cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protection from oxidative stress by methionine sulfoxide reductases in RPE cells

We investigated the role of methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msrs) in oxidant-stress-induced cell death in retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells. In RPE cells exposed to varying doses of H2O2, gene expression of MsrA and hCBS-1 (the human analog of MsrB2) increased in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner with maximal increase with 150 μM H2O2 in 24 h. H2O2 treatment resulted in the generation of reactive oxygen species and activation of caspase 3. Confocal microscopic and protein analysis showed an increase in MsrA expression in cytosol and mitochondria. Silencing of MsrA resulted in caspase 3 induction and accentuated cell death from H2O2. Focal, strong immunoreactivity for MsrA was observed in sub-RPE macular drusen from patients with age-related macular degeneration. In summary, our data show that MsrA and hCBS-1 are up-regulated in oxidative stress to counteract injury to RPE.
Bottom-emitting flip-chip VCSEL structure with reduced constraints on modulation response

Intrinsic and extrinsic limitations on conventional top-emitting high-speed VCSEL modulation bandwidth are discussed. A new VCSEL structure has been designed with reduced constraints on modulation bandwidth. The structure simultaneously addresses the primary extrinsic factors that limit the VCSEL modulation bandwidth. The new bottom-emitting, flip-chipped VCSEL structure improves heat-sinking, current injection uniformity, and reduces parasitic capacitance. We estimate the ultimate bandwidth of this new structure to be as high as 40Gb/s.
Response of poroelastic halfspace to steady‐state harmonic surface tractions

Traditionally, most formulations of dynamic halfspace problems have represented the material as either an elastic or a viscoelastic solid. Herein the counterpart of Lamb's elastodynamic problem is reformulated and solved for a liquid-saturated poroelastic halfspace using Biot's theory of poroelasticity. The responses of the solid and fluid phases are evaluated due to steady-state harmonic concentrated loads applied to each phase at the surface. The solutions are presented over a broad range of permeabilities and are compared to solutions to Lamb's problem for equivalent drained and undrained solids. Methodology is then introduced by which these results are treated as Green functions for the solution of a mixed boundary-value problem. namely, the response of the poroelastic halfspace to steady-state harmonic vertical motion of a rigid. massless plate. It is observed that small differences exist among overall compliance functions for a drained solid, an undrained solid, and a liquid-saturated porous, halfspace. However, use of the poroelastic model permits the distribution between effective skeletal normal stresses and fluid stresses to be determined.
Avoiding the fixed period and Thanatos syndrome: Obstetrics past, present, and future

The obstetrics medical specialty is in transition as it confronts numerous challenges and critics. An analysis of the issues involved in the past, present, and future and how these challenges are met is presented.
Unrelated strain methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization of health care workers in a neonatal intensive care unit: Findings of an outbreak investigation

Three neonates and 5 health care workers were identified as colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) out of 222 individuals screened during an outbreak investigation in an 18-bed neonatal intensive care unit. Two of 3 MRSA neonatal isolates demonstrated identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis clonal patterns but no clonal association was found among isolates from the 5 employees or between employees and neonates. Increased MRSA-unrelated strain colonization among health care workers supports increased MRSA community prevalence and probable decreased utility of mass screening.
Wheat field erosion rates and channel bottom sediment sources in an intensively cropped northeastern Oregon drainage basin

Sediment tracers were used to quantify erosion from cultivated fields and identify major source areas of channel bottom sediment within the Wildhorse Creek drainage, an intensively cropped tributary of the Umatilla River in northeastern Oregon, USA. Available data indicated that Wildhorse Creek was one of the largest sediment yielding tributaries of the Umatilla River. Carbon, nitrogen and the nuclear bomb-derived radionuclide 137Cs were used as tracers to fingerprint sediment sources. Sediment was collected from the stream bottom and active floodplain and compared to samples from cultivated fields and channel banks. Samples were characterized on the basis of tracer concentrations and a simple mixing model was used to estimate the relative portion of bottom sediment derived from cultivated surface and channel banks. The results indicate that the amount of bottom sediment derived from cultivated surface sources was less than 26 per cent for the 1998 winter season, although this estimate has a high margin of error. Cesium-137 was also used to estimate surface erosion from three cultivated fields in the watershed. Annual estimates of erosion since 1963 from the three sampled fields were from 3 to 7ċ5 t ha−1 yr−1. For the 1998 season, it appears that most channel-bottom sediment was of subsurface origin with much of it likely coming from channel and gully banks indicating that significant reductions in sediment in Wildhorse Creek might be accomplished by the stabilization of eroding riparian areas and swales on the lower slopes of agricultural fields. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Does left atrial appendage peak emptying flow velocity predict the electrical energy required to achieve successful direct-current cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation?

