cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunosuppressed solid organ transplant recipient.

Question: A 47-year-old woman with a history of renal-pancreas transplant was admitted to the hospital for intractable nausea and vomiting in the setting of month-long dysphagia initially to solids which then progressed to liquids and intermittent odynophagia. She denied any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, weight loss, diarrhea, or constipation. Past medical history was remarkable for a renal-pancreas transplant 5 years prior for diabetic complications with pancreas retransplantation owing to allograft arterial thrombosis. Previous Helicobacter pylori serology was positive 6 months prior, but she was unable to complete the prescribed triple therapy. Medications included mycophenolate mofetil 750 mg BID, tacrolimus 2 mg BID, and prednisone 5 mg/d. Initial examination was remarkable for oral thrush in the absence of other lesions. Abdominal examination was benign. Notable laboratory findings included creatinine of 1.6 mg/dL, tacrolimus level 3.9 ng/mL, H pylori immunoglobulin G >8 U/mL (normal, <0.89). Epstein-Barr virus viral load was 2379 log copies/mL. Computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed normal-appearing renal and pancreatic allografts and atrophic native kidneys and pancreas. Because of the concern for an infectious etiology for her symptomatology given her degree of immunosuppression, the patient underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy which revealed LA grade D erosive esophagitis (Figure A) and distal esophageal candidiasis. Esophageal biopsies were obtained (Figure B, stain: HE original magnification, 20; Figure C, stain: HE original magnification, 400). What is the most likely diagnosis? How should this patient be treated? Look on page 590 for the answer and see the Gastroenterology web site (www.gastrojournal.org) for more information on submitting your favorite image to Clinical Challenges and Images in GI.
On the Existence of Pure and Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria in Discontinuous Games

A game is better-reply secure if for every nonequilibrium strategy x * and every payoff vector limit u * resulting from strategies approaching x * , some player i has a strategy yielding a payoff strictly above u i * even if the others deviate slightly from x * . If strategy spaces are compact and convex, payoffs are quasiconcave in the owner's strategy, and the game is better-reply secure, then a pure strategy Nash equilibrium exists. Better-reply security holds in many economic games. It also permits new results on the existence of symmetric and mixed strategy Nash equilibria.
Prospective memory: When reminders fail

A frequent assumption in the area of prospective memory is that a reminder to do an activity in the future improves the likelihood of doing the activity. The results of four experiments indicated, however, that the most general version of this assumption is incorrect. Subjects were either reminded of a prospective memory task several times during a retention interval or not reminded of the prospective memory task. The most effective reminders referred both to the prospective memory target events and to the intended activity. Reminders that referred only to the target events did not improve prospective memory (relative to a no-reminder control). Reminders that referred only to the intended activity did improve prospective memory, but not to the level of reminders that referred both to the target events and to the intended activity. Instructions to imagine oneself performing the prospective memory task did not further improve prospective memory. Neither the delay between the prospective memory instructions and the prospective memory cover task nor the delay between a reminder and a prospective memory target event significantly influenced performance. The results, which are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications, support a new theory of prospective memory and suggest surprising conditions under which reminders fail to benefit prospective memory.
A phase I trial of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for liver metastases.

Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for liver metastases. Methods and Materials: A multicenter Phase I clinical trial was conducted. Eligible patients had one to three liver metastases, tumor diameter Results: Eighteen patients were enrolled (10 male, 8 female): median age, 55 years (range, 26–83 years); most common primary site, colorectal (6 patients); median aggregate gross tumor volume, 18 ml (range, 3–98 ml). Four patients had multiple tumors. No patient experienced a DLT, and dose was escalated to 60 Gy/3F without reaching MTD. Conclusions: Biologically potent doses of SBRT are well tolerated in patients with limited liver metastases. Results of this study form the basis for an ongoing Phase II SBRT study of 60 Gy over three fractions for liver metastases.
Association of the opiine parasitoid Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with the lantana gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Kauai

Parasitization of the lantana gall fly, Eutreta xanthochaeta Aldrich, by an introduced larval fruit fly parasitoid, Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron), was assessed by measuring total host and parasitoid recruitment in patches of lantana plants growing in 3 distinct ecological habitats on the island of Kauai. Over a 17-wk period, means of 87, 261, and 276 E. xanthochaeta galls were recruited per 10-m2 patches of lantana growing in a lowland pasture (elevation approximately 124 m), a midelevation sugarcane field (elevation approximately 500 m), and an upland forest (elevation approximately 1000 m), respectively. From 42 to 72% of all newly developed galls recruited were lost before reaching maturity from predation (presumably by birds and rodents), damage by the lantana tortricid moth, Crocidosema lantana Busck, or natural abortion inside the gall. Between 28 and 58% of newly recruited galls matured successfully. Percentage parasitism of E. xanthochaeta by D. tryoni varied significantly with ecological habitat: 4.1, 1.2, and 28% of mature E. xanthochaeta galls were parasitized by D. tryoni in the lowland pasture, the midelevation sugarcane field, and the upland forest, respectively. Percentage parasitism did not vary significantly with the number of galls recruited in each patch. Parasitoids emerging from field-collected E. xanthochaeta were significantly larger and had significantly more female-biased sex ratios (1.7:1) than those emerging from their normal rearing hosts, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Still, D. tryoni may not play a major role in regulating populations of E. xanthochaeta because it lacked a spatial density-dependent response to gall fly populations. Further studies are needed to determine how ecological habitat characteristics influence patterns of exploitation of E. xanthochaeta by D. tryoni.
DISSIMILARITY OF INNER AND OUTER PROTOPLASMIC SURFACES IN VALONIA

