cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decreased mortality of severe acute pancreatitis after proximal cytokine blockade.

Objective This study determined the ability of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) to decrease the mortality of experimental acute pancreatitis. The response of the inflammatory cytokine cascade and its subsequent effects on pancreatic morphology were measured to determine the role of these peptides in mediating pancreatic injury. Summary Background Data Previous studies have shown that proinflammatory cytokines are produced in large amounts during acute pancreatitis and that blockade at the level of the IL-1 receptor significantly decreases intrinsic pancreatic damage. The subsequent effect on survival is not known. Methods A lethal form of acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis was induced in young female mice by feeding a choline-deficient, ethionine supplemented (CDE) diet for 72 hours. For determination of mortality, the animals were divided into 3 groups of 45 animals each : control subjects received 100/μL normal saline intraperitoneally every 6 hours for 5 days ; IL-1ra early mice received recombinant interleukin-1 receptor antagonist 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally every 6 hours for 5 days beginning at time 0 ; IL-1ra late mice received IL-1ra 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally every 6 hours for 3.5 days beginning 1.5 days after introduction of the CDE diet. A parallel experiment was conducted simultaneously with a minimum of 29 animals per group, which were sacrificed daily for comparisons of serum amylase, lipase, IL-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1ra, pancreatic wet weight, and blind histopathologic grading. Results The 10-day mortality in the untreated control group was 73%. Early and late IL-1ra administration resulted in decreases of mortality to 44% and 51%, respectively (both p < 0.001). Interleukin-1 antagonism also was associated with a significant attenuation in the rise in pancreatic wet weight and serum amylase and lipase in both early and late IL-1ra groups (all p < 0.05). All control animals developed a rapid elevation of the inflammatory cytokines, with maximal levels reached on day 3. The IL-1ra-treated animals, however, demonstrated a blunted rise of these mediators (all p < 0.05). Blind histologic grading revealed an overall decrease in the severity of pancreatitis in those animals receiving the antagonist. Conclusions Early or late blockade of the cytokine cascade at the level of the IL-1 receptor significantly decreases the mortality of severe acute pancreatitis. The mechanism by which this is accomplished appears to include attenuation of systemic inflammatory cytokines and decreased pancreatic destruction.
Review of transactions in taste: the collaborative lives of everyday Bengali foods, by Manpreet K. Janeja

Review of Transactions in Taste: The Collaborative Lives of Everyday Bengali Foods, by Manpreet K. Janeja
Prosocial Behavior and Caring in Adolescence: Relations to Self-Understanding and Social Judgment

The relation of self-understanding and moral judgment to dedicated prosocial behavior is investigated. Participants were African-American and Latin-American adolescents who had been nominated by community leaders for having demonstrated unusual commitments to care for others or the community (care exemplars). The care exemplars, and matched comparison adolescents, were extensively interviewed over the course of 4-6 sessions in order to elicit self-understanding, moral judgment, and implicit personality theories. The care exemplars were more likely than the comparison adolescents to: (1) describe themselves in terms of moral personality traits and goals, (2) view themselves as having closer continuity to their pasts and futures, (3) think of themselves as incorporating their ideals and parental images, and (4) articulate theories of self in which personal beliefs and philosophies are important. There were no differences between the care exemplars and the comparison adolescents in developmental stages of moral judgment nor in the abstractness of their implicit personality theories.
Providers’ HIV Prevention Discussions with HIV-Seropositive Injection Drug Users

Public health agencies have recommended incorporating HIV prevention counseling into the medical care of persons living with HIV/AIDS. Injection drug users (IDUs) especially need HIV risk-reduction counseling because of their high risk for HIV transmission through both sexual and injection behaviors. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of, and patient factors associated with, the delivery of HIV prevention messages to HIV-seropositive IDUs in primary care settings. A majority of participants reported having an HIV prevention discussion with their provider during their most recent primary care visit. Factors significantly associated with report of such discussion were being Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black; high school education or less; and better perception of engagement with provider. Medical providers should provide prevention messages to all HIV-seropositive IDUs, regardless of demographic factors. Effective HIV prevention interventions in primary care settings, including interventions to improve patient-provider communication, are needed for HIV-seropositive IDUs.
A computational study of lithium enolate mixed aggregates.