Background The relation of left atrial (LA) appendage peak emptying flow velocity (LAAEV) with energy requirement for successful direct-current cardioversion (DCCV) in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) is unknown. LAAEV correlates with success of cardioversion of AF to sinus rhythm, both of which are related to the LA size and the chronicity of AF. We tested the hypothesis that LAAEV can predict optimal energy required for DCCV in persistent AF (>48 hours). Methods We studied 1050 consecutive patients with persistent AF who underwent successful transesophageal echocardiographically guided DCCV from 2000 to 2005. After excluding patients with atrial flutter and those receiving antiarrhythmic drugs, 454 patients qualified for the study. Results LAAEV did not correlate with cardioversion energy ( r = 0.06, P = .23) or number of shocks required for successful DCCV ( r = 0.05, P = .33). The only predictor of energy required for successful cardioversion was the chronicity of AF. Conclusion LAAEV does not predict electrical energy required for successful cardioversion in persistent AF.
Prevention of spontaneous prostate-related cancer in Lobund-Wistar rats by a soy protein isolate/isoflavone diet.

BACKGROUND Epidemiological surveys recorded that men in the Orient (Japan and China) consuming diets high in soy food were at low risk of developing clinical prostate cancer, compared to a relatively high risk among men in the West who consumed diets low in soy food. Soybeans contain phytoestrogens (isoflavones) with many recorded anticancer mechanisms. The Lobund-Wistar (L-W) rat is a unique model system: ∼30% develop metastasizing adenocarcinomas spontaneously in the anterior prostate-seminal vesicle complex (P-SV), from which the tumors expand into the dorsolateral lobes. L-W rats are inherently predisposed, possibly by unusually high levels of circulating testosterone (T), to develop P-SV tumors which are T-dependent in the early stages and T-independent in advanced stages of tumorigenesis. METHODS L-W rats were fed two diets from age 2–24 months: 1) natural ingredient diet L-485 (Harlan TekLad Diets, Madison, WI) containing soy meal, or 2) a modified starch-casein diet in which soy protein isolate/isoflavones (SPII) replaced casein as a source of protein. RESULTS At age 24 months, 3 of 99 (3%) rats on diet SPII and 30 of 100 (30%) rats on diet L-485 developed spontaneous P-SV cancers. Rats on the SPII diet manifested a significant reduction of circulating T, approaching physiological levels. Failure of the rats on diet L-485 to prevent P-SV cancer development suggests that soy meal contained a factor(s) that blocked the antiandrogenic action of the phytoestrogen. CONCLUSIONS The spontaneous development of P-SV cancers was significantly prevented in L-W rats consuming the SPII diet from age 2–24 months, possibly through an agonist effect of the soy-derived phytoestrogens. Prostate 45:101–105, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery for temporal bone tumors

Tumors arising in the vicinity of the jugular fossa are uncommon. Lesions that may be successfully treated by radiotherapy or stereotactic radiosurgery include temporal bone chemodectomas, acoustic schwannomas, and jugular fossa schwannomas. In this article, we review our treatment techniques and results, and discuss the pertinent literature.
An essential mesenchymal function for miR-143/145 in intestinal epithelial regeneration

Downregulation of the miR-143/145 microRNA (miRNA) cluster has been repeatedly reported in colon cancer and other epithelial tumors. In addition, overexpression of these miRNAs inhibits tumorigenesis, leading to broad consensus that they function as cell-autonomous epithelial tumor suppressors. We generated mice with deletion of miR-143/145 to investigate the functions of these miRNAs in intestinal physiology and disease in vivo. Although intestinal development proceeded normally in the absence of these miRNAs, epithelial regeneration after injury was dramatically impaired. Surprisingly, we found that miR-143/145 are expressed and function exclusively within the mesenchymal compartment of intestine. Defective epithelial regeneration in miR-143/145-deficient mice resulted from the dysfunction of smooth muscle and myofibroblasts and was associated with derepression of the miR-143 target Igfbp5, which impaired IGF signaling after epithelial injury. These results provide important insights into the regulation of epithelial wound healing and argue against a cell-autonomous tumor suppressor role for miR-143/145 in colon cancer.
Zinc's affect on proton transfer between imidazole and acetate predicted by ab initio calculations

We have recently reported proton dissociation energies of common zinc coordinates, in the presence and absence of the zinc divalent cation, that were obtained from large basis set density functiona...
New Apparatus and Methodology for Thin-Section Photography

Any standard photographic enlarger can be used to make negative or positive black and white or color prints of whole thin sections directly. A specially constructed polarizing thin-section holder can be inserted into any type of enlarger, producing conditions usually found in a petrographic microscope. The thin-section holder consists of several easily fabricated segments which house a removable analyzer, polarizer, and full wave length retardation plate; all optical parts are commercially available. This photographic technique is best utilized in the study of very fine-grained or very coarse-grained rocks where visual observation and comparison of whole thin sections are necessary. Textural and structural analyses are facilitated by this technique. The polarizing thin-section holder is an efficient and inexpensive research tool and teaching aid. Some other methods of thin-section printing and photography which do not require a polarizing thin-section holder have been tried successfully.
Getting astrophysical information from LISA data

