cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Expression of interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha messenger RNA does not correlate with protection in guinea pigs challenged with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis by the respiratory route.

Cytokine messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was investigated in the spleen and lung digest cells of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-vaccinated and non-vaccinated guinea pigs following low-dose, pulmonary exposure to virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. After purified protein derivative (PPD) stimulation, the levels of lung cell interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and spleen cell interleukin-12 (IL-12) p40 mRNAs were significantly increased in the non-vaccinated M. tuberculosis-infected guinea pigs compared to the BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs. In contrast, the expression of anti-inflammatory transforming growth factor-beta and IL-10 mRNAs was significantly enhanced in the spleens of BCG-vaccinated animals. Despite the presence of protective cytokine mRNA expression, the non-vaccinated guinea pigs had significantly higher lung and spleen bacterial burdens. In contrast, BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs controlled the bacterial multiplication in their lungs and spleens, indicating that both protective as well as anti-inflammatory cytokine responses are associated with a reduction in bacteria. In addition, lung digest cells from non-vaccinated guinea pigs contained a significantly higher percentage of neutrophils, CD3(+) and CD8(+) T cells, while the percentage of macrophages was increased in the BCG-vaccinated animals. Total and purified lung digest T cells co-cultured with lung macrophages (LMos) proliferated poorly after PPD stimulation in both non-vaccinated and BCG-vaccinated animals while robust proliferation to PPD was observed when T cells were co-cultured with peritoneal macrophages (PMos). Macrophages within the lung compartment appear to regulate the response of T cells irrespective of the vaccination status in guinea pigs. Taken together, our results suggest that type I cytokine mRNA expression is not associated with vaccine-induced protection in the low-dose guinea pig model of tuberculosis.
Multi-robot boundary tracking with phase and workload balancing

This paper discusses the use of a cooperative multiple robot system as applied to distributed tracking and sampling of a boundary edge. Within this system the boundary edge is partitioned into subsegments, each allocated to a particular robot such that workload is balanced across the robots. Also, to minimize the time between sampling local areas of the boundary edge, it may be desirable to minimize the difference between each robots progression (i.e. phase) along its allocated sub segment of the edge. The paper introduces a new distributed controller that handles both workload and phase balancing. Simulation results are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the controller in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) under ice edge sampling application. Successful results from experimentation with three iRobot Creates are also presented.
TEXTURE MODIFYING AGENT AND BINDER EFFECTS ON THE YIELD, SENSORY AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF BONELESS HAMS

To test their binding characteristics, 11 texture modifying agents/binders were added to cure formulations under industry conditions. Ham muscles were excised, butterflied, denuded of fat, tenderized, cured at 158% of raw weight, massaged, stuffed, and cooked/smoked overnight. The yield of cooked and smoked ham, shrinkage during chilling after cooking, and yield of ready-to-ship ham were not affected (P > 0.05) by binder. Integrated Ingredients Zyest 90 whey and yeast produced lower L * values than Protein Technology HVF 51. A. E. Staley Consista Starch and Integrated Ingredients Zyest 90 whey and yeast produced higher a* values than Hercules M8 78F and Protein Technology HVF 51. Protein Technology HVF 51 produced higher b* values than Hercules M8 78 F, DMV EM 25, and National Firmtex. AMP 80 produced a lower shear force value than DMV EM 25. The control and Hercules M8 78F produced higher moisture percentages than A. E. Staley Low Temp 452 and DMV EM 25. Protein Technology Supro 595 produced superior overall and cooked/smoked yields while A. E. Staley Consista Starch produced inferior overall and cooked/smoked yields.
Diapause-regulated proteins in the gut of pharate first instar larvae of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, and the effect of KK-42 and neck ligation on expression

Abstract Two groups of proteins in the gut of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar , have distinct expression patterns in relation to diapause. Two proteins, 30 and 35 kDa, are highly expressed prior to the inception of diapause (13–17 days after oviposition) and then cease to be expressed shortly thereafter. Two other proteins, 55 and 60 kDa, are highly expressed in early diapause and then gradually decline in expression as diapause progresses. Expression of the 55 kDa protein ceases during the chilling period required to terminate diapause while expression of the 60 kDa protein continues even in postdiapause. Additional experiments focused on the 55 kDa protein due to its expression being restricted to early diapause. The 55 kDa protein is gut specific and within the gut it is expressed in only the mid- and hindgut. KK-42, an imidazole derivative known to avert diapause in the gypsy moth, prevents expression of the 55 kDa protein. Neck ligation experiments indicate that the brain is not needed to stimulate synthesis of the protein. The protein, however, is not synthesized when the gut is cultured in vitro . This suggests that some tissue other than the brain and external to the gut is needed to prompt synthesis of the 55 kDa protein.
TH‐E‐BRCD‐02: Automated Treatment Planning Using a Database of Prior Patient Treatment Plans

