cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Layer-by-Layer electrostatic self-assembly of polyelectrolyte nanoshells on individual carbon nanotube templates.

Carbon nanotubes have been featured prominently in the nanotechnology research for some time, yet robust strategies for noncovalent chemical modification of the nanotube surface are still missing. Such strategies are essential for the creation of functional device architectures. Here, we present a new general procedure for carbon nanotube modification based on polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer assembly. We have built multilayer structures around individual carbon nanotube bridges by first modifying the nanotube surface with a pyrene derivative followed by layer-by-layer deposition of polyelectrolyte macroions on the nanotube. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy images confirm the formation of nanometer-thick amorphous polymer nanoshells around the nanotubes. These multilayer polyelectrolyte shells on individual carbon nanotubes introduce nearly unlimited opportunities for the incorporation of various functionalities into nanotube devices, which, in turn, opens up th...
Set This House on Fire: the Self-Analysis of Raymond Carver

The convergence of features of Raymond Carver's short-story oeuvre and of psychoanalytic methodology suggests that Carver's writing served as the fulcrum and focus of a self-analytic experience. Within this model, his stories function as container and mirror of myriad aspects of the writer's self. Tracing the developmental arc of the contextual meanings of one motif--fire--through six stories and their ur-texts demonstrates gains comparable to certain analytic goals, including enhanced integration, accountability, and self-awareness. Over time, Carver's narratives of rage, impotence, and despair give way to a new story: of mourning, forgiveness, and the rekindling of hope. Language: en
Looking at macromolecules: hints from the artificial intelligence of vision

Abstract The study of computer vision provides valuable insights that can aid the construction of an expert system intended for molecular modeling. In this paper, I will begin by providing a brief and general description of expert systems. Then I will provide at least a caricature of the construction of an expert system that deals with some of the problems encountered in molecular modeling with computer graphics. Finally, I will make suggestions drawn from the investigation of computer vision that are guiding our development of DOCENT, an expert system intended for application in molecular modeling.
Internal excitation of UF6− ions in collisions with argon atoms

Abstract Measurements are presented of the kinetic energy loss of 200 eV (lab) UF − 6 ions in collisions with Ar atoms. Depending upon the angle of scatter, the results show clear evidence for production of UFUF − 6 ions with internal excitation up to 5 eV.
Lechem Hara (bad bread), Lechem Tov (good bread): Survival and Sacrifice during the Holocaust

In Judaism, human nature is understood as existing on a spectrum between yetzer hara (evil inclination) and yetzer tov (good inclination). Jews struggle to suppress the yetzer hara and exercise the yetzer tov. Based on an oral history interview and cocreated by a survivor of the Holocaust and a researcher, this story focuses on bread (lechem) and hunger in a Polish ghetto. The narrative encourages reflection about the tangled intermingling of the generosity of self-sacrifice and the instinctive drive for survival.
College students' High-risk sexual behavior following alcohol consumption

Abstract This study is a fowow-Up to a preVious study assessing the relationship of alcohol consumption as a disinhibitor to high-risk sexual behavior. Results are based on suroey data from 1,902 students attending 12 colleges. Sexual behaviors occurring after people had “let themselves drinkmore than normal in order to make it easier for them to have sex with someone” were assessed. Atleast once in the past year, 33.2% of the men and 17.4% of the women had met this criterion. In those instances, 76.3% of the men and 77.1 5% of the women initiated condom use for vaginal intercourse. Results are discussed in relation to partners' compliance following condom initiation and preventing the spread of HIV disease.
Autologous bone marrow transplantation following high-dose chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, BCNU and VP-16 in small cell carcinoma of the lung and a review of current literature.

Four patients with limited disease small cell carcinoma of the lung were treated with high-dose cyclophosphamide (120 mg/kg over days 1 and 2), BCNU (400 mg/m2 over days 1 and 2) and VP-16 (200 mg days 1–5) used as intensification treatment after conventional chemotherapy. To ameliorate hematopoietic toxicity, autologous bone marrow cells collected and cryopreserved prior to treatment were reinfused on day 8. In three patients clinical response was evaluable. Two achieved a complete remission: one died without evidence of tumor after 3 months; the other had a regional relapse after 6 months. One patient who had progression of disease on conventional chemotherapy was refractory to high-dose treatment. Three patients developed diffuse interstitial pneumonitis 3 weeks after treatment and two died of respiratory failure. High-dose intensification chemotherapy with autologous marrow reinfusion may complement the effects of standard combination chemotherapy in small cell carcinoma of the lung. The current status of this approach is reviewed.
ESR Spectrum of manganese species in the pohotolysis of Mn2 (CO)10 in solution

Abstract The ESR spectrum obtained during the photolysis of Mn 2 (CO) 10 in tetrahydrofuran is assigned to a quartet state consistent with manganese(0) not manganese(II) species; the conclusion is supported by chemical studies.
Cervical osteomyelitis after placement of a self-expanding plastic stent for palliation of dysphagia associated with chemoradiation-induced esophageal strictures