Gravitational wave signals from a large number of astrophysical sources will be present in the LISA data. Information about as many sources as possible must be estimated from time series of strain measurements. Several types of signals are expected to be present: simple periodic signals from relatively stable binary systems, chirped signals from coalescing binary systems, complex waveforms from highly relativistic binary systems, stochastic backgrounds from galactic and extragalactic binary systems and possibly stochastic backgrounds from the early Universe. The orbital motion of the LISA antenna will modulate the phase and amplitude of all these signals, except the isotropic backgrounds and thereby give information on the directions of sources. Here we describe a candidate process for disentangling the gravitational wave signals and estimating the relevant astrophysical parameters from one year of LISA data. Nearly all of the sources will be identified by searching with templates based on source parameters and directions.
Influence of coiling on performance in capillary electrophoresis using open tubular and polymer network columns

The influence of coiling on column efficiency in capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been examined. In open tubular columns of 75-μm i.d., no significant effect of column coiling on efficiency was observed, even at plate counts of 2 × 106 m−1. The small column internal diameter and radial diffusion in free solution was able to minimize the potential deleterious effect of coiling. With gel-filled columns of very high efficiency (˜107 plates m−1), the influence of coiling on column efficiency was, however, significant, e.g., a factor of 3 or more loss in plate count per coil. For relatively rigid gels (e.g., 9% T linear polyacrylamide with 7 M urea), this observed loss of column efficiency was attributed mainly to the inability of the polymer network to permit diffusional relaxation of the coiling effects. A significant influence of coiling on column efficiency was also found with medium concentration polymer networks (e.g., 3-6% T linear polyacrylamide with no urea). The polymer network structure was assumed to change under the influence of mechanical stress caused by coiling, resulting in anisotropy across the column. Furthermore, the changes in structure and in efficiency were found to be time dependent and, in general, reversible. The effect appears to be caused by the shear force imposed on a polymer network structure, since changes are only observed when the column shape is altered after the polymer has been loaded into the capillary.
Follicular mucinosis of childhood and adolescence.

: We cared for nine patients who were less than 21 years old at the time of diagnosis of follicular mucinosis. Four had clearing of the lesions, four did not, and one was lost to follow-up. Follicular mucinosis, even in childhood, may be persistent and be associated with lymphoma, which can result in death. Because there is no clinical pattern or single histopathologic criterion that correlates with the outcome, clinical follow-up and assessment of several histopathologic criteria must be relied on when evaluating this condition in children.
Some laboratory experiments on Rossby waves in a rotating annulus

Rossby waves were generated by a slowly oscillating paddle in a rotating annulus of water. The variation with frequency of the real part of the wave number is very satisfactory, but the experiments give only order-of-magnitude agreement between the observed damping with distance from the source and a theoretical estimate which ignores sidewall boundary layers. Behavior of the waves in a closed basin formed by placing a barrier wall across the annulus 60 degrees up-rotation from the wave source agrees qualitatively with theoretical expectation in that at low frequencies the radial motion is concentrated in the region near the reflecting barrier. This effect is a simple generalization of Stommel's original concept of the westward intensification of steady currents and appears to be present in the oceans. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1967.tb01460.x
The evolution of neural coding ideas in the chemical senses

A brief review of the evolution of hypotheses about neural coding in the chemical senses provides some perspective on the current status of these fields, and implications for further development.
Uptake of sediment-bound lead and zinc by the freshwater isopodAsellus communis at three different pH levels

A comparison was made of lead and zinc accumulation by the freshwater isopodAsellus communis exposed to contaminated sediments and water at three different pH levels. Accumulation of zinc was not significant at any tested pH level. This finding was expected, since zinc is regulated by many organisms. Lead accumulation by organisms exposed to sediments from one study site, Weston's Mill Pond, was significant at pH 5.5 and 4.5. At pH 5.5, the rate of uptake of Pb from these sediments was greater than from water. The lead was associated with amorphous iron oxides which undergo dissolution at lower pH values. A weakening of the lead-iron oxide association at lower pH levels (5.5) may have increased the bioavailability of this element toAsellus. Further decreases in pH (4.5) increased the importance of the solute vector in lead accumulation by the organism. Uptake from sediments collected from a second site, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, was not enhanced at lower pH levels.
TECHNICAL NOTE: SOME VIEWS ON THE TREATMENT OF “ARTIFACTS” IN PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RECORDINGS