Intensity modulated RT(IMRT) is used to deliver highly conformal radiation treatments. Its broad adoption has introduced considerable inter‐patient and inter‐institutional variability in plan quality. As part of our Oncospace program, we have built a system that uses patient geometric information and a database of previously treated patients for IMRTtreatment plan quality assessment and automated planning. The system uses the relationship between organs at risk (OARs) and target volumes to predict the achievable dose distributions for a given patient from a database of prior patients. It then uses this achievable dose distribution to guide the planning process for the new patient. This system also employs a feedback model to insure the database improves over time through continual improvement in plan quality. The basic premise is the overlap volume histogram (OVH), a shape descriptor we introduced to describe the complex spatial relationship between an OAR and the target volume. The OVH describes the volume of overlap between the OAR and an expanded/contracted target as a function of the expansion/contraction distance. It is determined by expanding/contracting the target volume and calculating the volume of overlap for each distance. The OVH tells us what percentage of the OAR is within a given distance of the target and thus contains information about how hard it is to dosimetrically spare the OAR using IMRT. The OVH allows us to characterize patients based on their OAR‐target relationships, and thus allows us to search into the database of prior patients. We can query for patients with similar OVH characteristics, or we can find a group of patients whose OVHs suggest they are harder to plan .We have used our OVH query for both quality management and automatic treatment planning of head and neck and pancreatic cancers. For quality assessment, we take a new patient's OVHs and dosimetry data; look in to the database to find the best dose distribution achieved from the set of all patients whose OVH indicates they are harder to plan; then compare that queried dose distribution to the new patient's dose to indicate if the current treatment plan can be improved upon. For the automatic planning case, we use the queried doses to initialize the dosimetric objective function used in the inverse planning process of IMRT. The presentation will include an in‐depth discussion of the database and infrastructure design; the research and clinical results of the OVH based auto‐planning, and the software developed for clinical deployment with the dosimetrists.
Effect of background gas, sample angle and laser polarization on the enhancement effect of resonant laser ablation

The main characteristic of the resonant laser ablation (RLA) phenomenon is an enhancement in the number of atoms ablated from the surface when the ablation laser wavelength is tuned to match a gas phase transition of the analyte of interest. It has been suggested in the literature that the RLA phenomenon is probably based on radiation trapping with contributions from desorption induced by electronic transitions. In the present paper, a study was made of the effects of laser polarization, sample angle and the identity of the background gas on the enhancements observed during resonant laser ablation. The effects of laser polarization and of sample angle relative to the laser beam were observed to be wavelength-independent at low incident laser powers. The rate of resonant ablation under an argon atmosphere was found to be twice the ablation rate under helium, while the use of a nitrogen atmosphere reduced the ablation rate by a factor of ten compared with argon, and effectively removed the wavelength dependence from the experiment. The results indicated that the magnitude of the RLA-enhanced desorption could be optimized with respect to the incident angle and the polarization of the incident laser, and by ablation under an argon atmosphere.
Evaluation of Age–Length Key Sample Sizes Required to Estimate Fish Total Mortality and Growth

Abstract Fisheries assessments often rely on age composition data to infer information about growth, mortality, and the outcome of various management policies. To reduce the costs of estimating the age of all fish collected (i.e., via direct aging), an age–length key (ALK) is often developed by directly aging only a subsample of fish and estimating the ages of the remaining fish based on observed lengths. Although this approach is common, there is little guidance in the literature for determining the appropriate total sample size and numbers of fish needed to directly age for each length bin. We developed a stochastic simulation to evaluate the sample-size requirement for using ALKs to estimate von Bertalanffy growth parameters and the instantaneous rate of total mortality (Z). The simulations accounted for variation in life history characteristics of stocks and exploitation rates of fisheries. Our simulations suggested that for overfished populations, aging more fish per bin provides negligible benefits ...
Educational Sequelae of High School Misbehavior

Despite the fact that misbehavior in school is a pervasive problem to educators and despite its adverse consequences, few researchers have examined the range of misbehaviors by students, their antecedents, or their consequences. The authors used data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS:88) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to examine immediate and long-term educational sequelae of misbehavior in high school. The authors constructed an extent of serious misconduct (ESM) measure based on classroom and school misbehaviors, ranging from classroom disruption to fighting and gang membership. The authors first examined relationships among specific misbehaviors and the relationship of ESM to student and school demographic characteristics. Second, the authors studied relationships of ESM with high school and post-high school academic outcomes. Misbehavior was related to high school grades, test scores, and graduation and dropout rates. Misbehavior also was r...
Response to triiodothyronine and dextroamphetamine: A study of preschool schizophrenic children

