cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nonane enhances propranolol hydrochloride penetration in human skin

We compared propranolol hydrochloride penetration through human skin in the presence and absence of a putative enhancer, nonane. During in vivo experiments, l mg of propranolol hydrochloride was administered in l-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, under occlusive conditions to seven human volunteers. Seven others received the same dose and vehicle in the presence of 4% nonane. Propranolol hydrochloride penetration was determined from recovery of tritiated material following urinary excretion; propranolol penetration increased from 0.705 ± 0.3878 to 1.402 ± 0.8358% (mean ± SE) of the applied dose (1 mg/2.5 cm2) in the presence of nonane (p < 0.05). Of clinical interest, all seven subjects receiving the enhancer sustained moderate to severe erythema and slight edema at the application site. Slight eschar formation was observed in two of these seven volunteers after 24 h of exposure. It is postulated that the reactions were a result of stratum corneum disruption due to vehicle, enhancer or both. For comparison, penetration of propranolol HC1 from the same formulations was tested during an in vitro experiment using excised human cadaver skin and phosphate buffered saline receptor fluid. Penetration through a 1 cm2 surface area was determined by recovery of tritiated propranolol from the receptor fluid; propranolol bioavailability was increased from 1.03 ± 0.61 to 2.28 ± 0.17% (p < 0.05) of the applied dose (1 mg/1 cm2).
Middle and Late Eocene Mammal Communities: A Major Discrepancy

The multituberculate Parectypodus lovei has been found in late Eocene rocks in Montana, together with 11 other mammal species similar to those found in the late Eocene Tepee Trail Formation in Wyoming.The multituberculate and six other species are unknown in rocks of equivalent age or of middle Eocene age elsewhere.It is suggested that the known middle Eocene faunas are all taken from a similar ecological situation and do not reflect the true diversity of middle Eocene life. Middle Eocene faunas of different ecological aspect may be recovered from sediments along, and in, the mountain fronts of northwestern Wyoming.
Hind limb lameness in the young patient.

This article reviews the common causes of hind limb lameness in young dogs. Legg-Calve-Perthes, hip dysplasia, cruciate ligament injury, patella luxation, osteochondrosis, hypertrophic osteodystrophy, panosteitis, and common growth plate fractures are described. Emphasis is placed on the clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment options available for each disease.
The Effectiveness of Antiterrorism Policies: A Vector-Autoregression-Intervention Analysis

Using quarterly data from 1968 to 1988, we analyze the time series properties of the various attack modes used by transnational terrorists. Combining vector autoregression and intervention analysis, we find strong evidence of both substitutes and complements among the attack modes. We also evaluate the effectiveness of six policies designed to thwart terrorism. The existence of complements and substitutes means that policies designed to reduce one type of attack may affect other attack modes. For example, the installation of metal detectors in airports reduced skyjackings and diplomatic incidents but increased other kinds of hostage attacks (barricade missions, kidnappings) and assassinations. In the long run, embassy fortification decreased barricade missions but increased assassinations. The Reagan “get tough” policy, which resulted in the enactment of two laws in 1984 and a retaliatory raid on Libya in 1986, did not have any noticeable long-term effect on curbing terrorist attacks directed against U.S. interests.
Ab initio study of sulfuranes

Abstract A 4-31G(∗) basis set is tested for use with hypervalent sulfur species in which all ligands are formally singly bonded to sulfur (10-S-4). The basis gives excellent results for SF4, the hypothetical SH4, and does well at qualitatively reproducing experimentally observed structural trends in sulfuranes. Axial CN substituants are predicted to bond to sulfur via carbon. Rather extreme bond length variations in unsymmetrical sulfuranes permit the construction of a scale of substituent electronegativities appropriate to sulfuranes specifically. The relative stability of symmetrical vs. unsymmetrial sulfuranes is explored.
Resonance-continuum interference in light Higgs boson production at a photon collider

We study the effect of interference between the Standard Model Higgs boson resonance and the continuum background in the process {gamma}{gamma} {yields} H {yields} b{bar b} at a photon collider. Taking into account virtual gluon exchange between the final-state quarks, we calculate the leading corrections to the height of the resonance for the case of a light (m{sub H} < 160 GeV) Higgs boson. We find that the interference is destructive and around 0.1-0.2% of the peak height, depending on the mass of the Higgs and the scattering angle. This suppression is smaller by an order of magnitude than the anticipated experimental accuracy at a photon collider. However, the fractional suppression can be significantly larger if the Higgs coupling to b quarks is increased by physics beyond the Standard Model.
Comparative physical mapping between Oryza sativa (AA genome type) and O. punctata (BB genome type).