The protoplasm of Valonia macrophysa forms a delicate layer, only a few microns in thickness, which contains numerous chloroplasts and nuclei. The outer surface is in contact with the cell wall, the inner with the vacuolar sap. As far as microscopic observation goes, these two surfaces seem alike; but measurements of potential difference indicate that they are decidedly different. We find that the chain sap | protoplasm | sap gives about 14.5 millivolts, the inner surface being positive to the outer. In order to explain this we may assume that the protoplasm consists of layers, the outer surface, X, differing from the inner surface, Y, and from the body of the protoplasm, W. We should then have the unsymmetrical chain sap | X | W | Y | sap which could produce an electromotive force. If the two surfaces of such a very thin layer of protoplasm can be different, it is of fundamental significance for the theory of the nature of living matter.
Golgi tethering factors.

Abstract Transport of cargo to, through and from the Golgi complex is mediated by vesicular carriers and transient tubular connections. In this review, we describe vesicle tethering events with the understanding that similar events occur during transport via larger structures. Tethering factors can be generally divided into a group of coiled-coil proteins and a group of multi-subunit complexes. Current evidence suggests that these factors function in a variety of membrane–membrane tethering events at the Golgi complex, interact with SNARE molecules, and are regulated by small GTPases of the Rab and Arl families.
An electrically operated skin resistance switch.

A touch operated switch is described that uses a simple skin resistance detection circuit. This ‘isometric push-button” type switch has no moving parts, is noiseless, and absorbs the minimum of energy from the subject. It was primarily designed for psychophysiological experiments where an operant response is required.
Single-Stage Repair of Paralytic Ectropion Using a Novel Modification of the Tarsoconjunctival Flap

Patients with facial paralysis present with a constellation of ocular manifestations. Ectropion resulting from downward displacement of the lower eyelid appears after loss of orbicularis tone and function.1 In addition, upper eyelid retraction, resulting in lagophthalmos and a decrease in tear production and/or proper tear distribution and channeling,may result in dry eyes and epiphora. Tear flow is impairedbecause of a dysfunctional orbicularis oculimuscle and a decrease in transportation of tears.2 Thegoalsof surgery forparalytic lowereyelidectropionand lagophthalmos are to preserve visual acuity, improve corneal exposure, reduce ocular complaints, and restore facial symmetry. Initial management would include the application of an ocular lubricant, use of a moisture chamber, or possibly temporary tarsorrhaphy.Whenparalysis is expected to persist, a more permanent procedure is needed. The use of a laterally based tarsoconjunctival flap combinedwith a standard lower eyelid ectropion repair allows for correction of the constellations of symptoms observed in patients with paralytic ectropion in a single-stage surgical procedure. The technique can be viewed in the Video.
High power DC-to-DC converter for supercapacitors

The purpose of this paper is to present Solectria's approach to the design and realization of a high power, nonisolated DC-to-DC power converter for supercapacitors. The study focuses on supercapacitor specific design rules and on how to integrate the unit into a system with other energy storage devices and converters. Two applications are presented to illustrate the validity of the suggested approach: an electric vehicle with supercapacitor load leveling, and a 50 kW pulsed power source.
Floating-point data compression at 75 Gb/s on a GPU

Numeric simulations often generate large amounts of data that need to be stored or sent to other compute nodes. This paper investigates whether GPUs are powerful enough to make real-time data compression and decompression possible in such environments, that is, whether they can operate at the 32- or 40-Gb/s throughput of emerging network cards. The fastest parallel CPU-based floating-point data compression algorithm operates below 20 Gb/s on eight Xeon cores, which is significantly slower than the network speed and thus insufficient for compression to be practical in high-end networks. As a remedy, we have created the highly parallel GFC compression algorithm for double-precision floating-point data. This algorithm is specifically designed for GPUs. It compresses at a minimum of 75 Gb/s, decompresses at 90 Gb/s and above, and can therefore improve internode communication throughput on current and upcoming networks by fully saturating the interconnection links with compressed data.
Endovascular aneurysm repair in high-risk patients.

