cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Single-center results reporting improved hematopoietic stem cell mobilization success in pediatric and young adult patients with solid tumors and lymphoma.

BACKGROUND High-dose chemotherapy with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) is an established treatment for pediatric and young adult patients with solid tumors and lymphomas. Plerixafor is a CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) antagonist that can be used with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to amplify the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of 167 pediatric solid tumor and lymphoma patients from January 2010 to July 2020 in whom HSCs were mobilized using G-CSF alone or with plerixafor. RESULTS Thirteen heavily pretreated patients (33.3%) required twice-daily dosing of G-CSF compared to five patients (3.9%) in the not heavily pretreated group (p = .0005). Fourteen heavily pretreated patients (35.9%) required plerixafor compared to four patients (3.1%) in the comparison cohort (p = .0002). The number of mobilization days was similar between both cohorts, with 5 days (range 3-11 days) in the heavily pretreated group and 5 days (range 3-13 days) in the not heavily pretreated group (p = .55). The number of harvest days was 2 days (range 1-5 days) in the heavily pretreated group and 1 day (range 1-4 days) in the not heavily pretreated group (p = .0025). The final cluster of differentiation (CD)34+ /kilogram (kg) count was 9.52 × 106 /kg among heavily pretreated patients compared to 34.99 × 106 /kg CD34+ cells in the comparison group (p < .0001). Three heavily pretreated patients (7.7%) failed HSC mobilization. CONCLUSIONS Patients at the highest risk for poor HSC mobilization can be successfully treated with more frequent G-CSF dosing or G-CSF with plerixafor in a large majority of cases.
Predicting Length of Stay After Shoulder Arthroplasty

Abstract Background/Hypothesis The annual volume of shoulder arthroplasty (SA) in the United States has increased over 400% from 1993 to 2008 and is projected to increase an additional 300% from 2008 to 2030. The purpose of this study was to develop and internally validate a preoperative predictive nomogram for LOS after SA. We hypothesized that patient-specific covariates are responsible for increased LOS following SA. If sufficiently accurate, such a nomogram would be valuable for defining which patients would qualify for outpatient SA. Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify patient variables responsible for increased LOS defined as ≥ 2 days. Patient data was collected from 234 consecutive shoulder arthroplasty cases performed between 2010 and 2016 at a single tertiary health care system by six orthopedic surgeons. The cohort was separated into two groups: short LOS (≤1 day; n=98) and extended LOS (≥2 days; n=136). Logistic regression coefficients were used to construct a LOS nomogram that was internally validated by the bootstrapping method. A receiver operating curve (ROC) plot determined the discriminative ability of the nomogram. Generalizability was assessed using external validation with a new data set of 193 records prospectively collected from 2016 to 2018. Results Univariate analysis demonstrated that female sex, cancer history, anticoagulation and oral hypoglycemic agents, undergoing humeral head replacement for fracture and discharge to a facility were significant predictors for a LOS ≥2 days. The following patient co-variates were found to be significant in the development of the nomogram: age, female sex, procedure type, DMARDs, renal dysfunction, and diabetes drugs. The prediction accuracy of this model was good (area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC plot of 0.793). External validation of the model reported an AUC of 0.664. Conclusion Patients most suitable for expedited postoperative stay are healthy middle-aged males that are not on diabetic medications or DMARDs, have no renal disease, and undergo either resurfacing, total shoulder arthroplasty, or reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. This nomogram may be an additional clinical decision-making tool for effectively preparing for postoperative care and decreasing LOS for an episode of care, subsequently reducing the total cost of care. Future work would focus on undertaking a prospective multicenter study involving institutions that perform a high annual volume of SAs.
Energy Budget Analysis for Signature Protocols on a Self-powered Wireless Sensor Node

The Internet of Things will include many resource-constrained wireless sensing devices, hungry for energy, bandwidth and compute cycles. The sheer amount of devices involved will require new solutions to handle issues such as identification and power provisioning. In this contribution, we analyze the energy needs of several public-key based authentication protocols, taking into account the energy cost of communication as well as of computation. We have built an autonomous, energy-harvesting sensor node which includes a micro-controller, RF-unit, and energy harvester. We investigate the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the Lamport-Diffie one-time hash-based signature scheme (LD-OTS) and the Winternitz one-time hash-based signature scheme (W-OTS). We demonstrate that there’s a trade-off between energy used for communication, energy used for computation, and security level. However, when we consider the energy needs for the overall system, we show that all schemes are within one order of magnitude from each another.
Afterword: Knowledge and Answers

