cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Freeze dried anterior cruciate ligament allografts Preliminary studies in a goat model

One ACL in each of 11 mature goats was replaced with a freeze dried bone-ACL-bone allograft. One year fol lowing implantation the goats had their knees evaluated biomechanically and for microvascularity and histologic changes. The reconstructed knees had a significantly greater total AP laxity (3.8 ± 0.6 mm) (mean and SEM) than the controls (1.0 ± 0.1 mm). Differences in primary AP laxity were responsible for 81 % of the difference in total laxity, with only a 0.4 mm difference in secondary laxity. Neutral stiffness in the reconstructive knee was 17% of control. while stiffness at 30 newtons (N) of anterior force was approximately 50% of controls. Lig ament stiffness in the linear region for the ACL allograft was 35% of the control value of 686 N/mm. The maxi mum load of the allografts was 571 ± 45 N, or 25% of the contralateral ACL control strength (2301 ± 155 N). Five of the seven allografts failed at the femoral inser tion. Both elongation (83%) and energy (21 %) to max imum load were less for allograf...
Exchange of tetraethylammonium ion into zeolite Y

Abstract A special technique is described and used to exchange tetraethylammonium ion into zeolite Y, an exchange which is highly difficult or impossible by conventional ion-exchange techniques. That such an exchange is possible sheds light on the mechanism of aluminium removal from zeolite Y using derivatives of H4EDTA.
Developing the Native People for Cancer Control Telehealth Network

Objective: We aimed to develop a telehealth network to deliver postdiagnosis cancer care clinical services and education to American Indian and Alaska Native patients, their families, and their healthcare providers. We also sought to identify the challenges and opportunities of implementing such a telehealth-based application for this rural and underserved population. Materials and Methods: We followed a participatory formative evaluation approach to engage all stakeholders in the telehealth network design and implementation. This approach allowed us to identify and address technical and infrastructure barriers, lack of previous experience with telehealth, and political, legal, and historical challenges. Results: Between September 2006 and August 2009, nine tribal clinics in Washington and 26 clinical sites in Alaska had participated in the telehealth network activities. Network programming included cancer education presentations, case conferences, and cancer survivor support groups. Twenty-seven cancer education presentations were held, with a total provider attendance of 369. Forty-four case conferences were held, with a total of 129 cases discussed. In total, 513 patient encounters took place. Keys to success included gaining provider and community acceptance, working closely with respected tribal members, understanding tribal sovereignty and governance, and working in partnership with cultural liaisons. Conclusion: The telehealth network exceeded expectations in terms of the number of participating sites and the number of patients served. Following a participatory formative evaluation approach contributed to the success of this telehealth network and demonstrated the importance of community involvement in all stages of telehealth system design and implementation.
Reflecting Well: Dissections of Two Regular Polygons to One

(2006). Reflecting Well: Dissections of Two Regular Polygons to One. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 79, No. 2, pp. 87-95.
Malignant mesothelioma of tunica vaginalis testis: a fatal case with liver metastasis.

Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis is a rare tumor that usually presents as a benign hydrocele but may give the clinical impression of testicular tumor.1 Cases in the world literature total 80.1, 2 The only established risk factor is asbestos exposure, which was present in 34% of the patients whose history was reported.1 Of 62 patients with followup 33 (53%) had recurrence and 24 (39%) died. We report the twenty-fifth fatal case of this tumor and the third to metastasize to the liver.3
For Love, Money, or Normalcy: Meanings of Strategy and Sentiment in the Russian-American Matchmaking Industry

Public debates about international matchmaking highlight the victimization of impoverished women by western men or the self-interested instrumentalism of women who marry for visas. Meanwhile, agencies and many of their clients portray this as a linking of well-intentioned lonely hearts who just want normal family lives. A meaningful anthropological account must incorporate and move beyond both types of narratives, acknowledging that deeply felt sentiment and ‘strategic’ plans to improve one's life overlap in all kinds of social exchange, romantic or otherwise. How the relationship between self-interest and affect is understood depends upon historically specific and gendered experiences of political economy. Participants’ framings of their own and their prospective spouses’ ‘sincerity’ and ‘seriousness’ are diagnostic of structural pressures each group has experienced, which they seek to address through international marriage.
A comparison of methods for analyzing glucose and insulin areas under the curve following nine months of exercise in overweight adults.