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of endovascular aneurysm repair in high-risk patients. Methods: The elective endovascular repair of infrarenal aortic aneurysm was performed in 116 high-risk patients with either custom-made or commercial stent grafts. The routine follow-up examination included contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) before discharge, at 3, 6, and 12 months, and annually thereafter. Patients with endoleak on the initial CT underwent re-evaluation at 2 weeks. Those patients with positive CT results at 2 weeks underwent endovascular treatment. Results: Endovascular repair was considered feasible in 67% of the patients. The mean age was 75 years, and the mean aneurysm diameter was 6.3 cm. The American Society of Anesthesiologists grade was II in 3.4%, III in 65.5%, IV in 30.1%, and V in 0.9%. There were no conversions to open repair. Custom-made aortomonoiliac stent grafts were implanted in 77.6% of the cases, custom-made aortoaotic stent grafts in 11.2%, and commercial bifurcated stent grafts in 11.2%. The 30-day rates of mortality, major morbidity, and minor morbidity were 3.4%, 20.7%, and 12%, respectively, in the first 58 patients and 0%, 3.4%, and 3.4%, respectively, in the last 58. The late complications included five cases of stent graft kinking, two cases of femorofemoral graft occlusion, and three cases of proximal stent migration, one of which led to aneurysm rupture. At 2 weeks after repair, endoleak was present in 10.3% of the cases. All the type I (direct perigraft) endoleaks underwent successful endovascular treatment, whereas only one type II (collateral) endoleak responded to treatment. The technical success rate at 2 weeks was 86.2%, and the clinical success rate was 96.6%. The continuing success rate was 87.9%. Seventeen patients died late, unrelated deaths. Conclusion: Endovascular aneurysm repair is safe and effective in patients at high risk, for whom it may be the preferred method of treatment. (J Vasc Surg 2000;31:122-33.)
Anxiety and Agitation in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

During an ethnography conducted in an intensive care unit (ICU), we found that anxiety and agitation occurred frequently, and were important considerations in the care of 30 patients weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation. We conducted a secondary analysis to (a) describe characteristics of anxiety and agitation experienced by mechanically ventilated patients; (b) explore how clinicians recognize and interpret anxiety and agitation and (c) describe strategies and interventions used to manage anxiety and agitation with mechanically ventilated patients. We constructed the Anxiety-Agitation in Mechanical Ventilation Model to illustrate the multidimensional features of symptom recognition and management. Patients’ ability to interact with the environment served as a basis for identification and management of anxiety or agitation. Clinicians’ attributions about anxiety or agitation and “knowing the patient” contributed to their assessment of patient responses. Clinicians chose strategies to overcome either the stimulus or patient’s appraisal of risk of the stimulus. This article contributes to the body of knowledge about symptom recognition and management in the ICU by providing a comprehensive model to guide future research and practice.
Recasting the Post-Fascist Male Body: The Films of Germany’s Fassbinder and Spain’s Almodóvar

This paper investigates the changing representation of the male body in the films of Germany's Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Spain's Pedro Almodovar. Germany and Spain each experienced highly conservative (fascist) regimes that outlined proper behavior for all citizens in both the public and private realms. Once these conservative regimes ended, ideals for the male body had been removed and more liberal attitudes towards the body, sexuality, and representation were allowed. This paper investigates how the films of Fassbinder and Almodovar successfully portray the changing role of the male body in their films.
Conformational Rearrangement in the Nematic Phase of a Polymer Comprising Rigid and Flexible Sequences in Alternating Succession. II. Theoretical Results and Comparison with Experiments

Theory predicts that the nematic state of a homopolymer comprising rigid and flexible sequences in alternating succession depends critically on the tendency of the flexible units to reconform to ordered extended conformations. When the relative statistical weight s* of such extended conformations is very small (very flexible), the chains undergo only a minor conformational rearrangement in the nematic state. Moreover, the clearing temperature and the orientational order of these nematic polymers are not much different from those of the monomeric liquid crystals. Hlowever, as the value of s* becomes larger than a certain critical value, an ordered (nematic) state exhibiting perfect orientational order and completely rodlike conformations becomes more stable than the state of only partial order. Hlence, an extensive conformational rearrangement is predicted to occur in nematic melts of the polymers when the flexible sequences are niot very flexible. These predictions are in good qualitative agreement with the conclusions from the thermodynamic and NMR measurements on two thermotropic polymers comprising identical rigid groups joined by flexible sequences of substantially different flexibility.
North Carolina Stroke Prevention and Treatment Facilities Survey rtPA Therapy for Acute Stroke

Background/Purpose—The aim of this study was to determine the statewide availability of facilities and programs for stroke prevention and treatment to identify underserved regions and target educational efforts. Methods—A single-page survey was mailed to the directors of each inpatient medical facility in North Carolina. Data collected included the availability of selected diagnostic tests, programs, and services. Facilities were categorized as providing basic (emergency department, brain CT, treatment with rtPA, transthoracic echocardiography, carotid ultrasonography, cerebral angiography, carotid endarterectomy) or advanced (basic services plus brain MRI, MR angiography, transesophageal echocardiography, transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, interventional radiology) services. The availability of other programs and services, including having a neurologist on staff, organized anticoagulation clinics, inpatient rehabilitative services, diffusion-weighted MRI, community awareness and rapid stroke identific...
Predicting complex traits using a diffusion kernel on genetic markers with an application to dairy cattle and wheat data