Background Esophageal strictures are a common sequela of chemoradiation and/or surgery to the head and neck cancers and can lead to stenosis and significant dysphagia. Endoscopic dilation endoscopic and placement of self-expanding stents are often to used relieve dysphagia symptoms. However, these stents are not without risks and complications. Methods We present a case of a 58-year-old man who had the rare complication of cervical osteomyelitis as a result of plastic esophageal stent placement for palliation of chemoradiation-induced strictures. Results The patient was successfully managed with immobilization of the cervical spine in a halo vest and appropriate antibiotics. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of cervical spine osteomyelitis after self-expanding plastic stent (SEPS) placement for esophageal stricture. It was successfully treated with immobilization and antibiotic therapy. The treating physician should be aware of this rare complication to make an early diagnosis. Literature on esophageal stent-induced cervical osteomyelitis is reviewed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012
Voltage-induced switching in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Spintronic devices can be operated by either a magnetic field or a spin polarized current; however, the former is not site-specific, and the latter suffers from large current density issues. In this work, we show that voltage-controlled spintronic devices offer many attributes. Although a metallic ferromagnet responds only very weakly to an electric field if at all, under special circumstances an electric field can have a profound impact on its magnetic properties. An electric field can alter the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in a prescribed manner. By exploiting the voltage dependence of the PMA we have accomplished voltage-controlled MTJ for which the high- and low-resistance states can be accessed reversibly and repeatedly by voltage pulses associated with very low current density in the range of 104 A cm−2. This development opens up a new avenue to achieve ultra-low power consumption and ultra-fast operation in next-generation spintronic devices.
Doxylamine and diphenhydramine pharmacokinetics in women on low-dose estrogen oral contraceptives.

13 women chronically using low-dose estrogen-containing oral contraceptives (OCs 50 mcg or less of ethinyl estradiol or its equivalent for a minimum of 3 months) and 12 age-matched drug-free control women received a single 25 mg oral dose of doxylamine succinate in the fasting state. 10 women taking OCs and 10 controls received a single 50 mg oral dose of diphenhydramine hydrochloride. Multiple plasma samples drawn during 30 hours following the dose of doxylamine and 12 hours after diphenhydramine dosage were analyzed by gas chromatography using nitrogen-phosphorus detection. Mean pharmacokinetic variables for doxylamine in control and oral contraceptive groups were: peak plasma concentration 103 vs 100 ng/ml; time of peak 2.40 vs 1.87 hours after dosage elimination 1/2-life 10.1 vs 10.2 hours; and total clearance 3.70 vs 3.88 ml/minute/kg. Mean pharmacokinetic variables for diphenhydramine in control and OC groups were: peak plasma concentration 63.7 vs 73.8 ng/ml; time of peak 2.7 vs 2.2 hours after dosage; elimination 1/2-life 6.0 vs 5.1 hours; and total clearance 21.8 vs 25.5 ml/minute/kg. None of these differences were statistically significant. Thus low-dose estrogen- containing OCs do not significantly influence the pharmacokinetics of the antihistamines doxylamine or diphenhydramine. (authors)
SNPs in cancer research and treatment

Genetic variation in the human genome is an emerging resource for studying cancer, a complex set of diseases characterised by both environmental and genetic contributions. The number of common germ-line variants is great, on the order of 10-15 million per person, and represents a remarkable opportunity to investigate the aetiology, interindividual differences in treatment response and outcomes of specific cancers. The study of genetic variation can elucidate critical determinants in environmental exposure and cancer, which could have future implications for preventive and early intervention strategies. However, we are in the initial stages of characterising the tools (i.e., the single-nucleotide polymorphism, SNP) to rigorously analyse the genetic contributions to complex diseases, such as cancer. If the promise of the genomic era is to be realised, we must integrate this information into new strategies for implementation in both public health measures and, most importantly, provision of individual cancer-related care.
Reduced Intrafollicular Androstenedione and Estradiol Levels in Early-Treated Prenatally Androgenized Female Rhesus Monkeys Receiving Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Therapy for In Vitro Fertilization

Abstract Five early-treated and four late-treated prenatally androgenized and five normal female rhesus monkeys were studied to determine whether prenatal testosterone propionate exposure beginning Gestational Days 40–44 (early-treated) or 100–115 (late-treated) affects follicular steroidogenesis during recombinant human FSH (rhFSH) treatment. All monkeys underwent rhFSH injections, without human chorionic gonadotropin administration, followed by oocyte retrieval. Serum FSH, LH, estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17 OHP), androstenedione (A4), testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone were measured basally during rhFSH therapy and at oocyte retrieval. Follicle fluid (FF) sex steroids, oocyte fertilization, and embryo development were analyzed. Circulating FSH, E2, 17 OHP, A4, and dihydrotestosterone levels increased similarly in all females. Serum LH levels decreased from basal levels in normal and late-treated prenatally androgenized females but were unchanged in early-treated prenata...
$L^2$-index formulae for perturbed Dirac operators