A comparative physical map of the AA genome (Oryza sativa) and the BB genome (O. punctata) was constructed by aligning a physical map of O. punctata, deduced from 63,942 BAC end sequences (BESs) and 34,224 fingerprints, onto the O. sativa genome sequence. The level of conservation of each chromosome between the two species was determined by calculating a ratio of BES alignments. The alignment result suggests more divergence of intergenic and repeat regions in comparison to gene-rich regions. Further, this characteristic enabled localization of heterochromatic and euchromatic regions for each chromosome of both species. The alignment identified 16 locations containing expansions, contractions, inversions, and transpositions. By aligning 40% of the punctata BES on the map, 87% of the punctata FPC map covered 98% of the O. sativa genome sequence. The genome size of O. punctata was estimated to be 8% larger than that of O. sativa with individual chromosome differences of 1.5–16.5%. The sum of expansions and contractions observed in regions >500 kb were similar, suggesting that most of the contractions/expansions contributing to the genome size difference between the two species are small, thus preserving the macro-collinearity between these species, which diverged ∼2 million years ago.
Social contacts and depression in middle and advanced adulthood: findings from a US national survey, 2005-2008.

AIM: Empirical evidence has linked social contacts with mental stability. The aim is to assess how social contacts are associated with depression among the general population. METHODS: We analysed the data of 5,681 adults aged 40 or older, who completed a depression screening as a part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2008. Depression was ascertained using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), a nine-item screening instrument asking about the frequency of depression symptoms over the past two weeks. A PHQ score of 10 or higher was defined as depression. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression was 5.54% (SE = 0.64) and 8.49% (SE = 0.71), respectively, among men and women. The association between social contacts and depression were more salient among men than women. The odds ratios (ORs) of depression were 2.43 (95% CI = 1.44−4.10), 2.42 (95% CI = 1.37−4.28), 1.00 (reference) and 1.94 (95% CI = 0.80−4.71), respectively, among men who never attended church, attended occasionally, weekly and more than weekly. The corresponding ORs were 1.79 (95% CI = 1.10−2.91), 1.72 (95% CI = 1.06−2.80), 1.00(reference) and 0.98 (95% CI = 0.52−1.84) for women. Compared with the respondents who had 10 or more friends, the ORs of depression were 4.01 (95% CI = 1.89−8.50) and 1.86 (95% CI = 0.92−3.79), respectively, for men and women who had no close friends. CONCLUSIONS: The current study concluded that traditional social contacts remain strongly associated with depression in the digital era. Digital social networking is one of the biggest growing industries, creating a new platform to make social contacts. There is an urgent need to explore how to maximize the potential of digital social networking to strengthen social bonds while minimizing its negative effects. Language: en
Wind and temperature effects on thermosphere mass density response to the November 2004 geomagnetic storm

[1] A unique conjunction of the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) and the Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellites provided simultaneous columnar neutral composition, ΣO/N2, and thermosphere density observations, enabling a novel study of thermospheric response to the 7–9 November 2004 geomagnetic storm. Both ΣO/N2 and mass density showed profound response to this severe geomagnetic storm, but their latitudinal and temporal structures differed markedly. In particular, high-latitude depletion and low-latitude enhancement in ΣO/N2 were observed throughout the storm period, especially during the main phase. In contrast, neutral density at 400 km altitude increased from pole to pole shortly after the storm, with strongest enhancement of order 200%–400% during the main phase. Comparisons of observed thermosphere response with simulations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) were carried out to interpret the observed contrasting characteristics of thermosphere composition and mass density in response to this geomagnetic storm. The TIEGCM simulations show that the contrasting characteristics occur not only in ΣO/N2 and mass density at a constant altitude at 400 km, but also in O/N2 and mass density on a constant-pressure surface. At an altitude of 400 km (CHAMP altitude), storm-time mass densities significantly increase due to an increase in scale height throughout the vertical column between the heat source and satellite altitude. For a given increase in scale height, the more scale height increments separating the heat source from the satellite altitude, the greater is the mass density response. It is shown that scale height change is caused partly by storm-time neutral temperature enhancements due to heating and partly by changes in mean molecular weight due to winds. These findings indicate that wind effects can cause significant deviations from a mass density pattern resulting solely from neutral temperature changes by altering the mean molecular weight, particularly at high latitudes.
Reading and Writing Together: A Critical Component of English for Academic Purposes Teaching and Learning

“As Kroll (1993), among others, has pointed out, reading has traditionally been seen as a skill to be taught separately from writing, as well as something students are somehow expected to already know about when they reach the writing course. Teaching reading in a writing course may seem like an odd idea, if not an entirely unnecessary one. It may also be the case that second language writing teachers feel ill prepared to teach reading, especially in connection with writing. How many [teachers] have actually been taught to teach the two skills together?” (Hirvela, 2004, pp. 2–3)
Opinions about privacy: does the type of information used for marketing purposes make a difference?

