cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Plea for Enhancing Neuronal Survival by Neurophysiologic Monitoring

Drs Nussbaum and Maggi provide us with thought-provoking information in their prospective study of nearly drowned children who incurred severe anoxic ischemic encephalopathy and were in a flaccid state of coma on admission to the pediatric intensive care unit. In their discussion, they note that there is not a uniform approach to management of severely comatose, nearly drowned children. Although the rationale for the protective role of barbiturates in the presence of anoxic-ischemic encephalopathy has a strong scientific basis, results of their study indicate that clinical outcome of patients treated with barbiturates does not support the scientific basis for their use.
Upgrade to the multichannel neutron collimator

Spatially resolved fluctuation measurements of the 14 MeV neutron emission due to MHD instabilities have recently been obtained during DT operation, using ZnS based NE451 scintillation detectors operated in the current mode on the TFTR multichannel neutron collimator. The observed fluctuations have a frequency range up to 10 kHz. In order to obtain better spatial resolution of the emission, two additional channels viewing the intermediate regions of the plasma core have been added to the collimator array. Initially, these new channels will serve as testing stations to evaluate several prototype scintillator concepts having improved detection efficiency. Both ZnS and plastic based scintillators are presently being studied. The plastic detectors have the advantage of being transparent to scintillation photons and allow an increase in the bulk scintillation material and hence an increase in the number of neutron interactions, while the ZnS based detectors have a greater immunity to gamma-rays. The increased detector efficiency has reduced neutron shot noise and extends the capability of the detector system to higher frequencies. Pulse height distributions and efficiency measurements obtained for each candidate detector using a 14-MeV generator as a neutron source will be presented. Absolute calibration of the new channels using a "jog shot" technique will be discussed.
QuantiLyse: Reliable DNA amplification from single cells

Amplification of DNA sequencesfrom single cells via PCR is increasingly used in basic research and clinical diagnostics but remains technically difficult. We have developed a cell lysis protocol that uses an optimized proteinase K solution, named QuantiLyse and permits reliable amplification from individual cells. This protocol was compared to other published methods by means of real-time PCR with molecular beacons. The results demonstrate that QuantiLyse treatment of single lymphocytes renders gene targets more availablefor amplification than other published proteinase K methods or lysis in water. QuantiLyse and an optimized alkaline lysis were equally effective in terms of target availability, although QuantiLyse offers greaterflexibility, as it does not require neutralization and can comprise a higher percentage of the final PCR volume. Maximum gene target availability is also obtained following QuantiLyse treatment of samples containing up to 10000 cells (the largest number tested). Thus, QuantiLyse maximizes the chances that targeted DNA sequences will be available for amplification during the first cycle of PCR, thereby reducing the variability among replicate reactions as well as the likelihood of amplification failure or allele drop-out. QuantiLyse will be useful in a range of investigations aimed at gene detection in small numbers of cells.
Perceptual-Motor Processing in Speech

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the different aspects of the perceptual-motor processing in speech. Natural language consists of patterns at many levels of analysis that can be analyzed without distinguishing between language perception and production. In comparison to voicing, the acoustic and articulatory correlates of place of articulation have no such simple shared characteristics that might be processed by a common mechanism. The acoustic cues to place are spectral in nature, consisting of the direction of formant transitions and the spectral pattern of the initial burst. The articulatory correlates of place of articulation consist of the location in the vocal tract where the closure, or constriction, is made. The perceptual-motor priming task reveals the speed with which the stimulus can be encoded and the response selected and produced. It is found that if facilitation in the perceptual-motor priming task is because of a shared value on a perceptually salient dimension, then one would expect that stimulus–response pairs with a shared manner feature would produce faster reaction times than pairs without a shared manner feature.
A problem-based course in sustainable technology

Sustainable technology has been defined as technology that provides for our current needs without sacrificing the ability of future populations to sustain themselves. Approaching the synthesis of sustainably engineered solutions requires weighing the qualities of different proposals from a variety of different perspectives. Of necessity these problems must be solved from multidisciplinary perspectives. Students, therefore, need to learn not only what their own disciplines have to say about the issues, but they also need to be able to recognize the other kinds of issues that arise and to know which disciplines can contribute to their solutions. Thus, students need to learn how to recognize new issues and to work collaboratively. This points to a need for students to learn by working on cases in multidisciplinary teams. These multidisciplinary groups provide opportunities for collaboration and reflection that have the potential to greatly enhance student learning. Learning in such an environment can provide students with cases that they can recall and adapt later in their careers. We describe the curriculum of a problem-based course in sustainable development and technology (SDT) as well as discussing the technology that will be used in the future to support collaborative learning. In addition, we present some assessment data to indicate what students have learned and needs that have been identified as a result of these assessments.
Some modern considerations for thinking about language evolution: A discussion of The Evolution of Language by Tecumseh Fitch

