Incubation of the membranes with carbachol and GTPγS did not appear to be accompanied by specific release of either active phospholipase C or inhibitors of phospholipase C activity.
IMPROVING MAGNETIC RESONANCE RESOLUTION WITH SUPERVISED LEARNING

Despite ongoing improvements in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI), considerable clinical and, to a lesser extent, research data is acquired at lower resolutions. For example 1 mm isotropic acquisition of T1-weighted (T1-w) Magnetization Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo (MPRAGE) is standard practice, however T2-weighted (T2-w)-because of its longer relaxation times (and thus longer scan time)-is still routinely acquired with slice thicknesses of 2-5 mm and in-plane resolution of 2-3 mm. This creates obvious fundamental problems when trying to process T1-w and T2-w data in concert. We present an automated supervised learning algorithm to generate high resolution data. The framework is similar to the brain hallucination work of Rousseau, taking advantage of new developments in regression based image reconstruction. We present validation on phantom and real data, demonstrating the improvement over state-of-the-art super-resolution techniques.
A Reliability Assessment Method in Strain-Based Fatigue Life Analysis

For the purpose of fatigue reliability assessment based on strain-life analysis, a family of reliability defined {var_epsilon}-N{sub f} curves, called R-{var_epsilon}-N{sub f} curves, is constructed by considering the interference model of fatigue strain capacity and applied strain history. The main effort of this work is to define reliability factors which are used to modify the conventional {var_epsilon}-N{sub f} curve into a family of R-{var_epsilon}-N{sub f} curves. A major contribution of this paper is to define two unique reliability factors, one for elastic-strain-life relation and the other for plastic-strain-life relation, for a certain reliability by using an empirical {var_epsilon}-N{sub f} curve. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the method.
Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibition enhances sympathetically mediated vascular tone

Background Phosphodiesterase type-5 (PDE-5) inhibition causes vasodilation and sympathetic activation. The contribution of each of these on resting vascular tone has not been studied. We tested the hypothesis that PDE5 inhibition contributes to increased sympathetically mediated vascular tone. Methods We studied 9 healthy males (44±2 years), randomized in a double-blind, crossover fashion to sildenafil 100 mg or placebo. Blood pressure and forearm vascular resistance (FVR) were determined at rest, after study drug administration and during intra-brachial infusion of norepinephrine (NE) 480 pmol/minute (to test alpha-receptors), adenosine (ADEN) 300 μg/minute (control), isoproterenol (ISO) 250 ng/minute (to test beta receptors) and phentolamine (PHEN) 120 μg/minute (to test sympathetically-mediated vascular tone). Norepinephrine was measured at baseline and 1 hour after study drug administration. Results Mean arterial blood pressure increased slightly after placebo (p=0.06) but was unchanged after sildenafil. FVR responses to NE, ADEN, ISO were similar (see Table; p=NS for all). FVR was reduced during PHEN following sildenafil compared to placebo(* p=0.002). Plasma norepinephrine increased by 84±31% and 30±12% following sildenafil and placebo (p=0.05). Conclusions PDE-5 inhibition significantly increased sympathetically mediated vascular tone compared to placebo in healthy, middle-aged men: this vasoconstriction offsets the vasodilatory effects of PDE-5 inhibition. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P10–P10; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.11.042 Table 1. Study Drug NE (% ΔFVR) ADEN (% ΔFVR) ISO (% ΔFVR) PHEN (% ΔFVR) Sildenafil 64 ± 15 −80 ± 2 −77 ± 3 −73 ± 3* Placebo 56 ± 14 −78 ± 2 −72 ± 3 −63 ± 3
Measurements of free radicals over a period of 4.5 years in gamma-irradiated ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

