cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of the influenza vaccination program for the elderly in Taiwan.

Abstract Background and objectives Since 1998, an influenza vaccination program has been implemented by the Taiwan government targeting people aged ≥65 years. However, the evidence of the effectiveness of this program in preventing influenza, which is based on the nation-wide database, is lacking. This study attempted to estimate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccination program in preventing influenza- and pneumonia-associated outpatient visits and hospitalization in the elderly. Methods Randomly sampled data of 1 million claims from the National Health Insurance Research Database compiled into seven consecutive cohorts were used to perform this analysis. Elderly claimants aged ≥65 years were included in each cohort. To decrease potential bias between vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects, the propensity score method was applied. Logistic regression and zero-inflated negative binominal regression were used to examine the effectiveness of vaccination in preventing influenza- and pneumonia-associated outpatient visits and hospitalization. Results A significant decrease in both the risk and frequency of hospitalization was observed in elderly people who received influenza vaccination compared with those who did not. No similar decrease was observed in the risk and frequency of outpatient visits for influenza and pneumonia. Conclusion Vaccination against influenza reduced hospitalization for influenza and pneumonia in elderly Taiwanese people. These results are meaningful for the promotion of vaccination policy. Annual influenza vaccination of the elderly should be encouraged.
A symmetrical plane partition correspondence

MacMahon conjectured the form of the generating function for symmetrical plane partitions, and as a special case deduced the following theorem. The set of partitions of a number n whose part magnitude and number of parts are both no greater than m is equinumerous with the set of symmetrical plane partitions of 2n whose part magnitude does not exceed 2 and whose largest axis does not exceed m. This theorem, together with a companion theorem for the symmetrical plane partitions of odd numbers, are proved by establishing 1-1 correspondences between the sets of partitions.
Microwave-Assisted Nafion-H Catalyzed Friedel–Crafts Type Reaction of Aromatic Aldehydes with Arenes: Synthesis of Triarylmethanes

A new solid acid Nafion-H, a perfluorinated sulfonic acid resin, catalyzed microwave-assisted synthesis of triarylmethanes is described. Various benzaldehydes react readily with arenes to provide the corresponding triarylmethanes in good to excellent yields. The reactions were carried out under solvent free conditions under microwave irradiation in a pressure vessel. The solvent free microwave irradiation methods appears to be an environmentally friendly synthetic protocol providing products in significantly shorter reaction times over traditional heating methods carried out in a pressure tube.
Invasive species and delaying the inevitable: Valuation evidence from a national survey

Abstract A survey was designed to elicit donations for delaying inevitable aquatic invasions of inland water bodies within a respondent's region. Surveys were distributed throughout the United States. Assuming all aquatic species groups invade simultaneously, our results suggest that the average person was willing to make a one-time payment of $48 to delay low to high impacts one year (aggregates to nearly $4 billion for all U.S. households). By comparison, the federal government currently (2006) invests $394 million annually for all invasive species (aquatic and terrestrial) prevention and early detection/rapid response.
Cognitive neuroscience of self-regulation failure

Self-regulatory failure is a core feature of many social and mental health problems. Self-regulation can be undermined by failures to transcend overwhelming temptations, negative moods and resource depletion, and when minor lapses in self-control snowball into self-regulatory collapse. Cognitive neuroscience research suggests that successful self-regulation is dependent on top-down control from the prefrontal cortex over subcortical regions involved in reward and emotion. We highlight recent neuroimaging research on self-regulatory failure, the findings of which support a balance model of self-regulation whereby self-regulatory failure occurs whenever the balance is tipped in favor of subcortical areas, either due to particularly strong impulses or when prefrontal function itself is impaired. Such a model is consistent with recent findings in the cognitive neuroscience of addictive behavior, emotion regulation and decision-making.
Twenty-four-hour intragastric pH patterns in ICU patients on ranitidine.

Thirty critically ill patients with mixed diagnoses underwent continuous intragastric pH monitoring for 72 hr while confined to a shock/trauma intensive care unit. The first 24 hr were monitored under no specific acid-suppressing therapy (placebo control). During the second and third consecutive 24-hr periods, patients received continuous infusion of intravenous ranitidine in the dose of 6.25 mg/hr and 12.5 mg/hr, respectively. Results of the placebo-control 24-hr study revealed that one third (N=10) of the patients were gastric acid hyposecretors (24-hr median intragastric pH values above pH 4.0). In the normosecreting group (N=20), both ranitidine schedules significantly elevated 24-hr median pH values, when compared to placebo (placebo 24-hr median intragastric pH 1.75; ranitidine 6.25 mg/hr 24-hr median intragastric pH 4.625,P<0.0001; ranitidine 12.5 mg/hr 24-hr median intragastric pH 6.29,P=0.0099). Five patients (18%) failed to adequately respond to the ranitidine 12.5 mg/hr dose (24-hr median intragastric pH<4.0). These findings suggest that a significant percentage of intensive care unit patients are not in need of acid-suppressing therapy as prophylaxis against stress-induced ulceration. Conversely, other patients may require more intensive acid-suppressing regimens because of failure to respond to high dose H2-antagonist therapy.
An observational study of instability and turbulence in nighttime drainage winds