A little history The question of how humans came to have language has been raised ever since humans first recognised themselves as languaging creatures, and the ability to language has always been seen to be the single most distinctive feature of humaness. No humans have ever been encountered who did not speak, but speaking has never been found in any other kind of creature. Nevertheless, it has always been recognised that other creatures had ways of communicating, especially by means of their voices, and many have sensed that, despite differences, human speaking was related to this. One ancient debate has been, then, whether or not we can accept continuities between animal and human expression, or whether there is an unbridgeable gulf. In the modern era, from the middle of the eighteenth century until the end of the nineteenth century, inquiries into language origins were often undertaken. After this they ceased almost completely because, so it seemed, with the expansion of empirical knowledge, the gap between what we could reliably know that was relevant to the inquiry and what we would need to know to ground the inquiry on a solid base of observable facts had become glaringly apparent. Solutions to the problem of language origins, it was felt, could never be more than fairy tales, one person’s views being as good as another’s. Thus Dwight Whitney, writing in 1873, declared that “no theme in linguistic science is more often and voluminously treated...with less profitable result in proportion to the labour expanded.” He judged the “greater part of what is written upon this topic [of language origins]” to be “mere idle talk.” (Whitney 1873-4, as quoted In Jespersen 1922: 412). As a result, the whole topic became disreputable. As it is common to note, in 1865 the Linguistic Society of Paris explicitly banned all submissions on this topic, and the London Philological Society followed suit a few years later. Notwithstanding this, from the late nineteenth century until the beginning of the period when the topic was to become fashionable again, there were scholars, linguists among them, who continued to contribute to the discussion. For example, important ideas were contributed by Charles Darwin and Otto Jespersen, as we shall see. However, these
De novo morphogenesis in L‐forms via geometric control of cell growth

In virtually all bacteria, the cell wall is crucial for mechanical integrity and for determining cell shape. Escherichia coli's rod-like shape is maintained via the spatiotemporal patterning of cell-wall synthesis by the actin homologue MreB. Here, we transiently inhibited cell-wall synthesis in E. coli to generate cell-wall-deficient, spherical L-forms, and found that they robustly reverted to a rod-like shape within several generations after inhibition cessation. The chemical composition of the cell wall remained essentially unchanged during this process, as indicated by liquid chromatography. Throughout reversion, MreB localized to inwardly curved regions of the cell, and fluorescent cell wall labelling revealed that MreB targets synthesis to those regions. When exposed to the MreB inhibitor A22, reverting cells regrew a cell wall but failed to recover a rod-like shape. Our results suggest that MreB provides the geometric measure that allows E. coli to actively establish and regulate its morphology.
Women's Use of Intimate Partner Violence against Men: Prevalence, Implications, and Consequences

Evidence showing that women use intimate partner violence (IPV) against their male partners has existed since the 1970s when IPV was first systematically examined. This article discusses the various sources of prevalence rates of IPV by women against men, the dominant theoretical explanation for IPV in general, and its implications for female perpetrators and male victims in the social service and criminal justice systems, as well as the current evidence of the consequences of women's use of IPV to the men who sustain it. Finally, we discuss directions for future research, including our own study focusing on men who sustain IPV.
Parameter estimation of monod kinetics without biomass data and initial substrate concentration

Abstract The uniqueness of the parameters in a Monod kinetics model estimated from substrate depletion and product growth data were analyzed using nonlinear regression. The initial substrate and biomass concentrations were considered as unknown (unmeasured) parameters. Simulated data containing known measurement errors were generated first using specified parameters and then these data were used for the analysis. Sensitivity coefficients were determined by differentiating the original differential equations of the Monod kinetics. A procedure for determining the scale factors for the parameters (used in the nonlinear regression method) has also been developed. The number of parameters that can be determined uniquely depends on the region of substrate depletion (first order, mixed order or zero order). The availability of product data leads to additional estimation of parameters in the mixed order region. The number of parameters that could be estimated are identified qualitatively by the sensitivity coeffi...
A 2n-2 step algorithm for routing in an nxn array with constant size queues

In this paper we describe a deterministic algorithm for solving any 1–1 packet-routing problem on ann ×n mesh in 2n−2 steps using constant-size queues. The time bound is optimal in the worst case. The best previous deterministic algorithm for this problem required time 2n+Θ(n/q) using queues of size Θ(q) for any 1≤q≤n, and the best previous randomized algorithm required time 2n+Θ(logn) using constant-size queues.
Time course of carbamazepine self-induction

Carbamazepine concentrations in plasma during repetitive oral dosing were analyzed by means of a nonlinear, variable parameter, regression program (VARPARM) assuming dose-to-dose changes in the apparent elimination rate constant of the drug. There was evidence of significant self-induction of carbamazepine metabolism as early as 1 or 2 days after initiation of the multiple-dose study. Additional self-induction appears to occur after about 2 weeks of treatment. The time course of carbamazepine self-induction appears to be complex, discontinuous, and prolonged.
On Two-Stage Sampling for Fixed-Width Interval Estimation of the Common Variance of Equi-Correlated Normal Distributions