Arguably, genotypes and phenotypes may be linked in functional forms that are not well addressed by the linear additive models that are standard in quantitative genetics. Therefore, developing statistical learning models for predicting phenotypic values from all available molecular information that are capable of capturing complex genetic network architectures is of great importance. Bayesian kernel ridge regression is a non-parametric prediction model proposed for this purpose. Its essence is to create a spatial distance-based relationship matrix called a kernel. Although the set of all single nucleotide polymorphism genotype configurations on which a model is built is finite, past research has mainly used a Gaussian kernel. We sought to investigate the performance of a diffusion kernel, which was specifically developed to model discrete marker inputs, using Holstein cattle and wheat data. This kernel can be viewed as a discretization of the Gaussian kernel. The predictive ability of the diffusion kernel was similar to that of non-spatial distance-based additive genomic relationship kernels in the Holstein data, but outperformed the latter in the wheat data. However, the difference in performance between the diffusion and Gaussian kernels was negligible. It is concluded that the ability of a diffusion kernel to capture the total genetic variance is not better than that of a Gaussian kernel, at least for these data. Although the diffusion kernel as a choice of basis function may have potential for use in whole-genome prediction, our results imply that embedding genetic markers into a non-Euclidean metric space has very small impact on prediction. Our results suggest that use of the black box Gaussian kernel is justified, given its connection to the diffusion kernel and its similar predictive performance.
Globalizing Pathologies: Mental Health Assemblage and Spreading Diagnoses of Eating Disorders

Psychiatric researchers recently have published evidence of eating disorders in regions around the world, despite previous conceptions of eating disorders as ‘‘culture-bound syndromes.’’ What pressures or processes encourage this apparent spread of eating disorders diagnoses, and what do they tell us about state mental health policy? This paper argues that the spread of diagnoses results from global-level instances of assemblage: conglomerations of scientific expertise, state policy, international institutions, and practices employed with a will to improve the lives of perceived sufferers of mental disorder. Cases of global mentalhealth policy illustrate the ways in which mental health assemblage produces a ‘‘distrust in the ‘self-governing’ governed.’’ Current psychiatric research on mental disorders suggests that the diagnosis of eating disorders has spread from developed Western states to non-Western and developing states. The trend is notable because it comes despite conventional wisdom that eating disorders are ‘‘Western culture-bound syndromes associated with culture-driven factors, such as unrealistic expectations of slenderness and attractiveness, changes in the role of women, and social standards and attitudes towards obesity’’ (Shuriquie 1999). Researchers in developed non-Western states and regions nonetheless have begun to claim that eating-disorder rates rival Western states’ rates, and researchers in developing non-Western states are making similar claims. For example, scholarship published recently on Japan, South Korea, and Singapore populations claims increased anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa rates (Efron 1997), while a study of Hong Kong–based subjects professes the ‘‘cross-cultural disease validity’’ of anorexia nervosa (Lee, Chan, and Hsu 2003:967). Meanwhile, a study conducted by Turkey-based scholars of Turkish subjects observes, while ‘‘[a]norexia nervosa is an eating disorder that primarily affects female adolescents and is more commonly seen in westernized countries… nowadays it is also increasing rapidly in developing cultures such as Turkey’’ (Ozdel, Atesci, and Oguzhanoglu 2003). A 2000 study conducted in Tehran, Iran, ‘‘suggests that the prevalence of eating disorders among female adolescents in Teheran is comparable to prevalence rates reported by studies in Western societies, and somewhat higher than what has been reported in other non-Western societies’’ (Nobakht and Dezhkam 2000:265). Researchers observing Chinese undergraduates predict that females increasingly will be ‘‘predispose[d]… to weight control behavior and eating disorders’’ (Lee, Leung, Lee, Yu, and Leung 1998:77). An Egypt-based investigation of Egyptian subjects contends that ‘‘morbid eating patterns’’ are emerging in Egyptian society with
BF3-etherate promoted alkylation of aziridines with organocopper reagents: a new synthesis of amines

Abstract Boron trifluoride etherate promotes nucleophilic ring opening of a variety of substituted aziridines by diorganocopperlithium reagents leading to both primary and secondary amines.
Short pulse injection seeding of Q-switched Nd:glass laser oscillators-theory and experiment