A controlled study of triiodothyronine (T3), a hormone with CNS effects and stimulating properties, is reported in detail and discussed. Twelve of the 16 subjects (13 boys and 3 girls ranging in age from 3 to 6 years) were psychotic (10 schizophrenic and 2 autistic), 2 had chronic organic brain syndromes (Turner's and Klinefelter's, both with withdrawing reaction) and 2 were nonpsychotic (withdrawing and hyperkinetic reactions). Optimal daily doses of T3 ranged from 12.5 to 75 mcg, while those of dextroamphetamine, used as control, from 1.25 to 10 mg. Nonblind evaluations indicated marked improvement on T3 in 11 children, slight in 3, and deterioration in one. Blind ratings indicated statistically significant improvement in overall symptomatology (p⩽0.01). While dextroamphetamine yielded poor responses in all diagnostic categories, T3 had antipsychotic and stimulating effects. T3 is viewed as an agent that is potentially effective in the treatment of childhood schizophrenia.
A Comparison of Methods to Predict Soil Surface Texture in an Alluvial Basin

Surface soil texture controls many important ecological, hydrological, and geomorphic processes in arid regions and is therefore important from a land-management perspective. Soil survey efforts have traditionally fulfilled this need, but they are constrained by the size, remoteness, and inaccessibility of many arid regions, which renders simple field measurements prohibitively expensive. This article compares several different predictive soil-mapping techniques with a sparse data set in order to develop surficial soil texture maps. Our results suggest that data collected at the landscape scale can be used as input to predictive soil-mapping techniques to create maps of soil texture at higher fidelity and a fraction of the cost than would be required using traditional methods.
Isolation and Partial Characterization of α - and β -Tubulin from Outer Doublets of Sea-Urchin Sperm and Microtubules of Chick-Embryo Brain

Abstract Two kinds of tubulin (α and β) have been described in microtubules from many different systems. In this study a discontinuous acrylamide-gel system containing sodium dodecyl sulfate was used to separate milligram quantities of α- and β-tubulin from microtubules of chick-embryo brain and from outer doublets of sea-urchin sperm. The isolated tubulins were characterized by peptide mapping and automated sequencing of the first 25 NH2-terminal amino acids. Our results show that α- and β-tubulin are related but distinctly different proteins and that each one has been highly conserved in the course of evolution.
Ultrafast selected-energy x-ray absorption spectroscopy (USEXAS) with a laser-driven x-ray source

A laser driven electron x-ray source (LEXS) emitting tungsten L α lines has been built based on a high repetition rate, terawatt laser system. The Lα characteristic lines overlap with the absorption edge of Ni near 8333 eV. Using this x-ray source, the x-ray absorption spectra near the absorption edge of different Ni compounds have been measured. We term this new method "ultrafast selected energy x-ray absorption spectroscopy (USEXAS)." It provides an efficient way to study ultrafast reaction dynamics of many metal complexes in solution.
Zak transform and a new approach to waveform design

The ambiguity function A/sub f/ (/spl tau/, v) of a transmitted signal f(t) measures the uncertainty with which the returning echo distinguishes, simultaneously, both ranges and velocities of a target system. Generally speaking, A/sub f/ (/spl tau/, v) is desired to be of "thumbtack" shape, i.e., a function whose absolute value has a graph with a strong peak at the origin over a broad shallow base. The ambiguity function can be computed directly from the Zak transform Z/sub f/ (x,y) of the signal f(t), so waveforms with desirable ambiguity functions can be designed in the Zak domain. In the Zak domain, computation of A/sub f/ (/spl tau/, v) on the integer lattice is exceptionally simple, particularly for pulse train signals. For a pulse train, the Zak transform is obtained by multiplying the Zak transform of a rectangular pulse of duration 1 by a multivariate trigonometric polynomial whose coefficients are the coefficients defining the pulse train. Reversing this observation, one can start with such a trigonometric polynomial and construct a pulse train signal. We propose a systematic method for constructing such waveforms, which we illustrate in a particular case.
A zonal dislocation mechanism for rhombohedral twinning in sapphire (α-Al2O3)

Abstract HRTEM investigations of rhombohedral twins in sapphire (α-Al2O3) indicate that they are “screw twins”; the twin axis η1 is [0 1 11] and involves a 1 6[0 1 11] translation in addition to the 2-fold rotational symmetry. Based on this data, a zonal dislocation mechanism for rhombohedral twinning in sapphire is proposed which predicts the correct shear strain s = 0.202. This mechanism only requires movements of the Al and O ions of less than 50% of the closest AlAl or OO distances in the ideal crystal, although some ions have to move against the shear.
HOW ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AFFECT CANOPY LEAF-LEVEL PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN FOUR DECIDUOUS TREE SPECIES