Abstract The present article presents two-stage procedures for fixed-width interval estimators of the common variance of equi-correlated normal distributions. This study is a continuation of those of Zacks and Ramig (1987) and Ghezzi and Zacks (2005). We derive formulae for the distributions of total sample sizes and their functionals.
Supersonic Absorption and Stokes' Viscosity Relation

It is pointed out that the reduction of the two viscosity coefficients to one according to the Stokes' relation $2\ensuremath{\mu}+3\ensuremath{\lambda}=0$ is not justified except in the special case of a monatomic gas. The generalization of this relation by the re-introduction of the second independent viscosity coefficient $\ensuremath{\kappa}=\frac{2}{3}\ensuremath{\mu}+\ensuremath{\lambda}$ makes it possible to develop the phenomenological theory of the absorption and dispersion of sound, in agreement with experiment in complete analogy to the corresponding optical phenomena. The connection of the well-known relaxation theory with classical hydrodynamics can be established and in the case of polyatomic gases $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ is expressed by the characteristic constants of this theory. The case of liquids is discussed. In polyatomic gases and liquids one has generally $\ensuremath{\kappa}\ensuremath{\gg}\ensuremath{\mu}$. Other hydrodynamical consequences of the introduction of $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ are discussed.
Comparative physical mapping of targeted regions of the rat genome

The comparative mapping and sequencing of vertebrate genomes is now a key priority for the Human Genome Project. In addition to finishing the human genome sequence and generating a `working draft' of the mouse genome sequence, significant attention is rapidly turning to the analysis of other model organisms, such as the laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus). As a complement to genome-wide mapping and sequencing efforts, it is often important to generate detailed maps and sequence data for specific regions of interest. Using an adaptation of our previously described approach for constructing mouse comparative and physical maps, we have established a general strategy for targeted mapping of the rat genome. Specifically, we constructed a framework comparative map of human Chromosome (Chr) 7 and the orthologous regions of the rat genome, as well as two large (>1-Mb) P1-derived artificial chromosome (PAC)-based physical maps. Generation of these physical maps involved the use of mouse-derived probes that cross-hybridized with rat PAC clones. The first PAC map encompasses the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (Cftr), while the second map allows a three-species comparison of a genomic region containing intra- and inter-chromosomal evolutionary rearrangements. The studies reported here further demonstrate that cross-species hybridization between related animals, such as rat and mouse, can be readily used for the targeted construction of clone-based physical maps, thereby accelerating the analysis of biologically interesting regions of vertebrate genomes.
Surface‐targeted lysosomal membrane glycoprotein‐1 (Lamp‐1) enhances lysosome exocytosis and cell invasion by Trypanosoma cruzi

To gain entry into non-phagocytic cells, Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes recruit lysosomes to the host cell surface. Lysosome fusion at the site of parasite entry leads to the formation of a parasitophorous vacuole with lysosomal properties. Here, we show that increased expression of the lysosomal membrane glycoprotein Lamp-1 at the cell surface renders CHO cells more susceptible to trypomastigote invasion in a microtubule-dependent fashion. Mutation of critical residues in the lysosome-targeting motif of Lamp-1 abolished the enhancement of T. cruzi invasion. This suggests that interactions dependent on Lamp-1 cytoplasmic tail motifs, and not the surface-exposed luminal domain, modulate T. cruzi entry. Measurements of Ca2+-triggered exocytosis of lysosomes in these cell lines revealed an enhancement of β-hexosaminidase release in cells expressing wild-type Lamp-1 on the plasma membrane; this effect was not observed in cell lines transfected with Lamp-1 cytoplasmic tail mutants. These results also implicate Ca2+-regulated lysosome exocytosis in cell invasion by T. cruzi and indicate a role for the Lamp-1 cytosolic domain in promoting more efficient fusion of lysosomes with the plasma membrane.
Three-dimensional flux-split Euler schemes involving unstructured dynamic meshes

Improved algorithms for the solution of the 3-D time dependent Euler equations are presented for aerodynamic analysis involving unstructured dynamic meshes. The improvements were developed recently to the spatial and temporal discretizations used by unstructured grid flow solvers. The spatial discretization involves a flux split approach which is naturally dissipative and captures shock waves sharply with at most one grid point within the shock structure. The temporal discretization involves either an explicit time integration scheme using a multistage Runge-Kutta procedure or an implicit time integration scheme using a Gauss-Seidel relaxation procedure which is computationally efficient for either steady or unsteady flow problems. With the implicit Gauss-Seidel procedure, very large time steps may be used for rapid convergence to steady state, and the step size for unsteady cases may be selected for temporal accuracy rather than for numerical stability. Steady flow results are presented for both the NACA 0012 airfoil and the ONERA M6 wing to demonstrate applications of the new Euler solvers. A description of the Euler solvers is presented along with results and comparisons which assess the capability.
Latch modeling for statistical timing analysis