Lithium dialkylcuprates may potentially form mixed aggregates with many species in solution. Those include excess alkyllithium used to prepare the cuprate, lithium halide, and lithium cyanide from cuprate preparation and from coupling reactions with alkyl halides, higher order cuprates, and species resulting from incomplete cuprate reactions. The M06 DFT method was used to elucidate the structures and energies of formation of potential mixed aggregates. A comparison was made to available experimental data.
Climate prediction for Brazil's Nordeste by empirical and numerical modeling methods

Climate prediction for Brazil's Nordeste meaningfully uses information through January to forecast the rainfall of March–June. Empirical methods developed at the University of Wisconsin use as predictors preseason (October–January) rainfall in the region and January indices of the fields of meridional wind component and sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Atlantic and the equatorial Pacific, as input to stepwise multiple regression to predict the March–June rainfall at a network of 27 stations. The training period is 1921–1957, the verification period 1958–1989, and real-time forecasting continued to 2000. A numerical model (ECHAM4.5) experiment conducted at International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University used global SST information through January to predict the March–June rainfall at three gridpoints in the Nordeste for the years 1968–1999. For the same predictand, a complementary empirical experiment was conducted using the gridded rainfall observations, again with training period 1921–1957, to yield predictions for 1968–1999. Over this period predicted versus observed rainfall are evaluated in terms of correlation, root-mean-square error, absolute error, and bias. Compared with the empirical method the numerical modelling produces larger errors and negative bias. The empirical method captures 59% and the numerical modelling 49% of the variance. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society
Infections during extracorporeal life support

Little data exist on the type of infections patients acquire during extracorporeal life support. Through a retrospective analysis of 109 patients who underwent 115 episodes of venoarterial extracoporeal life support, it was determined that nosocomial infections developed in 18 patients (16%). Patients with nosocomial infections were supported for longer periods of time (230 versus 140 hours; P < .05) and were more likely to have an open chest (P = .02) than those who did not have infectious complications. Blood-borne infections occurred most often while patients were cannulated for extracorporeal life support, with urinary tract and wound infections more commonly occurring after decannulation. Fungal organisms were isolated in 50% of nosocomial infections. Patients with blood or wound fungal infections had a higher case-fatality rate than those patients with bacterial complications (P = .03). Because it is unlikely that the duration of extracorporeal life support can be shortened significantly, the authors recommend an increased level of awareness of nosocomial infections in patients on prolonged extracorporeal life support. Further research is needed to assess the effects of antifungal prophylaxis or immune modulation to prevent nosocomial infections.
On localization attacks against cloud infrastructure

One of the key characteristics of cloud computing is the device and location independence that enables the user to access systems regardless of their location. Because cloud computing is heavily based on sharing resource, it is vulnerable to cyber attacks. In this paper, we investigate a localization attack that enables the adversary to leverage central processing unit (CPU) resources to localize the physical location of server used by victims. By increasing and reducing CPU usage through the malicious virtual machine (VM), the response time from the victim VM will increase and decrease correspondingly. In this way, by embedding the probing signal into the CPU usage and correlating the same pattern in the response time from the victim VM, the adversary can find the location of victim VM. To determine attack accuracy, we investigate features in both the time and frequency domains. We conduct both theoretical and experimental study to demonstrate the effectiveness of such an attack.
AIDS-related anxiety and coping methods in a support group for caregivers

This article explores the anxiety faced at the front lines by caregivers of persons with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and in particular their ways of coping with the anxiety. Data were collected using a qualitative approach, in a support group that met for 15 weeks. The design was used to generate grounded theory about caregivers' methods of coping with AIDS-related anxiety.
Effects of p-chlorophenylalanine on conditioned avoidance learning

A single injection of p-chlorophenylalanine enhanced the performance of two strains of rats in a conditioned avoidance task. The enhancement was especially evident at low UCS intensities for one strain and at high UCS intensities for the other strain. Chronic p-chlorophenylalanine treatment retarded the performance of rats and mice in conditioned avoidance tasks.
The parallel computing landscape: a Berkeley view

Dave’s research style is to identify critical questions for the IT industry and gather inter-disciplinary groups of faculty and graduate students to answer them. The answer is typically embodied in demonstration systems, and these demonstration systems are later mirrored in commercial products. In addition to research impact, these projects train leaders of our field. The best known projects are Reduced Instruction Set Computers, Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, and Networks of Workstations. RISC led to the Arm architecture that is popular for embedded computers and to the Sun SPARC architecture for servers. RAID led to storage products from EMC, IBM, NetApp, and many other companies. NOW led to clusters for Internet service used by Inktomi and others.
Light affects the flux of Ca2+ from excised tomato leaves within four seconds

The flux of Ca 2+ from excised tomato leaves, conditioned in 100 mM KCl for 60 min, was shown to be affected by turning an incandescent light (32 μmol m -2 s -1 ) on or off. Calcium concentrations were measured with a single junction combination electrode connected to a high impedence electrometer amplifier interfaced with a microcomputer. Net Ca 2+ fluxes from excised leaves 30 s prior to and 30 s after turning on the light were 68 and 122 pmol g -1 dry weight s -1 , respectively. The Ca 2+ fluxes for the 30 s prior to and 30s s after turning off the light were 113 and 51 pmol g -1 dry weight s -1 , respectively. Close examination of the first 10 s after the light was turned off showed that there was a 4 s delay in the flux of Ca 2+ . The heat given off by the incandescent bulb had no effect on Ca 2+ flux during these short time periods. The effect of light on the Ca 2+ flux was evident for at least 2 h after the initial treatment.
Effects of salinity and temperature during incubation on hatching and development of lingcod Ophiodon elongatus Girard, embryos

