cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of thymidine, citrovorum factor, folic acid and degradation products of vitamin B12 on red blood cell counts in experimental anemia in male mice.

Abstract It has been found that both folic acid and vitamin B12 are required for optimum hematopoietic effect on male mice tested following the peak of anemia induced by intraperitoneal injection of phenylhydrazine hydrochloride. The red blood cell counts determined under these conditions were increased comparably by injections of the citrovorum factor at high levels (300 μg.) and vitamin B12 at low levels (2 μg.). The compounds thymidine, α-ribazole, 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, 1- d -ribityl-5, 6-dimethylbenzimidazole, and 1,2-diamino-4,5-dimethylbenzene exhibited little or no antianemic activity, while a synthetic analog (2,5-dimethylbenzimidazole) of these degradation products of vitamin B12 inhibited red blood cell formation to a level below that obtained on a folic acid-free diet.
Feasibility of a novel veno-veno circuit as a central rewarming method in a severely hypothermic canine model.

Abstract Purpose Many victims of accidental hypothermia are successfully resuscitated, but questions remain regarding the optimum rewarming techniques. Most of the invasive warming techniques such as closed thoracic lavage, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and cardiopulmonary bypass require specialized personnel, equipment, and procedures that are not readily available in all facilities. The objective of this study was to investigate the technical feasibility of utilizing a novel veno–veno rewarming circuit to resuscitate severely hypothermic subjects. If this alternative invasive warming technique is successful, it could be available to treat hypothermic patients in virtually any emergency department setting. Methods The rewarming system consisted of a Baxter ThermaCyl warmer (Baxter Co., McGaw Park, IL), a roller pump, hemodialysis tubing, connectors, and 2 venous catheters. Blood was pumped from the body via the femoral vein, through the roller pump, into the warmer, and then returned to the body via the right jugular vein. Seven adult mongrel hounds of similar weights (20 to 25 kg) were anesthetized and instrumented for data collection. Temperature probes were placed in the rectum, the peritoneal cavity, and the esophagus to record core temperatures. Each animal was cooled by ice packing to a central core temperature of 29 °C and then rewarmed using the described veno–veno circuit. Vital signs, pulse oximetry, cardiac rhythm, and laboratory values were obtained prior to cooling the animals, and were repeated for every degree Celsius change once warming began. Christopher Haughn, MD, was the second place winner in the Basic Sciences Resident Competition at the Ohio American College of Surgeons meeting. Results Because of technical difficulties, data from 1 dog were not included in the results. Of the remaining 6 dogs, all were rewarmed from 29 °C to 37 °C. Adverse side effects included gross hematuria, acidemia (median pH decrease was 0.088), and decreases in haptoglobin (median decrease 13.5 g/dl), hemoglobin (median decrease 1.35 g/dl), and arterial pO 2 level (median decrease 167 mm Hg). Decreases in blood pressure and heart rate were also noted during the cooling process, but reversed upon rewarming. Conclusions From this pilot study, we conclude that our novel veno–veno circuit rewarming is a feasible method of rewarming hypothermic subjects and warrants further investigation and comparison with other active warming methods.
NDM-1 — A Cause for Worldwide Concern

NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1), a genetic element encoding multiple-resistance genes, has been found in various Enterobacteriaceae, rendering them resistant to nearly all antimicrobial agents. Success in combating antibiotic-resistant superbugs has been limited.
Have Farmers Lost Their Uniqueness? Comment

R ene Drury and Luther Tweeten, in their article "Have Farmers Lost Their Uniqueness?" ask whether farmers have "lost their uniqueness and become socially and politically indistinguishable from other society members" (59). To answer that question, they purport to analyze, objectively, data from the General Social Surveys of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Survey respondents were divided into six groups (farmers and rural, nonmetropolitan, suburban, medium-size central city, and large central city residents). The six groups were compared in terms of their answers to questions in four categories: morality, political ideology, work ethic, and outlook. Morality was assessed by religious service attendance, religious conviction, divorce rates, satisfaction with family, and arrest rates. Based on their statistical analysis, the authors find that "farmers do indeed have higher morals" (62), that "farmers have not lost their uniqueness" (68) although "In many aspects, particularly those concerning work ethic and outlook, farmers are not different from others" (68), and "as a group, farmers are among the better-adjusted members of society" (68). The authors conclude the article with policy implications: since the values exhibited by farmers lack markets, public policy to preserve family farms can deliver positive externalities to the rest of society. For example, the demonstration value of farmers' moral behavior may "improve the values and behaviors of others" (68).
Radiochemical purity evaluation of rhodium-105 complexes by magnesium oxide