The Callias index theorem is generalized from the Euclidean case to certain spin manifolds with warped ends, making use of certain index-preserving deformations.
REID'S RESPONSE TO HUME ON DOUBLE VISION

In issue 6.1 of the Journal of Scottish Philosophy, James Van Cleve describes Thomas Reid's understanding of double vision and then presents a challenge to his direct realism found in works of David Hume based on double vision. The challenge is as follows: When we press one eye with a finger, we immediately perceive all the objects to become double, and one half of them to be remov'd from their common and natural position. But as we do not attribute a continu'd existence to both these perceptions, and as they are both of the same nature, we clearly perceive, that all our perceptions [i.e., all the things we perceive] are dependent on our organs, and the disposition of our nerves and animal spirits. (THN: 210–211)
Adaptive Vehicle Navigation With En Route Stochastic Traffic Information

This paper develops an adaptive approach for vehicle navigation in a stochastic network with real-time en route traffic information. This stochastic and adaptive approach is formulated as a probabilistic dynamic programming problem and is solved through a backward recursive procedure. The formulation, as a modeling framework, is designed to be able to incorporate various sources of information and real-time traffic states to improve routing quality. In this paper, the authors prove that the approach outperforms deterministic instantaneous shortest paths in a statistical sense. They also analyze the algorithm's computational efficiency. The results from numerical examples are included to illustrate the performance of the adaptive routing policy that was generated by the formulation.
A study of nuclei with masses near 32 with the (3He, d) reaction

Abstract The ( 3 He, d) reaction has been studied on targets 30 Si, 31 P, 32 S, and 34 S. Excitation energies were determined for new states in 35 C1. Angular distributions were measured and absolute cross sections were deduced. Elastic-scattering angular distributions at E( 3 He ) = 15 MeV on 31 P and 30 Si were measured. The elastic scattering on 30 Si was used to determine optical model parameters for use in the entrance channel of a DWBA calculation. Spectroscopic factors and values of the transferred angular momentum were determined by comparing experimental angular distributions with the results of the DWBA calculation. The extracted spectroscopic factors were compared with those from other experiments and with shell-model calculations.
Terminal behaviour of the uncontrolled R-L fed 3-phase bridge rectifier

Equations are derived which describe the terminal behaviour of the uncontrolled resistance-inductance fed bridge convertor. Generalisation of these equations to the controlled case is accomplished by a substitution of variables. Boundaries within which the uncontrolled rectifier can operate are specified. Plots of the terminal characteristics for the uncontrolled case visually show the approximation involved when the resistive portion of the commutation impedance is neglected. Simple approximations are provided for the fundamental current component equations which are derived.
Synthetic arabinofuranosyl oligosaccharides as Mycobacterial arabinosyltransferase substrates

A series of arabinofuranosyl oligosaccharides found as constituent parts of the polysaccharide portion of the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been chemically synthesized. Screening of these oligosaccharides as substrates for arabinosyltransferases present in mycobacterial membrane preparations suggests that modified oligosaccharide analogs as small as disaccharides may be inhibitors of glycan biosynthesis. Such inhibitors would be of potential utility as lead compounds in the identification of new drugs for the treatment of mycobacterial infections.
The minimal number with a given number of divisors

A number n is said to be ordinary if the smallest number with exactly n divisors is p1q1-1⋯paqa-1 where q1⋯qa is the prime factorization of n and q1⩾⋯⩾qa (and where pk denotes the kth prime). We show here that all square-free numbers are ordinary and that the set of ordinary numbers has natural density one.
Influence of Structure on Binding of Chlorophylls to Peptide Ligands

Four classes of chlorophyll (Chl), a, b, c, and d, are involved in photosynthesis within cyanobacteria, algae, and plants. These classes have different evolutionary origins, chemical properties, and biological functions. Our results demonstrate that peptide-bound ligands provided by the imidazole group of histidine and the charge-compensated glutamate−arginine ion pair readily form coordination bonds with Chls a and d but do not interact significantly with Chls b and c. These ligands are apparently not sufficiently strong Lewis bases to displace strongly coordinated water from Chls b and c. These differences determine specificity of binding of Chls in light-harvesting complexes and play an important role in assembly of stable Chl−protein complexes, which has had a profound impact on the evolution of photosynthetic organisms.
Childhood Bathtub-Related Injuries: Slip and Fall Prevalence and Prevention