Species composition of temperate forests vary with successional age (i.e., years after a major disturbance) and seems likely to change in response to significant global climate change. Because photosynthesis rates in co-occurring tree species can differ in their sensitivity to environmental conditions, these changes in species composition are likely to alter the carbon dynamics of temperate forests. To help improve our understanding of such atmosphere-biosphere interactions, we explored changes in leaf-level photosynthesis in a 60-70 yr old temperate mixed-deciduous forest in Petersham, Massachusetts (USA). Diurnally and seasonally varying environmental conditions differentially influenced in situ leaf-level photosynthesis rates in the canopies of four mature temperate deciduous tree species: red oak (Quercus rubra), red maple (Acer rubrum), white birch (Betulapapyrifera), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). We measured in situ photosynthesis at two heights within the canopies (top of the canopy at -20 m, and in the sub-canopy of the same individual trees at -14-16 m) through a diurnal time course on 7 d over two growing seasons. We simultaneously measured a suite of environmental conditions surrounding the leaf at the time of each measurement. We used path analysis to examine the influence of environmental factors on in situ photosynthesis in the tree canopies. Overall, red oak had the highest photosynthesis rates, followed by white birch, yellow birch, and red maple. There was little evidence for a substantial midday depression in photosynthesis. Instead, photosynthesis declined throughout the day, particularly after 1600. Diurnal patterns of light reaching canopy leaves, leaf and air temperature, and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) contributed to diurnally varying photosynthesis rates. Large differences in these parameters through the growing season partly led to the seasonal differences observed in photosynthesis rates. Path analyses helped to identify the relative contribution of various environmental factors on photosynthesis and further revealed that species-specific sensi- tivities to various environmental conditions shifted through the season. Red oak photo- synthesis was particularly sensitive to air temperatures late in the season when air tem- peratures were low. Further, red maple photosynthesis was particularly sensitive to high VPDs through the growing season. Incorporating data on the physiological differences among tree species into forest carbon models will greatly improve our ability to predict alterations to the forest carbon budgets under various environmental scenarios such as global climate change, or with differing species composition.
Tumor immunotherapy using adenovirus vaccines in combination with intratumoral doses of CpG ODN

The combination of viral vaccination with intratumoral (IT) administration of CpG ODNs is yet to be investigated as an immunotherapeutic treatment for solid tumors. Here, we show that such a treatment regime can benefit survival of tumor-challenged mice. C57BL/6 mice bearing ovalbumin (OVA)-expressing EG.7 thymoma tumors were therapeutically vaccinated with adenovirus type 5 encoding OVA (Ad5-OVA), and the tumors subsequently injected with the immunostimulatory TLR9 agonist, CpG-B ODN 1826 (CpG), 4, 7, 10, and 13 days later. This therapeutic combination resulted in enhanced mean survival times that were more than 3.5× longer than naive mice, and greater than 40% of mice were cured and capable of resisting subsequent tumor challenge. This suggests that an adaptive immune response was generated. Both Ad5-OVA and Ad5-OVA + CpG IT treatments led to significantly increased levels of H-2 Kb-OVA-specific CD8+ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and intratumorally. Lymphocyte depletion studies performed in vivo implicated both NK cells and CD8+ lymphocytes as co-contributors to the therapeutic effect. Analysis of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) on day 12 post-tumor challenge revealed that mice treated with Ad5-OVA + CpG IT possessed a significantly reduced percentage of regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) within the CD4+ lymphocyte population, compared with TILs isolated from mice treated with Ad5-OVA only. In addition, the proportion of CD8+ TILs that were OVA-specific was reproducibly higher in the mice treated with Ad5-OVA + CpG IT compared with other treatment groups. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of combining intratumoral CpG and vaccination with virus encoding tumor antigen.
TAMPON CULTURE FOR CERVICOVAGINAL HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS

From 101 to 106 TCID50 of herpes simplex viruses types I and II in 0.10 ml volumes can be quantitatively recovered from vaginal tampons in vitro. The distal several centimeters of tampon were extracted in Hanks buffered saline containing fetal calf serum, penicillin, streptomycin and amphotericin B, for end-point titration. Virus could be recovered from 7 brands of tampons. In 5 patients with clinically apparent genital herpes simplex infection, viral cultures were obtained from vulvar vesicles, from direct cervical swabs performed at pelvic examination and from tampons inserted by the patient. Virus was eluted from swabs and tampons and end-point titrations were performed. The cervical viral titers recovered by the 2 methods were similar: Thus, quantitative cervicovaginal cultures can be obtained by tampon culture without pelvic examination.
Echo-Guided Mitral Repair

Background— Echocardiography is available in the most basic healthcare environments. Mitral repair is potentially curative and, when possible, recommended over replacement. The efficacy of echo-guided repair has not been established. Methods and Results— We developed a succinct set of precisely defined images observed to be highly concordant with intraoperative findings. These images guided intervention on 237 consecutive patients. None were lost to follow-up, and serial echocardiography was obtained on all repairs. This analysis includes 2037 echocardiograms. The intent to repair or replace was documented preoperatively in 98.7%. Concordance was associated with successful repair (97.8% versus 57.1%; P =0.001). Three-dimensional concordance was higher than 2-dimensional (100% versus 94.4%; P =0.05). Echocardiography guided a graduated surgical approach for degenerative and myopathic repairs by quantifying segmental prolapse, anterior leaflet closing angles, and tenting for integration of secondary chord lysis ( P <0.001) and commissural width ( P <0.01). Repair rates increased from 46.5% to 77.6% ( P <0.001). Concomitant Society of Thoracic Surgeons rates were 46.6% (versus unguided 46.5%; P =0.99) and 54.9% (versus echo guided 77.6%; P <0.001). Repair was successful in 91.5% of isolated echo-guided mitral operations (versus concomitant Society of Thoracic Surgeons 70.0%; P <0.001). Echo-guided repair rates for degenerative, myopathic, and inflammatory diseases were 99.0%, 97.1%, and 84.2% with linearized annual recurrent regurgitation of 0.63%, 2.19%, and 4.37%, respectively. Conclusions— Echocardiography can reliably identify repairable mitral disease and guide intervention. Echo-guided repair is associated with a higher rate of initial success than unguided historical and concomitant national controls. Three-dimensional echo improves concordance. Secondary chord lysis is associated with durable repair and may prevent ventricular remodeling.
Totally integrally closed rings and extremal spaces