All very well, but can you prove it? If you do not have conclusive proof, we shall go on as before. Edmund Burke would have approved the sentiment. Many lawyers and legal academics share it. They point out that economists often disagree, that economic methods rarely produce eternal verities or even demonstrably "right" answers.' As Mark Kelman observes in this Symposium, economic inquiry presupposes some set of entitlements, institutional arrangements, and rules for trading. There is very little in Kelman's critique-except its conclusion-to which Adam Smith would have taken exception. The author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments did not think that economics was, should, or could be determinate or valuefree.2 Yet there is a curious inversion of argument at work. Burke questioned the invocation of abstractions and ideals to upset the collective wisdom of political society. Economic analysis of law by and large seeks not to upset but to understand the legal system and the activities that the system regulates. Economists, like anthropologists, suspect that any arrangement that persists for many years among many people must be doing something good. Why else does it survive? Regularities of all sorts-the basic rules of negligence, the doctrine of consideration, the practice of tie-in sales-rest on something more significant than passing fancy or mistake. What do these doctrines and business practices do? These are the questions with which economic analysis starts. The observation that economic analysis cannot answer these questions with certainty does not lead to the conclusion that lawyers and judges are free to upset the practices based on intuition and political philosophy. The invocation of philosophic ideals as grounds of change was the target of Burke's original criticism. Economic analysis has supplied a new name-the Nirvana Fallacy, the belief that if a given practice is costly or imperfect then some alternative must be better-for a very old idea. It is always well to improve the state of economic knowledge; it is always necessary
Gravisensing, apoptosis, and drug recovery in Taxus cell suspensions

Haploid and diploid cell suspensions of Taxus spp. were examined for their adaptive plasticity in response to simulated microgravity, unit gravity, and hypergravity. Cell suspensions produced the taxane, paclitaxel, (TAXOL (R)), which is useful for the treatment of various cancers. Amyloplasts contributed to taxane ring biosynthesis and to drug release at the cell wall. Drug-producing cells reacted as gravisensing osmotic tensiometers. In stressed cells, amyloplasts docked and fused in clusters to sites on the plasmalemma before taxane discharge into the culture medium. In simulated microgravity and compared to all other treatments, taxane production was reduced nearly 100-fold. The percent paclitaxel of total taxanes remained 3-to 6-fold greater, and biomass doubled. When p53-independent programmed cell death was induced, taxanes were released into the culture medium as free molecules (soluble and insoluble) or bound to membranes, nuclear fragments, xylan residues, and other particulate materials. Unit gravity and especially hypergravity promoted xylogenesis and significant drug overproduction. A model relating families of >touch = (TCH), taxane early response (TER), nuclear cycling, and apoptosis-regulating genes to gravisensing, cell wall modifications, and to taxane recovery accounted for most but not all of the observations.
Intrinsic Visual-Motor Synchrony Correlates With Social Deficits in Autism.

Abstract Background Imitation, which is impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and critically depends on the integration of visual input with motor output, likely impacts both motor and social skill acquisition in children with ASD; however, it is unclear what brain mechanisms contribute to this impairment. Children with ASD also exhibit what appears to be an ASD-specific bias against using visual feedback during motor learning. Does the temporal congruity of intrinsic activity, or functional connectivity, between motor and visual brain regions contribute to ASD-associated deficits in imitation, motor, and social skills? Methods We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from 100 8- to 12-year-old children (50 ASD). Group independent component analysis was used to estimate functional connectivity between visual and motor systems. Brain-behavior relationships were assessed by regressing functional connectivity measures with social deficit severity, imitation, and gesture performance scores. Results We observed increased intrinsic asynchrony between visual and motor systems in children with ASD and replicated this finding in an independent sample from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Moreover, children with more out-of-sync intrinsic visual-motor activity displayed more severe autistic traits, while children with greater intrinsic visual-motor synchrony were better imitators. Conclusions Our twice replicated findings confirm that visual-motor functional connectivity is disrupted in ASD. Furthermore, the observed temporal incongruity between visual and motor systems, which may reflect diminished integration of visual consequences with motor output, was predictive of the severity of social deficits and may contribute to impaired social-communicative skill development in children with ASD.
Codes of ethics: A comparison of the attitudes of future managers in China and the USA

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudes of undergraduate and graduate business students in China and the USA with regard to business codes of ethics.Design/methodology/approach – Respondents were instructed to assume that an Ethical Practices Code had been drawn up by firms operating in the industry in which they intended to work and were asked to indicate their levels of disagreement/agreement with seven statements relating to the possible consequences of such a code. Tests of significance were used to analyze responses for the USA and Chinese groups. In addition, the effect on responses of a course in ethics was examined.Findings – Despite the recent attention focused on corporate irresponsibility and the possible adverse effects on US consumers of outsourcing to China, the findings indicate that, with one exception, attitudes toward codes of ethics were not significantly different between the Chinese and USA respondents.Research limitations/implications – Future researchers may wish...
Interdependence and Adaptability in the Evolution of Workstation Manufacturers, 1980-1996