The availability of personal information is at an all-time high. Technology has revolutionised the marketing industry, enabling marketers to achieve precise selectivity through database efforts. With this selectivity comes the responsibility of determining acceptable and unacceptable uses of personal information by businesses and nonprofits for marketing purposes. This paper explores opinions on information privacy by investigating the impact of education in the formulation of opinions on the use of personal information for marketing purposes. A single credit course in direct marketing does not change opinions regarding information privacy. But a series of credit marketing courses does reduce the level of restrictions desired on the availability and use of personal information for marketing. Thus, the direct marketing industry would be better served by promoting and demonstrating the ethical use of personal information through ethical marketing practices by all its practitioners rather than by attempting to educate the general public about the nature and uses of such information and data for marketing purposes. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications
Prospective study of portasystemic encephalopathy after emergency portacaval shunt for bleeding varices

Summary A prospective study of the development of encephalopathy was undertaken in 180 patients undergoing emergency portacaval shunt for bleeding esophageal varices between 1963 and 1978. The incidence of preoperative encephalopathy was 32 percent. Postoperatively, encephalopathy developed in 31.5 percent of 95 survivors and was severe in 7 percent of those survivors. Encephalopathy developed in most patients in the first and second follow-up years; in 10 year survivors, encephalopathy was virtually absent. Encephalopathy was more likely to occur in patients with encephalopathy at the time of shunt and in those who returned to alcoholism after shunt. Most encephalopathic episodes were precipitated by dietary indiscretion, often associated with alcoholism. Careful follow-up with attention to dietary compliance and abstinence from alcohol should make the risk of encephalopathy acceptable in relation to the unquestionable benefits of portacaval shunt in reducing the risk of variceal hemorrhage.
Inhibition of brain cell excitability by lidocaine, QX314, and tetrodotoxin: a mechanism for analgesia from infused local anesthetics?

Local anesthetic infusions have been used to provide analgesia in a variety of painful conditions. The mechanism for this drug effect remains unknown. To better define the electrical effects of lidocaine concentrations comparable to those obtained during analgesic infusions, lidocaine (0.05-3 mmol.l-1), QX314 (an obligatorily charged, quaternary lidocaine derivative applied within the cells), and tetrodotoxin (10 mmol.l-1) were applied to rat hippocampal pyramidal cells. The three drugs, which inhibit Na+ currents by varying mechanisms, produced tonic increases in (firing) current threshold, and decreases in the amplitude of action potentials measured using an intracellular microelectrode technique. Lidocaine inhibited action potential spikes and increased current threshold in a concentration-dependent fashion. Lidocaine 50 and 100 mumol.l-1 did not inhibit action potentials, but increased firing threshold by nearly 100%. Lidocaine 1-3 mmol.l-1 significantly inhibited action potential amplitude and increased threshold by as much as 800%. Similarly, QX314 and tetrodotoxin produced greater increases in current threshold than in action potential amplitude. QX314 produced phasic (or frequency-dependent) block during trains of stimuli at 1 Hz, even when almost no tonic block was present. Lidocaine produced less phasic block than QX314, and required both greater tonic block and more frequent stimulation to produce the phenomenon. Tetrodotoxin demonstrated no phasic block. Increases in current threshold occurred in lidocaine concentrations associated with analgesia and toxicity; inhibition of action potentials occurred scarcely at all at these concentrations. Thus, tonic increases in current threshold may underlie analgesia and supplementation of general anesthesia by intravenous lidocaine.
Platelet-derived growth factor A chain is maternally encoded in Xenopus embryos

Transcription of zygotic genes does not occur in early Xenopus embryos until the mid-blastula transition, 6 to 7 hours after fertilization. Before this time, development is directed by maternal proteins and messenger RNAs stored within the egg. Two different forms of the A chain of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) are shown here to be encoded by maternal messenger RNAs. The two forms closely resemble human PDGF; however, the long form contains a hydrophobic region near the carboxyl terminus. The presence of PDGF messenger RNA in the embryo supports the idea that endogenous growth factors act at the earliest stages of embryogenesis.
Localized quorum sensing in Vibrio fischeri.

Abstract Quorum sensing is almost always regarded as a population density effect in three-dimensional bulk samples of bacteria. Here we create two -dimensional samples of Vibrio fischeri cells adhered onto glass surfaces to examine the effect of local population densities on quorum sensing. This is done by measuring the luminescent response. The 2-D bacterial populations enable us to simultaneously account for time and distance effects on quorum sensing, which were previously very challenging to access in typical three-dimensional bulk samples. Thus, we are able to consider quorum sensing in terms of signal diffusion. A diffusion model of quorum sensing signals guides the experiments and shows that for a given cell spacing (density) and diffusion time there exists a “true quorum”— a number of cells necessary for quorum sensing. We find that quorum sensing can occur locally in 2-D surface samples and is a function of cell population density as well as signal diffusion time.
A semantic architecture for artificial conversations