The interactive effects of salinity and temperature on development and hatching success of lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus Girard, were studied by incubating eggs at four temperatures (6, 9, 12 and 15 degrees C) and five salinities (15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 g L(-1)). Hatch did not occur in any of the 15 degrees C treatments. Degree days (degrees C days) to first hatch was not influenced by temperature or salinity, however, calendar days to first hatch differed significantly for temperature (P<0.0001, 61 +/- 1,44 +/- 1 and 35 +/- 1 days for 6, 9 and 12 degrees C respectively). Degree days to 50% (427.1 +/- 4.2) hatch was not significantly influenced by temperature but was by salinity (P = 0.0324). Viable hatch (live with no deformities, 74.1 +/- 4.0%) was greatest at 9 degrees C and 25 g L(-1) but not significantly different in the range of 20-30 g L(-1). Larval length (9.4 +/- 0.13 mm) was greatest at 9 degrees C and 20-30 g L(-1). Temperature and salinity significantly influenced all categories of deformities with treatments at the upper (12 degrees C and 35 g L(-1)) and lower limits (6 degrees C and 15 g L(-1)) producing the greatest deformities. The optimal temperature and salinity for incubating Puget Sound lingcod eggs was found to be 9 degrees C and 20-30 g L(-1).
Pressure or challenge in preschool? How academic environments affect children

Highly academic environments have little benefit for children's academic skills, may dampen creative expression, and may create some anxiety. These effects, however, are less dramatic than some have claimed.
DNA Methylation Effects on Tetra-Nucleosome Compaction and Aggregation

DNA CpG methylation has been associated with chromatin compaction and gene silencing. Whether DNA methylation directly contributes to chromatin compaction remains an open question. In this study, we used fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) to evaluate the compaction and aggregation of tetra-nucleosomes containing specific CpG patterns and methylation levels. The compactness of both unmethylated and methylated tetra-nucleosomes is dependent on DNA sequences. Specifically, methylation of the CpG sites located in the central dyad and the major grooves of DNA seem to have opposite effects on modulating the compactness of tetra-nucleosomes. The interactions among tetra-nucleosomes, however, seem to be enhanced because of DNA methylation independent of sequence contexts. Our finding can shed light on understanding the role of DNA methylation in determining nucleosome positioning pattern and chromatin compactness.
The computer display as a support of collaborative development of scientific models of magnetism

Some student difficulties in learning science can be understood by considering the background knowledge that people necessarily assume in conversations. In learning science, students have to develop meanings and understandings that can be taken as shared in conversations. Small groups of students can be aided in their development of shareable understandings by constructing explanations of their thinking on a computer.This paper describes student interactions in a physical science course for preservice teachers. A group of students working at a computer showed fluent use of the computer screen to support making concrete statements and to extend their understandings. Their use of the screen helped the group to established shared meanings along the way to developing models of magnetic materials.
On versus tu and vous: Pronouns with indefinite reference in synchronous electronic French discourse

This article examines the variable use of the French pronouns on, tu, and vous with generic-indefinite reference in synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC). The primary objective is to compare the use of these pronouns in CMC, a written/typed form of discourse, and in conversational spoken French as it has been analyzed over the past few decades. A VARBRUL analysis produced results comparable to those reported in previous studies in which such an approach was used. Overall, the results suggest that the use of on versus tu/vous with indefinite reference is influenced by affirmation/negation, syntactic frame (generalizations versus implicatives), discursive-pragmatic effect (situational insertions versus morals/truisms), and type of event (specific versus non-specific).
Hypertension Secondary to Ingestion of Licorice Root Tea

Objective:To report a case of hypertension secondary to ingestion of licorice root tea.Case Summary:A 46-year-old African American female with newly diagnosed stage 1 hypertension presented with a blood pressure measurement of 144/81 mm Hg and a reduced plasma potassium level of 3.2 mEq/L. The patient attempted lifestyle modifications prior to initiating an antihypertensive agent, but at a follow-up appointment, her blood pressure remained elevated. A current laboratory panel revealed a depressed morning plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) of 5 ng/dL and low morning plasma renin activity (PRA) of 0.13 ng/mL/h. Later it was revealed that the patient regularly (1–2 cups/day) consumed “Yogi Calming” tea, a blend of herbs, including licorice root. The patient was advised to discontinue consumption of the herbal tea, and at a subsequent appointment, her blood pressure was 128/73 mm Hg and her laboratory panel had improved, including serum potassium concentration of 4.1 mEq/L, PAC of 6 ng/dL, and PRA of 0.19...
Two records of Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) off southern Chile(Pisces: Stephanoberyciformes: Stephanoberycidae)