OBJECTIVE: We examined three methods for calculating the area under the curve (AUC) following an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in overweight adults prior to and after 9 months of exercise. METHOD: Subjects (n=27) were randomly assigned to a control (CON, n=9) or intervention (INT, n=18) group. INT performed supervised exercise 5 days per week, 45 min per session, at 65% of heart rate reserve. OGTTs were administered pre- and post-training. Blood was collected during a 75 g OGTT and analyzed for glucose (GLU) and insulin (INS) concentrations. AUCs were calculated using the incremental, positive incremental, and total AUC methods and the difference scores for pre- and post-training were determined. RESULTS: No differences were observed among the methods for glucose AUC for either group. Significant differences were observed for INT insulin AUC with total AUC (1525±3291 µU/1/180 min) significantly greater than incremental AUC (1112±3229 µU/1/180 min) or positive incremental AUC (1085±3195 µU/I/180 min). Total insulin AUC was significantly reduced following training for INT, while incremental and positive incremental insulin AUCs showed no change. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the method of used to calculate AUC may affect the interpretation of whether or not an intervention was effective.
Mechanisms of cigarette smoke toxicity: the inactivation of human α-1-proteinase inhibitor by nitric oxide/isoprene mixtures in air

A mixture of nitric oxide (NO) and isoprene in air has been studied as a model for gas-phase cigarette smoke. We have shown that this model system duplicates many of the properties of cigarette smoke including the inactivation of human alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor (a1PI). In this study, buffered solutions of a1PI were exposed to puffs of air containing 300 ppm NO and 400 ppm isoprene. Bubbling of the NO/air/isoprene gas stream directly through buffered protein solutions causes a1PI to undergo a fast loss of inhibitory capacity. This fast inactivation is not observed when a1PI is exposed to aqueous extracts of the NO/air/isoprene mixture. Both direct exposure and exposure to aqueous extracts, however, cause a1PI to undergo a slow loss of activity that continues for several days as the protein is incubated in the buffer solutions. Gas-phase cigarette smoke has already been shown to cause this same two-phase inactivation of a1PI. The inactivation of a1PI by the model system is dependent on the presence of oxygen in the gas stream, suggesting that the oxidation of nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide in air is involved in the formation of the inactivating species. The nature of these species remains to be determined; however, small alkoxyl or peroxyl radicals (such as are spin-trappable from gas-phase smoke as well as from the NO/air/isoprene system) do not appear to inactivate a1PI. One possibility is that the inactivating species are metastable compounds formed by radical processes in the gas phase of both cigarette smoke and our model system. Our data suggest that one possible class of species is peroxynitrates.
Energy Injection And Absorption In The Cosmic Dark Ages

Dark matter annihilation or deexcitation, decay of metastable species, or other new physics may inject energetic electrons and photons into the photon-baryon fluid during and after recombination. As such particles cool, they partition their energy into a large number of efficiently ionizing electrons and photons, which in turn modify the ionization history. Recent work has provided a simple method for constraining arbitrary energy-deposition histories using the cosmic microwave background (CMB); in this note, we present results describing the energy-deposition histories for photons and electrons as a function of initial energy and injection redshift. With these results, the CMB bounds on any process injecting some arbitrary spectrum of electrons, positrons and/or photons with arbitrary redshift dependence can be immediately computed.
Analysis of molecular adsorbates by laser-induced thermal desorption

A surface analysis method called LITD/FTMS has been used to measure the rate constants and detect the reaction intermediates for the dehydrogenation of various hydrocarbons on platinum. Laser-induced thermal desorption (LITD) utilizes a pulsed laser beam to rapidly heat the surface and remove intact neutral molecular species. These are then ionized by an electron beam, trapped in a magnetic field, and detected by Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS). FTMS has two advantageous features: high mass resolution and the ability to record all masses simultaneously from a single laser shot. LITD/FTMS is a highly sensitive and rapid method for identifying complex molecular species adsorbed on surfaces. Intermediates in catalytic reactions can be observed and rate constants for surface-catalyzed reactions can be measured.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evaluation of an analysis method for low-speed airfoils by comparison with wind tunnel results

Results obtained by the airfoil analysis method of Drela (1980) for three airfoils are compared with wind tunnel test results. The method is shown to be accurate in predicting the aerodynamic characteristics of low-speed airfoils in the chord Reynolds number range from 200,000 to 3 million. It is noted that a high value for the transition criterion was necessary to accurately study the case of laminar separation.
Integration of speech and natural language understanding for Spoken Language Systems (SLS)

SRI is developing a multi-modal interface to an air travel database that will permit cooperative planning via interactive human-machine problem solving. The project goals are real-time, large vocabulary (3000 words), high semantic accuracy (90%), speaker-independent understanding of spontaneously spoken natural language in a restricted domain. The grammar should be shown to be habitable and the system should be robust to individual differences in dialect and speaking style. The design should be easily portable to a variety of applications.
Modeling of automated storage/retrieval systems using petri nets