Abstract Gamma irradiation-induced free radicals have been investigated for 4.5 years in medical grade ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene resins, GUR 4120, GUR 4150 and Himont 1900, at room temperature (23 °C) in absence (vacuum) or presence of oxygen (air), and at 75 °C in vacuum. In vacuum, the primary radicals (predominantly allyl) decayed following Y=YR+ae−bt and, in 30 days at 75 °C or 100 days at 23 °C, their concentration was reduced from ∼1017 radical/g (initial) to a minimum YR∼1015 radical/g and remained at this level as long as the samples were kept in vacuum. When the samples were exposed to air, at any time during this study, these residual radicals were found to decay to a very stable, polyenyle-type terminal radical.
An Uncertainty Inequality for Wavelet Sets

The purpose of this note is to present an extension and an alternative proof to Theorem 1.3 from G. Battle ( Appl. Comput. Harmonic Anal. 4 ( 1997 ) 119 - 146 ) . This extension applies to wavelet Bessel sets which include wavelet Riesz bases for their span, wavelet Riesz bases ( including orthogonal and biorthogonal wavelet bases ) , and wavelet frames. q 1998 Academic Press
Application of the Randomized Response Technique in Obtaining Quantitative Data

Abstract The randomized response technique of reducing respondent bias in obtaining answers to sensitive questions is extended from the situation where response is categorical to that in which the response is quantitative. Results are reported on the application of the method to estimating mean number of abortions in an urban population of women, and mean income of heads of households. The efficiency of estimators based on the method of moments in the randomized response procedure is studied and representative results are reported and discussed.
A Technique for Shielding Electron Beams Used in Radiotherapeutic Management of Head and Neck Cancer

One of the major complications of radiation therapy in the management of maxillofacial tumors is the postradiation damage to the healthy tissues adjacent to the tumors. The success of radiation therapy is often limited by the treatment sequelae. The use of shielding prostheses reduces the number of potential treatment sequelae caused by the administration of therapeutic radiation for head and neck tumors. A technique for shielding uninvolved tissues from external electron beams used in therapeutic radiation treatment of head and neck cancer is described. The materials required are readily available and the shielding prosthesis can be easily fabricated by any dentist with a thorough understanding of radiation therapy, dosimetry, and the goals of treatment with radiation therapy.
High-Power High-Reliability Sub-Microsecond RF MEMS Switched Capacitors

We have developed a miniature RF MEMS switched capacitor with a capacitance ratio of 5.2 (Cu=10 fF, Cd=52 fF) and an actuation voltage of 30 V. The device is suitable for operation in the 20-70 GHz frequency range, and can be easily arrayed in parallel or in multi-bit designs for lower frequency of operation (10 GHz or lower). The switched capacitor has been tested to 1 Billion cycles at 10 GHz under 1 W of RF power (hot switching) and a unipolar actuation voltage of 30 V with no failure and no change in the S-parameters. The measured switching time is 0.8 mus. To our knowledge, this is the fastest high-power RF MEMS switched-capacitor to-date.
Making Sense of Corporate Environmentalism: An Environmental Contestation Approach to Analyzing the Causes and Consequences of the Climate Change Policy Split in the Oil Industry

The threat of climate change has elicited divergent climate policy responses from the world's major oil multinationals, splitting the oil industry into two factions. This article analyzes the cause...
Peer theory, dyadic primacy, and destruction of the group: The borderline patient and group interaction

Recent contributions toward a peer theory of group psychotherapy place the therapist's facilitation of peer interaction at the center of curative action. Borderline patients' primitive demands for leader attention disrupt the evolution of group cohesion and may threaten to destroy the group. Peer theory must account for this eventuality and deal with the therapist's dilemma of whether to maintain a dyadic or peer focus. Homogeneity of group composition regarding dyadic or peer primacy is suggested.
Energy Optimal Control of a Residential Space-Conditioning System Based on Sensible Heat Transfer Modeling

