cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Macromolecular crystal growth as revealed by atomic force microscopy

Direct visualization of macromolecular crystal growth using atomic force microscopy (AFM) has provided a powerful tool in the delineation of mechanisms and the kinetics of the growth process. It has further allowed us to evaluate the wide variety of impurities that are incorporated into crystals of proteins, nucleic acids, and viruses. We can, using AFM, image the defects and imperfections that afflict these crystals, the impurity layers that poison their surfaces, and the consequences of various factors on morphological development. All of these can be recorded under normal growth conditions, in native mother liquors, over time intervals ranging from minutes to days, and at the molecular level.
SU-FF-T-54: Quantification of CT Artifact Reduction of Second Generation Intracavitary Brachytherapy Applicator

Purpose: A second generation CT‐friendly applicator with movable shields has been developed for cervical carcinoma intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT). We report on a method to quantify the reduction in CT artifact in a phantom study using this applicator. Methods and Material: A gynecological phantom was fabricated to mimic a realistic patient anatomy and to fit a standard intrauterine tandem (45 degrees) and 20‐mm diameter colpostats. Once the applicator is inserted, packing using gauze was inserted around the colpostats to reduce air cavity. The phantom with the applicator set was scanned using a CT simulator (AcQSimCT, Philips) using axial mode (2.5 mm slice, 120 kVp, 110mAs). To eliminate image artifacts, two non‐overlapping, 30° gantry tilt axial CT scanning series which met at the middle of the ovoid were used. Shields were moved before each series scan to the opposite side of the ovoid. A second CT scan without moving the shields was performed to compare artifacts. The image sets were then rigidly aligned globally using mutual information. A region of interest inside the phantom from the slice with greatest CT artifacts visually was picked for quantitative analysis. The CT number from each voxel was tallied and summary statistics were calculated. Because the images are aligned, we could determine the difference in CT numbers between corresponding voxels from both images.Results: Visually, the CT scan set with shields moved out of the way were almost completely free of artifacts. The average %diff between all the voxels was 0.6%±42% (2σ), with maximum %diff of 1,039% for voxels with the largest artifact. Conclusions: The new applicator provides artifact‐free CTimaging without compromising the shields. We found the CT protocol with tilted gantry is easy to perform using CT simulators available in the radiation oncology department.
Global optimization of nonconvex problems with multilinear intermediates

We consider global optimization of nonconvex problems containing multilinear functions. It is well known that the convex hull of a multilinear function over a box is polyhedral, and the facets of this polyhedron can be obtained by solving a linear optimization problem (LP). When used as cutting planes, these facets can significantly enhance the quality of conventional relaxations in general-purpose global solvers. However, in general, the size of this LP grows exponentially with the number of variables in the multilinear function. To cope with this growth, we propose a graph decomposition scheme that exploits the structure of a multilinear function to decompose it to lower-dimensional components, for which the aforementioned LP can be solved very efficiently by employing a customized simplex algorithm. We embed this cutting plane generation strategy at every node of the branch-and-reduce global solver BARON, and carry out an extensive computational study on quadratically constrained quadratic problems, multilinear problems, and polynomial optimization problems. Results show that the proposed multilinear cuts enable BARON to solve many more problems to global optimality and lead to an average 60 % CPU time reduction.
Bacterial pneumonia or pulmonary infarction

CONCLUSIONS When the clinical problem is that of bacterial pneumonia vs pulmonary infarction, the best support for infection is shaking chills, purulent sputum, or bacteremia, whereas the best evidence of infarction is the angiographic demonstration of pulmonary thromboemboli. Important clues to infarction are a concurrent condition frequently predisposing to pulmonary thromboembolism; frankly bloody, nonpurulent sputum; sanguineous pleural effusion; migratory parenchymal infiltrates; and "pneumonia" unresponsive to chemotherapy. Such findings are inconstant, however, and it is unwise to consider them requisites for diagnosis. Moreover, one never should doubt or reject the possibility of pulmonary infarction simply because of high fever, leukocytosis, normal jugular venous pressure, "atypical" pulmonary lesions, nonbloody pleural effusion, failure to detect the source of the emboli, or because the patient is young or appears otherwise healthy. Clinical differentiation of bacterial pneumonia from pulmonary infarction occasionally is not possible. In that circumstance I recommend treatment for both disorders.
Screening approach for gestational diabetes in twin pregnancies

