cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 224: Mitochondrial Complex I Deficiency Promotes Oxidative Stress During Ischemia Reperfusion Of Cardiac Myocytes

Normal cardiac function relies on highly coordinated intracellular events, such as calcium cycling and contraction, with adequate mitochondrial energy metabolism. However, mitochondrial respiration unavoidably produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) as electrons leak from the electron transport chain (ETC). Complex I of the ETC is believed to be the major site for ROS generation in the mitochondria. However, suppression of Complex I activity by chemical inhibitors leads to oxidative cell damage. In this study, we used a genetic model of Complex I deficiency, in which a key component of Complex I, Ndufs4, was deleted in the heart, to determine the causal role of Complex I in ischemia-reperfusion-induced oxidative stress in adult cardiac myocytes. Germline deletion of Ndufs4 in the heart (Ndufs4H-/-) leads to a ~75% decline of Complex I activity in cardiac mitochondria without obvious disease phenotype in the mice. As predicted, the mitochondrial respiration-coupled superoxide production events, superoxide flashes, were significantly decreased at baseline in the Ndufs4H-/- myocytes. Respiration substrate (pyruvate, 20 mM) failed to stimulate mitochondrial superoxide flash production in Ndufs4H-/- myocytes. This is accompanied by the slightly decreased steady state intracellular and mitochondrial ROS levels determined by the targeted H2O2 indicator, Hyper. The intracellular redox homeostasis is also tilted toward more reduced state, since the NADH/NAD ratio increased 67%. Surprisingly, ischemia reperfusion mimetic treatment of the myocytes caused dramatic increase in mitochondrial ROS production in Ndufs4H-/- groups, which contributed to the elevated overall cellular oxidative status. Overexpression of catalase in the mitochondria prevented these effects. Mechanistically, increased reducing equivalent (NADH) contributed to the dramatic ROS production during ischemia and reperfusion in Ndufs4H-/- myocytes. In summary, mitochondrial Complex I plays a critical role in controlling mitochondrial and cytosolic ROS homeostasis under normal conditions, and compromised Complex I function leads to accumulation of electron donors that paradoxically promote ROS production during ischemia reperfusion.
Voltage-sensitive sodium channel mutations S989P + V1016G in Aedes aegypti confer variable resistance to pyrethroids, DDT and oxadiazines.

BACKGROUND Aedes aegypti is a vector of several important human pathogens. Control efforts rely primarily on pyrethroid insecticides for adult mosquito control, especially during disease outbreaks. A. aegypti has developed resistance nearly everywhere it occurs and insecticides are used. An important mechanism of resistance is due to mutations in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel (Vssc) gene. Two mutations, in particular, S989P + V1016G, commonly occur together in parts of Asia. RESULTS We have created a strain (KDR:ROCK) that contains the Vssc mutations S989P + V1016G as the only mechanism of pyrethroid resistance within the genetic background of Rockefeller (ROCK), a susceptible lab strain. We created KDR:ROCK by crossing the pyrethroid-resistant strain Singapore with ROCK followed by four backcrosses with ROCK and Vssc S989P + V1016G genotype selections. We determined the levels of resistance conferred to 17 structurally diverse pyrethroids, the organochloride DDT, and oxadiazines (VSSC blockers) indoxacarb (proinsecticide) and DCJW (the active metabolite of indoxacarb). Levels of resistance to the pyrethroids were variable, ranging from 21- to 107-fold, but no clear pattern between resistance and chemical structure was observed. Resistance is inherited as an incompletely recessive trait. KDR:ROCK had a > 2000-fold resistance to DDT, 37.5-fold cross-resistance to indoxacarb and 13.4-fold cross-resistance to DCJW. CONCLUSION Etofenprox (and DDT) should be avoided in areas where Vssc mutations S989P + V1016G exist at high frequencies. We found that pyrethroid structure cannot be used to predict the level of resistance conferred by kdr. These results provide useful information for resistance management and for better understanding pyrethroid interactions with VSSC. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
ClusterTAD: an unsupervised machine learning approach to detecting topologically associated domains of chromosomes from Hi-C data

With the development of chromosomal conformation capturing techniques, particularly, the Hi-C technique, the study of the spatial conformation of a genome is becoming an important topic in bioinformatics and computational biology. The Hi-C technique can generate genome-wide chromosomal interaction (contact) data, which can be used to investigate the higher-level organization of chromosomes, such as Topologically Associated Domains (TAD), i.e., locally packed chromosome regions bounded together by intra chromosomal contacts. The identification of the TADs for a genome is useful for studying gene regulation, genomic interaction, and genome function. Here, we formulate the TAD identification problem as an unsupervised machine learning (clustering) problem, and develop a new TAD identification method called ClusterTAD. We introduce a novel method to represent chromosomal contacts as features to be used by the clustering algorithm. Our results show that ClusterTAD can accurately predict the TADs on a simulated Hi-C data. Our method is also largely complementary and consistent with existing methods on the real Hi-C datasets of two mouse cells. The validation with the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing (ChIP-Seq) data shows that the domain boundaries identified by ClusterTAD have a high enrichment of CTCF binding sites, promoter-related marks, and enhancer-related histone modifications. As ClusterTAD is based on a proven clustering approach, it opens a new avenue to apply a large array of clustering methods developed in the machine learning field to the TAD identification problem. The source code, the results, and the TADs generated for the simulated and real Hi-C datasets are available here: https://github.com/BDM-Lab/ClusterTAD .
Cyrus and the Kingship of Anshan: Further Perspectives

