cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improvement of Human-Oral-Epithelial-Barrier Function and of Tight Junctions by Micronutrients

The oral epithelium represents a major interface between an organism and its external environment. Improving this barrier at the molecular level can provide an organism added protection from microbial-based diseases. Barrier function of the Gie-3B11-human-gingival-epithelial-cell-culture model is enhanced by the micronutrients zinc, quercetin, retinoic acid, and acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid, as observed by a concentration-dependent increase in transepithelial electrical resistance and a decrease in transepithelial 14C–d-mannitol permeability. With this improvement of tight-junction (TJ)-barrier function (reduced leak) comes a pattern of micronutrient-induced changes in TJ claudin abundance that is specific to each individual micronutrient, along with changes in claudin subcellular localization. These micronutrients were effective not only when administered to both cell surfaces simultaneously but also when administered to the apical surface alone, the surface to which the micronutrients would be presen...
Pharmacogenomic studies of hypertension: paving the way for personalized antihypertensive treatment.

Introduction: Increasing clinical evidence supports the implementation of genotyping for anti-hypertensive drug dosing and selection. Despite robust evidence gleaned from clinical trials, the trans...
Evaluating Megawatt-Scale Smart Solar Inverters: A Commissioned 2.5-MW dc Supply for Testing Grid-Tie Inverters

Utility-scale photovoltaic (PV ) plants often use megawatt-scale central inverters with high efficiency and power density. Inverter manufacturers now offer solutions of more than 2 MW for 1,000-Vdc-class PV arrays; however, certifying inverters at this power level can present test equipment design and procurement challenges, particularly with new interconnection requirements such as California Rule 21.
Protein Kinase Activity in Escherichia coli

Two ATP-dependent phosphorylating activities in E. coli have been separated by ammonium sulfate fractionation. An enzyme form of low solubility, together with some endogenous substrates, is separated from ribosomes by ultracentrifugation, is eluted from a column of Bio-Gel P-200 in the void volume, and is relatively stable to heat. A divalent cation is required for activity; the rate of endogenous phosphorylation is 4-fold greater with Mn2+ than with Mg2+. Histones and protamine serve as weak exogenous substrates; purified E. coli ribosomes, phosvitin and casein are not phosphorylated. Cyclic 3’,5’-AMP (1 μM) has no effect on this kinase activity. A somewhat labile cyclic AMP stimulation (6-fold) of endogenous phosphorylation has been observed with a more soluble kinase fraction. (Other enzyme preparations have shown only cyclic AMP-independent activity.) Activity is optimal at pH 7. Mn2+ (1 mM) and Mg2+ (10 mM) are equally effective in supporting the endogenous phosphorylation. Heterogeneity of the endogenous substrates is indicated by the different subunit molecular weights of the phosphorylated products (about 66,000, 22,000 and 17,000). All three products are hydrolyzed by pronase, but not by RNAase or DNAase, and are dephosphorylated by alkaline phosphatase. The stability of the phosphoryl bond is characteristic of a phosphate ester rather than of an acyl phosphate or a phosphoramidate.
Multi-area Reliability Evaluation via a Demand–Supply Feasibility Theorem

ABSTRACT The reliability of a utility system is normally improved by interconnecting with other neighboring systems. This reliability improvement is brought about by the diversity in the probabilistic occurrence of both load and capacity outages in the different systems. This paper describes a new method for evaluating the generation reliability in an interconnected multi-area system. This method is based upon a demand-supply feasibility theorem which states the necessary and sufficient conditions for balancing the demand and the supply in a multi-node linear flow network. These feasibility conditions allow a direct (i.e. not iterative) calculation of loss of load probabilitites without evoking linear flow solutions. This method is used to study a sample four-area system with varying interconnection capacities. The simulation results and the computational requirements of this sample study are illustrated in this paper.
Time and Space-Resolved Spectroscopy

Because ultrafast lasers have pulse durations shorter than most characteristic relaxation times of condensed phases, it has become more important than ever to characterize their temporal, spatial, and spectral content in detail. Of increasing importance are the broad spectral bandwidth, the enhanced probability of multiphoton electronic excitations, and the possibility of creating extremely high spatio-temporal densities of electronic (or, in the case of picosecond infrared free-electron lasers, vibrational) excitation. Narrow-band tunable laser sources continue to have an important place here, because they permit state-selective excitations. Because ultrafast lasers can be used both to control the direction of laser-induced materials modification and to follow the temporal and spatial evolution of those modifications, the kinds of techniques described here are likely to be much more frequently used in the future. The most advanced techniques for doing this include: Temporal characterization based on autocorrelation and pump-probe techniques, coupled to microscopy; The spatial evolution of the laser-modified material using X-ray and electron diffraction methods; and Monitoring the temporal and spatial evolution of material removed by the laser using nonlinear time-resolved spectroscopy, such as CARS.
Global Proteomic Analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Identifies Molecular Pathways of Histone Modifications