Abstract We report here a new method for the radiochemical purity evaluation of 105Rh complexes using a magnesium oxide adsorption technique. The principle of the technique is based on the quantitative adsorption of uncomplexed rhodium by magnesium oxide powder, leaving the complexes in solution. Cysteine and 4-benzyldiethylenetriamine were complexed with 105Rh and the radiochemical purity of the resultant complexes was evaluated by thin layer chromatography and magnesium oxide adsorption. The advantage of magnesium oxide adsorption over thin layer chromatography is discussed.
CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS SQT-3 MUTANTS HAVE MUTATIONS IN THE COL-1 COLLAGEN GENE

sqt-3 mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans form dumpy larvae and adults and display allele-specific defects in locomotion, fertility, and viability. We have determined that the sqt-3 locus encodes COL-1 collagen. We physically mapped the col-1 gene to a cosmid on chromosome V whose position is consistent with the location of the sqt-3 gene. We also observed morphological defects in sqt-3 mutants at stages that correlate with the mRNA expression patterns of col-1. Sequence analysis of the col-1 gene in the three temperature-sensitive mutants revealed that each allele of sqt-3 has a unique missense mutation causing arginine or glutamic acid to replace glycine in a Gly-X-Y triple helical domain. These glycine substitutions may result in longer non-collagenous domains, which may decrease the thermal stability or impart additional flexibility to mutant trimers. In addition, we describe four corrections to the published sequence of col-1, including one fifteen nucleotide addition that completes a conserved domain in the amino terminal coding region.
Quality assessment of fast wavelet-encoded MRI utilizing compressed sensing

Fast acquisition of MR images is possible through sparse encoding in the Fourier/Wavelet domain under the incoherent measurement constraint required by the theory of compressed sensing (CS) for stable reconstruction. In one such sparse encoding method, we utilize the wavelet tree structure to undersample the wavelet-encoded MRI k-spaces with tailored spatially-selective RF excitation pulses. The resulting undersampled k-spaces contain many more significant coefficients than randomly undersampled k-spaces. Thus, the quality of CS reconstruction based on these undersampled k-spaces is improved, and such an encoding scheme may reduce the patient scan time for MRI and fMRI. Using a fully sampled Fourier encoded 3-D digital brain phantom as the gold standard, a mathematical framework with full-reference and visual image quality matrices has been proposed to assess the CS reconstruction performance in wavelet-encoded MRI. The quality of MR images recovered from undersampled k-space by different reconstruction methods is computed. The undersampling rates and noise levels in k-space are considered in evaluating the robustness of CS reconstruction. The simulation results show that the performance of CS reconstruction in wavelet-encoded MRI is more accurate and stable than in Fourier-encoded MRI with the same undersampling rate and noise level, at a significantly reduced scan time.
Your Eyes Give You Away: Prestimulus Changes in Pupil Diameter Correlate with Poststimulus Task-Related EEG Dynamics

Pupillary measures have been linked to arousal and attention as well as activity in the brainstem's locus coeruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. Similarly, there is evidence that evoked EEG responses, such as the P3, might have LC-NE activity as their basis. Since it is not feasible to record electrophysiological data directly from the LC in humans due to its location in the brainstem, an open question has been whether pupillary measures and EEG variability can be linked in a meaningful way to shed light on the nature of the LC-NE role in attention and arousal. We used an auditory oddball task with a data-driven approach to learn task-relevant projections of the EEG, for windows of data spanning the entire trial. We investigated linear and quadratic relationships between the evoked EEG along these projections and both prestimulus (baseline) and poststimulus (evoked dilation) pupil diameter measurements. We found that baseline pupil diameter correlates with early (175–200 ms) and late (350–400 ms) EEG component variability, suggesting a linear relationship between baseline (tonic) LC-NE activity and evoked EEG. We found no relationships between evoked EEG and evoked pupil dilation, which is often associated with evoked (phasic) LC activity. After regressing out reaction time (RT), the correlation between EEG variability and baseline pupil diameter remained, suggesting that such correlation is not explainable by RT variability. We also investigated the relationship between these pupil measures and prestimulus EEG alpha activity, which has been reported as a marker of attentional state, and found a negative linear relationship with evoked pupil dilation. In summary, our results demonstrate significant relationships between prestimulus and poststimulus neural and pupillary measures, and they provide further evidence for tight coupling between attentional state and evoked neural activity and for the role of cortical and subcortical networks underlying the process of target detection.
Total dose, fraction size, and tumor volume in the local control of Hodgkin's disease

There are important uncertainties in the radiation therapy of Hodgkin's disease. These uncertainties are related to dose-fractionation and total dose necessary to control subclinical disease (prophylactic irradiation), small-size tumors, and especially bulky tumors such as those frequently encountered in the mediastinum. Data are lacking on total dose and tumor control as a function of tumor volume. A retrospective study was undertaken of patients with Hodgkin's disease Stages I-III treated with radiation therapy alone at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals between 1970 and 1982. Detailed dose calculations of off-axis points were made to assign precise minimum doses to 1,304 separate lymph node regions. Treatment volumes received individual fractions of 150 cGy to 300 cGy and total doses of 30 Gy to 42 Gy. Tumor control was correlated with tumor size at presentation, fractionation schedule, and total dose. The results confirm the absence of a dose-response relationship for tumor control, between 30 Gy and 42 Gy total dose. In addition, there is no apparent difference in total dose required for larger tumors relative to that required for small tumors.
Single and double photoionization of Be and Mg