This study was conducted to describe the epidemiology of childhood bathtub-related injuries and to recommend methods for prevention of bathtub-related slips and falls. A consecutive series of 204 children, who were treated for bathtub-related injuries in a pediatric emergency department during a 3-year period were included in the study. The age range was 4 months to 16 years (mean 3.1, SD 2.8, median 2.8 years). Slips and falls accounted for 82.3% (168/204) of mechanisms of injuries. Lacerations, the most common injury type, accounted for 66.7% (136/204) of cases. The most frequent anatomic location of injury was the head or face (68.1%, 139/204). Adult supervision was present during 84.8% (67/79) of the injuries among children younger than 5 years. Parents changed the bathing environment after the patients' injury in 82.3% (65/79) of cases. Injuries due to slips and falls are the most common type of childhood bathtub-related injury. Increased supervision alone will not be sufficient to prevent these injuries, given that adult supervision is already present in most cases. These injuries are most effectively prevented by passive methods, such as providing an effective slip-resistant bathtub surface. The large number of bathtub-related injuries associated with slips and falls argues for exploring a higher coefficient of friction standard for bathtubs, which may lead to fewer injuries.
A Synthetic Module for the metH Gene Permits Facile Mutagenesis of the Cobalamin-Binding Region of Escherichia coli Methionine Synthase: Initial Characterization of Seven Mutant Proteins†

Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase from Escherichia coli is a monomeric 136 kDa protein composed of multiple functional regions. The X-ray structure of the cobalamin-binding region of methionine synthase reveals that the cofactor is sandwiched between an α-helical domain that contacts the upper face of the cobalamin and an α/β (Rossmann) domain that interacts with the lower face. An unexpected conformational change accompanies binding of the methylcobalamin cofactor. The dimethylbenzimidazole ligand to the lower axial position of the cobalt in the free cofactor is displaced by histidine 759 from the Rossmann domain [Drennan, C. L., Huang, S., Drummond, J. T., Matthews, R. G., & Ludwig, M. L. (1994) Science 266, 1669]. In order to facilitate studies of the roles of amino acid residues in the cobalamin-binding region of methionine synthase, we have constructed a synthetic module corresponding to nucleotides (nt) 1741−2668 in the metH gene and incorporated it into the wild-type metH gene. This module co...
Room temperature continuous wave lasing in nanopillar photonic crystal cavities

We demonstrate room temperature continuous wave lasing in bottom-up photonic crystal cavities formed by patterned III-V nanopillars. Single-cell high-Q photonic crystal cavities are formed with nanopillars by selective-area epitaxy. Control of the nanopillar geometry and heterostructures allows for high-Q and large confinement factor, resulting in a low threshold power density of 75 W/cm2 at 1040 nm emission wavelength.
Effect of Hypophysectomy on the Renal Concentrating Ability of the Rat

Hypophysectomy markedly reduces the ability of the rat to concentrate urine. Measurement of plasma and urine osmolality at various periods of water deprivation show that the inability to concentrate urine is reflected in an increased plasma osmolality. ADH, as the tannate in oil, failed to restore to normal either plasma or urine concentrations. The osmotic gradient along the length of the papilla, as indicated from measurement of solute concentrations of urine and papillary tissue fluid, is reduced in hypophysectomized rats and is not restored to normal by ADH. The data indicate that other pituitary hormones are required for maximum response to ADH.(Endocrinology 77: 496,1965)
History of water-column anoxia in the Black Sea indicated by pyrite framboid size distributions

Abstract A detailed study of size distributions of framboidal pyrite in Holocene Black Sea sediments establishes the timing of a change from deposition under an oxic water column to deposition under an anoxic and sulfidic water column. In the most recent carbonate-rich sediments (Unit I) and in the organic carbon-rich sapropel (Unit II), framboid size distributions are remarkably uniform (mean diameter = 5 μm); over 95% of the framboids in Unit I and Unit II are
PURIFICATION AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF KAPPA OF STOCK 51, PARAMECIUM AURELIA.

Summary A method was developed for the purification of kappa particles of stock 51 killer paramecia, using the anion exchange resin ECTEOLA. The purified particles retained their killing and infective activity. In confirmation of the results of others, only preparations containing bright particles showed killing activity; preparations of pure non-bright particles were obtained with infective activity confirming the direct relation of non-bright particles with infective particles. The chemical studies of the purified non-bright particles showed the presence of DNA, RNA and protein, and possibly carbohydrate and phospholipid. The ratio of DNA to RNA was about 1:12.
Chronic choline supplementation attenuates the behavioral effects of pentobarbital

Abstract The behavioral and neurochemical effects of pentobarbital were investigated in rats maintained for 28–35 days on a standard choline-containing diet or on a diet containing 10 times the concentration of choline present in standard rodent chow. The supplemented dietary regimen increased the concentration of free choline in serum by 52%, but did not alter the steady-state concentrations of either choline or acetylcholine in brain. Choline supplementation attenuated both the sedative/hypnotic and hypothermic effects of pentobarbital through an action that could not be attributed to either an enhanced peripheral metabolism of pentobarbital or to an attenuation of the cholinergic effects of pentobarbital. Rather, results indicate that chronic supplementation with choline increases cerebral glucose metabolism and causes a behavioral hyperactivity, effects that may mediate the attenuation of the behavioral response of pentobarbital.
Environmental and Cognitive Factors in Social Play.