In the text of his Babylonian cylinder Cyrus the Great indicates that the kernel of his personal title includes the phrase “king of the city of Anshan” and that each of his predecessors was known a...
DRUG-INDUCED GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING: Report from The Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University Medical Center

Abstract Rates of drug-induced gastrointestinal bleeding were estimated from data on 16 646 consecutively monitored medical inpatients who had no known predisposing illness. Heparin, warfarin, ethacrynic acid, steroids, and aspirin-containing drugs were associated with gastrointestinal bleeding and were estimated to account for about two-thirds of such bleeds. Major gastrointestinal bleeding, defined as bleeding severe enough to require transfusion, occurred in only 57 patients (0·3%).
Animal models of acute surgical pain

Animal models of tissue injury have been used to investigate the mechanisms of pain. Here, we describe a variety of animal models that have been used to mimic acute surgical pain in human subjects, which include the plantar, tail, and gastrocnemius incision models. We also provide discussion on animal models of laparotomy, thoracotomy, visceral pain, and bone injury. Preclinical studies using these models have provided insights into the mechanisms and causes of acute surgical pain as well as the treatment options to control postsurgical pain.
Fluoxetine-Maintained Obese Humans: Effect on Food Intake and Body Weight

The effects of fluoxetine on food intake, body weight, and mood of obese individuals was examined in a 16-week inpatient/outpatient study. Six male and eight female obese volunteers began the study (four male and five females completed all phases of the study). They lived in a residential laboratory during three one-week inpatient periods separated by a 5-week and an 8-week outpatient period. Following an initial 4-day placebo baseline, participants were maintained on fluoxetine (60 mg/day) for the remainder of the study. Food intake parameters (total daily energy intake, macronutrient intake, mean number of eating bouts, interbout interval), body weight, subjective effects, and task performance were measured several times during the day during inpatient periods; food intake questionnaires were completed daily during the outpatient periods. Fluoxetine significantly reduced daily energy intake derived from fat, carbohydrate, and protein by decreasing the mean number of eating bouts per day throughout the study. No other food intake parameter was affected. Body weight was significantly reduced after 7 weeks, but not after 16 weeks of daily fluoxetine administration. These results indicate that fluoxetine reduced food intake for at least 16 weeks in nondepressed obese individuals without specifically affecting carbohydrate intake. Weight that was lost during the first few weeks of daily fluoxetine administration was subsequently regained even though food intake remained reduced. Therefore, fluoxetine maintenance does not appear promising as a sole long-term therapy for obesity.
Paint/DAPI Analysis of Mouse Zygotes to Detect Paternally Transmitted Chromosomal Aberrations

Chromosomal abnormalities transmitted through gametes are associated with pregnancy loss, infant mortality, developmental and morphological defects, infertility and genetic diseases including cancer (Chandley, 1991; Wyrobek, 1993; Hassold et al, 1996; McFadden and Friedman, 1997; Wyrobek et al., 2000; Hassold and Hunt, 2001). These abnormalities are typically de novo events that originate in the germ cells of either parent. The relative parental contribution to transmitted chromosomal aberrations has been shown to depend on the specific chromosomes and defects that are involved. Autosomal aneuploidies are predominantly maternal in origin (Hassold et al, 1996; Hassold and Hunt, 2001), while sex chromosomal aneuploidies have a substantial paternal contribution (Hassold et al, 1993; Hassold, 1998). In addition, more than 80% of de novo structural chromosomal abnormalities among livebirths appear to be paternally derived (Olson and Magenis, 1988; Overhauser et al., 1990; Chandley, 1991; Dallapiccola et al., 1993; Cody et al., 1997). There is epidemiological evidence linking paternal occupational or environmental exposure to abnormal reproductive outcomes (Narod et al., 1988; Savitz and Chen, 1990; Olshan, 1995]); however, despite the health risk to the developing embryo and offspring, little is known about the etiology of paternally-derived chromosomal abnormalities. Research with laboratory animals is essential for identifying and characterizing reproductive toxicants and for assessing the human risk of exposure to such agents
The Classical Banach Spaces

From the fact that forty years passed between the last two results it is plain that the proofs of Carleson’s and subsequent theorems are too complicated to be included in these notes.
Same lesson, varied choices by frontal cortex.