E. Enochs has defined a ring A (all rings are commutative, with 1) to be totally integrally closed (which we abbreviate TIC) if for every integral extension h: B—>C the induced map /ι*: Horn (C, A) —»Horn (B, A) is surjective. Our main result here is that A is TIC if and only if A is reduced, each residue class domain of A is normal and has an algebraically closed field of fractions, and Spec A is extremal (disjoint open sets have disjoint clopen neighborhoods). We use this fact to settle negatively the open question, need a localization of a TIC ring be TIC. The proofs depend on the following apparently new characterization of extremal spaces: a topological space X is extremal if and only if there is a Boolean algebra retraction of the family of all subsets of X onto the family of all clopen subsets of X which takes every closed set into a subset of itself. 1* Basic facts* We summarize here some of the facts about TIC rings from [2]. Most results are merely stated informally. The proofs are easy. However, we include simpler proofs of both Lemma 1 (which is, in substance, the "only if" part of Theorem 1 of [2]) and of the existence of "the total integral closure" of a reduced ring than are given in [2], and we also give some useful characterizations of TIC rings which are not stated (though they are implicit) in [2]. We use the term normal for a domain integrally closed in its fraction field. When we speak of an integrally closed subring B of a ring C, we mean that B is integrally closed in C, rather than in, say, the fraction field of B. Trivially, a product of TIC rings is TIC; a retract of a TIC ring is TIC; and an integrally closed subring of a TIC ring is TIC. Proposition 3 of [2] asserts that a domain is TIC if and only if it is normal and has an algebraically closed fraction field. Hence, products of algebraically closed fields are TIC. Following [2], we define an extension h\A—*B to be tight if, equivalents, either (1) for each ideal IΦ (0) of B, h-^I) Φ (0); or (2) each nonzero element of B has a nonzero multiple in h(A); or (3) if g: B —• C and g \ h(A) is injective then g is injective.
Survival of patients with carcinoma in situ of the urinary bladder

BACKGROUND To the authors' knowledge, the long term follow-up of patients with carcinoma in situ of the urinary bladder is limited. METHODS The authors studied 138 patients diagnosed with urothelial carcinoma in situ of the bladder at the Mayo Clinic between 1972–1979. All the histologic slides were reviewed and fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for carcinoma in situ according to the newly proposed World Health Organization and International Society of Urologic Pathology classification system. None of these patients had previous or coexisting invasive urothelial carcinoma at the time of diagnosis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the prognostic significance of numerous clinical and pathologic findings using progression free, cancer specific, and all-cause survival as the endpoints for analysis. Progression was defined as the development of invasive carcinoma, distant metastases, or death from bladder carcinoma. RESULTS The patients ages at the time of diagnosis ranged from 32–90 years (mean, 65.6 years). The male to female ratio was 7:1. Carcinoma in situ usually was multifocal (50%) with a predilection for the trigone, lateral wall, and dome. The mean follow-up after surgery was 11.0 years (range, 0.7–25 years). Actuarial progression free, cancer specific, and all-cause survival rates were 63%, 79%, and 55%, respectively, at 10 years, and 59%, 74%, and 40%, respectively, at 15 years. The mean interval from the time of diagnosis to cancer progression was 5 years. Patient age at diagnosis was significant in predicting progression free (P = 0.01) and all-cause survival (P = 0.002). Cystectomy performed within 3 months after the initial diagnosis was associated with improved all-cause survival (P = 0.03). After controlling for age, there was no difference in survival between patients who received immediate cystectomy and those did not (P = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS Patients with carcinoma in situ of the bladder are at significant risk of cancer progression and death from bladder carcinoma. Cystectomy does not appear to offer a significant survival advantage in patients with carcinoma in situ of the bladder after adjusting for age. Cancer 1999;85:2469–74. © 1999 American Cancer Society.
Trends in Women's Gun Ownership, 1973–2002

In recent years controversy has arisen over whether the rate of women's gun ownership has increased over time. While media reports claimed a rising trend in women's gun ownership, existing scholarl...
Quantitative digital subtraction arteriography with a calibration catheter