A new version of the time-dependent close-coupling method is used to calculate the single and double photoionization of the Be and Mg atoms. Total cross sections are calculated using an implicit time propagator with a core orthogonalization method on a variable radial mesh. The double to single photoionization cross section ratios are found to be in good agreement with experiment for both Be and Mg.
Formation of Hot Spots in Multilayer Spheres

A theoretical study of the distribution of the normalized heating potential resulting from a plane wave incident in a multilayered sphere simulating a human head with skin, fat, bone and brain tissue layers has been undertaken. It was found that for spheres of radii 10 cm and 5 cm a relative peak of the normalized heating potential occurs in the vicinity of the center of the sphere. For the case of the 5 cm sphere in the range of frequencies 400 MHZ to 2.76 GHZ the maximum value of the heating potential occurs at the center suggesting the possibility of a hot spot. A comparison between the multilayer and a single layer model shows that the maximum values of the heating potential are the same.
Having your wildlife and eating it too: an analysis of hunting sustainability across tropical ecosystems

Unsustainable hunting of wildlife or bushmeat for human consumption across the tropics threatens both wildlife populations and the livelihoods of people who depend on these resources. The probability that hunting can be sustainable depends in part on ecological conditions that affect the ‘supply’ of and ‘demand’ for wildlife resources. In this study, supply is estimated across a number of tropical ecosystem types by calculating the theoretical ‘maximum sustainable offtake’ in kg/km2 for harvestable wildlife. Demand is estimated from observed harvests in kg/km2. We examine how supply and demand vary across relatively undisturbed ecosystems, indexed by annual rainfall. Supply is potentially highest in dry forests and wetter savannah grasslands and decreases in moist forests and more xeric grasslands. Demand tends to exceed supply in moist forests and xeric grasslands. Analogous to this ecological variation along the rainfall gradient is the gradient created by the conversion of tropical forests by humans. We hypothesise that the wild meat supply is greater in secondary forests and forest–farm–fallow mosaics than in undisturbed forests and test this with available data. We conclude that the probability that hunting will be sustainable varies with ecosystem type and degree of human disturbance and should influence where land is zoned for protected areas and where for wildlife harvests.
Time scaling of cooperative multirobot trajectories

An algorithm to modify the trajectories of multiple robots in cooperative manipulation is developed. If a given trajectory results in joint torques that exceed the admissible torque range for one or more joints, the algorithm slows down or speeds up the trajectory so as to maintain all the torques within the admissible boundary. The proposed trajectory-modification algorithm uses the concept of time scaling developed by Hollerbach (1984) for single robots. The trajectory scaling scheme described in this paper requires the use of linear programming techniques and is designed to accommodate the internal force constraints and payload distribution strategies. The actuator torques may be found from the quadratic minimization that has the effect of lowering energy consumption for the trajectory. A scheme for generating a robust multirobot trajectories when the carried load mass and inertia matrix are unknown but vary within a certain range is described. >
On the Histologic Heterogeneity of Thymic Epithelial Neoplasms Impact of Sampling in Subtyping and Classification of Thymomas

Six hundred thirty cases of thymomas were evaluated to determine morphologic heterogeneity. The thymomas were grouped in 4 categories using previous terminology. Stratification according to the number of sections available for examination revealed a marked difference in distribution by histopathologic type. A cutoff number of 5 sections appears to provide a difference in subgrouping these tumors. In addition, the proportion of invasive tumors increases with the number of sections examined. Final classification may be affected by the extent of sampling. Histopathologic classification of thymoma, although of academic interest, may have limited practical relevance for assessment of prognosis in limited biopsy tissue. Proper evaluation of histology and aggressive potential in thymoma should be based on ample sampling and assessment of capsular integrity, which is best accomplished on thoroughly sampled resection specimens rather than incomplete or limited biopsy samples.
Adherence among Rural HIV-Infected Patients in the Deep South A Comparison between Single-Tablet and Multi-Tablet Once-Daily Regimens

Background:Once-daily (QD), combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) can impact the willingness and ability of patients to take medications as directed. The impact of antiretroviral (ARV) drug adhe...
Reduced complexity M-ary hypotheses testing in wireless communications

We present a progressive refinement approach to M-ary detection problems. The approach leads on average to a logarithmic reduction in the complexity of the detector. It relies on designing binary decision trees that trade complexity with probability of error. We also discuss simplified solutions that can be used in several cases of interest in wireless communications such as CDMA multiuser detection and blind equalization.
Gas Chromatographic Determination of Parathion and Paraoxon in Fish Plasma and Tissues