Abstract The demand for better customer service and the impact of data processing have forced management to look more closely at warehousing automation. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) are the focus in the revolution of warehousing automation. This article investigates the feasibility of using the stochastic Petri net technique to model AS/RSs. A Petri net is a graphics-based tool suitable for modeling manufacturing systems, computer systems, biological systems, etc. It can be used to model a system at different levels of abstraction. A Petri net graph of an AS/RS leads to the generation of a reachability table. The reachability table is, in turn, converted to a state table representation of a Markov process model of the AS/RS. The efficiency, control rules, bay assignment, and many other performance issues can then be studied using the Petri net model. This paper introduces Petri nets as alternative tools for the analysis of AS/RSs. To this end, a discussion on Petri nets, analytical approaches, and simulation is provided. The unique features and flexibilities of Petri nets are presented. Some important characteristics of AS/RSs such as concurrency, conflict, and deadlocking can be described and modeled using Petri nets. Possible extensions to this study are also discussed.
Radiologic features of pancreatic and biliary complications following composite visceral transplantation

Small bowel transplantation is a surgical technique reserved for patients with end-stage intestinal failure. Despite its inherent technical difficulties, it has emerged as the standard of care for these patients. This article reviews the background and different surgical techniques for this procedure and then fully describes the spectrum of imaging findings of pancreatic and biliary complications, which have a prevalence of up to 17%, after this procedure based on 23-year single-center experience. The pancreaticobiliary complications encountered in our experience and discussed in this article include: ampullary stenosis, biliary cast, choledocholithiasis, bile leak, recurrent cholangitis, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic duct fistula. Familiarity with the broad spectrum of PB complications and their variable manifestations will help radiologists to accurately diagnose these complications which have relatively high morbidity and mortality in these immune-compromised patients.
Beginning and Succeeding in Graduate School

Entering into graduate school in psychology is both an exciting and a terrifying time in a budding psychologist's educational development. Even though the arduous processes of completing graduate s...
A model to explore the ethics of erotic stimuli in print advertising

This paper discusses a test of a hypothetical model of the role of perceived ethical feelings about the use of female nudity/erotic stimuli in print advertising. Specifically, the linkages between perceived ethicalness of the use of the print ad (as measured by the Reidenbach and Robin ethics scale) and attitude toward the ad, brand, and purchase intention are explored.
Applying target shadow models for SAR ATR

Recent work has suggested that target shadows in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images can be used effectively to aid in target classification. The method outlined in this paper has four steps - segmentation, representation, modeling, and selection. Segmentation is the process by which a smooth, background-free representation of the target's shadow is extracted from an image chip. A chain code technique is then used to represent the shadow boundary. Hidden Markov modeling is applied to sets of chain codes for multiple targets to create a suitable bank of target representations. Finally, an ensemble framework is proposed for classification. The proposed model selection process searches for an optimal ensemble of models based on various target model configurations. A five target subset of the MSTAR database is used for testing. Since the shadow is a back-projection of the target profile, some aspect angles will contain more discriminatory information then others. Therefore, performance is investigated as a function of aspect angle. Additionally, the case of multiple target looks is considered. The capability of the shadow-only classifier to enhance more traditional classification techniques is examined.
Beyond the visual word form area: The orthography–semantics interface in spelling and reading

Lexical orthographic information provides the basis for recovering the meanings of words in reading and for generating correct word spellings in writing. Research has provided evidence that an area of the left ventral temporal cortex, a subregion of what is often referred to as the visual word form area (VWFA), plays a significant role specifically in lexical orthographic processing. The current investigation goes beyond this previous work by examining the neurotopography of the interface of lexical orthography with semantics. We apply a novel lesion mapping approach with three individuals with acquired dysgraphia and dyslexia who suffered lesions to left ventral temporal cortex. To map cognitive processes to their neural substrates, this lesion mapping approach applies similar logical constraints to those used in cognitive neuropsychological research. Using this approach, this investigation: (a) identifies a region anterior to the VWFA that is important in the interface of orthographic information with s...
Strongly interacting knowledge granules

A knowledge granule expressed as a material implication rule is strong to the degree that the fuzzy restriction it imposes is a strict one. When two rules interact strongly, there is no y value that is 100% compatible with both rules for x between the rules' antecedent cores. This paper considers the effects on the behavior of strongly interacting R-implications based on the Schweizer-Sklar parameterized T-norms (1961) as the parameter varies from -/spl infin/ to +/spl infin/. Bases for comparison include (1) the shape of the membership function of the fuzzy set of y values compatible with a given x and the interacting rules, and (2) the defuzzified value of y obtained from this fuzzy set by mean-of-mode and best-kernel defuzzification.
Fourier descriptors for shape: Effects of adaptation on discrimination thresholds

Fourier descriptors (FDs) have been used by investigators of computer pattern recognition to discriminate and/or identify planar shapes. These descriptors enable one to analyze and synthesize closed curves by obtaining Fourier coefficients of chain-encoded contours. Discrimination thresholds were obtained for FD stimuli for shape in a manner similar to contrast-sensitivity functions for grating stimuli. Adaptation to a specific FD harmonic frequency produced a selective decrease in sensitivity (i.e., increase in threshold) for the adapting frequency and for closely related, even harmonic frequencies. These results suggest that FDs are an important and promising tool for research on human perception of form.
Nuclear Physics: Macroscopic aspects