Nowadays most HVAC systems for residential building in the Unites States use a single-zone, two-position control system which is simple and easy to manage. However, this two-position control system has its disadvantage due to its unsatisfactory thermal comfort and energy inefficiency. This paper presents a proportional control system for the residential building by setting up the dynamic simulation for the building and the control system. The state-space method is used to model the building system and the simulation code is implemented on MATLAB™. Under this model, optimization of the controller is possible and implemented. The thermal comfort and energy efficiency are compared under the different schemes. It has been found that proportional control is advantageous to the two-position control for the thermal comfort while there is not much different in energy consumption between two control schemes. In this work, the furnace was operated without any minimum run time and under continuous data sampling.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Comprehensive modeling and analysis of copper wire bonding process

In this paper, the copper property under various ultrasonic powers was firstly investigated by experiment. It is found the ultrasound has an acoustic softening effect on copper free air balls (FABs). The stress-strain behavior of copper FABs that accounted for acoustic softening effect was achieved by combining experiment and numerical simulation. Then a non-linear finite element (FE) model was built to study the copper wire bonding process. The model considered the sliding status transition at the bonding stage and can give an accurate prediction on the catering issue. Finally, one case study about the BAR effect on the bonding stress was conducted. The bonding stress can be reduced by optimizing the BAR value of the bonded ball.
Spontaneous alternation behavior in animals: A review

Factors affecting spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in animals, for example, age, gender and species studied; type of apparatus and cues employed; and neuro-anatomical, neuro-chemical and motivational status of the organism, were reviewed. Despite a myriad of experiments showing interesting main effects of such variables, little research has been performed assessing the interactive affects of these factors on alternation behavior. For example, psychologists test rats in central nervous system (CNS) lesion studies, whereas psychopharmacologists tend to assess SAB in mice. Most importantly, studies have not been reported investigating the possible interactions among species, brain lesions and drugs. This is an unfortunate omission since several important alternation models include propositions relating to cholinergic and/or serotonergic coding in the hippocampus. Examination of behavioral studies revealed the primary cue for alternation among invertebrates to be body turn, whereas vertebrates rely primarily on directional and odor cues. Reference to the seeking of stimulus change remains the most compelling motivational account of why animals manifest this ubiquitious and reliable behavior pattern.
Effects of local anesthesia and flunixin meglumine on the acute cortisol response, behavior, and performance of young dairy calves undergoing surgical castration

This study assessed the effects of flunixin meglumine (FM) and a local anesthetic block (LA) on postcastration performance, plasma cortisol concentration, and behavior in dairy calves. Thirty 2- to 3-mo-old Holstein-Friesian bull calves were allocated to 5 treatments: castration with LA (2% lidocaine injected into the testes and subcutaneously), castration with FM (1.1mg/kg, i.v.), castration with LA+FM, castration without drugs (CC), and sham castration (SC). Castration was performed using a Newberry knife and Henderson castrating tool. Feed intake and body weight gain were recorded for 10d postcastration. Plasma cortisol concentration and behavior frequency and duration were monitored for 8h postcastration. Variables with repeated measures were analyzed using PROC MIXED (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC); one-way ANOVA was used for nonrepeated measures. No differences in feed intake or body weight gain were detected among groups. Calves in the CC, LA, and FM groups had transient (<60, <60, and <45 min, respectively) increases in plasma cortisol concentration after castration, with a second increase at 120 min in the LA group, whereas cortisol concentration remained at baseline in the LA+FM and SC groups. Mean cortisol concentrations were lower for calves in the LA+FM and SC groups than in the CC group. The area under the plasma cortisol concentration curve during the first 3h postcastration was greater in CC- and LA-treated calves than in SC controls. Castration without drugs was associated with higher frequencies of crouching and statue standing and less oral activity compared with SC controls. Administering LA alone before castration was associated with higher frequencies of head turning, statue standing, and postural changes, and less feeding behavior compared with SC controls. More leg lifting to groom was seen in LA+FM-treated calves than in SC controls. Calves administered FM alone before castration exhibited less crouching than CC calves, fewer postural shifts, and more feeding behavior than LA-treated calves. In summary, FM alone tended to shorten the duration of cortisol response and reduce crouching after surgical castration. Combining LA+FM eliminated the cortisol response to castration but was associated with more leg lifting behavior. Treatment with LA alone did not mitigate the cortisol response and was associated with several behavioral differences compared with SC, FM-treated, or FM+LA-treated calves. Results suggest that LA alone did not effectively control discomfort in young dairy calves castrated using the Henderson castration tool.
Scan detection and parallelization in "inherently sequential" nested loop programs