Organizations trade off between short-run operational advantages and long-run adaptive ability. They vary along this dimension through the degree of interdependence created by the structure of production. This study focuses on one structural characteristic - vertical integration - that creates this interdependence. Integrating vertically can allow the organization to benefit contemporaneously from efficiencies in production, market power, and synergy. Nevertheless, vertical integration severely limits the organization's ability to adapt because boundedly rational managers find the optimization of operations difficult when making highly interdependent choices. As the volatility of the environment increases though, the returns to learning decrease. Thus, firms that organize for efficiency suffer less from inertia in these environments. Tests of these hypotheses on the growth rates and exit rates of computer workstation manufacturers from 1980 to 1996 support this thesis.
Relating Benthic Infaunal Community Structure to Environmental Variables in Estuaries Using Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling and Similarity Analysis

In 1994, 19 stations were sampled (2 replicates/station) with Young grabs in association with the EMAP-Estuaries Carolinian Province Base Monitoring in Florida. A total of 295 unique benthic infauna taxa and 9647 individuals were identified and enumerated. Environmental data (bottom-water quality, sediment grain size, sediment metals, and organics) and benthic community data were analyzed using hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis and ordination via nonmetric multidimensional scaling. Bray-Curtis similarities and Euclidean distance were used as the distance measures for biotic and abiotic data, respectively. Multivariate analyses were complemented by examining incremental contributions of benthic taxa to similarity values using a percentage similarity technique. A low-salinity site in a tributary to the St. Johns River had benthic communities uniquely different from those of moderate- to high-salinity sites. A diverse assemblage of polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves, amphipods, sipunculans, and phoronids was consistently associated with relatively unimpacted sites in the Indian River Lagoon. Infaunal community structure in the northern portion of the study area was influenced by the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Community shifts in association with latitudinal gradients and concentrations of sediment metals and organics were apparent. The nonparametric multivariate techniques used in this study were particularly effective at delineating and defining fine-scale community differences.
Control of YBA2CU3OY Sol-Gel Solution Structure by Chemical Modification of Organic Acid and its Effects,

Abstract : Since the discovery of the high temperature superconducting ceramics, numerous techniques have been tested in order to overcome the difficulties in the fabrication (e.g. porosity, preparation of specific shapes). The sol-gel process has been demonstrated to be ideal for the fabrication of high Tc superconducting ceramic fibers or wires (1). In the sol-gel process, the metal alkoxides in organic solvents are hydrolysized and polymerized (2). These low temperature solution reactions yield the ultrahomogeneity of materials and low final phase-forming and densification temperature (3). By controlling the hydrolysis and polycondensation reactions a homogeneous solution with proper viscosity can be made for the fiber drawing and film coating (4). Water content, modification of sol-gel solution are two common techniques to control a solution reaction 1,5. Here we have studied the structure change induced by the modification of the metal alkoxide solution by 2EHA. Further effects of 2EHA on the formation of YBa2CU307-x, microstructure and superconductivity of final products have been investigated.
Trade‐offs between eating and moving: what happens to the locomotion of slender arboreal snakes when they eat big prey?

The capacity to consume large prey evolved long ago in snakes. Subsequently, many specialized arboreal snake species convergently evolved slender bodies, presumably well-suited for moving on thin branches and steep slopes, although how this accentuates changes in their shape and weight after eating and creates trade-offs with locomotor performance is poorly understood. Hence, we tested whether the performance and modes of locomotion of a specialized arboreal snake (Boiga irregularis) changed after eating one or two mice when crawling on cylinders with and without pegs and on horizontal or 45° slopes. On surfaces with pegs: (1) only lateral undulation was used; (2) speed decreased with increased meal size; and (3) unexpectedly, more sideways toppling occurred than without pegs. On the horizontal cylinders without pegs, most unfed snakes used lateral undulation with continuous sliding contact, whereas, after eating two mice, most snakes periodically stopped and gripped the cylinder with speeds of concertina locomotion similar to those for the lateral undulation of unfed snakes. Thus, the behaviour of switching to a gripping mode of locomotion (concertina) circumvented some of the constraints of a slender limbless body plan, for which bulky meals alter shape and can impede the movement of the propulsive structures. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114, 446–458.
Signatures of Tibetan Plateau heating on Indian summer monsoon rainfall variability

[1] Despite recent challenges, conventional wisdom has held that heating over the Tibetan Plateau leads to increased Indian summer monsoon rainfall via enhancement of cross-equatorial circulation aloft, and a concurrent strengthening of both the Somali Jet and westerly winds that bring moisture to southern India. We show that such heating, quantified by monthly estimates of moist static energy in the atmosphere just above the surface, correlates with summer monsoon rainfall, but only in the early (20 May to 15 June) and late (September 1 to 15 October) monsoon season. Correlations during the main monsoon season (15 June to 31 August) are small and insignificant. The positive correlations with early and late monsoon season, however, allow for heating over Tibet to modulate as much as ~30% of the total rainfall. Furthermore, we demonstrate that heating over Tibet is independent of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, so that together they explain a substantial portion of variability in the early and late season rainfall, providing potential predictability. These links may also explain the wet conditions over India during early Holocene time and provide a quantitative link between a rise of Tibet and stronger Somali Jet.
Electrodiagnostic features of true neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome

Introduction: We report the electrodiagnostic (EDX) features of 32 patients with surgically verified true neuro- genic thoracic outlet syndrome (TN-TOS). Methods: Retrospec- tive record review. Results: We found uniform EDX evidence of a chronic axon loss process that affected the lower portion of the brachial plexus and disproportionately involved the T1 more than the C8 sensory and motor fibers. Because of this relation- ship, the medial antebrachial cutaneous sensory nerve (T1) and median motor (T1 >C8) study combination was abnormal in 89%, whereas response combinations that primarily assessed the C8 fibers were less frequently affected. Conclusions: The characteristic EDX features of TN-TOS are T1 >C8 nerve fiber involvement. A comprehensive EDX examination of the lower plexus with contralateral comparison studies is imperative to diagnose this disorder accurately. Muscle Nerve 49: 724-727, 2014 True neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (TN- TOS) is rare, with an estimated incidence of only 1 per 1,000,000, and there have been a relatively small number of valid electrodiagnostic (EDX) descriptions in the neurological literature. 1-3 Prior reports have established that the EDX findings of TN-TOS are consistent with a lower brachial plex- opathy (i.e., involving the lower trunk and C8 and T1 roots). This bodes poorly for prognosis, because patients with lower brachial plexopathies tend to have lesser degrees of recovery than those with upper plexopathies. 3-6 The purpose of our study was to review the EDX findings in a large series of surgically verified TN-TOS cases that were assessed with a relatively uniform EDX protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS An institutional review board-approved, retro- spective record review was conducted in the Cleve- land Clinic EDX laboratory database (1975-2008) using the search terms brachial plexopathy, thoracic out- let syndrome (TOS) ,a ndtrue neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. Patients with underlying polyneuropathy,
Dynamic torsion from a linear lagrangian

Following the example of electromagnetism, a torsion potential is introduced. By considering variations with respect to the metric tensor and the torsion potential, a theory of gravitation with propagating torsion is obtained. Sources are introduced and the equation of motion is obtained.
Superconducting energy gap and a normal-state excitation in Ba 0.6 K 0.4 BiO 3

We report the first measurement of the energy gap of the high-temperature bismuth oxide superconductor ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.6}$${\mathrm{K}}_{0.4}$${\mathrm{BiO}}_{3}$ (${T}_{c}$\ensuremath{\simeq}30 K). With temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent infrared reflectivity measurements, we obtain a reduced energy gap of 2\ensuremath{\Delta}/${\mathrm{kT}}_{c}$\ensuremath{\simeq}3.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5, consistent with a BCS-type mechanism with moderate or weak coupling. In the normal state a broad peak in the infrared conductivity is observed near 5000 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$. This unusual infrared behavior is common to both the ${\mathrm{BaPb}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{Bi}}_{\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ and the ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{BiO}}_{3}$ systems and may provide a fundamental clue to the mechanism of superconductivity in the cubic bismuth oxides.
Current techniques for measuring dental fluorosis: issues in data analysis.

The currently popular scoring systems used to diagnosis fluorosis use different measurement units, evaluate variable numbers of sites per person, and involve non-comparable groupings of clinical symptoms. Although none of these factors is related to the level of fluoride exposure in the examined population, their combined effect produces fluorosis prevalence values for a population which vary considerably among and within these scoring systems. Intrinsic factors for a scoring system include the inclusion of a questionable category, the minimal level of fluorotic involvement, and the number of affected sites within a subject required for case definition. Thus, a case definition of fluorosis for each scoring system, although not mandatory, would certainly be desirable so that dental epidemiologists and clinical investigators can interpret fluorosis scores relative to risk assessment. On the other hand, ratios of fluorosis prevalence magnitudes, as evidenced by odds ratios, can be more stable between scoring...
Increasing intensity of El Niño in the central‐equatorial Pacific

[1] Satellite observations suggest that the intensity of El Niiio events in the central equatorial Pacific (CP) has almost doubled in the past three decades, with the strongest warming occurring in 2009-10. This is related to the increasing intensity as well as occurrence frequency of the so-called CP El Niiio events since the 1990s. While sea surface temperature (SST) in the CP region during El Nino years has been increasing, those during neutral and La Nina years have not. Therefore, the well-documented warming trend of the warm pool in the CP region is primarily a result of more intense El Nino events rather than a general rise of background SST.
Are There Benefits or Harm From Pressure Targeting During Lung-Protective Ventilation?