A detailed analysis of two nighttime drainage wind events that commenced on the evenings of 7 and 8 October, 1980 is presented. Data on wind velocity and temperature (10-s values), obtained from each of the eight instrumented levels of the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory, are used to construct 10-min means and root-mean-square values of all the variables. Additional information is provided by acoustic sounder data for 8 October.
Percutaneous endoluminal stent-graft repair of an old traumatic femoral arteriovenous fistula

A stent-graft was custom made to close a high-flow traumatic arteriovenous fistula of the left superficial femoral artery, present for 30 years, in a 60-year-old man with congestive heart failure and ischemic ulceration in the left foot. A balloon expandable Palmaz stent (P394; 2.5 mm × 3.9 cm) was covered with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft and was inserted percutaneously through an 11 Fr vascular sheath. Follow-up Doppler ultrasound at 6 months demonstrated occlusion of the arteriovenous fistula, patency of the artery, and luminal integrity of the artery and vein.
Alamouti space time coded OFDM for underwater acoustic channels

Alamouti space-time coding is investigated in conjunction with OFDM modulation for high-rate underwater acoustic communications over time varying channels. The scheme's diversity gain is exploited using a low-complexity adaptive multichannel receiver. Performance is demonstrated using experimental data transmitted in a 10 kHz bandwidth over a 1 km shallow water channel south of the Martha's Vineyard island in New England. The two-transmitter Alamouti scheme shows the expected improvement over the same-rate single-transmitter scheme.
Cadmium toxicity to three species of estuarine invertebrates

Abstract Three species of estuarine invertebrates, Palaemonetes pugio (grass shrimp), Pagurus longicarpus (hermit crab) and Argopecten irradians (bay scallop), were exposed to Cd in flowing seawater at concentrations of 0·06, 0·12, 0·25, 0·5 and 1·0 mg/litre. Incipient LC50 values of 0·53 and 0·07 mg/litre were estimated for bay scallop and hermit crab, respectively. The toxicity curve for grass shrimp had not stabilised, but the incipient LC50 value was estimated to fall within a range of 0·2 to 0·3 mg/litre. Short-term response, as measured by time to 50% mortality at the highest Cd concentration, was 10, 21 and 23 days for the bay scallop, hermit crab and grass shrimp, respectively. Scallop growth was inhibited at all exposure concentrations with a measured 42-day EC50 value of 0·078 mg/litre Cd. Byssal thread detachment precedes death in bay scallops. An EC50 value of 0·54 mg/litre Cd for byssal detachment was measured on day 8 of the bioassay before appreciable mortality. This compared favourably with the incipient LC50 value of 0·53 mg/litre Cd. Cadmium accumulation occurred at all concentrations in bay scallop and grass shrimp.
Directed evolution of the substrate specificity of dialkylglycine decarboxylase

Dialkylglycine decarboxylase (DGD) is an unusual pyridoxal phosphate dependent enzyme that catalyzes decarboxylation in the first and transamination in the second half-reaction of its ping-pong catalytic cycle. Directed evolution was employed to alter the substrate specificity of DGD from 2-aminoisobutyrate (AIB) to 1-aminocyclohexane-1-carboxylate (AC6C). Four rounds of directed evolution led to the identification of several mutants, with clones in the final rounds containing five persistent mutations. The best clones show ~2.5-fold decrease in KM and ~2-fold increase in kcat, giving a modest ~5-fold increase in catalytic efficiency for AC6C. Additional rounds of directed evolution did not improve catalytic activity toward AC6C. Only one (S306F) of the five persistent mutations is close to the active site. S306F was observed in all 33 clones except one, and the mutation is shown to stabilize the enzyme toward denaturation. The other four persistent mutations are near the surface of the enzyme. The S306F mutation and the distal mutations all have significant effects on the kinetic parameters for AIB and AC6C. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the mutations alter the conformational landscape of the enzyme, favoring a more open active site conformation that facilitates the reactivity of the larger substrate. We speculate that the small increases in kcat/KM for AC6C are due to two constraints. The first is the mechanistic requirement for catalyzing oxidative decarboxylation via a concerted decarboxylation/proton transfer transition state. The second is that DGD must catalyze transamination at the same active site in the second half-reaction of the ping-pong catalytic cycle.
Were Wolfgang's chronic offenders psychopaths? On the convergent validity between psychopathy and career criminality

