cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical results of Greenfield filter use in patients with cancer.

The purpose of this report is to examine the outcomes for patients with an underlying diagnosis of malignancy who have had Greenfield vena caval filters placed for protection from pulmonary embolism, and to identify areas requiring further study. This was a retrospective review of data obtained from the Greenfield filter registry and the University of Michigan Tumor Registry for 166 patients treated at the University of Michigan Medical Center between January 1988 and June 1994. The 84 men and 82 women (mean age 57.8 years) had a mean survival time of 10 (range 1–68) months. This differs significantly from patients in the filter registry who do not have malignancy (P<0.0001). Some 51% experienced recurrence of their malignancy at a mean of 20 months; this timing corresponds to development of new or recurrent thrombembolism and filter placement. Distant metastases were present in 72% of patients at the time of filter placement. In conclusion, as anticipated, filter patients with malignancy have a significantly shorter survival time than those with other concurrent diseases. A temporal association between the progression of the malignancy and the occurrence of thromboembolism is observed in this population and requires further study. Future studies regarding the use of vena caval filters in these patients and the role of diagnostic screening for deep venous thrombosis and occult recurrence of malignancy should focus on efficacy, safety, cost and patient quality of life rather than on survival. © 1997 The International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery.
The logic of ‘Policy’ and successful policies

Developed on the premise that how we conceive of ‘policy’ and ‘successful policy’ guides policy sciences' research and evaluation, this paper responds to the conceptual questions of “what is a policy?” and “when is a policy successful?” Formal or logical conditions are established to distinguish ‘policy’ from related concepts. The notion ‘relevant public’ is introduced to distinguish public policies from private policies and to identify fairly-declared policies. Further, conditions are developed that can be used as logical tests for three types of policy success: implementation success, instrumental success and success in normative justification.
Addendum and Corrections to "Propagation of Plane Waves Through Two Parallel Dielectric Sheets"

Additional data, needed to complete the problem solution and omitted in the above communication,1 are presented showing actual maximum and minimum/E/2 values for the standing waves which exist between the two sheets. Two corrections to the original work are also given.
Superpolishing and Precision Metrology on a Metal Mandrel and Replicated Segments for Constellation-X

We have superpolished a diamond-turned aluminum mandrel (coated with electroless Ni) to an axial roughness of 0.34 nm rms. The mandrel is made to the Astro-E secondary mirror design for the 81st shell. Precision metrology at 100 mm to submicron scales has established the power spectral density of the mandrel and ultralightweight gold coated replicated segments. Predicted image quality of a set of optimally aligned replicated segments of this and a matching primary is substantially improved as compared to the flight mirrors for Astro-E. This approach using metal mandrels, superpolishing, and replicated ultralightweight foil mirrors, may represent a cost-effective approach to meeting the 15 arcsec half-energy width and weight requirements for the Constellation-X mission. Descriptions of the polishing apparatus, the precision metrology instruments, and the surface data analysis are presented. The general methods described are applicable to precision optics for both normal incidence and grazing incidence optics.
A ssessing O bliteration by I ncorporation: I ssues and C aveats

Empirical studies of obliteration by incorporation (OBI) may be conducted at the level of the database record or the fulltext citation-in-context. To assess the difference between the two approaches, 1,040 articles with a variant of the phrase “evolutionarily stable strategies” (ESS) were identified by searching the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters, Philadelphia, PA) and discipline-level databases. The majority (72%) of all articles were published in life sciences journals. The ESS concept is associated with a small set of canonical publications by John Maynard Smith; OBI represents a decoupling of the use of the phrase and a citation to a John Maynard Smith publication. Across all articles at the record level, OBI is measured by the number of articles with the phrase in the database record but which lack a reference to a source article (implicit citations). At the citation-in-context level, articles that coupled a non-Maynard Smith citation with the ESS phrase (indirect citations) were counted along with those that cited relevant Maynard Smith publications (explicit citations) and OBI counted only based on those articles that lacked any citation coupled with the ESS text phrase. The degree of OBI observed depended on the level of analysis. Record-level OBI trended upward, peaking in 2002 (62%), with a secondary drop and rebound to 53% (2008). Citation-in-context OBI percentages were lower with no clear pattern. Several issues relating to the design of empirical OBI studies are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On pricing of market-indexed certificates of deposit

Abstract A market-indexed certificate of deposit (MICD) entitles its holder, over the chosen length of maturity, to the greater of either a prespecified guaranteed return rate or to a fixed proportion of the increase, if any, on a broad-based stock index between commencement and maturity of the MICD. In the context of a market model for continuous trading we obtain the rational price of the MICD.
Quantitative radionuclide angiocardiography for determination of chamber to chamber cardiac transit times.