Latch based circuits are widely adopted in high performance circuits. But there is a lack of accurate latch models for doing timing analysis. In this paper, we propose a new latch delay model in the context of SSTA based on a new perspective of latch timing. The proposed latch model also takes into account the external timing variations such as data slew. The new latch model is integrated into SSTA by considering the timing analysis of both the combinational logic network and the clock distribution network simultaneously. The experimental results show that ignoring accurate latch modeling may lead to large errors (e.g., 50% at PDF peak).
Observations on the Dosage and Method of Administration of Piperazine Citrate to Chickens for the Control of Ascaridia Galli

ABSTRACT DURING the past several years various papers have been published on the efficacy of piperazine citrate for the control of Ascaridia galli in poultry. Shumard and Eveleth (1955) pointed out that the use of this drug in drinking water for 1 to 4 days in concentrations of 8,000 mg. per gallon was 100 percent effective against A. galli. Bradley (1955) reported that a flock of chickens which received piperazine citrate in concentrations of 8,000 mg. per gallon of drinking water during 60 hours showed at necropsy an average of 0.24 immature ascarids and no adult worms. A second flock of chickens which received the drug in concentrations of 6,000 mg. per gallon of water for 24 hours showed at necropsy an average of 0.85 immature and 0.14 mature ascarids. In further studies, Shumard and Eveleth (1956) reported that chickens receiving piperazine citrate in drinking water at the rate of 2,000 . . .
Radiative transfer in a gray isothermal spherical layer

Abstract The local radiative flux in an isothermal spherical layer is systematically investigated. The functions h 1 (τ; τ 1 ) τ 2 and h 2 (τ; τ 1 , τ 2 ) τ 2 , analogous to the planar functions E3(τ−τ1) and E3(τ2−τ), are studied and tabulated. Limiting solutions are presented and evaluated. The radiative flux from an isothermal spherical layer is presented in graphical and tabular form. A comprehensive review of radiative transfer in a spherical geometry is performed.
Elevated Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Levels in Chronic Schizophrenia

Background Despite widely replicated abnormalities of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in schizophrenia postmortem, few studies have measured tissue GABA levels in vivo. We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure tissue GABA levels in participants with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects in the anterior cingulate cortex and parieto-occipital cortex. Methods Twenty-one schizophrenia participants effectively treated on a stable medication regimen (mean age 39.0, 14 male) and 19 healthy control subjects (mean age 36.3, 12 male) underwent a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy scan using GABA-selective editing at 4 Tesla after providing informed consent. Data were collected from two 16.7-mL voxels and analyzed using LCModel. Results We found elevations in GABA/creatine in the schizophrenia group compared with control subjects [ F (1,65) = 4.149, p = .046] in both brain areas (15.5% elevation in anterior cingulate cortex, 11.9% in parieto-occipital cortex). We also found a positive correlation between GABA/creatine and glutamate/creatine, which was not accounted for by % GM or brain region. Conclusions We found elevated GABA/creatinine in participants with chronically treated schizophrenia. Postmortem studies report evidence for dysfunctional GABAergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia. Elevated GABA levels, whether primary to illness or compensatory to another process, may be associated with dysfunctional GABAergic neurotransmission in chronic schizophrenia.
A cDNA from the ovarian cancer critical region of deletion on chromosome 17p13.3

Chromosome 17p13.3 is frequently deleted in human ovarian carcinoma, and the 15 kb critical region of deletion may contain a tumor suppressor gene. A 2.3 kb cDNA has been identified which spans 17 kb of genomic DNA, including 8.1 kb within the critical region, and thus is a candidate tumor suppressor gene. This highly conserved gene has significant sequence similarity to a yeast gene of unknown function and to one of the yeast enzymes in the diphthamide synthetic pathway, DPH2, that has a role in global protein synthesis regulation. This gene, named DPH2L (diphthamide biosynthesis protein 2 -like), is expressed in multiple tissues and stages of development.
Use of computerized surveillance to detect nosocomial pneumonia in neonatal intensive care unit patients.

