cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanismen der unspezifischen Infektresistenz

Die unspezifische Resistenz wird von unveranderlichen und veranderlichen Faktoren bestimmt. Unveranderliche sind Lebensalter und Erbanlage, wahrend die veranderlichen unmittelbar oder mittelbar als Reaktion gegen einen eindringenden Erreger in Erscheinung treten. Bei den unmittelbar gegen den eindringenden Erreger wirksamen Faktoren lassen sich cellulare (Phagocytose durch Granulocyten oder das reticuloendotheliale System) und humorale (Properdin, bactericide Gewebsfaktoren) unterscheiden. Die mittelbar wirksamen Faktoren lassen sich zur Zeit nicht klar definieren auser durch jene Einflusse, durch welche sie verandert bzw. unterdruckt werden, wie z.B. Nahrungszufuhr, Umgebungstemperatur, Bestrahlung usw. Das umfangreiche vorhandene tierexperimentelle Material last in gewissem Umfang auch Schlusse auf die beim Menschen vorliegenden Verhaltnisse zu.
Soil-transmitted helminths, intestinal protozoa and Clonorchis sinensis infections in southeast China.

BACKGROUND Extensive parasitic diseases epidemiology in Zhejiang province has not been carried out since the second national survey in 2004. Therefore, dynamics in prevalence and infection pattern of the major intestinal parasites should be explored. METHODS The distribution of three parasites including soil-transmitted helminths (STH), intestinal protozoa and C. sinensis in Zhejiang from 2014 to 2015 were explored. Kato-Katz technique was used for STH and C. sinensis detection, whereas transparent adhesive paper anal swab was used for pinworm detection, and iodine smear was used for protozoa detection. A questionnaire survey on alimentary habits and sanitary behaviors was conducted in half of the studied counties. RESULTS This study recruited 23,552 participants: 19,935 from rural and 3617 from urban area. Overall prevalence of intestinal helminth infections was 1.80%. In this study, seven helminth species were identified including A. duodenale, N. americanus, Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, C. sinensis, Fasciolopsis buski and pinworm. The average prevalence of STH infection was 1.71%: 1.94% in rural and 0.44% in urban area. Hookworm was the most prevalent infection at 1.58%: 1.79% in rural and 0.44% in urban area. Prevalence varied considerably in the studied counties. Prevalence was highest in Yongkang county at 10.25%. Only 2.79% of children from rural area were infected with pinworm. A proportion of 0.40% of rural participants were infected with protozoa, whereas Endolimax nana was the most prevalent at 0.23%. C. sinensis showed infection only in one man. Awareness on C. sinensis was 24.47% in rural and 45.96% in urban area, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of STH and protozoa infections declined considerably whereas C. sinensis infections remained few in Zhejiang province compared with the prevalence reported in previous large scale surveys (19.56% for national STH infection in 2004, 18.66% and 4.57% for provincial STH and protozoa infection, respectively in 1999). The findings of this study showed that hookworm, mainly N. americanus remained a parasitic threat to population health, mainly in the central and western Zhejiang. Therefore, more health education regarding fertilization and farming habits is necessary in rural areas. The awareness concerning hookworm infection should be reinforced.
Operations research and artificial intelligence

This book provides conceptual underpinnings for relating artificial intelligence (AI) to operation research (OR). It includes tutorials on basic AI tools and techniques with thorough reference lists, as well as suggestive examples that connect AI and OR in various ways.
Efficiency and Evolution of Social Preferences and Prosocial Behavior

One might view social life as a sequence of competitive markets were a large number of economic agents interact anonymously and were individual decisions have only a negligible influence on each other. This is certainly an extreme description of the world. At the other extreme one might model social life as a sequence of two person games in which both players know each other very well and were each individual’s well-being depends to a large extent on the other player’s decisions. Of course, the truth will be a mixture of both and there are other intermediate forms of interaction, e. g. small group interaction, as well. The analysis here relies on a two-player model. It will be shown that in this case social preferences of the agents can generate economic efficiency and, moreover, that such preferences can be evolutionarily stable. Since social preferences may generate prosocial actions the study is at the same time on the evolution of prosocial behavior.
Subpopulations of human T lymphocytes. XIV. Abnormality of T-cell locomotion and of distribution of subpopulations of T and B lymphocytes in peripheral blood and spleen from children with untreated Hodgkin's disease.