Two specimens were collected by the USNS Eltanin west of Chiloe Island in 1962 and off Tierra del Fuego in 1963 and deposited in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County identified only as stephanoberycids. They represent the first reported records of Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) from Chile and the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Comparative properties of genetically defined peptidases in maize

Four aminopeptidase isozymes (AMP1-AMP4) and an endopeptidase (ENP) from maize have been purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sephadex ionexchange chromatography, and Sephadex G-150 gel filtration. Hydroxylapatite chromatography further purified some of the peptidases. Comparisons of molecular weights, substrate specificities, and responses of peptidases to various reagents were made. The aminopeptidases varied in reactivities with the naphthylamide derivatives of amino acids. AMP1 and AMP3 were most active with the arginine and lysine derivatives; AMP2 was most active with the alanine and glycine derivatives and AMP4 was most active with the phenylalanine, tyrosine, leucine, and tryptophan derivatives. Molecular weights as determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-150 were 92000, 86500, 83000, 61000, and 67600 for AMP1, AMP2, AMP3, AMP4, and ENP1, respectively. AMP2 had a molecular weight of 88000 as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. AMP2 hydrolyzed the dipeptide derivatives, glycylglycyl-beta-naphthylamide and glycylphenylalanyl-beta-naphthylamide. Aminopeptidases were strongly inhibited by Zn2+, Cu2+, Hg2+, and p-mercuribenzoate. AMP1, AMP2, and AMP3 were inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline, whereas AMP4 was not. AMP4 closely resembled aminopeptidases purified from barley grains and pea seeds. ENP was inhibited by p-mercuribenzoate and tosyllysine chloromethyl ketone.
Climate periods in tree, ice and tides

Ten climate periods found in stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen, measured in 1,800 yr of Japanese cedar rings, agree with climate periods found in 800 yr of Greenland ice and with periods computed from the tidal stresses of the Sun–Moon–Earth system, and with periods found in the 14C record of the bristlecone pine sequence of southern California. The Greenland oxygen ratios have previously been found to have opposite phase to the 14C ratios of the bristlecones, and we have found also an opposite phase between oxygen and hydrogen ratios in the Japanese cedar on the one hand and 14C in bristlecones on the other hand.
Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1)-induced Twist Expression Is Involved in the Anti-apoptotic Effects of the IGF-1 Receptor

In this study we investigated the molecular mechanisms whereby insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) induced Twist gene expression and the role of Twist in the anti-apoptotic actions of the IGF-1 receptor. In NIH-3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing the human IGF-1 receptor (NWTb3), treatment with IGF-1 (10(-8) m) for 1 and 4 h increased the level of Twist mRNA as well as protein by 3-fold. In contrast, insulin at physiological concentrations did not stimulate Twist expression in NIH-3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing the human insulin receptor. The IGF-1 effect was specific for the IGF-1 receptor since, in cells overexpressing a dominant negative IGF-1 receptor, IGF-1 failed to increase Twist expression. Pre-incubation with the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 or expression of a dominant negative MEK-1 abolished the effect of IGF-1 on Twist mRNA expression in NWTb3 cells, suggesting that Twist induction by IGF-1 occurs via the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. In vivo, IGF-1 injection increased the mRNA level of Twist in mouse skeletal muscle, the major site of Twist expression. Finally, using an antisense strategy, we demonstrated that a reduction of 40% in Twist expression decreased significantly the ability of IGF-1 to rescue NWTb3 cells from etoposide-induced apoptosis. Taken together, these results define Twist as an important factor involved in the anti-apoptotic actions of the IGF-1 receptor.
Fewer equations in hydrology can lead to more meaningful results

In the process of investigating hydrological systems, observations are often used to “tune” the equations of a mathematical model so that it can then be put to use. However, this focus on equations and their parameters tends to ignore the most important information in the data, particularly when the model does not track the observations well.
Fiber Optic Electric Field Sensor Technology

The properties of piezoactive plastics are reviewed as well as the fiber-optic electric field sensors studied so far. A particular configuration consisting of a concentric piezoactive jacket on the glass fiber is discussed in detail and the frequency response of this sensor is projected over a wide range of frequencies. The present design has the practical advantages of leading to a compact lightweight sensor; longer fiber lengths may be used to increase sensitivity. It is predicted that, at low frequencies, a fiber-optic antenna using a 1-km length of fiber would be capable of detecting a minimum electric field of 43 microV/m assuming a minimum phase sensitivity of 10 to the -6th radians for the optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer.
Ethylene production and toxigenicity of methionine and its derivatives with riboflavin in cultures of Verticillium, Fusarium and Colletotrichum species exposed to light