Abstract A radionuclide method is described for determination of chamber to chamber cardiac transit times using only an intravenous injection. Using the Digital Autofluoroscope, counts of radioactivity from each square centimeter over the precordium were recorded onto computer tape at 0.23 second intervals after intravenous injection of 10 millicuries of 99mtechnetium pertechnetate. Computer analysis of counts grouped detector units with similar time responses into areas corresponding to discrete cardiac regions. From the resulting indicatordilution curves, appearance, peak and mean transit times were calculated for each cardiac region. Studies were obtained in 10 normal subjects, 14 patients with cardiac septal defects and left to right shunting and 20 patients with valvular stenosis or insufficiency. Among the latter patients, 8 had mitral stenosis and 8 had aortic insufficiency. Patients with a left to right shunt greater than 15 percent consistently demonstrated rapid pulmonary transit of tracer. In addition, specific abnormalities of curve configuration occurred in patients with a shunt greater than 30 percent. Transit times from the right atrium to left ventricle averaged 9.2 ± 1.2 seconds in normal subjects, 13.3 ± 2.2 seconds in patients with mitral stenosis and 14.6 ± 2.8 seconds in patients with aortic insufficiency. Pulmonary mean transit time was 6.6 ± 1.1 seconds in normal patients, 9.2 ± 1.7 seconds in those with mitral stenosis and 11.7 ± 3.1 seconds in those with aortic insufficiency. Pulmonary blood volume was 362 cc/m2 in patients with mitral stenosis and 508 cc/m2 in those with aortic insufficiency. These data suggest that pulmonary mean transit time was prolonged primarily by decreased cardiac output in mitral stenosis and by increased pulmonary blood volume in aortic insufficiency. The simple technique described consistently provided hemodynamic data that appear to be useful for diagnosis and management of cardiac diseases.
Effect of sample’s length on flow properties of open-cell metal foam and pressure-drop correlations

Many applications require fluid flow through the open pores of metal foam. The foam is usually treated as a porous medium for which the Darcy law and the Hazen-Dupuit-Darcy (or Forchheimer) equation are used to describe the pressure drop, and for obtaining the two important flow properties, i.e., the permeability and the form drag coefficient. Little or no attention is paid to the length (or thickness) of the porous medium in the flow direction. This paper establishes a minimum length necessary for the foam to have length-independent (or bulk) permeability and form drag coefficient. This minimum length is obtained experimentally for various types of open-cell aluminum foam subjected to airflow in the Forchheimer regime. Below this thickness values of the two key flow properties are not constant, and they include entrance/exit effects, which may explain some of the discrepancies in the reported values in the literature. The Forchheimer equation was recast in two different manners, which resulted in new non-dimensional numbers- one representing the form drag and the other the viscous drag. These numbers correlated very well with the thickness of the porous medium. The obtained correlations allow for determining the pressure drop given only the velocity and the thickness of an aluminum foam sample.
Power spectral analysis of the surface electromyogram of human jaw muscles during fatigue.

Abstract Muscle fatigue in the anterior temporal and masseter muscles of 13 normal subjects was induced by maximum clench in intercuspal position. Frequency analysis using a fast Fourier transform algorithm to obtain the power-spectral density function and the power spectrum of the electromyogram signal indicated that the power spectra obtained during fatigue were statistically significantly shifted to lower frequencies and narrower than those obtained at the beginning of the clench. The shift was due to a significant increase of the power in the low-frequency range and a significant decrease of that in the high-frequency range. The power-spectrum shift to lower frequencies had an exponential time course. The most pronounced shift occurred in the first 25 per cent of the total clenching time. Decrease of the conduction velocity of the action potential along the muscle fibre seems to be the main cause of the shift.
Serotonin-2 receptors in the CNS of alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring rats

The densities of serotonin-2(5-HT2) receptors, labelled with [3H]ketanserin (Ket), were examined in the CNS of alcohol-naive, adult, male alcohol-preferring (P) and nonpreferring (NP) rats using quantitative autoradiography. The densities of binding sites labelled with 2.0 nM [3H]Ket were 15–25% lower (p < 0.05) in layer IV of the medial prefrontal, frontal, cingulate, parietal, and temporal cortices of the P line compared with the NP line. [3H]Ket binding in the P rats was also 40–50% lower (p < 0.05) in the medial and lateral nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, and caudate-putamen, and 20% lower (p < 0.05) in the claustrum, compared with the NP line. No differences in 2.0 nM [3H]Ket binding were observed between the lines in the piriform cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra, central gray, and interpenduncular nucleus. Scatchard analysis of [3H]Ket binding (0.5–6.0 nM), determined in layer IV of the frontal and parietal cortex and in the lateral nucleus accumbens, indicated lower Bmax values without a change in Kd for the P compared to the NP rats. The results of this study indicate that there are fewer 5-HT2 receptors in certain CNS regions of the P relative to the NP rats.
The California Breast Cancer Survivorship Consortium (CBCSC): prognostic factors associated with racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer survival