Abstract Peripheral blood and splenic mononuclear cells from untreated children with Hodgkin's disease were examined for the proportions of T, B, and third population cells, T cells with IgM(Tμ) or IgG(Tγ) receptors, locomotion of T cells toward chemoattractants, casein- and endotoxin-activated serum, and for the effect of splenectomy on T-cell subsets and on locomotion of T cells. In the peripheral blood, proportions of T, B, and third population cells were comparable to those of controls, however, spleen contained increased proportions of T cells and decreased proportion of B lymphocytes. Tμ cells were comparable and Tγ cells were moderately increased in the peripheral blood resulting in an abnormally low ratio of T μ T γ cells when compared to those of controls. In the spleen, Tμ cells were increased, and Tγ cells were decreased resulting in an abnormally high T μ T γ ratio. The abnormally low ratio of T μ T γ cells in the peripheral blood were associated with poor locomotor responses of T cells toward both chemoattractants. By contrast, abnormally high ratios of T μ T γ cells in spleens of Hodgkin's disease were accompanied with increased locomotor responses of T cells toward casein and endotoxin-activated serum when compared with those of peripheral blood from same patients. Immediately following splenectomy, Tμ cells in the peripheral blood were increased and locomotor response of T cells increased over presplenectomy levels. These results support the concept of “ecotaxopathy” which might be one of the contributory factors responsible for certain immunodeficiencies observed in patients with Hodgkin's disease.
The Rockslide -Debris Avalanche of the May 18, 1980, Eruption of Mount St. Helens — 10th Anniversary Perspectives

The massive rockslide-debris avalanche of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens began with a retrogressive failure triggered by the 08:32 PDT earthquake. It depressurized the volcano's magmatic and hydrothermal system and produced a hummocky deposit with a volume of 2.5 km3. Detailed work provides a comprehensive understanding of a previously poorly understood type of event. The deposit consists of relatively intact pieces (block facies) of the pre-1980 mountain and mixed material (mixed facies) that is primarily rocks from the pre-1980 Mount St. Helens and the 1980 cryptodome. Travel paths of rockslide blocks are interpreted from a geologic map of the deposit. The material was fractured and dilated during the rockslide, after which grain-to-grain dispersive stress facilitated flow. During transport, the dilated material mixed but significant fine material was not produced.
Application of affine-invariant Fourier descriptors to lipreading for audio-visual speech recognition

Focuses on an affine-invariant lipreading method, and its optimal combination with an audio subsystem to implement an audio-visual automatic speech recognition (AV-ASR) system. The lipreading method is based on outer lip contour description which is transformed to the Fourier domain and normalized there to eliminate dependencies on the affine transformation (translation, rotation, scaling, and shear) and on the starting point. The optimal combination algorithm incorporates a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based weight selection rule which leads to a more accurate global likelihood ratio test. Experimental results are presented for an isolated word recognition task for eight different noise types from the NOISEX data base for several SNR values.
The Sun from Big Bear

Big Bear Solar Observatory is located high in a mountain lake in Southern California. It is one of very few solar observatories in the world capable of making high-resolution observations of the sun. The cloudless skies of the southwestern United States give the observatory more than 300 sunny days a year. The location in the lake 2-km above sea level provides a natural inversion that limits the near-ground effects of atmospheric turbulence. The prevailing westerly winds limit high altitude effects of atmospheric turbulence because the observatory is so close to the Pacific Ocean. The primary telescope has an aperture of 65-cm and is outfitted with sophisticated instruments to measure the sun’s magnetic fields and surface flows. We are presently adding a high-order adaptive optics system. The observatory also takes a leadership role in space weather studies, including monitoring and predicting solar activity and geomagnetic storms that can impact satellites, telecommunications, the power grid and passengers on polar flights.
Hardware acceleration of pseudo-random number generation for simulation applications

In modeling and simulation tools, random numbers from a variety of probability distribution functions are generated to simulate the behavior of random events. Inefficient generation of these numbers can be a significant bottleneck for simulation applications. Generating these random numbers imprecisely can skew results. An efficient and scalable fixed-point method for generating random numbers for any probability distribution function in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is developed. A Pi estimator, a Monte Carlo integrator, and a stochastic simulator for chemical species are developed in software. Estimates are made regarding their potential to be accelerated using the designed FPGA. Results are presented which examine trade-offs between the number of gates used by the FPGA and the accuracy of the random numbers generated. The work shows that generating random numbers using the designed hardware can significantly increase the performance of simulation applications that require many random numbers.
Conflict, Accommodation, and Compromise: Connecticut's Attempt to Control Industrial Wastes in the Progressive Era

As the literature and solicitations from environmental groups of the 1980s made clear, the Reagan years were noted for administrative and business hostility to environmental concerns.'That hostility gave rise to a popular environmental backlash, and in 1992, America elected as vice president the most outspoken environmentalist since Theodore Roosevelt. Yet the president elected that year was also committed to economic development and expansion. The White House linked together these two concerns with the slogan of sustainable development. In discussions over the potential conflict between the environment and economic development, the Clinton administration has shown considerable interest in the idea of finding a way to link together the concerns of environmentalists for a clean and healthy ecosystem and business's interest in a reasonable return on their investment. This is not a new idea. Historians of the Progressive Era have long noted that conservationists of that period also believed that they could meld economic development with conservation. For the progressives the path to sustainable development lay in expert management of resources and the application of science and technology.3The renewed interest in economic expansion coupled with conservationist rhetoric should encourage us to look again at just how successful the Progressive Era was in its struggle to utilize science and technology to overcome the conflict between economic development and environmental quality. Historically business has tended to look on the pollution costs of production as an external cost to be born by society in the form of dirtier water or air or depleted natural resources. Externalizing environmental costs encouraged economic expansion and employment by reducing costs to the manufacturers.4 Nineteenth-century manufacturers assumed that just as rivers should be dammed in order to supply power to their machines for the "common good" of industrial development, so too should running water be used as a sink to dispose of wastes. The thought that the manufacturers should be responsible for cleaning their wastes before dumping was as alien to them as the idea that they should tear down their dams so that fish could freely swim upstream.5 In general, their vision of externalizing environmental costs
Effects of chronic systemic theophylline injections on recovery of hemidiaphragmatic function after cervical spinal cord injury in adult rats