A sensitive capillary gas chromatographic (GC) method for the simultaneous determination of the organophosphate insecticide, parathion, and its active metabolite, paraoxon, in biological samples was developed. This method involved a simple liquid-liquid extraction of parathion and paraoxon from water, plasma, or tissues and capillary GC determination using electron-capture detection and splitless injection; malathion was used as the internal standard. A gradient oven temperature program was used; the injection port and detector temperatures were 200 and 300 degrees C, respectively. These techniques allowed quantitative determination of parathion and paraoxon at 9-210-ng/ml. concentrations;recoveries ranged from 79.4 to 110.3% for tissues and from 91.9 to 100.0% for plasma and water. The within-day and between-day coefficients of variation were less than 8.0%. The method was used to characterize the pharmacokinetics of parathion and paraoxon and the tissue distribution of paraoxon in rainbow trout.
The Long Cycle of Global Politics and the Nation-State

Let us define a cycle as a recurrent pattern in the life (or functioning) of a system. The concept implies that over a certain period of time the system, in some meaningful sense, returns to its starting point, that it regains a state occupied at an earlier stage. If such behavior is demonstrably regular and if recurrence takes place in a pattern that is potentially predictable, such behavior may appropriately be called cyclical or periodic. Cycles are commonly distinguished from trends.
A Smart Nanopore for Bio-Detection

The molecular scale pore structure, called nanopore, can be formed from protein ion channels by genetic engineering or fabricated on solid substrates using fashion nanotechnology. Target molecules in interaction with the functionalized lumen of nanopore, can produce characteristic changes in the pore conductance, which act as fingerprints, allowing us to identify single molecules and simultaneously quantify each target species in the mixture. Nanopore sensors have been created for tremendous biomedical detections, with targets ranging from metal ions, drug compounds and cellular second messengers, to proteins and DNAs. Recently, we have used the nanopore technique to dissect folding and unfolding mechanism of a single G-quadruplex DNA aptamer regulated by a variety of ions; we also created a portable and durable molecular device that integrated a protein pore sensor with a solidified lipid membrane for real-time detection.
Rejection of the Mentally Ill: Continuities and Further Developments

In general, research designed to investigate reactions toward the mentally ill and other deviants, has not systematically varied salient nondeviant identities. This study demonstrates that the meaning attributed to behavior indicating mental-emotional problems is contingent upon other salient, nondeviant identities held by the actor. Two factors, perceived threat and unpredictability, are offered as accounting for the major patterns and intensities of rejection exhibited toward the mentally ill. Perceived threat and predictability are viewed as functions of the interaction of information implying both deviant and nondeviant identities. Previous research findings are reinterpreted in light of information provided by the present study.
Rapid auditory processing and learning deficits in rats with P1 versus P7 neonatal hypoxic-ischemic injury.

Abstract Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) is associated with premature birth, and injury during term birth. Many infants experiencing HI later show disruptions of language, with research suggesting that rapid auditory processing (RAP) deficits (i.e., impairment in the ability to discriminate rapidly changing acoustic signals), play a causal role in language problems. We recently bridged these lines of research by showing RAP deficits in rats with unilateral-HI injury induced on postnatal days 1, 7, or 10 (P1, P7, or P10 [McClure MM, Peiffer AM, Rosen GD, Fitch RH. Auditory processing deficits in rats with neonatal hypoxic-ischemic injury. Int J Dev Neurosci, 2005;23:351–362]). While robust RAP deficits were found in HI animals, it was suggested that our within-age sample size did not provide sufficient power to detect age-at-injury differences within the pooled HI group. The current study sought to examine differences in neuropathology and behavior following unilateral-HI injury on P1 versus P7 in rats. Ages chosen for HI induction reflect differential stages of neurodevelopmental maturity, and subsequent regional differences in vulnerability to reduced blood flow/oxygen (modeling age-related differences in premature/term HI injury). Results showed that during the juvenile period, both P1 and P7 HI groups exhibited significant RAP deficits, but deficits in the P1 HI group resolved with repeated testing (compared to shams), while P7 HI animals showed lasting deficits in RAP and spatial learning/memory through adulthood. The current findings are in accord with evidence that HI injury during different stages of developmental maturity (age-at-injury) leads to differential neuropathologies, and provide the novel observation that in rats, P1 versus P7 induced pathologies are associated with different patterns of auditory processing and learning/memory deficits across the lifespan.
Communications performance of a multimode EDFA

We report an investigation of a multimode EDFA used as an optically preamplified receiver. A two-stage amplifier pumped at 982 nm shows gain of up to 40 dB at 1553 nm. We study the communications performance of the receiver at 10 Gb/s and compare it with theory. The measured sensitivity is 220 photons per bit at a bit error rate of 10/sup -9/ and data rate of 10 Gb/s. This is 4.5 dB from the quantum limit of 75 photons per bit for a 56 mode amplifier.
Recognition of complex auditory-spatial patterns