Artificial conversations have many applications in chatter bot-based customer service including website navigation tools and guided online shopping. Existing approaches to generating conversations leverage linguistic and stochastic principles, where lower level grammatical and structural artifacts are modeled. These approaches perform well in pairwise utterance exchanges, but not so well in longer conversational contexts. We simulate more meaningful chatter bot conversations using an architecture that can leverage content and context. Grice's cooperative maxims, which form the central idea in the theory of pragmatics, is our framework for evaluation. The domain of our research is customer service situations, and we compare our artificial conversations with actual conversations of existing chatter bots deployed in the same domain.
Pragmatic aspects of intervention in aphasia

Abstract This paper describes the rationale and the data base upon which pragmatic approaches to the treatment of aphasia are based. It illustrates pragmatic treatment by describing three types of language therapy utilizing different treatment approaches. Strengths and weaknesses of pragmatic approaches are discussed. The paper concludes by suggesting that pragmatic treatment should be used in conjunction with other approaches more explicitly focused upon the language deficits exhibited by aphasic patients.
Measuring stigma toward mental illness: Development and application of the Mental Illness Stigma scale.

Guided by theory on stigma, a Likert-type scale was developed to measure 7 factors of attitudes toward people with mental illness: interpersonal anxiety, relationship disruption, poor hygiene, visibility, treatability, professional efficacy, and recovery. The scale was validated among college students and community members, measuring attitudes toward people with mental illness, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. In a second application, college students completed the scale from their own perspective, then from an imagined perspective of someone with mental illness, while psychiatric patients completed the scale from their own perspective, then from an imagined viewpoint of someone without mental illness. Psychiatric patients assumed that they were stigmatized to a greater extent than was admitted by the student sample.
Isolation and Characterization of PDE9A, a Novel Human cGMP-specific Phosphodiesterase

Abstract We have cloned and characterized the first human isozyme in a new family of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, PDE9A. By sequence homology in the catalytic domain, PDE9A is almost equidistant from all eight known mammalian PDE families but is most similar to PDE8A (34% amino acid identity) and least like PDE5A (28% amino acid identity). We report the cloning of human cDNA encoding a full-length protein of 593 amino acids, including a 261-amino acid region located near the C terminus that is homologous to the ∼270-amino acid catalytic domain of other PDEs. PDE9A is expressed in all eight tissues examined as a ∼2.0-kilobase mRNA, with highest levels in spleen, small intestine, and brain. The full-length PDE9A was expressed in baculovirus fused to an N-terminal 9-amino acid FLAG tag. Kinetic analysis of the baculovirus-expressed enzyme shows it to be a very high affinity cGMP-specific PDE with a K m of 170 nm for cGMP and 230 μm for cAMP. TheK m for cGMP makes PDE9A one of the highest affinity PDEs known. The V max for cGMP (4.9 nmol/min/μg recombinant enzyme) is about twice as fast as that of PDE4 for cAMP. The enzyme is about twice as active in vitroin 1–10 mm Mn2+ than in the same concentration of Mg2+ or Ca2+. PDE9A is insensitive (up to 100 μm) to a variety of PDE inhibitors including rolipram, vinpocetine, SKF-94120, dipyridamole, and 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine but is inhibited (IC50 = 35 μm) by zaprinast, a PDE5 inhibitor. PDE9A lacks a region homologous to the allosteric cGMP-binding regulatory regions found in the cGMP-binding PDEs: PDE2, PDE5, and PDE6.
Sensitivity of positive ion mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) in the analysis of purine bases in ESI MS and on-line electrochemistry ESI MS (EC/ESI MS)

A cone-shaped MS inlet and on-line electrochemistry (EC) were used to enhance the ionization efficiency in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) of purine bases. A pathway of positive ion mode ESI may involve oxidation of purine bases, guanine, adenine, xanthine and hypoxanthine, by 1e−, 1H+ processes. The electrospray process generates dimers of purine bases that are detected in ESI MS as protonated ions, except for xanthine, for which a protonated radical dimer is detected. Thus electrochemical oxidation of purine bases during ESI may generate reactive radicals that can subsequently dimerize. Dimer formation is facilitated in ESI MS when the carrier solution pH is high. The positive ion mode ESI MS ionization is consistent with the reactivity of the bases toward oxidation. Furthermore, the formation of the protonated ions, and Na+ and K+ adducts of the bases, expected in positive ion ESI MS, are observed. In addition, unusual H-bonding of purine bases guanine and xanthine is confirmed by ESI MS. Application of low EC voltage to the on-line EC cell in EC/ESI MS improves the sensitivity and correlates with the decrease of the intensity of the dimers, possibly as a result of their further oxidation.
Migration of the Epidermal over the Dermal Component (Epiboly) in a Bilayered Bioengineered Skin Construct