The very long DNA of the eukaryotic cells must remain functional when packaged into the cell nucleus. Although we know very little about this process, it is clear at this time that chromatin and its post-translational modifications play a pivotal role. Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides a powerful genetic and biochemical model system for deciphering the molecular machinery involved in chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. In this chapter, we describe a novel method, the Global Proteomic analysis in S. cerevisiae (GPS), for the global analysis of the molecular machinery required for proper histone modifications. Since many of the molecular machineries involved in chromatin biology are highly conserved from yeast to humans, GPS has proven to be an outstanding method for the identification of the molecular pathways involved in chromatin modifications.
High-Fidelity FEA Simulation through Linking with Experiment Data: A Neural Network Methodology.

This paper proposes a novel computational framework for improving realism and fidelity of finite element analysis simulations through experimental test data. The proposed scheme utilizes an artificial neural network to learn and compensate for the differences between a finite element analysis model simulation and corresponding experiment. The proposed computational methodology is poised to significantly enhance the fidelity and realism of FEA model simulations beyond what is achievable through model updating.
Site Isolation in Metal–Organic Frameworks Enables Novel Transition Metal Catalysis

ConspectusComprising periodically repeating inorganic nodes and organic linkers, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) represent a novel class of porous molecular solids with well-defined pores and channels. Over the past two decades, a large array of organic linkers have been combined with many inorganic nodes to afford a vast library of MOFs. The synthetic tunability of MOFs distinguishes them from traditional porous inorganic materials and has allowed the rational design of many interesting properties, such as porosity, chirality, and chemical functionality, for potential applications in diverse areas including gas storage and separation, catalysis, light harvesting, chiral separation, and chemical sensing. In particular, the molecular functionality and intrinsic porosity of MOFs have rendered them attractive candidates as porous single-site solid catalysts for a large number of organic transformations. MOF catalysts offer several advantages over their homogeneous counterparts, including enhanced stability, ...
A Novel Diabetic Mouse Model for Real-Time Monitoring of Clock Gene Oscillation and Blood Pressure Circadian Rhythm:

Diabetic patients have an increased prevalence of blood pressure (BP) circadian rhythm disruption, which is associated with an increased risk of target organ damage and detrimental cardiovascular events. Limited information is available regarding the role of clock genes in the disruption of BP circadian rhythm in diabetes due to the lack of a diabetic animal model that allows real-time monitoring of clock gene oscillation. Here, we generated a novel diabetic db/db-mPer2Luc mouse model by crossing type 2 diabetic db/db mice with mPer2Luc knock-in mice. The daily rhythms of BP, heart rate, locomotor activity, and food and water intake were acquired by radiotelemetry or using metabolic chambers. The daily oscillation of mPer2 bioluminescence was recorded by LumiCycle in real-time in tissue explants and using the IVIS system in vivo. Our results show that db/db-mPer2Luc mice are obese, diabetic, and glucose intolerant. The db/db-mPer2Luc mice displayed a compromised BP daily rhythm, which was associated with disrupted daily rhythms in baroreflex sensitivity, locomotor activity, and metabolism, but not heart rate or food and water intake. The phase of the mPer2 daily oscillation was advanced to different extents in the explanted peripheral tissues from db/db-mPer2Luc mice relative to control mice. In contrast, no phase shift was detected in mPer2 daily oscillations in the explanted SCN. Moreover, advanced phase shift of the mPer2 daily oscillation was detected in the liver, kidney and submandibular gland in vivo of db/db-mPer2Luc mice. In conclusion, the diabetic db/db-mPer2Luc mouse is a novel animal model that allows real-time monitoring of mPer2 circadian rhythms ex vivo and in vivo. The results from db/db-mPer2Luc mice suggest that the desynchrony of mPer2 daily oscillation in peripheral tissues contributes to the loss of BP daily oscillation in diabetes.
The adverse kidney effects of cancer immunotherapies

Cancer therapies are a common cause of acute and chronic kidney disease, which are increasingly being seen by nephrologists in clinical practice. Conventional chemotherapeutic drugs and novel targe...
Child Sexual Abuse Exam Results in West Alabama

ABSTRACTChild sexual abuse (CSA) is a common problem, and allegations of CSA require a thorough multidisciplinary investigation which includes a comprehensive medical evaluation. Although most CSA ...
Energy Challenges and Risk Management for Transportation Sector in Maritime Industry