In an unfamiliar situation, animals display variable choice behavior. Based on computational modeling and empirical data, a new study suggests that the variability in decision-making across individuals is driven by differences in internal neural dynamics in the medial frontal cortex.
Pentuplet Loss for Simultaneous Shots and Critical Points Detection in a Video

Critical events in videos amount to the set of frames where the user attention is heightened. Such events are usually fine-grained activities and do not necessarily have defined shot boundaries. Traditional approaches to the task of Shot Boundary Detection (SBD) in videos perform frame-level classification to obtain shot boundaries and fail to identify the critical shots in the video. We model the problem of identifying critical frames and shot boundaries in a video as learning an image frame similarity metric where the distance relationships between different types of video frames are modeled. We propose a novel pentuplet loss to learn the frame image similarity metric through a pentuplet-based deep learning framework. We showcase the results of our proposed framework on soccer highlight videos against state-of-the-art baselines and significantly outperform them for the task of shot boundary detection. The proposed framework shows promising results for the task of critical frame detection against human annotations on soccer highlight videos.
Aldol Condensation of Cyclopentanone on Hydrophobized MgO. Promotional Role of Water and Changes in the Rate-Limiting Step upon Organosilane Functionalization

Aldol condensation is a key C—C coupling reaction for upgrading of biomass-derived oxygenates to fuels and chemicals. Here, we investigate the effects of added water on the condensation of cyclopentanone (CPO) on hydrophobized MgO catalysts. We have found that the role of water strongly depends on the degree of hydrophobic functionalization of the MgO surface. That is, on a nonfunctionalized (hydrophilic) high-surface-area MgO catalyst, the rate decreases with the addition of water, mostly due to active site blockage. By contrast, on MgO hydrophobized via silylation with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), the rate actually increases with added water. A concomitant change in kinetics is observed from the pristine (hydrophilic) MgO to the hydrophobized sample. Specifically, on the hydrophilic sample, the reaction is first-order, as expected if the rate-limiting step is the formation of an enolate intermediate via α-H abstraction at a basic site, as widely reported in previous literature. By contrast, on the hy...
Abstract MP38: Association of Changes in Plant-Based Diet Indices with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality

Introduction: Plant-based diets have been associated with health benefits, including lower risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the association between plant-bas...
Targeted magnetic separation of biomolecules and cells using earthicle-based ferrofluids

Targeting specific molecular or cell populations within single tissues or multicomponent in vitro systems is a most sought goal in biomedicine. Here we report on targeted magnetic separation of cells and biomolecules using a ferrofluid comprising superparamagnetic iron-oxide/silicate/carbon core/shell/crust nanoparticles in combination with a handheld, 2.5 cm3 NdFeB magnet (≤180 mT) and one minute exposure time. Ferrofluids were highly effective at separating (i) biomolecules, (ii) bacteria and (iii) eukaryotic cells from solutions, and they also exhibited selectivity in the separation of all three families of entities. Specifically, they were more effective at separating the negatively charged protein, albumin in the presence of the external magnetic field, but were more effective at precipitating the positively charged protein, lysozyme without the application of the external field. Because of the more effective sorption of proteins than carbohydrates on carbon and the shielding of peptidoglycans by the transmembrane proteins and hydrophilic heads of the outer membrane amphiphiles in Gram-negative bacteria, they were separated more effectively than their Gram-positive counterparts. Ferrofluids were also more efficient at separating the clinical isolate, methicillin-resistant version of S. aureus (MRSA) than its regular, lab strain and the effect is thought to be due to structural changes to the cell envelope caused by the overexpression of efflux pumps or by the higher rate of conjugation conditioning horizontal gene transfer in MRSA than in the regular, nonresistant strain. Ferrofluids also displayed a greater affinity for the cancer cells than for the normal, primary cells and allowed for targeted separation of the former after the cells were allowed to uptake the nanoparticles for 24 h. This selectivity should allow for an effective separation of cancer cells interspersed within a healthy cell population. Interaction with bacterial and eukaryotic cells was driven neither by electrostatic attraction nor chemisorption, but by weaker, van der Waals and π-interactions. Adsorption was also endothermic, irreversible for the most part, and more favorable at high concentrations, as inferred by comparison with Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms. These targeted effects are relevant for numerous fields of biomedicine and biotechnologies and require further insight for optimization and translation.
Three-Dimensional Leukemia Co-Culture System for In Vitro High-Content Metabolomics Screening:

Metabolomics is increasingly applied to investigate different individuals and time-dependent responses to environmental stimuli. Rapid data acquisition and improved detection limits of direct infusion mass spectrometry (DIMS) are paving the way for applications of metabolomics in preclinical screening, opening new opportunities in drug discovery and personalized medicine. Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems, which mimic the in vivo cell microenvironment, are well recognized as tissue and organ substitutes. Here, we investigated cell viability and induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in stromal cells cultured in various 3D systems as well as the standard monolayer culture to evaluate which system provides the most favorable growing conditions. The selected 3D system was then tested for use in 3D co-culture of leukemia and stromal cells for DIMS-based high-throughput/high-content metabolic drug screens. The NanobioMatrix-poly(e-caprolactone) (NBM-PCL) scaffold resulted in the lowest ROS production, supported rapid cell proliferation, and was suitable for the 96- and 384-well plate formats. Doxorubicin treatment in leukemia co-cultured with stromal cells induced some unique metabolic responses that drastically differed from those observed in leukemia cells alone. The DIMS results also showed that the drug-induced metabolic modulations in both normal and cancer cells were weakened by co-culturing even at high treatment doses, thereby demonstrating the value of the 3D co-culture high-content metabolic drug screen. In conclusion, we optimized a high sample throughput method for 3D co-culture with a DIMS-based high-content metabolic drug screen and drug development.
Safety and Accuracy of Factory-Calibrated Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Background: Pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may be at risk for malglycemia and adverse outcomes, including infection, prolonged hospital stays, organ dy...
The effectiveness of battlefield acupuncture in addition to standard physical therapy treatment after shoulder surgery: a protocol for a randomized clinical trial

There is a large incidence of shoulder instability among active young athletes and military personnel. Shoulder stabilization surgery is the commonly employed intervention for treating individuals with instability. Following surgery, a substantial proportion of individuals experience acute post-operative pain, which is usually managed with opioid pain medications. Unfortunately, the extended use of opioid medications can have adverse effects that impair function and reduce military operational readiness, but there are currently few alternatives. However, battlefield acupuncture (BFA) is a minimally invasive therapy demonstrating promise as a non-pharmaceutical intervention for managing acute post-operative pain. This is a parallel, two-arm, single-blind randomized clinical trial. The two independent variables are intervention (2 levels, standard physical therapy and standard physical therapy plus battlefield acupuncture) and time (5 levels, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 1 week, and 4 weeks post shoulder stabilization surgery). The primary dependent variables are worst and average pain as measured on the visual analog scale. Secondary outcomes include medication usage, Profile of Mood States, and Global Rating of Change. The magnitude of the effect of BFA is uncertain; current studies report confidence intervals of between-group differences that include minimal clinically important differences between intervention and control groups. The results of this study may help determine if BFA is an effective adjunct to physical therapy in reducing pain and opioid usage in acute pain conditions. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04094246 . Registered on 16 September 2019.
Elasticity of colloidal gels: structural heterogeneity, floppy modes, and rigidity.

Rheological measurements of model colloidal gels reveal that large variations in the shear moduli as colloidal volume-fraction changes are not reflected by simple structural parameters such as the coordination number, which remains almost a constant. We resolve this apparent contradiction by conducting a normal-mode analysis of experimentally measured bond networks of gels of colloidal particles with short-ranged attraction. We find that structural heterogeneity of the gels, which leads to floppy modes and a nonaffine–affine crossover as frequency increases, evolves as a function of the volume fraction and is key to understanding the frequency-dependent elasticity. Without any free parameters, we achieve good qualitative agreement with the measured mechanical response. Furthermore, we achieve universal collapse of the shear moduli through a phenomenological spring-dashpot model that accounts for the interplay between fluid viscosity, particle dissipation, and contributions from the affine and non-affine network deformation.
Overcrowding and COVID-19 mortality across U.S. counties: Are disparities growing over time?

Abstract A growing line of research underscores that sociodemographic factors may contribute to disparities in the impact of COVID-19. Further, stages of disease theory suggests that disparities may grow as the pandemic unfolds and more advantaged areas are better able to apply growing knowledge and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we focus on the role of county-level household overcrowding on disparities in COVID-19 mortality in U.S. counties. We examine this relationship across three theoretically important periods of the pandemic from April–October 2020, that mark both separate stages of community knowledge and national mortality levels. We find evidence that the percentage of overcrowded households is a stronger predictor of COVID-19 mortality during later periods of the pandemic. Moreover, despite a relationship between overcrowding and poverty at the county-level, overcrowding plays an independent role in predicting COVID-19 mortality. Our findings underscore that areas disadvantaged by overcrowding may be more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 and that this vulnerability may lead to changing disparities over time.
Poliginia y Fecundidad en los Shipibos de la Amazonía Peruana

En este tercer y final estudio, el autor se propone probar la hipotesis especifica de que la poliginia, en los shipibo, limita la fecundidad de las mujeres a nivel individual y comunal mediante la abstinencia post-partum y la prolongacion de los intervalos entre cada nacimiento que, en una union poligina, son mas largos. Es de esta manera como los efectos de la modernizacion no necesariamente se asocian a una fecundidad mas baja sino que, inclusive, la incrementa en la medida en que rompe sus practicas culturales tradicionales. Sin embargo, el mismo autor nos previene de generalizar los resultados de su estudio hacia toda la etnia shipibo o poblaciones indigenas en general.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension: promising advances and remaining challenges