Racial/ethnic disparities in mortality among US breast cancer patients are well documented. Our knowledge of the contribution of lifestyle factors to disease prognosis is based primarily on non-Latina Whites and is limited for Latina, African American, and Asian American women. To address this knowledge gap, the California Breast Cancer Survivorship Consortium (CBCSC) harmonized and pooled interview information (e.g., demographics, family history of breast cancer, parity, smoking, alcohol consumption) from six California-based breast cancer studies and assembled corresponding cancer registry data (clinical characteristics, mortality), resulting in 12,210 patients (6,501 non-Latina Whites, 2,060 African Americans, 2,032 Latinas, 1,505 Asian Americans, 112 other race/ethnicity) diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer between 1993 and 2007. In total, 3,047 deaths (1,570 breast cancer specific) were observed with a mean (SD) follow-up of 8.3 (3.5) years. Cox proportional hazards regression models were fit to data to estimate hazards ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for overall and breast cancer-specific mortality. Compared with non-Latina Whites, the HR of breast cancer-specific mortality was 1.13 (95 % CI 0.97–1.33) for African Americans, 0.84 (95 % CI 0.70–1.00) for Latinas, and 0.60 (95 % CI 0.37–0.97) for Asian Americans after adjustment for age, tumor characteristics, and select lifestyle factors. The CBCSC represents a large and racially/ethnically diverse cohort of breast cancer patients from California. This cohort will enable analyses to jointly consider a variety of clinical, lifestyle, and contextual factors in attempting to explain the long-standing disparities in breast cancer outcomes.
The Effect of a High Radiation Environment on Gold-Silicon Charged Particle Detectors

A study was conducted to determine the effect of a high radiation environment on the response of gold-silicon surface-barrier detectors to plutonium-239 alpha particles. The controlling damage was due to fast neutrons although the detectors were exposed to a mixed gamma-neutron field. After an exposure of 1000 rads the low energy side of the response peak showed a definite but broad secondary peak. With increasing dose the original peak broadened but retained its pulse height and the secondary peak dropped in pulse height and became very broad. The total number of counts remained constant, being shared between the two peaks. After 5000 rads exposure the original single peak response was no longer evident. Thermal annealing at 180 C for several hours yielded only slight recovery.
The effects of referent and reward power upon social conflict

Intermittent contingent promises were sent to male Ss during a mixed-motive interaction by either a liked or disliked simulated player,. The S compliance was rewarded either 10% or 90% of the time. Although neither factor affected compliance, liking for the promisor did induce more behavioral trust, more cooperation on power-irrelevant interactions, and caused Ss to evaluate the promisor more favorably after the interaction.
Functional guarantees: a new service paradigm

Equipment service sector supports a nation's infrastructure. Improved diagnostics?prognostics technologies have enabled aggressive equipment producers to offer a new service ? a long-term guarantee on the operation of a product for a fee. Without a rigorous framework for managing these guarantees, the producer is exposed to extensive risks, resulting in serious losses. In this article, we formulate a conceptual framework for the design and delivery of a new service paradigm, Functional Guarantees. In Functional Guarantees, producers sell a service of providing well-defined 'functionality' from a physical equipment. As the core of the framework, integrated risk management enables viable delivery of the required quality of functionality from the equipment. The framework utilises operational learning and feedback mechanisms for operational risk management. For long-term sustainability and viability, strategic analysis integrally assesses the impact of a portfolio of service guarantees. The framework allows the producer to meet customers' needs and reduce risk of loss, while constantly looking toward improving profitability.
Benthic faunal assemblages and carbon supply along the continental shelf/shelf break-slope off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Abstract Patterns of benthic faunal abundances, biomass, and productivity were examined in the continental shelf-break/upper-slope and mid-slope region of the Ocean Margins Program study area off Cape Hatteras, NC in July 1994, and July and August 1996. Macrofaunal abundances were comparable to or slightly higher than other shelf-slope locales in the North Atlantic. Similar to previous studies in the region, there were no clear depth (75–900 m) or latitudinal (36°20′N–35°25′) trends. Sta. S300 in 300 m had greatest abundances (539,000±38,400 m−2) for individuals >0.3 mm, more than 3 times higher than the average for all stations. Annelids of all sizes dominated numerically, equaling >80% of all macrofauna regardless of size. The majority of infauna were found in the upper 5 cm, but direct visual observations and geochemical evidence from other studies imply a deep-burrowing benthos. Meiofauna (excluding benthic foraminifera) were twice as abundant at shelf-break/upper-slope stations than mid-slope stations, while foraminifera were more abundant at deeper stations. Meiofaunal-sized polychaetes and nematodes were found to at least 7–8 cm below the sediment surface. Bacterial inventories at shelf-break/upper-slope depths were high relative to other shelf regions, but declined precipitously deeper than 500 m. Relative biomass patterns were similar for all stations, highest for macrobenthos and lowest for bacteria. Although densities were high, the contribution of nematodes to benthic biomass was 0.3 mm) at station S300, while metazoan meiofauna contributed from 0.6 g C m−2 at station N-274 to 11 g C m−2 at M76, averaging 2.2±2.4 g C m−2. Bacterial biomass over the upper 10 cm was ∼4 times higher at shelf-break/upper-slope stations than mid-slope stations, averaging 1.05±1.14 g C m−2 and ranging from 5 g C m−2 at M76 to 0.12 g C m−2 at MLB-679Rb. Benthic production estimates track biomass patterns and are estimated at 188 g C m−2 yr−1 for shelf-break/upper-slope and 87 g C m−2 yr−1 for mid-slope stations, respectively. Although bacterial biomass was considerably less than macrobenthos, production estimates for bacteria were almost 4 times higher on average at shelf-break/upper-slope stations than for macrofauna (147 compared with 40 g C m−2 yr−1). Sustained inputs of labile planktonic debris likely contribute to the abundant, deep-burrowing, and extremely active benthic community off Cape Hatteras, and are probably higher than presently estimated.
Near-infrared spectrophotometric determination of tri- and tetrapeptides.