The treatment of artifactual responses in psychophysiology is rarely discussed or made explicit in research reports. The rationales and procedures of five approaches are presented: excluding the data; averaging other epochs; subjective estimation; straight-line connecting; and following the pen. Each approach is based on a somewhat different theoretical orientation, and the choice of each will depend on the researcher's theoretical preference and also the relative “costs” of losing data vs programming special instructions. Other considerations such as objectivity, consistency, and replicability are discussed.
A non-antibacterial oxazolidinone derivative that inhibits epithelial cell sheet migration

We have developed a high-throughput assay for screening chemical libraries for compounds that affect cell sheet migration during wound closure in epithelial cell monolayers. By using this assay, we have discovered a new inhibitor of cell sheet migration. This compound (UIC-1005) is a 3,4-disubstituted oxazolidinone that bears an electrophilic alpha,beta-unsaturated N-acyl group required for activity. UIC-1005 also inhibits growth in an epithelial cell proliferation assay. The molecule does not display general toxicity at concentrations at which it potently inhibits cell sheet migration and growth. Unlike certain 3,5-disubstituted oxazolidinones, it exhibits no antibacterial activity. UIC-1005 therefore represents a new class of bioactive oxazolidinone derivative that may prove useful as a probe for signaling pathways leading to cell motility.
Dendrochronology in Jordan

Abstract Dendrochronology is a valuable tool for the study of past climate and increases our knowledge of climate variability beyond the short period covered by instrumental data. Two annual tree-ring width chronologies were developed for northern Jordan ( Pinus halepensis and Quercus aegilops ), one chronology for Carmel Mountain, Israel ( Pinus halepensis ), and one chronology for southern Jordan ( Juniperus phoenicia ). The results of our study show that the northern site chronologies are significantly correlated, but the northern and southern sites are not. A relatively high correlation was shown between October–April precipitation and a Pinus halepensis chronology, and between October–May precipitation and Quercus aegilops , both in the north. October–May precipitation was reconstructed for the time span AD 1600 to 1995 from the Juniperus phoenicia tree-ring chronology. The longest reconstructed drought, defined as consecutive years below a threshold of 80% of the 1946–1995 mean observed October–May precipitation, was 4 years, compared with 3 years for the 1946–95 instrumental data.
Religiousness, Health, and Health Behavior in Public-Use Data of the National Center for Health Statistics

Studies of religiousness and health-related variables in large, population-based cross-sectional or, preferably, longitudinal studies, which are often prohibitively expensive, are important to complement findings from the more commonly performed studies. Inadequately known among social science researchers, the national health surveys of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) offer large, high-quality data sets to the public at no or nominal cost and hence offer important opportunities for research in the area of religion and health, religion and reproductive behavior, sociology of religion and psychology of religion. This report provides an overview of the data sets and a bibliography of prior research using these data, which is intended to suggest how the data of NCHS may be further exploited by researchers of religiousness and health.
Absorption line profiles and rotational velocities for 59 stars

Absorption lines of Heii, Hei, Mgii, and other ions have been measured in coude spectral tracings for 59 slowly and rapidly rotating sourthern O, B and A stars on the Main Sequence. All 668 separate line profiles have been analyzed with a procedure of differential corrections by least-squares to yield the following parameters and their error estimates: half-width, central depth, equivalent width, and shape parameter. The shape parameter includes Voigt profiles and also ‘super-Gaussian’ and ‘super-damping’ profiles. In addition, separately-measured line profiles in each star have been superimposed to yield better composite profiles with smaller errors. In addition, a preliminary value ofv sini is derived for each line by deconvolving it with both the intrinsic and instrumental profiles, and a mean value (including error bar) is derived for each star. The resulting mean values ofv sini are only about 2/3 as large as the earlier results presented by Buscombe (1969). The inadequacies of the traditional procedure are discussed, and plans for using calculated non-LTE intrinsic line profiles including line limb darkening and also effects of rotational distortion, will be outlined.
Early 18F‐labeled fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose positron emission tomography scanning in the lymphomas

The identification of refractory or nonresponding tumors at an early period during therapy may lead to abbreviation of the current therapy regimen or timely institution of an alternative therapy protocol. Nevertheless, evaluation of treatment response is consequential clinically if the tumor potentially is curable and if effective treatment alternatives exist, so that change in treatment ultimately may increase the probability of response and survival. Hodgkin disease (HD) and diffuse large cell lymphoma (LCL) fit in this model well. However, a subset of patients is either refractory to first-line treatment or develops recurrent disease after an initial remission. Improvements in the treatment of these diseases rely not only on new therapy modalities and accurate assessment of disease extent but also on the assessment of disease extent and on timely and accurate therapy response to enable a more effective management plan. Although the International Prognostic Score for HD and International Prognostic Index for LCL have proved valuable for the stratification of patients in clinical trials, there is variability in outcome within the individual risk groups. Recently, positron emission tomography using 18F-labeled fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG-PET) imaging has been suggested as a sensitive and relatively more specific means to reflect tumor biologic changes after therapy. With increasingly compelling evidence, early FDG-PET provides a reliable means to assess tumor response accurately that may lead to better management with an effective therapeutic approach. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
The concept of the surface molecule in chemisorption