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the perception of complex auditory-spatial patterns. Subjects were asked to identify alphanumeric characters whose patterns could be outlined acoustically through the sequential activation of specific units in a speaker array. Signal bandwidths were varied systematically in both experiments. Signals in experiment 1 had sharp onsets and offsets; envelope shapes in experiment 2 were much more gradual. Subjects showed considerable ability in recognizing alphanumeric patterns traced with signals of varying acoustical composition. Reductions in the steepness of signal attack and decay produced limited declines in pattern recognition ability. Systematic trends in the relation between patterns and the distribution of incorrect responses suggest that subjects performed a pattern-matching task, in which identifications were made on the basis of component features. The unexpected pattern recognition abilities that subjects demonstrated in both experiments suggest that spatial hearing, like vision, has access to mechanisms for amodal spatial representations.
Two-wave mixing by phase and absorption gratings in saturable absorbers

Two-wave mixing (TWM) by means of moving phase and absorption gratings is reported for acridine-doped glass and ruby. A measurement method is described that enables TWM from the phase and absorption gratings to be determined independently, leading to a value for the ratio of the real part of the nonlinear index n2 to the imaginary part that is independent of beam intensity profiles or overlap conditions. An anomalous TWM response was observed from the absorption grating in ruby.
Osteoarticular tissue infection and development of skeletal pathology in murine brucellosis

Brucellosis, a frequent bacterial zoonosis, can produce debilitating chronic disease with involvement of multiple organs in human patients. Whereas acute brucellosis is well studied using the murine animal model, long-term complications of host-pathogen interaction remain largely elusive. Human brucellosis frequently results in persistent, chronic osteoarticular system involvement, with complications such as arthritis, spondylitis and sacroiliitis. Here, we focused on identifying infectious sites in the mouse that parallel Brucella melitensis foci observed in patients. In vivo imaging showed rapid bacterial dispersal to multiple sites of the murine axial skeleton. In agreement with these findings, immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of bacteria in bones and limbs, and in the lower spine vertebrae of the axial skeleton where they were preferentially located in the bone marrow. Surprisingly, some animals developed arthritis in paws and spine after infection, but without obvious bacteria in these sites. The identification of Brucella in the bones of mice corroborates the findings in humans that these osteoarticular sites are important niches for the persistence of Brucella in the host, but the mechanisms that mediate pathological manifestations in these sites remain unclear. Future studies addressing the immune responses within osteoarticular tissue foci could elucidate important tissue injury mediators and Brucella survival strategies.
Comparative Pathobiology of Low and High Pathogenicity H7N3 Chilean Avian Influenza Viruses in Chickens

Chickens were intranasally inoculated with Chilean H7N3 avian influenza (AI) viruses of low pathogenicity (LP) (H7N3/LP), high pathogenicity (HP) (H7N3/HP), and a laboratory derivative (02-AI-15-#9) (H7N3/14D) from the LPAI virus to determine pathobiologic effects. All chickens inoculated with H7N3/HP AI virus became infected and abruptly died 2 or 3 days postinoculation, but a few showed moderate depression before death. The H7N3/HP AI virus produced focal hemorrhages of the comb, petechial hemorrhage at the esophageal-proventricular junction and proventricular mucosa, edema and congestion of the lung, petechiation of the spleen, and generalized decrease in body fat. Histologically, severe necrosis, hemorrhage, and inflammation were primarily identified in lungs and the lymphoid tissues. All tissues sampled from the H7N3/HP AI group were positive for the AI viral antigen, predominantly in endothelium of blood vessels throughout most tissues and less frequently in histiocytes and cellular debris of lymphoid tissues. Even less consistently, cardiac myocytes, hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, glandular epithelial cells, microglial cells, and neurons became infected. These studies suggest the Chilean H7N3/LP AI virus was poorly infectious for chickens and may have been recently introduced from a nongalliform host. By contrast, the H7N3/HP AI virus was highly infectious and lethal for chickens. The H7N3/HP AI virus had a strong tropism for the cardiovascular system, principally vascular endothelium, which is similar to the viral tropism demonstrated previously with other H5 and H7 HPAI viruses. Interestingly, the H7N3/LP AI virus on intravenous inoculation replicated in cardiac myocytes, a feature of HPAI and not LPAI viruses, which further supports the theory that the H7N3/LP AI virus was in transition from LP to HP.
Complex genetics of obesity in mouse models

Traits related to energy balance and obesity are exceptionally complex, with varying contributions of genetic susceptibility and interacting environmental factors. The use of mouse models has been a powerful driving force in understanding the genetic architecture of polygenic traits such as obesity. However, the use of mouse models for analysis of complex traits is at an important crossroad. Genome-wide association studies in humans are now leading to direct identification of obesity genes. In this review, we focus on three areas representing the current and future roles of mouse models regarding genetics of complex obesity. First, we summarize increasingly powerful ways to harness the strength of mouse models for discovery of genes affecting polygenic obesity. Second, we examine the status of using a systems biology approach to dissect the genetic architecture of obesity. And third, we explore the effects of recent findings indicating increasing levels of complexity in the nature of variation underlying, and the heritability of, complex traits such as obesity.
Optimization of conventional beamformer shading weights for conformal velocity sonar