A new method based on the near infrared technique has been developed for the noninvasive and nondestructive determination of the identity and sequences of amino acid residues in small peptides. The method is capable of distinguishing not only peptides with very similar structures (e.g., Gly-Ala-Ala, Gly-Ala-Leu, Leu-Gly-Gly and Gly-Leu-Leu-Gly, Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly, Gly-Gly-Ala-Gly) but also peptides with the same amino acid residues but different sequences (e.g., Gly-Ala-Ala, Ala-Gly-Ala, Ala-Ala-Gly and Gly-Gly-Gly-Ala, Gly-Gly-Ala-Gly).
Mentally Disabled Research Subjects: The Enduring Policy Issues

Mentally disabled adults often serve as subjects in research on mental illness, developmental disabilities, dementia, and other conditions associated with mental impairment. Since US regulatory policy fails to resolve many ethical issues presented by such research, investigators and institutional review boards must determine the appropriate standards and procedures for studies involving adults with mental disabilities. Procedures for capacity assessment and information disclosure should enhance the autonomy of capable subjects and accurately identify subjects incapable of independent choice. Research teams should inform proxy decision makers of their ethical responsibilities. Decisionally incapable adults objecting to research involvement should rarely be included in studies. Researchers, institutional review boards, advocacy groups, and federal officials should collaborate to improve evaluation of risks and potential benefits to decisionally incapable subjects. These groups should also seek consensus on appropriate risk limits in studies presenting no prospect of direct benefit to decisionally incapable subjects. Finally, subject populations should be represented in research planning and review activities.
Centrosome development in early mouse embryos as defined by an autoantibody against pericentriolar material

A human autoantibody from a schleroderma patient was found to immunostain interphase and mitotic centrosomes in a variety of vertebrate cells. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry localized this antigen in dense pericentriolar material (PCM) surrounding the centrioles. The meiotic spindle of the mouse egg has no centriole but it exhibited a broad PCM band at each pole. This pattern was also found from the first through fourth mitotic divisions. During this time PCM was found assembled at a single locus in the cell and exclusively in mitotic cells; it was not observable in interphase cells. In the blastocyst, only polar trophoblast cells had characteristic centrosomes throughout the cell cycle. Results suggest PCM can exist, disperse, and reorganize during the cell cycle independently of the centriole, and its distribution in the embryo differs in cells having different fates.
Fisher information and stochastic complexity

By taking into account the Fisher information and removing an inherent redundancy in earlier two-part codes, a sharper code length as the stochastic complexity and the associated universal process are derived for a class of parametric processes. The main condition required is that the maximum-likelihood estimates satisfy the central limit theorem. The same code length is also obtained from the so-called maximum-likelihood code.
The effect of dark complexing on the photosensitized formation of 8-methoxypsoralen cross-links with DNA.

— The near-UV dose at 365 nm required for the formation of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) cross-links with calf thymus DNA was found to be insensitive to the concentration ratio of nucleotides to 8-MOP over the range 100:1 to 5:1. The proposed explanation is that only the dark-complexed 8-MOP contributes to the photosensitized formation of monoadducts and cross-links. A kinetics analysis indicates that the fluence required for cross-linking should be inversely proportional to the square root of the fraction of dark-complexed 8-MOP per nucleotide (the binding ratio), a quantity that is insensitive to the ratio of nucleotides to 8-MOP. These findings predict a small dependence of photosensitivity on the total 8-MOP concentration in cellular systems in which cross-links are the major lethal lesion.
Junk bonds, life insurer insolvency, and stock market reactions: The case of first executive corporation