Based on a previous demonstration that acutely administered theophylline induces respiratory-related recovery in an animal model of spinal cord injury, the influence of chronically administered theophylline on maintaining recovery was assessed. The absence of respiratory-related activity in the left phrenic nerve and hemidiaphragm of rats subjected to an ipsilateral C2 spinal cord hemisection was confirmed electrophysiologically 24 h after injury. Theophylline was then injected i.p. for 3-30 consecutive days. Recovery of respiratory-related activity was observed in the majority (29 out of 32) of the experimental animals. We conclude that theophylline not only induces, but also maintains recovery for prolonged periods after cervical spinal cord injury.
Testing Hypotheses About Autism

A challenging, but potentially fruitful approach to evaluate proposed candidate genes for autism is to study analogous behaviors in mouse models.
Getting to Resolution: An Analysis

(2002). Getting to Resolution: An Analysis. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 161-163.
A Loss to Science

As a research physicist and the dean of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I am dismayed by the Department of Energy's decision to shut down permanently the High Flux Beam Reactor at Brookhaven National Laboratory [see the News of the Week article by David Malakoff (26 Nov., p. [1661][1])]. This research reactor has produced an enormous amount of significant scientific research over its 34-year history and will be sorely missed by the scientific community, as well as by those who have benefited from this research. The reactor has been shut down since January 1997 after the discovery of tritium leaking from the reactor's fuel-storage pool. The Department of Energy and Brookhaven National Laboratory acted responsibly in keeping the reactor closed and informing the community while evaluating the environmental impact of this situation. An environmental impact statement was to be released for public and scientific comment as part of the process of deciding whether to restart the reactor; however, the decision to close the reactor permanently came first. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has said the decision was based on economics. That reasoning, however, does not seem take into account the tens of millions of dollars it will cost to dismantle the reactor—not to mention the cost to this nation's place in science. The United States, led by scientists at Brookhaven, used to be a world leader in neutron scattering research. Using the reactor, U.S. scientists have made pioneering advances in the physics of phase transitions, low-dimensional magnetic systems, and high-temperature superconductors, as well as contributed to the development of a drug that alleviates the pain associated with bone cancer. It is a tragedy that in this important field, which was pioneered in the United States, we are now second- if not third-class citizens compared with Western Europe and Japan. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.286.5445.1661b
Short Survey: A survey of TCP-friendly router-based AQM schemes

Although the majority of the traffic over the Internet is still TCP-based, applications such as voice over IP and video-conferencing are changing this very rapidly. While TCP-based applications react to network congestion, UDP-based streaming applications usually do not have any type of flow and congestion control mechanisms. UDP, the transport layer protocol used by audio and video streaming applications, does not react to network congestion thus stealing bandwidth from the responsive TCP-based connections. Several solutions have been suggested to combat this TCP-friendliness problem, mostly applied either in the end systems (end-to-end) at the transport layer of the protocol stack or inside the network (routers) at the network layer. This article surveys the state-of-the-art in router-based mechanisms to address the TCP-friendliness problem and presents a description of the most important algorithms, design issues, advantages and disadvantages, and a performance evaluation. The article also describes ways to estimate the number of active flows traversing a core router and points to further sources on this subject, which is widely used by many mechanisms, including several described in this survey.
Evidence that α-lipoic acid inhibits NF-κB activation independent of its antioxidant function

Objective α-Lipoic acid (LA) exerts beneficial effects in cardiovascular diseases though its antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory functions. It is postulated that the anti-inflammatory function of LA results from its antioxidant function. In this study we tested whether inhibition of NF-κB by LA is dependent on its antioxidant function.
A Central Role for Ets-2 in the Transcriptional Regulation and Cyclic Adenosine 5′-Monophosphate Responsiveness of the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-β Subunit Gene