Ethylene was produced by Verticillium dahliae Kleb. grown in liquid Czapek's medium. The rate of ethylene production was enhanced by light but was not affected by shaking or the growth rate of the cultures. L-, D- and DL-methionine, DL-ethionine and a-keto-y-methylthiobutyric acid (KMBA) were good substrates for ethylene production. KMBA may be an intermediate in ethylene production and it appears to be degraded to ethylene either enzymatically by peroxidase or photochemically in the presence of riboflavin. Addition of riboflavin or briefly heating the cultures to 100°C enhanced ethylene production greatly, while the addition of sodium azide, potassium cyanide and catalase were very inhibitory. The SS4 (non-defoliating) pathotype of V. dahliae produced significantly more ethylene (up to 108.4 nl ethylene h1 from 20 ml-10-day-old cultures) than did the T9 (defoliating) pathotype with all substrates tested. The results suggest that the in vitro rate of ethylene production is not related to the relative virulence of pathotypes of V. dahliae on cotton. A number of Verticillium species, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum and Colletotrichum dematium var. truncatum were able to produce ethylene in liquid Czapek's medium containing 1 mM L-methionine under continuous light. Riboflavin, although highly stimulatory to ethylene production, caused a fungicidal reaction to all the fungi tested in Czapek's medium containing L-methionine under continuous light. The fungicidal effect of the riboflavin-methionine-light combination occurred at concentrations of riboflavin and methionine less than 1.33 μM and 0.5 mM, respectively. No fungicidal activity was detected when the cultures were grown in total darkness or when either methionine or riboflavin was omitted from the culture medium.
Semi-continuous mass closure of the major components of fine particulate matter in Riverside, CA

Abstract The application of newly developed semi-continuous aerosol monitors allows for the measurement of all the major species of PM2.5 on a 1-h time basis. Temporal resolution of both non-volatile and semi-volatile species is possible. A suite of instruments to measure the major chemical species of PM2.5 allows for semi-continuous mass closure. A newly developed dual-oven Sunset carbon monitor is used to measure non-volatile organic carbon, semi-volatile organic carbon and elemental carbon. Inorganic species, including sulfate and nitrate, can be measured with an ion chromatograph based sampler. Comparison of the sum of the major chemical species in an urban aerosol with mass measured by an FDMS resulted in excellent agreement. Linear regression analysis resulted in a zero-intercept slope of 0.98±0.01 with an R2=0.86. One-hour temporal resolution of the major species of PM2.5 may reduce the uncertainty in receptor based source apportionment modeling, will allow for better forecasting of PM2.5 episodes, and may lead to increased understanding of related health effects.
An attentional blink for sequentially presented targets: evidence in favor of resource depletion accounts.

Several accounts of the attentional blink (AB) have postulated that this dual-target deficit occurs because of limited-capacity attentional resources being devoted to processing the first target at the expense of the second (resource depletion accounts; e.g., Chun & Potter, 1995). Recent accounts have challenged this model (e.g., Di Lollo, Kawahara, Ghorashi, & Enns, 2005; Olivers, van der Stigchel, & Hulleman, 2007), proposing instead that the AB occurs because of subjects’ inability to maintain appropriate levels of attentional control when targets are separated by distractors. Accordingly, the AB is eliminated when three targets from the same attentional set are presented sequentially in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. However, under such conditions poorer identification of the first target is typically observed, hinting at a potential trade-off between the first and subsequent target performances. Consistent with this hypothesis, the present study shows that an AB is observed for successive targets from the same attentional set in an RSVP stream when the first target powerfully captures attention. These results suggest that resource depletion contributes significantly to the AB.
Worst Error Performance of Continuous Kalman Filters

The worst error performance of estimation filters is investigated for continuous systems in this paper. The pathological performance study, without assuming any dynamical model such as Markov processes for perturbations, except for its bounded amplitude, will give practical and dependable criteria in establishing the navigation and maneuver strategy in deep space missions.
Temperature-insensitive silicon carbide resonant micro-extensometers

This work presents thin-film polycrystalline silicon carbide resonant micro-extensometers fabricated on a single-crystalline silicon substrate that are temperature-insensitive near room temperature. The slight difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the device layer and the substrate induces a slight tensile strain near room temperature, which counteracts material softening of the resonator. An analytical model that accounts for these thermal effects predicts that this system will exhibit a turnover temperature near room temperature. A temperature sensitivity of 0.7 Hz/°C (3.6 ppm/°C) from 17 to 65 °C is measured experimentally, without compromising the strain-sensing capability of the resonator. This is nearly a 10-fold improvement over an equivalent epitaxial silicon resonant miro-extensometer (−30 ppm/°C) [1].
STI571: A Paradigm of New Agents for Cancer Therapeutics