A bilayered bioengineered living skin construct (LSC) consisting of viable human neonatal keratinocytes over a collagenous dermis seeded with dermal fibroblasts has been used extensively in difficult—to heal human wounds. Its biological properties include production of several mediators, cytokines, and growth factors and the ability to heal itself upon injury. In this study, we investigated the process of keratinocyte migration in LSC. At baseline, 6-mm punch biopsies of the construct were placed in serum-free medium (AIM-V) or Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium. At varying time points, the LSC samples were processed and analyzed using histology and immunohistochemistry. By 72 h, in a time-dependent manner, the overlying epidermis had migrated over and enveloped the entire underlying dermis, a process known as epiboly. Increasing concentrations of neutralizing antibodies to epidermal growth factor or interleukin-1 alpha down-regulated the extent of epiboly, as measured using computerized planimetry, but ant...
Humanist-centric tools for big data: berkeley prosopography services

In this paper, we describe Berkeley Prosopography Services (BPS), a new set of tools for prosopography - the identification of individuals and study of their interactions - in support of humanities research. Prosopography is an example of "big data" in the humanities, characterized not by the size of the datasets, but by the way that computational and data-driven methods can transform scholarly workflows. BPS is based upon re-usable infrastructure, supporting generalized web services for corpus management, social network analysis, and visualization. The BPS disambiguation model is a formal implementation of the traditional heuristics used by humanists, and supports plug-in rules for adaptation to a wide range of domain corpora. A workspace model supports exploratory research and collaboration. We contrast the BPS model of configurable heuristic rules to other approaches for automated text analysis, and explain how our model facilitates interpretation by humanist researchers. We describe the significance of the BPS assertion model in which researchers assert conclusions or possibilities, allowing them to override automated inference, to explore ideas in what-if scenarios, and to formally publish and subscribe-to asserted annotations among colleagues, and/or with students. We present an initial evaluation of researchers' experience using the tools to study corpora of cuneiform tablets, and describe plans to expand the application of the tools to a broader range of corpora.
A compact neural-network-based CDMA receiver

A compact neural-network receiver for code-division multiple-access (CDMA) communication is presented. In the CDMA scheme, the near-far problem is a major impediment for the performance of a conventional detector (CD). By using a compact neural network with hardware annealing function and gradient-descent optimization technique, an optimal multiuser receiver can be implemented. The algorithm and simulation results of the compact neural-network-based CDMA receiver are described.
Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 expression identifies glutamatergic amacrine cells in the rodent retina

Synaptic transmission from glutamatergic neurons requires vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs) to concentrate cytosolic glutamate in synaptic vesicles. In retina, glutamatergic photoreceptors and bipolar cells exclusively express the VGLUT1 isoform, whereas ganglion cells express VGLUT2. Surprisingly, the recently identified VGLUT3 isoform was found in presumed amacrine cells, generally considered to be inhibitory interneurons. To investigate the synaptic machinery and conceivable secondary neurotransmitter composition of VGLUT3 cells, and to determine a potential functional role, we further investigated these putative glutamatergic amacrine cells in adult and developing rodent retina. Reverse transcriptase-PCR substantiated VGLUT3 expression in mouse retina. VGLUT3 cells did not immunostain for ganglion or bipolar cell markers, providing evidence that they are amacrine cells. VGLUT3 colocalized with synaptic vesicle markers, and electron microscopy showed that VGLUT3 immunostained synaptic vesicles. VGLUT3 cells were not immunoreactive for amacrine cell markers gamma-aminobutyric acid, choline acetyltransferase, calretinin, or tyrosine hydroxylase, although they immunostain for glycine. VGLUT3 processes made synaptic contact with ganglion cell dendrites, suggesting input onto these cells. VGLUT3 immunostaining was closely associated with the metabotropic glutamate receptor 4, which is consistent with glutamatergic synaptic exocytosis by these cells. In the maturing mouse retina, Western blots showed VGLUT3 expression at postnatal day 7/8 (P7/8). VGLUT3 immunostaining in retinal sections was first observed at P8, achieving an adult pattern at P12. Thus, VGLUT3 function commences around the same time as VGLUT1-mediated glutamatergic transmission from bipolar cells. Furthermore, a subset of VGLUT3 cells expressed the circadian clock gene period 1, implicating VGLUT3 cells as part of the light-entrainable retina-based circadian system.
Health Governance Utopia

Jennifer Prah Ruger (2011) rightly points out that social cooperation is essential for achieving health justice. But she is unhappy with the approach to cooperation that social scientists and philo...
EM Algorithms for ML Factor Analysis.