Abstract Both the criminal career and psychopathy literatures have empirically shown that approximately 5 percent of the criminal population accounts for the preponderance of the incidence of crime; however, these areas of inquiry are largely independent. The current study sought to integrate these literatures using a state population of incarcerated delinquents (n = 723). Descriptive, regression, and ROC-AUC analyses produced significant evidence of the effects of personality and affective psychopathic traits on career criminality net the effects of demographic and mental health controls. Psychopathic traits nearly doubled the total explanatory power of the regression model for career criminality and correctly predicted career criminal membership with accuracies ranging from 70 to 88 percent. Implications of these findings and suggestions for increased integration of criminal career and psychopathy research are proffered.
Molecular Dynamics of C60 in Cocrystals of C60 and p-Bromocalix[4]arene Propyl Ether

Solid-state NMR experiments have been performed to determine the nature of the molecular motion of C60 in cocrystals of C60/p-bromocalix[4]arene propyl ether. Throughout the temperature range of this work (room temperature to 130 K), C60 undergoes fast isotropic reorientation. The C60 molecular dynamics in the cocrystal are similar to that found in the fcc crystal structure of pure C60. The activation energy of C60 reorientation in the cocrystal is 5.6 ± 0.2 kJ/mol, and the rotational diffusion constant of C60 is 11 × 109 s-1 at room temperature.
Scaling mass and morphology in leaves: an extension of the WBE model

Recent advances in metabolic scaling theory have highlighted the importance of exchange surfaces and vascular network geometry in understanding the integration and scaling of whole-plant form and function. Additional work on leaf form and function has also highlighted general scaling relationships for many leaf traits. However, it is unclear if a common theoretical framework can reveal the general rules underlying much of the variation observed in scaling relationships at the whole-plant and leaf level. Here we present an extension of the general model introduced by G. B. West, J. H. Brown, and B. J. Enquist that has previously been applied to scaling phenomena for whole plants to predict scaling relationships in leaves. Specifically, the model shows how the exponents that describe the scaling of leaf surface area, length, and petiole diameter should change with increasing leaf mass (or with one another) and with variation in leaf dimensionality. The predictions of the model are tested and found to be in general agreement with a large data set of leaves collected from both temperate and arid sites. Our results demonstrate that a general model based on the scaling properties of biological distribution networks can also be successfully applied to understand the diversity of leaf form and function.
Adaptive learning of immunosignaturing features for multi-disease pathologies

Previously, adaptive learning algorithms have been used with immunosignaturing in order to identify disease states in patients. However, in these algorithms the presence of a single disease state is assumed, although in a clinical setting this may not be the case. We propose a novel algorithm based on latent feature identification using beta process factor analysis, in which the binary feature sharing matrix is modified and key comparisons are applied to identify multiple possible underlying disease states. The algorithm is verified using combinations of actual patient immunosignaturing data. The proposed method has a variety of applications, including multi-disease state diagnosis in the clinical setting, multi-biothreat detection in the field, and separation of co-contaminated biological samples.
K- plus L-shell ionization of fourth row elements by 30 MeV/amu Ar ions

Abstract Spectra of K X-rays produced by collisions of 30 MeV/amu Ar ions with metallic targets of Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn were measured with a Si(Li) detector system. The measured Kα and Kβ transition energies were compared to the results of Dirac-Fock calculations to estimate the average number of L-shell vacancies at the time of K X-ray emission. The target double-to-single K-shell ionization probabilities were also determined, along with the relative probabilities of having single and double K-shell vacancies in the projectile during passage through the metal foils.
Resonantly-pumped Pr 3+ -doped eye-safe laser at ∼1.65 µm

Laser development in 1.5-1.6-[m range is mostly based on Er3+-doped laser materials [1]. Er3+-doped laser materials are amenable to operating in the “low quantum defect (QD)” mode. Laser operation with the quantum defect of less than 1.5% has been recently reported for Er3+-doped scandia laser ceramic operated in a cryogenically-cooled mode [2]. Despite all these “pros”, Er3+-doped laser operation is known to be heavily affected by detrimental up-conversion effects, which confines laser designer to using lowconcentrated gain elements, thus significantly limiting design space [1]. Er3+-doped crystalline laser materials also have extremely narrow absorption features, which calls for an in-band pumping by spectrally-narrowed sources. These two “contras” of Er3+-doped materials, along with the need for new materials amenable to “ultra-low” quantum defect operation, motivate the search for alternative, non-Er3+, laser materials capable of resonantly-pumped ∼1.5-µm laser operation.
Impurity-bound magnetopolarons in confined structures