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the ideal cutoff for the glucose challenge test (GCT) in twin pregnancies undergoing screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Study Design A historical cohort of patients with twin pregnancies were identified from 1 maternal-fetal medicine practice from 2005 through 2013. All patients were administered a 1-hour, 50-g GCT between 24-28 weeks’ gestation. All patients with a GCT of ≥130 mg/dL underwent a 3-hour, 100-g oral glucose tolerance test. The diagnosis of GDM was made if 2 of the 4 values on the oral glucose tolerance test were abnormal (Carpenter and Coustan). The testing characteristics of the GCT for diagnosis of GDM were evaluated using 3 selected cutoffs: ≥130, ≥135, and ≥140 mg/dL. We excluded all patients diagnosed with GDM Results In all, 475 patients with twin pregnancies underwent a GCT between 24-28 weeks. The incidence of GDM was 6.5%. The positive screen rate using the 3 selected cutoffs were: ≥130 mg/dL, 34.7%; ≥135 mg/dL, 28.6%; and ≥140 mg/dL, 23.4%. A GCT cutoff of ≥135 mg/dL maintained 100% sensitivity, with a specificity of 76.4%. Using this cutoff, the positive predictive value was 22.8% and the negative predictive value was 100%. Compared to a cutoff of ≥130 mg/dL, a cutoff of ≥135 mg/dL resulted in 6.1% less patients testing positive while maintaining the same 100% sensitivity. Conclusion In twin pregnancies, the optimal 1-hour, 50-g GCT screening cutoff appears to be ≥135 mg/dL.
Positive Surgical Parenchymal Margin After Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy for Renal Cell Carcinoma: Oncological Outcomes

Purpose: The oncological efficacy of partial nephrectomy is related to obtaining a negative surgical margin intraoperatively. This study assesses the oncological outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for a renal tumor who had positive surgical margin on final pathology.Materials and Methods: The experiences of 2 surgeons with 511 patients with a pathological diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma treated with laparoscopic partial nephrectomy were reviewed. Patients with a positive surgical margin were identified retrospectively. Oncological outcomes were assessed by followup with chest x-ray and computerized tomography every 6 to 12 months for 5 years.Results: There were 9 patients (1.8%) with a positive margin on final pathology. Mean tumor size was 2.8 cm (range 1.7 to 4.0). Two patients underwent secondary completion radical nephrectomy, one at 4 days and the other at 2 months following laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. No residual tumor was identified in the nephrectomy specimen ...
Robust Manifold Learning With CycleCut

Many manifold learning algorithms utilise graphs of local neighbourhoods to estimate manifold topology. When neighbourhood connections short-circuit between geodesically distant regions of the manifold, poor results are obtained due to the compromises that the manifold learner must make to satisfy the erroneous criteria. Also, existing manifold learning algorithms have difficulty in unfolding manifolds with toroidal intrinsic variables without introducing significant distortions to local neighbourhoods. An algorithm called CycleCut is presented, which prepares data for manifold learning by removing short-circuit connections and by severing toroidal connections in a manifold.
Factors Affecting Wound Healing

Wound healing, as a normal biological process in the human body, is achieved through four precisely and highly programmed phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. For a wound to heal successfully, all four phases must occur in the proper sequence and time frame. Many factors can interfere with one or more phases of this process, thus causing improper or impaired wound healing. This article reviews the recent literature on the most significant factors that affect cutaneous wound healing and the potential cellular and/or molecular mechanisms involved. The factors discussed include oxygenation, infection, age and sex hormones, stress, diabetes, obesity, medications, alcoholism, smoking, and nutrition. A better understanding of the influence of these factors on repair may lead to therapeutics that improve wound healing and resolve impaired wounds.
A central processor for hierarchically-structured material: Evidence from broca's aphasia

Abstract Adults with localized cerebral insult were asked to construct non-linguistic, hierarchical tree structures which were analogues of syntactic trees thought to underlie sentences. It was found that only the Broca's aphasics had not remembered that the visuo-spatial material was organized heirarchically, although they had recalled the trees' symmetrical properties. Further, the Broca's aphasics tended to employ a chain-like constructional strategy in the creation of their trees. These findings suggest that the Broca's aphasics' constructions of non-linguistic, hierarchically-structured material may mirror their deficits in appreciating the hierarchical properties of sentential structures.
MacFarlane on relative truth

Then, the intuition is supposed to be, this utterance is true. But, obviously, the very same sentence has been uttered both on Monday and on Wednesday, and yet these utterances have different truthvalues. One might take this reflection to constitute a refutation of the mentioned view about future contingents. In any event, it certainly poses a problem for that view, and MacFarlane means to offer a 1 Whether it is false or neither true nor false will not matter for our purposes. Let’s suppose it’s the latter.
InterferenceRemoval: removing interference of disk access for MPI programs through data replication