Ets-2 has an important role in controlling the differentiation of the placenta. Here we show by truncation and mutational analysis that two closely spaced Ets-2 binding sites in the proximal promoter of the human chorionic gonadotropin β5 (hCGβ5) gene constitute a major enhancer for hCGβ gene expression in JAr and JEG-3 human choriocarcinoma cells and in mouse NIH3T3 cells. Contrary to a previous report, we also demonstrate that the ability of Ets-2 to enhance transcription is subject to control by the Ras/MAPK pathway, although this relationship is less easily demonstrable in JAr and JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cells than in the 3T3 cells because the former already possess a fully activated MAPK pathway and contain Ets-2 phosphorylated at threonine residue at T72. Coexpression of Ets-2 and activated Ras in 3T3 cells led to activation of MAPK/ERK kinase 1/2, phosphorylation of Ets-2 at T72, and an approximately 120-fold up-regulation of reporter gene expression from a short (−175) hCGβ promoter. Fold activation...
Localized Delivery of Mechano-Growth Factor E-domain Peptide via Polymeric Microstructures Improves Cardiac Function following Myocardial Infarction

The Insulin like growth factor-I isoform mechano-growth factor (MGF), is expressed in the heart following myocardial infarction and encodes a unique E-domain region. To examine E-domain function, we delivered a synthetic peptide corresponding to the unique E-domain region of the human MGF (IGF-1Ec) via peptide eluting polymeric microstructures to the heart. The microstructures were made of poly (ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate hydrogel and bioengineered to be the same size as an adult cardiac myocyte (100 × 15 × 15 μm) and with a stiffness of 20 kPa. Peptide eluting microrods and empty microrods were delivered via intramuscular injection following coronary artery ligation in mice. To examine the physiologic consequences, we assessed the impact of peptide delivery on cardiac function and cardiovascular hemodynamics using pressure-volume loops and gene expression by quantitative RT-PCR. A significant decline in both systolic and diastolic function accompanied by pathologic hypertrophy occurred by 2 weeks which decompensated further by 10 weeks post-infarct in the untreated groups. Delivery of the E-domain peptide eluting microrods decreased mortality, ameliorated the decline in hemodynamics, and delayed decompensation. This was associated with the inhibition of pathologic hypertrophy despite increasing vascular impedance. Delivery of the empty microrods had limited effects on hemodynamics and while pathologic hypertrophy persisted there was a decrease in ventricular stiffness. Our data show that cardiac restricted administration of the MGF E-domain peptide using polymeric microstructures may be used to prevent adverse remodeling of the heart and improve function following myocardial infarction.
Reflexivity properties of T ⊕ 0

A construction is given of a reflexive operator T acting on a separable Hilbert space H with the property that the direct sum T ⊕ 0 fails to be reflexive. This construction is then used to provide solutions to several other problems which have been studied concerning the direct-sum splitting of operator algebras, Scott Brown's technique, the theory of bitriangular operators, and parareflexivity.
Conflict versus consensus models in policy evaluation and implementation

Abstract Evaluators serve many masters whose interests do not always coincide. Traditional evaluation approaches, such as evaluability assessment and utilization-focused evaluation, assume that a consensus can be reached among “key policymakers, managers, and staff” about what goals should guide a program and about how well it is being implemented and what impact it is having. However, the two evaluations that are described in this paper show that this consensus model is inappropriate in many cases because there is not a single “reality” about programs. There are often multiple realities that are socially constructed by different stakeholders, and these realities often are in conflict. The two evaluations that are described are juvenile programs (one public and one private) for females, and a home arrest program using electronic monitoring. In the first, implementors disagreed about whether control and security should receive priority or treatment and rehabilitation. In the second, some policy formulators stressed lowering costs of corrections, others stressed public safety, and still others emphasized diverting offenders from prison. Also, different implementors gave priority to various goals, such as control and discipline, intermediate punishment and increasing options for corrections, and treatment and rehabilitation. Given these multiple and conflicting interpretations, a constructionist approach to evaluation is much more appropriate than a traditional, positivist consensus model.
Effect of soy milk characteristics and cooking conditions on coagulant requirements for making filled tofu

The amount of coagulant added to soy milk is a critical factor for tofu-making; particularly it affects the textural properties of tofu. Earlier research indicated that the critical point of coagulant concentration (CPCC) is a characteristic parameter of soy milk and could be used as an effective indicator of optimal coagulant concentration (OCC) for making filled tofu. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible correlations between CPCC and the characteristics of soy milk made from various soybean samples and the effect of soy milk cooking and dilution conditions on CPCC. CPCC was determined by a titration method. Calcium chloride and magnesium chloride were used as coagulants. Soy milk characteristics including solid, protein, phytate, pH, titratable acidity, mineral content, and 11S/7S protein and these characteristics as affected by heating rate, heating time, and sequence of dilution and heating were studied. The results showed that the CPCC was significantly (p < 0.05) positively correlated with phytate content (grams per gram of protein), pH, and 7S protein content but negatively correlated with protein content, 11S protein content, 11S/7S ratio, titratable acidity, and original calcium content. Within the same soybean material, more proteins required more coagulant, but higher protein concentration during cooking resulted in less coagulant required by each gram of protein during coagulation. The CPCC decreased with increasing soy milk heating time or decreasing heating rate. The sequence of heating and diluting for preparing soy milk also had an effect on CPCC.
Urinary excretion of glycosaminoglycans in quadriplegia.