The First Executive Corporation was the largest failure in the history of the life insurance industry. The company was one of the most aggressive purchasers of junk bonds through the 1980s and was the first of several large failures in the staid life insurance industry. In this article, we examine the effect of First Executive's failure on the value of companies in the life insurance industry. We find that the price of other life insurance companies' stock is negatively affected by the earnings announcement that preceded First Executive's failure. The magnitude of an individual company's reaction to First Executive's loss varies according to the proportion of the company's assets invested in junk bonds, the proportion of the company's assests invested in real estate, and the financial strength of the company as measured by A.M. Best's rating.
Development of microsatellite markers and a restriction endonuclease digest assay for non-invasive sampling of endangered White-rumped, Slender-billed and Red-headed vultures

Southeast Asian vultures have been greatly reduced in range and population numbers, but it is challenging to use traditional tagging and monitoring techniques to track changes in their populations. Genotypes derived from non-invasively collected feather samples provide an alternative and effective means to ‘capture’ individual vultures for mark-recapture analyses. We describe a restriction endonuclease digest assay that distinguishes the visually similar feathers of three species of critically endangered Asian vultures (Gyps bengalensis, G. tenuirostris, and Sarcogyps calvus). In addition, we describe a panel of eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. In combination, the restriction endonuclease assay and microsatellite marker set developed here are powerful molecular tools for investigating the genetic and demographic status of these Asian vultures species.
Adhering 0-branes to 6-branes and 8-branes

A Yang-Mills solution is constructed on T6 which corresponds to a brane configuration composed purely of 0-branes and 6-branes. This configuration breaks all supersymmetries and has an energy greater than the sum of the energies of its components; nonetheless, the configuration is stable classically, at least to quadratic order. An analogous construction is also given for a system of 0-branes and 8-branes on T8. These constructions may prove to be useful for describing 6-branes and 8-branes in M(atrix)-theory.
Recombinant expression of twelve evolutionarily diverse subfamily Iα aminotransferases

Abstract Aminotransferases are essential enzymes involved in the central metabolism of all organisms. The Iα subfamily of aspartate and tyrosine aminotransferases (AATases and TATases) is the best-characterized grouping, but only eight enzymes from this subfamily, representing relatively little sequence diversity, have been experimentally characterized for substrate specificity ( i.e ., AATase vs . TATase). Genome annotation, based on this limited dataset, provides tentative assignments for all sequenced members of this subfamily. This procedure is, however, subject to error, particularly when the experimental basis set is limited. To address this problem we cloned twelve additional subfamily Iα enzymes from an evolutionarily divergent set of organisms. Nine were purified to homogeneity after heterologous expression in Escherichia coli in native, intein-tagged or His 6 -tagged forms. The two Saccharomyces cerevisiae isoforms were recombinantly produced in yeast. The effects of the C-terminal tags on expression, purification and enzyme activity are discussed.
An Electronic Coordinate Transformer for Electrocardiography

A considerable variation exists in the orientation of the hearts of different subjects. These variations make the interpretations of electrocardiograms substantially more difficult. They can be eliminated by a transformation of the "coordinates" of the three components of the heart's dipole moment to a new frame of reference which is rotated with respect to the original one. An electronic instrument for accomplishing this end is described in this article.
Apolipoprotein B is a globular protein — Morphological studies by electron microscopy

Summary Water-soluble apolipoprotein B was prepared from fresh plasma by quick isolation of low density lipoproteins and immediate delipidization under non-oxidative conditions. The denatured protein in 6 M guanidine · HCl was reduced and carboxymethylated, dialyzed through 6 M urea/preservatives and to 1% ammonium acetate/0.05% EDTA/0.13% e-amino caproic acid, pH 7.3 under N 2 at 4°C. The morphological studies were carried out by electron microscopy with negative staining and freeze fracture. Both these techniques showed that apolipoprotein B is a globular protein with average diameter of 11.48 ± 1.25 nm (n=978). The M.W. of apolipoprotein B calculated from this particle size was comparable to that from amino acid sequence.
Development of adenovirus immobilization strategies for in situ gene therapy

Background Regenerative gene therapy using viral vectors enables transduced cells to express bioactive factors in vivo. Viral delivery with spatial control can enhance transduction efficiency and may limit systemic infection. Consequently, we tethered biotinylated adenovirus via interactions with avidin on chitosan surfaces to gain robust control for in situ transduction. Methods Avidin was either directly conjugated to chitosan (virus–biotin– avidin-material; VBAM) or indirectly docked on biotinylated chitosan surfaces (virus–biotin–avidin–biotin-material; VBABM) to tether biotinylated adenovirus. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and spectroscopic analysis were performed to demonstrate the binding profiles. Biotinalkaline phosphatase and biotinylated adenovirus were used as different sized particles to evaluate binding efficiencies and were compared by the Sips isotherm adsorption method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination illustrated virus distribution, and the transduction efficiency was determined by in vitro cell transduction. Results ELISA and spectroscopic analysis both demonstrated that the VBAM system led to multilayer avidin formation on biomaterial surfaces, whereas VBABM formed a monolayer of avidin. Sips isotherm adsorption indicated that the VBAM method increased heterogeneity and steric hindrance of binding sites. By contrast, the VBABM method docked avidin on chitosan surfaces and orientated the binding sites to facilitate ligand binding. In addition, SEM images illustrated that the VBABM method led to more even viral distribution. In vitro cell infection experiments also demonstrated that the VBABM system enhanced virus immobilization and thus improved cell transduction efficiency over the VBAM system. Conclusions The VBABM strategy is a superior method for in situ transduction from biomaterials. This strategy could be adapted for use with a variety of biomaterials as well as viral vectors, and thus may be an alternative method for in vivo regenerative gene therapy. Copyright  2008 John Wiley &S ons, Ltd.
Anthropometric variability in the USA: 1971-2002.