Abstract BACKGROUND: Nosocomial pneumonia is the most difficult infection in terms of surveillance. The definition is complicated, and there are many opportunities for subjective divergence of opinions in determining infection status. In addition, this surveillance is extremely time-consuming for infection control practitioners (ICPs). OBJECTIVE: To compare traditional ICP surveillance for pneumonia among neonates in a level-IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with computerized surveillance of chest X-ray reports using a natural language processor (NLP). METHODS: A NLP program was used to retrospectively evaluate 7928 chest X-rays from 1688 neonates in a NICU over a 2-year period (March 1, 2001–January 31, 2003). The computer program indicated which infants had pneumonia according to a set of rules derived from the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (NNIS) definition as they apply to radiology reports. Data from the NLP system were compared to pneumonia data that had been collected prospectively by an ICP using the NNIS definition during the same period. RESULTS: Sensitivity of the computerized surveillance was 88%, and specificity was 94% compared with the ICP. However, the positive predictive value (PPV) was low (7.3%). CONCLUSION: The NLP methodology has the potential to extract valuable data from text reports. The PPV may be improved by refining the rules used to define pneumonia within the NLP program. If this can be accomplished, computerized surveillance may be an efficient methodology to augment surveillance in the NICU setting.
Comparison of the enzymatic behavior of high molecular weight and free lysyl-tRNA synthetase from rat liver: kinetic analysis of lysylation of tRNA

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase occurs in the high molecular weight form in rat liver. The high molecular weight lysyl-tRNA synthetase has been previously demonstrated to exist as multienzyme complexes of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. The multienzyme complexes can be dissociated by hydrophobic interaction chromatography and yield fully active, free lysyl-tRNA synthetase. The free form is found to be twice as active as the complexed form in lysylation. Bisubstrate and product inhibition kinetics of lysylation are systematically carried out for highly purified free lysyl-tRNA synthetase and the 18 S synthetase complex. Surprisingly, the two enzyme forms exhibit distinctly different kinetic patterns in bisubstrate and product inhibition kinetics under identical conditions. The 18 S synthetase complex shows kinetic patterns consistent with an ordered bi uni uni bi ping pong mechanism, while the results of free lysyl-tRNA synthetase do not. We conclude that structural organization of lysyl-tRNA synthetase beyond quaternary structure of proteins may alter the enzyme behavior.
GROWTH STASIS AND TRYPTOPHAN DEFICIENCY IN THE VERY YOUNG CHICKEN.

CONSIDERABLE work has been reported concerning the consequences of underfeeding poultry and animals in the early stages of growth1,2. Quite typically, growth in terms of weight gain is markedly reduced, but some tissues of the animal, particularly the connective tissues, cartilage, etc., continue to develop1. Basal rations used to examine amino-acid requirements usually do little more than slow down growth or maturation rates. However, we have now found that for the chick, depending somewhat on the strain used, tryptophan-deficient diets fed to chicks weighing less than 80–100 g completely stopped gain in weight and all, or nearly all, visible signs of subsequent maturation. Therefore, it was of interest to observe whether prolonged tryptophan deficiency would affect subsequent maturation or physiological development. Reproduction (egg production) was chosen as a very sensitive indicator of successful maturation in the chicken.
Structural and spectral response of green fluorescent protein variants to changes in pH.

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria has become a useful tool in molecular and cell biology. Recently, it has been found that the fluorescence spectra of most mu...
The feasibility of craniofacial osteotomies in infants and young children.

Rapid strides are being made in the use of extensive craniofacial osteotomies and skeletal remodeling for congenital deformities such as those of Crouzon's disease, craniostenoses, and various forms of orbital hypertelorism. Enormous advantages to the child and parents result from performing these corrections in infancy and early childhood. We have been able to demonstrate the feasibility of these operations in a number of children (ranging from four months to five years of age). In several, cranioplasty, orbital repositioning, and midfacial advancement have been combined in a single procedure. Significantly different surgical techniques are used for the small child (as compared with adult patients). The principal new considerations involve: (1) new monitoring techniques to maintain level of anesthesia, electrolyte balance, thermal regulation through long operations, and appropriate blood gase levels: (2) modifications in osteotomies, to allow for bone growth and to prevent undesired growth arrests, in th...
Determination and validation of slow mode coefficients of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) scanning thermistor bolometers

The Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) scanning thermistor bolometers have a response time of approximately 9 ms for 98 to 99% of the signal, after which there is a slow change for the remaining 1 to 2% of the response due to a slow mode. This paper describes the theoretical and experimental procedures used in producing the slow mode coefficients for the CERES Flight Models 1 and 2 instruments aboard the Terra spacecraft, which was launched on December 18,1999. The response behavior for the total thermistor bolometer (0.3 - > 100 µm) and window channel (8-12 µm) were determined by analyzing the internal blackbody calibration ground data while the shortwave thermistor bolometer (0.3 - 5 µm) was determined using shortwave internal calibration source ground data obtained at the TRW calibration facility at Redondo Beach, California. These slow mode coefficients agree with the coefficients obtained by analyzing the in-flight calibration data. A numerical filter removes the effects of the slow mode from the measurements. The method may be applicable to other instruments which have spurious transients.
Simulating granular column collapse using the Material Point Method

This paper presents an analysis of sand column collapse phenomena using the Material Point Method and a non-associative variant of the Matsuoka–Nakai constitutive framework, resulting in a simulation environment capable of emulating the mechanical response of a family of granular materials representing typical sands with a wide range of friction and critical state angles. A series of two-dimensional sand column collapse configurations are analyzed, and results evaluated qualitatively in light of outcomes from existing experimental and numerical simulations from the literature. Key geometric relationships are identified linking the final deposit geometry to the initial configuration via the aspect ratio, a. This work shows the internal friction angle influences the final geometry significantly and discusses various aspects of the collapse dynamics. The net deformation, stress, and base contact/reaction forces are examined in detail
Modulation of the inhibitory effect of phenylethylamine on spontaneous motor activity in mice by CPP-(+/-)-3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-YL)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid.