A numerical optimization technique that uses sonar array noise measurements is used to determine conventional shading weights that maximize the broadband deflection coefficient at the output of the optimal square-law detector, across a frequency band of interest. This process maintains the structure of the conventional processor while providing performance improvement typical of adaptive techniques. The performance of the optimized time domain delay-and-sum beamformer is compared with that of the traditional beamformer that uses conventionally chosen shading weights. Application of this method to conformal velocity sonar array data is shown to provide large improvements in performance over heuristic designs.
Strings, Chains, and Ropes

Following Antman [Amer. Math. Mon., 87 (1980), pp. 359-370], we advocate a more physically realistic and systematic derivation of the wave equation suitable for a typical undergraduate course in partial differential equations. To demonstrate the utility of this derivation, three applications that follow naturally are described: strings, hanging chains, and jump ropes.
Predictive Typestate Checking of Multithreaded Java Programs

Writing correct multithreaded programs is difficult. Existing tools for finding bugs in multithreaded programs primarily focus on finding generic concurrency problems such as data races, atomicity violations, and deadlocks. However, these generic bugs may sometimes be benign and may not help to catch other functional errors in multithreaded programs. In this paper, we focus on a high-level programming error, called typestate error, which happens when a program does not follow the correct usage protocol of an object. We present a novel technique that finds typestate errors in multithreaded programs by looking at a successful execution. An appealing aspect of our technique is that it not only finds typestate errors that occur during a program execution, but also many other typestate errors that could have occurred in a different execution. We have implemented this technique in a prototype tool for Java and have experimented it with a number of real-world Java programs.
Understanding Attitudes Toward People With Down Syndrome

Understanding attitudes of the public toward people with Down syndrome is important because negative attitudes might create barriers to social integration, which can affect their success and quality of life. We used data from two 2008 U.S. surveys (HealthStyles(c) survey of adults 18 years or older and YouthStyles(c) survey of youth ages 9-18) that asked about attitudes toward people with Down syndrome, including attitudes toward educational and occupational inclusion and toward willingness to interact with people with Down syndrome. Results showed that many adults continue to hold negative attitudes toward people with Down syndrome: A quarter of respondents agreed that students with Down syndrome should go to special schools, nearly 30% agreed that including students with Down syndrome in typical educational settings is distracting, and 18% agreed that persons with Down syndrome in the workplace increase the chance for accidents. Negative attitudes were also held by many youth: 30% agreed that students with Down syndrome should go to separate schools, 27% were not willing to work with a student with Down syndrome on a class project, and nearly 40% indicated they would not be willing to spend time with a student with Down syndrome outside of school. Among both adult and youth, female sex and respondents with previous relationships with people with Down syndrome were consistently associated with more positive attitudes. These results may be helpful in the development of educational materials about Down syndrome and in guiding policies on educational and occupational inclusion.
Measurement of Plasma Decay Processes in Mixture of Sodium and Argon by Radar REMPI

This paper presents the current experimental and computational efforts of measuring sodium plasma decay processes in mixture of sodium and argon by using Radar REMPI, coherent microwave Rayleigh scattering of Resonance Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization. A single laser beam resonantly ionizes the sodium atoms by means of 2+1 REMPI process which can only generate ionization of the sodium atoms and have negligible ionization of the argon. Coherent microwave scattering in-situ measures the total electron number in the laser-induced plasma. Since the sodium ions decays by recombination with electrons, microwave scattering directly measures the plasma decay processes of the sodium ions. A theoretical plasma dynamic model, including REMPI of the sodium and Electron Avalanche Ionization (EAI) of sodium and argon in the gas mixture has been developed. It confirms that the EAI of argon is several-order-magnitude lower than the REMPI of sodium. The theoretical prediction made for the plasma decay process of sodium plasma in the mixture matches experimental measurement.
An intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography-guided maneuver to assist the removal of an intraventricular thrombus

Intra-cavitary thrombus size, mobility and friability are of great importance in deciding whether surgical removal is indicated. Thrombus characteristics may render surgical thrombectomy incomplete, a risk for catastrophic embolization. During de-airing of the heart, after removal of an intraventricular thrombus, filling the open ventricular cavity with blood serendipitously allowed trans-esophageal echocardiographic (TEE) visualization of undetected residual thrombi fragments. This experience leads us to advocate repeated filling and emptying of the left ventricle with blood, under TEE guidance, in order to facilitate complete removal of thrombotic material prior to ventriculotomy closure, and prior to weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).
THE PATHOGENESIS OF WAXY DEGENERATION OF STRIATED MUSCLES (ZENKER'S DEGENERATION)