In this study I analyze energy challenges and its risk management with regard to international transportation with maritime industry specific. Mostly, I focus on renewable energy sources in order to get over the problem of carbon pollution. Although shipping is widely known as the most 'carbon efficient' mode of transportation. However, it does not mean there is nothing to do to decrease the level of pollution, or finding more energy friendly way to use. The efforts for finding most convenient solution requires large amount of investment and infrastructure. Those requirements should be examined very carefully by the global transportation companies and they should analyze risk factors in order to survive in tough energy challenges. Productive risk management will be helpful to create precautions for possible challenges in order to be successful in the global trade. I divided the topic to four chapters which are energy challenges and international transportation, energy challenges and risk management, major energy problems and possible solutions, and finally energy planning process. All of this chapters contain energy risks facing each company should be measured carefully with some acceptable level of precision and factors affecting trade should be given due diligence. The single most important item of risk exposure for a company operating in the shipping industry. The risk management process must be oriented towards the prioritization of energy problems, prompting those of greatest concern to become the focus of improved control. Accordingly, I investigate the factors affecting possible risk factors that have direct effect on the company’s final goal. By defining major energy challenges of the international transportation can enlighten the way of convenient solutions and precautions for the future of the trade. To achieve these aforementioned goals of this project, I estimate the planning stages and other factors impact on decision of finding most suitable energy source for the future of the company.
Safe Reinforcement Learning With Model Uncertainty Estimates

Many current autonomous systems are being designed with a strong reliance on black box predictions from deep neural networks (DNNs). However, DNNs tend to be overconfident in predictions on unseen data and can give unpredictable results for far-from-distribution test data. The importance of predictions that are robust to this distributional shift is evident for safety-critical applications, such as collision avoidance around pedestrians. Measures of model uncertainty can be used to identify unseen data, but the state-of-the-art extraction methods such as Bayesian neural networks are mostly intractable to compute. This paper uses MC-Dropout and Bootstrapping to give computationally tractable and parallelizable uncertainty estimates. The methods are embedded in a Safe Reinforcement Learning framework to form uncertainty-aware navigation around pedestrians. The result is a collision avoidance policy that knows what it does not know and cautiously avoids pedestrians that exhibit unseen behavior. The policy is demonstrated in simulation to be more robust to novel observations and take safer actions than an uncertainty-unaware baseline.
The Measurement of Estriol in Urine and Amniotic Fluid by Gas-Liquid Chromatography

The excretion pattern of estriol is of special interest to the clinician. During pregnancy, urinary levels of this compound can be directly correlated with several parameters applying directly to the fetus, ranging from weight to fetal embarrassment and death. The reason for this is the active participation of the fetus in the metabolism of estriol.
The effect of an in-school versus after-school delivery on students’ social and motivational outcomes in a technology-based physical activity program

Expanding opportunities to experience engaging STEM educational programs is an important pathway to increasing students’ interest and competencies in STEM and, ultimately, motivation to pursue STEM careers. After-school programs offer one means to achieve this aim, but barriers such as a lack of transportation or available teachers may limit participation for some students in this context. Transitioning after-school STEM programs to in-school can provide opportunities to increase reach by removing these and other barriers. However, it is likely that this change in the learning context, from after-school to in-school, impacts student experiences and, ultimately, program efficacy by altering how students and teachers interact; as teachers and students adjust their behaviors and expectations to a more traditional learning context. To examine this potential effect, self-determination theory was used to frame how the learning context influences the social and motivational outcomes of a STEM program for underserved youth. In-school (N = 244; 39% girls, Mage = 13, 63% Caucasian, 18% African American, 6% Multiracial) and after-school (N = 70, 33% girls, Mage = 12, 55% Caucasian, 16% Multiracial, 13% Latino/a) program students completed surveys that assessed teacher-student interactions, and student psychological needs and motivation. In a structural equation model, student perceptions of teachers were entered as predictors of motivation for the program directly and mediated by psychological need satisfaction. Learning context (0 = in-school, 1 = after-school) was entered as a ubiquitous predictor. Findings support the theorized model where perceptions of teachers positively predicted psychological need satisfaction (R2 = .20), and both variables positively predicted more self-determined motivation (R2 = .30–.35). Findings also demonstrate an effect of learning context where learning context negatively predicted the less self-determined motivations only (R2 = .06–.10) (i.e., in-school contexts are associated with less desirable motivational outcomes). Findings reinforce the instrumental role of students’ positive perceptions of teachers in fostering a more desirable self-determined motivation for STEM program participation. Additionally, in-school programs must consider and integrate novel approaches that mitigate the negative impact of established in-school structures and processes (e.g., grades and mandatory participation) on student motivation for these programs and, potentially, interest in STEM careers.
Does Density Aggravate the COVID-19 Pandemic?: Early Findings and Lessons for Planners

Problem, research strategy, and findings: The impact of density on emerging highly contagious infectious diseases has rarely been studied. In theory, dense areas lead to more face-to-face interacti...
The package deal account of laws and properties (PDA)