Abstract A systematic study of the well-width dependence (between 125 and 450 A) of electron-optical-phonon interactions in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple-quantum-wells is described. The 1s−2p + transition of well-center donors has been tuned through resonances with GaAs optical phonons by magnetic fields up to 23.5 T and followed with far infrared photoconductivity spectroscopy. Extremely large and asymmetric interaction gaps have been observed in both the two-level and three-level resonance regions for small well-width samples; these gaps decrease systematically asthe well-width increases, indicating weaker interactions for larger well-width samples.
Production of slime polysaccharide by EHEC and STEC as well as the influence of culture conditions on slime production in Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Aims: To quantify the slime polysaccharide, composed of colanic acid (CA), produced by enterohaemorrhagic and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (EHEC and STEC) and to determine the influence of culture conditions on CA production in E. coli O157:H7. Methods and Results: The study examined the amounts of CA produced by EHEC and STEC, and evaluated the production of CA in E. coli O157:H7 as influenced by medium pH and incubation temperatures. The results indicated that the amounts of CA produced by EHEC and STEC vary to a great extent and CA production in E. coli O157:H7 is influenced by the tested culture conditions. Conclusions: The abilities of EHEC and STEC to produce CA differ. Medium pH and incubation temperature are among the important factors affecting CA production in E. coli O157:H7. Significance and Impact of the Study: Slime polysaccharide can affect the abilities of E. coli O157:H7 cells to combat environmental stress. This study contributes to a better understanding of the physiological factors influencing slime polysaccharide production in EHEC and STEC.
An interactive method for activity detection visualization

Visualizing each time step in an activity from a scientific dataset can aid in understanding the data and phenomena. In this work, we present a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows scientists to first graphically model an activity, then detect any activities that match the model, and finally visualize the detected activities in time varying scientific data sets. As a graphical and state based interactive approach, an activity detection framework is implemented by our GUI as a tool for modelling, hypothesis-testing and searching for interested activities from the phenomena evolution of the data set. We demonstrate here some features of our GUI: a histogram is used to visualize the number of activities detected as a function of time and to allow the user to focus on a moment in time; a table is used to give details about the activities and the features participating in them; and finally the user is given the ability to click on the screen to bring up 3D images of the overall activity sequence, single time steps of an activity, or individual feature in an activity. We present examples from applications to two different data sets.
Transgenerational Consequences of Plant Responses to Herbivory: An Adaptive Maternal Effect?

Abstract: Herbivory has many effects on plants, ranging from shifts in primary processes such as photosynthesis, growth, and phenology to effects on defense against subsequent herbivores and other species interactions. In this study, I investigated the effects of herbivory on seed and seedling characteristics of several families of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) to test the hypothesis that herbivory may affect the quality of offspring and the resistance of offspring to plant parasites. Transgenerational effects of herbivory may represent adaptive maternal effects or factors that constrain or amplify natural selection on progeny. Caterpillar (Pieris rapae) herbivory to greenhouse‐grown plants caused plants in some families to produce smaller seeds and those in other families to produce larger seeds compared with undamaged controls. Seed mass was positively associated with probability of emergence in the field. The number of setose trichomes, a putative plant defense, was higher in the progeny of damag...
Composite splitting algorithms for convex optimization

We consider the minimization of a smooth convex function regularized by the composite prior models. This problem is generally difficult to solve even if each subproblem regularized by one prior model is convex and simple. In this paper, we present two algorithms to effectively solve it. First, the original problem is decomposed into multiple simpler subproblems. Then, these subproblems are efficiently solved by existing techniques in parallel. Finally, the result of the original problem is obtained by averaging solutions of subproblems in an iterative framework. The proposed composite splitting algorithms are applied to the compressed MR image reconstruction and low-rank tensor completion. Numerous experiments demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithms in terms of both accuracy and computation complexity.
Minimizing errors in differential kinetic analyses of isoenzymes: determination of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) using differential substrate levels.

Abstract Determination of isoenzymes by a method of differential substrate levels is fast and simple and usually does not require prior separations. It can often be adapted to existing total enzyme assays. Application has been made to mixtures of purified tissue fractions of human l -aspartate aminotransferase using a slightly modified commercial assay kit. Colorimetric rate measurements, accurate to 2–3%, allowed resolution of components to an accuracy of 6–9%. A generalized calibration scheme was devised which allowed standardization either by mixed or pure isoenzyme standards. The concept of an “error multiplier” has been developed for prediction of the most favorable operating conditions and for estimating the expected accuracy of the simultaneous determination. Curves are presented that provide a direct means of selecting optimum conditions for two-component isoenzyme systems. The computations are well suited to computer methods. However, in the event a manual data-reduction procedure is desired, a simple graphic scheme has been presented.
Interactive effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide and ultraviolet-B radiation on cotton growth and physiology