A 0.5-GW-peak-power solid-state laser source that is based on injection seeding a Q-switched Nd:Glass laser is discussed. In the first experimental demonstration, a Q-switched oscillator producing 101 mJ was seeded by a train of 11-ps pulses from a CW (continuous-wave) mode-locked laser to produce injection-mode-locked pulses under a 91-ns envelope. A theoretical analysis of injection seeding of a high-gain Q-switched oscillator by the output of a mode-locked oscillator is presented. The numerical analysis predicts the minimum signal power required for injection mode locking and the temporal shape of the output pulse. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions. The amplification demonstrated by this technique is 104.4 dB, which is much greater than that demonstrated by a multipass or regenerative amplifier. The experimental advantages of injection mode locking include greater than 100 dB of effective amplification and noncritical cavity length adjustment of the seed resonator. >
The Influence of Antisera Specific for α-Fetoprotein and Mouse Serum Albumin on the Viability and Protein Synthesis of Cultured Mouse Hepatoma Cells

Summary The cytotoxic potential of heterologous rabbit antibody directed against mouse serum albumin (MSA) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) was investigated in vitro with a cell line (Hepa) derived from the mouse hepatoma BW7756. Anti-AFP in the presence of complement could kill Hepa cells at concentrations of anti-MSA that were virtually nontoxic. The specificity of the anti-AFP was defined by demonstrating that Hepa cell toxicity was dependent upon and paralleled the secretion of AFP in synchronized cultures. Furthermore, neither antiserum could be shown to be significantly toxic to mouse neuroblastoma cells (Neuro-2A). Immunoglobulin purified from pools of antisera was also highly effective in producing cytotoxicity even in a complement-free system. This reaction proceeded more slowly, requiring nearly 48 hr to reach maximum effect in comparison to the 12 hr for complement-mediated toxicity. MSA and AFP are secreted during different phases of the cell cycle. In cultures arrested by isoleucine starvation, labeled AFP appears in the medium 10 hr after release of the blockade in association with S phase. The appearance of labeled MSA is delayed until the first mitosis. Cytotoxic effects of anti-AFP parallel the secretion of AFP in synchronous cultures. Both antisera could be inhibitory to the secretion and synthesis of the proteins of their antigenic specificity. MSA synthesis was more susceptible to this inhibition than was AFP synthesis. The significance of this phenomenon and its association with the differential cytotoxicity of the antiserum are discussed.
Monopeptide versus Monopeptoid: Insights on Structure and Hydration of Aqueous Alanine and Sarcosine via X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Despite the obvious significance, the aqueous interactions of peptides remain incompletely understood. Their synthetic analogues called peptoids (poly-N-substituted glycines) have recently emerged as a promising biomimetic material, particularly due to their robust secondary structure and resistance to denaturation. We describe comparative near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy studies of aqueous sarcosine, the simplest peptoid, and alanine, its peptide isomer, interpreted by density functional theory calculations. The sarcosine nitrogen K-edge spectrum is blue shifted with respect to that of alanine, in agreement with our calculations; we conclude that this shift results primarily from the methyl group substitution on the nitrogen of sarcosine. Our calculations indicate that the nitrogen K-edge spectrum of alanine differs significantly between dehydrated and hydrated scenarios, while that of the sarcosine zwitterion is less affected by hydration. In contrast, the computed sarcosine spectr...
A Repeated Pulse Technique for Determining the Hydraulic Properties of Tight Formations

Slug and bailer tests are being used increasingly to evaluate the hydraulic properties of “tight” geologic units. Although these pulse methods of stressing a system are used typically only on single wells, the repeated pulse method described here stresses the system in the same manner, but the response is measured in observation wells. This type of pulse test yields much the same information as conventional pumping tests, but it is easier to perform in very low permeability units. The observation well response hydrographs are analyzed by curve-matching techniques. In general, a unique set of type curves must be computed for each pulse test. These type curves are computed easily if the pulsed well is treated as a line-source (or sink). The accuracy of the value of transmissivity (T) determined from the line-source type curves compared to using the finite-diameter well solution depends both on the pulsed well radius (rc) and the time interval between pulses (Δt). If TΔt/rc2 is maintained greater than 50, then T determined from the line-source solution will be within 25% of that determined from more accurate, but computationally inconvenient, finite-diameter well type curves. The repeated-pulse test technique was applied to an experimental well array completed in the Conasauga Shale Formation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Values of transmissivity determined by the repeated-pulse method agreed well with the results of slug tests performed on each well individually, and in addition, provided information on storage coefficients and anisotropy at the site.
Cutaneous pseudolymphomas: a diagnostic challenge requiring clinical, histological, immunological and molecular analysis

Cutaneous pseudolymphomas (CPLs) are a group of benign lymphoproliferative conditions of the skin that histologically and, occasionally clinically, resemble malignant cutaneous lymphomas. CPLs may resemble cutaneous T-cell lymphomas or cutaneous B-cell lymphomas. The differentiation between benign and malignant lymphoproliferations can be challenging and requires a combination of clinical, histological, immunohistological and molecular analysis for accurate diagnosis. On rare occasions, absolute differentiation may not be possible. In this review, we discuss the histological techniques used in the evaluation of lymphoproliferations.
The Biological Basis of Combination Chemotherapy