Abstract A systematic macroscopic, leptodermous approach to nuclear statics and dynamics is described, based formally on the assumptions ħ → O and b/R ⪡ 1, where b is the surface diffuseness and R the nuclear radius. The resulting static model of shell-corrected nuclear binding energies and deformabilities is accurate to better than 1 part in a thousand and yields a firm determination of the principal properties of the nuclear fluid. As regards dynamics, the above approach suggests that nuclear shape evolutions will often be dominated by dissipation, but quantitative comparisons with experimental data are more difficult than in the case of statics. In its simplest liquid drop version the model exhibits interesting formal connections to the classic astronomical problem of rotating gravitating masses.
Effects of Vegetation on Turbulence, Sediment Transport, and Stream Morphology

AbstractVegetation as multiple stems in various configurations or an isolated stem profoundly alters turbulent flows. Past research has shown that these alterations influence sediment transport and stream morphology, but entail complex interactions and feedbacks between flow, vegetation, and sediment processes that involve many parameters. These interactions are examined here for a variety of macrophyte patterns and scales in riverine environments. Flow Reynolds number, canopy density, and submergence ratio are just a few of the key parameters that influence the spatial variability of the flow, momentum transfer, vortex shedding and dissipation, and instantaneous stresses that are known to affect sediment and morphological processes in rivers. Knowledge gaps, though, still remain. A taxonomy that classifies vegetated flows as dense, sparse, or isolated on the basis of threshold parameters like the ratio of stem diameter to stem spacing would be useful for comparing studies among researchers and predicting...
Identification of molecular distinctions between normal breast-associated fibroblasts and breast cancer-associated fibroblasts.

Stromal fibroblasts influence the behavior of breast epithelial cells. Fibroblasts derived from normal breast (NAF) inhibit epithelial growth, whereas fibroblasts from breast carcinomas (CAF) have less growth inhibitory capacity and can promote epithelial growth. We sought to identify molecules that are differentially expressed in NAF versus CAF and potentially responsible for their different growth regulatory abilities. To determine the contribution of soluble molecules to fibroblast–epithelial interactions, NAF were grown in 3D, transwell or direct contact co-cultures with MCF10AT epithelial cells. NAF suppressed proliferation of MCF10AT in both direct contact and transwell co-cultures, but this suppression was significantly greater in direct co-cultures, indicating involvement of both soluble and contact factors. Gene expression profiling of early passage fibroblast cultures identified 420 genes that were differentially expressed in NAF versus CAF. Of the eight genes selected for validation by real-time PCR, FIBULIN 1, was overexpressed in NAF, and DICKKOPF 1, NEUREGULIN 1, PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR 2, and TISSUE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR were overexpressed in CAF. A higher expression of FIBULIN 1 in normal- than cancer-associated fibroblastic stroma was confirmed by immunohistochemistry of breast tissues. Among breast cancers, stromal expression of Fibulin 1 protein was higher in estrogen receptor α-positive cancers and low stromal expression of Fibulin 1 correlated with a higher proliferation of cancer epithelial cells. In conclusion, expression profiling of NAF and CAF cultures identified many genes with potential relevance to fibroblast–epithelial interactions in breast cancer. Furthermore, these early passage fibroblast cultures can be representative of gene expression in stromal fibroblasts in vivo.
Sugar Transport in Immature Internodal Tissue of Sugarcane II. Mechanism of Sucrose Transport

The mechanism by which sucrose is transported into the inner spaces of immature internodal parenchyma tissue of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L. var. H 49-5) was studied in short term experiments (15 to 300 seconds). Transport of sucrose, glucose, and fructose was each characterized by a V(max) of 1.3 mumoles/gram fresh weight.2 hours, and each of these three sugars mutually and competitively inhibited transport of the other two. When (14)C-glucose was supplied exogenously, (14)C-glucose 6-phosphate and (14)C-glucose were the first labeled compounds to appear in the tissue; no (14)C-sucrose was detected until after 60-second incubation. After 15-second incubation in (14)C-sucrose, all intracellular radioactivity was in glucose, fructose, glucose 6-phosphate, and fructose 6-phosphate; trace amounts of (14)C-sucrose were found after 30 seconds and after 5 minutes, 71% of the intracellular radioactivity was in sucrose. Although it was possible that sucrose was transported intact into the inner space and then immediately hydrolyzed, it was shown that the rate of hydrolysis under these conditions was too low to account for the rate of hexose accumulation. Pretreatment of the tissue with rabbit anti-invertase antiserum eliminated sucrose transport, but had no effect on glucose transport. Since the antibodies did not penetrate the plasmalemma, it was concluded that sucrose was hydrolyzed by an invertase in the free space prior to transport. The glucose and fructose moieties, or their phosphorylated derivatives, were then transported into the inner space and sucrose was resynthesized. No evidence for the involvement of sucrose phosphate in transport was found in these experiments.
Spontaneous Contractions Evoke Afferent Nerve Firing in Mouse Bladders With Detrusor Overactivity