This paper develops an account of the metaphysics of fundamental laws I call “the Package Deal Account (PDA)” that is a descendent of Lewis’ BSA but differs from it in a number of significant ways. It also rejects some elements of the metaphysics in which Lewis develops his BSA. First, Lewis proposed a metaphysical thesis about fundamental properties he calls “Humean Supervenience” (HS) according to which all fundamental properties are instantiated by points or point sized individuals and the only fundamental relations are geometrical spatial and temporal relations between these. While the BSA does not require HS Lewis seems to hope that it is true. In contrast, the PDA is not committed to HS or even to the fundamental arena in which fundamental properties are instantiated possessing geometrical structure and thus is able to accommodate relations and structures found in contemporary physics that apparently conflict with HS. Second, although Lewis’ BSA doesn’t require HS his Humeanism does require that fundamental properties are categorical. In contrast, the PDA allows for the possibility that fundamental properties are individuated in terms of laws and so are not categorical. Third, the PDA expands and develops the criteria for what counts in favor of a candidate system with more attention to the criteria employed by physicists in evaluating proposed theories. Fourth and most importantly, unlike Lewis’ BSA, the PDA does not presuppose metaphysically primitive elite properties/quantities that Lewis calls “perfectly natural” properties/quantities or presuppose a metaphysically preferred language whose terms denote such properties/quantities. It replaces Lewis’ account with an account on which natural properties are not metaphysically prior to the laws but are elements of a package that includes a fundamental arena that plays the role of space-time as well as fundamental laws and properties. By doing so it responds to some epistemological and metaphysical issues that have been raised regarding natural properties and their role in the BSA. In sum, the PDA goes further in explicating the notion of laws in terms of the aims and practices of science especially fundamental physics rather than in terms of prior metaphysics. I begin by reviewing Lewis’ account of perfectly natural properties and his Humean BSA of laws.
The LDS Church in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in experienced modest initial growth in Eastern Europe and Russia following the entrance of full-time missionaries, primarily in the early and mid 1990s. Active church membership in many nations of the region peaked between approximately 1995 and 2000, but has since experienced retrenchment and decline leading to the consolidation or closure of some congregations and missions. Deficiencies of the institutional missionary program and a lack of vision for strategic outreach, in conjunction with local factors, hindered membership growth and convert retention. Declining receptivity to religious proselytism, as well as governmental restrictions in some areas, pose a guarded outlook for the future of the LDS Church in the region.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets as Reproductive Labour

Shakespeare’s procreation sonnets enjoin a young man to sire an heir so as not to deny his beauty to posterity, employing the persuasive techniques of poetry to facilitate the act of childbearing. ...
COVID-19 management in ferment

The dire circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated 1 the importance of a community, as opposed to hospital approach 2 , the value of prevention compared to treatment 3 , the need for objective information 4 , and the crucial role of access to services and commodities. Faced with a new disease, decision-makers often lacked reliable information on its natural history and value of proposed treatment modalities. Navigating in unchartered waters, service purveyors introduced interventions that were often challenged and sometimes proven to be inappropriate. Parallels can be drawn with the changing scenario of reproductive health over the last half-century. During the 1970s, developments in technology were at the forefront of public interest in health to the detriment of a community perspective that emphasised the Benthamite principle of the best for the greatest number 1 . Prominence was then given to clinical advances such as medical imaging in outpatient departments, microsurgical techniques in the operating theatre, and the development of synthetic drugs in laboratories. Success in the control of infectious diseases had led to that specialty being far from appealing for a career by 1980.
Taxonomy of ' Euconnus complex'. Part I. Morphology of Euconnus s. str. and revision of Euconnomorphus Franz and Venezolanoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae)

The large 'Euconnus complex' of genera includes Cyrtoscydmini with long, slender and strongly projecting mesoventral intercoxal process. Diagnoses of individual genera, including that of Euconnus Thomson, are exceptionally poorly defined and need to be revised. In the first part of this revision a detailed morphology of Euconnus s. str. is described and illustrated, based on the type species of the genus. Two Neotropical members of the complex, genera Euconnomorphus Franz and Venezolanoconnus Franz are revised; their morphology is described and diagnoses re-defined. Euconnomorphus pilosissimus Franz, Venezolanoconnus andinus Franz, V. caracasensis Franz and V. ranchoi Franz are redescribed. Venezolanoconnus minor Franz is transferred to Euconnus, resulting in Euconnus (incertae sedis) minor (Franz), comb. n.
CHAPTER 43 – Models of Repair Underlying Trinucleotide DNA Expansion