SummaryUrinary polymeric glycosami-noglycans (GAG) and glycosaminoglycans oligosaccharides were measured in nine normal individuals and in five quadriplegic patients. In the latter, the excretion of polymeric GAG was two- to fourfold higher and the ratio polymeric GAG/oligosaccha-ride GAG was three- to tenfold higher than the average of normal individuals.This excessive excretion does not seem to be a consequence of immobilization alone since, in one patient, it was apparent within hours after injury. The previous demonstration that in quadriplegics there is an immediate and excessive degradation of osseous and cutaneous collagen following injury supports the hypothesis that as the collagen begins to be degraded, polymeric GAG from tissues are also mobilized and excreted in excessive amounts.
Acute effects of exercise on glucose tolerance in non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

ABSTRACTThe evidence that exercise reduces resistance to the action of insulin has generated interest in the possibility that endurance exercise training may be a worthwhile primary therapeutic intervention in the treatment of mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (11). Unfortunately,
Reticulated platelets and uninhibited COX‐1 and COX‐2 decrease the antiplatelet effects of aspirin

BACKGROUND The mechanisms for the variability in antiplatelet effects of aspirin are unclear. Immature (reticulated) platelets may modulate the antiplatelet effects of aspirin through uninhibited cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the role of reticulated platelets in the antiplatelet effects of aspirin. METHODS Sixty healthy volunteers had platelet studies performed before and 24 h after a single 325-mg dose of aspirin. Platelet studies included light transmission aggregometry; P-selectin and integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) expression, and serum thromboxane B(2) (TxB(2)) levels. Reticulated platelets and platelet COX-2 expression were measured using flow cytometry. RESULTS Subjects were divided into tertiles based on the percentage of reticulated platelets in whole blood. Baseline platelet aggregation to 1 microg mL(-1) collagen, and postaspirin aggregations to 5 microm and 20 microm ADP and collagen, were greater in the upper than in the lower tertile of reticulated platelets. Stimulated P-selectin and integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) expression were also higher in the upper tertile both before and after aspirin. Platelet COX-2 expression was detected in 12 +/- 7% (n = 10) of platelets in the upper tertile, and in 7 +/- 3% (n = 12) of platelets in the lower two tertiles (P = 0.03). Postaspirin serum TxB(2) levels were higher in the upper (5.5 +/- 4 ng mL(-1)) than in the lower tertile (3.2 +/- 2.5 ng mL(-1), P = 0.03), and decreased even further with ex vivo additional COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition. The incidence of aspirin resistance (>or= 70% platelet aggregation to 5 microm ADP) was significantly higher in the upper tertile (45%) than in the lower tertile (5%, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Reticulated platelets are associated with diminished antiplatelet effects of aspirin and increased aspirin resistance, possibly because of increased reactivity, and uninhibited COX-1 and COX-2 activity.
Market recycling in labor-intensive goods, flying-geese style: an empirical analysis of East Asian exports to the U.S.

Abstract The United States plays the key role of market provider for less developed nations. Specifically, the U.S. allows developing nations to export manufactures, notably labor-intensive goods, into its market. Such a policy allows these nations to pursue export-led growth. East Asian prosperity has been built upon the U.S. trade stance, beginning with Japan in the early postwar era. Both the NIEs and the ASEAN-4, and most recently China, followed Japan on this development path. As a result, a sequential pattern of “market recycling” has occurred in the tradition of the “flying geese” model of catch-up development. This paper offers an empirical examination of the time-series nature of the recycling phenomenon. Utilizing cointegration analysis, we analyze the timing of market recycling.
Studies on the relationship between morphine analgesia and the brain catecholamines in mice.

The catecholamine content in the mouse brain has been investigated after the administration of an analgesic dose of morphine. A single dose of 7.5 mg/kg produced a significant reduction in brain noradrenaline during a time-period of maximal analgesic activity. After inhibition of the rate limiting step of catecholamine synthesis a decrease in noradrenaline content was still obtained. Now even a reduction was found in dopamine content, but this appeared later and was more short-lasting than the change in noradrenaline. By investigating individual differences in analgesia among animals after inhibition of the catecholamine synthesis or inhibition of dopamine β-hydroxylation respectively with disulfiram further support was obtained for the view that the release of noradrenaline by morphine is correlated with the analgesic activity better than do changes in dopamine. The possibility that morphine analgesia is induced by interference at the storage sites of brain noradrenaline is discussed.
Using fine-grained code change metrics to simulate software evolution

Software evolution simulation can provide support for making informed design decisions. In this research, we explored the distributions of fine-grained code change (FGCC) metrics and used them to build a simple simulator to evolve an existing source code file. The simulator generates synthetic changes to modify the source code analogous to how the code evolves in actual settings. By comparing the simulated evolution with the actual one, we found that the number and types of synthetic changes have no significant difference from those of the actual changes. Furthermore, the simulator is able to produce syntactically correct Java code, allowing us to analyze its static code metrics. The analysis shows that the distributions of method and field counts both have short tails at their left side, making it helpful in estimating the lower bounds for software growth. However, the actual method count falls below the distribution range produced by the simulation runs, indicating more sophisticated simulators are needed.
Prevalence of mutations in hepatitis C virus core protein associated with alteration of NF-κB activation