Purpose: Afferent nerve firing has been linked to spontaneous bladder contractions in a number of lower urinary tract pathologies and it may lead to urgency and incontinence. Using optical mapping, single unit recording and tension measurements we investigated the correlation between afferent nerve firing and spontaneous bladder contractions in spinal cord transected mice.Materials and Methods: Bladder-nerve preparations (bladder sheets and the associated L6-S2 pelvic nerves) were dissected from normal and spinal cord transected mice showing overactivity on cystometry and opened along the ventral aspect from base to dome. Bladder sheets were mounted horizontally in a temperature regulated chamber to simultaneously record Ca2+ transients across the mucosal surface, single unit afferent nerve firing and whole bladder tension.Results: Single unit afferent fibers were identified by probing their receptive fields. Fibers showed a graded response to von Frey stimulation and a frequency of afferent firing that i...
Changes in lung vascular permeability after heart-lung transplantation

Abstract We have employed multiple indicator dilution techniques (MID) in six patients after heart-lung transplantation to assess changes in the lung vascular permeability-surface area product for urea (PS). Serial PS values for the patients when normalized to the predicted total lung capacity (TLC) in liters, ranged between 1.04 and 6.27 ml/sec/TLC (patient 1), 0 and 2.76 ml/sec/TLC (patient 2), 0.59 and 2.88 ml/sec/TLC (patient 3), 0.13 and 1.23 ml/sec/TLC (patient 4). The elevated values for PS in patient 1 exceed the lethal range described by K. L. Brigham et al. ( J. Clin. Invest. 72 : 339, 1983) for severe ARDS. This strongly suggests a severely increased lung microvascular permeability in this patient possibly secondary to rejection as indicated by endomyocardial biopsy. PS values for surviving patients 2–6 fell well below the corresponding lethal value for ARDS patients. We conclude that PS urea derived from MID provides an indicator of the status of lung microvascular integrity in heart-lung transplant recipients.
The Cervical Split: A Pseudofracture

A horizontal lucent line projecting over a cervical vertebral body on lateral radiographs and simulating a fracture is described. The pseudofracture line results from the lucency between contiguous proliferative osteophytes at the uncinate process/vertebral articulation. Associated disc space narrowing was seen in all of our eleven cases. The origin of this pseudofracture line, cases illustrating this phenomenon, and additional projections helpful for clarification are presented.
Summating Potential with Electrical Stimulation of Crossed Olivocochlear Bundles

Electrical stimulation of crossed olivocochlear bandles resulted in increase of the positive summating potential in response to high-frequency tone bursts when the summating potential was recorded in the basal turn of the cochlea in anesthetized and immobilized guinea pigs. Strychnine locally applied suppressed the changes of the summating potential.
Galanin immunoreactivity is increased in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in Alzheimer's disease

A depletion of large cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert is a consistent finding in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The nucleus basalis of Meynert also contains interneurons and afferents that may modulate its functioning. In the present study we examined neurochemical markers for neuropeptides, amino acid neurotransmitters, and monoaminergic neurotransmitters in postmortem samples of the nucleus basalis in 16 control subjects and 30 patients with AD. There were no significant changes in glutamate, aspartate, taurine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and catecholamines; however, concentrations of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and 5-hydroxytryptophol were significantly reduced. Choline acetyltransferase activity was significantly reduced, consistent with previous reports. Galanin immunoreactivity was significantly increased twofold in the patients with AD, but there were no significant changes in substance P, somatostatin, or neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity. Since galanin inhibits acetylcholine release, and produces cognitive deficits in animals, increased galanin immunoreactivity in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in AD may contribute to the cognitive deficits that characterize the illness.
Causality information and proactive cancellation mechanisms

Time Warp distributed simulations can enter a catastrophic state of cascading rollbacks where out of order (premature) event executions propagate faster than the corrective measures (anti-messages) designed to terminate them. In this paper, a distributed, proactive cancellation mechanism designed to avoid this situation is presented. We also present a version of total clocks called Plausible Total Clocks (PTC). PTC employs a compact time vector of event counter range to address the scalability issues typically suffered by total clock solutions. That is, PTC consists of constant size vectors and are independent of the number of simulation objects in the simulation. The events generated due to an out of order execution are proactively cancelled by determining its causality relation with the already annihilated events. We present a proof of correctness of the distributed cancellation mechanism using PTC and also show that the catastrophic states are avoided with this proactive cancellation mechanism. This cancellation mechanism assumes first-input–first-output communication layer, static inter-connection topology, and logical processes consisting of multiple simulation objects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mass spectrometric analysis of polymers derived from N‐aryl‐α‐amino acid initiators