STI571 exemplifies the successful development of a rationally designed, molecularly targeted therapy for the treatment of a specific cancer. This article reviews the identification of Bcr-Abl as a therapeutic target in chronic myelogenous leukemia and the steps in the development of an agent to specifically inactivate this abnormality. Issues related to clinical trials of molecularly targeted agents are discussed, including dose selection, optimizing therapy, and predicting response, as are possible mechanisms of resistance to STI571. Lastly, the potential use of STI571 in other malignancies and the translation of this paradigm to other malignancies are explored.
A cell epigenotype specific model for the correction of brain cellular heterogeneity bias and its application to age, brain region and major depression

Brain cellular heterogeneity may bias cell type specific DNA methylation patterns, influencing findings in psychiatric epigenetic studies. We performed fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) of neuronal nuclei and Illumina HM450 DNA methylation profiling in post mortem frontal cortex of 29 major depression and 29 matched controls. We identify genomic features and ontologies enriched for cell type specific epigenetic variation. Using the top cell epigenotype specific (CETS) marks, we generated a publically available R package, “CETS,” capable of quantifying neuronal proportions and generating in silico neuronal profiles from DNA methylation data. We demonstrate a significant overlap in major depression DNA methylation associations between FACS separated and CETS model generated neuronal profiles relative to bulk profiles. CETS derived neuronal proportions correlated significantly with age in the frontal cortex and cerebellum and accounted for epigenetic variation between brain regions. CETS based control of cellular heterogeneity will enable more robust hypothesis testing in the brain.
Altruism born of suffering: the roots of caring and helping after victimization and other trauma

Research on altruism has focused on its positive roots, whereas research on the effects of victimization and suffering has focused on aggression and difficulties in functioning. However, anecdotal evidence, case studies, and some empirical research indicate that victimization and suffering can also lead people to care about and help others. This article examines the relation of "altruism born of suffering" to resilience and posttraumatic growth, and proposes potentially facilitating influences on altruism born of suffering during, after, and preceding victimization and trauma. These include experiences that promote healing, understanding what led harm doers to their actions, having received help and having helped oneself or others at the time of one's suffering, caring by others, and prosocial role models. We suggest psychological changes that may result from these influences and lead to altruistic action: strengthening of the self, a more positive orientation toward people, empathy and belief in one's personal responsibility for others' welfare. The article critically reviews relevant research, and suggests future research directions and interventions to promote altruism born of suffering. Given the amount of violence between individuals and groups, understanding how victims become caring rather than aggressive is important for promoting a more peaceful world.
“Meaning” Connections and Causal Connections in the Human Sciences: The Poverty of Hermeneutic Philosophy:

In much of psychoanalytic theory and therapy, Freud repeatedly inferred a causal connection between thematically kindred events by relying on the kinship between their thematic contents. This paper strongly endorses his search for causal explanations. But it argues in detail that (1) his causal inferences from thematic connections rest on an important fallacy, which undermines major etiologic conclusions in psychoanalysis; (2) a related, weighty inferential error is damaging to the Freudian theory of transference, when it infers the pathogenic role of an early childhood scenario from the thematic reenactment (recapitulation) of that scenario in the adult patient's interactions with the analyst, and with other people. Both arguments draw on subject matter in psychoanalysis, physics, evolutionary biology, common-sense psychology, history, and medicine to arrive at a fundamental caveat for all of the sciences: Even when the thematic kinship (or so-called "meaning connection") between events is indeed of very high degree, this fact itself does not license the inference of a causal linkage between these events. A corollary of this result is that we must reject the accusation of Karl Jaspers and the hermeneutic philosophers that Freud's own conception of the psychoanalytic enterprise suffered from a "scientistic self-misunderstanding."
An Unstructured Finite Volume Method for Structure-Electrostatics Interaction in MEMS

Radio-frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) are widely used for contact actuators and capacitative switches, and involve metal-dielectric contact. Proper understanding of structure-electrostatics interaction is necessary to prevent failure of these systems. In these devices, the structure is activated by an electrostatic force, whose magnitude changes as the gap closes. Accurate modeling of fluid-structure-electrostatics interaction is important to determine device dynamical behavior, and ultimately, device lifetime. It is advantageous to model fluid and structural mechanics and electrostatics within a single comprehensive numerical framework to facilitate coupling between them. In this paper, we extend a cell-based finite volume approach popularly used to simulate fluid flow to characterize structure-electrostatics interactions. The method employs fully-implicit second order finite volume discretization of the integral conservation equations governing elastic solid mechanics and electrostatics, and uses arbitrary convex polyhedral meshes. The electrostatic actuation is treated as a surface force, and is directly added to the force balance for the control volume. The resulting set of algebraic equations is solved using a biconjugate gradient stabilized (BCGSTAB) solver. Results are presented in this paper for a fixed-fixed beam under electrostatic actuation.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Medical signal processing in the ICU