The biological rationales employed to increase antitumor specificity with combination chemotherapy are reviewed here.
College Men and Women and Their Intent to Receive Genital Human Papillomavirus Vaccine

The study set out to investigate what influences the intentions of college students to get vaccinated against genital human papillomavirus (HPV). College men and women were surveyed to understand their intentions. Regression was used and supported that the constructs of the health belief model (HBM) as well as gender, norms, and information seeking contributed to predicting intent to receive the HPV vaccine, R2 = .61, F(6, 159) = 39.41, p < .001. Benefits and barriers were the most influential variable, and men were more likely to intend to receive the vaccine. The findings should be applied to future campaigns aimed at increasing preventive health behaviors, especially vaccinations among college students.
Impact of electromechanical wave oscillations propagation on protection schemes

Abstract Major disturbances in power system can take place after power system elements such as generators, loads, or transmission lines are suddenly disconnected. Such disturbances can create so called “electromechanical wave oscillations” waves which propagate through transmission lines at much lower speed than speed of light. They can cause adverse effect on power system protective relays. In this paper, electromechanical wave oscillation propagation is modeled, and its impact on different power system protective relays, such as overcurrent, distance, and out-of-step relays is studied. Modified protection schemes are presented for each protective device to avoid their malfunction under effects of electromechanical wave oscillations. The electromechanical model adopted in this study considers the dynamics of generator mechanical shaft as well as conversion of mechanical power to electrical. Simulations used for testing of the improved protection solutions are carried out in MATLAB considering 64-bus generator ring system and IEEE 118-bus system.
Demonstration of serological specificity in the reaction of individual gamma globulins with rheumatoid factors by hemagglutination.

SummaryGamma globulin (7S) isolated by chromatographic techniques from 2 normal individuals and from one patient with rheumatoid arthritis coats tannic acid-treated sheep erythrocytes and detects rheumatoid factors with a specificity not found using pooled human gamma globulin. The serological specificity of individual gamma globulin preparations is destroyed by heating the protein to 63°C for 5 minutes. The specificity is also observed in an inhibition system using whole rheumatoid serum or its pseudoglobulin fraction. The results may be explainable by the presence of multiple determinants in both the 7S gamma globulin isolated from individuals as well as in the rheumatoid factor complex found in individual rheumatoid sera.
Diminished Interferon-γ and Lymphocyte Proliferation in Neonatal and Postpartum Primary Herpes Simplex Virus Infection

Interferon (IFN)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production and lymphocyte proliferation in response to herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigen were assessed in 13 neonates and 3 parturient women with primary HSV infection. In comparison with 9 nonparturient adults, the neonates and parturient women showed significantly (P less than .01) diminished HSV antigen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation and IFN-gamma production in the first 3-6 weeks after onset of infection. TNF alpha production did not differ significantly among HSV-infected groups. The impairment in neonatal cellular immunity was due, at least in part, to a specific deficit in response to HSV antigen. Lymphocyte proliferation and TNF alpha production in response to the mitogen concanavalin A (ConA) were comparable in adults and infants, but ConA-stimulated IFN-gamma production in infants was diminished throughout the study period. In contrast, HSV antigen-stimulated IFN-gamma production was comparable in infants and adults after 6 weeks. Not all patients with diminished cellular immune responses to HSV antigen manifested severe clinical disease. Nevertheless, patients with significant clinical morbidity had diminished cellular immune responses to HSV antigen. These results suggest that delayed acquisition of antigen-specific cellular immunity in primary HSV infection predisposes to more severe clinical disease.
Multivalent Polymers for Drug Delivery and Imaging: The Challenges of Conjugation

Multivalent polymers offer a powerful opportunity to develop theranostic materials on the size scale of proteins that can provide targeting, imaging, and therapeutic functionality. Achieving this goal requires the presence of multiple targeting molecules, dyes, and/or drugs on the polymer scaffold. This critical review examines the synthetic, analytical, and functional challenges associated with the heterogeneity introduced by conjugation reactions as well as polymer scaffold design. First, approaches to making multivalent polymer conjugations are discussed followed by an analysis of materials that have shown particular promise biologically. Challenges in characterizing the mixed ligand distributions and the impact of these distributions on biological applications are then discussed. Where possible, molecular-level interpretations are provided for the structures that give rise to the functional ligand and molecular weight distributions present in the polymer scaffolds. Lastly, recent strategies employed f...
Late Pleistocene–Holocene retreat of the West Antarctic Ice-Sheet system in the Ross Sea: Part 2—Sedimentologic and stratigraphic signature