Increasing surface UV-B radiation (UV-B) and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [(CO 2 )] are two major issues of climate change and agriculture. Although numerous studies have evaluated elevated UV-B or (CO 2 ) effects on crop growth, development and yield, little is known about the interactive effects of these two factors on cotton. The objective of this study was to determine the combined effects of elevated (CO 2 ) and UV-B radiation on cotton growth and physiology under controlled environmental conditions. The four treatments imposed were control [360 μmol (CO 2 ) mol -1 and 8 kJ m -2 d -1 UV-B], +CO 2 [720 μmol (CO 2 ) mol -1 and 8 kJ m -2 d -1 UV-B], +UV-B [360 μmol (CO 2 ) mol -1 and 16 kJ m -2 d -1 UV-B] and +CO 2 +UV-B [720 μmol (CO 2 ) mol -1 and 16 kJ m -2 d -1 UV-B]. Treatments were imposed from emergence through three weeks after the first flower stage. Plants grown in +CO 2 showed greater plant height, leaf thickness, leaf area, leaf and canopy photosynthesis ( P N ) and total biomass compared to the control, and fruit biomass was not affected by +CO 2 conditions. On the other hand, plants grown in +UV-B treatment exhibited slower growth as reflected by reduced plant height, shorter internodes and branch lengths, and total biomass due to smaller leaf areas and less lower leaf P N . The +UV-B treatment also altered the leaf morphology and significantly reduced flower and petal lengths and petal area. Reduction in fruit production under both +UV-B and +CO 2 +UV-B treatments was due to reduced photosynthesis and alterations in reproductive development. The results also showed interactive effects of UV-B on cotton leaf P N , phenolics, wax content and some physiological parameters measured. Thus, a failure to increase cotton fruit production with +CO 2 and +CO 2 +UV-B suggests that breeding UV-B radiation-tolerant cultivars is important in both the present and future solar UV-B radiation environments.
Removal of colloidal pollutants by microflotation

The removal of various colloids (humic acid, silica, polystyrene latex, and bacteria) by microflotation in the presence of aluminum salts has been studied as a function of pH. The conditions for efficient separation have been correlated to the stability of these colloids, and it was shown that in all cases rapid flotation occurred when the aluminum salt concentration and the pH adjustment rendered the sols unstable. Particularly high removals were observed over the pH range of aluminum hydroxide floc formation. Microflotation could be utilized as a nonspecific method for simultaneous removal of mixtures of colloidal pollutants.
The pallet loading problem: A survey

Abstract Material handling is an important pan of production and distribution systems. The use of pallets to handle large quantities of properly stacked cartons has been recognized as one of the most important ideas in material handling. The pallet loading/packing problem is that of constructing a unit load for safe and efficient transportation. This paper provides a survey of recent research relating to considerations in pallet packing, the models and solution procedures used in pallet packing, and implementation of these approaches in palletization stations.
Development of X-ray Thomson scattering for implosion target characterization

Abstract X-ray Thomson scattering from spherically imploding, direct-drive capsules is used to study the in-flight density, temperature, and ionization state at electron densities of up to ∼10 24 cm −3 . We present scattering data from Be cone-in-shell targets with ∼2 × 10 6 photons in the scattered spectrum. These measurements display the ability for single-shot characterization of the shell conditions in capsule implosions. This is important for diagnosing inertial confinement fusion experiments that determine the likelihood of ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LLNL. We will discuss the experimental geometry, or platform, and the outlook for further improvement of the signal-to-noise.
Quantum chromodynamics at high temperature

Abstract The thermodynamic potential of quantum chromodynamics is calculated in orders 1, α c and α c 3 2 . The renormalization group is used to improve the expansion by allowing αc to be a function of the temperature and chemical potentials. The results are valid for an arbitrary number of quark flavors and masses. Numerical calculations are made for the special case of up, down and strange quarks. Particular attention is paid to the breakdown of the perturbation expansion, and possible connection to the thermodynamics of Hagedorn is discussed. The MIT bag model, which has a fixed coupling constant, does not appear to yield good convergence at high temperatures.
An Evaluation of Patients' Attitudes Toward Pharmacy Selection: A Determinant Attribute Approach

The determinant attribute approach is a research method commonly used in marketing to identify the wants of various consumer groups. The objective of this study was to determine the value of using ...
Infrared absorption properties of the EL2 and the isolated AsGa defects in neutron-transmutation-doped GaAs: Generation of an EL2-like defect.

The EL2 and the isolated As/sub Ga/ antisite defects in neutron-transmutation-doped (NTD) GaAs were studied by using the infrared (ir) absorption technique concurrent with thermal annealing. The results show that irradiation with low thermal-neutron doses partially decomposes the EL2 complex in semi-insulating (si) GaAs grown by the liquid-encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) growth technique. On the other hand, a small amount of EL2 is generated in as-grown Ga-rich undoped p-type LEC GaAs. The EL2 defect in low-dose thermal-neutron-irradiated samples (both si and p-type) was found to be stable up to 850 /sup 0/C. High neutron-irradiation doses, however, completely annihilate EL2 but generate a different EL2-like defect (DL2). The DL2 defect is observed after annealing the high-dose NTD samples for 6 min at 600 /sup 0/C. The DL2 concentration is observed to be larger than that of EL2 in as-grown LEC si GaAs by a factor of 2.3 or higher. The photoquenching and thermal recovery properties of DL2 and EL2 defects are identical. However, the DL2 defect does not exhibit the same thermal stability or the zero-phonon line of the EL2 defect. Thermal annealing kinetics shows that DL2 is composed of three point defects. The residual absorption (unquenchable component) after photoquenching the EL2more » (DL2) defect is interpreted as the photoionization of the isolated As/sub Ga/ antisite.« less
Reduction of125I-angiotensin II binding sites in rat brain following monosodium glutamate treatment

Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with 6 g/kg of monosodium glutamate (MSG). After one month, specific binding of 125I-angiotensin II was measured in membrane preparations from the brain. A 40-45% decrease in the number of 125I-angiotensin II binding sites was observed in brain tissues containing circumventricular organs. No decrease in binding sites was observed in the thalamus/hypothalamus brain region, which resides totally within the blood-brain barrier. The results suggest that MSG can destroy angiotensin-sensitive neurons in circumventricular structures, which are located primarily outside the blood-brain barrier.
Highlights From the Third Annual Mayo Clinic Conference on Systems Engineering and Operations Research in Health Care

In August 2010, the Third Annual Mayo Clinic Conference on Systems Engineering and Operations Research in Health Care was held. The continuing mission of the conference is to gather a multidisciplinary group of systems engineers, clinicians, administrators, and academic professors to discuss the translation of systems engineering methods to more effective health care delivery. Education, research, and practice were enhanced via a mix of formal presentations, tutorials, and informal gatherings of participants with diverse backgrounds. Although the conference promotes a diversity of perspectives and methods, participants are united in their desire to find ways in which systems engineering can transform health care, especially in the context of health care reform and other significant changes affecting the delivery of health care.
Automated flexible ligand docking method and its application for database search

We have developed a new docking program that explores ligand flexibility. This program can be applied to database searches. The program is similar in concept to earlier efforts, but it has been automated and improved. The algorithm begins by selecting an anchor fragment of a ligand. This fragment is protonated, as needed, and then placed in the receptor by the DOCK algorithm, followed by minimization using a simplex method. Finally, the conformations of the remaining parts of the putative ligands are searched by a limited backtrack method and minimized to get the most stable conformation. To test the efficiency of this method, the program was used to regenerate ten ligand–protein complex structures. In all cases, the docked ligands basically reproduced the crystallographic binding modes. The efficiency of this method was further tested by a database search. Ten percent of molecules from the Available Chemicals Directory (ACD) were docked to a dihydrofolate reductase structure. Most of the top-ranking molecules (7 of the top 13 hits) are dihydrofolate or methotrexate derivatives, which are known to be DHFR inhibitors, demonstrating the suitability of this program for screening molecular databases. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem18: 1812–1825, 1997
The positive approach to negative results in toxicology studies

Negative results in toxicology studies are often as noteworthy as are results that detect significant toxicological effects. The results of 49.1% of all t tests published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety in 1985 and 1986 were negative. However, despite the importance and prevalence of negative results in toxicology studies, they are frequently misinterpreted. Negative results from statistical tests that have poor statistical power can only be considered to be inconclusive. Because toxicology studies often use small sample sizes, such studies often have poor power to detect small, but biologically significant, effects. Toxicologists may improve the power of their tests by improving experiment design, increasing alpha, increasing sample size, or limiting the analysis to detection of large differences among samples. Selection of both sample size and alpha level should take considerations of statistical power into account.
Autonomous control hardware for real-time applications

A practical implementation in low-end hardware of an online adaptive fuzzy control algorithm is described. The controller starts with a vacuous initial control policy and learns to control unknown systems by autonomously undergoing adaptation in real-time. Limited system- and implementation-dependent information is incorporated in the adaptive algorithm. This information includes input and output signal magnitudes, quantization, delay time and response time parameters. Simulation and actual experimental results are presented for a prototype autonomous controller based on an inexpensive Intel 8031 hardware platform. >
Cultivating a “Dissenting Frame of Mind”: Radical Education, the Rhetoric of Inquiry, and Anna Barbauld’s Poetry

True to her origins in a prominent Dissenting family, Anna Aikin Barbauld was cautious in her appraisal of existing (and often oppressive) authority structures. Her work is underscored by her understanding that established power structures are incomplete, sometimes incoherent, and usually dangerous to those that attempt to subvert them. Her poetry shows a sophisticated awareness of hierarchy as a frame of mind that needs to be disrupted and re-modeled, as a poor mental construct that pervades much of our thinking about social roles, gender, and—of course—religious practice. But rather than choosing the path of radicalism and radical idealism, Barbauld accepted the fact that realities do not always respond quickly to new critical understandings. Her poetry engages us in experiences that provoke questions and encourage further inquiry—that seek to establish what might be called a “Dissenting frame of mind.” By juxtaposing the languages of science and nurture, and by transforming ordinary experiences into extraordinary ones, Barbauld disrupts reader expectations and provokes re-evaluation of assumptions, prejudices, and “the normal.” The key to change, for Barbauld, is the ability to “think again.” And her poetry is crafted to help readers do just that.
Ocular Tropism of Respiratory Viruses