Mechanically, breath design is usually either flow/volume-targeted or pressure-targeted. Both approaches can effectively provide lung-protective ventilation, but they prioritize different ventilation parameters, so their responses to changing respiratory-system mechanics and patient effort are different. These different response behaviors have advantages and disadvantages that can be important in specific circumstances. Flow/volume targeting guarantees a set minute ventilation but sometimes may be difficult to synchronize with patient effort, and it will not limit inspiratory pressure. In contrast, pressure targeting, with its variable flow, may be easier to synchronize and will limit inspiratory pressure, but it provides no control over delivered volume. Skilled clinicians can maximize benefits and minimize problems with either flow/volume targeting or pressure targeting. Indeed, as is often the case in managing complex life-support devices, it is operator expertise rather than the device design features that most impacts patient outcomes.
The IN protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus processes the viral DNA ends and accomplishes their integration in vitro

Retroviral DNA integration involves a coordinated set of DNA cutting and joining reactions. We find that the IN protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) is the only viral protein required to accomplish these reactions in vitro. IN protein has a site-specific nuclease activity that cleaves 2 nucleotides from the sequence present at the 3' ends of MoMLV DNA made by reverse transcription. This reaction generates the recessed 3' ends that are normal precursors for integration. IN protein also possesses the integration activity that joins these recessed 3' ends of the viral DNA to a staggered cut, made by IN protein, in the target DNA. Short duplex oligonucleotides, corresponding to the ends of MoMLV DNA, serve as the viral DNA substrate for both the cleavage and integration reactions; there are no special requirements for the DNA that acts as the target for integration. The reaction products are detected by a direct physical assay.
Ceramic/Polymer Nanocomposite Tissue Engineering Scaffolds for More Effective Orthopedic Applications: From 2D Surfaces to Novel 3D Architectures

Ceramic/polymer nanocomposites simulate bone much closer in terms of its nanostructure and associated properties, thus, offering a promising opportunity for bone regeneration in a natural way. Previous studies demonstrated improved osteoblast (bone-forming cell) adhesion and long-term functions (such as alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium-containing mineral deposition) on nanometer scale surface roughness provided by well-dispersed titania nanoparticles in poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA). For example, the nanocomposites with the closest surface roughness to natural bone at the nano-scale promoted the most bone cell adhesion and calcium deposition. The current studies focus on further mimicking bone by building three-dimensional structures from titania/PLGA nanocomposites using a novel aerosol based 3D printing technique (one type of rapid prototyping technique, because, similarly, natural bone assembles its three-dimensional hierarchical architecture from nanostructured building blocks). Using this technique, bone fracture data acquired by computed tomography (CT) can be transferred into CAD models and used to direct the fabrication of versatile bone substitutes. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to characterize the structure and surface features of these 3D scaffolds. The results demonstrated that 3D printed nano-scaffolds had a well-controlled, repeatable inner structure and, moreover, possessed uniformly dispersed titania nanoparticles which provided for nano-scale surface features throughout the PLGA matrix. Osteoblast adhesion tests were conducted on the 3D titania/PLGA nanocomposite scaffolds created by this technique and the results demonstrated that these 3D scaffolds further promoted osteoblast infiltration into porous structures compared to previous nanostructured surfaces. In conclusion, results of this study have evaluated a promising new orthopedic nanocomposite and a means of fabricating a hierarchical macro-structure from such nanomaterials that can mimic properties of natural bone, thus, providing a new material and approach for more effective orthopedic applications.
Long‐term changes in soils of second‐growth forest following abandonment from agriculture

Aim The assembly of a forest flora on sites abandoned from agriculture is potentially limited by the physical and chemical suitability of soils. This paper describes the post-agricultural development of soil in deciduous forest sites to
New class of instabilities in passive optical cavities.

In this Letter we show that the fixed points of the Ikeda map are more unstable to perturbations with a short-scale transverse structure than to plane-wave perturbations. We correctly predict the most unstable wavelength, the critical intensity, and the growth rat\'es of these disturbances. Our result establishes that, for a large class of nonlinear waves, spatial structure is inevitable and drastically alters the route to chaos. In an optical cavity the consequence is that the period-doubling cascade is an unlikely scenario for transition to optical chaos.
Dietary folate, vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6 and incident Alzheimer's disease: the cache county memory, health and aging study.