Previous studies have demonstrated that the interaction of carboxylic acids with aryl amines produces free radicals that can initiate the polymerization of acrylic monomers. N-Aryl-α-amino acids (NAAA) represent a special class of this type of initiator that combines in one molecule the carboxylic acid and aryl amine functionalities necessary for the generation of radical species. The mechanism(s) of radical formation in these molecules is thought to involve both electron transfer and hydrogen abstraction reactions that can occur by intra- and intermolecular pathways. Acrylic monomers, i.e., methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), were activated with various amounts of several NAAAs. Specific NAAAs investigated include N-phenylglycine (NPG) and N-p -tolylglycine ( NTG ). Polymerization was conducted at ambient or near ambient temperatures, and the polymers then were analyzed by electron impact mass spectrometry. Results indicate that these polymers have end groups derived directly from the NAAA initiators.
Inhibitors of arachidonate-regulated calcium channel signaling suppress triggered activity induced by the late sodium current

Disturbances in myocyte calcium homeostasis are hypothesized to be one cause for cardiac arrhythmia. The full development of this hypothesis requires (i) the identification of all sources of arrhythmogenic calcium and (ii) an understanding of the mechanism(s) through which calcium initiates arrhythmia. To these ends we superfused rat left atria with the late sodium current activator type II Anemonia sulcata toxin (ATXII). This toxin prolonged atrial action potentials, induced early afterdepolarization, and provoked triggered activity. The calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) inhibitor KN-93 (N-[2-[[[3-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-propenyl]methylamino]methyl]phenyl]-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-methoxybenzenesulphon-amide) suppressed ATXII triggered activity but its inactive congener KN-92 (2-[N-(4-methoxy benzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine) did not. Neither drug affected normal atrial contractility. Calcium entry via L-type channels or calcium leakage from sarcoplasmic reticulum stores are not critical for this type of ectopy as neither verapamil ((RS)-2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-{[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl]-(methyl)amino}-2-prop-2-ylpentanenitrile) nor ryanodine affected ATXII triggered activity. By contrast, inhibitors of the voltage independent arachidonate-regulated calcium (ARC) channel and the store-operated calcium channel specifically suppressed ATXII triggered activity without normalizing action potentials or affecting atrial contractility. Inhibitors of cytosolic calcium-dependent phospholipase A2 also suppressed triggered activity suggesting that this lipase, which generates free arachidonate, plays a key role in ATXII ectopy. Thus, increased left atrial late sodium current appears to activate atrial Orai-linked ARC and store operated calcium channels, and these voltage-independent channels may be unexpected sources for the arrhythmogenic calcium that underlies triggered activity.
Proteomic Profiling of S-acylated Macrophage Proteins Identifies a Role for Palmitoylation in Mitochondrial Targeting of Phospholipid Scramblase 3

S-Palmitoylation, the reversible post-translational acylation of specific cysteine residues with the fatty acid palmitate, promotes the membrane tethering and subcellular localization of proteins in several biological pathways. Although inhibiting palmitoylation holds promise as a means for manipulating protein targeting, advances in the field have been hampered by limited understanding of palmitoylation enzymology and consensus motifs. In order to define the complement of S-acylated proteins in the macrophage, we treated RAW 264.7 macrophage membranes with hydroxylamine to cleave acyl thioesters, followed by biotinylation of newly exposed sulfhydryls and streptavidin-agarose affinity chromatography. Among proteins identified by LC-MS/MS, S-acylation status was established by spectral counting to assess enrichment under hydroxylamine versus mock treatment conditions. Of 1183 proteins identified in four independent experiments, 80 proteins were significant for S-acylation at false discovery rate = 0.05, and 101 significant at false discovery rate = 0.10. Candidate S-acylproteins were identified from several functional categories, including membrane trafficking, signaling, transporters, and receptors. Among these were 29 proteins previously biochemically confirmed as palmitoylated, 45 previously reported as putative S-acylproteins in proteomic screens, 24 not previously associated with palmitoylation, and three presumed false-positives. Nearly half of the candidates were previously identified by us in macrophage detergent-resistant membranes, suggesting that palmitoylation promotes lipid raft-localization of proteins in the macrophage. Among the candidate novel S-acylproteins was phospholipid scramblase 3 (Plscr3), a protein that regulates apoptosis through remodeling the mitochondrial membrane. Palmitoylation of Plscr3 was confirmed through 3H-palmitate labeling. Moreover, site-directed mutagenesis of a cluster of five cysteines (Cys159–161-163–164-166) abolished palmitoylation, caused Plscr3 mislocalization from mitochondrion to nucleus, and reduced macrophage apoptosis in response to etoposide, together suggesting a role for palmitoylation at this site for mitochondrial targeting and pro-apoptotic function of Plscr3. Taken together, we propose that manipulation of protein palmitoylation carries great potential for intervention in macrophage biology via reprogramming of protein localization.
Different Sensitivities of Chloroplasts to Uncouplers when ATP Formation is Induced by Continuous Illumination, by Brief Illumination, by Pre‐Illumination, or by Acid‐Base Transitions