Aim: The study analysed variability in physical stature, weight, and body mass index (BMI) in the USA during 1971–2002. Subjects: Subjects were non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites, 2–74 years of age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I–III and 1999–2002). Methods: The coefficient of variation and the standard deviation of the logarithm of stature, weight, and BMI were used to assess anthropometric variability for groups defined by age, race, sex, income, and survey year. Weighted ordinary least squares regressions were used to estimate the effect of socio-economic variables on anthropometric variability. Results: (a) The relation between age and variability in weight or BMI resembles an inverted U, (b) men have lower variability in BMI than women, (c) Blacks and the poor have greater variability in weight and BMI than Whites or than the non-poor, and (d) variability in anthropometric indices increased during 1971–2002. Results were robust to the measure of variability used and t...
An exploratory study of a zirconium-modified, precipitation-strengthened nickel-30 copper alloy

A precipitation-strengthened alloy has been produced through minor additions of zirconium to a base Ni-30Cu alloy. The results of this exploratory study indicate that thermomechanical processing of a solution-treated Ni-30Cu-0.2Zr alloy produced a dispersion of precipitates. The precipitates have been tentatively identified as a Ni5Zr compound. Comparison of the mechanical properties, as determined by testing in air, of the Zr-modified alloy to those of a Ni-30Cu alloy reveals that the precipitation-strengthened alloy has improved tensile properties to 1200 K and improved stress-rupture properties to 1100 K. The oxidation characteristics of the modified alloy appeared to be equivalent to those of the base Ni-30Cu alloy.
Application of ion-exclusion and ion-exchange techniques in preparing α,β,β′-trihydroxyisobutyramide and α,β,β′-trihydroxyisobutyric acid from 1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone via the cyanohydrin synthesis

Abstract α,β,β′-Trihydroxyisobutyramide (2,3-dihydroxy-2-hydroxymethylpropanamide) melting point 107.5–108°, has been prepared from 1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone via formation and partial hydrolysis of its cyanohydrin. After isolation by ion-exclusion techniques and crystallization from water and ethanol-water mixtures, the amide was converted nearly quantitatively to α,β,β′-trihydroxyisobutyric acid (2,3-dihydroxy-2-hydroxymethylpropanoic acid), melting point 117–117.5°, by boiling with excess aqueous NaOH followed by cation-exchange elimination of Na+ and any unevolved NH3 on H+-form Dowex 50. Proton NMR spectra for both amide and acid were recorded.
Crystalloid inclusions in the connective tissue of spider venom gland

Nous decrivons des inclusions cristallines observees dans l'elytre extracellulaire des glandes venimeuses deLoxosceles reclusa.
STRATEGIC USE OF IVERMECTIN DURING PREGNANCY TO CONTROL TOXOCARA CANIS IN GREYHOUND PUPPIES

Twenty-one greyhound bitches were bred (Day 0) and housed throughout their pregnancies on three greyhound breeding farms in Kansas. These dogs were assigned randomly to one of four treatment groups. Group A dogs (6) were given ivermectin subcutaneously (300 microg/kg) on Day 0 (the first day the dogs were bred), and Days 30 and 60 of gestation. Group B dogs (6) were given ivermectin (300 microg/kg SQ) on Day 42. Group C dogs (3) were given ivermectin (300 microg/kg SQ) on Days 0, 30, and 60 plus 10 days after whelping. Group D dogs (6) served as controls and received no anthelmintic. Bitches and puppies were moved to the university on the day after birth and were maintained inside for 28 days. Weekly quantitative fecal exams were done on the bitches during this time. The puppies were euthanized humanely at 28 days of age. Intestinal parasites were recovered, identified, counted, sexed, and preserved in either 10% formalin or frozen at -70 degrees C. The geometric mean numbers of adult Toxocara canis in the small intestines for Group A puppies (n = 40) were 2.8, 8.5 for Group B puppies (n = 39), and 29.7 for Group D puppies (n = 28). No adults were found in the Group C puppies (n = 15). The geometric mean eggs per gram of feces from the pups in group A, B, and D were 1.3, 704, and 27, 134, respectively. No eggs were recovered from the Group C pups. The strategic use of ivermectin at 300 microg/kg in greyhound bitches on Days 0, 30, and 60 of gestation reduced the worm burden carried by the puppies by 90% and the actual number of eggs passed into the environment by 99.8%. The same dose on day 42 reduced the worm burden by 71.4% and the number of eggs passed into the environment by 97.4%. This dose given on days 0, 30, and 60 plus 10 days postwhelping, reduced the worm burden by 100%, and no eggs were passed into the environment.
Quality-aware millimeter-wave device-to-device multi-hop routing for 5G cellular networks

Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) transmission is a promising method for increasing capacity in next-generation cellular systems. However, since mm-wave signals are too weak to (i) do long-distance communication and (ii) survive in non-line-of-sight situations, multi-hop relaying is required. We thus study in this paper a multi-hop routing protocol at mm-wave (38 GHz and 28GHz) frequencies. Due to the great and steadily increasing importance of video streaming in cellular applications, we pay special attention to the maximization of video transmission quality, which makes the optimization problem different from the usual sum-rate maximization. Specifically, we develop a protocol that optimizes the “sum quality” of the transmission of different video streams, subject to constraints (minimum quality) of separate streams. We take the unique properties of mm-waves (sparse angular power spectrum, leading to low interference) into account in our method. Extensive simulation results show the superiority of our approach compared to max-min flow routing which is widely used in QoS-sensitive applications.
Handbook of Clinical Laboratory Testing During Pregnancy. Ann M. Gronowski, editor. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2004, 474 pp., $145.00, hardcover (1 CD). ISBN 1-58829-270-3.

Pregnancy-related testing has a fascinating complexity, largely related to its role as a crystal ball. Tests to predict respiratory distress syndrome range from the artful, laborious chromatography of lipids to clever applications of biophysical techniques such as fluorescence polarization. Hemolytic disease of the newborn is predicted by the classic, nowadays rare technique of scanning spectrophotometry, whereas the notoriously difficult prediction of premature labor is aided by an ultramodern immunoassay. The possibility of fetal trisomy is derived from a panel of biomarkers by use …
Functional imaging of the rat cervical spinal cord.

Purpose: To examine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the rat cervical spinal cord using painful stimulation. Materials and Methods: fMRI of the rat cervical spinal cord was performed at 9.4 T. Stimuli included injection of 25μL of capsaicin (128 μg/mL in 7.5% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)) into the right dorsal forepaw and electrical stimulation (15 V, 0.3 msec, 3 Hz) of the left dorsal forepaw. Results: Activation in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, which is known to be associated with the transmission of pain, was found in all rats (N = 4) following injection of capsaicin into the dorsal forepaw. It was possible to reproduce the pain response in a given animal several times throughout the course of an experiment, provided that sufficient time was allowed between capsaicin injections. Regions of the spinal cord associated with motor and pain response were observed in functional imaging experiments involving subcutaneous electrical stimulation of the dorsal forepaw. Conclusion: Spinal fMRI using electrical stimulation and capsaicin-induced painful stimulation can be a useful tool in an animal model of pain and injury. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;16:553–558. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A fast Adaptive-Gain Orientation Filter of inertial/magnetic data for human motion tracking in free-living environments

High-resolution, real-time data obtained by human motion tracking systems can be used for gait analysis, which helps better understanding the cause of many diseases for more effective treatments, such as rehabilitation for outpatients or recovery from lost motor functions after a stroke. This paper presents an analytically derived method for an adaptive-gain complementary filter based on the convergence rate from the Gauss-Newton optimization algorithm (GNA) and the divergence rate from the gyroscope, which is referred as Adaptive-Gain Orientation Filter (AGOF) in this paper. The AGOF has the advantages of one iteration calculation to reduce the computing load and accurate estimation of gyroscope measurement error. Moreover, for handling magnetic distortions especially in indoor environments and movements with excessive acceleration, adaptive measurement vectors and a reference vector for Earth's magnetic field selection schemes are introduced to help the GNA find more accurate direction of gyroscope error. Experimental results are presented to verify the performance of the proposed method, which shows better accuracy of orientation estimation than several well-known methods.
Noninvasive quantification of T2 and concentrations of ascorbate and glutathione in the human brain from the same double-edited spectra.