SUMMARY Respiratory viruses (including adenovirus, influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, coronavirus, and rhinovirus) cause a broad spectrum of disease in humans, ranging from mild influenza-like symptoms to acute respiratory failure. While species D adenoviruses and subtype H7 influenza viruses are known to possess an ocular tropism, documented human ocular disease has been reported following infection with all principal respiratory viruses. In this review, we describe the anatomical proximity and cellular receptor distribution between ocular and respiratory tissues. All major respiratory viruses and their association with human ocular disease are discussed. Research utilizing in vitro and in vivo models to study the ability of respiratory viruses to use the eye as a portal of entry as well as a primary site of virus replication is highlighted. Identification of shared receptor-binding preferences, host responses, and laboratory modeling protocols among these viruses provides a needed bridge between clinical and laboratory studies of virus tropism.
Effects of Rejuvenating Agents on Superpave Mixtures Containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement

Rejuvenator is not a commonly used softening agent to be used in recycling of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). In this study, Superpave mixtures containing RAP were designed using rejuvenating agents, including a rejuvenator and a softer binder, and subsequently evaluated in terms of the volumetric results, obtained the indirect tensile strength (ITS) of samples as well as evaluating the mixtures for rutting using the asphalt pavement analyzer (APA). The content of the rejuvenator used for those mixtures containing the rejuvenator was determined from the blending charts of RAP binders containing the rejuvenator. A total of 12 Superpave mixtures including 10 containing RAP and two virgin were designed. The results indicated, for the mixtures tested for this project, that: (1) properties of the recycled mixtures using the rejuvenator, such as ITS and APA, were better than those containing the softer binder; (2) 10% more RAP could be incorporated in the Superpave mixtures by using the rejuvenator than using the softer binder; and (3) the blending charts established under the Superpave binder specifications can be used to determine the content of the rejuvenator for the recycling.
Water Content of Branches as Affected by Cutting Methods

The results of McDermott and Gibbs on the water content of branch segments, and their conclusions regarding the effect of cutting methods, are reanalysed using a i-test on paired differences. It is concluded that the results do not give unequivocal evidence for the presence of water columns under tensile stress.
Absentee Voting in the United States.

As part of the most basic process in democratic government, the laws of the various states having to do with absentee participation in elections merit consideration. In the election of November 3, 1936, it is estimated that nearly two per cent of the total of forty-five millions were absentee votes. Furthermore, all available evidence indicates a steady expansion of this figure. The number of federal employees in Washington is on the increase; from this source alone the number of absentee voters in the election of 1936 was over eighty thousand. The revival of business and industry, especially in the fields of transportation and communication, and the growing mobility of Americans generally, can be expected to add their quotas to the total number of absentee voters.
Power control based interference mitigation in multi-tier networks

Significant areal capacity gains and improved cellular coverage can be achieved by hierarchical deployment of Femto Access Points (FAP) over an existing cellular network. However, the introduction of FAPs, which use the same spectrum as the cellular network, can cause severe interference to network and drive users into outage. In order to resolve this issue, advanced interference mitigation (IM) techniques should be applied in multi-tier networks. In this paper, we design and evaluate power control based IM algorithms in cellular systems with femtocell overlay. Simulation results show that FAP power back-off helps lower macro-user outage probability at the cost of femto-user rate reduction. For control channels with low data rate requirement, FAP power control can be a potential IM solution.
Addendum to "Proof rules for flush channels"

The logic presented in a previous paper, see ibid., vol. 19, no.4, p.366-78 (1993) for processes that communicate using flush channels is inadequate for reasoning about processes that send multiple identical messages along a channel. A modification to the logic and proof system that remedies this deficiency is described herein. >
Noncitrinin Toxicity of Penicillium citrinum Contaminated Corn

Abstract Day-old White Leghorn chicks were fed P. citrinum-contaminated corn at 3.88, 7.75, 31, or 62% levels in the ration for a period of 5 weeks. High treatment levels (31 and 62%) of contaminated corn in the ration caused severe growth depression, high mortality, and significant decreases in feed consumption. Necrosis of periportal and centrilobular hepatocytes, glomerular atrophy and hyperplasia, degeneration and necrosis of tubular epithelial cells, lymphoid depletion, suppression of hematopoiesis, necrosis of pancreatic acinar cells, and a cardiac and skeletal myopathy were observed microscopically in chicks fed 31 and 62% contaminated corn in the rations. Low levels of contaminated corn in the ration (3.88 and 7.75%) caused few clinical effects; however, liver and kidney changes were observed microscopically. Ultrastructural observation of affected tissues showed swelling of mitochondria, dilatation of the endoplasmic reticulum, increased numbers of autophagic vacuoles and paramyelin figures, and lipoprotein peroxidation of organelles. The toxin (s) present in the P. citrinum contaminated ration have not been identified.
Representation, interaction, and intersubjectivity.