Most automatic parallelizers are based on detection of independent computations, and most of them cannot do anything if there is a true dependence between computations. However, this can be surmounted for programs that perform prefix computations (scans). We present a method for automatically parallelizing such "inherently sequential" programs. Our method, which handles arbitrarily nested loops, identifies situations where the computation performed by the loop body is equivalent to a matrix vector product over a semi-ring. We also deal with mutually dependent variables in the loop. Our method is implemented in a polyhedral program transformation and code generation system and generates OpenMP code. We also present strategies to improve the performance of the generated code, an analytical performance model for the expected speedup, as well as a method to choose the parallelization parameters optimally. We show experimentally that the scan parallelizations performed by our system are effective, yielding linear (iso-efficient) speedup in situations where no other parallelism is available.
New open frameworks based on metal pyridylphosphonates.

A family of new 1D, 2D, and 3D coordination networks based on metal−pyridylphosphonates have been synthesized under hydro(solvo)thermal conditions. Zn(3-pyridylphosphonate)(bromide), 1, adopts a 1D ladder structure, while Co(4-pyridylphosphonate)(H2O)3, 2, adopts a 2D grid structure. [Cu2(4-pyridylphosphonate)2]·2H2O, 3, [Cd(3-pyridylphosphonate)2]·DMSO, 4, Cd(4-pyridylphosphonate)2, 5, and Cd(ethyl 4-pyridylphosphonate)2, 6, all adopt 3D framework structures. While 3 possesses open channels that are occupied by water molecules, 4 exhibits cavities that accommodate DMSO guest molecules. The present work demonstrates that interesting open frameworks can be readily synthesized on the basis of metal pyridylphosphonates. Crystal data for 1: monoclinic space group C2/c; a = 15.267(4), b = 11.903(2), c = 10.380(2) A; β = 98.68(2)°; Z = 8. Crystal data for 2: monoclinic space group P21/c; a = 9.634(12), b = 7.611(9), c = 11.901(1) A; β = 97.830(2)°; Z = 4. Crystal data for 3: triclinic spacegroup P1; a = 7.4...
Linear-response time-dependent density-functional theory with pairing fields

Recent development in particle-particle random phase approximation (pp-RPA) broadens the perspective on ground state correlation energies [H. van Aggelen, Y. Yang, and W. Yang, Phys. Rev. A 88, 030501 (2013), Y. Yang, H. van Aggelen, S. N. Steinmann, D. Peng, and W. Yang, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 174110 (2013); D. Peng, S. N. Steinmann, H. van Aggelen, and W. Yang, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 104112 (2013)] and N ± 2 excitation energies [Y. Yang, H. van Aggelen, and W. Yang, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 224105 (2013)]. So far Hartree-Fock and approximated density-functional orbitals have been utilized to evaluate the pp-RPA equation. In this paper, to further explore the fundamentals and the potential use of pairing matrix dependent functionals, we present the linear-response time-dependent density-functional theory with pairing fields with both adiabatic and frequency-dependent kernels. This theory is related to the density-functional theory and time-dependent density-functional theory for superconductors, but is applied to normal non-superconducting systems for our purpose. Due to the lack of the proof of the one-to-one mapping between the pairing matrix and the pairing field for time-dependent systems, the linear-response theory is established based on the representability assumption of the pairing matrix. The linear response theory justifies the use of approximated density-functionals in the pp-RPA equation. This work sets the fundamentals for future density-functional development to enhance the description of ground state correlation energies and N ± 2 excitation energies.
AnF-space with trivial dual and non-trivial compact endomorphisms

We give an example of anF-space which has non-trivial compact endomorphisms, but does not have any non-trivial continuous linear functionals.