There are currently many false alarms in the ICU. A medical monitoring system which has the ability to take into account signal data from multiple monitoring devices has the potential to decrease the number of false alarms experienced in the intensive care unit (ICU). The implementation of such a system has the potential to substantially reduce unnecessary noise and stress in the ICU, therefore resulting in both better patient care and a less stressful environment for the patient to recover in. This research explores the possibility of using an intelligent system in order to distinguish between false alarm and true alarm situations. The use of time delay phase space reconstruction of medical signal data as input to a neural network is explored. The issues regarding the phase space reconstruction and the encoding of the data for input into a neural network are discussed. Results of the phase space reconstruction and neural network implementation are presented.
CHARACTERIZATION OF A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY RECOGNIZING SELECTIVE EPITHELIAL ELEMENTS OF WILMS' TUMORS AND FETAL KIDNEYS

A new antigen was detected using a monoclonal antibody generated against malignant blastema from a Wilms' tumor. This antigen showed variable expression in malignant blastemal cells but was never detected in normal blastema of fetal kidneys irrespective of gestational stage. In a series of 16 Wilms' tumors, the most intense and consistent staining was seen in tubule-associated epithelial cells. Such tubular staining is not surprising as the putative induction of malignant blastema to differentiate into malignant tubules is thought to parallel normal tubulogenesis. This antigen was also associated with epithelial cells located in a variety of fetal kidney structures. Again, the staining was most consistent in tubular epithelia. This monoclonal antibody reactive with a blastemal-epithelial-tubular (BET) antigen should be of value in studying the induction of epithelial differentiation in the normal and diseased human kidney.
Human Resources Development In South Korea

The tremendous growth of the South Korean economy during the past two decades is due to a multitude offactors not the least of which is the rapid and pervasive development and education of their la...
System software requirements for real-time statistical process control for manufacturing operations

The authors outline requirements for the development of statistical process control software that can be effectively utilized by manufacturing operators with limited computer experience and statistical knowledge. Topics that contribute to the application's success, such as customer education, balance between the statistician and manufacturing-operator needs, flexibility to change in the working environment, and customer feedback, are discussed. Creation of chart parameters, data entry, and chart viewing are also considered. >
Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) Analysis of Safety-Related Scientific Software

Hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis technique is used to identify and analyze hazards and operational concerns of a system. It provides a structured framework that can be used to perform a step-by-step safety analysis of a system. This paper details how to apply this method to safety-related scientific software. In this paper, we have developed (1) a nomenclature that singles out 30 primary concepts (2) a canonic set of abstractions of software programming constructs as a function of the primary concepts; (3) a process of translation from an existing design representation to the target design representation in the form of finite state machines; (4) HAZOP templates for each canonical form; and (5) an input variable prioritization method. We also developed a computational tool that can be used to perform HAZOP analysis of scientific software. Its results are compared with those obtained during manual HAZOP analysis by calculating the value of Shannon entropy, correctness, and the time required to perform each analysis. Overall, this method helps identify useful information about the impact of variables in the code that can then be utilized to develop robust code for making safety-critical decisions.
Setting up and using a multi-computer VXIbus system

VXI has matured into a flexible bus architecture with which to develop various types of instrumentation systems. More and more systems are being developed that require multiple chassis with dozens of instruments, each of which may perform a distinct yet important function to the system. This can place a tremendous burden on the system controller, especially if this same controller has to perform intensive graphic display updates, writes to the hard disk, printing functions, or other I/O Tasks. Modern computers in general, and PC-based computers in particular, have advanced to the point where some of this burden can be overcome by the sheer power of the processor. However, there are still many systems that would benefit from using a multi-computer approach. This paper details the multi-computer approach used in the VXIbased system that CACI developed for the Air Force. The system, the Engine Test/Trim Automated System II (ETTAS II) is designed to test all Air Force jet engines. The paper discusses how to integrate multiple computers in a VXI-based system, including discussions on: setting up the computers, selecting register-based versus message-based computers, setting up and using shared-memory, defining and separating tasks for each computer. The shared memory discussion talks about different ways to structure the shared memory, including setting up a system-level "Current-Value Table" (CVT) for all instruments, as well as how other devices, including another computer can access the shared memory space. The paper shows how Commercial Off-the-Shelf(COTS) software products NI-VXI LabVIEW; and NI-VISA (National Instruments) can be used to satisfy all these requirements. The paper also shows how the multi-computer approach can be cost-effective in many cases.
Crystallization Kinetics of a Complex Lithium Silicate Glass‐Ceramic