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein is a key structural element of the virion but also affects a number of cellular pathways, including nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling. NF-kappaB is a transcription factor that regulates both anti-apoptotic and pro-inflammatory genes and its activation may contribute to HCV-mediated pathogenesis. Amino acid sequence divergence in core is seen at the genotype level as well as within patient isolates. Recent work has implicated amino acids 9-11 of core in the modulation of NF-kappaB activation. We report that the sequence RKT is highly conserved (93%) at this position across all HCV genotypes, based on sequences collected in the Los Alamos HCV database. Of the 13 types of variants present in the database, the two most prevalent substitutions are RQT and RKP. We further show that core encoding RKP fails to activate NF-kappaB signaling in vitro while NF-kappaB activation by core encoding RQT does not differ from control RKT core. The effect of RKP core is specific to NF-kappaB signaling as activator protein 1 (AP-1) activity is not altered. Further studies are needed to assess potential associations between specific amino acid substitutions at positions 9-11 and liver disease progression and/or response to treatment in individual patients.
Pyogenic liver abscess caused by Streptococcus mitis

A 68-year-old woman with a history of well controlled asthma presented to the hospital emergency department after 4 days of fever and non-bloody diarrhoea. Dietary history was relevant only for a meal at a local steakhouse that contained cooked fi sh 5 days before admission. Examination of the abdomen yielded hyperactive bowel sounds, but did not elicit tenderness or hepatomegaly. Other fi ndings from the physical examination were unexceptional. Laboratory results showed normochromic, normocytic anaemia; leucocytosis with absolute neutrophilia; raised serum creatinine, suggestive of acute kidney injury; and mild transaminitis. The patient was given intravenous fl uids and started on antibiotic treatment with ciprofl oxacin and metronidazole. After an initial improvement in symptoms during the fi rst 48 h, the patient became febrile to 38·7C, at which point blood cultures were obtained and antibiotic treatment was changed to vancomycin and piperacillin with tazobactam. Blood cultures yielded Streptococcus mitis after 12 h of growth. The bacterium is a member of the viridans group of the Streptococcus genus, and is a constituent of normal oral fl ora and a common cause of subacute endocarditis. The patient denied having had recent dental work, and both an orthopantomogram (panorex) and transoesophageal echocardiograph were normal. The transaminitis and diarrhoea resolved within 48 h of treatment with vancomycin and piperacillin with tazobactam; however, the leucocytosis and fevers persisted. Repeat blood cultures obtained during a second febrile episode again yielded S mitis, at which point abdominal imaging was done to identify a source of infection. Abdominal CT without contrast and subsequent MRI revealed an 8·0 × 9·8 × 9·5 cm loculated hepatic abscess (fi gure; arrows). Percutaneous drainage yielded 250 mL of frank pus that contained Gram-positive micrococci. After drainage, the fevers, leucocytosis, anaemia, and acute kidney injury resolved, and the patient was discharged with a 1 month course of intravenous ceftriaxone. At 9 month follow-up, the patient was well, with no evidence of hepatic damage or other complications. Although viridans-group hepatic abscesses are not uncommon, S mitis hepatic abscesses are very rare. This case shows that large infections with bacteria of modest virulence can develop with only subtle symptoms, as is often seen with subacute endocarditis, and in this case even a large pyogenic liver abscess. Abscesses with bacteria of modest virulence, including viridans-group streptococci, should be considered when a patient presents with mild, persistent symptoms despite appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Mitochondrial functions under hypoxic conditions. The steady states of cytochrome c reduction and of energy metabolism.

Abstract 1. The effect of low oxygen concentration on the oxidation-reduction states of cytochrome c and of pyridine nucleotide, on Ca 2+ uptake, on the energy-linked reduction of pyridine nucleotide by succinate, and on the rate of oxygen consumption have been examined under various metabolic conditions, using pigeon heart mitochondria. 2. The oxygen concentration required to provide half-maximal reduction of cytochrome c (p50 c ) ranges from 0.27 to 0.03 μM (0.2-0.02 Torr) depending upon the metabolic activity. There is a linear increase of the p50 c value with increasing respiratory rate. 3. The fraction of the normoxic respiration that is observed at p50 c is 70–90% under State 4 conditions, but is 30% under State 3 conditions. 4. The oxygen requirement for half-maximal reduction of pyridine nucleotide (p50 PN ) varies less than p50 c , being 0.08 μM in State 3 and 0.06 μM in the uncoupled state. 5. The ability of the mitochondria to exhibit an energy-linked reduction of pyridine nucleotide by succinate disappears at an oxygen concentration of 0.09 μM (0.06 Torr). Below this oxygen concentration, endogenous Ca 2+ begins to be released from the mitochondria. Thus, the critical oxygen concentration for bioenergetic function of mitochondria corresponds approximately to 50% reduction of pyridine nucleotide (p50 PN ).
Synthesis of Octasubstituted Porphyrins