Abstract Under certain circumstances the binding of an adsorbate to a metal surface may be thought of as the formation of a surface molecule composed of the adsorbate and the metal. This point of view is reasonable if the metal density of states at the adsorbate resembles that of an atom, i.e. exhibits a small number of well defined peaks as a function of energy. The width of these peaks must be small compared to the metal band width. Within the context of a simple tight binding model for the metal we find that for an S state adsorbate on W there are certain adsorbate positions for which the surface molecule concept should be valid.
Counting extra dimensions: magnetic Cherenkov radiation from high energy neutrinos

Abstract In theories which require a space of dimension d>4, there is a natural mechanism of suppressing neutrino masses: while standard model fields are confined to a three-brane, right-handed neutrinos live in the bulk. Due to Kaluza–Klein excitations, the effective magnetic moments of neutrinos are enhanced. The effective magnetic moment is a monotonically growing function of the energy of the neutrino: consequently, high energy neutrinos can emit observable amounts of magnetic Cherenkov radiation. By observing the energy dependence of the magnetic Cherenkov radiation, one may be able to determine the number of compactified dimensions.
Carbon production and export from Biscayne Bay, Florida. II. Episodic export of organic carbon

Abstract Seasonal meteorological events of high wind energy are important in the export of organic carbon from Biscayne Bay, Florida, by altering circulation and tidal flushing patterns coincident with increased resuspension. The accumulation of detrital organic carbon in the bay during productive summer months with light south-east breezes is reversed by the onset of the winter season and associated weekly cold fronts with sustained 15 knot northerly winds. The reversal of Biscayne Bay circulation patterns and increased discharge at Caesar's Creek result in an outwelling of dissolved organic carbon and particulate organic carbon. Southward advection at the seaward extremes of exchange channels prevents reintroduction of exported organic carbon by tidal currents.
Escape from the menace of the giant wormholes

Abstract We suggest a mechanism for avoiding the Fischler-Kaplunovsky-Susskind catastrophe. We explore the detailed consequences of our mechanism in model which, although drastically simplified in some repects, contains what we believe to be the essential physics. In the model we find wormholes are not densely packed on macroscopic scales. Indeed, there is a nonzero wormhole density only on a scale set by the “bare” (pre-wormhole) value of the cosmological constant. Also, G is not forced to zero, nor are particle masses necessarily forced to either zero or infinity.
Developing High-Performance Server Applications in Haskell, Case Study: A Haskell Web Server

Abstract Server applications, and in particular network-based server applications, place a unique combination of demands on a programming language: lightweight concurrency and high I/O throughput are both important. This paper describes a prototype web server written in Concurrent Haskell, and presents two useful results: firstly, a conforming server could be written with minimal effort, leading to an implementation in less than 1500 lines of code, and secondly the naive implementation produced reasonable performance. Furthermore, making minor modifications to a few time-critical components improved performance to a level acceptable for anything but the most heavily loaded web servers.
Viking Mars Orbiter 1975 Solar Energy Controller

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for the Viking Orbiter System, which is part of the overall Viking Project managed by the Viking Project Office at Langley Research Center for NASA. The spacecraft will be launched on a Titan IIIE/-Centaur Launch Vehicle in August 1975. Solar energy for temperature control purposes is introduced into the propulsion module of the Orbiter. The energy enters by way of four individually commandable solar energy controllers (SECs). This paper summarizes the SEC thermal development, design and test results. Test results are presented for the prototype unit and for the flight units.
On the tertiary gain of illness

Abstract The classical psychoanalytic concept of primary gain and secondary gain spotlight the advantages accruing to a patient from his illness. However, a number of situations transpire, as portrayed in this paper, wherein a person other than the patient stands to gain certain benefits from the patient's illness, e.g., expulsion of the ill person from a conflictual relationship, financial gain, or other personal gains. The author proposes to call this phenomenon the tertiary gain of illness. A case is presented which demonstrates the operation of tertiary gain and a discussion of some of its possible effects on patients are enumerated in the subsequent discourse. By defining this concept the writer feels that many events may be subsumed under the heading of tertiary gain, thus facilitation communication and further investigation of the causes and effects of it. Furthermore, it draws attention to the fact that illness occurs in a social system and has causes and effects in that system from the aspects of etiology, precipitating stress, treatment, and rehabilitation. In the latter two respects, the physician becomes a part of that system surrounding the patient and likewise can have a significant influence, far better or worse, on the course of the treatment and rehabilitation. This paper has focused on the adverse consequences of tertiary gains derived by individuals comprising the social system in which patients live.
Introduction to the CMPS Special Issue on Failed States