The details of EM algorithms for maximum likelihood factor analysis are presented for both the exploratory and confirmatory models. The algorithm is essentially the same for both cases and involves only simple least squares regression operations; the largest matrix inversion required is for aq ×q symmetric matrix whereq is the matrix of factors. The example that is used demonstrates that the likelihood for the factor analysis model may have multiple modes that are not simply rotations of each other; such behavior should concern users of maximum likelihood factor analysis and certainly should cast doubt on the general utility of second derivatives of the log likelihood as measures of precision of estimation.
Electroactive polymer materials for solid-polymer fuel cells

The solid polymer fuel cell (SPFC) technology is one of the most promising sources of future energy. Its high power density and mild operating conditions make the SPFC technology highly attractive for stationary, portable, and automobile applications. In this paper, we briefly discuss the potential use of electro-active polymer materials for the SPFC technology. In order to realize the fast intrinsic kinetics of the cathode reaction an efficient utilization of the Pt catalyst is necessary. In this sense, we introduce a novel concept of a fabrication technique of the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) that consists of a Pt-deposited ion exchange membrane and two current collectors. It appears that the manufacturing process of such MEAs is simple, efficient, and economical relative to the current state-of-art MEA technology that employs various particle distribution techniques. Also, it should be pointed out that the use of this new MEA fabrication technique could improve the rate density of H+ transport significantly.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
On a Conjecture Concerning a Theorem of Cramér and Wold

A conjecture concerning the Cramer?Wold device is answered in the negative by giving a Fourier-free, probabilistic proof using only elementary techniques. It is also shown how a geometric idea allows one to interpret the Cramer?Wold device as a special case of a more general concept.
Discordance of exercise thallium testing with coronary arteriography in patients with atypical presentations

Eighty-one patients with diagnostically difficult clinical presentations suggesting coronary artery disease underwent symptom-limited maximal-exercise treadmill testing (ETT) and exercise radionuclide scanning with thallium-201 followed by coronary angiography. Results showed that in nearly half of the patients (47%) these tests were in agreement, while either exercise thallium or ETT was positive in 94% of patients with coronary artery disease. It was found that agreement between exercise thallium and ETT tests predicted disease in 92% of the instances or excluded disease in 82% of the instances. It is concluded that despite frequent discord between these two tests in 53% of the cases, a significant gain in exclusive diagnostic capability is realized when applied to a patient population anticipated to have a disease prevalence equal to the 67% encountered in this study.
Fatigue and Depression in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: An Emotion Approach

Fatigue and depressive symptoms are common in cancer patients, but the nature of the relationship between the two remains unclear. We examined the degree to which two dimensions of emotion assessed as psychological factors (i.e., arousal and valence) predicted changes in fatigue and depressive symptoms over four cycles of chemotherapy in cancer patients who participated in a randomized clinical trial. Among 549 patients enrolled in the study, 525 provided data from a minimum of two treatments and were included in the multilevel modeling analyses. Multilevel models were used to identify significant predictors of initial levels and changes of fatigue and depressive symptoms and to determine the relationship between fatigue and depressive symptoms independent of other predictors proposed in this study. Multiple factors, including age, gender, and cancer site, predicted the initial levels. More importantly, the two dimensions of psychological factors significantly predicted changes in fatigue and depressive symptoms, in similar patterns but to different degrees. Specifically, changes in fatigue depended more on the valence dimension, whereas changes in depressive symptoms depended on both the valence and arousal dimensions. Theoretical and practical implications of the current findings are discussed and suggestions for interventions to alleviate fatigue and depressive symptoms in cancer patients are proposed.
Daily Assessment of Pain in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

Although outpatient, emergency department, and hospital visits have been used as indicators of sickle cell disease severity, the relationship between painful episodes and subsequent use of health c...
Chemopreventive efficacy of rapamycin on Peutz–Jeghers syndrome in a mouse model

Germline mutations in LKB1 cause Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), an autosomal dominant disorder with a predisposition to gastrointestinal polyposis and cancer. Hyperactivation of mTOR-signaling has been associated with PJS. We previously reported that rapamycin treatment of Lkb1(+/-) mice after the onset of polyposis reduced the polyp burden. Here we evaluated the preventive efficacy of rapamycin on Peutz-Jeghers polyposis. We found that rapamycin treatment of Lkb1(+/-) mice initiated before the onset of polyposis in Lkb1(+/-) mice led to a dramatic reduction in both polyp burden and polyp size and this reduction was associated with decreased phosphorylation levels of S6 and 4EBP1. Together, these findings support the use of rapamycin as an option for chemoprevention and treatment of PJS.
Evidence that enzymatic conversion of N-[1(R,S)-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]-Ala-Ala-Phe-p-aminobenzoate, a specific inhibitor of endopeptidase 24.15, to N-[1(R,S)-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]-Ala-Ala is necessary for inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme.