Volume crystallization of this glass is nucleated by Li3PO4. On heating from room temperature, Li2SiO3 appears around 650°C and then converts to Li2Si2O5 around 850°C by reaction with SiO2 from the melt. Preheating the glass at 1000°C forms larger Li3PO4 nuclei that promote additional crystallization of cristobalite in the 650° to 850°C range. Crystallization activation energies calculated from scan-rate dependence of DTA peaks are 270 kJ/mol for Li2SiO3 and 360 to 570 kJ/mol for Li2Si2O5.
Conservation Laws in Classical and Quantum Physics

The relation between the conservation laws and the symmetry properties of space and time is examined. If the simplest possible equation of motion takes the place of Newton’s equation, the usual conservation laws are not obtained. In the quantum physics, on the contrary, there is a superabundance of conservation laws and their physical significance is not obvious.
"Hot tip": another method of laser vascular recanalization.

This study is a preliminary report evaluating the use of laser radiation to heat a metal-capped fiber for arterial recanalization. The method was compared to the currently used bare-ended fiber for recanalization of occluded vessels. The model used was a human coronary artery xenograft transplanted in the femoral artery of the dog. At 4 weeks following the transplantation, laser recanalization was attempted using the heated metal probe (“hot tip”) in five arteries and the bare fiber in another five arteries. Results: 1) Angiography demonstrated recanalization in all five arteries treated with the “hot tip” and three of the five arteries treated with the bare fiber. 2) Only one perforation occurred with the “hot tip,” whereas three perforations occurred with the bare fiber. 3) The larger metal cap was capable of creating a wider channel in the occluded arterial segment. Although the trend favored the heated metal cap in terms of recanalization and less perforation than the bare fiber, the total number of experiments were not adequate to demonstrate statistical significance. Microscopic examination of the vessels recanalized by either technique was similar. Characteristic charring at the recanalization site was seen regardless of the technique used. These observations suggest that the effect of direct laser radiation on plaques is predominantly a thermal effect. Although these results would suggest utilization of a metal-capped fiber for vascular recanalization, more studies need to be done to confirm these preliminary findings.
Palatability and Appearance Traits of Beef/Pork Meat Patties

Eight beef/pork ground meat blends were made from mature (cows or sows) and youthful (steers or barrow) beef and/or pork lean. Blends were stored at — 27°C for either 14 or 150 days. Storage time decreased overall desirability scores of blends made with 20% pork fat and 80% youthful beef lean. No differences were found for flavor or overall desirability scores within the 14-day storage treatment. The consumer panel did not detect differences among treatments for source of fat or species. Results indicated beef/pork patties containing 40–80% mature lean and a minimum of 10% beef fat were equal to all-beef controls (100% beef patty) for visual and palatability traits.
BOUNDED HYBRID SUPERIORITY IN AN AVIAN HYBRID ZONE: EFFECTS OF MATE, DIET, AND HABITAT CHOICE

There has been considerable debate in the study of hybrid zones as to whether hybrids may be superior to parental types within the area of contact (bounded hybrid superiority). In birds, naturally occurring hybridization is relatively common, and hybridization within this group always involves mate choice. If hybrids are superior, females choosing heterospecific mates should be expected to show higher fitness under the conditions prevalent in the hybrid zone. Hybrid superiority under these circumstances would reduce reinforcement and thereby help to maintain the hybrid zone. To examine this issue, we studied reproductive performances of hybrids and parental species of gulls (Larus occidentalis and Larus glaucescens) at two colonies within a linear hybrid zone along the west coast of the United States. This hybrid zone contains predominantly gulls of intermediate phenotype. Previous studies indicated that hybrids were superior to one or both parental types, but provided no data on possible mechanisms that underlie this hybrid superiority. Using a hybrid index designed specifically for these species, we identified to phenotype more than 300 individuals associated with nests, including both individual males and females within 73 pairs in the central portion of the hybrid zone and 74 pairs in the northern portion of the hybrid zone. There was little evidence of assortative mating, and what little there was resulted solely because of pairings within intergrades. In the central hybrid zone, females paired with hybrid males produced larger clutches and hatched and fledged more chicks compared with females paired to western gull males. This was a result of heavy predation on eggs in sand habitat, where male western gulls established territories. In contrast, many hybrid males established territories in vegetated cover that was less vulnerable to predation. In the northern part of the hybrid zone, clutch size did not differ among pair categories, however, there were differences in hatching and fledging success, with females paired to hybrid males showing better success compared to females paired to glaucous-winged gull males. Hybrids showed better hatching and fledging success in the north because hybrids are more like western gulls than glaucous-winged gulls in foraging behavior, taking a higher percentage of fish in their diet, which enhances chick growth and survival. This is believed to be the first documentation of bounded hybrid superiority that delineates the mechanisms that underlie hybrid superiority.