Objective To examine associations between dietary and supplemental folate, vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-6 and incident Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among elderly men and women.
Immunization with α-galactosylceramide polarizes CD1-reactive NK T cells towards Th2 cytokine synthesis

We have compared the immune responses of mice immunized either with alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), capable of eliciting a CD1-metiated stimulation of V alpha14+ NK T cells, or with lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a glycophospholipid derived from mycobacteria which is known to be presented by CD1b in humans. Within 24 h, alpha-GalCer induces a burst of IFN-gamma secretion in vivo, and recall with antigen in vitro leads to the synthesis of IL-4 and IL-10 in addition to IFN-gamma. Associated with this in vivo cytokine release is a polyclonal activation of splenic B and T cells. CD1-reactive NK T lymphocytes mediate these events, because none of them are observed in alpha-GalCer-immunized CD1-/- mice. LAM immunization fails to promote similar early responses in vivo. Repeated exposure of mice to alpha-GalCer induces splenic T cells to secrete IL-4 and IL-10 but dramatically reduced levels of IFN-gamma. Such a bias in the cytokine balance triggered by NK T cells stimulated with multiple doses of alpha-GalCer suggests that this compound might be useful in the induction of Th2 immune responses and the prevention of chronic inflammatory conditions mediated by Th1 cytokines.
Memory disruption by unilateral low level, sub-seizure stimulation of the medial amygdaloid nucleus.

Abstract In four experiments 413 male albino rats were used to evaluate memory disruption during a retention test given 24 hr after passive avoidance learning. In Experiment 1, unilateral brain stimulation of 5 μA intensity significantly disrupted retention when applied to the amygdala but not to the dorsal hippocampus. This finding of retention disruption following amygdala stimulation was further corroborated in Experiment 2, and stimulation in the medial nucleus was indicated as the primary source for the obtained disruption. In Experiment 3, epileptogenic effects of 5 μA amygdala stimulation on hippocampal activity were contraindicated. In Experiment 4, use of a finer wire electrode to study the relative importance of individual nuclear groups confirmed that stimulation of the medial amygdaloid nucleus caused retention disruption.
Hypoosmotic stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity in the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana

In the brine shrimp, long-term (several days) osmotic and ionic regulation is controlled principally by the activity of Na+K+ATPase. However, short-term cell volume regulation in Artemia and most euryhaline crustaceans is not understood. In this study, Artemia stage 1 nauplii reared at 32 ppt salinity and exposed to hypoosmotic conditions (12 or 4 ppt) exhibited an immediate increase in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine synthesis. ODC activity increased within 15 min relative to control and reached a peak within 2 hr of hypoosmotic exposure. The level of increased enzyme activity was directly related to the degree of hypoosmotic exposure (a three- and sevenfold increase in activity at 12 and 4 ppt salinity, respectively). This increase in activity was apparently due to the synthesis of a new enzyme, based on cycloheximide administration. Activity decreased significantly by 4 hr but remained above that of the 32 ppt control throughout the 24-hr exposure period. Levels of putrescine increased significantly within 2 hr in organisms exposed to 4 ppt; spermidine and spermine levels were not affected. When nauplii were exposed to altered ion and/or osmotic concentrations it was determined that decreased total osmotic concentration was the proximate factor responsible for ODC induction. However, reduced ion concentration resulted in the induction/activation of DFMO-insensitive ODC activity, suggesting the production of a novel enzyme in polyamine metabolism during hypotonic exposure. Changes in ODC activity and polyamines preceded acclimatory changes normally associated with salinity acclimation, further suggesting that modulation of ODC activity and subsequent polyamines synthesis, degradation, and/or transport are mechanistically related to short-term regulation of osmotic and ionic balance. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Introduction to ProcessModel and ProcessModel 9000

The paper presents an introduction to ProcessModel simulation software. ProcessModel is a discrete event simulation tool that combines the power of simulation with the simplicity of flowcharting to aid managers and business analysts who are looking for ways to quantify the effects of variability, uncertainty and resource interdependencies on the performance of complex business processes. ProcessModel 9000 is a variation of ProcessModel that allows quality managers to easily document, analyze and improve the quality processes which are typically reviewed during the ISO 9000 or QS-9000 certification process. ProcessModel 9000 includes ProcessModel software and more than 35 pre-defined flowcharts of the most common ISO/QS-9000 processes. Both ProcessModel and ProcessModel 9000 aid in the creation of graphical business process models for the purpose of predicting key process performance measures such as cost, throughput, cycle time and resource utilization.
Estimation of Dry Deposition of Atmospheric Mercury in Nevada by Direct and Indirect Methods

Atmospheric models and limited measurements indicate that dry deposition of atmospheric mercury is an important process by which mercury is input to ecosystems. To begin to fill the measurement data gap, multiple methods were used simultaneously during seasonal campaigns conducted in 2005 and 2006 to estimate dry deposition of atmospheric mercury at two Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) sites in rural Nevada and in Reno, Nevada. Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), and particulate-bound mercury (Hgp) concentrations were measured using Tekran 2537A/1130/1135 systems. These speciated measurements were combined with on-site meteorological measurements to estimate depositional fluxes of RGM and Hgp using dry deposition models. Modeled fluxes were compared with more direct measurements obtained using polysulfone cation-exchange membranes and foliar surfaces. Dynamic flux chambers were used to measure soil mercury exchange. RGM concentrations were higher during warmer months at all si...
Compression after impact strength of out-of-autoclave processed laminates