Abstract N-[1 (R,S)-Carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]-Ala-Ala-Phe-p-aminobenzoate (cFP-AAF-pAB) is a potent, substrate-related, specific inhibitor of endopeptidase 24.15, an enzyme involved in the metabolism of bioactive peptides including bradykinin, neurotensin, and proenkephalin, and prodynorphin-derived enkephalin precursors. The observation that this inhibitor causes a pronounced decrease in blood pressure after intravenous infusion into normotensive rats posed the question of the mechanism of this hypotensive response. It was suggested previously that cFP-AAF-pAB is an inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and that this function can account for the hypotensive response to the inhibitor. We present here evidence that cFP-AAF-pAB has no intrinsic ACE-inhibitory activity. The previously observed inhibition is shown to be dependent on cleavage of the Ala-Phe bond in the inhibitor by endopeptidase 24.11 (enkephalinase, EC 3.4.24.11), a contaminant of some ACE preparations.
Enhancing Parenting Skills Among Nonresident African American Fathers as a Strategy for Preventing Youth Risky Behaviors

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a theoretically based, culturally specific family intervention designed to prevent youth risky behaviors by influencing the parenting attitudes and behaviors of nonresident African American fathers and the parent-child interactions, intentions to avoid violence, and aggressive behaviors of their preadolescent sons. A sample of 158 intervention and 129 comparison group families participated. ANCOVA results indicated that the intervention was promising for enhancing parental monitoring, communication about sex, intentions to communicate, race-related socialization practices, and parenting skills satisfaction among fathers. The intervention was also beneficial for sons who reported more monitoring by their fathers, improved communication about sex, and increased intentions to avoid violence. The intervention was not effective in reducing aggressive behaviors among sons. Findings are discussed from a family support perspective, including the need to involve nonresident African American fathers in youth risky behavior prevention efforts.
Hairy cell leukemia: Update on molecular profiling and therapeutic advances

Hairy cell leukemia was initially described as a clinicopathologic entity more than 50 years ago. We have subsequently discovered that HCL is really at least two diseases: classical HCL and the hairy cell leukemia variant. The former is among a small group of cancers exceptional for being (nearly) unified by a single genetic lesion, the BRAF V600E mutation. Over the past three decades, tremendous progress in both diagnostic and prognostic clarification has been accompanied by therapeutic advances in classical HCL. Consequently, this once uniformly fatal disease has been converted in most cases into a chronic illness enabling patients to live long and productive lives. In response to standard therapy, patients have high complete remission rates. Unfortunately, the long-term survival curves have not plateaued, revealing that this disease is controlled but not cured. Though rare and representing only about 10% of an already rare disease, those patients with the variant fare exceptionally poorly with standard therapy: complete response rates to purine nucleoside analogs are reported to be less than 50%, whereas the complete response rates in classical HCL are up to 90%. Novel small molecules targeting BRAF and the B-cell receptor signaling complex, and biologic agents like antibodies and immunotoxin conjugates are being explored for those patients who have relapsed. Substantial opportunities for continued research remain. This complex and multi-faceted disease incorporates challenges from altered immunity associated with the underlying disease and its treatments. Considering the rarity of this malignancy, optimization of patient management requires multi-institutional collaboration. The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation (www.hairycellleukemia.org) was formed to coordinate these efforts.
Learning from Infinite Data in Finite Time

We propose the following general method for scaling learning algorithms to arbitrarily large data sets. Consider the model Mn→ learned by the algorithm using ni examples in step i (n→ = (n1,..., nm)), and the model M∞ that would be learned using infinite examples. Upper-bound the loss L(Mn→,M,∞) between them as a function of n→, and then minimize the algorithm's time complexity ƒ(n→) subject to the constraint that L(M∞, Mn→) be at most e with probability at most δ. We apply this method to the EM algorithm for mixtures of Gaussians. Preliminary experiments on a series of large data sets provide evidence of the potential of this approach.
Demand for God and Government: The Dynamics of Religion and Public Opinion

We explore the relationship between religiosity and public support for greater government services. We theorize that increases in religiosity and public opinion both reflect demands from citizens in the face of insecurity. We argue that religiosity is comprised of two factors: responses to insecurity; and long-held preferences for religion, or secularity. We show that previous studies that have observed increased religiosity leading to decreased support for government spending have not distinguished among religiosity as driven by secularity versus insecurity. To test our theory, we first estimate a series of simulations, and we then turn to the dynamics of aggregate religiosity and public opinion in the United States over the past fifty years, an environment where long-held preferences for religious goods have remained relatively stable. Consistent with our theory, religiosity and public opinion respond to insecurity; the series are positively correlated, move together through time, and react in similar ways to changes in GDP per capita. Our findings indicate that during times when there is greater insecurity, both religiosity and demand from government increase.
A limit study of JavaScript parallelism

JavaScript is ubiquitous on the web. At the same time, the language's dynamic behavior makes optimizations challenging, leading to poor performance. In this paper we conduct a limit study on the potential parallelism of JavaScript applications, including popular web pages and standard JavaScript benchmarks. We examine dependency types and looping behavior to better understand the potential for JavaScript parallelization. Our results show that the potential speedup is very encouraging— averaging 8.9x and as high as 45.5x. Parallelizing functions themselves, rather than just loop bodies proves to be more fruitful in increasing JavaScript execution speed. The results also indicate in our JavaScript engine, most of the dependencies manifest via virtual registers rather than hash table lookups.
Growth and developmental stability of Drosophila melanogaster in low frequency magnetic fields.