Sedimentologic, geotechnical, geochemical, and accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon data from two marine geologic cruises in the Ross Sea have allowed us to constrain facies relationships and temporal changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The selection of core sites was facilitated by the use of multibeam bottom imagery and a good quality (CHIRP) subbottom reflection system. A complex but consistent succession of facies documents a number of environments from subglacial to open marine. Massive, mud-rich diamictons have low water contents, contain (in places) a calcareous microfossil assemblage, show minimal textural variation, and contain low and uniform total organic carbon values. This reflects a subglacial setting. This unit passes upward into a stratified, thin, granulated facies consisting of pelletized, sandy, muddy gravel that is loosely compacted and contains a variable water content and concentrated horizons of pebble-sized clasts. This facies reflects the lift-off zone or thin water film between the basal debris and sea floor. Overlying this unit are silty clays that contain a well-sorted, very fine-grained sand component. There are no coarse grains within this unit. This facies is, in part, laminated and reflects deposition beneath an ice shelf, near and away from the grounding-line zone. The ice-shelf facies passes upward into a siliceous mud and ooze unit that represents deposition in an open-marine setting. A sandy, volcaniclastic-rich subfacies marks the transition from ice shelf to open-marine environments found at the calving line. The 86 AMS radiocarbon dates on organic matter provide an accurate chronology for 19 cores. Ice-shelf conditions were established in the outer Drygalski Trough by 11 ± 0.25 ka and perhaps earlier. This transition took place in the JOIDES Basin by 10–8 ka. The calving front of the Ross Ice Shelf passed over the Drygalski Trough at 74°S by 9.5 ± 0.25 ka. The timing of deglaciation in the Ross Sea calls into question current models for the contribution of Antarctic glacial ice to Holocene sea-level rise and suggests that recession was relatively gradual and more closely aligned with Northern Hemisphere deglaciation and its associated eustatic pulse.
The effects of dexamethasone and acyclovir on a cell culture model of delayed facial palsy.

Hypothesis Pretreatment with antiherpetic medications and steroids decreases likelihood of development of delayed facial paralysis (DFP) after otologic surgery. Background Heat-induced reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in geniculate ganglion neurons (GGNs) is thought to cause of DFP after otologic surgery. Antiherpetic medications and dexamethasone are used to treat DFP. Pretreatment with these medications has been proposed to prevent development of DFP. Methods Rat GGN cultures were latently infected with HSV1 expressing a lytic protein-GFP chimera. Cultures were divided into pretreatment groups receiving acyclovir (ACV), acyclovir-plus-dexamethasone (ACV + DEX), dexamethasone alone (DEX), or untreated media (control). After pretreatment, all cultures were heated 43°C for 2 hours. Cultures were monitored daily for reactivation with fluorescent microscopy. Viral titers were determined from culture media. Results Heating cultures to 43°C for 2 hours leads to HSV1 reactivation and production of infectious virus particles (59 ± 6.8%); heating cultures to 41°C showed a more variable frequency of reactivation (60 ± 40%), compared with baseline rates of 14.4 ± 5%. Cultures pretreated with ACV showed lower reactivation rates (ACV = 3.7%, ACV + DEX = 1.04%) compared with 44% for DEX alone. Viral titers were lowest for cultures treated with ACV or ACV + DEX. Conclusion GGN cultures harboring latent HSV1 infection reactivate when exposed to increased temperatures that can occur during otologic surgery. Pretreatment with ACV before heat provides prophylaxis against heat-induced HSV reactivation, whereas DEX alone is associated with higher viral reactivation rates. This study provides evidence supporting the use of prophylactic antivirals for otologic surgeries associated with high rates of DFP.
Chelating agent-free, vapor-assisted crystallization method to synthesize hierarchical microporous/mesoporous MIL-125 (Ti).

Titanium-based microporous heterogeneous catalysts are widely studied but are often limited by the accessibility of reactants to active sites. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), such as MIL-125 (Ti), exhibit enhanced surface areas due to their high intrinsic microporosity, but the pore diameters of most microporous MOFs are often too small to allow for the diffusion of larger reactants (>7 A) relevant to petroleum and biomass upgrading. In this work, hierarchical microporous MIL-125 exhibiting significantly enhanced interparticle mesoporosity was synthesized using a chelating-free, vapor-assisted crystallization method. The resulting hierarchical MOF was examined as an active catalyst for the oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) with tert-butyl hydroperoxide and outperformed the solely microporous analogue. This was attributed to greater access of the substrate to surface active sites, as the pores in the microporous analogues were of inadequate size to accommodate DBT. Moreover, thiophene adsorption studies...
ROLE OF NOREPINEPHRINE IN HEPATIC GLUCONEOGENESIS : EVIDENCE OF AGING AND TRAINING EFFECTS

This study examined the relationship among the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE), hepatic gluconeogenesis, and glyconeogenesis in 63 (30 trained and 33 untrained) young (7 mo), middl...
Resolvin D2 decreases TLR4 expression to mediate resolution in human monocytes