Quantitative intraarterial digital subtraction arteriography (DSA) was performed using a calibration catheter with three distal metallic ring markers. The two outer markers were 50 mm apart, and the third marker was in the middle. Measurements of 54 vessel diameters of the abdominal aorta, renal, lumbar, and iliac arteries were performed in a comparison study with direct film arteriograms in 10 aortofemoral runoff studies. Diameter measurements were made by both the observer on hard copy DSA images and by a computer using modified semiquantitative software. Against measurements on film, which were used as the standard, deviations in measurement on digital images varied from 8 to 13% for arterial diameters <5 mm and from 2 to 6% for diameters ≥5 mm. Projectional artifacts caused 3% or less error. Knowing these variations in measurement is important in order to determine error tolerances for clinical applications. The calibration catheter serves as a convenient internal marker for DSA.
A generic autonomous clustering-based heterogeneous waveband switching architecture in WDM networks

Heterogeneous waveband switching (HeteroWBS) in WDM networks reduces the network operational costs. We propose an autonomous clustering-based HeteroWBS architecture to support the design of efficient HeteroWBS algorithms under dynamic traffic requests in such a network.
Benthic diatom distribution in a Pennsylvania stream: role of pH and nutrients

Buffalo Creek is in a forested watershed in eastern Pennsylvania and is relatively acid in upstream reaches (pH∼6), becoming alkaline downstream (pH∼8). Temperature, nitrogen (NO3-N) and phosphorus (O-PO4) increase significantly downstream whereas N/P declines. Nutrient-diffusing substrata were deployed in triplicate at an upstream and downstream site. Six treatments included two concentrations of nitrate, two concentrations of phosphate, nitrogen + phosphate, and a control. Substrata were collected after 18 days, scraped and analyzed for accrual of chlorophyll a and algal community structure. Chlorophyll a and algal biovolume were greatest downstream across all nutrient treatments. At the community level, accrual appeared to be limited by phosphorus at upstream sites. Downstream accrual also may have been phosphorus-limited, but the results were equivocal. Benthic algae on all treatments at both sites were ∼96% diatoms. Minimal overlap in species composition was observed between upstream and downstream sites. Of the 75 species of diatoms encountered in the study, 58 species did not occur at the upstream site and 10 species did not occur at the downstream site. The upstream site was depauperate in species and dominated by Eunotia exigua (Breb. ex Kutz.) Rabh., which showed a positive response to phosphorus and accounted for over 50% of the biomass across treatments. The downstream site showed a four-fold increase in species richness. Communities at this site contained some species that appeared to be phosphorus-limited, e.g. Melosira varians Ag., and others that seemed to be nitrogen-limited, e.g. Diatoma vulgare Bory and Navicula seminulum Grun. We conclude that extreme conditions upstream (low pH, high N/P) result in a species-poor community dominated by acidophilous phosphorus-limited diatoms. Increases in downstream nutrients and pH result in a relatively rich and diverse community.
A new approach to multibody model development: pedestrian lower extremity.

Objective: The goal of this study was to develop a mathematical model of the 50th percentile male lower extremity capable of predicting injury risk and simulating the kinetic and kinematic response of the pedestrian lower extremity under vehicle impact loading. Methods: The hip-to-foot multibody model was developed for the MADYMO software platform using exterior and interior geometry and inertial properties from a detailed finite element model (FEM) of the human lower extremity and stiffness and failure tolerance data from the literature. The leg and thigh models' structural and contact parameters were simultaneously optimized to validate model response in simulations replicating previous dynamic bending experiments. The aggregate model's full-scale kinematic response was verified by comparing 3-D local (knee bending angles) and global (linear accelerations and velocities) frame leg and thigh kinematics from vehicle impact simulations with data generated from seven vehicle–pedestrian (PMHS) impact experim...
Unusual survival of an adult with pleuropulmonary blastoma and neurofibromatosis