The phenomenon of “failed states” has drawn increasing attention as a significant issue in contemporary human security due to the consequences of the collapse of order within a nation-state's legal...
Endodermal sinus tumor of the vagina and cervix

This report describes six patients with endodermal sinus tumor of the vagina and cervix, a polypoid friable tumor whose clinical presentation in girls younger than age 3 years simulates the presentation of sarcoma botryoides. In four of the six patients, the referring diagnosis was sarcoma botryoides. Five patients were treated with excisional surgery, and all six with chemotherapy. One patient with pulmonary metastases maintained a complete clinical response to vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) for 11 months. This is the first report of such a response. One patient with a vaginal lesion remains clinically free of disease 2 years after local excision and 18 months of VAC chemotherapy. This is the first report of apparently successful therapy that allowed retention of childbearing potential. Four of the six patients have been disease-free from 2 to 23 years. After examining the world literature, it is concluded that a combination of chemotherapy and surgery offers a reasonable prospect of cure with a minimum of serious side effects.
Remarkable Bromination and Blue Emission of 9-Anthracenyl Pt(II) Complexes

Contrary to expectations, molecular bromine addition to trans-Pt(Br)(9-anthracenyl)(PEt3)2 does not result in Pt oxidation or Pt−C bond cleavage but rather in selective multiple bromination of the anthracenyl ligand. The resulting complexes are highly photoluminescent in the blue region due to triplet−triplet annihilation induced delayed fluorescence from the anthracene.
Isolation and characterization of the human CP49 gene promoter.

PURPOSE. This study focuses on the identification of regulatory elements that contribute to lens-specific expression of the human CP49 gene within the 5'-flanking DNA sequences. METHODS. The DNA sequence upstream of the human CP49 coding region was subcloned as a set of 5' and 3' deletion series. The constructs were transfected into lens (N/N1003A) and nonlens (NIH3T3) cell lines and chicken primary lens cultures, to test for promoter activity and specificity. To further test the specificity, a portion of the 5' flanking DNA sequence was used to drive transgene expression in mice. The flanking DNA sequence was analyzed for potential transcription factor-binding sites. RESULTS. The 5'-flanking DNA preferentially activated reporter gene expression in a lens-preferred manner when transfected into cultured cells. Transgene expression driven by the CP49 promoter region was lens specific. Analysis of the proximal promoter sequence revealed the presence of potential binding sites for the AP-1, AP-2, and OCT-1 transcription factors and the absence of TATA and CAAT boxes. CONCLUSIONS. The sequence upstream of the CP49 gene possesses promoter activity and is able to drive lens-preferred expression in both transfection and transgenic experiments. Promoter activity is dependent on the presence of the proximal 300 bp directly upstream of the coding region.
The effects of curare on cortical activity.

Abstract 1. (1) Intravenous curare produced variable degrees of depression of the direct cortical response. From these experiments it was observed that brain shrinkage and/or blood pressure changes secondary to the intravenous injection of curare can not explain the lack of reproducible results. Since uncontrolled variables appear to be operating, it is felt that interpretations from such data must be viewed with caution. 2. (2) Application of curare topically to the cortex, in contrast to its intravenous administration, caused consistent and reproducible augmentation of the direct cortical response. 3. (3) Microelectrode recording demonstrated that topical curare increased the number of responses of a cortical neuron to a single peripheral stimulus. 4. (4) From these results, the specific action of curare on the central nervous system is considered to be excitatory, possibly as the result of blockade of inhibitory synapses.
ISSUES IN INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

: The risk management and insurance discipline faces a number of challenges. The author poses some questions which focus on those challenges.
Subacute toxicity testing of biomaterials using histopathologic evaluation of rabbit muscle tissue.

A group of 12 materials was evaluated for tissue compatibility via a sequential histopathologic evaluation of the rabit muscle response to the implanted materials. Tissue samples were obtained daily for 7 days and weekly for 12 weeks to follow the time course of the response. Some cytotoxic samples revealed a rapid and marked response of relatively short duration, whereas others tended to produce a sustained or a long-term, intermittent inflammatory and/or necrotic response. These effects also demonstrated the suitability of 7 days as a satisfactory time period for routine evaluation of rabbit muscle reaction to implanted materials. The histopathologic evaluation of the response was compared with a gross evaluation of the implant site and an independent test of the material by tissue culture (agar–overlay method).
Is there a role for surgery in the management of isolated secundum atrial septal defect in adults