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) diagnosis and management have evolved over the years. Despite advances in management that resulted in an overall improvement of disease outcomes, there remain challenges to be addressed, including more accurate disease phenotyping, earlier diagnosis with better screening, and novel therapeutic approaches. In this issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine , Deshwal1 review the changing landscape of PAH with a special emphasis on clinical risk assessment as a tool to guide treatment options. Further disease phenotyping is needed beyond the current Sixth World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension subgroups to better understand the disease and response to therapies.2 The Redefining Pulmonary Hypertension through Pulmonary Vascular Disease Phenomics program aims to compare ‘omics’ data to better phenotype patients with pulmonary vascular disease to advance a precision medicine approach.3 4 The lack of consistent response to multiple PAH-specific therapies across the PAH spectrum may be …
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Bonds and Recognizances: Amend Provisions Regarding Certain Offenses

The Act amends the Code section relating to offenses bailable only before a superior court judge. The Act also adds a new subsection which requires a presiding judicial officer to notify the superior court when an individual has been arrested for certain offenses and is being held without bail. Furthermore, the Act permits a person charged with certain offenses to petition the superior court for release on bail.
Web Appendix to: How Does Charitable Giving Respond to Incentives and Income? New Estimates from Panel Data

I. TECHNICAL DETAILS ON OUR ECONOMETRIC SPECIFICATION – p. 2 II. FURTHER DETAILS ON HOW WE CONSTRUCTED PRICE VARIABLES – p. 13 III. DETAILS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE – p. 15 IV. ADDITIONAL ESTIMATES AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSES – p. 17 A. Pooled cross-section estimates and sensitivity to methods for addressing censoring – p. 17 B. Fixed effects estimates omitting future price and income changes – p. 20 C. More detail on coefficient estimates for specifications reported in the paper, and tests of equality of coefficients across income classes – p. 22 D. Sensitivity of estimates to constraining coefficients on certain variables to be constant across income classes – p. 37 E. Income prediction regressions – p. 39 F. First stage regression example -- p. 42 G. Sensitivity to constant added to charitable giving – p. 44 H. Sensitivity to treatment of donations that are not deductible in the year they are made – p. 51 I. Sensitivity of standard error estimates to clustering scheme – p. 56 J. Sensitivity to using two-year ahead changes in price and income – p. 57 K. Sensitivity to possibility that marginal charitable donations may never be deducted – p. 62 L. Sensitivity of estimates in heterogeneous parameters specifications to method of controlling for unobservable time-varying factors that differ across income classes – p. 65 M. Sensitivity to method of constructing predictable tax change instruments – p. 72 V. GRAPHICAL DEPICTION OF VARIATION IN TIME PATHS OF STATE PRICES BY STATE AND INCOME CLASS – p. 76 VI. COMPOSITION OF ESTIMATION SAMPLE BY YEAR AND INCOME – p. 79 References for Appendix – p. 81
Recovery and Cultivation of Keratinocytes From Shipped Mouse Skin.

Murine keratinocyte culture from neonatal skin is an important tool for studying the functional role of specific genes in epithelial biology. However, when the transgenic animal is only available in a geographically distant local, obtaining viable keratinocytes can be problematic. A method for transferring the isolated murine skin from collaborating labs could decrease the cost of shipping live animals, and would allow the efficient use of the tissues from the transgenic animals. Here we optimized shipping conditions and characterized the cells retrieved and cultured from mouse skin shipped for 48 h at 0 °C. The cultured keratinocytes from the control, non-shipped skin and the 2-day shipped skin were 43.6 +/− 7.8% viable, doubled every 2 days, and expressed comparable amounts of heat shock proteins and CD29/integrin beta-1. However, under the same shipping conditions, the 3-day shipped tissue failed to establish colonies in the culture. Therefore, this 2-day shipping technique allows the transfer mouse skin from distant locations with recovery of viable, propagatable keratinocytes, facilitating long-distance collaborations. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 242–245, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Bisimulation Based Hierarchical System Architecture for Single-Agent Multi-modal Systems

In this paper, a hierarchical system architecture for singleagent multi-modal systems is proposed. The layered system is designed to promote proof obligations so that system specification at one level of granularity conforms with that at another level and vice versa. The design principle for the construction of the hierarchy is based on bisimulation with respect to reachability specifications. Therefore, a higher-level system and a lower-level system are bisimilar. Our approach is illustrated by designing a system architecture for controlling an autonomous agent.
LASER ASSISTED PYROLYTIC GROWTH AND PHOTOCHEMICAL DEPOSITION OF THIN OXIDE FILMS.