TLRs are critical for innate immunity, but excessive activation can lead to tissue damage and disease. Specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs), including resolvin D2 (RvD2), promote the active resolution of inflammation. How SPMs regulate early LPS signaling, including activation of TLR4, is unknown. We treated human THP-1 monocytic cells and primary human blood monocytes with RvD2 and LPS to evaluate modulation of TLRs. miRNA-146a overexpression and inhibition were used to dissect the mechanism of RvD2-mediated actions. We validated our studies using ELISAs for cytokines, PCR, Western blot analysis, and flow cytometry. Cells treated with 0.1% ethanol (control for RvD2) and/or PBS (control for LPS), and control microRNA mimics and inhibitors were used as controls. RvD2 reduced LPS-induced cytokines and TLR4 expression in human monocytes by up to 75%. In THP-1 cells, RvD2 reduced expression of TLR4, lymphocyte antigen 96 (MD-2), and downstream signals (MyD88, TRIF, and TAK1). These effects were partially mediated through RvD2 induction of microRNA-146a, and RvD2's actions were blocked by microRNA-146a inhibition. These new findings reveal the ability of RvD2 to reduce TLR4 expression and attenuate LPS-induced inflammation, providing a new area of SPM activity to investigate in this major area of therapeutic research.-Croasdell, A., Sime, P. J., Phipps, R. P. Resolvin D2 decreases TLR4 expression to mediate resolution in human monocytes.
Hardware/Software Partitioning

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses issues involved in partitioning an application among microprocessor and coprocessor components. It considers two application categories: sequential programs, where an application is a program written in a sequential programming language such as C, C++, or Java, and parallel programs, where an application is a set of concurrently executing tasks and where partitioning maps some of those tasks to coprocessors. As field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) continue to enter mainstream embedded desktop and server computing, incorporating automated hardware/software partitioning into standard software design flows becomes increasingly important. One approach to minimizing the disruption of standard software design flows is to incorporate partitioning as a backend tool that operates on a final binary, allowing continued use of existing programming languages and compilers and supporting the use of assembly and even object code. Such binary-level partitioning requires powerful decompilation methods to recover high-level regions such as functions and loops. Binary-level partitioning even opens the door for dynamic partitioning, wherein on-chip tools transparently move software regions to FPGA coprocessors, making use of new lean, just-in-time compilers for FPGAs. Developing an approach for hardware/software partitioning requires the consideration of granularity, evaluation, alternative region implementations, implementation models, exploration, and so forth, and each such issue involves numerous options. The result is a tremendously large partition solution space and a huge variety of approaches to finding good partitions. While much research into automated hardware/software partitioning has occurred over the past decades, most of the problem's more complex formulations have yet to be considered. A key future challenge will be the development of effective partitioning approaches for these increasingly complex formulations.
Steroid hormones: blood-borne modulators of nerve cell properties and activity

Although steroid hormone influences on behaviour have been recognised for more than a century (Berthold, 1849), their systematic investigation has occurred only during the past four decades, and progress in elucidating sites and mechanisms of hormone action has occurred principally during the last 10 years. The initial phase of this investigation (see Beach, 1948; Young 1961 for reviews) established that steroids exert both permanent effects on behaviour and neuroendocrine function during early development (‘organisation effects’) and reversible effects to stimulate neuroendocrine events and species-typical and stereotyped behaviours during adult life (‘activational effects’).
A Virtual MIMO based anti-jamming strategy for cognitive radio networks

The Common Control Channel (CCC) is foreseen to be adopted to establish and maintain network connections for users in future Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs). However, the jamming attack can be easily launched to interfere with the CCC of CRNs, and causes the deny-of-service of CRNs. Most of existing anti-jamming approaches are based on the frequency hopping principle with insufficient jamming resilience performance. MIMO based anti-jamming algorithms are effective to improve the jamming resilience performance. However, they are not applicable for the low power cognitive radio networks wherein the user devices are equipped with single antenna, such as cognitive radio sensor network. Observing that relaying strategy will be widely adopted for future CRN systems, we propose a Virtual Multiple Input Multiple Output (VMIMO) based anti-jamming strategy assisted by relay nodes, which proactively mitigates the interference caused by the jamming signal. Simulations show that the bit error rate (BER) of our proposed strategy is at least 10 times lower than that of frequency hopping based approaches.
The role of sentence context in accessing partial knowledge of word meanings.

Two experiments are reported that test the hypothesis that a reader can make use of the size of the semantic domain activated by a sentence context when inferring the meaning of a partially known word. We investigated words at three levels of knowledge: known, frontier, and unknown (e.g., Durso & Shore, 1991). Experiment I demonstrated that participants have knowledge about the meanings of words that they deny are part of the language (the unknown level), and that they make use of relative differences in the size of the semantic domains tapped by two sentences when asked to decide on correct usage of these unknown words. Experiment 2 demonstrated that participants have knowledge about the general semantic constraints operating on their unknown words, even when relative differences in size of semantic domains are controlled. Implications for the role of contextual constraints in vocabulary acquisition are discussed.