Out-of-autoclave processable fiber/resin systems have been gaining much attention due to the elimination of needing a costly autoclave large enough to hold the part to be cured. For large composite structures this can pose a challenge. However, for these fiber/resin systems to replace conventional autoclave fiber/resin systems for use on aerospace structures, the damage tolerance capabilities need to meet (or exceed) those of current autoclave fiber/resin systems. In this experimental study, compression-after-impact strengths of two commercially available out-of-autoclave fiber/resin systems are compared to compression-after-impact strengths of a conventional autoclave fiber/resin system used as a baseline in this study. compression-after-impact testing was chosen since this is the most common method to assess laminates damage tolerance capabilities. Three different levels of impact severity were chosen and information on damage size and morphology are assessed along with compression-after-impact strength...
Assessing Comprehension during Reading with the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT).

Comprehension emerges as the results of inference and strategic processes that support the construction of a coherent mental model for a text. However, the vast majority of comprehension skills tests adopt a format that does not afford an assessment of these processes as they operate during reading. This study assessed the viability of the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT), which is an automated computer-based reading assessment designed to measure readers’ comprehension and spontaneous use of reading strategies while reading texts. In the tool, readers comprehend passages one sentence at a time, and are asked either an indirect (“What are your thoughts regarding your understanding of the sentence in the context of the passage?”) or direct (e.g., why X?) question after reading each pre-selected target sentence. The answers to the indirect questions are analyzed on the extent that they contain words associated with comprehension processes. The answers to direct questions are coded for the number of content words in common with an ideal answer, which is intended to be an assessment of emerging comprehension. In the study, the RSAT approach was shown to predict measures of comprehension comparable to standardized tests. The RSAT variables were also shown to correlate with human ratings. The results of this study constitute a “proof of concept” and demonstrate that it is possible to develop a comprehension skills assessment tool that assesses both comprehension and comprehension strategies.
Hoechst 33258 banding of Drosophila nasutoides metaphase chromosomes

Hoechst 33258 banding of D. nasutoides metaphase chromosomes is described and compared with Q and C bands. The C band positive regions of the euchromatic autosomes, the X and the Y fluoresce brightly, as is typical of Drosophila and other species. The fluorescence pattern of the large heterochromatic chromosome is atypical, however. Contrary to the observations on other species, the C negative bands of the large heterochromatic chromosome are brightly fluorescent with both Hoechst 33258 and quinacrine. Based on differences in the various banding patterns, four classes of heterochromatin are described in the large heterochromatic chromosome and it is suggested that each class may correspond to an AT-rich DNA satellite.
THE CLINICAL USE OF SYNTHETIC MALE SEX HORMONE

CLINICAL experience with the male sex hormones or androgens as substi-tute therapy for hypogonadism has received attention in only a few reports, and these mostly during the past year. With the introduction of purified and synthetic hormones, it becomes feasible to investigate with greater certainty the influence of the androgens on the genital structures. The purpose of this study is to present the results of two years’ experience with synthetic testosterone propionate in the treatment of hypogenitalism, both prepuberal and adult types, impotency, symptoms of sexual decline, benign prostate hypertrophy, and gynecomastia. This report is based on the observation of a group of 54 males ranging in age from 7 to 75 years, and showing various forms of genital hypoplasia and malfunctions of the sex organs. The material presented here summarises the pertinent facts of 15 selected cases as typical of the group, which are dis-tributed as follows:
The influence of footwear tread groove parameters on available friction.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine how footwear tread groove parameters influence available friction (COF). Utilizing a whole shoe tester (SATRA STM 603), 3 groove parameters (width, depth and orientation) were evaluated. Groove orientation had 3 levels (parallel, oblique and perpendicular), width had 3 levels (3, 6 and 9 mm) and depth had 3 levels (2, 4 and 6 mm). In total, the COF of 27 shoes, each with a distinct groove combination, was assessed on wet porcelain tile. The 27 groove combinations produced a wide range of COF values (0.080–0.344). Groove orientation had the greatest impact on COF, explaining the greatest variance in observed COF values (ŋ2 = 0.81). The most slip resistant groove combination was an oblique orientation, with 3 mm width and 2 mm depth. The least slip resistant groove combination was a parallel orientation, with a 6 mm width and 6 mm depth.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE'S ETERNAL FEMININE