This chapter focuses on repair-dependent models for the expansion at a DNA break. The first and most straightforward mechanism proposed for DNA opening and expansion was polymerase slippage during mitosis. In this model, the polymerase dissociates from the repeat segment on the template strand during DNA synthesis and “slips” back to pair at a previously replicated triplet unit. The replicated repeat DNA forms an extrahelical loop that can be incorporated into the DNA. Although unpairing reactions in duplex DNA are energetically unfavorable, slippage during DNA synthesis is possible because the unpairing reaction occurs largely when polymerase falls off the DNA. Because hydrogen-bonded structures appear to be important intermediates in expansion, rapid and stable intrastrand hydrogen bonding is likely to allow extrahelical structures to prevail over duplex reannealing. However, a mitotic replication model predicts that slippage should occur in both the daughter and the template strands, and a relatively equal number of expansion and contraction events would be expected.
The Empirical Likelihood MPEC Approach to Demand Estimation

The family of Generalized Empirical Likelihood (GEL) estimators provide a number of potential advantages relative to Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators. While it is well known these estimators share an asymptotic distribution, the GEL estimators may perform better in nite sample, particularly in the case of many weak instruments. A relatively new literature has documented that nite-sample bias in the demand estimation problem of Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) is often large, especially in the absence of exogenous cost shifting instruments. This paper provides a formulation for a computationally tractable GEL estimator based on the MPEC method of Su and Judd (2012) and adapts it to the BLP problem. When compared to GMM, the GEL estimator performs substantially better, reducing the bias by as much as 90%. Furthermore, it is possible to use analytic bias correction to reduce the bias even more and obtain accurate estimates with relatively small numbers of markets.
Trends in algorithms for nonuniform applications on hierarchical distributed architectures

Scientific programmers are accustomed to expressing in their programs the “who” (variable declarations) and the “what” (operations), in some sequentialized order, and leaving to the systems software and hardware the questions of “when” and “where”. This act of delegation is appropriate at the small scales, since programmer management of pipelines, multiple functional units, and multilevel caches is presently beyond reward, and the depth and complexity of such performance-motivated architectural developments are sure to increase. However, disregard for the differential costs of accessing different locations in memory (the “flat memory” model) can put unnecessary amounts of synchronization and data motion on the critical path of program execution. Different organization of algorithms leading to mathematically equivalent results can have very different levels of exposed synchronization and data motion, and algorithmicists of the future will have to be conscious of and adapt to the distributed and hierarchical aspects of memory architecture.
On the Optimality of Dubins Paths across Heterogeneous Terrain

We derive optimality conditions for the paths of a Dubins vehicle when the state space is partitioned into two patches with different vehicle's forward velocity. We recast this problem as a hybrid optimal control problem and solve it using optimality principles for hybrid systems. Among the optimality conditions, we derive a "refraction" law at the boundary of the patches which generalizes the so-called Snell's law of refraction in optics to the case of paths with bounded maximum curvature.
The incentive problem and the demise of team farming in China

Abstract This paper begins with a discussion of what can be inferred about the efficiency of collective farming from the demise of team production in rural China. After reviewing the formal literature on incentives in collective farms, it examines two problems that may have plagued the Chinese teams: first, excessive egalitarianism, which can be analyzed by modifying existing models, and second, monitoring problems, which require a departure from the perfect information context of those models. By numerical example, it is shown that the superiority of household farming over forced collective farming does not preclude the possibility that some team production would have existed in a democratic equilibrium dominating both of them. Finally, the post-reform household contracting system is examined with special reference to distributive and allocative issues.
GPUs surpass computers at repetitive calculations

Major performance gains can be obtained by implementing computational intelligence algorithms on graphics processing units. However, a certain amount of skill is needed for the implementation; in some cases the performance gains can be as high as 200 times, but as low as two times or actually less than CPU operation. It is necessary to understand the limitations of the graphics processing hardware and to take these limitations into account in developing algorithms targeted at the GPU. It is important to note that all the examples in this document were operating on last-generation hardware. The next generation of graphics hardware is now available, and includes an order of magnitude more shader units per processor, as well as improved branching capabilities. Consider the possible capability of 512 programmable pipelines working in parallel at 1.5 GHz each, providing the amount of computing power previously seen in large supercomputers on a single desktop machine, at a fraction of the cost. These extremely powerful computing tools are now at the disposal of software designers for entertainment, scientific- computing, and computational intelligence applications.
Incorporating Employee Values in Job Evaluation

Concerns about the validity and reliability of existing job evaluation plans led the University of Minnesota's Personnel Department to design its own point-factor plan based on employee values of job worth. Items for the new plan were selected by employee committees, grouped into factors, and weighted by means of a general employee survey. The items were turned into a job evaluation questionnaire for employees to use in describing their own positions, and the questionnaire was used to evaluate 1426 positions in a representative set of 125 job classes. These data provided a basis for refining the plan, assessing its validity and reliability, implementing comparable worth, and revising the university's position classification system.
Time-resolved temperature measurements of radiatively heated tamped MgO foils by Kα absorption spectroscopy