The transverse relaxation times (T2) and concentrations of Ascorbate (Asc) and glutathione (GSH) were measured from a single dataset of double-edited spectra that were acquired at several TEs at 4 T in the human brain. Six TEs between 102 and 152 ms were utilized to calculate T2 for the group of 12 subjects scanned five times each. Spectra measured at all six TEs were summed to quantify the concentration in each individual scan. LCModel fitting was optimized for the quantification of the Asc and GSH double-edited spectra. When the fitted baseline was constrained to be flat, T2 was found to be 67 ms (95% confidence interval, 50–83 ms) for GSH and ≤115 ms for Asc using the sum of spectra measured over 60 scans. The Asc and GSH concentrations quantified in each of the 60 scans were 0.62 ± 0.08 and 0.81 ± 0.11 µmol/g [mean ± standard deviation (SD), n = 60], respectively, using 10 µmol/g N-acetylaspartate as an internal reference and assuming a constant influence of N-acetylaspartate and antioxidant T2 relaxation in the reference solution and in vivo. The T2 value of GSH was measured for the first time in the human brain. The data are consistent with short T2 for both antioxidants. These T2 values are essential for the absolute quantification of Asc and GSH concentrations measured at long TE, and provide a critical step towards addressing assumptions about T2, and therefore towards the quantification of concentrations without the possibility of systematic bias. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Single-Molecule Switch and Memory Element

The mechanically controllable break-junction technique enables us to investigate charge-carrier transport through an individually contacted and addressed molecule. Using a statistical measurement and analysis approach, we acquire simultaneously current-voltage curves during the repeated formation and breaking of a molecular junction. Thereby, a reversible and controllable switching between two distinct conductive states of a single-molecule system was investigated. Voltage pulses are used to switch from a low to a high conductive ''on'' state, and, furthermore, to reset the switch again to the ''off'' state. On this single-molecule level, collective phenomena can be excluded and therefore the observed switching mechanism has a truly molecular origin. Both conductive states are stable and accessible via non-destructive reading. Combined with the ability to reset the switch, this opens the way to employ this single-molecule as a memory element which is demonstrated by repeated write-read-erase-read cycles with non-destructive read-outs.
On the active form of 4-aminopyridine: block of K+ currents in rabbit Schwann cells.

1. The blocking action of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) on the outward potassium currents evoked by depolarization of rabbit Schwann cells in short-term primary culture was studied with the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp method. 2. We have determined the apparent equilibrium dissociation constant, K, for the action of 4-AP to block potassium currents at a series of different extracellular and intracellular pH values. 4-Aminopyridine is an organic base and exists in both charged and uncharged forms in aqueous solution. Changes in the pH of the extracellular and intracellular solutions therefore also change the extracellular and intracellular proportions of these two forms, and the values of K that were obtained were found to depend in a consistent way on both the extracellular and the intracellular pH. 3. At alkaline extracellular pH, K was decreased. At acidic extracellular pH, K was increased. In contrast, increasing the intracellular pH from 7.2 to 8.1 reduced the apparent potency of extracellularly applied 4-AP (i.e. increased K), and decreasing the intracellular pH (to 6.4) increased this apparent potency (i.e. decreased K). 4. The 4-AP analogues, 2-aminopyridine, 3-aminopyridine and 3,4-diaminopyridine, were also tested. At half-block of the potassium current, the intracellular concentration of the cationic form of the various aminopyridines (applied extracellularly at pH 7.2) varied by a factor of less than five, whereas that of the uncharged form varied by a factor of over 700. 5. The results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the cationic form of the aminopyridines, acting from the extracellular solution, contributes in any substantial way to potassium channel block. It also seems unlikely that the uncharged form, acting either extracellularly or intracellularly, is solely responsible for the block. However, the results as a whole are consistent with the idea that it is the cation acting from the intracellular side that blocks the 4-AP-sensitive potassium channel and that the affinity with which 4-AP blocks the channel depends on the intracellular pH. The results would be explained if the cation competes with protons for a binding site that has an apparent pKa of about 7.0. 6. The results, nevertheless, are not inconsistent with the possibility that both the uncharged form and the intracellular charged form of 4-AP are active in blocking the 4-AP-sensitive potassium channel.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
URBAN REVITALIZATION AND SEATTLE CRIME, 1982-2000.

This study examines the relationship between crime and processes of urban revitalization, or gentrification. Drawing on recent urban demography research, we hypothesize that gentrification progressed rapidly in many American cities over the last decade of the twentieth century, and that these changes had implications for area crime rates. Criminological theories hold competing hypotheses for the connections between gentrification and crime, and quantitative studies of this link remain infrequent and limited. Using two measures of gentrification and longitudinal tract-level demographic and crime data for the city of Seattle, we find that many of Seattle's downtown tracts underwent rapid revitalization during the 1990s, and that these areas (1) saw reductions in crime relative to similar tracts that did not gentrify, and (2) were areas with higher-than-average crime at the beginning of the decade. Moreover, using a within-tract longitudinal design, we find that yearly housing investments in the 1980s showed a modest positive association with crime change, while yearly investments in the 1990s showed the opposite pattern. Our findings suggest a curvilinear gentrification-crime relationship, whereby gentrification in its earlier stages is associated with small increases in crime, but gentrification in its more consolidated form is associated with modest crime declines. Implications of these results for criminological theory, urban development, and broader crime patterns are discussed.