Abstract The impact of differing play environments, as well as cognitive and social egocentrism factors, on the social play of preschoolers was examined. Fifteen boys and thirteen girls (55 months of age) were allowed free access to two distinctly different environments containing play materials which were aimed at exercising either big or fine muscle coordination. The children's cognitive abilities and social egocentrism were also measured. The results indicate that the play environment strongly influenced the type of social play as well as the size of the play groups. Differences in cognitive level and social egocentrism influenced the children's choice of play environment, suggesting an organism-environment interaction in the children's social play. The results indicate that today's generation of children may not be less social in their play, as Barnes has suggested, but that differences between studies may be a consequence of differing play environments and not generational differences.
1348 IN-VIVO CALIBRATION IMPROVES THE RELIABILITY OF TRANSCUTANEOUS (Tc) OXYGEN MONITORING

We have found a wide variability in correlation between PTcO2 and PaO2 under usual clinical conditions; r=.75 for 432 data pairs in 14 sick infants. We felt this poor correlation resulted from patient variation (range of r=.43 → .98 for each infant). To test this hypothesis we devised and evaluated the usefulness of an in-vivo calibration procedure. Prior to each 4 hour application to the skin, the Tc sensor was calibrated in room-air per manufacturer's instructions. PaO2 was measured > 20 min. .15, the Tc monitor was calibrated by adjusting its gain to a new value (calibrated PTcO2) calculated from the present PTcO2 reading (raw PTcO2) and the Error [calibrated PTcO2 = raw PTcO2/(Error -1)]. Subsequent PaO2 and PTcO2 data pairs comprised the study data. Control data for each infant was obtained during alternative time periods by following the same initial procedure, but no in-vivo calibration was performed. In 10 infants, the PaO2 vs PTcO2 correlation for study data was 0.93, while only 0.80 for control data. 34.4% of all applications were > our 15% error tolerance. Consequently, in-vivo calibration utilizing one arterial blood gas within each 4-hour application provides a more accurate estimate of PaO2 from the transcutaneous monitor. However, an increased work load is imposed on nursery staff.
An examination of the elasticity of hot-pressed MgO

The elastic properties of polycrystalline as well as single crystal MgO have been measured extensively. New measurements on four hot-pressed magnesium oxide samples are presented and compared to existing data. Discrepancies are noted between the properties determined for the different polycrystalline MgO samples; the magnitude of these differences is as much as ±6% for the reported bulk modulus. X-ray and electron microscopy techniques were applied to the four hot-pressed specimens and revealed the presence of residual strains, plastic deformation and a preferred orientation of grains with respect to hot pressing directions. Scanning electron micrographs also indicated that a non-homogeneous pore distribution existed.
The spinal pharmacology of acutely and chronically administered opioids

Abstract Systematic studies on the pharmacology of the antinociceptive activity of spinally administered agents have emphasized the action in animal models of μ and δ opioid receptors. Importantly, aside from receptor selectivity, the opioid agonists differ in the property of efficacy. Agents with high efficacy (large receptor reserves) show smaller rightward shifts in their dose-response curves in the face of a given degree of opioid tolerance or when the stimulus intensity is elevated. With regard to loss of drug effect with long-term exposure (tolerance), multiple mechanisms may be considered, including changes in stimulus intensity, change in afferent processing, or changes in receptor number/coupling. Basic studies are providing insights into these several mechanisms.
The contribution of nutrition to the protective value of high plasma aldosterone concentrations in hemodialysis patients.

The Contribution of Nutrition to the Protective Value of High Plasma Aldosterone Concentrations in Hemodialysis Patients
Evidence for a volatile attractant from plant roots affecting germ tubes of a VA mycorrhizal fungus

Germ-tubes from spores of Gigaspora gigantea grew vertically or horizontally through the air to contact roots of bean and corn plants situated up to 11 mm away from the spore. Up to 86% of the spores in an experiment produced aerial germ-tubes that successfully located roots, apparently in response to a volatile attractant released by the roots. Initial contact between roots and germ-tubes was made as early as 5 days after an experiment began, with maximum success occurring after 10–24 days. Bean plants in the pod-maturation stage attracted germ-tubes as well as plants in the pre-flowering stage. Mycorrhizas were not formed under the experimental conditions employed.
Internal targets in recirculating beams: luminosity gain and beam halo