As the number of I/O-intensive MPI programs becomes increasingly large, many efforts have been made to improve I/O performance, on both software and architecture sides. On the software side, researchers can optimize processes' access patterns, either individually (e.g., by using large and sequential requests in each process), or collectively (e.g., by using collective I/O). On the architecture side, files are striped over multiple I/O nodes for a high aggregate I/O throughput. However, a key weakness, the access interference on each I/O node, remains unaddressed in these efforts. When requests from multiple processes are served simultaneously by multiple I/O nodes, one I/O node has to concurrently serve requests from different processes. Usually the I/O node stores its data on the hard disks, and different process accesses different regions of a data set. When there are a burst of requests from multiple processes, requests from different processes to a disk compete with each other for its single disk head to access data. The disk efficiency can be significantly reduced due to frequent disk head seeks.In this paper, we propose a scheme, InterferenceRemoval, to eliminate I/O interference by taking advantage of optimized access patterns and potentially high throughput provided by multiple I/O nodes. It identifies segments of files that could be involved in the interfering accesses and replicates them to their respectively designated I/O nodes. When the interference is detected at an I/O node, some I/O requests can be re-directed to the replicas on other I/O nodes, so that each I/O node only serves requests from one or a limited number of processes. InterferenceRemoval has been implemented in the MPI library for high portability on top of the Lustre parallel file system. Our experiments with representative benchmarks, such as NPB BTIO and mpi-tile-io, show that it can significantly improve I/O performance of MPI programs. For example, the I/O throughput of mpi-tile-io can be increased by 105% as compared to that without using collective I/O, and by 23% as compared to that using collective I/O.
The shrink phenomenon

Subjects were exposed to motion pictures of various objects presented at different speeds, both approaching and receding. A breakdown in size constancy occurred significantly more frequently when the signs were receding than when they were approaching and significantly more often as projection speed increased. Since such specific cues as convergence and accommodation were not activated, unless reflexively, it was inferred that a generalized perceptual set rather than the reversal of specific cues accounted for the results.
The Effect of Television upon Voting Behavior in Iowa in the 1952 Presidential Election

The presidential election of 1952 offered a unique opportunity for the study of the effect of television upon voting behavior. By happy accident—the FCC freeze on the construction of new television stations—it was possible to find areas of the United States where there were counties within television reception range and also counties otherwise similar to these with respect to their past voting behavior, but outside the reception area. In these areas the presence or absence of television can be regarded, with reasonable safety, as a genuine independent variable; and if television influenced voting behavior, there is some hope of detecting its effects.The uniqueness of the situation and its utility for testing hypotheses about the effects of television deserve some comment. Ordinarily, one is confronted in ecological studies with an insurmountable confusion of cause and effect. For example, had there not been an “artificial” restriction on the extension of the television network in 1952, we would not be safe in regarding a county without television as comparable with a county having television. For in that case, absence of television would imply remoteness from centers of population of any size, and we could not assume that influences upon voting behavior in such remote counties would be the same as in counties closer to population centers.
Further Topological Proofs of Gribov Ambiguities

We show the existence of Gribov ambiguity for gauge group SU(N) and large classes of space-time manifolds with dimension less than or equal to four, working in the continuous category, extending previous results of Singer. In lower dimensions, and in four dimensions with gauge group SU(N), N≥3, we require only that the manifold be compact and orientable. In four dimensions with gauge group SU(2) there is a slight complification due to the fact that π4(SU(2)) does not vanish, though we are still able to state a useful result for that case. Some discussion of motivation is presented, in particular as regards to recent gauge-fixing proposals which arise in work that attempts to relate the Gribov ambiguity to confinement.
Sexually Transmitted Infections and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease in Women

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are an important public health challenge in the United States. Primary care clinicians can contribute to decreasing these largely preventable causes of morbidity and mortality by integrating routine screening, testing, counseling, treatment, and partner management of STIs into their practice. Newer tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea that can be performed on urine specimens allow screening without a pelvic examination. The most recent edition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sexually transmitted disease treatment guidelines provides an evidence-based, reliable, and convenient set of recommendations for treating and caring for patients who have STIs.
Some Remaining Questions about Studying Phonological Processing with PET: Response to Demonet, Fiez, Paulesu, Petersen, and Zatorre (1996)

One cannot but be grateful for such a detailed and spirited response to a paper (Poeppel, 1996), even when the outcome is such that one is deemed ‘‘naive,’’ ‘‘superficial,’’ ‘‘unrealistic,’’ and so on. In spite of my personal shortcomings, the article has at least served to unify several different groups using PET and motivated them to clarify the rationale underlying some of their studies. Since Demonet, Fiez, Paulesu, Petersen, and Zatorre and I are presumably on the same side with respect to the big picture, perhaps it would be useful to try to derive some common ground from all this. The structure of my argument was as follows. (1) There are several studies in the literature that make explicit claims about the neural basis of phonological processing. (2) The experimental paradigms used in these studies typically involved subjects executing some form of rhyme judgment. Therefore it might be helpful to compare these studies. (3) There is a fair amount of discrepancy among the results of these studies (no overlap/sparse overlap). (4) The discrepancy among the data is probably due to the complexity of phonological processing: different tasks engaged different aspects of phonological processing. (5) Therefore I reached what I thought to be a conservative and uncontroversial conclusion (which was stated multiple times): it is too early to attribute phonological processing to specific brain areas on the basis of these PET data.
The classification and treatment of Kienböck’s disease: the state of the art and a look at the future