Abstract β-phenyl-ethylamine (PEA) at dose of 50 mg/kg inhibits spontaneous motor activity in mice. CPP-(±)-3-(2-Carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid, a selective and competitive antagonist of N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptors, in doses of 0.2–10 mg/kg dose-dependently antagonizes this inhibitory effect of PEA. This effect of CPP appeared to be selective because the inhibitory action of PEA was not altered by pretreament with noncompetitive antagonists of NMDA receptors, such as dizocilpine (MK-801), phencyclidine (PCP), 1-phenylcyclohexylamine (PCA) or by antagonists of other behavioral effects of PEA such as haloperidol, baclofen and phenibut (β-phenyl-GABA). CPP failed to antagonize the inhibitory effect of other tested drugs such as diazepam, haloperidol, baclofen and phenibut. Intracerebroventricularly administered NMDA (0.2 μM), an agonist of NMDA receptors, suppressed the antagonistic effects of CPP against PEA. This suggests that anti-PEA effect of CPP is related to NMDA receptors. Anti-PEA effect of CPP is not due to accelerated deamination of PEA in CPP-treated mice. When small doses of PEA (5 and 10 mg/kg) and CPP (0.2 and 1 mg/kg) were used, the synergism of two drugs was observed. CPP (1 mg/kg) and deprenyl (0.5 mg/kg), an inhibitor monoamine oxidase of B type (MAO-B), had additive effects on PEA-induced inhibition of locomotion. This effect was not associated with any further inhibition of activity of brain MAO-B (over the inhibition induced by deprenyl alone—by 65%) under high (80 μM) or low (4.3 μM) concentration of PEA as a substrate in the medium. Mechanism of the interaction of CPP and PEA, two drugs belonging to different groups of biologically active compounds, deserves further studies.
Mycobacterium kansasii Pericarditis in Patients with AIDS

Pericardial effusion has been reported to occur in up to 38% of patients with AIDS. Many different etiologies for pericarditis have been described. In some instances, such infections have caused severe hemodynamic complications and life-threatening conditions. Mycobacterium kansasii is known to cause pulmonary and disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients, including those with AIDS; however, to the best of our knowledge, pericarditis due to an infection with this organism has not been described. We report the first three cases of M. kansasii pericarditis in patients with AIDS.
Membrane traffic in animal cells

Abstract Since the 1950s, when electron microscopy and subcellular fractionation first revealed the extraordinary structural and functional diversity of subcellular organelles and their membranes, the question of how these distinctions are fashioned and maintained has challenged cell biologists. The work in the last eight years of the literally hundreds of laboratories attracted to this ‘sorting problem' has greatly clarified its scope, by furnishing an increasingly complete description of the needed intracellular transport pathways. Yet, this cellular roadmap still lacks crucial definition: remaining elusive are the signals and the mechanisms that direct this membrane traffic, and even the location of many of the intersections.
Characterization and Simulation of Gunfire with Karhunen-Loeve Expansion

Gunfire is used as an example to illustrate how the Karhunen-Loeve (K-L) expansion can be used to characterize and simulate nonstationary random events. This paper will develop a method to describe the nonstationary random process in terms of a K-L expansion. The gunfire record is broken up into a sequence of transient waveforms, each representing the response to the firing of a single round. First, the mean is estimated and subtracted from each waveform. The mean is an estimate of the deterministic part of the gunfire. The autocovariance matrix is estimated from the matrix of these single-round gunfire records. Each column is a realization of the firing of a single round. The gunfire is characterized with the K-L expansion of the autocovariance matrix. The gunfire is simulated by generating realizations of records of a single-round firing from the expansion and the mean waveform. The individual realizations are then assembled into a realization of a time history of many rounds firing. The method is strai...
Principles of template design

The functionality of systems that extract information from texts can be specified quite simply: the input is a stream of texts and the output is some representation of the information to be extracted. Hence, the problem of template design is an instance of the problem of knowledge representation. In particular, it is the problem of representing essential facts about situations in a way that can mediate between texts that describe those situations and a variety of applications that involve reasoning about them.The research on which we report here is directed at elucidating principles of template design and at compiling these, with examples, in a manual for template designers.
Radiopaque copolymers of styryldiphenylbismuth vinylbenzylphosphonate and methyl methacrylate