Abstract The advantage of internal targets in recirculating beams providing small, bright sources for secondary or scattered primary particles is assessed quantitatively by defining a quality factor for experimental beams. To control the main disadvantage of internal targets, i.e. the halo around the recirculating beams produced by interactions with the target, two generic collimation systems are outlined whose secondary halo is estimated by a generally applicable method.
Limited pelvic lymph node dissection does not improve biochemical relapse-free survival at 10 years after radical prostatectomy in patients with low-risk prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES To compare the long-term differences in actuarial biochemical relapse-free survival rates from a contemporary series of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy with and without pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND). METHODS The records of 806 consecutive radical prostatectomy cases performed from January 1995 to June 1999 were reviewed. The entire subset of patients (n = 336) with low-risk disease, defined by a prostate-specific antigen level of 10 ng/mL or less, biopsy Gleason score of 6 or less, and clinical Stage T1 or T2a, who had not received adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy were divided into two groups according to whether PLND was performed (PLND group, n = 140) or omitted (no-PLND group, n = 196). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the effect of demographic, pretreatment, surgical, and pathologic factors on the likelihood of biochemical failure. Biochemical relapse-free survival for each group was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The median prostate-specific antigen follow-up time for the entire group was 89.0 months, with a similar follow-up for both cohorts (PLND group 94.5 months and no-PLND group 88.0 months, Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.14). RESULTS The long-term biochemical relapse-free survival rate for the entire cohort was 86.1% at 10 years. The 10-year actuarial biochemical relapse-free rate for the PLND and no-PLND groups was 83.8% and 87.9%, respectively (log-rank, P = 0.33). On univariate analysis, PLND was not an independent predictor of outcome (Wald, P = 0.33). CONCLUSIONS The results of our study have shown that the omission of limited PLND in patients with favorable tumor characteristics does not adversely affect biochemical relapse-free survival at 10 years. Such patients can be spared the morbidity and cost of PLND without affecting their chance for cure.
Introduction to ground surface self-potential tomography†

A new approach to self-potential (SP) data interpretation for the recognition of a buried causative SP source system is presented. The general model considered is characterized by the presence of primary electric sources or sinks, located within any complex resistivity structure with a flat air-earth boundary. First, using physical considerations of the nature of the electric potential generated by any arbitrary distribution of primary source charges and the related secondary induced charges over the buried resistivity discontinuity planes, a general formula is derived for the potential and the electric field component along any fixed direction on the ground surface. The total effect is written as a sum of elementary contributions, all of the same simple mathematical form. It is then demonstrated that the total electric power associated with the standing natural electric field component can be written in the space domain as a sum of cross-correlation integrals between the observed component of the total electric field and the component of the field due to each single constitutive elementary charge. By means of the cross-correlation bounding inequality, the concept of a scanning function is introduced as the key to the new interpretation procedure. In the space domain, the scanning function is the unit strength electric field component generated by an elementary positive charge. Next, the concept of charge occurrence probability is introduced as a suitable function for the tomographic imaging of the charge distribution geometry underground. This function is defined as the cross-correlation product of the total observed electric field component and the scanning function, divided by the square root of the product of the respective variances. Using this physical scheme, the tomographic procedure is described. It consists of scanning the section, through any SP survey profile, by the unit strength elementary charge, which is given a regular grid of space coordinates within the section, at each point of which the charge occurrence probability function is calculated. The complete set of calculated grid values can be used to draw contour lines in order to single out the zones of highest probability of concentrations of polarized, primary and secondary electric charges. An extension to the wavenumber domain and to three-dimensional tomography is also presented and discussed. A few simple synthetic examples are given to demonstrate the resolution power of the new SP inversion procedure.
Spatial and temporal changes in the subcellular localization of the nuclear protein-tyrosine kinase, c-Fes.

Tyrosine phosphorylation has emerged as a mechanism to control cellular events in the nucleus. The c-Fes protein–tyrosine kinase is an important regulator of cell growth and differentiation in several cell types, and is found in the nucleus of hematopoietic cells. In this study, we showed nuclear localization of c-Fes in both hematopoietic (K562, TF-1, HEL, U937, and HL-60) and nonhematopoietic cell lines (293T, CaOv3, TfxH, MG-63, HeLa, DU-145) by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. c-Fes showed striking changes in subcellular localization at specific stages of mitosis. In interphase cells, the intranuclear distribution of c-Fes was diffuse with occasional bright foci. Some c-Fes was present in the cytosol after breakdown of the nuclear membrane, in prometaphase. At prometaphase and metaphase c-Fes was also associated with the chromosomes, in a punctate pattern that partially overlapped with the centromere. Further comparison with proteins that are known components of the kinetochore suggested th...
Coronary Heart Disease among Minnesota Business and Professional Men Followed Fifteen Years

Relative weight, body fatness (skinfold thickness), blood pressure, and serum cholesterol are reported from 281 Minnesota business and professional men, initially clinically healthy and aged 45 to 55, who were followed by annual examinations since the winter of 1947-48. In 15 elapsed years, coronary heart disease developed definitely in 32 men and possibly in 16 other men. The incidence of coronary heart disease tended to be higher among men above the median at first examination in relative weight, body fatness, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and serum cholesterol concentration but these segregations were not statistically significant except with serum cholesterol, which was associated with p < 0.001. The data for the last pre-disease year on the men who developed coronary heart disease showed a significant relationship between incidence and systolic blood pressure as well as for cholesterol. Average data over all pre-disease years showed significantly reduced risk among the men in the bottom quar...
A Randomized Trial to Improve Communication About End-of-Life Care Among Patients With COPD