The proper treatment of Kienbock's disease, a disorder that displays slow progression with eventual collapse of the lunate and alteration of the surrounding carpal architecture, requires an understanding of its aetiology and natural history. A reproducible classification system assists the surgeon in making appropriate treatment choices. In this discussion, we review the history and rationale for the four-stage step-wise classification system, along with our current treatment algorithm. We also discuss emerging classification systems and speculate on future directions in treatment and research.
Demand curves, economists, and desert islands: A response to Feldman and Dowd

Abstract Three academics — a physicist, an engineer, and an economist — go on a fishing trip during Spring break. They get caught in a sudden storm and are stranded on a desert island. Help is days away. Their only chance of avoiding starvation is to find a way to open some cans of food that washed ashore. The physicist says that he knows how to open the cans: ‘Let take two sticks and rub them together. The heat generated by the friction will cause a spark. We'll start a fire and heat the cans until the internal pressure becomes so great that their tops burst off. Then we'll eat the food.’ The engineer shrugs and replies, ‘That won't do us much good; the food will fly all over the place and we'll never get to eat it. Here's my idea: We find a sharp stone and pound it into the top of the can with a heavy rock. The force of blows, concentrated on a single point, will pierce the lid.’ The economist sighs and says, ‘No, no, that won't work either. There are no rocks on this island. This is what we do: Assume we have a can opener…’
Coronary artery disease is under-diagnosed and under-treated in advanced lung disease.

Abstract Background Coronary artery disease is a potentially treatable comorbidity observed frequently in both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung disease. The prevalence of angiographically proven coronary artery disease in advanced lung disease is not well described. We sought to characterize the treatment patterns of coronary artery disease complicating advanced lung disease and to describe the frequency of occult coronary artery disease in this population. Methods We performed a 2-center, retrospective cross-sectional study of patients with either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or interstitial lung disease evaluated for lung transplantation. Medications and diagnoses before the transplant evaluation were recorded in conjunction with left heart catheterization results. Results Of 473 subjects, 351 had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 122 had interstitial lung disease. In subjects diagnosed clinically with coronary artery disease, medical regimens included a statin in 78%, antiplatelet therapy in 62%, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker in 42%, and a beta-blocker in 37%. Ten percent were on no medication from these 4 classes. Fifty-seven percent of these subjects were on an antiplatelet agent as well as a statin, and 13% were on neither. Beta-blockers were less frequently prescribed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than interstitial lung disease (23% vs 58%, P =.007). Coronary angiography was available in 322 subjects. It demonstrated coronary artery disease in 60% of subjects, and severe coronary artery disease in 16%. Occult coronary artery disease and severe occult coronary artery disease were found in 53% and 9%, respectively. There were no significant differences in angiographic results between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung disease, despite imbalanced risk factors. Conclusions Coronary artery disease is common in patients with advanced lung disease attributable to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or interstitial lung disease and is under-diagnosed. Guideline-recommended cardioprotective medications are suboptimally utilized in this population.
Detection of Bacterial Spores with Lanthanide-Macrocycle Binary Complexes

The detection of bacterial spores via dipicolinate-triggered lanthanide luminescence has been improved in terms of detection limit, stability, and susceptibility to interferents by use of lanthanide−macrocycle binary complexes. Specifically, we compared the effectiveness of Sm, Eu, Tb, and Dy complexes with the macrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,7-diacetate (DO2A) to the corresponding lanthanide aquo ions. The Ln(DO2A)+ binary complexes bind dipicolinic acid (DPA), a major constituent of bacterial spores, with greater affinity and demonstrate significant improvement in bacterial spore detection. Of the four luminescent lanthanides studied, the terbium complex exhibits the greatest dipicolinate binding affinity (100-fold greater than Tb3+ alone, and 10-fold greater than other Ln(DO2A)+ complexes) and highest quantum yield. Moreover, the inclusion of DO2A extends the pH range over which Tb−DPA coordination is stable, reduces the interference of calcium ions nearly 5-fold, and mitigates phosphate in...
A microchip-based multianalyte assay system for the assessment of cardiac risk.