In view of theoretical deductions and the positive results obtained in the above experiments, it would seem probable that the production of waxy degeneration depends upon the action of lactic acid which is formed by the living muscle under the stimulation of infecting bacteria or their toxins, the formation of large amounts of lactic acid and its accumulation being perhaps favored by defective circulation through the injured muscle. The hyaline transformation of muscle acted upon by lactic acid is analogous to the swelling of fibrin placed in dilute acids. This view is supported by both negative and positive experimental evidence-the negative evidence being that simple anemic necrosis, aseptic or antiseptic autolysis whether in vivo or in vitro, or the action of bacteria of various sorts on muscle in vitro, are all incapable of causing changes in muscle cells resembling those characteristic of waxy or hyaline degeneration of striated muscle. The positive evidence consists in the demonstration that lactic acid, even in dilutions comparable to the amounts that can be formed in living muscle, can produce a similar or identical waxy transformation of the striated muscle fibers, both in vitro and in vivo; and also the observation that muscles stimulated to exhaustion, under which condition lactic acid is known to accumulate in the muscle, show microscopically changes identical with those of Zenker's waxy degeneration.
Direct Democracy and Institutional Change: A Comparative Investigation

Is direct democracy on the rise around the world? Previous efforts to answer this question have investigated patterns of referendum usage and have found only small and isolated increases. In contrast, the current study focuses on patterns of institutional change and finds a broad movement to redesign institutions in ways that give citizens more opportunities to exercise direct control over political decision making.
The Attendance Boost Is Over-Rated For Interleague Baseball, And The Big Mac Attack Is A Hit On The Road: All This And More From The Within-Season Demand Model For Major League Baseball

The theory of microeconomic demand is seldom estimated with a rich set of data, yet there is no shortage of statistics in professional sports. Using the sports industry enables economists to extend traditional theory of demand to include products that change daily (the visiting team) as well as the circumstances of their consumption (e.g., the day of the week). In fact the home games of professional sports are never identical from one game to the next. This variation allows one to estimate the quantity response to each of a multitude of factors.
Institutionalizing Evaluation in Schools

Evaluation, which is the systematic process of assessing the merit and/or worth of a program or other object, is essential to the success of any school or other social enterprise. A functional school evaluation system assesses all important aspects of the school, provides direction for improvement, maintains accountability records, and enhances understanding of teaching, learning, and other school processes. The focus of this chapter is on how schools can institutionalize a sound system of evaluation. Institutionalization of school-based evaluation is a complex, goal-directed process that includes conceptualizing, organizing, funding, staffing, installing, operating, using, assessing, and sustaining systematic evaluation of a school’s operations. The chapter is directed to persons and groups dedicated to improving a current evaluation system or installing a new one. These include school councils, principals, teachers, and those university, government, and service personnel engaged in helping schools increase their effectiveness.
N-ethoxybenzylimidazoles: a novel acid-sensitive linker for controlled release of therapeutics from drug delivery systems.

Abstract #2156 Background: Drug delivery systems (DDS) are useful for cancer therapies because they can target tumors and cancer cells more specifically than cancer therapeutics alone. An important component of a DDS is the triggering mechanism for drug release. This presentation will highlight a new class of N-linked imidazoles as potential acid-sensitive cleavable linkers for use in cancer DDSs. These acid-sensitive linkers are designed to exploit the lower extracellular pH of some tumors and the endosomes and lysosomes within cells to trigger the controlled release of therapeutic agents from drug delivery vessels. Cleavage of N-ethoxybenzylimidazoles (NEBIs) exhibit a 10-fold increase in the rate of hydrolysis in mild aqueous acidic solutions (at pH = 5.5) compared to solutions at normal, physiological pH. The rate of hydrolysis can be tuned to range from minutes to months through the addition of electron donating or withdrawing groups. The NEBI linker can be used to conjugate a cytotoxic agent to a carrier. Carriers for this DDS include molecules such as tumor specific antibodies, polymers/nanoparticles, peptides, and ligands, that can target cancer cells or accumulate around tumors. Cytotoxic agents include FDA approved small molecules and chemotherapeutics. Methods and Materials: The NEBI was developed into a bifunctional crosslinker containing a carboxylic acid and an azide for conjugation of cancer therapeutics to carriers. For simplicity, we used Human Serum Albumin (HSA) as our model carrier and doxorubicin as our model cytotoxic agent. The NEBI was conjugated to doxorubicin through a simple amide coupling. The NEBI was then conjugated to an alkyne containing HSA via “Click Chemistry.” Results: We were able to load approximately 1-2 doxorubicin molecules per HSA. Imaging studies have shown that our HSA conjugates to doxorubicin via a NEBI linker (HSA-NEBI-dox) localize in lysosomes. Cytotoxicity studies show HSA-NEBI-dox is cytotoxic while HSA conjugates to doxorubicin via a stable linkage is not. Discussion: We were able to develop methods for conjugating doxorubicin to HSA. The techniques used here can be applied to conjugate other carriers and other cancer therapeutics. We will continue to develop the NEBI linker and demonstrate how the linker can be used to conjugate trastuzumab to doxorubicin. We chose use trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody, as a carrier because it is known to bind to the HER2 receptor. HER2 is over expressed in 25%-30% of breast cancers. Trastuzumab not only targets cancer cells that are over expressing the HER2 receptor, but binding of trastuzumab to the HER2 receptor can trigger receptor mediated endocytosis, which can lead to controlled release of doxorubicin within the cell. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 2156.
Validation of Fully-Kinetic Particle-in-Cell Model Optimized for Multi-thruster Adaptability