Objective Patients with COPD consistently express a desire to discuss end-of-life care with clinicians, but these discussions rarely occur. We assessed whether an intervention using patient-specific feedback about preferences for discussing end-of-life care would improve the occurrence and quality of communication between patients with COPD and their clinicians. Methods We performed a cluster-randomized trial of clinicians and patients from the outpatient clinics at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. Using self-reported questionnaires, we assessed patients' preferences for communication, life-sustaining therapy, and experiences at the end of life. The intervention clinicians and patients received a one-page patient-specific feedback form, based on questionnaire responses, to stimulate conversations. The control group completed questionnaires but did not receive feedback. Patient-reported occurrence and quality of end-of-life communication (QOC) were assessed within 2 weeks of a targeted visit. Intention-to-treat regression analyses were performed with generalized estimating equations to account for clustering of patients within clinicians. Results Ninety-two clinicians contributed 376 patients. Patients in the intervention arm reported nearly a threefold higher rate of discussions about end-of-life care (unadjusted, 30% vs 11%; P Conclusions A one-page patient-specific feedback form about preferences for end-of-life care and communication improved the occurrence and quality of communication from patients' perspectives. Trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT00106080; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov
An efficient placement and routing technique for fault-tolerant distributed embedded computing

This paper presents an efficient technique for placement and routing of sensors/actuators and processing units in a grid network. The driver application that we present is a medical jacket which requires an extremely high level of robustness and fault tolerance. The power consumption of such jacket is another key technological constraint. Our proposed interconnection network is a mesh of wires. A jacket made of fabric and wires would be susceptible to accidental damage via tears. By modeling the tears, we evaluate the probability of having failures on every segment of wires in our mesh interconnection network. Then we study two problems of placement and routing in the sensor networks such that the fault tolerance is maximized while the power consumption is minimized. We develop efficient integer linear programming (ILP) formulations to address these problems and perform both placement and routing simultaneously. This ensures that the solution is a lower bound for both problems. We evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed techniques on a variety of benchmarks.
Nonlinear relaxation of stress and birefringence in simple extension of 1,2-polybutadiene

Relaxation of stress and birefringence in simple extension has been studied for two samples of 1,2-polybutadiene with 95% and 88% vinyl content and weight-average molecular weight 1.9 and 2.9 × 105, respectively. The extension ratio, λ, ranged from 1.14 to 2.08, temperatures from 0 to 15°C, and times, reduced to 0°C, up to 3 × 105 sec. The stress-optical coefficient C was negative and positive, respectively, for the two samples, the difference being attributable to opposite signs and very different magnitudes of the contributions of the 1,2 and 1,4 moieties to the birefringence. For each polymer, C was independent of time but increased (algebraically) with temperature. For one polymer a very minor dependence of C on λ was observed. At any instant of time, the dependence of both stress and birefringence on λ could be described by equations of the Mooney–Rivlin form with coefficients C1,C2 and B1,B2, respectively. At short times the contributions of the C1 and C2 terms to the stress and of the B1 and B2 terms to the birefringence are roughly equal. With increasing time, C1 and B1 decrease gradually while C2 and B2 remain constant over several decades in time. Finally, C2 and B2 decrease rather rapidly. A tentative interpretation of these phenomena in terms of motions of entanglements is given.
Radioiodination of 7-methoxy- and 6,7-dimethoxy-4-bromomethylcoumarins

Two coumarins, 4-bromomethyl-6,7-dimethoxy-2-oxo-2H-benzopyran (1) and 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxy-2-oxo-2H-benzopyran (3), were radioiodinated using trifluoroacetyl hypoiodite. The dimethoxy derivative 1 gave only a single regioisomer 3-[125I]iodo-4-bromo-methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-2-oxo-2H-benzopyran (2). The average yield for no-carrier-added preparations of 2 was 30%. 125/127I-2 and 127I-2 were produced in over 50% yield. In no-carrier-added syntheses 7-methoxy-coumarin 3 gave 3-[125I]iodo-4-bromomethyl-7-methoxy-2-oxo-2H-benzopyran(5) as the major product (30%) accompanied by a small amount (3–7%) of the 6-[125I]iodo-analog 4. When an equimolar amount of iodide was used (i.e. carrier-added syntheses) 4 and 5 were produced in over 20% yield each. Under these conditions the 8-iodo-regioisomer was not formed from either 1 or 3 possibly as the result of steric effects. Sonication greatly accelerated rates of radioiodination reducing the time required to achieve quantitative substitution of 127I from about 4 h to 20 min.
Myocardial Deformation Imaging Current Status and Future Directions