Magnetic fields (60 Hz) of 1.5 and 80 microT caused a significant reduction in the weight of Drosophila melanogaster. Moreover, fruit flies in an 80 microT field showed lower developmental stability than either those in a 0 or 1.5 microT field. Developmental instability was measured by fluctuating asymmetry and frequency of phenodeviants. More of the flies in the 80 microT field had fused abdominal segments, and they were more asymmetrical for wing vein R(4+5). The flies in the 1.5 microT field actually showed greater developmental stability than the control flies. Fewer of them had fused abdominal segments, and they were more symmetrical for wing vein R(4+5). Thus, at low field strengths, flies are more developmentally stable than control flies, even though they weigh less.
A microwave noncontact identification transponder using subharmonic interrogation

This paper presents the design and analysis of a novel microwave radio (RF/ID) transponder that has been developed for remote identification of personnel and articles, such as in "wireless key" entry systems. Based on a subharmonically pumped quasi-optical mixer, the transponder is activated by a C-band interrogation beam to upconvert and radiate a digitally modulated identification tone at two X-band frequencies. These response signals are nonharmonically related to the interrogation signal. The frequency conversion process is analyzed using a Volterra series model that includes the effects of self-bias current, coupled with a scattering metric that is directly useful in radio link calculations. >
Siting Epidemic Disease: 3 Centuries of American History

Epidemics of infectious disease have always played a role in American history, and such epidemics are sited in time and place and configured in terms of ecology and demography, available medical knowledge, and cultural values and collective experience. The mix of these variables has changed dramatically since the theocratic world of 17th-century New England, but the relevance of each remains. Avian influenza already exists virtually in Western society in terms of planning, global networks, laboratory research, social expectations, media representations, and a specific shared history based on the memory of the 1918 influenza pandemic.
A reproducing kernel hilbert space framework for spike train signal processing

This letter presents a general framework based on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) to mathematically describe and manipulate spike trains. The main idea is the definition of inner products to allow spike train signal processing from basic principles while incorporating their statistical description as point processes. Moreover, because many inner products can be formulated, a particular definition can be crafted to best fit an application. These ideas are illustrated by the definition of a number of spike train inner products. To further elicit the advantages of the RKHS framework, a family of these inner products, the cross-intensity (CI) kernels, is analyzed in detail. This inner product family encapsulates the statistical description from the conditional intensity functions of spike trains. The problem of their estimation is also addressed. The simplest of the spike train kernels in this family provide an interesting perspective to others' work, as will be demonstrated in terms of spike train distance measures. Finally, as an application example, the RKHS framework is used to derive a clustering algorithm for spike trains from simple principles.
Asymptotic and numerical homogenization

Homogenization is an important mathematical framework for developing effective models of differential equations with oscillations. We include in the presentation techniques for deriving effective equations, a brief discussion on analysis of related limit processes and numerical methods that are based on homogenization principles. We concentrate on first- and second-order partial differential equations and present results concerning both periodic and random media for linear as well as nonlinear problems. In the numerical sections, we comment on computations of multi-scale problems in general and then focus on projection-based numerical homogenization and the heterogeneous multi-scale method.
Forest tree growth response to hydroclimate variability in the southern Appalachians.

Climate change will affect tree species growth and distribution; however, under the same climatic conditions species may differ in their response according to site conditions. We evaluated the climate-driven patterns of growth for six dominant deciduous tree species in the southern Appalachians. We categorized species into two functional groups based on their stomatal regulation and xylem architecture: isohydric, diffuse porous and anisohydric, ring porous. We hypothesized that within the same climatic regime: (i) species-specific differences in growth will be conditional on topographically mediated soil moisture availability; (ii) in extreme drought years, functional groups will have markedly different growth responses; and (iii) multiple hydroclimate variables will have direct and indirect effects on growth for each functional group. We used standardized tree-ring chronologies to examine growth of diffuse-porous (Acer, Liriodendron, and Betula) and ring-porous (Quercus) species vs. on-site climatic data from 1935 to 2003. Quercus species growing on upslope sites had higher basal area increment (BAI) than Quercus species growing on mesic, cove sites; whereas, Acer and Liriodendron had lower BAI on upslope compared to cove sites. Diffuse-porous species were more sensitive to climate than ring porous, especially during extreme drought years. Across functional groups, radial growth was more sensitive to precipitation distribution, such as small storms and dry spell length (DSL), rather than the total amount of precipitation. Based on structural equation modeling, diffuse-porous species on upslope sites were the most sensitive to multiple hydroclimate variables (r2 = 0.46), while ring-porous species on upslope sites were the least sensitive (r2 = 0.32). Spring precipitation, vapor pressure deficit, and summer storms had direct effects on summer AET/P, and summer AET/P, growing season small storms and DSL partially explained growth. Decreasing numbers of small storms and extending the days between rainfall events will result in significant growth reduction, even in regions with relatively high total annual rainfall.