What the participants share, their common “sense” of the world, creates a foundation, a framing, an orientation that enables human actors to see and act in coordination with one another. For recurrent activities, the methods the participants use to understand each other as they act change, making the intersubjective space in which actors operate richer and easier to produce. This article works through some of the issues that emerge from a close examination of intersubjectivity as it is managed through representation and interaction. The data that are presented document, in detail, a sequence of related interactions, within and across episodes of cooperation, where continuity and change can be observed. The emergence of conversational structure and coordinating representations are significant milestones in the long-term development of a representational practice that support the runtime co-construction of intersubjective space. Conversational structures emerge interactively to mediate recurrent points of coordination in the domain activity, and only secondarily the conversation itself. Coordinating representations change the representational practice of the participants by making it easier to manage their “shared view” of the collective work, enabling the participants to make progress, expand the field of the common activity, while exhibiting more control of if and when explicit grounding occurs.
Women's Health Initiative results: a glass more empty than full.

Abstract Objective To give perspective to the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report. Design Review of the report with reference to other current literature. Result(s) Women's Health Initiative was stopped early because the hazard ratio for breast cancer, although not statistically significant, met a preset Data Safety Monitoring Board statistical parameter that mandated a recommendation to close the study. Data from study years 4 and 5 that drive the statistics developed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board may not hold equal biological significance for clinicians and their patients. Conclusion(s) Women's Health Initiative has provided limited new data. Providers should resist the knee-jerk call to abandon MHT. Together, patient and provider should assess the benefit that MHT is adding/will add to each individual woman's quality of life.
GCM greenhouse and high‐obliquity Solutions for early Proterozoic glaciation and middle Proterozoic warmth

[1] The first definitive evidence of low-latitude glaciation occurs in the early Proterozoic approximately 2.3 billion years ago. This period of glaciation occurs near the time for a significant rise in oxygen levels. A reduction in the methane producing population through the oxidation of Earth's atmosphere has been proposed as the cause for generating cold climatic conditions. Another alternative is that cold climatic conditions could have been generated by the migration of a landmass into low latitudes if Earth's obliquity was considerably higher than present. These two hypotheses are tested with global climate model simulations using present-day and high-obliquity (70°) boundary conditions. Further, the solar constant is reduced by 17% and 10 × CO2 is used. An idealized super-continent is used and methane mixing ratios vary from 0.1 ppmv to 25 ppmv in the simulations. For the present-day obliquity, low-latitude glaciation occurs when CH4 concentrations are reduced from 10 to 0.1 ppmv. However, the same result is produced when the oceanic heat transport is turned off. In high obliquity simulations, low-latitude glaciation occurs when the idealized super-continent is moved from middle into low latitudes. Finally, high-obliquity may explain the warm middle Proterozoic, as warm simulated climatic conditions occur even for a low latitude super-continent using a solar constant representative of the Middle Proterozoic and reduced atmospheric methane mixing ratios.
Calcified Algae as Sediment Contributors to Early Paleozoic Limestones: Evidence from Deep-Water Sediments of the Cow Head Group, Western Newfoundland

ABSTRACT Calcified algae are important elements of deep-water carbonate sediments in the Cow Head Group. Large algal boundstone boulders in debris-flow conglomerates consist of Girvanella sheets and arborescent clusters of Epiphyton. Silt- and sand-sized particles in fine-grained, thin-bedded slope limestones include abundant Girvanella, as single tubules, rafts of intertwined tubules, oncolites, and intraclasts. Integration of petrographic information from the boulders and fine-grained limestones indicates that many micritic peloids of silt to very fine sand size, the single most abundant particle type in the Cow Head Group, are a combination of comminuted Girvanella tubules and broken Epiphyton rods. Much of the "structure grumeleuse" in intraclasts is also diagenetically modified calcified algae. These findings suggest that many peloids and intraclasts in Early to Middle Paleozoic carbonates, in both shallow and deep water, may have been derived from calcified algae. Calcified algae may have been just as important in producing carbonate sediment during this time as benthic calcified algae are in the modern ocean. The difficulty in recognizing the algal contribution in most ancient sediments is probably caused by the simple microfabric of the resultant grains, filling and obliteration of tubules with micrite cement, or micritization.
The Narrated Self: Life Stories in Process

Since Paul Radin's pioneering work early in this century, life histories have become standbys in American ethnography. Ethnographers collect them, Crashing Thunder (Radin 1983) and other informant biographies are classics in the discipline, and students are still exhorted to collect life histories as part of fieldwork. Yet, despite their great promise, life-history studies have been of controversial value from the start. Boas, Radin's teacher, distrusted life history as a research technique because he felt informants were wont to lie and to exaggerate and researchers could scarcely help but bias the informant's story (Fogelson 1979). Radin meanwhile saw a strength not revealed by Boas's scientific perspective. For him, history and culture were grounded in the lives of specific individuals. Life histories revealed history and culture as lived (Diamond 1981). Today, decades later, life-history studies are still subject to perspectives as wildly different as those of Boas and Radin. They encompass a confusing welter of different approaches and, even worse, are poorly integrated with the larger endeavor of sociocultural and psychocultural description, analysis, and theory. The objective of this article is to both catalogue the variety of approaches and to place them in an encompassing framework. We