γ Square root of factor by which the vacuum permittivity is increased f Factor by which the mass of ions and neutrals is decreased me Electron mass 0 Vacuum permittivity e Elementary charge ne Electron density Te Electron temperature λD Debye length ṁa Anode propellant mass flow rate φM Thruster body potential ηC Current utilization coefficient (ratio of the ion beam current to the anode current) ηI Propellant utilization coefficient (ratio of the ion beam current to the anode propellant mass flow rate expressed in units of electric current) η Efficiency (ratio of the thrust power to the input power does not include the power provided to the electromagnets or the cathode) R Relative amplitude of an oscillation (ratio of the peak-to-peak amplitude to the mean value)
Sugar transport by the bacterial phosphotransferase system. Molecular cloning and structural analysis of the Escherichia coli ptsH, ptsI, and crr genes.

Specialized lambda-transducing phages that carry the Escherichia coli genes ptsH, ptsI, crr, cysM, and cysA have been isolated, and the genes were subcloned in plasmid pBR322. Subcloning and restriction mapping data gave the following clockwise order of genes located at about 52 min on the E. coli genetic map: lig, cysK, ptsH, ptsI, crr, cysM, cysA. The nucleotide sequences of ptsH, ptsI, and crr and the corresponding flanking regions have been determined. These genes encode three cytoplasmic proteins of the phosphoenol-pyruvate:glycose phosphotransferase system: HPr, Enzyme I, and IIIGlc, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences are consistent with amino acid composition and Edman degradation analyses obtained with the purified proteins. The calculated subunit molecular weight values (9,109 for HPr, 63,489 for Enzyme I, and 18,099 for IIIGlc) also agree well with values obtained with the proteins. Results of gamma delta-transposon insertional studies provided definitive evidence that IIIGlc is the gene product of crr, and therefore that IIIGlc plays a critical role in regulating the metabolism and uptake of certain non-PTS sugars (see accompanying papers: Mitchell, W.J., Saffen, D.W., and Roseman, S. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 16254-16260; Misko, T.P., Mitchell, W.J., Meadow, N.D., and Roseman, S. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 16261-16266). The gamma delta transposon studies also suggest that crr is transcribed from an independent promoter located within the ptsI gene. Putative regulatory sequence features include a catabolite gene activator protein-cAMP-binding site and two regions of 2-fold rotational symmetry adjacent to the potential promoter upstream from the HPr structural gene, several ribosome-binding sites, and a rho-independent RNA polymerase termination site downstream from crr. In addition, the ptsI gene contains two highly conserved direct repeats. The significance of these sequence features is discussed with respect to possible multiple forms of pts regulation.
Bridging erasures and the infrastructure of frames

The purpose of this chapter is to give a detailed tutorial-style exposition of a method we have recently discovered for complete recovery from frame and sampling erasures by inverting a matrix of dimension the cardinality of the erasure set. This is usually simpler and more efficient than inverting the frame operator of the remaining coefficients because the erasure set is usually much smaller than the dimension of the space. The method is not hard and can be easily implemented on a computer, even for infinite frames and sampling schemes as long as one is dealing with only a finite set of erasures. The set of erasures that can be handled in this way can be very large. We call the method nilpotent bridging. We introduced this method in a recent research article, along with some new classification results and methods of measuring redundancy that are based on the matricial infrastructure of a dual frame pair: the set of all submatrices of the cross-Gramian of the pair. The first author gave a talk on this material in a conference at Vanderbilt University in May 2014 entitled “Building bridges (reconstruction from frame and sampling omissions)”, and this chapter is based on the notes from that talk. In the process of developing the mathematics underlying the bridging technique, we discovered a second method for recovery from erasures in finitely many steps, and this chapter will also discuss this alternate method.
Pediatric Renal Transplantation

The past 20 years of experience with pediatric renal transplantation have shown that it has a very important therapeutic role. Significant advances in reducing costs and improving results will need to be accomplished in the future.
Approximate entropy measure of nonlinearities in a DC/DC converter

Power electronic based systems provide an interesting topic for researchers in the area of complexity due to multiple components, such as switches and feedback loops, that are recognized as complex because they introduce nonlinearities into the system. Because of the vast amount of infrastructure and human activity which rely on electrical systems for the existence and function, understanding and quantifying the emergent complexity in these systems is especially important. The research presented here is intended to facilitate an initial treatment of certain properties of complexity in a dc/dc converter, specifically nonlinear dynamics and emergence resulting from perturbations. We analyze simulated data from a noise coupled buck converter, using the ApEn (approximate entropy) measure, and examine its effectiveness in describing certain aspects of the system's behavior, such as bifurcation phenomena which have been found to cause faults in electrical power systems.