The development of a novel chip-based multianalyte detection system with a cardiac theme is reported. This work follows the initial reports of “electronic taste chips” whereby multiple solution-phase analytes such as acids, bases, metal cations, and biological cofactors were detected and quantitated. The newly fashioned “cardiac chip” exploits a geometry that allows for isolation and entrapment of single polymeric spheres in micromachined pits while providing to each bead the rapid introduction of a series of reagents/washes through microfluidic structures. The combination of these miniaturized components fosters the completion of complex assays with short analysis times using small sample volumes. Optical signals derived from single beads are used to complete immunological tests that yield outstanding assay characteristics. The power and utility of this new methodology is demonstrated here for the simultaneous detection of the cardiac risk factors, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, in human serum sam...
Dissociation of affect recognition and mood state from blunting in patients with schizophrenia

The present study was designed to investigate the relationships between expression, perception, and experience of emotion in schizophrenic patients with and without affective blunting. Cognitive processing speed, emotional perception, and emotional experience were assessed in 25 schizophrenic patients grouped according to scores on a measure of overt emotional expression (Rating Scale for Emotional Blunting). Results showed dissociation of emotional expression from emotional perception and emotional experience. Blunted schizophrenic patients were no more impaired in the perception of emotion (Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity) than non-blunted schizophrenic patients. In addition, groups did not differ in intensity of emotional experience as quantified on the self-report of arousal state (Positive and Negative Affect Scales). Accuracy of perception and reported experience of emotion did not differ between groups as a function of emotional valence. Cognitive processing speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test; SDMT) was related to blunting score and to perception accuracy, although the SDMT did not differ between groups. Results are discussed in terms of a neuropathological basis for impairment of emotional expression.
Childhood obesity and proximity to urban parks and recreational resources: A longitudinal cohort study

Abstract The objective of the research was to assess how proximity to parks and recreational resources affects the development of childhood obesity through a longitudinal study. Data were collected on 3173 children aged 9–10 from 12 communities in Southern California in 1993 and 1996. Children were followed for eight years to collect longitudinal information, including objectively measured body mass index (BMI). Multilevel growth curve models were used to assess associations between attained BMI growth at age 18 and numerous environmental variables, including park space and recreational program access. For park acres within a 500 m distance of children’s homes, there were significant inverse associations with attained BMI at age 18. Effect sizes were larger for boys than for girls. Recreation programs within a 10 km buffer of children’s homes were significantly and inversely associated with achieved levels in BMI at age 18, with effect sizes for boys also larger than those for girls. We conclude that children with better access to parks and recreational resources are less likely to experience significant increases in attained BMI.
The Role Of Unsteady Adiabatic Expansion In Laser Sputtering

When the number of monolayers sputtered per particle or per pulse is sufficiently small the emitted particles fly freely from the target surface. For yields comparable to 0.5 monolayer a limited number of gas-phase interactions occurs, leading to a Knudsen layer. As a result the particles develop moderate forward peaking ~cos4 θ) and begin to flow (Mach number ≈ 1). It is common, however, for yields to exceed 0.5 monolayer. We show that the resulting gas-phase interactions cause the Knudsen layer to evolve into an unsteady, adiabatic expansion which is formally like a gun which fires a finite charge into an infinite, one-dimensional barrel.
Female appearance as a factor in the responsiveness of male chickens during anti-predator behaviour and courtship

Male chickens, Gallus gallus domesticus, give more aerial alarm calls in response to overhead hawk models in the presence of conspecifics than when they are alone. The specificity of this ‘audience effect’ on call production was investigated by placing cocks with females of three chicken strains. One strain was the same as that of the male, the second differed in plumage colour, and the third differed in plumage colour and texture, as well as in comb morphology. Despite this variation in visual characteristics, all of the strains were equally effective in potentiating male alarm calling. In contrast, the duration of courtship displays elicited by hens of the three strains differed significantly. The strongest response was evoked by hens of the male's own strain and the weakest by hens of strain most different in appearance. Hence, the cock's sensitivity to variation in the appearance of hens exhibits marked context dependence. The visual characteristics necessary for the social potentiation of alarm calling are more broadly defined than those that elicit courtship. This difference in specificity may be attributable to the division of attention between eliciting stimulus and audience during alarm calling, but not during courtship, when the male's attention is focused entirely on the hen. The immediate response required by aerial predators may also have selected for less specific audience recognition criteria than in other contexts, such as food calling, where male behaviour is more deliberate and responses to audiences are more discriminating.
The k-ary n-cube network : modeling, topological properties and routing strategies

Abstract The class of k-ary n-cubes represents the most commonly used interconnection topology for parallel and distributed systems. The main shortcoming of this topology is exponential growth of its size, which is kn, as n increases. In this paper, we describe a technique for modeling k-ary n-cube networks. The proposed technique is used to define and to analyze a variation of this topology, which we call incomplete k-ary n-cubes, or incomplete n:k cubes for short. We show that n:k cubes and incomplete n:k cubes are members of the class of linear recursive networks reported in [1] with generators (k−1)βk and (k−1)β respectively, where β is any positive integer. The significance of linearity of an incomplete n:k cube lies in the ability of having control over the growth (in size) of this type of networks. Thus, it is possible to design a communication network which satisfies most of the n:k cube properties but with significantly smaller size. In addition, an efficient routing algorithm for the class of incomplete n:k cube networks is presented.
Contribution of sensory and motor components to motor control asymmetries: An analytical model approach