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the short-term outcomes of surgical versus transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) in adults. Methods: From January 2008 to October 2012, 229 patients aged 18 years and older with significant isolated secundum ASDs were admitted to our hospital. We focused only on objective data obtained from their medical records. We collected and compared a total of 163 patients with isolated secundum ASD, who were treated with device occlusion or surgical closure, and had no missing data. Postoperative outcomes, rhythm disturbances, residual ASD, infection rates and length of hospital stay were compared. Results: Complete follow-up data were available for 42 (46%) patients in the device group and for 121 (87%) in the surgery group. Complete closure was observed in 41 of the 42 patients (97.6%) in the device group (p = 0.258) and in all 121 in the surgery group (100 %) (p > 0.05). There were no mortalities. The mean length of hospital stay in the device group was 1.92 ± 0.43 days and in the surgery group 7.14 ± 0.14 days (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The transcatheter approach for closure of ASDs is an effective and safe treatment option when performed for certain indications. Broadening the spectrum of indications may cause some adverse events. Surgical treatment remains a good alternative for all patients with ASDs and can be performed safely in order not to increase procedure-related complications.
Nonlinear Refractive Index of Glasses and Crystals

The propagation of intense optical beams through dielectric media induces changes in the refractive index which cause self-focusing and beam breakup in high-power laser systems. After a brief discussion of the origin and spatial anisotropy of refractive-index nonlinearities, methods for measuring the nonlinear refractive index coefficient are reviewed. The use of time-resolved interferometry is described in detail. Nonlinear indices for optical glasses and crystals measured at 1064 nm by this technique are tabulated. From these data, an empirical expression is given which, using the linear refractive index and partial dispersion, provides a good estimate of the nonlinear index of optical materials in the long-wavelength limit.
Business Transformation Workbench: A Practitioner's Tool for Business Transformation

Business transformation is a key management initiative that attempts to align people, business process and technology of an enterprise more closely with its business strategy and vision. It is an essential part of the competitive business cycle. Existing consulting methods and tools do not address issues such as scalability of methodology, knowledge management, asset reuse, and governance well, to name a few. This paper presents Business Transformation Workbench, a practitioner's tool for business transformation addressing these problems. It implements a methodical approach that was devised to analyze business transformation opportunities and make business cases for transformation initiatives and thereby offering decision-support to the consultants. It provides an intuitive way to evaluate and understand various opportunities in staff and IT consolidation and process standardization. It embodies structured analytical models, both qualitative and quantitative, to enhance the consultants' practices. BT Workbench has been instantiated with data from finance management domain and applied to address a client situation as a case study. An alpha testing of the tool was conducted with about dozen practitioners. 90% of the consultants who tested the BT Workbench tool felt that the tool would help them do a better job during a client engagement.
Virulence factors of the group A streptococci and genes that regulate their expression.

Abstract Group A streptococci produce a wide variety of extracellular (cell-associated and released) virulence factors. The function of these factors varies and includes roles in adhesion, spreading, tissue destruction, immune system evasion, and cell toxicity. How these factors are regulated with regard to one another is important for this organism s ability to bring about the variety of diseases this microbe is capable of causing. Therefore, along with the multitude of virulence factors, there are a number of regulatory systems that regulate, either directly or indirectly, the production of these factors and therefore influence the pathogenesis of group A streptococcal infections.
Postharvest changes during storage of packaged radicchio.

Radicchio (Cichorium intybus L., var. foliosum) heads were held at two temperatures in plastic dome lid boxes, 10 μm polyethylene produce bags, or 12. 7 μm EHC Clysar plastic shrink-wrap bags to determine postharvest quality changes. Respiration rate of 7% fresh weight while those in polyethylene or EHC bags lost < 1% fresh weight during 1 week of storage at either 10C or 1C. Color changes in radicchio occurred primarily in the red portion of the leaf area. Heads faded and lost color saturation between 1 and 4 weeks of storage at 1C. These changes were concomitant with the browning of the leaves. At 10C, heads held in produce or EHC.
The origin of the ‘spike’ in the EPR spectrum of C60−

The long-debated origin of the narrow line-width signal in the EPR spectrum of C60− is shown to be C120O−, arising from unavoidable C120O impurity in air-exposed samples of C60.
Soldiers, scapegoats, and the tragic demands of Operation First Casualty

In 2008, the activist group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) produced Operation First Casualty, a piece of guerrilla theater staged on streets and in parks in U.S. cities, in which members performed actions that they had carried out as they patrolled Iraq and Afghanistan. In opposition to representations of war that excerpt violent events from daily life, IVAW portrays military culture as one of habitual brutality. At the same time, Operation First Casualty placed an audience of American bystanders in positions akin to those of Iraqis and Afghanis, in an attempt to engage empathy for, and enable solidarity with, the people whose countries are occupied by the US. Due to what I describe as soldiers’ function as a scapegoat figure in the national imaginary, IVAW’s insight has had little influence on public discourse. To understand the co-determinacy of the marginal status of soldiers and the social framing that gives the soldier figure such pull, I overlay theories of tragedy and political sociology in w...
High fidelity physics of fluids and structures for future unmanned air vehicles