Abstract The synthesis of porphyrins having high solubility in organic solvents requires the presence of long chain aliphatic substituents. Such substituted porphyrins are readily prepared in good yields by extension of our general procedure1 which involves the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones, conversion of these to 3,4-disubstituted pyrroles followed by acid catalyzed condensations of these pyrroles with formaldehyde in the presence of air.
MO-A-500-01: Future of Radiation Therapy Safety

Radiation therapy has undergone considerable changes in the past 20 years. The complexity of radiation therapy treatments has increased and there has been a corresponding response by medical physicists to adopt new techniques to assure that treatments are safely delivered. Quality assurance equipment manufacturers have developed devices that substantially aid the medical physicist in measurement and analysis of treatments. The radiation therapy delivery device manufacturers have also stepped in, modifying their traditional approach to device manufacturing and providing extensive equipment operation recording and to a lesser extent reporting. Treatment planning system vendors have also provided tools to aid medical physicists in developing critical treatment planning quality assurance processes. This symposium examines some of the current quality assurance technology research. It presents research into tools that will provide the treatment planner insights regarding the absolute quality of a specific treatment plan, methods for automatically and redundantly assuring that the proper patient is being treated in the proper location, in highly automated redundant checks of treatment plan delivery quality. Many of the techniques that will be described are looking for rare but potentially catastrophic errors, including human error, process errors, equipment failure, and software bugs. One of the challenges for designing and implementing these techniques includes the assumption that there will be little or no additional manpower available to implement and monitor these techniques. Therefore, most of the presented research will utilize autonomous functions and workflows that either involve no additional manpower efforts or improve the efficiency of existing efforts. Learning Objectives: 1. Teach the challenges that medical physicists face in an ever increasingly complex medicine. 2. Show examples of novel quality assurance technologies that improve the stability and quality of treatment plans. 3. Show examples of autonomous software and quality assurance workflows that monitors the treatment planning and delivery process to identify errors. 4. Show examples of techniques that expand the ability of medical physicists to provide expert advice.
A high performance isolated rat brain preparation part II. Cerebral blood flow in relation to perfusion pressure and cerebral hypothermia

The effects of changes of perfusion pressure and hypothermia on the cerebral blood flow of a new isolated rat brain preparation have been studied in 7 animals. The cerebral blood flow was extremely sensitive to the mean arterial pressure of perfusion, showing little evidence of autoregulation at low pressure, and only slight evidence in hypertension. The cerebral blood flow was lower in hypothermia. The preparation maintained good electroencephalographic activity throughout, and arteriovenous differences persisted up to 1 h after it became isoelectric.
Simulation for training and decision-making in large-scale control systems: Part 6: Power plant simulators

Simulators for training nuclear power-plant operators contain a duplicate of the actual plant-control-room instrumentation, which provides proper indications in response to operator control actions. In addition to the control-room instrumentation, the simulator includes an instructor's console, a computer complex, input/output interface equipment, and the attendant computer programs. Over the years simulators have grown in scope of plant system coverage and in complexity of the simulation techniques required. The sophistication of simulator implementation is still rapidly evolving in the areas of both simulation models and instrumentation. 9 references, 1 figure, 1 table.
A catalog of CO-added IRAS fluxes of Orion population stars

A catalog of co-added IRAS fluxes for the pre-main-sequence objects in the Herbig-Bell catalog (HBC) is presented. This catalog doubles the number of HBC stars with detected IRAS fluxes and provides improved flux values for the previously known sources. Noise level are given for all HBC fields in each band, permitting upper limits to be estimated for all undetected sources.
Characterization of Laboratory Scale RIM Machines

The needs for laboratory size reaction injection molding (RIM) equipment are reviewed. Three application areas are identified: process development, chemi cal system development and chemical system ...
Hypo- and hyperglycemia impair endothelial cell actin alignment and nitric oxide synthase activation in response to shear stress.

Uncontrolled blood glucose in people with diabetes correlates with endothelial cell dysfunction, which contributes to accelerated atherosclerosis and subsequent myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. In vitro, both low and high glucose induce endothelial cell dysfunction; however the effect of altered glucose on endothelial cell fluid flow response has not been studied. This is critical to understanding diabetic cardiovascular disease, since endothelial cell cytoskeletal alignment and nitric oxide release in response to shear stress from flowing blood are atheroprotective. In this study, porcine aortic endothelial cells were cultured in 1, 5.55, and 33 mM D-glucose medium (low, normal, and high glucose) and exposed to 20 dynes/cm2 shear stress for up to 24 hours in a parallel plate flow chamber. Actin alignment and endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation increased with shear stress for cells in normal glucose, but not cells in low and high glucose. Both low and high glucose elevated protein kinase C (PKC) levels; however PKC blockade only restored actin alignment in high glucose cells. Cells in low glucose instead released vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which translocated β-catenin away from the cell membrane and disabled the mechanosensory complex. Blocking VEGF in low glucose restored cell actin alignment in response to shear stress. These data suggest that low and high glucose alter endothelial cell alignment and nitric oxide production in response to shear stress through different mechanisms.
Phase coherence and damping in amorphous quantum wells