1 All of the uncouplers tested are more effective in decreasing ATP formation at the beginning of the illumination period than they are during continuous illumination. The difference is quite small with the uncouplers methylamine and atebrin but very large with the uncouplers octylamine and carbonylcyanide p-fluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP). 2 The illumination time required to initiate photophosphorylation in the absence of permeant ions is less than 5 ms at high light intensities and the short delay is not much affected by methylamine and atebrin. The delay on the onset of ATP formation is increased to about 40 ms by permeant ions such as K+ in the presence of valinomycin, although the same permeant ions have little or no effect on steady-state phosphorylation [Ort and Dilley (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 449, 95–107]. Octylamine and FCCP also delay the onset of phosphorylation for about 40 ms and they do so at concentrations too low to cause significant inhibition of steady-state phosphorylation. This may be the reason that they are much more inhibitory to phosphorylation during short illumination periods than during longer illumination periods. 3 The delays in phosphorylation introduced by permeant ions and by low concentrations of the uncouplers octylamine and FCCP are not additive. 4 Higher concentrations of all of the uncouplers which are capable of causing major inhibitions of steady-state phosphorylation increase the delay in the onset of phosphorylation, whether or not permeant ions are present. The increase in delay caused by these higher concentrations is a function of the degree of uncoupling and of the extent of the delay already present at low uncoupler concentrations. 5 For reasons which remain obscure, post-illumination ATP formation is much more sensitive to the uncoupler methylamine than is ATP formation induced by either continuous illumination or acid-base transitions. 6 It is concluded that for the first 40 ms of illumination a transmembrane electric potential gradient is required for photophosphorylation and that permeant ions prevent the formation of such a potential by carrying charges across the lamellar membrane. Presumably the protonated form of octylamine, the octylammonium ion, is itself a permeant cation and therefore functions like K+ in the presence of valinomycin, whereas methylamine once protonated is probably trapped inside the lamellar vesicle, thus preserving the membrane potential. On the other hand, FCCP may destroy any developing membrane potential by carrying outside a small proportion of the hydrogen ions formed inside during electron transport. 7 During the initial 40 ms of illumination, phosphorylation depends on the chemical potential of the hydrogen ions even though a transmembrane electric potential gradient seems also to be required.
Inhibition of diabetic nephropathy by a GH antagonist: A molecular analysis

Inhibition of diabetic nephropathy by a GH antagonist: A molecular analysis. Streptozotocin-treated C57B1/SJL mice developed glomerular hypertrophy and light microscopic lesions mimicking human diabetic glomerulosclerosis. In contrast, there were no glomerular hypertrophy and lesions in diabetic mice transgenic (TG) for a mutated growth hormone (bGH-G119K) that competes with native endogenous GH and results in dwarfism. We examined the molecular events underlying these findings. The non-transgenic (non-TG) diabetic mouse glomeruli had an increase in mRNA coding for α 1IV collagen, laminin B1, TGF- β 1, 72kDa collage-nase, and TIMP-3. In contrast, glomerular type IV collagen and laminin B1 mRNA levels were normal in diabetic TG dwarf mice. However, the 72kDa gelatinase, TIMP-3, and TGF- β 1 mRNAs were elevated in the diabetic dwarfs. Type IV collagen and laminin accumulated in the glomeruli of diabetic non-TG, but not of diabetic dwarf mice, by immunofluorescence microscopy, confirming the mRNA data. GH binding protein mRNA levels were comparable in glomeruli from dwarf and non-TG mice, both diabetic and non-diabetic. We did not detect GH receptor mRNA in glomeruli. These data suggest that diabetic glomerulosclerosis is associated with an increase in type IV collagen and laminin synthesis, and that these changes do not occur in mice transgenic for bGH119K, a functional antagonist of GH. The increase of 72kDa gelatinase, TIMP-3, and TGF- β 1 mRNAs, independent of GH, suggested that these changes induced by hyperglycemia were not sufficient for the induction of glomerulosclerosis.
The effect of dexamethasone on the course of Echinostoma caproni and E. trivolvis infections in the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

Golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were given intramuscular injections of dexamethasone and infected with Echinostoma caproni or E. trivolvis. All animals were necropsied on day 14 postinfection. Dexamethasone treatment at high doses resulted in increased parasite recovery. Decreased total white blood cell counts and decreased relative splenic weights were observed in corticosteroid-treated hamsters. Dexamethasone-treated animals also demonstrated significantly lower mean parasite dry weights for E. caproni. Specific serum IgG against the parasites was not detected in corticosteroid-treated hamsters on day 14 postinfection.
Identification of a novel transcriptional regulatory element within the promoter region of the keratinocyte growth factor gene that mediates inducibility to cyclic AMP.