Proprioceptive and motor information contribute to movement representation; however, the equivalence of homologous contralateral information has received little attention. In a recent study using the matching paradigm we showed that upper limb position sense, based on feedback control, is asymmetric and this asymmetry could be associated with a difference in gain between left (L) and right (R) sensorimotor systems. The current results also show that movement sense is asymmetric in males and this asymmetry is dependent on handedness. It is assumed that a difference in gain between each sensorimotor system may be associated with asymmetric kinesthetic representations in cortical areas. Outcomes of models representing position and velocity control respectively suggest that velocity matching may be primarily controlled in a feed forward mode. Furthermore, compatibility between the models representing position control and velocity control also indicate that i) a difference between the L and R motor gains alone is not possible and ii) there must be a difference between the L and R sensory gains. Hence, the results strongly suggest a difference in movement representation between the two hand/hemisphere systems.
Measurement of SIL-TAL1 fusion gene transcripts associated with human T-cell lymphocytic leukemia by real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR

TAL1 disruption at 1p32 [del(1p)] is a common rearrangement in the development of T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL). The del(1p) are usually interstitial 90kb deletions placing TAL1 under control of the SCL interrupting locus (SIL) gene forming the SIL-TAL1 fusion product. A reverse transcriptase real-time PCR assay to quantify SIL-TAL1 fusion genes is described. A SIL-TAL1 fusion gene RNA transcript was built that permitted absolute standard curves to be generated. Sensitivity of the RT-PCR assay was determined to be 10 cells (CEM cell line) in 10(6) human lymphocytes. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from 10 healthy adults and 10 neonates were assayed. None of the samples showed any SIL-TAL1 expression. However, when lymphocytes from three adults were cultured in vitro the SIL-TAL1 transcript was detectable in the RNA isolates. No RAG2 expression was detected in these expanded samples, suggesting that the clones bearing the SIL-TAL1 fusion gene may have existed at low levels prior to the ex vivo expansion.
Existence of equilibria in exhaustible resource industries Nonconvexities and discrete vs. continuous time

Abstract I demonstrate in a very general model that decreasing or U-shaped average cost curves always rule out competitive equilibrium in continuous-time models of extractive industries. Discrete-time models of these industries, however, can have competitive equilibria. Existence of competitive equilibria in the presence of nonconvexities is sometimes more and sometimes less problematic for extractive industries than for industries making a producible commodity.
Effect of Calcium Pantothenate and Para-Aminobenzoic Acid on the Gray Hair of Humans:

ConclusionsIn a group fo 19 elderly individuals with gray hair, a significant color change was noted during a period of intensive vitamin therapy in only 2 individuals; these subjects received both calcium pantothenate and para-aminobenzoic acid, together with brewer's yeast. Both were men. The fact that the only 2 substantiated results occurred in the group receiving both calcium pantothenate and para-aminobenzoic acid may be of importance. Some questionable changes were noted when one or the other drug was given alone.
MUC1-C oncoprotein promotes FLT3 receptor activation in acute myeloid leukemia cells

Blasts from approximately one-third of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harbor activating mutations in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) receptor tyrosine kinase that confer a poor prognosis. The Mucin 1-C-terminal subunit (MUC1-C) oncoprotein is aberrantly expressed in AML blasts and stem cells; however, there is no known interaction between MUC1-C and FLT3. The present studies demonstrate that MUC1-C associates with wild-type and mutant FLT3 in AML cells. Targeting MUC1-C with the cell-penetrating peptide inhibitor GO-203 disrupts MUC1-C/FLT3 complexes and downregulates FLT3 activation. GO-203 treatment of AML cells was also associated with inhibition of the FLT3 downstream effectors AKT, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and STAT5. The results further show that AML cells with FLT3-activating mutations and resistant to the FLT3 inhibitor midostaurin/PKC412 are sensitive to GO-203–induced growth arrest and death. Moreover, GO-203 increases sensitivity of mutant FLT3 AML cells to FLT3 inhibitor treatment. These results indicate that MUC1-C contributes to FLT3 activation in AML cells and that targeting MUC1-C inhibits the FLT3 signaling pathway. Our findings support the development of MUC1-C inhibitors alone and in combination with agents that target FLT3 for the treatment of wild-type and mutant FLT3 AML.
Hindbrain Catecholamine Neurons Control Rapid Switching of Metabolic Substrate Use during Glucoprivation in Male Rats