Clinical Summary Chest radiography showed a solid mass encased within a large cystic structure, suspicious for aspergilloma of the left lung. A chest computed tomographic scan revealed a huge multiseptated cystic structure involving the entire major fissure of the left lung, containing a multilobulated soft tissue mass (Figure 1), and measuring approximately 10 20 cm. The mass and cysts were completely excised through a left thoracotomy. The specimen weighed 85 g in aggregate and consisted of thin-walled cysts, imparting a botryoid (ie, grape-like) appearance, with minor solid components (Figure 2, A ). Microscopically, small immature tumor cells with ovoid to spindle-shaped nuclei were set in a myxoid stroma. Cellularity was highest in the so-called cambium layer just beneath the attenuated cyst lining (Figure 2, B). Tumor cells were positive for desmin and other muscle markers by immunohistochemistry. A diagnosis of pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) type II was made. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful. Retrospective pathologic examination of the blebectomy specimen obtained 2 years earlier revealed subtle histologic features suggestive of PPB type I. The patient received a multidrug regimen of 11 cycles of chemotherapy, consisting of vincristine, actinomycin, and cyclophosphamide during the first phase, and doxorubicin (Adriamycin; Bedford Laboratories, Bedford, Ohio), cisplatin, and doxorubicin during the second phase. Follow-up computed tomography scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis revealed no evidence of recurrence or metastasis at 24 months. The patient is currently asymptomatic with good weight gain and normal physical strength. Discussion This case report demonstrates the cardinal clinical and pathologic features of PPB, a highly aggressive childhood malignancy, in an adult. These tumors present almost exclusively in the first decade of life. 1 To our knowledge, 4 adult patients have been reported in the literature, with only 1 survivor at 29 months, after radiation therapy of a nonresectable PPB. 2 It is now recognized that 25% of PPB cases occur in a familial setting with other tumors of childhood, such as cystic nephroma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma. 3 There are no reports in the literature of any case of PPB associated with neurofibromatosis. Clinical presentation of these rare tumors may vary from ruptured lung blebs, as in our patient, or space-occupying masses resembling a mediastinal teratoma 4 to more subtle manifestations of chest pathology or systemic disease. The clinical and radiographic differential diagnosis includes fungal lesions, congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, bronchogenic cyst, and postinfectious pneumatocele. Three pathologic types of PPB have been described: Type I is purely cystic and may present as a congenital lung cyst; type II is a combined cystic and solid tumor; and type III is solid and can be accompanied by hemorrhage and necrosis. 2
Letter to the Editor in response to “Publication performance of women compared to men in German cardiology” by Boehm et al. (2014)

Based on their review of abstracts submitted to the German Cardiac Society, Boehm et al. (2014) report better success of female vs male cardiologists publishing in journals with an impact factor ≥5. However, only 25% of conference abstracts were submitted by women, perhaps suggesting a paucity of women in academic cardiology. In this 'letter to the editor' we review gender statistics in the medical field using Germany and the US as examples. While women are well represented in early career stages, only fewfull professors are women. This reflects a wasted opportunity to benefit from the best of both genders. Recent gender research has shown that subtle gender bias may play a role. To change the gender statistics in academic medicine a multifaceted approach is necessary. This will ultimately lead to a more equal representation of women in senior roles, and bring science, medical care, and leadership to a new level.
Nano filler dispersion in polymer composites for electronic packaging

Nanocomposites have attracted tremendous interest for advanced electronic packaging applications due to their superior electrical, thermal and optical properties. The dispersion of nanometer sized fillers in a polymer matrix, however, is very challenging in the preparation of these nanocomposites, because the nanoparticles have a strong tendency to aggregate. An objective and accurate dispersion analysis method is needed to evaluate the dispersion quality and improve the production of nanocomposites. In the present study, we utilize the microscopic observation and image analysis techniques to quantify the dispersion quality of various important nanocomposites for electronic packaging. We have demonstrated that this method is useful in the preparation of polymer nanocomposites including underfill materials, high-K composites and electrically conductive adhesives.
Parvalbumin Isoforms for Enhancing Cardiac Diastolic Function

Diastolic heart failure (DHF), characterized by depressed myocardial relaxation performance and poor ventricular filling, is a distinct form of heart failure accounting for nearly half of the heart failure patients with otherwise normal systolic performance. Defective intracellular calcium (Ca2+) cycling is an important mechanism underlying impaired relaxation in DHF. Recently, genetic manipulation of Ca2+ handling proteins in cardiac myocytes has been explored for its potential therapeutic application in DHF. Specifically, ectopic expression of the skeletal muscle Ca2+ binding protein parvalbumin (Parv) has been shown to accelerate myocardial relaxation in vitro and in vivo. Parv acts as a unique “delayed” Ca2+ buffer during diastole by promoting Ca2+ transient decay and sequestration and corrects diastolic dysfunction in an energy-independent manner. This brief review summarizes the rationale and development of Parv gene transfer approaches for DHF, and in particular, discusses the divergent effects of Parv isoforms on cardiac myocyte Ca2+ handling and contractile function with the long-range goal of alleviating diastolic dysfunction in DHF.
Banking crisis and financial structure: A survival-time analysis

Abstract This paper applies non-parametric and parametric methods of survival analysis to the international bank crisis data. The empirical results suggest that concentration in the banking sector increases the survival time. Additionally, the results associated with survival functions indicate that the G-10 and non-G10 countries constitute two distinct groups of countries, where the non-G10 countries have a higher incidence of failure (bank crisis). The parametric survival time regressions (Weibull) confirm the possibility that the effects of the covariates on bank crises may have different dynamics in the G-10 and non-G10 countries. Subsequent analysis on bank concentration reveals the sources of the different dynamics associated with bank crises in developed and developing countries. The results suggest that higher bank concentration in developing countries may be related to the absence of competitive forces in the economic and political structure.
Evaluation of Aortic Valve Endocarditis by Two-Dimensional Echocardiography