Abstract In this paper we present time-resolved temperature measurements of a radiatively heated, thin tamped foil via Kα absorption spectroscopy. The sample foil was 1500 A MgO, tamped on both sides with 1000 A paralyene, and was heated by soft x-rays transmitted through the back side of a separate laser-irradiated 1500 A Au foil. The resulting plasma was then backlit by a separate laser-irradiated front-surface U foil, providing a time-resolved K -shell absorption spectrum over the duration of the heating phase. We compare the resulting data to synthetic spectra obtained from detailed simulations of the heating and expansion of the tamped foils, and find poor agreement. Much better agreement is obtained when we determine the temperatures through best-fit absorption spectra which assume temperatures ∗> 35% higher than predicted; the reason for this discrepancy is not yet understood.
Effects of minocycline on oxycodone-induced responses in humans

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 140 (2014) e86–e168 e153 of Life domains. Being retained in treatment was significantly positively associated with Physical, Psychological, and Environmental Quality of Life domains (all ps < .001). Increasing age and female gender were associated with worse Physical Quality of Life (p< .05 and .01, respectively). Conclusions: Urine opioid testing results have little association withQualityof Lifedespite the fact thatparticipants report substantial improvements in Quality of Life after entering buprenorphine treatment. Being retained in treatment is associated with higher quality of life in most domains. Urine testing alone may not be a good indicator of global impairment and maps poorly to subjective patient improvement in Quality of Life following treatment. It is important for researchers and clinicians to consider additional metrics beyondurinedrug test results for gaugingprogress in treatment. Financial support: NIDA 1RC1 DA 028407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.431 Choice to view cocaine images predicts concurrent and prospective drug use in cocaine addiction Scott J. Moeller1, N. Beebe-Wang1, P.A. Woicik1, A.B. Konova1,2, T. Maloney1, R.Z. Goldstein1 1 Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, United States 2 Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United
On the bullet sensitivity of commercial explosives and blasting agents

Abstract This paper presents the results of experiments conducted to compare the projectile, cap, and bullet sensitivity of a number of commercial explosives and blasting agents. It was found that No. 8 electric blasting caps having either aluminum or copper shells yield essentially equivalent results in cap sensitivity testing. It was also found that the results of projectile impact tests could be correlated with the results of cap sensitivity measurements in the sense that a projectile velocity could be defined that represented the approximate threshold between cap sensitivity and cap insensitivity. The most important finding was that under ordinary conditions of confinement expected in the transport and storage of explosives, materials that were not sensitive to a No. 8 blasting cap were not observed to be sensitive to rifle-fired bullets.
Metric elasticity in a collapsing star: Gravitational radiation coupled to torsional motion.

Torsional oscillatory matter motion as well as differential rotation couple via the linearized Einstein field equations to the gravitational degrees of freedom. For an arbitrary spherically symmetric background, such as that of a wildly pulsating or a catastrophically collapsing star, we exhibit (a) the strain tensor and (b) the corresponding stress-energy tensor. It is found that in the star there are two elasticity tensors. One expresses the familiar elasticity of matter, the other expresses the elasticity of the geometry. This metric elasticity is responsible for coupling the gravitational and matter degrees of freedom. The two coupled scalar wave equations for these degrees of freedom are exhibited. Also exhibited are their characteristics as well as the junction conditions for their solutions across any spherical surface of discontinuity.
Amplifiers for precise oscillographic measurements

Abstract If the amplifier-oscillograph is to attain the fidelity of frequency reproduction of the unaided oscillograph, the amplifier circuit must be designed, constructed, and used with discretion. In no portion of the circuits, in neither the amplifier itself nor the connected measuring circuits, is it permissible for the associated resistances, capacitances, and inductances to produce time constants so large as to suppress any of the frequencies which the oscillograph vibrator would reproduce normally. Steadiness of the amplifier is a prime consideration, usually attainable with moderately high gain units by having sure electrical contacts and the component parts operated conservatively within their respective ratings. Interference is frequently a source of considerable difficulty and great care must be exercised not to permit it to cause erroneous measurements. A method of compensating for the steady component of the amplifier output current has been investigated and when properly used, has been found neither to impair the sensitivity of the instrument appreciably nor to require critical adjustment. Consideration also has been given to the photographic technique involved in oscillography in order that its full possibilities might be realized. An instrument has been described and discussed which had a sensitivity of about 1.7 millivolts per mm. deflection. When the maximum permissible input resistance of 0.1 megohm was used, a current sensitivity of about 1.7 × 10−8 amperes per mm. deflection was attained. A greater value of input resistance could not be used without the possibility of introducing serious distortion.
MOVPE of AlGaInP/GaInP heterostructures for visible lasers