Using the retrogradely transported immunotoxin, antidopamine β-hydroxylase-saporin (DSAP), we showed previously that hindbrain catecholamine neurons innervating corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus are required for glucoprivation-induced corticosterone secretion. Here, we examine the metabolic consequences of the DSAP lesion in male rats using indirect calorimetry. Rats injected into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus with DSAP or saporin (SAP) control did not differ in energy expenditure or locomotor activity under any test condition. However, DSAP rats had a persistently higher respiratory exchange ratio (RER) than SAPs under basal conditions. Systemic 2-deoxy-D-glucose did not alter RER in DSAP rats but rapidly decreased RER in SAP controls, indicating that this DSAP lesion impairs the ability to switch rapidly from carbohydrate to fat metabolism in response to glucoprivic challenge. In SAP controls, 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced decrease in RER was abolished by adrenalectomy but not adrenal denervation. Furthermore, dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, decreased RER in both SAP and DSAP rats. Thus, rapid switching of metabolic substrate use during glucoprivation appears to be due to impairment of the catecholamine-mediated increase in corticosterone secretion. Sustained elevation of basal RER in DSAP rats indicates that catecholamine neurons also influence metabolic functions that conserve glucose under basal conditions.
Stable ornithine decarboxylase in a rat hepatoma cell line selected for resistance to α-difluoromethylornithine☆

Abstract Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is extremely unstable in mammalian cells. This unusual characteristic facilitates rapid fluctuations in the activity of this enzyme in response to variations in its biosynthesis. Unfortunately, very little is known about the mechanism or regulation of this ODC-specific proteolytic pathway. This study describes the production and characterization of a variant of the rat hepatoma HTC cell line that is strikingly deficient in this pathway. This cell variant was induced by selection for growth in stepwise increasing concentrations (up to 10 m m ) of the irreversible ODC inhibitor, α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO). Resistance to this inhibitor appears to result from a combination of elevated (10×) ODC biosynthesis and inhibited degradation, producing greater than a 2000-fold increase in the level of ODC protein. In these variant cells (DH23b) inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide did not result in rapid loss of enzyme activity or ODC protein determined by radioimmunoassay. Pulse-chase studies with [ 35 S]methionine confirmed that this enzyme was not preferentially degraded, even when spermidine was added to the media. ODC purified from the variant cells was found to be identical to the control cell enzyme in size, isoelectric point, substrate binding kinetics, and sensitivity to the inhibitor DFMO. Also, as in the control cells, a major fraction of the ODC molecules extracted from DH23b cells was shown to be phosphorylated on a serine residue. The inability to detect physical or kinetic differences between the parent and the variant cell ODC suggests that the unusual stability of ODC in this cell is associated with a defect in a cellular mechanism for ODC-specific degradation.
The new boots on the ground: NGOs in the changing landscape of international news

This article explores the role that nongovernmental organizations play in the changing landscape of international news. Drawing on archival analysis and 65 interviews with nongovernmental organization professionals, it examines the resource commitments and values guiding research at leading humanitarian and human rights nongovernmental organizations. It finds that staff size, country coverage, and reporting capacity have increased substantially over time and now rival the resources found in major news organizations. Interviews reveal that nongovernmental organization work is guided by values of accuracy, pluralism, advocacy, and timeliness. These values overlap with and sometimes extend commonly held journalistic values, but they are not reducible to them. Findings suggest that nongovernmental organizations provide important ‘boots on the ground’ coverage of international affairs, even as their imbrication with journalistic practices raises important normative questions for nongovernmental organizations, ...
Dynamic behavior of the firm with adjustment costs, under regulatory constraint

Abstract This paper investigates the optimal investment behavior of the regulated (profit-maximizing) firm in a dynamic context. The modern adjustment cost approach to investment is incorporated into the theory of a regulated firm, which has typically been discussed in a static framework. This paper thus generalizes the well-known Averch-Johnson thesis which is proved in the static context. The paper investigates both the finite and infinite horizon cases.
Featured Collection Introduction: Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Development and Application