In his work, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville assigns to women the task he thinks most necessary in the preservation of a democratic regime: women nurture, educate, and impart to the young the virtues which maintain the moral standards and integrity of a particular society. This essay considers the limits of Tocqueville's analysis with respect to his observations concerning gender roles and civic participation and seeks to set forth reasons why women and men who are committed to the realization of certain democratic ideals cannot wholeheartedly embrace Tocqueville's particular form of liberalism.
IGF-II transcription in skeletal myogenesis is controlled by mTOR and nutrients.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are essential for skeletal muscle development, regeneration, and hypertrophy. Although autocrine actions of IGF-II are known to initiate myoblast differentiation, the regulatory elements and upstream signaling pathways for myogenic expression of IGF-II remain elusive. Here, we report the regulation of IGF-II transcription by mTOR, as well as by amino acid sufficiency, through the IGF-II promoter 3 and a downstream enhancer during C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Furthermore, we present evidence that IGF production, and not IGF signaling, is the primary target for mTOR's function in the initiation of differentiation. Moreover, myogenic signaling by mTOR is independent of its kinase activity and mediated by the PI3K–Akt pathway. Our findings represent the first identification of a signaling pathway that regulates IGF-II expression in myogenesis and implicate the mTOR–IGF axis as a molecular link between nutritional levels and skeletal muscle development.
Incomplete vibrational state mixing in the J′ = 0 triplet manifold of pyrazine at an excess energy of ≈ 4000 cm−1. Possible evidence for non-ergodicity

By combining data obtained from a deconvolution of the ultra-high-resolution J′ = 0 LIF spectrum of the mixed singlet-triplet states of pyrazine with some simple ideas regarding spin-orbit coupling in polyatomic molecules, we show that the “prediagonalized” triplet levels which are coupled to the zero-order singlet retain their vibrational identity (i.e. are incompletely mixed). This suggests that, when the rotationless molecule is excited to its lowest triplet state with an excess energy of = 4000 cm−1, it does not explore uniformly all regions of the available vibrational phase space. Some possible reasons for this behavior are discussed.
Mood change and the physiology of sleep.

FUNCTION of sleep was suggested, in a preliminary manner, by us in a previous report’ as a partial support to the conviction that sleep must play a functional role, probably in several ways, in the life of the organism. It is our view that the change in various aspects of mood from night to morning is differentially related to the physiology and psychology of sleep. How one feels on arising in the morning, as compared to how one felt immediately before retiring the night before, is dependent upon the nature of the physiologic aspects of the sleep one has obtained and the nature of the mental content, dreams, one has experienced. Succinctly, it is our hypothesis that sleep subserves a mood-regulating function. To establish that mood is altered by sleep and to specify the nature of the alteration would be of some significance, as mood is considered to be a significant aspect of the individual. For example, mood, as a motivator of behavior, has been considered a central aspect of personality functioning.2 Mood has been found to be related to an individual’s performance on psychomotor tasks3 Alterations in mood are distinctive enough to serve as a basis for distinguishing between individuals who are and who are not taking psychoactive drugs.3 Mood change in dreams has been found to be a concomitant of improvement in depressed patients being treated with antidepressant medication.4 How we feel, our mood, is a concern for us in many circumstances and a preoccupation for mental health workers in many clinical situations, e.g., depression and drug addiction. That mood bears some relationship to sleep is suggested by a number of observations. It is everyone’s personal experience that how he feels on awakening seems to be dependent on the nature of the prior experience of sleep. Mood has been described as changing across the night’s sleep.5 in the sleep laboratory, it has been possible to relate how a subject feels on arising to aspects of the previous night’s sleep either by laboratory observation6 or subjective estimate.? In our preliminary work on the interrelationship between the physiology of sleep and mood, we observed that the number of significant correlations obtained between various parameters of sleep (total sleep time, stage two time, stage three---four time, and stage REM time) and various aspects of mood (friendly, aggressive, unhappy, clear-thinking, dizzy, and sleepy) was three times what would have been expected by chance at the .05 level. Particularly, we noted a relationship between the “sleepy” aspect of mood and total sleep time. It was these find
A note on the effects of euromarket regulation on bank balance sheet decisions

This paper examines the implications of Euromarket regulation on the balance sheet decisions of an international bank. A model of an international bank with strong neoclassical microeconomic roots is developed. The model is then used to analyze the effects of two different techniques for Euromarket regulation, reserve requirements and capital/asset ratios. Among the conclusions to emerge from the paper is that reserve requirements in the Euromarkets will affect only the bank's international operations, but capital/asset ratios will affect domestic operations as well. The effect of capital/asset ratios on domestic operations may well be larger than on international operations.
Caustic and Analytical Illuminance Calculations for a Model of the Human Eye

The analytical flux monitoring technique has been used to evaluate the caustic surface and line spread function (energy flux distribution along a line) on different image planes for point source light passing through a model of the human eye. It is shown by comparison with the standard spot diagrams that the caustic is a valuable tool in evaluating the aberra-tions and performance of the model of the human eye.