Abstract As long as the phase coherence length is comparable to the well width of the quantum well structure, it is possible to establish quantum states regardless whether the quantum well is constructed of crystalline or amorphous solids. Only time-dependent scatterers can destroy phase coherence. Therefore, it is important to distinguish processes that affect phase coherence, such as trapping and capturing from those that do not, i.e., bond-angle disorder and coulomb impurities. In a more general sense, processes without time-reversal symmetry affect phase coherence. Therefore, the poor performance of amorphous quantum wells, compared with crystalline ones, is not due to their inherent disorder, but, rather, to the presence of defects.
Tritium recovery from lithium oxide pellets

Abstract The TFTR Lithium Blanket Module is an assembly containing 650 kg of lithium oxide that will be used to test the ability of neutronics codes to model the tritium breeding characteristics of limited-coverage breeding zones in a tokamak. It is required that tritium concentrations as low as 0.1 nCi/g bred in both metallic lithium samples and lithium oxide pellets be measured with an uncertainty not exceeding ±6%. A tritium assay technique for the metallic samples which meets this criterion has been developed. Two assay techniques for the lithium oxide pellets are being investigated. In one, the pellets are heated in a flowing stream of hydrogen, while in the other, the pellets are dissolved in 12 M hydrochloric acid.
Phenol transport in cellulose acetate membranes

Past detailed studies of solute transport through reverse-osmosis membranes have been conducted only with simple salts. The present work with phenol was undertaken largely because of the practical observation that the transport of low molecular weight organics is much more rapid than that of the salts. Studies of phenol sorption from dilute aqueous solution indicate that the diffusion coefficient for phenol in water-saturated 39.8 wt.-% acetyl cellulose acetate is 9.6 × 10-10 cm.2/sec., and the equilibrium distribution coefficient between the acetate phase and water is 42. Thus, the diffusion coefficient is quite close to that measured for sodium chloride, and the higher permeability of the membranes to phenol can be attributed entirely to their greater sorption of this solute. In direct osmosis experiments performed with significant water flow a measurable interaction or positive coupling between water and phenol flows has been observed. Further evidence of flow coupling is derived from reverse osmosis experiments in which significant negative solute rejection is observed; i.e., the permeate is enriched in phenol by as much as 20%. It is shown that a solution-diffusion transport model is not adequate to rationalize the results, and a more complex transport model is apparently required.
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, Council and Business Meetings, 2012, Dublin, Ireland

President Charles Aquadro called the council meeting to order at 10:00 AM, 23 June 2012. In attendance were President Charles Aquadro, Past-President Ken Wolfe, President-Elect Sudhir Kumar, Secretary Manyuan Long, Treasurer Aoife McLysaght, and Councilors Soojin Yi, Laurent Duret, Yoko Satta, and Robin Bush; Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) Editor-in-Chief Marcy Uyenoyama; Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE) Editorin-Chief William Martin; MBE editorial Assistant Liz Raffaelle; Oxford University Press (OUP) Representative Cathy Kennedy; Organizers of the 2012 Annual Meeting James McInerney, Mary O’Connell, and Emma Teeling; Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) 2013 organizing committee member Ben Krinsky; and SMBE 2013 organizing committee Secretariat representative Julie Steffen attended part of the meeting. The council meeting began with Introductions. The business meeting was held 5:30 PM–6:30 PM, 26 June 2012.
Efficient ray traced soft shadows using multi-frusta tracing

Ray tracing has long been considered to be superior to rasterization because its ability to trace arbitrary rays, allowing it to simulate virtually any physical light transport effect by just tracing rays. Yet, to look plausible, extraordinary amounts of rays for effects such as soft shadows are typically required. This makes the prospects of real-time performance rather remote. Rasterization, in contrast, has a record of producing such effects in real-time through employing specialized and approximate solutions for individual effects. Though ray tracing may still be the right choice for effects like reflections and refractions, using specialized solutions for certain important effects also makes sense for a ray tracer. In this paper, we propose a special solution to ray trace soft shadows that is particularly targeted for Intel's Larrabee architecture. We use a specialized frustum tracing that traces multiple frusta of specialized "light-weight" shadow packets in parallel, while generating rays within each frustum on demand. The technique can easily be integrated into any packet ray tracer, and fits well into the wide SIMD and cache-size constraints of the Larrabee architecture. Our technique allows to reach rates of up to several dozen million rays per second per Larrabee core, outperforming traditional packet techniques by up to 6x. This high performance combined with a simple light-weight illumination filtering step allows to achieve real-time soft shadows for game-like scenes.