The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), a state-federal partnership, is an ongoing experiment in how to restore the national treasure which is the United States’ (U.S.) largest estuary. The Chesapeake Bay experiment has now been running for three decades, but in 2010 a new tool was added to the restoration effort when the nation’s most extensive Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program was established for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL marked a change in direction for the CBP partnership from a voluntary restoration program to one based on a regulatory form of allocations. The reasons for this pivot are outlined in the Executive Summary of the 2010 Chesapeake TMDL (USEPA, 2010). The Chesapeake Bay TMDL is based on the achievement of a suite of living resourcebased water quality standards for dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, and water clarity, which support fish, shellfish, underwater grasses, and other important aquatic life communities. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL incorporates several key elements. Scientifically based, publically understandable, water quality standards are the most important of these. The Chesapeake Bay water quality standards are based on requirements for the Bay’s living resources to thrive, including adequate dissolved oxygen in deep water habitats and good water clarity in the shallow waters necessary for growth of underwater grasses which provide habitat for juvenile fish and crabs. The partnership of state and federal agencies, which provides resource management governance and collaborative decision making for the entire watershed, is the second key element. This year the CBP marks its 30th anniversary. The CBP partnership was formed 30 years ago when the first Chesapeake Bay agreement was signed in 1983, recognizing the “historical decline of living resources” in the Chesapeake Bay and committing to a cooperative approach to “fully address the extent, complexity, and sources of pollutants entering the Bay.” It laid the foundation for a cooperative program that now includes all the Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions. Finally, there is the long history of ever-increasing scientific understanding of the Bay ecosystem and the surrounding watershed. The underlying science enables the state and federal partners to agree on an equitable allocation of pollutant load reduction responsibilities. The JAWRA Featured Collection on the Chesapeake Bay TMDL tells the story of the
Probing the Diffusion of a Dilute Dye Solution in Mesoporous Glass with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

The translational motion of rhodamine 6g dye molecules near the surface of a mesoporous glass with a disordered pore structure and a nominal pore diameter of 130 A is measured by the application of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to fluorescence burst data as dye molecules diffuse through the laser excitation volume. FCS analysis indicates that the motion of the rhodamine 6g molecules in the mesoporous glass deviates from simple Brownian motion with a single diffusion constant. Two models, including two-component diffusion and diffusion plus adsorption, are utilized to fit the correlation data. The multicomponent diffusion model comprised of free diffusion (with a diffusion coefficient of 4.89 × 10-7 cm2/s) and transient adsorption/desorption (desorption time of 67 ms) provides the best fit and the most plausible explanation of the correlation data. Possible explanations for the shift to multicomponent diffusion, such as restriction of the dye molecules within the pores of the glass, as well a...
Does illness severity matter? A comparison of laparoscopic esophagomyotomy with fundoplication and esophageal dilation for achalasia

There is scarce evidence regarding optimal treatment options for achalasia in patients with varying illness severity risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare outcomes with laparoscopic esophagomyotomy with fundoplication (LM) and esophageal dilation (ED) for hospitalized patients with different illness severity. The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) is an alliance of more than 100 academic medical centers and nearly 200 affiliate hospitals. UHC’s Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager (CDB/RM) allows member hospitals to compare patient-level risk-adjusted outcomes for performance improvement purposes. The CDB/RM was queried for patients with achalasia who underwent LM (n = 1,390) or ED (n = 492) during a 3-year period between 2006 and 2008. Overall esophageal perforation rates were significantly higher for ED (0.4% LM vs. 2.4% ED; p 0.05). In the major/extreme illness severity group mortality was comparable (1.37% LM vs. 2.44% ED; p > 0.05). Overall morbidity was significantly greater in LM (50.48% LM vs. 19.57% ED; p < 0.001). However, the length of stay was significantly increased in the ED group (8.96 ± 7.86 LM vs. 11.72 ± 11.05 days ED; p = 0.04). In hospitalized patients with minor/moderate illness severity, laparoscopic myotomy for achalasia showed comparable or better outcomes than ED. For major/extreme illness severity, dilation showed comparable or better profile for hospitalized achalasia patients. These results highlight the importance and impact of illness severity on outcomes of achalasia patients.
New method of gain measurement using two identical antennas

A new method for the measurement of on-axis pattern vector and power gain using two identical antennas is described. The antennas must obey reciprocity, but may be otherwise arbitrary; the usual requirements in the conventional 2-antenna gain-measurement method, that the polarisation be known a priori and that the separation be large compared with the Rayleigh distance, are eliminated.
Radiocarbon from Nuclear Tests, II

As a result of the generation of neutrons in nuclear tests and their subsequent reaction with nitrogen in the atmosphere, considerable man-made C/sup 14/ has been added to the earth's dynamic carbon reservoir. On the basis of the measured neutron yield per unit energy release and on the assumption that about two-thirds of the C/sup 14/ produced falls back as calcium carbonate, Libby has estimated that 10 x 10/sup 27/ atoms of C/sup 14/ have been introduced into the atmosphere as C0/sub 2/. Rafter and Fergusson have shown that the C/sup 14/ concentration in Southern Hemisphere tropospheric CO/sub 2/ has been increasing 2.1 percent per year since 1955. For the Northern Hemisphere, de Vries has suggested an increase of 4.3 percent between 1953 and 1957. The results of Munnich and Vogel point to an increase of about 3.2 percent per year for central Europe and 2 percent per year in South Africa over the period from 1954 to 1957. Considerable interest has been aroused in the possible genetic effects of this increase in the C/sup 14/ concentration ecent data related to this increase are presented together with a brief discussion of the probable distribution of bomb C/sup 14/ within themore » dynamic carbon reservoir. (auth)« less