Lasers offer a diverse approach to fabricating oxide films for a wide variety of applications. This paper will review the field of laser oxidation in general but particular attention will be focused on oxide formation on silicon. Two main areas will be detailed, namely Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition (LCVD) and Laser Pyrolytic Growth (LPG). The kinetics involved with film preparation will be discussed while the various structural, optical and electrical properties of the films will be compared.
Measurement of acoustic power flow in the near-field of a vibrating surface

A technique for measuring the intensity (power flow per unit area) of the acoustic find near the surface of a vibrating body is presented. It is based on the frequency domain characteristics of the joint random process constituted by the surface acceleration and the near-field pressure. The accuracy of this new technique as applied to source sound power estimation is determined on a baffled piston source and compared with the reverberant room method. For the first time, measured patterns of acoustic intensity in the near-field of a vibrating plate are presented. An assessment of the practicality of this technique as a research tool in the study of machinery noise is included.
Relative sensitivity to change of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum C-reactive protein concentration in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the sensitivity to change of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration used as measures of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity. METHODS: A literature search was conducted to identify all clinical trials and observational studies of disease-modifying medications and corticosteroids in RA that reported results for both ESR and CRP before treatment and 4 weeks to 24 weeks after treatment in the same patients. For each test, effect sizes were computed as the change in the test with treatment divided by the pretreatment standard deviation. A pooled analysis was performed on the paired differences in effect sizes for ESR and CRP within each study. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-three studies with 184 active treatment arms were identified that included measurements of both ESR and CRP. Sixty-three studies with 90 active treatment arms provided sufficient data to permit calculation of effect sizes, and were included in the analysis. In the 36 treatment arms that reported results at 12 weeks, the ESR was more sensitive to change than the CRP, with a paired difference in effect sizes of 0.09 units (95% confidence interval 0.03, 0.15; p = 0.005). In the 76 treatment arms that reported results at 24 weeks, the ESR was also more sensitive to change than the CRP, with a paired difference in effect sizes of 0.11 units (95% CI 0.05, 0.17; p = 0.0004). CONCLUSION: In these studies of disease-modifying medications in RA, the ESR was more sensitive to change than the CRP at 12 weeks and 24 weeks of treatment. Few studies examined changes in these measures at times earlier than 12 weeks.
Influence of glucagon on pancreatic exocrine secretion.

Effects of small amounts of glucagon on. pancreatic exocrine function were studied in 7 pancreatic fistula dogs in (a) the resting state, (b) during continuous intravenous infusion of secretin, and (c) during infusion of secretin with pancreozymin. Glucagon produced no significant stimulation of secretion in the resting gland but markedly depressed volume flow and enzyme concentrations in the stimulated gland. Inhibition of enzyme output was greater than was inhibition of volume and bicarbonate output.
Bacterial toxin-induced pulmonary epithelial cytotoxicity and the protective effect of dibutyryl-cAMP

Bacterial infection is the most common cause of the adult respiratory distress syndrome which, in turn is associated with endothelial capillary permeability and alveolar oedema. Previously, we have demonstrated the direct cytotoxicity of the bacterial toxins Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (Exo A) and Salmonella enteritidis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on pulmonary endothelial cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Exo A and LPS on pulmonary epithelial cells in vitro. We also tested the protective effect of dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (db-cAMP) on Exo A-induced cytotoxicity. In cultured rat alveolar epithelial cells (RAEC) Exo A caused cytotoxicity as measured by51Cr release from these cells. LPS did not injure RAEC’s. Pretreatment of RAEC with db-cAMP (1mM) attenuated Exo A induced cytotoxicity. We conclude that (1) Exo A directly injures epithelial lung cells and may contribute to lung injury in cases of bacterial infection; (2) db-cAMP protects alveolar epithelial cells against Exo A-induced cytotoxicity and (3) alveolar epithelial cells in this model are resistant to LPS induced injury.
Scanned and spot measured canopy temperatures of cotton and corn

Canopy temperature is a useful indicator of crop water stress and can also be used for making timely irrigation scheduling decisions for center pivot and subsurface drip irrigation systems. However, it is not known how closely the measured canopy temperature from a circular area of the canopy surface compares with a larger continuous area that includes the full canopy width. A study was conducted in 2001 where canopy temperatures were measured with infrared thermocouples (IT) and a thermal scanner (TS) in field plots irrigated by surface drip irrigation using cotton ( Gossypium hirsutumL.) and corn (Zea maize L.). Two water levels included full evapotranspiration replacement (high water, HW) in cotton and corn and a second water level in cotton (low water, LW), which received 50% of the HW cotton amount. The purpose of the study was to compare canopy temperature measured from a small canopy area using IT with that obtained from a larger area with a TS. Canopy temperatures in the HW cotton, and HW corn were measured on 8 days during a 20-day period that started at first bloom in cotton and the V14 growth stage of corn, including four successive days during one irrigation cycle. Differences in canopy temperature measured by the two sensors averaged 0.2 ◦ Ci n HW cotton, 3.2 ◦ C in LW cotton, and 0.6 ◦ C in HW corn. When leaf cover within the canopy was
Clinical and Vascular Outcome in Internal Carotid Artery Versus Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusions After Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator

Background and Purpose— Early reperfusion is a predictor of good outcome in acute ischemic stroke. We investigated whether middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusions have a better clinical outcome and proportion of recanalization compared with internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion after standard treatment with intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Patients— In a retrospective analysis of our prospective stroke database between January 7, 1998, and January 30, 2002, we identified 36 consecutive patients who were treated with IV tPA within 3 hours after symptom onset of a stroke in the distribution of a documented ICA or MCA occlusion. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was recorded before tPA, at 24 hours, 3 days, and 3 months after stroke. Three-month outcome was recorded by modified Rankin scale. Magnetic resonance angiography or computed tomographic angiography was obtained before tPA. The presence of recanalization was assessed by transcranial Doppler and/or magn...
Strain dependent energy dissipation in multi-scale carbon fiber composites containing carbon nanofibers

Abstract This study investigates strain dependent energy dissipation characteristics in carbon nanofiber (CNF) reinforced carbon fiber epoxy composites (multi-scale composites) by characterizing their viscoelastic properties and vibrational damping response. The air damping effect on the energy dissipation characteristics is also examined. The viscoelastic properties of epoxy containing two weight fractions (3 and 5 wt%) of added CNFs were characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis. Carbon fiber layers were then infiltrated with the two epoxy resins containing the CNFs to form multi-scale composites. A strain dependent loss factor behavior of the multi-scale composites was observed in the dynamic cyclic testing due to CNF’s stick–slip friction, showing a 53% increase in loss factor for the composites containing 5 wt% CNFs. The beam vibration test results also indicated an improvement in loss factor for the multi-scale composite beams relative to those without the CNF addition in the first two resonant frequencies. The multi-scale composite beams exhibit an increase in loss factor, up to 43%, at high amplitude excitation, while a reduction in loss factor was seen at low amplitude. These observed strain dependent damping characteristics seem to result from both the stick–slip friction and the air damping effect.
The Effect of Turbulence and Scalar Transport Models on Prediction of Worker Exposure to Aerosols

The present study is concerned with the relative concentrations of contaminants in the breathing-zone (BZ) when toxic airborne contaminants are released within an armlength in front of a worker, a common location that often leads to high exposures. Three-dimensional turbulent flow around a modeled human body in a wind tunnel has been simulated numerically and the results from various models are compared with each other. A model was built using a mesh generator to represent a real human body as closely as possible. Four different turbulence models, namely, standard k-e turbulence model, RNG k-e turbulence model, Reynolds Stress turbulence model (RSM) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES), were used to evaluate their effect on the predicted concentration levels used in assessing the exposure of the worker. Results from Eulerian scalar transport method and Lagrangian particle tracking method are also compared. Concentration levels are calculated at various sampling locations in the vicinity of the human face. It is found that the predicted concentration varies significantly from model to model: at the breathing zone the coefficient of variation for predicted concentration is 30%.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Somatosensory evoked potential changes during thiothixene treatment in schizophrenic patients

The effect of thiothixene, a thioxanthene derivate, on the somatosensory evoked response was studied in a group of 9 chronic schizophrenic patients. It was found that the drug induces significant changes in the latency and amplitude of the SEP, predominantly in the later peaks. The latency of several peaks increased markedly in the first three weeks of treatment (during the low dosage period), whereas a further latency increase in the high dosage treatment period was only slight. After the discontinuation of drug administration a decrease in latency was observed. The amplitude revealed itself to be a sensitive indicator of the drug effect on the central nervous system, as the decrease in amplitude which occurred during the low dosage drug period ceased during high dosage treatment, indicating an adaptation effect on the patient population. In the post-treatment placebo period the amplitude increased, suggesting a rebound phenomenon. Schizophrenics who exhibited a marked latency increase in evoked response with thiothixene treatment, also experienced an improvement in psychopathology, whereas patients showing only a small latency increase, or even a decrease, revealed themselves as psychopathologically therapy resistant. It was found that thiothixene also produced significant EEG changes, determined by analog power spectrum and period analysis. During the drug treatment periods an increase in theta and alpha activity and a decrease in beta activity was observed. As in the SEP, eight weeks after discontinuation of the drug a rebound phenomenon was seen.
Large-Angle π - Proton Elastic Scattering at 14 and 23 GeV/c