Styryldiphenylbismuth (SDB) has been copolymerized with vinylbenzylphosphonate ester (VBP) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) producing highly radiopaque copolymers and terpolymers. The phosphoryl ester groups were also converted to phosphonic acids and the polymers were characterized. Thermal analysis of the co- and terpolymers yielded single glass transition temperatures in the range 60−100 °C. Poly(styryldiphenylbismuth vinylbenzylphosphonate ester) copolymer is thermally stable up to 255 °C and degrades at ca. 285 °C, producing bismuth crystallites within the partially degraded polymer matrix. Radiopacities of the polymers were compared to aluminum standards and were found to be proportional to the bismuth contents. It was found that ca. 16 mol % (or 31.6 wt %) of styryldiphenylbismuth in the terpolymer of SDB, VBP, and MMA has double the radiopacity of aluminum.
ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE FILAMENTOUS HABIT IN THE DIATOM NAVICULA CONFERVACEA (KÜTZ.) GRUN.1

SUMMARY Frustules of the filamentous diatom Navicula confervacea (Kutz.) Grun. are united by the overlapping of marginal teeth located alongside the junction of valve face and mantle. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy show this connecting mechanism to differ from the previously reported inter-digitating spines or teeth in the genera Melosira, Stephanodisus, and Fragilaria.
Processing free-text input to obtain a database of medical information

The Linguistic String Project of New York University has developed computer programs that convert the information in free-text documents of a technical specialty into a structured form suitable for mapping into a relational database. The processing is based upon the restrictions on the use of language that are characteristic of the subject matter and the document type. These restrictions are summarized in a “sublanguage grammar” that provides a set of word classes and formulas corresponding to the objects and relations of interest in the domain. The programs are independent of the particular sublanguage grammar employed. The application to narrative patient records will be described and the applicability of the methods to other domains discussed.
Antiretroviral treatment in pediatric HIV infection in the United States: From clinical trials to clinical practice

ContextAntiretroviral therapy (ART) for pediatric human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has evolved from simple nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) regimens to complex combination therapies based largely on evidence from clinical trials. However, the integration of novel ART into the clinical care of pediatric HIV infection has not been examined.ObjectivesTo describe changes in the treatment of pediatric HIV infection in the United States from 1987-2003, to assess concordance of initial regimens with US pediatric guidelines, and to identify predictors of the first regimen switch.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe study population included 766 perinatally HIV-infected children in the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group 219C cohort born before January 1, 2004, who had not participated in an ART clinical trial at 219C enrollment or during follow-up.Main Outcome MeasuresProportion of children receiving specific ART regimens, proportion of children initiating ART according to pediatric guidelines, and time to first regimen switch (risk of switching).ResultsSingle and dual NRTI regimens were used most frequently through 1997. In 1998, 2 years after protease inhibitors were approved for adult HIV infection and at the time pediatric guidelines were issued, regimens of highly active antiretroviral therapy including a protease inhibitor became most frequently used. From 1998-2003, 22% of children initiated ART with a regimen not recommended by pediatric guidelines. In multivariate regression, the risk of switching decreased with age at ART initiation (hazard ratio [HR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.99) and increased with year of initiation (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.23-1.33). The risk of switching was higher in children who started with 1 NRTI (HR, 8.05; 95% CI, 5.80-11.18), 2 NRTIs (HR, 4.08; 95% CI, 3.08-5.40), or an unconventional regimen (HR, 6.23; 95% CI, 3.36-11.54) vs children who started with a protease inhibitor–containing regimen; and in children who initiated ART at CD4 T lymphocyte percentages less than 15 vs 15 or greater (HR, 2.90; 95% CI, 1.03-8.13).ConclusionsThere was a short lag between the identification of novel ART and its adoption in the pediatric community. A variety of regimens were used, including some unorthodox therapies. Important predictors of first regimen switch were identified.
Effective five-wave Hamiltonian for surface water waves

Abstract An effective five-wave Hamiltonian for one-dimensional water waves on the surface of an infinitely deep ideal fluid is presented. The diagrammatic technique is used. For some particular orientations of wave vectors the interaction matrix element is exactly zero, while for others it is given by remarkably simple formulas. This is another surprising result of water wave theory.
Functional optical imaging of visual stimulation in neonates with brain injury

Currently, outcomes in perinatal brain injury are difficult to predict. Diffuse Optical Imaging enables longitudingal assessment of regional blood flow in response to neurological stimulii. Such functional information may improve our predictive ability and guide interventions.
STUDIES ON THE SENSITIZATION OF ANIMALS WITH SIMPLE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS XII. THE INFLUENCE OF EXCISION OF ALLERGENIC DEPOTS ON ONSET OF DELAYED HYPERSENSITIVITY AND TOLERANCE