Abstract The current status of MOVPE for high-quality AlGaInP/GaInP heterostructure visible laser diodes is reviewed. It is shown that a detailed understanding of atomic ordering, heterointerface properties, and non-radiative traps in AlGaInP and dopant incorporation is necessary to obtain high-performance laser diodes emitting in the 600 nm range. In detail, the influence of a PH3 purifier on optical properties of AlGaInP and AlGaInP/GaInP heterostructures is discussed, and for controlled p-doping of AlGaInP, the effects of Zn and Mg incorporation are compared. Improvements in material quality and doping control have enabled us to realize index guided, AlGaInP/GaInP double heterostructure lasers emitting at λ ∼ 670 nm with a cw output power exceeding 20 mW and a maximum operation temperature of 100°C.
Laparoscopic evaluation of oviductal patency in the standing mare

Intraluminal masses in the oviduct might cause infertility and/or subfertility in mares by preventing transport of ova, sperm, or both, to the site of fertilization or the embryo into the uterus. Currently, there is no clinical test for oviductal patency in mares. The objective was to determine if the passage of microspheres from the oviduct to the uterus was associated with the presence or absence of intraluminal masses. In this trial, a standing laparoscopic technique was used to cannulate the oviducts and instill 15-μm fluorescent beads in 16 light-breed mares. At 48 hours after surgery, uterine lavage was performed to collect and quantify the number of beads transported to the uterus. Mares were immediately euthanized, and their reproductive tracts recovered. The presence of intraluminal masses was determined from postmortem evaluation and compared with the number beads recovered in the uterine lavage fluid. A test was considered positive for intraluminal masses if no beads were transported to the uterus. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were 71.4% and 85.7%, respectively.
Interactions of a fluorescently labeled peptide with kringle domains in proteins.

The tripeptide Lys-Cys-Lys has been synthesized and covalently labeled at the cysteine sulfhydryl with 4-acetamido-4′-maleimidylstilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid to produce a fluorescent labeled peptide (FLP). When excited at 340 nm, the FLP fluoresces strongly with maximal intensity at 405 nm. Addition of proteins containing the kringle lysine-binding domain, such as human lipoprotein (a) and plasminogen kringle 4, significantly attenuate the fluorescence intensity of the FLP. Other proteins, such as bovine serum albumin, did not affect the quantum yield of FLP fluorescence. When human lipoprotein (a) is bound to a lysine-Sepharose affinity column, FLP was found to effectively elute the protein, indicating that the peptide can compete with lysine for the kringle-binding site on lipoprotein (a). The data suggest that FLP binds specifically to kringles through the lysine residues on the peptide, and that binding significantly affects the fluorescence from the labeled peptide. These properties of FLP make it a potentially useful tool for studying the relative affinity of different kringles for lysine binding, which is thought to be an important mechanism for kringle-target protein interactions.
Utility of the immediate postoperative cortisol concentrations in patients with Cushing's disease

BACKGROUND: Several investigators have recommended serial measurements of serum cortisol in the days following pituitary surgery to identify patients at risk of recurrence. OBJECTIVE: We systematically reviewed the literature on this topic and analyzed the usefulness of this test in our own patient population. METHODS: We identified studies publishing data regarding recurrence rates after transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing's disease, focusing on studies with data regarding patients with early postoperative cortisol levels. We determined a cumulative relative risk of having a subnormal vs normal cortisol level postoperatively using a fixed-effects meta-analysis model. Additionally, we analyzed our own patients with Cushing's disease undergoing transsphenoidal surgery and performed Kaplan-Meier analysis of recurrence-free survival for patients with undetectable, subnormal but detectable, and normal immediate 8 AM serum cortisol levels. RESULTS: Fourteen studies met inclusion criteria. The length of follow-up varied between 32 and 115 months. The cumulative rate of recurrence in the group of patients with subnormal cortisol levels was 9% (95% confidence interval: 6%-12%). The cumulative rate of recurrence in the group with normal cortisol levels was 24% (95% confidence interval: 17%-31 %). We analyzed 73 of our own patients and found similar recurrence rates in patients with subnormal vs normal early postoperative cortisol levels (4% vs 22%, χ 2 test, P < .05). CONCLUSION: Although a subnormal early postoperative cortisol level is predictive of improved outcome after transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing's disease, it is not analogous with cure, nor is a normal level completely predictive of future failure.
Modular Formula: an approach to management of infants with specific or complex food intolerances.

Modular Formula is a dietary preparation for use in treating infants with complex malabsorptive disorders and for weaning infants from total parenteral nutrition. With this formula the physician can alter the quality of the various nutrients normally fed to infants as well as the concentrations of those nutrients. Infants who cannot tolerate existing proprietary formulas will often thrive with the judicious use of this flexible formula. Modular Formula provides the clinician with a useful aid in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diarrhea of infancy.
When Stable Becomes Unstable The Perils of Impersonal Medicine