Myocardial deformation imaging is a novel echocardiographic method for assessment of global and regional myocardial function. As this technology has evolved, it has been applied to an increasing number of research questions, and the number of publications incorporating deformation imaging has grown in parallel. Although not yet sufficiently vetted for routine clinical use, these methods offer the long-term potential for more complete, accurate, and reproducible assessment of myocardial function. Evaluation of contractile function with echocardiography has traditionally been limited to volume-based assessment of ejection fraction (EF) and assessment of regional wall motion or visual estimation of regional thickening. These methods have suffered from lack of reproducibility and standardization and are generally considered to be extremely sensitive to loading conditions. These limitations have led to an interest in techniques that provide more objective and reproducible measures of contractile function. During systole, the ventricular myocardium simultaneously shortens in the longitudinal and circumferential planes and thickens in the radial plane, with reciprocal changes in diastole (Figure). Deformation imaging, in the broadest sense, allows for more direct assessment of myocardial muscle shortening and lengthening throughout the cardiac cycle by assessing regional myocardial strain and strain rate. Strain is defined as the change in length of a segment of myocardium relative to its resting length and is expressed as a percentage; strain rate is the rate of this deformation. Longitudinal and circumferential shortening results in negative strain values, whereas radial thickening results in a positive strain value. Previously, assessment of myocardial strain could be performed with the use of sonomicrometry crystals, which can only be performed experimentally1 or with magnetic resonance imaging–based myocardial tagging,2,3 which is limited by relatively low temporal resolution and the limited availability and expense of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Extension of these techniques to echocardiography has allowed …
Effect of Radiative Transfer Uncertainty on L-Band Radiometric Soil Moisture Retrieval

Microwave radiometry soil moisture retrieval methods suffer from uncertainties about the representation of several effects, including dielectric mixing, surface roughness, and vegetation opacity. These uncertainties lead to two major types of error: systematic bias and random errors. The effect of the uncertainties is studied using the Soil Moisture Active Passive Algorithm Testbed, a simulation environment for evaluating error propagation in retrieval algorithms, and two different common retrieval algorithms (single and dual polarizations). The two types of errors are simulated by using different representations for each factor in the forward and retrieval parts. For both algorithms, this approach introduces a spatially variable bias, which is particularly large when using a single-polarization retrieval algorithm. This paper illustrates the emergence of both this bias and the random error due to uncertainty in the representation of vegetation and soil texture effects in retrieval algorithms. The dependence of these two types of error on vegetation and soil texture properties is shown through mapping them over the simulation region. The relative contribution of these errors to the total error is strongly dependent on the simulation conditions and is not necessarily indicative of what may be experienced during actual observations. Uncertainty due to roughness representation causes a lower error than uncertainty in vegetation opacity and dielectric mixing parameterizations in the simulated soil moisture retrieval. Summation and compensation of multiple errors can cause the estimate error to increase with improved radiative transfer knowledge, even after bias removal. The retrieval of soil moisture from microwave measurements depends on several other parameterizations that are also uncertain. This paper is limited to only three parameterizations that are considered to be among the larger contributors to bias.
Analysis of nonlinear polarization-mode dispersion in optical fibers with randomly varying birefringence

The set of equations describing the evolution of the electromagnetic field envelope in a nonlinear optical fiber with random birefringence are the Manakov-PMD equations with the variables: the electric field envelope measured relative to axes that follow the linear polarization state in the fiber, the group delay difference per unit length, and terms containing random coefficients driven by the random birefringence fluctuations. The first term on the right-hand side of the equation corresponds physically to the usual linear polarization-mode dispersion while the second term, referred to as nonlinear polarization-mode dispersion, is due to incomplete mixing of the nonlinearity on the Poincare sphere. We show that this term is unimportant for current communication systems but can become important for high-bit-rate time-division multiplexing systems approaching 100 Gbit/s.
Simple and efficient machine learning frameworks for identifying protein-protein interaction relevant articles and experimental methods used to study the interactions

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is an important biomedical phenomenon. Automatically detecting PPI-relevant articles and identifying methods that are used to study PPI are important text mining tasks. In this study, we have explored domain independent features to develop two open source machine learning frameworks. One performs binary classification to determine whether the given article is PPI relevant or not, named “Simple Classifier”, and the other one maps the PPI relevant articles with corresponding interaction method nodes in a standardized PSI-MI (Proteomics Standards Initiative-Molecular Interactions) ontology, named “OntoNorm”. We evaluated our system in the context of BioCreative challenge competition using the standardized data set. Our systems are amongst the top systems reported by the organizers, attaining 60.8% F1-score for identifying relevant documents, and 52.3% F1-score for mapping articles to interaction method ontology. Our results show that domain-independent machine learning frameworks can perform competitively well at the tasks of detecting PPI relevant articles and identifying the methods that were used to study the interaction in such articles. Simple Classifier is available at http://sourceforge.net/p/simpleclassify/home/ and OntoNorm at http://sourceforge.net/p/ontonorm/home/ .