In light of knowledge of the rate and route of dispersal of allergenic chemicals from ear sites (0.25 microg of picryl chloride, or 2:4 dinitrochlorobenzene in 0.25 microg and 5.0 microg amounts), dispersal was interrupted at selected times by ear excision. The animals exposed in this manner to different, tiny amounts of allergen were tested for development of contact type hypersensitivity. Both of these allergenic chemicals left the local ear site in about three phases of successively lengthening "half-lives." In the first phase, the escape rate was high. The principal pathway of escape was not via the lymphatics but via the blood vessels. Ear excisions made at 24 hr after injection of 0.25 microg of picryl chloride (PCl) or at 12 hr after injection of 5.0 microg of dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) essentially blocked onset of delayed type hypersensitivity, hence the first fraction to escape (80% of PCl, 98% of DNCB) was not used for sensitization. This large fraction serves rather to set up a state of specific tolerance, for these individuals showed extensive deficits in their ability to respond to a later sensitizing course. Also the ability to form hapten-specific antibody appeared nearly completely suppressed. Injections of allergen into the blood stream or directly in auricular nodes, in an amount approximating that which escaped early from the ear, also led to the same degrees of unresponsiveness-sometimes full, sometimes partial tolerance. The same types of specific tolerance were secured also by injecting subsensitizing doses into the ear, without excision, or into the flank and by contact tests applied to the flank. The allergen remaining in the ear after the early outflow, particularly between 12-24 hr and 3-4 days, appeared to constitute the sensitizing depot. The longer this depot was available to the animals the greater the immunological "information" for sensitization was picked up until the depot had served its full function around the 4th day. "Peripheral sensitization" was clearly demonstrable. The eventual degree of sensitivity attained by the animals was a resultant of two immunologic processes which occurred independently-tolerogenic effects of escaped chemical on the one hand and on the other the sensitizing effect of the local sensitizing depot of allergen bound in the ear tissue.
Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Season of 2004

Abstract The 2004 eastern North Pacific hurricane season is reviewed. It was a below-average season in terms of number of systems and landfalls. There were 12 named tropical cyclones, of which 8 became hurricanes. None of the tropical storms or hurricanes made landfall, and there were no reports of deaths or damage. A description of each cyclone is provided, and track and intensity forecasts for the season are evaluated.
Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic Volcanism and Continental Growth in the Western United States

Compositions of Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic volcanic rocks of western Nevada and adjoining areas reflect the tectonic condition of their time and place of eruption. Despite structural complication and metamorphic overprinting, a general change can be observed from continental, cratonic, volcanic assemblages in the east to oceanic assemblages in the west. In Paleozoic (pre-Sonorria) time, an ensimatic basin was present west of the craton margin and east of correlative island-arc assemblages. In early Mesozoic time, continental assemblages passed westward and northwestward into continental margin assemblages in far western Nevada and into island-arc assemblages farther west. These arc assemblages may have formed on a crust that was compositionally intermediate between oceanic and continental crust. The North American continent grew westward by accretion of one or more island arcs in late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic (Sonoma) time and by general segregation of sial along the margin. Crustal thickening occurred during and probably following the Sonoma orogeny. The sialic material must have been newly formed from the mantle and represented significant westward continental growth in the past 300 m.y.
Estimation of nuclear ratio and its influence on the rate of growth of Aspergillus niger heterocaryon.

A heterocaryon (hist/hypox) was employed to study the nuclear ratio in relation to the composition of the medium and to growth. The data showed that supplementation of the growth factors in any ratio in the medium had no influence on the shift of nuclear ratio, unless and until one of the growth factors was reduced to its limiting value. In such circumstances, if the amount of the other growth factor was increased, it did effect the increase of the appropriate nuclei in the heterocaryon, for which this growth factor was required. Both nuclear types responded in this manner. Although the nuclear ratio in the heterocaryon did not show a direct relation to its rate of growth, the rate of growth was effected by the amount of growth factors added to the medium.
Energy reduction for scheduling a set of multiple feasible interval jobs

Time-critical jobs in many real-time applications have more than one feasible interval. Such jobs can be executed in any of their feasible intervals. Given a schedulable set of multiple feasible interval (MFI) jobs, energy can be saved by carefully selecting the executing interval for each job. In this paper, we explore the energy minimization problem for real-time systems in which jobs have more than one feasible interval. The static and dynamic energy management schemes are both investigated to minimize the energy consumption while preserving the system's feasibility. Focusing on EDF scheduling algorithm, we first study reducing the dynamic power consumption of a single CPU. We show that the static optimal speed assignment problem is NP-Hard and propose a simulated annealing (SA) based approach to solve it. Then, we develop several on-line greedy algorithms to exploit run-time slack by reselecting a job's executing interval on-the-fly. In addition, a leakage-aware version is discussed to improve the overall energy efficiency. Simulation results show that all proposed schemes achieve significant improvements of energy efficiency while the system remains schedulable.