Information about a real patient is presented in stages (boldface type) to an expert clinician (Dr Stephen D. Wiviott), who responds to the information, sharing his or her reasoning with the reader (regular type). A Discussion by the authors follows. A 61-year-old man presents to his primary care physician with several weeks of substernal chest pain. He reports that the discomfort occurs consistently with exertion, subsides after he rests for 15 minutes, and is often associated with dyspnea and diaphoresis. He denies any episodes of chest pain at rest, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, palpitations, presyncope or syncope, or lower-extremity edema. His medical history is notable for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and non– insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Over the past year, he has made significant lifestyle modifications, including reductions in high-fat foods and enrollment in an exercise program. He reports consistent adherence to his prescribed medications, which include lisinopril 20 mg daily, metformin 1000 mg twice daily, metoprolol succinate 25 mg daily, and simvastatin 40 mg daily. He has no allergies and no significant history of tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drug use. He is employed as a financial planner and lives with his wife and 2 children. There is no family history of premature coronary artery disease (CAD) or sudden cardiac death. His temperature is 98.1°F; blood pressure is 148/96 mm Hg in the left arm and 144/94 mm Hg in the right arm, pulse is 84 beats/min and regular, and respiratory rate is 14 breaths per minute with an oxygen saturation of 96% on room air. He is an obese (body mass index 33 kg/m2) white male who appears to be his stated age. There is no thyromegaly or adenopathy, and the jugular venous pressure is 6 cm H2O. Cardiac examination reveals a discrete, nondisplaced point of maximal impulse in the …
New-onset pelvic organ prolapse after Novasure endometrial ablation.

Background Endometrial ablation with bipolar radiofrequency energy (NovaSure) for dysfunctional uterine bleeding has gained wide acceptance due to its ease and efficacy.
AC Calorimetric Studies of Main Transition in Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)

The main phase transition in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes was studied with 0.03 Hz ac calorimetry. Water suspensions with 6.25 wt% DPPC and 15.0wt% DPPC were measured with a slow temperature scanning rate of 0.12 K/h through the transition on heating and on cooling. These studies revealed a fairly narrow C p peak at the main transition with a hysteresis of about 0.1 K. The integrated area of the excess C p peak observed on heating corresponds to an enthalpy of 6 kJ/mol of DPPC in both samples. This value is much smaller than the total latent heat of 38.8 kJ/mol obtained from adiabatic calorimetry, which indicates that the rate of phase conversion is quite slow. Pretransitional fluctuation contributions to C p were very small both above and below the coexistence region for the main transition. No C p anomalies were seen at the pre- or sub-transition even at the low frequency of 0.03 Hz.
Optical Coupling in Fiber Optics Packages with Surface Emitting LED's

The optical coupling performance of two fiber optics emitter packaging styles is determined into five large-core-diameter [ \geq 100 µm) optical fibers with varying numerical apertures (NA). One package contains a short fiber coupled to a high index spherical lens positioned accurately between the LED and the fiber. The other package is fiberless, utilizing a high index lens bonded accurately to the LED using an alignment ring technique, and projects light through the package's glass window to intercept the system fiber. Computer modeling studies have been combined with the manufacture and analysis of actual packages to investigate the optimum lens parameters for both packaging styles. Experimental and modeling studies suggest that for optical fibers with NA's \leq 0.20, the fiberless and short-fiber packages couple equivalent optical powers into fibers with diameters \leq 200 µm. For larger diameters, the fiberless package is somewhat superior. With high NA fibers ( \geq 0.30), however, the short-fiber package is clearly superior for fiber diameters up to 200 &microm, and equivalent for diameters greater than 200 µm. The excellent performance of the fiberless package is achieved because the alignment ring technique provides not only the desired alignment accuracy, but also yields a reproducible LED-to-lens spacing.
Development of Multiphoton Scanning Microscope for Simultaneous Imaging of Multiple Depths

We present a two-photon absorption scanning microscope capable of imaging two or more focal planes simultaneously. We modify the microscope's excitation path, and use photon counting, to separate different depth images through their relative timing.
GOODNESS-OF-FIT MEASURES FOR PROBABILISTIC TRAVEL DEMAND MODELS

This paper is concerned with the assessment of the goodness-of-fit of nonlinear models of the type currently being used in the development of the disaggregate, behavioral travel demand approach. These models are emerging as a potential new technique for many transportation planning problems, although much research is yet needed before they are sufficiently developed for operational use. In order to pursue the necessary research, and also for the later assessment of operational models, it is necessary to have adequate measures of the goodness-of-fit.
Characteristics of home-based community integration programmes for adults with brain injury.

Objectives: To conduct a nationwide telephone survey in order to gather data on some of the quantifiable characteristics of home-based community integration programmes available in the US to adults with brain injury.Design: Survey.Methods: The Community Integration Programme Questionnaire (CIPQ) was used to interview 13 home-based community integration programmes. This study then used descriptive statistics to analyse the characteristics of the programmes.Outcome: There was a good deal of variability in client and programmatic characteristics.Conclusions: There is considerable variability in characteristics among home-based community integration programmes.