The differential cross section for ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{-}p$ elastic scattering has been measured at 13.8 and 22.6 GeV/c up to $\ensuremath{-}t=5$ ${(\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathit{c})}^{2}$. The dips in the angular distribution at $\ensuremath{-}t\ensuremath{\approx}0.8 \mathrm{and} 2.8$ ${(\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathit{c})}^{2}$ previously observed at lower momenta become less prominent at higher momentum. The $\ensuremath{-}t=2.8$ ${(\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathit{c})}^{2}$ dip is still observed at 13.8 GeV/c, but at 22.6 GeV/c it has become a sharp kink in the angular distribution. At large momentum transfers, $\frac{d\ensuremath{\sigma}}{\mathrm{dt}}$ at fixed $t$ is still decreasing with increasing $s$, but at a slower rate in the 14- to 23-GeV/c region than at lower momenta.
Modeling quiescent phase transport of air bubbles induced by breaking waves

Simultaneous modeling of both the acoustic phase and quiescent phase of breaking wave-induced air bubbles involves a large range of length scales from microns to meters and time scales from milliseconds to seconds, and thus is computational unaffordable in a surfzone-scale computational domain. In this study, we use an air bubble entrainment formula in a two-fluid model to predict air bubble evolution in the quiescent phase in a breaking wave event. The breaking wave-induced air bubble entrainment is formulated by connecting the shear production at the air–water interface and the bubble number intensity with a certain bubble size spectra observed in laboratory experiments. A two-fluid model is developed based on the partial differential equations of the gas–liquid mixture phase and the continuum bubble phase, which has multiple size bubble groups representing a polydisperse bubble population. An enhanced 2-DV VOF (Volume of Fluid) model with a k � � turbulence closure is used to model the mixture phase. The bubble phase is governed by the advection–diffusion equations of the gas molar concentration and bubble intensity for groups of bubbles with different sizes. The model is used to simulate air bubble plumes measured in laboratory experiments. Numerical results indicate that, with an appropriate parameter in the air entrainment formula, the model is able to predict the main features of bubbly flows as evidenced by reasonable agreement with measured void fraction. Bubbles larger than an intermediate radius of O(1 mm) make a major contribution to void fraction in the near-crest region. Smaller bubbles tend to penetrate deeper and stay longer in the water column, resulting in significant contribution to the cross-sectional area of the bubble cloud. An underprediction of void fraction is found at the beginning of wave breaking when large air pockets take place. The core region of high void fraction predicted by the model is dislocated due to use of the shear production in the algorithm for initial bubble entrainment. The study demonstrates a potential use of an entrainment formula in simulations of air bubble population in a surfzone-scale domain. It also reveals some difficulties in use of the two-fluid model for predicting large air pockets induced by wave breaking, and suggests that it may be necessary to use a gas–liquid two-phase model as the basic model framework for the mixture phase and to develop an algorithm to allow for transfer of discrete air pockets to the continuum bubble phase. A more theoretically justifiable air entrainment formulation should be developed.
Stationary states and transients in neural populations.

Abstract The dynamics of populations of neurons are studied analytically and by computer simulation. The nets are probabilistic but may be coupled into systems of interacting populations in accordance with the netlet approach, first described by Harth et al., 1970a , Harth et al., 1970b . The analysis is here extended to include the situation in which the neuronal activity is given by finite difference equations of order two or greater. It is shown that the formalism developed here can take into account any combination of refractory periods, summation times and effective delays that may exist in a net. Stationary states are represented as the results of an eigenvalue problem. For slowly varying excitatory or inhibitory inputs these states exhibit marked hysteresis effects. Transient behavior is investigated and found to consist generally of damped oscillations about the stationary states.
Understanding Latino Parents' Child Mental Health Literacy: Todos a bordo/All Aboard.

Objective:This article describes Phase 1 of a pilot that aims to develop, implement, and test an intervention to educate and simultaneously engage highly stressed Latino parents in child mental hea...
Cellulose acetate electrophoresis of soluble lens proteins of different species of mammals; the use of discontinuous buffer systems

Abstract 1. 1. Cellulose acetate electrophoresis using a Tris-veronal discontinuous buffer system, has been performed with soluble lens proteins of different species of mammals and compared with two conventional continuous buffers. 2. 2. In the four species investigated (mouse, Mus musculus; rat, Rattus norvegicus; bull, Bos taurus; ovine, Ovis aries) a higher migration rate and an improved fractionation were obtained with the discontinuous buffer. 3. 3. The advantages and application to the lens protein research is indicated.
William James on the Nature of Time

The puzzlement of some Western philosophers who deal with the problem of time was foreshadowed by Augustine in Book XI of Confessions. It seems that we are directly acquainted with time and immediately know it until we are asked about it. When we then seek to give a rational account of time to the questioner, the subject seems to shred before our eyes into particular kinds of process and change. But descriptions and analyses of special topics in time’s domain, we feel, may not really settle all of time’s accounts. The philosophical impulse, finding itself ultimately in the red, often enough weakly reckons “it is a mystery” and, threatened with bankruptcy, leaves the field. Such a reckoning, we shall see, may well be William James’ final word on time.