Fourteen patients with aortic valve endocarditis were evaluated. Twelve patients had vegetations detected by two-dimensional echocardiography and two were diagnosed anatomically. M-mode echocardiography was positive in eight patients. Two-dimensional echocardiography was superior to M-mode in determining size, shape, and mobility of vegetations. The following three morphologic types of vegetative lesions were seen on two-dimensional echocardiogram: globular polypoid masses (seven); irregular, elongated lesions with chaotic movement (four); and a cord-like structure (one). Serial two-dimensional echocardiograms performed after completion of antibiotic therapy in seven patients revealed no change in appearance in five and complete disappearance in two patients. Among the 12 patients with vegetations visualized on the two-dimensional echocardiogram, seven responded to medical therapy, four required aortic valve replacement, and one patient died. One of the patients who initially responded to medical therapy eventually required aortic valve replacement following a second episode of aortic valve endocarditis. In those patients with negative two-dimensional echocardiograms, the vegetations were 3 mm in diameter or less at surgery or autopsy. Vegetations that were visualized on two-dimensional echocardiography were found to be at least 5 mm in diameter at the time of operation. Two-dimensional echocardiography is a valuable noninvasive tool in the evaluation of patients with aortic valve endocarditis.
High-speed object matching and localization using gradient orientation features

In many robotics and automation applications, it is often required to detect a given object and determine its pose (position and orientation) from input images with high speed, high robustness to photometric changes, and high pose accuracy. We propose a new object matching method that improves efficiency over existing approaches by decomposing orientation and position estimation into two cascade steps. In the first step, an initial position and orientation is found by matching with Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG), reducing orientation search from 2D template matching to 1D correlation matching. In the second step, a more precise orientation and position is computed by matching based on Dominant Orientation Template (DOT), using robust edge orientation features. The cascade combination of the HOG and DOT feature for high-speed and robust object matching is the key novelty of the proposed method. Experimental evaluation was performed with real-world single-object and multi-object inspection datasets, using software implementations on an Atom CPU platform. Our results show that the proposed method achieves significant speed improvement compared to an already accelerated template matching method at comparable accuracy performance.
Primary production in the North Atlantic: measurements, scaling, and optical determinants

Productivity in the ocean is viewed from the perspective of its three components: biomass, yield (new production), and the rate of production. The three components are ordered along a time scale and a fundamental time scale is defined for the rate of production at the diel (24 h). Two optical properties, the absorption by phytoplankton and particle scattering, are presented and it is argued that they provide a means to unite the rate of production with biomass and yield at the diel scale.
New England Technical Services Librarians Spring 2011 Conference: 2020 Vision: A New Decade for Technical Services

This report discusses the program of the 2011 New England Technical Services Librarians (NETSL) annual spring conference, held on Friday, April 8 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and entitled “2020 Vision: A New Decade for Technical Services.” NETSL is a section of the New England Library Association and a regional group of the American Library Association.
The first nicotinate zwitterions self-assembled into 2D herringbone networks via hydrogen-bonding and sandwiched with polyiodide species

Unexpected nicotinate zwitterions formed under hydrothermal conditions self-assembled into two-dimensional (2D) herringbone networks via hydrogen-bonding. The charges on the 2D zwitterion network are balanced by the counter polyiodide anions. The polyiodide species are sandwiched with 2D zwitterion networks. The zwitterion network structure is stable up to 150 °C.
Stable Critical Gels of a Copolymer of Ethene and 1-Butene Achieved by Partial Melting and Recrystallization

The transition from solid to liquid during the melting of a semicrystalline polymer can be viewed as reverse gelation since the physical gel point (state of liquid-to-solid transition) is approached from the solid side. In this study we explore routes of stopping the melting process at the gel point and stabilizing the semicrystalline structure at sufficiently low crystallinity. Such material at the gel point is called a “critical gel”. By approaching the gel point from the solid state, we are indeed able to form a stable critical gel. Under the applied conditions, slowly heating (0.2 K/min) from room temperature to the annealing temperature, the stable critical gel was found at 71 °C. One purpose of making stable critical gels is to measure its structure and properties. The critical gel was found to be relatively soft, having a surprisingly high relaxation exponent. The crystallinity at the gel point is below 1 wt %. Crystalline regions whose nature is mostly unknown achieve connectivity between molecules.
Outpatient Provider Contact Prior to Unintentional Opioid Overdose Among VHA Service Users

Objectives:Prescription opioid medications are the most commonly implicated substances in unintentional overdoses. Outpatient health care encounters represent a potential opportunity to intervene to reduce opioid overdose risk. This study assessed the timing and type of outpatient provider contacts prior to death from unintentional prescription opioid overdose.Methods:This study examined all adult patients nationally in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) who died from unintentional prescription opioid overdose in fiscal years 2004–2007 and who used VHA services anytime within two years of their deaths (N=1,813). For those whose final treatment contact was in an outpatient setting (N=1,457), demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics were compared among patients categorized by the location of their last contact.Results:Among individuals last seen in outpatient settings, 33% were seen within one week of their overdose and 62% within one month of their overdose. A substantial proportion of pa...