As the use of UAVs brings new concepts of air operations, it also brings new critical science issues that need to be identified, studied and understood. We report on a challenge project whose focus is to apply AFRL computational technologies in support of future UAV requirements. A unique, fully nonlinear fluid-structure interaction simulation is documented for a delta wing of moderate sweep that represents the critical physics of future UCAV systems. State-of-the-art LES techniques were used to study natural transition on airfoils because of its criticality for performance of long endurance UAVs. Finally, a systematic study of vortex structures at low Reynolds number was completed to support the conceptual development of micro-UAVs. The second year of this Challenge grant has brought significant contributions to the study of nonlinear, coupled fluid/structures dynamics for future UAV systems.
A Comparison Between WISC-III and WISC-R Scores for Learning Disabilities Reevaluations:

This study examined differences between Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores for 40 students with learning disabilities (LD) at the time of their triennial reevaluations. WISC-III Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQs were significantly lower than comparable WISC-R IQs by approximately one-third to one-half of a standard deviation. Correlations among the IQ scores were moderate to moderately strong. Implications of these findings for LD reevaluations are discussed.
Analyzing the working set characteristics of branch execution

To achieve highly accurate branch prediction, it is necessary not only to allocate more resources to branch prediction hardware but also to improve the understanding of branch execution characteristics. In this paper, we present a new profile-based conditional branch analysis technique called branch working set analysis to provide additional information about control flow behavior of general purpose applications. This analysis evaluates the dynamic behavior of branch execution by partitioning either individual branches or pre-classified branch groups into sets based on temporal locality and ordering information. We refer to these sets as the working sets of branches. To demonstrate the usefulness of this form of analysis, we examine the efficiency of current allocation techniques for branch history table (BHT) space and propose a new solution to this allocation process that improves the performance of these tables. In our approach the mapping between branch instructions and BHT entries is specified during compilation to reduce table contention-leading to more relevant histories and improved predictor performance. As a result, even for programs with a large number of static branches, only 100 to 200 history entries are needed to approximate the performance of larger 1024-entry BHT. Furthermore, when the technique is applied to a predictor with 1024-entry BHT its prediction accuracy is improved by 16%-comparable with the performance of a BHT of infinite capacity.
Analogy Between Linear Optical Systems and Linear Two-Port Electrical Networks

Attention is called to the analogy between linear optical systems and linear two-port electrical networks. For both, the transformation of a pair of oscillating quantities between input and output is of interest. The mapping of polarization by an optical system and of impedance (admittance) by a two-port network is described by a bilinear transformation. Therefore for each transfer property of a system of one type, there is a similar property for the system of the other type. Two-port electrical networks are synthesized whose impedance-(or admittance-) mapping properties are the same as the polarization-mapping properties of a given optical system. The opposite problem of finding the optical analogs of two-port networks is also considered. Besides unifying the methods of handling these two different kinds of systems, the analogy appears fruitful if used reciprocally to simulate electrical networks by optical systems, and vice versa. Linear mechanoacoustic systems have optical analogs besides their well-known electrical analogs.
Biosynthesis and homeostatic roles of nitric oxide in the normal kidney

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important molecular mediator of numerous physiological processes in virtually every organ. In the kidney, NO plays prominent roles in the homeostatic regulation of glomerular, vascular, and tubular function. Differential expression and regulation of the NO synthase (NOS) gene family contribute to this diversity of action. This review explores recent advances in the molecular and cell biology of the NOS isoforms and relates these findings to functions of NO in the control of normal renal hemodynamics, the glomerular microcirculation, and renal salt excretion. Newly recognized molecular diversity of the NOS gene products, factors governing NOS isozyme gene expression and catalytic activity, and the intrarenal distribution of the NOS isoforms are examined. Physiological data regarding the complex roles of NO in the control of renal hemodynamics and the glomerular microcirculation are analyzed, and the effects of chronic NOS inhibition on glomerular function and structure are presented. The contributions of NO to renal salt excretion as well as functional and molecular biological evidence for adaptive changes in NOS isoform expression during variations in dietary salt balance are discussed. Current investigative challenges and goals for future research of renal NO biology are presented.
Giant Cell Tumors

Giant cell tumors and aneurysmal bone cysts are entities of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Giant cell tumors of bone are believed to be a distinctive neoplasm of poorly differentiated cells. The multinucleated giant cells are a constant and prominent part of these tumors, but are probably of less significance than the mononuclear cells. In fact, these multinucleated giant cells, with or without minor modification, occur in a host of pathologic conditions of bone, such as nonosteogenic fibroma, fibrous dysplasia, benign chondroblastoma, chondromyxoid fibroma, benign osteoblastoma, osteogenic sarcoma, hemangioma, hemangioendothelioma, giant cell reparative granuloma of the jaw, Brown’s tumor of hyperparathyroidism, and, finally, aneurysmal bone cyst. The roentgenographic and pathologic similarities of the giant cell tumor and so-called aneurysmal bone cyst are remarkable, and always create considerable difficulties in their differentiation.