Abstract Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) plays a critical role in the normal development and morphogenesis of many different tissues and organs. Furthermore, its expression is induced during wound healing and in various chronic inflammatory diseases. To determine the molecular mechanisms which regulate KGF gene induction at the transcriptional level, we carried out in vitro studies using the human KGF promoter. We have identified a novel regulatory element, TGAGGTCAG, located between −39 and −46 bp (relative to the transcription start site) in the KGF basal promoter region, which binds to inducible transcription factors as determined by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. When cloned in front of a heterologous SV40 promoter this region conferred inducibility to forskolin, a stimulator of adenylate cyclase. In contrast, various mutated forms of this region were either partially or completely impaired in their ability to mediate induction to forskolin. The TGAGGTCAG sequence shared homology to both the cAMP responsive element (CRE) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) consensus binding sites. An oligonucleotide comprising a consensus CRE binding site partially competed for the nuclear protein binding to the TGAGGTCAG site. Gel mobility supershift assays indicated that two members of the activating transcription factor (ATF) family of CRE binding proteins, ATF1 and ATF2, were part of the nuclear protein complex bound to this regulatory region. Furthermore, purified recombinant ATF2 was able to directly recognize and bind the TGAGGTCAG sequence. In contrast, no evidence was obtained for C/EBP transcription factors being part of the complex. These results suggest that members of the ATF family are involved in mediating the transcriptional regulation of the KGF gene in response to extracellular stimuli via a novel CRE regulatory element.
Effects of dopexamine hydrochloride, a beta‐adrenergic and dopaminergic agonist, on vascular resistances, and flow distribution between cutaneous and skeletal muscle vasculatures

Local i.a. infusions of the dopaminergic and β2 adrenoceptor agonist dopexamine HCL (DPX) into collateral-free, innervated canine forelimbs perfused at constant flow produced dose-dependent decreases in perfusion pressure, evidence of a vasodilator response in the forelimb vasculature. DPX produced vasodilation in both the skin (cutaneous) and skeletal muscle vasculature of the canine forelimb, as evidenced by the dose-dependent decrease in total skin and total skeletal muscle vascular resistances. DPX produced comparable dilation of the skin and skeletal muscle vasculatures, as evidenced by the failure of this agent to produce a significant shift in blood flow between the brachial and cephalic venous outflows, that is, between the skin and skeletal muscle vasculatures. In the cutaneous (skin) vascular circuit, DPX failed to affect vascular resistances in the large artery and large vein segments, but produced a dose-dependent decrease in vascular resistance in the small vessel segment, presumably reflecting primarily arteriolar vasodilation. The vascular smooth muscle relaxation produced by DPX was inhibited by treatment with propranolol, suggesting that the vasodilation primarily results from direct stimulation of forelimb vascular β2 adrenoceptors by DPX.
Robot-Assisted Therapy Improves Motor Function in Individuals after Cerebral Hemispherectomy (P5.180)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of intensive robot-assisted therapy for improving long-term motor deficits after cerebral hemispherectomy. BACKGROUND: Few studies exist on rehabilitation methods for hemiparesis in chronic-phase cerebral hemispherectomy patients. Effective regimens are needed as they face significant disabilities. Robot-assisted rehabilitative devices are designed to deliver high-intensity, high-repetition therapy with continuous interactive responses. DESIGN/METHODS: Seven post-hemispherectomy patients (11.2±0.9 years; age at time of first surgery 0.25-9 years; all subjects >1 year from last surgery) received 8 days of robot-assisted rehabilitation, three hours/day (1 hour each of Hocoma Lokomat® driven gait orthosis on treadmill, InMotion ANKLE™ for foot dorsiflexion/plantarflexion and InMotion ARM™ for upper extremity horizontal movements) over 2 weeks. Outcome measures were assessed pre- and post-intervention on the hemiparetic side using Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Wolf Motor Function Test functional ability (WFMT-FAS) and time (WFMT-TIME), Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (CAHAI), Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and 10 Meter Walk Test (10MWT). RESULTS: Significant improvements were seen in Fugl-Meyer (P=0.02), WFMT-FAS (P=0.005), WFMT-TIME (P<0.001), 6MWT distance (P=0.04) and 6MWT speed (P<0.05). No significant improvement was seen in CAHAI or 10MWT. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive robot-assisted therapy improved upper extremity motor functional ability and gait endurance in post-hemispherectomy children. A short-duration, high-intensity regimen of robot-assisted therapy is a feasible and efficacious rehabilitation method in these children. Improvements were seen despite participants being well out of the acute recovery period, supporting the idea of continuing neuroplasticity in the remaining cerebral cortex. The CAHAI may not be sensitive enough to capture the participants’ changes, and the number of therapy sessions may not be enough to effect a change in top walking speed. Whether greater improvements would be seen with more prolonged therapy, or with a less-intense regimen over a greater period of time, remains to be tested. Disclosure: Dr. Shaw has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chu Jr has nothing to disclose. Dr. Blydt-Hansen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Aisen has nothing to disclose.